Standing in the broken courtyard of the Markovian Embassy, a
crimson clad archer levels his bow at his opponent. Adjusting
his grip on the taser arrow he has notched, the hero known as
Arsenal tries to calm himself. Just scant second before, he had
watched helplessly while the skull helmeted foe in front of him
dispatched the young heroes that were Arsenal's current teammates.
Risk, Argent, and Joto may not have been the most experienced
squad of Teen Titans Arsenal had ever worked with, but they were
no pushovers. But this man, with his blood red and black garb
and billowing white cloak had dropped all three of them. And dropped
them a little too easily by Arsenal's standards. The enigmatic
religious leader known as Brother Blood was many thing, but Arsenal
didn't recall him being this good a hand-to-hand combatant.
"Come on, Harper," Arsenal thinks to himself.
"You gotta have somethin' that this guy can't parry,
duck or shoot down with that staff of his. And where's Omen?
She was going to scout this place out and we haven't seen her
since. I can believe Blood got the drop on the kids but Lilith
is a pro."
"Well I'm feeling ready for round three, BB." Arsenal
aims 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. But a flash of light behind him interrupts Arsenal's
thoughts. Wheeling around and taking aim at the potential new
threat, Arsenal finds friends not foes materializing out of the
fading light. Standing before him are a short green man in a white
and red costume and a large black man who appeared to be wearing
silver armor over most of his arms, legs, torso, and half of his
face.
"I thought I left you guys back at S.T.A.R. labs to watch
Kory?" Arsenal lowers his bow.
"Sorry, Roy." The metallic figure replies. "But
once we saw on the news feed who you were up against, Changeling
and I figured that you could use the back up."
"Yeah, so Vic here fired up the transports on that starship
of his to beam us directly over here." Changeling adds.
"Unfortunately it looks like we got here a little late.
Sorry."
"It's okay… I mean it's not okay… that is… it's not you
guys I'm angry at… well it is kind of but…" Roy Harper
grips his bow so tightly his arm shakes with frustration. "DAMN
IT! Those kids were my responsibility! Mine! Why the hell do
I keep agreeing to try and lead the Titans if every time I do
it turns into a disaster!"
"Arsenal!" Vic grabs Roy by the shoulders. "Pull
it together, man. You got ambushed. It happens. But we're not
gonna do Lilith and the kids any good by beating ourselves up
over it. None of knew Blood was back. Hell, Lilith was the precog.,
and she got captured too."
"Right, right." The battered bowman shakes his head
reluctantly. ">SIGH< Thanks, Cyborg. You still come
equipped with energy sensors? Good. Try and see if you can pick
us up anything useful, will you? Come on, Salad-Head, lets see
if we can find any clues before those cops out there on the
perimeter realize the fighting's stopped and trample everything."
"You got it, Arsenal." Changeling transforms in a
flash of light into a green bloodhound and begins sniffing around
the embassy courtyard. "Whew! I may not be much of a tracker,
but I definitely smell blood from inside."
"Geez! I got so caught up in my own troubles I forgot
this started out as a hostage situation."
Arsenal readies his bow and slowly makes his way to the doors
leading inside the embassy. Changeling bounds over to move beside
him, transforming from dog to snarling green tiger. Carefully
the two young heroes step inside the Markovian embassy to be greeted
to a sight neither would soon forget. The embassy staff lay butchered
before them, their blood bathing the walls.
"Sadly enough, this is the only thing in this case that
makes any sense." Arsenal comments dryly.
"Yeah, considering the job the Markovians have been doing
with their "ethnic cleansing" of Blood's home country
of Zandia, this is kind of thing is definitely Blood's style."
"And what better place to hit than Markovia's New York
embassy to make his statement nice and public." Arsenal's
lip curls in revulsion at the sights before him. "Yeah,
this part makes sense, but being able to move the way he did,
to force Omen to do his bidding like that…. That just doesn't
fit with the Blood I remember."
"Well I didn't think we'd ever hear from him again after
the whammy Raven put on ol' Skull-Face last time we tangled."
Changeling remarks as he shifts back to his human form. "I
guess we never get that lucky in this business, huh?"
"I don't know. Something about the way he moved… I can't
put my finger on it, but that might not be Blood after all.
Not the real one anyway. Come on, Greenie, I hear the SWAT teams
moving in. Let's deal with them, go see if Vic found anything,
and get back to S.T.A.R. to check on our fallen space princess
before anything else can go wrong today."
