CRISIS #7: Teen Titans #10

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Teen Titans

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Issue 10: “Forever and Never, Amen!”
Written by David Charlton
Cover by Ramon Villalobos
Edited by Mark Bowers[/center]

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…And there came a day, unlike any other, when the world’s greatest heroes faced their greatest threat… Coveting the legendary Anti-Life Equation that would make him the Master of the Universe, the evil god Darkseid brought death and destruction to Earth… Now, the fiery, black planet Apokolips hangs above the Earth and the two worlds go to war! Separate and taken by surprise, the heroes of Earth struggle just to survive!

… First blood was drawn in Metropolis. Striking a deal with Lex Luthor for the comatose body of Superman’s half-brother Kru-El, Darkseid’s chief scientist Desaad transforms the Kryptonian into the rampaging killing machine called Doomsday! A fierce battle ensues and for the first time, Superman falls in battle! Dragged in chains to Apokolips, the Man of Steel is Darkseid’s prisoner…

… On Oa, the Green Lantern Corps is sabotaged and betrayed by an agent of Apokolips. The Central Power Battery is destroyed and the Manhunters, ancient enemies of the Guardians of the Universe have launched a successful assault on the planet. Oa falls, and the mysterious new Manhunter Grandmaster sends a prisoner to his ally Darkseid--- the Guardian Appa Ali Apsa!

Meanwhile, on Earth, Green Lantern Hal Jordan finds himself, inexplicably, in possession of the only working power ring in the universe, and uses it to save Coast City from a massive tidal wave threatening the Pacific seaboard--- and to soundly defeat Kalibak, the son of Darkseid in a fearsome brawl!

… As the captured Guardian Appa Ali Apsa is taken to Apokolips, he escapes briefly before he is recaptured over Metropolis--- but not before he can bathe one particular Earthling in a weird emerald light… changing Kyle Rayner’s life forever!

...In Gotham City, the alien assault hits the hardest and the city falls to the brutal General Steppenwolf, but not before the Dark Knight Detective is able to smuggle out (with the help of Nightwing) the one man Darkseid wants the most: Scott Free, the vaunted Mister Miracle...

... Following the nefarious Virman Vundabar through a boom tube, the New Outsiders become stranded on Apokolips itself. And while part of the team launches a desperate mission to rescue one of their own from the clutches of the despicable Desaad, the rest of the team joins the Hunger Dogs in a bold uprising against Darkseid himself...

... At the same time, the Challengers of the Unknown also find themselves on the dark planet, battling Doctor Bedlam...

... And against all odds, Nightwing safely delivers Mister Miracle to his fellow New Gods in Metropolis...

Heroes will rise and heroes will fall. And the DC2 will never be the same again…!

CRISIS: The Apokolips Imperative, Part 7!

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The click of his boot heels echoed hollowly in the cold stone corridors, but he heard neither it, nor the muffled cries of agony that always seemed to be coming from just around every corner on Apokolips. No, Lex Luthor adjusted his cufflinks and strode the halls like they were his own, projecting all the calm and confidence he could muster under the circumstances: he was marching into Darkseid’s palace for a confrontation with the dread god. And though his special bodyguards, Mercy and Hope, walked but one step behind him, he thought that even they might be over their heads here if they got in trouble.

The burning red light ahead proclaimed the entrance of Darkseid’s throne room.

It was a macabre scene. The chamber was vast, the ceiling lost in darkness where darker things fluttered. Slimy abominations crawled out of Luthor’s path, leaving a trail of slime. Two parademons passed them, dragging between them a twisted, broken body that left an ugly smear on the floor. The room was lit with the red glow of miniature fire pits, burning in what appeared to be indiscriminate spots on the floor like infernal pustules. The throne was on the far end, and as Luthor approached, he could not help but be awed by the god that sat upon it. Darkseid was fearsome, all uncompromising, depraved evil. The Lord of Apokolips watched as Luthor approached, and all the weight of the air seemed to congeal around him.

Being crucified on the wall to either side of his throne were three figures, with room left for a fourth. Luthor had not been prepared for this sight. In fact, he was considerably disturbed.

