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?

18. Justice is Served

Hey everybody! I hope you all are ready for yet another amazing (I hope) chapter, because here it is! In this chapter, with the universe safe once more and the long lost Wildfire having finally returned, the time has come for trial and judgment to be passed upon Blackfire and Cometbolt. What shall the verdict be? Find out, in this new chapter! Here's to hoping you read, review, and enjoy!

A/N: But first, let me remind you all again that I do not own Teen Titans or anything else DC-based. Get that? Got that? Good. Onward we go!

Chapter 17:

Justice is Served

"Let the trial begin!" yelled Lord Zuus'ad of Tamaran.

All the other Tamaraneans in the Tamaranean Palace throne room, plus the Gordanians and Thanagarians present, cheered their assent. The four Earthlings present stayed silent, briefly directing glances towards the smaller temporary throne to Galfore's left that Starfire was currently seated upon. Her green eyes were impassive as they gazed ahead towards where first her sister, and later Cometbolt, would be brought to stand and answer for their crimes. Wildfire, standing directly to Starfire's left, also directed a concerned glance at his sister, half proud of her for taking a direct role in the trial to unfold, and half worried as to whether she'd have the strength to go through with the potentially tough decisions and harsh judgments that would need to be made.

Zuus'ad turned his head to look behind him where Galfore, Greerak, and Lord Hanrac Thul of Thanagar were seated. The three rulers nodded, Hanrac even turning his head to face the area near the entrance where two of his generals were standing and holding a cuffed, chained, and collared Blackfire. Standing right next to them were Yarboth and Garzvohg, who were holding onto a similarly restrained Ph'yzzon. Hanrac directed his attention back to Zuus'ad, his eyebrow raised underneath his hawk-like helmet.

Zuus'ad nodded, turned to face the two prisoners, and gestured his hand towards Blackfire. "As ordered, the first of the accused!"

With a grunt of acknowledgement, the two Thanagarian generals Penryk and Gryff stepped forward, dragging Blackfire over to where she was to stand for the trial. Once Blackfire was appropriately positioned, her handlers stepped back, and she looked ahead towards Zuus'ad, Galfore, and her siblings.

Zuus'ad pointed his finger at Blackfire. "Princess Komand'r. Today you stand trial for terrible crimes against Tamaran, the entirety of the Vega system, and beyond. Over the last few weeks, you have been caught in the act of consorting with Umbrosians, wantonly attacking multiple planets throughout the galaxy without call, granting the newly revealed traitor Ph'yzzon the chance to attempt to commit mental defilement upon Princess Koriand'r, and also for arranging the attempted murder of Koriand'r, her friends, and his Excellency Emperor Galfore."

Zuus'ad lifted his staff of office, slamming the bottom end upon the floor. "You have been twice exiled from Tamaran before now. You were first exiled by the late Emperor Myand'r and his late wife Empress Luand'r for the unspeakable treason you committed in selling your own sister to our then sworn enemies, the Gordanians, in exchange for the ceasefire that ended our last war with them."

Cometbolt's eyes widened upon hearing this, and he gaped in Blackfire's direction. He had most definitely not been aware of this matter. As if feeling her partner's scrutiny on her, Blackfire winced with an awkward half grimace on her face.

"You were exiled again three years later after you staged an invasion against Tamaran by the forces of Dranthax IV, forcibly took the empty throne for yourself, and attempted to have your sister married off against her will to Lord Glgrdsklechhh of Dranthax IV. Now, here you are, once again having committed terrible crimes and facing judgment from us." He pointed his finger at Blackfire. "To that, I say, what do you have to say for yourself?"

Silence hung in the air. Then Blackfire sighed, and hung her head. "Why are you even doing this?"

"I fail to see what you mean."

"This trial. Why are you even allowing me to have it? Like you said, I have been twice exiled before now, and I didn't receive a trial before either of those two times."

"There were many amongst us who were tempted to subject judgment upon you a 3rd time without trial. However, on account of both your ancestor Nightfire himself being granted a fair trial before his execution, and your siblings' own insistence, his Excellency has decided to allow you the courtesy of a trial this time. Now I repeat, what do you have to say for yourself? Remember, it is required that you speak only the truth, the full truth, and nothing but the truth."

"Well if that's true, why should I bother to speak if, in telling exactly what you ask, I wouldn't be telling you what you want to hear?"

"How can you know that for certain?"

As everyone else in the room looked in his direction, Greerak got up from his makeshift throne and pointed his trident at Blackfire. "How do you know whether we want you say that you genuinely regret your actions and wish for mercy and a chance to atone? How do you know whether we want you to say that you feel no regret whatsoever and grant us all the more reason to grant you a death penalty right here and now?"

Multiple other occupants in the room nodded their heads and grunted assent to Greerak's questions. Even Cometbolt found himself nodding his head with a firm scowl on his face, clearly finding appeal in Blackfire being given the death penalty now that he knew she'd been responsible for selling Starfire to the Gordanians.

Blackfire shook her head. "Regardless of which of those options you want, you'd still be only proven half right if I were to tell you the full truth."

"Really?"

Hanrac leaned forward, his eyes appropriately narrowed and glaring Blackfire's way like the bird his helmet was styled after. "Why don't you go ahead and enlighten us all then? Y'grath knows we're not in any hurry."

