231. A Hard Act to Follow part 16
November 30, 2004.
12:45 pm
Titan's City.
Bayside shore.
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The surf rolled in and out along the sand.
Cold air kissed the frothing waves.
An overcast sky reflected a gray aura off the salt water as a thin ripple waded its way through the waves. A dark head appeared. Glossy. Cascading with thin sheets of water. Tempest emerged from the Ocean, marching with stone-stiff feet. Clad in his trademark wetsuit, he shook the long black strands of wet hair out from his forehead and glared with white-on-black eyes towards the dryer part of the shore.
"………."
Lindsay stood there, hugging herself in a sweater from the cold wind. But she wasn't alone. Raven was perched beside her, her hand stuffed in the pockets of her sweat jacket.
"……..," Tempest took a deep breath. "So…….it wasn't my imagination. You must really be desperate…."
Raven bit her lip, but eventually uttered against the wintry winds: "Yes."
Tempest smirked ever so bitterly. "Humbled….too…."
"………..," Raven was silent. Glaring.
"Heh….," Tempest shrugged. "Should have known better than to push my luck there."
Lindsay stepped suddenly forward.
"……..?" Tempest turned and looked at her.
The freckle-faced teen simpered and offered a white cloth. "I-I brought you a towel."
"Why?"
"It's cold, and walking out of the water like that…you must be freezing!"
"Lindsay, I've spent a good amount of my 'sidekick' days traversing the cold currents of the Artic Circle as well as…."
"…..," Lindsay looked pensively away.
Tempest cleared his throat, smiled, and took the towel: "Thanks. Really….it means a lot."
Lindsay smiled nervously. "It's….g-good to see you, Garth."
Tempest dried his hair some before wrapping the towel over his shoulders like a shawl. "Ahh…..writing to you was the only thing that ever kept me sane."
"You sure that Wonder Woman's bathtub was the only thing you shared?" Lindsay asked.
Tempest made a face. "That's the first thing you have to ask me?"
Lindsay blushed.
"How's the larva?"
"Phil? Same little pooper as ever."
"Ah. Well, good to hear that one nice thing about this dry-ass City hasn't changed. Heheheh…"
"Hehehehe!"
Raven cleared her throat. "Tempest….about my being here…."
Tempest looked over tiredly at her. "Look, Miss Gruesome….do you mind? J-J-Just what do you need to know? The world's screwed! That's the long and short of it! There, are you happy?"
"Tempest….."
"Some red-farting stringray's out to poison the whole surface world. What do I care? You know…the Titans were never really together on a whole lot of things to begin with, much less Pangea and the above-ocean continents…."
"Garth!"
"……..," Tempest squinted at Raven.
The dark girl breathed to calm herself and said: "Cyborg doesn't know I'm here."
Lindsay looked surprised.
"………," Tempest leaned his head to the side. His lips curved somewhat. "Really…..?"
"Yes. Really."
"Why the lonely game all of the sudden? Huh? Didja catch the Titan leader sleeping in bed with another toaster?"
"Cyborg is……mistaken over a lot of things….but he's not alone," Raven said. "A lot of us have been blind. But then again, a lot of us weren't looking far to begin with. We kept our eyes locked on the ground….suppressed by the gloom and disaster that has plagued this City. Only the likes of you and Noir were willing to think outside of the box. Because of that, you two know things now that I am only just starting to catch wind of. And I need to know more….I w-want to know more, Garth. I believe the Titans may be in more danger than November Fourth ever promised…."
"Ever heard of 'too little too late'?" Tempest chirped. "Sorry, Princess Misery, but your words are water off a tortoise's back."
"Garth…."
"S-C-R-E-W-O-F-F! You know what that spells? 'No'!"
Lindsay suddenly touched his hand. "Garth…please….speak to her…."
The Atlantean seemed suddenly taken by the contact with the schoolgirl's grasp. He blinked. He gently traced her fingers with his. He murmured: "Neptune almighty…..you feel so cold….."
"…..," Lindsay bit her lip.
Tempest looked her in the eyes.
"Raven only wants to do what's right…," Lindsay whispered. "Please give her some ear. I know that you have been through a lot. Lord knows, I can't imagine. But at the same time….you haven't been here these last few weeks, Garth. It's a whole different world. And a very….unpleasant one at that."
"………….."
"Please…….."
Tempest took a deep breath. He gently caressed her chin and whispered back to her: "Don't ever beg me to do anything…."
Lindsay merely blinked.
Tempest turned, gazed at Raven, and took a deep breath. "All right. Let's talk."
Raven nodded. "Good."
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Gotham City.
12:51 pm
Western District.
Dark alleyway.
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"Nnnnghh…..Nnnn-Nnnnghh!" William B. Fox struggled, strained, but finally succeeded in tossing a severely smashed, charred computer tower over the edge of a dumpster and into the garbage.
C-CLANG!
He leaned back against a brick wall and exhaled, wiping his sweaty brow. His clothes were disheveled and he seemed out of breath.
A dark alleyway stretched around him. Rusted metal fire escapes and paper garbage strewn through the side streets. Mist and steam rose hideously from random metal grates and manhole covers. The sounds of distant emergency sirens, barking dogs, car engines, and other audible detritus of inner city slums danced down the six-story walls surrounding him.
"Bah….all gone to shit," he murmured. "Shit on a shit cracker…." He adjusted his jacket and stepped back from the dumpster. "Dent's going to kill me……heh….if only I wasn't so valuable to him." He shrugged to the air. "Oh well….I'll just get a new computer, trace those two hackers down, and send their home addresses Triangular's best wishes—" He turned around to jog off but ran right into Batman's growling face. "AAAH! Hare Ch-Christ! I-I mean, Jesus Kr-Krishna!"
"Make a habit out of talking to yourself, Fox?" Batman grunted.
Fox stumbled back, blinking…..twitching. "Whoah…..man….you're really tight in person!"
Batman's eyeslits narrowed. "Don't be an imbecile. Drop the act."
"Act?" Fox stepped back, limping with nervousness. "Ehheheheheheh…," he sweated and shakily shrugged. "What act?"
"Your immaturity only goes so far. I know you're a talented asset for Triangular. I'm here to discuss your…business practices."
"Triangle who?" William simpered. "Mr. Batman, please….I love what you do for the City and all, but picking on me? That's way low, man! There's this guy who goes to the Gothe Nightclub. His name's Ernie. Tax evasion up the god damn wazoo! Go pick on him! I'd pay to see that!"
SWOOOSH!-GRIP! Batman hoisted William up by the collar of his jacket.
"Looks like you need a little reeducation, you overgrown infant!"
"Hey!" Fox frowned. "Who're you calling overgrown? WAAIE!" CLANG! He was tossed back against the dumpster, wincing.
Batman stood over him, pointing: "It was you who bridged Triangular's gap in secretly transporting Luthor's and Dagger's shipment of the thermal energy containers. You lived an affluent, extravagant life as your father's heir to the co-ownership of Wayne Corp's infrastructure. But that wasn't enough for you. You had a taste for the exotic and bold…so you dealt with the Gotham night scene. The criminal Gotham night scene. And maybe it was Luthor that drew you in first. Or maybe Dagger. But at some point or another, Two-Face came into the picture. And you found yourself so hungrily engulfed in a bureaucratic enterprise of evil you couldn't pull out to save your filthy life! You decided to use your own father's connections to help out your criminal playmates while at the same time reaping the profits of a hacker's dream—access to the hugest criminal library of unauthorized information this world has ever seen."
"HEY!" William frowned and pointed with a shaking finger. "Seven hundred and fifty thousand GIGABYTES of porn! That is not criminal…that's the ninth wonder of the world, my friend! SNKKKKT!"
Fox was suddenly at the receiving end of Batman's gloved fingers encircling his throat…threatening.
Batman sneered: "Because of you, half a million units of volatile, metaphysical thermal materials are hiding in the vaults of Wayne Corp. under random access codes, and my former partner may very well be a singed carcass."
"Oh y-yeah?" Fox hissed for air. Struggling to smile. "Good for him! Snkkktt!"
Batman's grip tightened. He spoke through clenched teeth: "You aren't even worth the mere seconds it'd take to choke you to death…."
"Oh….you ARE a hater!" Fox wheezed. "I've read up on how you love to beat up on poor defenseless brothers!……..or wait, is that Green Arrow?"
"I'm going to give you on the count of five to tell me those codes and what Two-Face has guarding the vault inside Wayne Corp!"
"Seriously….Batman…..if you're s-so smart….," William B. Fox wheezed. "….don't you know that my buddies would be right behind me?"
"……..," Batman frowned.
Fox pulled out a remote…and clicked it. It beeped with a red, blinking signal.
Batman gritted his teeth and grabbed it, dropping Fox.
Fox gasped for breath…but soon was smiling.
Because….
VRMMMM!
SCREEEEEECH!
From around the corner, a black van pulled up. The sliding side door swung open and four henchmen along with two drivers pulled out, all armed with Tommy Guns.
Batman made a face and dove behind the dumpster.
RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!
RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!
P-P-P-PING!
P-PING!
William shrieked and covered himself as bullets ricocheted down the alleyway past him.
Batman crouched behind the dumpster, shielding himself from the shower of lead.
RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT!
PING! PING!
CL-CLANG! PING!
