Hey everyone! I hope y'all are ready for yet more Teen Titanic awesomeness, because here's a new chapter! In this chapter, all that's left standing in the titans' way to rescuing Starfire is Cometbolt/Ph'yzzon. And he has zero intent of making it easy for them to save her. How shall our favorite teen heroes fare against him? Let's find out! Here's hoping you read, review, and enjoy!
A/N: But first, let me remind you all once more that I do not own Teen Titans or anything else DC-based. Get it? Got it? Good. Onward with the fic!
Chapter 14:
A Man Scorned
The titans leaped into the room at the top of the ramp. The sight of the imprisoned Starfire was all Robin needed to see. "Starfire!"
Starfire looked in her friends' direction, her green eyes widening in horror. "Friends! Get back! It's a trap!"
A jet of blue star bolt energy came flying towards the titans. Their eyes widened, and Raven hurriedly summoned a forcefield around herself and the boys just in time. After about a minute, the jet of star bolt fire faded away.
"You just have to make this difficult, don't you?"
Raven lowered the forcefield, and she and the boys looked to their left in time to see a tall Tamaranean male with long silvery white hair step out of the shadows, his green eyes venomously glaring, and a pair of blue star bolts around his wrists. "Then again, I am also both impressed and feeling grudgingly respectful towards you for making it this far. You may yet prove more worthy opponents to me then I was initially willing to give you vermin credit for."
"Who are you?" Robin asked.
"On Tamaran, I am called Ph'yzzon. But you may call me Cometbolt." He narrowed his eyes. "And you four are the earthlings who have replaced me in Starfire's mind as friends; and in your case," he pointed at Robin, "as a lover."
Robin raised his eyebrow. "Well boohoo to you then."
Cometbolt snarled, and placed his hand against his neck as if working out a crick. "I will not mince words. You four are going to die."
Beast Boy scoffed. "Well he's certainly straightforward."
"Shut up," said Cyborg.
"Why?" Robin asked. "Who are you to decide who gets to live and who gets to die?"
"It's a time of war. Surely you know how, in those times, the laws of life and death are far more relaxed then in times of peace." He let a wolf-like grin come on his face. "I will admit though, there is also a personal reason I want you lot dead."
"What's that?" Raven sarcastically asked.
"Like I said." He gestured at Starfire. "This person here? When we were children on Tamaran, we were friends, and also in love. But after the war between Tamaran and Gordania was over, you stole her from me. To add insult to injury, you've also kept her with you on Earth long enough to brainwash her into completely forgetting how truly happy she felt with me on Tamaran as opposed to the false happiness and love she believes herself to feel on Earth with such filthy troqs as yourselves. Not even returning to Tamaran of her own free will for that farce of a wedding was enough to remind her of the truth!"
"Because I already have what I want," Starfire hissed. "If you'd just accept that I'm telling the truth, you'd see how happy I already am and that they have not brainwashed me!"
"Shut up!" Cometbolt fired two beams of blue energy from his eyes at Starfire's head. The alien princess hurriedly ducked her head in time to avoid receiving a direct hit.
Robin stepped forward. "Hey!"
Cometbolt turned his head, forcing Robin to jump back in time to avoid the beams as they struck the floor right where he'd earlier stepped.
The white-haired Tamaranean shut off his eye beams, snarling and slavering like a dog. He pointed at Robin. "Koriand'r might have managed to delude herself through your brainwashing into believing that she's in love with you and even remotely cares about those other three pieces of filth standing behind you; not to mention that what she had for me was a mere crush of the schoolyard. But I know the truth even though she refuses to admit it!"
He gestured towards a small pillar that appeared to have two strange machines placed on top of it. "Once I've killed you four and allowed Kori a chance to lower her mind's defenses through grief over you, I shall use these machines to fix her so that she will finally remember what real love and happiness are . . . with me!"
All five of the titans glared at Cometbolt, Beast Boy even snarling like a wolf. Robin, however, was once again the first to speak. "Fix her? Fix her? What's that supposed to mean?!"
"He plans to erase my memory of you, and all my time outside of Tamaran, replace it with false memories of me staying on Tamaran with him, and leave me stuck with him forever as his mindless doll on Tamaran under Blackfire's rule!"
"A very ugly way to describe my plans," said Cometbolt. "But if I am to save you from throwing your life away with these insects any more then you already have, then yes, I have some very necessary evils to commit."
Beast Boy growled. "You son of a . . .!"
Cometbolt pointed his star bolt encased right hand at the changeling. "You stay right where you are!"
Raven lifted her hood, her hands and eyes now glowing black. "Why don't you make us?"
"Yeah," said Cyborg, his right arm converting into a sonic cannon. "You may accuse us of brainwashing Star. But what you've got in mind for her? That's the real brainwashing pal!"
"We're not doing anything you tell us to do you filthy degenerate," said Robin. He leaned backwards into a karate style battle ready position. "And we certainly aren't going to be killed by you either. We've already fought tougher, stronger, and crazier enemies than you and lived to tell the tale. If they couldn't take us out, then you sure as Hell can't do so either. And that, scum, is a fact."
Starfire smiled, and Cometbolt snarled.
"Fine," Cometbolt hissed. "You want me to get it over with? Very well then. I'll do exactly that!" He pointed both of his hands at the four titans and shot a jet of blue star bolt fire at them.
"Titans, go!" They jumped out of the way in different directions just in time for the blast to harmlessly char the floor area they'd been standing at into being covered with ash.
. . . . .
"We can't give up now," said Galfore as he and his soldiers continued firing their ships' blasters at the Umbrosian forces.
Things were unfolding harrowingly for the Tamaraneans and Gordanians. About a quarter of the entire combined army had been shot down and blown up by the Umbrosian forces. And even despite the countless smaller Umbrosian ships that had gotten blasted, more kept coming. And of course, all of the giant Umbrosian ships were still barely even remotely damaged, and were also responsible for the majority of the casualties amongst the Tamaraneans and Gordanians.
"Hard to port!" Yarboth yelled as he and his squadron were forced to hurriedly swoop away to the left to avoid getting engulfed by a burst of laser fire from one of the giant ship's mouth cannons.
"By Zog," said Garzvohg as he too narrowly avoided a blast from one of the giant enemy ships. "These giant ships are living nightmares."
"This is insanity," said Taryia as she swooped her ship left and right to avoid getting obliterated by a series of smaller blasts. She then had to dive her ship straight down to avoid getting hit by a giant blast. "At this rate, none of us will survive."
