Wonder Girl and the Toung Jitans!

“What do you mean they’re gone?!” Cassie cried, disbelief written blatantly across her face.

Robin had his back to them, his shoulders hitched up as they so often were when he had bad news. A stark black silhouette against the wall of monitors, the young leader of the Teen Titans was silent, obviously struggling with the enormity of the reality his news was creating. At last he sighed, turning to face the other Titans in the room, his mask pinched with barely suppressed rage.

“An hour ago the Justice League made contact with the Citadel… Half an hour ago their communication lines were cut… Fifteen minutes ago Bravo team boomed to a planet near their last known coordinates in stealth mode. M’gann tried contacting the League with telepathy, but had no reply.” Robin paused again, scowling at the floor.

“Five minutes ago Bravo boomed back and gave me this.” He growled, punching a button on the console. Instantly the wall of screens changed, no longer covered in maps, data, and research, they now showed just one image, spread across all the screens. The shattered remains of the custom built ship Batman had put together to get the combined might of the entire Justice League into deep space for this assault. An assault that had apparently gone disastrously wrong.

The tension in the war room was palpable. Sure, they had all known failure was a possibility. But with the big three, plus other big guns like Martian Manhunter and Captain Marvel, it just didn’t seem plausible. The entire Justice League defeated and missing, it was unheard of.

Robin lifted his gaze, locking eyes with each and every hero in the room in turn. The ferocity of his stare roused them all from their stunned stupor.

“You all know what this means. Our pre-emptive attack has failed, and the League has fallen. We are now the last line of defence the Earth has against the Citadel. Defeat is not a luxury we can afford. If we fall, so does the entire planet. So… don’t fall.” He all but spat, the foul taste of admitting the loss of the Justice League too much for the young Greyson.

Fists clenched by his sides Robin turned to Starfire, who was leaning against the wall looking very much like she’d rather be anywhere else.

“Star, is there anything else you can tell us? Something to give us an edge? It doesn’t matter how small, everything gives us a better fighting chance.” He implored, the hard edge in his voice softening. It was only thanks to Starfire that they had any idea the Citadel was coming to claim Earth at all. Although it was through no good fortune.

The Citadel had taken Starfire’s planet when she was a child, helped by the betrayal of her own sister Blackfire. After a long and bloody war, her father, King Myand’r, had to hand over Starfire to ensure peace, putting her into lifelong exile, for her return would trigger the destruction of her home planet. For six years she was the slave and target of abuse for Blackfire, until she finally escaped and fled to Earth. Starfire had hoped to start over, and for awhile it seemed she had succeeded. She had joined the Teen Titans, made friends, and no one seemed to be pursuing her.

But that all changed on New Years Eve.

The core Titans were on patrol duty at Central Park that night, where the main festivities were being held. Robin, Starfire, Cyborg, Beast Boy, and Raven, mixed and mingled on rooftop and side walk around the park. The other members of the Titans, having the night off, were making the most of it, joining in the celebrations.

Everything seemed to be going fine, when, just before midnight, something caught Starfire’s eye. A silver bracelet glinting in the moonlight as two party goers snuck off for some snooky in an alley. The Tamaranian had seen that glint before. That was no ordinary bracelet!

Flying up onto the rooftop to eavesdrop, the Teen Titan veteran had her worst fears confirmed as a language she long hoped to forget reached her ears. The pair were Citadel Scouts, assessing Earth as a viable source of slaves. And they were requesting a beam up. Starfire knew what that meant. The moment they made it back to the mothership and reported the several billion humans with relatively archaic weaponry ripe for the conquering, the Earth would be the Citadel’s next target. By the end of the year, Earth would be enslaved… or destroyed.

There was only one way she could prevent that from happening.

Eyes glowing green, Starfire unleashed a volley of starbolts into the alley. The two Citadelians fled out into the park, just as a flash of white light signalled the mothership attempting to beam them up from the site of their last transmission. One of her bolts had hit home, destroying the bracelet on one of the duo. And so, instead of a young human couple running out of an alley, it was in fact a young girl and an 8 foot tall scaled green alien.

Panic spread like a ripple through the party crowd as the aliens sought refuge behind a wall of humans. But that did not stop Starfire. With a great shout, she ripped the 4 story high plasma screen counting down to the New Year from its foundations, and hurled it at the Citadelians.

The entire park was in chaos. Starfire, one of Jump City’s most beloved protectors, had just attacked the masses for no apparent reason. The other Titans rushed to try and stop her rampage, but they were too late. The massive sign soared through the air and bounced, crushing the green alien in an instant, before cartwheeling onwards and slaughtering another dozen humans as it came to a standstill.

The remaining Scout was shouting into her bracelet for an emergency beam up from her tracker, and Starfire gave chase. The Tamaranians were the next strongest race physically from the Kryptonians, so Star had spent her entire time on Earth holding back her true strength.

Until now.

The rampaging Titan rocketed forwards, fist drawn back, glowing with ultra concentrated Starbolt energy, gearing up to hit the disguised alien so hard its body would probably smash through every building for the next 20 blocks. All she had to do was kill it and the Earth would be safe. The Citadel would write them off as too dangerous. Kill the Scout, save the world.

But her fist never connected. Cyborg shot his sonic canon, Raven blasted her with dark energy, and Robin set off a small arsenal of explosives, all of which combined to knock the murderous Titan off course. Instead of hitting the scout, Starfire crashed in a heap 30 meters away.

“No!” She screamed, leaping to her feet. But it was too late. A flash of white light and the Earth’s fate was sealed. The Scout was gone. The Citadel was on its way.

