“Haven’t we located her yet?” The harshness in the woman’s tone made both men wince.
“No, Mistress. Forgive us, please.” The room was dim, and the yellow glow of the lights honeycombed through the wall threw shadows into the man’s brow. “Brains” Beldon sat at one of the table’s six sides, darting his eyes to his colleague, a doctor named Register he didn’t know very well yet.
Across the small table in the large, echoing room, the woman stood with a delicate hand curled over her hip. A gold helmet perched over flowing black hair, lending a fierce warrior’s edge to her femininity, the metal coming down far enough to obscure her face—but not her fury. “The girl Raven is the HIVE’s top priority. I’ve given you all the resources you could need, nearly all the time we can spare, and still you haven’t found her?”
“With all respect, Mistress, her very nature makes her difficult to track down,” Dr. Register cut in.
“Well, if it’s too difficult for you, I suppose I should find someone else to take your job,” the Hive Mistress countered easily, and the doctor fell silent. “I’ll give you and your teams one final chance. I want her very badly, do you understand?” The other two men nodded furiously, and she drummed her fingers on the side of the table. “One final chance.”
“Don’t worry, Mistress, we won’t disappoint you,” Register insisted.
Beldon nodded again, and swallowed hard. “Absolutely, Mistress. I promise you. There will be nowhere for her to hide from us.”
*****
A short bell rang from the top of Titans Tower, the sound falling over the grounds of the island and through the building. It was a training weekend, with the full team present, if spread out, and they all made their ways to the front door of the tower at the sound.
“If I wanted to be herded around with a bell I’d have stayed at school,” Stephanie joked as she and Garfield responded to the sound.
His only response was a cheeky smile, and Garfield morphed into a large dog to finish the walk.
They were the last two to reach the front hall, where Dinah stood waiting. Just behind her and partially hiding was a young woman, her face hidden by a dark hood.
“Before anyone asks,” Dinah started, holding her hands up against excited outbursts from both Carla and Stephanie, “I got a call for help this morning. Help is what we do, so unless anything bigger comes up, this is our assignment.”
Though Dinah was ready to continue her speech, the girl loweredthe hood and stepped in front of her, albeit with a deep and somewhat nervous breath. Her dark hair was short and feathered, falling just into her almond-shaped eyes. Beneath the hooded jacket, she wore a violet shirt and black pants, both in a soft, dull fabric and tailored close to her body. A small red gem sparkled into view when she brushed the bangs away, and began to speak.
“My name is Rachel,” she started, looking each of the Titans in turn in the eye. “I’ve been on my own for a very long time…I won’t ask you to make me a burden. But I need to ask for your aid against my enemies.”
“Hey, don’t you worry,” Garfield flashed a charming smile. “How could I hope to resist that pretty face in need?”
A snort escaped Vic’s nose at the stern look that the girl shot Gar. She continued, “I’ve already heard much about the Teen Titans, and all of your abilities. Believe me, I won’t be sitting at home in distress. I have a lot to offer you. I only need help because of the nature of the HIVE.”
“The who?” Gar cocked his head, while Cassandra straightened in attention at the sound of the word.
“HIVE. Hierarchy of International Villainous Education,” Stephanie explained, then shrugged at the approving looks of her teammates. “Hey, homework’s what I’m good at. Rumors say they track down meta kids when they start getting powers. Some kind of army building up under some crazy woman. They’re supposed to be pretty huge for an underground organization.”
“They are,” Rachel continued with a nod. “They have branches all over the world. I should know, I’ve eluded them all over the world. I’ve never quite been able to learn why, but their leader has been anxious to find me. I have a power that they must want to exploit. So far, I’ve been able to keep out of their grasp, but I hoped that it would be a mutual benefit for me to join your team.”
“We’ll have to put her through the paces,” Dinah cut in, laying a light hand on Rachel’s shoulder. “But from what she’s told me, I agree. I’ve had dealings with the HIVE before, and if having Rachel here helps us find out how to take them down, it’d only be better.”
