Titans East Chapter 59 – “The Beginning of The End Part 2.”
Written by: Power Guy
Edited by: Marcus Mebes


The home of the deceased hero known as Risk...

Argent and Palomé sat at the dinner table. The air was still and the room was quiet aside from the clanking of their forks on the plates in front of them. Argent had made Palomé’s favorite meal yet he was struggling to consume it.





“Lukas, you’ve barely touched your plate,” noticed Argent. “It’s crawfish etouffé. You’ve got to start eating again. This is the third day in a row that you haven’t had more than a few bites to eat.”

“Sorry, Aunt Toni,” apologized the healer. “It’s delicious. It really is. I just don’t have much of an appetite any more. I’m a bit ashamed of myself for punching Wonder Man like I did. I left my emotions get the best of me.” He sighed heavily. “I mean, I called him a liar, but I knew he wasn’t. That’s my curse… knowing people’s true emotions.”

“Look, I can’t pretend to know what you’re going through but I do know your parents wouldn’t want you to be depressed like this,” advised Argent. “I know you never expected to lose your parents at such a young age but you’ve got to press on.”

“Actually you’re wrong,” Palomé said shockingly. “My parents were both superheroes. I always knew there was a risk they wouldn’t come home one day. What I never expected was that my girlfriend would be their killer.”

Argent got up and walked over to Palomé, kneeling down beside him and giving him a hug. “You certainly don’t deserve this betrayal. Maybe Venus isn’t responsible for what she’s done. Didn’t you say you felt something or someone else inside her when you tried to sooth her rage?”

“I…I can’t be sure,” admitted Palomé. “It could have just been the conflicting personalities between Venus and Black Orchid. I’d never seen someone’s mind in such a disarray…”

In mid-sentence, Palomé was interrupted by a telepathic call from his teammate, the Stranger.

“Palomé… it…it’s the Stranger. I’ve been injured. I n…n-need your help.”

“Where are you?” asked the young healer in a haste.

“I… in my home,” replied the injured magician.

“I’m on my way. Hold on!” insisted Palomé as he fired-up his soul-self. “Aunt Toni – I just got a call for help. I need to run.”

“Don’t explain, just go!” Argent responded firmly.

***

S.T.A.R. Labs - Tokyo, Japan Division…

“Thank you, Lady Light, for stopping those thieves before they had a chance to steal our power-regulator. It could have gone for millions on the black market,” advised a grateful scientist.





“No thanks are needed,” replied Lady Light. “Now that the police have hauled those deviants off to jail, your new invention is safe.”

Suddenly, something crashed through the window behind Lady Light and the scientist. It was the Black Orchid.





“The device is safe but it’s lights out for you, sister,” threatened the purple-clad villainess.

“Ah yes, the American killing machine,” observed Lady Light as she prepared for battle. “You are foolish to come here. I will not go down so easily, murderess.”

“American-killing?” mocked Orchid, misinterpreting what the Japanese heroine said. “Oh, I hold no prejudice when it comes to my victims. I’m an equal-opportunity slaughterer,” she added, grinning viciously.

The scientist was in a panic and raced for the door. “I’ve got to summon help or Lady Light will surely die!” he realized, trying to escape.

Lady Light raised her hands above her head and they started to glow. A beam of white-hot light shot out at Black Orchid, knocking her back through the window. Lady Light quickly made a “light-slide” and pursued her adversary with great anticipation.

Black Orchid had crashed into the wall of the next building over. It didn’t take her long to recover and she flew towards Lady Light with death in her eyes, “That all you got, honey???”

“No, you insolent cow,” replied the second-generation Dr. Light. “I was merely getting you outside where my powers are the strongest.” She then used her powers to create a hard-light hammer and slammed it into the approaching villain.

Black Orchid plummeted to the ground and cracked the pavement upon impact. She lay still for a few moments as Lady Light descended on her. Black Orchid was obviously playing possum, since when Lady Light was in reaching distance, she reached up with super-speed and grabbed her by the throat. “That hurt, you slant-eyed witch!” she growled as she threw her opponent into a parked car. Lady Light’s limp body bounced off the car and landed on top of a sushi stand not far away.

The purple-clad fighter flew over to her and ripped a telephone pole out of the ground along the way. “You smell like rotten fish but that doesn’t mean I won’t use this giant chopstick to gobble you up!” Black Orchid raised the pole over her head, ready to slam it down and squash Lady Light; but as she was lowering the pole down, it was disintegrated in her hands by an unknown force.

