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Disclaimer: I don't own the Teen Titans.
Bruce was right, however terrible the truth was. It was all her fault. She'd known this before, but now it stared at her right in the face. If she didn't leave, everyone here would die. And whatever Dick said, she was most definitely not worth the cost.
Dick...
She'd have to leave him. But it was a far better option than him and all of his kind dying out. She was going to miss him so much...this had been the happiest two weeks she'd known since she'd been taken from her home. It is well worth leaving behind, she told herself firmly. I should never have met him...I have ruined his life and doomed him. He would be so much better off without me. And she deserved to be stuck in the Citadel for the rest of her life...all seven days of it.
One week. She could fly back to Gordania in half that time, if she worked up the strength. Koriand'r sighed, deciding to leave behind all possessions. They would be of more use to Raven here than any prisoner...
Wait, would Raven have to come with her too? Would the Gordanians be satisfied with only one of their escaped prisoners? However sarcastic she was, Raven was happy here. Even Koriand'r could see that. But would planet Earth still be a target if Raven chose to stay?
Taking a litte food for her journey, Koriand'r decided it was worth a shot. As long as the Citadel had her, the real (royal, too) prize, there shouldn't be any problems. Now, all that remained was to say good-bye to Dick...
"So, you heard too, huh?"
"Raven?"
"You look depressed. I figured that idiotic hologram had something to do with it."
Koriand'r shook her head sadly. "The Gordanians are not the ones we should accuse of idiocy. This is a 'dead end,' yes? We cannot continue fighting them, the lives of all humans are at stake. It is a hopeless cause." She noticed Raven's even-paler-than-usual face and corrected herself. "Of course, you need not leave here. The Gordanians must be satisfied with me, should the whole planet of Tamaran believe themselves insuperable because their princess escaped. But you...you have a chance for happiness here." She forced a smile on to her face, grabbing Raven's hand. "I wish you best of luck, friend."
She knew Raven was searching for a reason, any reason, that this was a stupid, cowardly, unnecessary plot. But there was none. Raven had not heard Bruce, so the full impact was just hitting her. There was no other way out. "Nah. If you're going, I'm not ditching you."
"Where exactly are you going?"
Both Kory and Raven whirled around to face Dick and Gar at the door of Kory's room. "Dick! I was not aware that you--"
"Obviously." He wasn't happy. "You're not thinking about listening to them, are you?"
"Well, we kinda assumed they weren't gonna pull an April Fool's," Raven shrugged.
"You can't." Gar stepped up, his gaze hard. "You can't do this. You're just giving the Gordanians what they want, and they'll keep going after people. They're so upset that you two escaped and lost them however many people, they want you back just to keep up their image. If they kill you off, that just shows they aren't that dominant. They couldn't recapture you successfully. It causes rebellion with all of their prisoners. The Gordanians are covering their butts."
"Exactly," Dick managed to get out, surprised at Gar's sudden spurt of thoughtfulness. Raven and Kory exchanged shocked expressions. The green man rolled his eyes.
"Oh come on! Anyone who played Universal Domination ten years ago knows that! This is exactly what happened in that game!"
"And you memorized it?" Raven asked incredulously. Though it was meant as an insult, he looked rather smug.
"You wanna tell us how to beat the game?" Dick prodded.
Gar's eyes flashed, no mercy showing. "You make them pay for what they did to you. They threaten to blow up your planet, you blow up theirs. And then you dominate the universe!"
"What a shocker," muttered Raven.
Dick, however, had thought that a great idea. Without the dominating the universe part, that was kind of over the top. What troubled him was the fact that there were innocent Gordanians on that planet, like there were innocent humans on a planet that also supported maniacs and psychopaths. Raven and Gar shared his sentiments reluctantly. The problem was, they couldn't tell the evil ones from the innocents.
"How about we just attack the Citadel? They're the ones who want you, right? The heart. Bleed them to death!" Gar declared. The other three's eyes went wide as saucers. Gar blushed (a very strange sight). "Sorry."
