#I went with DCU Titans but this one is free

[judedeluca]

I've put a lot of time and effort into the concept of Roy and Lian Harper becoming associated with the preboot Legion of Super-Heroes, because to me I see the Harpers and the Legionnaires were abandoned by the narrative when it was decided they didn't matter to a larger name character.

The Legionnaires went for several years without needing Superboy in their book. Hell, they basically kicked him out of his own comic. They were one of DC's most popular teams and managed just fine without his ongoing presence.

Roy was developing just fine as Arsenal without Green Arrow's presence. In fact Ollie was dead for most of the period where Roy really came into the name. While Lian grew beyond her role as the cute infant prop she was in the 80s, gaining an insightful personality and a legitimate presence in the Titans books.

Then all of that went down the drain as soon as some editor decided none of it mattered. The Legion was screwed over because DC never bothered to consider what would happen to them after they removed Superboy entirely from Superman's history, at which point the Legion's entire existence was thrown out of whack. Despite their strong fan base and deep lore, DC couldn't stop to factor in how they'd be effected by John Byrne's Man of Steel. It would be over 20 years until DC finally allowed the Legion to be part of Superman's history again, and then that was quickly screwed up when they overhauled his history AGAIN in the New 52.

Roy and Lian were screwed over because DC decided they needed to overhaul Green Arrow and Black Canary thanks to the failure of the GA/BC marriage. Even though Lian had little to do with the Green Arrow comics - she only appeared in ONE Green Arrow before she died - she was deemed unnecessary by editorial. Lian died, and Roy was twisted into a parody of himself to make him another failure to haunt both Ollie and Dinah's consciences. While he was running around with Jade in Deathstroke's bastard Titans, his parental figures were free to mourn how they failed him without ever really grasping just how deep that failure ran.

As of right now, the Legion's status now hinges entirely on how relevant they are to Superman's history. Instead of the childhood friends of Clark Kent, they were replaced by a bastardized copy which gleefully took Jon Kent away from his family to try and mold him into their perceived image of how he needed to be, solidifying the loathed age-up.

The idea of Roy and Lian being a family again seemed like actual poison to DC's editors as Roy spent years deemed an accessory to Red Hood, of all people, while Lian was randomly picked to be Catwoman's new protégé in a poorly executed story which only made the timeline more confusing. Even when it looked like father and daughter could finally reunite, it only happened when it was convenient to Green Arrow's narrative. They don't get to be near each other unless Ollie benefits from the interactions. Roy knew Lian was alive again for over two years but wasn't allowed to do anything to find her until they were both in a Green Arrow book. And they still were torn apart from each other, with Roy's status being used to once more haunt his mentor while Lian's the one doing... whatever.

To me, I've seen how the Legion and the Harpers have both been failed by the narrative of the DCU. Their accomplishments and their roles were deemed inconsequential if they weren't in service of some other A-List character (or B-List in Red Hood's case), and despite how DC keeps promising things will change the same problems keep repeating.

[pandoraimperatrix]

DickKory please

Aaaahhhh I don’t know which one though... Peony... Camellia... Chrysanthemum... Daisy... Violet....

Uuuuummmmm i kinda want some smut so maybe Peony.

Anon, you asked for a smut Peony and you shall have it!

---------------------

“I know I should care about the reason why you’re naked in my bed, but I will just enjoy it for a moment.”

He sighed, his shoulder blades rippling as his torso expanded, and Kory saw his smile rising from the exposed half of his face, although his eyes remained closed.

“Our bed” he breathed, Kory walked further into the room, sitting on the bed, her hand touching the small of his back, sliding upwards, accenting the stark contrast of her smooth dark skin against his dotted by the San Francisco’s sun as she caressed him languidly. “Too tired for clothes…,” he added after a while.

She let out a weak chuckle and leaned over to kiss his shoulder, marvelling over the visible goosebumps that her delicate move provoked on him.

Dick fixed his position slightly after that, opening one already darkened eye to her who smiled innocently, fanning her long eyelashes at him as if she had no intention at all as her caress changed direction and was now reaching the end of the curve of his back.

“Only for clothes?” she asked, her hand finally cupping one of his cheeks and giving it a nice squeeze.

He lowered his head again, now using his arms to hide his face.

“Why, Miss Kory Anders?” and now his voice was free from all the sleepiness. “Do you have anything interesting in mind?”

She bit the lobe of his ear, and smiled when he wasn’t able to conceal a low moan.

“What if I do?”

Dick moved at once, making Kory squeal at the sudden change. His strong arms let go of the pillow and went to her waist, hoisting her body over his as he turned around, lying on his back.

“Hello,” she said smiling down at him, her hands now on his shoulders, legs around his hips, her thumbs rubbing his skin.

“Hi,” he answered, also smiling, and hands leaving her waist to undo the knot of her dressing gown.

Kory rose one of her hands to his face, cupping his jaw, her eyes warm with affection.

“Are you sure if you want this? I was just teasing, if you are too tired we can just sleep.”

His hands stopped, her dressing gown now parted to reveal her body, also bare and still a little moist from the shower. Dick gave her a lopsided smile and took one of the spring of her curls, stretching it to kiss her hair.

“No…” he said, and when she frowned in confusion, he rose up from the bed, supporting her weight with his arms when his hips rolled to allow their new position. “I want you.”

She leaned into him for a slow, sensual kiss, her body arching against his, seeking more skin against skin contact, her fingers slid from his neck, threading trough his hair, massaging his scalp. Dick parted the kiss to look up at her, he always resented when people would regard him as a lucky person. As if being adopted by a billionaire was some golden Band-Aid stamped over the silly boo-boo of losing both of his parents in just one awful night. But when he looked at Kory, and was reminded of the chain of causalities that brought her to his life, the absurdity of the miracle that made her love him… What could it be other than luck?   

“Always nice to hear,” she breathed, her voice a whisper when he started kissing down her throat, her eyes shutting and her fingers closing tighter around his hair as his lips made a path of fire, crossing her collarbones and reaching her sternum.

Dick lost his concentration for a moment when she started moving her hips and he bit the top of her breast.

“Sorry,” he said alarmed and kissed the distressed skin to sooth it.

“Do it again,” she said.

“What?” He swallowed, confused, but there was no doubt in Kory’s eyes.

“I liked it,” she said simply, and pushed a piece of dark hair from his eyes.

“Really?” his eyebrows rose.

“Since I told you about of my past you have been so…” she sighed, choosing her words, “careful.”

“Oh…” the corners of his mouth lowered, “I didn’t mean-”

“And I appreciate it” she interrupted him, noticing that his face was flushed and he was turning softer underneath her thighs. Dick Grayson, her emotionally stunted Dick Grayson, she loved him, so much, but goodness he could be touchy. “I do,” she reassured him. “But… I haven’t changed… Neither what I like…” She punctuated that last argument by taking his hand and rising it to her bitten breast, and pressing. “You can’t hurt me like that, Dick Grayson,” she noticed her point coming across that thick brain of his when his eyebrows lowered and she kissed him, biting and pulling his lower lip in the end. “And I know you wouldn’t, even if you could. So… I know you like it a little bit rougher too. No need to hold back.”

 He didn’t need to hear twice.

Before Kory could get her bearings, he had lifted her from his lap and slammed her on the bed, standing on his knees over her body with hungry eyes and a promising smile. She let out a nervous laugh, feeling an exciting kaleidoscope of butterflies fill her belly waiting for his next move. But instead of kissing her, or caressing her in some way, Dick grabbed one side of her hips and turned her, so she would be with her back to him. Every time he manhandled her like that, as if she weighted nothing for him, she felt a new wave of heat radiate from her core. Then, he peeled her dressing gown over her body, and Kory shivered. Anticipation was killing her when she felt him pulling her hips up, until she was in her knees too.

“Grayson what ah-!” her question was swallowed by an exclamation of pleasure when his tongue invaded her vulva making shut her eyes strongly, stars sparkling in the darkness. He pumped a few times before slowing down, making his tongue flat so he could lick around her opening too. And then, he started lapping, flicking her clit with the point of his talented tongue, once, twice, and another time, finding a rhythm.

Kory grabbed the sheets where her lover had been lying just minutes ago, letting out a loud moan as he kept his onslaught, using his firm hands to expose her to his kisses and keep her in place when her knees started to give. He pulled away with a sound of suction, but before Kory found enough coherence to complain, he inserted a finger inside.

“X-x-x’Hal!” she screamed.

“My name, Kory,” he demanded.

She chuckled and turned her face around, trying to look at him.

“You have to ah… deserve it.”

“Oh yeah?” he inserted another finger and bended over to suck her clit at the same time as he fucked her with his hand. He kept a consistent rhythm and in no time she was trashing under him. Dick smiled when he noticed that she had tried to say his name, but when the climax hit her, all she managed were a few nonsense that barely counted as words.

Even so, it wouldn’t do it, not for him, so, before Kory was fully back from her high, Dick pulled her back in position, rubbed his hard member on her soaking, still pulsating pussy and entered her with a grunt. He didn’t wait before start giving all he had, but Kory, ever his perfect partner, wouldn’t let him do all the work himself. She pushed her upper body up, and reached behind for him inviting for a kiss that couldn’t last on her lips a lot, to allow their frenetic rhythm, and turned into a wet path through her neck, shoulders and back. Kory turned one arm behind, placing it like a handler for him to get better leverage, which Dick accepted while his other hand went to her clit rubbing it the way he knew she liked until Kory was screaming again.

When she was finished, he pulled out, she fell on the bed, spent, one hand pumping himself, Dick, used the other to roll Kory’s body so she’d be facing him.

“So noisy,” he said positioning his hips between her thighs. “I’m glad for the acoustic proofing,” and he bended over to kiss her belly, “but I haven’t heard my name yet.”

Kory smirked.

“Better luck next time.”

Dick rose his eyebrows to that, and rested his free hand on the bed beside Kory’s head, bringing their faces close.

“You are lucky one, aren’t you? Getting yourself someone who make you come over” he kissed her throat “and over” he kissed her jaw “again.” He let out a long-suffering sigh. “But fine, third time is the charm.” And he entered her again. Kory’s legs hugged his hips, pulling him closer until there was no space between them.

“On second thought,” she said cheekily, “I think you are already full of yourself and I shouldn’t enable it.”

Dick snorted.

“I’m the one full of myself? Really?” He made his point by accelerating his thrusts.

Kory laughed and the contractions of her already impossibly tight muscles were too much for him.

Terror mixed with the pleasure of release spread through his face and her laughing fit worsened, milking him who afterwards fell beside her pouting.

“I’m so sorry,” she said kissing his shoulder, amusement still thick in her voice.

“You are so not.”

“I am!”

He turned his face away from her childishly.

“I don’t believe in you.”

Kory giggled and threw a leg over his and sucked his earlobe.

“Ohh, poor baby, but I am sorry, or don’t you think I didn’t want a third one?”

He looked at her through the corner of his eyes.

“You are a greedy one, Princess Koriand’r.”

“Why can I say? I’m used to premium Dick service.”

He tried to press his lips together to hold his pout, but when an alien princess fell from the sky and stole his heart to her was given the power of stealing his laughter too.

[ivedonestranger]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Teen Titans (Animated Series) Rating: Mature Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Jinx/Raven (DCU) Characters: Raven (DCU), Jinx (DCU), Gizmo (DCU), Baran Flinders Additional Tags: Fluff, Light Bondage, I Will Go Down With This Ship Summary:

Raven's plan to grab some coffee goes awry when she winds up kidnapped and a certain someone has questions!

---

Raven stared in disbelief and the predicament that she was in and how easily she had fallen for it. All she wanted to do was grab a coffee at the Queen Coffee in downtown Jump City, then wound up being snuck up on, grabbed with a bag over her head and carted off to parts unknown. Worse part was these...stupid...cuffs!

The mystic Titan growled to herself as she heaved all her strength against the delicate cuffs emblazoned with runes that were fastened around her wrists. Of course, there was no breaking demon bracelets, but it felt good to release the anger.

Having only dressed in baggy pants and a gray hoodie, most people would not have recognized her except maybe for her violet hair cut in a short bob. She tried to reach for her pocket on one side to get her communicator but realized they had lifted that from her too.

'This is humiliating,' she groused to herself as she looked about the room again.

It was some sort of basement with stuff stacked all about covered with dusts from years of abandonment. It actually looked familiar. It was at that moment the light bulb came on. She knew exactly where she was.

As if there was some sort of cue, the metal door banged open peeling it's metal sound through the room and in strode one confident, pink haired troublemaker.

"Jinx."

The grin of the Pinkette's face grew wider as her cat like-eyes focused on her prey in the middle of the room. She wore her usual black dress, choker, and trademark leggings. The purple and black stripes climbing up some rather gorgeous legs before disappearing underneath the skirt.

"Seriously, I can't believe you let me capture you so easily. I mean, I really didn't have to cast any power to obscure myself. You were so focused on that coffee...or was it that absolutely stunning brunette that was serving it to you."

Raven's gray cheeks flushed ever so slightly and Jinx giggled. "You were! I can't believe you. Raven of the Teen Titans, checking out the ladies!"

"I can't believe you're doing this now," Raven said, turning her body to keep the pernicious witch in view.

"Surprise." The words came with a giggle.

Raven held up her bound wrists. "So now what? Are you going to demand the true identities of my friends? The access codes to the towers?"

"Oh," Jinx said with another giggle. "I have some more important questions for you. Sit."

The word was simple and Raven wanted to ignore it, she felt the uncontrollable pressure to obey as the cuffs forced her to obey their owners. Raven went to her knees before she could even try to will herself to stay standing.

