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Post by starlord on Feb 27, 2007 21:48:08 GMT -5
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Post by starlord on Feb 27, 2007 21:48:46 GMT -5
Teen Titans [/i] Issue #15: “Titanic Days” Part Two Written by Mark Bowers Cover by Ramon Villalobos Edited by Brian Burchette[/center] |
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Post by starlord on Feb 27, 2007 21:49:26 GMT -5
“Wha... Wha... What?” Roy Harper exclaimed, unable to believe what he’d just heard.
The Queen of Clubs looked at his disbelieving face. “I said my mother was an Outsider and my father was a Titan. I know it sounds unbelievable, but hear me out.”
Roy looked at the young woman, now divested of her Royal Flush Gang costume, and wondered whether she was deliberately lying or just insane. Still, he’d traveled all the way to this prison just to talk to her, so he figured that he may as well listen. “Okay, I’ll humor you. If the tales of men from Mars and the lost city of Atlantis can turn out to be true, then I guess anything can.”
“Well, where I come from those sort of things are facts,” she said.
“Where’s that?” he asked, although he was already fairly sure that he knew what her answer would be.
“The future.”
Roy rolled his eyes and laughed. “So, who’s the president?”
“There isn’t one,” she said matter-of-factly. “Hasn’t been for a long time.”
“So, who’s in charge?” he asked.
But she didn’t hear his question. She was too busy looking at him, knowing that he didn’t believe her in the slightest, and it tore her apart inside. There was still one thing she could do to convince him, but it was the thing that she knew she mustn’t do. “Sorry, something in my eyes,” she said, as she turned her back to him, removing her colored contact lenses. “What was the question again?”
“I asked who was in charge?” he asked warily.
She turned toward him, pushing her face up against the glass that was separating them.
“Raven,” she whispered, almost afraid to say the name. “Raven’s in charge.”
But Roy didn’t hear her words. He was too busy looking into her eyes. He’d seen those eyes before... whenever he looked in a mirror.
“Hi, Dad.”
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Post by starlord on Feb 27, 2007 21:50:04 GMT -5
In Titans Tower, Cyborg looked at Nightwing’s eyes, and saw the unease in them.
“She’ll be alright,” said Vic, talking about Starfire.
“She better be,” said Nightwing, who, waiting for an elevator, appeared calm and collected, despite his feelings inside. Sometimes, as Vic knew all too well, you just had to ignore your feelings, no matter how hard it was, and just get on with things.
“It’ll be here now,” said Cyborg, who was using his interface to Titans Tower to hurry the nearest elevator their way.
As it arrived, and the doors opened, Cyborg asked, “Which room is she in?”
Nightwing told Cyborg the room number as they entered the elevator, and it immediately started heading for the correct floor as fast as Cyborg could tell it to go.
“Check your Titans communicator,” said Cyborg. “I’ve tapped into the surveillance cameras for Starfire’s room, and I’m redirecting the images.”
“I didn’t find any surveillance cameras there,” said a surprised Nightwing, as he pulled out his communicator and saw the views of the room.
“Well, you never met my dad. You’d be amazed what he could do with nanotech-”
At which point, they both fell silent as a picture of a pale Starfire, lying on the floor, flashed on Nightwing’s communicator. She wasn’t moving, and although her eyes were open, her lack of pupils made it impossible to ascertain whether she was conscious or not.
Apart from her body, the room appeared completely deserted.
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Post by starlord on Feb 27, 2007 21:50:46 GMT -5
Moments ago, Doctor Light had been in a room attacking Starfire. Now he found himself in a different place altogether - a cold place – with nobody with him except for the Titan known as Raven.
She looked at him, and smiled, as it dawned on him where she’d teleported him to.
There were so many things she wanted to say to him, but this was not a place for talk, and so she just waved goodbye and teleported away.
