Act 3, part 1

The cell doors were violently blasted apart as two sets of lasers burned their way through the reinforced steel. One was the red heat vision from Val Yor's eyes, while the other was Star's green eye beams.

The door gave one last heavy sigh as detached from its hinges, slamming down on to the ground with a loud rumble.

"Didn't know you Tamaranians could do that too." Val Yor commented with a smirk.

"There is much about my people you do not know." Starfire smiled.

"Well, princess, let's get this on." Val Yor cracked his knuckles, then went out into the hallway. Starfire, still in her old battle armor, followed.

Before any of them could fly away however, several weapons clicked through the smoke. And Starfire and Val Yor turned to their right and saw through the dust the silhouettes of at least a dozen Centauri police guards, all of them aiming laser weapons at them.

The fun did not stop there though, on their left side, were thirteen insidious figures, each one dressed in a red executioner's robe and wearing a skull mask. The Jury made no sounds as they each took out their weapon. One carried a scythe while another an electro-shock baton. The hangman of the jury reveal a slipknot from his robes while others carried rifles and axes. The Judge, herself, was armed with a sword.

"I hold you all in contempt." The Judge hissed. "You cannot hope to escape your sentence."

"I guess they really did mean it when they said Justice was blind." Val Yor commented sarcastically, noting the explosions that were resounding from the floors below them. The very ground was shaking from the chaos that Zasz's team had thrown the Tribunal in.

Starfire didn't reply, instead, she got herself ready for a fight. Her hands and eyes were all charged up and glowing. She was pulling no strings now, not with so much on the line.

"ATTACK!" Judge yelled, and instantly, the Centauri guards and Jury rushed the two fugitives.

Suddenly however, the walls behind Starfire and Val Yor exploded, revealing a large hole where several more figures emerged. One of them was a benemoth, holding a spear that looked as though you could impale an elephant on it.

"If you wish to even lay a hand on Princess Starfire, you will have to go through me." Galfore roared, and behind him, more Taramanian guards, brandishing spears in fully body armor.

"Arrest them all!" Judge shouted in fury, and suddenly the two groups of Tamaranian guards and Centauri soldiers descended into a vicious melee. The guards managed to close the distance before the Centauri's could even fire their weapons, forcing many to the ground.

More explosions rocked the chamber as laser fire erupted between the Tamaranian and Centauri guards. A Centauri guard roared a challenge as he grabbed a Tamaranian spear, throwing the alien into the wall before being set upon by two more guards. Galfore meanwhile, smacked a Centauri with his arm so hard that he flew right into the ceiling, crashing down unceremoniously onto a party of his comrades.

Starfire watched as Val Yor took on the Jury, punching the robed masked man with the electroshock plugs only to be ambushed from behind as the member with the slip knot pulled the rope around Val Yor's neck, intending to choke him. The Vernathian grunted with strain as he tried to throw the jury member off his back, in front of him, the members with the axe and poison needles closed in.

"Val Yor!" Starfire charged her hands with starbolts, but before she could even attack, Galfore walked behind Val Yor, picked up the jury member like a small toy doll, and threw him into his two other compatriots. The three enemies grunted as they all fell to the ground like nine pins.

The Judge, and the other members of the jury closed in.

"Go on Starfire! We can take care of these guys." Val Yor said in his usually cocky attitude. "Don't you have a planet to save right now?"

Starfire, realizing that there was little time to spare, powered down and nodded. She flew off, leaving Galfore and the Tamaranian emperor and guards fighting, causing more rumbles and blasts to echo throughout the chamber.

There was no other option. To save her home, she had to take down Zasz's team, even if it meant doing it by herself.

Starfire, wasting no time on using the stairs, immediately plowed through the floor onto the lower levels, where the carnage caused by Zasz's team was still ensuing. As Starfire floated above what's left of the courtroom, she saw civilians running away from the chamber in panic, along with the bodies of several unconscious and wounded Centauris lying on the ground. Laser burns on the walls and smoking craters were tell tale signs of the battle that had taken place here.

"I hope I am not too late." Starfire said with concern as she flew towards the entrance to the main hallway.

Before she could do anything however, she suddenly felt the breath getting knocked out of her. A powerful force descended from behind her, gripping her waist and pulling her straight down onto the ground with a thunderous crash.

Starfire was temporarily dazed by the sudden attack, finding her reflexes too slow to cope with her assailant. She gazed up, and in horror, found that a robotic claw, with a predatory and savage shape to it, held her by the waist.

"Nonsense my dear," The Crysalis hunter cackled, salivating through her half robotic mouth. "You're just in time for dinner."

Starfire grunted as she tried to squeeze out of the massive death grip, but to no avail, the Cyrsalis hunter was stronger this time around.

"But first." The monster pulled Starfire up to her face. "I'll soften you up a little first."

With a ferocious growl, the Hunter threw Starfire against a section of the wall, which exploded into a cloud of rubble. The Hunter, with an arachnid-like stance, walked right up to Starfire, who was still lying in the rubble.

"You have caused me much pain, my dear. I can't have you eaten yet until I have you experience the same thing." The Crysalis hunter hissed, then lifted back its claw, pointing it straight at Starfire, intending to use it as a spear.

Starfire rolled out of the way as the claw stabbed down, causing slabs of the floor to fly up with an immense force.

Starfire rushed forward, punching the hunter in the jaw with such force that it forced the large monster to reel back by a couple of steps, stopping temporarily.

The Hunter however, merely turned back to face Starfire, and cracked her mechanical jaw back into place with a sickening crunch. Before Starfire could even comprehend the horror she just saw, the hunter attacked.

Starfire fired more bolts at the hunter, but the monster swapped them away with ease, when she got close enough, she swung at Starfire with her massive claw, knocking the Tamaranian back into the bleachers, throwing seats and rubble into the air.

"I don't care what Zasz says." The Hunter smirked evily. "I will have my revenge." She lunged again, and this time, Starfire took to the skies, firing a massive barrage of Starbolts at the monstrosity. The Tamaranian circled the hunter, firing continuously and desperately with her eyes and hand blasts, but it did nothing.

