Welcome to the New Year, everyone! Hopefully this year is starting better than the previous one.

Red Robin's plan to divert some of the Kalanorian fighters was proving successful. Drawing attention to their threat and then Terra funneling them to where the rest of their team waited was effective in its execution.

Starfire was determined to keep her portion of the battle strategy. Concentrated bursts of life energy misdirected any Kalanorian pilots to her and she was drawing them in. Wonder Girl would complete the rerouted direction of the fighters so that Terra would handle the rest. Beast Boy had already pulled back to enact his part of the plan.

It was uncommon for the Tamaranean to be in such an environment. This was what Trogaar had intended for her, but she had escaped prior to that reality coming true. The closest was the recent battle with her people and the World Engine, yet she did feel overly stressed.

A battle was a battle, whether on the land or in the air.

The flames from explosions, plasma burning the air, and she added to it with her life energy. She did not fire her bolts randomly. Having observed the features of the Kalanorian fighters, her attacks were aimed for the…was it pit of cocks or cockpit? The pilots, she aimed for the pilots knowing full well that her strikes would not cause harm to them. Scare, shock, and surprise? Yes, and that would draw attention to her so that she could lead them back to Terra's guiding funnel.

Through narrowed eyes, she could identify the barrels that would unleash the blasts of plasma, and from there calculate the beams' trajectory, allowing her evasive maneuvers. To better aid her friends, she would target those barrels and destroy them with a precisely aimed bolt.

The damage wasn't too obvious, and flares of green would mask the destruction, but it would reduce the threat of the fighter. Instead of returning to any of the larger ships to find a less damaged fighter, the pilot remained on the field of battle, determined to come after her. This was where Wonder Girl would come in, using her strength and that left Starfire to seek out a new target.

Trusting her fellow Titan to handle her role, the Tamaranean glided off into the violence. From her peripheral, she noticed twin, thin beams of red slice into one fighter. Somewhat below her, a combination of powerful winds and torrential water dragged smaller craft down into it. The stunning sight of Wonder Woman darted between explosions and demonstrated the strength that Wonder Girl must have inherited through title.

Behind all of this warfare, the larger spacecraft readied their barrages of artillery. Beams of plasma more powerful that those from a standard plasma rifle tore through the ranks, those not skilled enough to evade destroyed. There was a dilemma here.

While Red Robin's plan would divert Kalanorian troops, it did not change the support these same soldiers had. It would take more than the combined might of the Teen Titans and the Justice League to effective combat this lest defeat become their reward.

With a cry denoting war, Starfire fired more of her bolts out, hoping to disrupt and draw more attention towards her. She could not give up, not here, and not after all the pain and loss. Her family, Tamaran, Galfore, and now her new home stood to be lost. No more could be lost.

So she would fight, and fight, and fight, and even if exhaustion tried to claim her, she would continue fighting. Her friends, her new family, required no less if she were to keep them.

A bolt of purple shot through her vision, bringing her to an abrupt stop. The bolt detonated into the propulsion system of a fighter ship, and the destruction of the craft was inevitable. Slowly, Starfire turned her head and found no surprise to find Blackfire.

"You seem distracted," the Grand Ruler of Tamaran remarked, a taunt, a chiding, and reprimand fused into one. There was no term of endearment this time.

"I do not need your insults," the younger Tamaranean spat back.

A hand lit up with her life energy, and the resulting Starbolt was fired. Blackfire didn't move, not even by the smallest of any known Earth-based standard of measurement. Her bolt passed by her sister harmlessly, though; the same could not be said for a passing by Kalanorian vessel. The detonation was not very big, but the plume of black smoke made up for it.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd almost say you held a grudge," Blackfire commented, raising an eyebrow.

"What do you seek to gain this time?" She would not spare pleasantries to one so unpleasant. It was not worth the effort anymore.

Despite being in the midst of a raging battle, Blackfire shut her eyes as she shook her head. Opening those dark orbs that expressed only malice to the younger, she said, "Despite the indignities I have encountered on this cold, wretched planet, it is still the only one that my people can reside on for the time being. Their salvation is my duty, and I will fulfill it. So I will fight these Kalanorians to ensure my people's survival."

