Post by Deleted on Mar 26, 2015 20:27:32 GMT -5
The Titans of Justice Chapter 26 “Mordru – Defeated”
Written by: Power Guy
Co-conspirator: Scotty2Hotty
Editor: Marcus Mebes
The Hall of Justice, Metropolis U.S.A.
The Huntress sat alone waiting for her teammates to return. “I hope they’re okay,” she thought to herself. “Even if they do make it back her safe and sound, it sounds like a new Legion of Doom could be waiting for them.”
Just then, the visitor alert sounded. The Huntress turned on the monitor to see who was at the perimeter. She saw a teenaged girl dressed in a costume similar to Superman’s. “Who the heck is that?” she wondered aloud. She got up and proceeded outside. Once outside, she deactivated the force-field, allowing the young girl entry onto the grounds.
“Hello. Can I help you?” the Huntress asked.
“Hi! Nice to meet you. I’m Supergirl!” the girl replied with a huge smile on her face.
“Uhh… hi,” responded the sole guardian of the Hall. “I’m the Huntress. What can I do for you.”
“You must be new here,” guessed Supergirl. “I was here a few months back and Celsius invited me to join the team. Well, I’ve decided to take him up on his offer and this time, my Dad fully approves!”
“I hate to tell you this but Celsius isn’t here right now,” retorted the Huntress. “I’m not sure when he’ll be back. If you’d like, you can come in and wait for a while.”
“That would be groovy!” said Supergirl, following the Huntress inside the Hall of Justice.
As the two women entered the main meeting room they saw a portal of light. Out of it came Palomé’s soul-self carrying the Titans of Justice, Titans West, and the Stranger.
The Huntress gave out a huge sigh of relief. “Looks like you won’t have to wait long to talk to Celsius.”
Palomé’s soul-self opened up releasing those inside.
“Someone point me to the bathroom!” exclaimed the Arachnid.
Junjie Quick grabbed him and raced towards the restroom. “Hang on, I’ll have you there in a flash!”
The two heroes sped off to the bathroom so that the Arachnid could release the activity in his stomach.
“You guys okay?” the astonished Huntress asked her teammates.
“Well… most of us,” replied Celsius.
“Wait! Where’s Vibe??” she demanded, scanning the crowd in front of her.
Celsius looked down and shook his head in grief. “He didn’t make it.”
“What do you mean he didn’t make it?” insisted a concerned Supergirl.
“Mordru killed him,” answered Celsius. “We don’t even have a body to bury…”
“No!!!” screamed Supergirl. “He was such a cool guy. He made me feel so welcome and part of the group when I first met you guys.”
Starman approached Supergirl and put his arm around her shoulder. “Hey kiddo, I know you’re going to miss him. I will too. Vibe was the first Titan that you and I met. We’ll never forget him or the sacrifice he made,” stated Starman.
“Get off me!” she hissed, pulling away from his arm. “You don’t know how I feel! Where is Mordru???” Supergirl said as her eyes lit up with her heat-vision.
“Kristen, calm down,” advised Power Guy. “He’s gone too.”
“He’s dead?” Supergirl wanted to know. “He’d better be!”
“No, but he won’t bother anyone for at least a thousand years,” Power Guy informed his fellow Kryptonian.
“Come on, let’s go get you some water,” suggested Starman leading Supergirl to the kitchen.
“Y’all, Venus here needs some rest,” Palomé said, carrying the recovering heroine in his arms.
“Her room is just down the hall. Follow me,” Sargona said, motioning Palomé’ to come with her.
On the other side of the room, Wonder Man and Nucleus both collapsed into two chairs.
“So have you had a chance to talk to the other guy with the bracelets?” Nucleus asked Wonder Man as he turned and regarded Wonder Warrior. “Is he your younger brother or something?”
“I’ve never seen him before in my life,” answered Wonder Man suspiciously.
“Well, there has to be some connection between you two with the bracelets and his costume looking like a combination of Troia’s most familiar costumes,” suggested Nucleus.
As the others conferred, Sargona and Palomé returned from Venus’ room. Sargona walked up the Stranger and asked, “Are you ready to send the West team home?”
“I have been trying to conduct the spell since we arrived back here but I can’t seem to be able to traverse the time-stream. Whatever it was that interfered with my original spell that brought them here is the key component. Without it, I don’t think I’ll be able to send them back home.” He looked cryptically at her, and clarified: “Something interfered. It wasn’t me. I can’t replicate the spell without it.”
