Reprise & Explanations

Seth made it back to Titan Tower quick enough, though he wondered if he'd been followed. It wouldn't surprise him. Wrapped in his bloodstained trench coat, he fled, his destination being the only home he'd known in the past several weeks. Nobody gave him much quarrel seeing that one, he was a Titan, and two, there was something obviously wrong with him due to the fact that there was so much miscellaneous blood and gore painted on his coat.

He looked forward, his vision dazed. Ahead, the paved roadway that led to the Tower beckoned him in all its asphalt glory. An angry storm grew in intensity above, Seth trying to shuffle forward as quickly as he could. Seconds passed and the water began to fall. In torrents and sheets it came, making the journey all the more difficult for him. But he had seen worse, much worse, and a mere shotgun blast to the torso and some rain was not going to stop him from reaching his destination.

Seth could already feel the healing agents that ran through his bloodstream working feverishly to repair the damage that had been done. With each cell nourished and rejuvenated, he approached. Eventually, Seth arrived at the entrance of the Titan Tower. He punch the access pad that allowed him entrance and the door slid open, taking no moment to spare. Seth stalked into the main entrance hallway and over to the elevator, nearly healed. A gasp of air and a deep exhale and the wound was gone. The Titans would likely be in the rec room, if he'd learned anything about how the teens handled their spare time. He paced into the elevator, dialing in the floor number. A moment later and the doors slid open to reveal a familiar, short hallway.

Seth quickly made his towards the room and when he entered, the Titans turned to stare at him.

Robin didn't waste any time in gathering answers. "What the hell is going on?"

Blood splattered his trench coat, hands and face, now on display in the bright, unforgiving light of the Titan Tower. Seth walked over to one of the chairs in the room and sat down, panting softly. Rapid rejuvenation took it out of him every time, but at least it was temporary.

"I suppose it's about time I let you know. One of you might pay attention," Seth said, glancing at Raven.

"Don't give me that crap," Robin pointed a finger at him, "how about you tell me everything or-"

"Or I break your finger into little pieces and ship it around the city?" Seth's cold gaze transfixed itself onto Robin's eyes.

Starfire giggled.

"Look Robin," Seth sighed, "I know, you're in charge, right? You're not in charge of what's here, what's coming – so instead of waving your dick around, how about you sit down and listen."

"Well-"

Cyborg nudged him, "You should probably shut up."

Robin fell silent, murmuring beneath his breath.

"Now that that's done with," Seth exhaled, "I suppose I should begin. It all started back when I was born My mother contracted a sickness, I hear, and died when I was around a year old. My father could not live with the grief and committed suicide a year later. I was sent to an orphanage, and not even a year after that, me and a few others were snatched up by the government. They experimented on us, trying out new procedures and biologically altering things, using genetics and whatnot. I was the only survivor of the whole thing. For years, as I grew, so did my… gifts. I became stronger, faster, smarter, but I also gained other abilities. My senses sharpened. I had chemicals inserted into my bloodstream to repair any damage done to me. By the time I was ten, I was stronger than most men and had seen more combat than most soldiers. But I learned something... I learned that they planned to use me as a weapon.

So I killed them. All of them. Then I went underground and a couple years later I arrived in Grant City. The police saw me for my worth, eventually. Since life was difficult I had to resort to violence and stealing. The police caught me one day and offered a deal once they saw my abilities. Food, shelter and clothing if I helped them out with the toughest of criminals.

Seeing the advantage, I agreed. For two years, I tracked down their worst criminals in the city and murdered them all. Wasn't anyone left to kill after I'd gone to town for a few months. So when a series of murders began to occur, I was called in. There had been ten so far, all exactly the same, all in the slums of the city. The bodies… decapitated by brute force, spinal column and all. I searched and searched for clues, but none could never be found.

No hair, no blood, no DNA samples, no fingerprints. It was mind boggling. Finally, about a month ago, I discovered some of what was going on. I was investigating another murder in the slums when I was confronted..."