Carla reached her arms behind her and cracked her knuckles. “Stop some more bad guys, get some more muscle. I can live with this.”
“I’m not seeing much muscle,” Vic commented. “Some kinda power yeah, muscle no. What can you do, girl?”
Rachel’s thin lips curled up into the smallest smile. “Don’t you worry. You’ll find out.”
It was Juan who made the move to step up with a handshake. “
Bienvenido, Rachel. How about a tour, if you’re going to stick around here?”
“Yeah, I can show you around,” Garfield interrupted, taking Rachel’s hand with a vigorous shake and a grin.
Behind them, Carla shook her head and chuckled. <”Suck-ups.”>
“It’ll be fun,” said Stephanie, as she jumped up as well, ignoring the wink that Juan tossed to his sister.
Slightly bewildered, but overall pleased, Rachel took her hands back from the boys and followed the three Titans inside. For once in her life, she felt safe.
But far on the shore, a man dressed inconspicuously had lingered near the dock, and watched as the Titans’ boat took Dinah and Rachel to the island a short while ago. He tapped the small, hexagonal speaker wired to his ear, and spoke with a weary, triumphant voice.
“We’ve got her.”
*****
The door slammed into the wall as it was thrown open, and Slade didn’t flinch. He just stood looking out of the window and waited for his furious son to calm himself.
“I had them, you know! I had all those stupid-ass kids right in the palm of my hand and BAM! Who the hell did he think he was dealing with? What kind of jackass does that? Bang through the window and if I coulda known he was coming, I’d have—“
“Grant.” He fell silent at his father’s single word, and the cool reprimand it held. “You’re repeating yourself. And by now you’re wallowing in your defeat.”
“I’m not wallowing,” Grant muttered insistently, and sank into a chair in Slade’s study.
“You’re not doing anything useful,” Slade said, turning around now to face his son. “You were defeated. Now what?”
Grant balled his fists, digging his own nails into his palms. “Find the bastard and get even.”
“That’s not what I see you doing.” Slade’s lips twitched up as he sat across his desk from Ravager. “I see you re-playing your defeat. All that you’re doing is convincing yourself that you’re a failure. That the only way you would have defeated this Red Hood is by a fluke of luck, or perhaps only by preparing beforehand, the way you did with the Titans. Does this mean that Ravager is useless when he has to think on his feet?”
Ravager protested immediately, “Hell no! I can whip anyone any time, anywhere!”
“Clearly, you can’t. What you have to do now is learn.” Slade stood again, and looked toward Titans Tower. “Go back to your training. And learn who it was who defeated you. Of course, that’s only if you
want to be at the level of perfection you deserve.”
It took a long minute for Ravager’s fist to unclench. “Fine. I’ll find him out. And we’ll still get the Titans, soon as I take care of him.”
Stepping back to his window, Slade suppressed a chuckle. “That’s my boy.”
*****
A knock echoed through Dinah’s study, bringing the busy woman out of her focused bubble. She sighed, closed the more sensitive documents on her computer screen, and called, “Come in!”
Quietly for a change, Garfield cracked the door open and stepped inside. “Hey.”
“Oh, hi, Gar.” Dinah pointed to the chair facing her desk. While he sat, she dug through the files on her computer, already knowing what he wanted to talk about.
It was so strange to see him somber, Dinah thought,
after watching the way he interacted with the rest of the team. In all other contexts, Garfield was a bright, energetic presence, always cheerful if sometimes irritating. Here, his cat-like ears seemed to droop, and his smile was missing. This wasn’t the first time he’d been by, and unfortunately, it wouldn’t be the last.
“So….anything?”
“I’m sorry,” Dinah said gently. “Oracle’s been looking through everything she can think of. We’re not giving up though, not anytime soon.”
“So there’s hope, right?” Gar’s eyes brightened and he leaned forward in the chair.