At that moment, half a world away, in the Bowles of the international
headquarters of the Church of Blood, a red cloaked figure watches
impatiently as his "leader" Baron Blood is attended to
by young nubile acolytes.
"I am… confused by your actions today, Brother Blood."
"Bishop Pietro, something troubles you my son?" Blood
gives the bishop a sidelong glance as his attendants finish
clothing him. "The Markovians know there is no place on
this planet they are safe from my wrath, and we have captured
almost all of the current Titans."
"Ahem… Yes, I know that, my "lord" but I thought
the plan was to kill any Titans who arrived at our New York
raid, not capture them as you did that Markovian girl*"
"I have my reasons" Blood smiles beneath his mask,
a mask he never remove even as the attendants helped to relax
him after he had returned from battle.
Attendant who were now clearly infuriating Bishop Pietro. The
two men's eyes locked. It was Blood who looked away first, a bemused
look on his face.
"Thanks you, my daughters, but the Bishop and I have things
to discuss now. I will call for you again when I have more time."
Blood smiles at them as they bow and leave. "Now then,
Pete, what is you problem?"
"That is Bishop Pietro to you. Do not get so comfortable
in your role, "Brother Blood", that you forget who
placed you there. It is my fellow Bishops and I who are in charge
here, not you."
"Yeah, I know that, Pete. How could I forget it with you
remindin' me a couple of times a day?"
"Good. Now I thought we agreed that you would kill every
Titan who crossed your path. Yet twice now you have spared them.
First when the Markovian's sent that Terra girl to attack us,
and then today when the Titans showed up at the embassy*. Both
times you captured rather than killed them. I realize you have
a past relationship with that team, but I thought by now your
loyalty to the Church would outweigh…"
(It all happened Last Issue. If you
haven't read it, go do that now!)
"Look, I know you want to see the Titans pay. Believe
me, so do I. But it occurred to me that there might be another
way to get even with them for their past defeats of the Church.
Besides, Terra… That girl and I have to much history for me
to kill her outright."
"It occurred to you?!? What gives you the right to…?"
"And since you are pitching a fit anyway, you might as
well know that I contacted our "suppliers" for some
good mind control gear. I figure I could keep Red there under
my sway for a little while just on shear shock value and force
of personality, but the girl is going to snap out of it soon
so we better be ready. They said they'd have it to us within
the hour."
"YOU contacted our technology suppliers? Mind control
devices? Now see here, this was not part of our agenda!"
"No, but it is a part of mine now. You listen to me, Pete,
you need me to keep pretending to be your precious Brother Blood
to keep your believers inspired enough to beat back the Markovians.
And since the only way to revive the real Blood is a huge outpouring
of faith by his worshipers, you are stuck with me for a while.
So as of right now, we play things my way. But don't worry,
I fully intend to make the Titans pay and pay dearly for what
they've done to both of us."
"This was a mistake, you are insane."
"Insane? Me? Once perhaps, but I'm feeling MUCH better
now. Besides, you should have picked a bigger wuss to play Blood
if you didn't want this to happen." Blood grins evilly
at the bishops' utter frustration. "But for now, just relax
and listen. I need you to warm up those transporters of ours,
the JLA knockoffs you used to get our strike team and me into
New York in the first place. I have a few locations we need
to send some armored strike teams to. Trust me, Pete, you are
going to like this."
"Grayson, you are officially crazy."
The lights are off in the recovery room of S.T.A.R. labs' microsurgery
suite. Dick Grayson keeps silent vigil over the sleeping form
in the bed before him. No one had seen him come in. No one knew
he was in the building period. But when the call had come in to
him just hours before that his former teammate, lover, and ex-fiancée
had returned from space gravely injured, he knew he had to be
there for her. Sneaking into this high security area was no mean
feat for Dick. His mentor, Batman, had taught him how to enter
and leave almost anywhere without a trace. But Dick's days as
Robin, the Boy Wonder were far behind him. He had been calling
himself Nightwing for years now, and was finally building a reputation
as a hero on his own. No getting in wasn't the issue. Why he had
felt the need to sneak in without anyone knowing he was here was.
And Dick can't answer that question, not even to himself. He feels…
conflicted right now, confused. All he can do is stare at the
woman in the bed in front of him and feel lost in a sea of memories
and emotions.
It was as Robin that he first met this beautiful alien woman.