“What?” screamed the Arachnid, emerging from the bathroom. “I need to get home! I have four lottery tickets for tomorrow night’s drawing!”
“Dude!” exclaimed Palomé in bewilderment. “Not cool, man!”
Wonder Warrior then interjected. “While the Arachnid may be over-dramatizing this, we’re all concerned about getting home. Isn’t there anything you can do?”
“Not at this time,” the Stranger answered humbly. “I am sorry.”
The Titans West team all had blank stares on their faces. While they knew there was a chance they may not be able to return home, they all figured that was a small probability. Their confidence in the Stranger seemed misplaced.
Celsius approached Wonder Warrior to offer some support. “Wonder Warrior, rest assured that we’ll keep trying until we can find a way to send you and your team back home. Until then, we’ll provide you all with food, shelter, and anything else you may need.”
“Thank you Celsius,” replied Wonder Warrior. “My team and I are strong. We’ll get through this one way or another.”
Wonder Man then walked up to Wonder Warrior. He had been eyeing the newcomer up since his conversation with Nucleus. “Hey man,” Scott Trevor said, “can I ask you something?”
“Oh hey, Scott,” greeted Wonder Warrior.
“Scott?” replied a shocked Wonder Man. “How the heck do you know my name?”
“Are you drunk again, Cuz?” inquired Wonder Warrior curiously.
“No I’m not drunk!” Wonder Man said adamantly. “Now tell me how you know my name!”
“Dude, I’m not sure what’s wrong with you but I’m not playing along,” retorted Wonder Warrior. “This isn’t the time or place.”
“What’s wrong with ME?” repeated Wonder Man. “You come in here wearing a pair of Amazon bracelets and a costume that looks like a cross between two of my Aunt Troia’s costumes and you expect me not to have questions? What are you? Some over-obsessive fan-boy or something?”
“That’s enough!” yelled Wonder Warrior. “You’re obviously in an altered state of consciousness or something. Let me know when you pull your head out of your—”
“Guys! Guys! Cool down, mates!” interrupted Celsius. “Wonder Warrior, I’m sure Wonder Man is just confused. You seem to base your appearance after Troia. Troia is his aunt and they are very close.”
“Well you can’t get much closer than a mother and her son,” countered Wonder Warrior.
“Son? What in Hera’s name are you talking about?” growled Wonder Man. “My aunt doesn’t have any children… anymore.”
“Scott…” responded Wonder Warrior.
“Stop calling me that and tell us who you really are before I kick your butt back to the future,” threatened Wonder Man.
“ENOUGH!” yelled Celsius. “Both of you need to chill out or I’ll have Icemanling MAKE you chill out. Now, one at a time. Wonder Warrior, please tell us your story.”
“It’s quite simple,” suggested Wonder Warrior. “I’m the son of Donna Troy and Kyle Rayner. Don’t believe me? Check out my bracelets: they’re made of the same material that Wonder Man’s Invisible Jet is made out of.”
“Wonder Man, is that true?” asked Celsius. Wonder Warrior thrust out his fist and allowed the other to examine it; which he did, grudgingly.
“From the looks of it, yes, but the bracelets could be stolen…” insinuated Wonder Man.
“Look, I’m not sure what’s wrong with my cousin here but surely someone else here knows Donna Troy and knows that I’m her son,” Wonder Warrior said, hoping someone else could confirm his story.
“Well, WE all know it’s true,” confirmed Bee Sting standing together with the rest of the Titans West team. They had gathered close to their interrogated teammate, defensively close together.
“And I would know if Wonder Warrior was lying,” Kid Comet informed the non-Titans West team.
“Ahh…you’re all in cahoots with him,” accused Wonder Man. “And why should we trust YOU?” he added to Kid Comet.
Nightvision then stepped forward and interjected, “I know Donna Troy too. She’s one of my father’s best friends and Wonder Man is right when he says that she doesn’t have any living children. Her only son Robert was killed many years ago in a car crash.”
Celsius could tell things were heating up so he tried to offer some hope. “Everyone, in our line of business, we’ve all seen people die, come back from the dead, and find out about relatives that they never knew that they had. I say that unless we can find proof that Wonder Warrior is lying, we accepts his story as genuine.”
“Whatever!” barked Wonder Man as he stormed away.
“I’m not saying he’s lying,” Nightvision said, trying to ease the tension in the room, “but something is definitely not right here.”