Dinah had to give a bittersweet smile at his excitement. “Of course there is. We found you, didn’t we? I’m sure we can find the rest of the Doom Patrol.”
Roughly a year before Garfield turned up in the S.T.A.R lab with Vibe, his entire team had gone missing. Today, he was still the only one of the Doom Patrol to have re-appeared. Though they had been looking for months, there was still no sign of the rest of the team, and no indication of why Garfield had shown up in that ruined warehouseo begin with.
“I just oughta be able to help, you know?” Gar asked, sinking back again. “But I don’t remember anything…just an attack, and a clonk on the head and next thing I knew there were Titans and Outsiders everywhere.”
“It’s okay, Gar. It’s not your fault. Whoever is doing whatever they’re doing, they’re good at keeping secrets.” Dinah tapped her fingers over the keyboard, looking through the little information they had found. It was barely more than dates, and the location of the lab. Oracle’s research had only determined that S.T.A.R didn't seem responsible for the presence of Vibe, but even she was making no headway on who had been.
“Okay…well, you’ll let me know, right? If anything comes up?”
“No, Gar, I’ll keep you in the dark when we find your long-lost friends,” Dinah let herself smile when she teased him. “You’ll be the first to know.”
His hesitant smile back was broken when the new, improved security alarm rang loudly through every corner of the Tower and onto the grounds. The two looked at each other across the desk, stood in unison and rushed out the door.
*****
Outside the front door of the Tower, Titans Island was swarming with enemies. Dozens of men in black and yellow were standing still, waiting for their orders as they surrounded the huge building. Leading the forces was Doctor Register, who kept his cold eyes on the windows, and spoke into a megaphone.
“We do not want to fight you,” he started, over the klaxons and alarm bells. “We’ve come for Raven. If we must fight, we will win.”
Inside the Tower, Dinah kept her team together, while she looked out at the intruders. Kasumi stood still and calm, while Spoiler had her hands clamped over her ears to block the noise. Mas y Menos were fidgeting, waiting for the signal that would let them race into battle, Carla’s eyes twinkling with more excitement than her brother’s. Beast Boy soared through the open space, a flighty sparrow working off restless energy by ducking and weaving around the rest of the team, narrowly avoiding an anxious swat from Cyborg.
And in the corner, just away from the group, Rachel sat with her knees curled to her chest, silently willing her body to be still, and stop rocking back and forth.
“Do we even know a Raven?” Beast Boy’s bird form grew and his wings darkened, as he continued his flight.
Another call came from outside. “We are willing to negotiate. Silence your alarms!”
“You do,” Rachel said quietly from her corner. “It’s me…It was just a couple weeks, but I tried to be a hero, and that’s when they started to look for me.” She looked up with fear in her eyes, and swallowed hard. “I didn’t think they’d find me here. I didn’t want to bring them down on you.”
“Okay,” Dinah finally turned back to the group, relenting and turning off the blaring alarms. “Consider this training today. No homework if you get through it,” she added with a slight smirk. “Looks like robotics on the armor. Steph, you know what to do?”
Spoiler grinned. “I’ve only been waiting for months to try!”
“Great. It’s all numbers down there, I really don’t think any one of them is too bad a threat. But don’t get cocky. Just work fast,” She gave the twins a glance, “and work strong,” she shifted her gaze to Cyborg. “We can do this.”
“Then…you’re not turning me in?” Raven looked up, into the slightly-confused eyes of Beast Boy and Spoiler.
“Of course not!”
“Why would we?”
When Raven started a hesitant smile, Mas gave her a light smack on the shoulder. “Listen, chica, you said you were gonna be one of us, no? None of us are about to toss you out there without seeing you in action.”
“Or at all, most likely,” Menos chuckled, his blood pumping as he looked back out at the HIVE soldiers. “So come on,
vamos! Let’s stop standing around.”
