The New Titans Issue One: The Times are a Changin': Part One
Gotham Bridge, Night
Batman stands at the edge of a rooftop, looking down on Gotham's Bridge where a riot takes place, the golden fire illuminates him even from a distance. On the bridge, over two hundred men ravage everything in sight, setting cars alight and destroying the ground below them. Among the group of gang members and rioters is Killer Croc, towering over the crowd, causing the most damage.
Batman Narration:
The record for fighting a group of two hundred men is sixteen minutes. Sixteen minutes of swift and precise movements, all fitting in together like a jigsaw puzzle.
Batman looks at his utility belt, his escrima sticks look back at him.
Batman Narration:
Using the escrima sticks makes it easier. It takes away the impact of your fist breaking another man's bones. Ever since I put on the cowl, I haven't touched them. I put them in my belt every day, hardly noticing them.
Batman spreads out his cape, drops and glides down towards the bridge.
Batman Narration:
The escrima sticks charge an electrical pulse, causing an initial sting but then the after effects are made painless.
Batman lands onto the bridge, breaking the concrete below him. The men are startled for a second but then circle Batman, Killer Croc leading.
Batman Narration:
Today isn't the day to be merciful, today isn't the day to take the pain away. But then again, tonight's the night.
Police and News helicopters shine their spotlights on the scene below them, Killer Croc looks up and hisses.
Killer Croc: I'm going to tear through your flesh on the evening news!
Batman Narration:
Tonight's the night all hell breaks loose.
Killer Croc charges at Batman, who leaps over Croc and kicks his back. The rest of the riot charge at Batman, roaring in their own way. Batman strikes a battle pose, gritting his teeth. Breaking a few teeth, Batman kicks a man in the face while throwing a few batarangs at the men that surround him, he then back-flips and lands on Killer Croc. Trying to throw him off, Killer Croc grabs Batman and throws him into the rabid crowd of insane men, they converge and pile onto the Batman.
Batman Narration:
Tonight's the night I lose.
As the men leap onto him, not doing much damage, Batman opens a control panel in his gauntlet, causing a large electric blast. A bright blue light explodes in Batman's gauntlets, the fabric on his batsuit burns away, leaving dark grey underarmour. A large group of the men become startled, giving Batman the chance to leap into the crowd, taking down the thugs.
Batman Narration:
I could call for backup.
Batman spits blood, throwing smoke bombs and taking down a few men in the shadows.
Batman Narration:
No, I NEED this.
Batman leaps onto Killer Croc, pulling out a flashbang from his utility belt and crushing it against Killer Croc's ear. The flashbang explodes, causing a deafening sound and a blinding light.
Batman Narration:
I NEED to be hardened.
Batman grabs Croc's face, pulling it down and hitting it against his knee, rendering Croc unconscious.
Batman Narration:
I NEED to be strong.
He stands, solitary as the smoke clears, staring at the pile of men below him.
Batman Narration:
I NEED to be Batman
A thug runs at Batman, who swiftly turns and throws a batarang at the thug's face, knocking him over.
Batman Narration:
Seven minutes... New record.
A few miles above Asia, dawn
Cyborg Narration:
My men tell me that when they're going to the battlefield... it's only just then they realise the chance of dying. The chance that one bullet could slip through the Kevlar on their chest and kill them, almost instantly. I don't feel that. I know that I'm not going to die. I know that there's not a chance of a bullet, not even an exploding round hitting me and killing me.
Cyborg leaps into the bronze sky, holding an amazingly large plasma rifle. An enemy jet plane flies in front of him, shooting him with countless rounds of machine-gun bullets. Cyborg collides with the plane, grasping onto it. He looks at the pilot, who pulls out a small pistol and starts shooting him through the cockpit.
Cyborg Narration:
Today I feel that. That sudden sense of one hit and it's all over. I'll tell ya, it's scary.
Cyborg: Land this plane, now!
The pilot shouts a foreign language.
Cyborg Narration:
Not because of what's happening right now, though. Not because I'm clinging onto a plane with a nuke on it. No. Something much worse.
