Chapter 1: On the 4th of July
Let's take a moment and frame the scene. Holiday festivities are currently underway on the HIVE Academy campus, situated on the outskirts of Jump City in an undisclosed location. And why shouldn't it be a holiday? It's July 4th, a day of celebration in the good old US of A. Brother Blood, in an unusual display of generosity, always has a 4th of July barbecue and fireworks celebration that just has to be seen to be believed. It's something the students look foward to every year. Especially Mammoth, who consumes nearly half his body weight in hot dogs and cheeseburgers.
But on this particular 4th, there's a special surprise, something to sweeten the pot for these young villians in training. There are five guests of honor. At the height of the celebrations, a special toast will be said, marking their valor and determination, giving them their due. Immediately after, the special guests in attendance will be flash-fried, half a million volts of E-lectricity passing through their bodies until they are dead.
Let's go down the guest list, shall we?
Robin: Master strategist and leader of a world-famous supergroup. Commands knowledge in over 75 different martial arts, from Muay Thai to Shokotan. No metahuman abilities to speak of, but still an all around ass-kicker. Trained by the Batman. Threat Level: 8.5
Starfire: Alien princess from Tamaran, a world over 100 light-years away from Earth. Strength level: 8. Capable of flight and can generate high-energy phenomena called 'starbolts'. Threat Level: 7.49
Beast Boy: Formerly of the Doom Patrol. Skilled shapeshifter, but can only shift into animal forms. No limit on animal forms. Limited fighting skills, if any. Threat Level: 7.3
Cyborg: Injured human reconstructed with cutting edge cybernetics technology. Strength level: 7.2. Capable of interlinking with networked computer systems and scanning throughout the entire EM spectrum. High end communications suite built into his primary systems. Posesses a variable-frequency sonic cannon(s) built into cybernetic arms. Threat Level: 8.2
Raven: Origins unknown, may be extradimensional. Highly skilled telepath, telekinetic, and possible empath. Capable of flight and phasing through matter. Upper limit and scope of powers currently unknown. Threat Level: 10+
It took months of planning in order to affect this capture. The right kind of bait...the proper lure. The hardest part was creating thr proper prison for these five individuals. This extraordinary bunch, known in more popular circles as the Teen Titans, have been captured before, by HIVE and by others, and they have always managed to escape unharmed.
Not this time.
It took Gizmo 4 months to come up with the proper restraining agent, a superhardening gel or foam saturated with a neurolytic agent that worked on both humans and aliens. This would take care of four Titans. But, the gel or foam also had to be able to conduct electricity, in order to incapacitate the fifth Titan, a man who was also a machine.
The plan had taken time, but suprisingly, it had worked, to everyone's surprise. It was ultimately chalked up to good mission planning on the part of HIVE's flagship force, consisting of Mammoth, Jinx, and Gizmo.
So here at this moment in time, our story begins, and a new web on woven. A new tapestry. But we're getting melodramatic. In the main courtard of HIVE Adademy, an area nearly the size and dimensions of a small football field, colorful bunting had been hung, long tables of steaming hot food had been laid out, and generally the ingredients for a rip-roaring night was laid out. Mix in appropriate amounts, and you have a hell of a good night.
In the center of the courtyard, an truck with a high-tech flatbed trailer was parked. On this flatbed, plugged into a power source, were five large metallic blocks. They were filled with a sea-green gel, not unlike shaving gel, or cream, or whatever. Floating in the middle of each of these blocks was a Titan. From left to right: Robin, Raven, Cyborg, (Cyborg's containment unit was flashing intermittently every 2.3 milliseconds. A built in EMP array kept his primary systems in standby mode.) Starfire, and Beast Boy. The gel was breathable, as oxygen could permeate through ports set up along the edges of each prison block.
All five Titans were aware, to an extent. They all knew they couldn't move, and that the specter of death was creeping up oh so quickly. But what to do about it? They were caught dead to rights. HIVE had done it's homework, this time.
With the scene set, let us move our attention several hundred feet away, toward the stands, where they are quickly being filled to capacity. Every HIVE student has food in their hands and a cold drink. It looks like a very good show tonight, the banner for this occasion says FALL OF THE TITANS: END OF AN ERA in bold red letters.
It seems like that statement is going to be true.
