Teen Titans Fan Fiction ❯ Teen Titans: Future Storm ❯ Side Story 13: Gehenna ( One-Shot )

 

“Teen Titans: Future Storm”

Side Story 13: “Gehenna”

Disclaimer: The concept of Teen Titans does not belong to me; it belongs to DC Comics and Warner Brothers. The characters of Nightstar, Mercury, and Phoebus do not belong to me, either. Nightstar and Phoebus belong to DC Comics and are creations of Mark Waid and Alex Ross. Mercury belongs to DC and Marvel via Amalgam and is a creation of Mark Waid. Everything else is mine.

Author's note: On my forum for discussing this story, I ran into a complaint about not using Inferno enough. The problem was finding a plot for him and I figured it out. Ever heard the phrase “fight fire with fire”? Good, you'll be seeing an example of it here.

Inferno sat at the Titans Tower mainframe, monitoring the city for any signs of illegal activity that was beyond the capabilities of the police. Granted, they had Nova Blue now, but technology could only go so far.

The young pyromancer stared at the screen darkly.

“Worried about that arsonist?” Samara's voice asked from behind him.

“Yeah,” Inferno replied. “I haven't been able to catch up with him. Every time he sets one of his fires, I always arrive just a split second too late to catch him.”

“Be careful,” Samara advised dryly. “We already have two obsessive crime-fighters on the team, no need for three.”

Inferno managed a brief snicker, only for his rising mood to be brought down by the blare of an alarm. He turned a grim stare upon the computer screen.

“Him,” the pyromancer whispered, rising from his seat. Without another word, he rushed out of Titans Tower, wreathing his skin in a fiery sheath.

Old Jump City was the buildings and streets that had existed prior to the citywide renovation of 2015. Well, they were the buildings and streets that the bureaucrats had chosen to renovate over instead of renovating. Those buildings and streets that would not serve the purposes of the bureaucracy and its primary constituency had been abandoned, left to fall into disrepair. People had quickly moved out of those buildings and into the high-rises, but that took money and those that didn't have it were essentially left to rot in Old Jump City, cut off from the rest of the population.

Now . . . they were going to burn to death, all because of some maniac with a fire fixation.

Inferno had arrived in Old Jump City just in time to see it begin to burn. Concentrating, he began to absorb the flames, hoping to either drain them all or - more likely - just reduce them enough for him to get the residents out.

He absorbed as much fire as he could, but there was so much of it - and he felt like he was starting to overheat. He persisted, though, soaking up as much fire as he could. It hurt, it seared his insides, but he couldn't let those people die just because of his own weakness.

Eventually, the flames began to dissipate. They were still there, but more manageable now. The bad part was . . . he felt like he was ready to explode.

Taking off into the sky, Inferno let out a scream of agony as the fire he had absorbed burst from him in a harmless explosion in the sky. Well, it would be harmless as long as there were no planes within the radius of his detonation.

The pyromancer was left breathing heavily as he began to plummet from the sky, his containment suit ripped from the strain of containing all of that fire. He would have summoned his flame to protect himself, but he was so tired. . . .

A cushion of black energy formed beneath him and he landed on it. He turned on his side, looking up to see Samara kneeling beside him.

“It's ok,” she murmured. “You can rest now.”

“Old Jump,” he muttered. “The people . . .”

“Rest,” she whispered. “The others are putting out the fire right now.”

Inferno simply closed his eyes, allowing himself to fall into a dreamless sleep.

When the pyromancer woke up, he was in his bed and his room. It didn't take long for him to realize he was nude, as he felt nothing against his body except for his sheets.

“Ugh . . . what's going on?” he asked.

“We had to remove your containment suit,” Samara replied. “Since it was damaged and all. Apparently, even with the mystical edge to your fire control, you still have limits to how much you can actually absorb.”

“Is everybody in Old Jump ok?” Inferno asked.

“Yeah,” Samara answered. “You managed to absorb enough of the fire so that nobody got killed.”

“What about the asshole who started that fire?” Inferno questioned.

“We couldn't find him,” Samara admitted. “But we know something now.”

“What's that?” Inferno inquired.

