Dark Titans – Arc 6 – Wed by Dawn

Chapter 2

A brief announcement.

After that odd scare back when I posted the last chapter, when no one could read any new stuff for a few days, I'd decided to play it safe and start backing up my stuff over Archive of Our Own, under the familiar name of Lathis, just like here. This is just in case the unthinkable happens here at FFnet, so my stuff is still out there, somewhere. I've started with Titans and the Lost Boy, throwing up a chapter a day. This is mainly because as much as I love them, reading those chapters hurts now, so I've been doing some very basic tweaks and edits to make them a bit more legible and it takes a good chunk of a day to fix that many issues.

Anyway, back to the story.

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

'Nnrg, so hungry!'

Stupid "feast!"

Beast Boy hadn't even been able to identify a single thing on that table as food let alone vegan. And then, before he'd even built up the nerve to try something that had at least been green – did plants even photosynthesize on this planet? – and after nearly losing a few fingers in the Tamaranean Piranha Pit, they had all been bodily swept up and out of the dining hall with no warning.

They had ascended to the near peak of this mountain/palace. Not an easy task for those less inclined to flight than Starfire and himself. Apparently, stairs were an alien concept to the Tamaraneans, but they had made it to their new destination in one piece.

The room they were in now was much larger and grander, lots of columns and drapes and whatnot - oddly enough, he caught one woman berating the drapery for some reason - and a very large, raised dais upon which sat a tall and fancy chair. He'd seen Lord of the Rings enough times to recognize a throne room when he saw one.

And then they'd just been left there, for fifteen minutes already! Just standing there, milling about, hunger growing by the second. No snacks, no cheese plates or crackers, nothing. Even Starfire was starting to look more bored than freaked. Granny Cologne looked as inscrutable as the log she was probably carved from. Perfume looked super distracted, and-

The sound of something crinkling next to him derailed his train of thought. Glancing to his side, the first thing he noticed was the shimmering mass of green hair, a bit lighter in shade then his own green skin. The next thing he noticed was the sneaky look on Spice's face as she surreptitiously snuck something from the pouch on her belt into her mouth.

That sneak! She'd snuck in her own food! Like a genius!

Leaning over, he whispered in his best Mandarin, "What Spicey Girl eat?"

Starting for a moment, the young warrior locked eyes with him, an evil grin spreading across her lips. Glancing around quickly to make sure no one was looking, she opened her little belt pouch enough to reveal a plastic bag. The bag was torn open, but the label was clear.

Lexmart Brand Dried Tofu!

His eyes widened and he could already feel drool flooding his mouth. The man was an evil villain, for sure, but damn if he didn't make some good tofu.

"Share wealth?"

Instead of complying, Spice instead zipped another bit of tofu past her full lips, only to close the pouch up completely. She fired a heated stare his way.

"You dropped me on my butt back at the ship! Why would I share with you?"

The emerald changeling grimaced at the reminder. Oh, the irony, dropping her on her ass was coming back to bite him in his butt.

"I panic! Perfume too too scary!"

Stealing a glance to the front of the pack, closest to the dais, they both checked to make sure that Perfume was far enough away and hadn't overheard him. When the young-for-an-old-lady failed to turn around after several tense moments, the bright-eyed warrior turned back to him, her jaw clenched tightly. Spice seemed to consider his words for a moment before her hand slowly drifted back to the pouch.

"What do you have to barter? This is a precious commodity on an alien planet."

Damn, she was right! This was probably the only tofu within a billion miles! Once it was gone, it was gone, and then he'd starve to death, never even having properly kissed a girl! He didn't even have to turn out his pockets to know he didn't have anything even close to worthwhile. He considered going to Cyborg… but the guy didn't even have pockets. And Robin, who had more pockets than everyone else in the room put together on his goofy belt, was way up front, standing with Star and Cologne.

Hmm, what would his wily opponent even deem valuable? What did she even like, besides kung fu and, apparently, dried tofu? Well, she liked him, he supposed-

Inspiration struck like a hammer, only to instantly twist around on him. Somehow, he doubted Terra would like the idea of him bartering himself for some tofu.

He watched, nearly in tears, as she deliberately popped another piece of tofu in her mouth, chewing it slowly.

Terra would understand! It wasn't like he would do anything wrong!

"You want go date?"

He watched her carefully and caught the glint of excitement that flashed through her eyes before she managed to school her expression. Reaching into the pouch, she pulled out two larger pieces of tofu. Just the sight nearly started him drooling again. He reached for the offered delicacy, only for Spice to pull them back, and drop one piece back in the bag.

"Half up front. Half after. Try to back out, and I'll show you what we do to tofu thieves in the village!"

Nodding, barely even hearing what she said he snatched up the one piece and jammed it into his mouth. Chewing for all he was worth; he savored the flavor like others might savor a fine vintage of wine.

"Oh, that's so good!"

Immediately, he was loudly 'shushed' from several directions. Raven just glared at him with those wicked, violet eyes of hers, and it looked like she was about to follow it up-

"All hail the Grand Ruler!"

All around the room, people began to drop to their knees and bow their heads as some off-brand imperial march sounding music started playing. The pair of green haired youths followed suit, only peeking up far enough to see what was going on behind the throne.