"We have to keep trying," said Karras, himself starting to pant and get exhausted from nonstop firing and dodging. "We just have to hold out."
"General," said Taryia. "We may not have enough forces left to hold out."
"I know Lieutenant," said Karras. "But by X'hal we have to try. We need to give Koriand'r and her friends more time."
Galfore and Greerak were similarly both unnerved at the possibility of death and defeat and resigned to how retreat and escape were out of the question.
"Koriand'r," said Galfore. "By X'hal I hope you and your friends are alright out there."
"Warbird," said Greerak. "You, your consort, and your friends have already done so much for us by now. More than my kind has deserved. Please, by Zog, don't fail us now."
. . . . .
Cometbolt hurled star bolt after star bolt at Robin, growling in annoyance as the boy wonder continued to run and jump out of the way with every blast.
"Stay still you darned dirty grimpork!"
"Sorry," Robin snarked. "I don't take requests." He threw a trio of flame disks at Cometbolt. The Tamaranean boy stumbled backwards from the resulting explosions. He snarled, and prepared to fire another salvo of star bolts.
"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!"
Cometbolt turned around in time to see Raven levitating behind him and sending a salvo of shadow orbs flying at him.
Mentally cursing, he used the very star bolts he'd initially been planning to throw Robin's way to blast the shadow orbs before they could reach him.
When both salvos were finally over, Cometbolt prepared to fire a star bolt jet at the sorceress . . . only to then be sent flying to the side by a burst of Cyborg's sonic cannon.
He slammed against a wall, groaned, and got back on his feet. He thrusted his right hand forward, sending a burst of star bolt fire rushing at Cyborg. Cyborg parried with another blast of his sonic cannon, resulting in the two blasts pushing against each other. As Cyborg and Cometbolt continued to have their blasts fight for dominance, the Tamaranean boy kept his focus so strongly placed on Cyborg that he failed to notice the green snow leopard rushing towards him from his right.
Beast Boy leaped at Cometbolt, roaring loudly. The Tamaranean had only seconds to widen his eyes at the sudden noise before the huge cat pounced on him and knocked him aside. He landed on his back, the green snow leopard leaning over him and snarling in his face.
But then Beast Boy hissed in surprise when Cometbolt placed his feet on the green snow leopard's belly and catapulted him off. And immediately after he'd thrown Beast Boy off, he jumped to his feet, grabbed Beast Boy by the tail, and yanked him back in time to start slamming him left and right on the floor. Robin had just started to run towards Cometbolt when the Tamaranean finally tired of slamming Beast Boy and threw him right at the boy wonder. The green snow leopard pounded into Robin, reverting back to human form just in time for both boys to go sprawling.
"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!"
Cometbolt's eyes widened, and he hurriedly flew out of the way to avoid getting crushed by a falling ceiling panel. Then he had to repeat the dodging maneuver after Raven caused a mechanical pillar to rise from the floor beneath him and smash against the ceiling. And then he had to dodge a third time to avoid a burst of shadowy lightning tendrils she fired from her fingertips.
He reacted swiftly after this third dodge, firing his brilliant blue eye beams at her before she could prepare another attack. The beams flew at her so swiftly that Raven was forced to summon a forcefield.
For several minutes, Cometbolt continued to drill away against the forcefield with his eye beams, slowly increasing their intensity as Raven continued to keep herself shielded. Then he shrieked, reflexively shutting off his eye beams, when his hair was suddenly grabbed and pulled from behind. Beast Boy had turned into a pteranodon, flown behind the Tamaranean boy, grabbed onto his hair with his taloned feet, and started to pull him backwards.
With a final tug, Cometbolt fell onto his back, Beast Boy letting go of his hair to avoid getting dragged down with him. He hovered into position directly above Cometbolt, and then started kicking his taloned feet down towards the Tamaranean's face. Cometbolt hurriedly threw up his arm into a defensive position to avoid getting his face sliced apart by the pterosaur.
Beast Boy rose higher into the air with a flap of his wings, rearing his head back in the process. Cometbolt lowered his arm in time to see this, and then hurriedly thrusted his head to the side to avoid getting stabbed in the face by the pteranodon's beak. The pterosaur lifted itself up a 2nd time, only to shriek in surprise right before getting hit by a star bolt.
Beast Boy landed flat on his back, charred and warbling in pain from the star bolt. Cometbolt got on his feet, grabbed the pterosaur by the neck, and lifted it up, placing his left hand around its crest while keeping his right hand around its neck. "You really should keep your head on straight," he stated ominously.
"OH NO YOU DON'T!"
"Hllk," Cometbolt coughed when he suddenly felt a pair of metallic arms wrap around his own neck from behind, startling him into releasing Beast Boy, who promptly flew away to safety.
Cometbolt snarled, and clenched his hands tightly around the metallic arms choking him. "Cursed robot," he growled under his breath. He then jumped, initiating a backflip in the process. Cyborg shrieked as he himself was dragged up into the air when Cometbolt landed on his feet behind him. The Tamaranean boy slammed Cyborg on the floor on his back.
Cyborg had just enough time to regain his bearings before he then rolled away to avoid getting stomped in the face by Cometbolt's left foot. He then had to jump away and roll onto his feet to avoid getting pulverized by the Tamaranean's star bolt encased right fist. The Tamaranean turned to face Cyborg, only to be sent pounding into the window behind him by another blast from Cyborg's sonic cannon.
He had just managed to get back on his feet from sliding off the window when he heard a yell and running metallic feet behind him, and he turned around in time to see Cyborg running towards him with fists at the ready for punching. Thinking quickly, Cometbolt grabbed onto the floor beneath him and wrenched a segment of it free from its mooring, causing Cyborg to lose his footing. Cometbolt zoomed over to Cyborg, lifted him over his head, spun him around, and then threw him through the air. Cyborg slammed into the room's swivel chair, uprooting it from its position and causing both it and him to slam against a wall.
Cometbolt had just crouched as if about to fly off in Cyborg's direction again when he heard running feet, and he turned his head in time to see Robin rushing towards Starfire with a lockpick in his hand.
"Hold on Star, I'll get you out of there!" the boy wonder yelled.
"No!" Cometbolt shouted, hurling a star bolt Robin's way. The blast struck the ground right in front of Robin's feet, tripping him up and sending the lockpick sliding to a stop right next to the base of Starfire's foot cuff.
