"You have made a very foolish mistake," the captain growled as he stalked forward, the English words guttural and strangely accented.
Dick held his ground in front of Victor on the other side of the bridge of the spaceship, tensing. Garfield bared his fangs, his ears going back, the tip of his striped tail flicking nervously, and the girls both raised their hands slightly, readying their powers.
The leader barked out a rough command to the fighters at his sides, switching back to his native, inhuman tongue.
Kori snarled in response, fiery light pulsing through her hair, her eyes flashing.
"What did he say?" Dick asked her quickly, his voice barely audible, not taking his eyes off of the aliens as they advanced slowly into the room. They had weapons raised, trained on them, but they didn't shoot.
"They want to capture us alive," Kori whispered back, terror making her whole body tremble.
Dick took a few rapid breaths, tracking the enemies' movements as they spread out through the room, surrounding them, fighting to keep himself calm, his body loose. "Stay with Vic," he muttered, and each of them took a small step back, closing their defensive positions as Victor muttered furiously under his breath behind them. Dick tipped his head almost imperceptibly back in Raven's direction, directing his next words to her. "And as soon as he's done, get us the hell out of here."
Raven gave a tiny nod, her heart racing at the thought of attempting to transport them all again. Icy cold spread through her limbs, fear leaching off of the others and amplifying her own, making the darkness beneath her feet swell.
Gar growled softly, and light flared around Kori's hands on the other side of their little semi-circle as they prepared to fight.
"You were warned," the massive alien growled, back to a language they could all understand. He stood at the gaping hole of the doorway, the wreckage smoking faintly behind him, taking prowling, confident steps further into the room. "This world may be under the protection of the Justice League, but I will personally see to it that this settlement—this entire region—is razed to the ground for your insolence." His voice drew the last word into a vicious hiss.
Then his eyes landed on Koriand'r. "And you—"
She stiffened, hands clenched into white-knuckled fists in front of her, heat making a faint mirage in the air around her body.
"Did you really think that five juvenile heroes—" he spat out the word as if it was something vile he had found beneath his booted foot— "would be able to defy the might of the Gordanian council?" He let out a grating laugh. "You belong to us."
"She doesn't belong to anybody," Dick snapped back, a note of steel in his voice, drawing the attention of the captain back to himself.
The alien sneered at him, sharp yellowish teeth glinting in his blue scaled face. "None of you will leave this ship alive, and this world will only suffer for your actions."
One of the fighters surrounding them finally made it far enough around to the side to spot Victor's metal shoulders half-sticking out of one of the computer stations beneath the window. He narrowed his eyes as he peered past Raven, head cocking slightly to the side, trying to identify what he was seeing.
Vic pushed himself out from under the counter, a bundle of wires in one hand, using the edges to haul himself up so he could get at the control panel. He started typing on the command pad, the screen lighting up in front of him.
The alien shouted out a warning to the others and fired.
Raven raised a shield in front of her and Victor, bracing her feet. The plasma splattered across the pane of rippling darkness, hitting the edge of the station beside her as well, the metal hissing and cracking faintly beneath the superheated droplets.
Victor, Kori, Gar, and Dick barely flinched as the shot was fired, holding their positions, trusting Raven to guard their flank without even looking.
Something bright flickered to life in her chest in response.
The leader roared a sharp reprimand, his eyes going to the controls that had been hit, half of the buttons on the array melted into useless lumps from the careless shot. Burning fury radiated out of him, the glow of those red eyes filled with hatred as they traveled over the five of them.
Everyone on both sides stood frozen, the tension humming through the air, none of them daring to move even the slightest amount for fear of provoking an attack. If the control systems were damaged, the aliens could be trapped here, stranded on this planet. And no matter their bravado, the League was not a threat that was easily dismissed.
"No," Dick finally said, breaking the silence, his voice carrying easily through the room, "you made a mistake."
He stood at the front, ready and focused, his attention locked on the leader in the center in front of him.
"We're not five heroes," he said, and a fierce sense of pride laced through his words, the corner of his mouth twitching up. "We're one team."
He held his staff out threateningly in front of him, covering the motion as he slipped one hand unnoticed into a pocket on his belt. "And if you think we're just going to let you destroy our city, then you'll have to think again."
The captain snarled, taloned fists clenched at his sides.
"Seize them!" he bellowed.
The aliens surrounding them all moved forward at once.
A surge of light and heat burst out of Kori with a feral yell, shooting out towards the front of the group, and Dick threw the handful of blades he had palmed, a deadly barrage of sharpened steel flying through the air, rendered nearly invisible under Kori's attack.
The Gordanians scattered in the chaos, their head-on charge faltering.
Kori lifted up to hover a few inches above the ground, small blasts of blazing light shooting out of her hands at a rapid pace, trying to hit as many of them as possible.
Several aliens made it through, going straight for her as she kept up the barrage, and Dick moved in a blur of silver and black, fending them off, sharp cracks sounding as his staff made contact.
