Disclaimer: Most of the characters depicted in this story are the property of DC Comics and are used without permission, but also without the intent to make a profit on this work. A work of fiction, any resemblance to real people is probably intentional, so if you see yourself in the characterization it's probably because you've met the author, or he met someone like you.
Wonder Boy
Part II – Powerless
Chapter 14: Choice
The forgotten bomb shelter under the New York Library that was home to the Horsemen rang with shouts, and Deacon King had taken refuge in his room to get away. He wondered as he sometimes wondered how he'd ended up as in a group of criminals that had named themselves for the four horsemen of the apocalypse. Everyone was supposed to have an origin story, heroes and villains, and like all the classic stories his began on a dark, story night when his powers had developed.
He could hear his parents arguing in the next room – his mom was pregnant and his dad had just been laid off – so they were fighting over how they were going to pay the bills. There was a clap of thunder, and everything in Deacon's room shook – his window shattered and stuff was knocked off his shelves. A moment later his bedroom door opened and his parents came in, asking what had happened, thinking he'd made the noise. They were sitting on his bed next to him when the thunder boomed again and his parents . . . they'd been thrown against the wall, and a second boom had pushed their bodies, already broken, through the walls entirely.
Orphaned by his own hand, by a power that he didn't understand and couldn't control, Deacon had hit the streets the next day. He'd scraped by, avoiding people anytime there was a story, but as finding that it wasn't just thunderstorms he had to fear – any loud noise would trigger his power: gunshots, backfires, explosions. As he began to understand what triggered his powers he started to understand how to control it, but it was still a dark, ugly thing that killed those around him. He'd been desperate, looking for help when Vincent Harper had stepped into the alley that stormy night and offered a place out of the rain and away from the noise that would trigger Deacon's power. Looking for anything, Deacon had accepted, and that was how he'd found his way into the Horsemen; only, he didn't fit it.
DeTox, Vincent, was the embodiment of War, always looking for a fight, a challenge – he'd been the first. Blood had come next, the embodiment of Death; almost a literal translation as the guy actually fed on the souls of the dying. Pest, Doctor Henry Martinson, was a genius in insect-ology, or something like that, and had created a device that allowed him to control insects – he was like Pestilence. Finally, there was Fame, Delilah Volk, who could use her power to manipulate time to wither a person into old age, or turn crops to dust, making her Famine. And then there was Deacon, who fit none of the criteria – the odd man out in a lot of ways.
The argument in the other room was over leadership of the Horsemen – Bruno 'Ugly' Manheim, Boss Manheim's son, had been given control of the Intergang cell that included the Horsemen, and Ugly had decided to switch things up.
"You're benching me?" Vincent shouted in the other room.
"No, you're still a member of the Horsemen," Ugly announced, "but I'm putting Blood in charge of the assault on Titan's Tower – the media's been playing them up as the next generation of the Justice League, and that's something we need to crush as soon as possible."
"What, Trevor's merry band of misfits," the 19 year-old retorted, "They're going to self-destruct if you give them time – that's what happens when you don't have a strong leader in a group – which is what you're doing to us!"
Blood spat back, "That's what you've been saying for months, ever since they announced Delphi was joining their 'merry band of misfits', but ever since that event with the alien princess their popularity has skyrocketed, and time is running out."
"Time is running out for what?" Vincent leapt on the operative words in an instant. A lot could be said about Harper, but he wasn't a complete slack-wit.
"You don't need to know that," their demonic teammate chuckled.
Ugly explained, "I will coordinate with Blood when the time for the attack comes. You are all to stay here until that time – leave, and I'll consider it your resignation, and in this outfit resignations are permanent."
"I'm not threatening, Ugly," DeTox growled, "But you will regret this."
Deacon curled up on his bed and dreamed of his parent's apartment, the smell of the Christmas tree in the other room and the anticipation of waking up to see all the presents. The sobs rocked his body to sleep.
***WB 2/14***
The Christmas Eve party at the Gottfired Estate Bed and Breakfast was a private affair for guests, and this year the owners had gone all out. Samantha Barnes had paid for a lavish spread to make the evening memorable for her sons – Daniel was only 6 months old, but Robert, her son from a previous marriage, had been convalescing on the island of Themyscira the previous year. So for both of them this would be their first Christmas in the manor. Half the rooms were taken by paying guests, but the other room had been taken by special guests, which had ended up including one Internationally Acclaimed Socio-Archeologist, a United Nations Ambassador, a Billionaire Philanthropist, and an honest to goodness War Hero.
Colonel Steve Trevor, Army Air Corp/Air Force, Retired, sat in a recliner, being supplied alcohol-free eggnog that he kept spiking with rum from a flask none of the rest of them were supposed to know he had. The man had been in his late fifties when he'd fathered Robert's father, Joshua, and was now almost 90 years old. According to the doctors at the Military Retirement Home he lived at Grandpa Steve probably would probably live to see 100! He entertained them all with stories of his adventures in World War II, Korea and Vietnam, making it sound like he had always been one step ahead of death.
Bruce Wayne, the billionaire from Gotham City, had arrived on the arm of Princess Diana of Themyscira, while his ward, Timothy Drake, had arrived earlier in the day. After a brief conversation the two, ward and guardian, had avoided each other, mostly sticking to their peer groups. It was easy to see that there was some friction between them, but Mr. Wayne had always been a private person in the media – and as the night progressed they learned that he was a private person in most regards. He did open up to questions her husband, Nathan Barnes, posed about the quad-cycle that Wayne Industries had developed, one of which had been given to Robert for testing purpose.
Princess Diana was practically family; she was related to Robert and Steven by an obscure bloodline that dated back to almost 2000 BC. She had visited the manor a few times, and like those times she seemed fascinated with little Daniel, who seemed equally infatuated with her – an immortal raised on an island with no children, the woman's maternal instincts went into overdrive around the baby. Diana's protégé, Donna Troy, wasn't as fascinated by motherhood as her mentor, having only been separated from 'Man's World' a decade ago, but seemed to enjoy letting the infant sit on her lap. It gave Samantha time to socialize with the adults, so she didn't complain, and Daniel loved the attention, so it was a win on all sides. The funniest part of it were the looks that Diana threw Bruce when she was feeding Daniel.
Doctor Helena Sandsmark had arrived with her daughter, Cassandra, who happened to be Robert's girlfriend. This was the first time that Samantha had met either of them, though she understood that the Sandsmark women had summered on Themyscira where her son had been recuperating. Cassandra was understandably nervous, Samantha could remember the first time that she'd met Joshua's parents, but the girl was being a little cold – refusing to hold Daniel even though the baby reached for her whenever she was near. Both were very complimentary about the house and decorations, but seemed at loose ends, and from their comments she figured that they hadn't had a sit-down Christmas in many years.
Samantha was in the kitchen, cleaning up the dessert dishes when Helena came in, grabbing a rag to help out. "Thank you," she told the other mother. "May I call you Helena?"