The men cussed and hissed and moved in closer for a clearer shot.
"It's the Bat!"
"He finally showed his ugly face!"
"Waste him!"
"Yeah! Yeah!" Fox shouted above the gunfire and chaos. "Just…ehm…sh-shoot around me, boys!" And with a scampering breath, he crawled out on all fours and swiftly made his way towards the van past the gunfire.
Batman saw him. He swiftly grabbed a batarang, tied a black cord to it, spun it over his head, and launched it after Fox's figure like a fisherman casting a line.
SWIIIISH-SLINK! The birdarang hooked through the back of William B. Fox's jacket.
"Augh!" he cried out as he jolted to a stop, the birdarang catching and holding him taut at the end of the cord.
Batman gave it some slack, looped a bundle of the cord over a metal fire escape's support beam, and yanked down hard on his end.
SWOOOOSH!
"YAAAAAK!" Fox was effectively hoisted up like the unlucky end of a pulley system. He dangled in open view of the gunfire blazing through the alleyway. He flinched and twitched all over.
The thugs grunted, shifted positions, and struggled to shoot around him at Batman.
RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!
P-P-PING!
P-PING!
BLAM! BL-BLAM!
"GET ME DOWN FOR THE LOVE OF JOHN MADDEN!" Fox wailed.
Batman gritted his teeth and dangled the man between the waves of hot lead. "Tell me about the Wayne Corp. Vaults! It can't all be a digital process! Someone has to be there to receive the shipment! Posing as security guards! Employees! Tell me who!"
"I don't know! I work behind a desk, man! A pretty comfortable desk at that—until this morning, that is!"
"WRONG ANSWER," Batman snarled and yanked at the cord.
Fox swung side to side by his jacket. He yelped and shrieked.
RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT!
SW-SWIIIISH! SWIIIIISSSSH! The bullets streamed past his twitching figure.
The thugs cussed in frustration, shifted their aim, and marched down the alleyway further to get close to the vigilante behind the strings.
"I'm not going to ask you again!" Batman hissed.
"Nnnngh! Hagan! It was Matt Hagan's job!"
Batman's lips parted. "Clayface? So he's the one representing Two-Face at Wayne Corp….." He jerked at the cord and growled: "Tell me how!"
Fox swung. A bullet or two ate through his pantlegs. SN-SNIP! He gasped and shouted: "H-He's not there! But he had something t-to do with it! Something about 'Dagget's Formula Samples' or some shit! He was responsible for planning Two-Face's operation at Wayne Corp since his breakout from Arkham! Th-Th-That's all I know!"
"And where is Clayface now?"
"I don't know!" Fox shouted. He glanced with bulging eyes down at the thugs. He sweated and shouted: "You stupid yahoos! Stop firing at me already!"
"Shuddup, Fox!"
"Dent says you're expendable now!"
"WHAT?"
"Say your prayers….," a thug whipped out a grenade. "You AND the bat!" Cl-Clink! He pulled the pin out of the grenade.
Fox whimpered.
Batman saw the explosive. He dropped the cord and shielded himself at the last second with his cape splashed over his upper body.
"AAAAH!—" SPLAT! Fox landed hard on the alleyway floor. He was out cold….
"Fire in the hole!"
"Heh….one fried bat coming up!"
The thug tossed the grenade.
Thwooosh!
Batman peaked out from under his blast-shielding cape.
The grenade twirled, descended, and sailed towards the opposite end of the dumpster.
Thw-Thw-Thw-Thw-Thw-THW-THW-THW-THW-THWISH! CLANK!
A nightarang sailed in from high above and collided with the grenade in mid-air. The explosive was knocked back across the alley.
Batman gasped.
The thugs shouted and ran back.
The grenade crashed through a window and ignited inside the building.
POWWWW!
The alleyway shook. Glass and dust and fiery debris billowed out from the shattered window.
In the amber light of the flickering flames, Nightwing glided down. His outfit was a little singed and his long black hair was believably frazzled. He landed, rolled, leapt over a mound of smoking debris, and pounced upon two thugs at once with meaty arms plowing.
"AAA—"
"DAA--!
TH-THRUMP!
He grounded the thugs and vaulted off.
The four other gunmen gasped and aimed their Thompsons at the hero.
Nightwing snarled and tossed another nightarang.
SW-SW-SW-SWISH! The projectile sailed down the alleyway and landed with its sharp end plugging into the barrel of the first firearm to be triggered. CLANK! CRACK! The gunshot backfired and shattered the gun explosively in the man's twitching hands. He yelped and fell back, forcing another thug to collapse and roll across the ground.
The other two ran back and hid behind a fire escape, firing back all the while.
RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!
RAT-A-TAT-TAT!
Nightwing flinched. A thick, gloved hand grabbed his shoulder and yanked him back behind the dumpster before the whizzing bullets could rip him apart.
P-P-P-PING!
Nightwing panted for breath.
Batman frowned, bracing his back up against the dumpster besides him. "Never throw yourself into the open like that."
Nightwing smirked bitterly and gestured: "You're welcome."
P-PING!
CL-CL-CLANG!
Nightwing peered ever-so-cautiously around the edge of the swiss-cheesed dumpster to spot the villains' positions. "I barely escaped that site you flauntingly told me to investigate," he spotted one gunman scramble over with his gun to join the other two behind the fire escape steps. "I nearly got burned to ashes, but I managed to find out where Luthor's shipment arrived in Gotham….and where it was headed to next."
Batman nodded. He reached into his utility belt and grabbed a batarang and a handful of smoke pellets. "And I just found out that Clayface is indeed being employed by Triangular since his Arkham escape. He may be responsible for an insidious plot on Wayne Corp."
"Oh. Yeah. Great." Nightwing tossed his arms and spoke above the bulletfire and metallic collisions. "Great progress. Why don't you ask them if Two-Face is Harvey Dent while you're at it?"
P-PING! CLANG!
Batman quietly, hurriedly stuck a smoke pellet into each of the sharp points of the batarang.
Nightwing griped: "In the meantime, I got myself into another fine mess…AGAIN cleaning up after you! Is this why Robin is so angsty as of late? Cuz you make him do all the hardcore stuff while you sit back and reap the research?"
Batman finished attaching the pellets and flicked the batarang to full extension.
RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT!
PING! P-PING!
Nightwing's eyemask narrowed as he groaned at Batman: "Batman? Do you even care how screwed we are?"
Batman glared back at him, his throwing arm raised. "You talk too much…." He grunted and tossed the batarang with all of strength.
Thw-Thw-Thw-Thw-THW-THW-THW-THW-THWOOOSH! The projectile with the smoke pellets attached boomeranged through the thin alleyway until it grazed up against the north wall and scraaaaaaaaaped along the brick. Sparks struck, and the grating metal projectile lost one smoke pellet after another. The tiny explosives fell in a cohesive, smoggy line effectively clouding up the position of the crooks behind the fire escape.
PFFFFFFFFFFFFT!
The gunmen gasped, coughed, and struggled for breath. They stopped firing and covered their mouths with frantic hands…limping all over the place. A split second later, and a dark figure burst out through the fog. Two of the gunmen looked up with watery, bloodshot eyes to see Batman's leather fists flying into their faces.
SWOOOOSH-SMACK!
THOP!
"Nnngh!"
"Ughhh….."
FL-FLOP!
The men fell down hard.
Batman spun around, a gas mask on.
The last thug wheezed, cocked his Tommy Gun, and aimed it point blanc at the Dark Knight.
"WHOAH!" the thug was suddenly lifted into the air from behind. Nightwing—also wearing a mask—wielded the man's body over his shoulders and tossed him violently into the fire escape.
CRACK! A metal support severed and a whole flight of rusted steps collapsed hard on the man, pinning him down. CRASH!
"Nnnngh….."
The smoke cleared.
Batman took off his mask.
Nightwing too. The nimble hero in black and blue took a deep breath and turned to face his former mentor. "Clayface? That doesn't make much sense. I know he's powerful, but how can a creep like that sneak in under Wayne Corp's noses by himself?"
"Fox said something about 'Dagget's formula'…," Batman said. "I don't think it's an escaped Clayface that we're dealing with as much as it is his essence."
"Meaning what exactly?"
"I'm not entirely sure, Nightwing. But there's one way to find out."
Nightwing blinked under his eyemask. He glanced around. "Say….speaking of which, where is that creep Fox anyways?"
Batman scowled. "Weren't you watching him?"
"Man! I thought you were!"
"…….."
"…….."
Both legends turned and looked down the alleyway.
The black van started with a jolt. Its engine purred. A bruised and weary William B. Fox sped down the alleyway and beyond conceivable view.
VRMMMMMM!
Nightwing ran a few futile steps towards him. "Nnnngh!" he kicked the wall. "Dammit! How the Hell can that guy's luck last out?"
"Never mind him…."
Nightwing spun around, eyebrow raised.
Batman was handcuffing one unconscious thug after another. "We've done enough research for a lifetime of chasing Triangular. It's time we take action….before Red Aviary does."
"Then that means….?"
Batman's eyeslits narrowed. "Come on. We're going home."
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Wayne Manor.
1:03 pm
West wing.
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"…………"
He sat on the side of a large bed in the center of an even larger room.
A very old, spacious room. A room that made the bed look like a lone egg in the center of a great sinkhole.
