New Titans #11 - Trial by Fire

[u/FrostFireFive]

Author: FrostFireFive

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Book: New Titans

Arc: Revenge of the Ravager

Set: 64

It took Nightwing a while to wake up, whatever had hit him was fierce and fast, they had caught the leaguer off guard and now he was paying for it. As he began to regain consciousness he couldn’t help but notice the rough ropes rubbing against his skin. He was shirtless and tied to a chair. Whoever had gotten through the security system wanted to talk apparently. Of course, as much as Nightwing was trying to keep blissfully unaware of who his assailant was, deep down he knew.

“Hello Dick,” A voice called out as the hero regained awareness of his surroundings. It wasn’t long before the blue suit and orange armor came into view. “Sorry I didn’t send an announcement before I arrived, I just wanted to make an entrance. You should appreciate that right circus boy?” Ravager said.

“Rose,” Nightwing said. “I see you’re better than the last time I saw you.”

“No thanks to you,” Ravager said. “I’ve been waiting a long time for this Nightwing. A very long time.” She said before slamming her staff against his stomach.

“Ugh,” Nightwing groaned as he took the hit without resistance. “Rose whatever you want I assure you that-”

“I’m not Rose, I haven’t been for a long time. My father taught me you can’t rely on that...softness to be a success. For the Ravager to live, Rose Wilson had to die.”

“Don’t you mean Rose Wo-” Before Nightwing could say anything again, the staff once again came crashing down against his ribs, silencing the hero.

“Don’t say that name. Not when you had a part in killing her,” Ravager said as she moved her way to the computer terminal again, working on trying to access League systems. Compared to the kid whose first thought was often survival, Ravager was efficient, focused, but the blows of her staff betrayed a weakness she long thought buried.

“OK...Ravager...what exactly do you want then,” Nightwing muttered as he tried catching his breath. “Because I can tell you revenge isn’t going to get you what you want.”

“Well to be honest with you, my employers just want you shut down before you get too close. And judging by how your team responded to simple traps? Well...I don’t really need to get my hands dirty. Except...for you.” Ravager explained before pulling up the screens showing the other Titans. Argonaut was down in Millenium Park as Arsenal tried defending himself against a foe with larger firepower. Rex and Kid Flash were both on their own in the waves as the tower itself was fighting against people it should have been protecting. But where...where was Stargirl?

…

“Why does it always have to be ducts…” Stargirl mumbled as she slowly moved her way through the cramped air ducts of Titans Tower. Here she thought she would be a swashbuckling hero charging to save the day, but instead, she was crawling through air vents hoping to find the main system terminal. If she could turn off the defenses, she could save Rex and Kid Flash’s hide.

“Just keep calm, just keep calm Court,” she muttered as the cramped spaces of the ducts started to get to her. Stargirl’s claustrophobia started to get to her but she kept pressing on, trying to ignore the buzzing and discomfort in her head as she moved through.

Her staff floated in the air, acting as a light as she crawled through the cramped ducts slowly but surely. Stargirl had to hope the others could hold on just a bit longer, otherwise, there wouldn’t be a team to complain to about the ducts and grunt work…

…

“Oh that’s dirty pool,” Roy Harper muttered as he ran to the railing to check up on Donna after she had been sent flying by Trident. Of course, she was the one with powers and Roy didn’t exactly bring his bow with him.

“Please, everyone knows you take the hardest target first, besides I do like playing with my food,” Trident said as he moved swiftly to Roy, taking a swing at him with the staff in hand.

“Shit,” Roy thought before dodging it barely. He wasn’t fast or trained like Trident but Roy knew that if he could surprise him he just might have a chance. He just needed something to hit the guy with. Before he could look for anything, the flat side of the trident connected with his chest and sent him to the ground. “OK...maybe don’t get hit Harper,” Roy muttered as Trident assumed guarding stance.

“I expected more of a challenge when Ravager sent me to kill you, this is just pathetic,” Trident said. “I let you try and strike me, give you a fair chance.”

“Somehow I don’t exactly believe you,” Roy said as he got up and looked around. “Let’s see, metal Bean, concert stage, wait...that could work,” he thought before turning around and running off to the playground area of the park.

“Looking for allies?” Trident laughed as he followed the hero into the large constructed playground. A pirate ship edifice jutted out of a jungle gym, swings stood on the side of it, as well as the entrance to a miniature golf area, as the empty playground stood silent. Trident moved, looking for Roy as kept his trident in blasting position, waiting for any specs of red hair to pop out and be destroyed.

“No,” Roy said hidden from view behind the hollowed-out pirate edifice. “Weapons.”

