“Mindscape”
Bette rolled over and got her good morning kiss. “Morning,” she whispered. “Yeah,” Gar replied. “I’ll go ahead and get some coffee going.” ”Wait,” Bette said as she reached for her husband. “I can do that.” ”That’s okay,” he said as he kissed her again. “It’s your birthday.” And Gar, wearing his birthday suit, headed for the kitchen. Bette lay back in the luxurious bed, remembering their wedding four years before, shortly after Titans West had disbanded again, this time for good. From the kitchen, Bette could smell bacon and eggs beginning to fry. It was a good life. Still, something kept niggling away inside her mind. Wait a second. Gar’s marrying… Tara? How can that be? She died just before the team broke up! What’s going on? Gar walked back in. “Honey!” he called. “I’ve got your present!” He led in Nightwing, wearing only his mask and a red ribbon around his waist that culminated in a strategically placed bow. Okay. This can’t be right. “Come on, Bette,” Nightwing called, suggestively offering her a loose end of the ribbon. “You need to unwrap your present.” ”This is wrong,” Bette said as she scooted backward in her bed. “This can’t be right.” As soon as the words left her mouth, everything seemed to freeze. Mento appeared in her bedroom and all the pieces clicked together. Mento. That explains everything. He’s got us in that dream world of his again! Mento stopped before the bed. He nodded and Bette was standing in front of him in her Flamebird costume. “Impressive,” he said. “And frustrating. Why can’t you just accept this? Spend your life here – grow old with Logan. Or Nightwing. Or anyone you want.” ”It’s not good enough,” Bette said. A cold smile spread across Mento’s face. “Of course. Perhaps you do not want to choose. Perhaps you would like Nightwing and Logan. Or perhaps you would simply like to watch.” He motioned and Nightwing and Gar began moving again. “Stop it,” Bette said as she averted her eyes from the spectacle. “It’s not good enough because it’s not real.” Gar and Nightwing pulled away from each other long enough to lay a hand on Bette and try to pull her toward them. “We’re as real as you want us to be,” they each whispered into one of her ears at the same time. ”This isn’t real and it never will be!” Bette yelled. Gar and Nightwing recoiled and froze again. “Very well,” Mento said. “Perhaps this will suffice.” He nodded again and they were gone… Flamebird stepped out of the elevator and into the Watchtower’s meeting room. Batman ignored her as she approached the meeting table where the seven members of the JLA were seated. Superman, however, stepped forward and took her hand. “You saved us,” he said with a smile. Batman simply snorted. “Shut up,” Green Lantern whispered. “You’re just upset that she caught that clue and you missed it.” ”Beginner’s luck,” Batman snarled back. Superman ignored the exchange. “You’ve more than proven yourself. Welcome to the team.” Wonder Woman stood and embraced her. “Congratulations.” Batman jumped to his feet. “This is preposterous. She gets lucky and you put her on the team? I quit.” He stormed out toward the transporter. “Don’t worry about it,” Aquaman said. “He does that about three or four times a week. He’ll be back in an hour.” “Nice try,” Flamebird said. “This still isn’t real, Mento.” The world froze and Mento reappeared. “Very well. Your clarity of mind is impressive.” ”Where is the rest of the team?” Flamebird demanded. “Come with me,” Mento said. He led the way out of the room and into a long hallway. “Here we are,” he said. Bette cocked her head toward one of the doors where a faint cry could be heard. “What’s that?” she asked. “Nothing for you to concern yourself with,” Mento replied quickly. “We can go in and observe your teammates. Feel free to scream at them as much as you wish. They will be unable to see or hear you.” He opened the first door and they entered. “It was a beautiful ceremony.” Bette recognized the woman who gave Gar a kiss on the cheek. ”Thanks, Mom,” a beaming Gar replied. His father stepped forward and clasped his hand as well before going off in search of the bride. He was stopped by Steve Dayton and Rita Farr. “How can you do this?” Bette asked. “How can you be this cruel?” Mento turned toward her. “Cruel?” he asked. “I’ve given him back his family! How can that be cruel? It’s his deepest wish. Don’t be jealous just because it’s less sexually explicit than yours.” ”His parents are dead,” Bette shot back. “Nothing you can do can resurrect them.” ”I’m sorry if I’ve offended you,” Mento replied in a tone that showed that he was the offended one. “Perhaps I should change the scene so that he could be having sex with twenty women at once! Would that suit you better? Or perhaps he should just have one. A certain blonde-haired