Titans West

"Out of the Dark"

A burst of light suddenly appears in the middle of a devastated New Jersey farmhouse. Slowly, painfully, the light begins to grow and take on human proportions. After an eternity, the transformation is finished. David stands and looks around. "Donna?" is his first word in eternity. He looks through the ruins and keeps calling names. "Donna? Terry? Carrie?" Finally he pauses. "Where is everybody?" An instant later he is gone in a cloud of smoke.

Miriam Delgado, once known as Mirage, awakened from a light nap when she felt a cold breeze blowing over her. Miri's eyes widened as she realized that the window is open. "Julienne?" she cried as she ran up the stairs. "Julienne?"

Mirage froze as she saw a man standing over the crib, looking down at the sleeping child. "Get away from my baby!" she yelled.

The man turned and Mirage gasped as she saw his face. His eyes were red. His skin was deathly pale. "Miri?" he asked. "What's wrong?"

Mirage scowled. "I don't know who you are, but get away from my child," she said coldly.

"Miri, it's me!" he said. He took a step toward her. Mirage thought about attacking, until she realized that if he was approaching her, then he was moving away from the baby. "Don't you remember?"

"I've never seen you before in my life," Mirage said.

"We were Titans! You, me, Terra, Redwing, Killowatt, Prester Jon, and Battalion! Don't you remember?"

"I don't know who most of those people are," Mirage replied. "And I most certainly don't know you."

"I don't understand this!" he yelled as he kept approaching Mirage. "We met when we fought Lord Chaos! What's happening!" Mirage gasped as he faded into smoke and flew out the open window. She ran over and looked out, but he was gone.

The man sat in a small clearing, bathed by moonlight. Tears flowed down his cheeks as he remembered what had happened. During the Zero Hour crisis, he'd been ripped out of the timeline. However, he could not be erased from time. He supposed that this was due to his undead status. He'd been forced to watch his friends die, wiped from existence, and then even his body had been shattered. But he'd survived. Survived, and fought ever since to pull his body back together. He looked up at the moon. "Tara," he whispered. "Surely you'll remember." His body shifted into the shape of a grotesque man-bat, and he took flight.

Tara Markov rolled over and felt a cold breeze blowing across her. Her eyes fluttered open and she saw that her window was open. "That's weird," she said. She stood and moved toward the window. "I could have sworn I closed that."

"Tara," a voice behind her said.

Tara whirled around. "Who are you?" she demanded. "What are you doing in here?"

"You don't remember me either?" he asked. "You and Mirage have both forgotten me?"

"What did you do to Mirage?" Tara yelled. "If you hurt her..."

"No!" the man yelled. "I've got to get away!" Before Tara's eyes, he changed into smoke and blew past her, escaping out the window. Tara ran to the window and searched the night, but he was gone.

He reformed in the street outside Titans West headquarters and slumped against a streetlight. A moment later, a limousine pulled up and the back window rolled down. A man with a skull for a face called his name.

"You know me?" the man asked.

"Yes," the rider replied. The man in the car explained his proposal for a new super-team, and the man on the street grew more and more excited. He shook the man's gloved hand as soon as it was offered and climbed into the limo. He smiled as the car pulled away from the curb. Dagon had found a home.

"Daddy's Little Demon"

Joshua kept his hands in his pockets as he wandered down the street. He didn't even look up. He knew he already stuck out like a sore thumb with his red skin and his black eyes. He shivered as he saw a church, and quickly crossed to the other side of the street to pass it.

You're the spawn of the devil! his father's voice echoed in his head.

"Maybe you're right," he murmured, smiling slightly. "Why don't you ask him for me?" The thought of the night he'd killed his father still brought a smile to his face. It was just too bad that the Justice League had had to interfere with his plans to destroy his hometown.*

(*Justice League America #99 - db)

It was all his father's fault, of course. His father ran the chemical plant that had leaked and caused the mutations in the town's children. It was his father who'd locked him away in a dungeon for his entire life. And it was his father who stood at the side of the Justice League as he detonated his bomb.

Still, some things had gone right that night. He'd gotten away, and he'd managed to grab most of his father's fortune at the same time. A scowl crossed his face as he thought about his disciples - the town's other children. They'd turned against him at the end and now were calling themselves the "Strangebrood." A stupid name. His lips started to twitch upward again as he thought of the satisfaction he'd take in teaching them the error of their ways.

