Titans: The Resistance #48

A civilization which leaves so large a number of its participants unsatisfied and drives them into revolt neither has nor deserves the prospect of a lasting existence.
Sigmund Freud


Empires won by conquest have always fallen either by revolt within or by defeat by a rival.
John Boyd Orr

-1-

Deriven and his allies threw themselves at the Unseelie.

He somewhat regretted not taking Anima with him now; he had not mentored her nearly as much as he would like. If they survived, he would rectify that.

If they survived.

Besides, if any of them got through this, they would have to go back to Earth’s material plane to fight the Markovians. And Anima would have to be there for that too.

Time was running out, for all of them. The hordes of Unseelie jeered and slashed against the Seelie defenses. And they had their mages too, wild mad sorcerers of chaos and corruption.

Troubles always came more than one at a time, but the mage of Fate was always there to stand against them. Deriven was merely the latest in a long time to bear the mantle, and he would not shirk from that duty. The fact that such a crisis fell to him did not make him waver. There was no such thing as “disaster management”; you simply did what you had to when the time came.

And the time was now.

But it helped that he was not alone.

Crow, the Omen and the entire Seelie Army.

The entire Seelie army...

He froze.

“Crow, check on Queen Evey. Now.”

She blinked, but nodded and vanished.

The Unseelie were chaotic, disorganized, but far from stupid. This might be a diversion from an assassination attempt. The Sidhe Queen Evey was almost impossible to truly kill, but if her physical form was destroyed, it might take decades for a new aspect to fully form. This would disrupt the Seelie severely, leaving them weak and vulnerable. Disorganized, they would be playing into the Unseelie’s hands.

He and Omen charged into the enemy ranks. He could hear Captain Marvel shouting in battle nearby.

There was one great advantage. Time was strange and different out here in the magical planes. Earth time passed more slowly. That was their hope....that this battle might be over and done before things on the Earth realm came to a head.

But in the meantime, they had to win this battle. He screamed and lunged forward, casting a mighty lightning bolt...

-2-

Command of the Sweet Lilli had been given to Wintergreen, who guided it towards Britain, where Terra and Doctor Mid-Nite would contact Jason Todd and his vampire hunters.

Wintergreen had taken his orders with aplomb; Terra assumed that, like everyone else, he knew how high the stakes were. But she was curious about him.

“I served with her father and helped him escape America after he had his two boys,” the old man said. “The American government at the time was none too pleased about that. There’s been many administrations since then, of course. But some in the bureaucracy die hard and have old bitter memories.”

“But you’re a Brit,” Terra pointed out. “Or so I thought.”

“By birth, yes. My parents came to America when I was young. Working for the government at the time came naturally. But my first loyalty was to Slade, and once he died, to his daughter, who unlike his sons is his true heir.”

Terra pointedly did not ask if they’d never been given the choice, if he’d left them behind. She was curious about Wintergreen; that was not the same thing as stirring up trouble on the eve of war. “Well, thank you for helping us.”

Wintergreen shrugged. “I’m serving Rose as I did her father. Helping you is incidental. No offense.”

“None taken.”

“Also, of course, not wanting to be conquered or killed by the Markovians.”

“Yes, naturally.”

He didn’t seem to want to talk further, and Terra did not pry.

Approaching the British coast was tense, but went without incident. Possibly because the Empire was more concerned with marshaling their forces at the moment.

If Wintergreen was quiet, Doctor Mid-Nite was more so. He answered any question asked, but otherwise held his peace. Terra didn’t sense any rudeness from him; if anything, there was quiet respect. But he held his tongue more often than even Argent. Which was saying something. At the same time, she had no doubt of his capabilities as a member of the Justice Society.

Getting into London was not too difficult, only tedious. Finding Jason himself was harder. Three safe houses they visited without luck.

They found his associate Sophie first.

“He thought you would come,” she said. “He and Dagon are hunting spirits in the Underground. Alan is researching in one of our safe houses. Give us a little time, and we will be ready to help you.”

“Just like that?” Terra wondered.

“The vampire threats have decreased of late,” she said. “He still sees them as the greater threat, but not the immediate one.” She looked at Terra’s companion. “Who’s your friend?”

