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MAY 10 |
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“A New Start: Round Two”
The alarm blared once again, alerting its owner that it was time to get up. And once again a hand reached over and slapped the snooze button for what must have been the fifth time. Sitting up in bed, Tim Drake wiped his eyes, yawned, and stretched. Before he could get out of bed a slender arm slid around his waist and the other traced the burn scar on the right side of his back before it went over his shoulder and she hugged him.
“Good morning Megan,” Tim said as he took her hand that was over his shoulder and kissed it.
“Mmm, you might want to check the time lil’ bird,” the red haired young woman named Megan said as she kissed Tim on the cheek before pointing at the time on the clock. “It’s one in the afternoon babe.”
“It was a long night I guess,” Tim said as he stood up and stretched a bit. “What time did I show up?”
Laying back down Megan pulled the covers up to her neck before answering. “You showed up about six this morning,” she said as she rolled over and watched as Tim got down on his stomach and started doing pushups. “You know maybe just once we can actually see each other that doesn’t involve you showing up in a mask,” Megan said as she put Tim’s mask over her face. “What do you think?”
“It’s you,” he replied as he got off the floor and leaned on the bed and kissed her. “I’ve gotta get going. Do I..”
“Still have the bag with a change of clothes in it?” Megan finished before Tim could. “In the closet towards the back.”
“You always know what I’m gonna say,” Tim chuckled as he opened Megan’s closet and removed a black backpack.
“What can I say, it’s a talent,” Megan commented as she got off the bed and wrapped the bed sheet around her body. Walking over to the other side of her room Megan moved a chair and picked up a ball of clothing that consisted of colors ranging from red, green, yellow, and black. “I think you might want to take this with you,” she said tossing Tim his costume.
Catching the costume Tim looked at it for a moment before laying it beside the backpack. “Yeah that would be a good idea,” once he changed clothes and had stowed his costume away in it, he walked into the kitchen.
Megan was already dressed in a white t-shirt and blue jeans when Tim entered the kitchen. “Here you go boy wonder,” she said handing him a bottle water and a pop tart.
“Thanks,” he said as he kissed her on the cheek. “I hate to eat and run but I’m supposed to meet Connor and the others soon.”
Megan smiled as she pushed Tim towards the door. She knew that if she didn’t he would never leave. A thought that made her smile and chuckle on the inside. “I know, now get going,” she said leaning against the door. “Remember I’m going to be out of town for a few days, but I’ll leave the window unlocked in case you need to crash here.”
“Are you ever gonna tell me what you do out there in the desert?”
“You’re the detective, you figure it out,” she said with a sly smile as she closed the door.
As Tim walked down the stairs, a beeping sound could be heard from his pocket. Taking out what looked like a cell phone Tim watched as the T on the front flashed along with the beeping. Opening the phone up he connected with the person on the other end.
“I’m on my way,” Tim said heading towards the red bird that was parked nearby.
“Good to hear fearless leader,” Connor Kent also known as the Teen of Steel, Superboy said as he soared through the air. “I’m in bound now. Had to pay a visit to the farm and check up on Ma and Pa Kent,” he explained as he did a one eighty roll and descended downward.
“See you in a few,” and with that he pressed the Bluetooth device on the side of his head and disconnected with Tim.
Having dinner with the Kents was one of the few things in the world that Connor enjoyed doing that didn’t involve having to use a super power. He never would have thought being normal for even a couple hours would have been possible when you have crazy nut jobs with robot arms wanting to take you down a peg or two. And after everything that he had been through the past year it felt good to be normal.
As he entered California air space Connor made sure to watch for any incoming or outgoing aircrafts. He didn’t want a repeat of a mistake he made one day when he was testing out his super speed flight and ended up crashing into a large transport plane from the military. If it wasn’t for the timely arrival of Superman, Connor knew it would have ended badly. But that was in the past and it was the future he had his sights set on. And one part of that future was waiting for him on the rooftop of the Teen Titans newly renovated warehouse base. She stood there dressed in khaki capris, flip flops, and a white button down that showed off her well toned stomach and her hair was up in a pony tail like it usually was when not in costume. Even from the distance he was at he could tell she was looking at her watch and smiling.
“It’s about time slow poke,” Cassandra Sandmark said with a smile as she waved towards Connor.
