Starfire flew through the skies of Metropolis. The sun shone through the clear sky as she looped around the skyscrapers. A smile crossed her face. There had been far too few times in her life that she had felt so free.
Far above, a starship glided into silent orbit above the Earth. The lizard-skinned captain turned to his navigator. "Commence scan" he ordered. "We must find her or there will be hell to pay."
"It was not our fault she escaped!" a security officer interjected. "Sir, we were led to believe she had been sedated!"
"Do not blame us!" a medical officer added. "You were told that she still needed to be handled with extreme caution!"
"Enough!" the captain yelled, silencing the argument. "We will retrieve her and be on our way." He sat back in his command chair and stared at the screen. Behind him, science officers could be heard feverishly working their scanners.
Dick Grayson walked into the library. He sat down and began studying a star map, trying to locate Vega, Tamaran’s home star.
“Whatcha doin?” By this time, Dick didn’t even flinch anymore.
”Hi, Wally,” he said. He turned from the computer to look at his teammate. “I’m looking for a picture of Tamaran. I thought Kory might like one in her room.”
”Kory?” Wally asked. “Who’s that?”
”Sorry,” Dick said. “Starfire. Her real name’s Koriand’r. I call her Kory for short.” He slowly continued explaining to Wally what they were looking for.
Tula fell back against the ocean floor. A silver blade rammed through her. She screamed in agony – and stopped as the sword shimmered and disappeared. “Excellent, my prince,” Tula said as she stood. Garth smiled slightly and stepped back as Tula pulled herself to her feet. “You have been practicing.”
”I have been trying,” Garth said. “I’m sure my father would expect no less.”
“You are correct,” Tula said. “He would expect only your best.”
Garth pulled her close. He gazed down into her face. “And he would have it,” he said. “As shall you, my princess-to-be.” As they kissed, a faint glow appeared at her lips and spread to cover Garth’s entire head.
Donna sat on the edge of the tower’s roof. Her feet dangled over the edge as she looked out across the Metropolis skyline. Unbeknownst to her, she was being watched.
“She does this every day?” Loren Jupiter asked. He had recently been released from the hospital and returned to the tower as quickly as possible.
“Yes,” Mr. Smith confirmed. “It appears that Mr. Harper’s running away has deeply affected her.”
Jupiter frowned. “And she’s not the one with the scar on her chest.” He held up a hand to forestall Smith’s apology. “I know. I’m just being sarcastic.” He folded his hands together. “I fear for the future of this team. If something does not happen to cause these children to pull together, I fear that Mr. Harper’s actions may cause them to fall apart.”
At that moment, the United Nations was in session. The meeting was disrupted as a cloud of sparkles appeared before the Secretary-General and formed into a large reptilian creature wearing golden armor.
“I am Branx, an authorized retrieval agent for the Citadel Empire,” the creature said through a translation device. “We have come for the one called Koriand’r. Upon orders of my government, we will retrieve this woman and return her to our homeworld to stand trial for her crimes against our people. Do not interfere.” Branx signaled his ship and disappeared in a cloud of sparkle, leaving behind a scene of chaos.
Jupiter studied the assembled Titans with a practiced eye. He could see the splinters beginning to appear in the group. He stood at the head of the meeting table. “We have a problem,” he said. He pressed a button embedded in the table and a screen behind him lit up.
“Repeating our top story,” Lana Lang of station WGBS said, “an alien commander appeared in the United Nations, demanding that Earth authorities stand aside while they search for an escaped criminal.” Footage ran of Branx’s appearance in the United Nations. “This `Koriand’r’ person is still unknown.”
Jupiter froze the screen with an image of Branx standing in the General Assembly. “I believe that we need an explanation,” he said, looking straight at Starfire.
Robin turned to her, shock in his eyes. “Kory?” he asked. “What is this?”
Starfire closed her eyes. “I am an escapee from them. But not because I am a criminal.” She opened her eyes. “I was a princess on my world before the Citadel conquered it. I was sold into slavery.” She fought back tears before continuing. “My people eventually staged an uprising and it was decided that I would be executed to provide an incentive for them to stop. I killed some of the guards to escape.” She opened her eyes, openly crying now. “I had to! I couldn’t let them kill me!”
