Chapter 62

My feeling was quickly proven correct when Ravager immediately began to shoot at me. This time I started at mid-range, in order to showcase Ravager’s skill with guns, but to not overly highlight it. Her ability to handle herself at close range was just as important after all.

Even so, I underestimated just how good with a gun she actually was. The first shot I was able to dodge by reacting to where she was aiming. I wasn’t anywhere near close to dodging an actual bullet, but I could definitely pivot myself out of the direction of where the gun was pointing.

Unfortunately for me, Ravager was quick to adjust her aim. The second, third, and fourth shot slammed into me. Each one leaving a bruise under my clothes. Despite being able to dodge the fifth shot, I wasn’t much closer to her position.

Leaving me to simply abandon the idea of trying to evade altogether.

“I thought I said bring your A game? Or is this just the best you have?”

Ravager taunted me as I reexamined my surroundings. Only needing a brief moment to come up with a different plan. My hand went to my side and pulled out an orange capsule that sloshed around with red liquid inside, before tossing it forward.

Predictably Ravager didn’t even attempt to shoot at it. After judging that the distance of the throw wouldn’t hurt her, and instead aimed back towards me before firing a shot.

A shot that slammed into a growing foam wall in the air after the capsule burst open. Something that left her quite surprised.

She made the obvious assumption that the balls needed to hit something in order for their effects to be made apparent. But this was of course not the case.

There was no shame on her part for the miscalculation. It was a simple enough assumption, like expecting a gun to shoot bullets that go straight. The real test now however was how she would react to the sudden development.

She attempted to fire a few times at the approaching foam wall that by now was fulling obscuring me. Allowing me to follow behind it in order to dart out to the left of it and take her by surprise.

Or at least, that had been the plan.

I expected her to either have her sights set on either the left or right of the foam wall that had quickly formed, or perhaps straight at the wall itself. What I hadn’t expected her to do was charge towards one of the sides. Likely in order to give herself more room to breath and continue shooting.

Or perhaps she wanted exactly what she got, which was to surprise attack me during my surprise attack.

She lashed out with a kick, which I received with my knee. Bending the same leg forward after the attack and pushing her a bit backwards. Instead of falling back however, she used the momentum in order to swing around and deliver a straight punch to my side.

She smirked at that and was half way through another taunt before my own knee crashed into her stomach. Causing her to recoil in pain. She gave a wild swing in order to build distance that was easily blocked as I continued forward into her guard.

My eyes narrowed as pulled out a knife from her back before jabbing it into my chest with a smirk. The moment it made contact with my chest, it immediately started to bend and tilt.

Because it was a rubber knife, obviously.

“Ha! I win!”

I sighed as Ravager began to cheer herself on before looking to the other Titans to gauge their reactions. To my surprise, some of them were sporting wry smiles and a few were even clapping. Namely Starfire, Miss Martian, and Artemis. The majority however were grimacing or even outright frowning.

The clapping sound quickly gained Ravager’s attention as she owlishly turned back to the Titans due to the noise before…

Looking away and scratching her cheek. The edges of her lips had started to curve upwards before she beat them back with a scowl.

…Interesting, she seemed rather susceptible to praise.

“As you guys can see, Ravager is quite adept at not only shooting, but martial arts as well. And although we couldn’t really show it here, she’s also rather good at being stealthy.”

Ravager was now actively not looking in my general direction or at the Titans.

“…Thanks, I guess…”

The change in her demeanor did not go unnoticed to some of the other Titans, but they wisely chose not to comment on it.

Miss Martian was the next person to step up to fight. Immediately showcasing her ability to fly as well as communicate telepathically to everyone in attendance. Causing most people to wince in response at the unusual feeling that was someone talking in what seemed like inside your body.

The only ones who didn’t were Raven, Cyborg, and Galatea. Though Cyborg did shiver a bit afterwards.

Well…Miss Martian at least understood the assignment. Which was obviously to showcase everything she can do. After apologizing to the obvious discomfort, she caused in most of the Titans, she quickly started to showcase her other abilities.

Which included turning into Beast Boy, Starfire, and then Artemis.

“…Damn I look good.”

Artemis commented to the obvious amusement of Zatanna who laughed. Causing Artemis to round on her with a frown until realizing that the laughter was good nature, and not an attempt to mock her. To which she relaxed a bit at, but was unsure of what to do.

I could sympathize. The first few weeks of casually talking to the Titans had taken some getting used to. Things were just very different from Gotham.

