It was around 8:30 p.m. as Virgil Hawkins walked down the aisle of the moving train, trying to find an open seat. A backpack hanging on by one strap and a duffel-bag in his right hand contained all of his worldly possessions; today had finally been the day where he'd left Dakota City for good, and he was still unsure of where he would end up. Virgil sighed. "Man, this is gonna be a long day…"

Virgil was a tall, 16-year-old African-American youth, wearing his black hair in dreadlocks. A little over a year prior, Virgil had been transformed by an explosion of gas and developed superpowers of electrical manipulation, and he was convinced that he'd only hit the surface of how far his powers extended. When he first discovered these powers, he was compelled to follow in the footsteps of the recently-formed Justice League and use his powers to fight crime. However, with the enforcement of new technology and a strict police force, crime had died down in Dakota City; Virgil, however, still felt that he had more to offer with his gifts, and thusly abandoned his home to serve the greater good.

"Maybe I should've actually had a plan before I left town," Virgil grumbled to himself as he continued his quest for a seat. Walking past a compartment that was empty except for a girl reading a rather large book, he knocked on the door. When the girl acknowledged him with a nod, he opened the door and asked, "Mind if I sit in here? It's pretty damn packed."

The girl looked up from her book and looked Virgil up and down before shrugging. "Whatever," she replied, moving her bag out of the way, "Take a seat if you want." As Virgil sat down, she buried her nose in the book again.

Virgil looked around awkwardly. Trying to make conversation, he extended his hand. "Um, I'm Virgil Hawkins."

"Artemis Crock," the girl, Artemis, replied without extending her own hand in return or even taking her eyes off of the book, for that matter. Virgil thought this somewhat rude but gave her the benefit of the doubt.

Artemis was definitely Asian, Virgil decided; he could tell by the eyes. And what eyes they were; piercing, he felt that they dove straight into his soul. Beyond that, she had a wiry frame, and long, blonde hair. Virgil got the impression that she was some type of athlete.

"What nationality are you?" Virgil questioned; this was more for him to talk about his own African-American pride than out of bias for whatever Artemis was.

"Vietnamese," Artemis replied curtly, without bothering to ask Virgil the same question. Virgil chuckled awkwardly.

"What are you reading?" he asked after a few minutes of silence, another stab at making conversation.

Artemis rolled her eyes, marked her page, and put the book down. "It's a book called The Prince. By Niccolò Machiavelli."

"I learned about him in school," Virgil commented. "Seems like a pretty smart dude. And that's a pretty big book, too. Looks like you're almost done, too." When she stared at him without responding, he chuckled awkwardly. "Sorry, Artemis. I talk a bit too much when I'm nervous. Hope you don't mind."

Artemis sighed. "Yes. It's a big book. I've had a lot of time to read it. And I do mind. I don't want this to be one of those train rides where two perfect strangers have to make small talk with each other. If that's what you're intending to do, then please find another place to sit."

"Pfft," Virgil replied, tired of her attitude, "Maybe I will find somewhere else to sit, then."

At that moment, the train came to a very abrupt halt; Artemis was flung out of her seat by the suddenness, and both of their belongings went flying around their compartment. Judging from the chaotic sounds coming from the hallway, they weren't the only ones to experience some discomfort.

"What the hell was that?" Virgil wondered out loud as he bent down to pick up something that had fallen out of Artemis' bag; it was an arrow. "And what the hell are you doing carrying around arrows?" he added suspiciously.

Artemis snatched it from his hands. "Remember when we decided not to talk to each other? That's still in effect."

They both paused when the train's intercom turned on and the captain spoke. "Attention passengers. Please do not be alarmed. The train is being attacked by the villains Nightslayer and Sun Girl. As long as we comply to their demands, and everyone stays in their cabins, we should experience no difficulty."

Simultaneously, Virgil and Artemis reached for their bags. "I'll be right back," they both said distractedly and ran out of the compartment.

"Wonder where she's off to?" Virgil thought to himself absently as he hurried along, ignoring the calls of people to get back to his compartment, ignoring the swarms of people trying to find their loved ones, until finally he found what he was searching for – a bathroom.

Victor Stone was driving along a country road. What he craved more than anything was to be alone. After the surgery, it seemed that being alone was all that he craved.

