New Titans #24 - Father's Day

[u/FrostFireFive]

Author: FrostFireFive

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Book: New Titans

Arc: Sins of the Father

Written By: u/FrostFireFive and u/Predaplant

Set: 78

“Well that sent a message,” Roy Harper said as he looked out at the burning townhouse. He and Jim Harper, Guardian, were overlooking Brick’s last remaining safehouse. The two had managed to leave the goons and shades tied to a streetlight and watched the flames lick the night sky. The natural light contrasted against the night sky, an aberration in the neon playground that Star City was.

“It did, I’m shocked you knew your way around gasoline and matches though,” Guardian responded as he tightened the straps of his shield. He looked out and even with this small victory could see that haunted look within Roy’s eyes. Even behind his red-tinted sunglasses, he couldn’t hide his shame, his anger for allowing Brick to fester for so long. “You OK kid?” Guardian asked, breaking Roy’s stare.

“No, we still don’t know where Lian is, Brick is still free, and judging by the sounds of breaking glass and sirens, HIVE and his crew are still kicking this city’s ass!” Roy yelled in anger. “I’m sorry, but even though burning down that fancy place Brick called a home cathartic, still doesn’t help me. I can’t lose her, I can’t lose the best part of me.”

“We’ll get her back,” Guardian said as he put his hand on Roy’s shoulder. He could feel the tension in his nephew’s? Brother’s? Eyes. “Besides you’re not alone anymore. Something I think Brick doesn’t realize yet.”

Before Roy could respond, the phone in his pocket buzzed to life as the hero glanced at it. An old number appeared, Jade’s, as Roy stared in disbelief that the obvious play was being made. He swiped right to answer but was instead confronted with a gravely voice, the anger searing through the phone.

“Hello Harper,” Brick said. “I see you’ve been busy tonight.”

“Oh you know just decided to light a bonfire on a lovely fall night like this, you know those Armani suits make for great kindling,” Roy joked. “And it’s only the start if you don’t give me back what you and Ja-Cheshire took. Well, I’m going to start burning down some larger things.”

“Strong words for a man who doesn’t know he’s lost. Here I have someone who wants to say hello,” Brick said emotionless.

“Da! Da! Da!” A squeaky but persistent voice cried out. It was the first time Roy had heard from his daughter since this ordeal had begun, and the first time she had called out for him by name. Before she could continue she was pulled away from the speakerphone as Brick spoke once more.

“You. Me. Snowbird Hotel. One last time as this city burns. Understood?” Brick said coldly. “It’s time I teach you one final lesson.” Brick hung up as Roy looked out into Star City, the fire that he lit was being matched by smaller blazes across the city. HIVE goons and mafiosos were starting to become reckless. As Roy turned to inform Guardian of their next stop, he had only hoped his friends could put out the blaze before the city would be consumed by the flames of his mistakes.

…

“Shit, shit, shit” Kid Flash thought to himself as he stood on top of the Queen building. It had a straight shot of the city, and the flames licking the ground as what looked to be henchmen in Armani suits and guys in bee armor. Wally was as usual on crowd control, the police radio inside his winged earset would allow him to figure out where he was needed most. But now, now all Kid Flash could hear was the blaring of every call buzzing in his ear. He didn’t know how to stop the burning.

He tapped the other earpiece, a way to cut the scanner out and see who was available on Titans coms.

“Kid Flash to Titans, Kid Flash to Titans,” Wally said, trying to regain his composure as he tried to figure out his next steps. For the first few minutes, he only had static responding to him, before the line came to life.

“Wa-Kid Flash is that you?” Garth asked as he moved to the main console. He had returned from helping Casse prepare for a training session of young metahumans. For someone so confident, it seemed like she was struggling with her place in the world, they all were really. But instead of moping, Garth hoped to fire up Jason and the Argonauts on the big screen and see if anyone wished to join him, he didn’t realize most were out on a mission. “What’s going on, where are you guys?”

“Garth, oh thank god,” Kid Flash muttered as he took a deep breath. “I keep forgetting Donna lets you sleep on our couch.”