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Post by starlord on Feb 27, 2007 21:51:28 GMT -5
Selinda had never wanted to be a super villain. Indeed, with her abilities, she didn’t really need money; she could just turn things into gold. However, she had to stick by her brother, Baran. With his learning difficulties and excessive strength, there were little other options open for him. He’d originally wanted to become a wrestler, but she’d had to explain to him that the fights were rigged, and then he’d wanted to become a superhero, but she’d had to explain to him that there’d be a lot of waiting around for crimes to happen, and that the mean criminals might make fun of him or even kill him. And so Baran had become the villain known as Mammoth, and now he got to meet all the superheroes. Baran enjoyed that. Why, even now, Mammoth was stuck in a big hole next to her, no doubt happily pummeling Kid Flash.
Unfortunately, Selinda, now known as Shimmer, was not so happy with things. She could have destroyed Titans Tower with a mere wave of her hand, by transforming the ground floor of the building into a gas, but Doctor Light didn’t consider that sporting. So, instead they’d left the destruction of the building to the dwarf standing next to her, the mini-McGuyver known as Gizmo, but that hadn’t worked out as planned.
Now, it looked like she and Gizmo would once again have to enter Titans Tower, and destroy all those Titans one by one. How tiresome.
As she looked up at Titans Tower, she suddenly, much to her surprise, noticed a star high above it in the afternoon sky.
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Post by starlord on Feb 27, 2007 21:52:23 GMT -5
The nearest star to Earth is usually the Sun, situated ninety-three million miles away. Today, however, for the briefest of moments, the nearest star was a lot closer and its name was Arthur.
Strictly speaking, despite what astronomers might later claim, it wasn’t actually a star but a scientist called Doctor Arthur Light, and, being a scientist, he knew that, having been out in space for almost ten seconds now, his chances of survival were low. As he emitted the last portion of the solar energy he’d stolen from Starfire, he finally dimmed.
He doubted whether anybody had seen his signal, and, even if they had, what could they have done; and so it looked like his great career would end now. He wanted to scream, but in space no one would hear it, and he also had some great last words that he’d once planned, that would now also sadly go to waste.
Still, as he looked down at the Earth below, he finally realized he’d made it to the top of the world. Perhaps, this wasn’t the best way to die, but at least it was memorable.
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Post by starlord on Feb 27, 2007 21:52:59 GMT -5
Roy Harper listened intently to the young woman who’d inherited his eyes as she told him about the future; a future where Raven had gone bad.
“But the other Titans? What happened to them?” he asked.
“They stuck together through it all, but they were just human. She was the daughter of a demon.”
“Daughter of a demon?”
“I guess you’ve not met him yet,” she realized. “Sorry, but my lips are sealed. Can’t risk upsetting the timeline... not again. Anyway, to answer your question, the Titans continued to face her.”
She looked at him, hoping he believed her, but wishing that she could tell the whole truth. Raven did continue facing the Titans, but only on those days when she visited their graves, all laid out in a row.
“Yeah, she faced them often... Titans together.”
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Post by starlord on Feb 27, 2007 21:53:47 GMT -5
Kid Flash was separated from the other Titans, stuck in a hole with the villain calling himself Mammoth. He could have just done a super-fast leap and by the time gravity had slowed him down he’d have been out of the hole, but then he’d have been facing Mammoth’s sister, Shimmer.
No, it was better to bide his time here, vibrating his upper body so that Mammoth couldn’t make contact with him, waiting until Shimmer had gone away and he could capture her by surprise.
Mammoth was surprised to see his fists going straight through Kid Flash, who just seemed bored by the whole thing.
“Kid Flash not playing fair,” he moaned, as he started hammering at the wall beside him in frustration, and that wall, in return, suddenly began to collapse in on them.
As Wally saw the earth from above falling down towards him, he had to stop vibrating his upper body so that the earth and dirt wouldn’t end up inside him. As soon as he did, he felt a punch from Mammoth connect and then everything went black as he felt himself being buried.
Shimmer, seeing the hole beside her collapsing in on her brother, was just about to turn towards it, ready to change the earth to oxygen, when she was distracted by a voice.
“Hold it right there!” yelled Wonder Girl, running toward her from the tower, with several of the newer members by her side.
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Post by starlord on Feb 27, 2007 21:54:28 GMT -5
Nightwing, looking at the image of Starfire on his Titans communicator, rushed into Starfire’s room, to see exactly the same image before him. Dropping the communicator, he rushed to her side and realized instantly she wasn’t breathing.
