Teen Titans: Return of the titans

by borneobrian

After three years, the titans encounter their old enemy Slade once more after years of peace.

10. The Heir Part 2

Teen Titans

Season 6 Fan Fiction Episode 10

The Heir Part 2

By

B.Borneo

Finally regaining her consciousness, Starfire slowly blinked as she attempted to regain her vision. Eventually, her sight ceased to be blurry as she pushed herself off the floor. Groaning in pain, ears ringing, she reached her arm behind her head to straighten herself out before looking around at her predicament. She found herself in what looked like a silver-walled room about a few meters wide with barely a window. Looking down at her waist, she also noticed the dress she had been wearing before blacking out was missing as well. Confused, she held her hand to her head, attempting to remember what had happened before she blacked out. She remembered discovering she had a younger brother who had invited her and her friends to his coronation ceremony, but everything afterward was a blur. She grabbed a metal bar on the wall and hoisted herself to her feet, looking towards the front of the room and seeing an open frame leading to another room. Curious, she cautiously approached the wall to avoid drawing attention to herself. Her vision returned, and she made out a pair of blurry figures, one orange and one red, talking to each other. Starfire had trouble making it out as her ears were still ringing, but after a few seconds, the ringing started to die down, and the voices became more apparent.

"..so in your rule, our operations will be covered up, right?" she heard a harsh male voice say.

A female voice followed, sounding closer to Starfire's but somewhat deeper than hers.

"Correct. After I obtain my throne and reward you, I will pardon your misdemeanors and allow you to do whatever you please with my siblings as long as their life cycles continue naturally. Understand?"

After hearing the final comment, Starfire's eyes widened as her vision finally returned, and the ringing ceased. She saw across from the room she was in, her sister Blackfire, sitting by a table in what looked like a detention center on an alien spaceship, talking to a red-skinned alien standing across from the table with his arms folded in interest. The sight jogged Starfire's memory, and she could now recall the rest of what happened: Blackfire had crashed her brother's coronation with a gang of mercenaries and nearly beat her brother to death to obtain the crown. Not only that, she also revealed she was responsible for Starfire's 5-year long slavery and Wildfire's disappearance all those years until now. When she and her friends attempted to stop Blackfire, they were defeated and prodded into unconsciousness. Starfire looked around at the other cells in the room to see if her friends and brother were locked, but all the cells appeared empty except hers. Looking towards her sister and the mercenary, Starfire's eyes turned emerald green, and she charged towards the square-shaped frame in a mad rush to attack her sister for everything she had done to her and her friends.

Shame on them to leave my cell open, she thought to herself as she neared the frame.

When she got to the edge of the frame, she felt a spring-like force barricade her attempt to exit the room, throwing her back a few feet onto the ground hard, confusing her. Looking up, she saw a brief flow of white energy streak along the frame, causing her to realize that the cell wasn't left open but contained by an invisible energy field. Curious of how impenetrable it was, Starfire quickly threw a massive ball of green energy at it, which ricocheted off the field and was thrown right into the rear of the room. Starfire looked back to see what damage it had caused, only to find that the only speck of defamation it had caused was a black charred blast mark in the wall with minor wear in sight. Disappointed at her failed experiment, Starfire returned to her feet and raced towards the frame frantically to confront her captors. Looking out of the cell, she saw the pair of captors approach her cell. Blackfire looked intrigued, while the red-skinned alien had a furious look.

"Filthy Troq! Do you know how long it takes us to clean these cells?! If it weren't for your sister, I'd…," but before he could say anything else, Starfire witnessed Blackfire grab the mercenary's ear and yank it towards her viciously.

"What did I tell you about using that word in front of me?" she questioned coldly.

The mercenary, attempting to free his ear from Blackfire's grasp, looked up and frowned.

" I…I'm sorry, Your Highness," he murmured.

"But she.."

"I don't care what she says or does!" retorted Blackfire.

"I still don't want you ever to utter that revolting word before me! Do you understand?!"

The mercenary desperately nodded his head in response. Blackfire then released the ear, and the mercenary held it in pain. He looked back towards Blackfire as she pointed towards the entrance doors demandingly.

"Now, wait with your other mercenaries until I give you further orders. Understand?"

The red-skinned alien nodded while caressing his aching ear as he exited the room pitifully. After he left, the two sisters looked towards each other, their eyes meeting scornfully.

"Well, well, little sister." smirked a grinning Blackfire as she folded her arms.

"Back to the land of the living, I see?"

Starfire clenched her knuckles as her eyes started to glow green again, and her emotions were ricocheting like crazy inside her mind. Without thinking, the younger of the two sisters slammed her fist onto the energy field angrily; her teeth gnashed like a wild animal, and anger consumed almost every fiber of her body.

"WHERE ARE THEY?!" she yelled angrily.

"WHERE IS MY BROTHER?! WHERE ARE MY FRIENDS?!"

Blackfire didn't answer and continued to smirk at Starfire arrogantly. Starfire pressed her fist harder into the energy field, causing so many white energy waves to emerge that it almost covered her entire fist in white.

"I SWEAR IF YOU DID ANYTHING TO THEM…"

"Relax," she heard Blackfire finally reply.

"OUR brother and your friends are just fine."

Starfire's pupils returned to her eyes as she started to calm down, but she still made sure not to let her guard down in front of her sister.

"Then where are they?" she asked, stepping away from the field.

Blackfire approached the field and allowed one of her hands to lay on it, creating a handful of strands of white streaks on impact.

"Your friends are back on Tamaran in the castle dungeons. They are locked up and are to be executed tomorrow. Wildfire, on the other hand, is elsewhere on this ship, in a more secure location, being heavily guarded by the residents of this vessel. Satisfied now?"

After taking all this in, the only thing Starfire wanted to do was go feral and attempt to attack the undeserving empress right where she stood, but she couldn't. Not just because of the energy shield in front of her but because that would be precisely what Blackfire would want: to break her sister's self-control and have her act like the kind of twisted individual she knew Starfire loathed. She couldn't let Blackfire win. Not here. Not now. Not when her friend's lives were at stake, and her brother's life was on the brink of danger as well. Realizing this, Starfire took a deep breath and locked eyes with Blackfire, furiously but stoically.

"And what do you intend to do with me and Wildfire? Slaughter us, too?" she asked.

Blackfire laughed at the statement as she slid her hand off the field and placed it at her side.

"Oh really, Starfire, you think I'm that cruel? If I wanted you dead, you wouldn't be alive talking to me right now, would you?"

"That's not what it appeared like when you almost killed Wildfire in your duel earlier." Starfire retorted venomously.

Blackfire lifted her eyebrow in response to the accusation.

"What made you think I was attempting to kill him?" she replied.

Starfire folded her arms and leaned her head farther toward the field.

"Were you trying to?" she demanded.

Blackfire leaned forward towards the field, hands behind her back and a sinister leer on her face.

"I'll leave that up to you to figure out," she responded.

She then turned to the table where she and the red alien had been chatting earlier. She picked up a data pad from the top of it and started nearing the exit.

Just then, Starfire spoke once more.

"What is to become of us then?" she asked again.

Blackfire looked over her shoulder towards Starfire and frowned.

" You are to remain with the Denizens. They wish to make you….an object of their more personal pleasures," Blackfire answered.

Starfire's eyebrows lifted with disgust at the response. Having been on Earth for a while and having taken time to study Earthly slang, she knew exactly what that implied, and the thought of it was demeaning and cruel.

"You would do that to me?" she shot back, repulsed.

Blackfire turned around quickly and shot her pointer finger in Starfire's direction, her eyes glowing purple in rage.

"Just be lucky I forced them to let you live, dear sister!" she lashed out.

Starfire didn't respond but remained fixed on her sister's form nonetheless.

Suddenly, her gaze went towards Blackfire's forehead, and she noticed the red "S" appear again, glowing red with fury. Blackfire then lowered her hand and let her pupils return to her eyes peacefully.

"As for Wildfire," she continued.

"...He is to meet the same fate you were met with when you were kidnapped all those years ago. He is to be sold into slavery."

Starfire's eyes widened upon hearing the intended fate for her brother as she raced to the field and pounded the palms of her hands on it desperately.

"No!" she shouted.

"You can't! It's too cruel! He doesn't deserve that fate! No one deserves that fate! Don't do it!"

She prayed desperately to X'hal that these pleas would prick her sister's conscience, hoping there was some grain of kindness within the former princess' heart. But alas, Blackfire tilted her head as she approached the cell where Starfire was locked once more.

"It is out of my hand now, sister," she responded grimly.

"My deal with them has been made. I have the kingdom; your friends will perish tomorrow after the disobedient guards are executed tonight for their disloyalty towards me, and you will have to remain with the Denizens. And Wildfire is to be sold. As the mercenaries told me, recent heirs are worth more on the market today. His price will make them a hefty profit."

With that, the pounds on the field ceased. Starfire could feel her body slide down the energized mesh around her and collapse on the ground in grief. She leaned backward, using her hands to prop her up, and continued to look at Blackfire.

"You would do this?" she asked mournfully.

"You would kill my friends? Hold Up our kingdom, sell me twice, and force our brother into a fate worse than death? All for a throne?"

Tears streamed down from her eyes as she finished that sentence, the horror penetrating her heart.

Blackfire didn't respond but sighed and turned back towards the exit, more slowly this time.

As she approached the door, she heard her sister say one last thing to her.

"Mother and Father would be disappointed if they saw what you have become…Komandr."

Blackfire looked back, and a tear rolled down her eye this time.

"If it's any correlation, Koriandr, I never intended for you being sold into slavery to drive our parents to die of grief," she mentioned, almost regretfully.

She then walked through the exit frame and down a long hallway, leaving Starfire staring through the energy field at the closing exit door with nothing left but pain and sorrow in her soul.

Having regained consciousness, Nightwing blinked multiple times to regain his vision as he struggled to assess his situation mentally. He felt something holding up his arms in the air, cold metal around his wrists, and his feet dangling from the ground. His sight having finally returned, Nightwing squinted to observe where he woke up, looking upwards to find his hands chained to the wall by 5-foot-long chains tied to hooks. He then looked down and saw he was also dangling a few inches from the ground.

"Finally awake?" he heard a deep voice ask.

Nightwing lifted his head to find the source of the voice, gritting his teeth as the quick movement ached his neck.

His vision finally returned; he saw in the corner of what looked to be an orange-walled chamber with metal flooring, a giant metal torso leaning on the wall, lacking arms and legs but still retaining the head of a dark-skinned man with robotic implants on one side of his face.

"C…Cyborg?" Nightwing asked wearily.

Cyborg sighed.

"No, I'm Violetta," he replied sarcastically.

Ignoring the remark, Nightwing looked towards his arm and leg sockets, curious of their current location.

"What happened to your arms and legs?" he asked.

Cyborg looked down and over his shoulder at the missing appendages before groaning angrily.

"They must have taken them out of me when I was unconscious," he stated bitterly.

