Titans: The Resistance #24

Titans: The Resistance
Issue #24: "The Ways of Magic" Pt. 4
Written by: Jay McIntyre
Cover by: Jaimie Rimmer
Edited by: Brian Burchette



“I can believe anything provided it is incredible.”
Oscar Wilde

“Believe it can be done. When you believe something can be done, really believe, your mind will find the ways to do it. Believing a solution paves the way to solution.”

David Joseph Schwartz


Supergirl stared at the new Captain Marvel.

She could deny it no more.

She had seen a boy transformed into a full grown man of power, calling upon nothing more than the name of a long dead wizard of his people.

And she remembered, very unwillingly, what apparently none of the other Titans had noticed at the time; when they had fought the vampires, oh yes she had dismissed them as a simple mutation. But they had balls of arcane energy that she was vulnerable to.

Arcane energy. There had been no other description at the time, and she had thought no more on it. But she had been wary to destroy them because she knew, on some level, that they could hurt her as few other things on this world could.

And now this boy....this boy had become a mighty warrior of a man before her eyes, by uttering two words.

“Very well, Deriven,” she said, shattered and undone. “You win. Magic is real, and I understand nothing.”

Deriven smiled thinly. “I never said you understand nothing.”

“No, but that is a consequence of magic’s existence. Everything I knew, I must now doubt.”

“Why?” Deriven's eyebrow went up. “I have never said technology wasn't real, or even a bad thing, in and of itself.”

“Until this moment I was certain of the cosmos. Of the natural order; how things worked. Things every Kryptonian takes for granted. Now everything I know is a lie.”

“Not a lie. There was simply material you had not considered. Consider it....a new research project. You're fond of those, or so I understand.”

“But now I have no certainties, nothing to rely on!” she grimaced.

“Welcome to what the rest of us wake up to every day,” Deriven said drily, but not unkindly.



The new Captain Marvel was still a little unsteady on his feet. This was understandable; he had gone from childhood to full fledged muscular adulthood in a matter of mere seconds.

The old man touched his arm. “Easy, son. You've prepared for this.”

“Studied for it,” Captain Marvel said, “Which isn't the same thing. My voice sounds so strange!”

“Call up on the Wisdom of Minerva,” the old man advised. “It is yours, now.”

“Yes....” the Champion of Magic touched his forehead. “You are right.” He turned to Deriven. “It seems my first test has already come, then.”

“Just so, Captain Marvel,” Deriven agreed. “But at least you will not be alone. You will stand with others, together against the Darkness.”

“Good. It will be a hard first test, but I feel I must face it.” The newly-empowered hero took a deep breath. “We go now?”

“Yes, very shortly. First we must return to my sanctum and collect the others that will help us.”

The old man and various druids saw their champion off with a tearful and heartfelt farewell.



They returned to Deriven's sanctum. Kid Devil, Lillith and the Sidhe warriors were waiting for them.

“Aie,” Captain Marvel drew back from the form of Kid Devil. “Surely we are not allies of this fiend?”

“He is a tortured soul,” Lillith said, “And his fire is reserved for the darkness of which he is an unwilling spawn. Just like Crow.”

Captain Marvel flicked his eyes to Crow, face troubled. “Dark days indeed,” he said.

“Which is why we needed you so urgently,” Deriven put in.

The commander of the Elven warriors stepped forward. “We of the Seelie Court remember the champions of your legacy well, some of the finest mortals that ever lived. Your assistance will be invaluable.”

“I hope to live up to the task,” said Captain Marvel, bowing.

“It's still kinda freaky,” Ravager mused, “A child in a man's body.”

“Not the first time that's happened with this particular champion of Magic,” Lillith sighed.

Supergirl rubbed her face with one hand, and made a sigh of resignation. It was still very hard for her to accept.

“The time has come,” Deriven said. “Make any preparations necessary, and then we shall depart.”



“Tara....” Ravager moved to her side.

Terra looked at her askance. “Yes?”

“Look...we may die here. If so... I don't wanna go out on bad terms with you.”

“Nor I you. I just don't understand....” Terra sighed and shook her head, “Why you harden your heart so.”

