Teen Titans: Twilight of the Gods (IC/Limited Acceptance/S/PG-16)

[Ren✧]

“Kiara-love!” Roxie's voice permeated the drowsy daydream that Kiara had let herself fall into. She had been up early that morning, incapable of going to sleep in an anticipation of her first day as a Titan. Of course, now that was backfiring as she found herself dozing off into dreamland. “We have all night to lay around in our beds… Come out here and socialize a bit will ya?” She was right, of course. There would be time for sleep later. And if not, well there was always coffee. 

 

"Coming!" She called, standing up from her bed. Quickly she smoothed at the wrinkles in the bedding, a natural instinct from five years of meticulously making her bed after waking up every morning. She briefly checked her reflection in the mirror that hung near her desk before moving back into the living area. In doing so, she nearly crashed into Blake who stood in the threshold between the hallway to the dormitories and the Central Complex. 

 

"Seriously though, I was reading up on this towers' security systems.  We can't be safe unless I have the knowledge to protect us.  Socializing refrains me from doing so, so lets make this quick alright?" She heard him complain. Skating around him, Kiara looked the young genius in the eye. 

 

"Oh come on Blake! A wiz like you can probably read that in an hour, two tops. Surely they'll be time for that later. Roxie's right, we should take this time to get to know each other." 

 

"She's right, you know?" Sybil said, reappearing from the elevator. Apparently when the Titans had gone to their rooms, he had taken the opportunity to go somewhere else in the tower. "Knowing your teammates is a big part of learning how to work together on the battlefield." 

 

"See?" Kiara said, gesturing towards Sybil as she cocked an eyebrow at Blake. She whirled around, her heart practically jumping her throat when she saw Alfonso. "I knew I was forgetting something." She still had one more apology to issue. She'd do it later though. She didn't want to apologize to Alfonso in front of everyone, that would just make things even more awkward. 

 

"So what should we talk about first, hm?" She said, trying to get the conversation started. Fortunately, Sybil had an answer to that.

 

"You could, I don't know, inform each other about what you each can do. I don't know, might be useful." He said shrugging as he absentmindedly checked his phone walking off to some corner of the room, no longer paying attention to the youths.

[Dad]

"So what should we talk about first, hm?" 

 

Alfonso's stomach growled.  "How 'bout lunch?" he said immediately.  "We can talk over our capabilities while we fight back against the evils of starvation."  Altiana giggled internally.  "You're still set on that, are you?"

 

"Of course," Alfonso replied.

 

"Besides," he said to the rest of the Titans.  "What better way to get to know someone than over a burger and a cola,?  Or at least, that's what my pops always says."  Alfonso stood up, and stretched a bit.  Altiana spoke aloud now, interrupting for a brief moment.  "Aren't you forgetting something, Alfonso?" she said so that everyone could hear.

 

"Hm?  Oh, right.  I have to eat a lot more than most of you guys, because Altiana needs the extra energy to, well, live.  Kinda like having a kid, but, one that could potentially wipe out the planet if I don't feed her."

 

"So don't mind him, if his gullet seems to be bottomless," she said reassuring the rest of the room.  "Oh and, if you're in a rush, spicier foods tend to fill us up faster.  The heat is an energy quencher."

 

"I still don't like it," he mumbled now to himself, walking over to a window.  "So.  What are you guys in the mood for?  Because I'm not picky," he said with a shrug.  

[Mr. Hyde]

"Oh come on Blake! A wiz like you can probably read that in an hour, two tops. Surely they'll be time for that later. Roxie's right, we should take this time to get to know each other."  Sheesh...did she have to get so close.  It almost made Blake blush.  Her raising an eyebrow in response to Sybil backing her up was almost too much for Blake to handle.  He closed his left eye in response, maybe he wouldn't turn bright red if she weren't staring him in his fake eye.  "So what should we talk about first, hm?"

 

"You could, I don't inform each other about what you each can do. I don't know, might be useful."

 

"That's the smartest thing you've said all day ya old coot!  We don't know much about each others...."  He didn't want to say powers.  He was quite lacking in that department.  What would the others think of him.  "....Talents...we don't know much about each other's talents!"  

 

 "How 'bout lunch?" Alfonso added in his two cents about their choice of topic.  "We can talk over our capabilities while we fight back against the evils of starvation."  Then, seemingly from nowhere, a voice emanated from Alfonso's position.  

 

"Aren't you forgetting something, Alfonso?"  Blake stood there, dumbfounded yet again.  There was a telepath in the room, but he had no idea what was standing in front of him right now.  What was inside this boy?  A dissection was in order!

 

"So.  What are you guys in the mood for?  Because I'm not picky,"  A juicy hamburger did sound quite delicious at this point.  With all the superior toppings: bacon, tomatos, lettuce, onions, and the most superior condiment, mayo.  Blake started drooling at the thought, but snapped back to reality to save face. 

 

"I'm in a burger mood myself...not sure if those are just lying around the tower though."  Maybe there was a chapter on a hamburger generator that he had missed due to this pointless conversation.  Blake gripped his arm.  "Although...when it comes to talking about talents...i may come up a bit dry in that department, hopefully unlike my burger."  Blake tried to force a smile, but the thought of having nothing to share with his team was pulling him down a bit.  They were probably much more fascinating characters than he was, and their powers must've been extraordinary, unlike Blake.  He was just ordinary, like a plain hamburger.   

[Saiba Aisu]

My breath is ragged in my chest, my heart beats heavy in my mouth

The sounds of her screams cut through the darkness.

It is the witching hour, and the moon is high and full above me,

Yet the shadow of a monstrous form swallows it whole.

Still I chase after her, still I call out to her,

Odette! Odette! A name I know better than my own.

Yet my voice is hoarse, no longer human, and my tongue cannot shape the words

And my arms are no longer arms, but the white wings of a beast...

 

Cygnus took a deep breath and paused, his dark blue eyes flashing across the words he had written, each of them traced with the utmost care. He was sitting at his desk, pen in one hand, poised softly above the paper, trying to decide what came next. As always, writing poetry was deeply soothing for him, almost cathartic—even if the memories and emotions involved in this case were particularly dark and traumatic. For a moment, all was silent, save for the steady rhythmic ticking of the grandfather clock, its pendulum swinging back and forth, back and forth... He bent forward intently, a faint smile upon his lips as he finally settled upon the next line...

 

"BLAKE! KIARA-LOVE! FRENCHY!!!"

 

"Putain de merde!!"¹ he swore, standing up and slamming his hand on the table as Roxie's screams echoed through the upper floors of Titans Tower. Cygnus looked down at the poem which had taken him the better part of twenty minutes to write out, ruined now by an abrupt twist of the wrist, an involuntary reply to the girl's unexpected shrieks. He threw down his pen in anger and stalked out of his room, down the hallway, back towards the Central Complex, where Roxie and the rest of the Titans were gathered, laughing and chatting eagerly about... burgers.

 

"I-thought-I-told-you-not-to-bother-me-unless-it's-urgent," Cygnus snarled in a single breath. "What do you want? This had better be good!"

 

He slid into a vacant seat, his pale features arranged in a rather murderous expression. Mortals. Really, they were the worst.

 

"And-for-the-last-time-I-have-a-name-it's-Cygnus!"

 

[spoiler=Learn French With Cygnus: Today's Lesson]1. Mother f**ker!

 

[Ren✧]

---

GM Post: Dealing with Rejection

---

 

"What do you want? This had better be good!" Cygnus demanded, the last to emerge from his room. Kiara offered him a smile, trying to appear inviting. She had apologized. He had accepted it. Now, they were turning over a new leaf. They'd start off on the right foot this time. Kiara was determined.

 

"Ok good, now everyone's here. I think we were just deciding what everyone wanted for lunch." Kiara filled him in, gesturing for him to come join the group. Alfonso was off checking out the view, but she, Roxie, and Blake had congregated in the kitchen. 

 

"There should be some food already stocked in the fridge and pantry." Sibyl said, emerging from the corner he had retreated to when checking his phone. "I'm sure you can figure out something to make. If not, I'm told Aurora City has some great restaurants. You might want to avoid getting delivery though," He joked, "they tend to have a hard time making it across the water."

 

"Are you not staying to eat with us?" Kiara asked, noticing that Sibyl was moving towards the elevator doors.

 

"I'm afraid so," he replied. "As much as I've enjoyed spending time with all of you, I have other assignments from the League that I need to deal with. I'm sure you'll get along fine without me. My contact information should already be in your Communicators, so if you really need me just call. We'll be in touch."

 

With that Sibyl disappeared into the elevators, leaving the team to their own devices. "Alright, well let's see what we've got here." Kiara said, opening up the fridge and freezer to see what they had. Almost immediately she spotted a number of hamburger patties. "Score!" She declared, raising them up for the whole team to see. "Burgers it is. Why don't you guys see if you can find any buns and whatnot in the pantry?" She asked, setting to work cooking the meat. Hopefully, none of them there were vegetarians. Although, if someone wanted something else to eat she supposed she could just whip it up. She really didn't mind cooking.

