"Titans: Legacies"
Chapter 9: "Shadow of the Day"
Disclaimer: Teen Titans and the larger universe it inhabits do not belong to me, but to DC Comics and Time Warner. I make no monetary profit from this story whatsoever.
Author's note: And now, it's the end of the first arc of my next-generation Titans story. The older Titans have arrived to save the day, but how well will they fare against Deathstroke and his Reverse-Titans? Not to mention, how will the new Titans take their arrival, and will the older Titans' presence be enough to turn the tide? For the answers to those questions and others, read on.
"What are you doing here?" Nightstar asked, startled.
"Let's just say we're here to save your asses and leave it at that," Red Arrow (Roy) answered.
"Besides, it's not like we can let this bastard kill you where we founded the Titans in the first place," the Flash (Wally) added.
"Protecting your legacy," Deathstroke hissed. "That's admirable."
The assassin lunged into a fast attack on Batman, only for Nightstar to dart in front of him and block his sword with her bare hand. She channeled her starbolt energy through the blade, but Deathstroke let go before the energy could reach him and jumped back. Undeterred, Nightstar merely flipped the sword so that she was holding it by its hilt.
"Impressive reflexes," Deathstroke hissed. "You truly are your parents' child."
"Shut up," Nightstar spat, slashing Deathstroke with his own sword. Deathstroke took advantage of Nightstar's closeness and aimed a palm thrust for her stomach. Nightstar flipped back and threw herself into an aerial kick, only for Deathstroke to flip over her . . . and take back his sword. Nightstar merely landed gracefully on her feet and turned to face the assassin.
Deathstroke chuckled darkly. "Truly, I knew from the start that you'd be more than a handful."
"What are you talking about?" Nightstar asked indignantly.
"You mean your father didn't tell you? Very well. Allow me to enlighten you." The smirk was audible in his voice. "During my ill-fated truce with your father's Titans, I got to see you. It was only a little while after you were born . . . and even then, I knew you'd be more than a handful when you grew up." The smirk turned into something of a cruel leer. "I'm glad to see I've been proven right."
A Batarang flew at Deathstroke, only for the mercenary to catch it and throw it back at Batman with equal skill. Batman dodged the Batarang while Red Arrow and Red Hood began firing their arrows at Deathstroke, who dodged or caught those arrows with inhuman speed. Black Canary dashed in front of Deathstroke with a swift kick to the midsection, the force sending the mercenary flying back. However, he rolled to his feet upon landing on the ground and Executrix flipped over him, sword extended to attack Black Canary.
Inertia sped toward Ravager (Rose), who was costumed in indigo-black and sky blue, only for Ravager to block his attack. "Saw you," she whispered before kneeing him in the solar plexus and chopping his back.
Inertia rose to his feet, but before he could attack again Impulse was on him, shunting between this dimension and the Speed Force to confuse Inertia's senses. Savitrix was about to run to Inertia's aid, but Excel was giving her all she could handle and then some. The two quickstepped around each other, attacking and countering with equal ferocity if not necessarily equal skill.
Tempest (Garth) had forced the cursed magic inside Tsunami into remission, allowing his son to regain self-control. Tsunami immediately collapsed to his knees and vomited blood. He breathed heavily for a few moments before summoning the strength to stand up again. Immediately, he was attacked by an angry Ultrawoman and Lyta, only for his psychic vectors to catch them and throw them aside. Both girls flipped to their feet and attacked him again, this time with heat vision and mystical lightning, which Tsunami blocked with his vectors.
The battle ended, though, when Tempest paralyzed Ultrawoman and Lyta with a spell. "I could have done that," Tsunami grumbled.
"Yeah, but you're still weak from using Lyta's curse again," Tempest replied evenly. "Better save your strength."