Nightwing grimaced in response. Looking up at his chains, his mind was racing about what had occurred since Blackfire crashed the coronation. The last thing he remembered before blacking out was seeing Starfire get jabbed with electrical prods by alien mercenaries as her brother was taken to their ship.

"Where are the others?" he asked, looking back at Cyborg.

"We're over here," they heard Beast Boy's voice calling out to them.

The pair turned their heads to the other side of the room to find Beast Boy sitting in what looked like a cage, protected by red energy walls on all four frames. Concerned, Nightwing looked next to the cage and saw the rest of their friends in similar predicaments. On the left side of the cell, he saw leaning on the wall Raven, who was still unconscious from being blasted with a purple lightning bolt by Blackfire earlier, with her hands encased in egg-like containment cuffs and her feet chained together as well. On the other end, Nightwing saw Kid Flash in a similar predicament, chained up to the wall with his arms held up. But unlike Nightwing, Wally's feet were touching the ground, except his feet were encased in a pair of metal boots going up to his shins. On Kid Flash's right was Wonder Girl, with her hands and feet chained to the wall in an X-shape and her wrist gauntlets missing from her arms.

Observing his friends all imprisoned, Nightwing discovered that one of them was missing from the group.

"Wait, where's Starfire?" he asked urgently.

Beast Boy shook his head.

"No clue, dude. Maybe she's in another dungeon or something."

Now desperate to learn of her whereabouts, Nightwing thrust himself forward, grabbed the chains holding his wrists, and lifted himself into an upside-down headstand, careful not to lose balance. Cyborg looked up at the action with his eyebrow raised.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"I got a lock pick hidden in my left boot. If I can just…"

Bending his leg towards his hand, Nightwing dug into the sides of his soles, searching for the pick he claimed to have hidden there. After a few seconds, he sighed and allowed himself to fall and be hung by his arms up once more.

"You got it?" asked Cyborg desperately.

Nightwing shook his head in defeat.

"No, they must have searched me while I was out and took the pick," he grumbled.

Looking for alternatives, he turned towards Kid Flash, who was, in the meantime, examining the metal boots attached to his feet in curiosity.

"Kid Flash, you think you could molecularly accelerate yourself out of the chains?"

Kid Flash looked up towards him and shook his head as well.

"I tried when you were unconscious, but they put these metal boots on me.." he pointed out as he lifted one of his legs to show the boot.

"...and I think they prevent me from building enough friction to phase through the chains."

Nightwing gritted his teeth in disappointment. He then turned to Wonder Girl, hoping she could have a method to break free of her bonds.

"Wonder Girl, you think you got enough strength to pull yourself free of those chains?" he questioned.

Donna looked towards him and grimaced.

"It's not the strength that's the problem, Dick. It's the material. These chains were made with some uber-strong metal that I could not break through."

She then attempted to bring her wrist forward, but the chain appeared to be pulled back so tight by whatever was holding the chain behind the wall, causing her to give up and allow her arm to be yanked back onto the orange rocky bank. Sighing, she rested her head forward in shame.

"Sorry," she replied.

Nightwing frowned in disappointment. Looking towards the caged Beast Boy, he prayed that the little green changeling could be their saving grace to get out of there and find Starfire.

"Beast Boy, can you.."

"It won't work!" a feminine voice called out.

The titans looked to the end of the room closest towards Nightwing and Cyborg to find Blackfire descending a spiral staircase, flanked by two guards.

"Nothing young Beast Boy can turn into will free him from his prison." she sneered.

As she strode past Nightwing and Cyborg, Nightwing honed his eyesight at her angrily, clenching his bonded knuckles and furrowing his brow towards the undeserving empress.

"This cage…" explained Blackfire as she leaned her shoulder on it arrogantly,

"..is completely indestructible; only the trigger one of my guards has can deactivate it. If you try to turn yourself into a giant creature to break out of it, the pressure of the limited space and your massive girth will either cause your body to burst or your neck to snap."

Standing straight, she quickly bent over to look at Beast Boy behind the energy field, smirking evilly at the sullen captive.

"You know what they say, Beast Boy: All beasts must be caged."

Beast Boy scowled at her in return.

"So why are you walking free?" he retorted smugly.

Blackfire looked unamused as she turned her attention to the rest of the Titans.

"As you can see, I've taken precautions to hinder your powers and abilities. Invincible chains from the north quadrant, friction-resistant boots, and magic containment cuffs. Everything had been checked and accounted for."

Nightwing sneered at her. Suddenly, a moaning filled the room, and all the participants looked toward the source. Walking around Beast Boy's cage, Blackfire approached Raven, who seemed to be regaining consciousness as she groaned as if recovering from a hangover. She attempted to push herself off the ground, only to find her hands encased in the egg-shaped containment cuffs on her hands. Having managed to sit upright, she held the cuffs to her face with a confused look on it before looking up into the front of her captor.

"Have a good nap, little Miss Nosy?" Blackfire asked maliciously.

Raven frowned. Before saying anything, she looked towards the blazing red "S" on Blackfire's forehead, and her eyes widened in shock.

"How did you get that?" she questioned fiercely.

Blackfire's eyes darted, almost cross-eyed, towards the mark before returning her gaze toward Raven.

"My master considered me worthy to be his next apprentice and granted me tremendous powers. Enough power to take what is rightfully mine."

Her expression agitated; Raven looked around Blackfire's legs to see Nightwing chained on the wall and Cyborg's limbless body, and then to her right to find Beast Boy caged and Kid Flash and Wonder Girl also chained to the wall.

"Where's Starfire?" Raven asked, turning her attention back to Blackfire.

"Yeah," called out Nightwing from the other side of the room.

"We are all wondering what you did with her and her brother."

Blackfire looked back towards Nightwing and folded her arms.

"I didn't kill either of them if that's what you are thinking," she retorted in an accusatory tone.

Nightwing's eyes widened.

"Then where-"

"She's with the mercenaries on their ship. Don't worry, I made it so they won't destroy either of their lives," retorted Blackfire.

Both relieved and confused, Nightwing leaned his head in forward, still dangling from the ground from the chains.

"Then what are they going to do with them?" he demanded.

Nonchalantly, Blackfire walked up in front of Nightwing's chained body, hovering a few feet from the ground, and grasped his shoulders harshly.

"My sister.." she began.

"..shall remain with them for their…personal pleasures."

Nightwing screwed up his face, trying to figure out what Blackfire was implying. After a few seconds, his eyes widened before frowning as he figured out the implement's meaning.

"Are you saying they are going to-"

"Relax!" interrupted Blackfire as she released Nightwing's shoulders.

"Just be glad they won't kill her."

She then lowered herself to the ground and paced herself to the spiral staircase.

"As for my brother…" she continued.

"...he is to be sold into slavery, similar to our sister's previous so many years ago. The price the drivers would pay for him is more than anything you could imagine."

Nightwing buried his nails into his palms upon hearing this. The fact that the mercenaries intended to violate the love of his life's decency and sell her brother into slavery was not something he intended to take lightly.

"You would do that?" he asked, shaking his head, disappointed at Blackfire's cruel choices.

"You would do that to your own family? Your blood?! All for a throne?!"

Blackfire looked back at him with a scowl on her face at his remarks.

"I don't need a pathetic earthling like you to lecture me on family. You don't know what it's like to be prepped for something so prestigious to find out your lesser sibling is the one to be given the honor."

"At least I care about the family I have now." Nightwing snarled back.

Frowning at her instigator, Blackfire shook her head and proceeded up the stairwell, followed by one of the two guards. The other one was more than likely going to watch over the captive Titans.

"And how exactly is this going to benefit Slade's plan?!" shouted Raven from the other side of the room.

Blackfire paused a final time and looked towards Raven halfway up the stairwell.

" Who said I intended to return to him? To Earth? I have everything I want here. This was never about him." She smirked and continued up the stairs, leaving the captive Titans angrily and defeated.

Having ascended the stairs, Blackfire marched herself to the family vault, where her parents had kept some of their most valuable treasures during their lifetime. Approaching the vault, she smiled evilly at the massive circular door. She then came to the keypad next to the door, punching in the code before stepping back and allowing the vault door to open. Inside the circular frame were bloated piles of jewels, diamonds, and other artifacts, twinkling and shining as if they were brand new. Taking a moment to appreciate the experience, Blackfire sniffed in the smell of the vault, exhaling soothingly at the scent of it. Looking down the left hall, Blackfire noticed a guard standing at the end of the hall and motioned him towards her. The guard bowed before marching up to her sternly but professionally.

"Guard," Blackfire began, pointing towards the inside of the vault.

"Grab all the least valuable treasures in the vault and place them in a trunk. It will serve as the payment to the Denizens to keep them happy and out of my hair. Got it?"

The guard bowed and entered the safe, gathering all the least valuable treasures he could find. Smirking, Blackfire turned down the hallway towards her throne to make her first demands as empress of Tamaran. As she neared the room, a beeping noise started to loom, causing Blackfire to raise an eyebrow in confusion. She looked down and saw the beeping from her Tamaranian communicator in her pocket. Pulling it out, she pressed the "Answer Call" button, and Bl'ackdar's crimson face appeared on the monitor.

"Your plan has worked pristinely, Your Highness. Now that we have that taken care of, when do we get the reward you promised for our hard work?" he asked.

Blackfire rolled her eyes as she walked, holding the communicator near her chest to monitor it as she approached the throne room.

" It'll be prepped in about an hour or two. I still have some preparations for my rulership to complete, so you'll have to wait in orbit for a few, ok?"

Bl'ackdar scowled in disappointment at the news.

"But, your highness…"

"No!" retorted back Blackfire.

"As your ruler, you listen and wait for your payment as instructed when I say it will be delivered! Understand?!"

B'lackdar held up a finger briefly in protest but soon put it down, lowering his head in defeat.

"Yes, Your Highness," he replied.

The monitor went black. Blackfire huffed to herself before shoving her communicator in her pocket and confidently striding into the throne room.

Annoyed with his demands rejected, Bl'ackdar shook his head as he looked from the monitor to Lylan, who stood, folding his arms next to his boss.

"I had told you siding with the troq was a decision that would provide us with grief, sir," he commented.

Bl'ackdar sneered.

"Don't patronize me, Lylan," he responded.

He then sat up from his office chair and looked out the nearest window in his study.

"Besides, if anything goes wrong, they will be exterminated with "the big one." I always come prepared."

"Heh," Lylan snorted to himself as he began to exit the study.

"Better be sooner than later, I hope."

Sulking in her cell, Starfire paced back and forth, pondering an exit while worrying about the fates of her friends and her brother simultaneously. She couldn't understand why this had to happen. All she had wanted to do was see her long-lost brother and be there for his coronation with her friends, but instead, their evil sister had to come and ruin things for them. And now, her brother would be subjected to the same grueling cruelty she had endured for most of her life since the kidnapping by those vile slavers. Starting to lose her temper, Starfire stopped, reeled back her elbow, and slammed her fist into the wall. Upon impact, her feeling of anger turned to physical pain, unlike anything she had felt before. Pulling her fist back, Starfire held her hand in pain, holding her breath in an attempt not to scream in agony. Curious if she had caused a dent in the wall, Starfire looked back up to see the wall looking the same as before she attempted to punch it.