Cyborg tries to climb onto the top of the plane, but is thrown under. He quickly grabs the underside of the plane and punches roughly where the cockpit would be. Cyborg reaches up, trying to keep his balance. He grabs the pilot's leg and pulls, breaking through the cockpit and pulling the pilot out. Through the hole that the pilot left, Cyborg climbs up and manoeuvres through the jet plane, looking for the nuclear bomb.
Cyborg Narration:
Nine seconds.
Cyborg looks to the tail end of the plane, notices the bomb, grabs it and runs and breaks through the end of the jet plane. He falls into the side of a cliff, tumbling down into the canopy of a tree. Cyborg looks to his side, the bomb is safe next to him. He then hears a phone beep, he opens a compartment in his leg and pulls out his phone, he opens it and it reads, "Dick Grayson: Tonight's the night".
Cyborg: Dispatch, I'm going to need a chopper.
The Watchtower, Meeting Room
A few costumed heroes walk out through the door but two people stay. The two people are Donna Troy and Barbara Gordon, Oracle. A giant window is behind them, looking down on Earth. A few people are seen walking out of the door, the door closes behind them.
Barbara: It's been two years since our last session, Donna. I don't really understand why you're here
Donna: Nothing, nothing happened. I just feel helpless, like something's coming and I can't stop it. The nightmares, the constant...
Barbara: Nightmares? The car...?
Donna: It had nothing to do with Robert.
Barbara: Then what happened?
Donna stays silent.
Barbara: Do you have any idea what it means?
Donna: It means tonight's the night.
Barbara: Do you mean...?
Donna: It's today.
Barbara: I can come with you, I can talk to Dick... Just let me help you.
Donna stays silent.
Barbara: Something is coming to Titans Tower and it's gonna bring HELL to the world, you can't face that on your own.
Donna turns to Barbara.
Donna: That's what the Titans are for.
Raven's Apartment, Morning
Raven lies in bed, she twists and turns. Nightmares stalk her, she seems terrified. Her desk floats and so does her bed. Her window cracks and wakes her up in shock. Panting, she looks to the window. Raven looks to the desk beside her bed, it drops. She hears her cat meow and her phone beep. Raven picks up her phone, she looks at it, a text reads "Dick Grayson: Tonight's the night". Raven's face swiftly becomes emotionless and pale as her window shatters. The desk shoots out of the wall into the street, she hears a crash from the ground. The apartment turns inside out as the walls close in, her bed breaks apart and the floors shatter. She looks to her wardrobe, the doors open and a dark smoke-like entity consumes her, dressing her in her a black, smoke filled hooded cloak.
City Street, Morning
Raven descends from her apartment, tearing the building down brick by brick. As Raven lands gracefully, the ground below her caves in and she begins to walk through the street, creating a path of destruction behind her. A tear drops from her eye and as it lands, everything is restored. As rocks, bricks and pieces of wood rise up before her, she stares at the sun.
Raven Narration:
Last chance to see the morning sun.
Raven rises and flies quickly but gracefully towards the sun, the wind blowing her long cloak.
Tamaranian Space Station, Sector 2814
Starfire, in a white space cadet uniform, leaps away from a giant cthulu-like monster. Futuristic technology folds in on itself, being crushed by the monster. Starfire runs up the walls, the space station being turned upside-down by the weight of the monster, sparks flying from behind her. One of the tentacles reaches to grab her but Starfire leaps and turns, shooting an energy blast at the tentacle. The tentacle retracts, but the giant multi-eyed face shoots towards Starfire, biting her leg. Starfire fires a few energy blasts but they prove ineffective, she then tries to kick the monster away. Sparks still flying in her face, Starfire notices a loose cable and shoves it in one of the eyes of the monster, startling it for a quick second. Starfire's phone beeps in her pocket.
Starfire: I'm slaying a Thanagarian Snare Beast and someone wants to chat!?
Starfire shoots multiple energy blasts, each startling the Snare Beast for a moment. Her phone keeps beeping. The Snare Beast hits Starfire against a wall, the wall collapsing as she hits it. A long rope with a handle at the end of it drops before her, Starfire notices the writing on the handle, 'Airlock'. Starfire pulls on the handle and the airlock, quite beaten up, opens, dragging the Snare Beast out into deep space. She holds onto the handle, the air trying to pull her into space. Starfire pulls out her phone, a text reads "Dick Grayson: Tonight's the night".