“And you should trust me because we pulled your butts out of the fire back there!” yelled Kid Comet after the departing Wonder Man. “You’re WELCOME!!”
“On a different note,” Celsius said, trying to change the subject. “Wonder Warrior, could you come with me? I’d like to speak with you privately.” The two leaders then exited the room, headed to Celsius’ quarters.
***
About an hour later…
Sargona and Green Lantern were sitting next to each other on a couch in the Hall’s main meeting room.
“Now, you’re sure that you’re okay?’ questioned Sargona.
“I’m fine–really,” answered Green Lantern.
“I was really worried about you,” admitted Sargona. “I was worried about everyone but if you had died on Gemworld, I’d be a mess right now.”
Green Lantern cupped Sargona’s chin with his hand. “You’re sweet, you know that? Now stop worrying. Mordru has been defeated and we’re home now...”
Before Green Lantern and Sargona could continue, Celsius and Wonder Warrior made their way back into the room.
“Everyone, if we could have your attention,” requested Celsius. “We have an announcement on the future state of the Titans of Justice.”
“Cel,” interrupted Icemanling. “I, uh…need to be going. I have to be somewhere in a few hours.”
“Ah, ah, ah….not so fast,” Celsius denied. “Step into my office for a minute.” Celsius proceeded to pull Icemanling several feet away from the others.
“Where are you going?” asked Celsius. “You need to stick around this time. We really need you here.”
“I’d like to Cel but I just can’t,” declined Icemanling.
“And why not?” inquired Celsius.
“Cel, I don’t know how to say this without spelling it out but I feel awkward around you guys,” admitted Icemanling.
“Awkward? Why?” Celsius asked.
“I just don’t feel comfortable here,” revealed Icemanling.
“What makes you say that?” asked a concerned Celsius.
“Because I’m gay,” whispered Icemanling.
“And?” responded Celsius.
“‘And? What do you mean ‘and’?” questioned Icemanling.
"Why would you think that was an issue with us?" Celsius said sternly. "I'd pretty much guessed that a while back, when you and I met years ago. It makes no difference."
“Look, I may not be from America but I know how uncomfortable the country is with homosexuals plus with all of these macho hunks running around in here like Power Guy, Wonder Man, and Nightvision, it’s just intimidating. Plus Green Lantern is a pastor. He’d probably condemn me to hell if he found out,” answered Icemanling.
“Hahaha!!!” laughed Celsius. “You know for being gay, your gay-dar certainly isn’t working well here. Do you really think you’re the only one on the team who lives an alternate lifestyle?”
“Wait…someone else here isn’t straight?” asked a confused Icemanling.
“Bingo!” replied Celsius. “I simply like people. I don’t like to limit my choices when it comes down to spending time with someone special. And I’m not the only one either but that’s their secret to tell. As for Green Lantern, while he may be a man of God, he is certainly not going treat you any differently. I’m sure he’s smart enough to know that it is God’s duty, and God’s duty alone to judge all of us. He’s a really nice guy once you get to know him. I don’t think anyone on the team cares more than he does. You honestly have nothing to worry about. Is this the reason you’ve opted to stay on the reserve list all of these months?”
Icemanling held his head down in shame and answered, “Yes.”
“Well then, you’re not going anywhere this time,” insisted Celsius.
“But I have my first meeting with the new Global Guardians later today. Dr. Mist is forging a new team and I just signed up,” revealed Icemanling.
“Perfect, we’ll need a liaison between our teams and you fit the bill perfectly,” suggested Celsius.
“Umm…okay, I’ll give it a shot,” agreed Icemanling.
“Good. We need you to play an important part of the Titans’ future.”
“What do you mean?” asked the European hero.
“Let Wonder Warrior and me finish our announcement, and you’ll find out,” replied Celsius.
The two heroes rejoined the group that were anxiously awaiting their leaders’s announcement.
“Sorry about the delay people,” apologized Celsius. “Wonder Warrior and I have some news about the team’s restructure.”
“Restructure?” inquired Starman. “You’re letting me go aren’t you?”
“Yes, we’re letting you go… to Los Angeles,” answered Celsius.
“Los Angeles?” asked Starman. “What’s in Los Angeles?”
“Well, you see, I’ve had a few friends working on a little surprise for all of you over the last few months. Kilowog, Steel, and Dr. Magnus have been building a second headquarters for the team. Now that we have so many members, I think it’s best if we base part of the team on the west coast so we can better respond to emergencies and catastrophes.”
