Teen Titans West #3: "The Enemy of My Friend"

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Teen Titans West
Issue #3: “The Enemy of My Friend”
Written by Brian Burchette
Cover by Alex Vasquez
Edited by Mark Bowers

San Francisco is like no other city in the United States. If there was one city that could be called cosmopolitan, it would be the city by the bay. Surrounded by hills on one side, the ocean on the other, and man’s human jungle squeezed in between. With its eclectic denizens that embraced all walks of life. Nothing seemed to faze them, except, perhaps, in the case of the people who were now witnessing a woman dressed in a bumblebee costume walking with a robed figure, a blond man in a blue-and-black costume, and another man who was garbed with wings and a harness. Many wondered if the Pride Parade had come early this year.

“So where are they?” Risk asked as they walked down Lombard Street, heading in the direction of Haight-Ashbury.

Lilith shook her head. “I have no idea. The cave that they disappeared in gave me nothing. It is as if Speedy, Hawk, Dove, Aqualad and the Checkmate agent just... vanished.”

“So what do we do now?” Golden Eagle asked in frustration.

“We get a hold of someone at Checkmate,” Bumblebee replied. “They were the ones who sent Speedy on the mission; they may have some idea where everyone disappeared to.”

“Great idea,” Golden Eagle said with obvious sarcasm. “We’ll just look up super secret government organizations in the phone book, give them a call and ask them where one of their main operatives disappeared to.”

“You’re masking your concern with sarcasm,” Omen said.

“What concern? I’m just killing time.”

“Of course,” Omen replied. “I believe I can find a Checkmate safe house. It is near my apartment.”

“How do you know that?” Bumblebee asked in surprise.

“I accidentally bumped into one of their agents on the street.”

“Oh,” Karen murmured, “do you get... flashes... every time you touch someone?”

“More times than not.”

“Wow, that must be difficult.”

“Yes, it is.”

Karen noted the pain and sadness in Lilith’s voice, but said nothing more as they continued down the street; passersby giving them strange looks as they moved towards their destination.

*******

Two hours earlier

Aqualad stood inside the cave examining the two tunnels that stood to either side of him. He was contemplating a path when Hawk and Dove flew in; Hawk carrying the Checkmate agent, and Dove carrying Speedy.

“You want to tell us what we’re looking for, now?” Hawk demanded to the Checkmate agents as they examined the rocky area just inside the cave.

“No,” came Roy’s quick response as he took out a small device from his belt, and flipped a switch, only to have it begin emitting a sharp pinging sound that seemed to get louder as he pointed it towards the tunnel on the right. “This way.”

“I don’t like this,” Hawk stated. “We’re just following you blind. I don’t even think you have any idea what exactly you’re looking for.”

“I’ll know it when I see it,” Roy answered as he began walking down the larger of the two caverns; Aqualad following behind but saying nothing.

“I’m not going to just march in there without knowing what we’re up against,” Hawk shouted after them.

Without warning, Roy appeared at the entrance again, his bow drawn and pointing right at the hero dressed in red and white. Dove gave out a cry of surprise, but Speedy ignored it. “I have no idea what we’re up against at this point, but I can promise you that if you keep throwing a fit and shouting like that, whatever we’re up against is going to know we’re here. You don’t want to help, fine, then take your brother and get the hell out. But if you want to continue on this adventure, then keep your frackin’ mouth shut and do what I say, cause if you raise your voice like that again, I’ll make sure this arrow goes right through your voice box – got it?”

Hawk was seething and his fists were clenched. “How dare you...”

“We understand,” Dove said quickly, cutting his brother off. “We’ll play it your way, for now. But try to understand where my brother is coming from on this. It feels like we’ve walked into the middle of a movie and have no idea what the plot is.”

Roy let out a deep breath, lowering his weapon. “Listen, sometimes I’m not allowed to know that much either. I just do as I’m told. In this case, I was informed that we had missing agents who have been searching for an item they believed had been hidden here. What that item is, I have no idea. It’s on a need-to-know basis, and I obviously don’t need to know.”

“Nor will you ever find out,” a voice from behind them said as a large mace came swinging out of the darkness and connected with the side of Garth’s head. He spun around once before falling to the ground, unconscious.

