Chapter 10
[Throne room]

The Titans stared at the one person on Tamaran who had might dare attack Galfore to silence him: Blackfire.

Starfire flew over to Galfore, who had slumped in his throne and tried to feel for a pulse. There was one, but, it was weak.

Blackfire fired again, only to see Edward intercept the starbolt. The beam struck and he roared in pain.

His scales smoked from the impact and as Edward eyes took on a very dangerous glow the damaged scales, having done their job, fell away. What Blackfire didn't know is one aspect of how Edward was made was he would be able to absorb the properties of a starbolt.

A few moments later, his spinal ridges started glowing, but, it was a purple glow this time.

"Little miss cheap shot artist, have I got a surprise for you," Edward snarled, "You think that lightning bolt to the backside hurt…I might enjoy this one."

"Edward, why are the ridges of the spine glowing like Blackfire's bolts?" Starfire asked.

The answer came a moment later as Edward fired off his own starbolt, right at Blackfire! It struck Blackfire with a much higher intensity than either Starfire or Blackfire would use.

Blackfire flew through the wall.

"Since when did you know how to fire those?" Cyborg asked.

"It's part of what I am, Victor," Edward explained quickly, "I can absorb certain energies and turn them against their creator. Blackfire's energy bolts are compatible, so, I can now use this as needed."

"Galfore's dying," Raven said calmly, "That starbolt got him in a bad area."

"Can you help?" Edward asked, keeping his eyes on Blackfire.

"No," she said, "He's too big."

Edward nodded, "Titans, keep that clorbag out of here whilst I tend to his wounds."

The others moved to comply as Edward morphed to a size where he could help the fallen leader.

He could see where the beams had struck and activated his healing abilities, letting his hands start glowing a pale blue at first, then, building in power until it was an intense glow.

As soon as his hands touched Galfore's neck, the healing energies burst forth, into his neck and started to mend the damage.

He heard Cyborg's sonic cannon firing as he said, "You're done enough for one day, it's our turn."

It took a few moments, but, Galfore's breathing grew stronger by the second.

A stray purple bolt flew over Edward's head and hit the wall, cracking it in the process.

"Come on, big guy," Edward said, "Just a couple more seconds!"

Edward felt Galfore's pulse and it was stronger. In fact, it was strong enough to allow his to recover on his own.

The fight was still going on and Edward returned his attention to it.

[You joining us?] Raven asked.

[And miss the party?] Edward retorted.

He heard a soft laugh through the link as he realized that the others needed him. It wasn't just Blackfire they were fighting, but, a horde of guards and other folks.

[Good as the Gordanians have joined the fighting!] Raven said.

Edward stalked through the Grand Hall and took a look at what was happening.

They had already realized that Terra was the weakest link in the team, but, Edward had figured that would happen and raced to join Beast Boy at her side.

Beast Boy was having a hard time fighting off the Gordanians and as they weren't familiar with Edward, he had a momentary advantage, that he didn't hesitate to use.

He formed a bull and charged into their ranks at full speed. Several Gordanian fighters were knocked aside into walls. Those slumped to the ground, stunned.

[Rae! Tell BB to use his dragon form!] Edward directed.

"Beast Boy!" Raven yelled, "Use your new form!"

Beast Boy had to think for a second, then, a green dragon formed.

Edward bucked several enemy fighters off his back and formed his classic mini-Dragon, sans wings.

His spinal ridges started glowing blue and a moment later the air was full of Edward's ice breath. It was the only weapon he was willing to teach Beast Boy, so, he followed up with his own ice breath. Beast Boy wasn't able to use his to the intensity that Edward could, but, combined, the two were able to put several Gordanians under a thick layer of ice.

"We gotta get this fight outside!" Cyborg yelled.

"Agreed, friend Cyborg!" Starfire said.

"Rae," Edward said, "If you'd do the honors, please."

Edward reduced down to his smaller form, to take the load off Raven's teleportation. Beast Boy did the same by forming an insect.

A moment later, they were outside and released by Raven's bubble.

"Damn!" Edward said, "and double damn!"

The local star had come up and that revealed a massive amount of fighter craft.

"I see you've found my fleet," Blackfire said from behind them.

