cbishop

Batman's face crackled to life on the com display. "Robin! Are the Titans ready to engage any threats in New York?"

Robin looked directly into the walkie-talkie sized device and said, "We're set up on top of Titans Tower now, ready to jump at the first sign of trouble."

The screen split, and Superman was looking into his com device. "Good! Because trouble's coming! Brainiac's headship was just the advance scout. We have an entire mechanical planet coming towards Earth, about to settle into orbit about two-thirds around the planet from the moon. And it's armed to the teeth! Warworld is coming, just like Brainiac said!"

The Titans were all gathered around Robin, the display screen having flipped outwards and unfolded to about four times its original size so everyone could see. Cyborg claimed this would progress to holographic projection before they knew it. "Great Hera," murmured Wonder Girl. "A planet?"

Just then, an explosion rocked the city, somewhere near the Sears Tower. "Robbie! We got incoming!" shouted Cyborg.

"They're headed this way!" called Kid Flash. "I'm headed into the city, to see if I can help there," and then he was gone, nothing but a wake across the bay from him running across the water.

"Kory?" asked Robin, as he saw the first few space gliders come into view. "Are those..."

"...Gordanians?!" finished Changeling, as his green form shifted to match the alien forms they had encountered the year before.

"X-Hal!" screamed Starfire.

"Right," said Robin. "You know what to do. We hold the line here! TITANS TOGETHER!"

The team went into immediate action to engage the alien fighters. As they lifted off of the roof, Starfire grabbed Wonder Girl's arm and pointed into the sky, "X-Hal! Donna, look!"

Donna looked up into the daylit sky, and saw a technological wonder like she had never beheld before. "Yes, Kory, I know. It's Warworld. Superman said it would be settling into orbit.

"NO," said Starfire. "Not 'Warworld.' Donna...that's Okaara!"

Wonder Girl was dumbstruck. "Okaara? As in Warlords of Okaara?That's where you trained?"

"Yes, Donna," answered Kory, looking at the hulking orb floating in the afternoon sky. "And if Okaara is here, the Warlords are too. This is bad. We have to do something."

"First things first," answered Donna. "Let's take care of these Gordanians."

"No. Donna, the..."

"Kory! This is the more immediate threat! We handle this," she said, pointing towards the approaching star sliders, "then that!" she said pointing at Warworld.

Just then, Changeling circled above them in the form of a pteranadon. "Hello, Gorgeous!" he called as he circled over Donna. Then turning his head to Starfire, he added, "Other Gorgeous." Flapping a little higher, he called, "Do you think we can get a little help with the little green men coming our way?"

Cyborg's sonic blaster sounded from the beach of the island.

"No! Gar..." called Kory.

"We need help down here now!" came Cyborg's voice over the communication devices in everyone's ears. "Princess, we could sure use some more firepower."

"Victor..." started Kory.

"Starfire! We need you down here now!" called Robin over the communicator.

Wonder Girl leapt off the roof, gliding towards the approaching Gordanians, even as Victor's sonic cannon managed to break one up over the water.

"Donna!" called Starfire. "Wait!"

"I told you, Kory," said Donna, rolling over in midair to face her friend, "first things first." Then she rolled back to continue her flight towards the outer edge of the island.

Kory watched her friend go for only a moment before her eyes smoldered, followed by her hands. Then a primal scream came up and out from deep inside her, and she thrust both fists out in front of her, throwing two powerful starbolts out across the water, destroying all of the star sliders that were approaching the island. Gordanians and broken ships fell into the water indiscriminately.

All Titans stopped where they were and turned towards Titans Tower, all of them mouths agape at the sheer amount of energy coming off of the alien princess as she hovered just off of the roof.

Then, over the communicators, they all heard her say, "LISTEN. TO ME!"

As Kory descended from the top of the Tower, Raven appeared on the beach next to Wonder Girl, depositing a dozen Gordanians and a small flood of river water from the folds of her cloak. Donna quickly bound them with her lasso, which always seemed to be just long enough for the job at hand. Kid Flash zoomed back onto the island about fifty yards down the beach, the ship wreckage following behind him in his wake and crashing into a pile on the beach as he skidded to a halt in the sand. Raven waved a hand at the Gordanians, causing them to sleep, and Donna retrieved her lasso.

