These Black Eyes Chapter 116: Angel Spear Four part 7 final, a teen titans fanfic

116. Angel Spear Four part 7 Final

T-Minus: Fifty-two minutes.

Location: Tower – Central Chamber

I lean against a wall, absent-mindedly shuffling playing cards in my metal hand.

Lobo sits—squatting—with his back to the wall across from me. He polishes the barrel of his pistol.

Minnae sits on a bench, her hands folded in her lap. Looking apprehensive.

Katma paces back and forth down the corridor. Her hands folded behind her.

Silence...save for the last of shelling echoes from outside as the Tamaranians gradually regain control of the City and chase the Gordanians away.

A beat.

I glance down the corridor.

There's a haphazard electronics station set up, hooked to numerous bundles of wires running up the ruby inner walls of the broad corridor and the basic structure of the Tamaranian Tower itself. Gizmos, computer consoles, monitors, and various flashing instruments stretch about in a corner. Koriand'r sits on a stool of sorts, her inner arm 'wired' to the apparatuses. Three Tamaranian specialists huddle around her, checking on her vital signs and performing checkups on the computer system as they gently process the data from the nanomachines in her bloodstream. The redheaded girl looks over at us....and smiles.

I smile slightly...then look Katma's way.

She stops in her pacing. She sighs.

A beat.

She looks at Minnae. "Is it just me....or is our work here done??"

Minnae gulps and utters: "I've been...'listening in' on the Tamaranian Resistance Fighters. Already, enough data has been acquired from young Koriand'r to relay information to the planetary defense fleet up in space. We are most likely twenty minutes away from experiencing the greatest counterattack the Vegan System has ever seen. The Gordanian ships will lose cloaking ability and shields. They will be utterly helpless to fend off the onslaught of the Tamaranian armada...and the invaders will be forced to retreat. But not before many losses on their villainous side."

"So it's true then...our work here is done!" Katma exclaims, her voice echoing up and down the corridor. She tosses her arms. "Why are we still here??"

"You think they're gonna be passing out party favors or somethin'?!" Lobo grumbles. He continues polishing his gun.

I flip cards in my metal palm.

"There must be some catch....there must be something we haven't done yet...," Katma thinks aloud.

"But what?!?!" Lobo grunts. "We fraggin' did everything!! I busted a few heads!! You flung tanks around!! Squirrel there did his gymnastics!! And Miss Sissy turned into a she-pussy!!"

Minnae blinks. "Er???"

"We better not be double-crossed!" Lobo pounds his fist into the ground. WHAM!!! Cracks form in the stone. "Cuz that would REALLY tick the Main Man off!! That floating cotton candy goddess person thingy at the Great Implosion think I was sent to massacre an entire invasion force?! Heh!! She hasn't SEEN genocide yet if I don't get my reward for this!! And I'd better get my reward for this..."

"That's all you can think about??" Katma frowns. "A reward?? Don't you see what you've done today?! You've played a part in history!! You helped save an entire civilization from global destruction!!"

"I'll see it only if in the reflection of gold and silver, sweet cakes."

Katma groans.

"The Being seemed adamant in relating the fact that time travel is still not a perfect artform," Minnae remarks. "Even after eons of civilization existing back and forth along the infinite timeline. When we were sent here and given a six hour deadline...perhaps it was just that? A six hour deadline!"

"Or maybe the Being knew that—whatever we have to do—it will take exactly six hours. I don't think that lifeform is exactly stupid. It must know a lot more than it's giving in about our purpose here."

"Okay then...," Lobo shrugs. "So there's one more errand to do?! Big deal!" He cocks his gun. "Let's get to it!!"

"Hold on," Katma holds a hand out. "Maybe we're doing it right now?"

"Eh???"

"Being here. So close to her...," Katma points at Koriand'r. "Maybe we're meant to guard her. Or the Tower."

"Until the armada way up high goes kablammo??" Lobo remarks with a face. "How boring is that?! Feh!"

Minnae suddenly bites her lip.

"What is it, Your Highness?" Katma asks.

"I do not know....," the cat-eyed girl nervously wrings her laced hands. "But...there is definitely something not finished here...."

"How do you mean?"

"Here...in this Tower....," Minnae murmurs. "Something is.....wrong....and very, very evil...."

Katma narrows her eyes.

Lobo clears his throat. "Thank you, Queen Ambiguous."

I look at everyone. I stand up straight and pocket my cards away.

I'll go have a look-see.........

Minnae turns to face my way.

'How do you mean, Mr. Noir?'

I straighten my helmet and glance around.

This Tower......it's dark. Dark is my element.

'How do you even know what to look for?'

I don't. But if the Being sent us here for a purpose, I have a feeling that something will find me.

"Okay....what are you both mentally walkie-talkying about now???" Lobo exclaims.

"He wishes to look around. I think he gets the same bad feeling that I do."

More or less......

Katma sighs. "Fine...just....just stay in touch, allright? Keep in contact with Minnae or something. I'm pretty sure we've achieved victory. It's just that........everything we've done here today had better mean something in the long run."

I nod. I wave to everyone in general and walk down a dark corridor.

I feel the curious eyes of Koriand'r on my back as I leave....

T-Minus: Forty-Nine minutes.

Location: Tower – Shadowed Chambers

I stroll slowly through the dark corridors. I untuck my black tanktop and stretch. Sighing.

One would imagine it difficult to lie to a telepath...but not in Minnae's case.

I didn't have any 'evil premonition' like she did. I just had to get out of there. Away from everyone else. Away from.....people. Souls. Eyes.

I took a deep, shuddering breath.

So many eyes I've seen today. So many of them fading away with the fall of my sword.

I take a deep breath.

My fingers flex.

I hope Robin never finds out.

Awkwardly, I smile at that. And a tiny spark of warmth leaps in my hearts.

Robin......Cyborg......Beast Boy......Starfire.........Raven.........

I sigh and hug myself as I lean against a wall in the darkness.

I'll be seeing them all again soon.

A beat.

I glance down at my wristband. The red button I never had to press. The essence of the Angel Spears never made known unto me. The countdown timer flashing like an LCD screen:

T-Minus: Forty-Eight minutes.

I stare at it.

............Did I ever have to??

Voices....

Hussed and echoing upwards like reverse rain drops.

I freeze.

I raise an eyebrow and lean my head to the side with an ear craned.

A beat.....

More .....silent.....

I bite my lip.

I rest a hand on Myrkblade behind me and slowly creep down a declining corridor towards a dim patch of amber light.

T-Minus: Forty-Eight minutes.

Location: Tower Cellar – Rafters

I come to an opening overlooking a huge, open chamber beneath me. The path leads to a drop of well over fifty meters. A huge, Tamaranian-made chasm of sort yawns beneath me. Like a huge cellar. Or a basement. Or a storage chamber.

I'm not exactly sure what it is.

At the moment, I'm concerned with finding the sources of the voices. For—though they be in a foreign tongue—they do not sound like Tamaranian...or Gordanian....or anything I had heard uttered before. At least....not on this 'mission'. I cautiously take the last two steps forward that I can...and peer down into the scene.

My black eyes narrow under my visor as I try to pierce my gaze through the amber light.

Steam rises from various parts in a red, cobblestone floor overlooking what looks to be an underwater aqueduct or sewage system. A red bridge crosses a stone canal with a rushing stream of gray liquid. Torchlight illuminates the far sides of the cavernous interior where dark passageways enter into the domain.

Fourteen distinct shadows stand on the solid ground. Twelve of them are well built. One of them is petite. The last one is stocky and....darker than the rest.

I don't know how......

I lean forward.

My black eyes focus and.....I gasp.

The twelve well-built shadows are—in fact—Gordanians.

Gordanians!! Inside this very Tower?!?! But how.........

The voices that drew me into this vantage point to begin with start murmuring again. It's the petite shadow talking to the darker one.

"Shys-shesszk slakynykk frishakkyn kki fry-shaak klakana-kyk liss. Fen-fravykk lyk-kissin vly-vyvykk therasskik sy-l thra-ssin ly," the petite shadow speaks. It is a girl's voice. A young, teenage voice. She leans a hand to her hip and the bizarre language rolls off her tongue like poison. "Meth'yssk wryss'aka sly'vyk kik lynni sli'kak vykikk frie. Verykykk-y slin. Saatethryk Tamaran slykik-sy lynin vy."

There is a pause.

The darker figure turns about. And I see a black cape or robe surrounding a stocky frame. And if that isn't cliché enough, the fellow is garbed with a pale mask covering his features. He speaks with a chilling sound that makes my heart murmur and my spine tingle

And I don't know why.....

"Vrykklyn havyk-ly mava-rykk ik synd-ly viverykk y kyklikkin saka-lylk. Mymlykik sl-kikk nynsyk kykk haak-klakyk kilinikk sly. Syll-kin Tamaran saat-syk lyk," the dark one with a pale mask stares at the petite figure from across the bridge. The Gordanians watch on. The one continues with fists clenched. "Hen-rykk klatta-klykk sly y kikkik vryn..."

The petite figure steps forward, standing halfway across the bridge. She takes on a defensive posture and practically barks in anger: "Vender-rykk vattaklykk ik sank-lyk!!!!"

The Gordanians hiss.

The masked one raises a finger.

The reptiles are silent.

A beat.

The stranger breathily utters: "Sa-klykk in lyka-klak ik sinkk benk-ak. Tamaran lykk myni-klikk."

The petite figure fumes for some reason. And I see a green glow about her arms. And as the glow intensifies, I make out long read hair and firm eyebrows.

My lips part.

