New York City is known for its impressive skyline, everything from the large neon signs that glittered over looming skyscrapers to the strategically placed street lamps that allowed the crowds of people to easily get from point a to point b.  In a city that doesn’t sleep it was not only a nice tourist attraction, it was needed.  So of course a sudden power outage at around eleven thirty at night was quite strange, even for natives of the city seeing such a sight put people in a panic.  Shrills of women echoing over every alley way, clambering over their shoulders of their escorts, men barking out calm distilled ways to quiet their own fears, and of course the sounds of smashing glass and alarms were necessary in a city of this size.

    However what wasn’t natural was the twelve minutes after the sudden black out, when lights began to flicker back on in strange patterns and hundreds of machines revving their engines all in unison, like a cry of release.  Even in a city like New York where meta-humans were a common place something like this threw people into a panic-- and with good reason, machines didn’t act on their own accord every day.

    The costumed hero known to the world as Nightwing sat atop one of the dark skyscrapers with a pair of binoculars affixed to his eyes.  The blue colored rectangular object moved with his head to survey the damage.  He watched with a grimace on his face as driverless cars, came to life driving at mobs of people, and electronic store doors opening up just in time to smash a few unlucky people in the head with their glass bodies.  It was the same everywhere and the former Robin knew it.  He’d been talking via radio with the other groups of his old friends, whom had split up only two hours before.  It was only two hours ago that the former Teen Titan, Raven told them the news.  Another old friend was about to show up.

    “Hard to believe Vic is capable of this,” Donna Troy said behind Nightwing.  Her black clothed body striding towards her former teammate.

    “Tell me about it.”  Nightwing spoke grimly his raven colored bangs dotted over his forehead curling across his deep blue mask.  “But we can’t let personal feelings get in the way Donna.  Omega drone has to be taken out… by any means necessary.”

    “You should really hear yourself Dick; you are starting to really sound creepy.”

    Nightwing’s head snapped back to the street, as crunching metal echoed across his ears.  His tightly clenched gloved hand pushed the binoculars across his eyes.  “We can talk about how much I sound like…him… after we deal with the problem at hand.”  The hero pointed down below towards the red trailer truck that was driving towards a group of scattering people.  The trailer on the back of the truck was wobbling on the back of the hitch; orange sparks flickered across the ground.  “You stop that truck.  I got ground control.”

    “I’m on it,” Donna spoke as she leaped towards the fire escape.  Nightwing was behind her as he fired a wing-a-rang into the night air.  Even as he took in a breath of air and saw his teammate not taking to the air, he realized he made an error-- it was hard to forget that Donna didn’t have super-powers anymore.

    “Titans Go!”  Nightwing spat into the air as he swung towards the streets.  The words were mostly for him, like a silent prayer that he’d not lose anyone else tonight.

Protecting Our Future

Technis Overdrive
The Titans #3 - September, Year 3 by JAE LIZHINI

The  Titans


NIGHTWING
Dick Grayson
 
ARSENAL
Roy Harper Jr.
 
THE FLASH
Wally West
 
DONNA TROY
 		   
TEMPEST
Garth
 


ARGENT
Toni Montelli		 Starfire
STARFIRE



Royal View Hospital
New York City

    Roy Harper was not one to enjoy standing on the sidelines while there were people in danger.  As the former side kick to the original Green Arrow, he grew up taking the bull by the horns.  A little damage was something he could live with and still fight on with.  So how he found himself sitting in a pale blue bed in the Burn Ward the Royal View Hospital was beyond him.  He offered to escort Argent and the members of the Dark Nemesis to the local Emergency Room.  Mostly it was something else he learned from his former guardian... never let an attractive woman out of your sight.  Of course not even that worked out as planned, as Argent was placed a few rooms over from him.

    “Mr. Arsenal?”  A nurse spoke from the doorway of the room.  Her blond hair was untied and ran easily across her nimble face, complete with a Barbie doll tan.  She smiled as she caught sight of her patient, finding the red hair, matched with the bright green eyes… a sight she didn’t mind seeing.  Of course Roy was used to such stares; he did learn his charms from a womanizing legend.

    “Roy is fine,” the unshaven archer spoke with a nod.  “So can I get out of here already?  I do after all have a previous engagement I must attend.”

    “Well from the radio reports coming in, it seems that this epidemic should be over in a matter of hours.  Some former side kicks have come to the aid of the city and are battling it out with machines all over town.”

    “Those former side kicks are friends of mine,” Roy explained, “and I’m sure they could use my special… touch.”

