Teen Titans #2 - Smoke and Mirrors Pt. 2

Robin had led them into the city and then immediately down into the sewers, stifling off any protests with a quick, "Not my fault we stand out." and led them through the winding maze underneath Gateway's streets.

Eventually they stopped at a seemingly normal stretch of wall, before Robin pressed his hand against it and leaned in, a small laser zapping into his eye,

Recognize 02 - Robin. a voice sounded from nowhere.

Robin had instructed the computer to allow entry to his guests as well, and the wall had slid aside, revealing a set of stairs that climbed up into a spartan safe house.

The entire thing was one large room that seemed to be divided into sections based on use. One corner housed an impressive looking bank of computer monitors. Another section had glass cases that each held a costume inside. One was the grey and blue-black costume of Batman himself, the second was identical to the costume that Robin wore, and the third was a black and purple costume with its own bat motif. A third section had three sets of bunk beds and storage shelves that seemed to be filled with military rations. And lastly there were two motorcycles - bat themed of course - in the far corner of the large hangar like room.

That was all thirty minutes ago. Now, Robin stood in front of the computers, their neon blue glow reflecting weirdly off his skin.

"At the time of each robbery, there was a major attack by an Alpha level threat that drew the attention of members of the League. Giganta in Opal City with Wonder Woman. The Joker in Gotham. Solomon Grundy in Metropolis, Sinestro in Coast City, and Merlyn in Star City. According to the news feeds all of these incidents are currently ongoing. Meaning the League has been taken off the board."

A second display pops up, listing down a number of items, "These are the items that were stolen. A sculpture of the original Wayne Tower, built in 1901. Gotham obviously. From Star City, a chinese scroll dating to the Ming Dynasty. A painting of Metropolis by Vincent Van Gogh, an egyptian bangle said to belong to Cleopatra, and an urn believed to be from the city of Troy."

More facts and information scrawled across screens at lightning pace, "All of which have no obvious connections. Until you start looking into things a bit more closely. In each case there is a specific person linked to each of these artworks, either the creator or the person who commissioned them, who has a connection to something that I've yet to be able to identify. The word that keeps coming up in "Trigon."

GM Box

Welcome to issue 2! This is also where we have our first major divergence from Canon. The hero Raven has never existed in our Earth, so any comic book knowledge you may have probably does not apply to your characters. Though there are two possible exceptions in the room.

"Hold on a second."

Scott played along because it seemed like the best way out. He had no desire to get caught up with the police. He was a vagabond and a truant, having dodged most of the requirements of "normal society" for years. He guessed he stank (it'd been a few days since he got a good cleaning) and he was still hungry.

"Let me get this straight. You bring us all here to your secret super-lair that looks like some villain hideout from the Incredibles or something and you just start talking like we know what's going on? I don't even know who you people are. An hour ago I was in Metropolis and now apparently I'm in California! I'm freaking the hell out here!"

He took a step back and fixed his shades. "You guys are all superheroes with all your training and bows and arrows and horns and stuff. I'm not. I'm just some kid. I don't even know why I got dragged into this."

Scott wanted to run, but enough of him was curious that his feet refused to take him away.

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ARROWETTE

Finally, Lian lowered her bow and hit the switch that caused it to fold back up on itself. He was telling the truth, she was sure of it. She attached her bow to the holster on her leg and nodded. “If he has her, we’ll get her back.” Without waiting for any kind of response, Arrowette turned around and followed Robin away from the beach.

It was the first time Lian had been to this Gateway City, but in her universe she had been quite familiar with it. It wasn’t that far away from Star – a few hours on the highway, less if you take a jet – and she had done her fair share of shopping, sailing, and crimefighting there. So she didn't have any trouble navigating the city with Robin and the others. She hadn't known that they kept a bolt hole here, but she should have guessed. Those guys had caves everywhere.