Black Orchid turned to see she was facing the new Justice League of America. “Oh looky here—I’m being ganged up on by a bunch of superheroes again. Can’t you guys ever let me kill in peace?” she snickered.






“You can come peacefully or I can turn you into a purple pincushion,” Dark Arrow said, pulling back his bowstring with several arrows propped for firing.

Black Orchid put her hands on her hips. “Well, well, well, let’s see: who do we have here? Dork Arrow, Blowhard, Lt. Acne, Starlight Starbright, Speedy Gonzales, and the Sixty Minute Sodomizer. Hmm… no Air Head or Totem Pole. Didn’t you punks see what I did to the Titans of Justice when they tried to take me down?”

“Oh we saw… but we’re better, much better,” Dark Arrow stated smugly. “So what’s it going to be Orchid? Are you coming peacefully or do we do this the hard way?”

“Here’s your answer, dolt!” said a defiant Black Orchid as she grabbed Lady Light by the throat and threw her at the new JLA.

Rapido quickly used his arms to make a mini tornado to cushion Lady Light’s fall. “Imako, are you okay?”

“Yes, Rapido,” answered Lady Light. “But that woman is insane. We must stop her at all costs.”

“Give me two minutes,” declared Lt. Atom as he flew over to his team’s foe. Atmosphere and Stellar quickly followed suit.

“You boys think you can take me out?” taunted Black Orchid. “You know, when it comes to men, I like to do my part so let me meet you half way,” she said, flying towards the three heroes.

Black Orchid and Lt. Atom clashed like two thunderbolts striking each other.

“Last chance to stand down, ma’am,” offered Lt. Atom with more courtesy than she deserved.

“What’s wrong, atom boy? Getting cold feet?” taunted Black Orchid as she punched Lt. Atom a mile away with ease.

The Sixty Minute Soldier grabbed a nearby S.U.V. and picked it up, throwing it at Black Orchid.

The violet villainess caught the large vehicle without much of a strain. “So you want to play catch, huh? INCOMING!!!” she screeched, throwing the S.U.V. back at the adopted son of Hourman.

He turned to run but it was too late. The vehicle landed on top of him, immobilizing him for the moment, and quite possibly rendering serious physical injury.

“That’s it lady, time to box you up,” Stellar said as he formed a cage around Black Orchid in hopes of securing her.

“You think this little sparkle-box can hold me?” Black Orchid said as she smashed through the cage. As she flew out, she was battered by one of Atmosphere’s tornado-blasts. The attack sent the mass-murderess crashing into the ground.

“That’s for killing my uncle, you heartless witch,” raged Atmosphere.

“And this is for killing my dad and my uncle,” Rapido added as he raced up to her, punching her multiple times at super-speed.

“Ha! That tickles!” Black Orchid said gleefully as she swung out her leg and kicked Rapido’s legs out from under him, causing him to fall. “Now let’s see if you make as nice of a stain as your father did!”

Lucky for Rapido, before Black Orchid could make good on her threat, the murderess found herself smothered by a cloud of smoke, thanks to Dark Arrow’s quick intervention with some smog-arrows.

Atmosphere zoomed down and pulled Rapido away from the former member of the Suicide Squad.

As the smoke cleared, Black Orchid prepped herself to attack again but before she could act, Lady Light was in her face and angry.

“You would kill children? You are truly inhuman!” declared the Japanese heroine as she blasted her opponent.

“Argh!! A little sun-burn isn’t going to stop me!” said a defiant Black Orchid as she punched Lady Light in the face. The blow struck like a hammer, causing her to black-out.

Black Orchid stood reveling over Lady Light’s unconscious body. “Now, let’s finish what I came here for!”

Dark Arrow panicked, realizing that none of his arrows could stop Black Orchid from killing Lady Light right in front of him and his teammates. Rapido could be fast enough to grab Lady Light before Black Orchid could strike, but he was severely injured from his own battle with her. The Soldier was probably gravely injured, and none of them had yet pulled him out from under the mangled S.U.V. Dark Arrow realized it was now or never and whispered, “Here’s your cue!”

Black Orchid raised her hands above her head, ready to strike… but before she could continue, another cloud of smoke appeared—this one extremely different from the last, almost organic in nature. Out stepped the White Wraith.





Dark Arrow let out a sigh of relief. The White Wraith was his last resort trump-card. If anyone could stop Black Orchid, it was him. Maybe, just maybe, this day would end without Black Orchid claiming another victim.

“Oh look! It’s the Spook!” Black Orchid cackled.