A moment later, a familiar face revealed itself as Blackfire strode confidently forward, flanked by heavily armed soldiers. Coming to a stop before the throne, the dark Empress then dramatically threw back her long flowing cape, letting it hang over her shoulder, revealing her familiar black and grey outfit that was nearly a twin to Starfire's. The extra spiky face guard was new, but the raven haired Tamaranean was able to pull off the look.

"Wow, that's Starfire's sister? She looks awesome!"

Beast Boy wasn't sure he liked the idea of someone thinking Blackfire was cooler than Starfire, but he didn't have a chance to say anything, as the momentous event began to unfold at the heart of the throne room.

Holding her hand up to cover her mouth, Blackfire chortled as she looked down on all of them.

"Surprised to see me, little sister?"

Starfire rose to her feet, then gave an ambivalent shrug of her shoulders.

"Um… no?"

In an instant, the haughty, superior look on the Empress' face crumbled into pure annoyance. Letting out a pouty huff, she glared around the chamber. "Who let the earth-cat out of the bag? I thought that I was explicit that this was supposed to be a dramatic reveal! Not much of a reveal, when people see it coming, now is it?"

Reluctantly, the long-haired Captain guy, from the ship and the feast, rose to his feet. Dramatically flipping his hair over his shoulder like a bronze wave, he took a step forward and matched Blackfire's gaze with defiance.

"I apologize, Grand Ruler. It was I that informed the Princess, though only after she had guessed herself, based on the… orders I had received." The officer then slammed a fist to his chest and bowed deeply.

Blackfire's expression darkened for several long seconds, almost matching her black outfit, as she studied the Captain. He matched her wrath with a cocky grin, until, against all expectations, the Grand Ruler shook her head and laughed in amusement.

"Oh my, just look at you," Blackfire bit her lower lip as she studied him a moment longer. "Damn, you are just too gorgeous to stay mad at."

She then gestured to the side of the dais, by one of the side entrance doors, currently blocked off by a curtain. "Captain, could you please go stand over there?"

Looking confused, but also pleased at not being jailed or executed, the lanky officer quickly complied and glided to the entrance, now facing the crowd instead of standing with it.

Nodding to herself, Blackfire then turned her attention back to her sister.

"Well, I suppose that saves us from some pointless back and forth, at least. Let's get down to business then…" The raven-haired Empress trailed off, her gaze trailing over all of them once more, Beast Boy more than glad that he barely registered to her at all. "Um, why are there so many humans here? I don't remember sending out invitations for this thing."

Taking that as a cue, Granny Cologne took a quick hop forward, bowing her head in formal greeting.

"Greetings, Grand Ruler. I am-"

Only to be cut off by a sharp gesture from said Grand Ruler. Blackfire gave a groan of disgust. "Ugh! I didn't ask for your life story."

Despite himself, Beast Boy couldn't quite stifle a bark of laughter, and was glad to hear it echoed by the green haired Amazon at his side.

At least he wouldn't be the only one getting in trouble!

Thankfully, the evil Empress didn't seem to be offended by their reactions, and instead rolled her wrist dismissively. "Whatever, I'll deal with you lot later. After all, we have more important business to attend to, isn't that right, Sister Dear?"

Starfire squared her shoulders and lifted her chin defiantly as she glared at her sister.

"I am prepared to do what is best for Tamaran, sister. Can you say the same?"

For just a moment, the mirth drained from Blackfire's face, before returning full force.

"I can. In fact, I already have. Now, it's just a matter of sealing the deal." Taking a step forward, Blackfire rested a hand on her hip. "On that note, I think it is time to introduce you to your new husband!"

With a dramatic sweep of her arm, she gestured to where the Captain of the Void Skipper stood.

"Captain Phyarelle!"

That got some reactions. Gasps of shock filled the room, the Amazon's nearly face faulted in shock, Robin looked like he was about to spontaneously combust. Starfire's face went as red as her hair as she appeared to be looking at the Captain in a completely different manner now.

Well, damn, and Beast Boy had thought that Blackfire hated her sister, but in reality, she was the universe's best wing-woman!

The Captain, for his part, looked more shocked than pleased. "B-but, Empress! I'm old enough to be her father! And I don't think my wife-"

"What?" Everyone went silent at Blackfire's incredulous bark. Only for the dark Empress to roll her eyes and slap a hand to her forehead.

"Obviously it isn't that," Blackfire barked irately, "I just need you to open that curtain!"

"Oh… well… consider it done." Not even the blooded military officer could hide his embarrassment, not considering his blush went all the way from his cheeks down to his fully exposed abs, as he drifted back and jerkily pulled the curtain aside, probably hoping he could hide behind it when done.

A moment later, someone pushed a large floating tray of slimy green garbage out of the hallway, where it started floating towards Starfire.

Some kind of orifice on the refuse pile suddenly inflated, bulged and then burst open, expelling a loud sound that could - being generous - be confused as a gassy burp. Also, some slime, and an unholy smell that Beast Boy had only experienced at the absolute nadir between laundry days.

Sweet merciful Buddha. That thing was alive!?

At that revelation, the reactions from earlier paled in comparison. Even Cologne held her sleeve over her nose, Spice looked more like a female Beast Boy than an Amazon at the moment, and Lotion appeared to be actively fighting to keep the 'food' she'd eaten earlier from making a second appearance.

The shellshock on poor Starfire's face, though, was not something that the changeling would forget anytime this life. Blackfire laughed again when she saw it, too, and not subtly. She laughed loud, crystal clear in her mockery.

