MLDC Next Generation: Teen Titans

by Michael_Ravencroft

Invasion Part 5: Lord Tirek

Candy and Del hovered over the city, watching from their vantage point, and through some telescopic construct visors, that the sea out in Canterlot Harbor was on fire; more specifically, a large ring of fire in the middle of the ocean.

“Well…that’s a head-stumper,” said Del dumbfounded.

“Yeaaaaaah, pretty sure that water isn’t supposed to catch fire like that,” said Candy.

The two Lanterns watched as the Parademons all started to head towards the ring of fire out in the ocean, even those fighting Hawk, Dove, and Thunder were starting to fall back. Candy and Del nodded to each other and flew down to meet the others on the ground. Once there, they informed their fellow heroes of what they saw in the air.

“That really doesn’t sound good,” said Dove.

“They must’ve gone there to regroup and stage a final assault or something,” said Hawk as her gaze fell in the direction of the harbor.

Thunder was still contemplating what was happening. Their efforts thus far had been mainly crowd control, at least until they figured out a way to send the monsters back to wherever it was they came from. But this ring of fire in the water, it nagged at Thunder, her magical senses telling her that something bad was coming, something worse than the Parademons.

“Let’s head to the harbor, we need to intercept whatever it is they’re doing. GL, contact Arrow and Firestorm, have them meet us there,” said Thunder.

“Got it.”

GL made the call as they all made their way towards the harbor. Hawk, Green Lantern, Blue Lantern, and Thunder flew, while Dove kept up with them using her super speed. The five heroes continued onward, weaving around buildings and streets to make it to their destination. Thunder lead the way, taking them down a route that would give them a clear view of what was coming. The group made it to a street that overlooked the ocean, just a block away from the harbor. But they all stopped the moment they saw what was happening out on the ocean.

A black tower rose up from the ring of fire, the Parademons all shrieking as if heralding its arrival. The tower continued to rise from the depths and stopped until it rivaled the Celestial State building in Manehattan. A massive portal was set up between its horn like pylons, allowing the Parademons to come and go between the dimensions. At that moment, something emerged from the portal, something big.

Hawk, Dove, and Thunder used their telescoping vision to see what it was, while GL and BL used their rings to create construct visors that acted as magnifiers. What they beheld was a giant. It easily stood twenty feet tall, thirty if you counted its long curved horns. Its body reminded them of centaur, with red muscular arms, and strong horse legs that looked as if they could crush an armored tank. His chest and lower equine part of his body was covered in black armor, with silver circuitry lines running around in intricate patterns, and silver Omega symbol on the chest plate. The centaur had a silver nose ring, long silver hair and beard. The sclera of its eyes were black as night, while its irises shined a piercing yellow. He floated out of the portal and down towards the water. The water became concave underneath him, pushed into a semicircle as if by some unknown psychic force. The centaur continued forward, flanked on either side by the Parademons.

“What…on Earth…is that?!” Dove asked in shock.

“Well, it’s not of Earth, that much is for sure,” said Thunder.

“It’s Tirek!”

The five heroes glanced behind them and saw Arrow and Firestorm join them, they were a little surprised to see that Firestorm’s appearance had changed drastically since the last time they saw him. Arrow assured them that this was the same Firestorm they met earlier, but that he was made up of two people, and that the other part decided to take over for the time being. Dove looked upon Firestorm, feeling as if she had seen him somewhere before, but couldn’t quite place it.

“Anyway, what’s a ‘Tirek’?” Hawk asked.

“Tirek is the ruler of a planet called Apokalypse, a hellish world at that. He uses these Parademons to set up portals to invade different planets, either killing or kidnapping their inhabitants,” said Arrow.

“So what’s he after; ruilin’ the world, destroyin’ the world, enslavin’ humanity?” Green Lantern asked.

“No, the Parademons take the life forms of a planet through the gateways and back to Apokalypse, where they are…‘processed’ for their organic material, and transformed into Parademons for his army. Like locusts, they just keep going from one planet to the next, and repeat the process, that’s what the Parademons are ordered to do anyway,” said Firestorm (Lucky).