The Hunter cackled as the starbolts bounced off her cybernetic armor, then she jumped into the air, intending on grabbing Starfire with her claw. The Tamaranian swerved out of the way, dodging the claw, but not before the Hunter revealed a set of blades on the side of her claw that weren't there a second before. Starfire screamed in pain as she was cut in the arm by the blades.

Both combatants landed soon after, the Hunter with a loud explosion of dust, while Starfire floated back down to Earth with a deep wound, clutching her left arm in pain.

"Aw, what a nasty wound. That must hurt." The Crysalis hunter said in a soothing almost lady-like voice. She clamped her claws, which at the same time, revealed more blades that shot out of her arms and tips of her claws.

"I must help. DEEPEN IT." She rushed Starfire, who responded by firing her eye beams.

The Crysalis hunter screamed in pain as the beams shot clean her one of the robotic parts of her body, but her face instantly reverted back to the savage and primal look she displayed all day, and she ran even faster, ignoring the laser fire that was burning a hole into her shoulder.

Starfire braced herself as the Crysalis hunter made contact, slamming Starfire's entire body against the wall with her claws, and holding her there like helpless prey.

"It has been so long since I've tasted sustenance." The Hunter said hungrily, almost regrettably. "Since I've felt whole and nourished."

"But oh well, I guess It won't hurt to give this a try." The villain laughed, she opened her mouth, which immediately expanded to monstrous proportions, like snake's mouth. Revealing a monstrous set of teeth and a purple-greenish tongue that slithered out like a snake. She was going to eat Starfire right then and there.

Starfire cringed back as she saw the tongue reaching out to wrap around her, to pull her into the depths of that nightmarish black hole filled with teeth. Starfire struggled, grunting as she tried to push back the claws with all her strength.

"No, you….. will…… not." She said in determination, forcing the claws apart from her little by little.

Her eyes lit up now, and she shot at the alien's massive tongue, scorching it and sending the Hunter reeling back in screeches of pain.

The next move was fast as Starfire dove forward, aiming to punch the hunter straight in the head. The monster saw this, and lifted a claw to block the attack. Blocking a claw swipe with her good hand, she punched at the Cybernetic hand with all her might.

Starfire felt a massive jolt of pain as her cut up arm made contact with the cold steel, but soon enough, her punch went straight through, breaking the hard outer shell and meshing with the circuitry inside.

"AAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" The hunter gave an inhuman scream.

Starfire gritted her teeth in pain, while the Crysalis hunter reeled back screaming. Starfire then delivered a high kick right up the Hunter's chin, and the massive monster flew several dozen feet into the air, flying across to the other side of the room where she landed against the wall, breaking it apart and burying herself in a mountain of rubble.

The Hunter was down.

Starfire landed back onto the ground, catching her breath as she clasped her wounded arm. The pain throbbed with each beat of her heart, but she sucked it in, and continued moving.

Starfire painfully made her way down to the lower levels, where the sounds of battle had stopped. Whatever was going on, it seemed that the fight had ended.

The Tamaranian found herself breathing heavily. She had never felt this much adrenaline before, back on Earth, she would always count on one of her friends to back her up, knowing full well that by working together they would achieve victory. But now, she was all alone, fighting against the very enemies who had managed to beat her team together.

She fought back the urge to feel hopelessness. She had always been thought of as helpless by her enemies, her shy and timid attitude reinforced this opinion no less. But this time was different, Star took this time to remember all the fighting tips she had learned while on Earth, every thing she could remember from all battles she had fought, whether alone or with her friends, she would need it all now if she were to overcome this trial. She regretted not spending more time training with Robin…surely he could have taught her some more-

Robin! Starfire immediately remembered something.

She reached into her pocket, and pulled out the circular disc that she had caught from Robin right before her capture. The Gordinian guards, arrogant as usual, did not even bother to search her.

Although she had no idea how to use it, it was her only weapon right now, that and her starbolts. Keeping the object in mind, she pocketed it back and flew towards her next goal.

She entered the new chamber, this one a narrow hallway that led to the armory. It did not take her long to find, she only had to follow the trail of craters and bodies.

Starfire instinctively swerved to the left, avoiding a blue laser blast that completely destroyed the pillar she was flying beside, causing it to crumble onto the ground.

The Tamaranian scanned the room to find no movement, nor could she confirm the source of the laser.

But soon, her attacker revealed himself anyway.

Phasing through one of the pillars, was Splicer, carrying two large rail guns in each arm.

"Going somewhere Princess?" Splicer chuckled, then aimed his rail guns at Starfire. Two laser streams immediately burned through the ceiling, missing Starfire, who swerved out of the way to avoid the blasts.

Starbolts instantly slammed the ground afterwards, as the Tamaranian wasted no time in counter attacking. But Splicer simply stood there. Standing calmly as Starfire's massive barrage blasted holes and craters into the floors and walls around her target. Starfire stopped however, when she realized that Splicer was assuming his transparent form.

"Took you long enough to figure that out." The villain phased back to solid form now, and fired.

Starfire arched back in the air, letting the show pass by her face, missing her by just inches, and blowing a hole right in the ceiling.

"I'll give you a hint." Splicer said as he charged up his second rail gun, aiming it carefully at Starfire. "You want to be moving as much as you can."

The next barrage of blasts completely took Starfire by surprise, instead of one giant beam, the weapons fire multiple short bursts.

Starfire, taking note of Splicer's movements, dove straight at the villain, braving through the barrage of explosions, and taking great care that they did not distract her. A green starbolt was charged up in her hand now, and she took careful aim. And fired….

…blowing up one of Splicer's rail gun barrels. The villain grunted as the weapon exploded in his hand, lightly scorching his arm in laser burns.

The mercenary growled as he threw away his now useless cannon, taking the other one and aiming it with both arms. "Alright, that's it! You're gonna-"

Starfire had already punched him in the face, kicking Splicer's other gun out of his hand and sending it crashing to pieces onto the ground.

The villain staggered back, grasping his chin as his arm shook from Starfire's kick.

"Guns, bare hands. It's all the same." Splicer shrugged. Then charged Starfire, both his fists curled up as if he were preparing to punch.