A Tamaranian.........Girl?? Barely fourteen-looking!! Who the......what's going on here??

'Mr. Noir??'

Your highness! What are you—

'You sounded confused. Distressed, even. What is transpiring?'

You wouldn't believe me if I told you......but.........there are Gordanians inside this Tower!!

'What?! Oh dearest be!!"

And......there seems to be some kind of wyrd exchange taking place. Down here in some...sewer or something. There're a dozen Gordanians, and Tamaranian girl, and some tall guy with a mask and a wyrd language and I have no idea what the Hell's going on. Where's Katma??

'Captain Tui?? She and Lobo went searching.'

Searching??

'For Koriand'r."

What?!?! Where'd she—

'We don't know. Koriand'r suddenly seemed excited by something and flew off. Her amber skin was glowing a bright green. I think she's picked up on something in a manner that only Tamaranians can!'

Can't you locate her??

'I was working on it when I detected your distress. Tell me......what do you see exactly, Mr. Noir?'

W-Well......um......a dozen Gordanians just standing around as a Tamaranian teenage girl and some tall guy in a mask speak in some wyrd-ass language......

'What sort of language?'

It's hard to explain. Can you listen in?

'I do believe that is possible. Please be silent and I shall attempt to eavesdrop.'

I take a breath try to........'silence' my head.

The masked one is speaking again...as menacingly as always. With the same chills being sent up my spine and the same goosebumps covering the parts of my limbs that are flesh.

"Havrakykk-slykk menaklykk syn! Sikka-lykk ikk menblakyk Tamaran klykak ssyk thratkk," the one folds his arms as his cape ruffles. His voice is like audible blood, dripping out of his pale mask. "Mykka slyk-kik venyyk kakla-nykk vensykk ly."

I hear a gasping sound...then I realize that it's Minnae's shock exploding through my head. And it hurts.

I wince and grip my skull through my helmet.

Your Highness?!?!

'Citadelian!! Citadelian!!!'

Excuse you???

'That entity! That man! That thing! It is Citadelian!! True Citadelian!'

What's a Citadelian?!?!

'The most ruthless species in the Vegan system. Cloned descendants of the deformed offspring of X'Hal's force labor!'

Wait a second......X'Hal had kids?!?!

'It would take volumes of information to explain. Not to mention priceless lengths of time!! Just know that—in the history of the Vegan Wars—the Citadel Empire has been responsible for the greatest, most ruthless bloodshed in their conquest to beat the Psions to ultimate supremacy and control of the galaxy!'

All I see is a masked wyrdo......

'Is he tall? And does he speak the language which I am hearing??'

Yeah, he's tall. Wearing a pale mask. And.........I have to be honest, he's freaking me out.

'I sense an evil in him. A great evil.'

Well, apparently he's 'Citadelian'. I suppose that comes in handy.

'It is more than that. The fact that a Citadelian is here sheds light on history that very little are privy to. It is not official that the Citadel were involved in the Invasion of Tamaran during the Second War of the Reformed Cosmos. This entity's presence here may very well upend all of that assumption.'

So...the Citadelians were helping the Gordanians attack Tamaran??

'Perhaps commanding them. I cannot tell. Again, there is a great evil about this one Citadelian in particular. He is so dark that he clouds my attempts to scan him, and----EEP!!'

I raise an eyebrow.

What is it, Minnae---

I myself am cut off as wave of agony courses through my system. My whole body shudders. My metal prosthetic acts up. Chills shiver up and down my body. My eyes flicker murk subconsciously and my teeth chatter. I clench my fists and squint my black eyes down at the scene.

The Tamaranian girl is flinching.

The Gordanians are stirring uncomfortably.

And the Citadelian....

'M-Mr. Noir............'

My black eyes twitch.

From atop, I see the dark figure raise a hand.

And it's smoking....smoking like murk....

'That Citadelian............'

A chilling laughter echoes through the chambers.

I feel my bones rattle.

'.........he is not normal. He is not even of this world......'

The Tamaranian girl murmurs in her native tongue as he backs up, her green eyes wide. "Hraman'r femblorg nuil m'hal?!?!"

"Heh heh heh.....enblykkik frykk-kikk shysskiss'ly....," the Citadelian makes the smoke dance and his dark shoulders shake with laughter.

'Mr. Noir......I sense terrible things.'

Tell me about it...

'Disgust. Revenge. Hatred. Seething, seething hatred. And most of all.........'

What??

'Betrayal.'

Betrayal??

'You said there was a Tamaranian girl there??'

Yes.

'She is not true to her people.'

Huh?? You can sense that??

'Yes. Whatever conversation is taking place in there......it is not the first of its kind. I knew that I had sensed an evil when we finally settled in here less than a half-hour ago. This villainy has been seeded here. Like a cancer. And I have a feeling that the Tamaranian soul you're bearing witness to has played a part in it.'

A traitor.........

'Exactly, Mr. Noir.'

But why? What would she gain? She hardly looks old enough to be anything but......but innocent......

'I do not know, Mr. Noir. I do not know. Oh my......I sense the evil!! It......It is intensifying so!'

I......I feel it too. It's crazy. But......

I take a deep breath. I feel the smoke dancing in my system. And it's upsetting...because only Destruction alone is being aroused.

"Haklykk-sykk sly link ik vren-dykk y sykkak-ly...," the Citadelian leers over the suddenly-cowering girl. The smoke dances more. "Kikykk-sykk thryn bablikk."

The girl trembles. She folds her hands together. "Lamanorg freyl slanna ful'm dredsye camcla!! Nien'r rivlessa!!"

FLASH!!!!

The Citadelian stretches out a hand and envelops the girl in a warbling fountain of smoke.

The girl shrieks as tendrils of blackness envelope her figure. It is not like the murk I know. It possesses blue hues, like the skin of a week-old corpse at the bottom of an icy river.

I grit my teeth. My whole body jerks and I hold my hand to Myrkblade. But I don't jump down into the chamber. I don't leap.

But the girl's a traitor. If Minnae's right. But still......can I take on these creatures alone?!?! That's amazing power that the Citadelian wields. Such intense evil. What can I do??

What can I do............?

And to my utter shock, that's when the Citadelian lifts his head while torturing the girl atop the bridge and speaks into the open air of the chamber.........in perfect English.

"Angel Spearrrrrrr......I know you are herrrrrrre."

Naturally, I go bug-eyed. My body shivers more.

"How hypocritical of you. You would kill so many helpless soldiers today. But for a little girrrrrrrrl, you don't move an inch to help her!!"

I grit my teeth. I slowly unsheathe Myrkblade.

Still apprehensive...

The girl sobs in pain.

The Citadelian hisses forth a chuckle and continues into the air through his mask: "What did the Protectors of Life promise you at the Great Implosion? Gold? Silverrrrrr? Better health?? Assistance in the cause of vigilantism? Welfare to friends of yours on yourrrrrrrrrr god-forsaken planet?!?!"

I bite my lip. I scan the edges of the scene. I try to plan out a way to blur down the walls and spring upon the mysterious enemy.

But I'm stuck to my position among the rafters. As if frozen....

Fear???

"You are farrrr too numerous, Angels. Farrrrr too cowarrrrdly. A single one of my kind could burrry you all in an instant!!! For I am not afraid of destruction!!! I do not cowerrrrr behind pathetic morals and senses of honorrrr!! I usurp. I deceive. I destroy!! And I serrrrrve Death!! How perfect that the mutated living carcass of a Citadelian be my vessel for this historrrrical moment!! A moment which—I admit—you have succeeded in winning for the Tamaranian side...."

His masked face turns and glares at the shuddering, quivering girl under the dome of smoking torment.

"This girrrrrrl thought she could hand overrrrr her planet on a silverrrr platter to make things easier on the futurrrre. But all she managed was death. Such wonderful and glorious Death!!! It stains the fields of her planet today. The Gordanian forrrrrrces she helped usher in with herrrrr knowledge of her people's defense frequencies have done their part. And you—Angel Spears—have done your part!! And in the end—victory or no victory—it is still a jubilant day for Death!! For in every conflict, the Demons win!!!!"

I gasp.

A Demon......

An agent of Death!

What the Being spoke of!!

"And there is oh so much Death to be had today!!! So much spirrrrrit to suck out!! To drrrrrraw forth like venom and leave the rest impotent and jaded!!! HRAAAAAAAA!!!"

FLASH!!!!!

The smoke dome around the girl pulses.

She lets out one final scream before slumping over.

I bite my lip.

The dome disappears.

The girl's green aura fades.

And her body pales...and the amber Tamaranian skin sinks away.

And her red hair loses its color before my eyes. It becomes something burnt. Like the color of mold. Pure black. As do her alien eyebrows.

And what was once green in her eyes turns obsidian.

And what was once an emerald power surrounding her arms and body becomes something twisted and bizarre. A violet-pink. The color of a tainted, Tamaranian heart.

And that's when I discover all over again just who and what Blackfire is.

"The Tamaranian heart is a most amazing thing....," the Demon Spear utters. "It'll turn the body into an exotic color when stripped of all good. As well as it'll explode forth a fiery aura of empathy when under duress. And it's something that acts like.....a warning beacon to all souls closed to the tortured one."

I gasp at that.

That means......

SWOOOOSH!!!

As if on cue, Koriand'r sails into the room. She hovers to a stop in mid-air. Her glowing, green eyes go wide. But not so much as a reaction to the Gordanians under everyone's noses. Not so much because of the Citadelian standing tall and demonically before her. But rather because---

"Kormy!!!!!!" the young Starfire shrieks. She flies lightning-fast down a line of hissing Gordanians and kneels on the stone bridge, cradling her sizzling sister's darkened body. "Kormy!!! Kormy!!!" she sobs, green tears streaming down her cheeks. She buries her face in the groaning teenager's shoulder. "Sam'ran linnu de X'Hal!!! Sam'ran linnu haameraat de X'Hal!!! Kinlan'm forborg hassan, Kormiand'r!!!"

