When Things Get a Little Buggy

September 26, 2018:

The Titans finally get a ping on their missing speedster and head out to find him, for better or for worse.

NYC, West Side outside of Stark Enterprises/the Citadel

Cloudy with a chance of demons.

Characters

NPCs: Demons and demons and demons and…bugs?

Mentions: Tony Stark

Plot:

Mood Music: None.


Fade In…

It's been several days since the incident at Stark Industries where a handful of Titans had turned out to help smuggle a yet unconscious Tony Stark out of his own building. There had been demons and chaos aplenty. There had also been, towards the end of it, a dragon, of which by that point most of those who had been in the tower had managed to leave it.

Buuuut in case anyone had any doubts that the dragon had indeed returned to its chosen roost then, at least one Titan would have received such confirmation whether he'd expected to or not. While Red Robin is probably not unaccustomed to receiving strange and oftentimes random images sent to him by their resident speedster, the one he'd gotten then had since been the last correspondence from Impulse. It's left a lot of questions unanswered, some cause for concern, and perhaps even the sinking possibility that despite the Titans leader's urging for caution, one of their own might have indeed gotten himself eaten. That seemed both unthinkable and yet viable considering one important thing:

It is Impulse they're talking about.

He'd left not a signal to be tracked, neither by sneaky Red's means nor by phone. There's simply been no pings, no points of reference. It's like the speedster had vanished.

Today however, there's been a breakthrough. Cyborg's vigilance is finally rewarded. It's faint, but traceable. It'll be a trip through a demon-infested New York cityscape, and maybe strangely enough, back towards Stark Industries by the looks of it.

**

"Oh yes! Good job, Vic! Are you sure it is him!?"

Of course Cyborg knows it is Bart. He is sure of everything! When Cassandra gets the news she is in the kitchen, eating a bowl of cereal and watching the news. For someone who loves to punch stuff, she is weirdly into documentaries and other forms of mental exercising. That is over, now, however! Action Time!

"Okay! It is time for action! Ring the alarms, the Titans are coming for Impulse!" Cassandra is ready for action. It isn't -just- that she loves doing things instead of sitting around and listen to Caitlin, Tim, Peter and Victor babble about frequencies and modulators and spectrums.

This is Bart they are talking about! And he has been missing. She has been hankering for an opportunity to do something about and this is it!

In a flash of gold and red her clothes are glowing and shifting from her usual style into the starry, scarlet fiber of her uniform, the golden-hue of the Silent Armor platings and eldritch designs around her neck, shoulders, hands and feet.

In a second, Cassandra is READY FOR ACTION! Too bad not everyone is that fast with getting ready to go out. As she stands alone in the kitchen in her Wonder Girl armor, she frowns and sits down again, back to the cereal.

This team stuff is so slow sometimes!!! Bart would agree with her. Why don't they all have magical uniforms?! Mental note: Ask Diana about that. Christams is coming, after all!

**

"…"

Ping! PING MOTHEREFFER!

Cyborg doesn't need to sit straight up from the scanning because he's always up. Not being allowed to sleep anymore due to being mostly machine has its drawbacks. Or pluses, in this case. Which is why he's immediately activating his built in communication system with two things.

1) "Titans. I've got a ping. The Ping." And just in case it's not clear, "Impulse."

2) The immediate retweet-transmission to whatever tech device each and every other Titans member has of the location that his vigilance has rewarded him with. Now Titans comms everywhere are going to be pinging!

There's no questions. There's no more thoughts. There's not even anything else to say besides.

"Let's go get our boy."

Cue Titans 'Come Together' Montage.

**

Slow? Not Superboy. The ping's barely gone out before said steel dude super-speeds into the assembly montage, tugging the second sleekly armored glove of his red-and-blue ensemble into place.

A gloved hand sweeps back and spikes up his hair, and the transformation is complete. "Nice work Cyborg." Kon commends, offering the customary fists-of-steel dap of congratulation, as is tradition.

"Let me guess: looks like he's knee deep in it." Bart is Bart— and New York? New York is fuuuuuucked. "And we're gonna dig him out." A grinning look passes from Cyborg to Wonder Girl, and the already-waiting blonde gets a wink.

**

Nico Minoru has only fastened about thirty percent of the belts on her action dress, which is mostly notable for having a sick high asymmetric thing going on that was probably intended to show off a jewel-encrusted garter belt but which ALSO means she can move pretty fast.

Wait… did she mean to buckle those belts? It's genuinely hard to tell. Either way, "Gah oh god I'm coming my phone is blowing up hold on oh it's just all cyborg."

"If he's not moving I hope he's… alright. You'd think he'd get the hell out of New York, so to speak, right? - This is near the tower, right?" Nico then beams at Conner with a "Hi" and another "Hey" to Cassie even as she puts the phone into one of the dress's cunningly concealed pockets.

"Can I get a ride?" she then asks, because… apparently she doesn't fly or anything. #whereisthebroomstick

**

Readiness is important: That's part of why Red Robin is always in costume at the Tower.

That, and the whole 'secret identity' thing. That part is pretty important too, even if a plurality of the Titans already know who he is anyway.

After having gotten a whole four hours of sleep after returning with Zatanna the night before, the Red Knight's been down in the motor pool, working. As usual, he's always got several projects on the go, and if the previous day's events had at least put one of them further on the back burner for now, well, there was always more to be done.

So, with Cyborg having finally gotten a sign of Impulse, and the current situation in New York keeping the T-Jet grounded unless absolutely necessary, it's not long before the garage door on the otherwise empty building that forms the innocent looking facade to the Manhattan-side tunnel from Titans Tower opens wide to allow the egress… Of a big-ass transport truck, it's design somewhere between 'sleek' and 'militaristic'. It's armored, it's all-terrain, somehow, and the inside is somewhere between a troop transport and a mobile command center.

Behold: The T-Van.

Because a lot of the team can't fly on their own.

Also Red Robin is driving himself, because he's a control freak.

**

The resident space princess in exile is also to be found in the kitchen when the team is called to assemble. She also has a bowl, although it is full of, well… sometimes it is best not to ask these questions! She has food to build her strength for any coming shenanigans or battle, and that is what is important!

And with demons swarming around the city, the latter seems ever likely.

She is hovering in the air with her bowl behind the couch where Cassie sits, when each of their communicators light up. "Oh, it seems he has located friend Bart. This is the most wonderful of news!"

