Titans

TITANS

Membership: Arsenal, Deathstroke, Tattooed Man, Cheshire, Osiris, Cinder

Base of Operations: The Labyrinth

First Appearance: Titans: Villains For Hire Special #1 (July, 2010)

History: (Titans: Villains For Hire Special #1) - Deathstroke assembled a team of assassins that he named the Titans. He chose metas with recent personal tragedies, promising Cheshire and the Tattooed Man that he'd see the killers of their children dead, promising Cinder he'd help her get the targets she couldn't reach, men of power that hurt children, and assuring Osiris that he'd be a friend and find a way to bring Black Adam and Isis back to life. They were hired by serial killer Dwarfstar to kill the Atom Ryan Choi, and ambushed him at home. Deathstroke stood back and watched as his team tore into the hero, but allowed Atom a brief respite when his girlfriend Amanda knocked at his front door, so he could convince her to go away. Atom was grateful, and Deathstroke assured him that killing him was just business, they weren't looking to harm anyone else. Atom fled to his basement ant tried to activate his JLA signal, but the Titans had disabled it. The Titans wore him down, and Deathstroke made it clear he was about to die, and commended him for not begging. Deathstroke killed him with a sword through his heart, and delivered Atom's corpse in a matchbox to Dwarfstar. Back at their headquarters Deathstroke chastised his Titans for not working better as a team. Osiris told him they weren't worthy of the heroic mantle Titans, and Deathstroke told him that he had personal reasons for naming them after the heroes he so despised.

(Titans II #24, 25) - Tattooed Man and Cheshire went on a Titans mission to take digital schematics from Deftech Industries, but were attacked by assassins in the service of Drago. They defeated them, but Cheshire refused to tell Tattooed Man why they were after her. At the Titans hq Labyrinth Slade watched a fight between Cinder and Osiris. He scoffed that he was working with broken humans, but vowed to mold them into what he wanted. He assembled the Titans and told thewm they’d been assigned to kill Lex Luthor, who’d been reappointed head of LexCorp. In truth Deathstroke had been hired by Lex to ferrett out the LexCorp members that wanted him dead, but he needed the threat on his life to seem genuine. The Titans attacked Lex, and in the battle against LexCorp security Osiris refused to use lethal force. His teammates called him useless, but he lost control of his power and electrocuted one of their opponents. Cinder exploded the LexCorp limo gas tank, and her teammates were furious at her seeming death-wish. Lex fled to the sewers with his LexCorp board members and his bodyguard, and his bodyguard revealed herself as Façade, a LexCorp project set loose on him by the board members to eliminate him. The Titans were angry at Deathstroke for having to lied about the nature of their mission, and Osiris attacked Deathstroke, but was easily put down. The mutinous LexCorp board members Cooper, Dyson and Monroe were killed, and Façade shape shifted into Cheshire in an attempt to escape, but Deathstroke simply shot both him and Cheshire. Cheshire recovered in the Titans medical bay, and Deathstroke accused her of being weak. He reminded her that he saved her from Drago, a target that ended up becoming her boss. She tried to claw at Deathstroke, but he subdued her, and was happy to see her acting more in character after he pushed her.

(Titans II #26, 27) - As Payment for the Titans job Lex adapted the Deftech schematics Cheshire and Tattooed Man stole, furthering Deathstroke’s goal of cheating death itself. Cheshire visited Lian’s grave and met with Arsenal, telling him he owed her for letting their daughter die on his watch. She told him she planned on killing Deathstroke, and to further her goal she had him join the Titans. The Titans took a job to rescue the son of millionaire Christopher Bockman. His son had been kidnapped by Elijah, who used the innocence of children to manufacture the drug Bliss. Jade and Tattooed Man posed as investors, and Elijah showed them his facility where he processed Bliss. The Titans made their move, and Elijah defended himself with his hired met humans, the Dominators. During the fight Osiris had a vision sent to him by the White Lantern. Isis appeared to him, and he realized that every person he killed caused cracks to form in her statue, bringing her closer to returning to life. Arsenal found the harvesting chamber where Elijah kerpt the children, but also discovered that it contained a fail-safe that killed any child he tried to free. Arsenal cut the power to the harvesting pods, saving most of the children, and the Titans defeated the Dominators. Osiris lost control of his power and killed Elijah. Deathstroke furthered his master plan by stealing a sample of Bliss and abducting the Dominator DJ Molecule.

