Titans East Chapter 36 – “Fausta Returns, Part 3”

Written by: Power Guy
Co-conspirator: Scotty2Hotty
Editor: Marcus Mebes

The site of the Spear of Destiny, Brazil…

“Ten hut!” commanded the Cheetah. The Titans and the new Axis Amerika were forced to stand at attention. The Cheetah was in a moment of ecstasy. Before him stood all of those who had wronged him; though Fausta and Wonder Man were the prize catches. He had just finished having the Titans and Axiz Amerika members battle. Most of them were injured or had the wind knocked out of them and could barely stand.

Starman stood alongside the rest of the team, continuing to pretend to be under the Spear’s spell. He knew that unless he picked just the right moment to act, the Cheetah would have his teammates tear him limb from limb. “D_mmit! D_mmit! D_mmit!” he thought to himself. “I’ve got to figure out a way to get the rest of the team out of this mess! But half the time when I try to use these stupid gadgets of mine, I only make things worse.”

The Cheetah made his way over to Fausta. “Well, my dear? How do you like the broken rib that Captain Nazi gave you during the battle? Is it still a bit tender?” he said as he pressed on the specific rib.

“Arrrgh!!!” shrieked Fausta. She struggled hard to resist the spear’s control over her so she could attack the Cheetah but it was no use. Any being with super-powers within the spear’s reach was helpless to act against the one who held it.

“Poor Fausta. You must be in a lot of pain,” the Cheetah said sarcastically. “I think you need someone to come and kiss your wounds and make them better.”

Fausta gave the Cheetah a dirty look, wondering what he had planned.

“Baroness, come here,” ordered the Cheetah.

Though she struggled, the Baroness was forced to make her way over to Fausta and the Cheetah.

“What are you doing, animal-man?” demanded a worried Fausta.

“Oh, I’m going to help open your eyes, Fausta,” hissed the Cheetah. “These last few months you’ve been taunting me about my desire to share company with other men. I think that this perception of yours comes from lack of exposure to my kind of lifestyle.
As you know, you can’t say you don’t like something unless you’ve tried it, so I think it’s high-time you finally took your turn.” He glared at her, a perverse look on his face.

“Animal-man, your jokes are not funny!” snapped Fausta. “Release me from this spell and we will call our differences even.”

“Oh, no. Not until you have a chance to explore your sexuality,” countered the Cheetah. “Baroness – remove your mask. Good girl. Now kiss Fausta…”

“No ,Cheetah! Anything but that!!!” begged Fausta as the Baroness pressed her lips against hers. A shock shot through the femi-Nazi’s body. She had never felt so dirty and unclean in her life. She thought she would surely go to Hell for the actions that she and the Baroness were being forced to take. Though to any observer it was nothing but a kiss; to Fausta, it was the embodiment of everything that she considered foul.

The Cheetah started laugh. “Ha ha ha ha! You two make such a beautiful couple. Imagine how much money I could make on the internet if I had a camera right now? Now let’s see if these two Wonder-men have the same chemistry,” he said, looking at Wonder Man and Wonder Warrior.

“Uh-uh! No kissing cousins on my watch!” shouted Starman as he fired a beam from his Cosmic-Rod. The beam scored a direct hit on the Spear of Destiny, making it white-hot. It burned the Cheetah’s hand and he could not hold the spear any longer.

“Aackkk!!!” shouted the Cheetah as he shook his hand, trying to cool it off.

Starman quickly flew over to the Cheetah and sucker-punched him in the gut. The punch had little effect on the Cheetah’s super-human/animal form. “Hmm… that’s right, you’re as strong as Wonder Man. But there’s one spot that’ll bring any guy to his knees,” remarked Starman as he kick the Cheetah in the groin.

The Cheetah’s eyes spread open wide as he gasped for air and dropped to his knees. Starman then raised his staff and was about to beat the Cheetah with it when he felt someone tap him on the shoulder. He turned to see Fausta.

“Excuse me boy, but I have some unfinished business with our furry friend here,” she commented shoving her way past Starman to the still kneeling Cheetah.

“You are going to pay for what you’ve done animal-man. You are going to pay very dearly,” threatened Fausta. Swinging her right leg back, she proceeded to kick the Cheetah in the stomach which threw his limp body into the air, landing about a mile away.

“Baroness! Captain! Forget the Titans! Let us go make quick work of the Cheetah!” ordered Fausta as she and her allies ran after the Cheetah.