He was attracted to her from the start. (The fact that she's
built like a goddess and hates to wear much clothing probably
helped.) She learned the English language through kissing
him. Her name is Princess Koriand'r, and she came to Earth seeking
asylum from her life as a slave in the far away Vega system. Her
ability to fire bolts of pure stellar energy earned her the name
Starfire, and a place as a mainstay of the New Teen Titans for
years to come. It was over the course of those years that Dick
attraction to the gorgeous alien grew into a deep and powerful
love that endured through a seemingly endless array of obstacles.
They got engaged. And then, on their wedding day, Kory was driven
temporarily insane by their teammate Raven, who herself had been
corrupted by her own father's demonic heritage. (God, this
sounds like the plot of a really bad soap opera when you put it
like that) Their relationship never recovered. Kory eventually
left him, then the Titans, then left Earth entirely to return
to her home world. She had returned here a few years ago, seeking
the Titans aid in freeing her home from the grip of the evil Psions.
He wasn't invited along on that adventure. He had heard later
that Kory had gotten married to one of her own people, and was
pregnant. (Guess that's why they didn't invite me along)
Nightwing had worked very hard to get over Kory. And until Green
Lantern had called to tell him she was back on Earth, he was pretty
sure he'd succeeded. But now all of it is at the surface again,
the pain, the sense of betrayal when she didn't have the decency
to tell him she was married herself. All of it.
"So now I'm reduced to stalking her in dark recovery rooms
trying to decide whether or not I want her to wake up."
Nightwing shakes his head in disgust. "I am definitely
loosing it. But then, you always have been able to make me crazy,
Kory. I wish I… Hang on. There's a somebody outside at the door."
"…ep in for a second and check on her, then I'll see where
the rest of my friends have gotten of too." The slender,
dark, curly-haired young man dressed in a black and red body
suit continues as he opens the door to Starfire's room. "Oh,
hi Dick. I didn't know you were here."
"Garth." Nightwing replies stepping out of the shadows.
Nightwing smiled. It was good to see his old Atlantean friend
again. And since they'd spent years hanging out together as Robin
and Aqualad, it was nice that Garth was no longer shocked to suddenly
see Dick standing in the shadows. And Dick had long since stopped
being amazed at Garth's deep water born eyes being able to spot
him there. Of course, ever since Garth had gone on his recent
extradimensional adventure and come back with all kinds of new
mystic powers, he had taken to calling himself Tempest now, not
Aqualad.
"You been here long? How's she doing?"
"I've been here since they brought her out of surgery.
According to her chart, they were able to stop the internal
bleeding and she should have a full recovery."
"Kyle said she got beat up by Gordians?"
"That's what Vic reported. A pounding from those reptilian
thugs would be consistent with her injuries. We're lucky Vic
was on hand to save her."
"Being awfully formal about this, all things considered,
aren't you?" Garth gives Dick an inquisitive look.
"Garth…" Nightwing looks his old friend in the eye.
"Please, just don't start."
Before another word can be spoken, a shimmering, golden, birdlike
form irrupts into existence. The bird shape swells to greater
than human size and disgorge a redheaded man, dressed in a tattered
red costume.
"Raven I told you I didn't… crap." Wally West's shoulders
slump. "Hi guys. Mind telling me where I am?"
"S.T.A.R. labs, New York." Garth smiles at his old
friends ragged appearance. "I take it the Flash's last
adventure got a little rough?"
"More than you could possibly guess, Gills."
Nightwing's eyes cannot leave Raven's shimmering soul self. He
knew that her physical body had died in her last battle with the
Titans, and that reportedly her evil had died with it. None of
that means he is particularly happy to see her again. The bird-like
shape of the soul self morphs into an image of Raven's human form,
that of a slim young women in a long, flowing dress, but Raven
remains the same shimmering golden color.
"Hello my friends." Raven's voice had the same hollow
quality to in death as in life. "I sensed Koriand'r's return
and that she was injured. I had to come to her aid."
"And for some reason she decided to drag me along for
the ride without explanation." Wally growls. "Not
that it isn't nice to be here, but it would have been better
to been given a choice."
"I am sorry, Wallace." Raven speaks as her spirit
form move to beside Starfire's bedside. "But time was of
the essence, and I knew that our friends may be able to help
with your present situation as well. Richard, I sense your apprehension.