“If I may so politely proceed,” Wonder Warrior said with a smile on his face. “The west coast team will consist of myself, Kid Comet, the Arachnid, Bee Sting, Starman, Jemstone, Supergirl, the Stranger, and Icemanling.”
“Me?!?!” exclaimed a surprised Icemanling.
“Yes, you,” confirmed Wonder Warrior. “I hand picked this group and you’re the perfect fit with the West Coast team.”
“Cool!” replied Icemanling. “I’ve always wanted to see L.A.”
The Stranger then interrupted, “I’m sorry my friends, I cannot accept full membership.”
“But why not?” asked a surprised Wonder Warrior.
“My duties keep me too busy,” answered the Stranger. “I cannot be there all of the time but I will be there when you need me.”
“d**n it, I was hoping he’d stick around,” mumbled Wonder Warrior.
Celsius then proceeded with his portion of the announcement, “Black Vulcan, Green Lantern, Huntress, Junjie Quick, Nightvision, Nucleus, Palomé’, Power Guy, Sargona, Sonic Boom, Strato Hawk, Venus, and Wonder Man are staying here with me on the East Coast. Ladies and gentlemen, we give you Titans East and West!”
***
Palomé’s voice echoed throughout the otherwise silent halls of their headquarters. Since its renovation, never before had so many heroes gathered within its venerable halls. The Titans West team had not yet departed; but had remained to pay their respects their fallen comrade.
The haunting dirge, sung by the mysterious newcomer, was joined by Venus’ voice, then by Sargona, Icemanling, Black Vulcan, Green Lantern, and Wonder Man. Though the funerary song had no distinct words, the lament was clear enough for the others, and it sufficiently summarized their grief, and lifted their spirits somewhat as well. Even Sonic Boom added her unusual vocal talents to the music.
“The Music of the Spheres,” noted the Stranger as he prepared to depart. He put his hand on Jemstone’s shoulder as she cried.
“This was because of me,” she said miserably, trying to remain quiet and not sob.
“It was; and it was for Sargona, and the Gemworld. But this is now for Vibe. Be still.”
Jemstone closed her eyes and let the tears fall, her soul torn to shreds by the song sung by her teammates.
Written by: Power Guy
Co-conspirator: Scotty2Hotty
Editor: Marcus Mebes
The Hall of Justice, Metropolis U.S.A.
The Huntress sat alone waiting for her teammates to return. “I hope they’re okay,” she thought to herself. “Even if they do make it back her safe and sound, it sounds like a new Legion of Doom could be waiting for them.”
Just then, the visitor alert sounded. The Huntress turned on the monitor to see who was at the perimeter. She saw a teenaged girl dressed in a costume similar to Superman’s. “Who the heck is that?” she wondered aloud. She got up and proceeded outside. Once outside, she deactivated the force-field, allowing the young girl entry onto the grounds.
“Hello. Can I help you?” the Huntress asked.
“Hi! Nice to meet you. I’m Supergirl!” the girl replied with a huge smile on her face.
“Uhh… hi,” responded the sole guardian of the Hall. “I’m the Huntress. What can I do for you.”
“You must be new here,” guessed Supergirl. “I was here a few months back and Celsius invited me to join the team. Well, I’ve decided to take him up on his offer and this time, my Dad fully approves!”
“I hate to tell you this but Celsius isn’t here right now,” retorted the Huntress. “I’m not sure when he’ll be back. If you’d like, you can come in and wait for a while.”
“That would be groovy!” said Supergirl, following the Huntress inside the Hall of Justice.
As the two women entered the main meeting room they saw a portal of light. Out of it came Palomé’s soul-self carrying the Titans of Justice, Titans West, and the Stranger.
The Huntress gave out a huge sigh of relief. “Looks like you won’t have to wait long to talk to Celsius.”
Palomé’s soul-self opened up releasing those inside.
“Someone point me to the bathroom!” exclaimed the Arachnid.
Junjie Quick grabbed him and raced towards the restroom. “Hang on, I’ll have you there in a flash!”
The two heroes sped off to the bathroom so that the Arachnid could release the activity in his stomach.
“You guys okay?” the astonished Huntress asked her teammates.
“Well… most of us,” replied Celsius.
“Wait! Where’s Vibe??” she demanded, scanning the crowd in front of her.