There were antiques lying all around. Juvenile antiques. Rocking horses. Toy soldiers and building blocks. Rubber balls and choo-choo trains. All sorts of happy little carpentry and wind-up gizmos that accentuated the room of a child.
The boy's back was to a tall stretch of windows, outside of which scraggly, barren branches swayed in the frosty breeze of late November. The wind howled and caused shadows to dance inside the dark, gothically lonely room.
"………."
He hug his knees, perched on the edge of the bed. He stared down into the shadows with a thin eyemask. His white training gi was worn out….wrinkled with dried sweat.
After a long silence, he sharply inhaled and looked up.
He squinted at the wall across from him and the bed.
A tall, antique portrait of immense proportions rested across from him.
It was an impressionist piece that depicted a lone archer with a green cap and a red feather in the middle of twisted, magical woods. A sharp, modernist representation of 'Robin Hood'. The archer aimed the arrow at some unknown target and posed in such a heroic manner for what seemed an eternity.
And the boy stared at it. Meditating. Resurfacing.
Floating…….
T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-
Two years ago…
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"We should have a name," he said.
"………?" the dark girl looked at him. She raised an eyebrow beneath a chakra stone bejeweling her pale head. "A name?"
Robin nodded. "I get the sense there isn't much style and finesse in Azar where you're from……n-no offense."
"None taken at all."
"But if we're to have an established team in this dimension……we should have an established name."
Raven shrugged. She leaned back against a tree in the middle of a forest somewhere. A secret meeting place. The birth of legends.
"Don't look at me……," she murmured. "The only reason I'm willing to start this with you, Robin, is that I need enough people around me in case—"
"We already covered that, Raven," Robin curtly said.
Raven bit her lip.
He tried to smile. It came out as a weak thing: "Let's try to dwell on……something more promising, okay?"
"……………'kay," she murmured.
He stretched his arms over his head, took a breath, and paced across the woods. He came to a stop and paused in thought. He spun and faced her. His lips moved……he hesitated……thought again……then spoke:
"In Azar……did you get a chance to study mythology? That is……this world's mythology?"
"Yes. A little bit."
"Are you brushed up on Greek?"
"………kinda sorta."
"It's okay if you're not," Robin said. "Of what little I studied, much intrigued me……and much disinterested me all the same. There is as much sexuality as there is as much violence. A waste of time……a filler of time. It depends on your mood. It depends nowadays on your perspective." He turned and looked at her solidly. "But one thing that always bothered me dealt with the ascension of Zeus……the God of Mt. Olympus. I can understand his anger against his father—Cronus—for eating his siblings. But when he rose to power……he didn't just overthrow his father. He overthrew all of his father's brothers and sisters, in essence the ruling deities of the universe. And I often wondered what they did to have been deemed unworthy and cast out of the heavens, so to speak. There were twelve of them in all. The Titans. They ruled for such a small fraction of Greek mythological backstory, during which they embodied the earth, the harvest, and nature. And in a flash of cultural plot shifting, they end up on the bottom of the ladder. Cast to Tartarus or Hades or……some hole in the ground or ocean. I forget where. But what does it matter? The gods overthrew the Titans, and they brought humanity to the world. Passion. Emotion. Everything that consumed us then and consumes us now……"
"It's all mythology……," Raven droned.
"Is it only?" Robin remarked. "What part of us feels that……in spite of the way we are now and the way the system looks, there is more lying beneath the surface than our tiny selves want to relate?"
"…………"
Robin took a deep breath. He clenched his fists and spoke with fervor: "You have powers, Raven. You could flatten me in an instant."
"I wouldn't be so sure."
"Shhh……just listen to me for a second. P-Please……"
"………"
"There is a greater power, Raven, in each and every one of us. And I don't mean some humanistic self-esteem motivational crap. I mean……something that we can only tap with one hundred percent concentration. And dedication. And……commitment……"
"You mean to be more than human, Robin?"
He glared at her. "I am more than human, Raven. Somehow……I must prove that to myself. I'll dig deeper into my being than ever a person has dug before. I'll find that power. And I'll attribute every energy to it. And—at the risk of sounding forceful, I would be honored if you would do the same."
"I can't possibly share your form of meditation, Robin," Raven sighed. "Already I can sense that it is……self-destructive……"
"Then let me be the judge of that," he said. "I've destroyed myself before."
She squinted at him. "I'm afraid I……don't understand……"
He nodded. "That's fine. I don't expect you to understand. In fact, I would rather that you not try to. Or anyone for that matter."
"…………"
Robin leaned forward: "I want to make an agreement, Raven. A……A 'confidentiality agreement'. Whatever was once human in me is dead. All I am now to you……all I'll ever be on this team……is Robin."
"And all I'll ever be is Raven," the dark girl nodded. "You didn't need to coax that out of me."
"Right……"
"But if you and I are supposedly 'dead'……in all confidence……," she gestured, "……what does that make us in your opinion? Gods of justice?"
He shook his head.
"A god isn't good enough. Gods achieve praise. They work for egos……and not for supreme, resolute power. Not for nature……but rather for ideals. I'm no longer a hero of ideals, Raven. I left that in Gotham. I want to serve and become an essence. An absolute that criminals cannot shake, because there is no conceivable way for them to break the laws that bind their ineptitude under my merciless cape and cowl."
"You don't think that's godly?"
"No……," he shook his head. "I'm a Titan. And I won't bring this team into fruition……unless everyone is willing to be a Titan also……"
"How long do you think that will last?"
"Until the gods win out……but even then," he folded his arms. "My name……my essence……it will live on forever……"
T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-
He sat in the room.
Taking a deep breath.
He hugged his knees tighter to his chest.
His masked eyes fell from the painting and back to the shadowed floor of the juvenile room.
The cold of November crept in.
The freezing afternoon.
He envisioned the chill of an ice skating rink.
The autumn night air wafting through a City Park.
The cold varnished wood of a bench beneath a lone lamplight….
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"Starfire…..would it make you happy to know…….j-just to know that I am here?"
"……….."
"That I do exist? That there is nothing….nothing in the universe that would keep me from being split from you if I could so much as help it this very moment?"
"I…..I-I know that you would never forsake me, Robin…"
"But do you feel it, Starfire?"
"R-Robin?"
"Do you feel it, Starfire? Do you feel that I'm truly here? …………Do you feel me?"
"Robin…I-I………..It is n-not typical of you to speak in such emphatic fashion of 'feeling'…."
"I don't feel typical today, Starfire. And….I-I don't understand it. It's like I'm a whole 'nother person. Maybe I'm losing my mind. Maybe I never had my mind to begin with. I've spent so many years hammering myself into two completely different identities that I've found myself having to seek solace in some third, emotionless, cold identity. And for one moment last night…I caught a glimpse of what it means to be warm again. To be simple. To be honest and….sincere. I feel like I'm going to lose this glimpse very soon, Starfire. And I know that once I lose it…..I will see things clouded again. And I know I may be fine with that. But when I woke up from that dream of dreams last night….I wasn't thinking about myself. I wasn't even thinking about the girl. I was thinking about you, Starfire. You have a great need….a great need that is so obvious that….it's a tragedy that I keep pushing you away. And—to be honest—it's a tragedy that I keep holding myself back."
"Robin I…I….I can tell that you are far too vulnerable for your own good right now. This is not necessa—"
"Do you want to hug me, Star?"
"………Huh?"
"Do you want to hug me, Starfire?"
"Robin…hehehe…..y-you know very well that I am always hugging you as it is. What difference does it make now, silly?"
"Would you like to hold me then?"
"H-Hold…..you? Robin……But….wh-what is the difference?"
"You know."
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"………."
The boy took a deep breath.
He bowed his head.
He slowly peeled his eyemask off.
A soft face hid in the shadows.
And when he gazed back up at the painting….
A stranger somewhere sniffed.
And he collapsed.
With his face in his hands.
T-T-T-T-T-T-
Smallville, Kansas.
1:12 pm
Cornfield.
T-T-T-T-T-T-
"LaSalle. It is only a name. But it is an important one nevertheless. For some inexplicable reason, it is the ultimate name in a list of numerous data strings all twisting together to point in one direction. And it is there that your child has been taken, Terra. Or at least, your child as we conceivably know 'it'. The partially formed fetus has been clinically labeled 'Gaia' for some archetypal reason. The last person it was in the hands of was Dr. Helga Jace, former Scandinavian scientific prodigy from Europe. Jace was employed by both Dagger and Lex Luthor as of late. But all of her experiments have been cut short of making the delivery of 'Gaia' to LaSalle. Both Jace and the path of Gaia end there from all of our research. We had someone to help us……to 'prod' us along, actually. A former….associate of mine. From H.I.V.E. Academy. But that doesn't matter. What's important is that this 'LaSalle' now has your child. And we can't any longer find this entity on our own accord. But we believe that you may be able to find it. You have…..a power, Terra. A power that fuses you to your 'unborn' child. That queer, golden-glowing sensation you said you felt the other night? That was us contacting you through another piece of your essence….that which was extracted from you at Area 51. In much the same way, 'Gaia' can draw you to it. Hence, the only way for you to find your child is for you to take up the hunting ground yourself. Through any other means, we are helpless. All of us. And the more time that passes by, the further away LaSalle is taking 'Gaia'. And the further he does that, the less likely it'll be for your child to be found. Maybe now you can see why we were so desperate to find you…..and why we resorted to what we had to in order to track you down. This is very important, Terra. But….I don't really think I need to tell you that….do I?"