Starfire obliged, charging straight at the mercenary, and ignoring the stabbing pain in her left arm. The two combatants shouted their charges, and they closed the distance between them quickly.

Splicer however, stopped, and just inches from Starfire just before she charged at him, pulled out two laser pistols from under his sleeves.

"Just kidding." The villain smirked.

Two blasts rocked the room as the lasers hit Starfire, exploding upon impacting and sending the Tamaranian flying back into the wall.

The mercenary laughed. "I can't believe you actually fell for that, then again, I got to hand it to ya, no one's been able to punch me before." Splicer walked forward casually

"You will be surprised with what I can do." Starfire shot back, still aching from the last laser blast, but quickly pulling herself back to her feet.

"I somehow doubt that." Splicer broke into a run now, firing both pistols just as Starfire flew again. Running in between pillars, Splicer fired several blasts at Starfire, who returned with a barrage of Starbolts and eyebeams. Splicer instinctively ducked and jumped to avoid the ones he could, phasing through the ones he didn't bother to avoid. The Starbolts all exploded harmlessly behind him, creating massive craters in the golden walls.

Splicer meanwhile, fired as well hitting the pillars as Starfire swerved around them, firing whenever she had an opening.

The two opponents eventually ran out of pillars, and Starfire elected to close the distance, turning around and flying straight at Splicer.

Splicer fired and fired, but found that this time, rather than avoiding the shots, Starfire was taking the blasts head on, in order to sacrifice mobility to close the distance. Splicer fired, but as he pulled the trigger, he was rewarded with the click of an empty gun.

Star saw this as her opening, and she increased her speed, charging up both her hands. Splicer however, instead of stopping, continued running, and to Starfire's surprise, threw the gun straight at her.

To Starfire's surprise, the gun exploded like a grenade, throwing her back onto the ground while Splicer kept running forward, phasing through the explosion. Starfire was on the ground now, while Splicer, taking his shotgun-like laser rifle, took pleasure in Starfire's surprise.

"A little trick I picked up from somewhere." He then aimed the gun straight at Starfire, who now had burn marks all over her body. The Tamaranian tried to get up, but found that her wounded arm had no strength, and she staggered back onto the ground.

"Any last words?" Splicer said, his voice was no where near the casual arrogant tone he had before, now it was a deathly cold tone. He aimed at Starfire, clicking his gun and charging up the laser.

"Yes." Starfire's eyes lit up now, and she fired directly at Splicer, point blank, a constant stream of green laser blast that went straight through the villain's chest, but to no avail, he was already in his transparent form.

Starfire however, kept up the fire, no pausing her shots for a second.

Splicer sighed, then stopped Starfire by slamming his foot on her neck. Starfire choked hard, feeling her head and body jerk up as Splicer's steel boots made rough contact with her throat. She couldn't keep up her laser vision now, and Splicer, noticing this, reverted his whole body back to his solid form.

"I don't think you comprehend the situation here love, you see, I can go through anything I want." Splicer said again.

"I know. But I was not aiming for you." Starfire managed to say, trying to not choke from the massive bruise on her neck.

Seconds later, Splicer noticed that the floor was becoming dark, a shadow suddenly enveloping the area he and Starfire were in. The shape grew quickly, at an extremely fast rate and Splicer took this moment to look up.

The massive rectangular slab, which was carved from the ceiling, came down with a thunderous crash, throwing up a huge wall of dust as it shook the entire room as if an earthquake had taken place. Several pillars nearby collapsed, causing a pile of rubble on the spot where Starfire and Splicer stood.

Starfire's laser beam had carved out a section of the ceiling, which brought down the entire floor above that level. A power generator, which had been on the level above, exploded as it hit the bottom floor, burying Starfire and Splicer under even more rubble.

A slab of concrete suddenly lifted, revealing a bruised and wounded Starfire. Her left arm was dangling uselessly by her side now, completely cut up, while bruises and scraps covered most of her body.

Splicer was in a slightly better shape, having been able to phase through just as he was hit, he got off with some damage, as his armor had been cracked from the shoulders and helmet.

Splicer walked forward, taking out his laser rifle and aiming it at Starfire. "You know, I was going to be nice and all and make it quick, but since you've really pissed me off-"

A spark appeared by Splicer's feet, suddenly making Splicer shudder, the power generator that had fallen from the ceiling was still cackling with electricity. Starfire, seeing that the villain was checking his advance, took good note.

"It seems you cannot go through everything." She grabbed one of the fallen power cables in her good arm.

"Save yourself the trouble princess, you'll be dead long before you-"

Starfire picked up the slab of concrete with both her arms, and flung it towards Splicer, the gunman phased through, but by that time, Starfire had already rushed forward, sticking the electric cable right on Splicer's helmet.

"AAAHHHHH!"

Splicer screamed, the entire hallway became illuminated in a sick blue light as electricity surged through the villain's body and hitting him with several thousand volts. This surge was too much for the remains of the generator, and the machine exploded instantly, throwing Splicer back onto a pile of rubble, smoking and unconscious.

Starfire propped herself against the wall, still trying to stay on her feet. Her head was still spinning from having a slab of the ceiling fall on her. But even though her senses were dulled, the pain in her arm was keeping her conscious, along with the adrenaline of the last fight.

"Well done, I could not have expected less from a Tamaranian savage." Another voice, sinister and snake-like, echoed through the chamber.

Starfire, alarmed at the voice that just appeared behind her, turned around, only to see a giant golden armored fist heading straight at her.

The impact of the punch that followed sent vibrations through the room as Starfire flew backwards, flying through two stone pillars before coming to a rest by the remains of the generator.

The Gordinian Captain, sporting his golden armour that covered all of his massive lizard body, and a red cape, was carrying a spear with him as he walked slowly towards her.

Starfire, thrown a good fifty yards away, put her good arm on the wall and slowly pulled herself up, though she felt her knees shaking with pain from that last punch.

"Why are you doing this? What do you have to gain from this? It was not your planet that was destroyed." Starfire asked as she wiped a small speck of blood from her face, trying to buy up time as she caught her breath.

The Gordinian, though his face was hidden behind an armored lizard shaped mask, was evidently surprised by the question, but he shrugged, suggesting that with Starfire half beaten anyway, there was no harm in telling.

