Author's Note: I received a review pointing out that Slade's hair is BROWN, as seen in the episode "Apprentice pt. II". Yes, I too did see that! However, in my story "One Bad Scare Deserves Another" I did make Slade's hair brown and I got a review saying that Slade's hair is WHITE! So which is it?

I guess the comic book Slade might be different. How about this explanation: Slade's hair is naturally white but he sometimes dyes it brown for a more youthful appearance?

Chapter 10

Slade's ship came to the surface of one of the Dreknath moons, splashing into a large swamp. Slade led Starfire out of the ship and out of the swamp—Slade used his grappling hook to cross the distance without touching the water, while Starfire flew—and through a large jungle. They were moving among dense foliage, and there was no path; only Slade's grip on Starfire's wrist kept her from getting lost. Suddenly they burst out into a large clearing, in the center of which was an extremely large white metal shack.

"We will have our wedding ceremony here," Slade said. He led her into the shack. "This is my house."

The shack's spartan appearance on the outside was deceptive; the inside was surprisingly comfortable and had all the characteristics of an Earth home. Slade went to a closet and pulled out a white Tamaranian wedding dress of Starfire's size. "The priest should be here in fifteen minutes," Slade said. "You can wear this. You should probably take a shower first, though." Both of them were, indeed, covered in sweat, grime, and mud from the recent trek through the jungle.

"Where's the bathroom?" Starfire asked, looking around.

"Upstairs," Slade pointed to the wooden ladder that led up through a hole in the ceiling. She flew up through the hole and discovered an entire second floor, much like a house. There were three open doors on the floor; two led to bedrooms, one to a large bathroom that included a shower.

A vast field of dark green Dreknathian starships lumbered through space. Behind them, a smaller, brightly-colored ship was rapidly gaining on them.

Aboard the largest ship, Blackfire stood in the raised center of the bridge.

"We're being pursued by a small starship," a crew insect gurgled out in his native language. "Judging by size and shield output, it appears to be a military corvette. Faster than any of our ships, but not a threat."

"Open a channel!" Blackfire commanded in Tamaranian.

"Hailing frequencies open," the insect said in Dreknathian.

"Attention, alien ship! Please identify yourselves!"

There was no response.

"Identify yourself or you will be fired upon!"

The Titans looked worriedly at their leader.

"Say nothing," Robin ordered, "All power to the engines!"

Even faster than before, the T-ship darted forward, shooting past a Dreknathian ship near the rear of the fleet.

Blackfire tapped her foot, seeming to wait. After tapping her foot exactly ten times she stopped. "Target the corvette's engines, disable only," she said calmly, "Use only this ship's weapons."

Meanwhile…

Starfire floated back downstairs, wearing the dress. It was very similar to the one she had worn for her previous near-marriage to Gigriskklech (sp?). Slade was already waiting in a standard Earth tuxedo, without his mask.

"You look beautiful," Slade commented.

They walked outside, where a large group of Dreknathians was congregated. One of them strode up to meet them.

"Starfire, this is Zyldlwodfwiodxmkftowieujow, he's our priest," Slade introduced them. Starfire looked curiously at the insectoid, who looked back up at her through his multifaceted compound eyes.

A makeshift stage was prepared in the center and they went up to it. It was simply a wooden platform with a few stairs in the middle of each side. Zyldlwodfwiodxmkftowieujow took out a Bible from under his wing and held it with two limbs, using a third to turn pages, while he stood on the other three limbs, making him lean to one side for balance. He started to talk loudly and incomprehensibly in Dreknathian, facing Slade.

"I do," Slade said, seemingly responding to a question, although Starfire could discern none.

The insect turned to her and repeated almost the exact same gibberish, with a few changes.

"What did he say?" Starfire whispered to Slade.

"Just say 'I do'," Slade whispered back.

"I do," Starfire said, still confused.

The insect spoke some more. However, Starfire could not comprehend the language at all, when Zyldlwodfwiodxmkftowieujow spoke the Dreknathian translation of "I now pronounce you man and wife." Slade, however, had learned the language so he knew what they were saying.

Slade pulled Starfire close to him and kissed her, at which the Dreknathians began to cheer loudly and incomprehensibly. It was, of course, a standard part of any wedding, but Starfire didn't know that yet.

Meanwhile…

As the T-ship passed under Blackfire's vessel, some large, snot-green, nasty-looking projectiles departed from the larger ship, heading to the general direction of the T-ship. Cyborg, at the helm, dived the T-ship down to avoid the projectiles. One of them reached the T-ship's former position and exploded. The T-ship twisted and turned at high speed, so all the projectiles ended up detonating away from the T-ship, inflicting no damage. Green beams fired from the front of the Dreknathian vessel towards the T-ship, but Cyborg's piloting allowed all the beams to pass behind the ship and through empty space.

"The smaller ship has evaded our weapons," said an insect in Dreknathian.

"Launch shuttles!"

A large flap on the outside of the ship flopped open, revealing a massive black maw. Several small ships, similar to Slade's shuttle but green, dropped from their mothership and rocketed towards the fleeing T-ship.

"There's a bunch of shuttles heading for us! They're gaining on us!" Cyborg called.

"Shoot them down!" Robin shouted back.

"We can't!" Cyborg said, "We're using all the ship's power for our engines!"

"It's still not fast enough…" Robin mused to himself. "Slow us down just enough to get our aft weapons up and kill the enemy shuttles," he ordered.

After slowing the T-ship, Cyborg and Robin each moved to a side panel near the back of the room. These were the panels that controlled the T-ship's weapons. As the shuttles approached, blue sonic beams fired back from the T-ship. The Dreknathian shuttles, unfortunately, proved just as evasive as the T-ship, and Cyborg and Robin were unable to hit the shuttles.

Closer and closer the Dreknathians came…suddenly, the lead shuttle collided with the T-ship and exploded violently. The T-ship shuddered, throwing all the Titans to the floor. Red lights began to flash and an alarm went off, sounding three times before Raven jumped up and pushed a series of buttons on a computer panel and stopped the sound.

"Our engine's been disabled!" she reported.

Three of the Dreknathian ships gently attached themselves to the T-ship, using the sticky slime that coated them to stay stuck to the T-ship as they dragged it back to their mothership. Within a few minutes, the T-ship was safely inside Blackfire's vessel.

Inside the T-ship, the Titans heard pounding on the door.