Dark Titans – Arc 5 - Pre Wedding Jitters

Epilogue - Part 3/3

Enjoy if you Will, Tolerate if you won't.

(Several days later - The morning of the Party)

Terra smiled warmly at the rays of the rising sun. The lances of light crawled across the desert sands, setting them to sparkling and dispelling the darkness of the night. Taking a deep breath of the fresh air, she tucked her long hair over her ear and turned to regard her companion.

Next to her, making some last second adjustments to his backpack, Ryouga returned her smile with the addition of a fang or two. Back in his normal body, she was forced to look up to him again, after so long a time.

"Honestly, I can't figure out if that was the longest, or the shortest few days in my entire life," Terra said with a laugh.

Ryouga hefted his backpack onto his shoulders before slinging his shimmering blue umbrella to the top of it. "I was just starting to get back into the swing of my regular training habits. We're obviously going to have to plan more of these trips in the future." Reaching over, he dropped a hand on her shoulder and gave it a companionable squeeze. "But you made some good progress. I'm proud of you."

The young geokinetic swelled with pride, nearly balancing on her toes. A moment later, she let out a weak sigh. "I know I should be super excited about the party, but it was really nice to just get back into nature, you know. To just enjoy the scenic beauty of it all."

Her fanged tutor nodded knowingly. "I must say, all this training did make me feel a bit nostalgic for Nerima."

As one, they glanced back over their shoulders to the small cave and the surrounding area that had served as their training grounds for several days…

Terra winced, and then cringed at the sight. Long trenches tore up the landscape, and the shattered remains of boulders littered the entire region. Cacti, once tall and proud, no doubt standing for countless years were uprooted, burnt, slashed, or just plain smashed. Massive craters abounded, some exposing bedrock. And at just the moment they turned to look back, the cave they had had called home gave its final dying gasp and collapsed in on itself, launching a plume of dust into the air.

Ryouga gave a satisfied sigh of his own. "Yup, just like the good old days."

Terra tugged at her collar, it suddenly feeling tight around her neck. She looked to her companion.

"Um, are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

He nodded quickly.

"Yeah, we should get out of here before some environmentalist types show up."

Laughing happily, she began jogging in the general direction of home.

"Hey Terra!"

She paused for a fraction of a second, just long enough for something to bounce off the back of her skull. In a flash, her hand snaked behind her and caught the offending object.

The bandanna clad martial artist walked past her, shaking his head sadly. "Still too slow."

Terra scoffed loudly. "What are you talking about? A baby would have thrown it harder. I'm not gonna waste effort on that."

Ryouga just glanced back at her over his shoulder, still walking towards the rising sun. He had the oddest smile on his face for some reason but didn't say a word.

Shrugging, Terra moved to catch up. "Wait up, Ryouga! I wanna make it home before the party, not before I hit menopause!"

"Ugh! Was that really necessary!?"

"Don't be a sexist pig, Ryouga!"

"I would need a very shallow grave for someone as scrawny as you!"

The young geokinetic smiled fondly. Then, absently, she unfolded her hand and looked at her captured prize. She gave a light giggle. Just as she suspected, yet another acorn. Hmm, that was odd, though.

The acorn was cracked open…

Speedy let out an exhausted groan as he rolled over in bed. It took a few tries, but he finally kicked the sheets off. Every muscle in his body was aching and the thought of getting out of bed was a torture best left for Future Speedy to deal with.

The last few days had been some of the most grueling in his life. He'd trained harder than he'd ever trained. Hunted Red X tirelessly every night, never quite able to pin down the villainous minx. And had to do it all while evading the cops and not being able to get in contact with his absent 'team members' in any damned way.

He still had no idea what her plan was. First the Mineral Exchange. Then she hit up that Electronics Store. Then the brewery attack. And he still couldn't figure out why she went after that place that rented theater equipment. He couldn't figure out anything that tied those four things together. And that had just been the stuff that he'd been able to catch her on. Who knew what she had gotten up on to the few times the cops had beaten him to the punch and he'd been forced to steer clear?

