He's Gone. (Titan Tree)

Bow was doing some Spring cleaning today. She was zipping up and down the tree happily, singing songs and doing what she wanted. The girl was even wearing a little maid's dress just for fun! It was now time to clean the Main Ops room and she had her supplies ready. A piece of paper caught her eye and she smirked. "Aha! I have found the first piece of filth! It shall be vanquished!" She giggled and ran over, picking up the piece of paper, and about to throw it away until... She read part of it.

Her heart almost stopped and she had to read it over and over and over again. "No no no no no... Th-this can't be real! Someone had to forge it! He wouldn't just leave without saying goodbye at the very very least!!" Tears slipped down her cheeks without her knowledge and she gripped the note tightly in her hands.

Kale was gone. He had found a way to return to his homeland and only had time to write this last letter. In the letter he wrote how much he would miss everyone and everything that he had done here, but that he needed to return to help rebuild his own world. He left Bow in charge as the first recruit he had, but suggested in the letter that she talk to Hotwire and Yang about what to do next. He apologized for anything he had done and told everyone to take care.

Her knees gave out on her and she crashed to the ground. She could barely breathe. It felt like the entire room was spinning. She couldn't see straight. She couldn't tell what was up or down. It was impossible for her to do anything right now.

Eventually though, she calmed down. She read the letter again and actually smiled. Another hour and a half past and she was finally at peace with the situation. At least enough for now. Finally, she spoke to everyone over the communicator. "Hayy team. Come to the Main Ops room. That includes you, Kishi." Her voice was a little monotone, but not dead. She tried to straighten up and sat down at the head of the table to prepare herself. Steady breaths kept her from losing it.

Ruin had only joined the team very very recently but she was growing accustomed to things well enough. She had managed to ask around the city enough and the kinder people gave her enough spare change so she was able to get one set of new clothes and a jacket that didn't have Russian army stuff on it. Ruin then heard bow on the communicator she blinked at how she sounded but smiled, there was nothing a hug couldn't help with! She then hoped out of bed wearing a large orange long sleeve jacket and a white long sleeve shirt that was a bit big on her under that, she also got long baggy jeans. She ran down to where bow was smiling brightly. "Hi sunny what's up!?" She said as she ran up to her jump hugging her.

It must have been light outside. Onyekachi couldn't tell with drawn curtains. He was tucked up under covers, hugging a pillow, and willing Winter to end with the power of intolerance. California was suppose to be warm. The last of the snowstorms had come and gone yet a fervent chill continued to dominate this coastline. The brothers wanted to build a fire on their bedroom floor but were forbidden from lighting any, even if the Titans would allow him.

Suddenly there was an alarm. Onyekachi's jeans had started to buzz. Inside his pocket was that ever accursed Titans communicator. It had brought him nothing but grief. After playing a quick game of rock-paper-scissors, the losing Kishi was forced to poke his arm out of the covers and pick their jeans up from off the floor. They read the message; Bow demanding that they hold another one of those meetings. Yeesh. Who died and made her the boss of Kishi? Grudgingly the brothers rose and got dressed.

They raided the fridge for a handful of beef jerky before walking into the lounge, "Oi! Someone say I can have this." Onyekachi always had to ask for permission to use what others had bought. Right now that amounted mainly to food. But he had originally been asking Kale for permission to poop. Thank goodness they'd straightened that one out.

Superspeed really helped in the work place. Since returning to Jump City months back, Manic had been expanding his prospects within Jump, with an increase in work flow. Not only was he delivering for the ‘Lucky Foo’ restaurant, but he was now doing deliveries for every restaurant in the city. Well, all that would hire him. Each was a guaranteed meal, and more given all the cooked food that inevitably went to waste. It was perfect. That’s where Manic had been today, out within Jump City delivering orders and stopping to help the odd person as well.

Then his communicator buzzed. Not even running at several hundred miles per hour was enough to drown out the annoying buzz from it. A meeting, eh? In a blur did Manic take off from his location and then appear at the base, inside the main ops room – it was as though he had always been there. Sat on a chair at the table, in front of him was a can of soda, a burger and a side of fries – the meal he was tucking into in a spare moment he had. “Sorry”. He would say, aware that not everyone may be fond of greasy foods. “You caught me at a bad time”. In a blur again, Manic disappeared and then reappeared in the same spot. Only now the food was eaten, the packaging binned and any mess he made cleaned up. Manic leaned back in the chair, his feet propped up on the table as he awaited this meeting to start.

Toji, hearing his pack sisters voice, grins, jumping from Storm Talon's, his gaint eagle, nest, landing on the ground. Giving a loud whoop, the halfling runs through the main door, blurring into the ops room, though not quite as quickly as Manic.....Snatching a few fries, he grins cheekily at his pack brother, then blinks when he realies he had grabbed only air, before looking at Kishi."Nope, thats mine." His near constant grin widens, and he laughs."Just kidding, chow down!" He looks at Bow,  about to crack a joke about hyenas and scaveneged food, only to see she looked upset.His grin lessens, and he blurs over to her."What's wrong, siste Bow? Are you going to be okay?"

