“So now what?" Vibe asked. He, Bumblebee, and Golden Eagle stood back-to-back in the middle of a mall. They were surrounded by snarling Wildebeests.
"Anybody got a machine gun?" Golden Eagle asked.
"Not helping," Bumblebee said. "Why did CM3 have to leave?"
"How long can it take to turn in Sidearm?" Vibe asked.
"Too long," Bumblebee said. "I think these things are getting ready to make their move. Eagle, we need some space."
"Got it." Golden Eagle grabbed one of Vibe's arms, Bumblebee grabbed the other, and they lifted into flight. Below them the Wildebeests jumped at them to no avail.
"So running away works," Vibe said. "What's the next step?"
"I'm working on that," Bumblebee said, "but first we need to set down somewhere. Any ideas?"
"Corn Dog on a Stick has a two for one special," Golden Eagle said.
"What's with you today?" Vibe asked. "I'm supposed to be the smart-aleck."
"Sorry. Nearly getting mauled by a bunch of whatever they ares has got me rattled." Eagle scanned the upper level of the mall. "That looks like a good spot." The Titans landed, coincidentally, in front of Corn Dog on a Stick. "How long do you think we've got?"
Bumblebee quickly ran through calculations in her mind. "Not long," she finally said. "I think we need to stick together. If we split up, all they'll do is pick us off one by one."
"Like it'll take `em long to do that anyway," Vibe said.
Bumblebee ignored him, but her voice did gain a note of tension. "Can we try calling in Arsenal or Troia? They're right up the coast."
"B-11," Arsenal said. Again he wondered how he'd gotten roped into leading this bingo game at the Golden Years Retirement Community.*
(*You mean you're not reading Arsenal? These illustrious residents have had a major role in that book! - db)
As he reached for another numbered ball, he heard a crash. He looked up, expecting to see that the large woman that resembled Jabba the Hutt in a muumuu had let one rip and blown something over. Instead he saw Troia, an unusual look of rage on her face, storming toward a hole in the wall.
"Squishy squishy this, you pervert!" she yelled as she dove at an old man lying in the hole.
Arsenal just shook his head and started forward to prevent Troia's first homicide.
"No answer," Bumblebee said, folding her cell phone closed.
"Great," Vibe said. "What could they be doing?"
"I don't know," Golden Eagle said. "Actually, I'm kind of glad we can't get through. They've done a lot and they've never called us for help."
"I guess you're right," Bumblebee said. "Any more ideas?"
"Other than not spilling any sort of salt or ketchup on ourselves? I'm pretty well out," Vibe said.
Bumblebee took a deep breath.
"Could we try calling CM3 on the communicator?" Eagle asked. "Surely he's done dropping off Sidearm at the police station by now."
"On this?" Bumblebee held up her communicator, which had a boot print crushed into it. "Paco kicked me as we took off. What about your suit radio?"
"No good," Eagle said. "There's some sort of interference and I can't break through."
"Great," Vibe said. "So we're all gonna die in front of…" He turned around to see where they were standing. "Big and Round for Ladies." Vibe turned back to the team, his face dour. "We're gonna die in front of a fat women's store."
"We're not going to die," Bumblebee said. "And it's full-figured."
"What?" Vibe asked.
"Full-figured is the proper term."
"For what? Women the size of a dump truck?"
"Excuse me," Eagle said, "but those things are getting closer. Could we continue this conversation somewhere else?"
"Let's go," Bumblebee said as she and Eagle picked up Vibe and moved again.
"Hello?" Bette Kane called out as she walked into Titans West HQ. "Hmph. Figures. I get back from the weirdest Wimbledon trip ever* and there's nobody here to say hi."
(*For details, check out the Flamebird miniseries - db)
She frowned as she walked into the monitor room. Finding it empty as well, she fired up a computer and started checking her email.
"Oh this is much better," Vibe said. The Titans were now hiding in front of the Big Bad Boyz Shoppe. It wasn't filled with biker clothes.
Bumblebee took a deep breath before she spoke. "Anybody got any more ideas?"
"Well, we're running out of mall, so we'll have to start running away the other direction pretty soon," Vibe said.
Bumblebee fought for control as she turned to Vibe. "Do you have anything constructive to add?" she asked.
