Titans East Chapter 48 – “Grilles”
Written by: Power Guy
Edited by: Marcus Mebes


Crossroads Community Church on the outskirts of Crossroads, Colorado…

“Don’t tell me what I can’t do!” shouted Venus into the communicator angrily. “I HAVE to do this! No… YOU don’t understand!” In a fit of anger, Venus tore the communicator off her arm and threw it violently at a tree outside the church. She screamed in fury, then stormed over to the device and picked it back up.

“Are you finished?” demanded Nightvision’s voice from the other end, aboard the Batjet.

“I’m going to find out who did this,” hissed Venus with icy cold vengeance in her voice. “There is nothing—do you hear me Nightvision?—NOTHING you can do to stop me.”

“We’re a team, Venus,” spoke the voice on the communicator. “We’ll take care of this together.”

“And that’ll be when, exactly?” she demanded, verging on hysterics again. “I’m doing this now, whether you approve or not. You’re not my boss, and you’re not even the leader of the team. Don’t try to stop me.”

She paused, waiting for him to respond. Venus knew Nightvision would disagree with her decision, and she fully expected him to continue arguing. In her mood right now, she WANTED him to argue; to fuel her anger even more.

“Where’s Palomé?” asked the surprisingly calm voice of the team’s de-facto leader.

“He stopped screaming about an hour ago,” answered Venus, her voice choked with emotion. “The police were here when we arrived. So was Lilith. I think Argent is on her way with Hotspot, or Joto, or whatever his name is. And, unless I’m mistaken, I think that’s Captain Marvel Junior over there, by the cops…”

“I asked about Palomé,” repeated Nightvision calmly. “Is he where I can speak with him? He’s not answering his communicator, and I don’t want to contact him that way. Can you…”

“Honestly, Nightvision. For a master detective, you’ve got really awful people skills. I don’t think… I don’t think you need to speak with him right now.” She choked on a sob, and wiped away some tears. “Hold on… I think he’s coming out… No, it’s Lilith. She’s coming toward me. I… I d-don’t think I want to talk with her… hold on.” Nightvision could hear her voice as she cried out “Catch this,” to Lilith. He could hear Venus crying again in the background, though the sound faded as Venus apparently flew off.

“H-hello?” spoke a new voice on the communicator. Nightvision recognized it as belonging to Lilith.





“Lilith? This is Nightvision, of the Titans of Justice. Two of my teammates are there, and I need to know their status. Can you help me out please?”

There was a pause, as the precognitive collected her thoughts. After a deep breath, she spoke. “Lukas and Ryand’r are giving statements to the local authorities. The other one…”

“Venus,” spoke up Nightvision.

“Yes, Venus. She’s in bad shape. I couldn’t get near enough to her to get a feel for her, but I didn’t need to do that to know she’s torn up. She tossed me this communicator and flew away.”

“She’s going to go after Black Orchid,” informed Nightvision. “Alone. And that’s suicide. We can’t even communicate with her.”

“I guess she did that on purpose,” said Lilith, trying to make sense of the situation. “Nightvision, Lukas is like a nephew to me. His father was an old friend of mine, and a teammate. If Venus was as close to him as I think she was, then… I don’t know. I can’t see anything for her. I wish I could. But I can’t. All I can do is wish her luck. Whoever did this to Cody, well, if Venus is as powerful as I think she is, then I say: let her.”

Nightvision was at a loss for words, but Lilith continued. “We’re going to stick together,” she said. “Toni, Isaiah, Freddie, and I. We’re staying with Lukas. And if he wants to come to Vienna with us, we’ll take him along. But for now, please understand that I forbid you to speak with him. He’s OUR family, and right now, he’s OUR responsibility.”

Nightvision knew better than to argue with Lilith. His father had known her since they were teens, and made it quite clear to him that she was one of the few people he trusted with his life. He also knew that Argent and the others would be very protective of Palomé at this point in time. “Please keep me informed if anything comes up,” he said quietly.

“I will. Goodbye Nightvision.”

As Venus streaked through the air, her mind was in a bit of a frenzy. “Don’t worry Lukas, I’m going to find that b_tch Black Orchid and when I do, she’s going to be the victim this time!” she thought to herself.

***

Somewhere in the dense swamps of darkest Africa…

“I think we took a wrong turn Zan,” noticed Jayna. She gazed at the lush foliage and wrinkled her nose in concern.

“Why do you say that Jayna?” asked her twin brother.





