Prince Charming - Part III
Starfire tossed and turned all night. She tried to sleep while hovering unconsciously in mid-air, resting in the normal manner for Tamarans while on their homeworld. But no matter which way she turned, she could not get comfortable in the cushion of air beneath her. Her mind was troubled, and it prevented her from relaxing. Starfire knew in her heart that she would have many nights like this. She knew that it was possible to forget the pain of loss and grief. But she could not imagine ever getting used to this loss.
Her mind conjured up images from the past. Starfire was in the park, enjoying a beautiful summer day. The sun showered her and the other people with cleansing light. Children frolicked in the grass, playing all kinds of sports and silly games with nonsensical rules. Fathers and mothers watched their children play, like any cautious parent would, while still enjoying the sculpted natural setting with their friends and loved ones. Single adults used the beauty as an excuse to meet others like them in their search for companionship. Starfire watched this all from the safety of a tree, where she rested against the trunk, obscured by a cloud of green leaves.
"Robin?" she asked in her dream. "Why are the leaves so green here?"
The other teenager sat on another limb, on the opposite side of the trunk, his back also leaning against it. His arms were folded behind his head as he relaxed in the soft breeze that made the leaves sway back and forth.
"It's because of something called 'chlorophyll'. The sunlight gives the tree strength, and the leaves use their chlorophyll to change that strength into all the things the tree needs to live and grow."
Starfire cocked her head. "I see. Then, it is like myself. But... I do not turn green."
"You don't have chlorophyll. You have something else."
"...Oh." Starfire didn't question Robin's knowledge of earth science, or his knowledge of her own body. He'd studied many things about many different kinds of people in his quests as a superhero. His knowledge matched that of any scholar on her world, and his physical abilities were greater than even a Tamaran centurion. Even though humans were much weaker than Tamarans.
"I sent a letter to my father today," Starfire said, not wishing to break conversation yet. "I told him of your battle against the Two-Face in Gotham City. I believe he will be as amazed as I at your accomplishment."
"Compared to your fight with Junior Cell, it's nothing big," Robin said casually.
That was so like him, Starfire remembered fondly as she dreamed. Robin could be confident and even a little cocky at times, but he was quick to point out the strengths of those around him first. Raven explained the reason for this when Starfire tried to discern Cyborg and Robin's natures, shortly after they fought and Cyborg left the team for a short time.
"Cyborg's an athlete. His strength is the proof that he exists, and he's always comparing himself to others. That can hurt his pride if he loses a battle," Raven had said on that day, far in the past. "Robin's a soldier. His strength is a means to an end - the end being the protection of what he believes in. And like a true soldier, he won't celebrate his accomplishment. Because it isn't as important as that which he protects - the things he loves."
Slade said it best when he was tormenting Robin in his lair, shortly after infecting the Titans with nano-viruses. "All my knowledge, all my power, all for you. Yet all you care about are your worthless, little, FRIENDS!"
After Raven's explanation, Starfire looked at both Earth boys in a new light. She now viewed Robin as she would any Tamaran war hero - as something to be loved and respected, and followed as an example. Regardless of what direction her life took her, she wanted to follow Robin's example, and protect everything she loved with the gifts Fate had given her.
If she'd known that it would all lead to the present situation, she would never have become a Teen Titan. She would have rather stayed a princess on a war-torn planet, or a slave in the Psion armies.
Starfire burst into tears, as she'd done many times that day in her attempts to reconcile what happened to her fellow Titans. No matter what she told herself, she could not help but think it was her fault that they were dead. They would never have come to Vegan space if it weren't for her. The planet Earth - and the Universe - had lost four beautiful souls because of her. And she'd lost her best friends because of her birthright. No matter how she looked at the situation, it was her fault they were gone.
The alien princess managed to calm herself after a few minutes of tearful morning. Starfire glanced across the royal sleeping chamber at Karras, who lay inches above the ground just like her as he slept. It was customary for married couples and soon-to-be-married adults to sleep together, with their arms entwined around each other as they floated restfully. But Karras respected Starfire's feelings, and slept apart from her. Granted, they were still in the same room, but that was not bothersome. Tamarans were much more communal than Earth people, and considered sleeping with someone nearby a blessing rather than a source of embarrassment or irritation.
