"Damage Done" Part One
Saturday Morning Atlanta, Georgia, 9 a.m. Trevor was about a mile away when he stopped to lean on a tree. He'd been running for fifteen minutes, and didn't want to stop now. He looked out from behind his hiding place to make sure he wasn't being followed. When he was sure, he turned back around, only to have an arrow shoot right through his shoulder, pinning him to the tree. "Naughty, naughty," the woman in the white lab coat said as the boy was knocked out by the butt of a security guard's rifle. Today is Trevor's 14th birthday. Whether he lives to see his 15th depends on one thing... UCLA, 10 a.m. "Would you turn that noise down?" Tim Drake asked as he entered the campus rec room, where Grant was playing the 8 Mile soundtrack as loudly as possible. Tim was holding an ice pack on his head. "I have the world's worst hangover and all this rapping about bitches and ho’s isn't helping." "You're no fun when you're out of costume," Grant said as he turned the stereo down. "Well, except when you're drunk. I thought you liked Eminem." "Eminem is one of my favorite artists, but not when I'm trying to keep my head from exploding," Tim replied. "Mail call!" Bart shouted as he entered the room and looked at Grant and Tim. "Who here is named Mel?" "Wiseass," Tim said as he grabbed the stack of letters from him. "Junk mail, junk mail, death threat for Bart-" "I told you to stop stalking Joyce DeWitt," Grant said to Bart as the speedster jumped onto the couch next to him. "The woman is pure evil!" Bart shouted as he tossed the letter into the trash, which was overflowing with other death threats. "Hey, there's a letter here for you, Grant," Tim said as he handed the letter to him. Grant opened the letter and started reading it to himself. "I...I gotta go." Grant suddenly said as he ran for the door. "Where are you heading?" Tim asked as he followed Grant outside. "I can't say," Grant said as he got into his jeep. "I just have to go." The car peeled out of the parking space and headed down the street, leaving Tim and Bart standing there. "What do you think was in that letter?" Tim asked. "Something about Project Telemachus," Bart said as he read the letter. "Where'd you get that?" Tim asked as he looked over at Bart. "Got it before Grant got in the car," Bart said as Tim took the letter. "Project Telemachus 2 is underway," Tim read. "Isn't that the experiment that Vandal Savage was using Grant for?" "Sounds like it, but why does it have a sequel?" Bart asked as he looked down the street. "Get everyone together," Tim told him. "Just in case." Terry unlocked the door to his office and sat behind his desk, tossing the camera onto the pile of papers. He'd develop them that afternoon, then he'd talk to Cody about his so-called boyfriend Bart. He picked up his cell phone and dialed Andy's number to make sure he got home all right after the bonfire, but didn't get a reply, only getting the voicemail. "Andy, it's Terry, I'm at the office, and I was wondering if you wanted to get together for dinner or something?" Terry asked as he looked out the window. "I'll be in the office all day, just give me a call and tell me you're alright." Terry hung up and went back to work to make sure the campus newspaper was running smoothly. Grant was on the highway toward Atlanta when Cameron popped up in the backseat. "Hey, what's going on?" Cameron asked as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes. "What the hell are you doing in my car?" Grant asked as he pulled over on the side of the road. "I fell asleep," Cameron said. "I couldn't sleep in my room because some idiot was playing Eminem at full blast." "I'm dropping you off at the next city," Grant said. "You can call for Bart to come pick you up." "Where are you going?" Cameron asked as he hopped into the front seat. "None of your business," Grant replied. "Especially since you're not coming with me." "If you're in trouble, you're going to need someone there to watch your back," Cameron said. "Besides, I've never been on a road trip with a friend. Well, besides that one time I went on that road trip with my friends." Grant just looked at him. "I'll pay for dinner." Cameron said, having snuck twenty bucks out of Grant's wallet earlier. "Fine," Grant said. "But I'm in charge. Just don't get in my way." "So, where are we heading?" Cameron asked. "Atlanta." "We're going to Aquaman's home?" Cameron asked in awe as Grant just stared at him blankly. The Symbolix Research Facility in Atlanta "Another failed attempt to escape, I see," Dr. Griffen