She does not sweat the details of how much or little might actually be known, and merely springs to action. However, unlike Cassie, she does not possess magical clothing. But she also wasn't wearing much more than a baggy t-shirt around the Tower (perhaps there needs to be a 'house meeting' about the underwear situation?!), and so, swooshing down the hall (and past some of the emerging team!) into her room, she blitzes her closet and takes little time in changing. Sometimes, less is more?!

Although tempted to fly through a window, she then dutifully appears in the garabge below where Tim is assembling them, still floating just off the ground, peering into one of the doors of the van.

"I am happy to do the 'air support' with friends Conner and Cassie, if you require more space?"

**

"Shotgun," Nico says, hopefully.

**

Between a dragon and hordes of demons raining down upon the city, there is nothing win/lose about their current circumstances. And from what Raven has known for a while, losses are inevitable.

She does not know how many have already fallen at the beginning of all of this, nor has she been able to find anyone amid the chaos churning about them like an endless ocean. Despite how her own efforts to try finding Bart Allen by herself in the following days after his sudden disappearance, she has not located him. Not once.

Under the mask, she can feel failure trying to claw at the surface beneath her skin, calling her out on not keeping close watch on her teammates. It threatens her with doubt in her own abilities, with a panic she willfully doesn't express, with fear that she may never see the young speedster again.

That all shifts, however, once Cyborg catches that ping.

Out of her haze, Raven's eyes drift up and away from the curling envelope held tightly between her fingers. She doesn't join in on the other Titans' exuberant calls for action, saying nothing more as those feelings are shut deep inside of her again, doors closed. But that's when Red Robin says they're all heading that way in…the T-Van.

…She has half a mind to just get the directions from Cyborg, but concedes after a short mental argument. They want to help. They're going to get Bart. He's their friend, too. "What are we waiting for," she asks, drifting pass the others to look over the vehicle. "It will work. I can also follow along if need be."

**

Whichever method of transportation the Titans decide upon, whether to carpool or travel via their own power, once they're outside of the comfort and relative safety of the Tower, there's no small amount of insanity erupting in pockets of the city surroundings as the demon infestation continues, undaunted and for the most part, unchanged.

There may be a few spots of trouble- moving targets are a quick way to draw any of the wandering abominiations' attention, but between whatever firepower and armor that Red Robin's got built into the T-Van, and the added abilities of the Titans themselves, taking care of random demon attacks shouldn't be a problem, right?

Although they may just have one disturbingly big one lumbering after them, chomping hungrily as it tries to mimic a certain famous chase scene involving an even bigger lizard and a morsel of a jeep.

But they got this, right?

Unfortunately one can't really say it's all clear even after that hurdle. Stark's tower has become a popular residence, and unfortunately the demon population just seems to grow thicker as they near their destination.

**

Superboy takes a quick mental inventory of the team, nods readily at Nico, his greeting and response cut off by the tinkering Tim, at whom SB narrows his eyes. Red Robin can feel it, with his bat-telepath prowess, no doubt. "Tactical genius, ladies and gentlemen." Kon mutters to himself, and soars outside.

Once whoever wishes to assemble in the armored transport has assembled therein, and Tim starts it barreling off into the city, Superboy swoops down and abruptly plucks the vehicle up in his delicate, yet super-strong grasp. It's stabilized with TACTILE TELEKINESIS— and suddenly moving towards its target a whooooole lot faster.

The armored, now shielded projectile is, let's face it, a freaking -great- battering ram to clear some outliers on the way to Tony Tower, and it's this guided missile that careens into position a short span from the ping, as the fighting gets thicker….

**

As the team begins to assemble, Wonder Girl does spot the T-Van (tm) being put to action. "Tim… do you really want to drive all the way there? We need to talk about this Gotham Syndrome of yours. Like… you are in uniform all the time. Do you shower on that like a NeverNude!?" Wonder Girl eyes the T-Van again, and in a moment of truth she resigns herself.

This is her family, and if one of them is going to lose all the hero cred by driving this thing, they are -all- losing theirs too by riding WITH him!

And as Starfire talks about going to Air Support with Superboy and herself, Wonder Girl ponders. She eyes the T-Van. Gods. This is so bad. Alas! Such is the life of a friend, and may the Amazons never see Cassandra in this -amazing- Titan-exclusive vehicle.

"I know you were born to fly, but the T-Van is the best way to get there, Kori, and Tim is an amazing driver. Way better than Batman. He will keep us safe!" She gives Kon a look. A 'help me out here' look as she slooowly nudges Starfire into the T-Van.

— Hell York City —

Cassandra is staring at the monstrous demons that try to catch them, and it is quite ennerving. This car was a terrible idea! MADE WORSE by the fact Kon is carrying them! "Just so you know, Conner, I could be carrying the car TOO!" It is not a competition, but… she just has to state it. Thankfully, they quickly reach the Stark Tower, where Wonder Girl assumes Bart is.

"Vic, where's his signal? Just point me at it and I can just make a way through the hordes!"

…and she looks at Tim.

"Not that the T-Van can't, no. It is just that… I need to stretch my legs!" And get out of this Kryptonian-powered death box on wheels!

**

"Dibs on tricking out this van if we survive this."

Cyborg remarks from inside the van. He doesn't look as though he's happy to be inside but the occasional hang out the window and blasting of demons with random weaponry from his transforming arm happens every time they pass by a gaggle? horde? gathering? What is the word for mini-clusters of demons?!?!

Anyway, scanners and sensors are all over the place and there's a huge ping on the internal radars of the Cyborg and he's not too happy with what's coming up from behind. He sighs and opens the T-Van's door. "If anybody makes a Teen Wolf reference…" He charges his arm cannon. "You're next."

As Cyborg starts to climb out of the van, he spots Superboy and his sensors pick up on THE NONEXISTENT TACTILE TELEKINESIS. He frowns but also up-nods and then climbs back into the van.

"Nevermind." Cyborg then looks over to Wonder Girl. "… And what the hell is a NeverNude? I refuse to Google out of fear for my Search History."

There. He made a joke. Okay?

Cyborg returns to focusing on the matter at hand when there is a Stark Tower in the vicinity and he sets about with the triangulation of the exact location of the Impulsive One. "Give me a nano. There's a lot of things movin' 'round here."

It'll take him a second. Or at least a round of poses. Whatever.

"… also, there might be some interference from scientifically unfounded Kryptonian-based nonexistent abilities." Hmph.

**

"Codenames," Red Robin reminds Cassie. "And no, I shower in head to toe latex like a normal person," he adds, with just the most delicate soupcon of sarcasm. Almost imperceptible, really. "Look, the T-Van is going to draw less attention than a bunch of people flying through the air, and also if Bart's hurt there's room to get him back to the Tower safely." Not that he doesn't believe that they couldn't fly Bart back to the Tower without causing him undue jostling. Honest. Really. He has nothing but the most absolute faith in his friends and teammates!