"Didn't think you were one for torture," Raven said dryly.

"You know me. Full of surprises. As you can see, I got some little demon bracelets from the black market and was desperate to try them. Aren't they nifty?"

"They're swell," Raven intoned with little interest.

"Awww, you don't like them? I bet you'll like them. They can compel you to do whatever I want and to tell me whatever I want."

"Sure. Whatever."

Deep inside Raven was not happy that she had been placed in such a position but honestly, she knew it could be much worse.

"Oh? Okay. Let's try them out. Is the Titans Tower undergoing upgrades next week?"

"Yes." The words escaped before she could even stop herself.

"Gizmo will be happy to hear that. He's been wanting to try some new firmware that he's written."

Raven narrowed her eyes.

"I don't like this, Jinx."

"Good point," Jinx said with a nod. "You're not a fan of talking about others. Let's talk about you then."

'Oh, no.'

"Have you read any of those erotica books I sent you?"

Raven squirmed trying to keep the words in but her body refused to obey.

"Yes."

"Oh ho! So you do like them."

"Yes." Damn it!

"What did you think of that scene in the book Hallowed Ground when the young groundskeeper sneaks the preacher's daughter away? Hot, wasn't it?"

"Fine. Yes. It was a rather...interesting scene."

The pressure let up since she wasn't resisting. Raven had already admitted it so why keep fighting?

"So….what else can I ask you? Hmmmm." Jinx stood again and began to pace.

"What do you think of my outfit?" Jinx asked, giving a small spin.

"It is very cute," Raven said letting her mouth talk. It was a safe question but they kept coming. "It accents your figure nicely."

"Awww, you say the nicest things, Rae Rae!"

"Don't call me that! I hate it when Beast Boy does."

The pinkette's eyes glimmered and she giggled.

"Then what is your favorite nickname?"

Oh, azar did Raven squirm trying to keep the words from escaping but no matter how hard she tried they came out in a gasp. "Lollipop."

Jinx plopped down in front of her with a squeal of triumph.

"Well, what do you know. You do have a favorite pet name."

Raven glared at her.

"Do you think I'm hot?"

"Yes."

"You like sex?"

"Yes."

"What's your favorite position?"

"Missionary."

"Aww. Really? I would have thought you were more adventurous. You like my legs?"

Raven's voice faltered slightly but the words still came out.

"Yes."

"Do you...like...wanna know if I'm wearing panties?"

"Y...ye..yes."

Jinx leaned very closely and the smell of her blueberry perfume filled her nostrils. Raven felt her breath starting to catch in her throat and her eyes focused on the kissable lips in front of her. The pinkette's voice was low, sultry and only for her to hear.

"I'm not wearing any."

Raven tried to swallow but found that task somehow difficult. Jinx ran her fingers up Raven's arm leaving a trail of tingles the entire way.

"Come on, Jinx," Raven allowed a whine to escape.

"Kiss me."

The order vibrated through her cuffs and Raven found herself leaning in and planting her own mouth against the one who had kept her prisoner. Oh, god she tasted too good and there was nothing the mystic Titan could do to stop herself.

Jinx leaned forward pushing Raven over on to her back without any resistance, her dress bunching up around her waist. Raven felt the desperate urge to try and get her hands free but Jinx had them pinned to her chest.

"Oh, I have plans for you, Lollipop."

A pitiful whimper was all that escape from Raven as she was again smothered by Jinx's lips. It was at that moment that the metal door clanged open and both snapped their heads to look.

Gizmo strode in with Mammoth right behind with the dwarf studying his computer.

"Jinx, I'm gonna need to head into town and get some more computer parts. If we're going to get the connection working we're going to-"

He stopped as she looked up seeing the two tangled on the floor.

"What are you-Oh, god, cover yourself, Jinx."

Jinx sat up quickly pulling her dress back down with a big grin on her face and touch of red in her cheeks. Raven still lay on her back trying to breath and looking confused, angry, and horny all at the same time.

"Really?" Gizmo griped, throwing his hands up in the air. "Is that why you had Mumbo buy them? Can't you like mess around with your girlfriend at the tower? I really hate when you do these roleplays. Poor Mammoth and I always have to stumble in on them."

"I don't mind." Mammoth grinned.

"Pervert," Jinx shot back with a laugh.

Gizmo rolled his eyes.

"Whatever. I'm gonna leave if you're gonna be using the storeroom. For crying out loud, that's what bedrooms are for."

Gizmo turned to leave and then back to Raven.

"You need me to call Robin and let him know you're here? I'd hate for him to start worrying like last time."

"If you don't mind," Raven said with a bemused expression trying to ignore the fact that she was still on her back and Jinx was half on top of her.

"Fine. Mammoth, go find something to do. Maybe Beast Boy wants to do some training. If I'm gonna help Cyborg upgrade the tower, I need to not have you two fucking in random places in the base. Got it?"

"No promises," Jinx said.

With an exasperated noise, Gizmo left with both Mammoth and Jinx exchanging a wink and thumbs up.

When the door clanged closed, Jinx turned back to her girlfriend who was smiling.

"Well, that was kind of embarrassing?"

"Kind of?" Raven asked sitting up. "I'm not the one that had my ass on display."

"Pfft," Jinx said. "They've caught me doing worse."

Jinx broke into one of her grins again. "So, you do like the nickname I gave you?"

"I'm not going to dignify that with an answer."

"I can make you."

Jinx reached down to grab the bracelets but to her surprise, they were not on Raven's wrists. They were actually on her own. Shock reverberated through the pinkette at the sudden reversal.

"How did-"

"They aren't demon bracelets," Raven said with a grin. "I realized it when you came closer and I didn't have the connection with you they normally would have. Easy to override after that."

"Shit, Mumbo sold me junk?"

"Nope. They're compulsion bracelets. Meaning they don't just work on me…"

Jinx's eyes went wide. "Oh, no."

"Oh, yes. You have some penance to perform. I mean, I got my nickname for a reason."

Jinx giggled.

----

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AO3: https://www.archiveofourown.org/works/27664540

FF.net: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13751657/1/Just-a-Few-Questions

[davidmann95]

If you were asked to build a brand-new DC Cinematic Universe, how would you do it?

I used to have a broad idea of kicking off with a Wonder Woman flick and doing a couple leading into a Justice League loosely based on New Frontier, but these days one of the few things I really dig about their current setup is the lack of any real unifying continuity beyond what suits a given movie - if they continued making a bunch of separate totally distinct superhero flicks where the leads happened to meet every couple years in Justice League with minimal knockoff impact, I’d be very pleased because I think that’s a good way of capturing what works about DC compared to Marvel. Something in the mold of what the X-Men series could have been if not for their occasional weak insistence that everything was totally supposed to somehow fit together; I’d be nothing but happy if in the eventual Justice League 2 it kept the entire rest of the cast but now Batman was Robert Pattinson and Superman was whoever Cavill’s replacement will be and no one commented on this.

If I were to have to come up with a unifying narrative however, I don’t know if I’ve mentioned my idea from awhile back what a wasted opportunity Superman Returns was in that regard (heck, they mention Gotham in that, it was on their minds). The idea of a movie Superman ‘returning’ when he’d been absent from the silver screen for almost 20 years in real life was a brilliant one that could only be done once and they blew it, but it also provides a ground floor understandable entry point without having to go through the motions of establishing the characters rather than hitting the ground running. If I could erase that and the existing DCEU movies from our collective history* I’ve had the notion for awhile I’d kick off my DCCU/DCEU/Worlds of DC/whatever with a loose adaptation of Superman: Up, Up, And Away!, aka the good version of Superman Returns, with one major detail changed above all: it wasn’t just the trinity who were out of commission, but the entire Justice League after a full-on capital-C Crisis. Batman’s gone to ground, Wonder Woman and Aquaman returned to their people to help them rebuild, The Flash is dead, and Green Lantern hasn’t been heard from in months. The Crisis is this vague, ominous background element hanging over these movies as Superman regains his powers, Batman and Robin come out of seclusion, Wally takes over as Flash, Kand yle Rayner or Simon Baz or Jessica Cruz or whoever get their ring to take to the stars and track down Hal Jordan (and ultimately save him from being corrupted by Parallax), all leading into them eventually reuniting in a Justice League movie. That way you get iconically weighty reintroductions to Superman and Batman, streamlined origin-free introductions to Wonder Woman and Aquaman, and origins for Flash and GL that still play out as being parts of this larger whole, all in their own spaces with their own flavors but with the mystery of what went down in the Crisis to disband the Justice League and the larger threat down the line - perhaps one spanning infinite Earths - it heralds looming over them even after they get back together and start functioning as a standard DCU again.

*  But keep Brandon Routh as the Superman of Earth-96 somehow in the CW. Maybe he’s still playing Atom in this hypothetical series of events but Superman Returns nearly happened and they give this to him as a nod to having nearly played the character before, ala Nic Cage playing him in Teen Titans Go! To The Movies. That’d make sense that Returns didn’t happen but my thing does, WB does love to reuse ideas from unproduced Superman movies.

[ao3feed-birdflash]

by CoyoteFang1987

“I regret visiting my brothers, they are all evil.”

“I thought that was Damian.”

“Damian’s the only nice one,” Dick replied.

Wally snickered, “Oh, it must be pretty bad if Damian is the nice one.”

“Well, yeah! Jason went even as far as to pose as a VILLIAN to torture me!”

“Okay, well look on the bright side,” Wally puts a hand on his boyfriend’s shoulder to calm him down, “You have one more week and you win the bet!”

“I hate all of you.”

AKA In which Dick Grayson acts like that way he does in Teen Titans because of a bet.

I have no idea where this idea is/was going but oh well.

If you like this AU, feel free to adopt!

Words: 2160, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Series: Part 7 of Birdflash Works

Fandoms: Teen Titans - All Media Types, Teen Titans Go!, Teen Titans (Animated Series), Young Justice (Cartoon), Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics), Nightwing (Comics), DCU

Rating: Not Rated

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Categories: M/M

Characters: Dick Grayson, Wally West, Jason Todd, Red X (DCU), Roy Harper, Starfire, Cyborg (Character), Garfield Logan, Koriand'r (DCU), Victor Stone, Teen Titans (DCU), Young Justice Ensemble

Relationships: Dick Grayson/Wally West

Additional Tags: this is honestly a mess, AKA me explaining TT using YJ, self indulgent stuff, mild language because of Jason, Jason Todd is Red X, I wrote this in less than two hours, I don't know how much sense this makes, good luck understanding this

[queenoflit97]

DCU Titans: Scrapped s1 finale/s2

The reason this finale was scrapped and no longer canon is because it would have ruined alot of character development and would've possibly ruined the future of the Doom Patrol series. The Doom Patrol were featured in the og finale as a way to connect the two series universes together. However with this og finale the writers realized that they would've ended up making things way more confusing on both sides. I know it looks really cool and we all feel robbed, but let's look at it like this. Alot of us like to point out that certain things in the show feel rushed right? Well if this finale was kept, both Nightwing and Raven would've been rushed. Idk about you guys but watching Dick's development in s1 didn't seem like it was building up to him becoming Nightwing, but building up to him letting Robin go. So it would've made no sense for him to just all of a sudden get the Nightwing suit in the s1 finale.

As for Rachel becoming Raven, I feel like s1 was building up for her to find out about her demon heritage and where her powers came from (since in this version she wasn't raised by monks in azarath). And she wasn't nearly as powerful in s1 as she is in s2 (albeit in an out of control fashion). She got that power boost from her heart turned gem that her father gave her. And yes, while Trigon's defeat (I don't think he's dead, that would be even stupider than permanently killing Desthstroke) was fast and some of us felt like Rachel seemingly had control over her powers, I don't actually think she did. I feel like in that moment with her father, she wasn't afraid and because of that was able to just let it all out, in turn defeating him for now. If we look back at the original character of Raven she struggled with two things: Anger and Fear. Anger is her weakness and Fear is her downfall. In s1 Rachel showed a mix of both Anger and Fear. However when she was afraid, she would get anxious and panicky making it difficult for her to use her powers effectively. My point is, when she went up against her father, she let go of her fear thus being able to use her powers the way she did.

I won't say s2 was fantastic, but I did enjoy most of it. The casting was fantastic for Rose, Jericho, Deathstroke, Aqualad, and Superboy. Personally I enjoyed some of Rachel's development this season, despite it being confusing at times, some of it left me intrigued. I think the Judas Contract storyline works better with Rose rather than introducing Terra (mostly bc I don't wanna see Gar get his heart broken). Speaking of Gar, he definitely deserved/deserves more screentime and at least some sort of exploration of his powers. Of course the writers had to tease us about his potential with the whole cadmus thing and still have him only turn into a tiger by the end of the season. Although I feel like that was a legitimate tease for the potential of Gar's powers and becoming Beast Boy in the future (hopefully in s3 🤞🏻🐍🐢🐊). The rest of the character's screentime varied depending on the focus of the episode. Dick has the most (obviously), Hank and Dawn second most (why tho? cool characters, but we know everything about them so them having more screentime makes no sense), Donna has a fair bit (I actually liked her character for the most part, but....we'll get to that later), Conner/Superboy decent amount (didn't mind this one, he's a precious bean), Jason had a quite a bit (enjoyed his development and Curran's acting was 🔥), Rose's was woven through and increased after the Deathstroke revelation (didn't mind this one either), Deathstroke was in the shadows half the time, Jericho was a flashback (a damn good flashback) and last but certainly not least Kory was at the bottom with Gar. We got a few things here and there, but it wasn't enough in my opinion. Hopefully with s3 being her season we will see alot more of her (and some dickkory stuff too plz).