"I suppose at this point, it does not matter whether you know or not." The Gordinian smiled sadistically as he kept walking forward, holding the spear with both hands now.

"You see Tamaranian, the Citadel grows tired of this…galactic peace, and we are looking to acquire a little'….real estate. As we speak, my armada is positioning itself outside of Centauri space. When Earth is destroyed, it will be the signal to move in and attack. Of course, we will be doing this to restore order to the tribunal, which has been hijacked by you and your friends. As an added bonus, the Citadel gets possession of the Planet Destroyer." The Gordinian said with relish. "With that in our hands, nothing will stop the Citadel from reclaiming the empire it once had, including your pathetic planet Tamaran. Zasz can have his justice if he likes, but the Citadel is concerned about power, it is that simple."

Starfire by this time, standing on both her legs now, though she had to lean back on the wall for support.

The Gordinian continued, now he was about thirty yards away from her.

"And what will the Galaxy care? That we conquered a race whose princess was the destroyer of the world Sentien? We would be doing them a favour. None of this of course, would have been possible without you. So I must take this time to thank you." The Gordinian laughed mockingly, while Starfire was once again overtaken by feelings of guilt and disgust.

"You must know this Tamaranian, people like you, who have so much power in their hands, will always have consequences to their actions. To think so otherwise," The Gordinian was now right in front of Starfire, towering over her. "Well, you'd be a fool."

"Goodbye, fool." The Gordinian lunged with the spear, fully intending to impale Starfire against the wall.

The Tamaranian was quick though, she side stepped out of the way, letting the spear dig through the wall, fracturing it. She then used her good arm and threw a punch at the Gordinian, hitting him right in the face so hard that he staggered back.

The Gordinian smirked, rubbing his chin. "Not bad, but it could use a little more work." Starfire meanwhile, was breathing heavily from the adrenaline, literally backed into a corner.

"You should have stayed as a slave on the Citadel, now think of all the people who are going to perish because you." The Gordinian blocked another desperate punch from Starfire, gripping her fist in his hands and almost crushing it with his brute strength.

Starfire screamed in pain, falling onto her knees as she heard the sound of bones cracking in her fist.

"That's right, on your knees you Troq." The Gordinian laughed.

Starfire however, instantly shot her head up, her eyes blazing with a green fiery that took the Gordinian off guard.

"It is not over yet!" She shouted a challenge, shooting an eyebeam at the Gordinian's head. The armored alien dropped Starfire's hand, blocking the shot with his arm, but Starfire was quick, swiping at the Gordinian's legs with her own and causing the massive lizard to fall on his back.

Starfire then jumped up, and pointing both feet down, slammed into the fallen Gordinian's stomach with such force that slabs of the floor shot up from the crater that had formed.

Starfire took to the air again, landing just a few feet away from the smoking crater where the Gordinian lay. She grinded her teeth as the pain in her left arm shot out even more, so much she found herself gripping her shoulder with the other arm.

The Gordinian chuckled, emerging from the crater and running at Starfire. The Tamaranian fired starbolts with her good arm, but the giant lizard just brushed them aside. He punched Starfire in the stomach, then picked her up like a rag doll and threw her across the room, which blasted a huge whole in the wall she landed through.

"Come on now, you don't honestly believe you can beat me? I've kept track of your activities on Earth, you are nothing without your team." The Gordinian rushed forward, and before Starfire could do anything, she was body slammed by the Gordinian, and throw through another room in an explosion of rubble.

Starfire coughed as the alien's monstrous hand gripped her throat, slamming her against the wall. She tried to push the massive hand away, but found her own arms too weak.

The Gordinian, his spear gone, held up his free hand. He grinned sinisterly as the armored tips of his fingers suddenly began extending, so much that his hand suddenly became as deadly as any sword. Starfire widened her eyes as the Gordinian's eyes showed another flash of sadistic pleasure.

The end was coming.

Meanwhile, amongst the rubble, Splicer weakly crawled to where he could see Starfire, who was at least a hundred meters away. The smoke from the rubble was blinding his vision, but he could barely make out Starfire, who seemed to be backing against the wall.

He propped his laser rifle up now, and charging it up to full power for his one and only shot. It was nothing like the other shots he used before, this one, not even a shadow of that wretched girl would remain.

That Tamaranian was going to pay. Splicer smirked.

He fired, and a huge blue beam of light blasted through the rubble. The laser rifle, overloading from the massive blast, exploded, and Splicer was thrown back again, this time, unconscious.

Starfire tried to gasp, struggling for breath as the death choke intensified. The Gordinian was smiling, then he lunged.

Only to stop, as a blue light suddenly bathed the two figures.

"What-" The Gordinian turned to look.

Starfire, aware of what was coming, used the Gordinian's lapse in concentration to kick him in the arm, which loosened his grip until Starfire was able to wrench herself free. Kicking the Gordinian hard in the gut, she grabbed his shoulders and twisted him around so that he would shield her from the brunt of the blast.

The Gordinian screamed in pain as the laser stream blasted straight into him, blowing apart his Golden armor at the arms and legs while disintegrating his helmet. Starfire closd her eyes, ignoring the scathing pain as the laser burst caused an explosion, completely covering that section of the room in smoke and flame.

The Gordinian, his golden armor now charred black, was thrown into the wall, smoking and unconscious.

Starfire, still gripping her wounded arm, wasted no time in moving on. She flew to the final room.

The sign on the room read 'reactor', and Starfire could only guess that this room powered the massive weapon that Zasz was trying to hijack. The clue was also the fact that the massive reinforced doors into the room were blown apart, as if completely incinerated through.
She could not make out much in the chamber, save for a massive generator that took up the center of the circular room. The chamber however, was bathed in darkness, no lights were on, and Starfire found herself charging her green Starbolt in her good hand to shed light.

There was no sound, not even a soul around. Starfire glanced to the other side of the room, where another set of doors were, this one, leading to the weapon.

That was it, this was where she needed to go.

Then suddenly the entire area lit up in a brilliant orange light, as pillars of flame erupted from the catwalks that flanked the generator.