“It's the best thing one can do to survive, princess. I learned that one early. Maybe I'll tell you about it....if we survive this.”

“If we survive,” Terra echoed bleakly. She knew well enough that they might not survive this one. Even with all the help they were getting. The battle against the Vampires beneath London had been the merest dabbling in the deep waters they were now about to plunge into.

They shook hands and exchanged an awkward embrace.



And so they gathered. The Titans, Deriven, Crow and the Changeling, Kid Devil and Lillith, the Sidhe warriors, Gnaark and Manwe the Herald, Captain Marvel.

“This is perhaps the greatest moment of all our lives. Of any of our lives,” Deriven intoned. “Never has there been such a gathering. Human, Elven, Neanderthal and Kryptonian. Not, at least, in this reckoning of this cycle of the Universe.”

This cycle? Supergirl wondered, and then let it slip away.

“No disrespect to any of you,” the commander of the Sidhe warriors said, “But we are the most experienced in battle. Follow our lead as best you can.”

Gnaark snorted, but did not argue the point.

“Would be a pleasure,” Ravager said, almost purred. Anarky and Terra exchanged a weary, long-suffering glance.

“The portal will take us to the realms of shadow where the agents of Darkness are massing,” Deriven went on. “I hope not to face Crow's father directly. That, at least, is the plan.”

“No plan survives direct contact with the enemy,” Ravager quoted grimly.

“Indeed. His lieutenants and courtiers are gathering, If we can slay enough of them quickly enough, then he may not fully wake...and strike back. If he does, Crow and I will be prepared to shield against him as best we can, while the others will have to strike, particularly Captain Marvel.”

The new champion of Magic sighed audibly.

“There is, of course, the chance any number of us may die,” The Sidhe warrior leader put in. “But from what I understand, all of you have either faced that risk before, or prepared for it.”

No one said anything. Not even the visibly nervous Captain Marvel. There was no offer to back out, nor did anyone suggest that they should.

Deriven walked over to a shelf in his sanctum and put a golden helm over his head, clearly girding himself for war. Then he swept past them, leading the way to the portal.

There was a moment of heavy silence; then the others followed him.



Darkness.

True, absolute darkness. Beyond the event horizon of a black hole. Beyond the deepest, darkest night. A palpable, hostile thing.

And it wasn't cold. It was, while not hot, warm to the point of being unpleasantly sweaty.

Deriven and the Sidhe leader lit magical lights, gold and green respectively, but that did not do much to dispel the darkness; they could only see their own forces, nothing else.

“Um, not to sound a sour note here,” Anarky said, “But how are we supposed to fight if we can't see anything?”

His words were flat and dead in that place. Not dull, but without energy or verve.

“Magic will enable you to see,” Deriven said from inside the helm of Fate, his voice similarly deadened by this terrible place. “And be assured, you will see things you wish you hadn't.”

He then began a low, deep, resonant chant, mostly in other languages, but Terra thought she could hear the phrases 'Give them sight beyond sight' and 'Let them see as I see' in that river-rushing jumble of words.

Abruptly the darkness became a deep yet brilliant purple, filled with currents of energy that wandered hither and yon. And down below (“down” being a somewhat subjective concept in a place such as this)...they could see four deeper shadows that occasional showed bursts of flame.

“The Lieutenants,” Deriven said grimly. “The Archdukes of Evil.”

“We shall attempt to strike the nearest first,” the leader of the Elven warriors said, “And kill him quickly, before his brethren arrive.”

“Shouldn't we try to lure him away from the others without them realizing?” Supergirl said, frowning.

“Oh we would,” the Sidhe said, “If only we could. But that is precisely the problem. The others would sense the difficulty immediately, as soon as one could send thought to the other, which is child's play for them. No, our best hope lies in their overconfidence. If that one is certain we are no real threat, than the others will not begin to move in until that one is dying.” He paused. “Of course, when the other three do move to strike, it will be all the more ferocious and terrible.”

“We have tried to take them down individually in the past,” Deriven added. “But they tend to avoid such conflicts without many retainers and servants about to help fight. That being said, such previous actions are why there are only four of them down there, instead of six as they originally were.”

