Teen Titans in Colors

God Complex: A Very Long Night

The stranger named Oz sat on the bed. The very elaborate, dark, almost Gothic bed...

Raven's bed. The fact that this guy was in Raven's room is creepy, yes? I thought so. Anyways, he was sitting on Raven's bed, writing in a spiral bound notebook and occasionally petting Silkie, Starfire's pet giant moth larva.

He had observed that Tara, oddly enough, was no longer stone—though she had been in this world—and that she had been coming by every other day to give the insect a few—very few—zorkaberries so that he stayed alive but did not become a giant again.

Oz had done a good job of keeping his presence hidden from the girl, but she had never been the most adept at assessing threats if he knew her half as well as he thought he did.

Then again, apprenticeship to an assassin the caliber of 'Slade' was something he hadn't ever known Tara to have, though he had observed it by means of technology. Either way, it was clear that this was not the same dimension he had observed that day; Ragnarök was the wild card here, as was Slade's son Grant and Delirium's destruction of Tamaran. They had changed things, and that made this world different than any already known. And he was keeping this all in his notebook.

Well, notebooks, plural, as he had several more in the place he was staying, all of them full. The oddest thing that had diverged in this reality so far was that Sue Dinby, wife of Ralph Dinby, aka Elongated Man of the JLU, was running for president. Oz assumed some inter-universal karma was at work there.

He closed the notebook and lay back on the bed, scratching Silkie's belly as he contemplated what his next move should be. Were these guys ready? They had had it so much easier so far than his team. No Trigon in early 'Year Two', no psychopaths destroying half the town. As far as he could tell, nobody had even DIED in any of the Titans' battles so far, with the exception of the now-resurrected Slade, and Blackfire, who's apparent return they had left the world to investigate. Or so went the story according to the spying that Oz had done at STAR Labs and what he'd overheard from the Titans East.

Well, a bunch of Tamaranians had bit the metaphorical dust, or big one if you prefer, when Delirium destroyed the planet, but other than that, Jump City, California was a much nicer place than the town Oz was used to.

Gradually as he sat and contemplated this, a low rumble barely caught his attention. Then it started to grow into a rather large rumble, and the tower around him began to shake. Oz darted out of Raven's room and through the convoluted corridors to Ops, where he just saw the orange tail of what looked like a giant manta ray arc over top the tower, where the rumbling changed into a dull vibration that gradually grew louder as if to indicate landing... The Titans were back.
"Oh... bugger," Oz said.

oooo

Starfire and Robin were the only two Titans left awake after Cyborg had confirmed that the Wyrms were indeed more docile. Robin typically stayed up late, a side effect of being Batman's ward.

Starfire, on the other hand, simply couldn't sleep. She couldn't seem to shake the feeling she'd done something horrible to her sister, and Robin stayed with her, trying to convince her she wasn't thinking clearly, or at least comfort her in some way. "Blackfire was a criminal. She didn't earn or deserve the life at the Institute."

"Yes," said Kori sadly. "But I cannot help but think that perhaps she would have done great things had she become a Galaxy Officer."

Robin sighed. Star just wouldn't see reason. She was too emotional about it. "Maybe you'll feel better once we get some sleep. You took quite a beating and I'm sure you're exhausted."

Starfire nodded, and then smiled at Robin. "Thank you," she said.

Robin gulped. "For.. what?"

"For trying to help me. For staying up with me... for being my friend." Starfire leaned forward and kissed Robin on the forehead, causing him to sweatdrop.

Robin laughed nervously, and then, took of his mask. He knew his face must have turned red, and he felt like his sweat was about to boil into steam. "It's really no problem, Star." He meant it.

"Thank you anyway, really."

He considered saying he would do it for anyone on the team, but then realized the only one he'd do it for besides Starfire was Raven, and that even then he'd be reluctant. So he just said nothing but, "Uh... You're welcome."

oooo

Kori leaned back, stroking Silkie. The little larva had seemed agitated, and he kept looking around, as if some unseen danger was lurking somewhere. Or maybe it was just Starfire's imagination.