Curses, she thought to herself.

Hearing the sound of a door sliding open, a pained Starfire looked past the white energy field towards the entrance into the block to find the orange, fish-headed mercenary walking in with a cruel expression on his face. Starfire scowled at him. Burning the pain, Starfire approached the field and folded her arms, still eyeing her vile captor.

"Enjoying your stay, troq?" the mercenary asked with a sinister smirk.

Starfire wasn't amused at his comment.

"Didn't my sister tell you never to use that word?" she retorted fiercely.

The mercenary chuckled quickly to himself, leaning on the edge of the wall by the field, with a hint of spite in his tone.

"Your sister ain't here, troqy! She can't do anything to us now."

Wanting to lash out in fury, Starfire closed her eyes and took a deep breath to control her emotions. She would not give these hoodlums the satisfaction of seeing her lose the stability of her sentiments. She had to be strong.

"Why are you here?" she finally asked, opening her eyes and touching her hip.

The mercenary walked back from the wall and looked towards Starfire with his fish-like mouth puckered into an evil smile. Suddenly, he spread his index finger and thumb out before holding them above each other to his eye as if he were looking through a telescope. The action puzzled Starfire, who raised an eyebrow as she observed him examining her through the space between his hands.

"What exactly are you doing?" she asked thoroughly.

After a beat, the mercenary put his hands down before pulling out a data pad and examining it.

"Since we intend to keep you here as our slave for our deviate pleasures, I need to examine the size and shape of the fabric piece we intend for you to wear for us."

He then held the data pad up to Starfire, displaying what appeared to be a bikini-looking outfit made of metal from head to toe with various revealing angles.

Starfire's confusion turned to disgust and horror.

"I'll never wear such a degrading piece of coverings on myself!" she exclaimed.

The mercenary lowered the data pad and shook his head.

"Funny you think you have a choice in the matter, troq," he remarked.

His job done, the mercenary walked back towards the door where he came in before stopping one final time.

"Besides, if you disobey us, don't think we won't hesitate to launch "the big one" on your home planet."

Starfire's eyes widened.

"What do you mean "the big one?" she questioned.

The mercenary smirked before exiting the room, leaving Starfire alone once more.

In the dungeons beneath the Tamaranean Royal Palace, the chained Titans struggled to figure out their current predicament. Struggling for options, Nightwing looked towards Raven, who was still lying by the farthest wall with her hands encased in those shells and her feet tied together by chains.

"Raven, do you think you could use a spell that doesn't require your hands to break us out?" he asked.

She shook her head.

"Can't if I wanted to. The tamareneans didn't make these cuffs. Blackfire said Slade made them, and I'm assuming he put a power-dampening hex on it, too. I can't feel anything around me with these on."

Beast Boy looked towards her and raised an eyebrow in skepticism.

"Are you sure you can't? Have you tried?" he questioned.

Raven looked up toward him with an annoyed expression on her face.

"Of course, I'm sure. I can't feel or sense anything around me. No aura, no atmosphere, nothing." she retorted.

Beast Boy folded his arms.

"Well, feeling and trying are two different things. I mean, you won't know unless you try."

Raven sneered at him.

" Have you tried turning into an elephant or something to see if you can break out of the cage just to make sure?" she sarcastically asked.

"Well, actually…" came Kid Flash's voice from the other side of the cage.

"...Blackfire did mention that it would kill Beast Boy if he tried to do that. She said nothing about you attempting to use your powers mentally."

"Not helping," grumbled Raven from her side of the cage.

She looked back at Beast Boy, who had just turned himself into a small dog and was whining to her with big, puppy eyes.

Giving up on arguing with him, Raven sighed.

"Fine," she said sorely.

Closing her eyes, Raven started whispering something to herself the other Titans couldn't understand, likely due to the possibility it was in the form of an ancient spell.

Opening her eyes, Raven finished the spell by uttering, "Azarath Metrion ZINTHOS!"

The other Titans in the room closed their eyes, expecting a loud bang or a flash of light to fill the dungeon at any minute, but were surprised when all they heard was silence. Opening their eyes, the group looked toward Raven, who still sat in her spot, chained and depowered.

"See?" she snapped at Beast Boy.

"I told you it wouldn't work!"

Feeling threatened at her rebuttal, Beast Boy held his hands up, palms forward, and smiled nervously.

"Sorry, I just thought it would be worth a shot."

Lowering his hands, his face sank as he turned into a green bloodhound and coiled himself up. Noticing this, Raven's irritation turned to sympathy and sorrow, something she rarely expressed openly in front of her friends. She couldn't see Kid Flash or Wonder Girl's faces on the other side of the cage but was sure they felt she had been a little harsh towards the youngest member of their team. She looked across at Cyborg, who looked toward Beast Boy with a look of remorse, and then toward Raven, whom he weakly smiled at before looking away and feeling that she didn't have to react that brutally toward him. Raven sighed and looked up again toward her friend.

"Look, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snapped at you like that."

"No, it's fine," she heard Beast Boy murmur.

" I shouldn't have pushed further and taken your word."

"No, it's not ok," Raven responded.

"Even though I can't use my magic and get us out of here, it doesn't give me an excuse to treat you like that. You don't deserve it."

She then sighed and turned to the left of her body.

"I'm sorry I'm such a jerk to you," she muttered softly.

"You are not!" she heard Beast Boy say.

Pushing herself up with her cuffed hands, Raven turned toward Beast Boy, who had reverted to his standard form and had his hands placed on the side of the cage, looking out at her.

"What?" asked Raven, her eyebrow raised.

"You're not a jerk," Beast Boy explained.

"I wouldn't have jumped that barrier after you were hit with lightning by Blackfire to help you if you were a jerk. I also wouldn't have helped you upchuck your dinner into the can after you over-exasperated your power if I thought you were one."

Raven smiled and let out a tiny laugh under her breath, looking away, a little embarrassed.

"Plus.." continued Beast Boy as he darted his eyes away in nervousness.

"..I'm aware I can be kind of a pest as well sometimes."

Raven grinned and shook her head.

"I wouldn't have come to comfort you after you found out Terra died if I thought you were a pest. Nor would I have helped take your buzzed butt home and into bed if I thought you were one."

Beast Boy smiled and laughed to himself.

He then sat down in his cell, his eyes still on Raven.

"Thanks, Raven," he said.

Raven nodded.

"You're welcome."

On the other side of the cage, Wonder Girl and Kid Flash watched the conversation, staying quiet to avoid intruding on their consultation. Kid Flash had his eyebrow raised the whole time, somewhat confused about where this conversation was heading, especially considering they might be executed soon if they didn't free themselves from their chains.

He then looked toward Wonder Girl to find her eyes and eyebrows wide open in amazement at the scene before her.

"Uh, Wonder Girl?" he asked.

Donna shook her head and looked toward Kid Flash.

"I'm sorry, what?" she asked.

Kid Flash then sighed and shook his head.

"Never mind," he responded.

On the other side of the room nearest the stairs leading to the dungeon, Cyborg witnessed the conversation and smiled a little at how sweet it was. But after a few seconds, he resumed focus on the goal of getting free and looked toward Nightwing. To his surprise, Nightwing wasn't trying anymore to get out of the chains and was looking away toward the stairs with a grim look.

"Uh, dude?" Cyborg asked in concern.

"You ok?"

Nightwing looked toward Cyborg as his feet slowly dangled on the ground.

"No, I'm not ok," he uttered irritatedly.

"We are chained in a dungeon with no way out. Starfire and her brother are kidnapped on a ship that could be leaving at any time, depending on when they get the reward Blackfire promised them; Blackfire's now the empress of Tamaran, and if we can't get home, lord knows what Slade could do to Jump City without us to stop him."

He then looked down again and sighed.

"Maybe we shouldn't have come. Maybe none of this wouldn't have happened if we stayed home."

Cyborg raised his brow in surprise at that response.

"Dude, what are you talking about? How is this our fault? Even if we didn't come, Blackfire more than likely would still have come with those alien scumbags and kidnapped Wildfire in her attempts to get the throne. Our coming was just an unexpected bonus for her."

Nightwing looked up at Cyborg and nodded quickly.

"I guess you're right," he muttered.

Cyborg nodded in agreement.

"Not everything is our fault, dude."

Before they could say anything else, they heard the door above the spiral staircase open and turned to witness a massive Tamaranean guard walk down them and stand in the opening leading to the stairs.

"I'm here to make sure none of you try any funny business if you try to escape. Just because we confiscated your weapons doesn't mean we don't believe you could still try to pull a fast one on us."

Nightwing frowned at the guard.

"She's not going to get away with this." she sneered.

The guard smirked evilly in response.

"Keep telling yourself that, earthling."

Still imprisoned on the Denizen's ship, Starfire sat in the middle of the floor of her cell, legs folded and arms held out with her index finger and thumb pressed together in a meditative state.

Deciding that sulking would not get her anywhere, Starfire chose to take a page out of Raven's book and try some meditation skills Raven had taught her. So far, the practice seemed soothing for her. She no longer felt distraught or rageful but calm and centered in her mind. The downside, though, was she had yet to find a way to free herself and save her brother from their confinements. After a few minutes, the door to the block could be heard opening, catching Starfire's attention. She opened her eyes and frowned.

"If you are here to intimidate me farther, I regret to inform you…" she began as she turned around, but the sight of who entered prevented her from finishing her sentence. By the control center in the middle of the room stood what looked like a tall figure with a red beard, decked in a giant green coat with a crimson star surrounded by a white circle and wearing a soviet army hat on his head. Starfire's eyes widened as the energy field faded away, and the man ran to the front of her cell. Seeing his face, she noted he was wearing a green visor, and his eyes were brick red.

"Starfire! Are you all right?!" he asked urgently.

The man's Russian accent had all but confirmed who her rescuer was.

"Red Star!" she cried happily.

She soared toward him and quickly encased him in a massive embrace.

"Uh, Starfire? You're…kinda…choking me!" he gasped.

Realizing it, Starfire quickly released Red Star and allowed him to catch his breath.

"Oh, I apologize. I'm so happy to see you alive and here!" Starfire exclaimed.

He grinned at her at the response. After a beat, Starfire's eyes widened again, realizing there were a few unanswered questions.

"Wait a minute. How are you here? The last time I saw you, you had sacrificed yourself into space to prevent your instability from harming others."

Red Star's smile faded as he looked away from a beat.

"After you had thrown me into space and I expelled that energy wave, somehow, the coldness of space prevented me from heating up any further. I was protected, but it wouldn't have lasted long. There was no air. I was on the verge of death. I couldn't move, couldn't breathe, nothing. Nothing until the Denizen's discovered me. They took me in and nursed me back to health. When I came to, they told me they were smugglers and did jobs across the galaxy for money. They offered me a position with them. Since I doubted I had much use back on Earth due to my condition, I accepted. They even made a regulator device to ensure my powers no longer overload."

