Teen Titans #56: "Bad Blood, part 1"

[arcalian]

Teen Titans #56
"Bad Blood" part 1
Story by Jay McIntyre
Art by Rik Mertens

Ofall that is written, I love only what a person has written with his own blood.
-Friedrich Nietzsche

Blood alone moves the wheels of history.
-Martin Luther

[arcalian]

-1-

“You should be thanking me,” Professor 'Chaos' said. “You will be immortal; beyond the reach of death, forever. Faster and stronger than any normal man, a match for most metahumans.”

“I'm not some damn Buffy fan, you idiot!” He had shouted, struggling against the nurses. But there was no point. They had strength enhanced by both genetics and cybernetics; and he was no match for them.”

“No indeed,” Chaos had said, smiling down at him. “You will become a proper vampire, in the traditions of old; forms that even the classic Hollywood films are barely a whisper. No pretender, but the genuine article of which men have whispered through the ages, of which the modern 'superhero' is a mere pretension.”

“Let me GO! I don't want to be part of this!”

“Unlike Forrester?” Chaos smiled and shook his head. “You will become so much more than he was. His power is nothing like yours will be.”

“He's a scumbucket, like you are!” Dagon shouted.

“Such a lack of perspective.” Chaos threw the switch.

[arcalian]

-2-

Dagon awoke, shouting, clawing futilely at the inside of his technological coffin. Memory came back slowly, and he breathed heavily, even though he had no real need to breathe. Awakening brought it's pain, and he bared his fangs in a rictus of frustration.

His dreams jumbled the details of his memories, sometimes. But the essentials were always the same. His name had been David Nathaniel in those days, before he had become a vampire. He and another he had known, one Eric Forrester, had been invited to a series of experiments, for which they would be compensate. Forrester, a smarmy womanizer, had become a machine empath; Troia had found him again, recently, and Nightwing was keeping an eye on him, between trips to Bludhaven. But David had become....something else.

He'd had this dream four times now in the last six weeks, and two days in a row. From all he'd researched and learned, vampires did not dream often. And when they did, it always meant something; some significant portent or message. Dagon had not become a vampire in the normal sense, but he certainly indicated all the traits of a proper one, physically and psychologically. And his dreams were about his portentous creation. That couldn't be a coincidence.

He angrily pushed his coffin open, then yelped as the sunlight came in. He pulled it shut again, still shuddering through the pain of awakening from torpor, now with the additional burn of exposure to sunlight.

Hissing in frustration, he closed his eyes again, shuddered, and attempted to go back to sleep.

[arcalian]

-3-

When Dagon could finally rouse himself safely, he went in search of Nightwing. Their leader was in the lounge, sitting comfortably with his arm around his lover, Starfire. Raven sat to the left, brooding over some mystical text or other. She had tried to help him before, but to little avail. Well, that was not strictly fair. She had helped design and construct the helmet that enabled him to function during the day, blocking out the harmful UV rays that could first harm and then finally destroy him.

But she had, surprisingly, not been much help in the research department. Not from lack of intent, but from lack of information. Demons were her specialty; she was always on guard against her father. No surprise there. But the vampire lore had been surprisingly thin.

Putting such thoughts out of his mind, he greeted Nightwing. “Hey, boss. Glad to see you're not in Bludhaven, just present.”

Nightwing turned away from Starfire and gave him a mildly surprised smile. “Dagon. What's up?”

Dagon explained the situation.

Nightwing nodded. “You think this 'Chaos' is in town?”

Dagon shrugged. “I need to find him, that much is clear.”

“Well, I don't see what leads we have.”

“Forrester,” Dagon answered instantly. “He was one of the earlier experiments. It's how he got his machine empath powers. He was...a more voluntary subject than I. He might know something.”

“Then we'll go have a talk with him. I've been meaning to check up on him, anyway.”

[arcalian]

-4-

Eric Forrester smirked at himself in the mirror of his slightly run-down apartment.

He wasn't vain, not really, but he was obsessed with looking his best for the ladies. Especially Troia. That the superheroine was actually giving him time of day was more than he dared dream. He didn't know how far he could push it, but--

There was a tap tap tapping at the window.

Eric started, then calmed himself. He knew the Titans would be checking in on him regularly. He'd been on his best behavior....and that was another reason to pursue Troia.

She had asked him not to inquire about her secret identity, and he was perfectly fine with that. He was no stranger to keeping secrets for his own protection.

He turned to the window. Yes, the divaliscious Troia was there—he'd get her yet, and she'd thank him for it when he did—but so were Nightwing, Starfire, Raven, and....the vampire. Not a social visit then. The vampire in particular gave him the creeps. There was something familiar about him, and Eric didn't like that. He didn't like it at all.

