Before We Grow

Titans, Go!

The world was silent. Bruce and I had just returned from patrol, and the sun was beginning to rise. We had beaten up a whole string of bad guys, at least two hundred, and I was feeling more energized than ever before. Instead of go to sleep, like Bruce did, I went out in the back yard and practiced my gymnastic routines.
    Dick had been gone a full week, and I missed him, but I was also enjoying it. I missed Dick and Barbara, but it was just Bruce and me. Somehow, I think we've gotten closer, in a weird-distant sort of way. He actually smiled at me, like a genuine smile, the other day. He even told me that I was improving. I felt like I was making him proud, which was a baffling concept in general.
    I did a full-front flip, landing on the balls of my feet. When I flung my head up, I came face-to-face with Kid Flash.
    "What the Hell?!" I shouted.
    He shocked me so much, that I instinctively punched at him. He ran out of the way, meaning i saw it as him being there one second and not the next. He popped up behind me and said, "Whoa, calm down."
    "I nearly hit you!" I exclaimed, "Don't sneak up on me like that!"
    Kid Flash shook his head, "It's kind of what I do. Look, I'm in a hurry, is Blitz around here?"
    I lifted an eyebrow. He obviously didn't recognize me from our encounter the other day. It was actually kind of amusing to see him utterly lost.
    "What do you want her for?" I scoffed.
    "Robin sent me to get her," Kid Flash replied, "It's confidential Titan business."
    "And he said you could find her here?"
    "Duh, why else would I be there."
    I smirked, "And he didn't tell you her real name?"
    "Look, kid, I don't have time for this," he groaned, "I don't know who you are, but if you know where Blitz is, you need to tell me."
    I chuckled, "Good to know my disguise works."
    "Wait, what?"
    "I'm Blitz, idiot," I grinned, "But, my friends call me Lucy."
    Kid Flash looked confused for a moment before slapping his palm against his forehead, "Gah!" I'm such an idiot."
    "Apparently, now, what does Dick need?"
    "We don't have time, he'll explain when we get there."
    He was about to grab me, but I stepped away, "Whoa, hold up, I have to grab my costume."
    "We don't have enough time!"
    "Well, too bad!"
    "Where is it, I'll get it for you."
    I crossed my arms, "I don't know if-"
    "We're in a rush!"
    "Fine!" I exclaimed, "It's in my room, second floor, three doors from the left."
    I felt a gust of wind, and Kid Flash returned a nanosecond later. He held my costume, complete with my goggles, boots, and gloves. Shoving them into my arms, he said, "Hurry and put them on."
    Generally, I walked around with the under part of my costume under my clothes. That just left my outer shirt, gloves, boots, belt, and goggles. It took me barely a second to throw all of it on. When I did, I turned to Kid Flash and asked, "Alright, how do we-?"
    "Like this."
    Next thing I knew, I felt a force grab me under my knees and my back. Kid Flash lifted me off the ground and began to speed across the world. Everything went by in a blur, I was barely able to register anything other than strong winds and Kid Flash's speeding body. When we stopped, he dropped me on my feet.
    "A little warning next time!" I shouted.
    My breath came out in puffs around me. I threw up my hood and glanced around. We were standing on the top of a glacier. Based upon the alignment of the sun and the thick sheets of ice, I could guess we were in Antarctica.
    "Sorry," he replied, "Look, the others are just down here."
    He lead me to a ridge on the side of the glacier. We both jumped down where Dick was waiting with three other kids. One was a girl who I had heard of before. Wonder Girl looked the same as she did on TV, the same raven hair tied back in a ponytail and black leotard. A glittering rope dangled at her side, similar to Wonder Woman's.
    The other two were unknown to me. One was a boy dressed in a red Robin Hood outfit, complete with hat, quiver, and bow. He had a mask like Dick's. The other boy looked like a fish out of water. With pale skin, gills, and an outfit that looked like scales, I was positive he was from Atlantis.
    "Took you long enough," the girl groaned.
    Kid Flash frowned, "Hey, not my fault!"
    "I will hit you."
    Dick glanced up at me, "Blitz, these are The Teen Titans. Wonder Girl, Speedy, Aqualad, and you already met KF. Guys, this is my sister Blitz."
    I fake-saluted before falling to my knees next to Dick, "Alright, Rob, what's the deal?"
    "Flash is being held in that facility down there," Dick handed me his goggles, "We believe they are using him to build some machine, unfortunately we don't know what the machine is or how to safely dismantle it."   
    He handed me his binoculars. I used them to look down at the facility. It was built into the ice shelf, with several thousand rooms. The walls were a pristine white, making it blend in with it's surroundings. A few guards patrolled on snowmobiles.
    "Robin said you were good with machines," Wonder Girl knelt next to me.
    I smiled, "I like to think so."
    "That remains to be seen," Speedy muttered under his breath.