Robin got up to a crouch before hurriedly drawing out his bo staff in time to start deflecting the multiple other star bolts that Cometbolt began hurling at him. Several of the deflected star bolts struck the window, causing multiple small cracks to start forming on it.
"Hey butthead! Have a piece of this!"
Cometbolt turned his head, and his eyes widened at the sight of the uprooted chair flying right towards him. The chair slammed into him, sending the white-haired Tamaranean rocketing backwards. Five minutes after landing, Cometbolt threw the chair off of him in a rage.
"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!"
Cometbolt turned his head, and mentally swore at the sight of a laser turret extending out of the ceiling while encased in shadowy energy. With a swing of her hand, Raven activated the machine, causing it to start firing indiscriminately at Cometbolt with its laser blasts.
The villainous Tamaranean spent about a minute dodging the blaster fire, and then his eyes widened as he saw that Raven had now turned the turret so that it would be aimed right where he'd left the Psion machines. "No!" he yelled as he swooped in and scooped the machines out of the way right as the turret's blasts zoomed harmlessly through the empty air where they'd originally been placed atop the small mechanical pillar.
He turned his head to face Raven, eyes blazing while he kept his arms tightly wrapped around the Psion machines. "Dirty move," he snarled before firing his eye beams towards the sorceress. Raven melted into the shadows and dodged the attack, but the turret was destroyed as a result.
Cometbolt narrowed his eyes, waiting for Raven to rematerialize from the shadows. "You can't hide from me forever witch."
"No one calls her that!"
He turned his head in time to see Beast Boy leap towards him, morphing into a crocodile and opening his jaws to the fullest in midair. He grabbed onto the croc's open jaws right as Beast Boy was seconds away from snapping them shut around the Tamaranean boy's abdomen. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't rip you in half worm."
"Wish granted."
With a pounding flying ninja kick to the Tamaranean boy's face, the boy wonder jumped in and sent Cometbolt flying away, freeing Beast Boy in the process.
Cometbolt landed on his feet, skidding to a stop in the process. He managed to look back where he'd been in time to see Beast Boy revert to human form while Raven and Cyborg took position alongside Robin and Beast Boy. "You'll be too busy dealing with the rest of us alongside him. And as we'll gladly tell you again, we're not going to die today. Especially not against you."
"Yeah," said Cyborg. "You're tough. I'll give you that. But right now, we're still alive. Not to mention, there's four of us, five if you count Star. And there's only one of you. . ."
Cometbolt snapped his fingers, and with a flash of blue aura, his two binary clones materialized into existence. All three of the Cometbolts ignited their hands with star bolts. The four titans who'd been fighting him gulped, clearly caught off guard.
"Ok," said Cyborg. "Wasn't expecting that."
"You're telling me," said Beast Boy.
"We're in trouble," said Raven.
"Yes witch," said the original Cometbolt, a maniacal wolf-like grin on his face that his two clones shared. "You most certainly are."
A sudden pteranodon-like screech filled the air, prompting all seven of the combatants to cringe, and cover their ears in discomfort. Then their eyebrows rose at the sound of a heavy pounding noise, and they looked in the sound's direction in time to see that something appeared to be banging against what looked like the cover for an airshaft from within.
Robin narrowed his eyes. "That screech, it sounded like. . ."
"That thing from the lava pit," Cyborg confirmed. "But why the heck would it be in the airshaft?"
"Um yeah, about that," Beast Boy said, now guiltily remembering just where his hand had landed earlier after their earlier jump scare following their escape from the lava pit. "I uh . . . I may have accidentally given that thing an escape route."
Raven glared at Beast Boy, her eyes turning red. "Define. Accidentally."
Beast Boy opened his mouth to answer, only for all 8 of the room's occupants to have their attention return to the airshaft at the sound of first a shriek, and then an explosion. Sure enough, with a burst of rainbow fire, the cover to the airshaft entrance went flying off of its hinges and onto the floor. When the smoke and fire faded away, none other than the very creature that had been dwelling in the lava pit came slithering out, flapping its wings and shrieking in a mixture of rage, delight, and hunger.
. . . . .
"Hard to port! Hard to port! Hard to port!"
The Tamaranean fleet just barely succeeded in following Karras' panicked order in time to avoid getting blasted to dust from another giant blast from the Umbrosian fleet. Things were still not going well for the Tamaraneans and Gordanians. While there was a small mercy in that the smaller Umbrosian ships had withdrawn themselves behind the larger ships and stopped actively fighting, the giant Umbrosian ships were naturally proving almost impossible to defeat.
"By Zog, this is insane," Garzvohg hissed.
"Tell me about it," Yarboth grumbled.
Galfore and Greerak, however, made note of one small detail that their soldiers were largely too busy dodging the blasts to notice.
"The giant blast cannons," said Galfore. "Only one ship fires from that particular cannon at a time. Why is that?"
"Strange," Greerak hissed to himself. "Very strange."
"Yes, it is very strange," said one of the pilots of Greerak's ship. "To think that any of those ships have enough energy to even fire 2 shots from those giant cannons. Let alone the amount of times they've currently fired at all."
Greerak raised his eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
"The pilot has a point," said one of the advisors. "To fire a blast of the kind of magnitude shown by the ones from those giant cannons would require an incredibly vast amount of energy. Zog knows how much energy those ships must have to be able to fire those cannons more than twice without losing power, or even at least needing time to recharge."
Greerak thought to himself. "You're right," he said. "Such feats truly would require remarkably high levels of energy." He looked at one of the giant ships. "And presumably, with all the energy going into the blasts those cannons fire, it would obviously be a bad idea to risk overloading."
"You suppose? Of course it would be a bad idea! With the sheer amount of energy being devoted to those blasts, even the tiniest amount of unnecessary extra energy could cause a dangerous reaction! The ships even have to fire their respective cannon's one at a time so that the tension relieving shockwaves released through the side vents don't cause them all to explode when they fire those cannons!"
"Exactly." Greerak grinned, and then turned on his commlink to transmit a message to his troops. "Everyone, this is your king speaking. I want all of us to convene together!"
The Gordanians, obedient to their king, began moving their ships as needed to follow his command. The Tamaraneans all appeared confused about this development. Then Galfore got a call on his transmitter from Greerak.
"Galfore," said Greerak over the transmission, "do you see what my forces are doing? Tell your forces to do the same and join with us. I have an idea."
Galfore initially wasn't sure what to think upon hearing this. Then he thought to himself, realizing that this plan was probably worth a shot in light of the circumstances. He switched his transmission to access the communicators of his soldiers.
