Author's Note:
Due to finals, I have decided to post the remainder of what I have written all at once. I understand this may give me less reviews, but it will be far less stressful for me to do this. Please see the author's note at the end of my final posting to help me determine the fate of this story.
Also many of you may be wondering why Galfore does not just tell her about the Titans. You see; I imagine if someone told you that you had this whole other life and you had no recollection of it, you probably wouldn't believe him or her. He wants her to travel to Earth herself, and hopefully her trip there will be enough to jog her memory, so she can once more find true happiness.
Keep in mind, from this point on I will be changing a lot from the Outlaws comics. Mainly I will be rearranging the order of the events, particularly the character development. You've been warned. I'll include some of the plot, but mostly it will be about the characters. One thing I am changing: Red Hood doesn't mind being on a team. The cliché where the angsty hero doesn't want to play with others is so overdone. Let's assume he already climbed that mountain when he got to know Roy.
~0~0~0~
Koriand'r packed all of her things, but ultimately decided she would bring nothing with her. That is, nothing but the black and yellow device which she clipped to her belt.
She had made a deal with Galfore. She would journey to this planet called "Earth" and stay there for six months. No more, no less. Galfore urged her that if she found she loved the planet; she may request to stay for longer. Koriand'r seriously doubted she would need more time to investigate a practically harmless world.
Her mission? Observe and report. Do not engage unless to help. Do not destroy; be careful to mind her strength. Apparently Earthlings were as weak as glimplorks.
"I still do not see how this will help Tamaran," she told Galfore, as she prepared to leave.
Galfore gave her a sad smile. "Earth and Tamaran were once allies. We had someone to link our planets together, but they were lost. Perhaps you can be that link."
Koriand'r brushed her hair out of her eyes. "If Earthlings are as feeble as you say, perhaps we should find stronger allies?"
Galfore shook his head. "They may be a weaker species, but humans are intelligent. They are strategic. You shall see for yourself upon your arrival."
Koriand'r gave her caretaker a dubious glance, but she did not argue further. Instead, she embraced him tightly, holding on to him as if she would never see him again.
"I shall return in six months," she promised as she pulled back, a small smile gracing her features.
Galfore returned her smile. "Take care, my little bumgorf."
After their goodbyes, Koriand'r left the palace, jetting off and away from her home planet. As she broke Tamaran's atmosphere, she felt sad, but also strangely excited. If this were as special a mission as Galfore said, perhaps she would enjoy it greatly. Although she loved serving as his ambassador, she had to admit it was a relief to be given something different than her usual duties.
She flew through space, weaving around asteroids as she picked up speed. A few hours passed, but they felt like nothing when she was flying. When she was in the air, or space in this case, she could have been there for days without tiring. As she continued to follow Galfore's directions, she eventually spotted a little blue planet in the distance. She flew faster until it became easier for her to see. The planet was almost entirely blue, save for green and brown landmasses splattering the world. The clouds, interestingly, were white instead of pink and orange.
Koriand'r paused. Galfore gave her instructions on which landmass to land on, but he did not specify which region. No matter. The planet was so small she could probably cover the whole of one of the seven masses in a week. It would not matter where she began.
Deciding to land on the northeast section of the landmass Galfore mentioned, Koriand'r began her decent to Earth. She touched down on the sands of a bay, which bordered a small city, and she decided she would begin her observations here. After all what better way was there to judge a planet than by its region's capitals?
Koriand'r lingered by the bayside for the better part of an hour, catching a few fish to appease her appetite. The taste of the raw meat between her teeth was pleasing, but she regretted not venturing into the city where the smells of warm and delicious foreign food greeted her. Ah well, another time. She was here for six months after all.
The next day she flew into the city, landing on a concrete path and walking next to the humans there. She did not fear them, for she remembered Galfore had said they were harmless in comparison to her. As she walked among them, several people glanced at her, and she could not blame them. She stuck out dreadfully.
While some of their stares were unnerving, many smiled and gave waves of their hands. Koriand'r returned the gesture hesitantly, a small smile coming to her own face. As she walked through the city, being careful not to disrupt the life here, a sudden realization hit her.
She had been here before.
Maybe not this exact city, but certainly this planet. The humans looked all too familiar, and she began to recognize some of the gestures they used. A shake of the hand, prolonged lip contact. These were the gestures she had been copying upon her return to Tamaran. What confirmed her suspicion though, was that she was able to perfectly understand this language-English, she thought-without any recollection of having lip contact with an Earthling. An uneasiness filled Koriand'r. Perhaps there was quite a bit she did not remember after her escape from the Gordanians.
She would have stayed on the topic a bit longer, if it were not for a large explosion behind her. She flew to the side, narrowly avoiding the blast. All at once the fairly peaceful scene around her dissolved into chaos. The humans around her began screaming and running away from the explosion, just as four men with strange weapons emerged. One of the men, a large hairy looking fellow with a black bag over the top half of his head, fired the weapon several times into the sky, electing more screams from the civilians around him.
Guns, Koriand'r recalled.