Red X's words still rattled around his head, threatening to drive him crazy. Robin? Better than him? That would be the day! The very idea was an affront and proving her wrong had consumed his every waking thought.

Today, though! Today was the day he-

Something clicked in his mind, and that click translated into a double barrel blast of realization to the back of his head. Instantly, he flopped over, his legs tangling up in the sheets, and he crashed to the floor with a pained grunt.

"Shit! The party!"

He barely managed to get his pants on before he stumbled out the door and slammed into the opposite wall of the hallway. He wrestled with his shirt as he half shuffled, half ran towards the main room.

By some miracle, he made it most of the way there without tripping and snapping his own neck, and nearly ran into his one remaining teammate just outside the door. He stopped just shy of running up to her and grabbing her by the lapels.

"Kasumi! I haven't done anything for the party!" He ran a hand through this bedhead hair and started pacing anxiously back and forth. "I-I don't even know how many people are coming!"

His frantic pacing was stopped by Kasumi planting her hand on his chest. Immediately, he froze and stared at the taller Japanese woman blankly.

"Oh my, what a mess," she cooed. Kasumi produced a small comb and began to run it through his hair. "You really need to just take a deep breath."

Once she was satisfied with his hair, giving him scrutinizing looks from several angles, the tip of her tongue sticking out cutely, she started tugging at his shirts and smoothing it out. "How can you expect to have any fun at your own party if you wear yourself out worrying?"

The crimson archer, not really sure how to handle the sudden invasion of his personal space, decided to take her advice, and took several deep breaths, closing his eyes tightly and trying to force his mind clear of thought.

A moment later, he opened his eyes again, to the sweetly smiling face of Kasumi, staring back at him patiently.

"Well, that's the problem," he replied weakly. "There is no party. I mean, I haven't even bought a single can of pop or bag of chips." A thought suddenly occurred to him. "I need to call Oracle!"

He took a half a step forward towards the main room, but stalled out, as Kasumi failed to move to the side and he almost walked into her. Instead, the Titan's homemaker tapped a finger to her cheek and offered him a small grin.

"It's funny you should mention that. I actually spoke with your girlfriend a few days ago." Her head tilted to the side, causing her long chestnut ponytail to pool on her shoulder. "She was kind enough to let me know who might be attending."

He parsed her statement for relevant information.

"Hey! She's not my girlfri - Wait, did she say something about wanting to be my girlfriend?"

The Japanese brunette giggled lightly. "I believe the term 'adorkable' was bandied about, but I'm not terribly familiar with the term."

"Hmm, yeah, I'll take it. Now I really need to call-" He gave his head a good shake. "No! Wait, the party! How many people are coming? How am I gonna get anything in time? Did Cyborg leave the keys for his car?"

Without him realizing it, Kasumi wrapped her hands around his elbow and gently led him to the door of the main room. "You should be excited. There should be between two to three dozen people coming. Quite a turnout!"

Speedy blanched as the news had the opposite effect. "How am I gonna entertain that many people! How much soda do you need for that many people!"

He didn't register his companion rolling her eyes at his distress. She reached out towards the button that opened the door.

"Don't worry yourself, Speedy. I saw how busy you were over the past few days, so I took the liberty of making a few arrangements on my own." She offered him a bright smile. "I hope you find them acceptable."

The door slid open and Speedy had to avert his gaze from the blazing golden glow of perfection that washed over him.

The acrobatic archer stumbled weakly into the room, staring about wildly in awe. Over by the large bay windows were several long tables, laden with various bottles, cups, and snacks. The massive television and Game Station had been moved towards one of the corners and a few controllers were set out, ready to take on any comers. Not too far from the elevator, there was a small stage with an expensive looking karaoke system set up. Over the stage, several spotlights were set up, all wired back to a small laptop set up next to all the karaoke song books.

And the pièce de résistance, standing in all its glory at the end of the long food tables, was an entire keg of beer!

Speedy was glad he was wearing his absorbent mask today, as he could feel tears welling up in his eyes. It - it was all so beautiful.