"Why, sister?" Starfire cried.

"I want what was taken from me," she said coldly, "My revenge against you and the throne of Tamaran. Then, I will banish you, dear sister, as you banished me.

"You know I am better than you! I can outfight you, outwit you, outsmart you. Even on Earth, you admitted that."

"Yeah, but, she has chosen better friends," Cyborg said, "She had chosen those who would help her."

"Then, those that would help her are fools!" Blackfire replied.

"I wouldn't know about that, Komand'r," Edward said coldly, in Tamaranian, "You forget you gave me a new weapon."

"You don't know how to use starbolts," Blackfire said.

"I know that they are powered by righteous anger," Edward replied and his eyes took on a deadly red glow.

His spinal ridges glowed purple once more and he unleashed a barrage of starbolts at Blackfire, forcing her to dodge.

Then, she was dodging Starfire's green bolts, Cyborg's sonic cannon, Raven's magic and…Terra was finally able to let loose and she was hurling rocks and boulders at Blackfire. Beast Boy was helping by also hurling boulders at Blackfire. Blackfire took to the air to try to retreat and was intercepted by Edward, who had teleported above Blackfire and catching her off-guard, slammed her into the ground.

Edward was stunned a moment later when Blackfire forced him off. He was pushed into the air and he was forced to deploy his wings to slow his speed.

[That little clorbag!] Edward snarled.

[Anger is pointless,] Raven reminded him, [She wants you to get angry and make an error.]

Edward landed a moment later and now his eyes were not just their intense red, but, his scales were slowly flashing different colors.

"Dude," Beast Boy said, "I think you just managed to totally piss off our Dragon."

"Like I care!" Blackfire said.

"Sister," Starfire said, "please don't make angry friend Edward any further! You're still family! I don't want friend Edward to kill you!"

"He's a stinking Titan!" Blackfire said, "You don't kill enemies!"

"Blackfire," Raven said, "He killed my father, twice. He helped to kill another Dragon who had hurt me."

"You think that scares me," Blackfire replied, "Tamaranians are tougher than you think."

"And her Father was the most powerful being ever," Cyborg said, "You think we can stop Edward when he's that angry?"

"Enough talk!" Blackfire yelled and unleashed a major blast of starbolt power and struck Edward in the throat!

The result was a sudden, rapid flashing of his scales and a ROAR that echoed for miles.

"Oh, CRUD!" Cyborg yelled, "Titans, scatter!" Edward's spine went to a brilliant white and the air around him started crackling with power.

"Sister!" Starfire yelled, "RUN, PLEASE!"

"Nah," Edward growled, "Too late for that!"

The Titans saw electricity arcing on Edward's spines a moment before a massive lightning blast spewed forth and as Blackfire finally realized just how dangerous Edward was when provoked, she took to the air.

But, not even Blackfire could outrace the speed of light and the bolt merely arced after her.

The bolt struck Blackfire and she screamed in mortal agony.

The blast was maintained…or would have been except Starfire, fearing for her sister's life, made a painful choice: She struck Edward with her Starbolts. Not to kill, but, to distract him.

"I am sorry, friend Edward," she said in tears, "I cannot allow you to kill my sister."

Edward shook his head to clear it as he calmed down.

Blackfire crashed to the ground, badly burned, but, alive.

Cyborg quickly set his bio-scanners to Tamaranian baselines and scanned Blackfire.

"She's going to survive," he said a moment later, "But, she needs help."

"I'll do it," Raven said.

Edward had resumed his human form and said, "The hell you will! Her injuries would kill you."

"I wouldn't have to if you had listened to me!" Raven snarled, her four eyes glowing angrily.

"And I wasn't about to let Blackfire accomplish her mission!" Edward shot back.

The others were watching Edward and Raven actually arguing over treating the enemy. They stared at each other, not sure what to do.

Blackfire moaned and that got Cyborg's attention.

He rescanned her and said, "Yo! When you two are done acting like children, we have a patient to treat! HAUL YER ASSES!"

Edward glared at Cyborg and stormed over to him.

"Don't ever call me a child, Victor," he said calmly. The fact that he was so quiet about that made the others wonder if he was calm on the inside or a dangerous viper coiled.

