Post by Admin on Oct 21, 2009 12:42:03 GMT -5
Titans Resistance
Issue #32: “Brood of Vipers, Part Two”
Written by Jay McIntyre
Cover by Jamie Rimmer
Edited by Mark Bowers
Issue #32: “Brood of Vipers, Part Two”
Written by Jay McIntyre
Cover by Jamie Rimmer
Edited by Mark Bowers
Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.
Proverbs 3:5-6
Among politicians the esteem of religion is profitable; the principles of it are troublesome.
Benjamin Whichcote
-1-
The Pope could hear them outside.
Not the Markovian soldiers; though after his last disastrous audience with the Empress it was safe to assume that they would be at the doors of the Vatican itself soon enough. No. These were the faithful.
These were his people.
They wanted reassurance. But reassurance would not be helpful. What would be helpful would be to tell them either to fight.....or flee.
A quiet figure stepped into the room. He had gotten past both the Vatican’s guards, and the Markovian troops outside the city’s borders.
He was a thin, spry man, with salt and pepper hair, cut to the quick. He looked old and tired, but otherwise unremarkable.
The Pope knew that he was loosely affiliated with the Society of Justice, but did not know that, at other times, he went by the name Tarantula and wreaked havoc in the Imperial Capital itself.
But he wore no costume now; not even a subdued one. That was part of the real trick of being a ‘Mystery Man’; and that part the Pope did understand.
The Tarantula spoke not a word, but handed over a thin grey envelope and slipped away. The Pope used a golden letter opener to slice it , then withdrew yellowish paper that had the consistency of parchment, but was of course in truth nothing like that ancestor of paper. From experience, the Pope knew it would disintegrate within hours. He read the message inscribed.
’It is true that the Crown Princess has rebelled. Supreme Commander is satisfied by the word of his own apprentice--who is a member of the Princess’s own cabal--and by one of America’s crime fighters, who interrogated her. A meeting between her and the Society high command has not yet occurred, but it will eventually, should she live so long. For the time being, reports to the Society are handled by the Supreme Commander’s apprentice.
The Princess’s cabal calls itself the Titans. They do not answer to the Society nor have they coordinated with them, and the Society leadership believes the Titans’ actions are far too brash and showy--but that has not stopped the Society from taking advantage of the havoc the Titans have wreaked. Also it should be noted that the Society is grateful for whatever help they can get. As you have already heard, the Titans were behind the massive disruption of the Markovian presence in the Italian peninsula.
Membership of the Titans is not relevant for you to know at this time, any more than the details of our own organization. As you surmise, however, the possibility of them entering the Italian Peninsula again is high. They may contact you. The Society cannot advise you what to do if that happens, but if you can help to schedule a meeting between us and them, so much the better.
Your concerns about the Empress are noted, but in truth Society command believes you and your forebears should have opposed the Empire more directly from the start. Ask the Titans for help, if you can find them, or they find you; we cannot spare any special forces to assist you. Indeed, the Titans, with their methodology, might be more suited to the help you believe you require. Good luck with that.’
The letter was, of course, unsigned. The Pope sighed and looked out of the window. It would do no good asking the Society’s unknown leader to prod his equally mysterious apprentice into getting these Titans to come help him; clearly, said apprentice hadn’t even gotten them into meeting the Society itself, yet.
Surely, there would be a way to find them? But no, if that were so, the Empress herself would have already tried it.
So he would do the only thing left for him to do; he would pray.
There were many non-believers who thought the Pope did not truly believe himself; and the Pope knew it had been true of one or two of his predecessors. Then there were the far worse things done by some priests, quite independent of the Markovian problem, for which there had been more than defrocking; there had been outright excommunications. Some of the Cardinals, particularly Cardinal Tosca, had never forgiven him for that. He sighed. It wasn’t hard to guess that, should Markovia bring him down, they would rebuild the Church around Tosca, as their appointed Pope.
