The Watchtower:
"Where is it now?" Nightwing asks Captain Atom as they appear in the arrival hall.
"Directly over Titans Island." The metallic hero replies as he brings up a satellite image of the ship that covers the island and half of the bay. "So far it's quiet, but the City is calling in the army. Hold up, I got a ground image."
"Why did it have to be him." Raven mutters as Gary Lionwell's image appears on one of the screens, fortunately the sound is cut from the image.
"He's babbling about how the ship appeared out of nowhere." Atom continues.
"Flash, go find Starfire, I think this is something that has to do with her." Nightwing says, the man nods before blurring out of sight.
"Shouldn't we engage them?" Donna asks.
"No, they haven't proved hostile yet, but sound the alarm in case they are." Nightwing replies. The klaxons immediately begin blaring and costumed heroes begin running into the room, ready for action, amongst them Cyborg, Beastboy, Flash and Starfire with Cerberus on a leash. Raven stares at her dog that is sporting a pink collar and several pink ribbons tied to its ears and tail. The three quickly join Nightwing and the others.
"That is quite possibly the most disturbing sight I have ever seen." Raven remarks at her dog.
"Is he not wonderful?" Starfire asks happily, the dog however looks up at Raven with pleading eyes, obviously thinking it had done something wrong and was being punished for it.
"Star, does that ship seem familiar to you?" Nightwing asks directing her attention to the screen as Raven picks up her dog and relieves it from the ribbons.
"Why it is… the royal flagship of Tamaran?!" Starfire gasps as tiny dots appear to rise from the ship.
"Blackfire." Beastboy growls.
"Right, this time we need to send her a message that even she understands." Nightwing growls. "Captain, gets us all as close as you can to the combat zones."
"Got it." Captain Atom replies before he opens the emergency line to the station. "This is Captain Atom, this is an Alpha level threat, all Justice League personnel standby for emergency combat teleport in five… four… three... two… one."
Jump City:
"This is Gary Lionwell, Channel 6 reporting from the Titan Memorial Park, where I and many others have been witnessing the huge craft hovering over Titan's Isle for the last 5 minutes. So far we have yet to receive any form of communication from the alien spacecraft, but the question everyone here is asking, is this another woe brought onto us by the Teen Titans?" He says before turning to look at the strange craft bearing a sun-emblem and a stylized M imposed over it that mirrors the design of the Grand Rulers crown, as the only mark. Had Gary any knowledge of Tamaranian coat of arms, he would have known the sun meant the vessel belonged to the members of the House of Fire and that the crown meant it was the current Grand Rulers personal vessel. "Hold up something is happening." He says as a swarm of small dots begin to rise from the top of the craft all heading in different directions towards the city.
"RUN!" Gary cries as one of the dots is heading directly towards him, as it comes closer it is revealed to be three orange-skinned aliens with tall spears, dark cloaks and horned helmets. The three raise their free fists as they come closer, glowing red, green and blue before the starbolts are discharged from them, the first impacts blow up the statues of the Titans and sending the assembled crowd into a panicking stampede out of the park. Several unfortunates are hit in the back on their way out as the three begin firing on them instead.
"Stop that!" A deep voice says from above before one of the three tamaranians finds himself on the receiving end of a large metal hammer wielded by a heavily armored man. The two others find themselves similarly charged by a man dressed like a medieval knight wielding a sword riding while a winged horse.
The pattern is the same over the entire city, tameranian squads land and begin causing havoc only to be engaged by members of the Justice League or the local law enforcement, the National Guard still lingering in the city and even a few ordinary citizen join the fray with whatever weapons they happen to have near them.
In the Jump City Penitentiary, Rancid grows red hair and tears off most of his uniform before storming into the large group of tamaranians trying to get through his officers and into the prison interior. Despite his valiant effort it would have gone badly for him if Supergirl and Superboy had not appeared on the scene.
Over the city, Captain Atom, Booster Gold, Fire and Ice engage in a fierce battle to control the skies against several more opponents.
The McArthur suspension bridge linking the north and south half of Jump City comes under fierce bombardment from a host of assailants intent on bringing it down. They are met by most of the Shadowpact, formed in the Tower of Fate before going after the dragon's claw, having added Zauriel as a replacement for Raven and Etrigan who had been left on the satellite.