They were mulling over it while eating lunch, though Kory was still feeling too guilty to guzzle down anything. She looked like she believed the Gordanians would come and attack any minute. Thankfully, no TVs were on in the room. To hear the panicking that was going on about 'the end of the world' and 'aliens!' would be far too much on the poor girl.
"A raid on the Citadel?" she murmured doubtfully. "We would be killed before our spacecraft touched the ground."
"Thanks, Kory."
"I apologize, but it is very true. We would need far more than four people to successfully carry such a plan out."
"It wouldn't even matter if we had that many people. What we need to do is destroy it completely, right? We'll need explosives, and I'm guessing you can't get that at your local supermarket," said Raven.
"No. But we could let Bruce know about it, I'm sure his whole section of alien hunters has something. I'd ask if we could finally get to see these people, but it would be kind of awkward...plus, I think they'd--uh, take a closer look at you guys, to put it lightly. With even Bruce so prejudiced, I don't want anyone else near you. Gar included. Whatever happened to you was alien-related, am I right? I don't want anybody investigating into that," Dick explained.
Gar didn't answer.
"So...we've got Mr. Wayne's agents, money, and influence. We have an almost nonexistent chance of success...which was better than what we had before," Raven observed.
"You are completely sure you wish to do this?" Kory asked of them, before they sought out permission to proceed. "You are aware that, to plant these explosives, we may have to land on the Citadel itself? To participate in this raid, we may come in contact with unfriendly Citadelians?"
Gar snorted. "Are there any friendly ones?"
"We probably won't get out of this alive, either way." Ah, good old Raven. Always the one to put everyone's biggest fears out in the open.
"It's definitely worth a shot. We'll ask Bruce."
Raven and Gar had long since left to their rooms, hoping to catch Bruce when he came back from work later. Dick had decided to take an impromptu vacation from work, at least until all of this was over. Even with the end of the world approaching, reporters were banging on the doors, trying to get the full story on Dick's previous absence. Another reason for them to be stuck inside the house.
At least Dick was using his time productively.
"You really think we will get through this?" Kory said between kisses.
"You still think leaving me was the best way to go?" Dick countered teasingly, pulling her closer.
"I wish it was not."
"I'll prove you wrong, Kory."
She smiled at him. "I cannot wait." They spent another fifteen minutes connected at the lip. "Will Bruce approve of this scheme?"
"Of course he will. I'm sure he thinks this is kind of important."
"No."
"But it's the only way to save--" Dick started.
"No."
"Why not?" Gar asked angrily. "You won't save your own planet?"
"Of course I do. Killing innocents is not the way to do it," said Bruce.
"And Kory and Raven aren't innocents?" growled Dick.
"I never said that."
"If I may speak," Kory cut in, "most of them are not very innocent. The Citadel is a brutal and violent race, and is employed in such schemes, whether it is to conquer whole planets or bounty hunt. They are not a very nice people."
"And what about the Gordanians that have colonies on the planet? What do they do?" Bruce pointed out.
"Support them," huffed Raven.
Bruce sighed, evidently thinking it over. "What you're asking for would probably be the equivalent of an atomic bomb. No way a regualr civilian could get their hands on that, and I wouldn't trust you with it anyway. Too much radiation. You need something simpler, something cleaner." He's considering it, thank goodness, Dick breathed. Kory and Raven still had a chance. "Let's go down to the lab."
"What lab?" questioned Gar.
"The one I've been hiding for thirty three years."
As much as Dick didn't want Bruce's anti-alien team anywhere near his friends, he didn't have much of a choice. They walked into the living room, where Bruce approached an innocent-looking grandfather clock, setting the time to 10:47. The clock swept outwards, revealing a staircase down to an under-the-basement room of Wayne Manor that Dick hadn't even known existed.
"Whoa," Gar murmured.
The lab was gigantic, one room sprawling the entire length of the mansion above. Shelves upon shelves of vials were stacked against the walls. In the middle of the floor was a huge microscope, a tube of strange liquid, and a giant, blinking machine whose use was unpredictable.
