My hideout was located under the city, or to be more precise, under a car park near the centre. If you want to hide something important, hide it in plain sight... Seriously, though, I could confidently call this place my second home. It resembled an expensive and well-equipped bunker for the apocalypse. No, this place would hardly survive a nuclear strike, but it could easily withstand a sudden invasion of mercenaries and weak superhumans. It had everything necessary for living: a kitchen with provisions for several months, a gym with all kinds of sports equipment, a toilet, a bathroom, and a main hall with a plasma TV and a laptop with Wi-Fi access to the World Wide Web and beyond.
Now I was curiously looking through the files of each member of Robin's group on the laptop, sitting on a large brown sofa. I had changed out of my usual clothes and into a simple black sleeveless T-shirt, unremarkable shorts and bunny slippers. In my right hand, I held a mug from which the pleasant aroma of coffee wafted.
"Hmm... he chose them quite carefully. Red Arrow, a slightly cocky and proud boy, under the tutelage of Green Arrow, Oliver Queen, felt almost the same way as Robin when he left his adoptive father. In order to keep the boy on the right path, he decided to help him. To guide him. Garfield, aka Beast Boy, had recently been the victim of an accidental experiment, which caused him to fear himself... and others. He "ran away" from his parents, and at that very moment, Robin "accidentally" reached out to him. Well, at least that explains why he wears a ridiculous purple mask with protruding ears. It's not to keep his identity a secret, but to hide his appearance. Although... even so, it's a rather questionable move. More likely, it's just a common fear of being rejected by people. That's exactly why he still acts like a child. Bubbly, or Karen Bee-Duncan, was able to create her own costume, which not only allowed its owner to fly and emit weak yellow kinetic pulses, but also shrink to the size of a regular toy doll at the molecular level. Most likely, the knowledge for this was taken from the formula of "Captain Molecule." Kid Flash didn't want to be overshadowed by the famous Flash and also decided to start his solo career.
In general, nothing special. So why do I need the "Teen Titans"? In fact, I'm not particularly interested in the current lineup. The only reason for my intervention is a future team member named Raven. To be honest, she was my favourite character back in school. Her style and personality caught my attention. I don't know what Raven will be like in this universe, but right now, I'm only interested in her magical abilities. Considering that the main problem will probably involve her terrible father, Trigon, I will offer her my help in exchange for a partnership. Raven is an expert in the magic of souls. With her help, I'm sure I'll be able to find some clues as to what really happened to the souls of the destroyed Empire. In theory, Starfire should appear first, but again, I don't know the "canon" of the current universe. So I can only hope that these characters will take their place in the Titans' team as soon as possible.
I'm bored... even considering that I'm just starting to carry out my plan. I want to show not only the people of this city, but also these "heroes" that there are situations in which the only correct decision is to kill your enemy to save many. If Superman and Batman blindly and resolutely follow their own convictions, then perhaps all is not lost with these teenagers. A person must take responsibility for the lives of those he protects, without hiding behind his code of "do not kill." By the way, the League of Shadows kindly provided me with shelter for a certain amount of money. While the tower was being built, there were no major events or upheavals in the city. Well, at least for me, suicide attempts and bank robberies in broad daylight had become routine. While our "Traffic Light" and his friendly team could easily handle the latter, your valiant servant decided to take care of the former.
He was standing on top of a ten-storey building. People seemed not to notice the teenage boy in round glasses.
"May I ask what you're doing here?
"Huh?" He flinched in surprise and turned his head sharply in my direction. His gaze took on meaning for a second, then faded again and became empty. "Can't you see? I want to die quietly and quickly. School is just... unbearable. My father does nothing but drink and take it out on me because of my mother's death. I can't take it anymore.
"Ha... that's all?
"What do you know about me!
"Honestly? Absolutely nothing. I don't care about you at all. You want to jump? Jump! I'll even film your body smashing on the pavement with my phone!" — Excitedly and with a slight smile, I take my phone out of my inside pocket.
"Y-you're crazy?!
"No. I'm just an average teenager who likes to film violence and post it online. That kind of spectacle is worth a lot of money, you know.
"You want to profit from my death?! You're disgusting!
"Don't you care? Just take one step, and all your problems will disappear!" I clap my hands joyfully. "Isn't that what you wanted, or...?"
"What do you care about me? What are you trying to achieve?
"I don't understand what you're talking about. I just want to tell you a little truth. Suicide is for weaklings. In the face of adversity, you've decided to give up and throw your life away just like that. Wow! Amazing! It must be so interesting to live your life thinking, 'I can't do anything. I'm worthless and useless. My actions won't change anything." Isn't that stupid? Have you ever tried to fight for your life? Have you ever wanted to change it, instead of quietly withdrawing into yourself and crying in a dark corner? Who is to blame for your own suffering?
