Teen Titans #53: "Rise of the Wildebeests" part 2

[arcalian]

Teen Titans #53
Rise of the Wildebeests, part 2
Story by Jay McIntyre
Art by Jamie Rimmer

"I'm a beast in the night. I'm on the prowl and I'm hoping to find some light..."
--Alive by Kid Cudi

"His vision, from the constantly passing bars,
has grown so weary that it cannot hold
anything else. It seems to him there are
a thousand bars; and behind the bars, no world.

As he paces in cramped circles, over and over,
the movement of his powerful soft strides
is like a ritual dance around a center
in which a mighty will stands paralyzed.

Only at times, the curtain of the pupils
lifts, quietly--. An image enters in,
rushes down through the tensed, arrested muscles,
plunges into the heart and is gone."
--Panther by Rainer Maria Rilke

[arcalian]

-1-

Acre, Brazil, Fourteen years and eight months ago....


As the Wildebeest descended on the village one of the girls ran, but with a different look in her eyes.

So, it was time. It was finally time. A day she had hoped would never come. But she had been warned against this day, trained for it. Whispers passed from mother to daughter, down the generations, for thousands of years. She knew what must be done.

The Wildebeests had always come, now and then, down the years. Not regularly, but with enough frequency that the peoples of the jungle basin knew that they would always come again. Unlike people of more 'civilized' climes, they knew that the bogeyman and the ogre were real, though they did not always wear those shapes or go by those names.

So many hundreds of years ago, the shamans of their people had found a way to fight back.

She raced into the ritual hut, ignoring with an effort the screams of her people outside. They would fall regardless; though it hurt her heart, she had to become what was needed to stop their killer.

In the ritual hut was a simple hole in the floor, covered in straw, beside their altar. She muttered three soft words in succession, then flipped the cover aside and reached for the golden mask beneath. With reverence, she put it on.

Her body was surrounded by a soft glow, and she slumped into a deep sleep, not quite a coma. Her body faded from view as her transformation began.

[arcalian]

-2-

Manaus, Brazil, now:

The Titans West plane touched down first, by a few minutes. By the time Nightwing's crew arrived, Bumblebee's team were out on the runway, eyeing Brazilian army guards. Officially, the Brazilian government welcomed whatever help they could get. Unofficially, the attitude of soldiers in the Brazilian hinterlands was another story.

Nightwing's team was more recognizable, and seeing them, the guards muttered and retreated.

"Thanks," Bumblebee said. "That could've been unpleasant."

"Is that why you wanted us along?" Beast Boy asked.

"In part," Bumblebee agreed.

"Also the firepower," Rose put in. "And of course, I was very glad to see you again."

"Likewise," Terra agreed.

"Can we skip the sitcom feelgood moment?" Risk sneered.

"Actually, I agree." Nightwing stood in front of both teams to face them. "Let's focus on the mission. We can save the banter for later."

"That'd be a change," Kid Flash said, and even Troia had to laugh.

Nightwing smiled thinly and made a dismissive gesture. "Let's get it done, people. Bumblebee, where exactly are these suspicious energy readings?"

"I've got coordinates. Getting there might be somewhat difficult. I'd suggest hiring choppers, but that might be difficult."

"We've got powers; those of us who do will carry those who don't. Let's go."

[arcalian]

-3-

Acre, Brazil. Thirteen years and three months ago....

The girl rematerialized on the floor of the hut.

She woke up.

Her village was dead and gone, harvested by the enemy. She knew that instinctively. The mask she had worn that had transformed her, taught her much.

Like Edwin Steel, she was no longer the same person anymore, and had changed her into something else entirely. Something not entirely natural. But her new personae was diametrically opposed to those Wildebeests--for such they were called--and unlike their fundamentally alien nature, she was still very much a creature of the Earth.

The raids of the Wildebeest monsters were nothing new, and her form had been created to deal with just this problem, but the shamans of old. They had called upon the spirit of the panther, and infused it into the mask, which in turn transformed the wearer. Becoming the Pantha.