Hmm.

Miss Martian then showed off her ability to turn invisible before finally starting the spar. Which I actively applauded. Stacking the deck in your favor before a battle was a cardinal rule in my book. The only ones who’d complain about unfair conditions are ones who couldn’t rig things in their own favor.

That is to say, losers.

As the spar started, Miss Martian immediately used her telekinesis to lift me up and…

That was it.

It was a position in which I was pretty much useless. The only form of attack I really had being the capsule balls at my side, but since she was invisible, I had nowhere to throw them.

It was incredibly simple tactic, but very effective.

Despite the impressive showing, Miss Martian got about the same amount of applause as Ravager did. Likely due to some people still reeling from the telepathy usage earlier, and partially due to how quickly and boring her win was.

The last one up was Artemis, who seemed to be somewhat nervous, but quickly shook off her doubts and stepped forward. It was understandable. Miss Martian was a…hard act to follow. Especially for more normal humans like us.

But before I could signal Artemis to get ready for the spar, Kid Flash appeared before me. I blinked in surprise as he started to speak.

“Hey, you’re probably getting a bit tired of this, right? I can take over this next one for you.”

Of course, I wasn’t tired at all, but Kid Flash seemed to want to take this spar. I couldn’t think of a reason not to, considering he already knew what this was supposed to be like.

Still, I decided to ask Artemis, as now that they were technically members of the Titans, they should have a say in such things.

“Is that alright with you, Artemis?”

In response she threw me a confident look.

“I mean, I usually like to work for my wins, but if you just want to give it to me, that’s fine too.”

Kid Flash frowned at that, but didn’t say anything.

Good. It was just a bit of banter, and it seemed like he understood it. It seemed like he was at least maturing. I directed Kid Flash to be a bit further back due to Artemis being primarily a ranged fighter. Which he rolled his eyes at and accepted.

And then the spar started.

Immediately Artemis shot towards Kid Flash who…

You have to be kidding me.

“Nope.”

He sped past the first arrow. Posing as it went by before dodging the next with his super speed.

“Uh-uh.”

This time he yawned as the second arrow passed him by, before directing a wink towards the new Titan members.

Personally I was just curious at what exactly he was trying to do. At first I thought this was his attempt to get closer to Artemis, but now I was starting to doubt that.

He couldn’t possibly be thinking that if he flexed on Artemis and embarrassed her in front of everyone that the new members would have a positive image of him, right?

Artemis frowned and was obviously getting pissed at how Kid Flash was treating her. Causing her to quickly load up her third shot. I considered stopping the spar right then and there, but in truth it would have been a terrible idea.

I couldn’t think of anything that could demean her more than me chastising Kid Flash for going ‘too hard’ on her and being disrespectful. Not to mention what sort of picture that would paint for the new members.

So the current best course of action was…to just let it continue. And see what Artemis could do.

This time Kid Flash decided to speed towards the arrow before catching it in mid flight. Looking it over with a smirk and looking at the strange cylinder tip.

Which suddenly made a clicking noise and opened up. Spitting some sort of gas straight into Kid Flash’s face. Causing him to drop the arrow and step backwards while coughing.

Artemis wasted no time in capitalizing on her success. Firing several blunt tipped arrows towards Kid Flash’s position. Her aim was…really fucking good honestly. Probably a match for Ravager, if not surpassing it.

Ravager’s aim was really fucking good, especially considering she doesn’t have depth perception. Unfortunately lacking that second eye just hindered her too much in that department.

The first two blunt tipped arrows hit Kid Flash head on, despite him trying to move out of the way. But he’s taken more than his fair share of blows. Meaning he was able to take a few blunt tipped arrows without being knocked down.

After recovering himself, he used his super speed. Sprinting over to Artemis quickly. She fired a few shots that were dead on, but he simply changed his path to not get hit by them. As he continued to close in on her, she shot the ground in front of him.

At first, I thought she was aiming for the legs, until I saw the arrow shatter and a dark murky oily substance splattered on the ground. It didn’t help that Kid Flash had decided to quickly pivot out of the way of the shot he thought was coming for him.

Causing him to pivot and slip straight onto the liquid and force his momentum forward without much in the way of friction.

“Woah!”

He uncontrollably started to spiral towards Artemis who prepared herself in order to take him down. Likely using his momentum against him. Unfortunately for her, it proved to be a bit stronger than she had predicted. Causing her to actually get picked up for a few seconds before finally bringing him down.