    “Well you will need to spend the night here in the... khhlt!”  Blood erupted from the nurse’s lips as she quivered, her throat pushing up splatters of red.  It only took one look at her stomach, for Roy to see the large metal pipe that impaled through her back, for his questions to be answered.  Her neck stretched and craned, her perfect tan sporadically turned to a deep purple.

    Roy had seen a lot of violence in his time, once an assassin, and also a government operative.  But the grisly sight he saw now made him want to throw up.  He was sure he could see the broken bones of her rib cage puncturing through her skin.  --Consider this a warning, Roy.  Stay where you are.  We’ll all be together sooner than ya think-- A voice spoke in a digitized manner.  Roy’s head turned to the machines on the wall.  Gray metal and white plastic boxes were displaying wave forms and number read outs. 

    “Victor!  This is madness!  You have to stop!”  Roy pleaded, his voice bouncing from white wall to white wall in harsh acoustics.

    --I’m doing this for us, Roy.  So we all can be together again.  And my friends have their own home.--

    “We can be together again Vic.  We are together!  Dick, Donna, Wally, Garth… we’re all here and we want to help you!”

    --I’m beyond help now.  So just sit tight.  My friends are just getting comfortable in our home.--

    “Vic, listen to me!”  Roy pleaded again, but there was nothing but silence.  “Goddamn it Vic…”  Roy spat as he shook his head, he could feel the dry burn of tears coming across his eyes.  “Hell.”  The archer stood up from his bed, the matchbox springs squeaking, as he stretched out his limbs.  The burn marks on his left forearm as well as those on his stomach still felt tender and tight.  He leaned to his left, his finger stretched out to press the red button near the watch stand.  A simple electronic cry beckoned, to call the nurses.  It was intended for an emergency.  He was damn sure this qualified.

    Arsenal strode towards the nurse who still lay impaled.  His feet slapped across the cold white linoleum floor.  He couldn’t handle he was some what responsible for this horror.  Maybe if he acted… he was not naturally great at blaming himself… that was what Garth did.  His deep green eyes looked over her shocked form.  Her body was still rasping under the large pipe that had impaled her. He did his best to remember that he’d seen worse injured people walk.  “Just hang in there…”  Roy whispered to the now purple faced nurse.  His free hand stretched out to rub her face.  The pain in her eyes was frightening.  He was unsure how Cyborg could do such a thing.  He had known the man for many years, and it just didn’t make any sense.

    “Jesus Christ!” a nurse barked. “We need, a Doctor!” he belted out as soon as he fully slid through the open doorway.  The nurse’s face had paled as he looked at the woman pinned to the pipes, rich blood dripping across her white skirt.  Her modest bosom heaving out what air she could.  The sick sounds of broken bones and blood passing through her open cavity was enough to make the male nurse feel light headed.  “What... what happened?”

    “Look I have little time to explain, but where are my quiver and crossbow?  If they’ve gotten here then that means most of the city must be under his power!”  Roy slipped to the side of the woman and rushed past the male nurse as well.  “Never mind I’ll find them myself!”  Arsenal took off down the hallway; his bare feet slapping in foot falls.  He could not wait.  His friend had lost his mind, and if the Titans didn’t act fast, Cyborg would look at facing the JLA.  That was something he didn’t want on his head.

New York Harbor
New York City

    Unlike most of the city, when things switched back on and went haywire, the harbor stayed silent.  The boats that were in the harbor, continued with engines switched off.  Even the signal towers that constantly flashed in red strobe lights stayed deathly calm.  Only the waves of the harbor gave any sense of life.  The waves however were more than active, to make up for the calm, thanks to red blur of the Flash running across its surface, and the similarly quick Tempest who swam in a speedy set of flashes. 

    Normally Tempest would have not been able to swim as fast as the Flash ran.  However the scarlet speedster’s symmetry with the Speed Force allowed him a unique ability to steal and give momentum, which in times such as this, came in quite handy.  What was slightly strange, to the former Kid-Flash, was how simple giving speed to the Atlantean was.  Flash however would later learn courtesy of his current team mate, Aquaman, just why that was.  How his childhood friend was more than what he used to be-- the Flash would learn of the mystical transformation that happened inside the former Aqualad.  However at that moment… both Tempest and the Flash were more than concerned enough with their friend Victor Stone, and what was going on in his mind.