(Titans II #28-30) - Deathstroke was hired to liberate Allegra Garcia from Arkham Asylum, and he bribed a guard to allow his Titans the run of the asylum for the night. Osiris satyed with the guard, and was convinced he needed to keep killing to save Isis. The guard warned him that he was no stranger to a double-cross, and had a device that would release every prisoner from their cell. Osiris killed him anyway, but the guard hit the switch before dying, and the rest of the Titans had to fight off Arkham’s lunatics. Osiris decided not to help them because they hadn’t shown him the proper respect. Osiris flew off, hoping his efforts had been enough to bring Isis back to life. Deathstroke paved a safe escape for Mad Hatter, because he needed his help in the future as part of his master plan. He entered Allegra’s cell, but was halted by Batman. Deathstroke’s primary objective had been to free the Mad Hatter, but he refused to lose face or disappoint a client, so they fought. Deathstroke was impressed that Dick fought dirty, but put a halt to the battle by strapping bombs to Arkham security guards, forcing Batman to save them. Allegra suddenly decided she didn’t want to go with Deathstroke and unleashed her electromagnetic powers. The rest of the Titans kept the Arkham inmates busy, and Cinder confronted Nursury Cryme, the predator that ruined her life, and accidentally freed him. Deathstroke convinced Allegra that he was on her side, and had her deactivate the Arkham inmates security collars. Deathstroke told them they were free to play with Batman, and they allowed the Titans and Allegra to leave. Deathstroke reunited Allegra with her father in the Amazon, but she resented her dad for abandoning her, and used her powers to kill him. She told Deathstroke she wanted to join the Titans, but he told her to grow up first. At Titans Labyrinth the team grumbled about losing Osiris. Deathstroke admitted that he understood that they were getting impatient in him holding up his end pof the bargain to help them. He revealed that he’d kidnapped Slipknot, the man that killed Tattooed Man’s son Leon, and had him bound so Tattooed Man could do whatever he wanted to him.

(Titans II #31, 32) - The Titans faith was restored in Deathstroke after seeing him fulfill his promise to the Tattooed Man. Deathstroke told him to take his revenge, and directed him to one of the levels of the Labyrinth where Slipknot was. By the time he arrived Slipknot was no longer in captivity; Deathstroke knew he’d never forgive himself if he killed a defenseless man. The Titans asked Deathstroke what he’d do if Slipknot killed him, and he said he’d offer him a job. Arsenal declined to watch the confrontation on the Titans view screen, while Cinder was glued to the action, wanting to see a child murderer get his punishment. Tattooed Man and Slipknot fought, and the Labyrinth read Tattooed Man’s thoughts and conjured up a hologram of Liberty City, where his son was killed, and where he vowed never to return until Slipknot was dead. Tattooed Man used a barbed wire tattoo to rip off Slipknot’s head, but with his vengeance complete he still didn’t feel like a hero. Tattooed Man told his team that he quit, and Slade warned him that he still owed him. Tattooed Man was sick of killing, and Cheshire encouraged him to walk out while he could, so he left. Deathstroke hinted that his secret plan entailed saving his own son’s life, but Tattooed Man refused to listen, and Deathstroke let him go, sure that he’d return. Isis still hadn’t returned to life, so Osiris murdered a team of bank robbers. Osiris was confronted by the new Shazam, who demanded to know what had happened to him. They fought, and Osiris used his thunder powers to turn Shazam back into Freddie Freeman. Freeman found that he’d completely lost his powers, and the White Lantern told Osiris his mission was accomplished, and his life was returned. He hurried back to the Labyrinth, and he, alongside the rest of the Titans, found that Isis had returned.

