"Wonder Showzen" Part Two
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! Terrance Phillip Berg was sitting at his desk, looking over the editorials for the college newspaper. As editor-in-chief, it was his responsiblity to make sure everything ran smoothly, and that the stories and articles in the paper were up to the standards he'd promised to stick to when he took the job. He was dressed in a button down shirt and slacks, and had neatly cut blonde hair, as he was trying to stick to a professional appearance as opposed to his days working as an intern at Feast magazine, which got him the job of working as editor of the college paper thanks to his resume, and the references from his former co-workers, including his former boss Kyle Rayner. It was Terry's goal to one-day work for a real major newspaper, like The Daily Planet. In fact, he was already making plans to submit his resume to Perry White, who was one of Terry's idols in the business. If he worked hard enough, maybe he'd get to work alongside the likes of Clark Kent and Lois Lane someday, covering the major events. But for now he had to work with what he had, running a small campus newspaper. But it was going to be the best damned college newspaper anywhere by the time he graduated in four years. He sat back, reading an article on how the Teen Titans saved the day once again when his phone rang. "Berg," said Terry as he picked up. Moments later, he'd dropped the phone and rushed out the door upon hearing the message from the other end of the line. Styfl Joy, Co Two sets of teens stood facing each other as they stood in the remains of the scientific laboratory. One of them was the Wonder Twins from the planet Exor, a pair of twins with the ability to shape shift, Jayna was currently in the form of a velociraptor and Zan's body was frozen over, giving him the appearance of an ice statue. Alongside them was their pet capuchin monkey, Gleek, a small brown animal wearing a diaper. On the other side was Marvin & Wendy, the two interns left in charge while their boss was away. Marvin had gained access to a secret door and found a suit capable of increasing one's speed. Wendy had armed herself with a heat laser and had it aimed at Zan. Alongside them was Marvin's new dog, a golden retriever who'd found his way into the building. The interns were trying to stop Zan and Jayna from stealing valuable technology they'd broken in for. "Make the first move," Jayna said in a garbled tone, prepared to attack at a moment's notice. "Ladies first," replied Marvin, as he got ready to speed towards her. Jayna lunged at him but Marvin sped out of the way and rushed around the creature, slamming his elbow into her back, knocking her into the wall. He ran towards her but a patch of ice appeared under his feet, causing Marvin to hit the ground, sliding away. As Wendy saw this, she aimed and fired the heat laser at Zan, whose body melted into a puddle of water, quickly running along the ground towards her. Wendy fired the laser, but it couldn't hit the water fast enough as it started rising around her legs, enveloping her body slowly. Marvin started to stand up, but Jayna's body started morphing from a velociraptor into a timber wolf. She lunged at him, but as she flew through the air the retriever sprang into action, pushing her back to the ground. Marvin, finally standing up, found himself attacked from behind as Gleek landed on his head and started pulling at his hair. "Bad monkey!" shouted Marvin as he tried to pull Gleek off of him, but the monkey had fistfuls of his hair in his tiny hands. Gleek screeched as Marvin tried to pull at him, but the monkey refused to let go as the boy was wildly moving about to get him off of his head. Jayna and the golden retriever were circling each other, both growling, both waiting for the other to strike first. Jayna finally attacked but the retriever moved as she sprung forward, biting into her tail. The wolf howled as the retriever pulled back, yanking Jayna back with him. Zan, meanwhile, was still rising around Wendy's body, attempting to drown her. He was almost over her mouth when Marvin had finally tossed Gleek off of him, sending the monkey flying against the wall. He quickly rushed and vibrated his hand through the water, upsetting the molecules as Zan screamed, causing the water to fall into a puddle on the ground. "You okay?" asked Marvin, but before he could get a reply, the water sprang back up and covered Marvin completely, icing over almost instantly and trapping the boy inside. "No!" shouted Wendy as she grabbed the heat laser, but Gleek landed on her