Wiping away a few remaining tears, Starfire tried to lie back down to rest. Karras was kind, and surely he would make a good king for Tamaran someday. Starfire's fate seemed to be to help him through the trials and tribulations that came with ruling a planet. She didn't like the idea of being a queen, but she knew what Robin would say if he were there to guide her.
"Do whatever it takes to help the people of this city," Robin told the Titans, shortly after they were formed. "It's our duty to help these people live safe and normal lives. We may have to do things that we don't want to do, but that's the price we have to pay. It's worth paying, if it means preserving peace for the generation that follows."
Tamaran's children would have peace, Starfire decided. They would not have to endure another decade of civil war and interplanetary conquest. And she'd marry Karras to ensure that, if she had to. She did not want to lead this life. But she did not think she could return to Earth without feeling guilty and alone. Tamaran was her home, once again.
...Goodbye, my friends. Please watch over me in my new life. Starfire clenched her eyes shut, keeping the tears from falling down her cheeks. She forced herself to sleep and dreamed of beautiful memories that her future could never match.
~~
[Image of the Longinus taking another heavy hit and bouncing off of the side of an asteroid as a result. The ship survives, thanks to its shields, but the ship is within a few hits of being crippled entirely. Cyborg and Robin looked at each other, and both had the same thought. This was it.]
"I can't shake 'em!" Cyborg shouted as red lights flashed and screeching alarms blared around them. "Deflector shields down! It's gonna blow!!"
"No!" Beast Boy yelled. He clutched Raven tightly and prepared for the end to come.
Robin watched as a window displayed the tactical position of their attackers, and showed a tiny red blip indicating a swooping enemy. The next hit would destroy the ship and end their lives in a flash. The teen balled up his fists, gritted his teeth, and slammed the nearest dashboard. "It can't end like this!!"
As the blast hit, Robin yelled out Starfire's name. And he saw nothing but a bright flash of white light. It engulfed his vision - his entire body - and carried him up. He felt weightless, like his soul had been drawn from his body with the gentlest of hands and was being carried towards Heaven.
The light faded into a circular lamp in the ceiling. Robin fell to the ground with a thud, an oof, and a groan. His fellow Titans fell around him, all hitting the steel floor with similar sound effects. None of them dared move or breathe, thinking they were dead. It took them a few moments to realize that they weren't. They were just lying on cold steel in a strange place with white ceiling lamps.
A friendly face peeked over Robin from above him. The face belonged to a Tamaran boy with spiky red hair, big green eyes, and effeminate features that included a cheerful smile. He couldn't have been more than ten years old.
"Jo! Ov muult moli zua esi emowi."
Robin blinked groggily. "...Come again?"
The face cocked his head, seemingly out of confusion. "Yev?"
Cyborg was the first to sit up. "Unh. I think we've been teleported. And just in the nick of time, too."
"Isn't that a little convenient?" Beast Boy asked as he pulled Robin's cape from his face.
Raven lay nearby, groaning lightly. The shock of the transport jarred her into semi-consciousness. She kept her eyes closed and tried to calm the migraine pulsing in her head, with limited success. "...Oww."
Robin and the others reluctantly stood up as they took note of their new surroundings. They were in a mechanized room with circles of light at strategic points, and a control panel manned by two alien operatives. One of them was animal-like, having the characteristics of a hippo that could stand upright. The other seemed to be a floating compilation of geometric figures crafted from shiny silver. The most human-looking alien in the room was the Tamaran, who wore sleek body armor and had a giant sword slung to his back. He looked like a child pretending to be a fantasy character in a distinctly non-fantasy world.
"Yimduni vu uas t'vest'joq, [Brigadoon]," said the boy. He said the last word in what sounded like English, with the accent of someone trying to speak English as a secondary language.
"...Brigadoon?" Robin repeated. Looking around briefly, he figured out what the man was trying to imply. Or at least, he thought he figured it out. No way to know if he was right or not. "Must be the ship's name. But... why would the ship be named with an English word?"
"Who knows, who cares," Beast Boy griped. "They're friends, right? Maybe they can help us get to Star before her sis' and this prince dude assassinate everyone."
"Thanks for helping us out back there," Cyborg said, holding a mechanical hand out to the Tamaran. "You really pulled our butts out of the fire."
The Tamaran stared at his hand, then at Cyborg's face, then the hand again. "... 'Cool dude', yes?"
Cyborg's smile widened. "Hey, you speak a little English! Good, that'll make things a whole lot easier!"