Something was off though, something just at the back of his mind. His gaze flicked back to the karaoke system, then to the fancy theater spotlights, and then fell back to the keg, lingering there for a long time. In an instant, it all clicked together, all the hints and subtle clues that he had missed.

He spun to look at Kasumi, surprise no doubt evident on his face.

"Kasumi! You're twenty-one!?"

She stared back at him blankly for a moment, before pouting cutely and looking away with a loud sniff.

"Hmph! It's rude to discuss a woman's age!"

Starfire huddled in the seat of her cockpit; knees pulled tight to her chest as she watched the stars blur by. She had been thinking herself in circles for days now, only growing more concerned with every revolution. If she were to ruminate on her sister much longer, she might end up tying her stomachs into a knot and dying of a ruptured digestive tract.

Which, honestly, might be preferable to what she knew currently awaited on Tamaran.

The red headed heroine clenched her eyes shut and pressed her forehead to her knees. Tamaran, her home. To see it again after so long should have been a joyous occasion. Knowing that her sister awaited her, with a plan to marry her off to a complete stranger, soured her swelling feelings completely.

Unfortunately, the Captain of the Void Skipper had precious little information beyond what he had told her, barely more than she already knew. Which left her with little else to do but imagine worst case scenario after worst case scenario, each worse than the last.

A bark of laughter escaped her throat. She was forced to give her sister credit for her motivation and ambition. For Starfire, a full day could consist of doing some training, patrolling the city, and maybe watching some television. But Blackfire had somehow broken out of intergalactic prison and conquered an entire planet in about the same time it had taken Starfire to complete that online human cooking course.

How did villains find so much time in the day to complete their unwieldy and unfeasible schemes? Starfire could only wish for that much passion in her own hobbies.

"Attention, My Lady," the Captain's voice suddenly sounded through the communication system, drawing her attention.

"Yes?" she replied by habit.

"I wanted to inform you that we will be approaching Tamaran momentarily." There was a short pause, the Captain's voice held an odd tenor despite his good news. "Please inform your pilot to stay close to the Void Skipper. I have been warned by Planetary Command that Tamaran is currently under blockade by hostile forces, and that we are ordered to approach by a specific vector or risk being destroyed."

Starfire was too shocked to react, but her friends were not. Gasps and shouts of 'what!?' filled the comm-line for several moments until the Captain finally regained control.

"Now that we are in-system, I am working on getting more information. I still have a few friends in the fleet." The Captain gave a rather unconvincing chuckle. "Just stay close and maintain communication silence. Hopefully they won't even notice your shuttle in the wake of the Void Skipper, and we can avoid any potential issues."

"Shuttle? Did you ju-" Starfire spun to see Cyborg silently ranting and raving against the injustices of the universe from his section of the ship. She then looked over to Raven's pod, seeing her clearly smiling while holding her finger on the 'mute' button for Cyborg's channel. She offered her dear friend a wide grin.

"Uh..." Beast Boy stepped in where Cyborg left off. "Just what happens if an 'issue' were to arise?"

There was a long pause. "Well, if that is the case, then take solace in the knowledge that the crew of the Void Skipper would be honored to die in the name of Lady Koriand'r."

"Dude, solace is the opposite side of the galaxy from what I'm feeling now!"

"Apologies, young one, but there is no time left. Communications are being cut."

With that, there was a moment of static and then silence once more. At the front of the ship, Robin disabled all communication between the pods, just in case even that much could alert this strange new enemy.

Starfire felt the discomfort in her stomachs even more keenly now. Yet another travesty to be added to the rest. An alien blockade just as her sister takes the throne. Any feeling of joy that the tamaranean princess might have felt of her return home had been reduced to ash.

The ship began to shudder around them, and the stars shrank down from long lines to single points. A moment later, a sharp jolt ran through the ship as the mooring clamps released them from the Void Skipper's grasp, allowing the T-Ship to travel under its own power once more. Ahead of them, the massive bulk of the Light Cruiser began to steer gracefully to the side, no doubt following the approach vector they had been assigned.

As it did, it revealed something that rekindled the flames in Starfire's heart.

