Black Star

by A-LionGleek

Blackfire has returned, and is hungry for revenge against Starfire. Hungry enough, in fact, to ally herself with a race of beings that make even some of the worst alien races look like saints and could well spell galaxy-wide doom. Only an unlikely partnership with a race of mutual old enemies can save the universe. But are they capable of working together to save the universe?

16. Some Much Needed Reinforcements

Well everyone, here's my next chapter! In this chapter, the long awaited battle between the Black and Prime Entities (and also the two Tamaranean sisters that now serve as their vessels) finally begins! How will things unfold from here? Read and find out everyone!

A/N: But remember, I do not own Teen Titans or anything else DC based. The only things I DO own are the Phosphorians, Umbrosians, and their respective Gods (or should I say Entities?). All that said, onward with the fic!

Chapter 15:

Some Much Needed Reinforcements

Blackfire couldn't help but both wince and nod in approval as she discreetly watched the battle between Cometbolt and the titans unfold on the security camera footage. Part of her was feeling darkly happy to see her countryman get thoroughly proven wrong about his underestimation of her sister's titan friends. Of course, she was also keeping watch over how well her forces were faring against the combined fleet of Tamaranean and Gordanian ships. She had to admit, early on, the battle seemed fairly evenly matched.

The first worms of doubt, however, began to arise in her mind once she caught sight of the rainbow razer busting out of the air shaft and entering the same room as her sister, Cometbolt, and the other titans. Her concern had only continued to rise after the destruction of the giant ships, and then even more after Karras had broken the window and allowed the rainbow razer to be set loose.

But once Starfire had managed to break loose from her restraints, she had unwittingly kept all of her focus on the security camera footage. While aware of the inherent difficulty to have arisen upon catching sight of Starfire's destruction of Cometbolt's Psion technology, she surprisingly also felt relieved that her sister would ultimately not have her mind and personality rewritten and destroyed for the white-haired Tamaranean's own depraved ends. So focused was she on watching that battle, in fact, that she was caught off guard when she suddenly heard Nolfavrel's voice telepathically scream at her in her head.

"Gah! Huh? What's going on?"

"Komand'r," said Nolfavrel. "We have a problem."

Blackfire looked back out the window in front of her, and her purple eyes widened at the sight before her. At that very moment, all the remaining ships from the combined Tamaranean and Gordanian fleet had stopped fighting and retreated a respectable distance away together to watch as the rainbow razer, as she'd initially feared would happen, proceeded to use its dazzling multicolored breath attack to blast what remained of her immediately active fleet into space ash. Several of the Umbrosian ships, plus half of what remained of Ulragor's men, were currently flying every which way they could in a futile attempt to avoid getting obliterated.

"All this," Nolfavrel said, "after our enemies had already started making uncomfortable progress in defeating us through being lucky enough to miraculously destroy all of the deployed giant ships in this area. Not to mention after how your sister's titan friends had managed to slaughter all my men onboard your ship, knock out the majority of the Gordanian traitors, and have Ulragor and three other Gordanians fed to that same blasted Polaris monster that is laying waste to the rest of our currently deployed soldiers as we speak! And go ahead and be honest with me. Is your upstart countryman doing any better against your sister's friends?"

Blackfire sighed. "No he is not." She looked back at the security camera footage. "In fact, my sister has managed to free herself and join in."

"It is getting worse than I thought."

Blackfire winced. "Tell me about it." She looked back out the window of the pilot's chamber, and her eyes widened at the sight of how much progress the rainbow razer had made since the last time she'd looked. "Or never mind; don't. I can see things just got worse."

"Well I'm glad you're at least that smart." He sighed. "In the time of Kevand'r and Gomerand'r, the enemy wasn't able to take out even an 8th of our forces without help from the Phosphorians."

"We've still got more soldiers waiting alongside you; right?"

"Yes, but there is a problem. They are now proving very reluctant to actually come out to do battle."

"WHAT?! You can't be serious! You're their leaders! Surely they couldn't possibly refuse a direct order from you?!"

"That's the point. Why should we give that order? At the current rate things are going, having ourselves and the remainder of our army join up with you on the battlefield would be committing suicide. Unless you grant the remainder of our soldiers a good reason for hope, then my fellow councilmembers and I simply won't give them the order."

Blackfire clenched her fists, gritting her teeth in irritation. As much as she didn't like how her own ally was making thing difficult for her, she certainly couldn't argue with the valid point he'd raised either. After all, from what she'd seen unfold that very moment, what reason did she have to expect the rest of the Umbrosian fleet to fare any better against the combined Tamaranean and Gordanian fleet then their compatriots had?

