Teen Titans

Teen Titans Roll Call

Robin, The Boy Wonder
Impulse, The Fastest Boy Alive
Wonder Girl, The Young Amazon
Damage, The Human Explosive
Omni, The Power Mimic
Risk, The Thrillseeker
Offspring, The Shapesifter

Apart they’re just sidekicks and illigitimate children; Together they’re the TEEN TITANS! Proteges of the Justice League, whippersnappers to the JSA, and all around annoyances to the Outsiders!

The Wonder Twins, Zan & Jayna, a pair of teenage thieves hailing from the planet Exor, who are into stealing the best technology for their own needs, were staking out a new firm to steal from. S.T.A.R. Labs, Waynetech, LexCorp…the two had managed to steal from the best, pinching just enough tech to not be suspected. And right now, they had their eyes on the latest prize.

“There it is,” Zan said, his pointed Exorian ears hidden underneath a black knit cap. “The next component we need is right there in that building.”

“Styfle Joy Co?” Jayna asked, her long black hair hiding her own pointed ears. A small capuchin monkey sat on her shoulder, eating a piece of fruit. “What are we getting from there?”

“Some experimental microchips,” her twin brother replied as he looked through a pair of binoculars. “It might not be as good as the other stuff we’ve been pinching from other places, but from what I hear, they have tech that not even LexCorp’s tapped into.”

“What about security?” Jayna asked as she looked over at Zan.

“Pretty light,” Zan assured her as he put his binoculars down. “Company’s not as big or powerful as the other places. We can probably just sneak in and out with no problem whatsoever.”

Marvin White was reading a magazine as he sat in the chair outside of the office of his uncle, Christopher Adams, who owned the scientific firm. Marvin, in his first year of college, was transferring to UCLA and was set to start an internship with his uncle. The young man was dressed in a long sleeved white t-shirt, blue jeans and had shaggy red hair.

“Marvin,” the older man said as he opened the door, “come on in. I’m glad you could make it.”

“Thanks for giving me this chance, Uncle Christopher,” the young red head said as he walked in. “I promise I won’t let you down.”
“I know, that’s why I’m giving you this internship,” Christopher told him as he sat down behind his desk that was filled with paperwork and pictures of his two sons. “You’ll be working with two other interns, one of them being your cousin Grover.”

“Grover’s here?” Marvin asked as a smile came across his face remembering his childhood friend whom he hadn’t seen since...the accident. “Who’s the other intern?”

“Here’s your coffee, Mr. Adams,” a young woman said as she walked in, carrying a cup of coffee. She was dressed very professionally in an orange skirt, white dress shirt and long sleeved jacket, with short black hair. “And I’ll have those files ready in a few minutes.”

“Thank you, Wendy,” Christopher told her as he stood up. “Wendy, this is Marvin, he’ll be interning here, as well. Well, if you two will excuse me, I need to go pick up my son from campus. Wendy will get you acquainted, Marvin, if you have any questions, please let me know.”

Wendy gave Marvin a disgusted look as their boss left, noting the sloppy way the younger man dressed.

“So, um, where should I start--,” Marvin said as Wendy pushed him against the wall.

“Listen, you son of a bitch,” the girl said cold enough to send a shiver down Marvin’s spine. “I’ve worked long and hard to get this internship and no one’s going to mess this up for me, and if you so much as try to screw me over to get ahead I will rip your lungs out with my finely manicured nails. As long as you’re working here...You’re.My. Bitch. Got it?”“

Marvin swallowed hard and nodded as Wendy let him go before walking out of the room, hoping his testicles would re-descend before he left for the day.

The Campus of UCLA

Grover Adams had been confined to a wheelchair for two long years and the ones responsible were standing right in front of him. The Teen Titans: Robin, Impulse and Wonder Girl.

“They’re the ones who put me in this damned chair,” the paralyzed young man said as he wheeled over to Terry, followed by his friend Cody Wyatt, who exchanged an uneasy glance with Impulse.