Each time, the Pantha had forced the enemy back. But this time.....this time might be different. It worried the Pantha.

Worried her very much.

But there was no time for doubtful introspection. She must act.

She slipped out into the jungle night.

[arcalian]

-4-

Acre, Brazil. Thirteen years and one month ago....

The Wildebeest that had once been Edwin Steel was satisfied, if not entirely pleased.

The intelligence behind the Wildebeests had been fighting the Pantha guardian off an on for some time now. It was learning. Slower than it should have--it could not pass learning on from one generation to the next as easily as the Pantha guardian could--but it was learning.

Longer, slower recruiting periods. Greater numbers of Wildebeests with which to strike back.

Until it was too late for anyone to stop it.

[arcalian]

-5-

Acre, Brazil, now....

The Titans had followed narrow thin trails into the jungle, past the cruel fingers of loggers and the scorched-earth operations that had decimated so much of the rain forests. What they were hunting, if not natural, certainly gave the appearance of being more comfortable in natural surroundings. That was one of the reasons the Brazilian government was cooperating; the nightmare scenario of what would happen if whatever was out here reached a populated area.

No one knew for sure exactly what that was. Not yet. But from the tales locals had been telling these past few years on the one hand, and the satellite energy readings on the other, Nightwing's mind was drawing some disturbing conclusions.

It was Raven that took point now, teleporting ahead every so often. Kid Flash was only a few steps behind her. Each of them were 'eyes' for the combined teams. Golden Eagle soared above, but hung back behind the teleporter and speedster. He was trying to see things from another angle, not charge ahead. For all the San Fransisco team's bravado, they knew they needed all the help they could get on this one. Since the events that had formed their team, they had seen some interesting things; the local organized crime had experimented with powered armor technology, the Antithesis, the Children of the Sun, Pylon and the Veil, even a metahuman nationalist movement....but this was another caliber of threat entirely.

[arcalian]

-6-

The Wildebeest/Pantha conflict had been suspended by the Apokolips and Starro invasions. They had not fought along side each other or made any kind of alliance; neither of them would have ever considered it. It was just for those occasions they were too busy fighting the invaders to deal with each other. Even the remote Brazilian back country was not immune to those aliens invasions. Neither made any offer to the Wildebeest, and that consciousness would never have considered it; for it's part, it knew that it's many years dead creators had reason to hate and fear the Starro creatures.

When the Black Sun rose, both sides had gone completely insane, attacking blindly, and at random, anything that moved. In the ongoing madness of that time, nobody really noticed.

But none of those events had changed the status quo of the Pantha's increasingly desperate situation.

Now things had settled down again, and the Pantha guardian was getting more and more worried. The Wildebeest were smarter this time, cagier. She knew that the mind behind them was older than she was; but she also thought it stupid. This was apparently not so; it just learned slowly. But it was learning.

Unlike in previous conflicts; the Wildebeests were not rushing her en masse in a hope of killing her, or rushing in with hit and run attacks, hoping to slowly increase her injuries until she fell. No, now this time they avoided conflict with her wherever possible. They used her own stealth tactics against her, going further and further afield to kill more villagers and convert more into their ranks. Sometimes she got lucky and caught them on the way back, but even then they ran, until finally they reached their own base in the old ruined temple, where whatever power it was that guided them was able to keep her at bay. Beyond a certain point, she simply could not advance to the temple at all.

So over the past few years, the Wildebeest had been slowly but surely increasing their numbers. Until, at last, their numbers would truly be sufficient to overwhelm her. That would take several years yet, but she could tell it was only a matter of time.

In recent months, strange and powerful people had come into the jungles, attacking her and wildebeest alike. She had killed one, the Wildebeest had killed two. It had given her no pleasure to end the life of what might have been a potential ally, but the one she had fought had not even tried to negotiate; he had simply attacked. She was not sure if she could have spoken his language anyway; she only knew the tongue of the native tribe that had created her.