(Titans II #33-36) - Osiris stayed by Isis’ side, because she was losing control over her powers, having been corrupted by the way Osiris brought her back. Deathstroke wanted to fulfill his promise to Cheshire, and the Titans traveled to the South Pacific to deal with Cheshire’s former employee Drago. Drago had actually coerced Cheshire into getting close to Deathstroke, and she and Arsenal took the opportunity to wound Deathstroke. Drago’s men restrained Cinder, and brought Deathstroke to their master. Deathstroke recognized Drago as Daniel Rogers, a soldier he’d served with, and abandoned in Afghanistan. Drago had vowed revenge since that day, and plucked out Deathstroke’s one good eye. Cheshire and Arsenal felt they’d fulfilled their promise to Drago, but he decided to change the terms, putting Arsenal and Cheshire in captivity. Arsenal’s cell was next to Deathstroke’s, and he revealed to Arsenal that his withdrawal was so bad because he’d replaced his heroin with Bliss. Drago released Cheshire , telling her that he had everything a man could want except an heir, and demanding she give him one. Cheshire attacked Drago, and using his telepathy he realized she had a death wish, blaming herself for her daughter’s death and regretting the day she gave up Lian. She’d secretly hoped that Deathstroke would kill her before she killed him. Drago decided to make Deathstroke enlightened like he was. He dumped him in the caverns beneath his island, and told him to survive. The caver were filled with the failed experiments of his second-in-command Dr. Rainn. Arsenal escaped captivity and freed Cinder. She killed Dr. Rainn, and agreed to trust Arsenal until the mission was over. Deathstroke’s eye healed, and he overcame Rainn’s Subhumans, and the Titans united to defeat Drago. Deathstroke was about to kill Drago, when Drago reminded him that he’d broken his promise in Afghanistan to never leave a man behind. Deathstroke spared his life, but made him promise to leave Cheshire alone. Cheshire was furious, but Deathstroke told her she lost the right to expect him to fulfill his promise to her after she stabbed him in the back. He told Cheshire and Arsenal that he’d call things even. He was not a forgiving man, but the Titans were almost done with their true goal. Reviving Jericho using the Methuselah Device. Arsenal tried to quit, but Deathstroke kept him in line by threatening him, and offering him another hit of Bliss. Arsenal realized he’d hit rock bottom. The Titans flew out of Drago’s airspace, and were confronted by the Justice League of America, who wanted Deathstroke to answer for his role in Atom Ryan Choi’s death.

(Titans Annual II #1) - Deathstroke showed the Justice League that his plane was equipped with a nuclear self-destruct system, and he’d rather destroy himself and them than surrender. Deathstroke also told Arsenal he knew the League would never allow him to die, because they still considered him one of their own. This exact situation was the only reason Deathstroke allowed Arsenal to join his team. The League backed off temporarily, and allowed the Titans to fly off. The Titans landed in Kahndaq, and Deathstroke once again sought Osiris as an ally, promising to restore Black Adam. Osiris agreed, but only if Deathstroke would serve as Kahndaq’s mercenary if he ever needed him. The League followed the Titans to Kahndaq, and a battle erupted, with Osiris gleefully joining in, loving the violence. Batmad tried to get Arsenal to side with the League, but he refused, telling him that heroes never won when it counted. Atom got Deathstroke to himself, and nearly killed him by creating a controlled nuclear blast by expanding a molecular fractal charge. Tattooed Man rejoined the team, just as Deathstroke knew he would, and gave Slade the opportunity to stab Supergirl with a kryptonite sword created for him by Lex Luthor. The battle ravaged Kahndaq, and Isis had enough. She demonstrated her godlike powers, and banished the League from her country. She sent Osiris and the Titans off, telling her brother that he’d proved he was unfit to rule. The Titans returned to the Labyrinth, where Deathstroke showed them the Methuselah Device he‘d hired Sivana to build, capable of restoring health and youth. Supergirl’s blood was the last component, and Deathstroke hoped the device could restore Jericho to health.

(Titans II #37, 38) - Deathstroke regenerated Jericho with the Methuselah Device, and told the Titans it wa theoretically possible to resurrect their dead loved ones if they agreed to keep following him and help him kill superheroes whose superior DNA would form the templates for the Methuselah Device to work. They all agreed, except for Cinder, who saw resurrecting the dead as an abomination. Arsenal went against Cheshire, and told her he valued the memory of their daughter more than the idea of resurrecting her. Cinder tried to destroy the Device, and the Titans brawled. Jericho was horrified; he blamed himself for the mayhem Deathstroke committed to heal him, and decided it was time to finally take responsibility for both of their lives. He possessed Deathstroke, and vowed to destroy the Device, and then himself and Slade. Cheshire, desparate to have Lain back, attacked Jericho and broke his control over his father. Deathstroke and Arsenal squared off, and Deathstroke told him he was proud to ruin the legacy of the Titans by naming his team of villains after them. Cinder set off a chain reaction inside the Device, causing her apparent death, and destroying the machine. All the Titans except for Deathstroke and Osiris escaped, and Arsenal wanted to know if they’d be interested in being heroes. Cheshire told him she’d never forgive him, and Tattooed Man just wanted to go home, but Jericho and Arsenal decided to revive their friendship and take things one day at a time.

Comments: Created by Eric Wallace.