Post by Deleted on Mar 26, 2015 23:52:28 GMT -5
Titans of Justice Chapter 33 “Fausta Returns”
Written By: Scotty2Hotty & Power Guy
Editor: Marcus Mebes
The Hall of Justice, Metropolis, U.S.A…
Celsius approached the meeting table with the full membership of Titans East assembled before him. “Thank you all for being prompt.”
All of the team looked up at Celsius and acknowledgef him. A few of the members smiled.
“I know this is going to come as a surprise to you but I’d like to step down as leader,” Celsius revealed.
“Is this about you letting the Sportsmaster on the team?” asked Strato Hawk.
“No,” explained the New Zealander. “I just think it’s time to give someone else a chance.” He walked around the table. He knew he was lying through his teeth but was too embarrassed to say anything. “Keep things fresh, y’know?”
“I understand where you’re coming from,” agreed Sargona. “You shouldn’t have to carry the burden of leadership forever.”
“Oh, it’s certainly not a burden, I just think everyone deserves a shot,” replied Celsius.
“Well, how do we go about this?” asked Green Lantern.
“It’s simple really, we vote,” Celsius said as he started to hand out pens and pieces of paper out to the team.
***
Thirty minutes later after the votes had been tallied…
“Cor blimey!” Celsius said in shock.
“What is it?” asked Nightvision.
“Strato Hawk got two votes. Nightvision got three votes. Both Power Guy and Green Lantern got five votes each. Looks like we have a tie for the winner,” he revealed.
“Congrats on your votes Brendon,” whispered the Huntress to her partner. “By the way, I love your new suit. The darker tone will surely make those punks around Gotham twice as scared.” She noted, too, that his costume resembled what Nightwing’s costume used to look like.
“Thanks,” replied Nightvision. “Now that my leg is almost healed, I thought it was time for a fresh start.” Glancing over at Black Vulcan, he added, “It looks like I’m not the only one who went clothes shopping since our last mission.”
“Why don’t you just ask Palomé to heal it?” she wondered.
“I’ve got my reasons,” he replied, mysteriously.
“Now what?” inquired Venus, returning their attention to the vote. “Do we make the two of them duke it out for the title?”
“GL would surely win…” commented Sonic Boom as she winked at Green Lantern.
Sargona, noticing the wink, turned to Sonic Boom and gave her the look of death. “This is getting ridiculous. Childhood pals my ruby! If she was any more stuck on Dan, she’d have a Green Lantern symbol branded on her backside,” she thought to herself.”
“There’s not going to be any type of competition,” stated Power Guy. “Green Lantern, the role is yours. I’m way too busy running Star Ware, plus I picked up a DJ job at Metropolis Nights.”
“You’re DJ Invincible, aren’t you,” concluded the Huntress. “I saw a flyer with your picture on it when I was shopping before our meeting.”
“Guilty as charged,” smiled Power Guy. “Anyways Green Lantern, what do you say?”
“I…. uh... sure,” hesitated the emerald gladiator. He started to think to himself, “I have so many things going on in my own life but how can I say no when they’ve voted for me… and Power Guy has turned down the role?” He then started to speak. “I’ll gladly accept the role if you promise to let me pass it on to you when I step down.”
“Fair deal,” agreed Power Guy.
“Are we done here?” asked an anxious Junjie Quick. “I’m supposed to train Rapido on how to run on water today.”
“I don’t have anything else,” responded Celsius. “Does anyone else have anything that they would like to talk about?”
The room remained silent…
“Good on ya then, mate! Green Lantern, I happily pass along the torch to you. You’re going to do a great job!” Celsius put his hand on Green Lantern’s shoulder.
As many of the heroes were exiting the building, Power Guy approached Black Vulcan. “Black Vulcan, is everything okay?”
“Yeah. Why do you ask?” responded the lightning-powered heroine.
“Well, you were completely silent throughout the meeting.”
“I just have my mind on something that I need to take care of,” admitted Black Vulcan.
“Is it something I can help with?” offered Power Guy.
“No thank you,” she answered quickly. “This is something I need to take care of by myself.”
Nightvision, overhearing Power Guy and Black Vulcan’s conversation, glared over at her from the corner of his eye. He then thought to himself, “What could she be up to now? More dirty work for Waller?”