Black Canary blocked Executrix's sword with a layer of techno-organic mesh covering her arm and a blade extended from that mesh. Executrix flipped up into the air and slashed Black Canary while she was in midair, only for Black Canary to retaliate with a slash of her own blade. Both girls straightened up and sped toward each other for another go, slashing each other as they passed. Both girls managed to wound each other, only for neither one to be satisfied with just that.
The Bat-and-Arrow father-daughter duos were on Deathstroke, Red Arrow and Red Hood performing long-range with their arrows and Batman and Nightstar fighting the mercenary in close quarters. Deathstroke not only had to dodge the archers' arrows, he also had to block and counter Batman's and Nightstar's attacks. He could definitely do it, of course, but the four of them were fighting more intensely than he was used to from his opponents. Fortunately, that was what enhanced reflexes and coordination were for, and there was always banter to throw his opponents off their game.
"I never did expect you to put on your father's colors," he remarked to Batman. "But I do like the improvements you've made to the costume."
Batman's response was to dodge another slash of Deathstroke's sword and twist to kick him in the chin. Deathstroke quickly recovered, of course, only for his retaliatory punch to be blocked by Nightstar's bracer. Nightstar grabbed Deathstroke's wrist with her other hand and half-twisted, half-flipped into a kick that sent the mercenary flying before he hit the ground. To her surprise, she could hear an almost mirthful laugh from Deathstroke's prone form.
"What the hell is so funny?" Nightstar asked.
Deathstroke rose to his feet and cracked his neck. "You're definitely impressive. Grayson taught you well."
At that moment, Robin blitzed Deathstroke, only for Deathstroke to parry his sword and retaliate by thrusting his own sword at the younger man. Robin barely managed to duck under the broadsword and twist into a low kick meant to trip the assassin, who jumped up to evade Robin's leg. Deathstroke somersaulted in midair and uncurled to kick a rising Robin in the chest, knocking him back into Nightstar's arms.
"Glad to see you're back in this," she remarked.
"Let's go," Robin answered.
Nightstar flew at Deathstroke, Robin gripping her arm with both hands. Once she was close enough, she swung Robin into a fierce kick, adding her force to his. Their combined strength knocked Deathstroke down, but he quickly back-flipped onto his feet, ready to continue the fight. Nightstar and Robin landed on their feet, also ready to continue the fight, with Batman, Red Arrow, and Red Hood also at the ready.
"To me, Executrix," Deathstroke ordered. Obediently, Executrix flipped over to Deathstroke's side, while Black Canary landed beside Red Arrow and Red Hood. "Six on two. I like those odds."
"Prepare to like them a lot less," Red Arrow retorted.
Meanwhile, Ultrawoman and Lyta had broken free of Tempest's paralytic spell and were now fighting Changeling (Gar), Donna, Superboy, and Cyborg (Vic). Changeling shifted into his strongest, toughest, most ferocious animal forms to aid Donna in her battle with Lyta. Cyborg fired sonic pulses at Ultrawoman, who dodged those while fighting Superboy.
The speedsters' battle had now become three on two, with the Flash and his twins being the three and Savitrix and Inertia being the two. That didn't necessarily stop either dark speedster from fighting their heroic counterparts with everything they had. Inertia generated sonic booms by snapping his fingers at super-speed, while Savitrix augmented her blows with kinetic pulses. Impulse weaved between the physical world and the Speed Force to confuse Inertia as he attacked him, while Excel excited the air molecules between her and Savitrix to generate slicing winds.
Ravager and Jericho (Joey) had entered the battle against Deathstroke and Executrix, making the fight eight against two. Neither Deathstroke nor Executrix seemed all that bothered by this, although the strain was beginning to show in their movements. Swords, arrows, Batarangs, and shuriken flashed everywhere, along with the stray starbolt-enhanced punch or chop or palm thrust.
"As difficult as this is, it's actually quite fun," Deathstroke remarked.
"Fun? Is that what you call it?" Red Arrow asked. "You're sick."
