Titans of Justice Unlimited Chapter 105 - “Losing Ground Part 1”
Written & edited by: Power Guy
Epilogue by: Scotty2Hotty


PROLOGUE:

The Hall of Justice…

KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK! “Are you also done in there? The suspense is killing me!” Black Vulcan asked impatiently as she stood outside of Sargona’s quarters. “Come on, Sarge! You’ve been in there almost forty-five minutes!”





Finally, the door swung open and what Celeste Pierce saw made her jaw drop, “OH MY…..” She became speechless as she looked Sargona up and down, taking in her new look.





“Go ahead……..give it to me straight. You’re one of the few people who will,” requested the daughter of Zatanna and Sargon The Sorcerer.

“I LOVE IT, GIRLIE!” exclaimed Black Vulcan as she looked Sargona up and down once more. “I see that you’re wearing your hair down.”

“Yeah, it was time to stop all of that nonsense,” admitted the raven-haired beauty. Today was a new day for Esmeralda Sargon, the woman also known as Sargona. Daniel Jordan had cut her loose three times and you know what they say, three strikes and your out. For months and months, Sargona did everything and anything she could to gain Daniel’s attention but finally, she was through with that. It was time for her to be a strong, confident woman again and accept things the way they were and move on with her life. Today, it was a make-over. Tomorrow, she might conquer the world(figuratively speaking, of course).

***

Several hours later in Ivy Town, U.S.A…

“You fools think you can stop me?” scoffed Paragon as a small division of the Titans of Justice advanced towards him.





“That’d be a yes!” replied the Elongated Lad, sarcastically as his elastic arm stretched outward, allowing him to punch the power-replicater in the nose from a distance.





Paragon was not expecting the Elongated Lad to be able to strike so quickly. Becoming irritated, he rubbed his sore chin and replied, “First blood goes to you Titans but I’ll be dancing on your graves soon enough!” as he harnessed the Elongated Lad’s abilities and grew to an enormous size.

“Uh oh!” commented the son of Ralph and Sue Dibny as his jaw dropped.

“Darnnit E.L.! I told you not to get too close to him!” chastised Nucleus. “He has the ability to duplicate anyone’s powers or talents and amplify them.”





“Nucleus is right,” added Sargona. “You and Powerstorm keep the casualties and damage to a minimum while Nucleus and I cool off this hot-head!”

“Son, follow Nucleus’ orders and get as far away from that man as you can,” directed Ronnie Raymond to his son, telepathically. “Trust me, I learned the hard way back when I was in the JLA that anything you can do, this guy can do better!”





“It’s too late, Powerstorm is within range,” gloated Paragon as his fists lit up with nuclear energy.

“What? I thought your range only went up to….” began Nucleus until the former JLA villain interrupted him.

“Thanks to this new suit, my range has dramatically increased,” revealed the man also known as Joel Cochin as he fired a matter changing beam at Nucleus, entrapping him in a bubble of pure hydrogen.

“Nucleus!” shouted Sargona as she rushed over to help her entrapped teammate.

“Ah,ah, ah…..not so fast, sister!” declared Paragon as he turned the ground below Sargona into ice, causing her to slip, fall, and go sliding into a newspaper stand.

CRASH!!!!!

The daughter of Sargon and Zatanna hit her head on the metal siding of the stand, “Ouch….” she sighed while rubbing the bump that started to protrude from the side of her head.

“Ok, buddy, I don’t care if you’ve got my powers. There’s no way I’m going to let you lay the smackdown on my friends!” promised Powerstorm as he ignored his father’s and Nucleus’ requests and began exchanging blasts of energy with Paragon. Soon, Powerstorm noticed that while he was becoming injured, there Paragon stood, unaffected. “Why won’t you fall???” growled Powerstorm, pouring on the juice.

“You obviously weren’t listening when your comrade was telling you about me earlier,” reminded the yellow and black clad villain. “Anything you can do, I can do better. I now have all of your powers - only to a higher degree!”

Then out of nowhere, the whimsical voice of the Elongated Lad was heard, “Stop bragging and start begging for mercy pal!” The stretchable hero had wrapped himself around two light-poles like a sling-shot and had a damage motorcycle in his grasp. Releasing his stretched out limbs, he “fired” the cycle at the unsuspecting Paragon, knocking him off of his feet and injuring him moderately.

