Standing Tall Together (Teen Titans)

[Matt A]

As I promised, here is my new story, "Standing Tall Together". This one's gonna be a lot less plot-based than Dwyr Budr: well, it will have a plot - several plots, actually - but they all lead off the central concept rather than the other way around. Regardless, if you liked Dwyr Budr - and, let's face it, you wouldn't be reading this is you didn't - then you should like STT as well.

This first chapter probably isn't the most interesting of starts, but the build-up is sadly necessary. Also, it may not seem directly Teen Titans related at the moment, but I promise that it will do before long. So just bear with me on both of the above issues.

Oh, and before I forget, I've got another word-game going on here. In each chapter there will be a movie quote of some sort, and whenever you spot one you need to PM me the details of your find: once the story is over, whoever gets the most correct finds will be awarded a prize of some sort. I don't know what that prize will be yet, but I'll think of something.

Anyway, on with the start of my next epic work...



Chapter One: '96, aka First Methodist

“When ye are greeted with a greeting, greet ye with a better than it or return it.”

Sura IV, 86

“Choose life”. That’s what it says on the door. But then, you’d kinda expect to see a happy-clappy message like that on a church, wouldn’t you? You’d also expect to see “go in an worship now or else may your soul burn forever in the fires of hell” or something else equally cheerful and welcoming: funnily enough, that kind of sign isn’t on this door. They’ve just got “choose life” instead, which is fair enough. It’s short, to the point, and tells you that your life will be immensely better if you started worshipping God without actually coming out and saying it. In other words, you get what it’s trying to say, but you don’t feel like you’re being preached at. Sorry: that was a bad pun, I know, but I just couldn’t help myself. But, then again, not being able to help myself is the reason why I’m here, so that kinda fits.

I walk inside the church, an anonymous brick-and-concrete building halfway between the nice and not-so-nice areas of Jump City, to find myself confronted with the not-quite-run-down and really, really bland atmosphere that you’d expect to find in an inner-city school. There’s a hallway of pale cream breezeblock, plain, varnished wooden floors, and two or three noticeboards nailed to the walls. To be honest, that’s all that’s worth saying about this place. You notice the features, a few crosses and other religious paraphernalia here and there, but only because what they’ve been placed against has all he character and charm of a Soviet housing estate. I haven’t been inside the church itself yet, but I can imagine that it’s just the same.

Thankfully, I’m not here for any church service. On the first noticeboard on the left is a simple piece of white A4 paper, with a few names and dates typed on it in black ink. The name-date set that I’m looking for is about halfway down: “Standing Tall Together”, Saturday 26th, 9PM, basement floor. So I’m on time, then. Good. The stairs are over to the right, by the door to the main church area, and are made with the same plain, varnished wooden flooring. They must have had a job lot on that stuff, then. I laugh quietly to myself, half at me being in a church, and half at the rubbishness of what’s supposed to be the most welcoming type of building on Earth.

I walk down the stairs, and slowly push open the plain wood double-doors at the bottom. The room that I’m now greeted with is even more bland than the hallway that I’ve just left. The walls are a pale green colour – one that immediately makes me think of hospitals – and aside from a few small pictures dotted around they’re pretty much featureless. There are ten black, spindly chairs arranged in a circle in the middle of the room, and a Formica table over to one side that has a silver coffee dispenser and an assortment of Styrofoam cups on it. In the whole of this admittedly large room, the only thing that’s worth mentioning are the seven people standing around in small groups: I presume that they were talking to each other before I can in, but now all they’re doing is staring at me. I can’t think of anything interesting to say, so I just smile at them and go to pour myself a cup of coffee. Whilst standing by the table, I notice that there’s a wad of sticky labels and a black marker pen next to all the cups. I write my name – Amy – on one of the labels, and stick it onto my jumper.

Whilst drinking my cup of lukewarm coffee, I take the opportunity to look at the people who will potentially be my new friends. There are four guys and three girls, all looking about 15-17. Not only are they the same age as me, but they’re also dressed roughly the same: the kind of jeans/T-shirt/jumper combo that only looks like it was chosen at random because it was. I already know that, like me, these people have more important things to worry about than fashion, so it isn’t all that surprising. There’s one guy, however, who is dressed a little differently. A few years back there was this girl called Terra, who was using her earth-moving powers to cause major-league havoc throughout the city. I saw most of her fights with the Teen Titans on TV – and I was even unfortunate enough to personally witness one of them – and one thing that I will always remember about her was that she was wearing a metallic suit of armour, an outfit that was only a helmet away from making here look like a robot.

Well, this guy – Richard, according to his sticker – is wearing a suit that might as well be the same. I tense up for a second, but then I realise that if he was a villain he wouldn’t be here. I also realise that this Richard has a second sticker underneath the one that I first spotted. It says “Dreadnought”: it must be his nickname, for reasons that seem vaguely obvious. It’s at this point that I finally notice that everyone is wearing two stickers. Doing my best to slyly read the labels, I figure out that my other new-found friends are Nicola/”Vine”, Ben/”Sidious”, Tom/”Hotshot”, Sarah/”Megawatt”, Catherine/”Werecat” and Sam/”Whirlwind”: from the looks of it, they’ve get some weird powers between them, but if they’re weirder than mine I’ll be very impressed. I’d write myself a second label as well, but seeing as I’ve never been able to think up a decent nickname for myself – save perhaps “freak” – I’m not gonna bother.

A new guy comes into the room, a 30-year-old man in similarly not-quite-geekish clothing as the rest of us. His labels say that his name is Jack, and his nickname is “Teach”: the reasons for that are pretty obvious, I feel. Everyone in this room – myself included – knows why they’re here, so none of us feels the need to say anything as we walk over to the chairs and sit down. The one spare chair has an “X” written on the seat with two strips of white duct tape, for reasons that I’m sue I’ll find out soon enough. “Teach” coughs politely to get our attention – even though he has it already – and goes to speak.

“As you all no doubt already know, we have a new member joining us tonight.” he says, and everyone looks at me for a second or two. “Seeing as her introducing herself to us and visa versa will probably take up most of our time, I don’t think that we’ll be doing any training stuff tonight. I hope you guys don’t mind.” They don’t. “Before Amy here tells us about herself, I’m sure that she’d appreciate it you guys tell her about yourselves, not to mention what we do here.”

[ShadowOfAGhost]

the first half of the chapter is dull, but it picks up in the second half of the chapter. I remember when I read IT by Stephen King there was a section about 200-300 pages long that was dull. I don't know how I stuck with it, but it was worth it. Good Job and Good Luck!

[Sproxie]

the first half of the chapter is dull, but it picks up in the second half of the chapter.

Well, he's gotta start it off some way. :shrug:
I don't exactly know how to reply to this, It was of course very interesting and intriguing, but since I really don't know the characters or whats going on, all I can do is say, I can't wait for more!

[nevermore]

I am liking this. Yeah, the first half was boring, but the last half was interesting. I want to see more of this. I am interested to find out more about this meeting of peoples.

[Kregor8]

I actually didn't find the beginning to be boring. I guess you have to start somewhere, and it makes sense to start with the scene. So, I don't have any complaints. It's looking like it will be pretty interesting. I can't say much more till the next chapter or so.

7<regor

[Raven13]

Yea you are starting a new story!!!!!!:D I like it so far. Vey interesting! Hey that is weird cause I'm a Methodist to! :D WEll I like it so far this seems to start out being a very interesting story! Contiune writting!:anime:

~ ~ Raven13 ~ ~

[Rae]

It wasn't boring, but you've definatly written more interesting stuff before

I think this should be interesting so i'll have to keep an eye on it!

Rae

[Crowgirl]

Actually, the beginning wasn't as dull as you guys are making it out to be. I quite enjoyed the beginning. Sure, it didn't have much dialogue or action, but it was cool to see inside somebody's head.

The meeting seemed interesting, I enjoyed the fact that this was also new to the character as well as us. It was a nice touch. Of course, you left us with a subtle cliffhanger....

It was a great beginning, and I can't wait for more!

CG

P.S. It's nice to see you use first person.

[rrarbecy]

Hm. This looks like it could be great. I'd like to see where this is going.

[Matt A]

Oh, it will be great! I hope.:sweat:

Anyway, I apologise for such a boring start, but for what comes to next to make any sense this dull build-up needs to be done. You'll find out a bit more about who the characters are and what's going on in the next chapter, but I can't promise that it'll be any more interesting.


I enjoyed the fact that this was also new to the character as well as us. It was a nice touch.This might not make much sense right now, but the narrator (Amy) is a girl that you all know intimately. You'll find out why around about chapter five, so just hang on in there.


Hey that is weird cause I'm a Methodist to!I hate to dissapoint you, but Methodism won't be involved here. Religion will be a vital subject matter in chapters to come, but the religion in question isn't Christianity or any of its offshoots. The quotation at the start will offer a pretty big hint as to what I'm talking about, so provided you're all willing to do a tiny bit of research then you should figure it out in no time.

Even though they may not realise it, ShadowOfAGhost and Raven37 already know the answer, but I'd appreciate it if they didn't blab.

Anyway, I'll hopefully have the next chapter written and posted sometime tomorrow. As I said earlier, it'll fill in a lot more about what's going on and what the story will be about, but I'm afraid that it probabbly won't be much more exciting. But still, the quality will improve after that, so don't get angry with me just yet.:sweat:


Ta,
Matt

PS: Has anyone spotted the movie quote yet?

[Adrastea]

very intriqueing (sp?)

Can't wait to find out more. Amy, huh? wait a second while i look up waht that means..."beloved" wait, that doesn't give us any clues!! shoot! oh well, carry on

[Matt A]

The name "Amy" doesn't have any real relevance here: I just picked it 'cause I've always liked the sound of it. The important thing about our narrator is something else, something that you won't see until the next chapter.

I'd like to say more, but I don't want to ruin the surprise.:evil:

[Kregor8]

Yeah, the religion is Islam, if you're quoting Sura IV. Anyway, that will be strange. I can't see Teen Titans and Islam going together. But, I never expected Dwyr Budr either...

7<regor

[Matt A]

As I said when I mentioned this story in Dwyr Budr, STT is going to be a real-world thing. The connection is there, and you probably wouldn't even believe that I would attempt it, but I have.

And just what have I attempted? You'll just have to wait and see...:evil:

[Crowgirl]

Isn't there supposed to be an evil/maniacal laugh there? :p

I can't wait to see 'what you've attempted'....

[Matt A]

I would put in an evil laugh, but to be honest it'd be just more of a worried grin than anything else. Don't worry, all will make sense in time...

Anyway, here's the second chapter. It's about twice as long as the first one, and there's quite a lot of important information revealed here so you're going to need to pay attention. Make a few notes, if you consider it necessary. Sadly, I doubt that this chapter will be any more interesting than the last one: I've done the best I can with it, but it still ain't exactly fun reading. I promise that the next few chapters will be more interesting!:sweat:

It's also worth noting here that it may seem like I've thieved a few ideas from "Dwyr Budr", "Perfect Vision" and "Black & White" (aka "'nuther Teen Titans fic, help!") but I genuinely devised all the suspect points before the similar ones were posted on their particular threads. I apologise in advance if anyone feels hard done by.:sweat: :sweat: :sweat:

Oh, and to make life a bit easier you with the whole film-quote-competition-thing, I'll tell you what film each quote is from before I start the chapter: it'll still be difficult hunting, but it won't be quite so much of a needle-in-a-haystack thing for you. The quote in the first chapter was from "Trainspotting", and the quote in this one is from "Gattaca". Good hunting!:evil:

On with the chapter...


Chapter Two: '97, aka Introductions

“And as for those with whom your right hands have made a covenant, give them their due.”

Sura IV, 33

I already know that Standing Tall Together isn’t the kind of place that you go to if you want a party. I already know that the basement of the Jump City First Methodist church on a Saturday night is where the freaks hang out. I already know why I’m joining them, and they already know why I know all that. They don’t need to explain what Standing Tall Together is, because I wouldn’t have joined if I didn’t already know: this is where all those kids with freakish talents, young people like me who constantly and unwillingly hurt people in all sorts of strange ways, this is where they go to try and control their unwanted gifts. I’m here for the reason why everyone else is here, so I can get the kind of help that no official charity or organization will offer. All they need to tell me is who I’m going to working with, and what kind of work I’m going to do.

The first one to introduce themselves is Vine, a timid yet determined-looking girl who couldn’t be any older than fifteen. Like the others will eventually come to do, she talks straight to me. Like the others, she doesn’t bother to insult my intelligence by telling me her name when we both know that it’s stuck to her jumper.

“I don’t know where I got this power from, or why I should have it,” she says, clearly only half-sure of how to say what she wants to say, “but for as long as I can remember I’ve been able to shoot vines from my fingertips. It’s a bit like Spider-Man with his web stuff, except I’ve got ten rather than two, and they can hold things rather than just stick to them. I’m not going to say that you must think it sounds strange, ‘cause you wouldn’t be here if it did.”
I’m not sure as to how these vines could be a problem, so I ask the obvious question. “Let me guess, these things have a mind of their own?”

Vine, now with the reason for her nickname being obvious, looks sad for a few seconds. “Thankfully, no. The truth is…I’m botanophobic. I have a fear of plants, and by logical extension a fear of myself. I’m here not to control my powers, but to control my attitude towards them: these guys are the only ones who can understand what hating your own powers is like, so they’re the only ones who can help me.”

Man, and I thought I had problems…of course, I’m not going to say that out loud, so I just remain silent.

After a few seconds, Sidious takes up the cue to speak. He’s got short yet spiky black hair, and in his own way is actually quite cute. “Have you ever seen Star Wars?” he asks me. I nod dumbly. “In that case, you’ve probably seen the bit where the Emperor, aka Darth Sidious, electrocutes Skywalker. I’m called Sidious ‘cause I can pull off the same trick. A bit like Vine here, I can shoot electricity from my fingertips. I don’t know how I can do it without frying myself, but what I do know is that it makes a pretty painful mess out of those who stand in its way. Which is the problem: once the electricity leaves my body, it’s out of my control. I can decide where and when I unleash it, but I can’t decide what I fry. Hence why I rarely decide to use it.”

It’s Hotshot’s turn next. If it wasn’t for him having black glasses and red hair, he could easily be Sidious’ brother, but then again he blatantly isn’t. “I’m a pyrokinetic, of sorts. There are a lot us “flame-manipulators” about, people who can either create fire or shape and direct it according to their will. I’m the first kind: I can’t control fires, but I can start them just through power of thought. Well, more of less thought, anyway.” He goes quiet for a few seconds. “The best way to explain it is that whenever I’m injured – not with just like a graze or anything, but reasonably serious stuff – I automatically burst into flame. A bit like spontaneous human combustion, only I don’t blow up, and it hurts everyone else rather than me…okay, so it’s nothing like spontaneous human combustion, but you get the idea. Er…”

He tails off, clearly embarrassed. Luckily for him, Megawatt jumps to the rescue. The most notable thing about her is that she has the kind of pale skin colour that could only come from not enough sun. “Have you ever heard of the saying “megawatt stare”?” she asks me. I do, so I nod. “In my case, it’s literal. All who look into my eyes…die instantly. Hence why, if you notice, they’re always closed.” I did indeed notice, but up until now it seemed a bit tasteless to comment. “I wear eyepatches most of the time, but thanks to these guys I’m slowly learning to get round these stupid things. I’ve even been able to open my eyes once or twice, but it’s still not something that I have the guts to try right now.” She smiles at me weakly. I smile back, even though she won’t be able to see it.

In between Megawatt and the girl sitting next to her – Werecat – is the empty chair with the “X” on it. Much to my surprise, a voice suddenly appears from this chair. It’s a man about our age, a New Yorker from what I can tell.

“I bet you didn’t expect that, huh?” he says, only half joking.

I nod, still shocked.

“My name’s Mark, but you can call me “Ghost.” he says. “I’m the invisible man. No, really. I was born with permanent invisibility, even to myself. I can’t even wear any of those labels, ‘cause I can’t see enough of myself to put them on! Just eating is a stressful enough activity, believe you me! Luckily for me, I live with Whirlwind here,” a blond kid who looks like he should be the school rebel nods in Ghost’s vague direction, “so I always have someone around to make sure that I don’t hit or spill things by mistake. The guys here also help out quite a lot with those kinds of tricks, making sure that a guy who might as well be blind knows how to take care of himself. I’ve had a lifetime of practise, in my own inimitable fashion, but it’s always good to get help from people who already know what you want.”

Werecat, a ginger girl who looks somehow predator-like, finally takes her turn. “In basic terms, I’m a werewolf. Whenever it’s the night of a full moon, I turn into a violent and destructive animal – literally. Despite my time here, I still don’t have complete control over this transformation, and I don’t yet have any control over my animal self. The joke, and my nickname, is the fact that I don’t turn into a wolf: I turn into a tiger.” I smile, despite the fact that this little twist isn’t even at all funny.

The next question is pretty stupid even by own low standards, but I just can’t stop myself from asking it. “Is it true about the silver bullets and stuff?”

Werecat looks at me blankly. She’s blatantly heard that question more than a few times before, but she has the good grace not to get angry with me. “In a way, yes. Even when as a tiger, I’m sill fully mortal, but silver sometimes helps to reverse the transformation before the full moon goes away. So I always get whoever I’m with to carry some around with them.” Sidious pulls a small silver stake-type thing out of his trouser pocket: evidently, it’s his turn tonight.

The next person up is Dreadnought, the guy with the armour and the skinhead cut that’s so short I can’t even tell what colour it is. “I’m a bit of an oddity here,” he says, and I manage to not laugh at just how ridiculous the word “oddity” sounds amidst this collection of weirdoes, “as I’m the only one who wasn’t born with superpowers. True, I was born with an inability to feel pain – or any other physical sensation, for that matter – that such a condition is too common to really class as a power. Anyway, it’s what resulted from this that makes me different. When I was nine, I was “recruited” for a top-secret military project, and my natural ignorance of pain meant that I was the only test subject to survive.

This suit is pretty much grafted to my body. It isn’t stuck to me or anything, but I’m never going to be able to take it off. Anyway, because of this…thing, I have speed, strength and reactions that are matched perhaps only by the likes of Superman. And as if that wasn’t enough, when I need it to this suit can turn into a giant mechanoid, a fifteen-foot, gun-toting weapon of mass destruction. Considering the amount of power – unwanted power – that I have already, I’ve thankfully never really had cause to use it! As it is, I’m learning how to not kill those around me with the lightest touch: quite an important skill, as I’m sure you’d imagine.”

There’s only one person left to go before me: Whirlwind, the blond class rebel. “Well, I think my powers are a damn sight easier to explain that everyone else’s!” They all grin slightly, probably not entirely against their will. “As you’ve no doubt figured, I can control wind speed and direction. If I want to create a hundred-kilometres-an-hour hurricane purely within this room, then I could. Of course, then I’d kill everyone in this room, myself notwithstanding. Which is the problem.” He smiles at the self-evident irony of it all. “Like Sidious and Hotshot, I don’t think that I need to explain what I’m here for!”

Teach rubs his hands together, clearly pleased with the honesty of his “students”. He turns to me, and both he and I know full well what needs to be said next. “Right,” he says, “that’s us lot introduced. Now, tell us a bit about yourself.”

I gulp nervously, not sure of what to say. “As you all know, my name’s Amy, but I’ve never been able to think up a decent nickname so don’t as me what it is! It’s kinda hard to describe my powers, ‘cause I don’t really know what they are, but I think that it should be safe enough for me to give you a demonstration.”

The other guys, Teach included, look at me with a mild expression of concern. Whatever they think I’m going to do next, they probably don’t like the sound of it one bit! I hold my hands out in front of me, palms up, and after a bit of concentration two balls of the mysterious black energy that has damn near governed my entire life start to form around them. Two more black energy balls form over some of the Styrofoam cups on the table, and they shoot towards my waiting hands without warning. All four of the black balls disappear, leaving a cup standing on each of my hands.

Teach looks at me shrewdly. “You don’t know a girl called “Raven”, by any chance?”

I laugh. “I wish! The Titans are legends! But I’ve never met any of them, no.”

He rubs his chin. “Hmm, interesting…”

I put the two cups down. “Anyway, I’m here ‘cause I can’t completely control these energy balls, whatever they are. Whenever I feel particular extremes of emotion – joy, anger, depression, whatever – mayhem just gets unleashed. The black balls form where they will, and throw around what they will. Total carnage, in other words.” I’ve never had the nerve to say all this to anyone before, but being with these guys and their weird talents has made me feel in an honest mood.

“So, basically, what you want is help with emotion control.”

“Yeah. That’s probably the best way to put it. Can you guys do that?”

Teach laughs. “Of course! We do everything else! Even teaching Ghost how to make coffee!” Ghost laughs slightly as well.

I look over at Teach. “By the way, what are your powers?”

Teach shoots me an evil look. I’ve evidently just put my talent for putting my foot in it to good use.

“That, young Amy, is something that I don’t wish to talk about. It’s nothing that you guys can help me with, so there’s no reason for us to discuss it. What I’m more concerned with is how to help you. In your case in particular, I think that we can start by giving you a nickname.

One day, you guys will all be superheroes, working like the Teen Titans and the Justice League and all the others to keep the streets of this Earth crime-free. And that’s why you’re all here, to learn how to put your more…destructive tendencies to good use. That’s what you were born to do, so that’s what I want to help you become. You might not believe that you can do it, but, for what it’s worth, I’m here to tell you that it is possible.

Now, a key thing about superheroes is that they have names other than their real ones. They always give us a public image, so that their true self is kept hidden. If you’re going to be a superhero, and I can’t imagine that you’d be here if you didn’t want that,” I nod, “then you’re going to need a new name. Seeing as you already said that you don’t have any ideas yourself, I’m going to throw this open. Anyone?”

We both look around at these crimefighters-in-training, these potential replacements for our idols when they wish to step down. All of us who, from now on, will only ever be what it is that we are trying to be. Strange nicknames and all.

Whirlwind sticks up his hand nervously. “I was thinking about those black energy balls,” he said, “and I thought: how about “Orb”?”.

I smile. “Yeah, that sounds good. It’s a damn sight better than my idea, anyway!”

Whirlwind looks at me strangely. “What was that, then?”

“Well…“Freak”.”

The ten members of Standing Tall Together – myself included – all laugh, all of us knowing full well what I was trying to say. In this room, none of us are unnatural and horrible. In this room, we are all able to become great things.

In this room, I am accepted.

[ShadowOfAGhost]

I’m botanophobicI'm still reading the chapter, just wanted to say, I won't say anything about it.;)

“I’m a pyrokinetic, of sorts.Fire Bug?

[Matt A]

I'm still reading the chapter, just wanted to say, I won't say anything about it.;)
Good.:p


Fire Bug?
Not deliberately. Liz Sherman off of "Hellboy" was more my inspiration for Hotshot. I apologise if I offended you.:sweat:

[Adrastea]

I can understand why some people would find that chapter boring, but I liked it. It was well told. The only problem that I see with it is that you're introducing so many new characters, it may be difficult to develop them the way you have shown us you like to develop them at the same time. Then again, you may decide to kill all these people in the next chapter, so then that problem is eliminated.

So, i was looking out for it, but the only quotes from Gattaca that I remember are:
"Gerome, Gerome, the metronome" and
"The only way you'll ever get into a spaceship is if you're cleaning it."
I really wasn't paying attention when we watched it in Biology last year.

Anyway, post more soon, or fear falling asleep ever again for fear that I may appear at your bedside, atrocious weapons of torture in my grasping clutch.

[Aquagirl15]

:^: Lol, this was awesome. Yes some of it wasn't the most intersting, but I've read enough books and fics to know that this will totaly get better. Although I have no idea where this is going it seems like it's going in a good direction. Now I have to find out why Raven37 keeps saying "Dwyr Budr" is so sad! I'm only on the third chapter. :crying: But I love "Dwyr Budr" so far! :D

[Matt A]

The only problem that I see with it is that you're introducing so many new characters, it may be difficult to develop them the way you have shown us you like to develop them at the same time.That's what I was worried about. Don't worry, that's the only scene in the whole story where all ten characters will appear together. This story is going to be more focused on the individual people and how Amy deals with them, as opposed to how the group as a whole functions.


So, i was looking out for it, but the only quotes from Gattaca that I remember are:
"Gerome, Gerome, the metronome" and
"The only way you'll ever get into a spaceship is if you're cleaning it."
I really wasn't paying attention when we watched it in Biology last year.Well, you should watch it again! It's a good movie, and the quote that I've picked is an apt one.


Now I have to find out why Raven37 keeps saying "Dwyr Budr" is so sad! I'm only on the third chapter. :crying: But I love "Dwyr Budr" so far! :DSo, she's been pushing it, has she?:D

In that case, keep reading and you'll find out why DB has the reputation that it has.:evil:


Once I've got two more people commenting, I'll get to work on chapter three. It'll be a lot more interesting (hopefully) but I doubt that it'll give you any more clues as to what this story is about. In fact, what it's basically about is the stuff that I said at the start of the post: all the secrets that each member of the group keeps, how Amy copes once she learns those secrets, and what ramifications they will have once they're revealed. It's going to be a number of seperate plots at once, but it'll still be a cohesive story...if that makes any sense, that is.:sweat:

[rrarbecy]

I know you're probably tired of hearing this by now, but you are a genius. I mean seriously, who else can make up this stuff. (I might be able to, but I won't boast.)

[Rae]

Me and rrbeccy have replied now so you can put up the next chapter!

That wasn't boring. it was interesting to meet the others and i found it interesting to learn that Amy's powers were like Ravens (believe it or not i actually thought that maybe she was Raven, and was doing this for some strange reason)

I'm wanting to know about why teach is so sectretive about his powers, it screams out 'MASS DESTRUCTION' for some reason

Bring on Chapter three!!!!

Rae

[ShadowOfAGhost]

***sighs*** thank god for Bob Marley. Now I can post a coherent review. this chapter was very good overall. there is only one thing that I don't really like, and that is that the story seems a little predictable to the present point. for example:

prediction 1: The teacher is a practicer of islam, that coupled with the fact that you're a little unsure about including the muslim factor. this leads me to believe that you will have the teacher trying to corrupt the students, and thereby turning many, if not all, off them into radicals.

prediction 2: the Titans will eventualy contact amy about the meetings and she will either join up with or work for them, so that they can have one on the inside, and Raven will be working closely with Raven.

This story isn't wuite as dull as the first paragraph or two and is quickly becoming a very interedting read.

[Crowgirl]

In case you've forgotten Ghost, your medication is in the cabinet next to the white, puffy door to match the white, puffy interior of the white, puffy room. :p


The only problem that I see with it is that you're introducing so many new characters, it may be difficult to develop them the way you have shown us you like to develop them at the same time. Actually, since he took so much time to dive into each character, introducing them really wasn't a problem. Now, if he developed every character at the same time, it'd be confusing. But if he does it so only a few intertwine at a time, then it'll work extraordinarily well.

I agree with all the above comments, especially the good ones and the ones about you being a genius.


Then again, you may decide to kill all these people in the next chapter, so then that problem is eliminated. And of course, we get the optimistic side of Adrastea along with the feedback.

A couple of lines made me think that you are putting yourself into this story a little bit, no? I won't give examples.... :p

Teach's powers scream total chaos or evil genius. Not sure which, but his are dangerous. That's most likely a fact. Why else would he not tell?

The HotShot guy made me think of a couple of people: HotStreak (From Static Shock), Pyro (From X-Men), and HotSpot (From Teen Titans, duh). Other than that Sideous reminds me of, well Static (Guess from what show). But Sideous brings up a good point:


"I can shoot electricity from my fingertips. I don’t know how I can do it without frying myself, but what I do know is that it makes a pretty painful mess out of those who stand in its way. Which is the problem: once the electricity leaves my body, it’s out of my control. I can decide where and when I unleash it, but I can’t decide what I fry. Hence why I rarely decide to use it.”How would you control what it does anyway?

Mark reminds me of Skinner from League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (LXG). Actually, he kind of is Skinner in a way, seeing as they're both invisible. But Skinner wears shaving cream....

Werecat kind of reminds me of Lupin from Harry Potter. The werewolf resemblance, and they both sort of have control over what they transform into.

Dreadnought resembles Wolverine from the X-Men movies (I say movies because I've never really read the comics). You know how he gets shot and the bullets just fall off in the form of dust? Invincibility (sp?). Also from LXG, that guy, Dorian Gray. He has the portrait that keeps him young and immortal.

As for Whirlwind, Storm from X-Men.

You know what I just realized? I probably sound like a freak telling you all this stuff, but oh well.


In this room, I am accepted. That was a great line.

CG

[T.T.Raven4]

Whoa. This is awesome. I like the powers. Most very creative ideas, others nothing new. Ravens powers seem slightly overused sometimes, but hell; I used em. You can too.

I'm glad to see the start of the new fic here. Very Good.

[Matt A]

and don't apologize for this.Sorry.:p


prediction 1: The teacher is a practicer of islam, that coupled with the fact that you're a little unsure about including the muslim factor. this leads me to believe that you will have the teacher trying to corrupt the students, and thereby turning many, if not all, off them into radicals.That's a good guess, but no. There is a Muslim in the group, but they aren't an extremist. The suspect one is a character that you won't properly meet for quite a while yet.

As for Teach, the best thing that I can say for now is...


Teach's powers scream total chaos or evil genius. Not sure which, but his are dangerous. That's most likely a fact. Why else would he not tell?...which is closer to the truth than she suspects. But that's a little dangler, so to speak, that will be left for a long time. If fact, I have a feeling that Teach's role in the whole story will be rather limited.


At this point, I think that it's worth clearing up any potential confusion by explaining my inspiration for each of these new characters:

Vine: It seemed like quite a good idea to have a character that was literally terrified of their own powers, and naturally there's only one fear that I would choose. I had thought up Vine before I put in the Michael/Mumbo fight in "Dwyr Budr", so any resemblance between the two situations is purely coincidental.

Sidious: Darth Sidious/The Emperor from "Star Wars". Hence the nickname.:anime:

Hotshot: As I already said, this was a "Hellboy" inspiration.

Megawatt: I don't know about this one. I must have been feeling a little sadistic at the time.:(

Ghost: Just a general "invisible man" thing, I'm afraid.

Werecat: This one seemed like a nice little twist on the whole werewolf thing, plus you can have some pretty cool fight scenes with this character.:evil:

Dreadnought: He's kind of a cross between Kroenen from "Hellboy" and the giant 'mechs from "Matrix: Revolutions". The whole resistance-to-pain thing (which is a real medical condition) was developed after the suit.

Sadly, explaing the origins of Whirlwind, Orb (as Amy will be called in the story from now on) and Teach will give away some pretty important parts of the plot. Hence why I'm keeping the lip zipped.