"There is, however, one being you could call upon to join you in this battle that would be guaranteed to allow the rest of us to feel like we still have an adequate fighting chance. The means to do so is presumably still on your person."

Blackfire's eyes widened, and she reflexively reached into her pants pocket. Sure enough, the pitch black crystalline summoning orb the Black Entity had given her was still right where she'd left it. "He's right," she thought to herself. "This could turn the whole battle around. I have the power right here. And with how reluctant my sister is to kill me after all I've done, there's a perfectly good chance that she won't call upon the. . ."

She thought to herself. Was there still any chance left that Starfire would be willing to continue being merciful to her the way she had in the past? After all, her sister was now aware of her responsibility for selling her to the Gordanians all those years ago, and she'd most certainly not reacted well to learning that news. Perhaps that knowledge would be enough for her sister to call upon the power of the Prime Entity so that she would be able to go to toe with her and the Black Entity at the very least, if not outright obliterate her.

Blackfire also felt wary about the prospect of being possessed. She'd heard plenty of stories about what happened to those who were possessed. And despite how Nolfavrel, the rest of the Umbrosian council, and even the Black Entity itself had promised that the possession would be a mutual two way street in which they worked together in harmony, Blackfire still remembered how she had twice received promises from supposed allies only to later end up stabbed in the back both times.

Furthermore, even though Starfire had prevented Cometbolt from subjecting her to the dastardly alternate fate he'd proposed, she now found herself still feeling strangely reluctant to fully commit to the idea of killing her own sister. No matter how much rage she mustered in her mind against her sister, she still, for some odd reason, just could not muster up the full willpower needed to straight up murder her sister. But at the same time, with how far she'd now gone, and the way things were currently unfolding for her, did she really have any other options left?

"Are you sure this is the only way?"

"You want us to keep fighting for you?" Nolfavrel asked coldly, a small hint of irritation clear in his voice. "Call upon the Almighty, or we will abandon you right now."

Blackfire sighed, and hung her head, steeling herself in the process. "If I must."

She drew out the summoning orb and lifted it up to the light of the ceiling lamp. "Shadowy one," she yelled. "King of the Night! Lord of Darkness! Embodiment of Death! I call upon you to help me in my time of need!"

The air was split with what sounded like booming thunder, and the summoning orb glowed with black energy and levitated out of Blackfire's hand.

"I hear your call," a hollow voice spoke, reverberating ominously in her mind. "And I come now to answer it. Join with me, embrace my power, and the universe shall be ours!"

The summoning orb crumbled to dust, and Blackfire turned around to face the window just as the environment outside her ship started to become increasingly dark. She directed her head in the direction that the rainbow razer gazed, and gulped upon sight of a giant shadowy vortex materializing directly above the battlefield.

. . . . .

Lieutenant Taryia of Tamaran raised her eyebrow as she gazed upwards at the giant vortex materializing above the battlefield. "What is that?" she thought to herself.

Galfore and Greerak, however, had a much better idea compared to their soldiers of just what was about to come out of this vortex. Sure enough, their eyes widened in horror upon seeing the first physical segments of the new arrival to descend out of the vortex.

"By Zog," hissed Greerak.

"X'hal help us all," said Galfore.

Currently sticking out of the giant vortex was a massive snake-like head that appeared to be made entirely out of shadows and smoke. In its mouth were rows and rows of giant and sharp needle-like teeth. And it had two giant blood red pupilless circular eyes. As the two rulers and their respective fleets watched in stunned horror, the rest of the being descended from the vortex, revealing its impossibly long snake-like body, its bat-like wings, and its barbed scorpion-like tail.

Upon fully exiting the vortex, the giant monster slowly rotated itself so that it was no longer upside down, spread its wings, reared upward, and let out an incoherent reverberating shriek that left even the bravest members of the fleet quivering with terror.

"The Black Entity," Greerak whimpered. "It has come."

"Yes," said Galfore. "And that can only mean one thing."

Sure enough, one of the windows that served as an 'eye' of Blackfire's ship opened up, and Blackfire herself flew out before coming to a stop a couple feet away from where the massive Entity was hovering.

The rainbow razer's eyes narrowed upon catching sight of Blackfire, and it let out a series of angry shrieks in her direction.

The Black Entity turned its head to face Blackfire, who nodded, and extended her hand towards it. "I am Komand'r of Tamaran, and I give you my body for you to use as your vessel."

The Black Entity hissed, seeming to lick its lips with pleasure. "I accept."

