In the foothills of West Virginia, a building stands on an isolated woodland property. For all appearances, the building is a sanitarium, a quiet sanctuary for the mending of damaged minds. The muted colors and gentle curves of the architecture are as soothing as the sound of the Appalachian wind in the trees or the babbling brook running through the back acre of the grounds.

But at the end of a long day full of deceiving appearances, Nightwing and Arsenal are not surprised in the least to have learned that beneath the sanitarium's façade lies a fortress complex occupied by the Church of Blood, and that several present and former Titans - Joto, Risk, Argent, Omen, Mirage, Terra, and Rose Wilson - have been captured and detained there. Even the realization that Brother Blood himself has risen again, aided by a virtually identical stand-in rallying his followers' faith, has come as not altogether unexpected. Now, together with Changeling and Impulse, they plan to liberate the captured Titans.
(Check out our last issue for more details!)

Unfortunately, they have not yet reached the last appearance which may surprise and deceive them.

Nightwing and Arsenal crouch at the end of a long corridor, the walls of which are interrupted every ten feet by heavy doors. In the guise of a green gila monster, Changeling stands between them, while Impulse waits behind them. Since Impulse is the youngest and the shortest, he only needs to bend at the waist slightly to hide behind the others, which is fortunate, because Impulse hates to sit still, and crouching is even worse.

"You've got that Sherlock Holmes look in your eyes, Boy Wonder," Arsenal quips in a whisper. "Whaddaya think?"

"I think this plan of yours might actually work, Roy," Nightwing whispers back, too intent on observing the corridor to substitute something more derogatory for his former teammate's name. "It looks to me like this section of the complex was originally supposed to be barracks, hastily converted to holding cells. See, the electronic locks on the outside of the doors look slapped on. No surveillance down here, either. Which isn't surprising, since Blood probably isn't expecting the brainwashed Titans to make a break for it anyway."

"So we go with my plan? I disable a lock, we move into the room, hand whoever we find off to Bart, and he runs 'em outta here while we move on to the next cell?" Arsenal asks.

"Right," Nightwing agrees. "Might want to add a step in there, though. Assuming the captives are still under orders to attack other Titans on sight, we'd probably do better to toss some knockout gas in before we charge through the door."

"And do you happen to have any knockout gas on you?" Arsenal cocks an eyebrow.

"Who're you talking to?" Nightwing says with satisfaction as he produces several capsules from a boot-pouch.

"I'm talking to Bat-Boy, how silly of me to forget," Arsenal chuckles.

"What can I say," Nightwing grins, giving in to the urge to enjoy this for a moment. "My sponsor buys these in bulk."

"Where do I take them when we have them knocked out?" Impulse asks, trying his best to keep his voice at a whisper but not quite succeeding. "I mean, I know I need to get them out of the building, but eventually they're going to wake up, and then they're just going to try to kick my butt again, or whoever's butt they're around, but who should that be? I mean, do we know how to really help them after we free them, or what?"

Reflexively, Arsenal and Nightwing both take deep lungfuls of air, feeling short of breath simply from listening to Impulse speak. "We've got all of Vic's technology at our disposal …," Nightwing begins.

"And Raven seems to still have that healing touch …," adds Arsenal.

"In other words, they're not exactly sure," Changeling finishes, flicking his lizard tongue. "But sometimes you gotta take these things one step at a time, Bart. Get it?"

"Got it," Impulse smiles, giving a thumbs-up.

"All right, take it away, Arrows," Nightwing nods.

Arsenal draws a shaft tipped with an acid-filled arrowhead and cocks his hand crossbow. A muted twang of the bowstring later and the arrow pierces the lock of the first door on the left, allowing the acids to begin dissolving the lock.

"That was your idea of picking the lock?" Nightwing growls under his breathe.

"Worked didn't it?" Arsenal snaps back as the four Titans dart down the hall to the door, and Arsenal and Nightwing take positions on either side of the frame.

Taking position in front of the door, Changeling grows instantly into an oversized green orangutan. Changeling's now massive fingers pry the sliding door up just a crack and Nightwing tosses in a pair of gas bombs. Immediately Gar closes the door and Nightwing raises a hand and counts down with his fingers. At five Gar pulls the door all the way open and the Titans rush into the room.

Where the would-be rescuers expected to see one prisoner, they instead find two. Standing beside the threadbare cot in the far corner of the room is Azrael, the skin of his muscular frame flushed and sweaty, his golden breastplate discarded on the floor directly behind him. His fingers are entwined in the long, reddish hair of the girl kneeling on the cot, Lilith. Her robe lies in a crumpled ball at the foot of the cot, leaving her wearing only a green camisole and underwear. Her hands rest just above Azrael's hips. Both the alien and the demi-goddess turn with a start at the sudden opening of the chamber door, and for a moment frozen in time a shocked tableau persists.

"Ah hell." Arsenal groans.

"Heh heh… eeeh… Would you believe wrong room?" Changeling attempts to smile.

"Umm, guys, they're not knocked out …" Impulse states the obvious.

Before anyone can respond to Impulse's observation, Azrael launches himself into flight, diving at Nightwing. Changeling, shifting effortlessly to the form of a Brahma bull, tries to rear up and catch the winged alien, but Azrael flies swiftly and deftly evades Changeling's horns.

"Whoouuff!" Nightwing grunts as Azrael tackles him in the doorway, knocking him back out into the corridor.

"Don't you cretins know how to knock when you come to a lady's door?" Lilith asks furiously as she rises from the cot.

"Bart, Gar, take her down and do it fast, then get her out of here!" Arsenal orders, ignoring Lilith's comment and retreating to the hallway to help his old friend. He mutters to himself as he draws an arrow from his quiver, "Man, isn't this just our luck. Pick a door at random, and do we find Miri or Rose? Or one of my kids? No, we bust in on the freakin' alien and the freakin' demi-goddess who are immune to the freakin' knockout gas …"

"Man, wouldn't you know it?" Changeling transforms into a massive green elephant and wraps his trunk around Lilith, lifting her off the floor. "I get to wrap myself around Lil while she's half naked, and neither of us gets to enjoy it."

Impulse speeds across the room, up onto the cot, behind Lilith, and wraps her robe around her head and covers her eyes with his hands.
"What are you doing?" Changeling demands.

"I don't know, doesn't she have mental powers or something? I didn't think she could use them if she can't see us …" Impulse explains.

"Wrong, brat!" Lilith screams, sending out a wave of telepathic assault. As before, the effort is painful to Lilith, but even moreso to Impulse, who stiffens and releases Lilith with a cry.

"That's Bart…" Impulse whimpers weakly as he drops away from the fiery redhead.

As Impulse falls to the cot's mattress, Changeling exhorts the brainwashed Lilith, "We're here to help you, Lil! But you have to cooperate! Don't make me hurt you!" With that he tightens his trunk's grip on the half-naked girl.

Lilith struggles, but says nothing, closing her eyes. Changeling pushes her against the wall of the room and increases the pressure on her body. "No comebacks? No insults? That mean you're coming along quietly?" Changeling demands.

"No … it means I just sent out the telepathic call for reinforcements," Lilith smiles coldly.

In the corridor, Nightwing lands on his back with Azrael atop him, pulling his fist back to deliver a crushing blow to Nightwing's head. Nightwing pulls up both legs, on either side of Azrael's body, planting his heels in the alien's armpits. With a quick thrust extending his legs, Nightwing knocks Azrael down the corridor. Without enough time to wing into flight, Azrael tumbles along the floor.

Azrael scrambles to his feet, a murderous expression on his face. Nightwing springs up and assumes a defensive jujitsu stance. Before the two can close on each other, a shaft whizzes over Nightwing's shoulder and strikes true in the center of Azrael's forehead. The blunt tip of the arrow does little damage, but explodes in a dazzling flare that blinds the winged alien. Azrael clutches his eyes and doubles over howling.

"No offense, Wingding," Arsenal offers as Nightwing turns toward him. "We just better get in control of this situation before it gets any worse."

No sooner are the words spoken than two door locks automatically disengage, and Rose and Risk enter the corridor. At the same time, Changeling staggers drunkenly backwards out of Lilith's cell in the shape of a huge mountain gorilla and crashes into the opposite wall. Impulse runs in a blur out of the room, yelling, "Guys! Guys! Help! She still doesn't want to leave and I can't hit a girl!"

"Oh, too late, it's worse. My bad," Arsenal says. His cynical speech belies his true thoughts, however. "Come on, Harper, keep it together. Brainwashed friends can't be a match for me and Dick, if we don't make any mistakes. Gotta stay focused."