Any resemblances to other characters from Teen Titans, LXG and X-Men is purely coincidental. Well, ish...:anime:


Anyway, I'm now going to get to work on chapter three. I've got to do a little background reading for it first, so expect it to take a few days.:sweat:


Ta,
Matt

PS:
don't need no arms around me
And I don't need no drugs to calm me
I have seen the writing on the wall
Don't think I need anything at all
No. Don't think I need anything at all
All in all it was all just bricks in the wall
All in all you were all just bricks in the wall
-Pink Floyd, Another Brick in the Wall pt. IIIVery clever.:rolleyes:

[Lord Welshi]

This is great so far. Unlike a couple of the earlier commentors, I have not found a single part of this story boring: it's all been exeptional in quality. The characters, as much as we have seen so far, are a very believable lot: it must be difficult to live amongst unpowered people if you lack the required self control to keep hold of your powers. The fact that these teens can find solace and acceptance in a group of similar youths is a nice human touch to the story. Like it. The slow-ish start is very good: all too often have writers had bare minimal build up to theoir stories, and gone straight into the action or interesting parts, wearing themselves out by the time they reach the end of the story. It is a proven fact that the current generation, when it comes to reading, want the action to start straight away, rather thanhave a decent build up. Take Tolkein's "Lord of the Rings," then compare it to, say, David Eddings "The Tamuli."

Anyway, point is, you could easily spend at least another 1 or 2 chapters of this length just building up a little bit more, before going into the more...actiony parts, safe in the knowledge that you are writing a great story.

Lord Welshi

[Matt A]

I have no idea as to what you're referring to, but I'm sure that you'll tell us in time...

Don't worry CG, your wait is over! Just for Welshie (whose comments I greatly appreciate) this is going to be another slow scene. As with the last one, some important information is given away here, as well as one or two clues as to what one of the many plots will be. So, yeah, pay attention. Oh, and the next chapter will be the first action sequence, so this slow-burn stuff, as boring as it may nor not be, won't be continuing for much longer. Yay!:D

The movie quote this time around comes from "Fight Club".

Anyway, on with the chapter...



Chapter Three: '99, aka Call To Prayer

“Establish worship, pay your poor-due, and bow your heads with those who bow in worship.”

Sura II, 43

I’ve been with Standing Tall Together for four months now. For the most part, our meet-ups consist of us doing various exercises in whatever it is we need help in: Vine trying to use her powers without wanting to freak out, Ghost trying to use various household objects without being able to see his hands, et cetera, et cetera. In my case, I’ve been mostly undergoing what Teach calls “emotional control”: in other words, to see if I can feel particular extremes of emotion without my powers going wacko. This basically entails all the other guys trying to make me happy, angry, upset or whatever, and then I have to try and control the results. So far, what this has mostly resulted in is lots of hefty insurance claims and one or two trips to hospital, but I’m slowly getting better at not doing that sort of stuff. I’ve even managed to have no reaction whatsoever when Sidious was annoying the hell out of me – which he’s remarkably good at – but seeing as I don’t know how I did it that point’s not really relevant.

On the plus side, I’ve made a few new friends here. Well, we’re all friends with each other, more or less, as there are few things that bring people closer together than having a shared problem. Whenever I’m out and about and happen to see one of the guys, I’ll usually make an effort to go have a quiet drink with them or something like that. You know, being sociable and stuff: I must admit that it’s a bit of a new and daring concept for me, but then again it is for all of us. In a slightly perverse way, we’re all damaged goods, the people that even the dregs of society don’t want to know. The people that can kill others literally without even thinking about it, without knowing why, and without being able to stop it: “freaks”, in other words. It’s still my best way of describing myself, much to Teach’s dismay.

As well as all this “opportune socialisation”, I’ve made some proper friends, ones that I’ll actually try and find rather than just wait until I bump into. Those people are Vine, Dreadnought and Hotshot, though why I should be friendlier with them than any of the others I don’t really know. It’s not as if they’re all that similar, ‘cause they’re not: Vine’s shy yet generous, Dreadnought’s dour and serious, and as for Hotshot…well, let’s just say that his name is appropriate in more ways than one. Despite their very different natures, I’ve got something in common with all three of them. I don’t know what it is – and it’s something more than just being “damaged goods” – but then again the whole point of friendship is that you shouldn’t need to question that sort of stuff.

Anyway, onto the point of all this rambling. ‘Cause me and Vine are friends and all that, we decided this morning to meet up in one of the more hidden Downtown cafés to have a drink or two. It’s now 2PM, we’ve been here for an hour and we’re both halfway through our second cup of whatever. So far, we’re also having a good time. We’re just talking about this and that, nothing particularly deep or significant, but just a nice quiet chat. That rare kind of chat, especially for me, where you don’t find yourself worrying that you’ve got nothing to say next.

It’s at about this point, roughly halfway through a debate on the pros and cons of the Mocha, that the Teen Titans’ oh-so-recognisable “T-Car”, or whatever the hell they call it, screams past. Like everyone else in the café, we stop talking for a second and watch it.

Vine turns back to me. She clearly knows what I’m thinking, undoubtedly because she’s thinking the same thing.

“I wonder if it’ll ever be us in that thing?” she asks.

I smile. “As if!”

“No, seriously. Will we ever get to be like them? A life of crime-fighting, and all that stuff.”

“Personally, I just want to get in control of my life, and maybe afterwards I’ll think about where it’s going. Besides, I imagine that the Titans don’t have the same sort of problems that we have, and not just with their powers. They’ve probably got their home lives and all the rest of it down pat, unlike us.”

“Yeah, probably. Still, it’d be cool to work with them, wouldn’t you think?”

“Indeed I do, young Vine, indeed I do.”

Suddenly, the alarm on Vine’s watch starts to go off. She turns it off, looking nearly panic-struck.

“Gah! I almost forgot!” she shouts.

“Forgot what?”

“It’s nearly time for prayer.”

Hmm, now that’s something I didn’t know…

“Prayer for what religion?” It’s a bit of a personal question, but I couldn’t help but ask.

Vine shoots me a look of grave self-concern. Whatever she says next, it’s clear that she’s not quite sure how I’ll take it.

“Islam.” she says quietly.


Needless to say, Jump City mosque doesn’t look quite like what I expected it to. It doesn’t even look like any form of religious building, or even just any important building full stop. The local Muslim population has the highly romantic setting of a former textile factory to hold their prayers in, but then again maybe I shouldn’t be too surprised. As Vine said, a mosque is simply a place where you pray: even an area of dirt by the roadside can count as a mosque, so long as it’s at least clean-ish. There’s also the more tragic point that being a Muslim in America, especially when you’re white, isn’t exactly a way to make yourself popular, which means that a mosque that doesn’t go at least some way to try and hide the fact that it’s a mosque stands a very high risk of catching fire. They probably don’t use the old factory purely for secrecy, but right here and now it seems like the most important point.

As you no doubt have guessed, I took Vine’s “confession” a whole lot better than she was expecting. I already know that any Muslim in the western world is viewed by society at large as either amoral, wacko, misogynistic or a terrorist, of which none of those are hardly gratifying labels. But I know better than to apply any of those: I’ve never exactly been in the mood for racism and bigotry, but then again it would be a bit rich for someone…like me to have either of those things. Still, you can’t blame Vine for being unsure about it.

On the whole, she was glad that I didn’t give a rats about her religious views, and she was even more glad that I asked if I could tag along with her to the mosque. It may not really matter to me what someone does with their personal life – as if her being a Muslim is cause for that kind of self-reassurance anyway – but it’s still important to see what kinds of things your friends are interested in. Hence why I’m at the old factory right now, which thankfully no longer looks anything like a factory.

Whilst we were walking, Vine took the opportunity to explain a few points. There are five points in the day – just before sunrise, just after midday, mid-afternoon, just after sunset and late evening – where a Muslim is expected to at least try to pray, whether it be at home, at the mosque or just whilst out and about: the mosque is preferable, but as with all things in Islam it’s the intentions rather than the actions that are important. It’s the mid-afternoon, or Asr, prayer that we’re going to, and whilst being a non-Muslim means that I can’t join in I’m at least allowed to watch.

That’s what I like about Islam. All the violent, misogynistic and et cetera values that people ascribe to it are simply misunderstandings: what it actually preaches are all the things that other religions want to preach but never quite get round to, things like freedom, peace, honesty and simple-living. All the kinds of liberal and socialist values that we consider to be purely modern inventions, they’ve already been taught by Islam for over a thousand years. Even the unimportance of material possessions, a new-age philosophy if ever there was one, is on their list: as Vine herself said, “the things you own…end up owning you”. Jesus’ teachings have never been taken all that seriously, and Buddhism and suchlike are too mystical to find a home in our cynical world, so it’s up to Islam to fill that gap. Even though I stubbornly refuse to believe in any sort of god, I can still respect that.

Just inside the mosque, which is brightly decorated with all sorts of paints and carpets, is a series of taps. These taps are what Muslims use to wash themselves before they go to pray, in a cross between purification and hygiene: the face, arms and feet are lightly washed, so it isn’t exactly a full bath, but then again that isn’t the point.

It’s while Vine is washing herself that something important happens: a young boy, no older than fourteen, storms up to us with his face twisted in fury.

“Who is this girl?” he asks Vine, clearly talking about me.

Vine looks up at him. “Good afternoon, William.” She looks back at me. “Amy, this is my little brother, William. William, this is my new friend, Amy.” Ah, so I’m Amy rather than Orb today: he obviously hasn’t told him about what she does on a Saturday night…

William doesn’t bother to acknowledge my presence. “Why have you brought her here?”

“She’s curious about what we do. There’s no reason why she shouldn’t be able to learn.”

“Oh yes, so she can just stand in the corner and take notes, can she? It’s none of her business!”

“Relax, William! She’s cool. She’s here because she cares about me and my life. Allah will appreciate that sign of friendship, so you should too.”

William visibly sags, the merest suggestion of going against the will of his God being enough to calm him down. “Alright, but the Imam won’t like it.”

“The Imam follows Allah’s will, just like the rest of us.”

That was enough to resolve that sibling dispute. I knew that this probably wasn’t a good time to ask what his problem was: Vine was my friend, so she’d tell me in good time. Vine and William, along with the many other faithful in the mosque, went to pray, and I watched from the sidelines. Even though I only vaguely understood what was going on, and even then none of it exactly appealed to me, it was still quite an interesting hour of my life.

[Crowgirl]

No critisms whatsoever. That was brilliant. I really like the thing with the T-Car and how Vine and Orb were thinking about what was going to happen to them. I think this is brilliant stuff, and Rrarbecy would say, juicy (Or something like that... :sad: )

Of course, you leave us with that cliffhanger...... :evil:

[Aquagirl15]

Ok that was a little confusing but I liked it. And yay! We get an action-y chapter next. :D

[Kregor8]

Ok, I didn't say anything about chapter 2 did I?
I was not put off by the huge number of characters you introduced. I'm always surprised at how closely our minds seem to run together. First with Dwyr Budr, which had several importaint features that also played in my story, and now with Standing Tall. The funny thing is that I thought up all my stuff back in August and September. Obviously, I had it before you, or at least before I knew you had it. So we didn't really influence each other. I just think that's interesting. For instance, I had a club scene in Perfect Vision, but after you put the club scene in DB, I edited mine out. And now, you've got this whole new team (which I think totally rocks) and I had very similar things planned for the sequel/second part of Perfect Vision. Course, that won't happen for a long, long time - I have at least 3 other stories to place between PV1 and PV2. So that's not an issue. I just find it interesting.
As to Political Correctness, I extend my hand to it. Well, one particular part of my hand that is...
I knew it was Led Zepplin. I knew the track. I actually was learning how to play the guitar part for it...
Chapter 3: Now we know who the Muslim is. Though I completely disagree with you on your ideas of religion (I'm a Christian), it's still interesting. Amy/Orb is the moral relativist, right?
Also, I like the way you gave us a glimpse of the Titans, however small it was. It shows us that there are greater things comming.

No apologies, no regrets.
7<regor

[Matt A]

You weren't kidding when you said you do a lot of research.Well, I didn't go all Method for this one (ie, actually converting to Islam for a while) but it was pretty damn close. I was also briefly considering visting a random support group of some kind to see what kinds of things they got up to, but seeing as there won't be enough actual STT sections in this story to justify it I didn't bother.

Yes, I take my stories very seriously...


For instance, I had a club scene in Perfect Vision, but after you put the club scene in DB, I edited mine out.Damn well put it back in, you! Club scenes rock!:p


And now, you've got this whole new team (which I think totally rocks) and I had very similar things planned for the sequel/second part of Perfect Vision. Course, that won't happen for a long, long time - I have at least 3 other stories to place between PV1 and PV2. So that's not an issue. I just find it interesting.There's gonna be a sequal? Sweet!:D


As to Political Correctness, I extend my hand to it. Well, one particular part of my hand that is...Ha ha. Very droll.:D :D :D :D :D


Chapter 3: Now we know who the Muslim is. Though I completely disagree with you on your ideas of religion (I'm a Christian), it's still interesting. Amy/Orb is the moral relativist, right?Which bits do you disgree with? That's a serious question, by the way.

I'm not sure who the moral relativist is gonna be this time round. Probably Dreadnought. As for Orb, there's a particular reason for her being an atheist, and personally I think that it's gonna blow your minds. I'd like to say more, but I don't want to ruin the surprise...:evil:

Also, I like the way you gave us a glimpse of the Titans, however small it was. It shows us that there are greater things comming.Trust me, you have no idea what I'm planning for the Titans. It's gonna be sweet!:evil: :D

Anyway, I'll get on and start writing chapter four tomorrow. Expect it to arrive on Wednesday: I imagine that you guys can last that long.:p


Ta,
Matt

[Lord Welshi]

I liked the chapter. Clearly and concisely written, i like the opinions of religion from Amy's view. Alos, descriptions were good, and the annoying brother reminded me of my cousin. Unfortunately, they share the same name, so i can't bring myself to type it. Good work on this chapter.

As for this whole religious debate: well, matt is fairly entitled to put down his views into his pieces of work. Having known matt for many years, i know for a fact that when he is serious about a piece of work, he does as much research as humanly possible to present a true enough account, or at least something that will reflect some sort of truth in a way that can be used by his story. Though kregor may have the wrong end of the stick about the islamic people, it is unfair for any of us to direct our scorn solely upon him: to be fair, i was quite ignorant of the muslim faith. Granted, i didn't really think about the whole militant thing, but directing our anger towards kregor for speaking his mind is just as wrong as what you apparently attack him for (this is not aimed just at matt, but at anyone who has or will say something against kregor.) he may have offended you, but i doubt it was on purpose, so cut him a little slack. I know kregor wouldn't intentionally insult anyone, especially on religious matters since he is a christian, and christians are supposed to be understanding and all that.

Now let nothing more be said on the matter(please), this is not the place for theological debates and discussions, but a place for writers to submit their work for the enjoyment of others and the improvement of their own talents.

Lord Welshi

[Matt A]

Right. So, here's your answers thus far:

Ghost: Chapter Seven ("The Saint")
Adrastea: Chapters Fifteen-Eighteen ("Transient", "Illuminate", "Walk Now...", "Waving Not Drowning")
CG: Prologue ("Forever")
raven54: "The Saint"
Kregor (via PM): "Transient"

At the moment, I've reduced the options down to "Transient" and my own choice of "Lost" (chapter four). I don't need to decide properly for another week or more, so I'll leave the debate here for now. Thanks guys!:D

Anyway, I promised that I'd give you chapter four of STT once I got five responses, so now I've got them I'm going to give you your reward. This is the first action scene in the story so far: personally, I think that it's a little too far on the bizarre side, but hopefully you'll still like it. Also, I'm not going to tell you what film I've taken this chapter's quote from, because the chapter contains enough clues for you to work out both the film and the quote from sheer logic alone.

On with the show...


Chapter Four: '02, aka The Predator

“Fight in the way of Allah against those who fight against you, but begin not hostilities.”

Sura II, 190

All in all, I’ve had a reasonably good day. The whole semi-introduction to Islam been and went about a month back, so my good day has been because of something else. My friends, if they were in the mood for being cheeky, would say that I was on a date, but it wasn’t really. I hadn’t seen Dreadnought for a few weeks, so we arranged for a meet-up. It was an afternoon of coffee and cards, which was enjoyable enough, and seeing as we finished fairly late in the evening we went to see a movie together. It was a re-screening of “Ice Age”, which is one of the better class of screwball animated comedies: not usually either mine or Dreadnought’s thing, but we had a good time all the same. Like I said, it wasn’t a date, but maybe if both of us learn to loosen up a little it could be one day…after all, it’s not as if it’d be love across the divide or anything like that.

Anyway, where we’re at right now is on the tube home. Through a stroke of pure blind luck, we both live reasonably close together: well, still about twenty minutes’ walk, but we both need to use the same tube station. Seeing as we both live near the harbour, and the shopping mall where the cinema’s at is near the forests on the very outskirts of Jump, our tube ride is a long one. Which is no problem, or at least it wouldn’t be if the half-eleven rides weren’t the home of the resident drunk population. But thankfully even a bombed-out full-time nutcase won’t try to bother a guy wearing an all-metal suit of armour: if they knew me any better then they’d feel the same about me, too, but because I’m with Dreadnought all I have to do was stare at them for the half-hour or so that the tube ride takes.

The tube finally stops at the West Stamford station, and me and Dreadnought pile out along with the half-dozen other people on the train. This station, like the West Stamford neighbourhood, has been here for a little while, to put it delicately. The ‘30’s-era cream tiles are falling off in one too many places, the equally ancient metal “frilly bits” are starting to rust, and there’s small puddles in all sorts of places where puddles shouldn’t really be when underground. Despite all that, this is quite a nice place to be if you don’t fell like spending any longer than about ten minutes here.

Sadly, I doubt that our luck is going to hold for that long. Literally the second that we step off the tube, Dreadnought’s mobile phone rings. He pulls it out of his a custom-welded pocket in his armour and answers it. The guy on the other end of the phone is screaming so loudly that even I can hear him.

“Dreadnought!” he shouts. “It’s Sidious! Where are you!”

“I’m at the West Stanton tube station with Orb.” Dreadnought replies, being a lot more calm and measured. “Why?”

“I need your help! It’s full moon, remember?!”

Dreadnought goes nearly very pale. “Let me guess, Werecat’s transformed, you’re with her, and you don’t have the silver stake on you?”

“Yes! I need someone to find her and bring her under control until I can get the stake! You’re the only one who’s strong enough to do it!”

“Right. Where is she?”

“I don’t know! We were in Downtown when she transformed, but I don’t know where she’s gone to now!”

As if on cue, a tiger-like growling comes from the street outside the station. There’s a few screams, then silence, then what can only be four clawed feet heading down a concrete-tiled staircase. Dreadnought goes silent for a few seconds.

“Don’t worry, Sidious, she’s found us. How long are you going to be?”

“The stake’s back at my flat in South Regents, so I’ll be with you in no more than half an hour.”

“Try and be a bit quicker than that, will you? Me and Orb have got some fighting to do, and if we’re even still here in half an hour I’ll be very impressed.”

Dreadnought hangs up at about the same second that Werecat, now in tiger form, appears in the lobby. From what I understand, stabbing her with a silver stake – which ain’t something that you can just pick up off the street – will reverse the transformation, but until that happens she’s just an especially psychotic wild animal. And a big one, too: about twice the size of what a tiger normally should be, doubtless with speed and strength to match. Thankfully, the idea of fighting doesn’t bother me: the idea of dying horribly does, on the other hand, but that just gives me more of an incentive to win, doesn’t it?

Werecat spots us, and starts to pad slowly over in our direction. Thankfully, it’s only the three of us in the station, so at least the carnage to come won’t result in civilian casualties.

I look over at Dreadnought. “Are you going to use the bot walker?”

“No. There isn’t enough space. Besides, we need to bring her under control, not kill her.”

“Right. Knock-outs only, then?”

“Yes.”

Werecat’s standing at the ticket booths, about a hundred yards away from us, just watching what she evidently believes to be her prey. She does this for about a minute or so, and then without warning her and Dreadnought charge towards each other. They meet in the middle of the platform with a crash that both shakes the entire station and sends them sprawling. They both stand up again, but before Dreadnought can do anything Werecat charges and rams him full in the chest. He gets thrown through a pillar, which helpfully brings a small section of the roof down on his head. It’ll hurt, but the only thing that it’ll do his make him angry.

I use my powers to pick up a ticket booth and smack it into Werecat’s head. She spins round, glares at me, and then begins to charge. I jump up and land on her back, so she throws me off and into a pillar. That doesn’t break it, but when I jump up again to avoid her next charge yet more roof duly comes down. She bursts through the rubble and charges at me again, but this time she meets a forcefield of black energy – one of my favourite tricks – that with a quick push sends her flying into a kiosk. This time, I’m the one to charge, and Werecat literally only just stands up before I club her in the head with a black-energy ball. She’s dazed for a few seconds, but a claw swipe that nearly makes a mess of my face reminds me to hang back a little bit.

Dreadnought, now free of his own rubble pile, runs to my aid. Werecat tries to jump on him, but he throws her off and gives her a hefty kick to the chest before she even lands. The kick sends her flying into the far wall, and she drops down onto the tube track. Me and Dreadnought both dive in after her, and right on cue the lights of a rapidly impending tube start to appear further down the tunnel. All three of us stand and watch them for a few seconds, not sure of what to do. Suddenly, Werecat turns and charges at Dreadnought, who responds by smacking her with a punch that sends her flying straight backwards. She duly meets the front door of the tube, and duly flies straight through it. Dreadnought and I both jump up, me to land on the floor of the tube and him to land on the roof, and we both run right down to the end and jump back onto the track.

Werecat, who was thrown through all seven doors on the tube, is lying motionless on the floor. We approach her slowly, not even remotely convinced that she’s properly down.

“Come on Werecat, you can play extinction later.” Dreadnought says to her: where that…bizarre quip came from, I have no idea, but I’ll just have to ask later.

Right on cue, Werecat stands up and has another swipe at us. Unfortunately, I’m in front, so I get the three claws in the chest. I fall back onto the ground as Werecat jumps back onto the platform. In a mild stroke of luck, I have a limited healing ability, so I’m able to patch up the more terminal parts of the damage: until then, though, I can’t get off the track. This is only a problem because another tube is heading in my direction.

Thankfully, Dreadnought didn’t follow Werecat back onto the platform, so he jumps over me and in a spirit of I don’t know what he tries to literally grab the tube. His suit means that his strength is more than up to it, though, but the tube’s inertia means that he lifts the sole carriage clean up into the air. Again in a spirit of I don’t know what, he sees Werecat standing watching all this on the platform’s edge and throws the tube at her. There’s no way that she can avoid it, and it rolls through most of the pillars in the station.

Dreadnought helps me up, and we jump back up onto what’s left of the platform. Pretty much the entire roof has now come down, so there’s no lights and the rubble has kinda formed a new ground level about three feet above the usual one. Somehow, I sense a class-action lawsuit against Dreadnought coming on, but seeing as he did just save my life and all that I’m not about to complain.

It takes us about five minutes to find Werecat. Thankfully, Sidious got here in about half the time that he thought he would, so Werecat’s now human body in hanging unconscious in his arms. She looks pretty beat up, but she’ll be alright, thank God. Sidious nods at us in a gesture of quiet appreciation, and we walk back outside.

The Teen Titans, sans Raven – who’s probably just a bit ill or something, I don’t know – are outside, evidently preparing to go in and attack Werecat. I laugh at their near-comical lateness.

“Don’t worry guys,” I say to them, “it’s all taken care of.”

The one called “Robin”, the leader, looks at me disappointedly. “Oh. Right.”

“There’s a lot of damage in there, though, so maybe you guys’ll have some clean-up work to do or something.” I laugh; they don’t. “Anyway, I don’t know about you guys, but me and Dreadnought are going home.”

Robin smiles. “I’ll say!” He hands both of us a card, with the words “Teen Titans” and a phone number on it. “If you two are ever bored one day, give us a call…provided you don’t generate any more insurance claims, that is.” He winks.

[Aquagirl15]

Awesome chapter. It was a little bizarre but I think I get it for the most part. The only thing I need explaing to me is: What's a tube? Is it like some kinda of bus? Sorry I'm not familiar with British transportation. :sweat:

[ShadowOfAGhost]

Good to see there is finally the begining of a tie-in with the Titans here. Maybe the Titans will come to one of the meetings or something like that. who knows, they might even teach them how to be better with their powers (specifficaly raven training orb). overall, this chapter was awsome! the way yo portrayed the titans as making rookie mistakes like showing up half an hour late to the fight sceene and being disorganized before the fight was genius! I had no idea that Robin carried buissness cards...

I eagerly anticipate the release of the next chapter. bring it on!


Awesome chapter. It was a little bizarre but I think I get it for the most part. The only thing I need explaing to me is: What's a tube? Is it like some kinda of bus? Sorry I'm not familiar with British transportation. :sweat:
a tube is a subway.

[Crowgirl]

That was really really good. I'm glad to see some action (as in fight scene), it was a nice change. The characterization was great, and I like how they had to take care of WereCat and not just some random person.

As for a tie-in with the Titans, I was glad to see it. However, I can't see Robin winking at people he barely knew (I'm sorry, I know I'm being picky, but...) for taking care of something or carrying business cards. :p

Oh well, great stuff, can't wait for more!

Ciao (See that DJ? I spelt it your way. ;) ),
CG

[Matt A]

Just so's you know, Robin's wink was to signify that he knew just how much apocalyptic mass destruction Orb and Dreadnought had caused during the fight. Oh, and I know that the whole business card thing was more than a little out of character, but I thought that it was a nice touch.

As I said right at the start, the Titans will be featuring heavily in this story, but so far your guesses haven't even been close. The truth will be the central feature of the next chapter, so I'm afraid that you're just going to have to wait...:evil:

Ta,
Matt

[Adrastea]

Great chapter, i think it rocked. The only thing that was familiar was the "Knock outs only?" Line, and if it is from something, i can't remember what it is. oh well.

[Matt A]

No, I don't know what it's taken from, if anything. The actual movie quote for that chapter is something else, but I've left you some big enough clues for you to figure it out. In case you're that stuck, I'll give you a hint: what film is mentioned in the chapter, and where do I talk about the mysterious sources of bizarre lines? That's probably making it a bit too obvious, but never mind.:shrug:

One more commenter left to go before I start writing chapter five...

[Adrastea]

OH!! duh, you're right, i should have gotton that one, i'm really stupid.

Spoiler:
It's from Ice Age, when the Dad is telling his kids playing in the tar pit, "Come on kids, you can play exticntion later.." and then the Mammoth tells him something about "If my trunk was that short, i wouldn't be complaining" or something like that.

[Matt A]

Congratulations! You're right!:D

Sadly for you, that quote is probably going to be the easiest of the lot.:evil:

[Kregor8]

Ok, that spoiler didn't work. Next time, use (spoiler) and (/spoiler), but use brackets [ ] instead of parenthesis ( ). That will do it.
I love Ice Age. So I knew the quote. First one that's actually been from a movie I've seen.
This chapter was just great. Nice to see some action - I didn't think it was too weird. Of course, battles in 1st person are always a little weird to me, but it came out nicely. So, major props for that.
Only one complaint: you used the word "duly" too many times. Or at least the times were too close to eachother. There are some words that are nice words that I like to use, but only once every thousand words or so, because they don't fall into normal usage for some reason. Still, very minor point.
I'm still argueing for "Transient," because it has one of the best cliffhangers ever. Also, it builds nice dramatic tension...I was just thinking of how it could be scored. Not that I score things very well...but, you've heard my music. Anyway, could you summarize the two chapters for us here, so we can make an informed judgement? Thanks.

Best of luck,
7<regor

[Matt A]

[pockets $100 bill] Thanks very much! By the way, how much is $100 in real money?:p

I've just got a few quick things to say:

1. I guess that you guys want me to write the script for Transient. I still want to do Lost as well, so I'll try and write both and get you guys to see which one is the best. Remember though, the guys that are going to be marking this won't know the rest of the story, so the fact that Transient isn't a stand-alone scene may well count against it. Hence why I'm so wary about adapting it.
2. Go watch "Team America: World Police". It's the perfect antidote to both overblown patriotism and rubbish action movies. And it's also very funny.:D
3. Happy birthday, Welshie!:D :D :D :D :D
4. Seeing as I'm too broke to buy the Lord a birthday present, I'm going to offer up Chapter Five as a replacement. It's a prsent for everyone, but I just want to dedicate it to Boyo in particular. Oh, and you'll probably be spending the entire of the next ten minutes or so in a perpetual state of "WTF?", but to be honest that's no bad thing. The quote this time around is from "Star Wars: A New Hope", which means that you should find it relatively easy to spot.

Let's get the show rolling once again...


Chapter Five: '77, aka In The Open

“Allah will not take you to task for that which is unintentional in your oaths, but He will take you to task for the oaths which ye swear in earnest.”

Sura V, 89

I can’t remember what the dream was, but the disappointment that’s inexplicably etched across my mind means that it was probably a good one. But still, today is a new day, so I have to put my dreams to one side and face the sunshine. Speaking of which, the sun is a lot brighter than it usually is when I wake up: then again, seeing as I usually get up around dawn that wouldn’t be too hard. I slowly open my eyes, and after spending a few minutes adjusting them to the light levels, I take a look at the clock beside my bed. 10:45AM, it says. Damn. Yesterday must have been a longer day than I thought.

As I inelegantly slide my way out of bed, my eye catches the katana hanging on the wall. It was my birthday about two weeks ago, so the guys at STT clubbed together and bought it for me. I’m not the world’s biggest fan of Asian culture, but there’s always been something special about the samurai sword: it was an elegant weapon, for a more civilised age…or something like that, anyway. That sword could have come in handy last night, but then again a fight with a giant tiger-thing ain’t exactly something that you can plan for in advance. The same could be said of the police enquiry that followed, because even though me and Dreadnought narrowly avoided being charged with criminal damage we still didn’t get to our respective homes until about three in the morning. Hence why I’m up so late.

I wander over the shower, once again offering up silent blessings for my room having an en-suite. My apartment, through a stroke of blind luck, is in one of the single most valuable high-rises in Jump City, and it’s only having very wealthy friends that keeps me here. I’m quite a privileged person, or at least I am before you add my powers into the mix. The warm water from the shower gently eases my tired mind back into the real world, and by the time I’m dried and dressed I’m feeling remarkably awake and refreshed.

It’s when I head back into my room proper that I first hear Ghost’s voice. His distinctive New Yorker twang carries the three words that, right now, I’m desperate to not hear.

“Good morning…Raven.” he says, his tone somewhere between amused and angry.

I sigh dejectedly. “I was wondering when someone would figure it out.”

“Being able to follow people undetected is one of the many benefits of being invisible. But you usually go back to your apartment in West Stamford, not the Titans Tower. Why come here today?”

“I don’t know. I must have been on autopilot or something, I suppose.” It suddenly occurs to me what he’s just said. “Wait a minute, have you been spying on me?”

“In a manner of speaking, yes. I’ve got one or two secrets of my own, but I want you to explain yourself first.”

I know Ghost well enough to know that I'll only find out he's got to say if I give him what he wants. “Alright. What do you want to know?”

“Well, let’s start with the obvious: why does Raven, infamous crime-buster extraordinaire, want to join Standing Tall Together?”

“Because all the emotional problems that you guys have been helping me with are real. My emotions really do cause havoc.”

