Issue 6: "The Beast Within, Part Two"

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Teen Titans

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Issue 6: “The Beast Within, Finale”
Written by Matthew Davies
Cover by Ramon Villalobos
Edited by Mark Bowers[/center]

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Nightwing let out a pained moan and forced himself into a sitting position. Clouds of thick black smoke uncoiled around him, locking themselves around his throat and causing him to splutter wildly as he forced himself to his feet. There was an onyx flash and Raven was suddenly beside him, her torn and tattered cloak draping from one shoulder, the other side’s holding brooch shattered. A stream of blood was breaking through the mud that caked her cheeks.

“Raven? What the hell did he hit us with?” Nightwing demanded, his voice harsh. He pushed back a few stray hairs and pulled his hand back across his forehead, staining the glove with sweat.

Raven wearily pulled her hood up and over her head, casting a familiar shadow across her face “Some sort of energy blast. My powers seemed to be dimming. I can’t sense Donna…I can barely even sense you.”

“Oh, Teeny Titans!” a foreign voice interjected from afar. “Don’t tell me you’re all exhausted already?”

Nightwing winced as maniacal laughter filled the air, piercing his ears. Raven’s expression remained impassive as always. She glanced to Nightwing and brought a single finger to her lips in a silencing motion. Nightwing nodded in understanding and drew two small fighting staffs from the utility belt at his waist. He fell into a defensive stance and slipped back into the shadows. This was not good. They were trapped in an unknown terrain, facing several unknown metahumans, with one of their own missing and presumed incapacitated.

“King! I wanted to toy with them before we kill them!” a female voice hissed

A dejected King responded with a sullen “I didn’t hit ’em that hard.”

“Shut up! I think I’ve found them!” a dominant female tone stated. “They’re straight ahead…”

Raven cursed under her breath and her eyes narrowed in focus. Nightwing gestured with his hand and she was gone, teleporting across the battlefield and behind their advancing foes. A classic pincer strategy – perfect for situations like this. Nightwing remained completely silent and still, waiting for the message. He did not have to wait long.

Seven targets. One shadow-being. One energy manipulator projecting a field. Must be what hit us.

Understandably short, but that was all Nightwing needed to know. Inhaling deeply to calm himself inwardly, he launched himself outwards and into a somersault, landing in an elegant forward roll. He came up into a run and darted forward, his eyes roaming the seven absurdly-dressed villains before him. Then again, who am I to talk? he thought with a small smirk.

“Queeny, look! Batman-lite is coming at us alone!” the King yelped amusedly

The Queen let out a cold, hard chuckle. “Step back, King! Let everyone else have some fun!”

A female, Ace by her costume, turned. “There’s another one, behi - - argh!”

Nightwing was on her, one escrima stick pressed against her neck and his booted feet on Ace’s back. Nightwing pushed himself over, hooking the staff under Ace’s chin and propelling the metahuman forward…into a rocky wall. Ace slumped, motionless, to the ground.

“Hey!” the King protested in a dumbfounded tone. “He took Ace down!”

“Let’s face it,” a portly male spat, “it’s not that hard!”

Nightwing sprinted at them again. The King tossed a stream of energy out at him from his palm, but the Dark Squire slipped to the side and bounded ahead, tossing explosive disks with one hand and holstering his staff with the other. The shadow-being Raven had mentioned earlier cast out his hand, and darkness suddenly enveloped Nightwing. Nightwing paused, allowing the almost tangible shadows to grip him.

“Raven…” he called.

The shadows began to drain away, being drawn into…the torn navy blue shroud of a familiar teenager.

“Don’t worry, Nightwing,” Raven stated calmly. “Darkness is my thing.”

“Come on then, woman!” the shadow being, Five his designation, barked. His voice was harsh and unearthly. “Show me what you can do!”

“Gladly!” Raven hissed.

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Starfire struggled in the manacles that locked her in place against the metallic wall of the Gordanian shuttle. Rivulets of cold sweat overflowed from her pores as her breathing became labored. She let out desperate gasps as she attempted to free herself…but it came to no avail.

“Monsters!” she yelped. “Let me go!”

