What If?: Brakes!

A story can go any which way. Fate drags you in one direction of many. There are a million decisions and branches, a million different worlds that can be created. Life can be given and taken. Ruined and repaired. One slight hesitation or lack thereof can change entire days, weeks, months, years! That is what I live for. I am the Reality Bender.

A slight hesitation and a split decision. That is what this story is about. A few years ago, two Teen Titans used their fast-travel powers to get them from the sky to a bridge. A man, let's call him Clyde, was driving a moving lorry along the bridge. He was at the head of the traffic approaching the fast travel blast. The lorry stopped in time to cause no harm.

Imagine. Imagine Clyde did not brake in time. Imagine the lorry swinging around, just the back, the cabin stopping to the best of its ability.

Now: The story.

Brakes.

The two brothers stood, eager for play, waiting for the smoke around them to clear before speaking. They didn't want the smoke in their throats, you see, so they held their breath. They didn't know what they had kicked up. It was the older brother, older by a few minutes at the most, who saw the truck first. He saw the large, metal body hurdling towards the two of them, and he acted on instinct. The next thing the younger brother knew, his feet were off the ground. He flew through the air and collided with the side of the bridge, almost falling over the edge, getting winded and just standing there slumped over the railing, trying to get his breath back.

The older brother, however, and we shall call him Thunder, had not had time to move after getting his brother out of the way. He was hit hard by the lorry and sent flying into the back of another car. Ouch. Had to hurt. He lay there as Clyde exited his lorry and looked on in shock. The blue-skinned super was on the floor, propped up by the back of the car, limp and with his eyes closed. Clyde took a few steps forward before rushing back to the lorry to get his mobile. Lightning pealed himself away from the railing and turned around, ready to shout, but when he looked around, his brother was not stood where he expected. His eyes searched a moment before his legs were working instead. He ran to his brother's side and shook him.
"Brother, wake up! Get up! Get up now! Wake up!" Someone dragged him back and he struggled. "No, he has to wake up! He has to be okay!"
"It's okay." Assured a voice. "We're going to help him." The ambulance hadn't gotten there yet, not that fast, surely. No, it was some fast-moving group of other teenagers who had seen blasts from the brothers and had teleported themselves to the scene to make sure everyone was okay. A tired-looking girl in blue cloak was bent over Thunder, checking him over. There was the distant sound of sirens and Lightning stayed crouched on the road, looking straight ahead. There was a voice chattering in his ear, asking questions, but he could not hear the words. A grey-gloved hand was on his arm. He didn't feel it. The ambulance arrived and he leapt to his feet, pushing the other boy away and watched his brother taken away, but instead of hanging around to talk or going with him, he turned and ran, vaulting over the rail of the bridge and flying off into the depths of this city.

The Teen Titans waited behind, helping sort out the mess at the bridge, but the teenage powerhouse landed gracefully in the middle of Cumming's street, west Jump City, looking around curiously with a frown. There were lights, and people, and vehicles filling the delicate air with smog and disgusting smells. There were many conflicting sounds, happy, angry, sad, and conflicting smells of pollutants and foods. He took a few steps, having not been to a place this...active for a while. The constant travelling often brought them to less populated places, and that was what they preferred. This was a little overwhelming, and it was made no better by the stares he received. Yes, he looked unusual, but the staring, the chatter, the noises, the lights, people pointing and laughing and whispering to one another, what had just happened to his brother...

With a sound of outrage, he sent a spiral of electricity towards the nearest group of irritating onlookers, sending them scattering with screams. This city had taken his brother from him. Those vehicles. Blast it all to hell. Heck, he could do that for real, he decided, balling up some energy in his hands, flying up and sending it down into the traffic, watching the blast. One parked car even exploded like a bomb. The fire was a beautiful mess of red, orange, yellow...No-one got hurt. Not as far as he could see, and it made him angrier. This city had taken his brother, so it should pay him back in kind. Take out lights and windows, fire at the running people, destruction and pain. That was what happened in his wake, west to east.