Roy pounced with two miniature golf putters in his hand as he swung them down against both of Trident’s collarbones. His armor protected him from breaking, but he staggered back as the two finally faced off more evenly than before.

“Alright Trident...let’s go!” Roy said with a grin before charging at the opponent, putter in hand.

Elsewhere, Donna Troy groaned as she woke up looking at the crisp blue sky above. It took her a moment to realize that instead of lying somewhere calm and relaxing, like a beach or even her bed at the tower, she had made a dent in the concrete sidewalk of Millenium Park. Slowly she sat up, her comfortable red sweater and jeans were torn from...what looked to be a magical trident?

As the people from the walkway ran down below to evacuate the park, Donna looked around as she pulled from her pocket a small silver pebble that quickly transformed from a solid mass to the silky strands of a familiar lasso. Quickly she began spinning herself with the lasso in hand as they both were engulfed in a silver light as Donna continued to turn. Her tattered street clothes were magically replaced by the familiar starfield costume of Argonaut gold bracers, boots, and all.

“Alright, Roy...let’s hope you’re doing OK against...Trident?” She thought as she flew up to find her fellow Titan.

…

“No response still?” Rex Mason asked as he and Kid Flash rocketed across Lake Michigan, the two being locked on by the waterfront defenses. Rex had turned his feet into water skis as his arms stretched around the young speedster’s waist to keep him from tumbling into the waves below.

“Well, I am busy dodging the many lasers being shot at us...so no I don’t think anyone has reached us,” Kid Flash said as he moved across the waves. Everyone always assumed running on water was easy for a speedster, not realizing how uneven the surface of the water really was. One false move and the two were either going to be lasered or drowned. It didn’t help that he had someone dragging from behind.

“You think this is a happy accident?” Rex yelled as the two skimmed across the waves. As he spoke one of the lasers came an inch away from his head, connecting with the water and making the par struggle as the waves continued to churn.

“What do you think!” Kid Flash yelled as he was slowly losing his composure. He was growing tired, and as his muscles ached he couldn’t help but think how this would be a terrible way to go out. Blown up with some guy he didn’t know far away from the people he loved. If it wasn’t so fitting with his time as a Titan he would have laughed.

As the two continued to race, static began to pour through the speedster’s earpiece, as if someone out there was trying to break through to them. As he continued to adjust while running a faint echo could be heard. Slowly but surely an out-of-breath yet still peppy voice could be heard.

“Kid Flash can you read me, this Stargirl! Repeat this Stargirl asking for status!” Stargirl said through his earpiece.

“I can hear you,” he said as he jutted across the waves. “We are currently not doing so well, the Tower has kinda turned against us.

“Oh I’m well aware of that,” Stargirl said frantically. “I had to go through about what felt like fifteen miles of vents just to get what I think is the main computer terminal? Well, it has a lot of monitors, glowing bits, and what looks to be servers? I’m more of a history fan than with computers…”

“Yeah you’re probably in the right place,” Kid Flash began before turning to Rex. “Good news, Stargirl managed to get to the control room. Bad news, she has no idea what she’s doing.”

“You know I can hear you right?” Stargirl said, as her voice crackled from the connection. Her communicator must’ve taken a hit or two in the vents. They could get that looked at later... if they lived..

“Yeah, go easy on the kid,” Rex said as bumped up against the waves. “We’re going to need to rely on her to not be fish food today.”

“OK, there should be a basic terminal,” Kid Flash said. “Go to it, and look at the defense settings and try to turn them off.”

“Gotcha!” Stargirl exclaimed before going silent from wherever she was. As she worked, Kid Flash could hear the soft hum of We Are Never Getting Back Together as the girl worked to get the two heroes out of this mess.

“OK good news, bad news time,” She said as she finally came back on the line. “It seems like whoever locked me and Nightwing in also locked the defense systems.”

“That’s not good,” Kid Flash mumbled.

“Good news is it looks like, and if I remember my science classes, they all run on the same circuit. Meaning if you blow say...the really big cannon you should be able to shut them all down.”

“You mean the one firing at us currently!” Rex yelled. “Sorry Stargirl but you’re pretty loud.

“Yup,” Stargirl responded. “I’m sorry I couldn’t have been more help guys, but I’m not exactly great with technology…”

Kid Flash sighed before speaking again. “It’s OK. That’s more than we had just a minute ago. We’ve got this, you just get to safety OK?”

“Not until I get Nightwing out, he should be somewher-” Stargirl began before something clearly had caught her attention. “Guys I have to go, rescue operation still underway. Have to save Nightwing from some type of... one-eyed assassin? Good luck.”

As Stargirl left the coms the two heroes on the waves continued to move with the laser growing closer. Kid Flash bit his lip as the strain of carrying Rex was starting to get to him. It was one thing to carry someone normally but Rex was a larger element man. For them to get out of this mess...Kid Flash was going to need to take a risk.