Victor Stone was a 17-year-old African-American youth, tall with a firm build, and had short black hair. After a horrible accident during a basketball game, Victor's left arm got so shattered that there was no way it would be able to heal naturally; his father, Silas Stone, a multibillionaire real estate mogul and technician, arranged for the broken beyond repair arm to be replaced with a mechanical arm. Hugely resentful, Victor spent much of his time alone to get to understand the arm better, and began tinkering with it; Victor was a genius when it came to all things technology, inherited from his father. Inspired by the Red Tornado, Victor altered his arm into a suitable sonic cannon; occasionally, when he wasn't practicing football or keeping up with his athletics, he'd drive around in his Mercedes Benz, tuned in to the police scanners and help take down petty criminals.

The cannon was a piece of work, however; it was temperamental at times, either too strong or too weak at times, and at a subpar strength for the most part. Victor was still working out the kinks in his spare time.

"It sure has been a long week," Victor sighed as he continued the drive to his favorite spot; a cliff overlooking the valley and railroad tracks that was perfectly beautiful. "All I need is a nice view, some good music, and a few brewskies," he commented to himself, referring to the six-pack in the back seat. He had a friend that hooked him up with drinks every now and then.

Victor absently flipped the stations on his car radio, trying to find some good tunes to listen to, when he ended up on the police scanner radio in the midst of a heated briefing.

"This is Commissioner Violet Martinez," came the voice on the channel. "We have a dual Code 245 in process, down by the train tracks near the valley. Precious cargo is aboard. All available units report immediately."

Without a second thought, Victor immediately floored the car. "Ain't nobody stealing anything from a train in my city," he said firmly; although unsure what a Code 245 was – this was the first time he'd heard of such – let alone a dual one, Victor knew that it was his place to help. Flipping the headlights on, within minutes he reached his favorite spot, but instead of stopping at the peak he continued to floor the car until he was driving off of it. Instead of falling, Victor pushed a button and wings and rocket boosters popped out of hidden attachments in the car.

His arm wasn't the only thing Victor upgraded in his free time.

The conductor of the train stood outside, next to the still train; frightened passengers looked out from their windows at the scene.

The villain Nightslayer – a tall man in a full-body black stealth suit – and his accomplice Sun Girl – an average-height 16-year-old girl with a slight build and flowing bright pink hair that reached her waist – stood a few feet back. Sun Girl held a ball of fire in each of her hands.

"Just give me what I want," Nightslayer demanded in a raspy voice. There was no emphasis or real strength to the way he said it, but the conductor knew that this was not a demand that could be ignored.

"Please, please," the conductor begged, "Don't hurt the passengers. Don't hurt these innocent people."

Enraged at the conductor's insolence, Sun Girl's face crossed with fury as she prepared to strike the conductor with one of her fire balls. Nightslayer shook his head and raised a hand; Sun Girl slowly lowered her hand, albeit reluctantly.

"Listen here, conductor," Nightslayer rasped slowly, "Just give me what my accomplice and I want. If you do, then there is no need for any of these people to get hurt. Why, you don't want these innocent lives on your head, do you?"

The conductor gulped and began to sweat, frozen in place. One of the passengers opened their compartment window and exclaimed, "Just give them what they want!" Soon, more compartment windows were opened and more passengers were yelling that the conductor should give in to Nightslayer.

"Alright," the conductor replied eventually. "I'll give you what you want."

"Well, why don't you allow me to give thee nice people what you want?" came a voice; Nightslayer and Sun Girl both turned around to watch a burst of electricity slam into Nightslayer, throwing him through the air and slamming into the train.

Picking himself up, Nightslayer drew and cocked his gun. Aiming it at nothing in particular, he angrily rasped, "SHOW YOURSELF!" Sun Girl shot several balls of fire around, hoping to keep their mysterious assailant at bay.

"Well, if you insist!" came a cheery voice as someone on a flying disk swung into view.

"Who are you?" Nightslayer inquired as Sun Girl stared down this adversary.

The masked assailant considered the question for a few seconds before answering, "They call me Static."

Nightslayer laughed darkly. "Well Static, if that's what it is," Nightslayer commented, "I wasn't expecting resistance of this… level." Sun Girl ignited her hands and prepared to launch them. "Now, I appreciate you trying to play the hero, but trust me, you are hopelessly outclassed."

The conductor nodded in agreement. "Young hero, don't try and be the savior of the day. It isn't worth losing your life. You're outnumbered."

"How about now?" came another voice; four heads turned as someone nimbly leapt through the open train door. Quickly notching an arrow, the new appearance – a young girl – expertly aimed at Sun Girl, who extinguished her hands and dove out of the way.

"Welcome to the brawl!" Static called over to her.