Cyborg watched on helplessly, as Nightwing began to try and resuscitate her, breathing air into her lungs and performing chest compressions.
“Live, Kory, live,” pleaded Nightwing, as he continued to try and revive her, all his earlier self-control now gone.
Suddenly, Kory gave a gasp and started breathing, and, as conscious returned and her memories came rushing back to her, she pushed Nightwing across the room, smashing him against a wall.
For a moment, she didn’t know where she was; she just knew where she’d been. As she staggered across to continue her attack, her eyes suddenly focused on who was now lying there in front of her, and she let out a gasp of horror at what she’d just done.
“Dick... I’m sorry, so sorry,” she said, wanting to rush over to him, but now feeling too exhausted from her ordeal to do so. “I... I thought you were someone else.”
Dick didn’t care about the bruises he’d just received, being more concerned with Kory’s condition. “Are you okay, Kory?” he asked, getting up and moving closer to her.
“I’m fine,” said Kory, still looking pale. “Just a bad day. I’ve had worse,” she said, trying to convince herself as much as Dick.
“I can stay with you-” began Nightwing.
“No, I’ll be okay,” she said, wanting desperately to be with Dick, but wanting even more just to be left on her own for a while. “You go and check on the rest of the team.”
“But-” Nightwing began, and then he saw somebody new entering the room.
“Yes, you should take care of the rest of the team,” said the new arrival. “Psimon says take care of them.”
As Nightwing dutifully marched out of the room, Psimon turned his attention to Starfire and Cyborg and pondered what he was going to have them do.
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Post by starlord on Feb 27, 2007 21:55:02 GMT -5
The Queen of Clubs continued her story. “Well, there were still some resistance groups who fought against Raven... besides the Titans... and I was in one of them. Anyway, one of our members was a guy called Portal, who was the son of... no, I better not say it. Anyway, he could open up portals between places and, more importantly, times, so we decided to risk all sorts of paradoxes and attempt to change the future, by visiting the past.”
“So, you became villains?” asked a confused Roy Harper.
“We didn’t want to upset the timeline too much and wipe ourselves out of existence,” explained the Queen. “If we’d have become heroes we’d have diverted catastrophes, saved lives and altered history and drawn attention to ourselves. As the Royal Flush Gang we had to operate in near-enough total secrecy, and we didn’t actually do anything that evil. Ace just made our employer think we did. Ace could even get The Joker to think what he wanted him to think. He thought that the Five would inhabit Nightwing’s body, but the plan all along was for Five to take over Raven, but obviously her evil tainted him and...”
“And?”
The Queen bowed her head, breaking their eye contact. “I suspect I want to talk about what happened in Las Vegas last year even less than you do.”
They both fell silent, as Roy remembered the girl who’d died because of him, and the Queen remembered her fallen comrades.
“So, did you also implant these thoughts in my mind to kill Raven?” he asked angrily.
“Well, Ace did, yes. Just in case the Five failed, which he obviously did. We didn’t realize that it would drive you back to drugs. I’m sorry about that, I really am... especially since it might have jeopardized my existence. What can I say? Portal loved his back-up plans.”
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Post by starlord on Feb 27, 2007 21:55:42 GMT -5
When Titans Tower had begun its self-destruct sequence, most of the other new members had headed with Donna toward the exit. Not Carrie Kelly however, since there was still someone she had to save. Now, as she sat with him, in her room, the emergency seemingly over, she looked out of the window at New York City.
“Wish we were back in Gotham, boy, but we can’t go home. Instead we’re stuck here, living this lie,” she said, her hand stroking his fur. “Donna almost found out this morning, you know, but she just asked the wrong questions. Hated not telling her the whole truth, but we can’t risk Raven finding out about us... Not yet.”
Ace just licked her hand.
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Post by starlord on Feb 27, 2007 21:56:15 GMT -5
A few seconds ago, Doctor Light had felt a hand on his arm. That was followed by nausea as once again he felt himself being teleported. And then he heard her voice:
“That was just a taster, Artie.”
Doctor Light, gasping in air, opened his eyes and stared up at the Titan known as Raven. “I kn-knew you’d be back,” he said, his lips still blue from the coldness of space. “I’m sorry about what I did.”