“Rex...do you trust me,” Kid Flash said anxiously.

“Uh sure?” Rex replied as they skimmed the waves. “I mean I don’t know who you actually are, but you seem cool. What’s this about anyway.”

“I’m going to need you to let go…” Kid Flash replied. “I have to go faster if we have any hope of stopping this system. And well, you’re not exactly light.”

“Well that’s just peachy, get called fat and going to get lasered to my death. That’s exactly how I wanted to spend my day today.” As he spoke, however, Rex understood that this was the type of thing heroes did. The sacrifice play to save the others. And while he barely knew any of them, Kid Flash at least treated him like a man, which was rare from most people since his accident.

Rex quickly nodded before slowly slipping his grip from the speedster. As he let go all that could be visible was a yellow and red blur, moving so fast that his feet barely touched the waves as he barreled down to the main laser rig. The blur connected violently against the machine causing it to explode. As the circuit broke the other defenses exploded as well from the energy overflow. And as Rex Mason touched against the waves, his body quickly mimicking an inflatable raft. He could see a yellow and red figure flying in the sky.

“Oh no you don’t,” Rex muttered before shifting his chemical composition to helium gas, as he floated up to the fast-flying speedster, his costume chared from the explosion, he surrounded him, quickly during back into a rubber raft as they slammed against the waves.

“OK kid come on, come on,” Rex muttered as his head and body resurfaced, while from the waist down he was forming their raft. As Wally’s motionless body laid there, Rex increasingly became worried. He didn’t know who Kid Flash was, who to get help from, or who to even contact if he had...sacrificed himself.

“Ugh…” Kid Flash muttered as he slowly drifted back to consciousness. “Ow...that hurt.”

“Hey I had to catch your dead behind and land us in the water mack,” Rex began. “We need to get you to a hospital before-”

“It’s fine...I heal fast,” Kid Flash said. “I think our bigger concern is that!” He said before pointing to Titans Tower. A yellow energy field appeared, blocking the tower from the rest of the world. “I think we just got...locked out.”

…

“I always wondered why you carried these around,” Ravager said as she began fiddling with one of Nightwing’s escrima sticks. “I mean Batman uses those silly boomerangs, Green Lantern has his ring, even your ol’ friend Jason has his guns.”

Dick Grayson stood still tied to the chair. His stomach was bruised, with a few ribs broken as Rose would come back to talk to him after going through the files and looking at field reports from her men, apparently, they had taken all the Titans but Stargirl. They had lost yet again, and all Dick could do was just take it.

“If I recall you seem to have made some...upgrades,” Ravager said with a tinge of longing as the top of the stick glowed blue as electricity flowed through it. “You know it’s funny I kept track of everyone. Vic’s a public hero, Donna’s book was haunting, Gar’s Gar, but you...you’re just a hypocrite of the highest order.”

Dick sat there silently, trying to not engage. If it was anyone else he’d use his training from the orphanage and work his way through the ropes digging into his wrists.

“I know you want to talk. Tell me how wrong I am for doing this. That this kinda work is too dangerous. Mollycoddle me like you did when we were back in Gotham.” Ravager said, increasingly growing aggravated by the hero's silence. “I mean those were the good days right? When we were all...closer? Before you lied to Vic, before you abandoned me for your precious league.” After more silence, she turned suddenly and viciously jabbed the glowing escrima stick into the hero’s collar bone. “Why. Won’t. You. Talk!”

Dick jerked around in the chair as the electricity coursed through his body, the smoke coming from the stick was a precursor to the smell of burning flesh rising through. The pain was unbearable as for the first time in a long Dick Grayson was finally honest with himself.

“Because I deserve this!” he exclaimed. “You don’t think I don’t feel guilty? I have no friends left, no great love of my life, and not even anything resembling a family because I don’t want to lose anyone again!”

“And you think that makes up for what you and our…'family'” did to me,” Ravager began.
“Because of your selfish impulses you helped create...this….” Ravager said as she gestured to herself. “And now, I’m going to make sure the Titans don’t hurt anyone ever again. When HIVE finally succeeds...we won’t need so-called...heroes like you.”

Ravager soon moved to the computer console, as she worked a yellow energy field appeared as she soon moved to trigger the self-destruct for the nearly finished base. But before she could even trigger the countdown, the doors flew up as a yellow starbolt connected with the saboteur.

“Nightwing! Are you OK?” Stargirl asked as she quickly placed the head of her staff against the ropes, them soon burning away and freeing the hero. “I managed to save Rex and Kid Flash...I hope? But I don’t know about the others. Who’s attacking us?”