    After the haywire hit New York City only a mere few hours ago, Nightwing was the first to notice that the harbor was calm, and there was no activity at all in that area of the city.  Titan’s Island was along the harbor, and by putting two and two together, Nightwing was sure that it was a clear sign of where Victor had gone.  Perhaps the idea of friendship was the only part of the man’s brain that remained.  As it was the Flash and Tempest were to see if they could find a way to get to Victor first, while Donna and Nightwing dealt with the people being hurt in a city under siege.  It was times like this that the Flash really enjoyed the large roster that the JLA now had.  The team up of the former Teen Titans only numbered at five, and with Arsenal at the hospital that only gave them a team of four.  Not exactly a superior number of people on the field.  But they all knew they could not call in for help, if the JLA got into place, Victor would not be given the chance to make amends.  It was up to them, to do what ever they could.  And that meant, having two people deal with the threat and the other two rushing off to stop their former teammate.

    The water splashed across the legs of the speedster as he wind-milled his way across the body of water.  Through the crimson cowl, his deep set eyes watched the flickering land mass just ahead of them coming into view.  “Any idea what we’re going to say to him, Garth?” the Flash asked, his head however didn’t look down at the splashes, which erupted only footsteps behind him.

    “You mean other than asking him if Roy set him up with his dealer?” Tempest spoke between lunges into the water.
    
    “That’s so not cool Garth,” the Flash spoke, his voice almost growling.  He understood where his friend’s anger came from however, growing up being the butt of someone’s jokes can do that to someone.  But it was a low blow, even for someone whose wife and child were a few thousand feet below them.

    “Sorry, but I guess some of that inwards aggression is starting to rise.”  He frowned, as he dove back into the cool waters.  His heart rate pumped sporadically as he swam.  “Strange how seeing old friends also brings up old anger.”

    “As much of a jerk as Roy can be sometimes-- okay all the time-- now is neither the time nor the place, my amigo.  We’re going to embrace Vic as our friend, try to remember all the good times, not the bad ones.”

    “Think he’s expecting us?”

    “Well he did leave himself wide open for a direct attack.”

    “That is if he’s holding up on Titan’s Island.”

    “Oh I’m pretty sure we just found him,” the Flash spoke, his voice slurred with nervousness.  His eyes watched the island come into view.  The once headquarters for the Teen Titans in years gone past looked nothing like the place they remembered.  The Flash’s eyes stared at the large menacing “T” shape that stood in the center of the land mass.  The shape was gray and the closer the two got to the island the more they realized how grotesque the new tower looked.  It looked as though it had been put together by tons of metal from various… and no longer recognizable objects.

    The Flash didn’t break stride as his feet met with the shores of the island.  Nor did he look back to see Tempest leaping from the water.  Instead he took the position, which he was naturally accustomed to in the JLA.  Without so much as a mention, the Flash sprinted at supersonic speeds across the perimeter of the island.  With supersonic movements he looked at the place where he and the Titans had spent a majority of their lives.  What he saw devastated him.

    The Titan’s Island was previously a national park, and the area surrounding where the Tower formerly stood was an old growth forest.  Was as in past tense-- as the Flash ran across the island nothing was left of the flora that once had been a cherished sight to him and the other Titans-- only brown sod and ashes remained.  Scraps of metal also littered most of the remaining island, and small pits that were dug into the ground.  The speedster wasn’t sure if they were defense perimeters or video cameras.  Yet over all, the entire island looked deserted aside from the new Tower composed of gnarled metal scraps.

    Tempest had stepped from the water, and had merely looked at the area around the tower, when his ears caught the supersonic squeal of the speedster arriving to his left.  The Atlantean’s wet hair flicked across his face as he turned to look to his friend.  “Man, this place is giving me the creeps.”

    “Tell me about it.  I still can’t believe that asshole, burnt down the forest.  That’s just about as low as you can go,” the Flash spat.  “It’s a struggle to believe.  How much of the Vic we know still remains?”

    “Not much guys,” a familiar voice called from the sky.  Both the Flash and Tempest turned their head towards the flawless night sky.  It took them both a whole few seconds to realize what was out of place.  They realized it not before a small green humming bird buzzed inches from their faces.

    “GAR!” the two said in unison, smiles sliding over the men’s mouths.

    “Well if I knew you all would be that happy to see me I’d have brought confetti.”  The bird spoke through its beak.  Not but a moment after, the bird quivered and melted, the feathers melted inwards, as did the beak and wings.  From the small gellous orb limbs soon sprung free solidifying in the humanoid shape, the two of them knew rather well.  Though it looked as though Beast Boy had seen better days.  His black hair had grown long, spilled out across his nimble shoulders.  His green face looked worn and tired and specks of stubble dotted over his mouth and chin.