The Entity glowed with black light, dissolving into particles of shadowy energy. The giant shadowy cloud reared up like a snake, and went rocketing straight into Blackfire's chest.

The dark-haired Tamaranean shrieked, rearing back in shock as she absorbed the shadowy energy that was now pouring rapidly into her through her chest, feeling the essence of the Black Entity enter her body, and its mind flawlessly melding with her own.

The shadowy energy finished entering its new vessel, and Blackfire slowly floated down into a more upright position in the empty space. Blackfire opened her eyes. Except now they were no longer purple. Now they glowed with the pupilless red light of the Black Entity.

She narrowed her eyes, and spread her arms sideways as if showing herself off. "BEHOLD!" she yelled, her own voice nightmarishly melding with the reverberating hollow voice of the Entity that was now possessing her. "I! YOUR FUTURE RULER! AM HERE!"

She lifted her left hand, fist clenched. "I SHALL SAY THIS TO YOU NOW! BOW BEFORE ME! OR DIE!"

The rainbow razer snarled, and then spewed a tsunami of rainbow flames from its beak straight at Blackfire.

Rolling her eyes, Blackfire snapped her fingers, and a portal of darkness emerged in the path of the flames. The beast eventually shut off its breath attack, confused as to what was happening.

Blackfire gestured at the portal. "ENTER!" she yelled. "YOUR HOME IS WAITING!"

The creature rumbled in confusion, but then leaned its head towards the vortex in curiosity. Right as its head was inches away from the opening, a black tendril extended from the center, grabbed it by the horns, and dragged it through the portal. The beast had just enough time to shriek in surprise before it vanished through the vortex, which closed immediately afterward.

"I REPEAT," the possessed Blackfire yelled. "BOW BEFORE ME! OR DIE!"

Galfore glared, and pressed a button that would allow him to broadcast his voice to outside his soldiers' commlinks.

"WE WILL NEVER BOW TO YOU!" the Tamaranean emperor's booming voice shouted.

"YES," Greerak's voice roared from his own ship. "WE WILL NEVER BOW TO YOU! AS KING, THERE IS ONLY ONE GOD THAT I BOW TO, AND IT AIN'T YOU!"

"THEN YOU! SHALL! DIE!"

Blackfire lifted her hand and thrust it forward. A giant jet of shadowy fire erupted from it, engulfing a quarter of the combined Tamaranean and Gordanian fleet. By the time the shadowy fire faded away and the rest of the fleet regained the ability to coherently think, all that was left of the ships that had been engulfed were wisps of smoke and ash.

"BEHOLD MY POWER!" Blackfire shouted. "AND TREMBLE!"

She snapped her fingers, and a giant maelstrom of shadowy lightning began to materialize in front of her and gradually expand closer and closer towards the star ship fleet. All the ships hurriedly moved to get away, but not all the ships were lucky.

"YES! RUN!" Blackfire yelled, the Entity inside her feeling especially proud as it spoke alongside her. "RUN LIKE THOSE IN FEAR OF A GOD SHOULD!" She raised her hands. "AND WHILE YOU ATTEMPT USELESSLY TO FLEE FROM ME AND REFUSE TO BOW, LET ME BRING FORTH MY LOYAL SUBJECTS WHO WILL BOW TO ME!"

As if on unspoken cue, a gigantic armada of Umbrosian ships and soldiers began to come pouring down from the same vortex that the Black Entity had used to enter the battlefield.

Galfore's eyes widened upon seeing this, and then he fought hard not to allow any further outward signs of worry to show. "Koriand'r," he thought to himself. "By X'hal, I hope that you and your friends are alright. If you are, I can only hope that you will somehow allow us to survive this current dilemma."

. . . . .

Beast Boy gulped. "We're in trouble."

"Wow," said Cyborg. "What gave it away?"

"Our forces are indeed in dire circumstances," said Karras. He narrowed his eyes in concern. "I can only hope that Taryia is still alive." He turned his head to face where his ship was. Despite the impact with which Cometbolt had slammed him into it, plus its secondary impact against the room's wall, the ship had only received minor damages that would be easy to fix. "I must get back out there."

"You really think you'll be able to do any better against that thing?" Robin asked.

"Better to at least try to do something then just stand here and watch!"

"Well even if we don't just stand around, how are we supposed to take on something like this?!"

"Yet again, Beast Boy brings up a surprisingly good point," said Raven.

"There is one way we could level the field of play."

Karras and the other titans looked in Starfire's direction. The Tamaranean princess walked up to the unconscious Cometbolt, grabbed him by the hair and dragged him over to where a large dome was located. The onlookers narrowed their eyes, and then those of Starfire's fellow titans widened in recognition of the crystalline orb within.

