TITANS TOMORROW #9

[Glippernip]

Catherine Zeta Casey worked slowly in the sewage processor, a mostly dirty, outdoor job with horrible smells attached. Waste processing had become a technological art form, providing an alternate energy source for many cities, and now most prisons operated the processing plants. The ruling body thought it funny. They pumped the city’s filth to the prison so the filth of society could clean it up.

Simply put, Ms. Casey was not motivated to work hard. She just didn’t care if the prison had enough power tonight. She lost herself in her memories. She had not pled guilty, she had forced the system to try her, even though a conviction was almost assured. And, when given the opportunity to speak before the jury, just before deliberations began, she looked into their eyes and said, “I orchestrated the deaths of three heroes, Titans for years. The last being to do that wore a big ‘S’ on his chest! Whatever you do to me, you can’t take that away!”

Not surprisingly, she received the death penalty. Now she stood, an inhibitor collar around her neck preventing her from accessing her psionic abilities, half-heartedly monitoring crap.

Judge, a gruff, feminine voice said from nowhere. Catherine looked around, her listless blond hair whipping into her plain facial features. You won’t see me, the voice continued, I’m using a special ventriloquism from a distance. Do not speak, as I will not be able to hear you, just nod or shake your head to answer. Do you understand?

Catherine nodded.

Good. My employer has a great interest in your abilities. We are willing to take you from here, reassemble your team, and make them stronger. For you, it is a win-win proposition. Do you accept?
Catherine cocked her head to one side with a questioning look. What’s the catch, the expression said.

The only requirement, the voice replied, is that you use your skills against the new Titans team, not the elders. Once you’ve finished your task, of course, you will be free to target whomever you wish.

Catherine ran her finger across her throat, then shrugged.

There are two we want alive. The rest you can kill, if you wish.

Catherine Casey smiled and nodded.

Wings of Icarus, the voice whispered.

Suddenly, a pair of white birds wings grew from Catherine’s shoulders and began to flap, carrying her into the sky. By the time the guards could react, she was gone.

The wings flew her two miles away before lowering her to the ground and melting away. An older woman in her thirties, dressed as a red Roman centurion, stepped forward.

“We have much to discuss,” Arcana said to Judge.

*******************

[Glippernip]

Not far away, hidden in a shadow veil, Phantasm wondered who the blond woman was. He had spent weeks searching for any sign of Phobos, and now he followed Arcana hoping she would lead him to her master. Even as he wondered, he felt a presence brush by him, one that was totally unfamiliar but...friendly. For a moment, the force seemed to recognize him. Then is passed him by, and he quickly dismissed the presence and turned his attention back to Arcana and her companion.

END OF PRELUDE

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[Glippernip]

Ivy City

Alexandra Light woke with a start, thinking that someone had tentatively touched her on the shoulder. Two in the morning, she squinted around the darkened room, then raised her hand and made it glow lighting up the place. Still nothing. Of course, the room was pretty sparse. The Titans temporary base, an old one-story that looked more like a motel. The twelve units formed a ‘U’ around a parking lot and swimming pool, with room enough in the office for them to meet. Starbolt, Cardinal, Battalion, Terra, Fern, Fusion, and Jon had all moved in after a quick refurbishment, with Kilowatt flying in from Opal and Taurus staying at an undisclosed location, which was a good thing. These smallish units would really not be comfortable for him.

Alex stood up, ran her hand through her hair, and walked to the front door for a breath of fresh air. She opened the door and gaped.

“Fusion,” the African-American young woman with shoulder-length braids and red lipstick questioned, “You dyed your hair pink? You are the blond of the group, Axe is the pink.”

“Who...”

“Don’t know,” a second girl, Hispanic with red hair, offered, “Someone is sneaking into the compound. Bongo and I were sent to wake your sleeping behind up!”

“Yeah, Brass,” Bongo added, “You’d think we played a concert last night!”

Two other women ran into the parking lot- a black-haired Asian in green shades named Backbeat and the sexy, pink haired Caucasian leader named Axe.

How do I know their names, Fusion wondered.

At the far side of the parking lot stood Judge and Jury.

“Phase One, team,” Axe called out, “Lets show them why we call ourselves Metallik!”

And then all five girls shifted, orange and yellow armor appearing on their shapely frames. Each had a suit with a slightly different design. Fusion noticed her own armor was physical now, not her light screen. The other four girls lined up, at ready.
“Fusion,” Axe called, “FUSION!”

“I don’t understand any of this,” Alex muttered.

“She’s slagged,” Backbeat shouted, “We don’t stand a chance without her.”