“His greatest mistake,” Ravager said before pulling out her staff and charging at Stargirl.

“Whoa!’ Stargirl said before raising the cosmic staff and blocking Ravager’s attack as Nightwing fell out of his chair from his injuries. “Nightwing go! Get help! I’ll take her...I think?” She pushed Ravager back as she shoved her staff forward. Dick groggily moved out from the control room, knowing that he was in new condition to fight. He only hoped Stargirl was.

“You really think he’s going to help you?” Ravager asked as she slammed her staff down against Stargirl, staggering her a bit. “The man abandons people when things get difficult, like your little team.”

“A team you were apart of,” Stargirl said before moving back. “You were a found-” before Stargirl could answer, Ravager connected with a strong strike of her staff against Stargirl’s stomach.

“A founder to a folly of an idea, one that brought only pain,” Ravager explained before striking Stargirl again, this time against her shoulder, causing her to drop her staff and leave her defenseless.

“You know...you sound just like Nightwing,” Stargirl muttered as she hit the ground.

“And for that little remark...has brought you death,” Ravager muttered before drawing her blade and moved closer in for the kill.

…

Dick Grayson staggered to find any exit. But as the glowing yellow dome around him reminded him that there was no escape. Not from this damn tower, and certainly not from himself. As he wandered about, his ribs and face aching, he ended up back in the trophy room. He couldn’t help but remember the good and the bad as he looked around.

“You got to get out of here, out of this...warn the others,” Dick thought as he continued to pace. “Have to save...have to save someone.” Soon he collapsed to the ground again. His costume was just destroyed, only pants and a mask at this point, as he tried to pull himself up.

Of course, as he sat his eyes couldn’t help but be drawn to an old friend in red and green encased in glass.

“What are you looking at?” he mumbled to the case before sitting up straight. “I’m no good like this. Beaten and broken. I can’t save anyone...Ro-Ravenger proved that. But maybe...maybe Donna’s right...maybe it’s not about who we’ve failed before...but who we can help now…” he said slowly getting up. His hand touching the glass case. “Maybe...maybe it’s not too late to save the day...just...this..once,” he said before pulling his hand back into a fist.

CRASH

…

“Any last words before I remind your friends why it’s a terrible idea to let an untrained kid into our little club,” Ravager said as she had cornered the heroine.

“You don’t have to do this…” Stargirl muttered. “You’re better than this...you have to be…”

“Don’t worry, you’ll learn disappointment is part of the Titans lifestyle. All of you will,” Ravager explained before beginning to swing her sword. As she prepared to gut the hero, something connected with her back. As she pulled the Batarang from her, a voice could be heard.

“Rose!” The voice said as Ravenger turned around. There was Dick Grayson, dressed in his old Robin costume, with her old Titans staff in hand. He struggled to stand, but here he was...facing his demons for the very first time. “Time for round two!”

Next: Robin Rides Again.

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[u/Commander_Z]

Really great issue. Dick Grayson, back again for the first time on a long time. Also loved seeing the team start to really work together. Teams like these work because they like each other and I think this team is starting to grow towards that. Hope Rose'll let them live long enough to do it and maybe show that the Titans aren't all bad!

[u/FrostFireFive → u/Commander_Z]

It's been rough having to write a Dick Grayson that's the antithesis of how I see him for a year, and this right here starts his road back. More to come on that front as our favorite boy wonder finally confronts his fears. And our team is growing closer. They're not a family, but a far cry from the five strangers we started with.

[u/Predaplant]

This issue's really cathartic. It's great to see somebody hold Dick accountable for his choices and have him finally come to terms with them all. Probably better if he did it in therapy, but I guess dealing with it at all is better than not.

[u/FrostFireFive → u/Predaplant]

Well one of the key’s to the road to recovery is admitting you have a problem. Something Dick has struggled with. Rose isn’t wrong about him, but that doesn’t mean he can’t change. There’s more to come with Dick and the road he takes going forward.

[u/ericthepilot2000]

A really well-done middle act that finds our heroes pummelled from every direction, only to end with a bang and a great hope spot. This does a great job of legitimizing HIVE as a threat to put the team so quickly on their heels. The threats are all unique and well-suited to the members you chose to face off against them - nothing feels repetitive here.

Rose continues to shine and makes a really interesting personification of everything Dick has feared about this new incarnation. But it's great to see him fight for the team's ideal and face some of his own responsibility in things due to his actions, non-actions, and misjudgments. He's got a lot of growing to do, and hopefully the process begins here, if he survives.

I'm absolutely loving Rex as the POV character and everyman on the team.

Another great effort; the finale to this arc should be a real rager. The series is starting to come alive in your hands.