Pulsade finished speaking, taking a deep breath. She gazed somberly at the blonde. In the meantime, Jinx stood besides the assassin…shifting nervously. Biting her lip.
"……..," Terra sat cross-legged in the earth. Between the rows of corn. She hugged herself and gazed into space with liquid blue eyes before slowly glancing up, brushing a fountain of golden hair out from her brow, and squinting as she murmured: "Dr. Helga Jace…….?"
Pulsade nodded. "Does that name seem familiar to you?"
"Well, yeah! But….," Terra breathed. She looked off towards the stalks of corn and exhaled. "N-Not just because of the whole Area 51 stuff. It's……something else….."
Jinx looked at Pulsade.
Pulsade took a breath and said: "Perhaps….because she was heavily involved in the history of Markovia?"
"M-Markovia…..," Terra murmured. She looked the girls' way, her mouth agape. "THE Markovia?"
"The very same…."
"Don'tcha know you're royalty, girl?" Jinx nervously smiled.
Pulsade frowned and blindly elbowed her.
"Owchies! Pfft….meanie…."
"……..it all makes sense now…," Terra uttered.
"This is a lot to digest….I….I-I wish there were other circumstances under which we could share this with you," Pulsade said. "But bloody fate and all…..that just isn't the way the cookie crumbles…."
"I'm……a princess?" Terra blinked.
"Hehehe…yup!" Jinx smiled.
Pulsade glared.
Terra gulped. "I….never knew my mother. I mean….I felt her…..like a strength resonating inside of me, but I never had much of a chance to see her while she was alive. But when I did…..I sensed there was something deeper than an average human being. I belonged to more than just her womb. She carried in herself a fiery-golden blood. It is something that I feel in my arteries too." She gasped and placed a hand over her lips. "M-My child….Gaia……it t-too carries this power. A….royal power…."
Pulsade bit her liip.
Jinx took a soft breath, walked over, knelt, and placed a gentle…brave hand on the blonde maiden's shoulder: "A lot of people have used you in the past. I think they wanted a bit of this power for themselves."
"Don't press it, love…..," Pulsade quietly growled.
Jinx barely gave the assassin a glance before earnestly continuing: "I've had people use me all my life. They've stripped my memory from me just to have their way with my powers. Dagger and Slade….they both took pieces of me like they took pieces of you. Though….I-I'd be lying if I said I went through the same as you. Anyways…..I-I think I can understand to some extent how…..angry and fearful you may be right now. But please, you can—"
"—trust you?" Terra frowned at Jinx. "Let me guess….I can trust you with my very own life?"
Jinx blushed. "Erhm…..let me phrase it carefully…"
"Nnngh!" Terra shoved Jinx back and jumped up to her feet. As her clenched fists shook, so did the soil right beneath them…ever so slightly. "You know an awful lot for two roguish girls hopping across country just to talk to me! You're sooooooo adamant about saving my unborn child, huh? 'Gaia' is what you call it? Did you name it yourselves? Or just steal it from Dr. Jace? Are you on some vengeful quest to seize her?"
"Terra—" Jinx stammered.
"Or do you want to stick it to Dagger and this mysterious LaSelle creep?"
"Terra, please—"
"What if I don't give a damn about who I am or what's going to happen to me?" Terra hissed. "I'm not much of a cutup hero myself, you know! Ooooh…let's have Terra join the nomadic ROGUES' GALLERY! Yes…she's just perfect for that sort of bitchy villainous crap! Who the Hell are you?"
Pulsade shoved Jinx aside, marched towards Terra, and growled: "Allright, you grotty sod! We're villains, got it? I'm a killer and little miss puss-in-boots here is a terrorist/former apprentice of Slade!"
"Leslie…don't—"
Pulsade silenced Jinx with a wave and spat at Terra: "This isn't the first time we got nearly close to 'seizing' your bloody arse! You know what our original plan was? To steal you in stone and lock you away somewhere so that Red Aviary wouldn't rip apart your useless, rubbish self and then take on the whole fabric of the working world along with you! But as it turns out, things slipped from our grasp! Noir got to you first….and now there are bigger buggers to fry than Red Aviary!"
"Like what?" Terra shouted. "Why do you want to track down my child so much?"
"Leslie, just let her—"
Pulsade yelled: "Because we don't want all of bloomin' Existence to end!"
Terra blinked, eyes wide.
Jinx winced.
Pulsade seethed, frowning in the earth maiden's face.
"…..," Terra's expression contorted. "Say what?"
"Don't bother asking, tramp….," Pulsade folded her arms and huffed with a glare. "You couldn't possibly understand. Even we don't understand. But as miserable and 'Rogues' Gallery' material as Jinx and I may be, we do happen to love this thing called life. And there are certain puzzle pieces….certain prophecies that interlock and point to….a black hole. An end to all things. Dark secrets hiding in the corners and turning out overlooked because they're even darker than the Red Aviary conspiracy itself. This is all a mask of things to come. The 'Gaia Sphere' is where the fate of the world….no….the fate of the universe will be tested."
"Wait…wait…wait……," Terra waved her hands. "…..you're saying that I'm somehow tied into the fate of the universe?"
"Don't be gettin' a big head about it, lass….," Pulsade murmured.
"………," Terra smiled drunkenly. "What are you girls smoking?"
"It's not like that….," Jinx sighed. She looked at Pulsade. "I told you she wouldn't understand…."
"Right. Cheerio then," the assassin rolled her eyes. She turned around and waved towards the pink-haired sorceress. "Come, Jean. Let's blow…."
"Uhm….," Jinx fidgeted.
"You're leaving?" Terra asked.
"You wouldn't care."
"Don't use reverse psychology on me! It won't work!"
"And we're not! Leslie—" Jinx motioned to the blonde Briton. "Please….don't give up so soon…."
"You want to save the universe, Jean? You do so on your own. I wouldn't give a shag about it…."
"That's not true!" Jinx frowned and stood in Pulsade's face. "When I was down and out for the count thanks to that nerdy asian guy in Vegas, it was you who was minding the reins! Not me!"
Pulsade sighed. "Not this again…."
"And when 'J' and Wildebeest bottomed out on us, you still kept us on the right path! You didn't have us give up! Not with what you learned!"
"Jean, it's hopeless. It's—"
"Tell that to Hull!" Jinx hissed. Then, with a sarcastic twist: "Oh, I'm sorry….'Michael'."
Pulsade blinked.
"What? His words don't mean anything to you anymore? Feh….I guess mine won't either in due time!"
"Jean, that's not true…."
"Is it?" Jinx folded her arms and looked away from the assassin with a pout and upturned nose. "If this is how quickly you'll put down a firm ideal, then you'd might as well put me down too!"
Pulsade seethed with a hot, angry breath. "I do not….give up on things…."
"Then what are you doing now?"
"It is hopeless! You try convincing her! Quite frankly, I don't blame her for not believing us!" she looked over at the petite blonde. "After all, you've had it up to here with rape, exploitation, angst, and Bob's your uncle!"
Terra blinked.
Jinx gripped Pulsade's arm fiercely.
And the assassin actually winced. "Ow…." She gave Jinx a hollow, surprised look.
The sorceress murmured bitterly: "I don't care what cards fate deals us. We've met nothing but roadblocks throughout counter-Red Aviary….and now that this is making us stumble, does that mean I'm going to give up?" She shook her head. "You promised me—Leslie—that you would help me find out everything that I had missed. Even if it meant finding Fate and Fortune….two sisters that don't even exist. When you told me that….in the shadows of my nights of sobbing and misery….I found something to believe in. It was a warmth that I've never given up on. I love you for it, even if I hate your freakin' guts with each waking second I collapse through life with you."
"……," Pulsade's lips parted. A soft breath murmured: "J-Jean?"
Jinx turned from her and glared at Terra. "We won't force you to work with us, Terra. But….please….please consider it. But know this….regardless of what you decide to do, we will still deal with Gaia in our own way. No matter what. We will prevent this chaos in the long line of fateful, ambiguous calamities from occurring."
"I couldn't join you….," Terra shook her head.
Jinx took a sharp breath. "I wish you would."
"You're murderers….thieves…and liars!"
"You think we don't know that?" Jinx exclaimed. She took a bold step forward. "But we're changing! Or at least we're trying to! Haven't you ever had the urge to redeem yourself?"
"………..," Terra wrung her hands and glanced nervously aside.
"……………," Jinx sighed and ran a hand through her hair.
"Jean…..," a gentle hand rested on her shoulder.
The sorceress nearly flinched. She slowly gazed to her side.
Pulsade looked at her with soft, apologetic sapphires. "We….We really should be going….."
"…………….I know," Jinx deigned.
Terra glanced up, biting her lip.
"Quickly…," Pulsade mumbled. She turned and walked down the row of corn with a slight glow to her limbs. "….before it's too late and—"
FW-FW-FW-FW-FW-FW-FWPPP!
THWOOOOOOSH!
Supergirl burst out of the stalks of corn in full flight, plowing Pulsade over.
THWOMP!
"Ooof!" the assassin went sprawling.
Jinx gasped.
