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Post by starlord on Jul 24, 2007 17:51:48 GMT -5
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Post by starlord on Jul 24, 2007 17:52:36 GMT -5
Teen Titans [/i] Issue #20: “Final Words” Written by Mark Bowers Cover by Ramon Villalobos Edited by Brian Burchette[/center] |
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Post by starlord on Jul 24, 2007 17:53:10 GMT -5
Carrie Kelly sat down at the wooden table, attempting to write down the details of her life. She was about to go down in history, one way or another, and she wanted people to know the full story... after all, it wasn’t as if she’d still be alive to tell it afterwards.
She struggled with her opening line. She had so much to say but didn’t really know where to begin. She thought of introducing herself to the reader, but the story wasn’t really about her as such, but more a story about the Teen Titans; the final story about the Titans in fact.
It was a story about her plan to kill one of them. She laughed at the thought. Strictly speaking, she was going to kill all of them, including herself. Suddenly her attention wandered from the historical document that would be her suicide note and to the list she’d made earlier. She’d had no trouble writing that.
She looked at the name at the top of the list:
Dick Grayson
He was dead now, just like all of the others on the list. Of course, there was one more name she wanted to add to the list - the death that had meant the most to her.
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Post by starlord on Jul 24, 2007 17:53:48 GMT -5
Carrie’s mind went back to that climactic battle between the Dark Knight and Raven. She remembered how he’d battled against his own troops, the bat tattoos on their faces now burnt over with a raven brand. Using his own forces against him, an army of mindless brutes, the daughter of a demon fought the mortal, but it looked for so long like he was going to prevail. Maybe in his prime, he would have done - and history would have labeled the event as a crisis rather than the start of the Raven Empire - but now he was older and eventually he fell to her... just like all the others before him.
She also remembered how she’d just stood there, frozen in place by Raven’s darkness, hating herself for being unable to move, forced to witness her mentor’s defeat, degradation and death on that cold February night. She’d only been allowed to live so that she could spread the words of Batman’s defeat among those who still resisted Raven.
And she remembered the night, not long afterwards, when she’d made a vow at Bruce Wayne’s grave; A vow of vengeance. Soon that day of vengeance would come.
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Post by starlord on Jul 24, 2007 17:54:28 GMT -5
This wasn’t her first attempt at vengeance; far from it. Many times she’d tried to defeat Raven, but she’d just proved too powerful. Her last, and strangest, attempt had involved traveling to the past in order to destroy Raven in a time when she was younger, less powerful.
Apart from Batman’s dog, Ace, two others had traveled with her: a young man, Sam, claiming to be the son of the hero Plastic Man, disposed of by Raven in a vat of chemicals, and Delia Queen, the daughter of the murdered heroes Green Arrow and Black Canary.
Of course, they needed to blend in, and Carrie could hardly call herself Robin in the past without arousing Batman’s suspicion, so she decided to call herself Flamebird. Sam meanwhile, relying on Plastic Man’s reputation and longevity, decided that still calling himself the son of Plastic Man wouldn’t be any problem. And then there was Delia, a champion archer, who prior to her parents’ death had steadfastly refused to go into the superhero business. Now, with little attempt to hide her origins, she’d created an archer costume incorporating some fishnet material. Thus was Arrowette born.
Together they’d traveled into what they’d thought was the past, but from the moment they arrived they’d begun to doubt the wisdom of their plans.
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Post by starlord on Jul 24, 2007 17:55:48 GMT -5
“Did we overshoot?” asked Arrowette, as she saw the Titans before her involved in some particularly embarrassing dancing to some groovy ‘60s style music. “I thought we were supposed to turn up shortly after the Apokolips invasion?”
Carrie looked at the Titans before her: Wonder Girl, dancing with her lasso, Kid Flash, swinging his arms in a blur, Starfire, go-go dancing as if her life depended on it, and Nightwing, who was dancing in his old Robin costume for some unknown reason. She suddenly felt a lump in her throat.
“You okay, Car?” asked Sam.
“It’s just seeing that Robin outfit again,” she replied, her hand wiping away a tear. “I’ve not worn mine since the night of Bruce’s death.”