Robin picked up the remote, oddly enough in the right place, and turned on the TV. Thanks to Batman, (who Robin had always, when asked how Batman funded his war on crime, said that he had powerful financial backing)the Titans had access to pretty much any news channel in the world, and several alien ones that the JLU routed to Earth, so Robin spent many a night watching the news around the world. It was best to be informed, he always said. Starfire noticed that his free hand was on the sofa, on the coushion in between them, and, barely knowing what she was doing, she reached out and took his hand in hers.

Robin glanced over, and started to recoil. But Starfire held, so he stopped resisting. Well, Starfire thought, the night wasn't a total loss. Not a word was spoken as the two watched the TV. Starfire still felt bad about the ordeal with her sister... but with her and Robin here together, it would all be alright. She was sure of it.

oooo

From a tiny, dark, cramped, uncomfortable—

"I get the idea already," Oz interrupted with a sharp whisper, shifting on his bum.

—closet, the stranger watched, using a tiny night vision lens to see his notebook. He did not dictate. No, Robin would hear something if he did. He had been locked in the closet for seven hours, using every trick he could think of to fool Cyborg's sensors, Beast Boy's nose, and Raven's telepathy, and since they were finally asleep, only the two lovebirds remained.

'Well, here's another difference, Oz wrote. Starfire and Robin are in year three of the Teen Titans and are just now starting to take their relationship anywhere.' Well, that wasn't the most professional way to take notes, but it was how he felt.

'Robin seems rather oblivious to her affections, and was outright embarrassed when she kissed him. This indicates that this Starfire has never been pregnant. Well, thank God for the small blessings of this more innocent world.'

He new that unless the laws of genetics had been repealed, any attempt at Koriand'r and Tim to have a child together would end in disaster.

Oz shifted again, trying not to make any excessive noise... He didn't know how much longer it would be before the last of the Titans would go to bed, but it troubled him to remember that he had Tim pull all-nighters before. Then again, without any cases at the moment, he had no reason to stay up...

Though—Oz's train of thought was interrupted by a yawn, and by making sure it was silent as possible. I'm getting quite sleepy myself, he thought...

Suddenly, Oz snapped awake and realized he had dozed off. He looked at his watch and realized that two hours had passed. "Bugger!" he blurted, then realized where he was and glanced out... only to see that the Robin and Starfire were gone. And he saw what had awakened him too: a flashing light on the map of Jump City that was displayed on the TV.

They had been called out in the middle of the night. And as bad as such things tended to be, it was Oz's only chance to get out of the tower undetected... And so, he did.

oooo -earlier- oooo

He was waiting on her to come near. And it was obvious what he wanted. Blood. Maybe worse. He'd been stalking her since she'd left the convenience store.

The big burly man with the knife. He was one of them. Those worthless people that could only kill and steal and destroy. They all deserved death. And there was one who would bring that death, finally.

He was wearing a baby blue tunic, with massive sleeves and a belt of violet And it bore his crest—the hourglass. After all, it was only a matter of time before judgment struck, and he was the one who delivered it.

She drew near the evil man, and he started to move. And so it was time for the avenger to make his.

The girl... it saddened him. She couldn't have been older than twelve. And the man had to be close to forty. A murderer, undoubtedly, possibly a pedophile. How could anyone have such evil in their hearts?

No matter. They would fall before him, the moonlight bearing witness that he was doing his duty. Justice would reign in this lawless city, though why he had been drawn to it specifically was lost on him.

This isn't right, the old voice told him. It lied. It was his duty to rid the world of evil! He would...

The evil man approached the young girl and drew a knife. Even far above the scene as the robed man was, he could hear the young girl gasp. The evil man licked his lips in a sickening declaration of his own perversion, and the girl picked up her pace. So did the evil man. She broke into a jog, and so did he.

...she sprinted. He followed, though his gait was impaired, probably by drugs or alcohol. Or the dark desires weighing down his heart...

The girl turned into an alley... but it was a dead end. And the evil man that pursued her soon followed, closing in.

"Don't be scared, little girl," he said, though the look on his face said otherwise. "I won't be too rough with you. Any money in that nice little purse of yours?"

"Stay away from me!" the girl warned. Or pleaded, it was hard to tell.

"Oh, the big girl wants to talk big?" The evil man mocked. His speech was slightly slurred, but he wasn't wasted. He knew full well what he was doing.