Terra jumped back, wide-eyed.
"Rrrrrrngh," Supergirl hovered, fists drawn. Teeth clenched. "I found you…."
"Leslie! Are you all right?"
"Nnngh….Jinx? Who's the bloody missile?"
SWOOSH! Supergirl spun around.
Jinx's cat eyes dilated. "Eep!"
ZZZZAAAP! A pair of heat eyebeams shot at the sorceress' heels.
"AAACKIES!" Jinx hopped on one foot.
Supergirl stomped her foot down.
WHAM!
A mound of earth swam through the soil and exploded up beneath the witch.
Jinx fell on her butt. "Ooof!"
Pulsade stumbled up, absent-mindedly reaching for a side-arm.
SWOOOSH! GRIP! Supergirl wrapped her fingers around the assassin's throat and lifted the dangling human.
"Not a good idea….," the Girl of Steel—still soaked from the water tower—uttered angrily.
"Kara! W-Wait!" Terra waved.
"Snkkt….Y-You know this Kr-Kryptonian?" Pulsade wheezed.
"ARGOSIAN!" Supergirl barked. "That's the second time some scumbag got my race wrong!"
Jinx stumbled up to her feet. "Leslie!"
"Don't just st-stand there….do something for bloody mercy's sake!"
Jinx hissed and summoned two blades of hex out of her wrists. FL-FLASH! CHIIING! "You put her down NOW!"
"Or what?" Supergirl glared at her. "You'll Declaration-of-Independence me to death? I know you thuggettes! You got into Noir's hair and that makes me want to kick your ass!"
"I'm warning you…."
"And here you are digging into this innocent young girl's skin! That makes me want to kick your ass even more! Then toss you into prison! Then visit you and kick your ass again!"
"Kara…p-please….just…..hold on for one second….put her down," Terra urged.
Supergirl looked at Terra, bug-eyed. "Put her down? Are you crazy?"
"That would be a smashing decision…."
"SHUT UP! I WASN'T TALKING TO YOU!"
"Please? Please put her down?" Jinx pouted.
"Let's not g-get hasty!" Terra stammered.
"Terra, what did these sleepover riff raffs do to you?"
"Jinx! I'm losing oxygen…"
"Ack! Um…..," Jinx bit her lip, flinched, and flung hex. "HAAAA!"
A streaking wave of pink flew.
Terra blinked.
FLASH! Suddenly…..Supergirl's white shirt ripped apart….from the top of the 'S' to the bottom.
The Argosian shrieked like a kindergartener, dropped Pulsade, and instantly covered herself. "Kela Almighty!"
Pulsade scrambled to her feet, twirled to Jinx's side, and nervously whipped out two uzzis which she aimed at the Girl of Steel. Upon noticing the alien's predicament, she faltered with a twisted expression. "Uhm…."
"Ooops….," Jinx sweatdropped.
"Brill, love…," Pulsade muttered with clenched teeth and half-glared over at her partner. "What in the devil's name made you do that of all things? You know she can pulverize our heads to rubbish!"
Supergirl spat at Jinx: "Are you out of your mind, you salmon-headed bitch?"
"S-Sorry…," Jinx winced. Her cheeks went red. "Erhm…..It w-was the f-first thing I could think of…."
"……..," Pulsade blinked. She was silent.
"Nnngh!" Supergirl shivered in the cold farmland wind and hugged her arms before her chest even more. "I swear…as soon as I cover myself up, I am so shoving this cornfield up through your rectums and pulling it out of your throat!"
"Uh…."
"Huh?"
"I DON'T KNOW HOW I'LL DO IT BUT I WILL!"
"Ahem….," Terra coughed nervously and walked over to Supergirl. "Kara…allow me…" She undid her cape from behind.
"But honestly….," Pulsade raised an eyebrow. "No brassier?"
Jinx nodded. "Must be a Kryptonian thing."
"ARGOSIAN! Terra, what are you—?"
"Here, Kara…..," the blonde undid the cape and hung it over Supergirl's front.
"THANK YOU!" The Girl of Steel fixed it to her and tied one end around her neck so that it acted like a halter top. "Okay…" She raised her fists and walked forward with the ghetto attire. "Who dies first?"
"Steady, Jinx…," Pulsade stepped back, uzzis aimed at ready.
Jinx kept her pink hex blades raised. "Uh huh."
"Just wait for a well timed breeze and run…"
"EVERYONE!" Terra jumped between them. "Stop!"
"….."
"….."
"….."
Terra took a deep breath, pushed some golden strands out from her brow and murmured: "Okay….just calm down. Kara, don't pulverize these two. N-Not yet."
"Why not? Isn't it obvious?" the Argosian glared. "They were the ones who ambushed those robbers at the Blue Pin Bowling Alley. In a way, they set up the whole dangerous hostage situation and stand up to begin with."
"And we were watching over the event the whole time," Pulsade glared back.
"Yeah!" Jinx nodded and waved her pink-trailing energy blades. "I wasn't about to let anything fatal happen!"
"You expect me to believe that!"
"She's right though, Kara," Terra gently grasped the Girl of Steel's shoulders. "Nobody got seriously hurt in the end."
"Of course you would know that, Miss Vigilante!" Supergirl barked at the earth maiden. "Nearly blowing your cover to Red Aviary by showing up and rocking the party out of its pants!"
"Look, I saved people! Okay?" Terra frowned.
"I wouldn't have let the bus squash those citizens—" Jinx began.
"SHUT UP!" "SHUT UP!" Supergirl and Terra both shouted.
Jinx winced.
"Is that what this is all about?" Pulsade remarked, her mouth ajar in realization. "Red Aviary? Supergirl, you're protecting Terra in hiding….aren't you? Did Noir set you up for that!"
"Ghost Boy!" Jinx gasped. "That stupid….fuzzhead genius!"
"Don't go that far, love…."
"Don't talk about him that way! You've nearly killed him on multiple occasions—"
"Hey! We're casual friends now!" Jinx frowned.
"Ohhhhh sure."
"Who are you, anyways? His girlfriend?"
"……," Supergirl blinked. "Okay. Now you die."
Cl-Clak! Pulsade's uzzis cocked. "Wanna bet your eyes are invulnerable, alien?"
"EVERYONE!" Terra shouted, pumping gold-glowing fists.
RUMMMMMMMBBBBLE!
The other three girls wobbled where they stood.
They winced and looked Terra's way.
She frowned at them all in turn.
"….we….all….need….to talk……"
"Yeah?" Supergirl hissed. "What about?"
"My child…."
"What about my child?"
"They know where it is, okay? Or at least they might! But I need you to give them an ear, Kara!" Terra said loudly. She took a breath, calmed down, and said in a quieter tone. "At least…..just bear with them….I have. And….I-I think there's a whole point to this."
"………………..," Supergirl glared at the two.
Pulsade frowned, her fingers itching at the triggers of her guns.
Jinx simpered and cutely waved a pink hand…sweatdropping.
"……………….nnngh…," Supergirl lowered her fists. "Fine….FINE!"
Pulsade took a breath and lowered her guns.
"Whew….," Jinx murmured and limply 'hung' where she stood.
"But first….," Supergirl's eyes were thin. "I need a shirt."
"And a bra…"
"JEAN! SHUT THE BLOODY HELL UP!"
Terra simpered innocently.
Supergirl groaned and rested a hand over her face. "Jordan help me…..I'm going to regret this…."
T-T-T-T-T-T-
Titan's City.
1:22 pm
Bayside.
T-T-T-T-T-T-
They huddled under the wooden support stilts of the local boardwalk south of the Bayside Plaza. Under double shadows beneath the gray sky, they positioned themselves just aground of where the surf rolled onto the sand. Moist, motted wood with barnacles rested on either side of them in flanks.
Tempest was in the middle of speaking: "I figured it was Slade the moment I found that wyrd-ass, glowing red mask of his in the Bay. But what I'm trying to get at is how in Hades' name did you figure out that Red Aviary was Slade?"
"It's based on a vision I had during meditation," Raven said. She gestured while talking: "I dug deep back into my past and explored one of the branching mindsets that invaded my subconscious. In this case, Noir's."
"And what does Noir's head have to do with Slade?"
"Just will you listen?"
Tempest folded his arms and sighed.
Lindsay stood between the a few feet off. She glanced at them both pensively.
Raven said: "I shared a long distance subconscious with Noir. It happens with everyone I come into deep, empathic contact with. You're a telepath. You should understand. It's like a long distance, diluted version of mental cohesion."
"Uh huh…."
"Ever since the Titans bore my personalities during Mumbo Jumbo's camera incident—before your time—I've had connections with each and every one of them. But…I-I can't just…….delve into their psyche whenever I want to. The only way I can access their minds with such a connection is on rare occasions in which mentally significant events register a large enough pulse for me to fixate on. And in that case—even—that requires intense, gambling meditation."
"And on this occasion, you just so happened upon a chance memory of Noir's…."
"I know it was Noir's," Raven said. "It dealt with when he killed Slade. There was a transference of his consciousness into something else. Noir's powers even seem capable of some sort of….mental impression. And the only person at that time and place on that frigate it could have happened with was Slade. And in my vision, I saw two lives that I thought had been snuffed away. The first is Slade."
"Apparently so," Tempest nodded.
Raven swallowed. "And the second….is Robin."