Risk immediately attacks Nightwing, a confrontation which becomes a contest to see who can land the first punch. Risk throws a haymaker at Nightwing, but his target is able to swat the incoming fist aside. Risk possesses raw power, throwing devastatingly strong punches with incredible speed. But his fighting style is undisciplined and brawling, and Nightwing's martial artistry allows him to parry the blows, using Risk's own strength against him. Yet when Nightwing attempts any kind of strike, the third aspect of Risk's power, superhumanly heightened reflexes, lets the younger man dodge. Nightwing throws a kick at Risk's midsection, but Risk spins out of the way at the last possible second, lunging into a punch at Nightwing's sternum. Nightwing deflects the attack with a crossing left hand and shoots out an open right hand at Risk's head. Risk ducks under it.

"I'm gonna outlast you, and then I'm gonna wreck you!" Risk gloats cockily.

"Not in this lifetime, kid," Nightwing responds coolly, finally deciding on a better way to face his young opponent. Risk hammers a fist at the side of Nightwing's head, and Nightwing leans back slightly while chopping hard at Risk's elbow. In addition to knocking the punch off course, the blow sends pain shooting through Risk's entire arm, effectively numbing the limb, and Risk recoils clutching his arm and grimacing.

Nightwing knows that most any sensei would consider an attacking parry a dishonorable move, but at the moment he cares more about gaining the upper hand and winning the brainwashed Titans' freedom than fighting fair.

Arsenal braces himself with his back against the wall of the corridor which borders Lilith's room. As Lilith strides out to continue her fight with Changeling, Arsenal levels his crossbow pistol and fires a bolt between Lilith's feet, tripping her. He turns to look down to the other end of the hallway, but Rose is standing right beside him. The sight of the white-haired young girl, scowling with an anger beyond her years, startles Arsenal just enough that Rose is able to disarm him and immediately has the crossbow pistol reloaded and pointed at Arsenal's face.

"Whoa," Arsenal breathes, raising both hands slowly, palms out, "easy there, Rose. Easy."

Wordlessly, Rose pulls the trigger. The shot, however, never connects with Arsenal, as Impulse rushes up and snatches the bolt out of mid-air. He stands between Arsenal and Rose, balancing the bolt on the tip of his index finger and smiling proudly.

Changeling gets to his gorilla feet, rubbing his head. "Gaak - I feel like roadkill," he complains, then sees Lilith rising to her feet as well. In a green flash Changeling transforms into an opossum and jumps, lashing his tail around one of Lilith's arms, using his forward momentum to snatch it out from under her, sending the woman chin first into the polished floor.

Three more electronic locks spring open, and Joto, Mirage and Argent enter the corridor. Mirage tosses her head back, snapping her black ponytail like a whip, and with a chilling laugh assumes the exact appearance of Impulse. Trailing red and white lightning, Miri hurtles herself at the real Impulse, catching him in a tackle and crashing through the wall at the end of the corridor. She and Bart are already gone before her words reach the rest of the Titans' ears: "Get ready for a severe beatdown, Imp-wuss!"

"You go, girl!" Argent cheers, as daggers of silver energy begin to glow around her fists.

"Hey, if you liked that, then check this out!" Joto exclaims. With a sweep of his arms, radiant heat blasts into the sections of flooring on which Nightwing and Arsenal are standing. Both Titans manage to leap clear just before the floor panels explode in flames. "Boo-yah!" Joto cries triumphantly.

As disturbing as the all of the brainwashed Titans are in their bloodthirstiness, none is as profoundly different from his true character as Joto. "Isaiah's never gonna forgive himself if he actually hurts someone," Arsenal thinks, "Assuming we ever get the kids out of here and back in their right minds."

"We've got to keep this brawl contained, or they'll all be able to hit us at once and we'll be screwed!" Nightwing calls to Arsenal across the corridor.

"Tell me something I don't know," Arsenal assents, snapping out of his reverie.

"I totally hear you both, boy scouts!" Argent sneers loudly. "And now I know you are mondo not going to like this!" Argent thrusts both hands out and a gigantic plow of solid silver light surges down the corridor, shoving Arsenal and Nightwing along. As it reaches Lilith's doorway, the telepath manages to sweep Changeling into the middle of the corridor and rolls back into her room. Changeling is caught in the path of the silver plow as well, and all three Titans crash through the wall.

The plow deposits Nightwing, Arsenal and Changeling in a much larger, circular room that resembles a giant cavern. The floor is in fact natural, uncut granite. A semicircle of stadium seats covers half of the room's curved wall, interrupted in the middle by the large hole through which Argent's energy has plowed a path. Opposite the seats a marble dais rises from the floor, flanked by two large flat television screens. The ceiling is so high that it is lost in darkness. In the corner of the room, two Impulses trade blows at superspeed.

Risk, still shaking his arm in an effort to return the feeling to it, rushes into the auditorium, followed by Argent and Joto. Rose climbs through the hole in the wall after them, and Azrael flies into the room next. Bringing up the rear is Lilith, pulling her Omen robe down around her hips as she enters the cavernous chamber.

Arsenal and Nightwing ready themselves to defend, as Changeling shifts to the form of a green grizzly bear looming behind them. "Oh this is just perfect," Nightwing growls. "Have I mentioned lately how much I love this plan?"

"Not in the last few minutes, no." Arsenal quips back, snapping his bow into shape. "Something wrong with it?"

"What, besides the new part where our former friends try to kill us in a nice wide open space so they aren't tripping over each other anymore?" Changeling quips through his bear face. "At least thing can't get much worse."

"Wrong again, Sprout," Terra contradicts him, coming into the chamber from a side entrance, floating on a massive boulder. Following her are two men in the regal red and white trappings of Brother Blood, one slightly larger and greatly more imposing, accustomed to unquestioning obedience. The faces of all the mind-controlled Titans brighten as soon as Brother Blood enters the chamber, assuring victory in their minds, at least. In the wake of the two Brother Bloods come a regiment of Church of Blood troopers, armored and armed to the teeth. Terra laughs tauntingly and flicks a cigarette at Changeling. "Your nightmare's just getting warmed up."

"He had to say it, he just had to." Arsenal sighs.

Changeling transforms into a green condor and beats his wings to reach Terra. Unfortunately, at that moment Mirage abandons her guise as Impulse, takes on the form of a hulking brute, and tosses Bart across the room, where he collides with Changeling in mid-air. Impulse and Changeling plummet to the granite floor, where Terra instantly creates a deep sinkhole for them to fall into. As they disappear beneath the lip of the hole, Terra smiles cruelly and extends a hand in their direction. Her hand closes into a fist and the sinkhole collapses in on itself with a rumble of rocks being crushed together. "One big green snot and one puny pain in the butt, dirtnapped," she says with cold satisfaction.

"All right, that's it, you psycho bimbo!" Arsenal hollers, drawing his bowstring with a razor-tipped arrow nocked. Nightwing reaches for a weapon of his own.

"Cool it, you two," Terra scoffs, and at her command two granite walls nearly six feet tall rise up on either side of Nightwing and Arsenal. Before either Titan can jump clear, the slabs of granite slam together, trapping both men and leaving only their heads exposed.

"Free shots, anyone?" Terra gloats.

The rest of Brother Blood's enthralled Titans circle around the rocky prison of Nightwing and Arsenal. Suddenly, the gloom of the cavern auditorium is pierced by the radiance of Raven's soul-self, transporting the rest of the Titans into the fray. Starfire, Flash, Cyborg, Tempest, Damage and Raven rapidly take stock of the situation, finding the reason for Raven's dismayed urgency to reach their teammates' sides.

"X'Hal!" Starfire exclaims.

"Aw hell, this ain't good." Cyborg mutters under his breath. "This ain't good at all."

The brainwashed Titans surrounding the two trapped heroes glare at the newcomers, obviously displeased to be interrupted from torturing the pinned pair.

The larger Brother Blood opens his arms to the arriving Titans and smiles broadly beneath his skull-like mask.

"Greeting my most hated enemies. We've been waiting for you."

Faux DC Proudly presents

ANNUAL # 12, Sep. Yr 1

BYZANTINELY PLOTTED BY CLAY "THE MIGHTY MIRY" ARCENEAUX

CONSTANTINOPLESQUELY SCRIPTED BY DALE "THE UNNICKNAMED WONDER" GLASER

"UNDER A BLOOD RED SKY …"

As if an unspoken command has been given, the transported Titans find themselves under attack from all sides. Rocky spikes jab up from the floor, silver energy beams and waves of heat slam into the group, and Risk, Rose, Azrael and Mirage charge in from opposite sides. The armored Blood troopers rise into the air as well and fire rounds of plasma blasts at the newcomers. The Titans scatter in all directions.

Wally West, clad in his yellow and red Kid Flash costume, dives for his entombed teammates. "Hang on guys, I'll get you out of there," he reassures them.

"Hurry," Nightwing gasps, his ribcage crushed between the granite slabs.

"I'm not as good at hurrying these days," Flash confesses. "But I can make you guys great at it." He reaches out with his mind, accessing his connection to the Speed Force, and imbues Arsenal and Nightwing with superspeed to rival himself at full power. "Now, vibrate, you guys! Shake your bon-bons on out of there!"