So it seems like Nico does actually get to ride shotgun.

Of course once they're out on the streets of Manhattan, semi but not completely deserted thanks to the incursion of Limbo and its demonic inhabitants, a certain half-Kryptonian clone just picks the whole thing up.

Red Robin sighs heavily, leans back into the driver's seat, and turns the stereo up.

"Also I was hoping to avoid drawing any attention from that," Red Robin adds over the comms as they close on Stark Tower… And the enormous, tentacled (why though??) demonic dragon coiled around it. "Starfire, Wonder Girl, all those demons are gonna be a problem. Do some damage and see if you can't encourage them to go someplace else. Cyborg, let us know as soon as you know where Impulse is. Nico, I might need you to take the wheel."

**

Opting to fly, Raven stays relatively close to the vehicle. She didn't count on Superboy to help it along, but she does what she can to keep up.

But when there are demons, it makes traveling more of a challenge. And they don't need something at their proverbial heels while they're trying to find a friend.

With her cloak billowing out behind her, she summons darkness, eyes glowing bright within the confines of her hood, hands circling before gesturing toward whatever space the vehicle still has between it and the demon looking for a bite to eat. Shadows form into a physical structure around the nearest street light, pulling it downward to create an obstacle and to give the Titans more time to focus on what's lies ahead.

**

Nico, in the van (and shotgun, too) lets out a whoop as the van is hoisted to the skies.

She is much less excited as they get taken on Conner Superboy: The Ride, one way or another. Nico did fasten her safety belt but the bumping round of the first impact point makes her grind her teeth. She is able to avoid smashing her head or getting whiplash due to the power of >TACTILE TELEKINESIS< but part of her wants to freak out.

It's a lot smaller than the part she's used to it being.

"Oh my God that thing's huge," Nico remarks at the sight of Mr. Dragon. Red Robin speaks to her then and she says, "Right!" as she reaches down to

Oh no: UNFASTEN HER SEATBELT, in preparation to lunge for the driver's seat if need be.

**

Because Cassie is a friend, and Cassie asks nicely, Starfire does get in the van. This proves to be a Bad Idea (TM).

First, she's obviously anxious about the enclosed space, her height making it awkward to even shove her in there as her pushy friend does. She ends up hugging her knees to her chest and just kind of looking like a big orange sardine. And then there's the fact that once they are outside of the Tower and can see some of the foes arrayed before them, well… her warrior instinct takes over, the battle calling from without.

"Open a window! There is battle outside! I do not fear these creatures!"

There is subsequently a lot of elbowing and pushing to climb over Cassie back to the window, and then demands that it be opened so she can blast things. The telekinetic bubble makes this unnecessary, and she is stuck. STUCK! And for all of Tim's reassurances about the 'stealth' approach (really, a flying battering ram is stealthy now?!), she does not look pleased! "There are other people out there we could help as we go!" Arms are crossed, and the royal nose is lifted.

Naturally, she soars from the vehicle as soon as they arrive, possibly kicking Cassie in the face as she launches.

In any event, once free, Koriand'r twirls through the air with joy for her rediscovered freedom. And then she spots the sky full of demons. But plenty of demons means PLENTY OF TARGETS, and cheerful-fluffy Starfire quickly gives way to full Warrior Princess.

Sailing through the air, looping, rolling, and otherwise space-dogfighting with the various winged monstrosities that might assail them, Starfire holds little back. Flashes of neon green energy lance through the air, cutting into their infernal foes. Here and there, a demon explodes in a puff of sulfur. Occasionally, maybe it's a building that blows up.

Hellscape rules, OK? When they're chewing on the skyline, you don't have to worry about property damage so much!

**

Must go faster, must go— Well, that's one way to do it. Faster than a speeding bullet and more powerful than a locomotive? Superboy's sure doing a good job of that as the T-Van cuts through the city faster than…wait, we covered that.

The big demon that had been lurching behind them falls back with an annoyed bellow as they quickly put some distance between them. And then it trips rather clumsily as it barrels headlong over the streetlight Raven wrests from its stand. There's a gaggle of demons just in front of them that seem to come up suddenly for the speed that Superboy carries them before they collide head-on and scatter like a great many red bowling pins.

The concentration of demon activity is visible soon enough as they come upon the area, the Citadel formerly known as Stark Industries looming like a great shadow…or Sauron's tower. Perhaps it's for the best that things are so busy down below that a van full of teens with mad skills won't be amiss amongst the general chaos.

Also, it looks as though a bunch of demons are already engaged in fighting! Someone's started the party without them?! The nerve!

At first it might be difficult to make out just who or what the demons are battling.

Starfire certainly doesn't waste any time to jump into the fray, and indeed winged demons are caught off guard with her assault. Others begin to swarm in her direction.

On the ground however, the Titans aren't alone in this sudden battle they have found themselves in. Demons go falling, flying, flung and knocked back as they clash with rather large insectoid creatures, iridescent in varying colors of greens, blues and blends of yellow. They stand three to four, some even nearly five feet tall, armed with spears and blades, dressed in clothing that looks vaguely Mayan or Aztec in flavor. As they push forward- it seems they're trying to break away and through from the shadow of Stark's tower- they urge each other on in a clicking language.

At the rear of their army, other bugs thump on hand drums as they push forth a car that they've reapproppriated but have no idea how to drive. On top of it stands a figure.

He's dressed in familiar red and white. With a headdress of green feathers. And a feathered shield and a golden spear in hand.

Impulse raises said spear, thrusting it forward as though to urge the bugs on as he…clicks at them to rally them on as they surge forth.

Um… So good news, the Titans found their missing teammate!!

**

Cassandra does complain and curses as Starfire first climbs on top of her to shoot lasers out the windows and later uses Wonder Girl's face to springboard herself out the T-Van.

"Sorry, Ti- RED ROBIN! I tried to keep her here!"

When Wonder Girl also bails, she stares at the positively Rick and Morty-ish scene below and all around them. The bugs alone would be hard enough to understand, but the fact Impulse is wearing a feathered shield and headress… to command a featherless army of insectoids…

"There is SO much to unpack here…"

It actually makes her head spin a little.

"SUPERBOY! STARFIRE! HELP IMPULSE'S ARMY! NICO! RAVEN! IS THAT BART!? WHAT IS GOING ON!? Since when does he click and command bugs!? Is that a thing!? How can we stop it being a thing!?" And she flies straight at Impulse to try talking to the hero.

