“Dang it Mitch! Listen to what Mr. Feeney tells you!” Stephanie shouted at the TV screen. “So what if he’s a car!” She scarfed down a handful of popcorn then sighed, putting the DVD on pause. “I’m so bored,” she muttered, slipping off the couch and padding into the kitchen to refill her drink. “They could have popped in and picked me up on the way to Paris, but nooooo… They had to leave me here. Alone. Talking to myself. Keep this up, Steph, and they’ll stick you in Arkham.” The young blonde headed back to the huge television set, glass of pop in hand. “I wish something would happen.”
Just then the tower’s proximity alarm went off, so loud that it startled Stephanie. The pop spilled out of her glass when she jumped and stained the couch. “I wish I’d make my wishes more specific,” she growled as she ran to the computer room, hitting a few buttons to bring up the security camera outside.
Stephanie breathed a sigh of relief as she noticed two identical young men outside the front door. “Okay, no problem. Just a couple of teens goofing around. I’ll go tell them to get…” Her voice trailed off as she watched the two men turned into four, then eight, then sixteen. “That can’t be good.”
The men took out a number of tools from their packs and started trying to cut their way into the tower. Stephanie turned on the tower’s automated defenses before rushing off to her room. “That can’t be good at all.”
* * * * *
The chase had been long, exhausting, and futile. Every street that the Titans ran through without finding Madam Rouge made Beast Boy’s fuse shorter and shorter, and he ran faster and faster around each corner. After an hour’s searching, Gar was nearly out of sight of the rest of the team, panting and shifting his form constantly to try to keep himself going. Despite his efforts, Gar’s energy finally ran out, and the rest of the Titans caught up to him. He had fallen to his knees in the street, back in his human form and grinding his teeth.
“Finally,” Carla muttered, she and Juan having spent the time zipping back and forth between Gar and their slower teammates. “Watch yourself, greenie, you’re wasting your energy.”
“She’s right,” Juan backed up his sister, bending to lay a hand on Garfield’s shoulder.
Raven and Vic made their way up the street, in time to see Gar’s fist pound into the pavement. “I can’t…I’ve got to get her, I can’t stop now! She’s somewhere, she’s gotta be close.”
“You won’t catch anything in this state,” Raven knelt as well. Gar kept his head toward the floor, until her finger touched his chin. “You can’t hide this from me. You don’t even have the energy to change.”
Gar reached his head up and glared at her, pulling himself back up to stand. “I can so! I’m fine, I’m gonna keep going. So come on, let’s
go!” he urged them, but Raven was right. Gar gritted his teeth and tried to focus, willing his body into a cheetah’s shape, but his snout snapped right back into a nose, and the effort left him bending over for breath again.
“Dude, you’re scaring me.” Vic stepped in front of Garfield, to keep him from trying to go anywhere else. His eyes were wider than normal, and one iris turned and whirled with the machinery embedded inside. “You’re not this dumb.”
“I just have to find her,” Garfield repeated, but he didn’t make any more of an effort to stand.
The day had dawned by the time he paused his chase, and the busier streets were beginning to fill up again. The Teen Titans moved themselves out of the way in order to regroup, finding a small park. The benches were cold from the night and stiff besides, but they were seats, and Raven ventured into the nearest cluster of shops to return with breakfast. “We’ll resume searching soon. When we’re rested for the fighting.”
Beast Boy left his food untouched, until Raven prompted him again. “You more than any of us, you need energy. We are going to find Madam Rouge. And when we do, it’ll be you who she fights the hardest.”
“She doesn’t work that way,” Gar replied. “Yeah, I’m the one she knows who I am. But you’re all fighting her too. She’s not gonna play favorites.”
“Then I guess it’s good we’re all here.” Carla ran her fingers through her hair, grimacing at the knots that had formed, and again at a piece of broken glass still trapped. “I know I’m waiting to give the bitch another run for her money. Favorite or no.”
Garfield felt himself starting to smile, and hid it in his cup of coffee. “You guys…you know you guys are awesome, right?”
“What, for this?” Vic sat next to him. “Nah, you just ain’t been around people enough. Everyone runs around foreign cities chasing super-villains for their buds. No big deal.”
“Even if,” Gar chuckled, his spirits picking up with the sunrise, “you didn’t have to care.”