He then slowly unbuttoned his coat and pulled the two sides open, showing his bare chest to Starfire. Looking down, she noticed on his left nipple a metal device clamped to it with a tube leading to his back, pumping an unknown chemical into him. Intrigued, Starfire looked up to her friend again.

"So does that mean-"

"Yes," confirmed Red Star.

"I'm stable."

Starfire smiled happily for him.

The pair took a moment of silence to process all of the information before Starfire finally spoke.

"I'm just glad to see you again."

She embraced him again, this time in a softer fashion. Red Star returned the embrace before letting go.

"Now come, we must get out of here. I'll explain more later."

He gently tugged her on the arm before Starfire stopped and grabbed his hand.

"Wait! What about my brother? He's here too, somewhere else on the ship." she explained.

Red Star stopped as well, looking toward her.

"We'll free him too, I promise."

Letting go of Starfire's wrist, he slammed the button on the wall to open the door, causing it to let in a whoosh of air.

"But what about your job here? What is to become of that?" Starfire asked.

Red Star turned to her once more and grinned.

"Let's just say I'm getting an early retirement."

It had been about four hours since the other Titans were locked in the dungeon, and so far, none had figured out an escape plan. Nightwing attempted a few times to play mind games with the guard watching over them, but unfortunately, it was like talking to a brick wall. After a few minutes, the sound of a door opening above them caught their attention. The guard turned around and saw Galfor descending the stairs with a massive axe and a trunk. Confused, the observing guard approached him when he reached the bottom of the stairs.

"What is it?" asked the guard.

Galfor looked over the guard's shoulder at the captive Titans and back at the guard.

"Our empress requests your presence immediately," he explained.

The guard grunted but obeyed the request and walked past Galfor to the stairs. Then suddenly, to the Ttian's surprise, Galfor dropped the trunk, grabbed the bottom end of his axe with his now free hand, and shoved it into the guard's head, knocking him out cold. The Titans were surprised at the scene in front of them.

Galfor stood before Nightwing and held his axe back, preparing to swing it in Nightwing's direction. Not sure what to think, Nightwing closed his eyes and braced himself for what he believed was coming. He heard a swing and a clang, and suddenly, his feet were touching the ground again. He opened his eyes and saw Galfor holding his axe and breathing heavily in front of him. Nightwing lowered his arms above his head, noticing the chains had been cut, but the wrists were still cuffed.

"You are being free," Galfor explained.

"We must hurry."

He then turned to a shocked Cyborg and tossed the trunk he had near him, causing it to open. Cyborg looked to find it contained his missing limbs in the crate.

"Oh, sweet! My arms and legs," he exclaimed happily.

Galfor then ran over to where Kid Flash was chained and slammed his axe on the chains, releasing him. He then turned to Nightwing.

"Look into the guard's pockets. He should have the controls for the rest of their imprisonments."

Still perplexed, Nightwing nodded and dug through the unconscious guard's pockets, looking for the controls.

"Why are you helping us?" he asked finally.

"I thought you said you had to serve your empress because Blackfire won the fight."

Galfor looked back at Nightwing with a hardened expression.

"She is no empress of mine. As far as I'm concerned, Myand'r and Luand'r had only two children: Koriand'r and Ryand'r."

Nightwing smiled briefly.

"Starfire and Wildfire, right?"

Galfor nodded.

Continuing to dig in the pockets, Nightwing eventually found a remote device with four keys. Nightwing pressed the keys, causing the chains holding Wonder Girl back to uncuff, freeing her, the walls surrounding Beast Boy's cage to disappear, Kid Flash's friction-resistant boots to unstrap from his ankle, and the cuffs and chains on Raven's hands and legs to come off.

"Finally!" exclaimed Donna happily.

"Hold on!" said Kid Flash, holding his finger out to the group.

"Let's see if I still got it."

In an instant, Kid Flash disappeared from the spot, and a yellow blur replaced him, zipping around the room, past the Titans and Glafor, leaving a gust of wind wherever it went before finally returning to its starting point.

"Yes!" Kid Flash exclaimed excitedly, curling his hand into a fist and dropping his elbow.

"Still got it! What about you, Raven?"

The group looked toward Raven, who had just gotten to her feet, and she closed her eyes and held up her hands.

"Azarath Mentrio ZINTHOS!" she bellowed, and a gust of black energy emerged from her hands into the air before fading.

She opened her eyes and looked at her hands, smiling.

"Yeah, still got it as well."

"Ahem," echoed Cyborg's voice throughout the room.

The group looked back at Cyborg, who was still just a head and a torso, his face plastered with an annoyed expression.

"Can someone help me get my arms and legs together?" he asked, irritated.

"Oh, right, sorry," apologized Beast Boy as he ran over to his friend and began placing the limbs back in their sockets.

Nightwing looked up toward Galfor.

"Galfor, you think you could find us a place for us to come up with a game plan to free Star and Wildfire as well as the guards sentenced to be executed?"

Galfor nodded.

"Come. I'll take you there."

Having his final limb placed back in his socket, Cyborg joined the rest of the Titans and Galfor as they ran up the stairs into the castle's halls.

On the Denizen's vessel, Red Star continued to lead Starfire through the corridors to find the location of Wildfire. Eventually, Red Star halted Starfire in her path and hid himself and her on a nearby wall. Peaking over, Red Star saw one of the mercenaries walk by slowly at the intersecting hallways and held his finger to his mouth to signal Starfire to be quiet. She nodded and remained silent until the pair heard the steps no more. After the steps ceased, the pair slumped to the ground briefly.

"Ok, let's go!" said Red Star as he grabbed Starfire's arm, but she held back.

"Wait! Can you tell me more about how you got here?"

Red Star looked back to the hallway and then to Starfire before sighing.

"After they found me, they hired me as the boiler room mechanic. I had a bed and everything down there. I've been working for them for the past three years, keeping their ship afloat, rarely going to the upper levels. I wasn't entirely sure of their true nature until now, as I mostly kept to myself. Yesterday, I went up to the upper levels to borrow a spare wrench when I overheard in their conference room the Denizens talking to someone who sounded a little like you about what sounded like a hostile takeover. Even though I was curious, I didn't dare ask for full context as, at my level, it wasn't my concern.

Today, after repairing a few nozzles in the underbellies, I napped for about an hour or two before one of the crew members woke me up. He invited me to celebrate with them, saying they hit their biggest score yet. He told me that they kidnapped the princess and prince of Tamaran and assisted someone named Blackfire in taking over the kingdom. I got suspicious when I heard the name because it sounded similar to you. I asked who her sister was, and when he said your name, I realized what I had to do."

Starfire looked away, absorbing the information. She wasn't sure what to think of it.

"Why didn't you try to contact us and tell us you lived?" she asked.

Red Star frowned.

"I wanted to, but I wasn't allowed access to their communication devices. There was nothing I could have done."

He then looked around the corner again and back to Starfire.

"I did miss you, though," he admitted.

Starfire smiled.

"I did, too."

She got up and followed him as they ran down the intersection before being halted by a voice behind them.

"Hold it right there!" it exclaimed.

Starfire and Red Star stopped on their feet before turning around to find the mercenary that had walked by the intersection a minute ago (a single-eyed, yellow-skinned alien) pointing his blaster at them.

"Where do you think you're going?" he asked.

Red Star looked toward Starfire nervously before returning his attention to the alien.

"I was just taking the prisoner to the boss to be interrogated. Nothing more." he lied.

The alien laughed at the alibi.

"You really expect me to believe that, mechanic? Your job is to tend to the boilers below. There is no way the boss would have you do something like this. This is obviously an attempt at mutiny!"

Figuring out what to do, Red Star looked to Starfire, who smiled at him. He smiled back, realizing her plan, and returned to the alien.

"Fine, you caught us," he told the alien.

"But there is one last thing you must know."

"What?!" demanded the alien.

Red Star then ducked down to reveal Starfire behind him, her eyes a glowing emerald green, who blasted the surprised alien with her energy blast, launching him across the hall and causing him to drop his pistol. Lifting his wounded head up, Starfire lifted the alien by his shirt. Red Star walked next to her, his hands on his hips, giving the frightened alien a confident grin.

"You should know this isn't a mutiny. It's a rescue mission. Now, where is the other prisoner locked up?" he asked.

The alien looked toward Starfire, whose free hand was held up, brandishing a green ball of energy in the palm of it, terrifying the alien.

"S-second level corridor, 5th door to the right, no lie!"

Having gotten what they wanted, Red Star looked toward Starfire, winking at her.

Starfire nodded and gave a massive headbutt to the alien, knocking him out cold.

Dropping the body, Starfire held her forehead in pain from the head butt.

"I-I didn't think it would hurt that much," she admitted.

"You good?" asked Red Star, concerned.

Starfire looked up back at him, lowering her hand and nodding.

"Yes,"

the pair continued, running down the hallway.

Having finally escaped the dungeons, the Titans and Galfor found a nearby armory to hide in as they laid out their game plan. When they entered the room, Galfor quickly closed the doors and used his axe to bar the handles to ensure no one got in before kneeling with them as they explained the plan.

"OK, guys! Here's the plan!" exclaimed Nightwing.

"As far as we know, Starfire and Wildfire are in the mercenaries' vessel, which is probably still above the planet, since Blackfire stated she would reward them soon. So all we need to do is get to our ship and fly up there."

"I'm afraid you can't!" chimed in Galfor.

Nightwing looked up at him in confusion.

"Blackfire's guards heavily guard your ship. It'll be impossible to get to it."

Nightwing looked back and frowned.

"So, what are we going to do?" asked Cyborg.

"Yeah, and what about the loyal guards about to be executed?" added Beast Boy.

Nightwing thought to himself for a second before coming up with an idea.

"Galfor, where are the guards going to be executed? Is there a hangar in the castle?"

Galfor nodded.

"The execution will take place on the third tower up's roof, and I can show you where the hangar is located."

Nightwing smiled and turned to the others.

"OK, here's the plan: Galfor and I will go to the hangar, hijack a ship, go to the mercenaries' ship, and free Star and Wildfire. You guys go free the other guards and stall Blackfire until we return. Got it?"

The Titans nodded.

"Good!" replied Nightwing.

"Titans, Go!"

The group then ran out of the armory and split up to save the siblings and free the guards.

It took them five flights of stairs to walk up, but Cyborg, Raven, Beast Boy, Kid Flash, and Wonder Girl eventually made it to the third tower. When they approached the door to the balcony, Wonder Girl and Kid Flash pressed their backs to either side of the wall while Beast Boy, Cyborg, and Raven examined it.

"You think it's open?" asked Beast Boy.

Cyborg walked up toward the door and pushed down the handle.

"Looks like it. Guess they weren't expecting any interruptions."

"So, are we gonna rush them?" asked Wonder Girl eagerly.

Raven shook her head.

"Not yet. We need to know what we are dealing with."

Beast Boy walked carefully toward the door, opening it slowly a few inches before taking a peak. After a few seconds, he quietly closed the door and looked at the others.

"What did you see?" asked Cyborg.

"About twenty or so guards on Blackfire's side, dudes," replied Beast Boy.