The young heroes had to take a minute to let that sink in, this one being has done this to multiple planets, many times over, and now he had set his sights on Earth. It angered Hawk, she saw no sense in his methods, killing and turning others into monsters. Was that his entire goal, to wipe out the universe of life?

“Hopelessness surrounds Tirek, I can feel it. Wherever he goes, he brings despair and pain to all those before him,” said Candy.

“Well we can’t just let him do what he wants here on Earth! We have to fight him!” Hawk argued.

“I think he made that decision for us, ‘cause he’s coming towards us!” Thunder warned as she entered a fighting stance.

The other heroes saw Tirek fast approaching, his intimidating gaze falling on all seven of them. Firestorm felt a niggling feeling in the back of his head, he then turned his attention inwards to his foster brother, Hot Head.

What’s up? Lucky asked.

“Bro, no offense, you’re good on the transmutes but you’re no brawler, let me switch out with you,” said Hot Head.

Lucky sighed inwardly. As much as I don’t like it, the Matrix’s power shifts more towards combat when you’re in the driver seat. Alright, let’s give ‘em hell!

“That’s what I’m talkin’ about, tag me in!”

Lucky appeared within the Firestorm Matrix, walking towards Hot Head at the center of the Matrix and holding up his right hand. The olive skinned boy walked towards his foster brother and high-fived him, ‘tagging’ him out and putting Hot Head in as Lucky returned to the center of the Matrix. On the outside, Firestorm’s body shifted back to the form when Hot Head was in control, startling the others for a moment before they realized that he had switched out.

“Pick a personality and color scheme, and stick with it.” Hawk commented.

There was no time for a sarcastic or witty remark after that, as Tirek approached them. He stopped about a meter away from them, still hovering over the water. He eyed each of the heroes individually, snorting in disapproval of the insects that were causing him delays.

“This is what causes me such problems? Children?” Tirek scoffed.

Del flew in front of the group, much to Candy’s protest. “Ah’m Green Lantern of Sector 2814, this sector of space is under my protection and that of the Green Lantern and Blue Lantern Corps. As such, Ah order you to cease this invasion, and return to your sector! Or else!”

Tirek barely raised an eyebrow, he didn’t even seem to care. “Green Lantern Corps, Blue Lantern Corps, I don’t recognize your authority. For there is none above mine, and secondly…” Tireks horns started to surge with black and orange energy. The energy arced between his horns and created a sphere of condensed power. “Who are you to order a god?”

The sphere broke out and fired a beam of pure energy at Del. He summoned a shield around himself, but the force and power behind the attack was too strong and washed over him. The Green Lantern was then sent flying backwards and landed a few yards away, slamming into a car and making its alarm go off before the car died.

“GL!” Candy cried.

“Why you!” Hawk shouted.

“That’s it!” Firestorm cried.

The Avatar of War and the Nuclear Man took off towards Tirek. Hawk summoned a claymore sword, while Firestorm ignited his fists with plasma flames. Starburst roared as she brought down the glowing red blade down on Tireks right shoulder pauldron, while Hot Head struck him in the chest. Both had shocked expressions when they realized that neither of their attacks so much as scratched his armor. Tireks horns glowed and released a burst wave of orange and black energy that sent the two heroes flying into the buildings behind them.

Suddenly two whizzing arrows flew and struck Tirek right in the face, exploding on impact. The Bringer of Destruction’s eyes lowered till they rested on Arrow, who had notched three more explosive tipped arrows and readied them for release. Tirek’s horns were glowing once again, but enough was enough. Thunder zoomed towards Tirek, letting out a fierce battle cry as she spun around and delivered a flying roundhouse kick to his face. The god-like centaur’s body moved from the impact, grunting from the blow. He then removed one of his arms from behind his back and caught Echo’s twin tail scarf in his giant hand.

He then whipped and tossed Earth’s Mightiest Mortal, letting her bounce on the asphalt like a rag doll. The super heroine was able to correct herself, digging her right hand into the ground as she skidded to halt, stopping on her right knee. She watched as Arrow and Dove retreated back to Thunder, releasing arrows and mana spheres at the juggernaut. All of them hit, but he continued forward, unfazed by their attacks in the slightest.