Speedy raised his bow as he turned, but found himself snared with some kind of netting that enveloped him. His arms became trapped as the net constricted itself around him.

“Move,” he heard Hawk shout as the brothers of Order and Chaos took to the air, only to be struck down by a wide-angle laser blast of some kind. They both fell to the floor, stunned.

The Checkmate agent reached for his gun, only to be struck in the back by a blunt weapon. He crumpled easily; leaving Garth alone in the cavern.

Aqualad called upon his willpower and summoned a ball of light which he shot into the air. He was momentarily taken aback by the sight that was in front of him. Several men, all dressed in variations of the same uniforms as Golden Eagle and Hawkman, stood before him; each brandishing a different type of weapon.

“Great Neptune,” he muttered as he brought his hands up, twin balls of energy enveloping his hands. “It’s some kind of invasion,” he said as he fired the mystic energy into the middle of the military men from Thanagar.

Two of the Hawk-Men were thrown backwards, but the others moved quickly, and dodged the blow. One of them sprung forwards, a battle ax in hand; swinging it wildly at the Atlantean.

Aqualad barely had time to step backwards, feeling the air from the blade just pass his neck. That was too close, he thought. It was his last thought as he, too, was struck by an alien gun that knocked him to the ground, unconscious.

“What should we do with them?” one of the Thanagarians asked the man next to him.

“We take them to our leader; let him deal with them.”

*******

The Thanagarian warship made its way past Saturn; two smaller scout vessels leading the way as it continued to head towards Earth.

“How long?” Shayera Hol asked, the impatience in her voice apparent.

“Another Earth hour, Milady,” the helmsman said as he checked his panel.

The communications officer of the warship swung in his chair. “High Priestess, I’ve just detected several long range communications coming from the Earth’s natural satellite.”

Shayera stood up from her chair and moved quickly to the communication console. “What type? Can you pinpoint where it is being sent to, or who is sending it?”

She watched as he worked diligently to locate the source. “It is being sent somewhere along an area they call the Northern California Coast; who is sending it is a bit harder to ascertain. It’s on an unusual frequency.”

“Let me see,” she commanded as she leaned over his shoulder, observing the screen’s readout. “Of course... Rannian. I should have known.” She stepped back down, staring out at the stars on the viewscreen. “I think I’m starting to understand...”

*******

“This is it,” Lilith stated as the odd-looking group of people stopped in front of a store that was displaying all kinds of drug paraphernalia.

“You have got to be kidding me?” Karen said as she took a look around the outside of the building. In a way, she supposed it made sense. Who would think that a place like that, in this kind of neighborhood, would be a front for a high-tech government organization?

Bumblebee faced the other three. “How do you think we should proceed?”

Without a word, Golden Eagle brushed past Risk and the two ladies and walked inside.

Bumblebee nodded. “Okay, that’s one way,”

The three followed him in, barely moving out of the way as a man with an automatic weapon went flying past them. Two more men of similar garb and appearance were coming out of the back room.

“So much for the subtle approach,” Bumblebee sighed as she began to shrink. “Lilith, stay put. Let us handle this.”

Omen nodded silently, her eyes scanning the room, taking as much in as she could. There was a presence in the immediate area... something or someone with a potential for great evil.

*******

The Teen Titans jet soared across the heartland of America at breakneck speed. Victor Stone was pushing the engines for all they were worth. Next to him, Princess Koriand’r sat watching him; her face showing concern for her friend.

“Put the look away, golden girl. I’m fine.”

“Are you, Vic?” she asked. “An emergency signal from Roy comes through at nearly the same moment you detect an alien transmission that I recognized as Rannian, and suddenly you’re taking off without telling anybody else; not even Dick. That just isn’t like you.”

“We both know that Dick has more on his plate than he can handle at the moment, and besides, I’m not quite sure what his reaction would be at this point. Just thought it better if I checked it out alone first.”

“Well, we’ll check it out together,” Kory stated.

*******

Justice League Headquarters

Katar Hol stared at the transmission in amazement. Rannian signals from Earth? And for a second, he could have sworn he detected Thanagarian transmissions as well; but they disappeared so quickly.

He triangulated where the signals were being transmitted to, surprised to see the location was on the west coast; San Francisco to be exact.

The winged man flipped a switch on the panel. “Ray, I need to check something out. Is there any way you can take over monitor duty for a little while?”

