Two weeks ago…
"…Continues in Zandia, as the Markovian forces press further
into the island nation. For the third straight day, ground troops
augment the air strikes that have pummeled this deeply religious
people since early last week. Civilian casualties…"
"…Head of the new Markovian regime pledges that they will
not rest until the quote 'taint of the Church of Blood has been
cleansed from our borders'. Zandia Has been ruled by that once
quite internationally influential Church since it's founding.
Once led by the enigmatic Brother Blood, the Church has been in
decline since his disappearance some years ago."
"Still no comment from the UN on Markovian aggression into
Zandia. While most find Markovia's unprovoked attacks, Zandia
population has included wanted criminals for many years now, combined
with the controversial nature of their former leader, combine
to make many delegates unsure of where they stand."
The television feeds continue to play across the bank of monitors.
Scenes of war and the battered spires of the Church of Blood play
out as the talking heads attempt to explain the obvious. A pair
of robed men stands before the wall of monitors, their faces grim.
"This is intolerable, Brother. To think our forces could
be overrun like this by those unbelievers. For hundreds of years,
our leader Brother Blood led the Church of Blood and through it
Zandia to untold prosperity. And now, to see it all crumbling
before our eyes… It is almost more than can be believed."
"They are overrun because they lack faith, my fellow Bishop
of Blood." His companion answers. "Without the master
to lead them, they lack the will to fight back as they ought.
In truth, we've been vulnerable since that witch defiled our lord's
mind. Brother Blood once lead the Church to the edge of world
domination. His Charisma could hold millions under his sway. Without
him, there's just so much we can do rally our followers to victory."
"A bitter irony then. Because without a great outpouring
of faith from his followers, Brother Blood may never recover his
faculties. Our lord has long drawn strength from his followers
faith, but since his last oh so public defeat at the hands of
mere children that faith is waning."
"I may have a solution, my fellow Bishops of Blood"
an unseen voice bellows.
The two bishops look behind them as a third Bishop strides into
the monitor room.
"Brother Pietro. What news?" The first bishop speaks.
"Brother Lucas. Brother Charles." Brother Pietro smiles
broadly. "I believe we can accomplish both our goals, and
gain revenge on those who have ultimately caused our calamity."
"You speak in riddles Brother." Brother Charles' dark
face tightens. "How do propose we wake our lord with the
Church's morale at such an all time low?"
"And conversely, how are we going to stop those Markovian
peasants from overrunning our homeland without him?!?" Brother
Lucas added.
"Simple my brethren." Brother Pietro confidence is unmoved
by his fellows disbelief. "First we need only use the proper
pawn. And I have found just such a being."
He shows a picture to the other bishops, whose faces relax as the
first hints of understanding begin play across their minds.
"Tell me more my brother." Brother Charles grins viciously
ever so slightly under a raised eyebrow.
Now
The Justice League of America's moon based Watchtower is one of this
solar systems truly wondrous locations. Built with a combination of
technologies from all over the universe, it's majestic view allows
the Earth's most powerful and prominent team of meta-humans to keep
an ever vigilant eye on the world below. To the vast majority of the
world's populace, it would be both a thrill and an honor to stand
within it if only for a minute. For one of this world's native sons,
the thrill is gone. Kyle Rayner, Earth's newest Green Lantern has
been sitting in the chair of the tower's "Monitor Womb"
for hours now. The floating virtual monitors are starting to look
all the same to him. He's bored, he's tired, and he's sore.
It wasn't always this way. In fact only months ago he felt excited
just to be here. He had been Green Lantern for months, but now he
was a member of the Justice League. THE Justice League! Fighting alongside
legends like Superman, Wonder Woman, and the Batman! Sure, he'd been
on super-teams before, he was a member of the Titans for a little
while there. But this was the big time. Of course he never figured
on having to take a turn on monitor duty. That was getting old fast.
Sometimes it was better than others, especially if there was someone
else to talk to. But the tower was quiet today. And here he sat, morbidly
hoping some really catastrophic event would happen so he could see
some action.
"What am I thinking!" Kyle mentally kicks himself.
"Face it, Rayner, you're just smarting because Hal Jordan's
back, again. And now it's back to feeling like a rookie, again.
Just as I was getting used to playing in the big leagues. It doesn't
help that Jordan's pal Kilowogg has been training me lately. I
always knew I had a lot to learn, but does he have to make it
so painful. And this "poozer" thing has got to go!"
A beeping alarm breaks the young hero from his thoughts. He reaches
an aching arm to tap the screen to acknowledge that authorized personnel
had teleported up to the Watchtower. Supergirl, Steel, and the Martian
Manhunter. Kyle smiles with relief as he sees both his relief and
some welcome company have arrived. Of course, Steel and J'onn were
here to run their weekly maintenance check of the Tower and probably
wouldn't feel much like talking, but helping them would be more
interesting than sitting here.
"And of course chatting with a gorgeous blonde like Supergirl
is even better!" Kyle smiles to himself.
"Hi, Kyle." Supergirl smiles at him as she flies around
the corner, as if on cue, to land beside him. "How's it going?"
"It's going." Kyle responds. "I'll get back with
you on the how."
"Anything interesting today?" Supergirl glances at the
monitors.
"With me or the planet?" Kyle responds wryly.
"Ky-le" Supergirl gives him a mocking stern look.
"Sorry, long shift." Kyle faux-sheepishly responds.