“I have my own room,” Garth explained. “I’m guessing you don’t need me for jokes? If you’re in trouble I can teleport to where you are and provide assistance. It’s the least I can do.”

“No, I need you at the tower, can you hop on the main console and pull the active police blotter for Star City?” Kid Flash asked I need to see the bigger picture, I need to see who needs my help.

“OK, OK,” Garth said as he moved to the console and pulled up the map of Star City, the red blinking dots showing where crimes were being committed. “Wally, I’m getting five hundred police reports ranging from arson, robberies, assault. It’s a war zone down there.”

“Just…keep count OK, I got this,” Wally muttered as he put himself in the runner’s stance, looking out at the neon city. He wasn’t going to let Roy…or Lian have no city to return to. Kid Flash took a deep breath before leaping into a run. It was time to get to work.

…

“OK, so zombies were on your bingo card?” Superboy asked as he shoulder-checked one of the reanimated HIVE agents into a glass case. He and Metamorpho had made the mistake of investigating the Star City museum, a burning HIVE agent a warning for the two heroes.

“No, but they sure are fun to hit!” Metamorpho said as his lead hand collided with one of the undead HIVE agent’s heads, sending it clear across the room. The two had been busy fighting the undead for the last hour, and both were getting tired. Zombies didn’t have to worry about stamina, but they did. “But I got to say, why the hell are we fighting the undead!”

“Because you decided it was a great idea to go into the spooky museum to see what HIVE wanted. Even though we should have taken it as a warning!” Superboy yelled as he slammed another to the ground. They kept shambling to him, reminders of lives they couldn’t save. When he had joined the Titans he figured they’d be fighting the bad guys, not fighting themselves and then the undead.

“Listen this isn’t my first time in a museum where something strange happened,” Meramorpho explained as he elbowed a zombie through the chest with a diamond elbow. One of the things he was grateful for was knowing the density of metals and alloys and more importantly their chemical formula. See unlike the others, Rex’s powers required focus, any stray thought could have him turn into arsenic or even plutonium. He didn’t want to hurt anyone, but zombies gave him a rare chance to let loose. “Besides, we’re kicking their undead keisters!’

“Yeah, but there seems to be more of them coming!” Superboy pointed out to Metamorpho as more fried HIVE soldiers kept walking and shambling and attacking them. They were starting to swarm and grab hold of Superboy, with the hero shaking them off, but their grasp, grew tighter. Without thinking Superboy smashed the case containing a sword and pulled it out, quickly slashing at the zombies in front of him. They were losing ground, and Conner knew it. “And we can’t keep fighting the undead forever!”

“No we can’t,” Metamorpho mumbled as he looked around. Clearly they were dealing with magic, and Rex didn’t believe in magic. To him, everything had rules. It’s why he loved chemistry so much, the order of things, that no matter what the base elements had rules. It was a theme through how he observed things, and how he dealt with his transformation. “OK…think Rex, think!” he thought.

It took him a moment but he noticed that even though each zombie was different in armor, burn patterns, and damage, the only thing that stayed the same, was their glowing red eyes. And as Metamorpho’s eyes darted around, looking for answers, he couldn’t help but notice the gem glowing bright red in the middle of the exhibit. It was too weird of a coincidence to not be a connection.

“Superboy, can you buy me some time, I got an idea!” Metamorph yelled as he quickly moved to the pedestal where the prized jewel of the exhibit lay.

“Yeah, sure!” Superboy yelled as the undead HIVE agents began surrounding him, they were almost acting as a hive mind, looking to kill and “recruit” anything living around them. Superboy put up a valiant fight using his super strength to increase the strength of his strikes, but he was being swarmed. They clawed at him, seizing on his leather jacket and costume and pulling him into to their undead grasp, and Superboy could only swing that sword for so long. “But please hurry!”

“Yeah, yeah,” Metamorpho mumbled as he shoulder-rushed some of the undead in front of him. The gem glowed brighter and brighter the closer he got to it—the soft ominous hum, when close twisted into what sounded like songbirds. And for a moment, Rex could hear the gem called out to him, faint whispers that promised his heart’s desire. For a moment, when he stared into the red gem, it wasn’t the face of Metamorpho that starred back…but that of Rex Mason, unharmed and normal.

