"You ready, Don?"
"Yeah." He gave the vial another glance before grabbing it, standing up, and walking through the door to the hangar/garage area.
The rest of the Titans were already there, piling into the T-Jet. Giving Don a puzzled glance, Lilith shook her head.
"Problem, Lil?" Mal asked.
"Something's... not right," she muttered. "But I can't place it."
"Well, let's not get distracted."
Hiding in the back of the T-Jet, Spoiler had cornered Robin.
"Come on, Boy Wonder," she pleaded. "At least let me see what you look like without the mask."
"I'm sorry, Steph, but I can't."
"Can't? Or won't?"
"STEPH!"
Sliding into the co-pilot's seat next to Dick, Bette pointed back to Tim and Steph.
"Was I ever that bad?"
"Never," was Dick's reply.
"Good."
"You were ten times worse." Laughing, Bette hit Dick in the arm.
"Everyone's strapped in," Roy stated, taking a seat behind Dick. "Once we're in the air, it's all up to Waverider."
Everyone, that is, except the handful of people who have accessto the timestream. Matt Rider is one of those people.
Using the temporal energies that comprised his body, Matthew "Waverider" Rider shifted the T-Jet into the timestream.
"Whoa," Steph muttered, looking out the window. "You guys do this all the time?"
"You'll get used to it, kid," Mal told her. "I know how that first time can be."
"So when are we going?" Dick asked.
"The mid-30th Century," Waverider stated. "Don't ask me how I know, but I do. It's almost as if Extant's luring us."
"We have to follow your lead," Dawn commented, sitting next to a quiet Don. "If Hank's out there... anywhere, that's where we have to go."
"Coming up on the mid-30th Century," Wally stated, reading the makeshift chronoscopes. "I hope your reentry isn't as bumpy as the treadmill's."
"Whoa!" Steph exclaimed, gazing out the window. "Is that New York?"
"Metropolis, actually," Waverider told her. "See, over to the left, the Daily Planet building?"
"Cool!"
"Okay, Waverider," Dick called over, "I've got a lock on Extant's energies. He's... oh, crud."
"What is it?"
"He's using the Batcave."
"That's still around? After a thousand years?" Wally asked.
"If it wasn't, then he must've transported it there somehow."
"So what's the plan, oh, Fearless Leader of Us All?" Tara piped in.
"We kamikaze the Batcave."
"That's a plan?" Bette asked.
"Do you have a better one?" Wally asked her.
"No."
"I'm not finished," Dick interjected. "We'll hit him in two waves. Roy, you take Tara, Wally, Chris, Garth, Karen, Kole, Pantha, and Wildy in the first wave. The rest of us will hit him in the second."
"I'm in the first wave as well," Don stated.
"You're our trump card, Don," Dick explained. "We need you in the second wave."
"You don't understand," Don told him. "I will be in the first wave."
I know that tone of voice, Dawn thought to herself. Kestrel. Catching Dick's eye, she simply nodded.
"Fine," Dick commented. "I hope you know what you're doing."
That's just it, Dawn thought. He doesn't. Kestrel's in control, and it's only a matter of time before he goes nuts.
Only a handful of people knew of this link, and the majority of them were in the T-Jet as it came to a rest on a dirt road twelve miles outside Gotham City proper.
"First team, go!"
From the door of the T-Jet, the Titans Arsenal, Flash, Terra, Tempest, H-Dial, Bumblebee, Kole, Pantha, and Wildebeest emerged, followed shortly by Don Hall. The Titans took a quick look around, then disappeared into the side of the hill.
"Now what?" Pantha grumbled.
"Chris became another hero," Karen explained. "Now what do we call you, Chris?"
"Just call me 'Cheezak'!" Chris's new heroic form greatly ressembled a red, horned devil with a block of cheese where the pentagram would normally be.
"Great," Pantha growled. "A cheesy hero for a cheesy situation."
"It's a living."
"Cut the cheddar... er, chatter, people. We're getting too close to not be noticed," Roy chided them. Muttering under her breath, Pantha followed the rest of the group down the tunnel.
"What is that odious stench?" he heard Extant mutter. "Smells like... limburger."
Without warning, Cheezak bolted around the corner and slammed into Extant with enough force to hurl them both across the room.
"FEEL MY FETA!!!" Cheezak yelled, continuing to pummel Extant. Seeing no other way to avoid it, Arsenal gave the call to charge. Bursting into the cave, the group surrounded Extant, and Terra immediately got in a cheap shot. Cheezak curled up in pain, moaning.
"Was that intentional?" Pantha asked.
"I ain't sayin'!" Terra replied, aiming a second kick at Extant. Recovering quickly, Extant grabbed Terra's leg, and yanked her feet out from under her. Surging to his feet, he brought his chronal energies to bear, and blasted Arsenal full in the chest.
"Whoa! Bummer trip, man!" Pantha muttered as Arsenal aged 50 years in a second. Leaping at their foe, she clawed at Extant's face, intent upon tearing it from his head. She let out a strangled yelp as her hand aged several years while the rest of her remained young. Rolling away, she crouched over and licked the damaged hand.
"MOMMAAAAAAAAAAA!!!" Baby shrieked as he went from a toddler to his full grown form, filling Extant's vision with his fists. The pummeling didn't stop until the Wildibeest's hands began to cramp from arthritis. Even so, the enraged creature continued pounding. Unable to use his hands, he began stomping on Extant. Hard.