The safehouse was very typical of a Bat hideout; boring. Arrowette wasted no time getting herself comfortable. She walked straight up to the rations in the corner, picked out something that looked moderately edible, and pulled it open like a bag of chips. By the time Robin had got the information he was looking for up on screen, she was leaning against the side of his chair, reading over his shoulder. She was a bit surprised to find out that Oliver and Roy were still busy with that Merlyn guy, but, then again, he was a big enough deal to get her grounded for the night.

Lian raised an eyebrow at the shadowmancer. “You followed one of those goons through the portal. What were you expecting to happen? And you’re not just some kid; I saw what you did out there, and there was nothing ‘just’ about it. If you-… Trigon?”

CONDITION: Normal '''''''''''''' HERO POINTS: One

I'm not sure if I'm going to go with this format, or stick with the old one. What do you guys think?

Initiative +12 Bow & Arrow Array +15 to Attack Damage Varies Critical 18 to 20 Unarmed +5 to Attack Damage 1

Attacks /

Dodge: 12 (+5 vs Area) Perry: 8 Fortitude: 10 Toughness: 8 (3 w/out Defensive Roll) Well: 10

Defences

The travel was nice and fast and she had to recognize it, a pair of well toned arms were a wonderful couch. She refused to get down in the sewers until they were actually in the safe house. She would not be walking in that place like a common stray! Even inside the house, she kept her tabby form, finally allowing the martian to put her on a table, from where she scanned the room and inmedialty went to examine the glass cases, and hissing annoyed when she saw that one particular costume was missing. As Robin started his research, the tabby joined again the group, sitting in the top of the back of Robin's chair to have a better view. The list of distractions seemed logical, give each hero its biggest foe to keep them occupied and her tail swinged impatiently as Robin delayed the main point. Gotham, Ming, Egypt... wait what?? That bangle not only was a royal relic, it also was a relic from the Godess! The cat and papire flower moitf were sign enough. Angry at the sacrilege, the cat hissed and actually dug her claws in Robin's shoulder, painfully before jumping down and transforming into her half cat form "I don't care about the others artifacts, that bangle belongs to Bast" she actually growled at the group "While she allowed it to be taken to the museum, I will not allow it to be used to anything more" When her posture before was pure elegance and a bit of seduction, now she appeared much like the predators that felines were.

Mechanics

• Free Action:
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"Arrowette. Not helping." Robin reprimands, his voice calm but as firm as stone. Even younger than the "Robin" she knew, he still had that commanding presence that Batman's proteges seemed to be able to cultivate.

He focuses on Scott and holds up his hands in a calming gesture, "Look, I'm sorry. You get so wrapped up in all of this that you forget how weird it can be to people who aren't used to it." His hands drop to his side, casual and non threatening. "I'm guessing you jumped through the same kind of portal that... Catwoman... and I jumped through. Which would be how you got here. Honestly I can't say exactly how those ones worked." he touches the "R" on his chest, "You can call me Robin. The girl with the bow is Arrowette, The one who could cough up a hairball... well for lack of a better name you can call her Catwoman. And..." his masked eyes focus on the purple skinned demon girl, "Sorry. I don't actually know who you are." he nods to the same shelf that Arrowette took a ration pack from. "But if you're hungry, help yourself to whatever you want. I think we've got turkey dinner, mac and cheese, steak and potatoes... Honestly they all taste like cardboad."

He turns back to the computer, taking a moment to look over new information that processed across the multiple screens. "Any of you are welcome to stay here until things cool off, or to leave. Thanks for the help. I'm putting out a call to some friends to help with whatever Abra's trying to..."

Robin's sentence dies midway and a frown creases his brow. "Some kind of storm pattern gathering that's blocking the signal. Weird... that shouldn't be possible."

Robin goes quiet for a moment, hands resting on the console and his focus inward in thought, before he turns back to the relative strangers in his lair. "Alright, here's the deal. Something's going on and it doesn't add up. The thugs and ninjas we just fought don't run in the same crowd. Someone on the outside pulled them together. Maybe it was Abra, but honestly its past his usual M.O. On top of that there's the attacks that drew the members of the Justice League. Every perp involved in those attacks is an omega level threat. We're talking about the kind of bad guys who try to take over the world. They don't work for paychecks. Maybe that's all coincidence, but I'd bet money it isn't. And now there's this communication blackout. And the last thing, is I just have a gut feeling that this is bad."