Two of them he didn’t know. One was a small, blue skinned alien in red robes, tattered and burnt now, and another was also an alien, larger and green, bearing a vague resemblance to the Martian Manhunter hero who had been around in the ‘50s and ‘60s on Earth. Surely this broken and bloody thing was not him…? No, it was the third figure that gave Luthor pause. Though he was bruised and battered, and one eye was nearly swollen shut, and his uniform had been reduced to shreds of singed cloth, Superman was awake and defiant.

Luthor was appalled--- and surprised at his own reaction. Here was Superman, his greatest foe humbled, at last defeated and brought low, but Luthor could find no joy in it. Darkseid had done what Luthor never could: here was Earth’s greatest hero, her most powerful guardian, a plaything for the Dark God to toy with until he was used up. And like a modern-day Judas, Luthor had delivered him up to the enemy.

The Man of Steel watched Luthor, but said nothing; it seemed to be an effort for Superman to just lift his head.

“It is called inertron,” came the sepulchral voice, ponderous and dripping with murder. The Dark God had spoken, his incarnadine eyes on Luthor.

“W--- What?” It took a moment for Lex to find his voice, or to look away from his vanquished foe.

“The manacles that bind the Kryptonian. They are made of a substance called inertron. It is the hardest metal in the universe, and has the unique property of sapping all the power and energy from organic beings. It also keeps the Martian from maintaining a cohesive form, and the Oan from simply vanishing.”

“There’s room for one more.” Lex noted the empty shackles dangling next to Superman. “Expecting more guests?”

“Those,” Darkseid inhaled sharply, his ashen lips curling, “are reserved for my foster son, the so-called Mister Miracle.”

Lex nodded. Hate to be that poor bastard…

“Why have you come here, Lex Luthor?” the Dark God of Apokolips rumbled. “The subjugation of your planet is almost complete. The Hellborers are falling and Desaad has prepared the Infernal Machine. Soon, this fair Earth will mirror the dark majesty of Apokolips.”

“And I will be your viceroy, right?” Luthor finished for him, taking a small step forward. “You know, the one to collect the tribute and command the slaves to build statues in your honor… To rule in your stead when this is all over.”

Darkseid said nothing, but regarded Luthor in stony silence.

“When this is all over…” Luthor mused, his chin set, his indignation flaring. “We have a deal, Lord Darkseid! I gave you the means to take Superman, and in return you agreed to spare Metropolis! But your forces are crawling all over my city. I want them out!”

Still the unnerving silence. The eyes of Darkseid did not leave Luthor’s. Lex began to sweat, but he continued on.

“If I am to rule effectively when this is over, we’re going to have to work together better than this. If I am undermined, you will have revolution on your hands--- Whoa!”

While Lex was speaking, Darkseid’s crimson eyes burned steadily brighter, until twin beams of hot energy came shooting out. Lex barely had enough time to throw up his hands, though he knew this would be fruitless; but the beams did something that defied the laws of physics: they deviated from their parallel path, each branching out in right angles, neatly avoiding Lex to strike his two unsuspecting bodyguards behind him.

Mercy and Hope were instantly vaporized.

Lex glanced at the spot where they had stood, his only reaction a slight raising of his eyebrows. Nevertheless, he loosened the collar of his shirt and adjusted his tie accordingly.

“It is called the Omega Effect,” Darkseid explained, his eyes still sputtering with red light. “Nothing survives when it is unleashed. Know this, human: Your city survives at my sufferance. You live at my sufferance. I agreed to spare Metropolis, not to ignore it. Very soon, all your lives, your property--- even your very will!--- will belong to me. I will do as I please in Metropolis, as elsewhere.”

Lex glared back at the Dark God, his outrage warring with his common sense.

“But if the terms of our agreement are no longer acceptable, we can discard the truce.”

“And I will be of no further use to you,” Lex finished, sourly. He thought for a moment, his mind rapidly adjusting to the situation and calculating possible outcomes. It was entirely possible, he conceded to himself, that he had made a monumental mistake. “My lord is too accommodating.” Lex’s smile returned, his voice smooth. “But I think our arrangement can still serve us both. Forgive this intrusion, and thank you for this lesson in humility. I live but to work your will.”