“I haven’t really got time for false remorse,” said Raven dismissively. “Although, if anybody’s going to make the Titans suffer and die around here, then that will be me.”
Doctor Light looked at Raven, confusion in his eyes, as she continued:
“You remember that blue and green object I left you hanging over. That’s going to be mine soon. I’m going to own everyone on this planet including you, and then the fun will really begin.”
And with that, she walked away, leaving Doctor Light lying there in the middle of the desert, the sun blazing down and vultures circling overhead.
“Like I said, Artie, just a taster.”
And with that she was gone.
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Post by starlord on Feb 27, 2007 21:56:56 GMT -5
Shimmer waved her hand towards the ground in front of Wonder Girl, and soon the Amazon was falling into a freshly-created hole.
As Shimmer started to wave her hand again, ready to fill in the hole with lead, she suddenly noticed a pair of arrows soaring toward her and Gizmo, with their orange tips expanding into striped orange cats, with suction cups emanating mercilessly from their paws.
“I got the idea for these when Gar joined,” Arrowette explained to Dagon, as the Garfields on the fronts of the arrows wrapped themselves around the faces of Shimmer and Gizmo. As Gizmo frantically wrestled to remove his, Shimmer just waved her hand over hers, making it disappear.
As Shimmer’s vision was once again restored, she saw another arrow in the air, but this one was heading toward Gizmo. She quickly glanced over at him, as the arrow made contact. Gizmo, she thought, what a joke, and yet there was something different about him. Maybe it was that cute Garfield attached to his face. No, it was more than that, she realized. He might have not been conventionally tall, dark or handsome, but, still, he was good with his hands and size wasn’t everything, and the next thing she knew she was on her knees smothering the new cute little love of her life in kisses.
“Just call me Cupid,” said Arrowette.
“What was in that arrow?” asked Dagon.
“Pheromones,” replied Arrowette.
“Feral moans?” said a confused Element , who hadn’t managed to hear her over the noises Shimmer was making.
“No, phero-” she started, but then she also heard the noises. “Hmmm, maybe you’re right.”
At which point, Wonder Girl flew up from the hole, and seeing the antics of Gizmo and Shimmer, turned her head to Arrowette and raised a disapproving eyebrow.
“Okay, I suppose I better put them out of their ecstasy,” said Arrowette, and released a double boxing glove arrow, that went sailing through the air and sent the two villains into unconsciousness.
Meanwhile, Wonder Girl was checking her Titans communicator. Nightwing, Starfire, Beast Boy and Kid Flash still weren’t responding, but Kid Flash’s communicator was giving a signal from nearby. Seconds later, Element was sat cross-legged on the ground, facing Kid Flash’s location, using his power to shift the earth away, to reveal the bodies of Kid Flash and a villain who Wonder Girl recognized as Mammoth.
Donna quickly raised both of the bodies to the surface, but neither of them was breathing.
“I’ve come to take care of things,” said a familiar voice from behind her.
“Nightwing,” she said, turning around. “It’s Kid Flash, he’s not breathing.”
Nightwing smiled. “Great. One less thing to take care of.”
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Post by starlord on Feb 27, 2007 21:57:29 GMT -5
Flamebird was just about to leave to join the other Titans when suddenly the room was filled with a dark cloud, which slowly lifted to reveal Raven standing there.
“Carrie. I know why you’re here, and I know what you think of me,” said Raven, who seemed almost scared, “but there’s something I’ve got to show you. Something that will explain everything.”
Carrie watched suspiciously as Raven offered her hand, and looked down at Ace, who was growling at Raven.
“I implore you,” begged Raven, and, against her better judgment, Carrie took Raven’s hand.
“Big, big mistake,” said Raven, as the two of them disappeared.
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Post by starlord on Feb 27, 2007 21:58:19 GMT -5
Psimon had sent Nightwing to kill the other Titans, and Starfire to seek out Raven for him. That just left this new metallic Titan to deal with. He’d already ordered him to stand still, but Psimon was sure he could have far more fun with this newcomer.
“Psimon says...” began Psimon, as he approached Cyborg, and then suddenly a green chimpanzee leapt into the room.