“I don’t remember seeing this swamp in the tour guide,” mused Jayna. “Rain forests and savannahs, yes. Even desert. But a swamp? I’ve never heard of a swamp in Africa.”

“Oh, don’t worry Jayna, I know exactly where we are,” boasted Zan, crossing his arms over his chest and grinning foolishly.

“And where’s that?” inquired the female Wonder Twin.

“Lost…” chuckled Zan.

“Real smart Wonder Brother. Real smart.”

“Hey! What’s that up ahead?” Zan wondered aloud, pointing at a large slab of rock that appeared to be covering the entrance to a cave.

“I don’t know, let’s go find out…” responded a curious Jayna as they made their way up to the rock.

“Hmm… it looks like there’s some writing on this slab of rock… but I can’t make out what it says. It looks to have been here for a while. I guess the weather eroded it,” assumed Jayna.

“Look down at the bottom!” shouted Zan. “That’s Superman’s insignia! Maybe he stored some secret Justice League weaponry here so no one would find it!”

“You think so?” Jayne had crouched down to scrutinize the rock, and turned to gaze quizzically at her sibling.

“I don’t know what else could be in this cave. Why don’t we move this rock and go in and make sure whatever is in there is still in good shape?” suggested Zan.

“I don’t know Zan. There could be trouble in there.”

“Oh calm down,” replied Zan. “If anything troublesome was in there, it would probably be dead or deactivated by now from the looks of how old the writing on the rock is. Let’s just check it out.”

“You’d better be right about this…” Jayna said, half-doubting her brother. Her own curiosity had been piqued, and any doubts were quickly fading.

“Wonder Twin powers – ACTIVATE!” the two said in unison.

“Shape of – a gorilla!” shouted Jayna.

“Form of – an ice crowbar!” shouted Zan.

Jayna grabbed a hold of her brother a proceeded to wedge his new form in between the rock and the cave entrance. After a brief struggle with the rock, it finally gave way and fell over, exposing the doorway entrance to the cave.

“Wonder Twin powers – DEACTIVATE!”

“Okay, let’s go see what inside!” suggested an excited Zan as he pressed a button on the wall next to the door of the cave.

But before the two Exorian refugees could make their way inside, a dark and evil presence made itself known. Before they could even see it, they heard its voice call out.

“Oh great spirits of the underword, I rise again to claim more victims! No-one is safe from Vampiress, the Voodoo Vampire! Ha ha ha ha ha!!!!”





“Vampire?? Jeepers Zan, I think we just made a big Wonder Blunder!” concluded a scared Jayna. She grabbed her brother to pull him out with her.

As the mysterious speaker made her way out of the cave, she noticed the two young heroes. “So it is you I have to thank for my release. What are your names young ones?”

The Wonder Twins regarded the strange woman with a growing feeling of dread. She was a very imposing woman; a dark-complexioned African with a shock of white hair. And even in the darkness of the cave, they could make out something shining from her mouth, as if there was something glinting when she smiled at them.

“Zzzzan and J-j-jayna,” replied a nervous Zan. “We’re known as the Wonder Twins. Official members of the Super Friends,” he added, trying to intimidate the female vampire.

“Super Friends?!” shouted an outraged Vampiress. She whipped her white hair around her as she spun to face them fully. “They are the ones who imprisoned me here years ago! I am going to hunt them down and have my revenge on them for what they did! But, as for you two, I am going to show my gratitude for releasing me by leaving you here to rot. Once I get back, I will set you free to be hunted down by my new vampire slaves. Learn to be prey, but worry not… for now.” She backed the Wonder Twins into her cave. Pressing the hidden button next to the doorway, she locked them inside.

“Ha ha ha ha!!! Those two children make the perfect bait!” She breathed in deeply as she took in her surroundings. “Surely, they will summon the Super Friends to rescue them and when they get here, I shall be waiting! Ha ha ha ha!!!”




***

Meanwhile, over the Congo River, the Batjet streaks along with Nightvision and the Silencer aboard…

“Everything’s clear from Tanzania to the Congo, Silencer,” observed Nightvsion. “Time to head south towards the Cape.”

“I really appreciate you taking me up in the Jet, Nightvision,” stated a grateful Silencer. “I’ve never been to Africa before.”

“With all of the time you’ve been putting in at the Hall since you’ve joined us, I thought you could use some time away,” replied Nightvision. He adjusted some of the controls, still thinking about the ultimatum that he had been given by Lilith. Taking orders from someone else did not sit well with him, but he also respected Lilith enough to listen to what she said.

