“Charma-ed”
“Let’s stop in here!” Tara Markov exclaimed. Gar Logan fought to keep from rolling his eyes. They were in a mall, and Tara was pulling him into every store that sold anything remotely related to housewares. Gar was starting to worry about what his apartment would look like when she finished. As Tara ooh-ed and ah-ed over shiny kitchen implements (most of which looked like alien torture devices), Gar glanced at his watch. “Listen, I need to call the base and check in,” he said. He pecked her on the cheek. I’ll be back in a few minutes.” Before she could say anything, Gar was out of the store and dialing on his cell phone. Instead of calling the base, he called Bette. “Hey, Gar,” she said. “What’s going on?” “This is nuts,” Gar said. “You know, I used to enjoy going to the mall. Of course, then I was shopping for myself. Now I’m learning just how many different types of silverware there are! Did you know that there is such a thing as a chafing dish? It sounds like something you’d wear when your pants are too tight, but of course we’ve got to have one.” Bette laughed. “Come on, Gar. You’re getting married. Don’t worry. This’ll all be over soon and then things will start getting back to normal. Well, as normal as they’ll get.” “Thanks, Bette. You’re filling me with confidence.” Gar looked around as an alarm started sounding. “Hey, Bette, something’s going on down here.” His eyes widened as he saw a herd of people going into a store and coming out with everything they could carry. “Listen, I think you guys should get down here. Looks like we’ve got a mob scene starting and I left my beeper at the apartment.” ”We’re on our way,” Bette replied. Gar flipped his phone shut and slid it into his pocket before turning and approaching the mob. As he got closer, he saw that it was all men. They were entering a clothing store. Gar changed into a hummingbird and flew over their heads, then landed on a light fixture. As he watched, they raided the racks, but only grabbed specific articles of clothing. That’s weird, he thought. As he looked closer, he saw that they were only grabbing one specific size. As they filed out, Gar flew ahead of them and saw that the Santa throne had been pulled out and set in the middle of the mall. All of a sudden his attention was grabbed by screams. He looked to the side and saw that an empty storefront was filled with women, screaming with rage and fighting to get out through the security gates. Gar turned his head again and looked at the throne. An army of men was kneeling before it, offering up their gifts. On it was the most beautiful woman Gar had ever seen. His mouth dropped open as he returned to human form. “Gar?” Tara scowled as she looked around the mall, which was emptying quickly. She was carrying four overfilled bags of various kitchen implements. “For crying out loud,” she muttered. “I can’t do this all alone.” She plopped down on a bench and looked around. “I can’t believe he just took off like this.” She folded her arms and fumed. On a whim, she pulled out her cell phone and dialed Gar’s number. It rang with no answer. After twenty rings, she ended the call and called the base. Mal answered. “Hey, Mal,” Tara said. ”Tara!” Mal said. “Is everything okay?” ”What do you mean?” Tara asked. ”The whole team just took off out of here,” Mal explained. “Bette got a call from Gar. He said that it looked like there was some kind of mob scene going on down there.” ”That’s weird,” Tara said. “I’m out here looking around and I don’t see anything.” She paused a moment. “Actually, that’s true. I don’t see anything at all.” She looked around the empty concourse. “Where are all the shoppers?” “Listen, the team should be there in a few minutes,” Mal said. “I’m sending this through to the jet as well, so they’ll know what they’re getting into. Stay put. Hook up with the team and you can all figure out what’s going on together.” ”Wait a second,” Tara said, fighting to pick up her bags as she stood. “I think I see something.” ”Tara, I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Mal said. “If something’s gotten Gar, we can’t afford to lose anybody else. Stay put!” Tara’s eyes widened as she saw a mob of men heading toward her with the most hideous witch she’d ever seen leading them. Just seeing the woman filled her with rage. She grabbed a knife from her bags and charged the woman. Her phone fell to the ground. With a screech, Tara drew back the knife and prepared to stab the woman. A hand grabbed her wrist and forced it down. Tara continued screaming as the fingernails of her other hand drew deeply into her captor’s face. Gar Logan simply punched her into unconsciousness, ignoring the blood flowing down his cheek. “Excellent work,” the woman said as she stroked Gar’s unharmed cheek. “Now go and put her with the others.” Her voice was soft and silky and had a honey-like tone to it. With joy, Gar threw his unconscious fiancée over his shoulder and headed for the makeshift prison. “Did you get that?” Mal asked. “We got it all,” Flamebird replied. “Can you hear anything else?” Mal frowned as he bent over his keyboard. “Nothing I can make out,” he said. “Sounds like she’s walked away from the phone.” “Great,” Flamebird said. She glanced out the forward window as Red Star started the jet downward. “We’re landing now.” ”Be careful,” Mal warned. “We don’t know what’s going on down there.” ”No problem,” Flamebird said with a smile. “Everything’s going to be fine.” A mailman whistled as he was depositing mail in the building’s mailboxes. He slid a letter into Bette Kane’s that would change her life. He finished his work and left the apartment building with Bette’s letter still waiting for her. The Titans filed out of the jet and stood looking at the mall. “Here’s the plan,” Flamebird said. “This is a big place, so we’ll split up. Eagle and Bumblebee, take the second story. Vibe and I’ll start out at the arcade and make our way toward the center. Star, you come up from the other side.” The team split up and ran toward the mall. Golden Eagle and Bumblebee flew just below the ceiling of the mall. “You okay?” Eagle finally asked. “You’ve been really