Lindsay gasped.
"…..," Tempest's dark eyes narrowed. "Robin?"
Raven nodded.
"……you're telling me that you think—"
"Robin's alive?" Lindsay murmured.
"Think of it! There was no body found at the site of the explosion," Raven said. "And as much as evaporation can answer the problem, even still there are strange things popping up. I just today discovered at Phaser Labs that an unexplained anomaly took place at the Radioactive Depository coinciding with the carbonite explosion….yet conceivably independent of the fiery blast!"
Lindsay looked in shock at Tempest.
"……," Tempest took a deep breath. "But Raven….you sensed that Robin was 'gone' the night that explosion ate him up. Are you going back on your word now?"
She shook her head. "Not at all."
"Then how can you friggin' explain Robin possibly being alive?"
"I can't!"
"Then what the Hell is the point of assuming something that's obvious?" Tempest cackled.
"Because of my vision, Garth!"
"Because of your vision…."
"Yes!" Raven exclaimed. She leaned forward and pointed: "Slade is alive. Against all odds, Noir's stabbing sword didn't end him. I sensed in that transfer a wave of Destruction and Rage SO TERRIFIC that it gave rise to something within Slade's carcass that wasn't in there before. Something that embodied the very Death that consumed it! Something…Something very much tied into Noir's powers….and his past."
"You don't say….."
"Garth," Lindsay frowned. "Don't be sarcastic with her, for goodness' sake!"
"What? I was just—"
"Listen to your girlfriend, Garth."
Tempest blushed.
Lindsay smiled proudly.
Raven cleared her throat and went on: "There is a lot about Noir we don't understand. Much of it, I've learned not to question. The last time I did….the Titans were hunting him down for reasons he was innocent of. I never wanted to make that mistake again. And for good cause, I admit. But at the same time, I blinded myself. All the Titans blinded themselves. We seized the peace that transpired after the supposed death of Slade and the defeat of Dagger. We went on 'vacation'. We focused our energies on trivial fiends like the Puppet King, Mad Mod, and Dr. Light. But all the while, something wicked was brewing. Something that used rage and murder and bloodlust as a darkly magical fuel. And trust me….I know rage. It holds a power beyond 'intense'. I think that Slade exists…but he exists not as what he originally was, but as something new. A reaper. Red Aviary."
"I'll agree with that," Tempest nodded. "But how does that support the idea of Robin being alive?"
Raven hugged herself, stared down at the dark-gray surf, and sighed. "I don't know. I saw flashes and traces of him in my vision. Things that….that made me feel that he was alive. But when I try to logically place it together, the best thing I can come up with is that…that…."
'What?"
Lindsay leaned forward too, curious….
Raven looked up at them once again. She said: "Robin was almost always on the forefront of Slade's mind. When he tortured the Titans…he had his eye set on Robin first. Even manipulating Terra was a means of getting to Robin."
"Terra is alive and in the flesh, Raven."
"…………..," Raven blinked.
"Noir got her out of…whatever prison she was in," Tempest said. "She's being kept somewhere. Somewhere….where he's almost unwilling to tell me and Princess Diana and J'onn."
"…….," Raven's lips parted. "Then it is true….."
"Did you sense this too?"
"Yes….but not from the vision."
"If Robin indeed is alive, then how does Terra fit into all of this?"
"Maybe because Slade's trying to kill them?" Lindsay remarked.
The two Titans glanced at her.
"…….."
"…….."
The freckled schoolgirl blushed and drifted back. "Er…s-sorry to butt in…"
"No, Lindsay…," Tempest rested a hand on her shoulder and smiled. "That makes a whole lot of sense." He blinked his dark eyes. "…….." He looked over at Raven. "Uhm…..d-doesn't it?"
"Slade wants to kill Robin….Slade wants to kill Terra…….," Raven's eyes were thin. But soon they gradually re-widened. "Slade wants to kill Noir! Noir is on the move! On the run! Supporting the other two and…a-and supporting us!" She looked brightly at the Atlantean. "Don't you see?"
"See what?"
"Red Aviary wants a clean sweep! He wants to eliminate the Titans one by one! Feeding off those whom his rage is attached to the most! Robin, the First Apprentice. Terra, the Second Apprentice…."
"Noir? The Third Apprentice?" Tempest raised an eyebrow. "But I thought Jinx was—"
"The explosion at the Omega Wing! Remember? The Messenger seemed always to hint that Red Aviary was behind that!"
"Poseidon above….," Tempest rubbed his temples with thin fingers. "Someone replace my aching brain with my gills…."
"And with the apprentices killed….Slade will consume the highest objects of his wrath…," Raven said. "And possessing Destruction….he'll take out the rest of the Titans—maybe even the rest of all heroic leagues this side of the hemisphere—in turn!"
"That's one Hell of an awful lot for one bad guy to do," Tempest uttered. "How can Slade be that powerful?"
"He isn't. Not yet. He's doing it covertly," Raven said. "Besides…he's having Triangular to give him cover!"
"The Parasite…..," Tempest hissed. "It's all coming together….."
"Garth….," Raven craned her neck. "Where has Noir gone now?"
"……….."
"If he went west to save Terra and if he went to Metropolis to investigate Luthor…that leaves one pole of the triangle left. He's gone to find Robin, hasn't he?"
"Raven…when Noir attacked Clark Ke—er….," Tempest sweatdropped and glanced aside.
"…..," Lindsay blinked innocently.
Tempest cleared his throat and started over: "When Noir attacked you-know-who, he did it—I am told—because he was desperate to find Batman. And Batman's been missing for weeks on end at Gotham. Noir demanded to know where the Dark Knight was so—"
"—he went directly to the source," Raven nodded. "With force."
"Undoubtedly Noir has gone to Gotham to seek Robin out, but that's a trail that's next to impossible to follow," the Atlatntean said. "No matter how many freakin' dirigibles burn to the ground."
"We've all been watching the news carefully at the Tower," Raven said. "Even with all our heads put together, we still can't make heads or tails out of where Noir could possibly be at."
"And with three Titans' heads being given the pushover….that's got to be pretty tough."
"…….," Raven blinked. She squinted: "Don't you mean four?"
"Do you seriously count Beast Boy?"
"Ah. Point well made."
"So what do we do?" Tempest shrugged. "Hell, what do you want me to do? All I have is an ash-tray of a metal mask plate and all it does is glow red and keep me awake when I'm crashing in Princess Diana's tub."
"By yourself, I assume," Lindsay said.
"Yes, by myself—dah! What in the name of Poseidon is up with you, girl? Raven…did I miss some tsunami of jealousy since I last left Town?"
"What?" Lindsay planted her hands on her hips. "That's not—"
Raven raised a hand: "It's rather obvious that Noir's on his own, no matter what. But it doesn't mean he can't be….traced somewhat. And where he is, Robin is. And where Robin is…that's where the answer lies. Since Terra is hopelessly lost to us."
"And just how can anyone expect to follow Noir at this point?"
"………," Raven took a deep breath. "How indeed."
Silence.
Raven stood tall. "Thank you, Garth. But I have to go now."
Tempest did a double-take. "You do?"
"Mmmhmm," Raven nodded. She looked Lindsay's way. "Take care of him, will you?"
"Uhm….s-sure…."
"Make sure he doesn't spread word of this conversation. Or you yourself for that matter."
"You can trust me….," Lindsay smiled helplessly.
Tempest patted her shoulder and winked proudly. "You can trust her."
Raven half-bowed. "Very well. So long," she made to leave--
"Raven…."
"……," the dark girl stopped. She turned and looked.
The Atlantean looked at her somberly. "Aren't you……going to share all of these visions and hypotheses with the other Titans?"
"………."
"Well?"
"No, Garth," Raven shook her head. "I'm not."
He squinted his dark eyes. "Not even with Cyborg?"
"Not even with Cyborg."
"Why? What in the Pacific's name is keeping you?"
"The same thing that's keeping you from rejoining us, Garth."
"………."
"Do any of us need to describe it out loud? The rift?"
Garth sighed.
"Besides….," Raven glanced aside. "'Loose Lips Aid the Enemy'."
"Huh?"
"Something to an extent of a World War II propaganda slogan," Raven said. She took a deep breath and her lips curved somewhat. "It was….Robin who shared it with me."
"Sounds like him. What's it mean, though?"
"It means……the less we know about Red Aviary….the less Red Aviary knows about what exactly he's missing. Or at least…what he thinks he's missing."
"Raven, aren't you tired of all this beating-around-the-seakelp secrecy?"
"Absolutely," Raven nodded. "Which is why I must abide by it. Farewell."
And in a black energy pulse, she sunk into the sand…and teleported out of there.
Lindsay shuddered. "G-Garth?" she turned to look at the Atlantean.
"Hmmm?"
She took a deep breath and said: "If Raven's right…then that means Slade's alive…."
"Yes….it would appear that way….," the Atlantean hesitantly agreed.
She swallowed and uttered in a fearful voice: "H-Hasn't this City lived through enough terrors?"
"……..," he smiled and rested an arm around her shoulder. "But don't you see? If Raven's right, Lindsay…..then Robin is alive too….."
"………," she smiled weakly at that.
"Come on….no worries….," Tempest helped her up the shore towards drier sand. "….isn't there some 'Babel' written that tells you to put your faith in Dog?"