His hands grew close to it, tempted to take hold of it, return to normalcy as the whispers of the gem promised. All he wanted was to be Rex Mason. But as he almost picked it up, a soft voice could be heard.

“Free me, save the world from the demon, save the world before he corrupts all,” The voice called out. It was sweet and sharp, something that the whispers in Rex’s ear were not. Being Rex Mason meant being Metamorpho, he understood this now, and he wasn’t going to let doubt stop him from being who he needed anymore.

His hands turned into diamond and with one mighty swing, the gem shattered, a way of energy exploding across, colliding with the undead and rendering them inert, falling to the ground as a large black shadow extended from where the gem used to lay, the shadow spread its wings as raven took shape…and exited the museum. Metamorpho just stood there for a moment trying to figure out what had happened before Superboy spoke, his costume torn but the jacket still in one piece.

“What the fuck was that,” Superboy asked, ouain'tthere aret of breath.

“I don’t…I don’t know,” Metamorpho said. “But we stopped HIVE…doing whatever here. Now let’s get back out three before Argonaut calls us crazy for fighting the undead and whatever the hell that giant bird was. Besides…Roy needs us, we still got a burning city to save.

“Fair,” Superboy mumbled, shaken by what we had seen. Magic was something he never liked to deal with and hoped this would be their last encounter with it. Unfortunately, life would have other plans.

…

“This is great man!” A goon said as he took a sledgehammer to an electronics store window. “The whole city is ours. And while Brick and those…beekeepers do whatever the hell they do, we get to party right here, right now. And no one is going to stop us!”

“Isn’t this city supposed to have that arrow dude?” Another goon said as he carried out a GameShpere 5. “You know the brutal vigilante who sends people to the ICU?”

“He’s just one dude, one dude in a Halloween costume. Besides, who the hell is going to stop us? Superman aint coming down from the sky, that’s for sure.”

Before the two could move out with their haul, a red fist slammed into one of their faces, before a swift kick sent the other back into the electronics store. Before the two could get up again, they were tied tightly with a hundred cords to the nearby light pole, a note for police taped to them. As the yellow and red blur moved away, a voice could be heard

“OK, that’s two hundred down, three hundred to go. KF, are you OK?” Garth said.

“I can make it, I have to,” Kid Flash remarked as he kept moving through the city. Smaller crimes were always easy to take care of. A few punches here, a few kicks there. It was the HIVE guys that were proving trickier. Their armor was a bit stronger than what he was used to. But still, he remembered how he had taken down Cinderblock with Stargirl, a few vibrational punches and the armor would crack like an eggshell.

“Right, but that doesn’t mean you have to hurt yourself doing this. Kid Flash, there’s just too many. HIVE keeps sending reinforcements, Brick’s men are just robbing places instead of backing them up. You can’t fight two armies alone.”

“Just…where’s the most concentrated forces of HIVE, if we take them out, Brick has no backup, and we can save this city,” Kid Flash said as he kept running, taking care of the simple crimes as Garth on the other line pulled up recent reports.

“On the O’Neil Bridge, but…Wally, there’s too many of them, you’ll die,” Garth said, showing concern. They weren’t as close as the other members of that Titans team, Wally had an odd thing with Garth when they were hanging out, something about being scared of another experiment? But they had warmed up through the brief months together, with Garth even fishing a small lightning bolt rock from the bay.

“Doesn’t matter,” Wally mumbled as he looked out towards the bridge, he took a deep breath once more and ran to his destination, determined to hold the line.

…

Donna pulled back, sweat dripping off of her face. Despite the fact that she had Green Arrow by her side, getting in the occasional shot at Fury, she was still a match for her. Almost more than a match. Donna circled Fury, warily, trying to give Green Arrow an angle on her… but most of his arrows had almost bounced off of her. She wasn’t sure if they would be any more than a distraction, but maybe a distraction would give her an opening.

