Kalbario: Awesome! love the work! Kinda curious how things will get now Vent's in Tamaran. So! Star has a brother? I wonder how things will turn up now that you brought him into the story, even if it was only mentioned. Chekov's gun people!
The Priestess, Bow chika bow wow!
and before I forget... What did she and Star do!? I keep thinking its like Arnold's epic handshake greeting or a LOTR dwarven greeting (nonchalant Headbutting).
Finally, will Raven admit to herself that she still wants Vent and actually go for it or is she still worrying about her father? how will things go? I cant wait for the next update! the suspense is killing me!
Re: In the Teen Titans Canon, yes she has one, though never seen in the main publication outside of an impostor.
As for what the Holy Matron and Starfire did, it was heavily implied as a Jojo's Bizarre Adventure kind of thing; if you've seen the "Phantom Blood Arc", you'll see the clues I've left blatantly out there for all to see.
As for Raven, that's a complicated issue. Terra trying to be Raven's friend won't let her shut herself away like that even thought they're competing for the same boy's affections, but Ventus is the only one who knows the why to Raven's "why not". As for whether or not he's unaware or acting like he's unaware of her feelings is a separate issue because he has his own baggage.
LoamyCoffee: *blinks* I'm the only one to leave a review for last chapter? What the hell people?
I'm getting shivers with this one. ACDC never fails.
I certainly wondered on whether or not there was a translation function for the T-coms, to think they'd need to conquer the dreaded enemy known as STAIRS to get the language is pretty fun. Plus Knowledge! That and the delicious vision of the Holy Matron~ And yes, I'm aware of 'look but don't touch'. Doesn't mean I can't save her image for later.
Hail the Log and it's compatriot, Duct Tape~
Also, did she just!?
Oh, it's JOJO time!~ Do the pose!
Re: Yeah, I was a little affronted too; especially with how much work I put into tying in "Tournament of Heroines" to the sequel. When it came to the Stairs, I was inspired by Silver Fang's dojo in One Punch Man. For the Duct Tape, I'd re-watched an episode of Megas XLR and remembered how Coop fixed the power core of Megas with Duct Tape; a feat which was supposedly impossible, even in the Future. And yes, the Jojo's reference was fun to write in, but I can't take full credit; the other half goes to Spaceman who soundboards story ideas and helps refine them.
skinnydude911: This was a fun chapter. The space dog fight (thought there would be a Star Fox reference, but still awesome), the stairs with the innuendos and Ventus being the one to learn Tameranian is very fun. Somehow I feel like there's gonna be more "phrasings" and innuendos in the next chapter and I can't wait. What I find funny is that Ventus has kissed more Tameranians than Robin has, considering Starfire learned English from kissing Ventus instead of Robin.
I do have a question, couldn't Cyborg make a translator device to help him understand Starfire's native language or something?
Re: I could have, but that would've been too on-the-nose, so I went with Project Sylpheed, a favorite of mine from the XBOX 360 console. As for more "uh, phrasing" moments, maybe… I think Season 11 of Archer is out, but I'm not 100% sure on that. As for Ventus kissing more aliens than Robin, that's something interesting to consider, since he doesn't go out of his way to do it, and only did so the second time because the others were a little too "intimidated" to do so. As for Cyborg making a translator, Virgil would have to relay a whole bunch of words from English into Tamaranean, and even-then, Tamaran doesn't have certain words like "nice" whose closest equivalent is "Rutha/Weak", so really, it'd be a crapshoot like GoogleTranslate; which of course leaves room for all sorts of funny translation error shenanigains.
Pa7adox: Hoping you can patch things up and but more VentusXRaven moments I honestly really enjoyed them being together but it doesn't really look like things have been really been fixed since she branded him.
Re: It isn't so-much about that as it is he's just-grateful that Terra is still alive. He wants to give her the time and attention she deserves since he feels like he really let her down at the time she needed him the most.
rainfallMyth: Just caught up after reading all this. I hope there's some raven and ventus moments like there were with Terra and him
Re: When it will fit. I don't want to "shoehorn" it in and make it feel disingenuous.