The Gordanian seated in the pilot seat laughed heartily.

The second rose to his feet and drew one yellowing claw across the Tamaranian princess’ cheek. “Come now, missy…don’t tell me you’re scared!”

“I swear to you that when I get free, the most powerful weapons in the universe won’t save you from me!” Starfire growled.

The Gordanian grinned in pure, sadistic glee and delight as he brought the back of his hand across her face. She fell with a cry, her cheek already beginning to swell. From the darkness at the edge of the cockpit, a small figure shuddered, and backed away…

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Donna Troy gently massaged her temples in a feeble effort to assail the throbbing ache that was assaulting her head. The heavy footfalls that seemed to be approaching at an alarming rate didn’t help a lot, either, but Donna knew that she had a job to do. Her lasso was no longer at her waist, having been blasted away when the King had assaulted them with an energy wave of some sort. She’d have to make do without it, for the moment.

“Hera knows where Dick and Raven are…” she mumbled under her breath. “Okay. Let’s get this over with.”

Donna stepped out from behind the rock cover, her hands balled into fists. The sinewy woman a few meters from her was, quite frankly, the ugliest woman Donna had ever seen. Tiny, beady eyes stared out from beneath an abnormally large brow. Her nose was twisted and blackened, no doubt from the countless brawls she had been involved in. Her mouth was twisted into a perpetual sneer.

“Hey, kid,” she greeted, her voice little more than a manly grunt. “You gonna surrender now, or am I gonna have to pick you apart the hard way?”

“Whoa. You’re really ugly,” Donna taunted. “Are you one of those girls who has issues ‘cause the other girls used to pull your pigtails in high school and call you a tomboy? I can’t imagine you having pigtails, actually…but the tomboy part fits.”

“You talk the talk, but can you walk the walk?”

Donna feigned a yawn and dashed forward. “What a cliché. You know, I usually - -”

The woman dodged Donna’s lunge with relative ease and dealt her a sharp jab to the ribs. There was a sharp rush of air as Donna stumbled back, winded.

“I’m Three,” her opponent hissed, effortlessly lifting Donna into the air. “How do you like me so far?”

“Let’s just say…” Donna began, her voice no more than a strangled rasp, “…that I understand why those girls pulled your pigtails.”

Donna kicked out viciously, her booted feet clipping Three’s jaw and sending her sprawling. Donna, released, launched herself backwards.

I’ve gotta find Dick before this wench mashes me into the rockface!

“Don’t think you’ve gotten away, girly!” Three retorted, taking pursuit. “I’m faster than I look!”

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Garfield Logan inhaled deeply. He was out of his depth. Aliens weren’t his ‘thing’. Hell, this entire debacle wasn’t his ‘thing’! He brought his hands up to his face and clenched his eyes shut to prevent the tears from falling. His breathing was labored. A great time to hyperventilate, he pondered. There was a clang as the hatch to the cockpit hissed open. Garfield dropped back into the storage sector and knelt behind a wooden crate.

“Hek’tral! Mhy gurltra lokp tr’gam!” one of the armored beings bellowed. He turned, his footsteps thudding unnaturally and obnoxiously loudly as he made his way into the storage room and began rummaging through miscellaneous crates.

Gar held his breath, and prayed that the alien didn’t lay even a clawed finger on the crate he was concealed behind. Apparently, no-one heard that prayer, for a moment later, the alien kicked that particular crate aside…and his frown twisted into a scowl as his eyes settled on the metamorph.

And then, Gar murmured the first thing that came into his head.

“Whoa. You’re one demented freak, aren’t ya?”

The alien lunged, but Gar was already leaping from crate to crate as a lion, his magnificent shaggy mane swinging from side to side as he did so.

“Over here, grass stain!” he snarled. “You know, I never understood why so many people enjoyed calling me that…now I know. It’s kinda satisfying. Grass stain, grass stain, grass stain. Why don’t you try?”

The Gordanian hurled himself at Gar, tearing through the crates that were beneath him. Gar switched to a bird form and glided to the other side of the chamber, dropping to the deck as a human. He allowed a confident grin to touch his lips, and hid his trembling hands in a clinch behind his back. What the hell am I doing? Jokes? JOKES?

