Falling Stars, Part One:
“Fallout”
Mr. Smith opened the door to Jupiter’s office. “Loren, we need to discuss-“ He dropped his papers as he saw that Jupiter was lying on the floor in a puddle of blood. With a cry, he ran to his friend’s side. He grabbed his cell phone and immediately began dialing 911. “This is incredible!” Starfire yelled. With a wide smile on her face, she soared through massive rings that appeared in mid-air. She laughed and went into a roll as she passed through another one. Outside the VR chamber, Dick Grayson peered over Mal Duncan’s shoulder at a display. “How’s she doing?” he asked. Mal smiled. “Great,” he replied as he made a few notes on a clipboard. “Smith’s going to be sorry he’s missing this.” Dick stared at the screen, transfixed by the beautiful golden girl. “She’s perfect,” he whispered. Mal laughed as he checked another readout. “Man, listen to yourself. You’re falling for her and she’s only been on Earth a few weeks. You’ve got it bad.” Dick didn’t reply. He kept staring as the Tamaranean princess soared freely in the virtual reality chamber. Donna Troy walked into the gym just in time to see Wally perform an Olympic-level dive. Unfortunately, he hadn’t quite mastered the skill of minimizing the splash, so the resulting wave soaked her from head to toe. A second later Wally stood before her. “Sorry!” he said. “I didn’t see you there.” Donna sighed and flipped her hair out of her face. “It’s okay,” she said. “I was planning on sweating anyway, just not this much.” Wally was now standing in front of her offering her a towel he’d grabbed from across the room. She took the towel and wiped her face. “Thanks.” She looked up at the diving board. “You’re getting better at that.” “Thanks!” Wally said with a grin. “Dick’s been teaching me.” Donna smiled. “You’re going to keep him on his toes,” she said as she started across the room. She picked up some weights and started lifting. Wally grinned again and was back on top of the diving board a split second later. Garth slowly slid to the bottom of the bathtub. He tried to relax, but the bruises that covered him would not allow it. Tula had been training him in the Atlantean arts of battle and so far his blocking skills were non-existent. At least so far they were only using clubs. He dreaded the thought of bladed weapons. He hoped that they could switch to the holographic training room for that. His head touched the bottom of the tub and his eyes closed… And he was somewhere else entirely. Thick, black, sulphurous smoke surrounded him. He tried to walk but looked down to discover he had no legs and his torso had been impaled on a stake. As he tried to scream, he heard horrible, evil laughter. As he fought to free himself, he heard only three words… I AM COMING Garth’s eyes shot open as he heard a scream from the next room. He jumped out of the tub and ran in. Tula was backed against the wall, shaking. Suddenly self-conscious, he grabbed a towel and wrapped it around himself. “What is it?” he asked. “I felt it,” she said. “In your mind.” ”Who was that?” Garth demanded. “Do you know?” Tula got an odd look on her face. “You are not ready,” she said. Without another word, she turned and left the room. “This is wonderful!” Starfire said. She was flying over the city carrying Robin. “I cannot thank you enough for getting me permission to leave that building!” ”Well,” Robin said, trying to ignore the fact that he hadn’t exactly gotten permission. “I know that everyone can use a skip day every now and then.” ”Skip day,” Starfire repeated. “Interesting.” She landed on a convenient roof and raised her hands to the sky. “The sun is so warm.” ”Yeah,” Robin said as he joined her. “It’ll get hotter, too. It’s not even summer yet.” “Wonderful,” Starfire said. “My homeworld is what you call tropical.” ”The entire world?” Robin asked. “Yes,” Starfire said. “It is so beautiful and free.” Robin smiled as he sat down on the gravel rooftop beside her. “It sounds beautiful,” he said. In a tender voice he continued, “Almost as beautiful as you.” Starfire smiled as she looked down on him and then sat beside him. “Thank you,” she said before she kissed him. Wally West smiled as he ran through the streets of Metropolis. After swimming for an eternity (ten minutes total, including the time he’d spent talking to Wonder Girl), he had to get out of the tower for a while to go for a run. So far, he’d stopped four purse snatchings, three muggings, and kept a blind person from stepping off a curb in front of a bus. “There’s nothing going on today!” he said as he slowed to a stop in an empty alley. He began pacing around in a circle so quickly that the light reflecting off his boots formed a ring around him. “I am so bored!” He grinned as he got an idea. “Think I’ll take a