Bubba's Idea Vault Story #1 Ch. 2 A Sitch in Jump City (Patreon)

A Sitch in Jump City

By: Bubbajack

Co-Author/Editors: Icysnowsage, First Hassan

Note: Big thanks to our Super Donors Ben Wanless, Bobby Glass, CrazymanDK, Jac, Jareth Norris, Meraj Alimi, and Selmephren.

Ch.2: Red X: Revengeance.

Ron felt his lips peeling back from the sheer force of the wind pressing against his face as he flew at subsonic speeds to Jump City General Hospital. “Can you… Go any… faster Star?” Ron got out between gasps of air to the Tamaranian princess.

The redheaded princess shook her head. “Not without potentially hurting you Friend Ron,” She apologized, “Humans are more fragile than Tameranians. If I went any faster, and you run the risk of death my friend.” She explained apologetically before brightening and saying, “But take heart, we have almost arrived!”

As she said this, she began a slow descent to a gleaming tower with a stone sign out front that said, “Jump City General Hospital,”

The moment the princess let him go, Ron rushed inside and ran up to the nurse on duty, he panted out, “Dean Stoppable… where?”

“Are you family dear?” She asked kindly.

“His son…” Ron supplied trying to catch his breath.

The nurse nodded, already typing away on her computer. “He’s in surgery, on the eighth floor hun,”

“Right, thanks ma’am.” Ron ran towards the elevator and started rapidly hitting the button, “C’mon, c’mon you stupid piece of junk!” the blonde sidekick suddenly found himself lifted off the ground by his arms.

“I do believe it would be the faster, if we found the stairs,” Starfire said after a moment, “Going up to a worker she politely asked, “Which way to the stairs please?”

“Take a left,” the man said,

“Thank you,” She said before flying down the hall and through a door and then going up several flights of stairs, stopping on the eighth floor.

“Thanks Star, I owe you one,” Ron told her as she let him go.

Yet the princess waved him off, “No need to thank me, Friend Ron, this is the job of a hero, and what I would do for a friend regardless.”

She followed him, deciding to walk as he ran down the hall, running into the embrace of an older woman with dirty blonde hair. “Mom, what happened?”

Pulling back from the embrace, his mother replied, “I from what the police told me, a disgruntled former employee attacked your father at work today, apparently he was the man’s replacement after he was caught embezzling money,” She explained sniffling, “I guess he was stabbed several times, the doctors are working on him right now.”

“Don’t worry mom, dad’s… he’s tough.” Ron said, thinking about his dad, he was regretting a lot of things right now, not spending more time with him, getting to know him more, listening to him more often. ‘I swear, if he doesn’t pull through this,’ Ron thought to himself.

“Oh, Ronnie, who's your friend?” His mother asked as she dabbed at her eyes with a tissue a majority of which already lay strewn around her.

“Greetings, I am Princess Starfire of Tamarand, it is nice to make your acquaintance, though I wish the circumstances were better,” Starfire said solemnly as she introduced herself.

Smiling, the older woman introduced herself, “Margret Stoppable, and I agree dear. Nice to see my son is already making friends. I was a bit worried for him seeing as he and Kimberly were always so close.”

“Your son is very courageous Friend Margret. He saved me the other day you may recall? He is a hero in his own right. I am glad to call him Friend,”

Even though she was worried about her husband, Margaret Stoppable smiled and nodded, “Yes, he is. That’s my boy,”

“Mom,” Ron half-heartedly complained. “What’s this guy’s name anyway?” He really wanted to know who did this to his dad, he had a burning anger in his gut that just wouldn’t go away.

“His name is Micky “Mic” Malone, he is a second nephew to one of the enforcers for Carmine “The Roman” Falcone.” The trio turned to see Cyborg speaking as his cybernetic eye kept flashing as the rest of the Titans flanked him. “I’m gonna hazard a guess that he was embezzling money for Falcone, and wanted to get rid of your dad before he found evidence of it.”

Ron clenched his fists in anger so hard they shook at his sides. ‘My dad is undergoing dangerous surgery all over some damn money?’ he thought to himself angrily.

“Ron?” Raven asked, reaching out and placing a hand on his shoulder, “I know it's stupid of me to ask if you're okay right now. So I’m not going to ask that. Instead, I’m going to advise you not to let your anger consume you, alright? Nothing good comes from taking brash, ill thought out actions.”

Ron took a breath and let it out, “Thanks Raven, I needed to hear that.”

“What’re friends for?” She replied, giving a ghost of a smile. A smile which may or may not have caused the light above them to flicker for a moment.

“I…” Ron decided, “Am going to meditate,” he sat down cross legged in a chair and closed his eyes and took deep calming breaths. He soon found his center.

“Oh wow…” Raven said after a moment of surprise, “He’s good at meditation,”

(...)

As Ron fell deep into a meditative trance, he called out for someone he knew he could depend on for advice, “Master Sensei, dude, you available?”

“Stoppable-san,” The short sensei replied from behind him, “What is it you require? It is unusual for you to contact me in this way and… I felt much grief from you not too long ago, is all well?”

Ron shook his head, “No sensei, all is not well. What’s going on right now is most certainly news of the bad variety.”

With a motion of his hand, Sensei transported Ron and himself to an elaborate looking palace. It looked like a medieval style castle mixed with Japanese architecture and monkey-themed statuary and even suits of armor and tapestries were dotted all over the place. “Sensei what… What is this place?”

“This Stoppable-san, is what is known as a mind palace. Every person has one, and it holds all of a person's memories and knowledge even things they do not know that they know,” The elderly man explained, “This particular mind palace belongs to you,”

“Mine?” Ron asked as he pointed at himself. “Why is it monkey themed?” Sensei gave him a look that said, ‘Really?’ prompting the teen to sigh, “Nevermind, Mystical Monkey Power, right?”

The grandmaster nodded, “Indeed Stoppable-san, now please follow.” The man led him through the doors of this odd place and Ron followed, voicing numerous questions he had on his mind, “So if this is my mind palace thing… Can I change the layout?”

“Indeed, with training anything is possible,” Sensei confirmed as he led Ron to what turned out to be a library. The stone floors were covered by red carpet, and wooden shelves covered the room ten to a row before another one took its place right next to it. Ron wasn’t sure how many there were either as they extended far out of sight.

“Wow, that’s a lot of books, why are there so many books in my head?” He asked.

“Memories, Stoppable-san, each book, represents a memory to you,” The elderly man replied.

“Oh wow… umm… so why’re we here Sensei?”

“Stoppable-san, did you have something you wanted to ask me?” The old man replied in kind.

Sighing as he ran a hand down his face, the blonde teen replied, “Sensei some scumbag hurt my dad, and for the first time ever, I want to hurt someone in kind… I just wanna know, is it right for me to do so?”

Stroking his beard for a moment in contemplation, the elderly man replied, “Stoppable-san do you recall the Zorpox incident?”

“I try not to, he was scary.” Ron said with a shudder. “Why?”

“Why do you think Zorpox was so successful?” The sensei inquired.

“Umm he was evil?” Ron questioned.

Sensei shook his head, “No, from what my people discovered, the device placed upon your head, merely changed your alignment. The intelligence Zorpox displayed was your own.”

Ron blinked, “But, that can’t be Sensei! That would mean…”

“That you are intelligent Stoppable-san, yes,d” Sensei agreed.

“But… but I’m not?” Ron disagreed.

“Did you not defeat the mutant Gill twice with no aid? Using only what you had on hand?” Sensei rebutted.