Arsenal and Nightwing try to concentrate on vibrating their bodies, ignoring the incredible pressure exerted on them by the stony vise. After a few seconds they both begin to blur, and pass through the granite slab in front of them, tumbling out across the floor.

Around the room, chaos reigns. Starbolts and bursts of million-decibel white noise are traded with plasma fire and rock projectiles and silver light strikes. Arsenal and Nightwing attempt to get up off the floor as quickly as possible. Arsenal is just getting his legs under him and Nightwing is rising to hands and knees when the second Brother Blood arrives at a run. The Blood stand-in clutches his staff in one fist, and as he approaches he raises it over the opposite shoulder. Grabbing the haft with his other hand as well, he swings the shaft hard into Nightwing's midsection. The force of the blow lifts Nightwing off the ground, and while the muzzle of the shaft is still under his body, the pretender fires an energy blast. Nightwing is rocketed through the air, crashing through the wall high above the floor and sending a shower of plaster and wood down to the granite floor.

"Finally!" the man dressed as Brother Blood exults. "Me and you, Grayson! Revenge for me, and death for you!" He leaps halfway up the wall, finds an impossibly small handhold, and flips up the rest of the distance and into the hole created by Nightwing's impact, in lethal pursuit.

"Jeezus," Wally says as the imposter Blood disappears through the wall. "Hang on Nightwing! I'm comin'!"

But before the should-be fastest man alive can take a step, the air around him fills with plasma fire. Arsenal grabs his longtime teammate and pulls him to the floor before the Blood Troopers fire takes Wally's head off.

"Have I mentioned this sucks?" Wally grumbles.

"You're welcome." Arsenal scans around the battle. Starfire is using her starbolts as a defensive shield to block the torrent of enemy attacks. Across the room, Cyborg, who has changed his appearance since last Arsenal saw him from his original cybernetic form to a look more closely resembling his much more heavily armored Russian makeover, has also raised a force shield and is being slowly beaten back. Tempest has done the same using his new mystic talents. Roy gets to his feet. "Titans! Huddle Up!"

"Roy? What are you doing?" Flash stares up at Arsenal incredulously as his teammates assemble around them, their shields giving them a moment to catch their collective breath.

"Taking charge. This free form crap's gonna get us all killed." Arsenal answers grimly, then catches Wally's dumbfounded look. "Somebody's got to do it. You and Garth hate leadin' and I don't suck at it."

"I've got a bad feelin' about this." Flash shakes his head in amazement.

"Okay Harper," Cyborg growls. "You got us over here, what's your plan?"

"Here goes." Arsenal raises his voice above the din of the melee. "Garth! You focus on Lilith, we need her out of the equation! You know her moves, she hasn't seen your new tricks much. Grant, you're on Azrael!"

"Huh?" Damage asks.

"The dude with the wings!" Arsenal barks back. "Vic, you and Wally corral the kids! Bart, disarm the Blood troopers, five seconds ago!"

"Are you high, you Robin Hood retard?" Terra scoffs incredulously, overhearing the plans being made. "L'il Impulse just got mashed in my granite pit!"

"Haven't met the person yet who can make Bart stand still that long," Arsenal insists. "Raven, shut Rocky here down, will you?"

Terra takes a long drag on her cigarette as she watches Raven slowly rise above the floor, mentally bracing herself for the empath's attack. Then to Terra's surprise, Impulse drops down from the shadows of the ceiling, where catwalks and cables for the chamber's lighting and video equipment are hidden. He lands on the back of one of the airborne Blood troopers, runs up the length of the armor suit and snatches the energy rifle from the cultist's hand. Impulse leaps over to another flying Blood trooper almost faster than the eye can follow, grabs another rifle, and is gone before an armored hand can grab him.

"No!" Terra shrieks. "If he's not dead, then that means…"

"Neither am I, mud-pie!" Changeling crows as he drops down on Terra's boulder in the shape of a green mountain lion. "You know what they say about nine lives and all."

"Fine, Lettuce Lips." Terra flicks her cigarette away with a broad smile. "I'm sure I can think of a much messier way to kill you this time."

"Gar! Let the witch take her! Need you down here with Wally and Vic!" Arsenal commands.

Changeling snarls, "No way, Speedy! I've got a score to settle…"

"Just do it! Get down here NOW, Salad-head!"

Raven's glowing bird-like form has almost reached Terra's floating boulder. With agonized conflict clear on his feline features, Changeling relents and jumps off the large rock.

"I think my cousin needs a little bit of help," Flash says, as Impulse has gathered an armful of energy rifles from the Blood troopers. Two of the Troopers still armed with weapons open the throttles on their jetpacks and scream toward Impulse as he wrestles another rifle away from a hapless armored cultist. Flash exerts his control over the Speed Force and accelerates the converging Blood Troopers into one another, forcing them to move too fast to avoid each other, and the mid-air collision leaves both Troopers dazed. "Other than that…"

"Other than that, what?" Arsenal demands.

"Other than that … it's a pretty good plan, Roy," Wally concedes. He runs to join Changeling and Cyborg as they confront the younger generation of Titans.

"Roy, did you forget about me?" Starfire asks, flying to Arsenal's side.

"Nope," Arsenal assures her. "You and I get to have the most fun of all ... taking down Brother Blood himself."

In a technical control room adjacent to the upper reaches of the cavernous chamber, Nightwing rolls to his feet. "Note to self," he coughs, "thank Bruce for all the times I wanted to stop practicing breaking falls through boards and he wouldn't let me quit."

The man disguised as Brother Blood draws to his full height and points one finger at Nightwing menacingly. "My only regret," the skull-helmeted man seethes, "is that I won't be able to witness your suffering in the hereafter. But after everything you've done, I'm sure it'll be worth it just to watch you die!"

The man in crimson lunges forward, brandishing his staff like a pike on which to impale Nightwing. Nightwing sidesteps the charge and lays the back of his hand heavily into the base of his opponent's helmet. The attacker falls forward, but only far enough to shoot out a punch into Nightwing's kidney. Biting back a cry of pain, Nightwing swivels and crashes one knee into the front of his adversary's helmet.

"Brother Blood has never been able to take the Titans down," Nightwing intones angrily as he steps back, "you really think I'm going to let his stunt double have the honors?"

"The hell with Brother Blood!" the man bellows. "Posing as him had its privileges, but I want you to see me for who I am!" He claws off the skull helmet, revealing his true face to Nightwing as the headpiece of Brother Blood clatters on the control room floor.

"We had already figured out who you were … Deathwing," Nightwing says evenly in response. "And I hate to disappoint you, but someone who pretends to be a future version of me is even less likely to walk out of here than a person who pretends to be Blood."

"YOU DON'T KNOW WHO I AM!!!" Deathwing gives voice to a bloodcurdling scream, and sprints toward Nightwing, power staff raised in one hand, the other thrust out like a predatory claw. Nightwing had hoped to throw his opponent off-balance by deflating the surprise of naming himself, but if anything Deathwing seems more focused than ever. Only a lifetime of training saves Nightwing from having both eyes gouged out by Deathwing's rigid fingers. Nightwing pops a jab into Deathwing's midsection but the crazed assailant ignores the blow. The power staff comes swinging at Nightwing's knees, spewing bolts of destructive energy that smash through the walls of the room, streaking into the auditorium chamber on the other side.

The air in the cavernous chamber is becoming acrid and hazy with smoke, as the effects of various hi-tech weapons and metahuman powers tear up the materials of the room itself. Arsenal tells himself to remain focused. "Everybody's doing their part, Harper. Good God, even Wally said it was a good plan. For all I know Garth is thinking the same thing. So do your part, and work with Kory on taking down Brother Blood."

"Don't let up, gorgeous!" Arsenal calls out to Starfire. He wields his own cache of weapons with uncanny grace, producing an explosive-tipped arrow and a concussion grenade from his quiver in one hand, tossing the grenade in the same motion in which he nocks the arrow, and firing at Blood a split-second later.

"I … I can't seem to connect with a starbolt!" Starfire cries. She soars through the air of the chamber, her dark orange hair trailing like the fiery tail of a comet behind her, and fires powerful energy beams at Brother Blood.

"Just pour it on! He can't dodge both our attacks forever!" Arsenal exhorts his teammate.

However, Brother Blood's centuries of combat skill are enough to prove Arsenal wrong at the moment. Starfire's starbolts and Arsenal's bombs only scorch the granite floor of the cavern as Brother Blood dodges every incoming attack. He returns fire in kind, in a wide, nearly continuous arc of power blasts from his hands. "You insolent children will cease to be a concern to me very soon!" Blood scoffs.

"All right, just stay focused until the rest of the Titans can lend a hand," Arsenal thinks to himself. "You did give yourself the hardest guy of all to take down, after all."