"Just that I'm getting tired of running away, Leader-Lady." Vibe stepped forward and stuck his finger in Bumblebee's face. "Listen. We're in a tough spot. You wanna lead, then lead. We can't deal with this if we keep running away."
Bumblebee scowled. "I never asked to be leader," she said, fighting to keep her voice level. "Gar picked me and I took it to be polite." She leaned into Vibe's face. "I'm tired of being polite. You want to lead?" she asked. She punched him in the chest. "There! You're leader! Enjoy!" She turned and flew away.
"Well, that's got us screwed," Eagle mused. "I think you pushed her too hard. Now it's just the two of us against a dozen of those things."
"Great," Vibe said. He pulled his communicator out of his pocket. "I'm going to try and call CM3 back here. You got any more ideas?"
"Sorry, I'm out of the idea biz," Eagle said. "But I think we should find somewhere to stay undercover until he gets here."
"See if you see anything that looks promising," Vibe said. "The ceiling would be nice."
"Without Bumblebee, I don't think my armor's strong enough to lift us both," Eagle said. "Even if it can, I doubt it'll hold us for long."
Vibe bent over the communicator and began working as quickly as he could to contact CM3.
CM3 was flying back to the mall when his communicator started beeping. He pulled it out. "Hello?" he asked.
"CM3, this is Vibe! We need you back at the mall! It's just me and Eagle, and we've got a dozen Wildebeests after us!"
"Just you two?" CM3 asked. "What about Bumblebee?"
"Forget her! Hurry up! You're the only backup we've got!"
"On my way," CM3 said. He switched off the communicator, slid it back into its place under his belt, and started flying faster.
"Well, this looks sturdy enough." Vibe and Eagle had taken cover in a bookstore and pulled down the steel cage over the entrance.
"I think you're right," Eagle said as he studied the front of the store. "The cage goes behind those display windows, so that should keep them out."
"Great. So we're trapped here until CM3 gets back." Vibe leaned against a bookcase and a book with a picture of a dog fell on the floor.
"That's about the size of it," Eagle said. "You know, they'll probably laugh us off the team for this."
"Maybe not," Vibe said, staring at the book with an odd look on his face. "You got some screamers with you?"
Eagle reached into a storage pouch and felt around. "Yeah. Why?"
"Cause I'm getting an idea," Vibe said with a smile.
The Wildebeests appeared in the corridor just as planned. Vibe stood there alone. He waited until they were in position.
"Now!" he yelled. Eagle threw two screamers behind them, cutting off their means of escape. They clapped their hands over their ears and started toward Vibe, who dropped two more, blocking that path as well. Together they ran into an empty storefront. Vibe pushed them back with a sonic wave and dropped the cage door. A quick twist of his wrist later and they were locked in.
"All right!" Vibe said, giving the landing Eagle a high five. "Now who's getting laughed off the team?"
"Sonics. I can't believe that I didn't remember how sensitive they'd be to high-pitched noises."
Vibe put an arm around Eagle's shoulders and started leading him away. "Just look at it like this. We just took down 6 of those things each. Can you think of anybody else with better odds?"
Karen Beecher didn't even glance up as her office door opened and closed. "What's gone wrong now?" she asked as she signed off on another report.
"You did," Bette Kane said. Karen looked up.
Bette leaned across the desk. "What were you thinking at the mall?" she asked. "You ran out and left those two against that pack of Wildebeests alone."
"I could ask you and Gar the same thing," Karen replied, fighting to keep her cool. "I never wanted to lead this team. The only reason I joined was to keep Cody out of the DEO's hands." She waved over her desk. "Ever since I joined, I've been shot, my husband's had a heart attack, and I'm drowning in my job." She leaned back. "I can't play superhero anymore. I've got grown-up problems in a grown-up world."
Bette folded her arms. "What are you saying?" she asked.
Karen slid her communicator across the desk to Bette. "I think that sums it up," she said. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm extremely busy." She grabbed another report off the pile and started scanning it.
Bette pocketed the communicator and left without another word.
Epilogue
“The Day After”
"So Karen's gone," Paco said to Bette Kane.
"Looks like it," she said. "So the whole time I was gone, you guys only fought those Wildebeest things and Sidearm?"
"Hey," Paco said with a grin. "It was a slow couple of weeks."