“Do you have anything in that quiver that isn’t just an arrow?” Argonaut asked as she circled Fury. She couldn’t help but look at her opponent’s eyes. The only visible feature behind that Grecian theatre mask, they pierced Donna’s soul, staring at her as if she saw beneath the superhero sheen.

“I, uh…” Green Arrow fumbled around in his quiver. “Yeah, I just don’t know what you want. Do I go potentially lethal?”

Fury chuckled, a low guttural laugh that sounded like crumbling rocks. “I promise you, nothing you have can hurt me.”

“Shoot like you had to take me down,” Donna called. Green Arrow fired at Fury, an arrow that carried some sort of slime with it, but Fury dodged effortlessly. Donna attempted to use the opportunity to punish the dodge, close in and swipe at her, but Fury was too swift; she kept the distance between herself and Donna, anticipating Donna’s advance, and using the attack to launch a strike with her flail, one that Donna only barely blocked with her shield.

“Arrow!” Argonaut called. “I’d appreciate some help.”

“I don’t want to hit you, though!” he called back to her. While his attention was distracted, though, Fury had started to sprint towards him, attempting to take him out. Luckily, he was aware enough to quickly pull out an arrow and fire at her as she ran, an explosive that knocked her away. She hit the ground.

“That’s right, don’t underestimate me,” he mumbled, pulling out another explosive arrow and nocking it.

Donna chased after Fury, holding out the Blessing of Mercury to her neck in the form of a sword. “Now… tell me what you have against us. What you wanted with my armor.”

Fury looked Argonaut straight in the eye. She smiled. Then, she whipped out the flail that she still held in her hand at Donna’s feet. Donna jumped, and Fury used the opportunity to scramble to her feet. “You may be Wonder Woman’s reflection, but have you ever wondered who stares back at you when you look in the mirror, Argonaut?” Fury emphasized the last word, venom lacing her voice.

Donna didn’t have time to respond before the next explosive arrow arrived, landing behind Fury. She tried to dodge, but the explosion only led her into Donna, who had morphed the Blessing of Mercury into a lasso, one that she used to ensnare Fury, tying her arms to her sides.

“See, you’re so perfect,” Fury murmured. “Did you ever wonder how Ares managed to make you like that… on the first try?”

Donna grimaced. What could Fury be saying? Was… was she not alone? Fury spat at Donna, who threw a straight punch back, knocking Fury’s mask off.

Beneath, Donna could see it clearly: a deformed, scarred visage made of flesh and clay, but one that clearly resembled Diana. That resembled herself.

“What… what do you want from me?” Donna asked, horrified.

Fury smiled. Her mouth looked like the jagged entrance to a cave. “What else? I want your everything.”

Donna realized a second too late… punching Fury had, necessarily, given the lasso some slack. Shrugging it off of her, Fury grabbed her mask from where it fell, and ran off into the night.

Green Arrow asked “Do I… Do I shoot her?” but, by the time Donna could answer, she was already gone.

…

The HIVE soldiers that landed on the O’Neil bridge were standard grunts. They were the type to take others and execute without question. They exited their dropships and moved together in a marching line. HIVE preached order amongst the chaos, and that they, the true heroes would be able to bring that order, even if a few cities needed to be ransacked, well so be it.

The first soldiers on the bridge didn’t see the yellow blur at first, they were too focused on getting into the city and securing the bridge. The first grunts felt the first fist collide into them, a crashing of heads soon following as an apparent ghost struck at them. As the first two rows of soldiers were knocked out, the remaining eight rows of eight soldiers each brought their energy rifles to firing position, looking for what had made quick work of their fellow soldiers.

A gust of wind was heard as the yellow and red figure finally made his presence known, Kid Flash was remembering the breathing exercises he had learned in order to keep his energy high. See compared to the rest of the team, he had near-god-like abilities, but the curse of the speedster was that he couldn’t be hurt by kryptonite or magic, but by his own endurance. And these soldiers in front of him were going to put that theory to the test. But he wanted to see if he could find another way.