But before the two heroes could continue their conversation, the Trouble Alert signal when off on the jet’s dashboard. BEEP BEEP BEEP!!!!

“It’s the Trouble Alert!” shouted Nightvsion. “Switch on the monitor.”

“No visual Nightvision, just a staticky voice message that’s barely coming in,” responded the Silencer.

“Use the signal booster,” suggested the new-age Dark Knight.

“zzzt…zzzt….Thizzz…iz Zan and Jayna…zzzt….of the Wonder Twins calling any Super Friends that can hear us. We’ve been trapped at the tomb of someone named Vampiress. Need help immediately!”

“Vampiress? But the Super Friends locked her away years ago,” Nightvision recalled.

“Do you know where her tomb is?” asked the Silencer.

“No but the Bat-computer scanner should be able to home-in on the Twins’ signal,” guessed Nightvision. “Hopufully some of the other Titans got the distress call too.” He checked the gauges and ventured a guess. “If it’s here in Africa, like I think it is, it shouldn’t require a major course correction at all.”

***

Twenty minutes later at Vampiress’ tomb…

The Batjet hovered over the stony tomb structure. Nightvision and the Silencer had exited the jet to scope out the situation.

“Up ahead, there’s the tomb!” directed Nightvision, indicating the large pile of boulders.

The Silencer noticed the door blocking the entryway. “How are we going to get through that? That door appears to be made out of solid rock.”

Just then, the two heroes heard a familiar friendly voice.

“Looks like I got here just in time!” observed Black Vulcan as she flew down to meet with her teammates.

“Black Vuclan! How did you find us?” asked Nightvision, glad to see their teammate.

“I picked up the Twin’s distress signal on my communicator,” explained Black Vulcan. “Now step aside, and I’ll blast that door open.”

“Wait!” called out Nightvision as he ran up to the door. “Zan, Jayna, if you can hear me, stand back from the door!” He then turned to Black Vulcan. “The flying debree could injure them if you’re not careful.”

“Good call, I guess I wasn’t thinking,” she said, a bit embarrassed.

But before Black Vulcan could act, another voice came out of nowhere. “I can tell that you three are quite capable. I will be proud to turn you into my vampire slaves!”

The three heroes quickly turned around to see who had joined them at the tomb.

Vampiress stood firm, surrounded by several local villagers she had already turned into vampires in the short time she had been released. The female vampire wasted no time in attacking. Crimson beams shot from the rubies embedded in Vampiress’ fangs.

As if by instinct, Black Vulcan counter-attacked and fired electrical bolts at the oncoming beams. The red beams collided with the electrical bolts, causing Vampiress’ beams to fly toward Nightvision by accident, striking the detective.

“Oh no! They got Nightvision!” observed the Silencer. “Hang on buddy! We’ll help you.”

“Thanks Silencer, but that won’t be necessary,” replied Nightvision as he looked up. His skin was suddenly sallow and waxy, and his eyes had a red tint to them. But most surprisingly of all, the Silencer could see his teammate’s incisor teeth had extended into long, sharp points. The beams had transformed Nightvision into one of Vampiress’ lackeys.

The Silencer was frozen in shock for a few seconds which was all Vampiress needed to bathe him in the path of her crimson beams, transforming him into a vampire as well.

Black Vulcan noticed the transformation and realized she was extremely outnumbered. She started to back away from her transformed teammates and Vampiress.

Nightvision and the Silencer cornered Black Vulcan against several trees. She knew she needed to defend herself, but she could not bring herself to attack them. They were her teammates, after all; and in fact, Nightvision had enabled her to break away from Amanda Waller. What could she do?

The enslaved Nightvision called out to the electricity-powered heroine. “Do not resist Black Vulcan, you will be better off as one of us!” Nightvision and the Silencer then proceeded to blast Black Vulcan with the beams from their newly grown ruby-encrusted fangs.

Black Vulcan released another blast of lightning hoping to deflect the transformation beams again. As her lightning collided with the beams, it caused a minor explosion followed by a cloud of smoke.

About thirty seconds later once the smoke had cleared, Nightvision looked at the Silencer and said, “Our power was too much for her. She’s disintegrated,” pointing at the black crater still smoking in the spot where Black Vulcan once stood.

Vampiress spoke to her new allies. “Come! I must find more victims before my work is done!”

“You need look no further Vampiress. We’ll take the Batjet to the Hall of Justice and transform the other Titans of Justice!” laughed the vampiric Nightvision. “Not to mention the civilians there that trust us.”