She grunted. "Name's Artemis," she called out, and Static's eyes widened for a split second before he shrugged. "Static," he replied.

As Sun Girl got to her feet and the conductor cowered in fear, Nightslayer turned his gun from Artemis to Static. "Where to aim, where to aim…" he wondered. When he pointed it at Static, Nightslayer noticed that he quickly tensed and began to sweat. "Target acquired," he rasped as he pulled the trigger.

Artemis quickly notched an arrow and shot, knocking the bullet off of its trajectory before it could hit Static, who remained frozen in place. As Nightslayer cocked the gun again and Sun Girl came charging at Artemis, hands ablaze, the archer shouted snippily, "Static! Do something, idiot!"

Her snip caught his attention, and Static quickly reacted; before Nightslayer could shoot the gun again, Static shot a burst of electricity at him, knocking the gun out of his hands. Swooping down on the disk, he charged and aimed a punch at Nightslayer, who nimbly leapt out of the way in an effort to grab the gun; Static shot another burst of electricity which sent the gun skittering away, then leapt off of his disk to fight Nightslayer on the ground.

Meanwhile, Artemis was struggling in hand-to-hand combat, unable to keep up with the martial arts techniques of Sun Girl. Quickly rolling several feet away, Artemis shot a sharp-pointed arrow at the girl, who shot fire at it; the arrow ignited in the air and collapsed as ashes to the ground before even coming close.

"You don't mess around, do you?" Artemis called out sarcastically. Sun Girl replied by shooting several more fireballs at Artemis, causing the archer to retort, "Don't talk much? Fine by me!"

"Puny little hero!" Nightslayer exclaimed in his raspy voice as he pulled a sword out of a sheath on his belt. "You can't possibly expect to go against two hardened criminals?"

Slashing, Static only narrowly dodged the blade, which dug a small cut into his uniform (the costume from the third and fourth seasons of Static Shock). "Well, what you don't realize, mister Darth Vader," Static replied sarcastically, "Is that you're dealing with a hardened hero!" Catching the sword with his hands on another swing, Static charged electricity into it, blowing Nightslayer off of his feet.

Meanwhile, Artemis caught on to a big problem from Sun Girl. "Static!" she exclaimed, "The fireballs!"

Static turned around to see what Artemis had seen – the fireballs were starting a fire! "Son of a bitch!" Static exclaimed; momentarily distracted, Nightslayer tackled him to the ground and began barraging him with punches.

"How do we stop it?!" Artemis cried out as she continued to dance with Sun Girl.

And then, as bright lights from the sky descended upon them, another new voice called out, "Leave it to me!" From his Mercedes, Victor Stone's mechanical arm transformed into a sonic cannon that he shot at the areas on fire; although a bit too strong, it had the desired effect, and the fires were put out.

"Coming down!" Victor exclaimed, donning a ski mask; tying one end of rope to his seat, he opened the driver's side door and threw himself out. The rope ran out half a foot off of the ground and Victor leapt down, unsure whether to aid Artemis or Static.

"Help Artemis!" Static exclaimed as he managed to roll over and throw Nightslayer off of him. Victor nodded and turned his cannon on Sun Girl; firing, he was upset when only minor waves came out. When they hit Sun Girl, she was unaffected but irritated. She quickly launched three fireballs – one at Artemis, one at Static, and one at Victor.

"Duck!" Victor yelled, and Artemis ducked; Victor's sonic waves were able to function at a strong enough level to take out both fireballs aimed at him and Artemis, while Static negated the one aimed at him with a ball of electricity.

Somewhere a few meters away, a figure watched these events unfold.

"Get her down!" Static commanded.

Artemis and Victor both turned to him. "What are you going to do?" Artemis questioned, suspicious, as she notched several more arrows at Sun Girl that all turned to ashes.

"I'm going to try something out," Static announced with a layer of uncertainty in his voice.

"Is it going to work?" Victor called out as he aimed his sonic cannon at Sun Girl; stronger than he intended, she was blasted back several feet.

Static laughed. "It's got about as much of a chance of working as your sonic cannon."

"We're fucked," Victor commented to himself as he charged after Sun Girl, with Artemis right behind him; as Sun Girl picked herself up, Artemis swooped in and performed a leaping kick into the side of her face. Victor made an addition by blasting her with more sonic waves.

Static hurried up to them. "That's it!" he exclaimed, and his two allies backed off. Closing his eyes in focus, he shot electricity out of his fingers that faltered.

"Anytime now, Sparky!" Artemis growled as Sun Girl began to pick herself up again; all participants were showing sign of wearing out from the battle.