“Ah. Right.”

“I’ve been using meditation over the last few years to keep them under control, but about six months or so ago it stopped working: I don’t know why, and I don’t think that I’m ever likely to find out either. But still, you guys have been giving me the more practical help that I need, so I thank you for that.”

“My pleasure. But why the charade? Why the pseudonym and the fake apartment?”

Ah. This is where it gets complicated. “I wanted to go anonymously. If I went as myself, all that would happen was that I’d spend my hour a week giving crime-fighting tips or some bull like that. I go to STT to be helped, not to be a helper. Besides, I can’t stand attention.”

Ghost laughs. “So says someone who spends most of their days wearing a swimsuit!”

“I know. I’d never really thought about it like that, to be honest. Anyway, as you’ve no doubt noticed, I wear more normal clothes these days.”

“Fair enough. But still, what’s the fake apartment about?”

“That’s to help keep my cover. Our money pile is massive even at the worst of times, so it’s not as if we couldn’t cover the rent of a run-down apartment in West Stamford.”

“Quite.”

“Anyway, I’ve told you my truth. Now tell me yours.”

Ghost sighs. “Well, my truth is a little more bizarre. The best way to think about it is that I’m called Ghost for a reason. You’re a logical person, so I imagine that you can figure it out.”

After a few seconds thought, I come up with two possible answers. One of them he’s already told me, so I can discount that one by default. The other one, however, is just plain stupid, even for a half-demon supernatural-crime-fighter. But still, it’s the only idea that I’ve got, so I might as well just say it.

“The only thing that I can think of,” I say, “is that you’re called Ghost because a ghost is precisely what you are. In other words, you’re dead.”

“Well done! You know, truth really is stranger than fiction sometimes…”

I stare at him in amazement. “But, but, but…ghosts don’t exist, do they?”

“Well, I’d say that the fact that you’re looking at one right now is strong enough proof to discount that statement. Besides, I think that you’re the last person to have a right to comment on what’s possible and what isn’t.”

“Good point. But how and why are you…you know?”

“To put it simply, I was stabbed to death by an anonymous mugger about three years ago. My only guess is that I’ve returned as a ghost so that I can find them and bring them to justice: if there’s a divine agent or similar that’s responsible for all this, I have no idea, and even if there is one I’ve got no idea as to why they should choose to resurrect me of all people.

I’m not a ghost in the usual dude-in-a-white-sheet sense. I don’t run down long corridors in deserted mansions screaming “woooooo!” or any other of those Hollywood B-movie clichés. I’m simply a mind with eyes, ears and a voice, but no body to give them any true physical form: how they work without it, I don’t know, but right now I’m in no mood to start counting my blessings. I’ve also got a limited range of telekinetic abilities, a bit like a poltergeist but not as cruel.”

“Hence why you can pretend to be invisible.”

“Exactly. I can use my telekinesis to manipulate objects, and make everyone believe that I’m actually physically holding them. Which is why, if you notice, I always make the coffees but I never drink them.”

“But why join STT in the first place? I can’t imagine that it’s for any spiritual help.”

“Now, this is where things get interesting. From all of the investigations that I’ve done, I’ve managed to deduce that my “killer” is a member of STT. I don’t know who it is, so I’ve been following all of the different members around – you included – over the last year or so to see what I’d find. Of course, none of my findings would make sense out of context, so I’ve had to join STT in order to know who you all are in any kind of personal sense.”

“So you have been spying on me, then.”

“Yes. But I haven’t been watching you in the shower or anything like that, in case that’s what you’re worried about. Being dead doesn’t make me a pervert.”

I smile dryly. “Man, I thought I had problems…”

“You do. It’s just that mine are stranger.”

“Who else knows about our secrets?”

“Whirlwind. He found out my being dead, and what with me and him being friends and all I couldn’t really not tell him about you. Besides, he has a little secret of his own that the real you could do with knowing.”

“And what is this secret, exactly?”

“Why don’t you go and ask him yourself? He lives opposite the main Jump City library, so go and visit him if you want.”


Just over two hours later, I’m standing in Whirlwind’s living room. His apartment is reasonably large, and it’s lack of ornaments and suchlike only makes it look bigger. Much like myself, he must have a lot of money available to keep a posh-looking place like this.

Whirlwind wasn’t overly surprised to see me, and was even less surprised at the reason for my visit. He’s now in the kitchen doing coffee and toast, and I’m in the living room having a quiet nose around. Apart from a watercolour of the Grand Canal in Venice, there isn’t really much to see. Except for one other thing, a small A5-sized photo on top of the TV. I bend down to see what it is, and to my surprise the image is one that I know very well. It’s of a young girl, but even though she’s about three or four years younger than when I last saw her, her long, arrow-straight blonde air, big blue eyes and cropped back T-shirt make her instantly recognisable.

Whirlwind comes back into the living room, holding two mugs and two plates of toast. He stops in the doorway once he sees me looking at the picture.

I look over at him, still not stood up straight. “How did you know Terra?” I ask, not sure if I should be curious or angry.

“Her name was Natalie, by the way,” he says, “and she was my sister.”

[Magick]

Holy expletive, this rocks. It rocks so much that I'm not going to have fangirl-continuity-Tara Markov-issues. Oh, crud, this is good. If you don't keep writing, the Teddy Bears of Hunger will eat your brains. They're coming for you...:evil: :evil: :evil:
-Magick

P.S. I vote for 'Transient.'

[ShadowOfAGhost]

prediction 2: the Titans will eventualy contact amy about the meetings and she will either join up with or work for them, so that they can have one on the inside, and Raven will be working closely with Raven.
I was so close! wait, I just noticed the typo in the last line... weird...:eek:

anyway, great job with this, it wasn't that hard to comprehend, let's see if I got this all right...


Raven and Orb are one and the same
Ghost is a ghost with no physical body, but a limited telekenetic power
Whirlwind is Tera's brother
I think I got it. very nice! excelent! the list of compliments goes on...

[Aquagirl15]

Holy crap! That was so unexpected. But awesome. Terra comming in the fold, who knows where this is gonna go next? I had a feeling that we knew Amy for some reason. I want to know Whirlwind's weird past too. Basically I want a new chapter soon! :D

P.S. This was the great kind of present mony can't buy!

[Matt A]

It rocks so much that I'm not going to have fangirl-continuity-Tara Markov-issues.Huh?:confused:


If you don't keep writing, the Teddy Bears of Hunger will eat your brains. They're coming for you...:evil: :evil: :evil:
I got a death threat! Yay!:p


I was so close! wait, I just noticed the typo in the last line... weird...:eek:

anyway, great job with this, it wasn't that hard to comprehend, let's see if I got this all right...


Raven and Orb are one and the same
Ghost is a ghost with no physical body, but a limited telekenetic power
Whirlwind is Tera's brother
No, Rae was the closest, as she inadvertedly said the truth about Amy/Orb/Raven. Oh, and your three points are correct.


Sadly, you probably won't get the next chapter for at least another week or so, mostly because I've got evil Film Studies coursework due in about this time next week and I haven't done any of it yet. Nevertheless, I will continue to flood this forum with senseless prattle as per usual...you just won't get Chapter Six along with it.:crying: :crying: :sweat:

[rrarbecy]

phfffah! I did NOT just read that.... Have I ever told you you're brilliant? I'll have to practice hard to keep up with YOU.

*carries in DC Comics encyclopedia*
Terra:
Like her brother Brian, Geoforce of the Outsiders, Tara Markov was given powers over the earth by Markovian Scientist Dr. Helga Jace. But where Brian was a prince in waiting of their tiny European kingdom, Tara was the monarch's illegitimate daughter and grew up isolated and resentful in the United States(YEAH!). In her teens, Tara molded a pact with Deathstroke(Slade), to destroy the Teen Titans by securing membership as the earth-shaking Terra and spying on the group from within. When her betrayal was revealed, Terra died battling the Titans.

That's the shortened version. Terra came back as one of the time lost Team Titans. Whether she is a clone or twin of Tara Markov remains to be seen. (She's good now)

[Matt A]

No, you surpassed me long ago.:p


*carries in DC Comics encyclopedia*
Terra:
Like her brother Brian, Geoforce of the Outsiders, Tara Markov was given powers over the earth by Markovian Scientist Dr. Helga Jace. But where Brian was a prince in waiting of their tiny European kingdom, Tara was the monarch's illegitimate daughter and grew up isolated and resentful in the United States(YEAH!). In her teens, Tara molded a pact with Deathstroke(Slade), to destroy the Teen Titans by securing membership as the earth-shaking Terra and spying on the group from within. When her betrayal was revealed, Terra died battling the Titans.

That's the shortened version. Terra came back as one of the time lost Team Titans. Whether she is a clone or twin of Tara Markov remains to be seen. (She's good now)
To be honest, I didn't know any of that, so I just made up my own stuff. My little potted history for Terra (coming up in the next chapter, by the way) should be just as interesting, so I'm not all that bothered.:p


In case anyone feels like asking, yes, I do like feeding you guys whopping great red herrings.:evil:

By the way, has anyone spotted the Star Wars quote yet?

[Sproxie]

Wow. That was unexpected...... I dunno what to say right now but, I enjoyed that chapter greatly. And the fact that Ghost stalks people is wierd but cool. All I know is that, your a GENIUS.
Oh, and just to make sure- Raven is Orb/Amy right?

[Matt A]

Making it unexpected was kinda the plan.:p

Anyway, Raven is indeed Orb, and visa versa. Oh, and Ghost isn't a stalker: he's doing detective work in order to try and find out which one of the STT was the person that killed him.

I'd also like to say that I've just managed to get my five commenters in two hours, which is your ultimate personal best. Well done, guys!:D

But still, as I said earlier, I can't give you Chapter Six for a while yet. Sorry.:sweat:

[Adrastea]

AMAZING. YAY!! I think i spotted the quote!


"I’m not the world’s biggest fan of Asian culture, but there’s always been something special about the samurai sword: it was an elegant weapon, for a more civilised age…or something like that, anyway" Am i right? From the part when Obi Wan is showing Luke his father's lightsaber.

Anyway, that chapter rocked. I was having feelings that Orb might be Raven, but did Raven tell the titans what she was doing cause otherwise, wouldn't have Robin recognised her? Oh wait.. THAT's why he winked! OK, it makes sense to me now, but go ahead and kock me off my cloud if i'm wrong. Yeah, and don't worry too much about a long wait for us, this chapter will keep us going for now.

To quote: "As long as you are not too long, I will wait for you for the rest of my life"
-Oscar Wilde

[Kregor8]

I'm switching my vote to "Lost," because it can stand on its own without ruining the whole story. I still think "Transient" is the best chapter.

Quote: The thing about the sword being "an elegant weapon for a more civilized age. I haven't watched SW:ANH in a few weeks, so I can't be sure. Course I've seen this movie. Who hasn't?

As always Matt, you never cease to astound me. Thankfully, this time, the astonishment is for a good reason. I can't believe this chapter. I never expected any of that stuff...no, I actually did. Back when you said, "Amy is someone we are all quite familiar with," I thought that she might be Raven. I dismissed the idea after a few moments. So you still got me.
Not that much more to say. Just that I'm astounded again.

7<regor

Ps. Adrastea: I love The Importance of Being Earnest. I was Algy once (in that play) and so I recognize the line. It's Cecily's after Algy needs to go off and get christend (sp?).

[Matt A]

Yes, the quote was from Star Wars. Both of you can have a free toffee.:p


I was having feelings that Orb might be Raven, but did Raven tell the titans what she was doing cause otherwise, wouldn't have Robin recognised her? Oh wait.. THAT's why he winked!Yes, the Titans know about what Raven's doing. But as I said before, Robin winked because he knew the her and Dreadnought had just managed to decimate an entire tube station in the course of their attempt at crime-fighting...which is hardly a superhero thing to do. In other words, Robin would have liked Dreadnought to join the Titans, but not until he could control his more destructive tendencies. Does that make sense?


I'm switching my vote to "Lost," because it can stand on its own without ruining the whole story. I still think "Transient" is the best chapter.Finally, someone's on my side! I've already said that I'm going to write both scripts and hen get you guys to pick the best one, so you guys don't need to place any more votes. Expect the scripts in a few weeks.


Back when you said, "Amy is someone we are all quite familiar with," I thought that she might be Raven.That was kinda the point. Dropping subtle hints and then laughing when none of you pick up on them is one of my favourite games...:evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil:

Oh, and I need a quick favour from all of you. What was it that made you all want to read this fic, and what made you want to read Dwyr Budr (for those of you who have, anyway)? Try to answer those questions as honestly as you can, 'cause I want to know what I'm doing right in order to get people interested in my stories. With that kind of information, I'll be able to make my stories even better!


Ta,
Matt

PS: My computer is suddenly being a bit strange, and for some obscure reason it's not letting me log off this forum. In other words, it may seem like I'm permenantly online for the next however long, but that won't actually be the case.
PPS: Have you posted that Orbital DVD to me yet, Welshie? 'Cause, well, if you have...you'll have been wasting your time, 'cause I went and bought it myself yesterday. By the way, it rocks.:D :D :D :sweat:

[Matt A]

I'm still interested in those answers, Ghost, but for now I'll fill in the time by giving you the next chapter. Yes, nearly a week head of schedule.:D

There's not much I need to say about this chapter, apart from the fact that I need to apologise for giving you the second monster cliffhanger in a row. Oh, and the quote this time comes from "Se7en": if you know the film, then you'll spot it no probs.

Anyway, get reading...


Chapter Six: '95, aka The Elementals

“Show kindness unto parents, and unto near kindred…and unto the neighbour who is of kin unto you and the neighbour who is not of kin.”

Sura IV, 36

Whirlwind looks at me blankly. He knew that I would be surprised by his revelation, and indeed I am. It’s no secret that Terra and I were always the worst of enemies, and even now that she’s as good as dead and buried – and to save me and my friends, I might add – I’m not sure if I’ve warmed to her all that much. Trust has never exactly been my strongpoint, and even if you go out of your way to prove your loyalty I’ll still expect top it be retracted any second. Terra did both, and quite frankly I still hate her for it. We gave her a home and a family, and she repaid our kindness by handing us all over to our worst enemy. She did reform in the end, but I wouldn’t be surprised if even that wouldn’t have stuck. Whirlwind knows that this is how I feel, and as a blood relative he clearly expects me to tar him with the same treacherous brush. I’ll give a chance, though…

He seems to want me to say something, but seeing as I can’t think of anything right about now he takes the lead instead. “Ernst Hemmingway,” he says, “once wrote “the world is a fine place, and worth fighting for”. I agree with the second part.”

If I was confused before, that’s nothing compared to what I am now. “Huh?” is all that I can get myself to say.

“Ah. It seems that I’ve jumped ahead of you a bit. The connection seems so obvious to me that I didn’t think that you wouldn’t spot it.”

“Okay, what are you talking about?”

“It’s quite simple, really. If someone with superpowers, no matter how dangerous those powers are, talks about saving the world, what do they usually mean by that?”

“That they’re a superhero.” It’s the most obvious explanation, which I’m guessing is kinda Whirlwind’s point.

“Exactly. Now bear in mind what I told you a minute ago. What’s the logical conclusion?”

Damn, this guy’s really starting to annoy me now. Why can’t he just tell me all this direct? Nevertheless, I have a quick think: my conclusion is daft by anyone’s standards, but right now it’s all I’ve got. “That you and Terra were already crime-fighters before we met either of you.”

Whirlwind smiles. “You’re brighter than I thought! I was expecting you to take a little longer to figure that one out!”

“But it doesn’t make any sense! Terra never mentioned a brother, and she knew less about fighting on the side of good than anyone else alive!”

“Now now, I wouldn’t go that far. Natalie made many mistakes in her shot life, I’ll admit, but she was never evil. Besides, if she never told anyone about me then it was because she never really got on that well with me.”

“Did you two not like each other, then?”

Whirlwind sighs. “It seems that I’ve been leading you round in circles.” Finally, he realises! “I think that I’d better clarify things.” He sits down on one of the two leather sofas, and I follow his lead and park up on the one opposite.

“Natalie and I were two out of four quadruplets, three boys and a girl, and we were all born with extraordinary powers. I could control winds, Natalie could move earth, Jack could manipulate fire and Ben could control water. Very early on, we all realised that we would have to work together in order to stop our powers causing mayhem. So we formed our own little unofficial superhero group: I was “Whirlwind”, Natalie was “Terra”, Jack was “Pyro” and Ben was “Tidal”. Together we called ourselves “The Elementals”. Sad, isn’t it?”

“I’ve heard of worse.”

“Thankyou. Anyway, we tried to train each other in the use of powers, especially for use against dangerous people. The school bullies never bothered us, that’s for sure! We didn’t realise it at the time, but our self-learnt therapy never really worked. By the time we all went our separate ways, our powers were just as unpredictable as the day we were born.

For the most part, it was my fault that we split apart. Me, Jack and Ben always felt that our job was to protect Natalie. We never tried to chaperone her or anything like that, but we’d always look out for her in particular. Natalie was always a more…independent person, so even thought she never really said it she must have hated all the attention. One day, about three years ago, she finally snapped and ran away: we knew enough by that point to not try and get her back.

From there on in, it all went pear-shaped. Ben had a strange little trick, that he could literally suck the water from someone’s body. He could kill anyone he chose without even touching them, and a month after Natalie left he finally did so. Her disappearance must have played on his mind harder than the rest of us, ‘cause one of his teachers went to stop him daydreaming at one point, and he just snapped and…well, you get the idea.

About eighteen months ago, Jack managed to accidentally start a fire in our house, killing both himself and mum and dad in the process. Ben was in prison for first-degree murder by this point, so he was already about as low as he could possibly get. This last piece of news tipped him over the edge, and he turned his dehydration powers on himself.

I got quite a large inheritance from mum and dad, so I used the money to try and track down Natalie. It took me a year to get to Jump City, and of course by that point she’d already been a stone for six months. I pieced together the full story from random strangers as best I could, and then when I found Ghost and Standing Tall Together I decided to stay here. It’s not as if I’ve got anything else left…”

Quite frankly, I don’t know what to say. Something’s still expected of me, though, so I do the best I can. “Why tell me all this? Do you think that I can help you?”

“In a sense, yes. I know what Natalie did, and I guess why, but I want an insider’s view. I didn’t think that it was a good idea to just go up and ask you guys – I’m sure that it’s all wounds that shouldn’t be opened any more – so I’m taking the opportunity whilst I still can. What was my sister like, as a person, when you guys came to know her?”

Now I know why he wanted to see me: I’m the only one that can say all this without bursting into tears. “I suppose I’m not the best judge of Terra’s character. She made mistakes, and she tried her best to fix those mistakes, but that doesn’t change the fact that those mistakes were made in the first place. I suppose that you want something more specific, right?”

“That’d be nice, yeah.”

“That’s just the problem. So much of what I think about her has been influenced by what she did that I just can’t imagine her as a full personality set, if you see what I mean.”

“You could have put it more delicately, but yeah, I do.”

“Sorry.” I think for a few seconds. “I suppose that she was just the cool one. Not the queen of the class, but smart and fun to be around. She still had one hell of a temper, but she’d always revert back to her likable self before too long. But, then again, there was still something missing in her…something that made her unable to genuinely care about those around her.”

Whirlwind smiles. “Yeah, that sounds about right. She was a cool kid, but you didn’t dare cross her. I’ve done some thinking on this myself. She was so drawn to self-destruction because she wanted to be her own person, but then again she just wanted to be loved and protected. I don’t think she ever knew what she really wanted, to be honest.”

That’s as succinct a description of Terra as I’ll ever hear. “I can’t add any more to that, I’m afraid. I only know as much about her as you do. I’m sorry for wasting your time.”

“Don’t worry about it. I just wanted to talk to someone about it. To see if what I thought was right was indeed right. And it is, so I thank you for that.” Whirlwind leans back and closes his eyes. For the first time, I notice that he spent the entire of that conversation close to tears.


It’s about a week later. Whirlwind’s still feeling apologetic for telling me all his stuff – which, if I want to be harsh about it, I would much rather not have known – so he’s decided to take me to the theatre for the evening. Like my cinema trip with Dreadnought, this isn’t a date by anyone’s standards: it’s just someone’s way of trying to make it up to me. An old friend of Whirlwind’s from when he was still in high school has recently arrived in Jump City, and the guy is starring in an amateur production of “The Importance Of Being Earnest” tonight. This is what we’ve come to see, and so far it ain’t bad. The friend is doing a pretty good job of playing Algy, and for the most part the rest of the cast are at least matching his skills.

Anyway, it’s about halfway through the second act that something strange happens. An odd little detail has been bugging me all evening, and even though I can’t quite place it this thing still feels familiar. Like déjà vu, except that I don’t know what I’m supposed to have already seen. It’s only now that I finally figure out what’s going on: the girl playing Cecily, she’s someone that I see nearly every week, but never looking like this. It’s Megawatt, and I’ve seen flashes of her big green eyes one too many times for it to mean that her STT sessions are suddenly becoming more effective.

For the second time in as many weeks, someone that I know well isn’t telling me the entire truth.

[Crowgirl]

Woah......

That was an awesome chapter. I like how you describe the relationship between Terra/Natalie, Whirlwind, and the two other guys. The over protective thing seems really likely, and I like how you incorperated that.

Would you like to know an interesting fact? When I was still in my dayreaming-my-stories-and-not-putting-them-on-forums stage, I actually created a story in my mind called: The Elementals. And there's a story on here called that. Such a popular title.... :p

As for the Megawatt thing, I'm guessing that Teach is incorperated into this somehow. I bet he planned this as a trap for Raven or something, and once Rae figures it out, he'll tell her his powers. Or something like that.... :D

Hmm.... the plot thickens..... Or, as the Peanuts would say:

"The plot thins? Isn't it supposed to be the plot thickens?"
"You haven't read the plot."

Ciao,
CG

[Kregor8]

An old friend of Whirlwind’s from when he was still in high school has recently arrived in Jump City, and the guy is starring in an amateur production of “The Importance Of Being Earnest” tonight. This is what we’ve come to see, and so far it ain’t bad. The friend is doing a pretty good job of playing Algy, and for the most part the rest of the cast are at least matching his skills. *huge, huge grin*

OK, good thing that was there, or I don't think anything would have stopped me from unleashing a stream of curses on you. "The Elementals" is MY BLOODY IDEA! And the only reason I thought the damn thing up in the first place was because you went and buggered up my original idea for PV2. Actually, I'm still not sure whether to laugh uncontrolably or to scream in rage. It's funny really, how you keep beating me to the punch. Even the "suck the water out of people" thing was on my list - just it wasn't the water guy who was going to do that and it wasn't water... Oh well, I'm not going to worry about it. PV2 is at least 3 stories in the future. And I swear, I'm not making this up! Seriously!

Ok, other than that, this chapter was great. Actually, including that, it was great. It makes sense that Terra came from a totally whacked familly. It's too bad they all snapped (except Whirlwind, I guess).

Now there's more mystery. Megawatt, Ghost, Orb, Whirlwind, and Teach are not what they claim. Who else is lying, I want to know?

7<regor

[Sproxie]

this chapter was great. Actually, including that, it was great. It makes sense that Terra came from a totally whacked familly. It's too bad they all snapped (except Whirlwind, I guess).

Now there's more mystery. Megawatt, Ghost, Orb, Whirlwind, and Teach are not what they claim. Who else is lying, I want to know?

I agree. This was an awesome chapter, but I have one question, when will hear from the Titans again?

[ShadowOfAGhost]

well, I'm back, and that was a damn good chapter. we have to think about what was just said outside the box... about lies and deciet I mean...

:shrug:

well, if we were to look at the details as a whole and try to interprate them as the oposite, then would we be on the right track? EX: if lying is the backbone of the story, and everyone seems to be lying, could that mean that these STT meetings are more than what they apear to be...some sort of conspiracy against the Titans perhaps? and if we look at this as being false we must consider the friends as enimies and enimies as friends. so perhaps teacher is not so evil as you are making him\her\it to be, and you are meerly trying to spin an elaborate web to trick us all....:shrug: hmmmmmmmmmmm.....

[Matt A]

You guys seem to be trying to jump ahead of me a little here, so I'll just take the time to clarity (well, ish) a key point.

There are ten major characters in this story, so there are ten seperate plot threads. However, all bar three won't be taken any further than about a chapter or so: out of these three key threads, one has already been made pretty damn obvious, one has been vaguely hinted at, and one hasn't even been mentioned yet. All these disparate plot threads are connected purely because each one is centred around one member of STT; they do not really connect with each other in terms of plot. Hence why, right at the start, I said that this story would be more character-driven than plot-driven. From what I've figured, there are only four plot threads left to be introduced, and none of them are what you seem to think. That's all I intend to say on this subject.

For CG's information, Carl Jung was one of the two most infamous psychoanalysts of the twentieth century (Sigmund Freud being the other). I don't have either the time or he patience to explain Jung's theories here, but I strongly suggest that you go look them up. They'll go some way towards explaining all the weird coincidences that have been going on as of late...

[Matt A]

"Horsemen" leads to "saddles". No one needs to explain their reasoning, by the way.:D

Here's chapter seven, right on schedule. Personally, I don't think that it's as well written as it could have been, but at least it puts the plot back on track...well, sort of. The quote this time comes from "The Fellowship Of The Ring", and for once it's a line that's just too famous to miss.:D :D :D

Go on, you know the drill by now...


Chapter Seven: '01, aka Big Green Eyes

“A kind word with forgiveness is better than almsgiving followed by injury.”

Sura II, 263

I had decided to wait until the play had finished before giving Megawatt a piece of my mind. Even though this made sure that World War III didn’t break out in the theatre itself, it did mean that I spent the remaining half an hour or so smouldering quietly in my seat. Whirlwind didn’t look entirely happy either, though I’m still not entirely certain if he picked up on who Megawatt really is. Nevertheless, the play is now finished, the audience have done their standing ovation (well, nearly) and the theatre is as good as empty. It’s time to go to work.

It’s taken me a few minutes to find Megawatt’s dressing room, but now I’m here I waste no time in knocking. I try to keep it quiet, just so I can be civil.

“Who is it?” Megawatt’s breezy Californian twang is as distinctive as ever.

“A new friend.” I don’t need to say that it’s me, ‘cause my own voice is every bit as distinctive as hers.

“Okay. Come on in.”

I push open the door and step into the dressing room. Megawatt is now out of period costume and in a simple light blue cotton dress, and all she’s got left to do is put her overly long brown hair into its usual ponytail, which is what she’s doing as I walk in. From the looks of it, this run-down tip of a dressing room is also used by about two or three other people, but thankfully they aren’t here at the moment.

Megawatt is currently sat by the mirror at the far end of the room, and even though we aren’t looking at each other we can still make eye contact. Megawatt’s look at the moment is decidedly blank.

“I know that you and Whirlwind were in the audience,” she says, “and I know why you’re standing here now.”

“Yes, because you’re a liar. Like pretty much everyone else I know.”

Megawatt sighs dejectedly. “Somehow, I could just tell that you would say that. But please don’t call me a liar.”

“Why not? That’s what you are.”

“No. A liar is someone who deceives people in order to hurt them. I never wanted to make anyone suffer.”

“You found one of the most broken and most unfortunate group of people that I’ve ever come across, and you…pretended to be one of them. That’s not hurtful?”

Megawatt thinks for a few seconds. “Well, when you put it like that…”

This is getting us nowhere. Besides, that previous conversation will only come back to bite me later on. “Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why lie to us? Why pretend to be something that you aren’t?”

“I guess that you’ll be expecting some kind of complicated and tragic backstory at this point, huh?”

I laugh dryly, even though I’m not entirely sure why. “Something like that, yeah.”

“Well, you’re not going to get one. Which is kinda the point, to tell you the truth. My life, such as it is, isn’t particularly difficult or unpleasant: it’s simply as boring as hell.”

“And that provides justification for what?”

“The life that I’ve come to lead is one that you would call…privileged. I have an exceptionally rich family, and they provide for me whatever I happen to desire. I never have to try, I never have to risk failure, I never stand to lose anything. My life is fake, and I hate it.”

“So you want to see how the other half lives, right?”

“That’s probably the best way of putting it, yeah. I want to know what it feels like to suffer, and being around you guys seemed like the best way of doing that.” Megawatt thinks for a few seconds, and then pulls a guilty face. “That makes me sound really selfish, doesn’t it?”

“No, no, I understand. We always want something other than what we’ve already got.” That much is true, so I can forgive her…for the time being, at least.

Megawatt suddenly gives me an evil look. “Besides, you’re just the right person to criticise me about lying.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“What do you think? The legendary Raven, joining our little group under someone else’s name: if that’s not lying, I don’t know what is.”

My brain damn near shuts down. “How do you know about that?”

“Ghost, in a word. We’ve been blackmailing each other into silence ever since we both joined STT, and we use each other as sources of information and local gossip. It’s kinda fun, actually.”

“But he promised me that he wouldn’t tell…”

“You should never trust a dead man, Raven. All he wants is to find the person who killed him, and he’ll do anything to see it done, no matter how oblique his methods may seem. I wouldn’t call him dangerous, not by any means, but he’ll never be anyone’s friend.

In case you’re worried, I’m not angry with you for lying. I know why you did it, and being angry would only make me a hypocrite anyways. But you should think twice before snapping at people in future.”

With that, there’s not much else that either of us can say, so I make my leave quickly.


The next month or so of my life made for some kind of return to normal, or at least as normal as life can get for someone in my position. As a Teen Titan, there’s been nothing much to do: there’s been no crime-fighting to take care of since my fight with Werecat, so the only particularly interesting thing that’s happened is that Cyborg has made himself a jet pack. He uses it so much now that we all call him “The Rocket Man”, albeit not to his face. I’m the only one who still refers to him solely as Cyborg, mostly ‘cause I’ve gone off lying in the last few weeks.

As a member of STT, life has become much more fun. I told them all about my true identity and my reasons for hiding it, and thankfully they were reasonably understanding: they didn’t like not being told from the off, but they were willing to forgive me. Naturally, Ghost and Megawatt are still keeping their little secrets secret for now, but I’m in no mood to upset things even more so I’m leaving them be. I’ve also become much closer friends with Vine, and I now make a habit of joining her on her sessions at the mosque usually every three or four days. I’m not about to become a Muslim, not by any means, but I’m interested in knowing what goes on. The clerics don’t mind, either: in fact, they love the attention.

It’s today that the balance of my life is probably going to go back to its usual upset self. I heard through the grapevine, I’m not sure how, that Megawatt is leaving Jump City: I don’t like her all that much, but that’s not what I want. Like the rest of us in STT, she lives in her own flat, so that’s where I’m at now. It’s part of a row of old terraced houses, halfway between pleasant and run-down.

Megawatt comes out of the front door as I head up the street. She’s got an old backpack over her shoulder, and she gets on her trusty moped before I can call to her. Thankfully, she notices me before she pulls away. I draw level as she turns back to me.

“I suppose you know why I’m leaving?” she asks, not quite rhetorically.

“No, I don’t.” That much is true.

