Issue #13: New Year

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Teen Titans

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Issue #13: “New Year”
Written by Mark Bowers
Cover by Ramon Villalobos
Edited by Brian Burchette[/center]

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It was New Year’s Eve and, throughout New York City, people were celebrating, looking forward to the year ahead. For two of the Teen Titans however, celebration was the last thing on their minds.

One of those Titans was Raven, who’d barely witnessed any of the previous year, being in a coma for the majority of it. The other Titan was Roy Harper who, if the truth were told, could no longer really be regarded as a Titan. It had been over a year since he’d left the group to enter rehab, seeking help for his drug addiction, and since that time, apart from an occasional encounter with Nightwing, he’d avoided the Titans steadfastly. Still, he’d always known that he couldn’t avoid them forever, and so, on this cold winter’s night, wearing his normal civilian clothes topped off with a thick coat, he found himself stepping onto the rooftop of Titans Tower, seeking out the only person that could help him.

Donna had told Roy that he could find Raven on the rooftop, but, with the darkness of her costume blending in with the blackness of the night, he almost didn’t spot her there, sitting on the edge, looking out over New York City.

“Mind if I join you?” he asked.

Raven turned her head to look at him, the shadow of her hood hiding any expression on her face, and then she pulled her hood back, revealing a smile.

“Hey, Roy. Great to see you.”

“Yeah, the same goes for me,” Roy lied, trying to remain calm. Actually, tonight was the night he’d been putting off for over a year, but he’d put all of his other demons behind him, and it was time to lay this final one to rest.

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“So, what brings you here on this New Year’s Eve?” she asked.

“We need to talk,” he said hesitantly.

“Ooh, that sounds ominous,” said Raven with a smile. “Come and tell me your problems,” she added, patting the rooftop beside her, “although I’m not my usual empathic self at the moment.”

He sat down beside her. “Why’s that?” he asked, partly out of curiosity, partly because he was in no rush to say the words that he’d been inwardly rehearsing for so long.

“Well, I’m still not fully back to normal after the coma,” she explained. “Physiotherapy means that I can now just about stagger around, although, if no-one’s looking, I tend to take the easy way out and just teleport; but my empathic powers seem to have deserted me.”

“Sorry about that,” said Roy.

“Hey, to tell the truth I’m grateful,” she replied.

He looked at her skeptically.

“No, I’m serious,” she continued. “I remember, just after I woke up from my big sleep, Wally and Donna had told me that I’d originally woken up screaming, and then started saying the words ‘He's... coming...’ over and over again, and then, just as they’d begun to think that I’d never ever stop saying them, I’d slumped unconscious into Wally’s arms. Anyway, I could see the concern on their faces and the worry, but for the first time in ever so long I didn’t have to feel that worry inside me.”

“So who was coming?” Roy asked.

“I’ve no idea,” Raven replied. “I don’t remember any of that. The last thing I remembered was dying. Anyway, I just told them not to worry, and assured them that I was in control. After all, there was no point in their worrying... it’s not as if it would change things.”

“So you do know who’s coming?”asked a confused Roy.

“No, but I know what’s coming,” she answered. “I’ve been sitting on this roof for the last couple of hours thinking about it.”

“Do you want to tell me about it?”

“No, best not. Maybe I’ll wait until after you’ve told me whatever it is you came here to tell me. It would sure put your current problems into perspective.”

“Sounds scary. Have you told Wally about it yet?” he asked. “Or do you still not want him to worry?”

“I don’t care whether Wally’s going to worry or not,” she confided. “That’s the great thing about losing my empathy – I no longer care how people feel, now it’s no longer got a direct impact on me.”

“You care about Wally, though?” asked a surprised Roy.

“I did once, but not any more,” she confessed. “We’ve split up.”

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Wally West was at home, sat in his bedroom, the Beatles’ Blackbird playing loudly on his iPod but still failing to drown out the noise of his family celebrating downstairs. A few weeks ago, he’d thought that she was going to be here with him, kissing him at midnight, but then she’d gone and dumped him.

Since then, that was all that he’d been thinking of. Had he done something wrong? Had he rushed things? Maybe he just had to give her time.

One thing that he was sure of was that she wouldn’t have dumped him if she’d still had had her empathy – feeling his heartbreak would have been just too painful for her.

But why was he still feeling the way he did and thinking these thoughts? Surely with his super-speed, he should have got over it by now.

Unfortunately, there were some things that even Wally West couldn’t hurry.

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“I’m sorry,” said Roy, taken aback by the news of the break up. “I didn’t know.”

“No need to keep apologizing,” she said. “These things happen. It’s not as if you’ve been around here much lately to keep track of things.”

“Funny,” mused Roy, “I thought yours and Wally’s relationship was one that would last. If anyone was going to break up, I’d have laid bets on it being Dick and Kory.”

“No, they seem more serious than ever. This year, she even managed to talk him into letting her meet his parent.

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“So, where’s Kory?” Batgirl asked, as she looked out over the Gotham skyline. “Still in New York.”

“No, she’s here,” Nightwing answered. “I’ve left her with Bruce. They’re comparing battle scars.”