Across the chamber floor, Azrael grapples with Damage. The winged alien is the larger of the two, but Damage holds his own as each vies for control. Finally, Azrael pushes with the correct leverage and spins Damage around, wrapping a muscular arm around the younger man's neck. Azrael rises into the air, letting Damage dangle from the crook of his arm while being slowly strangled.

"A pity you have no wings of your own, small one," Azrael mocks.

"Can … still … fly!" Damage chokes the words out as he pushes himself backward into Azrael's body, digging both elbows into the angel's abdomen. Azrael is propelled a short distance away but quickly returns to within arms reach of Damage. The two exchange bone-jarring blows, and Damage resorts to fending off punches with his upraised arms rather than make any attacks of his own.

Impulse, holding all of the Blood troopers' rifles in an unsteady pile between his arms, makes a final jump over the winged alien and the young Titan. Impulse drops the thirty rifles in mid-leap, and they rain down heavily on Azrael. Azrael raises his arms overhead, shielding himself from the avalanche of weaponry. "I'll come after you next, you stupid suckling!" the angelic thrall of Brother Blood promises as Impulse reaches the top row of the cavern's stadium seats.

"No, you won't," Damage assures him, snatching one of the last rifles out of the air as it falls past. Holding the weapon by the muzzle, Damage winds up and smashes it across Azrael's head. Azrael tumbles through the air.

"Grant! Grant! Behind you! Behind you!" Impulse cries out, standing atop a chair in the top row. "I had to put all the guns somewhere and I hope I timed this right and I hope you can handle it because here they come!"

Damage swivels in mid-air to find the entire regiment of Blood troopers swarming toward the plasma rifles beneath his feet. Two of the closest troopers alter the thrust of their jetpacks to intercept Damage himself.

"Don't worry, Bart," Damage smiles, a familiar glow beginning to envelop his fists. "It's all good." With that Damage throws himself at one of his armored attackers, crashing his fist into the Blood trooper's faceplate. He spin-kicks the second trooper, then drops into the midst of the rest of the regiment scrambling for their rifles. Damage pushes himself as hard as he can, striking out at every body around him.

Omen dives to the ground to the left of the spot where she had been standing. As she hits the granite, twin bolts of mystic energy fired from Tempest's eyes blaze past her, perfectly on course for the area her body had occupied a moment before. Omen smiles wickedly up at Tempest, and in one graceful motion rolls onto her back and sweeps her legs into Tempest's ankles. Tempest leaps over her attack, unleashing another mystic attack that Omen is again able to evade.

"I can read your mind, Garth my dear, and that means I can play this game all day," Omen purrs in response to the look of frustrated disbelief on Tempest's face. "I'll always know what you're planning on doing just before you do it. You Atlanteans are especially receptive to telepathy, after all …"

Garth lowers his clenched fists to his side and closes his eyes. Omen watches him carefully and her expression becomes troubled. Suddenly a mystic binding rises up all around Omen and ensnares her in an unbreakable sheath of sorcerous energy.

"Atlanteans also speak a language that you don't, Lil," Tempest reminds her as he opens his eyes. "And how much good does your invasive telepathy do you when I think in Atlantean?"

In the control room overlooking the main chamber, Nightwing and Deathwing continue to struggle. Nightwing thrusts a two-fingered strike into Deathwing's adam's apple, causing the villain to stagger back as he gasps for breath. Through the choking pain, Deathwing still wields the power staff potently, firing a blast without seeming to aim at all. The maneuver is so surprising that Nightwing reacts a half-second too late, and the energy bolt strikes his face. Deathwing wastes no time, grabbing Nightwing by both shoulders and flipping him over his head. Nightwing crashes into the far wall and crumples to the floor.

"You fight the way you've lived your entire life," Deathwing growls angrily, massaging his sore larynx. "Dirty! Cheating! Just like your little whore the Huntress!"

"Wha-a-a--?" Nightwing stammers, trying to climb back to his feet.

"Helena Wayne - the woman who made you turn your back on your family! Your wife, Bette! Your son, Richey - ME!!!"

"I don't have … a wife … or children," Nightwing insists haltingly, standing up and testing his weight on both legs.

"No, you don't!" Deathwing screams in illogical agreement. "But you're still my shameless father! And you wear my costume instead of your own! But you can't steal everything!!! You stole my childhood when you made me your sidekick, and you stole mother's reason for living and wasted it on the Huntress! But you won't get away from me now!"

"You're not making any sense," Nightwing responds evenly, in as commanding a voice as he can summon. But he already knows that the man he faces is beyond reason, perhaps entirely beyond sanity. And yet, Deathwing does have certain features that make him look like a Grayson …

Nightwing's inner reflection is cut short by Deathwing's diving attack. Nightwing begins to stoop under the attack, then shoots up again quickly and barrels both fists into Deathwing's solar plexus. He won't underestimate his foe again. A different set of rules apply when fighting a crazy man. The original Robin's baptisms of fire occurred alongside Batman in the shadow of Arkham Asylum; Nightwing knows the rules well. He crouches in order to leap straight up as high as he can, lashing out with a savage kick at Deathwing's head as he reaches the apex. Deathwing stumbles into the opposite wall.

Below the control room, Cyborg, his frame greatly enhanced by the weapons pack that armor-plates almost his entire body, holds his hands up placatingly to Joto and Argent. "Really, kids, if you've got any ability to control your actions anymore, just give up now, and I won't hafta hurt you."

"You'll be hurtin' soon enough!" Joto warns, unleashing a barrage of inhuman heat. The radiant energy washes over Victor Stone's Techis-based armor and is absorbed by the metal's natural conductivity. Cyborg's form glows white-hot, but just as quickly subsides to yellow, an ashy red, and finally the silver-gray of its natural state.

Cyborg shakes his head with a wry smile and a small blaster pops up on Cyborg's shoulder and targets Argent. Joto's heat attack, amplified by Cyborg's armor's technology, blasts into the young girl. Argent projects a silver-light force shield in the path of the unforgiving heat, but it is not enough to deflect the energy completely. She succumbs to the heat and falls to the ground overwhelmed.

Cyborg returns his one human eye to Joto. "Any other hot ideas?" he asks. Before Joto can answer a lightning bolt of modulated electricity flies from the gleaming red eye on the right side of Cyborg's face. Joto drops instantly. "Sweet dreams from the world's largest walking stun-gun," Cyborg remarks.

Rose Wilson and Risk pace warily around Changeling, who for the moment has resumed his human form. Changeling looks back and forth between the two brainwashed brawlers, contemplating his next move. In a flash of verdant light, a green gazelle stands between Rose and Risk, and bounds toward the blond boy. Risk plants his feet and raises his arms slightly, preparing to catch Changeling as he jumps overhead. Changeling, however, simply charges straight ahead and plants his horns into Risk's stomach, knocking the Titan onto his back. Another transformation converts Changeling into a full-grown giraffe, and he bites into the front of Risk's costume and hoists him twenty feet into the air. With a snap of his head, Changeling flings Risk down and into Rose, and the collision knocks both of them cold.

Mirage squares off with the Flash, smirking as she shifts into a form identical to his. She runs at him, then stops in confusion after a few steps as she realizes that she is not moving any faster than a normal human being. Flash shrugs at her as she stares down at her yellow and red costume with irritation. As she raises her baleful gaze to the Flash's face, she plunges forward, knocked down by a swift blow to the back of her head delivered by Impulse.

"I don't like her anymore," Impulse says earnestly.

"She's not gonna like you either when she wakes up, Bart," Flash responds. "But if we're lucky, none of the younger Titans will remember this when it's over."

"When's that gonna be?" Impulse asks.

"Soon," Flash answers. Then, "Get down!"

Wally pulls his cousin down to the granite floor with him as he sees the glow building in the center of the throng of Blood troopers battling Damage. A moment later a massive concussion blast explodes outward from Damage's body, laying out all of the armored minions of Brother Blood. Azrael, who had been swooping down on Damage from behind, is also caught in the blast and bashed into a cavern wall. The entire chamber resonates with the force of the biochemical explosion.

Even Terra's footing on her huge floating boulder slips somewhat in the wake of Damage's violent release of energy. She is tired, Raven has been trying to empathically project calm into the troubled young woman, and it's taken all her inner fire Terra can muster not to succumb. The flash of the explosion is enough to almost cause her to lose mental control of her flying boulder. Raven's soul-self moves immediately to take advantage of the distraction, gliding up and encompassing Terra in a golden light. Raven attempts to soothe the young girl with an empathic blanket of serenity.

"No!! I… I won't listen to you, Witch!" Terra rages against her foe. "I'm not going to let you play games with my head!"

"There is no need to struggle," Raven says compassionately, her mental voice like a physical sensation through Terra's entire body. "Come with me."