“Teach called me last night. Someone told him about me, and apart from the fact that it wasn’t Ghost I don’t’ know who to blame. Teach said that he doesn’t want me in the group anymore.”

“But that doesn’t mean that you have to leave the city!”

“It’s easier this way. I think that I could face meeting up with you guys again. Besides, all I’m doing is going home.”

“Where’s that?”

“Metropolis. That’s where my family are, and I think that I could do with rebuilding bridges with them.”

I understand what she means, but thankfully my true family is already here with me. “Good luck, Megawatt.” I say, and I mean it.

“My name’s Liz Walters, by the way. And I’ve got a small poser for you and your friends, both in STT and the Titans. As an old friend of mine once said, “some that live deserve death, and some that die deserve life. Are you the one to give them that?” Well, it’s something for you to think about at the very least.”

Liz Walters, formerly Megawatt, drives off down the street, leaving me more confused than ever.

[Rae]

Ha! I found the quote!


“some that live deserve death, and some that die deserve life. Are you the one to give them that?”
Its when Frodo says Bilbo should have killed Golem when he had the chance and then gandalf says that to him!

'Saddles' leads to 'jockey'!

That was great, i didn't predict the whole megawatt lying thing so that was a great twist!

If Ghost didn't tell teach and it wasn't Rae then who did? And i liked the fact that Raven spilled about who she was, it seemed like the right thing for her to do. Can't wait for the next installment but i will!

Rae

[rrarbecy]

That was really good. Nothing to criticise. That was a great quote at the end, too.

"Jockey" leads to "underwear."

[Lord Welshi]

"Underwear" leads to "elastic.":p

Good chapter matt, as per usual. Not much to say really, but i like how you have hinted at an incredibly complicated web of deceit, lies and blackmailing within a group who want to be superheroes! Or at least, that's what we came to understand until it turned out half the group had alterior motives!

Good job

Lord Welshi

[rrarbecy]

Yeah....Deceit, lies, blackmail...All wonderful plot-makers. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

"elastic" leads to "band."

[Sproxie]

That was a really good chapter, I loved the quote at the end.


Yeah....Deceit, lies, blackmail...All wonderful plot-makers. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
Yup, I agree.
Nothing to critisize, great job, as always.

"Band" leads to "Maroon 5" (? :sweat: )

[Matt A]

Another supporter of the satirical sig! Woohoo!:D :D :D :D :D

Ah, you guys have barely even started discovering the lies that I have been telling, and am yet to tell. For is it not written "never believe anything I say, including this sentence"? Well, it is now.:p

Oh, and there's one vital question about that last chapter that you've yet to ask. It's pretty obvious, so just have a quick think and you'll soon figure it out.

Only one commenter to go before chapter eight...


Ta,
Matt

PS: "Maroon" (I'm not going to use the whole phrase, because I already said that you shouldn't do that) leads to "purple".
PPS: Welshie, you are officially a pervert.;)

[Kregor8]

Purple lead to royalty.

Chapter. What shall I say? I'm not exactly sure how a web of deceit like STT could be "much more fun." Maybe that's just because I've lived in webs of deceit and never had a good time. (Just for the record - they weren't/aren't my webs). Still, I guess it would be easier for Raven because now she isn't lying anymore. Cool! Anyway...

Megawatt was/is (I'm sure we haven't seen the last of her) a very interesting character. I can see how somebody who "had it all" would want to try those things that they don't have. Quite a motivation.

I'm sure more action will be coming sometime soon. That would be cool too. :D

7<regor

[Crowgirl]

"Royalty" leads to "King".

I really loved that chapter. I think the fact that Megawatt's a fake and that Ghost is a traitor is much fun indeed, for us to read anyways. This has so many twists that are so unexpected it's like a messed-up preztel. :D

I think that how Raven stopped lying wasn't a totally good move, but I'm guessing it's very important in the story. I'm guessing things are about to get interesting.....

Brilliant stuff, as usual, and feel free to post the next chapter!

Ciao,
CG

[Matt A]

"King" leades to "spade".


I'm not exactly sure how a web of deceit like STT could be "much more fun." Maybe that's just because I've lived in webs of deceit and never had a good time. (Just for the record - they weren't/aren't my webs).I wouldn't call it fun: more "interesting to read". Which is no bad thing.

Anyway, the whole point of this story is that lying is an unnessecary evil. It's simply a way for us to avoid taking responsibility for our actions, and a lack of responsibility is what drives our more...unpleasant character traits. I don't want to sound preachy and all, but it needs to be said.


Megawatt was/is (I'm sure we haven't seen the last of her) a very interesting character. I can see how somebody who "had it all" would want to try those things that they don't have. Quite a motivation.She is indeed an interesting character, and what makes it all the more remarkable was that her motivation was made up on the fly: strange, but true.

Oh, and she isn't coming back, mostly because having no powers at all means that she's not much use to the STT. It's also a way of making you guys ponder an interesting thought: if I'm willing to ditch such a fascinating character as Megawatt only a third of the way through the story, then what else would I be willing to do?:evil:


I think that how Raven stopped lying wasn't a totally good move, but I'm guessing it's very important in the story.It is indeed, but only in a more oblique way. Besides, this story has a lot of plot threads involved in it, and I needed to ditch one of the more unnessecary ones before things started getting too confusing.

I'll get to work on the next chapter as soon as I can. Expect it before the start of the week after next, but only just...:sweat:

Ta,
Matt

[nevermore]

"spade" leads to "Shovel"

And so another secret is revealed...who's next. I bet that they all have something that they're lying about...cool.

This stuff is awesome. It is too bad that Megawatt had to leave, but I wonder...is there someone who wanted her to leave? I mean, I don't think that someone from STT would just want to get rid of her for no reason. I think someone wants to break STT apart.

Keep writing. I can't wait to see the next chapter.

[Matt A]

"Bangladesh" to "Ganges".


That file format doesn't stuff...:sad:Huh?:confused: :confused: :confused:

Anyway, here's Chapter Eight, more or less on schedule. Rae can consider it to be an early birthday present from me, if she wants. It's another action scene, and from what I've figured it's also a bit of a first (but a first at what, that's the question...;) ). There are probably a few bits here and there that you'll find to be a bit strange, but hopefully the next chapter will serve to clear a few things up. Oh, and the quote this time comes from "Yellow Submarine", and I wish you luck with trying to find it.:evil: :sweat:

So, get reading, and get commenting...


Chapter Eight: '68, aka On The Streets

“And if ye mingle your affairs with theirs, then they are your brothers.”

Sura II, 220

The four cars scream past, creating a draft that nearly pulls me off my feet. The low-pitch growl of the engines threatens to shake the road apart, but what with the cheering and all the rest of it you can barely hear that almighty bass. Along with nearly everyone else in the crowd, I lean out from where I’m stood to see where the cars have now got to. They’re now about a tenth of a mile away from me, and getting smaller with every passing second. It’s another six or seven seconds before the claxon and the screeching of brakes tells me that they’ve crossed the finish line. At the moment, I’m not sure who won the race.

I run the half-mile to the finish line, along with nearly everyone else lining the route, and the fact that only one car has any sort of crowd now makes it pretty obvious who won. I push my way through the throng to get to the car and its driver. The car was a Mitsubishi 3000GT, but with the body-kit, the red under-chassis neon, the black metallic paint and the massive flame-look vinyls it’s now something else entirely. It’s actually quite stylish – even if it’s as subtle as a hammer to the head – and is perhaps more fitting to its surroundings than either of the other three similarly styled cars that it was racing against. This ex-3000GT is also entirely appropriate to its driver: Hotshot, currently moonlighting as one of the best illegal street-racers in Jump City.

Okay, I think I need to back up a little bit. Because none of us in the STT live with our families, we all need to find our own ways of paying the bills and keeping ourselves fed. Being a member of the Teen Titans makes this pretty easy for me, but unfortunately the others aren’t so lucky. They all work in various small jobs around the city – cleaners, cooks, shop assistants etc – changing careear whenever their more…personal problems start to become too obvious: except for Dreadnought, of course, because being what is basically a walking tank has given him a permanent role as a security guard for the genetics company Limoriah Industries.

Anyway, there’s just that extra special something about being a pyrokinetic that makes even the most liberal of employees unwilling to hire you: as a result, Hotshot has often had to rely on more unorthodox means of making ends meet. Thankfully, he’s kept out of the more extreme end of the criminal pool so far: in fact, his current venture into street-racing is as illegal as he’s ever managed to get. In a surprise twist, he’s also pretty good, if a little under-funded. This latest win, less than a week after Liz’s departure, is the fifth time in a row that he’s been able to demonstrate is considerable talent. Hence the vast amount of respect that he’s currently getting.

Hotshot sees me pushing my way through the crowds, and he opens the passenger door so that I can get in the car. The assembled race fans cheer and wolf-whistle as I climb in, clearly imagining that I’m here to give Hotshot a little extra reward for his win. Thankfully, they needn’t worry: I’m just here to support my friend in his latest interest.

Hotshot turns to me, still grinning like an idiot. “So, didn’t I do well or what?”

I grin back at him. “From what little I saw.”

“Good to hear it! Are you glad you agreed to come to your first ever street-race?”

“Oh yes…” We’re both silent for a few seconds. “How much d’you win?”

“The other three racers put down about 5,000 each, so I’m guessing that I get 15,000 for this night’s work, my own entrance fee notwithstanding.”

“Cool!” $15,000 is what the Teen Titans usually receives in a month, and we’ve got a lot more to pay for than Hotshot does. I would go green with envy right now, except that’s not what friends are for.

Hotshot’s grin gets even bigger. “Yep, cool it most certainly is.”

Our mutual good mood is suddenly shattered by the sound of police sirens. The assembled crowds run to their various cars, a total of two hundred maxed-up beats of mayhem that marked the edge of our impromptu one-mile drag course. They all pull away at about the same time as 20-25 cop cars scream over the horizon, lights and sirens blaring. Hotshot and I shoot off with the pursued, both of us cursing repeatedly at this sudden interruption: obviously, most street-races don’t end in a police raid.

The many cars split off in different directions, us taking one of the many trash-filled alleyways that characterise the industrial district of South Romford. The police cars fly past the alley mouth, but to our eternal horror the one at the very back decides to chase us. Except this isn’t a police car: it looks like one, more or less, but it still clearly isn’t one. This car is something else, something that all criminals in Jump City have come to loathe and fear. This is the T-Car, which can mean only one thing: my friends wish to arrest me.

Hotshot knows this, hence why he suddenly looks furious. “I thought you told them not to try and bust the race?”

“I did! I guess that I just underestimated Robin’s ability to go against the book.”

“Great. You got any ideas?”

“No. Just drive like your usual brilliant self.”

Hotshot doesn’t respond.

We reach the end of the alleyway, and Hotshot turns right into a main thoroughfare. The 3000GT powerslides with a swan’s grace, narrowly missing two oncoming cars and briefly rubbing up against the central reservation. We shoot off down the street, deliberately going against the flow of the evening’s rush-hour traffic. Needless to say, Cyborg has no problems with following us in the T-Car, threading his way through the speeding vehicles with the same skill as Hotshot.

“This isn’t going to work, Hotshot. We need to try something else.”

“Like what?”

Now it’s my turn to not answer. I use my powers to pick up a pick-up truck and fling it at the T-Car. The pick-up spins over the top and smacks down onto the road behind it, causing all the cars between us and Cy to swerve wildly in an attempt to avoid the mess. As I predicted, the traffic is now too busy for Cy to avoid it all, and the T-Car smacks head-on into a BMW 3-Series. The T-Car does a forward flip over the Beamer, and lands back on its wheels. Not only is it completely undamaged, but this is also the first time that I notice that only Cy is in it.

Right on cue, Robin’s R-Cycle screams out from a side street. We come within about two inches of ramming its back tyre, and then turn right into a much more deserted road. Robin is facing the same way anyhow, so he has no problems in catching up with us: not that it makes any difference, because we come to a dead stop anyway. Standing in front of us are Starfire and Beast Boy, sporting their usual combat poses.

“You got any bright ideas?” Hotshot asks me.

I think hard for a few second. Robin and Cy have also come to a stop, and are watching us with surprised looks. Suddenly, I have an idea, with my better-then-average knowledge of South Romford coming to the rescue. “Right. Put your foot down, and don’t stop for anything.”

Hotshot looks confused. “Even if that includes committing a hit-and-run?”

“Don’t worry, you won’t. Now get going.”

Hotshot duly slams the pedal on the floor, and we shoot off at what feels like lightning speed. The quarter-mile between us and Star and BB is covered in about seven or eight seconds, and right at the last moment they take off into the air to avoid getting rammed. Hotshot raises am eyebrow in mild surprise.

“Right! Turn right!” I scream at him, and we only just make the turning. The T-Car, R-Cycle, Star and BB – now in eagle form – all turn the corner after us, just as I had planned. I use my powers to animate two lampposts, and they swat Star and BB out of the air like flies. They both hit the ground in a clearly unconscious state, but as much as it breaks my heart to see my friends hurt this is sadly necessary. Cy stops in order to get the bodies into the T-Car, which for now leaves only Robin in pursuit.

As per my next instructions, we take a swift left onto Hughes Avenue, which at roughly ten miles is the single longest street in Jump City. We rocket along its first mile, using the 3000GT’s colossal straight-line speed to put some distance between us and the R-Cycle. This is useful, but my plan is something rather different: after the first mile is a level crossing, and right now a goods train is going across it. Hotshot knows what I want him to do, and despite the riskiness of my plan he goes for it with his usual Cheshire Cat grin.

Just as I had expected, there is a rough wooden ramp just before the level crossing, made by previous street-racers for this kind of insane stunt. Just as I had hoped, we reach the ramp just as an empty boxcar goes past. This box, for reasons best left unknown, has had its side walls removed, and we fly right through the hole in a stunt that most Hollywood directors would kill to recreate. We hit the ground the other side, and to our eternal delight Robin is faced with a wall of all-too-solid train carriages that he can’t jump through. By the time he can get past, we’ll be long gone.

Hotshot and I briefly look back at our now ex-pursuer. “Song long, sucker!” we both shout.

We turn our attention back to the road, only to find that an artic has just pulled out in front of us. The front-left corner of our car smacks into its front grill, and we go flying into the air. I’m able to use a forcefield to prevent the worst of the damage, but I’m powerless to stop us from the 3000GT from spinning four or five times and smacking back down onto the road at 170mph.

[Sproxie]

NICE...

That chapter was SO awesome. I'm at a loss for words. Maybe I'll come back later and review the story, but right now, I can't. Great Job.

[rrarbecy]

Hm...the Teen Titans wouldn't come to stop a race. There has to be something else. I can't put my finger on it, but I know there's something else going on. Amazing job.

Ganges to river.

[Aquagirl15]

Oh that was awesome! Hmm loks like each member of STT will have a skill that they know what to do with. Although I'm not too in-tune with cars, I'd say that Hotshot's go a pretty sweet car. Awesome.

[Crowgirl]

NICE...
That's exactly what I was going to say, but it had a couple of different definitions:

a. The fact that Raven attacked the others to let HotShot get away freely.
b. The car... can't forget about the car.....
c. The fact that the others didn't listen to Raven about the whole thing and still tried to break it up anyway.
d. DJ is right, something suspicious is going on, it seems unlikely that it would be an ordinary race that they would stop.
e. Did I mention the car? Yeah, I think I did....
f. The fact that this whole entire thing rocks out loud. I can't wait for more!
g. Uh, yeah, the car.....

Ciao,
Chloe

[Matt A]

"River" leads to "lake".

Yep, the car is indeed awesome. It features on "Need For Speed Underground 2", so I'll try and get a picture for you by the end of today. And yes, there is more to that chapter than a simple spot of Titans crime-butsing (remember, the race was illegal...) but you'll have to wait for the next chapter to find out what. I'm guessing that it'll be here about fourty-eight hours after the next commenter.

Oh, and I just checked the Hall Of Fame poll. Thanks for nominating me and both my stories!:D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D


Ta,
Matt

PS: Am I right in thinking that the last chapter was the one of the first car chases written for a World's Finest story?

[Matt A]

"Bargain" to "basement".


Ok, this chapter was stunning. I think the reason nobody else writes race scenes is...yeah. And either this will start a trend or scare us so much (from the sheer awesomeness of it) that we won't ever try.
Nah. I'd like to see what you guys could do with a car chase scene.


The Mitsubishi 3000GT VR-4 is an awesome car. 4 wheel drive, 4 wheel steering, 4 turbochargers on the engine. Of course, Hotshot must have modded his out to I don't know what. Sweet. Couse, I'm partial to Civics, because you can do anything with them. BWAH-HAH-HA!

I've never had much to do with Civics, but the 3000GT is indeed an awesome car. Hence why I used it.:D


You could also just airmail over copies of the origional tapes.
Yep, that sounds like a good plan.:D :D :D


That's so sweet of you!!!!Well, here’s another birthday present for you: yes, Chapter Nine is here already! Even by my own highly convoluted standards, this won't be what you're expecting, and between this and the next chapter something vaguely resembling a plot will be beginning to form. Apart from this chapter's quote being from "2001: A Space Odyssey", there's not much else that I need to say.

On with the show...


Chapter Nine: '68, aka Tape Recorder

“Be ye staunch in justice, witnesses for Allah, even though it be against yourselves or your parents or your kindred.”

Sura IV, 135

Needless to say, the last twelve hours of my life have not been particularly pleasant. Despite the forcefield brought up by my powers, both me and Hotshot were pretty beat up in that car accident. In Hotshot’s case, this caused him to catch fire, and even though we were both able to escape we’ve pretty much written the car off. Actually, scrub pretty much: it is a write-off, pure and simple. Of course, I was able to use my healing abilities to touch up the worst of our injuries, but all this meant was that we didn’t have to take a detour to a hospital on the way to a police holding cell. How embarrassing.

The cell was actually quite nice, in its own way. It had a bed – albeit without a mattress, but I can live with that – it had a toilet, it had lights, and it didn’t have any skulls, rats and the like. Okay, so maybe my cellmates just happened to be two pilled-up prostitutes – they couldn’t be anything else with those outfits – but at least they were too high to figure out who I really was. The morning papers would have a small field day with the news that a Teen Titan had just been arrested, but thankfully I’m here as Amy Kowalski rather than Raven, so at least that little problem will remain hidden for the time being. In another small bonus, my cellmates were pretty impressed we my being involved in a police chase, which in turn meant that my ten hours in their company passed with some degree of peace. Even with one of my cellmates incessantly singing “Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer do, I’m half-crazy for the love of you…” and however the rest of that song goes.

But still, I’m not in the cell anymore. Where I’m at now is an interrogation room, somewhere deep in the bowls of the North Romford police station. There are two detectives in this room, plain clothes, and they’ve already introduced themselves as Detective Boon and Detective Wiltshire. Boon is sat opposite me at the table, and Wiltshire is leaning against the wall by the door over at the back. By the door is one of those two-way mirror things, the panes of glass that are a mirror on one side and a window on the other: the idea being that outsiders can observe what’s going on in this room without being noticed, and I’d be willing to place bets on Robin being one of those observers right now. The table where me and Boon are sat is right in the middle of this twelve-foot light-grey concrete box, and aside from the two chairs and a tape recorder there’s nothing else here. The tape recorder acts as a nice dividing line between me and Boon. It’s probably symbolic of something, but then again it probably isn’t.

Entirely without warning, Boon reaches over and hits the record button on the tape. “This is the interrogation of Amy Kowalski, held on suspicion of participating in an illegal street race, resisting arrest and aiding and abetting in acts of assault and criminal damage. It is now 2:17PM on January 20th 2005.” I’ve seen enough cop shows to know that Boon said all that purely for the tape’s benefit: I already know what I’ve been charged with, and it’s about as much as I was expecting.

Boon leans back in his chair. “I made a few notes before I came in, some conversation openers that I could provide, but right now I can’t be bothered. I’ll just jump right into the meat of what I need to say: both you and I know that you’re Raven, not this Amy Kowalski. Both of us can stop pretending otherwise right now.”

I’m guessing that a particular role is expected of me, so I do my best to fill it. “Well, that’s a relief.” It’s the closest that I can get to cocky prisoner for the time being.

“Maybe, but then again maybe not. What you didn’t know is that Wiltshire and I are not members of the North Romford police department, or even any police department in the world. We are agents for the NSA, and by our breaking cover like this we hope that you’ll appreciate the seriousness of what we are about to tell you.”

I do appreciate it, and I nod quietly to tell them so.

Boon picks up on this nod, and smiles grimly. “Do you know a girl called Nicola Brown?”

“Yes, I do.” And they’d know that, too: but still, in an interrogation room things need to be done by the book.

“We believe that she has formed connections that pose a threat to our national security. Has Nicola ever told you about Abu Mu’awiyah?”

“More or less.”


It’s about a month ago, just after the STT session where I confessed my true identity. Nicola Smith, better known to me as Vine, now knows that I am in fact Raven, one of her five idols. She takes this news a lot better than I had expected, and in fact the day after the session she asked to meet me. This is important because we don’t meet at our usual café: where we meet up is a small hill overlooking the forests surrounding Jump City. This part of a hill forms a cliff, and we sit by the edge, protected from the wind by a few large boulders. We’ve never met here before, so whatever she wants to tell me it must be important.

Vine’s face is uncharacteristically sour. “I can’t stand this place, you know. Being so close to all those trees, it just makes my skin crawl. But still, I always wind up coming here whenever I want to have a think: as much as I hate them, I guess that the forests are just too much of a part of me for it to be otherwise. Whether I like it or not, the forests are my home.”

She turns to look at me briefly, and then goes back to staring out over the cliff. “I don’t think any of our family could really cope after mum died. She just left such a large hole behind her…well, I can’t really explain it, but all I know is that I’d give anything to have her back.

Anyway, we all found different ways of at least hiding our pain. William and I turned to Islam…and dad turned to drink. It kills me to see him destroy himself all the time like that, but I don’t know how to stop him. Making him stop won’t work, and I doubt that the gap in his life will ever be filled. That’s why I had to move out: I know that standing by your family is the most important thing, but I think that God would understand that he’s a lost cause. Even William’s given up on him, and those two were virtually joined at the hip.

Speaking of which, it’s William that I want to talk to you about. I’m worried about him, I really am. There’s a guy at the mosque, one of the Imams, who goes by the name of Abu Mu’awiyah. Those two have been spending a lot of time together, and William’s growing more fanatical by the day. I don’t know what Abu is trying to do, but I can tell that William’s going to self-destruct before long. We hate each other with a passion, but I don’t want to see him hurt like that

The police won’t listen to me, so I’m going to need your help. Can you find out what’s going on?”

I lay a comforting hand on her arm. “The Teen Titans will do whatever they can to assist. I promise.”


Back in real time, Boon again puts on a grim smile. I haven’t told him about my conversation with Vine, so his sense of irony has been sparked up by something else. Specifically, the fact that he thinks that I know less than he was expecting.

“Mu’awiyah is an Imam at the Jump City mosque, and he is a very dangerous man. We have reason to believe that he is a member of an Islamic extremist group that goes by the name of the “Armed Islamic Group”, or “GIA”. When I say that they even consider Bin Laden to be unacceptably liberal, I think you can understand what they’re about.”

“Quite. Where does Nicola fit in to all this?” I already know part of that answer – not the GIA bit, which is very much news to me – but it never hurts to go through the motions.

“Nicola Brown isn’t the problem. Her brother, William Brown, is the one who concerns us. Our surveillance of the mosque indicates the possibility that William is on his way to becoming Mu’awiyah’s protégé, which is problem for fairly obvious reasons.”

“Right. Why tell me all this?”

“We know that you have also been attending the mosque on a fairly regular basis–”

“But only out of curiosity–”

“And we need more information on what Mu’awiyah is planning.” To his eternal credit, Boon didn’t even skip a beat.

“Ah, that’s what you think that I can offer you.”

“Yes.”

“Sadly, you’re wrong. I officially know no more about this than you do.”

“I thought as much. What we need is someone to gain Mu’awiyah’s trust, someone who can give us enough intel to bring charges.”

“Me, in other words.”

“Yes.”

Now seems about the right time to tell Boon about my conversation with Vine. “Luckily for you, that’s what I’m already doing.”

“Huh?”

“Nicola talked to me about a month ago, asking me to do the same thing as what you’ve just asked. That’s why I’ve been going to the mosque: so that Mu’awiyah gets to know my face. We haven’t been introduced yet, but rushing into things would be about the best way of breaking my cover.”

Boon processes this new information for a few seconds. “Right. Well, that’s good. We shall take a greater interest in your operation.”

It seems that the interrogation is drawing to a close, but there’s one thing that I need to ask. “What’s happening about the whole street-racing, police chase thing?”

“Oh, don’t worry about that. We were going to drop the charges if you agreed to work with us, and seeing as you’re already doing what we wanted you to do I think that we can afford to be reasonable. Besides, the whole thing was a bit of a misunderstanding anyway.”

“Huh?”

“The police raid on the race meet-up was genuine, but your friends tagged along because they needed to talk to you. Somerset and I had just told them what I’ve told you – except that you evidently didn’t tell them about your operation – but you panicked and ran off. All the time they were trying to catch up with you, you thought that they were trying to arrest you. Ironic, isn’t it?”

“Yeah.” I would laugh, but quite frankly the whole thing is just too pathetic for a laugh to be worth all the effort. “Am I free to go?”

“Yes. And Tom Nicholson, your friend behind the wheel: the DA feels that we must do everything necessary to ensure your full co-operation.” Boon leans over towards the tape recorder. “The interrogation of Amy Kowalski has now been terminated, and no charges have been brought forth. It is now 2:51PM on January 20th 2005.” He pushes the stop button, and I get out of my chair, more or less a free citizen once again.

[Kregor8]

Sweet. It was as people thought - the Titans were wanting to get in touch with Raven for an importaint reason. Too bad about the car...:sad:

Ah...here we get to see the extremists. And believe me, I'll be very happy to see them get their asses kicked. However you choose to do that.

Got the quote:
It's the Daisy song, that HAL9000 sings when he dies.

I really like the tape recorder thing. I always think of a show I saw on TV (Touching Evil) where the guy starts the recorder, says his thing, asks the guy "Did you kill [so-and-so]." "No," he says. "Liar!" the cop shouts. "This interigation is terminated." Very funny. I'm not sure why I always think of that.

Basement to flooding

7<regor

[Sproxie]

*starts lauging insanely* http://e.deviantart.com/emoticons/e/excited.gif

I love this story!


It just keeps getting better and better! That was quite an unexpected twist, but if the Titans just wanted to talk to Rae, why didnt they just call her on her communicator? ...And If Raven was in Jail, where was Hotshot? :confused:

Anyway, I loved the chapter!

Flooding to Water. (how original :rolleyes: )

[Matt A]

I wouldn't say that she was one step ahead, more that they were working with different sets of information and with different purposes. The one thing that the NSA isn't is useless.:sad:

[Matt A]

Laser surgery is evil, I tell you! Evil!:mad: :p :sweat:

(I work at an opticians, in case you hadn't noticed.)

[Matt A]

"Burger" to "cow".

I'm not going to bother starting a discussion on the pros and cons of contact lenses, mostly because I'd try to look like I knew what I was talking about, but I really wouldn't have a clue. And I've had enough of making myself look stupid.:(

I'm afriad that I'm going to have to break my own golden rule here. Even though I've only had four seperate commentators rather than the five I want, I'm going to give you chapter ten anyways. I'm doing this purely because what I've written is just so damn cool as to defy belief: this is an epic action set-piece the likes of which has not been seen on World's Finest before (well, not by me, at any rate), and just to add a small cherry on top the main plot is going to start coming into focus to boot! Rock! Oh, and seeing as the guest quote comes from "Kill Bill: Vol. 1", you should spot it no probs.:D

By the way Kregor, I apologise now for my over-use of the word "tendril": I couldn't think of any decent synonyms.:sweat:

Get reading, ladies and gents...


Chapter Ten: '03, aka Vertical Insanity

“Sanction is given unto those who fight because they have been wronged; and Allah is indeed Able to give them victory.”

Sura XXII, 39

My status as a free citizen has been reactivated for a fortnight now, and Robin’s still not talking to me. For the most part, it’s because the thought of me taking on a highly dangerous undercover operation without even so much as mentioning it to him is probably a little more than he can cope with. If there’s anything in the way of criminal-busting going on in Jump City, then it’s Robin’s personal responsibility to see that it works: well, that’s what he thinks, at any rate. But still, that’s just Robin’s way. His obsessiveness is something that you just have to learn to live with after a while, a bit like my depression.

Besides, I think there’s also something a little deeper here. My time with the STT has changed me in ways that I never quite expected, and there’s still plenty more changes left to come. Perhaps the most obvious difference is that I don’t wear my old uniform any more, the whole neo-Goth leotard-and-cloak thing having slowly lost its appeal. I wear more normal clothes these days, jumpers, T-shirts, jeans etc, but thankfully I’m still not out to dress to impress. In a way, it’s a symbol of my attempt at becoming a more “normal” person: of course, being a Teen Titan isn’t exactly a great way to be “normal”, but Robin, Cy and the rest are my friends so I’m not exactly about to ditch them.

Am I trying to become a more normal person? I think so. I’ve certainly loosened up quite a bit over the last six months, and I daresay that I even have a social life now. Well, my social circle outside of the Titans may only extend to a group of people who perhaps find it harder to be sociable than I do, but hey, it’s a start. From what I remember, it took me about a month to work up the guts to attend my first STT session, but now I’m trying things after only a seconds’ thought that I wouldn’t have even considered six months ago. Take the car chase, for instance: that little stunt technically made me a crook, which until now is something that I would have found repulsive. But the thing is, I enjoyed it. I enjoyed being in trouble: naturally, I don’t intend to make a habit of it, but it has been providing a little food for thought. I went to the STT for help controlling my emotions, and to a certain extent that’s what they’ve done. I’m still not all in favour of letting go, so to speak, but I’m starting to enjoy my life in ways that I never previously expected to. Perhaps that’s why Robin’s still angry with me, but how do I get him to realise that, regardless of how far things go with the STT, I’ll always be a Titan?

Tonight is where I get my chance to try it, albeit not even remotely in the way that I expected. An alarm went off at around one in the morning, and we’ve all hurried to the control room to find out what’s going on. Robin punches a few buttons and, to our eternal surprise, the crime has been located in our living room. So that’s where we run to, and our surprise levels go up several thousand fold: one of the floor-to-ceiling windows has been smashed, and standing amongst the broken glass is Vine. The rain and flashes of lightning brought up by the current thunderstorm backlight her in a way that would cause most film-noirs to turn green in envy.

Robin knows who this girl is, so he doesn’t bother wasting time on pointless introductions. “What do you want?” is what he asks instead.

Vine has had her eyes closed until this point, but now she opens them. Rather than their usual dull brown, they’re now bright red. Glowing bright red. “What I’m here for is none of your concern.” she says, her voice taking on a tone that’s hollow even for me.

A low growl comes from beside me. It’s Cy, and he’s not happy. “If you’re here, Brother Blood, why not just show yourself?!” he virtually screams to the open air.