 

Before long, the burgers were ready and the team sat down to enjoy their first meal together. Kiara tried to make small talk with everyone. Conversation was still a bit awkward between everyone. They had just met, after all. It would take time before everyone felt truly comfortable with opening up about things.

 

Kiara was just about to bring up the conversation regarding everyone's abilities when a shrill siren split the area and flashing lights alerted the team to some type of danger. "What the Hell is going on?" Kiara wondered aloud. Turning she noticed that a huge display interface had descended from the ceiling, covering up the central window that had afforded them such a good view of Aurora City. 

 

The display flickered to life, immediately filling with news reports, images, and live feed video from what appeared to be downtown Aurora City. "Oh damn..." Kiara's hand flew to her mouth as she cursed. Fortunately none of the others had seemed to notice, their attention kept by what they were seeing.

 

It was hard to make out just exactly was going on, but it was easy to tell that someone, or something, was trashing Aurora City. Video that seemed to be coming from an overhead news helicopter was focusing on a figure in the streets that appeared to be the source of the destruction. Every few seconds blue lights would flash around the figure, colliding with cars and buildings, wrecking everything in their path. 

 

"Oh my God, someone needs to do something." She said.

 

"I think that job probably falls to us." Cygnus replied, reminding them all of why they were there.

 

"Oh yeah, of course." Kiara mumbled, her face warm with embarrassment. 

 

===

 

The Titans had arrived in downtown Aurora City. The damage to the city was extensive. The smoking husks of totaled cars sat in the streets, downed electrical lines sparked and whipped around, citizens ran about in panicked hoards; it was total chaos. "So where is the person that did all of this?" Kiara wondered aloud, her eyes searching for those blue lights that had seemed to be coming from their target.

 

"He's got to be around here somewhere. We should probably split up, we'll cover more ground that way." Cygnus suggested.

 

"Alright, yeah, good idea. Why don't you and Roxie go east and Alfonso, Blake, and I will head west?" Kiara had just arbitrarily picked the teams. Unfortunately they hadn't had much time to learn each others' full capabilities. They would just have to make it work for the time being. "Radio in if you see something. We don't want whoever did all of this to get the drop on us."

 

With that, the two groups went their separate ways. Unable to fly, Kiara was forced to wade through the throngs of panicked people that were milling about. Despite the fact that this slowed their progress, it meant that Kiara could stop and help citizens that were trapped in their cars and clear the roads so that people wouldn't get trampled in the panic. As important as it was to find whoever did this, it was just as important to make sure that all of these citizens were taken care of. 

 

---

 

[spoiler=OOC. Please Read.]

This post marks the start of our first mission. In classic Teen Titans' fashion, we've arrived directly on the scene but whoever or whatever has been tearing up the city is in nowhere to be found. The populace is in a panic. As a Titan it is not only your job to catch the villain, but also safeguard these citizens. Be careful out there, we still don't know what we're up against. 

[Mr. Hyde]

"What do you want? This had better be good!"  Is that what Blake sounded like?  Looks like he and Cygnus weren't so different.  Grumpy Gus' who hated being interrupted and pulled away from their prior activites.  Sybil had left the teens to themselves, pointing out the large stock of food available in the pantry.  At least the Justice League had prepared all the necessities, would there be shampoo in his bathroom as well?  

 

Kiara had found some patties in the fridge.   "Burgers it is. Why don't you guys see if you can find any buns and whatnot in the pantry?"  Blake nodded and went to go find the buns.  Stepping into the pantry, his eye started scanning the words on every single package until a result came up containing the phrase "Burger Buns".  He grabbed those and brought them out.  Kiara had been working hard fixing up their meal, and Blake couldn't help but be impressed.  He could probably make a computer out of materials you could find in a cave, but making food like this was beyond his capabilities.  

 

As they sat down to eat, each newbie titan started to make idle chit chat with one another.  Everyone was still nervous about the whole thing, and nobody asked about each other's powers.  Blake didn't have much to say considering he didn't have any so he never brought the topic up.  Instead, he tried to talk to the girl he was most acquainted with thus far.  "Say Kiara, where'd you pick up how to cook like this?"  After the question, Blake was readily going to stuff his face full of burger, when a loud siren blocked his attempts to do so, and honestly startled him.  A large monitor had blocked out their window, and was now displaying news reports across varying channels.  

 

This city was in danger so soon?  It was lucky they were here, but it was unfortunate that Sybil had left.   

 

"Oh my God, someone needs to do something." Kiara said surprised.  Blake sighed as his fingers graced the top of his foreheads.  Was this girl an idiot?  

 

"I think that job probably falls to us."  Cygnus was fairly composed, this probably wasn't his first rodeo after all.  

 

"Oh yeah, of course."  With that Blake nodded, and flashed a wicked smile.

 

"TITANS!  GOOOOOOO!"  He was standing out of his chair with his pointer finger raised high.  He started sweating nervously as he couldn't do anything at the moment.  ".....I'll be right back!"  With that, Blake bolted towards his room and slid his door open.  His eye sent a signal to his suit.  It opened up for Blake to put his body, back first, into.  As the suit wrapped around him, the Helmet was placed firmly on his head.  With that, the suit latched it into place, and a bright purple light on the right side of his chest lit up.  Blake's room was specially designed, and he pressed a button inside the pod his suit was contained in.  A hole opened up above him, and he shot through it with his rocket thrusters.  Before long, he was clearly above the tower, and admired the scene that had previously been blocked by that monitor.  

 

"Don't worry Aurora City, We'll protect you now!"  

 

Blake shot towards the city at full speed, not wanting to miss any of the action.  

 

===

 

He had arrived at about the same time as the others.  He hovered beside the rest of his teammates, his suit gleamed in the Aurora City sun.  

 

"So where is the person that did all of this?"

 

"He's got to be around here somewhere. We should probably split up, we'll cover more ground that way." 

 

"Alright, yeah, good idea. Why don't you and Roxie go east and Alfonso, Blake, and I will head west?  Radio in if you see something. We don't want whoever did all of this to get the drop on us."  As they made their way through the city, it was made obvious that Kiara couldn't fly, but she was making use of all her abilities to help protect the people of the city.  Blake did his fair share too.  Holes in buildings where Kiara couldn't get to, Blake was sure to check.  People shivering in fear beside the window jumped anxiously when Blake appeared. 

 

"Use the emergency exits people, this area isn't safe!!"  The others nodded, not particularly wanting to argue with a metal man.   Blake started scanning the city for any unusual energy readings, and he had found one pretty far away from the team's current location.  It was in the direction that Roxie and Cygnus were headed.  Blake didn't have to use his communicator in his suit, the frequencies had already been set up for communication towards teammates who couldn't hear him.  He radioed in for the other team.  "Yo, Cygnus and Obnoxiou....I mean Havoc.  You've got company inbound.  Be on the lookout.  I guess our team will meet up with you as soon as we get this place on it's feet!" 

[Saiba Aisu]

Once again, Cygnus felt a twinge of guilt as Kiara smiled brightly at him, apparently unfazed by his rudeness. Was there nothing that could dent the girl's spirits?

 

It's just a poem, he told himself, trying to calm down, drumming his fingers on the table absentmindedly as his teammates scrambled to prepare lunch. You've written a million of them, one more or one less won't make a difference...

 

He repressed the urge to sigh as Sybil excused himself rather suddenly, citing other duties assigned to him by the League. Of all the Titans, Cygnus was probably the most reluctant to see him go, just because it meant that he was now truly alone with a bunch of adolescent mortals. Still, he hadn't expected Sybil to stick around any longer than necessary. Of course, the peace wasn't to last—the Titans had barely managed to finish their first meal together before a shrill siren sounded, alerting them to the latest disturbance in Aurora City.

 

"Oh my God," Kiara murmured, giving voice to the group's thoughts, watching as a solitary figure engaged on a twisted joyride through the city, blasting everything that strayed too close with flashes of blue light. "Someone needs to do something!" she said.

 

"I think that job probably falls to us," Cygnus replied evenly, making an effort to be civil. Now that their first mission had presented itself, there was no point in venting his temper against his teammates—that would have to wait until later.

 

===

 

Only a few minutes later, they were in the heart of downtown Aurora City, bearing witness to a scene of utter chaos: overturned vehicles, battered buildings, and of course, pedestrians running helter-skelter, desperate to get away. And from the looks of it, the city's police had yet to arrive. Normally, Cygnus would have tried to isolate the source of the disturbance and work from there, but in this case, the destruction was so widespread that there was no point. That meant that their next move had to be simple, yet effective: divide and conquer.

 

"We should probably split up," he suggested, his eyes flashing across the scene, trying to deduce just what kind of powers could have inflicted such heavy damage. "We'll cover more ground that way."