"Get AWAY from me! Get away from me NOW!!" Terra snaps. Power flares around her pined arms, and small fissures begin to open along the surface of the ceiling. Cascades of soil and small rocks begin to seep into the chamber from above. Then one of the spotlights suspended from a catwalk overhead is torn loose, tiles from the ceiling begin to plummet, and suddenly a veritable tsunami of dirt and stone has destroyed the upper structures of the chamber and threatens to subsume everyone within.

"Azar … no!!!" Raven exclaims, abandoning Terra. Raven skims under the leading edge of the wave of earth and debris, the avian shape of her soulself expanding to the size of the entire cavern. As the free-falling mass strikes her it is absorbed into the glow and disappears. Within moments the landslide has stopped without ever having struck the granite floor. Broken electrical cables sway and pop with sparks. Several rooms on upper levels of the complex stand exposed, looking down into the cavern, walls having collapsed as the earth gave way. Raven lies on the floor of the chamber, returned to her normal size, shuddering and exhausted from the effort. Nearly exhausted by her efforts as well, Terra half kneels on her hovering perch trying to clear her head.

Changeling, Cyborg, Impulse, Flash, Tempest and Damage all move to converge on the empath, but Terra's voice demands their attention. "Who wants to get stoned?" she cackles, straddling her boulder as it drops rapidly into their midst.

"High on life, thanks," the Flash responds, holding his hands up in a warding gesture. He steals the momentum from her falling stone until it seems to be lowering itself in slow motion. Terra's face twists apoplectically as she tries to will the boulder forward faster, but to no avail. She howls her frustration.

"Friends … I am … all right…," Raven utters weakly from the floor. "Help … Roy … and Koriand'r … stop Blood…"

"Yeah, guys, I got this," Flash agrees.

Cyborg, Tempest, Impulse and Damage turn their attention to the stalemate between Arsenal and Starfire and Brother Blood. Changeling, however, remains by Flash's side. He casts a long look at the others, then resolutely faces Terra. Transforming into a ram, Gar leaps onto Terra's boulder and butts her with his curved horns.

Brother Blood seems to almost be enjoying himself as he thwarts every effort that Arsenal and Starfire can throw his way. But as four more Titans approach, he quickly squeezes off two devastating energy bolts, each striking home with unparalleled accuracy and stunning Arsenal and Starfire in turn.

"Come, my children." Brother Blood beckons for the rest of the Titans to take their turns. "You have sinned against Brother Blood, and you've earned a chastisement most severe."

Damage rushes first, and is swatted aside like an afterthought. Cyborg marches toward Brother Blood next, his footfalls as solid as the slamming of vault doors. Blood fires an energy bolt from his hand, which is deflected harmlessly off Cyborg's advanced armor.

"Whoa …," Impulse gapes. "He's just like a Crowd Killer from the 'Super Mutant Security' holovid games."

"It's over, Blood," Cyborg announces as he reaches for Brother Blood with both hands. Blood allows Cyborg to take hold of his shoulders, then steps backwards and flexes in such a way as to slip out of Cyborg's grasp. Cyborg is only off-balance for less than a second, but it is enough time for Blood to fire an energy bolt into Cyborg's feet at point blank range. The impact knocks Cyborg's feet out from under him, and Brother Blood is atop him as he hits the floor, drawing a sword and planting it's tip into the flesh side of Cyborg's face.

Tempest unleashes a mystic blast at Brother Blood, but Blood is able to parry the incoming force with his sword. Impulse crashes into Blood, knocking him off Cyborg. Blood soon finds a handhold on Impulse's costume and shoves mightily, sending Impulse pinwheeling across the room. Arsenal and Starfire recover from their energy bolt induced daze only to find themselves exactly where they left off, trying desperately to score a hit on Brother Blood while he foils their every attempt.

"That's it, Skull-Face," Cyborg climbs to his feet, angry at how the added bulk of his Techis-armor has made him clumsier than normal. But it has other advantages. "You think you're hot stuff, do you old man? You ain't seen half of what I can do now."

Jets fire from beneath Cyborg's feet as the hero takes to the air. He circles wide around the edge of the room in a slow sweeping arc. The living circuitry of the armor transforms his right hand into the familiar white sound blaster, while the left becomes another weapon. Smaller weapons appear on his forearms, his shoulders, and his hips, even his upper arms. Silvery metal slides over the exposed flesh of his face, even replicating the red eye of his left side. With a burst from his jets, the living weapons platform turns to Brother Blood and opens fire. Though he deflects one or two of the blasts before his sword is knocked from his grasp, the cult leader soon finds himself knocked about like a piñata. Blood touches one of the square studs on his gloves and an energy shield springs into existence to deflect the Titan's barrage.

Behind his metal mask, Cyborg smiles as his onboard systems begin scanning the shield's modulation frequency so he can shut that down, too. He swings around for another pass. But from behind his shield Brother Blood has flipped the top off the largest of his glove squares to reveal a small keypad. Hiding his actions beneath his tattered cloak, Blood manipulates the circuitry of his costume. Again Cyborg rains a torrent of firepower down on Brother Blood. Blood's shield reacts wildly to the various shots. Cyborg drops low, intending to fire on Blood at point blank range. But Blood reaches out from his shield to touch Cyborg's left hand before the blaster can fire. Waves of energy pass between them as Cyborg screams and Brother Blood grimaces. When the light fades Brother Blood stands, his hands crackling with energy, while Cyborg lies unmoving and near energy less at his feet.

"Have you children not yet learned you lack the power to defeat me?" Brother Blood laughs, "Submit to your excommunication quietly, and I promise a swift end."

"Not a chance, looser." Arsenal fires the arrow he has been preparing since Vic took flight.

Brother Blood's energy screen flares to life again, powered by Cyborg's stolen energy, in anticipation of the arrow's impact. But the 700-year-old cult leader was expecting some kind of direct assault, a blast arrow, or one with a taser, or acid filled or at the very least an extremely sharp pointy arrow. Before the arrow can hit its target, it splits into four separate shafts joined by a wire mesh net between them. Blood smiles, wondering what that foolish boy thought a simple net would do against his vast might. As he completes that thought each of the four shafts become a miniature rocket, and powerful ones at that. The mini rockets race through the air, snatching the villain in their net and carrying him across the chamber and embedding themselves into the opposite wall.

"Rocket powered net arrow." The man once known as Speedy can't help but smile at his ingenuity. "Ollie would be so proud."

Overhead, Terra skids to the very edge of her airborne boulder, then stops with her feet rooted in place, her weight immutably anchored to the mass of stone. With a wordless cry of pure rage, Terra exerts her power on the boulder, transforming it into a giant, rocky fist that grabs Changeling and squeezes his body with tremendous strength. Balanced atop the fist, Terra laughs chillingly and stares down at Changeling. "Welcome to the end, Mold-for-Brains. You are dead meat."

"If those cigarettes … don't kill you …" Changeling grunts as the disembodied stone hand crushes him, "too much … red meat … will." He levels his gaze directly at Terra. "You should … try more … seafood!"

As soon as the last word is spoken, Changeling transforms into a bright green salmon, slips out of the rocky fist's grasp and leaps toward Terra with a spawning-season thrash of his tailfin. At the top of his arc through the air, Changeling shifts forms again, to a huge swordfish, and opens a terrible gash down the outside of Terra's left thigh with his bladed snout as he falls upon her. Terra wails in pain, but Changeling is not finished with her. He transforms into a lobster, scuttles up Terra's costume while she frantically tries to brush him off, her glazing over in rage, her verbal abuse unceasing: "You stupid moron - I've never been with you! I've hated you! Because you try to make everyone love you … but they should fear us, Logan! Fear us an' HATE us!" Changeling ignores her, even though an eerie sense of déjà vu sends chills through his body, and slashes his claws at her face as he climbs over her head. From that vantage he swaps forms once more, and in place of the small lobster atop Terra's head is a giant green clam, as big as Terra's floating boulder, and a moment later the screaming girl is pinned between the two. A final flash of green light, and Changeling has become an octopus balanced on the small of Terra's back. Two tentacles are wrapped around her ankles, two around her midsection, two around her wrists and the last two around her head. Changeling pulls tight on all eight of his cephalopod limbs, immobilizing Terra.

"Get OFF of me, Logan!!!" Terra shrieks, thrashing against Changeling's tentacles. "Get … off … of … ME!!!" Her floating boulder explodes like a landmine, a hail of stone fragments blowing up past her and Changeling, but Gar refuses to let go even as they fall from the air. As the intertwined pair hits the floor of the cavern, the entire granite surface begins to tremble and shake. A few large chunks of rock tear free and sail around the room in a swirling eddy centered on Changeling and Terra. A jagged piece of granite the size of a small television set smashes into Changeling, and he loses his grip on everything except Terra's head. Stones are flying out of the walls, the ceiling, and the floor now, smaller bits smashing into dust in explosive midair collisions, larger rocks punching holes in the video monitors flanking the dais. As Terra evokes a full-scale rock storm within the cavern chamber, Changeling is pummeled by mineral debris and knocked off his perch on Terra's back.