"Raven! Where were you?" barked Robin.

"I was at the site of the explosion," she said simply.

Robin looked at her for a moment, then focused back on Kory, now closing the last several yards between her descent and her teammates. As her feet touched lightly to the ground, Robin started, "Starfire! What..." but was promptly silenced when he was knocked down by Starfire's punch.

"Shut up, Dick!" she said angrily.

Gar looked at Cyborg and said, "See? I told you she'd get the hang of slang." Victor just looked at him silently. Gar smiled and shrugged.

"What the hell, Kory!" demanded Robin.

Planting a foot on his chest and pushing him back down to the ground, Kory said, "What part of 'trained by the Warlords of Okaara' do you not get, Dick? They didn't just train me to fight, they trained me in warfare. Period. On that!" she said, pointing to the alien orb in the sky behind her. "So when I tell you that Okaara is the bigger and more immediate threat than Gordanians, you might want to listen!For once." She glared, then removed her foot from his chest.

Without getting off of the ground, Robin said, "Fine. We'll talk about the importance of team dynamics later, but for now, go on."

Kory pointed at Okaara and said, "You all think that's in the same orbit as the moon? It's on the outer edge of the solar system!"

"My God," said Kid Flash.

"We have to get there! It's gravitational pull alone..."

"How?" asked Robin.

"I might be able to hack into the JLA satellite," said Cyborg. "If we can find a boom tube..."

"We are wasting time," declared Raven, and with a sweep of her soul self, she enveloped the Titans, and suddenly, they were on...

"Warworld!" shouted Changeling.

"Okaara," corrected Starfire. "Raven, reach into my mind. See the way to the War Room. Get us there."

Raven did as asked, and with another sweep of her soul self, they stood in the room that controlled the weapons of the entire planet. And on it's throne sat a man with a winged helmet and the tell-tale sign of Brainiac on his forehead.

"Warlord!" shouted Kory.

"Travis Morgan is no more, Princess," answered the form of the Warlord. "Brainiac is in control now." With that, laser gun turrets came out of the walls and trained on the Titans. They instantly went back-to-back in a circle, ready to defend themselves.

Before anything else could happen, Starfire screamed, and swept her arms wide in an arc, taking out every turret the walls had produced. "ENOUGH!" She pointed at the Brainiac-controlled Warlord and said, "Relinquish the throne now!"

"Why would I do that?" asked Brainiac, as the doors to the War Room opened, and giant, round machines rolled in.

"What are those?!" asked Kid Flash.

"War Wheels," answered Kory. Then she pointed a finger at Travis Morgan and fired. Her starbolt fried the circuitry on his forehead with which Brainiac was controlling him. "Shut the War Wheels down, Warlord!"

"You ain't got to worry 'bout that, princess!" called Cyborg, and his sonic cannon disrupted the machines before anything else could happen.

As the pieces of the now disintegrated War Wheels settled in the entranceways, Travis Morgan shook his head, trying to regain his senses after being controlled by Brainiac. He reached to his forehead and pulled the fried Brainiac circuitry from his skin. Rubbing his hand across the bleeding pinpricks it left behind, he sat back in his throne, and looked at the Teen Titans. "Starfire? What business do you have here? Why do you bring invaders to Okaara?"

"Invaders?" Cyborg scoffed. "Man, we're the cavalry! We just saved your butt from Brainiac!"

"And you have my thanks, but now I have to ask you to leave."

"How did Okaara get taken over by Brainiac?" demanded Starfire.

"It wasn't Okaara, it was the Royal Family of Warworld," Morgan said tiredly. "It took all that we had to overthrow them. We had to killthem. But with Lady Quark's last moments, she was able to tag me with a Brainiac disc, and he's been ruling through me ever since."

"This planet's essentially a huge spaceship," said Cyborg, "How do you know Brainiac hasn't broadcast his mind into the planet somewhere?"

"Brainiac is a twelfth level intelligence," answered Morgan. "Okaara was built by someone smarter. He's incapable of overcoming the technology. He'd have an easier time getting into you."

Robin looked at Cyborg, then nodded back at the Warlord. "Fine. We're leaving. Turn this Warworld around before it causes gravitational problems in our solar system."