"The summoning orb from the Prime Entity," said Raven.

Robin raised his eyebrow. "Star? You're not seriously considering . . .?"

Starfire wordlessly lifted the unconscious Cometbolt's hand and placed it against the button at the base of the dome. The palm was scanned, and the machine attached to the button let off an electronic beep. The dome opened, and Starfire grabbed the summoning orb.

"I'm serious Star," said Robin. "Look, I'm not trying to be intentionally difficult here. But you are aware of what you could be risking right? If you're still uncomfortable with all this, there could yet be another way . . ."

"My people are dying Robin."

Starfire turned her head to face her boyfriend, her eyes set in a half determined and half saddened look. "You talk now about we should be cautious and try to find another way. But open your eyes Robin and look out that window." She gestured to the window and the chaos currently going on outside Blackfire's ship. "Do you not see how fruitless and cruel it would be to make me wait for you to try to figure out some other solution in a moment like this? When both my people and our allies our slaughtered left and right by my sister, who even now has a literal God fighting alongside her?"

She hung her head. "I thought for a time that maybe we would have been able to find another way. Maybe if we'd been able to find Blackfire and stop her from summoning the Black Entity at any point before now, then perhaps what I'm about to do would in fact have not been necessary. But we didn't, and now it's too late for any other solution to be found."

She looked back out the window. "I know that what I'm about to do runs the risk of allowing events to unfold that none of us feel comfortable with and could very well go against several things we've stood for all our lives. For that, I am sorry. But with everything that's happened and is currently unfolding, there is now simply no other way. My people, my k'norfka, our allies, and very likely the entire universe at this point? They need me. I'm sorry Robin, but I am not going to stand by and let them die just so you can have a chance to search for another solution that may not even exist."

She lifted her hand, the marble-sized orb in her hand dazzling in the light of the room's ceiling lamp. "Bright one," she stated. "King of the Day. Lord of Light. Embodiment of Life. I . . . I call upon you to help me . . . in my time of need."

A humming noise that sounded none too different from the glowing of Rudolph the red nosed reindeer's nose filled the air, and the summoning orb glowed with white energy and levitated out of Starfire's hand.

"I knew you would call," the voice of the Prime Entity warbled in Starfire's mind, "and so I come to aid you. For what it's worth, I truly am sorry that this is the way things must be. When our battle is over, and the universe is safe forever more, I shall allow you to set up a memorial to the sister you knew before she became the monster she is now. Join with me, accept my power, and we shall make right all that is wrong."

The summoning orb crumbled to dust, and all 6 of the room's occupants turned to face the broken window when the area outside suddenly began to shine with an impossibly bright light. At the sight of what was now happening, Starfire nodded her head. "Friends, Karras," she then stated, gesturing to both Karras's ship and the open doorway. "Return to your ships and depart back to the battlefield. I want you to be safe with the rest of our forces while the Prime Entity and I duel with my sister and the Black Entity."

. . . . .

Blackfire and the Entity possessing her had just enough time to briefly smile gleefully at the sight of the chaos unfolding before them before a sudden bright glow emanated from underneath the battlefield, and they looked down. Their red eyes widened upon sight of what they found, as did the eyes of all the Umbrosians and their foes.

A giant vortex of white light had materialized from underneath the two armies, bathing the battlefield in its radiant glow. But then two diamond-shaped glowing blue eyes appeared within the vortex, and the Umbrosians all froze in fear.

"This cannot be," the soldiers all thought to themselves.

The 13 Umbrosian council members were similarly uneasy about this development.

"It would appear that this battle will yet continue to be even harder then we thought," said Nolfavrel.

Blackfire and the Black Entity, however, merely narrowed their eyes. But despite this outward display, only the Entity truly felt suspicious and annoyed. Blackfire herself, on the other hand, was now feeling quite terrified.

"No," she thought to herself from deep within. "No, this can't be. X'hal please, this can't be! Starfire would never do this! She'd never actively wish to kill me! Never!"

Much as the Umbrosians had begun to fear, none other than the Prime Entity itself began to rise from out of the vortex of light. While the Umbrosians all froze and cowered in fear, the Tamaraneans and Gordanians gaped in awe at the magnificent figure.

"By X'hal," said Galfore.

"I'll admit, a truly wonderful sight to behold," said Greerak.

The commanding generals, similarly, were in awe.

"So beautiful," said Taryia.

"Zog almighty," said Yarboth.

