Chapter 28

I crunched down on the cereal in the bowl I was eating as I watched the news. I always made sure to keep an eye out on Gotham news for obvious reasons, but I occasionally glanced at a few news channels that had random shit on it. Nothing interesting sure, but at least it was something to listen to while I ate.

It at least helped take my mind off things for now. I’ve been a bit…stressed as of late. Galatea being wounded and counting on me for an answer. Starfire, and whatever was between the two of us. I don’t know if her culture has relationships and it wasn’t as if I could just ask. The increasing Man-Bat creature problem in Jump City.

And now on top of all of that, I was having some weird ass dreams. I didn’t remember all of them clearly, but I do remember a few that were apparently in some sort of middle school classroom.

After a few moments, I discovered something that was vaguely interesting and clicked on it. An interview with some dick head billionaire. A reporter asking some out of touch fuck what he thinks about the world.

People like to think the rich are smart as shit because they’re retarded. They think hard work and intelligence is all that’s needed to get to the top. What a crock of shit.

Lex Luthor isn’t the smartest man in the world. He was just born into wealth like the other chucklefucks in the 1%. They aren’t still rich because they’re smart, they’re just too big to ever really fail.

Just because there are a few people who’ve clawed their way into that upper echelon doesn’t mean that they’re suddenly all hard-working guys who bust their ass and got super lucky. They’re just the exceptions to the rule. The outlier.

Lex is just another link in the chain.

“-thoughts on what your construction of downtown Metropolis will have on the citizens as a whole?”

Oh, here we go. Yeah, ask the guy who has a dog in the race whether his shit will help people or not. He’ll totally be objective about it.

The bald guy on video grinned leisurely at the reporter who was asking him a softball question before nodding and answering. At the very least he knew how to look like he knew what he was talking about.

“That’s a good question. It’s my belief that with Lexcorp expanding, that more jobs will be supplied into Metropolis. Helping out the economy and anyone who needs a job. I won’t pretend that I’m doing this solely out of the good in my heart, but I genuinely do care about the people of this city. Of this country.”

Yeah. Uh-huh. Sure buddy. 

I rolled my eyes before shoveling in another mouthful of cereal. I was starting to get to the bottom of the bowl. I liked to pour as little milk as possible so I wasn’t wasting anything, which made most left-over milk nonexistent in the bowl when I was finishing up.

Beast boy was the exact opposite.

“Which is why I plan to open up several local soup kitchens and a homeless shelter. If anyone should look over those of us that are down on our luck or in need of assistance, it’s us. The men and women who are privileged enough to help in the first place.”

Classic charity case misdirection to garner sympathy from the public. Pretty much every mayor in Gotham did something similar. With the smart ones donating to a charity that was created by one of their shell companies or associates. Which means not only do they get the money back, give a gesture of good will, but they also get a tax write off.

Though to say that Gothamites would fall for that sort of shit would be complete horseshit. You’d have to be as idealistic and naïve as hell to believe that. Especially with all the previous mayors being caught red headed in criminal activities.

“Great answer, Mr. Luthor,”

What a fucking suck up.

“And speaking of men and women who are helping, I’d like to ask a few questions about the Justice League, if you’re okay with that.”

Oh right. He was against them or something, wasn’t he?

He furrowed his brow slightly before continuing to smile and nod along to the interviewer. Asking him to go ahead with the questions.

“What are your thoughts on the Justice League’s recent statements?”

“Which ones?”

“Well, let’s start with the biggest one. The massive bombshell they dropped about the cure for being deaf.”

I damn near choked on the dry cereal.

Lex Luthor pursed his lips as he seemed to think of his response before finally unfolding his hands and gesturing as he spoke.

“I welcome it, of course. Though I do have to severely frown on them attempting to slip by the laws of the FDA. I understand the cure, if real, could be a massive boon for not only the country, but all of humanity. I’d be happy to shake the creator’s hand and talk with him about it.”

He took a breath before continuing.

“But wanting to circumvent government regulated clinical trials? Years and years of rigorous testing that everyone before them went under, just so we could make sure nothing negative happens in the short term and long term? I mean…that’s just ludicrous, isn’t it? We’ve already allowed them to trample the laws about criminal justice. And now they want even more leeway? Just how much do they intend to push for?”