“Nightstar, Bladefire, and Beast Girl couldn't smell any accelerants,” Samara answered. “A fire of that magnitude without any accelerants?”

“A meta,” Inferno said. “Powers like mine. I bet it's that Blaze freak.”

“Possibly, but why this?” Samara asked.

“He's a lunatic,” Inferno replied, as though that were reason enough. “When do I get my suit back?”

“When it's repaired,” Samara answered. She smiled mischievously at Inferno and climbed into bed with him.

“You do realize I'm naked, right?” Inferno asked with false modesty.

“Yes,” Samara answered. “And right now that's just fine by me.”

“Then why are you still dressed?” Inferno asked.

“I'll remedy that very soon . . .” Samara promised, descending upon him for a kiss.

Morning came and Inferno awoke to the sight of Samara in his arms, every bit as naked as him. He idly stroked her arm.

“We . . . have to get up,” he muttered.

“Do we?” Samara asked quietly.

“Yeah,” Inferno replied. “Breakfast.”

“Oh,” Samara said, rising from the bed and teleporting into her personal bathroom to take a shower. Inferno found a robe and donned it, quickly following his partly demonic lover into the shower. “Couldn't wait, huh?”

“Why waste water?” Inferno asked.

“You have a point,” Samara replied.

After the lovers had showered and dressed, they joined the other Titans at the breakfast table, only to find a guest waiting for them. This guest wore crimson with a yellow circle surrounded by a white symbol spreading to cover his shoulders and white gloves and boots, his face concealed by a white-fronted red mask with yellow lenses.

“Inferno,” the red-clad man greeted in a scratchy voice. “We need to talk.”

“About what?” Inferno asked. “Who are you, anyway?” He looked at the other Titans. “And did any of you let him in?”

“Actually, I let myself in,” the man replied. “Let your girlfriend read my emotions. She'll sense I don't mean you harm.”

Without being asked to, Samara read the man's emotions. Nothing she sensed gave her the impression that he meant to hurt any of them.

“He's telling the truth,” she said.

“Still remains that he's here and he hasn't even told us his name,” Inferno said.

“It's Phoebus,” the man replied.

“How did you know how to find me?” Inferno asked.

“The Consumed connects all of us,” Phoebus replied.

“The Consumed?” Inferno questioned.

“The Consumed is the primal energy that connects all of us who have the power to manipulate flame and heat,” Phoebus answered.

“You're a pyrokinetic?” Inferno asked.

“Yes,” Phoebus replied.

“Do you know who's causing all of these fires?” Inferno asked.

“I know it is not the one you refer to as Dr. Blaze,” Phoebus replied.

“Then who is it?” Inferno inquired.

“The one you know as Firefly,” Phoebus replied.

“Firefly?” Nightstar asked. “He uses tech, not metahuman powers.”

“That's changed,” Phoebus stated. “He has become connected to the Consumed and to all of us who wield fire.”

“If he's connected to the Consumed, then does that mean we can find him?” Inferno asked.

“Possibly,” Phoebus replied. “However, tracking him through the Consumed will not be an easy task.”

“Why?” Inferno asked. “You found me.”

“Yes,” Phoebus acknowledged, “I did.”

“Then why can't you find him?” Inferno asked.

“He is new to the Consumed,” Phoebus replied. “He was not born to it the way you and I were. He was forcibly connected by some external source, which makes his power unstable and therefore hard to track.”

“Unstable how?” Inferno questioned, not liking where this was going.

“He's going to burn out,” Phoebus answered bluntly. “And when he does, he could take this entire city with him. We need to find out who gave him this power.”

“There's a whole bunch of mad scientist-types who have been experimenting with meta-gene therapy,” Bladefire said. “As well as governments that would be more than happy to have metahuman soldiers to fight their wars for them.”

“Yes, the arms race of the 21st century is now all about the living weapons,” Phoebus remarked dryly. “That's what the humans see us as: potential weapons to be wielded to their benefit, and discarded if proven uncontrollable.” He looked at Inferno. “I'm going to have to teach you how to commune with the Consumed.”

“How?” Inferno asked.