“Nice work, Elongated Lad!” complimented Nucleus who had shrunk down to the size of a proton and freed himself from Paragon’s trap. “Now let’s put this guy down for good!” he said, shooting up to fifty feet tall and slamming him gigantic right foot down on top of the villain. “That should hold him and he can’t copy my abilities as they’re not internally-based!”

“Your size-changing abilities aren’t internally-based but your quick thinking is!” bragged Paragon as he used Powerstorm’s phasing ability to float up through Nucleus’ foot. “Now, who wants to be the first volunteer to meet the Grim Reaper?” he asked, fists blazing with energy.

***

The Hall of Justice..

The Arrowcar pulled up in front of the building, Dark Arrow at the wheel with Sonic Boom riding shotgun.

“You’re sure about this?” asked the man otherwise known as Robert Queen.





“One hundred and ten percent,” smiled Sonic Boom right before she leaned in and kissed her brother on the cheek.





“I know we’ve been over this several times but I just can’t get over the fact that so many of the Titans were ready to cast you out and mark you as a pariah,” explained Dark Arrow.

“Look, I don’t want to talk about this any more,” Sonic Boom replied, sternly. “That’s all in the past now and I’d like to start over as Sonic Boom without any lingering bad feelings or grudges on my part.”

Dark Arrow pulled his sister into a tight hug, “That’s what I love about you Di Di. You’re always so optimistic.”

“So are you coming in with me? I’m sure you’re welcome back on the team too….”

“Are you kidding me? I take it that no-one told you about the Titans recent run in with the Outsiders. We cleaned their clocks good,” smirked Dark Arrow as he recalled beating Nightvision near-senseless.

“Oh, I heard all about it and I honestly must say that I’m a bit ashamed of you, Robert. Even though you’ve had some disagreements with them recently, many of the Titans are still your friends. And besides, what the heck are you doing running with Blackbird anyways?”

“Actually I’m not, anymore,” revealed the battling bowman.

“Well, that’s a relief,“ sighed Sonic Boom. “You know, she wasn’t half-bad when her and Nightvision were still together but after that, it’s like she snapped. She’s cruel, manipulative, and has a chip on her shoulder.”

“Yeah, she‘s got issues…” Robert replied.

“I still think you should come in with me but I‘ll respect your decision not to,” said Sonic Boom as she exited the Arrowcar and then promptly slammed the door shut.

A few minutes later as part of the team was battling Paragon, several other members of the Titans of Justice had gathered at the Hall to welcome Sonic Boom back into their ranks.

“Di Di, I can’t tell you how happy I am to see that you’ve come to your senses and decided to rejoin the team,” Power Guy said, warmly.

“And I can’t tell you all how sorry I am for taking out my hurt and guilt on you all,” replied Sonic Boom, still a bit ashamed. “I realize that what I did was………..controversial and not something all of you would agree with,” Di Di Queen said, thinking back to when she killed the original Dr. Light.

“I think we can all agree to disagree from here on out and move past this,” Wonder Man said, trying to keep the positive vibe going. “The important thing is that you’re back and I hope you’re here to stay!”





“She’d better be!” Green Lantern said as he put his arm around Sonic Boom’s shoulder. “Come on Di Di, let’s get your stuff put away.”





“This box is getting kind of heavy,” Di Di Queen said, glancing down at the box she was holding in her arms. Suddenly, a green cart appeared in front of her, ready to take the load off the Sonic Boom’s shoulders. She quickly smiled at Daniel Jordan and said, “You’re too sweet. Thank you, Dan!” as she kissed her boyfriend on the cheek.

“I’m glad to see that the majority of the membership was eager to take her back in,” advised Argos to Power Guy as he watched Sonic Boom and Green Lantern exit the room.





“Me too,” added Power Guy. “We really need to get past that awful ordeal with Dr. Light.”

“Agreed,” Argos said, firmly. “That man was perversion and filth personified. Had I and Sturmer walked in on him while he was violating Trickshot, I would have had Sturmer chew off his groin and then I would have rendered him limb from limb myself!”