"I'm afraid I can't do that," answered Morgan. "Warworld requires a lot of natural resources to keep running, and it doesn't have any of its own. We're running low, and this solar system is the closest supply. I don't have a choice."

Raven spoke up then, "You are correct. Your only choice is to leave. Perhaps you should look to Earth."

Changeling looked sideways to Raven and said, "Pretty-Spooky, what did you just say?"

"I said that Travis Morgan should look to Earth. Specifically, where the Gordanians first attacked. Bring it up on that monitor there," she said, pointing to a wall near the throne.

The Warlord looked at her for a moment, then punched some of the keys on the arm of his throne. The display came to life, quickly zooming from the outer edge of the solar system to Earth, zeroing in on Manhattan. There standing on the top of a skyscraper, was someone that made all of the other Titans gasp.

"Who's that?" asked Warlord.

"TRIGON!" shouted Kid Flash. "Raven! Tell me you didn't..."

"I had no choice, Wallace. We have defeated Trigon before. Warworld seemed the bigger threat."

"If we're the bigger threat," said Warlord, "then why should I worry about that guy?"

"Do you see the machinery he is standing next to?" asked Raven. "It's a canon. When Trigon focuses his gaze through it, it is capable of destroying entire planets. Even yours."

Morgan considered for only a moment. "Done. We're leaving. It will take time for us to shift our course."

"A wise choice," answered Raven. "I commend you," she added as she walked up to the throne, sticking out her hand. The Warlord reached out to shake her hand, and once they had touched, Raven's soul self enveloped them both and swept across the room towards the team. "Titans, we must return to Earth immediately." Before anyone could object, they were within the ebon folds of her soul self, and then they were gone. Then the throne room of Okaara was filled only with silence.

Back in Manhattan, the Titans and the Warlord reappeared. As Raven's soul self drew back into her body, they heard, "Greetings, daughter."

As they looked at the gigantic form before them, Robin shouted, "Trigon! Titans toge..."

"Hold, Richard," Raven said gently.

Robin looked at Raven in shock. "Hold?"

"Yes," she answered. "Trigon is an ally in this fight."

"Yes," added Trigon, "and there is a price for this alliance, daughter."

"Yes, of course," she said, pulling back her hood.

Wonder Girl shouted, "Raven, no! You can't return with him! It will destroy you!"

"She does not have to return with me," corrected Trigon, "because I am staying here."

"Say what?" Cyborg said in disbelief.

"Calm yourself, Victor," Raven said reassuringly. "Trigon is not staying here."

"You dare?" he said angrily, his top pair of eyes beginning to smolder. "You would dishonor our agreement? You promised me Earth, daughter!"

"You WHAT?!" screamed the group in unison.

Raven ignored them, but addressed Trigon, "I did not promise you Earth, Trigon."

Eyes still smoldering, Trigon merely growled in his anger. It echoed across the city like demonic thunder. It would haunt people's nightmares for weeks.

"I promised you a planet. That one," she said, pointing towards Warworld.

"That 'planet' is not even alive, daughter. Why would I want it?" he asked.

"It has four times the inhabitants of this world," answered Raven, "it's mobile, and it feeds on planets. You can conquer entire systems with it."

"X'hal! Raven, you can't!" shouted Starfire.

"Koriand'r, I must," Raven said simply.

Trigon growled again as he looked at his daughter. Then he looked to the sky as he pondered Warworld. After several tense moments, he looked back to Raven, his eyes stopped smoldering, and he said, "We are in agreement, daughter. I will take Okaara."

"No!" shouted Warlord, and he surged forth with the Titans behind him. But Trigon swept his hand backwards, and they were thrown away from him violently by some invisible force.

"My daughter and I have an agreement," said Trigon, as he strode towards the edge of the roof. Stepping off, he started walking across the sky, but stopped to look back at Raven. "But you are a fool, daughter. Iwill rule Okaara's subjects as I did my own, and I will use Warworld to conquer. However, I am not one to be trifled with. I came here expecting to have Earth, and Ishall have it. So this system is the first one I will conquer!" He then turned away and continued walking, bursting into demonic laughter that shattered windows for blocks. He tossed his head backwards as he laughed, and then he simply winked out of the sky, and was gone.