The rest of the room's occupants voiced their assent.

"If I must."

Blackfire stared directly at Zuus'ad, a determined look in her purple eyes. "For the most part, I have no regret for casting my lot with the Umbrosians. After how much I'd been wronged, how much had been taken from me, and how much I'd failed in the past, I believed that only something truly extreme could grant me a proper chance to succeed for once."

Greerak raised his eyebrow. "You said 'for the most part'. Does this mean that there are some parts where you in fact do feel regret for your actions?"

"I do not regret forging an alliance with the Umbrosians. I do not regret the attacks my allies and I committed against the planets we assaulted. I do not regret being willing to fight an outright war against Tamaran alongside them. I definitely do not regret having to call upon the power of the Black Entity." Blackfire then sighed, and hung her head. "I do, however, regret at least one thing."

"What would that be?" Galfore asked.

Zuus'ad raised his eyebrow upon hearing his emperor speak for him, but wisely held his tongue.

Blackfire glanced at her old caretaker, staring directly into his eyes. "I do regret how I ultimately agreed to what my partner Cometbolt had planned for my sister. In the heat of the moment where he made the offer, I was happy to accept. But now, having had time to think and reflect, I've since changed my mind. In fact, immediately after my sister freed herself from her restraints and joined her friends in the battle against him, I will admit that a part of me felt relieved that she was able to escape and prevent him from fulfilling his intended plan for her."

"And what makes you so regretful about this particular choice? As has been established, you had already committed plenty of despicable actions against her yourself. What would have made letting Cometbolt alter her mind any different in your eyes?"

"The answer is quite simple Galfore. The Citadel Coliseum? She would at least have died fighting like the warrior she is. The Centauri Moons Jail? The crime I framed her for was a fairly minor crime. The worst sentencing she would have gotten would have been 5 years maximum in prison, and a fairly humane prison at that. Married off to Glgrdsklechhh? I had his word on good faith that she would be treated kindly and that no harm, cruelty, or disrespect would come to her. Killing her in combat over the course of any of the battles with the Umbrosians? Well, just like with the Citadel Coliseum, honorable and dignified death in combat as herself.

"But to allow her to undergo the fate that Cometbolt had in mind? That would have allowed her neither an honorable death, nor the chance to live happily as herself. If Cometbolt had been successful, she would have had all her memories, her entire personality, and every ounce of her free will permanently erased from her mind and replaced to the point that she'd have only been a weak and powerless shell devoted entirely to pleasing Cometbolt with zero mind of her own. When I first agreed to allowing Cometbolt the chance to do what he planned, I was angry enough at my sister to believe that she truly deserved something that cruel in comparison to killing her in combat, and that I hated her enough to not even care whether she had a kind fate dealt upon her or not. But over time, I realized that, contrary to my original expectations, I do in fact still care about my sister, in my own way. Thus, why I'm even now quite happy indeed that she was able to escape from her captivity and help her friends foil Cometbolt's plans herself."

She nodded her head. "I may have no regret about any of my other actions over the last few weeks. But I will forever regret even considering allowing my sister to come so close to undergoing the beyond cruel fate that Cometbolt desired for her. I am not ashamed to admit as much."

She placed her cuffed hands upon the top of the podium she was standing at. "Is there even any more that needs to be said or done? You all know how far I've gone at this point, and you all believe I deserve the worst for the actions I've committed. So what are you waiting for? If you really hate me so much and want me to be punished for my actions so badly, then go ahead and sentence your verdict upon me."

"You are certain of this Komand'r?" Galfore asked.

"You have nothing more you wish to say in your defense?" Greerak asked.

"What more could I say that I haven't already said in the past? More than once even?"

She looked her old caretaker in the eyes. "Yes Galfore. I am certain. Just say the verdict and get it over with. You know I've gone too far now. You all do. So stop prolonging things and put everyone out of their misery."

Silence hung in the air, the occupants all gazing silently at Blackfire. Even Cometbolt, as much as he now wanted her dead, couldn't help but nod his head in grudging respect. "Better to face death with dignity than to go out begging for your life like a coward," he thought to himself.

The three rulers looked each other in the eyes. Then they looked at Starfire and Wildfire, much to everyone else's confusion. Then they looked back at Blackfire.

"Very well," said Galfore. "We shall grant you your verdict."

Greerak snapped his fingers, and Starfire rose from her throne and walked into position directly next to Zuus'ad. Blackfire's eyes widened in shock, evidently having not expected her own sister to voice the verdict.

"We have all carefully weighed your actions," Starfire began. "And we have equally carefully measured your potential guilt and regret. But in the end, we find you guilty of all the crimes you've currently been accused of as well as of all the crimes that you'd committed against me in the past."

Blackfire hung her head, resigning herself to the facts.

"And as punishment for your crimes, I hereby sentence you. . ."

Blackfire closed her eyes and gritted her teeth, bracing herself for the announcement of what she was sure would be a death sentence.

"To serve time at one of the penitence camps on New Alliance."

Blackfire's eyes widened in shock. Cometbolt and many of the other occupants in the room were similarly stunned.

"WHAT?!" yelled everyone in the room apart from Starfire, Wildfire, and the three rulers.