The s2 finale had it's fair share of problems (Deathstroke and Donna's death), but I think it could've been fixed. Let me explain: The most aggravating thing about this finale was how Donna died and the fact that it held no weight and I agree. The last half fell flat because of it. I think if the Deathstroke thing and the Cadmus thing were intertwined it would've been less disappointing. Imagine this: After Dick and Rose show up everyone gets out of the car to help fend off Deathstroke. Rose still stabs Deathstroke to free Jericho, albeit in a less life threatening area, but still enough to allow Jericho to leave and make the Titans think he's down for the count. You have Jericho talk to Dick, Dawn, and Donna. Then when they look back to check on Deathstroke, he's gone. But before everyone can freak, Dick tells them not to worry about it now because Gar and Conner need their help and they leave for the carnival. They bring Gar and Conner back, Bruce shuts down the bidding, Kory knocks out Mercy and everyone thanks the Titans. Now the giant metal pole still falls and Donna still catches it, however Dawn and some of the civilians (the little girl, her mother and some others) are in actual danger of being harmed by it. The electricity we saw surround Donna as she's holding it up, they're trapped by that unable to move out of the way. Now the electricity doesn't kill her, but a gunshot. As we're wondering where it came from, everything is in slow motion. Connor runs over and grabs the electrified pole and throws it elsewhere as Dick runs over and catches Donna in his arms. Dick looks off to the side for a moment and sees Deathstroke in the distance before he disappears. Everyone else gathers around Dick and Dawn who are softly crying over Donna's body in shock. After that, everything else happens the same and instead of being flat it's emotional, heartfelt and meaningful. As for the whole Rachel going to Themyscira thing, I think its interesting and I feel like it might tie into her learning to control herself and her powers. Maybe they might have Rachel figure out how to open a portal which could lead to Azarath....and I'm getting way to ahead of myself, but you get what I mean.

Conclusion? The series as a whole isn't inherently terrible, but an interesting and unique take on this superhero team that, while at times being confusing and bumpy, can still be enjoyable. However there are those who trash the show and feel negatively towards it. And while it's okay to not like something, it is not okay to be excessively rude or mean to those who like the show or the cast in any way. When you enjoy something, whether you're a fan or the person(s) creating it, it's not fun seeing the negative and sometimes insensitive things said about it. Not everyone who dislikes the show is the same. There's a majority who are actually pretty tame about it. But I have seen many that almost cross a line and that's not okay. The way I see it is, if you don't like something that much: Don't watch it. Don't read it. Don't talk about it. Just leave it alone.

That is all.

[frogmanwritings]

Chapters: 4/?

Fandom: Teen Titans (Comics), Teen Titans (Animated Series), Teen Titans - All Media Types

Rating: Explicit

Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence

Relationships: Beast Boy/Starfire, Garfield Logan/Koriand'r

Characters: Garfield Logan, Beast Boy, Starfire, Koriand'r (DCU), Slade, Slade Wilson, Deathstroke, Robin, Robin (DCU), Dick Grayson, Cyborg (Character), Victor Stone, Raven (DCU), Rachel Roth

Additional Tags: Angst, Romance, Villains to Heroes, Fluff, Smut, Violence, Alternate Universe - Teen Titans (Animated Series) Setting, AU, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Evil

Summary: Garfield Wilson has lived with his adoptive father, Slade, since his parents died. Finally, after 5 years, Slade is sending him out to try and take down his rivals, the Teen Titans. How will a dark and mistreated Garfield react to them upon meeting them? How will he deal with their bright alien bringing a shine of positivity and joy to his life that he had hidden from him behind angst and abuse? Explicit Rating for Violence and Sexual Themes later on.

Links:

Ao3

Fanfiction

Wattpad

Starfire wasn't about to pretend that she hadn't seen some horrible stuff from her time on Tamaran. The war on her people led to many brutal battles, and she often saw the aftermath of such conflict. Tamaraneans were much more durable than humans and had a much stronger resistant to pain, so when a Tamaranean went down with an injury, you better believe it was something bad.

So while Robin had tried to shelter her from what they were about to witness, the alien thought she could handle it just fine. But... maybe her time on Earth had made her soft. Death in battle was a rarity, most criminals usually being restrained before anything escalated to that level, and her friends hardly ever had serious injuries. So when she laid her protected gaze onto the mauled face of one of the victims' in a far out warehouse, almost unrecognizable from a normal human's face with it so covered in dried blood, a gasp escaped from her mouth and she quickly looked away.

The Teen Titans had received a call about some seemed to be a deal of goods gone wrong, with two dead and one wounded. It was rather confusing as to why they were being notified with this, seeing as how just normal criminals were usually left to the local police force to handle, but then they were told that one of the victims was one of the Titans' long time enemies, Professor Chang. He was supposedly selling a crate-load of Xenothium to an unknown buyer, and, obviously, things didn't go according to his plan and he ended up with a bullet in his head.

Starfire was still suffering side effects from the flashbang that rattled both her sight and her hearing, but she found it to be manageable enough to be outside if she wore some sunglasses, or as she put it, 'Glasses of the Sun'. And the ringing in her ears was still present, so she still had to wear earplugs, but they were small enough so that she could still hear others, but reduced normal talk down to mere whispers, though the sound of cars driving and other loud noises were quite the bother for her. Robin was with her, refusing to show any sort of weakness despite the fact that he was still nursing his twisted knee. He didn't even have to tell her that he was in pain, she had been with him so long, she could read his face and body language almost without fault. He refused to limp, but each time he put weight on his left leg, his upper lip would raise just a tiny bit before falling back into place and his mask would scrunch up a small amount.

Of course, the Boy Wonder insisted that he was fine, but Starfire knew that to not be true and she just wished he didn't feel the need to be so tough and 'macho', as Cyborg once described it, all the time.

Speaking of Vic, he and Raven were both currently back at the Tower, still nursing their injuries, as while Robin had told the news that they were fine and could protect the city if need be, Cyborg still suffered from outages and was currently charging up after he dropped his battery and he almost lost all power. Raven meanwhile was meditating, trying her best to focus all of her energy on healing, and going to a crime scene with two victims wasn't really relaxing.

So it was just her and Robin, who was currently looking down at the body of Professor Chang. He had fallen awkwardly, on his stomach, right leg atop of his left with his arms each pointing outward like a starfish. And, of course, the gaping bullet wound that easily pierced his white helmet. There wasn't any need for them, as it was clear how both of the men died, but the bodies were soon to be hauled off for an autopsy report to see if they could find any evidence without possibly contaminating the corpses.

A heavy sigh escaped the Boy Wonder's mouth, and Starfire levitated over to place a hand on the shoulder of the black-haired leader. With Robin's previous work of being the apprentice of Batman, he had a clear no-kill policy, and death was something he could hardly stomach. As much as he hated the likes of Slade, he never wished death upon him, only that he be stopped and put in jail. And while Professor Chang had previously blindsided Robin and nearly destroyed the city, Starfire could feel that he felt no real hatred for the man.

And neither did she. He was a coward at heart and certainly a villain, but... he wasn't awful. She could certainly come up with villains that she disliked more. "Who would Professor Chang be selling Xenothium to?" Robin said to no one in particular, his brow furrowed and a pair of latex-covered fingers stroked his chin, glancing up at Kori who also entered thought. Professor Chang had made a few enemies in his work besides just the Titans thanks to his devious ways of going about business, but why would Chang set up a meeting with any of those people?

No, it had to be someone Chang was cool with, or at least was on speaking terms with. And that made the list so much longer. Doctor Light, Psimon, Killer Moth, Adonis, The HIVE Five, there were many villains that were at least partial to Professor Chang, enough to set up a meeting at least. But none of them wielded a gun. They all opted for less conventional weapons, and had no problems getting their own power sources, so why would they need to buy such an unstable compound?

"Perhaps the Brother Blood has escaped from jail?" Starfire suggested, but was quickly rebuffed with a firm shake of Robin's head. "No, I checked in with the Steel City police force before grabbing you. No recent escapes, let alone from someone as high level as Blood." He dismissed the notion, a heavy sigh escaping his lips afterwards. "Red X hasn't been seen in a while, and he has.. had beef with the Professor." The Boy Wonder went back to thinking out-loud and Kori continued to float around the warehouse, her eyes narrowing as she tried to see anything that would help, any unmarked evidence, but her sunglasses, while great for protecting her eyes, made it difficult to make out any details.

So, once she was in a relatively dark spot in the warehouse, Starfire shed her sunglasses, blinking at the newfound light and all the new colors that assaulted her sensitive eyes without her mahogany-colored senses, before eventually, her vision was clear enough for her to look around and see if there was anything she could find. Besides the two corpses and the guard who was hauled off to the hospital, there wasn't much to determine just who was in the warehouse at the time. Was it a single person who carried out the double murder, or maybe a gang?

Her eyes trailed until she had to shield her eyes from the glaring sun as a big hole in the wall allowed the light to seep in. Shading her eyes, Kori once again attempted to look at the gap, only to notice something... interesting as she began to look up. It was a glimmer, but it was all the Tamaranean needed as she floated over, using her hand to protect her eyes as the beaming sun stared at her. Any other time and such a bright day would bring joy to her, but right now? It was just an annoyance. She never thought she could hate the sun, and she still didn't, but now she was beginning to understand what it was like for Raven, to have the light burning into your eyes in the mornings after spending all day and night in a dim-light room.

But that was at the back of her mind as Starfire kneeled down beside the hole, her gaze, while dampened, still had a knack for little details that humans had troubles picking up, and what she saw was a few strands of hair. Not just any normal hair... or was it even hair? It was green. The same green that filled her sight just a few nights ago, dressed in black and bronze. Garfield. Her delicate fingers pinched the hairs, lifting them up for closer examination and she silently confirmed it to herself. Small bits of red gloop stuck on the ends of them, and the alien had to tug one of her fingers free after giving it a small touch. The same adhesive that Professor Chang was known for.

Her mind trailed back to Garfield, remembering the haunting sight of the green-skinned criminal standing over her, sweat-soaked and furious with that metallic staff in hand, recently stolen... Her vision was still very blurry from the flashbang, but.. her sight had become clearer faster than she let on...

"Robin!" Starfire screeched as a large ball of smoke enveloped the Boy Wonder and 'Garfield', but before she could react, to try and save her friend, a cylinder-shaped bomb had been tossed at her feet and exploded. But instead of shrapnel piercing her, her vision became white, and it seemed the bomb had more 'oomf' than it looked, as her ears were screaming in agony at just how... loud it was. Her hands came up to try and protect her eardrums, to shut off the screeching ringing through her mind, but she couldn't hear or see anything, her eyes shut tight and ears ringing, which left her an easy target...

Next thing Star knew, she was driven to the ground, crushing pain slamming down onto her chest, followed by her body crashing into the road, feeling the asphalt crumble and flatten beneath her. Seconds passed afterwards, the screaming pain still a constant in her head, but she could, only faintly, hear the sound of footsteps. Angry footsteps. She had to fight back, to get up and take down this criminal... no matter how much it hurt.

Her eyes burned as she opened them, a blurred vision of green, black and bronze above her, along with bright red a foot away from the tip of her nose. Slowly, her vision began to clear, and... there he was. Garfield Logan, as he called himself. The supposed son and apprentice of Slade, who had succeeded in not only stealing the top-secret staff of a local laboratory, but having bested the Teen Titans in combat and was about to... drive that explosive staff into the face of hers..

She tried to react, but her muscles felt lifeless after the smash down onto the road, and the ringing in her head prevented her from focusing on her emotions to summon her starbolts. She was helpless and fear enveloped her gaze. She couldn't go out like this!

But... he didn't finish her off. Starfire watched as Garfield seemed to have an inner struggle with the concept, body shaking and doubt crossing his eyes, that sickening frown on his face that was fuming with rage turned into a silent gasp drenched in despair. His irises widened, as if he was in a trance and just broke out of it, realizing just what he was doing. It.. confused the Tamaranean, to see this once ruthless villain seem so... hesitant. And slowly, he sheathed his weapon, muttering swear words under his breath and seemingly in a rush to get out of there.

It was... intriguing. Just who was this Garfield? Her eyes followed him as best as they could, but in her weakened state, where her muscles felt almost glued to the street, she could only give a last curious gaze in the direction of the changeling.

Starfire had thought that maybe he wasn't a killer, that his mission from Slade was to kill her and he refused, but... she later found out about the police officer who he had killed just minutes before the Teen Titans showed up. And that was something that was going to haunt the Tamaranean for the rest of her days. She and the rest of the Titans hadn't thought anyone was in danger, it was a laboratory closed at night far away from most common nightspots. If she had known that the police officer was just a block away, oh how she would've rushed her way there. Instead, they wasted precious minutes back at the Tower for Cyborg to start up the T-Car, of course bragging about it to Robin as he got in, even showing off his new upgrades which made her giggle.

Everyone felt guilty for the death, especially Cyborg, who took his frustration out on the very T-Car that he had previously bragged about, uninstalling and destroying the very upgrades that he had shown off to the others.

Starfire's heart squeezed at the memory of a sobbing Victor practically tearing apart his 'Baby', as he described it, hating both himself and it for costing the life of a brave and respected officer of the force. But... another part of her heart felt tight as she thought of the murder itself. Garfield was a killer. And that made her... sad. Murder isn't really common in Jump City, so each time the Titans had gotten involved with one, it was particularly hard on Starfire. But this one hurt even more. Why? Was it because she felt that Garfield was better than that? Was it because of the officer's status? Emotions were something she always had trouble with. Well, HER emotions.

