Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

After Roy returned to Titan Tower after helping Team Arrow, he made his way to the lounge where he found most of the team was already there, since that was where they hung out during their off time.

Dick, Kory and Dawn were currently playing pool while Gar was on the couch, playing video games with a new kid that Roy didn't recognize, but he looked like he was part machine. The only ones he didn't see were Courtney, Rachel and Nova.

"Hey guys." Roy said.

"Hey Roy, welcome back. How did things go in Star City?" Dick asked as he took a break from the pool game to go greet his teammate.

"Things went well, all things considered, but who's the new guy?" Roy asked.

"Roy, meet our newest teammate from Central City, Victor Stone." Dick said as Victor paused the game and got up to meet Roy.

"You can call me Vic or when we're in the field, call me Cyborg." Victor said as Roy shook his hand.

"Roy Harper codenamed Arsenal. Nice to meet you and it'll be nice to have some extra firepower in the field." Roy said.

"Thanks, I think." Vic said as he went to return to his game with Gar.

"Where's Courtney, Rachel and Nova?" Roy asked Dick.

"Nova got called away to help Team Flash with something in Central City and Courtney and Rachel are in Civic City, helping Courtney's father and stepfather pack up the old JSA headquarters to transfer the really dangerous artifacts the JSA collected from their enemies from there to the Hall of Justice where the Justice League will then transport them to the Watchtower for safekeeping." Dick answered.

"How's Courtney feeling about having her dad back?" Roy asked.

"She's loving every second of it. Since her mom gave Sylvester custody, she even moved out of the Tower to get a place with her dad and she's even enrolled in high school now." Kory added.

"And once you get me one of those image inducer thingies, I'd like to do that too, so that I can get some kind of normal life back." Victor said.

"We've got them coming for you, Gar and Rachel, though Rachel's is just to hide the gem that contains her demon dad on her forehead. But I do think it's a good idea for all of you to try and get a normal life. Especially Gar and Rachel, who've never really had normal lives. Gar not since he got his powers and I don't think Rachel's ever been able to live a normal life. But now she can. And Roy, I think you should consider applying to college." Dick said.

"Not happening. I'm fine being a full time Titan." Roy said and Dick rolled his eyes.

"I figured as much, but also thought I should try, but since you're 19 now, I can't convince you otherwise." Dick said.

Meanwhile, in Civic City, Courtney and Rachel were helping Courtney's father and stepfather go through everything in the old JSA headquarters.

"I can't believe you're closing this place down. It's amazing." Rachel said to Sylvester, who chuckled as he looked around the building.

"Yeah, the old clubhouse sure was impressive back in the day. It brings back a lot of memories of the good old days." Sylvester said.

"So then why are you retiring it?" Courtney asked her father.

"It's a relic from a different era. Just like Pat and I. And it's time to let it go for the future." Sylvester said as he finished packing up another box.

"But still, turn it into a museum like the Justice League did with the Hall of Justice or something." Rachel said.

"Trust me, I'm considering it. But it also contains memories of all the old friends we lost that day." Sylvester said.

"I should've been there with you." Pat said, but Sylvester shook his head.

"No Pat, if you'd been there, you would've died with the rest of the JSA." Sylvester said.

"What happened to the JSA? After all, based on the stories we heard, the JSA fought the ISA plenty of times before and always won. So what changed?" Courtney asked, right as Rachel picked up a small black box, which Sylvester quickly grabbed from her.

"This is what happened." Sylvester said.

"I can sense a very dark and evil power in that box. A power similar to the one imprisoned in the gem in my forehead." Rachel said.

"That's because it is. This box contains the Black Diamond. And imprisoned inside the diamond is a demon called Eclipso and he's one of the most powerful and dangerous enemies the JSA ever fought. And he broke us." Sylvester said.

"What do you mean?" Courtney asked as Sylvester sighed.

"It was a few years after you were born Courtney. The black diamond was originally found by an explorer named Bruce Gordon, who at the time had no idea what he'd found. The second he touched the gem, he was corrupted by Eclipso, who made him his host. Eclipso terrorized the world until the JSA confronted him and every time we fought him, we barely managed to escape with our lives. And then Eclipso killed Dr. Mid-Nite's daughter and the JSA swore that we'd do whatever it took to stop him. Especially after Eclipso threatened the rest of our families. We were scared and desperate. And we were told by the Shade no less, that the only way to stop Eclipso was to kill the host, which would force him back into the diamond." Sylvester said.

"You killed Bruce Gordon?" Courtney asked her father in shock.

"The JSA debated about it for a long time, but it ultimately came to a vote and enough people voted for it." Pat said.

"How did you two vote?" Courtney asked.

"I was only given a vote because they needed to have an odd number of people at the time and I voted no immediately." Pat said as Courtney looked at her dad.

"Courtney, I wanted to vote no more than anything, to find another way, but Eclipso threatened you and I knew that I'd have to choose between Bruce Gordon's life and yours. I'm not trying to justify what I did, but I voted yes. And I've regretted ever since, since the JSA was never the same after that. Something inside us broke and we never tried to fix it. Instead, we broke up and only came back together when the ISA became too great of a threat not to respond to. But we weren't the same team we were before. We didn't trust each other anymore. And that's why we lost in the end. The ISA didn't kill us. We killed ourselves when we chose to cross that line. And those of us who survived swore to never let that diamond be used again." Pat said.

Chapter Text

Before they could finish packing up the JSA headquarters, Courtney and Rachel were summoned back to Titan Tower for an urgent mission and since Courtney needed some time away from her father digest what she'd learned, Rachel took her back with ease and they appeared in the debriefing room, where Dick, Kory, Roy, Garfield, Victor, Dawn and Ryan were waiting.

"Welcome back. How was Civic City?" Dick asked as they took their seats.

"I don't want to talk about it right now. What's the mission?" Courtney asked, getting them back on topic.

"Our old friend Gizmo is back in town." Dick said.

"Seriously? You'd think he'd have learned his lesson about coming here considering every time he does, we clean his clock." Garfield said.

"Gizmo might be a genius, but he's a stupid criminal and stupid criminals never learn when to step down and stop swinging. At least in this city." Dick said.

"Where's our intel coming from?" Victor asked.

"An old friend of mine has been tracking him all the way from Freeland. Thunder." Dawn said.

"Isn't Thunder to Black Lightning what Dick is to Batman? The original sidekick who went solo." Roy asked.

"Except Anissa is still a member of Black Lightning's team while I'm an on-call ally to Batman. Anissa's also a former Titan who can't let go of an old grudge against me, despite the fact that it's been five years and both Dawn and Mari have put it behind us." Dick said.

"What did happen with the original Titans? From what I heard, you guys were pretty tight." Roy asked.

"A mission went bad and we lost a teammate." Dick admitted.

"You might as well tell us the full story, since keeping it from us will only end badly in the end." Courtney said, still reeling from what she'd learned about her father and his team.

"It started with him." Dawn said, pointing to the Hawk suit, which was on a display as a memorial.

"Your partner Hawk?" Garfield asked.

"The two of us, Dick, Mari and Anissa, we were the original Titans. It originally started out as Dick and Anissa, the two sidekicks wanting to break out on their own. Robin and Thunder. Then they recruited Mari, Hank and I." Dawn said.

"I actually tried to recruit Kara back in the day too." Dick said.

