An elderly woman was walking down the street when, out of nowhere, two thugs ran by and snatched her purse, nearly knocking the old woman down in the process.
“Help!” the woman shouted as the two thieves ran away. Before they even got halfway up the street, a teenage boy wearing a purple overcoat, black pants and boots, and a white t-shirt with a lightning bolt on it hovered down in front of them on top of a floating circular disc.
“I thought they gave boy scout badges for helping old ladies across the street, not robbing them blind,” Static said as the men ran off in the opposite direction. “Why do they always run?”
Holding out his hand, Static's electro-magnetic powers unhooked their belts, causing their pants to fall down around their ankles as the two thieves fell to the ground, having tripped over themselves before they could react.
Grabbing the purse, Static handed it back to the old woman. “There you go, ma'am.”
“My hero,” the old woman said as she dug into her purse. “I've got a reward for you.”
“No rewards are needed, ma'am, I'm just doing my duty,” Static said as the woman pulled out a hard candy and put into his hands. Static smiled and accepted it as the woman walked away. Putting the candy into his pocket, Static turned just as he heard the sounds of crying coming from an alley. Carefully walking in, Static saw what looked like a child huddled in the corner. Tears were streaming down his face as Static approached. “Are you alright?”
“No,” the boy said. He was dressed from head to toe in purple as he looked up at Static. “And neither are you.”
Before Static could say anything, he stepped back and felt a surge of energy throughout his body. As he lost consciousness, Static fell forward as a dark laughter echoed through the alley.
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#6
MAY 13 |
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“The Big Bang Theory” Part One
“Okay, we dropped that Puff freak off at the local S.T.A.R. Labs, waiting for the authorities to come get him,” Connor Kent said, wearing his civilian clothes as he walked down the street alongside Cassie and Rose. “Now what?”
“You heard Jay when he read Puff's mind,” Cassie told him. “He ran away from Dakota because something bad was going down, we have to find out what.”
“Dakota is Static's town,” Rose told them. “Whatever goes down here is his problem.”
“Static? Always wanted to meet him,” Connor said as he stopped outside of a coffee house. “Rose, you sound like you already know him.”
“We used to date,” Rose replied as entered the coffee house ahead of them. “That's all you get to know.”
Static opened his eyes and saw he was encased inside a large bubble. He got to his feet and charged up his hand, ready to break out.
“I wouldn't do that,” the boy from earlier told him as he stood in the shadows. “That's no ordinary bubble. Try to use your energy shocks on it, and it'll rebound and most likely fry you.”
“Alright, Junior, what kind of game are you playing?” asked Static as he looked around what looked like a darkened laboratory. “Who are you working for?”
The boy laughed as he stepped out of the shadows, wearing purple armor. He had stringy blonde hair and his eyes were glowing with a crackling purple energy.
“Allow me to introduce myself,” the boy told him. “You can call me Bedlam. And you are going to play a very important role in my plans, Virgil.”
“How do you know my name?” Static asked in a shocked tone.
“I know all,” Bedlam replied with a smirk. “You see, Virgil, you are... unique. You have incredible powers, and your intellect is just as strong. Where most of the teenage heroes only possess one or the other, you alone possess everything I need.”
“For what?”
“You see, this body I currently have is fine,” Bedlam told him. “But it is weak. It has no powers, no fighting prowess, and his mindset is... childish at best. While my powers are unlimited, this body hinders my full potential. So I'm ditching young Matt's body and taking up residence in yours.”
“Okay, this is Static's town,” Cassie said as she sat at the table, sipping her latte. “So we just find him and we find out what's going on together. Who knows? Maybe we can get him to join the Titans.”
“No,” Rose told them simply. “Static will not be joining this team while I'm around.”
“That's funny, because you don't get a say in this, because no one invited you to join to begin with,” Cassie told her bluntly.
“Yeah, why are you sticking around? I mean, Jay and Vince we actually asked to stick around,” Connor said as he looked over at Rose. “I don't even recall either of us extending membership to you.”
