Chapter 65

The new Titans have been fitting in quite well. While Zatanna hasn’t exactly made much in the way of progress with Raven, she’s made leaps and bounds towards the other Titans. Her cheer was infectious, and her magic tricks were always a sight to see.

Not to mention, Zatanna was strong. No matter what team she was on, she was able to contribute something. Showcasing how extremely flexible and versatile she really was.

The only thing that I could complain about with her, is that she’s inexperienced. The most inexperienced out of the other Titans, new and old. Though Miss Martian wasn’t far behind.

Thankfully, inexperience was something that was easily fixed with time. Her experiences under the Titans and under me would mold her into something monstrous in power. That I could already see.

Which meant the only thing I should really be focusing on with her is her ties to the Titans, as well as her beliefs. This was the perfect time to mold her, as well as the others.

Miss Martian was a bit…awkward. She was bubbly. Kind. But also a bit clumsy. Several Titans have had to warn her repeatedly to not use her telepathy on them. Something that she was struggling to get used to, as it was apparently second nature to do on Mars.

Personally, I didn’t much care whether or not she communicated to me telepathically. And the main reason for that is likely tied to the reason why the other Titans don’t like her doing that.

Thoughts weren’t something easily suppressible. So, anything anyone is thinking could easily be read by Miss Martian, which includes very personal information or secrets. However, strangely enough, it seemed that I was immune to this to a certain extent.

A fact I learned on my first mission with her. It seemed some thoughts that I truly didn’t want her to hear, wouldn’t be heard by her. But other thoughts were easily accessible to her.

Despite her rampant telepathy and privacy invasion, she too was popular amongst the Titans. And the main reason for that was Beast Boy.

He has been working around the clock with Miss Martian. Constantly hanging by her side and introducing her to everyone. Using himself as an icebreaker in order to connect her to others. He’s even gone to the length of asking me to have him and Miss Martian go on patrols together.

He was definitely quite taken with her.

This seemed to be a building problem, but not one I could easily step into. Miss Martian hasn’t shown to be uncomfortable with Beast Boy hanging around her 24/7, for one. If anything, she seems to enjoy the company.

At first, I thought she might have also held romantic feelings for him but…in all of their interactions that I’ve seen, it’s been rather friendly. Neither her nor Beast Boy seemed interested in pushing boundaries.

Beast Boy was easily explainable. He was the youngest member of the Titans, it made sense that he wasn’t very experienced with romance. Miss Martian was a bit harder, but perhaps she’s used to a different cultures way of expressing romantic feelings.

Yet none of that explained the utter lack of any romantic tension. There was a clear difference between having romantic thoughts and not acting on them, and not having romantic thoughts to act on.

There was something there I couldn’t quite understand. Not without having more pieces to fit into the puzzle.

Speaking of puzzle pieces, Kid Flash hasn’t been shy in his feelings towards Miss Martian. To which Miss Martian neither shuts him down nor reciprocates his affections. What that means exactly, I have no idea.

Beast Boy’s reaction was a lot more familiar to me. Which was a look of disgust and trying to push Kid Flash away from Miss Martian. Albeit in a very kind and indirect manner. So of course Kid Flash just ignores or doesn’t understand and continues.

Then there was Artemis.

Her relationship with the rest of the Titans was still overall positive, but simply seemed a lot less due to how popular Zatanna and Miss Martian had become. It wasn’t easy to standout when compared to those two behemoths of power.

It also didn’t help that she had a quite sour relationship with Kid Flash.

The same Kid Flash that was supposed to guide her during her first month in the Titan tower. They were constantly bickering and damn near getting into fights. While amusing, it was also a cause for concern.

They’ve started some sort of prank war between them. One that was constantly being filmed by Beast Boy, and apparently was being posted online for the whole world to see.

Every time it came to sparring, they nominated to be each other’s sparring partners. And when they weren’t, they’d constantly belittle and make mocking comments to each other. Then there were the chores. Due to Artemis doing Kid Flash’s chores, he was obviously the one who watched over her.

Much to her annoyance.

The strangest part of all of this?

I’ve offered to step in. To get Artemis a different guide and let tensions cool down. Yet she refused. Citing that she was strong enough to not need help with this.