    “What’s going on Gar?” the Flash asked as his hands blurred forward to wrap themselves around his friend’s shoulders in a hug.  “What’s happened to Vic?”

    “The Technis is what happened,” Beast Boy responded, his lips turned into a deep frown.  “He’s not our friend anymore.  His human side… is gone.  Or at least close to it.”

    The Flash smiled as he stepped from Beast Boy; however his eyes were still on his old friend.  “Well almost sounds like there’s still hope.  Vic’s always been strong.  We can get him to fight it, and he just needs a little help.  He needs his friends.”

    “Wally, don’t you think I already tried that?  Every time I even mentioned his real name, he would start giving me some serial number and remind me he’s Cyberion.”

    “But there’s something still left,” Tempest broke in.  “If there wasn’t he’d not have made that.”  The Atlantean’s hand pointed towards the metal-mesh Titan’s Tower.  “He wouldn’t have given us a clear path, and he’d have installed some sort of defense system.  It’s a call for help.”

    “And as they say,” the Flash smiled, “Once a Titan Always a Titan.”

    “Look, Wally… Garth...  Vic’s my best friend.  I don’t want to lose him.  But... but it hurts... hurts to see him like this.”

    “That pain... that love…” Tempest spoke, “that is what Victor needs.  It’s the only way to get through this; we need your help Gar.”

    “What’s one last shot?”  Beast Boy shrugged, “Okay I’m in.”
 

The Streets
New York City

    Nightwing stood his ground.  His legs were bent inward and two deep blue batons stood posed in his hands.  The area surrounding him was littered with broken metal, glass and hissing wires.  The street around him had been split into composite chunks of asphalt.  His deep black hair lay limp across his mask, his lungs pumping nervously.  He felt burn across his forearms, the rigid feeling of his shoulders, even as a bulldozer came into view veering towards the Titan.  “How much longer can we keep this up?”  Nightwing asked the teammate who flew over head, before he shifted his weight to avoid the incoming scoop.

    “Well it was your big idea to divide the forces,” Donna replied, her voice rung out as she darted towards the group of gathered people who had been policed behind a barrier.  Her eyes snapped away from the site however, by the sound of squealing tires.  The former Wonder Girl’s body landed in front of the barricade as a speeding greyhound bus ramped itself over a smashed patrol car.  The black rubber wheels punctured as it smashed through the siren.  She gritted her teeth as she saw the bus launching its wheels towards her.  “This is going to hurt,” she whispered to herself.

    She watched the grey piping under the bus launch towards her when, a bright orange blast engulfed her view, transforming her sight to a pallet of smooth white.  Donna fell back on her ass.  The cold ground chilled her skin even through the thick mesh of spandex and Kevlar she wore.  “STARFIRE!”  She heard Nightwing exclaim through her daze.

    The princess of Tamaran’s body angled upwards, her hands crumpling the metal bumper of the bus she had just caught from smashing Donna Troy.  A smile crafted over deep orange lips as the energy cracked across her fists.  The people on the streets had gone deathly silent, as they watched the orange skinned beauty manhandle the bus.  Her muscles tensed as her body rushed towards the yellow bulldozer that was taking passes at Nightwing.

    The former Robin saw the flash of energy and dropped into a roll as the bus impacted the bulldozer in a stunning explosion.  An orange ball of flame rose from the crumbled remains, momentarily before the princess dove through the thick smoke shaking her long tresses of red from the ash.  Everyone was stunned and speechless as the former Teen Titan descended towards the streets.  “Couldn’t down play much?” Donna Troy called out from where she was standing.  She shook her head trying to clear the spots that seemed to populate no matter where she looked.

    “I give it a nine point eight,” Nightwing spat as he stood up, shaking off bits of metal and wire.

    “Not a perfect ten?”  Starfire tried to frown.

    “Well you did almost kill me in the process.”  He shrugged walking towards her.  “But when did you get back to Earth?”

    “Some things never change.”  Donna frowned as she saw how quickly Nightwing went from angry brooding crime fighter, to love sick puppy.

    “Old habits die hard.  And after the destruction of New Tamara--“

    “Nightwing look out!” Donna called out, interrupting Starfire’s speech. Though before anyone one could react a single crimson crossbow bolt blurred across Nightwing’s shoulder.  A small motorized airplane shattered; like glass; on impact.

    “Now all we need is some beer and some popcorn, and we’ll be set,” Arsenal called as he walked from the alleyway.  As he walked towards the threesome his free hand plugged another bolt into the crossbow’s chamber.