"She can't be serious," Robin thought to himself.

"I understand that this is not what you all were expecting, and I realize that many of you believe any fate short of a death sentence would be far kinder than she deserves."

"Then why?" Garzvohg asked.

"Yes, why?" said Yarboth. "You of all people should have the most reason to want her dead. Especially after everything that she's done to you over all these years."

"That is correct."

Everyone in the room looked to Wildfire, who stepped forward to stand at his sister's side. "She did have every reason to want to give our elder sister a death sentence. In fact, she was one of the first to suggest that very fate during our discussions before the trials began. Greerak, Hanrac, and his excellency all agreed to this fate as well. But it was my counsel during this meeting that eventually convinced them otherwise."

"Enlighten us then," said Karras.

"Gladly. There are several reasons why, despite her more than deserving it, a death sentence isn't the right choice for her. For one, how can we say for certain that killing her won't ultimately make her a martyr to someone else the way Nightfire ended up serving as one to her?"

This was enough to get the rest of the room's occupants to think to themselves in silence. Wildfire certainly had a point.

"One of the key reasons Blackfire was so willing to work with the Umbrosians was how she clearly identified herself so much with Nightfire. And if we were to kill her here the way Nightfire was, who's to say that her death won't inspire another disgruntled royal Tamaranean from following in her and Nightfire's footsteps?

"Furthermore, there is Blackfire's reasoning and motives to consider. As the history scrolls say, Nightfire had no regrets at all, and was a true villain through and through over the course of his efforts to seize the throne with help from the Umbrosians."

He raised his finger. "Yes, it can be argued that Blackfire is no different. But at the same time, such a rebuttal isn't true. For also according to the history records, Nightfire himself received affection and genuine parental love from his parents equal to that received by Dayfire and Dawnfire, even in spite of his hair and eye color. Blackfire, on the other hand, was viewed with misgivings from the day of her birth, and was constantly shafted in favor of Starfire and I. Judging by how things have since turned out, it can be argued that our parents and people were so afraid that she'd end up like Nightfire that they unwittingly turned her into exactly what they feared she'd be like."

"A tragic possibility," Karras admitted.

"Yes," said Yarboth. "But what does this have to do with this current situation?"

"It is simple. What Blackfire has done? Yes, she definitely needs to answer for it. All of it. But is death what she deserves? No. What she needs, is help. And to achieve that, I believe that there is no better option then what is available at the penitence camps on New Alliance. From the amount of skill the handlers there have shown, if anyone can give my sister the care she needs to resolve her issues and change her ways, it is them."

Wildfire stared straight at all the assembled beings in the throne room. "Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe I'm just being a naïve little brother who refuses to accept the possibility that my eldest sister is truly evil to the core and just as incapable of redemption as Nightfire. Maybe the only reason I haven't lost faith so thoroughly as my other sister has come so close to doing in recent times is because of how little I've interacted with Blackfire in the days following my departure. But as her brother, I believe that, at the very least, she deserves one last chance. They always say that the 3rd time is the charm."

He hung his head. "But I will also say this, in the event that not even the work of the professionals at the New Alliance penitence camps is enough, and she ends up thanking us for this 3rd chance at redeeming herself by committing yet another morally reprehensible act? Then regardless of whether or not said act manages to top allying herself with the Umbrosians, I will stand back and accept her being granted the death penalty. But only if this 3rd chance I am willing to grant her isn't enough to finally heal her and get her to change her ways and forgive us."

In that instant, as Wildfire stood where he was, head hanging, and shoulders slumped, both of his sisters briefly saw him as the young and innocent little boy he'd once been, but now thoroughly broken and on the verge of an irreparably crushed spirit. It was now clear just from looking at him how much he desperately wanted to believe that his eldest sister wasn't truly lost to the darkness, and how much he'd be crushed if the very thing he didn't want to believe turned out to be true.

Blackfire sniffled quietly, a small tear starting to stream down her cheek from her right eye. "Ryand'r," she thought to herself.

"An intriguing proposition," said Zuus'ad. He looked to Starfire. "Do you truly agree to this Koriand'r?"

Starfire nodded her head. "I do. As much as I am angry at her for selling me to the Gordanians all those years ago, enough good has ended up unexpectedly coming out of that sale that I can almost forgive her for it. Furthermore, as she herself has admitted, she genuinely wishes that she'd refused Ph'yzzon's offer to subject me to the mind alteration he wished to subject me to and would have gladly preferred killing me in combat at the very most. The fact that she still wished to be kind enough to at the very most have me die an honorable death as myself, combined with everything that my brother has voiced, is enough to convince me that she is at least deserving of one final chance at changing her ways."

The rest of the room's occupants all looked to each other and started whispering. Except for the titans, who all found themselves nodding in respect, and Cometbolt, who had to fight with all his might not to do anything more than making a silent snarl in the direction of the three royal siblings.

"I see." Zuus'ad looked to three rulers seated behind him, Starfire, and Wildfire. "And what of you? Do you accept this proposition your excellencies?"

"I do," the three rulers said in unison.

"Then it is settled."