The Entity's full body rose from the vortex, at which point it pulled back its wings, reared up its head, and unleashed a booming roar that caused the Umbrosians to cower and the combined Tamaranean and Gordanian fleet to cheer proudly in triumph.

"I knew you would do the right thing," Greerak whispered under his breath.

"Well done Koriand'r," Galfore whispered somberly. "I know that this is not what you would have preferred. In fact, I myself would have been reluctant to allow for this. But for all our sakes, I am glad you have ultimately made the choice you've now made."

With a flash of dark energy, the distinctive orange T-ship emerged behind the combined army of Tamaraneans and Gordanians. The four passengers onboard stared ahead at the spectacle about to unfold. Karras similarly emerged from this flash of shadows in his own ship, intently watching the newly arrived Entity while also setting off to take his place at Taryia's side.

"I hope you know what you're doing Koriand'r," Karras thought to himself.

. . . . .

Starfire snapped the same broken cuff that had originally been on her right wrist around Cometbolt's right wrist, using her strength and eye beams to weld it into tightening sufficiently enough to serve as an adequate restraint. "That should hold you," she thought to herself while simultaneously slipping the discarded inhibitor headband onto Cometbolt's own head. Her former captor and equally former friend and lover now secured karmically the same way he'd kept her restrained, Starfire turned around, crouched as if about to take off, and then flew right through the energy barrier that had formed in the space occupied by the broken window.

She came to a stop a couple feet away from the Prime Entity's position. The Entity turned its head to face her, blue eyes narrowed inquisitively.

Starfire sighed. "I am Koriand'r of Tamaran, and I give you my body for you to use as your vessel."

The Prime Entity warbled, and nodded its head in understanding. "I accept."

The Entity glowed, and then burst into a cloud of white light particles. This cloud scrunched up like a coiled spring, and then abruptly burst towards Starfire, morphing into a lightning bolt-like beam that struck her in the chest. The ginger haired Tamaranean hissed in discomfort, rearing back as she absorbed the energy that was now pouring into her. Within seconds, she felt the essence of the Prime Entity merge flawlessly with her own, their power unite, and their minds meld.

The last of the white light entered Starfire's body, and she floated downward into a straightened position with her eyes closed. Seconds later, with both armies, plus Blackfire and her own possessing entity, watching closely, she opened her eyes, revealing that they'd now turned the same brilliant blue as those of the Prime Entity.

Upon sight of this, the soldiers of the defending fleet cheered exuberantly, the titans and rulers nodded their heads resignedly, and the Umbrosians hissed in despair.

Blackfire and her Entity snarled. "NO!" they roared, the Entity's rage and Blackfire's despair melding together in this mighty shout.

Starfire raised her eyebrow, and turned around to face Blackfire. "GREETINGS," she said, her voice and the Prime Entity's flawlessly combined together much like Blackfire's had done with that of the Black Entity. "AT LONG LAST, WE MEET EACH OTHER ON THE BATTLEFIELD ONCE MORE!"

The Black Entity snarled, it's vessel's face hardening into a savage glare. "I SHOULD HAVE GUESSED THAT YOU'D SHOW YOUR FACE AT SOME POINT! NEVER MIND HOW BOTH YOUR VESSELS NOW HAVE ACCEPTED YOU WITH RELUCTANCE AS OPPOSED TO JOYOUSLY EMBRACING THE OPPORTUNITY THE WAY MINE HAVE!"

"IT MATTERS NOT HOW IT CAME TO PASS," the Prime Entity said, its own vessel's face remaining calm and impassive. "ALL THAT MATTERS IS THAT NOW WE HAVE OUR VESSELS, AND ALSO OUR ARMIES, READY FOR BATTLE."

A sizable armada of distinctively Phosphorian ships and soldiers began to rise from the same vortex from which the Prime Entity had entered.

The Black Entity snorted, rolling its vessel's eyes. "YOU NEVER COULD RESIST THE CHANCE TO SHOW OFF YOUR MIGHT BY HAVING YOUR ARMY PRESENT TO PARADE AROUND THE BATTLEFIELD FOR YOU. COULD YOU?"

"YOU'RE ONE TO TALK!" The Prime Entity gestured its vessel's hands towards its enemy's own armada of followers. "YOU DID EXACTLY THE SAME THING!"

"SO I DID."

The Black Entity leaned its vessel forward, red eyes blazing and shadowy energy crackling around its fists as a small aura of energy shaped like its natural body formed around its vessel. "I GROW TIRED NOW OF SUCH IDLE TALK! LET US FIGHT!"