"Not much out there really. There's been a major breakout
at Arkham, but Batman has already declared it off limits to the
rest of us. Wonder Woman was reportedly going after Cerce. Aquaman
said he just fought a bunch of dead guys. No one's seen Flash
in days. And Supes is tearing it up with some major nasty Cadmus
escapee out in Kansas.* That one needs some watching, he may need
some backup. And we've had some ships pop in and out of the system,
but nothing hostile. All in all a fairly normal day."
(*see current issues of Batman, Wonder Woman, Legends
of Aquaman, the Flash, and Superman for details! All available at
a FDC website near you! -Clay "I'm not just a writer, I'm also
their editor")
"Kyle," Supergirl's face pails. "where in Kansas
did you say Superman was…?"
Before the Emerald Gladiator can respond, a blaring alarm cuts
through the tension of the Monitor Womb.
"Whoa! Hang on." Green Lantern's hands race across
the screens, trying to identify the source of the alarm. "Here
we go. The space sensors are picking up some trouble out with
some of our guests out near Mars."
"Green Lantern." The telepathic voice of the
Martian Manhunter cuts into his mind. "What is going on?"
"Looks like we've got some kind of pursuit craft firing
on that drifter we spotted hiding behind Mars a few weeks ago."
Green Lantern thinks to J'onn J'onnz as he speaks aloud to Supergirl.
"I'm trying to identify it now."
"Steel and I shall join you shortly." J'onn replies.
"It looks like… whoa!" Kyle turns to look at Supergirl.
"It's a Psion ship."
"Psions?" Supergirl frowned. She remembered those alien
scientist from her brief days as a Titan herself. She'd bet Kyle
did too. "What are they doing here?"
"Looks like boarding that other ship. We never did figure
out what that ship was doing here, J'onn assured everyone it wasn't
a threat. But if the Psions are shooting at it, that's reason
enough for me to want to help 'em" Kyle continues scanning
the battle.
"What is the situation now, Kyle?" Steel asks as he
and the equally massive Martian Manhunter enters the room.
"Looks like the Psion boarded the "drifter" after
blasting it a few times." Kyle responds. "I can't tell
any more than that from here."
"Considering the Psion's temperament, we'd better leave immediately.
If for no other reason than to remind them they are not welcome
so near my homeworld." J'onn's eyes blaze in silent anger.
" Lantern, Steel, join me in the launch bay. Supergirl, you
stay here and monitor us from here."
"But, J'onn… I think Superman may…" Supergirl stares
at the green Martian, trying to relate her fears without betraying
a great confidence.
"I understand, Supergirl." J'onn returns a knowing gaze
to his teammate. "If he calls on us, we will aid him. But
we agreed not to interfere in each others cases unless specifically
asked to. We have to honor that. Stay here and monitor us."
"And should his parents be injured, NONE shall save it
from our combined wrath." J'onn adds to Supergirl telepathically.
Moments later, the three members have powered up a sophisticated
craft of Martian design and are ready to launch toward Mars.
"I'm telling you we don't need the shuttle." Kyle insists.
"I can zap us all over there in seconds with my ring. Kilowogg's
been showing me how."
"Have you actually tried it, carrying two people, and hit
where you're aiming for with no errors?" Steel looks him
dead in the eyes.
"Well…"Green Lantern stammers. "No, not with passengers
yet. But I'm sure I could get us there!"
"No offense, pal." Steel shakes his head and smiled.
"But we're takin' the shuttle."
"Supergirl," J'onn thinks to his colleagues.
"What's our status?"
"Well believe it or not" Supergirl replies. "The
unidentified ship just sent the Psions packing. The Psion ship
sustained pretty heavy damage before warping out of the system.
But the unknown vessel was still hit pretty hard at the onset.
You may still need to check it out."
"Understood." The Martian Manhunter taps the controls
on their shuttle craft. "We're launching now. ETA to Mars
less than ten minutes at top speed."
As the sleek craft rocketed away from the moon and toward the red
planet at an unbelievable rate, Steel began to try and learn more
about their objective with the shuttles own sensors. The almost
triangular craft still matched no ship in their rather extensive
database. But, most notably, it has fired up its engines and was
apparently setting an earthbound course.
"Gentlemen," Steel reports. "Our friend has decided
he wants to visit Earth. My scans show at least one life form
aboard, possibly two. But the reading are, well strange. No active
weapon systems though. I can't tell if he's spotted us yet or
not."
"I'll try and hail him." Kyle flips the comm. switch.
"This is Green Lantern of the Justice League of America to
unknown vessel. We have monitored your battle with the Psions
and are on our way to intercept you. Do you require assistance?"
"'Hail him'?" Steel looks up puzzled. "Somebody's
been watching too much Star Trek."
"Give me a break, Steel." Green Lantern smiles back.
"Me and Jenny just saw the last movie this past weekend."
"Our friend definitely heard you, Green Lantern." The
Martian Manhunter's hands move about the controls, adjusting their
heading. "The other ship is now moving to intercept us as
well."
"I repeat, this is Green Lantern of the JLA." Kyle says
again. "Do you need assistance?"
"If the JLA is letting kids like you in, Ring Boy, then maybe
they're the one's who need assistance." A friendly voice
shot back across the void.
The three heroes inside the JLA shuttle look at each other in blank
confusion. While Steel had never heard the voice before, both Kyle
and J'onn seem to almost recognize it. Naturally it id the alien
detective called the Martian Manhunter who placed it first.
"Victor Stone?" J'onn responds. "That is you is
it not."
