Titans East Chapter 41 – “Nightmares Can Come True”

Written by: Green Lantern, Power Guy, The Stranger, & Forallandone
Editor: Marcus Mebes
Featured Artist: The Stranger. Rapido vs. Weather Wizard Card By Power Guy & Green Lantern


Twenty Seconds Later On Top of the Soder Cola Building..

A pillar of smoke appeared beside the weeping Sargona. Palomé was the first to arrive. He placed his hands on her head and healed her wounds, drawing them into himself before dispelling them. “I could feel your pain all the way from the Hall of Justice, Sargona. What in the world just happened?”

Sargona could barely speak. “He… they…<sob>… they’re… <choke>…”

Palomé was perplexed that his powers didn’t seem to have the usual calming effect on Sargona. The ruby that Sargona wore must have shielded her from his empathic abilities, or her grief was so powerful that he was unaccustomed to soothing such an intense emotional outburst. He looked in the direction that Sargona pointed to see the devastation that was once S.T.A.R. Labs Tower. “What happened? Were there people inside?”

Sargona nodded her head in affirmation and completely lost herself in sobbing.

The cloaked figure noticed a large group of people below looking at the building. “I’ll be back, Sargona. I promise.”

Reappearing in the midst of the crowd of scientists and spectators Palomé asked, “What happened here? Who was inside?”

A female dressed in white answered, “They evacuated us all, but then the building exploded. I didn’t notice if any of them were able to get out.”

“WHO?!?” insisted Palomé. The excitement and emotion of the various people in the crowd was challenging for the young empath. This coupled with his mind being preoccupied with the reappearance of the Black Orchid, made it hard for him to focus.

“That new group of super-hero kids,” answered another scientist.

“The Titans of Justice,” answered yet another.

Palomé’s heart sank. This news was unacceptable. “Which members were there? How many of them were there?”

“I think Superboy was one of them.” offered a member of the crowd.

“…uhhmmm…Batgirl?” said another.

“The Flash is the guy that rescued me,” said yet another.

“Sargon’s daughter was in there too. I saw her!” said another.

Palomé was having difficulty maintaining control of his emotions at this point and disappeared leaving a puff of smoke in his absence.

He reappeared at Sargona’s side just in time to witness her vomiting over the roof railing of the Soder Cola building.

***

Eight Minutes after the Explosion…

Wonder Man was the next to arrive. He landed beside Palomé and Sargona. “What is going on here? We were watching TV when we saw the news about S.T.A.R. Labs Tower.”

“I am not sure,” began Palomé in trepidation, “but I think there may have been Titans inside that building. I can’t get a clear answer from anyone.” He pointed, indicating the crowd of people outside the police perimeter. “They identified Junjie Quick… but they also… I don’t know. They don’t even know who the members of our team are.”

Scott Trevor was shocked. “Who was in there?” he demanded. “Sargona!”

“All of them, I think,” said Sargona weakly. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.

Palomé gently but firmly turned Sargona toward him and looked at her eye-to-eye. “Sargona, this is important. WHO?”

“…Dan…” she answered before breaking down into tears again.

Palomé turned his gaze to Wonder Man. Shaking his head in confusion, he muttered. “This doesn’t match with the future I come from. This… this can’t be real. It CAN’T!”

“Maybe GL just… I don’t know… Maybe he made one of those bubbles and protected himself,” offered Wonder Man. He knew that they needed to investigate, but he found his feet rooted to the spot.

“Then where is he now?” demanded Palomé.

“…Huntress,” murmured Sargona.

“What!?!” exclaimed Wonder Man. “Huntress was in there too?”

The sorceress collected herself as best as she could, and blurted out names. “Junjie… Power Guy… Nucleus…” continued Sargona as her teammates listened with mounting horror.

“This can’t be real!” whispered Palomé.

“Maybe Power Guy could have survived an explosion like that,” suggested Wonder Man hopefully. He was still trying to get up the courage to investigate, but the horror was getting the best of him.

“Then where is he?” demanded Palomé. “Wouldn’t he be here right now calling us to action?” He spat in disgust on the building roof. “But in stead we’re standing around like sissies doing nothing while our friends could be hurt—or worse…”

“I am going down there to see,” said Wonder Man as he leaped in the air and landed on the wing of his invisible jet.

“…DiDi…” said Sargona sadly.

Controlling his urge to join his teammate, Palomé watched Wonder Man depart for the carnage, and did his best to console Sargona.

Even though he had only been with the team a few short months, Palomé could not help himself from feeling distraught over his teammates’ deaths. He and his teammates from the future were stuck in this timeline, with no way to return, and they had fought alongside the Titans of Justice; coming to value each of them as a friend.