"Say hello to your groom! The Exalted Schlurch of the Swamp Moons of Drenthax IV… Glgrdsklechhh!" The evil ruler had to distend her mouth wildly just to pronounce the name, as if the word were as physically vile as the creature itself and it needed to be vomited forth.

It seemed that there was only one person in the room that still had enough sense left to respond to this very unexpected turn of events.

"Um… he's cute," Raven muttered unconvincingly.

Speedy drew his bow back, taking careful aim on his target a dozen yards away. From this range the odds of him missing were astronomical, so he drew back just a little bit farther, trying to urge a bit more speed out of his arrow.

Relaxing his fingers, his entire bow shuddered as it launched the bladed projectile to cross the distance in the blink of an eye… only to watch it plucked out of the air by the bandanna clad martial artist standing across the room. Eyes closed and the arrow still held firmly between his two fingers, Ryouga casually flicked it down to imbed in the floor with the other dozen arrows he'd already caught.

"That is so cool!" Speedy exclaimed. "And with your eyes closed that time? You're a madman, you know that, right?"

Opening his eyes, the martial artist gave him a sheepish shrug of the shoulders. "It's hardly the craziest thing I've seen people do back home. No doubt Ranma would have been asking you to shoot five arrows at a time by now."

"Heh, sounds like my kinda guy!" Speedy could only shake his head in amazement, as well as silently pray that he never had to fight this guy in the future. Even Red X had to dodge his arrows on the few chances he'd gotten shots off over the week. If she'd just straight up caught them like that… he probably would have just thrown in the towel.

Granted, there were answers for that, Speedsters were a thing, after all, but they didn't tend to also be ridiculously skilled fighters. He didn't really want to think of the kind of dirty trick arrows he'd need to pull out to put down someone like Ryouga. Enough C4 would probably do it, but…

"Still, catching arrows to the face? Training the girl that can level entire cities? Flirting with Supergirl while on the same planet as Superman? Does anything faze you?"

Leaning down to pick up the arrows, Ryouga graced him with a superior grin as he moved to take his chair by the door again.

"A true martial artist doesn't know fear... or common sense… depending on who you ask, sanity might be pretty questionable as well." They both chuckled at the frank admission. "Lucky for you, you never had to deal with Kunou or his sister, so be thankful for that at least."

Leaning his bow against the wall, Speedy dropped into his own chair, crossing one leg over the other and getting comfortable.

"Well, a little bit of crazy never hurt anyone. I wouldn't mind if things got a little out of hand. You think anything insane will happen tonight?"

Ryouga just waved off his concerns. "No way. It's just a party. Even back home, nothing that crazy happened at any of the parties I made it to. I'm looking forward to kicking back and relaxing tonight."

Speedy checked his watch, "Well, it'll be seven in a bit. After that, we can just put up the sign with the Tower's phone number and buzz people in from upstairs."

"Sounds good to me. I'm getting hungry anyway. And-"

A loud knock at the door disrupted their conversation. Ryouga looked to Speedy, who looked back and held out his hand generously.

"It's your turn, oh Fearless One."

The fanged martial artist just rolled his eyes then moved to answer the door. Shooting him one last playfully annoyed glare, Ryouga pulled the door open to greet their latest guests.

"Oh, shit!"

Speedy nearly fell backwards out of his seat, having never heard the prudish martial artist utter any curse before. There was some unintelligible shouting from outside the door, but he didn't get a chance to decipher it as Ryouga slammed the door shut and spun to pin his back against it. The martial artist turned to stare at him with wide eyes, panic clear on his face.

The master martial artist then said the one word Speedy expected even less than the expletive.

"Run!"

Terra leaned back against the counter, sipping her drink as she spoke with her two newest acquaintances. The first, with long blonde hair, dark eyes and wearing a sexy green outfit that exposed even more of her midriff than Terra's old outfit had, was named Artemis. The second was a young woman even more deathly pale than Raven, wearing a goth/punk version of a prom dress, and with vivid red streaks in her raven black hair, Argent.

Terra loved their costumes so much! She also wondered if the large 'A' labeled on Argent's chest, above her breasts, was an actual tattoo or not.

"-so, yeah, once Speedy hit the road, Green Arrow finally decided he had the time to take me on as his apprentice."

Argent scoffed loudly. "That's the patriarchy for you. I don't even know why you want to have some creepy old guy training you. I mean, that beard."

Terra snickered loudly - everyone knew about the most famous beard on the Justice League - but quickly swallowed it as Artemis fired a glare her way. To be fair, the whole 'training under an older guy thing' did hit a bit close to home for her.

"Hey," she interjected, trying to play peacemaker, "Why wouldn't you want to get help from someone that has more experience than you? I'm training under someone too, you know. It's been so much help."

Argent rolled her eyes. "Yeah, well, with my powers-" she held up her hand, and a red energy construct in the shape of a larger hand formed in the air. "- I'd have to go find a Green Lantern to train under, and all I can say about that is screw those fascists!"

The glowing red hand flipped a very impressive middle finger before disintegrating into nothing, setting Artemis and Terra to laughing again.

The blonde archer turned back to Terra. "Who are you training with? I don't know any other geokinetic types, even among the League."