Vine, or what’s controlling her, smiles evilly. “My master’s powers have grown beyond your wildest understanding. He could be hundreds of miles away and you would still carry out his will whether you wished it or not.”

“Yeah, but did he order you to do this?” Before Vine can even process Cy’s cheesy one-liner, he fires off a shot from his Sonic Cannon. It hits Vine full in the chest, and she’s thrown backwards through the missing window. After a second or two, a vine comes flying into the room and wraps itself around Robin’s legs. With a yell, he gets pulled through the window and out into the night. Me, Cy, BB and Star look at each other briefly, and then jump out of after him.

We plummet down the side of the Tower for a few seconds, and then mine and Star’s levitation powers, BB’s Pterodactyl form and Cy’s new rocket boots bring us back under control. Vine’s more or less crawling down the side of the building, and two out of her ten possible vines are being used to keep Robin tied up on top of her. Cy lets off another Sonic Cannon shot, and it smacks Vine in the square of her back. She drops Robin, and Star flies down at top speed to catch him.

Vine’s tendrils loose their grip on the Tower, and she starts to tumble towards the ground. Two tendrils smack into the wall to stop her, and another six fly us towards me, BB and Cy. Of course, we don’t them notice until the last second, but BB and Cy are able to fly out of the way. My reactions aren’t quite quick enough, and two tendrils hit me full in the face. I go flying upwards and land on the roof, feeling more than a little dazed.

I stand back up after a few seconds, and run to the edge of the roof. Star has now caught Robin, who jumps off her and lands on Vine’s stomach. He tries to punch her a few times, but her tendrils are smacking him too much for it to work. BB swoops down to aid him as Cy and Star let off all manner of projectiles in the general direction of the maelstrom. This is bloody lunacy of the highest order, so I need to help out.

I Swallow-dive off the edge, and after a short free-fall I land on Vine’s head. She isn’t expecting my arrival, so her surprise means that she lets go of Robin. Star is there to grab him once again, but there’s nothing to stop Vine from wrapping a tendril or six round my neck. I’m now dangling – or, rather, choking – over thin air, and she uses the tendrils to pull me to within talking distance.

“You didn’t think it was gonna be that easy, did you?” she says into my ear.

I can’t breathe well enough to say “yes” – my preferred response – but luckily for me a Starbolt arrives to smack Vine in the head. The tendrils let go of me, and I quickly use my levitation powers to stop myself from plummeting towards the ground. BB has started attacking Vine again, so I fly up to lend a hand. The black energy that forms around my hand gives my punch enough force to fling Vine through the mid-level window that’s about ten feet away.

Robin uses his grappling hook to pull himself through the resultant hole, and me, Cy and Star fly through after him. BB went through the window with Vine, and unfortunately for him his now human form is being given the good – or bad – news by her tendrils. They’ve got a proper hold on him, and they’re smacking him into floors, walls, ceilings, shelves and all sorts in what seems to be a near-empty stockroom. We wade in to help out our friend, but we’re too occupied with trying to avoid the other tendrils that are flailing at us to be able to do much good.

Finally, BB is thrown at the ceiling so hard that he goes right through it. Vine jumps up through the hole after him, and the rest of us follow suit. We’re now in the evidence room, so I take the opportunity to throw a few of our “museum pieces” at Vine. Her tendrils swat most of the black energy-covered objects out of the air, but one – Slade’s old mask, ironically enough – manages to get her in the head. The energy covering means that the blow throws her through a wall and out into the corridor.

I jump through the hole and smack an energy ball in Vine’s face before she can get up. She’s only dazed for less than a second, though, and sure enough a tendril comes out of nowhere to give me stinging uppercut. I fall flat on my back, but I back-flip up onto my feet just before the same tendril can whip me in the face. In the meantime, Robin has managed to sneak up on Vine from behind, and a smack with his Bo staff knocks her to the ground again. Cy and Star shoot at her prone body, but her tendrils both pick her up before they hit and throw us to the floor in her place.

Evidently guessing that further fighting is pointless, Vine runs off down the corridor. We don’t get to find out where she intends to get to, because Robin chucks an exploding disk at her. She jumps to avoid it, and the disk smacks into the elevator doors at the end of the corridor. The doors are blown off their hinges by the explosion, but Vine is freaked out enough by this to have a change of plan. She uses her tendrils to climb up the elevator shaft, and from the looks of it she now just intends to get the merry heck out of here.

But I’ll be damned if I give her that luxury. Not bothering to check if the others going to back me up, I jump to my feet and run at full pelt towards the elevator. I fly up the shaft, throwing as many energy balls as I can while I’m doing so. Most of the balls miss, and the combined explosion is powerful enough to rip apart the lifting mechanisms at the top of the shaft. I hear the elevator itself, somewhere far below us, begin its long plummet to the ground, but right now I’ve got more important things on my mind. The explosion opened up a hole to the roof of the Tower, and the last energy ball hits Vine in the stomach and pushes her through it.

I continue flying through the hole and come to a stop about four or five feet above the roof. Vine is lying on the ground by the hole, but quickly gets up and flings every tendril she can at me. It finally occurs to me to use a shield, which means that this is the first time during the course of the whole fight that her tendrils don’t cause any harm. Vine realises that she can’t hurt me with my shield up, so she turns and runs. Being on the roof of a hundred-storey tower and all, there isn’t exactly anywhere she can run to, so she stops at the edge of the roof. I’m in no mood to show any mercy, so I throw an energy ball at her that flings her far out into the air.

I follow her into space and drop both my shield and my levitation powers. I drop like the proverbial stone, and after once again forming the “Swallow” position I quickly catch up with Vine. We cling to each other briefly as we plummet, but after watching Robin’s earlier performance I know not to spend too long trying to get a hit in. I seize the first chance I get and give Vine a massive headbutt, but this stuns us both too stop ourselves from hitting the cold waters of Jump City bay. At the speed that we were falling, this is like falling onto solid concrete. We both black out from the pain.

[ShadowOfAGhost]

first of all...

And I've had enough of making myself look stupid.:(...That's my job.

and secondly, this was in fact the greatest chapter yet. no exceptions. no ifs. no ands. no butts. the tendril thing isn't so bad as you would think. at most you use it once or twice a paragraph. this gives it enough time to pass through our minds so by the next time we see it it doesn't bother us. if you had used it really close together, that would have been a different story.

I now have a goal for my writing. find some way to come close to matching that with my next fight sceene. I doubt that will happen though.

I have only this one idea about the story, in the past you seem to ignore some of my predictions, but oh well, I just post them anyway. could Br. Blood be the teacher of STT? :evil:

cow to Anna_Nicole_Smith

[Kregor8]

Ok, I'll start off with my complaints.


Tonight is where I get my chance to try it, albeit not even remotely in the way that I expected.
That sentence was akward (sp?), cause you scrabbled the tenses. It's in present tense and the rest of the chapter is in past (as it should be). It's minor, but I figured I shouldn't let you off too easilly. :D

Uh...that's it. The tendril things wasn't as bad, because you spread it out a bunch. Last time, you crammed the word in - 3 times per sentence, almost. So it wasn't too bad. It was a little confusing with "vines" and "Vine" herself, but that's just how it works with a name like that.

This was definetelly the most awesome fight scene you've ever written, if not the most awesome I've read in any story. Simply incredible. Since it's one long action string, I won't dice it up and say the best parts. It was all best (weird, but true).

I haven't seen Kill Bill either.

Name to nomenclature

7<regor

[rrarbecy]

:eek:Nice cliffy there, Matt. No, really. That's one of the only cliffhangers I actually like. I can't wait to see the outcome.

Since you mentioned the end, does that mean we're nearing the end? I hope not. By the way, the ENTIRE thing was in present tense.

I started watching Kill Bill, but hated it SO much that I turned it off.

I hope you're RIPPING Anna Nicole. My God I hate that woman.

Clay to Face.

[Aquagirl15]

Miss me? Sorry been busy and I just got a chance to read your updates Matt. :sweat: Both chapter that I had to read were very good. I liked the fact that Raven didn't get in touble from the police. But I'm having trouble finding the connection(s) to Vine being controled by Brother Blood and this guy (don't know how to spell his name) hanging out with Vine's brother. I'm sure it will tie together somewhere just like DB but until then I am left hanging. Either way thoes were some great chapters and I can't wait to see what happens next!! :D

[Lord Welshi]

This was a great chapter, matt. The battle is well paced, and...well, everythings good really, if i'm honest. Nice work.

Lord Welshi

P.S. Walmart to Handgun (Apologies if anyone is offended by that link and my putting it there, but i watched Bowling for Columbine last night. and yes it was k-mart, but they're all the same damned thing really)

[Matt A]

Grrr, note for future refernce, percguy89, I'M welshi, HE'S mate!:p Exactly.:p :p


Matt, new chapter soon please.Consider it done.:anime:

I'm in no great mood to give an lengthy introduction right now, so I won't. Instead, what I will say is that I don't think this chapter is all that well written, but because it does give the plot a bit more focus you should like it all the same. I hope.:sweat: :sweat: :sweat:

The quote this time comes from "28 Days Later", which means that only the Brits amongst us will be likely to get this one.

Anyway, do your usual...


Chapter Eleven: '02, aka The Trackers

“Shun much suspicion, for some suspicion is a crime. And spy not, neither backbite one another. Would one of you love to eat the flesh of his dead brother?”

Sura XLIX, 12

Thankfully, Robin and I are now back on friendly terms. Me and Vine were both fished out of Jump City bay easily enough, and by the time we both gained consciousness some hours later my fellow Titans were satisfied that she was indeed on our side. It was obvious from the outset, at least to my eyes, that Brother Blood was controlling her against her will, but of course in the middle of an epic fight both inside and outside of the Tower you don’t really get time to think about that sort of thing. However, once the fight was over we were all able to put our collective heads together, and one conclusion is obvious. The last thing that Vine remembers before waking up in the Tower is Brother Blood knocking on the door to her apartment, and if he knew where she lives then someone must have told him: this means that he must have a mole in STT, and right now that’s not a comforting thought.

Obviously, this mole needs to be found, and us Teen Titans are the ones to do it. Robin is understandably thrilled to bits with the prospect of some real detective work, and this has thankfully drawn his mind away from the small issue of my planned infiltration of Mu’awiyah’s organisation. Because the news of the mole means that I can’t quite trust my friends at STT for the time being – trust me, that hurts – I’ve also taken the opportunity to socialise with my original friends a little more than I have been as of late. They were worried – not without reason – that I was going to wind up deserting them for the STT guys, but now any potential rifts between us have been more or less stopped in their tracks. If it weren’t for the fact that any one of my nine newer friends could be an even bigger traitor than Terra herself, I’d say that things are finally starting to look up.

Anyway, back to the issue at hand. It’s only been three days since we discovered the whole Brother Blood/STT connection, and Robin’s legendarily quick mind has already got some concrete plans in motion. For the most part, this has involved some heavy-duty testing of Cyborg’s new “Fly Cams”: essentially, video cameras no bigger than a dollar coin that fly around on tiny wings. They’re small, near silent and if you weren’t expecting one then you’d have no idea that it was following you. We’ve got one following every member of STT, expect for Vine: for her own safety, she’s now staying in the Tower with us, and there’s obviously no point in tailing someone that we know isn’t going to be a problem. Naturally, these Fly Cams haven’t picked up any useful information yet, but because we’re only three days into a very long-term op there’s no point in worrying just yet. Besides, Brother Blood and his mole won’t be in contact every day, but if we wait for long enough then something will come up. We hope.


Right now, though, I’ve got more important things on my mind. We’re still on day three of the mole-finding op, but today I need to start something else. Today is the day that I get to meet Abu Mu’awiyah, most likely an agent/recruiter for one of the most unpleasant terrorist organisations on Earth. He’s seen me about the mosque quite a bit over the last few months, and as per his original plan he’s apparently taken quite an interest in me. The thought of having a Teen Titan as a recruit – naturally, he’s done his homework – is evidently even more of a worm than I expected.

As per Mu’awiyah’s FedExed instructions, I arrive at Jump City mosque at precisely 1:37PM. Because I point blank refused to wear any wires or whatever for this meet – if his staff didn’t have any bug sweepers then he’d be a bloody fool – Robin’s got BB following me around in fly form. As long as he doesn’t get himself squished, then he’ll be a pretty effective spy: BB’s job is to get inside the mosque any way he can, and then have a quiet fly around to see what he can find. I’m still not liking this – BB can’t do subtle to save his life, even in fly form – but seeing as refusing my friends’ help would not be a wise move I’m just going to have to manage with what I’ve got.

The mosque looks as anonymous as ever, except that it now has two men stood outside. Apart from the fact that they’re Arabic and wearing traditional Arab dress, there’s nothing particularly significant to say about them. They’re clearly here to check who I am before I go inside.

I walk up to the two men, who look at me blankly to say that they know I’m there but really couldn’t care less. “Hi,” I say to them both, “my name’s Raven, and I’m here to see Abu Mu’awiyah. I am expected.”

The man on the right pulls a two-way radio out of his pocket and mumbles something in Arabic for a few seconds. There’s another second or so’s gap, and more Arabic comes back over the speaker. The man simply nods at me and opens the door.

I go inside quickly, the brightly coloured entrance room being as eye-catching as always. I head up a narrow wooden staircase off to the right, and go through the door at the top. The room I’m in now is sparse to say the least: the walls are bare pale green-painted concrete, the floors are unvarnished floorboards and there’s absolutely nofurniture at all. The five men dotted around this large space are all classically dressed Arabians, the one standing in the middle looking not entirely unlike he’s just steeped straight out of the Sahara.

Following the vague yet polite gestures of the man by the door, I walk over to the Sahara guy, who I already know to be Abu Mu’awiyah himself. He looks at me for a few seconds, clearly trying to get a more measured first impression.

“So, this is the infamous Raven?” he asks me. I’ve never heard him speak before, and his thick Arabic accent sounds remarkably polite.

“Yep. That’s me.” For one of the few times in my life, I’m feeling nervous even though there’s nothing obvious here to intimidate me.

“Tell me, Raven, what makes you so keen to learn the ways of the blessed Allah?”

“My friend, Nicola Brown. She’s one of the more regular attendees.”

“Ah yes. Her brother is shaping up to be a fine disciple.”

“I know. Nicola’s worried about him, you know. She thinks that he’ll wind up destroying himself.”

“Because of me?”

“I don’t know. She feels that he might take more…extreme ways to show his faith. Personally, I’m fine with that.”

“As you should be. For if we are all servants of the blessed Allah, then sacrificing ourselves for what is right is to be encouraged.”

“Exactly.”

“Naturally, I suppose that your fellow Teen Titans disagree.”

“They like to say otherwise, but quite frankly they’re lying. I seriously doubt that they’ve got it in themselves to make any sacrifice, despite the examples that others have shown them.” Terra, step forward now…

To say that I’m uncomfortable with slagging off my friends like this is perhaps the understatement of the year, but thankfully all Mu’awiyah can see is my usual determined expression. If even my friends can’t see through me, then he’s got no hope.

Mu’awiyah goes silent for a few seconds. “Of course,” he says eventually, “you realise that you cannot just join the Armed Islamic Group as and when you please. There are things that you must do first.”

“Such as?”

Mu’awiyah smiles. “You have already shown a great deal of sympathy to our cause, but you are by no means one of the blessed Allah’s followers. We shall guide you through the steps necessary to follow his will, and then…we shall see.” He goes silent again. “But I am not as simple as I appear, Raven. I trust you a great deal, but if my trust is found to be misplaced then I will kill you in a heartbeat. No offence meant, of course.”

“None taken.”

I hope that BB’s getting all this down. Scary death threats aside, it looks like I’m all set to become a member of the GLA, albeit for not quite the reason that my new mentor has in mind.

[ShadowOfAGhost]

This is a great chapter! The thing that strikes me most isn't something you said, on the contrary, it's something you haven't been saying. You have been dangling this thing about the mole in front of us for so long, yet we all can't seem to reach out and grab it. the only thing that I can think is that is it plausible to think that the mole is the one who killed Ghost?

I did have one other Idea, but this will likely be shot down real quick... could it be that Raven is the mole? you've been trying to get it to look like someone else is the mole, but no one has stepped forward to think that you could be trying to do that intentionaly, draw our attention toward the others and away from the true mole.

[rrarbecy]

I love a good conspiracy.:D

[Sproxie]

This is a great chapter! The thing that strikes me most isn't something you said, on the contrary, it's something you haven't been saying. You have been dangling this thing about the mole in front of us for so long, yet we all can't seem to reach out and grab it. the only thing that I can think is that is it plausible to think that the mole is the one who killed Ghost?

I did have one other Idea, but this will likely be shot down real quick... could it be that Raven is the mole? you've been trying to get it to look like someone else is the mole, but no one has stepped forward to think that you could be trying to do that intentionaly, draw our attention toward the others and away from the true mole.I agree with him. But instead I think the 'mole' is Teach. I have an idea about what's going on that has been bugging me for some while, except, i'm gonna keep my mouth closed untill the end.
Anywho, Great chapter!


Quote:
Originally Posted by Sprox
Umm... I don't think I'll be visiting anyone. :sweat:

:crying: :crying: :crying: :crying: :crying:
Heh... sorry?

[Aquagirl15]

Personally, I'm gonna take a wild guess and say that Teach won't have much to do with it until the end of the fic. It seems to me that you are making Teach look suspictious to draw our attention to him. Or maybe it's just the fact that we know next to nothing about him.


Man, you dudes are suspicious!We have a right to be no? If this is anything like DB it'll be shrouded in mystery. Looking between the lines is someting that we'll need to do I think.

[Matt A]

Here's chapter twelve, more or less on schedule. Personally, I think it's a bit rubbish, but then again I never really had much hope for this chapter anyways. As I said yesterday, none of what follows will advance the plot in any way, shape or form, but hopefully it'll keep your interest going until I can write something better and more relevant. Well, it's gonna have to, to be honest, 'cause I don't know when I'll next be able to write another chapter. It could be tomorrow, but then again it could be next month (ie, April). Right now, I just don't know.:crying: :crying: :crying: :crying: :crying:

The quote comes from "Human Traffic", so I won't be surprised if no one gets it.:shrug:

Anyway, get reading and posting...


Chapter Twelve: '99, aka The Golden Couple

“Enter not houses other than your own without first announcing your presence and invoking peace upon the folk thereof. This is better for you, that ye may be heedful.”

Sura XXIV, 27

I think it’s fair to say that becoming a Muslim is pretty simple, even if being one is not. My official conversion was marked by nothing more than my repeating the line “ash-shadu an la ilaha illallah wa Muhammadar-rasulullah” (“I bear witness that there is no God but Allah, and that Muhammad is the Prophet of God”, for those of you who don’t speak Arabic) in front of two witnesses, in this case Mu’awiyah and Vine, and apart from the odd Qur’an study session once or twice a week there’s no real education required. There’s no baptism or anything like that: just a simple declaration that what you say you believe is what you actually believe. Okay, so maybe that makes me the biggest liar in the universe – and a sure candidate for hell membership if ever there was one – but at least my pretending to be a Muslim is for a good cause.

Anyway, the problem with pretending to be a Muslim is that you have to carry the Muslim traditions, and these, it must be said, are pretty hard work. The thing about not eating pork is already well known, and for the most part justifiable – well, would you really want to eat something that spends most of its time eating its own excrement? – but you just try telling that to Cy. Naturally, if I’m to do things the Muslim way, then it’s only fair that the other Titans follow my lead, which of course means that a fairly big part of their diet - well, except for BB – has been removed at a stroke: but hey, at least they’re coping. Actually, maybe being a Muslim isn’t all that difficult, as I’m already teetotal, vaguely celibate – albeit for a different reason – a modest dresser and suchlike: in fact, the only thing that really causes any problems is the five daily prayers. These take up a lot more time than you might think, and a full-time crimefighter can hardly set aside time for anything in advance. I don’t take part in crook busting when I’m with anyone from STT, I admit, but at least that’s not five times a day. I still go to the mosque as and when I’m able, of course, and even though Mu’awiyah isn’t happy with me missing out on prayer sessions – being a fanatic means that everything is done to the letter – but even he can concede that protecting the innocent and punishing wrongdoers counts as obeying God’s will.

But still, all is currently reasonably good in my life. Mu’awiyah is impressed with my “progress” as a Muslim – I may not be a believer, but I at least respect the motivations behind it all – and even though I’ve yet to be invited to any GLA meetings I’m certainly getting close: okay, so I may be opposed to them and the death and destruction that they encourage, but right now that’s kinda not the point. On a more personal front, my friendships with the STT guys are now back on course, as even three months into our mole-finding op we know so little that it’s pointless for even me to remain suspicious. I’m doing as much socialising as my spare time will allow me, which explains why right now I’m spending my afternoon having lunch with Sidious and Werecat: well, I’m currently on the Ramadan fast (okay, so it’s only during daylight hours, but it still sucks) so I’m doing my best to watch them eat without wanting to scream, shout and kick with hunger-fuelled rage.

Where we’re at right now is a café/performance poetry venue in Downtown. Up until about nine months ago, this decidedly gothic little joint was one of my favourite hangouts: of course, what with my life now being even busier than usual, I haven’t had so much time to come here, but I still enjoy the rare occasions that I get to just sit and think in this strangely relaxing spot. The gothic styling is unsettling in the extreme, and the poetry (only performed in the evenings, thank God) is usually in the Sylvia Plath “pathetically depressing” school, but I like it here because I don’t have to pretend to be something I’m not. Here, everyone knows that I’m Raven, and that I’m probably the oddest teenage girl in the universe, but they’re comfortable with it. Up until I found the STT, this was the only place other than the Teen Titans where I felt accepted. When amongst the weirdoes of society, anything is normal.

My little internal monologue – carried out whilst I should be listening to whatever random piece of Post-Goa-Modernist drivel that Sidious is currently spouting – is interrupted by the T-Car screaming past the main windows. As usual, everyone stops what they’re doing to have a look, but thankfully everyone here knows not to ask me the obvious question.

Except for Werecat, though. Being at least half cat means that this young lady has trouble keeping her curiosity in check. “Why aren’t you with them?” is the question that she asks.

“Because if they needed my help, they would have asked for it.”

Werecat looks at me strangely. “But isn’t that what being someone’s friend is all about? Always standing by them, even when it doesn’t suit you?”

“Yeah, that’s true. The thing is, when we’re out crimefighting, we’re not friends. We’re colleagues. You don’t have time to be friendly with people when a walking concrete block or whatever is trying to smack you into the ground.”

“But that’s not the point. Why sit here talking to us when you could be out there doing something useful?”

“Because you two are also my friends. Besides, like I already said, if they need my help then they’ll call me.”

Right on cue, a phone goes off. But it’s not my communicator: it’s Sidious’ mobile. He takes it out of his pocket and answers it.”

“Hello?…okay…cool!…when, where and how much?…sweet!…alright, we’ll be there…nice one, bruvva!” He turns his phone off and puts it back in his pocket. Werecat and I look at him expectantly.

“Oh, a friend of mine from out of town is dropping by. He’s got some tickets to the new Dub Reggae club that’s just opened.” I don’t know what he’s talking about, but Werecat evidently does. She gives him a quick peck on the cheek in gratitude.

Oh yeah. I forgot to mention that before. Sidious and Werecat have been going out since before I even joined the STT, which must be about nine months ago now. They’re a pretty good couple, all told: with those two, anything goes. Even Dub Reggae, whatever that is.

The three of us ramble on about whatever for the next hour or so. Sidious also takes the opportunity to explain the fineries of Dub to me: basically, imagine a tune that’s pretty much all bassline, with some random doped-up singer going on about whatever over the top. It’s good music, apparently, but only when you’re stoned and only when the bassline is deep enough to be felt in Jamaica.

Sidious has just finished his explanation when my communicator goes off. I flip it open to reveal Robin’s panicking mug. “Cinderblock’s trying to tear apart the airport!” he shouts, even though he doesn’t need to. “We’ve been trying to hammer him down for over an hour, and nothing’s working! We need your help!”

“Alright. I’ll be there as quick as I can.” I look over at the golden couple. “Sorry guys, but I need to run. Apparently I’m needed after all.”

They know what I’m talking about, so they just smile dryly. “Okay. Good luck, and give them our love.” It's Sidious that says that, which is unusual. He may be a bit on the New Age side, but he's still not overly prone to sentiment. There probably isn't a deeper meaning there, so I won't bother worrying about it.

“Will do.”

I leave the money behind for my herbal tea (I’m at least allowed to drink on a fast, thank God) and leave the café. Sensing that time is of the essence, I fly the fifteen miles to the airport as quickly as I’m able. However, just to make my day that little bit extra special, I finish my four-minute flight just in time to see BB lay the knock-out blow onto Cinderblock’s head.

Oh well. It’s nice to be needed every once in a while.

[ShadowOfAGhost]

so you say that this is one of those "Shapter for a sake of a chapter" sort of chapters? oh well, it did provide some important information, if only background information. This was actually pretty good! you seem to have done a lot of research for this fic, which is good to know considering that we don't have to worry about irregularities or mistakes potentially offending people. it also helps you provide an unbiased
***coughcoughkregorbutIhatetoadmitIhavenoroomtotalkeithercoughcough***
opinion.
I think the word game might be grinding to a slow and steady death.
Reggae is not bad music! I haven't heard any of the specific kind that you were mentioning, but if you ever get the chance go out and listen to Bob Marley Legend CD. It's one of the few CD's that I can sit down and listen to all the way through. And the man truely is a legend, constantly working for peacefull reform in Jamaica until he died in the late 70's (I think that's when he died) of brain cancer. He could have been treated and survived, but the only medicine he would accept was a specific kind of pain killer ... if you catch my drift.

[Lord Welshi]

A nice chapter. We got some good character interactions, a good scene, and a nice monologue from everybody's fave goth girl.

Is this the quote? “Hello?…okay…cool!…when, where and how much?…sweet!…alright, we’ll be there…nice one, bruvva!” If it isn't, i heard it from a different film, cos i know i've heard it before.

Lord Welshi

[RavenofAzerath~]

hmmmmmmmmmmmm *:shrug: goes over the last half an hour she spent reading the whole forum* Its good,:anime: i like the first person, and the lying, and the deception.:evil: But thats just me and the fact that i'm going to be a black belt in three weeks.:D :evil:

Raven wearing normal clothes is something i'm glad to hear, as long as its not pink, :ack: but thanks for recommending this, i never would have found it if u haddnt found me!! Thanks!:D Nice recent story too, cant wait to find out the outcome
!!

Archipellago!!:p

[Matt A]

"Stereophonics" leads to "Wales".


to.........many.........words..........must....... ..read............all :eek: :ack: AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!:crying: *brain starts leaking out of ear* ewwwww,:confused: *scoopes some up on finger, eates some* tastes weird:p

Right...:sweat: :sweat: :sweat: :p


You just did. And I only mentioned it because a friend of mine says it all the time. I guess it just becomes reflexive.Okay. At least it wasn't your own idea.:shrug:

Oh, and can anyone say "buzzkill"?:p

Anyway, here's chapter thirteen. Personally, I think that you are going to be disappointed with this one, 'cause despite its importance to the story, and all my best efforts, it's very poorly written and filled with plot holes. Nevertheless, see what you make of it.:sweat: :sweat: :sweat: :sweat: :sweat:

The quote comes from "Kill Bill: Vol. 2", in case you're still interested.:shrug:

So, take a deep breath, and prepare enter the realm of disappointment...


Chapter Thirteen: '04, aka Undercover

“The only reward of those who make war upon Allah and his messenger and strive after corruption in the land will be that they will be killed or crucified, or have their hands and feet on alternate sides cut off, or will be expelled out of the land. Such will be their degradation in the world, and in the Hereafter theirs will be an awful doom.”

Sura V, 33

It’s only been four months since I met Abu Mu’awiyah – that’s only a month further on from my conversation with Sidious and Werecat, just to make it plain – and I already have what might as well be his absolute trust. As I said before, it must simply be the thought of having a Teen Titan as a follower: to him, having five kids protect the McTown that is Jump City must represent the pinnacle of American moral corruption, so being in a position to destroy that from the inside out must be very appealing to him. So much so, in fact, that I’ve now been invited to the GLA’s secret training camp.

Where this camp is, I don’t know. In fact, right now I’m not even sure if I’m still in America: a car picked me up from the mosque I don’t know how long ago, and I was blindfolded before I could get a good picture of who else was inside. I think that there were three young Caucasian men, but I’m ashamed to admit that I can’t quite remember. We also spent the entire journey to wherever in silence, so I couldn’t even guess their nationality through language. When I got out of the car after however long my blindfold was lifted to reveal that I was in a garage. The building that I’m in now doesn’t have any windows, so for all I know I could be underground. Oh, and to top it all off, Mu’awiyah only told me about this little field trip about ten minutes before I left, so I couldn’t even get the Titans to follow me. I tell you, I could really use their help around about now.

I’ve been here, wherever this is, for about three days. Mu’awiyah hasn’t shown up yet, and seeing as he’s evidently in command of this whole operation not much has happened without him. For the most part, I’m left to wander around as I please, but even though the guards dotted about this place have undoubtedly been ordered to leave me alone there’s so little to do that it makes no real difference anyway. Because there’s nowhere to wander to or whatever, I’ve been spending most of my time studying: besides violent acts of terrorism, reading the Qur’an seems to be the preferred activity of your average Islamic extremist. And seeing as I’m nominally one of that not-so-glorious bunch, it seems that I’d better show some conformity. Oh well, when in Rome…

Right now though, I’ve got work to do. For the first time in three days, there hasn’t been a guard keeping watch on me. Well, I suppose that Mu’awiyah is trying to be careful, but for once him and his friends have slipped up. There’s no security cameras in this place, so as long as I’m quick then I should manage to do what I’m about to do next without getting spotted. I’ve got my own quarters, a small-ish room with a camp bed being the sole item of decoration – then again, not that this whole building is either pristine or well-furnished anyway – and in the corner opposite the door there is a built-in wardrobe. It’s locked, so until now I haven’t known what was in it. But now’s my chance to indulge my curiosity, whatever the risks.

I walk over to the wardrobe door and crouch down in front of it so that my eye is level with the lock. It’s one of those “pin tumbler” types, the ones that you come across everywhere and can’t see inside of, which means that picking it is gonna be a nightmare. But seeing as I don’t have any tools to hand anyways, my method of doing this would require more than a little guesswork even if you could get a whole army through the tumbler. I take a deep breath to aid my concentration, and then get to work.

For those of you who don’t know what a pin tumbler lock (or “Yale” lock, as it’s also known) looks like, it’s basically a long, thin tube laid on its side. The side facing upwards is missing, and in its place are five pin-like objects (the “pins”, obviously enough) facing downwards. These pins are split horizontally in half at varying lengths, and when the right key is inserted into the tube (the “tumbler”) the splits are lined up so that there is a clean line stretching right across the tumbler. This means that the tumbler can rotate, which through due process draws back the bolt that locks the door. Simple, no?

In case you’re wondering, I looked that up online a while back. Out of sheer boredom, you understand.