“Hey babe,” Connor said as he touched down on the roof, swept his girlfriend in his arms and kissed her for a moment. “Sorry I’m late, but you know how it is when it comes to parents.”
“How are the folks?”
“Good. Ma sends her love and said next time you have to come to dinner too,” Connor replied as she took him by the hand and they started walking towards the roofs exit. “Besides Tim, has everyone else made it?”
“Oh yeah,” Cassie replied. “I’m still not sure about Robin’s latest addition to the team.”
Connor paused for a moment and looked at Cassie with a surprised look. “You mean she actually took him up on his offer?”
“Yeah it kinda surprised me too,” Cassie said as they walked out of the stairwell exit just in time to see the sight of twin katana blades cut through the air and slice a couple arrows in half.
They watched as the blades owner sheathed both swords, spin around, crouch low, and then unleashed several throwing stars. One of the throwing stars cut the string of the archers bow while the other pinned the costume of her right arm to the wall.
“She’s good, I’ll give her that,” Cassie said weary of the team’s newest addition.
“Maybe but let’s see what she does against him,” Connor said as his telescopic vision caught sight of a red and yellow blur moving towards the young woman.
Back down below as the archer released her arm from the wall, her opponent reached in to a pocket on her belt with one hand while grabbing a metal staff from her back. With split second timing she tossed a hand full of metal ball bearings on the ground. As the blur raced towards her focused on winning the sparring match he never noticed the bearings on the ground. When he stepped on them he lost his footing and started stumbling forward and was met with the collapsible Bo staff that clothes-lined him and sent him flying into the wall.
“You have to give her props for that,” Connor said as he clapped his hands.
“I still say she got lucky,” Cassie said in a not too happy tone of voice.
“What do you expect when you’ve been trained by Slade Wilson?” a voice asked from behind them both. Cassie and Connor both turned to see Timothy Drake step out of the shadows.
“Dude you get more and more like Bats every day,” Connor commented.
“I still say it’s dangerous having her here Tim,” Cassie mentioned once again. “I mean Rose Wilson is not exactly the wisest choice for the team,” she made known before turning back to watch Rose help Bart off the ground.
“You never did fill us in on why you made her part of the team,” said Connor.
“Let’s just say that I’m doing someone a favor,” Tim said as watched Rose interact with the other two members of the team. His mind flashed back to several months earlier as he remembered just how Rose became a member of the Teen Titans.
Gotham City
Three Months Earlier
The rain beat down hard on the high rise buildings of the usually dark and gloomy Gotham City. One of the cities protectors Tim Drake aka Robin the Boy Wonder was doing his usual nightly patrol since he had just returned home for summer vacation. Catching a glimpse of a figure down below Robin leapt off the rooftop, firing a grappling hook that once connected allowed him to swing down to where he thought he saw someone moving.
Landing on the rooftop he saw somebody disappear behind an air conditioning unit. As Robin came around the corner he caught sight of someone jumping over the edge of the building.
Tiring of the game of cat and mouse Robin took his grappling gun out and leapt over the side of the building and fired the cable line to another building and used his momentum to swing over a great distance. Landing on the roof he thought he would be able to catch up with whoever it was that was playing the game of cat and mouse with him. Instead all he saw was a plastic bag with a note in it pinned to the ground a few feet from where Robin stood.
Walking over to the bag Robin was cautious as he picked it up. Opening the bag he removed the note inside and read it.
’Meet me at the café near Wayne Towers tomorrow morning at nine thirty. Signed….’
“Slade,” Robin read out loud. He was stunned that someone like Deathstroke would play a game like this when he was experienced enough to probably take him down without Robin even seeing it coming.
“Everything okay Robin?” asked Nightwing as he landed on the rooftop along Robin.
“Fine,” Robin replied as he tucked the bag and note into his belt pocket.
“Good then let’s get going and get out of the rain for a while,” Nightwing said as he took off running and leapt off the building.
Robin took one last look around the area before joining Nightwing.
The Gotham Café
A few minutes before nine thirty
Tim Drake wouldn’t be recognized at the moment if anyone he knew saw him at the moment. He was dressed in street clothes like normal, however it was the black short wig and false facial hair that made people do a double take when they looked his way.