"This is your Emperor speaking," he grunted. "Notice how the Gordanians are behaving with their ships? I want us all to do the same and join up with them."
"Why?" asked one of the soldiers.
"Just do it!"
"Yes your excellency!"
Within minutes, the entire combined fleet of Tamaranean and Gordanian ships had convened together to face the giant Umbrosian ships.
"Your majesty," hissed Yarboth. "What is going on?"
"Just trust me," Greerak responded. "I have a plan."
"This better work," Galfore grunted into Greerak's communicator.
"It will. I'm sure of it. All we need is for one of those giant ships to start charging its giant cannon."
"Wish granted, what now?"
Everyone in the fleet looked directly at the fleet in time to see that one ship in the very center had indeed opened its 'mouth' and appeared to be starting to charge up for a blast. Greerak instantly pointed his finger at the ship in question. "NOW! FIRE AT THAT CANNON!"
All the Gordanian ships, Greerak's royal barge included, opened fire at the charging cannon.
"You see what the Gordanians are doing?" said Galfore. "That's what I want; do it now!"
The Tamaraneans, obedient as ever to their emperor, opened fire as well.
As blast after blast came rocketing into the still charging cannon, all the other giant ships in the Umbrosian fleet started preparing the laser blasters in their 'eyes'.
Galfore and Greerak noticed this.
"Everyone," the two rulers shouted in unison. "Activate shields!"
"Those will be useless against that cannon!"
"It won't be useless against the 'eye beams'! Put the shields up now!"
The soldiers activated their ships' forcefields without further argument. Just in time for all the resplendent red laser beams fired from the Umbrosian ship 'eye blasters' to be harmlessly deflected, allowing the relentless onslaught of blaster fire against the still charging giant cannon to continue.
Eventually, Karras noticed a small new detail. "The cannon we're firing at . . . there's smoke coming out from where we're firing!"
"Good," said Greerak. "That's what we want. Keep firing!"
"But that thing could fire at any minute," hissed Garzvohg.
"Then don't stop now, keep firing!"
"Yes sir."
The combined fleet kept firing mercilessly at the still charging cannon. After about a minute, it became clear that both the combined fleet and the one giant Umbrosian ship about to fire were now in a desperate race to see which side reached its desired goal first.
"Keep firing," Greerak roared. "Keep firing!"
"You heard Greerak," Galfore snarled. "Keep firing!"
With a burst of smoke, a small beam of blue light suddenly burst from the bottom of the Umbrosian ship's 'chin'.
The sight of this beam was all Greerak needed. "Keep firing! We've almost got it!"
The blaster onslaught rapidly sped up, and after a few seconds, multiple other beams started bursting out of various areas across the head of the giant ship even as the cannon still continued to charge despite the energy starting to leak out of the area around it.
"We've almost got it," Greerak yelled, enthusiasm and joy clearly present in his voice. "Don't stop now! We can do it!"
The cannon's opening started crackling with blue electricity. However, instead of only appearing on this area the way it would if about to fire, the blue lightning proceeded to also engulf the entire rest of the ship.
"Any minute now!"
BOOM!
In a brilliant BLAST of blue light, the entire central giant Umbrosian ship exploded, finally having received far more energy then it could safely store and subsequently overloaded.
"YES!"
The Umbrosians manning the two ships the doomed ship had been positioned between had no time to even realize what had happened before their own ships were caught in the blast wave of the exploding central ship and thoroughly destroyed as well. As those two ships exploded, the ships next to them were similarly destroyed in the blast. By the time this vicious chain reaction was done, all 55 of the giant Umbrosian ships present had been destroyed.
For what seemed like an eternity, both fleets stared each other down. The combined Tamaranean and Gordanian fleet had a healthy mixture of joy and relief on their faces. The Umbrosians, and the Gordanian fighter pilots on Ulragor's side, were all stunned by what had just happened.
Greerak and Galfore both smiled in their respective royal starships as they gazed at the multiple smaller enemy ships that still remained. "Lower the shields," they shouted in unison. "And open fire!"
Their soldiers obliged, and began firing at the smaller enemy ships like there was no tomorrow. As this happened, the sound of a savage shriek was heard from the giant purple ship behind the enemy fleet.
Galfore looked to the ship, narrowed his eyes as if trying to better see what was happening on the other side of one of the windows, and then widened his eyes as he caught sight of something he had neither been expecting, nor was keen on allowing to stay in its current location. And if what he was now seeing just happened to be in the same area as Starfire and her friends, then he had especially good reason to want what he had now caught sight of removed from the area as soon as possible. He tapped into Karras' commlink.
"General Karras!"
"Yes?"
"That purple ship. I want you to head over to the room attached to that window underneath the figurehead's chin."
"Why?"
"I suspect that Princess Starfire is being held there. If I am correct in my current suspicions, then I believe that she and her friends will need some unexpected outside help. And I want you to provide that help."
"You believe Koriand'r's consort and other friends from Earth need my help?"
"Yes."
"Then I'm their man!"
Karras tapped into Taryia's commlink. "Lieutenant, I hereby grant you temporary full command. His excellency says that Koriand'r and her friends require my immediate assistance."
"Do what you must general. I will do my best."
"Good. I shall return." He deactivated his blasters and turned his ship around to directly face the direction he was about to travel. "My love," he added in a whisper. He flew off towards the giant purple starship.
. . . . .
Raven winced as she struggled to keep the forcefield she'd summoned up and running. She and her fellow titans had been keeping themselves safe within this forcefield for several minutes now, but the monster from the lava pit still wasn't letting up in its latest attempt at roasting them with its fiery rainbow breath.
Cometbolt and Starfire, meanwhile, were similarly doing their best to keep themselves from getting on the receiving end of the monster's attacks. Unlike the four earthlings, they knew full well what sort of creature this monster was. A native animal from the Polaris System, the rainbow razer was a formidable beast that only the bravest or most idiotic dared to confront without backup or an escape route available. Its rainbow-colored fiery breath was said to be as hot as the combined heat of seven suns. It was reportedly strong enough to smash a planet to dust by coiling around it, and had the size to match. Its scaly skin was reportedly tough enough that only the fangs and horns of its own species were capable of piercing it. And as if to add to how terrifying it was, it was also a vacuum breather that lived a nomadic lifestyle in the vacuum of Polaris system space.
