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#1
NOV 13 |
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“Betrayal”
Breathtaker walked through the headquarters of the Overseers. “What’s wrong?” Shock Trauma asked as he flew up beside the beautiful blue-skinned woman.
“Brainwave’s disappeared again,” she said. “And we still have no leads on Harm.”
“So what?” the young Japanese man asked. “We find some new members. You’ve still got me and Provoke.”
“Wonderful,” Breathtaker said. She entered the lounge area and plopped down on a couch. “Maybe I should see about getting some of the other Hangmen out of prison.”
Shock Trauma dropped to the carpet and sat down beside her. “We didn’t do so bad back then, you know.”
Breathtaker leaned back on the couch. “I enjoy being a hero.”
Shock Trauma shrugged. “I think I could get used to it myself, but so what? Just the three of us aren’t exactly the superteam that the DEO is expecting.”
Breathtaker frowned. “If there are three of us.”
“What do you mean?” Shock Trauma asked.
“Something’s happening with Provoke. He’s changing, getting more sadistic than normal.” Breathtaker thought a moment. “I don’t like it, and with Brainwave gone there’s no way we can control him.”
Mal Duncan walked into the Gabriel’s Horn restaurant and headed into his office. With the door locked, he moved the hidden bookcase and walked downstairs.
Mal looked around at the silent halls of what had once been the headquarters of Titans West. He walked into the meeting room and saw the pictures of the team which still covered the far wall. He paused as he studied them and realized what had happened. Terra – Tara Markov – had died saving the team from a rogue Amazo robot. The Changeling – Gar Logan (team leader and Tara’s husband) – had vanished immediately after that. Cody Driscoll – Risk – had disappeared as well. Mal feared that he’d fallen into the clutches of the DEO again.
Mal sat down and kept his eyes on the pictures. The others had fared better. Bette Kane – Flamebird – had headed to Opal City with her current flame Paco Ramone –Vibe. The mysterious vampire called Dagon had accompanied them for reasons of his own. The last he’d heard, they were working with Jack Knight.
Leonid Kovar – Red Star – had returned to Russia with Sonia Romanov, where the Russian government was trying to persuade him to work with her as the new Hammer and Sickle. Jason Parker – Golden Eagle – had returned to his studies. He was currently working as an intern at the UCLA Medical Center. Mal smiled. He knew that Jason had already been in contact with STAR Labs to begin studying metahuman medicine after he graduated. Lastly, CM3 – Freddy Freeman – had recently called to let them know that he’d been accepted into Ivy University.
Mal stood and walked over to the picture of his wife Karen, the Bumblebee. He ran his fingers over it.
“Thinking about old times?” Karen asked from behind him. Mal turned to find Karen standing there with their daughter Tara in her arms.
“A little,” Mal admitted as he kissed first his wife and then his daughter. Karen set Tara down to crawl on the floor as she embraced her husband.
“It seems like a lifetime ago,” she said as in her mind she saw the old Titans West team assembled around the table.
“I know,” Mal said. “It seems like I’ve been watching my blood pressure forever.”
Karen smiled. “If you hadn’t put that armor on, you wouldn’t have had that heart attack.”
Mal shrugged. “It was fun while it lasted. And besides, hasn’t STAR figured out how to reduce the cardiac strain while using it?”
Karen stepped back. “Even if we had I wouldn’t tell you. I don’t want you dressing up like a superhero again. I like normal life.”
“So Bumblebee’s retired, too?” Mal asked.
“As far as I’m concerned,” Karen said. “If Tara wants to be the Hornet or something when she grows up I’ll help her with the suit. But I’m done.” She smiled. “Besides, the suit looks good hanging in the closet beside your old Herald costume.” She studied Mal’s face. “You still miss it, don’t you?”
“Yeah,” Mal said as he sat down in Risk’s old chair. “You know, if I hadn’t met up with the old Teen Titans I probably would’ve never gotten out of Hell’s Kitchen. I’d probably be dead now if it wasn’t for them.”
Karen patted Mal’s hand. “I know. I remember how you were when we met. You were so unsure of yourself.”
Mal smiled. “You never had that problem, though. As I recall, you were the one who was attacking the Titans to make me look better.”
Karen laughed. “And it worked for us to still be standing in the Titans base all these years later.”
Mal swiveled in the chair to look around the room. “I guess it did.” He paused a moment and thought. “I just wish that we weren’t the only ones here.”
Karen leaned over the chair and kissed Mal on his forehead. “Don’t you remember what you said after the team disbanded last time? You said, ‘We’ve seen Titans teams come and go. Seems like the only constant with them is change.’” Karen looked across the room at the portraits that still adorned the wall. “You were right. When the time’s right, I believe that this place’ll fill up again. Just wait and see.”
