FALLING STAR

Disclaimer: I own zip zero nada nothing,

"Suffering may be universal, but so is hope"- Tower of Babble

Chapter 1

Somewhere just beyond Earth's solar system

Gordanian warship

Prison block

The dull presence of pain was the first thing Koriand'r became conscience of, when she finally gained the will power to open her eyes. The young girl blinked, then groaned as the small world of her cell came into focus once more, a foreboding five by four room with no light, save for the times when a small window in the door was open during feeding times.

One wouldn't think that it was possible for a room to possess a vibe of evil, but it did. Of course this could merely be due to the fact that the walls were still stained with the dried blood of pervious victims–her kinsmen.

Pushing herself to knees, she bit back a gasp as her battered body wailed in protest, begging her to lie back down and stay there. Swallowing hard, Koriand'r crawled over to the nearest wall and collapsed against it, winking as her sensitive skin made contact with cold metal. Forcing aside the discomfort, the Tamaranean Princess's first act was to run her hands over her anomaly in order to reassure herself that all her limbs were still attached.

They were.

'Barely,' Kori thought grimly as she prepared to snap her left shoulder back into its socket.

When that pleasant deed was done, Kori then took stock of her other injuries. Numerous bruises, ranging from mild to moderate, had blossomed on her golden skin like poisonous flowers, and the splitting pounding inside her head told her that she could easily have a concussion. This had been the thirteen-year-old's routine for the past month since her capture: endure, survive, heal, monitor the progress, rinse and repeat.

'Well, at least it's not as bad as the first time,' she thought with weak optimism. This time they didn't break any bones.'

Kori shuddering involuntary as the memories of that one particular breaking rose from the dead to haunt her, there was good reason that this one stood out from the others, seeing that it had taken two weeks for her body to pull itself back together-even with her accelerated healing.

That had been the one time she was certain she was going to die, that the Gordanians were actually going to finish her. That all their talk about keeping her alive to be delivered as a royal tribute to their war gods had only been a trick to mess with her mind. She should have known better; after all the whole purposes behind the beatings was to break and remake her into a willing slave and sacrifice, it wouldn't have make sense for them to kill her. Not yet at least.

She had defended herself to the best of her ability and training, as she had each time those monsters had come to call. But when one was chained hand and foot while facing three grown men… there was little to be done. And it didn't help that Kori was simply not a violent or aggressive person; despite her people's warrior culture, she was peaceful by nature- weak by Lord Razar's standards.

Unbidden, the lizard-like face of Warlord -twisted in a hateful sneer- manifested itself in her mind, alone with sadistic glee he would display while he and his personal henchmen beat and taunted her (all Gordanian nobility, as no one of lower rank was permitted to have contact with her, good or ill) with cruel jeers regarding her race, her chastity, her planet new statues as a conquered world extra, extra… but the cruelest taunts of all were the ones about her brother.

He had been captured with her; and originally tortured right besides her, back when they were made slaves in their own house on Tamaran-a situation that had shattered her heart more effectively than any battle wound.

How could it not? Rayand'r was only ten -ten- and his life rested in the hands of those who would torment and kill for sport. And Kori had no way to protecting him now, as he was still a slave on their homeworld while she, as the older Royal Child, was to be delivered to the Citadel, capital of the Gordanian's Empire. This was a fate that scared her more than death -the stories she had heard of what befell servants in that place…

Curling her legs to her chest with a dry sob, Kori pressed her jade green eyes to her knees and took several deep breaths, her dark red hair veiling her face.

'Calm yourself Koriand'r, don't given in, that just what they what.'

She shuddered again. How any intelligent being could take joy in causing others pain… she would never understand. And she never wanted to. Those beatings might one day break her body beyond repaired, but the only way it could break her spirit was if she let it. That was in her control and her's alone.

"I am a Shieldmaiden of Tamaran, I must stand strong," she whispered out into the void. Her hands, small and feminine despite their trials, clenched into fists.

"I will stand strong."

With what little strength she had, she set her hands aglow with blazing green energy, a testimony to her royal heritage. Thousands of years ago, a now-extinct race called the Psions had kidnapped and experimented on a male and female Tamaranean.

The genetic modifications done had gifted the two Tamaraneans the ability to absorb ultraviolet rays through their skin. The excess energy absorbed could be used created and fire off starbolts or eyebeams. So when the pair, who were also husband and wife, managed to escape and returned home to the backwater world, their new powers had made them seem like gods to their tribesmen, and the couple was quickly made to be leaders.

From those two Tamaraneans, the Tamaranean royal family had been born, planting the seeds of a dynasty that would rule unchallenged for two thousand years. All royals had the abilities their distant ancestors had received. That was why there was no light in the cell, Kori's captures wanted to keep her powers as restrained as possible, for obvious reasons. The cell was designed to reduce the amount of ultraviolet rays she received; so that she wouldn't be able to use her powers for long.

'I'm the daughter of warriors and kings, Shieldmaidens and heroes; I will not dishonor them by dieing enslaved.'

In an act of semi-defiance, Kori then lit up her eyes so that they blazed green as well, blazed with righteous fury.

I will not surrender hope.

Y+J

Earth

Happy Harbor Road Island

Mount Justice

Robin couldn't stop himself from grinning when he exited the zeta tube- Now this is more like it!

The thirteen year-old found himself standing in a wide cave (way more roomy than the one he and Batman used), that had adjoining tunnels on either side, indicating a facility that was larger than it seemed.

As a matter of fact, it all kind of looked kinda familiar…

The Boy Wonder's eyes widen behind his shades as he put two and two together.

'No-Way. No way is this place exactly…'

But it was- he recognized it, even though he hadn't set foot in this place since he was ten years old. Now, after four years of fighting crazies in what could legitimately be called the world's most dangerous city, there wasn't much out there that could surprise him anymore.