Lindsay giggled. "Ohhhhh Garth…..you're such a fish out of water…."
"…………'Babble'?"
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
"Hehehehehe………hey…I-I brought some things to eat. Why don't we go somewhere that's warmer?"
"Why not? I've been dying to talk to you. Might as well eat with you too."
The voices of the two teenagers crackled in Cyborg's earpiece.
He lowered a pair of electronic binoculars and took the earpiece out. He juggled both in a titanium hand.
Silent.
"…………."
From where he stood atop a distant sand dune on the beach, he gazed sadly at the spot beneath the boardwalk. Slowly exhaling.
"………….," he turned and walked slowly away….being swallowed in the gray overcast light of the afternoon.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
Gotham City.
3:47 pm
Wayne Manor.
East wing.
T-T-T-T-T-T-
SW-SWISH!
Myrkblade swung through the air, dividing light flakes of frost as they flittered to the ground.
"……….," I stood out on a balcony in the cold, chilling air of November. I was clad only in my tattered black tanktop and tan fatigues. I flexed my new, black-gloved 'limb' of a left arm as I gripped Myrkblade with my right….stretched myself and twirled about….and meditated.
SL-SL-SLASH! I sliced at the air and jabbed forward. THWOOOSH!
I paused.
My muscles tensed.
I kept the lunging position.
Focusing my aching muscles.
Meditating.
Billowing murk from my body.
"…….," I inhaled sharply.
I spun.
The broad face of the huge and luscious Manor flashed before my shaded, black optics.
I spun with a pulse of smoke, came to a stop, and balanced on one foot with Myrkblade pointed outward….my black left fingers guiding the wooden, obsidian-glossed blade.
After several straining seconds, I cascaded down into a forward lunge, cartwheeled, slashed widely at the air, spun, and came up with another one-foot-balanced pose.
I froze there.
Panting.
Shivering a little in the breeze.
I blinked…a little blinded by the glint of yellow Gotham sunlight off the white frost settling on the window sills and elevated balcony floor around me.
It's my first winter in Gotham, Ana.
And will it bring a little more death than a normal solstice?
"…………," I blinked.
Jericho stood before me. Peering out the opened, windowed doorway of the balcony. Watching me in mid-meditation.
But then the meditation stopped.
I stood straight, taking deep breaths. Regaining my composure. Th-Thwish! CHIIING! I freed my flesh and fake hands and gestured: 'Hi'.
"………," he smiled nervously. Cutely. 'Hi,' his small hands said.
I swallowed. I looked around at the flakey, frosty weather. The gothic manor. The age old death of it all. I took a deep breath of the chill, then looked at him again…hand-signing:
'We are in Batman's house.'
He giggled breathily. 'Yeah'.
I smirked.
He smirked.
Silence.
My smile faded.
So did his.
"……….."
"………."
I cleared my throat. I gestured: 'I slept in. Or at least, I slept for as long as what I call 'sleeping in'. I needed to meditate. So Alfred showed me this balcony. God bless him. It's been a while for me.'
Jericho nodded. He signed: 'Alfred is cool. Butlers are cool.'
I nodded. 'Yeah……'
'Yeah…………'
Silence.
He sighed. He gestured: 'I could not sleep.'
'Me neither,' I signed.
'I am happy for what the Batman troupe is doing to check up on Triangular, but my father is still out there.'
'As long as Robin or I do not show our faces, I trust that Red Aviary will not be of great interference.'
'Somehow I do not believe that. I wish I could help them get more on track with things.'
'I would trust them,' I hand-signed. 'They know what they are doing. Batman especially.'
'But still……'
I squinted at him through my shades. 'Joey, what is it do you know?'
He bit his lip.
'Do you have a smoking gun where your father is involved? If so, spit it out now.'
'I do not know how to defeat Red Aviary,' Jericho signed. 'I wanted to get this close to him to find out perhaps how.'
'Was that the only reason you hitched a ride inside of me?'
"………"
I took a breath and strolled over towards him: 'Joey, there is something else. I know it. You have always felt responsible for Slade and what Slade did. I wish you would not. Slade may be a terrorist, but he obviously did not pass down an awful lot of his horrible side to you, to be honest.'
'I do not know.'
'I do,' I signed. 'And I am sure the others know too. You are innocent, Joey.'
"………."
'You do not need to be involved in this.'
He looked up at me. His green eyes were sad…but all the same determined. 'I want to be involved. He is my father. If one of your parents was evil, you would want to intercede on their behalf too!'
I hand-signed: 'For me, Joey, it is the other way around.'
He made a face and mouthed: 'Huh?'
I sighed. 'Never mind.' I knelt down to his level and gestured: 'Give me one good reason why you are here right now.'
He looked at me with a frown and signed: 'Some of us have no choice but to follow where the scars lead us.'
At reading that, I swallowed painfully. I fingered the 'X' on my neck in silence. "……." And then I gazed at the diagonal slash on the kid's throat. I tentatively fingered it.
He did not flinch. If he trembled, it was only because of the frosty air.
I drew my hand back and gestured: 'You told me long ago that your father gave you that scar. It makes sense now that I know your father is Slade.'
He sighed. He lowered his eyes momentarily before raising his hands and gesturing: 'It was long before he was Slade. Long before he was Deathstroke. My father was just a careless man who took chances. Apparently, his aspirations meant more than I did to him. One gamble of his lost me my voice. My mother hid me away after that. She did not live long, due to unfortunate circumstances.'
'And you have been on your own ever since?'
'Not exactly……,' his hands lowered. He gazed off into space. A warm smile came to him. He looked back at me and hand-signed: '……I had a good friend to look up too eventually.'
I smirked. 'Wildebeest.'
'Yes.'
'Where is he now?'
'Secret.'
'Of course,' I stood up. 'What about the lesbians?'
He looked at me confusedly.
"……." Idiot. He's a pre-pubescent boy! I hit myself and reiterated with a swift hand gesture: 'Jinx and Pulsade?'
'I learned of them after I began hacking. After I first caught wind of Red Aviary. We never planned to work together until weeks preceding the explosion at the Omega Wing in your City's Prison.'
I nodded.
He signed: 'They have been okay company.'
'What did you see in them?'
'They kept to themselves.'
I twitched. 'Yes, I imagine.'
Silence.
I leaned my head to the side. I hand-signed: 'Did you always have your powers?'
'For as long as I could remember. But I never used them until after I became mute.'
'Did your mother know about them?'
'Yes. In fact, she trained me.'
I nodded.
'Did she ever teach you about not taking advantage of people with that power?'
Jericho winced. 'Not again with that……'
I frowned. 'I am serious.'
'Are you my big brother?'
'Possibly.'
"………..," he blinked. 'What are you getting at?'
I took a deep breath and smiled: 'When all of this nightmare is over, would you like to become a Teen Titan?'
His lips parted. He leaned his head to the side: 'Do you mean it?'
'Would you rather sleep in Wildebeest caves all your life?'
He seemed to be at odds to keep his hands steady enough to gesture: 'Do you even have the authority to grant me that?'
"I should say so," uttered a voice from inside the manor.
The two of us turned to look.
Robin stepped out in full uniform. Cape, mask, utility belt and everything. He smiled as he strolled into the frosty atmosphere…dangerously exposing his soul to the visible Gotham 'spectrum'.
How long had he been there 'reading' us? Dead son of a—
"Noir is my number two, after all…," he walked over and slapped me on the back.
I simpered.
Jericho blinked curiously up at the Boy Wonder.
Robin folded his gloved arms and said: "'J' as a Teen Titan. Hmmm….well, you did leap into my and Noir's bodies without asking and nearly gave us hangovers….."
Jericho winced.
"But if I can forgive a certain someone…," he 'glared' at me playfully "…for long ago putting on a Slade apprentice outfit, goggles, and royally beating the Hell out of me and my teammates…..then I'm sure I can forgive someone for renting my brain for a night or two." He leaned forward and smiled at the little blonde. "You would be more than welcome at the Tower, Jericho. In fact…as an honorary Titan-in-training…..I think it would be beneficial of you to help us…."
Jericho pointed at himself and mouthed: 'me'?
"Why not?" he stood up. "You manage to wrangle your way into every other situation!" He smirked at me, eyemask thin.
"……..," I gawked at him.
Who are you and what have you done to Robin?
I glanced at Jericho. The body-jumper was standing in perfect visibility there a few steps away from Robin.
"Noir….."
"……"
"Jordan……"
I looked up at the Boy Wonder.
He took a deep breath. "He won't be the only one…..returning to Titans' Tower when all of this is over, will he?"
"………"
Robin took a deep breath and clumsily hand-signed: 'Chicken meander over again happily swaying.'
"……," I smirked. I mouthed: 'Just say it, man.'
He rolled a pair of invisible eyes under his mask and said: "What I mean is…..it's time for the Boy Wonder to be reborn. But this miracle's not gonna happen alone."
"……..," I smiled.
Awww Hell yeah.
"Come on…," he motioned Jericho and I along. "We've got a meeting….underground.
T-T-T-T-T-T-
The Batcave.
T-T-T-T-T-T-
It felt like the night before the Normandy Invasion….
….for some reason….