"Wait, you tried to recruit the leader of the Justice League to join the Titans?" Courtney asked.

"It was back when we were all teenagers when she first landed on Earth. Batman and Superman thought it would be a good idea to introduce us to each other and we became friends. But Kara wasn't ready to put on a cape yet. So I didn't push it. And instead she waited until she could become her own hero away from being Superman's cousin and now she's the leader and founding member of the Justice League." Dick said.

"Anyways, back then, one of our biggest enemies was a psychopath named Brother Blood. We never found out his real identity, but he was one of the biggest threats this city had ever faced. He had a cult of followers that was trying to take over the city and he nearly succeeded. It took everything we had to stop him and even so, it wasn't without paying a price." Dawn said.

"We sent Hawk in to infiltrate Blood's cult. He got us even further than we expected to get. But things went south. Quickly. We managed to cripple Blood's organization, but in the process, Hawk was killed, taking the attack that was meant for me. Blood got away and the Titans were never the same after that." Dick said.

"Dick blamed himself and we eventually fell apart." Dawn said.

"Kind of sounds like what happened to the JSA. They crossed one line and it destroyed them." Courtney said before she could stop herself.

"What happened there?" Garfield asked.

"I'll tell you after we get the mission over with. Speaking of which, let's get back on topic." Courtney said.

"Right. Sorry about that. But anyways, according to Thunder, Gizmo is looking to break into Dayton Labs." Dick said.

"Dayton Labs. That place is pretty cutting edge in terms of biological research and technology. Including biochemical weapons. Who knows what Gizmo is after." Ryan said.

"Well, whatever it is, we're not gonna let him get his hands on it. Titans, suit up and move out. Thunder has agreed to meet us there. And Dawn, you'll be working with her, since you're the only one who I know will get along with her." Dick said and Dawn said.

"You heard the man. Titans, go." Kory said as Rachel used her magic to change into her Raven outfit, Courtney summoned her staff and with a flash of bright light, she was dressed as Stargirl, Kory herself ignited in ball of green fire that replaced her clothes with her Starfire outfit, Garfield transformed into his signature tiger form before changing back to human, now wearing his Beast Boy outfit, Victor just shut down his image inducer to reveal the form of Cyborg while Dawn spoke the word Dove and suddenly she was dressed in her Dove costume while Roy and Dick used the watches their mentors had given them to suit up as Arsenal and Nightwing respectively.

"Titans, let's move out." Nightwing said as they headed for the garage. Well those of them who needed a bike to move did, since Starfire, Raven, Stargirl, Dove and Cyborg could all fly while Beast Boy could do so by turning into a hawk.

Chapter Text

"You're in my spot." Nightwing said as he walked on the rooftop across from Dayton Labs to find someone else standing there.

"And what makes you think I give a damn about that." Anissa Pierce, aka Thunder, said as she turned to face him.

"New suit?" Nightwing asked, since the last time he'd seen Thunder, she was wearing yellow and black, but now her suit was a bright purple.

"I could say the same thing to you. Last time I saw you, you were wearing red with a cape." Thunder said.

"I grew up. Decided it was time to let someone else be the boy wonder." Nightwing said.

"Can we please cut the crap? This game is boring and I really just want to finish my mission and go home." Thunder said.

"How much longer are you going to blame me for Hawk? Dove and Vixen both forgave me and Dove even rejoined the team." Nightwing said.

"I still can't believe she did that. Hawk's death was your fault." Thunder said and Nightwing sighed.

"Why don't we put this on hold until after we've finished kicking Gizmo's ass." Dove asked as she landed beside them, giving Thunder a look, since she was on Nightwing's side in this argument.

"Fine." Thunder said as she jumped off the roof.

"She still has a flair for the dramatic." Nightwing said.

"Like you're one to talk. Your family is known for dramatics." Dove said as they both leaped into action too.

"Finally, I have my hands on the Clench virus." Gizmo said as he removed a vial from a biohazard containment case it was being stored in and loaded it into his gauntlets before he and his troops began to move out, only for one of them to be hit in the helmet by an electrified baton that spun back to its owner, Nightwing, who whistled, causing Gizmo and his men to group together in a bit of fear.

"Shit, not again." Gizmo said as Nightwing jumped down from his perch.

"You shouldn't take things that don't belong to you Gizmo. Especially when they're dangerous. And you should know by now not to mess with my town." Nightwing said.

"In case you haven't noticed, you're outnumbered. My men control the building." Gizmo said proudly, only for Nightwing to smirk.

"Me against people who work for you. I like those odds. Besides, you really think I'd come alone?" Nightwing asked, right as a green energy blast took out a few troops that were attempting to sneak up on him as Starfire dropped from the sky.

"Nice entrance line." Starfire said.

"Whoever kills them and any other Titans around gets paid double what I promised." Gizmo said as his guys, who began charging at them, only to be taken out by Arsenal's arrows as he ziplined in.

"How many of you Titans are there?" Gizmo asked.

"More than you can handle short stuff." Arsenal said with a smirk.

At a different part of the facility, Stargirl and Raven were tagteaming some of Gizmo's men, their light and darkness working in unison.

"These guys are lightweights." Stargirl said as she tossed her staff at a few at a few of Gizmo's thugs while Raven used her darkness tendrils to toss a few more aside as the staff returned to Stargirl's hand.

"Hey, they're tougher than the thugs we put away last week." Raven said.

"True, but not a real challenge." Stargirl said and Raven nodded, since that was true as they continued fighting, working like a flawless team. It was strange. You wouldn't think that two polar opposites, darkness and light could work so well together, but somehow, Raven and Stargirl made it work, since if anything, they made each other stronger.

"This is fun." Cyborg said as he flew around the perimeter, firing sonic blasts at all of Gizmo's men, allowing the Titans to control the perimeter.

Especially with Beast Boy being a one man or rather, gorilla, army, charging around the building and stomping anyone who did escape Cyborg's blasts.

"We should get a super here." Beast Boy said, since he could still talk in his animal form.

"Why? We're doing just fine here." Cyborg told him as they continued the fight.

"I know, but a super would make this go by even faster, not to mention a wonder. I mean after all, we've already got a bat family member and an arrow family member, not to mention an occasional speedster, all we need now is a martian, a super and a wonder and we'll have our own version of the founding members of the Justice League." Beast Boy said as he continued his rampage.

"I think all of those are taken. And let's focus on the mission." Cyborg said.

"Right. Sorry." Beast Boy said as he got his head back in the game.

"It's nice to be working with you again." Dove said as she and Thunder fought more of Gizmo's troops side by side.

"I have to admit, I've missed this." Thunder admitted as she tossed a thug over her shoulder.

"Then rejoin the team. We all miss you. And you're literally the only person who's still holding onto that grudge." Dove said as she tossed some feather darts at some of the oncoming shooters.

"Nightwing got Hawk killed." Thunder said.

"It was an accident and Hawk knew the risks." Dove said as Thunder sent out a shockwave.

"It's still Nightwing's fault." Thunder said.

"That was five years ago. If I can forgive him, so can you. Besides, you'll never get on the Justice League until you let go of the past and start thinking about the future." Dove said.

"Who says I want to be in the League?" Thunder said as she tossed a guy over her shoulder as they wrapped things up.

"I swear, that was even easier than usual." Arsenal said to his teammates, who nodded.