It wasn’t a clean takedown, but it definitely did the job.

She attempted to get him into a chokehold, but it seemed being treated as Black Canary’s punching bag gave him some level of experience. As he broke her hold and started to get out of it.

She switched gears and slipped over to his arm. Getting him into an arm bar as he struggled against her. Trying to force his way out of it despite the pressure she was starting to put on it.

Despite the situation, Kid Flash continued to struggle. Not giving up even when Artemis started to ramp up the pressure.

Neither of them seemed to be about to give up.

So, I decided to step in.

“Galatea.”

Or at least ask someone for help.

Immediately the bored Kryptonian burst into action at a speed that surprised even me. Stepping forward and simply putting her hands together as if she was about to clap them.

CLAP!

A thunderous roar rung out and echoed off the island. Getting everyone’s attention as they stopped what they were doing in order to pay attention to her. A lot of Titans were startled at this as Galatea gazed at them with little emotion.

I decided to carry on Galatea’s applause myself. Clapping my hands together as I approached the two Titan members who had ceased their ‘sparring’.

“Good showing Artemis! I don’t think it’s a stretch to say you probably have the best aim out of everyone here.”

Most of the Titans muttered their agreement while Ravager grumbled a bit to herself. Artemis quickly stood up and seemed somewhat surprised for a few seconds before quickly changing her expression. Putting her hands on her hips and adopting a confident pose.

“…Well yeah. You guys wanted me here for a reason, didn’t you?”

I chuckled a bit at her bravado.

“Damn straight.”

Despite being a pretty simple affirmation, her eyes widened a bit before narrowing and…evaluating me? Odd. What, was she considering on taking me on next?

It made sense. Compared to the other recruits she could feel pretty weak in comparison. Miss Martian had an entire catalogue of abilities. Zatanna could use magic and do pretty much anything. Ravager was similar to Artemis, but had years of experience and was obviously older than everyone here. Which probably gave Ravager an advantage over her.

Meanwhile Artemis didn’t have any secret ability to rely on besides her enhanced vision. At least, I think it’s enhanced vision. Maybe something else to help with her aiming. Clairvoyance?

She likely felt she had something to prove.

Which was true, to an extent. But she wasn’t the only one with that problem. Or rather, some of the Titans had the exact opposite of that problem. That being an overreliance on their sole ability. Such as Kid Flash with his super speed, Beast Boy with his animal forms, and even myself to a point.

But that was fine. The Titans didn’t need to worry about that. Soon enough, I’ll fix that problem for them.

“Wait, hold on a-“

I immediately put my hand on Kid Flash’s shoulder, much to his confusion. We weren’t exactly close, but he was a member of the Titans. And thus, I still respected him enough to not embarrass him in front of everyone.

“Yes, Kid Flash? Is there something you want to say?”

I asked him calmly, to which he started to open his mouth, before stumbling back a bit. Of course, I was right by his side to make sure he didn’t fall.

“Ah, seems you’re still a bit out of it from the fight. Take a seat for a bit and catch your breath.”

He did as much, but it only helped to an extent. Currently he was probably getting increasingly light headed to the point of needing to lay down. Of course, there wasn’t going to be any ill side effects.

Not unless he doesn’t something stupid like speed into a wall.

“Guess I was just too much for him.”

Kid Flash seemed to barely register her words. Causing her to look at him with a confused raised eyebrow. Likely thinking that he hadn’t been hurt that badly. Which meant it was time to intervene…again…

“Eh, this just happens sometimes. Superspeed can throw your body out of whack sometimes. Nothing that rest won’t fix though.”

Artemis quickly nodded and accepted my words as the truth allowing me to continue on.

“Now that we’ve properly seen what the new Titans can do, let’s head to the top of the tower. I’ve ordered some pizza for dinner and afterwards you guys can choose your new rooms. Sound good?”

Everyone seemed rather excited for that. Even Kid Flash who lazily raised an arm up with his thumb out before slouching over.

So far everything was going really well between the original Titans and the new ones. The only hiccup being Kid Flash’s earlier stunt. It wasn’t anything like how the original Titans and the ‘second generation’ started.

Which was good, and I really wanted to keep it that way.

The better the bonds between everyone, the more loyalty I could expect. Not to mention the new Titans were very gifted individuals. Making themselves very useful just by existing.

Everything was currently looking up.