“Good evening, superfriends,” he said, smiling as he opened the window. One by one, they climbed inside; it must have been crowded out there. “What can I do for you?”

Nightwing's expression was.....not exactly friendly. “You can help us fill in on our current investigation.”

Eric blinked; that was certainly unexpected. “How can I help?”

The vampire floated in front of his face. “You and I have a shared history.”

Eric blinked again, a chill going down his spine. “We do?”

“Yes. We were both experimented on by that Professor 'Chaos' idiot.”

“Ah.” Eric relaxed. Backstory was all well and good. “Yeah, I remember him. A real nutjob, but he had some skill.”

The vampire bared his fangs in annoyance. “Skill at turning us into things we were not meant to be. I remember you; you talked me into going to that jerk in the first place.”

Eric blinked, then stared in horror. “David? Oh God, David..you agreed to come along man....you knew we would get paid...”

“Not,” the vampire hissed, “For that.”

“This is all beside the point,” Nightwing cut in. “We need any leads on Chaos we can get.”

Troia stepped to Eric and tried to calm his nerves. Thankfully his charms had worked on her enough for her to be on his side when he needed it. And he certainly he needed her now; his nerves were shot. He was no fighter; against even one Titan he had no chance, and well he knew it. “Any info you can give us on where he might be now would be helpful,” she said.

He took a shaky breath. “I didn't keep contact with him after he...augmented me,” he said. “But I can use my powers, try to find him in through the internet. He was never subtle. Shouldn't be too hard to find. But he's probably out of town by now. It's been more than two years.”

“Anywhere in the world he's gone,” Raven intoned, “We can find him.” Eric nodded, eying her. The thought passed through his head that if he'd met her first.....ah, but he knew she was already committed. Kid Flash had already exploited her vulnerability, he understood. As if reading the thought, Raven narrowed her eyes at him. He looked away.

“As soon as I find out anything,” he promised, “I'll let you know.”

“Do that,” Nightwing said, and they left, only Troia lingering.

She took his hand, and he smiled, knowing that she could feel his powers through their physical connection. “You have to earn their trust,” she said.

“I know,” he assured her, “And I will.” He'd play ball. He had to.

She surprised him by embracing him briefly, then she followed the others.

Once they were gone, Eric shut the window and let out a shaky breath. Sure, he'd help them. It would get the rest of them off his back, and win him even more brownie points with Troia.

He smiled to himself. Soon she would be his.

[arcalian]

-5-



The next night, the vampire sat on top of the tower, looking out into the dark. He'd forsaken his long coat, for the moment anyway.

Nightwing came up on the roof behind him. “It would have been better if you hadn't reminded Eric about your shared past.”

Dagon didn't bother to point out it had got them the leverage they needed; he was sure Nightwing knew that already. “Heat of the moment. Sorry. Besides, my old life doesn't really exist anymore. It's not a secret identity; it's a dead history.” He blew out a sigh. “Whether I like it or not, David Nathaniel doesn't really exist anymore.”

“We've all taken risks,” Nightwing allowed. “The main reason I agreed to go to Eric for this at all is that I need to get back to Bludhaven. Can't spend the time on this that I would like.”

Dagon turned to him with honest concern. “You're not leaving us, are you boss?”

Nightwing laughed. “If I could handle double-duty as Batman in Gotham, maintaining just the Nightwing identity in Bludhaven won't be that hard. I'm not so burned out anymore, for one thing. But that means I can't be here all the time. Just like Kid Flash.”

Dagon nodded.

“Troia is in charge while I'm gone, as usual. Eric will tell her whatever we need to know, and you guys can act on it. If it hits the fan, call me.”

“Of course,” Dagon said. He got up and shook Nightwing's hand.

Nightwing leapt out over the city.

[arcalian]

-6-

This time only Troia and Dagon went.

“You guys can use the door, you know.” Eric said.

“Do you have something, old 'friend'?” Dagon asked. Troia made a calming gesture, which Dagon ignored.

Eric noticed the byplay, but wisely said nothing. “Denver, three weeks ago. He put an ad on a website. He used a different name; was calling himself 'Discord'. But it was clearly him.”

“Wonder why he bothers with such names,” Troia mused. “Clearly not as a disguise.”

“Ego, probably.” Dagon grimaced.

Eric nodded agreement. “Probably figures he'll be seen as a harmless kook rather than a villain. And so far, he seems to be right.”

“Did he experiment on others besides you two?” Troia asked.

Both of them nodded. Eric said, “I was his first success out of our....batch. He was trying machine empathy before me, but none of the other three turned out. After he succeeded with me, he moved on to vampirism with David. I dunno if there were any others after him, I had gone on my own way by then.”

“You should have tried to stop him,” Troia said, the first genuinely critical thing she'd said to Eric so far.

