16276/Titans 3023: Titans 2023

Titans 3023: Titans 2023
Date of Scene:	13 November 2023
Location:	Uptown - St. Martin's Island
Synopsis:	The Titans foil a bank robbery, but the job isn't over yet. In fact it won't be for another thousand years. The revelations have only just started, but they start with a doozy.
Cast of Characters:	Donna Troy, Caitlin Fairchild, Jinx, Terry O'Neil, Irie West, Wally West, Kian, Gar Logan

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Donna Troy has posed:
    It can't be much fun working for the Metropolis PD Special Crimes Unit.  Despite being the perhaps the best trained and equipped special police unit in the country, they don't get a lot of respect.  They're the ones who clean up the mess left behind when superheroes and supervillains fight, or deal with dangerously powerful villains when there are no supers around.  Despite this, popular opinion would have you believe that they hide somewhere eating donuts until the supes have done the dangerous bit.  People joke that SCU stands for Superfluous Crime Unit, or Superhero Chasing Unit.
    The reality is that they're often the first ones there.  For several years after Doomsday they were generally the only ones there, but then the Titans got back together and the Justice League started being operational again.  St. Martin's Island deputy section chief Tandy Pearson had been quick to recognize the value of the Titans coming back.  She's now not only full section chief but widely tipped to be the next head of the SCU, having helped usher in an era of close and friendly cooperation between the SCU and the cape community of Metropolis.  Rumor has it that she's got a fan in President Luthor.  Odds are long on him picking her as his next VP candidate, but the fact the odds are listed at all says a lot about how far she has come.  When she calls for help, the Titans tend to take her seriously.
    "It's a bank job," Pearson explains.  The large number of SCU vehicles and personnel indicates it's more than that.  "They're inside now.  We don't know who they are yet, they're not on any special interest list.  However they… it's easier if I show you."
    Pearson ushers an underling forwards, and he shows the Titans a video of an attempt by a group of four SCU officers to enter the bank.  They move cautiously, making their way to the door of the bank and taking shelter there.  One takes out a small drone and launches it through the doorway.  Then suddenly all four are lying unconscious, the drone lying on top of them, their weapons gone.  A voice calls out from inside: 'Thanks for the weapons guys, they'll come in useful next robbery.  For now though, keep out of our way and we won't hurt you."
    Pearson gives a frustrated shrug.  "We have no idea how they did that.  They have six hostages inside and we have an active negotiation going on, but it's obvious they're just stringing us along for time.  They're probably trying to get into the vault right now.  It's reassuring that our agents were unconscious but not killed, but we're obviously concerned about the hostages, and honestly a bit stuck here.  Maybe something magical…" Pearson gives a nod towards Raven, "…or perhaps they have a speedster on the crew," another nod towards Wally.
    "Any help you can give us would be most appreciated."

Caitlin Fairchild has posed:
    Caitlin stands a little ways back so she's not obtrusively blocking everyone else's view of the security camera.  Much like Donna she's dressed for a fight, wearing the leather and steel customary for the Amazons.  Her golden bracers reflect the light with a supernatural luster while she worries the edge of her fingernail against her front teeth in thought.
    "That's definitely fast," she acknowledges.  "Fast enough to outrun a digital camera, anyway.  I mean, assuming it was a person did it," she amends, and tilts a shoulder at Rachel as if inviting the other woman to weigh in with a magical assessment.
    "On the other hand, the fact that they wanted the weapons for their own use—I think that suggests they're not exactly top-tier metas, either.  They haven't breached the vault yet, which rules out teleportation or super-strength," she supplies, and waits for the others to contribute their thoughts.

Jinx has posed:
    It feels weird to be out and about in the city wearing this strange gold and white outfit.  It covers her, sort of, but in interesting and totally not normal clothing ways.  It screams 'superhero' which she does not at all consider herself.  The fact that she is standing a few feet away from SCU is another very very strange thing.
    Having the armored unit specifically designed to try and deal with villains right there makes her feel naked because she's not using her magic to shoo the lot of them away.  No doubt they feel the same way about her being here.  There's been more than a few tussles in the past between the SCU and the Fearsome Five.  She keeps side eyeing them and they keep side eyeing her.  It's a mutual distrust at this point.
    She folds her arms and idly touches the fancy patterns on her golden bracers.  "It also rules out competence," Jinx tosses in after Caitlin's list of failures by these thieves.  She clears her throat.  "If you want to get the drop on them we could use a portal in to the vault and open it from the inside.  They'd never see it coming."
    Probably the last thing the SCU wants to hear is Jinx suggesting they all teleport right inside the vault where all the shinies are for her to steal.  But unorthodox is a mainstay of good heroing.  "And it'd draw them away from the hostages."
    She looks over to Raven.  This is the first time, ever, she's been on a mission as an ally with her.  It's a stranger feeling than dressing up out in public to be on the same side as a magic user as powerful as Raven.  Finesse is not exactly Raven's thing—between them they might have more magical might on this situation than any other team besides the JLD.
    "But I'd also put my money on a speedster—I'm not feeling any magic going on here.  Then again, it's also possible there's technology involved.  That's good.  It means they don't stand a chance against us."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
    The Cheshire cat frowns, making a point of peering around Caitlin's tall frame just to annoy her, since she is standing back, but every now and again one of the original rookies of the re-founded team defaults to playing the annoying little brother.  That is, when Gar isn't doing it.  "Magic or super-speed?  If it were super-speed, though, wouldn't we have caught at least a frame here and there, though?" he asks Jinx.  "Unless they're that fast….
    "But I like the portal-inside idea.  I volunteer my Rabbit Holes!"
    Because at this point most of them have traveled inside Raven's soul self, and he guesses they might prefer a bit of Wonderland and glitter to—
    Well.
    You had to have been there, okay?

Irie West has posed:
    It's a rare thing for Irie West (aka Kid Flash) to get out and actually go superheroing nowadays.  Between school and dating and school and even more school she just doesn't have the time to get out.  So when the call came in for the Titans to come help the SCU with a bank robbery, Irie jumped at the chance to join in.
    In a flash she was dressed in her Kid Flash costume.  A yellow unitard with red and black trim with the patented Flash lightning bolts running up the side of her legs, and the Flash emblem on her chest.  She's wearing the leather jacket that Donna gave her on her birthday, which is also sporting the Flash emblem on the back.  She's got her half face mask on with the goggles, and her red hair flows out from the top.
    "I don't sense the use of the Speed Force," she pipes up helpfully.  "So however they're doing their fast thing it's with a different method."  She looks over at her father.  "Me and the Flash could go in and take a look around?  Between the two of us we could handle another speedster."