"BAR-" For crying out loud. "Impulse! What's going on!?"

**

"We're the Titans not the Trojans, Fearless Leader!" comes the predictable non-apology back over Red Robin's comm. This way, they get all the mighty battlewagon's prowess for the objective— PLUS, higher volume tunes. Pure winning. As much as any push -into- the fortified heart of a Hell-invasion can ever be winning, anyway. "Wonder Girl, don't be modest— we both know you could carry like, twelve of those. More if they stack real well."

It's all the time he makes for banter, and it's as much a veiled call to action as it is smalltalk— Cassie and Koriand'r unload from the van, and the former might need a hand up after the latter uses her as a launchpad, and then Superboy as well joins the fray. It's hammer and anvil time, and so the Teen of Steel hammers hard into the front opposite Impulse, Emperor of the Mantis-Men.

Bursts of brilliant, white-cored crimson heat vision is his vanguard: Kon-El's LEGENDARY impregnability is nigh on useless against these mystical beasts of nastiness and rabies. This doesn't stop him from hammer-fisting both hands through a target or six like a missile, however, with similar results to the pulverization of the mighty T-VAN.

**

"… Holy Starship Troopers."

Cyborg is seeing all of this in a few different ways because of his various eyes and it's just a couple of gross things. "I can't. What. I can't. What."

Cyborg almost seems like he's about to malfunction or something. Almost immediately, though, his systems start trying to translate the clicking bug sounds because there's nothing worse that being around a bunch of people (things) that are speaking in a different language. It's just not a good time.

Cyborg doesn't have to mention that they've found him because, well, he's right there as the leader of a bunch of weird bug-things. This is just awkward. So instead of trying to figure out what is going on because he's pretty sure Impulse will let them know, he just unfolds a pair of freeze cannons from his shoulders and starts blasting at demonic things because that might make them easier to break. There's a lot of people with epic strength around here.

**

It all looks seems so terrible…until it isn't. Not completely, anyway - there's still a lot of work to do after their first problem, but the fighting within fighting is suspicious. The goth isn't sure what to make of it at first approach, but when she gets in closer, her brow lifts.

"-Oh thank Azar, he's alive," Raven finally exhales, not caring how the much the ridiculous factor rises. The weight that's been sitting on her shoulders and sinking into her chest lifts, leaving her with a lighter feeling of…what is that? Joy?

Whatever it is, it's different. She would rather have Impulse leading an army Mayan bugs against the demons than not have him there at all.

Her voice somehow carries over the noise after the revelation, over the comms and the crowded streets below. "It's him," she replies to Cassie's frantic yelling, dark matter forming around her hands as she forms a giant wave to crash over the demons trying to overpower the bugs. "And I…have no idea what is happening…!"

**

Reveling in the aerial combat, Starfire makes it look easy and natural. Flight is second nature to her, with no ungainly wings to flap like those creatures attempting to pursue her. Flipping, twisting, even turning upside-down, they are no match for her aerial grace, nor for her powerful starbolts or her alien strength.

At least, not individually.

A pair of them accost her, each grabbing an arm, no doubt to fly off for some unspeakable ritual. This still goes poorly, as she demonstrates her strength and mashes the two creatures together. And maybe she thinks that is the end of it, especially as her friends begin celebrating below, drawing her attention.

"Great joy! Friend Bart has returned with friends! The people of earth truly are diverse!"

Right, obviously Starfire doesn't quite follow what's happening with the bug men. In space, sentient insectoids are not a strange occurrence! She didn't think Earth had any, but she knows she is prone to making such mistakes.

Regardless, the demons are keen to take advantage and not wait around on Team reunions, with the swarm that had been gathering making its move. Where two had failed, they have been replaced by a half dozen, several of them larger than those before. They are no longer playing around!

"Aieee!"

Somewhere in the air, there's now a ball of demons with an occasional glowing hand or lengthy orange leg sticking out.

**

Now, most people would probably wait for a vehicle they were driving to come to some sort of complete stop before they got out of it, but most people aren't hypercompetent ninja detectives with a frankly appalling disregard for their own well-being.

Which is why when the T-Van goes from telekinetic-assisted flight to a telekinetic-assisted landing, even while Nico is about halfway done unbuckling herself at the passenger seat, Red Robin just opens the driver side door and jumps out. The T-Van is still running, still aiming to truck forward, so presumably he's expecting Nico to be able to pick up the slack immediately. Or maybe he's just upset at the poor treatment his idea has received, and wants to take it out on whatever unfortunate Limbo denizens are in the way.

Which is why he lands feet-first on the face of one such unfortunate, bearing it to the ground before leaping off at another, and…

Behind the featureless white lenses of his domino mask, Red Robin's eyes narrow. His mouth pulls into a faint frown.

"I really hate Tony Stark," he mutters, so quiet that probably only Superboy could hear him.

"It's… There's some alternate reality full of Aztec bug people," he explains to the other Titans over the comms; he continues working out his frustrations on hellbeasts. Apparently he packed a lot of explosive batarangs today, judging by the sound. "They think Stark is their god. I guess Impulse went native. Or hit his head again."

**

Nico looks out the windshield, feeling that sort of crazy toppling impression that comes from pure action. Oh, she thinks, there's Bart. Why is he with - bugs?

No, they have tools and stuff. They're bug guys, Nico decides, her interior categorizations reflexive but perhaps well meant. At this point Red Robin bails out and Nico lunges for the wheel, gripping it and swerving around and sending up scraping her entire arm against the door jamb as it swings halfway shut. "Ugh!"

Nico looks at the scrapes on her arm as they well up red. "Hold on," she calls back to Cassie.

"When blood is shed, let the Staff of One emerge!" She has to pop open the door before the Staff of One ends up flying out of her or through the van door in general - or worse, getting stuck - which side-swipes a demon! As she gets a grip on the damn thing, she leans out the window to call to Bart, "HEY!! IMPULSE!! WHERE'D YOU GET THE BUGS?!"

As she settles into the driver's seat properly, she lets the Staff rest between her legs and up on one shoulder, which is probably improper treatment but w/e who curr. "- WHY IS HE THEIR GOD?" she asks Red Robin, or perhaps the actual God, before she smashes her hand where she assumes is the Van's horn.

**

"It's a pincher attack! A pinch-aaaaaargh!" screams a demon to absolutely no one in particular as 1) none of its brethren seem very invested in the finer points of the art of war and 2) it gets punched with such force by Superboy that it goes flying headlong across the next city block.