 

Cygnus probably should have clarified that by "split up" he meant something along the lines of, Alright, I'll go this way while you four stick together and do... something. Within moments, his plans to investigate on his own had crumbled, and to make matters worse, he found himself saddled with Roxie, who was still clutching the same metallic baseball bat from before.

 

Maybe it's some kind of lucky charm? he suggested to himself weakly, sighing as they bid farewell to Kiara, Blake, and Alfonso, who promptly headed towards the west. They had split into teams without discussing each other's abilities or forming a strategy—hardly ideal, but it would have to work, for now. At least they had numbers on their side.

 

"Come on then," he muttered to Roxie, leading the way as they clambered further into the wreckage. Every now and then, his teammates' voices would sound from the Titan Communicator in his pocket, tinny and faintly distorted, yet understandable as they checked in with regular updates. From the sound of it, the western team had their hands full rescuing trapped civilians; in contrast, the east was deserted and silent, save for the crackling sound of the multiple slow-burning fires that littered the area. Hardly life-threatening, but they could turn into a real headache if left unchecked.

 

"Looks like we're on clean-up duty," Cygnus shot to Roxie over his shoulder, raising his hands as he strode forward. His eyes shone silver as a translucent sphere of white light blossomed into existence around the closest set of flames, trapping them inside. Deprived of oxygen, they sputtered briefly for a moment, then disappeared.

[Dad]

Alfonso

 

Kiara--being the proactive person that she was--took to the kitchen as Alfonso mentioned lunch, scrounging up some burgers while the others searched desperately for buns.  Not wasting any time, Alfonso began to top his burger with whatever he could get his hands on.  Cheese, bacon, chilli, lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, onions, banana peppers, and jalapenos.  It was a mess, but it was delicious.  Patting his stomach, Alfonso rubbed it soothingly, still unsatisfied.  Disappointed, he sighed.  Not wanting to destroy the Titan fridge, Alfonso elected to keep to himself and perhaps go out later for a snack.  He began parading around in his thoughts, contemplating the delicious bites that Aurora city had to offer.  But before he could lick his lips in anticipation, the Titans were alerted to a siren, and a scene of chaos.

 

When they scrambled to the screen with detailed information, Kiara was appalled.  And for good reason.  People were sprawled along the streets of the city, having been caught in the rampage of. . .someone.  Or something?  They had missed a lot in a short amount of time, only seeing glimpses of the wake of destruction that stretched across Aurora City.  Alfonso frowned, as his stomach unsettled.  "Well, this has ruined my meal." 

 

"Oh my God, someone needs to do something."

 

"I think that job probably falls to us." 

 

 

Too right he was.  Alfonso nodded in agreement, rolling his shoulders and stretching ahead of time.  "Guess we'll learn how we pair up in a matter of time."

 

"TITANS!  GOOOOOOO!"

 

Alfonso made a mad dash to the elevator, and met the others downstairs.  Not wanting to waste anymore time, he elected to fly to the scene of the crime.  "I'll meet you there," he called as he rocketed away.  And landing inside the the midst of the madness was quite a sight.  Alfonso could only be baffled at what he was seeing.

 

The immense destruction that cluttered the streets was upsetting.  Kiara, Blake, Cygnus and the others arrived not moments behind him, prepared to split up and spread out their strengths.  He was destined to party up with Blake and Kiara, so he followed their leads, making sure to keep his communicator available.  Blake went for larger buildings, escorting people to safety, while Kiara secured a perimeter and assisted who she could.  Alfonso decided he could easily remove debris, lift cars, and generally cut down on the amount of large objects that seemed to be lining every direction.  He began going car to car, searching for survivors, then proceeding to either crush, lift, or split the vehicles in half and keeping down on the clutter.

 

Alfonso made a mental note, as he flew around as fast as he could.  His flight and Blake's strength made great coverage for a wide variety of locations, and made up for what Kiara lacked in mobility.  A likely pairing had been found, as he stumbled upon a pinned elderly gentleman beneath a toppled old Chrysler.  Ripping the car off of the gentleman, he helped him to his feet.  "You okay, mister?"

 

"I am now, young man.  Thank you."

 

"Good.  I'm gonna have to ask you to leave this area immediately.  It's dangerous, and we're trying to figure things out.  Follow the crowd out, and get somewhere safe."

 

The older man nodded, and scurried off in the opposite direction.  Alfonso continued his search for survivors, keeping his eyes peeled for the first sign of the villain.

[Hälō]

"We should probably split up, we'll cover more ground that way."

 

Roxie simply nodded in agreement as her eyes danced around the city attempting to pinpoint the location of whatever- or whoever could have been responsible for all this destruction. She watched as her other teammates ran off in the direction that seemed to have the most civilians, leaving her alone with Cygnus… 

 

“Just me and you, Frenchy!” She chirped, as the boy began walking towards the opposite side of the city. Following close behind, she listened to the chatter of her other teammates as they rescued the remainder of the survivors. Roxie couldn’t help but be thankfully that she hadn’t been assigned to that team; her powers definitely weren’t suited for rescue missions, and those tall buildings were better left to Alphy’s levitation, and Blake’s shinny little suit.  

 

"Looks like we're on clean-up duty," 

 

She watched as Cygnus snuffed out one of site’s many fires with some kind of sphere of light, and felt a large grin creep across her face. It suddenly dawned on her that these two were all alone here…meaning that she could cut loose and use her powers without worrying about collateral damage- or rather, civilian causalities. Because there was going to be a hell of a lot of property damage whens he was done. 

 

Glancing to the left just in time to watch a nearby conveyance store erupt into flame, Roxie excitedly dashed past Cygnus. “I got this one!” Was her gleeful battle cry, as she raised her bat up in preparation to take a swing while bringing herself to a sliding halt near one of the building’s support beams. The girl’s eyes then shown a brilliant yellow, as she cocked back and slammed her now glowing baseball bat into the pillar with all of her might. Upon impact, the bat released what appeared to be a shockwave of concussive force that shattered the support structure, sending bricks, dust and debris flying everywhere.  

 

From the dust, one could just barely make the faint glow of Roxie’s eyes as she sprinted forward and grabbed the pillar at the opposite side of the building. “Com’on, com’on, com’on!” She growled, as she began charging this pillar with kinetic energy, causing it be enveloped in glorious purple aura that began travel up through the rest of the building.

 

The fires within the conveyance store grew rapidly as the girl stood within the smoking entrance, making it clear that the building would soon be nothing but a towering inferno. 

“There we go!” Roxie’s voice could be heard from somewhere within moments before she remerged from the cloud of smoke. Calmly walking up to Cygnus, the girl raised three fingers up towards her face and allowed a small smirk to form on her lips. “1… 2…” She began cheerfully counting down, lowering a digit for every number. “BOOM!” 

 

On cue, the entirety of the building erupted in a flash of purple that heralded the large explosion that went off inside, and in moments the structure came crashing to the ground; squelching the it's flame as well as any other fires that were in the general vicinity. 

 

Giggling triumphantly at her handy work, Roxie placed her arm on Cygnus's shoulder and pointed the barrel of her weaopn at the blast sight. "You gotta love fireworks, hu-" Unfortunately, before she could continue, Blake's voice sounded from her communicator. 

 

Yo, Cygnus and Obnoxiou....I mean Havoc.  You've got company inbound.  Be on the lookout.  I guess our team will meet up with you as soon as we get this place on it's feet!" 

 

"Cheers! Go ahead and take your time, Love... me and Frenchy got this!" The girl spoke into her communicator; holding the device far too close to her mouth as she slung her bat on to her shoulder and began to advance further into the city. Turning back with a smile, she beckoned her ally to follow. "Duty calls~"

[Saiba Aisu]

Cygnus continued advancing through the wreckage, his eyes glowing silver. He extended his arms and called upon his lunar magic again, casting more of the same light-spheres from before, quenching all of the flames in his path. Safe, fast, and effective. He had almost forgotten about his teammate when—

 

"I got this one!" Roxie cried triumphantly, slamming her metal baseball bat against a nearby store's support beam for all she was worth.

 

Cygnus spun around at the sound, his eyes widening and his mouth dropping open—he was so shocked that he almost forgot to raise a shield in time as a hail of bricks and debris tumbled towards him. Through the shimmering curtain of light, he watched as the blonde girl proceeded to level a small building on her own, using only her bare hands. Within moments, the structure had collapsed, raising a massive cloud of dust that put out the nearby flames.

 

Well, he thought to himself gingerly, emerging from behind his shield as it dissipated, miraculously unsullied, she did put out the fire... That's all that matters, right? I just hope it's been a good tax year for Aurora City's government, because fixing this is gonna cost a fortune... 

 

Roxie giggled as she walked up to him, covered from head to toe in ash and dust, clearly pleased with her handiwork. Moments later, Blake's voice sounded from their communicators, warning them of an incoming enemy threat.

 

"Cheers!" she replied, speaking loudly into the device. "Go ahead and take your time, love... Me and Frenchy got this!"