"K....K-Kory??" the sister coughs. Her eyes glow a sickening purple as she reaches up and desperately touches her sister's head of hair. She winces in pain and appears genuinely regretful. And yet, it's painfully obvious that the redhead has no idea as to Kormiand'r's secret treachery. "Hinsu'm methur kun. Frest'm.....frest'm sedsu..."

A dark, smoking foot stomps down on the far side of the bridge.

Koriand'r looks up, teary eyed. She grits her teeth and angrily spits forth at the towering Citadelian: "Hablakorg minner'm thretsu nuil horfarker!!!!"

A chuckle wheezes out from the Demon's masked face. "Charming. But as much as I'd like to kill you quickly...," he stretches a smoking hand out. "...you're bait."

SWOOOOOSH-SLASH!!!!!

"AUGH!!!" the Citadelian steps back and grasps an arm, leaking black demon blood.

I crouch from the impact of my long, plunging drop. I slowly stand up and twirl Myrkblade back to face him. Frowning. I stand between him and the two Tamaranian sisters. I hear Koriand'r gasp...perhaps glad to see me. I don't give her so much as a glance. My black eyes are trained directly on the Citadelian.

And he stares at me.

And....

He laughs.

"Heh heh heh heh heh heh...."

And he laughs.

"Hah hah hah hah hah....."

And he laughs...

"HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!!"

I raise an eyebrow.

The Gordanians—aiming laser spears at me—twitch uneasily.

"I had a feeling it was truly you, Noir...."

My lips part and my breath escapes me.....

The mask leans forwards. "Death is a great Strategist. He weaves the most intricate web. Even I can't calculate the pattern in His handiwork. I knew from the start that my mission here today on this god-forsaken planet would be a failure. But I didn't care. I just had to run into you.....that's all I cared about."

I cleared my throat. I slowly marched towards him with Myrkblade outstretched.

FLASH!!!!

My body jerked. My breath dissolved. My torso quivered and shook like an epileptic fit.

He had me in a web of black energy. It tortured my limbs by chasing the Contruction inside me away and intensifying the Destruction.

Pure Demon power.

I had the sudden urge to reach and instinctively press the red button on my bracelet....but I could barely move from where he held me.

So much strength....

"I meant what I said about the triumph in destruction, Noir. I may not be able to win the war for the Gordanians...but I can at least make Death happy---make myself happy, by ruining the life of an Angel Spear itself. Especially one who's friends with the Teen Titans!!!"

I sweat as I dance from his smoking onslaught. I bite my lip till it bleeds. I struggle for breath as I listen to him...

"In another time....in another place....I was randomly plucked by Death much like you and your three friends were grabbed by the Protectors of Life. But what makes me so much smarter at this game than you, Noir, is that I know all about time travel. And I especially know that someday both you and the Teen Titans will be the ruin of me. And I can't WAIT to make you suffer...to make your 'angelic' life a living Hell for what you someday intend to do. And I shall do it by taking from you the only shred of LIFE you have left in the middle of this grand chaos!!"

SWOOOOOOOSH!!!!

He shoves me back...back...far back across the open space of the chamber.

THWUMP!!!

I land hard on the ground. Myrkblade clatters to the floor beyond me.

I cough and sputter for breath.

Two Gordanians—hissing—rush over and hoist me up to my feet.

I struggle in their grasp. Not able to get loose.

Koriand'r shrieks as the Citadelian marches over and mercilessly hoists her up over his shoulder.

I snarl and try desperately to blur, run, leap, do-anything to burst out of my scaley restraints.

But I'm helpless to do anything but watch as the Demon walks backwards out of the chamber, chuckling. "You have lost a precious friend today, Noir. And as much as I know Time...what I am about to do is inherently impossible. But it is also impossible for a mere mortal like myself to be imbued alone with the power of Death itself. So ta-ta, you pathetic piece of history!! I hope this sends shockwaves of Destruction down your pathetic remnants of memory and well-being!! As if you'll ever see the Titans again even IF the Protectors of Life send you back!! Ha ha ha!!"

I struggle and strain some more.

The Demon marches away, Koriand'r wailing in fright over his shoulder.

The Gordanians huddle around me. They raise glowing laser spears and hiss with bloodlusting delight. They must know how many of their brethren I've offed today.

I grit my teeth.

I'm more than willing to kill more if it means catching up with that no good son of a---

Princess Metharsia rushes in.

"Mr. Noir!!" Minnae gasps. "Koriand'r!! I think she flew down here!! I---"

"HRESSHA!!" GRIP!!! A Gordanian grabs her from behind.

"EEEEK!!! Unhand me!!" the silken princess struggles in vain.

The Gordanian forces her into the circle of reptilian soldiers.

The fiends hiss at each other in their own vile language.

Their spears glow brighter and brighter.

Even Minnae sees our fate at hand. We're about to be skewered and bludgeoned to death by pathetic grunts.

She gasps. "Oh no...how terrible!! How utterly, horribly terrible!! Mr. Noir, save us!!"

I struggle. My black eyes linger on the passageway where the Demon exited. I'm powerless to reach Myrkblade. I'm too sucked of my energy to blur far enough to attack anyone reasonably. The Demon power affected me so....

"Someone!! I do not wish to perish!!" Minnae squirms as the Gordanians close in around us and our captors. Spears start to make our hairs curl from the heat. "We were so near victory!! So near victory!!" she looks at me, panting. "Mr. Noir!! Do something!!!"

I pant. I sweat. I look at a laser spear next to me in an adjacent Gordanian's grip.

"HRESHAA!!!"

"HRESSSSHA!!!"

I look at the spear.

The reptiles drool.

The surrounding air turns blue.

Heat and glowing...

Minnae pants. "Mr. Noir....please!!"

I let out a silent scream.

SWOOOOOSH!!!

I blur my body into smoke form in a half second just so that I can grab the nearby spear--

GRIP!!!!

---and toss it at the princess.

"!!!!!!" Minnae goes bug-eyed.

RIIIIIIIIIIIIP!!!!

CLANK!!!!

The spear sticks into the ground...wobbling to a stand-still.

"........," the Gordanians stare.

"........," Minnae blinks. She looks down at her dress....a dress that was once immaculate. It now has a huge-ass rip straight down through all four layers of petticoats, exposing part of the princess' stockings.

I take a deep breath.

"........," Minnae looks up at me. She blinks. "You......r-ruined my dress...." Another blink. The cat eyes start to flicker. Amber fury. She clenches her teeth...teeth that grow fangs. "HoW dArE yOu RuIn mY DrEsS?!?!?!?!?!"

I grin like a joker.

"rrrrrrrrRRRRAAAAAAAAAUGH!!!!!!"

FLASH!!!!!!!!!!

The Gordanians jump back and let go of me. "HRESSHA?!?!?!?!"

Lidikins stands in the midst of us. Fuming. Lungs heaving. She tosses her feline head and shrieks into the air.

"ROWWWWRAAAAAAAAAAWRRRR!!!!"

SWOOOOOSH!!!! A huge, serrated paw flies in my general direction.

The Gordanian holding me stumbles back and I duck---

SLASH!!!!!

The entire torso of the reptile is ripped asunder in a purple splash.

SWOOOOOSH!!! A furred leg soars over.

I roll under it.

SMACK!!! "HRESSHAA!!" a Gordanian is kicked into a wall on the far side with a SPLAT!!

I dash along the ground, slide, pick up Myrkblade, and leap out of the circle of death.

Lidikins starts thrashing about in animalistic rage, taking on practically everything in the nearby vicinity. And unluckily for the Gordanians, that turns out to be them.

THRASH!!! THWACK!!! SLASH!!! "HRESSSSSHAAA!!!"

Scaley skin shreds in ribbons and purple pools form around tumbling limbs and skull fragments. Bloody hisses echo throughout the underground arena as I smirk like a madman and then scurry down the hall on blurried legs in pursuit of the Demonic stranger.

T-Minus: Forty-Three minutes.

Location: Tower Cellar – Corridors

I run down a dark hallway.

My feet slap echoingly against the stone.

I pant and come to a stop, looking around.

Black eyes wide under the dark visor.

A shriek...

Koriand'r's shriek......

I look to my right.

A shadow ducks out of view at the edge of a hallway leading towards a dim, strobing light. A far-off room.

CHIIING!!! I slide Myrkblade along the wall while drawing if forward and rush down the corridor like a one-man jousting competition.

T-Minus: Forty-Two minutes.

Location: Tower Cellar – Pod Room

I run straight into a bright, narrow room stretching up, up, up....

PHOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!!

I'm blinded. I gasp and skid to a stop. I clutch a metal hand over my visor while I grip tightly to Myrkblade with the other.

Teeth gritting, I force myself to look at the hot light.

Hot wind blows at my face.

I gasp.

A.....rocket of sort is launching. Right before me. It takes me a second or two to realize it, but it's the same model as the sort of pod that brought Starfire to Earth in the first place. But during that same second or two, the craft in question is throttling up a long chasm leading towards a pinprick of green light....the sky.

Starfire......

I clench my metal and flesh fists.

I look to my right.

Another pod sits besides the smoking launch pad that the previous one shot up from.

An open invitation......

I glance back up at the speedily exiting pod in the chamber.

He wants me to follow him. An Angel Spear on the tails of a Demon.