I am sorry for the actions committed in my name. I was literally
not my self, and yet I was. Please, let me heal her, if only
to try and make up for the pain I have caused her."
"So your powers are unaffected by your transformation?"
Nightwing fights his own doubts to try and trust his one time
teammate again. "Alright, Raven. Do what you can for her."
"Thank you, Richard."
Raven assumes her birdlike form again and envelops the sleeping
Starfire. Raven's color shifts from gold a white as a general
feeling of peace fills the room. Realizing there is nothing to
do but wait, Nightwing turns his attention to the Flash.
"Wally, what did she mean "your present situation"?
I assume your are having more than wardrobe problems."
"Dick, I don't know what to do. I think I lost my speed!"
Flash exclaims.
"You've lost your powers?" Tempest gasps in amazement.
"Tell me what happened, Wally." Nightwing's brow
furrows.
"Let me start from the beginning." Wally sighs. "First
I'm fighting this dead guy, then my girlfriend Linda gets dragged
into this Realm of the Dead place. So I go after her with some
help from the Phantom Stranger. I it took some doing, but I
was able to get us out of there."
"I just fought some dead guys with Aquaman as well."
Tempest remarks. "I wonder if it's all related."
"Don't know, man, could be." Wally frowns. "Anyway,
when we got back the costume I whipped up from Speed Force energy
was gone, and my regular suit I had on underneath was shredded.
When I pick up Linda to run us home, I couldn't run at super
speed anymore!* We get about half a second to digest that information
when out of nowhere Raven appears and swoops me up and drops
me here."
(See Flash #1-4 for details!)
"Sounds like your problems are magically related."
Tempest ponders. "I've got a little training in that area
recently. Let me think about it and maybe I could think of something."
"Thanks, Garth. You do that." Wally tries to sound
grateful. "But for right now, I've got to find a phone.
The witch there left Linda alone in the middle of nowhere, dressed
in her swimsuit. I need to get somebody to take her back home.
Maybe I can reach Jesse."
"Hey, Red!" Nightwing grabs a smock from a corner
of the room and throws it to Flash, smiling for the first time
that day. "Put some clothes on. Your practically indecent."
Wally pulls the smock over his tattered costume and heads out
of the room with a grunt. Dick and Garth turn their attention
back to Kory and Raven. Raven's white soul self continues to surround
Kory's unconscious form. Then with a start, the soul self retreats
from Kory and reforms into Raven's golden human form.
"Raven, is she…?" Dick begins to ask.
"D-Dick?" Kory speaks softly as her eyes open heavily.
"I'm here, Kory." Nightwing leaps to his former lover's
side and takes her hand. "I'm here."
"She will be a little tired for a while, but I was able
to repair all traces of the damage done to her." Raven
remarks quietly.
"Raven? I thought I was dreaming." Kory struggles
to sit up. "Thank you my friend."
Before anyone can say anything else, Arsenal bursts into the room.
"Whoa! Vic's grandparents told me Garth was here, but
I wasn't expecting the Hee-Haw gang." Roy pushes back his
hood from his face. "Raven, you look good for a dead chick.
Kory, you make even a hospital gown look great. Dick, glad you're
here. We've got a mystery on our hands. Hi, Gill-head."
"Nice to make the list somewhere." Tempest smirks.
"Seriously, the stuff has seriously hit the fan today,
and I definitely need all of your help." Roy continues.
"What's going on, Arrows?" Nightwing straightens
up.
"Brother Blood is back."
One quickly convened debriefing onboard Cyborg's orbiting starship
later.
"You're right, Roy." Nightwing stares down at the
recorded news footage of Blood's battle with the Titans earlier
that day. "This guy doesn't move at all like Blood. He
has the voice right, and some of his mannerisms, but unless
Brother Blood spent the last few years becoming much, much more
proficient a hand fighter, that's not him."
"Yeah, that's what I was thinking too." Arsenal runs
his hand through his hair. "With those moves and that staff,
it could be Deathstroke, but I don't know why Wilson would agree
to work with the Church of Blood."
"No, that doesn't make sense either." Nightwing nods
in agreement. "Cyborg, what did your sensors tell you at
the battle site?"
"Well, I think I've got the energy signature of the transporter
system Blood's boys used to get into the embassy in the first
place." Cyborg sits at a computer console, and plugs the
fingers of his left hand into a series of jacks. "It looks
like a knockoff version of the JLA transport system, the wave
patterns are real similar. I've got the pattern feed into the
main computer. If they use it again, we'll know it."
