Teen Titans / Star Wars crossover: Chapter 18: Darkness and Light

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Sorry this has taken so long in coming, people. All I can say is, as I have said, sometimes, the world gets in the way.

Make that "worlds."

Don't own either franchise, of course. Surely you didn't think I did?

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Chapter 18: Darkness and Light

…..

Boba Fett was rapidly coming to the conclusion that he'd kriffed up. Badly.

His moment of weakness, as he now saw it, had crowded four people into a ship made for one. And when it became apparent, through dropped comments Xizor and the girls' reactions to same, that the crime lord was fully intending in to engage in a little ego-saving sadism when he got to Jabba's, Fett had announced that, although the Hutt had paid his basic transportation, he'd neglected to include the very small matter of a "transportation tax." When Xizor had sputtered that he'd brought no credits, Fett had simply pointed to the two slave girls. "They'll do."

Xizor hadn't even blinked. He'd just waved his hand in a dismissive gesture, and turned his attention away from the two girls, who were looking back and forth at the two of them fearfully, not sure who to be the most afraid of. Once they'd landed, Xizor jumped out of the ship and never looked back. Fett had known men more attached to a favorite footstool.

However, simply telling the girls, "You're free, go on now" had not worked. It quickly developed that the only thing they knew was how to be property. "Okay, listen," he'd told them, at the quarters Jabba had provided for them, "First off, I did NOT buy you for the reason you think. I don't buy my women." He thought fast. "Until I think of something to do with you, you do NOTHING that I don't SPECIFICALLY tell you to do. If you don't know how to do it, ask me before you try." He couldn't just drive them off; there were at least three people in this part of the galaxy whom he didn't want knowing he was here, at least, not until they felt the muzzle of his blaster against the back of their necks. And these pitiful wretches had no idea how to lie or be secretive about anything. They'd be easy meat. He may as well leave his calling cards scattered about.

Things could be better.

…..

"Pull up, Jaspar!" Garfield shouted into his helmet comm unit. He and Alpha Squadron (composed mostly of children, the survivors of Yavin who'd been with the rebels the longest; some of them, he thought, would probably start shaving any day now) were conducting maneuvers out in the asteroid field. ("Remember," he'd told them, "your shields won't take much damage, especially at these speeds. So when we hit the outer edges, slow the hell down!" He'd remembered his own days, seemingly so long ago, when such advice would have fallen on deaf ears.)

As it had with Jasper. The boy, probably trying to show off for one of his classmates, a cute little girl named Yunion, had charged headlong into the asteroid belt, whipping around one of the largest 'roids. However, he miscalculated his trajectory slightly, and found himself traveling at high velocity in a large parabola around the rock. Garfield heard him gasp over the comm: "...can't...can't breathe…"

Oh, crap, thought Garfield. According to his readouts, the kid was pulling forty gees, not enough to overload his craft's acceleration compensator…

...were it functioning properly. But Garfield sighed as he realized what had happened. The kid had read that some experienced pilots dialed back their compensators so as to better feel the performance of the ship, and had, with adolescent bravado, done likewise. But he'd dialed it back too much, or miscalculated in some other way. Garfield shifted his own controls, making sure his compensator was on full-blast. For what he was about to do, he'd need it.

Shifting into what he euphemistically called "high gear," he ran his own supervisor's fighter into an even tighter parabola, setting it on a collision course with his student's. But just as he caught up with it, he "hit the brakes," as he called the retros, and pulled himself into a course paralleling the kid's.

After making sure they weren't about to collide with anything (that would just wreck his whole day), he flicked on his supervisor's override module, bringing Jasper's ship under his control. There; compensator restored to max, accel diminishing…

"What...what happened?" The kid's voice was shaky over the comm.

"What happened is," said Garfield, "you just earned yourself another tour of kitchen duty. How many times have I told you not to monkey with those controls!? What're you, deaf or something? Or do you just have a death wish?"

"S-sorry, sir."

Not as sorry as your gonna be. Garfield could well remember the days he'd done something stupid, buoyed by a child's belief in his own invincibility. How shamed he'd felt… He hoped the little girl would be mature enough not to laugh at the kid. "Proof's in the pudding, kid. We'll see how well you do, once you're allowed back in the cockpit of a fighter. Which won't be soon, you can bet on that. It's simulators for you, from now on. Now come on." Sigh. "I think we can safely say the Empire isn't likely to attack today." If they saw us, they're probably incapacitated with laughter, anyway. "Let's head on back."

….