He was only stopped when a blast of energy struck his side, pressing him into a wall. He pushed off and stumbled, feeling a little dizzy, and turned to see the Teen Titans. Cyborg had one arm angled towards the furious elemental. Robin frowned and stepped forward. "What is your problem?"
Lightning threw his arms out. "Stay away from me!" He warned in a shriek.
The Titans were ready for a battle. "Power down." Lightning did not respond and Robin approached him. After all, they had helped his brother on the bridge, so maybe this guy would be level. "We don't want to hurt you, and I'm sure you don't want to hurt us. Just stop doing this and let us help you, like we helped the other guy back on the bridge-"
That turned out to be the wrong thing to say, they realised as Robin had to dive to the side to avoid being blasted. He got up, but before he could speak another blast hit him square in the chest. The other Titans sprung into action at once, and Lightning turned to meet them. If he were any more furious, he may well have been foaming at the mouth. Cyborg reached the electric teen first and grabbed his arm, twisting so the teen fell, grappling him to the ground and pinning him, keeping his hands away from those of the electric child. Not like that did much good. After all, the boy could charge his entire body with power, which could well blow a circuit. Luckily, it didn't, but it certainly put Cyborg out of commission. Lightning found it took a fair amount of effort to shift the metal man off him. Before he managed it, he found himself in a bubble of shadow. He used himself as a torch, but there was no break in the wall. He didn't notice the girl in there with him until her foot was swinging for his face.

One reflex of this young elemental's was to bring up an arm to protect his face, but the girl kept swinging for him. He brought up his arms to defend himself just as fast. Sparks flew from his already charged arms as he waited for a break in her strikes, and before opportunity presented itself he found himself backed against a wall of shadow, back pressed against the cold barrier. She swiped at him again and he ducked under. Raven jarred her leg against her shield and Lightning blasted her from below. With a yell, she collided with her own dome of darkness. It dissipated and he seemed lost. Disorientated by the sudden influx of light and sound, he spun, squinting. He hated artificial light like this, and the fires and his own charge were not helping, and neither was that bright green light that he could have sworn was getting brighter and

Oh...

He grunted as he scraped across the hard tarmac, feeling skin peel and his shirt rip. The alien princess towered over him, keeping her aim on him. His breathing was fast and uneasy, and his eyes caught the small movement of the Titans already taken down getting back up again.

Beast Boy was not there. Across the city, in Jump City hospital, he was asking to see the super who had been in the accident on the bridge earlier that evening. He was being told the boy's condition and being led to see him, where he was barely conscious. The changeling bit his lip. "Why is he wrecking everything? We're only trying to help...like I get it, you two are, like, close or whatever...but he seems more concerned with wrecking stuff than your wellbeing or whatever...Starfire could have gotten hurt by that prank I played earlier..."
"He finds it...amusing...the damage...his powers cause..." Huffed a wheezy, deep voice. He looked over and saw the large, lilac-skinned boy was awake and looking rather confused.
"But it's not funny, it's wrong, all the damage he's causing, innocent people he's hurting-" He stopped. He was getting through to this guy, but it was the wrong guy.
"...Wrong?"
"Well what's right about hurting people for fun?"
"Pain does not amuse us."
"Could have fooled me the way he's going on."
Thunder mulled it over in his mind for a moment, looking down at his battered body. "My brother...he'll be upset...we are very close...tell him I am okay..."

