Teen Titans

Teen Titans Roll Call

Robin, The Boy Wonder
Impulse, The Fastest Boy Alive
Wonder Girl, The Young Amazon
Damage, The Human Explosive
Omni, The Power Mimic
Risk, The Thrillseeker
Offspring, The Shapesifter

Apart they’re just sidekicks and illigitimate children; Together they’re the TEEN TITANS! Proteges of the Justice League, whippersnappers to the JSA, and all around annoyances to the Outsiders!

The UCLA Campus

Cody Driscoll, the hero known as Risk, lay on his bed staring at the picture of him and his mother, taken long ago. Back before he'd developed his powers and joined the Teen Titans; before she'd gotten really sick. When nothing mattered but Cody and his mother looking out for each other.

Even with all the men that had come in and out of his mother's life, it always ended up just the two of them. Then he discovered he was half alien and joined the Teen Titans, and she had become sick and unable to care for herself. The worse she got, the worse he got, turning to petty crime to get by, which is how he ended up being captured by the D.E.O.. If it weren't for Garfield Logan, he'd still be sitting in a cell, locked away from the rest of the world. Gar was the one who convinced not only Titans West to give him a chance, but also got him into the Teen Titans as part of his probation.

Cody hated showing emotion, especially sadness and fear. The only emotion he ever let anyone see was anger and rage. Pushing people away was easier than letting them get close, where they'd ultimately get hurt and leave him. The young man let a single tear fall down his cheek as he looked at the picture. The only person in the world he'd do anything for and she was taken from him.

Titans West Headquarters, 9 Months Ago

"I'm not going back into DEO Custody," Cody told Jason Parker, the current Golden Eagle as he slung his duffle bag over his shoulder.

"So, what, you're going on the run?" Jason asked as he packed the last of his bags. Cody realized that Jason's Golden Eagle costume had yet to be touched. "Remember what happened the last time*?"

(*Titans West #17 - #23)

"This time it'll be different," Cody promised as he opened the window. "They won't catch me. What about you? Giving up the costumed life?"

"I honored Charlie's memory by being Golden Eagle long enough," Jason replied as he zipped his suitcase. "It's time to live my life and try to be a normal person. I'm going back east to study and try to put this whole crimefighting thing behind me."

"Good luck," Cody told him as he got ready to go. "Maybe I'll drop by some time and we can hang out."

"Maybe," Jason smiled as the two shook hands. "Good luck to you, too."

The young man climbed out the window, leaving his ankle monitor behind. As Cody left the grounds, a green bird sat on a tree branch, watching the young man make his escape, knowing it would happen sooner or later.

"Good luck," the bird thought to itself as it flew off to who knows where...

Cody stared down at the monitor around his ankle. It was set to go off if he left the UCLA campus and only Robin could deactivate it so he could leave to go on Titans business. He set the picture back on the nightstand and looked out the window. Robin and the others had left for the hospital a short while earlier. "Now would be a good time to--"

"Skip town?" Luke McDunnagh, son of Plastic Man, asked as he walked in and started looking through Cody's CD's.

"Not permanently," Cody replied as the two sat in the dorm room. "I just need to...do something."

"What?" Luke asked curiously.

"Look, just get this damn ankle monitor off of me," the young man said, putting his foot on the bed. "I can't tell you where I'm going or why."

"Fine," the young shapeshifter said as he morphed his finger into a skeleton key. He pushed in into the monitor and unlocked it, letting it fall to the ground. "But I'm not taking the fall if you're caught."

"Not asking you to," Cody told him as he stood up. "Just don't rat me out."

"I won't," Luke promised, then got a smirk across his face. "If you take me with you."

"Oh, hell no," Cody said with a stern look on his face. "You're not coming with me. You're the last person I'd take on a road trip."

"Then I guess I'll just call Robin up and ask him if he knows that you're missing this monitor," Luke threatened as he picked Cody's ankle monitor off the floor, twirling it around his finger.

"Fine, you little fucktard, you win," Cody relented as they headed out.

Colorado, 8 months ago

Cody snuck back into the little trailer with the bag of groceries. It was a run down, dilapidated place that should have been condemned long ago. But to Cody Driscoll, it was home. Since they had no insurance, and because of Titans West disbanding, Cody's mother no longer was able to afford being cared for and was slowly dying, which is why Cody had to come home to her in her last hours.

"I'm home, Mama," Cody said as he headed toward his mother's bedside. "I got your meds."

"You didn't steal them, did you?" she asked, looking up at the young man.

"No, Mama," Cody replied. No, he’d paid for them...with money he stole from an ATM. "I paid for them with cash."

"Cody, when I'm gone--"

"Don't talk like that, Mama," Cody pleaded as he held her hand. "You're going to get better, you just need more time."

"Time," she said, smiling. "We lost a lot of time together."

"Yeah," the young man agreed, "but that's going to change. I'm home now and we're going to be together from now on, I swear."

She held his hand tight as Cody kissed her forehead. "I'm going to go get your meds."

Cody went into the other room and got the bottle of pills. He struggled with the childproof cap as he headed back into the bedroom. "Alright, now, I think you get the red pills on Thursday, right?"