On the ground level, Wonder Man battled his way through smoke and ash. He lifted and threw aside large metal and concrete objects of debris.

“Maybe Nucleus shrunk down,” he thought as he continued his search. “Perhaps Junjie Quick ran off after… after… whoever did this? Maybe Sargona’s mistaken. She’s not been herself lately. Maybe Huntress wasn’t even here…” Scott Trevor looked at his Titans of Justice communicator. He was normally fearless, but now… now he was afraid to make the call.

***

Gotham City, “Crime Alley”…

KRAK! A man dressed in a clock themed costumed fell to the ground. “You people are a MENACE!” he shouted at his tormentor.

“I am not the one robbing banks, Clock Baron!” said Nightvision as he kneeled down and grabbed the collar of the defeated villain.

Beep! Beep! Beep! “Excuse me a moment, Baron…” Nightvision said as he kneeled on the villain’s arms, preventing him from counter-attacking. “Nightvision here,” he said into his communicator.

“Nightvision…” said a male voice through the communicator. He could hear it choked with emotion, and the sound of his name spoken like that was unnerving.

“…Yes? Is that you, Wonder Man?” he asked, recognizing the voice.

“Yeah, it’s me…” replied the voice over the communicator.

The Clock Baron tried to use Nightvision’s distraction as an opportunity to escape. He started to struggle but his efforts were brought to a quick end.

POW! “Stay still!” ordered Nightvision.

“I’m finishing up a case, Wonder Man. I don’t have all day.” He knew something was going on from the sound of his teammate’s voice, but something inside him did not want to hear it. He looked into Clock Baron’s face, and braced himself. “What’s going on?”

“Nightvision…” said Wonder Man trying to control his voice.

“Yes, Wonder Man… what is it?” demanded Nightvision in both irritation and concern.

“Do you… have you… I mean… the Huntress…” said Wonder Man.

“You’re not making sense, Scott. What about the Huntress? she’s on assignment.” Nightvision cringed, mentally slapping his head as he hoped that Clock Baron would not put two-and-two together and realize that he had just let Wonder Man’s real first name slip. The anxiety in Wonder Man’s voice was jarring, but he gave no excuses for his mistake.

“…oh…” said Wonder Man. “… do you mean at S.T.A.R. Labs Tower?”

“…yes,” affirmed Nightvision as he rummaged in his utility belt with his free hand, searching for a neural eraser. The Bat-technology could be devious, but he questioned whether it was ethical to erase someone’s memory. That had caused the previous generation of heroes a great deal of trouble in times past. “Wonder Man, what is this about?” he demanded, agitated at Wonder Man’s reluctance and his own stupid mistake.

Scott Trevor took a deep breath and just said it. “S.T.A.R. Labs Tower just blew up.”

Getting no answer, Wonder man asked, “…Nightvision…? Nightvision? Are you there? … Brendon?” There was no reply. Nightvision, in his shock, had let the Clock Baron escape, and was doing his best to collect himself and apprehend the villain who now knew too much.

***

Twenty-one Minutes after the Explosion…

Black Vulcan and Venus arrived together. Venus jumped down from Black Vulcan’s grasp and landed beside Palomé. She put her arm around his back. “What is it?”

The young man pointed to the devastation of the former S.T.A.R. Labs Tower. “They were in there, Venus. Our friends were in there when it exploded.”

“Oh No!” exclaimed Venus. “…who?”

“Huntress for sure,” said Wonder Man. He had returned to the rooftop when it was apparent that the carnage was too vast, and the confusion among the crowd and police was getting out of hand.

“How do you know this for sure?” asked Venus.

“I just contacted Nightvision. He confirmed that Huntress was on assignment in there.”

Sargona wiped her face and said, “I don’t think you understand. I was in there. I SAW them all. They were all in there!”

Palomé, Wonder Man, Black Vulcan, and Venus all looked at Sargona in surprise.

“If you got out, maybe they got out too!” said Palomé. He watched as Venus retreated to another part of the rooftop, overcome with emotion.

“No,” explained Sargona. She had finally collected herself enough to speak coherently. “The Sting Ray was there. She grabbed me and teleported me out… out here on this building. Then the tower exploded.”

“Why would she do that?” demanded Black Vulcan incredulously. She knew there was more to Sargona’s story, but allowed her to speak.

“Revenge,” revealed Sargona.

Black Vulcan instantly became suspicious, but before she could speak, the group’s attention turned to their communicators.

BLEEEP! BLEEEP! BLEEEP! All of their communicators sounded.

“Don’t answer it,” ordered Venus. It was she who had activated the communicator, I the hopes that any members in the immediate vicinity would respond. “If someone else escaped they’ll answer it.”

BLEEP! BLEEP! BLEEEP! Everyone’s eyes filled with hope at the telltale sound of a member answering. All stood and gathered around Venus.