It was time for the robed man to act. Just as the girl raised her hands, just as the evil man began to lunge, he descended on the monster with a vengeance, driving his foot into the man's face and following up with a kick to the groin, and a jab to the neck. The little girl gasped behind him at her rescuer.

"What the..." the evil man blurted, recovering. He began cursing at his attacker, and demanded to know who it was...

The attacker told him.

"My name?" he said in a low growl. "My name is Emmanuel. And God has sent me to punish the wicked."

The evil man guffawed. They always guffawed. The wicked laughed in the face of God's vengeance. His wrath amused them. They would have to be punished. "You mock me, chosen by the Staff of Judgment to slay the wicked? Then you die."

And then, the spikey-haired young man—he couldn't have been much older than twenty, if that old—aimed the metal rod he'd been carrying, the head of which flared up. It had words on it, but they were faded, the sticker on which the were writ having been torn or burned off, and giving the appearance of an inscription in some arcane language...

But the S.T.A.R. Labs symbol was clearly visible, twin stars dawning over a new world. All that was lost to the three gathered, as Emmanuel pulled the firing mechanism, and a bolt of yellow energy lashed out from the Staff, slamming into the evil man's left shoulder and blowing his arm clean off.

Then a second bolt struck him in the knee, which exploded into charred bone and red vapour. Then a third bold struck him dead center of the chest as he fell, the entire remnats of his body exploding into ash and vapour...

"It is done," said Emmanuel.

He turned around and saw the girl cowering behind him against the ally. "Omigosh!" She blurted. "You psycho! You killed him! You just murdered him!"

Emmanuel was aghast. Did this girl just...? "Do you not know what that man was going to do to you, girl?" he blurted.

She nodded, "Yes, and I can take care of MYSELF!" As she said this, she raised both hands, and fire ignited around her, and blasted forth from her hands towards Emmanuel.

But the self-proclaimed dealer of judgment held out the Staff and twirled it rapidly, blocking all the fire. He was no longer shocked, just annoyed. "You can control the elements." It was more statement than question. "Fire."

"Well, yeah. They don't call me Firebrand for no reason! And I don't go killing people like a psychopath!" The girl started to run away...

But she had offended him! God's agent of Judgment! That would not stand.

You're a friggin' retard, the Old Voice told him.

He ignored it. It was really just the demon Severus Snape trying to convince him to abandon his mission. He would show the forces of hell what he was made of. The Staff had come to him!

Severus Snape is a Harry Potter character, moron.

"Harry Potter is the chief of all demons," Emmanuel told his Old Voice.

You used to say that about Wart from Mario II. And Slimer the ghost before that.

"You will not fool me, Snape!" Emmanuel cried.

He leapt up the fire escape, and once again onto the roof of the building, and saw the girl running south down the sidewalk, parallel to the bay. He ran, calling upon his heavenly powers to get him from building to building as he outran th girl, and jumped from the rooftop, falling down and landing in front of her.

"You have offended me." Emmanuel said. He whipped out his staff and slammed the bottom into the girl's face.

Why do you have to do this? She cant be older than twelve!" the Old Voice protested.

Emmanuel let loose another beam, that slammed into the girl. And in a flash of light, only ashes remained.

I hate you, monster, the Old Voice said.

"The only monsters are those I say are monsters," Emmanuel reminded. And with that... he left.

oooo

And so, this tragedy brings us back to the present, where the Titans were called into by the police to investigate the apparent metahuman double homicide.

It was bad, at least as bad as the Titans had seen so far. In one spot, there was an arm and a leg disembodied, the fingerprints of which identified it as a Marshal Grabner, an ex-convict who had been released on parole after a tragic child molestation case two years earlier.

"Ugh, it's cold out here," Beast Boy complained. "I'm freezing my tail off!" He had transformed into a fox to keep warm, and therefore literally had a tail.

"It's October," Raven sighed. "What did you expect? We have more important things to worry about anyway."

"Yeah, man," Cyborg admonished, "Star and Robin didn't even get any sleep. At least we got some."

Collin zipped up his jacket. "Was it really necessary to have all of us out here? I mean what good am I at detective work? Do I look like a Gary Stu?"

The Titans shot Ragnarök a glance.

"Don't answer that," Collin said.

