Chapter II

Jump City, ten years before the founding of the Teen Titans.

Mr. Wilson had just finished his latest project and had decided that he would take the day off. Today he was on his way to hugs and kisses from his wife and kids. He had been away for quite a number of days and was glad that he now had the chance to make up to his loved ones for his absence. He knew that it was a little early in the day, and that he would probably be met by a rather empty house when he gets there. His wife would be at work, and the kids would be in school. But he had been looking forward to getting home for the entire duration of his leave. A few more hours would be all worth it when they're all together again.

It didn't take him long to spot his long-time butler and companion amidst the sea of people. It's not like the butler was carrying a sign or anything with his name on it (unlike many fetchers you usually see in airports). But there had always been a distinct aura that seemed to cling to people who lived in the house of the Wilsons. That aura, likewise, made it fairly easy for the butler to notice his master coming towards him.

"I assume you'd want to go straight home, sir?", the butler greeted as he helped his master with his luggage.

"Yeah…home…" his master replied with a smile. Maybe the house wouldn't be so empty, after all.

The car pulled over and out went Wilson. He wasn't the type who needed the butler to open the door for him. The butler came out a few seconds after. He smiled, understanding his master's excitement to enter his glorious home.

Wilson jogged up the stairs, and to the front doors of the mansion whose elegant exterior never failed to bedazzle visitors. But to the Wilson family, it was just a shell to the real spirit of joy that dwelt inside. The butler, catching up with Mr. Wilson, opened the great, oaken front doors. They closed the door behind them and made their way across the guest room. Wilson let himself collapse unto the couch whose comfortable surface he had so missed.

"Anything I can get you, sir?" the butler said with almost a chuckle.

"Oooohhh…" his master replied, burying himself further into the sofa. "…just let me die in peace…"

The butler laughed, and then said, "Let you die? What did I save you from that bomb for, then?"

"Hey!" Wilson responded, turning his head to his butler and waving a finger at him. "I saved your life at Viet Cong, too!"

Both men laughed.

"Very well…I'll be upstairs if you need me, sir."

"Thanks, man…"

Wilson re-buried his head back on the couch. He laid there for a minute, an hour, an eternity of just taking a break after some hard work.

And then the phone rang.

Looking up, he remembered that the phone was just on a table right beside the sofa. "Sit tight, Will! I'll get it!", he screamed over his shoulder.

"Hello?" he greeted.

"Mr. Wilson?" A sinister voice greeted back.

"That's…me. Who's this, please?"

"This isn't really the most secure way of conveying the message. All you need to know is that I have Joseph and you will let me do all the talking from hereon in until I hang up."

He understood completely. If he as much as uttered a single word for the rest of the phone conversation, this psycho would kill his son. He dared not, did not, speak.

"Alright, listen up." the sinister voice said again. Wilson made sure to pay attention. He knew that what was coming was important. "Many emperors embody titanic might, especially in new perils. Inevitably, emperors rise, fall, or remain timeless. Yet omnipresence, never easily attained through self-empowerment, eludes vain emperors nonetheless."

And then the mystery caller hung up, leaving him to deal with the cryptic message.