Kori dropped back to the floor beside him, fists swinging, her superhuman strength sending bodies flying when she managed to land a blow.
Shadows flickered in the air around Raven as she faced her side of the room, Gar at her back, Victor moving rapidly down the line of stations beneath the window between them, scanning the screens intently for something. Monstrous shapes took form in the blackness underneath her feet, stretching out towards the group thundering towards her.
Her shadows twisted up, coiling around their feet and legs, the darkness becoming solid matter, grabbing hold of them before they could close the distance on her. They went down, calling out in alarm as they crashed heavily to the floor.
Gar pounced with a screaming snarl, six-hundred-pounds of angry tiger landing on one of the aliens and knocking him flat on his back. His claws shrieked against the armor and floor, scrabbling to find purchase, powerful back feet carving furrows into the metal as he tried to get at the alien's face.
The Gordanian bellowed, grabbing Gar around the neck, black talons sinking into his green fur.
He flung Gar off of him, flipping him over his head towards the other side of the room. The others closed in on him, weapons drawn.
Gar's paws had barely hit the floor again before he shifted, his body flexing, shrinking in on itself, the familiar burn shooting through his muscles and bones as his genetics rewrote themselves.
The little green mouse darted across the floor, too fast for them to track, dodging the blasts that hit the floor where he had been a second before.
He scampered beneath their feet as they shouted, making them twist frantically to try to follow him. As soon as he was on the other side he sucked in a massive breath, tiny body bracing itself, and shifted back.
The tiger exploded back into being from seemingly nothing. He shook his head, legs wobbly, disoriented from the rapid-fire changes in size, his neck stinging where the talons had pierced deep into his skin. He lunged back at the aliens before they could react to his new position at their backs, keeping them on the defensive.
Shadows lashed out from Raven as the aliens closed in on her, coming from both sides, keeping them back, away from Victor, Gar suddenly on the other side of the room. Whips of darkness slammed into their huge bodies, their weapons knocked out of their hands and thrown across the room as they tried to aim at her.
"It's this one!" Vic shouted triumphantly, his hands gripping the edges of another station on the right side of the window. He pried the unit open, paying absolutely no attention to the battle raging around him, and disappeared inside the computer.
The captain growled in outrage, charging into the fray and launching straight towards Koriand'r. She twisted to the side, just avoiding the claws that tried to grab her, and Dick moved into his path. He planted one end of his staff firmly into the ground and used his momentum to swing himself up, vaulting high into the air.
The reinforced steel heel of his boot connected with the side of the alien's head in a powerful kick.
The leader careened to the side, his whole body thrown of course, talons scraping against the floor as he caught himself with one hand. Dick landed in a crouch, staff swept out by his side, chest heaving from exertion. A set of burning eyes locked on him, and the alien snarled, pushing back to his feet.
Raven snapped her head back around, dark hair flying, as the aliens she had pulled to the floor climbed back to their feet.
She pushed another wave of shadows at the first group, knocking them back again, several of them actually tumbling back across the floor from the force.
Her heartbeat pounded in her chest, and terrifying energy fizzed through her body, surging through her veins. It pulsed beneath her skin, a living, breathing thing, screaming for release and growing stronger by the second as the emotions peaked in the room around her. She shoved it down, trying desperately to hold on to it, to keep it contained within her.
Dick had been right, she had never actually practiced with using her powers, and her limitations were becoming painfully clear.
She couldn't let go, couldn't lose control…
Something moved behind her, her body somehow sensing the movement even when she was facing the other direction, and she spun around, jerking back.
Black talons sheared through the air inches from the front of her hoodie.
She stumbled back, gasping in a breath, trying desperately to keep her balance. The alien towered over her, nearly double her height, impossibly broad shoulders armored in golden plates and eyes burning like coals as they settled on her. His fist swung through the air towards her.
She threw up her hands, darkness surging out of her, solidifying in a two-foot-wide barrier in front of her.
He hit the shield with a roar, and the impact shuddered through her, reverberating through her very bones as if he had actually landed the blow on her body.
Garfield kept moving, pushing back up to his hind legs and swiping at the aliens ferociously with his claws, trying to force his way back through to Vic and Raven. Every part of his body ached, his head pounding. He had shifted too fast, the forms too different from each other, and his body was reaching its limits.
One of the aliens swung at him with the metal barrel of his weapon, and his jaws closed on the scaled hand. He bit down, hard, bones cracking between his jaws, fangs sinking into flesh. The scent of the blood filled his senses, the taste coating his tongue, and he fought not to gag. He yanked the alien off balance with a powerful twist of his body, throwing him against one of his crewmates.
The space in front of him was suddenly clear, and he caught a glimpse of a small dark-haired form, her hands raised in desperation in front of her, a tiny rippling pane of shadows the only thing between her and the ten-foot-tall monstrosity trying to crush her.