Unbidden, tears rolled freely down her cheeks as the Vegan sun rose over Tamaran. She flew forward and pressed her hands and face up against the cockpit. It had been so long since she had last seen her home. The light of the dawn spread across familiar vistas, the oceans, and the continents, dispersing the darkness.

Tamaran glittered like a gem in the starlight.

From space, the sight of her home world filled her chest with such an intense feeling of longing that she feared it would choke her. Her hand curled into a fist and thumped lightly against the fragile material of the cockpit.

No! This is not a lost cause! This is my home!

Her gaze hardened and she scanned the orbit of the planet. No longer enamored by the sight of her home, it was impossible to miss the alien fleet that swarmed about Tamaran. And swarmed seemed appropriate; the ships possessed unusual forms, more reminiscent of earth insects than proper vessels. Ghastly green in color, and with numerous strange protuberances that could be weapons, or sensors, or just there to look hideous.

She also noted that while the vast bulk of the ships were not very large, not even matching up to the size of the Light Cruiser before them, from just what she could see, they had to outnumber the entire Tamaranean Royal Navy by ten to one.

And that was not even taking into account any possible disparity in technology and firepower. Despite the size difference, each of those small ships had the potential to outgun ten Tamaranean Battleships; unfortunately, it was impossible to know unless combat were to commence. One thing was certain, even a battle that was evenly balanced between those two forces was a battle that would see the T-Ship obliterated in a single instant.

A quick glance around her revealed the anxious faces of her friends, all possibly drawing the same conclusions as her. Robin, especially, was concentrating on keeping them close to the Void Skipper. The entire ship rattled around them as he tried to surf the engine exhaust of the larger vessel to better hide their presence.

Several tense minutes passed, but it appeared luck was on their side. Also, that none of the occupying aliens happened to be looking out their windows at the time. Then again, it was a bit like a human bus towing an earthly toaster oven, maybe they just had not been noticed? Or they had simply been informed that she was arriving, and chose to ignore her?

It was the uncertainty that made it so maddening!

Gradually, the blackness of space gave way to the amethyst skies of her homeland. She allowed herself to be mesmerized by the sights, the great plains, the sprawling forests, and the massive stone spires reaching towards the heavens. Her gaze was drawn to the tallest spire of all, upon which rested the Imperial Palace. On the ground below, a massive city reached nearly as far as the eye could see.

It was impossible to miss seeing more of the vile alien craft landed at strategic points all around the city. One ship, far larger than any of the others, stood out easily, looming to the north of the city, like a predator, waiting to pounce.

What have you done, sister? Did you bring another invasion to our doorstep, or is this all just a grand coincidence?

Giving her sister the benefit of the doubt had done nothing but bite her in the posterior her entire life. And yet, in the deepest depths of her heart, she still held out hope that Blackfire was not, yet again just being Blackfire. Starfire had been told that this marriage was what was best for Tamaran. She prayed to X'hal that there was at least a grain of truth to that.

She was so tired of fighting her sister.

She was so lost in her thoughts that she was startled by the loud hiss of her canopy opening. She started for a moment, before the sweet smell of Tamaranean air filled her nostrils with as much nostalgia as oxygen.

Tentatively, she floated up from her seat, Raven parallel to her on the far side of the ship, while the rest of her companions scrambled out of their seats and dropped to the ground. She looked around expectantly, but against her expectations, there were no guards, no alien soldiers with weapons at the ready. They were parked on a smaller transport pad only a hundred meters away from where the Void Skipper was still settling into its docking stirrups.

In fact, there was no one to greet them at all. The only thing that reminded her that the planet was under siege were the alien vessels stationed a scant kilometer away, all weapons facing the Void Skipper and no doubt ready to fire in an instant.

"This is a bit creepy," Raven muttered, floating at her elbow.

"It is highly irregular, that is certain," she replied before drifting down to join her other friends.

The massive loading ramp of the Void Skipper lowered to the ground with a resounding 'thump' as Starfire and her companions looked around in uncertainty.

"Well, we should go see if the Captain has obtained any more information since we landed," Robin recommended. Everyone nodded in agreement with the logical statement.