Just then they heard the sound of jet fighters flying overhead. Starburst broke out of her body-sized imprint in the cement wall and flew up, watching as the F-22 fighter jets swung around. She knew from her father’s work that jets weren’t meant to attack so close within the city, however, Tirek was still on the open road, away from the buildings. The fighters Bombay doors opened, and all three fired sidewinder missiles straight for Tirek. The missiles struck with great force and exploded on impact. But when the smoke cleared, Tirek was still standing. The Destroyer’s horns glowed again, creating that same sphere of energy. The jets broke away and were about to swing around for another pass. At that moment the beam shot forth, roaring towards them.

The beam annihilated the middle jet, causing the other two to break away. The beam then split down the middle, becoming two separate beams that chased after the jets. Despite their best efforts to evade and outrun, the twin beams struck the jets, exploding at nearly the same time as their remnants fell to the ocean below.

Starburst looked on in horror as the soldiers died right before her eyes. She gritted her teeth and clenched her armored fists, the metal creaking from how tight she balled them up. The Avatar of War shot up into the air and flew towards Tirek. She summoned a spear into her left hand and threw at right at him. The spear glowed with angry red mana as it blazed toward Tirek. The centaur stopped his advance and brought up his right arm to block the attack.

The spear hit and exploded, barely even scratching him, but Star wasn’t done, she summoned to katanas, somersaulted in the air, and stabbed the centaur in the same arm. Tirek’s brow furrowed from feeling the blades in his skin, but with a swift jerk to the right, the blades snapped. He was about to give her a whopper of a backhand, but Star managed to fall back just in time to miss it, but the wind generated by his attack created a gust that nearly knocked her over.

Annoyed, but not deterred, Tirek continued forward, floating still as he entered the city. The Parademons seemed emboldened by their lord and master’s presence and decided to take this time to attack the heroes. Blue Lantern flew in, firing beams of blue light at the Parademons, piercing their chests and leaving foot wide holes in them. One of the Parademons was about to attack her from up above, but Candy flipped backwards in midair, evading the attack. She then created a giant boxing glove construct and punched the Parademon into a nearby structure.

Green Lantern, Del, finally came around after the attack. He was sore all over, even his teeth ached. But he didn’t have time to fully recover as a couple of Parademons were about to descend on him. The Emerald Knight got up from the car and created a lasso construct. He threw it and caught both Parademons, Del swung them around, bashing them into buildings and cutting a groove into the structures as he did so. He spotted a few coming his way and tossed the ones he had captured at them, sending four of them crash landing into a fuel truck.

Arrow spotted the downed Parademons and fired an incendiary arrow. The projectile struck the inside of the trailer and ignited the fuel, exploding and taking out the Parademons with it. Arrow, Fletcher, notched three sharp tipped arrows and fired them, hitting three Parademons in the head precisely. One of them tried to take a swipe at him, but the vigilante archer wasn’t just skilled with a bow and arrow. The reinforced frame of the bow served him well as a bashing weapon, striking the Parademon in its jaw, breaking it. He then vaulted off the same demon, kicking it down into the ground before he spun in midair and landed on another Parademon. He took out a sharp arrow, stabbed the monster in its head, and used the same arrow to shoot down another that was about to attack Dove from behind.

Dove was busy striking the Parademons that swarmed her, hitting them in their chests and blasting them with a concentrated burst of mana. She practically danced around them, using their aggressive force to either evade them or make them hit their fellow Parademons. The Avatar of Peace summoned her mana spheres and fired them in all directions, hitting the Parademons like cannonballs and crushing their bones and vital organs.

Despite being of peace, Annie’s powers allowed her to sense the aggressive energy the Parademons put out, which practically telegraphed where and when they would strike. It was sort of like seeing into the future, but only in the heat of battle and whenever danger was around. And right now, danger was surrounding them all. Her senses alerted her three Parademons attacking from the right, from the front, back, left, and above. Dove took a ready stance and spun out in place. A spherical barrier formed around her, spinning just as rapidly as she was. When the Parademons hit the wall of energy, they were caught up in its power, like debris in a tornado.