Darkseid did not reply, only watched as Luthor sketched an elegant bow and backed away from the throne room.

When the human was gone, a figure hooded in dark purple robes emerged from the shadows, his hands clutched modestly before him.

“He will betray us, my lord.”

“Yes, Desaad,” Darkseid agreed. “But for now he keeps the peace in Metropolis and Dr. Bedlam must be allowed to finish his experiments there… Soon, however, Luthor will have outlived his usefulness, and then he will pay for his insolence!”

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All the world was at war--- except for Metropolis. Thanks to the truce that Lex Luthor had brokered, the Big Apricot had been spared the hordes of parademons falling from the sky, the syncopated vibro-shelling from the Apokoliptian dreadnoughts in low geosynchronous orbit, and the constant nighttime pyrotechnics as the badly outgunned terrestrial defenders fought back and died. But Metropolis was not at peace. Refugees flooded into the open city by the droves, crowding the streets, squatting in the parks, and in many instances driving out original, less capable inhabitants. There had already been food shortages and the water situation was getting worse. Riots and looting had broken out, and there was little the overwhelmed Metro-Police could do to stop it--- often times, they were leading it!

“This is ridiculous!” Speedy snarled, loosing a shot; the shaft struck dead-on, covering a club-wielding ruffian in expanding foam that quickly spread and incapacitated him. Kid Flash sped by the archer, laying out two others before they knew what had hit them, and Starfire swooped down from on high, her starbolts sending another group of looters crashing into a cluster of trash cans. “We should be out there helping to repel the invasion, not babysitting Metropolis!”

A figure in dark colors somersaulted from a fire escape, purposefully landing amidst a crowd of looters. There was a flurry of arms and legs, and within seconds, Nightwing was the only one left standing. With hardly a transition, he said: “Are you saying we should abandon Metropolis to this chaos? Look around you, Speedy. There are innocent people here getting hurt!”

They were in what was once an upper-scale district, now the site of temporary shelters on the street. The families who had taken refuge there were in the process of being driven out by looters before the Titans happened upon the scene.

A horn blared, and a pick-up truck turned the corner: the looters’ getaway vehicle. It barreled down upon them, the brute at the wheel grinning. Wonder Girl leap-frogged Nightwing, and stood in the path of the truck, brushing a curl of hair from her face.

“That’s it, c’mon…!” she whispered.

The truck picked up speed to mow her down, but Wonder Girl just cocked her arm, hopped off the ground, and smashed her fist down upon the hood of the vehicle. The stunned driver went sailing through the windshield, right into a sizzling black shadow in the shape of a raven. A brief scream could be heard, and then the thug emerged, panicked and sobbing, to flee in a hurry.

Out of arrows, Roy rushed headlong into a knot of stunned rioters, using his bow as a club. “I’m not blind, Nightwing,” he shot back, working his aggression out on the offenders, who, the fight all out of them, were trying to escape. But Roy went after them with a manic fury. “I just think our particular talents can be better utilized in the big picture.” He swept out the legs of one foe, then reversed the bow to smash it over the head of another, swearing when the fiberglass cracked. He looked at it forlornly. “This never happens to Green Arrow,” he muttered.

A noise behind him seized his attention, and he turned just as Nightwing dropped the goon who had gotten the drop on Roy.

“Bet that never happened to Green Arrow, either,” the Titans’ leader remarked, hotly.

Roy opened his mouth to respond, as Kid Flash circled them, knocking back a crowd of looters converging on the two old friends as they argued.

“Don’t lecture me, Batboy! I’m not the one who abandoned the team to go find himself. I don’t see why everyone always looks to you as the leader, anyway. I say we take a vote---.”

As the two went back and forth inside the cyclone created by Kid Flash; Wonder Girl, Starfire and Raven dispersed the last of the rioters. In their own little world, and consumed by their argument, neither Nightwing nor Speedy noticed when Wally stopped running, and the others watched, appalled at their teammates’ meltdown.