A screen flickers to life on the shuttles control panel. Pictured
there is a young black man, his smile warm and friendly. The left
half of his face was covered in shining silver metal, as was his
neck and most of his broad chest. Kyle's jaw drops. The image's
smile widens as his red left eye twinkles a little.
"Yes sir. Mr. J'onnz. Good to see you again." Vic looks
at Kyle across the screen. "Surprised to see me, Kid Lantern?"
"It's just… You look so… And you're talking! You didn't
do that much back when…" Kyle blinks at the image of his
former teammate.
"Yeah, I know." Vic's face darkens a bit. "I was
pretty much a veg when you knew me before. That didn't mean I
wasn't on some level aware of you guys. Then I joined up with
those Techis folks. Well to make a long story short, I'm back,
I'm better, and I have a wounded Tamaranean Princess here that
needs immediate medical attention at S.T.A.R.R. labs in New York.*
You guys want to clear me a flight path?"
(*Check out Showcase #3 for the details if you missed it! I hear
the writer's not bad- Clay)
"Wounded Tamaranean Princess?" Kyle ponders a moment.
"You mean Starfire? She's with you too?!?"
"We'll be happy to provide any assistance we can, Cyborg."
The Martian Manhunter interjects. "Welcome home."
"Thanks." Cyborg smiles back. "Cyborg out."
"Nice to see that Rayner kid's still thick as ever."
Vic thinks to himself aboard his own ship as he terminates communications
with the JLA. His revelry is cut short by an angry voice over
the comm.
"Wait a minute! What's this Kid Lantern crap?!?!"
Interlude
Soaring through the war torn sky, a young girl with short cropped
blonde hair rides on a large hunk of rock under her command. The world
calls her Terra, a former Titan, blessed with the power to control
all manners of earth and stone. Her real name is a mystery even to
her, this is not her world (or is it?), she is from another time,
another group of Titans (or is she?). She was not the same Terra who
joined the Titans years before only to betray them to HIVE and the
Terminator (or was she?). That Terra was dead. And she wasn't her
anyway. Terra had come to Markovia, her predecessors homeland, to
find more proof of who she wasn't.
Unfortunately Terra had become accidentally involved in the recent
overturn of the Markovian government. The new regime did not care
whether she was really the countries rogue princess or not, only that
a powerful meta-human was within their borders when the seized power.
It had taken a lot of time and effort, not to mention some of the
most potent mind controlling drugs in the known world, to "convince"
Terra to join their efforts against Zandia.
So with glazed eyes, Terra races toward the island nation, her face
tight from straining her powers. Beneath her, the effects of that
strain become evident as a land bridge begins to form, linking the
island to the mainland. On the shore, dozens of armored Markovian
assault vehicles idle at the ready awaiting the bridges completion.
Terra flies over the Zandian coastline, the bridge nearly complete
behind her. Zandian batteries open fire on the bridge from their cracked
defensive walls. But all the damage the shells do is erased by Terra
reforming the bridge after each strike. The Zandian gunners try in
vain to shoot Terra out of the sky, but even in her drugged state
she was capable of evading their efforts. At the other end of the
bridge, the Markovian land assault begins its march towards Zandia.
A crackling voice from her ear piece tells her to collapse the walls
and kill her enemies. As she turns her attention to her attackers
a flash of white catches Terra's eye from a shadowed parapet.
"That is quite enough girl" A voice booms from the shadows.
Before she could react, the shadowed figure whips a staff as to point
one end at her and a bolt of energy flies out, shattering the rock
she is flying on. Survival guides her numbed mind and she raises a
column of earth to stop her fall. She turns and elongates the column
to carry her to her assailant. A flash of anger crosses her glazed
eyes as she rips a storm of rock from the ground and hurls them at
the shadowy figure.
"You learned your lessons well, girl." The figure growls
to himself as he effortlessly avoids the rock storm.
With a swirl of his white cloak, the man fires his staff twice
more, shattering the rock column in such a way that Terra's momentum
carries her to the parapet. Terra is caught by the wrist by a black
gloved hand and held off the ground. When she tries to free herself,
Terra is met with a hard blow to the head from his staff. She hung
limply in the air, barely maintaining consciousness.
"I had hoped for a better showing from a Titan." The
man cried loud enough for all to hear. He looked out at the approaching
Markovian ground force. "Go, my children! Destroy these unbelieving
invaders in my name!"
The Zandian troops spilled out from their positions ripping the
bridge to shreds. They sport a full high tech, blood red armor,
firing energy burst from weapons mounted on their forearms. Some
take to the air using back mounted jetpacks. Within seconds they
are behind the armored vehicles destroying the Markovian's escape
route. From then it was a simple matter of picking off the trapped
Markovian forces. Beneath a skull shaped helmet, the masked figure
smiles. He brings the dazed Titan's face close to his.
"Goodnight, Terra." With that he viscously smashes
the girl head into the stone floor, and leaves her there as he
exists. "Good to see you again."
From their monitor room, the three Bishops of Blood have observed
what has transpired on their native soil. Broad smiles decorate
their faces.
"Excellent!" Brother Lucas exclaims! "Everything
went exactly according to plan!"
"You were right, Brother Pietro, the Titan did not stop him."
Brother Charles adds. "Our efforts these last weeks were
not in vein."
" I thank you, my brethren." Brother Pietro nods. "But
this is just the first step in our plan."
"Of course." Charles turns to Lucas. "How soon
can we have our pawn back here from Zandia?"
"Given a little more recharge time our pirated JLA transporter
technology should be able bring him to the target area within
the hour." Brother Lucas responds.