"Please," Helena replied, sounding relieved, "Do you prefer Samantha or Sam?"
"Samantha," she answered, "The only one who called me Sam was . . . was Robert's father." It was still difficult to think of Joshua, for fear of the depression his death had drowned her in.
"Samantha," the other woman repeated, "You have a very lovely home. How is the hospitality business?"
With a smile she told Helena, "It's going great – Nathan has a real knack for business, and all the improvements we made last year are paying off."
Helena sighed and admitted, "Sometimes I wish I could offer Cassie this – a stable home with a father and a sibling."
It was a potential minefield, but her curiosity was raging, "Where is Cassandra's father?"
"Don't know," Helena sighed. "This time of year he's probably on a beach in the Southern hemisphere." The woman seemed to mentally debate before revealing, "He's Apollo, the Greek sun god."
"Oh!" Samantha exclaimed. She still wasn't sure if she believed in gods other than God, but Robert said that he considered them to be powerful immortal beings. "Does she know?"
Helena shook her head. "At least, I don't think she does; right now the media is debating if Superman is her father since she developed laser vision."
Samantha could tell that the woman had been keeping secrets too long and offered her arms for a hug. Helena actually started to cry as she confessed, "Every time I see Cassie on TV fighting some super-criminal or alien invader I'm so scared she's going to fight someone too powerful. I just want her to be my little girl for just a little longer before she becomes Power Girl full time."
"Oh!" she repeated, certain things becoming clear.
The other mother realized, "You . . . kid know? But I thought Robert told you everything?"
"He doesn't betray confidences," Samantha answered the questions. "In fact, I don't know any of the Titan's secret identities except for Koriand'r; and hers is public record."
"I just feel stupid now," Helena sighed.
"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone," she assured. "Actually I'm relieved: the way Power Girl eyes Robert on the news sometimes, well: I was worried he was . . . um, playing the field."
Helena laughed at that and assured her, "If we can both be sure of something it's that Robert is the epitome of loyalty. I suppose that's one of the reasons that Iris chose him to be her champion: it is hard to ignore that level of commitment."
That one Samantha knew about, but she still wasn't sure how she felt about a supposed goddess claiming her son. "What do you know about Iris?"
An answering shrug wasn't very comforting. "She is a minor figure, assigned no sacred animal – her symbol is the rainbow, which was viewed as a bridge between to distance places. As her champion Robert acts as a . . . well, he rallies people, brings them together and provides them with a unifying purpose."
"She isn't going to send him on quests to other dimensions, or arrange some horrible death in the greek style?" the mother lamented.
"Look, Samantha," Helena sighed, "I understand your fears, I do: Cassie lifted 380 tons during her last test. She's afraid of touching anyone: afraid that she'll hurt them." Well, that explained why Cassandra wouldn't hold Daniel. "As for Greek tragities, you have to remember that those heroes allowed their fame to make them arrogant and mean towards the people around them – you've done a wonderful job raising Robert, I couldn't ask for a better girlfriend for Cassie."
Nodding, Samantha agreed, "I'm proud of him too." She smiled as Robert came into the kitchen carrying Daniel, who was making a sucking kind of cry. "Oh, baby," she cooed, "Are you hungry?"
Daniel opened his mouth and made 'ah' sounds while rubbing his belly. Taking him, Samantha used sign language as she asked, "Do you want your bottle?" Meanwhile, Robert was getting a bottle ready, handing it over when it was done and giving Samantha a kiss on the cheek and Daniel a kiss on the forehead he returned to his friends. Both mothers shared a smile as he left – reassured that Robert wasn't the type to fall prey to pride.
***WB 2/14***
The computer lab under the library was a fairly small room, capable of only holding about 6 people comfortably. At the moment it only held three: Tim Drake, Cassandra Sandsmark, and Robert Trevor-Barnes. Tim, in order to keep his identity a secret, had gone by the name 'Al Draper' with the Teen Titans, but he hadn't coming to the weekend meetings, so Cassandra had never met him as Al.
"He wants me to come home," Tim complained as the soundproofed door above closed. "He says that I can do one more test, just to prove that I'm ready to put the costume back on."
"Tim?" Robert said to remind him that Cassandra wasn't in the know.
"I don't care anymore," he countered, saying to the girl, "I'm Robin, you know, the Boy Wonder."
Cassandra's jaw dropped, and it took her a moment to recover. "Oh, um, I'm Power Girl." They shook hands before Tim sat heavily at the computer while Cassandra and Robert sat on the couch.
Into the pause Robert asked, "So, where does that leave you with Batman?"
Tim rolled his eyes – trust Robert to try to keep secrets for as long as possible, but he'd heard enough. "I don't care what Bruce things, Bobby: he's been treating me with kid-gloves ever since the Joker caught me, and I'm sick of it!"
Cassandra's jaw dropped again as she realized that Billionaire playboy Bruce Wayne was Batman.
With a nod Robert adjusted his strategy to support, saying, "You can stay here as long as you need to, Tim, but you've got to figure out your next step. Do you go back, like Batgirl, or do you strike out on your own like Nightwing?"
"Maybe," Robert's girlfriend started, and then at Robert's encouragement continued, "Maybe you could call yourself 'Red Robin'?"
That got a chuckle out of Tim, and a nod. "Maybe 'Red Robin' is the way to go – establish my own identity."
"We're starting college next year," his best friend pointed out, "You don't have to go to Gotham University."
With a nod Tim considered getting away from Gotham, getting away from the psychotic criminals and desensitized peers. Away from the cave!
"Do you . . . know where you're going?" Cassandra asked Robert.
"Not yet," the other teen assured his girlfriend. "I've actually gotten a few acceptance letters." He reached over and pulled the letters from a shelf, handing them out.
"Gotham, Metropolis, Harvard!" Cassandra gasped as she examined the letterheads.
"Yea, but I'm not interested in a law degree," Robert explained.
"Samuelson University, Oregon?" Tim remarked as he read another letterhead. He turned the chair to the computer and ran a search. Samuelson U had been closed for nearly a decade after a rather gruesome series of still unsolved murders in the forest surrounding the school. A group of alumni had raised millions of dollars to update the buildings and reopen the school.
"They've hired a lot of conservative professors – almost a quarter of the faculty." Robert explained, "and check out the architecture in the area – the 1920's row buildings in Old Town, the modern skyscrapers in City Center, and the gothic design of the school itself."
Tim laughed at that, realizing that years and secret identities hadn't changed Robert at all: he still geeked out over buildings and statues. It was actually reassuring to have a friend who just seemed so constant despite all the craziness that had come into their lives. Looking at the pictures he could understand why Robert wanted to at least check the place out. "I should have bought you an extra SD card for your camera," he joked.
Robert counseled his girlfriend, "Remember, Bruce and Tim have to maintain a secret identity, just like you."
She nodded, understanding his point while a chime announced that someone wanted them to come out of the lab. Robert gave her a kiss on the cheek before getting up, leading the way out.
