The Gremlin 1

32 Productions Presents…

A Teen Titan Fan Fiction The Teen Titans in…
“The Gremlin”

Chapter One

Unknown Area

The room was dark. The only light was on the figure sitting in the chair in the center of the room. He was leaning back, legs crossed and fingers folded in front of his face. Said face was covered in a rather scary metal mask. The nose was pointed, the eyes were lit a dim red. The mouth was in the shape of a wide, razor toothed grin. His body was covered in a suit of metal armor. Several devices were on top of it. The most noticeable one was a small keypad on the right arm. The left arm had a gun of some kind mounted on the wrist. The barrel of the gun was a slot rather then a round hole like most guns would have. There were other devices too, but we’ll get into that later. The figure’s voice was obviously digitally altered.

Figure: Who am I? A good question, one you may be asking yourself right now. You may wo…

A screen behind him turned on and a girl’s face appeared on it. She looked remarkably like Starfire, save for a different nose and her eyes weren’t as…bright. She looked confused.

Girl: Who are you talking to?

The figure smacked his masked forehead.

Figure: I WAS trying to tell a story and make it dramatic.

Girl: Really? I like stories. Go ahead.

The figure sighed and shook his head.

Figure: Just don’t interrupt. Okay. Where was I?

Girl: “You may wonder…”

Figure: Oh yeah. You may wonder why I wear this suit. Well I’ll tell you, but I warn you now. It’s not a happy story.

Girl: Aw…

Figure: G-9, I said don’t interrupt!

G-9: Sorry.

Figure: Once there was a man named…er…let’s just call him Deathstroke.

G-9: You mean Sla…

Figure: Deathstroke. He was a criminal mastermind. He had all the things a criminal mastermind should have. Robots, monstrous henchmen, and a voice that made chills go up your spine, just to name a few of them. Yet there was one thing he lacked. He didn’t have an heir. Nobody to take the reins of his criminal empire. So he decided to make one. He made me. I was grown in a test tube and trained. I was created to be faster, stronger, and smarter. Well, I’m a lot smarter anyway. But then the unthinkable happened. The Titans came to be and Deathstroke saw Robin and the potential he had. With that, he tossed me into a fluid filled tube and put me in a sort of suspended animation. Unfortunately, the process was flawed. Sure, it stopped me from moving, but I could still see…I was still aware. Do you know what it does to you? Can you imagine being force to stare at one section of the wall day after day, week after week, MONTH AFTER MONTH! Is it any wonder I went mad? Thoughts of vengeance consumed me. I wanted to make Deathstroke pay. One day I was granted my freedom, as though my wishes had come true. A terrible quake shook the place, shattering my glass tube and setting me loose upon the world. I wanted to go after Deathstroke, but in the ultimate act of cruel fate, Deathstroke was already dead. After all that time, the person I wanted revenge upon was already gone. Well, that wouldn’t do. I decided that if I couldn’t kill him, I’d do the next best thing. I’d eliminate his killers for taking the right away from me. I decided to kill the Teen Titans.

:CUE THEME:

Unknown Area

The figure leaned back in his chair. He had to let the listeners soak all that in. He cleared his throat before starting again.

Figure: The question was, obviously, how does one do what no one else has been capable of? How does one…no older then them physically speaking…kill them when more experienced people could not? I spent months preparing…gather tools and whatnot…in order to carry out my ingenious plan. Then one afternoon I made my move…the Titans were in the park at the time, relaxing and having an all around good time. Phooey.

FLASHBACK: The Park

Robin: Ready, Starfire?

Starfire stood in front of a soccer net. The Titans were playing a game in which each member tried to get the ball past Starfire. It wasn’t a soccer game. They were just in a line, taking turns kicking the ball at her. They each got five turns. Whoever had the most points at the end won. Simple, yes? Starfire smiled at Robin and nodded.

Starfire: Yes, Robin. Do your worst…or your best…which ever.

Robin kicked the ball as hard as he could. Starfire just barely managed to block the ball from entering from her left. Robin snapped his fingers in disappointment.

Starfire: Do not fret, Robin. You were most close to success.

Robin: (muttering) Close only counts in horseshoes.

Robin went to the back of the line. Cyborg was ready to kick but stopped to turn toward the only ones not playing.

Cyborg: You sure you don’t want to play? I mean, doesn’t that get boring?

Raven and Shade were under a tree, meditating. Raven was floating, making her look a lot cooler then Shade who was going to have dirt all over his pants when he stood up, the twit. Raven opened one of her eyes.

Raven: Boredom is irrelevant. This isn’t a matter of choice. Besides, I could never get the ball into the air. It just rolls along the ground.

Cyborg: You ain’t doing it right then.

Raven: Not important.

She closed her eye again.

Shade: I don’t think it’s fair that she has to do this by herself.