***
A few hours laters after several members had left…
“Everybody! Come quick!” Wonder Man shouted.
“What’s wrong?” Sonic Boom queried. “Is the fashion show cancelled?”
“Would you be serious Boomer!?” said the frustrated son of Amazons. “My friend Lilith just called,” revealed Wonder Man. “She was a Teen Titan several years ago and..”
“Oh, the Raven wannabe,” Sonic Boom interjected. She usually wasn’t so catty, but she found herself starting to become interested romantically in Wonder Man and couldn’t resist getting a dig in at him. “Didn’t she die?”
“I think one of the newest members of our team needs to learn some respect. Lilith was a member of the original Teen Titans and she played a big role in saving the earth from Raven’s father; plus she often saved the day back when the Titans were still teenagers! Oh, and you must have missed the memo but she was resurrected several years ago,” snapped Sargona. She was fed up with Sonic Boom’s constant need to consume all of Green Lantern’s time. She was starting to despise her even more than she had Black Vulcan.
“Okay, okay, I’m sorry. What did she say?” Sonic Boom asked humbly.
“Fausta is in Austria--with the Cheetah. Lilith has been searching for them for weeks after getting one of her premonitions. She finally found where they are hiding this morning. We’ve got to get there and find them before they try to take over Paradise Island again!”
“I’ll send the trouble alert,” Venus offered.
“Thanks. I’ve got to contact my parents,” Wonder Man said as Venus contacted the other members.
***
Austria…
Michael Rich was listening to his grandmother’s voice.
“Tell that cow about the Spear of Destiny. Hitler himself once possessed it, and when I was in Villainy Incorporated, we were going to steal it from Fausta and Hitler. After Hitler’s defeat, we were going to take it and use it for own purposes when the Justice Society aided the Germans in apprehending her. The spear ended up buried in Lithuania, which was unknown to us at the time. Villainy Incorporated disbanded soon after. As years passed, the spear was moved from place to place. Most of those super powered dolts believe the spear was once lost in the sun, but it made its way back to earth. Tell Fausta about the spear, my love. She’ll remember. Her memories may be hazy since she was in suspended animation for so long. Tell her you know where the spear is and you will lead her there. This will buy you time to get your strength back and then you can revert to the Cheetah and tear that arrogant dog limb from limb. Remember what I have told you, and remember it well……”
Priscilla’s voice went silent and Michael smiled.
The door to the room swung open to reveal Fausta. “Bah! What is that smile for? Are you happy I am about to kill you--to end your suffering?” Fausta had a machete in her hand.
“Fausta, would you kill the one who can lead you to one of the greatest relics of Hitler himself?” Michael teased.
“What lie is this? Why do you prolong your death? I would imagine this would be a moment of bliss for you… or for what is left of you cat-man,” the large woman said as she pointed the machete at Michael’s throat.
“The Spear of Destiny, Fausta. Surely you remember that….and how you were stopped by your own people from possessing it,” Michael reminded the blonde Nazi.
“What? You talk nonsense, fool,” chastised an irritated Fausta.
“No. Think back,” pleaded the battered prisoner. “Remember the end of the war. Hitler was gone. You were an emotional wreck. Your own people handed you over to Hippolyta and the Justice Society…..”
“I… I remember. How do you know of this?” demanded the femi-Nazi.
“My grandmother shared this with me long ago. If all had gone well on Paradise Island, we would have retrieved it to declare war on the world.” He could tell Fausta was swayed by his words. “The spear now rests in South America…”
“I… must think on this,” Fausta said. She punched him in the face, knocking him unconscious. “I must tell the mistress about this,” Fausta thought to herself.
Fausta exited the prison cell and made her way down the hall to another dark room. The room had been used during World War II for occult practices and experiments.
She opened the door only to be shocked that the one she had hoped to summon was already waiting for her.
“Mistress! I was just about to contact you!” shouted Fausta.
“You are a good soldier Paula, but all Michael had to do was say the words and it sent a buzz down my spine,” revealed Dark Angel. “I MUST have the spear. Be aware that there are two super-powered watchdogs guarding over it. Do whatever you have to do to get it. With it, we can turn Hippolyta’s family and allies into our slaves and use them to cleanse this wretched planet of the un-pure filth that crawls all over it.”
“I will not fail you mistress,” vowed Fausta.