Jupiter slumped into his chair and began rubbing his face. “I see. Regardless of the circumstances, this is much bigger than anything we are able to deal with. I know that the UN does support us – most of the world’s leaders do not appreciate being dictated to like this being has. Still, I do not feel comfortable in doing anything that might provoke a war. I have contacts in the government. I will contact them before we do anything else.” Just then a small scale on Starfire’s bracelet lit up and began blinking.
“NO!” she screamed as she disappeared.
“A transporter device,” Smith said. He’d already jumped up and run to her chair. “There’s only one place they could be.”
”Yeah,” Robin said. “Their ship. And that’s where I’m going. Any of you who want to come with me can feel free.”
”Mr. Grayson!” Jupiter yelled after him. “You have no right to-“
Aqualad held up a hand. “But I do. I am a prince of Atlantis – the head of the legitimate government in my father’s absence. We are going.” The rest of the Titans filed out, leaving Smith and Jupiter alone in the meeting room.
“What now?” Smith asked.
“Go with them,” Jupiter wearily said. “At least try to keep any of them from getting killed.” Smith nodded and was gone.
The Titans examined their goal. Mr. Smith had flown them from Metropolis to New York, and they were currently studying the alien ship that was still hovering over the United Nations building. “There’s got to be a way in,” Robin muttered.
“Unless they only use their teleportation system,” Smith said.
Robin shook his head. “That doesn’t make any sense. What if that system malfunctioned, or they couldn’t use it? There has to be another way in!”
Aquagirl stepped forward with a sword in her hand. “This weapon was forged by a master Atlantean blacksmith. If there is no other way in, this will make one.”
Smith frowned. “That is not the ideal option, but perhaps there is no other.” He turned to Robin. “Come with me. There are flight packs in the back. You should be able to fly to the ship and enter it.” He set their jet to hover and led the team to the back storage compartments.
The team hovered outside the ship. “That looks like a hatch,” Robin said as he studied the exterior of the alien craft.
“I agree,” Smith said from the cockpit of the Titans’ jet. “Wonder Girl, if you would be so kind…”
“My pleasure,” Wonder Girl said. She flew to the hatch and effortlessly ripped it open. The Titans hurried into the spacecraft.
Branx rubbed his chin.
Branx turned to him.
Before the security officer could reply, the door behind him hissed open.
“This is too easy,” Robin said. The Titans had been making their way through the ship with ease, meeting only scattered resistance along the way. Ahead of them, Aqualad and Wonder Girl were finishing up another pocket of resistance – two security troopers armed with stunguns.
“Agreed,” Aquagirl said as she came up beside him. “The armor the alien captain wore convinced me that they were a warrior race. They would not allow us aboard their ship unless they were unprepared…” She let her voice trail away.
“Or this was a trap,” Robin finished. He turned to Kid Flash, who was pacing back and forth. “Flash, take a look up ahead but stay out of sight. Find the bridge if you can.”
“Roger!” Kid Flash said with a grin. He was gone in a flash of yellow.
Robin and Aquagirl approached the others. “Any problems?” he asked.
“None,” Wonder Girl replied with a satisfied smile. She effortlessly crimped a stungun barrel, rendering it useless.
Robin nodded, growing nervous. “What’s wrong?” Wonder Girl asked.
“I don’t like this,” Robin said. “It’s too easy.” He turned just as Kid Flash whizzed back beside him.
“You need to come with me,” Kid Flash said, his voice unusually shaken. He grabbed Robin and took off.
They slowed to a stop on the bridge. Starfire knelt in the middle of the room, crying. Smoldering ashes were all that remained of the bridge crew. “Kory?” Robin asked, carefully starting forward.
“I won’t be chained again!” Starfire screamed as she fired a starbolt at Robin. Only Kid Flash’s speed saved him. “Dick?” she asked as she blinked and seemed to focus on him. “What happened?”
“Come on,” Robin said, taking off his jacket and putting it over her shoulders. “We’re going home.”
Loren Jupiter wearily rubbed his eyes. “Please tell me that Starfire did not murder an entire bridge crew.”
“I am afraid so,” Smith said.
Jupiter stood before his office window with his hands clasped behind his back. “We may have erred, old friend,” he said. “I shudder to think what these consequences may be.”
Next Issue: The Titans are grounded while Jupiter reevaluates the Titans program. Plus, a mysterious assault begins turning the Titans against each other.
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