"I don't like it. It's almost too easy." Nightwing said suspiciously as they watched the police take Gizmo into custody, right as Stargirl landed next to them.

"And I think I know why." Stargirl said and they saw she had her phone out.

"What's going on?" Starfire asked.

"I just got a text from Pat, he and my dad were jumped after Raven and I left to help with this. Thankfully Pat managed to call in STRIPE before they could get too badly hurt, but something was taken." Stargirl said.

"Go, help your father. From what I know, a lot of the JSA stuff there is dangerous. I'll have the Justice League finish the transfer. Bring them back to the Tower, since we need to know what was taken." Nightwing said and Stargirl nodded as she used her staff to fly away, none of them aware of the girl who'd been watching them from the shadows, shaking her head before looking down at the glowing green ring that looked like an old lantern, unlike the rings used by the Justice League Green Lanterns.

"Why did you bring me here?" the girl asked, right as the ring glowed green before dragging her into the sky after Stargirl.

Chapter Text

When the rest of the Titans returned to the Tower, they found Courtney waiting for them in the lounge with her father and Pat.

"Courtney, Mr. Pemberton, Mr. Dugan, is everything okay?" Dick asked.

"No, everything is not okay." Pat said.

"I'm assuming this has to do with what was stolen from the JSA headquarters?" Dick asked.

"It was the Black Diamond." Sylvester said, a haunted look on his face.

"The what?" Kory asked.

"The Black Diamond. It's like the gem on Raven's forehead." Sylvester said.

"Thanks for that, dear old dad heard you mention him and now he's yelling." Rachel said as the gem on her forehead glowed.

"Sorry, but just like how that gem contains Trigon, the Black Diamond contains a demon almost as bad, Eclipso. The demon who tore the JSA apart. After Eclipso was defeated, he was forced back into the diamond, which we stored at the JSA headquarters, until it was stolen today." Sylvester said.

"Batman had a file about the JSA, but if he knew what caused the breakup, he never told me." Dick said.

"The JSA killed a man in cold blood in order to stop him." Courtney said bluntly.

"That would do it." Dick agreed.

"Anyways, that diamond is too dangerous to be out in the world. It corrupts anyone who touches it and it's only a matter of time until it's used to free Eclipso from it." Sylvester said.

"Though honestly, if he's out of the diamond, that's probably when he's his most vulnerable." Pat said.

"What do you mean?" Garfield asked.

"Because without the diamond or a human host, he has nothing to serve as a shield." Pat said.

"True, but that means that he most likely has plans to find a host. One who's stronger than his last one. Which is why I'm stepping up Courtney's training." Sylvester said.

"What, why?" Courtney asked.

"Because Eclipso is a being of darkness and there's only one thing that can injure darkness." Sylvester said.

"Light. Just like how Courtney's able to calm my demon side when I lose control." Rachel said.

"Exactly. That's how I was able to force Eclipso back into diamond last time. The staff's light power was the only thing that could counter his darkness. But Courtney is even stronger, since she doesn't need to just rely on the staff, since she has the power of the star force in her. But you need to learn how to use that power before Eclipso is able to achieve his full strength." Sylvester said.

"Was anyone else able to injure Eclipso at all?" Dick asked, wondering if there were any other weaknesses they should try to exploit.

"Green Lantern seemed to be able to do some damage, since his ring and lantern channeled a kind of light too, but it wasn't as strong as the staff. And before you ask, the lantern battery he used is still at JSA headquarters, but his ring has been unaccounted for since Alan died. The only reason I haven't tried to search for it is because the ring is useless without its power battery and the battery is useless without the ring, since the ring requires a recharge every 24 hours." Pat said.

"We need to try to track it down." Dick said.

"We should also try to track down the former ISA member the Shade." Sylvester said.

"Why would we want anything to do with him?" Courtney asked.

"The Shade was different from the other members of the ISA. Besides, he's dealt with Eclipso before and he gave the JSA intel to stop him before. Maybe he's learned something new since then." Sylvester said.

"Still." Courtney said.

"Courtney, I know you're still pissed at me about what the JSA did to Bruce Gordon, but trust that I want to make sure that history doesn't repeat itself." Sylvester said.

"Fine. But the Shade, like most of the ISA have been offgrid for years. The only ones we know are active are Sportsmaster and Solomon Grundy and Tigress is in prison. All the others haven't resurfaced in years." Courtney pointed out.

"I'll ask Batman to make hunting down the Shade a priority for the Justice League. Along with searching for Green Lantern's ring, since somehow I don't think that the two lanterns in the league would qualify the same way as this Lantern's ring does." Dick said.

"We should also try to track down the Thunderbolt, since it vanished when Johnny Thunder died and it's a powerful weapon that's dangerous in the wrong hands." Pat said.

"Well, you don't have to look very far for Green Lantern's ring." a new girl's voice said and they turned to see a teenage girl standing outside the room, wearing a glowing green ring, that both Pat and Sylvester recognized.

"Is that what I think it is?" Sylvester asked.

"If you think it's the ring Alan Scott, also known as the JSA member Green Lantern, wore, yes it is. My name is Jennie Lynn-Hayden." Jennie said.

"Where did you get that?" Pat asked.

"It was my father's. I only received it a few weeks ago when I turned 18 and as soon as I put it on, the ring suddenly came to life and flew me here. I really have no control over what it does." Jennie said.

"We can teach you to control the ring. Especially since you'll need it. But I'm surprised it's lasted so long without being in contact with the power battery." Sylvester said.

"We'll run tests to see if we can figure out what's going on before we bring Jennie into contact with the lantern, since it could cause problems otherwise." Dick said.

Chapter Text

"What exactly are you doing?" Garfield asked Raven when he walked into the library to find her hovering in the air, the gem on her forehead glowing brightly.

"Trying to get information about Eclipso from dear old dad, since like Eclipso, Trigon isn't your typical demon." Rachel said as she came out of her trance and landed on the ground.

"What do you mean? Aren't all demons the same?" Garfield asked.

"No. I mean, most demons are actually the souls of humans that were twisted and corrupted after they were sent to hell and are turned into demons by the Devil and other higher up demons, but entities like Eclipso and Trigon, they're different. They're primordial and other dimensional evils. They were never human to begin with. They're like alien demons. Creatures of evil from other worlds with no humanity in them. And since I'm sure that dear old dad would likely be keeping tabs on the competition in the evil demon trying to conquer the world department, I'm hoping he might have some information that we can use to take Eclipso down, or at least figure out what he's up to. But dad won't budge. At least not without something in return and there's no way I'd ever agree to what he wants." Rachel said.

"Let me guess, his freedom?" Garfield asked.

"Pretty much. And we already have one demon to deal with, I don't think adding a second one is a good idea. Letting Trigon out of his cage is considered an extremely last resort. As in, no other options, the world is already destroyed, so there's not much left for Trigon to rule, but it can spare other worlds the same fate." Rachel said.

"There's gotta be some way you can convince him to help us. I mean after all, if Eclipso takes over the world, that means Trigon won't be able to." Garfield said.

"I've tried making that argument, but demons are nothing if not stubborn assholes. But I'm gonna keep trying, but do me a favor and see if you can pull Courtney away from testing Jennie. Sometimes dad's more cooperative after I've exposed him to Courtney's sparkling personality. It not only helps me stay in control of my demon side, but also causes Trigon a certain degree of pain, which I find enjoyable." Rachel said.

