To the East

Two months have passed since Slade decided to haunt Jordan and the Titans from beyond the grave. He wants to make his master proud, but who is that man? Is he a man at all? The mystery behind Slade's new master is interesting, but that is a story for another day. Now, a vigilante riding a motorcycle quickly drives down a road towards Steel City. His speed increases as he gets closer to the city. As he sees the incomplete Tower on the skyline, he hears some static. He taps his helmet and taps into the frequency.

"What do you want?" asked the vigilante.

"I just wanted to see if you were in the city," said Jordan.

"I'm in here, so you don't have to worry," said the vigilante.

"Are you sure that you can lead this team? The last time we met, you nearly blew us up," said Jordan.

"That was six months ago. I'm a completely different person now," said the vigilante.

"People don't change. They just suppress their urges," said Jordan.

"You're too insecure, man. Lighten up. You're becoming a spitting image of Bruce," said the vigilante.

"I am not," said Jordan.

"Hell, you guys are starting to sound the same too," said the vigilante.

"I was just checking on you. That's all," said Jordan.

"I'll be fine bro. I'll get this team battle-ready and we will become a better squad than yours in no time," said the vigilante.

"Impossible. We've been down here for three years. You can't whip them into shape in just a few weeks. Especially to be a challenge for us," said Jordan.

"Is that a bet?" asked the vigilante.

"A bet? Placing bets are for fools," said Jordan.

"I'll whip them into shape, showcase how much of a better leader I am than you, and then you will stop babying me," said the vigilante.

"Never," said Jordan.

"I'll contact you later. I'm almost here," said the vigilante.

"Good luck, Jason," said Jordan.

"I don't believe in luck," said Jason.

Jason taps his helmet once more and ends the conversation with his big bro. He then speeds up some more as he approaches the tower. He drifts into the large driveway and stops moving seconds before he reaches the entrance. He hops off his bike and walks up to the door. He knocks on it, but the doors come crashing down.

"Geez. What amateur built this? It looks better on the outside," said Jason.

Jason enters the unconstructed tower and walks through the dark and barren halls. He continues on his stroll until he hears someone shouting over an unpleasant revelation.

"Fish tacos! Are you kidding me! You're probably eating one of my friends!" exclaimed the Atlantean.

"You said go grab lunch and I did. You should have been more specific," exclaimed the archer.

"More specific! I'm from the ocean! Not getting fish tacos should have been obvious!" exclaimed the Atlantean.

"Enjoy lunch or shut up!" exclaimed the archer.

"Why you!" exclaimed the Atlantean.

"What are these clowns arguing about? I guess that I should just find out," said Jason.

Jason takes a left and walks towards the screaming match. He slowly walks towards the living room and walks up to the door. It quickly opens and he sees the entire team bickering.

"Great. I have to lead a bunch of kids. I'm not going to like this," said Jason.

Jason claps his hands, expecting the team to stop bickering once the leader wants their attention, but they ignore him and continue to bicker. Jason then clears his throat, but the team still decides to bicker.

"Well, I tried it the easy way. Now, time for the hard way," said Jason.

Jason pulls out both of his pistols and shoots them into the air, frightening the team.

"What was that?" asked the archer.

"Me, idiot," said Jason.

"Who are you?" asked the Atlantean.

"I'm your leader. You can call me Jason," said Jason.

"Who sent you here?" asked Bumblebee.

"The Titans in Jump City. You guys want to make your own Titans team right?" said Jason.

"We don't need a leader. We already have one," said the archer.

"You?" asked Jason.

"No, but this team would be unbeatable if I was the leader," said the archer.

"Of course it would," said Jason.

"If you're going to be our leader, you have to know our names. I'm Aqualad. Those little guys are Mas y Menos. The cocky archer is Speedy and the girl is Bumblebee. Our powers are-," said Aqualad.

"You don't have to give me an explanation. I already know everything about you guys," said Jason.

"How?" asked the Aqualad.

"I need to know everything about you guys. I don't want to be set up or killed," said Jason.

"You could have least told us. We have rights to our privacy," said Bumblebee.

"If I did tell you, I wouldn't know how you guys act in private. I'm not just your leader, I have been sent to train you guys and turn you guys into premier superheroes," said Jason.

"How will you do that?" asked Mas in Espanol.

"We don't even know who you are," said Menos in Espanol.

"I may not be as relevant as Batman or The Flash, but I am very skilled and dangerous. The things that I will teach you will be important," said Jason.

"So, what will be our first lesson, teach?" asked Speedy.

"First, we have to get this tower fixed up. You're more likely to die from falling debris than from an enemy," said Jason.

"How will we do that?" asked Aqualad.

"Training montage," said Jason.

"Huh?" asked Aqualad.

"Have you guys ever seen Rocky?" asked Jason.

"What's that?" asked Mas in Espanol.

"Just forget it. We have work to do," said Jason.

As the next few days fly by due to the construction of the tower, the team bonds somewhat. They build together, train together, and even bicker together. What a team. Now, Jason sticks his hand into a bag of potato chips as his team argues for the hundredth time today.

