“SHIF! IT’S MY TURN TO PLAY!”

“NO IT’S NOT!”

“YES IT IS!”

“NOT!”

“IS!”

“NOT!”

“SHUT! UP!” yelled a different voice, and a sound of an accenting explosion followed.

Night was definitely pissed. He just woke up from finally a nice night without dreams, only because those 2 were yelling their heads off at who is going to play the gamestation next. Night just could not see the point in that box of electronics that warp your mind and zombify you. He himself played the thing… Didn’t like it in the least. He yawned, squinting into the artificial lamplight, which was expected to happen, since his room was always pitch-dark. Squinting this way, and muttering something under his breath, he walked over to the fridge, grabbing a cup along the way, and pouring himself his morning doze of Buttermilk. He heard the “eeeeeewww”s from the gamers’ direction, but didn’t pay any attention to them. He knew they hated buttermilk because it looked nasty, and tasted sour. He himself, actually liked the beverage, and it’s sour taste…

The door opened, and a sleepy-eyed D walked into the room, yawning. She was also here to drink, but instead of buttermilk, it was her morning doze of coffee. STRONG coffee. She glared at Light and Shifter for waking her up, and walked over to the coffee mchine, starting it up. She then dropped onto the nearest couch, groaning.

“I’m going to be feeling Cinderblock’s big fist for a few weeks now…” she said, rubbing her ribcage. “I seriously gotta consider making a metallic mesh so he does not break my ribs sometime…”

”I’m surprised they still haven’t broken…” Night replied to that comment, receiving a death glare from D, which he promptly ignored.

After a few minutes, the door opened again, but nobody stood there. Seconds later, Spartacus walked in, his eyes closed, the undersides of his eyes blue from not having enough sleep.

“You look like hell, Spar” remarked Shifter, snickering. Moments later, he was running around screaming, as a bunch of kitchen knives decided to have a really nice chase, seemingly after a piece of the little guy they were chasing.

D was not paying ANY attention to Shifter’s plight, but got up, poured herself a ready cup of coffee, and downed it in one go. Night was slowly sipping his own drink, savoring the taste, remembering when he tried buttermilk for the first time, and randomly thinking about anything that comes to mind. Spartacus and Light were going at it on the gamestation, and poor Shifter finally got trapped against the wall, at which point the kitchen appliance, which turned out to be the dishwasher, ate him, stood in place, hooked itself up, and started washing.

These banters were everyday occurrence in the Shadows Tower, which was shaped like a spire. The tower itself resembled a highly heightened egyptian pyramid. The entrance to the tower was a large hallway, which led to the reception room, and to the sleeping quarters, and the elevator. The elevator also led to the sleeping quarters, the security room, the garage and the docks, the chem lab and up to the very roof, which was flat, and had a large , spherical satellite dish, which was the main active component of the security. At the back of the tower was what looked like a gigantic track field which was actually the training ground for the team. This track field included obstacles, and high-tech weaponry to dodge, all hidden under the running track or in the walls around it. Night liked training time personally, while Shifter abhored it. Right next to it was the recreational part of the tower, which included a swimming pool, a volleyball net, and some other necessities. All of it was covered by an advanced system of security that D has personally invented, helped by Night’s knowledge of quantum physics and mathematics, and his theory ideas. It is better to go more in-depth to the security though, to understand how it worked.

It all starts in the mainframe computer, which was in the security room. The computer was latest technology in any point of the galaxy, more or less a server which could literally be able to house all the server-based programs in the world, and be able to grant the access to them by the users too. The power for such a powerful computer came from the plasma-energy reactor, which used a miniature sun to power the tower. The reactor could provide power for the whole US for a week, without breaking a sweat, and it was the size of the tanker in which the sleeping human form of Plasmus was contained. The security room computer had all the needed software and hardware, and was hard-wired to every point of the security system in the tower. The WHOLE tower was a webwork of laser tripwires, motion sensors, video cameras, and defence systems. The part that made this system truly amazing, was the fact that it instantly scanned the DNA signature of the person who was walking through a security system, matched it to one of the given files, and either let the person/thing through, or blasted it to dust, all happening within a fraction of a second. This allowed the system to be turned on 24/7/365. The computer was radio-connected to the general network, thus disabling any possibility of hacking. The main connection for the system was the sphere that was at the very top of the tower. It connected to a small satellite, which orbited earth at the exact speed of earth’s rotation, providing a 24-hour view of the tower and it’s surroundings. It also was using motion sensory systems, video cameras, and many other things, like energy-pattern detections.