Edward chanted Raven's mantra in his mind and turned to the patient. Blackfire had absorbed a massive jolt of electricity that overwhelmed even a Tamaranian.

"She's badly hurt," he said, "I know…stating the obvious. Raven, I'm sorry for fighting with you. I could use the help. Just promise to stop if it gets to be too hard, please."

Raven smiled softly, "Apology accepted, Dear. We're going to have to combine powers just to stabilize her, anyway."

They took hold of Blackfire's hands carefully and formed a small circle. Raven's hands had a unique blue glow, as did Edward's and the two forms of healing energy merged and started to mend Blackfire's wounds.

However, the invaders had seen Blackfire fall to Edward's lightning attack and they started moving towards the castle.

"Uhh, guys?" Terra said, "We're not out of the woods yet."

Cyborg saw their tanks and ground vehicles moving and powered up his sonic cannon.

"I got this," Terra said.

She started to glow yellow as her hair started to fly in several directions. Her eyes also were glowing yellow as her powers built up to a very high level.

She let out a scream and the castle was shaken by a strong groundquake and a crevice was ripped open around the castle. Several ground vehicles fell in, wheels spinning in the empty air. Several long seconds later, the ground shook again as 50 or more major explosions reverberated from the bottom of the new chasm. Mushroom clouds erupted a few moments later.

The ground forces were stopped for the time being, but, Terra wasn't done yet. Her training with the Titans taught her that the ground vehicles might still be dangerous.

The troopers saw hundreds of boulders lift into the air, each weighing a good 15 tons each race towards their turrets and smash into them, rendering them useless.

The ground forces were not only stopped in their tracks, but, those that relied on projectile weapons were out of action.

Terra started to waver, to find her lover there, holding her up. She smiled before passing out from the incredible strain.

Cyborg reset his scanners to Terra's baseline and after a scan said, "She'll be all right. But, no more straining to use her powers for a while. I'm afraid that if she does that trick again…" He didn't finish.

"Terra could revert back to stone?" Beast Boy asked fearfully.

"Yeah, dude," Cyborg said, "Look at her fingernails."

Sure enough, her nails had turned back to stone, each one a dull gray.

"Don't worry, they'll revert back to normal pretty soon," Cyborg said, "When we had to repair her DNA, I had a chance to examine it with the Tower's AI. As long as she doesn't totally burn herself out, this is temporary."

By then, Edward and Raven's combined powers had done all they could for Blackfire. Her pulse was stronger; her breathing shallow, but, steady.

They stood up and hugged each other.

He kissed her and that got an "Awww!" out of Beast Boy.

"Stuff it, Beast Boy!" they said at the same time. Cyborg chuckled at that one, "Thinking alike, are we?"

The invasion wasn't finished, though, as the aerial attack was inbound! Edward's enhanced vision spotted them first as he went back to his mini-Dragon form.

"Cyborg, you're with me," he said, "You, too, Raven. Beast Boy will stay with Terra until she wakes up. That way, if he has to protect Terra, he can."

As they were getting ready to fly, a sound was heard and Edward said, "Uhhh, no one on Tamaran has a motor cycle, do they?"

"No, friend Edward," Starfire replied.

"Maybe no one on this armpit of a planet has a cycle, but, the Main Man does!" a voice growled.

Lobo had arrived and he didn't look happy!

Well, the visit from the nephew went well. He's en route to Naples (or might already be there). So, that means that I can post as often as possible.

It typically takes a while to work on a 2,000 word chapter (or higher), so, please don't assume I'm going to cancel a story without telling you ahead of time that it's going to be dropped. But, then again, you won't be waiting for a chapter for years, either.

I have to work Lobo in here as well as the other Titans and JL members. I'm trying not to "Mary Sue" this too bad (Hence the friction between Rae and Edward, for example...or having Terra face limitations to her abilities.)

I did realize one thing...While I have some homages to my favorite shows, I didn't include Wayne Enterprises in here, so, to save time, you may safely assume that part of the technology in the Tower that predates Edward's arrival was from Bruce Wayne, and after Edward's arrival, a blend of his allies and Wayne Enterprises.

Thanks for the read, the follows, favorites and especially the REVIEWS! :)