Resurrection: Phoenix Ascending, chapter 54: Resolutions

A collaboration between OobluebubblesoO and Nitebreaker

On board his pod of the T-ship, Beast Boy scrutinized the controls. Cyborg had modified the T-sub into the T-ship, making it capable of interplanetary travel, but he'd also, in typical Cyborg fashion, gone above and beyond: now, each individual pod could be outfitted with a variety of environments, to suit various different lifeforms.

Including, upon meeting Aqualad, Atlantean waterbreathing lifeforms.

The only real limitation upon the T-ship (aside from the simple laws of physics) was the degree of gee stress that could be placed upon the human body. After all, a human being could only tolerate so much acceleration.

But if one didn't have to remain human?

Beast Boy scanned the controls one last time, hit the switch to flood the cabin with a salt water solution familiar to pacific ocean dwellers, and shifted to giant octopus mode.

Immediately, he saw certain problems. Octopi do not have true skeletons, which meant he couldn't push on levers; he had to reach his tentacles past levers, wrap them around the levers, and pull them away from him. Likewise, buttons became harder to push; he finally had to just ball up a tentacle and pound on them until they lit up.

There was, oddly enough, absolutely no doubt in his mind which direction they'd taken her. It was as if he could see an invisible line across the stars, terminating in the ship she was in. He didn't know how he knew this, but didn't question it for a moment. He knew where she was, and knew he had to get to her before…..

Before what? That part he wasn't too clear on. But some basic violation would take place upon her person that he would do anything he could readily think of to prevent.

And so he set his course, set the ship for an acceleration of seven times the gravity of the Earth, and, with the water buoying him up against the savage gee stress, sat back and waited to catch up.

…..

What does it mean to sacrifice? Does it mean to lay down one's life? Or is there a deeper meaning, somewhere? Perhaps a greater sacrifice would be to willingly lay down the life one had planned for oneself, for the sake of another. To give up one's hopes and dreams…..

…..the love of one's life.

There was little doubt in Garfield Logan's mind that Terra would not look kindly upon his recent actions. She was already unaccountably jealous of Tara, and would probably see this as his choosing Tara over her, which could not be farther from the truth. Tara was a girl, pretty, yes, but still only a girl he happened to know. Terra was his other half. He could not imagine life without her.

Yet he was bleakly aware that he might have to, now.

…..

Talks to God climbed into the seat of his one passenger scout vehicle. His victory over Walks Along the Trail was still fresh in his mind, but he knew the real victory was much more subtle.

If he could but plant the seed of doubt in those who would highjack the Hunters' future, the willfully ignorant, it would be worth it. It would be worth his life, should if come to that.

Perhaps my legacy is not of blood, he thought, even as he went through the prelaunch checklist, something he'd done so many times it was almost second nature to him, perhaps my legacy is of those who will listen and learn from my words and deeds. If that were the case, it behooved him to make those words and deeds worthy of remembrance.

He shivered slightly. That was a rather scary thought. And yet, are we not, all of us, in the eye of history? Pity those who do not realize it.

His communicator crackled to life. "You will return soon?" asked Seer of the Way. Talks to God smiled. It was good to have friends who were concerned about you. "Yes," he replied, "I do not anticipate being gone long. I merely wish to meditate somewhat, here in the vastness of The One's universe. Perhaps I will speak to The One. Perhaps The One will speak to me."

"I do not have to tell you, of all of us, to listen well, should The One choose to do so. I know you will."

The hanger doors opened, and out he shot, into the incredible tapestry of the star-filled universe. Stars of all colors lay open to his vision, each one a point of potential to him. Ever since he'd been a young, and gazed up at the night sky, he'd felt, in his heart, that there had to be other intelligent lifeforms out there. Would God create a universe, only to populate it with mindless rock and chemicals? What would be the point, if there was no one else to appreciate its beauty?

He moved off away from the fleet, it having docked at a peculiar phenomenon: a wandering asteroid belt not attached to any one solar system. Perhaps at one time it had been; if so, the circumstances under which it separated might be worth investigating.

The fleet was a small blip on his monitor screen. He sighed and lay back in his cushioned seat; sometimes it was good just to get off by oneself. Although he did not lack appreciation of the closeness of other Hunters around him, by nature and by choice he was something of a loner. Occasionally, it felt good to indulge that.