“Besides, this is Superman’s city! He should be the one here, keeping the peace---.” Roy shoved his finger under Dick’s nose to make a point, which Dick slapped away.

“Idiot! Didn’t you hear what happened to Superman? Nobody even knows if he’s alive or dead! And don’t you think he’d be here if he could?” No one was more surprised than Dick when his throat caught. But he didn’t have time for that terrible thought, and banished it. “That’s what being a hero is all about: doing what needs to be done, not what you want to do!”

This last seemed to reach Roy. For a moment he was speechless, blinking. Then he said, in a small voice: “What happened to Superman?”

Nightwing threw up his hands and turned away. “Donna, you tell him. I don’t have the heart.”

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An hour later, the Titans regrouped in Centennial Park, where they had spent so long establishing order. The park, once so tranquil and full of beauty was now a vast refugee camp, overflowing with human suffering and effluvia. They gathered around a picnic table, once again arguing.

“Look, I understand that there is work to do in Metropolis,” Roy was saying in a much more reasonable voice than before, all of them more somber after Donna related the news of Superman’s defeat at the hands of the monster calling himself Doomsday. “All I’m saying is that this war won’t be won in Metropolis, and that maybe we should devote our energies to that end.”

“I know what you’re saying, Roy, and don’t you think I want to get out there, too?” Nightwing sighed, one foot on the picnic bench, his arms crossed over his chest. “But, strategically speaking, we need to be where we can do the most good, not running off to get ourselves killed in a meaningless skirmish between the US Marine Corps and the hordes of Apokolips. We need to feel out the enemy and strike where it’ll hurt them!”

“Dick’s right.” Starfire announced adamantly.

“Big surprise there,” Roy snorted.

Much to all of their surprise, Starfire flared up. “I was trained by the fiercest warriors in the universe, Roy. No one wants to blast those demons out of the sky more than I! But the Okaaran Warlords taught me where and when to fight, as well as how. And despite how much I lust for their blood, I know we stand no chance against their multitudes. I, for one, would have my death mean something!”

Roy held up his hands, chastised. “Alright, bubblebod, alright. I just hope I’m around when you cut loose.”

Wally, always nonchalant about his secret identity, had his cowl down and looked more worried than normal. “You know, I was able to get my family and some friends to an old cold war bunker, but I haven’t heard from Uncle Barry since the crisis began. And I’m sure all of us have family and friends we’re worried about…”

Wonder Girl had a faraway look in her eye, too. “The only family I have left is Wonder Woman, and everyone sitting right here. And the last I heard from Diana, she was on her way to Apokolips with Captain Marvel…” There were tears in her eyes. Starfire went to her, and collected her into her arms. The two clung to each other as Donna’s shoulders shook silently and tears slid unashamedly down Princess Koriand’r’s cheeks.

Dick looked down. He’d been trying for a long time now to reach someone in Las Vegas, but with as much luck as he knew Roy was having. And there was no chance of any communication with Gotham since the city had been closed off, and transformed into some kind of intergalactic gulag… But somehow he knew Bruce was alright. He had to be. It would take more than an alien invasion to kill the Batman.

Raven held herself tensely, her expression buried in the depths of her cowl, but with all the emotion raging around her, she was not finding it easy to compose herself. She cleared her throat meaningfully, getting all of their attention.

“I--- I sense that the demon who leads the forces of Apokolips is far beyond what any of us can imagine…” she told them in a halting voice. “A… dark god, of immense power and great evil.” A frown creased her brow. She looked up into the turbulent sky, to the black planet hovering like a second moon above them, great pits on the surface belching fire. They could all hear the distant din of war. “But there is a menace that is closer.”

This announcement took them by surprise. Pulling back her hood, Raven fixed them with her piercing black eyes and said, “Since we entered the city, I have sensed a powerful psionic mind at work. The presence is alien and malignant, and means to do great harm… I could not tell where it was coming from at first, but now I think I can bring us to it…”

“Can you tell us the nature of the threat, Raven?” Nightwing asked, unfolding his arms.