 

She slung her bat over her shoulder and advanced further into the city, stopping only to look back and flash at bright smile at Cygnus.

 

"Duty calls~!" she said, beckoning to him to follow.

 

"At least one of us is having fun," Cygnus muttered as he followed, although he couldn't help but smile slightly in spite of himself once Roxie's back was turned—that's how infectious her laughter was.

[Ren✧]

---

GM Post: Dealing with Rejection

---

 

Slowly the crowd of panicked citizens was beginning to thin. "Still nothing on our end." Kiara reported in, growing more and more concerned that maybe the culprit had flown the metaphorical coup. Blake had detected strange energy signatures in the east, near Havoc and Cygnus, but still they had yet to report in any serious danger. 

 

"Somebody! Somebody save them!!" Kiara pinpointed the cry for help. A young girl stood on the corner of a nearby street, pointing around the corner, where Kiara couldn't see. 

 

"Out of the way. Move it. Hero coming through." She said, shoving her way through the crowd of people. Getting to the girl, Kiara grabbed her shoulders, bending so that she looked her in the eye. "What's wrong? What is it?" Kiara demanded, but the girl just shook her head, tears welling up in her eyes as she further insisted with her pointed finger down the street.

 

Turning Kiara gasped. It appeared as if a the road itself had caved in, pulling with it several cars. One vehicle in particular was perched precariously on the edge, a pair of men in the driver and passenger seats and two young children in the back. All four of them appeared to be passed out, slumped over in their seats. As Kiara watched, more of the ground began to crumble, pitching the car forward.

 

"Looks like a job for Arcana." She said, leaping into action. Instead of wading through the crowds, she bounced from one car roof to another, denting them as she went. "Blake. Alfonso. Might need some help over here. There might be more people that fell into the sinkhole." She briefly noted that both of her allies had fallen in line behind her, quickly gaining as they had the advantage of flight.

 

Finally reaching the car, Kiara moved to grab it. "Kiara! Wait!" Blake warned, having detected an irregularity, but it was too late. Touching the metal surface of the car, Kiara was immediately hit with a blast of electricity, shooting her back several feet and depositing her quite roughly on the asphalt. Hardly a second had passed before a bolt of electrical energy shot out of the hole and collided with Blake.

 

"Alfy! Look out!" Altiana cried, her voice projecting outward, but it was too late. An identical bolt of energy zapped Alfonso, causing him to crumple to the ground.

 

"This is the best that the Justice League could do? I never would have fallen for such an obvious trap." A green and white blur rocketed from the depths of the sinkhole, brandishing a spear constructed of crackling, yellow energy, her hair billowing ominously in the wind.

 

===

 

"You know we are supposed to leave some of the city left standing?" Cygnus asked, placing his hand on his hip as he half-joked with Roxie, watching her cause another building to collapse in on itself. 

 

"Aw, Frenchy, that building was done for anyway. Might as well enjoy its destruction." She said, letting out another round of infectious laughs making Cygnus smile. "I mean, can you honestly tell me that you are't enjoying at least some of th-" The end of Roxie's sentence was cut off, her face immediately adopting an alert, serious look. Before Cygnus could even wonder what was wrong, the blonde girl tackled him, her eyes glowing yellow as she used her ability to send the pair of them sprawling for several meters.

 

A split second later, the sound of wrenching metal and breaking glass signaled the impact of a tossed car colliding with the spot that Cygnus had been standing just moments before. "Wow, uh, thank y-" This time it was Cygnus who dropped the end of his sentence, throwing out his arms as he conjured one of his lunar constructs, protecting the pair of them from a translucent, cerulean fist that had threatened to crush them.

 

"Move. Move. Move!" Cygnus insisted, knowing that his construct wouldn't survive the second impact of the giant fist, which was already drawing back for a second attack. Rolling to opposite sides, the two Titans whipped around, trying to find their attacker. 

 

"Stop moving so I can hit you!" Standing on top of an abandoned pick-up truck stood a young man garbed in a torn up long coat, his hands glowing with a blue energy. Cracking his knuckles, the two giant fists that floated at his sides copied his movements. 

 

===

 

Picking herself up off the asphalt, Kiara groaned. Her sigils had absorbed most of the damage, but her body still tingled painfully. "We've encountered a hostile. Requesting back up." She said into her communicator, it was only after that she realized that the soft glow that indicated it was on had turned dark. The electrical pulsed must have fried it. Tossing it to the side, she snarled angrily at their attacker. 

 

"Why don't you come down here and fight me?!" She called, grabbed a chunk of loose concrete and hurling it at the woman. The airborne enemy easily dodged the feeble attack, not that Kiara had honestly expected it to hit.

 

"I don't think so, hon." She patronized, shooting a blast of electricity at Kiara who was forced to dive away to avoid getting hit. She was not eager to be electrocuted again. "I think I'll stay up here where you won't get your grubby little hands on me." Kiara sneered, it looked like she would be next to useless against this woman if she stayed in the air the whole time. For now she would just have to continue to dodge the electrical charges until she thought of a better plan. Hopefully Alfonso or Blake would be able to engage their adversary more directly.

 

"Comet," She addressed Alfonso, figuring it was best if their attacker didn't know their real names. "Someone still needs to save those citizens, but I can't touch it." She said, gesturing to the car that was getting dangerously close to falling into the sinkhole. "You keep her busy. I've got an idea!" She ordered, addressing Blake. With that she dodged another volley of electrical pulses and disappeared into a nearby office building. She could only hope that her allies would be able to recover from the hits they had sustained. Her muscles were still spasming and she had had magical protection. Hopefully they were okay. 

 

===

 

"See if you can land a hit on him, I'll cover you!" Cygnus ordered, taking cover behind some rubble that had come from a damaged building. 

 

Roxie brandished her bat, sprinting towards their attacker. Already the pair of fists were moving to intercept her. Hopefully this girl really was good enough to be a Titan. The outcome of this battle depended on it. 

 

---

 

[spoiler=OOC. Please Read.]

Alright, these two villains are moderately important NPCs. This means that you can control them to an extent, like narrating any attacks they throw your way and even land a hit or two. What you can't do, is take them out of commission. I will be posting some information on these two characters in the OOC here directly, better detailing their appearances and powers so you know what you are working with. If you have any questions feel free to ask.

[Saiba Aisu]

In the space of a few nightmarish moments, the two Titans had gone from trading quips over a standard clean-up mission to fighting to stay alive. First Roxie had saved Cygnus' life, tackling him out of the way of an incoming car; seconds later, he returned the favor by casting a circular shield of white light around them, protecting them from being crushed by a giant translucent fist. As the massive blow connected, the shield trembled and emitted a faint musical sound, like a bell ringing.

 

"Move. Move. Move!" Cygnus ordered, all too aware that his shield wouldn't hold out against another of those strikes—whatever was attacking them, it hit like a freaking truck. He and Roxie rolled sideways in opposite directions, scrambling to their feet and catching sight of their assailant, a young man not much older than them clad in a long shabby coat, perched upon an overturned pick-up truck, his hands glowing with blue energy.

 

"Stop moving so I can hit you!" the young man yelled, cracking his knuckles with a rather nasty expression on his face; at his side, two giant disembodied hands mimicked his motions, floating eerily above the ground.

 

This is bad, Cygnus thought to himself, his brain rushing into overdrive as he attempted to make sense of the situation. It would appear that they had finally caught up with the individual who had been destroying the city earlier and from the looks of it, he was just as formidable as they had guessed. Without taking his his eyes off his opponent, he plunged his hand into his pocket and withdrew his Titan Communicator, pressing the transmission button on its side.

 

"This is Cygnus," he said quickly. "Enemy contact. Metahuman abilities confirmed. Requesting assistance."

 

There was no reply—either the western team hadn't heard him, or they were too busy dealing with their own problems. For now, Roxie and Cygnus were on their own.

 

"See if you can land a hit on him, I'll cover you!" he shouted to Roxie, diving behind some nearby rubble which would provide an excellent vantage point from which to cast spells. He had seen his teammate's destructive powers first-hand: if he could protect Roxie so she could get close and land a solid hit, then maybe they would be able to deal a quick end to the battle. The blonde took his orders in stride, brandishing her bat and sprinting towards their attacker without hesitation, despite the massive hands moving to intercept her.

 

"Keep your hands off her," Cygnus snarled, his eyes glowing silver once more as he called upon his lunar sorcery. A brilliant flash of white light lit the surrounding cityscape as a massive bird-like silhouette shot from the ground and climbed into the sky, tossing its long neck back with a high-pitched cry. The dazzling apparition spread its wings and enveloped the incoming hands within them, neutralizing their movement, trapping them within the shining confines of its feathers.

 

"I'm not finished yet!" Cygnus cried, raising both hands before their attacker could recover and launch a new offensive. With a magical hum, spheres of white light blossomed around his wrists, enveloping his hands in a shining nimbus; moments later, a barrage of them hurtled towards the other man at an alarming speed, smiting him and the surrounding area in a series of explosions.