Wally West has posed:
    A situation?
    In Metropolis?
    HELL YEAH!
    "Me neither," pipes up the Flash as he stands next to Irie, his arms crossing over his chest.  Adorned in a fully red outfit with silver accents on his chest and ears, the goggles covering his eyes seems to reflect a silver glint at points when the light shines on it the right way.  "But there are more than one way to move fast.  Could be a form of teleportation."
    He looks at Cait.  "Hm," he grunts in agreement.  "I wonder if it's something like Mirror Master or some kind of trick."
    Wally smiles at Irie.  "I like that plan.  Look around, real quick.  In and out in a Flash."

Kian has posed:
    Kían is not dressed for a fight, or really any different than he normally dresses.  Which will surprise no one.  "I'm not entirely convinced it was a speedster," the birdman muses, slipping into "I'm a scientist, let me analyze" mode.  "One instant, guards on the job, next instant, guards on the ground, no transition.  It was almost like a quantum phase shift—it's not a wave anymore, it's a particle now.  Or the other way around."
    He glances at Irie and Wally.  "I mean, if you run in and punch someone, they're not going to fall over at super speed, are they?"  He may not be any good at applying violence, but he's seen enough of it to know how it works.

Gar Logan has posed:
    Beast Boy mills about with the rest, in his current red and white costume with the forearm-length half-gloves and bare feet.  While everyone else is speculating, he's looking around at whatever he can see.  The video is troubling, but still he chooses silence over speaking.
    Of those gathered, Jinx gets a longer glance with what she's got on.  A lot of his animosity toward her has lessened as she's had chances to prove herself and done so.
    For the time being he rubs his chin, expression such that that one tooth sticks out visibly from the bottom set of teeth.

Donna Troy has posed:
    Raven stands silently, her features invisible under her hood, apparently paying no attention to anyone else, even when Jinx and Caitlin offer prompting.  Finally she announces, "There are seven hostages, I can sense their fear.  One is below ground, the rest are in the main room.  Two people with them, three down below.  One of the three below is radiating self-confidence.  The other two, and the two in the main room, are excited but nervous."  Finally she glances Jinx's way.  "And no, there is no magic being used here."
    Donna gives Pearson a nod.  "Thanks Tandy.  Keep up the perimeter please, and we'll do the rest."  She listens carefully to the reports and suggestions each of the team makes and takes a moment to think before nodding her head.
    "Depends on how hard they're punched Kian," she says, though mostly to give herself a little more time to think.  "No magic, no speedforce.  That makes something technological most likely.  Teleportation wouldn't do it because we didn't even see these guys fall.  Mirror Master?  Maybe.  Phase shift—perhaps something involved in dimensional manipulation.  We don't have time to check those agents are actually the ones from our dimension and weren't just replaced though, we need to act.  And very cautiously, until we know what's going on."
    She nods to herself, having come to a decision.  "Right.  Wally, Irie, your scouting plan is good.  Head in and out.  I suggest Irie concentrate on the main area with the hostages, scope it out and get us a fix on locations.  Wally, find the stairs, the people below will be looking to get in the vault."
    "Jinx, downside to your portal into the vault plan is that as Cait observed they didn't come equipped with heavy weaponry or high end meta strength, or they wouldn't be so keen on getting SCU guns.  So they're probably planning to blow the vault door.  Being inside would be very dangerous.  That means me or Cait.  As we're guessing tech is the play here, Cait I suggest you take the lead up here, as you're our tech expert.  Raven sends me into the vault where I can ambush them.  Kian, take to the air and see if you can see any other groups acting suspiciously in back or the roofs, and watch for people sneaking out.  Gar, Vorp, you two are best set up for an ambush.  Get invisible and sneak inside the bank, be ready to deal with the two criminals there but don't move until you get the word.  That way we can clear the hostages out as soon as possible.  Cait and Jinx, be ready to draw attention to the front of the building and keep people occupied.  Rae, we're going to want the hostages to move calmly and quickly when we say so, start calming them down.  All clear?  Everyone ready?  Then we go."

Caitlin Fairchild has posed:
    Caitlin nods at Donna as the commands are given.  "Tank go tankie," she agrees, and puts her helmet on her head and picks up a spear and shield.  Like her armor they're of distinctly Themysciran design, and she handles both with a quiet competence.  The redhead looks at Jinx and tilts her head to indicate the direction they should go.  Caitlin stays a few paces ahead of Jinx, ensuring that her teammate has a literal bullet shield to duck behind if things go south.
    There's really no disguising her approach so Caitlin just walks right up the middle of the entrance, purposeful but unhurried.  She's impossible to miss if anyone's surveilling the bank interior and provides both a tempting target and a distraction to let the speedsters more easily slip inside undetected.
    "All right guys, here I am," she mutters to herself and surveys the interior of the bank with her keen green eyes.  The butt of her spear is planted firmly on the ground near her feet and she holds position patiently while waiting for the cue to proceed.

Jinx has posed:
    Jinx pulls her loose hair back in to two pony tails as she listens to Donna's plan.  It's a good solid plan.  Not a lot they can't handle with it.  There's just one eanie meanie little problem with the plan.  Jinx waves her hands toward Cait.  "Why am I stuck with Princess Can't Swear a Lot here?"
    She lets out a heavy sigh.  But at least her part of the plan is 'draw attention'.  That she can do.  Still, she can be happy about the assignment and also unhappy about who she is being partnered with.  She glances side long at Caitlin.  She's done enough with Caitlin to know how the tall one likes to be polite and proper.  It rubs her the wrong way.
    "Fine… FINE… distraction.  Easy."  She glowers a bit at Caitlin and then follows after.  Their outfits sort of match.  While one is of modern Themysciran construction there's no doubt Jinx's look has a certain Themysciran style to it—just not one seen on any of the Amazons.
    Once near the front she says to Caitlin, "Just give me the signal and I'll make sure they're all focused on us and not their hostages—as soon as I've balanced myself out."  That momentary laps of calm has tilted her inner balance.  So she does something none of the Titans have ever seen her do before (besides Donna).
    She shuts her eyes and draws in a breath, circles her arms through the air and brings them before her.  If it weren't for the pulse of pink energy flowing up from her boots over her special armor and down her arms before going back in to her chest one might think she was doing some weird form of tai chi.
    This act requires focus.  She's not exactly the picture of perfect emotional health.  She has not mastered her powers merely found the path she must walk to do so.  Before she was a mere neonate at magic and now she is a journey woman.  The pulsing begins to smooth out as it flows over her and her magic becomes more aligned once more.