The boy simply stared in response, seemingly amazed at the sheer number of English words in that sentence.
"...Maybe not." Cyborg scratched his head, making screeching noises from the metal-to-metal contact. "This could be problematic. Obviously they had a reason to rescue us, but we won't know it unless we figure out how to speak to each other."
"He knows a little english, and a little bit of our ways," Robin noted. "He knew to equate the hand shake and the African American skin with 'cool dude'."
Cyborg sweatdropped. "Wonderful."
"Does that mean he's been to Earth before?" Raven suggested.
"Only one way to find out."
Robin thought for a second, and then tried the simple approach. "Koriand'r?"
The young man nodded intently. "Koriand'r! T'ji ot v'j-!"
"Whoa-whoa-whoa," Robin said quickly. The man stopped. Robin then nodded purposely to indicate his satisfaction with the answer.
Robin patted his own chest. "Robin." He then pointed at the other Titans in turn. "Cyborg. Raven. Beast Boy."
The boy nodded, and patted his own chest. "Ryand'r."
Robin nodded. He was glad they were understanding each other on some level. "...Ryand'r."
Raven looked around, then sighed and shook her head. "Tuss'z vu sat'j v'jot, civ dep yi t'vuq q'mezoph henit epf vem'l ecuav onqus'vep'v v'jopht?" Well before Raven had finished her impossibly confusing sentence, the males in the vicinity were staring at her in utter shock.
Ryand'r recovered his senses enough to respond. "Xit." He nodded many times, and then motioned for the others to follow him. The Titans walked behind the Tamaran as he led the way out of the room into a thin hallway lined with doors marked with alien symbols. Ryand'r took them to the end of the hallway, which led into the ship's bridge. There, several other aliens worked the controls and monitored everything that could be monitored on a spacecraft.
"Okay, I'll bite," Beast Boy said. "How'd you learn to speak Klingon?"
"I can do more than throw rocks and make books disappear," Raven said matter-of-factly. "I can use my empathic abilities to get information from certain people's minds. I borrowed his knowledge of his own language."
Beast Boy smiled. "I was wrong. You are the better magician."
"Told you," she smirked back. The bridge door slid shut behind them.
"Ra-ven," the alien said carefully. He then went into a long sentence in the Tamaran language. Raven answered back with short, concise phrases, as was her usual nature.
"What did he say?" Robin asked.
"He says that this is the spaceship Brigadoon, and it's part of an anti-Psion terrorist force. He knows Starfire because he was captured in the same invasion that she and Blackfire were enslaved in."
"So he probably hasn't met her personally," Cyborg said. "How does he know 'cool dude', then?"
Raven asked. Ryand'r blushed as he responded. "He says he's studied Earth through the Green Lantern Corp and other groups with connections to our galaxy."
"Ask him why he rescued us," Robin said. Raven frowned at having to do all this talking, but relayed the message. Ryand'r replied with a lengthy soliloquy, which the mystic patiently listened to.
"He was monitoring the Psion Sentinels that attacked us. And he figured that anyone the Psions wanted to kill would be a possible ally for him and his crew."
"Makes sense," Cyborg commented.
Beast Boy remained visibly suspicious. "He couldn't have helped us save the Longinus?"
"This ship isn't much bigger than ours was," Cyborg said. "Give 'im a little credit. It's a wonder those Sentinel things aren't blasting us right now. They must have some souped-up FTL on this thing to avoid a fight with them."
"We're cloaked," Raven corrected. "He explained that he couldn't attack the drones without giving away his position, so he followed us during the fight and waited for our deflector shields to drop. Only then could he reach into the ship and grab us with his teleportation device."
Robin looked around at the different systems being operated by the alien crew. He didn't understand the language, but he could guess from the sensor displays and control consoles what each section was responsible for. "This ship, the 'Brigadoon', may be even more of a blessing than it seems."
"Why's that?" Cyborg asked. "What's better than them saving our lives?"
"We were going to just rush into Tamaran and tell them to stop the wedding, just on our say-so," Robin explained. "There's no way the king or the royal families would have listened to us, even if Starfire defended our position. With Ryand'r's help, we might be able to piece together the evidence we need to prove that Karras is in league with Blackfire and the Psions."
"We could use the recordings that the Justice League intercepted," Cyborg suggested. "And we can probably reach Earth with this ship's communication systems." As he and Robin discussed this, Raven translated the conversation for Ryand'r. He cut in when she translated the part about the communication, confirming that it was possible.
