Chapter 34: Val-Yor Returns to Earth

It's been 2 weeks since that night.

That moment where Starfire accidentally told Danny she loves him.

They did their best to forget what happened and just move on.

In the middle of their date, which had them taking a day in the modern-day Paris of Danny's world and sit atop the Eiffel Tower, Starfire asks a question.

"Danny?"

"Yes, Starbolts?"

"Our next time of the dating will be in my universe, correct?"

"Yeah."

"Then is there any location you would like to visit?" She asks.

"You mentioned you have friends called Titans East, right?" Starfire nodded at Danny's question. "Then I guess we could meet them."

"Very well, Danny." Starfire said.

The two young lovers resumed their date, with Danny's arm wrapped around her shoulders as Starfire rested her head on his chest.

It was the next Saturday and the two met up atop Titans' Tower.

"You have made it!" Starfire greeted her boyfriend.

"Yes, I have." Danny said. "So, care to show me where these Titans East are? I'd love to meet other heroes."

Before Starfire could answer, the communicator goes off.

Starfire answers.

"What is the going on?" She asked.

"Trouble." Robin said, sounding very unhappy. "A very familiar trouble."

20 miles out of the limits of Jump City, a spaceship of someone the Titans are not fond of landed roughly half an hour ago.

It was the ship of Val-Yor. He was standing on the top of the ship, with a blaster on his back.

"Never thought I'd have to come back to this troq-loving planet…" He muttered. He sighed. "But… a job's a job."

Once he took a few steps off the ship's ramp and onto the ground, he's met with some familiar voices.

"Get off our planet, Val-Yor!"

He smirked when he heard the familiar voice of the leader of the Teen Titans. He looked to his right and saw four of them. None of those four were the one he came for.

"Well, if it isn't my favorite troq lovers."

"What are you even doing here?!" Raven demanded to know, as she was ready to hit him with her dark magic.

"I've been hired to do a job on this planet. It isn't with any of your four, but I've been looking for a chance for some payback."

"Starfire told us what happened." Robin brought up. "I had to reach out to an old contact of mine…" Robin didn't want to name his mentor. "And some friends of his confirmed it. You were kicked out of your own planet because discriminating against Tamaraneans was becoming of poor taste. In fact, it already was long before we met you."

"In other words…" Beast Boy added. "It's your own fault you aren't exactly welcomed home."

Val-Yor really didn't like to be reminded of this, as evident by gritting his teeth.

"I FOUGHT WARS FOR THEM! I FOUGHT IN THE NAME OF VERNATHIA AND THIS IS HOW THEY REPAY ME?!"

"Maybe, unlike you, they weren't only looking at what race the opponent was." Cyborg said with as much disgust for this man as possible.

"And maybe I should get rid of you all!"

Val-Yor readied his blaster.

"Titans! Go!"

All four dodged his blaster and began their attack.

Robin threw one of his discs at the ground near Val-Yor's feet. The explosion made him lose his footing as Cyborg fired a blast from his sonic cannon that knocked him down. Beast Boy and Raven made their move, the latter used her magic to lifted him up and toss him in the air. Beast Boy turned into a T-Rex and slapped Val-Yor as he was falling and sent him into the trees.

"Had enough?!" Cyborg shouted.

Val-Yor flew up from the trees and glared.

"I most certainly have."

Raven flew in and fired her blasts that Val-Yor responded with optic blasts. The smoke from the explosion gave him cover as he flew in and knocked her into the ground. Beast Boy flew in as a pterodactyl and tackled into Val-Yor.

"Get em, BB!" Cyborg shouted.

"So, think you can take me, Champ?" Val-Yor said in an oddly friendly tone before he looked serious. "Let's find out!"

Val-Yor grabbed Beast Boy by the beak and tossed him into the ground. Robin fired his grapple gun and it wrapped around the silver man's legs.

Robin then pressed the button meant to retract, but instead pulled him up and the two came face to face.

"Why are you here?!" Robin demanded to know.

"Like I said, I've been hired for a job." Val-Yor stated. "It involves the troq, but you won't be around to find out what happens to her."

He then knocked Robin down, where Raven used her magic to save him from hitting the ground by slowing down his descent.

Cyborg fired his sonic cannon at Val-Yor again.

"Eat this!"