"YES! LET US FIGHT," the Prime Entity agreed, its own vessel leaning forward with its blue eyes blazing, blinding white lightning crackling around its fists, and an aura shaped like its own natural body taking shape. "AND THIS TIME, LET OUR BATTLE END WITHOUT A WIELDER OF THE DAWN AROUND TO INTERRUPT!"

Starfire mentally raised her eyebrows from her shared position at the mental driver's seat. "Wielder of the dawn? What's that supposed to mean?!"

Blackfire was similarly confused. "Wielder of the dawn? What in X'hal's name does that have to do with a freak eclipse?!"

"HAH!" the Black Entity yelled as it fired his shadowy flames.

"YAH!" the Prime Entity roared as it shot off its white lightning.

The two attacks clashed together explosively, causing a giant burst of shadows and light that sent both vessels careening backwards. The two vessels came to a stop, shook their heads, and then rocketed towards each other, shrieking incoherently. The battle was on.

. . . . .

As the two Entities used their vessels to fight their climactic battle, their respective armies proceeded to clash as well, with the combined forces of Tamaran, Gordania, and the teen titans assisting the Phosphorian army.

Even as the titans added their ship's blaster fire to the increasingly chaotic storm of blasts, they still couldn't help but both wince and feel at awe over the spectacle unfolding before their eyes.

"I don't know about you," said Cyborg. "But I highly doubt that I'll ever be able to see a fireworks show the same way again when this is over."

"Assuming we ever get to see a fireworks show anymore," Beast Boy grumbled. "With how things could turn out if Lightshow over there wins? Anything involving fireworks could well be rendered obsolete. Not to mention so could sleep, and watching the stars, or anything to do with night."

"We'll worry about that later," said Robin. He directed his attention to the dueling sisters. "Right now, all we need to worry about is making sure the Umbrosians don't kill us while we wait for one of those two Entities to call a winner."

Karras and Taryia flew side by side, swerving, careening, and sometimes even barrel rolling as they let loose with their ships' blasters. The soldiers under their command similarly fired continuously at the enemy.

"Raava de zuuso," the two leaders said in unison as they fired.

The Gordanian soldiers were likewise firing endlessly at the Umbrosians with their ships' blasters. Out of all of them, Yarboth and Garzvohg seemed to be the most invested in the task.

"Die shadow scum," the two generals roared.

Galfore and Greerak similarly had the blasters on their royal starships firing away at the enemy, but noticeably kept themselves calm and collected compared to their soldiers.

"Be careful now," said Galfore. "We don't want to get too ahead of ourselves here."

"Be mindful of how much energy you use now," said Greerak. "We need to allow our blasters to maintain a steady power level!"

Naturally, the Phosphorians themselves kept their own powers continuously piling on damage against the Umbrosian army with orbs of light, beams, and similar light-based attacks, shrieking in joy as they mercilessly attacked their hated enemies. Much like their allies, the only members of this army to remain calm and collected were the seven leaders piloting the Phosphorian council ship, who even now had their eyes narrowed as they set their sights on the ship containing the Umbrosian council.

"Eyes on the target," said the head of the Phosphorian council, his blue eyes narrowed in concentration as the pilots of the ship worked to get the targeting system in line with the Umbrosian council ship.

The Umbrosian council, meanwhile, were similarly calm as they worked to get their own ship's blasters focused on the ship of their enemy's leaders. "We may be about to die," Nolfavrel thought to himself. "But that doesn't mean we have to go down without a fight."

As this huge battle unfolded, the two Entities and their vessels, naturally, continued their own epic duel.

. . . . .

Blackfire swung her right fist at Starfire, snarling in rage.

Starfire caught her elder sister by the wrist, her face impassive. "YOU HAVE GOTTEN MORE CARELESS IN YOUR OLD AGE. I AM ALMOST INSULTED."

"WELL LET'S SEE HOW YOU HANDLE THIS THEN!"

Blackfire fired her eye beams, now a crimson red instead of her usual violet.

Starfire, caught off guard, was sent reeling by the beams as they struck her in the chest. She regained her balance, charged up her own eye beams, and fired them at her sister. The brilliant blue lasers that now took the place of Starfire's usual green eye beams plowed into Blackfire, sending her careening backwards.

Starfire flew towards her off balance sister, white lightning crackling on her hands. Blackfire recovered, charged up her shadowy energy, and clapped her hands together, causing an explosive shockwave of shadow fire to erupt from around her and blow her younger sister away. She started to charge up a second attack while her sister was still off balance, but Starfire recovered quickly enough to snap her fingers, causing a maelstrom of white lightning to violently materialize in the area surrounding her, sending Blackfire tumbling down towards the vortex of light.

