Chapter 7
[Over Jump City Bay]
The Dark Dragons were flooding through multiple Tears of Oblivion and the first one that came through that Edward confronted ate a massive lightning blast that tore through it like a hot knife through butter.
Edward's eyes started glowing red, showing his anger was already building. His spine lit up again and he unleashed another blast at another Dark Dragon, knocking it out of the air, but, this one recovered and slammed into Edward, sending both into the sea with a mighty impact. Edward snarled to himself and started throwing punches, but, was hampered by the water resistance.
Next thing Edward saw was a killer whale ramming into the Dark Dragon as it was summoned by Aqualad. The whale bit into the Dark Dragon's neck and dragged it off Edward.
Edward headed for the surface and back into the battle which was well and truly joined by then.
Solor had his hands full fighting off a couple of Dark Dragons, so, Edward teleported to Solor's side and grabbed one of the other Dragons by surprise. He fired a point blank lightning blast into his enemy's neck, killing it instantly.
[Raven! Get my Titans!] he called out.
[Relax,] she said, [Soon as the fighting started, I opened a Tear to your home. They are already here.]
Sure enough, Edward and Solor saw two sources of Starbolts and eye blasts as well as two sources of sonic cannons.
But, that was joined by Superman's heat vision hitting other Dark Dragons, Hawkgirl was stunning others with her mace. Green Lantern was using multiple hard light constructs to hold others. Flash was creating vortexes that caused several Dark Dragons to collide. And Wonder Woman was having fun knocking others out of the air with her strength and the stronger ones were no match for her lasso. J'onn was in heavy combat as well, Dark Dragon vs. Martian dragon. Batman only had non-lethal weapons, though, and sadly, none that would work against a dragon except tear gas and pepper gas.
Both Terras were active as well, using boulders to knock others out of the air. That caused some confusion with the Dark Dragons as they tried to avoid the barrage only to see that the "missile" was guided. Tara (Edward's Terra) had the advantage seeing how she sparred against Edward a lot, so, she could guide a boulder to her target easier. Terra (Solor's Terra) was a fast study and after seeing her counterpart's training in Dragon combat, followed suit.
[How are you holding up?] Rachael asked.
[I'm good,] he said, [Still in control.]
[Look out!] she warned, forcing Edward to teleport before a larger Dark Dragon would have hit him.
"Missed me," he said in the native Dragon tongue and dove at his new opponent, having gained the advantage.
He slammed into the larger dragon and both fell towards the ocean, only this time, Edward teleported away, leaving the other dragon to slam into the sea.
[Both Ravens] he called out, [teleport the ground based superheroes into the City. Get the civilians out of harm's way. Make sure that the media doesn't get in the way for their own safety.]
Where is Sol? Edward wondered, we need the reinforcements, badly!
[Lair]
As the First Battle of Titan Tower was underway, Sol emerged from his Tear of Oblivion and called out.
"Dragons of Lair! Darkness has dared to invade the mortal realm. Any solders who wish to come to the aide of Kiinnum are needed now. We must not allow Darkness to extinguish Light. It is time for dragons to join with the mortals to defeat Darkness. Who answers the call to arms?"
There was a resounding amount of roars as the solders of the Lair took to the sky.
Within minutes, solders from all the clans were ready, each lined up in smart military type rows until there was a sizable force ready.
The members of the Circle opened their own Tears and the troops went through, ready to fight.
[Near Titan Tower]
The Dark Dragons were actually starting to overwhelm the two Dragons and their human and alien allies when seven more Tears formed, larger than the initial batch.
"I think reinforcements have arrived!" Edward called over to Solor.
"I hope so!" Solor said. Neither he or Edward had activated their Blessings of Light yet as it would drain both Dragons.
Sure enough, a lot of Dragons from Lair were emerging and the ones that could fly immediately took to the skies.
"Great!" Edward said with a smirk.
"Earth Dragons! Protect the city! Golmul!" Edward called.
"Golmul is here, Kiinnum!" Edward heard.
"You're in charge of the Earth Dragons," Edward said as he landed for a moment, "Welcome to the mortal world. I don't have time to go into everything, but, to acknowledge what you told me in Lair, I hereby grant you the field commission of Colonel. It's a promotion, I hope. Regardless, the earth dragons answer to you, and you answer to me. You don't have time to reassure the mortals of your friendly intentions, they will have to see it for themselves."
"I understand," he said, "We will protect the mortal city."
"Try not to knock any buildings down," Edward requested, "The locals might not like it if something is knocked down. If it cannot be helped, that's somewhat acceptable. I gotta run!"
Edward took to the air again as the battle raged in the air.
"Other Dragons! You know your duty! You've trained for this day! Push Darkness back. Light Defeats Darkness!
"Solor!" Edward called, but, as he looked, he saw Solor in a serious fight, and in trouble.