Val-Yor dodged and fired at Cyborg with his blaster.

The blast hit Cyborg and knocked him down.

Val-Yor landed and was about attack Cyborg when Robin came rushing in and hit the silver alien in the head with his bo staff.

"Get off our planet!" Robin demanded.

"Nothing would make me happier, Spike." Val-Yor stated before turning around. "But I have a job to do."

He then yanked the staff and threw a punch into Robin's face, sending him several feet away. He then tossed the staff aside, nonchalantly. He was about to aim his blaster at Robin when he heard her.

"VAL-YOR!" Starfire shouted in anger.

The space bigot turned around and smirked.

"So, you finally showed up, Troq..." He said.

Starfire growled at that slur and at the sight of her friends on the ground.

"What have you done to my friends?!"

"They were interfering with my job... which involves you, someone hired me to deliver you to them." Val Your said as he aimed his blaster at her.

Starfire looked mad. "Even after we helped free you from being prisoner to the Gordanians?!" She shouted.

Val-Yor only shrugged.

"Hey, a job's a job. And this particular employer made an offer I didn't want to refuse…" Val-Yor aimed his blaster at her. "Now… come quietly and I won't have to hurt them anymore."

Starfire's eyes glowed a bright green with her rage, but she took on breath.

Remember Danny's plan…

"I will surrender, so long as you refrain from harming my friends."

Val-Yor smirked and lowered his weapon.

"Then walk into my ship, no tricks."

Starfire nodded and landed.

"Starfire!" Robin shouted, getting up. "Don't do it!"

"Trust me!" Starfire shouted back. "I am the aware of my actions."

Starfire walked into the ship, the blaster still aiming at her.

"There we go… that's a good troq…"

Once Starfire entered the ship, Val-Yor came in with her. He then shut the door on his way in.

The other Titans got up and were about to race to the ship, but it began elevating and was flying up towards the sky.

"No!" Robin shouted after her.

Inside the ship, Starfire finds herself locked into what appears to be a glass case.

"Now, enjoy the ride, Troq." Val-Yor said as he put his blaster down. "It's going to be a while before we get to my employer."

"And who is this employer?" Starfire asked.

"Dunno the exact details." Val-Yor said with his back turned as he took his seat and started pilot the ship out. "All I know is they wanted you. Not your big sister, you. Something about why the Gordanians were taking you in the first place before you came to Earth. All I know is we're going to some place called the Citadel…" Val-Yor spoke. "Now, we're going to drop you off with whoever it is the Gordanians were taking you to in the first place. After that, they'll see to it I get my rank in Vernathia back." It took him a few seconds, but he noticed how oddly quiet she was. "Why aren't you throwing your Tamaranean terms at me?"

He looked back and, to his shock, she was not in the case.

He jumped out of his chair and pressed autopilot as he ran to the case. He saw it was still locked and there was no sign of damage. He looked around and saw no trace of her.

How?!

Back on the ground, the other Titans got up and looked in horror as the ship was taking off.

"Titans!" Robin shouted. "We gotta save Starfire!"

"Right!" Cyborg shouted. "Let's get the T-Ship!"

Then, a calm female voice spoke up.

"There is no need, my friends."

All of the Titans looked in front of them and, to their surprise, Starfire was standing there in the trees, unharmed.

All of them smiled, with Ron in particular the happiest.

"Starfire!" He shouted jubilantly.

All of her friends ran to her. Once they were in reach, Starfire gave them all one big hug. They didn't care how bone-crushing it was as Starfire was alive.

"How?!" Beast Boy asked. "How did you get free?"

"Yeah." Cyborg added. "That ship is still intact."

"Danny and I concocted a plan." She explained.

Raven looked around. "Where is Danny?"

"I thought you two were meeting today?" Robin asked.

Starfire let her friends go and gave a sly smile.

"Danny used his powers of a ghost to set me free and is now dealing with Val-Yor for us."

In Val-Yor's ship, the alien hunter took his blaster and placed it on his back thanks to harness, along with what looks like sword grips on his sides. He went looking around his ship.

"I know you're still in here, troq. I don't know how you got out, but you're getting sent to the citadel."

He walked around, unable to sense the presence of a certain ghost boy floating nearby.

Once Danny came in and smiled.

"Hey turd!"