***WB 2/14***
Bobby rolled his eyes when he came down the stairs and saw all the extra decorations that had been put up overnight. It had been a very good year, so Nathan had given in to his wife's desire to go all out. Knowing that his parents had likely been up till just a few hours earlier Bobby started the coffee and began working on a breakfast spread for his friends and family. They arrived in ones or twos – the teens arriving alone and the adults in pairs.
The first, following the young man, was Donna Troy. "Good morning, Robert," the older teen said as she took a seat.
"You can call me Bobby," he told her. "I do consider you one of my friends."
Donna ran her fingers through her dark hair and retorted, "But I don't like you." She laughed when Bobby blew her a raspberry before taking out a tray of cinnamon rolls. "You know," she commented as the boy glazed the pastries, "You are going to make someone a wonderful wife someday."
He shot back, "Well, I would hope that she was wonderful before I met her, but I'll try."
Rolling her eyes Donna took a roll and a cup of coffee before finding a seat at the table. She was just finishing up when Robert's parents arrived with a fussing Danny in tow. The baby couldn't decide if he wanted to be held by his brother or the new person (Donna) while Nathan made a bottle and Samantha ate. Once he had the bottle, though, Danny settled down and decided that he wanted Donna to feed him, smiling and laughing at the dark-haired girl – the boy was going to be a total player when he was older.
Fed, Danny let Bobby take him for burping while the girl announced, "I'm going to wait in the library."
"Don't open any presents," his mom warned, "The others should be down in an hour or so."
Taking an extra roll Donna waved before heading up the stairs.
Cassie arrived next, wearing the new pajamas that she'd unwrapped the night before – a family tradition. "Um, rolls," she cooed, taking two and sitting down to watch her boyfriend being domestic.
"Don't freak out," Bobby told her before placing his baby brother in her lap.
The girl barely breathed as Danny grabbed her hands and turned around so that he could play with her hair. Demonstrating more control than Cassie though she had the girl helped the baby stand up. Giggling, Danny patted her face and played with her blonde curls. He did this for a few minutes before apparently losing interest and reached for his dad. When Nathan picked him up Danny made a face before giggling as a truly powerful stench filled the air.
"You little stinker," Nathan accused as he took his laughing son out of the room.
Tim arrived next, with Diana and Bruce close behind. Both ward and guardian looked like they'd barely slept – the product of being perpetual night-owls – while the warrior-princess looked like she'd just come from a beauty salon. Needing only a few hours of sleep a night Diana was able to recover from an all-nighter quickly. She, and the others who had undergone the Ceremony of Sisterhood, needed only about three hours of sleep a night.
Grandpa Steve was the last down, looking a little hung over from the rum he'd been spiking his eggnog with the night before. Bobby cleaned up as his family finished up, and then accompanied them to the ballroom above where the tree had been set up to find Donna sitting on the floor, rubbing her eyes as she stared up at the tree.
"I'm fine," she told everyone, "I'm fine, it just hit me . . . all at once, you know?"
Diana reached under the tree and withdrew a box that she placed in front of the founding, saying, "This is from Mother and I."
With trembling fingers the older teen unwrapped her first Christmas present in over a decade. It was a sleeveless orange unitard spotted with stars, a pair of black go-go boots and two metallic bracers. There was a belt, too; black, like the boots, with a silver double-W – Wonder Woman's logo.
Diana explained, "They are magically endowed to give you strength, flight and invulnerability."
The girl stared in wonder at her mentor as the full realization set in. "You . . . you want me to be Wonder Girl again?"
"I want you to be Donna Troy, ambassador in training, but I know that this is what you want, so we compromise," the Princess answered, kneeling next to her protégé. "As long as you don't put the heroics ahead of yours studies I have no problem with you being a member of the Titans, too."
"Thank you, Diana," the teen girl cried, hugging the other brunette.
Gifts were exchanged, and soon the floor was covered with paper and boxes. Bobby's gift to Cassie was a four-pack of VIP tickets to see her favorite band: The Cherry Bombs. She squealed, hugging him before correcting herself at his admonishment of "gently." "Why four?" she asked, throwing a look at Tim.
"I thought you could take Cissie, Anita and Traya," he answered with a shrug. "Make a girl's night out of it."
Cassie smiled and announced, "You are the best boyfriend ever!"
Bruce's gift to Tim was a little more cryptic – a simple holiday card with a deposit slip inside. "It's your college fund," the man explained, but on the back of the card there was a series of numbers that looked like some kind of code – latitude and longitude, maybe. Regardless, Tim seemed surprised by the gesture.
Nathan's gift to all the women was the same – passes to a local day spa with the works. Diana and Donna based their reactions on Helena and Cassie, because the man's wife went a little over the top by sitting in Nathan's lap and giving him a long, lingering kiss. The Sandsmark's just said "thank you" before looking over the included brochure.
Danny's response to his presents was lack-luster as he was too young to understand the concept of Christmas, but he did manage to invent a new game. Posed next to an open box with all his new toys the boy saw the dangling flap above him and grabbed, pulling the flap down and tipping the box over so that it covered him. He made several 'Ah!' sounds as he tried to figure out what had happened, but Samantha tipped the box back on its side, smiling, and the new game was invented!
Danny would tip the box over to hide himself, and everyone would say "Where's Danny?" Then one of them would tip his box back over and they would all exclaim, "There he is!" Laughing the baby would repeat the process, never seeming to tire of it even as noon and the effects of sleep deprivation caught up with the adults.
Bobby offered to watch his brother, letting Tim, Bruce, Grandpa Steve, and his parents to find their beds while the amazons went flying. Alone with his girlfriend and a baby the young man finally managed a question that had been gnawing at him. "Cassie, do you ever wish that I still had my powers?"
Looking up from where she was trying to tempt Danny away from his box with the new toys Cassie blushed as she admitted, "I do. I know that's selfish of me, but . . ."
"It's okay," he told her, smiling as he forced another wad of wrapping paper into a box, "That's the way you feel, but I do want to know why you feel that way."
She looked away before telling him, "It's because we would be equals then, you know?"
"I know," Bobby said, smiling ruefully. "It's nice to know your perspective, Cassie." He didn't tell her that he had the option to be Wonder Boy again, but if he took it there would be no going back.
When he closed his eyes and dreamed of the future Bobby's ideal was a brownstone apartment where his family waited after a long day of beating the streets, chasing down leads and arresting crooks. He liked to imagine Cassie as the loving wife, but that seemed less likely the more time went by. Cassie wasn't going to settle into the role of wife and mother, meaning that he'd have to settle for being Mr. Mom or co-professional. The cozy brownstone was being transformed into a high-rise condo, worrying about his partner and if she would be coming home. And kids . . . there were no kids in his life with Cassie, not like they were now.
But if he was Wonder Boy again?
Danny made his face again, and Bobby picked him up, heading for the changing table to take care of it. "Dad's right, you are a little stinker."
The baby just laughed at the comment.