Hoth: Raven was just walking into the commissary, with an idea of seeing what brands of tea, or tea equivalent, they had. Having been 'ported, along with the rest of the Titans, right off the face of the planet, she'd not brought any of her beloved herbal teas. Should 'a sewed a pocket into my cape, she thought dourly. The commissary was only sparsely populated.

So she was completely unprepared for the arms that reached out for her from behind, grabbed her, and pulled her into a bone-bending hug. There was only one person, in any universe, who would do that. "Friend Raven! I have heard the most glorious news! The news about you and Friend Beast Boy! Tell me, Friend Raven, how often do you do it? What positions does he like? Richard likes something he calls 'reverse cowgirl' but I am the only girl and I have never seen any indication of reversed cows involved—*"

Frantically, Raven twisted around in Starfire's grip—no easy task; Starfire was nearly Superman level in terms of strength—and slammed her hands over the rejoicing Tameranean's mouth. "Starfire, shut up! We're in public!"

Star continued to hold her there, up off the floor, Raven's hands over her mouth (in truth, Raven was afraid to remove them, there being no telling what would come spilling out of the overjoyed alien girl's mouth next). "Look, uh, put me down, okay?" Starfire obediently put her down, but Raven left her hands on Star's mouth. She looked around. Every head was turned in their direction.

Of course. They would be, thought Raven. "Okay, Star, I'm about to take my hands off your mouth. Whatever you do, don't say anything. Not a word. Okay?" Star nodded.

Raven removed her hands. Star's joy flared again in her eyes and Raven was afraid she'd forget her promise and blurt something out. That would be just like the ebullient alien princess. "Come on, Star." There was no point in retreat; every ear in the place had heard Starfire's delirious shout. And she really did want some herbal tea.

Raven led Star, who was clearly bursting with questions (Does she really expect me to talk about what we do in bed?—thought Raven. Then, this is Starfire. Of course she does) to a small booth as far away from everyone as possible. Sat her down, and sat down on the other side. A waiter—a live, human waiter—came over. "Can I get you ladies anything?"

"Er, yes. Do...do you have any herbal teas here?"

"Uhm…'Urbal teeze,'? I'm afraid I've never heard of that." At Raven's disappointed expression, he said, "but, but, I can look. Uh, just two questions."

Raven sighed. Maybe something would get done after all. "Certainly."

"What's 'Urbal,' and what's a 'teeze'?"

The universe hates me, thought Raven.

…..

His throat still sore from the chewing out he'd had to give the youngster, Garfield stalked along the outer corridor, passing by the window. He paused and looked out at the ice and snow. He knew, frozen as it looked, that there was life out there. It appealed to something deep within him, something wild that would never be tame.

"Well, if it isn't the Fearless Leader!" Cyborg's bellow echoed up the corridor. "Hiya, Generalissimo!"

"What the hell is a 'Generalissimo'?"

"How should I know? I saw it in a comic book once. So." He sobered, somewhat, coming over and leaning on the rail next to Garfield. "How goes the training?"

Garfield closed his eyes in private pain. "Vic...if the Empire attacked right now, we wouldn't have a chance. All we have, and I mean all we have, is a bunch of kids playing with power toys. Toys they can't handle."

"What about the new simulators?"

"What about 'em? The problem with sims, Vic, is nothing really happens to you if you mess up. So these kids," said the eighteen year old hero, "are coming up, believing that if things get too bad, they'll just restart from saved memory. Real life doesn't work that way."

"Yeah, I hear ya." He leaned over the railing, his attention still focused on is friend. "So...what do you think you should do about it?"

"I dunno." He fell silent for a minute. "Vic? You remember when we used to play those dumb video games, back home?"

"Yeah." The good old days.

"I guess...I guess I never thought I'd be playing one for real." Again a pause. Victor knew better than to interrupt his reverie. "They'll all be slaughtered, Vic. They'll be up against Imperial pilots who've trained for years on this stuff." Another pause. "They'll all die, Vic. And there's nothing I can do about it. I can't not order them out there, because they're all we've got. And I can't order a retreat because...there won't be anybody left to retreat."

His friend patted him on the back. "Hey, man, you know, it might not be that way. I mean, you could have some prodigies there. And, and even if you don't, most battles are still a crap shoot."

"Yeah. A crap shoot. With loaded dice. Emphasis on the loaded."

Change the subject, thought Victor. "So. How goes...life?"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"You know. Life. Life with...you know who."

Garfield paused for a long, long moment, and Victor was afraid he wasn't going to answer. Had he crossed a line? But then, "It...it goes great, Vic. I mean, for me, it's a dream come true." But Victor Stone heard something, some slight hesitation in his voice. And, he knew, Garfield had sensed that he'd sensed it. "It's just...and look, don't ever tell Raven I said this, okay?"