Dinah nodded. “Agreed. Titans, let’s roll!”
Mas y Menos were dashing off as soon as the words left Dinah’s lips, and the battle began with the startled shouts of HIVE soldiers as the pair barreled through the lines. Together, they were a whirlwind of action, feet and fists flying into their enemies, grinning at each other as they began to fight back.
In the midst of the battle, despite his speed and relative caution, Menos was shoved from behind and forced to roll forward, just in time to feel a HIVE laser blast fry the tips of his hair. He turned back to see Cyborg giving him a grin. “Watch out, I ain’t got time to catch your back again!”
Meanwhile, Spoiler had stayed in the tower, rushing through the halls with an excited grin on her face. She kept most of her technical equipment ready by the door, and it wasn’t long before she had the laptop up and running, sitting by a window to look on her work.
“Come on, baby,” she cooed to the machine, her fingers dancing along the keys. The program finished, she hit one last button and eagerly watched the soldiers.
A strong pulse burst from an antenna on the top of the tower, silently rushing toward the computerized HIVE suits. The soldiers nearest the tower were left suddenly useless, as the transmission interfered with their powered suits' actuator response, crashing the computers that operated the sensors.. Within another moment, Beast Boy had become a rampaging rhino, tearing through the crowd of enemies on one side, while Mas y Menos spun a tornado into the other, soon sending the damaged forces back to their ship.
“YES!” Spoiler shot her fist into the air and laughed. “Now why couldn’t I have got that with the OMACs, huh?”
She was too caught up in her celebration to notice the footsteps creeping toward her. In the chaos that was the start of the fight, Dr. Register had found his way through the door, and followed Spoiler’s happy shout. He focused on remaining completely silent, drawing a sterilized needle from the pocket of his coat, peeling the wrapping away. He was almost close enough.
“Spoiler!”
The worried shout caught her attention, and Spoiler turned around just a moment too late—Register sprang forward, the needle jabbed right through her costume, the moment giving him enough time to draw enough blood before she kicked him hard in the chest.
Raven ran forward, a dark aura flickering around her body. Her eyes were going black as she stared at Register, starting to snarl. “I’ve been on my own…but now that I have friends, I will not let you harm them!”
In the next instant, a winged black form shot forward from her forehead, and slammed straight into Register, throwing him into the wall. The man screamed, eyes widening in horror, but luckily for him, it was over in a flash. Register’s head cracked against the wall and he slumped to the ground.
Spoiler, who had stopped the light bleeding, gave an approving look. “Not bad.” She stepped toward the man, checked for a pulse, hefted him over her shoulders with a strained groan, and tossed him unceremoniously out the second-story window.
*****
Meanwhile on the battlefield, “Brains” Beldon was out of his league. He had a hand over one ear to save his hearing, weaving through his own army, dodging lasers and barely able to find the Titans in the crowd—he had to resort to following the largest knots of HIVE agents. Finally, he found his way to Kasumi, the infamous martial artist. Beldon was more than intimidated as he watched her work, taking on half a dozen soldiers at a time, and registering in his mind as little more than a whirl of deadly movement. If the fallen men weren’t moaning, shifting on the ground, Beldon would never have guessed they’d lived through her assault.
“Oh screw this,” he muttered to himself, feeling the needle that the doctor had given him in his pocket, and stealing his way back away from the warrior.
Now that he had found one Titan, Beldon was easily able to find the others—the hard part was avoiding them on his way back to the boat. He wasn’t able to avoid the twins as they sped past him, their laughs following a moment behind their bodies; Beldon’s glasses flew off as he was knocked to the ground. In front and behind him lay a long succession of bowled-over soldiers, and mentally, Beldon checked another two names off of his list.