With so much exposed about her, Starfire had her doubts. There was an angle, some sort of bargaining chip her sister was hoping to either obtain or seize. Regardless, the Kalanorians were the greater threat by far, and if they succeeded, there would be no Earth, meaning no humans or Tamaraneans.

"Then match your actions to your words, Grand Ruler, and prove your sincerity," was her response and challenge.

Blackfire smirked, infuriatingly, then threw off her cape, allowing the cloth to flutter down and away. Hands lip up with purple life energy and continuous streams of it fired out into the chaos. Looking above, Starfire brought her hands together, concentrating a powerful Starbolt and blasting it up into an incoming Kalanorian fighter. Its trajectory was forced off course due to the detonation, taking Blackfire out of its path.

In response, the Grand Ruler charged towards the younger, and passed by her while unleashing another deadly blast that diverted another incoming fighter. Without thinking, Starfire took up position behind Blackfire, firing off bolt after bolt at every conceivable target. Green and purple worked together, if only briefly as the two sisters joined their forces.

Enemies they may be, but when a common one arrived, sometimes even the most bitter of foes could be made an ally.

No matter how temporary it would be.

It would be a lie to say that Cyborg wasn't enjoying slamming a titanium fist into the side of a Kalanorian face. There was some enjoyment here, especially with the memories of helplessness and a callous order to kill him.

This felt like payback and he was liking it.

As an alien body collided with the ground, the cybernetic teen was already turning to fire an energy blast at a recently crashed spaceship. Seconds later, a purple body emerged from the smoldering wreckage and that was his next target.

Or it was when one of Red Robin's birdarang struck the side of the bastard's head, dropping him. It brought him up short, and when he whipped his head to a side, he saw a flash red slipping into smoke, of which there was plenty to go around. That was his guy and…

Looking up, he raised his arm to follow and fired off another blast, knocking off an incoming ship before it could crash into his immediate area. It was a near thing too, and if his robotic half wasn't keeping track of everything going on, he would have missed it.

"Get a hold of yourself," Raven reprimanded suddenly. "You're distracted and it'll get you killed."

With a flourish of a hand, she enveloped an entire crashed spaceship, lifted it up, then flung it right at a group of three Kalanorians who looked like they were trying to sneak up on them. Three Kalanorian bodies went sailing away on Air-Raven and vanishing behind several trees.

"My head's in the game," he tried to argue, already knowing he was lying through his teeth.

Raven looked at a point over him. "Really?"

Following her gaze, there was a Kalanorian falling down at him from the sky, a plasma rifle in hand and already firing him. A memory of that horrible day all those years ago flashed before his human eye, and then a black shield formed between him and the plasma beam, taking the hit as well as the weight of the Kalanorian. The shield then flexed and wrapped around the alien, trapping him inside, and leaving him helpless as he was slammed into the ground, then into some wreckage, and then thrown out and over the ocean.

Down there, a giant, green octopus was wrangling every Kalanorian the tentacles could wrap themselves around. Any who resisted too much got to know what it was like to be a drumstick at a rock concert, and when victims no longer moved, they collected into a growing pile of them.

"You might see this as getting even, but there's more than a petty grudge happening here. Keep your head in the game, if you can," the cloaked girl stated. Off she went then, her cape flapping behind her.

He wanted to give some kind of quip back, but she was long gone by now. What did she know about how he felt? These were the bastards who nearly killed him, destroyed his old life, and caused his dad to turn him into the world's first cyborg. He hadn't asked for any of that, and what would she…oh right. She had a way of feeling people and their emotions.

How had he forgotten that little fact?

His body shuddered, a plasma beam hitting him directly in the arm. Luckily, it wasn't his transformed arm, and he retaliated quickly against the asshole. The plasma rifle was struck, and the Kalanorian howled in pain as the weapon was torn out of his hands. Bending his legs, he leapt into the air and pulled his arm back, swinging a fist forward and giving fist-based anesthesia.

His feet landed on unearthly metal. Standing up, he took a look around, finding a field of twisted metal, smoke, and so many unconscious bodies. The sky itself was dark, red peaking through the overcast. Flashes of various colors streaked across an aerial battle while a small weather system tried to attack from below it. An unimaginable swarm littered the air, and did nothing to obscure the much larger battleships. So many booms, mostly from explosions, were like dull thunder.