"CRAP! A four on one attack," Edward snarled, scales starting to go through different colors as his anger built.
He flew at the nearest attackers and slammed into them hard. Edward, already angered, bit into one attacker's neck, drawing blood. The other attacker tried to use flame only to see it blocked by Raven's powers.
"Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" she yelled and the second attacking dragon was grabbed by her soul-self and thrown into one of the others attacking Solor, knocking both down for a moment.
The superheroes were all tied up as well battling the Dark Dragons but, the problem was that there were a lot of them. The smaller ones were being handled, it was the larger, older ones that were giving everyone a harder time.
But, with the arrival of the reinforcements, the tide of the battle turned slowly and as more Dark Dragons were knocked out of the battle, it was also apparent that several of the reinforcing dragons had also fallen in the fight, injured with slashed wings or broken bones despite their scales.
[Can someone teleport the injured dragons to safety?] Edward called out.
[No can do, Edward,] Raven replied, [We've got our hands full and it's obvious that the Dark Dragons are making a play for the Tower.]
[I noticed that,] Edward said as he charged at yet another Dark Dragon trying to make it's way to the Tower.
That Dragon ran into a super chilled air mass and its wings were covered in ice. He roared as he fell towards the island and was knocked senseless on impact.
Others were slipping through the defense and were met by either Edward or Solor, both had fallen back to a defensive position.
"How are you holding up, Solor?" Edward said.
"So far, so good," Solor replied, "Head's up!"
Edward saw another Dark Dragon heading their way and blasted it with his lightning breath, not bothering to light up his ridges any longer.
The Earth Dragons had also seen that the Tower seemed to be the focus on the Dark Dragons and Golmul had several troops make their way to the Tower.
[J'onn! It's Edward,] he called out telepathically, [Have the League cover the flightless Earth Dragons as they move towards Titan Tower, please. The Dark Dragons are trying to take it down!]
The Justice League members and others moved to provide covering fire for the Earth Dragons, some of which were large enough to wade to the Tower.
One Dark Dragon made the mistake of making eye contact with Jericho (From Edward's universe) and was possessed. The Dragon roared as he realized that he no longer had control over his body and used its flame breath on another Dark, taking it by surprise. The surprise didn't last long as the two started to fight. Jericho wisely jumped to another Dark and started another intrateam brawl.
Solor saw that and was surprised, "So that's what that kid can do. Nice!"
Edward said, "Jericho has the experience as I would let him practice with me at times. The native Jericho will need trained."
By then, several Earth dragons were defending the Tower.
Edward had a thought and after blasting another one out of the air, looked for one of the geomancers, he didn't care which one, but was hoping for his universe's Terra.
He found one and teleported to her side.
"I need you and your counterpart to create an earth shield around the Tower itself," he said.
"That may drain both of us," Tara said, "It's not like creating a canyon or burying a dragon."
"Just be careful, then," Edward said, "But, these dragons are trying to take out the Tower. Give the flightless dragons the support that they need. Use whatever materials are needed to defend the Tower."
Tara nodded, "We'll try."
"That's all I ask, Tara," Edward replied with a quick and gentle brush with his snout.
Also, there was another problem: The US Military was possibly coming. They had scrambled several squadrons of jet fighters and they were inbound to the fray.
Superman flew to Edward's side and said, "We have a problem...The Air Force has scrambled fighters."
"Superman," Edward said quietly, knowing that he'd be heard, "You have to keep those fighters out of harms way or tell them that the black dragons are the ones to fire on."
Superman understood the problem and withdrew from the fight to get to those bases.
[Raven,] Edward called out, [Get the military guys on the phone and tell them that they risk being slaughtered in this dust-up if they try to intervene, those Dark Dragons won't hesitate to massacre the lot of them, especially the larger ones.]
[On it,] she said and went to try to contact the military that way.
The Dark Dragons were relentless, though, but, Edward's determination was just as relentless and he had a lot of disciplined troops now at his disposal who were fighting the Dark Dragons as well. Those who got too close to the Tower were knocked out of the sky by Earth Dragons and roundly stomped or knocked down by large boulders from the geomancers. Edward lifted several of the lighter Earth Dragons to the roof of the Tower so there was plenty of protection there.
He flew off to intercept more Dark Dragons when he saw more Tears forming and the Dark Dragons started to withdraw for some reason.
"What in oblivion?" Solor asked, "Why are they retreating?"
By then, Edward had caught up to Solor again and replied, "No idea, but, we cannot let them all escape. I want to interrogate one of them. One of the larger ones, they might know more. I'll be back in a moment."
He located Golmul and teleported to his side, "Good work thus far. Find and detain one of the Dark Dragons that looks to be close to you in age, but, unable to overpower you. Don't be afraid to knock it out to prevent escape, but, I want the Traitor alive and able to answer questions."
