Blackbird Lost: Generation Lost

This is Act II of Blackbird Lost, a Thomas Grayson storyline from December 2014. Like the first installment, Act II was released as a four-part series of Twitlongers, but did not have three additional supporting solos.

The second act incorporates Thomas Grayson's comic appearance in Justice League: Generation Lost #14, as the Red Hood in a distant future. In the comic issue, Generation Lost #14, the few remaining heroes are fighting O.M.A.C.s. The Thomas Grayson in the comic ends up becoming an O.M.A.C. and virtually dying, but Blackbird Lost adapts the story to where he survives by being transported to another reality moments before his comic death.

"Blackbird Lost: Generation Lost" is followed by Act III: Cracked Mirrors.

Part 1
“Thomas!”

One blink. Blinding light. Two blinks. Shapes. Three blinks. Outstretched hands. Thomas Grayson feels multiple pairs of arms warmly embrace him. “Dad? Mom?”

“We’re here, Thomas,” Richard smiles at him, a hand around Barbara’s shoulder. “All of us.”

“Hey, bro,” Kyle grins.

“Gave us a heckuva scare,” James says behind Thomas.

“You were out for a while,” informs Mar’i.

“Out?” Thomas finally catches his breath. “I was on Ryut…the Manhunters…Silas!”

“Easy, Thomas,” Jinx soothes, standing next to Uncle Jay.

“It’s all over now,” Colin steps forth with JJ. “You’re safe.”

“I am?” Thomas whispers, hardly believing it. “I remember now…the boom tube...it brought me back.”

“That’s right, buddy,” Cragen nods.

“You’re back here with us,” a familiar redhead smiles.

“Embri! You’re alright!” Thomas’ eyes widen at the pleasant surprise. “Your powers…?”

“Turned out I was fine,” Embri answers. “But there’s one thing I need you to do.”

Thomas notices her voice changes in mid-sentence, sounding very unlike his friend. “What?”

“GET UP! WE CAN’T STAY HERE!” The voice from Embri’s mouth isn’t hers. The room turns black and the people start disappearing from sight.

“Wait!” Thomas yells. “What’s going on? Come back! Don’t leave me!”

Thomas opens his eyes. Explosions. There’s an unbearable burning on his left shoulder. A stranger stares desperately at him.

“He’s awake!” The woman yells. “Damian! I’ll grab him. Let’s move!”

Thomas feels himself lifted up into the air. “Damian….?” He repeats weakly, looking around for Robin. He hazily sees ruined skyscrapers and mountains of rubble surrounding them. “Are…are we flying?”

The white-haired woman grits her teeth as she flies through the air, dodging concussive beams. Glancing behind them, Thomas spots a group of giant blue Cyclops-like creatures following them. “Manhunters…?” Did the boom tube fail?

“Close, OMACs,” the woman replies tersely. “Who are- AAAGH!”

A stray beam catches her face and suddenly she and Thomas are falling through the sky. Thomas struggles to stay conscious (“I’m…in shock?”) He looks to his left arm to see what has been causing him so much pain and is met with…nothing. (“My arm….”)

He notices the ground reaching up to meet him but blood loss takes its effect and he blacks out.

Part 2
For the second time in his life, Thomas Grayson woke up in a new world. But this one felt more…familiar. Groaning, Thomas twists his head to the left to meet a horrid sight. Where his left arm used to be is a collection of bloody bandages at his shoulder.

“Hold still,” a gruff voice orders.

Silas?

A familiar shadowy figure steps into Thomas’ line of sight.

“Batman?” Thomas asks in surprise, Was he home? If so, why were there so many destroyed buildings? “What happened?”

“You popped out of nowhere,” a new voice answers. It’s the white-haired woman who could fly. She has her own bandage, over her left eye. “It’s a good thing Damian here caught us.”

“Uncle Damian?” Thomas asks confused, turning to Batman.

The heavily-armored Dark Knight offers no sign of recognition as he says, “I’m no one’s uncle. Now who are you? What are you doing here?”

“I…I,” Thomas is confused to say the least. This Damian looks like he’s fully grown, way past the five years Thomas has been gone. Gotham is in ruins and… “My arm.”

Damian frowns at the unsatisfactory answer, but the woman explains, “You arrived like this. Pretty much blinked into existence. With this.” She holds up the shattered boom tube device. “Now tell me, who are you?”

Thomas realizes his mask is gone and his red helmet is lying a few feet away. The side of it has cracked broken off. “I’m Thomas Grayson.”