Vampiress cackled in delight and transformed into a bat, waiting for Nightvision to lead the way.

As the group of vampires left for Metropolis, Black Vulcan came out from behind some trees she had been hiding behind since her explosion cloaked her escape. “Great lightning! I’ve got to get back to the Hall of Justice and warn the others!” She transformed into her lightning form, but hesitated a moment, glancing at the sealed tomb. “The Wonder Twins are safer here until I can get some help.”

***

Later at the Hall of Justice…

Power Lad flew into the meeting room to see Whirlpool being the only Titan of Justice waiting for him. “I got here as soon as I could. What’s the problem, Whirlpool?”

“I don’t know Power Lad,” revealed Whirlpool. “I got a priority message from Nightvision insisting that we meet him here. The alert was sent out to all active and reserve members. The message said something about the Wonder Twins needing our help. Looks like you and I are the first ones here.”





“I got the message too, but my communicator ran out of juice as I was listening to it,” explained Power Lad. “I gotta recharge it. All I can say is: if I go to help those stupid Wonder Twins and Zan turns into a bucket of water, they’re on their own.”

Power Lad was then interrupted by the man who called the meeting. “I can explain everything,” informed Nightvision with the Silencer standing behind him.

“Nightvision! Silencer! What’s the problem, dudes?” asked Power Lad.

“The problem, Power Lad, is YOU!” said Nightvision as he and the Silencer fired their transformation beams at the two young heroes.

Power Lad quickly took to the air to dodge the beams while Whirlpool hid behind one of the storage cabinets.

“These dudes are in some stupid voodoo trance!” noticed Power Lad. “I’ve got to snap them out of it.”

“That won’t be necessary!” shouted Vampiress as she revealed herself and fired her crimson beams at Power Lad and Whirlpool, who had come out from hiding. Before the two heroes knew they were under attack from another foe, the beams had made contact with their targets and started transforming them into the vampire’s minions.

Vampiress was reveling in the fact that she had claimed two more victims. “Now, you’re one of us! Ha ha ha ha ha!! Now that I have enough Vampire slaves, we must return to my underground tomb in the swamp before the sun comes up. Come!” ordered the mistress of the vampires. She admired the speed of Nightvision’s jet. “Let us make use of this transport once again. It is so much more convenient to travel across the oceans in such a short time!”

***

Outside the Hall…

The Invisible Jet came in for a near-perfect landing. Wonder Man exited immediately. “I hope I’m not too late. Nightvision’s message sounded urgent,” he muttered, racing towards the Hall; however, before he could make his way into the building, he was scooped up by Black Vulcan who carried him behind the side of the building as Vampiress and the others exited.

“Sorry if I startled you Wonder Man but I had to stop you before you walked right into their hands!” explained lighting-powered heroine.

“I don’t understand. Where are they going?” asked a confused Wonder Man. “First I’m at a photo shoot with Toni Monetti; then she gets called away on an emergency to Colorado. Now Nightvision sends an urgent summons to the Hall, but you stop me? What’s up? Where are they headed?”

“Back to Africa!” informed Black Vuclan. “I’ll explain on the way!” she said turning into her energy form flying after the Vampiress and company.

Wonder Man followed Black Vulcan’s lead and jumped into the Invisible Jet, flying after her.

Flying side by side, Black Vulcan said in a panic, “We’ve got to stop them before they vanish into that swamp forever!”

***

Much later, at Vampiress’ tomb…

Vampiress led the possessed Titans of Justice towards her cave-like tomb. “Come slaves! It is time to descend into the lower regions of the swamp! Enter, my captive ones!” She reached for the button to open the doorway to her tomb.

“Not so fast bat-lady!” ordered Wonder Man, throwing his magic-lasso around the vampire priestess. “We still have a few super-tricks up our sleeves!”

Vampiress struggled to get free of the enchanted lariat. “Your flimsy rope cannot deter Vampiress!” she said as she fired her crimson beams at the male Amazon.





Wonder Man reacted wit the speed of Hermes and used his bracelets to deflect the red rays.

Disgusted with her assailant’s resilience, Vampiress ordered her slaves: “Stop him! I command you!”

On cue, the possessed Titans of Justice fired their transformation beams at Wonder Man in hopes of turning him into a vampire like themselves.

Lucky for Wonder Man, this was not the first time he had to fend off multiple attackers with his gauntlets and deflected the oncoming beams with ease. Calling out to his teammate, he said, “Okay Vulcan – NOW!”