Zuus'ad turned to face Blackfire. "You are hereby sentenced to serve time at one of the penitence camps at New Alliance. For now, you shall be set to serve a minimum of three years. The timing, and whether or not you will receive any privileges or punishments to go with your sentencing shall be added on as time goes by depending on how you behave. Is that understood?"

Blackfire gulped, and then nodded her head. "Yes," she said just to be safe.

"Good."

Zuus'ad slammed the bottom end of his staff on the floor next to him. "Take her back to where she was! Her trial is over!"

Penryk and Gryff stepped forward, seized Blackfire by the shoulders, and marched her back to where they'd stood before she'd been called upon for her trial. As this happened, Blackfire thought quietly to herself about what had just happened, tears silently streaming down her cheeks as she realized just how much she'd hurt her brother. With these thoughts, she silently vowed that, for him at least, she would try her best to fulfil his wish to change for the better. For even if she still couldn't be a proper loving older sister to her own sister, then she could at least change for the sake of her baby brother. Or so she currently hoped.

Once Blackfire and her handlers had returned to their earlier post, all the other occupants of the room looked to Zuus'ad. Zuus'ad looked to the three rulers, who nodded their heads, their eyes narrowed in rage as they all directed hateful glares towards Cometbolt. This look was all Zuus'ad needed to see, and he directed his own gaze towards the disgraced former general. "As ordered, the second of the accused!"

Yarboth and Garzvohg dragged Cometbolt over, the white-haired Tamaranean growling and snarling as he thrashed and jerked around in his handlers' grip. From how furiously he was fighting, it was clear that the inhibitor collar around his neck was the only thing preventing him from either summoning his binary clones or burning the whole place down with his star bolts or eye beams.

Cometbolt was all but pushed over to the appropriate position for his trial, and the disgraced general turned his head and stuck his tongue out mockingly at the two Gordanian generals before turning his head to direct a furious glare towards Zuus'ad, Starfire, and the three rulers.

"General Ph'yzzon," Zuus'ad began. "Today you stand trial for terrible crimes against Tamaran. At this moment, you stand accused of high treason, extended absence without leave, the successful murder of Vrass'ad of Tamaran, the attempted murder of our honored guests and allies from Earth, consorting with the Umbrosians, attempted mental defilement of Princess Koriand'r. . ."

Cometbolt leaned forward, slamming his cuffed hands on the podium he was standing at and hissing spitefully. "I WAS TRYING TO SAVE HER," he roared. "SHE'D SPENT FIVE YEARS NOW, NEARLY SIX, STUCK ON THAT PLANET OF TROQS! YOU WERE ONLY GOING TO STAY ON TAMARAN AND DO NOTHING WHILE SHE CONTINUED TO THROW HER LIFE AWAY UNDER DELUSIONS OF JOY AND LOVE! IF YOU WEREN'T GOING TO SAVE HER, SOMEONE HAD TO!"

The titans all mentally face palmed. "He's definitely off to a good start," Raven thought to herself while rolling her eyes.

Zuus'ad raised his eyebrow. "Interrupting me like that will not earn you any points."

"Do I look like I care?!"

Cometbolt pointed at Zuus'ad. "Because you certainly didn't care!" He pointed at Galfore. "And neither did you!" He gestured at all the other Tamaraneans in the room. "Or any of you!"

"General Ph'yzzon," Zuus'ad said warningly.

Cometbolt glared back at him. "Don't even bother trying to ask me any further questions! This trial? It's a complete farce! All those 'crimes' you say I'm on trial for? Yes! I did them, and I have no regrets about them! And I shouldn't feel any regrets for them either! Any proud and honorable Tamaranean would have done them!"

He slammed his cuffed hands upon the podium once more. "All that's happened ever since the day the war ended five years ago? None of it unfolded the way it should have! Tamaran should have been unambiguously victorious! All of Gordania should have been lying dead at our feet! Kori should have been still on Tamaran with us and by my side! And even if none of that could have been done, then you definitely should have killed Komand'r the instant her responsibility for selling Kori was made public knowledge!"

He gritted his teeth, and moved his hands as if trying unsuccessfully to clench them into fists from within his cuffs. "But even if that was too much of an impossibility, I still should not have been the only one to care enough about Kori to actually try to find and rescue her! Let alone the only one to give a damn to continue doing that even after returning home of her own free will wasn't enough to cure of her Earth brainwashing and convince her to stay where she belongs!"

"And who are you to decide where she belongs?"

Galfore leaned forward, his eyes narrowed, and hands clenched around the armrests of his throne. "You're not the emperor! You are not her husband! And you are most definitely not Koriand'r herself!" He pointed at Starfire. "She is a strong, smart, and free woman! She can make her own decisions, and she knows how to follow both her mind and her heart!"

Cometbolt scoffed, and rolled his eyes. "As if," he hissed. "Her heart has no idea what her true home is anymore, let alone what true happiness is." He pointed his cuffed hands towards the titans. "All the time she's spent on Earth under the thrall of their brainwashing sees to that. And if she and those troqs hadn't stopped me from fixing her," he pointed at Galfore, "or you and the rest of our kind had so much as lifted a finger to help her, she'd have been already back to her true self by now; and most importantly, in love only with me, just as she should be!"

"Her true self is standing in front of you!"