Deathstroke's answer was to slash at Red Arrow, even as Black Canary and Robin blocked him with their blades. He pushed against both teenagers, but they pushed back against him, giving him no ground. Ravager and Nightstar slid between Black Canary and Robin to kick Deathstroke together, just as Batman threw his Batarangs and Red Hood fired her arrows at him. Despite being in unwilling flight, he managed to twist to evade or catch the Batarangs and arrows. When he landed, he did so on one hand, using it to spring onto his feet and draw his guns.
Red Hood switched out her bow for a crossbow, which she placed in its "rapid fire" setting. Deathstroke opened fire, prompting the eight fighting him to dodge his gunfire. A la Wonder Woman, Nightstar used her bracers to block the gunshots, while Ravager employed her dual katana to block her father's fire. Twin Batarangs flew at Deathstroke to stop his fire, but Deathstroke twisted into the air to evade those Batarangs. He swiftly reloaded his guns while in midair and landed just as Red Hood's crossbow bolt grazed his arm.
Deathstroke looked at Red Hood. "You . . . Cheshire's girl." His finger tightened on the trigger of the gun he had pointed at her. "Let's see if you have your father's reflexes."
Red Hood smirked at him, her special sunglasses concealing the fear that would be visible if her eyes were exposed. "Let's see if your reflexes are as 'instantaneous' as they're made out to be." Her finger tightened on the trigger of her crossbow.
The moment Deathstroke pulled the trigger, he found himself barely – barely – dodging the armor-piercing arrow that sped toward him. Red Hood did manage to dodge his bullet, partly through her own honed reflexes and partly through the optical enhancements of her sunglasses. Several crossbow bolts with armor-piercing tips found themselves embedded in Deathstroke mere moments later.
Executrix blitzed Ravager, who blocked Executrix's katana with hers. Executrix back-flipped into a kick that caught Ravager by the chin, Ravager turning her fall into a handspring that brought her back on her feet. The two costumed females faced off briefly, silently assessing each other before moving into another attack. The two darted around each other, evading and countering each other's attacks.
"Whoever you are, you're good," Ravager remarked. Something bothered her about Executrix, though; mainly the bisected mask, blue on one side, black on the other. Granted, both sides had an eye, but the bisected mask was a trademark of the Wilson clan, at least since Slade lost an eye to a furious ex-wife in the course of his career.
Executrix did not answer her, at least not in words. Instead, she dropped to deliver a low sweeping kick, which Ravager evaded and returned with a kick to Executrix, knocking her to the ground. Ravager proceeded to tackle Executrix and rip her mask off, only to blink in utter surprise when she saw the face beneath it. Batman and Jericho were quite shocked themselves.
The face of Executrix, now revealed, was that of a blonde girl who couldn't be older than twenty at most. Her eyes were an intense blue, sapphires that glinted like cold steel. Her features were sharp and strong, yet undeniably pleasing to the eye. Her thin lips were pursed in a defiant, angry expression. Seeing that face . . . was like seeing another face, so long ago . . .
Grant? Jericho thought. He signed his suspicion to Batman and Ravager.
"Who's Grant?" Robin asked, having learned to read sign language from Nightstar.
Jericho signed to him, My brother. Long dead. I had no idea . . . if I had, I'd have . . .
"So!" Ravager exploded at her father. "You take another kid with your blood in her veins and turn her into a miniature mirror of you!"
"Considering you were worthless and Joey has no interest in what I have to offer, what choice did I have?" Deathstroke asked harshly.
Having turned to chew out her father, Ravager was distracted enough for Executrix to punch her. Ravager snapped back into focus in time to roll with the punch, lest her neck be broken, but Executrix had sprung free and was now standing.
"Give me back my mask," she snarled.
"You want it?" Ravager asked. "Take it!"
She threw the mask into the air and sliced it into uselessness, prompting an expression of cold rage to form on Executrix's face. In a burst of speed, the girl lunged at Ravager with her katana aimed at her aunt's throat. Ravager blocked the blade with her own and kneed Executrix in the stomach.