Anyway, back to matters at hand. I use my mental powers to form a small blob of dark matter around the first pin (I can’t see inside the lock, mind you, so all I can do is hope that it’s the first pin), and then move the blob upwards until I hear a faint “click”. It’s a real faint click, but right now I’m listening hard enough for that to be irrelevant. Now that the first pin is in position, the blob keeps in place whilst another blob moves the second pin. That one “clicks” after a few millimetres, just like the first, so I move onto to pin three. And then pin four, and then the final pin. That one “clicks”, so I form a bigger blob around the tumbler itself and twist it to right until the bolt is drawn back. Finally, after God knows how long (and he probably does), I stand up and open the now unlocked door.

Of course, what I didn’t count on was the door being alarmed. The wailing siren that’s now filling the entire building screams out in big letters that my cover has just been blown…in style. Sh*t.

Luckily for me, I still get a few seconds to see what’s in the wardrobe before a small army of gun-toting guards come rushing in. The wardrobe is quite small, only about 2’ square, with no shelves. The only things in here are five green bulletproof jackets, ‘cept these have got pockets. Five pockets, in fact, that are sewn onto the front of each, and are the right shape and size to hold a deodorant can: but, of course, what’s stored in there isn’t deodorant cans. I can’t se the exact contents, but the vague egg shape is familiar enough for me to make an educated guess as to what they are. Twenty-five hand grenades are stored in this wardrobe, from what I can figure.

I slowly stand up and turn round to come face to face with Mu’awiyah. To be honest, I’m not sure if he’s angry, disappointed or even pleased. He shoots me a brief smile that’s so disarming that I completely forget that there’s seven Arab guys stood behind him that are pointing AK47s at my head. Or, at least, I forget it for a few seconds, but then I come back to my senses.

Mu’awiyah smiles again. “So, you have found the martyrs shrouds.” That’s a statement, what with questions being unnecessary and all.

Right now, all I feel is anger, not fear, so that’s what I show. “You know,” I say with all the world-weariness I can muster, “I always thought of you as being a bit more inventive than a simple recruiter of suicide bombers. I mean, that’s not even original!”

“But that is where you are wrong, child.” Man, that is so annoying! “In Israel, Iraq and elsewhere in my world, martyrs sacrifice themselves for God almost every day. But when was the last time that it happened in the West?”

“Well, there was the time when-”

“Ah, yes. The infamous “9/11”, as you like to call it. But that was three-and-a-half years ago. A similar thing has not even been attempted since then. That’s why it will work. We will send another warning to the West, that your decadence and meddling ways must stop now. And this time, you will listen.”

“But you’re not going to get the chance to “speak”. You know why? ‘Cause we will stop you.” Brave talk, I know, but I’m not in the mood to be polite. Or even sensible.

Mu’awiyah smiles even wider than before. “Your anger amuses me. Do you believe that you are my match?”

“No, not I. We.”

“You mean the Teen Titans? I would like to see what you can do.”

“Between them and a few other people, we can do a hell of a lot.”

“No, you won’t. As you already know, you have no idea where we are. We made sure of that. We also made sure that no one else knows where you are. There is no cavalry coming to help you this time, or indeed any other time. I trusted you, Raven, and you betrayed me. If someone were “snooping around”, as that irritating phrase goes, then they could not be on the right side, could they? Could they?”

“No, I suppose not. But, then again, both you and I know the real reason why I’m here.”

“Yes, it does make a great deal of sense. You are a government mole, of course. I am ashamed to say that I did not suspect it until you tried to open that door, but it was your own stupidity in thinking that the game was already up that proved it to me. You doubtless remember what I told you when we first met: that if you betrayed me, I would kill you in a heartbeat. I always make good on my promises.”

Mu’awiyah waves a hand in the direction of the men behind him, and they get ready to fill me full of lead. I’m not afraid, mostly because they can’t hurt me: I bring up a shield at the exact same second that I see the five men go to fire, and the many bullets bounce harmlessly into the air. Mu’awiyah frowns, clearly surprised.

“I did not know that you could do that.” he says. “But it will make no difference. Even if you manage to escape now, we will be gone from here long before you can send any back-up.”

I smile evilly. “Of course, I could just kick your backside right here and now.”

“Yes, you could. But you would not do that. One way or another, you will not get me out of here alive, and stopping me now will simply allow others in the GLA to take my place. Those men are the ones that you know nothing about.”

That’s a good point. I need more information, but I won’t get it through causing mayhem. I need to get out of here, and I need to work out what to do next. There is one thing that I can do now, though…

Still with my forcefield up, I create a portal to wherever happens to be ten miles north of here – wherever here is – and step through it, using telekinesis to pull the five explosive jackets through with me.

[rrarbecy]

I'm sorry, but did you say "disappointment?" You must by psychotic! That was great, at least 10 times as good as the best chapter I've ever written. I do, however, have one question. Why didn't you have her just phase through the door? That would have avoided setting off the alarms...but, of course, you WANTED the alarms to sound. By far my favorite line in the story "...my cover has just been blown...in style. ****." That was great. You humble me with your awesomeness.


At least Raven got the explosives...

[ShadowOfAGhost]

there are a lot of things that could be done easily, but would destroy the story. for example, the main character in Perfect Vision (sorry, Kregor, can't remember his name, though I should) can have parts of himself take precidence over other things, like concrete and what not, so why not stick your hand into someone's head, take precidence over their brain and kill them, all in a space of less than a second? because it would be too easy. and it makes things more interesting when Characters have to think outside the box to solve their problems. I wouldn't title this as a bad chapter, in fact I would put it up there with all of your other chapters!

[Matt A]

Well, here's chapter fourteen, right on time. It's not as well written as it perhaps could have been, but it's still better than my previous effort. It may also include one or two things that one or two of you may consider to be problematic, but I've had the events of this chapter planned out for too long now to overhaul my plans right at the last second. Either way, I apologise in adance if this chapter is either disappointing or upsetting.

On a more postive note, the quote this time comes from "The Matrix", and it's quite a famous one so it shouldn't be that hard to spot. I hope.

Anyway, do your usual...


Chapter Fourteen: '99, aka Teach A Lesson

“And slay not the life which Allah hath forbidden save with right.”

Sura XVII, 33

Naturally, I’m now no longer a part of the whole Mu’awiyah operation. I was gonna have to break cover at some point, that much I knew, but I wasn’t intending on doing that after only four months. Six or seven, maybe, but not four. Besides, it’s not as if I even get the consolation prize of achieving something useful with my almighty cock-up.

After my little teleport stunt, I wound up in a forest about twenty miles east of Seattle. A little spot of backtracking told me that I had spent the previous three days in an old lumber mill by a river, which one I don’t know. Of course, the Titans – with the aid of the FBI, NSA and pretty much every other intelligence agency/police force in the country – raided the place the moment I returned to civilisation after a quick teleport to Jump City, and as Mu’awiyah predicted the place had been emptied long before. He was there alright, and we found enough DNA evidence and suchlike to prove it, but he and his crew had duly skipped town. It wasn’t even as if my pinching the jackets would be much use, ‘cause they’ll simply get some more. We’re just gonna have to wait until he surfaces again, and thanks to my own stupidity that may well not happen until it’s too late.

Until then, I’ve got no real choice but to just go through life as per normal. There’s not much point in going back to the mosque, what with me no longer needing to be a Muslim and all, but crimefighting and STT sessions are still very much in. But still, this is still only less a week into the re-starting of my more or less normal life, so it’s not as if I comment on this, but never mind.

Anyway, this is my first STT session post-op, which means that I’m able to properly focus on what’s going on here for the first time in months. The session begins the same way as always, with all of us telling each other about what we’ve been doing powers-wise in the last week: naturally, I’m leaving out my little field trip, so for once I’ve got nothing to report. As far as Teach is concerned, though, no news is still good news, so that’s no problem. No one else has much to say either, which means that we can just skip straight onto the exercises.

For the most part, this entails us being split off into pairs, and then helping each other with our powers and fighting skills. I’m working with Ghost tonight, so what I’m doing is watching him practise his various telekinesis things, like pouring coffee and suchlike, and offering praise and constructive criticism where necessary. Of course, we’ve still yet to tell anyone about Ghost’s real nature, for the most part because being told that one of your friends has murdered another one of your friends would set off the kind of finger pointing that we could all much rather do without. Right now, the list of people that know extends to him, me, Whirlwind, Megawatt and Vine, and out of those five the first wouldn’t want to tell, the second two are sworn to secrecy, the fourth has nothing to do with us anyway, and the fifth only knows because of necessity: seeing as Vine’s living in the Tower with us, even though she isn’t taking part in crimefighting, she kinda has to know about the stuff that we’re investigating. Anyway, Ghost’s telekinesis is improving by the day, as is my emotional control, which is what he’s spending this evening working on: despite his deliberate and very effective provocations, I’ve yet to trash anything.

All that might soon change, though. It’s about halfway through our hour-long session, and we’re all hard at work on our various training routines. Entirely without warning, the door to our little basement room bursts open – and I mean literally bursts open, with bits of what used to be the lock going everywhere – and five masked men run in. They stand just inside the room in a vague semi-circle, each pointing an AK47 at us. I’ve got a rough guess at who they are, and if I’m right then this is gonna be bad. Ho hum.

“Let me guess.” I say to them. “Mu’awiyah sent you.”

They stay silent for a few seconds, which gives enough time for everyone else to put on a set of “WTF?” expressions. Even though the prospect of taking on five armed men is perhaps not quite the biggest deal in the universe, they’re still smart enough to not provoke them by asking questions. So why I’m doing that, I don’t know, but perhaps I’m the only one who can.

The man on far left, the one nearest to me, is the first to speak. “We are indeed emissaries of the great Abu. He asked us to deliver you a message: “I may not be able to hurt you, but there are still other ways of causing pain”. We presume that you know what he is talking about.”

Indeed I do. I had expected a revenge attack, of course, but not this soon and not here. And these guys would do it and all: from the looks of it, these guys and their boss don’t place much of a value on human life. Then again, neither do I, but even I would stop short at massacring an entire room full of people.

Even though they still don’t know what’s going on, my friends all look ready to fight. If we’re quick, maybe we can win. Our powers are considerable, especially mine, but once bullets start to leave those guns nothing is gonna help us. We do our best to surreptitiously exchange looks, and we get ready to charge.

But we never get the chance. Before we can do anything, two arms fly out from the back of the room. The body that owns them hasn’t moved, so these limbs look remarkably like they belong to Stretch Armstrong. The hands each grab a gun, and before the men that own them can react they get thwacked over the head. The hands do this to the other three guys, and inside of three seconds they’re all out cold. Inside of four seconds, this strange person is back to normal. I look over at Teach, who’s now catching his breath after that little workout. The powers, the name “Jack”…it all seems so obvious now…

“You’re part of the old Royal Flush Gang, aren’t you? You know, The Joker’s little group?” I say to him. My tone is inquisitive, not interrogative, and I hope he picks up on that.

Thankfully, he does. “Yeah, that’s me. Of course, I don’t do the whole henchman thing anymore. And I don’t want to, either.”

Another piece of the puzzle finally clicks into place. “That’s what this group, this whole training thing, is all about, isn’t it? Your guilt over your past makes you want to stop us from heading down that same path.”

“That’s about it, yeah. I doubt if you guys want to hear that, but that’s not the reason why I’m gonna have to run.”

“What?” It’s Sidious that said that, not me. I’m the one that understands what he’s trying to get at.

Teach, aka Jack, looks at him shrewdly. “I’m a wanted man, Sidious. The police have been wanting to bring my criminal alter ego to justice for as long as I can remember. I’ve managed to elude them so far, but this little incident won’t escape their attention for long: if I don’t want to get arrested, which I indeed don’t, then I’m gonna have to move along…and fast. I hope you guys can understand.”

“Yeah, we can,” I say, “and we wish you the best of luck in your new life.” The other guys nod in agreement.

“Thanks guys. That means a lot to me. You can train each other easily enough from now on, I think. Then again, all I ever needed to do was show you where the path was, not to guide you along it: I did my job long ago.”

Vine offers the final say from us. “Okay. God speed to you.”

Teach wastes no time in getting out the door, not because he’s anxious to leave – which he isn’t – but more because he needs all the head start he can get. Everything’s feeling over and done with a little too quickly for my liking, but even I know that time is of the essence here.

Teach puts his foot on the bottom of the stairs out of this basement level, and turns back to us briefly. “Where we go from here,” he says, “is a choice I leave to you.” He then climbs up the stairs and goes out of sight. None of us have a clue if we’ll ever see him again.

[Rae]

Well, I never would have guessed that! I applaud you for catching me out! there aren't that many people who's fics do that!

so what are STT going to do with out Teach? who knows? You do and with any luck you'll tell us so i await an answer!

Rae

P.S.
Anyway, seeinga today happens to be a snow day for me (woohoo!),
You got a snow day? Where the hell do you live? We haven't had decent snow in like 5 years!

[Vivace]

THE ROYAL FLUSH GANG!!!!!?????? That was unexpected. Truthfully, I had forgotten that Teach's name was Jack. Did I tell you that the Joker's the man? My favorite villain in any universe.

I repeat about the Royal flush gang. Hmmm, well other than that he's name's Jack that's all the foreshadowing you did with it but hey Joker rocks so that helps me like this story even more. He's the best. (next to the Uber Messenger Boy aka Slade)

[ShadowOfAGhost]

That was...unexpected. the chapter came out well so there's nothing to worry about there. final analysis: 4 out of 5! :)

only question is this...Will either Jack or the rest of the Royal Flush gang \ the Joker play into the story in any way down the road? I don't expect you to answer, because I know you won't.

[Kregor8]

Yay, Teach! Jack...I never noticed that. And I don't know crap about The Royal Flush Gang. But Joker is cool. And Teach saved the day! But now, who will save STT?

I find if fascinating how you cover so much time in your stories. I've only done 3 days in my story, and you've done like...years! Where are we, in the time scheme, if I can ask.

Go USA! If "we" don't put a boot in your (place), DJ and I will! :D

Republican links to "Stupid Party" (I know, it's dead. But I think it's absolutely a riot. It's something my ConLaw teacher said - "there are 2 parties in politics. The evil party and the stupid party. And I can't decide which is which.")

One more question - where is Seattle in relation to Jump City? In miles...


7<regor

[Matt A]

Go ahead, send me the PM if you want. Criticisms are always useful, no matter how tiny.

Anyway, I've had a bit of a think, and I've come to agree with you on the music choice. In fact, I'm now going to the opposite extreme, and there isn't going to be any music in the sequence at all. Is that a good idea?

Oh, and the "real world" people that have also looked at this don't have much more to say than you guys do, so I think it's about time I gave you Chapter Fifteen of STT. As the name of the chapter indicates, this is the part of the story where things start to go horribly wrong. Have fun reading it.;)

The quote comes from "The Third Man", which should make it a challenge to find.

On with the show...


Chapter Fifteen: '49, aka Making A Mess

“This is an alleviation and a mercy from your Lord. He who transgresseth after this will have a painful doom.”

Sura II, 178

Today is the 26th of January 2006, which makes this the first anniversary of my joining the STT. What with me being me and all that, I’ve decided to celebrate this momentous occasion in what some might consider to be a quite bizarre way: a field trip to Steel City. I’m here because this is where Teach is, and it’s taken me nearly a month to find him. I know that he wanted to be left alone, but we at STT need something to keep us going, something to strive for besides helping each other with our powers. Our probably futile attempt to find our former leader and bring him back in from the cold is about the only thing keeping the group together at the moment, aside from sheer bloody-mindedness.

This is my first visit to Steel City, and I must admit that I’m decidedly underwhelmed. It’ll probably be a very pretty, very modern city when they’ve finished building it, but right now it’s basically just one big construction yard. If that kinda thing’s your bag, then there’s obviously lots to like here, but personally I like my cities to be fully built. Also, because we’re not all that far down the road from Gotham, the darkness that permeates that particular city has extended to here too. All these pristine modern skyscrapers, and the many more soon-to-be pristine modern skyscrapers, are covered in near permanent shadow. I used to like that dark and creepy look, but even if I still did now I wouldn’t have much fondness for this place: it just looks dead rather than creepy. There’s no real life here, even with all the people trudging the streets doing whatever it is they feel like doing.

Where I’m going is a small apartment building by the harbour, which is the only part of the city that’s actually fully built. But still, like most city harbours, this district is already falling to pieces. The apartment building is no exception, with rubbish nearly covering the street outside, dirt covering the surfaces inside (which probably haven’t been cleaned since this place was built) and damp crawling up the walls both inside and outside. I gently push open the front door, wincing as it creaks with a near-deafening force, and walk over to the notice board that tells me who lives where. I scroll my eyes down the list until I find the one that I’m looking for: “Mikhail Grundich, 207”. I step over the obligatory teenage tramp who’s lying at the bottom of the stairs, and then slowly climb up to the seventh floor. Room 207 is just opposite the last stair, so I waste no time in knocking on the door.

“Who is it?” The voice that answers my knocking after a few seconds clearly isn’t Russian, but I knew that one before I even got here.

“An old friend of yours. Well, mostly a friend, anyways.” It always pays to be honest.

The door opens after about a minute to reveal Teach’s usual non-committal face. To his credit, he looks both sober and clean-shaven, which seems to go a little at odds with this building. “How did you find me?”

“Hotshot knows a few people here, and they’re good at spotting faces. Can I come in?”

“Yeah, sure, why not. You did come all this way, after all.”

I step inside the apartment, and Teach closes the door behind me. It’s small to say the least, with only the bathroom being a separate room, and despite all his best efforts it’s still a dump. The large bloodstain on the carpet by the bed is perhaps the most eye-catching thing in this entire place.

Teach sees what I’m looking at. “Don’t worry about that. Apparently the last occupant was murdered in here, and I haven’t been able to wash the stain out yet.”

“Charming…”

“Quite. Do you want some coffee or something?”

“No thanks.”

“Suit yourself. I suppose that you’d better take a seat.”

There’s a chair over by the window at the far end, so that’s where I park up. Teach flicks on the coffee machine sat on a table by the door, evidently to make himself a brew, and sits down on the edge of the bed. An old back-and-white TV sits on another small table just to my left, and the bed is placed so that they’re diagonally opposite to each other. Aside from various boxes containing food and clothes that are scattered around the place, there’s not that much else I need to comment on.

Teach looks at me for a few seconds. “I was going to ask why you came here,” he says, “but I suppose the answer’s obvious. You want me to come back, don’t you?”

“Yes. We need your help. We always have.”

“Why?”

“Because you’re our leader. You were the one who told us what we needed to do, you were the one who knew where we were supposed to be going. None of us know that, so there’s nothing to hold the group together now. ‘Cept for training perhaps, but what purpose would it serve?”

Teach thinks for a few seconds. “I’m not quite sure how to put this, so I’ll just ask you a question. I need you to answer it with absolute honesty, or else this won’t work. Why are you here to talk to me, rather than any of the others?”

I can guess where he’s going with this, but I give the honest answer anyway. “Because I’m the one that they respect the most.”

“Right. And why is that?”

“Because I’m already a crimefighter.”

“Bingo! You’re already at the place where the others want to be. If anyone knows where to lead them, then it’s you. Even the closest that I got to where you’re at was being a crook, so I could only lead by non-example, if you get my meaning.”

“Yeah, I do.” Suddenly, something occurs to me. “So, the newest member of the group is the one who is best suited to leading them.”

“Exactly.”

“You know, that sounds like some kind of cheap novelette.”

Teach pulls a face. “Hey, I write cheap novelettes!”

“Really?”

“No. I just felt like saying that.” I laugh, despite my better judgement.

Teach looks at me again. “Both you and I know that you aren’t going to give me the final request to come back, because both you and I know that it won’t be necessary. I’m not coming back, because I don’t need to: you’ll make a better leader for Standing Tall Together than I ever could.”

I stand up, sensing that this conversation is already over. “I guess that this is goodbye, then?”

“Yes.” He stands up, and we both shake hands. I leave Teach’s new apartment, and, by extension, his new life too.



It’s now the 10th of June, my 17th birthday. I’m meeting up with the STT guys later on this afternoon, so I haven’t got any presents or whatever from them yet, but the Titans have already given me various stuff. I’ve now got a few more books and CDs to add to my collection, all stuff that I’m very happy with, and for some reason I’m also now the owner of a silver necklace. It’s one of the simple chain-type ones with a small cross hanging off the bottom, and even though that doesn’t sound very impressive it’s still one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen. I’m a difficult person to buy anything for, let alone jewellery, so I give full credit to Vine for finding it.

Yes, Vine. She’s been living with us in the Tower for what must be eight months now, and thanks to some additional training from us she’s pretty much conquered her fear of her powers. She still needs help with controlling her tendrils, but she’s competent enough at it to be a Titan herself. Indeed, she’s been one for about the last month, and she’s already proven her worth by taking down Overload pretty much single-handedly. As a result, our sixth member is a very happy bunny, and by now the other Titans like her perhaps even more than I do. There’s still all of her various prayers, dietary concerns and whathaveyou to work around, but that’s no problem.

Just to add to the good news, STT is now probably as effective as it’s ever been. I’m the leader now, whether I like it or not, but for the most part I’ve done a pretty good job so far. I’m still refusing to teach anyone crime-fighting tricks, aside from basic martial arts, mostly because Vine is the only one who’s ready to become a crime-fighter. The rest are still striving to get on top of their powers, but they’re all getting better by the day, and it probably won’t be long now before I’ll have…other things to teach them. I know that teaching all those things to Vine before she really needed them smacks more than a little of favouritism, but quite frankly it’d be very rude to have her live with us and still not let her take part in our training sessions.

I’ve spent most of the morning so far just pottering around idly, what with meditation having stopped working over a year ago and not being in the mood to be a social outcast anyway. My current destination is the computer room, where for some reason Vine is going over the footage that we took when we were tailing the STT members. We found nothing to pin on any of them after six months, so we abandoned the operation: why Vine’s digging it all up again is a mystery to me, but never mind.

“What are you looking for?” I say to her.

She turns around quickly, clearly not expecting me to turn up. “Hiya, Rae. I remember seeing something odd the last time we looked at all this stuff, but I kept on forgetting to go over it again until now.”

“What did you see?”

“I’m not sure. It might even have been my mind playing tricks on me.”

Suddenly, something on the current tape catches my eye. I pause the footage so that I can get a closer look at it.

“No, you may well have saw something.”

“What?”

I don’t respond. The thing that I can see is one of the STT walking past a dustbin, and unless I’m very much mistaken…yes, they’ve just drawn a chalk line down the side of it. That’s a move from the old, old, old school of spying, so it’s no wonder than we didn’t see it before. And to make matters worse, it’s also only now that I notice that the one making the drop was being watched: the girl with pink hair and a tatty black dress who’s watching the scene from a doorway exactly matches Jinx. My blood runs cold as the realisation dawns on me, that I’ve just found the H.I.V.E. mole and it’s perhaps the one person that I didn’t want it to be.

Vine sees the same thing that I do, and she looks equally shocked. “Oh, now this I don’t believe…”

“But it’s true, whether we like it or not. I don’t know how we never spotted it before, but we’re just going to have to accept that Standing Tall Together is history. It’s taken me long enough to rebuild it from Teach’s departure, but I don’t think that it can survive this.”

“Great.” Vine spit through gritted teeth. There’s not much else you can say to something like that, really.

Suddenly, Vine’s communicator rings. She flips it open to reveal Cyborg. “Hey,” he says, “William’s over by the drawbridge. He says he wants to talk to you.”

Vine sighs. “Of all the people in the world that I least want to talk to, my idiot brother probably tops the list. But it’d be pointless to ignore him. Tell him that I’ll meet him in the living room.”

[Vivace]

Yeah! new chapter and I see that discption of Steel City I gave you helpt you write. You even used one of my terms to discribe it "One big construction yard." Though I think I may have used the word site instead of yard. Anyway, great chapter n' stuff.

I just noticed that you and I updated our chapters within like ten minuets of eachother. It's a writing kinda day I suppose

[Sproxie]

Yea, it was extremely interesting, but, i'm sorta lost. I'm not sure why either. I'll be reading this over carefully and i'll try to review it later.



In fact, I'm now going to the opposite extreme, and there isn't going to be any music in the sequence at all. Is that a good idea?
I don't think so. :shrug: I think you should have the music,even though it might be hard to find. But, it's your project, do what you want. :sad:

[percguy89]

AWESOME CHAPTER.

thats all i can say, it closes the book on the whole "teach" thing, and starts again on the whole "one of us is a traitor" thing.

AWESOME.

peace out

[Kregor8]

Woo! I got the quote!
“You know, that sounds like some kind of cheap novelette.”
Teach pulls a face. “Hey, I write cheap novelettes!”

The 3rd Man is one of my favorite old movies, so I'm glad I spotted it. It might not be a dirrect quote - I can't remember. I should go back and look for the Matrix quote (favorite modern movie).

About the chapter itself: You had to end it that way, didn't you? Ugh! Usually, I like cliffhangers. But not that one. Ooh, it just burns. And don't ask me to explain why.


iwantmorerightnoworelseyouwillhavetosuffertheconsequencesofnotgivingmewhatiwantrightnow! I dare you to say that in one breath.

The whole script thing sounds good. I'll have to read more later.

7<regor

[Rae]

That was a great chapter!

So, who is the mole? And what does Jynx have to do in the big scheme of things?

Who knows? You do!

Rae

[Crowgirl]

Ugh... I need to read this more often...

I agree with Ghost on the script, I thought it was overall cool, but the music was a little off. I enjoyed reading it (the camera pans and actions were really interesting. I love movie stuff like that)

Teach being part of the Royal Flush? Didn't expect that coming at all. It was very well done. Bravo.

Jinx is involved, yay! :anime: (Well, not yay for Raven and them, but you know what I mean) Yet with her around, can't be good stuff a comin'.... I would find it interesting if somebody in STT wa part of the HIVE, but that's just me.

Overall, great- erm, how many did I miss? Oh yeah- two chapters. I personally like this story better than Dywn Budr, which was hard to top. :anime:

And congrats on making Hall of Fame in both categories!

Ciao,
CG

[Matt A]

Well, this is chapter sixteen. For safety's sake, I'm slapping on a strict "R" rating: it's not especially violent, but nevertheless I've still deliberately designed it to not be overly pleasant reading. I don't want to give too much away here, so all I'll say for now is that when I said right back at the beginning that this would be a "real world" story, it was mainly this chapter that I was referring to. Oh, and don't worry if it doesn't make all that much sense, 'cause the next chapter will go into the following events in a bit more depth anyway.

The quote this time comes from "The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers", which, on reflection, is perhaps not a tasteful choice, but never mind.:sweat:

So, take a read, and get ready to restrain your inner lynch mob...


Chapter Sixteen: ’02, aka Points Of Faith

“Whoso fighteth in the way of Allah, be he slain or be he victorious, on him we shall bestow a vast reward.”

Sura IV, 24

Have you ever had the feeling that something really bad is about to happen? I don’t simply mean dread, that’s just the fear of something bad, I mean the knowledge of it. It’s not something that I can quite put my finger on, not in any objective sense, but I know that, somehow, today is about to take a turn for the horrible. There’s no question of there being any hope of a decent outcome here: things will go wrong, regardless of whether I try to stop them or not. Of course, if I could tell what was about to happen, then maybe I could prepare for it, but I don’t have a clue.

In all probability, William is heavily involved in all this. Him and Vine have been talking for a half an hour now, but seeing as they both requested a little privacy I don’t know what they’ve been saying. Of course, that means that the living room is out of bounds for the next however long, but if they’ve got some issues in urgent need of sorting out then so be it. But I just can’t help feeling that everything’s going to go to pot sooner or later, and even if William is the cause or the victim of it there’s little that I can do to sort things out. Hell, it’s not even as if I know what’s going on.

It’s about now that my communicator rings. The beeping violently wrenches me from my thoughts, and in a sudden flash of anger I flip the communicator open with so much force that I nearly tear the lid off. However, seeing Vine’s smiling face on the display quickly calms me down: getting angry with my friends has long since stopped becoming one of my preferred hobbies.

“Hiya, Vine.” I say to her. It’s safe to call her that, ‘cause William learnt about her more secret life long ago.

“Hiya, Rae. Listen, William wants to talk to you. Can you come and join us in the living room?”

“Yeah, sure. I’ll be down in a minute.”

“Cool. See ya.” Vine switches off her communicator, and after doing the same my end I put mine in my pocket.

I start to walk the maze of corridors that leads to the living room, all sorts of odd thoughts running through my head. Whatever bad thing is about to happen, it’s most likely going to happen now. Part of me wants to run away from it, to make sure that whatever happens can’t hurt me, but then again another part of me is just itching to know what the future holds. Regardless, there’s no point in trying to avoid things, so even when the situation gets out of hand all I can do is damage control. As strange as my logic sounds, even to me, it’s the only reason I’ve got to join Vine and William. Apart from making sure that Vine is protected, of course: that just goes without saying.

I gently open the living room door, closing it behind me the moment I’m inside the room. The sight that greets me is worse that even my own twisted imagination could have ever expected. Vine’s sitting in the middle of the sofa, her cheerful expression completely evaporated. However, that’s not what’s suddenly worrying me: the problem is William, who’s standing over by the windows. He’s also wearing one of Abu Mu’awiyah’s explosive jackets. It’s at this point that any kind of thought process just shuts down, the sight before me being too appalling to process.

After a good thirty seconds of silence, William becomes the first one to speak. “Yes, Raven, I am indeed here to do God’s work.”

Now that I’ve got a quote to wrap my head around, my mind can finally start working again. It finds something to say fairly quickly. “You know, unless I’m very much mistake, God isn’t overly keen on death and destruction.”

William flashes me a look of pure hate. “Don’t you ever say his name! A traitor turns even the greatest of words into poison!” Hmm. This guy is unstable enough as he is, so I need to start treading a bit more carefully.

“You’re missing the point.” Vine says to him. “God loves all of us. No one should have to die just because they’re alive.”

This doesn’t work either. “You’re just as bad! A corporate…lapdog has no right to speak of God!”

“What?! These guys are my friends! That’s the only reason I’m here!”

“But you fight to protect this city, don’t you? Jump City, full of greed, decadence and sin, a city that lives to serve the interests of those who destroy others for nothing other than material gain. You, sister, are simply fighting evil on the behalf of a greater evil.”

“No! I fight, we fight, to protect innocent people! The ones who deserve to defend themselves but can’t! Surely that’s what God asks of us?”

“But protecting the corporate foot soldiers? No, they deserve nothing, except for an early admission to hell.”

Suddenly, it occurs to me that Vine’s trying to argue with a man who intends to blow himself up. Her chances of winning are as close to zero as makes no odds, so I think that a different tactic is required.

“You know,” I say to William, “stopping you won’t be all that hard.”

William turns to look at me, his face disturbingly blank. “Ah yes, your infamous “forcefields”. Of course, both you and I know that they’ll be useless: you can only form them round yourself, can’t you?” He smiles at my shocked expression. “Yes, we at the Armed Islamic Group take our research seriously. We know more about you than you seem to expect. And your energy balls won’t be any more useful either: my reactions are good enough to let the bomb beat the ball every time.”

