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"By The Light...": After having fought with Superboy in Times Square, the recently formed Teen Titans find themselves trapped in the bright glow of a police flood-light. Red Robin tries to explain that the

Quote1 That's the thing, Kiran. I don't know. About my powers. How they work. How I got them. I don't even know who I am. I can usually pretend it doesn't bother me. Keep Running. Keep Joking. But now... I've stopped. And all those questions are still running inside my head. Quote2
Kid Flash

Teen Titans (Volume 4) #6 is an issue of the series Teen Titans (Volume 4) with a cover date of April, 2012.

Synopsis for "By The Light..."

After having fought with Superboy in Times Square, the recently formed Teen Titans find themselves trapped in the bright glow of a police flood-light. Red Robin tries to explain that they are the good guys, but Detective Jocelyn Lure refuses to let them go, given the amount of property damage they caused in two of New York City's most prominent landmarks.
Red Robin tries to plead self-defense, but the team is surprised when an unexpected ally begins attacking the detective and her men. Skitter has returned, and she traps the NYPD in her webbing. As she raises the detective up into the air, she finds the woman's gun to her head. Before the situation can escalate, Red Robin throws a Batarang that both knocks the gun aside and smacks Detective Lure in the face.
Given that the police threat is subdued, the Titans are now faced with defending themselves against Skitter. Fortunately, Bunker is able to get through to her, and they are spared any further fighting. However, despite that success, Kid Flash is in a dangerous condition, having had his molecules sped up to the speed of thought by Superboy's tactile telekinesis.
Red Robin has the team take Kid Flash to S.T.A.R. Labs, where Virgil Hawkins - a very brilliant intern working on a private project - is hoped to be able to help. Virgil immediately recognizes that Kid Flash is in a state of hyper-spatial acceleration. Meanwhile, a strange meta named Grymm senses the Titans' presence in the facility, and tries to find one who lacks the natural mental defenses against mind-control. He settles on Skitter, whose insect form does not think on human terms.
Elsewhere, the woman claiming to be Detective Jocelyn Lure speaks Interlac, indicating that she is, in fact, from the 31st Century. She is concerned that whatever is happening to Kid Flash isn't supposed to be happening yet. He's not supposed to be in the 21st Century, and she wonders who authorized his identity. Apparently, his past is somewhat sordid.
Meanwhile, Virgil attempts to perform diagnostic tests on Bart. Solstice keeps him company, trying to comfort him, and ease his worries about the likelihood that his molecules will be dispersed. Bart confides in her that his confusion about who and what he is does get to him sometimes, and she promises that whatever happens she and he will find the answers together. Despite the sentimentality of the moment - or perhaps because of it - Red Robin insists that they go ahead with the testing. Kid Flash is put in a rigged MRI machine, which ought to pick up the para-quantum vibratory patterns most commonly associated with the human body. With any luck it will tell them what's wrong with him.
Elsewhere, Cassandra Sandsmark contemplates leaving, given that she has no attachment to the idea of the Teen Titans as a team. Bunker tries to dissuade her, but she feels as though her past behaviour is undeserving of any kind of super-heroic moniker. Encouragingly, Miguel explains that who she was doesn't matter, so long as who she is now is good. She jokes that he must use the line on all the girls, but he responds with surprise that he thought she already knew he was gay. Their conversation is interrupted when Miguel suddenly realizes that Skitter has gone missing - she has fallen under the control of Grymm.
Red Robin admits that he had tried to take Bart to the Flash, but the Justice League had been busy. He had come to Virgil knowing that his youth would give him a different perspective with regard to the possibility or impossibility of saving Kid Flash. Virgil wonders if perhaps the problem is simpler than they think, and they can merely find a way to adjust and contain Bart's speed using some of the advanced technology at S.T.A.R. Labs.
Cassie and Bunker follow the trail of destruction that Skitter left behind, only to find Grymm standing before them. Ignoring his tendency toward speeches, Cassandra wraps her lariat around him, but he sends her rage back at her, courtesy of one of the genetic implants her received from the US Government. He then uses a toxin to paralyze Cassie and Bunker's bodies, leaving their minds functioning. His explanation clues Bunker in to an opportunity. His bricks are psionically controlled, and so he lays Grymm flat with them before they can be fully paralyzed. Together, Bunker and Cassie sweep up Skitter and rush back to the other team members.
Back in the lab, Virgil presents Kid Flash with a new uniform (as opposed to the makeshift one he had stolen from Red Robin); one that can keep his molecules aligned. Virgil presents Red Robin with a text book on Quantum Speed Theory and its Effects on Human Physiology, but Bart grabs it and reads it in a matter of seconds, and then puts on his new suit. The team is impressed (particularly Solstice), and Bart is eager to get a rematch with Superboy. Red Robin insists that they go back home, and prepare for war.

Appearing in "By The Light..."

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Trivia

  • A coffee machine in Virgil's lab is branded with Booster Gold's image.


See Also

Recommended Reading

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