***WB 2/14***
The headaches were the worst part of the detox process, which was why Vincent Harper avoided the process as much as possible. As things got worse he'd decided to stockpile his stach, which meant not taking doses as regularly as he should to avoid the symptoms. Now, as if to make matters worse, his supply was being threatened by the arrival of half a dozen female toxin users.
Ugly Manheim and 'Brother Blood', as he'd taken to calling himself, had closeted themselves with their leader and a representative of bunch of freaks wearing alien tech from Kaznia, planning the assault on Titan's Tower. Meanwhile, the rest of the team was being sent out to conscript street gangs – they would be the cannon fodder on the assault. It was alright for Fame and Pest, but Crackshot was showing the strain – he was too young to understand the need to crush your enemies ruthlessly. Vincent's problem with this was how he was being frozen out of the planning stage. He had brought the team together, trained them to work together under his leadership, and then been pulled from command
"Are you alright?" Delilah whispered as she joined him in their bedroom, rubbing his back in a way he liked.
"I will be," he answered, giving her a smile.
Delilah blushed at his smile, an expression that was easier to see now that the pimples were going away. She was fairly low maintenance, needing only a few encouragements to make her happy, and as far as Vincent was concerned she was an almost ideal girlfriend. As a meta-human her power was growing, unlike Crackshot she was willing to practice, and doing society a favor by thinning the number of homeless squatters in NYC. The woman had learned to create 'accelerator fields' that turned whatever was passed through them into projectiles traveling hundreds of miles an hour. It made for a hell of a tag team when he threw something through a field!
Pest had been improving his tech, modifying it so that he could widen his control radius, and he'd even learned a few tricks from watching Vincent! He could now cover his body with bugs and use them as an armor to enhance his strength. While not nearly as strong as DeTox, the guy made an excellent relief pitcher.
"After this is over," Vincent told Delilah, "I'm going West, and I want you to come with me."
She smiled brilliantly and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Babe, I'd go anywhere with you!"
***WB 2/14***
The final gateway had been wavering for days, but it finally fell, allowing Raven to pass into the prime material plane. She stepped into an alley of a large city and immediately felt the assault of the emotions coming from 200,000 people. It was a lot to take in all at once, but she managed to remember her training and isolated her mind from theirs. Protecting her from the overwhelming force of the emotions also protected them from her influence, but her brief contact with all those emotions was likely to make those prone to pride to make a sin of it.
Isolated in her emotions Raven stepped into the street and began to search for some sign of the heroes she was seeking. Her eyes were drawn to a dispenser on the curb, something that her mother had told her about – put in coins and remove a newspaper – but she could see the front page, which was announcing that some place called 'The Hall of Justice' was holding an annual 'open house' with guided tours. The picture was of an imposing white façade, and the caption below said that it was the headquarters of the Justice League – a gathering place of heroes!
Pulling up the hood of her cloak the woman used the magical energies around her to propel herself into the air. By opening herself only fractionally to the emotions around her Raven was able to orient herself towards the Hall of Justice. She came at it from the side, so she did not see the full effect of the building. What she did see was an unwelcoming party of three steeped in magic.
One had a demonic visage, but she did not sense the passion for cruelty that characterized most demons. Another was a woman wearing mostly black, her outfit accentuating feminine charms. Last, and most powerful, was a man wearing a blue bodysuit with gold accents; wearing a gold helmet that Raven recognized from her studies.
"Nabu," she called out to the man, bowing, "Lord of Order, I am Raven."
"The daughter of the destroyer," the demon growled. "Long have I hunted the servants of your father, girl, and here you are – his herald!"
"No, Etrigan," Nabu commanded, "I sense no ill will from this child: speak, Raven."
"My father's avatar is loose upon this world and those meant to fight him are gathering. I will join with them, and together we will end the work you have begun, Etrigan," she pledged.
"A likely tale," Etrigan accused, "Better to eviscerate you now and let the crows have you. Let me do it, Nabu; I promise that she will not suffer, much."
"No," the prime magician ordered. "Raven, those of whom you speak are meant to combat Trigon himself, not his avatar. If you mean to go through with this you will need to seek out others. Leave this place."
She was frustrated, but could not battle Nabu without drawing on her father's power, and she sense that these two were not the only ones that would come to the aid of the Lord of Order. "I will leave," she agreed.
The other woman suggested, "You should go to Titan's Tower and speak to a teenager named Robert Trevor-Barnes – he is an agent of unity, and should be able to help you."
"Thank you," Raven said with sincere gratitude as she used the emotions of the emotions of the crowd to orient herself towards 'Titan's Tower', and an agent of unity would aid her greatly.
***WB 2/14***
Bobby arrived early December 31st to help set up the decorations for the New Year's party with his friends and girlfriend in tow. Garfield Logan, Victor Stone and Koriand'r, the full-time residents of Titan's Tower, were playing a game of two-on-two basketball with Dick Grayson. The others would be arriving throughout the day with a few chaperones arriving near midnight.
"Okay, everyone, meet Donna Troy," Bobby said.
Dick took over, saying, "Nice to meet you, Donna. We met over the summer, "I'm Nightwing. This is Koriand'r," Kori hugged the young Amazon, "Victor Stone, Cyborg," Vic just waived, "And Gar Logan, Beast Boy."
"So, are you Wonder Girl?" Gar asked, taking in the double-W of her belt and the identical symbol on her necklace – a gift from Bruce Wayne.
"It's just Donna," the 19 year-old answered. "Diana may be my mentor, but I want to establish my own heroic identity."
"That's cool," the 13 year-old replied, trying to sound cool to the older girl.
Dick ruffled the kid's hair as Bobby said, "Well, the snacks are going to be ready around six, so, Nightwing, I'll need you or Arsenal to take the Javelin to pick it all up."
"Will do," the older teen responded, understanding that Bobby's statement wasn't an order – Dick and Roy just had more experience at the controls. "Is this the first time we'll have the whole team together?"
"Ever since we expanded the roster," Tim answered. "Hey, Nightwing, can I snow you something?"
The former Boy Wonder and the current Boy Wonder wandered off, probably to discuss the letter Bruce had given Tim. Running the numbers as latitude and longitude they had found that they were GPS coordinates for LexCorp Tower in Metropolis, and a search of the tower showed that a penthouse apartment was listed under the name Alvin Draper, one of Tim's Alias'. It looked like Batman was giving Robin an out if he wanted it, but Tim wanted to ask Dick about what had happened when Dick had become Nightwing.
"Alright, the rest of us need to get started with the decorations. Who's in?" Bobby asked as he lead the way to the boxes.
***WB 2/14***
Blood could feel it, the arrival of the Raven, his herald of destruction – the time had come! Rising from the ash pile that served as his bed in the old bombshelter the man opened the blast door and started breaking in the doors of his underlings. "Wake up," he commanded.
When he slammed on Crackshot's door instead of being blown in the child's power turned sound to kinetic force caused the door to blow outwards instead.
"Ah, damn you," Blood cursed, "I'm going to kill you, you little punk!"