    I glanced at him, but didn't say anything. Dick stared at the building, "We have to get in, and dismantle the machine all while saving Flash."
    "Sounds fun."
    "Okay, here's the plan," Dick stood, "Wonder Girl, Aqualad, Speedy, you three come at it from the East. KF, Blitz, and I will go at it from the West. We converge in the middle, and try to find the room where Flash is held. Once we're there, Wonder Girl and Aqualad will keep the henchmen at bay while Speedy and KF get Flash. Blitz and I will work to dismantle the machine."
    All of the group nodded. Dick and I stood just as Wonder Girl, Aqualad, and Speedy jumped off. They vanished in the spires of ice surrounding the fortress. I grinned, "Wouldn't it be funny if this turned out to be The Fortress of Solitude?"
    "Lucy, don't be ridiculous," Dick replied.
    I shrugged, "Come on, imagine busting in on Superman thinking he was a bad guy."
    "Ah, what if he was showering?" Kf asked.
    Dick did his best to keep from chuckling, "Guys, be serious."
    "Come on, Dick, you're laughing."
    "Am not."
    "Yeah, you are," KF poked his chest, "Your chest is trembling."
    Dick grinned, "Okay, maybe a little. Can we please focus on the mission?"
    "Right. Operation Try not to die is a go," I stated.
    KF grinned, "Isn't that the summary of our entire lives?"
    "Exactly."
    All three of us laughed. Dick, shaking his head, gestured for us to follow. Kf and I obeyed. We jumped off of the ice shelf behind him. As soon as our feet landed, we were running. KF was, obviously, faster than Dick and I. He was already at the side of the building before Dick and I had even landed.
    "Does he always do this?" I asked, ducking a fallen ice spire.
    Dick nodded, "Yeah, it gets kind of annoying."
    Dick and I made it to the side of the building a few moments later. We avoided the patrolling snowmobiles easily, they didn't even come to our sector.
    When we arrived at the side, I pressed myself against the building. Dick stood at the front, by the door, with KF between us. Dick's eyes, though hidden beneath his mask, were scanning the area. I had been working with him long enough to know when he was searching for danger, and when he knew it was nearby.
    As we watched, I turned on my Shockers. After a long consideration, that seemed to be the least stupid sounding name. It was a lot easier than saying gloves and boots all the time. I amplified them to medium, where it would make people black out, and wake up feeling like they were run over, but not die.    
    "Ready?" Dick asked, both to us and those on the other side of his com.
    KF and I smiled, "Ready."
    "Titans, Go!"
    We kicked down the door. Together, all three of us plunged into the fortress. At first, all we had to fight was a few startled scientists. That quickly escalated. Men dressed in black spandex suits with bug-eye glasses marched in. Each had their own laser gun, which was actually much cooler than a normal gun, though they hurt worse.
    Dick and I fell into our same rhythm. He shot out Batarangs while I electrified everyone I came in touch with. We dodged lasers, knocked out back guys, and overall had a grand time. KF sped around the room knocking them about before they even realized what happened. We had the hallway clear within three minutes.
    "Wonder Girl, report," Dick kicked the last bad guy in the head.
    He nodded slowly, "they're hall is clear. Head towards meeting point."
    He began to lead us through the hall. KF kept running forward, only to run back. We passed more bodies than I remember taking down, meaning KF was taking them out for us.
    "Blitz, can you take out the cameras?" Dick pointed to a nearby control panel.
    I grinned, "With pleasure."
    My glove sparked as I placed it on the panel. The panel screamed, but died. Every camera in the building simultaneously shut off.
    "Why didn't you hack them like you usually do?" KF asked.
    I was just wondering the same thing. Dick opened his watch and replied, "I did, but it was only a matter of time before they got it back. Blitz just disabled them permanently."
    I grinned. The three of us sped down the hallway. We made it to a large room riddled with machines and computers. Inside was the biggest batch of bad guys yet, along with several scientists. In the very middle, a large force field covered the biggest machine of all.
    That machine had The Flash inside of it. I could see his unconscious face through a tiny glass window. He was still in costume, thank God. Lightning bolts bounced around him.
    "They're using him to hack into the speedforce," Kid Flash whispered.
    Dick cringed, "That's gotta hurt."
    "What do we do?" I asked, "There's a force field."
    Wonder Girl, Aqualad, and Speedy arrived beside of us moments later. The bad guys were attacking all at once. We had to fight as well as think of a plan.
    "Alright, stick with the plan!" Dick exclaimed, "Blitz and I will take the machine, the rest of you take the bad guys."
    "We got your back, Robin!" Wonder Girl shouted.
    Just as I was drop kicking a bad guy, a hand wrapped around my wrist. Dick pulled me out of the battle and over the heads of the bad guys. We flipped and leaped, ultimately making it to the force field.
    "Look, over there!" Dick pointed, "That must be the control panel."