“First a dwarf, then a Mammoth, then some chick who waves at me,” said the chimpanzee, “and now you two. I guess that makes the Fearsome Five.”
“Cyborg isn’t one of the Fearsome Five,” said Psimon.
“Well, I guess that must make him a Titan. Two against one – you may as well quit now, visible brain guy.”
“The name’s Psimon, and I can kill both of you,” explained Psimon. “In fact, I intend to destroy most of this world.”
“Well, first off, Simon, you really need to get yourself a proper supervillain name, and secondly, just because your brain’s visible, it doesn’t make you Mojo Jojo.”
And with that, Beast Boy leapt at Psimon, but Psimon, anticipating it, moved aside.
“Enough of your annoying attempts at humor,” Psimon said, and turned toward Cyborg. “Psimon says kill Beast Boy.”
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Post by starlord on Feb 27, 2007 21:59:09 GMT -5
“So, you said I’d have to do something for you,” said Roy Harper.
“Glad to see you remembered,” said the Queen of Clubs.
“So, do you want me to break you out of here?” he asked.
“You really think that I couldn’t do that myself if I wanted to? No, I’m not going anywhere. I don’t want to risk changing history.”
“So, what do you want?”
“I want you to stop her of course,” she said, as she pulled out a device from her pocket. “This might come in handy.”
“What is it?”
“It’s a teleportation device,” she answered, suddenly behind him.
“Where did you get that?” he asked, turning around.
“I’m from the future,” she said, adjusting some settings on the device, while her elbow took care of a guard who’d rushed in to apprehend her. “Gadgets and gizmos a-plenty. Anyway, I’ve set it for Titans Tower, so if Raven tries to strand you anywhere, you can use it to get back there.”
“What about you?” he asked.
“I’m staying here,” she said as she handed him the device. “I’ve got to.”
He looked at her. “So, I guess this is goodbye, then,” he said, trying to find the right words. “This is going to be harder than I thought.”
“It’s a lot harder for me,” she reassured him, tears coming to her eyes.
“Then come with me,” he said, taking hold of her wrist.
“But, I can’t,” she insisted.
“Listen to your father,” he said, activating the device.
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Post by starlord on Feb 27, 2007 21:59:48 GMT -5
Psimon watched with glee as Beast Boy ran around the room, changing from animal to animal as Cyborg kept firing sonic blasts toward him.
Beast Boy on the other hand was just bemused. He didn’t want to hurt Cyborg, but it didn’t look like he’d have to. The guy was a lousy shot. All Gar had to do was find a way to surprise a man who could read his mind.
As Psimon concentrated on Gar, ready for any attack from that direction, he was suddenly thrown across the room by a blast from Cyborg.
“Oh, I’m sorry. Did I break your concentration?”
Psimon looked up to see Cyborg standing over him, and attempted to reassert his power over the boy. It was then he noticed that Cyborg’s human eye was closed.
“Victor Stone has left the building,” said Cyborg, its robotic eye glowing menacingly red, as it picked up Psimon from the ground and pushed him against the wall.
“Now, let’s play Cyborg Says.”
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Post by starlord on Feb 27, 2007 22:00:23 GMT -5
Woodchucker stood there with the others, watching the fight now going on in front of them. He wanted to join in, but he was afraid, like the others, that he’d only get in Donna’s way, and at the moment she was their only hope. He looked at the rest of the newer members, all of their eyes focused on the battle before them. All except those of Element, who just sat there, looking toward Kid Flash and Mammoth, his face wrapped in concentration as, using his power to manipulate the basic elements, he pushed air into and out of their lungs.
Plastique, on the other hand, didn’t even notice Element. His eyes were on the fight now going on between Nightwing and Wonder Girl. He knew that he could help, but he was also certain that Donna could win her own battles.
Meanwhile, Arrowette was transfixed by the events before her. Her parents had told her about this era, the age of heroes, but she’d never seen anything like this before. She committed every sight, every sound to memory. After all, it wasn’t every day she got to see Titans clash.
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Post by starlord on Feb 27, 2007 22:00:58 GMT -5
To Be Concluded!
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