"Wonder Girl!" commanded Robin.

In answer, Wonder Girl threw her golden lasso around Raven. "Raven! The lasso will help you break Trigon's hold! Please! Tell us what you were thinking! Tell us why you'd doom Earth!"

Raven bowed her head, and answered, "Trigon has no hold on me, Donna Troy. In truth, Earth was already doomed. I chose the lesser of two evils to save Earth. Trigon had a way to stop a planet, so I made my deal."

"But now the only person who could operate that canon is gone!" shouted Robin. "And he's going to bring Warworld to Earth, Raven! Your plan failed!"

"No," answered Raven as a red cloud signalled her teleportation from the Wonder Girl's lasso, leaving it to fall limply to the ground. Reappearing behind the canon, Raven looked up to reveal her skin was now red, and she had four yellow eyes. The Titans looked on in horror as she grew to Trigon proportions, and answered, "Trigon is not the only one who can operate the canon."

Starfire instinctively grabbed Wonder Girl's hand. "Great X'hal," she murmured, "I never thought I'd see another living goddess."

Wonder Girl squeezed Starfire's hand supportively before pulling it away. "The Amazons know their gods well. And when need be, we've challenged them. Raven is no different."

"Raven! NO!" shouted Cyborg.

"I must, Victor," she said as she adjusted the cannon. "This will save Earth and destroy the threat of Trigon the Terrible. It is the best way."

Wonder Girl and Starfire flew towards Raven and circled her in their flight. "No!" shouted Wonder Girl. "You'll destroy yourself in the process, Raven!"

"I was raised for this, Donna. I have been prepared to sacrifice myself in defense against Trigon for all of my life. The time has come," she said calmly.

"Raven! You have been holding this in for so long! You may not be able to come back from this," warned Starfire.

"I have resigned myself to that possibility, Princess," she said simply.

"Yeah? Maybe you have, but we ain't ready to give you up just yet, witch!" shouted Cyborg. "Starfire! On three, blast that cannon!"

"No," Raven said simply, as her top set of eyes started to glow. Her soul self swept out and found each Titan, whether flying or standing, and teleported them to the street, among terrified onlookers.

Robin responded immediately, "Kid Flash! Get up th-" but it was too late.

Kid Flash was already halfway up the building when the beam from the cannon lanced outwards into space. He skidded to a halt once he was on the roof, and just like his teammates on the ground, his gaze followed the ray of the cannon blast. It flew straight, crossing the billions of miles effortlessly. When the ray hit Warworld, the resulting explosion seemed to be as bright as the sun. When the light faded approximately a minute later, the skies looked normal.

Okaara was gone.

"X'HAL! NO!" shouted Starfire, hovering above the street. "Okaara! It's gone!"

"All those people," Changeling said in quiet horror. "Raven just... killed them."

Without looking away from the sky, the Warlord replied, "No, she didn't."

"Yo, helmet-head, are you in shock?" asked Cyborg. "Your ride just went boom. No planet, no people."

Travis Morgan turned to face the Titans. "The people were already dead," he said somberly.

The Titans were taken aback. Robin spoke first. "How?"

"When Brainiac attacked, and discovered he couldn't take over Warworld, he started jumping from person to person, implanting them with his control circuitry, and spreading out to find the right people who knew how to work the planet's machinery." He looked at the ground as he recalled the events. "As you well know," he said to Starfire, "I am not the only Warlord on Okaara. Strategy developed quickly: defend the key centers... kill anyone with Brainiac circuitry on their heads."

"Strategy!" shouted Starfire, her hands simmering with building starbolts. "You call the wholesale slaughter of innocents 'strategy?'"

Morgan looked at her with seemed to be empty eyes. "I never said it was great strategy. It was fear too. How do you fight an enemy that can be anywhere? Anyone? That could jump into you next? Desperation set in quickly, and 'try to kill the current victims before more are taken over' became the idea. As Brainiac could control multiple minds at once, the fighting spread planetwide, and after a week, I was the only one left, and I had no defense against Brainiac. He supplanted my mind like blowing out a candle. And then we headed here."

"I have heard enough," seethed Wonder Girl.