Terra smiled honestly, still amused by Argent's very blatant anti-authority bent, as well as the fact that neither girl seemed to think all that much about her checkered past. Then again, neither of the ladies before her seemed to be the 'nice girl' type.

"You actually met him when you came in. Ryouga, the guy with the bandanna at the door."

Artemis 'ahh'd' in recollection. "Oh right, the quiet, cute guy that was hiding behind Speedy. I never actually got his name. Once me and the 'Groan Arrow' down there start getting into it, most people tend to head for cover."

"He seemed like a nice, polite guy," Argent supplied, before sticking a finger in her mouth. "Gag! So not my type!"

Terra snickered, secretly relieved that no one had any untoward designs on her teacher.

"Yeah, well, he-"

A distant tremor ran through the tower. For a moment, the three young women stared at each other uncertainly, only to shrug it off.

"He doesn't actually have powers like me."

Artemis perked up at that. "Ah, a street level type like me then? He a martial artist?"

The young geokinetic had to swallow a bark of laughter at that idea but nodded. "He does-"

The floor shuddered beneath their feet again. Whatever it was felt closer now.

"Um, did you guys-"

The sound of a muffled explosion shook them again. All around the room, heroes and heroines turned to the far side of the room, the sounds of destruction seeming to be more localized to that part of the building. Fists began to raise as people took on various defensive stances or started moving towards cover.

One last rumble heralded the doors to the emergency stairwell exploding outwards spectacularly in a squeal of steel and a cloud of concrete dust and shrapnel. The twisted remains of the doors went spinning madly in opposite directions. The first angling wildly towards the kitchen, only to be snagged from the air by an irate Supergirl.

The other door arrowed straight towards the food table, actually, more towards the end of the table, seeming to home in directly on the-

"The Beer!" A half a dozen bodies formed a human wall in front of the vulnerable keg, only for the slab of metal to impact solidly into a large crimson hand. Next to her, Argent let out a relieved sigh as she dismissed her construct. "That was a close one!"

The distraction only lasted for a second, as a figure suddenly blasted out of the dust cloud that enveloped the staircase. Terra's eyes snapped wide open in shock as she saw Ryouga, flying backwards through the air, rapidly twirling a half dozen of his bandannas as he looked back at the dust cloud.

"We're under attack!" She had no idea who had yelled it, but in an instant, powers began to flare around the room, weapons were drawn and trained on the shattered stairwell-

"I said I was sorry already!"

Ryouga's unexpected battle cry rang out as he unleashed the cutting blades of cloth, all angling about to converge on the cloud in a deadly attack that would destroy even the most powerful of opponents.

Except it didn't. Another figure exploded out of the dust cloud, her arms wind milling almost too fast to see, and the rapid-fire 'clangclangclang' of steel striking steel sounded out, whirling yellow and black disks being deflected wildly around the room. This led to yet more screaming, dodging and blasts of whimsically colored energies to deal with the uncontrolled projectiles.

Terra was super grateful to be standing next to a Green Lantern-Lite considering she was functionally powerless at the moment, and the easy cover let her recover faster than most of the gathered heroes, letting her finally get a good look at the lunatic crazy enough to attack a whole tower of heroes.

The young woman, looking to be in the same age range as the rest of the guests, had long black hair tied back in a ponytail, tanned olive skin and wore a skin-tight red bodysuit covered in stars. The gleaming pair of silver bracers wrapped around her forearms sent a tremor of realization through Terra.

"Trespasser! You must pay for your crimes against the Amazons!"

Still hanging in the air, truly floating, not just getting wicked hangtime before dropping like Ryouga, the furious Amazon dropped into a divebomb, fist pulled back and ready.

A second later, a second figure flew out of the stairwell, this one a younger blonde, her hair tied up in a pair of bushy pigtails and wearing, well, a pretty lazy Wonder Woman Halloween costume. Jean skirt, leggings, and a black and red t-shirt with the familiar, stylized double 'W' on it. The chunky gauntlets she wore, as well as the fact that she was also hanging in the air made it clear that she was more than just a wanna be Amazon, though.

"Donna! Wait for me!"

And then the three of them were into it. Ryouga swung around the flying charge of the so named 'Donna', spinning rapidly to drop a closed fist like a hammer to her back. Donna slammed to the floor hard enough to bounce but didn't seem too put out by the otherwise crushing blow. The fanged martial artist didn't have a chance to follow up as Wonder Girl Two, Electric Boogaloo zipped in, fists swinging.

Ryouga caught the first punch on his crossed arms and was sent skidding back a few feet by the surprising amount of power she was packing.

Across the room, a lavender haired girl threw up her fists and cheered loudly. "Yes! Is finally real party! Kick Lost Boy butt!"

An instant later, the pair of Amazons were on Ryouga again, it was like a tornado of fists and feet and the martial artist did his best to duck, weave and block through his opponent's attacks. He was fast and skilled, but the girls were no slouches themselves. A rapid shoulder toss sent the blonde soaring across the room to impact one of the walls, but it cost him, as the taller warrior slid in low, her legs swinging in a blur, and catching the back of his leg.

Ryouga slammed to his back, already getting ready to roll as Donna was swinging down with a fist that would probably punch a hole in the floor-

Everything froze when the Amazon's fist slammed into an open palm and stopped dead, the small shockwave from the impact blowing back her raven hair, as well as the other's blonde hair.

Supergirl eyed the Greek heroine as she held her fist effortlessly.