“The best hope we can gain.” the Elven warrior went on, “Is that we will kill all four of them so quickly that their master will abandon the field rather than come himself.”

“Um, how likely is that?” Anarky asked. “Especially since his daughter is here? And is he really the ultimate incarnation of Evil or something?”

The Elven warrior smiled without humor. “Better to say he aspires to that title. And he is nothing if not a calculator of the odds. He moves when things are most favorable to him, and not otherwise.”

“And I am nothing but a potential tool to him,” Crow said softly.

“Enough talk,” the Elven commander said, and Deriven nodded agreement.

The mage of Fate gestured, and they began to move, slowly but steadily, towards the foe.

There was a dreadful sense of inevitability about it.



Captain Marvel instinctively wanted to lead the way, but Deriven waved him back ever so slightly. Calling upon the wisdom of Minerva, he knew this was right. He had not yet the experience to lead in battle. He was embarrassed and grateful. The Mage of Fate nodded his helmeted head once in understanding.

Another gesture by the spell-weaver brought the Elven commander up to the lead with them. His warriors were immediately behind them, and then the Titans and the other allies they had gathered.

As they drew closest to the nearest minion of Darkness, the Archduke resolved itself from simple menacing shadows into a mass of purple tentacles and a single glowing yellow-green eye. That eye did not turn to them immediately, still staring into the middle distance, perhaps communicating with it's master.

But when it did become aware of them, that terrible eye whipped around and focused on them. Their blood was chilled.

A beam of sickly jaundice-colored energy whipped down towards Deriven, who deflected it easily. Then, without warning or rehearsal, the Sidhe Commander shot towards the creature's single great eye, both wicked blades extended.

A single tentacle snapped at him and knocked him away, and he lost his grip on both weapons, which tumbled away in the darkness.

Captain Marvel rescued him, and fended off the tentacle, but it wrapped itself around him instead. He struggled in its grasp, and it began to draw him back towards the main mass of the unsightly creature.

The Elven warriors and the Ravager hacked and slashed away at the tentacle until it gave in a disgusting spurt of blackish-red blood. Ravager handed the Sidhe commander one of her weapons. He was going to refuse at first, but then noted its fine construction and graciously accepted, albeit in a somewhat stunned manner.

Meanwhile, the others had charged ahead, Deriven and Crow leading the way. Tears streamed down Crow's cheeks.

Kid Devil belched flame which burned the tentacle that approached them. The Herald, Manwe, blew his horn which resonated even in that dark place, though somewhat muted. The rift he opened cut another tentacle in half.

(The severed limb fell into a grey, lifeless plain and died there.)

Deriven gestured, and the ankh that was the symbol of his power burned itself into the creature's unspeakable flesh. It swatted him irritably with it's tentacle, and this time he was unable to block.

It sent him reeling, but his helmet protected him even as he spun through the thick, unpleasant darkness.

Crow was there in a moment, teleporting him back and calming his dizziness with her powers. Meanwhile, Gnaark and Supergirl had closed with the monstrosity. Gnaark clubbed away at it. There was nothing magical about that club, but it was wielded with brute strength and a hunter's cunning.

For Supergirl, every blow she struck was for science and reason against the darkness of ignorance. She hadn't felt so emotionally motivated since she left Krypton. She was somewhat surprised at herself; she perhaps should do some self-analysis once this was over, if she survived.

When a tentacle wrapped itself around her, she broke it with some difficulty....more difficulty than there should have been.

With a chill she realized that she had been away from Earth's sun during these magical jaunts, and her power was, slowly but surely, beginning to fade as a result. Even more self analysis was necessary, she realized, she had become arrogant and complacent in her power. She focused her heat vision on the thing's own baleful eye, and felt a surge of triumph as it ruptured and boiled.

Terra had no real rocks to summon in this place, but somehow the physics, or magical rules, or whatever, of this realm enabled her to channel the darkness itself into earthlike clumps and hurl it at the enemy. Did her powers have some kind of magic root or base? She would ask Deriven....if she survived.

The Changeling had many powers due to his mixed heritage; one of them was the ability to take on the form of animals from the fae realm. He turned into a giant deer-like creature and gored the monster.