Raven opened her other eye and glanced at him. While it was nice of him to offer his company and he was quite and didn’t ruin her concentration, she often questioned Shade’s motives. It was becoming increasingly obvious that Shade had…certain feelings for her. Being able to read people’s emotions, it made it very easy to determine that. Raven never said anything about it, because she knew he’d be crushed. With her powers, it was impossible to have a relationship outside of friendship. Even then it seemed that she was pushing her luck. When Cyborg quit the team after an argument with Robin, Raven shattered some of the equipment when Starfire brought it up with her. Then of course there was Terra. Raven felt so betrayed that she lost control and tried to kill the girl. How could she hope to remain in control if she tried to take a relationship to the next level? She suddenly had to quell a surge of hate for her fa…

Unknown Area

G-9: Wait, wait, wait.

The figure sighed and pounded his fist on the arm of his chair.

Figure: What!

G-9: How do you know all this?

Figure: Know all of what?

G-9: What the Titans were thinking, saying, and doing?

The figure went silent. G-9 smirked.

G-9: You’re making this up, aren’t you?

Figure: No! I’m just…well, you see…shut up!

FLASHBACK: The Park

…suddenly had to quell a surge of hate for her father. Cyborg failed to get the ball in as well. It was Beast Boy’s turn.

Beast Boy: Okay, Star. Check this out!

Beast Boy turned into a seal and lifted the ball up on his nose (it wasn’t his hands so he can do that). He tossed it into the air and shifted into a kangaroo. Leaning back on his tail, he slammed both feet into the ball, sending it rocketing toward Starfire. She dove to the right after it, but she only managed to brush it with her fingers. Beast Boy changed back into his human form and pumped his fist.

Beast Boy: GOAL! And the crowd goes wild!
Raven & Shade: Yay.

Cyborg and Robin grumbled as Starfire picked up the ball.

Starfire: Congratulations, my friend! You are the first person to successful get this sphere past me.

Beast Boy was about to brag when there was an explosion in the city.

Robin: Relaxing time is over, Titans!

Downtown

The destruction was easy enough to track. The cause was a large group of robots marching down the streets, destroying various objects as they went, such as cars, streetlamps, and mailboxes. Humanoid in design, they were a flashy white and silver color. Rather then heads, they had small lens in their chests for visual purposes. The robots were bulky, thickly armored. They had guns mounted on their arms. Judging from how some of them punched through the streetlamp posts, they had a decent amount of physical might as well. The Titans put themselves in front of the marching army.

Cyborg: …okay, that’s a lot of robots.

Shade: No crap. What do we do now?

Robin pulled out his bo-staff and spun it.

Robin: We stop them.

Shade: Brilliant strategy, Napoleon. You think we can handle a hundred robots?

Raven folded her arms and shook her head.

Raven: I never thought of you as a coward before.

Shade’s eyes widened under his sunglasses.

Shade: I’m sorry, what did you say?

Raven: I never thought of you as a…

Shade: I’m NOT a coward!

Shade was now prepared to take down the entire army marching toward them. Raven suppressed a smiled of satisfaction. Shade was so easily provoked.

Robin: Titans, GO!

Robin started off the attack by swinging his staff into the first robot he came in contact with. It made a loud clang and caused it to lose its balance, but other then that no visible signs of damage were evident. It pointed its gun at him. He jumped away, flinging a birdarang at it. It wedged into the robot’s gun barrel and it backfired, blowing it up. Starfire took to the air and swooped down, plowing a path through them. She put a ball of green energy in front of her as she did so, but didn’t throw it. Metal limbs and wires flew everywhere. Beast Boy turned into an Anchisaurus (which I’m pretty sure is the name of the four legged herbivore dinosaur that had a tough shell with spines along the side and a tail with a big ball at the tip made of bone or something. Used it as a club. I could be wrong about the name) and spun, his club-like tail bashing through them. They fired at him, but his thick hide saved him from serious injury. Before they could continue, Cyborg stepped in, putting his fist through the nearest robot and using its now twitching body as a projectile to knock other robots over. Speaking her words, Raven put several of the robots into a sphere and lifted them way up into the sky before releasing them. They came crashing down on other robots, destroying them. Shade created spikes from the shadows under the robots, splitting them down the middle. In no time the robots were all trash. Shade smirked at Raven, panting.

Shade: Who’s a coward now?

Raven: (rolling her eyes) My hero.

Robin examined the metal scraps that remained of their attackers. He was unfamiliar with the design.

Starfire: From where did these strange machines come from, Robin?

Robin was silent for a moment.

Robin: No idea.

Cyborg: Go on, man.

Beast Boy: You know you wanna say it.

Robin sighed.

Robin: They might be Deathstroke’s. He always uses machines. Besides, who else could make robots like these?

Voice from above: Oh! Oh! Pick me, teacher!

They looked up to see a figure in a metal suit sitting on the roof of a small shop. He had his hand raised, waving it wildly like a student trying to get permission to use the bathroom. Though they couldn’t see his face, Raven and Starfire couldn’t help but be attracted to his animal magnetism and…

Unknown Area

G-9: “Animal magnetism”?

Figure: What?

The face on the screen gave the figure a look that suggested she wasn’t quite buying it. He sighed.

Figure: Fine, fine! Geez…

FLASHBACK: Downtown

…to get permission to use the bathroom. Starfire tilted her head slightly.