Raven stood behind the bench, looking down over Garfield. “You’re searching for your family. How could we not?”
“And you’d do the same for us,” Vic looked around at the rest of the team, and his face fell a bit at their expressions. “Well, when you could. I’ve got my parents, these two got each other,” he indicated the twins, “and…” Vic trailed off at the look on Raven’s face.
She nodded softly. “I think we all know what it is to feel alone in the world, regardless of the reality. And if we can do anything to save one of our own from that feeling, I for one will never stop caring.”
Juan nodded as well, and Carla let her folded arms fall to her sides, less-guarded. “You’ve got us, right? Titans Together, and all that,” Juan said.
“We’ll find her together. Soon,” his sister added impatiently.
“Titans Together...” Gar repeated, and jumped up off of the bench. “Okay! So let’s have at it!”
“Are you sure you’re ready to search again,” Raven asked him, a hand on Gar’s shoulder.
In response, he shifted himself, from his human form down to a small mouse, and all the way up again to a kangaroo. He stood on his tail and kicked out his legs, moving his arms like a boxer. “Lemme at her, I’m good!”
“Yup, he’s back to normal,” Carla muttered, with a hidden laugh behind her hand.
“Then let’s do this,” Vic pounded one fist into his other hand.
Another quick shift, and Beast Boy was on the trail again. He padded before the team as a bloodhound, bringing the scent of Madam Rouge’s house back into his sensitive nose. The smells of the city were myriad and varied, but he kept his focus as the team set into the streets. And after so long searching, hours of relentless perseverance, he caught the scent.
His howl bounced between the tight-knit buildings all around them, and Gar slipped into a cheetah’s skin for speed, now that he had the trail. The rest of the Teen Titans followed him quickly; Mas y Menos flitting across the path in front of him, Raven and Cyborg keeping the rear, all five determined, and more than ready for a rematch.
* * * * *
“This is gonna be easy, Billy.” One of the men put on his protective goggles and started to cut into the tower’s main door with a oxyacetylene torch.
“Darn right, Billy!” another replied. “Taking over Titans Tower while the Titans are away! Yeehaw! Gonna have us some – oomph!” He doubled over, clutching his stomach. Turrets popped up all over the field as the towers defenses kicked in, firing an assortment of non-lethal armaments. Rubber bullets, nets and capsules of pepper spray began to rain down on the intruders.
The Billys scrambled in all directions. Some crashed into each other as they tired to flee, while others dove for cover. A few, however, began to multiply again, using some of their numbers to block the others and advance on the turrets.
“Whew, guess they all left some surprises for folks like us, eh Billy?” the goggled one said before going back to cutting, when the other Billys swarmed the defenses hard enough to break them.
“Looks like, but they’re no match for Billy Numerous!”
* * * * *
Up in the control room, Spoiler listened in and watched the Billys. “Great. All the villains that I could have to deal with, and I get Multiple Man’s red-necked cousin.” Steph leaned closer, and caught sight of what happened to the clones who had been hit by her turrets: they vanished as fast as they had multiplied. “All I have to do is knock out all fifty of them. Great. Time to call in the cavalry.” Stephanie reached for the phone, only to hear the whine of the power going out all through the Tower. “Great!” she hissed. “They must have cut the lines. Well the back up generation should be kicking in anytime now.” She stood in the darkness for a moment. “Anytime…” Still, there was no familiar hum of electricity, and no light. “Oh this day’s just getting better and better. Maybe the Joker will show up next.”
Spoiler dashed from the control room, making her way down the tower’s many stairs. “I told them we should put a fire pole in but noooo!” she muttered, reaching the third floor. She was starting down towards the second when she heard a loud metal clang, followed by cheers. “Okay, Steph,” the blonde said to herself, slowing down. “Time to start being sneaky. Get down to the back up generator, fix whatever’s wrong and let the tower defenses take care of these losers.”
Fortunately, with the power loss, it was nearly pitch black in the tower, allowing Spoiler to move around with far less chance of being spotted. Equally lucky was the fact that Stephanie’s mask included low-light vision in its design.
Hiding around a corner on the second floor, Spoiler kept watch. Soon enough, her first victims came along. Three of the Billys wandered in, one holding a flashlight. “Hey boys,” Spoiler said, stepping into view.