"I can do this!" Static roared to himself, and with a second attempt he shot electricity out of his fingers that coiled into a cage around Sun Girl. The villainess tried to step through the cage but was strongly shocked and merely fell unconscious.

The three heroes looked over her together. "Well, that was something," Artemis muttered.

Victor grinned. "Sure was." Extending a hand to Static, who shook, and to Artemis, who glared at it disdainfully, he added, "Name's Victor Stone. Pleasure fighting alongside you guys."

"I'm Static," Static replied, "And Little Miss Personality over there is Artemis."

"What a touching moment we have here," came a raspy voice, and all three turned around; Nightslayer was holding the conductor in a chokehold with one arm, and a gun to the conductor's head in the other hand. "Now if you don't mind, I'd quite like to get what I came here to get."

Before any of the three heroes could react, a boomerang of sorts appeared out of nowhere and collided with Nightslayer's hand, knocking the gun to the ground. The boomerang's thrower appeared next, attacking Nightslayer with a sharp blow from their staff to his head. Unconscious, Nightslayer slumped to the ground, and everyone on the train cheered in glee at their safety.

"Thank you, thank you so much for saving my life," the conductor gushed, shaking the savior's hand rapidly.

"It was no problem," the savior replied curtly. The savior in question was 14-year-old Keith Dunham, a Hispanic boy with shoulder-length, messy, sandy brown hair. A mask was covering his eyes. As the conductor headed inside to relay the events that had happened, the three heroes walked over to the savior.

Victor was the first to extend a hand. "Thanks for helping us out, guy," he offered, and the mystery boy shook it.

"Call me Robin," the boy, Robin, offered.

Static snapped his fingers as if finally remembering something. "Yeah! That's where I recognize you from – TV, right? You're Batman's partner!"

"Not anymore. I work… alone," Robin cryptically commented. Artemis scoffed, unimpressed. Soon, all four heard sirens in the distance.

Static looked panicky. "Man, I do not like sirens…"

"I second that notion," Artemis commented. "Is there anywhere else we can go to talk, or something? I suddenly feel like getting out of here."

"We can take my car," Victor offered. "And then make other arrangements from there."

"Works for me," Robin commented. "I've got nowhere else to go."

Static snapped his fingers once more as if remembering something. "You know, I just need to check something in the train really fast…"

Artemis nodded in agreement. "Um, yeah. Me too. Be right back."

Victor shrugged and Robin tapped his foot impatiently. Pulling out his car keys, Victor pushed a button and the car descended to the ground from its parking space in the sky. "Nice ride," Robin offered.

"Thanks."

"I was watching the fight for a while," Robin confessed. "Didn't jump in until I was sure you guys would need me."

Victor laughed warmly. "Well, I'm glad you did. We needed you."

Bags in hand, Artemis and Static rushed out and Victor lead them and Robin to the car; quickly getting in, all four buckled up and drove away as the first squad cars arrived on the scene.

An hour later, the four of them were sitting, still costumed up, in the living room of Victor's father's mansion. They'd cleaned up their wounds and were feasting on some snacks, and an awkward silence had fallen over them.

"Listen, I knew we all just met each other and everything, and I don't expect us to bare our souls to each other or everything," Static offered to try and break the silence.

"He speaks a lot when he's nervous," Artemis whispered to Robin, who rolled his eyes.

Static glared at her. "Anyways, I wanna tell you guys… I left my home so I could be a hero. Use my powers for the greater good, you know? And tonight was the first time in a long time I felt like a real hero. And part of a real team, too. You know? So what I'm saying is, we all just met each other and everything but… maybe this doesn't have to be goodbye. Maybe we could team up. Maybe we could be the hero team that we all could be."

"I'm in," Robin answered instantaneously. When Artemis and Victor shifted their gazes to him, he shrugged. "I'm not going into any history, guys. Okay? But I just need to prove myself to some people. And… to myself. Besides, this is a good thing we'd be doing for the city too. I have a feeling this isn't the last we've seen of some supervillains."

Artemis rolled her eyes. "If Tweedle Sparky and Tweedle Hotshot are in, somebody's gotta be the voice of reason. And besides… I've got nowhere else to go," she added with a twinge of sadness in her voice. Clearing her throat, she added, "I'm done running. The world needs heroes. We're heroes. The world needs us." When everyone continued to look at her, expecting her to say more, she rolled her eyes. "How about you Victor?"

