Titans of Justice Unlimited Chapter 30 – “Family Feud”
Main story written by: Power Guy
Epilogue written by: Green Lantern
Cards by: Green Lantern
Edited by: Green Lantern


A Dark Alley in Star City…


Beads of sweat traced Donny Mollinger’s cheeks as he ran down Slocum Alley in a mad panic. As Slingshot II, he had faced superheroes before, but never three at once. Dark Arrow, Sonic Boom, and Trickshot were all hot on his tail and if he didn’t do something soon he would surely be facing hard time in a cold cell. Suddenly, he felt a harsh sting in his left bicep as an arrow zipped by. He cringed and gasped in agony as droplets of blood sprayed from the fresh wound on his left bicep. “I’ve got to make it!” he told himself as he scurried towards his secret hideout. “I just can’t go back to the slammer!”

“Last chance, Slingshot!” shouted Sonic Boom as she and her two teammates raced towards the villain. “Stop now and avoid the Canary Cry!”

“Better listen to her,” warned Dark Arrow.

Slingshot came to an abrupt halt. He knew that if the blonde bombshell unleashed her sonic attack, he would be in the slammer by midnight. Turning around to face the heroes, he offered in feigned humility, “I surrender. I know when I’m outmatched.”

“Smart choice,” spat Trickshot with her bow still trained on the crook. “You‘d think you would have learned the last time I put you away that crime doesn’t pay in Star City with Team Arrow on the watch.” She angled her head toward the offspring of Green Arrow and Black Canary and complained, “Stellar’s late. He bugs me and bugs me to let him know when something is going down and then he doesn’t arrive until the party’s over.”

“Where’s your slingshot?” demanded Dark Arrow with his bow and a single arrow trained at the villain’s groin.

“Dropped it in the alley a ways back...” answered the villain as he edged slowly towards the heroes. The son of the first Slingshot knew that lying and playing a game of “Mother May I?” was a dangerous way to handle the situation, but what else could he do if he wanted to avoid capture? His weapon was taped upright behind his left wrist. As he continued to walk, he brushed his arm against his leg, freeing his slingshot. Then in the blink of an eye, his weapon fell into his hand.

Alarmed at the double-cross, Sonic Boom took a quick, deep breath, ready to make due on her earlier threat when suddenly, a small pellet smashed into her throat. “Aaackkkkkkkk!!!” she gagged, clenching her throat as her ponytail swung forward and covered the bulk of her face.

“Boomer!” screamed Dark Arrow as he raced to his sister’s side.

Slingshot wasted no time in taking full advantage of the crisis he’d presented the heroes and ran as he never had before.

“Arrow, you take care of your sister. I’ll go after Slingshot,” directed Trickshot who had momentarily paused to make sure her “cousin” was ok. Fueled with rage over what the villain had done, she ran after him as fast as she could. She chased him down the alley and around the corner until she noticed a barrage of pellets coming towards her. With her quick reflexes, she dropped to the ground and avoided a direct hit. However, the pellets exploded in mid-air and released a thick cloud of smoke. Using a fan-arrow, she dispersed enough of the smog in order to continue following the villain. Finally, she saw him duck into a doorway of a building up ahead. Racing up to the door, she noticed it was made of metal, and therefore impossible to kick down. A few seconds later, Dark Arrow and a nearly mute Sonic Boom arrived.

“Boomer here can’t talk. I tried getting her to go home but you know “Miss Stubborn” here never listens to anything I say,” explained Dark Arrow.

Sonic Boom rolled her eyes and mouthed, “Whatever…”

“Where’s Slingshot?” asked Robert.

Behind this door, which is about to be blown to bits,” answered Lian Harper as she pulled out and explosive-arrow.

“Are you crazy Trickshot?” demanded Dark Arrow. “You don’t know what’s behind there. There could be gasoline or a house full of kids!”

“Well, how else to you propose we get in there?” questioned the daughter of Red Arrow.

Sonic Boom gently pushed both heroes aside and whispered, “With this,” as she drew an acid-pellet from her choker and threw it at the door handle.

Meanwhile, deep within the secret hideout, Slingshot burst into a bedroom with the lair’s sole other inhabitant inside. It was a female who, until now, was relaxing as she watched a Gilligan’s Island rerun. “Prepare yourself! Team Arrow will be here any minute!” cried Slingshot.

“Let them come,” smiled the blonde. “It is they who should prepare for me. They don’t know about me and when they do, I think they’ll be very, unpleasantly surprised,” she said with a snap of her fingers, which produced a flicker of a flame.

As the trinity of heroes made their way inside the darkened hideout, Trickshot noticed in disgust, “Look at the stuff in here. Slingshot’s been stealing a slew of electronics.” The room was filled with large-screen TV’s, laptops, MP3 players, and various stereo systems. “This is so below us,”

“Lia…., er, Trickshot, bring your head back down to earth,” requested Dark Arrow. “If we start thinking that way, we’re bound to let this city become over-run by petty crime. Whether we’re going up against Solomon Grundy or a common bank robber, no type of crime is below us.”