He looked around the battlefield, shocked at what he suddenly realized. Nearly all of the impressive number of HIVE soldiers he had brought were either lying still or hobbling back into a retreat. Well over the majority were either broken or fleeing, with only a handful of soldiers sticking the fight out. On one side of Beldon’s path, Cyborg was slamming punch after punch into his assailants, smashing the expensive HIVE armor to smithereens. It sent a paternal pang through Beldon’s heart to see, and he turned away, giving in and tapping the communicator on his ear. “Fall back, everyone! Retreat! Now!”
While the remaining soldiers started to run, Beldon let his eyes follow the green blur that passed him. Beast Boy changed from his cheetah to human shape as he reached the wall of Titans Tower, and Beldon followed him, as unobtrusively as possible.
“Well what have we got here?” Beast Boy grinned to himself when he saw Register, still out for the count, but coming back around to consciousness. “Looks like a big gun to me. Didn’t you hear your buddies? Get on out of here! Oh wait, you already got beat up, and you can’t,” he taunted.
Knowing it was his only chance to redeem himself, Beldon pulled out the needle and leapt forward. Beast Boy squealed as the point drove into his skin, changing almost instantly into a boar. But the needle had broken the skin before it toughened, and Beldon drew just enough blood into the small vial, before he pulled the groaning Register to his feet, and started to bolt.
“Look man, I know you’re unconscious but you better remember this,” Beldon panted as he ran. “Cause I’m not sticking my neck out again!”
Beast Boy was gaining, the pounding of his hooves digging into the man’s skull. He fumbled, barely finding his small device in time, and tossing it over his shoulder. Beldon knew his own weaknesses; the gas grenade went off with a loud pop, and the cloud of smog spread several feet in every direction, eliminating the need for accuracy.
“Damn it, get back here!” Beast Boy shed his thick skin for a pair of wings, but by the time he rose above the fog, Beldon and Register had made it to the HIVE boat, along with all the other able-bodied. Unconscious soldiers still littered the island, but their teammates were not going to be noble.
Without as much as a warning bell, the boat sped away from Titans Island with all its impressive speed. Still determined, Beast Boy leapt off the dock into the water, following the HIVE with all the speed a fish could muster. But the miles between Beast Boy and the boat were too much to sprint, and he had to return to his team.
Back on the shore, Dinah was busy collecting the fallen soldiers, and calling for the authorities. “The HIVE…yes, of course they’re dangerous! They’ll need to be contained, probably questioned…well we get a little busy over here. Just look, leaving a dozen injured men to have god-knows-what done to them by pissed off superheroes doesn’t look good on your record….thank you. Yes, as soon as possible.”
With the battle over, Carla and Juan had begun tallying the results of their unspoken contest. Soldiers they had taken down as a pair were not counted, and otherwise they had kept careful mental record of their own accomplishments.
<”I must have got at least fifteen all myself,”> Juan was grinning. <”I think that’s a new record for either of us, sis.”>
<”Yeah, yeah. You just wait till there’s another real threat,”> Carla elbowed him, chuckling. <”It’s only a record cause I didn’t have superpowers that time I fought all five Raiaz brothers together.”>
Spoiler, meanwhile, was beaming, having perched herself on the second-floor window and letting her legs dangle. Inside behind her, Raven breathed a long sigh. “I’m not sure exactly what you did to the HIVEs, but it was very impressive.”
“Glad somebody thinks so,” Steph grinned and shut the computer down. “Looks like you oughtta be safe for a while, huh? Don’t think they’re gonna want to mess with us again anytime soon.”
“Perhaps.” Raven stepped to the window, looking out at the lake with a much more serious expression than Stephanie’s. “But I wouldn’t underestimate their forces…or their anger.”
*****
“You’ve failed me for the last time, doctor.” The Hive Mistress spoke no more loudly than ever, but her fury was evident. Doctor Register kept his head bowed, not daring to even look up at her. “Six teenagers between your troops and Raven, and you come back to me empty-handed?”
“Please, Mistress,” Register’s shaking hands reached into his coat pocket, and he drew out two small vials, taking the utmost care not to drop them. “I’ve failed to bring you Raven, and I beg your forgiveness…but not empty-handed.”