He sat at one of the tables near the back of the café watching the entrance of the building. Tim had spent a few minutes scoping the building out before picking his spot. The café had two exits; one straight in front of him and one to the side through the kitchen. He wanted to have all his options open if the note was true and he was about to meet the last person in the world he thought would want to sit down for coffee.
It was about five minutes till the meeting time and Tim found himself checking his pockets one last making sure that the smoke pellets and flash disks where in reach in case he needed them.
Looking at the clock the minute hand hit the six and right on time the cafés front door opened up and in walked man with white hair and a white goatee. The expensive Armani suit and silk red tie made him look like he was just another Wayne Towers suit, but it was the black eye-patch that told Tim who he was dealing with….
“Slade Wilson?” Tim said not believing who was sitting in front of him.
“Don’t worry Robin,” Slade said as he took a seat and made himself comfortable. “Waitress I’d like an earl grey tea please. Robin?”
“Nothing for me, thank you.”
Once the waitress was gone, Slade looked across the table at the person he knew only as Robin the Boy Wonder with a half smile. “You’re probably wondering why I asked you here,” he said calmly.
“The thought had crossed my mind,” Tim commented. “You realize you’re going to be arrested as soon as you walk out of here.”
Slade didn’t say anything for a moment as the waitress came back and placed the cup of tea on the table. Once she was gone he continued.
“Being trained by the world’s greatest detective I knew you would be prepared, but as Nightwing should have told you by now I never walk into a room without an exit strategy planned,” Slade showed a small black device attached to his hand to Tim as he began to explain. “Three bombs planted around the surrounding area and three ways of disarming them each with its own unique way. I’m captured, they explode. I walk out of here and they disappear with me.”
Tim didn’t want to admit it but he knew Slade Wilson was never one to bluff when it came to something like this. “You called this meeting,” he said a tad bit angry at the situation he was in. “So talk already.”
“As you know my daughter Rose spent time with Harper and his group of Titans,” Slade began to explain as he also drank his cup of tea. “According to Rose being a member of the Titans was one of the happiest moments in her life. Which could be the solution to my problem, sometime ago Rose decided to challenge my step brother Ravager for the rights to the name as a sign to me that she’s not weak and wants to prove herself. She beat Wade and took the name and everything that went along with it. I will not let her go down the same path that has taken so many and that’s why I want you to take her in and watch over her. Make her a hero Robin.”
“How do you know she will even want to be a Teen Titan?” Tim asked curious at the sudden change in the man that sat in front of him. This didn’t sound like the Slade Wilson that he had read so much about, if he didn’t know any better he could have sworn it was somebody completely different.
“Believe me Drake, she’ll join your team. She’s on the run from me now,” Slade explained. “I made it look like I didn’t want her around.”
Tim was hesitant to believe anything that Slade Wilson had to say but something was telling him that the man that sat before him was on the up and up. “Where is she now?”
Slade pulled out a small device that looked like a cell phone and handed it to Tim. “Rose has a tracking device hidden with the hilt of her sword,” Slade explained. “At the moment she’s in Metropolis. If you hurry you should be able to catch up with her,” he finished as he stood from the table and paid the check before walking towards the exit. “Oh and by the way; here,” said Slade as he tossed the device to Tim. “Have a good day.”
Tim looked at the device and noticed that it was nothing but cheap piece of plastic. A slight grin crossed his face as he watched Slade walk away leaving Tim with more questions than he had answers for. The way Slade acted was nothing like the man he remembered. But if he wanted his daughter to be taken in and trained as a hero, Robin knew he couldn’t pass up the chance to do the right thing.
Taking his cell phone out, Tim dialed an all too familiar number quickly. “Hey finish up your work and meet me in Metropolis.”
’What’s going on?’
“We gotta see about a new recruit,” Tim answered as he walked towards his car. “Oh yeah and leave your work clothes on the farm.”
Hanging up, Tim looked at the tracking device before he started the car and headed towards the city limits of Gotham heading towards his next destination the home of Superman, Metropolis.
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To Be Continued...
Next Issue: In Teen Titans #2: The race is on as Tim and Connor search Metropolis for Rose Wilson. What they didn’t expect was to be dragged into the middle of a super powered UFC match. Plus the team’s first major villain makes his opening move in a deadly new game.
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