“Yeah well, I just meant we could be tackling a bigger fish right now,” continued the female archer.

“Bigger fish? It doesn’t get much bigger than this!” came a mysterious voice as the room was lit ablaze. It seemed as if the fire were coming from everywhere.

“Good Grief!” exclaimed a startled Trickshot. “All of the walls are on fire!”

“Don’t tell me you’re afraid of my little bonfire….” taunted the condescending voice.

Dark Arrow and Trickshot instinctively reached into their quivers for their extinguisher arrows but both quickly jerked their hands away upon realization that their quivers were aflame. The two archers scurried to remove their quivers and threw them as far as possible to avoid any casualties if the explosive arrows detonated.

“This is perfect, just perfect….” came the voice of Slingshot as he and an unknown masked woman made their way through a tunnel of flames. “Sonic Boom can’t use her cry and the two of you just tossed away all of your artillery. Two to three aren’t bad odds when your enemy is helpless.”

“Who is she?” asked Sonic Boom in a hoarse whisper, pointing at Slingshot’s companion.

“You have no idea, do you? Look at me very closely,” insisted the woman. “I’d know you anywhere. You’re the granddaughter of the original Black Canary and I am the grandchild of her greatest foe, Bonfire! If you had done your homework, you would know that our families have waged war for years: first our grandmothers…then our mothers…and now us. But the feud ends tonight with three unfortunate deaths. You don’t have the luxury of your family’s Canary Cry to defeat me, Sonic Witch. You will all cower in fear and cry like babies before I end your pathetic lives.”

“You talk a good game lady, but I’ll bet you’re nothing without your fire powers,” spat Dark Arrow. Instantly, a pellet from Slingshot’s namesake smacked the emerald archer in the forehead and knocked him off his feet.

“Shut up, idiot!” ordered the bandana-wearing villain.

“Why aren’t they burning up?” Trickshot asked her teammates.

“Because I’m keeping the air cool around us, you skank!” snapped Bonfire as she shot a stream of flames at the heroes, forcing them to scatter.

After a few minutes of scurrying and avoiding flames, Dark Arrow and Trickshot were fortunate enough to regroup with each other but then were still cut off from Sonic Boom who had managed to duck down a hallway.

Slingshot wasted no time in assaulting the duo of archers with what seemed like a never-ending barrage of pellets. Trickshot took a hit to her left knee, causing her to drop to the ground. Another pellet hit a small board supporting the roof. The flaming board snapped in half upon impact and fell in front of Dark Arrow, setting his costume on fire.

“Arrow!” screamed Lian Harper. “I’ve got to call in reinforcements,” she thought as she pulled out her Titans of Justice communicator. As she scrambled to lift the device close to her mouth, another pellet came flying and shattered the communications instrument.

“Ah-ah-ah…no calling in any more of your teammates. It’s already three against two.” reminded Slingshot as he walked closer towards the heroes.

Dark Arrow dropped to the ground and rolled quickly to smother the flames that were consuming his costume.

Trickshot struggled to get up. She knew that if she didn’t protect Dark Arrow from Slingshot, there was no hope for him. She forced herself to ignore the excruciating pain in her fractured kneecap in order to protect her “cousin.” Holding her bow out in front of her, she prepared for the fight of her life.

“Pffftt….that little bow ain’t gonna do you no good with no arrows,” blurted Slingshot in over-confidence.

Trickshot then swung her bow like a bat and beat Slingshot on the side of his head.

“Arrrrrrrrghhhh!” screamed the villain. “You crazy little WITCH!!!!!!!!!!”

She proceeded to hit him again and again, until the villain was in a dazed stupor. Then she struck his hand, causing him to drop his weapon. Finally, she then punched him in the face, knocking him into a wall behind him.

“Don’t move!” the daughter of Roy Harper ordered as she threw her bow at the villain. The pointed tip snagged his bandana and pinned him to the wall.

She then walked over to Dark Arrow who sat up in his now charred costume.

“You okay, Arrow?” asked Trickshot.

“More than okay after seeing you kick Slingshot’s butt,” smiled the modern-age emerald archer.

Meanwhile, in another section of the building, Sonic Boom was running for her very life. Bonfire was right on her tail spewing beams of flame. The daughter of Dinah and Oliver Queen had no time to formulate a plan as she avoided looking back and concentrated on finding a pathway out of the firetrap. Her surroundings seemed to be a warehouse of some sort. Much of the place was empty except for a few large crates and canisters. “Maybe I could use one of them to hide behind?” she thought to herself.

“You may not be able to use your Canary Cry, but you’ll scream for me while you burn to death!!!” threatened Bonfire.

As Sonic Boom raced past a stockpile of crates, she leaped into the air and spun herself around, shoving the stack of crates forward, causing them to crash on top of her prey.