But Pope Eugene V did believe. He had seen too many fascinating and magical things in the world, too many points of light in the darkness, not to believe. That was why he had become a priest; why he had risen in the ranks, why he had become Pope at a relatively young age. Of course, he was young no longer.
He entered his private chambers, knelt, and began to pray.
-2-
The Titans walked the streets of Vaasa, in what had once been Finland.
But they were unrecognizable.
Between a combination of Rose’s art of disguise and the power of Green Lantern’s ring, none of them looked remotely like themselves. Terra was a redhead; Supergirl was a brunette; Ravager was an angry-looking punk with purple hair and a false nose ring; Green Lantern was blonde with dark brown eyes; Anarky had been transformed into an old man with gray hair and a limp; Robin and Argent had rich chocolate brown skin and frizzy black hair; Deriven was an oriental with his hair swept back and darkened. They all wore, or seemed to wear, the clothes of merchant sailors.
“This is ridiculous,” Anarky grumbled, but remained faithful to the wheezy-old-man voice they’d told him to use.
“Ships dock here all the time,” Rose answered. “And multinational crews are nothing new.”
“You’ve done this before,” Terra said.
“Scoping out ports to hit is nothing new,” Ravager agreed. “Though I’ve never done it for quite this reason. I’m still not sure you need me to come all the way to Rome with you.”
“We don’t know what we’ll need,” Robin said. “That’s the point, and the problem.”
“Certainly nobody would expect us to come this way to sneak into Rome,” Anarky reluctantly agreed. “It’s both the backdoor and the long way around, unless we wanted to hit the Estonian shipyards. But I don’t see how we’re gonna walk all the way to Rome. Surely it would have been simpler to have Green Lantern or Deriven fly us all there.” He did not include Supergirl because she couldn’t possibly carry them all.
“That would draw too much attention,” Terra said. It was becoming a well-worn discussion.
“And besides, I know a few secret ‘underground railroad’ type pathways the Justice Society has set up,” Green Lantern said. “They’re still gonna want to talk to you, by the way, Tara.”
“I know,” she sighed, “but not today. Assuming we survive this, of course.”
“How reassuring,” Anarky muttered.
“Buck up, honey,” Ravager chided him.
“Yes, dear.”
They vanished into the milling crowds.
-3-
The Empress sat down on her throne in an almost totally unbridled fury and frustration. She rubbed one temple; she hadn’t had a headache this bad since she had learned of Terra’s defection.
“Your Majesty?” General Petrovich dared to ask.
“Prepare a strike force for Vatican City.”
“Not an occupation force?” Petrovich didn’t want to ask the question, given the mood she was in, but tactics demanded it.
She gave a small, frosty smile. “No. Occupation will not be necessary. Simple demonstration of force--and removal of Pope Eugene the Fifth--will be more than sufficient.”
“Ah,” General Petrovitch nodded his understanding.
“At least one Rocket-Man,” the Empress said. “And at least three armored units.”
“Tanks?”
“If you deem it necessary. Show of force, remember. See to it.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.” Petrovich saluted, bowed, and left the room.
-4-
Two weeks later.
The Titans were in southern ex-Germany, approaching the former Italian border. Terra had been twitchy as they bypassed her homeland; now it was Argent’s turn to get the shakes.
They had changed disguises three times. The further they went, the more they began to rely on Green Lantern and what Justice Society tricks he knew. Terra knew that a meeting with the Justice Society was inevitable; not only to establish her credentials with them as she had with Batman, but because they would eventually need the Society’s help. And probably vice-versa. For all Green Lantern’s assurances to the contrary, she was more intimidated by that meeting than she had been by the meeting with Batman.
With the exception of Supergirl and Deriven, the group were edgy and uneasy during their prolonged road trip. Ravager wanted to get back to her ship, even as her relationship with Anarky settled and deepened. Anarky, for his part, enjoyed thumbing his nose at authority; but while he enjoyed the sneaking around, he wasn’t able to blow anything up. Of all of them, he was the one with the most concrete secret identity to lose back at home. Robin was shielded by Wayne and Grayson for the most part in that regard; Lonnie Machin had no such protections. Granted, he was something of a loner. But being a loner wasn’t the same thing as disappearing outright.