“Speaking of scars,” she said, looking at the bruises on his face, “you look like you’ve been in the wars recently.”

“Just a bad Christmas shopping experience,” he explained.

“I’m glad I shop online,” said Batgirl. “You know, for a brief moment there, I thought Kory might have done that to you, but then I guess that she doesn’t know about us being here together.”

“She doesn’t need to know,” said Nightwing, stepping towards Batgirl.

“Trust me, Dick,” she said, flinging a batarang, with a wire attached, at a lever behind her. “She needs to know.”

And with that, Batgirl tugged on the wire, thus pulling the lever.

“It’s about time we shed some light on the situation.”

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Meanwhile, in the Batcave, Kory listened to Batman avidly, as he waxed lyrical about his various battle tactics. Suddenly, they were interrupted by Alfred.

“Sir, I’m incredibly sorry to interrupt your masterclass in brutality, but I’m afraid it’s the Bat-Signal.”

“I’ll be right on it, Alfred.”

“Actually, Master Bruce, I believe that this signal is intended for Miss Koriand’r,” explained Alfred, impressing Kory by pronouncing her name with the correct Tamaranian inflection.

“Thanks, Alfred,” said Kory, as she left Batman alone in his cave. A second later, she and Alfred were looking out into the night sky at the Bat-Signal. They couldn’t help but notice the two silhouettes imposed on it.

“Dick,” gasped Kory, recognizing one of the silhouettes.

“And Miss Barbara, if I’m not mistaken,” added Alfred.

A second later Starfire had uttered a Tamarian curse word, and then launched herself into the sky, through the window that Alfred had had the foresight to open. Alfred briefly watched her streak into the sky, and then rushed off to check on Wayne Manor’s medical supplies.

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Back in New York City, Roy was still indulging in small talk with Raven.

“So, who provided the new building?” he asked.

“Apparently, and I could be wrong because I slept through it all, some mysterious benefactor provided it after the sterling work we’d done helping clean up New York following that crisis.”

“Mysterious benefactor?” echoed Roy. “Probably Ollie.”

“Interesting. We hadn’t thought of him. Dick was fairly sure that it was Bruce. Bruce naturally denied it, which, of course, made Dick even surer.”

“Anyway, I like the inconspicuous design,” admitted Roy. “It made it real easy to find. I’m also glad that all of the automated doors still seemed to recognize my Titans communicator and let me in.”

“They’ll let anyone in,” said Raven. “Have you seen any of the new members?”

“Well, there was a green kid I bumped into on the way up, who says he’s just joined. He was on his way to meet Donna.”

“That must be Beast Boy. I’ve not met him yet, but I’ve read all about him. Should be interesting.”

“And then there was this girl in red and yellow, who seemed real excited to meet me, and then, just when I was getting used to her hero worship, an arrow whizzed by my head, and this other girl turns up telling me that she’s taken over my role as resident archer.”

“Yeah, but she won’t last long,” said Raven reassuringly. “After all, what sort of power is archery? She may as well draw a target on her chest.”

“I think I preferred you with the empathy.”

“That’s what everyone says,” said Raven, with a shrug. “Anyway, in case they didn’t introduce themselves that would be Flamebird and Arrowette. I think Element, Woodchucker and Dagon are all away for New Year, which leaves just Plastique.”

“Plastique?”

“Even if you’d met him, you probably wouldn’t have realized it,” explained Raven. “If you encounter any person or thing that looks familiar here then that might be him. If, on the other hand, you encounter a big bad monster, then that’s even more likely to be him.”

“I’ll keep my eyes peeled,” said Roy.

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It was New Year’s Eve and the dynamic duo of Flamebird and Arrowette were out fighting crime on the streets of New York.

“I can’t believe you treated Roy with such disrespect,” said Flamebird, as she somersaulted over one nondescript hoodlum, to punch another nondescript hoodlum standing behind him.

“I can’t believe you’re still going on about it,” replied Arrowette, pulling out a set of Three Stooges arrows from her quiver.

“But he was one of the original Titans,” argued Flamebird, backflipping to avoid yet another nondescript thug, while kicking another against a wall.

“And he let the Titans down,” replied Arrowette, firing out her face-seeking arrows. “I wouldn’t have dragged you out here, if I’d known that all you were going to do was moan.”

“Well, I wish you hadn’t,” countered Flamebird, stepping over the thugs, who’d now fallen to the ground with arrows attached to their heads, the sophisticated electronics within the arrows causing Three Stooges routines to be performed on their faces. “I’d rather be in Gotham where the bad guys are a bit more interesting. This time of year they probably have scythe-wielding ninjas dressed as Old Father Time around every corner.”

“But you and I both know you can’t risk going to Gotham, Carrie. Besides, we’ve all got to stay here for Raven.”

Carrie sighed. “Yeah, you’re right, I guess. Still, it would be nice to be home for New Year.”

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Roy smiled. “I remember what it was like when I first started out. I was just a kid, zooming around in the Arrowcar, firing novelty arrows, encountering colorful bad guys. It all seemed so innocent back then.”