D was proud of it. It was her invention, her “Baby”, her life’s best creation. Slade, who was obsessed on getting the Teen Titans and the Shadows out of the way, tried to sneak into the tower many times. Every time he was caught, and he didn’t even find out why or how. All he saw was the entire outer wall suddenly opened hundreds of cannon slots, and hundreds of high-impact energy blasters popping out of those windows, commencing fire. The cannons for the defences were positioned within 1 foot of one another, horizontally and vertically. The tower was taller than that of the Teen Titans, although it didn’t resemble a T. Now how much cannons could fit in that space? You don’t want to know. As part of the defence system, the ball at the top of the tower could also be a sort of a tesla coil for a high-charge electrical bolt. NO ONE ever got into the tower unnoticed.

Back in the reception room, D has finally got the look of morning out of her eyes, but her cranky side still had the upper hand.

“Why can we never let sunlight into this room again?” asked D. “It’s a beautiful day out there right now. I’ll go open the drapes.”

“I’ll go get my cloak” said Night. He never liked sunlight… Especially he hated it’s effects. Everyone else knew that he hated light in general, and disliked useless chatting. This is what made him such a mystery. Light was the only one who knew Night deeply, and that was because they shared an unbreakable bond. In his undead state, the sunlight burned Night, causing burns, rashes, and sometimes worse if he stays out too long… And it hurt like if he was covered by a branding iron too. So as D opened the drapes, letting in sunlight into the reception room, Night left, and returned, wearing his night-blue cloak. He wasn’t called Night for nothing: All of his clothes were either blue or black. His uniform was a tight-fitting form of night-blue clothing, which fit him precisely, letting him move freely and easily. Not to mention his menacing look during nighttime…

Light dressed in the opposite. All his clothing was bright-yellow, light grey or white. His hairdo was the same as Night’s: slightly feminine, reaching down below the shoulders. Light’s eyes were the color of the sunny sky, blue, and deep. Night’s were like 2 dark-Navy pools, in which you seem to sink into forever. Both had prominent features, Light being the more blocky, and Night being the more smooth and angular, adding him an exotic touch. He knew the value of looks, but also their disadvantages… The disadvantages were part of the reason he wore a hood in the first place. Both he and his “brother” were athletically-shaped, muscles not bneing prominent but practical, making them a LOT stronger than they looked.

Spartacus always wore a Matrix-style trenchcoat, and black overalls. Always wore his sunglasses, too. He did not like to show his power through his eyes whenever somebody looked into them. So he wore shades. Agent Smith-style shades. He was a talker, and just your everyday guy, his features those of a commoner. But the twin uzis at his belt, and his broadsword told everyone that he was either a gang member (he really looked like it), or some type of an agent. NOBODY messed with Spartacus. EVER.

D, Draven or Diana as her real name was, wore more casual clothing. A tight-fit brown top, and black leggings, brown cloak with a hood, and leather boots that came with the outfit. At her waist was a utility belt, much like the one Robin, Boy Wonder wore, but instead of gadgets, it was full of explosives. All kinds of explisoves. She also carried around nunchucks for safety precautions, in case someone got too close and personal. Draven did NOT like her bubble invaded. Her clothing perfectly matched her brown, flirtatious eyes and her soft features demeanor.

Shifter was the weirdest, and the most colorful, sometimes bringing a chuckle out of Night himself for his choice of clothing. Grey vest, red shirt with a blue X over it, green pants, yellow shoes, black gloves. Of course, he had a different color-combo outfit for every day of the week, so his clothing really tended to change quite dressed even funnier, but that is only on parties. Grey eyes, blue hair, and if he felt like it, a green moustache. Can you imagine a 12-year-old with a moustache? Yes, he was weird. But everybody in the team was abnormal in a way. So why not be even more abnormal? That was Shifter’s philosophy.

While the Shadows had breakfast, Night wondered at how they meshed together so well. Even with D being on their team, she was a tomboy, so they had an almost-male team here. He wondered at how well they worked together, how deadly of a team they were. Soon he drifted into more peaceful thoughts, and then into no thoughts at all, as he dozed on the couch…

Suddenly the computer terminal in the reception room wailed in alarm, showing a symbol on the holographic map it projected. A yellow S within a circle. Night instantly jumped, blinked several times in confusion, ran over to the terminal, memorised the location, and turned about, facing the rest of the team, which had a rather nasty surprise and were just recovering from the intrusion of the alarm. By recovering, I mean D trying to wipe off the doffee spill she made on the table, and Shifter trying to pick up the mess he left after accidentally turning over his plate.

“Looks like our job for today is on, ladies and gentlemen. It’s Slade.” Night said, smiling ever so slightly.

Light smiled, and nodded. Shifter whooped, and lifted off the ground on his waves of energy, happy that there was at least something to do other than Gamestation. Even that thing got boring once in a while to someone who could cheat with ease. Draven snickered, and Spartacus snapped his fingers with an undecipherable look on his face.

“Looks like we’re gonna have some fun today after all,” said Light, smiling.

Spartacus nodded.

And the entire team rushed to the elevator. What they did NOT see, was the “T” symbol heading straight for Slade’s location…