Terry O'Neil has posed:
    "Ambush it is, then."  The Cheshire grins and looks at Gar.  "You heard her, Greenie, it's time to be unnoticeable while Kian takes to the sky."
    The feline starts fading away, leaving his grin behind for a few seconds, and then vanishes.
    He maneuvers his way, as quietly as he can.  Eventually, the whisper over the comms, "Almost in place."

Irie West has posed:
    Kid Flash ponders Kian's words, rubbing her chin thoughtfully.  "Not typically, no.  Not unless we envelop them in the Speed Force, but then they'd be moving at super speed, too.  Which, you know, kinda defeats the purpose."
    When Donna gives them the okay to do the scouting, she gives the Amazon a grin.  "You got it!" and with the crackle of Speed Force lightning she's gone.  It takes her less than a second to get in and out.
    "Okay!  There's… hold on.  Let me get something."  She disappears again and is gone for slightly longer this time, and when she's back she's got some paper and a sharpie.  "Okay," she says, starting to sketch out the layout of the main area.  "So we've got six hostages sitting back to back over here in the middle, and a couple of guards here and here," she says making marks on the maps.  "They're using the weapons that they've stolen from the agents."
    "The interesting thing is that they're wearing jumpsuits that have this kind of design on them."  She pulls out a red and blue sharpie and, sticking out her tongue as she draws, starts sketching out some geometric patterns on the paper.  "Anybody recognize these?"

Wally West has posed:
    "Eh, was a solid guess," Wally notes as Donna shoots down the teleportation theory.  Yet, she's the one in charge today so he's listening to her calling the shots.  She asks him to do a most straightforward task: go with his daughter and enact the scouting plan the father and daughter had managed to come up with and Wally gives a thumbs up.  "You got it."  He turns to look at Irie with a smirk.  "Let's get goin'!  Last one back is a rotten egg."
    He VANISHES in a blur of movement, with only electricity detailing where he could've gone.
    It all happens so quickly that it looks as though the world is in slow motion, the movement so quick that the goons might not even know he was there at all!  Could've been a breeze but certainly there's windows that could do the same thing.
    …totally.
    But, he notices quite a few things!  When he suddenly returns to Donna, he notices Irie and he just frowns.  "Dammit."  He's a rotten egg!  But he listens to her give her report and he looks at Donna.  "Got three bogeys—" yes, he said 'bogeys'.  Get with it!  "Two of them looking like jumpsuits out of math class with blue and red geometric patterns over a black field.  They have a hostage, looking like the manager.  Funny enough, two of 'em have SCU guns, one on the stairs, one on the manager.  The third guy is putting explosives to the vault door and he looks a bit fancier than the other two, guessing he's the boss of the operation or just more specialized.  He's got a bunch of packs and boxes on his waist and arms."
    So much information!
    "I can head back in and get the manager."

Kian has posed:
    Kían nods once and flits effortlessly into the air.  Eyes in the sky is easy, as it typically doesn't involve some of the messier aspects of heroing.
    Ría q'San՚s instructions notwithstanding.
    "Unfortunately, I'm not sensing anything unusual, or that I could interfere with," he radios downs.  "Sorry.  I… nnh, just a moment."
    A classic qihár move is sliding closer to someone while actually facing another direction, so that it doesn't look like you're an Avian of Interest, and it should work on ground-bound Earthers as well.  "There's someone in a black outfit with red and blue designs a couple buildings over, watching the building through binoculars.  I don't think he's noticed me up here—"  Telemetry indicates he's going even higher.  "—and I plan to keep it that way.  Unless you want me to engage with him."
    The way he says that last, it's pretty clear that he'd prefer the direction to be 'no'… but also that if it's 'yes', he'll do it but he can't promise to enjoy it.

Gar Logan has posed:
    Beast Boy gives a simple thumbs-up to Donna, turning it into tapping a couple fingers against his forehead as he looks Vorpal's way.  The Cheshire's illusion abilities could mask both of them from sight, but it runs the risk of something interrupting it.
    There are a lot of animals associated with banks and finance.  Bulls, bears, pigs, and more.  Most of them, unfortunately, are a bit too easily spotted when stealth is the name of the game.
    The world must settle for a green mouse skittering along.  Vorpal had better resist any urges as far as cats and mice go, and the mouse moves around until both of their potential targets are in easy sight.

Donna Troy has posed:
    Wally's return and report gets a quick nod from Donna, who then signals to Raven.  The dark shadow of Raven's soul self engulfs the Amazon, and she's gone.  <<In position,>> she reports back over the T-Com.  <<Wally, hold off rescuing the manager for a moment, we still don't know what power these guys are using.  The moment you hear the explosives detonate, do it then while the gang's taking cover from the blast.>>
    <<Kian, sounds like you've found the lookout.  Engage with him enough to distract him from sending reports, but take no risks.  He's undoubtedly armed, and we don't have any idea what these guys can do.>>
    The appearance of Caitlin and Jinx at the front of the bank prompts a quick response from the two hostage-takers there.  Both move straight away to aim their guns point-blank at a hostage's head.  "Don't come any further!" one of them calls out to the Titans at the door.  They sound nervous.
    Irie has confirmed there's none of the rest of the gang on this floor.  Gar and Terry have got themselves in place unseen, ready to take the guards by surprise.  Terry's behind one, standing quiet and invisible, and MouseGar is sniffing around close to the other, perhaps pretending to look for green cheese.  Can they deal with the gunmen quickly enough though?  An instinctive or panicked pull of the trigger would see two hostages dead.  <<Cait, do you think you guys have the upper hand there?  Maybe Irie….>>
    Donna's last words are lost in the echoing boom of an explosion—the criminals have blown the vault door!

Jinx has posed:
    Jinx opens her eyes and watches the nervous bank robbers holding guns to hostages.  Amateurs.  "Today is your lucky day…" says the mage who plays with luck like sand falling between finger tips.  "I am Jinx and this is my Battle Maiden—Caitlin."
    They wanted a distraction—these two are kinda hard to ignore.  "Since you are clearly working for an imbecile I will give you the chance to come work for me instead.  But first you must best my red headed champion by making her swear."
    A wicked little smile as she holds out her hands invitingly.  Is she taking this as seriously as she should?  No definitely not.  But she is gently massaging the luck field for these two and their guns.  It's not the first time and it won't be the last that a gun just happens to seize or fail around her.