The bugs had barely been pushing through before, but with the Titans added to the mix, they go exploding left and right, left as smears or permanent fixtures embedded into streets and walls alike. Cyborg blasts through swathes of them. Starfire proves to those in flight that she is not to be trifled with. Darkness engulfs and cuts down yet more numbers of the demon hordes. Even Nico manages to do some damage, putting the T-Van to good use even when even Red Robin has abandoned it.

Yet, there are just too many demons, and for every score they take down, more appear. In case they hadn't noticed, there's even more portals around their vicinity, and they don't look to be letting up in releasing demons any time soon.

There's a brief moment when the Tamachoans seem confused at the new challengers, but given that the Titans look to be also fighting the demons, they're quick to accept them as allies. It seems that Impulse is momentarily confused as well, but while his bug army continues to keep up the offensive, he's stopped to stare at the newcomers, brow furrowing behind his goggles- for all that he's wearing a headdress and perhaps some extra loops of jewelry around his neck, he's still dressed like the speedster they know.

Who are these people and why are they yelling at him? He opens his mouth and clicks at them in response- and then pauses. Wait, no, they probably don't understand Tamachoan. Let's try this again.

"I know not this Impulse you speak of! But as you stand with the armies of the Tamachoans, I, Huitzilopochtli, extend my blessings upon you. Help us to beat back this foul demon menace to restore peace to the palace of Kinich Ahau!"

What. The. Hell.

Yeah, Red Robin's suspicions wouldn't be far off. When Impulse had been magick'd away by the demon dragon, he was also coming off of a magical whiskey surge and shaking off the last traces of a demonic curse that had sapped his speed. Throw him into Stark's basement when he's a virtual magical cocktail and well. Things apparently Happened.

**

"He went full Rick?!?" Superboy disbelieves, shocked and appalled, into the comms. "You never go full Rick." The flippancy, as per usual, covers for the stress and sheer unusualness of the whole situation. Caught in the midst of a veritable army of creatures that could readily kill him is novel enough to a Kryptonian, and in this case? It's just scratching the surface.

Uphill struggle or not, Superboy is tenacious about it— when they get near pinning him down, he darts to a new position, quick as can be. High, low, like a bird, or a plane, or a blue-red blurring Teen of Steel.

As the beasties have a little more luck swarming Starfire, Kon-El narrows his eyes amidst a big, big frown— and unleashes stellar radiation she so adores in a brilliant, high-powered flash of demon-eviscerating heat and light.

Kon's collecting cuts and scrapes, cleaving through his biokinetic sheathe quite rudely, but still going strong— intense blue eyes scan the battlefield, and he returns to his initial objective: clearing the path to Bart as only a flying brick can.

"Guys. I think they gave Impulse peyote." And a spear. And a bug army.

**

''There's some alternate reality full of Aztec bug people. They think Stark is their god. I guess Impulse went native. Or hit his head again.''

There still a lot to unpack here. A lot of it is straight up wrong, but Cassandra Sandsmark's voice rings through the comms to state only the essential.

"CODENAMES, RED ROBIN. GAWD…"

Wonder Girl makes the situation light, but she can feel the buzz of the Silent Armor all around her. She now is showing a golden belt that she didn't before. There are too many demons in the area, and the fact Raven is here making full use of her powers just sets Cassandra's artifact on edge.

She lands close to Bart, and listens to his declaration. The fact Kori is in trouble is not missed by Cassandra, but she frowns deeply at Impulse as he goes about talking. "Impulse has gone full Total Recall, Aztec God edition, guys! Do I knock him out or…?" She looks at Bart. "Sorry, buddy, but you are coming with me."

Cassandra's solutions are simple. She raises her fist.

"Three…."

"Two… Robin if you have a plan…"

"One… Raven, Nico if you have a spell…"

**

"I hate that I got that one," Nico mutters after Superboy disbelieves the situation. She also rolls the window down all the way as she violates her California Safe Driving Indoctrination and grinds some kind of horrible 'David Bowie's head on a spider body' demon underneath the front left tire of the T-Van.

This is so she can speak to Bart.

"If you," Nico says, pointing with her scraped-up arm, "are Huitziplopochtli, then I'm Xipe Totec."

Nico has had a lot of recent knowledge about the Aztec mytho-poetic hierarchy due to readings after seeing a God DIE IN FRONT OF HER!

Nico pauses.

Her eyes turn to the scrapes on her arm, which are the kind that kinda pull out a little bit of the skin, ick.

"That's not a bad idea," she says then. She tries to figure out where to take it from there as she rolls up the other windows and grasps at the Staff of One, even as she hears Cassie's plea. The thought that was in her head is brought to premature life, half-formulated.

"Let the power of the defamed enforcen the armies of Huitzilopochtli, who is absolutely Impulse! This is the will of Xipe Totec! By the power of the Staff of One," which is stuck out of the van window at this point:

"May Every Insect Warrior Gain The Powers Of Spider-Man."

The Staff of One glows. It actually flashes like a magenta bolt of lightning. Those who have been watching Nico throw spells around would be able to tell that this sucker is a big one, especially when the myriad tiny bolts lance out, probably to emboss a certain masked visage or its approximation upon the head of every warrior born or hatched. Nico for her part lurches forwards, suddenly sea-sick as her head slams against the horn button and just kinda… stays there for long enough to probably worry Red Robin.

The world is a stinking swimming sea for her for a moment. Perceptually, not just… from the Limbo thing.

**

The demon-ball surrounding Starfire proves a conveniently concentrated target for Conner's eyebeams of doom. And while it probably wouldn't be a good idea with a civilian in there (does anyone really trust him with those things?!), the space Princess is one who enjoys a good tan! With horrible screams, the demons roast away, leaving the alien woman basking in the lingering radiation.

"That feels nice!" Should she really be encouraging him?!

However, despite the smile earned for Kon, Koriand'r is not pleased to see that the demons have only grown in number while she was surrounded. And while blissfully unaware of the situation with the TOTALLY NORMAL bug-people, she turns her anger on the demon hordes.

Also, she turns that excess radiation on them. More or less all at once.

Whatever is happening below (and it's really better she doesn't know), as she channels the extra power into a wide-angle starBLAST, the sky above them goes, momentarily, VERY green.

**

It's all going along so swimmingly. Demons are sent flying. Everyone doing their part to help Impulse and the Tamachoans. Except there may have been a mental record scratch at Impulse's response and mannerisms. In fact, it's all just off.

"…Huitzilopochiltli." Even with the knowledge she holds and all of the explanations (and confusion) filtering through the comms, Raven doesn't sound amused. "Of course."

Now is not the time to pull a face at this, however. Now is the time to wait what is Nico doing-

…She grants the bugs Spidey powers. And it's too much to process.