It came as a complete surprise when the girl was tackled by their newest member, Ruin. A smile spread across her lips for just a moment before it quickly faded away and she set the halfling down in the seat next to her with a serious expression on her face. "We have some important team stuff to talk about, okay?" She smiled at her gently and returned her gaze to the room, breathing slowly as she awaited the rest of...well... her team.

The next person to enter the room was a shock. "I thought you'd be the last to show up... If at all..." *giggle* It was a pleasant turn of events as she watched him sit down away from them. Even if he was trying to continue to be anti-social, it was obvious to her that he was growing up, if only by a small insignificant amount.

Then their speedster zoomed in and out and back in again. Bow had to stop blinking for a moment to realize that he had been there at all to begin with. She giggled lightly and waved to him nonchalantly. "You could have taken your time to eat, Manic..."

That was when she was going to give Kishi permission to eat the jerky, but Toji spoke up before she could. Once they were all in the same room, she sighed, she had to start soon, and Toji apparently saw the look in her eyes.

She smiled gently and sat him down on the other side of her as she placed the letter in the middle of the table. "Kale left this letter this morning. In it tells of him being able to return to his homeland... H-he left me in charge, but if anyone has any problem with that, please, let's talk about it." She looked around the room expecting everyone to have something to say about her being a cruddy leader or that Kale needed to come back or something along those lines.

Ruin cuddled her close until she was put down next to Bow and blinked looking up to her at her expression quite surprised by it. She blinked but nodded "Okay Sunny..." she then smiled back at Bow and looked as Kishi came in. He had been nothing but rude to her the first time they met and despite what Bow said she didn't feel any less sour towards him just because she said he was mean to everyone.

She then looked as Manic came in she hadn't seen him before since she left the scene before she could meet him when they saved Toji a long while ago. She then saw the fries and smiled brightly. "Hey can I have so-" he then ate all of the fries and his food before she could finish her question and she pouted about how she wasn't fast enough to get one. Though she brightened up a lot when she saw Toji come in. She then was like usual about to tackle him in excitement of his being there but then sadly the meeting started so she couldn't.

Ruin then sat up looking at the letter from that one guy who she was gonna whack with a tree when she first met Toji but decided against it since some animals lived in it so she put it back in the ground. She had no real opinion about him but she was glad that he could get back to his homeland after just now assuming that he had been trying to get there. She then looked to Bow with a bright smile when she announced Kale left her in charge. "I love that idea Sunny!" She shouted happily with a bright smile.

Toji's well timed intervention left Kishi feeling more foolish than usual. If he wasn't genuinely hungry he might have thrown his jerky away as an act of protest. As it happened he instead wasted no time in cramming his mouth full, "Screw you - I mean - thank you." The demon took a seat.

The news of Kale's abrupt departure saddened Kishi. The lad was fierce and brutal, standing against his foes with nary a waver. But more important than all that junk - Kale had given him a home when nobody else wanted to know. He had improved Onyekachi's existence. And that made him alright. Which didn't stop the brothers from muttering a good riddance.

From Ruin's immediately optimistic response Kishi countered, "Will someone throw that stray outta window?" No one told him they were running an orphanage now. Last he knew the girl was on a Russian payroll, but with a distinct lack of concern for that affiliation Kishi just rolled with it. Instead he voiced his opinion on Bow's absurd suggestion.

"You'd suck a'word as leader. You're a girl; as if that weren't enough, a cry-baby, and you'll let anybody push you around. I'd rather Toji be in charge." Onyekachi broke off to address his erstwhile college, "Don't get cocky. You're still a mistake." And it was important that he never forgot that. It was the only way Kishi could justify spending time with the scrub, "So can we have some serious candidates now? The right gender this time."

Manic couldn't help but feel saddened initially with the news that Kale had departed the Team. Manic had been on his team before, it seemed like an age ago. And now, Manic wouldn't be here, on this team had it not been for Kale. It kinda sucked. "Well, that... blows". It really summed it all up.

Eventually Kishi went on to respond by opening that big yapper of his, voicing his opinion to the world. He never sugarcoated anything, but perhaps in this instance he should have. It came across as rude, and an ultimately unnecessary attack at Bow. Fortunately enough though, Manic often had as big a yapper as Kishi had. "You demons really don't have a filter, do you?". Manic would say with a slightly raised eyebrow as he glanced over towards Kishi. Would it have been so hard for him to put a positive spin on his dislike for Bow as leader? Gawd! "Bow's got the most experience of being a Titan out of us all". Manic hadn't forgot his brief time with Bow on the Titans before either. "She's not odd". Manic would say, shooting a look towards Toji. "Or a newbie". He added, averting his glance towards Ruin. "And she's not a heartless prick". And then something of a glare as he looked over towards Kishi. "This shouldn't even be up for debate". He would say, turning back to look over towards Bow. A smile on his face, it was a vote of confidence.