Caitlin Fairchild has posed:
    Not in a million years would Caitlin admit to it, but under her helmet, her ears pink a little at Jinx's implied praise.
    Well, it's praise to Caitlin's ears, anyway—it evokes memories of adventuring alongside Asgard and the Valkyries.  Always right in the middle of wherever the battle is the thickest.
    "Irie?  I need you to drop those gunmen.  We're going to head downstairs once you—"  Caitlin's muttered words into the comm 'net are cut off by the explosion rocking the bank with that deafening roar.  Dust and smoke goes flying and debris peels off the walls and ceiling from the explosive blast.
    Though she's not as fast as the Flashes, or the likes of Kara and Donna, Caitlin's reflexes are honed past the point of human ability.  She pivots in place and dives at Jinx, dropping her spear to wrap an arm around Jinx's shoulders and pull her down to the ground.  Caitlin interposes herself between Jinx and the blast origin, using her body as a barrier and raising her shield overhead to block the plaster and blocks that go raining down on the two of them.
    "Irie!  MOVE!" she shouts.  Caitlin sees her opening and adjusts her grip on Jinx.  With a powerful flex of her bare legs Caitlin throws them a solid fifty linear feet to one side and down the stairs towards the vault proper.  Jinx ends up sledding down the stairs on Caitlin's stomach, protecting her from the worst of the beating the impact offers.

Irie West has posed:
    Irie listens to Cait as she lays out the battle plan, nodding along with her, and—EXPLOSION!  And she's off like lightning.
    To her, the world slows down to a barely perceptible pace.  She isn't sure how itchy the hostage taker's trigger finger is, and she doesn't want to take chances that they'd accidentally shoot the hostages, so she sprints back into the bank, dodging debris that seems to be hanging in midair to her, to the two men holding the guns.
    She pries the fingers off the handles and grips, being careful and grabs their rifles.  She learned the hard way that if she isn't gentle she'll accidentally break their fingers.  She sprints back out of the building, and sets the guns on the hood of one of the cars and pauses.  She gets a mischievous look in her eyes and rushes back into the building.  Crouching down when she gets to the gunmen, she quickly unties their shoes, and ties them together, so they'll trip over their feet when they run.
    She runs back to the SCU agents and the world speeds up again.  "There," she says dusting her hands.  "The hostages are safe.  Well… as safe as I could make them.  I don't think I could have carried all of them out."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
    Vorpal flattens his ears, the explosion ringing in them.  His hearing is sensitive okay?  But he does have his training—three years by now.  He's not going to chance an accidental discharge (NOT A WORD, LOGAN).  "Now, Gar," he whispers, knowing the mouse will be able to hear him.  A tiny Rabbit Hole appears in front of the gun, directing any potential bullet away as the Cheshire brings down the full force of a glowing flamingo mallet on the guy's head.
    Because that's how Wonderland rolls.

Wally West has posed:
    <<Ready, willing, able.  I'm worried that the explosion will be too late—>>
    *BOOOM!*
    <<Moving—>>
    Wally West is on the move, the so-called Fastest Man Alive.  The world is barely a perception, but Wally sprints like life depended on it.  The wrong move and the bank manager's head goes bye-bye.  Yet as he charges, he notices a few things.  He notices the FORCE of the explosion in question!  Surprising that it doesn't knock him clean onto his ass and into a nearby wall, but it helps that he's just trying to get move.
    The gunmen watching the stairs is charged by Wally, attempting to punch the man across the jaw at high-speeds.  Even if Wally doesn't have superhuman strength necessarily, the momentum of a punch coming in faster than he can perceive and the ability to lift roughly 800lbs at a run, hopefully he can give the man a solid concussion at the least.
    And it takes time, but Wally tries to fully disassemble the gun of the other marksman while it's still in his hand before trying to punch him in the face too.
    All to just say, "Yoink!"
    And grab the bank manager.  Of course, at any point, this can go very wrong.  Like the fact that the demolitions-man is still fully untended to by Wally… and that could seriously suck in the next five seconds.

Kian has posed:
    "I think I can do that.  And if they have energy weapons, I don't think they can hurt me anyway."  It's hard to say that Kían actually sounds confident, but he sounds like he's trying to be.
    Distractions are actually pretty easy.  He's learned how to fission only enough atoms to make a loud bang, and about three meters directly behind the observer on the roof should get his (her?  Too far away to know for certain…) attention.  While that's being dealt with, he drops swiftly down to the top of a maintenance doorway on the roof, and lets off another loud *bang!* on the opposite side of the observer.
    And if they have a radio of some sort, depleting its battery should be the work of a second or two.
    And then Kían remembers a trick he tried on Cheshire Gar, that was a terrible idea to try for the first time while in flight, but while perched atop an accessway should be a lot safer and maybe even effective this time.
    Kían bends light around himself.  It messes with his ability to see clearly, but he doesn't need to.  It just needs to mess with anyone's ability to see him.  "Please drop any weapons and communication devices you have.  I can make those explosions happen inside your skull if I need to."
    He never would, and he feels a little nauseous making the threat, but it might be worth a shot…
    …and they don't know it's a threat he'd never carry out.

Gar Logan has posed:
    With the explosion hitting—and yes, the little mouse also flinches—all plans shift toward acting in the moment.  Beast Boy's reactions are on another level and he's already growing and changing into a gorilla to rip away the gun of the guy closest to him.
    There are some things that are quicker than he is.  One example?  Users of the Speed Force.
    A whoosh of motion and an instant later, the hostages no longer have to worry about being shot.  The primary weapons are gone, and the would-be shooters are tripping over themselves while trying to go after their secondary guns.
    The big green ape shrugs at this, nothing left to do but knock the one closest to him out with one punch and motion for the hostages to get up and get moving.

