Echo was setting in class, listening to the teacher lecture on history or something. It wasn’t that she was disinterested, she was an A-B student so she paid attention, if she had to pick a word for what she as feeling, she’d have to say she was restless.
Five months, it’s been five months since the Invasion, and everything looks like it’s getting back to normal.
Echo had done her best to help in the reconstruction of Canterlot City, appearing where she could to move debris and get some people trapped in rubble free. Hawk and Dove had aided her as well, Green Lantern and Blue Lantern were working in different parts of the world, offering a helping hand where they could. There was no shortage of where heroes were needed to help.
And despite all this, Echo couldn’t shake this cautionary feeling. Even though they were able to beat back Tirek and his army, there was no telling if this would happen again. Echo wasn’t a worrywart by any means, but the recent invasion had put things in perspective for her, and most likely other heroes around the world. This threat descended upon them and they weren’t ready. It was sheer luck that the seven of them banded together and ended the invasion, but they could not rely on luck the next time.
We need to a way to come together again…but…
“Echo…Hey Echo…Psst!”
The spikey haired girl snapped out of revere and glanced to the voice. She spotted Pixel next to her, signaling her that the teacher was looking in her direction.
“Miss Echo, would you please answer the question?”
“Looks like someone wasn’t paying attention~”
Echo looked towards the front row and saw the mocking smile of a girl with mint green hair and lavender eyes, she knew this girl as Power Puff. One of the more popular kids that Pixel and Icy used to hang around with, but thankfully they came to their senses and dropped them like a bad habit, unfortunately it didn’t stop them from still giving Echo and Api a hard time.
The girl in the gray hoody rose up from her seat and looked towards the teacher. “The answer is the Black Hawks. During World War II, the Black Hawks were instrumental in the defeat of the Savage Regime, led by their – at the time Fuhrer – Vandal Savage. That was the answer, right? What was the name of the rogue air squadron that helped end World War II?”
The teacher blinked a few times and shook her head, believing that Echo hadn’t been paying attention and instead had. “Yes…um, very good. Indeed it was the Black Hawks who helped end World War II and end the Savage Regime. Which then lead to the rise of the Fuhrer who took his place during the final days of the war, Adolf Hitler…”
The teacher went back to her lecture, but Power Puff gave Echo an annoyed glare before returning her gaze to the front. Echo shrugged off the glare, compared to the nastier things that have stared her down, Power Puff didn’t even rank. After class let out, Pixie and Echo walked down the hallway together, heading towards the cafeteria to meet up with Api.
“Thanks Pixie,” said Echo.
“No problem, but what’s got you all deep and thought? Still…um…thinking about what happened during the Invasion?” Pixel asked tentatively.
Echo sighed. “Yeah, I just…That was way too close Pixie. If we hadn’t been there to fight back, the Earth would’ve been destroyed.”
Pixel placed her hand on Echo shoulder comfortingly. “Hey, don’t sweat it. You and the other superheroes won! You should be happy!”
“I am, but what if it happens again? I just think we need to think ahead. Maybe…”
“Maybe…?” Pixel asked.
“I was thinking about asking them if they wanted to become a team.”
Pixel stopped dead in her tracks. “A team?! You want to team up with them?! That’s so cool!”
“SHHH!” Echo hissed. “It would help if something like this happens again, and who knows, there are probably other bad guys and super monsters here on Earth that we can’t fight alone. Becoming a team just sounds better, I guess. I just don’t know if they’ll go for it though.”
Pixel rubbed her chin. “Well…that is a problem. Some heroes in the comics only work alone, and hardly ever allow themselves help from others. But then again, some actually want to be part of a team. They were pretty good guys and girls, right?”
Echo chuckled, remembering the diverse personalities – Firestorm especially – of each of the heroes. Even though their powers differed, as well as their interests and goals, they all had one thing in common, to protect the Earth from evil.
“I’ve been a stupid.”
“Why do you say that?” Pixel asked.
“Because…never mind, I’ll tell you later.”
AFTER SCHOOL…
Echo had transformed into Thunder, informing her cousin and friends that she was going to do a quick patrol through the city and see if anyone needed help in the reconstruction. Really though, it was just a way for her to get some time to think. Crime had lulled since the Invasion, most likely the criminals were too busy trying to put the pieces of their own illegal businesses back together, and, as much as Echo didn’t think it was possible, were with their families as well.