“Vwe’trakh!” the Gordanian yelled once again in the foreign language

“Now you didn’t sound like you enjoyed that very much,” Gar quipped “You must be saying it wrong.”

The alien unleashed a feral roar and charged once again. Gar shifted into the lion form and rushed to meet him.

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Starfire struggled to her feet as sounds of the battle reached her ear from the next chamber. The Gordanian pilot hit a switch. The screen before him lit up. Starfire’s eyes widened.

“He came to rescue me…”

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Donna grunted as pain shot through her stomach, Three hissing directly behind her. Donna’s legs continued to pump, raw Amazonian strength carrying her through the rocky caverns. The cold sweat that had coated her body was now replaced by a heated aura, tinted with a fierce agony. Her eyelids attempted to force themselves closed, but Donna ground her teeth together and kept them open. Pained tears began to stream down her cheeks.

I must endure…I must…endure…

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Wally West tossed his jacket aside and plopped down on the sofa, reclining and shifting to make himself comfortable. His reddish-brown hair was messy and unkempt, distressed by the gusts outside, and he was forced to flick stray hairs back to their places “Barry!” he called. “Come turn on the TV!”

“Still lazy, huh?” Iris West entered the room, a wan smile spreading across her face. She set the tray she was carrying down on the coffee table and seated herself opposite to Wally.

Wally secured a mug of cocoa and clutched it in his hand. “I missed your cocoa,” he stated plainly.

Iris rose from her seat and ran her finger back through her nephew’s hair. “Wally…what are you doing back here? You seem…different.”

Wally’s expression became grave, and he turned his head away from her. “Nothing. I’m just taking a break, you know?”

Barry appeared in the doorway and pecked Iris on the cheek at his incredible, trademark speed. “Heatwaveiscausingtroubledowntowngottagoandtakecareofit!”

“Gotcha,” Iris responded, but all that was left was a stream of scarlet energy. She knelt beside Wally and gripped his arm reassuringly. “Wally? Please, talk to me. I hate seeing you without a smile.”

Wally exhaled slowly. “It’s just…the Titans. I don’t know why, really, but I feel like they’re falling apart. And that…that scares me, Aunt Iris. They’re my family. The only real friends I’ve got. If they go…”

Iris nodded in understanding. “I know what you mean, Wally. But you’ve got to understand that things change. You will change. They will change. Maybe one day, you won’t want to be a hero anymore.”

Wally snickered “Yeah. Sure.”

“I’m serious, Wally,” Iris shot back, a little irked. “I don’t want you in spandex all your life. Don’t spend all your life running when you don’t know where to go. Have a life outside of the Titans, outside of Kid Flash. Then, when that day comes, and it’s time for you to hang up the costume…it won’t hurt as much.”

Wally pondered her words.

Iris leaned over and laid a gentle kiss on his forehead. “Grow. Change. Live.”

She exited the room. Wally swung his legs over the side of the sofa and rose to his feet, darting into Barry’s bedroom. He pulled open the wardrobe and found a familiar uniform hanging inside. He reached for it…

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Nightwing propelled himself into a forward roll and came up into a roundhouse kick that sent the astonished Queen sprawling with a grunt. She quickly leapt to her feet and bounded after him. He slipped to the side, eluding an aggressive karate chop and twisted away from the blow, spinning into her chest with a clenched fist. She spluttered desperately as she spiraled to the floor. Nightwing lightly chopped her neck.

“That’s her down…you know, I still think it’s pretty idiotic of you to attack all alone,” he shot at them. “I’ve already taken down the Queen, here, Ace, and that fat nightmare guy. Jack, was it?”

The King murmured slowly. “The Queen said I wasn’t allowed to hurt him. Can I hurt him, now?”

Ten, a small, wiry male, nodded. “I’ll hold him still, and you incinerate him.”

From beside them, the bedraggled Seven folded his arms over his chest.

“Hold me still? Good luck!” Nightwing quipped.