    “Arsenal, what happened at the hospital?”  Nightwing asked his attention driven from the small model airplane that attacked him and straight to the archer.

    “It’s a long story--probably not as long as one of Star’s doozies.  But I’m sure it’s up there.  Good to see ya by the way?”  Arsenal let out one of his more charming smiles… complete with the perfect whites of his teeth.

    “What about Argent?  Did you at least check on Argent?”  Nightwing asked him.

    “Look Wingster, after Vic and I had a conversation and he impaled one of the nurses I got out of dodge.  Live to fight another day.”

    “Victor impaled someone, in the hospital?  But instead of checking on-- as well as we know-- the only surviving member of the Teen Titans, you got the hell out of there?  She could be dead!”

    “Guys…” Donna spoke.

    “Look, the girl can take care of herself.”

    “She’s seventeen.”

    “Umm guys...” Donna addressed the two friends again.

    “Well I took care of myself when I was that age.”

    “That’s not the same thing!”

    “GUYS!”

    “WHAT IS IT?” Nightwing and Arsenal asked in unison, their heads spun around to face her.

    “That’s what.”  Donna’s voice teemed with anger as her index finger pointed out the large grayish shape that had broken through the scatter of clouds.  Both Nightwing and Arsenal had figured the shape out almost instantly-- it was easily noted as a 747-passenger plane.

    “Right,” Arsenal whispered.  “So why don’t you handle it Donna?”

    “Who made you the leader?” Nightwing asked his face starting to flush in anger.

    “Well I don’t see anyone else.”  Arsenal smiled.

    “What is that supposed to mean?”  Nightwing screamed.

    Starfire looked to Donna, “So wanna handle this?”

    “Yeah.”  Donna smiled as she lifted her head towards her former teammate, “But I can’t exactly fly anymore.*”

    “Good thing I can then.”  Starfire smiled as she laced an arm around the midsection of Donna. Her arm was almost comforting to her as, the princess of Tamaran lifted them up into the air.

[[*as noted in Green Lantern #11, the rebirth of Donna Troy has yet to happen]]

    “You were right Donna,” Starfire spoke as she continued her course with the plane.
    “I was?”  Donna asked.

    “About how not much has changed.”

    “Well between the guys maybe.  But you on the other hand, you’ve...”

    “Well I guess seeing your planet destroyed twice can do that,” Starfire offered.

    “I suppose you have a point there.  It’s hard… and just so you know Kory… I’m here if ya need me,” Donna told her.

    “Maybe I’ll take you up on that… but I think it’s going to have to wait- until after we deal with the plane.”

    “Agreed.”  Donna nodded as she lifted her head towards the coming plane.  Her deep blue eyes looked at the metal behemoth that was speeding towards the two of them.  It was times like this; she wished Supergirl remained a Titan.  They couldn’t inflict damage to the craft without knowing who they might hurt.  “Kory, you need to get the engines off line.  We don’t know if we have passengers so try not to kill anyone.  Victor is probably controlling the electrical systems so the less trouble the better,” Donna instructed.  Her voice had transformed into more of a yell at this point.

    “Right!” Starfire said to her former teammate.  “Ready?”

    “For what?”  Donna didn’t get the last words out as her former teammate dove towards what was left of the wing that was facing them.  With a small bit of pressure she tossed Donna towards the plane.  The now powerless Wonder Girl growled as she clambered onto the plane.  Her body stretched upwards to look into the windows of the plane, only to be blinded again by Starfire’s hasty retreat.

      Donna’s head veered as she watched the princess take off into a blur of orange and yellow light.  She couldn’t believe she was getting involved in this once again.  She made a pact to herself she was giving up this life.  Yet here she was flying with Starfire, just like old times.  And she felt more than a little bit jovial about it.  Even if Starfire, was not the Kory she had remembered from her youth.

    Donna brought her hands in front of her as her body lined up with the metal foliage.  Her heart felt as though it was pounding.  Her ears were trying to concentrate on the sounds.  Her hands felt the balance changing over the plane.  She would be ready, it had been ages since she stood beside Starfire-- she was not even sure if Starfire could do what she wanted.  This was all improv, and she had to put all her faith in her friend’s ability.

    Starfire felt a natural youthful exuberance as her body flew up towards the left wing.  She saw the large engine, lying under the larger wing.  She watched it for the breath of a few moments.  Earth technology had never been her strong suit.  She knew however that attacking the engine in the wrong way would cause an instant reaction… much like the explosion on the streets.  Well this is improv the princess thought to herself and dove towards the spherical cased engine.  Her hands gripped the metal casing, and instantly she felt the sudden burn.  However her Tamaranian body adjusted itself to take in the excess heat.  Starfire’s lips grimaced as she used her full strength to rip the engine away from the wing.