Only a couple of people were down there, and judging by the dark circles under their eyes, had arrived very early in the morning. Probably how Dick hadn't noticed them arrive at the Manor. "Good evening, Mr. Wayne. We have a brief report to make about the situation at hand," one of them told Bruce immediately upon arrival.
"Proceed."
"We've put a couple agents out to look for the 'Troq' and 'Azarathian,' obviously two alien objects--AHH!" Kory pinned the scientist up against the wall, her eyes burning a bright green.
"How dare you insult--"
"Kory! Let him go, he doesn't know what he's saying!" Dick tried to pull her arm off of the man, but it wouldn't budge. "He's just repeating what the Gordanians said! He wasn't trying to insult you, Kory, I swear...just let go..."
Her anger died down, and she released the terrified man. "I apolgize. But from now on, you will use the term Tamaranian."
"Of c-course. I'm s-so sorry."
Bruce narrowed his eyes. "Maybe your friend should wait outside."
"She's fine," Dick replied stiffly. "You wouldn't get it." That didn't help the tension.
"You didn't need to send out the agents, you know," Gar told the man. "We've got them right here." He pointed at Kory and Raven.
"I think he figured that one out," said Raven dryly.
"Call the agents back. Tell them we have what we need. Then, prepare them for deep space. I have a mission for them to go on." The man nodded, throwing one more sideways glance at Kory, and walked over to a blinking board with a huge screen stuck to one of the walls.
The four were introduced to the E-bomb, an explosive characerized by its use of a meteorite-based atomic structure, something they couldn't have found on Earth. "Dug out of Meteor Crater, in Arizona," said one scientist.
"What does the 'E' stand for?" Gar asked.
A ghost of a smile flickered across Bruce's face. "Environmentally friendly."
"Dick," Kory whispered. "I am afraid I do not understand the joke."
"It's old-people's humor, Kory. Don't worry about it. However environmentally friendly they say this bomb is, it's probably a bad idea to be in its way."
Then they were moved to a different section of the room, where someone else gave them a thick packet. "All we know about the life outside of this planet is in here. It might help you out." He handed it to Dick. "Also, Mr. Wayne, project CYBORG was a success. And the agent is ready to rejoin battle."
"Project Cyborg? What's that?" Dick asked interestedly.
A section of the wall that had looked very camouflaged suddenly slid open, revealing a little room and two figures inside. One was an average looking scientist, the other, a six-and-a-half-foot-tall half-man, half robot. "Yo, Grayson! Long time no see!"
"Vic?"
Agent Stone smiled grimly, flexing his right arm. His (now metal) hand shrunk back into his arm, and in its place, a hole remained. Quickly, it charged up with white hot energy. A sonic cannon. "It's gonna take a lot more than a few aliens to put me outta commission. Remember? Danger's in the job description." He looked at Gar and his one eyebrow shot up. "Hey! You're green!"
Okay, LOTS of explaining to do this chapter.
First off, I cannot find anywhere how old Batman is. So for the time being, in this story, he's fifty-four. Just to work with my story.
Secondly, I have something in here that makes no sense with the comics whatsoever, (it's not in this chapter, but will be coming up soon) and I want it in there for my story. I mean, obviously, some parts of the story haven't made sense with the comics already, but this kinda sticks out for me. It has to do with the clock thing...apparently his parents died at 10:47...but that's not what I was thinking when I wrote this. Oh, and this is set in 2008...
Thirdly, I'm pretty sure Batman knew about the Batcave for more than thirty three years (when he was fifty-four) but...again, important to a very small aspect of my story.
Fourth, haha, let's all laugh at Harry Potter Fan 1994 for not being able to keep the secret...no Vic's NOT dead, obviously...hmph. You guys just HAD to ask, didn't you? Lol...kidding. And if it confused anybody, no, he doesn't know Gar, I just figured this was as good a place as any to start the bickering.
Just wanted to get the Batman questions answered, because I'm totally reinventing everything right now and I hope it all makes sense!