Anonymous1363 (Guest): Anonymous1363:I know you prefer actual reviews, but I just need to say I'm so glad this fic is still being updated. It's hard to believe that a fic I used to read in middle school is still getting updated. Hope you keep up the good work.
Re: Yeah, I'm glad some of my older works managed to survive. My earliest works were downright embarrassing so I took them down, but my oldest ones I'm happy are still hanging on and still have a fanbase. I've even inspired a few people to write, just like I was, so that's also another reward for writing unique stories instead of the lowest common denominator. *Cough*Cough* Naruto *Cough*
*TEEN TITANS*
Starfire once-more hauling the T-Ship through the air like an over-glorified pack mule, while Robin stayed in the T-Ship to speak to Starfire about something, only to clam up after each attempt, and Cyborg stayed in his command module in heated protest, Raven and Beast Boy had the good sense to switch over to the Javelin. And not just because the T-Javelin could sustain flight by its own power.
"Dude, I never realized how much I took elbow room for granted!" Beast Boy gawped as he laid on the floor, spread-eagle and waggling his limbs about while Raven sat quietly off to the side, eyeing the passing landscape with a thermos of green tea in her hand.
"Sorry I forgot to give that to you before we left," Ventus apologized over his shoulder, arms crossed as he kept an eye on the controls, Javelin on auto-pilot.
"It's alright. Cyborg never really installed a cup holder in my command pod, and even if he had, I doubt it'd have survived the dogfight," Raven said in turn.
"Yeah. That and there's probably not enough elbow room to drink it in zero-g," Kitten added.
"Hey Vent, where's the bathroom?" Beast Boy suddenly asked.
"Toward the bow, first door on the right," the wind-wielder answered, Beast boy scurrying down the cockpit and into the rear of the craft. "Three, two-"
"OH GOD IT'S EVERYWHERE!" the changeling squealed.
"Sorry!" Kitten apologized.
"Hey, better him than me," Raven chuckled.
"You know, you're really pretty when you smile," Kitten hummed. "I can see why there's so much fanart of you."
"You pull any of that up on a console near me and I'll fuck you like a pig!" the mage howled in a demonic voice, four crimson eyes from the cowl of her cloak freezing Kitten with fear.
"Uh… Raven… It's okay, Kitten isn't nearly that stupid…" Terra said tip-toeing over to Raven and carefully patting her on the shoulder. "You aren't nearly that stupid, right?" she stage whispered.
Kitten's only response was to frantically shake her head.
"Okay, so we're all good," Terra nodded.
"Hey guys! We're coming up on our stop!" Cyborg called out. "Straight ahead, you can't miss it!"
Those occupying the Javelin huddling around Ventus' seat and squinting their eyes, a minute later they came upon a twisting rock formation higher than any they'd seen on Earth, and different from the rest. This one had pearly white cylindrical structures built directly into the rockface, scattered about; at the pinnacle, a very tall alien castle loomed, lit brighter than the others, its rear portion cantilevered over the precipice.
"Whoa…" Kitten gawped, absentmindedly snapping pics with her phone, her eyes never leaving the scenery.
"Welp, we're definitely not in Kansas anymore…" Terra hummed.
"You can say that again, Dorothy," Raven nodded.
"I'm glad I'm recording all this," Ventus nodded, awed and humbled by the sight.
The moment was ruined when a loud flushing noise came from the rear of the ship.
"And like that, the magic is gone…" Raven grumbled.
*TEEN TITANS*
A short while later and Starfire had guided them up to a set of parapets, the Javelin setting down like a majestic bird while the still-smoking T-Ship hit the floor like an old clunker. The Titans gathering together through interconnected walkways, made their way toward the castle, enormous gates opening to reveal a multitude of Tamaranean men in heavy armor with weapons readied.
Of course, the Titans only had attention-enough for the man walking toward them, a veritable mountain range of towering muscle, standing larger and broader than any Earthling could ever hope to achieve. The guy looked like he was wearing enough armor to outfit a tank platoon, and the cape on his back large-enough to shelter the drivers of aforementioned platoon.
In response to his looming presence, Starfire's hands lit up with emerald energy and she floated up to eye level, the blinding lights of the castle interior revealing the man to have a very powerful Viking-like beard the same color as his crimson-colored hair, his right eye blinded, the top of his head bare with age, though the rest of his hair was still robust.