Raven shook her head. “Only that if left unchecked, it will consume the whole city.”

“Well!” Roy slapped her knees and stood up. “Sounds like a job for Superman.” He grinned at his own bad joke. “But I guess we’ll have to do.”

Wally stood as well, brimming with nervous energy. “This sitting around is making me crazy! I say we go and do our bit. I’m ready to strike a blow in this war.” And, though he left it unsaid, to make his Uncle Barry proud.

Starfire faced Nightwing, all steely determination and willingness to do what needed to be done. “You’re our leader Dick. You just point at it and I’ll blow it up.”

Nightwing couldn’t help but grin at that.

Wonder Girl wiped her eyes and shared a look with him. “I wouldn’t mind hitting something right now, myself.”

Dick nodded, feeling his own blood thrill. It felt good to finally have a target.

“Alright, then!” He slammed his fist into his palm and showed his teeth. “Titans, together!”

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Raven’s spell of teleportation brought them downtown. Downtown Metropolis was always a hubbub of activity, and now was no different. Except it wasn’t the rush of commuters and tourists, but what appeared to be a full-on carnival on the scale of Mardi Gras! Beneath the giant Apokoliptian dreadnought that hovered over them, and in the shadow of the black planet that all but blotted out the sun and turned the sky red, Metropolites partied in the streets!

The Titans watched, hardly able to comprehend what was going on. People carried on with complete abandon; eating, drinking, dancing, brawling and in most cases, completely throwing inhibition to the winds. But in this great mass of swarming humanity, there was no joy, no exuberance, but only a kind of fevered desperation.

“What the hell is going on here?” Kid Flash blushed as a pair of giggling young women streaked by him in nothing but their underclothes.

Speedy rubbed his chin and watched appreciatively, as Starfire merely shrugged and observed: “Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow you may die.”

The giant TV screen on the Galaxy Communications Building showed an image of Lex Luthor, sternly remonstrating: “… while civic order is maintained, we have nothing to fear from the Apokoliptian invaders. Metropolis must be the very model of peace and calm. Do nothing to provoke retaliation, and we shall retain our sovereignty! I repeat, this is Lex Luthor. People of Metropolis, through private negotiations with the enemy, I have arranged a treaty of neutrality with Apokolips. There is nothing to fear while civic order is maintained…” The digital video message was on continuous playback and was being completely ignored.

“This is insane…” Wonder Girl remarked in amazement, watching as a crowd of people spray-painted a happy face on the side of an overturned ice-cream truck.

“Agreed,” responded Nightwing with a nod, realizing there was no way his team would be able to restore or impose order on a crowd of this magnitude. “Raven, you said the psionic threat was coming from here, but can you be more specific? Is the crowd being controlled or manipulated?”

The dark-clothed empath barely heard him. She held her head as if to keep it from bursting, tears leaking from her tightly closed eyes. Her knees buckled, and she would have fallen had not Kid Flash instantly appeared at her side to catch her, calling her name in alarm.

“So much raging, unchecked emotion…” She winced, trying weakly to pull away from Kid Flash, but the more she struggled, the closer he held her. “The pressure builds exponentially every second… This city is a powder keg, and the spark is here…!”

“Rachel, fight it,” Wally hissed.

Just then, a cry went up from the street: “Here they come! It’s them, the Forever People!”

Five figures emerged from the crowd, dressed outlandishly and waving enthusiastically to their admirers.

“Big Bear, Big Bear!” called a woman with a microphone, leading a man with a video camera towards the so-called Forever People. “Cat Grant, from WMET Channel 7 News! Do you have any words for those who dismiss your message of intergalactic peace and sensitivity?”

There was no mistaking Big Bear. He towered over the others, was dressed in furs and had a head of shaggy hair. He approached the blonde reporter, a serene smile on his face and a buxom young woman in a light blue dress clinging dreamily to his arm.