"So maybe we have a fighting chance now," Robin concluded. "Instead of just a slim hope."
The other Titans were silent. All of them were worried about Starfire, now more than ever after the near-death experience they had just trying to get to her. Somebody out there did not want them to interfere.
"…Something isn't right here," Robin said softly.
"Ryand'r seems friendly enough," Beast Boy said. Quickly he begged Raven not to translate that part. That sword looked very sharp, so he didn't want to say anything that might sound like an insult.
"It's not him. Something about this whole thing with the Psions being involved." Robin lowered his head in thought. "It doesn't make sense. Why would a species capable of planetary destruction bother to support an assassination?"
Nobody could answer. Why bother with ant-scale politics when you could simply stomp on the hive whenever you wanted to? Granted, there'd be resistance from the Tamarans, but it wouldn't be much resistance if the Psions used enough of their forces.
Ryand'r looked at the solemn group, then said something to Raven. She translated. "He says there is a room where we can stay, and he'd be glad to set a course for Tamaran before returning to base."
"Thank you," Cyborg said, bowing slightly. Ryand'r gave an 'O.K.' sign and smiled, making the teen chuckle at the young warrior.
"We're still only a few hours behind," Beast Boy said. "We can make it!"
Robin didn't respond. "…Doesn't make sense." He muttered to himself all the way to the bridge door, which slid open automatically as he entered the hall.
Raven confirmed the plan to Ryand'r, who nodded and started barking orders to the already active crew. Many aliens replied in alien accents as they rushed to obey. Cyborg watched the spectacle, in awe of the boy's audacity in commanding people that were probably much older than him.
Beast Boy stared at the now-closed door. "What's that all about? He slipped into Research Mode all of a sudden. He'll be zoned out for days now."
"Something has jarred his detective nature," Raven said, showing off her empathic insight into other people's nature. "I don't know what's worrying him specifically, but it's something to do with the Psions."
The green mutant frowned slightly. "The closer we get to Tamaran, the more worried he seems to become. I'm worried he's going to snap if we don't find Star soon."
"You've seen how he gets when the situation gets personal," Raven said.
"I wouldn't mind seeing him do to Blackfire what he did to those Slade-bots during one of those 'personal' missions. But… I don't know. I'm just afraid he'll make a mistake."
"Pray that doesn't happen." Raven watched Cyborg try to have a discussion with Ryand'r about the ship's specifications, which was going slowly at best. But at least the two were having fun trying.
~~
------------------Five days later
------------------
Blackfire dressed herself in her skintight armor, slowly and methodically. She closed the snaps and zipped the zippers one at a time, her body moving with the utmost caution as her mind focused on other things. It wouldn't be long before she flew into the heart of her birthplace and released the destructive power the Psions had given her. She would destroy the royal families that branded her as a handicapped child, and doomed her to a life of social nonexistence.
"You are sure you are capable of doing this?" Nearby, a green-scaled alien with a metallic uniform watched Blackfire dress emotionlessly. "Your psychological profile generates only a 86% chance that you will willingly kill members of your own family."
"I already told you, dear," Blackfire said, using the English word 'dear' in her Psionese sentence. "I hate those people more than anything. They don't love me, so I don't love them. And it's not like I haven't killed anyone before. I've killed lots of Centauran officials and Vegan spies in my time. What's a few more people going to do?"
"These are not just any people," the alien warned. "They are your blood - your people."
Blackfire finished latching the last piece of her body armor into place, then turned around to face the alien with a dark smile. "They aren't my 'people'. You are. After all, you made me the woman I am today."
The Psion scientist nodded in approval. "This pleases me. Karras believes this is a simple assassination. He would not be able to stomach the true meaning of this mission. I am glad you are with us, Komand'r. You are truly a credit to your race."
Blackfire's smile widened as she basked in the alien's attention - the attention nobody else in her life had given her. The Psions were incapable of lying, as they'd evolved past such petty concepts as emotional relationships. So Blackfire knew that his words were absolutely true in his mind.
The Psions valued her. Nobody else in the universe did. So she would do everything in her power to serve them. She would be their champion, as they meant for her and Starfire to be. But Blackfire would prove that she was better than her sister would ever be.
"I'm ready," Blackfire said as she swished her beautiful black hair.