Ron opened his mouth, then closed it, “Well that’s true, what do you think is wrong sensei?”

“You are, to put it bluntly, out of balance Stoppable-san. You embrace your light,  your yang, yet fear the darkness of the yin within you. Yet no man can survive on yang alone. All things, all people must be in balance with the world. Yourself especially included. Embrace your yin, and all that  comes with it, Stoppable-san. For even justice has its darkside… booya…”

As the man faded away, Ron knew where he needed to go to embrace his darkness, he headed down into the castle’s dungeons ignoring the cobwebs, dust, and occasionally scuttling cockroach, he came to a single cell, lit on either side by torches. Ron heard the subtle clink of chains as he approached, “C’mon out, I know you're in there,”

The sounds of metal scratching against stone was heard as Zorpox himself, blue skin and all appeared on the other side of the bars, grinning at him with manacles on his arms and legs. “Ronald, I was wondering when you’d pay me a visit,”

“So, you're my yin huh?” Ron asked in slight distaste.

“I am what I is, as you would say, butchering grammar all the while,” Zorpox replied with a smile never leaving his face. “And what ‘I is’, is your other half. The ignored intelligence, willfully untapped potential, the desire to succeed, excel and stand out, in all the right ways,” Smile expanding just a bit, he added in a sinister undertone, “The desire for… revenge?”

“We’re the same person, and sensei said I… we were outta whack, so…” Ron paused trying to find the right way to word what he wanted to say.

“So,” Zorpox finished for him as he pointed at a large key hanging on a hook, “Are you going to let me out of here or not?”

“If i do this… am I going to disappear, are you going to take over, like, what’s gonna happen?”

Zorpox chuckled, “Ronald, we’re the same person. And people are capable of kindness and cruelty in equal measure. You not only get to decide on the who and the how, but also become capable of carrying it out.”

Ron reached for the key, and slowly placed it in the lock. “Then let’s do this, for dad?”

Zorpox nodded, his grin sliding off his face making him look unusually serious, “For dad. He may not be around much, but he’s always at least tried to offer sage advice.”

Ron turned the key, unlocking the door, and causing a blinding flash of white light.

(...)

While Starfire had been chatting amicably with Margret Stoppable, Raven had been keeping an eye on Ron while he meditated making sure he didn’t fall asleep as he meditated. It happened to novices. Yet to her surprise, he didn’t. She felt, through her empathy, a sort of change come over the young man. It wasn’t precisely clear to her what it was exactly, but it felt like Ron became… serene for a moment. Resolved. Before he was always nervous, conflicted, worried, and out of balance. Yet now, she felt nothing but determination and resolve from him. His eyes snapped open and for a brief moment, they glowed blue before he blinked and they were back to their usual chocolate brown.

“Ron?” Raven asked, “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine Raven, thanks for keeping watch on me,” He replied with a smile as he stretched his legs. “I appreciate that,” He then told the other Titans, “Thanks for coming guys. You didn’t need to do that,” he spoke directly to Robin when he said the last bit.

The boy wonder shook his head, “It's no problem, family… Family is important,”

Running a hand down his face, Ron sighed, “Dangit, I just realized. I left my backpack at your guy's place. I was in such a rush.”

“Oh, umm Rufus is still there too dude,” Beast Boy informed him. “We kinda assumed he could handle himself. Last we saw, he was playing Silkie, Star's pet silkworm, in Mario Kart.”

Ron winced, “Ooh, Silkie is gonna get stomped. Rufus has logged over a thousand hours on my Switch,” Turning to the gray skinned sorceress he asked, “Hey Raven, do you mind portaling me back to the Tower so I can get my stuff?”

Raven just looked at him for a moment, still sensing that same resolve from earlier before nodding, “Sure Ron, Azarath Metrion, Zinthos,”

With her eyes glowing a pale white, a black portal opened up and Ron walked through with a grin on his face.

(...)

Ron sighed in relief as he found himself back in Titans Tower, seemingly alone. Giving a sharp whistle he called, “Rufus, let’s go buddy!”

The naked mole rat came clambering up his pant leg to rest on his shoulder where he started chattering away worriedly, “Dad okay? Hurt bad? Hospital?”

“He’s in surgery buddy… but dad’ll be fine, he’s tough,” Ron said in a too calm tone as he petted Rufus' head reassuringly. Turning off the Gamestation, he placed Silkie on the couch. Grabbing his backpack he made his way to the elevator calling up Wade on his Ron-municator as he did so.

The preteen genius answered looking distraught. “Ron, dude I am so sorry to hear about your dad! I notified Kim and she’ll be there as quickly as she can. She and the rest of the Possible Family have an ETA of one hour.”

“I see… I need to make this quick then,” Ron replied in an almost too calm tone.

“Make what quick?” Wade asked, “Ron, where are you right now man?”

Locking eyes with the boy genius, Ron spoke in a serious tone he’d never used before, “Wade, I need you to do two things for me, and I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t important.”

Wade nodded, he’d never seen Ron look so severe before, “Sure Ron, whatever you need. What is it?”

“I need you to hack Titans Tower security cams and put floor five on a loop,”

“The vault… Why what’re you planning on doing Ron?” Wade asked even as he proceeded to click away on his keyboard.

“Secondly,” Ron said, ignoring his question, as the elevator dinged open, “I need you to find me the current location of one Micky ‘Mic’ Malone.”

Wade sighed, “Are you sure you want to do this Ron?” he asked, “Revenge isn’t something heroes usually do.”

“Bullshit,” Ron replied, as he walked up to the container that held the Red X suit and typed in the code he saw Cyborg input only hours earlier. Once the vault released with a pneumatic hiss, the blonde continued, “Batman's whole crusade on crime is connected to revenge.”

“You know the Batman’s secret identity? Should we even be talking about it over this line?” Wade said fearfully.

“Isn’t this line encrypted?” Ron asked as he proceeded to shed his clothes and change into the suit.

“To most people yeah, but most people are the dang Batman or that Oracle woman he has working for him,” Wade replied as he looked around shiftily.

Pulling on the bodysuit and then the gloves, Ron replied, “Don’t worry so much Wade, it won’t be you that he comes after if this gets found out.” Ron assured him as he hopped up and down to get the boots on.

“Dude… you're serious about this aren’t you?” Wade said after a moment of looking into Ron’s eyes.

To which Ron replied, “They went after my dad Wade. None of our villains have ever done that. It was an unspoken code we all agreed to… it's time the baddies learned what happens when you break the code!” Slamming the skull helm on his head, Ron whipped the belt around his waistline before he pushed the button that doubled as a belt buckle. That caused the entire suit to boot up and a HUD to appear in his suit. Moments later a cool feminine voice spoke in his ear.

“Welcome to Reactionary. Exoskeleton. Defense. Suit Version X. I am your AI, Barbara. New user, state your name please.”

“Ron, Ron Stoppable,” Ron said.

“Ron Stoppable, name acknowledged, vocal pattern locked. Voice scrambler, synched. Permission to take samples for biometric locks?” The AI asked.

“Yes?” Ron replied only to feel various pokes, prods, shocks, and flashes of light in front of his vision from the HUD. “What was that?” Ron asked.

“Samples taken for biometric locking mechanisms include but are not limited to retina scan, blood sample, bone marrow, brain wave pattern recognition, fingerprint identification, and semen sample.”

“Wha… why the brain wave pattern recognition and… and that last one?!” Ron asked, shocked.