"Sure. Wasn't gonna, anyway."

"There's...something. I don't know how to describe it. It's...something I...sense. There's no other word for it. Something that could come between us. I don't have clue one as to what it could be, but...I just know it's big."

"Is it something to do with Raven?"

"No. Yes. I don't know." He rubbed his eyes tiredly. "I just know it's...something that'll happen, or is happening, that'll come between us.

"And Vic...sometimes, especially lately, I've been having dreams. Really vivid dreams. Dreams where I'm standing over Raven's dead body.

"And I'm the one that's killed her."

…

Korriban: Luke parried and thrust at the ghost-shadows that were his opponents. As before, time seemed to come to a halt while he trained.

You are doing well, young one. In truth, we have seldom seen one with such aptitude.

Save your flattery, thought Luke. But then, "I'm sorry, my lords." They could easily read his thoughts, and probably had. "Thank you for your compliment." He ceased as the ghost-shadows disappeared, wiping his brow. "Sometimes my anger gets in the way."

That is precisely the point of our training. You must learn to accept your anger. It is not something separate from you, something you can cut out or counsel away or leave on a bench somewhere. It is you. It is as much a weapon as that lightsaber in your hands. More so, for it cannot be taken away from you.

Anger gives you power. Take that power. Use that power. Use it to destroy your enemies.

"I will, my lords. I will avenge my parents. I will avenge Ben. And I will see to it that no one else undergoes what happened on Alderaan and Yavin. I swear it. Though it take me a hundred lifetimes, I will avenge those needless deaths."

Good, good. And it may take you more than one lifetime. It will certainly take you years.

Luke swung his lightsaber experimentally. It was amazing how much stronger he was, how much more stamina he possessed. All that training had paid off, and he wondered if the Force had had anything to do with it. "What of the...anomaly, my lords? Have you sensed anything else?"

No, and that is disturbing. He felt them hesitate. Then, There...is another matter, another phenomenon, which we have sensed. It, too, may require some...intervention. If that is possible.

His ears pricked up. "Oh? What is it, my lords?"

Several worlds on the outskirts of your Empire have fallen silent. They are too far removed from the Other for them to be directly related. We have sensed this in the minds of others.

We believe we know what it is. But if it is what we think it is…

...then this galaxy, and perhaps this entire universe, is doomed.

The hairs on the back of Luke's neck stirred as though in an unfelt breeze.

…..

Hoth: the commissary: Raven had lucked out. The kitchen had possessed a supply of some sort of grayish-brown leaves, which, when chopped up finely enough, filtered and boiled, seemed to serve the same purpose as her beloved tea. "This is good," she murmured, after one careful sip. They'd brought it to her practically boiling. "Actually seems better than back home." Will I ever see home again?

"I am glad," said Starfire, from across the table. "Now tell me. How is it with you and Friend Beast Boy?"

"It's...it's really great." The tea was relaxing her remarkably fast. "He's kind, considerate...and, uh…" Dirty smile, "...quite well endowed, if you know what I mean."

Starfire leaned closer. Something wasn't totally right. "Friend Raven, you are turning most red in the face."

"Maybe I'm changin' color. Maybe my hair will change color. Gar's always had a weakness for blonds…"

"Friend Garfield has a weakness," she reached over and tapped the sorceress on the chest, "for you. Do not change a thing." But Starfire's senses were alert. Something was definitely wrong.

Raven slumped in her seat. "Star... I mean, Kory, c'n I tell you something?"

"Of course!"

"He...he's keepin' something from me. I mean, we have no secrets, or, or at least I thought we didn't, but there's something he's not telling me. I ask him, point-blank, an' he says he doesn't know what I'm talking about. Thing is, I can tell he's not lying. He honestly doesn't know what he's not telling me.

"It...it's drivin' me bonkers."

Okay, something definitely wrong here. Reserved, prim and proper Raven, would never use a term like "bonkers." Even through her haze of joy for her friend, Starfire sensed it. "Friend Raven, you are drunk." Those "tea leaves"...too late she wondered what was actually in them. She leaned forward to smell them.

"Don't feel drunk. Feel pretty good."

"You will not for long." Too late, Kory remembered that, for all her appearance, Raven was, after all, half-demon. Her biology was different. Once, she'd gotten drunk on buttermilk. That had been a disaster; the insurance had paid for the destruction of that building, but the manager's eye still ticked whenever he saw them. The only reason he hadn't banned them from the store altogether was they had saved the store's customers. He couldn't, in good conscience, fault them for that. And, after all, the walls were still standing. Too bad about the ceiling. And the floor. "Come on. I am putting you to the bed." And she got up and lifted Raven out of her seat, hitching her on her back in a fireman's carry.