The dockyards also come under assault, resulting in several freighters and tankers beginning to take in water after becoming the targets of concentrated fire. Several of the aliens are blasted into the bay by a column of water courtesy of Tempest before the rest come under fire from Bumblebee and Vox. From beneath the waves Aquaman rises out of the sea on the back of a huge sea serpent as other creatures of the depths heed his commands.
Speedy, Green Arrow and Vigilante engage in a running battle against air born opponents from the rooftops in one of the older suburbs. While Red Star, Donna Troy and Cassandra Sandsmark find themselves defending the Wilson Mall that Starfire once frequented.
While several other sites are hit, amongst them City Hall, police stations, area's where many people gather, the tameranians are met by resistance of some kind at each location. Even the fore brooding Temple of Scarth is attacked, but the attackers are soon forced to flee as the ghostly guardians the Titans encountered years ago appear again and drives them off. The tightest knot of tamaranians appear at the site Starfire landed at all those years ago.
"I want this city in ruins! I don't care how you do it, get it done!" Blackfire barks into her head piece as she touches down. The twenty or so guards surrounding her begin blasting away at everything within sight.
"TITANS GO!" As the familiar shout is heard by the group in their tight formation is scattered by a green rhino that plows through their flank as blue glow fades.
Some of them come under fire from Cyborg's and Nightwing's weaponry which scatters them further, making them easy pickings for the huge green gorilla that pounces on them. Others find themselves assaulted by an enraged Starfire, whose fury makes her starbolts much stronger than usual.
Blackfire stumbles through the fog produced by Nightwing's grenades, trying to avoid drawing attention to herself, she is looking around her so much that she almost collides with Raven that is standing silently at the edge of the smoke screen.
"You!" Blackfire growls as her eyes begin to glow crimson along with her hands.
"Me." Raven confirms. "Star, want a word with her?!" Raven shouts into the fog.
"No thank you!" Starfire replies but remains unseen.
"Anyone else?!"
"All yours Rae!" Cyborg yells back.
"Heh, the cowards abandon you." Blackfire sneers with a smirk.
"No, they abandon you." Raven replies flatly.
"Guards!" Blackfire yells, Raven looks to the skies in time to see several more guards join the fray from above as they crash into her, carrying her through the outer wall of one of the buildings before retreating back out. "Weak." Blackfire confirms, as gasps ripple thought the still present crowd.
"You shouldn't have done that." Raven's voice rings out as Blackfire and her guards are about to turn away to deal with the other Titans. There is the slight sound of bricks moving before Raven steps out of the hole in the building, her horns and wings tearing at the ceiling and walls, getting even more gasps out of the crowd at her demonic appearance. "Now you've let out my bad side." She says before beating her wings and flies straight at the group of aliens, the impact alone sends several of them flying back, some crashing through shop windows, others smacking into concrete walls.
The remainders find themselves battling an opponent much stronger and faster than they are and one that keeps dodging and weaving out of the way of their attacks despite its size, even countering a few strikes without apparently seeing they would come. Blackfire herself is taken down temporarily this way by an elbow to her forehead that drops her on the ground.
Some of the guards begin thinking and draws back and begins firing starbolts at Raven, who's black aura absorbs enough of them to ignore the rest as she continues dismantling the others.
"Get the humans! Bury them!" Raven throws her opponents away at the order as several starbolt's causing the collapse of the façade of one of the brick buildings, beneath the falling masonry, to Raven's horror, stands a lost looking boy while everyone else flees.
Raven doesn't think before acting, she sprints across the street, managing to cover the child with her own body before the tons of bricks and glass bury them both.
"You ok?" Raven asks as she feels the pressure has stopped building while the small boy huddled under her while she supports the masonry above them with her back.
"I lost my mommy." The child sobs.
"What does she look like?" Raven asks, knowing from Robin that keeping calm and appearing calm was important to get the kid to stay calm as well. Also, she needed a moment herself to gather her thoughts before she could get them both out.
"She has brown hair and a blue jacket and brown pants."
"Ok, let's go see if we can find her?" She suggests.
"Can we get out?"
"Sure we can, just close your eyes, this will feel a little weird." Raven instructs before she teleports them both out onto the top of the pile, Raven having turned herself so that the child is sitting on her stomach while she is lying on her back, wanting to avoid he ended up on any broken glass. As their vision clears they find several people already digging into the pile of rubble, including a woman matching the description the kid gave her. "That her?" Raven asks as the kid also spots her. "Well, go to her." The kid and his mom meet half way, the woman half crying her relief as she scoops him up.