Cody stared down at the bed, where his mother's eyes were wide open. The hand Cody had been holding just minutes before was hanging lifelessly over the edge of the bed.

"Mama?" Cody asked nervously as he slowly got closer. "Say something. Please."

Tears started forming in his eyes as he dropped to his knees, letting the bottle of pills hit the ground, spilling them over the hardwood floor...

Having hotwired Grant's car, Cody drove towards Colorado with Luke at his side. What Grant didn't know wouldn't hurt him.

"Colorado? What's in Colorado? Are we going to South Park? I love that show. Do they have off Broadway shows here? What are we doing here?" Luke asked, throwing one question after another at Cody, who just sighed.

"We're going to see my mom," Cody simply replied as they drove along.

"Your mom? Am I going to meet your dad, too?" Luke asked curiously.

"I've never even met my dad," Cody told him in a frustrated tone as he looked for a gas station. "I was the fatherless child of a trailer park queen."

"Ooh, royalty," replied Luke with awe in his voice.

That was only a half-truth; Cody knew of the alien race that impregnated his mother to create a new race, but he didn't want to prompt any further questions from his unwanted passenger. He finally spotted an empty gas station along the freeway and pulled into the self service station.

"Self service?" Luke asked as he got out. "The employee's are pumping the gas at that station up the road."

"A real man pumps his own gas," Cody told him as he put the hose in the tank. "Go get us some snacks or something."

"Yeah, sure," Luke said, before muttering under his breath. "Self-serving bastard."

As the young man entered the gas station, Cody began pumping the gas, leaning back against the car with the wind blowing his shortcut blonde hair, watching a teenage boy just a little younger than him helping his mother into their car.

"Don't worry, mama, we'll be at the hospital soon," the teenager assured her as Cody watched, knowing he'd been that kid at one point.

It was the morning that Cody's mother was due to be buried. Cody was still on the run from the law and, if attended the funeral, he'd run the risk of being caught. Without a team to sponsor him, he was now wanted by the D.E.O.. The second he stepped foot out in public, he'd be arrested for the crimes he'd committed over the past few years.

But this was his mother, he woman who had given birth to Cody and raised him. He just wished he'd been a better man for her. Now here he was, not even able to show his face in public without the cops coming after him. The last thing he wanted was to create a public scene.

He adjusted his tie in the mirror, not really ready to say goodbye to his mother but having no choice. As he opened the door, a barrage of D.E.O. agents poured into the trailer, smashing through the windows and pouring through the door, all of their guns trained on Cody.

"No, not now!" shouted Cody. "Please, they're burying my mom! Let me say goodbye and I'll come quietly, I promise!"

"Cody Driscoll, by order of the D.E.O., you're under arr--" the agent started to say as Cody tossed the man across the room. He jumped and rebounded off the wall, hitting two more agents, knocking them to the ground.

From the outside of the trailer, the sounds of gunfire and fighting were heard. For several minutes, the fight inside the small, confined space raged on, until it finally stopped. As the agents had Cody pinned to the ground, his funeral clothes torn and shredded, one of the agents forced a needle of sedative into Cody's neck.

"No, please..." pleaded Cody the darkness overtook him. When he woke up, he'd be in a D.E.O. holding cell, where he wouldn't see the light of day again until he joined the Teen Titans months later.

Inside the convenience store at the gas station, Luke was grabbing all the snacks he could carry, having turned one arm into a carrying basket and the other into a hockey stick, knocking all he could into said basket. As Luke continued his shopping spree, he didn’t realize someone who thought he looked familiar was watching him behind the counter.

"It can't be," the man said to himself. He looked at a magazine with the new JLA and held up the picture of Plastic Man, seeing Luke's own shape-shifting abilities. "Son of a bitch."

"You take credit, don't you?" asked Luke as he set the food on the counter. He pulled out a credit card he'd conveniently 'borrowed' from his dad, with the name Eel O'Brian on the back of it.

"Yeah," the man said as he cracked his knuckles. "Just let me punch it in."

Cody wondered what was taking so long after he finished pumping the gas and headed inside to find Luke, only to find the cashier punching Luke, having him pinned to the ground.

"Hey, get off of him!" shouted Cody as he punched the man, but it was like punching solid rock. Cody pulled his hand back in pain as the man stood up, part of his face having peeled off from Cody's punch. Underneath he was solid gray with a rocky texture. "Holy shit."

The man punched Cody, sending him flying out of the window. He grabbed Luke by the throat and lifted him off the ground.

"Who are you?" asked Luke, struggling to breathe.

"The name's Steve Sorrell," the man said as he tossed Luke across the store, knocking over a shelf in the process. "But you can call me...the Granite Man!"

The Granite Man stomped towards Luke as a slushee machine flew at him, knocking the man into the wall. Cody rushed in and grabbed Luke.

"Let's get the hell out of here," said Cody as he pulled Luke towards the car. "Who the hell is that guy?"