The Psion's cold eyes confirmed this. "Then, it is time. The wedding will soon begin. Go, and fulfill your destiny."
~~
Starfire looked at herself in the mirror, amazed at what she saw. She didn't see a tall, gangly alien girl trying to fit it on planet Earth. She saw a beautiful Tamaran woman, dressed in her first and only wedding gown, topped by a wreath of purple and white leaves from a glubarg tree. She looked beautiful.
Starfire caught herself daydreaming of Robin in the groom's traditional Tamaran suit, standing beside her. She reluctantly shook the thought from her head. Robin was not a prince. He was not even alive. That dream could never come true.
Can you see me now from the Highplane? Starfire thought. I hope so. I wished that this day would come when I was much older, and not under these circumstances. But we must wed before festival time ends, so that peace can be achieved.
Starfire reached underneath her chair, where a pile of clothes lay. She pulled out a T-shaped device and clutched it to her chest fondly. Give me strength, my friends. I want you to be proud of me, so that I might one day join you in the Highplane.
The thought of seeing her friends again in the afterlife was comforting somewhat. But the pain in her heart couldn't be quelled by such simplistic thoughts. She would always feel that pain. No amount of thoughts could relieve her of that.
"Koriand'r," said a gentle man's voice. Starfire turned to see her father. He was always strong and tender to those he loved. He'd helped her much during this past week after the loss of her dearest friends. He'd met the Teen Titans personally, and learned about them through his daughter's letters. He understood her grief more than anyone else on Tamaran.
"Daddy," she said, coining an English term. She looked into his eyes sadly, knowing what was about to happen.
"It's time." The giant man stepped into the tent and placed a strong arm around his daughter in a loving hug. "Time to become a princess again."
Starfire nodded, and stood up with him. Before leaving the tent, she looked at the T-shaped device one last time and placed it on the chair she'd been sitting at moments ago. She turned her back to it and walked with her father outside, where her future life awaited.
The device beeped to life. But alas, Starfire was not close enough to hear it.
~~
"Come on, come on," Robin growled. His Titan communicator was hot-wired into the Brigadoon's interstellar communication system, allowing him to access Starfire's device even though she was several light-years away still. But he wasn't getting any answer, and he couldn't keep trying much longer. The longer he kept the communication signal open, the more likely it would be detected by the Psions or some other interplanetary system. Finally, Robin swore and shut off the communicator. "No answer. Why can't she answer?"
"She's getting married, dude," Beast Boy said. "No cell phones allowed at the wedding." Robin glared at the green mutant, who sweatdropped nervously. He might've stepped a tad too far with that comment.
Ryand'r said something to his bridge crew. Raven translated. "We're approaching Tamaran at sub-light speed."
"The Tamaran have centurion battalions posted at regular intervals all over the planet," Cyborg noted as he looked over an alien's shoulder. "And odds are that they'll attack anyone who tries to get onto the planet during the ceremony."
"Those Psion guys are probably waiting nearby to make sure their plan goes well," Beast Boy added.
"And Blackfire is on her way," Robin added nervously. "Things aren't looking so good. No matter which direction we go, somebody's going to attack us."
"So, what's the plan?"
Ryand'r turned around and said something. Raven translated, "Let us deal with Blackfire. We will do our best to stop her in orbit. You teleport to the surface and find your friend."
"Can you teleport us to where Starfire is?" Robin asked. Raven translated the question and the response.
"He can teleport you to the palace entrance. Everything inside is protected by deflector shields that also prevent mass-energy transport."
"Great," Beast Boy said. "So we have to get through the palace. And these guys are going to attack us no matter what we say, since they don't understand us and everything's on high alert."
Robin turned and headed for the teleported room. "Then we'll make them understand. We're getting to Starfire no matter what. And she'll warn everybody about Blackfire and Karras, before it's too late."
The other Titans followed their fearless leader, leaving Ryand'r and his crew behind. The young boy whispered a Tamaran prayer of good luck, and returned his attention to the ship. They would find Blackfire and stall her for as long as they could.
Ryand'r just hoped somebody could stop her.
~~
Robin and the other Titans appeared at the drawbridge of Northern Tamaran's royal palace. Several dozen guards saw the flash of the teleportation and rapidly responded to the threat. The armored centurions leapt into the sky and flew in like hawks descending upon stranded mice. Little did they know that these mice had big teeth.