"I'll see what I can do." Garfield said, right as Courtney and Dick entered the library.

"Did I hear my name?" Courtney asked.

"Think you can help me convince my dad to cooperate?" Rachel asked.

"I'm always happy to make him unhappy. Especially since I've been practicing using my star force powers without the staff. Generating light to persuade Trigon is easy enough. The rest of you might want to shield your eyes though." Courtney said as her eyes glowed a bright golden yellow before her right hand did the same as she placed on Rachel's forehead gem and Rachel could feel Trigon's recoil at the pure goodness of her light.

"All you have to do to stop it is tell me everything you know about Eclipso." Rachel said.

"Speaking of which, is Cyborg back with the old JSA files on Eclipso, since that could be helpful too?" Garfield asked Dick, since they'd sent Cyborg to the old JSA headquarters to not only boom tube the remaining artifacts to the Hall of Justice, but also to download all the old files from the JSA on Eclipso.

"He's back, but he's still working on the decryption for it. He's actually enlisted a pair of Dr. Midnite's goggles to help access them." Dick said.

"Between that and dad and Pat's own personal experience with Eclipso, maybe we can figure out what he's planning. But what I'm trying to figure out is how they knew where the black diamond was in the first place." Courtney said.

"Not to mention I don't think it's a coincidence that Gizmo just happened to attack at the very same time whoever was responsible for the theft struck. That's why I have Dawn and Kory down at the precinct, trying to help with interrogation." Dick said.

"I don't like how many unknowns there are with Eclipso." Courtney said.

"Neither do I. Which is why we're trying to reduce them however we can. But that takes time." Dick said.

"Maybe not as much time as you think." Pat said as he entered the library with Jennie.

"What do you mean?" Dick asked.

"There's someone else out there with more firsthand knowledge of Eclipso. The Shade, since he draws his powers from the same place Eclipso comes from. The Shadowlands. If we can find him, maybe we can get some intel from him." Pat said.

"But how do we do that?" Garfield asked as Courtney finished showing Trigon the light.

"Dad actually has an idea." Rachel said.

"He always has something to say after I talk to him." Courtney said.

"What's his idea?" Dick asked

"We need to find Jennie's brother Todd first." Rachel said.

"Not that I'm complaining, since it was my hunt for Todd that led me to dad's ring in the first place, but why is your demon dad saying we need to find him?" Jennie asked, since she'd been searching for her brother for two years before she'd been forced to take this detour.

"Because it sounds like you and Todd are kind of similar to me and Courtney in a way. You and Courtney are light while Todd and I are darkness." Rachel said.

"The same balancing effect Courtney has on you." Dick said and Rachel nodded.

"Except Todd should be able to access the same Shadowlands as the Shade and Eclipso. Which means we can use him to track down the Shade and maybe even get another advantage over Eclipso." Rachel said.

"Makes sense. But how do we find him? I've been trying for two years with no luck." Jennie said.

"Well, you didn't have the ring before. If you have something with a strong enough scent on it for lack of a better word, you can use the ring to track your brother like a bloodhound." Pat said.

"I might have something." Jennie said before rushing out of the room.

Chapter Text

Rather than heading back to Freeland now that Gizmo was locked up, Anissa decided to hang around in Bludhaven for a little while longer, though she was avoiding the Tower. Which was probably stupid considering that for years she'd called it home. But no matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't let go of the past. She couldn't let what happened to Hank go.

Which was why she was currently standing in a cemetery in Bludhaven, standing over a grave that read Hank Hall.

"Miss you Hank. Things haven't been the same without you. I haven't been the same since we lost you. Dick reformed the Titans and just like before, Dawn followed him right into the line of fire. Mari's busy working with an even bigger team that makes what we did look like nothing. The Justice League. My dad's a member of it. And there's nothing I'd like more to work with him and Mari and all the other greats like Superman, but neither of them will give me a chance and I know why. Because while everyone else is living in the present, I am still stuck in the night we lost you. Which makes being here even harder. I know what happened wasn't Dick's fault, but I can't change how I feel, seeing what your death did to us." Anissa said.

"And it haunts me everyday, Anissa." Dick said as he walked up behind her.

"How'd you know I was here?" Anissa asked, even though they both knew that was a stupid question.

"I don't need to be a detective to know you, Anissa. We were friends. And I know that you never come here without visiting Hank." Dick said.

"Have you ever come to see him?" Anissa asked.

"At least once a week. It used to be a reminder of why I said I'd never give the Titans another shot." Dick said.

"And now." Anissa asked.

"Now all I think about is what Hank would say if he knew we threw in the towel because of him." Dick said and they both couldn't help but laugh at that.

"He'd tell us to grow the hell up. He's a grown ass man who knew the risks and doesn't regret what happened." Anissa said.

"After giving me a noogie and calling all of us quitters." Dick said.

"He really was the heart of the team." Anissa said.

"Which is probably why we fell apart when we lost him. Though now that I think about it, he'd be pissed about that." Dick said.

"True." Anissa said as she sniffed a bit trying to wipe away tears as good memories from her life as a Titan slipped through the cracks of the walls she'd built.

"You okay?" Dick asked.

"I've been angry for so long, it's exhausting, but at the same time I don't know how to stop being angry." Anissa said.

"I know a bit about that. It's how I felt after my parents were killed. I think that's part of why Batman took me in. He saw my rage and wanted to help me find a way to channel it." Dick said.

"And I'd say he did a good job with that, considering what you became. Definitely the golden son. The only one of his kids who ranks the same as you is your sister the Huntress." Anissa said and Dick chuckled.

"I think the current Robin could get there, but the Red Hood is definitely the black sheep of the Bat family." Dick admitted.

"Maybe someday Jason will find his way back." Anissa said.

"I hope so." Dick said.

"Dick, focus on all the good you've done. A lot of people are alive because of what you started." Anissa said.

"Because of what we all started together. And maybe it's time for you to come home." Dick said.

"I thought my home was in Freeland. That if I ran back there and more importantly, away from here, I could run away from the pain of what happened, but I was wrong. And I'm tired of holding a grudge over something that seems silly now." Anissa said.

"Does that mean what I hope it means?" Dick asked.

"Thunder is back with the Titans. If you'll take me, that is." Anissa said and Dick smiled.

"Of course we do. Welcome back Anissa." Dick said as Anissa actually hugged them, neither aware of the evil force that was watching over them.

"She's conquered her darkness and is no longer a suitable anchor for our master." a hooded figure said to another from where they were lurking in the shadows.

"True. But she was a long shot anyways. Besides, I believe we may have found a more suitable anchor. One filled with even more rage and darkness than Thunder. The perfect instrument to bring our master back to this world. We have plans to make." the other hooded figure said and the first one nodded as they took their leave.

Chapter Text

"Well, look who's back." Dawn said with a smile when Dick returned to the Tower with Anissa in tow.

"Yeah, yeah. Save the I told you so. I finally let go of the past, since I know Hank would kill me for using him as an excuse to be angry. That was more his thing anyways." Anissa said and Dick smiled.

"Welcome back to the Titans Anissa. Does your dad know?" Dawn asked.

"I called him on the way here and he gave me his blessing. Besides, he's become a mentor to my sister Lightning, along with Firestorm and two new kids. Geo-Force and Static." Anissa said.

"Wait, isn't Geo-Force's real name Brion Markov, one of the princes of Markovia?" Kory asked and Anissa nodded.