I take a deep breath.

I jump towards the remaining pod.

Well......he's got one......

"Noir?!?" a strong voice echoes from the adjacent corridor. A half second later, Katma floats out. "Noir!!! There you are!! I just found Minnae lying unconscious on the floor in the center of a bloody ring of Gordanians!! Did she transform again??"

A beat.

The floating Green Lantern blinks. "Um....Noir? What the Hell are you doing??"

I strap into the pod, finger a green button, and press it.

CLICK

WHURRRR-CLUNG!!!

The door seals me tightly in the craft.

"Noir?!?! Noir!!!" Katma rushes forward and presses her face to the porthole from the outside. Her voice is extremely muffled. "Are you crazy?!?! What on Earth could you be going into space for at this time?!?! We have nearly thirty minutes till transportation!!"

I click a few controls...remembering the one time Starfire gave me a tour of her craft. I finger the last of the switches. I stare out the porthole through my visor.

I know what my last mission objective is. I know what my purpose as an Angel Spear is. There is one last piece of Life to save.

My lips mouth: 'Starfire'

Katma's mouth is agape. Her green eyes blink.

I flip the last switch.

PHOOOOOOOOM!!!!

She lets out a cry and jumps back, staring in disbelief at me...her head tilting up, up, up.

SWOOOOOOOSH!!!!

T-Minus: Forty minutes.

Location: Tamaran – Capital City

THWOOOOOSH!!!

My pod rockets out of the Tower's spout.

I press back into my seat, holding my breath. The G-Forces momentarily kick in before the alien counteractive technology takes effect and I feel like I'm practically gliding like an airborne knife into the green sky.

Out the portholes, I spot Tamaranian hovercraft flying to and fro. Smoke trails from burning skyscrapers and crashed Gordanian dropships flutter past me. Finally, the tops of the Capital's towering spires drop off and an increasingly dark green sky envelopes me.
0

T-Minus: Forty minutes.

Location: Tamaran – Upper Atmosphere

Clouds stream by the portholes.

The transparent material fogs one last time...then clears.

The turbulence dies down.

The green aura gives way to darkness.

And then...

Puffs....plumes....splashes of brightness.

I lean forward...upwards.

Sparks reflect through the portholes and off my dark visor.

As the beautiful awkwardness of zero gravity overcomes me, I should be astonished.

And I am.....but by something else....

T-Minus: Thirty-nine minutes.

Location: Orbit of Tamaran

My pod plunges—spiraling—into the event horizon of an enormous space battle. Geometrically intricate ships of red and burgundy hulls form a protective line around the green planet. Assaulting them in streams of ion bursts are hulking, green dreadnoughts.

The Tamaranian and Gordanian armadas....fighting for this section of the galaxy.

FLASH!!! FLASH!!!

My pod shakes as space flak explodes around me.

I grit my teeth and realize that—the entire time from launch to orbit—I've not been controlling the vessel. My head darts around.

I find steering mechanisms.

I grip them and try to move the ship.

They don't budge.

I take a deep breath.

I concentrate.

I look around.

I see a red light on the steering mechanism. A button rests beneath it. I press it.

Click!

The steering mechanism gives way.

I sigh with relief.....then gasp with horror.

SWOOOOOSH-SWOOOOSH-SWOOOOOSH!!!

My pod dives, arcs, twists, and spins on three major axes. I grit my teeth and try to regain control.

FLASH!!! FLASH!!! FLASH!!!

Gordanian fighters explode right next to me as three Tamaranian crafts speed by and swing in formation along the length of a homefront battlecruiser. I see a huge plasma cannon on one of the red ships glow and unleash a charge of green fury. The energy stream sails into a Gordanian vessel and blows off a chunk of titanium that crumbles and rotates toward me.

I steer down into a dive, barely avoiding the huge shrapnel. I find myself utterly lost, tumbling in the black emptiness with lights shimmering all around me. I sweat as I try to regain control.

HUMMMMM!!!!!

I'm suddenly engulfed in a green aura.

I gasp and look out the closest porthole.

My black eyes widen.

Katma is outside the window, encased in a green cocoon. She aims her right hand at me, encasing the ship in emerald. It's amazing that she's surviving the cold vacuum of space.

I blink.

Oh yeah.........Green Lanterns can do that......

She reaches her other hand to her face within the green field, and I spot a communicator in her grasp.

A speaker inside my pod crackles forth: "I should have guessed that you would pull a cockeyed stunt like this over that little girl!!!'" Katma's voice grumbles. "You are an incredibly stupid and dangerously headstrong young man, Noir..."

I stare out at her.

She stares back, frowning.

A beat.

She grins.

"And I figured you needed someone expert in space travel like me to drag your sorry ass to the right destination!!"

I smile back.

"Hang on!!!"

SWOOOOOSH!!!

The ship rotates about and angles itself right towards the Gordanian armada. The female Green Lantern streaks ahead, dragging me behind her in a green net.

"Minnae?! You awake yet?!?! Come in!!"

'I-I am here, Captain Tui! What happened?! Where is Noir and Koriand'r?!'

"Don't worry about Noir. He's with me. I need you to do something that only you can, Your Highness."

'Wait a second...what happened to me?? Was Lidikins here? I do miss her so......'

"............"

'Ahem......y-yes, Captain Tui???'

"I need you to focus on the life force of Koriand'r. She is missing and we have only a handful of minutes left before we can't find her anymore."

'I shall assist the best way that I can! Where has she been taken to?"

"Um......Space."

'Eep!! Most difficult!'

"I need you to try, your Highness!! Something tells me our black-eyed-friend's future is in jeapordy!"

'The Demon?!?!'

"Huh??"

'Allow me to concentrate!! I must project my empathy beyond that section of orbit!'

"Can you do it?"

'At the expense of a terrible headache...'

"Sorry......but......g-get to it!"

'Yes, Captain!'

Katma glances back at me through the porthole.

"Hang ten, Noir!! The way things look...everything is down to the wire for a purpose!!"

I see a dramatic unveiling beyond her in the space battle. I point with a gasp.

She turns around.

The two of us watch....

All of the Tamaranian ships are pivoting about and facing an open patch of empty space to the left of the grand cluster of Gordanian vessels. In one accord, the cannons of the battleships charge and focus a huge stream of energy. A sphere of emerald destruction forms. Pinpricks of light like a million dancing starbolts swarm around the growing blob of chaos. Then—in one brilliant and blinding flash—a plasma stream of green warbles out past the first line of Gordanian dreadnoughts and explodes with a mile-wide splash. Streams of green bolts shatter outward at hundreds of angles. In quick succession, dark silhouettes are pierced by the emerald light. Soon, invisible Gordanian battleships and troop carriers appear where they were once cloaked.

Katma lets out a cheer.

I smile.

The data has been sent through.........

FLASH!!!

Every Tamaranian ship fires at will.

Miniature fighters swarm through en masse and concentrate their laser fire.

Huge gun stations on the planet send ion blasts up through the atmosphere and into the fresh formation of victim vessels.

The Gordanian shields are useless to the energy frequency being matched by the incoming charges. Huge pulses of plasma sail into the metal hull, producing fireball explosions that shatter the floating structures to bits.

FLASH!!!! FLASH!!! FLASH!!! FLASH!!!

Gordanian vessels start rupturing from the inside out. The smaller ones explode immediately. The larger ones crumble and collapse into each other.

The Tamaranian war vessels continue pelting the invasion fleet...burning it into space dust.

Gordanian fighters and dropships immediately retreat. Or at least they try to. Tamaranian fighters come around and blast the small craft into ash. Sprays of fire vomit back and forth across space and dissipate into the cold expanse forever.

"Hopefully your Starfire isn't on one of those ships......," Katma somberly states out loud.

I gulp and nod.

'Found her!!'

My heart skips a beat.

"Where, Minnae?!?!"

'On the Gordanian Flagship of all p-places!! It's the only logical place for that person to have kidnapped her too!'

"But are you sure Koriand'r is there?!?!"

'Positive, Captain!! But you and Mr. Noir don't have much time!! I sense many souls perishing! Quickly! It is horrible!'

"Yeah I know. Maybe the two of us can subtract one of the losses. Over and out." Katma glances back at me. "We're going in!!" She points at a huge, hulking Gordanian ship. A big, black-green thing of mechanical, jagged fury. It looks twice as mean and threatening as the reptilian bloodlusters that pilot it.

I take a deep breath and nod to the Green Lantern out the porthole.

SWOOOOOOOOOOOSH!!!!

Katma drags me along in a speeding, swishing, spiraling path through space. We zip in and around criss-crossing streams of lasers and ion blasts. We meander around fighter formations and exploding dropships. At one point, we trail along the aft side of an exploding Gordanian dreadnought and zoom off before its flaming shrapnel could engulf us upon spreading.

Finally we angle along the retreating Gordanian front and speed towards the hulking frame of the Flagship. Bright specks that I assume from my position to be windows stretch before us.

"I'm taking you in, Noir!!! The only way to do this quick is to let you go in alone!! I've studied Gordanian architecture, and I'm pretty sure I can take you to where you can access any part of the ship that Minnae directs!! But you're gonna have only a spare few seconds to do it!!"

I raise an eyebrow.

She glances back at me momentarily through the porthole. "You'll understand it when you get there!!"

I nod. I shrug.

I take a deep breath and clench my fists.

SWOOOOOOOSH!!!!

She streaks us straight towards the hull of the ship.

SWOOOOOOOOOSH!!!

Closer.

SWOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!!!!

Closer.

I bite my lip and sweatdrop when I realize that she's not stopping.