“Oh man! I’m so glad you acted when you did, Starman. As much as I care for my cousin, I certainly don’t want to lock lips with him,” said a relieved Wonder Warrior.

Wonder Man glared at Wonder Warrior angrily. “For the last time, I am NOT your cousin. Now let’s go stop Fausta and her crew before they kill the Cheetah.”
The Titans proceeded to chase the new Axis Amerika, noting that they were already out of site due to their head-start.

On the way to finding the villains, Starman commented, “You know Scott, I’ve been working with Wonder Warrior here for a few months and he certainly doesn’t seem like the kind of guy to lie about where he comes from.”

“Doesn’t seem are the key words,” retorted Wonder Man.

After several minutes of searching for the villains, Palomé alerted his friends. “I sense great rage and fighting up ahead. Follow me y’all!”

The team raced ahead only to be shocked at the sight of Fausta and her allies laying battered and bruised on the ground.

“What the heck happened to them?” asked a confused Venus. “There’s no way the Cheetah could have taken them all down… especially after that kick that Fausta gave him.”

“I reckon there’s your answer up there, ma cher,” Palomé said, answering Venus’ question and pointing upwards.

As Venus and the rest of the Titans looked upward, they saw the Cheetah being carried away by Sinestro in one of the villain’s yellow power-bubbles. Flying alongside him were Star Sapphire and Bizarro.






“It’s the Legion of Doom!” shouted Wonder Man. “What the heck could they want with the Cheetah?”

“No time to waste. Let’s go find out!” yelled Starman in anticipation.

“No,” disagreed Wonder Man. “Most of us are still weak from the battle the Cheetah put us through when he had the spear. There’s no way the five of us could take them down in our current state. Plus we need to tie-up Faust and the others before they come to, and check in on… “

“Rima and Apache Chief,” answered Palomé helpfully.

“I’ll lock them up in Lansinar chains,” prompted Wonder Warrior. As he started to approach Fausta’s unconscious body, a sphere of black smoke appeared in front of him. Out of the smoke stepped the queen of lost memories and shattered lives, the Dark Angel.





Dark Angel pointed towards Wonder Warrior and scolded him. “Ah, ah, ah, my pet. I’ve been looking for you since you escaped. And what a pleasant surprise! Donna Troy’s beloved nephew is here with you too! Talk about two birds with one stone… ha ha ha ha!!!” cackled the vicious woman as she raised her hands and released her dark, demonic energy at the Titans.

Within seconds, everything went black…

Hours later….

“Oh man… did anyone get the license-plate off of the truck that hit me?” Wonder Man asked as he started to wake up.

“Oh good! You’re finally awake!” shouted a gleeful Fausta. “Now I can kill you all!

Wonder Man noticed that he was sitting on the ground with his back pressed against Wonder Warrior’s. The two of them were bound together by a field of black, mystical energy. He looked over and saw Starman, Venus, and Palomé trapped inside of a cage made out of the same substance.

“Not even my soul-self can penetrate this stuff,” muttered Palomé. “This Dark Angel’s a real monster beeyotch!”

“My Cosmic Rod had no affect on it either,” added Starman as he continued to blast away at the cage.

“My fists aren’t doing much good either,” chimed Venus. “What is this stuff?”

“Wait just a minute Fausta,” directed Dark Angel. “I need to ice the cake before we cut it up.”

“What do you mean, mistress?” asked Fausta in servitude.

“Well, my soldier,” started Dark Angel as she cupped Wonder Warrior’s chin with her right hand, “this little pup is the son of the accursed Donna Troy. I stole him from that witch only seconds after he was born and then erased everyone’s memory of his existence. Now before you kill him, I am going to reverse my spell,” she explained as she waived her hands in an orderly motion, thereby reversing her spell. “Imagine how poor Donna and her dolt of a husband are going to feel? As we speak they are starting to remember their whelp of a son. I imagine they will not rest until they find him but when they do, they will find him and his meat-head of a cousin beheaded by your machete, Fausta. Finally, I will have had my revenge on Hippolyta and her d_mned family! Ha ha ha ha ha!!!”

As Dark Angel’s spell started to fade, memories came rushing back to Wonder Man and the rest of the Titans.

“Great Zeus!!! I remember it all,” revealed Wonder Man as his shoulders fell under the burden of despair. “Chris, I’m sorry, so sorry. I remember you being born and my aunt and uncle in despair when they found out you were kidnapped. By the gods, I’ve been such an ass to you all of this time. I should have known there was another force at work… but I was so wrapped up in protecting my family that I ended up doing the exact opposite.”