Cometbolt stayed hidden underneath the wreckage of the chair that had earlier been thrown at him, cradling the Psion technology in his arms as he stared helplessly in rage as the monster both spewed its breath at his foes and also swung its long tail left and right dangerously close to his position. As much as he wished to join the beast in efforts to kill the four Earthlings, he wasn't about to risk getting sliced in half by the sharp arrowhead-shaped spike on the tip of its tail. And even if he successfully avoided such a fate, it was all too likely that it would turn its sights on him and blast him with its breath the instant he got close enough to adequately add his own energy blasts to its efforts at breaking down Raven's shield.
Starfire, meanwhile, growled and snarled as she jerked furiously against the three cuffs keeping her restrained while also being buffeted by the hurricane force winds whipped up by the monster's flapping wings. "If I just had my eye beams, I could at least do something instead of just standing idle," she thought to herself.
The monster shut off its breath attack, reared its head, and let out a screeching roar towards the ceiling with its eyes closed.
Beast Boy covered his ears, wincing and gritting his teeth as if the noise was physically hurting him. "Good grief, it sounds mad," he thought to himself.
The monster finished its screeching roar and let loose with its breath once more.
Robin snarled, clenching his fists. "Can it not run out of breath to breathe? I'd really like to get out of this shield within the next ten million years."
Cometbolt, gritting his teeth, likewise stayed where he was. He knew that attempting to leave his hiding place right now would basically be committing suicide, and as much as he himself desired to be the one to kill Starfire's four fellow titans, he was certainly content to let the rainbow razer do the job for him . . . provided it didn't end up killing him and Starfire immediately afterward.
Starfire, meanwhile, kept jerking and thrashing against her restraints. "I have to get out of this," she thought to herself. "I have to help my friends." And to her credit, she was actually making far more progress in getting free then she thought she was. For as she kept jerking against them, the bases of the two cuffs restraining her hands were starting to loosen from their positions in the ceiling. All that was needed now was for her to jerk strongly enough against the cuffs a few more times and she would be free.
Then the 6 humanoids within the room noticed a strange sight outside the window, and directed their gazes in that direction. At the sound of charging blasters, the rainbow razer shut off its rainbow breath and turned its head in time to see the Tamaranean starfighter outside the window shatter it with its blasters.
"Warning," stated a robotic voice from the intercom. "Window is open."
Right as the chair Cometbolt was hiding under was yanked off of him by the vacuum force winds, the rainbow razer roared, and spewed its rainbow fire breath at the ship outside the now shattered window. The small ship dodged just in time. The monster shut off its breath, roared again, and lunged out the shattered window with a single forceful flap of its wings.
The smaller ship slipped through the window right as the monster's tail fully exited the room. And no sooner had the monster exited and smaller ship entered when a blue energy barrier materialized within the empty space that had originally been occupied by the window. The ship's compartment opened up, and none other than Karras jumped out, his spear now in his hands and at the ready for use.
The titans' eyes widened. "Well this is unexpected," said Beast Boy.
Karras turned his head to examine the area, and promptly narrowed his eyes upon seeing the similarly shocked Cometbolt still lying on the floor where the uprooted chair had been. "General Ph'yzzon," Karras stated coldly. "I thought I'd never see you again."
This comment snapped Cometbolt out of his shock, and he snarled in rage before standing up and pointing his finger accusingly at Karras. "The feeling is mutual," he snarled. He clenched his fists. "I honestly would have preferred never to see you again; especially after how little you did to try to save Kori and get her back after she was taken by the Gordanians."
"You know perfectly well why I couldn't do anything about that," said Karras. "Or why anyone else on Tamaran couldn't do anything about that."
"Indeed." Cometbolt folded his arms across his chest. "Because you were all cowards who didn't care."
"Would you rather the war had been started all over again? That the sacrifice made be just cast aside like it never happened? That countless soldiers and innocents could have potentially died to go along with the ones who'd already died by the time the truce was reached?"
"If that's what it would have taken to have Kori back where she belonged and for the Gordanians to never be in our lives, or anyone else's, ever again, then yes. The war should have ended with Tamaran standing triumphant over the dead bodies of all the Gordanians after forcing that entire race to surrender on its bloodied and broken knees! It most certainly should not have ended with a ceasefire brought about by a truce, let alone a ceasefire that came to pass thanks to some cowardly beast amongst our people selling Kori to those monsters! We should have been unambiguously victorious, Kori should have been with us, and all the Gordanians should have been dead!"
"Genocide is not the Tamaranean way, and you know it!"
"Why not? It would have been easy enough. Even if it took something as simple as poisoning a wellspring, it would have been capable of being done. I would know."
Starfire raised her eyebrow upon hearing this last bit. "Lord Valdroth's daughter . . . did Ph'yzzon . . .?"
"But that's all in the past now," said Cometbolt, his finger once again pointing towards Karras. "Because as soon as the four troqs from Earth are dead, I will have Kori fixed and returned to where she belongs. And once Komand'r's forces have finished wiping the floor with the entirety of the combined Tamaranean and Gordanian fleet, all of Gordania will be overtaken by the Umbrosians and cast into eternal darkness never to return. With all that done, Kori and I will live happily together under Komand'r's rule, exactly as we should have!"
"And who are you to decide what you and Koriand'r deserved? For that matter, why are you so concerned about Kori being with you?"
"I can answer that."
Karras and Cometbolt turned their heads in the direction of Robin, who stepped forward. "Remember how I asked you if there was anyone Starfire loved in 'that way' while still on Tamaran? Well now I've found out the straight answer to that question." He pointed at the white-haired Tamaranean. "He claims to have done exactly that." Then he pointed at the Psion technology. "And what he means when he says that he plans to 'fix' Starfire? He plans to use those machines over there to erase her memory and alter her mind so that she becomes his mindless doll to have revolve entirely around loving him without any personality of her own."
"I resent how you dare to bastardize the joyous future I have planned for myself and Kori!"
"It is the truth Ph'yzzon," Starfire growled. "How many times must I tell you this before you accept that?!"
"She has a point," said Karras. He pointed at the former general. "If you truly loved her, you would respect that she's made her choice and let her live with it; costing yourself your own happiness for the sake of hers!"
"I cannot do that! I won't! Not when she's throwing her life away under the delusions of joy brought about by years outside her home, forced desensitization, and outright brainwashing into believing the ideals of such troqs as the people of Earth!"
"I have not been brainwashed," Starfire yelled. "How many times must I tell you that?!"
"Shut up," Cometbolt roared. "This isn't you talking! This is only the brainwashing that's making you think that you're happy! But I know the real you is still in there somewhere! And by X'hal, I am going to get that real you back!"