The Sidhe Warriors and Ravager had rescued their commanding officer and finished off the offending limb. Now they joined the others in barreling into the main body of the thing. There was a sickening crunching sound.....and then it was in two separate pieces.

They had won. Considering what they had prepared themselves for, it was almost an anti-climax.

But their relief and joy was short lived....because the other three horrors were closing in at once.



This was about the worst case scenario any of them could have imagined. Robin and Anarky, the least powerful members of the troupe, found themselves somewhat at a loss. They had done their part in the battle against the first terrible beast of Darkness, of course, but what could they do against simultaneous attacks against the other three...except die?

I never thought it would end this way, Robin thought numbly to himself. That I might die young, that thought has occurred to me a few times. But to die at the hands of some extradimensional creature in a realm of Darkness? At least my death will be unusual.

The creature coming in on the left didn't have limbs at all...it was a swirling conglomeration of blood-stained weapons; axes, sword, guns. A whirlwind of war and death.

The creature in the middle was an amphorous blob of purple-colored hate. Touch that, and Robin knew instinctively that you'd be pulled in.

The creature on the right was a giant brute with four eyes...and four muscular arms.

Without hesitation, Captain Marvel dived for the leftmost, whirlwind of weapons monster. Robin knew he'd have no chance against the left or middle ones, so he shot towards the right-hand brute, and Anarky wordlessly followed him.

Green Lantern and Supergirl focused on the beast in the middle. Manwe the Herald was with them, blasting his horn and ripping a chunk out of the creature's slimy flesh.

(The slime fell into a dark brooding swamp in a far distant realm and separated into a horde of tiny evil rats.)

Lillith the Omen-speaker wielded her own not inconsiderable psychic power against the brute, trying to confuse it, weaken it, and enable their forces to survive. Gnaark joined them in this.

Kid Devil, on the other hand, flew to join Captain Marvel in striking against the whirlwind of blades. As the new champion of Magic battered the weapons with his physical strength, Kid Devil blasted his fire onto those same weapons. Now, even his heat could not destroy them, and against any other opponent they would only have become stronger. But against Captain Marvel, the heating Kid Devil gave them made it possible for him to smash them ever so slightly more easily. Even so, it was a long process; he literally had to do it one weapon at a time. And the collective consciousness of those whirling blades and axes did all that it could to survive.

Argent joined Green Lantern and Supergirl against the amphorous blob.

Supergirl punched the thing, and it promptly started to suck her in; but she immediately yanked her fist back out again and backed off. She used her heat vision. Green Lantern blasted it with his ring, and Argent threw in silver shards of power.

They were damaging it, to be sure; especially Supergirl's heat vision. But it was too little damage, and it was taking too long. Soon enough it would swarm over them and overwhelm them.

So Lantern wrapped it in his green energy from his ring. “Blast it,” he said to the others. “Trust me!”

So Supergirl's heat rays and Argent's silver shards slammed into his green ring power....which he had instructed to absorb those energies.

His ring grew stronger with their help, and slowly but surely he began to crush the thing. Even so, it was a mighty strain. Sweat broke out on his brow, and every muscle was tensed at once. Few people who never wore a ring truly came to understand what willpower was, or what it meant....or what a cost it could have. Slowly, but surely, the blob shrank....and shrank....and shrank.....and was finally crushed to nothing.

Lantern collapsed backwards into their arms.

Deriven added his own magical support to Lilith's as the brute swatted at Robin and Anarky, trying to get hold of them and break their necks. Robin’s agility saved him; Anarky, on the other hand, had only determination and spite.

One massive hand attempted to close on him, and screaming defiance, he jammed it up and into the onrushing palm. For a moment the hand sparkled with electric energy....then the staff snapped in twain.

Anarky leapt out of the way with inches to spare, and the hand slapped against the beast’s own foul flesh.

Gnaark leapt everywhere on the creature's body, pounding with his club, roaring in a deeper voice

Now the Elven warriors had arrived, Ravager in tow, and started hacking away. The Changeling came in, a lion with claws extended. Terra did what she could with her powers in this strange place.

But the Brute had four arms....and four hands.