Except that he was not truly alone. There; on his long-range sensors: two unidentified vessels, one apparently chasing the other. Hm. Perhaps this was worth investigating. It was, at least, the signs of that intelligent life he had so diligently searched for all his life. He engaged the scoutship's stealth mode…

…..

Alright, Garfield. You've caught them. Now what are you gonna do with them? These words flashed through Beast Boy's mind, even as he formulated a plan of attack. Somehow, he had to go EVA and board that ship. He didn't recognize the design, but that didn't matter. More information would be helpful, but would in no way change his plans.

He was gonna go positively prehistoric on that ship, and its crew. It didn't matter if Trigon himself were at the controls.

He was under no illusions about his chances. Chances were, in a few moments, he'd be dead. Well, better that than have to face Terra's disapproval.

He changed environment settings, letting the water in the cabin out, and shifted back to human form. This would require precision….

The other ship gave no sign of acknowledging his presence. It was possible (but not likely) that it was fully automated. Whoever had kidnapped Tara hadn't left any organic scent for him to detect.

Carefully, he maneuvered into docking position, all the while alert for any hostile response from the other ship. But none ever came.

A green microbe penetrated the outer hull of the ship. In cockroach form, he skittered among alien machinery. A green mouse explored the anterior portion, noting all the while that there was hardly any room for living beings. He moved forward; he had to find Tara.

About midways he found her: she'd been placed in some sort of liquid-filled tube full of oxygenated fluid, possibly as a protection against acceleration or collision. He gave a small sigh of relief: she appeared to be unconscious and unharmed. So far.

But she wasn't alone. Stalking alongside her, patrolling the limited space the ship had, were monstrous, twisted beings he recognized: parademons of Apokalypse. Each one about six and a half feet tall, and nearly as broad. Each one solidly packed with muscle upon muscle upon muscle. Each one could probably rip a sabertooth tiger in half.

Then it's a good thing I've got more than sabertooth tigers in my arsenal, he thought, smiling grimly, even as he dropped down out of the air vent in full view of them, morphing instantly into a spitting cobra snake….and spat venom at the two closest parademons.

The parademons howled as the venom ate into their eyes. That might not kill them, he thought, but it took them out of the action, at least for now. The others drew their weapons and charged him. He charged back…in rhino form.

The parademons were taken by surprise, and, being unfamiliar with large animals (there being few left on Apokalypse, anyway), had to learn the hard way about the wisdom of not trying to wrestle something that outweighs you by three tons or more. One got a horn in its gut-Gar realized he couldn't play by the normal rules here; parademons were deliberately bred for viciousness-, and the other was thrown into the bulkhead, knocking machinery loose, and causing the lights to flicker. He hesitated; he didn't want to cause an interruption of whatever life support systems were keeping Tara alive….

…. and caught a blaster bolt full broadside from a parademon he hadn't seen.

Beast Boy fell to the floor, writhing in pain. He'd automatically reverted back to human form.

The parademon who'd wounded him stalked closer, obviously guarding against a too-easy victory. It drew its knife, raising it high for the killing stroke….

…and a Hunter powerlance skewered it, full in the chest, its armor-piercing tip releasing its diffused maser payload directly into the parademon's body, instantly cooking it from the inside out. The creature shuddered violently, then collapsed on the deck, dead.

Through his pain, Garfield tried to see what manner of creature had rescued him. His vision was growing blurry, however…..

Talks to God examined the scene before him. The green shape changer had fought well, taking out several of the twisted ones with naught but his own natural weapons. Now. What was all this about?

He cast around. There were several twisted ones still alive. Talks to God saw no reason to leave them that way, and did not. There was something unnatural about them that seemed to just about require their death. They were clearly not the product of any normal evolutionary process, but had been designed by someone or something with no regard for life whatsoever.

He checked the green one's injury. It was not quite as bad as it looked, but would still require medical attention. Fortunately, medical attention was not too far away. Off to one side, he happened to spy the stasis tube with the pink skinned biped in it, obviously of the same species as the green warrior. His mate, perhaps? It would explain much.

He activated his communicator…

…

"Ooooooohh," Garfield moaned as he regained consciousness. The first thing he was aware of was, wherever he was, it was sticky hot. He reached up and rubbed his eyes, trying to clear them.

And started when he saw the being standing by his bed. It was a scaly, dinosaur-like creature, a biped, of green and mottled brown coloration, and it looked strangely familiar. Yes, it was, for all intents and purposes, an outer space version of a velociraptor. Except the braincase was bigger, and the arms, far from being underproportioned, were long, powerfully muscled, and fully developed, terminating in clawed hands with opposable thumbs.