Cometbolt and the rest of the room's occupants turned to look at Wildfire, who was now glaring at Cometbolt just as hatefully as everyone else. "The Starfire currently standing here with us is the same one all of us have known and loved. She has not been brainwashed. She has truly found a home and love. In fact, I daresay she's even happier now because of it then she was throughout all her time here on Tamaran. You just refuse to accept that she's found all this without any involvement from you!"

Cometbolt snarled. "Please. What would you know? You're still just a naïve child, and you've been separated from her for five years. You only see her as the happy person you knew her as because that's what you want to see!"

"That's enough!" Galfore slammed his right fist on the right armrest of his throne. "Don't you realize who you are talking to?!"

Cometbolt rolled his eyes. "Yes. A naïve, dumb, and young prince who's spent too much time apart from his sister to realize how much she's no longer truly herself anymore!"

"X'hal damn it Ph'yzzon," Galfore growled. He pointed at Wildfire. "Don't you remember how much he looked up to you before the war? Even before you got drafted into being a soldier, you were his hero!"

"Well I'm sorry that I have to hurt his precious little feelings," Cometbolt hissed, not sounding at all sorry. He jabbed his hands towards Galfore. "But newsflash! Life's just unfair like that! Sometimes you have to take a cold, hard, and bitter truth when all the stuff that's warm, soft, and sweet are nothing but lies!"

"You'd do well to take that same advice to heart for yourself," Greerak hissed back.

"Shut up lizard," Cometbolt snarled. "If I'd had my way, you and your entire species would have already been extinct by now! By X'hal, I would have gladly smashed you to death while you were still an egg!"

"That's enough Ph'yzzon!"

All the room's occupants looked to Starfire, who now had her eyes glowing. "I will not allow you to continue talking trash about my family and friends!"

"Why? They don't care about you! If they did, they would have helped me fix you back to the way you were before you were sold! Before the war even! And you wouldn't be as hopelessly brainwashed into believing your happy with wasting away on Earth with those troqs as you currently are!"

Cometbolt leaned forward, his eyes narrowed as he glared at the girl he'd been so certain returned his love five years prior. "Because there is no other way you could possibly believe yourself to be happy with such unworthy company as those insects! Or reduce yourself so low as to fool yourself into believing you actually love one of them in that kind of way! They are nothing! They mean nothing! Especially not to a proper Tamaranean like you! Let alone in comparison to a true honorable and noble Tamaranean warrior such as myself!"

He lifted his head, eyes still narrowed, and mouth still etched in a firm frown. "I don't care what is said here, or what it takes after this farce of a trial is over! I will save you! I will fix you! I will get the real you back where it belongs! Here on Tamaran! With me! Nowhere else! With no one else! I don't care if I have to raid another Psion lab to get ahold of replacements for that technology you destroyed! I will get you back!"

He turned his head to direct a hateful glare at Blackfire. "And I will definitely do it without any help from that monster you and your idiot brother call sister! I may have been willing to work with her before today! But now that I know that she's the heartless beast who sold you to the Gordanians in the first place and made it possible for you to get to Earth where those troqs could successfully sway you into thinking the wrong way, I will have no qualms about cutting ties with her, not to mention going straight to New Alliance after I escape from whatever prison you put me in and giving her the vile, savage, and inhumane execution that you and the rest of our kind should have already given to her years ago!"

After what felt like an eternity of silence following this statement, Zuus'ad finally deemed it safe to talk. "Are you quite finished?"

Cometbolt turned his head to face Zuus'ad, his eyes rolling dismissively. "Why do you even bother to ask?"

"Because before any sentencing is granted, I wish to make sure I allow you the chance to answer for all your crimes."

"Well I've done that. So get on with it!"

"On the contrary, there was one more crime that you are currently still suspected of committing that I was about to mention before you interrupted me earlier."

"Oh really? What would that be?"

Zuus'ad looked at the three rulers, who nodded their heads and directed their own gaze at Cometbolt.

"Five years ago," Galfore began. "A month before the war began, did you poison a wellspring in Gordania?"

Cometbolt raised his eyebrow. "And what, may I ask, makes you ask such a question?"

"Captain Karras tells me that you implied potentially having done so while he and Koriand'r's friends were working to save her from your clutches. This implication is something that Koriand'r herself has also attested to hearing you give. Now I repeat, did you poison a wellspring in Gordania on that date?"

Cometbolt snarled. "Well than I shall answer, your excellency, that yes, I did!"

The occupants all started whispering to each other rapidly upon hearing this. Greerak narrowed his eyes, and leaned forward towards Cometbolt. "Answer me this," he hissed. "Did you see any of my kin drink from that spring you poisoned?"

"As a matter of fact I did scum." Cometbolt looked directly at the young Gordanian king, a small smirk on his face. "Some lowly female came walking over and took a nice long, long, long drink from it. The slimy fool was as good as dead the instant she took the first sip from that spring."

Greerak gritted his teeth, clenching his hands tightly around the armrests of his makeshift throne. "Her fins and wings," he growled. "Did they happen to be dark purple instead of light green?"

"If it's really that big of a deal to you, then yes. She did. Very beautiful looking I might add . . . for a Gordanian. In fact, if it weren't for how I chose to be smart and get off your stinking planet as quickly as possible once she'd left the area, I would have gladly waited until she'd died so I could cut off one of her fins or wings to use as a trophy!"