The electrical systems kicked to life now, and soon, the lights in the generator room were back on, and with them, came a new host of bodies.

Dozens of flame demons now stood on the catwalk, and flanking them were contingents of Gordinian soldiers, all armed with rifles. They all stood quietly, while the Gordinians trained their weapons at Starfire.

But this was not the main thing that caught Starfire's eye, standing in front of the small army of demons and gordinians, was a tall fiery demon who towered over Starfire. His wings were completely made of fire, while his appearance looked like one of those demons from Trigon, only more hardened and threatening.

"I want you to appreciate this moment Tamaranian," Scourge said in a booming overpowering voice, "knowing full well that soon, i will be tearing you apart limb from limb... and that you will be begging me to end your misery."

Scourge stepped forward, pointing his claw-like hand very menacingly at Starfire.

"Let's go."

A huge gust of wind flowed through the chamber, throwing up debris and dust as Scourge stretched out his massive wings of fire. Starfire immediately threw up both her arms in front of her face, in an attempt to shield her eyes from the virtual sandstorm.

She did not even have a chance to react, as three fire balls cut straight through the cloud of dust. The Tamaranian instinctively dodged them, flying up into the skies and charging her hands with starbolts. The three lava balls exploded harmlessly behind her, burning three neat holes into the wall.

Starfire at this point, was surprised to see that the Fire demons and the Gordinian soldiers weren't attacking her, instead, they filed out to the edges of the room. It looked as though their purpose in the chamber was to prevent her from escaping, while Scourge fought with his prey.

A huge claw emerged from the smoke, aiming to grab Starfire's head in a single grip, but Starfire pulled back, firing a constant stream of green blasts at the creature, who emerged through the smoke with a lightning fast speed. Speed that she would not have attributed to an opponent this big.

Scourge cackled with a fiery intensity as he simply brushed the starbolts away, letting them exploded harmlessly beside him. Instead, the demon lunged forward even more, intent on closing the distance.

Starfire, realizing that firing more bolts would not work, charged her fists with energy and attacked. Using her wounded arm, she lifted it up as a guard to protect her, while her right hand went straight forward to punch Scourge in the face.

The Demon's face instantly disappeared as Starfire rammed a giant starbolt charged fist into it, exploding into a green blast on contact. But the monster was unphased, he gripped Starfire's right arm, twisting it out of the way and punched Starfire right in the face, sending more shockwaves through the room.

Before Starfire even had a chance to fly backwards, Scourge reached forward again, gripping Starfire by the neck plate of her armor and holding the Tamaranian up to his face. Despite having a very disfigured demonic face, Starfire could tell that the demon was smirking.

With a violent thrust, Scourge slammed Starfire into the wall by her neck, fracturing the wall completely and creating a small Tamaranian sized hole, but he did not let go. Instead, he flew across the room, dragging Starfire along as she was forcibly slammed through each pillar, eventually transforming the small hole she was in into a long scar that ran across the entire wall. When Scourge decided he was done, he tossed Starfire onto the ground, the floor rupturing in an explosion.

Starfire coughed as she got on all fours, her left arm was trembling, either from weakness or the pain, but she couldn't give up. Not now….

Scourge landed next to Starfire, crossing his arms, fully confident that he was the victor.

"A shame, it is hard to believe that you were the ones who defeated the mighty Trigon." Scourge said disdainfully, then stretched out both arms, charging up swirling fire balls in each hand.

Starfire gritted her teeth, turning to face Scourge with a fierce and determined look in her eyes. The Tamaranian reached into her back pocket, revealing her hidden card.

Scourge raised an eye as he saw a circular metallic disc make its way towards his head. The distance was too close, and the throw was too fast, he had no way of dodging it.

The disc slammed into his forehead, but then…did nothing, except get dented, and it fell harmlessly onto the ground.

Starfire was just as surprised that Robin's disc did nothing, she had been in a lot of tough fights before, perhaps it was damaged when it was on her? She didn't waste time anyways, as Scourge had his focus temporarily thrown off. Starfire drove upwards, slamming straight into Scourge with all her might, punching his face as much as she could until her knuckles went numb and even then, she kept on punching. This time, the creature felt it, each punch made the monster concede a step back, and as each punch got more and more rigorous Scourge found his head being knocked from side to side, until finally, a flip kick to the demon's chin sent him flying backwards a few feet.

Scourge checked his flight path however, by spreading his wings, and after landing back onto the ground, the monster gave his chin a little wipe.

The monster didn't say anything however, acknowledging that Starfire was going to fight, he was taking it to the next level.

Instantly, his golden claws extended out, so that each one was about as long and sharp as any sword. More fireballs emerged, this time out of thin air, all of them circling around him as if he were controlling them with his will.

Starfire put both her hands together, charging up a starbolt that was at least five times as big as a normal one.

Scourge smirked with relish at this sight, then he charged forward, firing a stream of fire from his palm while at the same time, unleashing all the fireballs at Starfire.

Starfire gave a cry, then released her giant starbolt. Scourge's fire blast was streaming straight towards it, aiming to cancel it out.

To his surprise however, the Starbolt, instead of canceling out, exploded into dozens of small pieces, each one heading straight for the demon. Scourge however, made no attempt to dodge, or stop his advance, he flew straight at Starfire, throwing off all the fireballs he had floating in the air.

Dozens of small explosions resulted, clouding both opponents in a trail of smoke as they exchanged punches and blows inside the dust. The Gordinian and Fire Demon guards watched silently as they waited for the winner of the exchange to come out.

Starfire grunted as the next punch sent her flying straight back, sliding on the floor until she came to a stop at the wall, making a neat dent. The small circular disc was lying next to Starfire in the rubble now, and it was becoming apparent that she was not going to win with brute force alone.

She reached for the disc, perhaps there was something she had to do to activate it, Robin would not have given it to her unless it would have helped her.

Before she could even touch the weapon however, a foot stomped on her arm, and Starfire felt a very distinct crack as even more pain surged through her.

Scourge stood over Starfire now, his claws dangling menacingly above Starfire as he prepared for the death blow.

"In case you need a little reminder Tamaranian, this is the part where you scream." The demon cackled.