Robin and Terra’s relationship continued at its own slow, steady pace, despite Ravager’s encouragements. Though both of them would admit that spending time together like this was helping. Robin’s take on their mission was one of relatively calm patience, though he was as worried as any of them about being caught. “Like a really long stakeout,” was how he described it. Terra herself, of course, was the one who had started this particular mission, and she remained focused on achieving it.
Argent, of course, was having a very nerve-wracking homecoming, though she would not be visiting her old stomping grounds and place of safety. “I don’t want to go back there. La Cosa Nostra sent my family away anyway, and that was probably for the best. Beyond that,” she said, “I don’t want to talk about it.”
Supergirl found the study of “human dynamics” fascinating, both in the team and in those communities they passed through. Deriven took in all in stride, typically of him. He was quietly doing his own part to distract any attention from them, a fact the others appreciated.
“Not long now,” Lantern said.
“I should hope not,” Argent said, and Ravager murmured agreement.
Terra and Robin led them on.
--5--
The Pope performed his usual Wednesday public appearance on the balcony, then slipped back inside.
“Your Holiness,” a page said nervously, “a group of pilgrims is requesting an audience.”
The Pope turned and stared at him. “And you let them in?”
“They were...very persuasive. Apparently they got past the guard, and indeed have travelled through all of Europe to see you. They expressly told me to inform you of this.”
The Pope was suddenly very still. “Send them in.”
They came in, one by one. They looked odd...strange....worn down. Not like the nondescript mystery man he had received weeks before, but coarse, common, poor. Not quite lepers, but close. It was more than them not wanting to be noticed, it was that they were people you would avoid, and deliberately choose not to talk about once they were gone.
Only the Pope had an inkling that this was an excellent cover, supplied and created by more than ordinary means.
“Well,” the Pope said, “you have obviously come a long way to see me, pilgrims. Care to explain why?”
A woman with withered, bleached blonde hair, almost the color of ashes - the aspect of an old woman - seemed to be the leader. “You know why we have come, Pope Eugene the Fifth, born to the name Edward Idris Cassidy.”
For a quiet, unsettling moment, the Pope wondered if this was a visitation from above....or below, instead of who he was hoping for. The lack of proper formal address was part of it, but also the elegant way their leader spoke. But a moment later, his fears were dispelled when the vaguely Hispanic looking member of the troupe flashed a ring on his finger. The flash of the ring was green, and the green grew, until it enveloped all the pilgrims and faded, revealing their true forms.
The withered old woman was now a young, cute blonde in brown. “These are the Titans. I am Terra.”
“So it’s true,” the Pope said, staring at her. “The Crown Princess has defected.”
Terra looked mildly surprised. “Well, at least you believe it, and I don’t have to go through that exposition again.”
“Yes, very sweet,” Anarky snapped. “No time for pleasantries. How long have you been in the Empire’s pocket?!?”
The Pope stared at him for a long moment, then did something none of them, not even Deriven, expected.
He began to laugh.
But not even Anarky interrupted him, for it was plain even to that most radical of radicals that the Pope’s laughter was the bitter, painful laughter of irony.
“You accuse me of working for the Empire,” he finally sighed, “and the Empress accuses me of working with you!”
“Really?” Eric raised an eyebrow.
“Oh yes. Less than a month ago. I expect her armies any time now, to replace me with Cardinal Tosca, who would live down to your expectations. In any event, I have worked with the Society of Justice on occasion. But they don’t trust me much, either. I don’t know who their leader is, but I do understand that his ‘apprentice’ is one of you.”
“That would be me,” Green Lantern confirmed.
“Ah.”
“Way to spread secrets there, chief,” Anarky sneered.
“I don’t think he’s in any position to inform on us,” Lantern snapped back. “Are you?”