"I don't know," replied Luke as the doors burst open, the Granite Man now angrier. "But...I remember my dad telling me a story about someone named the Granite Lady that he fought before I was born. She was turned into a human rock monster or something when she rejected some professor who wanted to date her. But he said she turned back into a human after she got the antidote."

The Granite Man ripped a gas pump out of the ground, tossing it at Cody, hitting him in the back as a geyser of gasoline started rushing out of the ground.

"The serum remained in her system," the Granite Man said he punched Luke. "When she got pregnant with me, I came out a monster, just she like was. I've lived my entire life like this and it's all because of your dad!"

"Funny story: I kind of got my dad's powers, too," replied Luke as he turned his right hand into an anvil, punching at the Granite Man, knocking him a good twenty feet. "So you're pissed at my dad for helping your mom?"

"My mom didn't need help!" the Granite Man shouted as he picked a car up and smashed it on top of Luke. "Because he gave her an untested antidote, I paid the price! You have no idea what it's like to grow up a freak!"

"Um, hello?" said Luke as a puddle poured from under the car, turning back into his regular form. "I've had these powers since I was little. I wasn't exactly a normal kid, either."

Luke concentrated as his form morphed into a rhino, charging towards the Granite Man, pushing him backwards, but the man held onto the Rhino's nose, holding his own against Luke's weight.

Cody started coming to, seeing that the car that had smashed on top of Luke had ignited, with the fire headed toward the gas geyser. That's when he noticed the teen from earlier, trying to help his mother back into the car, but the woman was too frail to move fast enough.

"Terrific," said Cody as he saw Luke was too distracted. He rushed toward the teen, scooping the kid's mother up in his arms. "RUN!"

As the trio made their way off the lot, Luke and the Granite Man continued fighting. Luke swung his nose, knocking the Granite Man towards the gas geyser.

"I've waited all my life to get revenge on Plastic Man for turning me into this freak," the Granite Man said as he stood up. "But I'll settle for killing his kid."

Luke saw the fire rapidly heading towards the gas. "Get away from there, it's going to blow!"

The Granite Man laughed as he headed toward Luke. "Nice try, kid, but--"

BOOM!

As the fire touched the shower of gas, the entire gas station instantly combusted, taking everything along with it. Luke was thrown backwards, hitting a tree and getting knocked unconscious.

Cody watched the fireball that was created when the gas station exploded and looked at the kid.

"You saved us," the teenager said as he hugged Cody.

"An ambulance should come with the police and firefighters," Cody told the young man as he looked down at the kid's mother. "Take care of her."

Before the young man could say anything else, Cody rushed off to find Luke.

It was a short while later when Luke opened his eyes, the blurriness adjusting to the sight of a motel room around him.

"Am I in hell?" asked Luke as he sat up, rubbing his eyes.

"Close enough," said Cody as he emerged from the bathroom, drying his hair after having taken a long, hot shower. "We're in a motel room in Colorado. Since we lost Grant's car in the explosion, I kind of...had to call Robin to come pick us up."

"I'm sorry about what happened back there," the young man said as he sat up. "I guess I wasn't expecting my dad's past to bite me in the ass like that."

"It happens," replied Cody as he sat down on the edge of his bed, looking away. His tone was sad as Luke looked over at him.

"Are you going to do the thing you came here for?" asked Luke.

"No time," said Cody sadly. "Our ride will be here soon. They don't know you came with me. I told Robin that I did this alone. Didn't want you to get in trouble. You can like, take the form of my belt or something so he doesn't see you. It was...a stupid idea anyway. I wasn't going to get away with coming here, no matter what the outcome."

A hand was put on Cody's shoulder. As he looked back, he saw Luke had turned into a perfect replica of Cody Driscoll, right down to the smart ass smirk.

"Go," said Luke. "I'll cover for you. You are coming back...right?"

"Come back to your little smart ass attitude?" replied Cody as he stood up and hugged the young man. "I'll be back in our dorm room by morning."

A short while later, the Redbird was driving back towards L.A. as Luke, in disguise as Cody, had to listen to Robin's rants and lectures about responsibility and about being part of a team. Not to mention how he was going to have to pay for Grant's car, as well he was now going to be grounded further for sneaking off. As Luke stared out the window, he hoped whatever Cody was doing was worth it, especially since he was going to give Cody the same lecture when he returned.

Cody stood over his mother's grave, a rose in his hand. He kneeled down, letting the tears fall down his face.

"I'm so sorry, Mama," said Cody said as he laid the rose down on the grave. "I should have been a better son. If I hadn't screwed up...I could have taken better care of you. You'd still be here. I just...miss you so damn much."

As Cody kneeled there, he felt a slight breeze against his skin that wasn't there before. It was almost comforting. He smiled a little as he wiped the tears away.

"Thanks, Mama," said Cody as he touched the headstone. "For everything."

Cody stood up, having said his goodbyes, and walked away. He needed to get home to L.A. to thank Luke for helping him say goodbye to his mother. He wasn't going to admit it, but he was starting to like the annoying little bastard.

In the rubble of the burned down gas station, a granite hand broke through the debris, wanting revenge now more than ever...

To Be Continued...

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