Teen Titans: Millennium

Mr. Smith returned to his room in the skyscraper that served as the school and headquarters for the Teen Titans. He wearily rubbed the bridge of his nose. At last Loren Jupiter was out of danger. Now he had to tell the Titans the truth about what had happened.

He would have rather been stabbed himself.

The next morning, the Titans were assembled around the long meeting table. Robin was whispering to Starfire. Wonder Girl was sitting with her arms folded. Aqualad was trying to talk to Aquagirl and getting stonewalled as a result. Kid Flash was staring intently at a Game Boy. His tongue was sticking out of his mouth as he tried to catch `em all.

After an eternity, Smith walked in and sat down at the head of the table.

”Where’s Mr. Jupiter?” Robin asked.

Smith took a deep breath and tried to work out his answer in his mind. Finally he saw no way around it and told the truth. “Mr. Jupiter is in the hospital. He was attacked two days ago and stabbed. He is out of danger but still weak.”

Robin jumped to his feet. “Where did this happen?” he demanded. “Have the police been notified? Has his attacker been caught?”

It would be him, Smith thought. “He was attacked in his office and the police have been notified.”

“He’s got video cameras in his office!” Kid Flash said. “We can check the tapes and see who did this.”

”Wally’s right,” Wonder Girl added. “With our powers, it won’t be any problem.”

Smith sat down. “In accordance with Mr. Jupiter’s wishes, you are to do nothing.” He waited out the resulting outcry. “We already know the attacker and are working in our own way to locate him.”

“Not good enough,” Robin said. “We want this guy.”

Smith decided to bite the bullet. “You are all confined to the tower until further notice.”

”Who was it?” Aquagirl asked. “You at least owe us that.”

Smith stood. “Mr. Jupiter was stabbed by Roy Harper.” He turned and walked out.

“I can’t believe it,” Donna whispered as tears began to flow down her cheeks. “I just can’t.” Garth clumsily reached over and put his arm around her. Donna pulled him close.

Dick stood and walked to the head of the table. Starfire was fuming. “This is not right,” Koriand’r said. “We have been betrayed. Loren Jupiter must be avenged.”

”You heard him,” Wally said. The Game Boy lay on the table, its screen blinking “You Win!” “We’re stuck here until Jupiter says otherwise.”

”No, we’re not,” Robin said. He leaned over the table at his teammates. “I’ve got a plan but I have to know – are you with me?”

”Yes,” Koriand’r said.

“He needs help,” Donna nodded.

“We started this together and we finish it together,” Garth said.

“If my prince says that we join you, then we do,” Tula said with a jealous look at Donna.

“Sure,” Wally said.

“Good,” Dick said. “Here’s what we do.”

“Man, are you out of your mind?” Mal Duncan whispered. He and Dick were in the security office. “If we get caught in here, they’ll fire me so fast…”

“Don’t worry,” Dick said. “Just tell them I forced you to help me. If it’ll help, I’ll knock you on the head before I leave.”

”Thanks loads,” Mal said as he scammed the security tapes. “Here we go.”

Dick watched. On the tape, Jupiter laid down a fencing foil and sat behind his desk as Roy walked in. “This would really help if we had sound,” Dick muttered.

“No way,” Mal said. “Mr. J barely let them put the cameras in.”

Dick was starting at the screen. His lips were barely moving. “Give me a pen and paper,” he ordered. “Hurry!” Mal gave it to him and he began frantically scribbling.

“Don’t tell me you can read lips,” Mal said. Dick ignored him and kept writing.

Mal’s eyes widened as Jupiter spun his computer monitor around. “Now why’d he do that?” he asked.

“Can you track down that website he’s showing?” Dick asked.

“No problem,” Mal said. “I can pull it from our server logs.”

Dick nodded once and returned his attention to the screen. “Skip it. Jupiter just said that the site’s gone. No clues there.”

Mal’s jaw dropped as Roy grabbed the epee and stabbed Jupiter. “It’s him all right.”

Dick’s face was stony as he watched Roy clean out Jupiter’s pockets. “Stop the tape,” he said as Roy ran out of the camera’s range. Mal pushed a button and the screen went black.

“So what’s going on?” Mal asked.