Which I admired, but…

I think there was another reason.

One that she herself might not be aware of. I think she and possibly even Kid Flash, enjoyed the rivalry. Enjoyed pushing each other’s buttons and fighting. And not in a ‘they secretly enjoy the others company sort of way’.

More like...they genuinely liked treating each other like dirt. Or at the very least, that was the vibe I got from Artemis. She had sadistic eyes. Smiling in satisfaction when a dig gets under Kid Flash’s skin. Or when he gets injured.

So why go through and continue to let Kid Flash have a small amount of power over her? Couldn’t she easily do the exact same things while Kid Flash was unable to do anything to her?

The answer was simple.

Because in that case, she wouldn’t be able to easily excuse her own actions. She wanted to be slighted. To be given a reason to hit back. So she wouldn’t feel guilty about hitting, because she’d be hitting back.

I found it amusing, and until it actually starts causing problems, I was content to let the two of them dictate how it ends.

Then there was the last member, Ravager.

Her attitude didn’t make her easy to get along with. Nor did her previous affiliation with Deathstroke and fighting the Titans. And yet…

She wasn’t an outsider.

Somehow, someway, the Titans weren’t completely cold to her. Hell, she was even on somewhat respectable if not friendly terms with the new Titan members. Especially Artemis. There was also Beast Boy who simply…got along with her.

Somehow. Despite their personalities being quite opposites and the fact that Ravager isn’t exactly nice to him.

Though it did give me deeper insight into Ravager’s personality as a whole. It was telling that despite her being so vitriolic, she didn’t actually use force or simply walk out of conversations like Raven.

She enjoyed social interactions, despite her protests to the contrary.

It was amusing to think that it might not be the Titans who warm up to Ravager, but the other way around.

As the guide to Ravager, that of course meant I was in charge of showing her around the place and giving her new orders. Once again, one would think she’d be rather pissy in getting told to go on patrol, or even worse, do chores.

And yet…

“…Fine.”

She just accepts. Hell, sometimes she doesn’t even respond or think about it. She just does it. If I had to guess, it was less that she was just that accepting, and more of the way she had been trained by Deathstroke.

Training that I was quite curious about. Which is why when it came to sparring with Ravager…

“Are you fucking stupid? Who holds a gun sideways!?”

The person who was really being trained, was me.

Of course, part of the reason for this was due to Ravager probably not being willing to learn anything from me. Nor was I really interested in teaching her. However, I was interested in learning things from her. Especially when it involved her gun expertise.

Something that I was actually lacking.

It was hilarious. Despite running with several gangs I’ve never actually learned how to use a gun. Well, maybe I should say that I’ve never learned how to use a gun well.

As Ravager was content to explain how incompetent I was, as well as everything I was doing wrong.

She had two conditions for teaching me. The first was that she’d get some information about Deathstroke early. The second was that she would be able to hit me in order to teach me better.

Both things I didn’t have a problem with. Though obviously I wouldn’t be giving her all the information I had at my disposal. Or at least all the information the Justice League was willing to share with me.

It took a few hours for the lesson to be over. Ravager wasn’t an amazing teacher, but she wasn’t bad either.

“Alright, I’ve helped you. Now, information!”

Ravager demanded. A hand on her hip with her hand outstretched. Asking for information after the first lesson? How greedy.

Still, it was probably in my best interest to give her something.

“Aquaman’s been tracking Deathstroke down himself.”

Ravager’s eye narrowed.

“I knew that already.”

I rolled my eyes as I waited for her to stop cutting me off.

“But what you didn’t know, is that he’s no longer on Deathstroke’s ass.”

That gave her pause.

“What? Why?”

She seemed annoyed and surprised by this. Likely hoping to use Aquaman’s investigation to track down Deathstroke herself.

“His wife-“

“What about his fucking wife? Fuck her.”

This time I gave Ravager a flat look before continuing.

“His wife is going into labor. His son is about to be born.”

That seemed to give Ravager pause. As she seemed to think about that for a few seconds before turning away. Giving a frustrated harrumph as she drummed her fingers on her hips.

“Are they still at least trying to track him down?”

“Yes.”

Ravager snorted at that.