    However it didn’t go as planned.  As the former Titan pulled, the entire wing was dislodged from the plane and broke off floating downwards to the streets below.  “What was that?” Donna screamed as the plane veered to the right.  The metal she was holding onto squeaked at the sudden change in gravity.

    “Oops...” Starfire spoke.  “The entire wing just came off, Donna.”

    “Hell!” Donna yelled again.  “Well who cares?  The plane is coming down anyways. It’ll be just a little harder to deal with.”  As she spoke she could feel her fingers slipping on the metal.  She gulped as she pushed her legs towards what had been left of the left wing she had first gotten a hold of.  She growled as she slammed the heels of her boots into the small foliage flap on the wing.  The force of her slam caused the small flap to open up, which in turn jerked the plane.

    “Well at least Vic still has his sense of humor,” Starfire addressed as the plane angled the sharp turn.

    “Can you just get the fucking wing off Kory?”  Donna growled.  “We are getting sort of close to the ground.”  Donna looked over her shoulder in desperation.  Her eyes focused as she watched the tops of skyscrapers that had started to come into view.

    “If you move a little Donna, I don’t want to hit you as well,” Starfire yelled back as her body tried to work its way through the fighting winds.  Her long curled mane slammed across her small, sculpted face, her arms tensed showcasing the detail of the muscles her body contained.  Starfire positioned herself across the plane as the cold metal sunk through her purple spandex chilling her to the bone.  She watched as her friend pushed her body further up the fuselage.  It was at that moment, that Starfire missed the old Wonder Girl.  She understood why Donna gave up being a hero.  Despite her training by Slade Wilson, and Nightwing-- the truth was she was still a burden to the rest.  As much as she hated to think about it, without her powers Donna was really betting on luck to let her survive. 

      Starfire freed her right hand and gulped as the pinkish energy flickered across her drawn fist.  “Here goes nothing,” she whispered mostly for her own ears.

    The blast tore from her hand.  Her mind gave way to a little buzz as the blast hit the metal wing, tearing the thick metal apart.  She felt the sudden drop off as the plane went into a dive.  Starfire pushed herself off from the plane’s fuselage, as fast as she could muster.  Her body angled around in a short dive, as she slid under the plane.  Starfire watched momentarily as her muscles rippled, and her eyes closed.  “You okay up there Donna?” Starfire asked pressing her own strength into the metal to attempt to balance out the craft.

    “What makes you… ask that?” Donna growled as the weight she’d been fighting on the plane backed up a little.  The two women felt the plane begin to ascend.  Back into the air- with the former Titans’ help.

    “I don’t care how easy Superman makes this look,” Starfire spoke between grunts.  “This is not something I want to do very often.”

    “Where should we take this to anyways?” Donna asked as the plane finally leveled off grazing over the buildings of New York City.

    “How about Central Park?” Starfire asked.

    “That’ll work.  It’s night so we won’t endanger anyone.”  Donna smiled.

Titan Island
New York City

    “Did that just move?” Garth asked, as he along with the Flash, and Beast Boy walked towards the grotesque replica of their childhood hang out…Titans Tower.  The entire island they were standing on had been somewhat changed since the return of their former teammate, Victor Stone.  The large glittering “T” shaped tower stood twenty feet in the air.  Its presence would have been masked better if the former forest and grasses that encompassed most of the island had not been leveled.  Even as the three former Teen Titans walked towards the metallic mesh of junk, their feet sunk into the wet peat that had covered the ground.

    “Lighten up, Garth!”  The Flash smiled as he turned to his friend.  “We’re about ready to take on Cyborg, and we could do with a little more forward thinking!” the Flash spoke, but inwardly he was feeling exactly the opposite as well.  However many times when he was Kid-Flash he was used to being the fall guy. 

    “No, Wally, I think he’s right dude,” Beast Boy said as he eyed the large tower, watching for any signs of life.

    “Okay granted, Vic’s pretty strong and has the Omega drone thing.  But that thing doesn’t look like it could move at…” A sudden crunch of metal caused the Flash’s speech to stop unexpectedly.  His crimson-laden face turned in a blur to face the tower.  He watched momentarily as the head of the T shape sunk into the metallic body, and a boulder sized head launched from the top.  The former head of the tower extended--elongating as large hands expelled from the spouts.  “Okay, so maybe pessimism has its place!” the Flash exclaimed as the base of the tower rose on a coil of squid like tentacles.