Before the monster could attack however, a red blast forced him back, sending him flying at least twenty feet away into the air.

"Who dares strike me?" The Monster got back up, roaring.

"Sorry, ticking people off seems to a habit of mine, something I can't help." Val Yor said nonchalantly as he landed just between the monster and Starfire.

"Val Yor?"

"Don't worry princess, Its not like I came alone." The Vernathian said smugly.

Seconds later, a series of explosions erupted through the chamber from all sides, several doorways were blasted open, revealing dozens of Tamaranian and Centauri troops, all of them armed to the teeth.

Scourge, seeing this sudden opposition emerge, pointed to the doorways.

"Annihilate them!"

The Gordinians and Fire demons attacked, as laser fire and inferno blasts echoed the chamber. Centauris flooded the chamber, using rubble as cover while the Gordinians followed suit. Scourge's fire demons took to the skies, only to be met by their Tamaranian counterparts, who each tackled a demon down onto the ground.

One of the Tamaranians was a furious Galfore, who swung his axe to decapitate six Fire demon's in a row.

Before long, the room erupted into another fresh battlefield, as Gordinians, Centauris, demons and Tamaranians shot, punched, kicked and blew each other to pieces in the stadium sized chamber.

As more explosions and fights took place in the background, Val Yor went to Starfire. "How's the arm?" He asked.

Starfire's face showed a flash of pain as she gave it an experimental move. "I believe I can still move it." Good, it wasn't broken.

"How did you manage to work together?" Starfire inquired curiously.

"Well…it didn't take long to realize the situation, besides, Cron cleared up everything." Val Yor jerked his head back, to reveal the Centauri officer who had led the squad to capture Starfire in the first place.

The Centauri officer gave Starfire a brisk nod. "There were…..mistakes made, so we are here to rectify them."

"Fools, I will not give you time to rest." Scourge roared, then launched himself at Val Yor.

"Leave the ugly one to me." Val Yor charged forward, locking fists with the huge monster, but to Starfire's surprise, the alien was doing well on his own. Cron came up behind Scourge, but the demon fired a blast from his eyes, knocking the Centauri away into a fighting mass of Centauri and Gordinians, knocking most of them down.

Before Scourge could do anything else, he felt a stinging pain in his sides, but it wasn't Val Yor.

The twelve members of the jury had dog piled themselves on Scourge, one of them had already stuck his poison needle into the monster, while another attempted to choke Scourge with a slipknot. More Jury members came, stabbing Scourge with their axes, shock plugs, swords and knives, until finally, at least a dozen people were dangling off Scourge, with some weapon stuck inside of him.

Scourge simply roared with laughter.

"Ah …pain, how refreshing." Scourge then transformed into one gigantic ball of fire, completely throwing everyone off as a seering blast of heat filled the chamber. Val Yor hit the wall behind Starfire, while the two jury members were tossed aside like dolls.

Scourge, still in his transparent fireball form, walked towards Starfire.

"It is about time I finish you, isn't it?" Scourge laughed, spreading out his fire wings around her, as if he were trying to engulf Starfire.

The Tamaranian turned around, trying to crawl away. Star gritted her teeth as more pain shot through her body. She reached out into the rubble….

" Burn! Tamaranian." Scourge roared, then suddenly trapped Starfire inside his fireball form.

All around her, Starfire could feel the flames incinerating her, all she heard was the monstrous roar of flame as it spiraled chaotically around her. She tried to blast her way out with a starbolt, but found that they dissipated in the pure fire that surrounded her.

Val Yor saw what Scourge was doing, the monster's body was completely made of fire now and the Tamaranian was being burnt alive inside his frame. He flew to help her, but didn't know if he was fast enough.

Meanwhile, inside the fiery monster, Starfire heard the mocking voice. "Did you really think you could escape from me?"

Starfire grunted, holding back the scorching pain that coursed through every vein in her body.

"I….was…..not running away." She held out her hand, and to Scourge's surprise, saw that she was carrying something.

"I was getting this." Starfire's eyes suddenly blazed green, and with all her might, she gripped her fist, crushing Robin's disc in a powerful grip.

The disc exploded.

Scourge screamed in pain as icicles stabbed out of his body, a small blast of blue mixed in with the fire, extinguishing and hardening the flames. The inferno kept going however, which served only to expand the ice explosion even more. Soon, Scourge exploded into a huge ball of ice.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO…"

Scourge raised in hands and roared in pain, and slowly, but surely, his movements slowed down, his blood red body soon became crystalline blue, and soon, he was frozen, just like a statue.
Seconds later, a massive explosion erupted from Scourge's chest, scattering his ice statue and revealing a coughing, slightly charred Starfire.

"That was some crazy stunt you pulled Tamaranian." Val Yor smirked as he propped up Starfire.

Starfire smiled weakly, then cringed as the pain in her left arm came back, but at this point, she was able to stand on her own two feet…but just barely.

Val Yor looked around the room now, the laser fire wasn't dying down, several unconscious Gordinians and Centauris still lay on the ground, but there was no sign that the fight was ending soon.

Starfire suddenly gasped, and Val Yor looked at where Starfire was staring at, by the doorway.

It was Zasz.

Val Yor rushed forward, but before he could do anything, Zasz lashed out one of his stingers, which stabbed Val Yor in the leg. The Vernathian screamed as he went down onto the ground, gripping it.

Zasz simply looked at Starfire, then turned around and left, as if inviting her to follow him.

"Stupid Crixie." Val Yor bit his lip. "Stung me."

"Are you alright?" Starfire asked.

"Can't move my leg….." The alien said.

"Well stay here, I shall stop Zasz." She said confidently.

"It's a trap princess, he paralyzed me so I wouldn't follow…you gotta-"

But by the time Val Yor turned around, Starfire was gone, having already disappeared into the long hallway.

It took Starfire only a few minutes to fly to her destination, as the chamber was connected to the power room by another long empty hall.

The planet destroyer chamber reminded Starfire a lot of Chang's warehouse, the circular platform contained a massive cannon that dominated the room, the only difference was that this gun was much larger than Chang's weapon.

Starfire flew into the room now, almost limping as she landed. She was going to be feeling this pain for some time to come, but to her surprise, she found that it was not the thing that immediately concerned her the most.