"Nooba gulshtik Koriand'r sol!" the massive man declared in a booming voice, pounding his chest in a way that'd kill an ordinary man.
"Hesbad ruthat Galfore kank!" Starfire returned, eyes glowing furiously like when they'd first met.
"What're they saying?" Robin whispered.
Right as Ventus opened his mouth to answer, the mountain range of a man raised his enormous arms above his head, Starfire's scream whipping all but one of the Titans and Kitten into a frenzy before the alien girl was suddenly tickled to death, the massive alien (read: local) chuckling like a parent happy to see their child.
"To answer your question, that's a standard Tamaranean greeting," Ventus replied, chuckling behind his hand with an ear-to-ear grin as the Titans lowered their weapons/powers.
"Well excuuuse us for not being versed in alienese…" Kitten huffed, retracting her plasma whip with an embarrassed flush.
"Friends, I wish you to meet my k'norfka, Galfire," Starfire beamed happily, completely unaware of the byplay at her back. "He raised me from the time I was very small," she recalled fondly.
"Hahahaha! You mean this dude's your nanny?" Beast Boy chuckled, the others scattering from his side as the massive Galfore bore down on him.
"You find that amusing, little one?!" the hulking local demanded with a booming voice in face of Beast Boy's perceived mockery.
Suffice it to say, Beast Boy's words died on his lips before he turned into a turtle and tucked in his head.
"Nice to meet you," Robin greeted politely, attempting to make a first impression.
"QuvHa'ghachDaq batlh 'e' yImev," Ventus returned in perfect Tamaran.
"Aha! So you visited the Holy Matron, I see," Galfore returned, clapping a powerful hand on the teen's shoulder, completely passing Robin over. "It is rare to find outsiders so-willing to embrace a language not their own!"
"If you don't mind me saying this, your English is very good…" Kitten spoke up, still awing at the man's massive size. Galfore's bulk put even her father to shame, and Drury was no lightweight by any definition.
One part of her mind even imagined her father and Galfore fighting, the word fighting having huge quotation marks around it because in said imagery, the hulking alien swatted her father with a single open-handed strike, all that was left something her brain had to pixelate.
"I was actually going to say the same of your Interlac."
"Inter-what-now?" Beast Boy asked.
"Oh, Interlac is the common vernacular used across the universe by many vocalizing species while off-world," Starfire clarified. "It truly is remarkable how-similar your 'King's English' is to it."
"Huh… Neat," Ventus hummed. 'Wait a minute, does this mean I learned Tamaranean for nothing?!' he thought.
A flashback to how he'd learned it caused him to flush slightly, and he abstained from vocalizing further.
"Barring universal translators, Interlac is the next best thing for off-worlders," the man nodded sagely, his eyes drifting over to their smoldering wreck of Cy's ship. "Ah. I see you have met our new enemy," he said in a suddenly-tired voice, the T-Ship's starboard engine choosing that exact moment to fall off.
"Then you know who attacked us?" Cyborg asked.
Galfore in turn moved to the edge of the balcony and gestured to the plane below, the Titans' hackles raising and their blood pumping.
"The great Drenthat army," Galfore answered, gesturing to the countless alien fighter craft parked on their front lawn. Taunting them.
"I'm surprised none of us noticed that coming in…" Ventus said worriedly, quickly losing count of the metallic green bug-like silhouettes extending to the distance.
"They threaten to overthrow our planet, our way of life," he said fiercely. "And if I were Grand Ruler, I would…!" At this, the heat in his voice died down, becoming subdued. "Well, I am not. Let us just say that much has changed since you departed," he said turning back to his charge.
"I have missed you, Galfore," Starfire returned.
"And I have missed you… Princess Starfire," he said kneeling with a bowed head, the guards following suit.
"PRINCESS?!" Robin, Beast Boy, Cyborg, and Raven all yelped while Kitten just gawped.
"Statistically, someone on this team had to be royalty," Ventus said, deciding to follow the trend and drop to one knee like the others were. It was either that or risk being fed to the space-buzzards.