“Follow me,” Phoebus replied, exiting Titans Tower and beginning to take to the sky. Inferno heated the air around him until it created enough lift for him to fly. The two fire wielders soared into the city, flying above it until Phoebus spotted a Shinto temple. He began to descend toward it, Inferno following.

When they landed, Phoebus looked at Inferno. “It's a good idea we both take off our shoes. The girl running this place doesn't like people scuffing the floor with their shoes.”

“Sure,” Inferno said, removing his sneakers. Next to him, Phoebus removed his boots, revealing creamy brown feet. The two fire elementals entered the shrine.

Immediately upon entering, they were greeted by the sight of a girl in white-and-red temple robes. Her hair was black and long with purple gloss and her eyes were lavender.

“Hello, Phoebus,” she greeted. “Who is your friend?”

“His name is Inferno,” Phoebus replied.

“Hello,” Inferno greeted. “What's your name?”

“My name is Makoto Hino,” the girl answered. “What is your purpose for coming?”

“He is here to learn how to commune with the Consumed,” Phoebus replied for Inferno.

“You wish to divine with the flames the location of your enemy,” Makoto deduced.

“Yeah,” Inferno confirmed.

“Then I give you use of the flames within my temple,” Makoto allowed.

She escorted Inferno and Phoebus to the fireplace, where a fire was currently burning. Inferno kneeled before the flame, as did Phoebus.

“Look deep into the flame, Inferno,” Phoebus advised.

“I'm looking at it already,” Inferno said.

“Do not look with your eyes,” Makoto said. “Look with your soul, instead.”

Inferno gazed deep into the flame, feeling his heart beat with his gaze. He concentrated on the beat of his heart and the warmth of the flame. The beat of his heart seemed to synchronize with the flicker of the flame.

With a start, Inferno realized he could see Firefly in the flames. He could see every detail, from the black suit to the yellow backpack that resembled an insect's thorax to the yellow mask with insect-like red eyes.

“I see him!” Inferno exclaimed.

“Good,” Phoebus replied. “Now look deeper.”

Inferno suddenly snapped out of the fiery vision.

“What did you see?” Phoebus asked.

Inferno looked at his fellow firestarter and began to speak. “I saw a lab, with the letter “L” inscribed on a wall. There were canisters, vials, a delivery system for the chemicals in those canisters and vials.”

“L,” Phoebus said. “L as in Luthor. Lena Luthor. What else did you see?”

“That I'd better start looking in Metropolis,” Inferno replied.

“I was referring to what you saw concerning Firefly,” Phoebus clarified.

“He's going to strike again,” Inferno replied. “These fires over the past week, they were just tests. This time coming, it's going to be the real thing.”

“Where will he strike?” Phoebus asked.

“He's going to torch Wayne Biotech,” Inferno answered. “Tonight.”

“Then we'll be there to stop him,” Phoebus replied.

Night fell. The white neon identifying the biotech lab as affiliated with Wayne Enterprises shone brightly in the darkness. Its purpose was to reverse-engineer alien biotechnology for the sake of creating antibodies to diseases that ravaged the human race. Should this reverse engineering ever succeed, many diseases thought of as incurable - or only curable at great risk - could be eradicated in the blink of an eye. So much good could be accomplished with this, so why would somebody want to destroy it?

Vengeful spite certainly played a role. After all, this company was run by the man who had ruined Lex Luthor, the father of Lena Luthor. This company was run by the man who, in his costumed identity, had befriended the damned alien that dared to hover above Metropolis like he was some kind of god.

And that was why Firefly was here. On behalf of the woman who had gifted him with his newfound power, he would destroy this place. Burn it to the ground.

He really didn't care what Lena Luthor wanted. He didn't really care about her reasons for wanting Wayne Biotech gone. He had the opportunity to burn something . . . and he would see the beauty that called to him from within the flames. The goddess that tempted him to come to her side every time he so much as lit a match. It was for her that he did this, not for Lena.

His fists ignited into red-orange flame and he was ready to obliterate the infrastructure of Wayne Biotech, leaving the building to collapse on itself, when twin bolts of flame struck him.