Kori could read the emotions of others pretty well, like how she picked up on Robin's affection for her rather quickly. How Raven was always jealous of the three when they laughed and told jokes while she sat away from the others. How Cyborg felt grief when a mechanical part of him malfunctioned and didn't work properly, like the time his right hand couldn't grip down for a week. He tried to hide it with jokes, but she could see just how sad he was whenever he would drop something because of his malfunctioning hand, just wishing things were simpler for him.

Oh how she wished to be able to read herself as well as others, so that she could tell just what was going on in her heart and mind about this Garfield.

"What's that, Star?" Robin's voice interrupted her thoughts, who seemed to ignore her lack of sunglasses in favor of his interest towards what she held in her hand. And seemingly without noticing, Starfire had gripped down onto the green hairs while in thought. "Robin... I think that Garfield may have something to do with this." She responded, opening her palm and holding up the hairs up to the Boy Wonder, who took and held them with his thumb and index finger, mask narrowing and a small grimace crossing his face.

But before he could comment, the orbs on Starfire's gauntlets began to glow red, as well as the center of Robin's belt. Trouble. The alien thought somberly as this made the third day in a row someone was causing trouble, and it didn't take the world's smartest detective to figure just who was causing the ruckus. "Star, you should get back-" "No." Kori cut off any attempt of the Boy Wonder's to shield her from danger, hiding her sad look in place of a determined one and it seemed that the leader got the message, giving his leg a quick shake before running over to his R-Cycle, throwing on his helmet and zooming off towards their destination, the Tamaranean flying right beside him after putting back on her sunglasses. If she was going to get answers for her feelings, then hiding from the cause of them wasn't going to do anything. This Garfield guy, whoever he is and whatever his motivations are... she needed to find them out.

Garfield was exhausted, both physically and mentally. Just a day after the Xenothium deal gone right, with the death of the wicked Professor being all apart of his father's plan, along with securing a great amount of Xenothium. More than enough to power the entire city, not even the changeling knew just what his mentor was going to do with all of it, but he did have a clear idea in mind. First the staff, then the Xenothium, and now he was going into another laboratory, seeking out a special chemical that he's been told to enhance the physical traits of humans.

A bit like 'VENOM' that Bane used to power up his already superhuman body, it seemed that Hughman's scientists were trying to replicate the addictive drug, keyword being 'trying'. It was still very addictive, but their goal was to eliminate that, and to make it sustainable to strengthen the human body, increasing muscle mass and blood flow, as well as increasing brain activity and enhancing the seven senses.

Basically, it was suppose to be a 'miracle' drug. And Slade didn't want to wait until it was released to the public. As well, early versions of these sort of drugs tend to be far more... unpredictable and much more like its 'Venom' counterpart rather than a life-extender and body regenerator it was hyped up to be. And unlike Venom, this one was being guarded by weak scientists rather than a monstrous, smooth-talking Brit with the strength to break backs like no one else.

He was dressed in his standard black and bronze jumpsuit, armored gauntlets and boots still in tow, but again, without his utility belt. Or at least, without the utility in his utility belt, given how all of his tools and weapons were missing and only the belt remained The Titans were weakened, so Slade decided to test him once more. No tools and no weapons, just his powers, his body and his mind. And while Garfield knew his physical traits and mind were much better than the average human's, he felt... weak. While he did have enhanced healing, the skin on his arm still hadn't grown back from when he had to tear off the red glue that stuck to him, and holy hell did it sting.

.The pain of actually ripping the adhesive from his arm was painful enough, having lost lot of blood in the process and even exposing the flesh beneath his mutated skin, but it just didn't go away. It burned so bad, the constant feeling of his unprotected flesh rubbing against his bandages was like torture. Not to mention he felt mentally drained, having to kill two people in two days, as well as having to deal with his emotions being toyed with by his father, his newfound feelings for Starfire, be them real or not.. it was tough. But this was what he wanted. To be his father's apprentice. To do whatever he said and grow into a mirror image of the man who saved his life. And this was by far better than living in a eight foot wide room, tied to a pole like a dog.

Eyeing up the door to the laboratory, he took a deep breath, cracked his neck and thrust his boot forward to snap the door off of its hinges. "Everyone down!"

A room filled with average humans dressed in white coats and pants froze at the command, some not even bothering to look up to see who was giving the demand before crouching down underneath her desks. And it seemed that others got the message once they got a look at the mutated man stepping through their facility, ducking down to avoid the wrath of the stranger.

Garfield let out a snarl as the room began to glow red, a loud blaring alarm doing little more than piss off the changeling, his sensitive eardrums in pain over the obnoxious sound. Of course, he knew that would happen, but that didn't mean it still wasn't highly annoying to deal with. Trudging forward, he knew that the test samples of the green chemical would be in the higher levels, and with the outer-design of the laboratory being near identical to the past facility, it shouldn't be difficult to navigate.

Things were going relatively smooth, with him reaching the staircase leading up to the second floor, that was, until he ran into some pale-skinned blonde girl who seemed to be frozen in place once her brown eyes got sight of him. What she was doing, he didn't know, since she was looking like she was coming DOWN the stairs, even with the blaring alarm and flashing lights. Was she trying to stop him? She certainly didn't look like she could handle a kitten, let alone a strong muscled guy who could just so happen to turn into a kitten if he wanted to.

"Move." Was his simple demand, upper lip curling up into a snarl, revealing one of his sharp fangs to the girl. Whoever she was, she didn't seem important, looking very generic for the humans that Garfield had seen in his time on his work. Bright white coat covering most of her frame, her features were bland and her eyes... were boring. Certainly didn't invoke any emotion in the changeling staring into them, besides annoyance. Though he supposed that her competition wasn't exactly fair in regards to the women that he found attractive. "Pl..Please don't touch me.." Even her voice was unremarkable as she pleaded with the green-skinned man. "You... don't want what's up there, it's really... really unstable. It's not even worth anything!"

Sighing, Garfield stepped up the next few steps until the blonde was only a step up from him. "I said to move, lady." He firmly told her, brows furrowing in frustration. While he had no issue harming people, Slade had told him to try and not create any more victims after killing two people in two days, a third would only bring him more attention and his father preferred to keep things... relatively subtle. Grand theft brought less attention than murder, and while the thin woman would be easy to kill, that wasn't his mission. She wasn't a threat by any stretch, and thus when she silently pleaded with him with her almost yawn-inducing gaze, he grabbed her by the collar of her coat and lifted her up the rest of the stairs, before tossing her to the side of the white floor, letting her scramble and crawl away.

Several white-coats were in the room, playing around with tools that Garfield didn't bother to try and understand, only knowing he needed a few vials to complete his mission. One by one, the scientists turned in the direction of the green invader, most of them getting out of the way of the changeling. News spread quick of a shapeshifting villain who wasn't afraid to kill people and had a deadly disease inside of him, and thus most didn't want to bother with trying to fend off the health threat. But there were a few who looked to stop him, the burliest of the bunch who looked to protect their research.

Courage was admirable, but stupidity was repulsive, and the handful were much more the latter. Since Garfield had little trouble safely knocking out the adversaries, or at least making them rethink facing down a superpowered villain, he went right to a table that so happened to have half a dozen vials filled with the lime-green liquid. Slade said that while VENOM required a straight shot into the bloodstream to have its effects, this drug just needed to get into contact with the skin before it soaked into the muscles and blood cells beneath. Thus, the vials were tightly contained, no cork to close them, instead hard, clear metal with a tight switch that required the mightiest of thumbs to push upward to open. Tucking them into the designated containers on his belt, strapped down tight, he was a bit surprised to just be able to walk back out of the place, the ringing of the alarm the only annoyance he encountered exiting the building.

Of course, he was being just a bit too optimistic when he thought he could get out of sight before the Titans showed up, only this time, only half of them were there for him. A blazing red and black motorcycle was parked a few yards away, and an all too familiar Boy Wonder stood on the road, waiting for him. And above him... god he wasn't ready to look at the Tamaranean again. Was he a coward for doing all he could to avoid Starfire's gaze and instead focus entirely on Robin? Perhaps, but he was willing to be a coward if it meant appeasing Slade, and getting captured because he was too busy having a staring contest with the pretty alien didn't seem like the most optimal way into his father's heart.

He wasn't exactly surprised that the Teen Titans weren't fully together, he gave Cyborg a good frying and that Raven chick a few broken bones to remember him by, and even then, it seemed that the two in front of him weren't at 100%. Robin had a bit of a limp and Starfire was wearing sunglasses, and unless that was a fashion choice he hadn't been clued in on, it seemed the flashbang still gave her some troubles. Then again, he wasn't exactly fully healthy either, what with his wounded arm and fatigued brain.

"Garfield, I'm only going to warn you once. Stand down!" Robin spoke first, pointing a green latex finger at the changeling, who simply growled in response. Expecting some sort of add-on from his companion, he took a mental note of Starfire's silence, because he wasn't about to look up at her face to see just what her facial expression was. And instead of answering, Garfield knew he had to strike early and strike quick, so.. he did. One step forward and he transformed into a tiger, leaping at the Boy Wonder who was ready for the assault, ducking underneath the claws of the big cat.

"Star, check in with the workers and see if they need medical attention!" The Titan ordered his flying friend, who nodded her head and zoomed into the laboratory. Robin then turned in the direction of Garfield, who had shifted back into his human form, shaking his head. Exhaustion had always made his transformations more difficult, but now, in the heat of battle, it was more evident than ever. The simple shift into the tiger took a lot of energy out of him, and he wasn't sure how many more he could do to keep up with the leader. "I didn't kill anyone, just roughed a few up a bit." Logan huffed, getting into battle stance. He had hand-to-hand skills, might as well use them to converse energy.

"Well when dealing with a murderer of three, forgive me if I don't exactly trust you." Dick responded, matching the fighting stance of his green adversary, before eventually, things came to blows. Robin was the first to strike, a chop aimed at the nose of the changeling who blocked it rather easily with a forearm. However the Boy Wonder was quick, both on his feet and in his mind, and before Garfield knew it, a metal boot caught him in the gut, causing a heave and a momentary step-back. And it seemed that he wasn't getting any time to breath, as this time a metal boot was flying towards his chest.

This time, Logan had to duck out of the way of the foot aimed at his ribs, letting the walking traffic light land behind him after the whiff before pouncing onto his back, arms hooking around his head. A grunt escaped Robin's mouth as Garfield wrapped a bicep around his throat and claws replaced his fingernails to scratch at the face of the Boy Wonder. However, before the changeling could make a taunting comment about the situation, blunt pain ran through his forehead that forced him to let go and back off, reaching a hand up to feel at his face, only to see his own blood leaking down his nose. And in front of him was his adversary, holding his signature bo staff while he checked his own face for wounds.

"If you want to play dirty, then let's play!" Robin said in a grizzled tone once drawing his glove away to expose scarlet dribbling from scratches on his cheek. A scowl crossed his mouth and his face wrinkled in determination, and his hand suddenly drew his grapple gun, aimed at the hip of Garfield and fired. The changeling twisted his waist to the side, letting the hook fly past him and returning his gaze to the Boy Wonder, who had a cocky smirk to his face. Awaiting a next projectile or a charge forward, what he wasn't expecting was the raven-haired leader to suddenly blaze forward, drawn in by his grapple.

Logan let out a gasp of shock and pain as he once again felt the cold metal slam into him, unable to react in time as the blunt aching extended over to his gut. His body was propelled back by sudden momentum, until eventually he felt an explosion of sleek white wall behind him and the two crashed through into the inners of another lab, though it did seem to be closed.

Unsure of just what happened, Garfield coughed and held a hand over his screaming stomach, hoping to ease some of the pain as his vision returned to him, only to see the yellow, red and black grapple hook attached to a colorless chunk of the wall they just crashed through. He had used his grapple to propel him forward and catch the changeling by surprise. Clever. He begrudgingly and silently complimented his opponent, only to feel a boot press against his chest and his green gaze looked up to meet the domino-masked Titan that had taken him down. "Last warning. Surrender now or I'll drag your body over to the station."

Every part of Garfield hurt, his muscles felt weak and he thought that perhaps he could escape once surrendering, but he knew his father would be greatly disappointed if his son even entertained the thought of giving up. At the very least, he should escape, wait until his wounds were healed and he could properly beat up the Boy Wonder who aggravated him so, but... there was nothing more that the changeling wanted than to pound the boy who had captured his father's attention, to make him pay for taking up much of Slade's thoughts and plans, who was under the wing of the assassin before HIM.

So despite how much his body hated it and screamed against it, Logan transformed.

An anaconda to be specific, wrapping his thick body around the foot and ankle of Robin, who grunted as his muscles and bones were squeezed down upon. Garfield hid his face from the jabbing bo staff that attempted to blind him, only connecting with the durable flesh of the reptile, trying his best to snap every bone in the bird-boy's leg and cripple him, and the continued attempts to pull him off were in vain. The changeling saw his opponent's other leg wobble, threatening to give out on him, and itching to see that happen, his extended jaws chomping down onto his thigh.

And just as victory seemed to be in his grasp and he felt a bone snap beneath his coil, Garfield felt a stabbing pain in his side that forced him to open his mouth and let out a hiss of agony, looking over to see one of Robin's signature birdarangs stuck in his snakeskin, blood oozing out of the wound. And the pain forced him to return back to his human form, crawling away from the leg of the Boy Wonder and reaching for the weapon that was stabbed into his side. It was lodged in deep, and each pull only let more scarlet red gush out of the wound, but the apprentice bit his tongue and ripped, letting out a shriek in agony and clutching at the large gaping hole in his stomach now.