She moved forward in a flash, acting on instinct as one of the damaged beams of the building fell over and nearly crushed a young civilian boy. Using her alien strength, she lifted the beam away from him and pushed it off to the side, before flying back to continue observing these men.
Remember to not get involved unless to help, she repeated Galfore's instructions in her mind.
As the men began to move away from the wrecked building, she noted each of them had their pockets stuffed with shiny objects, probably jewelry. The men sprinted across the street toward a group of transport vehicles, each with two parallel wheels, when one of them screamed as his knee exploded in red. He immediately fell to the ground.
His comrades glanced at their fallen partner in shock before continuing to run to their vehicles. One of them never made it. Koriand'r watched in disbelief as a human man flipped down from seemingly nowhere, landing a brutal kick to the neck of one of the thieves. This new man was a human unlike anyone Koriand'r had ever seen. His face and neck were a blood red, his eyes a soulless white. He was heavily padded with armor-like material, and he held a handgun in each hand. As the two criminals who had made it to their vehicles began to fire at him, he easily dodges the bullets, swinging out of the way and throwing a blade, which stuck into the arm of one of the men.
Koriand'r watched this man-she had deduced at this point that his strange red face was some sort of cloth-land blow after brutal blow until the two men drove away, still carrying the jewelry. This red man was vicious in his attacks, deadly even, and she could appreciate that.
Maybe that was why when he jumped onto his own transport vehicle she flew after him. She was intrigued to learn more.
She easily caught up to him, just in time to see the criminals in front fire their weapons.
"Watch it you motherfucker!" the hooded man yelled in front of her as he ducked to avoid the bullets, then fired his own weapon several times. At this point all parties involved in the chase were on a large bridge overlooking the harbor. Koriand'r watched from a distance as the criminal fired a few more bullets, then held up a large oval shaped object. He pulled the top off with his teeth and then threw the device over his shoulder.
She gasped as the red hooded man swerved to the side, the explosion knocking him off the bridge and into the water below. She dove in after him, wrapped her arms around his body and then burst back through the surface. Deciding to lay the unconscious man down somewhere secluded, she found a spot by the bayside under a dock.
He was disoriented and possibly injured, this she knew. Her hands tentatively reached for his mask, and with only a moment's hesitation, she removed it.
His appearance was not what she had expected. He had light skin, not quite pale, but like a soft cream. His raven hair was short and cut crisply except for the top, which fanned out, his eyes, when they began to flutter open, were a dark blue. His visage was so drastically different than before that Koriand'r almost would not have believed it to be the same person. Her heart began thudding violently for an unknown reason. He looked so familiar, like someone out of a dream.
Or maybe a memory.
She leaned over him, gently running a finger over his cheek to make sure he was real. It was around this time when he finally focused on her, his mouth turning downwards in confusion.
"You from outer space or something?" he asked, coarsely, the tone surprising Koriand'r slightly. Her knowledge on humans was limited, but she was sure for the most part they were supposed to be polite, feeble creatures.
"I am Tamaranean," she responded.
"You're pretty fucking sneaky is what you are," he said, and she crinkled her nose at his continued use of foul language. So he had noticed her tailing him.
"You are this city's authority figure?" she questioned. "A hero?"
He snorted, but he seemed more amused rather than offended. He lifted a hand to rub his head. "Yeah, right."
Sarcasm. He is using sarcasm, she thought. "If not a hero, then what are you?"
He shrugged. "Guess that make's me an anti-hero, 'cuz I'm sure as fuck not your typical nice guy."
Koriand'r crinkled her forehead in thought. She had not heard this term before.
"You got a name?" he continued.
She straightened. "I am Koriand'r, Princess of the planet Tamaran of the Vegan System."
"Koriand'r?" the man repeated, one of his eyebrows rising. "You mean like the spice?"
"Um…yes?" Koriand'r guessed.
"Kind of a mouthful. You should go by Kory. Mind if I call you that?"
Something told her he wasn't really asking. "I believe that would be acceptable," she answered, mimicking the shrugging of his shoulders. "And how shall I refer to you?"
"Red Hood," he said, pointing to his face, and then realizing his mask had been removed, grabbed the piece of cloth and slid it back over his head. "Should be easy to remember."
Kory smiled. "You do not have the 'normal' name then?"
Red Hood whistled. "Damn. Throwing shade already. Alright, alright, Kory. I don't know you, but from what I saw back there, I'd like to." When he noticed her confused expression, he clarified, "I saw that trick with the beam. You're fucking strong."
"Oh, I see."
"So, you wanna join my team?"
"Team?" Kory inquired, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah, team. Right now it's just me, but the solo gig's getting fucking depressing. I know another guy; we go back a bit. All we gotta do is break him out and then we're set." Red Hood stood up straight. "Think of it as that hero shtick you were talking about earlier. That kind of team."
Kory surveyed the man in front of her. He did not seem anything like what a hero on this planet should be. He was rude and blunt, and from what she could tell from his fighting style, impulsive and ruthless. He would make a fine warrior on Tamaran, that was, if his hothead could be controlled. Everything about him seemed to be shouting warning signals.