"I'm sure you all saw what happened in Markovia on the news." Anissa said.

"You mean how the Queen's brother Baron Bedlam staged a military coup that resulted in the deaths of most of the royal family. As far as we know, the only survivors were Brion himself and his younger sister Princess Tara Markov, but that's only because she was kidnapped over a year ago and we have no idea where she is." Dick said.

"How did Brion escape?" Garfield asked what they were all wondering.

"The royal guards that weren't loyal to Baron Bedlam helped him escape and the League provided an extraction, since they've been keeping tabs on Markovia since my dad discovered the existence of an old defunct government agency called the ASA that was shut down years ago. Long story. But they got Brion out of Markovia and relocated him to Freeland under the name Brandon Marshall. And I shouldn't even be telling you this." Anissa said.

"We won't say a word. But we will keep an eye out for Princess Tara. Well, once Eclipso is dealt with that is, since he's still the priority." Dick said and Anissa nodded.

"Thanks for bringing me up to speed on that. I'm happy to help you out however I can." Anissa said.

"Good. Because we need all the help we can get. Though fighting Eclipso is going to be difficult, since according to the files we recovered from the JSA files and both Sylvester and Pat's personal experience, since Eclipso is a being of darkness, the only thing that can hurt him is light. Specifically the light of staff Courtney uses and to a slightly lesser degree, the light of Jennie's ring. But it seems that the Starforce is the only thing that can truly injure him." Dick said.

"Which is how my dad was able to force Eclipso back into the diamond after killing his host last time. Though I'd like to find another way to stop him that doesn't involve crossing that line." Courtney said, since she'd been raised to believe that murder, no matter how much the person deserved it, was wrong.

"The only reason they had to resort to murder is because Eclipso was in a host, acting as a shield. Ironically, freeing him from the diamond might provide us with our best chance to defeat him. For good." Rachel said.

"What do you mean?" Courtney asked.

"If Eclipso is freed from the diamond without a host body, that's probably when he's at his most vulnerable, since he won't have the diamond or a host to shield him. He's powerful in his true demon form, but he's also vulnerable." Rachel said.

"The only question is, who would want to release Eclipso?" Garfield asked.

"Every demon, no matter their origin, who's interacted with Earth gathers a cult of followers to carry out their bidding. My father had two. The Church of Blood and the Organization." Rachel said.

"Wait, the Church of Blood worships Trigon?" Dick asked as he, Anissa and Dawn exchanged looks.

"Yeah, why?" Rachel asked.

"The original titans fought the Church of Blood back in the day, particularly their leader, Brother Blood. And this suddenly answers a lot of questions we had about them. Particularly what their endgame was." Dick said.

"Trying to bring dear old dad to Earth. But if Blood could do that himself, he would've done it by now." Rachel said.

"So what's he waiting for?" Kory asked.

"I trapped Trigon years ago, before Blood became what he is now. Which means that he can't open the door to Trigon's prison without me. But can we please focus on the current demon, Eclipso. He must have a cult of followers of his own. But that still leaves several unanswered questions. Like how they knew where the diamond was." Rachel said.

"Hopefully the Shade will give us answers to that question. Once we find him." Dick said, deciding to put the Trigon matter on the backburner for now. But they would be returning to it.

Chapter Text

"Has the target been located?" the leader of Eclipso's cult, the Cult of Shadows, asked one of his subordinates.

"Yes. After years of searching, we've finally found a suitable subject who can free our lord and master from his prison. And no, it's not Richard Swift, that accursed Shade who betrayed our order decades ago. Fortunately, we found someone else with the same powers, but younger and easier to manipulate. A boy. And the irony is according to our information, he is the son of none other than one of our master's old enemies, the original Green Lantern, only he possesses the power of shadows, not light. He is lonely and isolated, shunned by society for his gifts and for where his heart lies. He will easily bend to our needs. Provided we can get to him before his twin sister, who does possess the light of their father and who has found her way to the daughter of none other than Starman himself and the Titans. If they're able to get him on their side, then the ritual won't work, since it calls for someone with a connection to the Shadowlands to release our master from the diamond for good." the subordinate said.

"Do we know where the boy is?" the cult leader asked.

"That's the best part. Our intel comes from one of our establishments, the Helix Institute in Civic City." the cult member said and their leader grinned.

"So he's already in our grasp?" the leader asked.

"Yes. Bones and Love think that they're helping him and their other patients, when in reality, all they're doing is cultivating potential recruits for us. But I never imagined that they'd reel in someone as valuable as Todd Rice. The key to bringing our master back." the cult member said.

"Then let's go to Civic City to grant Todd Rice his freedom and gain his allegiance to freeing our master. Once he's done that, well, that will depend on what our master decrees." the leader said.

"Yes sir. Soon our master will return to his rightful place as the master of this world." the acolyte said.

"Yes, but we must act quickly, since we only have a few weeks left until Halloween, when the ritual must take place." the leader said.

"Wait, we have until Halloween to stop this cult from releasing Eclipso?" Stargirl asked as the Titans gathered in the meeting room to listen to new information about Eclipso from an unexpected source. None other than Richard Swift, the Shade himself, who'd shown up at their doorstep to offer his knowledge of the demon.

"That is correct." Shade said.

"Makes sense. According to all the research Batman has done, the barriers between mystic realms are weakest on Halloween, there's a reason it's called the scariest day of the year." Nightwing said and Shade nodded.

"It's true. Halloween has long since been a day of darkness and mystery. While nowadays it's been reduced to a favored children's holiday, it is still a day to be cautious. Back in my day, it was a day of fear and unrest, since it was the day when Earth was most vulnerable to demon attacks." the Shade said.

"He's right. Trigon is always strongest on Halloween and it requires extra willpower for me to keep him contained inside this gem." Raven said.

"How would the cult bring Eclipso here?" Jenni asked, since while she wasn't an official member of the Titans, due to the fact that we was working with them and her ring was one of the few weapons that could hurt Eclipso, she'd been invited to sit in on this meeting, and so had Pat and Sylvester, due to the fact that they'd both had previous dealings with the Shade and wanted to keep an eye on him, since they hadn't forgotten how he'd killed Dr. Midnite years ago.

"The same thing Trigon would need to come here. Just as Trigon requires Raven to enter this world, Eclipso would need the power of a mortal from this world with a connection to the Shadowlands." Shade said.

"But he didn't have one last time. He used Bruce Gordon as a host." Sylvester remembered.

"Yes, but the diamond was still able to contain him after Gordon was killed, since without a host, Eclipso could maintain a presence outside the diamond that he is bound to. But if he is summoned to Earth using the ritual and a human with powers like mine, then he will be truly free of the diamond for good." Shade said.

"So they'll come after you?" Pat asked.

"Yes, which is one of the reasons I'm here. For your protection. But there is another they could use. Another child of shadows whose power could surpass my own." Shade said.

"Who?" Jenni asked.

"The darkness to your light. Your brother Todd. Even from here, I can sense his growing power through the Shadowlands. If the cult were to recruit him, he would be a dangerous weapon to them and provide the key to Eclipso's return." Shade said.

"Then finding him just became our highest priority." Nightwing said.

Chapter Text

"Have you found him yet?" Jennie asked the Shade for like the tenth time as he attempted to use the shadows to find Todd.