"Yes, Kiinnum," he said, "It shall be done."
"Thanks," Edward said, "I'll see what I can do as well to help. Regardless, in case you want to take a bit of retribution, I'll look the other way"
"I do not understand the phrase," Golmul said.
"I don't care if he arrives with two black eyes, a broken snout or a broken wing," Edward said, "I will want answers and if your 'volunteer' is convinced to talk to me before he's brought to Lair to face justice may spell the difference between a fast death or a slow and torture filled death. He doesn't need to know that last part, though. And I will not ask questions about which one of you do the softening up. In fact, tell them what you told me about your strength compared to mine. Use that respect/admiration in our favor. If whoever is 'volunteered' realizes that there is someone more powerful, it might get the dragon to talk."
Golmul nodded, "I see, sir." Edward smiled, "You have your orders, friend. I'll catch up to you in a bit."
Edward flew back into the fray, such as it was, and looked for a target. He picked one of the remaining larger dragons and teleported above it and morphed to a giant snake. He fell on the Dark Dragon and wrapped himself around the dragon and put the squeeze on, constricting like titanium bands as they fell.
The dragon tried to open a Tear, only to discover Edward clamping his jaws on his mouth and preventing the spell from firing off.
They struggled but, Edward was just too powerful for the Dark Dragon as they slammed into the beach.
The Dark Dragon tried every trick he could to get Edward to uncoil without luck and as Edward continued to tighten his coils, the Dark Dragon finally couldn't get enough air and passed out. That got Edward to uncoil.
The native Terra came over and said, "Allow me." Edward went back to his native form and said, "By all means, my dear."
The Dark Dragon would wake up to discover that it was locked tight in a rock prison similar to how she encased Slade. The dragon was not going anywhere anytime soon as Terra (either of them) would know how to release the rocks.
"Good job," Edward said as the other Dark Dragons left, some taking their injured colleagues with them. One dragon saw the one Edward had captured and tried to mount a rescue, to feel several breath weapons hitting him as the Earth Dragons opened fire as well as several boulders. Golmul has seen the capture and instructed several solders to take custody of the prisoner.
They arrived and Edward said, "Take him to Lair and post round the clock guards. I'll clear it with Grand Light. The prisoner tries to escape, he's to be knocked out."
By then, the fighting was pretty much over and Edward was puzzled as to why…
[Lair of Darkness]
Grand Darkness saw the amount of injured dragons returning and, needless to say, he was unhappy. And that was an understatement. They had failed in their mission and he wanted to know why.
He grabbed the first solder he could and snarled, "What in Oblivion happened? You were supposed to destroy that Tower!"
"We couldn't get near it, sire!" the dragon objected, "It was too well protected."
"Explain," Grand Darkness roared.
"There were three dragons already there, and one of them went through a Tear. The other two fought back hard. One had lightning breath that knocked many brothers out of the air severely wounded. The other had a light beam. The mortal superheroes also put up a strong resistance. The one called Superman has heat vision, others were taken down by some guy wearing green and used hard light to defend. Another flying female has this mace that emits a strange energy. They have at least one spell caster as well. Two defenders are half metal and have a hard sound weapon. Two were shapeshifters, and, two can move the earth with their minds alone."
"The Dragon with the lightning breath," Darkness asked, "He didn't happen to seem … different … than the others did he?"
The younger Dragon nodded, "Yes, sir. His scales seemed to color shift at times, and, appeared to be one of the strongest in the playing field. He morphed several times and his lightning was powerful. Every time he used it, power would arc between his ridges. He looked like he was in discomfort, as though …"
"He was in some pain?" Vilea inquired.
"Exactly, daughter," Darkness said, "The hybrid is indeed here. He cannot fire at full power without the backlash. His immortality was protecting him.
"What happened later?"
The dragon replied, "Lair sent reinforcements, my lord Darkness! They came to the aid of the human filth!"
"FIRST-DAMMIT!" Darkness roared in rage, "They know! This confirms my fears. They have already declared war on us and Trigon!"
He took a deep breath and said to the one dragon who had, of course, averted his eyes the entire time, a fact which spared his life, "Get your wounds tended to. I am grateful for your report."
The dragon backed away carefully, not wanting to show his spine to Grand Darkness and thus insult him.
"We have scored one victory, though," Vilea said, "The human scum know about dragons now. Lair is exposed and the Light mosquito and his allies will be on the defensive and distracted by fending off the panicking mortals."
"The son of Grand Light is not a mosquito, daughter," Darkness reprimanded her, "You failed to break him after all. It's plain to me that you are responsible for this fiasco. You told him of our plans, figuring that he'd go insane. Somehow, his mind was repaired.
"Consider yourself lucky I do not have you executed, Vilea. If we didn't need Starborn's whelps, I would have you killed for this lapse of judgment. Fail me again, and I will kill you with my bare hands! GET OUT OF MY FACE AND DO NOT RETURN UNTIL I SEND FOR YOU!"