This time Damian gives a start. “Grayson? As in Richard?”

Thomas nods slowly and the woman questions Damian, “You know him?”

“No, Kara, not this kid. Who’s Grayson to you?” Damian removes his cowl, revealing an extremely aged Damian Wayne. There’s wrinkles and white hair, but the iconic Damian frown is still there.

“He’s my father,” Thomas explains, earning him a quizzical eye brow raise.

“That’s impossible,” Damian says. “Dick Grayson’s been dead for nearly 70 years.”

Part 3
Then

"Mom! You're home!" Nine-year-old Thomas Grayson ran up and embraced a very tired and bruised Batgirl. Despite her exhaustion, Barbara took off her cowl and hugged the youngest Grayson back, smiling through a split lip.

"Hey, Thomas," she said, putting her hands on his shoulders to stand back and inspect him. "How are you? Behave today?"

"Of course," he grinned. "I read a little bit, then I tried working with some files."

He nodded to the laptop that Barbara had given him for his birthday a week ago. "Are you okay? What happened?"

"Nothing too bad," Barbara said, plopping on the couch. "Just a few crooks who got in a few lucky hits."

Handing Barbara a glass of water, he took a seat next to her as she asked, "Where's your father?"

"He took Kyle and James to train at the Bunker."

"And you didn't want to go?" Babs dabbed at her lip with a Kleenex. "Or were you not invited?"

"I knew you were stopping by," Thomas explained. "I wanted to wait and see you."

Barbara smiled at the little boy's words. "Well, I'm afraid we can't play much tonight. I'm pooped."

"That's alright." Thomas rested on his stomach and propped his chin up with two hands. "Could you tell me about patrol tonight? Please, Mom?"

Bab's nod of affirmation earned an excited grin from the child. He listened earnestly as she recounted watching the city from rooftops and fighting bad guys. Thomas Grayson loved hearing about his parents' adventures, both recent and past. And he loved thinking about how he might have his own stories to tell.

After satisfying Thomas' request for stories, Barbara Gordon put the yawning boy to bed. Tucking him in, the redhead kissed Thomas' forehead. "Good night, Thomas. Sweet dreams."

"Good night, Mom," Thomas replies sleepily as Barbara flicks the light off on her way out. "I love you."

"I love you too, Thomas."

Now

The future? Tokyo? It's a lot for Thomas to take in. He had survived Ryut and Manhunters to arrive about a 100 years in the future and find more killer robots, with just a color scheme change: OMACs.

"How's it feel?" Damian asks, wiping his forehead.

Thomas flexes his new arm, listening to the machinery turn. This time's Damian had taken a trip to revitalize himself in a Lazarus Pit, making him look only around 40. Upon returning, the Batman had fashioned a robotic limb for Thomas. The fourteen-year-old Grayson inspects the prosthetic. It looked like a regular arm, aside from its dark gray metallic shine and cold surface. Thomas can't help but feel a sense of loss as he stares at the limb.

"It's better than nothing." he reasons. "Thank you, Damian."

Batman gives him a curt nod and Kara Zor-L enters.She looks at the new boy with her one good eye and says, "You said you were the son of Richard Grayson and Barbara Gordon. Even if you are from the past like you claim, something still doesn't add up."

"I am," Thomas insists. "I know it sounds weird. I'm having trouble believing it myself still."

"But Gordon nor Grayson were metas."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"The OMACs attack almost anything that moves, but they specifically target metahumans," Damian explains. "When you popped up, they identified you as a meta."

"What?" Thomas frowns in confusion. "I'm not a meta."

Could this have been because of Embri's healing? That didn't make any sense.

"There's one way to find out," Damian says, holding up a vial of blood. "I got this during the surgery. I can use the Batsuit's database to test the DNA. One last chance to tell the truth. Who are your real parents?"

"Barbara Gordon and Richard Grayson." Thomas's voice is firm. Maybe he was just special. Not all metas had meta parents, right? What even was his ability?

Damian tests the DNA as Kara and Thomas wait anxiously.

First result: "Father: Richard John Grayson. Also known as: Robin, Nightwing, Batman."

"See? I told you!" Thomas says. "And Barbara-"

His next words are cut off by the second result:

"Mother: Rose Wilson. Also known as: Ravager."

Part 4
"Lock," Thomas Grayson tests. The gauntlet fastens itself onto his right forearm. "It works."

"Of course," Damian says, replacing his BatHelmet. "Come on, Kara is filling in Captain Atom."