“I am from the Justice Society,” Doctor Mid-Nite said in a quiet, matter-of-fact voice. “We are glad the vampire hunters will be assisting.”

Sophie brightened. “Really? Wicked!”

-3-

He was the Flash. He was the fastest man alive. And heaven help any who got in his way.

The twin cities had quietened down somewhat since the Titans had helped him with the Markovian incursion....and the subsequent purging of the Rogues Gallery which they had blessedly not been aware of.

He had little patience for them, yet he had to admit they were useful.....and it was true that they had found the Markovians in his city. Markovians that now threatened the entire world.

So he was not entirely surprised when, during one of his routine patrols around the city, he found Robin at the city limits. What was surprising was the company he had with him.

He skidded to a halt, some distance away, and scowled at them. Clayface had taken a relatively innocuous form, but Parasite was easy to recognize. “What’s with the motley crew, Boy Wonder? Your old group were idiots, but at least they played for the right team.”

“I’m still with the same group,” Robin said, holding back his annoyance. “Green Arrow rides herd on this troop, at government insistence.”

Parasite and Clayface grumbled, and Gizmo had a gleam in his eye that said: When this is over, you’ll pay for that. But no overt actions were made.

“And you want my help with the Markovians,” Flash said.

“That was the hope. You did agree to help us,” Robin pointed out.

Flash stood there a long moment, considering. “Part of me wants to say I should only get involved when the Twin Cities themselves are under threat. But by then the invasion will be in full swing, and things will have gone bad, indeed.” He looked to Green Arrow. “You serious about this, Archer?”

“I have my own misgivings,” Green Arrow answered honestly. “But the threat is real.”

“That it is,” Flash conceded reluctantly. “That it is. All right, when the time comes, call me.”

-4-

Crow had found that in fact the Unseelie had not attempted to perform a separate attack on the Queen, but rather something even more subtle; a traitor in the Queen’s own court had attempted to poison her. The Queen herself had sensed it, though, and beheaded the offender.

That left the battle itself, which was going reasonably well. Captain Marvel was proving amazing, and living up to at least the brute strength aspect of his lineage. That was only a small facet of what the champion needed to be and do, as Deriven well knew; and judging by the expression on his face, Captain Marvel knew it too. But for right now, it was exactly what they needed.

Deriven had previously regretted not bringing Anima; now he regretted not bringing Gnarrk and the Herald as well. A mistake he would not repeat if they returned to the Earth plane to do their part there.

But that looked much more likely now; the battle was going reasonably well. The Sidhe had suffered some losses, so few if any of them would join them in aiding the Earth realm against the Markovians. Not that he expected many of them to do so to begin with, of course.

The Changeling was an exception, of course. As Deriven had noted the last time he was here, his mixed heritage enabled him to take different animal forms for combat. It had made the Sidhe respect him more, if not like him any better. Currently he was in the form of a gorilla, thrashing his way through the Unseelie raiders.

An Unseelie crossbow bolt came flying at Deriven. He casually blocked it, but it flew right through his ward. Slamming home into his shoulder, he felt its burning poison. The same poison they had tried to use on the Queen, no doubt.

Or perhaps he had been their true target all along. The Unseelie were nothing if not crafty.

He did not wonder about it long as he fell backwards, muscles twitching, pain etching its way into him. Most of his spells needed some word or gesture, and the poison was clearly designed to inhibit that. But not all of his magics needed such.

As he slumped to the cold, muddy ground, he focused within, and a warm wave of healing slowly spread from his heart chakra. He was fighting off the poison, but it was slow going; and while he was down like this, any Unseelie soldier could finish him off. Presumably that was part of the plan too.

But then Crow was there, her shadow falling over him like a cool, comforting cloak. He was protected now, and his healing was accelerated by her own abilities. She plucked the crossbow bolt out, set it ablaze with green fire, and hurled it into the enemy.

Deriven was out of the fight, but the tide was in their favor. It was only a matter of time now.

-5-

Ravager and Green Lantern slipped as quickly and quietly into Russia as they could. They knew that Lantern’s power had been detected here before, so they moved fast, straining the speed of Lantern’s ring-created bubble to the limits of how fast his will could drive it.