said to the boy being drug back into the lab. "If we weren't so close to completion, I'd have your legs broken to teach you a lesson." Trevor was strapped onto a table as Dr. Griffen prepared to draw blood from him. "Don't worry, this won't hurt a bit," the doctor said, followed by a three second pause. "It'll hurt a lot." Before she could stick the needle in, her cell phone started to ring. "Hello? Of course, he was brought back in perfect condition. The other one? Of course, he'll be in our custody within 24 hours." Dr. Griffen went back to the task at hand. If the boy hadn't been tired from being beaten, he would have cried out in pain. Connor Kent was lifting weights in his room when Cassie knocked on his bedroom door. Connor used his x-ray vision to see who it was before he opened, and seeing it was Cassie, pulled off his shirt and poured water on himself to give the illusion that he was sweating. "Cassie, what a surprise," Connor said as he opened the door. "I just came by because I wanted to give you back those DVDs I borrowed," Cassie said as she looked around his room, ignoring his body. She saw pictures of girls in skimpy bikinis everywhere, and Playboys peeking out from under the edge of his mattress. "Uh, thanks," Connor said as he took the discs. He'd mistakenly bought '28 Days' thinking it was a prequel to '28 Days Later', and he'd realized 20 minutes into 'Octupussy' was far from what he'd thought it would be. "So, you flew all the way out just to bring me back two DVDs?" "I wanted to see the famous Kent Farm," Cassie told him as Connor smiled a little. He'd been telling everyone about the Kent's and how they were taking great care of him.' "I'll be glad to give you the tour," Connor told her as he wrapped a towel around his shoulders. "Then maybe you could stay for dinner?" "Oh, sorry, I only have an hour, I have a date tonight," Cassie said as Connor accidentally snapped the dumbbell in his hand in half. The Bates Motel, 7 p.m. "So you were banned from Atlanta?" Cameron asked Grant, who was in the bathroom trying on a blonde wig and colored contacts to change his appearance. "Blow up a good portion of the place and they hold it over you for the rest of your life," Grant said. "Roy Harper tried to use his connections to make that little incident disappear, but when I left the Titans to live on the reservation, it was considered a breach of contract, despite Roy trying to help. One of the conditions of me being a free man was that I could never go back to Atlanta." "What exactly are we doing here, anyway?" Cameron asked as he jumped onto his bed on the other side of the room. "We're here to stop a disaster before it happens," Grant replied as he changed into a tank top and sweat pants. "Project Telemachus was a code name for a baby who was infused with the DNA of the world's most powerful heroes. A baby who was a test subject to see if super soldiers could be genetically bred. A man named Vandal Savage set the experiment up by kidnapping a baby and killing his mother at birth. The baby spent sixteen years with a foster family before he realized they didn't care for him, they were just pawns in Savage's game. Long story short, the experiment was shut down and the kid went out on his own." "The kid was you," Cameron realized. "Wasn't it? Because if it's not, I could totally see that dude from 'High School Musical' in that kind of movie." "Yeah, it's me," Grant replied, ignoring Cam's last comment. "I was Project Telemachus. That means if there's a Project Telemachus 2, they've got another poor soul stashed somewhere, going through, or getting ready to go through, the hell that I had to endure. I'm not going to let that happen." "So, where do we start?" Cameron asked as he fluffed his pillow. "Where it began," Grant replied as he sat down. "Assuming there's anything left. But first let's get some sleep. We'll get a start in the morning at the original Symbolix building." Grant got into his bed and reached over to turn out the light, but paused. "Which guy from 'High School Musical'?" "The gay one," "That really narrows it down. Goodnight, Cam," Outside, soldiers were gathering around the hotel, waiting for the right moment to strike... Hours later, Grant and Cameron were sleeping in twin beds. Grant, barely able to sleep as it was, had to get up to use the bathroom. Meanwhile, someone was trying to pry the window open. Grant was washing his hands when he looked up and saw his reflection in the mirror, and started to remember his foster family and the hell that is foster father