"Why, Kory," giggled Raven. Starfire jumped, slightly. She hadn't known Raven even knew how to giggle. "I didn't know you cared."

I must keep Friend Garfield from seeing her like this.

"Wanna know what Garfield really likes?" whispered Raven into Kory's ear. Other people passing in the hallway gave the pair curious looks.

"What do you think of this most glorious weather we are having, Friend Raven?"

"I'm a demon. Cold weather sucks."

…

Starfire brought Raven, who, by that time, had fallen asleep on her shoulder, to the room she shared with Robin. She was hesitant to take Raven straight to her and Garfield's room, not wanting Garfield to see his love in this condition. Perhaps, with a little sleep, Raven would wake up sober.

What sort of leaves had those been, anyway? She resolved to find out...and eliminate them from the base altogether. After all, they might affect the others the same way.

Raven and Beast Boy, as a couple, had been a sort of a semi-project of hers back on Earth. Even though she didn't really know what she was doing (and was acutely aware of that), she'd nonetheless tried, in whatever way she could, to throw the two of them into each other's path as often as she could. But Raven was always too reserved and unemotional, while Garfield Logan, aka Beast Boy, was ever determined to play the Good Friend.

Now it had happened for real, and, like Robin, like Garfield himself, she wondered if that could be a side-effect of this place, this strange universe they'd found themselves in. Could it have loosened the knots on Raven's soul?

If so, was that necessarily a good thing?

She brought the zonked-out demon sorceress into the bedroom, looking around. Robin wasn't back yet; good. She had mixed feelings about letting Robin see Raven in this condition. What had happened was purely accidental, but she knew Robin, as team leader, could be a bit judgmental sometimes. He'd wonder if maybe Raven hadn't gotten into narco tea leaves on purpose. He would, of course, know, in his head, that she hadn't, but still...in the back of his mind, he might wonder. And she didn't want that for her friend.

So she spilled the snoring demon sorceress down onto the bed she shared with Robin. It was a good, big bed; there was plenty of room.

…

Garfield Logan, at that exact moment, was flying in a spiral pattern around Hoth, exploring what he knew would someday be a scene of battle. He figured the best thing he could do for his students was to know that battleground as intimately as possible. The nav computers were good, but like all machinery, they required frequent updates, and everyone at the base was leery of downloading such updates from the usual sources, considering what had happened last time.

Though it was possible they were worrying over nothing. He remembered, from history class, that, even during major world wars, the various governments had frequently cooperated in sharing meteorological information, as that information benefitted more than just one side. And knowing the weather—on both sides of the battlefront—only served to make both attack and defense plans all the more effective.

But that was then, and this was now. The level of tech here was higher than back home, and it was entirely possible that the Empire had a way of screwing with them, even yet. If it was possible, he had to take it into consideration.

He'd already explored the asteroid belt, a rather dense affair compared to most. Really, it would be best to avoid altogether, but he knew that was not the way to bet. So he logged the position, orbit, and velocity of everything from the tiniest piece of gravel on up into his own personal comp, to be shared with the group, once he got back. Now for inward, towards the sun. If there were hidden dangers there, he had to know 'em.

He was flying close to the sun when something tickled the back of his neck. He immediately recognized it for what it was: a sense, on a primordial level, of some presence. It was a by-product of his own shape-changing powers: the ability to sense other life forms. But where could it be coming from?

Could it be the Empire? It was quite possible, likely, even. There could be a scout ship with a live pilot out this way, looking over the system for the very same reason he was. He knew his peculiar sense didn't extend to machines, so it wasn't a droid.

But his sense had never really worked on human beings before, either, and he hadn't noticed any change there, when he'd been around so many. So...that was out?

What was this? His magnetometer was fluctuating, not wildly, but noticeably. It seemed to ebb and flow right along with his sense of perception: in, out, farther, nearer.

He flew closer to the sun. The only thing that made sense was that there was a shielded vehicle of some sort nearby, and what he was sensing was the pilot's own life-field, as the pilot's comp shifted to accommodate for increased stellar activity. He adjusted his own field to compensate…

He watched as his own shields shifted a cloud of highly ionized gas out of the way, before turning sharply back. He was already pretty close to the sun, and he wanted his and Raven's kids to be born without any birth defects.

But right at that exact moment…

"No. Freakin.' Way."

….

To be continued…