"It would be easier if you didn't keep interrupting me. Wherever Todd is, he's being bombarded with enough light to block him. At least temporarily. I need time to find him." the Shade said, annoyed as Rachel and Courtney joined them.

"Jennie, if you're going to join us, you need to look the part. So Dick had a suit made for you." Courtney said as she handed Courtney a case.

"Costumes aren't really my thing. Despite the ring I'm wearing." Jennie said.

"You have to wear something to protect your identity and this suit can provide you with more protection. Even supervillains wear costumes for concealment and protection. Right Shade." Courtney said.

"She's right. I don't just wear this outfit because I look fetching in it, I wear it because it does offer an additional degree of anonymity and protection." Shade confirmed.

"Fine." Jennie said as she walked out of the room to put the costume on.

"Thank you for getting rid of her. Her constant pacing and pestering was not making it any easier for me to locate her brother." Shade said.

"You can't blame her for being impatient, since she wants her brother back and this is the first real lead she's got." Courtney said.

"I understand that, but her impatience is making it harder for me to focus." the Shade said.

"Maybe I can give you a power boost. Add my darkness to your's." Rachel said as Jennie rejoined them, now wearing a white and green suit and mask that kind of resembled the modern day Green Lantern's costumes.

"As long as you can keep your father under control." Shade said.

"Don't worry, I'm on top of that." Courtney said, since she was already dressed as Stargirl and had her staff in hand.

"Then do it." Shade said and Rachel nodded as she shifted to her Raven form before beginning to feed the Shade her dark power to fuel his search for Todd Rice, while Courtney used her hand to generate enough starforce power to keep Trigon contained.

"It's working. I'm starting to lock on to Todd's position." Shade said, right before a huge shadow swallowed all four of them.

"What happened, where are we?" Jennie asked as when the shadow faded and they found themselves in some kind of world without color.

"It looks like an unintended consequence of you feeding me your power was that it caused the Shadowlands to briefly open and consume us." Shade said.

"Can you get us out of here?" Courtney asked, since for some reason, she was starting to feel sick, but she tried to shake it off.

"Yes, but the connection to Todd is stronger here." Shade said.

"Then let's keep moving so we can find him and save him." Jennie said, right as Rachel noticed Courtney's condition.

"Courtney, are you okay?" Rachel asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just feeling a little off, but I'll be fine. Let's get this done." Courtney said.

"No, you're not okay." a new voice said and they were all shocked when they saw someone else walk up to them.

"It can't be." Shade said.

"Shade, is that really you." the man said.

"Yes. I can't believe you're still alive." Shade said.

"Who is this guy?" Jennie asked, but both Courtney and Rachel recognized the costume the guy was wearing.

"Jennie, meet Dr. Charles McNider, aka, Doctor Midnite of the Justice Society of America. Who we all thought was killed by the Shade the night the JSA died." Courtney said as she actually began leaning on her staff like a crutch.

"I was actually trying to save Charles, but lost him in the shadows due to the chaos of that night. I am sorry Charles." Shade said.

"I forgive you, since you were trying to save my life. But bringing this girl here, whoever she is, was a mistake." Doctor Midnite said.

"What do you mean?" Rachel asked.

"According to my goggles, this girl's body is saturated with an energy that is the exact opposite of this place." Doctor Midnite.

"The starforce." Rachel said.

"Yes, well that energy is making the shadowlands toxic to this girl. She can't survive here for long." Doctor Midnite said.

"Then we need to get Courtney out of here now." Rachel said, only to have Jennie hold up her ring to stop them.

"No, we're not leaving without my brother." Jennie said.

"Jennie, we'll save him, but we have to think about Courtney's health." Rachel said, but Jennie wouldn't be reasoned with.

"Can we just get this over with before I pass out, since I can tell that what Dr. McNider said is true and I'm not sure how much longer I can hold out and since Jennie is too desperate to listen, so let's get this over with so that we can get out of here before I pass out." Courtney said, trying to play peacemaker while Rachel moved to help support her.

"Fine. But Jennie, I swear, if she doesn't make it because of you, Trigon and Eclipso will be the least of your worries." Rachel said, her gem momentarily glowing red before fading.

Before Jennie could respond, Shade perked up.

"I've got him." Shade said as he proceeded to hold up his hand to the shadows to open a portal and a few minutes later, a teenage boy was pulled into it.

"Where am I? What's going on?" the boy asked and Jennie immediately knew who he was.

"Todd, it's me Jennie. You're safe." Jennie said to her brother.

"Get us out of here now." Rachel barked at the Shade, who nodded, right as Courtney's strength gave out and she collapsed.

"Opening the door now." Shade quickly said as he brought them back to the real world, including Doctor Midnite and into the meeting room of Titans Tower, where the other Titans were waiting.

"Whoa, what happened?" Dick asked.

"Later, we need to get Courtney to the medical bay now." Rachel shouted, since Courtney had begun spasming a bit, but she was starting to stabilize a bit.

"Kori, get her to the medical bay, Vic, call Ryan in and get him here. Gar, check Caldur's research, see if there's anything here that can help her." Dick said, the titans immediately jumping into action.

After getting Courtney settled into the medical bay, all of the Titans, plus Courtney's family, gathered at her bedside, with Pat and Sylvester having a quick reunion with Charles, since now wasn't the time for that since he and Ryan were busy running tests on Courtney.

"What's wrong with her?" Barbara asked.

"She spent too much time in the Shadowlands." Rachel said, glaring at Jennie, not believing she had the nerve to show her face here.

"She shouldn't have been there at all. The Shadowlands are toxic to her." Sylvester said as he and Barbara moved to their daughter's side, though Rachel was already there and holding Courtney's hand.

"We should've left the moment she started showing signs." Rachel said, glaring at Jennie.

"I had to find my brother." Jennie attempted to defend her actions.

"And you didn't care that Courtney could die because of that." Rachel said.

"Jennie, the only reason I'm not throwing you out is because we need your ring to help fight Eclipso since Courtney is incapacitated." Dick said, since he understood Rachel's anger and honestly felt it himself.

"Will Courtney recover?" Barbara asked.

"Eventually yes, but there's no way of knowing how long that'll take, but she'll be comatose until she's recovered." Ryan said.

"We give her all the time she needs to recover and we'll do guard shifts to protect her." Dick said as Jennie left the room, feeling she was not welcomed there, going to check on her brother before she realized how badly she screwed up, since her single-minded determination to find Todd had nearly gotten Courtney killed and there was a chance that it might get her kicked out of the first real home she'd ever known.

And it was that thought in mind, she pressed her back against the wall and let a few tears drop.

Chapter Text

Ever since Courtney had gone into her coma, the Titans had been two members down, since in addition to her being confined to bed, Rachel refused to leave Courtney's side in the infirmary, only moving to let Dr. McNider and Ryan tend to her.

While Dick had offered Sylvester a temporary place in the Titans until Courtney recovered, but Sylvester refused, instead placing the staff in Courtney's hands, hoping that its additional starforce energy would help speed up her recovery and Dick couldn't argue with that, though he did ask Sylvester and Pat to help consult on Eclipso, along with the Shade, since Charles was busy tending to Courtney.

Shade had also been busy training Todd to use his new powers of the shadows and Todd had been invited to join the Titans, since they could use all the help they could get against Eclipso. Which was also why Jennie had been allowed to stay in the Tower, though she'd been refused membership, but with Courtney comatose and her staff being used to help heal her, Jennie's ring was the most powerful light based weapon they had to use against Eclipso, so her presence was tolerated, but not welcomed.