But fear not, true believers! All hope is not lost. Let us turn out attention to a young man making his way to an empty seat near the festivities. He's holding a disposable plate with a hot dog and a burger in one hand, and a root beer in the other. He is polite, saying excuse me and thank you to everyone he passes, for making way for him to get to a seat. He learned a long time ago that it always paid off to be polite, no matter what company you're in. Being rude rocks the boat, and especially in this situation, rocking the boat would be bad.
Deadly in fact.
The boy looked up and to his right as someone made his way to the empty seat next to him. A second later, the seat was occupied. The guy sitting in the seat next to him placed his drink in the cup holder in the arm rest. He then peeled up the full-face mask he wore slightly and began digging into a burger.
The boy leaned over to him and said "Looks like you're enjoying yourself."
The guy turned and looked at him. "Yeah. One of the things I can truly appreciate in life is a good burger. It ranks right up there with making love to a woman and skydiving as one of my life goals."
The boy laughed. At least this guy had a sense of humor. "I hear that. This is infinitely better than cafeteria food."
The guy grinned. "Yesterday's meatloaf special went right through me and gave me the runs for a little while. I just got over that."
The boy nodded in understanding. Brother Blood seemed to buy the regular cafeteria food from the same place every school in America got their mystery meat. Which was another way of saying who knows?
He looked up and down at the stranger's costume. He wasn't that big, but he was wiry, and had muscle where it counted. His costume was primarily red and blue, with a web pattern overlaid over the red dominant parts of the ensemble. Somehow that seemed familiar...
"Say...don't I know you from somewhere?" the boy asked.
The stranger finished eating and pulled down his mask. "I guess I have one of those faces, huh? I'm new. Just got in with the new recruits a couple of days ago."
The boy held out his hand. 'I'm See-More."
The stranger shook it. "Call me...Web-Head."
"Ooookay...?" See-More sounded hesitant, but was silenced by a hand.
"Talk later. The show's about to start!"
Brother Blood took the stange front and center, in front of a grand podium decked out with a microphone.
"lADIes and GENTleMen..." he tapped the mic and feedback erupted for a minute. "Ladies and gentlemen...that's better." Blood's voice boomed.
"This country has given so much, so much, to each and every one of us." he began. "Despite our occupation as marauders and agents of chaos and disorder, we must never forget that. Only here could I find the resources to open this...center for such gifted young people as yourselves, such diamonds in the rough. I am always somewhat grateful for that. That is why today's festivities mean so much to me, and more so this year's festivities in particular. We have a special event for all of you here gathered today. today, we declare checkmate to several skilled opponents, and move on to a more...lucrative future." Everyone cheered.
"The Teen Titans have in a way, inspired this student body to become better, much more than the sum of it's parts. Here are the men and woman of the hour, who personify that ethos."
Thunderous clapping preceded the entrance of three of HIVE Academy's best and brightest, all dressed up. Gizmo and Mammoth walked to the stage dressed in formal tuxedoes with cummerbunds, while Jinx, with her hair down, was dressed in a very flattering and revealing purple metallic dress.
'Web-Head' rolled back one of his gloves, revealing a small digital watch. It was on a timer, counting down. Very soon, in the next two minutes, the numbers would be at zero. After that, he needed to be gone from here.
He looked up at the stage. The Titans were parked directly behind the stage and were prominently on display for all to see. A quick look at the truck's cab revealed the keys were still in the ignition and the driver's side door was open. Made his job even easier. They were going to do the job on the Titans, and then quickly truck them away. To be trophies, most likely. There would be none of that tonight.
The three promised children took the stage. That was his cue.
A loud, shrieking voice cut through Brother Blood's speech. Someone was standing up in the stands and pointing at Jinx.
"OH MY GOD!! IT'S A BITCH! A BITCH! BURN HER! BURN HER AT THE STAKE!"
Mouths dropped. The atmosphere became beyond dead silent. Crickets chirped momentarily, then stopped. Everyone turned to look at the interloper, the speck who ruined such a momentous point in time. The bastard who signed his own death warrant.
"What did you say?!" Jinx growled, powering up, her eyes glowing with something beyond anger, beyond fury.
"Oh. Sorry!" the strange man called back. "A little word faux pas. I meant to say 'witch', not 'bitch'. Burn the witch! 'Burn the bitch!' makes no sense. Sorry about that."