"Good. Double check with our agents there. Make sure everything
is in readiness." Brother Pietro grins. "Before this
day is done, New York City will know the touch of Blood."
End Interlude.
A nervous Victor Stone stands on the transporter pad of his massive
ship. They had established orbit a few minutes ago, and Victor had
brought the heavily sedated Starfire here from the ship's medical
bay on a hover-gurney. The JLA had alerted S.T.A.R.R. Labs New York
that he and Kory were coming and that Kory's condition was serious.
Victor was considering sending Kory down to S.T.A.R.R. alone and then
jetting back into space. There were undoubtedly friends down there
by now waiting to see him, and maybe even family. He had not seen
them in such a long time his heart ached, but at the same time he
was afraid that even though he was more himself than he'd been in
years that they wouldn't accept him again. Especially Sarah. Of course
this wasn't the first time he'd been in this exact situation. He had
delivered his Tamaranean teammate back to Earth once before. She had
been running from the Psions then too, and pregnant as he dimly recalled.
But that was different, he was still very much a part of the Techis
collective then, still emotionally disconnected from himself, not
human. But now…
"Alright now Stone." Cyborg chides himself.
"This is ridiculous. I know you hate havin' a seen made over
you and all, but Kory needs you. And Lord knows I've been thinkin'
about this for months. It'll be good to see everybody again. Donna
will probably cry, Salad-Head too. And Dick an' Walley'll be all
happy and stuff. Just hit the button. You know you want this."
With that, Cyborg hit the final switch and activated the transporter.
For a moment the world dissolves into a swirl of light. When reality
came into focus, Cyborg is standing in a lobby inside one of S.T.A.R.R.
Labs upper medical wings, an unconscious Tamaranean Princess by
his side. They are completely surrounded… by medical personnel who
swarm all over Kory, all talking at once and shouting orders to
a seeming legion of orderlies and nurses. They speed her away down
a corridor and out of sight, leaving a very confused Cyborg standing
alone. Or so he thought.
"I don't know who you are, chrome-boy, but I suggest you
put those shiny hands up right now"
Roy Harper did not like his choices. Staring down at the controls
in front of him, his brow furroughed with the full weight of his decision,
he shakes his head. He glances around the small room he found himself
in searching in vain for another set of options. Finding none, he
sighs to himself and turns his attention back to the large machine
in front of him.
"Alright, I can do this." Roy says to himself
"I've been a costumed crime-fighter since puberty, first
with Green Arrow as Speedy, and now as Arsenal. This makes the
fifth incarnation of the Titans I've served with, the second as
leader. I'm trained to make these kinds of decisions. And I pick…"
"Roy, just pick something." A voice comes from behind
him. "I know you're not a big fan of vending machine coffee,
but that's all they have left."
"Gimme a break, Lilith." Harper shoots back. "I'm
try to choose between the black ooze of deathcafe and deathspresso.
Multi million dollar research facility and all they've got in
they're break room is a swill dispenser. I tell you if I wasn't
addicted… I'm just kidding Lil, don't look at me like that! Man,
a guy screws up his whole life a couple times and nobody'll let
you forget it. Screw it, I'm getting' a Dew."
Lilith smiles as Roy feeds a dollar into the next vending machine
over. Despite all appearances to the contrary, Arsenal was actually
a remarkably mature, component man. Much more so than he usually
behaved off duty. Of course, he'd have to be.
"Did any of the others want anything?" She asks as
Roy fishes his drink out of the machine.
"Don't ask me. I'm not the psychic, that's your job."
Roy grins.
">SIGH< How did I ever let you talk me into this, Harper?"
"What? Rejoining the Titans with me, or going for snacks?"
Roy takes a swig of his "Dew", and leads Lilith back
out into the hallway. "The later I can't answer. The former
was because you recognized that the remaining Titans are all rookie
kids who are going to need help if they're going to uphold the
old Titans tradi… "
Arsenal's words are cut short as he collides with a fast moving
green object immediately upon stepping into the hall. The crimson
clad hero narrowly avoids spilling his drink as he falls over a
big, green Labrador.
"What the… Gar! Watch where you're going, man!" Roy
exclaims about halfway down.
With a flash of light the green dog becomes a young green man, dressed
in a red and white costume. He offers his hand to help Roy back
to his feet.
"Sorry, Roy. Didn't see ya." Gar says as Roy takes
his hand. Then Gar changes into a huge green Gorilla and hauls
Roy up off the ground then back to his feet again.
"No problem, Changeling." Roy replies as he dusts himself
off. "No permanent harm done. And no spillage either."
"Hello, Gar" Lilith says. "It's good to see you
again. I take it your excited?"
"Oh, hey Lilith." Gar responds as he changes back to
human form. "Still doing that "Raven" thing with
the red and black robes I see. Yeah I'm pretty pumped. It's not
everyday your best friend decides to come back from outer space.
Even in our line of work. Vic and Kory beam down yet?"
"Not as of a few minutes ago." Roy answers. "They
should be here any minute though. Lil and me just got thirsty
waiting."
"Who all is here?" Gar asks.
Before any one can answer, Arsenal's belt com link beeps. Roy grabs
and activates it in one smooth motion.
"Arsenal! Omen! We need some help here so five minutes ago!"
A female voice shouts over the speaker.
"Argent! What's the situation?" Arsenal snaps back.
"It's so totally out of control here!" The voice shouts.