“You’ve got to be kidding me. I’m in the middle of a pretty big project down here, partner. Isn’t Diana still around?”

“No. Must I remind you who threw you your Bachelor Party?”

“Be right there,” The Atom sighed as Katar put on his Hawkman gear and prepared to depart.

*******

Darkness lifted, giving way to a bright light that was temporarily blinding to Aqualad. He blinked several times, adjusting to the light, when he heard Speedy’s voice next to him.

“About time you woke up; the rest of us have been waiting a while.”

Garth looked around to find Dove hovering over him with a concerned look on his face. They were all in some kind of cell; no windows, several cots, and some kind of faint-blue energy field where the far wall should have been. Hawk and the agent from Checkmate were examining the barrier.

“Who were those guys?” Garth asked as he let Dove help him sit up.

Roy was leaning against one of the cell walls, his arms crossed as he stared at the ceiling of their prison. “Thanagarians, like the Justice League’s Hawkman. Seems we fell right into a nest of them.”

“And oddly, you don’t seem surprised at all,” Hawk said.

“When you’ve been around as long as I have, nothing surprises you anymore,” Speedy replied with a shrug. “Duncan, any way to get past that shield?”

The Checkmate agent shook his head. “Not that I can see, sir.”

“There might be one way,” Garth said as he stood up and walked over to it. “I’m just not sure I’m up to it yet.”

“Don’t overdo it,” Dove warned.

His brother gave him a look of disdain, “When did you become all Florence Nightingale on me?”

Don chose not to reply, walking away from his brother. He heard Hank snicker under his breath. What was going on with him, Don wondered. Every day he seemed to get a little bit meaner; it was making Don more and more uncomfortable.

If the others noticed anything, they chose not to comment, instead gathering around Aqualad who had closed his eyes, tapping into his internal power supply. There was something wrong though; the magical forces that he used were not fully aligned. It was as if a major part of the primal magic of Earth had suddenly vanished.^*

Because of this, the power, that he had begun to amass, grew at an alarming rate, beyond control. He struggled, sweat breaking out on his forehead, his teeth gritted in determination, as his entire body began to glow with a sudden rush of magic. The others watched, first in silent awe, and then in alarm, as Aqualad’s eyes suddenly grew wide with horror.

Speedy was the first to react. “Get out of the way!” he screamed as he grabbed the nearest person, Hawk, and flung them to the other side of the small cell. Dove went after Agent Duncun, but in his heart he knew it was too late.

Garth was vaguely aware of what was going on around him, and he also realized it was too late for Dove and the Checkmate agent as the power within him exploded outward.
The energy that was released blinded everyone in the room, as the walls and the ceiling exploded outwards with the force of several grenades going off at the same time. Then the rubble from the ceiling came back down upon them.


^* See recent issues of Wonder Woman

*******

“We just want to talk,” Bumblebee was shouting over the firing of automatic weapons as she flew erratically, trying desperately to dodge the bullets in her tiny form. She was aware that she couldn’t keep it up for much longer.

“I don’t think they’re in the mood to talk,” Risk cried out as he leapt between two of the armed men, quickly grabbing their weapons and snapping them off at the barrels. “And this little shop is getting a bit crowded if you ask me.”

“On that, I must agree with Risk,” Golden Eagle rang out. His sword, made of the special metal, sliced into two guns, cutting them into pieces. “I need room to maneuver.”

On cue, the entrance to the shop exploded inwards, throwing all of them forward, some losing their footing and hitting the floor.

They all turned as the smoke cleared, to see first the shadow of the wings, then the man himself, step through. Hawkman looked around, his mace held deftly in one hand. “No one move. Somewhere in this building are transmissions that are being sent to a Rann ship. I demand to know who is sending them.”

The others began to get up, coughing from the dust cloud that hung in the air.

“Is that Hawkman? From the Justice League?” Risk asked, slightly bewildered.

“Uh, yeah,” Bumblebee replied with awe. She stepped forward hesitantly, ready to speak when the gunfire erupted again, causing them all to dive for cover. More men were pouring out of the back room.

Karen couldn’t help but notice that Golden Eagle had become unusually quiet and sullen since the arrival of the Thanagarian. “If these are agents of Checkmate, we need to stop this, and quickly.”