“In the case of mind control for the first and evil clones for the second. They usually have genetic defects which make them… imperfect in some way. Now Ron Stoppable, what is our Primary Objective?”

“To find and punish one Micky ‘Mic’ Malone before the Possible Family arrives at Jump General Hospital and realizes I’m not there.” Ron replied he was easily able to deduce what Primary Objective meant.

“Acknowledged, searching all known police radio frequencies, please wait.” Barbara replied, a small window popped up on the HUD that showed various radio frequencies.

“2319, We’ve got a 2319!”

“Be advised, we’ve got a 390 on second and fifth. Suspect is saying he’s the milkman and his milk is delicious.”

“217, 217 in progress. Suspect has fled and barricaded himself in a warehouse full of Lexcorp weapons in the port. Suspect fits the description of Marcone affiliate,”

“Wait for SWAT over, no need to drag the Titans into this, over.”

“Copy that, over and out.”

“Got him!” Ron said.

“Indeed, it seems our culprit is located at the docks, shall we go now Ron?” Barbara inquired.

“Right… I don’t have a car or anything,” He said.

To which the AI replied, “Unnecessary, this unit is equipped with a Xenothium powered cold fusion teleportation device,” Barbara replied.

“Xenothium, isn’t that stuff, like super unstable?” Ron asked no one in particular.

“Yes,” Wade's voice cut in, “It is. I’m surprised Robin decided to use it as a powersource.”

“He built the first practical model in a hurry,” The AI admitted, sounding sheepish. “If a superior powersource can be located and upgrades attained all the better,”

“So,” Ron asked, his hand hovering over the teleporter, “How does the teleporter work?”

“It breaks your body down to energy and data, uploads it into a satellite, and then beams it back down into or near the desired location,” The AI replied helpfully. As a picture of her appeared off center of the screen. She was a pixelated pale redhead with green eyes. ‘She almost looks like KP,’ Ron thought to himself. Before he asked, “So it's like Star Trek basically?”

“Yes, many a rat valiantly gave its life to test the teleportation device before it went to human testing. Though based on JLA station teleporter technology, miniaturization of the specs required retooling and a new, more potent powersource in order for it to function.”

“Right, enough stalling, let’s do this!” Ron tapped the buckle on his belt.

(...)

For just a split second, Ron lost access to all five senses. He couldn’t see, feel, taste, or smell anything. Even worse, he felt weightless and couldn’t breathe. Then just as quickly, it all came rushing back to him, and he found himself standing on a building looking across the bay at Titans Tower. “Woah, that was… weird.” He said, “It’ll take some time to get used to that, time I don’t have to waste,” he said as he turned his back on the gleaming symbol of heroism in Jump City and asked the AI, “Which way?”

In response a small mini map with a yellow line appeared on his HUD. ‘Of all things he could’ve done, Robin modeled his suit off a video game interface?’ Ron thought to himself as he chuckled. “ETA till possible Family arrival at Jump City General?” Ron asked.

“Forty minutes to landing, and an additional fifteen to get to the hospital itself,” Wade replied, moments before a timer appeared just below a compass that moved whenever Ron shifted where he was looking. “Right then we’d better hurry up,”

With that said, the blonde hero proceeded to teleport from building to building shifting ever closer to the docks on the other side of town. As he closed in on a warehouse that was surrounded by police cars. Cars that were periodically being blown up with advanced laser technology coming from one of the windows. Before he moved in, Ron spoke to Team Possible’s IT guy, “Wade, you should cut your lines here, I… don’t want you to see what I’m going to do man.”

“Just… just try not to kill him Ron,” The younger boy requested before he cut his feed.

“I’ll do my best,” Ron said before he teleported inside the warehouse.

(...)

Micky Malone was a pissed man right now.

He had his life set up before him. All he had to do was fudge some numbers and he got kickbacks from his buddies. Who cares if a few homes people lived in were marked unlivable and became unqualified for insurance unless they paid a premium to him. Who cares if a few people lost their homes because they couldn’t pay up. Then his company had the NERVE to replace him with a two bit hack from the middle of nowhere?

Ha Micky made sure that his “friends” let this Mr. Stoppable know that he ain’t welcome in town. Now if only one of them buggers didn’t rat him out. He swore once he got out of here he was going to make that rat pay.

He kept firing on the cops. Heh one thing he thanked lexcorp for is that their warehouses had minimum security all things concerned. He should know. He gave them top dollar insurance with low premiums as long as He looked the other way on some of their other deals.

He heard something crumble behind him. Micky turned and blasted the area behind him with the laser canon.

“You cops think you can take me alive? HUH!!! I will kill every last one of you before that happens!” roared Mickey as he panicked at being cornered. He had to buy time for his escape ride to get here. It wasn’t that hard.

“I just need ten more minutes. Ten more and I am outta this shit city,” whispred Mickey

“You won’t last five,” spoke a voice right behind him.

“FUCKER!” yelled Mickey turning around to blast the cape that he thought would be easy pickens. Probably boy wonder and his groupies.

“Gah!” screamed Mickey as his hand was slashed drawing blood as the laser canon flew out of his hands where it was hit with some kind of projectile and exploded.

He turned and notice the widow produced a blinding cover for the man(?) before him. He looked like a ragged corpse with scars and scratches all over him with just a skull left with hollowed white eyes.

“Who the fuck are you?”

“I am a lot of things Micky Malone, but right now I am your worst nightmare!”

Before Malone could react he was grabbed and slammed into the nearby wall. He felt his ribs break and his head crack against the wall.

“I would give you a warning and try to scare you but I know that won’t work. I know how exactly to deal with your type. No class. No prestige. No honor.”

“What kinda hero are you, punk. I oughta sue you for all the harm you done to me. You ain’t no cop.”

There was a silent pause as Mickey was then picked up off his feet and carried towards the window, “Oh Mickey, Mickey, Mickey. That is almost cute. You think you will be in any shape after I am done with you. It seems I have to spread the word. There is a new vigilante in town. While the titans shine in the light. I will strike from the dark. Let them know that Red X is here to stay.”

Before Mickey could reply he was slashed across in the chest with a giant bloody x as he was thrown from the two story window. He crashed into a nearby police cruiser. If he survived Ron didn’t care. A message was sent.

Now to get to the hospital as soon as possible.

“Barabara how fast can you get me to the roof of the hospital before KP and co arrive?”

“I can get you there in 5 minutes with long distance warping. Please prepare your stomach. Nausea will happen.”

Ron could only smile behind the mask, “Do it.”

In a flash he was gone. The cops were too worried about the damaged crook to wonder who did him in. Many hypothesized that Robin was taking more after his mentor. Others thought it was Beast Boy being too careless with his claws. The villains though heard and understood. Boy Wonder was up to something. Something that required him hiding his identity to the public.

(...)

Ron found himself teleported into a bathroom in Jump City General Hospital, and while silently praying he wasn’t in the ladies room, Ron rapidly changed into his normal attire then he got a heads up from Barbara, “Press the red X on the utility belt and hold until it turns into a plus sign.”

Ron did so and the suit came off of him and compartmentalized into a small first aid box that fit in the palm of his hand. Pocketing it, he made his way out of the washroom and soon found he was on the tenth floor. Making his way down two flights of stairs, Ron made his way back to his mother and the Titans.

“Ron… you didn’t come back through the portal?” Raven questioned, closing it with a thought.

“I… needed to clear my head so I decided to walk,” The blonde replied sheepishly, “Sorry Raven, I should’ve said something.”