“If they don’t at least have an actual Justice League member on the case, then he might as well be a free man.”

I said nothing, even when Ravager wheeled around towards me. Jabbing a finger into my chest.

“…Well? Who the hell is on the case?”

I hummed.

“Maybe I’ll tell you…if the next lesson is good enough.”

“YOU-urgh! Fine. Whatever. Just make sure you actually have the information and aren’t just jerking my chain. Or else.”

Ravager threatened, before turning on her heel and leaving the gym in a huff. I of course did nothing but observe her. She was quite amusing in all honestly.

It didn’t go unnoticed that despite having the go ahead to hit or punish me in training, she had refrained from doing so.

*~o~*

BEEP!

My eyes immediately swiveled to the alarm before checking my phone for further information. After a few seconds, a voice came from it.

“Biometrics scanned…Identity confirmed. Beast Boy.”

Of course it was.

I sighed before walking over towards the entrance of the Laboratory. Watching as several doors automatically locked themselves as I went by. Another security measure I had set up.

Once I arrived near the entrance, I heard the sounds of Beast Boy struggling. Grunting and complaining as he seemed to be trapped in something.

It seems Beast Boy has met one of my latest projects.

Turning the corner, I witnessed Beast Boy near the entrance, struggling with a large blob of slime. It was blacker than Tar, except for a small white dot. On its side. As Beast Boy struggled with it, it struggled to contain Beast Boy.

I continued to watch for a few more minutes just to confirm it’s actions before interfering. Whether or not it succeeded in its mission to stop Beast Boy was important after all. Though it seemed that Beast Boy wasn’t willing to transform into different animals to escape.

At the very least, he seemed to be thinking about the area around him, and not wanting to destroy anything. Not even the blob that was on him.

I believe the blob was strong enough to withstand it, but I didn’t know for sure unless he tried. And if wasn’t going to, then I might as well end this.

He seems to have learned his lesson anyway.

“Inque, release him.”

The blob followed my instructions. Quickly backing off of Beast Boy and forming itself towards me. Allowing me to stroke the top of it. I wasn’t sure whether or not it had any effect on the blob, but it continued to let me do it, and it showed no sign of comfort.

It also helped that there was no residue left on either my hand nor Beast Boy. It was able to manipulate all of its body, even when it’s been cut off. It was quite an interesting subject to be honest…

But I was getting distracted.

“Thanks, I wasn’t sure how much longer-”

“Is there a reason you’re in the Laboratory Beast Boy? When I’ve explicitly stated that it was off limits for safety reasons?”

Beast Boy rubbed the back of his head and gave a sheepish smile.

“Uh…yes?”

I highly doubted that.

“…Go ahead.”

“I was wondering uh…the next patrol schedule was coming up, whether or not you’ve given any thought about M-Miss Martian being-“

Goddamn it. Of course it was about this. Actually, speaking of Miss Martian…

“The new Titans have just completed their first mission, haven’t they? Bringing down that smuggling ring.”

It was a small potatoes mission, but still one that needed to be given props. Beast Boy slowly nodded his head. Likely surprised at the non sequitur.

“Then they should be rewarded for it. What place did you say has the best pizza in the city?”

Beast Boy’s face lit up at that.

“Oh, there’s-“

He was about to start rambling on names before tripping a bit on his feet. Likely a result of him having become a bit light headed. Causing him to shake his head in confusion and look around the room.

“Woah. Sorry about that. Just got a bit light headed.”

I sighed.

“Which is why I don’t want people to enter the Lab, Beast Boy.”

He shrugged at that. Obviously having learned fuck all.

“Fair enough. Hey, it smells really nice down here…”

After giving a nod, I motioned towards the table besides me. Which held a burning incense stick in a holder. One of yet another project I was working on. Beast Boy nodded his head at that before walking forward, only to be met with me putting a hand out and stopping him.

“We can talk in the elevator.”

He nodded before heading over there quickly, while I simply walked. Shaking my head at his antics.

“You do know I’m going to have to punish you for this, right?”

“Huh?”

“For starters…you’re not going to be allowed to come with.”

“What!?”

Beast Boy was obviously outraged at my choice as he whined before pressing a button on the elevator. Taking us to the top floor.

Honestly…