Titans West

Bette Kane leaned over Mal's shoulder as he made an adjustment on the main board. "That should do it," he said as Gar Logan's face popped up on the main screen.

"Hi, Gar!" she said. "How's it going?"

Gar took a deep breath. "It's bad, but it could've been worse. The Questcorp offices were about a couple of blocks away from the collapse, so the only damage was some broken windows and a lot of dust. I'm just thankful that we've found out we didn't lose anybody."

Bette leaned in closer. "How are you doing?" she asked.

"I'm getting there. It's just day by day right now. Anyway, Questor wants me to stay out here for another day or two until we can get the offices back up and running again."

"Poor you," Bette said.

"Just the hazards of serving on the Board of Directors." Gar turned around, where a workman was getting ready to plug in a vacuum. "Looks like they're getting ready to vacuum in here, so I'd better go. Take care, and I'll see you in a couple of days!"

"Seeya soon," Bette replied with a smile. Gar winked as the screen blinked out.

"So," Mal said. "Looks like you're in charge for a couple of days."

"Yeah," Bette said. "Right now I'm just wondering what's going on. I'm supposed to have dinner with Cody tonight, and the restaurant we were going to is booked solid."

"Whoa!" Mal said. "Head on down to the Blue Note. I'm on good terms with the owner. I'll make sure you've got a good table."

"Thanks, Mal! I'll go let him know that he doesn't have to worry about the reservations anymore." Bette stopped as a light started flashing and Mal angrily thumped a control on the board. "What's wrong?"

Mal rubbed his forehead. "I don't know. There must be a short somewhere. That's an intruder alarm and it just keeps going off for no reason. I've been over it. Karen's been over it. I guess I'm just going to have to completely rewire the stupid thing. At least I managed to shut off the audio alarm."

"Don't worry. I'm sure you'll figure it out." Bette checked a clock built into the console. "I've got to go get dressed. Have fun!"

"Sure," Mal said. For some reason, spending the entire night rewiring the alarms didn't sound like much fun to him. He walked over and grabbed his toolbox.

Golden Eagle was the first. As Jason Parker walked out of the UCLA library, a friend named Alex Richards ran up to him.

"Hi, Jason," she said. "Are you ready for the Anatomy exam on Friday?"

"I think so," he said. "I've been studying for hours. Still, that's all part of the wild life of a pre-med major!"

Alex smiled shyly. "I guess so. I'm just not getting it."

"It's not so bad - whoa!" Jason let out a yell as a wall of earth shot up in front of them.

"What's going on?" Alex asked, terrified.

"I don't know," Jason said. His eyes widened as he saw a tendril come out of the wall and come toward him. "Run!" he yelled, pushing Alex back toward the library. He ran another direction. Gotta get some ground between us, he thought. Whatever that thing is, it's after me! Jason glanced around and didn't see anything as he ducked between two buildings. "This should keep it busy," he murmured as he ran down the narrow alley. "Now I've just got to get my costume and I can -" Jason stopped suddenly as a wall of earth engulfed him. Before he could fight his way out, it started constricting and forcing the air out of him. Jason's eyes rolled back in his head and everything went black...

Red Star looked up as he heard a knock at the door. “Come in!” he called. Risk walked in, a necktie over his shoulder.

“Hey, Leo,” Risk said. “Could you give me a hand with this? I’m just not that good at it.”

“Of course,” Red Star said as he walked over.

Risk was impressed at how quickly Red Star was able to work with the tie. “You’re really good at this.”

Red Star smiled. “My military training at work. It was never good to look poorly at inspection.”

Risk looked around the room until his gaze fell upon a picture of Leonid with Pantha and Baby. “Is that Pantha?” Risk asked.

Red Star smiled and nodded. “Yes. We took that a few weeks before I transferred here.”

“What happened?” Risk asked. “You look so happy.”

Red Star took a deep breath. “We were. Then one night we were at S.T.A.R. Labs in New York, and interrupted some thieves. That’s when this happened.” Red Star turned around and pulled up his shirt. Risk could easily see the puckered scar of a gunshot wound on his back. “After I was shot, Pantha and I disagreed on how to deal with the situation. I was more than willing to let the authorities handle it. Pantha would not have been satisfied with anything less than killing them all.”