back, covering her eyes. She misfired and nearly hit Jayna; the blast hit a chunk of wall that fell onto the retriever, trapping it underneath. Jayna smirked, or tried her best to in her current form, and leapt towards Wendy, tackling the girl before she could fire. "It's over," said Jayna, growling as she did so. "I'll say," came a voice standing at the doorway. Robin stood in the entrance, his bo staff at the ready. Behind him were the rest of the Teen Titans. "We can't take all of them," said Zan, still having Marvin trapped within his ice form. "We don't have to," replied Jayna as she remained on top of Wendy. She saw Gleek climbing through the air vent with what they'd come for. "Let's get out of here." Jayna's form began shrinking until she had turned into a bat. It started screeching as it flew towards the vent. Zan quickly became a puddle of water, releasing Marvin from his grip as he hit the ground. He started flowing towards a vent in the ground as Omni looked at them. "Catch you guys in a few," said Omni, feeling Zan's powers flowing through him as he started mimicking the alien teen's shapeshifting power. At the same time, Offspring took the form of a white African bat and flew off through the air vent to catch Jayna. "Are you two okay?" Robin asked as he saw Marvin was shivering. "Yeah," replied Wendy as she sat up. "Why did you let them get away?" "They won't get far," said Wonder Girl. "Omni and Offspring will bring them back." Both bats flew through the vent on the roof at the same time, with Offspring ramming into Jayna, knocking her off balance. "Another shapeshifter?" laughed Jayna as she grew into a falcon. "I can deal with this." "Yeah? Well anything you can do, I can do better," replied Offspring as his form began to morph into an eagle. Zan's watery form rose out of the sewer grate, laughing to himself. "TIDAL WAVE!" shouted Omni as a burst of water blasted through the grate, smashing into Zan and knocking him to the ground. The water began to morph back into Omni as he looked at his hands. "Neat, I'm cleaner than after I take a shower!" "Want to play water games?" asked Zan as his left arm turned into a watery blade. "Let's play." "So, this suit gives you superspeed?" asked Impulse as he looked at the suit Marvin had been wearing. "I prefer the real thing." "It was supposed to be a top secret experiment," said Wendy as she closed the door to the secret room, locking the suit back up. "It's still highly experimental." "What did those two come here to steal?" asked Robin as he looked around the lab. "No clue," replied Marvin as he sat on the chair, still freezing from his experience. "We're just interns. My first day, actually." "Your last day if you don't start listening to me," replied Wendy as she looked at him. "I told you to stay out of the lab." It was then that the company's owner, Christopher Adams, came in pushing his son's wheelchair. "What in the hell happened here?" asked Christopher as he looked at the mess. "Break in, sir," replied Robin as he saw Grover. "We're tracking the thieves now. We were just on our way to catch up with the others to see if the thieves have been caught." Grover looked over at Marvin before looking back at Robin. "Sure you don't want to break his legs before you go? Or have you assholes found another calling card to leave?" "I think we should get going," said Robin as he looked at the others, trying to ignore the sudden drop in temperature the room took as Grover entered. "We've done all we can here." "Really?" asked Grover as the Titans walked past him. "Because my arms still work if you want to take that bo staff to 'em!" Zan continued to stab at Omni with his watery blades as Omni continued to easily dodge him. "Stand still, you little bastard!" shouted Zan as he stabbed forward. "Hey, I might be small and I may not know who my father is but...hey, what do you know?" replied Omni as a falcon fell on top of Zan, just as an eagle landed and morphed into Offspring. The Wonder Twins, now unconscious, returned to their normal forms as the rest of the Titans arrived. "Hey, you didn't leave anything for us," said Damage as he looked at the unconscious twins. "You can clean up the mess," replied Omni as he patted his friend on the back as the police arrived. As the Titans restrained the Wonder Twins, Gleek was watching from the sewers, holding the stolen goods. Having changed back into their civilian clothes, the Titans returned to the college campus amidst reporters and police surrounding the dorm room. "What happened?" asked Tim as he looked around. "What happened?" replied Terry, trying