"And to thank him for having his engineers install a proper toilet system in the T-Ship," Raven added, her cheeks tinged red. Everyone nodded in agreement with the logical state-

"Hey!" Cyborg barked. "Are you still on about that? I thought we agreed to drop it!?"

'Oh man, I dropped so much after they finished!" Beast Boy offered, obviously proud of himself. Raven, always the voice of calm reason, swatted the emerald changeling upside the head.

"Don't embarrass us in front of the aliens. This is the first time I've been to Tamaran; I don't want us to be remembered for-" the violet eyed Titan gestured, generally in the direction of Beast Boy's entire body, "-For you."

Her young companion's shenanigans managed, at last, to cast off some of the pall that hung over their group. As immature as he could be, she knew there was at least some method to the changeling's madness.

Amid a flurry of giggles and grumbles, they made their way over to join the crew disembarking from the Void Skipper. As they approached, Starfire got a good look at the Captain that she had only spoken to for the past few days. Instantly, she froze, even as she felt her cheeks begin to burn. Glancing to her side, she noticed Raven having a similar reaction, the darker Titan looked back at her in disbelief, mouthing the words 'He is gorgeous!'

Even by Tamaranean standards, he was just beautiful, with hair even longer than her own. Starfire felt plain and drab just standing in the presence of the man, even as her heart pounded faster. She was trying to reign in her hormones and think of something to say, when, abruptly, the matter was taken out of her hands.

The Captain strode over to their group confidently, his senior staff trailing several steps behind him, only to drop down to one knee and dip their heads as they addressed her.

"My Lady. I must offer my most humble of apologies."

Behind her, Beast Boy whispered to Cyborg, "Still can't believe she's a princess!"

The odd greeting, and the fact that she could not see his achingly handsome face at the moment, allowed Starfire to string together some coherent thoughts.

"W-Whatever do you mean, Captain Phyarelle? You have delivered us to Tamaran, as you promised."

Still looking down, the older male shook his head. "You misunderstand. I have withheld information from you ever since we met, and it is crucial that I tell you before it is too late."

A distant, high pitch sound emanated from the ship. It was faint but growing louder. Perhaps a docking system powering up?

Again, behind her, Beast Boy stage whispered to Cyborg, "Pfft! Probably that he's the president of her fan club!" The cybernetic Titan did his best to stifle his snickering.

"You see, I neglected to inform you that, on our trip here, it was revealed that we-"

The piercing squeal suddenly hit a crescendo, an emerald blur shooting out of the ship's hold so fast that the eye could barely follow. Defying physics, the blur hit the ground and banked ninety degrees, blazing right at them. Starfire tried to raise her fists in defence, as did her friends around her, but she felt like she was moving in molasses compared to the green streak. Her eyes widened in shock as the projectile arrowed straight at her!

And past her! The emerald figure blasted past her in a blink, it was followed by a calamitous crash and a high pitched, feminine scream.

"Beast Boy!" She spun, recognizing that scream anywhere. Her fists crackled with emerald energy of her own as she prepared to unleash righteous anger on the…

On the vaguely familiar, green haired Amazon that was currently latched onto the collapsed Beast Boy with all the romantic overtones of an Almeraci warrior maiden. Actually, it was exactly like that, now that she thought of it.

Captain Phyarelle coughed loudly into his hand. "We, ah, acquired several stowaways."

"Spice!?" Starfire could only giggle as she watched the changeling stare at the young Amazon, torn between shock and terror at her sudden appearance. "What are you doing here?"

"You didn't think you could hide from me just by flying off into the stars, did you?" she replied in Chinese. Obviously, Beast Boy had managed to retain some of his hard-earned fluency, as he immediately started to blush and stammer. Or, it might have been due to her nuzzling heavily into the crook of his neck. The gales of laughter and cat calling that ensued were, in her mind, quite justified.

A sudden thought occurred to Starfire. If Spice was here, certainly that meant that she must be accompanied by others of her village as well.

"Stowaways he calls us. Even here, the young people have no respect."

"And yet, he is not wrong. We weren't exactly invited."