But this though… with this Robin could safely admit he was rather whelmed.

Crossing thin arms over his favorite red civvies shirt, the young hero turned to his mentor and raised a questioning eyebrow. "This place what I think it is?" he asked quietly.

The Batman moved his head about three degrees to gaze at the boy from the corner of his masked eye.

"Un-huh," was the crisp replied.

A man of many words.

… Not.

Buuuut on the other hand, had anyone other than Robin asked, there wouldn't have been a reply at all.

"Soo,' Robin said flatly, "…you're telling me that you, King of Paranoialand, want me and three other kids to work in a base that's location was compromised by Joker?"

"Un-huh."

At this Robin's eyebrow was threatening to escape his forehead.

"Okaaayyy- did you hit your head on patrol last night or something?"

Rather than dignify that with an answer, the Dark Knight stalked over to the center of the room, confident that his protégé would follow. In that case he was right, seeing that Robin trotted faithfully besides him.

"Seriously though," the boy was saying as he stepped onto the center platform. "You don't think this is pushing it just a bit?"

"No."

Robin stared at him; Joker hadn't exactly kept the information to himself, every second rate bad guy and their grandmothers knew about this place now...meaning that they would never think to look here.

Astonished, he spoke his thought out loud. "We're hiding in plain sight."

"Un-huh."

His shock having run its course, Robin's lighthearted nature returned in full force in a matter of seconds. "Jeezes Bats thank you so much for reassuring me," he droned out with a smirk, "I really appreciate it."

Anyone else would have missed it -heck, Robin nearly missed it- and it was only thanks to the near half decade spent working side by side with the man that allowed the boy to catch the microscope twitch that tugged at the Dark Knight's mouth for a spilt millisecond.

But before he could comment on it, a sudden humming sound erupted from the platform beneath their feet as it suddenly came to life after years of inactively, and any thought of teasing his mentor when right out of head. As the holo computer flickered to life, Robin was powerless to stop a grin of wild excitement from spreading over his pixie face.

Oh yeah, this was defiantly more like it.

"We'll have to work fast to get this place up and running, the others will be here anytime now," Batman stated emotionlessly, his shields back in place. But before he left to see to other matters, he paused to squeeze his son's shoulder.

Y+J

"This cave was the original secret sanctuary of the justice league, were calling it into service again since you four are determined to stay together and fight the good fight." Here Batman paused, and turned to give the four teenagers before him a full on glare.

"You'll do it on League terms," he growled in low warning. His tone left no room for compromise. Not like it ever does, Robin thought as he smothered a grin as his friends twitched nervously besides him- even Superboy. Not that this healthy respect reflected badly on them- on the contraire, it only showed their intelligence. Batman didn't have the reputation for being the most terrifying, intimidating person on earth (and possibly the universe) for nothing.

Of the four Wally West had the hardest time hiding his uneasiness, a jester's don't-look-at-me grin plastered plainly on his milk-white face as the fifteen year-old ran a vibrating hand through his shock of red hair. But that was to be expected, seeing that Kid Flash was their resident hyper-active class clown and goof-ball, forever ready to lighten the mood with bad jokes, or equally bad commentary on any situation the Team could find themselves n.

But on the other hand, his extremely impatient and impulsive nature was often the reason they would find themselves in a situation in the first place (one of the drawbacks to his powers) but you would never find a more big-hearted or loyal person anywhere. That was why he was Robin's best friend.

Kaldur'ahm had more luck at disguising his discomfort, due in no small part to his naturedly cool and unruffled front. Soft-spoken and level headed, the dark-skinned Atlantean was without a doubt the most mature of the boys, despite his sixteen years.

As such, he often acted as the team's spokesperson to the League. It was crystal clear to Robin that their mentors had unofficially given Aqualad the duty of being the voice of reason for the team, a job that would no doubt be easier said than done, the raven haired youth had to admit.

Superboy was a whole other matter. The sixteen week-old clone of Superman didn't betray signs of discomfort or nerves per say; instead he crossed his arms over his chest and scowled, look more hostile and foul-tempered than usual- a feat Robin hadn't thought possible.

But he supposed that he couldn't really blame the Kryptonite, not fully at least. The Boy Wonder was pretty sure he'd have authority issues too if he'd spent his first sixteen weeks of existence as a mind-controlled science project. Still, a hot temper mixed with super strength? Not a good combo. And Robin intended to keep a close eye on it.

While these thoughts were running through the youngest sidekicks head, his mentor continued talking, "Red Tornado volunteer to live here and be your supervisor, Black Canary is in charge of training." The two mention Leaguers straighten a little from the sidelines where they stood, feeling their new charges eyes turn to them momentarily.

"I will assign you on missions," Batman finish.

Robin looked the older man dead in the eye. "Real missions?" he asked pointedly, their treatment in the Hall of Justice still fresh in his mind.

"Yes," Was Batman short reply, "But covert."

The Flash spoke from behind his nephew a spoke with his trademark grin, "The League will still handle the obvious stuff, there's reason we have these big targets on are chest," he said while taping his own emblem.

"But Cadmus proves the bad guys are getting smarter," Aquaman pitch in. "Batman needs a team that can operate on the slide."

"The four of you will be that team," Batman supplied needless.

At this each of the boys stood a little taller; they had know that this would happen-heck they had all but demanded it-but here the words spoken out loud made them seem more…final. More permanent.

Aqualad put it best, "Then today, is The Day," he observed solemnly.

Yes it was, Robin knew without a doubt. This was the day they finally stepped out of their mentors shadows, and became heroes in their own right. Today was indeed The Day. The first day of the rest of their lives.