Celsius looked down and shook his head in grief. “He didn’t make it.”
“What do you mean he didn’t make it?” insisted a concerned Supergirl.
“Mordru killed him,” answered Celsius. “We don’t even have a body to bury…”
“No!!!” screamed Supergirl. “He was such a cool guy. He made me feel so welcome and part of the group when I first met you guys.”
Starman approached Supergirl and put his arm around her shoulder. “Hey kiddo, I know you’re going to miss him. I will too. Vibe was the first Titan that you and I met. We’ll never forget him or the sacrifice he made,” stated Starman.
“Get off me!” she hissed, pulling away from his arm. “You don’t know how I feel! Where is Mordru???” Supergirl said as her eyes lit up with her heat-vision.
“Kristen, calm down,” advised Power Guy. “He’s gone too.”
“He’s dead?” Supergirl wanted to know. “He’d better be!”
“No, but he won’t bother anyone for at least a thousand years,” Power Guy informed his fellow Kryptonian.
“Come on, let’s go get you some water,” suggested Starman leading Supergirl to the kitchen.
“Y’all, Venus here needs some rest,” Palomé said, carrying the recovering heroine in his arms.
“Her room is just down the hall. Follow me,” Sargona said, motioning Palomé’ to come with her.
On the other side of the room, Wonder Man and Nucleus both collapsed into two chairs.
“So have you had a chance to talk to the other guy with the bracelets?” Nucleus asked Wonder Man as he turned and regarded Wonder Warrior. “Is he your younger brother or something?”
“I’ve never seen him before in my life,” answered Wonder Man suspiciously.
“Well, there has to be some connection between you two with the bracelets and his costume looking like a combination of Troia’s most familiar costumes,” suggested Nucleus.
As the others conferred, Sargona and Palomé returned from Venus’ room. Sargona walked up the Stranger and asked, “Are you ready to send the West team home?”
“I have been trying to conduct the spell since we arrived back here but I can’t seem to be able to traverse the time-stream. Whatever it was that interfered with my original spell that brought them here is the key component. Without it, I don’t think I’ll be able to send them back home.” He looked cryptically at her, and clarified: “Something interfered. It wasn’t me. I can’t replicate the spell without it.”
“What?” screamed the Arachnid, emerging from the bathroom. “I need to get home! I have four lottery tickets for tomorrow night’s drawing!”
“Dude!” exclaimed Palomé in bewilderment. “Not cool, man!”
Wonder Warrior then interjected. “While the Arachnid may be over-dramatizing this, we’re all concerned about getting home. Isn’t there anything you can do?”
“Not at this time,” the Stranger answered humbly. “I am sorry.”
The Titans West team all had blank stares on their faces. While they knew there was a chance they may not be able to return home, they all figured that was a small probability. Their confidence in the Stranger seemed misplaced.
Celsius approached Wonder Warrior to offer some support. “Wonder Warrior, rest assured that we’ll keep trying until we can find a way to send you and your team back home. Until then, we’ll provide you all with food, shelter, and anything else you may need.”
“Thank you Celsius,” replied Wonder Warrior. “My team and I are strong. We’ll get through this one way or another.”
Wonder Man then walked up to Wonder Warrior. He had been eyeing the newcomer up since his conversation with Nucleus. “Hey man,” Scott Trevor said, “can I ask you something?”
“Oh hey, Scott,” greeted Wonder Warrior.
“Scott?” replied a shocked Wonder Man. “How the heck do you know my name?”
“Are you drunk again, Cuz?” inquired Wonder Warrior curiously.
“No I’m not drunk!” Wonder Man said adamantly. “Now tell me how you know my name!”
“Dude, I’m not sure what’s wrong with you but I’m not playing along,” retorted Wonder Warrior. “This isn’t the time or place.”
“What’s wrong with ME?” repeated Wonder Man. “You come in here wearing a pair of Amazon bracelets and a costume that looks like a cross between two of my Aunt Troia’s costumes and you expect me not to have questions? What are you? Some over-obsessive fan-boy or something?”
“That’s enough!” yelled Wonder Warrior. “You’re obviously in an altered state of consciousness or something. Let me know when you pull your head out of your—”
“Guys! Guys! Cool down, mates!” interrupted Celsius. “Wonder Warrior, I’m sure Wonder Man is just confused. You seem to base your appearance after Troia. Troia is his aunt and they are very close.”
“Well you can’t get much closer than a mother and her son,” countered Wonder Warrior.