“It's fine, I understand,” The empath replied. “You seem calmer after your walk so that’s good.”

“I… yeah, I’m feeling better.”

“This is good, I was worried about you, Friend Ron,” Starfire replied, floating up to him and giving him the traditional Tamaranian wellness check, which is to say she squeezed him as hard as she could.

“Thanks Star,” Ron wheezed out. “I didn’t mean to worry you,”

Letting him go, the princess replied, “I was not the worried for me, Friend Ron,” She shook her head and continued, “I was the worried for you.” She explained, “I was the afraid you might do something rash in your grief. I am glad that was not the case,”

Ron chuckled, awkwardly and pointed at himself, “Me? Do something rash? As if.”

“Ron!” A voice Ron knew from anywhere called from behind him. As he turned around a copper missile collided with him and almost knocked him over, but he braced himself on his backfoot catching her. “Hey KP, it's good to see you, but… I wish it were under better circumstances,” He replied into her hair slightly inhaling her scent. She smelled like cinnamon and mint, probably some kind of shampoo she used.

She looked up from her glomp, unshed tears in her forest green eyes. “I came with the fam as soon as I could. I’m so sorry to hear about your dad Ron.” She hugged him again resting her head in the crook of his neck only to blink in surprise when she saw the superhero team of Jump City staring back at her. Beast Boy the green changeling was grinning and giving her a double thumbs up. Cyborg had a knowing grin on his face, the exotic alien Starfire was looking at her with unabashed curiosity, and the mysterious Raven just started curiously. Their leader Robin was too busy messing on a laptop to notice her.

Pulling back, Kim fixed Ron with a halfhearted glare and asked, “Only been here a week, already made friends with the Teen Titans, yet you fail to mention it, why?”

“I was busy and they’re very private people KP, I just wanted to respect their privacy.” Ron said honestly. Ron would’ve felt like a bad friend to Starfire, Beast Boy, Cyborg, and Raven if he went and gossiped about them behind their backs.

Slapping him on the back with his metal forearm, Cyborg said, “Thanks man, we appreciate the sentiment, but you could’ve told the Kim Possible about us man.”

Kim immediately became bashful, “I’m like so not a big deal compared to you guys, but it's nice to meet you Cyborg. My tweeb brothers and dad are a big fans of yours.”

“Tweeb?” Cy asked as he shook her hand.

“Twin Dweebs,” Kim replied with a huff.

“Kim-” Tim called skidding as he turned down the hallway, with Jim hot on his heels.

“Is Ron?” Jim continued.

“Okay?” They said at the same time before they practically threw themselves at the blonde boy.

“Hey Jim, Tim, I’m… I’ve been better. But it's good to see you guys.” Ron replied to his surrogate little brothers as he embraced them.

While Ron was handling her brothers, she was introducing herself to the rest of the Titans. “Starfire, I’m a huge fan,” she said, offering a hand, only to be given a near death hug.

“It is most joyous to make your acquaintance Friend Kim!” Starfire greeted. “Friend Ron has spoken most highly of you.”

“You too!” Kim replied, gasping for breath as she was let go.

The green changeling went next, “Sorry about Star, someone shoulda warned you she was a hugger.” He said as he offered her a gloved hand.

“It's fine Beast Boy. My mom has wanted to talk to you for ages.”

Giving a strained smile the changeling said, “Oh joy, what about?”

“Nothing bad, I think. She’s a neurosurgeon so maybe she’s wondering how your shape shifting affects your mind when you change?” Kim shrugged, “I’m not really sure.”

Raven was keeping a close eye on the changeling and noticed his emotions didn’t waver from his usually happy go lucky attitude though his tone was less than enthused at the prospect of being interviewed by a doctor. The cambion repressed a sigh as she thought, ‘I’m going to have to start having therapy sessions with Beast Boy or something. No one should be that good at masking their emotions,’

Kim though had turned and hugged mrs. Stoppable. “Auntie M, how’s Uncle Dean doing?”

“Kimberly,” Margret said sniffling a little, as she returned the embrace, “Dean is… I’m not sure no one’s come by and said anything but I can only hope he’ll pull through.”

“I’m sure he’ll be fine,” Kim encouraged, “He knows how to beat the odds,”

“You're right of course,” Margret said, hiccuping a bit.

“Margret!” Anne Possible called out as she made her way down the hallway, her husband James trailing behind her. “We came as soon as we heard, have they told you anything about Dean's condition?” Anne asked as she embraced her friend.

Margaret shook her head, “Nothing yet, he’s still under the knife,” She replied as she looked at the foreboding red light that was still on over the surgery room, showing an operation was still in progress.

Doctor Anne Possible scowled, “I’ve half a mind to scrub up and go in there myself!”

Ron took a moment to point out, “Mrs. Dr. P, I appreciate the sentiment, but I don’t think it would be a good idea to not freak out the surgeons saving my dads life right now, yeah?”

Anne sighed, “You're right of course Ron… how’re holding up sweetie?” She asked him as she pulled her pseudo-son into a motherly hug.

“Been… Been better Mrs. Dr. P." Ron replied honestly.

“Ronald,” James said, clapping him on the shoulder, “Hang in there son, your dads tougher than he looks.”

“Yeah, thanks Mr. Dr. P.” Ron replied, giving his best smile.

The rocket scientist then turned to Cyborg. “You must be Silas’ boy Victor, James Possible nice to finally meet you,” He said offering his hand.

Cyborg blinked, “You… know my dad?” he asked while taking his hand.

“We’ve met before at conferences and such. Incredible man, your father. He speaks of you often, and is very proud of you. What you did before the accident… and what you chose to become after. A hero. He’s so proud.”

“He is?” This seemed to shock the teen, his dad never mentioned this. They never talked much. He did help design Titans Tower, as did many other companies for clout he assumed ‘including Wayne Tech now that I think about it,’ Cyborg thought as he flicked his still human eye sideways towards Robin.

“Oh yes, he does want to call you more… but those project deadlines for STARR Labs… they’re killer. Oof, let me tell you, I can relate.” James said as he gave a chuckle as he rubbed the back of his head. “The donors don’t get the results they want, then the money dries up, and then who knows how many man hours go down the drain,”

“Yeah, I get that.” Cyborg nodded. “I guess I should call him sometime. I’d hate to bug him though.” He said to himself, even though he knew he was just making up excuses.

“Nonsense, I’m sure he’d love to hear from you and hear about all your heroing, goodness knows I love hearing about my Kimmie Cubs latest adventures.”

“Dad! No embarrassing nicknames please! Gosh, so embarrassing!” Kim complained. Only to go into a fit of giggles when Beast Boy turned into a green panda bear. “Like, so not fair, Beast Boy!”

Anne approached the green changeling as he morphed back to human form. “So your Beast Boy then?”

“Yes ma’am can I help you?” He asked politely though Raven could sense he was on edge.

“You know, it's funny. I had a roommate in college whose name was Marie. She ended up becoming a rather famous virologist. She got married soon after graduating, to her sweetheart and they went to Africa to study a rather vicious disease called Sakutia that had an insanely high lethality rate, but for some reason didn’t affect monkeys… but it did, oddly enough, turn them green.”

“That right?” Beast Boy said calmly, though Raven could feel wisps of panic coming from him now.

Anne nodded, “Yes. In fact, I was receiving periodic letters from her for a while. It could take two weeks or longer to get them but one I got was a picture of a green child… and the horrifying news that her son had been bitten by a green monkey, he contracted the Sakutia disease and his father, Mark tried everything, some of it was unethical, to save his son. He eventually succeeded, but his son Garfield, was turned permanently green.”