teammate of his who harbors a deep love for him that she hides because she knows that it is unrequited.” Bette turned around and stormed out. As she waited in the hallway for Mento to join her, she saw that the door the voice was coming from had been boarded over. “Perhaps we should check in on your current sweetheart,” he said. Paco Ramone turned back. “Hey, J’onn!” he called. “We’re heading out to see Jewel of the Nile! Want to come?” J’onn J’onzz didn’t even look up from the console he was working at. “I saw it last night. You four have a good time.” ”Sure thing!” Paco walked out of the JLA’s Detroit bunker along with Cindy Reynolds (Gypsy), Hank Heywood (Steel), and Mari McCabe (Vixen). “You look surprised,” Mento observed. “Did you think that you would be involved in this?” “No,” Bette replied. She crinkled her nose as a guy with a Flock of Seagulls haircut walked past. “I just can’t believe that I would have ever worn something that ugly.” “You’re stalling,” Mento observed. “Don’t worry. Mal Duncan isn’t going to come out of nowhere and save you all this time. This isn’t cyberspace. This is my mind, and I am in control here.” Bette frowned. “And that gives you the right to treat them like this?” ”You have no ground to say anything,” Mento said. “I’ve seen your dirty little fantasies. They’re no better.” ”You sick –“ Bette started and then she kneed Mento in the groin without thinking. He fell to the ground with a cry and Bette took off out of the room. She ran down the hall. Searching for an ally, she pulled open a door and saw Jason and Charley Parker inside playing video games. An idea struck her and she ran to the boarded-up door. She pulled the boards off the door, thinking it felt like there was something pushing them off the door toward her. Finally she opened the door and stepped inside. “Oh my,” she whispered as she saw who was contained inside. “Blast!” Mento yelled as he pulled himself to his feet. At a thought, Vibe’s dream world vanished and now Mento hovered before the assembled team. “My young friends,” Mento told the unmoving Titans. “It seems that Ms. Kane has decided to destroy your perfect lives. Go kill her.” ”Not so fast,” Bette said as she reentered the room. “I just found out who you were hiding.” ”You couldn’t keep me locked up forever,” Steve Dayton said as he walked into the room. Dayton turned to Bette as fury spread across Mento’s face. Dayton nodded and a door appeared behind the team. Bette looked out through it and she could see the Titans’ meeting room. “Get them out of here,” Dayton instructed as he entered battle with Mento. Bette nodded and hurried to the team. She picked up Gar. Although he was as stiff as a statue – he was almost weightless. After sending him through the door, she just started working her way down the line. Jason was next, then Karen, Leonid, Mal, Tara, and Paco. Lastly, Bette jumped through herself. Bette opened her eyes and sat up. Looking around, she saw that the others were seated around their meeting table, just as they had been when Mento broke in and seized control of their minds. “Is everybody okay?” Gar asked. Nods came from around the room. “Where’s Mento?” he asked. “Over here,” Vibe called. He and Leonid picked up Mento and set him in an empty chair. Leonid pulled the helmet off his head. Mark Dayton looked up and smiled. “Well, that seems to have worked out well,” he said. He turned to Leonid. “Feel free to smash that thing.” He stood and walked down to the end of the table where he grabbed Gar in a fierce hug. “It’s good to see you, son.” “So how exactly did that happen?” Tara asked. Karen shrugged as she studied her console. “The best I can figure is that Dayton’s mind was wiped out back during the last fight we had with him.” ”But I thought Mento was in cyberspace,” Tara said. “I’m not sure of that myself,” Karen said. “Somehow he got back into this Dayton’s head and took over his body.” “Weird,” Tara said. “I know. Then, Mento apparently used his powers to take Steve Dayton, the sane Steve Dayton, and remove him from the equation.” ”So when Bette found him…” ”He took back over.” ”Wow.” Tara shook her head. “I think that we’ve been underestimating her.” Karen smiled. “People’ve been doing that for years,” she said. “So, what are you going to do first?” Gar asked. Dayton smiled as he straightened his tie. “First, I think we’ll go see Questor. I’d think he could use another mind in his science division.” He turned away from the mirror and toward Gar. “And then I want to go out and have lunch with my son.” Together, the two walked out of the room and headed for the elevator. Next Issue: Who is Charma? She’s got the team at each other’s throats! And the only person who can stop her isn’t even a member of the team! Previous Issue | Next Issue |