“Son? What in Hera’s name are you talking about?” growled Wonder Man. “My aunt doesn’t have any children… anymore.”
“Scott…” responded Wonder Warrior.
“Stop calling me that and tell us who you really are before I kick your butt back to the future,” threatened Wonder Man.
“ENOUGH!” yelled Celsius. “Both of you need to chill out or I’ll have Icemanling MAKE you chill out. Now, one at a time. Wonder Warrior, please tell us your story.”
“It’s quite simple,” suggested Wonder Warrior. “I’m the son of Donna Troy and Kyle Rayner. Don’t believe me? Check out my bracelets: they’re made of the same material that Wonder Man’s Invisible Jet is made out of.”
“Wonder Man, is that true?” asked Celsius. Wonder Warrior thrust out his fist and allowed the other to examine it; which he did, grudgingly.
“From the looks of it, yes, but the bracelets could be stolen…” insinuated Wonder Man.
“Look, I’m not sure what’s wrong with my cousin here but surely someone else here knows Donna Troy and knows that I’m her son,” Wonder Warrior said, hoping someone else could confirm his story.
“Well, WE all know it’s true,” confirmed Bee Sting standing together with the rest of the Titans West team. They had gathered close to their interrogated teammate, defensively close together.
“And I would know if Wonder Warrior was lying,” Kid Comet informed the non-Titans West team.
“Ahh…you’re all in cahoots with him,” accused Wonder Man. “And why should we trust YOU?” he added to Kid Comet.
Nightvision then stepped forward and interjected, “I know Donna Troy too. She’s one of my father’s best friends and Wonder Man is right when he says that she doesn’t have any living children. Her only son Robert was killed many years ago in a car crash.”
Celsius could tell things were heating up so he tried to offer some hope. “Everyone, in our line of business, we’ve all seen people die, come back from the dead, and find out about relatives that they never knew that they had. I say that unless we can find proof that Wonder Warrior is lying, we accepts his story as genuine.”
“Whatever!” barked Wonder Man as he stormed away.
“I’m not saying he’s lying,” Nightvision said, trying to ease the tension in the room, “but something is definitely not right here.”
“And you should trust me because we pulled your butts out of the fire back there!” yelled Kid Comet after the departing Wonder Man. “You’re WELCOME!!”
“On a different note,” Celsius said, trying to change the subject. “Wonder Warrior, could you come with me? I’d like to speak with you privately.” The two leaders then exited the room, headed to Celsius’ quarters.
***
About an hour later…
Sargona and Green Lantern were sitting next to each other on a couch in the Hall’s main meeting room.
“Now, you’re sure that you’re okay?’ questioned Sargona.
“I’m fine–really,” answered Green Lantern.
“I was really worried about you,” admitted Sargona. “I was worried about everyone but if you had died on Gemworld, I’d be a mess right now.”
Green Lantern cupped Sargona’s chin with his hand. “You’re sweet, you know that? Now stop worrying. Mordru has been defeated and we’re home now...”
Before Green Lantern and Sargona could continue, Celsius and Wonder Warrior made their way back into the room.
“Everyone, if we could have your attention,” requested Celsius. “We have an announcement on the future state of the Titans of Justice.”
“Cel,” interrupted Icemanling. “I, uh…need to be going. I have to be somewhere in a few hours.”
“Ah, ah, ah….not so fast,” Celsius denied. “Step into my office for a minute.” Celsius proceeded to pull Icemanling several feet away from the others.
“Where are you going?” asked Celsius. “You need to stick around this time. We really need you here.”
“I’d like to Cel but I just can’t,” declined Icemanling.
“And why not?” inquired Celsius.
“Cel, I don’t know how to say this without spelling it out but I feel awkward around you guys,” admitted Icemanling.
“Awkward? Why?” Celsius asked.
“I just don’t feel comfortable here,” revealed Icemanling.
“What makes you say that?” asked a concerned Celsius.
“Because I’m gay,” whispered Icemanling.
“And?” responded Celsius.
“‘And? What do you mean ‘and’?” questioned Icemanling.
"Why would you think that was an issue with us?" Celsius said sternly. "I'd pretty much guessed that a while back, when you and I met years ago. It makes no difference."
“Look, I may not be from America but I know how uncomfortable the country is with homosexuals plus with all of these macho hunks running around in here like Power Guy, Wonder Man, and Nightvision, it’s just intimidating. Plus Green Lantern is a pastor. He’d probably condemn me to hell if he found out,” answered Icemanling.