In fact.....

"RAAAAUGH!!!" she yells and literally flings my pod forward like a lifeless, slingshot rock.

My black eyes bulge.

I sail straight towards a wide, stretching window. Rushing Gordanians on the deck inside peer out...see my incoming missile of a space pod...and hiss mutely in horror.

I brace myself as I see my own reflection---

T-Minus: Thirty-three minutes.

Location: Gordanian Flagship – Outer Walkway

SMASH!!!!!!!!!!

A green pulse of energy shoves me forward as the glass shatters.

SWOOOOOOOOSH!!!!!!!!

My pod shakes and vibrates from all the air pushing out into the vacuum of space.

The Green Lantern energy alone manages to push me against the rush of air and debris and Gordanian bodies. I plunge towards the far side of the room.

SCRAAAAAAAAAAPE!!!!!!

Sparks fly as my pod spins around, metal grinding against metal.

CLANK!!!

I end with a jolt.

My body bounces in the pod.

I grit my teeth and shake my head.

I look out the port.

The pod is facing directly outwards through the window I had just smashed through....only the glass has been replaced by a green shield of translucent energy. With a last bit of strength, Katma Tui hovers outside...extending her ring finger and forming a band of emerald fury to seal in enough air for me to hop out and do my job.

I exhale.

CLANK!!! My fist slams over a button.

HISSSSS!!! The door unseals.

SMASH!!! I kick my way out. I hop onto the floor. I look around, panting.

A straining Katma points with one hand towards the right side of the room.

I twirl and look in that direction.

An emergency seal is slowly closing over the doors to an elevator as a red light blinks and a siren wails.

I salute her before rushing over, blurring, and teleporting into smoke form to slide in just as the doors close----

T-Minus: Thirty-two minutes.

Location: Gordanian Flagship – Elevator Lift

CLANG!!!!!!

The seal closes outside the lift.

SWOOOOSH!!

I solidify and slam into the wall of the tiny chamber with a grunt.

THWUMP!!!

I land on the ground, panting.

I'm sealed in...safe...

I hobble up to my feet.

Minnae?!?! Minnae, are you there?!

'I hear you, Mr. Noir!'

I'm in!!

'Thank goodness!'

Where do I go to find Koriand'r?!?!

'First off, have you seen Lidikins recently---?!'

PRINCESS METHARSIA!!!

'A-Alright!! I am most sorry!! Ahem......somewhere.........um......'above' you......'

Above me??

'You're far away in space. I cannot be more specific.'

I quickly look all around beside the door.

I find the controls.

Ugly Gordanian text splash across the buttons.

But I distinctly see an arrow 'up' and an arrow 'down'.

I guess no matter where you are from the universe, people know where to point......

'Huh??'

How 'above me' is Koriand'r?? Like, in regards to the rest of the ship??

'The summit...it's safe to say!'

Then that must be the bridge. I'm going.

CLICK!!!

I jam my fist over the button.

HUMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!

The elevator lift vibrates as I ascend.

I pant.

RUMMMMBLE!!!

The ship shakes as Tamaranian cannonfire blasts it from the outside.

I grip onto the wall and steady myself, gritting my teeth.

'Mr. Noir......that Flagship is a strong vessel. But its shields are no longer impervious to Tamaranian fire. You too will be victim to the impending destruction!! Have you a plan to return safely with your young friend?!'

I dunno.........

CHHHHING!!!!

Guess I'll have to make an escape route.........

I hold Myrkblade with my right hand. Trying to breathe steadily. Trying to meditate.

First thing's first......I've got some incubus ass to kick.

'But......c-can an Angel Spear truly kill a Demon?!?! I do not believe the Being briefed us on that!!'

We weren't briefed on a lot of things, Your Highness......

I pant.

I look at the time on my Angel Spears bracelet....

T-Minus: Thirty minutes.

Location: Gordanian Flagship – Top Corridor

Ding!!

"HRESSHA??"

Three Gordanians turn around from where they patrol a long, fully-windowed walkway leading towards the bridge on the far-side of the Flagship. The trio walks over to the slowly opening doors of a dark elevator.

It's empty on the inside.

"????????" one reptile scratches its head. A beat. It looks at the others.

"..........."

"............"

SLASH!!!!!!

The first one's head flies off.

SLASH!!!!!!!

The second loses its throat.

SLASH!!!!!!!

The third is impaled by an invisible blade and thrown against the nearby window with a splash of purple.

SPLAT!!!

All three groan....dead.

In a falling curtain of smoke, I materialize from stealth mode in front of the elevator.......panting.

I twirl Myrkblade to shake off the blood and blur down the walkway.

I run past pane after pane of glass windows through which the explosive final moments of the battle can be seen at multiple degrees around the top of the ship. Stars twinkle in the distance, and the green sphere that is Tamaran looms bright and majestic with the shadow of its rotation eating the side of the planet.

Reptilian figures on jetpacks spot from a distance and fly my way with laser spears armed.

"HRESSSSHA!!!!'

"HRESSH!!!"

ZAAAP!!! ZAP!!! ZAP!!!!

I grit my teeth. I slash Myrkblade in front of me while sprinting.

SWOOOSH-CLANG!! CL-CLANG!!!!

I deflect the blue lasers. I leap. I meet the dive of the first Gordanian and slice Myrkblade halfway down his cranium.

CRUNCH!!!

I vault off whatever's left of his plummeting carcass, flip, and spin like a helicopter with a horizontal slash meeting the next two jetpackers.

SL-SLASH!!!!

An arm and a leg fly off....from different hosts.

The reptiles shriek and fall to the floor in purple streaks, clutching their stubs.

I land in a crouch.

RUMMMMMBLE!!!!

The ship shakes again. The lights inside flicker and the windows rattle.

I pant.

SWOOOOSH!!

I blur forwards.

The door to the bridge appears closer and closer.

There're three things lastly in my way.

Two Gordanian grunts....and a Rook leashed between them. Guarding the door.

"HRESSSSHA!!!!" the Rook rears its arms and shrieks.

I grit my teeth.

I pulse murk through my limbs.

I blur faster and faster and faster andfasterandfasterandfasterfasterfasterfaster---

ZAAAP!!! ZAP!!!! The grunts fire at me with free hands.

CLANG!!!

I deflect a laser into the left reptile's skull.

CLANG!!

The second into the right's leg.

Both fall down.

The Rook growls and charges me.

STOMP!!! STOMP!!! STOMP!!!

I grit the last of my teeth that hasn't morphed into smoke form.

Try stopping the wind, asshole...

"HRESSSSSSSSHAAAA!!!!!"

I blur..............through him.

SLASSSSSSSH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I solidify behind his back in an upswing.

I inhale lungs back into my lungs. I feel warm liquid trickle down my forehead....arms...legs. I glance myself and see that I'm covered with purple blood.

I turn around and realize why...

What was once a flesh and blood reptile beast has suddenly become the ship's new.......wall paper.

I bite my lip, turn around, and approach the Bridge doors.

I don't even want to know how I did that.........

T-Minus: Twenty-eight minutes.

Location: Gordanian Flagship – Bridge

SLAM!!!!!!

The doors fly open.

I stomp through, twirling Myrkblade into a fighting position.

Glaring through my helmet's visor.

The bridge is like the inside of a huge metal monster's ribcage. A thick, metal walkway stretches from the doors to the very end. Pits on either side of the walkway serve as the piloting and system stations. The ceiling is comprised of slabs of glass windows looking out onto the firecracker space battle.

Small, reptilian underlings turn around and face me from the pits. They're unarmed...mere bridge crew. They hiss and shiver in fright. Novices of battle.

I glare across them....for none of them are whom I'm looking for.

'Right in front of you, Mr. Noir......'

I follow Minnae's advice.

I look straight ahead.

My lips apart.

His dark figure is facing away from me. With a shuffling of a cloak, he turns around. His pale mask the same as before. His hands planted on the shoulders of a trembling Koriand'r standing in front of him.

A Gordanian crew member reaches for a pistol of sorts sitting on a console.

The Citadelian....Demon....Whatever raises a finger and shakes it.

The Gordanian hesitates.

The pale mask faces me at an angle.

"So......you followed through. How like a Titan....."

"Menlay'm friel...," Koriand'r murmurs with a trembling lip. She looks at me in concern. Wishing me out of this situation. This danger. "Henlakka kiel fennsa'm de X'Hal...."

The Demon wrenches her shoulder. Black smoke oozes down.

She flinches in pain.

I grit my teeth and step forward.

"Hold it!!" he shouts.

I stop in place.

The ship rumbles beneath us. Explosions outside illuminate the distant shadows of our forms.

His voice hisses through, amused. "I know that she will live, Noir. I brought you up here with full confidence that—someway or somehow—you will save her life. Do you know how I know that??"

I stare....fuming.

"Because I will face her in the future...a future that is in the past. At least...yours and mines past."

I raised a confused eyebrow.

"Heheheh...time is such a worthless illusion. And yet we let it devour us. We let it consume us from the inside out. But I....I know that time is a blindness. I will die some day. Yes. But I will perform many feats of destruction and power before that. And in so doing—in such imperviousness to the dynamic fluctuations and whim of fate—I have strength. Starfire will defeat me someday. But I shall also defeat her and the entire Titans in revenge. But you......you.....Noir...."

He stretches a hand out and points at me with smoking hatred.