"Way too Marvel Misunderstanding for words! Just get back
here and quick!"
"On our way." Roy clicks off his com link and whips
his crossbow pistol from its holster. "Let's move team."
"Roy, should I teleport ahead?" Lilith asks.
"No, Omen, let's stick together here." Arsenal responds.
"Come on, sounds like we have some party crashers!"
Changeling transforms into a green tiger as the three heroes race
down the hallway to the waiting room where they'd left the Teen
Titans waiting for their returning space born teammates. The same
thought was running to their minds… was this all some kind of elaborate
trap. Had some enemy faked Cyberion's return and set them all up
for some reason. They didn't have to wonder long. Changeling reaches
the waiting room first, and is so surprised by what he sees that
he reverts to his human form in mid stride and falls flat on his
face. Arsenal is next and he stops dead still, standing there in
the doorway with his mouth hanging open. Omen bumps into the back
of him. She's forced to peak around him to see the scene before
them. The waiting room had become a mini battle ground. Two of the
three Titans that were waiting there were down. The blonde haired
Risk was lying on his back, leaning up on one elbow and rubbing
his jaw with the other hand. Across the room, Joto sat in a heap
with his hands over his ears. At the rooms center, the teams only
standing member, Argent, was using her solid light powers to create
a semitransparent blue orb around a very familiar looking figure.
The figure had been trying to punch his way out of the sphere, but
stops his efforts when he sees the new arrivals.
"Harper! Will you call these kids off before I really have
to hurt one of them!" The figure yells!
"Vic?!?" Roy stammers out. "You're… You look…
I mean… You're you… wait, I mean… Wow…"
Standing within the bubble was not the being of living circuitry
they'd last seen, but a man not seen for many years. The shining
silver metal of his arms, legs, and torso is broken by dark skin
on his shoulders, chest, and legs. The left half of his human face
is also metal, with a red artificial eye, but his frustration is
clear on the human side.
"Argent! Knock it off, that's Cyberion! It's Vic!"
Gar cries!
"What? Oh. I'm so totally sorry, but he didn't look like
you said he would! He's all shinny with skin and stuff not all
circuit looking and junk. I mean, sure he looks like remember
him when I was a kid but still, you know?" Argent babbles
with embarrassment as she drops her bubble. " He took us
by surprise when they beamed in. So Risk jumped him as soon as
they wheeled Starfire off, and well it was all down hill form
there."
"Thank you." Vic says glowering at Argent. "Would
somebody please tell me what's… >whmph<"
"Vic!" Changeling leaps through the air and gives Cyborg
a literal bear hug. "You're back. Really, really back. The
real you."
"Whoa!" Vic replies trying to keep his balance under
his friends friendly assault. His irritation vanishes as he returned
the hug, a tear in his eye. "Good to see you too, Salad-Head,
Good to see you too."
The other Titans look on as the two best friends stand there hugging
and laughing. Arsenal shakes off his initial shock and turned his
thoughts back to his team.
"Risk? Joto? You two okay?" Roy asks.
"I'm okay," Risk answers rising to his feet. "embarrassed
and sore, but okay. I think he hit Joto with some kind of sonic
weapon."
"What?" Joto says taking his hands away from his ears
to hear. "What did you guys say?"
"Oh boy." Arsenal shakes his head and holsters his weapon.
"I can't leave you three alone for two minutes can I? And
you made me drop my drink!"
"Sorry," Risk says dejectedly. "What did you have?"
"Get me a fresh 'Dew, and we'll call it even." Roy smiles
at his young charge.
Risk seems to brighten a bit and heads back down the hall. Argent
and Omen are helping the still slightly dazed Joto into a chair.
Roy shakes his head again and crosses over to Vic.
"Sorry about that Vic, my kids are bigger on enthusiasm
than experience." Roy says offering Vic his hand.
"S'okay." Vic shakes Roy's hand. "No permanent
harm done. Accept maybe to Blondie's pride. I thought Kyle would
have told you I was back to what passes for normal for me."
"Nope." Gar replies. "Guess he wanted to surprise
us."
"Hmph." Vic looks around the room. "So these are
the Titans now, huh? Where's everybody else?"
"Well," Lilith crosses over to join them. "You
know how this business is. According to Kyle, Donna is off with
Wonder Woman fighting Cerse, Garth has gotten himself captured
by somebody with Aquaman off to his rescue, Wally's disappeared,
and Kyle left a message for Dick both at Dick's place and with
Oracle that you two were home again. And for the record, Gar's
not a member of the Titan's these days either."
"Guess that's what I get for showin' up on short notice."
Vic sighs. "Wait, who's Oracle? And what are you doing not
on the Titans anymore Greenie?"
"Well what are you doing not being Techis-man anymore, Mr.
Cyberion?" Gar smilingly snaps back. "I'll bet it had
something to do with that pod thing you found that got you acting
so weird while we were both still in space."
"Ha!" Vic laughs. "You're right, Salad-Head. And
it's Cyborg again, by the way. Why don't we sit down and I'll
tell you all about it."
With that Vic relates to his friends his adventures since last they
saw him. He and Gar tell of the ship the won in a space-poker game,
about finding a stasis pod near the spot where the Techis vessel
had exploded and about how Vic had changed thereafter to the point
that Changeling asked to be taken home. Vic reveals what was in
the pod.
"Me" Vic says sheepishly.
"What?!?" Gar snaps back!
"Everything that was organic left about me." Vic replies.