Black Vulcan took to the air and headed towards the moon. Once in lunar space, she fired all of her energy at the satellite, which caused a huge reflection of light upon Vampiress and company.

“NO! The light! The light! Stop it!!!” shrieked Vampiress, backing towards her tomb. The light was so bright that it had temporarily distorted her vision. She felt her way up and down the wall next to the doorway of her tomb, searching for the button that opened it. Quickly finding it, she pressed it hoping to escape into her cave.

The cave doorway opened up revealing a freaked out set of Wonder Twins.

“Zan! Jayna! Come on out of there!” shouted Wonder Man.

The Twins wasted no time in following Wonder Man’s orders, and exited the cave as fast as they could.

With Vampiress weakened by the bright light, her power over her slaves was diminished. “Curse you Titans of Justice! I shall return!!!”

“Thanks Titans!” said a grateful Jayna. “I thought we were goners!”

Power Lad wasted no time in using his heat-vision to seal the doorway to Vampiress’ tomb shut. “And stay down this time you freak!”

“How did Vampiress get out?” asked Nightvision. He was still shaking the last vestiges of the vampire queen’s control from his mind.

“Well uh…we kinda let her out,” responded a nervous Zan.

“You did what???” demanded an outraged Nightvision.

“It..it was an accident,” revealed Jayna.

“Yeah,” added Zan. We were walking through the jungle…”

“WALKING?” shouted Black Vulcan incredulously. “In the jungle??”

“Anyway,” continued Jayna. “We came upon this swamp, and as we wandered through it, we found this pile of boulders… We saw Superman’s insignia imbedded on that rock over there was blocking the entry way to the cave and we thought there was some hidden Justice League things down there.”

“Even if there was, you shouldn’t have tried to mess with it,” barked Nightvision.

“You idiots are always causing trouble,” snapped Power Lad. “No wonder you never made it past Junior Super Friends status.”

“Power Lad!” Wonder Man barked, looking sternly at the cocky young hero. The look he gave Power Lad let him know it was time to keep quiet.

“Seriously Zan and Jayna, you really shouldn’t have tampered with what was in the cave,” chastised Wonder Man. “Look at all of the trouble it caused. Next time, I’d suggest contacting us or the JLA.”

“We’re awfully sorry, Wonder Man,” apologized Zan. “Maybe we should stick with you guys. We could learn a lot.”

“Ugh...” sighed Whirlpool. He was hit hardest by the vampiric control, and was still fatigued from it. “I have to get back to Atlantis,” the oceanic hero said. “I’ll go with you as far as the coast, but let me out at the ocean, please.”

***

The palace of Black Adam, in Khandaq…

Teth Adam sat at his huge dinner table alone. His chef had prepared his favorite meal yet he only toyed with it, eating a few bites. “I wonder how Billy is doing? It has been a long time since we spoke. Isis keeps urging me to reconcile with him but I’m not sure I know how.”





The King of Khandaq’s thoughts were interrupted by two hands placed over his eyes. “What??? Who dares?!?!?!” he growled angrily.

“Ha ha ha… My love, you are so jumpy,” Isis said, removing her hands and kissing her husband on the cheek.

“My beloved queen has returned!” shouted Black Adam in excitement. He pulled Isis in close for a tight embrace and kissed her passionately. A few minutes later, he looked deep into her eyes. “It is so good to have you back! I was restless without you.”

“But I was only gone a few days,” replied Isis. She fingered the golden lightning bolt he wore on his chest, and looked innocently into his eyes. “We have all night, Adam.”

“All night? And is that it? You sound like you’re going back to the States,” Black Adam wondered aloud.

Isis put her right hand on her husband’s cheek in an effort to sooth him. “I am, my love. I have committed to full membership in the Titans of Justice.”

“What? Why would you do such a thing when Khandaq and I need you here?” demanded her husband indignantly.

“Adam, our country has grown rich and prosperous over the years,” defended Isis. “Those young men and women in the Titans have been through a horrible tragedy, and yet another tragedy on top of all that, just recently. They could use my help right now. Plus, we owe them for rescuing us from Mordru.”

“Adrianna, you are so sweet and compassionate,” pointed out Black Adam. “I do not think there is a more kind soul on this planet. I will not argue with you about staying with the Titans… for now. So tell me about your new team?”

“Well, there is Wonder Man…” Isis began.


***This chapter was heavily inspired by the Super Friends episode “Voodoo Vampire”.