"Did she also," Greerak snarled, now clearly struggling to keep it together and avoid exploding in anger, yet at the same time also seeming as if he were also on the verge of tears, "happen to be wearing a necklace of green and gray stones around her neck?"

"What difference does it make if she did?"

"ANSWER THE QUESTION!"

"WELL FINE THEN! YES, SHE DID, YOU LITTLE CLORBAG! HAPPY NOW?!"

At that point, Greerak hissed savagely, his teeth gritted, finger claws digging deep into the armrests of his makeshift throne, and his narrowed eyes half blazing in anger and half seconds away from bursting into tears. At this point, his grandfather, Lord Valdroth, had his own eyes widened in shock and horror as he too realized the significance of what Cometbolt had just admitted.

At that point, Hanrac decided that he'd be wise to ask the last question before Greerak flew off the handle. "You do remember the accusation the Gordanians made against your kind over the course of declaring war against Tamaran, right?"

"Have you no brain?! Of course I do! Some stupid nonsense about us killing their precious queen! What does that have to do with that lowly female I poisoned?!"

"It has everything to do with the one you poisoned."

Cometbolt and the rest of the room's occupants turned their heads in time to see Valdroth rising from his seat and turning his head to face Cometbolt directly. "That 'lowly female' that you poisoned? That was my daughter." He pointed at Greerak. "His mother."

The eyes of all the other Gordanians widened as they all finally remembered that their late queen had indeed had the exact distinctive features that had just been brought up. All the Tamaraneans, Blackfire included, similarly found their eyes widening as they realized the significance of what had just been revealed, as did all the Thanagarians and Starfire's fellow titans. But none of their reactions could compare to the look of pure stunned horror that had now come onto Cometbolt's face. It seemed to take an entire hour before the white-haired Tamaranean was finally able to speak once more. "You . . . you're saying?"

"Yes," Greerak hissed. He closed his eyes and grumbled as he fought with all his might to avoid breaking down into tears right there in the throne room in front of everyone. "The same . . . war . . . that . . . Komand'r . . . ended by . . . selling . . . Koriand'r . . . to my . . . kin . . . was one . . . that . . . you . . . yourself . . . caused!"

Silence hung in the air for a couple minutes. Then Cometbolt finally managed to regain his voice. "I'll admit, that is a sobering thing to learn." Then he glared, his earlier arrogance returning to him. "But I'll say this now, if I had known that information at the time, I still would have done it! If only because she was a Gordanian, and all you Gordanians deserve to die like the scum that you are!"

The Gordanians were all fit to burst, but Galfore slammed his fist and called for order. The occupants all remained seated upon receiving this call, but with clear reluctance.

Zuus'ad decided that now was the time to resume the trial before things got out of hand. "You truly wish now to receive your verdict?"

"Yes," Cometbolt spat.

"You have no wish to say anything more in your defense?"

"No."

"You have no regrets about any of it?"

"I shouldn't have to feel any regret for making an effort to prevent our kind from ever having to suffer attacks from those lowly worms! And I especially shouldn't have to regret going so far as to even try to save Koriand'r and put her back to the way she was, not to mention is supposed to be like!" He slammed his cuffed hands on the judgment podium once more. "Go ahead and give me your verdict! I'll take it! And since you're obviously not going to give me a death penalty if you were willing to accept the offer to let Komand'r get off lightly after all she's done, I'll gladly finish what I started once I get free from wherever you send me!"

Starfire narrowed her eyes, and looked all three of the rulers directly in the eyes. A silent message passed between her, Galfore, Greerak, and Hanrac. They had all discussed likely fates to subject him to depending on the outcome of his trial, and it was now very clear exactly which one he deserved. They all looked at Cometbolt.

"We have all carefully weighed your actions," Starfire began. "And we have equally carefully measured your potential guilt and regret. But in the end, we find you guilty of all the crimes you now stand accused of."

Cometbolt snarled.

"And as punishment for your crimes, we hereby sentence you. . ."

Cometbolt tensed himself up, and all the other occupants in the room leaned forward in anticipation for whatever punishment would be announced.

"To be given a golden crown, that we shall all tremble to behold."

The titans all raised their eyebrows in confusion. Why on Earth would they reward Cometbolt with rulership of a kingdom as 'punishment' for his crimes?

Cometbolt was stunned, his eyes widened, and mouth gaping open. But then an arrogant grin came on his face. It was clear he'd jumped to the exact same conclusion as Starfire's titan friends.

"Well I certainly don't see how that's punishment. Making me a king; especially considering who that implies will be my queen." He directed a condescending smirk of arrogance Greerak's way, then directed it towards the rest of the Gordanians, then to the Thanagarians, then to Blackfire, then the other Tamaraneans, and then to the titans. It was clear that he believed himself to have won.

But Starfire, the three rulers, and all their assembled people kept their original stone faced glares, if not outright smirks of smug satisfaction. For they all knew something that the four Earthlings didn't, and that Cometbolt himself appeared to have quite forgotten. The crowns worn by the rulers of Tamaran were always made out of silver, not gold. The Tamaraneans had only one type of occasion in which they'd grant someone a golden crown; and it was not something that those given such a crown would enjoy in the slightest.