look around Mexico,” he decided. An instant later, all that was left were newspapers fluttering down behind him. The ambulance screeched to a halt outside the emergency room. Seconds later, EMTs were rushing Loren Jupiter, on a stretcher, inside. Mr. Smith stood and watched silently. Donna Troy dropped to the ground, breathing hard. She’d just finished her workout. She was walking out when she saw Garth approaching. He was wearing swim trunks and was obviously planning on doing a few laps. She quickly turned around and headed back to the rings. Great, Garth thought. Tula’s avoiding me, and Donna’s still mad, too. He dropped his towel and dove into the pool. What am I, the anti-woman or something? He let himself sink to the bottom and began swimming. I guess I really can’t blame Donna. Still, how many people have their perfect mate already selected for them? Tula was meant from birth to be my bride. I just wish she could understand that and be happy for me. And what’s with Tula? I have that weird dream and now she’s treating me like I’ve got some sort of disease or something. He paused as he touched the wall of the pool. Maybe I should say something to Donna. He surfaced and looked around. Donna was gone. Garth shook his head and sank again. Women. Donna wiped a tear from her eye and was walking down the hall when Wally stopped beside her. He was counting money and had bead necklaces five inches deep around his neck. “Where did you get that?” she asked. Wally grinned and Donna recoiled from his breath. “Never mind,” she said. “I think I can guess.” She looked around the hall and pulled him toward her room. “What were you doing?” Wally thought a moment. “Well, I was in Mexico, so I got into this bar and these guys from college wanted to see who could drink the most water. They started acting funny, but I just kept right on going. Kinda tasted funny, and I wasn’t about to drink any more when I saw this worm in the bottom of the bottle.” ”Oh dear Lord, tequila,” Donna said as she pulled Wally inside and slammed the door. “Keep quiet,” she said as she led him to the bathroom. “We’re busted if Smith catches you in here. Well, we’re double-busted if he smells your breath.” “Then I stopped off in New Orleans on the way back. They were having a parade! And I got all these beads –“ Donna held up a hand as she pulled a bottle of mouthwash out of the medicine cabinet. “I don’t want to hear it. Rinse your mouth out with this.” She waited as he rinsed, gargled, and spit in the sink. Donna sniffed his breath. “Better, but we’re still not there yet. How much did you drink?” “A bottle or two.” Donna’s eyes went wide. “Why?” Donna grabbed Wally by the arm and pulled him out of the room. “Come on. We’re getting you to the infirmary.” ”Why?” Wally asked. “I feel fine.” “You drank two bottles of tequila,” Donna whispered as they entered the elevator. “That much alcohol could kill you! We’re going to get Dr. Faulkner to check you out.” “Whatever,” Wally said. “You want some of these beads?” “Well, this is interesting.” Kitty Faulkner studied a readout in the infirmary. “Is he all right?” Donna asked. “That’s the interesting thing,” Faulkner said. “He’s perfectly fine.” Faulkner turned to look at Wally. “From the looks of these results, he’s been drinking nothing but water.” “That can’t be,” Donna protested. “Just smell his breath!” ”I know,” Faulkner replied. “He smells like a wino.” Faulkner thought a moment. “All that I can figure out is that it’s his metabolism. It must be so fast that he actually metabolizes it as quickly as he drinks it.” “What’s that mean?” Wally asked. “For starters, you’re going to be very popular in college.” Faulkner laid Wally down on the bed. “For now, it means that I want to keep an eye on you. Alcohol levels in your bloodstream can rise for up to six hours after you finish drinking. I want to make sure nothing happens.” ”Are you going to tell Mr. Jupiter?” Wally asked. “Not unless you give me a reason to,” Faulkner said. “And you promise no more tequila.” ”I promise,” Wally said. “I don’t want to drink anything with bugs in it.” ”You might as well go ahead and go,” Faulkner told Donna. “I’ll keep an eye on him.” Faulkner called out to her as she turned to go. “And Donna, you did the right thing.” ”Thanks,” Donna said, smiling. “See you in a little while, Wally.” Smith stood outside an emergency room as inside doctors worked to stop the bleeding in Jupiter’s chest. A doctor had already told him that Jupiter’s wounds weren’t life threatening as long as they could get the bleeding stopped. Smith simply watched and thought about how he would tell the Titans. Next Issue: Mr. Smith tells the Titans the truth about Jupiter’s injuries, and they set off on their own to locate Roy. Previous Issue | Next Issue |