"Gar and I also gave their armored goon squad a good once
over." Arsenal continues. "Very nice, very sophisticated
stuff. Limited range flight packs, fully integrated weapons
systems, the works. Unfortunately we couldn't snag us any for
further analysis. The Feds snatched it all up as evidence, and
not even my security clearance helped."
"Great." Nightwing scowls. "Well it's a good
bet we know where they took them. What we don't know is if they
are still all right."
"I may be able to help, Richard." Raven hovers near
them. "I am unfamiliar with the other children, but Lilith's
mind is known to me. My empathic powers may be able to both
locate her and determine her whereabouts."
"I almost forgot how useful you could be, Witch-lady."
Cyborg comments.
"Thank you, Victor." Raven smiles slightly as she
closes her eyes in concentration. "Lilith is… uninjured
but her thoughts are very… confused. Her own emotions are being
overwhelmed by another… some one familiar. She is struggling
to free herself, but her captor appears to have found a way
to reinforce his control over her."
"Where is she, bird-lady?" Arsenal presses.
"Zandia… she is definitely in Zandia. And she is not alone."
Raven comes to herself. "There are others around her, all
in a similar state of mind. I could not tell how many."
"That's not good news at all." Nightwing frowns.
"I hate it when we have to invade sovereign nations, even
corrupt ones like Zandia. And of course, we'll be walking straight
into a trap if we do."
"Had happened every time we tangle with Blood. It always
ends up a rescue mission." Cyborg shakes his head.
"Seems that way doesn't it?" Nightwing for a moment
appears lost in his memories. " Roy, where's everybody
else? I haven't seen Wally, Gar, or Garth since we "beamed"
aboard."
"Headed down to sick bay with Kory." Arsenal motions
to the corridor behind him. "Greenie wanted to make sure
Kory was okay, and see if there was anything here that could
help Wally."
"Heh! Salad-head just wants to check out Kory with the
x-ray scanner." Cyborg chuckles. "But seriously, Logan
knows this ships systems from the days when he and I were doing
the "Star Trek" thing out here. He knows his way around
that sick bay pretty good."
"No really, I know what I'm doing Kory." Gar tries
to smile innocently. "Just lie back and let me finish my
scans."
Starfire had sat up a moment ago, propping herself up on one elbow
on the medical bed and raising her other glowing hand to her old
friend as if to blast him with one of her starbolts. Garfield
Logan is doing his best to look surprised and innocent seated
at the controls of the medical scanners, but a devilish grin keeps
creeping into the corners of his green face.
"I saw your face Garfield." Princess Koriand'r scowls.
"I know exactly what you were doing."
Wally West shakes his from the bay's other diagnostic bed. He
shifts uncomfortably in the surgical clothes he had to borrow
from S.T.A.R. to replace his tattered Flash uniform. He looks
over at his long time friend Tempest who was looking over Wally's
scan results.
"Well, Wally, according to these there is nothing medically
wrong, even for you. Looks like Vic downloaded at lot of his
own knowledge into this ships computers, including a base line
reading of you from a few years ago." Garth stares at the
screen in front of him. "Believe it or not, I still get
a reading on your connection to this "Speed Force"
of yours and it's as strong as it ever was. Stronger than Vic's
old reading of you in fact."
"That makes no sense!" Wally waves his arm back and
forth across his body as quickly as he can, which is sadly a
pretty normal rate. "See?!? I can't move at super speed
at all!"
"To science it doesn't, but from what you told me this
sounds like a magical problem." Tempest looks at his friend.
"You lie back and tell me again exactly what the Phantom
Stranger told you before you entered that death dimension to
go after Linda. *"
(again see Flash #2 for details!)
"Gar!" Kory shouts again.
"What?" the Changeling asks in mock indignation as
he transforms himself into a green lamb. "I'm innocent
I tell you, innocent. I haven't done anything baaaaad."
Kory is sitting up on the side of the bed now, her green eyes
narrowing. It wasn't that she was particularly upset at Gar seeing
her naked. Her people on Tamaran had different sensibilities altogether
about things like that. But the fact he was doing so so deceitfully
did bother her. But what did she expect, this was still Gar and
he obviously hadn't changed. A sly smile graces her lovely face.
"Okay, Gar. If you want to see me so badly…" She
says sweetly as she rips the flimsy hospital gown off of her.