"The real her is right there in front of you," Robin growled. "You just refuse to accept that she's not the powerless doormat you want her to be!"
"Again, I resent how you bastardize the joyous dream I wish to make a reality in such fashion." He rammed his fist into his palm. "I am tired now of all this talk. Sooner or later, Komand'r and the Umbrosians will inevitably overrun your entire combined army of Tamaraneans and those undeserving clorbags! But before that happens, I will kill you and your fellow troqs! I will get the true Koriand'r back and have our lives unfold together the correct way! And if I have to kill her chump ex fiancé as well in order for these two goals to be made real, then by X'hal I will gladly do that to!"
He snapped his fingers, summoning his two clones. "Prepare to suffer under Ahz'rogha," the original Cometbolt yelled. "PREPARE TO DIE!"
All three Cometbolts fired jets of blue star bolt fire from their hands.
"MOVE!" Karras yelled. He and the titans lunged out of the way to avoid getting charred by Cometbolt's blasts. The two clones narrowed their eyes and split away from the original's position. One of the clones headed after Cyborg. The other flew off to deal with Beast Boy and Raven. The original Cometbolt, however, flew straight towards where Robin and Karras had gone, shrieking in rage.
Karras got into a combat stance with his spear, and Robin leaned backwards while drawing out three flame disks from his utility belt. When Cometbolt was in range, Karras swung his spear towards him. The white-haired boy reared back with a yelp as the spear just narrowly avoided slicing across his chest. While still distracted and paused from this close call, he was hit by the three flame disks, which sent him flying backward with the resulting explosions. Robin charged at the still off balance Cometbolt, a guttural yell bursting from his throat as he drew out his bo staff. With a smack to the neck, Robin sent Cometbolt flying backward.
Cyborg fired his sonic cannon in time to disperse a star bolt from the clone he was facing. "You're gonna have to try harder then that if you want to kill me punk!"
"If that's what I must do, then do that I shall!"
The clone drew back both hands, then thrusted them forward, sending a jet of blue star bolt fire rocketing Cyborg's way. Cyborg jumped aside to avoid getting roasted.
The other clone, meanwhile, continued to fire blast after blast at Raven and Beast Boy from his hands and eyes. So far, his two targets seemed content to remain within the safety of a summoned forcefield.
"I've got an idea," said Beast Boy. "But you're going to need to shut off the forcefield and let me get in front of you."
Raven gritted her teeth. "This had better work."
"It should. All we need to do now is wait for a lull in the blasts and . . . now!"
Beast Boy jumped over Raven right as she deactivated the forcefield, turning into an ankylosaurus immediately after landing. He swung his tail just in time to deflect a burst of the clone's eye beams, sending the laser blast bouncing helter-skelter across the room, much to the annoyance of the other combatants as they hurriedly worked to dodge and shield themselves. Starfire also found herself having to duck her head at one point to avoid getting hit in the face, not even noticing how the beam struck her left wrist cuff not too long afterward. Eventually, the beam struck the clone facing Beast Boy and Raven in the back, sending him sprawling on his belly.
Raven capitalized on this, encasing him in her shadowy energy and sending him off to the side, pinning him to the room's door in the process. The clone had only enough time to shake his head and very briefly regain his bearings before Beast Boy then pounded against him in the form of a charging triceratops. Allowing the clone no time to recover from this, Beast Boy shifted back to ankylosaurus form, wound up his tail, and pounded the clone in the chest and stomach again and again while Raven continued to keep the clone pinned to the door.
Cyborg, meanwhile, continued duking it out against the clone that had chosen to face him. Blast after blast was fired from both combatants, with Cyborg even adding missiles into the mix. Despite all this, they both still appeared evenly matched.
The clone narrowed his eyes, seemingly starting to get wise to the matter. "I see this battle is currently going nowhere." He defused the star bolts on his hands and glow in his eyes, clenching his fists in the process. "Perhaps maybe a more hands on approach will be required."
"I was just thinking the same thing." Cyborg retracted his sonic cannon and missile launching system, clenching his own fists immediately afterward. With a guttural yell, the two rushed towards each other and clashed together in a brutal fistfight.
Robin and Karras, meanwhile, continued their duel with the original Cometbolt. The boy wonder cringed as he felt the latest burst of Cometbolt's eye beams strike his cape. He directed his eyes towards Karras, who was still at ready with his war spear. "Times like this really make me wish that all Tamaraneans had star bolts."
Karras gritted his teeth. "The way things are is the way things are." He smacked aside three star bolts from Cometbolt, and then directed a glare at Robin. "Deal with it."
At the same time this was happening, Starfire continued to tug against her restraints. But now, as she was both surprised and delighted to discover, the restraint on her left wrist seemed to have loosened considerably from its connection to the ceiling. It seemed that perhaps her continuous struggling was starting to have an effect on the restraint's integrity. The fact that this same restraint's base had been struck by the errant laser blast not too long ago probably helped. "Almost free," she thought to herself as she continued tugging against that one particular restraint. "I'm almost free."
The clone facing Beast Boy and Raven, despite the continuous pounding from Beast Boy's tail, finally seemed to gain just enough of his energy to attack once more. He fired his eye beams at Raven. The sorceress summoned an energy barrier to shield herself, grimacing as the eye beams continued to drill against her defenses.
In his eagerness to bust through Raven's shield and blast her with his eye beams, the Cometbolt clone completely forgot about Beast Boy. Then a sheet of metal suddenly slammed over his eyes, and he shrieked as his still active eye beams were painfully reflected upon his eyes and spread through the rest of his head.
Beast Boy, in sasquatch mode, had ripped a chunk out of the room's floor and smashed it against the Cometbolt clone's face, and now held it there as the clone howled in agony from his own reflected laser blasts. As he continued to hold the metal sheet in place, the Cometbolt clone's screams got louder and more pained until he glowed blue and finally exploded into particles of light.
The battle between Cyborg and the 2nd clone similarly didn't last much longer. After an intense fistfight, Cyborg finally managed to catch the clone's left fist right as it attempted a star bolt enhanced left hook, pounded the clone in the stomach with his right fist, and then swung the clone over his head and slammed him on the floor behind him. The clone had just enough time to groan and blink his eyes to regain his bearings before Cyborg stood over him, activated both of his sonic cannons, and utterly blasted the clone in the stomach and chest. The clone screamed in pain and despair, his eyes and mouth glowing with blue light, and then exploded into blue light particles.