Ten reached out with one hand and telekinetic energy pulsed around the vigilante, locking him in place. King let out a booming rumble of a laugh and threw one hand outwards. Raw golden energy lanced outward from it, approaching Nightwing’s face at alarming speeds…before he vanished in a plume of violet smoke. From the sidelines, Donna stumbled into the battlefield, Three directly behind her.

“Ah! They’re all together!” Ten hissed. “You know what they say: united we stand, divided we fall.”

A weary Donna fell before Nightwing and Raven. Three’s eyes gleamed with anticipation of the coming kill as her hands stretched outwards. Nightwing hurled himself at the bulky woman, attempting to push her away with his shoulder. But she batted him aside and seized Donna by the neck.

Raven glided towards the remaining Club members.

“Squash her, Ten!” the King encouraged. “Squash her!”

Raven focused, and glorious ebony wings erupted from her back. They slowly distorted themselves, twisting and turning into her namesake. At Raven’s command, the bird (of sorts) dived towards them…and into a portal. Seven clicked his fingers, and the portal closed.

“Now squash her,” he instructed.

Ten slammed outwards with his telekinesis, completely enveloping Raven in the dark energy. “Oops…I seem to have knocked her unconscious! What a shame!”

“Raven!” Nightwing appeared from the sidelines, the beginnings of a bruise to show on the side of his head from his brief, yet brutal, encounter with Three “Let her go!”

“Yay!” the King bellowed in glee, and released yet another burst of energy It clipped Nightwing’s hip and sent him to the ground. A second left his limp form crumpled and motionless.

“We’re done here,” Seven announced. “Three?”

Three stepped out from behind a boulder, a battered and bleeding Donna slung carelessly over her shoulder. “Can I keep her?” she quipped, before tossing her unceremoniously onto Nightwing.

“Our base has been compromised,” a groggy Ace hissed as she dazedly rose to her feet. “Gather the wounded and leave.”

“Yes, ma’am!”

The battle was over.

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Gar gulped as the Gordanian’s claw raked through the skin on his back, spraying a scarlet liquid across the crates. Trying his best to ignore the pain, he slipped to the side of another blow and shifted into the form of a tiger, leaping onto the armored alien. The Gordanian slammed his considerably large booted feet into Gar’s furred chest, and the tiger spun away. He slammed into the wall and fell with a pained whimper.

The Gordanian drew a pistol from his armor and locked it onto Gar’s head. “Thu m’ak tril yam’gree!”

Gar forced himself into an awkward sitting position. “Yadda, yadda, yadda…I wouldn’t quit the day job, you’re never gonna make it as a professional wrestler in that crap costume.”

Before the Gordanian could squeeze the trigger, Gar was in a rhino form. The Gordanian depressed said trigger, but the projectile released bounced harmlessly off Gar’s skin and dropped to the deck with a clang. The rhino snorted…and charged.

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Starfire winced as the wall behind her gave way, and barely had time to dive to the deck before a Gordanian was hurled through the gaping hole. Starfire yanked at her manacles. The chain was still intact. She pulled with all her might. Pulled…pulled…pulled…

Gar staggered dazedly into the cockpit, patches of his green skin turning a darker shade with his bruises. “Kicking alien butt is a lot more fun than I thought.”

Starfire’s lips stretched into a relieved grin. “You have forgiven me?”

He nodded gratefully. “Hey, you owe me two now.” What the hell is this? What am I doing? Cracking jokes…flirting…why aren’t I morose anymore?

“You’ve found your place in life,” Starfire responded, as if reading his mind. A comfortable silence fell between them.

It was swiftly broken by the whine of pilot Gordanian’s blaster rifle, locked onto Gar’s chest.

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Wally admired his form in the mirror, a grin on his face. He was wearing the costume he had always dreamed of donning one day. The crimson-and-golden costume of the Flash. It seemed…perfect. It felt right. Iris was wrong, for once. He couldn’t give up being a hero. That was life. If he was to grow, to change, then that would be where he would do those things. One day, he would be the Flash. He promised himself that, at least.

