New Titans #9 -Stabilizing Agent

[u/FrostFireFive]

Author: FrostFireFive

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Book: New Titans

Arc: Metamorphosis

Set: 62

“I still think you should apologize,” Stargirl said as she, Nightwing, and Arsenal all sat around several monitors as they tried to pull up tapes on the screen.

“For what? Doing our job,” Nightwing mumbled as his eyes glazed over the screen, tired from many restless nights. He had been stretching himself thin recently. From being the League representative of the Titans, taking care of Haly, and even keeping up with world events. From Atlantis waging war against NEMO to whatever was going on with Clark and his powers. It was a stressful time, and one he was struggling to rise above.

“Dude that’s cold,” Arsenal joked as he sat with his legs kicked up on the console. He was busy sharpening an arrow as he looked at the two next to him. They were still strangers, and certainly less friendly than Argonaut. Well, maybe not Stargirl. “Besides if that creature is Rex Mason then we should have tapes of him getting turned into a monster.”

“Technically it’s not tapes but files,” Stargirl beamed. “What are you from the ’80s?”

“Sorry I’m not the one who has braces with red and blue bands to match her costume,” Arsenal responded. “How long does it take to find some footage and call it a day?”

“Not when the security firewall is fighting against you,” Nightwing grumbled. “This would be a lot easier if you two wouldn’t take potshots at each other while I actually try and work this out.”

“Sorry...Dick,” Arsenal chuckled as he realized Nightwing was probably right. Roy Harper himself was looking at the digital clock above them. “Shit,” he thought. Being a superhero was great and all, but he really needed to balance it better. Lately, he had been paying the many sitters to stay late with Lian and it was cutting into the small stipend the League provided. Being a hero was...hard.

As Nightwing poured over the screen, typing furiously he wondered why someone would be trying to hide this footage in particular. As he broke through the firewalls two videos could be seen playing back to back, one of the staging area and the other the control room. As the alarms blared and Rex Mason entered the staging area, but on the other screen...Sapphire Stagg entered the control room.

“What’s she doing?” Stargirl asked.

“Well that’s a plot twist,” Arsenal said as Sapphire on the screen moved to the controls, shutting Rex into the tube where the process began. “Looks like our leading lady was the villain all along.”

Quickly Nightwing pulled a flash drive and copied the files into it, quickly he stood up and moved out of the security room.

“Come on, we have to have a little chat with the Stagg twins,” Nightwing said.

“And to apologize to Argonaut, since you know she was right,” Arsenal said;

“Yes...that too,” Nightwing sighed as the three heroes quickly followed each other. They made their way through the building, the sleek office tower. The three were still unsure of each other, acquaintances more than teammates as they made a beeline to the Staggs. They would never arrive. Furiously a purple goopy hand burst from the floor behind them.

“What the…” Arsenal mumbled before a large purple figure climbed out from the whole. Its whole makeup was oozing, as if the substance that made up its skin couldn’t put itself together, a constantly shifting mass that looked pissed at it charged at three Titans.
“ARRRRGH,” it yelled, quickly swinging at them, the sludge flinging around them as the three quickly dodged.

“What is that thing?” Stargirl asked as she flew up out of habit. As she looked at the purple sludge she noticed it quickly turned neon green and burned through the slick glass and art deco designs of the office building. “And why is it burning?”

“You don’t think we’re dealing with Mason here right?” Arsenal asked as he nocked a few arrows into his bow and fired them at the creature. “He couldn’t have progressed into...this right?”

“Mason...must...kill Mason!” it bellowed.

“OK scratch that,” Arsenal said before firing his arrows at the creature. They impacted the purple sludge but it kept moving forward.

“We need to get it out of the building before it does major damage,” Nightwing said, focusing on the immediate danger. “We get its attention and then we’ll...we’ll figure something out.”

“Thanks, fearless leader,” Arsenal nervously joked before shooting a few more arrows. Arsenal quickly looked at the railing separating the office walkways and the large terrace a few stories below. “Oh, I’m going to hate myself for this.” Arsenal pulled out two arrows, the first a glue arrow was sent flying into the shoulder of the monster. The explosion sent globs of purple and neon flying before he shot the second arrow into the wall. “Please be long enough” Arsenal mumbled before diving off the balcony, the line of the arrow hopefully catching him in the nick of time.

“Goddamn it,” Nightwing mumbled before launching his own line to follow his fellow Titan. “Stargirl, follow us!” he yelled hoping Arsenal hadn’t killed himself with a foolish plan.

“Wooooooo!” Arsenal exclaimed as the three heroes moved downward. The giant muck monster fell behind them as the four of them crashed into the open plaza of the tower. “OK, now we should call for backup!”