Firefly let out an “uhh” as he went down. He quickly got up, looking for his attackers.

“Show yourselves!” he shouted.

“Up here!” a voice shouted.

Firefly looked up, seeing two figures floating high above him. One was dressed in skintight black with fire patterns decorating the left side of his suit and his exposed arms and head were covered in a fiery aura. The other was dressed in a red-and-white suit and mask and an aura of flame surrounded him.

“Get down here and face me!” Firefly yelled, outraged at the other two firestarters' attack.

“Why don't you come up here and face us?” Phoebus retorted. “Unless you don't know how to use your powers.”

“I know how to use my powers!” Firefly shouted.

“How long have you had them, a week?” Phoebus asked. “Two?”

“Shut your mouth!” Firefly roared, shooting a giant fireball up at Phoebus, who simply absorbed it as soon as it touched him.

“Is that all you've got?” Phoebus asked. “But you're new, so I'll forgive you. If you surrender quietly, I promise I won't hurt you that much.”

“Asshole!” Firefly bellowed, shooting fire beneath his feet and using it to rocket himself into the air. While he was in the air, he rocketed toward Phoebus at high speed. Phoebus simply evaded the charge and grabbed Firefly by the scruff of his neck, absorbing the flame that he was using to keep himself aloft.

“You're going to talk now, Firefly,” Phoebus said. “Where is the lab you got your powers from?”

“I'm not telling you jack, you bastard!” Firefly answered.

“I don't want you to tell me jack, I want you to tell me where the lab is,” Phoebus said.

“Not telling you a thing!” Firefly declared.

“Fine,” Phoebus conceded. “Just tell me who sent you here.”

“Not telling you that, either, you turd!” Firefly responded.

Phoebus shrugged and dropped Firefly, who screamed as he plummeted.

“Aren't you going to catch him?” Inferno asked.

“He'll either save himself or he'll be a smear on the concrete,” Phoebus replied calmly. “Judging by that trick he pulled to launch himself into the air, he'll be able to save himself. If not, that's his fault for not talking.”

“You're a really callous a-hole, aren't you?” Inferno observed.

“When I have to be,” Phoebus answered. He looked down and sighed, extending a fiery construct shaped like a hand to grab Firefly, solidifying it just before it caught him. He then used the construct to pull Firefly up until the pyromaniac-turned-pyrokinetic was level with him. “Now are you going to talk?”

“After what you just did?” Firefly asked. “Hell, no.”

“Want me to drop you again?” Phoebus asked.

“No, no, no!” Firefly replied emphatically.

“Then you'll talk,” Phoebus concluded. “Or I'll drop you again. And this time, I won't catch you. Don't tempt me. I'm not in the mood.”

“Fine,” Firefly groaned. “It was Lena Luthor. Her lab is in Metropolis!”

“What is she doing?” Phoebus asked.

“I don't know what she's doing!” Firefly answered. “I don't know! She just started picking up guys like me, non-meta crooks, and experimenting on us!”

A low rumble of anger emanated from Phoebus and the yellow lenses concealing his eyes began to flicker.

“Where in Metropolis is it?” Inferno asked. “You'd better talk, because my friend here? He looks pissed off. Very, very pissed off. And considering that he quite literally has your life in his hands, I wouldn't recommend antagonizing him any further.”

“I don't know where in Metropolis it is!” Firefly replied. “She kept the location secret! Wouldn't let us see the outside of the building!”

“Then you're useless,” Phoebus said coldly. “But no matter. You've given us enough to go by. You get to live.”

Firefly breathed a sigh of relief . . . right before Phoebus dropped him again, at which point the sigh turned into a scream. Fortunately, Phoebus dove after him and projected a hard-flame platform beneath the pyromaniac on which to land.

“You bastard!” Firefly screamed. “You freaking bastard!”

“You keep calling me that,” Phoebus groaned. “It's very hurtful.”

After dropping Firefly off at the police department, and expressly informing the police to keep him in a flame-retardant cell, Phoebus flew to Metropolis, Inferno following.

“What was that about?” Inferno asked.

“Getting information,” Phoebus replied.