[Mr. Hyde]

Blake had made his way towards the sinkhole.  Five biological signatures came from inside, four of them coming inside of the car, and one further inside the hole.  It was strange...but the last signal came back with higher energy readings.  It was the enemy!  Making her way towards the car, Kiara was completely oblivious to the situation.

 

"Kiara!  Wait!"  

 

His warning was too late, as Kiara had been blasted with a bolt of energy.  Blake stared in disbelief at his fallen comrade, but his worried thoughts were taken advantage of as he was also hit by a blast of energy.  His suit could withstand the blow, and it ran an analysis on the composition of the blast.  Blake soon found out that the blasts were pure electric energy, and it was sent directly to his backup battery.  They were almost full, he couldn't absorb the full force of another attack, it would wreck his suits battery and wiring.  He opted to use his force fields if necessary.  While he was strategizing, Alfonso was also hit by an attack and fell flat on the ground.  The gears in his fist whirred furiously, reciprocating Blake's feelings.  Their adversary had revealed themselves.  A woman in a bright suit, brandishing a large spear made of plasma.   

 

To his surprise, Kiara stood up almost immediately.  She must've been tougher than previously thought, but her nervous system was still in shock.  She attempted to ground the aerial opponent.  She shouted for Alfonso to save the other four civilians in the car before issuing Blake her own command.  "You keep her busy. I've got an idea!"  With that, she disappeared into a building.  Blake grit his teeth behind his visor.  He knew their communicators were off but he shouted loud enough for her to hear.  

 

"Listen, I was gonna do that anyways!  Don't get all bossy so suddenly!"  A shocking sensation coursed through his body.  His batteries read max capacity, one-hundred and ten percent.  The rest of the energy coursed throughout the suit, causing Blake minor pain.  He twitched as the sensation passed, and directed his full attention to their new opponent.  His thrusters were charged to max speed, as he made a mad dash towards the nuisance.  She smiled as she continued the onslaught of electric blasts, but they were now bouncing off of the suit as if it was made of rubber.  Blake had activated the force field before dashing, and rammed into his surprised opponent with the shield.  She was sent flying back, but rebounded quickly.

 

"If I use my battery more, then I can absorb more of her attacks...I'm not sure if it's the best strategy, but it will sure allow me to do some damage!"  Blake thought to himself.  The plan was simple, but he had to be wary of that spear.  Blake had the feeling his suit wouldn't be able to absorb it before it ran him through.  His armor was strong enough to resist tank fire and armor piercing rounds, but he had never tested it against plasma.  Today wasn't going to be that day either.  Whatever Kiara had planned better work.  Blake charged in again, this time, the girl was ready for him, and thrust her in his trajectory path.  Using his eye to analyze the situation in quick time, he placed a force field along his right arm, and knocked the spear upwards and out of the way.  A force field was placed over his left fist as he attempted to punch her in the side.  

 

She was too quick, and dodged his punch entirely, opting to get in behind Blake.  This time Blake had no time to deflect her blow, as she raised the spear above her head about to bring it down into Blake's spine.  Without hesitation, Blake shot power into his back thrusters, They opened up almost immediately, and exhumed a powerful rush of force into the enemy, knocking them into the building that Kiara had previously entered.  Her impact made an electric woman sized dent in the side of the building, and she seemed to be stuck in the wall.  

 

"Hey Comet, how those civilians coming along?!"  He shouted with the megaphone function in his suit turned on high, amplifying the range and volume that his voice was projected.  

[Hälō]

Havoc and Cygnus BMG

 

"See if you can land a hit on him, I'll cover you!"

 

Roxie didn’t need to be told twice. Dashing towards their opponent at full speed, she watched as the man’s attack was intercept by a glorious display of sorcery from Cygnus, which lit up the sky directly above as she slid under the scene. Though it seemed that her partner wasn’t finished yet, and followed up his magical goose technique by firing off an array of glowing spheres that hurtled towards their opponent at frightening speeds.

 

“Get’em, Frenchy!" She called over her shoulder as Cygnus’s attacks flew past her head, and slammed into their target, setting the top of the Semi truck ablaze with a series of beautiful explosions. Taking full advantage of the opening, Roxie leaped up onto the trailer of the massive vehicle with surprising agility; landing on all fours before breaking out into a short sprint towards her opponent as he tried his best to regain his composer after receiving the full force of Cygnus’s barrage.

 

“DYNAMIC ENTRY!” Grinning at the chance to use a technique from one of her favorite anime, Roxie leaped forward with a roar and slammed the heel of her foot into the man’s chest with a brutal jump-kick that sent him stumbling backwards. Not one to stop there, the girl quickly recovered and immediately begun to blitz her victim with a series of two-handed swings with her bat.  Unfortunately though, it seemed that opponent had no intention of going down easily, and proceeded to desperately duck and dodge the blonde psychopath’s attempts to smash his head in. 

 

As the two began to travel down the trailer of the truck in a flurry of motion, the mysterious man grew bold and attempted to smash one of his glowing fists into the center of the girls grinning face while she was at the height of one of her swings. Luckily, Roxie’s battle instincts took over, and she managed to avoid the brunt of the attack by tilting her head at to the side at the last possible moment. Watching has her opponent’s fist grazed her left cheek the girl had merely seconds to think before she was sent tumbling backwards by the force of the blow. 

 

“Super Strength? Good. That means I don’t have to hold back…” She grumbled as she brought herself to a sliding halt at the center of the trailer, and watched as her opponent leaped down to the ground at the opposite end of the vehicle. Her cheek red and slightly swollen from the punch, Roxie broke into a full sprint towards the end of the truck as she called out to her partner. “Frenchy, he’s on the other side! Round 2, lets do it!” 

 

The enemy had only seconds to react before Roxie flung herself off the roof of vehicle and descended upon him with her bat held high over her head. Eyes glowing furiously, the girl brought her weapon down with all of her might boosting its kinetic energy as she did so to achieve maximum destruction. The impact was great, and caused the very ground to erupt sending concrete debris in every direction, and leaving Roxie and her bewildered opponent in the epicenter of the newly formed crater. "Just in case you're wondering, I didn't miss..." The girl's piercing yellow gaze found that of the man's through the thin cloud of dust that had gathered; her voice void of any of the amusement it had been filled with only minutes before. Without warning she shot forward and slammed her tiny fist into the side of the villain's face, using the kinetic energy she gathered in this brief break to send him reeling backwards. "I just wanted to show you how to throw punch!" She called, as she rubbed her wounded cheek.  

 

Unfortunately, any sense of victory the girl felt was short-lived, as she was soon painfully swept off her feet by a swift backhand from one of the man's blue hand constructs that appeared at her side. Barely able to process what had just happened to her, Roxie could do nothing as a second hand construct formed a fist and slammed into her at full force, sending her flying upward. Now on his feet, the villain extended both of his hand's towards the now airborne Roxie; prompting his constructs to advance forward in an attempt to crush the girl. 

[Saiba Aisu]

"Get'em Frenchy!" Roxie called in approval, taking advantage of the opening created by Cygnus' Moon Bolts to leap on top of the overturned vehicle with surprising agility and launch her own offensive.

 

As the hum of his teammate's kinetically-charged weapon filled the air, Cygnus scrambled out from behind his vantage point and began sprinting towards the battling duo, determined to stay close in case things took a turn for the worse. While it seemed that the initial ferocity of Roxie's attack had caught their enemy off-guard and forced him on the defensive, the young man quickly recovered, deploying one of his glowing hands in a swift rabbit-punch aimed at the girl's face.

 

Dodge it, Roxie...! Cygnus thought to himself, too far away to intercept the attack in time.

 

Thankfully, Roxie managed to avoid the attack at the last minute—or rather, almost avoid it. As the fist grazed her left cheek, she was sent tumbling backwards, sliding along the surface of the vehicle, coming to a halt at its center, while her opponent leapt onto the ground. Yet in spite of the blow and the bruise blossoming on her face, Roxie didn't seem intimidated; on the contrary, she surged forward, hurtling towards the enemy.

 

"Frenchy, he's on the other side! Round 2, let's do it!"

 

Cygnus nodded as he came to a sliding halt a few meters away on the right side of their enemy, finally within range to work his magic again, trapping him in a pincer movement between the two Titans. He watched as his teammate flung herself from the roof of the vehicle, bringing down her weapon in a savage overhead swing beside the other man, shattering the surrounding concrete and forming a sizable crater. Before he could ask himself why the girl had missed such an obvious target at close range, her fist swung forwards, charged with the kinetic energy she had harnessed, catching the enemy squarely across the jaw, sending him reeling backwards.

 

"I just wanted to show you how to throw a punch!" Roxie called, rubbing her wounded cheek.