The Champion of Magic sat on the edge of a building, looking down at the city below. She then turned her gaze towards the horizon, thinking of the world. Just then she sensed someone approaching. She looked up and saw the familiar emerald glow of the Green Lantern, hovering down towards her.
“Heya Thunder,” said GL.
“Green Lantern, what’s wrong? Is there an emergency somewhere?” Thunder asked.
“Actually, Ah was asked to find ya. Arrow wants us to meet near the outskirts of town. Blue’s already getting Hawk and Dove, and Ah think Arrow already got in touch with Firestorm.”
Thunder’s eyebrow rose in curiosity. “Did Arrow give a reason why?”
“Somethin’ about a proposal, but he needed all of us to get together and talk.”
Thunder looked back out towards the city. She had nothing else to do, and if it got late, she could always take her homework to the Rock of Eternity and do it there. A magic fortress hidden in a pocket dimension without time had its benefits.
With a nod, Thunder rose up to meet Green Lantern. The two heroes then flew through the sky, with the Emerald Knight leading the way. It didn’t take long before the two of them were able to find the others. Blue Lantern was jumping up and down, waving Thunder and Green Lantern down. Standing next to each other was Hawk and Dove, Dove waved her greeting to Thunder while Hawk just nodded towards her. Firestorm was there as well, sitting on a rock that he had fashioned into an armchair. When the heroes assembled they gathered in a circle to talk.
“Nice seeing you guys again, but does anyone have a clue as to why Arrow called us out to the middle of nowhere?” Firestorm asked.
“He wouldn’t say. All he said was he’d meet us here,” said Blue Lantern.
“And meet you I would.” The six heroes all jumped at the sudden additional voice. Arrow appeared from the tree line, no bow or quiver, but he did have a satchel slung over his shoulder. “I’m glad you all made it.”
“Jeez, wear a bell or something if you’re going to sneak up on us like that,” said Hawk.
Arrow chuckled. “Sorry, but I had to show myself before you decided to leave. First of all I want to show you something. Take these.”
Arrow reached into his bag and handed each of them a round, yellow device and fishing one out for himself as well. The faceplate was black, but had a yellow T in the center of it.
“Now, flip open the screen, press the button that says ‘Transport’ and speak your name. Allow me to demonstrate.” Arrow flipped open the faceplate, revealing a LCD screen displaying various functions of the device. He pressed the button labeled “transport” and spoke to the device. “Voice recognition: Arrow. Confirm.”
{Recognize: Arrow. T0-7.}
Suddenly Arrow was enveloped in light and instantly vanished. The others gawked at the sight, but Dove and Thunder didn’t sense his life was terminated. The others seemed a little reluctant to try that, if he was alive and teleported somewhere, they didn’t know what waited for them on the other side. Thunder decided to take a leap of faith, she flipped open her device and pressed the button.
“Voice recognition: Thunder. Confirm.”
{Recognize: Thunder. T0-1.}
Thunder suddenly found herself wrapped in light, shutting her eyes for a moment as she physically felt herself be teleported from where she stood.
UNKNOWN LOCATION…
Thunder opened her eyes and suddenly found herself in a large hollow opening with oscillating rings. The rings slowly stopped spinning as she exited the hollow, as she walked Thunder spotted Arrow standing in the middle of an empty area with a large rotunda-like light shining down on the clear space.
“I am glad someone else tried, I didn’t think they’d go for it if someone else didn’t try it.”
“Where are we?” Thunder asked.
“A moment, I want to tell everyone.”
Thunder heard the machine whir to life again, but when she turned she noticed that there were seven hollows, not just the one.
{Recognize: Green Lantern. T0-2.}
{Recognize: Blue Lantern. T0-3.}
{Recognize: Firestorm. T0-4.}
{Recognize: Hawk. T0-5.}
{Recognize: Dove. T0-6.}
The oscillating hollows all glowed and whirred to life, suddenly bodies began to materialize within them. One by one the forms of their fellow heroes appeared within the hollows, and one after the other they walked out. Each of them were mesmerized by the sight of the interior as they continued to where Thunder and Arrow were standing.
“What is this place?” Blue Lantern asked.
Arrow flipped on his wrist terminal and pressed a few buttons. A keyboard on a stand rose from the middle of the floor and stopped when it came up about midway to Arrow’s chest. At the same time giant shutters rolled up, making the others stair dead ahead.