Hands that were currently holding something that looked like a silver-bound iPad.

Warily, he looked around. Yes, over there, by the door, were two more such raptors, both holding spears such as the one he'd seen used on the parademon. "Uh, uhm, I don't suppose you speak this language, do you?"

The raptor by his bed—unarmed, he noticed—made some adjustments on the iPad-like device he (she? It?) carried. It placed something on its tongue…..and gestured for him to speak more. "O-okay. Uhm, I'm Garfield Logan, of Earth. Who are you?" The raptor gestured again: more. All the while making adjustments to the pad.

"Tik chik chik, ta (wheet!) whistle." Keep it up, Garfield. He noticed that he was in some sort of sickbay or something similar, and his side, while still hurting ferociously, had been tended and dressed. He pointed to himself. "I am Garfield Logan, of Earth. Who are you?"

"Ta chik titit tit. Chikt ta chitit chit?" This time he heard the question mark on the end of the sentence. They must be having to basically learn his language, probably programming their computers to translate.

It took a while for them to properly compensate for the differences in speech and pronunciation. All the while, he chafed; he wanted to know if Tara was alright. Surely, if they rescued him, they wouldn't leave her behind…

If indeed this was rescue and not captivity.

But finally, the being by his bed introduced himself as "Talks to God." "And you are Garfield Logan, of Earth. How do you feel?"

Gar held his side. "Better than I guess I have any right to be. Was I dreaming, or did you kill that parademon?"

"Parademon? I am unfamiliar with the word. But I slew the one menacing you, yes."

"What….what of the girl? There was another human there, I was trying to rescue her….."

"The female? Yes. She is in the next room. We had to expunge the fluid from her lungs; she required special attention."

"Is she alright?"

Talks to God seemed to hesitate. Then, "She is well. Is she your mate?"

"No. Just a ….. friend I was trying to help."

"I comprehend. Then perhaps my next words will not distress you unduly. The female was with young prior to being placed in the acceleration tube. However, something went wrong during that process, and the young in her womb no longer lives."

Beast Boy sat there, taking it all in. He felt a little numb. He knew, from what the others had said, what had happened in Las Vegas, but, on some level, he'd never really believed it, somehow. It was like something you read in a book: while you're reading, you believe, but once you close the book, it fades.

But now…

His child? Dead? He didn't quite know how to feel about that. "Can I see her?"

"Yes. Come this way." And Talks to God assisted him out the door into the next room.

Tara lay supine on what looked like a floating white cloud. Beast Boy couldn't see anything holding it up. She wasn't awake.

Standing there, looking at her, he found himself overcome with a variety of emotions. She looked so fragile, lying there under the covers. So vulnerable. Had she really been carrying his baby? Garfield sighed. The world she'd wake up to wouldn't be a pretty one. "Talks to God? Gotta chair? I'd….like to stay with her, be here when she wakes up."

…

"Gar…..field?" Tara's voice was very weak. He leaned forward on the cushions the Hunters had provided for him—evidently, they did not use anything like Earthly chairs, and, given their physiology, he could see why—and took her hand. "I'm here, Tara. Take it easy. You're safe; everything's okay." Which was not exactly true, of course, but she didn't need to stress over things just now. There would be time. "Just rest. You've been through a lot. I'll be here for you when you wake up."

"Thank….you….." Her hand closed gently around his, her eyes closed, and she drifted back off to sleep.

She woke up three more times, each time a little more alert and aware. "Where….are we, anyway?"

"That's…kind of a long story. You up for it, yet?"

"Might as….well be. Lay it on me."

"First…what's the last thing you remember?"

She frowned in concentration. "I—I was home, in bed, trying to get to sleep. Someone came into my room. I thought it was Dad." She began to shake. "It wasn't Dad! It looked like him, but it wasn't him! It wasn't-*"

"Shhh. It's alright, Tara. It's okay." He squeezed her hand gently. Drew a deep breath. "Tara, I have some…..hard truths you need to know. You….won't like them one little bit, but I have to tell you anyway." And he began telling her about Terra, and the cloning process, and her parents (or, rather, the robots posing as her parents), who she was, where she most probably came from, all the events leading right up to his following her in the modified T-ship. "Fortunately, I had some help who showed up right when needed." For the first time, she noticed the huge, ungainly bandage on his right side.