Not too much, but just enough to make the Daughter of Darkness stop whatever she's doing to watch it all go down. Her tone drops a few notes, rasping on the edges of the words that come from her dark-colored lips. "Nico, what did you do?"

**

Under the circumstances, Red Robin takes the high road and doesn't respond to Wonder Girl's attempt to lighten the mood by throwing his earlier words back at him. As though Tony Stark didn't sometimes 'accidentally' give press conferences in his highly advanced robot weapon suit.

Instead, there are other things to worry about: Starfire in peril, though fortunately Superboy is on the case there, and the airborne aliens are both able to give those flying demons a taste of some rather burny medicine. Bart, who has definitely hit his head or been brainwashed or something. Nico, using the Staff of One to give the Tamachoans… Spider-Man powers. And then maybe she passes out, although she could just be trying to evade getting yelled at by Raven, who can admittedly be rather scary.

"Wonder Girl, please be careful of the now superpowered bug army," the Red Knight suggests as he returns to the T-Van, opening up the driver's side door to check on Nico. If Impulse's head injury has turned him into the general or high priest of Stark's Aztec bug army, he doesn't even want to imagine what a concussion would do to Nico right now. "What we need to do is remind Impulse of his actual life, not start a bug war. Raven! Can you, uh, teleport his cat from the Tower?"

What, it's a big cat. It'll probably be fine.

**

Huitzilopochtli has called upon the power of the sun! No, perhaps it is from Kinich Ahau who had successfully restored day to their dark world! Nevermind that the brilliant ray bursts from Superboy and empowers Starfire, the Tamachoans are seeing a miracle and they are greatly amazed and encouraged by these sights!! Clearly they have received blessings upon this battle! Surely they shall win!!

Superboy busts through the thick of the demon swarms between him and Impulse's band of warriors. The Tamachoans click rejoicefully, jabbing demons that fall to the wayside with spears, cheering perhaps, as Starfire obliterates the demons that had been haranguing her with heat that they can't even stand. Cyborg continues to clear out more demons as they try, perhaps futilely, to get to him. They're…not very smart, trying the frontal approach.

Wonder Girl's attempts to get through to Impulse only gain her an odd look. "I can't go with you, we must fight on!" he insists. Her fist is given a look, but then, true to Impulse-fashion, he's distracted as Nico shouts out. Which might give Cassie that opening she needs, if indeed no one else has any ideas.

"-Xipe Totec?" he echoes, blinking. Wait, was that in JARVIS's quick notes on Tamachoan culture, but he clicks the name to his nearest bug confidants who seem to startle at it before looking towards Nico. More clicks issue forth, and suddenly magenta lightning explodes and dances around them. They watch in awe, and they feel…stronger! Different!

One of the bugs scrunches up its mandibles and suddenly *horks* up a gob of…something sticky that goes streaming out at a nearby demon. Both look stunned, but then more of the bugs experiment with this newfound projectile. Some look more than a little concerned. OH NO!! XIPE TOTEC HAS CURSED US!!! SURELY WE MUST WIN NOW OR WE WILL FOREVER BE FORCED TO EXPEL THIS FOREIGN SUBSTANCE FROM OUR MOUTHS!!

Panicked, the Tamachoans fight on, spurred by this new urgency, finding that they're stronger and able to stick to things as well as stick things to…things. It is all very confusing, and while they can do whatever a spider can, they unfortunately do not know what a spider is supposed to do in this situation!

**

Encouraging amazing lightshows resulting from epic team-up attacks seems only sensible to Superboy, who shoots Starfire a thumbs-up as he gibs another demon with acumen that would impress the Doomguy. Raven asks everything on Kon's mind with regard to making the bug army an arachnobug army— it's certainly a way to go, right? And Tim calls him impulsive.

"Raven— anything you can do about closing down or shrinking some of these portals?" They're always operating on a timer on these operations… always more portals, always more demons. For a moment, Superboy's face is grim, grimly determined— he doesn't like leaving the city in the state it's in, even to catch his breath. It's something he's had to do a lot, lately.

The Krypton Kid bolts like lightning to the potential confrontation between Bart and Cassie, holding out his hands to forestall violence, "Whoa, Impulse, Bart, Bro." He appeals with that House of El sincerity in his bright blue eyes, "Come on man we're your friends, we've been looking for you. Don't go murderbug on us buddy."

Beat.

"There's leftover taco salad."

**

Nico swims back to consciousness, dimly wondering what the hell she tastes in her mouth. She doesn't think it's blood. Maybe she threw up a little? It seems like it wasn't long, she reasons as she shakes her head, mentally winds back a second and realizes - Raven! Shit, she thinks, face suddenly turning red.

At this point, the door opens and Nico looks at Red Robin. "Right," she says to him. As if perhaps interpreting things, she says, with an air of defensive preamble, "Look, there's like a trillion demons here. The bugs are like only semi our enemies at worst-"

In the background a bug vomits spider-juice onto a demon. "Yeah, see," she says, before she gets out, shaking her head and leaning against the staff. "So… now we have space to talk to him! That was just big, I'll be fine. Did I throw up? I don't think I threw up."

Nico finds, some time later, that it's actually (somehow) a small amount of mud, but that's just a background detail.

**

At the moment, Raven is Level 2 Scary. The last thing anyone needs is Level 15 Scary. No one wants to see Level 10.

Creating miniature barriers around a few of the Titans while they're busy fighting off the demons, Raven nods. "I'm on it," she first replies to Red Robin, waving one of her hands free of the last barrier she puts up. Another portal appears in a cleared space, shortening the distance from the Titans Tower to Stark Tower.

But where is the cat?

Frowning, Raven sighs. "Clawmy, where are you?" Another pause. "…Here, kitty." She maneuvers to one side, barely dodging a full-on rush from a medium-sized demon. "Kitty. Come on, where are you, kitty…!"

When Superboy asks about the extra portals, Raven looks to them, drawing in a sharp breath as she observes their overflow. "I can, but it may take some time," she says, cutting off the barriers completely as she begins working on one of them. So long as she's left alone, the dark-woven closures may go along faster than expected. She is one person, after all, so the rest of this is left to the rest of the Titans.

**

After her mini-nova fades, Starfire is briefly left without any demon hordes pressing her!

With this reprieve, but seeing that there are both still portals spewing demons in most numerous fashion, as well as some sort of conference below among the friendly bug people (who seem to have all suddenly gotten hairballs?), she descends toward the small gathering, hovering near Cassie's side. She listens to the exchange, and tilts her head slightly.