The shutters continued to roll up higher and higher until they revealed a vast landscape. Many of them quickly made their way to the windows and looked outside. Down below was a valley, with lush green trees and a river a few miles in the distance. Around them were tall mountains, and the building itself sat just high enough to view over the peaks into the horizon. They looked down and saw that the building was indeed a tower, and from the looks of it, shaped like a T.
“Welcome to our base of operations,” said Arrow.
“‘Base of operations’, a base for what?” Hawk asked.
“The Invasion five months ago was a wakeup call for the world. Though there are heroes in the world, and some fairly young like us, we aren’t united. If we were, and banded together, the Invasion might’ve been less damaging than what it was. The fact that we were able to pull together and defeat Tirek was no small feat, and I think we should be an example to the other heroes. Take a look.”
Arrow typed a few keys on the panel and suddenly hard light windows appeared around them, displaying holographic images of news reports and everything else going on around the world. The others gathered back to Arrow as they watched each of the windows, looking upon each of them in wonder. Some of them displayed the heroes during the battle in Canterlot City, with headlines that read “Mysterious Team of Teenage Heroes” and “Saviors of Canterlot City”. Others read “Who Are They?” and “Are they Dangerous?”
“The world knows what we did, and we must show that we still stand to protect them. Not just as individuals, but as a team.” Arrow continued.
“A team, huh? Now that sounds like fun,” said Firestorm.
Green Lantern crossed his arms. “Ah don’t know, being a team is a bit of a stretch ain’t it? Sure we worked together pretty well and sent Tirek packin’, but that don’t necessarily mean we can work together like that all the time.”
“I’ll have to agree with the jolly green giant over here,” said Hawk. “Dove and I have been pretty much working as a dynamic duo for over a year now, no need to mess up the team chemistry.”
“I don’t know Hawk, being part of a team sounds good. I mean, there’s no way we could’ve beaten all those Parademons and Tirek on our own. And if something like this pops up again, we’ll need to get together pretty quick,” said Dove.
“Yeah, plus, it felt great being part of a team! It was like we were a part of something bigger! I know I’m a part of a Corps, and so are you GL, but they’re worlds away, if we team up like this, we can really do some good,” said BL.
Hawk and Green Lantern mulled over their decision. Their partners had a point, and true enough, they all seemed to work together pretty well. The two then looked to Thunder who had remained quiet during this whole conversation.
“What do you think Thunder?” GL asked.
Thunder was thinking hard. This is what she’d hoped for, the others to see that they needed to become a team to protect the Earth. But could she convince them? She had to try.
“For a long time now, ever since I became Magic’s Champion, I’ve done my best to protect the world against magical threats. And, I guess, in a selfish way, I thought that’s all I was responsible for. I’ve battled demons, crazed would-be sorcerers, or people who find something old and magical and try to use it. And I just left other kinds of threats like criminals, thefts, and the like to other heroes like Hawk, Dove, and Arrow, or worldwide emergencies to Green Lantern and Blue Lantern.”
“But I realized, after that night, that I can’t afford to keep thinking that I’m only responsible for the magical threats. As a hero, I’m responsible for stopping all kinds of threats, and protecting everyone from them. That’s why, I think the formation of a team is the best thing for us to do. The seven of us together a stronger united, and I don’t doubt there’s anything we can’t face together. But this this has to be unanimous or else it won’t work.”
The six glanced to each other as if having a silent conversation. After a few moments of pondering they all grinned widely and shook their heads.
“Well, Ah’m convinced then. Let’s team up,” said GL.
“Not my usual style, but you guys are alright. And I think I know who the leader should be, and I think we all know who,” said Hawk as she looked to the others.
Suddenly Thunder found six pairs of eyes staring right at her, making the Champion of Magic stiffen. “Y-Y-You guys want ME to be the leader?!”
Dove chuckled. “Why not? You came up with the plan to contain the Parademons.”
“You also calmed us down and got us to pull together after Tirek mopped the floor with us during the first fight,” said Blue Lantern.
“And you’re pretty fearless, and not afraid to admit that you were wrong about me being someone else,” said Firestorm.
“I’d say it’s unanimous. What do you say, Thunder?” Arrow asked.
Thunder couldn’t believe this, not only did they agree to become a team, but they wanted Thunder as their leader. She’d be lying if the prospect didn’t make her giddy inside, but there was a problem, a big one that she knew would make them change their minds about wanting her as a leader. And she knew that simply telling them would not be enough.
“Thanks, but I can’t.” Shocked expressions appeared all around. “It’s not that I don’t want to, it’s just I don’t think you’d be comfortable following my lead or listening to someone like me.”