Her eyes widened. "You're…hurt."

"Looks worse than it really is. Rhinos can take a lot of punishment. And I heal pretty quickly." He looked up as Talks to God entered the room. "And, I have someone you need to meet. Tara, this is Talks to God. He's kinda like a Chaplain or something. Only with guns. He saved both of us."

Tara's eyes widened even further at the sight of the raptor-like alien. Talks to God looked at Beast Boy. "The female is awake?"

"Yes. Talks to God, this is Tara, my friend."

Talks to God bowed low, a gesture of respect. "It is an honor to meet you, Tara. The green fighter has told me much about you."

"Oh….my….God….." She was staring.

Talks to God tilted his head, quizzically. "I do not think so. I am fairly certain that honor is reserved for a much higher being than myself."

Beast Boy grinned. The vocalizer chip on Talks' tongue might enable him to approximate human speech, while the translator button in his ear rendered what he heard back into Hunter speech, but some mannerisms and euphemisms would take some getting used to.

Talks to God turned back to Beast Boy. "I sense you are not yet done with your conversation. I will be back shortly. In the meantime, would either of you care for anything to eat?"

"Maybe in a minute, Talks. Yeah, we're…..not exactly done here."

After he'd left, Beast Boy turned back to Tara, who'd lain back down, and was holding her hand up to her head. "So. I'm…..a clone."

"Yes." There wasn't a whole lot he could add to that.

"Of this Terra girl, whom you were in love with."

There was more, but there was time for that. Again, "yes."

"And….my parents…..weren't real?"

"No, Tara, they weren't. I don't know really where they came from, but that ship you were on was positively infested with parademons. I only know one place those bad boys come from, and it's not a vacation resort of the universe, either: Apokalypse. Darkseid and company."

"But why would they—oh. Right. The powers…."

"Exactly. You have 'em, and there's no going back. You're only real defense against this sort of thing happening again is, learn to use 'em. You'll need to, anyway."

"Well….at least, I still have you."

He sighed. This was certainly not going down in her memory as a good day. "That….brings me to another hard truth, Tara." And he told her about Terra, and his engagement to her. He didn't tell her about Las Vegas; there was, he thought, no need now.

She'd been holding his hand while he spoke, but now quietly removed it from his grip. She lay there, staring at the ceiling, tears trickling down the side of her face. Then, "Why?"

He hadn't expected that. "Uh, why what?"

"Why did you save me? I, I have nothing left. I'm not even a real person…."

He shifted over to the cloud-bed with her, and she hitched away, feebly. "Tara. Listen to me. You are a real person. You feel, you think. It doesn't matter how you came to be. What matters is, you're here. And, and you haven't lost everything. You've still got friends back on Earth, friends who care about you. And, no matter how you feel about me—you can hate me if you want to, I suppose I deserve it—I'm still your friend. And I'll do anything I can to help you." She grimaced, her face contorting as she began to cry. He held her close, halfway expecting her to push him away. But she didn't. "Believe me, Tara. I know what it's like to lose everything. The only thing I can say to you is, keep breathing, and you'll get something back. We always do." And he held her while she cried, cried openly for the loss of a life and dreams she'd barely begun to know.

…

Raven looked up from the breakfast table, a faraway look in her eyes. "He's coming back," she whispered. The others around her froze. There was no mistaking who she meant.

…

The Hunter starship Deson re-entered normal space just outside the orbit of Neptune, traveling at a respectable fraction of the velocity of light, moving inward. Talks to God and Beast Boy stood on the flying bridge, watching the spectacle of the solar system shift around them, protected from the gee stress by the field-drive of the starship. "And yours is the third planet out from the sun?" Talks asked.

"Yes, sir. It's got one moon, a rather large one, comparatively speaking." He'd become extremely comfortable with the Hunter. Perhaps as much so as with any other being he'd ever known. "If you're looking for trading partners, I'm fairly sure lots of people on Earth would go for it."

"We will, of course, send back information to the Contacts division. Perhaps I will be on the next ship that comes this way. But trade is not the function of this expedition. We seek—" Garfield could hear a frown in his voice, though the Hunter's face could show no such emotion, at least, not to a human. "Garfield, I must tell you of a creature of legend. But there is no time to do so right now. We will be arriving shortly, and I must go prepare a shuttle ship to take you and the female back to your people."

"Thank you, Honored One."

