Teen Titans: Scourge

Teen Titans Past and Future, RIP


Freshly dug dirty covered the four graves along the western wall of Jump City Cemetery. Dark clouds overhead teased the headstones into making thick, silent shadows that danced along the ground. A solitary figure stood staring at the graves. Each sat nameless, no one had been able to distinguish one body from the next, in any way shape or form. For some odd reason not even DNA had been able to help with identification. In place of the names, were messages.

Teen Titan, Died 2028 in the act of protecting our city.

Simple, eloquent.

A single figure stood over the graves staring at this statement.

Unknown to him a single eye stared at him from a high tree, the green orb filled with hatred.

No less then fifty heroes from around the glove had come to the services, and hundreds of civilians.

He hadn't been there. No he had waited till it was over to come pay his respects as he knew the others would. For various reasons. The foremost in his mind was simple.

It was his fault.

They hadn't been ready, hadn't been properly trained, he should never have thought they were ready to defend this city by themselves. Now, as he stared through his black mask, he knew that he should have waited, just a few more years.

He began to notice the rain, though it had probably been going on a while, why did it always rain at times like this, when it seemed like the only good it could do was wash away a memory. one that shouldn't be allowed to slip into nothingness.

His blue and black suit became saturated quickly, even as he heard a noise to his left. Bringing his attention from his thoughts he looked up. Over the years he had let his hair grow, but cut it again once the gray started creeping in. Now it was down to a few hairs near the back of his short hair. Still his features much like his body, were strong, and unreadable to most.

His new companion, one he hadn't seen for several years now, was a tall woman, about his age, though she seemed to have taken to time better then he had, with wild red hair and green eyes that seemed to hide a fire behind them. Something he knew to be all too true.

The rain began to pour down faster, harder.

"Starfire....." Barely a whisper. He wasn't surprised by her being there, he had expected it. No, it was the fact that she didn't seem to be a day over twenty five when he knew for a fact that she was at least forty. It never occurred to him that her race would have aged slower.

"My name is Kori......I haven't been a Titan, or a hero in many years Robin, and I don't want to be called that anymore. Things have changed. I have a life now." Her voice told of her years much more then her body did, a harsh, grasping thing, seeming to pull the attention to the lips and keep it there. No doubt that she had changed now.

A bird squawked somewhere overhead, sounding almost like laughter in the rain.

"I don't think things have changed as much as you say, you're here."

"I'm here to pay my respects to those children, the one's you were supposed to train Robin..."

"Nightwing." He interrupted her pointedly, turning back to the graves. "Maybe you're right, things have changed. I must be becoming soft. now that I think about it, there was no way they were ready."

A new voice entered the conversation, this one belonging to a large man, showing only a few wrinkles as any signs of aging. His metal body made for large soggy noises as he made his way over the saturated grounds. "From what I gather, I don't know that anyone would have been ready for whoever did this, including us." Cyborg, now known as top technology expert for prosthetic studies in Wayne researching facilities, Victor Stone, looked from one former team mate to the other. "Whoever pulled this off, was ruthless and efficient. It's not any sick bastard who would go through the trouble to dousing them with something to screw up their DNA enough to make verification impossible."

"Hello Cy....Victor. It has been a long while." Kori fought the urge to hug her dear friend, the only one she had really stayed in touch with. All that would really do is cause more friction between herself and Nightwing, and there was already enough of that.

"Yes it has Kori." His blue eye searched her's looking for the innocent girl he remembered so fondly. She wasn't there. "Too long."

The two men stared at each other for a moment, then nodded, in respect. Victor had stayed in touch with all the former Titans, tough he rarely caught Beast Boy after......

Nightwing on the other hand, had completely severed all ties. Not allowing for any contact.

Neither was going to pretend they were friends anymore, nothing more then former teammates. No friendship could survive turning your back on your own.....