"You think he loves you?" Ravager asked icily. "He doesn't. You think he's the only one who gives a damn what happens to you? He isn't. Everything he tells you is a sick lie, meant to keep you with him for as long as he finds you useful."
Executrix straightened up and slashed at Ravager again, only for Ravager to dodge and move behind her. Executrix whirled to evade Ravager's next attack and tripped the older woman. As Ravager fell, Executrix kicked her in the stomach, hastening her unwilling descent. She leaped at Ravager, who bent her legs back, catching Executrix on them and kicking her off. Executrix contorted in midair and landed in a feral crouch, glaring at Ravager.
"What did you do to her?" Batman asked. "Dose her on your serum, too?"
"With some cyber-viral modifications to her nervous system," Deathstroke added, having pulled Red Hood's bolts out of himself.
"You sound like you're proud of yourself," Red Arrow remarked, horrified.
Jericho signed rapidly and furiously, You are not my father. My father had more respect for human dignity than to turn another, much less his own grandchild, into his virtual slave!
"That hurts, Joseph," Deathstroke remarked sharply. "Truly, it does."
"Not as much as this will!" Ravager answered, moving in for a killing strike, only for Executrix to block the strike with her own body, shocking everyone present. Even as Ravager registered her blades piercing Executrix, the girl grabbed her wrists, holding her tightly.
"Finish her . . ." Executrix whispered harshly.
"What is she . . . ?" Nightstar asked.
"Oh, Christ," Red Hood uttered. "Slade's gonna run her through to get to Rose!"
"No, she won't," Black Canary snarled. With a burst of speed impossible to define as anything other than superhuman, she intercepted Deathstroke's blade.
"Tenacious, aren't you?" Deathstroke remarked. "Very much like your mother."
"What do you know about her?" Black Canary questioned angrily.
"More than you think, little songbird," Deathstroke answered with a smirk in his tone. "More than you think."
At that moment, Executrix pulled herself off Ravager's blades and back-flipped into the air to tackle Black Canary from behind. Black Canary whirled, grabbed Executrix's wrists, and threw her into Deathstroke. Executrix twisted in midair during her unwilling flight and landed, skidding, on the balls of her feet, backing up against Deathstroke. With only a look between them to silently communicate, Executrix and Deathstroke attacked Black Canary on opposite sides.
Red Hood managed to get off a shot with her bow at Deathstroke despite how fast he, Executrix, and Black Canary were moving, but Deathstroke grabbed the arrow just as the tip neared his remaining eye. "Not bad," he remarked before tossing the arrow aside.
Nightstar lunged into the fray to assist Black Canary, taking on Deathstroke and Executrix with her. Black Canary blocked Executrix's blade strikes with her gloved hands, while Nightstar evaded and countered Deathstroke's attacks. Finally, Nightstar let off a point-blank starbolt, sending Deathstroke flying close to the entrance of Titans Lair.
Executrix shoved Black Canary aside and went after Nightstar, intent on avenging her grandfather and mentor. Nightstar blocked the flurry of blade strikes to the best of her ability, but Executrix's eyes told her that she was nearly insane with rage. Just what kind of hold does he have on her? Nightstar wondered.
With a starbolt-enhanced palm thrust, Nightstar knocked Executrix down, if not necessarily for the count. Leaving Executrix behind, Nightstar stalked toward Deathstroke, misty purple energy emanating from her hands. "What are you doing, Mar'i?" Batman asked.
"Settling things," Nightstar replied tersely. "Like you never had the will to do."
Deathstroke chuckled. "You really think you can kill me, girl?"
"Kill you?" Nightstar repeated. "I don't need to kill you. Look around." She gestured toward the battlefield, pointing out the now-defeated Reverse-Titans. "Your pawns are vanquished. You're outnumbered and outgunned. Your life . . . such as it is . . . is in my hands."