He presses a button and a map of Gateway city springs to life, grid drawn out in neon blue. "Abra's somewhere in this city, and whatever he's planning with this "Trigon" thing is already in motion. I'm going to find him. I'm going to stop him."

Robin looks back from the computer to the teens assembled by fate in front of him. "But I could use some help. I won't lie to you, I won't sugar coat it. I'm asking you to put your lives on the line for a city of strangers you don't owe anything to. This isn't a game or make believe. We're talking life or death. This is your choice, every one of you. No hard feelings either way."

As Robin introduced the group, Catwoman sat in one of the many chairs, still tense and feeling the annoyance of the Goddess at the new developments. Her own introduction made her want to slash that pretty face of him, the nerve! but instead she just smiled sweetly and winked at the young hero "You hurt me, Robin, I only try to help and this is how you retribute, darling?" she asked with a mock pout that were she showing her human face it would have looked very cute but even in her current form gave the aura of innocence. She focused on the rest of his speech, before standing again with her usual grace and moving to the computer screens "As I said, I don't care for the other artifacts but no one is using that bangle to some kind of obscure ritual. It seems we will working together then" she said, her posture changing again to a battle ready tense frame. She didn't know a single thing about those Trigon or Abra characters, but no one will desecrate that relic. And as much as she loved to tease Robin, she knew his gut feelings were usually spot on, ha was trained by the Bat after all.

Mechanics

• Free Action:
• Move Action:
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ARROWETTE
CONDITION: Normal '''''''''''''' HERO POINTS: One

She had been trying to be helpful; she had never had much patience for non-legacies, but she was trying. She didn’t give the matter too much thought though, since there were much more important things on her mind.

A communications block was a big deal; it took a lot of juice to knock out the league’s gear (not to mention Bruce’s numerous contingencies). The words “magic” and “Trigon” being used too close together was not something she liked to hear. She felt chills race down her spine, but she fought the urge to shudder. Lian took a quick look between the other young people in the room and decided that now was not the time to bring up ghost stories. She would tell Robin her suspicions – fears – but there was no point in freaking everyone out over something that happened twenty years ago in a completely different universe. It might not even be the same Trigon.

For now she had to focus on the mission at hand. Stop Abra. She didn’t bother telling Robin that she was in, because he would already know. She wasn’t sure about all of the others; the horned girl and catwoman seemed pretty gung-ho, but she the men looked significantly less enthusiastic. “Abra Kadabra has Frostbite’s sister. I said that I would get her back.” Lian said flatly, looking directly at Robin and trying to silently give him the ‘we need to talk’ look. She would pull him aside later.

D12+5 / F10 / P8 / T8 / W10 ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

Scott

Hero Points: 1
Dodge: 7; Parry: 4
Fort: 8; Tough 13; Will 12
Condition: Normal

"Robin, Arrowette, Catwoman, and someone." Scott tugged his ear and looked sidelong at the devil girl. "Um...I don't have fancy codenames like you guys. I'm just Scott."

Then Robin's invitation to eat settled in. He looked at the cupboard and his stomach growled. "So what if it tastes like cardboard," he muttered. The skinny kid shot to the cupboard and grabbed the first package, ripped it open, and started devouring it.

"So," he said around mouthfuls, "I'm not really sure what's going on." Scott had a better understanding than he believed, but he didn't think of himself as smart. He always downplayed his own understanding, especially around people he considered smarter. Everyone here seemed smarter. Scott had no idea what a Bast was, and had only vaguely heard of the other important names. He hadn't spent this much time around "normal kids" his age in a long time, and although these kids weren't normal, they had homes, food, shelter, and other things some homeless street bum didn't.

"But I guess I'm in," Scott tore open another package and ate like the rations were the best thing ever. Of course, his manners were terrible but he made up for it with gusto.