“Was it ever like that?” asked Raven, surprised to suddenly see an enthusiasm in Roy’s eyes that she’d never seen before.

“Yes, at first. Then I started growing older, realizing the dangers involved, seeing things that a child shouldn’t have to see. I also wasn’t that enamored of the name Speedy – I was actually originally meant to be called the Red Arrow, but Ollie always likes calling people by stupid nicknames, and the press just assumed that was actually my name. Anyway, despite my fears, I was still trying to impress Ollie, trying to be just like him, or even like that Boy Wonder kid who all of us sidekicks aspired to... but I couldn’t be either of them... unfortunately I could only be me. I wasn’t fearless like them, I wasn’t as driven... neither was Barbara. I think she was the only one who understood what I was going through.”

“So, that’s why you turned to drugs?”asked Raven. “The pressures of being a child superhero.”

“Something like that,” replied Roy. “I thought Ollie had suddenly lost interest in me, paying more attention to that new beard of his than to me, but talking with him later it turned out he was just trying to dissuade me from carrying on. He knew the dangers of the job, the toll it could take on relationships.”

“So, why did you carry on?”

“Because of the difference I made. Sure I’m not fearless, but few of us are. The fact that we’re still willing to lay our life on the line - that’s what makes us heroes. Then again, maybe it’s just that I can’t give it up – the fame, the danger, the adrenalin rushes. Maybe it’s just another addiction.”

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“Are you addicted to danger?” Nightwing asked Batgirl, as he saw Starfire suddenly soaring comet-like up into the night sky.

“Why would Kory think there’s anything going on between us?” replied Batgirl, realizing that, as yet another year ended, any chance of Dick sweeping her off her feet, which she had to confess she'd thought about occasionally, seemed more remote than ever. “If there was any chance of a relationship between us, then surely one of us would have done something about it by now,” she added, trying not to show her true feelings for him, but hoping that, just for once, Dick might reveal what feelings, if any, he still had for her.

Before Nightwing could reply, Starfire suddenly landed right in front of the two of them, her eyes, and fists, blazing.

“Hi, Kory,” said Batgirl, attempting to defuse the situation. “I’ve been doing some research for Nightwing – looking into the mysterious person who supplied Titans Tower, running background checks on the members who’ve joined this year.”

Starfire frowned at Dick. “You’ve been checking on our friends? And I thought you were certain that Bruce supplied the Tower?”

“It doesn’t look that way,” interrupted Barbara.

“What? Bruce didn’t give us the Tower?”

“Well, I don’t know who did that for certain, and it still could be Bruce,” began Batgirl, “but I can tell you who designed all of the technology in the building, and it’s no-one connected to Wayne Industries. Actually, I was talking about your so-called friends.”

“What about them?” asked Starfire.

“Well, for three of them, while all the computer records seem to support the information they’ve given, the paper records tell a different story.”

“You’ve double-checked?” asked Nightwing, and then remembered who he was talking to and how redundant his question was.

“Triple-checked,” replied Batgirl, “and every time it leads to the same conclusion. The people they claim to be just don’t exist.”

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Back on the rooftop, Roy Harper had finally got to the point.

“Anyway, I thought that I was finished with drugs for good,” said Roy, standing up, “but then, all of a sudden, something worse came along.”

“Something worse?”

“It was the thoughts that I was having, thoughts that didn’t make any sense. That’s why I tried to track down my missing mother, and, when I found her, the answer seemed obvious... I thought I was going insane.”

“And the doctors prescribed heroin?” asked Raven in disbelief.

“No, that was just an easy escape route. I found it made the thoughts go away, if only for a little while. It was the lesser of two evils.”

“You should have told us, Roy. We could have helped.”

“But I couldn’t face telling you the feelings I had, the feelings I still have,” he said, as he walked behind her. “My feelings towards you.”

“Feelings?”

He knelt down, behind her, and put his hands on her shoulders.

“Rae... I want to kill you.”

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For a while, Roy stood behind her, wondering what he’d do next... or hoping that she’d do something. Suddenly she broke the silence. “Okay, Roy. If you're going to do it, do it. Push me.”

Roy removed his hands from her shoulders. “I can’t... I can’t.”

“When did the thoughts begin?” she asked.

“Not long after I first met you,” replied Roy, surprised that Raven was still even willing to occupy the same roof as him.

“After your coma?”

He nodded. “Yeah, sometime around then I guess.”

“Those aren't your thoughts, Roy,” Raven said, turning around to look him in the eye. “That was the Royal Flush Gang,” she said, taking hold of his hand. “They put those thoughts in your head.”

“But why would they do that?” he asked.

She got up, using Roy’s hand to steady herself, to prevent herself from falling. “Look out over the city, Roy. All those lights, and a New Year about to arrive. You’d think the future was bright... but it’s not. The future's dark, Roy.”

Raven turned him to face her, his back now to the city. He looked at her face, as she smiled at him, and he felt her hand go to his chest, and then she pushed, hard, sending Roy Harper falling off the rooftop.

“Very dark indeed.”

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The End!