So that’s it, then. We’re in for it, and all I can do now is stall for time until I can figure out how to save Vine’s life as well as my own. There’s no way that I can warn the rest of the Titans about what’s going on here – I’m not telepathic, after all – so whatever I do I’m going to have to think of it on my own. William will most likely be a dead man by the end of today no matter what happens, so at least that’s one less person to worry about.

“What exactly are you fighting for?” I ask him. Well, it’s the first thing that I could think of.

“What are we fighting for, I think you mean. I am but a tiny part of a much bigger war, the soldiers of God making the West pay for its greed and tyranny. That’s why I’m here today: to prove that even the legendary Teen Titans are not beyond justice.”

“This is what Mu’awiyah’s been planning along, isn’t it? He knew that a relative of a Teen Titan could get in here without security checks, even with something as obvious as a stack of grenades under their coat.”

“Mu’awiyah is indeed a smart man, yes.”

“Of course, he’d also know that you won’t do much more than destroy two or three floors. You won’t kill all of us. But, then again, that’s not the point, is it? As long as you send out a message, then all’s fine.”

“Indeed it is. The cause of God is one that even human lives do not compare to. My sacrifice will not be in vain.”

Vine suddenly stands up, clearly having just made a very difficult decision. I don’t know what she intends to do, but whatever it is it’d better not get her killed. She starts to slowly walk towards William, and for each step she takes he takes a step back towards the window.

“I’m not sure if I’ve ever told you this,” Vine says to her brother as they walk, “but you’re one of the most intelligent people that I’ve ever met. I’m not going to bother arguing points of faith with you, because trying to convince you that you’ve misunderstood God’s will would be patronizing. You know why you’re here, you know what you’re doing, and anyway what’s religion about if not faith? I’m not going to say that I approve of what you’re going to do, because both you and I know that I think it’s disgusting, but maybe all the different strands of our faith are going to need to understand each other a little more. I don’t know exactly, but if Islam is about each of us following God in our own way then maybe I’ve got no right to criticise you.”

It’s at this point that William finally backs into the window. Even though he’s now got nowhere to go, Vine continues to walk towards him.

“Fifteen is a horribly young age to die,” she says, “but for all your youth you’re most definitely not a child. Maybe if you were a little younger I’d say that Mu’awiyah has corrupted you, that you know that you actually want to not do this, but we both know that’s not the case. You genuinely believe what you say, even though I think you’re gravely mistaken. After all, who can say what God really wants from us? Even the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, would not dare to say that he knows everything. I know, and you know, that God loves all of us, but where do mistaken intentions end and evil deeds start? I can’t say for sure, and maybe you can’t either, but if I can’t at least try to forgive you, then, well, what’s the world coming to?”

Vine is finally standing face-to-face with William, but she isn’t done talking yet.

“We may not have always seen eye-to-eye, you and me, but we’ve always been there to help each other when help was needed. We may not exactly be the best of friends, but we still tried our best to be family. That’s the most important thing.”

Up until this point, William has been looking like he expects Vine to swing at him any second. However, in an entirely unexpected move, she suddenly hugs him. It’s only now that I realise what Vine intends to do, but even though I would give anything for it to not happen I can still understand why she has to see it done.

“I love you, William.” she says. “I love you so much.” She gently kisses his forehead as he returns the hug, and the final reconciliation of brother and sister is the last image I have of these tragic siblings.

William is only hugging Vine with his left arm, which leaves his right arm free to pull the det cord on his jacket. I’ve got just enough time to bring up a forcefield around myself before the explosion rips through the lving room, but there’s nothing that I can do to save either Vine or William. Then again, maybe they’ve been saved already.

[Kregor8]

Ok, I didn't see that coming. William, yeah. Crazy fanatic. Disposable. He can die. But Vine? Never. Wow. You were right when you said way back that you were willing to do unimaginable things. Wow, again.

I was thinking...why doesn't she just put a force field around the idiot so he blows himself up? Or take his bomb away? But you've kind of changed Raven's powers a bit. So that shakes things up.

Again, this was an absolutely stunning chapter. I can't imagine what you'll bring out next or where this could go from here.

My song tribute is "Hill of the Skull," by Joe Satriani. It's instrumental, so you'd have to hear it to get the effect, but it's a tragic and hopeful kind of piece. If you can listen to it, I recommend it. It's on "Surfing with the Alien."

7<regor

[Matt A]

Well, I had been expecting to get massacred for that chapter, so it's good to see your more positive comments. Plus it had about the same effect that I intended.:evil:


You were right when you said way back that you were willing to do unimaginable things.
That's the reason why I'm here, is it not?;) :evil: :evil: :evil:


I was thinking...why doesn't she just put a force field around the idiot so he blows himself up? Or take his bomb away? But you've kind of changed Raven's powers a bit. So that shakes things up.
Those same problems had occurred to me too. My solution was a bit of a bodge job, I admit, but I couldn't think of anything better.:shrug:


I can't imagine what you'll bring out next or where this could go from here.
From what I've figured, there's still one plot thread left to resolve, so what I'm going to do next should be fairly obvious. Nevertheless, I'll be needing one more commenter before I can get on and write the next chapter.

Ta,
Matt A

[Crowgirl]

:eek: Woah....

Like Ghost said, that's got to be the most powerful thing I've read today. Brilliant.

That's all I've got. My apologies.

[Matt A]

Don't worry, any feedback is worthwhile feedback as far as I'm concerned. Besides, this also means that I can get on and write chapter seventeen: expect it sometime within the next twenty-four hours.

Ta,
Matt A

[Sproxie]

I knew it!! :anime: I Knew that would happen!!

But, yes, it was a very touching scene between Vine and her brother. I loved it. ;)

[Matt A]

Right, if you say that you predicted any of this chapter, then you're a bleedin' liar.:p

I've got some good news, and I've got some bad news. The bad news is that this chapter is the beginning of the finale, so, yes, the end of this story is coming up fast. The good news is that this is where the plot and all the rest of it is finally explained: it'll probably be a bit of an anti-climax, but never mind. I also have to apologise now for the monumental cliffhanger, but then again the next two chapters will do the same thing so perhaps apologising now is a bit stupid.

The quote comes from "Monty Python & The Holy Grail", but it won't be as silly as it sounds.

Anyway, get reading...


Chapter Seventeen: ’75, aka If You Go Down To The Woods Today…

“Those who control their wrath and are forgiving toward mankind; Allah loveth the good.”

Sura III, 134

Needless to say, the last three days of my life haven’t been especially pleasant. Watching your best friend die doesn’t make for a good birthday present, and having to tell everyone else what happened hardly makes up for it. The STT guys were planning a big party in the meeting room that evening, and as an extra gift the Titans would have gone as well: the first time that my two sets of friends would have met. Of course, we all agreed that it simply wouldn’t be worth it now that Vine isn’t here to celebrate with us. The party has been postponed to about a month or so from now, but right now it’s not all that relevant.

Today is the day of Vine and William’s funeral. It might seem a little soon, but we want everything to be done the proper Muslim way, and in Muslim tradition mourning should go on for no longer than seventy-two hours. The deceased have got a better world to go on to and all that stuff, so maybe it makes sense. Obviously, we don’t have any bodies to bury, but we’re holding the funeral all the same. The headstones marking Vine and William have been placed side-by-side on the forest hilltop that Vine always went to when she needed to contemplate: as Vine said, this spot was her home more than anywhere else, and it somehow seems right that the two of them should be “buried” together.

Pretty much anyone who has a reason to be here is here, from the Titans to the STT to most of Jump City’s Muslim community. These two were perhaps more popular than they ever realised, a fact that brings more than a few tears to my eyes. It also obviously touches their father, who looks slightly less of a shambles than I was expecting. It must be terrible, to lose everything like that, and I can’t begin to imagine how he’ll survive. Everyone here will see that he’s cared for, that much I know, but even so I wish him the best of luck.

Muslim funerals are modest affairs, so not much needs doing. The most important thing is the prayer, normally made by whomever the deceased chose personally. If that person isn’t a Muslim, then the duty will automatically go to the local Imam: that’s how it would work here, but after a short meeting last night the clerics of Jump City decided that it would be for the best if I said the prayer after all. These two died in extraordinary circumstances, so they feel that it’s right for one or two rules to be bent in their honour.

Standing between the two headstones, but still about 6’ away from both, I say the prayer for the dead. “O Allah, forgive them, have mercy on them, give them peace and absolve them. Receive them with honour, and make their graves spacious; wash them with water, snow and hail. Cleanse them from faults as You would cleanse a white garment from impurity. Give them abodes more excellent that their abodes were here, with a family better than their family, and companions better than their companions. Admit them to the garden and protect them from the torment of the grave and the torment of the fire.” It’s all I can do to not cry, but I just about manage to stay together.

There’s not much else left to do, so everyone starts to file away slowly. The Titans and the STT hang back, mostly to have the meet-up that they were going to have until all this stuff kicked off. It’s more of a wake than a party now, but from the looks of it they’re still getting on pretty well. As much as these guys are my friends, I’m in no mood to talk to people right now, so I wander off round the hillside until I find a secluded spot.

I’m slowly starting to fully understand why Vine did what she did. One of the oldest principles of Islam is that you should always stand by those who you love, and as Vine said herself, her and William were a lot closer than they ever realised. She may have profoundly objected to what William was trying to do – and not without good reason, I hasten to add – but she had no right to abandon him because of that. She’d done pretty much the same thing to her dad for less of a reason, so that was her one chance to make things right, to go through a similar situation in the right way. Vine was willing to forgive her brother, and by dong it in such a dramatic way showed that maybe the rest of us should as well. We can’t ever forgive what he did, and maybe we shouldn’t have to, but then again the person and the act aren’t necessarily connected.

Speaking of which, I wonder for the umpteenth time what’ll happen to Mu’awiyah. For he most part he’s disappeared, but I can guarantee that he’ll be found before long. The NSA, CIA, FBI and pretty much every other acronym you can think of won’t rest until they have him in a cell, and the Titans will donate whatever resources they can: they were all in the Tower when it happened, so maybe this is their attempt to cure their guilt for not having done anything about it. As I’ve said to them repeatedly, there wasn’t anything that they even needed to do, but if this is how they want to deal with things then fine. When Mu’awiyah’s found, I imagine that he’ll become a fairly long-term guest of Guantanamo Bay, but that’s about as much as we need to know. Life doesn’t always have to have a tidy ending, which I suppose is the point. Either way, at least Vine and William didn’t die in vain: even if the bombing proves counter-productive, which it probably will do, at least they still got to make a point about something. And it’s a good point, too.

My internal monologue is interrupted by the sound of a Swallow flying by. Is it a European or an African Swallow? I don’t know, and to be honest I’m not even sure why I asked myself that question. Anyway, I watch it fly over the hillside and touch down on a gravestone that’s about five hundred yards away. Wait, a gravestone? I must have missed that when I was walking over here. I wander over to it out of idle curiosity, to see who else would want to be buried on this lonely hill. The inscription says nothing more than “Mark Hatherton, 16th October 1986-9th March 2002”, which leaves me none the wiser until a voice speaks up next to my ear.

“I was wondering when you’d find it.” Ghost says to me. Despite the fact that he scared me witless, I just about manage to not show it.

“So, this is where you’re buried, is it?”

“I would have thought that it’d be pretty obvious by now. Wouldn’t you agree?”

“Don’t get smart with me, Ghost.”

“Right. Sorry.”

“I presume that you were at Vine and William’s funeral just now.”

“Yes, and a moving service it was too. But I suggest that you go back there, and quickly.”

My blood suddenly runs cold. “Why?”

“Let’s just say that I now know who killed me, and why. Even though I hadn’t realised it at the time, I had found who the H.I.V.E. mole is. Yes, you know who I’m talking about.”

I do, so I just nod.

“Now might not be the most sensitive time to deal with them, but whatever’s been going on I doubt that we have much time left.”

“What do you mean?”

“The mole is in STT to do something, and whatever it is now would be the best time to see it done. Unless you step in, right now they’re all too hurt inside to do anything. And that goes for the Teen Titans as well.

I suggest that you get moving.”

I follow Ghost’s advice, and run back to Vine and William’s gravestones as fast as I can. Another very bad thing is about to happen, but unlike last time I think I know what it’s going to be. But that’s only if I don’t get there in time…

I run round he side of a large boulder that obscures the two headstones, and to my eternal horror I’m already too late. Standing on one side of the stones are Robin, Cy, BB, Star, Hotshot, Sidious, Whirlwind and Werecat, and on the other side are Brother Blood, Gizmo, Mammoth, Jinx, Fang, Kitten…and Dreadnought. The mole, along with the H.I.V.E.’s newest recruits – well, that’s kinda the obvious reason why Fang and Kitten are here – have just revealed themselves. Right here and now, we are f**ked.

Dreadnought sees me stop short, and turns to smile at me. Not his usual ironic grin, but something much more sinister. “I would say that I was sorry,” he says to me, “but seeing as I’m not sorry in the slightest, that’d be a bit of waste of time.”

“You bastard.” Up until that point, I was prepared to follow Vine’s example and forgive him, but when you come out with something as nasty as that you kinda lose the right to be forgiven. I can’t think of anything more worthwhile to say to him, but from the looks of it my eight remaining friends are too shocked to even come out with a mere pointless insult.

Dreadnought shoots me a blank look. “Like I could care about what you think.”

“But at the very least you could tell us why.”

Brother Blood steps in at this point. “I think I’ll take care of that.”

“Sure, boss.”

Blood turns to address me and my friends. “Right from the very beginning, Standing Tall Together greatly interested me. A group such as yours was the perfect source of recruits, if only you could be shaped the right way. That’s where Dreadnought here was supposed to come in, to help persuade you to join my cause. I could have just controlled you all, of course, but the risk of you fighting back was too big to be acceptable. All was going well, Dreadnought was doing all that he should, but then young Raven here came along. We had spent over a year trying to turn STT into what we wanted, even under Jack’s nose, and then practically overnight you ruined all of our hard work. Whether you realised it or not, you provided the rest with too much of an anchor for our influence to take hold. That’s when we realised that, unless we acted otherwise, you would become our greatest threat. We had to destroy you, and little by little we’ve been doing it. There’s no denying that today you’re weaker than you’ve ever been: the Teen Titans as well as the STT. For the first time in years, we are in a position to crush our two greatest threats once and for all. That is what we will do, and you know it. Resistance is useless.”

And indeed it is. We may outnumber the enemies standing before us, but none of us are capable of fighting to our full strength. We’re all going to die, and that’s that. The least I can do is get the last piece of information.

“So, even Abu Mu’awiyah was having his strings pulled?” I say to Brother Blood.

“No, him and I never met. But I admit that he did provide a great help, so even though I never tried to help him I certainly didn’t stand in his way.”

I don’t need to ask about why he possessed Vine all those months ago, ‘cause right here and now the answer’s obvious: to get the Titans even further involved with the STT than either group was planning on. Everything that has happened to me over the last –year-and-a-half, in one way or another, has been leading to this moment, and it’s all about to come and give me the hardest kick in the backside that it possibly can.

Brother Blood smiles. “Well, I wish that we could stand here and chat some more, but, alas, we have business to attend to. Dreadnought?”

“Yes, sir?”

“Destroy them.”

“With pleasure, sir.”

Dreadnought presses down on the centre of his breastplate, and the transformation begins. Giant metal arms and legs grow out of his back, and an even bigger bodyshell begins to form around him. After about thirty seconds, he’s in the middle of a fifteen-foot-tall robot, and instead of hands it’s got two of the largest Gattling Guns that I’ve ever come across.

Dreadnought laughs evilly, and it’s only now that I understand just how much trouble we’re in.

[Lord Welshi]

Great chapter, matt. A touching scene, followed by such a contrast with the villains showing up? Takes skill to pull it off boyo, and you manage it pretty well. I also like Raven's noticing that none of the Titans or STT members will be able to fight to full capacity: emotional trauma is often the most incapacitating. Nice work.

Lord Welshi

PS: the quote. "Is it a European or an African Swallow?" i believe. All their silly talk of swallows migrating, and carrying coconut shells....

[rrarbecy]

*smiles*You know, you're right. If anyone says that they expected that, they're one of the biggest liars ever to walk this planet. You're amazing.

Raven is quite pessimistic, isn't she. Not that I really blame her...

[Matt A]

Well, unexpected is what I do best.:evil: :evil: :evil:


A touching scene, followed by such a contrast with the villains showing up? Takes skill to pull it off boyo, and you manage it pretty well.
:anime: :anime: :anime: :anime: :anime:


I also like Raven's noticing that none of the Titans or STT members will be able to fight to full capacity: emotional trauma is often the most incapacitating.Not only is it a realistic thing to put (and realisim is very much the point of this story...), but it's also the only sensible way to have our heroes be in deep trouble even though they outnumber the bad guys 9:7. It's a bit of a bodge job, but it works.


PS: the quote. "Is it a European or an African Swallow?" i believe. All their silly talk of swallows migrating, and carrying coconut shells....Correct, boy wonder!:D

Only three more commenters left to go...

Ta,
Matt A

[ShadowOfAGhost]

For once in my life I found the quote!!!! :D

Is it a European or an African Swallow?

back to reading...


<edit>
it would seem that I am not the first to find the quote, but at least I found it! You were right! I cold never have predicted that! good work!

[Rae]

That was great!

But you killed vine!:crying:

That was so sad! I was almost heart broken at that touching scene!

The funeral was great! Dreadnought? Never suspected him! But why did he kill ghost?

Rae

[Matt A]

I'll be answering that question slightly further on in the story anyway, so I won't do anything with it here. I hope you understand.

Oh, and I apologise for not saying this earlier, but this story is set as if "Titans East" and all the subsequent episodes never happened. That point will be directly relevant for the next chapter, so I kinda needed to mention it here if nowhere else.

Only one more commenter left to go...

Ta,
Matt A

[Crowgirl]

That was great!

But you killed vine!:crying:

That was so sad! I was almost heart broken at that touching scene!

The funeral was great! Dreadnought? Never suspected him! But why did he kill ghost?

Rae
I agree with Rae's comments. I thought Vine was very cool, and I was dissapointed to see her die. The funeral was one of the most touching things I've read all week (And I read a lot, so that's saying something). Honestly, the thing about it was how they were buried together and how STT and the Titans sort of bonded at the funeral, even thought they barely knew each other.

I think put together, the HIVE is an aweome group of villians. Alone, Brother Blood isn't much of a threat or good villian. In this case, the HIVE is a good group of villians and I like seeing Jinx, Gizmo, Mammoth, Dreadnought (For story purposes), Fang, and Kitten, with Brother Blood, working together. The fight that is coming is bound to be a good one.

I've honestly got one problem with the whole HIVE thing though. Fang and Kitten being there, Fang I can understand, but Kitten has no powers, karate training, or anything. Why exactly is she there? Fang's moral support?

Overall, great chapters, great story, and I can't wait for more!

Ciao,
CG

[Sproxie]

Wow, Dreadnought? Never expected him...... and I really never expected Fang and Kitten to show up.
I loved that last chapter, your a genius.

[Kregor8]

Kitten is just one of those (uh...I can't say that) gals who needs to be around to just annoy the crap out of people. She's very effective in that way. Also, remember that Fang and Kitten (and Killer Moth) are the only TT villians Matt has actually seen (as in, the show). So I'm sure he's been waiting to use them for ages.

I agree with everyone (almost everyone). It was quite stunning how you contrasted the peace and sadness with the tension and anger of the two parts of this chapter.

Just a random question...why is Ghost buried up there? Is it an actual graveyard, or are you just throwing stones around?

I got the quote too, but everyone else already had it...

7<regor

[Matt A]

great chapter
Short and to the point: just the way I like it.:p


I've honestly got one problem with the whole HIVE thing though. Fang and Kitten being there, Fang I can understand, but Kitten has no powers, karate training, or anything. Why exactly is she there? Fang's moral support?
Kitten is just one of those (uh...I can't say that) gals who needs to be around to just annoy the crap out of people. She's very effective in that way. Also, remember that Fang and Kitten (and Killer Moth) are the only TT villians Matt has actually seen (as in, the show). So I'm sure he's been waiting to use them for ages.
He's half right. Putting Fang and Kitten in there was my own special way of paying homage to my...unique experience of Teen Titans.

Even though I wasn't going to mention it until the next chapter, Kitten's been having martial arts training whilst with the HIVE (where her and Fang have been for the last year or so of their lives), so this is where we get to see her kick full-on backside. Also, as you may or may or may not have noticed, this fight is deliberately composed of grudge matches: Robin/Fang, Cyborg/Brother Blood, Raven/Jinx, Beast Boy/Gizmo, Starfire/Kitten and STT/Dreadnought (of course, this just leaves Mammoth, but I couldn't not have him involved). Sl, yeah, it's gonna be a cool fight.:anime: :anime: :anime: :anime: :anime:


Just a random question...why is Ghost buried up there? Is it an actual graveyard, or are you just throwing stones around?
The second one, for the most part. I just wanted a quick way for Raven to find out that Dreadnought killed Ghost before Dreadnought's true nature was revealed to you: hopefully, this would make him seem even more dangerous than he otherwise would.

I won't be online any time Thursday, so if you don't get the next chapter by then you'll just have to wait until Friday. I hope that you can be patient.;)

Ta,
Matt A

[Matt A]

Right, this the next chapter. It's probably going to be quite a hefty anti-climax, but due to constraints of 1st-person narrative I'm afraid that I don't have much choce over the matter. Also, if you find my description of the "arena" to be a bit confusing, I've got a map of it that I can post if you want.

The quote comes from "L.A. Confidential", but even though I've had to tweak it a little bit it's still perfectly recognisable. I hope.:sweat:
Onto reading and posting...


Chapter Eighteen: ’97, aka Mass Destruction

“Await they aught save the Hour, which it should come upon them unawares? And the beginnings thereof have already come. But how, when it hath come upon them, can they take their warning?”

Sura XLVII, 18

Before we go any further, I need to take a few seconds to describe where we are. The best way to imagine this hilltop is from above, as a triangle with its right-hand side replaced by a large semi-circle. The two straight edges are cliffs, and the curved edge is a natural sloping hill. The top half of the semi-circle bit is trees, continuing on from the dense forest that surrounds this hilltop for miles around, and these trees continue in a thin spike towards where the two cliffs meet. Right at far left corner of the hilltop, not far from the end of the tree “spike”, is a small wooden tower to provide shelter for the bird-watchers that like to come here: it’s this tower that I was standing near when the Swallow flew by.

Because of the tree “spike”, the hilltop is split roughly in half, the right side being about four times larger than the left. The left side has Ghost’s gravestone near the top end, and the right side contains Vine and William’s gravestones. These two gravestones are horizontally in the middle of the semi-circular clearing, but are also only about a hundred yards from the bottom cliff. There are two boulders just above the gravestones (in map terms, not real world terms…), and there’s about two or three hundreds yards of grass between them. The seven HIVE members are stood between those boulders, and the Teen Titans and STT guys are stood facing them from between the gravestones and the cliff. I’m stood a little to the left of the good guys, but that’s only ‘cause I couldn’t get in line with the time available to me.

Now, did that make any sense? Oh well.

Anyway, back to more pressing matters.

Dreadnought aims his massive Gattling Guns at the eight guys and girls by the cliff, but just before he can let rip I chuck an energy ball at his human head. It’s right on target, and his momentary loss of concentration is all my friends need to get back to their senses and get moving. Dreadnought swings round his left arm and opens up its gun in my direction, and even with a shield up the sheer weight of bullets is enough to force me to my knees. Beast Boy drops onto his face whilst in Eagle form, which provides a fairly effective distraction. Realising that Dreadnought is already in need of help, the rest of the HIVE rush into the fight.

Sidious, Werecat and Whirlwind are left to take on Dreadnought as Robin goes for Fang, Cyborg takes on Brother Blood, Beast Boy challenges Gizmo, Starfire fights Kitten – who’s had some serious martial-arts training, from the looks of it – and Hotshot tries to hold his own against Mammoth (what with flame powers being useless against a fifteen-foot gun-toting mechanoid). Of course, this leaves me with Jinx, and as much as I want to hammer Dreadnought’s face into the ground, I’ve got no problems with taking on this little lady as a substitute. I only hope that having only three opponents rather than seven won’t let Dreadnought massacre all before him…

My brief spell of worrying is interrupted by one of Jinx’s hexes, which kicks up a wave of grass that sends me flying. I land heavily not far from the bird-watching tower, and luckily for me I get up just in time to see another grass wave come my way. I run up it and jump off the top, throwing an energy ball whilst in mid-air. It hits Jinx right in the stomach, and she’s on her knees by the time I reach her. A knee in the face throws her onto her back, but she kicks my legs from under me before I can follow through. I hit the ground on my back, but before Jinx can get up I club her in the face whilst my hand is wrapped in black energy. She’s out cold, but probably not for long.

I stand up and look back towards the rest of the fight. Everyone’s somehow moved into the wide area of grass between the boulders and the trees, and from the looks of it they’re all having lots of fun. Cyborg’s already taken down Brother Blood – thanks to more than a few Sonic Cannon shots to the head, from the looks of it – and he’s down helping Hotshot smack Mammoth about. Hotshot’s not all that strong, but he’s evidently received enough injuries for his flame powers to come into full effect: now that Cyborg’s also fighting him, he won’t be standing up for long. Robin and Starfire have teamed up to defeat Fang and Kitten, but even though these four are all gonna be up and about for quite a while longer, my fellow Titans are pulling their weight like they always do.

Whirlwind, Sidious and Werecat – now in tiger form, as her time with STT has let her control the when and what of a transformation outside of a full moon – are at the very least keeping Dreadnought under control, as the combination of wind, electricity and sheer animal rage are a bit more than what he was counting on. All in all, it’s Beast Boy who’s having the most trouble, as he can’t find a shape that’ll let him keep away from Gizmo’s vicious spider-legs. My green-skinned friend isn’t exactly in mortal peril, but he’s the one that I can give the most help to.

I run across the grass as fast as I can, but I’m only halfway between Jinx and Beast Boy when I find myself tripping over my own feet. I look behind me to see that a small rock has just risen up out of the ground, and that Jinx is now back up on her feet and advancing towards me. She’s grinning from ear to ear because of her infantile trick.

“Why don’t you do me a favour and just leave me alone?” I shout to her. But she’s not listening. And I can’t fight her and help Beast Boy at the same time…

Wait, maybe I can…

I’ve got just one chance to make this work, so wasting no time I get back up on my feet and continue running towards Beast Boy and Gizmo. This time, I’m expecting Jinx to attack again, so I easily dodge the rocks and waves of grass that suddenly appear. I jump off the last wave with enough force to fly across the last six feet between me and Gizmo and smack into him. We both hit the ground hard, and because his spider-legs aren’t doing anything Beast Boy is able to charge into us both in Rhino form. I bring up a shield around myself just as he hits, but unlike me Gizmo can’t protect himself from the impact. Gizmo is out cold, and I go flying into Jinx as she’s running to help her friend: thanks to the extra-special solidness of my forcefield, she’s now out of it too.

Mammoth has now been defeated as well, so me, Beast Boy, Cyborg and Hotshot run over to where Dreadnought is fighting. Him and his three opponents are now over by the trees, and from the looks of it they’re all pretty knackered. Couple that with what looks like the imminent defeat of Fang and Kitty, and it looks like this fight could be over a lot quicker than any of us expected it to be. Either HIVE haven’t been getting their training in lately, or us lot aren’t as messed in the head as we thought…

Dreadnought is doing his best to drill multiple bullets into Whirlwind, Sidious and Werecat, but they’re all moving around too fast for him to cause any damage. Whirlwind is using his wind control powers to let himself fly around and throw a few trees about, Sidious a letting loose as much electricity as he can – with Dreadnought wearing a metal suit whilst inside a metal mechanoid, he’s pretty much the ideal conductor – and Werecat is using whatever gaps in the fighting she can to try and jump onto Dreadnought and claw his face off. Between the three of them, they’re causing a lot of damage, and it’s only a matter of time until either Dreadnought or his mech-suit fall to bits. However, the arrival of me, Beast Boy, Cyborg and Hotshot distracts Whirlwind, Sidious and Werecat for a second or two, which is all Dreadnought needs to turn the fight back in his favour.

He opens up with one of his guns, and I feel five bullets ram into my gut. I’m too surprised to feel any real pain, so all I can sense is a dull throb in my stomach as I stagger backwards into a tree. I slide inelegantly down its trunk, but only once I hit the ground do I black out.

[Rae]

He Shot Raven?

HE SHOT RAVEN!

That was a nice twist! I have this feeling that Dreadnought is going to die...

Rae

[rrarbecy]

That was one of the best fight scenes I've ever read. Anywhere. That, coupled with the massive shock that I'm sure you gave everyone when Dreadnought shot Raven, made that one of the best chapters in the entire story.

[Sproxie]

That was one of the best fight scenes I've ever read. Anywhere. That, coupled with the massive shock that I'm sure you gave everyone when Dreadnought shot Raven, made that one of the best chapters in the entire story.

Couldn't have said it better!

[Matt A]

He Shot Raven?

HE SHOT RAVEN!

Yup. I knew that'd get ya.:evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil:


That was one of the best fight scenes I've ever read. Anywhere.
Well, that's a relief. Personally, I thought that it was utter crud, but thankfully I seem to be mistaken.;)

Only two more commenters left to go...


Ta,
Matt A

PS: Happy Birthday, dearest Sproxie!:anime: :anime: :anime: :anime: :anime:

[rrarbecy]

You seem to think that a lot of your stuff is complete and utter crud.

[Matt A]

That's 'cause it is.:shrug:

Ta,
Matt A

[ShadowOfAGhost]

The fight sceene had some high points and it had some low points. The individual points of fighting were good, and the way that you supplemented tracking individual movements with critical events was also good. It did seem like it could have used a little bit more of specific detail and such about actions. The best part however is that you were able to put yourself in an unristricted mode for writing, specificly allowing Raven to get shot. Usualy, an author will seem to put up a "protective bubble" around the hero, such that buletts go whizing by, but the hero charges on. You however show no regard for having the main character shot. excelent job overall!

[Matt A]

I know that the fight seemed short, but I did that for a reason. Unfortunately, telling you that reason now will ruin the cliffhanger that I just set up.:sad:

And speaking of cliffhangers, I am very much a believer in holding nothing sacred. Including preserving the safety of the narrator...:evil: :evil: :evil:

Now to the bad news: due to various social engagements, I won't be online again for at least another fourty-eight hours. You'll just have to try and manage without me...:p

Ta,
Matt A

[Faethie]

YES! I FINALLY FINISHED READING THIS!!!
This is one of the best damn fics I have ever read. Totally.

And, oh yeah...I can't believe that HE SHOT RAVEN!!

but, uh, yeah... write the next chapter soon!!!!!

[Crowgirl]

He Shot Raven?

HE SHOT RAVEN!

That was a nice twist! I have this feeling that Dreadnought is going to die...

Rae
That does it. :D

[Matt A]

Well, I'm back, and to celebrate I'm going to give you chapter nineteen. Even by my own highly twisted standards, this chapter is weird, and sadly for you it also represents the grand finale. There will be two more chapter after this, but all they're going to is tie up loose ends. So, yeah, this is pretty much the end. But hopefully you'll enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it, which is a lot.