And maybe, just maybe, that day was coming sooner than he thought

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Starfire launched herself forward as the laser bolt struck out at Gar, throwing her manacles in the way. The energy ricocheted off the metal and back at the Gordanian. His armor absorbed the attack, but Starfire rose into the air. The manacles pulsed with emerald energy…and melted away to reveal starbolts encompassing the girl’s hands.

“Leave me alone!” she demanded, her voice laced with fury, and brought her energy-coated fist down onto his face.

The alien fell, unconscious, to the deck.

Starfire let out a sigh and turned to Gar.

“I owe you one, now.” She smiled softly. “Thank you.”

“No problem,” he returned. “But can we please go back to Earth?”

Starfire nodded and seated herself at the control panel. “This shuttle is the same model as I came to Earth in. I can fly it. All I need to do is – oh.”

“What is it?” Gar enquired, his voice a higher pitch and tinged with fear

“The Gordanians. They said they were taking me back to the Citadel homeworld. The co-ordinates…were set for Tamaran.” She gulped. “They conquered Tamaran.”

Gar frowned “Listen, I have no idea what you’re talking about, so I’m just gonna make sure the aliens are out, okay?”

He shuffled into the back of the cockpit. Maybe she’s right. Maybe I have found my place in life. Maybe I am meant to be a hero.

At the control panel, Starfire stared wistfully at the co-ordinates laid out before her, and her fingers danced over the keys.

“It’s time to go home,” she announced.

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Epilogue

Raven was seated in Speedy’s apartment, her eyes locked onto the floor. Her mouth was turned down into a sneer, as if she was reliving a painful memory. And she was. She had told nobody how she had defeated the shadow being, and she didn’t plan to. She swallowed hard and pushed back the tears of shame.

“I’m sorry,” she murmured to herself.

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Roy Harper was slumped between Donna and Nightwing on the sofa.

“So, after I woke up, I found that portal still open. I don’t know the whys or the hows, but I went through, found you all unconscious, and brought you back through here. There were a few injuries, but nothing too serious.” He grinned and looked to Donna.

“I’m still not gonna date you,” Donna informed him cheekily.

“Starfire and Wally have both contacted me…they’re coming back soon, with all issues resolved,” Nightwing announced.

“I can’t wait for us all to be together again,” Donna admitted.

“Neither can I…” Nightwing mumbled. “But this just doesn’t make any sense. Why would Seven leave the portal open? Why didn’t they kill us?”

“Why did they want us at all?” Donna added. “They went to a whole lot of trouble to hire that mercenary and make sure we could track them.”

“And then they left,” Roy stated simply.

“Just what did these Clubs want?” Nightwing pressed his gloved hand against the window, and got a sickening feeling that he was never going to get the answer. “There was something familiar about those Clubs…something…so familiar…”

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From the next room, Raven rested her head against the wall. “Leave me alone…” she whispered. “Why can’t you just leave me alone?”

“I’m with you now, Raven. Trapped in your world,” the shadowy voice hissed. “I’m your ultimate punishment…”

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A slim figure, dressed outrageously in a purple suit with his horrifyingly green hair slicked back with gel, released a maniacal cackle. “My ways are many, my words are few, I will maim and then kill you!” he sang mockingly. “Oh, I just crack myself up sometimes!” He wiped a stray tear of glee from his eye and continued. “And knowing that mini-Bats is out there right now, wondering why he’s still alive and why the Clubs targeted him…ah, it just makes my day even better.”

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“So what are you planning to do now?” Starfire asked gently. “You could return with me, and join the Titans.”

Gar bit his lip anxiously. “I’m not ready to be famous or anything. I think you were right, before. I think I am meant to be a hero. Replace my disgust with generosity. But I need to sort some personal issues out first.”

“I would still like to make you an honorary member,” Starfire said, and pressed a T-shaped communicator into his hand. She closed his fingers around it and took to the air. “Goodbye, Garfield, and thank you for your help.”

“You still owe me one,” Gar said jokingly, but his heart was not in the feeble attempt at humor. For his next task was going to be a lot more difficult “Mom, Dad…here I come.”

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On Tamaran, Princess Komand’r of the Tamaranian approached the Emperor of the Citadel Empire and allowed a sly grin to touch her lips.

“I want to make a deal…”

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The End...?