From outside, Omen began to feel that evil from inside the building coming nearer. She was catching brief thoughts, glimpses into its mind. Something was terribly wrong. At the last second, she realized that they had been duped. This was not the secret headquarters for Checkmate at all. As she opened her mouth to shout a warning, she was struck from behind by a large animal, the like of which had never been seen on Earth before. It appeared to be some sort of elephant/lion hybrid, standing at over eight feet tall, large fangs hanging from its mouth. Lilith crumpled to the ground before she could shout out any warning.

“Stand down!” Hawkman yelled out to the men shooting at them. “I am the son of the High Priestess Shayera; to attack me is to attack her.”

Bumblebee noticed that the men hesitated for a second; it was then that she began to put two and two together as she examined their armored uniforms. These were not soldiers of Checkmate. Who... or what... were they?

That question would momentarily go unanswered as two more guards ran out of the back, neither paying any notice to what was happening in front of them, as they sprinted towards the door.

“Run,” one of them screamed. “The whole place is going to blow!”

Bumblebee shrunk quickly, with plans to catch them, but Risk had already tackled one of them, and Hawkman had swung his mace into the armored gut of the other, causing him to fly backward.

“You idiots, this place is going to...”

There was less than a second of warning, little more than a tremor, and then the entire building blew outward. The explosion, coming from the basement, went straight up, causing everyone on the main floor to go flying into the air as they were consumed in the magical energy that had exploded from down below.

Outside, the animal suddenly transformed into a more-human form; his appearance was unmistakable. The Thanagarian looked at the demolished building in shock and awe. This was not what he had planned at all.

*******

“X’Hal! Look!” Kory shouted as they watched the brilliant blast of energy shoot upward into the sky, from the city below.

Vic’s jaw set with determination. “I think we just found Roy.”

“I hope we’re not too late,” Kory whispered in horror.

“Yeah, me too. I’m going to try and find a place to set this thing down. Why don’t you do a little recon, see what kind of casualties we’re talking. Keep in constant communication.”

Starfire nodded as she unstrapped herself from the co-pilot’s seat and shot out of the hatch that had opened above them. Vic watched the flaming golden-haired figure streak across the sky, then turned his attention to landing the T-Jet.

*******

There was stillness for nearly ten seconds after the explosion, before sirens went off and people from the area began to run out into the street, gawking at the crumbled building. Whispers of a gas leak and concern that nobody could have survived a blast so powerful began to float in the air. Later, everyone in the crowd who was interviewed by the media would state that what happened next was beyond belief.

An alien ship suddenly shimmered over the top of them, hanging in the air, blocking out the sun as if the neighborhood were now in its own private eclipse. People began to scream in panic, running back into their homes and businesses as red-and-white-garbed soldiers with jet packs began to disperse from the ship.

It was at this moment that Starfire soared in, shocked to see the alien vessel that had appeared from nowhere. She recognized the ship, but her eyes instinctively went to the unconscious woman that lay in the middle of the street, garbed in a red robe. She flew to Omen’s side, praying to her goddess that the woman was still alive.

As the scene from Alien Invaders began to play out, the rubble that used to be a building began to shift, and slowly an arm, holding onto a mace, appeared. Then the rubble exploded out as Risk, Hawkman, and Golden Eagle slowly climbed from the debris. They looked around at the sight in front of them.

“Rannians!?” Hawkman stated with a touch of puzzlement in his voice, but took off to meet them before the other two could question him.

Risk was about to speak when he saw a woman, with orange skin, leaning over the body of Lilith. “Get away from her!” he screamed as he leapt from the debris, tackling the alien from behind. She cried out in shock, throwing back her elbow and catching him in the face. He was caught off guard at how strong she was and lost his grip, staggering backward.

For Charlie Parker, known to a few as Golden Eagle, it was as though his entire world had come crashing down on him in less than a minute. Thanagarians. Rannians. And above all, Hawkman, the one person he had tried so hard to avoid for so long, all there on the streets of San Francisco, in front of him. He didn’t know where to turn, what to do. Every fiber of his being told him to run away; get clear before any more of the life he had tried to avoid came barreling into him, but he knew deep in his heart that it was too late. His life had found him.