Seth went quiet.

"By what?" Robin asked.

"He was tall, buff, perfectly groomed blond hair and icy, clear blue eyes. He wore a really expensive suit and spoke in a deep, rolling voice. He was perfect. Frighteningly perfect. He explained to me what exactly he was, and the nature of the murders. He wasn't form Earth, but somewhere else… sent from long ago. Centuries, eons, ages, I don't know. It could have been since the dawn of time itself. I have no idea. But he asked me strange questions, like, why was I here? Why was I in Grant City, doing such pathetic work? Why had I not come to him yet?

I didn't know what he was talking about. He spoke like he knew me. Of course, I did not believe him at first, when he me he was a demon, or something like it. I attempted to arrest him, but the man simply disappeared into thin air. Natas Black was his name. I became obsessed with finding this Natas Black. I searched everywhere: newspapers, birth records, police records, but everywhere I looked, it became painfully clear. Natas Black did not exist. There were no traces of him, which should have been impossible being in this day and age. No fingerprints, DNA, birth records, nothing. I'd given up. It only made sense then that things changed. He confronted me. I shot him, I stabbed him, I threw a grenade at him, I managed to throw him onto some electrical wires, I got some arsenic into his system through the tip of a knife, but he wouldn't die/ More importantly, it seemed to be doing little, if any, damage to him at all. He grew tired of it, I guess, and transformed into something else. Something I can't describe, even if I wanted to. What you saw in the warehouse was just one of his many forms.

"I quickly recovered and began my search again, even harder than last time. But something was happening... the city... was destroying itself. Consuming itself. The crime rate soared. It seemed that everyone wanted to kill, rape or steal, sometimes all of the above. The cops were doing everything they could, but it was madness. Eventually I found out that all along, I had been playing into his plans by searching for him. So, I did something out of the ordinary, something not expected. Something I regret. The city ran on a very powerful, very large power plant. The place was going to shit anyway, so I set the reactor to overload and got the hell out of there. I thought I had killed him once and for all, but it seems that I did not.

I wasted all of those lives, for nothing. Part of me wants to believe that those… people, whatever they were after Natas had his way with them, were beyond saving. Another part of me doesn't believe that. I get to live with it every day... And that's my story," Seth fell silent, looking down at his hands.

No one uttered a word as Obsidian gazed into what appeared to be nothing. "Natas Black is beyond good and evil. This city is going to start ripping itself apart minute by the minute now. I saw what was left of one of the outskirts, perhaps in a vision – not sure which. It's starting any by the end of the week, this place will be a mecca of evil."

"That explains a lot," Starfire sighed.

"What do you mean?" Cyborg scratched his chin.

She shrugged. "I guess Natas can influence people, yes Seth?"

"Yes and I'm sure it's already started in each and every one of you," he sighed.

"Well, I don't believe it," Robin scoffed.

"I really don't give a shit," Seth replied as he got to his feet and headed out of the room.

The others started in on some heated debate. Seth had already made his speech – he was done talking for the night. Now, he was going to have to find a way to kill Natas Black all over again. He returned to his room, to ponder and research the city some more. Seth stopped at the opening of his door, staring. A medium sized black cat lay sprawled out on the edge of his bed. His cluttered noises and clumsy use of the door must have woken it from its sleep; it looked around slowly, as if confused somehow, then looked quizzically up at Seth. The small, furry animal meowed once in a rather unique tone then slid back into sleep. He saw a collar, looking at the name inscribed upon its tag.

There was just one word embossed on the metal piece: Myrlan. Where in the hell did this come from? He paused, trying to connect the dots on how a black cat wound up in his room. Perhaps it was from the other day when he'd been roaming the streets, though it could have been one of the Titans' pets. He sighed, slouching onto the bed. The cat purred, ignoring his motions. He closed his eyes and put his face into his palms, groaning.

Down the hall, he could hear the Titans arguing.