"Tough talk from such a delicate flower." Deathstroke's tone was rather smug for someone who was now staring down a restrained starbolt.
"Some flowers are poisonous, no matter how delicate they look." Nightstar's tone was colder than death.
"You really think you can kill me? Do it. Put me out of your misery."
"As you wish." A flash of purple energy later, Deathstroke had a hole in his midsection from a high-power starbolt. His armor was burned away and his midsection was severely burned and bleeding.
"What . . ." Deathstroke chuckled. "I knew you didn't have what it takes to kill me. You're just like your father. Your mother would have done the job. That was the one thing I liked about her."
"Like I said, I don't need to kill you. Just reminding you that you're not as invincible as you think . . . is satisfaction in and of itself. At any time, I could kill you and someday . . ." She crouched down in front of him to whisper in his ear. "I will. Remember that." She straightened up and turned to walk back to her family and fellow Titans.
Deathstroke looked up, staring heatedly at Batman, Nightstar, and Robin and Red Arrow, Red Hood, and Black Canary. Seeing the familial trios did nothing except remind him of what he had lost all those years ago, what he had sacrificed for his career. Despite the pain in his abdomen, he rose to his feet and stalked toward Executrix, picking her up and glaring at the assembled Titans, old and new.
"Don't think we're letting you off so easily," Red Arrow warned. "Enough's enough, Slade."
"Really, Harper?" Deathstroke asked threateningly. "I've heard that said before . . . and each time, your kind seems perfectly willing to let me go."
"That was then . . . this is now," the Flash answered, he and his twins triple-teaming Deathstroke. Despite the assassin's impressive reflexes, there was little to no chance of him fighting three speedsters at once and winning, especially since he had Executrix to watch out for. The only thing that allowed him to last at all was that the Flashes were quite concerned for Executrix's safety as well. Downed by the trio and with arrows and sonic weapons pointed at him, there was very little for him to do except possibly admit that he'd lost.
Raven walked toward Deathstroke, having healed Tsunami's internal injuries. "What do you think you're going to do, witch?" Deathstroke taunted.
Raven didn't answer his jibe, not in words, anyway. Instead, she kneeled before him and black energy began to transfer from him to her, entering through the chakra gem on her forehead. "What is she doing?" Impulse asked. Raven didn't answer, but when she finished, she looked to Impulse and his father and sister.
"Release him. He will do no harm now."
They obeyed and Deathstroke slumped to the ground. "What did you do?" Excel asked.
"I ate his hate, his anger, and his malice," Raven replied. "I ate the corruption he allowed to fester in his soul."
Jericho placed a gentle hand on Raven's shoulder as she rose to her feet. Raven reached behind her and gently placed her hand over Jericho's. "Let's go home," she whispered.
With the Reverse-Titans and Deathstroke in custody and Executrix taken into Joey's care, the heroic Titans and their parents had gathered in the "Batcave" employed by Nightstar and Red Hood. An unmasked Robin glared at Batman and Red Arrow. "We had the situation well in hand. We didn't need your interference."
For that, he got slapped upside the head by Red Hood. "Shut up, Damian, and try a little appreciation."
"What got you to come?" Nightstar asked.
"Your Uncle Roy got us together," an unmasked Batman admitted. "Said he wasn't gonna let his girls' blood get spilled by 'a goddamn maniac like Slade,' especially not where we started the Titans."
"And we all had to come with him to make sure he didn't hurt himself going after him," Donna added with an affectionate timbre.
"So . . . how long do you think Deathstroke's gonna stay locked up?" an unmasked Flash inquired sardonically.
"With all the crimes he's committed, a long time," Vic answered.
"Well, we kicked ass, didn't we?" Jai remarked. He pumped his fist. "One, two! Didn't see what hit 'em!"
"I suppose we did," Dick admitted with a slight smile. He turned to Mar'i. "But what was with threatening Deathstroke like that?"