put him through. "I can't let that happen to someone else," Grant said as he heard footsteps in the next room. Next came the sound of a rifle being cocked and loaded. "What the hell?" Grant kicked open the door, which kind of hurt since he was barefoot and saw soldiers standing around Cameron's bed, whose head was covered by a blanket. "Get away from him!" Grant said as his hands started glowing with blue energy. "Get him!" one soldier said as they started firing. Grant dove beside one of the beds and tossed an energy spike to toss them off balance. "What's going on?" Cameron said as he sat up. "What are these guys doing here? Is this about that overdue library book? Man, those librarians don't play around." "Cameron, get out of here!" Grant shouted as the soldiers advanced toward him. "I don't think so," Cameron said as he jumped out of the bed as the soldiers started snickering at his Care Bears boxer shorts. "Hey, stop laughing!" "Cameron, I said-!" Grant started to say as he took the opportunity to clobber the soldiers standing next to him and looked at Cameron standing on the bed. "Care Bears? What the hell were you thinking?" "Says the guy who has all three seasons of Jem & The Holograms on DVD," Cameron said as he grabbed the barrel of the nearest soldier's gun and bent it upward after siphoning Grant's strength. While the two Titans argued, the rest of the soldiers were trying to retreat. "What's the matter, leave your Mr. T underwear at home?" Grant asked. "Look who's talking, at least I don't sleep with a picture of Ricki Lake!" Cameron shouted. "It's autographed and I find it comforting!" Grant shouted back as he hugged the glossy 8x10 photograph. "Hey, where'd those guys go?" Outside, the soldiers were lined up with bazookas. "FIRE!" A blast shook the motel as the roof started to give way as Cameron and Grant ducked under the bed as the roof caved in around them. Fifteen minutes later, the soldiers were digging around, trying to find their prey. "Found something!" One of the soldiers said. "Is this the one we came for?" "Who cares?" Another soldier said. "Let's just get back to the lab before the boss has a cow." They drug the boy out of the rubble and tossed him into the back of a van as it peeled away. Minutes later, a fist burst through the debris as Grant dug himself out. "Cameron?" Cody walked through the door of his dorm room and found a romantic candle lit dinner waiting. "Bart," Cody said as he saw Bart standing there in a black dinner suit. "What's all this for?" "Well, you've been avoiding me all day," Bart said as he looked down. "I figured you were pissed at me for ditching you last night, so I made an Italian dinner." "I'm not pissed," Cody said as he put his hand under Bart's chin and raised his head. "It's just... it's hard sharing you with the rest of the world. You're a superhero, Bart; you've got responsibilities. It's just difficult knowing I'm always going to come in second in our relationship." Bart looked down at the Flash ring on his finger and fiddled around with it. "You're right," Bart said. "I do have responsibilities. I had this talk with Carol when we started going out, but I never really understood what she was trying to get at." Bart pulled the ring off of his finger and set it on the counter. "And unless there's a life or death emergency tonight, you're my top priority." Cody smiled as he hugged Bart. "So, what's this romantic dinner you cooked up? It smells like... pizza?" "It is Italian," Bart laughed as he took Cody's hand and led him to the dinner table. The Symbolix Lab "You idiots!" Dr. Griffen shouted as she looked down at the boy." This isn't him! This doesn't even look like him!" "Well, the other one was kind of... killed," the soldier said, making an excuse. "Under the rubble and debris." "Go and make sure!" Griffen shouted as she looked at the unconscious Cameron, laying on the ground as the soldier's looked nervous, knowing that they'd pay if the real boss knew they'd screwed up. "If he is dead, you'll answer to Vandal Savage! And toss this one in with Trevor until we decide what to do with him." The soldiers opened a glass case and tossed Cameron in before sealing it again. The Titan started to regain consciousness and looked up to what he thought was- "Grant?" Cameron asked, his vision still somewhat blurry. When his vision fully returned, he saw a boy who looked like a younger Grant. "The name's Trevor," the boy said as he offered a hand to help Cameron up. "Are you one of their pet projects, too?" Grant was digging through the