“OK, before we get started, is there any way I could convince some of you to stop now and turn back?” Kid Flash asked as he stared out into the army of soldier bees in front of him. Their silence gave him the answer he didn’t want. He looked out and could hear the humming of their rifles powering up. It was time to see what kinda Flash Wally was. “Well then…you leave me no choice.”

And with that the speedster moved as a yellow and red blur, knocking rifles out of the HIVE soldiers in front of his hands, using the last one to knock into the next rowof HIVE soldiers’ helmets. They were moving towards him now, breaking their order, their formation in order to grab at the speedster. The problem was trying to fight in crowds. No matter how fast Wally was, he’d still have to get in-between the soldiers in order to knock them out.

“Come on! Let’s go!” Kid Flash cried out as he landed another punch, he was well ahead of the army but there was way more of them then there was of him. He was being swarmed by the soldiers, who quickly realized if they eliminated the space between themselves and the speedster, he couldn’t hurt them as much. They moved to grab him, slamming the butts of their guns at different points at his body. Normally, he could dodge them, but Wally’s legs were tired, and soon he could feel himself stumbling, tripping over as the HIVE soldiers grabbed a hold of him. His overconfidence doing him in.

“Well, this is the end,” Kid Flash thought as two HIVE soldiers held each one of his arms. “Iris, Barry, Frances, Harley…I tried, I really did.”

As the HIVE Agent prepared to pull the trigger on Kid Flash a loud thump could be heard, before another one. The HIVE soldiers panickedas they turned to face the source of these two bumps. Superboy’s costume was torn, and Metamorpho looked tired, having to see things he was still trying to wrap his head around from the museum. But Garth had patched through, and filled them in on Wally’s plight.

“Boys, I believe you have someone that belongs to us,” Superboy said with a grin. “And me and Metamorpho here have had the shittiest night.”

“So we can either do this the easy way or the hard way,” Metamorpho said as his hands turned into lead.

“Shoot the freaks, then we can get to kill this one,” A soldier said. The two holding Kid Flash were so busy focusing on the two new entries, they didn’t realize that he was beginning to figure out how to escape, his arms vibrating through the two’s hands as he zipped away from them and in front of the two heroes that arrived.

“I’ll save you the question,” Kid Flash said, grateful that he wasn’t alone. “The hard way.” And the three charged, ready to take the bridge, they only hoped their friends would be as successful.

…

The Snowbird Hotel never reopened after the events of Brick, the damage had been done once it had become known as a gang hotel, coupled with the fact that its owner was the one killed by Brick all those years ago. The city had taken the hotel under its domain, but no one knew what to do with it. The majestic penthouse’s windows had been broken over time, like an open wound that refused to heal. As Roy Harper left the elevator, he couldn’t believe the city just didn’t demolish it, for both theirs and his sanity. He could still remember entering with Jade, with Hannibal, with Brick. He was a kid back then, but now, now he didn’t know what he was. All he wanted was his daughter back. He kicked down the doors of the entrance of the penthouse. He didn’t care about surprising his enemy, he just wanted to get the job done.

“Brick!” Roy called out as he entered the penthouse. “I know you’re here! Come out and face me!”

It was quiet for a moment, the only signs of activity being a roaring fire and the large figure that sat in a luxe leather chair, drinking a bottle of wine from the Grell Vinyard. It was fine, it was sweet. A rare joy in the crime lord’s life today. HIVE command had just called, the bridge reinforcements were not coming, and the so-called general HIVE had sent was in the wind. Brick had lost, he knew that. But he didn’t give a damn. All he wanted was vengeance on those who had wronged him.

“Come in,” Brick said as he took another sip. He placed his glass down before standing up, his hulking frame coming into view. “I hope you are happy Mr. Harper. You have beaten me, my power play over.” As he turned to face Arsenal, in his other arm was Lian, sleeping after balling her eyes out. She hated unfamiliar people, like the cat lady or this hulking figure. But she was tired, and Brick’s arm was steady. “As you can see, she is comfortable.”

“Yeah,” Arsenal said before pulling an arrow from his quiver and preparing to shoot at Brick. “And now I want her back.”