“Don’t sweat it Scott. It’s water under the bridge at this point,” stated Wonder Warrior as he continued to struggled against their restraints. “It doesn’t look like we’re going to have the time to build much of a relationship at this point,” he said, looking up at Fausta who had just finished sharpening her machete.

“Now Fausta, KILL THEM!!!” ordered Dark Angel.

Fausta was delighted to follow her mistress’ commands. For years she had waited to extract her revenge on Hippolyta but was cheated out of that pleasure by Hippolyta’s death. Now, she could have the next best thing: killing both of Hippolyta’s beloved grandchildren at once. She swung her blade behind her back ready to behead Wonder Man. This was it… she was finally going to be able to release all of the anger and hatred she had for Hippolyta. As she swung her machete forward, she was so caught up in getting her revenge that she did not notice the flash of light to her right. As her machete was about to make contact with Wonder Man’s neck, adrenaline flowed through her body like never before. The rush she felt was incredible. As fractions of a second passed, Fausta’s machete was blocked from making contact with Wonder Man’s neck by a sturdy Amazon shield. GOOOOOOONNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGG!!!





The impact of Fausta’s machete hitting the shield was enough to knock the villainess on her backside. “Who dares?!” she demanded as she looked up at her new opponent. To her shock, she saw her most hated enemy standing right before her: Queen Hippolyta.

Hippolyta quickly drew out her sword and pressed it against Fausta’s neck. “You will NEVER harm my family again you vile harpy!”

“You… you… are a ghost!” muttered Fausta in disbelief as she started to tremble.

Dark Angel was also surprised at this shocking turn of events and revealed to her loyal soldier, “No Fausta. This is no ghost. This is our wretched Hippolyta, in the flesh.”

Then another presence made itself known. “You are correct dark spirit. I saw it only fitting to retrieve Hippolyta from Mount Olympus to thwart your plans.”





Dark Angel turned to see the Stranger. “You did this? The accursed underling of the Wandering Jew? I will turn your life inside out and kill you twenty times before your suffering is over, fool!”

“I think not, witch. You see; while you were wrapped up in destroying these boys’ lives,” he gestured at the Wonder men, “I retrieved the Spear of Destiny from your d**nable dimension of Black Limbo. You thought it was safe there, didn’t you?” he said pulling the spear from behind his back.

“No! No! NO!!!” screeched Dark Angel. “Put that pig-sticker away or I’ll use it to carve out your eyes!”

“On the contrary, you are going to leave now or I will be force to impale you with it, thus ridding the universe of your evil once and for all,” threatened the Stranger. “I am going to let you leave with your life under the condition that you un-do all of the wicked spells you have cast that have distorted or altered someone’s life. You are going to do it, and you are going to do it NOW! There will be no second chance for you.”

“D_mn you! D_mn you!!!” cursed Dark Angel as she began working her magic and undoing all the spells she had cast over the years. All across the globe, lives were turned inside out but put back the way they should have been all along.

After several minutes, it was finally done. “There! All those pathetic slugs have their lives back. Now I shall go, Stranger, but rest assured, there will be a reckoning!” Dark Angel conjured a portal and ventured off to her home of Black Limbo.

“Mistress! No!!! Do not desert me!” Fausta cried out. “We must crush these infidels!!!”

“You are pathetic Paula,” Hippolyta said turning to make sure Dark Angel departed.

With Hippolyta’s blade finally pointed away from Fausta, she seized the opportunity to assault the Amazon Queen. “You dare turn your back on me, Amazon cow???” she cried, lunging towards Hippolyta with her fists clenched.

Noticing Fausta’s attack from the corner of her eye, Hippolyta quickly slammed the rim of her shield into Fausta’s left temple. The femi-Nazi dropped like a rock and began to convulse. “Yes, I dare! You shall never menace my family every again! Do you hear me Fausta?!?!?!” She then turned to the villainess’ remaining allies. “How about you Captain? Care to go a few rounds?”

“Though I owe you for the humiliation you caused me in Washington D.C. back in the forties, I know when we are outnumbered,” replied Captain Nazi.

“And while we may be outnumbered, we are certainly not surrendering,” revealed the Baroness as she grabbed Captain Nazi and raced off.

“After them!” shouted Starman.