Raven watched as the green changeling grimaced. “No offense Dr. Possible, but if you’ve got a point, could you please just go ahead and make it instead of beating around the bush?”

“I apologize,” Anne replied, “What happened to your parents Garfield?... and how did you get out of Africa?”

“Gar…Field?” Cyborg echoed, trying hard not to laugh.

“Victor… don’t,” Raven warned.

The mostly metal Titan held his hands up in surrender. He knew to pick his battles and this was not a hill he was willing to die on.

“Umm… it's complicated Dr. Possible,” The changeling hedged, “I’d really not like to talk about it right now…” He glanced over at Ron and his mother, “We’re here for a different reason now, right?”

Anne stared at him for a moment before she nodded, “You're right of course,” She then pointed a finger at him, “But Garfield, if you think you're getting out of this conversation, you're wrong. You’ve only delayed the inevitable. Just ask my husband,”

Looking at the man in question, James confirmed with a thousand yard stare, “She’ll get it out of you eventually, best you don’t fight it. Comes with being a neurosurgeon I swear,”

“Great, something to look forward to,” The animorph deadpanned.

Turning back to the grieving wife Anne apologized, “Sorry about that Margret, I just let my emotions get ahead of me for a second,”

“It’s fine, it's fine, I remember Marie, she was quiet, mousy, but very animated when talking about her field of study. She swore she was going to change the world someday.”

Just then the red light went off over the operating room and a doctor stepped out. He was still wearing scrubs that had some dark fluids on them that must’ve been blood, and his brow was covered in sweat, yet despite that, he was smiling. “Margret Stoppable?”

“Yes? Doctor is my husband?”

“I’m going to be honest ma’am. The man who knifed him, if I didn’t know better, must've been a trained butcher. He suffered damage to several organs, mainly a collapsed lung, flesh was sliced off his right forearm and left calf, and nerves have likely been permanently damaged. That said, He’ll more than likely live,” The doctor watched them all hug some tearing up but unfortunately had to be the bearer of more bad news “But before you celebrate, he’s not out of the woods yet. He’s stable, but we’re going to move him to the ICU. He’ll be here a long time yet. Currently he’s on a breathing machine, but once his heals up enough, we hope to take him off of it,”

“Of course doctor… Can we see him?” Margaret asked.

“He’s still out due to morphine, but I don’t see why not, just two at a time please. Follow me.”

He led the large group including the city's superheroes down several sterile smelling halls to a room that had Dean Stoppable’s file in a cubby next to the door. “He’s inside, I’ll leave you to it,” the doctor said as he walked away.

Anne immediately picked up Dean’s chart and began going over it, with Raven and Cyborg both reading over her shoulder. “No offense but can you kids even make heads or tails of this?”

“Cybernetic brain,” Cyborg replied, tapping a metal hand against his metallic skull. “Can store all kinds of info,”

“I can heal people with magic, I might be able to help,” Raven added.

“You don’t need to do that Raven,” Ron said, “Thank you, but I’d hate for you to tire yourself out here only to be unable to fight if the city needs you,”

“I’ll be fine Ron,” The empath assured him, his emotions while not ‘loud’ like Beast Boy’s fake ones were much more pure. When he was happy he was happy, same with any other emotion he felt. Being around Ron made Raven feel… strange. It was almost like being on a drug being around Ron, when he was happy, she felt a sort of buzz, when he was sad, she felt down, and and when he was calm meditation came to her easier. She’d found that out after she meditated while watching Xena.

“If you're sure,” Ron replied dubiously.

“I am. Cyborg, if you’d like to assist me?” Raven asked her fellow Titan.

The metal man nodded, “No prob,”

“Hang on a sec,” Robin, who hadn’t spoken up till now, said, “I’m not sure if doing this is a good idea?”

“Why pray tell? A parent of a friend of ours is in critical condition and you're telling me to do nothing, why?” Raven asked before the fluorescent light bulbs above her flickered before exploding.

“Stupid lights are always blowing at the worst possible time,” Ron complained.

Ignoring him, Robin said, “That’s exactly why helping someone because he’s a friend is nepotism. We’re the protectors of Jump City Raven. Thus, we can’t be seen showing  favoritism. It’ll make us look bad, and people will start questioning us. Or making demands. I feel we should remain impartial.”

Cyborg grimaced, “I get what you're trying to say Rob, but some of us, like me and BB, wouldn’t even be here if it wasn’t for the nepotism of our folks.” Cyborg looked at his metallic arm for a moment seeing his reflection cast in it before he replied, “I wasn’t born looking like this just how BB wasn’t born lookin’’ like a green elf that got kicked outta santa’s workshop,”

“Yeah, that’s true,” The changeling agreed before his brain caught up with what his friend had said, and he turned to him and shouted, “Hey! That was not cool dude!”

“Sorry, sorry, tryin’ to lighten the mood,” Cyborg replied coughing into his fist for a moment, before he said, “Anyway Rob, Raven and I are gonna do what we can, because that’s what heroes do man,” He told his leader before he made his way into the room to do what he could for the injured man.

“We’ll try not to take too long,” Raven said tonelessly to the Stoppables, “I know you want to be with him now more than anything,”

Taking her hand in both of hers Margret said, “Nonsense dear, please take all the time you need. I’ve waited, worrying about Dean for hours, wondering if I was going to be told he didn’t make it. All you're doing is making sure he makes a speedy recovery. So please, take your time.”

Raven looked away to hide her blush, she wasn’t used to being shown such trust and dare she say, affection? “I’ll do my best Mrs. Stoppable,” She promised before she followed her fellow titan into the room.

Looking at the man on the gurney he was a mess of wires and tubes, an EKG machine was monitoring his heart rate and he had a trake tube down his throat to assist in his breathing likely due to his collapsed lung. He had a dozen stitches going over a laceration that went over his left eye and curved over the side of his lip and gouged into cheek, and his hair was matted with blood.

Raven hissed through her teeth before she took a breath. She couldn’t afford to lose control of her powers here. Doing so would damage the medical equipment keeping Ron’s father alive. She didn’t want his death on her conscience, much less Ron’s hatred. So the cambion took a calming breath. Feeling a cool metal hand land on her shoulder, she looked back to see Cyborg giving her a worried look with his remaining eye. “I’m fine,” She assured him.

“You sure? I mean yeah you’ve bandaged us up a time or two, but this… this is different,” The bigger teen said as he stared at the man analytically, with a doctor’s clinical detachment.

“I’m fine Victor, don’t worry.” She assured her friend.

After a moment, Cyborg nodded, “If you're sure, then let’s get started,” His mechanical eye lighting up he scanned the man before shaking his head as he grimaced, “That Malone guy did a real number on him, collapsed his lung, sliced his face up pretty good too. Looks like he just barely missed his kidneys too. I’ll suggest you start with repairing the lung first. It’ll be better for his body as a whole if he can breathe on his own.”

“Right,” Raven replied, placing her now ebon glowing hands on the man's chest. She said nothing as the man’s pain flowed into her, became her own and faded into nothing. She was an empathic healer, something none of her friends realized when she healed them over the years. It was something she was silently grateful for. As she felt that if they had known, they wouldn’t let her use her abilities in such a manner if they knew it meant healing them inflicting harm on herself.

She silently worked on the worst wound for several minutes before pulling away, “There, I’ve healed the wound. We should be able to take him off the ventilator now.”