The original Cometbolt grimaced, his hand instinctively flying to his chest as he felt the death of his 2nd clone, simultaneously feeling a headache from the death of the 1st clone. He slowly felt his energy return as the remnants of his clones flew to him and were absorbed back into his body. A harsh yell and running feet came in front of him, and he lifted his head in time to see Karras running forward with his spear at the ready.
Cometbolt grabbed the spear right where the tip met the handle, lifted it up, and threw Karras to the side. The captain of the Tamaranean guard slammed against his starfighter, the ship being sent skidding towards the broken window from the force of its pilot's impact against it.
Cometbolt turned his head away from Karras in time to see Robin running forward with his bo staff at the ready. The Tamaranean repeated the same trick he'd used against Karras to send Robin hurtling away from him as well. The boy wonder slammed against the screen of the room's supercomputer, and crumpled to the floor.
Cyborg, Beast Boy, and Raven saw this. "Hey!"
Cometbolt drew out a remote from his pants pocket and pressed a button. Three laser blasters deployed from the ceiling and fired at the three titans, knocking them backwards past the door. He pressed another button, triggering an energy barrier to materialize between the side of the room he was on and the side he'd just had the three underling titans blasted over to.
With Robin's fellow titans, plus Karras, now out of commission, Cometbolt slowly walked towards the boy wonder, his hands together to charge up a star bolt blast. "Did you think you could stop me?"
He fired his blast, a flamethrower-like burst of blue star bolt flame that spouted from both of his hands and plowed into Robin. The boy wonder shrieked in pain as Cometbolt blasted him.
"Did you really think that you and your filthy friends would win this battle?"
He blasted Robin a second time.
"Did you, honest to X'hal, think that there was even the most remote chance of you making it out of this conflict against me alive?"
He blasted Robin a third time, noticeably making sure to prolong this blast's duration before stopping it. The boy wonder coughed and wheezed in pain once the blast ended, clearly not in good shape.
"I will give you credit where credit is due. You and your friends have proven surprisingly better opponents against me then I thought you would be. Even before Karras and that rainbow razer showed up, you were putting up a decent fight against me. And I'll admit, your three friends will be considerably harder to kill then I expected."
The three friends in question growled, and doubled their efforts to break their way through the barrier separating them from Robin.
"And it is precisely because of how difficult I now believe it will be to kill them that I've decided to make a slight alteration to my plans." He came to a stop directly in front of the groaning and prone Robin. "I originally wished to save you for last. But now, after all that's happened, it would appear that it would be wiser for me to be pragmatic and kill you first." He lifted his foot and gave the boy wonder a pounding kick to the stomach.
The blocked off titans snarled and growled in rage upon seeing this. Starfire, however, gasped upon seeing this, and hurriedly doubled her efforts to wrench her left cuff free of its mooring.
"You fought honorably," said Cometbolt. "All four of you Earthlings did. Under different circumstances, perhaps we all could have been friends. But these are not those circumstances. What must be done, must be done." He grabbed Robin by the lapel and lifted him up, placing his right hand on the back of the boy wonder's head and his left arm across the back of the boy wonder's neck. "Farewell . . . Robin."
"No!"
With a final tug, Starfire ripped her left wrist cuff free of its mooring, smashing it against her foot cuff afterward to bust her hand free of it. Cometbolt turned his head just in time to see her yank off the inhibiting headband, and his eyes widened at the sight of her turning her head to face where he'd left the Psion technology, her eyes glowing dangerously green.
Dropping Robin to the floor, Cometbolt rushed in the direction of the technology. "NO!"
With a shriek of rage, Starfire shot her eye beams at the technology, blasting both machines to ash. Cometbolt reached the location and got on his knees just in time for the smoke and lasers to fade and reveal the lowly ash and dust that remained of the hypno-helmet and mind manipulator he'd intended to rewrite Starfire's mind with. He picked up some of the remains, cradling them in his hands. "NO! NO! NO! NO!"
He turned his head to face Starfire, a half saddened, and half enraged look on his face. "WHY DID YOU DO THAT!? THAT WAS THE ONLY WAY FOR US TO START OVER AND BE HAPPY TOGETHER LIKE WE USED TO BE! NOW YOU'VE DESTROYED ALL CHANCES OF BEING FREED FROM YOUR BRAINWASHING BY THOSE . . ."
A blast to his chest from Starfire's eye beams sent the white-haired Tamaranean flying right into the wall to the left of the broken window. As Cometbolt groaned and shook his head to regain his bearings, Starfire grabbed onto her right wrist cuff.
"For the last time," Starfire hissed, her voice dripping with hate and irritation, "I have not. Been. Brainwashed!" She wrenched her right hand free from its cuff, grabbing onto her foot cuff with both hands afterward. "And if getting my memory erased and my entire personality and free will robbed from me so that I could spend the rest of my life as a weak and powerless doll for you to play with is what it took for us to live your twisted definition of happiness together." She ripped her foot cuff in half, lifting her head to face Cometbolt with her still glowing eyes. "Then I want no part of it!"
With a guttural howl of rage, she flew straight at Cometbolt. The white-haired Tamaranean had no time to react before she grabbed him by both lapels and threw him against the energy barrier blocking off Cyborg, Beast Boy, and Raven. He crumpled to the floor. Starfire flew over to him, grabbed him by the hair, and swung him up against the ceiling. He didn't even have time to land after Starfire let go of his hair before she punched him in the face with her star bolt encased right fist and sent him crashing into the door.
As the titans behind the energy barrier continued to watch, Cometbolt managed to pry himself off of the door and stumble forward a little bit. Then he saw a moving shadow in front of him, and he lifted his head in time to see Starfire now hovering in front of him and rising high above his height, eyes and hands glowing dangerously bright. There was just enough time for Cometbolt's eyes to widen before Starfire dived right at him, sending both herself and Cometbolt pounding right through the floor and into the area directly on the other side of the door.
Karras, who had at this point gotten back up and helped Robin back to his feet, also saw this happen, and nodded his head in approval. "As much as he underestimated her friends from Earth, it would have been equally wiser for him to have not similarly underestimated Koriand'r's own strength."
Robin nodded his head in agreement, panting and gasping from his earlier injuries. "You can say that again." He looked at where Cometbolt had left the remote-like device. "Can I . . .?"
"I'll take care of it," said Karras. "You need to rest." He placed Robin against the chair by the smashed computer, snatched up the remote, and deactivated the energy barrier. The three titans rushed over to their leader.
"Yo," said Cyborg. "You alright Rob?"