"Back off, Baby," a voice echoed through the cavern. "Go see to your Momma."
" Momma?" Baby gurgled, reverting to his toddler form. Amazingly, Baby's hands and feet de-aged with his body, so that he suffered no ill effects from the fight.
Waverider appeared over Extant's groggy form. "Time to fix this," he stated, drawing all of the chronal energy out of Extant, and back into himself.
"Too... much... power..." Waverider groaned, hovering in the air. "Gotta... discharge... a small... amount...."
The effects were immediate. Arsenal reverted to his true age, while Pantha's hand and Terra's foot healed.
"That's better."
"TEAM TWO!" came a call from the far wall. "GO!"
Extant's body shuddered, as he stood up, and glanced in the direction of the cry. His mistake.
LOCK
Extant cried out in terror, as Jericho took control. Jericho forced Extant to stand still, as the other Titans attacked.
"Oh, crud."
"Remind me to fight back next time."
"So, what do we do with the wimp?" Terra asked. "And where'd the runt disappear to?"
"Don?" Nightwing asked. "I thought he was with your assault team. Wally?"
"One second." *zing* "No sign of him."
"Fan out," Dick ordered. "If we're to bring Hank back, we need Don."
"I'm here," Don called out. "I was checking out the Batcave's monitor room. We're in trouble. This century's EarthGov's dispatched the Science Police, whoever they are, to check out the chronal blast."
"We gotta act quickly, then," Dick stated. "Someone wake up Hank."
"Don? Izzat you? Does this mean, I'm dead?"
"No, Hank," Don told his brother. "I came back, to help you."
"THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!" Extant almost howled. "YOU'RE DEAD! If you're really Don, then become Dove!"
"Sorry, Hank. But I'm not Dove anymore. The Lords of Order insured that. I have a new name now. Perhaps you'll recognize it. Kestrel."
As Don said that name, the air around him shimmered. Don felt his body changing, felt the rush of raw strength, of raw *POWER* surge through him. Gone was the familiar sweater and jeans he had been wearing. In it's place was a purple and black costume; a costume Extant knew far too well.
"What a rush," Kestrel whispered menacingly. "Come on, Hawk, let's see you save your brother from me the way you did your chippee! Tear me apart!"
"I'll tear you a new spleen is what I'll do!" Extant yelled, lunging at Kestrel, only to be grabbed in mid-air and tossed into the Batcave's Trophy Room.
"You're pathetic, Big Brother!" Kestrel shouted. "You can't be a Lord of Chaos, Order, and Time at the same time!"
"We should stop him," Dove muttered, fear slipping into her voice.
"No," Nightwing stated, his voice firm. "We have to let them play this out."
Casually tossing the giant playing card and Lincoln penny out of the way, Extant slowly advanced on Kestrel. Ripping his mask off, he yelled, "Stop calling me your BROTHER!"
"Ah, but it's true, Hawk. The Titans brought Don and Dawn back from the dead to save you. And then I took over Don. Guess what, Hawk old buddy old chum old pal. I AM your brother!"
"No. Don would never allow a psycho like you to take him over."
"But I didn't force him, Hawk. Unlike that tasty little girlfriend of yours, he was given a choice."
"Let me get this through your thick skull one last time, you sick, twisted, brother-stealing S.O.B. I! AM! NOT!!" He paused, and a look of recognition appeared on his face.
"Hawk."
It happened in under a half a second, yet everyone watched it happen as if in slow motion. Hank Hall's face was instantly covered in a distinctive red cowl. Then he flexed, shredding the Extant outfit. Once again standing before the assembled Titans was a man they'd long considered a friend, a teammate, and family. Gone was Extant. In his place, the man he truly was. Hawk.
"Okay, Kestrel. Now we play this my way! Rule number one: NOBODY messes with Hawk."
"ALL RIGHT!" Spoiler yelled.
"TITANS TOGETHER!" The words were out of Terra's mouth before she knew what she was saying.
"So the traitor gives the battlecry?" Kestrel asked, surprised.
"Believe it, wimp," she retorted.
"Battle plan, Dick?" Tempest asked. Nightwing simply smiled.
"I'm just gonna wing it this time. Everybody dog-pile on Kestrel!"
"At exactly what point did we lose control here?" Mal asked.
"Maybe somebody ought to remind Don that he's one of the good guys," Garth muttered. "Tula's over there, and I'm not gonna let her die on me again."
"Well, I have an idea," Steph mentioned. "How close were Hawk and Dove?"
"They're brothers, but always fighting," Dick told her. "What's the idea?"
As Steph explained her plan, the other Titans gave her doubtful looks.
"Kid, that plan's either gonna work, or it's gonna kill us all," Wally told her. "Let's do it."
"Ready, partner?" Hank asked.
"Always," she replied.
They tackled Kestrel in unison, Hawk grabbing his legs, Dove grabbing him round the neck.
"Unity."
Hawk and Dove whispered that one word in unison, and the effects reached the heart of Don Hall. Kestrel shuddered, then separated from Don, spitting him out before dissipating into nothingness. Don fell onto the ground, unconscious.
"Guess Kestrel still needed a host... and Don rejected him," Hawk stated. Grabbing his brother, Hank carried him over to the Titans.
"We did it. Let's go home."