“His vitals have improved immensely so you may be right,” Cyborg said as he stroked his chin. “Are you sure? I mean, you’ve never healed anything this bad before now, right?”

Raven shook her head, “No I haven’t but trust me, he’ll be fine,” Seeing her friend still looking hesitant, she said, “Cyborg… Victor, have I ever given you a reason to doubt me before?”

“You haven’t Raven… let’s try it,” He said as he reached to turn the ventilator off.

“Rachel,” She muttered.

“Hmm?” He asked turning to look at her before he pressed the button.

Clearing her throat, she reiterated, “My mother she… She named me Rachel, Rachel Roth. It was everyone… Everyone else, where I came from, who named me Raven. The name just kinda stuck after a while.”

Victor gave a gigawatt grin “Well, it's a pleasure Rachel, ready for this?” Cyborg asked before he flicked the power switch. No klaxons blared, no code blue was called, the EKG monitor stayed as steady and strong as before. Smirking at her, her fellow Titan raised a fist and said, “Booya.”

Giving a ghost of a smile herself, Raven returned the fistbump and then asked, “What’s next?”

“The abrasions on his face… but the other thing you should be thinking about is the other two guys you should tell your name to.”

As she healed his face and hopefully saved his eye in the process, the empath asked, “What’re you talking about Cyborg?”

“Rach, c’mon you know what I’m talkin’ bout. Ron or BB, which one do you like?”

Raven paused her healing and turned to her fellow Titan, “Now is not really the time to be having his conversation. In fact, I can never think of a good time to have this conversation.”

“Oh c’mon now, you can at least be honest with me, we built… rebuilt the T-Car together.”

“Your delusional Cyborg.”

“Raven, I’ve seen how you act around Ron… you're never that friendly with… anyone. Even BB has to practically nag you to come out of your room. And you’ve been acting unusually protective of the grass stain recently. For good reason mind you, but it doesn’t take the sidekick of the World’s Greatest Detective to figure out he has a soft spot for you. So, just between you and me, if you had to choose, which would it be?”

The empath sighed and sent a halfhearted glare at her teammate and big brother figure, “You're not going to let this go until I answer, are you?”

“Nope, but I will promise whatever you say will stay between us, I’ll even put it under a one-hundred-twenty key encryption and everything,” He promised her.

“Fine, if I absolutely had to pick one of them I’d pick, [redacted]” Raven told him, his cybernetic half of his brain locking the name down and hiding the info away from the organic half of his mind. “Though I don’t really see myself having a chance with either,”

“Huh, okay Cyborg said “Why’s that?”

‘It’s because my time is limited and sooner rather than later, I’m going to physically become a portal that will let my demonic father access into this plane of existence,’ Raven thought to herself, while she just said, “I’ve got… a lot of baggage Cyborg, too much for anyone to have to deal with.”

“We’ve all got baggage, Raven, comes with the hero gig, so don’t sell yourself short, m’kay?” He told her encouragingly.

“Right,” Raven said “Now if we’re done gossiping like school girls can we get back to work?”

“Did you ever even go to school?” Cyborg asked out of the blue, “Like a conventional one I mean?”

“Victor, focus!” Raven snapped at him. Luckily, nothing exploded.

“Shutting up,” The elder titan replied. Feeling he might’ve pushed his luck a bit too far with the resident empath for once, the duo carried on in relative silence.

(...)

Ron paced back and forth down the hallway. He hoped Raven and Cyborg would come back with good news but that’s it, all he could do much like the Count of Monte Cristo, was wait and hope. ‘When did I ever read that book?’ Ron wondered to himself.

‘A few months before that dismal trip to Camp Wannaweep, if you’ll recall.’ The overly posh and slightly snide voice of Zorpox replied.

‘Your still here? I thought you might’ve…’ Ron began only for his other half to cut him off.

‘Died?’ Zorpox rebutted, ‘Ronald, my dear boy you forget I am you. The other half that was repressed through repeated trauma, but you nonetheless. Still, it felt good to utilize your full potential, didn't it Ronald?’

‘Yeah it did,’ He replied after a moment. ‘Your not planning anything evil are you?’

‘That was due to the Additudinator, so unless you're planning on becoming a villain, then no I can’t say I am. I am your potential, skill, and knowledge from before Wannaweep Ronald. I am you without restraints nor limitations. How you choose to use me is up to you.’

Ron nodded before he traced a path back down the hallway for the dozenth time or more, he’d honestly lost count. ‘Okay fair enough… and maybe not villain, but perhaps… anti-hero?’

‘Oh Ronald, we can work with that, Booyahahaha!’ Zorpox said as he unleashed his iconic evil laugh.

‘See now you ‘say’ you're not a villain, but you have the evil laugh down pat,’ Ron told his other half.

‘I’m allowed to be hammy aren’t I?’ Zorpox rebutted. ‘I’m already a disembodied voice in your head Ronald, let me at least have this!’

‘Fine, fine,’ Ron agreed, he wasn’t that cruel. He was however so lost in his own thoughts that he let out an indignant squawk when KP pulled him down into a chair and looked him in the eye.

“I know you're worried Ron, and you have every right to be, but if you keep walking up and down the hallway like that, you're likely to wear out their carpet.”

Starfire placed a hand on Ron’s other shoulder and said solemnly, “Do not fret Friend Ron. Friend Raven is quite good at the healing. Your father shall be left as the sun I believe the saying is?”

“Right as rain,” Ron corrected her before giving her a smile, “And thanks Star, thanks KP,”

“It is the no big yes?” Starfire said innocently looking at Kim for confirmation.

“Got it in one Starfire, and she’s right, it is no big Ron, that’s what friends are for.” She said throwing an arm around him while the alien princess mimicked the action on his other side.

Ron sighed and tried to relax, but he couldn’t. Sensing his unease, Starfire asked, “What is the wrong Friend Ron?”

“I’m just waiting for the other shoe to drop I guess?”

“But no one is holding a shoe?” Starfire said upon looking around.

“It's a phrase that means he’s waiting for something else to happen… what do you think is going to happen, Ron?”

“Well let’s see, usually about now, Wade would call saying Drakken is up to something, or Senior Senior Senior has I dunno bought a freeze ray because his winter home in the Alps wasn’t cold enough or something. Then you’ll have to go racing off and do the hero thing, cause it’s what you do KP,”

‘Ok, ouch. Am I that bad of a friend that it's that predictable that I will ditch him the moment trouble strikes? This. This right here, is a big.’ Kim thought to herself. So, she did the only thing she could do in this situation. She pulled out her Kimmunicatior and dialed Wade.

“Hey Kim, what’s up?” The boy genius asked.

“Hey Wade, I need you to do me a solid and until we know Uncle Dean is in the clear, redirect all traffic to the site to Global Justice for me.”

Wade looked at her in shock and awe. “Are… you sure Kim?”

“Yeah, some things, are just more important.”

Wade smiled understandingly, “Gottcha. I’ll give GJ a heads up that you're on sabbatical for now before redirecting the flow.”

“Thanks, you rock Wade,” The heroine cheerleader told him.

“I know, and Ron, I took care of the hospital bill so don’t worry about it man,” The young genius informed him.

“Dare I ask how?” Ron inquired, nudging his head into the camera view.

“Well, let’s just say ‘The Roman’ in Gotham is missing some money, and that’s what happens when you mess with my friends, and leave it at that.” Wade replied, smirking almost deviously.