“Why would anyone dismiss peace, you know?” he said in a voice that was deceptively high and pleasant. “Man, the Big Bads can only kill you once, and maybe they won’t even try if we don’t oppose them. Darkseid, Luthor, they’re all the same. If we all just concentrate on tuning into the Source, we’ll see that all of this fighting is unnecessary, you know what I mean?”

Speedy raised his eyebrow at this, exchanging a puzzled look with Nightwing. Nightwing only shook his head, dumbfounded, and turned back to the Forever People.

“What about the rumors of people disappearing?” Cat Grant pressed, the dark-haired girl on Big Bear’s arm glaring at her. “Of people snatched from their beds at night never to be seen again?”

“Man, we don’t know nothin’ about that jive!” retorted another of the Forever People, the dark-skinned man in the crash-helmet. “We just here doin’ our thang, y’all, talkin’ bout peace and love. Tell her, Serafin!”

“Yeah, Vykin!” Agreed the man in the cowboy hat with a grin. “And the more the merrier. Everyone come join the Psycho Circus!”

A cheer went up from the receptive crowd.

Raven cried out again, clutching Wally’s arm in a vise-like grip.

This got the attention of the Forever People, who regarded the Titans as suspiciously as the Titans regarded them.

“She’s a witch.” The beautiful dreamer on Big Bear’s arm pointed at Raven, wrinkling her nose as if she had smelled something bad. “Wicked.”

Wally glared back at the girl, and his teammates crowded around him and Raven.

“She’s a hero,” Donna shot back, indignant. “And she brought us here to fight an evil---.”

“Y’see!” interrupted the flammable Vykin. “Always talkin’ ‘bout fightin’! Ain’t nothin’ about fightin’ in the Source, man! Peace is where it’s at! Peace is forever, and we’re the people of Forever!”

Wally moved so fast he vibrated his molecules through Donna and Roy, slamming into the much taller, much broader Vykin. The Titan shoved Vykin against a wall, snarling: “Don’t give me that hypocritical crap! Whatever you’re doing to her, stop it now! You’re killing her!”

The crowd held its collective breath. Vykin glared back down at Wally, knocking his hands away. The other Forever People took a tentative step forward, and the crowd rumbled, closing around the other Titans.

“Kid Flash, stand down!” Nightwing snapped. He had caught Raven when Wally sped away, and set her down softly on the ground.

Giving no indication that he had heard his leader, Wally did not back down from the more physically imposing Vykin.

A shaft already nocked to his bow, Roy eyed the crowd uneasily and muttered out of the side of his mouth: “Uh, Dick, this is about to get real ugly…”

Big Bear heaved a ponderous, almost wistful sigh. “It always comes to this, doesn’t it, Beautiful Dreamer?”

The girl looked up at him with adoring eyes, nodding. “Can we kill them, now?”

“Yes, my dear.” He smiled indulgently.

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The crowd rushed the Titans as if on some unspoken command. But they were ready. Dick stood over Raven, his Escrima sticks whirling, and Roy had his back, launching a dozen blunt-tipped arrows in quick procession. Donna and Kory took to the air, the Tamaranian Princess blasting and scattering the now furious crowd, while the Amazon Princess hurled herself at Big Bear. Kid Flash was slugged, hard, by Vykin, and sent rolling.

“Little tramp!” Beautiful Dreamer spat, and swiped her nails at Wonder Girl. Sparks struck off the hastily thrown up Amazon bracelets, and Donna gave the snarling beauty a wide berth.

“Stop this!” Nightwing yelled to any who would listen. “We’re not the enemy!” A middle-aged man in a business suit lunged at him, swinging a bat. Nightwing took him down easy, almost reluctantly. “Can’t you people see you’re being manipulated?”

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Raven moaned, managing to focus her own not inconsiderable powers just to keep the Titans free of the master psionicist’s control. She was vaguely aware of the brawl going on around her, knowing only that she could not fight off the concentrated mental assault for much longer. So she did what no disciple of Azar would have ever taught her: she went on the attack.

Her soul-self rose like an inky black bird from her prone form, causing the mind-controlled crowd to abruptly back away. The shape sped overhead, and aimed itself at the Forever People.