 

Unfortunately, however, her moment of victory was short-lived. In a flash of blue light, one of the young man's ethereal constructs reappeared at her side, sweeping her off her feet, while the second formed a fist and slammed into her, sending her flying. Getting to his feet, the villain deployed the fists after the airborne girl, intent on crushing her.

 

"Roxie! No!" Cygnus cried, watching as the girl's body tumbled through the air, completely out of control. At that speed, even if by some miracle the hands missed her, the ensuing impact on the concrete would be more than enough to break a few bones, if not worse.

 

He raised his hands, magic springing from his fingertips, and with another burst of light, large silver bubbles blossomed across the sky. With a muffled sound similar to a balloon, Roxie slammed into the closest of them—the bubble stretched and warped inwards yet held firm, dispersing the negative effects of the momentum. A few feet away, the hand constructs came to a halt, forced to swat aside the bubbles like a swarm of bees. As the first bubble resumed its circular shape, Roxie fell downwards briefly, only to be caught in a large sphere of light. His eyes glowing silver and his brow furrowed from the strain, Cygnus carefully lowered it, releasing the spell once Roxie was safely back on the ground.

 

"Are you alright?" he asked her, a note of concern slipping into his voice without him noticing. A few meters across from them, the last of the shimmering bubbles disappeared, swatted aside or popped by the giant hands.

[Dad]

Alfonso was tossed against the ground, his body charged with electricity.  Despite the impact taking him down a notch, Alfonso felt good.  Getting up to his feet, Alfonso sighed, as he watched Blake and Kiara engage this female opponent.  "You're gonna make me try, aren't you?" he mumbled.  While Kiara and Blake kept her busy, Alfonso had to do something about the civilians who were falling into the sinkhole.  Charging his hands, Alfonso took them from his pockets and flew over to the vehicle that teetered on the edge.  He moved to the trunk, motioning the civilians to either side of the car.  "Sit back," he called to them.  They complied, the two children and adults bracing against the doors.  This balanced the car in a more usable position, as Alfonso placed his hands on the ground.  The concrete began to separate behind the car, causing it to slide towards Alfonso.  Safe from falling into the sinkhole, Alfonso applied enough pressure to the rear of the car to separate the trunk left and right, splitting it in two.  This provided enough room for the civilians to escape the vehicle.

 

"Sorry about that," Alfonso said, putting his hand in his pocket again.  "Try not to touch the car on your way out.  You won't be able to use this thing, thanks to the nutcase that supercharged it," he said nodding towards the villain.  "C'mon, I'll show you the way out of here."  The two gentlemen nodded, and their children followed closely behind as Alfonso showed them a safe path out of danger.

 

"And don't look back here.  We'll handle this."  As the civilians fled the scene, Alfonso returned to his allies to assist.  

 

"Hey Comet, how those civilians coming along?!"

 

"Civilians secured!" Alfonso called back.  "Codenames, right.  Don't wanna give this lady too much information if she's gonna oppose us."

 

"That's your smartest option.  Keep it in mind, and give those guys a hand."

 

Alfonso wasn't the greatest at hand to hand combat, but he could hold his own.  But judging by the fact that this person could supercharge a car, engaging in hand to hand seemed like a bad idea.  Instead, he took his hands out of his pocket again, as a star began to form between them.  "Satellite!  Arcana!  Gimme some room!" he said hoping they would dodge out of the way.  From the distance, he fired a series of smaller stars emitting from the larger one, in a flurry of wild explosions.  He directed them towards the enemy, hoping to--if not damage her--at least provide enough covering fire so that Blake and Kiara could land a few additional blows against their shocking foe.

[Ren✧]

---

GM Post: Dealing with Rejection

---

"You little brat." The woman snarled at Blake, shaking her way free of the human-sized crater she'd left in the side of the office building. "You'll regret doing that." The woman shot towards Blake with vicious determination, ignoring the two other Titans she was up against, her plasma spear held overhead to deliver a powerful overhand blow. In its downward arc, the head of the weapon changed to that of a battle hammer, and upon hitting Blake sent him careening towards the ground. Fortunately, before she could follow up with another attack, the star storm from Alfonso struck the team's assailant.

 

Forced to take cover, the woman ducked behind a shield made from the plasma weapon she held a moment before. Occasionally peaking out from behind the shield, she returned fire at the Titan, but the stream of incoming projectiles kept her pinned to her position. "Okay you guys, I can't keep this up forever." Alfonso said, already the volley of celestial blasts thinning as his strength started to wane. Fortunately, it wasn't much longer before Kiara reappeared on the scene.

 

===

 

"This had better work." Kiara muttered to herself as sprinted down a deserted hall on the tenth floor of the office building she had disappeared into. Headed right for a giant window, she closed her eyes and with a powerful final leap she crashed through the window. "Arcana Impact!" She cried, hurtling towards the ground. The lightning-slinging woman barely had any time to react to Kiara's entrance. Trapped behind her crackling shield of energy, she could do nothing but turn her head as Kiara's body connected with hers. The two crashed to the ground, the woman's electric construct fading immediately after impact.

 

"Ow. Bad idea." Kiara groaned, rolling on to her back. Most of the runes on her body had faded at this point, taking the brunt of her daring collision. Gingerly getting to her feet, Kiara groaned again in pain. After checking to make sure she hadn't broken anything, fortunately her sigils had guarded her from that, she looked  at their attacker.

 

She appeared to be defeated, laying unconscious in the severely dented hood of a very unfortunate sports car. "I think that means we win..." She said, looking between Alfonso and Blake, a stupid grin on her face.

 

===

 

The man in tattered clothes raised his lip in contempt. He had thought his attack would have definitely crushed that pompous jabroni, but her feathered friend had managed to save her at the last moment. "Listen! This isn't personal or anything. It's just that I need to kill you so they can see what a mistake they've made!" He called, advancing on Cygnus' and Roxie's position. His conjured hands moved to the sides, ripping a pair of light posts out of the ground. "You understand, right?" He asked, brandishing the two posts like swords. 

 

Their attacker renewed his onslaught with a new savage fury, the light posts swinging in deadly arcs that surely would have crushed Cygnus and Roxie, had the former Knight not jumped up from the ground, her eyes and bat glowing yellow with kinetic energy as she swatted the weapons away, causing them to break and splinter upon impact. 

 

"Third time's the charm, right?" She asked, readying for their third round with this lunatic.

 

===

 

"I think that means we win..." No sooner had the words come out of Kiara's mouth when in their foe's eyes snapped open. Clapping her hands together, an electrical shockwave spread across the area, knocking Kiara and Alfonso to the ground. Blake, protected by his suit, moved to strike at the woman, but she had already accounted for that. A whip of plasma struck upwards, severing a fire escape from a nearby by building. Blake was forced to stop his attack to avoid getting hit from the falling debris. This provided the woman with the opportunity that she needed to escape. 

 

Rocketing into the air, she fled from the trio of Titans, moving east towards Cygnus and Roxie. "You two have get another hostile inbound. We're in pursuit, but she's fast." Blake radioed in, warning Cygnus and Havoc of the incoming danger. 

 

"Dammit. I really thought we had her..." Kiara said, picking herself up off the ground, not even bothering to apologize for cursing this time.

 

"We still have a chance!" Blake responded, taking to the air. "Let's go!" He urged his fellow Titans.

 

"Can't we give it a rest?" Alfonso complained. "I'm ready for a nap." 

 

"No, he's right. We need to try and stop her." Kiara agreed, although obviously drained from their scuffle. "One of you will need to fly me though. I'm gonna be too slow on the ground." 

 

===

 

Roxie and Cygnus had engaged their attacker again, neither side really gaining much ground. Roxie had gotten close, but each time one of the man's constructs got in the way. They had found, fortunately, that Roxie's kinetically charged attacks could break apart the constructs if she scored a direct hit on them. Cygnus had done his best to lend Roxie support and distract their opponent as best as he could, but even with the two of them working together the battle was equally matched.

 

"This would all go a lot faster if you'd let me kill you. I promise that it will be fast." The man said, aiming a backhanded swipe at Cygnus, who ducked under the attack.

 

"Would you please just shut up!?" Roxie said, growing tired of the man's constant pleads to kill them. Did he actually think they would just lie down and die? Taking a page out of their opponent's playbook, Roxie launched a car at their target by striking it's underside with her bat. Per usual, the attack was intercepted by the hand-like constructs, crumpling the projectile in their massive palms.

 

"You two have got another hostile inbound. We're in pursuit, but she's fast." The message had come from Blake. Cygnus had guessed correctly that the western team had experienced trouble of their own. 

 

It wasn't long before a green and white missile streaked overhead, pausing to hover several feet above the man in the tattered coat. "Luca, we're retreating." She said with authority.

 

"But I have these two on the ropes." He complained, absentmindedly covering himself and the woman with his constructs just as Cygnus fired a volley of crescent-shaped, lunar bolts at them.