“What happened was an accident,” Robin told the crowd that had gathered around. “Yes... we were at fault for what happened, but it was still an unforeseen-”

“Oh, shutup,” Grover bitterly said as he looked over at the Boy Wonder. Robin could see the bitterness in the teen’s brown eyes. “I was there, too, you know.”

“Look, why don’t all of us just go and discuss this in private, like rationale young adults?” Terry asked, trying to make peace between everyone as Damage starting flipping through a pocket dictionary.

“Rationale... young... adults...,” Damage said to himself. “Why do those three words not make sense together?”

“Forget it,” Grover said as he started wheeling away. “I’m not staying here with those freaks. Cody, I’ll call you later.”

Cody sighed as he watched Grover head toward his dad’s car. He looked at Impulse and gave him a glance, which Wonder Girl caught before he started heading back toward his dorm.

“Looks like we’re going to have to postpone that interview,” Robin told Terry as he started walking away with the other Titans.

“Yeah,” Terry replied as he put his notepad and pencil away, sensing a new, bigger story that was begging to be uncovered.

Marvin was walking back toward the building with the lunch he’d been sent out to get; he’d had to triple check the order to make sure it was right, not wanting to make Wendy mad. As he was about to walk through the door, he saw a young golden retriever sitting there, whimpering.

“Hey, fella,” Marvin said as he stooped down and let the dog sniff his hand. “You look like you’re starving.”

Marvin unwrapped part of his sandwich and fed it to the dog, who happily ate it.

“Wish I could stay longer, but Wendy’s going to be pissed if I don’t get back,” Marvin said as he petted the dog. “Maybe I’ll try to get you something else to eat when I’m done for the day.”

Marvin headed back inside, not realizing that a stream of icy water was running into the sewer drain, as a fly landed on his shoulder. The dog quickly picked up its head and whimpered softly, sensing something was wrong...

“Where is she?” Cameron asked as he tore up the apartment that he shared with his roommate Grant. “I left her on the windowsill! Where is she?”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Grant asked as he looked around the refrigerator for a snack.

“My sister, she’s gone!” the young hero, also known as Omni, frantically shouted.

“You mean that plant you carry around?” the hero who went by Damage asked as he opened a bowl of leftover pasta, which had a green shading to it.

“Yeah,” Cameron told him as he looked inside the bowl Grant was holding, expecting to find some sort of clue. “She was right there when I last saw her and now she’s gone!”

“Dude, chill,” Grant replied as he threw the bowl into the microwave and hit the timer. “We’ll find her…it…whatever. I mean, she’s a plant, it’s not like she walked away.”

“You’re right, she would have left a note,” Cameron said as he looked under the couch cushions. Grant raised an eyebrow as he waited for his food to finish warming.

“Well, just let me eat the rest of this leftover spinach pasta and I’ll help you find her,” Grant relented as he pulled out the food out of the microwave and dug in.

“Uh, Grant?” Cameron said as he watched him eat, for some reason pausing until the food was halfway eaten. “That’s not spinach pasta. That was originally covered in red spaghetti sauce when I put it in the fridge three months ago.”

Grant stopped eating as he looked down at the moldy food he’d just eaten half of before dropping the bowl and running into the bathroom.

“This is some neat tech,” Marvin said as he was shown around the research lab. “What exactly do they make here?”

“High tech stuff,” his superior replied as she watched the scientists through the glass. “A lot of it has to do with microchips. There’s some kind of top secret thing going on that no one’s allowed to know about with some kind of microchip technology on the upper level.”

“Hey, are they working on a heat laser?” the young red head asked as he looked into the lab. “I worked on a small scale version for the science fair in high school. I’d love to be able to get in on that project.”

“And blow up the lab? I don’t think so,” Wendy told the boy with a laugh as they walked along. “Just remember, you wouldn’t even be here if your uncle didn’t own the place.”