Off to the side Terra rubbed the back of her head nervously, but hid the thoughts she was thinking in lieu of not drawing attention to herself.
Especially with a telepath literally standing next to her.
"Oh, yes, I am… second in line for the throne. Perhaps I forgot to mention?" Starfire asked embarrassingly.
"To be fair, it wouldn't have made a difference if you did," Ventus returned, the guards hands tightening around their weapons. "To us, you're an invaluable friend. Our g'hot," he said slipping back into Tamaranean, the guards' tensions easing while Galfore had a pleased smile on his face.
"Come. Let us rest for the evening," Galfore said kindly, gesturing toward the gate. "Our shipwrights will tend to your ailing vessel," he said inclining his head to the T-Ship, its other engine falling off at that exact moment.
Hey, at least it was balanced.
"I'll have to humbly decline. No-one touches my baby but me," Cyborg asserted.
"If it is her majesty's will. I cannot take the word of a mere servant alone."
"S-Servant!?"
"Excuse me, Galfore, but his ethnicity has bad history with the concept of forced servitude…" Ventus spoke the man, Cyborg looking like he was about to bust a gasket.
"Ah, my sincerest apologies. I spoke out of turn," the man returned, bowing at the waist.
" . . . It's fine…" Cyborg said after a moment, cooling down after receiving an honest apology from Starfire's parent-figure. "Don't worry, piecing my baby back together will be a piece of cake!"
"And if you can't do it, at least we still have a ride home~" Ventus said with a smug smile.
"Oh you're just going to ride that forever, aren't you…?" Cyborg growled.
*TEEN TITANS*
The Titans passing through the entrance hall surrounded by guards, albeit non-aggressively, those from off-world awed at the alien architecture around the, wholly different from anything on Earth.
"Alien animals! Cool!" Beast Boy awed at a massive reptilian quadrupedal alien statue, its head like a misshapen Chain Chomp.
A moment later and the "statue" let out a vicious roar, Beast Boy screaming in fright and bolting while the locals didn't give the massive beast a second glance.
"Technically speaking, we're the aliens here," Terra hummed as the transformed changeling hid behind her legs in the form of a scared rabbit.
"Look, Starfire, about this wedding-"
A moment later and Galfore descended upon Robin with an enraged yell like some kind of terrestrial ursidae, the Earthling flinging himself backward out of reach and reaching to his belt to defend himself, freezing up when the guards surrounded him, the points of their spears surrounding his neck and a hair away from drawing blood.
"You know, this is my first time off-world, and yet I totally knew something like that would happen," Ventus chuckled, all the while making a note to stay five feet away from Starfire as long as she was in sight of the royal entourage.
"It is forbidden for off-worlders to touch the Princess!" the hulking guardian bellowed, barely-restrained fury in his eyes.
"Um… please do not harm my friend," Starfire urged pleadingly while Robin sweat buckets. After a few moments the spears were withdrawn, Starfire retreating further into the castle leaving the Titans to chew things over.
"Huh. And here I thought I'd have to go to England to see something like that," Kitten hummed, regretting she didn't capture it on film, if only for posterity.
"How about we keep on, so we don't get lost," Raven said nonplussed, carrying on like nothing of import happened.
*TEEN TITANS*
A short while later, and the Titans were guided into an enormous banquet hall.
Splitting it down the middle was a long table so robustly-built, it looked like it could balance an oil tanker; and the arched ceiling was certainly tall-enough to let it do so. Set atop said table covering nearly every inch of available space were countless platters, bowls, and trays of what was obviously extraterrestrial food, hued in every color of Earth's rainbow, and some of it in colors they didn't even have words for in their heads. Set before all the rather ordinary-looking high-backed chairs were large iron wine goblets that looked like they could tank anti-tankrounds. In attendance were countless denizens of Tamaran, all of whom bowed their head as Starfire made her way to the head of the table, her friends in tow.
"Pssst. V," Cyborg whispered.
"What?"
"You know what any of this is?"
"Why would I know what this stuff is?"
"Weren't you the one who did the lip-lock mind-meld with the super-hot alien nun?"
"Yeah, and all I got out of it were the words. I don't know what any of the food tastes like."