"Donna…"

Unfortunately, a worse fate awaited the furious Amazons than just getting the crap beaten out of them by an angry Kryptonian.

Without the pair of women even noticing, Kasumi was suddenly standing next to them, her arms crossed under her chest and a distinctly less than pleased expression on her face. With a single gesture, she pointed to the other blonde, just pulling herself out of the wall, then to the floor right before her. In a flash, the casually dressed Amazon flew forward, clasping her hands and looking at her feet.

Kasumi then turned her attention to Donna, Supergirl already having released her and floating back out of the splash zone. For his part, Ryouga just rolled away before leaping over to join Terra and her new friends. The tall Amazon slowly stood up, looking about anxiously, apparently just now noticing over a dozen people staring at her incredulously.

"Now, would you care to explain why you were trying to kill one of your hosts?" The force of Kasumi's stare only intensified, even setting experienced warriors like Terra and Ryouga back a step. "Where I come from, doing that during a formal event is considered quite rude."

The pair of Amazons started to squirm under all the scrutiny.

"Um… Amazon… laws? He broke them?"

"Preach, Sister!"

"Shampoo! You're not helping!"

"We weren't actually gonna kill him!" the blonde Wonder Girl finally chimed in, "We were just gonna beat him up a bit! Honest!"

"Yes, well as reasonable as that is-" Terra felt her eyes cross a bit at the eldest Tendo's words. "-I'm going to have to ask you to put your vendetta on hold, at least for tonight. Ryouga is your host, after all. So, if you keep attacking him, then I'll have no choice but to ask you to leave."

"Booo!"

"Shampoo!"

Donna looked over to Ryouga, who had been clever enough to put on his best 'I've-Been A-Bad-Puppy-Dog' expression. Her stony glare held for several long seconds, until she finally relented, letting out a put-upon sigh. She dipped her head low, quickly gesturing for her younger contemporary to do the same.

"We apologize for our behavior. It was inexcusable. If you wish for us to leave, then we will do so."

The younger Wonder Girl let out a plaintive whine at the idea of leaving but kept her head down as well.

Kasumi, for her part, smiled brightly and placed a hand on both girl's shoulders, urging them to stand.

"See, isn't that more like it? We're all friends here, after all," she then leaned in and stage whispered, "Now, if you want to do anything else so exciting with any of the young men, there are plenty of rooms available."

It was impressive to see the tall Amazon's face go as red as her onesie, even as her friend burst into laughter. Rather than stutter embarrassingly like Ryouga, she instead did an equally entertaining, almost robotically stiff walk off, muttering something about being 'honored by her kindness' or some such.

Crisis averted, Kasumi dusted off her hands and moved off to start checking the food again.

Terra turned to the martial artist standing next to her, struggling very badly to hide the superior grin on his face over his 'victory'.

"Alright, you have to explain what that was all about."

Artemis squeezed in next to her. "Man, what kind of martial arts do you practice? That fight was awesome until Superbuzzkill got in the way."

Argent, on the other hand, let out a loud huff.

"I can't believe you actually apologized in the middle of a fight!" She made an exaggerated gagging sound as she stared at Ryouga incredulously. "Such a turn off."

Robin leaned back into the… 'chair' (Was this even designed for a humanoid?) his fingers steepled before him and letting his thoughts race. Not long after their introduction to the Grand Ruler, Starfire had been shuffled off one way with Galfore, while the rest of them had been herded to this so-called waiting room. Their hosts were being quite gracious so far. Cyborg, Beast Boy and the two Amazon girls had decided to go for a walk and had been granted permission without issue.

Which left him with Raven, Cologne and Perfume. Raven and Cologne seemed to be making constructive use of the time, sitting next to one another in meditation, the ancient and skilled master whispering the odd word of instruction occasionally. Perfume was pacing back and forth, seemingly talking to herself, making small gestures with her hands. No doubt, she was considering their current predicament as well.

The Boy Wonder frowned, his eyes narrowing as he analyzed the entire scenario. On the very surface, things seemed legitimate, but that veneer was razor thin. Cologne's own words were some of the most damning of all. Even if Blackfire wasn't close to the top of his 'Ten People to Never Trust' list, the idea that she should just swoop in at the last minute and instantly divine the exact thing this horribly alien race wanted was ludicrous. And the fact that this husband that she had arranged for her sister was a disgusting, bloated -

He let out a tired sigh. Nothing about this made any sense.

"Nothing about this makes any sense!"

Robin looked up from his own reflection to raise an eyebrow at the young Elder who had abruptly stopped her anxious pacing. At least they were on the same page, but with all her decades of experience and wisdom, maybe she had been able to divine some nuances that even he had missed-

"The man looks like someone carved a mountain out of a Redwood, and he's a sensitive and caring father figure? Oh, and let's not forget that he can cook! Not human food, but still!" Perfume threw her hands into the air in frustration. "How is this man still single?"

Orrr, not…

Robin slapped his palm against his forehead and growled in frustration. Across the room, one of Cologne's large, owlish eyes flicked open.

"To quote a bit of ancient Chinese wisdom, 'Keep it in your pants, Perfume'."

It wasn't often that Robin was treated to the sight of Raven actually dropping out of her levitation and landing square on her butt, and he was sure he had never seen her vacillate between snickering and swearing as she rubbed her bottom.