“Good and when you’re done, I have another task for you to accomplish,” Dark Angel informed her servant. “You’ll be taking a little trip to Los Angeles to retrieve one of my pets. He got loose about a month ago after a little time displacement….
The office of Amanda Waller, Belle Reve Prison…
“d**n budget cuts again,” groaned Waller. “I’m gonna have to lay-off a few of those punks in the maintenance area. Lord knows that most of them just take smoke-breaks half of the day anyways.”
Before she could contemplate the matter any further, Black Vulcan burst through her door. Amanda jerked her head up to see who had decided to invade her personal time.
“Celeste? What are you doing here?” she demanded. “Didn’t you see the Do Not Disturb sign on the door?”
“Yes, I did but this can’t wait,” insisted Black Vulcan.
“What’s all the hoopla about, girl?” asked the plump woman as she discretely put away several confidential papers on her desk.
Black Vulcan looked down for a minute as she gathered the courage to speak. “I’m done being your lap-dog. I’m not spying on the Titans anymore.”
“Oh really?” mused Waller. “So you’re quitting on me.”
“Yes – effective immediately,” stated Black Vulcan. “These people have had a spotless record since I joined their team. Plus, several of them were real supportive when I thought I had killed the Sportsmaster. I can’t keep eavesdropping on them any more. They don’t deserve it.”
“I see,” commented Waller. “So that’s it. You’re done. After everything I’ve done for you.”
“I’m sorry Ms. Waller, but it just isn’t right. These are good people,” argued Black Vulcan. “Here’s my company phone,” she added as she threw her phone on Waller’s desk.
“I’ll have your termination papers done in an hour,” informed Waller. “And since you’ll be looking for a new job, maybe you can help your father look for one to.”
Black Vulcan had a confused look on her face. “What do you mean by that?”
“What I mean is that after you walk out of this office, I’m going to have to make a phone call to the White House and let them know that we no longer require his services,” threatened Waller.
“You… you can’t!” shrieked Black Vulcan. “My mother is seriously ill and my father’s insurance is the only way that we’re able to afford the treatments.”
“Well, then…” paused Waller. “I guess you won’t be leaving the fold after all. Will you?” she teased with a smirk on her face.”
“You… you b_tch!!!” screamed Black Vulcan. “I can’t believe you would do this to me! I’ve served you faithfully for years! You’re nothing but a cold, manipulative witch!!!” Grabbing her phone off Waller’s desk, she stormed out and slammed the door behind her, knowing Waller had her by the throat.
“That went well,” Waller said in a gloating tone.
***
At the Hall of Justice….
Wonder Man was panicked, worrying about his family on Paradise Island. Despite his strained relationship with his mother, the two were quite fond of each other. Queen Diana simply wanted a normal life away from super heroics for her son and this had even caused tension between the queen and her sister, Donna.
Wonder Man walked to the meeting room to see who had answered the call. Before him stood Palomé, Green Lantern, and Venus.
“Wow… slim pickings,” he muttered.
“I suppose now would be a bad time to tell you that I’m needed back in Star City?” revealed Sonic Boom, coming up behind him. “Prince Vertigo is on the loose again and my brother needs some help taking him down.
“And I have monitor duty,” added Green Lantern, “so I can’t go on this mission. All of the others are either recovering from their injuries they suffered from the Sportsmaster or are off on personal time. Not to worry though, I’ve placed a call to the Titans West and Wonder Warrior and Starman are coming over to help since we’re so short-handed.”
Palomé shook his head and rolled his eyes upward in consternation. “When will these morons accept the fact that I can just heal them?” he wondered. “Maybe they’re lazy and would rather stay at home with a broken leg than fight for justice.”
“Wonder Warrior?” asked Wonder Man in response to Green Lantern’s statement. “I think I’d rather face Fausta and the Cheetah alone.” He sighed dejectedly.
“Scott, I hate to add to your troubles but I’m not feeling well,” revealed Sargona. “I was in a hurry this afternoon and went to White Castle for lunch today and now I’m paying the price. Will you guys be able to manage without me?”
“Uh, WHAT?” demanded Palomé. His empathic powers were in fine working order, and he knew for a fact that she was not feeling ill at all. Even if she was, he could heal her in a heartbeat. He was about to say so, too, when his tongue was silenced by an icy glare from the sorceress.