Thoughts were interrupted as another woman joined the small band. "I was hoping to mourn in peace. But here I see we are having a hero has-been convention." a sarcastic voice piped in from over the western stone wall, even as a black shadow opened up and pulled Raven through. She had known they would be here, had known why, they each wanted the same thing. though in truth she had also come in hopes of seeing the one person she didn't see.

As she pulled her soaked cloak back, she gave a forced smile to her old friends. though only one would she call friend again. As they looked at her, she met each pair of eyes. She had aged well, all things considered. Most of her wrinkles were around her eyes and the corners of her eyes, and she looked very tired. Perhaps forty or so pounds heavier, but that's to be expected after kids, and with no one else to help raise them, it wasn't like she had time to keep in shape. No, her children were a full time job, especially after their powers began to develop.

All eyes returned to the graves, silence reigned for almost ten minutes.

"I suppose we are all here for the same reason right?" Raven looked at her former team. "To take whoever did this down, and reform a new team to protect the city, or am I the only one?"

Her eyes were caught suddenly by a flutter overhead, and she stared up into a tree for a while, as the others pondered her words.

"Of course we are," Nightwing finally spoke, a grating voice, with anger edged into it. "I just can't believe how selfish some people are." Victor and Kori looked at him, neither making a sound, both knowing exactly what he was talking about, and not knowing, even after all these years if they agreed or not. "I thought the past would be put behind us, if only for now. However, it seems some of us are beyond acting human. He couldn't even show up could he? I thought we would be in full force but are we, hell no. Kids half our age just died, struck down because we couldn't work together anymore, because we had to go our separate ways. And even after that tragedy, your loser of an ex doesn't even have the balls to show up." He finally realized Raven was still looking up into the trees, basically ignoring him.

"Is that how it is, you can't stand to hear someone bad mouth him, even when he's wrong, after all these years. Or are you just gonna do the same as him, turn tail and run." Still he was ignored.

This caught the attention of the two bystanders, who turned to look into the trees, to see what could distract her from Nightwing's ramblings. Both went wide eyed. Victor spoke softly. "I would stop talking trash man."

Nightwing looked up, his rage blinding him. "A fucking one eyed bird, why the hell is everyone so fucking impressed by a fucking bird?" He turned back to Raven, grasping her by the shoulders. "Look at me when I am talking to you." He shook her lightly, none of his actions were in a threatening manner. However, the arrogant detective had missed several things in the last minute.

One was Raven's slight, if partially hidden, smile as she looked upward.

Another was the bird, who had been staring at him with hatred, was now flying directly for his head.

The last, was the almost undetectable green tint to the black feathers.

He ducked suddenly, barely mssed being hit by a rather sharp beak before the bird disappeared. "Where did that damn thing go."

Two soft thuds from behind him caught his attention. "Let go of her." The voice was rasped, dry and thirsty. The green skinned owner, looked to be the worst of them all. Time had pulled no punches as far as he was concerned. The youngest by two years and he seemed the oldest by ten. His eyes, sunken into his head, stared angrily at Nightwing. One a lifeless gray color, the other a fiery green. His hair, hung long and limp, almost completely gray except for a lock in the front. His body seemed bone thin. Still, all things considered, it only made him look like a starved, cornered animal. One thing smart people never toyed with. "I said, let her go, before I make you eat that mask."

Raven's smile faded before Nightwing even released her. She wasn't sure if he had said these things because of her, or because he wanted a reason to pick at the former Titan leader. Either way, it had begun something that had happened every time the two men got together, and would soon turn physical. They never minced words long, not after Beast Boy was sent on the K-9 assignment.

"You have something to say to me Bitch Boy?" In an instant they were at each other's faces, never once thinking of backing down.

"I would make a comment about taking your woman, but you lived with an older man and wore tights for ten years of your life, I think that ship sailed a long time ago." Beast Boy grinned in triumph at the enraged look in the other man's eyes. A swing, and a miss.

Beast Boy, flipped backward, landing on his feet, and started charging again.

"Nice eye, what happened, couldn't find a free vein so you figured you'd try putting the heroine directly to the brain." A low blow, one that worked every time.