Starfire's eyes widened in shock and she spun around. She recognized those voices quite well indeed. Despite knowing who she would see, it still amazed her to see the familiar faces of the Joketsuzoku Elders, Cologne and Perfume, conversing casually next to the kneeling Captain. Behind them, hanging her head in obvious embarrassment was the pale haired woman she remembered seeing with Cyborg back in the village.

"Cologne?" Raven and Robin both shouted in unison, their exclamation a mixture of surprise and delight.

"Perfume?" Beast Boy and Cyborg, on the other hand, leapt up into each other's arms and scurried away from the young Elder, obviously still suffering from post traumatic stress syndrome. Spice, left sitting on her bottom, stared up at the panicking boys with a pout before crossing her arms over her chest giving a loud sniff.

For her part, Starfire floated forward, absently gesturing for Captain Phyarelle to rise to his feet once more. His overt deference was embarrassing her, luckily everyone was too distracted to make an issue of it.

"Honored Elders, seeing you fills my heart with joy, but for what reason have you come to Tamaran?"

The white-haired Matriarch seemed content to let her aqua haired contemporary field the question, as Cologne instead moved to speak with Raven and Robin. Starfire also noted… Lotion, yes, that was her name, go and help the emerald haired Spice to her feet.

"Well, my old student," Perfume strode forward and wrapped an arm around her shoulder, "It appears that your new Grand Ruler does not approve of your actions, and chose to dissolve the treaty that you formed. As such, Elder Cologne suggested a route of… how do you say, guerilla diplomacy?"

The Tamaranean was not certain how talented a gorilla could be at diplomacy, but then these Elders had the weight of experience on their side, so it must make perfect sense.

"Wait, my sister did that? But why?"

The tall warrior nodded, laughing heartily. "That is the question, now isn't it? And now you know why we are here. Elder Cologne mentioned that you have your own reason for returning as well."

She hung her head in shame. "Indeed, though what I first thought was best for Tamaran, I now question with all of my being. I have never known Blackfire to act without some ulterior motive."

"Hmm, that puts us in a most interesting situation then, my young friend." Perfume offered her a conspiratorial grin. "First, tense diplomatic talk about treaties, then a forced wedding, and now a dark mystery? If any thing else happens, we might have enough drama to write one of Old Cologne's soap operas!"

Starfire's honest laughter was cut short by Captain Phyarelle clearing his throat loudly. She looked over to see what the issue was, and he simply gestured back over her shoulder.

"I believe, My Lady, that the welcoming committee is finally arriving." He quickly leaned over and whispered past her to Perfume. "You may want to release the Princess. If this is the honor guard, they can be… protective of the imperial family."

The older woman nodded and quickly took a step back to a respectful distance. "Perfectly understandable. Thank you for the warning, Captain."

Turning back to see where he had pointed, she now saw what he was talking about. Seven figures flew towards them, humanoid, no obvious wings and armed with polearms. Notably, the figure at the tip of the arrowhead formation was visibly several times bulkier than anyone else in flight.

Instantly, a wide smile plastered itself over her face. There was only one person she knew that was so imposingly massive.

As one, the approaching group descended from the sky, their armored boots slamming loudly to the ground. The tallest of them was a grizzled older man nearly as broad as he was tall, with a beard longer than Starfire's hair, and a jagged scar running over his ruined right eye. To her sides, her friends tensed, ready for battle, as did Lotion and Spice. Cologne merely peered on impassively.

Perfume, though, seemed to be studying the large Tamaranean, obviously trying to evaluate how dangerous he might be.

Taking a step forward, his foot landing so heavily that it set everyone back a step, the bearded warrior slammed a fist to his chest.

"Nooba gulshtik Koriand'r sol!" He offered the traditional greeting in a deep, booming voice.

"Hesbad rutha Galfore kank!" She returned his traditional greeting, stepping forward and lifting her hands in a sign of strength and respect. Her poor friends grew more tense by the second, but Starfire could only keep up the charade for so long. She shot the old man a playful wink and flew towards him, roaring a battle cry.

In response, the massive warrior raised his arms over his head, roaring defiantly in return.