Glancing over at Robin, his vision was blurred but he could still make out the eyesore of his red, green and yellow outfit laid on the ground, gloves clutching at his ankle and forehead pressing against the white tile of the lab. A growl escaped Garfield's mouth, and as much as he did want to obey his father's orders of no deaths, the rage of being stabbed by Robin... that each time he saw him, he saw someone his father chose before him, to leave him rotting in his cellar... perhaps the son that Slade wanted over him...

Gripping down tight on the Bird-a-rang, he flung it as hard as he possibly could right towards the head of the dazed Boy Wonder, hoping to see the image of his own weapon lodged into his brain, his body limp and gray, presented to his father to show him that HE was the superior apprentice, that all of his attention should've been directed at HIM. But a bright, green flash interrupted the projectile, causing it to break into several pieces and bounce a safe distance away from Robin.

No.. Garfield thought somberly as his chance to kill the source of his jealousy shattered, and only fitting it was by the one Titan that mystified him. "Robin!" Her voice echoed in his ears, he didn't need to see her, he didn't WANT to see her. And he certainly wasn't ready to fight her. He was aching everywhere, his previous transformations had exhausted him, not to mention the last time he looked into her eyes, he felt emotions that he hadn't felt in years. That he felt ever even. Thankfully, it seemed that her relationship with Robin won out over her sense of justice, as he could hear her asking of his condition.

Clutching his wound, he chose this moment to try his escape, panting as he practically crawled through the hole his body crashed into. But he was struggling, his arm started to bleed again, and he was losing blood quicker than he could run. And to just add onto his misery, the last thing he heard Robin say was "Go after him!". All he could hope to do was hide out and hope that he could regain his energy before they found him, unlikely as it may be.

So, he cut into an alley, unable to hold his breath to fight off the stench of the junk that rotted there. It seemed that despite the ever clean interior of the labs, it was because they dumped all their trash into the dumpsters and stuffed them into the alleys. Soon, Garfield finally collapsed behind one of the dumpsters, trying to fight off his vision blurring, to hold in as much blood as possible, but his clothes were torn and his hands could only cover so much.

"Garfield..?"

That soft voice.. she was there. His glassy eyes glanced upward, but his vision was giving way, black creeping in on the corner of his eyes and everything was a fog. But he could still see her. That bright autumn hair, shining orange skin, purple attire, and of course... those twinkling eyes. The closer she got, the darker his sight went, and just before a hovering hand could touch him, his body gave out and darkness enveloped him, leaving him with a mixture of relief and disappointment that confused him, just like her. Just like Starfire.

[yuesai]

5 Things Tag

tagged by @lukastrent​, not sure why you would want to know these things about me, but nonetheless, here we go!

5 Things you’ll find in my bag:

A notebook for sudden bunnies

Pens

Wallet

Keys

Ah... a lot of loose change

5 Things you’ll find in my bedroom:

A lot of beautiful fanart bought from cons and redbubble

Large stack of notebooks filled with bunnies and notes

Electric wax candles (because I cannot be trusted with real ones)

Some dogs and hopefully a cat

Ah... lego fairy Batman figurine

5 Things I want to do in life:

Wow, what a loaded question...

First and foremost make people happy without the expense of my own happiness

Travel and meet all my online friends that live far away

One day own a waterfront house where I can scull in the mornings or evenings

Write a novel (don’t need to publish it but just for once finish an original work of mine)

Own an Irish Wolfhound, or a Scottish Fold when I finally live on my own

5 Things I’m Currently Into:

DCU

This is Us

Hannibal

X-Men

 Markiplier

5 Things on my to-do list:

SBB fic! (and a lot of other WIPs)

Improve writing skills

Improve ukulele skills

Look for field work

Get another job that pays (I enjoy volunteering but I need to start saving for things)

5 Things people may not know about me:

Uh... well I’m normally not one to hide things but things you may not know about me, Kitty:

I am a Hufflepuff at heart (& team Instinct), but an overall Potterhead. Harry Potter was my gateway to fanfic, and I went to see the off Broadway show, “Potted Potter”. I also won a free book for answering a Harry Potter question right by a guy who writes theories on Harry Potter because I went to that lecture. Wouldn’t miss it for the world. Also, my new bed sheets is the Hogwarts’ crest, and I have a Ravenclaw pillow.

I have an unhealthy obsession with owls. For example, when I first went on my college tour, I immediately saw the owl mascot and told my mom, “I’m sold. I’m going here.” “Sai, you shouldn’t choose a college because owls.” “Don’t care. I’m going.” And here I am, with an owl as my mascot. I didn’t place this in things in my room, but I have a lot of owl things in my room like a huge portrait, and Hedwig (one of several stuffed animal owls I have), and owl figurines, it’s bad. Also my purse is an owl made out of buttons. I love it.

I first got into DC through the Justice League Animated shows. My mom only allowed me one hour of TV on school days, and I say school days because weekends my mom slept in and I could therefore sneak into the living room and watch all the Sunday morning cartoons. So for that one hour, I watched the one hour block of Justice League. I loved it that much. If it was a repeat, I watched Teen Titans which I believe came after Justice League, but that’s how I fell in love with DC and why it’ll always hold a special place in my heart.

I also got into reading comic books and reading manga because of the pictures, and it took me a while to learn how to read. I was very hearing impaired when I was younger. I’ve had surgery so I’m better now, but I grew up with hearing aids that just had constant static. Also, I was adopted at a much later age than other children and thus began learning English at a later age than my peers. So I fell in love with comic books for their pictures. I could make up the story as I went.

I started writing about the age of six or seven. My mom had an old laptop and gave it to me which I used to write all my stories. I mostly wrote epic fantasy or twisted fairy tales. I remember scarring my first grade (I believe) teachers by writing a twisted, bloody version of Cinderella clashed with Charlotte’s Web. We also had to write and illustrate a book once for Parent Teacher night, and apparently mine made mothers cry (started breaking hearts at a young age, I guess). Nonetheless, I’ve been writing for a while. You’d think I’d be better at it now seeing how early I started but... Nonetheless, that’s where I started and hopefully will continue going.

And that’s all she wrote, folks! Thanks for tagging me, Kitty! I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed reading yours.

Tagging: Hmmm... Let’s go with Yami, @yamad-a! SDS, @scumashslanderson! Sunshine, @subatlove! Momo, @glasshalfdruunk! Yo beautiful lovely person, @judette-mathis, how are you? Also, anyone else that’d like to do it, feel free to! I’d love to read any of your responses to any of the above. Thanks again, Kitty, and take care!

[ivedonestranger]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Teen Titans (Animated Series) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Relationships: Jinx/Wally West, Dick Grayson/Koriand'r Characters: Dick Grayson, Garfield Logan, Victor Stone, Raven (DCU), Jinx (DCU), Karen Traviss, Wally West Additional Tags: Halloween, Teen Titans Horor, Temporary Character Death, Blood and Violence Summary:

Robin just wanted a vacation day before the Halloween crimes. It was not what he got when a broken communication of Beast Boy brought him back to the tower.

------------

Robin raced as fast as his motorcycle would take him towards the rising T-shaped tower in the bay. His day off before the Halloween rush of criminality had been cut short by the frantic calls from Beast Boy. He had no clue what he meant do the broken signal barely got through the words' crazy', 'raven,' 'monsters,' and 'blood.' His heart pounded in his chest as he flew through the streets, finally making his way to the bridge that connected the tower to the mainland. He screeched to a halt to find it shut. That was not how he left it when he had embarked on his day off earlier.

Richard Grayson slammed his fist on the remote on his bike, but nothing happened. A quick change showed that the frequency was not being accepted anymore.

'Shit!' he thought to himself as he kicked the stand down and got off his bike to examine the hardened shell that protected the outside panel from the weather. He found the secret button and popped it open to see the computer inside. The entire system was blinking lockdown in bold, threatening, red letters.

The boy wonder tried his password, but the system immediately refused it. Someone had changed the codes of the entire system. Only one person in the tower had that know-how, and it did not make sense Cyborg locking him out.

A buzz of wings appeared behind him, and Robin spun to see Bumblebee alight in full combat guard pattern yellow and black. The helmet she was wearing recessed back into the neck bracer she wore. Kid Flash appeared beside her while a certain pink-haired girl in a black dressing and multicolored stockings trotted in beside them.

"We heard the alert," Karen said looking up at the tower.

"And what is she doing here?" Robin asked looking at Jinx.

"Tryin' to help," Jinx shot back. "When the high and mighty Teen Titan tower goes into lockdown, The HIVE is more worried than you."

"She's with me, Robin," Kid Flash said with a grin. "You can trust her."

"Pfft, you wish I was with you," Jinx said with a snort, but a quirk to her mouth was apparent.

"Any idea what's going on?" Robin asked.

"Nah," Bumblebee said, stepping up and examining the computer panel. "We just got Beast Boy's message that some sort of monster has gotten loose in the tower, and they were locking the facility down."

"You heard more than me," Robin said, frowning. "They came overall broken and static."

"The code?" Kid Flash asked, zipping to the door.

"Cyborg seems to have reset the whole system," Robin mused, rubbing his chin and trying to think. "We're not holding any artifacts or anything like that. What type of monsters could they be referring to?"

They all looked at him, and Robin raised an eyebrow. The mixture of bemusement and sheer surprise at his statement told him he had missed something.

"What?"

"Ummmm….you got a half-demon in there and tomorrow is Halloween night. Don't her powers get a bit wonky around this time?"

"That's a myth," Robin said sharply. "And I doubt Raven lost control of her powers. She's been much better since her father's defeat."

"And yet here we are not able to get into home, sweet home," Jinx mused.

Robin turned back. His gut was churning at the suggestion they had made. Had Raven somehow lost it? If she did, what were they going to do?

"We need to get in and find out what's going on before we start making assumptions," Robin said with finality. "How?"

"I gotta an idea," Jinx said with a smirk. "Hey, flash. Come, give me a kiss."

Wally's grin grew brighter, and he zipped over to her. As he was about to stop, Jinx sidestepped, and he caught her tow and stumbled. Wally tried to overcompensate but wound up running into Bumblebee, who fell forward, was caught by Robin, who then fell back and hit the encased pipe protect the wiring to the security system. The stunner attached to Robin's best misfired injecting the system. With a scream of protest, the system reset, and the door slid open.

"JINX!" Bumblebee and Robin said at the same time.

"Hey! Bad luck isn't pretty, but it gets the job done." Jinx said with a shrug as she marched through the gate.

"Does that mean I can't kiss you?" Kid flash asked mournfully.

"Ya can kiss my ass," Jinx said with the middle finger over her shoulder.

"I can do that too."

"Wally," Robin said with a roll of his eyes as Jinx giggled and a flush to her gray cheeks.

"And here I thought we grew out of our childish shenanigans," Karen muttered as she activated her helmet and the rest of her suit.

"Never," Wally laughed as he took off to catch up with the Pinkette.

Robin did a mental check off all the equipment on his belt. He had only stopped two crimes on his day off and was still stocked for the most part. Smoke bombs, birderangs, and a few reloads of his wrist tasers and grapple gun. He was not going to leave anything to chance.

It took a few minutes to cross the bridge on foot, but they soon came to the large bay doors that were re-enforced concrete and steel. The entire computer system was shut down here, so Robin's only thought was the side door. It still had power but was on back up system.

The air had taken on a sense of lethality he could not explain, as if life had stayed out of the Titan's property and only death awaited inside. The door, fortunately, had not been repaired from the last time Cyborg had tried to upgrade it and wound up frying the entire system. A placed miniature explosive was enough to shatter the metal lock and swing the door open.

"Alright, We play it careful and don't take anything for granted," Bumblebee started. "We don't know what we're facing. Could be an enemy or could be a rogue titan."

"Why do you keep saying that?" Robin said, irritated. "My team isn't going to go berserk."

No one responded, but he did pick up on some sorrowful and pitying expressions. Why did it feel like he was out of the loop on this?

"Switch communicators to Frequency E-22. Encryption modulating is phase 2. That way, we can be sure of our transmissions being secure," Robin said as he adjusted it in his communicator. He remote linked it to the Bluetooth earbud he pulled out of one of his belt's compartments and placed it in his ear.

"Jinx and Wally, your team one." Bumblebee said. "Sweep towards the Titan's rooms and see if you can find anyone."

The two grinned at each other, and Bumblebee frowned. "And keep your clothes on, you two."

"We'll try," Wally said as he led Jinx towards the first set of steps.

"Main room?" Karen inquired, and Robin nodded. They had to get to the computer systems and figure out what was going on wrong. Moving to the second flight of stairs near the dead elevators, Robin and Bumblebee began to make the climb slowly, and dread began to fill him.

A smell had begun to permeate the building. A bouquet of rot and iron. He had smelled it before in Gotham. Blood. And a lot of it.

"What the hell is that smell?" Bumblebee asked with a crinkle of her nose.

"Blood," Robin growled. "A lot of it."

Pushing open the stair door to the floor that held their conference rooms and living room, Robin was assailed with the smell. He looked about in the emergency lightning and saw dark stains trailing about and all over the floor.

"Oh, god!" Bumblebee gasped as she covered her mouth to block the stench. "This is a massacre."

"ROBIN!"

The voice peeled out, and Robin drew his bo staff ready to strike. Running towards him through the darkened hallway was the willowy form he could recognize anywhere.

"Starfire!" he called to her. He caught her and held back a gasp. Her hair was matted in dark red blood, her clothes were a shamble, and there was a look of terror in her eyes.

"Robin! You must flee! She is too powerful!" Starfire gasped out.

"Starfire, where is everyone? Where is Cyborg?"

"He was going to try to call the Justice League or Doom Patrol. I have not seen him since!"

Her breath was coming in short gasps, and her eyes were wide looking about.