“Wha…” cried out a surprised Bonfire as the crates smashed down on her.

Sonic Boom quickly used the opportunity to seek shelter. In the midst of her search, she found something that she thought might help her. In spite of her high hopes, she wondered if it would affect Bonfire.

The enraged villainess incinerated the wooden boxes with ease. Picking herself up, she scanned the room for Sonic Boom. “Hiding like a coward, huh? Must run in the family. You’re pathetic, but it’s not like I should have expected anything more from the likes of you. For over fifty years, the Canary clan has run in terror from the flames of my family…but this time your wings will singe to a burnt crisp. First, your grandmother took down my grandmother using the tactics of a true coward, then that very *friendly* person you call “mommy” gave my mother quite a beating…but tonight? Its payback time. You will be nothing more than a smoking, stinking, charred corpse when I am finished with you! I have devoted my life to the study of your wretched family’s history, pathetic skills, and lame powers. Hence, the reason that Slingshot so effortlessly disabled your “Canary Cry.” The Black Canary dynasty is about to come burning down in a horrific crash!”

Just then, Sonic Boom popped out from behind a crate with a small fire extinguisher in her hands, “You talk too much,” she said in a hoarse whisper as she doused Bonfire in a flood of foam.

“No! No! What are you doing???” shrieked the villainess in panic. The foam quickly covered her body and rendered her powers inert. “My…my powers…”

“Are neutralized, just like mine,” Sonic Boom advised as she launched herself and kicked Bonfire in the forehead, knocking her backwards into a large, metal canister. The villainess hit her head on the metal tube and fell to the ground in a daze.

“And just to make sure there’s no more trouble from you…” she continued as she aimed her heel at Bonfire’s head…

SMACK!!!

A few seconds later, Trickshot and Dark Arrow (with an unconscious Slingshot thrown over his back) burst into the room.

“Di Di!” Dark Arrow exclaimed in relief to see that his sister was okay. “We’ve got to get out of here! This whole place is going up in flames, thanks to Bonfire.”

“Well, we can’t go back the way we came in,” reminded Trickshot. “That whole area is on fire.”

“I haven’t seen any other way out,” Sonic Boom frowned, wondering if she would die in this inferno anyway even after taking down Bonfire.

“Looks like this might be our last stand,” Dark Arrow mumbled gloomily.

Then from out of nowhere Stellar flew into the room. “Hey guys, sorry I’m late. That darn Wyvern was at it again. Need a lift?”

“Stellar, I could kiss you right now!” exclaimed Trickshot.

Stellar speedily produced a protective energy-bubble with his Cosmic Converter Belt. And the three heroes (along with the subdued villains) made their way inside.

As Stellar transported the crew out of the burning building, Dark Arrow asked, “How did you find us?”

“I tracked you down via signal device, brainiac,” smiled the star-spangled kid.

Sonic Boom looked back at the burning building, realizing how much she could have lost if things had gone differently: her “cousin,” her twin, and her very own life. She shivered at the prospect of never seeing her parents again. Then she paused for a moment and thanked God that she would be able to see her boyfriend again soon. “I wonder how Daniel would have taken it if we hadn’t survived this fight?”

A few seconds later, the local fire department showed up to put out the fire.

Epilogue: The Queen Estate

Robert Queen burst into his sister’s room with a teasing grin, “Di Di, mom wants to see you and she sounds MAD!”

The young beauty known as Sonic Boom looked up from the magazine she was reading and huffed, “I wonder what I did this time?”

“Can I come with?” offered her twin expectantly.

“NO! I can handle this myself,” Di Di quickly replied. Her brother’s ability to offer loving support while at the same time teasing her unmercifully never ceased to amaze the former cheerleader.

“She’s waiting for you in…“the garden,” added Dark Arrow spookily.

Di Di knew exactly what that meant. Dinah Queen always called her children to “the garden” for the more serious discussions, and they were almost always unpleasant. The young heroine dreaded the confrontation, but marched on dutifully for her scolding. As she made her way into the lush garden, she saw her stately mother sitting peacefully on a bench, sniffing some freshly picked roses.

Di Di opted for a pre-emptive strike. “Look, mom, I know that you and dad want me to get more serious about college and that you don't like me spending so much time as Sonic Boom and you worry about me and that you are concerned that I am spending too much time with Daniel and that I am going to get burnt out and all, but...”

Dinah Queen interrupted her daughter and said with a sentimental smile, “Di Di, I’m so proud of you.”



“…What did you say?” Di Di asked in shock.

Black Canary arose from her seat, walked with open arms toward her daughter, embraced her, and said with a tear in her eye, “Robert told me about what happened with Bonfire and Slingshot yesterday. I just wanted you to know how proud I am to call you my daughter...and I wanted to ask you if you would do your grandmother and your mother the honor of taking up the mantle of the Black Canary?”


The End