“Hello? What is it?” said a male voice.

“This is Venus!” answered the lovely heroine in joy. “Who is this?”

“Scott already told me about the Tower. Nightvision out.”

The quintet of heroes somberly stood looking at one another silently for several minutes.

“I set it to short-range communication,” muttered Venus, trying to explain. “I don’t know how he answered.”

“Bat-technology,” explained Black Vulcan in disgust.

“Let’s try again,” said Venus. “Maybe Junjie Quick escaped. He’s the fastest man alive.” She activated the ‘signal all’ device on her Titans East communicator, verifying that she had it on short-range. She did not want to inadvertently contact other members who were outside of the area.

BLEEP! BLEEP! BLEEEP!

When there was no response she tried again. BLEEP! BLEEP! BLEEEP!

Seeing that there was still no response Wonder Man tried with his communicator. BLEEP! BLEEP! BLEEEP!

Then Sargona tried. BLEEP! BLEEP! BLEEEP!

The quintet of heroes tried to contact their missing friends for the next twenty minutes as they looked through the debris of the S.T.A.R. Labs Tower.

After another twelve minutes Palomé suggested, “Maybe we should pray…”

***

One Hour Later In The Ghost Zone…

The Stranger awoke with a start. Something terrible had happened.

“What’s wrong?” his wife, Jenna, asked.

“I’m not certain,” he replied.

With a wave of his hand, The Stranger’s garments lifted from his wardrobe and magically formed around his body. In this “Ghost Zone”, he had a home connected to Earth where he could rest and recuperate. He had moved his wife here to help keep her safe. She was surprisingly well-adjusted to the fact that her husband was now an Agent of Order.

“Be careful,” she said as she kissed him softly on the cheek. “If something woke you from such a deep meditation, it’s nothing to be taken lightly.”

“I will, my sweet,” The Stranger said in an uncharacteristically tender voice. “Don’t wait up. I feel it will be a long night.”

He covered himself in his cloak and “side-stepped” to Earth. Upon materializing, he could feel the shift of power from Order to Chaos. He traveled to the nearest S.T.A.R. Labs facility. Some great tragedy had happened. The building was in ruin. He could feel life forces ebbing away. Upon further channeling, he realized that those life forces were his allies from the Titans of Justice.

“This cannot be,” he thought to himself as a wave of great anguish, sorrow, and rage came upon him. “I should have foreseen this. I could have… I SHOULD have been here to aid my comrades. This is not possible. Something has clouded my perceptions. I should have been here. To perdition with the Lords of Order! I have to investigate this further, without their consent. These great heroes should not have perished this way!”

***

Two Hours Later At Big Belly Burger Restaurant in New York City…

Robert Rivera was sinking his teeth into a big, juicy cheeseburger when he noticed the news on the television in the center of the restaurant. “Junjie’s late again. He was supposed to be here fifteen minutes ago.”

“Would you like some more,” asked the waitress when Robert noticed the news report of the tragedy to strike the Titans of Justice.

“Uh… this food isn’t agreeing with me. I’ll be back,” said Robert nervously. He ran to the bathroom, leaving the waitress behind. He changed into his Rapido costume in a bathroom stall, then ran out of the restaurant, but not before the waitress found several dollars and coins scattered onto the table he was at. The S.T.A.R. Labs building was not far, and he knew he had to get there immediately.

“Junjie, Junjie Quick!” he shouted into his communicator. “Can you hear me?” Grumbling, he muttered to himself. “This is what happens when you tell me to take a day off.” Getting no response, he widened the transmission on the communicator. “Nucleus? Huntress? Power Guy??”

“They won’t hear you,” said a voice nearby.

“Where are you? Where is everyone?” demanded Rapido looking for the villain. He left his communicator on, but knew that whoever had spoken to him was in the immediate vicinity; not on the other end of the communicator.

“Dead,” answered the Weather Wizard with a laugh. The Weather Wizard has journeyed to New York to find out if the reports of the Titans’ demise were true.

“You’ll pay for this,” said Rapido as he ran toward the villain he assumed was behind the devastation; but missed as the Weather Wizard ordered the winds to lift him into the air.

“No vas a ganar Weather Wizard,” said Rapido in Spanish, reverting to the language in his anger.

Rapido ran to grab a sidewalk trashcan, intending to throw it at the Weather Wizard. The villain blocked the projectile, but failed to see Rapido coming from behind. The speedster landed a punch that sent him flying.

“I did learn some things,” gloated Rapido.

“So did I,” replied a sarcastic Weather Wizard, raising himself with a blast of ice sleet aimed toward Rapido. The young speedster watched as the Weather Wizard fired a stream of lightning at a nearby building.