“Please, stop. I don’t want to hurt you,” Starfire cried out as Risk ran towards her in a blind rage. He wasn’t listening, and there wasn’t much else she could do but fire her starbolt directly at him, causing him to once more fly backward into the air, landing on top of the debris.

He had no sooner hit the crumbled brick and mortar when another, smaller, explosion, erupted from just on the other side of the collapsed building. He rolled over on his stomach, still unable to catch his breath or stand, when he saw another hole appear. His eyes widened as he watched Speedy crawl out of it, followed by Dove. Risk watched as they both reached down, grabbing onto something and pulling it up. It was the body of the Checkmate agent. It was apparent that he was dead. They reached down again, this time pulling up the body of Aqualad. Most of his costume was shredded, but it looked as though he was breathing. Finally, Dove reached down one last time and grabbed onto the hand of his brother, pulling a very alert Hawk out of the hole.

The three that were awake took a second as they gasped for air. Then they looked up to see the spectacle before them. An alien ship, Rannian soldiers in the air, with Hawkman heading into the middle of them, his mace raised above him.

“What the hell is going on here?” Roy exclaimed.

“I don’t know, but Hawkman needs our help, and that’s all that matters,” Hawk declared as he took to the air, flying after the Justice Leaguer.

“Hawk, wait!” his brother shouted, but it fell on deaf ears.

The older brother didn’t get far, however, as the Teen Titan known as Cyborg suddenly leapt into the middle of the fracas, tackling Hawk and bringing him back to the ground.

“Don’t think so, pal,” said Cyborg. “No idea what’s going on here, but the last thing we need is someone else going off half-cocked.”

Hawk flipped Cyborg over his head, throwing the half-metal man off of him, then rolled over and leapt up. He jumped into the air, determined to land on his new foe, but Vic was faster, having already plugged in his most-used weapon. He fired the white sound at Hawk, who instantly fell to the ground.

“Hank!” Dove yelled in a panic.

Speedy grabbed his arm before he could try and rescue his brother. “Cyborg didn’t hurt him... much. Listen to me, there’s a lot of confusion going on right now, and I’ll deal with it, but we need to keep Aqualad alive. I want you to get him to the ocean as quickly as possible. My guess is that, at the very least, he needs water. Can you do that?”

“But...” Don hesitated, looking at his brother who lay on the ground several yards away.

Roy shook him, “Your brother is going to be fine! You have my word on that. You’re the only one who can keep Aqualad from dying.”

Swallowing hard, Dove nodded as he picked up the Atlantean and took off toward the bay.

Roy stood up, looking into the sky as an enraged Hawkman began attacking the Rannian soldiers; for what reason, Roy didn’t have a clue. He turned and saw the agent that had been assigned to him, lying on the ground dead. “I’m sorry,” he murmured before turning back towards the battle.

*******

Less Than A Mile Away

“This has turned into a disaster!” the man hidden in the shadows screamed as he watched the chaotic scene play out from the viewscreen in front of him.

The Thanagarian shape-shifter approached the man. “It is not as though you weren’t expecting this. It won’t be long before the Thanagarian warship arrives. We still have time to find that which you have lost.”

There was a growl from the shadows. “I did not lose it, Byth, and if you say that again, I will disintegrate you where you stand! Do you understand me?”

Byth’s hands clenched in anger. “Do not threaten me. We are partners in this venture. I am not your slave!”

The growl turned to a high-pitched laugh. “That was not a threat, Thanagarian, that was a promise. Remember who holds the true power behind your Ministry. Even if I chose not to kill you by my own hand, I could have you eliminated by your own people with but a whisper in one well-placed ear.”

Narrowing his eyes, Byth prepared himself for what he saw as an inevitable moment, when another Thanagarian came rushing into the private chamber.

“Sir, we’ve found it!”

Both men swung around. Byth grinned. “Where? Where is the Absorbascon?”

“It was finally detected inside an art gallery in Sausalito.”

From the shadow, the figure stepped out into the dim light, his pointed nose twitching. “Then we go to reclaim it. Once it is back in our possession, we use it to turn Rann and Thanagar against each other, as was the original plan.”

Byth nodded. “Still, how did it get there? Who found it and took it from us?”

“I do not know... yet. But we will find out, and when we do, they will feel the full wrath of Kanjar Ro!”

To Be Continued...


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