to hold back the pain he was feeling. "It's Cody... he's-" "He's what?" Bart asked as he looked at Terry. "Where's my bo-- Where's Cody?" "He got jumped by some bashers who just took off," Terry told him bluntly. "He's on his way to the hospital now, but...where the hell were the Titans? I thought they were hanging around this place." Bart immediately felt something snap within him, something that only Tim's detective skills could pick up on. He grabbed Bart's arm to keep him from running. "I heard there was a break-in downtown," replied Tim. "They were--" "Playing hero when someone else was actually in danger, it's just like that bank robbery* where those kids were orphaned," said Terry as he looked at the group of teens. "I'm-I'm starting to wonder if the Teen Titans are heroes or publicity whores. They're never around when someone actually needs them." Terry turned his back as Tim pushed a needle into Bart's arm, giving him a sedative specially designed for speedsters. "I've got a story to write since my star reporter's nowhere to be found." As Terry started walking off, Grant caught Bart as he fell backwards. "Bart?" "Cody's his roommate," said Tim as he looked at them. "Get him back to his dorm and take care of him. And make sure he doesn't leave. I've got work to do." The police escort was headed back to S.T.A.R. Labs, where the Wonder Twins would be held until a proper place could be found to hold them. But little did they realize just how good the twin's shape shifting abilities were. When the door was opened when the transport arrived at the lab, they didn't see the common housefly buzz out past them, or notice the light mist that was floating right over their heads. All that was left in the van were the restraints used to hold the twins. "Bart's slipping," said Robin to Oracle as he sat perched on top of the dorm building. "First with what happened when Inertia pulled his little stunt, and now this. I'm just...worried about him." "Maybe you should be talking to Wally, or even Jesse," Oracle told him. "That would mean betraying Bart's trust and I won't do that," replied Robin as he spotted his prey. "Tim, I know whatever Bart's hiding must be huge, but you two have to trust someone at some point," stated Oracle. "I will when he's ready," Robin said to her. "Gotta go. I'll call you later." As Robin spotted the bashers who sent Cody Wyatt to the hospital, he leaped off of the rooftop as he pulled his bo staff. He was going to bring them to justice and-- WHAM! Something touched down on Robin's back, sending him flying to the ground and landing him hard on his stomach. Before he could he raise his head, a swift kick from a black boot hit him in the face, sending the Boy Wonder rolling over. He opened his eyes just in time to see a large black restraint wrap itself around his body, leaving him no room to move. Another swift kick knocked him out, then there was just darkness... In the not too distant future, in a galaxy far, far away The door to the saloon on the outskirts of Monostat 7 flew open, crushing two small green aliens behind them, leaving two smears on the wall as the large, 8 foot form of the Main Man himself entered, a cigar hung from his mouth. Everyone in the saloon knew him and his reputation, and did what they could to steer clear of the most feared bounty hunter in existence. Lobo made his way to the back of the saloon and took a seat, finding the two mooks who had summoned him there wearing purple cloaks to hide their faces. "Who the frick asked for the Main Man?" asked Lobo, removing the cigar from his mouth and holding it between two fingers. One of the figures nervously pointed at the other as Lobo smirked. "This better be a good payin' job or else I'm outta here and I'm taking your lungs wit' me." The figure reached into his cloak and gave Lobo the envelope. "Kill them. Kill them however you wish, no matter how painful, and you'll be handsomely rewarded." "The Main Man's already handsome enough, but if you two jokers are screwin' around--" "We are not joking, we just need these two out of the way and we need it done as quickly as possible," the figure told him. Lobo opened the envelope and looked at the pictures. "That's it?" "That's it." "Be the easiest job ever," said Lobo as he put the cigar back in his mouth. "Let's shake on it." The figure reached across to shake hands with Lobo, finding only a crushed, bloody stub return. Lobo put the photo of Zan and Jayna in his jacket as he grabbed a pitcher of booze, wanting to get good and wasted before he set out on his next mission. The End... Previous Issue | Next Issue |