"Wanted to send him a message," Mar'i replied simply. "And I hope you're not going to give me a sanctimonious speech about the sanctity of life. He's a remorseless killer."
"She's right," Roy agreed. "Dick, I know you and he used to be somewhat close allies – don't want to know just how close – but he's changed. You can't do anything for him except put him where he can't hurt anyone anymore."
"Even if that's the grave?" Dick wondered.
"Not necessarily," Roy answered. "A maximum-security prison cell for meta-criminals will do well enough."
"Which is where he's going, right?" Lian prompted.
"Definitely, if we've got anything to say about it," Donna replied.
"Are you going to do this all the time?" Olivia asked.
"Do what? Bail you guys out of trouble?" Roy surmised. "Nah. We won't do that all the time. We trust you to handle stuff on your own. This was just personal for us."
"I hope it won't be personal all the time," Iris remarked. "Because you're gonna have to get used to the fact that people want us dead."
"Do we have to?" Wally mock whined.
"Yeah," Iris replied with a smirk and folded arms.
"Eh, I suppose there's no helping it," Wally admitted. "It's like Jay's always saying, 'The last generation gives way to the next. That's the way it works. All we can do is prepare them to accept the responsibilities that come with it.'"
"Wow, you almost sounded like Great-grandpa Jay there for a minute," Jai remarked.
Wally chuckled. "You think so, huh?"
"Come on," Dick said. "I think we ought to give our kids some space."
"Yeah," Roy admitted.
As Dick, Roy, Wally, and Garth bid their "see you at home's" to their children, Donna watched with an expression of sad, wistful envy. Gar happened to catch her expression and nuzzled her as a green kitten. Donna picked him up and petted him gently.
"Does it hurt?" Gar asked quietly.
"Yes," Donna whispered, "and I suppose it always will, at least a little."
When Slade Wilson came to, he saw the inside of a jail cell. "So . . . this is what it's come down to," he whispered to himself.
He had to admit, the new Titans were better than he'd expected them to be. They had to be, if they were going to last against him, and last they had. Robin had been somewhat of a disappointment to him, but Grayson's girl, Harper's girl, and Queen's girl . . . had been extraordinary. Harper's girl had managed to tag him when Harper himself failed and Grayson's girl and Queen's girl could fight him on equal terms, even if they didn't have his sheer skill.
Mar'i Grayson was surprisingly vicious, something she'd no doubt inherited from her late mother. He'd thought her father would have trained that out of her, but it seemed that spark of Tamaranean fire was impossible to fully snuff out. That was just fine and dandy by him; it would make her a more interesting opponent to ultimately best, as he had so many before her. Then maybe he could do with her what he had never quite managed to do with her father.
As for Madison Avalon . . . the girl was out of his hands now, as long as he was in this place. His son and daughter were probably hard at work undoing his work on her as he rotted. Well, they could try all they wanted; it wouldn't make a difference. Madison would always be loyal to him. It wasn't like she had anyone else in the world.
In the meantime, he would bide his time. He would lie in wait, like a silent predator, and when the time came . . .
End Notes: In case you were confused by anything in this chapter, I'm gonna be brief about it. In the first two issues of New Teen Titans, Grant Wilson, the first Ravager, had an ex-girlfriend that he was trying to get back together with, only to be chased off by Starfire and Donna Troy. My reasoning is that said ex-girlfriend was secretly pregnant with his child but later gave her up for adoption, hence the existence of Madison Avalon-slash-Executrix.
As for Donna, she was married once, back in the eighties. Had a son with the man she married, but she later divorced her husband after some persistent troubles within the relationship and then that husband and son died in a car accident. Hence, her sadness when she was looking at her fellow original Titans with their children; she envies them for having the opportunities that were taken from her.
And on that note, that's the end of this particular story arc. It's not the end of the story itself, as it will be an ongoing until I run out of ideas. See you next time.