The hard particles of mana energy whirled the Parademons around, breaking their bodies apart as they were swept away by the whirlwind of power. Dove then released the attack, sending the broken bodies of the Parademons flying in every possible direction. She took a moment to regain her bearings and once she had, went on to fight another group.

Meanwhile, Thunder had taken it upon herself to combat Tirek. The Strength of Hercules flowed through her young body and into her fist as the giant centaur was struck yet again in the face. Tirek took a step back from the blow, gritting his teeth as he brought up his left fist to punch Thunder. Echo used both forearms as a shield to take the blow, the impact was like her namesake, thundering out in all directions as she was thrown back from the attack. Thunder stopped herself, her body charging up with the magical lightning of the Power of Zeus.

Lightning surged down her arms and into her hands as Thunder blasted Tirek with a stream of lightning. Tirek countered by firing his overwhelming Omega Beam attack, the two collided in midair, the lightning pushing against his energy beam. But unfortunately, the energy beam was proving to be the stronger as it was pushed back with each passing nanosecond. Thunder’s attack was canceled the moment the beam struck her, making her fall out of the sky and into the street, groaning from the pain.

Tirek was about to fire another beam, but was interrupted when a giant fist made of concrete, asphalt, and earth rose up in front of him and struck the centaur right in the face, again. The fist continued to push him back further and further as the centaur gripped it and tried to get it off. Firestorm landed in front of Thunder, his left hand had atomic rings whirling around it as he focused his transmuting powers. Thunder stood up and beside Firestorm, channeling her magical lightning into her hands. Hot Head ended the transmutation and the atomic rings formed on both of his hands, wrapping his hands in spheres of flaming plasma.

The giant centaur used his Omega Beam to obliterate the giant stone fist, but at that moment a fiery column of energy, wrapped in magical lightning, roared down the street and struck Tirek dead center. The lightning and fire washed over the monster, hitting with a dual sensation of electrocution and being burned alive. But all this merely made Tirek even more annoyed and angry at their defiance and tenacity. With a deep growl, Tirek fired his Omega Beam, pushing the two heroes’ attack back. The two beams stayed at the middle point, building up energy with each passing second.

Thunder and Firestorm could no longer keep up the attack, the result being that of a detonation that created a shockwave, throwing them back to where their comrades were. Tirek was looking less than pleased. “Children, given power and think themselves titans. You know not what the power of a god can do, witness! I am entropy…” Tirek raised his arms into the air. “I am death…” His forearms wrapped themselves in his black and orange energy, surging and building to critical mass.

Firestorm and Dove could sense it, this attack would be powerful. Firestorm created a dome of earth around them, using his transmutation powers to change it into solid titanium. Dove created a mana dome, adding another layer of protection. Green Lantern and Blue Lantern united their lights and created a third protective shell. Three layers of protection, and yet the young heroes still felt like this wouldn’t be enough.

The energy Tirek built up was ready, his eyes shined yellow as he reared up on his hind legs. “I am Tirek!”

With mighty stamp of his hooves, Tirek brought down both of his forearms onto the ground. The energy surged beneath the earth and exploded with resounding force. A blinding flash of orange black light shined forth, obliterating everything in its wake. The ground upheaved and made it jut out giant stalagmites. The wave of stalagmites struck against the metal dome, but soon the blast wave followed close behind it. Slamming against the dome and melting it away. Annie’s shield sizzled as the might of Tirek’s attack ripped away at it, the Avatar of Peace tried to keep it from falling, but it was too much as the barrier faded away.

The Lanterns held fast, the synergistic powers of Willpower and Hope fueling and bolstering the other. Candy and Del looked to each other, steeling their resolve and determination as they refused to let down the shield. Cracks started to appear all around it, but blue light would quickly mend it.

“This isn’t good, we need to fall back!” Thunder shouted.

“No way, we can’t back down, not with that monster still standing!” Hawk argued.

“We need a plan of attack, we can’t beat him like this!”

Hawk stayed close to Dove, keeping her steady after keeping the barrier up through that onslaught. Star looked to Annie, and the blind girl behind the mask silently urged her friend to heed Thunder in this matter.

“I’m in agreement, we need a strategy to better face Tirek,” said Arrow.