The quote this time round comes from "Blade Runner", so you'll probably get it no probs. Then again, I have been proven wrong on that before.

Oh, and one more thing: have fun...


Chapter Nineteen: ’82, aka Enter The Mind

“And remember Allah’s favour unto you…how ye were upon the brink of an abyss of fire, and He did save you from it.”

Sura III, 103

By all rights, I should be dead by now. It may take hours to die from a gunshot wound to the stomach, but when five Gattling Gun rounds are lodged in your gut such trivial rules tend to be ignored. It’s been less than ten seconds since I took those bullets, but my chances of survival should already be slim enough as to be non-existent. Even my healing powers won’t work against injuries like this. I’m helpless, a gonner for sure. There’s nothing that I or anyone else can do to stop it.

Then again, maybe there is a chance. I regain consciousness only about ten seconds after I first blacked out, before anyone even has a chance to react to what’s happened. From what I can see, I look almost serene, sitting against the base of the tree. My eyes are closed and my head is leaning to one side, but I’ve got this strange grin on my face, more of a quiet satisfied smile more than anything else. It’s more or less what I’m feeling right now, a strange sense of tranquillity, nothing that I can readily explain but is still pleasant all the same. If it wasn’t for the massive bloodstain around the area that used to be my stomach, you’d have thought I was just sleeping peacefully. Well, that’s what it looks like from here.

Wait a second. I can see myself?

Um, what’s going on here?

Ah, I think I get it now.

I see three quiet figures out of the corner of my eye, and at once all my suspicions are confirmed. Floating about thirty feet above the clearing are a young man who I recognise but have never seen before, a young woman with long blonde hair who I used to see on a daily basis, and an even younger, equally blond boy who I know about as well. I find myself floating up to these three people, even though I’m not using any powers. Come to that, I’m not even using a body, which I suppose makes sense. From what I can figure, this is one of those “out of body experiences” that people talk about from time to time. Well, it’s certainly weird, if nothing else.

I finally come face-to-face with the three figures, and the young woman in the middle is the first to speak to me. “We weren’t expecting to speak to you for a long time yet, Rae.” Vine says to me.

“The feeling’s mutual.” I reply. If I had a physical body, I’d hug her. But I don’t, so I can’t. I wonder if she has one, or if I’m just imagining it…

William turns to speak to me. “I heard what you said at our funeral. Do you genuinely forgive me?”

“By and large, yes.”

William smiles. “Thanks. That means a lot to me.”

“Not a problem.” I turn to the figure on Vine’s right. “Good afternoon, Ghost.” I say to him.

I’ve seen one or two photos of him over the last year, but this is the first time that I can see him in the flesh. All in all, there have been better looking guys in existence, but if you like your men to be short, ginger and spotty then he’s the one for you. But I shouldn’t be overly cruel to him, though: given some hair dye and Witch Hazel, he could be quite a looker. But that’s irrelevant right now.

Ghost looks back at me and smiles. “Good afternoon, Rae.”

I'd smile back if I could, but sadly I've got nothing to smile with. I turn back to Vine. “So, am I dead?”

“No, but you will be if Dreadnought isn’t defeated soon. No one will be able to help you whilst he’s still around causing mayhem.”

As if on cue, we all turn to look at the fight taking place some thirty feet below us. My injuries have galvanised my friends into even more frenzied action than before, and whilst Dreadnought’s still soaking up the pain it’s almost being dealt to him faster than he can cope with. Just as we turn to look, Starfire finally lays out Kitten with three quick punches to the nose – man, she must be annoyed – and Robin literally throws Fang into a tree: that spider/man-thing is out for the count. Brother Blood and Gizmo are still in the land of the unconscious, but Jinx and Mammoth have gotten back up to receive some more pain. Hotshot, still burning bright, runs over to Jinx and delivers a scissor kick to her head. She staggers back a few steps, but before she can get a move in a punches her in the chest. Her dress catches fire, but her trying to put it out gives Cyborg a window to get her with a Sonic Cannon shot. Jinx goes flying, and based on how hard she hit the ground she probably won’t be getting back up for at least a few hours. It’s only now that I notice that I can’t hear any of the fight: in fact, all I hear is my three dead friends floating beside me.

I turn back to Vine once again. “Where are we, exactly?” I ask her.

“I’m not sure. The best way that I can describe this place is a “spirit world”, but that’s probably not at all accurate. This is where ghosts live, in a sense.”

“Ghosts, as in all those who have died a violent death?”

“More or less. There’s nothing physical to this world, hence why you cannot see your own body and the real world is still perfectly visible, but for the most part you see what you want to see. We are the only three dead people who you know, so that’s why you only see us.”

“Well, that makes sense.” I think for a second. “So what are you all doing here? Aren’t ghosts supposed to try and achieve something?”

“Yes. To get revenge on those who killed them.”

“Except that the person who killed you two is already here. No offence, William.”

He smiles warmly. “None taken.”

“There’s still one other person who is to blame.” Vine says. “Mine and William’s deaths, even though not specifically designed to be so, were vital to Dreadnought’s plan. He profited from our deaths, so he is still to be held responsible.”

“But why can’t you just go into the real world and smack him about? I know that you guys can interact with physical things: after all, Ghost’s been doing it since before I even met him.”

Speaking of Ghost, he’s the one who answers my question. “Well, we would, but the closer we come to the end the harder it becomes for us to enter the real world.”

“The end?”

“Of our time as ghosts.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“See for yourself.”

I look back down to the fight. Mammoth’s been knocked down again, I don’t know how or by who, so all of my friends are now piling onto Dreadnought. He’s letting off gunshots as and when he can, but his opponents are simply moving too fast too often for any bullets to hit. Exploding disks, Sonic Cannon blasts, Starbolts, electricity and wind-blown trees are raining down on him almost constantly, and Werecat, Hotshot and Beast Boy – who's taking on all manner of guises – are leaping onto Dreadnought himself wherever possible to let rip with multiple punches. The guy’s taking some serious punishment, but even though he’s still standing it probably won’t be for long.

I turn back to Ghost. “I see what you mean.”

“Once Dreadnought is killed, then we will be free to leave the spirit world. And as I said, the closer we come to that point the more we become trapped within this world. From the looks of it, he’s only got a few minutes left to live, if that, so we can’t leave here at all now. Until he’s dead too, of course.”

To be honest, I don’t much care about what happens to Dreadnought, but there’s one thing that puzzles me. “If he’s killed, won’t he be a ghost too?”

“No. He forced us to become ghosts, so once revenge is done we’ll all be back to square one again. From what I can figure, the way that this works is that a correction and a mistake can never be the same thing.” Ghost smiles grimly. “The spirit world works very differently to the normal one.”

“I can tell.” Another thought occurs to me. “Why am I here, and when can I leave?”

Vine answers this one. “You’re very close to death, so maybe you’ve found the grey area in all this. I don’t know exactly. And I presume that because you’re here you’ll have to follow this world’s rules: you won’t be going back until Dreadnought dies. Which hopefully will be soon.”

None of us can think of anything else to say, so we just watch the rest of the fight. The pummelling is going the same way as the last time I saw it, but now Dreadnought looks more knackered than ever. Because of all the chaos, us four are the only ones to notice three of the HIVE members get back up yet again. Thankfully, Brother Blood, Gizmo and Kitten see that the good guys’ victory is imminent, so they just grab the other three in their crew and hightail it. It doesn’t surprise me that they’re just abandoning Dreadnought to his fate: no honour amongst thieves and all that.

However, the fight takes another unexpected turn. Dreadnought swings his right robot arm to shoot at Starfire just as Hotshot goes to jump onto him, and the two meet with a smack that sends Hotshot flying into a tree. Dreadnought takes advantage of this and swings his left arm back to drill Hotshot. No one can stop the half-dozen rounds that get him in the chest, and it’s the last one that hits his heart and kills him.

The ghost of Hotshot drifts up to us, looking a little forlorn, but relaxed at the same time. He’s back to his normal non-burning self now, which is good in a way.

“Hiya guys.” he says to us.

I turn to him with what would be a look of sympathy if I had a face to make one. “Don’t worry, you won’t have to deal with this for very long. It’ll all be over soon.”

“What do you mean?”

“See for yourself.”

Hotshot’s sudden death has left the remaining fighters a little shocked. But Dreadnought ignores them, as he just stomps over to where my body is sitting. To my eternal horror, he holds one of his guns mere inches from my face. I hear him mouth the words “Wake up. Time to die!” but thankfully he doesn’t get to follow through with yet another pointless clichéd phrase.

A sudden gust of wind blows Dreadnought into the centre of the field, and he stands back up just in time to see Whirlwind advancing on him with a determined expression. Whirlwind stops about ten feet away and raises his hands in the air. Three small tornadoes start to spin around Dreadnought, who is too confused by all this to react. The tornadoes pick up speed, and within seconds they’re going so fast that they spin Dreadnought round too. The tornadoes slowly merge into one giant vortex as Dreadnought gets lifted up into the air, still spinning. Finally, the tornado lets him go, and he goes sailing off over the cliff and into the forests below. The tornado vanishes as suddenly as it arrived, a circle of chewed-up earth being the only evidence of its presence.

Vine turns to me and Hotshot. “Well, it’s done.” she says. “We can go.”

If I had eyes right now, they’d suddenly be streaming tears. “Go where?”

“I don’t know. To the afterlife, a eternity of nothingness, or maybe something else. We’ll just have to see.”

“Good luck.”

Hotshot smiles. “Ah, we shouldn’t need it.”

“Okay. Just make sure that you enjoy yourselves.”

William suddenly flashes the biggest grin that I’ve ever come across. “We’ll do our best.”

My four dead friends slowly fade away, and at half-translucency I just about catch Vine shouting to me “It was nice knowing you!”

“It was nice knowing you too!” I shout back, but they’re already gone. I’ll never see them again, but wherever they are at least it’s where they should be.

Without any warning whatsoever, I find myself being pulled back to my body. I don’t try to fight it, but just let myself go with it. I see the ground speeding towards me, and before I know it I’m back in the real world. I catch a brief glimpse of my seven remaining friends and their worried expressions before I pass out for real.

[Faethie]

okay, yeah, that was weird, and why did you have to kill of hotshot?!:( oh well

All critisisms aside, Awesome Chapter once again!
Later,
Faith

[rrarbecy]

Woah...you weren't kidding. That WAS weird. Great, but weird. I, too, did not see Hotshot's death coming. You're great at doing that. The unexpected.

[ShadowOfAGhost]

Well, that was different. I didn't have too much trouble understanding what was going on, but it was orrigional all the same. You did a great job wit the chapter, and though I figured you wouldn't let us get away without killing off another person, I had no idea who it would be. Good Work!

[Kregor8]

Aw, man. I give up. I simply cannot predict who you're going to kill. And then, it looks like their going to die, but they make a comeback anyway. Like, Raven isn't dead, and we saw William and Vine again, but they're dead. And I'm just all messed up. I think that's one of the things that makes this story such good reading - it's so unpredicable. Also, the crappiest chapter is still good enough that most of us wish we had written it.

So, this is almost the end? We still have to mop up the Ayatolla or whoever that dude is.

7<regor

[Kregor8]

Oh, I found the Matrix quote in that old chapter.

“Where we go from here,” he says, “is a choice I leave to you.”
Or, I think that's it. I don't remember those exact words, but it's the only thing that could even be close.

I should watch it again (the Matrix). It rocks!

7<regor

[rrarbecy]

That one and "Revolutions" were good, but "Reloaded" was terrible.

[Matt A]

To be honest, I actually quite like all three. The first one is still the best, though.


why did you have to kill of hotshot?!

'Cause I'm a sadistic bastard.:evil:


You're great at doing that. The unexpected.
I do my best.;)


We still have to mop up the Ayatolla or whoever that dude is.
I already said a few chapters back that we'll never find out what happens to Mu'awiyah. Life does not always have a neat ending, not to mention the fact that it's pretty obvious where he'll wind up.


Oh, I found the Matrix quote in that old chapter.

Spoiler: (highlight to read)“Where we go from here,” he says, “is a choice I leave to you.”
Or, I think that's it. I don't remember those exact words, but it's the only thing that could even be close.
That's it exactly. I admire your tenacity, Kregor.:p

Only one more commenter left to go...

Ta,
Matt A

[Matt A]

And i'm the one more comment right??
Indeed you are. With luck, chapter twenty will be with you by somtime tonight.

Ta,
Matt A

[Matt A]

Here's chapter twenty, the second to last part of this story. For once, I can't think of any comments to lead off with, so I won't provide any. Well, there is one thing to say: this chapter will end with a fairly big question mark, but don't worry about it 'cause the ending will resolve the issue easily enough.

The quote for this chapter comes from "The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King".

On with the show, ladies and gents...


Chapter Twenty: ’03, aka Whatever’s Left

“Whoso of the guardians is rich, let him abstain generously; and whoso is poor, let him take thereof in reason.”

Sura IV, 6

Light, sound, feeling, thought. For however long, I know none of those. Right now, I can’t tell how long I go without such things, because when you’ve got nothing to measure time with then such questions are irrelevant. Come to think of it, all questions are irrelevant, and all answers too. As Descartes once infamously said, “I think, therefore I am”: I do not think, so I am not. I must have a physical body out there somewhere, and perhaps one day I shall return to it, but right now that body is merely an empty shell. No mind occupies it, and the mind that should be there is nowhere to be found. My mind is all I have, but even I cannot find it. If it’s even anywhere at all. I don’t know, but then again right here and now I know nothing anyway. As I already said, both questions and answers are irrelevant.

Slowly, light and sound return to me, or perhaps I to them. There is an endless white, and a regular beeping noise. I can only dimly sense both, but as my thoughts and my mind also gather form once again things become clearer. It takes a long time for me to become aware of the details, but how long exactly I’m not sure. Maybe a few hours, maybe a few years: probably the former, but only in time I will know for sure. From the looks of it, at least I’m alive, which is something to be thankful for. I smile to myself, or at least I think I do, at the irony of my last thought. Eighteen months ago, or however long it is now since I joined Standing Tall Together, I would never have expressed such a sentiment.

The details are now more or less fully formed. I’m lying in a hospital-style bed in the Titans Tower medical room, connected up to a mind-boggling array of machinery. The heart-rate monitor is beeping in its normal fashion, and because it was beeping in the same way when I first regained consciousness I know that my heart has been normal for quite some time. Aside from that, there’s precious little else to say about what I can see. The final thing worth noting is that there’s a chair not far from my bed, and sitting on that chair is Starfire. Her head is lying on the edge of my bed, and even though she doesn’t snore or anything like that it’s plainly obvious that she’s asleep. I decide to leave her sleeping as I drift back to sleep myself. Normal sleep this time, I’m thankful to add.


As I slowly recover from my wounds, I’m finally able to fit together all of the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle that has become my life. The five bullets that I got shot with during the fight with Dreadnought put me in a coma for nearly six months, and to their eternal credit the few friends that I have left stuck by me the entire time. There was always at least one person by my bedside in case anything unpleasant happened, even though nothing ever did. Even so, it’s only now that I can fully understand just how well liked I really am, but even on my deathbed I’ll probably never figure out why. For now though, perhaps that question isn’t entirely relevant.

From what everyone has been able to figure out, Dreadnought is dead. When the police searched the forest a few days after the fight, they found a few pieces of armour and body matter spread about the place: a bizarre thing to come across, I know, but I think that I can guess what happened. Vine once told me that part of her would always be in those forests, whether she liked it or not, and I think that she was more accurate in that than she ever expected. In other words, Dreadnought was literally killed by the forest: a horrible way to die, but maybe he had it coming. After all, he was responsible for the deaths of four of my friends, even if only two of those were actually killed by his hand. Speaking of such things, Hotshot has now been buried alongside Ghost on the hillside. Apparently the funeral was very pleasant, or at least as far as “pleasant” is really an applicable word in those circumstances. I’m more than a little upset that I couldn’t go, but for once there was literally nothing that I could have done about it: besides, I’d already said goodbye to him, quite literally in fact.

Also, the Titans and what little is left of STT finally figured out how and why Ghost died. He’d accidentally managed to find the HIVE base as it was before Brother Blood took it over, and of course HIVE had no choice but to silence him. The murder of Ghost became Dreadnought’s final exam, and his subsequent infiltration of STT – which was set over a year later – was his first real assignment as a HIVE post-graduate. The terrible irony in all this was that Ghost hadn’t even known that the HIVE base was what he’d found, so in fact his death actually turned out to be counter-productive: it was the ghost of Ghost who first got me on the trail that led to Dreadnought’s unmasking, even though he hadn’t realised at the time what he had just set in motion. Of course, all this means that even though he didn’t find out until the last minute that Dreadnought was a HIVE agent, he still knew all along that Dreadnought was his killer: why he didn’t tell me this at the start is something that only Ghost knows, and naturally he can now no longer tell us.


Today is the 2nd of April 2007, the day when the most important two years of my life finally come to an end. Sidious, Whirlwind and Werecat, the three remaining members of STT – besides myself, of course – have been staying in the Tower whilst I was in my coma and the four months that it’s taken me to rebuild my health. They’ve even lent their hands at crime-fighting once or twice, and from what I hear they actually did a pretty good job of it. That’s part of the reason why today is so important: the three of them want to talk to me in the living room – now fully rebuilt after William blew it up last year – and even though they didn’t say what they want I can already give a pretty good guess.

The four of us all sit down, and after a few seconds Werecat is the first one to speak. “The three of us have been having some serious discussion over the last few days,” she says to me, “and we’ve decided that maybe it’s for the best if we all just go our separate ways.”

That’s about what I guessed, even though one obvious question still remains. “Why?”

Sidious is the one who answers my question. “Because now that you’re back to your normal self, we aren’t needed around here any more.” He doesn’t need to say anything about STT: with only four of us left and little hope of gaining new members, the organisation that first brought us together has already been disbanded. Covering my sick leave is their main goal now, or at least it was…

“But we’re all friends anyway. That should be enough.”

“We’ve already thought about that one, Rae. As long as we try and keep in touch somehow, it doesn’t really matter if we don’t see each other every day. And the Teen Titans as a whole was already getting difficult to handle with seven members, so having eight will only cause things to crack on a more permanent basis.”

I get his point implicitly, so I just nod quietly. “When are you guys leaving?”

“Sometime within the next few days. We’ve all managed to get back in touch with our respective families, or at least what’s left of them,” he gives a brief glace over at Whirlwind, “so at least we have somewhere to go. We can all still keep in touch, but now that our families are finally willing to take us back in I think that we need to try and keep them on our side.”

“Fair enough. I suppose that you’ve already told the others.”

“Not yet. We wanted to tell you first, but we’ll let them know as soon as we can.”

I’m not going to try and talk them out of this, and they know it. Sidious, Whirlwind and Werecat all get up and walk back over towards the door. It’s only when Whirlwind is left in the room that I think of something.

“This is the end, isn’t it?”

Whirlwind stops in the doorway, and looks back at me with an odd expression. “No. There’s room for a little more.”

I’m confused, and my face clearly shows it. “I don’t understand.”

Whirlwind smiles warmly. “One day, Raven, you will.”

[Faethie]

YAY! You wrote the next chapter. it was GREAT!

I think I found the quote but as I still can't figure out how to work the spoilers I'll pm you...

Later,
Faith

[Crowgirl]

No critisms. Words do not describe how amazing that was.

[Matt A]

Well, here it is. The end of Standing Tall Together. It'll probably have the more cynical amongst you screaming "sequal!", but I swear that there won't be one (well, not unless either I can find a really cool idea or someone else takes up the mantle...). Anyway, that's about all I need to say for this chapter in terms of content, apart from one thing: there is a quote each from "Memento" and "Trainspotting" to be found here, and I've used the latter one before so it shouldn't be that hard to find.

This final chapter is dedicated to all those brave souls who dared to read this foutry-thousand words of inane drivel, especially those who also dared to give positive feedback for it. I thank you for your warm reception of such trash, but seriously, what are you on?:p :p :p

Anyway, without further ado, I give you the end of my second fic, Standing Tall Together...


Chapter Twenty-One: ’00, aka The Big Wheel

“When ye conspire together, conspire not together for crime and wrongdoing and disobedience toward the messenger, but conspire together for righteousness and piety.”

Sura LVIII, 9

“Choose life”. The church might be different, but the sign is still the same. Then again, this isn’t even a church, ‘cept perhaps in a more metaphorical sense. If you’re talking about a church as a place where the community stores all its hopes, dreams and fears, then yes, this building is a church, but you’d never see anyone worship here. Well, tell a lie, four people do worship here, but seeing as two of them worship themselves and the other two worship each other, that doesn’t really count. No, this building has no religious value, but that’s not to say that it’s worthless. Far from it.

Aside from one thing, my day has been pretty normal. I woke up in the same bed in the same room in the same building that I’ve woken up in every day for about the last twenty-five years of my life. The decoration has changed quite a bit since you last saw it – the creepy Gothica has been replaced by a more neutral look – but the room itself is still very much the same. After my usual herbal tea breakfast and the good morning routine to my four flatmates and friends, we all pottered around inanely doing the kind of inane things you do when you potter around inanely (if that makes any sense…), filling our morning with some hardcore Gamestation action and a few games of volleyball on the roof. Our afternoon, on the other hand, was spent giving Cardiac a sound thrashing: not the kind of thing that you do everyday, I must admit, but still not an unusual event for The Titans. What makes today significant is what’s going to happen this evening.

Okay, I might as well get straight to the point. Today is the 26th of January 2025, exactly two decades to the day since I joined Standing Tall Together. I would say that a lot has happened in the last twenty years, but quite frankly I’d be lying through my teeth. The Teen Titans are still very much in business – of course, we now just go by the name of The Titans, on account of not being teenagers anymore – and the five of us just get through the days by socialising, pottering around inanely and doing the odd bit of crime-busting. Most of the old bad guys are still around causing chaos, and there have been a few new ones every now and again to spice things up a little further. For example, the most recent one was a giant alien-squid-thing called “Calamakron”, and he/she/it certainly kept us on our toes for a few days: of course, now he/she/it is spending a little while in a specially designed cell in Arkham Asylum, so that shouldn’t be a problem for a little while. Like I said, little has happened, and even less has changed. But we’re still surviving, so that’s no problem.

Thankfully, I still see a lot of Sidious, Whirlwind and Werecat. Along with Thunder and Lightning – now much more mature than they used to be, thank God – they’ve formed the “Titans South” group down in Soul City: they get to fight bad guys in amongst the Mississippi Delta, lucky buggers that they are. They’ve only been operating for a few months, so we haven’t had a chance to collaborate yet, but I see enough of my old friends outside of “work” anyway for that to not matter. We only see each other for a few days once every few months, but as long as we don’t get the chance to forget about each other I’m not complaining. I’ve even managed to get back in touch with Megawatt, who is apparently doing well for herself somewhere in the Metropolis County government, and it was her who suggested what I’m going to do tonight.

In a word or five, I’ve reformed Standing Tall Together. It hasn’t been going for any longer than Titans South have, and so far we’ve only got five members including myself – but I’m the leader, so maybe I don’t really count – but despite that I think we’ve got something good going here. In what will probably be a futile attempt to learn from past mistakes, I’m trying to encourage as much honesty in this group as I can, and that’s why I’m not bothering to hide the fact that I’m the infamous Raven, I have some of the most dangerous powers imaginable, and to top it all off I’m also a Titan, one of the group that the guys under my wing idolise. That’s also why I’m holding these sessions in the Titans Tower rather than anywhere else: don’t bother asking me why I stuck the “Choose Life” sign on the main door, ‘cause I honestly don’t know.

Where the five of us are at specifically is the main living room, now filled with even more outlandish gear than it was the last time that a member of STT was here. The four kids who are sat on the sofa opposite me are perhaps more unfortunate than me and the old STT crew ever were.

The one on the far left is Karl, aka “Shockwave”. It’s kinda hard to describe his powers, but the best way to explain it is that whenever he punches something – even if it’s just the air – then the air around his fist will be automatically warped so that the punch is amplified and carried forward until the air currents trash something. In other words, he can punch the air randomly, and a building about a mile away will look like a truck drove into it. The problem with this is that these air “punches” happen automatically. He currently has as next to no control over them as makes no odds, but in time he’ll be able to not rip apart whole cities every time he balls his fists.

The freaky-looking thing sat next to him is Simon, aka “Lucifer”. This guy is a shape-shifter, but he can’t hold any one shape for any more than about five minutes: of course, this wouldn’t be much of a problem if it wasn’t for the fact that his default shape looks more like a winged demon than a teenage boy. However, with some extra practise at shape-shifting, no one will be able to notice this in time.

The third one along is Steph, aka “Scratch”. Whenever her extra-long fingernails (and when I say “extra-long”, I mean it) touch the skin of another living being, they will automatically inject enough neurotoxins to floor an entire herd of horses. This is a problem for fairly obvious reasons, and right now I’m not sure exactly how much help we can be to young Steph, but only time will tell.

The last one on the sofa is Charlotte, aka “Newton”. This little lady has the not entirely uncool ability to distort the gravitational pull of objects around her: in other words, she could make me stick to the ceiling, the sofa stick to the wall and Lucifer stock to Shockwave’s head all at the same time, amongst many other impressive tricks. Of course, creating specific effects with this is damn near impossible, but she can obtain greater accuracy with her powers with enough guidance from us.

Bang on 9:30PM, the door to the living room opens, and a boy with olive skin and long black hair walk in. It was about three or four years after the first STT broke when Robin and Starfire announced that they were going to have a baby together, and nine months down the line this little pre-Madonna was the result. For reasons that should be reasonably obvious, he goes by the name of Bruce, but due to his powers we all call him “Wildfire”. As well as the flying powers he inherited from his mother, he’s a pyrokinetic – we still don’t know why – but like his mother his flame-spraying requires extremes of emotion in order to work. It’s his problem with using his powers without going overboard that explains why he’s decided to join our group tonight. I for one don’t like him one little bit, but it’d be unfair to deny him the help, and anyway I don’t wish to hack off Robin and Starfire any more than I have to. They may idolise their selfish brat of a son, but that’s no reason to dislike them as well.

Now, where was I?

Ah yes…

“Good evening, Bruce.” I say to our newest member. “Before you tell us about yourself, I’d appreciate if everyone else told you about themselves, not to mention what we do here.”

Hmm, I wonder where I've heard that before…

[Faethie]

DUDE! Awesome! I wish it wasn't over.....:crying: Later,
Faith

[Sproxie]

Wildfire.... I wonder i've heard that before. Oh yea, from FF.net, except Wildfire was baby girl there...
ANYway, I loved it!! That last line was absolutely genius!!! :anime:

their selfish brat of a son Interesting boy he sounds like..... :p
I am pretty sad that its over, but, It was great while it lasted!

[Aquagirl15]

Man it does seem like there might be a sequal. But as you said there won't be and that's a shame, however I understand that you kinda have to wait before you get a good idea. It feels so weird that the fic is over, it doesn't seem like it was very long ago that STT started. I have to congratulate you on another outstanding story Matt, you are the only person who could have pulled something like this off. This story was simply amazing.

[Kregor8]

Wow. That was really good. A nice sort of ending - full circle and all that. No, I don't really want a sequel. You have some other good things to write. Still, you left the door open for somebody with a good imagination.

The one thing that disappoints me is that the terrorist with the funny name got away. I know, I know. Realism as always. But still...

Oh yeah, I got the LotR quote too. But everyone else already had it.

I'm not sure what the numbers in front of the chapter titles mean, but the last chapter is called "The Big Wheel" because the story comes around to the beginning again.

Ok...I guess I don't have too much more to say. Overall, it was an amazing story, and of course we would expect nothing less from you. So, take a break and think for a while. (Not too long, now). What are you going to write next? :D

7<regor

Ps. Quote spotting games are fun!

[percguy89]

"all good things must come to an end"......... dammit.

Matt, words cannot describe how awesome this story has been. Awesome, stupendous, super duper. on a scale of one to ten, its infinite, plus one, and a half. i luv the closure. closure to me is the best part of any story, and i have to say, that ur conclusion was absolutely flawless.

Bravo.

Encore.

peace out

[Matt A]

Wildfire.... I wonder i've heard that before. Oh yea, from FF.net, except Wildfire was baby girl there...Now that I didn't know.


That last line was absolutely genius!!! :anime: I've always considered first and last lines to be vitally important, so thankyou for that.:anime: :anime: :anime:


Interesting boy he sounds like..... :p Well, who said that the child of Robin and Starfire had to be likeable?:evil:


Wow. That was really good. A nice sort of ending - full circle and all that. No, I don't really want a sequel. You have some other good things to write. Still, you left the door open for somebody with a good imagination.Yeah, full circle was what I had in mind for that chapter, but I knew that it'd sound like the start of a sequal. Speaking of which, Vortexgirl has expressed an interest in writing one, and depening on how things go I'll be helping her develop it. That's develop it, by the way, not write it.


The one thing that disappoints me is that the terrorist with the funny name got away. I know, I know. Realism as always. But still...I never said that Mu'awiyah got away. All I said was that the law would catch up with him eventually, but we didn't necessarily need to be around to see it happen. So there.:p


I'm not sure what the numbers in front of the chapter titles mean, but the last chapter is called "The Big Wheel" because the story comes around to the beginning again.The numbers are the years that each quoted film was released: for example, I used '00 for the last chapter 'cause Memento came out in 2000. This was a device that I shamelessly borrowed from the new Lemon Jelly album, which pulled off roughly the same trick with its use of samples. By the way, if anyone's interested I'll post the full list of all the quotes that I used.

Yeah, your analysis of the chapter title is correct. It was inspired by the Massove Attack song "Hymn Of The Big Wheel", where the chorus goes something like this:


The big wheel keeps on turning

On a simple line, day by day.

The Earth spins on its axis.

One man struggles, while another relaxes.



So, take a break and think for a while. (Not too long, now). What are you going to write next? :D


I already know what I'm doing next, and 'cause I got the five comments for the last chapter of this I could well get it started within the next fourty-eight hours. All I'll say about my third fic is that it'll be called "Locked And Loaded", and my new avatar (which I intend to keep until the story is finished) will give you a pretty hefty clue as to what it's about. There, isn't that something to look forward to?:p


Oh, one more thing:



DUDE! Awesome! I wish it wasn't over.....:crying:



I am pretty sad that its over, but, It was great while it lasted!



I have to congratulate you on another outstanding story Matt, you are the only person who could have pulled something like this off. This story was simply amazing.



Overall, it was an amazing story, and of course we would expect nothing less from you.



Matt, words cannot describe how awesome this story has been. Awesome, stupendous, super duper. on a scale of one to ten, its infinite, plus one, and a half.


Thanks guys!:anime: :anime: :anime: :anime: :anime: :anime: :anime: :anime: :anime: :anime:







Ta,

Matt A




PS: I've got a quick homework assignment for you guys. Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to buy the new Daft Punk album, "Human After All". If you like retro electronica, then you'll love it; if you don't, then you'll still probably love it anyway.