"Leave him alone!" Pest shouted as he came out of his room. "Your plans rest on having the four of us at your side, so you can't just kill one of your lieutenants right before a big battle."
With a growl the demon-empowered being threatened, "You had all better watch your steps, because when this is over I will have no further need for you. Now, gather your followers – they will be met by the congregation and transported to the island."
***WB 2/14***
Cassie did not know what to think when all three of the Marvels showed up – Captain Marvel flanked by Mary and Junior. Mary was Bobby's ex-girlfriend, and from what she understood Junior was the guy that Mary had left Bobby for, only their relationship had soured of late. The Captain was there as a chaperone for the party, and he looked like a 200lbs slab of no-fun. All the other chaperones would be arriving in a few hours, but CM had decided to come with his partners.
As strange as it seemed for her Cassie could only imagine what it would be like for Bobby. As far as she knew this was the first time that her boyfriend had met with Captain Marvel, Junior.
"Cap, Mary, LT, how are you?" Bobby asked.
"LT?" Junior asked, sounding offended.
Scratching his scalp ruefully, her boyfriend explained, "Yea, well, CM3 and Junior just sound so demeaning, so I've been thinking of you as 'Lieutenant Marvel'. Still a subordinate, but not by much. Or you could go by Commander Marvel if you want to keep the initials, but it sounds a little pretentious."
"Commander Marvel," Junior considered, then looked up as if he were afraid of being struck by lightning. He did quail under the disapproving stares of Captain and Mary Marvel, though. "I think I'll stick to CM3 for now, but thanks for the ideas, Robert."
"You guys can call me Bobby," he offered, "All my friends do."
She had to roll her eyes at that, at Bobby inviting people to be his friends by telling them that he already thought of them that way. It was just the way that he was – trying to make people relax around him.
Cassie suggested, "Why don't we give you a tour? Mary, you didn't get a chance to see the place last time you were here."
Mary's smile was a little forced, but then it dropped entirely as she looked north, past the tower, the Captains mimicking the motion. "Do you feel that?" she asked.
Bobby and Cassie shared a look and the diadem he'd been wearing on his forehead slipped as he looked to the northwest, the star shifting to cover his right eye like an eye-patch. "This is new," he muttered, not sounding entirely happy that the magical artifact had demonstrated something new.
Cassie looked and focused, her vision narrowing, telescoping to the point that she could see the bird-like wedge of black energy racing towards them. She had to close both eyes to reset them as the delta-shape came into normal sight distance, the shadowy mass dropping low and approaching at a slower speed. It landed in front of them, the energy taking the sape of a black bird before condensing into the shape of a woman wearing a black cocktail dress with a narrow skirt, her head and shoulders covered by a long hooded cloak.
From the tower the rest of the titans joined them: Static and Gear, Arsenal and Tempest, Stargirl, Robin, Hawk and Dove, Jesse Quick and her date, Hourman, Kendra Talak with her artificial wings, Nightwing and the residents of the tower, with Donna bringing up the rear. Sixteen Titans to join her, Bobby, and the three Marvels: twenty-one in all.
"Ah, you are here," the woman, a teen really, said in an emotionless voice. "The Wings of Night, the Two Halves Made Whole, The Changeling, The Seductive Flame, and The Wondrous Eagles. I will have need of you soon."
"The Changeling," Gar mused, as if he were thinking of changing his moniker.
"What need?" Courtney demanded, stepping forward as the duly appointed leader of the Titans.
A war cry brought the attention fo the teens around to the area of the island that had been cleared of buildings. Through angry red rents in the air a dozen different gangs and people in red robes stepped onto the island, led by DeTox, Fame, Pest and Crackshot. Backing them was the demonic visage of Blood. A knot of soldiers wearing armor like DeTox led a group of all girl punks, and through holes in the air a dozen men with Thanagarian wings joined the mass of enemies.
"Nightwing took commanding, ordering, "Bobby, get to the terminal and get the League here, now! Everyone else, get ready for a fight!"
***WB 2/14***
Racing up the stairs, through deserted corridors and past windows where he could see the fight breaking out, Bobby felt his attention drawn to Blood. The demonic being had taken up a position at the center of a circle of his followers, and as the heavy hitters got close they seemed to be slowing down and becoming weaker – relatively speaking at least. In the air all three Marvels were getting their ases handed to them by the Crimson Raptors.
He bypassed the Oracle System room and went directly to the hanger where the S.T.R.I.P.E. armor was waiting. Stepping in Bobby let the mechanisms and plates close around him as he attempted to send a distress call to the League, only to hit some kind of electronic interference. It seemed that Vincent and his band of thugs and lunatics had thought of everything, but at least the electronic blanket wasn't interfering with his link to the wonder balls that began to circle him as the armor powered up.
One of the Red Raptors flew through the opening roof access and Bobby shot him with a foam grenade, the rapidly expanding material hardening into a cast that locked the man's wings and arms up to his elbows and his legs down to his thighs. Activating the armor's Zero-G module Bobby kicked off, knocking the Crimson Raptor out of the tower where he spiral towards the ground. Another of the Raptors caught his falling comrade and began cutting through the foam – it wouldn't be long before they were both back in the fight, so Bobby shot a tear-gas grenade at them.
Spotting Stargirl Bobby started his own descent towards her, firing smoke grenades at groups of rifle-wielding gang members. The Marvels, Power Girl and Starfire were covering the air; Donna, more comfortable with ground fighting, Hawk and Dove, Stargirl and Cyborg were the heavy hitters on the ground. Everyone else was playing a support or utility role except for Raven, who seemed frustrated as she tried to take the fight to Blood.
"The noob is going to get herself killed," Courtney shouted as she shielded Nightwing, Robin and Arsenal from bullets, "Back her up, I'm fine here!"
Nodding, the young man jumped into action, tackling one of the Bana-Mighdall rebels and throwing her into a knot of gang toughs. He spotted Crackshot, one of the horsemen, in another knot of gunmen, using his power to turn sound into concussive force to multiply their firepower. Bobby shot a foam grenade at them, entangling most of their front line, and Beast Boy used the opening to sprint in as a cheetah, then quick-changing into a hammer-tailed dino so that he could do a spinning tail-slap that sent several sailing. Gar followed up by changing into a field mouse and scampered up one guy's pants. From the girlish screams what happened next would have been funny to watch, but Bobby's focus went to Raven, who was being attacked by a dozen cloaked figures trying to manage a net.
Deploying rescue cutters he snipped a gagged gap in the net that Raven was able to scramble out of. She blasted a few robe wearers with dark energy as Bobby joined her, tossing another couple of the mystics away. He spotted a danger – Cyborg with his sonic cannons going after Crackshot. "Vic, let someone else take him."
"I got this," Victor responded, right before firing his cannons. Crackshot saw him coming and turned the sonic attack around, sending Cyborg flying backwards.
"We need to stop Blood's ritual," Bobby announced as he and Raven dealt with the least of her attackers. "Whatever he's doing is affecting our heavy hitters."