Vilea, for the first time in her life, was in truly in fear of her father. The grand plan was in jeopardy, all because she just had to have Starborn as her personal toy.
Needless to say, she realized it might be a good time to find a nesting spot and lay low until the eggs hatched.
After she left, Grand Darkness took stock of the defeated Dragons and realized some of them were gone, likely killed in the battle, but, one of the missing was an older dragon and supposedly one of the strongest ones as a result. As the Dragons were being treated for injuries ranging from broken bones to burns from either lightning or Superman's heat vision to some dragons that looked frostbitten, those got Grand Darkness' attention.
"What happened?" he asked one of the frostbitten dragons, who averted his gaze.
"One of the defenders hit me with ice breath, Milord," the dragon said, "His spine ridges glowed blue before I was hit. I was lucky to have survived that."
"I see," Grand Darkness said. He had another piece of the puzzle that Edward presented to his faction and regretted not being able to take him as a hatchling.
Another presented with severe burns and Grand Darkness discovered that Edward's spines lit up red when a flame attack was about to be used.
"So, the hybrid has become as powerful as I expected," Grand Darkness muttered, "What else does this damned dragon do?"
He questioned others who said they were knocked down by surprise. One moment, the path was clear, the next, they had a dragon attacking them. Or that they'd try to attack Edward only to discover the target disappeared and they would be on the defensive.
Teleportation? Grand Darkness thought, Wonderful. Means if he sees an attack coming, he can avoid it completely.
"Did anyone see if this hybrid was injured?" he asked.
"He did not seem injured at all," one injured dragon said.
"OK," Grand Darkness asked, "Did anyone see him actually hurting from anything?"
"The enemy seemed to wince using several attacks," was a reply, "But, after that, I couldn't tell. He seemed to recover quickly, though."
Well, that does seem to confirm his immortality. That's going to make him tougher to beat, and his strength...might get some of my children to defect. The backlash does, indeed, limit his attacks. If Lair gats hold of him and trains him, that limitation might become a moot point and there's no telling what will happen then.
Grand Darkness left the wounded to their caretakers to think. His troops had taken a defeat, but, he knew that one defeat in battle did not spell the end of the war.
[Titan Tower roof]
With the Battle of Titan Tower over, Edward dismissed most of the reinforcements before the military arrived. The less dragons, the better. But, he asked that Sol and several representatives of the clans stay to help calm the population. Every news outlet had covered the battle before the FAA imposed a no-fly zone around the city. As Titan Tower was the focal point of the battle, there wasn't much damage to the City itself, unless you counted a lot of cars damaged as people tried to flee.
"Ok," he said to the gathering of dragons and superheroes, "The cat is out of the bag now. Within an hour, if we're lucky, there will be a lot of angry people heading our way from elected officials, law enforcement, military, and media. We are not going to spin this. Solor, his father and I will call a press conference, and I would ask Superman to collect Clark Kent from the Daily Planet, please. I'm certain that Mr. Kent would want to cover this story. He can bring his partner, Lois Lane as well."
Superman realized that Edward already knew his secret identity, but, said nothing about that, just replied, "I'll get them. Give me an hour, please. I can't fly that fast with Ms. Lane." (J'onn had recalled Superman when it was clear the Dark Dragons were in a retreat.)
Raven said, "I can teleport there faster."
Edward nodded and said, "Sounds like a plan.
"Robin, please contact the media. Tell them 'Press Conference, one hour, Titan Tower lobby.' Inform the TV and Radio stations that for the ease of coverage, we'll use a pool camera setup. Do not allow the Military to strong arm you into cancelling the press conference, even if they cite national security. And, believe me, they will try that trick."
Robin nodded and headed down to the Ops Center.
A few minutes later he came back and said, "I got the message out. But, things do not look all that good. Even with the fighting over for now, the population of Jump City is in a full panic mode."
"Damn Darkness," Solor snarled, "Had to blow the cover off."
"Somehow, they knew that there was a gathering here and figured that things had been discovered," Sol said, "That's the only explanation."
"Agreed," Edward said after a moment, "And, they will try again. We gotta be ready. We got lucky this time.
"Sol, would you please make sure my prisoner of war is taken to Lair? He's got some questions to answer."
Sol nodded, "I do not like having a Dark Dragon in Lair, but, I suspect you want some peace and quiet for that."
"The time for peace is gone," Edward said, "This attempt to destroy Titan Tower is the proof of that. Somehow, they knew and I suspect that they also have agents here. I'm going to end up having a second AI developed and installed, just to give the Titans a head's up."
Edward made his way to Ops after leaving orders to the remaining larger Dragons to stand guard to prevent another sneak attack, but, letting mortals through. Impromptu "Operation Friendly Dragon" was in effect, and the Dragons were told to make nice with the humans and to keep their opinions to themselves.