A blast of plasma tore into the rocky funnel that Terra had improvised. Ships trapped within it were decimated into flames. Water boiled now as the hot energy streaked into it, steam erupting into the air.

Somewhere out there, his other friends and teammates were, fighting for their lives as much as they were.

All of this served to kill any enjoyment he may have been feeling.

There really was more than just a…petty grudge—thanks for the words, Raven. This was their right to even exist at stake.

Coming through the remains of Terra's funnel, another fighter ship flew out, smoke peeling off of it. A part of its front began to fall off, and something escaped through the opening. While the ship flew over his head, the Kalanorian pilot that had escaped it descended downwards until he landed feet first on some wreckage.

There was something different about this guy, something that was obvious and easy to pick up. For one thing, there was this purple fire that covered his large, muscular body. Whatever was special about this fire, it wasn't burning the Kalanorian, and it seemed to be protecting him from harm as he stood up with no sign of any kind of injury.

Alien eyes found his, and Cyborg clenched his fist.

Existentialism could wait. Right now, there was a fight to get to, and this guy right here looked like he was spoiling for one.

With a cry, a war cry, Cyborg lunged forth.

There was a growing tension, one that sat ominously over their heads. When Dr. Fate had recruited both him and J'onn, Batman figured they had a solid team of level-headed fighters. Never would he have expected J'onn to be ready to fly off the handle.

On a very deep level, he understood it. Who knew how he would react should he come across the gunman that killed his parents. However, him giving into anger was not that same as J'onn as his righteous fury held the fate of the world.

This wasn't going to be easy.

"Is something the matter, Martian?" Despero called out, clearly goading the green-skinned man. "You appear to be worked up."

Batman turned his head to stare at the despot, still keeping a hand on J'onn. "That's beneath you, Despero," he reprimanded. "For someone that likes combat, you're going out of your way to make certain your opponent isn't at full strength."

The giant Kalanorian stared at him. "I remember you," he said, the mocking tone in his voice vanishing. "You were the human I faced back then."

Batman continued to stare at him.

"I nearly broke your mind. If you aren't careful, I will do so again."

J'onn took another threatening step, one that caused the Dark Knight to apply more pressure on the man's chest. He didn't recall much of that meeting, but according to J'onn, Despero had tried to destroy his mind. The disapproval of such action had been quite clear in the Martian's tone during the retelling.

And now that moment was also being used to taunt and incite him.

"You're not going to do that," Batman countered. "Because the moment you do, you know J'onn will attack. As powerful as you are, not even you can take the full might of his mind."

Despero was silent for a moment. "I suppose you are right. Why did you come, Earthling? This is a matter between myself and the Martian."

"I came to stop you."

Despero snorted. "You are a physically inferior specimen; your mind, while formidable, is dwarfed by my own. You stand no chance; in fact, one could say you have provided a strike point for me."

"And again, that leaves you open for taking the full brunt of J'onn's mind. We all remember how that ended for you. So go ahead, try and destroy my mind; it'll end this war a lot sooner for everyone."

There was a slight narrowing of Despero's eyes. Then his eyes flickered over towards Dr. Fate. "And who is this you've brought with you? He seems to radiate power."

"A harbinger of Order, the antithesis of your chaos," Dr. Fate intoned. "You will find me more than capable of defending myself."

The tyrant stared at the sorcerer. "I believe you are right in that regard," he relented. "So, it is quite clear you believe that defeating me will end this battle. Seeing as that was the outcome the last time we met, I cannot fault this logic. However, I have taken steps to ensure that does not happen again. Defeating me will not stop my forces from destroying Earth."

Clearly, Despero had left instructions to his forces to continue the assault regardless of what happened to him. Not exactly what the dark-clad man wanted to hear, but then Despero underestimated his impact to his people. If they defeated him, they could use him as a bargaining chip to stop the battle. Failing that…

Well, let's just say it better not fail.

Despero stood up from his chair then, towering over the three. Reaching up, he pulled his cape off, tossing it back onto his seat. "I am ready whenever you are. While I know I will receive a good fight from the Martian, the rest of you will hopefully not die too quickly."

"This will not be a fight," J'onn snarled. "I promise you, I will avenge Mars."

"Avenge?" Despero repeated. "No, no you will not. You are not the avenger in this matter."

"And neither are you," Jonn countered. "You are nothing more than a pestilence that must be extinguished."