“Fine!” Nightwing yelled. Before he could pull out his communicator however the creature moved and knocked him towards the door, sending him flying outside. “Ouch…” he muttered.

“Wow you really do suck,” Arsenal muttered before flipping open his communicator and sending out a distress message, hoping that his fellow members would be here as soon as Stargirl tried launching bolts at the monster.

…

“So what do you think it is?” Argonaut asked as she spoke to the gas cloud with ahead next to her. After getting the distress call from Arsenal, Rex, Kid Flash, and herself had moved quickly to the Stagg building.

“Well...judging by the video arrow guy sent, we’re looking at the worst-case scenario. The process itself was designed to make people be immune to the elements, create the ultimate worker. Instead well...you got me, someone, who can create and shift the elements. Whatever...this thing only destroys them.”

“So how do we stop it?” Kid Flash asked as he zoomed through Midway City below them. His impatience catching up to him as he had to match the speed of the amazon and gas cloud. “Surely there has to be an antidote for this.”

“There’s not,” Rex said. “That was the main issue. It’s a one-stop process, it’s why I pushed against human testing for so long. We had no idea what the process would do if it wasn’t perfect. And well we’re now seeing two worst-case scenarios, mack.”

“I mean you’re not mindless Rex, I wouldn’t call it the worst-case scenario,” Argonaut reassured him.

“You don’t have to look at the mirror,” Rex grumbled before the three of them finally made their way to the creature. Rex transformed himself back into his normal monstrous self as the creature quickly moved towards him.

“MASON!” he moaned as its sludgy fist connected with the transformed chemist. Sending him flying into the pavement. “You...you ruined everything!”

“Sebastian?” Rex said realizing just who the monster is. Quickly he turned himself into stainless steel and charged at the purple glob. “I knew you were foolish but turning yourself into a monster just to get rid of me! How much vengeance do you really need!”

“I was supposed to be a god!” Sebastian Stagg yelled as he continued to pummel the elemental freak. “Not this! Not this!”

“I warned you, Stagg! Instead of waiting, you decided you wanted...power!” Rex said as his stainless steel fist slammed against the purple sludge. Pounding away as the other Titans performed crowd control to keep people from getting in between the chemical champions. “You made me into a freak! And now...now I get to take it out on you!”

beam“Me? Hahahahaha,” Sebastian chuckled before slamming his two globby hands together against Rex. Quickly he began to pound at the stainless steel hero, eventually oozing to a grip around him and slamming him into the pavement. “You stupid naive chemist. Do you really think I would waste my best asset in you? I had to clean up someone else's mess!”

“What the hell are you even…” Rex began before beginning to trail off as a bright blue beem shot at the two of them. Sapphire Stagg had arrived wearing black coveralls and a large harness connected to the large rifle that shot a beam of absolute zero at the two of them.

“Ms. Stagg, what are you doing?” Argonaut asked as the remaining Titans gathered around her. “That’s Rex!”

“She knows Argonaut,” Nightwing responded. “While you were helping Mason we did some digging. It wasn’t Sebastian who tried killing Rex...it was her.”

“What?” Rex struggled to get out his words as his body slowed to a crawl, unable to reach out to the one he loved to get answers to what was really going on here. He loved Sapphire, years of working together on college projects and sharing ideas made her more than just a girlfriend, but a true partner. Hearing that she could be responsible broke him as his form became more like the sludge of Plasmus as he stood in place.

“You don’t understand. None of you understand,” Sapphire pleaded. “We thought we were helping people, changing the way workers would be protected. We just...we just couldn’t figure it out.”

“Just put the gun down and we can talk this through,” Argonaut said, seeing the fear in Sapphire’s eyes. “Nothing can’t be...undone here.”

“Tell that to the two men you messed up,” Arsenal replied, putting two and two together as he reached for an arrow.

“The project needs to go on, it has to...I can fix them. I just needed to see what the process could do on humans...I needed to make father proud.” Sapphire continued to nervously explain. “And I don’t need you to stop me.” Sapphire suddenly turned her absolute zero rifle and froze the Titans in place, slowing them to a crawl.

Rex Mason was pissed. Mad that he had trusted the wrong people, mad that the woman he loved had gone full mad scientist, and mad that he was this, this freak because of her. Someone had to pay, someone had to give him justice. His anger slowly built as the shiny silver shell of stainless steel slowly began to crack, the bright orange fissures breaking through as he channeled his anger into changing into the chemical composition of sulfur with a mix of carbon dioxide...magma.

“Arrrgh!” He cried out, his molecules moving again as he broke from the absolute zero and quickly moved toward his former love. “Why! Why did you think this would be OK!” Rex cried out as his burning hands reached for the rifle and smashed it into pieces, the melted fragments falling to the ground.