“Looks like he hasn’t worn it in a while either. Talk about a tight fit,” remarked Delia. “Still, it’s in all the right places,” she added appreciatively.
“Hey, groovy chick,” said a strangely-dressed boy, walking up to Arrowette.
“Hey, I recognize you,” replied Delia. “You’re that statue boy.”
“Huh?” said the boy, who then continued unabated. “Hey, I’ve got a tower that’s free and it’s the summer of love so why don’t we...”
Suddenly, the boy found himself lying on the sidewalk with Delia staring down at him.
“Listen, kid,” she said, “what’s happening here? Have we wandered into some weird parallel Universe?”
“Hey, love and peace, baby,” replied the boy. “The Mad Mod’s unleashed some cool retrovirus on the Big Apple and now everything’s groovy.”
“The Mad Mod?” echoed Plastique. “That’s the worst name I’ve ever heard of. Oh, wait,” he added, finally recognizing the boy, “I’ve just remembered, you’re the-”
“I am the Woodchucker,” explained the boy.
“Goo goo g’joob,” added Carrie. “Oops, I think this retrovirus is catching.”
“Wow, that’s heavy, Flamedame,” added Plastique, suddenly sprouting long hair and a goatee.
“Let’s get to that tower, Woody,” said Arrowette, excitedly grabbing hold of the Woodchucker’s hand. “I’ve got an uncontrollable urge to make novelty arrows.”
Carrie wanted to call Delia back, but instead found herself maneuvering past a bald-headed boy, sat on the ground, deep in meditation, and over towards Nightwing. Without any hesitation, she started to do a dance she remembered from Pulp Fiction with him, but was irritated to find that she, like him, only seemed to know one of the moves.
And then she danced some more.
And after that she decided to do some further dancing.
After a few hours of that, as she continued to dance ever slower, exhaustion setting in, a dapperly-dressed dandy suddenly appeared before the heroes, laughing uncontrollably.
“Dance, my puppets, dance,” he shouted. “While you and the rest of this city are busy jiving, my crime spree continues unabated.”
An enraged Carrie stopped dancing and started to attack him, but then she realized that he was part of the Universe just like she was and they were all part of some huge cosmic oneness and then she realized something even more mind-expanding, and then... she thought she saw a boxing glove on the end of an arrow flying through the air and started to ponder its cosmic significance.
Meanwhile, the Mad Mod fell to the ground, pummeled by the flying glove.
“It’s the summer of glove,” explained Arrowette, just before Dick could say the same thing.
“But... but... my retrovirus,” said a confused Mad Mod. “It should take you back to the ‘60s. You should make love not war.”
But the Mad Mod had reckoned without Arrowette, who’d inherited her father’s protest-genes. “You can’t tell us how to live our lives,” said Delia, walking up to him. “Can he, sisters?”
“But I’m the Mad Mod,” yelled the Mad Mod.
“Meet Psycho Delia,” she said as his world suddenly went black.
“Holy new members,” said Dick, punching his hand with his fist.
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Post by starlord on Jul 24, 2007 17:56:30 GMT -5
Following that bizarre start, the three of them had integrated well into the Titans. They weren’t the only newcomers – there were a few others who’d recently joined, some of whom Carrie had heard of, some not so much so.
The one Carrie had heard most about in her history lessons was Dagon, who was a vampire, but she tended not to hold that against him. After all, there was nothing wrong with bat-fixations.
Then there was the calm quiet Element who, like his name suggested, controlled the elements. He didn’t always say a lot, as opposed to his friend Woodchucker, the self-professed “boy and his log making the Universe safe for mankind”, who only tended to talk when he had nothing to say, but, still, his heart was in the right place.
While Carrie and her fellow travelers enjoyed the adventuring, and a chance to work alongside future legends, they knew that what they were really there for was to stop Raven. Upon their initial arrival however, and for the next six months thereafter, she was in a coma.
Carrie had considered ending it there and then many a time, but she had to give Raven a chance, had to believe she could be redeemed. And when that failed... then she would kill her.