“Fine,” Axe shouted, “then Phase Two, Metallik!”

In a strange glowing, melting mass, the five girls joined together, their suits morphing into a thirty foot tall humanoid mecha.

Fusion found herself in a very small space, the synthetic polymer armor engulfing her. For the merged form to work, her own will was being overridden by Axe, who acted as the central nervous system. “No,” she said quietly, “You can’t take my mind!”

She shook herself, realizing she now lay in a fetal position. Was it a dream? She stood and realized she was outside on the tarmac, in the spot where the mecha had formed, but there was no evidence of Metallik or Judge and Jury.

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[Glippernip]

Sarasota, Florida

She awoke as her golden skin began to tingle; the sun would be up soon. She yawned, stretched, and searched for a night shirt to pull over her body. Of course she never wore anything in bed, and even at her age, she didn’t really need to. She was the sexiest sixty year old on Palm Island. She forced her tremendous hair from her shirt and preened in front of the mirror. A few wrinkles, particularly around the eyes, revealed her age. To look at her from behind, you might think she was easily twenty years younger.

Born Princess Koriand’r of Tamaran, aka Starfire, she had lived on Earth for almost fifty years. Her home planet had been destroyed long ago and her people scattered through space, so Earth had become her home. Modeling had treated her well, and so had super-heroing. Alien technology she had brought back to Earth and sold to STAR Labs have given her a steady retirement income from patents and STAR Labs stock. She hadn’t really worked for money in 25 years, except for a few charity events per year and acting as a most appropriate celebrity spokeswoman for STAR Labs.

I’ll go for a fly, she decided, grinning to herself in the mirror. I’ll fly straight up and meet the sunlight!

Suddenly, the figure of a man stood behind her reflection.

Starfire the Titan turned, her green eyes blazing, her hands crackling with power. Undaunted, the figure stepped forward, his dark skin-tight costume as black as his hair. “Hi, Kory,” he said, “missed me?”

She grew cold, then hopeful, as the power in her hands sputtered and died. Tears welled up in her eyes.

“Dick,” she cried.

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[Glippernip]

Markovia

This was Garfield Logan’s kind of day. No events, or interviews, or even giant monsters to fight. Not that Markovia suffered many giant monster attacks, but a few of his old enemies had followed him to Europe. Tara had quickly convinced at least two of them to return to America rather quickly. He chuckled, remembering when Gemini had created a New Brotherhood and attacked the castle, which by then had been equipped with a full scale Justice League security system. Animal Man and Terra had simply picked up the pieces after that one!

“I think I’ll watch the old ‘Teeny Titans’ cartoon series,” he told himself out loud, “Haven’t watched those in years.”

“You mean you still watch that garbage,” a deep voice beckoned from the shadows.

Gar didn’t feel any real threat. If the system hadn’t activated, then it recognized the figure as an ally. “So who grace Castle Logan with his presence,” he called with a smile.

The figure replied, “It’s me, Green Genes.”

“VIC!”

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[Glippernip]

Central City

It didn’t really surprise Wally West very much. They had a habit of coming back, and Roy had only been cold for a few months. He didn’t have to come back looking so young, though. Kind of rubbing it in, since Wally was starting to look his age. While his metabolism kept him thin, no amount of running could stop wrinkles.

“So, how did you do it, Roy? Did Ollie give you some tips,” Wally asked, genuinely curious. With Bart’s recent loss of The Speed Force, Wally was thankful for some good news.

“Don’t know,” said Harper, “Thought I would visit you first, then go see my two favorite girls.”

Why is he dressed as Red Arrow, Wally wondered nervously, feeling spiders crawling up his back. In fact, he looks as young as when we were in the League together. “Your girls,” Wally asked.

“Donna and Lian, of course,” Roy grinned, “I haven’t seen my little cutesy for a while. She’s probably grown six inches!”

“Roy, Lian is in her mid-forties.”

Roy Harper cocked his head, wearing a confused expression. Then, he faded out like in a movie, leaving Wally West remembering things like this in the past...and what kinds of Crises came afterward.

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[Glippernip]

Gotham

Tim Drake, Commisioner of Gotham City, paced back and forth in his home, the stress lying completely across his shoulders. When the phone rang the first time, it really didn’t surprise him.

“Hello, Bart,” Tim rasped, his throat dry and his voice rough, “Long time.”

“Yeah,” Bart Allen said from his Central City home.

He sounds tense, Drake thought, Not used to hearing his voice shake.

“Anything strange happen to you tonight,” Bart continued.