“Because, without Robin, you need someone who knows strategy and knows how to fight,” Rose coldy replied. “And I don't see Robin joining anytime soon, do you?”
“He will once he realizes the team is back together,” Cassie said as she stared Rose down. “Then you're out of here.”
Titans Tower
“What the hell kind of music is this?” asked Jay as he looked through the CDs in the rec room. “Heavy metal? Rap? Where's the good stuff?”
“What, you mean like Hanson?” asked Vince as he floated into the room.
Jay just raised an eyebrow at him. “Gonna pretend I didn't hear you say that,” said Jay as he continued to dig through the CDs.
Seren stumbled into the room, wearing a pair of black sweatpants. “Where is the attire I arrived in?” Seren asked as he leaned against the door, still weakened from the poison Puff had given him.
“Dude, you're still out of it,” Jay said as he stood up. “You need to rest until you're strong enough to go out on your own.”
“I have... work to do,” Seren told him as he nearly fell over. “I am charged with protecting the oceans. The creatures of the sea depend on me.”
“Dude, they have Aquaman for that,” Vince said as he tried to hold Seren up, but his smoke form phased right through him. “Take some time off.”
“You know, the others might be gone for a while, why don't we all go out and do something?” Jay asked. “Let's go hit the town and get to know the area. We can keep an eye on fishboy and pick up some decent CDs while we're at it.”
“That might be a problem,” Vince told him. “You can fit in, I can't.”
“We live in a world where costumed guys walk around all the time,” Jay told him. “You'll blend in just fine, trust me. We'll put Seren in some regular clothes and we'll go see the sights.”
“What are regular clothes?” asked Seren with a raised eyebrow.
Back in Dakota, the three Titans exited the coffee shop as Rose looked around. “Do you notice something strange about this town?”
“You mean besides the three undercover heroes hanging out at a coffee shop?” asked Connor.
“Dakota's been a hotbed for meta-human activity for quite some time,” Rose told them as they started walking. “Ever since what's known as the 'Big Bang', an event that created several metas in a gang war that went horribly wrong.”
“Right, the same one that created Dakota's hometown hero, Static,” Cassie added. “So?”
“I looked at the newspaper while we were having coffee and sitting on our asses,” Rose told her. “There hasn't been a single meta-human incident in two weeks.”
“Think it ties into why Puff was in L.A. causing trouble?” asked Connor as Rose stopped to look at them.
“If something's happening to the meta population, we need to investigate,” Cassie realized. “And we have to find Static, he might be in trouble!”
“Superboy and Wonder Girl are here,” Bedlam smiled as he paced around in his hidden lair. “I can feel them. And if they're here, the rest of their friends probably won't be far behind.”
“They're coming to kick your butt, just like I'm going to do when I get out of here,” Static told him.
“Not likely,” Bedlam replied as he stared up at his new body. “You've probably realized that things have been... quiet these last few weeks?”
“Yeah, so?”
The lights came on as Static saw all of his rogues trapped in glass tubes. Everyone that Static had fought against since the Big Bang, minus the few that had actually made it out of town before Bedlam had caught them.
“I've been... acquiring them,” Bedlam replied as he turned to face his collection. “I've spent the last two weeks bending them all to my will, all of them under a single hive mind: Mine. And once I've taken your body for my own, I'll have your powers and intellect combined with my own, and my own army to control. I'll be unstoppable.”
“You're insane!” Static shouted.
“You have to be to rule the world,” Bedlam told him. “What, you think Hitler, Hussein or Vandal Savage were rationale? I think I'll test out my new army on Superboy and Wonder Girl and see if they're up for the task.”
The tubes started lifting as Static's rogues started regaining consciousness. They all remained in place as Bedlam's mind control took over. Bedlam smiled as he mentally ordered them all to step forward.
“Excellent,” Bedlam smirked as his eyes started to crackle with purple energy. “Now nothing can stop me.”
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To Be Continued
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