The Russians had not revealed the exact new location of their base, but Terra had kept in contact with Princess Anna, and Ravager knew what frequency to contact.

They were met warily, but with no open hostility. Princess Anna seemed disappointed that Terra was not there; Leonid and Konstantin, on the other hand, seemed relieved.

“You will have what aid we can safely give,” Anna said. “But do not expect our conquered lands to be your staging ground.”

“That was not the plan,” Lantern assured them.

“Hmph,” Konstantin sniffed.

“That said,” Leonid put in, “it will be refreshing to finally face them.”

“On that point we are all agreed,” Ravager assured them.

“Yes, but none of you have such personal motivation as we do,” Konstantin corrected her sternly.

Before Ravager could lose patience, Princess Anna stepped forward. “We are all of one cause on this,” she said. “Let us not argue about who has the greater wounds.” She turned back to Ravager and Lantern. “When the time comes, we will be ready.”

-6-

The battle was over.

The surviving Unseelie had scattered to the winds, back to their own dark realms, looking more and more like a seething mass as they fled.

Deriven’s wounds were healing, with Crow’s help. But there was no time. He had to return to the Earth realm and face the real war, of which this conflict had been a mere foretaste. Scary a statement as that was.

Previous aspects of Fate had been in wars before, but never one so brutally mundane as the Markovian one appeared to be.

The Sidhe Queen Evey could only spare three volunteers to go with them to the Earth realm. It was difficult for any of her people save the Changeling to go there at all; until recently it would have been impossible for any of them save the Changeling to accomplish it. But those three were worthy, skilled warriors of determination and prowess.

The Changeling would come too, of course. As would Omen. And Crow. And Kid Devil. And Captain Marvel. And the Herald, Manwe. He would not make the mistake of going in short-handed again.

Especially not now, when so much was at stake.

-7-

The Themyscirans were not surprised to see them, and as anticipated, were pleased by their female-heavy group. As with elsewhere, the Markovian naval presence was relatively light, as they were preparing for their own push against the American Republic, as it had become known in these latter days. That did not mean the Titans’ arrival went unremarked, of course.

As they landed on the shore of the island, Wonder Woman and Don-Na were waiting for them.

“Don-Na and I will come with you,” Wonder Woman said. “As will five shield maidens.”

“It will be good to stand with fellow warriors of skill,” Starfire said.

Wonder Woman smiled and they clasped arms. Arms, not hands.

As they flew away, the shield maidens carried by Supergirl, Wonder Woman, and Starfire, the Tamaranean said, “Tell me of your people, and I will tell you of mine.”

“You are from the stars?” Don-Na asked, eyes bright.

“Oh boy,” Anarky muttered, and even Supergirl was vaguely amused.


-8-

President Badnarik was talking to several of his advisers.

“The Markovians will be coming for us,” the Secretary of State said. “We are making preparations, of course, but it looks grim. Unless we want to resort to the nuclear option.”

“Which we are not,” Badnarik said flatly. “Even the Markovians will not risk it. Rightfully so.”

“Also, they believe that they can win any conventional conflict.”

“But we have a few surprises for them,” Badnarik said firmly.

“Yes, we do. However, that might not be enough.”

“We will try our best, and defend our lands. And besides,” here Badnarik gave a weary smile, the first seen on his face for days, “the Markovians might wind up fighting on two fronts.”

“You’ve been talking to the metahuman insurgents?” the Secretary said, his tone a mixture of surprise, doubt and scorn.

“Not directly. But we have....contacts with them. Things have more potential than you might believe.”

“I hope you’re right. I dearly hope you’re right.”

“I am. In the meantime, we need to make another television and internet address to the people. The number of volunteers has been promising, indeed inspiring.”

“Untrained,” the Secretary murmured.

“Not in terms of their weapons,” Badnarik corrected him. “As for not being regular soldiers, well that may very well give them an advantage, at least in terms of improvisation.”

The Secretary thought it might wind up being a logistical disaster, but held his peace. It was not, after all, like they had any other choice but surrender, something he didn’t agree with either. “Let’s schedule the broadcast then....”

-9-

At long last, Deriven returned to Earth.