What the fuck. What the actual fuck? They didn’t. There’s no way.

Shit, Robin did ask for a sample of it, didn’t he? But I didn’t think they’d do something like THIS with it. Or at least this quickly. Shit, I hadn’t even tested it out on…

Wait, had they already done that? I would fucking hope so, otherwise what’s the point of announcing it publicly?

Shit, I need to look up what they fucking said about it. And I was going to need to have a very in-depth conversation with Robin. Did they really not think to inform me of any of this shit?

What a bunch of cunts.

I was starting to side with Lex Luthor on this one.

“Strong words, Mr. Luthor. Now what about Aquaman’s and by extension, Atlantis, remarks about the alleged sabotage that caused the oil rig to explode.”

“Honestly? I think if Atlantis is trying to lay claim to the entire ocean, then they should be able to at the bare minimum be able to control their own domain. You don’t see us making excuses when someone from our country does something idiotic. If you can’t take responsibility of the ocean, then you can't possibly expect us to believe that you 'govern' it. That’s my opinion anyway.”

I turned off the video as I retreated back into my own thoughts. Attempting to come to terms with what I had just learned.

As if I didn’t already have enough problems…

*~o~*

“Keep up your guard, yeah, just like that. Good job.”

Talking to Robin didn’t solve much. As he was just about as blindsided by the news as I had been. Which was just great. I couldn’t even be annoyed at him because he wasn’t in on it. Which meant that I had no one to be mad at that was at the Tower regularly.

It also wasn’t like I had an express line to the Justice League like Robin, so all I could do was…wait. And do something else to take my mind off things.

At least until Black Canary came around for our regularly scheduled training. Which meant I could at least ask someone on the Justice League for information. However, she said she wasn’t open to questions until after training, or I knock her down.

So, after training then.

I enjoyed these brief moments. Mostly because I had started to get the handle on beating Raven quite easily. After a month or two of learning, it was pretty easy. I wasn’t sure if it was Black Canary’s lessons, or my body getting used to the Blockbuster variant. Or maybe a mixture of both.

Whatever the reason, I was getting better at martial arts in a way that out paced Raven. Which made sparring with her fun and one sided.

Unfortunately, Black Canary rained on that parade, and switched our dance partners around. Which meant Raven sparred with Kid Flash, and I sparred with Black Canary.

So I pretty much never won again, is what I’m saying.

I blocked her low kick, her left hook, her rising knee, only for her to grip around my midsection and flip my body with her arms. Leaving me to pick up myself off the ground.

“Not bad at all. You’ve gotten a lot better.”

I scoffed at that, only to be surprised as Black Canary grabbed my arm and helped pull me up without asking. Not that I was complaining.

“Not hard to get better when you were shit starting out.”

She frowned at that.

“Not quite what I meant. You’ve gotten a lot stronger. Both physically, and in skill. You have a talent.”

Of course I did. It was called cheating my ass off with drugs. SHVA wasn’t the only drug that was useful in a fight. Not by a long shot.

“Thanks.”

I got ready to fight some more, only for Black Canary to take a seat. Odd, usually it was me who was the first to do something like that. I sat next to her, and watched as Raven completely dismantled Kid Flash, despite him having such an overwhelming speed advantage on her.

To be quite honest, I thought of him as the weakest member of the Titans by far. The only good use he really had was scouting and using his speed to outmaneuver his opponents. Yet in almost every fight he struggles with hand-to-hand combat. The only thing I could really think of was that it was difficult to fight in that speed.

Maybe their muscles vastly out speed their own thoughts? It would make sense.

“I hear you’re from Gotham.”

Hmm? Ah, I see where she’s getting at. I had been wondering when my prior history was going to be brought up by someone.

“I am.”

She nodded at that. Her eyes on the fight between Raven and Kid Flash as she spoke.

“You know, I’m from Gotham too.”

That got me to raise my eyebrows. I knew she’s operated in Gotham a few times before, but I’ve never heard of her being a native. Heck, I hear stories of her in other cities as well. Especially Star City.

Wouldn’t have pegged her as a Gothamite. She didn’t uh…

She smirked as she saw my gaze on her.

“What, don’t think I look the part?”