"And beast boy, where is beast Boy?"

Robin watched as the wide eyes grew even bigger, and she randomly gestured about. "Here, and here. he's all over the walls." She sobbed. "You're stepping in him."

"Oh, god!" Bumblebee said, moving away, trying not to retch.

"Who did this? Who did this!" Robin yelled.

A low, lilting laugh emanated from deep down the darkened hallways, and Starfire squealed in fright. Lashing out of the darkness was a black tendril of energy that wrapped around the girl's middle and ripped her free of Robin's grasp.

"Starfire!" Robin screamed.

"Save yourself!" she cried back in a sob as the tendril. Her scream was silenced by a terrifying crunch and squishing sound.

"Oh, god, it's Raven," Bumblebee said pacing.

"Nnno…." Robin tried to say, but his mouth had gone dry. The sticky stuff was his friend Garfield, and the horrible sound had to be the beautiful Tamaranian coming to a gruesome end. Robin frowned and charged forward bostaff ready. Bumblebee made a grab to stop him, but she missed. She went around the corner and found the hallway empty except for a large red sticky puddle on the floor. He knelt down, trying to keep the rage inside. He gently touched the pool wishing somehow he could have saved her. He found a strange black seed stuck to his hand.

"What did you find?"

"A watermelon seed," Robin said with a grimace. "Beast Boy loved spitting these everywhere. We've been cleaning these up for weeks."

"We...we need to get to the control room," Robin said firmly. He had to agree with her now. Raven had lost it.

For the next five minutes, they crept slowly through the blood splattered walls and the blinking lights. The emergency power had slowly begun to fade.

They came to the cavernous rooms and found it empty. Nobody was there. Robin strode over quickly and activated the computers. The readout showed him that outside communication was down and also the ability to scan the building. He did find that the fried network still held footage from the last few hours in it's backup memory.

"Do you...do you want to watch?" Bumblebee asked in a horrified surprise as he queued up the code.

"We have to."

The first clip stamped four hours ago began. The room was bright, and they were all in the living room together. Cyborg was tinkering on something in his lap, Starfire was playing a video game with beast Boy, and Robin was leaning back on the couch with a grin.

"I'm gonna enjoy this day off, you guys," Robin was saying. "Gonna go do some stuff I've been meaning to do for a while."

"Pfft, I wouldn't go out in the evening," Beast Boy responded as he focused on the Tamaranian who had gotten a bit too good at the Lethal Punching II. "You heard the stories about ghosts and monsters that come out around Halloween."

"Just stories," Robin laughed.

Raven moved past the back of the couch silently with a book up in front of her. He had not realized she had been that close to him as he was focusing on his friends.

"Really?" Cyborg said with a wry expression. "Darkseid and his parademons? Zatanna and that other dude and their fight against the underworld. Trigon of all things."

"Not the same thing," Robin said. "Plus, we can handle what they throw at us."

"You ain't' scared?"

"I never get scared."

"Not even Raven?"

Robin laughed. "Like I said, not even Raven. Goth chicks dig me."

The three who could see him rolled their eyes.

It was at that point he noted Raven by the teapot who shuddered and doubled over quietly. He saw the black tendrils lick at the bottom of her cloak before they receded.

How did they miss that? Raven had some sort of spasm, but everybody kept going on with their lives as if nothing had changed or happened. He queued up the next video and braced himself. It was an hour and a half ago, 20 minutes before the call.

The scene was the same, except everybody had moved. Starfire was now watching Cyborg work while Beast Boy was playing Mega Monkeys XI. Raven had returned but was standing in a darkened hallway, bracing herself between the door jamb watching everybody.

"Oh, hey, Rae Rae," Beast Boy said, noticing her when he got up to get a soda.

"I…." Robin heard her voice come through thick and modulating. "I need meat."

"Umm…." Beast Boy said, faltering. "I think Cyborg has some leftover meatballs."

"I want it….fresh," Raven said, a tone of ravenous delight filling her voice.

"Uh….Cy….dude... Raven's acting weird."

Cyborg had stood while Starfire took up a flanking position putting Raven in the middle of the triangle they formed. Raven was now breathing hard, her body shuddering as if it could not get enough air.

"Raven-"

The shriek that followed was painful and terrifying. Raven had thrown back her hood, and he could make out the glowing four red eyes and the small rows of serrated teeth as her demon side manifested. The tendrils of onyx colored power shot out striking Starfire and Cyborg, sending them flying while Beast Boy scrambled away. Raven leaped at him, taking him to the ground and began to chomp down on his arm.

Beast Boy began to scream. "DUDE! SHE'S TRYING TO EAT ME!"

Cyborg lunged and tore Raven away, blood covering her mouth and running down the corners of her lips. A crazed grin was on her face as she turned and tried to bite Cyborg. He hurled her away, and Starfire helped Beast Boy up.

The footage cut, and it began a darkened room. The timestamp was 20 minutes ago, and all he could make out was Raven, sans cloak covered with blood standing in the center of the room. She was breathing heavily, and she was staring right at the camera, her four red eyes watching it with glee. It was almost as if she was looking right back at him, knowing he would watch the footage. In a blink, her entire face filled the camera.

Bumblebee and Robin fell back at the freeze-frame of Raven's gore covered face in the camera lens.

"SHIT!" Bumblebee squealed as she fell flat on her back. "That girl's terrifying."

"That confirms it," Robin said with a growl. "Raven's lost it."

"What do we do?"

"We need to stop her. Capture her or put her down," Robin muttered, pulling out the devices and changing their settings for a much more powerful foe.

The communicators crackled to life, and the two jumped again.

"Robin, Bumblee! 22nd floor! Raven's gone full demon!"

"Retreat!" Robin roared. "You're no match for her."

"She's got Jinx, I can't leave her, get here as fast as you can."

"Wally!" Bumblebee called, but the device went silent.

"We need to move. Now!"

When the elevator opened, both Robin and Bumblebee had their weapons pointed forward. The hallway was empty and dark. Only their flashlights illuminating ahead. They crept slowly forward as Robin thought about what he was going to do. He had to stop her, but he did not want to kill her. Even though it appeared she had murdered their teammates, the boy wonder was not yet ready to rule her out as a lost cause.

"We gotta do something," Bumblee was saying quietly. "We can't hold back, Robin. She's gonna get us too."

"We can't just-"

"There!"

Robin and Bumblebee looked ahead and saw that their flashlight illuminated a standing form. As they slowly grew closer, they saw the svelte form of Jinx though it appeared she had been through hell. She was facing away but was wearing her skirt with torn leggings and no top except for her gray bra. Her hair was tousled and matted.

"Jinx?" Robin called softly, but the girl didn't turn. He placed a hand on her shoulder. "Jinx!"

The girl turned, her eyes white and rolled in her head, her mouth opens in sheer terror. Blood ran down from her mangled throat, and she collapsed gurgling in his arms.

"It's a trap!" Bumblebee cried panicked, looking around. A body came hurling out of the dark, catching the female superhero and throwing her to the ground. Wally's bloodstained corpse weighed her down.

Strolling out of the darkness and into the light was the blood-soaked form of Raven. Her red eyes were glowing, and he could see the serrated teeth in an evil grin.

"I wanted to do so much to her, but she wouldn't play," Raven cooed. "So, I ripped her throat out."

Robin fell back, crawling backward while holding Jinx in his arms. Bumblebee pushed Kid Flash's body off and was about to fire her gun when a black tendril shot out, grabbed her, and a sharp crack filled the hallway. Karen's lifeless body hit the floor beside Grayson.

"Just you and me now, Robin," Raven said with a smirk. "I'm in a...lecherous mood. Wanna entertain me? I might let you live."

"What happened to you, Raven?" Robin said.

"I decided to be what I am."

"How could you-"

"you're not going to take me up on my offer?" Raven said with a sigh. "Oh, well. I'll wait for the next male heroes that come to investigate the tower's silence."

The black tendrils shot out of the darkness and grabbed hold of him. They lifted him in the air, and Robin braced for the inevitable.

"Now, there is one thing I want you to remember, Robin," Raven cooed in his ear. "never EVER say that I can't scare you."

A grin broke across her face as she gently set him down on his feet.

"Ummm….what?"

He was blinded as the lights of the tower snapped back on, and he saw blood-covered Raven but a smile and usual amethyst eyes looking back at him. She was the small, demure girl he knew and not the demon he had seen in the videos.

"What...what is going on?" Robin asked, trying to breathe and figure out why he was still alive.

"Yous got played, DUDE!" screeched a voice from down the hallways in peels of laughter. Robin looked around confused and down at the corpses of Jinx and Bumblebee that were inexplicably pulling themselves to their feet. Each was laughing with silent mirth.

"I can't believe you," Jinx said as she leaned on Bumblebee with laughter. "You coped a feel while I was dead. You're a pervert."

"I was trying to save you!" Robin exploded.

"No groping my girl, Robin," Kid Flash said, walking over and slapping his friend on his back.

Joining him in the hallway laughing and hugging him was Starfire, still matted and covered in blood, but she kissed him on the forehead.

"You silly gnup narp, You should never challenge friend Raven,"

It was at that moment that it all kicked in.

"This was a prank?"

"Best prank in the world!" Cyborg said, exiting the elevator and holding on one of the master remotes for the tower. "When you once said that Raven couldn't scare you, she decided that you need to learn a bit of humility."

"This...this was your idea?" Robin asked incredulously as the relief flowed through him.

Raven was putting on her cloak that Starfire handed her. She simply met his eyes, and he knew the answer without her saying. Robin braced himself on the wall as his friends held him up.

"Starfire...I heard you die," he said, trying to pull himself together.

"That was me squishing a melon of water."

"I thought the game was up when you found the seeds," Bumblebee said. "Thank goodness for your overactive imagination."

"And Raven made sure that we act out everything in front of the camera, knowing you'd find it," Cyborg said. "She's a little mastermind herself."

Robin's friends were fine, and he had fallen for a prank. He was just relieved to have them. He wrapped an arm around Star and Beast Boy and pulled them close. He laughed to cover up his tears of happiness.

"I'll never take you guys for granted again," he said with a smile. "Raven got me fair and square. She's the scariest thing on Halloween."

"Thank you," she murmured, pulling out a book from her cloak.

"Now, if you all don't mind. You have a tower to clean while I go back to my reading."

---------

Like it? Please leave a review here or on your favorite fanfic site. 

FF.net: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13409164/1/The-Halloween-Spirit

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21020168

[judedeluca]

Titans: Cakes and Confessions (RoyXDonna)

I’ve been trying to type something for #royharperbdayweek for the last few days, but I’ve been artblocked. I finally busted my ass and spent most of last night working on something I felt comfortable enough to finally post on here.

This takes place in a post-Rise of Arsenal, post-New 52, and post-Rebirth world where the DCU has started gaining a semblance of their real lives back after getting free of Dr. Manhattan’s brainwashing. It involves Roy, Lian, and Donna dealing with some emotions left over following Lian’s death and what Donna went through in Blackest Night.

There’s mention of Donna’s kids and Lian’s baby brother, and some chubby!Roy stuff.

Really hoping to hear some thoughts and inputs on this since I don’t normally write fan fics as long as this in one sitting.