"Did she ever try making this stuff for you back home?" Kitten asked curiously.
"Well, yeah, on occasion, but since she used terrestrial ingredients, while the taste may've been similar, I'm not sure they'd look the same…" he paused looking at the food. "Also, most of the time it was either a tossup between anime-style 'foodgasm' delicious or 'worshiping the porcelain throne for a week' horrible."
"Ooh, yikes!"
All further conversation was halted as they finally arrived at the head of the table, where a number of seats equal to their number had been left available for their arrival as guests of honor.
"To our beautiful Princess, and her new husband!" Galfore proclaimed lifting his goblet for a toast.
The natives were able to lift their cups with ease. The off-worlders… not-so-much…
"I am most jubilant you could all eb here to celebrate my wedding," Starfire said with a lovely smile.
"We're… really going to miss you," Robin said despondently.
Starfire had no immediate answer. The long, uncomfortable silence to follow was only broken when the carcass of some weird "alien" creature was dumped in front of him on a plate, with another smaller "alien" creature lodged in its mouth like an apple in the maw of a suckling pig.
"Please, eat," Starfire urged, Galfore taking out a massive battle axe and turning one of the foodstuffs to mush before the whole thing devolved into a massive free-for-all.
"I'm… guessing you picked up your table manners on Earth?" Robin asked warily.
"Hurry or you will not get any!" Star growled before digging back in.
While normal on Tamaran, there was a reason Tamaranean dining culture was considered among the most-atrocious in the galaxy.
"Oh, I know what to do here!" Ventus gawped like the kid taking a college end-of-year exam and he realized knew everything and was going to get "an easy A".
Jumping up onto the table, the wind-wielder threw back his head with a blood-curdling- "WRYYYYYYYY!" -before diving headfirst into the throng, heel-slapping one man away from what looked like finger sandwiches with teeth and a mono-eye on top before mule-kicking another, a few of the women nearby shooting the foreigner appreciative looks since most other races in the Vega Cluster would consider Tamaranean table manners "atrocious".
"Dude do you even know what you're eating?" Beast Boy gaped, then retched as the ex-brunette tossed a trio of finger sandwich-looking space fauna into his mouth, green… stuff dribbling down his chin.
"No. That's just how I like it," he said scooping these purple-spotted black dumpling-like things into his mouth. "Mmm. Taste like chicken."
"Well… When in Rome…" Kitten hummed awkwardly as she snagged what looked like a drumstick with her plasma whip before depositing it on her plate. Giving the green meat a poke, the pretty blond clamped her nose shut and bit into it, experimentally chewing on it. "Huh…"
"What?" Terra asked.
"Weirdly enough this doesn't taste like chicken…" Kitten hummed, taking a more-confident and much larger bite, heedless of any terrestrial table manners.
"Earthling, what is this… 'chicken', of which you speak?" a rotund Tamaranean sitting nearby asked curiously.
"Oh, it's this nasty little bird that everything on Earth tastes like," she answered casually.
"This planet, Ee-arth, must be a harsh and wretched place…" the man hummed.
A moment later and he smashed a man out of his way with a war hammer before diving in with reckless abandon.
" . . . I'm not hungry…" Beast Boy conceded after a moment.
*TEEN TITANS*
An indiscernible amount of time later, where the bulk of the Titans had to use their various superhuman abilities to procure what looked even remotely appetizing to their extratameraneal palettes, the gorka pipes began to play, the Titans reeling at the sound.
"Uh… it is music," Starfire said embarrassingly.
The next moment all the other guests had left their seats and were kneeling reverently to the end of the hall, the great doors sliding slowly open spilling fresh light into the chamber, a lone figure stately proceeding into the room. At first all that could be seen was the flowing mantle and the two vertical hornlike projections of their headpiece.
"All hail the Grand Ruler of Tamaran!" Galfore proclaimed. "The Empress!"
"Blackfire?" Starfire gasped, the other Titans raising their eyes and going stock still.
"Surprised to see me, little siter?"
"I am… surprised to see you out of prison!" Starfire growled as her eyes shone emerald.