Power Guy was taken aback by Argos’ blunt statement a bit and became speechless. Lucky for the conversing heroes, the visitor alert sounded. Wonder Man switched on the outside cameras and found that it was a recent acquaintance the team had made, “It’s Halo and she brought a friend who looks similar to Metamorpho.”

As the trio of heroes rushed outside, Wonder Man was the first to greet the former Outsider, “Halo, it’s good to see you again. Have you decided to take us up on our offer and join the team?”

“I’m sorry but I’m just not ready for all of the responsibility and publicity you guys have,” apologized the woman also known as Violet Harper, “but I think Ethan here could benefit from serving on your team, if you’ll have him.”





“By the looks of things, you must be related to Metamorpho?” inquired Power Guy to stranger in front of him.

“I guess there’s no hiding it, huh?” smirked the new arrival. “I’m his son actually. Ethan Mason aka Metamorpheous The Elemant Lad.”





“Can you tell us a little more about your abilities and fighting prowess?” requested Argos, wondering how this possible new addition could benefit the team.

“Well, I have most of my dad’s abilities but basically none of his experience controlling them,” replied Metamorpheous. “I only discovered my powers about a month ago and almost destroyed the entire block my family lives on. Thanks to an old friend of my dad’s, I received these regulator bands that I wear on my wrists. They help to keep my powers in check and allow me to resume my human form when I need to.”

“Well, we’ve got a lot of experienced folks on the team who should be able to help you master your abilities,” revealed Power Guy. “In fact, I think our science whiz Nucleus might be able to do wonders for you when he gets some time.”

“That would be great. I certainly don’t want to be a liability to the team by any means,” stated Metamorpheous, still worried about his new, unpredictable powers.

“Don’t be so…” began Argos until he and the others noticed another visitor on the grounds of the Hall of Justice.

***

The Titans of Justice Satellite…

“Boy, the view up here is amazing!” Stellar commented to Whirlpool while looking out the window and staring down at the Earth.





“You can say that again,” agreed Whirlpool. “A view like this really gives you a whole new perspective when it comes to the world.”





“So how are things going with Hawkgirl?” asked the modern-age Star Spangled Kid.

“Great! We went on our third date last night,” smiled Whirlpool. “We went out for vegetarian food and I think she actually enjoyed it.”

“Glad to hear it,” replied Stellar as he turned to Nightvision who was performing some maintenance on the satellite’s computers. “Hey Nightvision. Can Whirlpool and I go to Earth 2 to visit the Justice Society?”

“Not today, Lightspeed and Robin will be coming here tomorrow to do some tweaking to the new teleport tubes,” responded the modern-age Dark Knight. “Sorry….” he said, dryly.





Just then the monitor screen lit up. It was Wonder Man and he didn’t look too happy. “Nightvision. You’d better get back to the Hall quick. Waller’s here and you’re not going to believe what she wants.”

***

Ivy Town…

Paragon was floating in the air looking down at the various Titans in front of him. “YOU have volunteer written all over your face!” Paragon said as he dove downward towards Sargona

“Sorry, I’m a little to selfish to commit myself right now,” countered Sargona as she quickly touched a near-by tree and sent it hurling towards the oncoming Paragon. As the tree flew upward, one of it’s branches passed by Powerstorm and his fiery hair set it ablaze. Paragon laughed as he once again used the Nuclear Man’s abilities to phase and avoid yet another blow. The tree ended up falling on the lawn of Ivy Town University, several yards away. “You just don’t get it do you? The more of you heroes around, the more powerful I become! Call in your Kryptonian! Call in your warrior from New Genesis! I dare you!” he shouted while grabbing Sargona by the throat.

“Let me go, jerk-face!” ordered the raven-haired beauty while struggled to get free from the villain‘s grasp..

“That’s it! Powerstorm, Elongated Lad - back to the Hall you go!” ordered Nucleus.

“But he’s got Sargona!” pointed out the son of Ralph and Sue Dibny.

“I don’t care! The two of you being here is only making the situation worse,” explained Nucleus. “Had we known it was Paragon we were going up against, I wouldn’t have put you two on this mission with us. Now, as acting field leader, I’m asking you two to both leave NOW!”

Powerstorm and the Elongated Lad felt horrible about leaving their two teammates behind but they knew there was no other choice.