Starfire: Today?
Releasing her hand from the handle, Starfire is pulled out of the space station.
Starfire: Gravity shields.
A Starfire sized forcefield appears around her and she starts crash landing towards Earth. The Snare Beast floats below her, while falling, she grabs it and uses it as a shield. The Snare Beast and Starfire both plummet towards Earth as the Snare Beast starts burning up in Earth's atmosphere.
A few miles outside of Titans Tower, night
Beast Boy rides on his Harley Davidson past forest-like terrain towards Titans Tower.
Beast Boy Narration:
Nine years and still lit up. I owe Vic five dollars.
He wears his classic white and red costume with a biker jacket over it.
Beast Boy Narration:
Can't frickin' wait. Nine years, nine years without the Titans. Didn't think they'd survive without me. Vic, Kory, Raven, Dick, Donna... The Beast-Rider.
Beast Boy slaps the side of the seat.
Beast Boy Narration:
Hell yeah, The Beast-Rider!
Titans Tower, night
Beast Boy stands before the gigantic beacon of light that is Titans Tower. It tower over him, giving Beast Boy a look of amazement and childhood wonder. The Tower lets out a blinding light, still working after all these years. Beast Boy looks up, a comet is flying towards the Tower, he looks to the left, and Raven descends. A helicopter hovers above him, he can barely see Cyborg inside.
Beast Boy: Well, well... the saints are coming.
Ten Years Earlier, somewhere...
Beast Boy and Cyborg sit together, with a pen and paper. Cyborg looks less armoured, less powerful. More humanity is shown, his face full of emotion, a full head of hair. Both around fifteen, Beast Boy being the younger of the two. Beast Boy wears his costume, red and white, a bowl-haircut, the same as in the future. Across from them are the rest of the Titans, stoic and worn. Dick Grayson, Nightwing. Wearing blue, yellow and a darker blue, the colours shoot out and are a marvel to the eyes. Dark but full of personality. Raven, her cloak draped over wears dark blue, her hood shadowing her face. Donna Troy, Wonder Girl stands straight, battle worn in a bright red costume, holding a traditional Greek sword. Finally, Starfire in a bright purple Tamaranian royal suit, her hair big and a smile always on her face, even just a slight smirk. They all stay in a large empty New York City, where cars are driven by themselves. The New York breeze of business is absent, leaving a hollow shell of a city, with only the Titans to populate it. In the distance lies an abnormal T-shaped building, bright light jumps out of it as it stands on the edge of a hill, staring out into the rest of the city.
Cyborg: Not a shared dream state. It's a...
Beast Boy: A f*cking pocket dimension!
Cyborg: Pottymouth.
Nightwing's eyes widen, but then return to their normal state.
Nightwing Narration:
No idea how long we've been here. We haven't aged a day. We haven't got any perception of time. Just a battlefield full of weird stuff.
Raven: How did you come to this conclusion?
Beast Boy: Geez, lighten up. Take a sec to celebrate, we're getting out of here.
Cyborg: Not definitely. But we can at least TRY to get out of here.
Donna Troy: So how do we do that?
Cyborg: The watchtower.
Nightwing: Of course!
Cyborg: The watchtower has the farthest reach in any universe. We need to get to the nucleus.
Starfire: Like a cell? I'm sorry, Victor, but I do not think getting to the nucleus of a cell is going to help us.
Nightwing: No, Kory. Every pocket dimension has a centre, a nucleus. It's there so the creators have a way to make contact with the outside.
Raven: But the nucleus needs to have relevance to the occupiers, something in common if you will.
Beast Boy Narration:
We don't know where we are, we don't know how long we've been here. We don't know anything. I know one thing, I've got the Titans.
WHERE are the past Titans and WHAT the events that led them there? Also, WHAT'S coming to Titans Tower and HOW can the Titans stop it? Keep reading The New Titans to find out.
To be continued...