Robin, Starfire, Raven and Cyborg gathered on the roof to watch the shuttle descend. It landed on the helipad area, its agrav engines silent as they countered the force of gravity.

The hatch opened, and Beast Boy sprang out. "Hey, guys! Miss me?"

Starfire was first on him, catching him a one of her patented death-hugs. He could almost feel his skeleton deform slightly. "My friend! It is so good to see you back!"

"It's….good to be back, Star," he croaked, when he could draw in enough air to speak.

Robin and Cyborg were next in line. "Uh, hey, Rob. Yeah, I know I screwed up, disobeyed orders and all, but wait'll I tell you what happened."

Robin soberly shook his hand. "I'll look forward to seeing that report. And welcome back, Gar." Cyborg mirrored the sentiment, cuffing him lightly on the shoulder.

Raven approached him, hood up, her face invisible in the shadow. He stood very still, watching her. "Uh, hi, Rae. Long time no see."

She nodded, then gestured towards the shuttle door, where Tara and Talks to God were waiting. "I take it, then, that your mission was a success?"

"Yeah. It's just—ooof!" She'd grabbed him in a death hug that could rival Starfire's.

"Don't ever do me that way again, Garfield Logan! Do you have any idea how worried I was?"

"Yeah, I know…sorta. But I just felt I had to do this, Rae."

She drew back, looking him full in the face. "We'll talk more about this….later. After you've talked to Terra." He gulped.

"Yes, well, uhm, everyone? I'd like to introduce a new friend…"

Later, after introductions had been made all around, reports given, and ideas discussed, he sought out Cyborg. "Cy? Look. I know I'm in a whale of a lot of trouble with Robin right now, but do you suppose you could speak to someone at Titans' East about Tara? She's gotta learn how to control her powers. Could they help her?"

Cyborg scratched his chin. "Don't see why not. Yeah, last time I spoke with Bumblebee, they were looking for new members. Would Tara go for that, you think?"

"We talked about it on the way back. She's still a little shellshocked, but she realizes that she has to learn to control her powers before someone else decides to do it for her."

"Yeah. She'd better. Otherwise, she's in for a world of hurt. I'll make the call."

Garfield Logan stood in front of his own door, afraid to go in. What would she say? She'd been conspicuously absent from the meetings and reports…..

He opened the door. Terra stood there, by the chest of drawers, arms folded in front of her, her expression serious. "Hey, Terra."

"Garfield."

Silence. Then he blurted out, "Terra, please don't think I was choosing Tara over you. I wasn't. I, I just felt like something had to be done, and nobody was doing it. That's really all."

She didn't say anything.

"Terra? Would you please talk to me? Are—are things alright, between us?"

She sighed, looking down. "I….I don't know, Garfield. I, I need time to think." Then she did the one thing he'd been afraid she'd do: she took her engagement ring off her finger, laid it on the table top.

He couldn't stand it. He couldn't stand to see that look in her eyes, that I don't trust you anymore look. Making up his mind, he went to the closet and began gathering some clothes together. "Gar? What are you doing?"

"I think I'll go visit the Doom Patrol for a while, kinda reconnect with mom and dad. I haven't seen them in a long time. And," and here he paused, "Maybe I need some time to think, too." He steadfastly refused to look at her. That look she'd given him…..it had hurt worse than any physical wound he'd ever had. Far worse.

He gathered up his clothes, his laptop, his iPad, and left the room, leaving her standing there.

….

"But why must you go, friend Garfield? You are home!" Starfire was practically in tears. He'd carried his clothes to a small, unfurnished room across the hallway from his, just to get them packed properly.

"It's not goodbye or anything, Star. I'm just going for a visit. Be back before you know it."

Cyborg stuck out his hand. "Well, get used to daily calls from me. And I may just drop by, if that's alright. Your buddy, Cliff Steele, still owes me a grudge chess match I've never collected on."

Garfield smiled. "I'm sure he'll be more'n happy to oblige you." He turned to Starfire. "Star? Could I ask a favor?"

"Anything!"

He came up to her and took her hands in his. "Just…..kinda be there for Robin, would'ja? You know how he is sometimes, he broods too much. So just be there for him, please?" The way Terra wasn't there for me.

She gulped. "I will." Then she caught him in another bear hug. "Oh, be it well with you, my beloved friend! And hurry back!"

"Starfire? Cyborg? Could I have a moment with Garfield alone, please?" Raven had appeared in the doorway.