“Well, I saw Batman. Would that be strange enough?”

Pause. “I know there is a new Batman in Gotham. I worked with him once.”

“I saw Bruce. He asked me to suit up and patrol with him. When I mentioned how old I was, he vanished.”

Bart whispered, “I saw Kon-L.”

Tim sighed. “I’m getting to old for this shit.”

**********************

[Glippernip]

They gathered at The Titans Museum in San Francisco, in what was once a Titans Tower. After the last official team break-up, Wendy and Marvin had created the Museum, and it had become another tourist attraction in a tourist city. Now elderly, the twosome still ran the site with their children, and they maintained a full service communications and investigative lab on the top floor.

“Why can’t we move in here,” Gabe quipped, touring the place for the first time.

The Titans were here in full: Starbolt, Battalion, Terra, Cardinal, Kilowatt, Princess Fern, Fusion, Taurus, and Jon. As they strode into the Main Hall, they found themselves almost the last to arrive. Several others were here. Older Titans like Starfire, Animal Man, Wally West, and Terra chatted with Mirage and Argent, while more recent members Static and Hot Spot talked quietly together. As the new team entered, many of them felt simply how good it was to have an active Titans team again. For some of the new Titans, this was just another new experience. For others, in the know, this was an event.

Fusion nonchalantly moved to the back behind her partners. I don’t recognize all of them, she thought, but my grandfather fought most of them. He killed some of their friends. I don’t know if I want to be here.

Kilowatt stared at Static. Taurus frowned at the amount of power assembled on such short notice. Princess Fern grinned cheerfully.

“Look at all of the colors and aromas,” she laughed, “This is fantastic!”

“You can’t see an aroma, Fern,” Battalion barked.

“You just don’t have the proper senses,” Liana laughed back.

The older heroes watched as the youngsters approached. Garfield Logan, aka Animal Man, stepped close to Princess Koriand’r of Tamaran.

“Kory,” he said, “Look closely at them. What do you see?”

“Gar, I’m in no mood,” she began.

“None of us are, Kory,” he stated, “Look at them. The new ones.”

Annoyed, she looked at these New Titans. What am I supposed to see, she wondered. After all these years, Gar is still...

Then she saw. She had never made the connection when Gabriel decided to call himself Battalion, but Starfire had never seen him in his battle gear. Tamara, in the colors of her mother’s old uniform. Carrie, with her red wings and hair. Kilowatt, this time an African-American but the same height, weight, and outfit. Fusion in her shining armor.

“The Team Titans,” Starfire whispered. Tara Markov-Logan and Mirage had turned pale, as well.

“Good, then I’m not just seeing another phantom,” Gar said seriously.

Koriand’r’s face tightened into a scowl. “All I know is, if this is some kind of attack, whoever is doing it will regret using Dick’s image against me.”

It was then that Raven appeared in a shimmering, yellow form. She landed lightly in the center of the group, the glow fading and her cloak returning to its deep blue color.

“We are not under attack,” Raven told them calmly, “Far from it.”

“Then what is going on,” Wally asked, “And if it has anyone related to a Monitor, Luthor, or Monarch, I’m out of here. Unlike Gar and Tara, I’m feeling every bit my age.”

“Come off it, Speed-O,” Logan quipped, “No other hundred-year old I know can win the Indy 500 on foot.”

“I’m not one hundred, Gar.”

“No, you only look it.”

For one moment, they stared. The joke was older than they were. Then Static laughed first, followed by most of the collected Titans. For many of them, their stress level dropped considerably.

“So if it is not an attack, what is it,” Static asked, scratching his greying, thinning hair.

“Yeah,” Hot Spot added, “I haven’t seen anything at all.”

“Because you are not involved,” Raven stated.

“Are they,” Gar asked, motioning to the new team.

“They are, indirectly,” Raven answered, “The Team Titans that we knew do not exist that I am aware of, but the existence of the Multiverse once again allows for doppelgangers. They represent this Earth’s versions of Team Titans.”

“But the others,” Tara said, obviously shaken up by these events.

“Mirage already exists here, and Dagon has become my agent. I...thought that would be more appropriate than his previous incarnation.”

Tara shuddered, with Logan pulling her into his arms. Dagon had originally been a vampire.

“So, what is happening,” Wally pushed

“It is Donna,” Raven told them, “She is finally calling out to us. We must go to her before she disappears from existence completely.”

TITANS TOMORROW #9

WHERE IS DONNA TROY, part 1:

The Ghosts of Titans Past

Written and Edited by Joel A. Sawyer