Robin looked up from the instruments he was using. "Energy weapon," he determined. "High yield, whatever it was."

"You mean this was a tech kill, not a metahuman kill?" Cyborg asked.

"Right. Otherwise, I got nothing. Who would want to kill an ex con who had ratted nobody out? He just got out today, and it wasn't very well known." Robin sighed. Perhaps Bruce could help him out. "Any suggestions?" he asked of his team.

"His victim, perhaps," Raven offered.

"You think he had reverted to his old ways..?" Robin reasoned.

"That would explain this," Cyborg said, picking up a knife that had been half obscured by foliage growing through the cracks in between building and pavement.

"Point taken," Robin sighed. Another rousing success of reform from the justice system, he thought sarcastically.

Starfire yawned; she had been a bit distant the whole time. She wasn't much of a detective, possessing no special sensory powers and having no training. But she did have a rather good idea. "Raven, why not try and use your psychic powers to get an emotional reading from the remains?"

"You mean like residual empathic power?" Raven asked.

"Um, yeah, what she said," Beast Boy replied.

"It could work." Raven knelt over the ashes. Knowing where they had come from freaked her out, but it came with the job. "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos. Azarath Metrion Zinth..."

Suddenly her minds was filled with images: a young girl... running—he was stalking her.. and then, someone... someone from the shadows descending like... The Batman? No. He wore a light blue tunic, and his hair was a massive mess of spikes, almost Super Saiyan caliber. And... His symbol, on his chest. Not a bat...

"An hourglass," Raven said as she came out of the momentary trance.

"What?" Robin asked her.

"I saw an hourglass. It was the last thing before pain filled his mind. Whoever did this was human, but he wore an hourglass emblem across his chest."

"Like an Hourman?" Collin asked.

"Hourman was a Justice Society member," Robin warned. "And a hero, not a murderer."

"Just a thought."

"What about the other one?" Starfire asked, hovering over to the other pile of ashes.

"It's worth a shot," Cyborg said.

Reluctantly, Raven again knelt in the human ashes, these scattered more by the light chilly breeze due to not being sequestered in the safety of the alley. And it washed over her again, the feeling of dread as the man with the hourglass on his chest approached, and the fear as he hit her, and aimed the metal staff at her...

Then nothing. No sudden pain, no cry of horror... her mental residue just ended like a VCR tape breaking...

"Odd." Raven said. By this time the rest of the Titans and several patrol officers had gather around them. "This one went painlessly. But it was the same guy."

"Besides an hourglass on his chest, is there anything unusual about this guy?" one of the cops asked.

Raven nodded. "He is dressed in a big tunic, lavender or light blue. And his hair is wild."

"How wild?" Beast Boy asked, smoothing back his own.

"Think Super Saiyan level two," Raven said. "Yes, I know Dragon Ball Z."

Several of the Titans goggled at her.

"I didn't say I LIKED it Raven shot back defensively."

"Titans, enough. We have to get to work. It's three now. We search till five, then rest. This guy will stick out like a sore thumb in broad daylight, so I'm guessing he operates only at night."

"Sort of like Batman." Cyborg said.

"Nothing like Batman," Robin shot back. "Batman isn't a murderer." Robin knew he probably overreacted, but he had been severely defensive of Bruce lately. Mostly because of him reading stupid superhero forums claiming they had proof that Bruce Wayne was the mysterious super villain Slade.

"Right. Well, Rob. How should we split up?" inquired Cyborg.

"You and Collin take the T-Car and search the South End. Beast Boy, become the warmest fish you can think of and search the bay. He may have meta human abilities or diving gear, and we don't know how old these murders are."

"What about us," Starfire asked, indicating her and Raven.

"Raven, you search the Tobias-Westron district," Robin said. "Starfire, take me back to the island, and then head down town. I'll search the North Side on the R-Cycle."

All the Titans nodded in confirmation of their orders. Starfire wrapped her arms around Robin from behind.

"Titans, GO."

oooo

And far away, in another district of the city, an older, poor district, where chaos and evil were tolerated, even considered commonplace, another shadow, a creature of the night loomed. But whereas one served his own madness only, this one truly served the Light.

He watched, even as the man made his way into the apartment, looming over, sensing the evil that was about to be purveyed...