Victor looked at the three heroes sitting in his living room and shook his head. "I can't, guys. I'm not a hero with a part-time civilian life. I'm a civilian with a part-time hero life. I can't pledge my life to any sort of team right now. I have school, and sports. So I can't join the team." With a grin, he added, "You know what I can do, though? I can fund you guys. My dad's a multibillionaire. And I could work part-time for the team. If that's what this is… we're really forming a team?"

Static grinned. "Man, I am not going half-assed! It's time to step up to the plate. I'm in, and you guys better be in with me." He stuck his hand out in front of him. "Everybody in?"

Robin was the first to throw his hand in, with Victor following close behind. All three stared up at Artemis. "Don't leave us hanging, now," Robin commented irritably; he wasn't terribly patient.

"Whatever. I give in," Artemis replied as she stuck her hand in as well. "What are we cheering to?"

"The Teen Titans!" Static yelled, and Robin and Victor both yelled cheerfully, "TEEN TITANS!" while Artemis, less enthusiastically, added, "Teen Titans. Woo."

"Wait wait wait wait wait," Robin suddenly interjected, shaking his hands. "Every great superhero team or superhero or whatever, they need a base. A hideout. A headquarters. Where are we going to work from?" Gesturing around, he added dryly, "Victor Stone's living room? And who's leader?"

"Static's leader," Victor pointed out as if it was obvious. Robin made as if he wanted to argue but a glare from Artemis silenced him. "He lead us in that battle before. He can lead us now. And as for a headquarters, my dad practically owns half of the city." Looking through the window, across the bay, to an island smack in the middle with an abandoned building on it, he added, "And anyways, I think I have just the right place in mind."

"So what you're telling me," Commander Violet Martinez summarized in her interview with the train conductor, "is that four teenaged superheroes were able to team up to defeat two supervillans? And they defended this train, and whatever it is on the train that just so happens to be so important that it endangered all of the passengers aboard?"

The train conductor thought for a few seconds and nodded. "Yeah, that's pretty much what happened. It was something pretty spectacular, I'll tell you."

Violet stepped off of the train as several of her officers lead Nightslayer and Sun Girl into a squad car, with collars recently donated by an anonymous and wealthy benefactor inhibiting whatever superpowers they may have. "Thank you for your cooperation."

"Anytime!" the conductor called after her. The conductor watched until Violet got into her squad car, and after all of the cars had left, returned to the front of the train and announced over the intercom, "After a hectic night, this train will now continue on its duly scheduled path!" The conductor could hear the cheers of the passengers all the way from where the conductor stood.

Moving once more, the conductor pulled out a black cell phone with a single button. Pushing it, it hardly dialed once before being picked up. "Well?" asked the voice on the other line.

"Four of them," the conductor commented. "Saved the train. It was something pretty amazing. I was just about to suit up myself, but they seem pretty cohesive. And you'll never believe it – Robin showed up! Robin, himself, working with other teens. Incredible."

"He's out to prove himself. All he wants is to come back. What happened to them?"

"They flew away… or drove away… they got away, together, is all."

"Interesting."

"Quite."

After a few moments of silence, the voice on the line said, "Keep an eye on them, Zatanna." And then hung up.

Victor had given Artemis, Robin, and Static their own rooms in the mansion to sleep in for the night. While Robin and Victor both went to sleep immediately, Artemis and Static were individually still awake.

It was early in the morning when Artemis heard a knock on her door. "Enter, Virgil," she called out, and Static entered sheepishly.

"So you knew."

"Well, you knew too."

Static laughed. "Well, I just wanted to clear the air."

"You want to make amends for that awkward first encounter because we're going to be on the same team?" Artemis glared at him. "You're so predictable, and I only met you what – a few hours ago?"

Static found himself growing impatient with the archer again. "Listen, I'm just saying – we got off on the wrong foot, and I don't want that interfering with the team, alright?"

Artemis shook her head. "You can't change a first impression."

"Whatever, I'm out, then," Static replied grumpily.

"But you can change all the impressions that come after," Artemis called after him.

Poking his head back into her room, Static saw the first smile on Artemis' face that he'd ever seen.

This story takes place in an alternative universe, whatever you want to call it - in no way is it related to the mainstream DC Universe, and I own no rights or licensing to any characters or other trademarks used.

While I'm generally more of a Marvel fan than a DC fan, some DC characters compel me, and I've grown up on DC shows. So I love being able to write this story, and hope to get all 26 issues I have planned out for whoever would like to read them.

Any thoughts, comments, or suggestions are always greatly appreciated. Thank you for your support.