Raven gets up as well and works out the kinks in her back and neck before noticing the staring people. "Better move back everyone, it's not safe here."
"We know." A fat man with a blue and white striped shirt and red ball cap says. "Just go kick her ass, will you?" He asks, apparently not off put by her appearance, she just smiles before turning, hearing a cheer rising from behind her.
"Gotten stronger I see Beastboy, smellier too." Blackfire says as she wrestles with the huge gorilla.
"Sleep well at night?" He replies with clenched teeth before he rolls onto his back, carrying Blackfire with him before planting both feet in her midsection and sends her flying back.
"Better now I hope with the witch gone." She says as she lands on her feet, Beastboy just notices the huge shadow behind her in the smoke.
"The witch is still here." Raven's voice is enough for Blackfire to duck in time to avoid the fists that sails through the air where her head was. She quickly moves aside to have her assailant in her sights; Beastboy is occupied by another guard that tries to impale him through the chest with a spear. Seeing this Blackfire also quickly picks up a discarded spear and points it firmly at Raven as the smoke between them disappears. "Really? A spear?"
"Stay back vermin." Blackfire growls unsure what exactly she was facing.
"Well, that's rude. Let's see if Themysciran sword fighting techniques is a match for you." Raven shrugs as she reaches behind her and draws Shadowfury, setting herself ablaze to Blackfire's widening eyes. "Let's go."
"HAH!" Blackfire charges with the spear aimed squarely at Ravens chest, who meets the point with her own blade, twirling the spear around to end up with the two pressing against each other, Blackfire with the shaft of the spear against the flat side of Shadowfury at the pommel.
"What are you?" Blackfire growls as she strains against Raven who doesn't give an inch away, Raven just smiles at her.
"I'm Raven." She replies before pushing Blackfire back by lifting her weapon into the air, leaving Blackfire's midsection open to the foot Raven plants there, sending her flying backwards into a street light, bending it out of shape. While still holding onto the spear, Blackfire is quickly back on her feet. As Raven is advancing towards her, Blackfire makes a quick stab at her, impaling her left shoulder with a snarl.
"See how you like it." Blackfire sneers as she pushes forwards, getting a hiss out of Raven as the spear digs in.
"Let's see how you do." Raven sneers back after a quick estimate of the distance as her sword is raised before it falls, leaving a flaming tail behind.
Blackfire stops pushing as her eyes go wide, she lets the spear go to raise her trembling hands to her face as long as a diagonal line slowly appears at her right temple and makes its way down to her left jaw bone, deftly avoiding her eyes. It is as the appearance of the burnt skin that she sinks to her knees and screams I pain while clutching her face. Raven walks over to stand in front of her, getting Blackfire to look up at her with the tip of her sword for a short second before she lets her lower her eyes and slump down in defeat.
Satisfied that the fight is over, Raven looks once at the spear lodged in her shoulder before pulling it free with her left hand getting another hiss out of her as she lets her healing powers begin to work. Dropping the weapon, she looks around, spotting the other Titans standing among the fallen guards, silently observing her along with the rest of the civilians.
"Dude, you're supposed to say something right about now." Beastboy says as he elbows Cyborg in the side; the metallic man looks at him for a second in confusion before smiling.
"BOUYA!" The crowd erupts in cheers as Nightwing raises his communicator to his ear.
"Nightwing to Justice League, we have secured Blackfire, how are things at your end?" He gets a host of acknowledgements that people were either done or taking down the last few, before they are overwritten by the static of an incoming priority call.
"Watchtower to Justice League, we have another bogey heading towards you, bigger than the first." Nightwing doesn't recognize the voice, but assumes it is one of the orderlies trusted with the communication.
"You heard the man, finish up and regroup, they aren't going to wreck the rest of the city." Raven cuts in before Richard can, getting a host of acknowledgements.
"I shall bring my sister along shortly." Starfire announces and moves over to the crying woman on the ground.
3 minutes later the various members of the League and the former Titans are all flying towards the flagship still hovering over Titan's Isle, some under their own power others aided by their fellows before being deposited on the ship as the fliers wait in the sky as a ball of fire appears over the Pacific and heads directly towards them.