“What the… It’s that Spoiler chick!” Billy shouted out. “Get her!”
Stephanie threw a flash grenade at the ground between then when they ran toward her, guarding her eyes with her other arm. The pellet exploded in a bright burst of light and a loud bang.
“Aaaaa! She blinded me!”
“With Science!” Spoiler added, diving into the middle of the three, taking them out before they could recover from the flashbang. When she was finished, she looked around. Only the flashlight remained, the unconscious Billys having vanished just like the ones she’s seen outside. “At least clean up will be easy,” she said to herself and turned off the flashlight.
“It came from over here!” Spoiler heard another Billy shout. Steph ducked back around the corner, as three more intruders arrived.
“Ain’t nothing here!”
“Split up and search, then.” The three Billys multiplied into nine, and three headed in each direction. Stephanie dashed down the hallway ahead of them. Behind her, she heard them checking each room. Looking around Spoiler quickly spotted her escape: an air vent. The young blonde slipped inside, and crawled about ten feet before her cape got caught on something.
“Damn it!” Stephanie hissed, throwing off her hood and cape. She left them there as she continued, slowly making her way downwards and intending to come back for them later. The air vent was cramped, making it difficult for Spoiler to move, but at least it was unlikely the Billys could follow her through it. She managed to successfully ambush two more groups before she made a mistake.
Steph snuck up on a pair of Billys, but neglected to knock out the first one she hit. While she was dealing with the second, the started to multiply. Before long, there were too many Billys to fight. Stephanie retreated as quick as she could, only her gymnastics training keeping her from being grabbed. Even then, as she pulled herself into the air vent, one of the Billys caught hold of her left leg.
“Let go!” she cried out, kicking at the hand, until her right leg was grabbed as well. Spoiler desperately held onto the vent from the inside as they tried to pull her back out. As a last ditch maneuver she undid her utility belt, and the Billys tumbled into a pile as they yanked her pants off. Stephanie disappeared into the vent just at the last second.
“Yeehaw!” one of the Billys shouted, standing up, holding her pants. “Looks like we got ourselves a little trophy!”
They all laughed. “Wonder if she goes commando under her costume,” one said.
“No I don’t!”
* * * * *
They couldn’t tell later on whether she had been baiting them, or testing them, or simply going about her daily business. But Madam Rouge didn’t seem surprised when the Titans finally found her again. She had stolen a backpack somewhere along the line, and it sat full to bursting with gems and cash on her slender back; right now, she was a leggy blonde in flirty tourists’ clothes. The thefts had been little more than something to pass the time -- and pay for the damage done to her apartment. But when the Titans rounded the corner and spread themselves into fighting position, Beast Boy pointing his paw right at her, Rouge slipped back into her natural skin.
“Are you still looking for me, Little Beast?” She asked, her voice carrying with the wind over the open plaza where they had found her. Rouge stood still, as the Titans fanned out around her, only pausing to drop her stolen loot. “I should have guessed. You always were too foolish to quit.”
Beast Boy stood back on his two legs, looking right at her with his face calm. His friends were on either side of him, more than ready to back him up; Mas y Menos twitching their muscles and keeping their lightning reflexes ready, Raven and Cyborg keeping eyes on the civilians who still sauntered through the area. Gar only had eyes for his enemy. He asked her one more time. “What do you know?”
Her smile curled too far on her lip, as Rouge started to stretch herself taller and thinner. “Nothing I’m going to tell you. It’s too good, knowing how far you still must search.”
“You sure about that?” The voice in her ear made Madam Rouge whirl around, right into the punch that Mas held at the ready when she zipped into position. “I earned that one, bitch.”
The first punch was thrown, the gates flung open, and the Titans pulled together into a tight circle around the villain. Rouge grimaced and twisted the skin over her cheek to keep the bruise from blossoming, and she shot up into the air, her skin rippling in the wind as she stretched it thin over a towering form. Her hair shrunk into her head as it grew, the mad smile stretching Cheshire-like over her widening face, as Madam Rouge took full advantage of her powers, boosting her strength, her stride, stretching herself as far as she could go.