It was a nice looking jack-o'-lantern. Not an angry or scary looking one, but not a silly, dopey-looking one either. Lian wanted to feel proud, but she had to get a second opinion. "Does it look okay, Donna?" Lian Harper asked her surrogate aunt, Donna Troy, as Donna finished cleaning the bowls and cups they'd just used. Donna wiped her hands on a dish towel before joining Lian's side. On the kitchen table there was a triple layer cake, covered in rich chocolate icing. Lian had just finished decorating the top of the cake with orange, green, and yellow butter cream frosting to make a pumpkin face. It smiled up at the young and younger women. "It looks wonderful, Lian." Donna said, patting Lian's back. "But it does look like a pumpkin, right?" Lian was unsure as she looked into her aunt's eyes. "You're not just saying that?" "You won't be getting false praise from me, honey." Donna commented, then kissed Lian on the top of her head. That made Lian believe Donna was speaking true. "I bet Daddy will love it." Lian mentioned. "I hope he does too." Donna added, as they had spent most of the afternoon baking the cake for Lian's father Roy, while also keeping an eye on Lian's baby brother Tommy. This weekend, Donna's ex-husband (Terry or Jerry or whatever his name is) had custody of their son Robbie and her stepdaughter Jennifer. So Donna convinced Roy to let her watch Lian and Tommy for the afternoon feeling he'd been doing a lot lately and could use some time to himself. It was entirely transparent she wanted time with Lian to do something for Roy while he was out of the house, but no one said anything. Tommy had just been fed and put down for a nap while Lian iced and decorated the cake. She insisted on doing it by herself to prove she could. "Well we both love all the other cakes and stuff you've been bringing over." Lian reminded Donna. "But thanks for letting me help with this." "It was my pleasure having you as a baking partner." Donna hugged the young girl. "I'm gonna go check on Tommy." But before Donna could leave the kitchen, Lian had a question she wanted to ask. A question that had been on her mind for a while. "Donna?" "Yes, Lian?" Donna stopped and turned to face Lian again. "Is everything okay?" Lian asked, a look of concern on her face. "Huh?" The question sort of caught Donna by surprise before Lian began talking. "You've been coming over a lot lately," Lian explained, "And I know you and Daddy aren't together-I mean, 'Together' together anymore. Are you alright?" "Don't worry about me, honey. I'm fine." Donna smiled. But Lian wasn't fully convinced. "Is it cuz of all that stuff that happened when I… you know." "No, Lian." Donna replied. "Well, how come you're over so much?" Lian continued. "Do you want me to stop coming over?" Donna asked. "No! I love having you over. And so does Daddy and I'm sure Tommy does as well if he could talk." Lian emphasized. Donna laughed a little before she spoke. "I just liking spending time with you guys, and I like cooking for you guys." Donna explained. "I'll say." Lian smirked, thinking about all the homemade sweets and stuff Donna had been leaving for Roy at their house, and at Titans Tower, and at Donna's place. Her dad especially seemed to really like them. And it was starting to show. "I'm gonna go check on your brother before your dad gets home. Okay?" Donna smiled at Lian. "Okay." Lian smiled back. But as Donna left the room, Lian's smile faded and the look of concern returned. She wasn't convinced at all. … "I'm home!" Roy called out from the front door. "Any wild and crazy parties or dead bodies better be taken care of by the time I step over the threshold!" He held two big bags of groceries in his arms, and one plastic bag containing takeout hanging around his wrist, as he entered the house when Lian came running out of the living room. "Daddy!" She threw her arms around her dad's waist and squeezed. "Etai Yazi!" Roy called back, which was Navajo for "Little Girl." "Gimme a sec," he said as he tried to place the reusable bags down on the side table in the hallway. He then kneeled down to Lian's level and gave her a big hug and kiss on her cheek. "Missed you." "Missed you more." Lian replied, kissing Roy's scruffy cheek. "And you didn't burn the house down while I was gone." Roy whistled. "I'm impressed." "Well I can be trusted not to burn the house down. Unlike some people." Lian folded her arms and gave her dad a pretend angry glare, referring to a certain incident Roy had while Lian was… away. "True, true. You're certainly more trustworthy than I am." Roy conceded as he stood up. "We all know you're the responsible one, though I don't know where you get it from." "Oh and, guess what?" Lian asked. "What?" "Boop." Lian poked at his belly button, sticking out after his shirt came untucked. "Hey!" Roy shooed her off as he tucked his shirt back in. "Well it's your own fault for getting fat." Lian smugly informed him. "I know, I know," Roy smirked. "I'm gross." "Nah, you're not." Lian hugged her dad again. "Whatdja do while we were here?" Lian asked. "I took care of some stuff at Titans Tower, then I did some shopping. No big deal." "Come look what me and Donna did while you were out!" Lian began to pull her dad into the kitchen, bumping into Donna who was coming out of the first floor bathroom. "Hi Mr. Speedy." Donna said as she hugged Roy. "Hi Ms. Wonder Girl." Roy replied. "You guys have fun?" "Always." "Surprise!" Lian practically shoved the cake in Roy's face. "You guys made this together?" Roy asked as Donna took the cake from Lian. "Does it look good?" Lian asked. "It looks great!" Roy messed up Lian's hair before turning his attention to Donna again. "But what's the occasion?" Donna shrugged, acting like it was no big deal. "No occasion, just wanted to do something nice while you had the day to yourself." Was the convenient explanation she gave. "I did the icing myself, and I put the pumpkin on it since it's almost Halloween." Lian revealed. "It's chocolate and spice." "I really don't know what I did to deserve you two." Roy kissed Lian on the cheek and then Donna. "You're spoiling me." "I can put these away if you wanna check in on Tommy." Donna offered as she set the grocery bags on the kitchen counter. "It's cool, I can do it." Roy reached over, but Donna playfully slapped his hand away. "No no, go see Tommy." Donna insisted. "He wasn't any trouble today, was he?" Roy asked. "Not at all." "I'll go with you, Daddy." Lian joined her father. The two Harpers headed upstairs to where Tommy Harper, nee Blake, the youngest member of the family slept. Roy quietly opened the door and stuck his head inside to see Lian's baby brother sleeping soundly in his crib. "I hate leaving him alone." Roy sighed as he closed the door. "It's cool dad, we had fun with Donna." Lian explained. "But, um…" Roy saw the look on Lian's face and knew what she was referring to. "She didn't tell you what was wrong, did she." Roy guessed. Lian sighed. "No." Lian shook her head. "But she's sad about something, Daddy. I saw it when I asked her what was wrong. It was like when you used to tell me you were okay, even though you weren't." "Damn it." Roy muttered to himself. "I'm sorry." Lian apologized. "It's okay, peanut. You didn't do anything wrong." Roy reassured her. For the last couple of months, Donna had been acting strange. But then it had been a strange couple of years for a variety of reasons and they were only just returning to a semblance of their old lives. Their REAL lives. Probably the strangest things had been how Roy was brainwashed into thinking Jason Todd was his best friend, and Donna had been replaced by a doppelganger who then gave her life to save Donna. With Roy and Donna back on the Titans with their friends Dick, Wally, and Garth, things felt real for the first time in a long time, even before the world had been gutted inside out. It was like someone had engineered a string of tragedies to make them as miserable as possible before killing them. Now they were all alive and healthy, and so were their kids and loved ones. Yet Donna had started becoming… not clingy, but, was motherly the right word? Overeager? It seemed that way to Roy and Lian, and to a lesser extent Tommy. Admittedly, he was a new addition to the Harper household after Roy learned of his existence and rescued him from Tommy and Lian's mom a few months ago. Donna seemed to worry a lot if Roy was eating enough, and had been showering father and daughter Harper in a variety of baked snacks and treats. Cakes, cookies, pies, even these delectable pomegranate pastries Donna learned of from her sister Diana. Roy was certainly enjoying them more than Lian was, since Donna saw more of the older Harper than the younger one. If he had to stay late at the Tower, she had food ready for a late night snack. If he was arriving early in the morning, there was breakfast in case he skipped the meal. It certainly explained how Roy had put on such a significant amount of weight and developed a noticeable belly on his large archer frame. Roy could sense SOMEthing was bothering Donna, as this type of behavior was new. Oh sure, Donna had long doted on Lian as if she was her daughter. But baking and preparing meals hadn't really been something she was interested in. Roy and Lian weren't ungrateful, but they wanted to know what the problem was. He kept trying to ask her if she wanted to talk, but she smiled and said she was fine. The way she said it, Roy could recognize a slight trace of sadness. Then she'd hurry off to do something else, a mission or monitor duty or something with her sister Diana and the Amazons. Lian recognized it too, but she was always a perceptive child and probably noticed before Roy did. They began to feel guilty that Donna was doing all this for them and asking for nothing. Maybe they were imagining things and she was trying to be friendly. But maybe not. That was why Roy had caved in so easily when Donna suggested he take a day for himself and let her watch the kids. He'd agreed with Lian that she would try to ask Donna what was on her mind without him in the vicinity. "What are we gonna do, daddy? I hate seeing her like this." Lian admitted. "I should've gotten Dick and the others to help," Roy said more to himself, "but I didn't want to put her on the spot in front of everyone." "But she hasn't been acting weird with them, right?" Lian asked. "It's just us, for some reason." "Yeah…" Roy furrowed his brow, trying to think. … Downstairs in the kitchen, Donna had finished putting away the rest of the food in the fridge when Roy tapped her on the shoulder. "What'd you pick up for dinner?" Donna turned and asked him. "I got some chicken and rice with plantains from this place near the supermarket." Roy explained. "But hey, before we eat…" "Yes?" Roy sighed. "Donna, I want you to please tell me what's wrong." Roy asked his teammate and best friend. "You sound just like Lian a little while ago." Donna laughed. "You guys worry too much. Can't I do something nice for one of my best friends and his daughter? Is that so strange?" "No, but I mean," Roy scratched the back of his head as he tried to come up with the right words. He should've been direct to begin with, but feared he was over thinking things. He trusted Lian's judgment, though. "I remember you don't like it when everyone expects you to act like their mom. So Lian and I, we were both wondering if you're really okay doing all this. The baking, cooking." "Roy-" Donna was about to begin before Roy cut her off. "Hey, I'm not complaining or anything. Aside that I'm gonna need some bigger clothes, of course." Roy smiled and patted his new belly. "I appreciate all the stuff you've done and how you're trying to look out for me and my kids. But I feel like I'm taking advantage of you, and that isn't even the main thing I'm worried about. Donna, Lian and I both think something's going on with you. Please, if something's wrong I wanna help. We both do." Donna wasn't sure what to say, Roy's green eyes locked on her blue ones. "Please? Tell me what's wrong?" Donna hesitated and looked away from Roy and Lian. She scratched her arm. "It's… it's silly, really." There was a little tremble in Donna's voice. "Well look, why don't we eat dinner first, and then you can tell the two of us what's on your mind over that cake you and Lian made. Promise?" … Donna wasn't sure whether or not to look forward to the talk after dinner, which was something of an event when Tommy absolutely refused to eat unless Donna was the one to feed him. Roy had barely eaten anything as he struggled to get his stepson to budge a little on the subject of mashed carrots. Lian was happy to get dinner AND a show, until Tommy swatted his food in Lian's direction. After Tommy finally settled down, had his bath, and was told a Navajo legend to get to sleep, Roy, Donna, and Lian sat in the living room with coffee and cake (and milk for Lian since she didn't need the caffeine AND sugar). Roy sat in the middle of the couch with Donna and Lian flanking him on both sides. "So, tell us what's bothering you, Donna." Roy got straight to the point. "Am I gonna have another baby brother, Daddy?" Lian wondered. "Is that why you're so unhappy Donna?" Donna practically choked on her cake. "Ahaha! No, Lian, nothing like that." Donna assured Lian. "I figured," Lian sighed, pinching her dad's side. "But I was hoping he was eating for two." "Hey now-!" Roy almost dropped his plate as he squirmed. "It's cool daddy, I like you better this way." Lian giggled. "You make the best pillow when we stay up late watching movies and you're a lot happier than you were before." "True. So thanks for that, Donna." The three of them set everything down on the coffee table before they began to really talk. Donna looked down at her hands, folded in her lap, as Roy and Lian aimed their attention solely on her. "I know my behavior has been bizarre lately-" Donna started. "I wouldn't call it 'bizarre'-" Roy added. "But with all the ridiculousness of the past few years and how badly things went for all of us," Donna began to list the horrible things everyone went through, "Prometheus, the Black Lanterns, the Villains for Hire, and then the time Barry Allen and Dr. Manhattan stole from us, I've been feeling… I-I guess I'd call it regret." "Regret?" Roy was confused, wondering what she was referring to, "For what?" Donna looked at Lian before she spoke again. "Lian," Donna felt uncomfortable just remembering what happened, "You know about what happened after you…" "Died?" Lian finished. Roy and Donna both winced. Her death. One of the most painful moments of Roy's life. A senseless accident that was a harbinger for what felt like an eternity of unhappiness for both the Harpers and their extended family. "Um. Yeah. I-I do." Lian reluctantly confirmed. "The last time your dad and I spoke before things got really bad, at your, um," God Donna hated everything right now, "Funeral. It wasn't great." "I know about that too." Lian revealed rather somberly. She knew about the awful things her father had screamed at Donna regarding the deaths of her own children. How he'd accused her of "Whoring in space" with Kyle Rayner while her son died in a car crash. Which absolutely wasn't true, by the way. "Looking back on it, I've felt, yes, what your dad said to me was really out of line, but I shouldn't have let that stop me from trying to help." Donna was now referring to how almost everyone in Roy's life had completely, utterly failed at trying to help him deal with Lian's death. Even with how aggressive he'd turned in the most recent days after Lian died, the lack of empathy most of Roy's friends had given was astonishing. It hurt worse because it turned out more had been going on than everyone assumed, which they would've noticed had they really paid attention to Roy's behavior. "Donna-" "No. Please let me get this off my chest." Donna stood and seated herself in a chair away from Roy and Lian, so she could get a better look at them as she spoke. "I've been wondering about if maybe, if I'd tried harder to reach out to you Roy, when you started slipping, then maybe things wouldn't have reached the point they did. I've seen how much you've worked towards making it up to Lian, and how hard you've been trying with Tommy. I feel like if I'd been more help back then, you wouldn't have needed to work so hard now." "I didn't 'slip,' Donna," Roy firmly told her, owning up to his actions, "I did drugs, called you a whore, tried to kill Dick and Mia, and joined Deathstroke's fake Titans because I was angry and using Lian as an excuse to justify all the crap I pulled." "I'm not trying to absolve you of the stuff you did Roy-" "He's been doing his best for me and Tommy!" Lian interjected, almost pleaded, to Donna, to immediately make her feel better and end this unbearable moment. "And I help with Tommy too! Plus I already forgave him for all that, a-and he apologized to Uncle Dick and Mia, anyway!" "It's alright, Etai Yazi." Roy tried to soothe her. "I'm sorry, is what I'm trying to say. I didn't do enough to help after Lian died. When Robbie and Jen passed away, I-I don't even want to get into some of the stuff that went through my head. You wanna believe part of me hated you, Roy? Because you still had Lian and I barely saw Robbie at that point after the divorce? I should've been more forgiving after that argument." "And so you've been worrying so much lately, doing all that cooking and baking…?" "I wanted to do something more tangible to show I care and that I wanted to make up for it." Donna finally admitted. "I've been trying to pay attention. It's easy to say stuff about doing everything I can to help, but I figured this was the best way to show it." Roy and Lian looked at each other and then looked at Donna. "Well, I've been trying." Donna sighed and sank back in the chair. No one said anything for a minute that seemed to last hours, before Roy stood up. "Donna, can you stand up please?" Roy extended his hand towards her. "Huh?" "Come on, up and at 'em." Roy said. As Donna took Roy's hand, he pulled her into a tight embrace as Lian stood behind Donna and placed her hands around her waist." "Listen Wonder Chick," Roy began, "you've got nothing to be sorry about and nothing to apologize for. I heard about what happened with the Black Lanterns, and you'd have been totally justified for taking my head off after what I said." Roy referred to the nightmarish ordeal where Donna encountered a zombified version of son, whom she tried to kill in order to stop. It didn't work, and what she did continued to haunt Donna even though Robbie was alive again. "Yeah, I would have and he's my dad." Lian agreed. "Even before I found out, I didn't blame you for anything. You didn't do anything wrong. It's not right for you to blame yourself when you needed help too after what you went through. And I'm sorry I made you feel like you had to make it up to us." Donna wasn't sure what to say. "Come on, I hate seeing so unhappy. What can I do to make you feel better?" "Yeah, what can WE do?" Lian corrected. Donna relaxed, and smiled. Roy and Lian let go and she sighed, a sigh of relief instead of unhappiness. There'd been too much sighing today. "For starters, next weekend you can make breakfast for me, Robbie, and Jen when she visits." Donna joked, then sniffed and wiped away a tear from her eye. "And then the six of us, Tommy included, can spend the afternoon baking at the Tower." Donna mused. "Snickerdoodles, peanut?" Roy conspired with Lian, taking Donna totally seriously. "Roy I'm ki-" "How about something with macadamia nuts?" Lian wondered. "No good, Jen's allergic to nuts." Roy surprised Donna by mentioning that since she wasn't aware he knew of her children's allergies. "Okay then snickerdoodles!" Lian declared. "Does that help?" Roy asked Donna, mock pouting with puppy dog eyes. "Snickerdoodles?" "You're both such dorks." Donna held his hand. "Well, DUH." Both Harpers said. "Besides, I'm the Titan who's supposed to be constantly ashamed of themselves." Roy joked. "It's kind of my whole shtick, in case you hadn't noticed." "Yeah, stop stealing my dad's shtick!" Lian ordered. "It's all he has going for him. It's bad enough you made him fat!" "Yeah, it's bad enough you made me fat!" Roy parroted his daughter. That was too much for Donna and she started to laugh, and laugh, and laugh.