It takes it a good few moments before the fire dies away revealing a massive craft hundreds of times the size of the one carrying Blackfire. Had Starfire been with them, she would have told them that this ship was the pride of the original Tamaranian Space Fleet and that while its name in Taramanese had no adequate Earthly translation, the Citadel and Gordanian knew it simply as the Destroyer and for a good reason. While the smaller Flagship may have vaguely born the semblance of a sea bound vessel with a flat upper deck and rounded bottom, the new arrival is crescent shaped with the points of it facing forwards, but is otherwise flat. To the sharper eyed Leaguers they can see numerous hangar ports on the front of the thing along with what looks like cannons and missile batteries that emerge from under protective plates. As the ship draws closer its size leaves half of the McArthur Bridge and much of the northern part of the city in the shadows as it blots out the light of the sun before coming to a full halt over the bridge. A strange tongue emits from the larger craft, seemingly getting shouted at the heroes.
"Alright…" Nightwing starts recognizing the language.
"Wait!" Raven cuts in; "It's not us they are talking to. They are demanding the other ship to surrender as they have multiple target locks."
He heroes on the deck are instantly treated to the sight of several doors opening and scared looking tamaranians rush out of the ship only to find them covered by the League, quickly they all throw their hands into the air in defeat.
Donna begins ordering them to sit on their knees in lines with their hands on their heads as a single yellow beam is shot from the larger ship and onto the center of the deck of the smaller, there is a blur before five solid shapes appear in it before striding out. Two of the arrivals are clearly guards, the other two are dressed in red robes and carry electronic note pads. The last is at least twice the size of the others, easily reaching 250kg in bulk, he has thinning gray specked red hair, of which most is made up by his beard and the crown on his head barely covers the bald area behind it.
Nightwing and the Titans recognizes him instantly, which makes it all the more surprises them to see him, considering the last they heard; Galfore was dying. But the huge tamaranian looks to be far from death, he has more scars on his exposed arms and his left hand is missing, leaving the stump encased in a silver cover.
"It seems we arrive too late to assist." He says as everyone stares at him, some in unease, while he looks at the smoke rising from the city.
"Whoa, Galfore is that you man?" Cyborg asks in surprise.
"Aye, it is I, friend of Princess Starfire." The Grand Ruler replies as he spots the speaker walking towards him, a slight wave of his right hand has the guards freeze. "I see you and her green friend, but where are the other two? And where is the Princess?"
"Well the guy in black and blue in front of you is Robin. Raven should be landing right about now." Cyborg replies just as Raven touches down next to Nightwing, Galfore seems slightly surprised at her appearance but covers it quickly. "Star should be bringing her sister along at some point."
"I see it is you I have to thank." Galfore says to Raven as he studies her.
"Oh?" She asks.
"When you collapsed the ceiling in the palace, you ruptured the power feeds that kept me imprisoned on the floors above you. When I emerged from my prison, I found a great many of our people in dissatisfaction about the current state of affairs. They told me how a being with four eyes and red skin had captured the former Grand Ruler. When I heard that a group of humans had escaped with the Princess and the Grand Ruler, I reasoned it must have been you four. After a brief coup, I sent out scouts to locate where you may have gone after hearing about the fleet that followed you out. One scout returned with reports that you had received aid from the Green Lanterns and left Blackfire on Oa. I know not how, but somehow the remnants of those loyal to her found this out as well and quickly seized the ship we now stand on and collected her before we had the chance. And so the hunt began for them, ending here." He explains.
"So you weren't dead at all?" Beastboy asks.
"No green one, it was a vile rumor started after I was captured by Blackfire's rebels and mercenaries. The beast kept me in a cell within earshot of the Princess, but she could not hear me. But enough about me; where is the Princess? I thought she had died when I would no longer hear her? How is she?"
"Thanks to my friends, I am perfectly fine." Starfire says from above as she floats down with a smile on her face and with Blackfire slung over her shoulder who her hands and feet tied up with what Nightwing guesses is electrical wires. Starfire lands to the gasps and mutterings of a few of the other tamaranians and a groan of pain as Blackfire is dropped on the ground. Galfore and Stafire stare at each other for several seconds before engaging each other in hugs and cries of happiness. The other Titans can only smile at the pair.