Thunder looked to the two Lanterns, she sensed GL’s will to keep fighting, but he wasn’t a battle craven lunatic, he knew falling back now would give them some time to recoup and regroup. BL nodded her agreement as well.

“Firestorm, can you give us an exit?!” Thunder asked.

Firestorm wanted to stay and fight, but Lucky was urging him to follow Thunder’s lead on this. The Nuclear Man summoned his atomic rings and pointed his hands at the ground. The concrete and asphalt churned and caved in, forming a tunnel down into the sewers below. Dove and Hawk jumped in, followed by Arrow and Firestorm. Thunder stayed above, waiting for the Lanterns.

“Everybody else is in, c’mon!”

Del and Candy slowly walked backwards, they summoned their aura fields, lifting themselves off the ground to float close to the hole. Thunder jumped in and stood aside, she then watched as GL and BL descended into the tunnel and joined up with them. Their rings were still pointed upwards at the hole, keeping the barrier up.

“Close it on three!” Del shouted.

Firestorm stood at the ready.

“One!”

The atomic rings formed over his hands.

“Two!” Candy shouted.

He pointed both hands at the opening, weaving his power into the mixture of earth and concrete.

“THREE!” The two Lanterns called out.

Their rings severed the link to the barrier, allowing Firestorm to hurriedly shut the hole and prevent Tirek from seeing them escape. They all let out a collective sigh of relief, but they weren’t out of the woods yet. GL and BL let their rings shine brightly within the dank sewer tunnel, the group of seven made their way down the corridor, letting the tunnel take them as far from Tirek as it could.

LATER, TWO MILES FROM TIREK…

The seven young heroes were able to find some refuge in, of all places, an abandoned church. They were visibly shell shocked by the appearance and terrifying might of Tirek. Many of them had faced a strong foe or two, and it was nothing they could handle. With the exception of Firestorm, being the relatively newest hero among them. Arrow had faced dozens of criminals, some twice his size and twice as strong, but he always managed to beat them, not just with his skill, but his brains; although, those were criminals, not a twenty foot, laser blasting, space warlord, centaur.

Hot Head slammed his fist into his left palm, growling indignantly. “We should go back! Who knows how much destruction Tirek is causing right now?!”

“Oh and what, get our asses kicked again?! I’m all for taking that big SOB down, but right now we’d lose!” Star shot back.

“So what, we just sit here and wait?!”

Arrow leaned up against a pillar, arms crossed, sighing as he listened to the other Driver of Firestorm speak. “Calm down Firestorm, we’re not giving up, but we can’t go rushing in either.” Arrow turned to Green Lantern who was sitting in one of the pews. “Green Lantern, you and Blue Lantern mentioned that you both were part of a ‘Corps.’, which means there’s more than one of you, correct?”

GL looked up and nodded to Arrow.

“So there’s an army’s worth of Green Lanterns and Blue Lanterns out there; what the hell, what are you two waiting for, call in some back up?!” Firestorm demanded.

“We can’t. The Green Lantern Corps, as well as the Blue Lantern Corps, are scattered across the universe, protectin’ their own sectors. To gather them all here would take way too long, and who knows if they’re even strong enough to beat ‘em.”

There might be another way…but…Del looked to his ring, memories of his training flashed before him, visions of an Emerald Warrior, wielding Willpower equal to a god. No…Ah promised.

“We can’t lose hope everyone, we can beat Tirek, we just need to figure it out is all,” said Candy.

“Blue Lantern’s right, striking back in blind fury will only get us killed,” said Dove.

“So you just want to wait around until we come with some great and brilliant plan, meanwhile, Tirek tears up the world and everyone’s turned into a Parademon!” Firestorm ranted.

“Hey, if you have a better idea, we’re all ears! If you don’t, then just shut up and stop blowing hot air!” Hawk shot back.

“Oh, you wanna go?!”

Hawk cracked her armored knuckles. “You don’t want to mess with the Avatar of War!”

“ENOUGH!!!” Thunder’s body erupted with lightning, crackling and surging across everything, making the other heroes turn to her. “We can’t waste time fighting against each other when we should be fighting Tirek!”