Rachel had been especially cold to Jennie, blaming her for putting her own selfish needs above Courtney's welfare and putting her in a coma. Even if Jennie hadn't done the deed herself, she was the reason Courtney was out of commission. And Jennie didn't blame Rachel in the slightest. Which was why she was sticking to the shadows, looking down at the ring on her finger. When she first got it, Jennie thought that she could be a hero like her father. Find her brother and save people. Become another Green Lantern. But thinking about her choices lately and their consequences, she couldn't help but wonder what her dad would say if he knew what she did. She'd been selfish, consumed by a personal desire, even if it was to find her brother, and it led to Courtney becoming comatose.

"I shouldn't be wearing this." Jennie said.

"It's your's though." Dick said as he walked up to her.

"Yeah, some great hero I'm turning out to be. I put a friend in a coma just so I could save my brother." Jennie said.

"There's nothing wrong about wanting to see your family again. Believe me, I know. If I had the chance to see my parents again, I'd take it. Regardless of the consequences." Dick said.

"I thought that heroes were supposed to be good, always make the right choice, be selfless and all that." Jennie said and Dick chuckled.

"Maybe in the comics and movies, but in reality, not so much. We do our best, but we still make mistakes, even those of us who aren't human. And being a hero isn't about doing the right every time. It's about always trying to help people and learning from our mistakes. I'm not saying that you shouldn't feel guilty for what happened to Courtney, because you should. But instead of throwing in the towel, find a way to earn redemption for what you did." Dick said.

"How? It's not like any of the Titans want me to stick around. Rachel especially can't even look at me without making me worry I'm gonna meet her father." Jennie said.

"Actually, I'm hoping that this incident will cause Rachel and Courtney to finally realize what everyone else sees between them, since she hasn't left Courtney's side since you got back from the Shadowlands." Dick said, since he'd actually been on his way back from bringing Rachel food when he'd spotted Jennie.

"Still, the only reason you tolerate me is because you think that my ring can be a weapon against Eclipso and anyone can wear it." Jennie said.

"But you're the one your father wanted to have the ring. And we're not going to dishonor his wishes by giving it to someone else. You can redeem yourself and become the hero you wanted to be. But you need to learn to control the ring's fire so that it doesn't control you. Time to stop feeling sorry for yourself and start trying to make things right." Dick said as he walked away, leaving Jennie to think about what he'd said.

Chapter Text

"Well, it's appropriate that today's Halloween, since we're all wearing costumes." Todd said as he and the Titans finished getting suited up, since he'd recently acquired a pitch black suit that covered his entire body and even had a cape while Jennie was now wearing a bright white suit with a green atom symbol on her chest, green sleeves and leggings that connected to white gloves and boots and she was wearing a green mask that looked like Green Lantern's mask.

"I still don't think she should be going." Rachel said, fully decked out in her Raven gear.

"I understand your concerns Rachel, but we don't have a choice. We need as much light firepower as possible and with Courtney incapacitated and Sylvester refusing to take the staff from her, Jennie's ring is the next best source of light we've got." Nightwing said.

"Please, let me make up for what happened. I was stupid and selfish and I made a mistake. Let me make up for it now." Jennie said.

"Rachel, we've all made mistakes. Everyone deserves a second chance." Starfire said.

"And if she's out, so am I." Todd said and Rachel sighed.

"Fine. One more chance. But you blow it, you'll be lucky if the Shadowlands is the place I send you." Rachel said as her gem glowed before she completed her shift to Raven while Cyborg booted up his cannons, Beast Boy turned into a tiger, Arsenal packed up his trick arrows, and Thunder and Dove were all suited up.

"We still don't know where we're going." Beast Boy said as he shifted back to human form.

"Raven, that's your department." Nightwing as Raven closed her eyes and focused, her gem glowing brightly.

"I can sense that with the walls between worlds weakening today and tonight, Eclipso's chance for freedom is coming. Especially since I can sense the coming of darkness." Raven said.

"She's not kidding. Look." Cyborg as he pointed out the window to show the sun darkening.

"An eclipse?" Starfire said.

"Not a natural one." Nightwing said, since this was too out of the blue. There's no way it was natural.

"He's right. I can sense a very dark magic at work. This is the cult's doing. Without Todd or Shade, they need another way to create enough darkness in the world to create a portal that Eclipso can use to enter our world without a host." Raven said.

"I can sense it through the shadows." Todd said.

"Can you get us to the epicenter, the source of the eclipse?" Nightwing asked.

"Maybe if Raven helped me. Especially since we'd need to be sure that Eclipso doesn't use me as an alternate door while we're in the shadows." Todd said.

"Agreed. That's the last thing we need." Raven said as she and Todd, or as he was now calling himself, Obsidian stood opposite each other and combined their literal dark powers to engulf them all in shadows.

When the shadows receded, the Titans found themselves in the middle of a park, where freaks who were clearly cult acolytes were in the middle of some kind of ritual that was causing the eclipse.

"Well, it appears we have guests." the cult leader said.

"Does anyone have any ideas?" Obsidian asked.

"Just one. Stop the ritual from succeeding by any means necessary. Titans, attack." Nightwing shouted as they jumped into action.

"Stop them. We've come too far to be stopped now." the cult leader said and his followers nodded as they rushed to intercept the Titans.

"We're running out of time. The longer the eclipse continues, the weaker the barrier between our world and the shadowlands becomes." Raven said.

"Starfire, Jade, you two are the only ones with light based powers. Destroy the diamond and light this place up." Nightwing shouted.

"You heard the man." Starfire said to Jade, who nodded as the both took to the skies as Starfire unleashed her fire power to light up the dark park while Jade aimed her ring at the black diamond and unleashed the full power of the star inside it.

"No. Stop them." the cult leader said, but it was too late as the amount of pressure that Jade was forcing on the diamond shattered it into multiple pieces.

"The diamond's destroyed." Jade shouted, only for the shards of it to start oozing darkness.

"What's going on?" Jade asked.

"Destroying the diamond was a trap. It's opening a door to the Shadowlands." Obsidian said, since he could sense it.

"Can you close it?" Nightwing asked.

"I can try." Obsidian said, though he sounded doubtful as he attempted to use his powers to close the door, only to feel something else take him over.

"At last. The final piece of the puzzle presents itself. And now Todd Rice, fulfill your destiny and help our master return to this world at last." the cult leader said as Obsidian was forced to create an even stronger and more powerful door.

"No." Nightwing said, right as an explosion knocked all the Titans back.

And when the dust settled, while the portal was gone, standing its place was a grey skinned demon.

"Eclipso." Raven said.

"At last, I am free." Eclipso shouted.

"Titans, attack." Nightwing tried to say, it was clear that they were all too weak from the blast to do anything, not that he thought they could, since the only one who really stood a chance against Eclipso was Courtney.

"We will battle soon Titans. But not yet. Now that I'm free, I must gather my full power." Eclipso said, right before he made himself and his followers vanish.

At the same time Eclipso escaped the Shadowlands, the Starforce reacted as it suddenly supercharged Courtney Whitmore, causing her eyes to shoot open as she woke up and bolted upright.

"Eclipso is free." Courtney said to her stunned family as she took deep breaths.