"Find Starfire and warn her about the attack," Robin ordered. "Titans, GO!" He drew a razor-edged bird bomb and raced across the drawbridge as the other Titans did the same. Robin leapt and dove through several centurions before reaching the other side, where he was attacked by a swarm of these guys. He used his martial arts prowess to good advantage and took out most of the soldiers within seconds. Cyborg and Beast Boy used similar physical feats to down their attackers, while Raven used her force magic to smoothly defend herself as she walked. Any attacker who so much as touched her was catapulted away with blistering force, some of them flying through their own castle walls as a result. If it weren't for the Tamaran physiology, they would have died from such force.
Robin growled and swept all his enemies away with a whirlwind attack, then dashed into the castle grounds to catch up with the others. Cyborg and Beast Boy were fighting off more centurions, this time ready to defend themselves against the children they underestimated before. The soldiers drew their swords and halberds, and swung them with malicious intent.
"Robin, Raven, you head down that way!" Cyborg ordered, pointing down one of the palace halls. "B.B. and I will head down this way and draw some of them away from you."
"Right!" Robin shouted back. He dashed down the hall, leaping over several guards as he did so. Raven knocked them all back with a single word, catapulting them into the walls with enough force to knock them out. She followed at a slower pace, her mind scanning her surroundings for signs of Starfire or Blackfire. She prayed that she found Starfire first.
Robin slid around a corner, where five centurions were waiting for him with blades drawn. They swung with expert precision and blinding speed, forcing Robin to duck and roll under several near-hits. The blade slashes managed to slice through parts of Robin's cape, thanks to the superhuman strength of the Tamaran men. They weren't as strong as Star was, but they were strong enough to make a sword lethal even for a titanium-armored superhero.
Robin drew his power pole and extended it with fluid motions. He spun the weapon behind him before bringing it down with full force on one of the enemies, smashing the side of his head hard enough to knock him down. Robin deflected two other swings and leapt over a third before kicking another attacker in the face. He stabbed his power pole into the ground and flipped over it, allowing him to uppercut another enemy with the bottom end. He landed on his feet and stopped the sword swings of the remaining two, before batting one of them into the other. With his five attackers stunned, Robin raced down the castle hall and took a right, hoping to find his way to the center of this maze before it was too late. It wouldn't be long before the true danger arrived.
"Robin, come in," Raven said through her communicator. Although they went down the same hall, Robin quickly left her behind due to their dramatically different paces.
He drew his T-shaped circlet and clicked it on. "Report!"
"Starfire is in the center of the palace. But the castle halls are built like a maze to prevent invaders from reaching the central courtyard easily."
"Tell me something I don't know," Robin groaned. Two attackers charged him, but he leapt onto the wall and flipped over them before their swords could connect. He axe-kicked one of them in the back of the neck, knocking him unconscious instantly before using a roundhouse kick on the next guy, all before landing on his feet.
"Whatever prevented Ryand'r from teleporting us into the palace itself is also keeping me from phasing through the walls and is stopping Cyborg's and Beast Boy's attacks. We'll have to find a way through the maze, or fly over the castle walls and fight our way through even more soldiers."
"You and Beast Boy get back outside and try to fly over the walls to the central court," Robin ordered as he ran. "Cyborg and I will keep going through the halls."
"One last thing," Raven said. "Blackfire is in orbit now."
That meant that Blackfire would soon be attacking the palace for the assassination. They didn't have much time. "We can't do anything about her until she gets to the surface. For now, focus on Starfire and warning everyone."
Raven clicked out in response, and Robin pocketed his communicator. He rounded the bend into another hallway and resumed the battle with another batch of centurions. He refused to let them stop him. Because if Blackfire succeeded in completing her attack, Starfire might be killed along with her entire family. And who knew what such a blow would do to Star's spirit.
Nobody hurts Star while I'm around. Nobody.
~~
Blackfire laughed as she watched the battered vessel known as Brigadoon escape into the safety of being cloaked, presumably to aid in its escape. With its FTL engines out of commission thanks to her attacks, the ship wouldn't get very far. They'd be forced to return to Tamaran eventually, assuming the planet was still there when she was done with it.
Now that that's over, I can get back to what I was originally going to do. Blackfire flew the relatively short distance to Tamaran's sun and threw her arms wide as she called out to the source of Tamaran's life. The light of the star bathed her, and her body absorbed it greedily like a sponge in water. A normal Tamaran could not hope to survive such close proximity to a star, but Blackfire was not a normal Tamaran. Like her sister, she was special. But unlike her sister, she knew how to use her powers with the utmost ability. That was what made her better.