“We can’t have you getting sick in battle especially with us going against Fausta,” stated Wonder Man. He wondered if Sargona was making excuses but did not want to press the matter.
“The five of you should be able to handle the situation,” said a confident Green Lantern.
The door to the meeting room swung open.
“Hey cuz!” shouted Wonder Warrior sarcastically.
Starman entered behind him. “Hey guys! Long time no see!” he yelled.
“Stop calling me ‘cuz’!” barked Wonder Man. “My aunt and uncle both told us all that they had never seen you before in their lives. Let’s make one thing clear, you’re nothing but a fraud and a liar and I WILL expose you for tarnishing my family’s name.”
“In WHAT way have I tarnished your… I mean MY family name?? Look, no one wants to get to the bottom of this mystery more than myself,” countered Wonder Warrior. “For the time being, let’s both try and be civil about it and take care of business.”
“Whatever. Just remember that I’ll be keeping a close eye on you.”
“You two really need to get a room,” commented Starman, rolling his eyes.
In the midst of the commotion, Venus looked over at Palomé and winked. He smiled and winked back.
The young healer spoke up. “Finally, some action! Now if only I could get rid of this effing itching…”
“Effing?” echoed Venus, not understanding the word.
“Itching?” asked Starman. “Did you catch an STD or something?”
“No, Venus and I went camping last weekend and I came back with this horrible case of poison ivy.” He mumbled in embarrassment. “I can heal just about anything, but I can’t heal THIS.”
“Oh boy, you and Venus must both be really uncomfortable. I had poison ivy once and it’s no fun,” commented Starman.
“Actually Venus, didn’t get it,” revealed Palomé. “Girl’s fine.”
“Okay, everyone, we’ll take my Invisible Jet to Austria,” spoke up Wonder Man, interrupting the chatter. He was still irritated that Wonder Warrior was accompanying him on the mission, and had no patience for talk about poison ivy.
The Titans raced the hanger and boarded the Jet and headed for Austria.
***
Michael Rich woke up, surprisingly not in pain. He realized he was in his Cheetah form. He could hear several people talking in German. He tried to stand but quickly realized he was chained to the floor.
“Oh look Fräulein Fausta, your kitty cat is awake. Maybe he wants to play with a ball of yarn, hahaha!” came a female voice.
“Yes, he is playful! Look, mein kleine kätchen. I have assembled friends to help us on our quest,” revealed Fausta.
The Cheetah looked around at all the tall people in Nazi themed uniforms. He recognized one of them as Captain Nazi but the woman next to him was unfamiliar.
“Allow me to introduce my friends, Cheetah,” stated Fausta. “Meet Captain Nazi and the Baroness. The good Hauptmann and I knew each other in the 1940s.” She licked Captain Nazi’s ear. “You are still wonderful. We could produce the perfect heir.”
The Cheetah himself found Captain Nazi attractive but dared not make it evident. “What are they doing here?” he asked, realizing that he was in no position to make demands.
“We are all going on a little trip to South America. You are going to lead us to the spear. If you are telling the truth, I am going to let you leave with your life. I injected you with a serum restoring your ability to change back to the Cheetah, but I also used a hypnotic suggestion on you. If you try to harm me or any one of us, you’ll revert back to your human form and believe me, you don’t want to do that. The longer you remain as the Cheetah the faster the little, uh, shall we call them passion marks I left on your human form will heal. You will find my damage all undone.”
The Cheetah sat back and listened as Fausta and her new friends conversed in German. He had no idea what they were saying and this made him a bit nervous.
“Michael, don’t worry. I am going to guide you to the spear. And if all goes to plan, Fausta and her little group will regret what they’ve done to you.” Priscilla’s voice echoed in the Cheetah’s head.
The group of villains left the very same day for South America.
***
Outside of Fausta’s home…
Lilith called Wonder Man on her cell-phone…
A few seconds later, aboard his jet, Wonder Man looked at the LCD on his phone and saw the name he was hoping to see. “Lilith! Is everything okay?”
“Yes,” replied the voice on the other end, “but Fausta and the Cheetah and some others are headed to South America. I believe they are going after the Spear of Destiny!”
“Don’t worry. We should be there in Austria in a few minutes. We’ll pick you up and head straight for South America,” instructed Wonder Man, glaring out of the corner of his eye at Wonder Warrior.