Another time traveler. Thomas had never met the superhero in his time, but is familiar with him. In this timeline, where the Earth had struggled with OMAC killer robots, Captain Atom apparently went missing about 120 years ago.

Captain Atom had now popped back up, three years after Thomas had. The now-seventeen-year-old Thomas wants to talk with this fellow lost hero.

Captain Atom isn't staying in this time for very long, he says. Unlike Thomas, Atom had traveled to this time by absorbing a blast large enough to tear a hole in the time continuum. Once his body "digests" the energy, the Captain will be flung back to his correct time. That isn't a plausible solution for Thomas.

The three years had given Thomas time to grapple with the fact that he is a direct descendant of Deathstroke. A mercenary. An enemy. A murderer.

"Tommy, you got it?" Kara asks.

"I got it," Thomas replies, looking at the boom tube. Using the shell from the boom tube from Ryut with replacement parts, the Justice League that Thomas is now part of is finally able to use a functional transporter.

The goal is to teleport to the OMAC moon base and stop the onslaught. Thomas had considered taking the boom tube for himself and try to get home. But he couldn't find it in himself to be selfish and abandon his new teammates. They had taken him in, looked out for him, and gave him a new arm. He owes them this much.

"Okay then, people," Kara announces. "This is it."

The team arrives at the moon base with no problem. None. Which is incredibly weird...and wrong. Thomas checks his wrist computer. "Oh no....the airborne nanos are flooding the chamber." In seconds, the virus would change everyone in this room into OMACs themselves.

Thomas has seen it before. A man losing his human form and a brainless blue biomachine busting forth. He feels his skin crawl, as if thousands upon thousands of tiny ants bite and crawl within his suit.

Then suddenly, a burst of light.

Am...am I an OMAC?

A new voice, but it's also strangely familiar. Female. "It worked..."

"Of course it did," a man's voice answers. "Now come on, I can hear them. You never told me it was gonna make such a big lightshow."

Thomas opens his eyes and pries off his dirty helmet. He's in some warehouse or storage room. A man, probably around 20 or 24, looks back at him, curiously. "Are you alright?"

The owner of the first voice has a hoodie on that obscures her face. "We don't have time for this. He's fine. Let's go."

"HALT! UNDER ROYAL LAW, YOU ARE HEREBY ARRESTED FOR ILLEGAL TEMPORAL AND TRANS-DIMENSIONAL INTERFERENCE!" A amplified voice blares. "ANY TYPE OF RESISTANCE WILL BE PUNISHED BY DEATH."

"They'll kill us either way," the man informs. Thomas feels like he should know him but he can't place the name, disoriented. "Wait...was that a portal..."

They're interrupted as a squad of rifle-armed soldiers bust into the storage room. "HALT! Or we will fire!"

"Run," the hoodie girl suggests, taking off towards the far door. Thomas is hoisted to his feet by the man as the soldiers draw their weapons. He's used to sudden attacks and quickly gathers his wits. The two men rush out of the door as a volley of bullets pepper the wall and door be that slams behind them.

As they rush through the city streets, Thomas grips his faceplate tightly in his hands. he freezes to a stop. "No way...."

"What's going on? Hurry up. I'll explain everything when we're safe!" Thomas' companion says.

The buildings, the streets. "This is Gotham..."

"Yes, yes," the man says, pushing Thomas out of the way as the soldier round the corner and start firing again.

Thomas rolls to his feet and helps the man to his. He's home...it's Gotham...he's home.

The man pulls Thomas with him as they run away from the soldiers, ducking into numerous alleys. They finally lose the soldiers and the man rests against the wall to catch his breath.

"What happened to your friend?" Thomas asks.

"Oh? She'll be fine. Don't worry, we'll catch back up with her."

"Thanks again," Thomas looks around. He's back in Gotham. He's really home... "What did you say your name was?"

The other man pushes brown hair away from his forehead and nods. "No prob. I'm Gabriel. But you can call me Gabe. Gabe Tiber."

Additional Notes

 * Act II introduces an adjustment to Thomas Grayson's origin, where his mother turns out to be Rose Wilson, making Deathstroke Thomas' grandfather. This was meant to explain the characteristics of his Red Hood armor that resembled Ravager's. However, this change was later reverted during Chronophoenix, due to logical inconsistencies.
 * Gabe Tiber was the mentally insane brother of Embri Tiber. Embri killed him in self-defense when Gabe attempted to murder her.