"There now, is that better."
At the sight of Kory's naked figure, live and in person in all
its voluptuous tan glory, Garfield Logan immediately transforms
back to his human form and stumbles backward, landing on his butt.
His green face is blushing almost enough to match the red of his
costume. And for the first time in a long time, the Changeling
is completely without a snappy come back line. Even Wally and
Garth are trying very hard not to stare at her but neither is
doing that good a job of it. Kory is just too tickled with the
whole scene and starts laughing and soon everyone joins her.
"So, Gar." Kory giggles as she strategically places
her volumous hair over what humans consider her more private
parts. "Do I checkout okay?"
"I…I…Ayeeyiiiyiiiyah!" Gar shakes his head to try
and clear his thoughts. "You… you checkout… checkout… just...
just fine. (I just saw Kory naked) Wow. (Full Frontal)
Was that fine. I mean, crap. The scans…" Gar desperately
tries to shake both his embracement, and the mental image of
Kory. "The medical scan I did of you showed no more internal
damage. Raven did good work there. You… uh… (Think pure thoughts,
Logan, pure thoughts) But the computer said you blood cell
count is very low, apparently you lost a lot of blood. You'll
feel pretty weak for a while until your body (good GOD, what
a body! Crap. Gotta stop that. Her eyes. Look at her EYES.)
gets the chance to replenish it, especially if you try anything
too a strenuous. (I've got something strenuous for yo… Dear
God in heaven man get a hold off yourself. No, wait, that's
a bad idea too. That's Kory, she probably still loves Dick………
Oh man Nightwing needs a new first name cause that sentence
just didn't help my mood at all.)
"Gar, are you okay?" Kory asks playfully.
"Me? I'm fine. I'm… going to see how the others are doing
finding those kids." Gar stammers out, even more embarrassed
that everyone in the room could tell where his mind was. "I
just… Bye."
With a flash of light the embarrassed young hero transforms into
a green cheetah and disappears out the door.
"I do believe you were a bit much for poor Gar."
Tempest grins. "Like I have room to talk, my hearts still
racing!" He adds to himself.
"He's been daring me for years, so I figured why not?"
Kory's face darkens a little. "I hope I didn't embarrass
him too badly though."
"Embarrassment was only part of the problem, Kory."
Wally smiles. "Gar probably went to find a cold shower
right quick."
"Cold show…? Oh! I remember that one now." Kory giggles
again to herself. "I suppose so. I guess I better find
some cloths before I start a panic as Donna used to say."
"If you find anything better than these itchy things for
me, send 'em my way?" Wally pleads as he shifts again in
his surgical scrubs.
"You got it, Wally." The beautiful alien princess
says as she steps out of the sick bay, the door swooshing closed
behind her.
As soon as the door closes, the two original Teen Titans look
at each other for a moment, then explode in a chorus of laughter,
"Oh my God's", "Did you see", "Lucky
Dick" and other purely sexist comments. When both guys have
had a few minutes to settle back down, Tempest closes his eyes
and speaks a few words in the language of magic. A soft glow settles
over Wally, it's colors shifting from red to green to blue then
back again. Wally tries not to move much.
"Well?" Wally asks when the lights fade.
"Well, based on what we've learned and what you told me,"
Tempest begins. "What you lost was not your powers entirely,
just "your speed". That's what you told the Stranger.
There appears to be a mystic block preventing you from using
the speed force to directly move yourself at super speed. I
remember you saying that that since you're last resurrection
that you'd developed other speed power, like moving other things
and people at super speed? Well those powers should still work,
you just can't focus your power internally the way you normally
do until you break through that mystic block."
"But…" Wally sits back and tries to absorb all he's
just heard. "But I'm not really good with the other aspect
of my powers. This sucks. How do we break this barrier?"
"That I can't tell you." Tempest sighs. "You
could try finding the Stranger, but that could prove more trouble
than it's worth. Or you might try re-doing whatever you did
to so strengthened your bond with the speed force in the first
place."
"Great, just great." Wally features fall in defeat.
"Anymore good news, Garth?"
"Well…" Tempest looks down at the bio-monitor in
front of him smiles slightly. "You are mildly allergic
to something in those cloths you borrowed."
"We've got 'em!" Cyborg cries. "They just fired
up their transporters again!"
Monitors light up in response to Cyborg's mental command to display
what he's found. Nightwing, Arsenal, and Raven draw close to inspect
the data.