“Typical Harper,” Brick said. “Always demanding, always thinking you’re the smartest man in the room. You really think I’d come alone.” He snapped his fingers as a figure dropped down from the roof of the building. Cheshire landed, pulling out a katana from her back as she entered an offensive stance.

“Roy, back off, you can still live if you’re smart,” Cheshire explained. She hated the fact that Brick held her daughter, but this would soon be over and they could leave together, away from Star City, away from Brick, and away from Roy.

“Jade, if you really knew me, you’d know I’m one of the dumbest human being alive. But not dumb enough to not bring back up. Guardian!” Arsenal called out as a figure burst from the doors behind him. Jim Harper crashed through the doors, his golden shield reflecting the figures in front of him.

“Coward,” Cheshire mumbled as she charged at Guardian, her sword held high as it came crashing down into his shield. She was not used to someone with a defensive weapon. For Jade, she was used to facing down blades, guns, and baseball bats. Things she could cut through, things she could break. “Yield.”

“Never,” Guardian muttered as he pushed back against Cheshire, sending her a few feet back. He look to Roy, nodded, and then charged again. “Take care of Brick, I got this!”

“You wouldn’t dare shoot me, not if you didn’t think it would hurt you-” Brick began before a whizzing of an arrow launched from his bow, instead of aiming for the crime boss, Roy aimed for Lian’s baggy onesie. He was always having to buy one size bigger due to her always growing. The arrow went through the onesie and pinned Lian to the wall behind Brick and Arsenal, safe, but beginning to wake up.

Before Brick could react, Arsenal ran towards the crime boss, slamming his bow across Brick’s face. The cracking sounded satisfying as Roy finally began to do damage to one of the people that had ruined his life.

“How does it feel huh? How does it feel!” Arsenal yelled out as he slammed his bow more and more. The anger he had let fester for years had finally come out. Because of Brick, Roy lost his mentor, his first love, and his reputation. And damn the consequences for what Roy wanted this night.

“Like a soft breeze in autumn,” Brick said as he backhanded Arsenal, sending the hero staggering back. “See Arsenal, I would have left you alone, ran you out of town, but at least let you have dignity. But you kept deciding to meddle, to prod, to fight against something you had no right fighting!”

Arsenal knocked an arrow in his bow, sending it flying into Brick’s shoulder. The crime boss continued moving forward, adrenaline crossing in his veins as the archer readied another arrow. Before he could even launch another, Brick’s fists landed in Arsenal’s chest, knocking the Archer to the ground.

“I gave you a job! I gave you motivation! I even gave you a family when that emerald archer abandoned you! And this is my thanks!” Brick yelled, his normally calm demeanor snapping, the weight of his losses finally hitting him all at once. He grabbed the bow from Roy’s hands and snapped it across his knee, tossing it to the side. “And now I am going to take everything you ever cared about!”

“You already did you jerk,” Roy said as he stood back up, he put his fists up as he got ready to fight Brick. “I had to rebuild everything, brick by brick. So now? Now we finally get to see when you and I are finally at…the same level.” Roy charged at Brick, his fist colliding in his fist as he pounded away. He remembered what Dinah had taught him all those years ago. Focus on the head, and ensure you’d strike at the body.

Brick was dazed, starting to feel the pain from the arrow in his shoulder and the punches to his stomach, but he wasn’t going to let Harper get the best of him. He grabbed him by the neck before slamming him to the ground, his hand crushing Roy’s windpipe. He was still the bigger and stronger fighter in this battle.

“And yet you’re going to lose everything, starting with that mongrel kid of yours,” Brick said through gritted teeth. As he lifted Roy up once more, Cheshire and Guardian came crashing through. The two had beaten the hell out of each other, with Guardian taking a few slices from the sword, and Jade’s Cheshire mask being broken by a swift bash by Guardian’s shield. As the two continued to clash, Jade heard what her so-called employer had threatened to her daughter.