"Uhm, sure, Rae. C'mon, Star, let's go downstairs."

Alone in the tiny room, she faced him, hood up, face concealed in shadow. "So. Going off, are you?"

"Yeah. I kinda need to get my head together, you know? And maybe reconnect with the home folks. You know. Chill, a little bit."

"Will you be gone long?"

"I don't plan to be."

She approached him, slowly reaching her arms, shrouded by her cloak, up over his shoulders. Drew him down to her, into her cloak. His arms went around her automatically.

And she kissed him. Not the sisterly peck he'd been halfway expecting, but a thoroughly sexual kiss. He had time to wonder: where had shy Raven, closed-shell Raven, learned to kiss like this? He could almost feel his toes start to curl up.

She drew back, her violet eyes shining in the shadow of her hood, perfect white teeth flashing as she spoke. "Don't make me come looking for you. You won't like it if I have to come looking for you." And she was gone.

…

Terra sat at the mirror in the room, trying to brush her hair. She'd never felt this depressed in her young life. This was three times now she'd hurt him; he'd have to be some kind of special fool to give her another chance.

Well, she would leave. There was bound to be someplace on the Earth she hadn't seen yet. She'd replaced the ring back in its box; maybe he could get his money back.

Somebody signaled for entrance. "Go away!" she shouted. She didn't care who it was, she didn't want to talk to anybody right now.

"About what I figured. All balls, no guts," came a hatefully familiar voice from the other side.

Terra yanked open the door. There stood Tara. She was wearing a crimson jumpsuit that emphasized her every curve, with a snow-white greatcoat over that. Her hair and features were perfect. She looked every inch the royalty Terra had never felt like she was. "What do you want?"

"Oh, just came by to make your day. There's a transport leaving for Steel City in half an hour. I'll be on it."

"Good riddance to bad rubbish." She started to close the door, but Tara halted it.

"Oh, it's not goodbye. Turns out, I've some property here in this city. So I'll have to come back to see to its disposition. Plus, I have friends here." She paused, and pretended to examine her fingernails. Her expertly manicured fingernails, Terra noted. "One in particular. I understand he's unattached now. I find that appealing in a man."

"I….you…."

"Personally, I hope this other person who used to be mucking up his life continues to crawfish out with as much dignity as she can muster. I think my friend is already realizing that," and here she looked Terra up and down in a most insulting manner, "he could do…..so much better."

Snap! Went the hairbrush in Terra's hand. The two girls looked at each other for a moment, with Terra visibly trembling with rage. Then they leapt at each other.

…..

Robin sighed, rubbing his eyes as Raven came into the room. "How's things down in Catfight Central?"

"Calm for now. Starfire and Cyborg had to literally pull them apart, however. Several times. But Tara should be getting on the transport even as we speak." She reached up and worked her jaw back and forth a few times. "Robin? Our health coverage does cover dental work, doesn't it?"

"Yes. Why do you ask?" Then he saw the purplish bruise on Raven's cheek. "Raven? Did you-*"

"Note to self: do not, repeat, do not attempt to separate two furious female combatants by interposing oneself between them. Especially," she continued laconically, "when one is laughing oneself half to death. Terra had the upper hand, but Tara had gotten in a few lucky shots. Unfortunately for yours truly," and here she worked her jaw again, back and forth, "not all of them landed on Terra."

….

Alone in the room, Terra wiped her eyes and tried to keep from crying. She'd thought she was miserable before; now things were even worse.

He'll be better off without me, she thought, even as she threw some clothes into a duffel bag. They all will. She just couldn't stand to stay in this huge empty room one more night, where everything was so quiet, and everything she saw reminded her of him. Her eye was caught by the ring box, with the ring in it. She went over and picked it up.

It was beautiful. She'd never imagined that she could someday own something so lovely. Her eyes teared up again as she remembered how he proposed to her, that night. Well, all that was water under the bridge, so to speak.

She remembered the look in his eyes when she'd taken the ring off. That made three times she'd hurt him. She couldn't blame him for wanting nothing more to do with her.

For a few minutes, she just sat there, on the edge of the bed they once shared, and cried. So much for her wonderful life. In a moment of jealousy, of insecurity, she'd thrown away the only thing of real value in it: her one true love.

She found herself gazing at the ring in her hand, holding it up to the light. It was so beautiful. She could see her reflection in the facets of the diamond inset…

…except it wasn't really her tear-stained reflection she saw, but Tara's hateful smirk.