"You will try your best to be the ruination of me. And I will hate you for it!! I know...because I already met you. Not by the hands of Angel Spears or Demon Spears...but by my own dance around the columns of Time itself!! You would do your very best to get in my way!! And I want to make you pay for it!! I want to make you suffer!! For right now...you and I.....hehehehe...we are not the same persons!! We are elements of Life and Death personified!! Maybe we'll die!! Maybe we won't!! Maybe we have already died a few thousand times but don't realize it!! Right now, I have the opportunity---with the extraordinary power granted me by Death and its Demonic agents—to end you when I could never end you before!! Not in the past!! Not in the present! Not in the future!! But here...on this ship...in this nightmare!!! Ha ha ha ha!!"

With that cackled, he reaches a hand up and takes off his mask.

I narrow my black eyes.

The facial barrier comes off.

I blink a few times....then a random memory strikes me. A memory from scanning over the rogues gallery of the Titans Tower Mainframe. Of all the dozens of faces of all the dozens of fiends I had never had the chance to meet....

Thus, it's understood how I'm completely baffled as I look at the man and mouth with total confusion: 'Warp?!?!'

He is a lot younger than the picture I've seen of him. But he still has the same smug grin. The same sharp mustache. The same sadistic grin. He is the perfect, youthful, sporting image of the time-jumping villain I had so often read about.

But I had never met him!!

I let out a breath.

My heart beats.

Or maybe.........I-I just haven't met him yet.........

"Is it destiny or simple irony that brings us here, Noir?!?!" Warp states in his natural voice. Smoke dances out of his eyes. Something the Warp that the Titans met never had. "Quintillions upon quintillions of earth years pass between both ends of the expanding and collapsing universe. And you and I have been brought together by the powers of Death and Life to fight here. To shed blood for the most biological incantation of Morals that there'll ever be!! Yes....this is my chance. This is my chance to wreak revenge on you!!" He fumes and he shakes, smoke billowing around him in a way for me to be envious of. "I shall not let you get away with ruining the Gaia Sphere!!! You shall rue the day you EVER got in the way of the Sons of Apokolips!!!!"

I make a face.

What the Hell is he rambling about?!?!?!

He waves his arms dramatically and bellows: "Revenge!!! Revenge down the annals of time!! Revenge beyond the barriers of mortality!! Revenge beyo---"

SWOOOOOSH--SMACK!!!!!! I rush over and slam the broadside of Myrkblade hard across his skull.

"OOF!!!" He falls to the ground. THWUMP!!!!!

Shut up......

Panting, I spin about and grab Koriand'r. I start to run with her towards the Bridge doors---

FLASH!!!!!

A curtain of icy pain splashes against my back.

I let out a silent howl and barrel across the floor.

WHUMP!!!!

Koriand'r shrieks, a hand over her mouth.

I lie on the ground...streams of smoke drifting off me.

I wince in pain and get up...facing an irate, smoke-encircled Warp across the way.

"That wasn't very NICE!!!!" the human villain extends his hand out. Imbued with Demon Spear power, he sends a swirling tentacle of smoke at me.

I stand up straight, grit my teeth, pulse forth a wave of murk through my limbs, and raise Myrkblade just in time to contact the incoming trail.

FLASH!!!!!!

The whole Bridge shakes as the lights flicker.

Warp applies more and more dark force.

I struggle to hold the obsidian mist back with my own murk.

My black eyes dance.

His dance as well. But he's also laughing. And he's also wincing.

Koriand'r gasps.

I sweat and stumble backwards. My arms holding up Myrkblade start to quiver.

Just like before...the Demonic power is sucking away at Construction. Only Destruction remains...and it shatters my blance in two.

FLASH!!!!

"!!!!!"

I fly back ten feet and land with my back against a console.

CLANG!!!!

I wince in pain.

"Ha ha ha ha ha!!!!" Warp laughs and raises his hands with smoking tendrils.

The ship shakes beneath us. RUMMMMBLE!!!

Panting, I glance at my bracelet.

T-Minus: Twenty-one minutes.

Warp marches across the metal platform towards me. Grinning menacingly. "How does it feel, Noir?!?! Oh....you can't possibly know, can you?!?! We haven't met yet!! Well allow me to introduce myself!! I am called 'Legion'...for I am all over your PATHETIC HIDE!!!!"

FLASSSSSSSSH!!!!!

I gasp and hold out Myrkblade at the last second.

FLASSSSSH!!!!!!

I part the incoming smoke.

I struggle to maintain the shielding that keeps his Demon power from eating me alive.

As the tendrils of obsidian splash against my limbs, I envision dark alleyways. Maggots. The four red eyes of Trigon. Blood gurgling out of Slade's mask. Dagger falling into an eternal abyss. Bleeding Gordanians. Agonized screams. The bellowing pain of billions upon billions upon billions of civilizations being ripped out of the mortal coil all in a simultaneous instance all over the universe and everywhere in between.

I start sweating.

Gasping for air that I already have.

Trembling.

Shivers run up my metal hand and match the warbling insanity that is Warp's Demonic laughter.

"Suffffffer!!! Suffffffffffer, Noir!!! Suffer and know what true mortality is!!" Warp's eyes dance darkly as he continues the obsidian punishment from afar. "Tell me what Death truly is!! Is Death an instant?? Or is it an agonizing Eternity?!?! I think your days of being an Angel Spear has lost its wings!!!"

Angel Spear.........

I pant.

The smoking punishment creeps closer to my chest.

My heart feels icy fingers gripping it.

Death incarnate...hissing down my brain with snake tongues and spider legs.

Angel Spear............

'Fear not, Jordan......'

I gasp.

My black eyes pop open wide under my helmet.

M-Minnae??

'Hehehe......no.........'

My mouth hangs open.

Things ooze into slow motion.

It no longer matters that a Titan villain in Demon form is drowning me in Death smoke. I don't recognize the beady Gordanian eyes watching me in mix shock and horror. I look past Koriand'r's trembling, worried body. I look beyond the windows. Beyond the exploding and burning ships. Beyond the blood-stained planet of Tamaran. I look through the darkness and see a green field. And I see three figures with swords exercising in perfect coordination. And one of them has a white blade. And blue eyes. And angelic blue hair.

Angelic......

She smiles.

Ana............

'You always blew things out of proportion, Jordan.'

I......I am forgetting something......

'Only natural. You've spent the last few years of your life forgetting.........'

I gulp.

The world spins into her smile.

I......I have the power......to defeat this madman......

'That you do.'

How could I be so stupid?

'Hehehe...so silly. Relax, Jordan. Some angels never leave you......'

I sigh.

The edge of my black eyes water.

There is almost even a smile to my lips.

Some......S-Some angels are the only t-true angels......

And she fades away....and in her place I see the Angel Spears bracelet. I've been looking at it. And I know what to do.

SLASH!!!!!!

Time resumes.

With a last breath of my own strength, I shove against the black stream of smoke.

Warp hobbles back. "Yaaugh!!" He snarls and clenches his fists. "How badly do you want to die---!!!!" he suddenly gasps.

I have jumped to my feet....and now I'm fingering my bracelet.

Fingering the red button.

"Your....your essence!!!" Warp sweats visibly.

The man stumbles backwards, shaking.

The Gordanians appear uneasy.

Koriand'r looks back and forth. Curious.

"You....Y-You haven't used it yet?!?!" he stammers. "Six whole hours of Hell down on that battle-strewn planet and NOT ONCE did you press that button?!?!"

I glare at him.

Not all of us have the time to be cowards......'old nemesis'......

CLICK!!!!

Something happens.

My insides are on fire.

Warp turns white as a ghost. His Demon smoke fades away. "No!! Th-The Fire!!!"

The Fire......

My black eyes clench closed. I clutch my head through my helmet. I flinch. My hairs stand on end. My metal left hand glows red hot. Then my fingernails. Then my own human skin.

The Gordanians hiss in utter panic.

Koriand'r backs off, safely.

Warp stands ....

I tilt my head up. My mouth opens wide.

Crkkkk.....

A hairline fracture forms in my helmet's visor.

Crkkkkkk!!

Another.

CRACK!!!!!!

My visor shatters completely.

I gasp.

My eyes pop open...and white flames are licking out.

FLASH!!!!!!!!!

My body jerks back as a sphere of dancing flame forms naturally around me. Brightening the Bridge tenfold. SLIIIIIINK!!!! SLIIIIIIINK!!! Huge rods shoot out from the right side of my back. SLIIIIIIIIINK!!!! SLIIIII-IIIIINK!!! Rods shoot out from the left side. CL-CLANG!!!!! The rods expand into branches of smaller, more slender rods. CL-CLANG!!! On both sides. CL-CL-CL-CL-CLANG!!!! CLANG!!! FWUMP!!!!! Suddenly, huge 'wings' have grown magically from my shoulders....forming skeletal fibers like the fossil of a long-dead bird. They are neither metal nor bone. They are nothing but Might itself. PHWOOOOOOOMB!!!!! 'Feathers' of flame spout out from the skeletal wing frames. FWOOOOSH!!!!! Columns of fire extend from my legs and act as giant feet. I stand ten feet taller than the simple, agile Terran I once was. A halo of burning plasma rips into the air and overs above my head. And when I glare down at the Demon, my once-black eyes dance a ferocious furnace of white and red and yellow while Myrkblade is enveloped in flickering heat.

STOMP!!!!!

The metal platform melts in a crater from the landing of my 'foot' as I march towards the Demonized villain.

STOMP!!!!

Titanium hisses in the air as I move closer.

"HRESSHAA!!! HRESSHAA-AAAA!!!" the Gordanians scream pathetically in horror.

I snarl and merely 'flex' my wings.

SWOOOOOOOSH!!!!

The flaming limbs smack the Gordanians into melted goo.

SWOOOOOOOSH!!!