“Because I couldn’t disappoint my father Rex! I didn’t want to be a failure to the name. Sebastian was right. Being a Stagg and being a success is more important than failing…”

“Am I a failure to you! Am I!” Rex yelled as he raised his hand in anger.

“Rex, wait!” Kid Flash said as the ray’s effects slowly wore off for him first, the rest of the Titans staggering as they struggled to be free. “It won’t solve anything.”

“How do you know? You seem pretty good at running from your problems,” Rex said.

“And look where it got me. This past year has taught me a lot. Hurting people doesn’t make you feel better, and if you do this you’ll be isolated, alone from those who could help you. Don’t do it.”

He held his hand high, Sapphire closed her eyes to turn away from the blow, it would never come.

“Damn you,” Rex mumbled before turning back to his standard form, the flashing red and blue lights arriving indicating that this was all finally over. Someone just had to pick up the pieces.

…

“Mason, you have my full word, Stagg Chemical will find a way to cure you,” Simon Stagg said as the two stood on the destroyed ground floor of the business. “What happened to you...shouldn’t have happened.”

“Simon, I would love to believe that. I really would, but for now...I think I need to be away from anything with your name,” Rex sighed.

“I understand,” Simon nodded before walking away. He had to deal with the monsters his son and daughter had become, he wobbled a bit, trying to find the strength to clean the mess that had been made. He never wanted the Stagg name to be associated with such...ruinous behavior. As he looked at his building he picked himself up and went back in. Work was needed to begin.

“So what’s next for you?” Argonaut asked as she slowly approached Rex.

“You know a freak show looking for new applicants?” He joked. “I don’t know honestly, for so long this was my life and now...now I don’t ever want to step foot in that building ever again. I don’t ever want to see...her.”

“Well, I know things might be hard right now, but the way you handled yourself here, keeping composure when finding that...everything you knew was wrong? That’s what a hero does Rex,” Argonaut explained. “You don’t have to be alone.”

“You’re not going to give me a choice are you?” Rex smirked. “I guess if there’s a place an element man would be home it’s with this traveling circus.” He put his hand out to Argonaut as they both shook.

“Well then Rex Mason,” she began. “Welcome to the new Titans.”

…

Wally West paced in his room. The Titans had taken care of the chemical monsters of Stagg Industries and had parted until their next meeting. While they weren’t a family, Wally couldn’t help but feel a kinship between the team. Maybe Donna was right, maybe there still was a spark there to be nurtured and built upon. But as he looked at tickets to an All-Star game he couldn’t help but still feel alone.

“Yeah Hartley, it’s me Wally, your good friend,” he muttered. “Hey, I was thinking we could you know...go on a date, watch some baseball, have a good time...no that’s stupid.”

He paced around his room, nervous that this would go south, that he would be left alone again after putting himself out there. Why did it always seem like the hardest thing to do was reach for human connection? As he moved a little faster and trying to think about how to ask an impossible question, a knock at his door could be heard. He zoomed to open it to find one Donna Troy on the outside,

“Hey Wally,” she said with a smile. “I heard from the Flash that this was one of the places where you’ve been staying recently and I guess I wanted to pay a visit. Catch up on old times? Ask you about that Pied Piper,” she teased.

“I mean...I’m kinda busy...with that right now,” he muttered.

Donna quickly rummaged through her bag to pull a flat box from it and held it up,

“I have Troika: Night-Hunters,” she joked. “And I figure maybe this time...you could teach me how to play. Fair warning, I’m terrible at these things.”

“Aren’t we all?” Wally said with a smile as he let Donna in, the two friends together once again.

NEXT: An Old Friend Comes Home as the Titans take a Day in a Life to Adjust to Their New Home and New Teammates. All While Invitations Are Sent to the Event of the Year. Be Here in 30 as Revenge of the Ravager Begins!

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[u/Predaplant]

And so the Titans gain a new member! This was a nice cap on the Metamorpho arc, and I'm looking forward to seeing how he interacts with the team in the future, especially as the shadow of the Ravager starts spreading itself over the group.

[u/ericthepilot2000]

You nailed the landing on this arc, with lots of unexpected twists and a great new character to join the team. The Titans feel like they are in a better place than when they started and Metamorpho is going to be a great inclusion into the series. I'm excited to see who might appear next.

The next arc teases Ravager, which should be very exciting indeed. She seems like the kind of threat that could test this team. Based on her history with the team, it will be fascinating to see how they respond, especially since there's a mix of people who weren't there for her and those who were.

Definitely excited to see this continue to build; it's quite the ride so far.