“Wade… did you hack the mob's bank accounts?” Ron asked, afraid for his friends’ life.

“I didn’t not hack the mobs bank accounts, bounce the transfer through half a dozen different  VPNs in several different countries, and then us it to pay off your dads hospital stay.”

Ron ran a hand down his face, “Man, I really, really hope, this doesn’t somehow come back to bite us in the ass.”

“Language Ronnie,” His mother chastised.

“Mom, Wade is robbing the mob, I think it's warranted!” Ron replied.

“Still there are ladies present,” His mother said.

“Ladies, where?” Ron asked looking left and right, only for Star and Kim to slap him on either arm.

Rolling her verdant green eyes Starfire commented, “Friends Ron and Beast Boy have a similar humor it seems,”

“Oh no, it's contagious,” Kim drawled.

“Then it is a good thing we are in this place of healing, we may yet find a cure for this disease,” Starfire giggled.

“HEY!” Beast Boy and Ron complained at the same time.

“Highly unlikely, unfortunately being male is terminal,” Kim replied as she rolled her eyes.

“Ah, now it is all making the sense,” The alien princess nodded knowingly. “Clearly the art of comedy should be left to the women.”

Scowling, the changeling replied, “Okay, I disagree strongly with that statement. We’ve got comedians like Bill Burr, George Lopez, Bernie Mac,”

“Fluffy,” Ron chimed in.

“Gabriel Iglesias,” Beast Boy agreed, “Larry the damn Cable Guy and Jeff Foxworthy! So don’t tell me, men can’t be funny.”

“I think we might’ve struck the nerve,” Starfire commented.

Kim slowly nodded, “Agreed, never thought it would be comedians, but hey, here we are.”

“Okay, okay, enough with the teasing,” Ron said, holding his hands up and sighing. “BB, I don’t think they meant to touch a nerve, and ladies… nice comedy routine, if the heroine gig doesn’t work out, consider taking this act on the road.”

“We’ll keep that under our hat’s as secondary career paths, Ron, thanks,” Kim said with a slight smirk on her face even as she rolled her eyes.

“Anytime KP,” Ron said. “Between you two, BB, and Raven, we’d have a standup comedy hour.”

“We’d need a tour bus,” Beast Boy sighed. Leaning back with his head in his hands as he stared at the ceiling.

Ron pointed out, “Don’t you guys have a spaceship?”

“Not roomy enough dude,” The changeling replied, shaking his head, “We need space to sprawl out, sleep, hang, and cook. T-ship doesn't have all that,”

“True,” Ron agreed before he pointed out, “Betcha Cyborg could trick out an RV,”

“Totally, with rocket boosters, a satellite tv, microwave, and a waterbed with goldfish in it.”

Ron looked at the changeling silently for a moment before saying, “You know only one of those things is really impressive right?”

“Depends on what your scale of impressiveness is, I guess,” the Titan replied before he stretched. “Personally, I think a waterbed with goldfish in it would be pretty cool,”

“The Seventies want their gimmicks back dude,” Ron replied, “Would you like a disco ball to go with your waterbed? Maybe a roller rink?”

“Yeah, whatever man,” The changeling replied, punching Ron in the shoulder, having to reach over Kim to do so.

The two redheaded heroines watched the interactions fondly. It was fairly obvious to them both the changeling had intentionally derailed the conversation to get Ron’s mind off things, and it appeared to work. They glanced towards the door where Dean Stoppable lay, and where Raven and Cyborg hadn’t yet returned from. They knew this peace was tenuous, but that it was best to enjoy it while it lasted.

(...)

Raven came out of the hospital room with sweat coating her brow, looking tired but satisfied. Looking at Ron, who looked at her hopefully she gave him a thumbs up and said, “I can’t completely guarantee he’ll gain sight in one of his eyes, but other than that, I can promise he’ll make a full recovery.” The sorceress had the wind knocked out of her when the blonde boy practically threw himself at her and hugged her as hard as he could. Which was hard enough to force the air out of her lungs.

“Thank you so much Raven, I don’t know how I’ll ever repay you,” Ron whispered into her ear as a few tears stained her cloak.

“Your welcome Ron,” Raven said as she returned the embrace patting him on the back to signal to let her go.

“Sorry,” He said sheepishly, “I guess I don’t know my own strength, hehe,”

The empath just shook her head, “It's fine, you were just relieved,” Both Ron and Raven had the air crushed out of their lungs when Starfire grasped them both in a hug.

Spinning them around in her deathgrip, she cheered, “This is most glorious! Friend Ron’s k’norfka will be the okay! And it is all thanks to you, Raven!”

“Thanks… Star,” Raven gasped.

“Air… please?!” Ron begged, as his face began to turn a shade of pale blue.

The princess abruptly dropped them, “I am so sorry my friends, I was just exuberant for Friend Ron’s k’norfka’s recovery!”

“It’s fine… Star… Now Raven and I know what it's like to be in a crocodile's death roll,” Placing a hand on her shoulder he said, “Right Raven?”

Upon catching her breath, she replied, “Just about, we weren’t being drowned at the same time,” Raven found herself hugged again, but this time it was by Ron’s mother who held her tenderly as a way of showing thanks.

“Thank you so much dear, we can never repay you for this,” She sniffled through happy tears.

“It’s no problem Mrs. Stoppable, I’m a hero, it's my job,” Raven replied though she was touched by her kind words and more affected by the kind touch than she would let on, not having much of that growing up.

“This is great! So Uncle Dean is on the mend?!” Kim asked, her tone optimistic if not hopeful.

Plopping herself down in a chair, Raven elaborated, “I healed the worst of his wounds. A collapsed lung, punctured bowel, cut femoral artery. He’ll still need to be on antibiotics for awhile for the bowel puncture, but he doesn’t need the ventilator anymore since his lung is working just as good as before,” Looking at the twins she said tiredly, “Do you think you two boys could do me a favor and go get me a cup of tea? Preferably not that instant swill?”

“We can-” Tim began,

“Do that Miss Raven,” Jim finished.

“We just-” Tim continued, looking at his dad.

“Need some cash,” Jim finished holding out his hand expectantly.

A new voice cut in, “That won’t be necessary boys, just go down to the cafeteria and tell them to put it on Doctor Apors tab,”

The man in question spoke with an Indian lilt to his English, was short with the top of his head gleaming like a spotlight due to being bald while the sides and back of his head were still coated with black hair. He had a doctor's coat over a green turtleneck and black slacks that did little to cover his potbelly.

“Doctor Amir Apor, nice to meet you doctor Raven,” He held out his hand to the heroine in a joking tone, and asked, “How’s our patient doing?”

“He’ll make a full recovery doctor, his lung is fixed as are many of his major internal injuries.”

The man clapped his hands, “Excellent, praise be to Brahma!”

Looking down like a child caught with her hand in the cookie jar, Raven mumbled, “Sorry doctor, I should’ve asked first before messing with your patient,”

Robin muttered an “I told you so,” Which went ignored.

“One does not ask forgiveness for performing a kind act, merely the understanding of the recipient,” The doctor said sagely. “You have done innumerable kind deeds since coming to this city Raven, this is just another one. You have never apologized for any of them before, don’t start now.”

Raven nodded,“Yes sir, thank you,”

“Very good, now I shall do a more thorough examination of our patient. Routine you understand. You get some rest, you look dead on your feet.”

“Doctor's orders?” Raven asked.

“If I must,” He said with a little laugh, “Yes, go home, rest. Eat a pizza or whatever it is you do for fun. Doctors orders.  I don’t want to see you back here tomorrow unless you're fully rested. Understood?”