“And that’s when you moved out here.”

“I found out I was being transferred and decided that it was best if Pantha and I spent some time apart.” Red Star stepped back, then straightened the tie.

Risk examined himself in Red Star’s mirror. “All right!” he exclaimed. “All I need is my jacket and then watch out, Bette! Thanks, Leo!” he yelled as he ran out the door.

Red Star’s smile faded as his gaze returned to the latest email he’d received from Pantha. It read, “Got a good lead on Deadshot and his boys. Gonna take care of them. Love ya, Pantha.*”

(* For more on Pantha and Baby’s adventures, check out Deadshot at DCA now! – db)

Bumblebee was the next target. Mal knocked gently on the door to Karen’s office. “Come in,” she called. He walked in and sat down, noticing she was on the phone. He waited until she hung the phone up and rubbed the bridge of her nose.

“Bad day?” he asked.

Karen smiled wearily. “Trying to get things worked out with the Slab in Metropolis to relocate our guests from the Brotherhood*. Seems they’re not really eager to take them, and Belle Reve’s full.”

(*Plasmus and Monsieur Mallah were captured in TW #3 – db)

“You’ll work it out,” he said. “Come on. You’ve been working hard all day, and I’m taking you out to dinner.”

Karen stood and pulled on her coat. “You’re too good to me.” Mal simply smiled as he opened the door...

...and a wall of earth slammed past him and engulfed Karen! She barely had time to scream before she vanished from view.

“Let go of my wife!” Mal yelled, reaching into the mass to try and retrieve Karen. He was defenseless when he was pulled in and knocked out as well.

Bette smiled as she opened the door to her room and saw Risk standing there. “Wow!” she said. “A tie? I wasn’t sure you’d be able to tie it!”

Risk smiled. “Hey, there’s lots of stuff you don’t know about me. Wanna find out?”

Bette shrugged and took his offered arm. “We’ll see.” Together, the two walked down the hall.

Red Star whirled around as a brown mass slammed his door open. He quickly ignited and charged, only to be immediately swallowed up. The mass retreated with Red Star inside, leaving only the shattered door as proof it had been there.

Bette and Risk sat at their table as their water refilled their drinks. “So,” Bette said.

“Yeah. Nice place,” Risk replied.

Bette smiled as she looked around. “Mal’s really done a nice job on the place. Hard to believe it used to be a disco.”

“Get real!” Risk said. “A disco?”

“Yeah. It was the team’s original base. Well, as close as we ever got to a base. We were a bit more...unstable back then.”

“Unstable?” Risk asked.

“Hawk was the leader,” Bette explained. “He wasn’t really the greatest choice, even with Dove there to keep him in line.”

Risk nodded. “It was the same with my group of Titans. Atom tried to lead us, but all he seemed to do was tell us how great the JLA was.”

Bette smiled. “Well, it looks like we’ve really made it.” She raised her glass. “To the team!”

“To the team!” Risk said as their glasses clinked.

They both sipped and dropped their glasses as the screaming started. People began stampeding out as the large wall of dirt shot up from under the floor. Bette jumped onto the table and launched a kick at it. She screamed once as it swallowed her.

“Babe!” Risk yelled as he ripped off his jacket and tie and charged. “Give her back!” he yelled as his fists slammed into the mass again and again. It made no difference when he was swallowed a second later.

Finally, Flamebird’s eyes fluttered open. She noticed that she was wearing her uniform. Looking around, she also saw the rest of the team, imprisoned on an odd golden device. She tried to free her hands, but they were bound behind her back. She coughed as someone breathed cigarette smoke into her face. Bette’s jaw dropped as she saw the mastermind behind this attack. “How?” was all she could whisper.

“Hiya, Blondie,” replied a sneering Terra.

To Be Continued...

Next Issue: Terra has betrayed the team! What’s going to happen when Gar gets back? And what does Terra have planned for him? Find out in Terra Rising: Part 2!

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