"There is more of the delicious salad of the taco?"

Needless to say, she is filled with joy.

"Let us return! I do not think all of your new friends would fit in the tower," she then considers, looking around at the HORRRK-ing bug-men. "But perhaps we could eat outside on the lawn. I believe it is called 'the cookout?'"

**

A faint frown tugs at the corners of Red Robin's mouth, but under the circumstances it's hard to disagree - Nico did at least give the Tamachoans some kind of a fighting edge against the Limbo demons, although it's a pretty gross one. Although given the increasingly lopsided odds, as the number of demons only increases while the bug people are presumably not replaced as they fall, it might have been a futile gesture in the long run, anyway.

Boy I'm cheerful these days, he thinks to himself.

"C'mon," he tells Nico, helping the witch along if she proves to be too worn out from that spell, into the space she's managed to clear out, towards where the either amnesiac or just cosplaying Impulse is being confronted by Superboy and Wonder Girl.

"Hey Impulse," he calls out. "We should really put the Tamachoans back where they belong. I think Clawmy's been really upset without you around the past few days."

It's hard to tell what that (alarmingly large, and alarmingly pink) cat does actually get upset about, since by that point it just starts coughing up the tattered remains of somebody's shoes.

**

Cassandra is ready to go to zero, but Kon is there, and he is begging her with those blue eyes not to hit Bart and give Impulse a chance of feeling his way out of it.

Starfire shows up soon enough, and surrounded by so much love and diplomacy, Cassandra watches as Kon does his work, and tries his best to live up to the crest on his costume.

''Whoa, Impulse, Bart, Bro.''

Nice start!

''Come on man we're your friends, we've been looking for you. Don't go murderbug on us buddy.''

PUNCH!

That golden gauntlet just smacks Bart overhead, trying to knock Impulse out. Cassandra just looks at Conner, deadpan, and shrugs. "Look, he -clicking-. He needs his head checked!" And at Kori, "Sorry, Starfire. Err… this is NO way to solve your problems on Earth, ever. In fact, don't follow my example! Follow…"

Conner…

Tim…

Raven…

Nico…

Vic…

"Wow. Follow your heart, I guess."

**

The Tamachoans might be a little anxious what with all these people crowding their god, but thanks to Nico's spell enhancement they're sufficiently preoccupied. At least no one's spit up any spider webbing at the Titans. Yet.

Impulse frowns, somewhat alarmed by what's overtaken his army. He's not quite convinced it's helping, but it seems to have given them an edge. Would it be good for morale if he started to argue with Xipe Totec?

"Why do keep calling me— wait did you say taco?" he says, squinting at Kon. Starfire's suggestion is baffling, but not unwelcome. He's sure that his people would love tacos! Never mind that they said salad, because it still has taco in the name and how can anyone go wrong with that?

But…they can't just leave- there's still demons!

Raven's efforts are noble, but not as effective. For every one she tries to seal, another two open up in the area. To be fair, they're in a demon hotspot and with the Demon Queen having taken up residence nearby, it's probably better they make their escape soon before they really draw someone's attention.

"…Clawmy…" The not-really-hummingbird-god looks at Red Robin, brow furrowed as though trying to remember why the name mentioned is so familiar. He shakes his head. There's that feeling again. He hates this feeling, the feeling of having way too much to think about. His head's starting to hurt.

And then he sees stars. It's not even night! Unfortunately this does not solve the problem of his headache, but on a positive note, he won't be clicking at anyone any time soon? The world goes black and Impulse goes down, spear and shield clanking off the car hood and falling onto the floor.

The Tamachoans nearest them all turn and look, buggy eyes wide. Well…not like they can make them any wider but they are staring. Someone better…do something before they have a revolt on their hands. You just clocked their god!!

**

YES! They're almost through to him, if they can just jog Bart's sugar-addled brain with enough fond memories, maybe— Cassie can clock him while he's distracted. Superboy shrugs, nods congratulations to Cassie, stoops, and plucks Impulse up, hauling him over one shoulder with an ease that suggests he is, in fact, light as a hummingbird.

"This battle is a doomed one, Spider-Bugs!!" Kon exclaims emphatically to the edgy arachnoinsectoids. "Follow us, and we will carve a path of demon blood out of this deathtrap!" Do they speak English? Should he click, or perhaps whrrrr? It doesn't really matter: Superboy takes off with Impulse anyway.

He's fast enough if he has to make a break for it, right? And what else are they going to do but chase him, understood or not! Another high-intensity discharge of eyelazorz clears this egress path, though Kon-El's angle is such to keep an eye on the results… and his friends.

**

Kory, still being somewhat out of the loop on what the *actual* problem in this situation is (are bug friends not normal?) is nonetheless quite shocked by the sudden display of Teamate-on-Teamate violence!

Well, maybe that is an exaggeration. These things tend to happen among Super-friends, and Cassie especially is known for her sour moods and violent temperament! So perhaps she is only partly shocked. Still, her always wide eyes gaze down with some amazement the fallen Titan.

In any case, Cassie clobbers her friend and Conner promptly kidnaps him. She accepts this as some form of Teamwork, and turns her attention toward the onlooking insectoids. They do seem agitated, although she greets them only with a friendly smile. Well, maybe not only…

Sailing toward the nearest, she holds out a hand, her expression kind and open. Is she really going to?

< INSERT A BUNCH OF REALLY GROSSED OUT TEAM FACE CLOSEUPS AS STARFIRE MAKES OUT WITH AN INSECT >

Afterward, there is a bit of coughing, and she rubs some webbing away from her mouth, before making a series of click-click whirrs at the bugs. Kon had the right idea!

**

Portals. They don't always do what you want them to do. The more Raven tries to close them, the more they multiply and sustain the demon population. If she does any more of this, she'll wear herself out. It's bad when she can tell where her limits end.

She doesn't see Cassie knock Bart out cold, but she does catch a glimpse of the poor teen's unconscious body surrounded by the other Titans and the shocked Tamachoans. Oh yeah, this looks good for their record.

…Up until Starfire goes on ahead and has a messy make out session with one of the bugs.

"…We're leaving," Raven immediately speaks with a voice that sounds like she's standing right next to everyone and whispering in their ears. "Now." Never mind the fact that her eye is twitching underneath the shadow of her hood.

Because she's definitely going to leave the other portals alone for the time being to reopen one for the Titans Tower.

**

Nico c'ms on. As she does, she thinks to herself: If he really is being ridden by a god, taco salad is a good call. After all, "the Aztecs did invent tacos," Nico says half aloud, before blinking a few more times and taking a deep breath, letting it out, taking in another.