The others, of course, followed Edward down to Ops.
The combined force of super-heroes and disguised dragons had a few precious minutes to try to relax after the battle, but, it was just one front. The population could not be told that things were not what they saw and Edward knew that the local history had swerved in a huge way. There was no going back.
"We have two fronts," Edward said, "The one with Trigon and his allies, then, the one that will be showing up at the door pretty soon. We have to calm the people quickly.
"One dragon is bad enough, but, the sky was full of them. So, we tell them the truth. That's all we can do."
He gave it some thought and said, "That includes the threat from Trigon. The longer the population has to prepare and evacuate the area, the better."
In fact, they didn't get that much time at all as the media started to arrive and they were let in, nervous looks all around.
Robin tried to make them more comfortable as they set up their equipment.
[About 75 minutes later]
The media had gathered along with some military folks who insisted on being there for some odd reason and a live signal was being sent out worldwide on every channel.
Robin stepped up to the podium and said,
"Thank you for coming on such short notice. Today has seen its share of excitement in that creatures long thought to be myth, legend and even folklore have been proven to be real. We have learned that we share our planet with dragons in an epic battle that signals the start of a long power struggle coming out of hiding. I would like to introduce Edward Barnes, an ally in this power struggle."
Edward stepped up and said, "Ladies and Gentlemen, as Robin stated, my name is Edward Barnes and I have a confession to tell you. I am a dragon in human form and the reason I am here is because we are at war. Not with humanity as me and my compatriots fought a battle here against Dragons who are bent on taking over this world. Those were the black Dragons you saw engaging in a heated fight. There is a reason for this and while I do not wish to further panic the People of the world by exposing our existence, that damage has already been done.
"Within the next two months, an interdimensional being known as Trigon the Terrible will be summoned to this planet and he will use Earth as his command center to take over the known universe. Without the assistance of the dragons who oppose Darkness, humankind will go from a bustling population of billions to under 10 in the blink of an eye.
"I know that this is difficult to believe, and that you will wonder if I have lost my mind. I am afraid to disappoint you, but, even after fighting for hours against this initial invasion, I assure you that I am of sound mind.
"My main concern right now is calming the public after the events of today. I assure you that these dragons are as intelligent as some of the smartest people alive today."
He stopped for a moment and that allowed for reporters to start asking questions, but, Edward held up his hands.
"I know you all have questions, however, a pause for breath isn't really an invite to bombard me or others with questions.
"I know that some folks will try to run a background check on me. Don't bother. You will not find anything. The reason for this is because I am from an alternate universe as well. My universe already went through Trigon and he was defeated. I am here because one of my friends on the Teen Titans was recently thrown into my universe by those tears in the fabric in reality that many of the citizens of this city saw. He was retrieved from my universe several weeks ago. In fact, I'm sure that there was speculation why there were only 5 Teen Titans instead of 7. That is why.
"However, one of the Titans, Solor, was captured recently by these forces of Darkness and subjected to horrors that no one should be forced to endure before escaping to warn us. But, to help in his recovery, his father was able to contact me and my wife and asked for our help. We came here and helped Solor recover to the point he was certainly able to fight.
"We know who did this to Solor and I'm going to put this out there. Vilea, you are very high on my personal target list for what you did to my brother-in-arms. I will make it a point to find you and prevent your eggs from hatching. You shall be brought to justice for your crimes.
"Now, you may ask your questions, if you would like."
Edward pointed to Lois and said, "Yes?"
Lois stood up and said, "Lois Lane, Daily Planet. This is a bombshell announcement that you've made here. Is this why there's so many superheroes here and why they were involved in that battle seen worldwide?"
"We were made aware of the threat a couple days ago, Ms. Lane," Edward said, "and knew that the Teen Titans would be needing the help. So, at my urging, the Teen Titans got hold of the Justice League, Doom Patrol and stand alone superheroes. Sadly, it appears that the forces of Darkness got word of the meeting and moved their invasion plans up."
"When can we expect Trigon?" she asked.
"While I know that it is usually prudent to evade the question to avoid a general panic with the population, this time, as there is no place for anyone to hide," Edward said, "As I previously stated: Two months at the most. Once this Vilea lays her eggs it may be a month or two before Trigon is summoned."
Another report got Edward's attention and after introducing himself asked, "How long have Dragons been around?"
Edward said, "I'm going to let Solor handle this one."
Solor stood up and said, "Dragons have been here since before the dinosaurs walked the Earth. When the First … you call him God … created the world, there was chaos. The First settled the elements and in turn, the first dragons were created to maintain this balance."
"So, there's different species of dragons?" the reporter asked.
"That's correct," Solor said, "There are seven clans: Light, Dark, Life, Death, Earth, Fire and Water. The ones that are standing guard are Earth Dragons, the only ones that are flightless."