"Me?
I snap my fingers, and my palm pushes him in the chest. His body leans forward and slowly, by my standards, falls backwards. In those split seconds, I saw surprise, shock and an indescribable feeling of fear. A couple of seconds later, the body falls to the asphalt with a nasty sound. A woman's scream and a rumble, several cars stop abruptly on the asphalt, and someone even decides to film this unpleasant sight on their mobile phone, but...
All of this was just a couple of seconds of the future, shown by my Last Warning ability. Now I'm holding the unknown boy by his white shirt again, right at the edge of the roof, his body leaning back dangerously. His breathing is ragged, his face is sweaty, and his frightened eyes are staring straight at me without blinking.
"Your life is literally in my hands, but it's up to you whether you want to live or not. I'll just do what you want.
"I... want to live.
A hand pulls him back sharply, and he loses his balance, falling onto his backside.
"What should I do now...?
"What I have to do? Turn your father in to the authorities for his terrible behaviour. Transfer to another school so they won't bother you, and just start over. Do I look like someone who's interested in helping you for nothing?
"But... you helped me.
"Me?" he pretended not to understand. "I haven't done anything yet. As I said, it's all up to you. I'm not the type of person who likes to tell people how to live their lives.
So how did I control the city? Well, as I said earlier, the ability to capture territory allowed me to literally feel every corner of the city. Of course, I didn't do it myself. Instead, almost every alleyway had a palm-shaped seal, which contained one of my nameless warriors and mages. In case of extreme necessity, they could come out of the seal and intervene, but I almost always managed to get to the scene in time.
I decided to contact Robin by phone. I politely asked him not to lose it, lest he accidentally be late for his "work." Why did I decide to pay him and his team? Well, it seemed appropriate to me because it was difficult for me to see myself as a hero. However, as it turned out, after just one day of our "joint" work, Robin quite predictably refused my bribe. Not very heroic. Well, I expected something like that, so I didn't insist. The Young Titans had only recently announced themselves and were accepted by the people of my city... normally. As far as that word is acceptable in this world. The thing is, after the Dark Side invasion, the world changed dramatically. Whereas before, heroes and villains were considered nothing more than actors in their own theatre, after what happened, many began to take them more seriously. Several distinct groups of people emerged in society, divided by their opinions. Some advocated for the legalisation of heroes in order to control them and ensure the safety of the world, while others idolised them and became ordinary fans, and sometimes even... overly enthusiastic fans. Still, there were those who did not mind Wonder Woman's outfit. "People of Culture," so to speak. And then there was the last type of people. They just wanted both villains and heroes to cease to exist so that their lives could return to normal. "Victims of the Aftermath," so to speak.
Amanda Waller, despite the existence of these types of teenage heroes, did not take any overt action. Most likely, she feared the public's reaction if they noticed some kid using telekinesis to tear someone to pieces on her orders. Or maybe her superiors simply wouldn't allow her to act openly. I think the latter is more likely.
For about a month now, we have been working conscientiously as a "friendly" family to maintain order in the city. People almost worship us and think we're angels. With the arrival of the Young Titans, I decided not to go on any night-time "Justice" raids for now, but Robin managed to dig up some information that there really is someone here who sentences criminals via the internet. The short-sighted Beast Boy hasn't yet realised what's so evil about this guy. After all, I gave him a choice. He's so cute and simple. If only everyone understood so easily that there's almost no hidden meaning in these actions. Well, almost...
I responded to Robin with a complete lie, saying that I had no idea who he was. Fortunately, my voice is altered in these "games," so it's impossible to tell whether it was a girl or a boy. The relationship between me and his team was... unclear. It was as if I was an integral part of their lives. I was a murderer and the ultimate villain in their eyes, but they were powerless to do anything about it. That's why no one wanted to express their thoughts about my view of the world. Here, people are used to defending their beliefs through violence, but if you can't win, it becomes difficult to prove you're right, right?
The days passed quite normally. Some kind of crazy guy would show up. A mad scientist/robot/giant cockroach, etc. And we would defeat him in no time. Well, the Young Titans defeated him, I just acted as a spectator and hardly took any action. I didn't want to reveal my abilities and give them a reason to become stronger. After all, who knows what might pop into my head, right? Heroes must be ready for anything so that next time they can react in time to my sudden attack. Fortunately, Robin is a logical leader who knows how to assess the degree of danger, so he won't make a fatal mistake. So... what am I talking about? Oh yes, today was a special day. At first, I thought it was another attack by the villains. But no. What was happening now was hardly routine. It was... something like a spatial vortex, from which a human-like alien literally fell out. Light orange skin, green eyes, fiery red hair? Ha, here comes Starfire. Unfortunately, there was no time to get acquainted in a peaceful and pleasant atmosphere. Besides her, ten lizard-like creatures emerged from the portal, clad in black armour with wings. Their weapons were plasma spears. They chased Starfire through the air, while she tried to escape. Not very successfully, I would say, considering that one of the projectiles hit her in the back and knocked her hard to the ground.