"I'll get the others up here." Arsenal scans the
see of switches for something that looks like inter-ship communications.
"Um… Vic?"
"Third console over, second row, blue button." Vic
replies without looking.
"Where are they headed, Vic?" Nightwing asks.
"Looks like… Upstate New York, North Augusta South Carolina
and Manchester Alabama." Victor scowls. "Odd places
for terrorists to try and hit if you asked me."
"Not really…" Nightwing presses his fist beneath
his nose. "If what you're up too is isn't terrorism as
much as recruiting."
"What's up?" Changeling asks as he zips in in the
form a green bird.
Starfire rockets in a half second later clad in a new costume.
The jeweled collar piece that marks her station as Princess of
Tamaran remains, but it's placed over what appears to be a purple
metallic sports bra. Beneath her bare midriff are tight "hip-hugger"
pants of the same purple metal the flow seamlessly into her boots.
The bracers on her arms look like the same ones she wore when
she first arrive on earth. Kory lands behind the assembled Titans,
not with her usual grace, but with faltering steps. Without hesitation,
Nightwing leaps to her side to steady her.
"Thanks, Dick." Kory smiles at him as she stands.
"I guess I'm not quite up for flying yet."
Nightwing starts to speak, to tell her it's okay, he is there
for her, but the words die in his throat. A myriad of conflicting
emotions wash over him again, and he becomes acutely aware that
everyone in the room is watching them. Nightwing's back visibly
stiffens, and his face becomes the unreadable mask of his mentor.
"You need to be more careful, Starfire." Nightwing
says as he turns away from her. "You've just come through
quite a lot. And unfortunately it's not over. Cyborg has picked
up Blood's transporter again. Looks like the good Brother is
beaming in teams to multiple points in the US. Vic, can you
bring them up on the main screen? Thanks."
"Manchester? That where Impulse and Max live!" Wally
blurts out as he recognizes the location.
"And North Augusta is a small town just over the Georgia/South
Carolina line." Arsenal adds. "Damage used to have
friends in Georgia before he was barred from the state. He's
probably trying to get back in touch with them best he can."
"Which means Blood's after old Titans members?" Tempest
frowns. "That doesn't make sense."
"Then who's in New York?" Starfire asks.
"Slade used to have a place up there." Changeling
answers darkly. "Maybe he still does. But why go after
Deathstroke? What does the Terminator have to do with Brother
Blood?"
"If the pattern holds they're not after Deathstroke…"
Nightwing starts.
"They're after Rose!" Arsenal finishes. "Deathstroke's
daughter was a Titan for about five minutes there too!"
"I'm still not sure why Blood is going after our former
members, but I do know we need to get moving to stop him. Okay
here's the plan:" Nightwing orders. "Vic's going to
use this ship's transporters to beam us down and intercept Blood's
men. Arsenal, you and Tempest take care of Damage. Cyborg, you,
Raven, and Flash, if you're up to it, help Impulse."
"I'm not exactly dressed for it, but I think I can help,
yeah." Wally grouses.
"Here." Roy Harper reaches into the medicine pouch
he wears around his neck and tosses a small object to Wally.
"Wha…?" Flash catches the familiar gold ring. "Where
did you…?"
"Just open it and get dressed will you." Arsenal
grins. "I'll explain later… maybe."
Wally opens the secret compartment on the lighting crested ring
and out pops the familiar looking yellow and red costume of Wally's
first super heroic identity, the Kid Flash.
"It's a little out of date, but better than these itchy
things." Flash sighs as he begins to don his old uniform.
"Thanks."
"Can we get on with this please? Lives are stake, etcetera!"
Nightwing yells impatiently. "Changeling, you and I will
head for Slade's place. Gar, why are you dripping wet…? Never
mind. Kory, you stay here and monitor things. If everything
goes to hell, alert the JLA."
"But Dick, I…" Starfire protests.
"No Buts!" Nightwing retorts. "Warrior training
or no, you can't fly down the hall without getting light headed.
No. You stay put. Come on team. We've got work to do."
"Kory, Let me show you something right quick." Cyborg
motions for Starfire to join him at the controls as Changeling
leads the other to the transporter pads "I set up a little
jamming field to interfere with their transporter system. It'll
keep them from pulling a fade before we can get down there to
stop them. I've dropped it for a minute while we beam down ourselves.