Starfire: …that is the most repulsive suit of battle armor I have ever seen.

Raven: Just what are you supposed to be anyway?

Figure: Tsk. You’re just jealous of my sense of style.

He stood up and bowed politely.

Figure: Allow me to introduce myself. I am the Gremlin, evil technological genius extraordinaire.

Robin: These are your creations?

Gremlin: Well, they WERE before you so rudely smashed them. Honestly, just because I set them loose in a public setting, you think it’s okay to smash them? Have you no respect for other people’s property?

Beast Boy: People could have been hurt, dude.

Gremlin put his hands on the side of his mask and spoke with mock surprise.

Gremlin: Hurt you say? Gadzooks! Why didn’t that occur to me before?

He threw back his head and laughed.

Gremlin: Hahahaha…HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA! Of course they could have been hurt! It’s a PUBLIC SETTING! What part of that didn’t you understand?

Needless to say, the Titans weren’t pleased with his lack of concern over the danger to human life his machines had posed.

Raven: You’re sick.

Gremlin waved his hand, dismissing her comment.

Gremlin: Yes, well that’s your opinion. In any case, you’re going to pay for what you did to Deathstroke.

Robin: (fists clenched) You want revenge for HIM!

Gremlin: No, you idiot! I want revenge because you killed him before I could! He was MINE!

He jumped down from the roof, landing on a car and putting a dent in it. Gremlin held up his hand and made a “bring it” gesture. The Titans came for him. He pointed his arm at Robin and razor blades shot from a gun mounted under his wrist. Robin deflected them with his bo-staff and swung at him. Gremlin grabbed the staff easily and flung him away. He leapt back as Raven flung various objects at him, mostly trash from a nearby alley. He pointed his finger at her and fired a laser. Raven dodged left and it went past her, cutting a streetlamp post in half. Shade sank into the ground and came up behind him. He raised both fists into the air but Gremlin spun and grabbed him by the throat. It was like being put into a vice. Shade gagged and struggled but he couldn’t get away. Gremlin put his finger, the one the laser had come out of, on the side of his head.

Gremlin: Stay back or he dies.

The Titans immediately froze. Gremlin snickered.

Gremlin: Idiotic boy. You can’t sneak up on me. It’s just not possible.

Shade’s vision was starting to swim. Gremlin lifted him and positioned him between him and the other Titans, still strangling him and putting his finger on the side of his head.

Gremlin: So it comes to this. The only question is how to I kill him. Do I use the laser? The razor blades perhaps? I could just choke him to death, that’s obvious enough. Or maybe…maybe I’ll snap his neck like a twig. Yeah…let’s go with that.

Gremlin tried to break his neck, but for some reason he couldn’t seem to do it. Raven used this sudden distraction to lift a garbage lid up from behind him and fling it at him. Gremlin seemed to know something was coming as he stiffened up but it didn’t stop him from getting hit. He dropped Shade who sank to the ground, gasping for air. Robin flung an electro disc at him and it hit Gremlin in the chest. He screamed and fell over. Starfire helped Shade to his feet. His voice was raspy and he coughed a lot between words.

Shade: Thanks…that was close.

Beast Boy: Dude, what happened? Why didn’t he break you neck?

Shade pointed to the back of his neck.

Shade: I suffered a bad injury when I was younger. I was currently being…experimented on and they decided it was better for their guinea pig if I was treated. They put metal discs in my neck. It not only fixed the injury, but it made it increasingly difficult to damage it again.

Robin was in his face in a second.

Robin: You IDIOT! What the hell where you doing!

Shade looked confused. What did he do wrong now?

Robin: You just came up behind him and tried to hit him, not knowing what he was capable of? You don’t get that close!

Shade: How was I to know he’d somehow sense me coming?

Robin looked ready to slug him.

Robin: You didn’t! That’s my point!

Shade: Yeah, yeah, I’m a naughty boy. Can we discuss this after we take him to…?

Gremlin was gone. In his place was a music box. There was a note on it that said, “Open me”.

Raven: Anyone else think that’s a tiny bit suspicious?

Robin: No way…he should have been out for a good half hour at least!

Shade: Wow, guess we all screwed up today.

Robin glared at him. Shade covered his mouth.

Shade: That’s not what I meant to…

Robin: Raven. Put a shield around it and open the box.

Raven nodded and did as he said. The figurine that spun around was made to look like Gremlin.

Gremlin: (recording) Gotcha! Bet you thought this would explode or something! Don’t you worry now, I’ll be back. Until then, amigos.

The music box fell apart. Robin turned and grabbed Shade by his coat.

Robin: Your rash actions cost us this fight. Not to mention that if he HAD managed to break your neck, you’d be dead.

Shade: Hey…it was an honest mistake.

Robin: It was the mistake only an IDIOT would make!

Robin turned and left. Shade turned to the others.

Shade: You guys understand, right? I mean, it could have happened to anyone.

Nobody responded. They just followed Robin. Shade stared after them, clenching his fists until his palms bled.

END PART ONE