"The ones set for execution are in some guillotine thing. If we are going to save them, we gotta hurry."

The rest nodded. The group then kicked the doors open, witnessing at least ten guillotine-like devices with the bodies of the guards loyal to Wild and Starfire leaning forward onto the bases of them while a sharp slab of metal hung over their heads. They were attached by wires, indicating the process would be instantaneous, and were all surrounded by Blackfire's loyal guards. The one at the end was smiling evilly, his back turned to the Titans and was holding a device that looked like it was meant to trigger the beheadings all at once. Reacting quickly, Raven held out her hand, allowing the device to be consumed in black energy and telekinetically pulled into Raven's palm. The guards turned around in confusion toward the four Titans, shocked to see them in front of the door.

"No one shall be executed today," exclaimed Raven before tossing the device in the air. Cyborg then turned his arm into his arm cannon, aimed it into the air, and blasted the device to pieces.

"Booyah!" he exclaimed.

In anger, the loyal guards charged at the Titans, and the Titans did the same. Seeing a pair of guards charging toward him, Cyborg did a quick tuck and roll to dodge them before turning around and blasting them down with his arm cannon.

On Beast Boy's end, a trio of giant guards surrounded him, snarling in an attempt to intimidate Beast Boy. Smiling, Beast Boy became a big green tyrannosaurus rex and roared at the guards. Sweating and scared, the guards screamed in terror and ran in the other direction, only to be blasted one at a time into unconsciousness by Cyborg. Beast Boy then returned to his normal form and smiled at his victory. Suddenly, he heard a blasting sound and a scream behind his back. Beast Boy turned around to find a guard knocked out on the floor on one side and Raven floating and holding her hand out as she looked at Beast Boy on the other.

"Uh, thanks," replied Beast Boy awkwardly.

Raven smiled.

"No problem," she responded.

On Kid Flash and Wonder Girl's end, the pair were surrounded by giant guards, holding axes and spears, ready to attack. The heroes pressed their backs to each other before looking toward each other and sharing a smile.

"Tag move?" asked Donna confidently.

Wally nodded in response.

The pair then spaced themselves from each other before turning to face each other as Wonder Girl tossed her lasso around Kid Flash's waist. She swung it around with Kid Flash, speeding up so fast that he was nothing more than a yellow blur. After a few seconds, Donna let go of the whip, and Wally sped faster than light toward the guards, quickly punching each guard's jaws. He stopped in his tracks, turning around to find the guards collapsing. He smiled happily at the success of his attack.

Having finally reached the corridor to the hangar bay, Nightwing and Galfore pressed themselves against the wall before Nightwing looked around the corner to the door, noticing a pair of guards in front of it. Nightwing then looked toward Galfore and held up his first two index fingers to indicate how many guards there were.

"How do you propose we defeat them?" whispered Galfore.

Nightwing grinned and dug into his utility belt, pulling out a small plate device before tossing it around the corner. The guards looked at it in confusion, but before they could react, a pair of blue lightning bolts emerged from the plate.

The bolts electrocuted the guards before disappearing, allowing them to collapse to the floor unconscious. Nightwing then motioned for Galfor to follow him as the two approached the doorway to the hangar. Nearing the door, Nightwing looked next to it and noticed a control panel built into the wall with a screen above it.

"For security purposes, the hangar doors are locked by password protection," explained Galfor.

"Allow me,"

Nightwing nodded before stepping out of the way, allowing Galfor to type in the password to unlock the door. As the doors slowly opened, a voice behind them was heard.

"HEY!" it roared.

The pair looked back to see a guard, holding a sack over his shoulder, pointing at them angrily. Reacting quickly, Nightwing and Galfor ran into the hangar before Galfor slammed a button on the side of the doors, causing them to close immediately. The two stepped back carefully as they heard banging from the other side of the doors.

"We must hurry. That will only hold them back temporarily," informed Galfore.

Nightwing nodded and turned to face the hangar bay. The hangar had about fifty airships that appeared for military purposes but also seemed to have only one cockpit. This was a problem for Nightwing as he needed a ship that could fit at least four people as he was going to rescue both Starfire and Blackfire and needed room for them.

"Hey, Galfor! Is there a ship here that can carry more than one person?" Nightwing asked, turning to the bearded warrior.

Galfor nodded and pointed to the end of the balcony.

"Yes, there is a ship at the end normally used for special escort missions that may be suitable."

Hearing that, Nightwing quickly ran to the end of the balcony and found docked in the hangar a bigger aircraft with a similar shape to a NASA shuttle. Nightwing smiled. Suddenly, a loud noise was heard, and the pair turned to the door.

"They are breaking in! You must hurry!" informed Galfor, turning to Nightwing quickly.

"I'll keep them back. Go find the prince and princess and bring them back!"

Nightwing nodded.

"I will, Galfor. Thanks for everything!"

Galfor smiled and turned to the door, which opened, and a small group of guards ran in to fight him.

Nightwing briefly witnessed Galfor knock the guard with the bag over the balcony before finally ascending onto the vessel. He ran to the cockpit and sat in the pilot's seat, swiftly analyzing the control layout on the ship. The setup was similar to the T-Shuttle's controls, so he figured piloting the ship was a piece of cake. He laid his hand on the level before pressing the "Launch" key, causing a sudden movement as he looked out the window and noticed the hangar starting to lower in view. He quickly realized the platform was lifted to the hangar's roof as it stopped when he was now viewing the beautiful sights of Tamaran. The ship hovered slightly as Nightwing thrust forward on the controls, sending the craft to the mercenary vessel to save the woman he loved and her brother.

Aboard the Denizen's cruiser, Lylan kept his sight on the captive prince, who he had strapped to an upright table, and faced their prisoner. Since Lylan and his comrades kidnapped Wildifre following his brutal beating by his sister, Bl'ackdar requested that he be patched up to a point to be kept healthy for the slavers they intended to sell the prince to. They had placed him in a room near the front of the cruiser, mainly used for interrogations, being flanked by four other cronies. Noticing the boy seemed weak, Lylan turned to one of his fellow denizens and nodded to him. The mercenary nodded back before going to a table and lifted a bowl of some sort of soup. The mercenary walked up to Wildfire with the soup bowl, dipped a spoon, and scooped some of the soup into the spoon. He then shoved it toward Wildfire's mouth, who turned away from it in refusal. Lylan frowned and marched up to Wildfire.

"Eat it, boy!" he demanded.

Wildfire looked toward Lylan and scowled at him intensely.

"I'd rather be weak and starve to death than be healthy enough to serve whoever you intend to sell me to!" he proclaimed.

Angered, Lylan grabbed Wildfire's head with one hand and forced him to turn toward the mercenary with the soup while his other hand held the boy's upper jaw, lifting his mouth open and allowing the mercenary to shove the soup into his mouth.

Lylan then let go of Wildifre's mouth, stepping down and waiting for the boy to swallow the soup. Wildfire, in suppression, spat the soup into Lylan's face, causing the fish-like philistine to grab a prod from a nearby table and jam the prod into the prince's ribcage, making his body go rigid in pain before Lylan pulled the prod back, allowing the boy to slump in exhaustion.

"That should hopefully teach you some manners, Troq!" Lylan snarled as he wiped the soup off his face. He approached Wildfire, still breathing heavily from the shock, grabbing the boy's hair and lifting his head. Lylan then looked to the other mercenary, nodding once more, signaling the comrade to shove the spoon of soup into Wilfire's mouth before pinching his nose to get him to swallow the soup. Lylan then pushed Wildfire's head away onto the table before standing back, smiling evilly.

"You will learn your place when you are sold, Troq!" he said callously.

Suddenly, Lylan's ear went up as he started to hear a stark, sizzling sound that appeared to be coming from the door. He looked to his other comrades, whose eyes were also turned to the door in curiosity, before returning. Lylan then looked to the mercenary with the soup and motioned for him to check the source of the sound. The mercenary nodded before placing the soup on the table and slowly paced toward the door. The mercenary leaned against the door, pressing his ear closely to determine what was causing the sound. After a few seconds, the door suddenly blasted from its frame, launching itself and the mercenary a couple of meters from the archway, knocking out the mercenary. Lylan looked from the comatose mercenary to the edge, revealing the forms of their captive princess, Starfire, and their human mechanic Red Star. Lylan snarled in response to seeing the pair.

"Release my brother now!" Starfire demanded, her arm out and eyes glowing emerald green with fury.

The outstruck hand then started to illuminate green as her energy ball formed.

Lylan quickly pulled out his pistol in response, signaling his other comrades to do the same.

"You don't give me orders, troq!" he hissed at Starfire.

He then turned his pistol to Red Star.

"And you! Mechanic! You work for us! I demand you to return her to her cell now!"

In response, Red Star dug into his pouch, pulled out a wrench, and tossed it at Lylan's foot, causing Lylan to howl in pain and accidentally pull the trigger to his pistol, letting out a laser blast at one of his comrades. The fellow mercenary fell on the floor dead, with smoke emerging from his blast wound. Starfire released a bolt of green energy toward the final remaining mercenary, launching him backward and knocking him out cold. Red Star approached Lylan, who held his foot on the floor, wincing in pain before facing the Russian superhuman.

"Consider this my resignation," he remarked before sending a quick kick toward Lylan's face, causing him to slump backward, limp and unconscious. Red Star then looked up to find Starfire aggressively wrestling off the cuffs on her brother's feet, pinning him to the table. Red Star ran over to the table as Starfire pulled the cuffs on his wrists off, carefully helping the wounded prince to the ground.

"Who..who are you?" Wildfire asked Red Star, looking up weakly toward the man.

"My name is Red Star. I'm an old friend of your sister's. Here."

He then grabbed Wildfire's arm and wrapped it around his neck. Suddenly, Wilfire pulled his arm back and clutched his side.

"It's ok, thank you. I can walk," he explained.

Despite being concerned for the boy, Red Star nodded respectfully and allowed Wildfire to limp to the doorway. Starfire, however, still worried about her brother's condition.

"Are you sure, dear brother? If you need to, you can always lean on me." she offered.

Wildfire looked toward Starfire and shook his head.

"No, I can make it. Let's go. We must stop Blackfire."

Despite her unease toward her brother attempting to walk in his condition, Starfire sighed in hesitant acceptance and nodded before turning to Red Star.

"Red Star, do you know a way off this craft?" she asked.

Red Star nodded.

"I believe a hall on the second to last level can take us to the escape pod chamber. We can use that to return to Tamaran," he explained.

Starfire smiled before she and Red Star ran to follow Wildfire and get to the chamber to escape back to her home planet.

After going through several hallways, avoiding mercenary guards, and sneaking around the vessel, the trio of Starfire, Red Star, and Wildfire finally made it to the level at which the escape pods were rumored to be deployed.

"Which way will we find the escape pods?" Starfire asked.

Red Star looked toward her and back to the hall.

"I believe farther down the hall, we shall find them."