"How dare you sneak into my room! I am a girl, you dick!" exclaimed Bumblebee.

"Relax! I didn't do anything wrong!" exclaimed Speedy.

"Just being in my room is wrong!" exclaimed Bumblebee.

"Stop overreacting. I didn't steal anything or do any other weird things, so you shouldn't be mad at me. Next time, close your door," said Speedy.

"Jason, deal with him!" exclaimed Bumblebee.

"Jason who?" asked Jason.

"Deal with him. He's a perv," said Bumblebee.

"Why would I do that? He didn't steal your panties or anything," said Jason.

"But, he could have," said Bumblebee.

"The problem with this team is not the tower or the city or your powers. It's your lack of chemistry. If you can't cooperate as a team, then you can't be a team," said Jason.

"So, how do we fix our chemistry?" asked Speedy.

"Like any sport. Real live practice," said Jason.

"Live practice? We haven't finished our training room," said Aqualad.

"Well, someone is attacking a factory in the Industrial District," said Jason.

"They are! We gotta go!" exclaimed Menos in Espanol.

"Because this is our first mission, let's review some easy and memorable steps," said Jason.

"Forget that. Let's show that villain not to mess with us or our city," said Speedy.

"Yeah!" exclaimed the Titans.

"I thought I was the leader," said Jason.

Twenty minutes pass. On the other side of town, some factory workers run towards the exit. As they near the exit, they hear some rumbling, and a giant villain busts through the wall. His dark red eyes stare into their souls.

"I thought supervillains didn't exist in Steel City," said a factory worker.

"My cousin in Jump City dealt with a couple of these guys. We should be fine. He probably doesn't want to kill us," said the other factory worker.

"I'm going to destroy you peons limb from limb," said the brute.

"You know what. I'm not the best judge of character," said the other factory worker.

Before the brute can bring his giant hands down on the factory workers, he is stung by a giant bumblebee.

"Did your mama ever tell you to not harass innocent factory workers?" asked Bumblebee.

"You got lucky. You're the first villain that we will bust in this city. Titans-," said Jason.

Before Jason can finish talking, the Titans rush past him as they prepare to deal with the giant villain.

"You guys go after I say, Titans, go!" exclaimed Jason.

"You should have told us that," said Speedy.

"Amateurs," said Jason.

The first two to get close to the brute are Mas y Menos. The Mexican speedsters circle around the brute.

"We're here!" exclaimed the Mexican speedsters.

The Mexican speedsters move to another spot to taunt the brutes even more.

"No, we're here!" exclaimed the Mexican speedsters.

The brute tries to crush them with his robotic arm, but they move out of the way once more.

"Now, we're here! You're too slow!" exclaimed the Mexican speedsters.

Bumblebee tries to use the speedsters' distraction to attack the brute, but they get in her way and she is sent flying out of the building. Aqualad bends the water out of the pipes and creates a giant ball of water. Speedy climbs to the second floor and fires three explosive arrows at the brute. The brute dodges and the attacks are sent flying towards the two minutes. The attacks hit the teammates and they are sent flying out of the building. The brute turns his attention to the leader and runs towards him. Jason casually pulls out a few explosives and throws them at the brute's face. They explode and send the brute flying into some pipes. The Titans re-enter the building seconds after.

"We should have been able to do that together, but we decided to act like idiots," said Jason.

"But, that doesn't mean that we can't work together. All we have to do is get some good hits on that bastard," said Speedy.

"Hopefully you guys won't end up killing yourselves," said Jason.

"I have a plan," said Bumblebee.

"Aqualad, Bumblebee, Speedy, keep this big guy at bay. Mas, Menos, and I will get up close and personal," said Jason.

"That's exactly what I was going to say," said Bumblebee.

"See, we're already connecting. Titans, go!" said Jason.

Speedy starts rapidly firing many types of arrows at the brute while Aqualad starts sending waves of water and Bumblebee starts to spam her stinging attack at the brute.

"Más y Menos, si podemos," said the Mexican speedsters.

Mas y Menos and grab each other. The two brothers zoom towards the molten steel behind the brute and run around it, forcing it to quickly reach the brute. Jason then pulls out a few ice bombs and throws them at the incapacitated brute. Once the ice hits the steel, it melts and turns into water. The water reacts with the molten steel and cools it, practically freezing it.

"So, did we beat him?" asked Speedy.

"Yes, we beat him. We beat our first villain," said Jason.

"Yes!" exclaimed the Titans.

"Now, all we have to do is contact the police and wait for them to come. Good job, team. We are now an actual superhero team," said Jason.

"You may be actual superheroes, for now, Red Hood, but not for long. Your brats destroyed my school and my underwater hideout. You, little bastards, have interrupted my plans for too long. Thank you, Steamroller. You have made my job way easier. Thanks to you, I now have more students and I am one step closer to making everyone in the world kiss my feet," said Brother Blood.