    Beast Boy and Tempest stood frozen in awe and fear as the large robot creature stood up.  One if its mammoth arms swung downwards to where Beast Boy and Tempest still stood.  In the breath of seconds the scarlet speedster took off from where he was standing, his two arms jolted outwards, a hand grabbing each the two frozen heroes. 

    The two Titans were flung out of danger as the hand hit the ground hard.  The metallic fist left a large crater in the soft ground as its hand raised back up.  Beast Boy looked up from where he landed his dark hair sliding across his face.  “Okay now I used to say I’ve seen everything… but I really, really mean it this time!”

    The large robotic tower grated its body towards the three Titans, its head gleaming as it looked towards them.  Each form was analyzed and situated.  This moment of silence could have gave the Fastest Man Alive enough time to gather up a whole array of weapons or even take the thing apart.  However, the JLA training didn’t prepare him for what he saw as he looked at the skull of the gigantic creature.  “The head… it looks like Vic…” the Flash spoke.

    “It makes sense,” Tempest spoke as he looked at the creature, which had craned down to look at them.  “The human side of Victor-- the side that had made him come here, and leave him wide open.  The center of his feelings of Earth… of friendship, his heart as a Titan…That machine doesn’t just look like Victor.  It is Victor.”

Royal View Hospital
New York City

    “Crap! Crap! Crap!” Argent called out in a mantra of anger and defiance as she ran bare foot across the linoleum floor.  Her foot falls slapped across the ground in echoes, which were immediately dwarfed out by the screeching metal of wheels and electronic engines which followed her descent rather skillfully.  “Ya know, why is it, when ever I want to be a hero, no one else wants to?  Yet when I want to get some rest cause I had my ass pounded into paste... everything gets funky and I have to deal?”  Her body lunged forward as she turned the corner down another hallway.

    Her head jarred up as she clasped against the wall.  Her sore arms pushed her body out from the cold wall.  The rattle of stretchers sounded off in an echo across the new hallway she was running through now.  The young Titan’s eyes narrowed as an armada of five stretchers rolled towards her.  The metal beds vibrated loudly toward her person.  Nervously, the lithe hero scrapped some hair from her brow.  “And when the hell did they get automated stretchers?  This is so unfair,” she growled.  Toni Montelli took a deep breath as she ran straight towards the armada.  She felt her mind buzzing with exhaustion.  She’d used her powers a lot already, and knew this time around was going to hurt.

    Her left hand tensed into a warm white knuckled fist as she concentrated her mind on protecting herself.  “This is so going to suck.”  She spat as she forced an inky black cloud to capsulate across her body.  Even the moment after forcing the impromptu shielding she felt the burning headache dwarf her skull.  Her eyes were slender and weak from the pain as she lunged at the stretchers.  The metal beds scattered on impact of her shield. The stretchers impacted each other, and the wall, as she drove right through them.  She didn’t look back at the scene she just ran through however, but her mind was ecstatic on the fact she did some damage.  It was not three more steps that the charcoal shield dissolved.

    Her vision had gone blurry after that last usage of her power.  She wanted to know who was doing this.  Was it someone from Dark Nemesis trying to finish her off?  Was it her parents?  She had no answers.  The only thing that gave her the strength to continue was the memory of her fallen teammates.  They would not die in vane.  She would have revenge for their deaths.  The Nathall would pay for what they did, at the moment she didn’t care.  She didn’t care if they were her true parents or not.

    Even as her mind burned with anger that she saw a blur from the corner of her eye.  The electronic emergency room door rushed open as she neared it.  Perhaps if she hadn’t been so beaten-- she’d have been able to deal with the door.  But at that moment, she had only looked up to meet the door-- as it impacted her head.

Titan Island
New York City

    “We’re going to need to fan out,” the Flash told Tempest and Beast Boy, as his body blurred away from the two of them.  Beast Boy shrugged his shoulders as his body shot out wings and a beak-- his bird form took to the sky, in the span of seconds.  Tempest, who had no other option, ran to the left side of the towering creature.  The rapid sounds of fists hitting metal echoed across his ears.  It didn’t take smarts for the Atlantean to realize his friend; Wally was distracting the large machination, who they believed to be their former teammate Victor Stone.

    “Wally this isn’t going to help!” Tempest called out as the red blur continued to pass in sonic screams.  A whiplash of air current following every stride his friend made.