Greerak and Hanrac got up from their makeshift thrones and stepped forward until the young Gordanian ruler was directly to Starfire's right and the middle aged Thanagarian lord was standing directly to Starfire's left and in front of Wildfire.

As the five royals continued to glare at him, and the rest of the room's occupants watched in either anticipation or curiosity, Cometbolt extended his cuffed hands forward, smug grin still on his face as he clearly expected for them to call someone over to unlock his restraints. Greerak hung his head, and Starfire turned to face him, her face momentarily taking on a look of concern as she placed her hand on the young Gordanian king's shoulder as if trying to comfort him. This gesture caused Cometbolt to raise his eyebrow.

Greerak nodded his head, and Starfire removed her hand from his shoulder. He took a deep breath, and then exhaled. "Garzvohg," he hissed, his voice low and hollow. "Yarboth." He lifted his head, eyes now closed. "Agujara."

The two Gordanian generals stepped over to Cometbolt's position, Yarboth drawing out what looked like a key. Cometbolt smiled . . . only to frown in confusion when Yarboth placed the apparent key upon the connecting strip between his handcuffs instead of the key hole of either of the two cuffs themselves while Garzvohg grabbed him by the left arm. He had only seconds to be confused by this before the connecting strip was undone, at which point Yarboth grabbed him by the right arm and yanked it forcibly backwards hard enough to break it.

Cometbolt screamed in pain as his arm was broken. The two generals began to drag him backwards. "No!" he yelled. "No!" They continued to drag him away while the royals and the rest of the occupants watched.

"You cannot touch me! I am the king! I AM A KING! I WANT MY CROWN! AND I WANT MY QUEEN!"

Garzvohg kicked him in the back of his left leg. Hard enough to break it. Cometbolt howled in agony as he collapsed to his knees, Yarboth and Garzvohg just barely keeping their grip on his arms. He howled again as Hanrac unclipped a belt of golden medallions from around his waist and handed it to Greerak. The young Gordanian stepped forward, the belt in his hand.

"Khaleeshrahreh!"

As he yelled this, Greerak walked right past his two generals and Cometbolt. Cometbolt shrieked in pain as his two handlers jerked his body upward. In the back of the room, a pair of Thanagarians lifted a cauldron of water they'd been attending to and emptied it onto the floor, placing it back down in time for two nearby Gordanian guards to blast the logs underneath with their tridents. A large bonfire of green flames erupted underneath the cauldron as the guards kept firing the beams from their tridents. Greerak came to a stop at the pot's position, threw the belt of golden medallions into it, and leaned his head over the pot to watch.

It was at this moment that the exact nature of what was happening finally dawned on Cometbolt, and he turned his head to gape at Starfire, his green eyes widened in horror and all traces of arrogance gone from his face.

Hanrac directed a side glance behind him towards Wildfire, and he placed his hand against the boy's stomach. "Look away Wildfire," the Thanagarian ruler requested, knowing that what was about to unfold was not something that Wildfire would entirely be comfortable watching, let alone watching happen to a man he'd idolized as a hero.

"No," said Wildfire. The Tamaranean prince shook his head. "I will watch. I'm 15 now. I can handle it. That man? He's not my hero. My hero died when my sister was sold. This monster that's taken his place? It's high time he joined him."

The titans, meanwhile, were similarly surprised as they also finally realized what was going on. "Dang," Cyborg thought to himself. "This just became Game of Thrones all of a sudden!"

Cometbolt stared in terror at Starfire. "You . . . you can't be serious!"

Starfire raised her eyebrow, her green eyes blazing with hatred. Cometbolt's heart sank. Much like all Tamaraneans, he was a master at reading emotions, and he could tell that what she was now currently feeling was genuine. "You . . . you are serious." He directed his gaze towards the boiling cauldron, his face still white with horror as Greerak continued to watch and the sound of rapid bubbling and hissing steam rose from the cauldron. The golden medallions inside were clearly melting, and at a remarkably fast pace thanks to the flames created by the Gordanian guards' tridents.

Cometbolt turned his head to face Starfire once more, sweating with terror. "Kori," he said, his voice quiet with fear. "Kori tell them." He looked back at the cauldron, then back at Starfire. "Make them!"

Greerak continued to watch the interior of the cauldron, the medallions inside rapidly melting into molten yellow lava.

"You don't have to do this," Cometbolt begged, now desperate to get the imminent execution called off. "Kori stop this! Please stop this! Call it off! I'll do anything!"

Starfire and Wildfire only glared at him, eyes glowing with hatred and malice. Galfore and Hanrac snarled at him.

"I'll accept a term at one of the New Alliance work camps! Or even one of their death camps! Please! Don't do this!"

Blackfire sighed, and rolled her eyes at the cowardice her ex-partner was showing. "Ph'yzzon," she thought to herself wearily. "You of all people should know that it's better to face death with dignity then to go out begging for your life like a coward."

Little did she know that this very same hypocritical irony to what he'd earlier thought about her own pre-verdict behavior was not lost on him, and he mentally cursed himself for acting like a coward.