“No, we’ll never catch her,” advised Palomé. “The two of them are already several hundred miles away from what I can tell.”

“Plus, we’ve got Fausta,” said Wonder Man as Hippolyta cut him and Wonder Warrior free of the energy field bonding them together. “I think I know of a nice cozy spot for her on Reform Island.”

Hippolyta just stood there for a minute gazing at her two grandsons. “Look at you two. Such strong, handsome men. I am so proud of you both. The two of you are doing a fine job of carrying on the legacy of my daughters and me,” she said, reaching out and pulling them both close for a family hug.

A few seconds later, the Stranger approached Wonder Warrior. “You know your parents are looking for you now that Dark Angel’s curse has been lifted. If you would like, I can transport you to Paradise Island.”

“Don’t bother Stranger, I’ve got this trip covered,” interjected Palomé as he unleashed his soul-self and enveloped his teammates with it.

“Good, as there is another stop I must make,” revealed the Stranger. “Wonder Warrior is not the only Titan that Dark Angel has messed with.”

“There was someone else?” asked Starman.

“Was it me?” questioned a hopeful Venus. “I don’t have any memories of my past or who I am.”

“I’m sorry my dear, it is not you,” denied the Stranger. “Your memory loss was not caused by the Dark Angel nor do I sense that it is of a mystical nature.”

“Stinkweeds!” swore Venus, looking disappointed.

“Don’t worry, ma petite fille, we’ll find out who you are,” assured Palomé. He called out to the others: “Next stop, Themiscyra. Buckle up your safety belts, y’all, and keep your hands and feet inside the train!”

Wonder Warrior was the first to rush through, closely followed by Wonder Man who was carrying the subdued Fausta. The two men noticed that Hippolyta was not following them.

“Aren’t you coming Grandmother?” asked Wonder Warrior.

“I’m afraid not. My trip back is only temporary,” informed Hippolyta. “The Stranger needs to take me back to Olympus now. How about one more hug?”

The Wonder men each took turns holding Hippolyta, knowing this may be the last time they ever saw her on the mortal plane.

“Give my daughters and my sisters, my love,” requested the fallen Queen.

“So who’s the other Titan?” asked Starman. But his question was left unanswered at the moment.

***

A few minutes later in Keystone City…

Junjie Quick and Rapido raced along the busy city street until they finally made their way to a park in the heart of the city in search of a water fountain.

“You did a great job today, Rapido,” complimented Junjie Quick. “I think you’ve got running on water down.”

“It’s so hard Junjie,” admitted the young speedster. “I swore I was going to sink like a stone several times.”

“You’ll gain confidence the more you do it….” Junjie started to say when suddenly he felt his brain turning inside out. He started to shake and struggled to maintain his composure.

Rapido raced to his side to help steady his mentor. “Junjie! Junjie! Are you okay?”

“Yeah… I just have the worst headache all of a sudden.”

“What happened?” asked Rapido.

“I can answer that,” stated the Stranger as he, Starman and Venus stepped through a portal.

Junjie Quick looked up. “Venus, Starman… and the Stranger???”

“Hello, my friend,” greeted the Stranger. “I see the affects of Dark Angel’s spell are wearing off.”

“Memories are flooding back to me like a movie playing out in my head,” Junjie Quick mumbled, holding the sides of his head.

“Yes, being the foster-son of Wally West who helped undo Dark Angel’s spell on Donna Troy many years ago, Dark Angel targeted you and made you forget all about your second father. She rearranged your memories to make you think you were raised by Bart Allen, the long dead Flash,” explained the Stranger.

“I’ve been shutting out Wally for years. I’ve got to go to him and tell him how sorry I am,” said Junjie Quick as he raced to the West home.

“Guys, I don’t mean to be rude but I think he’s going to need a friend,” stated Rapido streaking after Junjie Quick.

“That witch has ruined so many lives,” Starman said shaking his head.

“I’m thrilled about Junjie and Wonder Warrior finding out the truth about their pasts today but I have to admit that I’m kind of jealous that I’m still guessing about mine,” sighed Venus.


Meanwhile at the Royal Palace on Paradise Island…

“You guys really need to stop saying that,” rebuffed Wonder Warrior to his parents. Donna and Kyle were repeatedly apologizing to him, joined with the apologies of Wonder Man.