But she’d waited too long – waited until Raven was out of her coma, waited for her to put a foot wrong – cut then it was too late for Raven had struck first; coming for her, leaving her for dead, her body broken, at her parents’ apartment.
Only things weren’t that cut and dried. It turned out that this wasn’t even her world, but a whole different dimension, and that the Raven of this world had been possessed by a shadow-being.
To make things even more complicated, she awoke to find herself in the clutches of the Titans’ enemy, Deathstroke, who’d rebuilt her, augmented her.
“What do you want of me?” she’d asked him.
“I’ll let you know,” he told her, “when the time is right.”
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Post by starlord on Jul 24, 2007 17:57:21 GMT -5
When she arrived, unannounced, at Titans Tower, it looked like nothing had changed. Gar was still playing the same videogame that he’d been playing when she’d left, although thanks to his infinite lives hack he was nearing the final level.
But as she started to talk to him, and then a new Titan, Cyborg, who she recognized from her history books, turned up, she realized that a lot had changed. The shadow-being, who’d hurt her so, had been defeated, although Gar and Vic seemed reluctant to go into the details. More importantly, in a battle with Trigon, Arrowette had returned home, once again to face the evil Raven.
Carrie suddenly felt guilty – guilty that she had to keep the means of her survival a secret, just as the burden of her other secret had been lifted from her, now that the other Titans all knew the truth; and also guilty that she wasn’t with Arrowette facing the evil Raven. As the days passed, she missed Delia more and more, and wondered whether she was still alive. Still, Sam was still there, trying to make up for the void left by Arrowette’s absence, and Ace was friendlier than ever.
As for the other Titans, they were pleased to see her back, including Raven, who was horrified at what she’d been made to do under the shadow-being’s control and tried to make it up to Carrie, offering to look after Ace on a number of occasions. Still, regardless of which world Raven came from, Carrie knew that she would never be comfortable with her and advised her to keep her distance.
Of course, some were suspicious about her unexplained absence following Raven’s attack, most of all Nightwing, but Carrie knew that the future of this world probably mirrored her own, and knew that they’d have more pressing matters on their mind soon.
As for Deathstroke, Carrie would handle that problem when it came.
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Post by starlord on Jul 24, 2007 17:58:00 GMT -5
Carrie’s mind suddenly returned to the present. She and Plastique had an appointment to keep with another hero; one who’d been very hard to find.
“So, did your father ever have a run-in with him?” she asked Sam as they made their way down a narrow alley towards their destination.
“Yeah, they both joined teams around the same time. I guess we left just before then.”
Carrie nodded. “Seems like another world now, doesn’t it?”
Sam smiled, and then extended his head across the street, sticking it through the window of the rundown bar across the way.
“It looks okay,” he said, his head coming back to face Carrie. “A few famous people in there.”
“Really?” asked a surprised Carrie.
“Dead famous,” replied Sam as they made their way through the door, pushing past Kurt Cobain on the way to the bar.
“So, I guess that’s our hero,” she said, looking over at the boy in a leather jacket, sitting at the bar. He seemed to be talking to the barkeeper, who just seemed to ignore him.
“Well, the thing is, Keep’...” he started, but then noticed the new arrivals.
“Kid Eternity?” Carrie asked.
The boy nodded wearily.
“We need your help,” said Carrie, sitting herself down on the stool next to him.
“Sorry, I don’t do requests,” he explained calmly. “Once I bring back one dead person, everybody wants one.”
“I thought you could just bring back heroes,” said Plastique. “That’s your schtick.”
“What, like Plastic Man?” the kid replied, smiling at Sam. “Listen, everybody’s somebody’s hero, but it doesn’t matter, because I’m not doing it.”
“Sorry, Kid, but I’m not taking no for an answer,” said Carrie, placing a sheet of paper on the bar. “Here’s my list.”
“You’ve got a list?” exclaimed the boy, amazed at her audacity.
“Yeah, it’s almost complete,” she said, and then, suddenly inspired, she added another name to the list.
“Hope you can do villains as well,” she added, as her mind suddenly turned to the crisis that had inspired her.