Breathtaker stood and walked into the Overseers’ meeting room. The room bore state-of-the-art computer terminals inset into the table at each seat. “It’s just so sterile,” she said. “It’s not us.”
“But who are we?” Shock Trauma asked as he flew alongside her. “Everything we’ve ever done has been dictated by the DEO.”
“I know,” Breathtaker said as she sat down at the head of the table. Her red hair fell forward to hide her blue skin as she thought. “This isn’t how it was supposed to go, you know,” she said.
“It never does,” Shock Trauma said. “You should know that.”
“I know,” Breathtaker said as she leaned back in the chair and idly swiveled around in it. “I just wish that there was more than this. I became a hero to help people. And instead we’ve just become puppets of Bones again.”
“Don’t forget the pardons we got,” Shock Trauma said. “That helped motivate me.”
Breathtaker spun to face him. “So you’re not as philanthropic as I am.” She stood and walked to the far wall of windows. She stood and looked out at the city below. “I just wanted to make a difference.”
“And you have,” Shock Trauma said. “We’ve helped a lot of people.”
“I know,” Breathtaker admitted, then let out a chuckle. “I’m actually a bit jealous of the other teams. The Titans, the Justice League, they don’t need Bones’s permission to go on a mission. They see trouble and they can respond freely.”
“So you feel like he’s got your hands tied?” Shock Trauma asked as he flew to land beside her at the window. “When he’s paying the bills you’ve got to expect he’ll want to have some say in what we do.”
“That’s partially it,” Breathtaker said. “It’s not that I mind Bones’s directions, it’s that sometimes I feel like his personal hit-team.”
“Still better than prison,” Shock Trauma said as he flew upward again and flipped over the meeting table. “And we can always get Killshot and Stranglehold out of prison. I’d be willing to bet that Bones could get us more pardons for them, too.”
“That’s not it,” Breathtaker said as she stared at the traffic moving in the streets below. “We’ve spent what seems like our entire lives selling out to the highest bidder. I want something different, and I’d hoped this team would be it. Instead it just seems like we’re on the brink of greatness when everything starts falling apart.”
“No problem,” Shock Trauma said. “We’ll get Provoke to pull Brainwave back in and if we can’t find Harm, so what? I’m sure there are plenty of guys who’d like a second chance. Maybe we could even find that Risk kid.”
“No way,” Breathtaker said. “Not after what happened the last time he was part of the team. He nearly killed me.”
“So he’s out. That’s one off the list,” Shock Trauma said. He turned and smiled as the doors opened. “Hey, Provoke’s back!”
Breathtaker turned and walked across the room. “Provoke?” she asked as she saw an odd look in his eyes. Without a word, Provoke pulled a pistol and aimed it at Breathtaker. Before she or Shock Trauma could respond, he fired. Breathtaker grabbed her abdomen and collapsed.
“What’re you doing?” Shock Trauma asked as he flew forward and grabbed Provoke’s arm.
“Something I should’ve done a long time ago, boy,” Provoke said as he pulled his arm free and pistol-whipped Shock Trauma. Shock Trauma fell to the ground with a bloody lip. “I’m taking out the bloody trash.” Provoke pushed a button on the meeting table and left as the screens in the meeting room lit up with a countdown clock.
Shock Trauma saw the clock and his eyes went wide as he realized what was happening. A slight moan from Breathtaker snapped him back to reality. He fired an electrical bolt that blew out the windows along the far side of the room. He scooped up Breathtaker and flew out of the room, trying to put as much distance between himself and the Overseers’ headquarters as he could.
Moments later explosions tore through the building. As Shock Trauma flew to get Breathtaker to the hospital, the building collapsed.
Mal Duncan stood as the monitor in the Titans West conference room started beeping. “Something wrong?” Karen asked.
“Just somebody upstairs,” he said. “Probably one of the waiters who forgot to turn off the alarm.” He smiled. “I’ll take care of it and be right back.”
Karen nodded as Mal walked out. She knelt down and began playing patty-cake with Tara.
She looked up as Mal walked in. He had an odd look on his face. “What’s wrong, honey?” she asked. In response, Mal pulled a pistol and aimed it at her.
A smiling Provoke walked into the room a moment later. “Do it, mate,” he ordered. “Kill her.”
Sweat beaded on Mal’s forehead as he fought the command. He finally screwed his eyes shut and pulled the trigger.
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Next Issue: In Titans West: Deadly Reunion #2: Old friends return to help try and stop Provoke! But will even they be able to stand against an assault by innocent bystanders?
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