“Your insults do not impress me or frighten me, woman. For too long you have taken the lives of those who have devoted themselves to keeping this world in the Father’s holy image. It ends here and now. Prepare yourself for the bludgeon divine!” the White Wraith stated coldly. A portal opened behind the Black Orchid. Inside of it was almost pure blackness. Shivering screams and howls came from within. All that were present felt that this could be the doorway to Hell.

“I guess this is where I’m supposed to start crying and beg for your loving mercy, huh? Will you spare me if I break out my rosary and say ten Hail Marys?” teased Black Orchid. “As much as I hate to disappoint you, I have to tell you that there’s been a slight change to the script, Mr. Holier-than-thou,” she said as she reached behind herself, opening a canister strapped to her back, and producing the Spear of Victory.

The White Wraith was quite disturbed by this sudden development. His eyes grew large and he slowly backed away. “Where did you get that from?” he demanded.

“Oh this little party-favor?” Black Orchid said, glancing at the spear. “I got it from the Stranger right before I beat him half to death with it. I left him alive though. This way he could suffer knowing he sealed your fate,” she said as she plunged the spear into the White Wraith’s stomach. “Who wants shish-ka-bob?”

“Arrrrrrrrghhh!!” screamed the Wraith, wracked with pain. He collapsed to the ground, his hands clutched around the shaft of the spear.

“Aww… you’re looking a little pale,” commented Black Orchid, sarcastically. “Oh wait, you always look that way.”

“Get away from him you jackal!” ordered Lt. Atom as he fired a blast of nuclear energy at Black Orchid, knocking her off her feet.

“Ughh…” sighed the would-be killer of the White Wraith. “I though I punched you into next week! Well no matter. Ghost-face here can wait while I peal your metal skin like an apple!” she said, flying towards Lt. Atom.

“You’re not going to touch him,” declared Atmosphere as he enveloped Black Orchid inside of a tornado. He realized that they must resort to drastic measures to stop her… putting the lives of themselves and bystanders in danger. Her body spun around wickedly, like she was on an amusement park ride. As the winds picked up, she became dizzy and disoriented and flying debris hit her from all directions. She finally went limp within the twister.

“I think she’s neutralized,” observed Atmosphere as he ceased his tornado, dropping Black Orchid to the ground, gently.

“I’ll put some chains on her just in case,” Stellar said, flying down towards the purple-clad villainess. As he descended upon her, the still body of Black Orchid energized like a brand new power plant and she reached up with speed nearing that of the Flash, grabbing Stellar by the throat. “Fools! You really thought it was going to be that easy, didn’t you? Don’t you know when an enemy is playing possum???” she screamed. Pulling Stellar close to her, she ripped off his Cosmic Converter belt and threw it aside. “You won’t need this where you’re going.”

Stellar broke into a cold sweat, not believing what was happening. “Let me go,” he demanded.

“Not on your life!” countered Black Orchid, pulling Stellar even closer. “Now listen here punks: you come one step closer and Starlight Starbright here gets his head popped off like a cheap action figure.”

“Let him go, d**n you!” ordered Dark Arrow, pulling an arrow back in his bowstring.

“Who are you kidding, shaft-man?” laughed Black Orchid. “You fire that thing at me and this kid will end up like your suffering little ghost over there. Now, the kid and I are going to go spend some time together in my ‘pleasure palace’. If I notice any of you trying to follow me, he’s toast… and you know I mean business!” She took to the air with Stellar in her iron-grip.

“ARRRRRRRRRRRGHHHHHHH!” screamed the White Wraith as the Sixty Minute Soldier pulled the Spear of Destiny from the ghost’s chest.

He looked at his teammates, achingly leaning on the spear. “Thanks for pulling me out from under that S.U.V.,” he remarked in sarcasm.

The Wraith’s wound seemed to close almost instantly. “I must go. I need to heal myself,” the phantom said as he faded into a cloud of mist.

“Well this mission was a complete bust,” complained Dark Arrow as he kicked a soda can in front of him.

“Hey, at least we saved Lady Light; which is what we came here to do, right?” Rapido said, trying to offer some hope.

“But now that killer has Stellar,” pointed out Atmosphere. “Not a good trade if you ask me.”

“Thank you, Justice League for coming to my aid,” said a grateful Lady Light. “I am sorry about your teammate being captured.”

“Don’t sweat it Lady Light. But… I have to ask, why didn’t you call the Global Guardians in?” asked Lt. Atom.

“I left that organization about a month ago,” revealed Lady Light. “Let’s just say Maxwell Lord and I didn’t see eye to eye.”