It feels so good, Blackfire realized. Her body was literally pulsating with the light of the sun as it was converted into physical energy. Her eyes glowed deep violet, just like they did when she called on her star bolts in combat. But now, her entire body was on fire with this violet light. Her body's aura shined as brightly as any star, albeit the light was violet rather than gold. Her strength increased, slowly but surely surpassing her normal abilities.
The power boost wouldn't last for long, but it would last long enough for her to destroy Tamaran and everything on it. And she would accomplish the mission that the Psions wanted her to accomplish. Karras would be so surprised when the attack came earlier than expected.
When Blackfire felt she'd reached her absolute limit, she turned and flew back to Tamaran's orbit in seconds. She held her palm towards the beautiful pink-and-white orb, and focused as she called on her special abilities. A pinpoint of light appeared at her hand. Slowly, it started to grow as she channeled the stolen light through her body with great effort. With enough time, she would form the largest starbolt ever made.
It might take me a few minutes, Blackfire thought to herself. But when this baby's finished, Tamaran will be nothing but an asteroid belt. And everyone in the galaxy will know who did it.
Then, baby sister, you and I will show the Psions what we're really made of.
~~
"What's all the commotion about!?" Karras demanded. Starfire and him were standing in front of the two kings of the planet, awaiting the completion of their ceremonial vows. But the sounds of explosions within the castle walls were disturbing the ceremony.
A centurion ran to the kings to report. "Invaders are attacking the palace! They are overpowering our forces! We must get your majesties to safety!"
"Take Princess Koriand'r to safety," Karras said, unsheathing his blade from his ceremonial scabbard. The sword was real, but the scabbard was designed to be pretty rather than functional like his real one. "I will join the troops in combating this menace." Secretly, Karras wondered what this disturbance was. Komand'r was supposed to attack from the sky with her starbolts; she was not supposed to have anyone helping her. Were these invaders part of the Psions' plans, or was it someone else?
"I can assist you!" Starfire said, her hands glowing with green light. But her father lowered her fists.
"You are not on Earth anymore, my daughter," King Myand'r said seriously. "The invaders may be something far worse than you are prepared to handle. Please leave this to Prince Karras and his elite guardians."
The stated guardians were waiting nearby as part of the ceremony procession line. They were dressed in all manner of flamboyant colors, as if they were color-coded rangers ready to battle evil. But it was obvious from their demeanor and their types of weapons that they were South Tamaran's elite guardians - the deadliest warriors the planet had to offer.
"But father," Starfire begged. "I…"
"I understand," he said. "But you have a greater purpose than that of a warrior, now. You are a princess and a figure of hope. You must stay alive, no matter what."
"Do not worry about me, fair princess," Karras said, playing his part of the loving husband. "I will return unharmed, and I will make sure nobody is hurt by these invaders."
Starfire wanted to help stop these villains, but she knew that she wasn't a Teen Titan anymore too. On Tamaran, she was indeed a princess with 'higher' concerns than fighting. And the Vegan system had enemies that even she couldn't hope to defeat. She had to trust her father's judgment in this situation, and she had to trust Karras.
"…Very well," she said reluctantly. "Please be careful."
"You as well," Karras replied. He nodded to his father and King Myand'r, and the two men fled with the young princess and the rest of the nobles to another region of the palace that was currently not under attack. A swarm of centurions went with them, intent on defending their royal leaders with their lives if necessary.
Karras turned to his elite guardians, who stood in a four-man line before him. When they were alone, he spoke to them. "This is not part of the plan. Blackfire was to come alone. These invaders must be trying to interfere with the plan somehow."
"Or someone else had the same idea as you," one of the guardians joked. They laughed, until Karras' stare silenced them.
"Fan out and destroy the intruders," Karras ordered. "Regardless of their reason for being here. We cannot let the ceremony go uncompleted. Otherwise, I will not be able to assume the thrones of both continents."
"We understand, sir," said another guardian.
Karras pointed his sword towards the castle walls. "South Guardians, GO!" The four guardians and their leader went into action, each choosing a different path to enter the castle maze. The courtyard, now deserted, was silent except for muffled explosions and clashes of swords in the halls.
TO BE CONCLUDED…