The spectators screamed; Raven barely glanced at the rest of the team before nodding and leaving them to close the circle. She took a long breath and focused her energies, the dark aura radiating out of her to surround the combatants. “Remain calm!” She shouted to the crowd, holding her arms out to either side to control the swirling magic as it made a barrier, pushing the civilians out of range. The words were in English, and only some of the people understood them, but the tone of her voice was as clear as any French announcement. “Please clear the area, so that we can keep you safe!”
Some of the crowd stayed to watch as Madam Rouge reared up, though they stepped several feet backwards. Others fled, their fear winning out over their curiosity. Rouge stood at least ten feet tall now, her body twisted and contorted as she looked down at her enemies. Only Beast Boy still had his eyes on hers, not taking them away for a moment, while the other Titans worried at her legs. With a sweep of wings, Beast Boy made himself into an eagle, matching her height above the ground to keep his gaze boring in her eyes. “What do you know?”
“I know the five of you couldn’t defeat me yesterday,” she tossed back.
“That was yesterday!” Cyborg’s shout up to the sky came as a beacon for the spinning kick he threw to the back of her knee, leaping off the ground to reach it. Something crunched, and Cyborg fell heavily back down to the ground, but not before Rouge’s rubber face contorted in pain.
“You just got lucky,” Menos added, his fists flying at lightning speed as they pounded into Rouge’s side. In her pain, the woman was shrinking, losing the control and focus she had needed to create her monstrous form. With every one of Menos’ punches, his fists found another inch of skin that he hadn’t hit yet.
Mas was in her element, excitable and erratic as she wove through Rouge’s legs, zipping out of the way and winding around the other woman as she shrank. “Of course, yesterday we thought you might not be a crazy bitch. Today we know better.”
As Madam Rouge continued to shrink back to her normal size, three sides surrounded and Beast Boy still circling overhead, Raven closed in her circle of magic, the swirling blackness full in her control. A siren sounded from a street nearby, its meaning clear in any country. “You are beaten. You have harmed many over your years, and you will pay for your crimes,” Raven said calmly. “There is no use left in trying to flee. There is no crowd for you to hide in, no one to be fooled by your disguises. Surrender, and we won’t have to harm you.”
The teeth in the rubbery, thin-stretched jaw clenched tightly, and Rouge continued to shift, her body a parade of colors and shapes even as the Titans closed in on her. Her arms stretched out far to either side, throwing long, whipping punches. Menos was thrown aside by one of them, and his sister ran to help him up; in that small second, Rouge ran for the circle of magic, ready to break through into freedom.
She hadn’t counted on Raven’s soul-self. The moment Rouge’s skin touched the black swirl, a staggering pain crashed through her body, sending her flying. Rouge screamed, landing hard on the cobblestones with the wind missing from her chest. Behind her, Raven winced as well; the circle wobbled, but held fast, and Raven’s magic had done its job. Beast Boy was over her in a flash, standing in his human shape and glowering down at his enemy. “What. Do you. Know. Where are they?”
Rouge twisted and squirmed, but it was no use; the strength had been sapped from her body when she touched the barrier, and her limbs fell useless at her side. “You’ll never find them…where they are is somewhere you’ll never be able to go.”
Their eyes met steadily, both sets narrowed and neither looking away. There were no more words to be said. Beast Boy gritted his teeth and clenched his fist, and threw one solid, human punch into Madam Rouge’s face. Her head fell to one side, and only her soft breathing remained.
When Gar stood up again, he looked around at the rest of the team. Carla and Vic were both smirking, Juan running back from having gone to lead the police to their position, Raven gathering her soul-self back into her body with a look of relief. “Come on guys. Let’s go home.”
* * * * *
“I am
so glad the camera’s aren’t working right now,” Stephanie muttered as she dropped down into the generator room, just wearing her shirt, mask and a pair of spandex shorts. “And glad Gar isn’t here to make a joke about ‘fan service’. Of course if they were here I wouldn’t be in this mess…” She sighed and checked out the generator. “Out of gas. Great. Who’s the idiot who’s suppose to be checking it this we…” Her voice trailed off as she checked the list, realizing that ‘idiot’ was her. “Never mind then.”