Two warriors, Gnaark and Anarky were snatched up. The beast began to SQUEEZE.

A bolt of pure magical power from Deriven struck it in the chest, weakening it, but it would not let them go.

Then Lillith sent another wave of weakness, and it finally let them go, though Anarky and one of the Elves had broken ribs by that point.

The Elves and Ravager rammed into the beast like a storm, but still it would not fall.



The blades where cutting and slashing at Captain Marvel, shredding his newly made costume, and yes, cutting him. But not enough. Not nearly enough.

The new Champion of Magic was shouting, punching, kicking, and utterly destroying this Duke of Blades, piece by piece by piece. Aided and abetted by the fires of Kid Devil, the outcome was slow, but certain in its result.

Supergirl and Argent, still carrying the unconscious Lantern between them, approached the scene. Leaving the ring-wielder in the hands of Argent, Supergirl flew into the blades, taking similar injuries at Captain Marvel, and doing similar damage. Argent contributed the occasional silver blast with one hand, and accelerated the process.

On the other side, Lillith weakened the brute yet further, while Deriven acted more directly. Calling upon the power that was his as the Aspect of Fate, he summoned a rune and branded it on the creature's chest in a blaze of light.

The creature roared in pain and writhed, and finally enabled Ravager and one of the Elven warriors to slit its throat. Foul poisonous, hot blood of midnight blue color erupted into the faces.

“Why did you not do that before?” Manwe asked him.

“Because I didn't want to attract their dread master's attention,” Deriven replied grimly.

Indeed, as Captain Marvel and Supergirl finished off the creature of whirling blades, they all felt it; a heavy weight of dread upon them.

The creature of Great Darkness was watching them, and they all knew it.

Deriven would have told them not to move or speak, but his own throat had seized up in fear. But for that same reason they did not need to be told to move. Captain Marvel floated silently amidst the shattered wreckage or the blade creature. Kid Devil curled up into a ball. Terra was crying silent tears of terror.

They felt the terrible weight of dread for what was maybe little more than a minute, yet felt like hours.

And then...it lifted.

In the wake of the destruction of its four lieutenants, the Dark Lord had elected to take the field.

For now.

But Deriven, at least, knew the time of his return would come.

It was only a question of when.

But thankfully, not this day.



Some time later, Crow healed Anarky's ribs in Deriven's sanctum. There had been no celebrations, no triumphs, no thanksgiving feast feted by Queen Evey. Nor was one expected. There was, on all parts, a sort of exhausted relief.

Kid Devil went back into his chamber, on his own recognisance, albeit under the unhappy eye of Terra, and with Omen's gentle hand on his shoulder.

As for Terra and Ravager, they merely sat, shoulder to shoulder, Terra worried and sad, Ravager half asleep from exhaustion. Green Lantern wasn't much better. Anarky was sitting up for the first time after Crow had healed his wounds. Changeling had returned to the land of the Sidhe with only a few terse words of thanks; the Elven warriors were more grateful, especially their commander, who had thanked Ravager for the loan of her katana and promised to get her an elven blade at some point in future.

That was as close to an actual ceremony any of them got, but there was no argument or resentment.

Gnaark and Manwe and the new Captain Marvel remained, for now, but each was quiet and thoughtful.

“You think the overlord has been defeated?” Robin asked.

“His plans have been,” Deriven said. “Hopefully it will be long before he dares to strike again.” The Mage of Fate paused. “I....will be able to spend more time on Earth now, as magic continues to be reintroduced. I would spend at least some of that time with you, if you allow. There are those that dwell below the ocean, and also an armored young lady I wish to find, called Anima by some.”

“Won't you need to watch this place, and Kid Devil, and for the return of....of...” Robin couldn't finish.

“All those things I will do, with Lillith's help, and Crow's. And the Seelie will, sooner or later, expect our help against their Unseelie rivals. What do you say?”

“Well, let's start by resting here a little while longer, eh?” Robin asked, smiling wearily.

Deriven had no argument.

Apart from the others, Supergirl continued to quietly think about the new worlds of possibility that magic had opened before her. She still didn't know what to make of it, but she no longer feared it, either.

Strange days, indeed.

END



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