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Post by starlord on Jul 24, 2007 17:58:50 GMT -5
Ever since Aquaman had been declared an enemy of the United States on the news, Carrie knew that this day had been coming. She wanted to tell Wally about it, to explain things to Wally, but she and the others had decided long ago never to interfere. Indeed, while they’d thought this Universe was their actual past, they’d had to keep all relationships at arm’s length. She felt sorry for Woodchucker, with his attraction to Arrowette, but Delia could never reciprocate; as far as she was concerned he was history, an unknown hero remembered only by his statue in Titans Tower.
No, the Titans couldn’t know their future, if it was indeed their future. Then again, Raven now knew what the future possibly held for her and hopefully that part of history would never repeat.
Carrie looked over at Kid Flash and Raven, a distance having grown between them since he’d met her evil version. A shame she thought, because he could really use her with what was about to happen.
At that point, the television news that had interrupted the scheduled program revealed that the Flash had attempted to assassinate President Lord, and then, in the blink of an eye, Kid Flash had left the building, wanting to think things out.
While the other Titans looked shocked at the news, she and Sam just exchanged a knowing glance. After all, some things are bound to happen.
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Post by starlord on Jul 24, 2007 17:59:32 GMT -5
Carrie looked at Raven, just after Kid Flash had left, looking so hurt, but keeping her feelings to herself. Part of her wanted to hug Raven, part of her still wanted to kill her. Now she knew how Roy must feel.
Suddenly her Titans communicator went off. Raven looked at her suspiciously. Apart from Kid Flash, all of the other Titans were in that room.
Making an excuse, Carrie returned to her room and, with Ace barking in the background, she answered the call.
“Surprised?” asked Deathstroke, on the other end.
“Not at all,” she lied. “So, have you come to collect on saving my life?”
“You could say that.”
“So, what do you want? Do you want to know our secrets? Do you want me to betray my teammates? Want to know who wins the Superbowl next year?”
“Tempting offers, but, actually, I already know all of your secrets. I built your Tower after all.”
“You’re kidding.”
“Well, Silas Stone actually designed it; from beyond the grave so to speak. Actually, it’s amazing how much information I gathered on the Justice League from all of your conversations. The president remunerated me kindly for it.”
Carrie looked at Deathstroke in horror. “You spied on us... You revealed the heroes’ identities...”
“Yes, and I’m not proud of it. That’s why it’s time to call in that favor. I want you to tell me that it all turns out alright - at least on that future world of yours.”
“They call it a crisis where I come from,” she said gravely, “and they call it that for a reason.”
“Very well, then,” said Deathstroke, pondering the news. “Consider your debt paid.”
“Didn’t you mention something about my dying gloriously?” asked Carrie, remembering a previous conversation.
“I know you’ve got unresolved issues, Carrie, a world away from here. Anyway, while spying I came across the information that, during the last Crisis, Batman obtained a Mother Box.”
“A Mother what?”
“It enables travel between dimensions.”
“You mean...”
“It’s time to face your destiny, Carrie.”
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Post by starlord on Jul 24, 2007 18:00:30 GMT -5
Carrie came back from her talk with Deathstroke to find the Titans arguing among themselves about the news of the League. As she entered, they all looked to her, knowing that, with her future knowledge, she had the answers. She glanced over at Plastique who’d got around the same problem by making his mouth disappear. She just sighed and decided to call it a night.
When she got up in the morning, things had seemed to settle down somewhat. They’d now found out what she already knew about the Starros’ part in things. She thought of her world and wondered whether living under the control of the Starros would be preferable to living under the terror of Raven. Talking to Starfire, it appeared she was a bit of an expert on the Star Conqueror, who’d apparently brought peace to numerous warring parts of the galaxy – however, coming from Starfire, Carrie wasn’t wholly sure if this was intended as praise or criticism.
Unfortunately, once the Starros entered the equation, paranoia arose among some of the Titans as to whether the League itself was under the control of the Starros, which wasn’t that surprising considering the prevalence of mind control that there had been around Titans Tower in recent times.
So it was, as the League made their way towards Washington D.C., a small group of Titans attempted to stop them, or at least find out the truth. Upon their arrival, however, the League, having already been attacked many times by heroes that day, were not taken by surprise at all.