"I'll kill you ALL!!!" Terra announces in a frenzied scream from the heart of the rocky maelstrom. "Do you HEAR me, Titans?! This is about to become the world's biggest stupid-hero GRAVEYARD!!! YOU'RE ALL DEAD!!"

A deluge of stone projectiles whips through the Titans' ranks. Cyborg allows the rocks to bounce off his metallic carapace as he struggles to regain his feet. He closes his eye and braces him self as he sees a chink of stone about twice his size spiraling toward him. An instant before ir can strike him, the rock is blasted to powder by twin beams of eldritch energy.

"Thanks, Aqua-guy," Cyborg mutters weakly.

"No problem." Tempest's Atlantean muscles lift the massive Cyborg to his feet and together they make their way through the maelstrom of stone. "You okay?"

"Sucka' drained my main power almost to nothin'. Drained it fast. Secondary systems havin' trouble kickin' in," Cyborg grimaces from behind his faceplate. "I'll be okay in a minute, if we live that long."

Starfire arches her back in flight as she weaves amidst the granite tornado, blasting any stone that gets to close with her starbolts. But the storm is increasing in intensity. She knows she needs to find cover and fast. She spots Arsenal, Flash, and Damage seeking shelter in an indented doorway. She also sees Tempest and Cyborg trying to fight their way through the storm to join them. Changing tactics, Starfire swoops low and begins providing cover fire for Tempest and Cyborg as the three make their way to the alcove. The rock storm intensifies to the point of deadly chaos, and no hiding place is safe.

Brother Blood is as much a potential victim of the indiscriminate disaster as the Titans, and he too dodges stony missiles by throwing himself flat against the floor and deflecting flying debris with his force screen. "Curse that blaspheming child," he rages, "her tantrum threatens to undo all we have worked for! Where is that miserable doppelganger? He assured me she was under his control."

"Nice hiding place," Garth tries to catch his breath as he, Kory, and Vic reach the small alcove doorway.

"Best we could do on no notice." Roy presses himself as flat against the wall as he can trying to make enough room for the newcomers. "Who's still out there?"

"Hard to tell." Kory wipes the blood from a cut above her eye. "I know Gar was on her when she started screaming."

A chunk of granite the size of a small car smashes dangerously near the Titan's archway, sending cracks in its granite walls.

"We ain't gonna last too long in here neither at this rate." Cyborg diverts as much power as he can spare to his personal force shield generator and surrounds them with its protective field. But Cyborg's energy levels are low and the field begins to flicker after a second or two. "Damn it. Need more juice."

"Whatever induction system you've got, Victor," Starifre places both her hands on Cyborg's shoulders. "Open it up all the way."
With that the alien princess channels the full power of the starbolts into Cyborg's armor. The force field glows with new intensity and for the moment the Titans are safe beneath the protection of the swirling, bluish-white energy dome emanating from Cyborg's weapons pack. Clusters of rock crash thunderously into the force shield from all sides.

"All my life I've felt hate," Terra shouts to the height and breadth of the cavern. "You, the Titans, both my damn brothers! You're all weak! All of you possessing power while refusing to use it! I've been waiting for this moment - to use MY powers - now NOTHING is going to stop me! NOTHING!!!"

"X'Hal, not again …" Starfire intones worriedly. "It's happening again!"

"You said it, Goldie," Cyborg agrees. "This is so damn familiar I got goosebumps … even where I don't have any skin. Right down to the same damn words."

"What do you guys mean?" Damage asks.

"They mean if we don't think up a brilliant miracle right now," Arsenal grimaces, "Terra's most likely gonna kill herself right in front of us."

In the control room overlooking the chamber, Nightwing and Deathwing continue their brutal dance of violence. Deathwing twirls the power staff in intricate patterns through the air, lashing out at Nightwing's head, side, knees, hands, shoulders and feet in rapid succession. Nightwing wields two kendo sticks, blocking Deathwing's staff and attempting to strike back in kind. Both men are shaky with fatigue, yet battling relentlessly, determined to see the combat through to its conclusion.
Furiously desperate to break through the impenetrable defense of Nightwing's lightning-fast kendo sticks, Deathwing hefts the power staff over his head like an executioner's axe and brings it to bear with all his might on Nightwing. Nightwing smacks the blow aside with both sticks, and Deathwing launches himself bodily at Nightwing. The head butt, with the full weight of Deathwing's body behind it, knocks Nightwing to the control room floor. Deathwing plants a knee on either side of Nightwing's rib cage and shoves the power staff under Nightwing's chin.

Leaning hard on the power staff across Nightwing's throat, Deathwing gasps, "The burdens you placed on me all my life was so horrible at times I could hardly breathe, Father." Deathwing grins ferally. "How fitting, then, that I choke the life out of you now."

Suddenly Nightwing and Deathwing find themselves showered with lumps of earth and stinging slices of granite, flying in through the hole in the control room wall adjacent to the auditorium. A ragged mass of solid stone smashes through the wall like a wrecking ball, and the pounding force of the rock storm sweeps into the room.

"Ha ha ha HAA!" Deathwing crows maniacally, even as pebbles and dust scour his body. The crimson-clad madman leaps off of Nightwing and gazes through the bombed-out wall into the cavernous chamber beyond. "I knew that bringing Terra along would prove entertaining! I just needed to bring out her 'good' side." Deathwing spins abruptly on Nightwing, sends another crushing blow into the side of Nightwing's face with the end of his staff, and backwards swan dives out of the control room. "I'll be back for you!" Deathwing promises, "I don't want to miss this, though!"

Nightwing spits blood as he rolls over onto his hands and knees. He crawls to the exposed edge of the floor in time to see Deathwing's falling form, buffeted by the stone-choked winds of Terra's storm. Deathwing continues to display remarkable agility, rolling with the impact of chunks of rock and landing safely on the crumbling remains of the granite floor below, near Brother Blood. Then Nightwing's eyes move to the center of the rock storm; to an angry young woman lashing out in hatred at the world around her.

"Oh-my-God." Is all Nightwing can think to say as his blood runs cold at the sight replaying before him.

Brother Blood points one gloved hand in Terra's direction and fires a crackling stream of energy at the raving girl. Terra conjures forth a pedestal of granite beneath her feet, lifting her above the arc of the attack. The energy slags the entire pedestal, reducing it to glowing, oozing magma. Terra leaps to the side and bellows with unmatched rage. The largest flying rocks in the destructive cyclone around her become gargoyles, fangs and claws bared, wings slicing the air like saw blades.

"Blood, what are you doing?" Deathwing shouts above the tumult at his master's side.

"The strippling is attempting to kill me!" Brother Blood bellows in response. "I am returning the attempt in kind!"

"You've got no sense of humor!" Deathwing laughs madly. "Don't you see how beautifully this is all turning out? Terra may be going a little overboard, but at least the Titans will die!"

"Yes, but MY death was never a part of our arrangement!" Brother Blood yells back, lining up another shot. "And if we all die today, I will be unable to add their might to my own. No! This Ends Now!"

"That's not…" Deathwing stops in mid-sentence as he casts his eye about the chamber. The walls of the cavern have been shredded, and many other rooms in adjoining levels of the complex can be seen. Huddling at the edge of one of the exposed rooms is a female cultist of the Church of Blood, holding a baby boy in her arms, pinned down by the ferocious rock storm.

"Blood! That's my SON!" Deathwing screams, pointing at the baby and cultist overhead. "Terra could maim him in this clumsy assault … or worse! What are you waiting for? STOP her!!!"

Before Brother Blood can answer, one of the largest gargoyles, a demonic boulder, smashes to the ground between Deathwing and Blood, forcing both men to leap aside to save their lives.

"Look! There's Dick!" Starfire gasps, indicating the control room overlooking the chamber, where Nightwing braces himself flat between a wall and the floor.

"No way Freeze-Knees is gonna be able to get down here as long as Terra's doing the gravel in a blender impression," Flash shakes his head.

"We have to stop her," Arsenal says resolutely.

"How, Roy?" Tempest asks. "You got us this far. You tell us how to take her down, and we'll do it."

Arsenal looks around the group one by one as he says, "All right, the way I figure it we have one advantage over the last time something like this happened. We got ourselves two super speedsters."

"Well, one and a half, and I'm not putting Bart down when I say that," Flash rolls his eyes at his own power complications.

"That's OK, Fleet Feet, the proxy tricks you've been pulling are … whoa, wait, where's Gar?"

"Crap, I think I see him," Cyborg points across the room. Sure enough, behind Terra a figure slowly rises from the floor. It is hard to make out through Cyborg's force dome and the swirling dirt and rocks, but it appears to be a figure in red and white with a green head.

"Then we need to kill two birds with one stone, you should pardon the expression," Arsenal informs his teammates. "Wally, you channel some speed through Gar. That's the only thing that's gonna keep him alive out there. And hopefully he'll get the drop on Terra."