A small grin began growing on the Kalanorian's face. "That angers you. I can sense it."

This isn't right! a voice echoed in Batman's head. Realizing who it was, he spared his attention to it. His mind is active! He has been subtly influencing you!

Batman wasn't entirely sure what that meant, but he could make a pretty damn good guess. Ever since they arrived here, Despero had been taunting and mocking J'onn, trying to rile him up. That wasn't entirely difficult taking into consideration the Martian's state of mind. However, if Despero had been using his telepathy to encourage J'onn's anger, then it was no wonder he was about to fly off the handle.

This had been a trap and they had walked right into it.

"Fate," Batman growled lowly, hopefully so that Despero didn't hear them. J'onn would, but it was quite possible he wasn't listening all that well. "Something isn't right."

"Your companion detects as much," the sorcerer finished for him. "I thought such an outcome was likely, but unfortunately we cannot retreat, not with the Martian in his current state."

More bad news. "Then what the hell are we supposed to do?"

"If we cannot dissuade our comrade from his revenge, then we need to use it to further our goal. Perhaps I should level the playing field."

Dr. Fate held his hands out in front of him, a brilliant light forming between them. Purples and blues melded with each other, flowing into one another. This immediately drew Despero's attention.

Fate's arms suddenly fully extended. The light he had created vanished in an instant, only to envelop Despero. The Kalanorian froze where he stood, unable to so much as twitch a muscle. Fate then clapped his hands together, standing as if he were about to pray. Drawing his arms apart, they appeared to shake as he did so, as if they were fighting some sort of resistance.

Despero vanished within the light that consumed him. The aura that encased him began to spread to the left and the right, widening across the room. At two points, the light began to bend, curving inward to make three separate auras. In each aura, a figure began to appear, each one standing across from either the sorcerer, the Martian, and the Dark Knight.

In front of J'onn an even larger form of Despero appeared. He already towered over the large Martian, but now he was even bigger, bulkier, a hulk of muscles. Gone was the cunning intelligence that had been quite prominent on his face, in its stead a rage that looked as if it wanted to smash J'onn into paste.

In front of Batman was a smaller figure than that enlarged Despero. In fact, he had the approximate frame the Dark Knight had himself. He was dressed in an orange jumpsuit that began at his neck and covered him all the way down to his feet, broken up by only a blue belt at his waist. The fin that grew from his head was not the one he was familiar with, one that ran from the front to the back of a Kalanorian's head. Instead, it fanned out from left to right, beginning at the jaw, climbing up and over the head, and ending at the jaw on the opposite side. There was no sign of ears either. Looking at his face, it was less monstrous as the hulking form of Despero, perhaps even more humanoid. The skin was purple instead of pink as well. However, that cunning intelligence that Despero had was radiating from this man's face.

Lastly, before Dr. Fate was…well, it looked like a Kalanorian, but it had no features. It was more of a silhouette of a Kalanorian, its outline a raging fire that constantly burned. It gave off purplish light, or perhaps those were merely purple flames. Small gatherings of the flames created features on the figure, such as the face and contours of muscles.

"This place is not appropriate for the battle to come," Dr. Fate announced then. "Allow me to better accommodate us."

Between the six figures, the symbol of the ankh formed. White light grew brighter from the symbol, swallowing up the entire room. It wasn't blinding, but there was a sense that they were floating in nothingness for just a moment.

Once the light vanished, it was clear they were no longer aboard Despero's ship.

So magic could be a tiring, exhausting thing, usually at the worst of times. Experience had granted Zatanna the knowledge of when to go all-out and when to conserve her power.

After firing magical blast after magical blast with very little to show for it—seriously, all those heroes that could hit most of their targets with long-range beams made it look too damn easy—Zatanna had stopped her attacks for a breather. That and the Tamaraneans that remained island-bound were having better luck with their plasma rifles.

Now, she did understand that plasma rifles were not plasma cannons, so their effectiveness on flying spaceships wasn't going to be as damaging than a bigger, badder cannon. However, when several of them hit the same target, they did enough damage to drive the ships back.

For that time, Zatanna was quite content in letting the people that were actually working do their job.

This left the magician to look up at a sky that belonged right out of an Independence Day movie. Small ships were dog fighting each other, much larger ships were descending through the atmosphere, smaller figures—that had to be the Justice League—were flying around and destroying as many of the ships as they could. Even the sky itself had become blood red from everything. It was a crazy sight to behold, just with lasers.