He glanced at the local paper in a display box. Nothing special. He glanced around and decided to have a little fun. Joshua began walking down the street. When he was a good distance away, he pointed at the box. A ball of fire appeared inside it and greedily devoured the papers. People stopped, stared, and started pointing. Joshua simply smiled and crossed the street, the church safely behind him.

You belong in the deepest pits of hell! "And I love you, too, Dad," Joshua said as he blended into the crowd. As much as he'd like to stay, he knew he couldn't. He had to be on time for a very important meeting. He was about to become a founder of a new superteam.

"A Second Chance"

Provoke looked up from where he'd been kept waiting. He rubbed the restraint collar around his neck and smiled as he recognized the person approaching. Breathtaker sat down beside him, a frown on her features.

"You look lovely, as always," Provoke said softly.

"Shut it," Breathtaker replied. "I just want to know why they didn't leave in the pit they'd thrown you into."

A smile crossed Provoke's features. "Come on, dearie," he said. "We had some good times with the Hangmen."

Breathtaker turned to look at him for the first time. "Yes, I did," she replied. "And you weren't there for any of them."

"No talking," the prison guard across the hall ordered.

"Come on, now, officer," Provoke said. "Surely you'll let me catch up with my old mate here, won't you?"

"No talking!" the guard yelled as he swung his nightstick. Provoke crumpled to the floor, a knot already forming on the side of his head.

"What'd you bloody do that for?" Provoke asked.

"We know all about your powers," the guard replied. "That collar should keep you in line, but we're still not going to let you use that silver tongue of yours to try and control anyone around here."

"It wouldn't bother me if you decided to cut that silver tongue out," Breathtaker said.

Provoke groaned as the guard pulled him up and slammed him back into his chair. "Don't feel like you've got to help me,' he said.

"My pleasure," Breathtaker said with a smile.

The guard looked up as the light above the door changed to green. "Get in there," he ordered. Provoke and Breathtaker stood and walked into the room. The guard took up a position outside, his taser at the ready.

"Well, well, well," Director Bones said. "Provoke and Breathtaker. Please have a seat." Bones opened a couple of file folders as they sat down. They sat in uncomfortable silence as Bones reviewed the files.

"It looks like you've done some pretty bad things," Bones finally said. "All these murders you're suspected of and you get caught for trying to kidnap Roy Harper's kid. You Hangmen were really amateurs."

Provoke and Breathtaker silently glanced at each other, both wondering what Bones was up to.

"I'm here to give you a choice," Bones said as he lit a cigar. "Choice one is you stay here. Breathtaker can go back to her little plastic cell, and Provoke can go back to being terrified of what's going to happen to him in the showers."

"What's the second choice?" Breathtaker asked. Provoke had turned an interesting shade of pale.

"Freedom." Bones held up a finger. "With a few conditions. You come and work for me."

"This isn't some Suicide Squad thing, is it?" Provoke asked. "I'm staying right here if it is."

Bones steepled his fingers. "And I'm sure that Major Force would be quite pleased to hear that. We've spoken, you know. He has some very interesting plans for you. He told me about them after he finished talking about that pretty face of yours."

Provoke swallowed hard as the final color drained from his face. Sweat beaded up on his forehead. Breathtaker raised her hand to cover her smirk.

"But that's not why I'm here," Bones finally said. "I'm forming a new superteam." Bones stood and walked to the window, his hands behind his back. "I've been studying your files, and I believe that you two have potential. You two have worked together before, which is something I could use. I need people experienced with teamwork. You may be able to work with the team's leader in getting the proper discipline into the team."

"Who is the leader?" Breathtaker asked, leaning forward.

Please don't say Major Force, Provoke thought.

"He... has not been contacted as of yet. However, I am sure that he will be more than willing to work with us. And don't worry, Provoke. Your would-be boyfriend isn't on the list."

Provoke exhaled heavily and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"We have been having some problems with a team out west. Your assignment would be to deal with this problem for us."

"It's those Titans, isn't it?" Breathtaker asked. "We saw the television coverage."

Bones scowled. "The television coverage will be dealt with. What I need from you two is a commitment to help prepare this team to shut those Titans down."

"What'd they ever do, anyway?" Provoke finally asked.