I had some unpleasant memories associated with the appearance of the attackers, so I decided to destroy them without further ado. With a quick gesture of his hand, Robin "Symbol of the Hunt" appeared from the blue flames and, in his usual quiet manner, took his bow from his back.
"Robin, deal with the portal.
I could have communicated this mentally, but I didn't want to do that all the time. With a short nod, he jumped onto the roof of a nearby house and then sprinted towards the portal, from which these creatures were literally oozing out. I didn't stand still either and in a matter of seconds reached Starfire, who was already engaged. I threw the Talos dagger into the back of the first creature's head — the blade went all the way in to the hilt. I moved towards the dagger, grabbed it by the hilt, and with a reverse grip, delivered a slashing blow to the neck of the second creature. I moved sharply towards the third, fourth, and fifth, until I got so carried away that I didn't notice another one behind me. Starfire shouted something in her Tamaran language, but I could tell from her expression what she meant. A mental command was enough for Asta to step forward with her sword raised, piercing the attacker's back, literally impaling him on the blade and suspending him above the ground. A slight swing, and the body went flying through the air, only to be cut in half as it approached the asphalt. She doesn't like it when people attack me from behind, so she went a little, shall we say, "overboard."
"*Unknown restless alien speech*.
I couldn't make out a word, so Starfire, apparently aware of this, quickly closed the distance between us, grabbed me by the edge of my black jacket and gave me her unusual kiss. Fortunately, at that moment, I was able to resist the attempt to mentally invade my brain because I had forgotten about this individual's ability to learn new languages of other races in this way.
"Thank you for your help, but right now you'd better worry about yourself. The portal...!
"This is not how I imagined my first encounter with an alien race, but what can you do. — I carelessly spread my arms and point my index finger at the edge of the roof of the house near the portal, where Robin is standing and loading his bow to shoot. Robin's spirit arrows are quite dangerous things. They are living projectiles that can split or even pursue their target at the owner's will. In addition, he had one rather simple but dangerous ability: Robin could amplify his shots. The longer his arrow accumulated power, the more destructive its impact became. When the spirit arrow was finally released, it created a kind of second orbital beam, which quickly put an end to the alien portal.
"We jumped from casual acquaintances to kissing pretty quickly, so let's start over. What's your name, and who were those guys chasing you?
"I... My name is Koriander. I come from a planet called Tamaran. My home... my sister... usurped the throne. I was accused of murdering the king. My... father, but I didn't do it. No one would listen to me, so I had to flee," Starfire said with sincere sadness and pain.
"That's sad. How quickly will they be able to find you?
"I don't think so... I entered random coordinates for the planet on the control panel.
"Well, murdering the ruler of a planet is a pretty serious crime, and if everything is as I think, sooner or later they will come for you again.
"Then next time I'll be ready to face them!" she replied proudly and defiantly.
"You don't understand. By staying here, you're putting the local people in danger. My help is a coincidence. Let's say you have a month. A year. Before they find the planet where you're hiding. But what if your people decide to launch a full-scale invasion because we're harbouring a potential traitor and murderer?
This time, she realised how naive she had been and how hopeless her escape was.
"Then... I won't stay here long.
How "pure" she is. I mean, if something like this had happened to someone else, they would have been consumed by hatred and anger towards the "traitor" and would have stopped at nothing to clear their name.
"Don't despair. After all... we are people, not a timid and weak people, and therefore, if such a time comes, we will help you.
"But why burden yourself with such worries...?
"I don't know. — I shrug honestly. — I'm bored. I want to help, that's all. Not now, though. Your future comrades will be here soon. Try to make friends with them and don't talk too much about the situation with your home. There's no need to scare the children with responsibility and evil aliens from another planet.
"Still... 'thank you,' huh?
"My name is Alex. You can just call me Al." I couldn't help but smile slyly and was grateful that my eyes were hidden behind Ichimaru Ginta's mythical slits, because they were staring brazenly at her... third, fourth size breasts? No idea, but impressive nonetheless. And that open, rather sexy purple suit... Maybe I should just forget about Robin and his team? Argh... that's not what I'm thinking about right now.
I hid in a dark alley and materialised a device that was on the hand of one of the aliens.
Hmm... maybe I should visit Tamaran and stage a civil coup there? Okay, no need to rush. Everything in its own time, Alex. Let the girl rest in peace and find a new home. After all, home isn't always the place where you were born. Sometimes the people who are dear to your heart can become your refuge. I'm getting too romantic. Maybe I should call Rose and see how she's doing? I think that's a good idea.
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