"My father's avatar must be stopped – removing his amulet should separate him from Trigon's power," Raven answered, pointing to the inverted silver pentagram that hung from a silver chain around the demonic-looking man's neck.
Bobby nodded, calling the shots, "Nightwing, Donna, Kori, Vic, Gar – move up and coordinate with Raven: we need to shut down this ritual so that the Marvels can move in."
The young man found himself occupied by DeTox, who was using a combination of boxing and wrestling training which Bobby countered as best he could. It would have been easier if he hadn't been wearing the armor, but outside the armor and he would have been outclassed in strength by the deluded teenager. Bobby was glad that he'd familiarized himself with the way the armor moved, because otherwise he would have been hurting.
"Playing 'D', that's not like you, Harper," Bobby noted, the voice filter disguising him.
Fighting without the mask on his helmet the 19 year-old's expressions were obvious – the frustration and bitter resentment. "Yea, well, I noticed the Trevor-brat ran off the moment he saw me," Vincent spat.
"Yea, well, every team needs a field leader, but they also need a coach," the young man taunted, making it seem that his role on the team was a step above his long-time rival. "He'll probably say hello himself in a moment."
A simple movement of his eyes sent a wonderball crashing into the armored side of Vincent's head. Switching the audio so that it came unfiltered from the wonderball he taunted, "I noticed you brought the old band – how much did they cost?" He was referencing the Bana-Mighdall in Toxin regulators that were giving Donna, Hank, Don and Vic so much trouble.
"They want you," Vincent bit off. "I don't know what you did to piss them off, but they want to kill you worse than I do!"
"Actually, they want to ritualistically rape me," Bobby countered as he blocked a couple blows. That managed to distract the bruiser, so he kicked DeTox in the chest, sending him flying backwards into one of the mages that surrounded Blod.
"DeTox, you fool," Blood screamed, "I told you to keep the ritual from being disrupted!"
Overhead the Marvels turned the tide in the aerial battle, de-winging a couple of the Crimson Raptors. Donna also seemed to recover some of her strength as she plowed through several opponents on her way to join Raven. Seeing how much the attackers seemed to be relying on them Bobby resolved to take out the mages so that the ritual couldn't be restarted. He rocketed forward, but was caught by DeTox and turned towards Blood.
In the months since he'd gotten ahold of the pentagram Blood's strength had reached superhuman scale, so that the clawed fingers that Blood caught him with cut into the armor and crushed the composite metal into a handy place to hold onto. Bobby fired multiple grenades as he grabbed hold of the pentagram with both hands, but when the altered pyro-kinetic tossed him away the robotic hands with all their pounds per inch of grip strength could not hold on. One of the hands was actually torn from the armor as Bobby went from 0 to 98 miles per hour, Blood chucking him away like a major-league pitcher. Then his speed jumped to 982 miles per hour, and Bobby passed out from the G-forces of the acceleration, the armor locking up just before it impacted the tower.
The armor lock protected him from broken bones, but when he came to the young man was dizzy from a minor concussion. He found himself inside what was left of the industrial refrigerator, but it had been knocked nearly 30 feet from the kitchen by the force of the impact. Honestly it was a miracle that he hadn't been blown out the far side of the tower, but it looked like he'd hit everything from the façade to where he ended up, bleeding off speed. Every indicator on the armor was reading critical damage, and it was all he could do to open the armor so that he could step out.
Windows on the floor he'd ended up on were still intact, and through them he could see that things were not going well. He could see Gear dragging an unconscious Static away from the fight, and Blood had reestablished his ritual, sapping the strength of the Titan's most powerful members and allies. Raven had retreated rather than try to face Blood alone. As if to make matters worse news choppers had arrived and were circling, making a documentary out of the biggest fight the Titans had ever faced.
He had to stop the ritual, but it was going to take more power than he'd had, even as Wonder Boy. Bobby moved down the halls to his room and opened the door, his eyes going towards the desk, but he was brought up short by a woman in red Toxin Regulator armor that turned to face him.
"There you are," the leader of the Bana-Mighdall rebels said from behind the mask. "I was certain that you would come here eventually, and here you are, male."
"Long time, Faruka," he remarked, "I have to say that your choice in company has gotten worse – the price of living on the run I suppose?"
"Hardly," the woman crowed, "That cow, Artemis, has closed her doors to the outside world, leaving us to pick up the slack. When we were told the assignment was to assault this tower we simply couldn't pass it up – and our price was you."
"It won't work," he stressed, "my bloodline carries a curse that kills daughters – that's why the Bana-Mighdall do not already have a queen."
"Then we will take your sons, train them to the apex of human perfection and then set them loose on each other until only one remains. From him we will breed the next generation," she explained.
Pursing his lips Bobby admitted, "I'm really not thrilled with that idea, honestly,"
"You have no choice, male," Faruka growled as she lunged at him.
Taking a step forward Bobby knelt and grabbed her thigh just above the knee, pressing his shoulder into her stomach as he stood. Enhanced strength did not provide enhanced traction, and the average-strength teen was able to throw her onto the bed. He then jumped the other way, throwing himself to the ground and grabbing the lowest drawer of his desk. Dragged backwards by the crazy woman, Bobby turned and smacked her upside the head with his impromptu weapon.
She let go, and he scrambled back to the desk, reaching inside the cavity the drawer left behind, his fingers closing on the metal plate with the mesh sleeve. He was being dragged back again, and had no time for subtly. The mesh tube was hanging open, so he shoved his left arm through it. As soon as his hand came out the other side the mesh tightened and the stars stamped on the plate began to glow: red, yellow, blue and indigo. Spells carved into the metal also began to glow a swirling combination of green and violet.
He was ready to feel a sense of resignation, of accepting his fate, but instead he felt relief as he was dragged across the floor by Faruka. Bobby let her stand him up, trying to understand the feelings that were coursing through him at the moment. A part of him hoped the relief came from the bracer, that it was the relief of the Elementals within it that he was feeling, but he knew that the emotion was his.
"Now, you will come with me," the woman said, preparing to head butt him.
He was afraid of her, and that emotion triggered the first disk within the bracer to start spinning. She brought her head against his and cracked the faceplate that was part of the helmet, but doing him no injury. Bobby was angry with her too, and that emotion translated to a second disk spinning – grabbing her hands he easily forced them off his collar. As afraid and angry as he was the young man didn't hate her – he actually felt sorry for her – and releasing her hands he stepped back and waited for her to come after him, but when she did it was like Faruka was moving at ¾ speed. Belatedly he noted that a third disk was now spinning within the plate.
Enhanced cognition had not been one of the powers that the old Power Shackle had granted him – flying 300 miles per hour he'd needed a heads-up display to alert him to upcoming dangers. As it was now when she tried to grapple him Bobby had more than enough time to grab her hands, locking her arms and perform a suplex, driving her head first into the floor.