"I'm going to kill you..." Jinx purred, looking oddly happy, which was somewhat terrifying. "I'm going to peel your skin and hang it from my wall, you...son of a bitch. I've never been so embarrassed in my life!" She shot forth a wave of purple light. Everyone siting within twenty feet of the interloper made feet and vacated. The stranger just stood there. There was a flash of light and an explosion, and a blur came flipping up, away from the devastation.
The blur of movement landed on the stage, several feet from Brother Blood and HIVE's number one team. He stood up and stared the four of them down. He was fairly tall, maybe 5'9, 5'10. He wore a formfitting blue and red costume, red being the dominant color. The red was overlaid with a intricate black web design. In the center of the chest was a black spider, seemingly at the center of the web. The mask was also covered in the black web design, but set off by wide, white eyes that stared back at you.
Blood seemed to be at a loss for words, momentarily. "You...? Here? You're a long way from home, Sp-"
Blood was cur off by a strand of gray webbing covering his mouth, silencing him. Another, larger web hit him, knocking him down and adhering him to the stage. He struggled and failed to regain his footing.
The stranger looked at the three of them. "I'm here for a little prisoner transfer. You don't mind, do you?"
"You're not getting anything, you bastard! Not after you said what you said in front of all these people!" Jinx snarled. Gizmo and Mammoth flanked her, Gizmo slipping on a weapons pack and Mammoth cracking his knuckles, grinning, envisioning the beating to come.
"What I said? If the pointed hat fits, ma'am..."
Jinx just growled and screamed in frustration even more. The stranger rolled back his glove and seemed to be looking at a watch. He then straightened up.
"Wait for it." he said.
Four seconds later, all eyes were on the main HIVE facility. A massive blast rocked the upper floors, and within seconds, a hole six stories wide had consumed more than half the main facility. Entire pieces of the upper three floors were gone, and there were several caved-in areas. A great fire lit up the sky.
There was a flash of movement. A small POP, and Gizmo, Mammoth, and Jinx found themselves covered in a rapidly expanding greyish foam that solidified on contact with air. The three of them were stuck to one another, gummed up in the worst possible way. The mixture had already hardened to the consistency of steel before it stopped, leaving their heads exposed. Mammoth struggled to move, but failed. His great strength was nothing if his arms were sufficiently constricted.
The stranger walked over to the three of them, struggling futilely. "This little science project of mine will disintegrate in about six hours, so don't worry. As for that big BOOM, well I found a veritable mountain of plastique and C4 in the basement of your little Academy. Had to put it to use somehow. I sat in on a couple of your HIVE classes yesterday. 'Bombmaking for Dummies 101' was very helpful. Taught me everything I needed to know about detonators."
He walked towards the truck where the Titans lay in stasis. He stopped and looked at Jinx. "I suppose this is the point where I say that parting is such sweet sorrow, but it really isn't. I had a few laughts, had some barbecue, but I'll be glad to be on my way. I'd better get out of here. The student body is starting to come this way, and they look disagreeable."
"We'll get you for this, whoever you are." Jinx hissed.
"I'm sure you will." a red gloved hand ruffled Jinx's hair. An hour getting it straight and neat for this little party, all a waste. It was more of a tangle than before.
He stepped into the truck's cab and started the engine. The truck roared with a throaty howl. A masked head popped out of the driver's side window. "See ya in the funny pages. And Brother Blood? Buy some better cafeteria food. Your 'Meatloaf Thursdays' taste like shit."
With that, he punched the truck's horn twice and rolled the truck out, gaining speed the faster we went towards the HIVE Academy gates. The speeding truck, Titans in tow, smashed through with very little problem.
It disappeared over the hill and was gone. It would be no use sending out a search party. Regrouping and consolidating headquarters was more important right now. A blow had been struck today. If they didn't put out the fire, it would be a mortal wound.
"This isn't over." Jinx screamed. "Not by a long shot."
Take a long, hard guess at who the mystery guest, one of the stars of this story is! PLEASE REVIEW. I want opinions quite badly. iIve tried to write this in the vein of similar crossover stories.
I'd like to thank cloudshalo and The White Dwarf for writing similar stories and making them so good. I got the idea to do a story in this vein from you. Also, whoever wrote "Arachnophobia", kudos to you.