Toji, insulted, returns the faover, "Kiss my rump, Sutrasi." But then he's complimented, and grins as he blurs over and gives the demon(s) a freindly smack at the shoulder."Ahahahaha, he's finally given me a compliment! Miracles abound, ahahahahahaha!" Called odd by Manic, the hyper halfling blinks then reacts."I'm not odd, I'm amazing! There's a very big difference, ya know!!!" But he shrugs, grinning."You're right, though,. Packsister Bow, you're the best bet for the new Alpha! Though it'll be knida odd thinking of you that way..." He shrugs,  laughing."Geuss I'll have to think of you as both packsister and Alpha,ahahahahaha!"

(Sutrasi:Roughly translates to Eternal Idiot)

Ruin voiced the opinion just as Bow thought she would. Excitement and joy. But that was to be expected from the halfling. Bow was the one that fought for her to get into the team in the first place. Now that took some convincing of Kale. But she had managed it. Guess that was probably one of the reasons he left her in charge.

Then Kishi flattered her with his unceremoniously abrupt comments. Though two of the three points he made were actually valid and struck her in the heart. He was accurate, and she knew that. Right as she was about to voice her counter to him though, Manic spoke his mind with just as much filter as Kishi. None.

He also gave good, valid points though, that actually gave Bow a boost of confidence, though she couldn't help but find one flaw in his arguments. Just as she opened her mouth again, Toji started to talk. She did say for each of them to speak though, so she was happy to get a response from everyone.

A smile crossed her lips as the other halfling on their team spoke as thinking that Kale's choice was a good one as well. It made her heart fill with joy and tears of glee well up in her eyes.

But there were still things that needed to be adressed and she regained composure quickly. "Thank you all for your opinions... Kishi does make two good points. I have been known to cry quite a bit and I need to get better at holding my ground. Though I believe that I can overcome both of those obstacles with such a supporting team..." She then turned and looked at Manic. "But Manic, you've been a Titan almost as long as I have, and have probably done more for the team than me... Do you have any desire to be team leader? Because if so, I believe this should be up for a vote. It is our team now. No matter what the note said, we are the ones to have to follow our leader... And we have to be the one to lead our team... So, what do you say? Would you like a vote?"

Ruins smile faded fast when she heard what kishi speak and his comment towards her and looked extremely hurt but she just put her feet up on the edge of her seat and pulled her hood up and over her face and hugged her knees silently. Then when she heard bows suggestion and question her eyes widen. If that jerk became leader she didn't know if she'd want to stay on the team. She didn't want to belong to yet another verbally and possibly physically abusive leader. Though based on how he spoke he might just throw her out on the streets for the russians to take her back. She didn't need a second thought, if there was a vote she'd vote for Bow. She decided as she hugged her knees tightly.

The demon didn't know what their misguided faith in this frail girl was. Sure Bow could summon enough heat to melt through a couple feet of steel - but that meant nothing when she was afraid to use such power. If Kishi could wield her might then he'd be out there melting villains into a pile of slag. Not breaking out in tears every time something bad happened.

It doesn't matter who runs the show. As long as they feed us.

Why can't we have both? The lifestyle AND a half-decent leader?

Yeah. It's not like she'll fight us. Stupid f'worder is so eager to please she'll probably vote for someone else anyway just to be polite.

The best of both worlds was there for the taking. And Onyekachi wasn't one to let the bear have its honey, "I'll put an end to this vote." Kishi held his arm above his head. Or rather - each Kishi rose an arm above their head. "That's four votes says Manic is the new leader. And if you disagree that my brothers and I get four votes - then you won't give an s'word if we beat the c'word outta ya. Not like we ganged up on ya or anything." Everyone else could vote for Bow, Bow would vote Manic.

With great power, comes great responsibility.

That was something that Manic had never been good at in all his years on this planet. He wasn’t the responsible type, nor reserved, nor logical. He was the team prankster, the light hearted fellow that everyone hates to love, but does anyway. Being nominated by your fellow peers was something to be considered an honour of course, though Manic couldn’t help but see it as one massive joke. “You lot must have taken a few bumps on the head this Morning…”. He said, laughing. “This… doesn’t even need a vote. It’s silly. I’m like, the worst choice for this… ”.

“I’m the least responsible here, I act first, think never”. That was the typical M.O. of a speedster. “I mean, sure; I’m a delight to have around, popular with the ladies…”. Best quit while he’s ahead, no need to feed the ego any more. “But you need someone more reserved, who thinks for the team… I can’t do that at super-speed. Bow should be the leader, not me”.

Toji looks at how Ruin had taken Kishi's comment, and frowns. Blurring over to her, the fellow halflnig gives Ru a reassuring hug."Don't worry! He's just being a.....how you say...jerk again! And if anyone tries to throw you out, they'll get thrown frst, and they wont land for a few hours. isn't that right, Kishi?" He turns around, his eyes going dark."And if you and your brothers want to 'spar', then I'm more willing to oblige." Calming down, he grins mischeifvousily at Manic."I agree with eveything you say, Pack Brother! Bow should defintly be the new Alpha!"