Chapter Text

When the Titans returned to the Tower after getting their asses kicked by Eclipso and his cultists, Jennie and Rachel rushed Todd to the medical bay to recover from being forced to open the portal, only to be stunned by what they saw.

"Courtney." Rachel said, shocked at seeing her best friend awake and out of bed and she actually rushed forward to help them move Todd into another bed.

"Hey Rachel." Courtney said with a smile as she hugged her best friend.

"How?" Rachel asked.

"The Starforce woke me up and more. It supercharged me." Courtney said.

"Courtney, I'm so sorry. I was selfish and you got hurt because of me." Jennie said.

"Don't worry about it. If our roles were reversed and it was my stepbrother Mike, I'd probably do the same thing." Courtney said.

"You seem different." Rachel admitted.

"Let's just say that the time I spent in a coma wasn't exactly time wasted." Courtney said.

"What does that mean?" Jennie asked.

"It means that while my body was in a coma, the starforce pulled my mind into it. I learned a lot. Including the fact that I'm the only one who has a chance at stopping Eclipso for good, since I know he's free. I'll explain everything to the whole team in the meeting room." Courtney said.

"Let's go let them know you're okay. You coming Jennie?" Rachel asked.

"I'm gonna make sure Todd's okay. I just got him back, I'm not losing him again." Jennie said and both of the other girls nodded as they headed upstairs while Jennie continued to tend to her brother.

After giving the rest of the Titans a chance to happily welcome Courtney back to the fold from her coma, they gathered in the meeting room for what Courtney had to tell them.

"So, while your body was in a coma, you're saying that the star force pulled your consciousness into it." Dick asked after Courtney told them about her coma.

"Yeah. It was weird, especially when it started with me hearing the voice of my grandfather, Ted Knight, calling me while I was in my coma and then the next thing I know, it pulled me into the Starforce and I was talking to him or it. It's still confusing. But, it did answer questions. Like the fact that I'm the only one who can put Eclipso in check." Courtney said.

"Why?" Kory asked.

"For the same reason being in the Shadowlands put me in a coma. The Starforce is toxic to Eclipso just like the Shadowlands are toxic to me. But it also means that Eclipso is going to try to make his host." Courtney said.

"Let me guess, a human with a connection to the starforce is a way around that limit." Dick said.

"Exactly. Eclipso not only gets the power of darkness, but also my power of light. I don't even want to think about what he might do with that." Courtney said.

"I remember what happened the last time Eclipso had a host and I don't want to repeat that. Especially with my own daughter." Sylvester said.

"We're not going to kill anyone. That's not what heroes do. Especially since the host is innocent." Dick said.

"Unless there's no other option." Courtney said.

"Courtney, no." Dick said.

"Yes. If Eclipso does manage to possess me, you have to put me down to stop him from combining his powers with mine and becoming unstoppable. And Rachel has to be the one to do it, since her darkness power is the only thing with a chance at beating Eclipso." Courtney said.

"And I'd rather let my father loose than kill you." Rachel said.

"Rachel, this is a worse case scenario situation, hopefully it'll never happen, but if it does, I need to know that you're okay with doing it." Courtney said.

"No, I'm not. Especially when there's an alternative that all of you should probably consider." Rachel said.

"What do you mean?" Courtney asked.

"Do you really think that people like John Constantine would devote their lives to hunting demons without developing precautions? There are anti demon possession spells and precautions that can be used to shield you from demonic possession. Though you would need to get tattoos." Rachel said.

"If it keeps Courtney safe from Eclipso's possession, she has my permission." Sylvester said, since he was the only parent there.

"Will mom though?" Courtney asked.

"I'll talk to her and explain things to her, since if Eclipso is targeting you as his next hope, we need to do everything we can to protect you, so this is worth making an exception to the rules, since it's for your own safety." Pat said.

"We should also look for other weapons we can use against Eclipso. Especially since if the pink lightning we've seen around the city are any indication, the Thunderbolt has become active again, which means we need to find it and his master and recruit them, since that's another useful asset to us, since it's another source of magic." Sylvester said.

Chapter Text

Now that Courtney was back on her feet, Pat and Sylvester were focusing their time and energy on tracking down the Thunderbolt, since it was clear that he'd found a new friend, which meant that one of the most dangerous and unpredictable weapons from the JSA's era was once again on the loose.

"I wish there was a way we could track the Thunderbolt down through these lightning strikes." Sylvester said.

"Dick and Ryan are working on it back at the Tower, but he was always unpredictable back in the day. It drove us all crazy, I don't know how Johnny handled it." Pat said, since the one thing they remembered about that imp was how crazy and unpredictable he was.

"Doesn't mean that he doesn't have his uses. Too bad about the rules on his powers." Pat said.

"It makes sense though. The kind of power that would come from being able to wish that someone was dead or that they'd come back to life, that can be corruptive and it upsets the natural balance of things and we do enough of that as it is." Sylvester said and Pat couldn't disagree with that.

"True. But I just wish there was some kind of pattern we could use to track him down." Pat said.

"Or maybe you two could just talk really loudly." a new voice said behind them and they turned to see the pink energy imp floating before them.

"What do you know, we were looking for you and you found us instead." Sylvester said.

"Took you long enough to find me." The Thunderbolt said.

"What's with the burgers?" Pat asked, referring to the bag of big belly burger the genie was holding.

"Wish from my new friend." the Thunderbolt said.

"So you did find a new master." Pat said.

"Yep. And this guy is a lot more than Johnny was. God rest his soul." The Thunderbolt said.

"You were with Johnny in his final moments." Sylvester said.

"Yep. I'll never forget his final wish." the Thunderbolt said.

"What was his final wish?" Pat asked.

"That I'd find a new friend. And I did. And I need to be getting back to him." the Thunderbolt said.

"Who is your new master?" Sylvester asked.

"A kid named Jakeem Williams. I don't know how he got his hands on my pen, but he did and now I'm back." the Thunderbolt said.

"What is it with these dangerous weapons choosing kids to work with them? First the staff chooses Courtney and now you pick another kid." Sylvester said.

"You know the rules. I can only pick someone who's like me. I can't control who I wind up with. But I do know that if you're looking for me, then something big must be going down." The Thunderbolt said.

"You're right about that. Tell your host to come to Titan Tower tomorrow after school. With the fight that's coming, we're going to need every asset we can get and while you're unpredictable, you're also one of our strongest heavy hitters." Sylvester said.

"Got it. I bet Jakeem will lose his mind when I tell him that I got him an invite to Titan Tower, since he's a big fan of the Titans, especially of their newest member, Stargirl." the Thunderbolt said.

"And consider that invitation rescinded." Sylvester said as he walked away.

"What was that about?" the Thunderbolt asked.

"Stargirl is Sylvester's daughter. You think he wants to hear about a teenage boy crushing on her. Not that I'm too thrilled about it myself since I'm her stepfather. So if this Jakeem wants a place on the Titans, he's going to want to keep himself in check. Especially since he's not her type." Pat said.

"I'll pass along the message, since I'm assuming that the invite isn't really gone." the Thunderbolt said.

"It's not, but make sure Jakeem watches himself." Pat said.

"I'll do what I can. But you should probably let the Titans know before we show up." the Thunderbolt said.

"Heading back now to do exactly that." Pat said.

"See you tomorrow Pat." the Thunderbolt said as he flew away.