Perfume, for her part, managed to pull off a rather impressive indignant expression.

"Excuse me? I am-"

The withered warrior, still perched atop her staff, held out a hand to cut her off. "Please. You are one step away from tugging the poor man's beard like a schoolgirl teasing her crush. At least try to have some dignity."

The younger Elder spun away in a huff, obviously not appreciating the blunt words. Deciding to capitalize on the lull, Robin turned back to Cologne.

"So, what do you think of this situation? The Starfire one, not the… Galfore…. thing…"

She matched his gaze for a long moment, before finally shrugging. "In my opinion… that is your problem to suss out, Boy Detective." The ancient woman dropped from her staff and stretched her back. "I came here for a different reason if you recall. I need to speak with the Grand Ruler, this Blackfire of yours."

He rolled his eyes, not exactly surprised at the response. Why help someone when you can put them through hell trying to figure it out themselves? Great for martial arts training, sure, but not so much when it came to ensuring that lovely alien girls didn't get married to living compost heaps.

"And how exactly are you going to pull that off?" he asked, throwing on a bit of sarcasm for good measure, "She didn't even listen to a word you said."

An unladylike snort erupted from Elder Perfume, "I'm sure that just makes Cologne want to tame her all the more."

Robin watched Raven mouth the words 'Tame her?', her cheeks growing more reddish by the second.

Cologne barked with laughter. "If I was going to let a bit of disrespect put me off, then I would have given up on Son-In-Law years ago! Many talented youths possess an ego to match their potential, this is no different."

The young vigilante wasn't sure he liked this new and disturbing interest that Cologne was showing in Blackfire. The idea of an Amazon trained Tamaranean was already scary enough when it came to Starfire, and Cologne hadn't shown this level of excitement when dealing with her.

With that, the snow-haired matriarch made for the door. "I wish you luck in your endeavors, Boy Detective. Your friend deserves a husband with more backbone-" she paused for a moment, "-Any backbone, now that I think of it. Even Akane Tendo's father would be preferable to that homunculus."

And then it was just the three of them. The trio lingered awkwardly, exchanging uncertain glances, until a tiny grin wormed its way onto Raven's lips. The Boy Wonder could almost see the thoughts forming in her head as she turned to Perfume.

Don't you dare!

"So, Perfume, about Galfore…"

"Raven!"

Lotion gave a sidelong glance to her companion as they walked along the expansive balcony that ran along the side of the Palace. The tall male was smiling and chatting away, pointing to this thing and that, anything that caught his interest as they milled about. It was a strange new demeanor compared to the more shy and anxious young man she had met back in the village.

He seemed more confident, more relaxed and - she gave a small, internal sigh - he seemed like he wasn't concerned with impressing anyone. Sadly, she was literate enough to be able to read the writing on the wall.

It – this - was a pleasant walk with a friend.

"So, what have you been up to lately? I hate to say it, but I've been distracted by the whole 'Terra' thing for the past while."

She started at the direct question. Ducking her head, she gave a small smile.

"I have also been busy with… many things of late. Chief among them being our interactions with the Tamaraneans."

He gave a boisterous laugh. "I don't blame you for that! Having aliens parked in your backyard is bound to be exciting. And these guys are a lot more fun than most aliens I've dealt with."

"And they have so much to teach us," she added, smile growing more genuine… until current events caught up with her, "At least, they did. It's still such a shock to think that this wondrous opportunity might all vanish over something as petty as sibling rivalry."

Her companion nodded, looking off into the heavens above. The sun had set on this alien world, and the amethyst skies had since faded to black.

But what replaced it was even more fantastical. Points of lights filled the sky, like nothing she had ever seen on earth. She could still scarcely believe what she had been told. A system with twenty-two planets, and all of them habitable? Inhabited, in fact. But she could see some of them with her own eyes, like smaller, fabulously colored moons arrayed across the darkness.

"X'hal's Crown never ceases to amaze, does it?"

Lotion and her companion came up short, realizing they had just almost run over some poor soul as they continued their walk while looking upwards. Cyborg gave his customary laugh and greeting, while she bowed her head and offered a quick apology.

A moment later, she raised her eyes to see who they had nearly trampled. It was a young man, Tamaranean, likely a few years older than Cyborg, or perhaps a hundred years older? Apparently, they were a longer-lived species than she had realized, unless Galfore was some form of anomaly. It made guessing ages suddenly quite the gambit.

"X'hal's Crown?" she asked, liking the sound of it.

The tangerine skinned male had shorter hair, a lighter shade of orange than his skin - perhaps their equivalent of a blonde? - and was wearing a full shirt and pants, both of which looked to be augmented with extra padding. He was also wearing a pair of goggles currently perched on his brow. For the first time, she also noticed that he was standing at a hastily set up workstation, several variations of the spears used by the guards leaned up against its side.

He gestured to the sky, drawing their attention back up. "It is an old term, referring to the ring of planets that encircle our star. Glittering like jewels in the celestial crown of the Goddess."

Cyborg chuckled. "That is pretty nice. Sounds way better than 'Suspiciously clustered habitable zone.'"

The odd Tamaranean barked in laughter himself. "Outlander, you cannot even imagine all of the inconsistencies which abound in this system. I could tell you one fact alone, just off the top of my head, that would change your entire outlook on life."

Lotion found herself quite interested in this newcomer's boast. Her companion, however, seemed to be getting his hackles up.