“Someone like you?” Firestorm asked.
Thunder stood back from the group and sighed heavily. “I’ll show you who I really am…SHAZAM!!!”
A lightning bolt shot down from the ceiling and struck Thunder, enveloping her in white smoke. The others let out gasps and feared that the super heroine might’ve vaporized herself. But when the smoke cleared, their shocked expressions returned again. Standing where Thunder once was, was a ten-year-old girl. With purple and pink spikey hair, a gray hoody, and black shorts; her light-purple eyes made contact with each of the heroes as she sighed yet again.
“This…This is the real me…my name is Echo, and I’m ten. My powers give me the ability to shift into a form that represents my full potential, and that form happens to be me a lot older and stronger than what I am now. So…now you know why I can’t be the leader, you guys wouldn’t want to take orders from a kid.”
The other heroes looked to each other yet again, this was a startling revelation. Although most of them were young, they had no idea that they were actually fighting side by side with a child. Given the way she acted during the fighting, they pegged her for someone older.
“Actually, Echo, the fact that you did this shows me that you are definitely the one who needs to be our leader,” said Dove as she walked over to the young girl.
“What?!”
Hawk stood behind her and smirked at Echo. “The best kind of leader is one who’s honest and knows that they’re not ready, but at the same time is still willing to do so for the good of the team. It took some real guts to show your secret identity to us, and you’ve shown that you’re mature for your age.”
Echo blushed a little. “That may have something to do with the Wisdom of Solomon…”
“Oh, I think you’re being modest, considering how often I’ve seen you at my friend’s farm.”
“Friend’s farm?” Green Lantern whispered.
Dove looked up to Hawk and the two nodded. Suddenly their bodies were enveloped in azure and crimson mana that took the forms of a hawk and dove respectively. When the light faded, they revealed the true identity of the superhero duo. Starburst, wearing an orange shirt and jeans, and Anthea, wearing a pair of denim shorts and a pink tank top, and both gave the surprised Echo a grin.
“STAR?! ANNIE?!” Echo exclaimed.
“Yep, it’s us.” Star turned around and faced the others, with Annie following suit. “We’re friends of Echo, I’m Starburst.”
“Well, you know me as Dove, but my real name’s Anthea. But I’d prefer Annie,” said Annie with her usual cheerful disposition.
Firestorm, for some reason, was staring at both girls slack jawed; making the rest of the heroes, and three girls, a little confused. They didn’t think it was that shocking of a thing to see, maybe Echo being Thunder, but Star and Annie didn’t think it was too strange for older girls like them to be superheroes.
Firestorm looked towards his left and after staring at empty space for about a minute he nodded his head in agreement to something or someone. His body was engulfed in flames and the atomic rings formed around it. Within seconds his form split in two and the flames died out. Now it was Star and Annie’s turn to stare slack jawed, even Echo couldn’t help it.
“LUCKY?!” Annie and Star shouted.
“HOT HEAD?!” Echo shouted as well.
Hot Head rubbed the back of his head and smiled at the young girl. “S’up Echo…don’t tell your cousin about this, alright?”
Echo nodded.
“And dude, did you know that Annie was Dove?!” Hot Head asked.
“Yeah…kinda did, her and Starburst.” Lucky confessed.
“What the heck Bro, you could’ve told me?! Not like I would’ve blabbed!”
“Don’t blame him Hot Head, I asked Lucky to keep Star’s and mine secret identities, well, secret. I didn’t want to worry you or Amber…” Annie spoke up, trying to take some of the heat off of Lucky.
At that moment a flash of blue and green light caught the attention of the others. When they turned to look towards the Lanterns, they saw not the two intergalactic law enforcers but two friends. Del was wearing an orange shirt, with a brown unbuttoned vest, and weathered jean pants. His red bandanna was securely fastened around his neck, his blue eyes and freckled face smirked at the two older girls as he crossed his large arms in front of his broad chest.
Next to him was Candy, wearing a pair of cream colored shorts and a powder blue t-shirt. Her bright pink with blue striped hair bounced a little as she gave her friends her usual happy-go-lucky smile.
“Yeah, it’s us too,” said Del.
Starburst face palmed herself. “You’ve got to be kidding me, you two are the Green and Blue Lanterns?!”
“Wait a minute, that little incident at Del’s farm a year ago, was that…?” Annie asked cautiously.