Glancing to the ocean, she spotted a large vortex of water that was swirling and rising high into the air. Though she kept referring to it as a hurricane, it was perhaps more accurately described as a waterspout. Regardless, Flash was a red blur at its base, steering the water tornado through the airborne battlefield. Small ships that got caught up in it were spun around for a few circles before being thrown away. While a few managed to recover and fly off, others wildly flipped around until they crashed into the ocean. Larger ships were shoved around, prudently backing away once they weathered the storm.

For a moment, Zatanna felt as if she weren't pulling her own weight. Oh, she knew better. If she wasn't helping, then she needed to stop interfering. That was a lesson her younger self hadn't learned yet, and would be fuming about, demanding action.

As a Kalanorian ship flew overhead, the ground-based Tamaraneans concentrated their plasma rifles on it, striking it countless times. Smoke began to waft off of the ship before flames began to emerge. A small explosion erupted at its rear before it went crashing into the sea.

"Nicely done," she complimented, her hands on her hips. Because she was gazing up at the sky, that was the only reason that she was able to see it.

Sparkles of purple light flickered, giving off an almost "Did I just see that?" moment. Now, there were purple beams being thrown around, courtesy of that Grand Visar lady, Blackfire. Yet, these sparkles were…different.

Suddenly a few of the flashing sparks solidify, becoming streaks. Focusing her attention on them, she spotted three such streaks that were descending downwards at incredible speeds. In fact, any of the flying spaceships that got into their paths were struck down, the streaks tearing right through them and causing them to explode. Strings of explosions erupted before the purple streaks struck the island, kicking up a cloud of dirt and smoke.

Oh hell, what the heck is this now?

Staring at the dissipating cloud, the purple light that was clearly the source of those streaks glowed from within. Figures emerged surrounded by purple flame and Zatanna could just make out Kalanorians within them.

Seriously, what fresh hell is this?

Dressed much like old Japanese samurai, they strode out of the smoke cloud towards the gathered Tamaranean forces. The three Kalanorians slowed their strides until they came to a stop, raising up their arms as one. Blasts of that same purple fire erupted from their raised hands, racing towards the Tamaraneans.

Zatanna watched as the Tamaraneans dove out of the way of the blasts, most avoiding them fortunately. Key word: most. There were a couple that were struck by the blasts, either by a leg, or their side. The unfortunate Tamaraneans cried out as those body parts were seared right off. Hell, one unlucky bastard took on the full might of one of those fiery blasts and was completely consumed.

Oh, oh, oh! This is some really bad Hell!

The Tamaraneans were scrambling then, trying to resume some sort of formation. Ones that hadn't been in the direct path of those blasts began firing their plasma rifles, their aim true as they struck the Kalanorians.

Too bad the plasma rifles didn't so much as hurt these guys. Seriously, it was like the beams hit those purple auras and were stopped in their tracks. This…this certainly did not bode well.

Even worse, these super-powered Kalanorians began to re-aim, firing those blasts again. As luck would have it, Zatanna was close to one. Oh, I'm going to regret this, she internally berated herself as she threw herself into the path of one of the blasts. Holding up her hands as she called upon her magical energies, she then unleashed her incantation, "Esrever dna dnes kcab!"

Just before the fiery blast struck her, a magical seal of turquoise light—because why pick boring old blue or purple when you could use turquoise?—appeared before her. It was circular, divided into rings with rune markings filling out the outer ring. The attack struck the seal, all of which was absorbed right into it. For a moment, it seemed as if the fiery attack had vanished entirely, only for the seal to blast it back towards its source. The Kalanorian watched as his own attack closed in on him, allowing it to hit him.

An explosion erupted upon contact, the Kalanorians crying out as he was thrown away. This startled his two friends as they flinched from the detonation, surprise clearly on their faces.

Aha! That totally worked! Zatanna was so happy she had tried that!

Twisting her head around, she then shouted at the Tamaraneans, "You leave these guys to me! Just try not to get hit by those blasts of theirs!"

She was promptly stared at with blank looks.