“You could have killed him!” Inferno shouted.

“No, I wouldn't have,” Phoebus contradicted. “And why do you care? He's a sick piece of garbage.”

“Exactly,” Inferno said. “He's sick, meaning that he has a disease, a disorder.”

“Not what I meant,” Phoebus answered. “The sickness I talk about is a sickness of the spirit. You can't cure that, no matter how hard you try. All you can do is make sure it doesn't spread.”

“We'll never find the lab this way,” Inferno said. “I suggest we go back to the Tower and see what we can find on the mainframe.”

“I thought you didn't want me in your Tower,” Phoebus mused.

The two firestarters turned around and flew back to Titans Tower.

As soon as Inferno and Phoebus were inside, the latter moved toward the Titans Tower mainframe, where he picked up the interface headset and slipped it on over his mask.

“You know how to use this?” Inferno asked.

“Yeah,” Phoebus replied before searching cyberspace with the interface headset. “Luthor won't risk being caught, so she'll probably have her meta-gene labs owned by dummy corporations. The trick is tracing those dummy corporations to the real owners . . . and luckily for me, the Internet is not the best place to keep a secret.”

After a while of intense searching, Phoebus removed the interface headset and looked up at Inferno. “I've found out where her little Frankenstein lab is. Time to go.” Without waiting for Inferno, he exited Titans Tower and flew toward Metropolis.

Behind the masked firestarter, Inferno followed.

“You think we ought to notify any of the S-clan?” Inferno asked.

“Which one?” Phoebus asked. “Kal-El? Kon-El? Mia Cir-El? Superwoman? Steel?”

“I'm gonna go with Steel,” Inferno replied. “We've worked together before, so I know he's good for it.”

“Steel,” Phoebus mused.

“What, you know him?” Inferno asked.

“Once,” Phoebus replied.

When the two firestarters arrived in Metropolis, they made a detour to the urban area near the local university. On their way, they noticed a figure in silvery liquid metal armor with a modified S-shield - hexagonal rather than pentagonal - battling a group of thugs.

“We probably should help him,” Inferno said.

“He knows how to handle himself,” Phoebus said. “But all the same, it would be fun helping him thrash these guys.”

Inferno took that as an agreement and shot down from the sky like a bullet, projecting flame beneath him and using it as a spinning platform for his father's patented “Twister Flame Kick” maneuver. Phoebus came down after him and made a thug's gun too hot for him to hold onto, following up with a punch that knocked him unconscious. Steel blasted three more thugs with a sonic pulse emanated by his hammer. Inferno took care of the final one with a hard-flame knife plugged into his gun.

“Crap! You're supposed to be a brother!” one of the thugs managed to shout from his position on the ground, sounding indignant.

“Brother!” Steel echoed with enraged derision. “Brother to a cockroach.” He held the hammer in a swinging position, as though he was getting ready to bash the thug's head with it. “Brother to someone who makes it look cool to prey on other human beings! Tell me, is that the kind of person - I don't feel like regarding you as a human - I should call brother? Is it?”

He brought down the hammer next to the thug's head, his armor-fueled strength allowing him to make a considerable dent in the asphalt

The thugs got up - the ones that could get up, anyway - and ran for it.

“I'm gonna have to get that fixed,” Steel muttered. “I always get carried away.”

“Understandable,” Phoebus said.

“Inferno?” Steel asked, only to turn around and see Phoebus and Inferno. “Hey. Who's your friend?”

“Phoebus,” the masked pyrokinetic replied.

“What brings you to the City of Tomorrow?” Steel asked in good humor.

“We were on our way to bust a meta-gene therapy lab,” Inferno replied. “Lena Luthor's running it through a dummy corporation. We figured you'd want in on the action.”

“You bet,” Steel said. “Just lead the way.”

Inferno and Phoebus took to the skies again, Steel following with rocket thrusters built into his boots. Once the rocket thrusters had launched him into the air, he activated an antigravity device in his suit that allowed him to stay in the air, the rocket thrusters maintaining his flight. In virtually no time whatsoever, they found what they had come to Metropolis to find.