Smoldering carcasses of reptilian waste litter the far corners of the bridge.

STOMP!!!!!

I leer over Warp like a huge, Eternal Phoenix and raise my sword.

"RAAAAAAAAAAUGH!!!!" He shouts and flings two arms of Demon smoke up at me. FWOOOOOOOOSH!!!!

FLASH!!!!!!!

The Powers of Light and Death meet in the center of the Bridge.

Koriand'r covers her eyes.

Flame and smoke dance together.

I press my flaming wings down onto him.

He aims his arms up at me.

I glare.

He strains.

A few seconds of infernal heat...then....

"UGH!!!" he stumbles back.

FLASH!!!!

I extend my wings back, take a flaming breath, and 'flap' them forward.

PHWOOOOOOMB!!!!!!

A wave of righteous fire sails at him like a burning wall.

He weakly tries to shield himself.

WHAM!!!!

He falls back, smoking. His cloak melts into ashes. He gasps for air. His eyes flickering black and back to normal again.

STOMP!!! STOMP!!! STOMP!!!

I charge over, swing my body, and bitch-slap him with a wing full of fire-spouting metal.

THWAP!!!!!

His body ragdolls across the bridge, down into a pit, and smashes through a console.

CRUNCH!!!!

He wheezes for breath.

I jump.

STOMPPPPPP!!!!!

I land before him.

He wheezes and spits out blood. He looks up at me...leering. "You....were lucky....your Angel Spear Essence.....you PRESERVED IT, YOU STUPID HERO!!!!"

GRIP!!!!!

I wrap the edge of my left wing around Warp's neck and lift him up. The hot-wing-structure melts his skin into steam as I hold him mercilessly before me.

"Nothing you can ever do....," he wheezes through the pain, "....will undo the blood and death I have caused by doing my part for Death today!!! Nothing you can do...will take back the lives I HAVE TAKEN!!!!"

With my human arm, I raise Myrkblade.

Stole the words from my mouth, pal......

He grins with whatever gall he has left. "The Demon inside of me CURSES YOU, NOIR!!!!" his face unnaturally stretches as black fangs sink out from his lips.

Okay...that's it...

SLASSSSSH!!!!

I rip straight up his abdomen, up his torso, and up through the top of his head with my sword.

"RKKKKKKK!!!!!!!" smoke pours out of him.

My 'wings' go to work. They grip either side of his carcass and pullllllll.

RIIIIIIIIIIIIIP!!!!!!!

There is no blood underneath. No guts. Nothing left that's remotely human. Inside of the shell of the Demon Spear is a bodily shape of pure obsidian. And as I rip the skin apart, the smoking figure in my grasp jabs a screaming 'skull' at me.

"SKREEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!" The murk skull howls like a banshee and its eyes flash a hypnotic, ghostly pale. "SKREEEEEE-EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!"

I let out a long, silent scream and plunge the burning form of Myrkblade into the Demon Spear's chest.

FLASH!!!!!!!!

The skull fades away. The smoking body fades away. A dancing plume quivers between my flaming wings...and is gone.

I've killed a Demon Spear......

I pant....pant....pant....

Is it hot in here or is it just me?

RUMMMMMMBLE!!!!!!!!

I grit my teeth as the whole ship shakes.

A red alarm flashes at the top of the bridge.

Ion blasts from the Tamaranian ships outside can be seen pelting the Flagship's hull through the windows. I feel explosions rocking through the vessel. I know this thing's about to blow.

Eyes flaming, I turn with a flap of my wings and look at Koriand'r.

The girl wrings her hand. She looks at me...trembling. And yet—in the fact that she's managing the courage to 'look' at me—I know that there is still the trust. The understanding.

The aura......

RUMMMMBLE!!!!

"Eeek!! De X'Hal!!!"

I pant.

I look out the front of the Bridge. Down at Tamaran.

A beat.

I look at the young Starfire.

".........."

STOMP!! STOMP!!! STOMP!!

I rush over on Angel Legs.

CHIIIING!!!

I sheathe the flaming sword.

I scoop her up.

I hug her gasping body close to my chest.

I turn around.

I take a heated breath.

I run down the long end of the Bridge's walkway.

STOMP!! STOMP!!!! STOMP!!!!

Towards the windows....

STOMP!!! STOMP!!!

The nose of the ship....

STOMP!!!

I leap......

0
T-Minus: Eleven minutes.

Location: Orbit of Tamaran

SMASH!!!!!!!!

I sail out into the cold emptiness of space.

My flaming wings encircle Starfire and me.

The flames create a supernatural cocoon around us. Resisting the vacuum. Making breathing a pointless thing. Preserving us....preserving her......

SWOOOOOOOSH!!!

I hug the girl close to me as we fly away from the Flagship.

Koriand'r watches breathlessly over my flaming shoulder.

The Flagship flashes heavily in two spots....three....then....

KABOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!!!!!

The core erupts. The hull explodes outward in all directions. Flaming hulks of titanium sail our way. A blast wave of fire meets my shield of flame. We're propelled forward.

Koriand'r looks the other way. She bites her lip and clutches hard to me.

We sail directly down towards Tamaran.

Where the bright green of day meets the dull emerald of night.

Pieces of debris stream past us.

They start to catch fire.

The atmospheric layer approaches.

We hold onto each other closer.

I clench my flaming eyes close.

My face tense.

My teeth clenched....

FW-FW-FW-FW-FW-FWOOOOOOOOM!!!!

Fire splashes all around us from the friction.

Re-entry.

Like a burning comet, we trail a mile-long tail of plasma and heated glass.

Down...down...down into the sphere of the planet.

T-Minus: Eight minutes.

Location: Tamaran – Upper Atmosphere

FWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!!!!!

Only my angelic wings alone protect the two of us from burning.

My hands grip into her red hair.

She buries her head into my chest.

I pant....I think about the Tower....I think about my friends....I think about....

FWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!!!!!!

T-Minus: Five minutes.

Location: Tamaran – Troposphere

The clouds burst into steam from our plummeting.

A huge valley on the edge of a war-torn City appears beneath us.

Washed green and red from sunlight.

Already, a few hulking pieces of the Flagship zoom ahead of us and impact the ground. Forming freckles of craters against the face of the planet.

Koriand'r mumbles something softly.

I can't hear her.

I'm spreading my swings.

FWOOOOOOM!!!!!!!!!

Ashes and embers fly as the two skeletons fan out on either side of me.

Our descent slows dramatically.

My whole body strains.

I usher us down slowly....slowly...

Koriand'r looks at my shut-eyes the entire time....

T-Minus: One minute.

Location: Tamaran – Plain

Thwump!

We land gently in the center of the craters.

I let go of Koriand'r.

She stumbles backwards...standing on trembling legs.

I hunch over....shiver....strain....and let out a huge breath.

TH-THUMP!!! My helmet rolls off and rolls on the ground till it stops against Koriand'r's foot. Tap!

She glances down at the helmet. She looks back at me.

The wristband on my right arm flashes....beeps....

And.....

The fiery feathers burn out.

FHSSSSS!!!!

The skeletal branches fall off limply...one by one.

CLANG!!!! CLACK!!! CL-CLACK!! CLANG!!!

Finally, the two support wing structures detach cleanly from my back.

THWANG!!!! CLANG!!!!

My torso and black tank-top are smoking. But my skin is unharmed.

I pant.

I look up.

I open my eyes.

A tiny flame flickers once...twice...and is gone.

My optics are black again. And they are open.

And Koriand'r sees them.

".........," I blink.

".........." she stares. She leans her cute head to the side.

"..........' I gulp.

I hear voices.

I look over her shoulder.

She turns around and looks.

A hovercraft full of concerned Tamaranian soldiers spot the little girl from the far side of the City and are currently speeding over to investigate and help out.

Beep! Beep! Beep!

I look down at my wristband.

T-Minus: Zero.....Zero....Zero....

FLASH!!!!!!!

Koriand'r turns and looks at me again.

Her lips part.

For I am gone.......

A cold sensation.

I opened my naked black eyes.

I blinked.

Lobo, Minnae Metharsia, and Katma Tui looked at me from across the circular room of cold metal.

"Sanctuary.....," Katma quietly remarked.

"Mr. Noir!!" Minnae clasped her pretty hands together and worriedly asked. "D-Did you succeed?!?!"

I sighed. I rubbed the bridge of my nose tiredly.

"Did you manage to save your friend?!?!"

I looked over at her with thin black eyes.

A beat.

I smiled. I nodded.

Minnae beamed happily. "Hooraaay!!! Hehehehe!! It was a victory, yes??"

"It sure as Hell better be!!" Lobo grumbled. He punched his fist. "I want my MOOLAH!!!"

FL-FLASH!!!!

The shimmering Being appeared before us. It gestured nonchalantly with a hand as if six hours hadn't really passed. "Yes....it was a Victory. Death claimed many victims that day. But the War was won by Life. Angel Spears...you have succeeded in maintaining the peace and the prosperity of the Vegan Quadrant. As it was destined for you to do."

"Wait a minute....," Katma held up a finger. "You mean to tell us that you knew about the outcome all along??"

"Naturally," the Being nodded. "Was that not the impression we made??"

Katma helplessly chuckled. "Whatever. I just do my job. Heheheheh."

As if choreographed, there was an undeniable....shared sigh felt by the entirety of us. It was as if all four of us suddenly felt then and there the reality of our actions sink in.

We had become heroes.

And Lobo....

"Well great!!! Then give me the fraggin' reward promised of me!!" he smirked with hungry red eyes. "I think a little recompense is in order!! Being an omnipotent fruitcake, surely you can afford me a life's fortune or two!!"