His wounded shoulder was healed, but still fresh and very sore. A normal wound he could have healed on his own; one that had been magically poisoned like this, even Crow’s assistance could not entirely cure at once. But there was no other choice; they had to fight.

But as he had surmised, time had passed more slowly here on the Earth realm, which was to their advantage. Quickly contacting the others telepathically, he assessed the situation. All of them were glad he was alive, and had brought help.

He sent Crow, the Herald, Kid Devil, Omen, and Captain Marvel to Ravager’s fleet, warning them ahead of time to expect visitors. Then he went and picked up Anima.

“Is it time?” she asked breathlessly, green eyes wide. She had grown accustomed to her powers, and was more confident and relaxed now. In her civilian identity, she watched the news; she was as aware of what was coming as everyone else.

“Very nearly,” he said. “Come with me, we are gathering our forces for this event.”

First they went to Atlantis. This was Anima’s first trip anywhere; she had not yet glimpsed the magical realms from which Deriven had just come, wounded and weary as he was. She stared around in wide-eyed excitement and amazement at the undersea kingdom, as Deriven’s magic protected her and provided both of them the necessary air to breathe.

Princess Tula wanted to come, but the royals would not allow their only heir to be risked. Nor, after Garth’s insurrection, had they the spare troops to send to the surface. They did promise, however, to harass any Markovian ships that went to attack the American Republic. Disappointed, but not really surprised, Deriven thanked them for this small service, then he and Anima departed.

-10-

Without pausing for rest they traveled to Japan, and sought out the Shining Dragons.

The Japanese military, fearing a new threat, attacked them. Deriven teleported away and made himself and Anima invisible. He feared she would counter-attack; but even with her growing confidence in her powers, Anima was far too kind a soul for that.

When a new Shining Dragon clad in gleaming black armor flew up to investigate, Deriven did not make himself and Anima visible, but he did allow the Shining Dragon to know he was there. It was a trick he had learned early in his sorcerous training. He had not been with the team when they had met the Shining Dragons, of course; but the others had told him about them.

“Where are you, hidden one?” The Black Dragon whispered softly. She spoke in Japanese, but easy translation was another of Deriven’s powers.

“Close. I am with the Titans your group met before. Can I speak with your leader?”

“I did not meet the Titans; I was not recruited until later. But I will relay your request.”

-11-

After their leader Shourisha transmitted his acceptance, Deriven let his and Anima’s heat signatures register on Obsidian’s scanners, and she led them to a safe house. Not their base proper, Shourisha was far too cautious for that, but one of their other secure secondary locations.

Shourisha’s cybernetic face came up on a monitor screen. Deriven bowed formally, Anima just a second behind.

“So, Wu Jen, you are allied with the costumed heroes who joined with us before. And the pirates.”

“That is so, Honorable One,” Deriven said. He related what the Titans had told him of that meeting. “I was not present because I was recruiting this young lady.” He indicated Anima, who blushed and bowed again.

(The moment Shourisha had appeared on the screen, Deriven had been able to trace his exact location. He was too wise to say so, of course; and had no intention of revealing the Cyborg’s secrets to anyone. He had his own to keep, after all.)

Shourisha nodded slowly, as much as his implants would allow. “So then, you request our assistance against Markovia?”

“It coincides with your own agenda nicely. You may also be interested in our thoughts on where our strike should begin, whilst the Markovians are focused on invading the American Republic...”

-12-

Of all the groups the Titans had contacted, the only ones they did not specifically ask for help were La Cosa Nostra and Rome, both in Italy. Each were busy resisting the Markovian Empire in their own way. They had not directly talked to Rose’s brothers either, but she had contacted them. Joey would be busy with American defense; it was possible that Grant would be doing some undercover work in Europe.

The Empress, for her part, was readying Brion, and their various metahuman experiments. She knew there was a chance that Terra and her crew would take this moment to strike, and was prepared to meet them, wherever the battle would come.

But the invasion of the American Republic would go forward regardless, with or without her at the helm. For far too long, the Empire had been defensive, reactive, consolidating and maintaining its own territory, rather than expanding. It was time for the world to be unified under the Markovian banner, once and for all.

There was one thing left that mother and daughter agreed upon...

...it was time for the end.

To be continued.....



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