Nucleus quickly turned and ran towards Paragon, “Alright you idiot, you’re going to be powerless any second so drop Sargona and surrender!”

“You’re the idiot! My new suit enhances my powers so I can retain other’s abilities far longer than in the past! You’ll both be rotting corpses by the time Powerstorm’s abilities fade! Now, any last words, slut?” he said turning towards Sargona.

“Yes! Gninthgil ekirts ym oef! Ekam mih llaf!!!” commanded the sorceress. In less than a second, a powerful bolt of electricity erupted from the sky, sending thousands of volts of electricity into Paragon’s body.

“ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

“Oh, I guess you’re phasing abilities aren’t able to kick fast enough to make you be able to avoid lightning, huh?” smirked Sargona as Paragon dropped to his hands and knees in front of her. “Y…y.y…you slut! I’ll……..I’ll…” he stuttered, still suffering from the effects of being electrocuted, “T…t..t…t..turn your clothes int…t…to ac…c……cid!!”

However, before Paragon could make good on this threat, he screamed in pain again and collapsed into unconsciousness. While Paragon was recovering from being electrocuted, Nucleus took the opportunity to shrink down to microscopic size and crawl into the villain’s ear. After a few seconds of playing havoc with Paragon’s equilibrium, Nucleus was able to put the power-leach down for the count.

Sargona looked down at the inert villain confused, “Ok, what just happened here?”

Suddenly, Nucleus popped out of Paragon’s ear and shot up to his normal size and asked sarcastically, “Did you forget who you were working with today?”

“No, I just got a bit distracted when Paragon’s hand was around my throat,” admitted the former girlfriend of Green Lantern. “Having your life threatened will do that to you.,” she replied, going along with Nucleus’ sarcastic mood.

“I hear….” began Nucleus until he noticed an even bigger horror developing, “Sargona! Turn around!”

The wielder of the Ruby of Life whipped her body around immediately only to see that the tree she had sent towards Paragon had set the lawn of the university, on fire. Thanks to the dry air and strong winds, the fire had spread quickly and threatened to engulf the large school within minutes if something was not done.

“We’ve got to do something and fast!” declared Sargona.

“Haven’t you already done enough?” came a female voice. It was a teacher from the university and she was horrified by the sight in front of her.

Sargona turned and faced the woman trying to defend her actions, “Ma’am, I’m sorry! It was an accident!”

“Accident? How could you be so careless?!?!!” demanded the woman. Just when things couldn’t get worse, they did. A large tree that had been set ablaze by the fire collapsed on the university, igniting it on fire.

“Look!!! Look what you’ve done you MONSTER!!!” shrieked the woman, pointing at the inferno.

“We’d better call for back-up as neither one of us has the power to put that fire out,” advised Nucleus.

“But I could try to make it rain….” suggested Sargona who was frazzled beyond belief.

“You’ve said it yourself that magic is still pretty alien to you. We can’t take any chances. I’ll call in the others,” stated Nucleus as he dug in his pocket for his TOJ communicator.

The woman nearby started to become somewhat hostile and began shaking Sargona, “You Titans are a menace!!! How many times have you torn up a city in your supposed war against evil??? We just want to be left alone and you keep ruining people’s lives!!!”

Sargona was wracked with guilt and speechless. She didn’t even know how to respond to the woman. Just when things seemed at their bleakest, the bottom dropped out. In the skies above, the last thing Sargona wanted to see appeared overhead: The Manta Ship.

The Sting Ray was at the controls and activated her ship’s water-cannons, dousing the flames below. Sargona looked on in horror as her worst enemy saved the day. The flames were out within minutes and soon the university officials would be thanking the Sting Ray for bringing this nightmare to an end.

“I don’t believe this is happening,” Sargona mumbled to herself while shaking her head back and forth as the Manta Ship landed on the ground with Sting Ray and Scream Queen exiting.

“Looks like we got here just in time,” bragged the String Ray in her cold, robotic tone.

“Yes, a few minutes more and the fire may have spread enough to burn the university to the ground,” added Scream Queen. “Who’s responsible for this madness?” she asked, surveying the crowd.





“She is!!!” screamed out the woman who had been verbally attacking Sargona earlier as she pointed at the daughter of Zatanna and Sargon.