“This is where the lab's located,” Phoebus said. “I see a lot of heat signatures . . . but there's a blind spot. Must be someone being given cryokinesis.”

The trio landed.

“Do we sneak in or do we make a dramatic entrance?” Steel asked.

“The lab's isolated,” Inferno replied. “Lots of security.”

“Then there'll be no use for stealth,” Phoebus concluded. “That's fine. I like the direct approach.”

“Take out the guards, but do it quietly,” Inferno suggested. “We don't want to draw too much attention to ourselves.”

Steel tapped a button on his hammer and it emanated a sonic pulse that lulled the guards into sleep.

“You said `quietly,'” Steel said. “And this was quiet. Some sonic frequencies can actually make people sleepy. Now let's go.”

The trio walked to the lab, free of any interference from the sleeping guards. Once they arrived at the door, they saw a camera pointing at them and a handprint identifier pad that opened the door.

“So much for the quiet approach,” Inferno mumbled. He created a hard-flame sword and used it to slice through the door, quickly gaining entry into the lab. Once inside, Phoebus and Steel followed. “They know we're here.”

“A fight, then,” Phoebus concluded.

“Got that right,” a voice rumbled from above the masked pyrokinetic, who looked up to see a veritable giant of a man - about seven feet tall - staring down at him. His hair was a shaggy black and his skin and eyes were white as chalk, perfectly complementing black rags.

Two others joined the giant, one being a woman with white hair and pale blue skin dressed in a blue parka and little else. The other was a man who seemed to be in constant motion, as appearing in multiple places at once implied.

“You must be Lena's little lab rats,” Phoebus scoffed. “Mind telling me your names before I beat you to within an inch of your lives?”

“Skulk,” the giant stated.

“Permafrost,” the white-haired, blue-skinned woman spoke.

“Blur,” the constantly moving man said.

Inferno grinned. “I'll take Frosty. Steel, you handle Skulk.”

“I suppose that means I'll be taking Blur,” Phoebus mused.

Permafrost made the first move, draining the heat from her surroundings. Skulk charged Steel and Blur began attacking Phoebus from almost literally all sides.

Inferno flared up, emanating enough heat to counter Permafrost's cold. The heat had the added effect of making Permafrost sweat and moan in pain.

“You know what they say,” the pyromancer remarked. “If you can't take the heat . . .”

Permafrost fired a desperate blast of cold at Inferno, only for it to be overwhelmed by a blast of heat from him. The concentrated heat was too much for the cryokinetic and she passed out.

Meanwhile, Blur was running around Phoebus pummeling him . . . until Phoebus lashed out with an aura of flame that Blur had to dodge. Blur charged at Phoebus, who slid low to kick the speedster's feet out from under him. Unfortunately, Blur moved out of the way and kicked Phoebus.

Phoebus tried to get up, only to be assaulted by a series of hyper-fast, brutal punches. He tried to block as many as he could, but Blur was moving exactly like his name would suggest. Finally, the masked pyrokinetic generated a fiery aura that threw Blur off him. Phoebus charged, exciting the atoms around him to generate an aura of heat that lightened his body and thus granted him enhanced speed. With that enhanced speed, he pummeled Blur until the speedster passed out.

Steel and Skulk traded blows, Skulk being stronger but Steel's armor dispersing the force of the giant's punches. Plus, Steel was lighter on his feet than Skulk, so he could stay out of the giant's way.

“Stay still!” Skulk roared.

“How about . . . no?” Steel answered, swinging his hammer at the giant to crack him across the face. To his satisfaction, the strike staggered Skulk, who roared in anger and attacked him again, only to be struck again. Steel pressed a button on his hammer to emit a sonic pulse that put the giant to sleep. “Sleep tight.”

The trio regrouped.

“What do we do with this place?” Steel asked.

“Destroy it,” Phoebus replied.

“But there could be more test subjects in there!” Inferno protested. “What about them?”

“What about them?” Phoebus echoed, generating a hard-flame sphere. He was about to throw it when Inferno knocked it out of his hands. The sphere landed on the ground . . . and detonated, creating a massive explosion that knocked all three of them into the far wall.