“Yep, that’s the day two aliens duked it out on Del’s farm and one of them gave him the Green Lantern ring. That summer he was gone was when he was away for basic training, and those three days I was out of town when he was gone was because I was chosen by the Blue Lanterns. That way I could help Del with protecting the Earth and Sector 2814.”
It was uncanny and a bit ironic that their circle of friends were all superheroes, and yet not a one suspected the other; well, except for Lucky, but Annie and Star told him up front. Now that only left one more, all eyes shifted to the hooded archer, Arrow. He chuckled lightly, finding the coincidence of each of them being friends and heroes amusing in a way.
But alas, it didn’t do him any good to keep his identity secret when the others trusted each other enough with theirs and him as well. Arrow drew back his hood and removed the black mask that covered his eyes and most his cheekbones.
“My name’s Fletcher, and Golden Delicious and I have a mutual friend.”
“‘Mutual friend’?” Del mouthed.
Fletcher flipped open his device and pressed a button. “You can come now, I believe we’re in good company.”
Suddenly one of the hollows whirred to life once again and the computerized voice called out another member of their group.
{Recognize: Crème de la Crème. B0-1.}
The light died down from the hollow and a tall woman came walking out, she wore a violet, wine tinted business suit, and a light-blue shirt underneath the jacket. Her hair was colored lavender and wisteria, with crystal blue eyes that were full of free spirited joy and belayed a sense of maturity. Crème spotted Fletcher and walked over to him excitedly, but her pace quickened when she noticed another familiar face among them.
“DEL?!” Crème called out.
The farmer was still in slight shock that Crème, his Matropolis friend, was in on this whole superhero business. She came up to the large boy and hugged him, much to the slight chagrin of Starburst, who crossed her arms in front of her chest and groaned slightly. Candy wavered a bit in her smile, seeing Del embraced so tightly by the slightly older and notably wealthier girl. Del was still a little stunned to see Crème, but he returned the hug nonetheless.
“I can’t believe you’re here! Why are you here?” Crème asked, genuinely curious.
“Well, Ah’m Green Lantern.” Del brought up his ring hand and showed Crème the emerald ring that adorned his hand. “That’s why Ah’ve been kinda busy lately and haven’t come to visit ya much up in Matropolis.”
Crème separated from Del and gave him a gentle smile. “Don’t worry, I know being a superhero takes a lot of your time. Oh, Starburst, you’re here too, and Annie?”
Starburst sighed with slight indignation, but Annie elbowed the smaller girl, urging her to be nice. “Yeah…we’re here too.”
“And…who’s that little girl behind you?” Crème asked.
Both Annie and Star looked behind them, remembering that Echo was there. They parted a little and allowed Echo to walk forward to meet Crème. The tall woman bent down to a crouch to meet Echo at eye level.
Echo’s usual style was watching quietly and analyzing a person, she was often mistaken for being shy or being overly critical of others because of this habit, but it served her more often than not. And it helped her to get an idea of a person’s character, and from what she saw, Crème was nice person.
“Hello, my name’s Echo…or, um, my other name is Thunder.”
Crème tilted her head to the side like a confused dog.
“She’s that one that flies around and shoots lightning.” Star clarified.
The news was just as shocking to her as it was to them as Crème’s eyes widened. “Wow! You use magic and stuff like that, right?”
“Yeah,” said Echo.
Crème lightly ruffled Echo’s hair playfully and rose back up to her full height. “Looks like you got to meet my friends after all, huh Fletcher?”
“Um, not seem rude, but why are you here?” Candy asked.
“She’s here because her company built all this.” Fletcher answered.
“No way,” said Hot Head.
“Way, but honestly, most of this is over my head. Fletcher was the one who directed the workers and engineers in the tower’s construction; I just ran the numbers and did some shadow financing to hide where the money was going towards. Fancy Industries has contracts in R&D with the military, but my Father was trying to put it towards more constructive uses. And what’s more constructive than helping a band of superheroes have a cool base,” said Crème.
“So, the teleporters, was some form of the Boom Tubes?” Lucky asked.
“Not exactly, I copied the data from Tirek’s mainframe on instant transmission teleportation. These use a form of zeta wave energy to beam us from one location and to another, via one of the many satellites Fancy Industries has floating around the world. Through them, we can hack into any system on Earth, as well as teleport to that location with exact coordinates. So it’s more like Zeta Beaming than anything.”
Lucky rubbed his chin and smirked at Fletcher. “Impressive, very impressive.”
