“Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen”
It was a gray day, suitable for the occasion. A light drizzle had fallen earlier, but now that they were outdoors it had stopped. A veritable army of superheroes had gathered to say goodbye to one of their own. Bette Kane stood shivering as she looked toward the grave. Paco Ramone stepped up quietly beside her and draped his jacket over her shoulders. “You okay?” he asked as she pulled the jacket tighter around her. “I don’t know,” she said. A tear escaped her eye as she remembered how it had all gone so wrong… Flamebird saw what was coming and started running forward too late. “No!” she screamed as she raced toward them. Harm swung his sword and the android’s head went flying. The robot stopped moving instantly and a fierce bright light began shining out of the neck stump. “Radiation?” Harm asked as he backed away. Changeling’s eyes widened as Flamebird shouted to him what had happened. “Tara!” he called. Terra ran toward him, clutching her left shoulder. “Can you hold that in so we can think?” ”I think so,” Terra said. She gestured, and a mound of earth flowed up, enveloping the android. Brainwave closed his eyes and concentrated on keeping the android from exploding. “Now we need to figure out what to do,” Changeling said. “Can we fly it away?” “No way,” Eagle said. “If that thing detonates, we’re looking at an electromagnetic pulse that could wipe out anything electronic. I know that I can’t get it into space by myself, and Breathtaker’s powers need air to work.” “Is it possible that Ivo exaggerated?” Shock Trauma asked. “Maybe the explosion won’t be as bad as he said.” “I don’t think so,” Breathtaker said. “Brainwave would have told me if he was lying.” ”Brainwave!” Changeling hurried over to him. “Can you disarm this thing?” ”I don’t think so,” Brainwave said, his voice tight with strain. “It has too many failsafes built into it. The best I can do is try to dampen the explosion.” “Do it,” Gar said. “We’ll figure out what else we can do to stop this.” Brainwave didn’t say anything. He just nodded once as sweat began beading up on his forehead. Golden Eagle turned to Flamebird. “Bette, are you okay?” he asked. Bette blinked and she was back in the cemetery. “I’m sorry?” she asked. “I asked if you were okay,” Jason Parker said. Bette took a deep breath. “I don’t know,” she said. “I’m better than…” Her throat closed and she couldn’t say the name. “I understand,” Parker said as he reached over and gently squeezed her shoulder. He took a deep breath. “This is probably a bad time to tell you this,” he said, “but I’ve decided that I’m going back to school. My GPA’s falling and I could lose my scholarship if I don’t get my focus back there.” “I understand,” Bette said quickly, before Paco could make a rude remark. She took another deep breath and looked at the open grave. “I’d tell you you’d be welcome back with us anytime, but I don’t even know if there’s going to be a team left after this.” ”You’ve never faced anything like this, have you?” Parker asked. Bette shook her head. “No. We’ve lost teammates before, but I’ve never seen one die right in front of me like that.” She looked into the distance, searching for someone and not finding the person. “We’ve lost people like Hawk and Dove, and Hero Cruz died not too long ago, but nothing like this.” Jason could sense how sensitive the topic was and tried to change the subject. “Have you seen-“ “No,” Paco interrupted. “We haven’t seen anything.” ”Right,” Jason said. He reached out and shook Paco’s hand, and clasped Bette on the shoulder. “Then I guess that this is goodbye for now. Stay in touch.” He moved away to another clump of mourners. Bette’s vision fogged as her eyes filled with tears. “Goodbye,” she whispered. “There must be something we can do!” Harm raged. “Maybe I could fly the robot up into space,” CM3 offered. “Or I could try throwing it up there. If I didn’t make it, maybe it would burn up on the way back down,” Risk added. The Changeling paced back and forth. “I don’t know,” he finally admitted. “If you throw it or fly it up, we’re showering the entire area with radiation. There has to be something else!” “We have a problem,” Brainwave said. “This thing’s going critical.” The Changeling’s eyes went wide as he saw light beginning to show through cracks in the dome. “Get back!” he yelled. His eyes rolled back in his head as a small fist slammed into the back of his head. “Take him,” Terra said, handing her husband to Flamebird. “I love you,” she whispered as she gently kissed him on the forehead. Flamebird’s eyes filled with tears as she understood what was about to happen. “You can’t,” she said. “There has to be another way.” ”There isn’t,” Terra said gently. “Just keep him alive. And let him know how much I care for him.” ”I will,” Flamebird promised, finally turning to run as Terra approached the dome. She stopped beside Brainwave, who had been driven to his knees by the pressure. Sweat ran down his face, mixing with the blood from a nosebleed. She gently laid a hand on his shoulder. “Do what you can,” she said. Brainwave allowed himself a quick nod and continued to focus. At Terra’s command, earth flowed up to reform the dome. And then, for the first time, Terra unleashed her full powers. Iron and lead flowed upward to envelope the earth, helping to reinforce the protective cocoon, which was forced inward onto the android and then covered by more layers. Finally Brainwave cried out, “I can’t hold it anymore!” Terra felt the force of the explosion, but used every ounce of strength she had to continue supporting the dome. It only took seconds, but those few seconds were long enough for something to happen. As