Written By: Scotty2Hotty & Power Guy
Editor: Marcus Mebes
The Hall of Justice, Metropolis, U.S.A…
Celsius approached the meeting table with the full membership of Titans East assembled before him. “Thank you all for being prompt.”
All of the team looked up at Celsius and acknowledgef him. A few of the members smiled.
“I know this is going to come as a surprise to you but I’d like to step down as leader,” Celsius revealed.
“Is this about you letting the Sportsmaster on the team?” asked Strato Hawk.
“No,” explained the New Zealander. “I just think it’s time to give someone else a chance.” He walked around the table. He knew he was lying through his teeth but was too embarrassed to say anything. “Keep things fresh, y’know?”
“I understand where you’re coming from,” agreed Sargona. “You shouldn’t have to carry the burden of leadership forever.”
“Oh, it’s certainly not a burden, I just think everyone deserves a shot,” replied Celsius.
“Well, how do we go about this?” asked Green Lantern.
“It’s simple really, we vote,” Celsius said as he started to hand out pens and pieces of paper out to the team.
***
Thirty minutes later after the votes had been tallied…
“Cor blimey!” Celsius said in shock.
“What is it?” asked Nightvision.
“Strato Hawk got two votes. Nightvision got three votes. Both Power Guy and Green Lantern got five votes each. Looks like we have a tie for the winner,” he revealed.
“Congrats on your votes Brendon,” whispered the Huntress to her partner. “By the way, I love your new suit. The darker tone will surely make those punks around Gotham twice as scared.” She noted, too, that his costume resembled what Nightwing’s costume used to look like.
“Thanks,” replied Nightvision. “Now that my leg is almost healed, I thought it was time for a fresh start.” Glancing over at Black Vulcan, he added, “It looks like I’m not the only one who went clothes shopping since our last mission.”
“Why don’t you just ask Palomé to heal it?” she wondered.
“I’ve got my reasons,” he replied, mysteriously.
“Now what?” inquired Venus, returning their attention to the vote. “Do we make the two of them duke it out for the title?”
“GL would surely win…” commented Sonic Boom as she winked at Green Lantern.
Sargona, noticing the wink, turned to Sonic Boom and gave her the look of death. “This is getting ridiculous. Childhood pals my ruby! If she was any more stuck on Dan, she’d have a Green Lantern symbol branded on her backside,” she thought to herself.”
“There’s not going to be any type of competition,” stated Power Guy. “Green Lantern, the role is yours. I’m way too busy running Star Ware, plus I picked up a DJ job at Metropolis Nights.”
“You’re DJ Invincible, aren’t you,” concluded the Huntress. “I saw a flyer with your picture on it when I was shopping before our meeting.”
“Guilty as charged,” smiled Power Guy. “Anyways Green Lantern, what do you say?”
“I…. uh... sure,” hesitated the emerald gladiator. He started to think to himself, “I have so many things going on in my own life but how can I say no when they’ve voted for me… and Power Guy has turned down the role?” He then started to speak. “I’ll gladly accept the role if you promise to let me pass it on to you when I step down.”
“Fair deal,” agreed Power Guy.
“Are we done here?” asked an anxious Junjie Quick. “I’m supposed to train Rapido on how to run on water today.”
“I don’t have anything else,” responded Celsius. “Does anyone else have anything that they would like to talk about?”
The room remained silent…
“Good on ya then, mate! Green Lantern, I happily pass along the torch to you. You’re going to do a great job!” Celsius put his hand on Green Lantern’s shoulder.
As many of the heroes were exiting the building, Power Guy approached Black Vulcan. “Black Vulcan, is everything okay?”
“Yeah. Why do you ask?” responded the lightning-powered heroine.
“Well, you were completely silent throughout the meeting.”
“I just have my mind on something that I need to take care of,” admitted Black Vulcan.
“Is it something I can help with?” offered Power Guy.
“No thank you,” she answered quickly. “This is something I need to take care of by myself.”
Nightvision, overhearing Power Guy and Black Vulcan’s conversation, glared over at her from the corner of his eye. He then thought to himself, “What could she be up to now? More dirty work for Waller?”
***
A few hours laters after several members had left…
“Everybody! Come quick!” Wonder Man shouted.