    “Well it’s not like we got much choice, with this thing attacking us,” the Flash exclaimed in between his ultra-fast punches.

    “Well how about incapacitate him?” Tempest asked as the green bird that had previously returned to the shape of their friend Garfield Logan, darted towards where Tempest was running.

    “I’m open to suggestions, Garth,” the Flash spoke at every break in the momentum he had been riding.  “It’s not like I’m trying to kill the thing.”

    “I told you guys he’s not Vic anymore.  This is not our friend!”  Beast Boy called out through the beak of the bird.

    Tempest stopped where he was running.  His face formed a grimace as his purple eyes looked at the towering beast that was being pushed back by devastating blows, put out by his friend--the Flash.  The lavender eyes engulfed in a pale blue energy staring at the mesh of metal that strangely looked like the former member of the Teen Titans-- a friend who had saved his life on more than one occasion.  His fists tightened up, white knuckled as his hands crackled with the energy that had manifested in his person during his time away from the Teen Titans; a power that allowed him to step out of the shadows of Aquaman, allowed him to study under the Arch Mage Atlan… The ability to transform moisture into the basic elements.

    Every time Tempest used his power it was mind numbing, as every molecule of water spoke to him… sung in a delicious harmony.  He could feel the life of all things in the smallest of molecules.  Many times Tempest wondered if that was how Aquaman felt when he used The Clear.  “WALLY GET OUT OF THE WAY!” Tempest spat; his voice grew in meter.  The young boy, whom Arsenal spent his formative years making fun of, seemed to be nowhere in Tempest’s composure at that moment.

    “Don’t need to tell me twice,” the Flash spoke as he repelled from the large towering monster that now had turned its sight on the Atlantean with the twin glowing fists.

    Tempest closed his eyes as the energy consumed his body, his flesh chilled as he began to target the moisture.  He knew that if he-- they were going to stop Victor Stone, he’d need more… energy than he was used to using.  “VICTOR STOP!” Tempest cried as the energy that had been gathering dispelled in a shattering crackle.  The energy left the young man’s hands sending a frost bitten trail from his finger tips-- the icy white lacerating across the barren ground and catching the feet of the creature.  Crystals of ice eclipsed the metal feet first and began to grow up the legs, freezing circuits and gadgetry as it ran.  Tempest felt the pulsing of his head as the moisture coming from the nearby waters gave him almost limitless fuel.  However keeping his concentration was no easy task.  He growled as he tried to keep it in control. 

    The ice steadily webbed up the form, the screeching sheets of ice growing in thickness and length steadily.  The Flash and Beast Boy watched blinded by their friend’s abilities as the machine stood motionless trapped in the growing ice.  Moments passed in the former Aqualad’s head that felt like hours.  His body became limp as he struggled to continue working the moisture.  However, all the training never prepares one for their limits.  The energy circulating his fists and eyes flickered; as his head drew back he fell hard to the ground. 

    Flash was at his side before he could blink.  And Beast Boy darted towards him as soon as he landed.  Tempest felt the coldness of the ground rushing across his head, as his eyes flickered open.  “Garth you okay?” the Flash asked as soon as he saw his friend’s lavender eyes open up.

    “Yeah, I just lost it.”  Tempest groaned as he tried to move.  His large hands pulled into fists as his knuckles hit the ground.  He pushed himself up his torso pushing inwards.  His head turned to the large robot that stood frozen to the ground with the large mounds of ice that covered up to where its hips would be.  It remained motionless at the moment.

    Beast Boy’s form gelled to a semi-liquefied state as his body refocused itself the green skinned youth dropping to his feet.  He too looked at the fractured metal that now stood motionless.  His green eyes watched the sad expression of the gigantic robot, its neck bowed.  “Victor?” he called.  “Are you in there?”

    “Wait Gar!” Wally called as he looked up to his friend who was walking towards the now frozen robot.

    “He can’t do anything... he ain’t moving.  Right Victor?  Just say you’re sorry and-“ Though, Beast Boy didn’t get out the rest of his sentence as the large left arm of the Tower-bot launched forward in a swing, catching Beast Boy’s chin in a devastating uppercut.  The impact took the former Titan off his feet sending him sliding across the dirt.

    --Gar… I’m-I’m Sorry-- the robot murmured, barely audible.  --I can’t… I won’t control--

NEXT ISSUE: The fate of Victor Stone is revealed.  The fate of Argent is revealed.  And a whole lot of machine destroying.

Story © 2005 Jae Lizhini and may not be reproduced without permission.