Chapter Three
Changeling stared at Raven in disbelief.
"That's it?" he said. "You've been holding out on me just so you can complete a little project of yours?"
"It's not a little project!" she nearly shouted. "Azarath is my home! I'm remaking it, just the way it was before its destruction, okay?"
"But why? To set up a couple of shops or something?"
"No." Raven replied impatiently. "You see, before he was banished to another dimension, Trigon destroyed Azarath, just like he was going to do with Earth. So, I felt obligated to restore my home back to its former splendor. Get it?"
Changeling was flabbergasted. "Raven...I had no idea. You never told us your father destroyed your home."
He started at her with sympathetic eyes.
"I think I see now." he said at last.
"What?" Raven replied.
"Why you've been so reclusive about it. It's a personal thing for you, rebuilding your home. You felt it was something you could handle yourself and that you could loose yourself in that work, right?"
Raven was taken aback. "Garfield...how insightful of you!"
"Thanks." he said.
Raven embraced him tightly. Changeling returned the embrace, nearly squeezing the breath out of her.
When they let go of each other, Changeling held Raven's hands.
"So, since I know your secret, could I spend my time with you now?"
"With me? What about the Doom Patrol?"
"They can get along without me. The new members are even older than we were when we became the Titans. Besides, they have Cliff to look after them."
Raven considered her answer. "Well, I'd prefer to wait until after I finish. After all, I only have a small garden, just enough for one person."
"I see." Changeling said sadly.
"However," continued Raven, "As I mentioned before, in another eighteen months, I'll be done. We'll see about things then, huh?"
Changeling's expression brightened. "Good things are worth waiting for." He smiled.
They embraced quickly before joining their friends.
"Any sign of our alien friend?" Raven asked.
"None." said Nightwing. "I hope nothing happened to her."
"By the way," added Cyborg, "What were you two talking about that was so emotional?"
"It's a secret." Changeling said. "You'll know soon enough."
"I see." Cyborg said, musingly. "Well, in the meantime, why don't we..."
He was interrupted by a noise, like a sonic boom. In the air, a small object, like an aircraft, appeared in the distance. It made a series of wide turns before finally setting down a few yards from the Titan's position.
They gathered around the object. The craft looked like a small missile, but had a pair of swept wings, as well as a canopy. It was golden in color, including the landing skids.
When the canopy opened, a figure stepped. The new arrival was a rather tall woman, with orange skin and dressed in a flowing, royal purple outfit. She had an ornamented tiara upon here head; this was Empress Koriand'r, also known as Starfire.
Aside from her new costume and increased height, Starfire was as Nightwing remembered her. Her face gave little portrayal as to her age. There were some lines on her face that seemed to be the result of the stresses of her new career.
The Titans all bowed down to her in reverence.
"My friends," she said sternly. "You do not bow down before me here on Earth."
"What do we do, then?" Changeling asked.
"Rise!" she told them.
The Titans stood upright, staring at their friend.
"Group hug!" she yelled happily as she charged at the Titans, embracing as many as she could in her arms.
The friends all laughed as Starfire squeezed each of them, in a show of friendship and affection.
"Great to see you made it at last, Star!" Nightwing said. "What took you so long?"
"Space flight isn't the fastest method of travel." she answered. "Besides, I had to detour several times to avoid some natural hazards."
"What sort of hazards?" Raven asked.
"You know, asteroids, comets, dust clouds, that sort of thing."
"Indeed!" remarked Cyborg. "Well, good to see you're a good pilot as well as a leader."
She nodded. "My people have never been happier! They've even wished for me to continue my bloodline as long as possible."
Nightwing nodded. 'She's changed so much.' he thought. 'I'm still not used to her using contractions. Now here she is talking about kids!'
Then another thought came to him. 'Could Starfire be expecting to have kids? Did she have some already?'
These thoughts were brooding in his head when Cyborg brought him out of his reverence.
"Yo, bird boy!" he yelled.
"What?" he blurted.
"Starfire was just suggesting that we head over to a pizza place. You know, for old time's sake?"
"Sure, Cy." he said. "I think that's a great idea, Star! Let's head over there, and you can tell us all about how things are on Tamaran lately, okay?"
"Of course!" she said, somewhat self consciously.
The Titans were making their way to Cyborg's car, when another noise interrupted them.
"You're not expecting anyone else, are you Star?" Changeling asked.
"No." she said. "This is peculiar."
The ground began to quiver. Then, a massive shadow came across the ground as something large obscured the light.
"What is it?" Cyborg said aloud.
His answer came when a large disk appeared in the sky. It moved quickly at first, but then slowed, descending toward the horizon. It then approached the city.
The object revealed itself to be a huge saucer shaped space craft. It was unlike any the Titans have seen before. It was brazen in color, with a number of dome-shaped modules on the bottom of it, arranged around a central hub. The top was curved, with a large central dome at its apex. Along its thick rim were areas that looked like loading bays and weapons arrays. The thing seemed made for combat.
What more, is that it was gigantic. The thing appeared to be a mile or so in diameter. Yet, it moved rather slowly and gracefully a few hundred feet above the water. It stopped just short of the island with Titans Tower.
"I guess we have visitors." Raven remarked.
"Time to get to the bottom of this." Nightwing said, determinedly.
"Just like old times, huh?" Cyborg commented. Nightwing nodded.
"Raven, get us over there." he said.
"Sure thing." the mystic replied. "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!"
The Titans were enveloped in black energy and teleported to the island.
They arrived at the base in front of the tower. Above, taking up the whole western sky, was the saucer.
"Dude, that is awesome!" said Changeling, regarding the ship. "By the way Raven," he added, "All these years, and you still use the same magic words?"
"If a thing works, why get rid of it?" she answered.
"Should I knock?" Starfire asked.
"Let's wait and see what happens first." Nightwing told her.
They didn't wait long. There was a clanging sound, like a large metal portal being unlocked. Then, a hatch that faced the island opened. A faint white light streamed out.
"Guess they're ready to welcome us." Cyborg said.
"I hope they don't ask us to take them to our leader." Changeling remarked. The other Titans ignored him.
Just then, a dozen shapes emerged from the saucer. The group descended toward the Titans.
Nightwing squinted to recognize the objects. When he did, he gasped.
"Oh my god!" he muttered. This only made the other Titans more curious.
Not long after Nightwing voiced his concern did they all recognize the forms. An old villain they met only once some twenty years ago had returned, and this time in force.
The beings touched down in front of the Titans, staring at them.
"We claim this planet for ourselves!" the leader said. "You are inferior life forms! You will be exterminated!"
Then, its companions cried out "Exterminate! Exterminate!! Exterminate!"