"Done," Flash nods, concentration creasing his brow.

"Bart…," Arsenal looks around. Where the hell did Bart go? He was in here just a second ago."

"A second can be a long time with that brat," Wally groans.

"What? You guys say something?" Impulse seems to pop back into existence just behind them. "Sorry got bored with the standing behind the shield thing waiting for somebody to stop Terra so I out to look around some more. You know their evacuating upstairs? Yep, everyboy is makin' a break for it. It's pretty funny to watch them trip over each other. All the alarms soundin' and lights flashin' and people yellin' and stuff. Then I thought I heard somebody mention me so I…"

"Just shut-up and listen and don't make me kill you." Flash clamps his hand over his cousin's mouth.

"Bart, Vic's gonna let you out of here and you're gonna get through to Terra and make sure she goes down." Arsenal raises a hand to silence Impulse. "And none of the 'you don't hit girls' stuff. We can't afford to be nice right now."

"OK," Impulse shrugs. "No need to make a door though…" Before Cyborg can open a small aperture in the force dome, Impulse races through and out. In a blur he bolts through the vortex of earthen projectiles and granite gargoyles, leaping from stone to airborne stone, changing directions without hesitation when necessary, working toward the center at which Terra stands, bloodied and battered, with an insane sheen over her eyes.

"It's like watching a video game on fast forward," Damage observes.

Changeling sidesteps an incoming rock with unaccustomed swiftness, and realizes it just as Impulse closes in on Terra. Changeling joins him and the two run circles around the psychotic blond girl, who curses them all the while. "Tryin' to stop me? Damn you, Logan - I'll KILL you! I'll DESTROY YOU!! I'LL DESTROY YOU ALL!!!" For a moment the rock storm gains impossible strength, and it seems as if Terra will make good her threat. She throws her head back and closes her eyes, her arms spread wide. Then flurries of superspeed punches fly out from the red and white ring of motion hemming Terra in, and the cracks of impact on Terra's body are like bullwhips heard through heavy metal amplifiers. Before the Titans under Cyborg's force dome have drawn more than three breaths, it's over. Terra lies unconscious on the floor, with Changeling and Impulse giving each other a high-five above her prone body. Impulse smiles, while Changeling wears the grim expression of a man who has just begun to redress an old wound freshly re-opened.

The mass caught in Terra's rock storm loses its momentum, clattering across the ruined floor of the chamber as it falls from the air. Cyborg disperses the dome and all of the Titans rise to face Brother Blood and Deathwing. Nightwing lowers himself from the control room and limps across the floor to rejoin his teammates. Brother Blood spreads his feet wide and makes a warding gesture with sword and power glove, but Deathwing ignores the Titans completely, staring up into the room where a cultist holds his son. Two armored guards have reached the room, and Deathwing shouts, "Guards! Take my son and the handmaid to a safer location! NOW!!!"

"Not so fast," Arsenal commands, nocking his longbow and aiming it into the room overhead. "Impulse, grab the baby - Miri's baby," he adds, emphasizing the girl's name. "Damage, guard on the left." Arsenal lets an arrow fly at the guard on the right as Damage flies into the air toward the room and Impulse runs up the pile of debris where the wall used to be. The guards make a move toward the female cultist, but the nearer one finds a weighted bolo wrapped around his neck as the arrowhead explodes near his head, and is thrown off balance. Damage arrives a second later to land a solid haymaker across the second guard's jaw. Impulse is already back among the rest of the Titans, holding Miriam's son awkwardly in both hands. Starfire takes the infant from him and cradles it in one arm, never taking her green eyes off Brother Blood.

"NOOOO!!!!!" Deathwing rages, pumping his fists in the air. "Damn You, Harper! Unhand my SON!!!"

"Be silent, you fool," Brother Blood admonishes him with a hiss. "Our victory may not come today, but I will not have your temper preclude the victory of tomorrow!"

Deathwing scowls furiously but makes no argument to Brother Blood. Raising his voice for the Titans, Deathwing points at them and says, "A parting gift for you, my enemies." He taps a white square on his glove, sending a silent signal through the chamber. In response, violent seizures overtake the bodies of Terra, Risk, Joto, Argent, Omen, Rose, Mirage, and Azrael, their faces contorting in agony. "The mind-control units implanted in your little friends' skulls are now overloading. Their brains should be warm gray gravy in just a minute or so," Deathwing gloats.

"You need not worry over their fates, however," Brother Blood adds in his own stentorian speech. "I have sent a signal to the reactors beneath this complex, and they are now five seconds from self-destruct. Nothing will remain of the Titans after the explosions have razed this entire area."

The heroes begin to surge forward to stop Blood and Deathwing. With that Brother Blood presses a concealed control, and the Titans are stopped in their tracks by the force of a enormous BOOOOOM and the accompanying shockwaves as a swirling, circular gateway opens behind Blood and Deathwing. "I will take my leave, thanks to a gift from an old friend," Brother Blood boasts as Deathwing steps into the gateway and disappears. "You will all die here, Titans. Even with two Flashes you will never save yourselves in time!" Blood enters the gateway, which spirals closed behind him and winks from existence.

"Damn!"

"No…"

"Gotta…"

"We…"

"Has to be…"

Wallace West has spent most of his life developing his relationship with the Speed Force, almost to the point of perfection. He closes his eyes and raises both of his arms out in front of him. The rest of the Titans become aware that the air in the cavern has become slightly darker, except for the area in which they all stand. Tiny arcs of yellow lightning dance up and down the lengths of their bodies.

Then the noise begins. It is at such a low frequency it should be sub-sonic, but its sheer volume insists that it be heard. It vibrates up through the ruined granite floor of the chamber, as if an unspeakably monstrous leviathan were trapped within the earth and attempting to slowly burst through the surface. It is a primal roar ten octaves lower than any natural voice.

"Never tried … anything … on this scale … before …," Flash gasps through clenched teeth. "Opened the throttle … on the Speed Force … for you guys … and hit the brakes … on the explosions … underground …."

"How much time does that buy us?" Nightwing asks.

"Not … sure …," Flash admits, beads of sweat already forming on his cheeks, "… hurry …"

"You heard the man!" Arsenal barks, streaking off at a run and grabbing Joto under one arm and Argent under the other.

The rest of the Titans quickly follow suit. Starfire and Cyborg fly to the ceiling of the room at superspeed and work swiftly to clear a wide tunnel to daylight, excavating earth with rapid-fire starbolts and lightning blasts. Arsenal runs up through the makeshift tunnel, with Tempest flying behind him carrying Omen and Mirage. Nightwing runs to grab Risk, sparks shooting from his heels, and climbs out through the tunnel in a blur. Damage hefts Azrael over one shoulder, flies past Rose and snatches the back of her shirt, and lifts both out of the cavern at blinding speed. Changeling takes Terra into his arms and races above ground. In the same span of fractions of a second, Impulse runs back and forth through the tunnel a dozen times, evacuating most of the Blood troopers in the chamber.

All of the Titan re-enter the chamber and split off in different directions through the storm-swept walls, searching through the corridors of the complex for more Church of Blood cultists and running them to safety as quickly as they are found. Flash's arms begin to shake as he strains to contain the explosions beneath his feet while powering up his teammates. Blood begins to trickle from his nose, splattering on the bright yellow of his old costume. His head hangs low between his shoulders, and the blood pounds so hard in his ears he can barely hear Impulse shouting as he runs past, "Hang on Wally this is the last of 'em we're almost in the clear hang on hang on!"

Impulse crests the lip of the tunnel and lays the last two cultists on the ground in the back yard of the sanitarium. "I told Wally we're done," Impulse announces to the rest of the Titans. "He should be right behind me."

"Impulse," Arsenal restrains the urge to scream as a mounting sense of horror threatens to consume him, "the one thing Wally can't move at superspeed right now is himself! He can't be right behind you - you need to go get him!"

Impulse's jaw drops at Arsenal's words, then he spins on his heel and sprints for the tunnel. At that moment, the earth shakes violently with the force of the complex's reactors exploding at full speed. Geysers of flame shoot out of the tunnel, forcing Impulse back and causing the rest of the Titans to shield themselves. The sounds of destruction the Titans had heard in the cavern as muted rumblings now bellow forth at full speed and volume in a deafening series of subterranean thunderclaps. The ground continues to heave and buckle, and the windows of the sanitarium are blown out in flurries of shattering glass. Trees topple along the edge of the sanitarium grounds. A moment later an inferno has engulfed the antebellum building which was the sanitarium. Almost without realizing it, Tempest summons forth all of the ambient moisture in the surrounding air, drenching the building and putting out the flames. Soon all that remains is a blackened, smoldering frame. The tunnel lies sealed by a cave-in.

"Oh, Wally …" Starfire laments.

"C'mon, Speedo's gotta … be okay," Changeling sounds strained as he tries to convince himself.