As soon as we're down, I want you to reactivate the jammer so
they can't get away"
"I will." Kory replies, frustration burning in her
eyes. "Just belt those butchers one for me will you?"
The light of the transporter effect fades and reality comes back
into focus as Nightwing and Changeling survey their surroundings.
They're obviously on a private estate, a very large estate. The
late afternoon sun filters it's way through the treetops.
"Woods as far as the eye can see, and little bull's-eye
targets on about half the trees." Changeling sighs. "Definitely
Slade's place. Which direction is the house? I always get turned
around after these beam downs. Screws with a body's sense of
direction."
The sound of gunfire arcs it's way through the trees. Wordlessly
Nightwing takes off in its direction, his sleek black costume
rendering him a shadow as he moves through the dense trees.
"One of these days," Changeling transforms into a
green hawk and flies after Nightwing. "I am going to learn
to stop asking stupid questions like that."
Within seconds the to heroes come upon the scene of the battle.
An older man staggers back against a tree, expertly firing an
automatic rifle at the two armored Church of Blood soldiers that
are mercilessly advancing on him. The high-powered ammo does little
more than scratch the red and black armor of his assailants. In
eerie unison, the crimson attacker raise arm mounted weapons and
take aim at their overmatched prey. But an instant before the
fatal blast fire, a living shadow swoops in and plucks the weary
defender from harms way. Before the confused Blood soldiers can
react, a huge green hippo drops from the sky to land on top of
them. The hippo transforms into a snake, then an elephant, then
a bull, attacking the soldiers in each form in rapid succession,
quipping one-liners the whole time.
"For all his clowning," Nightwing thinks as
he watches from the shadows. "It's easy to forget just
how frighteningly effective Gar can be when he puts his mind
to it. I hope the others are doing as well."
Unbeknownst to the former leader of the Titans, his teammates
have encountered more resistance than just the armored soldiers
they were prepared to face. In North Augusta, Tempest is collapsing
under the tremendous heat being projected by Joto, leaving Arsenal
to try and defend a dazed Damage from the combined assault of
Risk and the Soldiers of Blood. And in Manchester, Flash, Raven,
and Cyborg are attempting to rescue Impulse, who had been entrapped
within one of Argent's energy globes. But Argent is not the only
supposedly kidnapped Titan on the scene. Hovering by her side
like a dark angel is Omen, with more Soldiers flanking them. But
at the Wilson estate, there appeared to be only soldiers, so far…
Nightwing looked over the man in his care, an older man, but in
very good shape for his age. He had been roughed up pretty well.
But what caught Nightwing's attention most was the look of panic
in the old man's eyes. From the way he'd seen this fellow handle
the rifle, he doubted it was the as straight forward a group of
attackers as these armored goons could have panicked him so.
"Sir? Sir, are you all right? Where is Rose, sir?"
Nightwing implores. "We're Titans. We've come to try and
get you both out of here."
"Titans!" The man's mind seems to pounce upon the
word. "Titans. Good God. She's back. We've got to find
Slade. We've… Logan? Oh Lord, you need to get out of here, you
especially! Grayson, you've got to get out, bring more of your
friends. Find Slade!"
"Nightwing? You know this guy?" Changeling asks as
Nightwing shakes his head no. "Wait a minute… Wintergreen?
You're Slade's major domo guy? He's told me about you. Wintergreen,
where is Rose? Is she why we need to leave?"
"Rose? No you young fool!" Wintergreen stammers.
"She already captured Rose. I tried but I couldn't stop
her. Blast it all! I knew she would be the end of us all!"
"Who? Wintergreen, who is here?" Changeling begs.
"I think he means me, boys." A feminine voice drifts
down from behind them.
A cold chill runs down the spines of both heroes as they turn
to face this mystery woman. Gar's eyes widen in shock, viewing
what simply should not be. Nightwing's face darkens, his worst
suspicions realized.
There, floating on a hunk of jagged rock stands a young woman,
about Changeling's age, with short-cropped blonde hair. Sunlight
plays across the golden belt, bracelets, and collar of her brown
and tan legless body suit. A whiff of cigarette smoke curls from
the corner of her slightly buck-toothed smirk. Contempt burns
in her blue eyes. Also lying unconscious on the levitating rock
is the platinum tressed form of Rose Wilson.
"Hiya, Dick, Slime-Stuff." Terra chuckles coldly.
"Miss me?"
To Be Continued!