The next few months were trying. The press, led by Mitch Masters, were braying for blood, demanding Starfire go to jail for all those humans she had killed. And indeed, for most of May, she did. But not before briefing the Teen Titans, Justice League, and Young Justice on what was coming. In her absence the League began intelligence and preparation operations. The Lanterns left Earth to find out why the Citadel had not been stopped yet, whilst everyone else worked on updating planetary defence systems.

In early June the Lanterns returned, and it was not with good news. Due to treaties from way back when, they were forbidden from taking action against the Citadel. But they could still provide information. Such as the mothership’s current whereabouts. As feared, the colossal vessel was headed straight for Earth, and would be there by the end of July. Unless it could be stopped before then.

The League put together two teams. Those that would be on the offensive, leading a preemptive strike on the mothership whilst it was still out in deep space. And those that would be on the defensive, staying behind to protect Earth whilst the preemptive strike occurred… And to take over should the attack fail.

Three days ago Mentors farewelled their proteges, and the Teen Titans and Young Justice teams merged into one. The adults, as the most experienced and most powerful, would lead the assault. The kids would stay behind.

Aqualad moved Young Justice over to the Tower in Jump City, Mount Justice currently in the process of being rebuilt again having been destroyed by the Injustice League a few weeks ago. Robin became de facto leader of the combined Team, his penchant for inspiring speeches putting him ahead of the comparatively mute Aqualad. Which was why it was Robin that delivered the bad news, and not Kaldur, who was standing stiff with tension to the boy wonder’s right.

Key members of the Team had filed in for the briefing. Cyborg, Beast Boy, and Kid Flash had taken the chairs along the back wall. Raven and Superboy had both found their way to solitary corners where they could frown in peace. Artemis, Miss Martian, Batgirl, Blue Beetle, Bumblebee, and Wonder Girl had all taken seats around the central table. Robin stood at the head, Aqualad at his shoulder, and Starfire leaned against the wall off to the side behind Bumblebee.

“I am sorry Robin, but my information has not changed.” Starfire said sadly, looking forlornly down at her wringing hands. Robin’s fists clenched even tighter at this news, but his face softened, just a bit.

“Well let me know if you remember anything, anything at all.” He said not unkindly, turning back to the Team.

“Ok, from Bravo team’s report, the mothership was long gone by the time you guys got there, right?” Robin continued, running his hand through his hair as his mind raced with thought. Miss Martian, Blue Beetle, and Raven nodded.

“Right. That means we can expect them in the Solar System by the end of the day, and in orbit around Earth sometime tomorrow.” His fingers danced across the console keys, and in the next moment, the screen changed to an assortment of schematics, diagrams, and rosters.

“We don’t have much time, so we need to get ready. Alpha squad is primary offence. That’s Starfire, Kid Flash, Superboy, Blue Beetle, and Wonder Girl. When they come, you don’t hesitate, you go after them. Hard.” His eyes, so dark they might as well be black, found their way back to Starfire, to gauge her reaction to finding out she’d be going head to head with her own personal demons. He was not disappointed. Starfire was the strongest person he knew. Naturally her hands had taken their place by her sides, her shoulders had pushed themselves back, and her eyes burned green in anticipation for some small measure of revenge. No, strike that last part. Revenge wasn’t her style, that was Robin’s thing. No, Starfire burned with a desire to protect. To protect everyone else from a fate like her own. The pair nodded ever so slightly at each other, before Robin returned to the task at hand.

“Bravo squad is primary defence. Cyborg and Aqualad. This Tower is our command centre. If it falls, all our teams will be cut off from each other, and we will be practically handing the planet over on a silver platter. You’re our heavy hitters. Aqualad we’re on an island surrounded by Ocean, Cy you can hook into the Tower defence systems and bring out the literal big guns.” Aqualad moved up to stand beside Robin, clapping his hand onto the younger boy’s shoulder, to assure him that he won’t let him down. Meanwhile Beast Boy mimed devastation to Cyborg over Robin finally admitting Cyborg was the heavy hitter of the team. Cyborg for his part just shrugged, a smirk lifting the corners of his metallic face.

“Delta squad is secondary defence. Beast Boy, Batgirl, Artemis, and Bumblebee. You’ll be defending the city, protecting the citizens as they evacuate, and taking care of anything Alpha squad lets through. If we loose this battle, you will most likely be the last ones left standing as you’ll all be scattered and hard to pick off. Make them hunt you on the ground. Be quick, be fast. Guerrilla style.” This time Robin’s eyes found Barbara through her Batgirl mask. She was only new to the Bat family, but already he thought of her as a sister. She was reckless, and he hoped that the seriousness of his gaze reinforced his message. Quick, fast, and low. She would need to pick her battles. Something he rather hoped Artemis could help her with out on the battlefield.

“Finally, Gamma squad is command. Myself, Miss Martian, and Raven. Miss M will link us all telepathically so we can all stay in contact. She’ll be doing so from here as we can’t risk losing her communication line. I will be running tactics, coordinating you all, and trying to prevent any holes in our defence. Raven is support. If you are too injured to continue, she will portal out and bring you back here.” Running his hand through his hair again, Robin looked up to survey the room. A whole lot of grim faces were looking back at him, but none of them were filled with true despair. They still had hope, however small. Which meant they still had a shot at winning this, Justice League or not.

“Starfire is Alpha leader, Aqualad is Bravo leader, Beast Boy is Delta leader, and I am Gamma leader. We have a whole heap of honorary Teen Titans and solo heroes currently here in the Tower to lend support. Grab as many of them as you can if you think they will help in your squad’s role.” Robin flashed them all a tense grin.

“Good luck.”