Spoiler quickly grabbed the nearby gas can, thanking whatever superior beings that might be listening that there was gas in it. She had nearly filled the generator’s tank when she heard the door start opening. Hiding quickly, Stephanie watched the door. Another Billy entered. Steph waited until he got close, Gripping the gas can tightly, then lashed out. There was a clang as the can connected with Billy’s head, knocking him down and out, but this one didn’t vanish.
“Must be the real Billy,” she said to herself, looking around the room. Stephanie wanted to make sure he couldn’t multiply and free himself if he awoke, before she dealt with the others… assuming there were still others. She wasn’t sure if the copies would still exist when the original was knocked out. “Ah-ha!” Spoiler grinned under her mask. Grabbing the unconscious Billy, she dragged him to the nearby trash disposal and pushed him in. Even if he did wake up now, he wouldn’t be able to escape the bin until the cops arrived… she hoped.
The heroine quickly turned on the power, lights coming back on as the generator hummed to life. “Now all I need to do is get back up to the control room,” she said, dashing up the stairs.
“That could be a problem,” a voice said behind her. In her joy at getting the generator up and running, Spoiler hadn’t realized she’d run right into the entrance hall, where half a dozen Billys were waiting. “How about you give up, little girl,” Billy said. “Promise we won’t hurt you if you do,” he grinned wickedly. “You might even enjoy it.”
Stephanie quickly glanced around. She was too far from any escape; she’d have to fight. “How about I give you a bit of a show first?” she said, pulling off the shirt of her costume, revealing a black tank-top underneath.
“Looks like we’re going have some fun with this one, eh Billy?”
“Damn right, Billy!” What the Billys didn’t know was how heavily-padded Stephanie’s suit was. As soon as she had joined the team she’d taken the chance to include the top of the line bulletproof clothing into her costume, protecting her limbs from small arms fire and her torso and head from anything short of a .50 caliber bullet. She had also added a pouch to the back where she stored her laptop, designed to protect it from electro-magnetic pulses and damage from being knocked around. Despite the advanced technology from Wayne Tech that made the cloth thin and allowed her quite a bit of freedom of movement, it was still heavy. Including her laptop, Stephanie figured it had to weight at least ten pounds.
The advantage of all this was that all her training with her costume on had increased Stephanie’s speed and stamina. Without it she was quick, really quick, as the Billys were about to discover.
Spoiler swung her top at the closest Billy and knocked him off balance, before she charged them. Her gymnastic and cheerleading training letting her move quickly and smoothly through her opponents. She used all the knowledge and skill from the self-defense training her and her friend Carrie had taken a few years ago in Gotham, to the moves Red Hood had taught her recently, as well as a few techniques Cass had shown her.
Had she been fighting skilled warriors, she’d have had no chance. But it soon became apparent that the only advantage Billy had over her was one of numbers. One that was slowly evaporating.
Finally, she nailed one of the Billys between the legs, following up with an uppercut that left him out on his feet. As he crumpled to the ground all the other Billys vanished. She looked at the unconscious Billy for a moment. “Two of them,” she said… confused a bit. “Oh well,” Stephanie added with a shrug, dragging this Billy to the nearest garbage chute and tossing him in as well. “Time to call the cops and get them to take out the garbage.”
* * * * *
Thirty minutes later, Spoiler was back in her full costume, watching as two-dozen cops escorted the two Billys into the back of a paddy wagon.
“Great plan, Billy Ray,” one hissed. “Let’s take over Titans Tower.”
“Oh, shut up, Billy Bob!” the other growled.
“Thanks… Spoiler, right?” the officer in charge said. “We’ve been after these two for a while.”
“All in a days work,” Stephanie replied. “Might want to make sure they get a nice big cell though,” she joked.
After the police had left, and the electrician had fixed the power lines, Spoiler turned her attention to clean up the tower. When she was done, she turned on another episode of Night Rider and flopped down on the couch, and soon the young woman was fast asleep.
A short while later the rest of the team returned from France. “Don’t worry,” Cyborg told Beast Boy. “We’ll find them. I promise you.”
“Yeah,” Carla added before looking over at Stephanie sleeping on the couch. “Look at this. We’re out there fighting for our lives and she’s the one sleeping.” She shook her head and walked off. The rest of the team headed to there own rooms, Gar taking a moment to cover Stephanie up with a nearby blanket before heading off to bed as well.