Crème spoke up again. “I know I may not have superpowers or special skills like most of you here, but I live on this planet too, and I want to protect it from bad things and bad people. So even if it’s just financially, I want to contribute to you guys in some way.”
The others looked to each other, Star looked mildly impressed by Crème’s conviction to their cause. Despite her not having powers or fighting skills, she wasn’t about to stand idly by and not do something.
“Won’t your company be suspicious about how much money you’re sinking into this place?” Star asked.
“Nope, as far as they know, this place doesn’t exist. I have a knack when it comes to math and money. Plus, no one can see where this place is, thanks to Fletcher and the R&D department, the entire tower is cloaked from surveillance.”
“Well then, everyone, now that we know each other, and are happy with our team and accommodations, I think that only leaves one loose end. Echo?” Fletcher asked, putting the young girl on the spot.
Echo had all eyes on her again, she still didn’t think she was up to this, leading a team of older heroes. She was still a kid and had much to learn, not just about each of her friends but herself as well. But Starburst believed in her, and so did the others it seemed. The ten-year-old stepped forward, looking each of her teammates in the eyes before speaking.
“I have a lot to learn, and I still have some doubts about being the leader of this team. But…so long as you guys are willing to believe in me, and trust in me, then I promise, as your leader, I’ll do my best to lead us through whatever comes our way! But a leader is only as good as those she surrounds herself with, so…help me help you.”
Echo awaited the others’ remarks, but she was only met with kind, reassuring smiles and clasps on the shoulder from Starburst. “I think we’re all in good hands, so what should our name be? Since we’re a team we should have a name to go by.”
“I thought it obvious,” said Fletcher, “Echo gave us our name that night five months ago.”
He held up the device that had the yellow T on it. Echo immediately remembered what she said that night. “Titans.”
“And this is Titan’s Tower, Ah like it,” said Del.
“The Teen Titans…yep, I definitely like that!” Candy agreed.
Today marked the beginning of a new dawn for the world, and for these nine assembled youngsters. Putting aside their differences and working together as comrades and friends to defend the Earth and its people against threats great and small, otherworldly and global. From this day forward, the world would know their name. They were the Teen Titans.
LOCATION UNKNOWN, SOME TIME LATER…
Within a dark room, a single light shined down on a round table. Monitors that displayed various readouts on the world shone with just enough brightness that it didn’t illuminate the whole room.
On the table were files. Each one marked with a name, “Thunder”, “Firestorm”, “Hawk”, “Dove”, “Arrow”, “Green Lantern”, and “Blue Lantern”. All of them marked with a big red CLASSIFIED stamp on them.
“We’ve confirmed that these seven were responsible for ending the Invasion incident. And…from what intelligence gathers, these seven have formed a team. Within the recent three weeks they’ve been at the scene of different crimes and disasters. They’re working as a unit, and it shows in their teamwork.”
“Not to criticize Ma’am, but, young as they are, they have saved the world. I don’t see the harm in superheroes teaming up to stop major crimes and disasters.”
“The problem is that before, these seven and others like them were independent agents. But now that they have unified and are out in the open performing heroic deeds, the higher ups in the Pentagon and White House are growing a little disconcerted that this might start a trend among other young heroes. Though their actions show they are helping us, they are still and foremost, vigilantes. They are unsupervised minors wielding dangerous powers that can level a city, on their own, and together. Well, I don’t need to tell you that that makes the boys up in Washington a little edgy.”
“What is it that you wish for me to do, Ma’am?”
“It’s not what you’re going to do, it’s what you’re going to become. The government has given CADMUS authorization to form a team of our own. You, along with six others, will form a strike force that will serve two purposes. One: You will serve and protect the people, but you will follow government protocol and orders when dispatched. Two: To serve as a countermeasure, should these…Titans…become a threat to the safety of the American people and the world. Do you think you can handle that, Captain Valiant Heart?”
A young man of twenty-five leaned into the light. His hair was two parts royal blue and yellow-gold. His eyes were turquoise blue, as he narrowed them in contemplation. After a moment of silence Valiant Heart gave his response.
“Whatever you need me to do. Who’s on my team?” Valiant Heart asked.
A lightly tanned arm collected the files and stacked them to the side. Those files were soon replaced by files with different names. Names such as “Star Sapphire”, “Fear Lantern”, “Dr. Fate”, “Project Kr”, “Artemis”, and “Brick”.
“We have a few candidates.”