“What’s wrong?” Sonic Boom queried. “Is the fashion show cancelled?”
“Would you be serious Boomer!?” said the frustrated son of Amazons. “My friend Lilith just called,” revealed Wonder Man. “She was a Teen Titan several years ago and..”
“Oh, the Raven wannabe,” Sonic Boom interjected. She usually wasn’t so catty, but she found herself starting to become interested romantically in Wonder Man and couldn’t resist getting a dig in at him. “Didn’t she die?”
“I think one of the newest members of our team needs to learn some respect. Lilith was a member of the original Teen Titans and she played a big role in saving the earth from Raven’s father; plus she often saved the day back when the Titans were still teenagers! Oh, and you must have missed the memo but she was resurrected several years ago,” snapped Sargona. She was fed up with Sonic Boom’s constant need to consume all of Green Lantern’s time. She was starting to despise her even more than she had Black Vulcan.
“Okay, okay, I’m sorry. What did she say?” Sonic Boom asked humbly.
“Fausta is in Austria--with the Cheetah. Lilith has been searching for them for weeks after getting one of her premonitions. She finally found where they are hiding this morning. We’ve got to get there and find them before they try to take over Paradise Island again!”
“I’ll send the trouble alert,” Venus offered.
“Thanks. I’ve got to contact my parents,” Wonder Man said as Venus contacted the other members.
***
Austria…
Michael Rich was listening to his grandmother’s voice.
“Tell that cow about the Spear of Destiny. Hitler himself once possessed it, and when I was in Villainy Incorporated, we were going to steal it from Fausta and Hitler. After Hitler’s defeat, we were going to take it and use it for own purposes when the Justice Society aided the Germans in apprehending her. The spear ended up buried in Lithuania, which was unknown to us at the time. Villainy Incorporated disbanded soon after. As years passed, the spear was moved from place to place. Most of those super powered dolts believe the spear was once lost in the sun, but it made its way back to earth. Tell Fausta about the spear, my love. She’ll remember. Her memories may be hazy since she was in suspended animation for so long. Tell her you know where the spear is and you will lead her there. This will buy you time to get your strength back and then you can revert to the Cheetah and tear that arrogant dog limb from limb. Remember what I have told you, and remember it well……”
Priscilla’s voice went silent and Michael smiled.
The door to the room swung open to reveal Fausta. “Bah! What is that smile for? Are you happy I am about to kill you--to end your suffering?” Fausta had a machete in her hand.
“Fausta, would you kill the one who can lead you to one of the greatest relics of Hitler himself?” Michael teased.
“What lie is this? Why do you prolong your death? I would imagine this would be a moment of bliss for you… or for what is left of you cat-man,” the large woman said as she pointed the machete at Michael’s throat.
“The Spear of Destiny, Fausta. Surely you remember that….and how you were stopped by your own people from possessing it,” Michael reminded the blonde Nazi.
“What? You talk nonsense, fool,” chastised an irritated Fausta.
“No. Think back,” pleaded the battered prisoner. “Remember the end of the war. Hitler was gone. You were an emotional wreck. Your own people handed you over to Hippolyta and the Justice Society…..”
“I… I remember. How do you know of this?” demanded the femi-Nazi.
“My grandmother shared this with me long ago. If all had gone well on Paradise Island, we would have retrieved it to declare war on the world.” He could tell Fausta was swayed by his words. “The spear now rests in South America…”
“I… must think on this,” Fausta said. She punched him in the face, knocking him unconscious. “I must tell the mistress about this,” Fausta thought to herself.
Fausta exited the prison cell and made her way down the hall to another dark room. The room had been used during World War II for occult practices and experiments.
She opened the door only to be shocked that the one she had hoped to summon was already waiting for her.
“Mistress! I was just about to contact you!” shouted Fausta.
“You are a good soldier Paula, but all Michael had to do was say the words and it sent a buzz down my spine,” revealed Dark Angel. “I MUST have the spear. Be aware that there are two super-powered watchdogs guarding over it. Do whatever you have to do to get it. With it, we can turn Hippolyta’s family and allies into our slaves and use them to cleanse this wretched planet of the un-pure filth that crawls all over it.”
“I will not fail you mistress,” vowed Fausta.