Dick thought a moment. “Get the others to the meeting room,” he said as he turned to walk away, his notes clutched in his hand. “I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

Dick scanned the room. Half of it hadn’t been cleaned since Roy had vanished. Finally he saw what he was looking for. He moved to the baseboard and eased it up along the small scrape it had made in the paint. He reached into the cubbyhole and pulled out a small bag containing Roy’s “supplies.” He scowled and went to the meeting room.

“All right, Dick,” Garth said. “What have you found?” He was obviously speaking for all the other Titans seated around the meeting room table.

Dick poured out the bag’s contents on the table. There were gasps of shock as the team realized what it was. “Roy’s on drugs,” Dick said.

“That’s why I can’t sense him.” Garth said. “My telepathy’s increasing to the point where I can sense you all.”

”Then you can read our minds?” Starfire demanded.

“No,” Garth said. “I can only tell if you’re awake or asleep. Things like that. Roy’d been dropping out of my senses at times. Now we know why.”

“So what’s the plan for going after him?” Tula asked.

Dick sat down and thought.

Loren Jupiter’s eyes fluttered open and he looked around the hospital room. A rare smile crossed Smith’s face as he noticed Jupiter was awake.

“It is good to see you,” Smith said. He carefully filled a cup with water and gave Jupiter a few sips.

“Where am I?” Jupiter asked. “I remember I was in my office.” Smith quickly filled Jupiter in on all that had transpired.

Jupiter frowned. “They will try and go after him, you know.”

Smith shook his head. “I am quite sure they will respect your wishes.”

Dick finally looked up. “We aren’t.”

”You’re crazy!” Garth yelled, slamming his fist against the table. “He nearly killed Mr. Jupiter! We can’t just leave him out there!”

“I agree,” Wally said. “We’re supposed to catch the bad guys, right?”

Donna finally spoke up. “I say we go after him. Even if we’re not trying to catch him for what he did to Mr. J, he needs help.”

“Help?” Starfire asked incredulously. “He deserves to die for what he’s done!”

“We don’t operate that way,” Dick said firmly. He frowned again. “I’ve thought about this a lot. Roy’s always gotten himself into messes and he’s always taken the easy way out. He needs to ask this time.”

”What do you mean?” Garth asked.

“I’ve studied his history,” Dick said. “He didn’t like a foster home he was in, he’d just get himself thrown out. Any time that something wasn’t going his way, he’d figure out how to cheat his way out of it. This time he helps himself.”

Donna wordlessly stood and walked out. Garth scowled Dick’s direction and also left, closely followed by Tula. Starfire shrugged and walked out as well. Only Wally was left, and his attention was focused on his Game Boy as he tried to snatch `em all.

“Great meeting, Dick,” Robin said to himself. “Great job of resolving that conflict.” He slumped down at the head of the table just as Wally’s Game Boy beeped and whistled, signaling he’d just gotten another one.

Mark Lewis was a seventeen-year-old employee of the local Big Belly Burger whose highest concerns were for his face to clear up and for Connie, the new cashier, to notice him. “Lotta chance of that happening,” he muttered as he picked up another trash bag. He headed out the back door, leaving a trail of ooze behind him. “Connie’ll never notice the trashman.” He sucked on his retainer, another bad habit that he tried (unsuccessfully) to break. He then noticed he wasn’t alone.

Somebody else was dumpster diving, retrieving what he could. “Hey!” Mark yelled. “Get outta here or I’ll call the cops!” A plastic fork whizzed through the air, impaling Mark’s left shoulder. Mark screamed and ran back inside.

Roy Harper jumped out of the bin and ripped open the bag. “Still wrapped,” he said with a sarcastic smile. “I love closing time.” He crammed the burgers into his backpack and ran into the night.

As he returned to the alleys, he glanced upward and caught a glimpse of the tower that served as Titans headquarters. He felt a pang of sadness and again contemplated trying to go back. No problem there. Another hit of the good stuff hidden in his jacket pocket and the problem would be solved. Roy continued down the alley, eventually being swallowed up by the darkness.

Next Issue: Someone’s looking for Starfire, and these guys don’t look friendly! Can the Titans repel an alien attack?

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