Rapido rushed to grab the people on the street and managed to move them out f harm’s way. As he was returning to face the villain, he was struck by the Weather Wizard’s lightning. He looked up, hoping to locate the Weather Wizard, and blood trickled from his mouth.

“Look sidekick, I don’t have time for you; so stay down!” said the Weather Wizard.

“One thing Junjie taught me was to never give up,” retorted Rapido as he punched the weather controlling villain.

“How do you like that?” he said, hurling punch after punch at the Weather Wizard. If this villain was responsible for the devastation of S.T.A.R. Labs, then he was going to punish him as much as he could.

The Weather Wizard hit the wall and fell to the ground. Rapido ran to him, but he was struck by a pole and joined the villain as he fell. Before he could get up, the Weather Wizard grabbed him and threw him toward a nearby car. Bleeding and groaning in pain, Rapido looked up to see the Weather Wizard take to the air and disappear. The crowd of people rushed forward to look after their savior, and minutes later, an ambulance picked up the fallen hero, transporting him to the nearest hospital.

“Please be okay everyone and… Junjie,” murmured Rapido in the ambulance as a tear fell from his eye.

***

Outside Gotham City Suburbs, Wayne Manor 10:47pm…

Bruce Wayne reclined as classical music filled the family room. Hi wife, Selina, entered the room carrying a large picnic basket. Bruce got up from his easy chair, took the basket from her, sat it on the coffee table, and embraced his wife.

“You are even more beautiful now than the day I married you, Mrs. Wayne,” said Bruce as he gazed into his wife’s eyes.

“…and you are even more dashing than the first time I met you,” replied Selina as she pinched her husband’s “Bat-behind.”

The two shared a kiss. They had enjoyed a wonderful and romantic life together. Once God had blessed them with their daughter Helena they left their costumes and masks in the past.

“I’m looking forward to tomorrow,” said Bruce lazily as he cradled the woman of his dreams in his arms.

“I packed all of Helena’s favorites!” said Selina. “Do you think she will be surprised?”

“Oh, definitely!” he replied with certainty. “We haven’t done anything like this in a long time.”

“Well, it was a wonderful idea.”

The happily married couple was so proud of their daughter. She graduated high school a year early and received honors and several scholarship offers as valedictorian. She was breezing through her courses at Harvard Law. They had been planning this special picnic as an early birthday surprise for several weeks.

“Bruce? Do you ever miss the old days?” asked Selina.

“The old days?” asked her husband.

“You know, the Batman and Robin old days,” said the former Catwoman.

“Oh! That’s right! Batman! I had forgotten all about it!” he said with sarcasm. The two kissed again. “Seriously, dear. How could I ever forget that? Now matter how much I try! I am glad that we are living the normal life my parents would have wanted.”

“…and I am glad that Helena hasn’t followed in our footsteps,” added Selina firmly. She had never figured out that their daughter protected Gotham City by night as the Huntress. Bruce suspected, but never followed up on his suspicions. If his baby girl was spending her evenings in extra-curricular activities, he did not want to know about it.

“It’s almost time for the news,” said Bruce, changing the subject.

The doorbell rang, and Selina rushed to open the main doors of Wayne Manor. They had given their butler the night off.

“Brendon! Come in!” she said as she welcomed their erstwhile nephew inside. She noticed that he looked extremely pale. His eyes were red and swollen; and he didn’t smell very good either.

“Brendon! What brings you here?” said Bruce Wayne with a smile. He arose and extended a hand to their guest.

Brendon Grayson cleared his throat and wiped the sweat off of his forehead. “Grandpa Bruce… Grandma Selina… There’s something I have to tell you. It’s about Helena…” He gulped and added, “Perhaps you had better sit down.”

***

About an hour later…

“So you knew that Helena was the Huntress and you never bothered to tell us?” demanded Selena Wayne as she grabbed onto Brendon’s shirt and started to shake him. “And now… now she’s… she’s D-DEAD!!!”

Bruce grabbed hold of his wife and tried to restrain her. “Calm down. Calm down Selena!” He then looked sternly at Brendon. “You really should have told us.”

“I’m sorry but it wasn’t my secret to tell,” replied Brendon defensively. “I was trying to respect your daughter’s wishes.”

“My daughter is dead and all you can say is that it wasn’t your secret to tell?!” roared Selena. “GET OUT! GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!!!”

“Brendon, I think it’s best if you go now,” suggested Bruce, holding his wife close to him.

Brendon was not one to show emotions often but he couldn’t help but feel the Waynes’ sorrow as a single tear dripped down his face as he turned around to exit the mansion.

Bruce helped Selena over to the couch and sat her down, holding her in his arms as she wept for hours non-stop.

To Be Continued…