“Yes sir,” Raven replied, giving a mock salute, just as the tweebs came back with a cup of tea, camomile by the smell of it. She took a deep breath, allowing the smell to calm her frazzled nerves before she took a sip. “Ahh, thank you, boys. I needed that, good job.”

“No problem-” Jim began.

Only for Tim to finish, “Miss Raven. Can we-”

“Get your-”

“Autograph?” The Tweebs chimed at the same time, in hopeful tones.

Raven nodded, “After I finish my drink,”

“Hika bicka boo?” Tim said, holding up his hand for a high five.

“Hoo sha!” Jim replied to his double as he returned the gesture.

As Raven sipped at her drink she felt the adrenaline leaving her and her eyes beginning to droop. Ron caught the styrofoam cup before she dropped it as she fell asleep in her chair.

“I guess that took more out of her than she thought,” He mused, “Thanks Raven, you didn’t have to go so far for my dad, but I appreciate it.”

Cyborg just smiled. Raven wasn’t exactly known for being outgoing, but when she did form a connection to someone she was fiercely protective of them. Ron along with BB seemed to be able to make it past her impenetrable walls. ‘Now we just gotta get her into the T-car without wakin’ her up… this is gonna be tough,’ He thought. Nudging the green changeling he whispered, “Help me get her to the car greenbean, gently.”

“I can do that, I hope. If you give me the keys I can start the car while you carry-”

He was cut off by Cyborg’s quiet scoff. “Hahahah… oh, you were serious? No! In fact, heck to the no!”

“Okay John Jonah Jameson, no need to rub it in…” The verdant skinned animorph huffed.

“You're a menace Spiderman, a menace!” Cyborg joked before he gently picked up the sleeping empath and motioned for Beast Boy to call the elevator.

The sound of Robin audibly grinding his teeth caught everyone’s attention. “Friend Robin, is everything the okay?” Starfire asked worriedly.

Snapping his laptop shut, the boy wonder took off after the others at a brisk pace calling behind his shoulder, “No, someone stole the Red X suit.” He stopped abruptly and turned around only to ask Ron, “When you were in the Tower you didn’t see anyone or notice anything strange did you?”

“You mean besides the hole Starfire blasted in your living room glass?” Ron inquired.

“Besides that, yes.” Robin replied.

“Nope, I didn't notice a thing, but if this guy is as good as you say, I probably wouldn’t have noticed anything anyway considering everything that happened today.”

Robin nodded understandingly. He knew what it was like to have one’s parents hurt, killed, right in front of their eyes. So he could understand Ron’s state of mind. “Right, again, I’m sorry for what happened to your dad.”

“Thanks Robin. I’ll clear it with you before I come over next time, okay?” Ron told him, extending an olive branch.

Robin sighed, “Sorry about that, I’m a bit… paranoid cause…”

“Cause the Batman?” Ron guessed.

“Cause him yes. It's often warranted because Gotham, but I need to almost constantly remind myself Jump City isn’t Gotham. It's better than Gotham, and I don’t need to be so on edge because of it.”

“I get it man, if anything this place is more dangerous than the villains me and KP usually fight, but hey when there’s trouble you know who to call,”

“That damn theme song,” Robin said, chuckling under his breath even as he shook his head. “But yeah, if we need help hunting this guy down, we’ll call you. Let’s go Starfire, the Tower is now a crime scene.”

“Coming Robin,” She turned and gave Ron a final gentler hug taking his hands in her own; she told him, “Stay strong Friend Ron, we shall be back to offer the moral support as soon as time allows.”

“Thanks Star,” Ron said sincerely, “For everything. We’ll have to continue Xena another time.”

“Indeed Friend Ron, I am looking forward to it. My best wishes for your k’norfka’s swift recovery,” She said, giving his hands a squeeze before she flew down the hall after Robin.

Smiling to himself, Ron thought, ‘I’m so screwed,’

(...)

In a cave deep beneath Wayne manor in Gotham, the Caped Crusader better known as the Batman was taking a phone call on the batcomputer. From someone he least expected.

“Sensei, how can I help you?”

“Wayne-san, my old student, it is good to see you are doing well,”

Rubbing his chin, which was coated in stubble, the Dark Knight said, “Master Sensei… I’ve a feeling this isn’t a social call, you don’t do social calls,” Bruce noted.

“Astute as always, my old student. No, this old man requires a favor from you, if you’ll indulge me?” The sensei asked.

“You mean the money I donate every year isn’t favor enough?” Bruce joked.

“This involves the Mystical Monkey Master,” Master Sensei replied with all levity leaving his tone.

The smile left Bruce's face as well. Every student to graduate from Yamanouchi school swore an oath to assist the mystical Monkey Master in any way possible once they are identified. “What is this about Master Sensei?”

“He has recently ‘borrowed’ a certain suit from a former protege of yours I believe. One Richard Greyson?”

Bruce found himself rubbing his eyes. “You must mean the Red X suit. Robin is still trying to gain his teams trust back from that stunt with Deathstroke,”

“Indeed. The Mystical Monkey Master saw fit to shall we say, put the suit to better use, when his father was assaulted some hours ago. Now, that will put him and your pupil at odds.”

“You want me to do something?” Bruce asked.

“Yes,” Master Sensei replied.

“Do you want me to talk to Robin or the Mystical Monkey Master?” Bruce inquired.

“Yes,” Sensei said again, calm as ever.

Running a hand down his face as he sighed, Bruce nodded, “Right, who is our so-called messiah?”

“His name is Ron Stoppable-san, I believe you’ve heard of him at least in passing?”

This came as a surprise to the world’s greatest detective, “Kim Possible’s sidekick?”

“Is more than he appears,” Sensei replied. “Also I owe you an apology my student. It seems one of your seniors is giving you quite a hard time.”

“Seniors?”

“Ra’s Al Ghul?” Sensei replied with a twinkle in his eye.

“Sensei… just how old are you?” Bruce asked, sounding genuinely surprised for once.

The old man chuckled, “is that what you should be pondering right now Wayne-san, or do you have something more important to be doing?”

He nodded, “I’ll take care of this Master Sensei, don't worry, have a pleasant morning.”

“Have a nice flight Wayne-san,” Sensei said before he hung up.

“Alfred,” Bruce called before he pulled his cowl on, “is the batplane fueled up?”

The Butler nodded, “Certainly Master Bruce, where are you heading?”

“California, I need to go speak to Richard.”

Alfred Pennyworth blinked, “Oh dear. Well, this is certainly unprecedented. You, actually reaching out to a wayward son. Should I look for the flying pigs sir?”

“Are you going to snark or are you going to charter the private jet to Jump City for the rest of the family Alfred?”

“I’ll get right on that Master Bruce, though we may have a hard time getting a hold of Master Todd,”

“He’ll pick up if it's you,” Batman replied, “I trust you can get the rest of the kids there alright?”

Alfred nodded, “Certainly sir, do try not to alienate Master Richard from the rest of us before we arrive if you please?”

“I’ll do my best,” Batman promised as the turbine engines on the Batplane fired up, drowning out all sound before it took off out of the batcave and into the night.

“Alfred, where is Bruce going in the Batplane?” A young Tim Drake, the newest Robin asked.

“The same place we are headed via more convention means Master Tim. Pack a bag, we are heading to California.”

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Word Count: 11,667   Number of Pages: 29   Date Completed: 1/22/2023

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