Cassandra decks Bart.

She looks at Nico, among others. Nico spreads her hands a little as if to say: what?

Kon-El speaks with the force of the gods. Nico can't shout that loud, so she raises the Staff of One above her head with both hands and shouts, "BLOOD OF DEMONS TO FEED THE SOIL. XIPE TOTEC COMMANDS YOU" before trailing off into a cough. After she recovers, she watches Kori and -

Her lip curls, with a mixture of disgust and a strange sort of admiring envy. "Does she do that often?" she asks Red Robin, wonderingly.

Raven whispers in her ear. "Gah!" Nico says while also jumping, though not quite out of her actual skin, even if that would be exactly what Xipe Totec would do. "OK! Van! - It's still running. Don't forget the van!"

**

Just a little more, surely, and they'll be able to get through to Bart and unlock his repressed memories! Just a little more…

Except, Cassie gives the addled speedster the ol' Themysciran hello, knocking him out cold.

And then Conner lifts the admittedly light as a feather even to somebody who doesn't have vast superhuman strength Impulse like a sack of beans and flies off, using his eye lasers to carve a path though the hordes of Limbo's rampaging demonic forces.

And Starfire makes out with a bug.

Red Robin sighs very heavily, his gauntleted hands lifted and pressed to his face, shoulders hunching slightly.

"You know, when I restarted the Titans I thought it was a good idea," the vigilante mutters to himself. Most days, he feels like they do some good. Most days. At least this time there's no video evidence of Spider-Man getting into a fight with a bunch of mind-controlled kindergarteners.

When Nico asks him if Starfire 'does that often' he lifts his head to look at her. He does not answer. Luckily, Raven is there to defuse the awkward moment with her ire.

"Let's go," he agrees, heading for the poor, maligned T-Van, to drive it back through the Daughter of Darkness' portal (through darkness).

**

As Starf-

NOPE!

"SO TITANS I THINK IT IS TIME WE GO! TITANS AWAY!"

Cassandra looks absolutely shocked, like she caught her moth-

NOPE!

"Guys! WE NEED TO LEAVE! My imagination is running wild! Hey! Robin! Nice van! I am coming with! Does it have bleach?! For my EYES!?"

Thankfully Kon is already on the move, their classic Punch+Abduction Super Combo as slick as ever.

Not that they do it often.

Don't ask.

**

It's not certain whether Superboy is understood. There is a very high chance of 'no, not really', but it is very clear that the flying blue one is kidnapping Huitzilopochtli! …and that name just has way too many letters that have no business being next to each other!

Clicks echo in the air, passing through the Tamachoans who yet stand. Their battle has not been without losses, but those who remain tighten up formation, following as one of the priests point and click after Superboy and the inert Impulse after gathering up shield and spear. And then suddenly the priest turns and finds the humanoid with the radiance of the sun before him, closer still as he stares at those luminous green eyes.

…how Starfire manages to make out with something that has no lips, much less not get her face stuck between mandibles is quite a skill indeed.

The Tamachoan priest staggers back, looking dazed. He might even be flushing after Starfire's clicky comment, which may or may not have translated well nor as she might have meant, but really who can say?

Abruptly he turns and shushes the anxious clicking from his comrades, raising the spear and gesturing after Superboy and the others. Well, at least Kon's literally blazing a path for their egress, and Nico's scary voice sure does the trick of making them hurry along. Perhaps in obeying she will undo her curse of sticky phlegm!

As the other Titans pile into the T-Van, the bugs flank either side, keeping away any demons that might try to come after them as they head for Raven's shortcut home. Look Red Robin! You've got an entire entourage! Surely they have room for just under two score giant mantis-creatures, right?

**

MEANWHILE, BACK IN THE TITANS TOWER…

Zatanna Zatara violently jolts out of bed from a deep sleep, skin clammy and drenched with cold sweat, her heart hammering in her ribcage. The rush of her own blood roars in her ears and despite the sluggish, tired way in which she was moving, ever nerve ending in her is lit with the clamor of her internal alarms. The dim, dark space of her private room in her quarters is silent and still, silhouettes of her personal effects picked out by wide, ice-blue eyes.

It may only be a dream, but dreams are different whenever she's concerned - she normally knows when she is dreaming; for a magician, it is simply another plane of existence in which to traverse. But an ice cold hand fists inside of her stomach, the unshakable feeling that it isn't a dream rattling in her muddled skull. It takes a bit of effort, to throw her blankets off her and shuffle towards the door; her head feels like a melon that is about to explode.

She realizes that the Tower is empty when she steps into the living area, and checks the nearest security console. Everyone else is out.

Everyone but herself, who needed the rest after the events from the previous day. It normally takes three days to bring a person back to life correctly, and it is only through the sheer potency of the Blood of Isis - pure creation magic, left in the custody of the ancient order of the daughters of the Goddess - and her own not-insignificant power that the time for the ritual to take hold has been cut down to just over twelve hours. Still, it had left her exhausted and drained, and the urge to go back to bed is nigh-near overwhelming.

Except she can't. Something is calling her, and telling her to move.

Teleportation is a trick that she has mastered well before she even hit her teens - it is a part of her arsenal that takes very little energy or thought for her to execute. She does this now, drawing a doorway with the tip of her finger in the open air before her, and steps through into the grounds of the small, man-made island Tim had procured for her group's use. Eyes roam over the darkness and despite keyed for a fight, if necessary, there is no one there. There is nothing there.

But something is coming. She can feel it deep within her bones, and she can't quite shake the feeling that whatever it is, it is after her.

Suddenly, a distant roar shatters the evening's stillness, loud and forceful enough, strange enough, to induce violent ripples through the overlapping layers of Magic's fabric looped around the premises. Her gaze slowly lifts to the heavens at the dark, massive shape falling over her surroundings.

The clouds open up and jets of hellfire engulf the island, literally burning away her protection spells before her eyes.

BACK TO THE PRESENT LOCATION…

With Impulse safely returned to the fold, the Titans can safely check this off the lengthy to-do list that tends to plague superhero groups, no matter the stripe. However, it is also an immutable fact of the universe that whenever the heroes' heads are turned in one direction, an enemy surfaces and strikes when they are not looking.

In this case, when they are not there.

The resulting camaraderie encouraged by one of their own returned is unceremoniously interrupted by alarms shrieking through their comms and data scrolling rapidly through Cyborg's internal screens as the Tower's A.I. dutifully gives its report:

The Tower is under attack, and by something absurdly massive, dangerous and not of this world.

And with only one depleted Titan to defend it.

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