[judedeluca]

A way to describe the New 52/Rebirth using Madoka Magica

So, this was just an idea I had to try and explain all the inconsistencies with the New/52 and Rebirth since, even though Rebirth is incorporating stuff from the old *cough real* DCU, it’s still incorporating those things and trying to shove them into the framework of the New 52.

In Madoka Magica, you had witches that created barriers, pocket dimension like areas that they were able to manipulate and mold to their whims and liking. At the end of Rebellion Story, Homura Akemi essentially places the entire universe within a barrier of her own when she ascends to godhood as Homucifer. So the universe is now within her realm of influence. But things  are not necessarily stable within a witch’s barrier, and things epically went to shit in Homura’s soul gem when she realized she was a witch.

So let’s say that Dr. Manhattan put the DCU within a barrier of his own. Within this realm he was free to alter and manipulate things to his liking, much like Homura has done. But there were problems from the beginning. Inconsistencies. People’s memories were changing on a regular basis, forgetting and remembering teams and people and not being aware of these changes. That’s because Manhattan was making them as he went along. Like why suddenly there was only one Titans team.

But then a couple of things happen. The pre-Flashpoint Lois Lane and Superman appear, because they were outside of time and space when Manhattan made his changes. That wasn’t so bad. But then the original Wally West returned, slowly at first. His presence began to bleed through just a little and it changed the people who used to be Titans back into Titans. Let it be known there was no way he could exist in this world because there already was a Wally West, and yet somehow he was able to make it through the cracks and returned. This created a backlash and more cracks appeared. Suddenly Rose Wlson is half-Cambodian again. The Amazons aren’t rapists anymore. Barbara Gordon was Oracle. Dinah Drake is Dinah Lance. There was a JSA. People’s memories began to shift as did their ages and their bodies. Manhattan’s barrier is becoming unstable because the real DCU is trying to fight back and return, but he’s still trying to control the world. How? By forcing the old DCU to conform to his version of it. He’s trying to make what memories people are gaining back alter to fit within the framework he established. That’s why Wally West is now remembering the Titans only as they “were” in the New 52, not in the pre-Flashpoint DCU like he originally did in the “Rebirth” one shot. That’s why the two Supermen and Lois Lanes were merged together. The Rebirth universe is still HIS universe, but his grip is slipping.

What I’m saying is Geoff Johns ripped off Madoka Magica.

Eh, it’s just an idea.

[davidmann95]

If YOU were the head of DC and the fans did actually want the clean slate DCU, what would you've done (especially regarding the following properties: Superman, Wonder Woman, Teen Titans, Flash and Justice League. No need for Batman since that's pretty much the only that doesn't really matter given his popularity and sales)

I went a little into this before with the ‘5 ways to fix/improve universe reboots’, but basically: a year before actually relaunching the whole line, DC puts out a shiny new Superman #1, in parallel to rather than replacing the existing books, telling the origin of the character over 12 issues as he’ll exist after the reboot. A few months after that starts, Batman #1 and Wonder Woman #1 doing the same for them. Six months before the reboot, Flash #1/Green Lantern #1/Aquaman #1. All marketed specifically as “hey, while we wind down our main universe, these are the first titles of the reboot, get in on the ground floor right here”. Or hell, maybe instead it’s an OGN origin for each of the characters, one every month or two. Culminating in a set of 80-page giants outlining the basics of their new status quo in the present of (1/5/20/?) years later, and a big Justice League special showing how they all got together for the first time. THEN you relaunch the rest of the line into the new universe.

I realize that’s a bit elaborate, but I think it’d have a few major beneficial effects:

1. Everybody has a full year to get used to the idea of the old universe ending - including the creators, who have time to resolve their existing plots.

2. DC’s spent a year thinking about and building up how this new world is going to work. A foundation has been laid down.

3. Those 5-6 books would sell like crazy as new #1s, Ultimate-style continuity-free jumping on points, and windows into what DC will look like a year from now. 

4. Since obviously major talent would be assigned to them and they’d presumably rock it for the most part, that’s a year’s worth of goodwill built up towards the new universe before it even properly starts.

5. When the universe actually properly restarts, there’s no need to go over the origins of the big guns again; you can go read the pre-reboot miniseries if you want the background. The major characters can hit the ground running.

Even once the rest of the line moved into the present though, I’d keep a small set of books set in the past; a Superman title with a lower-powered Clark who isn’t with Lois yet and Lex still as an untouchable corporate baron, a Batman and Robin title with Bruce and Dick, a Flash title with Barry and Wally, a Justice League with the founding seven, and a Titans book with the classic team. This would continue to flesh out the background of the world and let creators play with the classic setups without having to bend over backwards to get them back in the present, clearing the main books to try different stuff.

As for the larger world I’d set up…I don’t want to go too much into how I’d switch everything around (I’ve got like 30 pages on how I’d revamp Superman), but lots of white straight characters wouldn’t be anymore - including Superman, I’d have him look like Oscar Isaac, thought for awhile that’d be good casting - Wally would probably be Flash again, the Titans would be made up of what’s currently the third generation characters (Damian/Jon/Irey/etc.), Zauriel would replace Hawkman the way he should have twenty years ago, and most pretensions of the universe as looking anything like are own would be dropped, moving instead into full-on Morrison-style super-sci-fi territory where every chunk of the world basically plays completely by its own rules.

[davidmann95]

Roll Call of the Supermen (slight spoilers)

So Multiplicity finally hit, and it was indeed The Business much as I’d hoped. It really did shock me how far putting Ivan Reis and Joe Prado on this went to make it feel like Superman is being treated for a moment as an A-list book again (not that the likes of Gleason, Jimenez and Mahnke aren’t all top-tier themselves, but Reis lends a “this is a MAJOR EVENT” feel to any project he winds up on his with his smooth detailing and widescreen feel), and given his stint on at least the start of JLA with the Lord Havok arc, it seems all Multiversity followups for the moment are under his purview.

But while most of the guest appearances are probably (and I expect intentionally) easy to recognize or figure out - here’s the Superman from that characters’ most popular Elseworlds and even if you don’t know him you can figure out “he’s a Russian Superman, that’s his deal”, here’s a pseudo Justice League, they’ve got a Flash-type person and a Superman who’s apparently President and Iron Man even though they can’t call him Iron Man, etc. - but the big shot at the end where you see some of the other Supermen dragged into the advertised get-together gets a little more obscure.

It doesn’t help that several of the Earth numbers attached are flat-out wrong, because as it’s always worth remembering, Eddie’s a bad editor as well as a bad guy. Hell, he edited The Multiversity Guidebook, he should know that shit as well as anyone! Luckily however, I’m kind of a Superman guy, so if anybody hasn’t read Multiversity lately, I’ve got what you need. Heading down each row from left to right:

Bizarro of Earth 29: The Superman of the Bizarro universe, he’s pretty much just regular Bizarro. He had a really fun one-shot by the Pak/Kuder team in Action Comics #40.

Ultraman of Earth 43: The Superman on a world loosely based on Red Rain, where Batman was turned into a vampire to defeat Count Dracula, only to succumb to his curse and spread it to the rest of the Justice League. However, given that he’s for some reason Ultraman - and the fate of Ultraman in Final Crisis - it seems he may actually be the Pre-Flashpoint Ultraman, somehow given a monstrous second chance. Last we saw him he was part of an invasion force on the darkly magical Earth 13 - he was attacked by the Kal-El/Etrigan fusion Superdemon, until Zatanna redirected his hunger towards coffee.

Super-Martian of Earth 32: From a world home to a number of mash-up characters like Bat-Lantern and Aquaflash united as the Justice Titans, he’s fairly self-descriptive.

New Super-Man of Earth 0: Kenan Kong, who absorbed the New 52 Superman’s life energy after his passing and his learning to grow beyond the schoolyard bully he used to be; his origin is probably why the invaders thought of him as the native Superman of the main DCU. He’s got his own book at the moment, feel free to check it out.

Sunshine Superman of Earth 47: Debuting way back during Morrison’s Animal Man, he protects the funkiest of all possible Earths as the leader of the Love Syndicate of Dreamworld.

Superman II (?) of Earth 2: We don’t get a good look at him, but the design of his suit would suggest he’s Val-Zod, a Kryptonian survivor who took over the mantle after the death of his worlds’ Kal-El. Don’t know much about him beyond that, or whether or not him being here complicates or contradicts anything going on in the Earth-2 book.

Superwoman of Earth 11: What it says on the tin; while there are some notable differences on this gender-altered Earth (the Amazons took a more direct hand in world affairs for one thing), she’s pretty much exactly like her main Earth counterpart aside from being a woman. Though given she was captured rather than dismissed as an anomaly, it’s fair to say she probably hasn’t died and been replaced by her Pre-Flashpoint incarnation lately.

Supremo of Earth 35: Not helped by being identified as from Earth 50 (home of the Justice Lords), this is actually a DC-Multiverse version of Supreme, heading up the Super-Americans. His Earth was noted as being designed in ‘idea-space’ by the Monitors to reflect other worlds, and while that’s probably just a gag at his source-materials’ nature as a pastiche character, for all we know it could somehow prove important.

Superman (?) of Earth 31: We don’t actually know his name, but he’s the Superman figure of a post-apocalyptic flooded Earth where Pirate Batman (aka Captain Leatherwing) is one of the last arbiters of justice. Fun fact: this was originally supposed to be the Earth of The Dark Knight Returns - Earth-31 was pre-Flashpoint, and Klaus Janson was going to draw an image for the The Multiversity Guidebook - but Frank Miller nixed it when he heard what was up.

Superman of Earth 22: We can’t actually see him, but if the numbers’ right, this is the Superman of Kingdom Come, and you know what that is. If you’ve read all of 10 DC books in your entire life, odds are fair that it was one of them.

Knightwing of Earth 38: Another mislabel (Earth 45′s is Superdoomsday from Morrison’s Action Comics), Clark Wayne is the grandson of both Superman and Batman in Superman/Batman: Generations. Exposed to Gold Kryptonite in the womb by his father (Joel Kent, Superman’s son. Who had...issues with the rest of his family), he ended up raised by Batman’s son Bruce Jr./Batman III, who eventually made him his Robin. When he learned of his full lineage and regained the powers of his birthright, he stuck with his recently-acquired new name of Knightwing as a happy medium between the inheritances of both bloodlines.

Superman of Earth ???: Misidentified as the Superman of Earth 38, I actually can’t tell who this is; he’s pretty normal-looking, and while it’s clear there’s a couple non-standard elements to his uniform that don’t immediately match up with anyone, he’s too indistinct and awkwardly-positioned to see for certain. To be honest, what we see of his face makes me think of Christopher Reeve? Unless this is corrected for trade or Tomasi answers my (hopefully polite! It’s awkward to ask anything even remotely ringing of “can you correct this mistake for me”, but I’m sure it was a simple mix-up and I’m really curious) tweet, this is likely to remain a mystery. Until then, it’s safe to assume he’s probably just a generic filler Superman.

Superman of Earth 1: The star of the Superman: Earth One series, and the one guy I sincerely hope bites it by stories’ end. JMS has said he’s not doing more comics anyway, so he’s officially expendable. Then again, it’s so obscure an image, seemingly without a normal s-shield, that this could be a mistake too.

Even aside from those 13, plus the Red Son Superman of Earth 30, President Superman of Earth 23, and regular ‘ol Superman, along with Captain Carrot seemingly being counted as among that fraternity, there’s by my count at least 13 or so more active Supermen on top of that in the current Multiverse, so there’s plenty more last sons of Krypton who could be popping their heads in. In particular I’m curious to see if Earth 8′s Hyperion-equivalent Hyperius shows up, since his mysterious disappearance was one of Multiversity’s bigger dangling threads.