Donna Troy has posed:
    The gang member on the rooftop is indeed armed, and when Kian makes his presence known he does indeed go for his gun—and almost immediately thinks better of trying to shoot at the winged Titan given the demonstration of power.  He drops his gun to the floor as instructed, having no wish to test Kian's pacifism, and makes a run for the fire escape instead!
    Wally's rescue of the bank manager goes without a hitch, but dealing with the two guards doesn't work quite so well.  The first, crouching down against the wall where he's sheltering just around the corner from the vault door is easily dealt with, but by the time—and given how fast Wally is moving it's a very short time—he's finished with the first one, the leader and the other gun man are no longer in the corridor.  He didn't even see them move!
    Upstairs, Vorpal's mallet and Gar's gorilla fist deal with the remaining two goons without a hitch.  Neither mallet nor fist is gentle, and they're going to wake up with a serious headache to go with their jail time.  The hostages are safe, so long as nobody comes up the stairs.
    Caitlin and Jinx's unorthodox descent almost trips up Wally on his way back out with the manager, though he's able to skip past the stair-surfing Titans.  When the pair arrives at the bottom they are met by the final goon, who's running towards them and skids to a halt in surprise when he almost steps onto them.  The air is thick with dust and plaster is still falling.  It's easy to guess why he's running, as the pair can hear Donna's voice, slightly muffled by the ajar vault door, calling out "You're surrounded and out of hostages.  Surrender."
    A second muffled voice replies, "Ah, well this is inconvenient.  Still, I think I have time for a small haul.  Farewell minions, you were fairly useless."
    This is followed by Donna's voice saying, "What the…."  This is followed by a small swarm of banknotes and Donna herself, lasso in hand.  "Where did he go?" she demands.  "The leader."
    Donna's question can be answered by Irie, because the leader appears out of nowhere, close by, panting breathlessly.  He has a duffel bag stuffed with bank notes slung over his shoulder.  Immediately SCU guards raise their weapons, and he raises a hand, doubling over with his other hand on his knee, panting for breath.  "Yes yes, I surrender!" he calls out.  "Give me a moment to catch my breath."
    "On the floor now!" Pearson yells at him.  "Hands on your head!"
    The villain straightens up and nods.  "Okay, you got me.  Look, I just have to… my hand is moving very slowly, I'm not going for a gun, I just need to disable…"  He touches a button on the box at his waist, and vanishes again.
    <<I sense time being distorted,>> Raven's voice calls out over the comms.  <<Even Wally and Irie won't be able to catch him while that device is active.  Despite that he was playing for time, my guess to let it recharge.  It must have a limited scope or he'd have taken more money, and gone further.  He must be close by.>>
    He is indeed close by.  As Kian moves over towards the fire escape, he sees the boss appearing out of nowhere and leaning on a car to catch his breath.  He looks up at his final goon, the lookout man, who is taking the fire escape as fast as he can.  "Hurry or I'm leaving you!" he calls up as he opens the car door.

Kian has posed:
    "Someone in the same uniform just appeared here—as in, literally appeared!  Street level, my coordinates!"  And then Kían makes a dive for the escaping dik-hed (blame Vic for that)—climbing down a fire escape is not as fast as a birdman, especially one with Kían's flight skills.  "Oh no you don't!" Kian snaps, diving to pluck him off the ladder and away to… well, to someone else to deal with him.

Jinx has posed:
    Jinx was not ready for the explosion.  Where is the flair?  the fun?  the pazzazz when you're dealing with criminals?  It's how she dealt with heroes after all.  Messing with their minds as she messes with their luck.  Bad luck for them—very bad luck considering how many heroes stormed them all at once.
    But then kaboom.  And Oof!  She has a gigantic Caitlin on top of her.  "Erp!" is all she can muster before the pair of them are kicked off down the stairs with her riding the giant scientist like a plank.
    Stares down at the red head Jinx is momentarily lost for words.  "Ah…."  Her mouth opens and she lifts up a finger.  But then the villain has escaped and Donna is confused.  Jinx gets up off of Caitlin and looks around the ruined lower level.
    "Caitlin what the hell was that?  If we'd stayed where we were we could have stopped him."  Jinx throws out her arms in annoyance.  Then the word comes through on the comms.  He's outside with SCU pointing guns at him.  "Hmph.  Great.  Now the Rent-a-cop Tandy gets all the glory.  You totally blew this one Caitlin.  This is not team work."  She waggles a finger back and forth between them.
    Then comes the word that he's escape the SCU and Jinx throws up her arms.  "Okay.  We're still in it.  Come on long legs."  She smirks, pulls back one arm to her hip as the other thrusts out.  The wind pressurises and then with a burst knocks the pair of them forward up the stairs and out the doors.  Flight!  Just not flight that Caitlin is controlling.  They hover in the air as word comes in that Kian has spotted them.
    "This way…."  She re-angles her arms and the wind roars beneath them and pushes them with violent speed toward the antagonist.  Jinx lets up the magic so they can come to a stop—for Jinx it's a skidding stop.  "Time's up matey.  This is the end of the line."

Caitlin Fairchild has posed:
    It's an awkward way to arrive downstairs, but it does put Jinx and Caitlin in a perfect position to outflank the man emerging from the vault.  The redhead scrambles to her feet as soon as Jinx is stable and flips her shield around, ready to throw it as an improvised projectile if need be.
    Instead she spots Donna and comes up short.  Caitlin stands up slowly from her crouch and looks askance at Donna and Jinx, her free hand spreading near her hip in a gesture of total confusion.
    "We should have stopped him," Caitlin tells Jinx with a little audible irritation in her voice.  "Pinched him.  Did he get past you, or—"  The answer is relayed over the comm 'net and answers Caitlin's nascent question before it can be formed.
    "Wha— woaaaHH!" Caitlin yelps, pinwheeling madly.  Jinx has found Caitlin's biggest weakness: lack of friction!  The redhead can't do much except be hauled along for the ride, up until Jinx dismisses the spell.  She lands with a little wobble but recovers quickly, drawing her sword with one hand and holding it in a low and ready position.
    <<Someone knock this guy out before he does a freeze-frame exit again,>> Caitlin mutters into the 'net, and shifts her feet as if preparing to do just that. '

Terry O'Neil has posed:
    "You heard 'im, Greenie, we've got foots on the loose on street level!"  It doesn't make any sense, but when does Vorpal usually make sense?  A Rabbit Hole opens to lead them outside, and the Cheshire sprints.  "C'mon, Garilla, follow that freeze-framer!" he says, dismissing the flamingo club and trying to get a bead on the guy.  He can't summon an anvil, that's too lethal, but maybe a small bowling ba— no, better let the others handle it.