"Oh, that," Blackfire waved dismissively. "Well, after you had me thrown in jail, I got bored, so I broke out and took over Tamaran for kicks. But enough about me, I'm sure you're eager to see who you'll be spending the rest of your life with," the elder sister said moving aside a bit.
Starfire's focus shifted from her sister to a young, bare-chested, and very well built specimen of Tamaranean man, a mane of crimson hair blowing in the wind, a towel draped over his arm.
Starfire for her part was positively thunderstruck at the sight of him, Robin indignantly withholding his protests while Kitten took in the "native scenery".
The feel-good vibe that had Starfire's heart palpitating ended swiftly however as the strapping young man moved aside and gave way to something hovering in farther-back from the room Blackfire had just left. What arrived atop a floating golden bowl was large writhing green mass of trunk-like elephantine appendages, its vocalizations and impossible-to-comprehend melding of roar, sneeze, and belch.
Starfire for her part looked absolutely crestfallen, the other girls from Earth reeling at the sight, Beast Boy who spent the most time on the internet growing greener than usual, and Blackfire for her part looked like the cat that finally at the canary after a hundred seasons.
"Starfire, meet your groom, Glgrdsklechhh!" Blackfire said with a face blended between retching and elation, the Titans paling as the alien bowl-creature draped a tentacle/arm over Starfire's shoulder.
"My… groom? But he is- I cannot-" Starfire protested.
"You can, and you will. You see, sister dear, this darling creature is the Exalted Schlurch of the Swamp Moons of Drenthax IV. And since his invasion army is parked outside our castle, I arranged your marriage to save our beloved Tamaran from annihilation. If your groom can't kiss his bride… we can all kiss Tamaran goodbye," the Grand Ruler returned.
"I am sure we will be… very happy together…" Starfire strained out.
What the gelationous mass of ooze said next, no amount of space-nun lip-lock mind-melding could ever hope to translate.
"He says he can't wait to take you to his swamp planet, far, far away," Blackfire said smugly before in a loud voice proclaiming- "We celebrate my sister's wedding at moonset, tonight!"
Wild cheering sounded out from the locals, if only because it meant an end to the alien occupation weighing down on them.
"Starfire, are you sure?" Robin asked as Glgrdsklechhh pulled away.
"Yes," the princess returned somberly.
"Take the Princess to her quarters so she may prepare," Blackfire ordered, a pair of guards escorting her away. "And keep an eye on her friends," she added, tossing a self-satisfied glance their way before exiting with the rest of the armed guards.
*TEEN TITANS*
"HEEELLLPPP!" Beast Boy yelled in the quarters they were given, markedly lower on the castle spire than where they had entered. "I can't tell what's a bed, what's a chair and what's alive!" he cried as what looked like a chair tried to chew on him like an oyster. "How am I supposed to take my beauty nap?"
"How can you even think about sleep? We can't let Starfire go through with this!" Robin raged.
"Come on, man. You sure you're not just, you know… jealous?" Cyborg said with a self-smug grin.
"Of that ugly… smelly… whatever-it-is?" Robin grit out trying to use his words. "You saw her face, Cybvorg. She doesn't even like him!"
"True, but maybe she doesn't need to," Raven conceded. "Things are different here. Who are we to question her culture?"
"Not that I agree with Blackfire, but marriage for love instead of dowry is a relatively recent idea on our own planet," Kitten admitted.
"Political marriages aren't that weird a concept, this one just has aliens thrown in the mix," Terra added.
"Blackfire arranged the whole thing. How do we even know any of this is real?" Robin demanded. "Cyborg, Beast Boy, Ventus, check out the Drenthax fleet. Raven, see what you can learn about this… thing, she's marrying."
"What about us?" Terra asked.
"Keep an eye on Kitten and get ready to move. We might need an escape route and this castle is all-rock. Extraterrestrial or not, your little showing at the asteroid belt is proof it isn't just Earth rock you can manipulate," Robin explained.
"And you?" Cyborg asked.
"I need to see Starfire," Robin said walking off, only for Ventus to grab his shoulder.
"Robin, I hope you aren't thinking of kidnapping her just because you can't admit your own feelings."
"WHAT?!" the shorter teen raged slapping his hand away.