Starfire nodded and was about to run down the corridor, stopped by the sight of a shadow approaching them from the left hallway intersection. Starfire stood before Wildfire, preparing to face whoever the foe was and protect the prince from further harm. As Starfire allowed her pupils to dilate and her eyes to glow green, the figure finally came into view. It was a young man in his early 20s wearing a blue and black jumpsuit, a face mask, and long flowing jet black hair. He turned toward the trio, his eyes meeting with Starfire instantly, and a look of relief and joy plastered his expression. It was Nightwing.

"Starfire?" he said, a look of happiness in his eyes.

"Nightwing!" shouted Starfire joyfully.

The two ran over to each other and embraced.

"I'm so glad you're okay!" Nightwing said, pulling away.

"The feeling is mutual," replied Starfire.

He then looked over to Wildfire, who weakly waved at him.

"Good, you got out Wildfire and.."

He then looked to Red Star, and his eyes widened.

"Red Star?" he asked in amazement.

Red Star's eyebrow raised in confusion.

"I'm sorry, have we met?" he asked.

Nightwing looked surprised at the lack of recognition until he looked down at his costume and realized why Red Star didn't recognize him.

"Oh, yeah. New costume. It's me, Robin. I call myself Nightwing now, and I got a costume upgrade." he explained.

Red Star's eyes widened, and he looked carefully at Nightwing to assemble the pieces.

"Robin? My, it's been a while since I've seen you. You have gotten taller." he admitted.

Nightwing looked down and smiled.

"Yeah, I guess."

Red Star then looked at Starfire and pointed to her.

"And I take it you too are.."

Starfire nodded.

Red Star smiled in response.

"Congratulations. I am happy for both of you."

Starfire smiled at that until Wildfire spoke up.

"I apologize if it sounds like I'm intruding on the reunion, but I believe we must hurry now if we are to stop Blackfire."

Nightwing turned to Wildfire and nodded.

"You're right," replied Nightwing.

"Follow me. I took a tamaranean ship up to get here. We'll get to the throne room and put Blackfire out of power."

He motioned the trio toward him, and they followed Nightwing down the corridor.

Anticipating his award for his crew's services, Bl'ackdar kicked his feet up on the control dock in the cockpit of the Denizen's vessel, waiting patiently for the dropoff. He looked at the time on his communicator and noted that there were ten minutes left until Blackfire was to make the drop to them. Bl'ackdar smiled as he put the communicator in his pocket before placing his arms behind his back. He was then startled when he heard the doors behind him open and turned to see Lylan in the frame, panting heavily and looking beaten up.

"What happened?" asked Bl'ackdar.

Lylan dragged himself over to his boss, taking a massive breath before explaining the intrusion.

"The mechanic helped the Troqs escape. Both of them. They are heading back to Tamaran."

Bl'ackdar thought for a beat before looking back at Lylan and laughing.

"Impossible! They couldn't even get off this ship, as I have control of the escape pods! There's no way anyone escapes."

Suddenly, his eyes widened as he heard a rocket engine going off from outside the vessel. Curious, Bl'ackdar turned to the cockpit window and saw a Tamaranean shuttle flying away from the underside of the Denizen's craft. Bl'ackdar frowned and clenched his knuckles in anger as Lylan folded his arms.

"Well? Do we go after them?

Taking a moment to calm down, Bl'ackdar lowered his arms and turned toward Lylan with a stoic expression on his face.

"Blackfire said our dropoff would be delivered in ten minutes. If anything goes wrong with that, the "big one" will have its test launch at last."

In the Tamaranean Royal Castle, Blackfire sat in front of a platform on the Royal throne, her feet kicked up on one arm of the chair and her head and arms on the other, enjoying her new reign as ruler of Tamaran. At that moment, in her eyes, her dream came true. She knew she was the rightful ruler of her homeworld, and her obnoxious younger siblings would soon be out of the picture forever, and all it took was persistence, patience, and teamwork to get where she was now. After a few minutes of enjoying herself, she heard the doors to the throne room open, and multiple footsteps followed. Curious of the disturbance to her peace, Blackfire repositioned herself upright on her throne and saw in front of her five guards holding Galfor on his knees while his hands were cuffed behind him.

"What is the meaning of this?!" she hissed to the guards.

"He was caught assisting one of the prisoners in escaping from the dungeons and commandeering one of our ships, " answered the one holding Galfor's left arm back.

Blackfire frowned as she leaned forward from the throne toward the aged warrior's face.

"Is this true, old man?" she asked.

Galfor scowled at her intensely.

"I have no regrets." he hissed.

Blackfire stood up from the throne and approached the warrior. Suddenly, she swung a sidekick to his face, knocking a few drops of blood from his mouth before returning to her chair.

"Which one did you help free?!" she demanded.

Galfor looked back at her, mouth trickling blood from the kick, but his expression remained the same. He didn't respond.

"Was it my sister's suitor?!" she asked.

He, again, didn't reply, but B'lackfire could tell the truth of the matter by the look in his eyes. She chuckled to herself before looking down on Galfor with a cruel smirk.

"You really think I hired some poor-minded weaklings who couldn't shoot a moving target if they tried? I hired the best mercenaries in the galaxy, deadly assassins who shoot first and ask questions later. Whatever you thought you'd try to accomplish with this was in vain, old man."

She then leaned forward and gripped the arms of her throne forcefully.

"Aside from that, did you also assist the other prisoners?"

Galfor spat near her feet and growled at the would-be ruler.

"Get eaten!" he snarled.

Not having his insubordination, Blackfire stood off her throne and dragged Galfor's beard toward her face.

"Where are they?!" she hissed.

"Right behind ya!" shouted a male voice from the other side of the room.

Blackfire and Galfor turned to the left of the room to find the source of the sound, discovering Cyborg, Beast Boy, Raven, Kid Flash, and Wonder Girl, backed by the guards whom Blackfire had sentenced to execution earlier.

"I'm afraid your reign is ending, Blackfire," said Cyborg.

Blackfire stepped down from her throne, eyeing the Titans, smiling evilly.

She shoved her middle and index fingers into her mouth and blew hard into them, loudly whistling. Suddenly, a door on the other side of the room opened, and a group of guards loyal to Blackfire emerged and stood by her side.

"Sorry to disappoint you, but It'll be a cold day when my reign ends, Titans!" she cackled.

The two sides of guards stood on either side of the room in battle positions, preparing to battle to the death. Before anything could happen, a loud, mechanical roaring noise was heard from outside the castle. Blackfire looked toward the balcony in the room's front wall and saw something from the sky coming their way. She approached the balcony carefully, anxious to discover the source of the intrusion. After a second, the object came into view, and Blackfire's eyes widened in shock. The thing approaching was a Tamaranean airship soaring at full speed toward that spot. Panicking, Blackfire quickly ran back to her throne as the airship crashed through the archway leading to the balcony and left a demolished trail, ending a few feet away from Blackfire's throne, to which she had made it too. She and the rest of the current occupants of the room stared at the vessel in confusion for a few seconds until a doorway on the side of the ship opened, allowing four figures to exit. Blackfire looked at the figures and recognized three of them: Nightwing, his escrima out and at the ready; Starfire, her fist up and a green glow emitting from her fist and eyes; Wildfire, looking slightly wounded but still on his feet and a human wearing a heavy coat, strange hat and coated with a red beard, looking determined and brave. Blackfire frowned at this.

"This ends here, Blackfire!" stated Nightwing.

"It's time to give up your throne."

A smile started to crack on Blackfire's face as she burst into laughter at the threat made toward her.

"Wow, you must be foolish to think I'd give up my power to you, my siblings, and..whoever that guy is!" she jested.

After the last mention, the other Titans darted their eyes toward the stranger, and their eyes widened in recognition.

"Red Star?" asked Cyborg surprised.

Red Star turned to his old friends and nodded in confirmation.

"But.." started Beast Boy.

"But last time we saw you… and now you're here..and.."

"I will explain later," Red Star responded.

"Right now, there are more pressing matters we must attend to."

He then turned back to Blackfire, standing alongside his allies.

Blackfire walked forward toward the quartet and folded her arms.

"What exactly do you expect me to do?" she asked.

Starfire then stood forward and pointed venomously toward her sister.

"We expect you to resign your crown to our brother and resume your exile!" she exclaimed toward the elder heiress.

Blackfire smirked and slapped Starfire's hand out of her face.

" I think it should be obvious to you now that I'll never resign from this position by your mere demands, little sister."

Before Starfire could do anything else, Wildfire placed his arm on her shoulder and stepped forward toward Blackfire.

" If that is the case, I'd like to make a proposal of my own," he stated.

Blackfire raised her eyebrow.

"And that would be?" she asked.

Wildfire looked down and sighed as Starfire turned to him.

"I request a rematch of our earlier battle."

The room gasped at the request, and Starfire looked mortified.

"Brother, no!" she exclaimed as she grabbed his shoulders.

Blackfire laughed at the proposal.

"So your beating earlier wasn't enough, huh? You really want to join Mother and Father in the great beyond, do you?" she sneered.

Starfire then turned to Blackfire and gritted her teeth, her eyes turning emerald green.

"You have no right to mention our parents in our presence!" she hissed.

Before she could react further, Nightwing grabbed her shoulder.

"Starfire," he said, trying to calm her.

She understood her beloved's intention and allowed her pupils to return to her eyes.

"Sorry," she apologized quickly.

She then looked back to her brother with a look of concern on her face.

"Wildfire, you can't engage her in combat again! You were nearly killed earlier, and I don't want you to.."

"Starfire!" interrupted Wildfire.

"I can handle her, I promise."

Starfire looked back toward Blackfire nervously before returning her attention to her brother.

"But earlier-"

"Earlier was different!" Wildfire interjected.

"My thoughts weren't in a sound place. I was still processing the idea that our sister could have done such horrible things to us! To your friends! To tamaran! My confusion…seemed to have an effect on my abilities."

Starfire empathized with her brother's moment of weakness and nodded her head.

"It is natural for our kind to have difficulties with our strength and power when our emotions are in extreme emotional distress," she confirmed.

Wildfire nodded.

"But I have since come to acceptance with the fact our sister has turned a side too horrible to understand. I'm ready now."

He attempted to walk forward, but Starfire still stood in his way.

"I can't let you do this!" she persisted.

"Starfire.."

"She could kill you! Please, I can fight in your place, and if I win, I can resign the crown over to-"

"Starfire!" he said again, this time more forcefully that Starfire was briefly taken aback by it.

"I understand you want to protect me and don't want any harm to come to me. But I assure you, I can handle my own battles. You don't need to defend me forever."

Starfire sighed before looking down and tearing up.

"I'm sorry. It's just….I've already lost most of my birth family already…I don't want to lose you too." she whimpered.

She opened her eyes and saw Wildfire tilt her head and bend forward to kiss her forehead before meeting her eyes again.

"That day will not be today. I promise you that, dear sister."

Starfire's eyes watered as a smile stretched onto her face before quickly embracing her brother. Wildfire grinned and returned the action. After a few seconds, Blackfire cut in.

"Uh, hello? Are we going to fight, or are you too just going to sit there, getting my floors wet with your tears?" she asked sarcastically.