"Titans!" Robin's panicked yell was followed by the sound of frantic motion, no doubt preparing for battle.

When Galfore's arms dropped gently around her, pulling her into a powerful hug. Starfire melted into the embrace, relishing the distant memories it brought up in her mind.

Unfortunately, her foggy memory was a second too late in reminding her just where these hugs invariably ended up. She was forcibly reminded, as large fingers suddenly found her ribs and began tickling without mercy or remorse!

The Titan Powerhouse could only laugh uncontrollably as she squirmed to escape the onslaught, but the ancient Galfore was too practiced in the arts of tickling and offered no quarter.

Finally, he relented, and Starfire had to take several large gulps of air to recover. Her cheeks burned as she felt her companion's eyes on her now, surprise and confusion on their faces.

Awkwardly, she flew up next to Galfore, having to float several feet above the ground just to drop her hand on his shoulder.

"Friends, I wish you to meet my k'norfka, Galfore." She offered her friends a weak smile, seeing their confusion only grow. "He raised me from the time I was very small."

Surprisingly, it was Perfume that spoke first. Taking a step forward, she half turned towards them and fired a challenging look at Galfore through lidded eyes. "You mean to say that this male is... your nanny?"

Galfore bristled at her tone and took another heavy step forward, looming over the tall Elder. He offered her a most unkind smile. "You find that amusing, little one?"

Perfume cocked out her hip and gave an amused chuckle. "Not at all. You must forgive me, as I mistook you for a warrior at first."

Now that got a reaction. Galfore reared up to his full height, his shadow eclipsing Perfume as well as the rest of the Titans. "You seek proof? Why I-"

His good eye flitted to Starfire and his incensed tirade sputtered out rapidly. Quickly, he dipped his head to her and took a step back.

"I apologize, Princess. I did not mean to offend your guests." The massive k'norfka, then gestured back towards the palace. "Please, we should head back. I have prepared a feast for your arrival, and we have much to discuss."

With that Galfore and the Royal Guard rose into the air and began to lead the procession of her friends and new companions.

Dropping back to the ground, Starfire nodded, her joyous mood dampened once more by the reminder of what awaited her at the Palace. As her friends began to follow the Guards, albeit reluctantly, she could only circle back to her dark thoughts. What evils could be being planned for her at this very moment?

The only saving grace was that, after days on end trapped alone with her vivid imagination, even her diabolical sister would be hard pressed to find anything that could traumatize her at this point.

She did not even register it as Perfume fell into step beside her, nor when the Elder leaned towards her and whispered conspiratorially.

"So, this Galfore… is he seeing anyone?"

Starfire tasted vomit at the back of her throat.

It hurt to breathe. With every inhalation, he felt a fire blossom in his abdomen, even as the water flowed over his gills.

He slowed his frantic swimming just long enough to look down as he pulled his hand away from his side. A small cloud of red grew worryingly around the gash in his skin, obscuring the burnt and blackened edges of his once blue uniform. Clenching his teeth, he pressed his hand back to the wound as hard as he could, wincing at the exquisite pain.

In his other hand, he held the charred remains of a once yellow plastic disc. Useless now, he let the former communication device drop from his hand and sink into the blackness below him.

He had to get help, so many lives depended on him making it through. And there was only one place he could think to go at a time like there. They would have the ability to get the word out, and thankfully, they lived right on the coast.

Choking back a cry of pain, he forced himself to begin swimming once more, the water blurring around him as he attained speeds no human could ever hope to match.

He pulled up short as a large, dark figure rose from the depths before him. The monster hefted a wicked looking trident, his discarded communicator impaled on its center tine.

"Going somewhere, friend? You wouldn't want to miss the feast," the scaled creature narrowed its bloodshot yellow eyes. "We have worked so hard; we just know it will be… perfect."

He didn't know how much power he had left, felt himself growing weaker with every passing breath, but he reached, deeply, into those waning reserves, fueled by nothing short of rabid desperation. He couldn't be stopped now, or it would all be for naught.

'Titans, I pray to Poseidon that you're home!'