Irie West has posed:
    "WAUGH!" Irie cries and flinches in surprise as the leader suddenly appears out of nowhere.  "Don't do that!"  She recovers however and strikes a superhero pose.  "Yeah!  Surrender and we'll go—"  And then he's gone again.  "Darn it!"
    When Raven announces the presence of time shenanigans Irie says over the coms, <<If he's using a device, then Kian can fry it!  C'mon, dad!  Let's see if we can make his life miserable while he waits for it to recharge!  Or, wait no!  He's outta breath when he pops out, yeah?  He probably has to hold his breath because he doesn't have the Speed Force to do air shenanigans for him!>>
    She zips over to the car where the main bad guy is resting and strikes her superhero pose again.  "Give up!  You're surrounded!  You can't get far enough away that we won't catch you!"

Wally West has posed:
    Manager retrieved!
    Score one for the Wallman!
    But the fun and games are over as soon as Wally realizes something.  The first guard is dealt with swift and easily, but by the time he even made it to the manager, the second goon and the leader are gone!  It even makes Wally fully stop as his eyes look around.  His mind reacts in one quintillionth of a second and he didn't.  Even.  See.  Them.  Leave.
    "What the hell?"
    Wally frowns deeply, distrubed by how they were even able to do that before his eyes suddenly alight, as if a light bulb had finally turned on and happened to be floating over his head.  "HELLO WALLY!  Of course!"  He looks at the bank manager.  "Oh, sorry."  And he grabs the manager and takes him back topside where he can be safe.
    Kian is giving him coordinates and Wally suddenly gets moving.  Caitlin even calls for someone to knock him out quickly, and Wally seems to skid to a stop with the rest of the team… after making a solid attempt to take all the wheels off of the getaway car.
    "Depends on how long he needs before he can do that again.  I mean, otherwise, why would he need the car?"  He jerks a thumb at the vehicle.
    He smirks at Irie.  "Man, you remind me of me so much I could cry."  Wally beams with pride at his daughter.  He cracks his knuckles.
    "Alright guy, I'd faint on command if I were you."  He smirks, looking at the others.

Gar Logan has posed:
    Word gets around quickly that someone's been spotted, one of their targets.  Ape turns to tiger and Beast Boy races outside via portal, leaving the bank behind.
    As the full group of Titans congregates on his position, he prowls back and forth while locking his attention on the man, a hiss following.  Those claws look quite sharp enough.

Donna Troy has posed:
    Donna takes to the air after Caitlin and Jinx, but as soon as they're out of the bank she rockets upwards, leaving the pair of them to continue on a less ballistic trajectory.
    When the leader sees Kian coming to intercept his final goon—who throws his hands up in surrender—he stops waiting and clambers into the car.  One by one the Titans arrive, surrounding him.  Last to arrive is Donna, who crashes down onto the roof of the car rapidly enough to demolish it.
    The leader bails out of the car with a roll, and clambers to his feet, dragging his dufflebag after him.  Loose banknotes flutter away in the breeze, but at this point he's only interested in making his escape and a few less dollars is worth the price.
    He stands straight, giving a toxic glare to Donna.  "You guys are too slow for me," he tells Irie and Wally, then turns away to find himself facing Jinx and Caitlin.  He turns from them to see the feline pairing of Vorpal and TiGar.  No way out.
    The 'Freeze-Framer' as Vorpal has dubbed him goes to for the device on his belt as the Titans close in on him.  At the same time Kian, following Irie's suggestion, sends an electro-magnetic pulse at the man.  Kian hasn't seen the device being used and can't be sure which of the various bits of equipment he's wearing to target so he has to rely on a more general pulse, but it clearly does something.  The device sparks as the Freeze-Framer presses the button, and the villain flickers in and out of view.  This isn't the sudden disappearing that had happened before.  A look of confusion rapidly replaced by fear crosses his face, and he's surrounded by light somewhat reminiscent of a miniature aurora borealis, though the colors are strange and discordant.  It's oddly unpleasant to look at.
    The man vanishes, leaving behind the shifting, ugly aurora, which drifts for a few moments in the air before dispersing in sparkling motes.
    "That… looked like it went wrong," Donna observes.  "But it's probably too much to hope it went totally wrong.  We need to assume he's out there somewhere.  Spread out and…"
    "That's entirely unnecessary."  The voice of disagreements echoing around the street sounds similar to Donna's, though not quite the same.  Another Amazon, perhaps?  The accent seems off though.  A column of light rises up out of the ground a few dozen feet from the circle of Titans.
    Raven descends on wings of darkness to stand between the Titans and the column of light.  "Something's… here," she says.  "Protected by an illusion of great power."
    A figure steps out from the column of light, and it is Donna, though dressed rather differently.  Donna has been wearing a more high-tech sort of Themysciran armor these days, but it's not as obviously space-suit like as the armor this one is wearing.  "We know where he's gone," this new Donna announces.  "He jumped forwards to our time.  And we need you to accompany us there, or the universe will be destroyed."

Caitlin Fairchild has posed:
    Another figure steps out of the column of light and stops next to Future Donna's shoulder.  Caitlin.  But—not-Caitlin.  Not the one staring slack-jawed at her own doppleganger.  This newcomer looks… not older, but more mature.  Superficially much like her 2023 counterpart, but with less baby fat in her cheeks and subtle signs of maturity in her posture and bearing.  Ageless, but still older.  More world-wearied.  Her armor bears some resemblance to Future Donna's, highly stylized and evolved from some ancient but shared creative history long since diverged.  In one hand is carried a two-meter long ahlspeiss-style spear with an elaborate shearguard and flawless, polished blade.
    "We need all of you," Future Caitlin clarifies.  "Every Titan here is now part of this causality loop."  Her hair is bound up in a french twist and held in place with a fragile golden cage that looks like it might break from being examined too hard.
    Future Caitlin directs a look at her younger self.  "'There are no bindings between us, Caitlin Fairchild—save love'."
    The meaning of that phrase eludes everyone but Caitlin 2023, who gulps audibly and looks at 'her' Donna.
    "Yeah, that's… that's definitely me," she says, weakly.