"Hey, ho," he said, looming over the woman on her bed. His voice was coarse and disrespectful. "You gonna give me whut I want, now," he whispered, as she awoke, slamming his filthy hand over her mouth before she could scream. "You gonna give me whut I want, and you not gonna scream about nothing, or I slit your throat open..."

The woman nodded, terror in her eyes, but behind it, defiance. She was not an evil soul. She did not deserve this...

The man started to pull at her gown, and at that moment, the woman reacted. Flipping over and kicking him in the head, she reached under her pillow, and removed...

A revolver.

And even though his head had to be ringing from that kick, he saw the gun coming and slashed at the woman's hands, cutting into them and causing her to drop the gun.

Then she screamed, and in a selfish rage, the man drove his knife into her stomach, pulling it out and stabbing her again. Her gown was now sticky with blood, and her yells were even louder...

Suddenly, out of the shadows above her bed, eyes appeared. Followed by a body, sheer white and luminescent, wrapped in a green cloak.

The Spirit of Vengeance—the REAL one. The Voice of the Almighty had lead him here, and he now knew why.

Of course, the thug didn't know that, he just knew a ghost was attacking him, or something... So he retaliated in kind, jabbing his bloody knife at the apparition in front of him.

Th phantom just blocked it with an open palm, and the knife melted, on contact, the metal exploding back onto the thug's face, searing it. He screamed.

The woman in her bed continued to whimper.

He now punched at the spirit, his knife broken. But the phantom caught his hand. Pain shot up the thug's arm, as the power of the phantom shot into it, boiling the blood and turning the flesh to stone... and then the phantom ripped it off, ashes spewing from the empty socket.

"What are you?" The thug demanded, staggering backwards. "You a demon or something."

The phantom just shook his head, and grabbed the villain by the shirt, dragging him close and staring into his eyes. And he caught fire. Not normal fire, but a white fire, a fire of purification... It consumed his whole body, his overheated bones bursting into ashes as his flesh ignited...

When it was over, only a pile of charred human matter and a knife handle remained.

He turned to the woman, bleeding and cowering in her bed, praying for protection, praying not to die, for this demon to vanish. The phantom was no demon. He just extended his hand, and spoke. "Heal," he said. Suddenly, the wounds, even the blood drawn vanished "Sleep, and forget." And with that, the phantom faded. There was still some great evil in this city. He had to find it. And as he faded, the woman fell into pleasant dreams, her wounds and fear vanished. One would-be victim saved. But so many more still in danger of the ever-growing evil of the world.

oooo

It was at four-thirty in the morning when the exhausted Titans finally got a lead on the case. A Rosetta Parkinson had awoken in the middle of the night after a disturbing nightmare to find a pile of ashes that had once been a human being on her floor.

She knew this, because the top half of the skull was still intact and rested neatly atop the pile.

"And you're sure you heard nothing, unusual?" Robin asked the woman, an middle-aged African-American seamstress (that looked ten years younger than she was) who had fled the slums of the east coast twenty odd years earlier, only to end up in slums on the west coast. Still, she didn't complain. She had her life, and her daughter...

"No, sir." she replied. "Though I did have an awful dream before I woke up."

"What kind of dream?" Robin asked her.

"I don't really remember." She admitted.

Robin turned to Raven. They were the only Titans there, at the moment, though. Ragnarök was outside seeing if he could spot their killer trying to flee the scene, and the other three were still patrolling town.

"Raven," he said, "see what you can learn here. The energy readings I'm getting don't match what I found at the other two crime scenes."

Raven nodded and picked up a handful of the ash. "Azarath, Metrion, Zinth.."

BOOM!

A flash of light blasted Raven back against the wall, and power surged through her. Holy energy; the kind that burned half demons. Raven felt weakened and looked at her hand, and wished she hadn't, as there was a massive circular burn covering the palm.

"Raven! Are you Okay?" Robin blurted.

"I..." She looked at her hand again, and she knew exactly who was in Jump City. "No, I'm not."

"What?"

"Robin... HE, is here..."

"Who?"

Raven inhaled. "The Spectre."

Author's Note: The Spectre is one of DC comics' oldest major characters. For more information, look him up on Wikipedia or search MoviePoopShoot's "Comics 101" database for more details.