"The Techis were only really interested in my mechanical
components, so they put my remaining organic parts in that stasis
pod. So when we found it, I realized I didn't have to stay in
that Techis body anymore. I guess I got a little obsessed. But
it worked! I was even able to use some of the alien technology
we had onboard our ship to regenerate a lot of the damage my body
has suffered, even some of the original damage! There's more me
under this metal than there's ever been. And since I used some
of that to improve the mechanical parts, I'm just as powerful."
"Vic, that's great!" Gar exclaimed!
"I'm very happy for you, Vic" Lilith smiles.
"Good to hear, big man." Roy adds. "Now how did
you happen to be bringing Kory back again?"
With a sigh, Cyborg tells them what Kory told him about New Tamaran's
destruction by the Sun Eater. Her capture by the Psions while trying
to warn Earth of the coming threat. How by shear luck she stumbled
upon his ship after having escaped the Psions again and how together
they had driven the Psions and their Gordian thugs away *.
(*see Showcase #3 for the full details!)
"Hey! Have we heard anything on how she's doing?"
Roy asks with a start. The Titans past and present give each
other blank stares as they all realize that Kory had been forgotten
in all the commotion. "We are a sad bunch, you know that?"
"I'll go check." Lilith says first. "I'll be
right back."
And Omen vanishes from site, as Risk comes in with his leaders
drink in hand.
"She really is getting into this "Raven" thing
isn't she?" Gar asks Roy.
"You have know idea." Roy grumbles. "But here
comes my main man with my caffeine fix. Somebody want to turn
on the TV while we're waitin' on Omen to get back?"
"I'll get it, Arsenal." Argent replies, turning on
the TV and then pitching the remote to Arsenal. "And I'm
really sorry about the bubble thing, Mr. Cyborg."
"Me too, sir." Risk adds, handing the drink to Roy.
"It's okay, really guys." Vic smiles at the young
Titans. "And drop this "Mr." And "sir"
business. It's Vic, okay? How are you're ears doin', kid? I
tried not to hit you with too much white sound?"
"My heads clearing pretty well now, si… Vic." Joto
gives an embarrassed smile back.
Roy begins flipping through the channels, as Vic and Gar begin
to catch up with each others lives. The younger Titans listen
on as the two former Titans begin to reminisce about the "old
days" when they were Titans mainstays. They are all interrupted
by Omen's sudden return.
"Arsenal! I since grave danger! Here, in this city!"
Omen cries!
"Whoa! Lil, slow down. Can you be more specific?"
Roy sits straight up as the rest of the Titans give Omen their
attention. "This is a big town, you know. Where in New
York? How much time to we have? Oh, and how's Kory?"
"I don't know more, Arsenal." Omen replies. "I
just know that something terrible is about to happen and somehow
we are connected to it!"
"Great. Just great. My day is officially complete."
Roy flops back into his chair. "And Kory?"
"Her doctors say she is out of danger and doing fine.
She will need time to heal of course." Omen says with some
slight annoyance at Roy's reaction to her warning. "Arsenal,
what about the danger?"
"From where? Unless you can give me more specifics, I don't
see any need to scramble around the city looking for something
we know not what." Roy responds with equal annoyance.
"Um, Boss-Man?" Joto speaks up, pointing to the television.
"I think I've got your answers."
On the screen, an aerial shot of a smoking building with emergency
services scrambling in the street around it attempting to step
up some kind perimeter. The reporters voice becomes clearer as
Roy turns up the volume.
"As I said earlier, just minutes ago the Markovian embassy
here in New York was hit moments ago by several armored men,
tentatively identified as Zandian terrorists striking back for
Markovian aggression."
"Well that answers that question." Gar sighs.
"Shhh!" Roy snaps.
"The terrorists are apparently still inside, and have taken
the embassy staff hostage." The reporter continues. "If
you look closely you see the terrorist taking up defensive positions
at the embassy gates. Wait, I think… yes if you zoom in on the
embassy's front doors it appears that there is someone there
directing the terrorists. We can't see much more than a white
cloak of some kind from up here but clearly from the other terrorists
reaction, this is the man in charge."
"White cloak?!?" Cyborg shouts at the screen. "Sounds
like our boy Brother Blood is back!"
"Couldn't be." Gar answers "Raven fried his brain
but good last time we tangled with BB. Nobody, and I mean nobodies
heard a peep outta him since."
"He wouldn't be the first old enemy to turn up healthy
again in this games history." Arsenal corrects him. "Happens
all the time. We'd better saddle up and get movin'!"
"Gimme a minute to call something down from my ship and
I'll be right with you." Cyborg replies.
But before the assembled heroes can say another word, a commotion
in the hallway grabs their collective attention. They tense for
action as the sounds come closer. But instead of armed members
of the Church of Blood, they come under a very different kind
of assault… from a pair of elderly African-Americans who cease
their bickering when they catch sight of the assembly.
"CORCKY!!!!" The old woman squeals and runs u to
embrace Cyborg.
"Gramma?!? Granpa?!?" Vic beams! "Hey!"
The hero embraces his only living relatives as the three of them
start to cry with joy. So do the Titans, much to the embarrassment
of some of them.
"Ahem!" Arsenal recaptures his teams attention. "Okay,
Cyborg and Changeling are staying here. The rest of us are heading
down to the embassy."
"Huh? No, Arsenal, it's okay, I can come with." Vic
pulls away from his grandparents embrace.
"Me too." Changeling adds. "We're the two here
with the most experience against Blood."