“Good and when you’re done, I have another task for you to accomplish,” Dark Angel informed her servant. “You’ll be taking a little trip to Los Angeles to retrieve one of my pets. He got loose about a month ago after a little time displacement….
The office of Amanda Waller, Belle Reve Prison…
“d**n budget cuts again,” groaned Waller. “I’m gonna have to lay-off a few of those punks in the maintenance area. Lord knows that most of them just take smoke-breaks half of the day anyways.”
Before she could contemplate the matter any further, Black Vulcan burst through her door. Amanda jerked her head up to see who had decided to invade her personal time.
“Celeste? What are you doing here?” she demanded. “Didn’t you see the Do Not Disturb sign on the door?”
“Yes, I did but this can’t wait,” insisted Black Vulcan.
“What’s all the hoopla about, girl?” asked the plump woman as she discretely put away several confidential papers on her desk.
Black Vulcan looked down for a minute as she gathered the courage to speak. “I’m done being your lap-dog. I’m not spying on the Titans anymore.”
“Oh really?” mused Waller. “So you’re quitting on me.”
“Yes – effective immediately,” stated Black Vulcan. “These people have had a spotless record since I joined their team. Plus, several of them were real supportive when I thought I had killed the Sportsmaster. I can’t keep eavesdropping on them any more. They don’t deserve it.”
“I see,” commented Waller. “So that’s it. You’re done. After everything I’ve done for you.”
“I’m sorry Ms. Waller, but it just isn’t right. These are good people,” argued Black Vulcan. “Here’s my company phone,” she added as she threw her phone on Waller’s desk.
“I’ll have your termination papers done in an hour,” informed Waller. “And since you’ll be looking for a new job, maybe you can help your father look for one to.”
Black Vulcan had a confused look on her face. “What do you mean by that?”
“What I mean is that after you walk out of this office, I’m going to have to make a phone call to the White House and let them know that we no longer require his services,” threatened Waller.
“You… you can’t!” shrieked Black Vulcan. “My mother is seriously ill and my father’s insurance is the only way that we’re able to afford the treatments.”
“Well, then…” paused Waller. “I guess you won’t be leaving the fold after all. Will you?” she teased with a smirk on her face.”
“You… you b_tch!!!” screamed Black Vulcan. “I can’t believe you would do this to me! I’ve served you faithfully for years! You’re nothing but a cold, manipulative witch!!!” Grabbing her phone off Waller’s desk, she stormed out and slammed the door behind her, knowing Waller had her by the throat.
“That went well,” Waller said in a gloating tone.
***
At the Hall of Justice….
Wonder Man was panicked, worrying about his family on Paradise Island. Despite his strained relationship with his mother, the two were quite fond of each other. Queen Diana simply wanted a normal life away from super heroics for her son and this had even caused tension between the queen and her sister, Donna.
Wonder Man walked to the meeting room to see who had answered the call. Before him stood Palomé, Green Lantern, and Venus.
“Wow… slim pickings,” he muttered.
“I suppose now would be a bad time to tell you that I’m needed back in Star City?” revealed Sonic Boom, coming up behind him. “Prince Vertigo is on the loose again and my brother needs some help taking him down.
“And I have monitor duty,” added Green Lantern, “so I can’t go on this mission. All of the others are either recovering from their injuries they suffered from the Sportsmaster or are off on personal time. Not to worry though, I’ve placed a call to the Titans West and Wonder Warrior and Starman are coming over to help since we’re so short-handed.”
Palomé shook his head and rolled his eyes upward in consternation. “When will these morons accept the fact that I can just heal them?” he wondered. “Maybe they’re lazy and would rather stay at home with a broken leg than fight for justice.”
“Wonder Warrior?” asked Wonder Man in response to Green Lantern’s statement. “I think I’d rather face Fausta and the Cheetah alone.” He sighed dejectedly.
“Scott, I hate to add to your troubles but I’m not feeling well,” revealed Sargona. “I was in a hurry this afternoon and went to White Castle for lunch today and now I’m paying the price. Will you guys be able to manage without me?”
“Uh, WHAT?” demanded Palomé. His empathic powers were in fine working order, and he knew for a fact that she was not feeling ill at all. Even if she was, he could heal her in a heartbeat. He was about to say so, too, when his tongue was silenced by an icy glare from the sorceress.