The voice caused Val-Yor to look back as he feels something tackle into him and go through the wall. That something, Danny, returns to visibility.

Val-Yor, using his flight powers to remain up, looks up and grits his teeth before aiming his blaster.

"Payback, you fake troq!"

Val-Yor hasn't forgotten what happened last time, so he decided to let his issues be known with his blaster.

Danny, using his own flight and speed, dodged the alien blaster's fire. He then responded with firing a few blasts of his own. Val-Yor did his best to dodge, but was hit in the right leg by one of Danny's blasts.

"Take this, punk!"

Val-Yor fires one blast that manages to hit Danny's side, sending him onto the roof of Val-Yor's ship.

Seeing a chance, Val-Yor flew at Danny.

Once Danny got his footing, he braced for Val-Yor's tackle. He quickly blasted the weapon out of the alien man's hand and charged his fist. Val-Yor grabbed one of the hilts from his side and it created a fist construct around his hand and threw a punch.

Both fists collided and were evenly matched.

"I can't believe you'd do this to Starfire!" Danny called him out. "After we set you free from the Gordanians!"

Once they retracted their fists, Danny kicked Val-Yor with enough force to send him a few feet away. He then flew at his opponent. Val-Yor attempted to strike at Danny, but the ghost boy quickly turned intangible to avoid the blow and regain tangibility to kick him in the back.

Getting angry, Val-Yor turned around and blocked a punch from Danny.

He grabbed his other device on his side, now armed with two energy gauntlets and swung his arms downward, causing Danny to jump back.

Val-Yor ran in and threw one punch that knocked Danny a few feet and slide facedown on the roof. Val-Yor was about to come in and make another blow, when Danny got on all fours.

"Not a chance!"

Starfire's boyfriend shouted as he fired a ghost ray at the floor behind Val-Yor, creating a small explosion that sent him flying at Danny, while also letting go of the handle in his left hand, which he held up in an attempt to punch Danny. Danny himself punched Val-Yor in the stomach, sending him flying up.

Danny took a moment to soothe his chest from the punch he received moments earlier.

Val-Yor was getting angry. His eyes were glowing red.

"Take this!"

He fired his optic blasts at the ship, namely where he knew where the core was. This caused the ship to start shaking.

"Uh oh…" Danny whispered.

The ship exploded.

On the ground, the Titans saw this.

Starfire gasped in horror.

"Danny!"

She flew as fast as she could in the direction of the explosion.

"Titans!" Robin shouted. "Let's go!"

Raven nodded before using her magic to create a disc-shaped platform to carry Robin and Cyborg as Beast Boy turned into an eagle and they all followed the alien girl.

From the sky, heading to the ground, were two injured and semi-unconscious fighters. They were falling towards the desert.

Val-Yor slid a bit on the ground before he rolled and landed on his feet. He moved his head left and right, making a cracking sound.

"Ugh…" He soothed his neck with a hand. "I hate this planet."

Danny landed nearby, creating a cloud of dirt that blocked Val-Yor's sight. It took a moment for alien to notice, but he saw motion. He was too late to react however, as Danny flew up and fired a few shots from his finger, hitting the alien man in the chest.

Once Danny landed, Val-Yor came flying in to close the gap and threw a punch with the energy gauntlet he was still using. Due to his smaller size, Danny was able to duck and avoid and give Val-Yor an uppercut. The silver alien tried to punch Danny again, but the ghost boy caught his arm by the elbow and threw another punch. He attempted again, but Val-Yor bobbed out of the way and managed to throw a punch in Danny's abdomen. He tried again, but Danny created a small shield that blocked the attack, allowing him to trip Val-Yor with a swift kick.

Upon losing his footing, Val-Yor fell. Danny grabbed the alien man by the head and dealt a knee to the face twice before throwing him.

Clearly, Danny wasn't letting this guy kidnap his girlfriend.

Val-Yor tried to get up from the ground, but Danny flew in and grabbed him by the head again. While flying near the ground as fast as he could, Danny pressed Val-Yor into the ground, causing the alien to groan in pain. Then, Danny Phantom threw Val-Yor into the air, flew up to catch up to him, then swung a kick right into his face that landed him in the ground, creating a cloud of dirt from the impact.

Val-Yor did managed to get up, and in time as Danny was flying in with a fist ready to make contact with his alien enemy.