The siblings then released each other as they looked toward Blackfire. Starfire backed away, nearing Nightwing as Wildfire turned around and advanced toward the elder sister. Nightwing looked to Starfire and saw a look of worry on her face.

"Hey," he said, putting his hand on her shoulder.

"He'll win! I know he will."

She looked down at the masked man she loved and smiled.

"Yes. I as well believe that."

The couple then looked back toward the oncoming battle before stepping back with their friends.

Wildfire kept his eyes locked on Blackfire as he got in position, ready to duel his sister.

"So, dear brother, ready to fall to my might?" Blackfire jeered.

Wildfire frowned in response.

"Before we do anything, I'd appreciate it if you returned my head of guard to me." he requested.

Blackfire frowned before turning the guards holding down Galfor and nodded to them. They shoved the aged warrior over toward the other side of the room. As he got to his feet, Starfire ran around and embraced Galfor, and he returned the gesture. The two then released each other and turned to the beginning duel. Blackfire made the first move, strutting forward before attempting to deliver a spin kick to Wildifire's face, but to her surprise, he ducked it quickly. Breathing heavily, Blackfire regained her balance and turned to Wildfire, who still had his hands up in defense, his gaze not leaving his sister. Snarling, Blackfire made another lunge, but it was quickly avoided by Wildfire, who stepped to the side, causing the elder sibling to miss. She looked toward Wildfire, her eyes glowing purple and teeth exposed like a wild animal, and tried to punch him multiple times. Wildfire nudged quickly and nimbly each time, though, not even breaking a sweat. Exhaustion getting to her, Blackfire fumed as she continued to strike her brother down unsuccessfully.

"What are you doing?!" she exclaimed as she continued to miss.

"Fight me!"

She attempted to kick his face, but Wildire leaned backward, successfully avoiding his sister's foot. Enraged, Blackfire resumed trying to strike her brother, repeatedly yelling, "Fight me!" as she undershooted each blow. Eventually, after a minute and a half of the practice, Blackfire finally succumbed to her exhaustion and collapsed to her knees on the ground, inhaling and exhaling rapidly. Wildfire stared at his near-defeated sister, breathing heavily, with an almost sympathetic look on his face before looking on the other side of the room toward Starfire, Galfor, and the other Titans, whose faces bore a mixture of hope and confusion.

"Why?" he heard Blackfire say as he looked down at her.

Blackfire lifted her head to face Wildifre, exasperated and on the verge of tears.

"Why won't you fight me?! After everything I've done! I sent you away for nineteen years! My actions caused our parents to die of grief! I arranged for our sister to be enslaved for five years of pain and suffering! Everything I did today! Why won't you fight me and be done with it?!"

Wildfire once more looked to his friends and spotted Starfire, looking nervous at the sight before her, not knowing what to make of it. Seeing this, Wildfire took a deep breath and adopted a stoic expression.

"As much as I would desire to provide a more severe punishment upon you, Komand'r, you are still my family nonetheless."

Blackfire looked up toward Wildfire with a look of shock on her tear-ridden face.

"I never gotten to know my true family until yesterday. And now that I've met them, I've seen both the good.." he looked once more toward Starfire, who had a look of faith on her face while listening to her brother's speech.

"..and the bad." he finished as he looked back at Blackfire.

" But, I also realize not only do I have a duty to my kingdom as the heir to the throne, but also to our late parents, who, despite not knowing them longer than after my birth, would not want me to provide harm to any of my sisters, no matter what. I will not harm you, nor will I end your life."

Blackfire shook her head and held her hands to the sides of her head, attempting to process the event. As she did that, Wildifre looked to the crown on her head and held out her hand.

"What I can do is give you a chance to atone for your actions. If you return the crown to me, I can arrange a light punishment on you, and maybe one day, we can be a family again."

Blackfire looked back up at her brother's hand before her eyes darted toward her crown, almost cross-eyed. She then looked back toward Wildfire with a frown slowly forming on her face and the "S" on her forehead glowing a bright purple.

"No. No, no, no, NO! NEVER!" she shouted.

Suddenly, she hovered a few feet off the ground, taking Wildfire and most of the other patrons in the room back, and flew quickly in her brother's direction, arms stretched in front of her body. Reacting hastily, Wildfire held up his hands as Blackfire's fists met with them, doing everything he could to hold her back from attacking him as she continued to put more pressure on her stalled attack. Starfire, concerned, attempted to run toward Wildfire but felt a pair of hands on each of her shoulders. She looked toward each end to find Galfor and Nightwing laying their hands on her to keep her back from interfering. She opened her mouth to protest but closed it after concluding that Wildfire needed to handle this battle independently. She looked back to the fight, noticing Blackfire slowly nudging Wildfire to the point that his strength was about to give out. After a beat, she saw Wildfire look toward her and wink before ducking down, releasing Blackfire's hands, allowing her to fly forward head first onto the nearest wall before collapsing. Shocked, Starfire finally spoke.

"Is she…unharmed severely?" she asked.

Wildfire, in response, quickly ran to Blackfire's side, lay on the ground, and pressed the side of his head to Blackfire's chest for a few seconds before coming to a conclusion and returning to Starfire.

"She still lives. Just a mild concussion.

Relieved, Starfire ran over to her brother's side, followed by Nightwing, Galfor, and the other Titans as they approached Wildfire's side.

"You did it!" Starfire congratulated happily.

Wildfire smiled and nodded.

Starfire leaned over toward Blackfire, carefully removing the cowl from her head and lifting it before looking toward Wildfire.

"May I?" she asked hopefully.

Wildfire nodded and bowed his head forward, allowing Starfire to place the crown on his head. Lifting his head back up, Wildfire looked up at his cowl and back to his sister, a confident expression on his face. Galfor then walked up toward Wildfire, grabbed his arm, held it up high, and turned to the loyal guards and Red Star behind them.

"To the Emperor of Tamran!" he bellowed.

The guards bowed on their knees and tilted their heads before shouting, "To the Emperor!"

Red Star looked at the action before turning to Wildfire and joined in.

"To the Emperor!"

Starfire then raised her fist in the air.

"To the Emperor!"

"To the Emperor!" joined in Nightwing as he wrapped his arm around Starfire.

"To the Emperor!" the rest of the titans chanted.

Finishing celebrating the coronation, Wildfire turned to the guards on the other side of the room loyal to Blackfire, his arms folded, and one by one, the guards chucked their weapons on the floor before holding their arms up in surrender.

"Guards!" exclaimed Wildfire as he held his pointer finger up to signal the guards loyal to him.

"As my first order, I would like you to take these traitors and my sister to the dungeons to await trial and later remove this aircraft from my throne room."

The guards nodded and ran to the other side of the room, pinning the traitor's arms behind their backs and placing them in cuffs before taking them away to the dungeons. The last two guards picked up Blackfire's unconscious body by the arms and slowly dragged her to one of the exits in the room. He then looked back to Starfire, who proudly placed her arms on his shoulder.

"I am so proud of you, dear brother," she said.

He smiled at her.

Afterward, the group turned to the other side of the room and went to exit until Beast Boy's voice chimed in.

"Uh, guys?" he said.

The group turned around to see Beast Boy pointing toward Blackfire, who was still being dragged away. They heard a tiny beeping noise and saw a red light flickering in her pocket. Curious, Starfire walked over, dug into Blackfire's pocket, and pulled out a Tamaranean communicator with the red light on top beeping wildly. Her eyebrow raised, and Starfire turned on the monitor, causing the red light and sound to cease and the crimson face of the mercenary leader appeared on the monitor.

"Empress Blackfire. You are late on the payment you promised us, and it appears you arranged an escort to repossess your siblings despite our deal. In return for your betrayal, you leave us no choice but to end the existence of your precious kingdom of Tamaran. In 90 seconds, we will use our weapon to destroy the kingdom. Enjoy the afterlife."

The video then became static as Starfire turned to her friends in shock.

"Starfire? What does that mean?" asked Nightwing.

Starfire thought to herself for a beat before widening her eyes in realization.

"The big one!" she whispered to herself.

"They are going to destroy the kingdom with a weapon!"

Before anyone else could say anything, Starfire flew over the crashed airship, landing quickly and darted through the exit.

"Starfire!" shouted Nightwing in protest.

"Where are you going?!" joined in Cyborg.

The pair looked back toward Galfor and Wildfire, who seemed equally concerned before running after their friend to discover what she intended to do.

On the bridge of the mercenary ship, Bl'ackdar stood in front of the window, awaiting the destruction of the kingdom of Tamaran. After a few seconds, Lylan entered the bridge, his injuries patched up, to obtain further orders from his boss.

"Sir, the "big one" is prepared for launch," he confirmed.

Bl'ackdar smiled evilly.

"Prepare to fire."

Starfire successfully made it to one of the nearest balconies in the castle, learning over the land, and looked up toward the Mercenary vessel. She saw a pair of long bay doors open and what looked like a missile lowered by a couple of massive claws.

Starfire frowned before climbing onto the balcony rail and preparing to launch herself into the air. Before she could leap off, though, she heard footsteps behind her and turned to see the Titans, Galfor, and Wildfire running toward her.

"Starfire, what are you doing?!" shouted Nightwing.

Starfire didn't answer, instead turning around, looking up, and bolting into the sky. Nightwing stopped a few inches from the railing, looking into the sky and, then at Wlooked ildfire and Galfor.

"What is she doing?" he asked.

Wildfire looked up and pointed.

"I think she's going to stop the weapon!" he pointed out.

Nightwing then looked back up with a worried expression on his face.

Starfire felt the wind from her flight blowing through her skin and hair, turning from warmth to cold as she approached the atmosphere as fast as she could. The adrenaline and determination in her body allowed Starfire to endure the conditions that were starting to consume her. As the sight of clouds faded away, Starfire could finally make out the giant rocket, now aimed at her homeworld. She slowed down and took a deep breath, allowing the energy within to reach her hands as she prepared her attack. Her eyes glowed emerald green, and her hands started to do the same. Starfire waited a few seconds, collecting the energy until the missile's exhaust finally started to expel fire, and the claws began to part with the rocket. Her patience rewarded, Starfire released a mighty war cry and allowed a stream of green light to burst from her hands, heading straight toward the missile's nozzle. The blast sliced through the rocket, triggering an explosion that consumed the vessel and blew it up to smithereens. Witnessing the sight before her, Starfire ceased firing her energy beams. Suddenly, she felt tired and lightheaded. Her arms and legs went limp, and her eyelids slowly started to close as she passed out from exhaustion.

Having witnessed the massive explosion in the air, a concerned Nightwing turned his head multiple times, attempting to discover Starfire's location.

Suddenly, he heard Cyborg shout, "Look!" and turned to him, pointing in the sky at what looked to be the limp body of a young alien girl falling swiftly to the planet's floor. Nightwing's eyes widened in horror at the sight of it. At that moment, he wished he had powers to prevent the woman he loved from perishing upon impact. But the reality of the situation was all too objective for him: there was nothing he could do. But suddenly, he saw a green streak of energy shoot past him and swoop toward Starfire's falling body, quickly but gently catching it in mid-air. As the savior slowed down, Nightwing could make out the identity of Starfire's rescuer as Wildfire. Nightwing's eyes widened once more but now paired with a smile. Excited and anxious, he ran past his fellow teammates and Galfor to the exteriors of the castle grounds.