 

"And there are three more incoming, we can't take them all." The man, apparently Luca, grumbled his complaint but ultimately submitted to the order.

 

"Next time, then." He said, rolling his eyes at Roxie and Cygnus. 

 

The two Titans ran towards the villains, knowing that they had a limited time frame to stop them from escaping. However, they were stopped when Luca sent his constructs careening into two large buildings that lined the streets, causing them to topple and block the Titans' path. They were gone.

 

===

 

"You're too late." Cygnus informed Alfonso, Kiara, and Blake as they appeared on the scene. "We lost them."

 

---

 

[spoiler=OOC. Please Read.]

And thus our first battle comes to a close. Feel free to detail in of your characters actions in the last bit of the battle and then have them deal with the fact that they let their first opponents get away. In the next GM Post, I will be bringing us all back to Titans Tower.

 

 

[Saiba Aisu]

"Listen! This isn't personal or anything. It's just that i need to kill you so they can see what a mistake they made!" their opponent said, commanding the floating pair of hands to rip up two lampposts from the ground, twirling them like batons before brandishing them like swords. "You understand, right?"

 

What mistake? Cygnus asked himself, springing aside as the left hand struck, the heavy metal beam whistling through the air in a deadly arc before smashing into the concrete, leaving a sizable dent. And who's 'they'?

 

He readied his lunar magic, preparing to cut through the beams with his Crescent Blades, but Roxie beat him to it, her weapon a golden blur as she slammed the lampposts away, causing them to splinter and break upon impact. Left holding two jagged splinters of metal, the man growled and commanded his hands to hurl them towards the two Titans, but as before, a translucent sphere of moonlight materialized around the pair, blocking the attack and knocking the projectiles to the floor.

 

"Third time's the charm, right?" Roxie asked him, raising her baseball once more.

 

Cygnus nodded and launched himself into the fight with renewed vigor, silver light blossoming around his hands, determined to defeat their opponent. Unfortunately, however, despite their best efforts, the fight was doomed to a stalemate—neither side seemed able to land a decisive hit upon the other. At that moment, Blake's voice issued from the Titan Communicator and split the tense silence, warning the two Titans of another hostile incoming at high speed.

 

Looks like I was right, Cygnus thought, watching as a rather outlandish woman dressed in green and white descended from the heavens, coming to a halt a few feet above their opponent, commanding him to retreat. Despite her questionable fashion choices, she looked formidable—no doubt she had been just as much of a headache for the western team to handle. As the pair began to exchange words, Cygnus drew upon his magic once more, his hands forming spades as he hurled a storm of razor-sharp crescent blades at them, forcing the other man to shield himself and the woman with his floating constructs.

 

"There are three more incoming," the woman said, gesturing back in the direction from which she had come. "We can't take them all."

 

Her companion—Luca?—grunted his assent, turning back to Cygnus and Roxie, clearly displeased by the turn of events. "Next time, then," he said, rolling his eyes towards the pair. Then, before the Titans could intervene, he sent his massive constructs barreling into two nearby buildings, causing them to topple forward and smash into the street, barring their way forward. After a few seconds, Cygnus lowered the shield he had cast around himself and Roxie, all too aware of the fact that the villains had escaped. And sure enough, as the cloud of dust cleared, the space where they had stood moments ago was empty—they were gone.

 

"You're too late," Cygnus said, turning as Blake, Alfonso, and Kiara appeared on the scene, looking rather worse for the wear. "We lost them."

 

He turned back in the direction where the villains had fled and sighed, feeling a bit light-headed himself, just like during the Justice League training sessions where he had overexerted himself. Magic really took it out of a boy. When he opened his eyes, he took a moment to survey the area, taking in the massive damage it had suffered.

 

"Whoever they were," he said at last, "they really pulled a number here. Sybil is not going to be happy about this."

[Dad]

He was unimpressed to say the least.  Alfonso didn't mind picking up Kiara, and helping her out.  His only complaint was the sudden dismissal he and his allies received.  Who was this mystery girl that had caused a mess?  She was definitely strong as well, which made the complain all the more concerning to Alfonso.  She looked as though she could have lasted longer, or perhaps even leave the Titans in much more dismay.  But she decided to vanish, and leave them in the dust.  Was she trying to regroup?  Wait.  She was headed east!  She was--!

 

"You two have get another hostile inbound. We're in pursuit, but she's fast."

 

Right.  She was headed towards the other Titans, who had also engaged with a separate foe.  They must have been working together.  That was the sensible explanation.  Alfonso flew as fast as he could towards Cygnus and Roxie, hoping to be able to assist where possible.  

 

Not sure if there were any other enemies in ear shot, Alfonso kept to codenames.  "Satellite.  Were you able to get much of a look at the lady in green?  We could definitely use whatever you have."  Alfonso ducked and dodged over several light poles, building openings and devastation as he could.  "Sorry, Arcana.  Don't mean to jostle you around so much."  But upon reaching Cygnus and Roxie, their foes had already vanished.  Alfonso let out a dejected sigh, feeling more tired than usual.

 

"We missed them, huh?"  Alfonso was frustrated.  Their first fight together had gone terrible.  And on top of it, Alfonso hadn't had the chance to show off any of his sweet moves to Roxie.  What a waste.  "Am I the only one that just wants to go home?"  A clang behind Alfonso from  a tilting light pole agreed with him, as the echo rang out over the empty streets.

[Mr. Hyde]

Blake rushed over to Cygnus and Roxie's location, with Alfonso and a flightless Kiara right behind him.  As they were running towards the others, Alfonso spoke up.

 

"Satellite.  Were you able to get much of a look at the lady in green?  We could definitely use whatever you have."  

 

"I'm running facial recognition software as we speak, and i'm relaying it to my personal satellite...whoever she was, she's lucky that she was wearing a mask.  It should make it harder to determine who she really is."  His fists curled up, and he rocketed faster to the other titans in hopes of dealing with the threat once and for all.  "COME ON!  We've got to help the others and put an end to this mission!"  

 

When he arrived at the scene, all that lie before them was what remained of the city block and the two titan's who wore a look of weariness.  Whatever they were about to say, Blake was sure it wouldn't lighten his mood.  

 

"You're too late, we lost them." Cygnus said with a heavy tone.  Blake's teeth grinded against each other behind his mask.  Their first outing had proven to be a failure.  

 

"Am I the only one that just wants to go home?" Of course he wanted to go home, probably to sit back down on his lazy ass.  

 

"As a matter of fact....you aren't!"  His tone was that of a scream being held back by sheer willpower.  Blake's jets powered back up, and he flew at top speeds back to the tower.  He was so angry, his first mission as a Titan was now over and what did he have to show for it?!  He certainly didn't have any criminals locked up, so what was he going to tell Sybil.  He had finally made it back through the tunnel that led back to his room and slammed his fist into the wall, creating a large dent.  "WHAT DO I CARE WHAT SYBIL THINKS ANYWAYS!"  He took his fist away from the wall, preparing to slam it back into it.  Instead, he held the anger back.  His suit came apart and placed itself back in it's container pod.  The screen displayed next to it stated: "Charging and repairing - 2 hours remain".  He flopped on his bed, onto his back.  His arm covered the top of his face as he sighed.  "How am I going to lead them when I can't even capture one lousy metahuman."  

[Ren✧]

The brief confrontation with whoever that woman had been had drained her of her stamina dramatically. Just thinking about it made her muscles spasm, remembering the various jolts of electricity that had racked her body. Of course, there was another reason that the sensation of being electrocuted unsettled her so greatly. Aside from the obvious fact it was incredibly painful, it reminded her of the conditioning she had undergone when first abducted by the Night Sisters. 

 

===

 

"State your name!" The cloaked woman screamed, causing Kiara's sobs of terror to intensify. "I said, state your name." She growled, drawing closer to the adolescent girl that was chained to the chair. Kiara didn't answer, her breaths escaping her body in ragged gasps in between violent sobs and cries for help. "I will ask you one last time. What. Is. Your. Name?"

 

"Kiara Foster." She replied willfully, knowing what was about to come.

 

"Wrong answer." Electricity leapt through Kiara's body, causing her to cry out in agony. "Your name is Eris. Learn it. Live by it."

 

===

 

Kiara had barely even registered that Alfonso had put her down. She briefly nodded thanks to him before surveying the scene. Having been completely lost in thought, it wasn't until now that she had noticed the toppled buildings that obviously marked a vicious fight. It seemed that Cygnus and Roxie hadn't fared much better.

 

"Am I the only one that just wants to go home?"

 

In truth, Kiara didn't want to go home. She wanted stay and help all the people that had been running in panic. All the people that lost their homes. The people that lost their friends and family. Those people needed their help. The idea that so many lives had been ruined made Kiara want to cry. How many people lost their mom because they didn't get to the scene in time? How many jobs were lost because their offices were destroyed? How many years would it take for their nightmares to stop? 