"Which one are you?" The reporter asked before sitting down.
"I am a Light Dragon," Solor said.
Edward stepped up to the mic and said, "Before anyone asks, I am a hybrid of all those clans and the only one in existence. This is something I discovered only recently."
A reporter from FOXnews asked, "If you don't mind a more personal question?"
Edward nodded, "I'm mostly an open book. Ask away."
"How old are you and how does that compare to others of your species?"
"Well, I am roughly 3,000 years old," Edward said, "However, some of the oldest dragons are far, far older. The oldest dragons, we realized recently is in the millions. Other dragons are relatively speaking, short lived, only living to 2,000 years old.
"Due to my unique nature, I am immortal."
The reporters were understandably curious on that claim: "You cannot die?"
"Sorry," Edward said, "If I were to reveal a way to actually kill me, those Dark Dragons would not hesitate to try to use that."
"Moving along," the reporter from FOX news said, "How do we know you are on our side? Granted that we all saw that battle, who is to say that there won't be a time when Dragons are willing to eradicate humanity?"
Edward raised an eyebrow, "Because it's in dragons best interest to ally at this point in time for the mutual survival of all.
"Sol, would you be so kind as to give some information or details on how Dragons govern themselves?"
Sol stepped to the podium and said, "I am Sol, the Light of the Circle. I am one of the seven Clans Solor spoke of in the Circle. We are the ones who are responsible for keeping the elements balanced and to, when necessary, fight to preserve the balance. This means that, due to the threat Edward told us about, that we have declared war, not on humans, but upon Trigon and the forces of Darkness. We have, until today, remained hidden from humans and it was with a fair amount of debate within the Circle to come out of hiding and take an active role. It was Edward who painted the picture that convinced us to undertake this action to protect all. I am here to ask that everyone not panic when they see one of us in the skies, for only the Darkness seeks to destroy. The other clans will seek to defeat Darkness once and for all. And that means we will protect mortals."
"What kind of assurance can you give us, though?" the reporter asked.
Sol replied, "Just as you saw us defending the Tower here, you will see how we fight against Darkness. Those Dark Dragons are the ones we seek to stop along with Trigon. We will consider humans who are civilians to be neutral and will do our utmost to avoid harm."
"How about the military?" Another reporter asked.
Edward stepped up to the podium again and replied, "We will seek to work with the Armed Forces as much as possible. Assuming that Trigon doesn't petrify the masses, we can use the military support."
"Petrify?" the military rep asked.
"Yes, sir," Edward replied, noting the rep was wearing a single star, "When Trigon invaded my Earth, he petrified the entire planet, except for the Teen Titans and Slade Wilson. He will likely do that here."
"And, what did you do?" the guy challenged.
"Well," Edward said, "As this was before I joined the team, I, too, was stone. Luckily, I do not remember any of that happening."
"What's to prevent that from happening here?" someone asked.
"Sorry," Edward replied, "I'm not prepared to divulge that information. Best I can say is that we will try to prevent it."
The press conference went on for another 30 minutes before Edward finally said, "The team needs to rest after the events of the day. I am hopeful that people will come to trust having dragons around, though. Stay safe, and, please rest assured that this is the same world that you've always known and we will do our utmost to keep it that way. Thank you for coming again."
The media camera went off a moment later as the team went back upstairs. Sol and Edward had other plans, though. They needed to go back to Lair, see who was injured and encourage them. Others would be laid to rest and memorialized.
The first POW would be interrogated by Edward and whoever else he would allow. Then, Edward would call together the troops in a huge meeting and compliment them on a job well done. Solor would also be going back to Lair and Edward had a few plans for Solor alongside being one of Edwards closest advisors, he would serve as a go-between with the dragons and the mortals when Edward wasn't available.
"Solor," Edward asked, "Are you ready for one more duty today?"
"Going back to Lair?" he asked.
"Yes," Edward said gently, "I know it's a big step to go home after being banished for this last year or two, but, we need the intel that you can remember. And if the Circle sees that you are willing to set aside any anger towards them, it will help. They are willing to actually do something, instead of sitting back and doing nothing."
Solor nodded, "I am ready to face them again. I realized something, Edward. I've been expecting everyone to hate me...loathe me with every fiber of their being. Yet..."
"We don't," Edward finished the thought, "Hatchling, give the humans credit. They know better. You are a blameless victim, and I hate to say it, a pawn in Vilea's sick, twisted game. I know you felt like crap, but, I didn't need a telepath to tell me that you have come to realize that you have forgiven yourself, finally. You are becoming worthy of being Sol's heir once more. I am proud to call you my son by right. You have earned that right, even in the very short time I have known you. I have seen you and Sol start to work on your issues. He has not denounced you as a traitor since this started."