"Say that when the three of us get back from recon, you learn the Drenthax fleet is legit. What will you do then?" he questioned poignantly. "You saw the size of that fleet, what they did to Cy's ship. That thing was barely holding together when we got planet-side, and that was just from five of them, both before and after you split into five battle pods. And if you think I can fight an entire armada by myself, you must be out of your damn mind."
"What are you saying? Are you just going to let her marry that… that thing?"
"I don't want her to. I wouldn't wish marrying that thing on my worst enemy," Ventus spat back. "But when you go up there, just remember what's at stake here; An entire. Planet," he said brow-beating Robin. "If you force her to leave and her people are annihilated, Starfire will never forgive you, so just keep in mind that it's what Starfire wants that's important here. Not you."
"Wait, couldn't you just call the Justice League for help?" Kitten suggested, Robin brightening at the suggestion. "You're a reserve member, right?"
"Just because I'm a Reserve Leaguer doesn't mean I can pull the Original Seven out of my ass whenever I feel like it," Ventus huffed indignantly. "In case you've forgotten, this wedding will influence the course of the Vega System, not the Sol System. It has nothing to do with Earth and, corrupt or not, Blackfire as the ruling monarch has every right to use political marriage for the sake of her people; even if her motive isn't wholly altruistic. So I'm sorry, but even if I could send a message back to Earth by ansible, the League either wouldn't let itself become involved in an interplaneteary dispute in a whole other star system that has nothing to do with Earth, or, even if they could get involved, by the time it took to mobilize the heavy-hitters this wedding would've already been a done deal.
"So what you're saying is we're on our own," Raven hummed, finding no notable flaw in his logic.
At the very least, she respected him for not overstepping his boundaries with the League; especially so-soon after joining the Reserve roster.
Robin on his end fumed, looked like he was going to say something, but then stormed his way to the door only to find it barred from the outside.
"Fuck!" he swore, Terra taking off one of her shoes and slamming her foot into the floor, her eyes clenched shut in concentration.
"We've got guards penning us in. Whatever Blackfire's planning, she doesn't want us to get involved."
"Which is all the proof we need she's up to something!"
"Or, that this is all legit and she doesn't want her home planet getting destroyed."
"So what now?" Robin growled.
"Uhhh… Superpowers, duh," Terra said flatly as she placed her hands on a nearby wall, the stone softening until she could work a new window open like clay.
"Oh," Robin hummed.
"I should be able to go intangible, at the very least," Raven nodded. "Shadow Travel should be easy too, since there's so-many dark corners."
"Alright, then we all have our game plan," Robin nodded, mounting the window before he began crawling up, Terra widening it to accommodate Cy's bulk before she closed it off to outside observers.
"So… Are things always like this?" Kitten asked.
"Oh no, usually they're much worse~" Terra chuckled.
*TEEN TITANS*
While Robin climbed the height of the spire and Raven moved through the darkness, Beast Boy, Cyborg, and Ventus made their way down toward the plains where the Drenthax fleet was parked.
"Cy, BB, you guys examine the ships first, I'll hang back and watch the rear," the ex-brunette stated.
"You sure it's not so that you can get out of working?" Cy asked.
"You're talking to a guy who learned tactics from Deathstroke, a man who can go toe to toe with Batman of all people," Vent stated, as much as he didn't want to. "I think I know what I'm talking about when I say that something might be up here, and that it's better if we aren't all in the same place to get caught, if something is up."
"Man, you worry too much," Beast Boy waved off.
"But if hanging back will make you feel better~" Cyborg chuckled as he made his way toward one of the vessels.
*Literally Five Minutes Later...*
"Beast Boy."
"Yeah?"
"Please don't let Vent know he called it."
If the guards holding them at spearpoint understood Interlac, they did nothing to show it.
*TEEN TITANS*
A short while and several armed escorts later…
"So… What're you in here for?" Kitten hummed as Robin was brought to the same cylindrical holding cell containing the rest of the Titans; sans one.
And it wasn't like they were the only ones. She had no way of knowing how many, but Kitten thought at least some of the alien off-worlders being held in forcefield-borne cells apart from their own had Blackfire's fingerprints on them.
