In the quiet Titans Base, a sudden alarm shattered the boredom of their monotonous daily routine.
A shrill, urgent siren pierced the training ground's stillness as red warning lights flashed wildly.
Jaime, who habitually slacked off, was the first to stop, his face filled with disbelieving delight.
"Uh, what did this alarm mean again?"
Even Tim, who should have maintained the Batman Family's customary composure, couldn't keep the corners of his mouth from rising.
"It means there's trouble close by that just happens to be within our ability to handle!"
"Finally, some action! I thought we'd spend the entire second half of this year staring at training targets!"
Donna twirled her sword a few times, her eagerness plain to see.
Tula and Mia stopped their sparring match, anticipation gleaming in their eyes as well.
Everyone turned to Tim, who had been competing with Mal all along and immediately broke into a run.
"I'll tell the Instructor!"
Red Robin jogged toward Shane's private office, clearly impatient to report the situation and request permission to deploy. The door crashed open.
Shane, who was sitting cross-legged on the floor, jumped in fright. The magic circle he had been carefully constructing flickered.
But a moment later, Shane simply pinched up the failed spell and stuffed it whole into his mouth.
This was the secret purification technique he had been fortunate enough to learn when he paid Lucifer a special visit yesterday.
Lucifer certainly lived up to his reputation, immediately providing a magical solution to a problem even Constantine had considered hopeless.
It was just rather difficult, requiring a considerable degree of total concentration.
If Shane hadn't possessed abyssal reserves of magic power and a sturdy, resilient body,
his progress would probably have been even slower.
Standing in the doorway, Tim watched the Instructor's cheeks