The other heroes went silent. Thunder, Echo, sighed heavily and walked up to the altar. She looked up to the stained glass window, taking a bit of solace in the artwork, calming her own storm of thoughts before she spoke again.

“Each of us has fought against powerful enemies; demonic entities, criminal masterminds, intergalactic thugs, warmongers, and every petty criminal in between. But today, we faced a foe that none of us have ever seen, and was too much to for us alone to handle. Tirek is powerful, he may even call himself a god, but he’s no god.” Thunder turned around and faced the six. “I’m called Earth’s Mightiest Mortal, because I wield the power of six gods and heroes past, but I wasn’t strong enough to put him down.”

“You at least made him flinch with each hit,” said Hawk.

“That’s not the point. All around the world, militaries, and even others like us are fighting to protect their families, homes – this very planet! We stand on the frontlines, if we fall, then the Earth falls with us! Listen, I’ll admit, I’m scared, Tirek is crazy powerful, but there are those I want to protect. I’ve already lost someone dear to me, my father, and won’t lose anyone else to monsters, from Earth or off world!”

Hawk’s (Star’s) mind flashed to her mother, father, and little brother. Despite the fact that her mother and her didn’t seem to connect most of the time, Star still loved her, and even though she bickered with her little brother, she cared deeply for him, and would rather die than let him be hurt.

Dove (Annie), thought about her adopted mother. She remembered the day she left the orphanage, it was the happiest and saddest day of her life, sad because she had to leave Amber, Hot Head, and Lucky, but happy because she had been taken in by someone so kind, loving, and gentle. Every day with Fluttershy was a gift, learning more, loving each other more, she was wasn’t just some adopted mother, she was just her mother. She knew Fluttershy was strong, but even she had her limits, and Annie promised to be strong for her and protect the family she had now gained. And the family she reunited with in the years following.

Arrow (Fletcher) thought his mother and father, along with his little brother and sister. But mostly, he thought of Crème. That young woman had suffered the loss of her parents and friends all in one night, and experienced the terror of being captured and about to be sold like a piece of property. Fletcher still had a promise to keep, to bring the ones who headed all of it to justice, and he also promised never to see Crème cry again, he wasn’t about to die, not now, not ever.

For Green Lantern (Del), his mind traveled to his family. The large family of farmers, his uncle and aunt, his ma and pa, even his cousins, they all had a place in his heart. Del had a fierce instinct when it came to protecting his family, and as a Green Lantern, he had to protect everyone with the same amount of fierceness. If someone threatened Earth, they threatened his home, and threatening his home was a big mistake.

Blue Lantern (Candy) wanted to protect Del and help him in his fight to defend their home. But it was more than that, she was hero as well. True her powers were greater when the two of them were together, but hope was powerful, it was what lied in her mother’s heart all her life, and she past that light unto her children. For her parents, her siblings, and her friends, Candy couldn’t stand by and watch as Tirek turned them into monsters for his army.

Firestorm (Lucky Star and Hot Head) thought of Amber. How she selflessly took both of them in, despite what others accused her of and the burden it would place upon her to take care of the two of them. She did it for them, and every day, Hot Head and Lucky could never think of way to repay her for all she did for them. She was a sister and a surrogate mother, as weird as the latter was to admit, but they were singular in one thing. They loved Amber, and they cared about their surrogate sister, Anthea. They wouldn’t let their family be torn apart, to have this world destroyed.

“Call it fate or destiny, or even sheer luck, but all of us were brought together! We have to be more than just individuals, we have to become a team! Together I know we can beat Tirek! Because we all have someone to protect, people we love! Now, will we stand together, or fall divided?!” Thunder asked.

The six heroes looked to each other, a silent understanding passing between them all. They rose up and stood before the Champion of Magic, each one with a determined look upon their faces. Blue Lantern’s ring was glowing a little brighter just then, hope had been rekindled and it was strong.

Author's Note:

Next time on Teen Titans:

The seven heroes make one final stand against Tirek, will their plan to defeat him work? Or will Earth join the list of other worlds now long since destroyed? Find out in Part 6 of Teen Titans!

Comments

[The Portal Passer]

Wait does the twilight in this story know that scootaloo is shazam?