Robin didn't even have a chance to answer before all their attention was drawn to the sight of large green and blue laser beams suddenly slicing through the walls and part of the floor from outside the room. It was clear that Starfire and Cometbolt's battle was getting serious.
The two battling Tamaraneans crashed right through the door, busting it right off its hinges as they rocketed back into the room. They slammed against the wall opposite the door, eyes glowing and fists on fire. Cometbolt snarled, kicked Starfire off of him, and flew towards her with his star bolts at the ready. But Starfire recovered faster then he'd expected, and sent him flying backwards once more with a jet of her own star bolt energy.
The white-haired Tamaranean was able to stop himself from slamming against the wall this time. With a howl of fury, he started hurling a volley of star bolts at Starfire. Starfire easily dodged her angry opponent's blasts. When a lull came about, she zoomed forward and kicked him in the face with a backflip. As Cometbolt was spinning around off balance from the blow, Starfire zoomed forward, grabbed him by the lapel, and threw him against the wall next to the broken window.
Cometbolt shook his head furiously, growled, and fired his eye beams at Starfire with a yell. Starfire fired her own eye beams, the two blasts intercepting together in the middle of the room. For what felt like an eternity, the two Tamaraneans kept their eye beams active, both of them fighting for dominance. Starfire, with a snarl of effort, managed to get her beams to slowly start pushing against Cometbolt's blast, pushing it further and further backwards towards Cometbolt. The white-haired Tamaranean snarled, fighting desperately to push back against Starfire's attack. But this time, with the combined power of Starfire's love for her friends and her fury against Cometbolt strengthening her power, Cometbolt had well and truly met his match. Mere minutes later, Starfire's eye beams pushed their way the last few inches needed and plowed into Cometbolt.
Cometbolt shrieked as he was engulfed by the energy of Starfire's eye beams. Starfire eventually shut off her beams, leaving the charred and barely conscious Cometbolt covered in ash and groaning before he crumpled to the floor.
Starfire hissed venomously, flew over to Cometbolt, grabbed him by the neck, and slammed him back up against the wall. She snarled, drew her fist back, and then punched him in the face.
"You thought I was brainwashed and in denial over my true feelings. You are wrong."
Pow!
"You thought that my friends, especially my boyfriend Robin, were inferior troqs unworthy of my friendship and love who'd stolen me from you. You are wrong."
Pow!
"You thought that I myself was weak and powerless and would always need to be saved by stronger beings such as yourself. You are wrong."
Pow!
"You thought that what was truly best for me was for you to erase my memories, rob me of my free will, and turn me into a weak willed, small minded, and powerless doll whose only purpose would be to love you, and only you, more than even life itself and be entirely devoted solely to you with no voice, personality, or dreams of my own. You! Are! WRONG!"
She activated a star bolt around her right fist, and punched Cometbolt yet again.
POW!
Cometbolt howled in agony, and Karras and the titans winced.
"I was willing to give you the benefit of the doubt Ph'yzzon," Starfire snarled, eyes and fists still glowing. "I was willing to allow you the chance to redeem yourself and for us to continue at least being friends!"
POW!
"But instead, you threw all my effort at giving you good will back in my face, denied your own faults, and refused to accept the truth that I kept telling you again and again!"
POW!
"I HATE YOU!"
POW!
"I HATE YOU!"
POW!
"I!"
POW!
"HATE!"
POW!
"YOU!"
POW!
This time, when Starfire struck, she struck Cometbolt in the stomach, her star bolt increased to the size of a large pumpkin, and plowed it against Cometbolt with such force that not only did the star bolt seem to glow bright enough to explode, but the blow also caused Cometbolt's eyes to widen and drops of blood to burst out of his mouth.
"GGGGGGGAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" the white-haired Tamaranean roared in agony as he felt the impossibly powerful blow strike him.
Eventually, Starfire ended the blow, and retracted her hand from Cometbolt. For a few seconds, she kept the villainous Tamaranean boy pinned against the wall by his neck; the boy panting and gasping from the pain. Then, with a final wheezing groan, he closed his eyes and lost consciousness. Starfire let go of his neck and stepped aside, leaving the unconscious Cometbolt to fall first to his knees, and then flat on his face.
Starfire turned her head to face Karras and her friends. "I trust you are all the ok?"
Robin raised his eyebrow, and looked at the unconscious Cometbolt. "I think I should potentially be asking the same about you."
Karras raised his own eyebrow. "No concern for Ph'yzzon?"
"Is he still alive?" Cyborg asked.
Starfire took a look at Cometbolt, saw that he was still breathing, and looked back at her friends. "Yes."
"Then nope," said Robin. "No concern needed. Not for him."
Karras thought to himself, and then nodded. "With what he was willing to do, I will gladly agree with you." He looked towards the window, and his eyes widened. "And I must say, it would appear that my tricking that rainbow razer into leaving the ship has proven unexpectedly helpful."
The titans all looked in the direction the Tamaranean captain of the guard was looking, and their own eyes widened at the sight that met their eyes outside the window. The entirety of what remained of the combined Tamaranean and Gordanian fleet was gathered around a distance away and watching warily as the rainbow razer flapped its wings idly amidst the smoke and ashes that remained of the ships piloted by the Umbrosian soldiers and the remainder of Ulragor's men, shrieking and roaring as if telling the ships gathered in front of it to stay away.
Robin put his finger to his chin as if thinking to himself. "Hmm, if things go well, all we'll need to do is just find a way to get that thing to leave, and then we can go take on Blackfire and bring this whole business to an end."
"Um Robin," said Beast Boy. "Not that I want to take over for Raven here, but shouldn't we still be worried about . . ."
At the sight of the outside light suddenly darkening, Karras and the titans all looked back out the window in time to see a giant vortex of shadows open up directly above the area where the rainbow razer and ships were gathered. The monster warbled warily, and lifted its head to face upward.
From their vantage point on Blackfire's ship, the eyes of Karras and the titans widened even further when a very ominous looking figure started to slowly emerge from the vortex and descend down towards the area. Beast Boy winced. He had a bad feeling about just what this newly arriving figure was. "That?" he belatedly asked.
And just like that, another chapter done! I REALLY hope you all enjoyed this chapter! And all that in mind, I especially hope you leave plenty of feedback (remember, I require an exact minimum of 2 reviews for this chapter before I allow the next one to be posted). All in all, hope you all had fun!
Coming up next: The time has finally come. The long teased battle between the Black and Prime Entities shall finally begin!