"I couldn't talk her out of it. She has to marry him, for her people," Robin growled, ignoring the pretty blond.
"No, she doesn't," Raven countered, picking green goop out of her hair.
"It's all a lie. The army, the war, everything. Blackfire set her up," Cyborg growled.
"Then we have to tell Starfire the truth… Before it's too late," Robin growled.
"And how're we supposed to do that with our powers out of commission?" Terra asked gesturing to the manacles around the wrists of those with powers.
"You two didn't even leave your room. How'd you get captured?" Robin huffed.
"Yeah, what's the matter? Powers not working?" Cyborg jabbed.
"What's the matter, Ventus too smart to get captured like you two?" Terra snarked back. "As for why we got captured, Blackfire told them exactly what I was capable of, didn't give me any time to shore up a defense."
"Yeah, they busted down our door and gassed us!" Kitten snapped. "Took my plasma whip and everything. By the look of it, your tools are gone too," she said pointing out Robin's bare waist.
"I'm never out of options," Robin said extending a lockpick from the fingertip of his glove, out of sight of the guards.
"And how's that supposed to help us against a forcefield?" Terra asked gesturing to the wall surrounding them. Unlike Earth forcefield tech, this one was indistinguishable from a cylinder of plexiglass, and probably way stronger.
"So, I guess Ventus is our only hope them," Raven said looking down at her own manacles, the alien runes completely foreign to her, but suppressing her magic all the same.
Sometimes one forgot the concept of Magic wasn't something solely exclusive to Earth, if the matching manacles on some of the other aliens' wrists and/or appendages was any sort of indicator.
"And how's he gonna get to us? The dungeon only has one entrance and we've got guards right on top of us," Robin said gesturing to the guards just outside their cell, backs turned.
"And it's not like he can 'Force Choke' them. Tamaraneans don't need oxygen," Beast Boy added.
"Aaand here comes another one," Cyborg groaned as another royal guard came up to them, alighting through the air before landing with a soft touch. "Tch. Showoff."
The guards in turn began to exchange heated words in the native language, completely ignoring the prisoners at their backs.
"Don't you have a translator going?" Kitten asked.
"I've got a few words, but it's hardly comprehensive," Cyborg sighed. "Star tried to teach me in her spare time, but I hardly have enough words for a Tamaranean crossword puzzle."
"Well, it hardly matters now. The new guy's leaving," Beast Boy said as the third guard rounded on his heels and proceeded to walk off.
To the Titans' shock however, the two guarding them before became incredibly flustered, arms waving about. A few more words exchanged, the two guarding them before quickly vacated, leaving the one guard alone to approach them, looking upon them imperiously behind his faceplate.
" . . . Aren't you a little short to be a Stormtrooper?" Raven asked after a moment, the Titans looking at her in confusion.
"Hey, I wanted to say that…" Kitten pouted, the others' confusion only growing.
"Don't worry, I love you too," Ventus said lifting up his visor, shocking those he'd fooled while eyeing the controls in front of him. "Ah, here we go. I'll have you out in a jiffy."
Contrary to that previous statement however, his finger had yet to move to the controls.
"Hey, what's the holdup?!" Robin demanded.
"Oh nooo…" Cyborg groaned.
"What?" Raven asked with a raised brow.
"Before I do, someone should probably pick up that phone."
"What phone-" Robin asked-
"Because I fucking called iiiiit~" Ventus sung, Cyborg and Beast Boy groaning audibly.
To Be Continued…
*TEEN TITANS*
Translated from Tamaran:
QuvHa'ghachDaq batlh 'e' yImev. = It is an honor to be upon your planet, revered elder.
G'hot = Precious person
But yeah… as it turned out, after I learned about "Interlac" in the context of the DC Universe, I decided to opt out of full Tamaranean translations…
Probably for the best, since I was just using Klingon.
I was originally going to have the entire wedding be one chapter, but decided to split it in half since the line about the phone prior to the actual crashing of the wedding, felt like a good endpoint all things considered.
Hope you like what comes next, cause at the end, things are going OFF the FUCKING RAILS!
In the words of... several teenaged and/or college-aged superheroes: BOOYAH!