Golden Eagle flew over the city. Coming up here refreshed him. He landed on the roof of the Questcorp building and sat down; letting his legs dangle over the edge of the building. He laid back and stared up at the sky, just looking at the clouds.
"Get away from me, man!" Richard Smith yelled as he fired three shots down the alley. "I just wanted her money! I wasn't going to hurt her!"
"Too bad," his pursuer said in a cold voice.
"I mean it! I was going to let her go!"
His pursuer slowly stalked his prey. "So that makes everything better. That makes you pointing a gun at a defenseless old woman perfectly acceptable."
Smith backed up and fell over a pile of garbage in the alley. He let out a cry as the gun skittered away. His fumbling for it was interrupted when the pursuer picked him up and threw him across the alley. His breath was knocked out of him as he slammed into a wall and dropped to the ground.
"Wait a minute!" he said as he got a good look at his pursuer. "You won't hurt me! You're one of those Titans!"
"Yes, I am," the pursuer said as he grabbed Smith's hand. "But I am going to hurt you. Just like you've hurt everyone in this neighborhood." Smith screamed as the pursuer snapped one of his fingers. "Why are you crying?" the pursuer asked. "We've still got nine to go." He moved on to the next finger and snapped it as well.
This continued until all ten of Richard Smith's fingers were broken and his hands had been smashed. The gun had been crushed and crammed into Smith's mouth, breaking several of his teeth in the process. His work finished, CM3 flew away. As he flew, the rage that had bubbled over inside him began to recede.
Gar Logan moaned. "What's wrong, baby?" Tara whispered in his ear. "Aren't you man enough to take it?"
"No," Gar admitted, pushing his plate away. "I can't eat another one of these sausages."
Tara smiled as the servants began to clear the dishes. "They are good, aren't they? That recipe's been in my family for generations."
"And it's only gotten better with age," Gar said as a maid refilled his glass.
"We need to get packing tomorrow," Tara said.
"I know," Gar said. "I just wonder what the team's been up to while we've been gone."
"Uh-uh," Tara said, waving her finger at Gar. "Remember. That's one of the rules for our honeymoon. No contact with the team. No worries about them."
"So how long have we got left?" Gar asked.
"We're leaving tomorrow," Tara said.
Gar walked over and scooped Tara into his arms. "That's not much time," he said. "Better make the most of it while we can." She only giggled as they left the dining room.
"What're you doing up here?" Golden Eagle looked up as Dagon landed beside him.
"Just relaxing," Eagle said. "Feeling the sun on my skin."
"For some of us, that's not as pleasant," Dagon said, sitting down as well.
"Yeah," Eagle said, suddenly thinking of something. "You're a vampire, aren't you? I thought you burst into flames in sunlight."
Dagon smiled, revealing his fangs. "You've been watching too many Christopher Lee movies," he said. "All sunlight does is weaken me. I'm only about half as powerful in the daytime as I am at night. That's why I like to sleep during the day."
"I see," Eagle said. "By the way, what do you think of those movies?"
"Pretty bad," Dagon admitted. "Although I liked seeing him as Dracula and Peter Cushing as Van Helsing."
The two continued talking about movies for hours.
"Well?" Karen Duncan asked. "Can you tell?"
"I wouldn't worry, Mrs. Duncan," the doctor said. "Everything's developing normally and we're out of what I consider the danger stage. Just avoid anything unusually strenuous and everything should be fine."
Karen smiled. "Good. I can't even tell you how worried I've been about this the past few weeks. I haven't even told Mal yet."
"Go ahead," the doctor said. "I don't foresee any complications."
Karen smiled and rubbed her stomach. "We've got some news for your daddy, little guy," she said.
"So that's what happened?" Paco asked.
Bette smiled. "Yep."
"That's impossible. You could not have done all that."
Bette shrugged. "What can I say?" she asked. "We're still here, so I guess that everything came out okay in the end." She stood and cracked her back. "I've got to get back to the apartment. I'm still trying to unpack." She gave Paco a peck on the cheek. "Dinner at seven?"
"You know it," Paco replied. The two walked out of the meeting room, Bette pausing to turn out the lights on the way.
And Life Goes On…
Next Issue: Flamebird's back, but Bumblebee's out! How will TW respond when they're confronted by the forces of Dark Nemesis?
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