“Now, wait a minute,” Marvin said as he stopped to look at her. “That had almost nothing to do with it. I graduated with top honors from my high school. I had one of the best resumes and-”

“You just happened to need an internship along with the boss’s son, I know how it works,” the girl told him with a menacing stare. “You and your little cousin might have fooled everyone else, but let’s face it: I’m the only one who actually earned this internship. And I did it without being related to the guy in charge.”

As the two walked along the fly that had accompanied Marvin into the building flew along the hallways and then into the restroom where a slow drip was falling out of the faucet, filling the sink. The fly landed on the counter, dipping one leg into the water.

“Wonder Twin Powers, Deactivate!”

The water started taking a human shape, as Zan planted his feet on the ground just as the fly grew back into the form of Jayna. The Wonder Twins looked around and smirked at each other.

“The lab’s almost impossible to get into,” Jayna told him as she looked out into the hallway, “but security’s still pretty lax around here. Those two brats are the main thing we have to worry about.”

Zan held up his hand, forming an ice blade as he smiled. “Two humans against us? That’s no challenge at all.”

Tim and Cassie were sitting in his dorm room with an awkward silence between them. They had agreed to come back there to try to figure out the best way to approach Grover.

“It’s weird,” Tim finally spoke as he stared away from her. “I mean, of all the people who could show up here... why was it the one person that-”

“He’s so bitter and angry,” Cassie said, cutting him off. “And it’s all because of us. We’re the ones who caused his pain. I mean, all the lives we’ve saved, all the times we’ve helped save the world. It’s like none of it matters because we let one person down.”

“Not just one person,” Tim told her, finally looking over at Cassie. “This all started because we lost Connor’s trust in us.”

“Tim,” Cassie whispered, looking into Tim’s eyes. “We were never meant to be, you know that. I loved Connor. I guess, in some ways I still do.”

“Then why do we keep torturing ourselves like this?” Tim asked, trying not to get any closer. “Cassie, in the two years we spent apart from each other, I never stopped thinking about you. About us. I care for you. But all we ever end up doing is hurting others when we even think about being together. Connor, Ariana-”

“Even when we’re not with them, it still hurts,” Cassie whispered. “Tim, why can’t we be happy?”

After a brief pause, the two were about to lean in for a kiss when Ives walked in, causing them to jump back from each other.

“Sorry, bro,” Ives said as he backed away. “Didn’t realize that-”

“You didn’t interrupt anything,” Tim told his roommate as he stood up. “I was just on my way out. I’ll be back later.”

“Yeah, and I-I have to go, too,” Cassie said as she quickly ran out of the room.

Christopher had driven Grover to a small restaurant for lunch before they headed back to the firm. The two sat in silence as they waited for their meal, neither knowing what to say to each other. After Grover’s accident the two had grown distant as Grover had started cutting everyone off with whom he had been close to.

“Your cousin Marvin’s got an internship at the company,” Christopher told him. “He’ll be working alongside you. How long has it been since you two saw each other?”

“Two years,” Grover muttered as he stared down into his water. “Are you sure you want me as an intern? You sure you want a cripple around the office?”

“Grover, your GPA was the highest of virtually everyone whose resumes I saw,” Christopher told him as he looked over at his son. “I didn’t choose you because you’re my son, I chose you and Marvin because you’re two of the best minds I could have working under me. You two and Wendy are going to do great.”

“So... is this Wendy hot?” Grover asked, trying to finally get into a good mood.

“I’m not going to answer that on account that I’m 40,” his father replied with a smile as he took a drink.

Marvin was taking a look around the lab, staring in awe at some of the devices that were being produced.

“Whoa,” the teen said, noticing a heat based laser cannon in the development stages, which was sitting on a tripod. “I could totally make this thing work if given the chance.”

“Don’t even think about it,” Wendy said as she stood at the doorway. “You’re not even supposed to be in here.”