“Well, we could certainly use someone of your caliber on our team,” offered Dark Arrow. “I know you had reservations on joining the Titans because of their focus on America but we know no boundaries when it comes to beating bad guys and fighting crime. Don’t let the ‘America’ in our name fool you.”

“If you promise to help me protect Japan, I will join your group,” proposed Lady Light.

“You have a deal,” agreed Dark Arrow.

***

The Ghost Zone…

Palomé materialized in the home of the Stranger only to see his comrade broken, beaten, and bloody lying on the floor with his wife Jenna by his side. The magician’s wife was struggling to mend her husband’s wounds but there were just too many of them.





“Stranger! Oh my God! What happened to you???” asked Palomé, horrified by his friend’s condition. Blood was dripping from his forehead and nose while a large flow of blood was coming out of his stomach, through a grapefruit-sized wound.

“It… it was the Black Orchid,” revealed the Stranger, struggling to stay conscious. “She came here for the Spear of Destiny and threatened to kill my wife if I didn’t give it to her. After I handed over the spear, she stabbed me with it and beat me up.”

“I can’t believe Venus is doing this,” Palomé said, shaking his head in shame.

“Venus?” the Jenna wondered aloud. She shook her head. “No, it was Black Orchid.”

“They are one and the same,” explained Palomé as his soul-self emerged. “I’ll explain after I fix your husband up.” He looked down at the suffering Stranger. “Lay still and try to relax.” As the moments passed, Palomé healed the Stranger’s wounds, absorbing his pain and suffering into himself. Healing the large laceration on the Stranger’s stomach took quite a while as several muscles and lots of tissue had to be repaired. Finally Palomé dropped from near exhaustion. “Done…” he sighed.

The Stranger slowly picked himself up, “Good as new. Thank you my friend. I fear I would not have lasted the hour had you not come.”

“It’s nothing. I’m just glad I got here in time,” Palomé said, producing a small, weak smile. “As for Venus, it turns out she and Black Orchid are the same person… although I don’t think Venus has been conscious of her actions as Black Orchid. There was a battle at the Hall of Justice a few days ago with Black Adam. That’s where it all came out. I tried to enter her mind to see if I could heal her fractured psyche but there seemed to be another force at work. I don’t know if I was just sensing the conflicting Venus and Black Orchid personalities or if it was something else. She pushed me out before I got a chance to probe further.”

“This is a most disturbing development,” noted the Stranger. “It seems I have been gone for only a few days… but a few days too long. You, or someone else on the team, should have summoned me.”

“Well, since finding out, I’ve needed some time to myself,” replied Palomé. “I’ve moved into my father’s old house with Prince Ryand’r… you know, from Tamaran? He’s trying to work as the pastor of the church, but he’s not really able to… Anyway, as for the rest of the team, I’m not sure what they’ve been up to. I kind of took out my anger on Wonder Man before I left and haven’t spoken to any of them since.”

“I always suspected something was wrong with Venus but as a friend, I didn’t want to spark trouble in case I was wrong,” revealed the Stranger. “Why don’t you stay here with my wife and me for a while. I will do my best to help you get your beloved Venus back, my friend,” the Stranger said, putting his hand on Palomé’s shoulder.

***

Two hours later at S.T.A.R. Labs - Tokyo, Japan Division…

Wonder Man and Nightvision descended from the Javelyn to scope the scene of the battle that had taken place earlier.






Several police officers were on the scene, doing clean up. One of them approached Nightvision, who showed him his clearance badge from the U.N.

Wonder Man looked at the ravaged building. “I can’t believe Venus is capable of all of this.”

Nightvision was quick to point out, “Venus isn’t. Black Orchid is. I suspect we’re dealing with a multiple personality disorder here.”

The two heroes began sorting through the wreckage in hopes of finding something that would help them in their quest to find Power Lad and stop Black Orchid. After about twenty minutes, Wonder Man discovered, “Stellar’s Cosmic Converter Belt! Nightvision look,” he said, displaying the belt in his hands.

“That’s great, if we want to try and gauge Stellar’s powers… but what good is that going to do in finding him or Power Lad?” asked the son of Nightwing. He knew exactly what it was they had discovered, and that it was an invaluable clue, but he also needed to determine what his teammate saw in it.

“Here, hold this,” ordered the male Amazon as he handed Nightvision the belt.

Wonder Man quickly pulled his cell-phone out of a pocket on his uniform. A few seconds later, the person on the other end of the call picked up and Wonder Man spoke, “Aunt Lilith? I need a HUGE favor….”


TO BE CONTINUED