“Aieeee! Don’t let her touch me!” shrieked Beautiful Dreamer, the mask of her face becoming hideous.

Big Bear tried to interpose himself between the shadow-form and his love, but that’s when Wonder Girl found her opening, her right hook sending him barreling into Serafin, and knocking them both clean across the street.

Raven’s soul-self enveloped Beautiful Dreamer.

Who’s the wicked one, puppet master? Raven taunted the sentience she now imprisoned. Who is responsible for all this bedlam?

An ear-splitting shriek rose up, and the form of Beautiful Dreamer exploded into a thousand pieces. Gears and wires and bits of metal flew in all directions, but the guiding sentience that had been controlling the animate fled.

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Vykin hauled Kid Flash up by the scruff of his costume, his eyes glowing fiercely as the sentience filled him. He raised his arm to pummel the Titan--- but in the blink of an eye, the speedster wasn’t there!

A fist lashed out from the other side of Vykin, sending him stumbling---- into Kid Flash’s next blow from the opposite side! The sentience controlling the animate never had time to recover. Wally zoomed around him, battering him from a hundred different directions, reducing him to a pile of sparking nuts and bolts within seconds.

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The sentience fled again, this time into Big Bear, roaring his fury.

But by this time, Raven had managed to telepathically communicate what was going on to the rest of the team. Big Bear suddenly found a nitro-arrow lodged in his eye--- then his robotic head exploded.

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“By Darkseid’s hoary eye!” seethed Dr. Bedlam, fleeing at last to his underground lair. Those pups, those impudent children, had dealt him a severe setback in his bid to organically discover the Anti-Life Equation. It was going to have to be back to the drawing board, he realized, as the malignant and disembodied spirit possessed his last animate, the one that resembled Mark Moonrider. In his secret lab, in an unused subway shaft, he faced the specimen tanks and the five familiar figures floating in the cryo-bath. The real Forever People had not been easily captured, and Lord Darkseid was not going to be pleased to hear the experiments had failed.

Bedlam went to the control booth where he programmed all his experiments, making some adjustments on the panel. A noxious green fluid flooded the tanks of the Forever People, causing them to spasm and wriggle uncontrollable. Well, if he couldn’t use them, he would discard them!

The smell of brimstone suddenly filled the air.

“Dr Bedlam!” A clear voice called his name.

The Apokoliptian scientist whirled, snarling. The Titans had appeared in his lair, in a puff of black smoke, and they did not look happy.

“Your foul experimentations are at an end!” the witch declared, the ruby on her finger glowing as she pointed at him. “Step away from the machine!”

Bedlam cringed, but stayed where he was.

“This matters little, you insolent children!” he hissed. “Apokolips has come to Earth, and you will all one day soon bow to Lord Darkseid! Surrender to me now, and I promise you will have a swift death! But oppose me, and you will die every day for a hundred years as I resurrect you simply to find new and more painful ways to slay you again!”

The Titans stared blankly at this threat.

“Wally.” Nightwing said.

Kid Flash sprang forward, walloping the animate so hard, the tin head went sailing off its shoulders, to bounce on the floor. Dr Bedlam fled again, no animate to possess this time, howling into the void.

“Princess?” Dick turned to Starfire.

“Yes, Dick?”

“Do you remember what you said before?”

Princess Koriand’r raised a finely sculpted eyebrow.

Nightwing pointed at the control panel and said, “Light it up.”

Kory grinned, and soon the chamber was filled with the whine of her starbolts.

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The real Forever People were quick to return to consciousness, especially after the Titans carried them into daylight above ground. In the plaza where the now-mystified crowd had attacked the Titans, the mood was now genuinely jubilant. A victory had been won, though a small one.

“Bedlam is insidious,” came the soft voice of the real Beautiful Dreamer, speaking for them all. “He ambushed us when we came to Earth looking for the Highfather and the others of our kind. We’ve been looking for them for so long…”

“The New Gods.” Nightwing nodded. “We met them only yesterday, when I returned Scott Free to them.”

At this, all of them looked at Nightwing sharply, as if not daring to believe his words.
“You have delivered Mister Miracle?” Big Bear gasped. “He’s still alive…? We long feared him dead on Apokolips… the Source be praised!”