Kian has posed:
    You would think Kían would be staring in horror at the spot where the boss had been, thinking he had actually killed someone… and he does, but for only a fraction of a second.  Then he's staring at the light from which a second Donna has shown up.  "You're already blaming yourself for this, Kían," a familiar voice says, although strange in its assurance and confidence.  "Don't.  It's not what you think."
    Kían swallows hard, staring.  "I… have to believe you."
    Flitting out of the light and alighting next to the new Donna and a new Caitlin is… a new Kían.  He's not much changed from the Kían everyone already knows, other than a slight wardrobe alteration: apparently short-shorts are the height of Akiár fashion for him.  And the confidence he carries himself with is a little jarring for those who are used to jumpy, nervous, always-worried Kian.  He might even be a centimeter or two taller.
    That confidence is shaken a moment when he catches sight of Gar and Terry, but he recovers quickly.  "This is going to be chronologically challenging."
    The Kían of 2023 facepalms.  "Ai, c'Rhys'yw, I eventually become as difficult as you all are…."
    Future Kían laughs gently.  "Yes, but by my time, you'll have earned it."
    And he keeps making furtive glances at Gar and Terry.

Jinx has posed:
    Jinx watches the villain of the week get consumed by his own devise going haywire.  "This is probably for the best…."  This is her conclusion.  Tech villains always end up being destroyed by their own technology.  That's the way of things.  "I'm sure this won't come back to bite us later."
    And then another figure merges from the column of light.  Wearing elaborate white robes and sporting pink hair, she is a more mature peaceful looking version of Jinx.  But she still has a somewhat playful smile.  Her hand gently taps on Caitlin's tall shoulder in excitement.
    "Oh my.  Look at them.  At us.  So Adorable!"  Fingers steeple and she motions to younger Jinx.  "Ahem.  And you too.  This is not over yet."  Because older Jinx knows exactly what younger Jinx is thinking.  #notmyproblem since the guy disappeared.  But now younger Jinx is staring with her mouth agape seeing herself.
    Does Jinx trust herself?  Can she trust that that is herself?  The two give each other looks.  Eyes widening, eyes narrowing, lips twisting in discernation.  "Aight… fine… but if this is some kinda trick I'm gunna fuck you up right and proper," 2023 Jinx says to the potential imposter.

Caitlin Fairchild has posed:
    "Language," both Caitlins say, in unison.  Caitlin 2023 looks a little uncomfortable.  Caitlin 3023 gives it a beat and then gives the elderly woman at her side a playful little nudge, silently supporting the 'adorable' label.

Terry O'Neil has posed:
    "Oh… shit."
    Language, Terry.  "I fucking hate time travel."
    The Cheshire stares at OtherDonna.  And Other Caitlin.  And look, there's OtherJinx… and OtherKian who is far too comfortable and confident to be anywhere near the bird he knows.  And—
"Wait a minute," the Cheshire cat narrows his eyes, looking from one to the other.
    "Where's Other Me?"

Wally West has posed:
    "Want to bet?" Wally challenges Freeze-Framer on the speed game.  It'll take time, but maybe time was the missing piece of the equation.  But Kian's electromagnetic wave disrupted his tech before he could do much of anything about it himself, the malfunctions a bit unpleasant to look at before he suddenly vanished.  "Uhhh…" Wally questions, looking around.  "Rae?  I don't suppose you know where he went?  I can run perime—"  The voice of an entirely different Donna Troy causes Wally to turn towards the column of light with fists raised.  Donna Troy.  Older.  Wiser?  Definitely higher tech.  "Uhhh, Donna, this isn't one of your Themysciran sisters, right?"  But then comes Caitlin Fairchild.
    Wally could pick her out if a crowd, his eyes going wide especially when she converses with her younger self.  "Woah… wait, Causality loop?  Death of the Universe?  I know time can be kind of wonky, but I don't know if it can just… collapse."
    Another figure emerges from the column, slightly taller than the Flash but wearing a white armored bodysuit with golden accents and yellow electricity sparking around his body, as if radiating the perfect unison with the Speed Force itself.  Long red hair falls to the shoulders as a full beard rests on his face, green eyes falling on Wally West as Future Wally emerges.  "It can and it will.  Can't run fast enough to fix it Wally.  We need your help.  ALL of your help."  Future Wally gestures to everyone.
    "Holy crap." Wally remarks, staring blankly at his future self.  "I look amazing with a beard."
    "Focus," Future Wally reminds gently to his younger, infinitely less controlled self.  Seeing himself young is… a challenge, clearly.  "The Speed Force is aching under the strain of the catastrophe, Wally.  Time needs you all."
    Wally just stares at Future Wally.  "But… I… this is a lot…."
    "Yes, it is.  But there's hope."  Future Wally immediately replies,though he looks to his right and left at the Jinxes and Caitlin's, a smile touching his face.  "Talk about a flashback."

Irie West has posed:
    "Uh oh," Irie says as it becomes obvious that Freeze-Framer's device has gone on the fritz.  "That can't be good."
    She blinks in surprise when Future-Donna arrives, and a grin spreads on her face.  "Future-Donna!" she greets excitedly.  "Hi!  How far in the future did he go?  When we're done can we go shopping?  Are there jetpacks in the future?  Oh!  Hoverboards!  Are there hoverboards?  Did they ever make a Cats 3?  Wait.  No.  Don't tell me that one.  Spoilers."
    When future Cait shows up there's a moment of hesitation before she greets her.  "Hi, Future-Cait!" she says with that grin of hers.  She pops the goggles off her eyes and sets them up onto her forehead.  "I like your spear.  Is it a future spear with all sorts of tech gadgets in it?  Like, can it shoot a net to capture bad guys?"
    And then Future Kian and Future Jinx are there.  All the future people!  "Hiiii!" she says, giving them an enthusiastic wave.
    And then there's Wally.  She doesn't say anything other than to rush him and give him a hug.  "Hi Future Dad!  You really do look awesome with a beard.  Not sure about the hair, though."
    She takes a step back and looks at everybody assembled.  "So.  When do we leave?"

Gar Logan has posed:
    The guy is caught.  Then he's gone.  It's strange.  Doesn't make a lot of sense.
    Then… another Donna.  Not the first time Beast Boy's seen another Donna.  The most memorable time, he was Cheshired out and acted quite inappropriately.
    The tiger turns back to his usual self, just in time for a few more familiar faces to show.
    Squinting, he opens his mouth to say something as he holds up a finger, then stops particularly when Future Kian comes into view, mouth shutting.  He stares at Current Kian, then Vorpal, then the two Caitlins, the two Jinxes, the two Flashes, and he just rubs his face with both hands.
    With another shrug, he doesn't waste any time in moving toward the column of light, if not directly into it yet.  No Future Gar is probably no great surprise, but he doesn't ask anything about how far in the future these versions are from.  They'll all probably be finding out soon enough.