"Thank you," Solor said and stifled another sob. Edward pulled Solor into a hug and said, "You did well today, Starborn, Heir to the Light. You handled the superheroes well. You saw the invasion coming and alerted everyone. You handled the media. There's a lot of work that needs to be done, though. But, I promise that you will get time with your sweetheart soon. I hate seeing her so sad that her powers are disrupted. And that is not your fault, either! Everything that happens is on Vilea. You've realized that now. Our duty comes first. Kreinyol knows that as a warrior."
Edward chuckled and continued, "I'm not even a tad upset that my speech was tossed. It spoke volumes in that you felt it necessary to disregard it. I think you did a masterful job without it. It said that your famous pride is returning. I am certainly glad for that!"
"Will I be worthy to keep Kreinyol?" Solor asked.
"She's still very much like her counterpart, Solor," Edward said, "Yes, you are worthy of her love. Solor, stop worrying so much about her. You asked her to take care of your heart as much as you'd take care of her. Let her do her part of the relationship."
"Her powers were disrupted, though," Solor objected.
Edward grinned and said, "I was able to do some quick comparisons with Kori's power output and flight. There wasn't much difference. The younger dragons didn't know how to cope.
"I think that speech you gave the assembled superheroes told her that you've turned the most important corner already. I believe that she was worried that you'd end things with her. Something that I know you're not even thinking of doing, so, I'm not worried, and neither should she. You'll get your time to be with her. But, show her on a more intimate level as well...a level where you both are comfortable. Just remember that the person you will be with is the real Kreinyol, not that Traitor.
"She was so frantic at one point, she would have torn through your memories to find you. Rachael and I had to hold her back lest she destroy your memories and feelings in the process. That's how deeply she loves you. By the way, I know you will not remember this, but, thanks for NOT letting us see that intimate memory. It would have torn her apart.
"Bottom line: she meant it when she forgave you, and I am glad to see that you are taking those first steps for you. Your anger is directed at the Darkness. Keep it there.
"I'm appointing you to lead the Light Dragons. You may pick whoever you feel necessary to help you. Use whatever criteria is traditional for us, as I am not familiar with that."
"At least Malchior will not be an issue," Solor said smirking.
"Oh?" Edward said.
"He tried to trick Raven," Solor said, "Like in your universe, but, Malchior is also well known to us and I helped her see through his tricks. She bound him inside his book permanently."
"Good," Edward said, "He was not an easy fight and it took Raven a long, long time to recover from the destruction within Nevermore. She hid in her room for almost a month in meditation. It was not fun for me, but, she knew that she could lean on me. Like you instinctively needed to before you escaped. So, she knows how hard it is to recover. After our trip to Lair, talk to Rachael and meditate with her, Raven and both Starfires. I will be tied up at Lair for a while, though.
"Starborn, while I do not have to say these next words, I feel that I should because they are from the heart: I am sorry that you went through all that. I am sorry for your pain and I wish I could take that pain away from you. I am grateful that you are moving on, though."
Solor looked surprised before replying, "You are no more to blame than I am, Edward. But, I do appreciate the words and sentiment behind them."
Sol once again stayed silent as the two dragons bonded some more and he realized that his self-righteous attitude had driven a wedge between father and son more than his duties for the Circle ever did, and for the first time in a long time, felt shamed at how his son and a dragon that he helped to protect with a Tear of Oblivion were already closer than he was to Solor. But, father and son had already made the most important steps of apology and forgiveness.
To Edward, that was the most important step.
"Let's go," Edward suggested, "I'd like to get the interrogation started as soon as possible and other things."
"We have to report to the Circle regardless," Sol said, "The other members will be wanting answers as well. We weren't expecting to have to fight this soon."
"That's because Darkness also has their own scouts and spies, I think," Edward said his voice growing frigid, "Regardless, they will be taken care of as well."
Sol and Solor noted the change in Edward's voice and suppressed a shudder having seen how powerful Edward was in the battle. It was one of the rare times Edward could actually let loose and Solor said to his father, "I knew he was holding back fighting the mortal villains here, but, I see why the solders are willing to follow him now."
Sol replied, "Yet, the Circle doesn't even believe that Edward's at his full capacity. Once we treat him and remove the backlash from his breath weapons, he'll be the most potent weapon for us."
Solor nodded.
Edward watched as he was being discussed and normally he'd complain that he was still in the room, but, let it slide. If it helped the two to put any differences behind them, he was OK with it.
"I'll meet you in Lair," Edward said.
"How?" Solor said.
"Teleport," Edward said, "Now that I've seen it, I can teleport there as needed, remember?"
"Oh," Solor said, chastened.
Edward went to the roof and saw Rachael there.
"Hi, babe," Edward said with a smile.
"Hi," she said sadly. Edward picked up on her emotions and pulled her into a hug.