He spread his hands. “I'm not a hero, you saw that when you bailed me out of that computer lab. I just try to get by. Machine empathy isn't a combat power, and I'm not that powerful anyway. That's part of why you guys didn't offer to make me a member, right?”

“That and we've got enough people already,” Troia agreed.

“But who knows how many he experiment on before us, or after,” Dagon said. “Like what he's doing right now.”

All three of them then had the unfortunate moment of visualizing various experimental subjects with machine empathy, vampirism, or who knew what other powers, wandering the country or the world. Each of them was discomfited by it, to varying degrees and for varying reasons.

“Come on,” Dagon said, “Show us the website.”

[arcalian]

-7-

“We could call in the west coast team on this one,” Troia said as she flew away from Eric's apartment, Dagon in mist form beside her. “Technically it is their jurisdiction.”

Dagon's voice emanated from the mist with a weird, echoing tone. “Yeah, but it's also personally relevant to me. You're the boss, and if you wanna call em you will, Terra would be pleased to see Rose. But I have to be in on this.”

“Of course you do,” Troia said. “I was just wondering if we'd need the backup.”

“It's your call. But I think we can handle one mad scientist.”

“Not a little peeved that he hurt you so before?” Troia asked mildly.

“Of course. But I'll keep it together. I've never hurt anyone unnecessarily, and he can't tell me what I need to know if I hurt him too bad.”

Troia nodded. She was more worried about Dagon obeying her orders than she was about him losing control.

“Meantime,” the vampire went on, materializing as they returned to the Tower, “You know Eric's trying to seduce you.”

Troia rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I noticed.”

Dagon spread his hands and raised one eyebrow, the question obvious.

“I'm thinking about it. I'm not that sort of girl, but....” She hung her head. “He reminds me of Kyle, in his looks anyway,” she admitted in a smaller voice.

“Just remember, he's not Kyle, he's a creep.”

“Personal bitterness from past experience speaking, there?” she asked.

“Yes,” he said simply.

[arcalian]

-8-

Troia put it to a vote, not to decide whether they would do it or not, but on whether everyone would go. She was mildly surprised when the vote was unanimous.

“I do have one question, though, fang-face,” Terra asked. “If we find this guy, are you gonna try to make him change you back?”

Dagon blinked. “I hadn't honestly thought of that,” he said. “Not sure it's even possible. And if it is, could I really go back to a normal life? David Nathaniel has been legally dead for more than two years, as Forrester said. STAR Labs already said they were pretty sure it was irreversible, anyway. Mostly, I just want answers. How he got started, if he had help, what his goals and plans are. And, of course, to stop him.”

Terra raised an eyebrow. “Sure you don't want to go back to being a human, chief?”

Dagon shrugged. “I'll cross that bridge if and when I come to it. And I'm not sure I'd want to start over again. Besides, I'm not one of those sappy vampires from that...that new show that makes Buffy look sane.”

Everyone laughed. Even Scarlet Wing chuckled a little at that one.

“I'll get the plane ready.” Cyborg said, and headed out.

[arcalian]

-9-

Denver.

The man who called himself Chaos, amongst other names, had rented out office space on East Sixth Avenue as a lab for his experiments, and indeed it was well appointed. But his real base was hidden in the old abandoned mining tunnels left over from the early days of the city. Getting from one to the other was....easier than it would have seemed. He smiled to himself.

He was not, strictly speaking, a normal human. His first experimental subject had been himself, but most of those experiments were failures. As he went on, it occurred to him to test on others first.

His father was a metahuman, but the genetic traits had never manifested in himself. The frustration and envy had burned inside him. To awaken it had been his original motivation, and it drove him still. But as his experiments continued, he became fascinated in the transformative process itself, watching his subjects become shapeshifters, machine empaths, vampires, and most recently, teleporters. Each of these were interesting, but not exactly the powers he wanted for himself. The immortality of the vampire, yes. But not the....side effects.

Then there were those experiments that were total failures. Their screams had troubled him, at least in the early days.

He had worked with other organizations and other scientists in his time. HIVE, Malthus, Wilkerson, Jace, Stone, Klein-Rogge, Luthor, and others. So many he had either worked with, helped, or studied the works of, or learned from. Eventually he had found financial backers. Backers who for the most part wanted anonymity, and gave him most whatever he needed with but one mandate: Succeed.

And he would. Oh yes. It was soon. Very soon. The teleporters had been a moderate success; now he was moving on to flight and energy blast. Soon he would have just the right cocktail of chemicals to use on himself once more...to become a true metahuman, greater than his third-rate father had ever been.

“Soon,” he said, watching two of the more 'advanced' subjects, that he had brought back with him to his true lair, writhing and screaming on the silver tables.

He turned to the test tubes agitating on the side table, and watched the colorful chemicals at play inside them.

“Very soon indeed.”

Continued....

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