the explosion died down, Terra’s knees buckled and she fell to the ground with blood streaming from her nose and ears. “Terra!” Brainwave cried as he tried to drag himself to her. Bette turned to see Breathtaker approaching. She was dressed in a modest black dress, and wore a veil that helped to conceal her features. “I couldn’t stay away,” she said as she stopped beside Bette to look down at the grave. “She saved us all.” Bette nodded, not trusting herself to speak. Breathtaker dabbed beneath her veil with a handkerchief. “This is my fault,” she said. “The Overseers were doomed from the beginning. I should have known that trying to put them together again would only result in disaster.” Bette reached out and gently took the other woman’s hand. “You couldn’t have expected this,” she said. “I should have known that Harm was a loose cannon!” Breathtaker said. Bette’s eyes glazed as she remembered what had happened next. “It was an aneurysm,” Karen Duncan said. “She pushed her powers so far it caused a rupture in her brain.” Karen, her husband Mal, and Bette stood in the conference room of the Titans’ headquarters. Gar Logan sat at the head of the table with his head in his hands. His shoulders were shaking. “That’s what took my wife away?” Gar asked. ”I’m sorry,” Karen said. “My wife died because she was saving me?” Gar asked as he stood. He wavered back and forth, but still pushed Bette away when she tried to steady him. “This is my fault?” he asked. “Is that what you’re saying!” he yelled as he took a threatening step toward Karen, who backed away. “Gar!” Bette said, shocked. Gar stopped and turned back to his chair as his fury vanished. “I’m sorry, Gar,” Karen said as Mal steered her out of the room. Bette walked back to Gar’s side and tried to put her hands on his shoulders, but he shook her off. “You know,” he said, “this whole super-hero thing has always been a bad idea.” A tear rolled down his cheek and splashed on the table. “It’s killed my stepmom, my friends, and now my wife. Twice. It’s just not worth it.” Gar stood and faced Bette, fighting to retain his composure as tears still leaked from his eyes. “Do what you want here, Bette,” he said. “I quit.” ”Where are you going?” Bette asked as he turned toward the door. “I don’t know,” Gar said without turning to face her. “Just somewhere I can forget.” He walked out the door and was gone. The Titans were still dressed in the clothes they had worn to Terra’s funeral when they gathered in the conference room. Bette stood at the head of the table but avoided Gar’s chair. She had just finished telling them of what had happened when he had left. “So what now?” CM3 asked. “I don’t know,” Bette confessed. “Jason told me at the funeral that he’s leaving to focus on his studies, but what are the rest of you doing?” ”I’ve got some things going on back home right now,” CM3 said. “I need to head back to Fawcett City.” Risk slumped in his chair. “I don’t know,” he said. “There’s not really much for me outside of this team. You’re the only thing keeping Bones from swooping down and grabbing me again.” Dagon folded his arms. “I have no plans,” he announced. “All of this got me thinking,” Vibe said as he leaned forward. “I kind of wanted to head back to Detroit for a few weeks and see my family.” Bette sighed as she ran a hand through her hair. “I’ve got a standing invitation from the Shade to visit Opal again, but I’ve got a few loose ends I need to tie up here in the city first.” She closed her eyes and a tear slowly trickled down her cheek. “Maybe it’s best for us all if we just took some time off right now.” After the goodbyes were said, the Titans dispersed to pack, leaving only Karen and Mal in the conference room. “What does this mean to us?” Karen asked. Mal pulled his wife close. “It’s okay, baby,” he said. “We’ve seen Titans teams come and go. Seems like the only constant with them is change.” He looked around the room. “Give this some time. I think that there’ll be another one someday. All it means to us is that we block off the entrance from Gabriel’s Horn and go on living our lives. You, me,” he placed his hand on Karen’s swelling belly, “and little Tara.” As they left, Mal paused long enough to switch off the lights. Later that night, a green hound padded onto Tara’s grave and lay down. It raised its head and released a mournful howl as the moon rose. Epilogue A mist formed inside the devastated hulk of Overseers headquarters and coalesced into the form of a man with his black hair pulled back into a ponytail. A white stripe ran up the center of his head. He effortlessly opened a door and stepped into Dagon’s old room. He knelt down and rubbed his finger on a scarlet stain on the floor. He raised it to his nose and sniffed. Andrew Bennett stood. “So there is another,” he muttered as he returned to his mist form and vanished. To Be Continued... AUTHOR’S NOTES And that is the end of Titans West. You may be wondering why the series ended like this and the truth is simply that I felt like I was running low on stories for these characters. But don’t worry! This is not the end for several of them. As you can see be the epilogue, there’s a four issue miniseries coming your way which will star Flamebird, Vibe, and Dagon, and promises a last page of issue four that I think will put a smile on everyone’s faces. Also, don’t forget that Teen Titans: Millennium is still going strong, as the Titans begin to discover a traitor in their ranks. And the Justice League International is butting heads with the Royal Flush Gang over in JLI. This may be the end of Titans West, but the ride’s not over yet! In fact, it’s just getting started… See you in the funny pages! Previous Issue | Next Issue |