She stifled a sob, but, Edward said, "Hey, we both knew this was coming, my dearest Raven. I have to do this if I am to lead the Dragons and if I want to be rid of the backlash."
"It's not just that," she said, "I had a vison of you almost being killed in battle the other night. I didn't want to tell you, though."
"It will take a lot to kill me, sweetheart," Edward replied, "And, I won't be alone in these fights. You saw how the other non Dark Dragons fought besides me without even being asked. They follow out of respect and I will treat them the same way.
"I'll be fine and the link will stay active as long as possible, so, I will be available. Also, I will keep my communicator with me so that the team can keep in contact."
"And Solor?" she asked.
"I have plans for him where he'll be coordinating with the two teams of Titans and the others, meaning you for the most part. The thing is that I fully expect more attacks on the Tower and/or other places. That means Victor and Cyborg will need a team of techs to upgrade the Tower's defenses, even if that means installing the AI from home or establishing an uplink between the two universes. Please have Robin keep a link open to the Watchtower."
"Will the Tower stay defended?" she asked.
"This one?" Edward asked.
"Yeah," she replied.
"You bet it will stay protected," Edward said, "I will have a contingent of dragons stationed here round the clock. Only ones who get through are Titans, Justice League, and Doom Patrol. Others will be granted access on an as needed basis. I'll include the future Titans as well. Some will be flight capable dragons, some will be the Earth Dragons you see here. There will be shifts set up. We won't be caught by surprise again. Hold on a moment, dear, gotta talk to my new allies."
Rachael smiled, "All right."
"Hey, Golmul!" Edward called down in the native language.
"Yes, Kiinnum?" he said and averted his gaze.
"I'm going to send reinforcements to relieve you guys in a while," Edward said, "I hate to ask, but, how long can you guys stay awake? I want to make sure that you all are getting plenty of rest and a chance to get nourishment as well. You guys got called up without any chance to stock up on rations."
"We are good for food, sir," Golmul replied, "and we can stay here until tomorrow."
"You're OK with standing guard until tomorrow?" Edward asked and gave it some thought, "I'll relieve you before tomorrow, though. I am going to get some of the other clans to stand watch. I want you to make the other clans feel welcomed. Once I learn how to cast the Tear of Oblivion, it will be somewhat easier to change the guard. In my absence, you take your orders from Starborn, Ruuvak, Nightwing or Robin. There's two Ravens, though. The one next to me is my mate, the other one is in the Tower. My mate has priority over the native Raven, per Grand Light. In fact, I will have you relieved as your services may be needed with our Prisoner of War."
"I understand, sir," he said, "Thank you for bringing me to the mortal world."
"This is just a very small bit of the world," Edward said, "I'm sure that you shall see more of it, though. Hopefully, it will be in peacetime and when Dragons are accepted."
Edward switched back to English and said, "I'll be back in a few days and will keep you updated through the link as well. But, sweetheart, I may have to go to a dark place to get information out of the POW. I will need you to be my anchor, my love. You and your counterpart possibly."
By then, Solor came up and said, "Come on, old timer. Sol has already left."
Edward morphed to mini-dragon and said, "Hop on, Solor."
Solor shrugged and got on.
Rachael gave Edward a kiss on the nose and floated up to Solor and hugged him saying, "Good luck, Starborn."
"Thank you, Raven," he replied, returning the hug.
Edward took to the air and teleported to Lair...
XxXxX
[As Edward Was On the Roof]
As Edward headed upstairs, Solor looked to his father, who in turn looked at him. The two stared a bit, uncomfortable, before Solor turned away. "I... better find Kreinyol. I need to say goodbye to her."
Sol nodded, smiling. "You treat her well, my son." When Solor looked back, surprised by the response, Sol only smirked. "I know you love her. And I know she loves you as well. It is a love very rarely seen, and as much as it goes against what we teach, I cannot be any happier." He turned away. "I shall meet you and Edward in Lair. Go ahead and find your love."
Solor nodded, and immediately headed to the one place he knew she would be: her bedroom. Once he was at the door, he knocked gently, shifting to his human form.
The door opened, and Starfire opened the door. "Boyfriend Solor", she said, surprised. "What-" Her words were interrupted by a sudden kiss, as Solor caught her lips almost immediately. She squeaked in surprise, but she soon closed her eyes and kissed back, wrapping her arms around his neck. After a moment, they broke apart. "W-What was that for?" she asked, blushing lightly.
"I am heading for Lair", Solor said. "I will not return for a while. I wanted to make sure you knew I love you, even when I am gone." His forehead rested against hers. "I will fix this, my love. And I will return to you as I was before that witch got her claws on me."
"I never had any doubts", she replied, smiling. She kissed him on the lips again, this time in a chaste peck. "Go. I eagerly await your return."
Solor smiled one last time, before he reluctantly let her go, heading towards the roof to fetch Edward.
It was time the prodigal son returned home.