Lightning knew when to admit he was outnumbered. Right now he was away from those other kids, but if they came near he was ready to strike. He was powerful, but could he really take four supers at once? Their power was probably equal, but he could not fight four fronts at once. Two, maybe, but he was used to fighting in tandem with his brother. He needed just a moment to get his breath back, especially since he was not the healthiest of people. However, his ears were good. He could pick out the skitter of rats and the heavy footfalls behind him of a large man, trying to be discreet. Suddenly, the elemental swung round, throwing his arm out to catch this man's jaw, but the man had good reactions and caught his arm.
"Easy," he said through a black and bronze mask. He had something to hide. "I'm not here to hurt you. I saw the damage you did to the city, to the Titans. You have a lot of power."
Lightning narrowed his eyes. "What do you want?" He was about this man's size. Less muscular, quite thinner, and maybe an inch or two shorter, but roughly similar sizes.
Though he could not see it, Lightning felt he could sense the man smirk. "I can help you hone your powers. You're powerful now, but you have so much more potential."
"I am not interested." He pulled away and Slade grabbed him again.
"Then what does interest you?"
"I just want my brother! Let me go!"
"Stay a little longer, I think we have some things to discuss. I can help the aggrieved."

When Beast Boy saw the destruction that one teen had caused, he was shocked. Not even the HIVE kids had wreaked that much havoc on the fair city. No, this looked like something out of a nightmare. He located Raven first, who was attempting to put out a blaze. "Raven! What happened?"
"Take a wild guess."
"Where's everyone else?"
"Either stopping either fires, saving lives or looking for the guy who did all this. Where were you?"
"Talking to his brother. The one who was hit by the truck."
"He's very distressed, and that must be why.
"His brother's okay though! Maybe if he knows that, he'll stop!"
"Then stop hanging around here and find him before he does any more damage!"

It didn't take long. He just had to follow the path of destruction. He was at an art gallery, destroying the outdoor décor, a man stood nearby and watching. The boy laughed as he destabilised a large sphere, which then rolled into a set of stone pillars.
"Hey!" Beast Boy yelled, because he couldn't think of anything else to say. Lightning and Slade turned to him. "You don't have to do this. It's not this city's fault your brother got hurt-"
"Shut up! Be quiet, be silent, or else!" He interjected in a shriek, charging his hands.
"But your brother's okay! I was just talking to him and he's worried about you! He doesn't want you to get yourself into trouble like this!"
There was a long silence before Slade spoke. "Prove it."
"Wait, what?"
"He is aggrieved. He believes his brother to be seriously injured, or worse. It would be a cruel thing to use as leverage for this town's safety, would it not?"
There was silence again. Lightning sighed. "I want to see him. I want to see him here and now."

And let me tell you, that took some arranging. The doctors were insistent that the large boy was not well enough to move, but Thunder insisted in turn that he was fine and, contrary to popular belief, knew a bit about health and medicine. He had not been that badly hurt by the truck, not so badly he could not get up for a walk about. It would not put him in danger, but the doctors wanted to be careful. Oh well. At least sneaking away was not out of the question.

When Beast Boy found Lightning again, he was stood over Starfire's fallen form, ready to strike. "Brother, no!" Thunder called out, and it did the trick. Lightning stopped and looked over. Behind him was a wall of fire. He looked around at the damage he had done. Thunder walked forward, a frown on his face. "What have you done?"
The younger elemental just seemed to burst into tears. "You're okay...I just wanted you to be okay, because you were not okay, and you got hurt by this place and-"
Thunder placed his hand on his little brother's shoulder. "It is not the blame of this place. You must not make them responsible for our actions. We landed in a foolish place. It was our fault and..."
Lightning nodded sorrowfully. "I..." He cut off and hugged his brother tight. "I'm sorry!"
Thunder nodded, holding him close. "It is okay. But we need to right this wrong..."
"But our gifts can only destroy..."
"True, but together we have another gift."
"No," Slade began, confused, "your revenge-"
"Was undeserved." Lightning finished for him. "I have done wrong."

In a bright flash of light the brothers vanished into the sky. Thunder cracked across the rolling clouds, and lightning split the sky, and then it rained. Gallons of fresh rain pouring over the entire city, helping to put out fires and lower the heat, and then...the boys did not come back. Embarrassed over this whole ordeal, they wished to stay far away from the damage they had caused, but were willing to help assist repair that which they had broken.