Koriand'r turned and said, "Wonder Girl?"

Donna said nothing as she leapt into the sky, heading for the top of the building. "RAVEN!" she shouted as she landed on the edge of the roof.

Raven simply responded, "Wallace."

Kid Flash stiffened, his eyes glowing red. Immediately he bolted across the roof and punched Donna. She reeled backwards off the roof, but managed to stay airborne. Kid Flash was doing a superspeed lap of the roof, coming back around, but Donna caught him in her lasso, immobilizing him. She wrapped him up quickly, and left him bound and laying off to one side. With a welt on her cheek from Kid Flash's punch, she landed on the roof again, glaring at Raven.

Raven's eyes smoldered as she said, "You cannot stop me, Donna."

Donna stepped forward as she said, "I can try."

BOOM!

Donna stopped as the spatial rift opened behind Raven, a bright light blinding her. As she raised a hand to shield her eyes, a deep voice resounded, "No, you can't."

The light subsided with the voice, and Donna took down her hand. She seethed, "Darkseid."

Raven turned on Darkseid, her top set of eyes glowing brighter than before, preparing to fire. Darkseid turned his head towards her, and casually backhanded her without speaking. Raven's huge form dropped on the roof.

"Raven!" Wonder Girl shouted. She started forward, but Darkseid turned towards her and fired his omega beams. Donna barely got her arms up in time to block the attack with her Amazonian bracelets. Still, she was driven backwards by the force of the blast. The strain of holding off the beams made her pass out at the edge of the roof, and she fell over the edge.

On the ground, the Titans moved as one when the boom tube opened. Starfire carried Robin in her arms as she flew to the top of the building. Changeling turned into a green King Kong, and climbed the side. Cyborg took the height of the building in two leaps, bounding off of Gar's giant knee for the second jump.

As they were reaching the roof, Donna passed out and fell from the roof's edge. Gar caught her in his giant ape paw, and laughed, "I always said Wonder Girl would fall for me someday!" He set the quickly recovering Wonder Girl on her feet back on the roof, and turned human again.

Cyborg untied Kid Flash, and handed the rope to Donna. All came to a halt as they spotted Darkseid, who was examining Trigon's planet cannon.

"Hm. I could find this... useful," mused the dark god.

"Yeah? Well how do you find this?" shouted Cyborg, firing his sonic cannon. Starfire followed it up with a sustained starbolt barrage.

Darkseid merely winced at the sonics, then fired his omega beams against Starfire's blasts. The omega beams overwhelmed the starbolts, and she was thrown away from him, landing on her back. "Ineffective," was his only reply to Victor.

"We can't let you take that cannon, Darkseid!" warned Robin.

"Nor can you stop me, child," said Darkseid matter-of-factly. Glancing at the cannon, he fired his omega beams once again, and the cannon simply disappeared. "It is done," he said, and he turned to go.

BOOM!

As he started toward the open boom tube, a slender golden strand grabbed his wrist. "Who dares?" he asked, looking at his wrist. He wound his hand around the rope, and jerked it forward, pulling a very surprised Donna Troy with it.

"Wonder Girl!" shouted Starfire, but Robin put a hand on her shoulder to stop her from going forward.

Catching her by the throat with his free hand, Darkseid growled low as he looked her over. Glancing at the lasso around his wrist, he smiled only briefly. "There is old magic in this, girl. Magic I recognize, but have not had the pleasure of encountering for ages." Setting her down, he folded his free hand behind his back, and held the bound wrist towards her. "Ask your questions," he said simply.

Wonder Girl could not hide her shock. Behind her, neither could the Titans. Still, she recovered enough to ask, "Why are you here?"

"I have many avatars in many dimensions," answered Darkseid, "and I am aware of them at all times. When one shows up in my domain, I wish to know why. So I came for that answer."

"'Avatar,'" Robin quoted from across the roof. "You mean..."

"...Trigon?" Donna finished.

Darkseid looked at the girl and merely smiled.

"All this time," muttered Wally, "We've been fighting another version of Darkseid?"

Gar shrugged. "Who'da thunk it?"

"Trigon is gone," said Donna. "So why show up now?"