After several minutes of reunion joy they are ready to part again. "Oh, I had thought you were lost to us Princess. I must know all that has happened, but not before our mess is returned to where it belongs." He says looking at Blackfire who has kept her face on the ground since being dropped. The guards behind him take this as a hint and swiftly moves to pick up Blackfire, forcing her to stand up, revealing the X-shaped scar running across her face, one a fine line of a cut wound, the other a burn wound. Nightwing raises an eyebrow slightly at the sight guessing where the other line came from, but chooses to ignores it. "I see this world is as pleased about your actions as our own. Take her to her 'room'." Blackfire looks up at the mention, but doesn't say anything before the guards and she disappear in the yellow beam. "Now, who commands this force?" He asks and looks at the heroes.
"That would be friend Nightwing, mostly." Starfire quips.
"Ah." Galfore says turning to face the man. "With your permission, I would like, on behalf of my subjects to make amends for the havoc our people have caused this city."
"There are many of those Blackfire brought with her that are still in the city, I think we only need to get them out." Nightwing says after a few seconds, thinking that right now, more tameranians will only cause more turmoil than needed.
"And they shall be retrieved, if you lead us to those you can." He says as a great many shapes emerge from the larger ship and heads out into the city.
"Nightwing to Leaguers with flight, assist the arrivals in locating the previous hostiles." He says and most of the Leaguers split up, Raven nods at them and takes off as well along with Beastboy.
"Come Galfore, I wish that you see this city that was my home for these years apart!" Starfire exclaims happily, tugging on his arm.
"And so we shall, if permitted?" He replies while looking at Nightwing.
"I doubt it will be a problem." Nightwing replies as a large platoon of tameranians land on the deck of the ship to herd the captives away.
With that, the reunited depart, while the heroes assist in herding the defeated tamaranians into the custody of their fellows. The city is in the beginning worried about the appearance of more tamaranians, but they are slowly calmed when they see the League directing them to the attackers and the sometimes rough treatment they dish out to those who try to hide or resist.
While this is happening Starfire is busy pointing out everything she can remember about Jump City to Galfore, visiting many of her favorite places and introducing Galfore to some of Earth dishes and clothing articles. Beastboy later swore he had seen them at some point, where Galfore was eating an ice-cream cone and wearing a large green floppy hat.
The rest of the day proceeds this way and well into the evening before the last sweep of the city is concluded and the remaining tamaraninans withdraw to their ships. The League permits them to dock at the Watchtower before they begin their journey home. Raven excuses herself and heads off to sleep; since she has two days of preparations before the evening of the ritual.
Later that night, Raven's mind:
"Hopefully this is that last time we were going to do this." Raven says to the Founders as she appears for the nightly training session.
"You sound relieved." John notes.
"Well, I prefer you alive." Raven shrugs with a smirk, she wouldn't tell them, but she was looking forwards to a little internal peace. "And you all seem downhearted?" She notes at them.
"I think we have grown accustomed to this place." Superman says.
"But it will be good seeing the sun again." Diana adds.
"How about you Bruce?" Raven asks, noticing the man is unusually quiet.
"It will be good seeing Gotham again." Raven smirks slightly at the admittance, she guesses he would have preferred that she had stayed there some more. "You?"
"It will be weird that you suddenly aren't in here anymore, but I think I can manage." She replies.
"I was wondering; if this is to be our last night in here, perhaps we should forego sparring and instead talk?" J'onn asks, getting the others to look at him.
"Actually that sounds like a good idea, there must be some stories we can share." Wally says.
"Sounds good to me." Shayera adds.
"Think the only one here that would miss it is you Bruce?" Superman says, the man looks at them for a long second before replying, long enough for some to wonder if he was going to yell at them to get training.
"A single night can't hurt." He says with a slight smirk to the chuckle of the others. They end up talking; swapping stories, for almost three hours after Raven assured them that it wouldn't affect her. Mostly the stories are humorous, but Bruce does throw in a few darker ones. It didn't escape anyone's notice that he and Diana inched a little closer to each other during the time.
The following day is filled with studying for Raven and those taking part in the ritual, making sure everything is ready and a general state of anxiety for Raven, which she pointed out was because in case it all fell to the floor despite all their efforts. The tamaranians elected to stay a little longer on the station, after being granted permission. Galfore had somehow arranged with the mayor of Jump City that they could come and assist in cleaning up the damage.
By the time the mages were set to leave Fate's Tower the following day to retrieve the bodies from the Watchtower, Ravens nervousness had her stomach twist and knot itself, which a short round of meditation helped cure before they departed for the Watchtower and then; Stonehenge.
Next up: The Dance Macabre