“Hahaha!!!” laughed Celsius. “You know for being gay, your gay-dar certainly isn’t working well here. Do you really think you’re the only one on the team who lives an alternate lifestyle?”
“Wait…someone else here isn’t straight?” asked a confused Icemanling.
“Bingo!” replied Celsius. “I simply like people. I don’t like to limit my choices when it comes down to spending time with someone special. And I’m not the only one either but that’s their secret to tell. As for Green Lantern, while he may be a man of God, he is certainly not going treat you any differently. I’m sure he’s smart enough to know that it is God’s duty, and God’s duty alone to judge all of us. He’s a really nice guy once you get to know him. I don’t think anyone on the team cares more than he does. You honestly have nothing to worry about. Is this the reason you’ve opted to stay on the reserve list all of these months?”
Icemanling held his head down in shame and answered, “Yes.”
“Well then, you’re not going anywhere this time,” insisted Celsius.
“But I have my first meeting with the new Global Guardians later today. Dr. Mist is forging a new team and I just signed up,” revealed Icemanling.
“Perfect, we’ll need a liaison between our teams and you fit the bill perfectly,” suggested Celsius.
“Umm…okay, I’ll give it a shot,” agreed Icemanling.
“Good. We need you to play an important part of the Titans’ future.”
“What do you mean?” asked the European hero.
“Let Wonder Warrior and me finish our announcement, and you’ll find out,” replied Celsius.
The two heroes rejoined the group that were anxiously awaiting their leaders’s announcement.
“Sorry about the delay people,” apologized Celsius. “Wonder Warrior and I have some news about the team’s restructure.”
“Restructure?” inquired Starman. “You’re letting me go aren’t you?”
“Yes, we’re letting you go… to Los Angeles,” answered Celsius.
“Los Angeles?” asked Starman. “What’s in Los Angeles?”
“Well, you see, I’ve had a few friends working on a little surprise for all of you over the last few months. Kilowog, Steel, and Dr. Magnus have been building a second headquarters for the team. Now that we have so many members, I think it’s best if we base part of the team on the west coast so we can better respond to emergencies and catastrophes.”
“If I may so politely proceed,” Wonder Warrior said with a smile on his face. “The west coast team will consist of myself, Kid Comet, the Arachnid, Bee Sting, Starman, Jemstone, Supergirl, the Stranger, and Icemanling.”
“Me?!?!” exclaimed a surprised Icemanling.
“Yes, you,” confirmed Wonder Warrior. “I hand picked this group and you’re the perfect fit with the West Coast team.”
“Cool!” replied Icemanling. “I’ve always wanted to see L.A.”
The Stranger then interrupted, “I’m sorry my friends, I cannot accept full membership.”
“But why not?” asked a surprised Wonder Warrior.
“My duties keep me too busy,” answered the Stranger. “I cannot be there all of the time but I will be there when you need me.”
“d**n it, I was hoping he’d stick around,” mumbled Wonder Warrior.
Celsius then proceeded with his portion of the announcement, “Black Vulcan, Green Lantern, Huntress, Junjie Quick, Nightvision, Nucleus, Palomé’, Power Guy, Sargona, Sonic Boom, Strato Hawk, Venus, and Wonder Man are staying here with me on the East Coast. Ladies and gentlemen, we give you Titans East and West!”
***
Palomé’s voice echoed throughout the otherwise silent halls of their headquarters. Since its renovation, never before had so many heroes gathered within its venerable halls. The Titans West team had not yet departed; but had remained to pay their respects their fallen comrade.
The haunting dirge, sung by the mysterious newcomer, was joined by Venus’ voice, then by Sargona, Icemanling, Black Vulcan, Green Lantern, and Wonder Man. Though the funerary song had no distinct words, the lament was clear enough for the others, and it sufficiently summarized their grief, and lifted their spirits somewhat as well. Even Sonic Boom added her unusual vocal talents to the music.
“The Music of the Spheres,” noted the Stranger as he prepared to depart. He put his hand on Jemstone’s shoulder as she cried.
“This was because of me,” she said miserably, trying to remain quiet and not sob.
“It was; and it was for Sargona, and the Gemworld. But this is now for Vibe. Be still.”
Jemstone closed her eyes and let the tears fall, her soul torn to shreds by the song sung by her teammates.