“Why Sargona, have you decided to take a turn down the wrong path while I’ve joined the side of the angels?” teased the Sting Ray, sarcastically.

“It was an accident,” stressed Sargona, quickly becoming aggravated.

“That’s what you supposed heroes always say when you ransack a town!” added the enraged woman.

“Why you….” grumbled Sargona until Nucleus grabbed her arm.

“Come on Sar, let’s get out of here,” advised the world’s smartest scientist. “You don’t need to make things worse.”

“Oh thanks! Just jump right on the anti-Sargona bandwagon,” barked the raven-haired beauty as she became annoyed with her teammate.

“You know what I meant,” reinforced Nucleus as he dragged Sargona along.

***

Back at the Hall of Justice…

Wonder Man was in the midst of an argument with Amanda Waller. “Your proposal is preposterous Ms. Waller!” Wonder Man stated firmly. “What makes you think you can…” he began until he was interrupted by the arrival of Nightvision, Stellar, Whirlpool, Sargona, and Nucleus.

“Oh great, the fat lady’s still here,” sighed Stellar.

“Stellar!” chastised Whirlpool in a loud whisper.

“What did you say, little boy?” barked Waller as she got up from the chair she was sitting in. After her dip in the Lazarus Pit several weeks ago, she was no longer obese but was still slightly overweight.





“You’ll have to forgive my young teammate’s rude behavior,” interrupted Sargona as she and Nucleus made their way into the room. “We Titans are usually much more hospitable than that. Can I get you something? Diet Coke? South Beach Bar? Atkins Shake, perhaps?”

“You’d better watch it, missy or I’ll have you prosecuted for harassing a government official!” snapped Waller as she stormed up to the daughter of Zatanna and Sargon.

“Never mind your idle threats, Waller. Tell me why you’re here!” demanded Nightvision in a deep tone.

“Happy to oblige Bat-boy,” smirked Waller as she handed some papers to the son of Nightwing and Oracle.

Sargona and Nucleus looked over Nightvision’s shoulder and read the papers along with the vigilante from Gotham City.

“So you’re putting a membership freeze on us, huh, Waller?” concluded Nightvision.

“You bet I am,” reinforced Waller. “Your team has gotten way too big. Washington is extremely concerned about this virtual army of superheroes residing in this Hall of Justice. If for some reason you should become a little power-hungry and start imposing your will upon the country or the world, us normal people would barely have a chance against you.”

“Normal people?” repeated Whirlpool becoming agitated like many of his teammates. “What exactly are you implying Ms. Waller?”

“Us! The little people without the magic-rings or the ability to fly or see though walls,” added Waller. “Now, let me see your official roster listing.”

Wonder Man was close to the Hall’s computer so he quickly printed off a list off all their official members and reserves. A few seconds later, he handed it to Waller. “As you demanded, Ms. Waller,” he said, coldly.

“Why thank you, prince,” replied the leader of the Suicide Squad, sarcastically. After a few minutes of reviewing the list, she asked, “Who’s this Metamorpheous? I don’t remember seeing him when you all attended the President’s inauguration a few months back. Oh, and is this a new Bat-Girl on this list?”

“I can answer your first question, Ms. Waller,” interjected the son of Rex Mason as he entered the room along with Power Guy. “I’m the son of Metamorpho.”

“Should have guessed,” huffed Waller. “So when did you join this little mud pack?”

“I just signed his papers about ten minutes ago,” Power Guy said, answering for his new teammate.

“So that’s why you forced all those details on me about Themyscira’s trade negotiations with the U.S. on me,” concluded Waller. “You were stalling me so Element Boy here could be added to your ranks before you signed these papers initiating the membership freeze.”

“As an official representative of the nation of Themyscira, I take offense to such an accusation, Ms. Waller,” pointed out Wonder Man.

“Hmphh…..” grumbled the long-time thorn in the Titans of Justice’s side. “Well, my business here is done. Now remember, you are not allowed to increase your ranks for any reason without mine or President Obama’s permission. There will be no further additions to your team from here on out unless I say so.”

“You can leave now,” instructed Nightvision, firmly.

“That’s the plan,” countered Waller as she began to pack up her papers. “I’ll be in touch….” she said with a sinister grin, as she exited the room.