“Yes, actually.”

I stated bluntly, which got her to laugh a bit. Before sighing and resting her head in her hand.

“Well, it’s true. Was an orphan. Went through the foster care system before…deciding it wasn’t for me. Lived off of scavenging garbage bins and stealing what I could.”

…A strikingly familiar story. Still, there was a pretty big deviation in my life than in hers. She continued on.

“Tried to steal a fresh pizza from this one guy who owned a dojo. After a bit, he raised me and taught me martial arts. And now I’m here.”

Mmm. Must be nice to be so lucky.

“What, did that remind you of someone?”

Black Canary teased. Hmm, she was sharp. Really sharp. If I didn’t know better I’d think she could read minds.

“I don’t remember ever having tits.”

I commented, to which she threw back her head and laughed. If she wanted to analyze me, then I could analyze her. The fact that she was telling me this and then asking that question meant that she had likely done the same when she learned of my history.

There was only one thing I couldn’t really reach a conclusion about. Why was she telling me this?

I paused as I felt a hand rest on my head before ruffling my hair. It was quite an unusual feeling. It was different from the way Starfire had run her hands through it, but on a level I couldn’t really define clearly.

“You know, a lot of Justice League members have their eyes on you.”

I held back a snort at that. Yeah, I can imagine. And I can imagine the one who’s watching me like a hawk was Batman.

“I can imagine.”

“A few of them have started to think about passing down their skills to a younger generation. And those who already have sidekicks, have started to think about getting more.”

Alright? What did that have to do with…

Ah? Huh. That’s…not where I expected this conversation to go at all.

“So…what do you say? Want to learn from me first hand?”

…This was straight out of left field. Was she really choosing me out of the rest of the Titans? Robin, Kid Flash, and Aqualad already had teachers obviously. There was Starfire, but with her powers and super strength, martial arts wouldn’t really help her out unless she was fighting a strong enough opponent to use them on.

Which was…rare. Still, if you wanted a strong ass student, she was the go to pick.

There was Cyborg. He was a pretty decent choice to take as a student. He was built like a fucking brick wall too. He was taller than even Starfire.

Beast Boy was also a pretty good candidate as well. As he obviously knew some martial arts already, which was why he was in the other class. Raven was also about my level as well in terms of martial arts training. If my body hadn’t been made so tough by SHVA we’d probably be having pretty fair matches.

And Galatea was…Galatea.

“...are you only asking me because we’re both from Gotham?”

I asked to which she thought about before moving her hand in a so-so gesture.

“I won’t say that it didn’t influence me, but that’s not the only reason. Out of everyone I could choose from, I see myself in you the most.”

She then looked around the room in an exaggerated manner before putting her head closer to mine. Her lips near my ear as she started to whisper. I could feel her blonde locks of hair brushing against my head.

It was hard to not get erect from it, is what I’m saying.

“And between you and me, the whole reason I volunteered to help train the Titans was to find a student to teach. The main reason I’m asking you now is because I didn’t want the Hawks to get sink their talons in you first.”

The Hawks? As in Hawkguy and Hawkgirl? They were interested in me as well? Well, wasn’t that a boost to my ego? Still, couldn’t really see myself agreeing to be their sidekick though. Even in regards to the whole secret identity thing, the Hawks were easily the most unknown of them all. Likely due to how forgettable they were.

…I wonder why they’d be interested in me? Wasn’t like I was part bird and could fly.

That I knew of, anyway. I’d be quite happy to be proven wrong.

“If I accept, will I still be a part of the Titans?”

Black Canary backed off before nodding her head. A more soft and almost sympathetic look was in her eyes as she-a small smirk appeared on her lips for just a second before disappearing. Ah, so she had teased me on purpose huh?

Can’t say I’m surprised. She definitely seems the type to mess around with guys for fun. Still, it was a little strange due to Robin and Kid Flash confirming months ago that Black Canary was in a relationship to Green Arrow. Or at least they implied it pretty heavily.

Perhaps it was because she was a good bit older than me? Or maybe she was just naturally flirty. Who’s to say.

“Do you mind if I take some time to think it over?”

“Yeah, of course. Go at your own pace.”

Ah hell. Did she really have to say it like that?