"Oh, really? Why don't you try me?" Cyborg tapped a thumb to his chest. "Trust me, I've seen some stuff, man."

Grabbing one of the polearms resting on the table, the dusty haired alien leaned against it lazily, looking amusingly, a bit like a farmer in his field. He then pointed up to the sky.

"What would you say if I told you that the sun of our system is only about a half a billion years old-"

The cybernetic Titan scoffed loudly, swiping his hand through the air. "What? Everyone knows-"

"And it has been… for ten billion years!"

Cyborg's jaw clamped shut at that revelation. Lotion, herself, wasn't certain what such an outlandish claim could even mean, but it assuredly meant something to her more scientifically inclined companion.

Seeing their silence, the strange man smiled and continued. "There are records of Tamaranean… existence, anyway, if not civilization, going back that far in the fossil records." He gave an amused chuckle. "Though, we were certainly far removed from what we now are. And even with that, there are a very select few that think that Tamaraneans are not even native to this planet."

Cyborg's jaw worked silently for several long moments, no doubt compiling entire universities' worth of theories in mere moments. "But that would… the engineering alone… How would you even?"

His work with Cyborg apparently done, the Tamaranean turned his attention back to her. Dipping his head politely, he offered her a grin. "I apologize for my rudeness. I have not even introduced myself." Rising back to his full height, caught somewhere between her height and her companion's, jiggled his goggles as if tipping his hat. "My name is Dizzenind'r, though my friends just call me Dizzy. And who do I have the pleasure of conversing with?"

Smiling more widely now, the scholarly Amazon bowed. "Lao Xin, though English speakers generally pronounce it as Lotion. And my companion here," she gestured to her stumped friend, "Is Cyborg."

Dizzy laughed in amusement, no doubt about to ask, 'Is named Cyborg, or is a Cyborg?'.

"Your Mandarin has been one of the more popular languages migrating back to Tamaran, does not your name mean 'To work with one's head'? A better name I could not imagine."

She felt her cheeks start to flush but forced it back down. Grinning, she shrugged. "I think the meaning 'To worry' has more dominated my life."

"Well, now that certainly is a shame. I find worrying to be a waste of time. Especially when life is so good!"

That seemed to bring her cybernetic companion out of his logic loop. "Man, and I thought Star was the optimistic one. I hate to be that guy, but you got a full-on evil queen going on, and an alien fleet hanging over your head." Cyborg shook his head in disbelief. "I mean, I'm all for taking it easy, but this is a bit much."

Much to Lotion's surprise, the overtly cheerful Dizzy's expression grew dark at Cyborg's words. Gripping the spear more tightly, he spoke in a lower, more restrained tone.

"I have no love for the invaders, and I will be ready when we push them back into space once more, as we have done countless times before. We have become exceedingly efficient at it."

His breathing then suddenly grew erratic, and he began coughing loudly, before catching himself on the spear once more. He held out his hand to stop them when they reached out to him, and a few moments later, regained his breath. The heated gaze never wavered from Cyborg.

"However, I would ask you not to speak ill of our Empress. You do not know what it means to many of our people to have her as our ruler."

The sharp words set Cyborg back a step, confusion filling his face. Lotion shared that confusion. The attitudes she had encountered since coming to Tamaran had uniformly painted the Empress as a vile villain… though, now that she recalled, there had been several the Void Skipper's crew that held their own opinions.

"What exactly does she mean to you?" she asked, honestly curious. "Those at the palace told us of terrible events. Of the betrayal of your entire world. Were they untrue?"

His glare flitted to her, but after studying her for several moments, it softened once more. Hopefully, he understood that she meant no insult. Slowly, he shook his head.

"I am sure that the stories are true, from the point of view of the aristocrats. But what some might call an invasion, shattering their hold on the reigns of power, others might consider a liberation of sorts."

The scholarly Amazon tilted her head to the side. "I'm afraid that I do not understand."

He shrugged. "Tell me, do you see any Citadel warships here? Or a Citadel Governor ruling over Tamaran with an iron fist?"

He leaned back against his work bench, he gestured to the vast plains of Tamaran beyond the balcony.

"For the last half of a decade, we have been ruled by a Lord Regent who paid only lip service to the Citadel. The only remaining members of the royal family left the planet with the Citadel after the invasion concluded." He studied her reaction carefully for a moment.

Now the conversation was entering realms which her studies addressed. Politics was a universal language, all its own, and she was beginning to understand his meaning.

"A Regent is a far cry from a Grand Ruler. The latter can rule by decree, by mandate, the former must rule by consensus, by compromise and understanding," she surmised, hoping she was on the right path, "With the voices of the Royal family silenced, suddenly the voices of the people would become easier to hear."

He nodded, pleased with her assessment.

"But then wouldn't that make Blackfire taking over a bad thing, though?" Cyborg asked, still trying to make heads or tails of things.

To that, Dizzy could only shrug. "It is hard to say. The only thing I can say for certain is that things have not grown worse since she claimed the crown."

Then, donning a sheepish expression, the oddly dressed Tamaranean smiled for them.

"Though, I must say, on a more personal level, it is something of an inspiration for me, and those like me, to see someone like her ascend to such a position."

Her cybernetic companion just stared at him like he had started speaking in tongues. She felt compelled to know what he meant, though.

"Whatever do you mean?"