“Here Mrs. Waller, let me show you out,” Elongated Lad said as he gently placed his left hand on the difficult woman’s back and escorted her to the door. As soon as she was out the door, laughter erupted throughout the Hall of Justice at the fact that the Elongated Man had placed a sticky-note on Waller’s back that read “Get Your Foot Caught - 25 Cents” with an arrow pointing down to the government official’s derrière. Even Power Guy who always strived to remain professional could not help but chuckle a little bit.

“Looks like I got quite lucky,” noted Metamorpheous.

“Well, you can thank Wonder Man for stalling Waller,” advised Power Guy. “If he hadn’t stalled her for a few minutes, the membership freeze would have been in place before I could draw up your papers and add you to the roster So it looks like you’re the last member to be admitted to the Titans of Justice, pal.”

“I won’t overlook this honor,” vowed the son of Metamorpho, highly intent on keeping his promise.

***

Epilogue:

“Jerrica!” Wilma West exclaimed, “That show was phenomenal!”





The after party for Jem’s concert for the Special Olympics was in full swing. All of Jerrica’s road crew and band were throwing back cocktails, as were several models from the Hall agency.

“I’m glad you enjoyed it. There’s nothing like raising money for something I truly care about.” Jerrica replied, taking a Jack Daniels and ginger ale from the bar. “How are things going with Jack!?”





“Ok I guess. He’s over there talking to one of Scott’s model friends.” Wilma gestured.

Jerrica said, “I wonder what they’re talking about. They seem to be really discussing something.”

“I don’t know. He told me he doesn’t get out much. I guess he’s making as many friends as he can. I really like him, Jerrica.”

“I can tell.” Jerrica smiled.

Near the bar, Scott Trevor and Murray Spaulding were speaking with Violet Harper aka Halo. Since her resurrection, she had been trying to get her life together. Scott and Jerrica had invited her to the show.

“So, what are your plans Violet?” Murray asked in his thick Australian accent.

“I don’t know. My husband and son are gone. Most of my friends have their own lives going on. It seems I have to rebuild my life from the start. Brion has been helping me out, but I….I’m not sure what I want to do. I always liked photography, but it’s more of a hobby.” the pretty blonde sighed.

“I’ll hook you up with my aunt. She’s one of the top photographers in town. Plus, my bosses are always looking at new talent for the agency.” Scott smiled.

“Ah yes, the Halls. It seems Hank Hall and I have something in common right off the bat.” Violet replied, sipping her vodka and cranberry juice.

“I don’t think I’ll ever get used to how you people die and come back!” Murray laughed.

“It’s not all it’s cracked up to be.” Violet replied.

Murray offered to represent Violet in her new endeavor and Scott left them to talk business. He noticed Diamond Jack and the model talking and knew him from the agency. His name was Marco and was one of the most in demand models of the moment. He joined Jerrica and Wilma’s conversation. “Wilma, Marco is monopolizing your time! Get in there!” Scott grinned.

“I don’t want to seem so pushy. Didn’t you all tell me I need to take things slow--not just this, but life in general? Besides, we already have plans for tomorrow night.”

“You do? That’s great!” Scott replied, wrapping his arms around his wife.

Diamond Jack walked over and joined the trio.

“That Marco is a really nice guy. Beverly Hills is quite a bit different than Fawcett City and he offered to show me around while I’m here. In fact I’m meeting him for lunch tomorrow.”





“And you were worried about not making any new friends!” Jerrica smiled.

“I know. With all of my responsibilities in Fawcett City, I’ve neglected my personal life. I’m hanging out with the modeling elite tomorrow and have plans with Wilma tomorrow night. It’s nice to actually look forward to something.”

“I’m looking very forward to it myself.” Wilma said, her voice full of warmth. She winked to Jerrica.

The four of them chatted a bit more and Wilma and Jack decided to leave. Scott watched them walk away. He noticed Marco watching them, especially Jack as well.

“Isn’t that nice. Jack is fitting in quite well. Wilma is taking it slow--I think this might work out for her!”

Scott smiled at his wife. “I hope Wilma isn’t setting herself up for disappointment.” he thought.


TO BE CONTINUED


***Sargona's new look by Power Guy.
***Halo's new look by Scotty2Hotty.
***Nightvision's new look by Nightvision.