quiet lately.” ”Just have a lot on my mind,” Bumblebee replied. “Hang on a second. Look at that.” She pointed at a record store that the mob was just leaving. They landed and went inside. “That’s odd,” Bumblebee said. “Why didn’t they take everything?” ”Yeah,” Eagle said. “All that’s missing is boy band stuff and sugar-pop. They left everything else.” Bumblebee bent down and picked up a CD. “Hmm. The Tobias Christopher Connection’s MC Erik album.” “Put it down,” Eagle warned. “Believe me. I’ve heard stories about people who shot themselves after hearing that CD.” “Why? Does it have some sort of mind control messages like the old Beatles stuff?” Eagle shook his head. “No, it’s just horrible.” “I’m going to let Bette know about this,” Bumblebee said. Golden Eagle left her and walked outside (taking care to crunch the CD under his boot on the way out). He looked down and saw the beautiful woman. Before he knew it, he was diving to land and kneel in front of her. ”Jason?” Bumblebee turned to see that Eagle was gone. She stepped outside the store and saw the horrible witch leading a mob. With a shriek of rage she dove toward the mob, only to be struck by an armored gauntlet. As she reeled backward, Golden Eagle readied for his next shot. Down below, it was the same. Flamebird somersaulted backward as Vibe fired shock waves toward her. A fist from Red Star struck her in the back of the head and she fell to the ground, unconscious. They looked upward at Bumblebee, still locked in combat with Golden Eagle. A cruel smirk crossed Vibe’s face as he started firing at them. The shockwaves that missed flew past and struck the ceiling, sending chunks of plaster to the concourse below. From a shadowy niche overhead, the owner of two glowing red eyes decided he’d seen enough. Charma, the woman at the center of the mob, smiled. Her army of men was doing exactly what she’d hoped. Soon she’d have everything she ever wanted and wouldn’t have to lift a finger. Of course, the fact that women were instantly driven into a rage by the same pheromones that made men her obedient slaves was unfortunate, but she decided that the men would protect her. Just then, there was a thump behind her and a cold arm stretched across her neck. “Let them go,” a dead voice said. “I can’t,” Charma said. She smiled as she saw that her men were growling and approaching to rescue her. “Call them off,” the voice said. “Do it or I’ll snap your neck.” “Stop,” Charma said. While the men stopped, she released even more pheromones. “Good girl,” the voice said. “Now it’s nap time.” ”You can’t hurt me,” Charma blurted. “You’re a man! I have control over all men!” She let out a cry as the arm shifted to a chokehold. That was all she said as darkness filled her vision. Dagon released the hold and she fell to the ground. When he looked around, he saw that the men were starting to stagger. “So what happened next?” Sonya asked. “The technicians from STAR said that her pheromones cut out when she was knocked unconscious,” Leonid said. “They have since moved her to a cell where the air is heavily filtered when it exits.” ”So her powers are neutralized.” Leonid could picture Sonya, on the other end of the phone, as she leaned back against her couch. “Interesting.” ”Thanks, Roy,” Gar said. He hung up the phone and turned to Bette. Dagon sat outside. “Well, Roy vouches for him.” “That’s nice, but I’m still not sure I trust him,” Bette said. “That whole Overseer business…” ”I know,” Gar said. “Plus, there’s that business with him and Tara. It’s like he knew her and Mirage somehow, but they don’t remember it.” ”So why are we even having this discussion?” Bette asked. “Because I’m not so sure that it wouldn’t be a good idea,” Gar admitted. “The team’s going to really be shorthanded with Tara and me gone on our honeymoon.” Bette’s insides turned to ice at the word honeymoon. “Plus, he does seem to want to make up for what he did with the Overseers. It sounds like Bones really flimflammed him into joining the team. And then Roy’s vouching for him, too.” ”Roy Harper?” Bette asked. “The same Roy Harper who attacked us a while back along with the rest of the old Titans?*” (*TW 14 – db) “I’ve really been thinking about that,” Gar said. “I can tell,” Bette said. “I was surprised when you asked Donna to be in the wedding party.” “I realized something not long after we wound up at the Teen Titans’ headquarters,” Gar said. “I’ve known Donna and Wally for too long to think that they’d try something like that. I don’t see Roy or Garth trying it on their own, either. That leaves one option.” “Nightwing,” Bette said. “That explains a lot.” “Yeah.” Gar looked back toward the door. “Guess we know what we’ll do next.” Dagon looked up as the door to Gar’s office opened and he stepped out. “Can I ask you something?” Gar asked. Dagon nodded once. “I understand that you don’t show up in pictures. How does that work?” Dagon shrugged. “It just does.” Gar folded his arms. “Then it’s going to be really tough on Jack Knight to paint your picture for the wall.” He extended a hand. “Welcome to the team.” Dagon grabbed his hand and shook it. Although Dagon’s hand was cold, the look on his face was not. Jason Parker ducked as a CD flew past his head into the wall and exploded. He turned and saw a furious Karen Beecher standing there. “What’s wrong?” he asked. “You owe me five dollars,” she said as she pointed at the remains of the disk. It was a bootleg copy of the Tobias Christopher Experience’s MC Erik album. “How is it my fault?” he asked. “You got me intrigued in that mall!” she responded. “It was horrible! I didn’t even make past the first song, `Where My Giganta, Yo?’!” She took a deep breath. “All it was was some guy screaming about how," Karen's voice changed as she imitated the rapper, "somebody name Casey hate me, Jamie hate me, I love me. Then all he did was scream the F-word for ten minutes! It’s about as intimidating as hearing Jonathan Taylor Thomas rap.” Karen turned and stormed out of the room. Jason just stared at the remains of the CD and started laughing. Next Issue: At long last – the return of the Fearsome Five! Previous Issue | Next Issue |