"You have no idea how long I've waited for this moment Tamranian." The cold metallic voice echoed through the dark chamber. Starfire charged both her hands with whatever energy she had left, preparing for the onslaught.

Still, she found herself too weak to withstand even this attack.

A metallic claw launched from out of nowhere, wrapping around Starfire with a cold death grip. Starfire struggled, but found that now her arms had no strength at all. The Starbolts simply powered down in her hand.

For good measure, Zasz slammed Starfire into a nearby pile of metallic storage units, completely denting and destroying them as he threw her around.

It didn't take long before Starfire had the air knocked completely out of her.

Zasz pulled Starfire up the platform now, where he had taken his place by a set of control panels, aiming the giant gun out to the stars, presumably at Earth. Starfire, upon seeing this, grunted with strain as she tried to break free. But she simply did not have the strength left, she was at her limit. Zasz however, took no chances, and two stingers hit Starfire in the legs, paralyzing them instantly. The Tamaranian screamed as the sharp claws stabbed into her, making her lose all feeling in her legs temporarily.

"My claws were made to be twice as strong as the Locrix you fought in your last encounter. Do not bother." Zasz said coldly, using his free hand to type in the final coordinates on the control panel.

"Soon, it will all be over."

"You must not do this Zasz! Please, there is another way. I'll do what it takes to help find another way." Starfire pleaded weakly.

"There is nothing left but this." Zasz pushed the button on the console, and soon, the gigantic gun began charging up, with cackles of electricity filling the room. "And now, you will get a front row seat to it."

A screen popped up in front of them now, showing an image of Earth. Meanwhile, Zasz held Starfire right up to his face, as if he wanted to squeeze some last words in.

"My people may have been just mindless machines to you Starfire, but they were still MY people." The Robot said with his restrained voice.

Starfire, despite being paralyzed, grunted as she tried to break free of the vice grip.

"I may not have ruled Sentien, nor even owned an inch of it, but it was still MY home." Zasz said coldly, his metallic claw already over the console, ready to press the trigger button.

"Now, you will know what its feels like to have both taken away from you. Be thankful that I will leave you with one planet to grieve on." The Locrix continued.

The cannon was fully charged now, and Zasz mockingly held Starfire up to his face, as if he were going to spit at her, if he had any mouth.

"Any last words? Before Justice is done?" Zasz droned mechanically.

"Yes." Starfire's face hardened with determination.

"Do with me what you will. But I will not allow you to endanger my friends!" She said firmly.

Zasz was almost amused at this statement.

"Your arms are crushed, you have no more strength in your body, I have paralyzed your legs with poison. What can you possibly do to stop me?" He held his claw over the button, then went to press it.

Starfire charged up her laser eyes, and to Zasz's surprise, did the only thing she could do.

She slammed her head right into Zasz's face.

A resounding crack erupted through the chamber, and Zasz gave a scream of pain as he staggered back, completely shocked by the move. A crack appeared on his visor where his five mechanical eyes were.

"ARGH, what are you-!" Zasz screamed in his robotic voice.

Starfire however, did not stop there, after the first hit, she lifted her head up, and hit Zasz again with her skull. This time, it was done with such force that it created a dent in the Locrix's skull.

Starfire lifted her head one more time, this time, she would use whats left of her strength, charging her eyes completely with her green energy.

Zasz staggered back a few steps, saw what Starfire was about to do, but he had no time to react.

Before Starfire delivered her blow, Zasz saw that there was a small trickle of tears coming down her face.

I'm sorry……

Starfire screamed, firing her laser eyes and slamming her head into Zasz one last time. The force of the impact was so great that a green energy ball wrapped around Zasz, exploding in a violent blast of light as the Locrix fell off the railing, dropping several stories onto the ground with a loud crash. He was unconscious, beaten.

Starfire was about to follow Zasz down as well, but not before she was caught in the air by Val Yor.

"The paralyzing poison is only temporary, so don't worry about it." Val Yor smirked, but he silently cursed that the poison took so long to wear off. He quickly gave some to Starfire.

"Val….Yor…" Starfire opened her eyes, semi conscious. "I…can't move…."

"Don't worry Princess, just concentrate on resting." Val Yor said in a caring tone, then he carried Starfire away, while the Centauri guards, fresh from arresting all the Gordinians, were making their way into the chamber.

It was over.

Outside, the chambers were completely in chaos. Thousands of alien civilians gathered in their large crowds, angry at the recent destruction of their beloved tribunal, and for the loss of their loved ones in the recent attack. It was a mockery of the authority of Centauri, of the entire Galactic federation. Soon, the surge in anger and outrage was close to breaking out into a general riot, all it needed was focus.

That came easily enough, as Starfire appeared through the massive Tribunal doors, this time, she was being propped up by Val Yor's shoulder. Galfore had already made the arrangements, providing Starfire with a transport back to Earth. The Tamaranian guards move around the crowd uneasily, as more jeers and shouts of 'Troq' echoed.

The Tribunal's destroyed!

It's all her fault that this happened!

TROQ! Give her what she deserves!

"I'm sorry…" Starfire managed to mumble weakly. More boos erupted from the crowd, and soon, it looked as though they were about to get lynched.

However, it was Val Yor who stepped up to the plate.

"QUIET, ALL OF YOU!" The Vernathian shouted out savagely. The Aliens in the crowd, completely surprised, were quickly cowed by the massive voice of the soldier.

Even when the sounds had all subsided, Val Yor was still furious.

"So don't you DARE imply that it was her fault. She was the only one who did anything in this whole mess, while all of you just hid in a corner, you didn't even lift a finger. You've got no right to say this to her, NONE of you." Val Yor said angrily, glaring at the thousands of eyes that had a second ago, looked upon them with rage, now they were bewildered by this outburst.

The crowd maintained the uneasy silence.

"Val Yor?" Starfire mumbled weakly.

"It's ok Princess," Val Yor gave a wink, as if it was his nickname for Starfire, just like how he called Beast Boy 'champ' or Robin 'spiky.' It didn't register at first to Starfire, but she smiled.