She said nothing, but trailed her long fingers along the side of the table as she walked around it. “That had better be what you’re implying it is, Doctor,” she purred, and her nails stung his hand as she took the vials.
“Of course, Mistress.” He chanced a smile. “Superhuman DNA. The samples are small, but with the cloning device that Mister Beldon and myself developed, I will be able to begin my studies.”
His breath caught in his throat as he waited to see what she would say, an agonizing moment of silence. And then behind the golden helmet, she smiled. “Very well. Perhaps you are as useful as you claim to be.” With nothing more, the Hive Mistress turned, her jet-black hair tossed over the back of her yellow gown. She began the walk from the table to the door, letting her voice echo in the domed chamber. “Begin your work. Don’t bother me until you have results.”
*****
Several hours later, the Teen Titans had finished their clean-up, and Dinah had called an end to the formal training for the rest of the day. The sun was starting to set over the water, and the teens had spread out across the island. Carla had started a game of four-person football in one of the more open spaces. She and Victor were surprisingly well-matched against Juan and Garfield, who was quickly gaining status among the team for the versatility of his powers. Cassandra was sitting to the side, a little smile on her face as her eyes tracked the ball from person to person, watching as Gar shifted his feet into talons and flew out of Vic’s reach.
“Now come on, that can’t be fair!” He shouted, but laughed at the cheeky look on the eagle’s face.
Carla grinned and elbowed Vic. “Yeah, well neither’s this.” She took off in a running leap, her superspeed giving her enough lift to snatch the ball. Her shoulder protested as it hit the ground hard, but she laughed and held it up in the air.
“Quit showing off,
hermana,” Juan made his way over to her, pointedly walking.
Garfield dropped back go the ground. “It’s cool, man,” he grinned. “It’s either all powers or no powers, and this way’s way more fun.”
Still close enough to hear the shouts and laughter, Stephanie and Rachel sat at the edge of the empty dock, dangling their bare feet into the water. They had been talking together for quite a while about nothing, with Steph’s infectious enthusiasm bringing a rare smile to her new friend’s face.
“You’re going to stay then?” Steph asked finally, “We’ve got plenty of room. I think it’s kind of the idea to take people in.”
“It’s extremely tempting to have a home again,” Rachel looked out across the lake, her mind’s eye seeing farther than its shores. “I don’t know whether I should, whether I would be too much danger here.”
Steph playfully kicked a splash of water into Rachel’s leg. “Are you kidding? After whatever it was you did to that creep? I can’t wait to see what else you can do!”
The smile grew on Rachel’s lips. “Then perhaps I will stay. At least for a while.”
A loud whistle rang out from the front door, where Dinah stood, her sonic powers catching everyone’s attention. “Hey everyone, I think you all should see this.”
Soon enough, all seven Titans including Raven were gathered around a large computer screen, displaying the frozen image of the Red Hood. Raven had been filled in during the past few hours, about how Red Hood had aided the team before, with all of Stephanie’s excited details. But he looked larger than Raven had imagined, the well-defined muscles clearly belonging to an adult, not another teen.
Dinah pressed play, and let the message speak for itself.
“I regret that I can’t contact you with better news, but I felt the need to pass this information along as quickly as possible. I make a habit of keeping track of the plans and the whereabouts of many prominent criminals, the better to stop them when desperate dangers rear their heads. David Cain is one of my priorities.”
The recorded voice paused, and all eyes flickered to Cassandra, who watched the screen with no change in her focused expression.
“It’s common knowledge to those who search that your Kasumi is Cain’s child,” Hood continued. “And so I must not hesitate to tell you what I’ve found. Cain is close, hiding somewhere in the northeast, though I can’t find more specific information. But he has been waiting long enough, and all my sources are telling me the same thing.
“Cain wants his daughter back. And he’ll be coming for her. Soon.”