Starfire bent her knees as if crouching, white light glowing around her hands. She clapped her hands together over her head, causing herself to be engulfed in a rapidly blinking pillar of white light. A second blinking pillar of light considerably slenderer then the one around Starfire erupted from underneath Blackfire, blasting her again and again before both pillars finally faded away for good after their respective 13th blinks.

Blackfire shook her head, snarling in rage. She started charging an orb of darkness in between her hands, then she hurled it upwards. The orb rapidly expanded to the size of a planet as it rose before exploding into multiple meteor sized orbs that went rapidly flying off kilter in Starfire's direction. Starfire swooped left, right, and every other direction she could think of to dodge, but was still hit by several of these shadowy meteors.

While Starfire was still disoriented from the shadowy meteors, Blackfire zoomed towards her, her right fist drawn back and blazing with black energy, ready to punch her younger sister. Starfire, fortunately, regained her senses just in time to do a back flip. The strength of the resulting kick to the charging Blackfire's face, combined with the presence of the Entity aura's tail around her legs, was enough to send Blackfire rocketing backward.

When Blackfire came to a stop, she repositioned herself so that she was once again facing her sister. "YOU REALLY SHOULDN'T PUT UP SUCH A FUSS! YOU'RE GOING TO INEVITABLY LOSE!" Starfire yelled.

"WE'LL SEE ABOUT THAT," Blackfire hissed. She clenched her fists, snarling in fury as black flames began to form around her entire body. The aura around her glowed as well and seemed to briefly solidify. Then the aura expanded until it was the exact same size as the Entity possessing her was in its natural form, leaving Blackfire herself still positioned in the very center of the aura's body. "MAYBE YOU SHOULD FIGHT SOMEBODY YOUR OWN SIZE YOU PATHETIC GOODY-GOODY!"

"WISH GRANTED!"

Starfire clenched her own fists and snarled while white lightning encased her own body. Within seconds, her own aura had similarly expanded to the same natural size as that of the Entity possessing her.

"HOW'S THIS YOU VILE SHADOW SCUM?!"

Blackfire smirked smugly, the aura encasing her doing the same. "PERFECT!" Blackfire spread her arms, the Entity aura spreading its wings in the process. "LET US CONTINUE OUR DUEL!" Blackfire yelled, the Entity aura's mouth moving in perfect synch with her own.

"SMARTEST THING YOU'VE EVER SAID YOUR ENTIRE LIFE," yelled Starfire and her own possessing Entity.

"GGGGGOOOOOAAAAAARRRRRRR!" Blackfire and the Black Entity roared.

"KKKKRRRRREEEEAAAAAHHHHHH!" Starfire and the Prime Entity shrieked.

Still roaring and shrieking, the two sisters and their respective possessing Entities flew towards each other, eyes blazing and aura jaws gaping open ready to bite.

. . . . .

Beast Boy winced as he saw how the battle between Starfire, Blackfire, and the two Entities was now unfolding. "Oh boy, that's gonna leave a mark!"

Beast Boy was not entirely wrong. In its current state, the battle was becoming quite intense as the two Tamaranean vessels proceeded to fight exclusively through use of their auras. The black aura growled, folded its wings together in front of it, and summoned a line of shadow orbs in front of it. Then it snapped its wings forward, sending all the orbs flying right at the white aura. The orbs crashed into the white aura's chest, dangerously close to Starfire's position, and the aura faltered slightly in its position, flapping its wings to keep itself balanced.

The white aura recovered, squawked in challenge, and rapidly snapped its wings backward. A small storm of white lightning bolts materialized out of thin air and speared the black aura through its head, one from the left, another from the right, and the third from directly above. The black aura howled in pain from the attack, shaking its head side to side to get rid of the pain and regain its focus.

The white aura reared up, Starfire doing the same inside it, and shrieked skyward, eyes glowing. The black aura recovered, roared, and thrusted its tail barb at its enemy. The stinger struck the white aura in the chest, inches above Starfire's head, and the white aura had just enough time to shriek in discomfort before the black aura lunged its head forward and snapped its jaws around the white aura's neck.

The white aura shrieked in pain, rapidly flapping its wings as it tried desperately to pull itself free from the savage biting attack the black aura was subjecting it to. The black aura kept its jaws around its enemy's neck, tightening it as it tried desperately to put its enemy down for good. Then the white aura hissed, lifted up its tail, and then stabbed its spike into the black aura directly beneath Blackfire's feet.