Reaching outside the castle, the Titans and Galfor stopped in their tracks to find Wildfire slowly lowering himself to the ground with Starfire's unconscious body in his arms.

"Is she ok?" Nightwing asked.

Wildfire nodded his head as he laid his sister's body on the ground carefully.

"She still lives. The build-up and release of her Tamaranean energy exhausted her to the point of fainting. Luckily, her consciousness shall return soon."

Relieved, Nightwing kneeled to the ground and carefully lifted Starfire's limp head.

Unsure of the action, Kid Flash stepped forward.

"Uh, I don't think that's a good-" but before he could finish, Raven held her hand to him to silence him before pointing toward Starfire's head, who was now coughing, having regained consciousness.

"I think she's doing ok," said Raven.

Kid Flash shrugged and walked back.

Having regained consciousness, Starfire blinked multiple times, attempting to regain clear vision and making out the face of the man she loved in front of her.

"N-Nightwing?" she asked unsurely.

Nightwing smiled and nodded.

"Don't worry, Starfire. It's me. You're alright."

She then looked around at the friends surrounding her, lifting herself up and rubbing her head in confusion.

"Did I succeed in stopping "the big one?" she asked.

"Yeah, you did! It was awesome!" exclaimed Beast Boy.

Starfire smiled at him before returning her attention to Nightwing, who looked somewhat shameful.

"I...I'm sorry I recklessly almost endangered my life with the destruction of the weapon. I should have discussed it with you and.."

"Starfire.." interrupted Nightwing, still smiling.

"Stop talking."

He then leaned in toward her and allowed his lips to meet hers, surprising her for a beat before she closed her eyes in acceptance, wrapped her arms around her beloved, and returned the favor passionately. The group around them looked happy for the couple's moment, not saying anything as they wanted them to enjoy the act. After a few seconds, Nightwing and Starfire's faces separated from each other as their eyes continued to meet each other. Suddenly, a massive gush of wind fell over them from above, prompting the pair to look in the sky to see the aircraft Nightwing had used to rescue Starfire and Wildfire from the mercenaries that he crashed in the throne room, soaring off into space until it couldn't bee seen no more.

"Uh..what was that?" asked Cyborg, baffled.

Suddenly, they heard a pair of footsteps behind them, and the pack saw a couple of guards running toward them, holding their arms and sides in pain.

"Your Highness! We are sorry, but Blackfire regained consciousness after you left to stop our kingdom's destruction and stole the fighter in the throne room. We tried to stop her, but she was too strong!"

Wildfire looked down, frowning at the predicament before looking back toward the guards with a concerned expression.

"Where do you think she could be heading to?"

"I think I know!" exclaimed Nightwing as he slowly helped Starfire back to her feet.

"Back to Slade. On Earth."

Wildfire raised his eyebrow.

"What makes you think that?"

"Because.." chimed in Raven.

"..where else would she go? After today, I doubt her reputation would be reparable, and word of this would probably make it across the galaxy quickly to the point it would be hard to find a place to hide out."

"But don't worry," Nightwing commented.

"We'll deal with her back home. Speaking of which, I think it's about time for us to return to Earth."

The Titans had prepared to return to their home planet, but at Wildfire's insistence, they agreed to be knighted for their heroic actions in stopping Blackfire. Nightwing, Cyborg, Beast Boy, Raven, Wonder Girl, Kid Flash, and Red Star knelt before Wildfire, Starfire, Galfor, and a group of guards as Wildfire prepared to knight the group with a strange sword.

"Friends of my sister, today you have displayed honorable bravery in protecting our fair kingdom and saving our lives from the evils that opposed us. It is with great honor that I shall make you royal knights of Tamaran."

He then walked toward Red Star, carefully holding the sword over his head.

"You, Red Star, did a courageous thing, risking your life and career to do the right thing and save the innocent from undeserved fates. You have truly done a good deed today."

Red Star looked up and smiled.

"Your sister was there for me when no one else was. I owe her everything for the kindness she showed me."

He looked toward Starfire, who smiled sweetly at the sentiment.

Wildfire then looked over in Kid Flash, Wonder Girl, Raven, and Beast Boy's directions.

"As for you four, I am touched by the bravery you showed in saving my guards from being unfairly executed by the traitorous ones and for standing up to Blackfire when she confronted us at the coronation earlier."

The group smiled as they watched Wildfire walk toward Cyborg.

"And you, Cyborg, valiantly led your friends to succeed in your mission when your usual leader was elsewhere."

Cyborg shrugged in slight embarrassment at the notion.

"I wouldn't say valiant," he responded.

Wildfire chuckled for a beat.

"It was to me. Whatever you think of yourself, to me, you'll be forever remembered as a knight in shining armor."

Cyborg smiled at the compliment.

"Thanks, that really means a lot," he said.

Wildfire nodded before finally turning to Nightwing.

"After seeing the bravery and determination today to save my sister, I can see why she chose you as her suitor. You are a brave, loyal man who cares deeply for the ones he loves and would do anything to save them. I respect that of you."

Nightwing stood up toward Wildfire and bowed in appreciation for the compliment.

"It's nothing really. I just want to do what's right."

"And you succeeded," replied Wildfire.

He then held out his hand, which Nightwing shook. The Titans then got to their feet and watched as Wildfire approached Starfire.

"I thank you for coming to my coronation, dear sister. It was an honor to meet you, and I am saddened we can't spend more time together."

Starfire gave him a sympathetic look.

"I am, too. I wish we could connect more, but I must return to Earth to protect it from our enemies. But I promise, after our mission is complete, I'll one day reunite with you."

The two teared up as they smiled at each other and then embraced. After a beat, they released each other, and Starfire walked up to Galfor and hugged him.

"I enjoyed seeing you again as well. Please serve my brother well."

Galfor hugged her back.

"It will be my duty. Your parents would be proud of both of you."

Starfire released him, waving goodbye before joining their friends in ascending the walkway to their T-Shuttle.

As the Titans walked to the T-shuttle, they chatted excitedly about their experience that day before Red Star piped up.

"Uh, excuse me? What will happen to me now?"

Hearing this, the group turned to Red Star with their eyebrows raised.

"Well…I thought we'd take you back home to Russia," answered Nightwing.

Red Star shook his head at the answer.

"They'd never take me back after what happened all those years ago. It would be too risky."

Not sure what to do, Nightwing looked toward Cyborg and Starfire, who both shrugged before Nightwing looked back at Red Star, looked down, and sighed.

"Red Star look," he began as he approached the recently found ally.

"We can't have you stay with us. Our enemy, Slade, has killed most of our allies, and we don't think.." but before he could finish, he could feel his arm being tugged on.

He looked down to find Beasy Boy grabbing on his sleeve to obtain his attention. Curious, Nightwing stepped away from Beast Boy and talked privately with him for a few seconds. Red Star raised his eyebrow in confusion at the conversation before Nightwing and Beast Boy returned to him, now smiling.

"On second thought, we might have figured out an option. Beast Boy?"

Beast Boy nodded and walked toward Red Star, grabbing a piece of paper and a pen from his pocket.

"You might not be able to stay with us, but I know someone you can stay with. Before I joined the Titans, I was part of another group called the Doom Patrol, who were like my original family; I think they would have enough room for one more on their team. Here."

He then finished writing on the paper and gave it to Red Star.

"Those are the coordinates of where they're in hiding until we can beat Slade. Find them and tell them I sent you. You'll be safe there."

Red Star looked at it, smiling before turning to Beast Boy.

"Thanks Beast Boy. You are a true friend."

Beast Boy nodded and walked to the T-Shuttle with everyone else before realizing something.

"Wait a minute! If we only have five cockpits, where will Red Star sit?!" he asked.

Nightwing looked toward Beast Boy as he climbed into the front cockpit.

"We were thinking you and him could share a cockpit," he responded.

"What?!" shouted Beast Boy in surprise.

Red Star raised his eyebrow at the response.

"I'm sorry. Would that cause a problem?" he asked.

Not wanting to be rude, Beast Boy turned to Red Star with a faux smile, followed by sweat beads.

"Uh, no, that would be fine to share my cockpit with you." he lied.

Red Star grinned and walked toward the shuttle as Beast Boy groaned disappointingly.

"There goes my private nap time."

Late, thought Slade as he stared out the window in one of the wings in the H.I.V.E headquarters. He had waited all day for the return of his apprentice and her victory over the Teen Titans, but so far, she had yet to return. This angered and concerned Slade as he felt Blackfire would be a useful pawn in his grand plan to gain power over the city and annihilate his enemies. He then heard tiny footsteps behind him and recognized the source as Gizmo.

"What is it, Gizmo?" asked Slade impatiently.

Gizmo gulped as he approached the massive figure, being careful to keep his distance as well as not to provoke the terrorist unintentionally.

"Sir, I came to report that a weird-looking ship has landed on the bases' landing platform, and I was wondering if I could request a boarding..." Before Gizmo could finish, the door behind him opened. He turned to find Blackfire exhausted, limping and holding her head in pain slump into the room.

"Master!" she exclaimed as she collapsed to her knees in defeat.

"Is your task complete?" asked Slade, not turning around to face her.

Tears formed in Blackfire's eyes as she bowed her head and clenched her knuckles.

"I tried! I tried, but I couldn't do it! I almost had them, but my sister and her friends ruined everything again! Even with the powers you've given me, I failed. I'm sorry, Master."

She then tightly squeezed her eyes shut, awaiting the punishment she knew she deserved. Not only did she feel she deserved it, but she also desired it. She couldn't live knowing she couldn't obtain what she craved most. She didn't want to live with that knowledge. At this point, Blackfire was welcoming the dark fate she anticipated was coming. But after a few seconds, nothing happened. Confused, Blackfire opened one eye and then the other to find Slade still in his position and Gizmo looking back and forth in confusion. Slade said nothing as he stood in front of the window, looking out into the city across the bay. Blackfire didn't know what to say. She had failed Slade, yet no consequence had come upon her. Suddenly, Slade departed from where he stood, walked past Blackfire, whose gaze still followed him, and exited the room. Blackfire was baffled at first but eventually realized what had occurred. Slade did punish her right there. He could sense her desire to part from the reality of her failure and so refused to grant her that wish and leave her among the living. Suddenly, she felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see it belonged to Gizmo, who was smiling with impression.

"Wow, you really got lucky there, didn't you?" he said.

Angered at this, Blackfire stood before Gizmo, her eyes and the branded "S" on her forehead turning a violently purple, and gritted her teeth at the tiny mechanic who slowly approached back in fear.

"You Little Idiot! You don't know anything, do you?!"

Before Gizmo could say anything regarding the breakdown, Blackfire's eyes returned to normal, and the "S" on her head faded back to a lighter shade of violet before exiting the room in a huff, leaving Gizmo standing in the middle of the wing in the confusion of what transpired.

The End.