"You Son of A Bitch. That was all your fault and you know it." He was seething, and was planning on taking it out on Nightwing's face. A solid metal hand moved to his chest and held him back. "You sent me there, said all I had to do was be a drug dog for a few days. It's your fault I got addicted in the first place you arrogant bastard."

Kori moved to restrain Nightwing, who was just as furious. "ME? You just love blaming other's for your mistakes don't you. You turned your back on us."

"You turned your backs on me, when I needed you most." He had stopped struggling, stopped trying to get away from Victor's grasp.

"You let us down Beast Boy." Nightwing's voice was stern, but still held rage within it.

"YOU ALL LET ME DOWN FIRST!!!!!" He was now standing back, too angry to even continue to fight, even if he would have been allowed to.

Victor interjected, "Come on guys, this fight is getting us nowhere. Same thing every time. We have a responsibility to these kids. We have to take this guy down, and then you can walk away from each other, once and for all. It's just not worth it guys."

Beast Boy suddenly turned to him, rage finding a new target. "You know what tin man? Why don't you, the Scarecrow..." he gestured towards Kori, then looked Nightwing in the eye. " And the Cowardly Lion, go back to OZ and leave this to people who live and suffer in the real world."

Raven shifted from one foot to the other, unnerved. No one spoke, Beast Boy just stared at one of them, and then the next, not willing to back down or retract his statements. she and all the others had noticed her absence from his comment.

After several minutes, Kori, and Victor began to walk away. Nightwing stared for another moment. His voice was a low growl, somewhere between hatred and defeat. "We may need you, are you going to come if we call?"

A green eye stared into two hidden blue orbs. "I'll come. However, when this is over. You and me, we're going to finish this, once and for all." As emphasis, he flexed a clawed hand in front of Nightwing's eyes.

Beast boy turned back to look at the dark woman who remained, his rage subsiding quickly. A hand reached up to scratch at the stubble on his chin. It took several minutes for him to actually look her in the eye.

Swallowing a lump, he moved a few steps closer before speaking. "How are the kids."

She stared at him for a second, these days she was never sure whether to embrace him or kill him. She settled for ripping him a new ass hole. "They have names you know, not that you would remember. When was the last time they saw you?"

Bad eye twitching slightly, he coughed, not to clear his throat but because he had to cough. 'I remember, I may not have been there when they were named, but I do remember their names.' His thoughts didn't betray him. "How are Wrath and Grace?"

Raven sighed, he never put up a fight against her. She knew he wasn't around for a reason, he didn't want them to know what he used to be, before he got clean, and after he had left the Titans. She smiled slightly, he still called once a month to see how they were doing, though she seldom went into details. She especially never mentioned that they would tell her about the strange green animals that seemed to be everywhere. She never had told her children what his abilities were, no need since neither of them had that particular power.

"They started their changes, powers developing, the normal thing. Though Grace has started developing bumps. Wraiths skin along his back is turning red."

"Their called boobs Raven, I believe you have been introduced. I know I have." A mock smile, a little of his old wit, something to relieve a little of the tension. It worked a little.

"I know what those bumps are, I was referring to ones forming on her back. They just started, but are growing rather quickly." She wasn't sure if this was something he could explain or not, but no harm in trying.

"Hmm, has she seen a doctor?" Just then a phone in his pocket rang sharply. "Hold on." Pulling it out, he moved slightly away and seemed agitated. "What?" His tone was jagged and he barely seemed to listen to the caller. "You already knew that, I don't care if it's earlier then you expected." He growled slightly after the reply. "Do you really want me to come there right now? I didn't think so, just do it." Hanging up, he turned back to her.

"Has she seen the doctor?"

Raven shook her head, "They're supposed to call me, I had better get back to the hotel. I will see you later." With that she turned and began to drift away.

"Raven.........Tell them their father loves them."

She kept going, debating the whole way if she should tell them or not. He might have called, but this was the first time he had said those words in twelve years, would they even mean anything to their children?