There was an uncomfortable pause of silence that—seemingly—only the other three of us took notice of. Otherwise, Lobo didn't argue as the Being hesitantly faced him and nodded. "Yes....we have your reward waiting for you. In little time, you shall be reaping it, Mr. Lobo."

"HA!! About time!!" the undead mercenary did a little jig. "Not that I didn't enjoy crushing so many reptilian heads....I did!! It's just that....well...even for a guy who...can't die....a day spent....without being.......p-paid.....can be a waste..... and..... even.... a..... creep............ l-like..... me..... understands.... th-that.... a waste.... is.... er.... wasteful...and.... I....... errrrrghh...." Gradually, Lobo became intoxicated with slumber. His red eyes thinned and—in mid speech—he slumped over and was out like a light. In fact, he was even snoring.

And it didn't take a genius for the three of us to know that the Being was responsible for that.

"......," Katma stared silently at the mercenary. She looked up at the Being. "There is no reward for what he has done....for what any of us has done.......is there?"

Minnae and I were silent.

"No....there is not," the Being shook its head. "The only reward for your heroism today is the act of heroism itself. You have all saved countless of billions of lives. In established concordance with the Prime Directive of Chrono Intervention...we must return you back to your homes and timelines without any added interference in your lifestyles."

Katma bore a weary grin. "That means....in many contexts, doesn't it??"

The Being somberly nodded. "None of you four must be allowed to remember what has transpired here. Sadly...that includes the Act you have done. It could horrendously damage the rest of History."

Katma sighed. "I understand completely." She hung her head. "As a Green Lantern....I understand that the cost of the few is necessary for the needs of the many. Egotism shouldn't play a part." She looked across at Minnae and I, grinning softly. It was the most feminine I had seen her. "Being a hero....it's not always a big-headed job."

Minnae and I both nodded.

"I am more than pleased to have undergone all of this...celebration or no celebration....," Minnae held her hands together and spoke, "....knowing that I have blessed so many lives. That so many families shall live on thanks to the part that I have played."

"Lobo....he cannot understand that....unfortunately....," the Being gestured.

Minnae looked my way. "Mr. Noir....you....y-you are in agreement?"

A beat.

I sighed and slowly nodded with a weak smile.

Believe it not......I'm the type to welcome mind-erasing whenever I can......

She smiled back at me.

'Somehow......I believe that, Mr. Noir......'

"We shall be returning you shortly......," the Being said...its image flickering. "And though you will not remember what has happened here....we shall forever be grateful. We shall pass on your legacy in stone here at the Great Implosion." A wave of the hand....and.....

Magically, statues formed in the circular wall around us...joining many that we had never truly noticed before...as if they too had disappeared. Or maybe all of these effigies had always been there. As well as all the Angel Spears were in one place and every place at the same time. The protectors of Life and Heroism across the entire Universe and Time.

The Being gestured from one stone likeness to the next as it spoke. "Katma Tui....Angel Spear One....Green Lantern....leader of the mission to save Tamaran from Gordanian defilement. Your strength and command was the glue that held not only the team together...but countless of innocent lives. Lobo....Angel Spear Two....merciless bounty hunter....born with the paradoxical impulse to protect his own honor....his forward-mindedness stared down the face of Death without fear and assisted the team in the spearhead operation. Princess Minnae Metharsia....Angel Spear Three....telepath and negotiator. On countless occasions did your optimism, compassion, and secret strength preserve the spirit of the operation. Noir.....Angel Spear Four.....Teen Titan....your insatiable quench for preserving friendship forced you to cross miles and fight down countless enemies—even a Demon himself—to preserve the life of one dear to you."

The Being turned and looked our way.

"The essence of an Angel....it is love for Life. All four of you—meaning to or not—possess this nature. And for that, you were chosen. And for that....you were victorious."

I smirked.

Minnae curtsied.

Lobo snored.

Katma saluted.

"We wish you serenity and long-life in your own worlds and your own time....."

The Being faded away.

Katma took a deep breath. "Well....I'd say it's been fun.....but I've got a migraine the size of a New God's helmet." She looked my way. She stared....

"????" I looked at her.

"Ya know....you're not half bad, kid," she smiled. "I know that we're about to lose our memories and all.....but anyhow, if you're ever hanging around during an off day on Terra Firma....pay a visit to John Stewart for me."

I raised an eyebrow.

"Tutor of mine," she winked.

I smirked....shrugging.

"I never did find Lidikins....," Minnae blushed. "Oh well! I suppose she'll be back home waiting for me at the palace!! Hehehehe!!"

Katma and I sweatdropped.

"Yeah.....sure thing, Y-Your Highness."

"It's been a pleasure serving with you, Captain."

"I'm sure I'll return the favor," Katma shrugged. A beat. "Er.....if I haven't already."

"Hehehe!" Minnae smiled. She looked at me. "You know....she's very pretty, Mr. Noir."

I lean my head to the side....a question mark over my head.

"The girl.....the one with blue eyes.....in your head....."

My jaw drops. A beat. I smile.

"You are..........loved deeply. Do you know that?"

I take a deep breath.

And as I feel icy waves wash over my mind like a cold broom against an organic sidewalk...

I close my black eyes and relax.

I know.........

"Noir??"

".........."

"Noir!! Yoo hoo!!" A shrill whistle. "Earth to Noir!!!"

I stumbled forward.

I caught my balance.

I blinked.

Cyborg gave me a funny look. "S'up, dawg?? Where've you been?" He sat on the couch across the Main Room. The game he and Beast Boy were playing was on pause while the two turned in their seat to look back at me in front of the open elevator. Raven was in a corner....hovering......reading a book. Robin stood behind the kitchen counter, pouring himself some lemonade. Starfire sat on a stool next to him.

All eyes were on me.

"You deaf, man?? Ha ha ha!!"

I opened my lips.

I paused.

Where was I??

I blinked again.

I started to hand-sign an answer....but fumbled.

I.........I don't remember......

My black eyes traced the sides of my shades.

I.........was just walking in......from the elevator......

Meditating.........

I was meditating, duh!!

I hand-sign to him finally.

"Meditating?!?!" Cyborg made a face. "Wow....must have been pretty intense practice!!"

"Dude...even YOU'RE not that hardcore!!" the changeling cackled.

I simpered....blushing for some reason I didn't know.

"Where were you, Noir?" Robin asked.

I looked his way.

He gave me a look through his eyemask that was somewhere in between sternness and concern.

"I kept calling you and calling you through the communicator!! You were gone for nearly six hours! What's the deal??"

I fumbled. I scratched my head. I chuckled breathily and honestly shrugged.

"Time flies when you're meditating, huh?" the Boy Wonder asked.

I hesitantly nodded.

Sounds logical.........heh......I bet I honed in on my powers pretty good then......

"Next time...do us a little courtesy and respond??" Robin asked.

"Yeah!! Ha ha!!" Beast Boy laughed as he and Cyborg continued their Xbox game. "Who knows!! Noir could be stuck in the cellars again!!"

"HA HA HA!!!"

"Hehehehehe!!"

I folded my arms and frowned.

"Just give him a rest already.....," Raven droned...her nose in a book. "He's back now. Isn't that enough?"

"We're just pulling his leg, Rae," Cyborg said. "Come on, Noir! Sit down! Join us, man! I just rented this game today!"

"Yeah! And it rocks, dude!"

I smiled. I slowly walked forward.

Starfire the whole time had been watching everyone curiously. Listening in. As I passed, she suddenly stood up from the stool and placed a hand on my shoulder. "Noir.....are you.....doing well?"

"......," I stared at her. I raised an eyebrow above my shades.

"Your meditation....," she murmurs. Her face straight. "It was.....most strenuous?"

I shrugged....then nodded.

"And because of the meditation...you were gone for those whole six hours?"

I smiled...confused. I nodded again and patted her hand on my shoulder.

She smiled slightly. "J-Just curious. I-I suppose that I'll never understand just how....t-time consuming such practice may be."

I shrugged.

Neither did I......I guess......

I walked away from her and across the Main Room.

Starfire stared at me from behind.

A beat.

She turned and headed towards the elevator. "I shall be back soon, Robin. I just need to do something momentarily."

"Hurry back, Star!" Robin smiled. "I'm dying to hear more about you and your childhood stories of homecooking!"

She giggled cutely and entered the elevator...the doors closing behind her.

In the meantime, I sat on the couch beside Cyborg and Beast Boy.

I sighed and smiled.

"Comfy?" Raven asked without looking.

I stuck my tongue out at her.

"Awwww man!!!" Cyborg frowned. "That's so cheap!!"

"Not my fault you let me pick my own characters this time!!"

"Still, man....there should be a law against that!"

"Hehehe!!"

I smiled, leaned forward, and hand-signed: 'My turn next!'

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

SCHWISH!!!!

The door to Starfire's room closed behind her.

The Tamaranian girl took a deep breath.

She floated over towards the far corner where a blanket lay over something.

She gently removed the blanket.

Underneath the blanket was a trunk.

Slowly, Starfire opened the trunk and started rummaging and rummaging and rummaging....

And....

She paused.

She swallowed.

With gentle hands, Starfire pulled out an old, beat-up helmet. It was curved and brown, with a top piece of ribbed texture. Slash marks and burn marks and stains of purple crossed the crackling surface. But most noticeable of all was the missing visor...shattered off like broken glass where a soldier's eyes would have been guarded.

The redhead bit her lip. Green moisture formed around the corner of her optics. She sniffed once...twice....but finally smiled painfully as she hugged the helmet to her chest and sighed relaxingly forth....

"Thank you..........."