“We can’t have you getting sick in battle especially with us going against Fausta,” stated Wonder Man. He wondered if Sargona was making excuses but did not want to press the matter.
“The five of you should be able to handle the situation,” said a confident Green Lantern.
The door to the meeting room swung open.
“Hey cuz!” shouted Wonder Warrior sarcastically.
Starman entered behind him. “Hey guys! Long time no see!” he yelled.
“Stop calling me ‘cuz’!” barked Wonder Man. “My aunt and uncle both told us all that they had never seen you before in their lives. Let’s make one thing clear, you’re nothing but a fraud and a liar and I WILL expose you for tarnishing my family’s name.”
“In WHAT way have I tarnished your… I mean MY family name?? Look, no one wants to get to the bottom of this mystery more than myself,” countered Wonder Warrior. “For the time being, let’s both try and be civil about it and take care of business.”
“Whatever. Just remember that I’ll be keeping a close eye on you.”
“You two really need to get a room,” commented Starman, rolling his eyes.
In the midst of the commotion, Venus looked over at Palomé and winked. He smiled and winked back.
The young healer spoke up. “Finally, some action! Now if only I could get rid of this effing itching…”
“Effing?” echoed Venus, not understanding the word.
“Itching?” asked Starman. “Did you catch an STD or something?”
“No, Venus and I went camping last weekend and I came back with this horrible case of poison ivy.” He mumbled in embarrassment. “I can heal just about anything, but I can’t heal THIS.”
“Oh boy, you and Venus must both be really uncomfortable. I had poison ivy once and it’s no fun,” commented Starman.
“Actually Venus, didn’t get it,” revealed Palomé. “Girl’s fine.”
“Okay, everyone, we’ll take my Invisible Jet to Austria,” spoke up Wonder Man, interrupting the chatter. He was still irritated that Wonder Warrior was accompanying him on the mission, and had no patience for talk about poison ivy.
The Titans raced the hanger and boarded the Jet and headed for Austria.
***
Michael Rich woke up, surprisingly not in pain. He realized he was in his Cheetah form. He could hear several people talking in German. He tried to stand but quickly realized he was chained to the floor.
“Oh look Fräulein Fausta, your kitty cat is awake. Maybe he wants to play with a ball of yarn, hahaha!” came a female voice.
“Yes, he is playful! Look, mein kleine kätchen. I have assembled friends to help us on our quest,” revealed Fausta.
The Cheetah looked around at all the tall people in Nazi themed uniforms. He recognized one of them as Captain Nazi but the woman next to him was unfamiliar.
“Allow me to introduce my friends, Cheetah,” stated Fausta. “Meet Captain Nazi and the Baroness. The good Hauptmann and I knew each other in the 1940s.” She licked Captain Nazi’s ear. “You are still wonderful. We could produce the perfect heir.”
The Cheetah himself found Captain Nazi attractive but dared not make it evident. “What are they doing here?” he asked, realizing that he was in no position to make demands.
“We are all going on a little trip to South America. You are going to lead us to the spear. If you are telling the truth, I am going to let you leave with your life. I injected you with a serum restoring your ability to change back to the Cheetah, but I also used a hypnotic suggestion on you. If you try to harm me or any one of us, you’ll revert back to your human form and believe me, you don’t want to do that. The longer you remain as the Cheetah the faster the little, uh, shall we call them passion marks I left on your human form will heal. You will find my damage all undone.”
The Cheetah sat back and listened as Fausta and her new friends conversed in German. He had no idea what they were saying and this made him a bit nervous.
“Michael, don’t worry. I am going to guide you to the spear. And if all goes to plan, Fausta and her little group will regret what they’ve done to you.” Priscilla’s voice echoed in the Cheetah’s head.
The group of villains left the very same day for South America.
***
Outside of Fausta’s home…
Lilith called Wonder Man on her cell-phone…
A few seconds later, aboard his jet, Wonder Man looked at the LCD on his phone and saw the name he was hoping to see. “Lilith! Is everything okay?”
“Yes,” replied the voice on the other end, “but Fausta and the Cheetah and some others are headed to South America. I believe they are going after the Spear of Destiny!”
“Don’t worry. We should be there in Austria in a few minutes. We’ll pick you up and head straight for South America,” instructed Wonder Man, glaring out of the corner of his eye at Wonder Warrior.