 

"As a matter of fact....you aren't!" Blake's cry of frustration was followed by a rush of air as he left the scene, flying back in the direction of Titans' Tower. Part of Kiara wanted to call out to him, to tell him to stop and think about what he was doing, but she knew it was no good. He was long gone by now. But maybe it was for the best. Better that he throw his fit in solitude than here.

 

"Why would someone do this? They destroyed so many lives today." Kiara finally choked out, the steely resolve that had accompanied her demeanor during the fight completely left her now. Now, she was just sad.  

[Saiba Aisu]

In spite of himself, Cygnus was relieved to see that Alfonso, Kiara, and Blake were still in one piece, despite looking decidedly worse for the wear. He knew from experience that the physical injuries were only one part of the problem; they would heal, given enough time. The trauma and shock they were experiencing as a result of their encounter with the two villains, however, was a different story. Perhaps, for some of them, it was their first encounter with such evil, but he, Cygnus, knew better. Powerful as they may have been, their enemies hadn't even come close to scratching the surface of true evil. Cygnus closed his eyes for a moment as a swarm of painful images swam before him. The shine of the guillotine blade, dropping again and again until the streets ran red with blood, severed heads littered here and there... The rain pouring down on the muddy trenches, muting the dying screams of men as they were blown to bits... And the eerie deathly silence that had hung over the camp, the thousands of bodies lying in mass graves, the Star of David burned into their skin, some of them still children... No, compared to that, the enemies they had faced today had not been so very evil.

 

A sudden roar and gust of wind interrupted his dark reverie; Blake had fired up his suit, shooting up into the sky and out of sight, presumably headed back towards Titans Tower to lick his wounds and sulk. Cygnus rolled his eyes, disappointed that his teammate had given in to his frustration.

 

"There he goes, letting his temper get the best of him," he muttered, crossing his arms, a superbly disdainful look on his face despite the fact that he was covered from head to toe in dust and rubble. "Typical mortal behavior."

 

Cygnus winced slightly as the treacherous words slipped past his mouth, wishing he could take them back. Looks like Blake wasn't the only one who was out of sorts—if he wasn't careful, he'd betray his secret to the rest of the Titans, and that would be disastrous. Fortunately, however, his teammates seemed to have more pressing matters on their minds than his incoherent mumbling.

 

"Why would someone do this?" Kiara choked out, in a tone that was a far cry from her usual cheerful bubbliness. Clearly, she was shaken by the scale of the wanton destruction that surrounded them. "They destroyed so many lives today."

 

"Who knows?" Cygnus replied, shrugging with indifference—now that the crisis was over, he was quickly reverting back to his usual icy demeanor. "Evil takes all kinds of forms and it rarely needs a reason to strike out against others. Having said that..."

 

He turned to Roxie, who was just as filthy as he was, in addition to sporting a magnificent bruise on her left cheek.

 

"Do you remember what that man said?" he asked her. "About how it wasn't anything personal, that he just wanted to kill us to prove that they had made a mistake? What do you suppose he meant by that?"

[Hälō]

Just as quickly as the battle had started, it had ended, and as Roxie stood with Cygnus in the now vacant battlefield, she couldn’t help but feel a wave white hot wash over her. 

 

“Bastards…” She growled, only barely acknowledging her teammates as they arrived on the scene.  Even when Blake blasted off in frustration, the blonde girl stood completely still as she stared forward at the spot that the two villains had be occupying only moments before. Did these people think they could just ruin all of these lives, hurt her friends, then simply run off without even bothering to pit themselves against her?! “When I find them… I’ll, I’ll-“ She stopped herself from finishing her own sentence, knowing all too well about how the rest of the team probably felt about the “K” word…

 

Clenching her fists in annoyance, she winced rather loudly at the sudden pain in her right hand. Glancing down, she observed that her knuckles adopted the same red hue as her cheek, and proceeded to flex her hand to assess the damage. “hm.” Luckily it seemed nothing was broken, but judging from the damage that her punch had did to her own body, Roxie was sure that Luca would definitely be sore in the face for while. The prospect of her opponent having something painful to remember her by served to brighten the girl’s mood, if only a little. Though she still couldn’t contain her urge to hit something… hard. 

 

“Do you remember what that man said?" Cygnus’s voice suddenly ripped her from her thoughts. Had the others been talking this whole time? "About how it wasn't anything personal, that he just wanted to kill us to prove that they had made a mistake? What do you suppose he meant by that?"

 

There was a moment of silence as Roxie rolled the question around in her mind. Who could they have been? It was such a cliché line… usually used when the villain was envious of the hero, and wanted to prove to their master that they were in fact the strongest ninja or jedi- or whatever the hell the main character was chosen as… Could that be it? Did those bastards want to be Titans? No. Nobody would cause this much of a mess just to prove that they were the better heros, right? That would be plain f***ing stupid! 

 

Another wave of rage washed over Roxie, her gut was telling her that she was right, and it made her sick to her stomach. Growling furiously, the girl suddenly swung her bat to her side, sending the broken remains of a car spiraling off into a nearby building with a thunderous crash.  Her body was now beginning to throb with pain, and in an instant each breath she took seemed to send another pulse of agony… had she over used her powers? No. She still had some juice left in her... This must have been the damage from that coward, Lucas's blasted sneak attack finally taking it's toll. She was human after all; no matter how amazingly badass, and good looking. 

 

“Yea, I think those f***ing twits are Titan rejects...” Roxie spoke in a unamused tone as she turned to face her teammates. Pausing for a moment, the girl attempted to take a step forward, but was immediately forced to support herself with her baseball to keep from falling flat on her face. Glancing at Cygnus, Roxie gave the boy a weary half smile. "That Luca guy may have got me a little better then I thought." Shifting her weight so that she could lean or her bat comfortably, the blonde drew the communicator from her pocket and lazily clicked button that would allow her voice to carry over to Blake. If anyone would be able to tell her if she was on to something, it would be him. Unable to tell if her other ally even had his own communicator nearby in the tower, Roxie continued, holding the device near her mouth as she spoke.  "Maybe they thought if they trounced us real good, the League would see that they were the better picks- or some crazy bullshit like that." The more she spoke , the more her theory seemed to make sense. Though was the tittle of Titan so important that these people would kill for it? 

[Saiba Aisu]

"Yea, I think those f***ing twits are Titans rejects," Roxie said, supporting herself from falling over by using her baseball bat, smiling rather wearily. "Maybe they thought if they trounced us real good, the League would see that they were the better picks, or some crazy bullshit like that."

 

Cygnus raised an eyebrow as Roxie presented her theory—the link she was suggesting seemed tenuous at best, but for the moment, it was all they had to work with. And after all, crazier things had happened before. Perhaps the flying woman that the western team had faced off against had made a similar comment; if so, that would further corroborate the blonde's argument.

 

Could it really be that simple? Cygnus thought to himself, biting his lip as he played back the confrontation with Luca in his head. Obviously, fighting to protect Roxie and himself from getting crushed to a pulp had prevented him from appreciating the finer details of the other man's personality, and he certainly wasn't a trained psychologist, but from what he had seen, he definitely seemed unbalanced enough. Tenuous as it seemed for the moment, perhaps Roxie's explanation wasn't as far-fetched as he had initially supposed.

 

"Good thinking, Roxie," he said, flashing her a rare smile. "If they're Titans rejects, it shouldn't be too difficult to confirm their identities using our database, or perhaps that of the Justice League... We should contact Sybil. As our senior advisor, he's the one most likely to know, and he's going to be expecting a report from us on this fiasco, anyways."

[Ren✧]

"Who knows? Evil takes all kinds of forms and it rarely needs a reason to strike out against others." Cygnus offered his sage-like advice, making Kiara nod along in spite of herself. She had seen true evil. She had been the destructive tool of true evil, and while this was a far cry from that, it didn't make the thought of so many ruined lives any easier to bear. How many kids would be without their parents tonight? How many parents without their children? Such thoughts made Kiara feel a mix of emotions, chief among them anger and sorrow. The tattoos on her body were already starting to form again, fueled by her intense emotions.

 

"Do you remember what that man said? About how it wasn't anything personal, that he just wanted to kill us to prove that they had made a mistake? What do you suppose he meant by that?" Kiara thought that sounded similar to something the woman had said right after she attacked them.

 

“Yea, I think those funking twits are Titan rejects...” Roxie suggested and immediately Kiara agreed. That would make a lot of sense.  "Maybe they thought if they trounced us real good, the League would see that they were the better picks- or some crazy bullshit like that."

 

"The woman said something similar." Kiara began to explain. "After hitting us with a surprise attack, she proclaimed that she never would have fallen for such an obvious trap. I think it's pretty safe to say that this wasn't just a random string of violence. These two were targeting us. Or at least, targeting our city in hopes that we would show."

 

Something about that suggestion made Kiara feel even more on edge. They'd been Titans for not even 24 hours and they were already the prime targets for meta-villain activity. Would their presence in the city do more harm than good?