"Look, I know you're right about experience, but it's okay,
my team can handle it. Neither of you has worked with my new
team and I don't want to be tripping over you out there. "
Roy responds. "Besides, as our paranoia just pointed out,
somebody ought to stay here and keep an eye on Kory just in
case."
"But, Roy…" Vic starts.
"Vic, don't worry about it." Roy shakes his head.
"Stay here. If memory serves, you haven't really seen you're
grandparents since that mess with Jericho and the Wilde Beests.
You and Gar just relax and keep an eye on Kory. Gar's probably
right. It's just some Zandian knuckle heads tryin' to stir up
trouble. Nothing me and mine can't handle You folks just sit
back and watch the show. Come on Titans, Let's go!"
And with that the Teen Titans scramble for the elevator and out
of sight, leaving four very worried people behind them.
"I hope Harper knows what he's doing this time, Rust-bucket."
Gar stares after them.
"Me too, Salad-head." Vic says as he holds his grandmother
in his arms. "Me too."
"I hope I know what I'm doing." Roy thought
to himself as he tries to get comfortable in his chair aboard
the Titans skiff.
A flash of deja vu sparked in the young man's mind.
Roy Harper couldn't help but feel he had been here before. Countless
times before, actually.
Except this time, instead of looking to someone else for direction
and leadership, he is the one to be counted on to provide. One
of these days, he figured he'd get used to that, but not today.
He had really wanted to stay and enjoy the reunion with Starfire
and Vic and the others, but duty had called and he was pressed
into service once more. As he tries to determine some game plan
from the sketchy details he gathered from the television, he looks
at the three young heroes in the cockpit with him and is amazed
at the likeness to some other very young heroes.
Isaiah Crockett, AKA Joto, the Teen Titan who had suffered the
most, from his apparent death to his recent resurrection, reminded
Roy of Garth, at least when he first met Garth as Aqualad. Quiet,
soft-spoken, but extremely powerful and full of confidence when
the need arose. Joto was quickly mastering his powers over heat,
fire, and flame just as Garth was gaining mastery over his new
powers as Tempest.
Toni Monetti, Argent, the bold, self-assured young lady piloting
the Teen Titans skiff (opting to fly with the rest of the group
instead of on her own power in order to reserve her strength),
reminded Roy of a cross between Donna and Dick. Argent's beauty
reveled Donna's, both then and now, and her ability to command
her teammates respect and faith was catching up to Dick's level
as well. Of course, her ability to fire and shape silver bolts
of plasma didn't hurt either.
Finally, the young man seated beside Roy, Cody Driscoll, alias
Risk, reminded Roy of himself so many years ago. Before his drug
addiction, before his brief relationship with Cheshire, before
fatherhood brought him Lian, and before Ollie's death, Roy had
appeared to be as carefree and gung-ho as Cody. Time had changed
much of that with Roy and he tried to be patient and realize that
time would likely do the same with Cody. Roy only hoped Cody's
heightened strength, speed, and reflexes might prevent him from
making some of the same mistakes.
"Roy?" A voice without sound calls to him
"Huh? Oh, yeah, what ya got for me, Lilith?"
The telepathic message from Lilith, his co-advisor to the Teen
Titans, shakes him from his stroll down memory lane.
"How goes your little psychic recon on our embattled
embassy?"
"Roy, I know you asked me to see what a could gather
about the disturbance, but something appears to be interfering
with my ability to do so." The annoyance in her "voice"
was clear. " I am sensing evil, but as to what extent,
I am unclear. I'm going to teleport over and see what else I
can find out."
"Okay, but be on your guard and keep in touch. We should
be there in a few minutes." Roy responds.
Lilith Clay Jupiter. Roy had known Lilith for almost as long as
he had Dick, Donna, Wally, and Garth. Lilith was a pre-cognitive,
but had recently developed the ability to read the minds of others.
This left on imprint on her own mind, making her a sort of psychic
reflection of them. She had also mysteriously gained the power
of teleportation. Roy had always thought Lilith was sort of flaky,
but she had more than proven herself in recent weeks and months
as Omen.
Meanwhile, in the courtyard of the embassy, Omen materializes.
The evil she sensed earlier is much greater, the source very near.
Omen reaches out with her mind to try to locate it, without touching
it, fearing what it might do to her and her new abilities.
Suddenly, she senses it directly behind her, spins quickly ready
to defend herself, only to be stunned in disbelief. Standing before
her, in a costume she recognizes for file reports, is the image
of an ally, only not him. The snarl on his lips, the gleam in
his dark eyes, and the stance are all wrong.
Reaching out to his mind, Omen is quickly bombarded with thousands
of conflicting images. Nightwing. The H.I.V.E. Raven. The Church
of Blood. Terra. Mirage. An earth ruled by Chaos. Things that
shouldn't be, but are; things that couldn't be, but were. The
emotional backlash of it all wrecks havoc on Omen and she passes
out from the strain.
The man dons his hood and smiles. What an unexpected treasure
it might turn out to be to have her in his thrall. And if that
works…
Back on the TT skiff…
Roy feels a twinge in the back of his mind. Was it Omen or simply
an overactive imagination?
"Hey, boss, is this the place? Looks deserted and trouble-free
to me."
"Yes, Argent. This is the place and as deserted as it appears
be on your guard. There's still a lot of cops out front, but
I don't see the goon squad we saw on TV. Omen was supposed to
do some recon and met us here." Roy rises, grabbing his
bow. "Put us down in that interior court yard and lets
take a look around for ourselves."