rubble and found his Damage uniform. He continued searching to find Cameron. "Come on, Cameron, where are you, buddy?" Grant asked himself as he heard a van coming back. He grabbed his costume and ran into the nearby forest to change. "The other one's got to be in here, somewhere." the soldier said as they started digging through the rubble. "He's right here!" Damage shouted as an energy spike knocked the two soldiers unconscious. Shortly, they woke up tied to a tree. "Where's my friend?" Damage asked. "Why should we tell you anything?" the first soldier asked. "Oh, you're going to talk, or else I'm going to cause some real... damage." the boy smiled as his held up his hand and prepared an energy spike. "They'reatthesymbolixlaboratoryjustupthestreetturnleftatthelightthey'reinanawhitebuildingthirdlabontheright!" the soldier said as he ran out of breath. Damage grabbed the keys out of the soldier's pocket. "Hope you don't mind if I borrow your van for camouflage." "You can't escape," Trevor said as Cameron was trying to find a weak spot in the glass. "I've been trying for years." "We'll get out of here," Cameron said. "The Teen Titans will be here any minute now." "The Teen Titans?" Trevor asked. "You're a Titan?" "Yeah," Cameron said. "And Damage should be bringing in the cavalry any time now." "Wow," Trevor said. "But what if they don't come?" "Then I'll get us out of here," Cameron said. "And then we'll go get my friends and we'll come back and shut this place down." Damage parked the van inside the garage of the Symbolix lab. It was easy getting in, but it was going to extremely difficult to find Cameron and get out. "Third lab on the right, huh?" Damage said as he entered the building. "Security's kind of light. Wonder if they've been expecting me?" The security was building up right behind him, their guns ready to fire at any second... "This glass is insulated," Cameron said as he took his hand off the glass. "I'm powerless against it if I don't have powers to draw from." "They took precautions against any type of meta attack, anyway" Trevor explained. "Kryptonite gas in the sprinkler system, yellow lights to stop a Lantern, motion bombs for the speedsters, liquid nitrogen for shape shifters- You name it, they've prepared for it." "I just need some kind of power to use," Cameron told him. "Trust me, even if you have powers," Trevor replied with a sigh. "There's no escape." Cameron kneeled and put his palm on the floor, imploding it, creating a hole big enough to jump through. "How did I do that?" Cameron asked. "Oh, well, let's go before they see us escape." Damage snuck into the lab just as Cameron and Trevor made their escape. Damage's hands were starting to glow with energy, just in case he ran into trouble. "Where is everybody?" Damage asked. "Right here, darling," Dr. Griffen said as she plunged a needle into Damage's neck. "Sweet dreams." Meanwhile, Cameron and Trevor were on the level below, trying to find a way out. "There should be an exit around here somewhere," Trevor said. "They used to keep me on this level when I first started escaping." "How did you manage to escape all those times?" Cameron asked. "I'm not sure," Trevor replied. "I've kind of got this power to-" "Take one more step, and you're dead," Dr. Griffen said as the soldiers surrounded them. "Take Trevor back to the lab. As for this one... Mr. Savage says he's expendable." The soldier clubbed Cameron on the back of the head as he was drug away. Grant opened his eyes. He was trapped inside an insulated glass chamber. "Ah, I see you're awake," Dr. Griffen said. "Welcome home, Project Telemachus." "Why?" Grant asked. "Why now?" "We knew you'd come running here as soon as you learned there was a Project Telemachus 2. You heroic fools will do anything to save innocent lives," Griffen replied. "You fell right into our lap." "What are you going to do with me?" Grant asked. "First we're going to harvest everything inside of you: Your blood, organs, hair, DNA, anything that will further our research. You will be dead, but at least you'll be making history," Griffen said with a smirk. "Is there even a PT2?" Grant asked. "Of course," Griffen replied. "We didn't lie about that part." Griffen snapped her fingers and Trevor was dragged in and tossed to the ground. He looked beaten and one of his legs was twisted in a direction that it really shouldn't be going in. "Grant, say hello to Trevor, or Project Telemachus 2," Griffen said. "Or you can just call him...little brother." To Be Continued... Previous Issue | Next Issue |