However, Val-Yor reacted in time to bob out of the way. He then took that energy construct gauntlet and struck the boy in the arm after he missed. Then, with a sucker punch, knocked Danny into the ground.

Val-Yor got up and quickly got smug.

"Sorry kid, your troq lover is coming with me, back to serve as a slave." He stated. He then picked the boy up by his hair and lifted him off the ground. "Don't worry…" He created the construct with the device again. "You won't have to worry about being apart for long. Any last words?"

At this point in their battle, Danny has been gauging how strong Val-Yor is. It looks like he's tough enough to survive what he's been holding back but not tough enough to keep fighting after it.

So, Danny gave his answer.

"Yeah… listen up."

Danny took one breath.

His Ghostly Wail was unleashed.

The rush of sound and power was too much for Val-Yor, who screams in pain as he lets go of Danny before being flown away from the attack.

It created an explosion.

Something the Titans noticed as they rushed.

"Titans! Go!" Robin called out.

They rushed as fast as they could.

Starfire was the first to land, looking around for her beloved as Beast Boy returned to his human form while Raven landed Robin and Cyborg, making their platform disappear.

"Danny?!" Starfire called out as the cloud of dust finally drops.

There, a few feet away from them, stood Danny Fenton. And faceup, several feet away from him, was an unconscious Val-Yor.

Starfire, seeing that Danny was breathing heavy and looking a bit roughed up, walked slowly to him and lightly hugged him from behind.

"You are… the okay?" She asked.

"Yeah… I think so. Might need to take a rain check on meeting Titans East though…" He joked.

As Starfire rested her head on his back, the rest of the Titans walked in and looked to the unconscious Val-Yor.

"So…" Beast Boy spoke up. "What do we do with him?"

"We contact someone who can take of him for us…" Robin said.

Roughly 2 hours later, the Titans wait atop their tower. Val-Yor was with them, wrapped in ropes with Raven's dark magic assisting keeping him getting out.

They saw a ship was arriving. It looked like Val-Yor's now destroyed ship.

It landed in front of them and the docking doors opened.

Out came someone roughly Starfire's size, wearing an outfit similar to Val-Yor's, but with a skirt instead of pants. She also had a short bobcut. She saw the heroes, and Val-Yor, and glared to him in particular.

"Val-Yen." He said scornfully.

"Hello… father."

The Titans and Phantom all did a double take.

"FATHER?!" They all shouted.

"Not anymore…" He clarified. "I disowned her for betraying me."

"You mean you disowned me for choosing a Tamaranean explorer as my boyfriend and our family disowned him in response." She said. She looked sympathetically to the heroes. "I apologize on behalf of Vernathia for all of the trouble he's caused you. We banished him, but clearly that only led to worse things happening. Now, we're locking him up with no chance of parole."

"Then in that case, he's all yours." Robin said as he stepped aside while Cyborg pushes the silver man towards his disowned daughter.

"Thank you." Val-Yen said as he pulled out what looked like hand cuffs. She quickly placed them on Val-Yor. "Look on the bright side, you're finally coming home."

"Just not how I wanted to…" He muttered.

Val-Yen pulls Val-Yor by the wire linking the collar together as they walk into her ship.

The Titans look on at Val-Yor with dirty expressions.

"Good riddance." Robin said.

"About time." Beast Boy brought up.

However, one person didn't feel like this was enough. There was something he wanted to know. So, Danny Phantom took a step forward.

"I have one question Val-Yor!"

Both the prisoner and his daughter stopped and looked back.

"I already told you, the Citadel is after your tro-" Val-Yen jabs him in the ribs, making him stop his word. "Tamaranean girl."

"That's not it." Danny paused and took one breath. "Why do you hate Tamaraneans?"

Everyone, even the Titans, looked surprised to hear him ask that.

Val-Yor, on the other hand, looked annoyed.

"What are you talking about?"

"Why do you keep calling Tamaraneans that awful word or look down on them? Were you bullied by one? Did one try to kill you? Did a few of them attack someone you love? Were you at war with them? Seriously?! What happened to make you hate them so much?"

The Titans were surprised to hear someone ask this outright. They never knew why he was so hateful towards Starfire and her people, they were too busy wanting him off world to ask.