But then again, what did she know? It was only this morning that she realized she had been to this planet, a planet she had previously assumed she had never even heard of before Galfore explained it to her.
"I suppose I could join your ranks for a brief period of time," she mused, "as an equal of course."
"Great," Red Hood responded, and his mask lifted, making Kory think that he was grinning. "In that case, you can call me Jason, at least when there aren't any assholes around, like those guys back there. Speaking of which, let's track those bastards down first."
"Jason?"
"Yeah, Jason Todd. That's my normal name," he told her, his mask lifting up again.
Kory giggled.
~0~0~0~
"I did not realize how far this prison in which your friend is kept was," Kory commented as she flew across endless ocean waters with her arms hooked under Red Hood.
"I said it was in the Middle East, didn't I? Just how long you been on Earth?" Red Hood asked, his legs swinging aimlessly beneath him.
"I am…unsure," Kory told him honestly.
She could feel him shrug from under her arms. "You don't have to tell me."
"Are you sure this man, this…partner of yours…is he trustworthy? He did commit a crime, yes?"
"He's clean, don't worry, Babe. All you need to know are the guys that have him aren't exactly the noble type. He's a prisoner, but that doesn't make him a criminal. You know, as much as I hate to admit it, he and I are actually a lot alike, though I'm way better looking."
Kory raised an eyebrow, although she knew Red Hood could not see her expression from where he was. "I would not know. I have not seen his face, and I only briefly glimpsed yours."
"Tell you what, when we get back to my base, I'll take this mask off just for you."
Kory shook her head. She was getting used to the blunt and even flirtatious tone with which Jason spoke. She knew next to nothing about this man, but something about him seemed eerily familiar. She didn't know why, but her gut said to trust him.
"Lucky for me you came along when you did," Red Hood continued. "Otherwise I would've had to 'borrow' a hovercraft from the Justice League."
His last two words caused a quick visual of a dark-skinned man with machinery over most of his body to flash in Kory's mind for a moment. She shook her head to clear it. Odd.
Red Hood instructed her to land behind a cluster of dirt hills after they had flown for a few hours. Once they had separated, Kory peered behind their temporary cover, her gaze drifting down a large hill where a stone fortress stood.
"Would you like me to break down the walls?" Kory inquired, raising an eyebrow. So much for not interfering, she thought regretfully, hoping Galfore would not be too furious with her.
Red Hood crossed his arms. "I like your style, Kory, but that won't be necessary." He unloaded a small pack from around his belt, weaving his hand through the container and withdrawing a chip. "This'll give me cover for about an hour," he explained. "All you need to do is wait until you hear gunshots, and then that's when you can fucking rip these bastards to shreds." He glanced down at her belt, his mask holes rising in what Kory presumed to be confusion or perhaps surprise. "Where'd you get that?" he asked, gesturing to her waist.
Kory followed his gaze, realizing he meant the black and yellow device. She self-consciously touched the object. "I have always had it," she told him. Well, that wasn't exactly a lie.
Red Hood looked like he was going to ask another question, but he shrugged before placing the chip on the back of his neck. At once his appearance transformed into a short, overweight, white man in long dark robes with a white collar. He pulled out a small book with a cross on the cover, and then seemed to sarcastically replicate the symbol on his chest. Kory could tell he was making a joke, but she was unfamiliar with the gesture.
"Remember, one hour," he said, before clambering down the hill.
Kory watched in wonder as his distant figure appeared to talk to one of the guards, and a few seconds later, seemed to be invited into the fortress. As the minutes ticked by, her gaze never left the prison walls, just in case she saw some signs of stress inside. She wondered how Jason could possibly be so confident when it seemed as though he had little to no plan. She hoped whoever this mystery person they were breaking out was, that he was worth the trouble.
A little over an hour passed and just when Kory was beginning to fidget, the loud sound of gunshots rang through the air. She sprang into the sky, discovering that armory machines-Tanks, she remembered-had appeared over the hillside as well and were surrounding the gates of the prison. Their presence would have made Jason and his partner's escape from the inside impossible…that is, if it were not for her.
Letting out a battle cry, Kory released a barrage of starbolts, watching in satisfaction as the bottoms of the tanks exploded and then deflated. The confused expressions on the operators' faces as they popped up from above were nearly priceless.
Kory flew around them in a flash, barreling into the concrete wall and shattering it as if it were glass. She found her heart was racing with adrenaline, and excitement. Casting one last glance behind her, she glided forward, her eyes and hands and hair ablaze in righteous fury and a smile on her face, as she made to look for her two new teammates.
~0~0~0~
Author's Note:
Time for Kory to meet Arsenal and for the Outlaws to officially be formed. I'm excited for you to read what I have next.
Yeah they form kind of quickly, but I warned you that would happen. I just couldn't bring myself to write a couple of chapters of either Arsenal or Starfire trying to convince Red Hood to join a team. This way we can get to the more interesting stuff.
For those of you wondering why Jason does not recognize Starfire, remember in this universe he never actually met her before or even after his death when he became Red Hood, and I believe Dick wouldn't mention her much, especially if they had broken up. Arsenal HAS met Starfire though, so he's in for a bit of a shock…