He glanced back at her, looking confused for a moment, only for realization to dawn on his face. "Heh, yes, I suppose they wouldn't have mentioned that to you. You see, Empress Komand'r is something of a hero to many people. To overcome such a crippling disability and seize the title of Grand Ruler?"

"Disability?" Lotion asked, curious as to what he meant.

He nodded, grinning knowingly. "Allow me to explain the true history of our Empress for you, the truth that so many of the elite ignore."

His head dipped and he held a hand above his heart… she assumed.

"It is a story of hope for so many of us."

"So, just so we are both on the same page, Tamaran is a total Death World, am I right?"

Beast Boy finished reading the Mandarin translation off his communicator. Now that they finally had the chance to kick back and relax, and he wanted to be able to talk without feeling like more of a moron than usual, the old program he'd downloaded all those months ago in the Village was a godsend.

His lovely companion nodded excitedly. "Giant monsters everywhere, trees that look like demons and everything wants to kill you all the time! This would be a great place to train if the old mummy can actually pull this off."

The pair of them were leaning comfortably over one of the balconies, overlooking the vast city and the 'natural settings' that stretched beyond. Overhead a flock of… things flew, their screeches chilling his soul. He absently wondered if there were any Nazgul up there riding them? He also wondered if he could… maybe...

The Amazon warrior in training leaned against his shoulder, pushing him playfully.

"We should ask if there are any really dangerous places that smart people know to avoid. If so, that could be a fun place to go for a second date, fighting for survival against impossible odds!"

The emerald changeling chuckled, only for it to trail off uncomfortably. He began typing away at his communicator quickly. He wanted to be clear with his next words.

"Spice, I do like you, but… there is someone else."

Against his expectations, the girl did not recoil from him in shock and curse his name. Rather, she rested her head on his shoulder, her emerald hair pooling up against his neck.

"I know."

Huh? No time for a translator now!

"What? How?"

"I read the Cyblog, you know? I know about Terra. What she means to you… and what she did to you."

He couldn't see her face, so he had no idea what expression she was wearing, but her voice seemed very… resolute. That certainly hadn't been in even the top ten guesses of how she would react.

His fingers tightened on the railing. "Then, you know how feel- how I feel, about she-her."

Reaching over, she dropped one of her small hands on his. Though it looked tiny and delicate, a bit like Terra's actually, it possessed surprising strength.

"Garfield, do you know why I like you?"

He grinned widely, knowing the answer to this one.

"Because I so strong!"

Spice looked up to match his gaze, her expression blank for a moment. Only for her entire face to scrunch up adorably before she burst into laughter, going so far as to start slapping the railing as she tried to contain herself. Finally, shaking her head a few times, she locked eyes with him again.

He glared back at her.

"Done yet?" he asked flatly.

A few more giggles spilt past her lips, but finally she nodded. Draping her hand on his shoulder she rested her chin on her fingers and glanced up at him with a wide grin.

"Your sense of humor is definitely a close second, but not the main thing."

He rolled his eyes. "Spicey Girl is cruising for bruising."

Spice pouted cutely at his words, at least until she started giggling again. "It's because you're kind, dummy… and kind of a dummy."

For that he gave her a pinch on the arm, eliciting an annoyed squeak.

"I mean it… the first part, anyway. Even back at the village, you always put your friends first, and anyone else that needed help." The mirth that twinkled in her eyes faded, replaced by something more sentimental. "You always did anything you could to make people happy, because you wanted them to be happy, not just because you wanted them to like you."

He felt a small swell of pride in his chest. But it didn't exactly answer his own question. He quickly tapped away on his communicator.

"I'm flattered that you feel that way, but it doesn't change how I feel."

She nodded slowly, her gaze drifting back out to the ominous black woods that lingered at the edge of the city.

"I just feel that you deserve better than someone that hurt you so bad."

At that, he pulled back from her completely, his temper flaring up.

"Hey! Just because you read Cy's blog doesn't mean you know what happened!" Not thinking about his words seemed to improve his fluency. "Terra needs me now more than ever!"

Spice failed to reciprocate his anger, only nodded with something of a resigned look. She caught his heated gaze. "I'm sure she does. All I ask is that you consider one thing. Just because you might be the best thing for her, does that mean that she is the best thing for you?"

Beast Boy wanted to bark something biting, something to hurt the young Amazon and drive her off… but deep down, he had a hard time getting angry knowing that she was only saying what she was saying because she wanted to help him, not hurt him. The fact that he couldn't even begin to formulate a response to her question only confounded him further.

So, in true teenage boy form, he deflected.

Shaking his head, he could only laugh and lean against the railing once more. This time Spice left a respectful distance between them.

"How are you even reading Cy's blog, anyway? You guys were still using rotary phones when we left."

Rolling her jade eyes, she reached into the same pouch that held the sacred Tofu and pulled out… a smartphone?

"Please, Gar. Every teenager in the village has a Lexsung Universe Note."

Well, that was cool. A bit odd, though, he thought. He chuckled to himself.

"You sure have a lot of Luthor brand stuff, you know?"

Spice's eyes darted back and forth for a second, and she giggled oddly.

"Yeah, there was… um… a going out of business sale! Picked up a lot of stuff cheap!"

Huh, Luthorcorp was going out of business? Couldn't happen to a nicer guy, he supposed.

Too bad, though. The man made good Tofu.