"I would advise you not to ask that question again," Bones said coldly. He held up a form. "This is a cell transfer form. All I have to do is sign and you're Major Force's roommate for the next fifteen years."

"Sorry," Provoke whispered, his eyes wide.

Breathtaker smiled. "Where do I sign?" she asked. "I'm willing to come on board."

Provoke merely nodded like his head was about to fall off and reached for a pen.

Bones watched them sign the government contracts and his invisible lips contracted in a smile. All was going perfectly.

"Back From the Dead"

Billy screamed as the whip tore across his back. The flaming leather left welts that were now splitting open and what was left of his blood was seeping out. Billy grabbed a breath as the whip stopped for the first time.

"Take him to Neron," he heard the demons bark. Billy was pulled to his feet and dragged out. He'd been kneeling so long, the skin of his knees was left on the red-hot rock floor.

The demons threw Billy to the ground inside the throne room. "Pitiful," he heard a voice say. Slowly he raised his head. His eyes widened as he recognized the blond-haired man sitting on a throne, sipping a glass of what appeared to be blood.

"Pitiful," Neron repeated as he stood and walked to Billy. "Look at this. I am searching for an avenger, and you bring me this crying, pathetic thing."

"L- Lord Neron," Billy said, forcing his tongue to move and form coherent words for the first time in months. "Please."

Neron stepped back, amused. "Rise," he said.

With effort, Billy stood. Somehow he forced the fact that he was naked out of his mind. He ignored the blood he felt running down his back. He ignored the sizzle he heard as the drops of blood splashed onto the ground. The burning in his feet from the coals that formed the floor was normal by now.

"Well, now," Neron said. "Perhaps you do have potential." He turned and returned to his throne. "Tell me," he said as he sat. "How did you come to be here?"

"My father shot me," Billy replied.

"Ah, but there's more than that," Neron said. "Isn't there?"

"Yes," Billy said. "I was promised eternal life."

"And therein lies our situation," Neron said. "You see, I know the one who made that promise to you."

"Buzz," Billy said with hatred.

Neron smiled. "Yes. Buzz. Recently, he's decided to start playing for the other team, helping that pesky Supergirl." Neron leaned forward. "What would you give me for another shot at Buzz?"

"Anything you wanted," Billy said instantly.

"Excellent," Neron said. He stood and began walking toward Billy. "As you may know, I am a man who believes in fair deals. I don't believe that Buzz kept yours. However, I will." Neron's lips drew back past his teeth in a grin. "Here is what I want. Return to earth and kill Buzz's human form. With Buzz dead, I can handle him in my own way." The demons gathered around the throne romm began laughing maniacally. Neron smiled and continued forward, "In return, I will you give you the one thing I know you desire most." Neron drew so close that his breath was hot against Billy's ear. "Kill Buzz and you will never have to return to this place again." Neron backed away. "What do you think?"

Billy knelt before Neron. "I accept your most gracious offer, Lord Neron."

Neron smiled. "Good. Then on your way!" Neron waved his hand, and a cloud of black smoke enveloped Billy. When it cleared, he was gone.

Billy opened his eyes to a cool breeze. A cruel smile crossed his lips as he started forward. Harm had returned to Earth.

"Follow the Leader"

Director Bones was running late. The members of the new team looked at each other. Provoke still hung close with Breathtaker, while the others simply lounged around and waited. At last Bones entered.

"Good morning, Overseers," he said. "Allow me to make some introductions."

"Breathtaker. A beautiful young woman who has the power to pull the air out of your lungs." Breattaker smiled.

"Provoke. A sadistic man with the power to take total control of one mind at a time." Provoke nodded.

"Harm. A man of mystery, who has agreed to join us in exchange for the DEO's help in locating someone." Harm's eyes narrowed.

"Joshua. A man mutated by an uncaring father's chemical plant, who has gained the ability to create hellpockets - pockets of flame on earth." Joshua smirked.

"Dagon. A vampire out of time." Dagon looked up but didn't move otherwise.

"And now, let me introduce you to your leader," Bones said proudly as he led the final member of the team inside. The team had varied reactions - some with shock, some didn't know who the leader was. Breathtaker and Provoke simply smiled knowing smiles at each other.

"Hi, boys and girls," Risk said. "Who's ready to kick some Titan tail?"

To Be Continued...

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