“But honey, I was so bitter and cold towards you when we met at the Hall of Justice,” said a guilt-ridden Donna Troy. She was sitting on the floor of Themiscyra’s great hall, her arms wrapped around her son. Ion stood nearby, talking in hushed whispers with Risk, Palomé, Argent and Wonder Man. The young healer had retrieved his father and his foster-mother, since he was aware of how close Argent was with Troia.

Ion left his conversation and nervously approached the two seated figures. “Son, try and understand that your mother and I have both lost several people in our lives that were very dear to us.” Apparently he had worked up his courage to speak to his newly-restored son. “After Dark Angel erased our memories of you, the thought of having a son completely threw us for a loop.”

“And with the loss of my son Robert twenty-some years ago, I thought you were just playing a cruel trick on me for one of my old enemies,” added Donna, smiling through her tears. She accepted Argent’s hand as the pale-skinned woman helped her to raise. The two were old friends and teammates, and found unexpected comfort.

“Back during the Technis Imperative,” added Argent somberly, “we all saw the image of Robert.”

Ion nodded, not speaking.

“And trust me when I say that your mom had her share of ruthless enemies back in her heyday,” chimed in Lilith. “Red Panzer, Angle Man, Perfection… she accumulated quite the rogues’ gallery for starting out as a side-kick.” The precognitive had joined Argent in supporting their old friend. With Argent on one side, Lilith on the other, and Ion behind her, Troia felt more confident about facing her son.






Wonder Man then entered the room. He had slipped out earlier, unnoticed. “Aunt Donna. I’ve spoken with my mother. She’s flying back from the U.N. conference immediately to meet Christophe. She’s so excited to have a nephew!”

“Where do you think I got the Lansinar from in my time?” teased Wonder Warrior.

“Now it makes sense,” agreed Wonder Man. “And Chris, I’d like to make up for all of the times I was a jerk to you. How would you like to move into my condo with me? It will give us a chance to get to know each other better.”

“You really don’t need to…” started Wonder Warrior. But his reluctance was fake. He needed a place to stay, but he needed family more.

“I INSIST,” stated Wonder Man. “Besides, our moms used to live together and it brought them closer together. Isn’t that right Aunt Donna?”

“Yes. Your mother and I lived in that condo for years on and off until I married Kyle,” explained Donna.

Wonder Warrior looked at his friend Palomé, and smiled when the empath gave him an approving nod. He couldn’t help but feel happy, knowing that he had his father and his foster-mother to support him. Now he, too, had that support system.





“Think about it, Chris.” Wonder Man hugged his cousin tightly, and squeezed his shoulder. “Well guys I’ve got to run, have a fashion show to judge in an hour, and I gotta pick up Celsius. He’s supposed to be a judge there, too,” he said, hugging his aunt good-bye.

“So when can I move in?” asked Wonder Warrior extending his hand to the departing Wonder Man.

“How about next weekend?” suggested Wonder Man.

“Sounds good,” agreed Wonder Warrior. “I don’t have much stuff since getting stranded here in the past so I won’t take up much room.”

Lilith walked up to Wonder Man, delaying his departure even further. “Not going to give your favorite pseudo-aunt a hug good-bye?”

“I could never forget you Lilith,” smiled Wonder Man as he wrapped his powerful arms around her.

As Lilith’s body pressed against Wonder Man’s, her mind was flooded with a horrific glimpse of the near-future. “By Thea!!!” she shouted, alarming the others.

Wonder Man pulled back from Lilith but held on to her shoulders to comfort the started precognitive. “What is it Lilith??”

“Scott, I don’t know how to tell you this but I just had a terrible vision about your team,” revealed Lilith. “I saw a huge explosion followed by loss, grief, and despair.”

“I don’t know what to say Lilith,” said a concerned Wonder Man. “I know that your visions are usually pretty accurate and that scares the pants off of me. Do you have any more details?”

“All I can tell you is that I sense that the team of Titans you know now will be much different within the next few months,” Lilith said staring into Wonder Man’s eyes.

Wonder Man pulled out his communicator and called Celsius’ private phone. “I’ve gotta tell Colin I’m on my way to get him. We’ll discuss this.” He looked angrily at the communicator, as if it was responsible for him not getting an answer. Eventually, he disconnected it.

“What’s wrong?” asked Argent, standing with the others.

“What is it, dude?” echoed Palomé.

Wonder Man looked at them with concern. He shook his head. “Maybe it’s nothing,” he said. “But usually if he doesn’t answer, at least I get a voice mail.”

The End