After landing, the foursome departs the small craft and spread
out to cover each other as best they can. The kids are psyched,
but nervous. Though far too cliched in their line of work, it
really was too quiet.
"Hey, there's Omen in the doorway." Risk pushes past
his teammates and runs towards his teammate.
"Risk!! Stop!!" Arsenal orders uselessly.
The teenaged hero continues on, eager for some action and to find
out what his teammate Omen has discovered. Bounding up the steps,
he stops when he realizes the cloaked figure is not Omen. The
figure raises his staff and pummels Risk with a barrage of energy
blasts. Despite his reflexes, Risk catches his blast and eventually
falls at the feet of the shrouded figure.
Arsenal wastes no time in leading the two remaining Titans to
the aid of the fallen Risk. Argent leaps to the air and sends
her own silver plasma knives towards their apparent foe. Joto
charges one of his heat charges and fires it. Arsenal lets a torrent
of arrows fly.
With one impossibly smooth motion, their foe bats Joto's charge
away with his staff, towards Arsenal's arrows, igniting them all
in flame. Never moving, he turns his attention towards the young
heroine flying towards him. In fluid movements, he picks up the
body of the fallen Risk and tosses it effortlessly at Argent.
Unable to change direction in time or prevent her knives from
hitting Risk, she is knocked from the sky. Landing hard on the
ground, she is knocked unconscious by the body of equally unconscious
teammate.
Joto, changing his assault, and trying to buy Arsenal some time,
simply turns on his power, and projects wave upon wave of heat
at the still-hidden figure.
"How do you like that, buddy?" Joto cries!
"Vaguely reminiscent of Hell, but you will find that out
very soon, child!"
The gravelly voice sends chills down Joto's spine and distracts
him long enough for the hidden guards to blast him in the back
with some form of energy beam.
"Damn! Heck of a way to find out where the rest of the
goon squad got to." Arsenal sighs, sensing defeat and wanting
to protect the kids under his charge, stops in his tracks. "Okay,
Blood. You win this round but you know the others are watching
and bound to come when they realize who's behind this and what
you've done to these kids. And since we both know how that usually
turns out, why don't you just go ahead and surrender quietly
now, huh?"
"HA! You are ever amusing, aren't you, Harper. Exactly
my hopes. I don't normally involve myself with little skirmishes
such as this, but I had planned on the real Titans coming to
investigate, not this rag-tag bunch of children. However, they
will serve as the perfect bait, as will you. In fact, your costume
of red is perfect for my little party."
"Go to Hell!" Arsenal shouts as he notches his bow
with three arrows.
A second after letting them fly, he tosses concussion bombs and
smoke bombs at his opponent. But to no avail. With skill and speed
he shouldn't posses, Brother Blood deftly deflects every missile,
causing even more damage to the battered embassy. As he resumes
his advance toward the doorway, he sees Blood's henchmen in their
deep red armor flanking him and preparing to fire. Switching tactics
Arsenal drops to the ground and lets several arrows fly as he
spins back to his feet. These shafts find their mark as Blood's
soldiers fall beneath an assault of trick arrows.
"Well I'm feeling ready for round three, BB." Roy
turns aiming another arrow at Blood. "What about you?
A grim chuckle is Arsenal's only answer. Their eyes lock as his
opponent reaches a hand behind him to grab something from inside
the doorway.
"Whoa there! Don't do anything tricky here."
"I could play this game with you all day, Arrows,"
Brother Blood growls, his demeanor strangely different. "But
I have more important matter to deal with. Besides, we wouldn't
want our dear sister to become injured would we?"
Brother Blood snatches a dazed Omen from behind him and places
her between himself and Arsenal. With the ends of his staff crackling
with energy, he holds one end of it under her chin. Omen doesn't
appear frightened, only dazed and vaguely unaware of her surroundings.
"Time to go home my child." Blood bellows. "We
will deal with Brother Harper another day."
Arsenal sees the twisting of dimensions begin that accompanies
Lilith's teleportation effect. But it not only began to encircled
Omen and Brother Blood, but his fallen Titans as well.
"Don't do it, Blood!" Arsenal cries! "I thought
you wanted me too!"
"Soon enough, dear boy. And don't worry about the children.
My new advisor and I will take excellent care of them."
"I Said Don't Do it, Blood!"
"Ah, too late. The Church of Blood is about to rise once
more and the Titans will be the first to bow before me and my
throne." Blood laughs as he and the others vanish from
sight.
Arsenal stands alone in the now vacant courtyard. The trickle
of deja vu runs across his mind for the second time today. He
knows he has to save his teammates, but at that moment, Roy Harper
has no idea how.
To Be Continued!
>WHEW<!!! That took long enough. So ends our first issue of
the New Titans. If you had as much fun reading it as we had writing
it, then this was all well worth it. For me, this is a labor of
love. I think Michael (Research Lad) feels the same way. As much
as I'm enjoying the Devin Grayson relaunch, expect us to go in some
different directions. We've got tons of ideas for this series, and
I hope we can get them all in in the 24 issues we've promised to
do. If you are wondering where some of your favorite Titans are
this issue, well just be paitient cause odds are they'll be in the
next few issues as the Titans face off against the reborn Church
of Blood! And that's just the begining!
I do need to thank Frankie Rodriegez, who initially was on this
crazy train with us, and whoes ideas really helped shape this
opening arc to a great degree.
Please send us letters! miryclay@bellsouth.net
Until next issue
TITANS TOGETHER!
the Mighty Miry Clay Arceneaux
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