So when she sensed the Titans coming, she tensed. There was a large group. Not the single being she had faced before. Or the pair that she had seen the Wildebeests annihilate before she could act. She could kill this group....probably. But maybe not. And even if she won, she knew it would leave her substantially weakened and injured. The Wildebeests would have no problem with her then.

But she doubted she could talk to them either. So when the first of them appeared in a puff of smoke--with a golden-scarlet blur of another not far behind--she slowly started retreating back through the jungle.

But the dark-robed woman somehow sensed her, and turned to look in her direction.

Pantha would rather run than fight; clearly these beings could weaken the Wildebeests for her. But Raven turned and looked in her direction, eyes unfocused. Pantha snarled a curse under her breath; the dark clad woman clearly could sense her, somehow. But all was not lost; if she ran, she could lead them to the enemy.

So she turned and bolted for the dark temple where the Wildebeest had first been spawned, moving at speeds far faster than any human, any big cat. Faster than both together.

This was, of course, still nowhere near as fast as Kid Flash.

To her utter astonishment, he blurred in ahead of her. "Ain't no patch on Catwoman," he said, "But interesting all the same. Our killer, perhaps?"

Pantha didn't understand any of the words. ("Hunt the Wildebeests, human,") she said, ("Not me.")

"I dunno what you just said, but we can't let you keep killing people."

The others were catching up now, starting with Raven. Risk was there, then Rose. The Pantha crouched down, ready to go down fighting.

Then Troia's lasso looped around her. "We can do this the easy way--" she began.

Pantha snarled and lunged and slashed, but the strange cord just would not break! How was her strength insufficient! She felt sizzling magic power in that cord, but surely she was the stronger!

So she began to flee through their numbers, dragging Troia along with her. Cyborg and Risk went to intercede, but it was not necessary; Troia simply planted her feet. Pantha was strong, but not nearly that strong.

She strained against the lasso nevertheless, mightily. Troia had her under control, but she wouldn't stop struggling.

"I don't think your lasso can translate," Bumblebee suggested, frowning.

"It can't. She'll speak the truth, but we won't understand a word of it. Nightwing, can you tranq her?"

"Leave it to me, actually," Cyborg said. He flicked his mechanical wrist and three darts shot free and slammed into Pantha's shoulder.

"Nice work," Nightwing said.

"I've been modifying myself," Cyborg shrugged. He didn't sound particularly happy about it. Several of the San Francisco members looked at him with a mixture of surprise and pity.

Raven, of course, understood. Cyborg had never been happy with what had been done to him. He made his own utilitarian modifications since out of necessity, but that didn't mean he enjoyed them. Raven had not felt happiness emanating from him related to his condition since.....the fight with the Parademon in Markovia. And that had been long ago.

Pantha, meanwhile, struggled against the drugs; she was resistant to many things. But while the chemicals did not put her out, they did cause her to weaken and become feeble in her attempts to escape. ("I will never submit,") she growled feebly.

"Can anyone understand what she's saying?" Risk asked.

"Whatever language it is, it's still human," Golden Eagle said.

"Probably some dialect of Portuguese," Cyborg suggested. "I could run it through my processors--"

"More likely a native tongue, which is it's own creature," Raven said.

"Good pun," Beast Boy said, and Terra face palmed.

"Whatever the joke was, I did not intend it, nor do I understand it. Let me try to read the creature's mind."

Terra elbowed Beast Boy. "And no Star Trek jokes from you."

Beast Boy made a face. "Spoilsport."

"Silence, now." Raven bowed her head in concentration.

[arcalian]

-7-

Raven could not translate the Pantha's language any better than the others, but mental pictures were a constant.

She saw.

She saw that the Pantha was a spirit guardian that had been embodied by many hosts down the years, every few generations or so. And she saw that the wild beasts--the Wildebeests--were even older. The Pantha had been created by village shamans as a response to their aggression.

The Pantha had been able to hold them at bay, and eventually, each time the Wildebeests had faded away. But not this time. This time the Pantha was fairly sure it would eventually lose.