“Even if I was, I wouldn’t want to,” the Pope sighed. “I have done what I can to help the Society of Justice, and dissenting believers generally. I have coordinated, reluctantly, with the non-Catholic churches in their more active rebellions. I have tried to preserve the peace, while continuing to wage my own quiet brand of war. What is the Hindu term for it, Passive Resistance?”
“Yes, very sweet,” said Anarky. “But that doesn’t let you off the hook!”
“Anarky,” Robin sighed.
“No, he’s right,” Terra demurred, surprising them all. “You’ve got a lot to answer for,” she said, stepping forward. “Maybe not for the specific reasons Anarky would give, but the general accusation is correct. You and your predecessors,” she said, pointing an accusing finger.
Robin started to step forward, bewilderment on his face, but Ravager and Argent held him back. Ravager shook her head.
“She’s stepping up,” Ravager whispered, single eye alight.
“How many years has the Church played it safe?” Terra demanded, and now even Anarky was positively stunned. “How many times have you played ball? How many times have you given the Empire what it wanted?”
“We helped the rebels as much as we could, the other churches as much as we could!” the Pope protested.
“No,” Terra said. “The Protestants, the Greek Orthodox, the Coptic and Japanese churches, they did all they could. You just did what was politically convenient!”
“So she does have a personal stake,” Supergirl murmured. “Fascinating.”
If Terra thought the Pope would lash out at her, she was disappointed. Instead he merely folded his hands and sighed. “I might point out that you are a child of the Markovian Throne.”
“And I am working actively to atone, which you are not!”
“I--and most of my forebears--merely tried to keep Markovia from attacking Vatican City, and the faithful at large, outright,” the Pope said. “Which, I might add, is almost certainly going to happen now.”
“And so now you need us,” Anarky said. And for the first time ever, the majority of the Titans were with him. A hiss of frustration went through them; save Supergirl and Deriven, who merely exchanged a look.
“i need to get as many innocents out of the crossfire as possible.” the Pope said. “I’ll stand or fall on my own merits, myself.”
Terra’s look became somewhat more calm and measuring. “We’ll do what we can,” she said.
“But for them. Not for you,” Anarky added.
“Alright, you made your point,” Ravager said. “Heel, sparky.”
Robin laughed; Terra didn’t. She kept her eyes locked with the Pope.
He merely nodded.
“Win or lose, stand or fall, know this;” she said. “You can no longer walk the middle path.”
“I believe that choice has already been forced on me,” he said, sadly.
“It shouldn’t have been forced,” she said. “You--your forebears--should’ve chosen long ago.”
“And invite carnage?” The Pope spread his hands.
“Carnage happens wherever the Empire goes,” Terra said. “Believe me on that one.”
The Pope made no answer, save to bow his head.
They made to go as quietly as they came. Supergirl muttered to Deriven, “I thought you would criticize him as well, since you know the truth of the origin of the multiverse.” She tried not to make it sound sarcastic.
Deriven smiled. “Why? Better to have faith in something than no faith at all.”
“I do believe I’m becoming familiar with the human emotion of frustration,” Supergirl said.
Deriven chuckled softly.
--6--
What none of them saw was Cardinal Tosca.
He had been eavesdropping for some time, and almost let out a yelp of outrage when he realized, from the context of the conversation, whom the Pope was talking to.
But he had bit his fingers and waited, until he had heard enough.
Ironically, in his own way Tosca had no love for the Empire either. He would gladly have cast them down, if he could. But only to set up the Church in its place, and the way to do that was from within. Earn the Empress’s trust...and strike when she let her guard down.
Tosca also truly believed in God and what the Church preached.....but his belief was that of the ruthless Crusader. It galled him to work with the Empress in any capacity, but through it the Church would become the true power once again....
....and stamp out the heresies of all the other churches and faiths.
He slipped away quietly. There were cell phones in Vatican City, but he himself did not have one. There were plenty of landlines, however, and one of those would do nicely...
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