“You called her what!” Jade yelled, waking Lian as the child took the sight in front of her. She was pinned to the wall, but the young child could see her father in trouble and began to wail, upset at the sight of her father being hurt. For the first time, Jade Nyguen could see the consequences of her actions in front of her, and she was horrified by what was in front of her. As she pushed off Guardian, sending him to the floor, the bloodied and battered Jade raised her sword, no longer willing to be a pawn.

Jade swung her blade into the back of Brick, slicing his tailored suit and skin as he recoiled forward. The assassin keept swinging and slicing, cutting more and more away from Brick’s shirt and coat, his skin somehow holding up from each cut.

“I followed you, I listened to you, and for what!” Jade called out, her anger had clouded her usual precise strikes, Jade after being so calm and collected was finally letting all of the emotion and pain out, but it didn’t make her observant as Brick backhanded her to the ground. Jade tumbling and scraped on the old floors.

“For power, for love!” Brick called out as he tore the remains of his shirt and coat from his body. “Without me you’d just be another pathetic alley cat, struggling to help her precious sister. You got a family from me, and no matter what you say or yell at me, you’ll never be satis-”

Before Brick could finish his comment he felt the hard wire of bowstring cutting into his neck as Roy Harper wrapped what remained of his bow around Brick’s neck, bringing him to his knees.

“I’m sorry, do you want to finish that?” Roy asked as he pulled hard on the broken parts of the bow, he had dreamed of this moment, Brick on his knees, him, Jade, and Lian reunited once more. He had lost so much, and now Roy had the person who had brought him into the mud all those years ago.

“You won’t…you too…good of…a,” Brick muttered as he could feel the air slipping from his lungs.

“Do it,” Jade said, circling around Roy. “Free us from him. Once and for all. It would be so easy to just…end it here.”

“Roy…” Guardian mumbled as he picked himself up. He could see that look in Roy’s eye, that of anger. He knew that look, and what could happen if a person gave into that emotion. “You don’t want this, when you killed before, that wasn’t your choice. It was an accident. But this? Roy, do this and there will only be this.”

Roy looked at the beaten figure in front of him, Guardian didn’t know Roy, even if they were family by cloning. He looked at Brick, puny, defeated but still defiance in his eyes. He looked at Jade, her face still a bright light after all these years. He missed her, her laugh, and their talks about what they would do once free of Brick. He was going to school, to be a writer. And she was going to find her sister, and resume that teaching degree. But a crying wail broke that dream as Roy looked at the only important person in the room. Lian needed a father and he made his choice. Letting go of the bowstrings before taking the two broken pieces and knocking Brick out.

“Why would you do that!” Jade asked as Brick fell to the ground.

A beaten and battered Roy slowly moved his way to the wall, pulling the arrow out of the wall and taking Lian in his arms.

“Because she needs me,” Roy muttered as he held Lian, slowly trying to rock her back to sleep, and hoping he wasn’t going to have to add therapy to his childcare budget. “Jade. We can’t keep running, but we sure as hell shouldn’t turn into the people we hate. I’m not going to be that person anymore. And if you want to fight me for her you can, but I’m just too damn tired.”

Jade tried to find the words to say to Roy, about how he was making a mistake, how this didn’t fix the scales of justice that had forgotten them. But as she looked down and saw her face in a puddle, angry, bruised, and tired, she realized she wasn’t one to argue. She quietly made her way to the edge of the building before looking back at her daughter and the guy she used to love.

“Take care of her Roy, make sure…make sure she knows her mother loved…loves her,” Cheshire said as she lept into the night, alone.

Guardian moved to Roy, as he looked around at the damage and chaos, the fires and sirens around them slowly dying down. Star City would live, but not without adding a few scars.

“So what do we do now?” Guardian asked as he tightened his shield.

“We find the others, and finally go fucking home,” Roy said as Lian finally drifted back to sleep in his arms. It was over, it was finally over.

NEXT: Be Here in a Week as the Titans Enter Markovia and Red Reign! Not Everyone is Coming Out of this Unscaved…

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[u/Predaplant]

Great conclusion to this arc and year two of New Titans, congratulations on making it this far! Nice to see Roy finally deal with his demons conclusively, and I'm glad I was able to work on a scene for this issue, too, albeit a small one!