She recovered quicker than he expected, kicking him in the stomach, but he barely felt the blow, and taking hold of her foot he spun, throwing her against the window with force enough to knock them out of their brackets and sending the woman tumbling towards the ground. He followed her down, meaning to fly, but it seemed that the bracer's fourth disk controlled that power, and he fell five stories. Faruka hit the ground and rolled, accidentally putting herself right below him so that his booted feet slammed into her chest plate.
Bobby stepped off the gasping woman and ripped away the chest piece and then held her in place as he checked her wounds. "You have broken ribs," he told her, "So, if you come after me now you'll run the risk of a punctured lung or ruptured spleen."
"How?" she gasped.
He held up his left arm to show her the plate with the three glowing stars – red, yellow and indigo. Standing up he saw the fight was still ongoing, so he leapt into action, actually jumping into the air and landing in a knot of thugs. He took out their weapons by tried to do as little damage as possible – these guns had likely been used in other crimes and law enforcement would want to run ballistics tests. Taking magazines and leaving disassembled rifles Bobby bounded off into another group where Crackshot was leading the charge.
Landing in front of the teen, Bobby did a front flip over the kid and clapped his hands as hard as possible. The resulting concussive force threw Bobby into the air and knocked the gunmen around the younger teen to the ground.
Strong hands caught him under the arms, carrying him through the air, and he looked up to find himself being carried by his girlfriend, who had the same question as the rebel Amazon: "Bobby, how?"
"Not now, beautiful," he told her. "Right now I need you to chuck me at the closest cultists: we need to get the other heavy hitters up to full power!"
"Right," she agreed, and then spinning she launched her boyfriend at the nearest red-robed fanatics.
Hitting the ground the young man grabbed the robed man and threw him at a bunch of girls in punk clothes. The gun-women were knocked to the ground, and a few of them vented their frustration by beating the robe-wearer unconscious – he would not be reinitiating the circle. Bobby moved to the next one in line, wanting to disrupt the ritual as much as possible, but was intercepted by DeTox.
"Trevor!" the ex-jock screamed as he came on with a flurry of blows.
Bobby was able to see them coming, but his body was slower than his perception, allowing Vincent to get in a couple of blows. This only served to inflate Harper's already staggering ego, creating openings for Bobby, which he used to pry the armor from his opponent. He then smashed his fist against the drug-abusing teen's stomach, and as impossible as it seemed he felt something break under his fist. Vincent had sacrificed a couple feet of intestine to have a toxin regulator placed inside his body, the pump acting as an additional kidney to filter the toxin crystals out of his blood, reheat them into a liquid, and then putting it back into his bloodstream.
"Bastard!" a girl shrieked, and Bobby found himself facing Fame – Vincent's psychotic girlfriend.
He pulled the diadem from his crown and it reshaped itself into a hilt with an ornate blade made of shimmering blue light. That was new, but the Blessing of Ares told Bobby how to use a sword to best effect. Fame's power was to manipulate time by creating distortion fields that extended from her body. She'd been practicing too, if the number of desiccated corpses in New York was in fact her doing.
Magical objects tended to grow more powerful with time, so the diadem resisted the blade of time that the young woman was wielding. Add to that the training Bobby had gotten from the Amazons of Themyscira and the Blessing of Ares and Bobby was able to push Fame back. He also growled, "Listen to me: DeTox is going to need medical attention, so if you love him get him out of here!"
Fame hesitated, and then her face twisted in anger as she produced a second beam of temporal energy. She came at him again with a ferocity that was scary to behold, but easily countered with reason and skill. Bobby turned her around so that she was between him and DeTox before putting her beams in a blade lock and kicking her lightly in the chest so that she knocked down Vincent, who'd been climbing to his feet. "Get him to a hospital!" Bobby shouted before sprinting away.
He scanned the area for another ritualist, but it seemed that the rest had been taken care of by the aerial forces. The air battle was over and the experienced fliers were joining the ground battle. Seeing that gave Bobby hope, and with that the disk under the fourth star began to spin and his feet left the ground.
Blood was furious, and it turned out that the ritual had been enhancing a natural ability, so that when Captain Marvel tried to remove the amulet his strength was sapped to the point that Blood was able to knock the hero away easily. As Bobby closed in he couldn't tell if he was being affected, being new to his powers, but there was a possibility that the Nth metal that the plate was made of shielded him. There was only one way to find out, so he closed the distance and went hand-to-hand.
It turned out that no one had ever wanted to get close enough to the pyro-kinetic fire-bug to teach him close-combat, so getting in close was easy. Once he was inside the bruiser's guard Bobby gave him a right cross that staggered the juggernaught, but it was a follow up left that had a curious effect. The red skin ripples, becoming transparent, revealing an emaciated body in the fetal position wearing a silver pentagram on a thin silver chain inside Blood's chest. Eyes with surprise the villain seemed to realize for the first time that the imposing body he possessed was a fabrication even as the illusion reformed.
Lashing out , the murderer knocked Bobby back, but the teen recovered, and now he had a plan. Acting according to its own rules the diadem twisted itself around his right first like a brass knuckle. He jabbed with the left to disrupt the illusion, then hammered with the right, trying to batter his way through the barrier that separated Blood's real body from the world. A left hook managed to get throughthe barrier, but when he grabbed the amulet Bobby couldn't pull it past the field that made up the physical aspect of Blood's illusion. He let go and was able to remove his hand easily, the image reforming and batting him away again.
Taking to the air Bobby called out, "Mary, Cap, LT!" When he was joined by the three Marvels he told them his plan. "As long as Blood is in the game those cultists will keep coming, so when I'm in position I need you three to bring the lightning – I'll channel it into his true amulet."
"What?" Mary gasped. "Bobby, no; one bold destroyed your old bracer, three will kill you!"
"And Blood, too," Bobby agreed, "But if we don't put a stop to Blood now then he'll just get more powerful.
"What about that Raven chick?" Lt. put in, siding with Mary, "I thought she had a plan to deal with this guy?"
Below Raven and the Titans she'd selected were being pushed back – Blood seemed to grow more powerful the closer they came.
Billy, Captain Marvel, put it together, saying, "This isn't the threat that she is meant to fight. Robert is right, we have to deal with this threat, and he's the only one who can do this, but he needs our power to pull this off."
"No, Bil, Captain, we can't," Mary plead. "Junior," she turned to the other when her brother didn't fold.
Shaking his head CM3 explained, "Cap is right, Mary; Wonder Boy is the only one who can get close enough to do this."
Bobby pressed, "I need all three of you – we don't know how much power this is going to take, which means that we need to error on the side of too much. Once I have my left arm through the hard illusion I'll raise my right, that will be your cue, got it?"
"We'll be ready," Captain Marvel promised. Before Bobby could leave the hero added, "And Robert, Bobby, I do count you among my friends."
Giving them a nod Bobby swooped in with his left fist cocked, ready to go. Blood saw him coming and spewed fire, which the young man dodged, rolling and skimming the ground. Once inside the brute's guard he slammed his left fist against the illusionary body, coming back with a right that warped the energy field, then struck with his left again, breaking through. The fingers of his left hand curled around the true amulet and he raised his right hand, the diadem forming into a rod that glowed blue with magical energies.