    To the left, a large metal box stood. It had buttons on the top, and a funnel out the back. The force field was generating from that funnel. I cracked my knuckles and sneered, "I got this."
    Dick took down two bad guys while I short-circuited the control panel. The force field flickered off, leaving the few terrified scientists behind it. Dick and I rushed at them, but they dropped their clipboards and cowered.
    "Don't hurt us!" one woman cried.
    Dick frowned, "Stop the machine, and we won't."
    "See, that's not going to happen."
    A hard force suddenly hit me in the back of the head. I stumbled forward, my eyes temporarily being overcome with darkness. My head throbbed with pain, but I was coherent enough to hear Dick growl, "Captain Boomerang."
    "Aye, lad," Captain Boomerang laughed, "I'm not lettin' two lil' shelia's get to tha' machine."
    "You don't have much of a choice."
    Dick attacked the mercenary. I shook my head, doing my best to ignore the pain vibrating through my skull. When I spun around, Dick was dodging Captain Boomerang's pistol. As I watched, Boomerang managed to get a bullet to graze Dick's thigh.
    "Don't touch my brother," I muttered under my breath, charging at him.
    Dick was still going, despite the line of blood falling down his leg. He was fighting with everything he had, even throwing several flares at Boomerang. The older man seemed be having fun.
    I lunged at him, wrapping my legs around his stomach and placing my palms against his head. The electricity surged through his temples, but nothing happened. His muscles twitched, but that was the extent of it.
    "Please, shelia," Boomerang chuckled, "I've had worse than that."
    He reached behind his head, grabbed the back of my shirt, and flipped me over him. I landed on my back, completely out of breath. Dick jumped over me and grabbed my wrist, pulling me back up, "Obviously, this is not working."
    "Obviously," I replied, dodging a bullet, "Plan B?"
    "I'm on plan H."
    We both jumped around Boomerang. I analyzed him for weaknesses. Generally, Dick was the thinker while I was the fighter. Dick was think-first-act-second while I was just do it. I blame the fact that Dick was directly trained by Batman, while I started out on my own.
    "Alright, I got it," Dick grinned, "Follow my lead."
    "Not helpful, but alright."
    Dick lunged at Boomerang from the left. I did the same from the right. Together, we each grabebd a set of limbs. Dick took his arms while I took his legs. We flipped him over, making him crash into the concrete floor with his face. He was completely unconscious.
    "Score one for The Batbrats," I lifted my hand for a high-five.
    Dick glared at me, "That's a terrible name."
    "Just give me a high five."
    He did. We both turned to the machine, which had begun to shake. It looked like it would explode at any moment. To make matters worse, all scientists had vanished.
    "What are we supposed to do?" I asked.
    Dick ran towards it, "You deal with dismantling it, and I'll deal with disarming it."
    He ran to the control panel on the side. As he began to hit buttons, I knelt next to it. One of the panels was semi-loose, and I was able to break it off. Inside, I was met with a tangle of wires and gears. My mind put each together to try and figure out what it was.
    "Holy voltz," I whispered, "Robin, do you-"
    "I see it, we have to hurry."
    It is a well known fact that Flash has the ability to alter-timelines and shift universes. These scientists and engineers had built this machine in an effort to harness this power. IF this machine completed it's purpose, it would change our timeline to one of their choosing. They would be unstoppable.
    I stripped off my gloves. If I accidentally electrified this, we would risk killing Flash. My gloves rested next to me as I dove head-first into the wires. In my mind's eye, I could picture where each went and what would do the worst damage if I took it off. Unfortunately, I could never be 100% correct. This machinery was much more advanced than anything I'd ever dealt with.
    "I wish Mama were here," I whispered, pulling out one of the wires.
    I strung a few together in an effort to keep the machine from blowing up and taking everyone inside with it. Somehow, I realized I had to take out the motherboard. If I could jerk that out, due to how this is wired, it should shut down the entire machine.
    "Blitz, anytime now!" Dick exclaimed.
    "I'm working on it!"
    I pushed past several wires, nearly burying myself up to my waist. When the green sheet came in sight, I smiled. I wrapped my fingers around it and tugged. It popped right out, snapping several wires as it did so. Unfortunately, it didn't work the way I wanted it to. Just as I jerked it out, two wires hit each other. They sparked, and, pretty soon, a decent fire had popped up inside of the machine.
    "Oh no," I whispered, "Oh no, oh no, oh no."
    The fire was rapidly growing. I did my best to pull myself out, but the wires had wrapped around me. The heat was already getting close to my face, I felt like I would sweat it off. Pretty soon, I'd been looking a lot like the other half of Two-Face's face.
    "Blitz!"
    Dick's voice was muffled. I tugged at the wires, trying to get myself out. As the fire spread through the wires, I felt lashes of it cross my body. I threw my hands up to block my face just as it touched me.
    "No!"