Raven, in her turn, showed the Pantha who and what the Titans were, and what they did. The industrial world outside the forests frightened and disgusted her--she had killed a few loggers and farmers in her time--but she saw that they did their best to keep order in that strange, harsh world. And their strange technologies--just another form of magic to her, a sentiment Raven agreed with--had detected a strange power increase inside what must be the enemy temple. A place no incarnation of the Pantha had ever been able to go.

The Pantha could lead them there....and they could go where she could not.

[arcalian]

-8-

Contact lasted about five minutes--thoughts being much quicker than words. Raven stood up and stepped back.

"She is not the enemy. Though not innocent, she is in fact a local guardian who, along with her numerous predecessors, has tried to keep the real threat--the Wildebeests--in check. But this time the cycle has changed; these Wildebeests...or whatever force guides them...is increasing it's numbers to the point where she fears she will lose. And then, they will spread out into our world."

"Wait....the Wildebeests? Seriously?" Beast Boy raised a brow. "They're in Africa!"

"I'm David Attenborough," Terra intoned, "And this is...."

Starfire loomed over them. "Does the phrase 'I'm firing my laser' have any significance to you?"

They shut up. Beast Boy could have pointed out that she pronounced it wrong, but wisely decided against it.

Risk looked at Bumblebee. "Tell me that we are more serious than that."

"There's a difference," Bumblebee replied, "Between serious and rude."

"Can we communicate with her?" Rose asked Raven, to cut off any more banter.

"Learning English, or even Portugese, would take time. Learning Jericho's sign language might be quicker. But for right now, she can lead us to the target. A target whose base she cannot physically access herself."

"Which is why she hasn't destroyed them," Golden Eagle surmised.

"Indeed. Shall we go?" Raven arched an eyebrow at Nightwing, who nodded.

[arcalian]

-9-

Now Bumblebee flew on high with Golden Eagle, Starfire not far behind. Scarlet Wing stayed on the ground with the others. She had tried--repeatedly--to get on Golden Eagle's good side, to no avail. She wasn't sweet on him, exactly, but clearly she was trying to find a friend. And having no luck.

The old ruined temple was in sight, now. Pantha couldn't get much closer. But the Titans clearly could see what was wrong with the place now. Blue green energy was leaking from every opening. The source of the energy readings, obviously. To the older, more experienced members of the New York team, it reminded them of those meteorite zombies from a much earlier case.

"They won't attack us here?" Bumblebee asked aloud, frowning.

"From what I saw in Pantha's mind," Raven said, "They want to have sufficient numbers to do that. But if we go into their lair, on their turf, they will have the advantage."

"Not to mention limiting our maneuverability," Rose muttered.

"Exactly."

"Perhaps subtlety is not the best approach, this time," Nightwing said. "After all, that's the approach the enemy is using. They want to hide? Let's flush them out."

"What are you thinking?" Bumblebee pressed him.

"I'm thinking, we attack the structure itself. Damage the base, provoke them into leaving their safe holes and face us in the open." He looked up at the San Francisco team leader, who nodded.

The flying team members launched, Scarlet Wing joining them. She was the only one with any doubts about this plan of action, but as the newest member of the New York team, she didn't think she had any right to complain. Sighing quietly, she took an eggsplosive from her belt and hurled it at the old temple, Starfire firing alongside her. Bumblebee unleashed sonic disruptions. Golden Eagle had no ranged attack, and simply remained ready.

They hadn't long to wait. The Wildebeests came growing and snarling out of their lair. It wasn't clear who had originally named them, or where the Pantha had first heard the name, but they were indeed bipedal, muscular, monstrous versions of the African quadruped. First there were twenty of them, then thirty....then forty....then they lost count.

"Okay," Beast Boy said, sounding a little winded. "I can see why Pantha was having a problem."

"Let's hit em hard!" Risk shouted, and charged. The others moved in, and with a mighty clash the battle was joined.....

(continued)



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