"SHAZAM!" two voices called in unison while another cried, "Captain Marvel!" The trio then fled as three lightning bolts streaked towards the ground. Bobby only had enough time to think, "Please, work," before the lightning struck his upraised beacon, coursing through his body to his other arm.
The silver wire crumpled in his fist, the chain it was attached to melted, and the feedback knocked Bobby backwards into the tower, which groaned in complaint before crumbling to the ground on top of him.
***WB 2/14***
The news cameras caught it all, the powwow, the attack and the sacrifice, before being momentarily blinded by the flash. One helicopter was knocked out by a pulse of energy, the auto-rotation of the blades allowing the pilot to make a successful crash landing. All the others circled, some searching for Wonder Boy, the others following the action, because it seemed that the sacrifice of Tomorrow's Promise had accomplished nothing.
Rising from the crater of the explosion had created the creature roared, towering 40 feet into the air as he stood, taller and more imposing than ever. One reporter noted the lack of the amulet as they followed a young woman in orange who lassoed the monster's cloven feet, yanking back on the rope and tripping the thing up. It hit the ground, and four other Titans jumped into the fray – known members Cyborg and Beast Boy immobilized its arms, Beast Boy transformed into an elephant to pin the limb while Cyborg grabbed the other wrist and attempted to wrestle it in place. The half-machine was joined by Nightwing, who fired a grappling line around the same wrist and helped hold it in place. Starfire peppered the red body with her green energy bolts, preventing the being from raising its chest, while above another newcomer to the team – a girl in a black cocktail dress and cloak – seemed to be preparing a ritual of her own.
Her aspect grew from cloaked girl to a massive figure, like a huge raven that would have used the entire island as a roost. Against the order of the journalists on board the pilots began to pull back, afraid of being caught in another EMP. The energy condensed into a stream that shot towards the earth, striking the demonic figure in the chest. At the giving end the girl was revealed, but her clothes had changed from darkest back to purest white as she directed the energy downward.
When the cloaked girl finally relented the ground beneath the demonic being seemed to be torn by angry-looking red fissures, and the Titans scrambled to get away as the fissures grew. The girl in orange and Starfire swooped in to pull Cyborg and Nightwing to safety while Beast Boy changed into a green robin and flew away. Screaming obscenities and curses the monster fell through the cracks, clawing at air as the rents in the ground began to recede, seeming to take shapes before finally shrinking to nothing and vanishing all together.
The demon banished, the cultists who had been poring through their own magic portals began to tetreat, with the gun-toting gang members pressing to get through as well. All of the Crimson Raptors were grounded, and Kendra Talak seemed hell-bent on preventing the Kaznian extremists from making it to the portal. Half a dozen Bana-Mighdall Amazons in regulator suits were carrying a seventh in red armor to cigarette boats at the harbor, a couple dozen female punks following – not all of whom would fit on the boats. DeTox was being supported by his girlfriend, who projected a field that shot them into the air when they stepped through it – at the apex of their launch she projected another field that shot them out over the water towards land. Pest managed to make it through a portal by bullying his way through the line.
Crackshot tried to join a line, but he was snatched up by Power Girl, who was crying as she said, "Bobby would never forgive me if I let you go back to the Horsemen. He'd . . ." she paused to stifle a case of the sniffles before going on, "He would want you tried as a minor and given a place on the Titans when you got out."
She dropped next to Nightwing, who quickly zip-tied Crackshot while the grounded news crew followed everything documentary style like they were war correspondents. Other crews were landing to follow the action as the Titans put their training to work, providing first aid to the men and women who'd attacked them. As Jesse Quick put it, "This is what we're trained to do."
Not all the Titans were on clean up as a group of them frantically excavated the fallen tower. Stargirl had her staff pointed at the rubble, and when asked explained, "I'm reinforcing the building so that we can excavate without crushing Bobby." Meanwhile the Marvels were pulling away rubble as fast as they could.
Her staff shook, and Stargirl looked at it as if confused, then announced, "There's something inside trying to get out!"
All cameras turned towards the tower as a huge chunk was lifted into the air from beneath to reveal a human figure holding it up with his right hand, his left fist curled around a lump of silver wire. He was wearing a patriotic costume – blue down the middle from shoulders to the knees where they were tucked into armor plated combat boots and down the inner arm to where the sleeves were tucked into matching bracers. Up the sides and down the sleeves were three stripes – a white stripe flanked by red ones. The bracers were full plate all the way around, not just a plate held by mesh, and the starsglowed a vibrant white instead of separate colors. On the young man's brow the Diadem of Antiope gleemed, the star on it also glowing white, like his bracers
He set the piece of building down and tossed Raven the bundle of wire before taking a moment to look at himself. "Yea, this is new," he sighed.
Static laughed, voicing the giddy relief that all of them were feeling. "Where did you get the new threads and spare bracer from?"
"I think the new Power-Shackle created them," he answered, admitting, "I'm not sure how I feel about magical objects with ideas of their own."
Robin came back from picking through the edge of the ruin and tossed Bobby a red utility belt with Wonder Woman's logo as a buckle. "Here, I'm pretty sure that doesn't think for itself."
"Thanks, Rob," he told his friend, mindful of the cameras, buckling the multi-pocketed belt around his waist.
Reporters started gathering, all clamoring to have the same questions answered in different orders. This was almost old hat for Bobby, who fielded most as Stargirl stood by, ready to answer any questions involving the team.
***WB 2/14***
Colonel Steve Trevor, United States Air Force, Retired, gripped the arms of his chair as he watched the live footage of his grandson fighting someone who looked like the classical representation of the devil. Once more possessing the powers he'd used as Wonder Boy Robert had a brief but intense planning session with Captain Marvel and his young partners before engaging in what the former soldier recognized as a suicide run. It was obvious to Steve that Robert did not intend to come out of this alive, and as the signal was knocked out due to the flash of lightning the grandfather was worried that he'd not only outlived his son but his grandson too.
The nurses had wanted to move him, but Steve had insisted; he would not leave until he knew the fate of his grandson.
Finally, the battle ended and attention turned to digging out the collapsed tower where Robert was supposedly buried. Just as it began, though, the search ended as a huge chunk of the building was lifted into the air by Robert, who'd apparently had time to change into costume. Seeing that, Steve relaxed and folded his hands in his lap.
With a sigh he murmured, "That's good, Bobby; you are going to do this family proud!"
Closing his eyes the man took another deep breath and appeared to fall asleep.
End Chapter Fourteen: Choice
End Part II: Powerless
Author's Note: Well, this brings us to the end of part two, and for those who might ask, yes, I decided to kill off Steve Trevor. He's had a good run in the Justice League: Unlimited universe, having been in his 20s during WW II and living to see the turn of the century, making him at least 85, probably closer to 95. My plan is to write a part III, focusing on Bobby's college years and turning the media against him a little. Please give me feedback using the comments: I really do read them.