"Come on, let's get you home." The Vernathian, still propping Starfire on his shoulder, walked quietly to the ship, escorted by the Centauri and Tamaranian guards.

Meanwhile back on Earth, the final preparations were complete. The sun was setting on Titans tower, and already, a giant spaceship was sticking from the rooftop.

"ALRIGHT YOU ALIENS! Watch out! Cause Beast Boy is packing heat!" The green Changeling declared boastfully as he packed two twin cannons into the newly repaired T-ship.

"Uh Beast Boy, those are super soakers." Raven pointed out rather sarcastically.

"I read this somewhere, Aliens hate water. So I'm going give those guys a soaking they'll never forget!" The changeling declared with determination.

"Are all the preparations set?" Robin said impatiently as he pressed the controls in his cockpit.

"Just a few minutes to recalibrate the hyperspace drive." Cyborg said over the intercom. Rebuilding the T-ship from scratch had taken days, and during that time the team had tried everything to locate Starfire, to no avail. Even Raven's spells could not reach far enough into space to detect Starfire's presence, while every star map Cyborg pulled up didn't even give the location of the Centauri moons. So the team decided to do it the old fashioned way, to rebuild the ship and search every star if they needed to.

"Alright, let's blast off." Robin declared.

"Wait, Robin," Cyborg said over the intercom. "I'm picking up a large object approaching on radar, check your console."

Robin however, could have saved himself the trouble, within seconds, a massive shadow had engulfed the T-ship and the roof of the tower.

The boy wonder instantly took off his earphones and saw the giant spaceship hovering above the tower. This one was a Centauri ship, not like the Gordinian one that had attacked earlier, but it was the same enemy.

"Looks like those guys are back for round two." Cyborg said.

"Titans, go!"

Instantly, all four titans opened their cockpits and jumped out of the T-ship. Cyborg had charged up his sonic cannon, while Raven charged up. Robin took out two bo staffs while Beast Boy prepared to transform.

A doorway opened in the spaceship now, and the Titans prepared to rush the aliens.

But this time, only a solitary figure stood in the doorway, a person the Titans never expected to see again.

"Val Yor, I should have known." Robin said with hostility.

"Chill out spiky. I'm not here to fight. Just to bring Starfire home." He stepped forward, and the team recoiled in shock as they realized that he was carrying a wounded Starfire in his arms. She was badly bruised all over, although bandages were applied over her left arm and legs.

"What have you done to her!" Robin said angrily, as if he was JUST restraining his impulse to beat down Val yor.

"Do not worry friends," Starfire gave a weak smile as Val Yor propped her back down onto solid ground. The Tamaranian now stood firmly, although a little weakly, on the rooftop of the tower, in front of her friends. "Val Yor has helped me, I would not have made it without him."
The Titans suddenly widened their eyes in surprise. Val Yor? Helping Starfire?

"Got to hand it to you princess, you fight as well as any Vernathian I've met." He gave Starfire a thumbs up.

Starfire smiled weakly, walking towards her team, where Cyborg and Raven quickly rushed to prop her up.

"Thank you Val Yor, for everything."

"Don't thank me Starfire, I'm the reason why you're in this mess. Even if you were a Tr-…Tamaranian." The Vernathnian said uneasily, but he gave a rare smile. "I was wrong in my opinion of you Starfire."

It was a handsome retraction of every insult he had given her. And although it was far from being an apology, Starfire knew that coming from Val Yor, it meant a lot, and it was probably his way of saying so.

"And I of you Val Yor, you are really a hero, just as you say."

Val Yor shook his head. "No, not after what happened."

Starfire's smile suddenly faded. "So….what now?"

"I confessed to everything Starfire. After all, I was the one who put the quantum eradicator into the core, I pulled the trigger. It wasn't you." Val Yor said solemnly.

"So…does that mean." Starfire couldn't believe what she was hearing, Val Yor had taken all the blame? Then…the execution.

"I'll leave the sentence up to the Tribunal. I don't really care anyways Starfire. You were right. All this time, I've been acting blindly on my anger. And because of that, I endangered your friends and my people." He looked at Starfire again, a flash of guilt in his eyes. "And I almost destroyed a good person."

"It's time I owned up to my mistakes." The Vernathian said firmly.

"Please, you do not have to go alone." Starfire pleaded weakly.

"I already talked it over with your Galfore. He and I agreed, it was the only way to save you."

"You did not have to do such a thing for me, I've also…"

"No Starfire. Never think that. It was me, and me alone. You don't have anything to feel guilty about!" Val Yor replied fiercely, almost angrily. "It's my mistake, my problem, and I intend to make up for it. Anyway I can."

"So….i guess this is goodbye…" Starfire said sadly.

"What? I said I'd own up, but I'm not going down without a fight." Val Yor smirked. "Besides, our actions gave me some leverage to use against the judge, so I think I can squeeze out of it. We'll meet again, I promise." He extended his hand to Star. "And I never go back on a promise."

Starfire, at first feeling gloomy about the thought of Val Yor facing the trial and sentence alone, was suddenly overcome by the alien's confidence. Smiling a little, she shook his hand. "I will hold you to your word Val Yor, may X'hal keep you safe."

Val Yor nodded. "The Earth is lucky to have people like you. I expect to hear great things from you kid." He smirked, stepping back onto the alien platform, where already, several Centauri policemen waited for him.

"Catch ya around Princess." Val Yor gave one last wave as the platform was lifted into the spaceship, which quickly flew off into the horizon, and ultimately, vanishing back into space.

"Starfire…what was all that about?" Robin asked curiously.

Starfire shook her head quietly. "Nothing…we just got to, as you earthlings say 'know each other better'."

"Do you think we'll see him again?" Cyborg asked.

"I believe we will friend, we will. But now, I only wish to return to my home. It has been awhile since I have….had the 'bath'."

"Its good to have you back Star." Robin smiled. "Welcome home."

The Titans cheered, then went back into the tower, treating Starfire's injuries, before she entered however, she took one more look at the sky. Throughout her trials, she had thought many times about giving up, but it was the thought of her friends had kept her going. Now, she smiled knowing that she had another friend travelling amongst the stars. A friend she would hope to one day see again.

The End