"I'll let your friends live!" he yelled, now even more desperate then ever, and finally bitterly accepting the truth he'd now spent so much time fighting to deny and forcibly turn false. "I'll let you stay as you are! I accept it now! You were right! I was wrong! I admit it Kori! You were right! Just please! Please don't do this!"

All the room's occupants rolled their eyes in disgust. The four Earthlings even made dismissive gestures towards him while turning their eyes away from him. Greerak similarly rolled his eyes as he continued to watch the boiling and bubbling molten gold.

Once the mixture finally reached just the right temperature, Greerak grabbed the cauldron's handles and lifted it from the fire. "Make them," Cometbolt whimpered pitifully as Greerak started making his way back to where Starfire, Wildfire, and his two fellow rulers were waiting.

At the sound of footsteps and boiling liquid to his right, Cometbolt turned his head, and blanched with horror at the sight of Greerak walking right past him with the cauldron of molten gold. "No you can't!" he roared, panicking now.

Greerak turned his head to face the panicking Cometbolt, hissing in disgust as he did so. Greerak continued walking towards Galfore and Starfire. "Just . . . please," Cometbolt whimpered, his voice now a shrill whisper. "KORI PLEASE!" he roared, his voice losing its earlier shrillness as he tried one last desperate time to convince his former love to spare him.

Starfire only continued to glare at him, hatred still blazing in her eyes. It was clear she was not going to do a thing to stop the execution that was about to be made. The rest of the room's occupants similarly glared at him. Even the four Earthlings in the room merely directed hateful glares of their own. As much as a small part of them was aware of how they'd normally never advocate for something like this, their more reasonable sides drowned it out. For as much as they and Starfire usually went against killing anyone, they dared not try to stop this current execution for fear of causing an intergalactic incident.

Greerak came to a stop near the three Tamaranean royals, handing the cauldron to Galfore in the process. The hulking Tamaranean emperor grabbed onto the cauldron, rose from his throne, and walked resolutely over to where Cometbolt was being held.

Galfore came to a stop directly in front of Cometbolt, and the boy lifted his head, getting a good look at Galfore's face in the process. His heart only sank further at the sight of the look in Galfore's eyes. These were the eyes of a father whose children had been wronged, and now wished nothing more than to defend his daughter from a lesser man who dared to threaten her.

Galfore took a deep breath, and then exhaled heavily, his face illuminated with the golden light of the boiling molten gold inside the cauldron in his hands. "A crown for a king."

Galfore began to lift the cauldron, gradually tipping it over in the process. Cometbolt had just enough to quiver in panic and hurriedly stammer 'no' before Galfore got the cauldron to the same level as his face and tipped it over sufficiently enough for the molten gold to start pouring out onto Cometbolt's head.

Cometbolt's cowardly whimpering instantly morphed into a keening howl as the molten gold encapsulated the upper part of his head and cooked his brain. Galfore emptied the entire cauldron, then lowered it and got on his knees to stare the dying Cometbolt in the face. Cometbolt's dying howl very abruptly cut off as the molten gold finished its work.

Galfore and the two Gordanian generals waited a few seconds. Then Yarboth placed his finger against Cometbolt's neck to feel for a pulse. He smiled. "No pulse," he hissed smugly, and nodded his head. "He's dead."

Garzvohg chuckled. "Good riddance to him to."

Galfore nodded wordlessly, rose back to his feet, and walked back to his throne. Garzvohg and Yarboth let go of Cometbolt's arms the instant Galfore's back was turned, and the dead former Tamaranean general fell gracelessly to the floor on his face, the now rapidly hardening gold on his head making a slight clanking noise against the floor.

Galfore returned to his throne, and Zuus'ad bowed his head. "Your excellency, will that be all?"

"Remove Ph'yzzon's body from here. But there is still one more thing that must be done before we adjourn this meeting."

Greerak clapped his hands, and Garzvohg and Yarboth removed Cometbolt's body from the throne room, grabbing it by the feet and dragging it across the floor in an act of spite.

And just like that, another chapter done! I certainly hope you all read and enjoyed this new chapter! I especially hope that you are happy and ok with what has ultimately ended up happening to Blackfire and Cometbolt. And if you are not, then I hope that you and I can still at least be respectful of each others' opinions. Furthermore, I'd just like to say a thing or two now about Cometbolt. As much as I think I did an at least somewhat passable job with him, another part of me honestly feels that I very likely could have done a much better job with him then I ultimately did. Nevertheless, at least now he's dead and gone and I can finally wipe my hands of him, regardless of how well I did or didn't do with handling and writing him. And hey, for any readers who didn't really care about him all that much, well then looky here! It would appear that, at the time of his death, neither do the characters in this story anymore! So there. But enough of that, like I said, I hope that (regardless of your personal thoughts on the fates to befall Blackfire and Cometbolt, opinions on Cometbolt in general, or any other positive or negative opinions you may have on this chapter) you all enjoyed what I had to offer and that you leave plenty of feedback (remember, this chapter requires an exact minimum of 2 reviews before I allow the epilogue to be posted). Once again, hope you all enjoyed!

Coming up next: With justice now served upon Blackfire and Cometbolt, Wildfire comes to the podium to answer some final unanswered questions about a couple of important matters. And with these questions answered and a few other minor lingering loose ends likewise tied up, the story comes to an end.