“Where are they?” Vykin asked, intently.

“They all went to a place they called Supertown,” Nightwing told them, much to their further surprise. “But I don’t know where that is…”

“Supertown! They have built it, then!” There were tears in Mark Moonrider’s eyes. “At last we shall have a home again.”

Unable to take much more of it, Roy rubbed his tired eyes and mumbled: “Yeah, well, we might not have much of one when this is all over with. I hope this Supertown’s a big place, ‘cause you may be getting a few billion new roommates.”

The Forever People looked grim.

“Indeed, Darkseid will not stop until this world is a smoldering ruin.” Serafin nodded solemnly. “Surely, we will add our might to your side to stand together or fall together.”

Just then, the endless droning loop of Lex Luthor’s voice on the big TV screen on the Galaxy Communications Building ceased--- to be replaced by a live image of Lex.

“Greetings, citizens of Metropolis,” came the boisterous salutation. All eyes, including those of the Titans and the Forever People went to the screen above them. “As you are all well aware, our fair city has labored these many long days under the shadow of an invading force. True, and thanks to my efforts, we’ve been spared the horrors of war until now, but it has recently come to my attention that the enemy has no intention of honoring our treaty of peace, and indeed, has been working all the while to undermine Metropolis. To that end, I, Lex Luthor, hereby have decided not to go gently into that good night. I have seen the face of the enemy, people of Metropolis, and he is relentless evil. Therefore, I am preparing as we speak to strike the first blow for us.”

Just as he said that, a low, throbbing hum filled the air. The sound seemed to be emanating from the LexCorp Tower, across the Square.

“Witness the Apokoliptian dreadnought anchored over our fair city. In a moment, a high-intensity laser cannon atop the LexCorp building will burn a hole in it you could drive a truck through! And it will continue to fire upon the enemy until we bring. That. Behemoth. Down!” Lex shook his fist, and across the city, wild cheers rose up from the gathered crowds; the same message played on every TV screen in Metropolis, simultaneously. The humming in the air grew steadily more intense, and carried with it the distinctive smell of ozone.

“Oh, boy, here it comes.” Roy Harper shielded his eyes as he looked up at the dreadnought.

“I strongly suggest that everyone get to some shelter--- or at least cover your eyes,” Lex finished ruefully. “Because, after this, things are gonna get pretty hot in the ol’ city tonight!”

From the top of the LexCorp Tower, fierce, wild energy crackled, gathered, then erupted! A lance of fiery power stabbed into the sky, arcing towards the Apokoliptian dreadnought. The blast rocked the enemy ship, holing it through and through. It listed in mid-air, and even in the streets below, people could hear the klaxon alarms going off. The LexCorp cannon fired again almost instantly, the beam neatly slicing the spaceship in two. Explosions blossomed across the surface of both halves as they fell from the sky, impacting Hob’s Bay with enough force to send waves splashing and flooding the docks.

“Well, I guess here comes that fight you were looking for, Roy,” Nightwing remarked as the dreadnought roiled in the Bay, the parademon survivors escaping and already heading for the city.

“Careful what you wish for, huh?” The archer shook his head, thinking he was going to need more arrows.

“Big Bear, Vykin, I think we’ll take you up on that offer of help!” Nightwing held out his hand to the Forever People, and it was clasped warmly.

“It will be our honor to fight beside the Titans,” grunted Big Bear.

The hordes of parademons were almost upon them now, their laser rifles at the ready.

“Roy, you said you wanted to be around when I finally cut loose…?” Starfire stepped off the ground and into the air, her hands glowing. She looked over her shoulder at her teammates. “Well, you’re in luck!”

“What are we waiting for, guys!” Nightwing took off after her, picking out a foe from the oncoming horde. “Titans… Together!”

And with that, the Teen Titans joined the battle for Metropolis and for Earth!

[Admin]

CRISIS: THE APOKOLIPS IMPERATIVE CONTINUES THIS WEEK IN SUICIDE SQUAD#7!