Something inside her snapped. "Oh, hell, no!" She savagely jammed the ring back on her left hand (where it belongs, she thought), practically skinning a knuckle in the process, and threw the box into the garbage can. She wouldn't be needing it anymore.

She looked around. The room didn't seem quite so empty as before. True, he was gone, but he'd be back…and, come to think of it…

She fished around for her T-cell. Used it to take a picture of the ring on her finger. Did it several times in order to get it just right (all the while, once again, mentally vowing to stop biting her fingernails). She needed a good, high-res snapshot of the ring on her finger. Finally, she got one that satisfied her.

She pulled up his number, attached the photo of the ring on her finger to it, and typed in, dont u think its time i met ur folks? And pressed the "send" key.

Sitting there, cross-legged on their bed, she waited.

The End…

…..?

Epilogue

Gorilla Grodd worked feverishly in the small secret headquarters he had. He was fairly confident that none of the others knew about this hidey-hole of his, and he had every reason for keeping the secrets it contained from the others.

Before him was a long reddish-brown casing of some sort. It wasn't metal, as it was not active magnetically, nor could he find any sort of acid or reagent that reacted with it. It was smooth-sided, without any obvious locks or latches. Or even any seams.

There was no doubt as to what it was, of course: an Osiran pod. The Lords' wave had been destroyed, leaving only the Thinkers and Warriors to be implanted in the fertile bosom of some new native world. Either one would suit him just as well.

If it was Warriors, and if he could gain control of them, he'd be virtually invincible. Imagine having one's own army of Supermen, who weren't vulnerable to kryptonite! Not to mention that they seemed, by all accounts, to come pretrained and preconditioned. A would-be world conqueror could hardly ask for more.

If it was Thinkers, imagine the advances in science and technology they could craft for him! Technology that literally made anything on Earth look like stone knives and bearskins, by comparison. He would, of course, have to find some way to control them, but he was confident of his ability to do that. Besides. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

He'd set up his laboratory with all that he needed for his mind-control apparatus. The gorillas of Gorilla City would be shocked, positively shocked, at the uses to which their sacred tech was being put, but it was all for the greater good, of course. He, Grodd, would be the absolute ruler of the first Technocracy seen on Earth… and that fool human Luthor thought he was a problem now!

He glanced at this control setting, before continuing to pry away at the casing before him. There had to be some way to open it, he thought. That only made sense. Yet he was having a very hard time even finding any purchase for his crowbar.

There; a small seam running along the length of the casing. He could just barely insert the tip of his crowbar into it, but it gave him the purchase necessary to begin using his natural great strength to open the lid. And yet, it seemed to be stuck, somehow…..

He shifted his weight, bringing all his strength to bear on this one spot. Surely, he could not be denied the pod's secrets now!

{{YOU WILL SERVE ME.}}

Grodd screamed, dropping his crowbar, the sheer psychic force of the thought/concept shattering his mental defenses as if they were made of wet tissue paper. He could feel his consciousness, his sense of self, running, crying, screaming into the darkness of his own skull, seeking sanctuary in madness. But the Presence in which he stood would not allow that.

The lid of the pod was smashed aside, tossed aside as if it were a potato chip. From within emerged a nine-foot tall biped, swathed in grey robes, with milk-white skin. It was bald, and carried in its hand an oddly shaped mask, which it now donned. The Osiran Lord gazed impassively at the cowering creature before him. {{YOU WILL SERVE ME,}} he thought/spoke again. This was neither command nor threat; it was simply a statement of fact, along the same lines as saying "the sky is blue."

Grodd found himself kneeling before his new Lord and Master. In some small corner of what used to be his mind, his own individuality still gibbered and tried to run away, but it was far too late for that. He found he did not want to run away. Why should he run? Of what possible use could he be, to his new Master, if he did? He was much more useful right here.

There had never been any question as to the outcome. All of Grodd's mental strength, all his genius, had been as useless as a leaf in a hurricane before the force he now faced.

The Lord stroked Grodd's face, sending jolts of pleasure throughout his new servant. It was soft, but it would do. For a start. {{YES. YOU WILL SERVE ME, AND YOU WILL SERVE ME WELL, GRODD. AND SOON, VERY SOON, I AND MY KIND WILL ONCE AGAIN REIGN SUPREME OVER ALL THE STARS.}}