Roy opened the attack by firing a round of arrows towards Hawkman. “Hey, guys,” he yelled, “I’ve finally thought of a name.”
“About time,” said Dagon.
“Speedy,” he replied.
While the green mouse that was attacking the Atom, couldn’t resist the urge to run around shouting “Ariba! Ariba!”, Dagon looked at Roy in confusion. “But I thought you hated that name.”
“I’ve run away all my life,” he replied, ducking Hawkman’s mace, “trying to change myself, but maybe it’s time I stopped and confronted what I am. The name’s Speedy and I’m going to make it a name people remember for being a hero, not for being a washed-up sidekick. Maybe if I redeem my name then I can redeem myself.”
“Nice speech, hero,” said Hawkman, as his mace finally connected with Roy.
As Carrie looked on at Dagon attacking Hawkman, she wondered how he had the gall to criticize Roy’s choice of name, especially considering what Dagon’s name was an anagram of. Suddenly all thoughts fled from her mind, as she spotted him – the reason that she’d gone along when Sam and his history smarts had assured her that their attempt was doomed to failure. She’d been eager to meet the younger Batman; even willing to be teleported once more by Raven in order to see him. Having learned of the Mother Box, she’d wanted to ask Dick to set up a meeting, but, as usual, he was busy elsewhere.
None of that mattered now, however, as she launched herself at Batman, parrying his moves with those his older self had taught her. For a second, everything seemed back to the way it was as she ignored the chaos around her: Plastique locked with J’onn in a shape-shifting war, Element discovering that, despite her being created from clay, his powers did not work on Wonder Woman, Woodchucker realizing that he should have researched his enemy more thoroughly as he came to the embarrassing realization that it was that other Green Lantern whose weakness was wood, and Raven cloaked Superman in darkness, blocking his sunlight, but she was holding back, maybe because she was afraid of her power, maybe because she sensed the goodness in the heroes’ hearts.
Carrie didn’t notice the battle turning against them; her attention was solely on her fight with her mentor. Suddenly, seemingly just as soon as their fight had started, Raven’s darkness embraced the Titans, and Flamebird found herself staring into Batman’s eyes for what might have been the last time.
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Post by starlord on Jul 24, 2007 18:01:26 GMT -5
Batman wasn’t the only hero that Carrie Kelly thought she might have seen for the last time that day, for as they returned to Titans Tower, Element had a shock announcement:
“I quit.”
They all fell silent for a second, wondering if it was a joke, but then they saw the seriousness etched in Element’s youthful face.
“But you can’t leave, little buddy,” said a shocked Woodchucker. “The Titans need you.”
“They did once. When I joined after the Apokolips invasion, when my powers could help rebuild the city, save lives. But now they just fight villains, or heroes or sometimes themselves. I don’t think the Titans, or me, need each other at this moment in time.”
“Please reconsider,” said Donna, who’d been awaiting the Titans on their return.
“I know what I must do,” said Element regretfully. “Goodbye, my friends.”
And with that, he walked off, Woodchucker following quickly behind him, trying to change his mind, although his pleas were getting increasingly desperate. “But, Yu, the worlds needs more bald heroes.”
Carrie looked down out of the window, at the protestors below, gathered outside Titans Tower. Ever since Aquaman was declared an enemy of the state, protestors had been gathered there, demanding that their heroes either help the League or hunt them down.
Now, into that incendiary mix, she saw Element and Woodchucker exit Titans Tower. She didn’t think that Element would leave. He was the calm at the center of the storm, and would be remembered by history far more than Woodchucker who’d only be known for that golden statue.
Down below, Woodchucker hugged his friend, telling him to keep in touch, and then Element disappeared into the crowd, unruffled by their fury.
Woodchucker looked at the crowd and shook his head in disbelief as he spotted one of their placards; someone had spelt his name wrong. Then again, on the plus side, he heard a girl’s voice shouting his name, and he turned towards her to give his best toothy grin. It was then that he recognized the girl... the hair and clothes were different, but he recognized her eyes and saw the plasters on her fingers... fingers that could turn Titans Tower to dust.