The black aura hissed, its jaws snapping open as it reared its head back to shriek from the pain. The white aura capitalized on this, swerving its head so that it was facing the back of its enemy's head, and then started plunging its beak into that very area multiple times. The black aura hissed and wheezed as it was continuously stabbed in the back of its head by its enemy's sharp beak.

Eventually, the two auras separated and flew backwards. As the titans continued to watch, the two auras drew their heads back, jaws open and glowing on the inside with charging energy.

Cyborg silently whistled. "This oughta be fun."

Sure enough, the two auras snapped their heads forward towards each, releasing their respective breath attacks simultaneously. The stream of shadowy fire and beam of white light collided in the very center of the empty space between the two auras and their vessels and fought for dominance. The titans gaped in awe as a convergence orb began to emerge in the center of the two dueling beams. Even the myriad soldiers of the three armies couldn't help but pause their fighting and watch as the two Entities reached this climactic point in their duel. It was clear just from sight that the two Entities were now truly putting in their all, and that if the battle continued to unfold as it currently was, one of them would almost certainly end up dead.

The air was split with a savage noise. All the combatants turned their heads in the direction of the noise, the two Entities shutting off their connected attack and adding their own gaze to the mix. The noise that they'd heard was a horrific set of three sounds that could only have been appropriate for use as a battle cry the way they were combined together.

The noise started off sounding like the keening shriek of a bird of a prey. Then it morphed into the sound of the wordless guttural yell that a warrior would spout from his throat in the midst of combat. Finally, it transformed unnervingly flawlessly into the heart stopping gurgling choke of a luckless victim choking on his or her own blood. As if this weren't enough, the sheer volume, combined with several other factors, made it sound as if there was an entire army of beings somewhere who'd all just now simultaneously unleashed this savage call to battle.

The entirety of the battlefield gaped in stunned silence towards the direction this noise had come from. Then the silence was broken a 2nd time with the very same earsplitting battle cry as before. Upon hearing this noise a 2nd time, Greerak, Galfore, and all the older soldiers amongst the combined fleet raised their eyebrows in recognition and confusion.

"That battle cry," Galfore thought to himself. "Is that what I think it is?"

"My mother told me about this noise," Greerak thought to himself. "But that's impossible. The species that makes this battle cry. . . they're from all the way in the Polaris System . . . and my kind is still on truce with them . . . why would they be here now?"

The two Entities, however, both narrowed their eyes in rage. And this rage only increased when the battle cry was heard a 3rd time, and they saw a particularly bright green light appear in the distance alongside multiple yellow lights. They knew all too well what had happened the last time a similar moment had occurred during their previous battle from so many centuries earlier. "NO!" they both roared in outrage.

The source of the incoming lights came close enough to be seen clearly. Upon sight of just what had now arrived, the eyes of all the titans, Tamaraneans, and Gordanians widened in stunned awe. The eyes of the Umbrosians and Phosphorians narrowed in a mixture of irritation and despair. The two Entities snarled, eyes blazing with fury.

"CURSE YOU!" they both roared upon recognizing the new arrivals as exactly what they'd been suspecting.

An entire fleet of Thanagarian warships had arrived, and they all seemed to have their blasters charging and aimed in the direction of the Umbrosian forces. However, there was also one lone figure flying in front of this fleet encased in an aura of green flames that was now proving a subject of rage to the two Entities. For a being very similar to this one had been responsible for their previous battle being interrupted and their conflict's resolution to be postponed for so many years since. However, the sight of this same being was enough to cause the eyes of their vessels to widen in shock, and their jaws to drop. The two of them in particular had especially good reason to recognize this one specific figure now that they were getting a clear look at him for the first time in at least five years.

"Ryand'r?!" they thought to themselves.

Plot twist ahoy! Dun, dun dun! In all seriousness though, I hope you all enjoy this new chapter and leave plenty of feedback (remember, a minimum of two reviews is required for this chapter before I post the next one). All that in mind, regardless of any subtle (or not so subtle) bugs or flaws that might be present in my writing style in this chapter, I nonetheless that you all enjoyed this chapter nonetheless and that I can improve in later chapters. And if it's any consolation, there were at least a couple flaws that I DID notice while editing this chapter that I at least was able to remove from the chapter before posting. So even if there are still some flaws left over in this final cut of the chapter, take comfort in that there were originally more flaws alongside them in initial cuts of this chapter. All that said, again, I hope you all enjoyed, read, and leave plenty of feedback! Have fun ya'll!

Coming up Next: With the long lost Wildfire present alongside the Thanagarian army, the final battle continues. But just HOW will it all end? Find out next time!