"Gone?" Darkseid laughed. "Because this girl blew up a world? Trigon is a god. In his dimension, I am Trigon. You could no more destroy my avatar than you could destroy me."

As if on cue, Trigon materialized behind Donna, and grabbing her by the back of the neck, picked her up off the ground again.

"X'hal!" screamed Starfire, but Robin continued to hold her back.

"Robbie," whispered Cyborg, "There's no way we're gonna beat both of them."

Looking at the two gods holding court with one of his dearest friends, Robin said very tensely, "I know."

The demonic lord growled more menacingly than Darkseid had, but looked Donna over in the same manner. Pinching the end of her rope between two of his massive fingers he slid it through her hand far enough see it. Squinting at it momentarily, he looked up at Darkseid and smiled. "Familiar," he said to his avatar. Darkseid remained unmoved. Setting her down again, Trigon smiled as if amused and said, "Continue."

Donna lowered her head, closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and whispered, "Hera give me strength. Athena give me wisdom." Steeling herself, she looked up at the two gods and asked, "Can Raven be saved?"

Trigon chuckled with no humor as he rolled the end of the rope between his fingers. "Easily," he said. Waving his hand, Raven turned back to her normal human form, but was still unconscious. "She betrayed m--"

"She tricked you," Donna cut in.

"She betrayed me!" snapped Trigon. "I am not sure I want my daughter at my side any longer," he said, looking at his fallen daughter.

Darkseid reached for the loop around his wrist, saying, "Enough of this game."

"Darkseid, one more question?" asked Wonder Girl.

Darkseid paused, but took off the lasso. He looked at Trigon, who walked into the boom tube. "Tread carefully, girl."

"You said you came looking for your avatar," said Wonder Girl. "But Trigon wasn't here when you showed up."

"I do not hear a question," warned Darkseid.

"You said you sense your avatars at all times," she continued. "You knew that Trigon had gone to Warworld. So why did you come here?"

For a few seconds, Darkseid said nothing. Then he looked at Raven, and turned towards the boom tube. Looking over his shoulder, he said, "All parents intervene when their children make mistakes. Not even the gods escape this truth." Walking into the boom tube, he added, "Trigon may have abandoned his ambitions for our daughter, but I have my own plans."

"Your pl--"

BOOM!

The gods were gone, and only the Titans remained. Donna surprised herself with a sigh of relief. Coiling her rope as she turned back to her friends, she found them staring at her. "What?"

"'What?'" laughed Gar. "She has the nerve to ask 'what!' Really?" He slapped his forehead with the heel of his hand.

"Chick stares down two gods, and acts like it's nuthin'. Man." Victor shakes his head. "Wonder Girl, you are sumpthin' else!"

"So, wait a minute," said Wally. "Did I hear that right? Raven is--"

"--Darkseid's daughter?" finished Starfire.

"And he has 'plans' for her," added Robin.

"So whatta we do about that, shortpants?" asked Victor.

Robin didn't answer immediately. He turned and looked out over the city. "For now, nothing. There are people down there that need our help."

"Perhaps I can be of some assistance with that?" came a voice from behind them.

The Titans turned to see Raven getting up to a standing position. She looked at them from beneath her hood and waited.

"You took a helluva chance, witch," said Cyborg.

"I did," she said.

They were quiet for another few moments, until Robin finally said, "Let's go."

Raven's soul self reached out, enveloping them all, there was a bamf of brimstone and smoke, and the Titans were gone.

~Fin~

The Epilogue was not part of the 15 minute thread. I wrote it afterwards, because I felt like I needed to wrap up what happened with Warlord and Darkseid.

• Brainiac
• Changeling
• Cyborg
• Darkseid
• Kid Flash
• Raven
• Robin
• Starfire
• Travis Morgan
• Trigon
• Wonder Girl
• X'Hal

• Earth
• Okaara
• Warworld

• Boom Tube
• Lasso of Truth

• Amazons of Themyscira
• New Teen Titans
• Warlords of Okaara

• "Wonder Girl!"
• "Trigon is not the only one..."
• "...we ain't ready to give you up just yet, witch!"
• "I have heard enough."
• "No. You cannot."

All found via GIS or in the CV wiki, and were 'shopped liberally to better fit the story. Owned by DC Comics and/or whoever designed the images.