"I don't know," Nightwing shakes his head. "Roy was right, he couldn't move himself fast enough to …"

Nightwing is interrupted by a swirling tangle of black smoke forming in the midst of the Titans. The smell of brimstone permeates the air as Raven's soulself appears, unfolding its glowing wings. From the center of Raven's ephemeral being, a comatose Flash tumbles out, his red and yellow costume slightly singed.

"All right!" Cyborg laughs. "The witch got herself and Kid Flash out in time!"

"Speaking of getting out in time," Arsenal speaks up, "we probably oughtta get the kids back to Rust-Bucket's ship and make sure we can patch 'em up …"

"The artificial seeds!" Tempest exclaims.

Raven immediately expands her soulself to embrace all of the captive Titans. "Do no be afraid, Garth," Raven says. "Deathwing appears to have been bluffing. I sense that the seeds have in fact destroyed themselves, but the brains, as organs, are intact. Their minds, however, may be another matter."

"Then let's get gone, like Arrows says," Cyborg urges.

"Cops will be here soon enough," Nightwing agrees. "Impulse, do me one more quick favor and tie there Blood Troopers up for us, before they can cause more trouble." The deed was done before he finishes the sentence. "Um... Thanks."

"Beam us up, Mr. Stone," Arsenal sighs.

EPILOGUE 1

"So is it fair to say, 'all's well that ends well'?" Cyborg asks the assembled Titans on the bridge of his space cruiser.

"The children are all well, Victor," Raven answers sincerely. "The medical technology aboard your vessel is almost a perfect compliment to my own … less scientific methods of healing. Toni, Isaiah, Rose, Miriam and Cody are all asleep now. Lilith is awake and will alert us if the monitors detect any problems, but overall I believe their physical recoveries will be as swift as they will be complete."

"And none of them should have any permanent brain damage, either, which is a relief," Changeling adds. He transforms into a green ox and continues, "Well, not that we'd be able to tell much difference with Risk, y'know. But it's good news for everyone else."

Raven smiles slightly at Changeling. Perhaps more than anyone, she knows how difficult it was for him to face Terra again, in circumstances so similar to ones that took place long ago. The last time, Terra had ended her life in a suicidal abuse of her own power, and Changeling had cradled her broken body in his arms and mourned her. This time she had been stopped before causing her own death; she now lies sedate in the ships sickbay with the other fallen Titans. And Changeling … is keeping his feelings on the matter buried deep beneath his usual clownish antics.

"What about Azrael?" Nightwing asks.

"We've have done what we can for Azrael." Tempest's face darkens. "He seems somehow weaker than the others. I can't find a reason why. Could be the alien physiology thing, I don't know."

"I don't know about Lil being the best person to put in charge of the sick ward," Arsenal shakes his head skeptically. "She got pretty deep into the Church of Blood groove there, especially with her angel boy-toy rubbin' her the right way…"

"No, Roy," Raven insists gently, turning her thoughts away from Changeling, "the interaction between Lilith and Azrael was entirely due to the mechanical demon seed reproductions, as was her allegiance to Blood. She is as trustworthy as any of us now that the infernal device in her brain has been destroyed."

"If you think her 'interaction' with Feathers in there was the seeds, you don't know Lil real well do ya?" Roy smirks.

Starfire walks onto the bridge as Raven finishes her explanation to Arsenal. "Well, Miri is awake, and very happy to be reunited with her son," she informs her teammates, with only a slight bittersweet tinge in her voice.

"Great. Thanks, Kory," Nightwing nods to her. His own expression is as dark and brooding as the one usually worn by his mentor. As hard as he tries, the hateful, screaming face of Deathwing will not fade from the forefront of his mind. He can barely concentrate on the conversation the rest of the Titans are engaged in. He knows he will spend many of the coming nights wondering how much of what Deathwing told him was a demented lie, and how much might have a basis in some unknown reality.

"So everybody we went in to rescue is okay," Damage speaks up, "and Brother Blood's compound ended up completely trashed. I'd say that's one in the 'W' column."

"But, Brother Blood and Deathwing got away," Tempest points out somberly. "Perhaps that's more of a tie, when you add it all up."

"And," Wally calls attention to himself, "to be perfectly selfish …"

"Perish the thought," Arsenal smiles.

Wally has taken off the Kid Flash costume and dressed himself in shorts and a t-shirt. He is still exhausted, leaning against a control panel because he lacks the strength to stand on his own, and yet he shoots a look at Arsenal promising harsh retribution in his future. Wally continues, "Slowing down that explosion and lending all of you some speed seems to have taken more out of me than I thought. I can't feel any connection to the Speed Force at all anymore."

The Titans, shocked by this revelation, remain stunned and silent until Impulse exclaims, "Wally, you're kidding!"

"No, I'm not, Bart," Flash responds with a deep melancholy. "The fastest thing about me now is my speed becoming a memory in the past."

"Hey, now, ease up on the melodrama, there, West," Cyborg chides his teammate. "You forget you're surrounded by some of the most advanced technology in the galaxy right here. Why don't you come to one of the exam rooms with me and let me run some tests, see if we can't figure out what the problem is."

"Why not?" Flash shrugs, following Cyborg off the bridge.*
(* To see what Cyborg finds, check out Flash # 5)

"Not that any of us are the picture of health right now," Tempest remarks staring at Raven's glowing form. "But you don't look so good yourself, Raven. You look…dimmer."

"I will be fine." Raven attempts a small smile. "I have expended much of my energies today. I need rest that is all."

"All right," Arsenal announces with a clap of his hands, "one set of power complications, two disappearing bad guys, way more than that in custody and a whole bunch of our friends safely out of harm's way and nothin' wrong with the rest of us a few weeks in Hawaii won't cure. I'm with Grant - the Titans won this one."

"You won this one, Speedy" Tempest says with a smile across his face. "You really came through in the clutch and held it all together. You led the team."

Arsenal looks around the bridge curiously, and finds all of his teammates nodding in assent to Tempest's words. Even Nightwing's eyes uncloud long enough for him to look meaningfully into Arsenal's and express his approval.

"Well, hell, don't that just beat all," Arsenal grins.

EPILOGUE 2

In a private chamber, deep in the heart of Zandia, Deathwing stands before a cathedral throne on which Brother Blood sits.
"As the head of the Church of Blood, I offer you thanksgivings for your service in my name," Brother Blood proclaims archly.

"You are most welcome, my lord," Deathwing growls unconvincingly.

"Something troubles you?"

"They have my son," Deathwing seethes, knowing there is no need to specify who 'they' are. "I would rather be mourning my offspring, so long as it meant they were cold in the ground as well. But they escaped! And now they have my son."

"Be patient, my child," Blood asserts with uncanny magnetism. "The race goes not always to the swift. The Titans escaped, true … but so did you. So did Brother Blood. Our paths will cross again, of that you may be sure. In due time, the Titans will pay for their heretical crimes."

Deathwing sighs, shifting from boiling hate to bored complacency with a speed that only the truly insane can achieve, "Perhaps you're right." A cold smile reveals Deathwing's teeth. "After all, as the mechanical control seeds dissolved within our captive's brains, they implanted deep-seated suggestions which the Titans are completely ignorant of. I can reclaim any one of those children, any time I want."

"And you will," Brother Blood assures him.

"Yes," Deathwing grins, "I will." He laughs, an unpleasant and disturbing emotional release, and is joined by Brother Blood, their laughter filling the tomb-like chamber with audible evil …

Be sure to check out The New Titans #135 for more fallout from these Titanic events!

WOOHOO! The first story arc of FDC's New Titans is complete! Boy, was this fun to write! I hope you've enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed thinking it up. But I can't take all the credit for this story, not by a longshot. I'd like to thank my regular Titans partner, Michael Stewart, whoes input in plotting this series, as well as his character research, has proven invaluable. I'd also be remiss if I didn't mention Frankie Rodriguez, who kept insisting we could do something cool with Deathwing. I hate to admit it, but this character has gone from a part of Titans lore I thought best forgotten to a guy I did a solo story in Showcase about, just so I could better tell his story. Thanks, Frankie, for forcing me to see this guy's potential. And lastly but not leastly, Dale Glaser for jumping in and helping me get annual finished. I know some of you are saying, "Geez, that Glaser guys writes everything for them". But when it became apparent to me that this stories scope had gotten away from me and I needed to bump the final confrontation from a regular issue to the annual just to get it all in, and that given my usual writing speed scripting a story this size would have taken months, I knew I needed help. Why Dale? Because he and I worked so well together on Crisis of Destiny, and several times in that series Dale perfectly captured scenes I had only given the briefest of explanations in my plots. From that, I knew he could help me get across what I wanted in this issue and he did. Thank you, Dale, for getting this series back on track. What's on tap for the team next? Well I thought I'd let them catch their breath a second before we head into a little Faux DC event called Cold Armageddon. Thanks for reading!

Miry