Inferno looked around and saw fire everywhere. “What have you done, you bastard?”

Phoebus chuckled. “What have I done? You're the one who knocked it out of my hand.”

“A firebomb, huh?” Steel remarked. He pressed another button on his hammer and emitted sonic bursts that muffled the flames.

“The place is wrecked, anyway,” Inferno observed. “It'll take a while for Luthor to set it up again.”

“She will,” Phoebus snarled, departing from the ruined lab. Inferno followed him, heat emanating from him in his rage. “What, Inferno?”

“You're a real piece of work, you know that?” Inferno spat.

“I have to be,” Phoebus replied. “Luthor took a lot from me. Took my friends, my family, the woman I loved . . .” He turned to Inferno. “Mark my words, Inferno. A storm is coming. This is just the calm preceding it. Be ready.”

He disappeared in a flash of flame.

Inferno looked at the smoke that marked where Phoebus had been, Steel coming up behind him.

“Are you all right?” the armored young man asked.

“I don't know,” Inferno replied.

In the penthouse office at the top of Lexcorp's Metropolis headquarters, a woman - probably in her early twenties - sat upright in a leather-backed chair, green eyes glittering with fierce intelligence and ambition. Currently, those eyes were staring at a vid-phone as the scientist in the screen spoke to her.

“The lab was severely damaged,” he said. “It looks like a firebomb.”

“The specimens,” the woman cut in, smooth menace in her voice. “Are they undamaged?”

“For the most part,” the scientist answered, “although there was considerable damage to the support equipment.”

“Repair the equipment, then continue the project,” the woman spoke.

“Yes, Ms. Luthor,” the scientist replied before ending the communication.

Lena Luthor looked at the empty screen of the vid-phone. She was at a delicate stage in her project and continued interference would derail said project. It appeared she would have to increase security at her labs. After all, if the responsible party had managed to find one lab, who knew if he or she would find the others?

Her project would bear fruit, though, and that fruit would be the weapon that put an end to the so-called demigods that dared to call this world their own.

Phoebus had returned to Jump City and to Makoto's shrine.

“Why didn't you tell him?” she asked.

“About?” Phoebus prompted.

“Who you really are,” Makoto answered.

“If he knew,” Phoebus spoke, “he would be too shocked for words. Besides, I couldn't afford to tell him my identity. It's not wise for someone to know too much of their future, especially when it's a future that still has a chance to be averted.”

“As you wish,” Makoto whispered, “Jeremiah.”

End Notes: What a shocker! Bet you didn't see that coming!

To explain, what's happened in this chapter is actually a prelude to the final arc of this series. Lena Luthor will play an important role in that arc as one of the main antagonists to not just the Titans, but the entire hero community. Her meta-gene experimentation will also be an important part of the final arc.

The Steel that appeared in this chapter is John Henry Irons II, the son of Natasha Irons, niece to John Henry Irons, who is the Steel of DC comic and animated canon. In case you don't know, John Henry Irons was inspired to become Steel after Superman saved his life. During the time Superman was dead (way back in 1993, give or take a year), Irons donned a suit of armor and fought crime in Metropolis, being dubbed by the media as “The Man of Steel.” When Superman came back, he dubbed Irons “Steel.”

(Note that John Henry Irons II is my creation.)

Steel's mini-rant about brothers and cockroaches was inspired by a similar tirade from Nighthawk in Marvel's newest incarnation of Squadron Supreme, which is essentially a pastiche of the Justice League. Nighthawk, as you may have guessed from the name, is a Batman pastiche: what Batman might have been like if he was African-American and his parents were killed as the result of a hate crime.

As for Phoebus, the look and powers came from Kingdom Come but his identity came from me.

As I explained in an earlier story that referenced Lena Luthor, she is not an OC, but Lex Luthor's daughter from the late 90s Superman comics and who has not been seen since an arc involving Brainiac 13. It's a long and complex story that I don't recall all the details to, so I'm not gonna bother telling it to you.

Anyway, you're free to tell me what you thought of this story. It's my first piece in which Inferno is the main character, so Duncan McGregor, I hope you like it.