The Gordanian snarled down at her, sharp teeth bared, more of them swarming in towards her. He raised both arms above his head, his back arching, summoning every ounce of strength he had to break through.
Both fists slammed down, and something in her chest cracked with the force.
She fell backwards with a shocked cry, the darkness flickering out, and hit the ground on her side, her elbow snapping against the metal floor as she tried to catch herself.
Garfield flung himself forward, barreling past the three in front of him, exhaustion forgotten. A shiver of fire rolled through his body, his bones and muscles struggling to stretch, to grow, trying to shift into a bigger, stronger form as the aliens converged in on Raven and Victor. The tiger was the largest animal he had ever been able to successfully change into, strong and fast and agile, but these aliens were too big. He needed more strength, more brute ferocity, more raw power.
The alien lunged at Raven on the ground, faster than she could react, and his hand closed around her throat.
He yanked her up, her shoulders and chest lifting into the air, her fingers scrabbling to find purchase on the massive scaled hand, then slammed her back into the ground.
Her head hit with a crack, stars bursting behind her eyes.
The alien holding her roared something in that rough language, red eyes glowing down at her with savage triumph, her vision turning grey at the edges. The fingers around her throat constricted, squeezing, his talons ripping into her skin, cutting off her air.
Blinding, instinctual panic raced through her, and her grip on the power inside of her shattered. Darkness surged beneath her hands, energy striking out at the arm pinning her to the floor.
The limb snapped with an audible crack, a splinter of yellowish bone stabbing out through the scaled skin in a spray of blood.
The alien released her with a scream, clutching his mangled arm and staggering back, and a mountain of pale green muscle and fur slammed into him from the side.
He crumpled, and the bear rose up on its hind legs, taller even than the massive reptilian aliens—easily the largest animal she had ever seen—and slammed both clawed paws into a second alien's chest with explosive force.
The Gordanian went tumbling back, the front of his armor caved in from the blow.
Garfield roared, dropping heavily back down on four legs, standing over her, but the aliens had already reached Victor.
A scaled, taloned hand closed on Victor's leg, yanking him away from the computer.
He let go, letting himself be pulled backward and twisting so he was on his back, looking up into the face of the massive snarling alien towering over him.
The alien froze, red eyes going wide, staring straight down the barrel of the cannon pointed right between his eyes.
"Surprise," Victor said pleasantly.
He fired, twitching his aim down to avoid a lethal shot, a beam of crackling blue energy striking the alien in the armored chest.
He was blasted off of Victor with a howl, and Victor scrambled up to one knee. He swept his arm out in a broad swathe in front of him, the cannon discharging, and the aliens scattered or went tumbling back beneath the beam of energy.
Gar looked down, huge golden eyes fixing on Raven's as she struggled to catch her breath.
She pushed herself up onto her side, her head and feet sticking out on either side of his enormous shaggy body, wincing up at him. She gripped her neck, the skin prickling as it knitted itself back together, the blossoming red and purple bruises fading before they had a chance to fully form.
"Please tell me you're not naked," she groaned, the words losing some of their edge as she struggled to get them out.
She re-gripped her power firmly, fighting against it as it tried to flood out of her.
The polar bear's muzzle pulled back in what was unmistakably a flicker of a smile, giving her a startling view of four five-inch-long white fangs. He shuddered, muscles spasming, then pushed off of his front paws, shifting his weight upwards and back as he shrunk, changing back into a human body.
Gar finished the transformation standing upright, his black suit definitely still on, and reached down to grab her forearms.
"How does that even work," she asked incredulously.
"No idea!" he said cheerfully, chest heaving as he panted from the effort of the shift. He flashed an excited grin as he hauled her back up to her feet. "But that was the biggest I've ever gotten! I've never been able to do a polar bear before."
"Gar watch out!" she gasped, suddenly tightening her grip on his arms.
His eyes widened, his head snapping to the side as one of the aliens lunged for them. He shoved Raven away from him, the lean muscles in his arms expanding under his suit, sending her tumbling to the ground.
But he didn't shift. His body shuddered and snapped back to its normal proportions; his teeth bared in a grimace.
The punch hit him squarely in the chest, and he slammed into the command station behind him, knocked clean off his feet.
He crumpled to the ground, desperately trying to force his exhausted body to shift, to do something, anything.
And then the alien stomped down on his leg.
Gar screamed, pain tearing through his entire body. He jerked on the ground, hands clutching his leg, trying to yank it free.
The alien swung up his weapon, grinning down at Gar with sharp, pointed teeth.
He took aim.
Raven pushed herself off the ground, and her body was suddenly upright, the room reorienting around her. She stepped forward in a quick, fluid motion, a feeling of weightlessness sweeping through her, her hair lifting around her face, her feet gliding over the floor without even touching it. Strength coursed through her, darkness surging through her veins. She flung her hand out, her fingertips tinted black. And pushed.
A pulse of shadow exploded out of her.