"We know this….," Batman spoke to the troupe en masse. "…there is a seed planted by Triangular in Wayne Corp. At the same time, the shipment of Terra's thermal essences is there. We must seize it at all costs. Combined, those vials will produce an army that even the Justice League couldn't handle on their own. We do not want that to fall permanently in either Dagger's or Two-Face's hands."
We stood about in a crescent around the Bat-Computer in the BatCave. Barbara sat in her computer chair. Alfred stood beside her. Nightwing leaned against a rack of tools and weapons. Jericho sat with his legs dangling on a counter's edge. Robin and I stood side by side near the shadows.
Batman spoke on: "This is an effort that will require all of our combined strength. I would love to go it alone, but—"
"Save it," Nightwing smirked.
Barbara giggled.
"Very well then," Batman grumbled momentarily before facing Robin. "Tim….the soonest you and Noir show yourselves to the Gotham cityscape—"
"Red Aviary may very well spot us," Robin nodded. "Yes, Bruce. We know."
"I do not want to put you in that predicament. But at the same time—"
Robin raised a hand: "Batman…..you're responsible for your 'troupe'. Let me be responsible for my own team as well."
"Your team?" Nightwing made a face.
Robin smirked and hugged an arm around my shoulder.
I grinned and did the same to him.
Jericho leaned in and all three of us waved.
"Oh brother….," Nightwing rolled his masked eyes.
Alfred smirked: "And to think I was making them breakfast just this morning. Ah….how they grow up."
"Thank you, Alfred…," Robin cleared his throat, broke our embrace, and brushed himself off.
Jericho giggled breathily.
Dick's finger pointed at the little blonde: "Him. It's him I'm worried about."
Jericho blinked.
"What about him?" Barbara remarked.
"Master Dick has a point," Alfred gestured. "He is a tad bit young for this sort of endeavor."
"No younger than I was when I started," Robin folded his arms and smirked.
"Well, if you aren't just bright-eyed and bushy-tailed!" Nightwing remarked to the Boy Wonder. "I think something with this cabin fever has made you delirious. You realize the danger of what's going to happen?"
"Absolutely."
"Then why are you willing to go through with it again? Why risk your neck over Red Aviary when we can do so for you? As adults?"
"Don't we all have to grow up?" Robin said. "I left this mansion two years ago to become something more than human. All I found was death. I've been given a second chance, and I'll be damned if the only part of me that returns is only half of what I could be…." Robin took a deep breath. "…..only half of what I should be."
"I beg your pardon?"
"…..," I glanced at Robin.
The Boy Wonder's face was straight. He calmly uttered: "I am…..starting to realize what I have missed by trying to be something that only robbed me of myself. Most of all…..I'm finding things being left behind that I never opened my eyes to before. I've had this….this mask on for too damned long."
"And it's still on your face, sunshine."
"Yeah, Dick? Well, maybe because that's what Red Aviary sees in me. The only thing he sees in me. And if that's what he wants to see, so be it. I'm not letting Tim through for him to massacre as well. I'm not shedding hero until all of this madness is done for. After all….it's that innocent little person I'm fighting for…..as well as…..those left alone in my Tower who….who miss what they never got to see in him."
I smiled proudly.
"……..," Nightwing nodded. "Uh huh." A beat. He looked at Batman. "So what's the plan again, Bruce?"
"We'll be staging an attack on my own business."
"Oh boy."
"Covert to the last second. A team effort. We'll rely on Noir's stealth for some of that."
I nodded.
"Nightwing and I can slip in after him," Robin added. "We're agile enough."
"I get it….," Nightwing nodded. "But we'll need a communication branch for so many people." He looked over. "Jeeves?"
Alfred bowed. "I would be delighted to take the computer controls…" He stood up and glared. "Without the annoying pet names, thank you very much."
Nightwing rested his arms behind his head and smirked.
"Batgirl," Batman looked over. "Fox mentioned encryption codes randomized at the vault. We'll need to break into that. I'll be needing…..the 'Oracle's' expertise in that area."
Barbara smiled and proudly rubbed her hands together. "Absolutely."
"Ever considered switching job careers?" Nightwing smirked.
Barbara stuck her tongue out at him. "Ever thought of switching pant sizes?"
"Supposedly Clayface is at work at the vaults as well," Batman said. "I'll be there to see whatever threat that might bring up. I've dealt with Clayface before. Whatever tricks he may have up his sleeve—vicariously or not—we'll be ready for him."
"…..," I nervously glanced over at Robin.
He took a deep breath. A frown and a chill alighted his figure at once, but he seemed strong enough to brave it. Hell, he just looks 'strong' all over. Damn……what dreams in the darkness have summoned this mood swing now?
"And what of the lil squirt?"
"Who?" Barbara blinked. "Tim?"
"No. Jericho."
Barbara giggled.
Robin shook his head.
Batman looked over.
Jericho looked back….curious.
"With your permission, Robin….I have the perfect plan for his talents."
"I'll be all ears," Robin said. "Provided that Jericho is all spirits."
The boy smiled hopefully.
"Guess that covers us," Nightwing said.
"Except for Red Aviary….," Barbara said. "What if Deathstroke should eventually poke his head in? He is the Parasite of Triangular after all…and this is going to be Triangular's home turf."
I hand-gestured in front of everyone: 'I will be the 'beacon'. If Red Aviary comes, put me in the front line.'
"Are you serious?" Nightwing said.
I nodded. 'He is using the spectrum. Bastardized spectrum, yes. But I am most equipped to meet him.' I took a shuddering breath. 'I will need backup, of course.'
Robin patted my shoulder: "And you sure as heck got it."
Jericho nodded.
"Guess this will be Noir's chance to redeem himself," Nightwing said.
"How do you mean?"
"What…with the infamy he's built for himself after Metropolis and all…."
I sighed at the reoccurrence of that reality. I stared downward.
Yeah.
Vigilante 'rogue'.
"What infamy are you talking about, Nightwing?" Batman said.
Nightwing gazed stupidly at the Dark Knight. "Uhmmm…."
"I have photographic evidence here….," Batman spoke in a heavily scripted voice as he wandered over to the computer, leaned over Barbara, and brought up a set of pictures with a keystroke. "….evidence that clearly shows that Noir—the dark Teen Titan—was under the mental influence of the Mad Hatter during his turbulent escapades in Vegas and Metropolis…."
Robin's and my jaws dropped. A set of obviously photoshopped images splashed across the screen of a Mad Hatter 'lair' and articles of mind control set to my coordinates.
Barbara suppressed a smile: "Yes…..quite convincing. This will….give my daddy and Maggie Sawyer all the evidence they need to acquit Noir…."
"Uh….right…," Nightwing cleared his voice with comical fakeness and nodded. "…after all….Noir is a perfect angel…."
"…….," I gazed dumbfounded at Batman.
"……..," He gazed back at me. "Did you have a question, Noir?"
He wasn't dropping the 'act'. That holy cape and cowl…
I hand-signed: 'Is that like a legitimate detective to do?'
He stared back at me. He answered verbally: "A noble lie. After all….it's not legitimate for a hero framed for things he didn't do….to remain so, is it?"
"…………."
Barbara leaned over and whispered hoarsely at me: "Pssst….thank you, Batman."
I snapped out of it. With a numb hand and black prosthetic I gestured: 'Thank you, Batman.'
"You have nothing to thank me for…," and with a wave of his cape he walked past me as if no conversation had begun. "Okay. We move out in ten minutes! No delay!"
"……..," I stood there. Numb. Black eyes blinking. I flexed my highly expensive, black 'glove' of a left limb before my eyes as Batman's last words resonated echoingly in my mental ears.
All of this……absolutely all of it……
I have never felt so respected in my entire life.
"Congratulations, Noir….," Tim whispered proudly to me. "For finishing the Contract."
I took a deep breath. A sudden warmth washed over me. I smiled and gripped Myrkblade's hilt tightly.
What the Hell are we waiting for?
CHIIIIING!
T-T-T-T-T-T-
Gotham City.
7:02 pm
Downtown skyline.
T-T-T-T-T-T-
Gotham City.
The skyscrapers.
The rooftops….the rooftops…..the rooftops…..
Night fell.
The sky bled from amber to red.
Searchlights illuminated the towering structures all about as window-speck lights started to glow one by one.
Atop a thirty-story summit, a grappling hook attached.
Batman climbed up, silhouetted against the crimson cosmos.
He squinted his eyeslits off into the horizon, turned, and motioned along.
Nightwing flipped, leapt, and perched beside him.
He stood tall….nimble.
He said something to Batman above the rush of the cold, frosty wind.
Batman nodded.
Batgirl swung and landed, adding a comment.
Nightwing replied.
The redhead adjusted her map, cape, and spoke one last thing.
Then Robin glided in and landed besides the three previous silhouettes.
And shortly behind him…trailing like a second cape…I alighted the rooftop in a billowing, black haze.
Batman said something to Robin and I.
The Boy Wonder nodded.
He gestured to me.
I smirked and saluted.
Batman pointed out towards the towering Wayne Corp building in the distance. He pointed out his grappling hook….fired….and swung off.
Batgirl and Robin fired and swung off in similar step.
Nightwing extended the 'flaps' built beneath his suit's arms and glided after them.
Finally, I twirled Myrkblade and blurred down the buildingside in pursuit.
And in such coordination, the five of us heroes rushed towards the inevitable showdown.