“Just getting to know the place,” Marvin assured her as he studied the cannon. “No, no, no, the wiring on this thing’s all wrong. You couldn’t cut a stick of butter with this thing.”

“And you’re such an expert on laser cannons?” Wendy asked with a slight laugh as she walked in, having never really taken the time to look around the lab herself. She was far busy trying to make an impression on the boss.

“Would I be interning in a scientific firm if I didn’t have a scientific mind?” Marvin asked as he looked across the room, seeing the door that read ‘Top Secret’. “Wonder what kind of stuff’s going on in there?”

“Stuff you’ll never know about,” Wendy told him as she held up a key card. “Only three people have access to that room, and I’m one of them,” Wendy gloated as she shoved the card into her pocket as she brushed past Marvin. “And don’t break anything. I’m not being held responsible for your screw ups.”

Wendy opened the door to leave, when she saw a velociraptor standing on the other side. It breathed heavily as Wendy just stood there, trying not to scream.

“What kind of freaky experiments do they do in this place?” Marvin asked as he stepped back and slipped on some ice. He fell to the ground as the ice started rising, taking a human form, although still remaining completely frozen. Wendy slammed the door shut and tried to lock it as the Velociraptor started trying to force its way in.

“We’ll be out of your way in just a few minutes,” Zan said, cold air visibly floating off of him as he walked forward. Marvin quickly got up and switched the wiring on the laser cannon when the ice man wasn’t looking at him, just as the velociraptor burst through the door, knocking Wendy to the ground, causing the key to slide out of her pocket.

“Zan, watch out!” the Velociraptor shouted in a garbled voice as Marvin fired the cannon, barely missing Zan’s shoulder. Zan shot an icicle at Marvin, who ducked as the velociraptor rammed him hard into the wall. Wendy got up as the Wonder Twins looked in her direction. Marvin hit the ground, his hand just a few inches from the key card.

“Don’t kill her,” the Velociraptor told Zan as they closed in on her, just as Marvin stumbled into the top secret room, hoping to find something to stop the intruders.

“Wait, where’s the other one?” Zan asked as he looked around, seeing that Marvin had disappeared.

The Velociraptor looked around, sniffing to pick up his trail. “I’ll find him before he gets security. Keep an eye on the girl.”

“Right,” the ice man said as he held one hand towards Wendy. “Don’t move and you’ll get out of this alive.”

Jayna picked up Marvin’s scent and headed toward the secret lab door. She raised her head and looked for a way to open it.

“Got you,”

She started ramming the door to get through as Zan thought he heard a crash. He turned his attention away briefly, just in time to see a golden retriever charging toward him. Before he could react, the dog tackled him, sending him flying back and giving Wendy enough time to grab the heat laser.

Zan knocked the dog off of him and prepared to deliver an icy blast when Gleek landed on the dog’s back, grabbing it’s ears and distracting the dog away from the ice man as he stood up, just in time to come face to face with the heat laser as Wendy smirked.

Just as the Velociraptor had almost rammed her way through the door, it opened and a red and black blur rushed out, quickly hitting the creature with a series of super fast blows. After knocking Jayna back into the wall, the blur headed towards Zan, who wasted no time icing up the floor. The blur hit it and was sent sliding into the wall behind Wendy.

“Marvin?” Wendy asked as she looked at the young man who was wearing what looked like an armored suit made of black and red material.

“I found this suit in the lab,” Marvin said as the retriever licked his face. “I’m glad to see you, too, boy.”

Jayna by that time had reverted to her human form and upon standing up started morphing into a large grizzly bear. She stomped over and stood beside Zan, as Gleek sat on her shoulder.

“Think we can take them?” Marvin asked as he stood up beside Wendy, the golden retriever at their side as Wendy kept the heat laser aimed.

“Only one way to find out,” Wendy replied as the two groups stared each other down.

To Be Continued...

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