A planet in the distance grew closer and closer as the beeping of the radar of the ship harboring both Red X and Nightwing quickend its pace to indicate they were getting near their target.
The planet was covered in swampy marshes as if only reptiles with a love for humid climates could inhabit such a place.
"What planet is this?" Nightwing thought out loud.
"No idea..." X respond with honesty, "but I can't wait to meet the locals." he said in a dark, sarcastic tone.
Nightwing looked at X with worry. He himself would go to extraordinary lengths to save Starfire and bring her back safely. Nothing and no one could stand in his way. He would do anything... Even betray his most sacred morals and values to save her. He would kill for her. But he's the good guy. If thats how far he would go as the hero... what would a lowlife and a thug do? How far would Red X push the limits of sanity before he would have to stop him? This thought troubled him deeply. He couldn't handle both problems at once. No matter how hard he tried...
"Here's the plan," the robotic voice said snapping Nightwing out of his trance, "we go in quick, quiet, undetected. We sneak in, grab the girl, and get out before anyone notices. We can't take on an entire planet with just the two of us."
"How do we plan on finding her?" Nightwing challenged, "it's not like there's gonna be a tour guide to show us around."
"We can start by tracking the ship," X rebuttled, "from there we might be able to get an idea of where she might be held."
"And if we don't figure out where that is?" Nightwing challenged again.
Red X sat in silence for a moment thinking about that. This is why Robin was such a great rival for him not long ago. He thought about everything before he would commit to a plan. Every single "what if" scenario had an answer in his mind. It made it very hard to formulate a plan against him...
"I don't know..." X finally respond, "I guess we improvise at that point."
Nightwing hated that answer. If one thing drove him crazy it was going into a fight completely blind without a plan. He's done it hundreds of times but the uneasy feeling it gave him each and every time was enough to make him sick. He hated it.
"Alright," Nightwing replied with a sigh resentment, "we have no choice at this point. Every second we waste could be life or death for Star... Let's move."
The ship swooped down through the clouds in the cover of darkness. The locator on the dash was no longer beeping intensely but instead switched to a silent visual after X pressed a button under the screen. They followed the visual until the clouds parted in front of them revealing a glowing jewel of a city below. It looked like a lost city with modern technology buried in the jungles of the Amazon. It made Nightwing's jaw drop.
Red X then veered off course and descend into the trees of an uninhabited plot of jungle land far outside the glowing gem they had seen from the skies.
The engines slowed to a gentle hum as the ship powered down and X unbuckled himself from his seat as the large glass door above him opened like a bear trap exposing them to the humid air of the foreign planet...
"Thank you for flying Air-X," he said sarcastically as if he were a the captain of a commercial flight on Earth.
Nightwing didn't flinch at his sarcasm. Once the ship touched down he was all business. He unbuckled himself as well and hopped out of the ship landing in a soft puddle of water that surrounded the ship. the water went up to his ankles in his uniform boots.?
They both met at the front of the ship and began walking towards the city they saw earlier. Red X pulled out a hand-held GPS device that mirrored the images of the ships dash. A red dot was seen blinking in his hand showing which direction they needed to go...
"Titans, move," the robotic voice said with a sense of mockery. He then fell into a sprint and began moving with intense speed towards his objective.
Nightwing bit his tongue as he followed closely behind X. It stung hearing those words from his rival. But he wasn't in charge of this operation. He was the one taking orders this time and it was weighing on him...
Meanwhile, the giant lizard like creatures had restrained Starfire from her cell using the same cuffs they used when she was taken as a prize the first time. Two Gordanian guards walked behind her while her sister and Rose walked in front with the Gordanian ruler. They were escorting her to her new home.
"I have to admit... I didn't think you'd be able to pull it off," snickered the Gordanian ruler, "not even my father could stop the Titans and still rots in a filthy Human prison cell."
Blackfire clicked her tongue at the comment as if it were an insult, "you think humans can stop me from taking back my throne?" her tone grew dark, "I will have it back even if I have to destroy the humans tiny pathetic planet." Her eyes grew dark and her face showed a look of absolute hatred.
Rose looked at Blackfire and smiled a sinister smile only a psychopath could wear proudly. She then chuckled and respond to Blackfire's insane rhetoric, "I pay big money to see that."
Blackfire looked from the corner of her eye at Rose. She couldn't tell if she was making fun of her, or if she was serious. It was one of the traits she couldn't stand with Rose. The unpredictable, unreadable, untrustworthy personality that came so natural to her... But that was exactly why she hired her for the job. She was perfect for it.
"But why Earth?!" Starfire exclaimed from behind them, "they did nothing to you, sister! Why do you feel such hate towards them?" She was then silenced with a small shock from the spear of one of the guards behind them.
"Silence!" The guard demanded of the prisoner.
"I don't hate them, Kori," Blackfire explained, "I hate their love for you." Her tone grew darker than Starfire had ever seen before, "just like the others on Tamaran... They all loved you. They never even so much as looked at me without disgust. I will make them all suffer."
Starfire's eyes glossed over hearing the words come from her sister. What she thought she heard was hatred, she slowly began to realize... was actually pain. The way her sister said the word suffer sounded more like she was expressing her own suffering. Starfire only began to feel guilty that she didn't notice it from the beginning in time to help before Blackfire became what she is today.
The ruler leading the way then threw his head back and laughed at the comments made by the Tamaranian, "and thats exactly why I decided to agree to your little deal," he said with a dark smile bearing all his fangs like that of a monster. They finally reached the end of the hallway where the room opened up into a massive hangar that could house an army... and thats exactly what was waiting for them. An army.
They all came to a stop at a railing standing high above thousands of Gordanians each armed with a spear like the two guards behind Starfire. They all let out loud roar of excitement as their leader came into view and raised his arms to his subjects beneath him. At his sides were Rise and Blackfire. Rose's eyes went wide and Blackfire's hardened expression grew a dark grin.
Starifre stood behind them as she couldn't see all of the forces but she could only imagine how many there were with how loud the room had become... it was nearly deafening... and to a Tamaranian, that says a lot.
"W-what... What is this, deal, you keep speaking of?" Starfire asked cautiously, afraid to hear the answer...
The large lizard like ruler turned towards his prize and smiled a wide grin, "revenge for her," he motioned towards Blackfire, "is revenge for me..."
Blackfire turned towards her newly formed army taking the place of the Gordanian ruler and raised her hands to silence the forces. The room went quiet as they waited to hear what she had to say...
"I have returned to you your prize that was stripped you of your last ruler," she spoke with confidence motioning her right hand behind her as the guards moved forward forcing Starfire to come into view of the massive crowd. The room roared once more with approval seeing what was promised to their beloved ruler prior to the one in powe now. After they calmed down Blackfire continued, "now my friends, I demand you honor our agreement and help me complete our revenge! Will you help me destroy Tamaran?!" The forces raised their spears with a clenched right fist and roared with approval. Blackfire basked in the violent cheers of angst as if they were were own. Her confidence grew even more and she cracked an even wider smile... "THEN WE ATTACK AT DAWN!!!"
Starfire gasped in horror at what she just heard. Her legs froze stiff and her eyes went wide. The deafening roar of the crowd faded to nothing as she began to breathe heavily at the dawning of her realization...
Her sister... was pure evil.
