The rescue, Part 1

Starfire made a beeline for the Tamaranean royal palace as soon as the ther Javelin landed, determined to rescue Mary Jane from her sister's clutches. She'd suffered so much at her sister's hands over the years -- being exiled and sold into slavery was horrible, but Kori had been able to overcome that and build a new life on Earth, one where she was happy. Besides, knowing that all of it led her to MJ, she'd have done it all again. This time, though, Blackfire had gone too far. Koriand'r would save the woman she loved. And she'd make sure her sister never, ever laid a hand on her again.

The other Titans & Gwen followed closely, and soon they found themselves battling the Tamaranean Royal Guard; the guard weren't much of a match for the Titans, at least not the ones they fought initially. Nightwing's leadership and his training combined with powerhouses like Cassie & Conner easily made short work of the first wave of guards. Meanwhile, Kori was tearing through the palace, and none of the guards were safe from her rampage.

"Y'know, I'm enjoying this. Y'know, us... teaming up," Gwen said to Cassie. "We need to do it more often."

"Definitely," Cassie agreed. "Seriously, how have we not met before?"

"Not sure -- it's really weird considering I know some of your pals pretty well. But we'll have to hang out more often when we're done here."

"Looking forward to it," Cassie smiled.

The group eventually made it to the Tamaranean throne room, where Blackfire was waiting, a sinister smile on her face. "I knew you'd follow me, dearest sister. And I must say, you've impressed me. The Koriand'r I knew would not have fared as well against the Tamaranean guard."

"Enough, Komand'r. Where's MJ?"

"Oh, she's fine. In fact, she's quite satisfied," Komand'r taunted. "Such an obedient lover..."

"I'll give you one chance to hand over MJ," Kori seethed.

Blackfire mockingly laughed at the demand. "Ha! What makes you think I would give up such a beautiful bride? I think she prefers it here anyway. Especially after the way I made her scream with delight last night..."

Kori's eyes began to glow with rage. "Bite your tongue, sister."

"Why would I do that, when I can use it for so much more? Mary Jane certainly enjoyed the way I used it..."

That was the final straw for Kori. She lunged at her sister, preparing to fire off a starbolt, when she was hit by an enormous orange fist.

"MINE!!!!!" Larfleeze screamed, as he and his undead Orange Lantern Corps swarmed the room.

"Yes, Larfleeze. Deal with our intruders, and I'll reward you handsomely," Komand'r told the Orange Lantern leader.

The Titans fought valiantly, but the Orange Lanterns were far more formidable than the guards they'd fought before. Despite Nightwing trying his best to distract him with his gadgets so that Cyborg and Raven could blast at him from two separate flanks at once, the undead Lantern constructs took the brunt of the ranged hits, and then, Lafleeze blast them all with an omnidirectional attack, the strike beaming with the might of his unique lantern ring. By the time the orange glare dissipated only Miss Martin and Beast Boy remained standing among the Titans in range of the blast, the former because of her phasing abilities and the latter because he had turned into a bird small enough to dodge the attack.

Deciding not to waste more crucial time, M'gann's eyes glowed bright green while glaring at Larfleeze. Beast Boy recognized that as his cue to get closer while Miss Martian attacked the Latern powerhouse psychically but shortly after turning into a green Tyrannosaurus Rex, the redheaded Martian screamed in frustration.

"Guys! His mind is too...single-mindedly greedy! I can't even get him to pay attention to me! It's like he can shrug off my psychic presence because he doesn't find it valuable enough."

"Rude," Beast Boy grunted in a barely understandable tone from the T-Rex's mouth but the moment of hesitation combined with the lack of a proper psychic **** ensured their enemy remained on guard.

"You call that fearsome beast?! Larfleeze demanded. "Look at MY T-Rex!!!!!"

And just like that, he made an orange construct in the form of Tyrannosaurus Rex but 3 times as large and sicced him on Beast Boy. The Green Titan roared and fought on but after the much larger artificial beast managed to headbutt him, he was sent flying and so quickly at that that his large form collided with Miss Martian before she could phase her way out of it, knowing them both out.

Farther away, Gwen, Cassie, and Conner finally pushed a hole through the lines of undead orange lanterns and had the time to look at their incapacitated teammates on one side and Kori being restrained by Komand'r on the other. To make matters worse, the Tamaranean elite guard had now joined the fray -- clearly Komand'r had been planning this.

"There's no way we'll be able to deal with all of the guards, Larfleeze and the rest of these constructs," Gwen realized. "Cass -- Conner -- we need to get out of here! We can come up with a plan once we lose these guys."

"I see you're awake, dear sister. I've been waiting a long time for this day," Komand'r said with a sinister grin as Kori came to. "You stormed my palace, assaulted my guards and attempted to **** me. For your crimes, I sentence you to ****."

Kori looked around and saw her fellow Titans, all restrained. "As you can see, your friends can't help you. And after they watch you die, they too will be executed," Blackfire taunted.

"The others..." Kori said weakly. "They'll be back..."

"Oh, I very much doubt that," Komand'r scoffed. "My elite guard is on their trail as we speak. And if they don't finish the rest of your friends off, the Orange Lantern will. You've failed, Koriand'r. And I can think of no better executioner for you than my new bride..."

Kori watched in horror as Komand'r brought MJ out, rendered docile and obedient by the control chip the Tamaranean queen had implanted.

"Mary Jane, my love, this trespasser has defiled our palace and attempted to take you from me. She deserves no less than ****," Komand'r told the redhead.

"Yes, my queen..." MJ said, the chip controlling her actions.

"I would like you to be the one to do the honors of disposing of this treacherous filth, my bride," Komand'r requested, handing MJ a ceremonial sword. MJ took the sword and prepared to obey her queen's orders.

"Damn.. another dead end! They're all over the place..."

Gwen, Cassie & Conner were cornered. Led by Larfleeze, his constructs and the Tamaranean royal guard surrounded the trio that had escaped their initial ambush.

"Now I have you! You will now know the true glory, the true brilliance of the brilliant Larfleeze! The formidable Larfleeze! And then Blackfire will shower Larfleeze with riches! Treasure! Power! Food! Blackfire says if I kill you, it will be all mine! MINE!"

"Ugh... this looks bad," Gwen admitted. "Any ideas, Cass?"

"Only the one -- fight until we drop," Cassie admitted.

"I was afraid you'd say that..." Gwen griped. "Well, if we don't make it out of this, it's been awesome getting to know you."

"You too," Cassie reciprocated.

"Feel like kind of a third wheel here, but I've had fun too," Conner added.

The Titans readied themselves for the insurmountable fight ahead as Larfleeze advanced on them. But just as they were about the be swarmed, a familiar, gorgeous, brilliant figure landed in front of them, slamming down on the ground with authority.

"Diana...? Oh. Hell. Yes!" Cassie cheered, as Wonder Woman stood in front of them in all her heroic glory, sword and shield in hand, ready to help the Titans rescue their friend, and her lover...