Val-Yen looked to her father, wanting an answer.

All he did was chuckle a little and smirked.

"Nothing." He stated. "They're just an inferior race."

If they weren't disgusted by him before, they were now.

"So… you have no reason whatsoever for hating Starfire or other Tamaraneans?" Robin asked.

"Wow… even Slade was never this awful." Beast Boy said without his usual smile.

"And I thought my dad was a monster." Raven expressed.

Val-Yor only shrugged with a smile before Starfire, to everyone's surprise, walked up to him.

"Yeah, what is it?" He asked, annoyed to be in her presence.

She only stared at him with no emotion whatsoever before turning around.

However, in that exact second, she swung around and punched him with enough force in the face to knock him out and send him flying into a wall.

Everyone looked surprised to see her do this.

"But, Starfire?" Cyborg asked. "What about wanting to not prove every awful thing he thinks about you?"

Starfire only smiled a little, happy to finally let her frustrations out.

"His reasons for thinking that of me are the awful and intentionally offensive, with no desire to make peace or willingness to see what he does is wrong. My people have done him no wrong and he chooses to act this way for no good reason. I have nothing to prove to him."

She walked off the platform and back onto the tower.

Val-Yen nodded before closing the doors and taking off.

Once the ship left the atmosphere, Robin spoke up.

"So, we have a problem. Someone hired him to hunt down Starfire."

"I analyzed the tech he was using." Cyborg said, showing his wrist computer. "I only recognize it from one place. The tech in that thing that attacked us."

"So, you think he was hired by the same people who sent that thing?" Beast Boy asked.

"Most likely." Cyborg said. He then looked to Starfire. "So, who are these Citadel guys?"

"They were who the Gordanians were sending me to before I came to Earth. I only encountered a few of their kind. All I know is they are led by someone named Lord Complex." Starfire stated.

"So, they've sent two to kidnap you?" Raven asked. "Which means you're a target."

"Which means we need to find someway of keeping you safe."

"I can protect myself." Starfire stated.

"Yeah… but those two weren't exactly as easy as Control Freak." Beast Boy stated.

"You… have the point." Starfire admitted.

"Which means you'll need to go into hiding from them." Robin stated.

"She can stay on my Earth for now." Danny stated.

Everyone looked to him.

"What?" Raven asked.

"My world isn't exactly around the corner, it's another universe. Unless they have teleporting tech that goes that far, she might be safe while you guys figure out where this Complex guy is and teach him a lesson."

The other Titans, sans Starfire, looked conflicted on the idea.

Robin thought to himself.

On one hand, he hated Starfire being close to this guy. On the other hand, this will keep her safe for now.

That last one was more important.

"Fine…" Robin said. "She can go with you."

In Starfire's room, she packs her bags with various copies of her clothes and a Tamaranean cookbook. Silkie came in and nuzzled against her leg. Starfire looked down and was saddened.

"I'm sorry, my little bumgorf. Danny's familiar is unaware of his powers, or of me, it would be difficult to hide you." Silkie became saddened, but Starfire nuzzled her cheek on his belly. "Do not fret. I shall return."

She flew out of her room and came to the living room, where her friends were together and saddened to see her go.

"We'll miss you, Star." Cyborg said.

"We'll find this Lord Complex and give him the simple answer to leave you alone." Beast Boy said, trying to lift the mood.

"What he said." Raven added.

Robin walked up to her and smiled.

"Be safe, Starfire."

Starfire nodded before locking all of her friends in one bone-crushing hug.

"I will miss you on Danny's Earth. I will reach out in one week and hope things are better then." She said before letting them all go.

After more goodbyes, she met up with Danny on the rooftop.

"Ready, Starbolts?" Danny asked as he gave out his hand.

She took it with one small but sad smile.

"I am ready, Danny."

It's been a while, hasn't it?

While I give you story a break, I'll give this one some more time.

Flower Princess11 assisted me on this, while also suggesting Val-Yor has no real reason behind his bigotry. Because, as sad as it is, sometimes people are bigoted for no reason at all.

So for now, Starfire is going to be hiding in Danny's world while our heroes track down this Lord Complex.

He's called Complex-Complex in the comics, but I think one Complex is enough.

Any suggestions for what our ghost boy and alien girl will do while they live under the same roof?