Donna Troy has posed:
    "I… what?" Donna replies coherently to her Caitlin.  The look on future Donna's face as she glances towards future Caitlin suggests she is also somewhat confused by Future Caitlin's comment to her past self.
    "A thousand years," Future Donna replies to Irie—though that probably answers Vorpal's question about as well as if she'd replied to him directly.  "No shopping.  No souvenirs.  And we leave straight away."  Future Donna seems to be all business.  "We know a lot more about time travel than we did back then.  Now.  Individual time-streams are considerably more stable than you think.  However there are still major risks involved with time travel like this, and we need to minimize them as much as possible.  Technically I shouldn't even tell you that, I suppose.  So no Iris, you can't start talking about the future now.
    "Wait," says present day Donna.  It's easy to trust yourselves, but still.  "We need to know…."
    Future Donna cuts her short.  "No.  Get on board the time ship.  There will be time for questions when we're heading back to the thirty-first century.  Time travel doesn't mean we're not on a schedule here, and some of us have wars to get back to.  Gar has the right idea, Hurry up."
    Future Donna turns on her heel and walks back through the portal of light, leading the others into a strange interior space, large and gleaming white, filled with a strange architecture of tall, bulbous columns, soaring curves, walkways, and an almost organic-looking structure, as if she was leading the Titans into the guts of some metal and plastic creature.
    "I was going to say 'Come with me if you want to live,' Future Donna says conversationally to Gar as she walks along beside him.  "But I wasn't one hundred percent sure that movie had happened yet."

Jinx has posed:
    Future Jinx can't help but chuckle as both Caitlin's admonish her younger self's swearing.  But then there's Irie right there and oh my goodness a young Wally.  She squeezes Caitlin's arm and presses her lips shut.  A look of 'hush' to Irie.  It's hard not to miss the conspiracy going on here.  Future people recognising past people and knowing things.
    Younger Jinx looks back and forth between future people and Irie.  "What was that?  NO… actually.  Don't tell me.  I don't want to know."  She hates this.  "Erk.  Whatever.  Can we just get this over with…."  And stomps toward the beam of light after Gar.
    Future Jinx smiles as she watches her younger self get on board with the program.  Her conspiratorial little eyes following after her.  Caitlin knows why.  "Come on long legs," says the futuristic Jinx to her Caitlin once again demonstrating that she's not as batty and old in her mind as she pretends to be.  She remembered this day juuust fine.
    Lucky motions to the bewildered people of the past, so so long ago.  "Come my friends.  Our nexus point awaits."  She turns with a small chuckle and walks back on to the time ship.  If that's really Jinx from the future she sure has her shit together.  She seems so still and confident and has an almost calming nature to her.

Terry O'Neil has posed:
    "…well, she still has a sense of humor," Vorpal says to TodayDonna as he walks past her.  A Rabbit Hole opens and he plucks something out of it—a white backpack.  Kian and Gar will recognize that backpack—it's what he packs for impromptu road trips.  It has board games.  It has snacks.  It also has a fully charged tablet with only one movie loaded: To Wong Foo, Thanks For Everything, Julie Newmar.  Because that's all he needs for a road trip.
    He gives Caitlin a soft bop on the arm as he walks past her.
    "Get in, loser, we're going to the future."
    Hey, at lest someone is going to use a movie quote here.

Irie West has posed:
    Irie can't help but look disappointed.  "Awww."  She takes a big sigh and gives everybody a helpless shrug as she gets onto the ship.  "Well, that's time travel for you."

Kian has posed:
    Future Kían takes a moment to lock eyes with Present Kían.
    "I understand," Present Kían says, and with a flick of his wings heads for the light, although he glances quickly to both Terry and Gar.
    Future Kían, however, gazes lingeringly.
    Then he shakes his head clear, and dives into the light.  There's work to do.

Wally West has posed:
    "Oof!" Future Wally grunts as Irie gives him that tight hug.  A hand lifts and gives the young woman a pat on the head.  "Careful, I'm fragile," he mildly jokes.  "Hey Irie.  Long time no see.  Learning all the neat tricks?" he asks of the present-day Kid Flash.  Wally West looks like his entire understanding of his time works just got rocked!  "Wait wait wait!  Doesn't our future selves meeting our past selves cause a butterfly effect?  Doesn't anything happen?  Wouldn't this just make things worse?"  Wally looks on the verge of a panic attack.
    That is, until a gentle hand grasps his shoulder.  "Wally.  Breathe," Future Wally advises, meeting the eyes of his younger self.  "The Flashpoint Paradox was a fixed event caused by drastically changing the past in a very specific way.  It won't happen again.  The Speed Force isn't chaos.  It's the next step.  Eventually.  You'll know what I mean later."  He makes a lock and key motion with his fingers across his lips.
    "But for right now… relax.  Us being here won't destroy the timeline.  Now come on, I'm afraid Donna got more firm with time and if we don't tag along, we're going the cardio-centric way."
    Wally slowly exhales, takes a minute, nods, and follows Future Wally towards the column of light.  "Do… do we—?"
    "No spoilers," Future Wally declares with a smirk.  Though he tries to share a look with Future Cait, but otherwise keeps moving with his younger day self.
    "And don't worry, we have snacks."
    "Oh thank God," Wally sighs relievedly.

Caitlin Fairchild has posed:
    Caitlin—future Caitlin—has gone white as a sheet.  She can only stare at Irie, jaw slackened, confusion and fear and desperate, desperate hope on her fair features.  Everything else—it becomes a dull roar.  Meaningless background noise.  Everyone is just a blur as they head towards the ship.
    The Amazon stares at Irie as the speedster tries to slip past too.  She almost makes it.
    "Iris."  That single word is loaded with emotion.  An imperative, and a question.  Fear, and hope.  It arrests Irie's momentum and prompts the other woman to turn to look at Future Caitlin.  The spear in Future Caitlin's hands clatters to the ground, slipping through violently trembling fingertips.
    She takes two halting steps towards Irie.  Reaches up.  Hesitates.  Puts fingers against Irie's mask and pushes it up and away from the younger woman's face.  Tears pour openly down Future Caitlin's stark cheekbones.
    "Iris?" she says again, a strangled whisper full of fear and hope.

Irie West has posed:
    Irie stops and turns around to face Future Caitlin.  As her mask gets pushed up a tear running down a cheek, and her lip quivering.  "…Hi mom."