”Shimmer!” he yelled, as he ran towards her, but she hadn’t come to destroy Titans Tower. No, this was purely personal; a matter of revenge.
As Woodchucker ran towards her, and saw her waving her fingers at him, he suddenly remembered a golden statue of himself that he’d seen in that other future’s Raven’s Lair, and then remembered its running pose and realized, with his final thought, that that wasn’t a statue.
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Post by starlord on Jul 24, 2007 18:02:24 GMT -5
The incident with Woodchucker had shook them all up, and Shimmer was still at large. Plus, Roy and Dagon had both had to be taken to the Towers’ medical room following Hawkman’s overzealous mace-action. Unfortunately there were more critical matters to worry about at this crucial point in history, and so it was that a diverse array of heroes gathered in the Batcave, ready to launch a rescue attempt on the Justice League members captured by the government.
Flamebird was there, but she wasn’t there to join in the rescue. She had her own battle to fight, and so she, Sam, her dog Ace, and another refugee from her world, the Ace of Clubs, stood around the Mother Box – the Ace of Clubs using her mental powers to communicate with it.
Carrie looked over at Green Arrow, determined to find Arrowette upon her arrival, while Sam looked over at Plastic Man, who he’d been talking to earlier, and they both put their index finger to their lips, in a conspiratorial manner.
And then there was a loud BOOM and Carrie and the others stepped into a boom tube and into the unknown.
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Post by starlord on Jul 24, 2007 18:02:57 GMT -5
She was home at last, although it was even more dark and oppressive than she remembered. Still it felt good to be home, where she belonged, even if part of her wished that she’d been with Batman and the other Titans during that crisis.
As she walked towards the dark horizon, Sam regaled her with tales his father had told him about what happened that day. How a group of heroes had fought against insurmountable odds, willing to sacrifice everything in the cause of justice. There were battles with Bizarros and stars fell from the sky and finally... well, that was a story for another day as they finally reached their destination.
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Post by starlord on Jul 24, 2007 18:03:31 GMT -5
Carrie looked at the blank sheet of paper she found in her pocket. Looked like it would be up to the historians to chronicle this day after all; she’d be too busy creating the future to write about it. But that was tomorrow, and tonight was a night for celebration.
“Not many here,” said Delia sarcastically, as she looked at the resurrected heroes gathered around the place – too many to list.
“Yeah, that Kid Eternity sure is something. I offered to make him an honorary Titan, but he says he refuses to play in the Little League.”
“So, he’s gone back into hiding then? Doesn’t want to join our Legion of the Dead?”
“No, he’s sticking around. First there’s a villainess he’s got to bring back.” Carrie looked over at the confused figure coming through the door. “Looks like she’s done her work.”
“Is that who I think it is?”
“Yeah, but he doesn’t know you in this reality, remember,” she reminded Arrowette.
“He’ll remember me after tonight,” said Arrowette as she walked over to introduce herself to Woodchucker.
“So, do you actually think we can win?” asked Sam, his head popping over from the far corner of the room, although his eyes were focused on the resurrected Wonder Girl.
“No, we’ll all die,” replied Carrie, being totally honest. “but that’s part of the plan.”
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Post by starlord on Jul 24, 2007 18:04:25 GMT -5
At dawn the next day, the resurrected heroes, led by Carrie Kelly, launched their assault on the Raven’s Lair. They were all here – Titans together – and she knew that they’d have to make sacrifices if they wanted to defeat Raven.
And so, just as heroes do, they began their charge, but Raven was prepared for them. One by one they fell, but it didn’t matter to Carrie, for each time they died, Kid Eternity, safely hidden away, would say his magic word and summon them back from the dead.
They didn’t make much impact on Raven’s forces, but they made some impact, and that was all that mattered. Thanks to Kid Eternity they had infinite lives, and they would fight to their last breath again and again if it meant vanquishing evil. They might not win today, they might not win tomorrow, but they’d win eventually – even if it took an eternity.
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Post by starlord on Jul 24, 2007 18:04:58 GMT -5
The End!
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