Oh, sure, when there was an alien invasion, with just about every flavor of alien you could want, she had to get stuck with the ones that couldn't speak English. Muttering, "Etalsnart ot Naenaramat," she then said the same words again, just in a very weird, very gibberish sounding language.

Fortunately, it worked as many of the Tamaraneans nodded their heads and began to pull back. Yeah, give her plenty of working room. She was going to need it.

Returning her attention back to the Kalanorians, she saw the remaining two were aiming their arms at her, their purple auras swirling around their hands. Now that just wouldn't do.

"Rallip fo htrae esir pu," she chanted. In response, a portion of ground in front of one of the Kalanorians broke free, a perfect square on all sides. It shot upwards at a diagonal angle, ramming into the stomach of a Kalanorian, picking him right off of the ground. He rose higher and higher until the pillar stopped, launching him higher yet into the air as he flew away.

Which just left one Kalanorian to go. Unlike his friend, he did fire one of those fiery blasts at the magician. Not bothering to utter a teleportation spell, Zatanna just did it, disappearing from sight before she was hit with the attack, reappearing right behind the Kalanorian. "Llup kcab dna niartser," she commanded.

In response, the Kalanorian's arms pulled back, first extended out from his sides at shoulder height before bending at the elbow and moving behind his back. The arms kept moving until it looked as if they were hyperextended behind the Kalanorian, the purple-skinned alien unable to relieve the strain he was certainly feeling.

Zatanna eyed the restrained alien, holding a gloved hand out towards him. Through her spell, she could feel the resistance he was putting up and it was quite potent. In fact, she could feel that fiery, purple aura emanating from him and she had to say, it felt like some sort of weird magic, or even life energy.

The feeling she felt from that aura suddenly appeared somewhere behind her, the only warning she got. Immediately, she teleported, reappearing several yards away. She was just in time too as a fiery blast struck her captive Kalanorian in the back, the blast and aura clearly not liking each other as they exploded. There was a scream from the Kalanorian as he was engulfed in flames and smoke.

Snapping her head towards the source of the beam, Zatanna found the first Kalanorian she had attacked, a murderous look on his face as he held a hand up towards where his comrade had been. There were singed marks on his armor, a cut just above his eye that was leaking out dark blood that kept trickling into his eye, making him close it to protect it.

Well, crap, if he was still standing, what did that say about his friends? She had redirected his own attack at him, so if that sort of power hadn't beaten him, she had doubts the other two were. Quickly glancing at the Kalanorian that had been hit in the back, she found him flying on the ground, arms still behind his back, and smoke wafting off his charred body.

Okay, scratch that, a more powerful attack was needed to take these guys down. So that left just two more. The Kalanorian she had sent flying with a pillar of earth was on his way back if the flying purple aura was any indication.

How was her luck that she could get both of these guys to shoot each other?

The battle, to kindly put it, was not going their way.

Hro Talak stared at the monitors, arms crossed over his chest as he viewed the carnage. His blockade had been broken, though it wasn't too surprising. The defensive line had been thin thanks to surrounding the entire planet. Even moving the ships from one side of the planet to the other to bolster the line hadn't worked.

Still, it wasn't completely unwanted.

"Commander," one of his men called out, "we have reports of the Earth forces engaging the Kalanorians. They are just off the coast of the New Tamaran island."

By Earth forces, it most certainly meant the members of Earth's Justice League, its only real defenders. The ones that escaped capture had finally emerged. There was no point in trying to capture them at this juncture, however. They could fight to protect their planet for as long as they liked.

"Any sign of Despero?" he asked.

There were several seconds before, "We still cannot detect him on Earth. He is either hiding well, or has somehow managed to rejoin his forces."

A reasonable assumption, but they needed to know where the Destroyer was. There was little point in activating the Black Hole Generator without ensuring the Kalanorian tyrant would not be swallowed up by it. At the very least, much of the Kalanorian fleet was within the perimeters that the resulting black hole would consume them.

Continuing to watch the battle, Hro then realized they had yet to see Despero's Py'tar Cannon, the very weapon that could prevent their victory. If the Black Hole Generator was destroyed before activation because of that planet-destroying weapon, then this venture was all for naught.

Choices needed to be made.

"Recall the legion," Hro ordered then. "Remove as many Thanagarians as you can. It is time we powered up the generator."

Because if the choice came down to using the generator or losing it, he knew using it was much preferable to not using it.