Chapter 4: Regrets

Disclaimer: I own nothing

"Maybe all one can do is hope to end up with the right regrets."

Arthur Miller

Chapter 4: "Regrets"

(Sunday-January 3, 2016)

"Me, huh? You sure that you want to know? Some things can't be unlearned."

"I'm sure it can't be that bad."

"Blissful ignorance. Alright, I'll tell you what my life's been like so far. First off, I'm technically six years old. You see, I wasn't born. I was cloned. The person that cloned me is my Dad, and the person that my DNA came from is my brother. The reason that I'm a girl is because half of my DNA comes from a person that died only a few weeks before my DNA was stabilized."

"So, you don't age like Superboy?"

"No. I age. I'm more of a…perfected clone. My brother allowed my Dad to use him as a catalyst for my genetic code. That's something that Superman never got the chance to do with SB. So luckily, I didn't have to stay as a little girl, although I think that would have been simpler."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean…It would be nice if I could have been blissfully happy like I was back then forever, but that's not how things work for ghosts. I suppose the beginning of my journey started when I was four months old. Something called the Nocturne Incident happened."

Spirit took a deep breath and took in the sight of Raan, "On another planet. So cool. You know, I used to want to be an astronaut. It would be so epic to live off planet."

"It is pretty epic," Miss Martian smiled.

"Right. Planet three for you," Spirit stuck her tongue out. "Lucky."

"A-dahm! A-dahm!"

The group turned to see a slender young woman with dark hair that reminded them of an elf with her pointed ears. She was humanoid in form with the only major differences being her blue lips and the blue markings below her purple eyes. Behind the young woman was an older man with a bald head. Like the girl, he had pointed ears. Unlike the female's simple clothing, he wore green goggles and a strange lab coat.

"Ol fao aeli vier qu, A-dahm!" the girl smiled brightly at the Earthling doctor.

"Um…" Strange smiled as well. "Great! I think…Zeta Squad, these are my Rannian friends. Sardath, and his daughter, Alanna."

The members of Young Justice shared a look as they heard the almost burning affection in Strange's voice when he introduced Alanna. Spirit wiggled her eyebrows to the others amusement, but they all knew better than to judge another person's love life. If anything, Strange's romantic life was the most normal out of all of them.

"Sardath-Cho, Alanna..." Strange stepped behind the heroes to introduce them. "Olf fao Miss Martian, Superboy, ul Spirit... leps Urth"

The Rannians' eyes snapped to the Phantom logo on Spirit's chest. They looked at each other before turning back. Sardath bowed, "Lam talsa, Urth-lingz. Fao A-dahm ililoc qu duss maol ao Apic-Zeta?"

All three members of Zeta Squad glanced to Strange for translation. The Earthling scientist shrugged, "I am still figuring out the language. This is usually when we start playing charades."

With a smirk, Miss Martian turned to the Rannians. Her eyes glowed green. Their hosts flinched as their minds were invaded. Alanna spoke, "What was that?"

Superboy gained a deep frown. Spirit merely looked on impassively. She didn't particularly care that her friend didn't wait for permission. It would take too long to get them to understand.

"Such an odd sensation," Sardath noted.

"Wait!" Strange rushed forward. "You're speaking English!"

"No," Miss Martian hummed happily. "But I linked us mentally. And I'm serving as a psychic translator. They speak Rannian, we speak English. But all now hear the language they understand."

Sardath's eyes lit up in excitement, "Amazing."

Alanna stepped up to Strange in enticement, "It will make communicating so much easier."

Sardath glanced to the side upon hearing what the Earthling assumed were alien sirens in the distance, "Perhaps we should take this inside. It is wise to use caution when harboring Earthlings."

The Rannians led them into the nearby building. They entered to see a large laboratory with dozens of spherical machines. Spirit spotted a strange, tiny dinosaur bird creature in the corner. She didn't know if it were a pet or an experiment, and she didn't care to ask. In the back of her mind, the halfa thought that Beast Boy would love the strange bird but swiftly crushed the thought to keep any sense of sadness from bubbling up.

"Sardath," Strange spoke to the alien as they were led into the lab. "have you learnt anything more about why earthlings are unwelcome in this corner of the Galaxy?"

"The Rannian Science Command is xenophobic in general," Sardath explained as he moved to a holographic diagram of a Zeta Platform. "Which is why my research into interplanetary zeta beam travel is being conducted quietly."

"And why you haven't reported the theft of your technology," Strange noted.

"Exactly," Sardath nodded. "If Science Command learned I had made it possible for aliens, especially you Earthlings to zeta here to Rann, the consequences could be dire for myself and my daughter."

"I still don't get it," Superboy shook his head. "Why the big hate for Earthlings? How do they even know any earthlings to hate?"

Alanna pressed down on a holographic projector to show the wanted posters for the League, "I assume Adam showed you this. We are still unclear on the details."

"Science Command is not inclined to share intelligence with its people," Sardath stated.

Alanna spoke next, "But we have learned there was an accident on the planet Rimbor involving earthling criminals knowing as the Justice League."

Sardath eyed the members of Zeta Squad, "I assume that you're not associated with these outlaws."

"We're not members of the Justice League if that's what you're asking," Spirit noted. "But what about me and my family? Do you consider us criminals?"

"Slights against Apokolips are not considered criminal acts. Although, it is not considered very intelligent either," Sardath frowned. "What did you do?"

"Nothing. None of my family has ever been off Earth until now," Spirit's eyes flickered. "Well, my brother might have. I don't know. He was…kidnapped for a time, but I get the feeling that he didn't anger them. If he did, then Apokolips probably would have attacked us a while ago."

"Fair point. Then I have no idea why Apokolips would be interested in you. Perhaps they wish to dissect you," Sardath stroked his chin in thought. "That would explain why they would want you alive and the strange term 'ghost' which keeps popping up."

"What is a 'ghost' anyway?" Alanna questioned. "My friends and I speculate on it a lot, but I'm dying to know."

"It's a term to describe hum…Earthlings who died and came back to life as ectoplasmic beings," Spirit shrugged.

"Come back to life!?" Alanna gasped. "Earthlings can do that?!"

"Some can," Spirit shrugged.

"Fascinating…" Sardath's eyes were wide. "Would you be willing to share data on the subject?"

"You'd have to talk to my family," Spirit mentioned. She glanced to Strange. "They know more than me, although I'm sure that my Dad would love to trade knowledge. Doctor Strange could be a mediator. I'm sure that he would LOVE to spend more time on your planet."

Alanna's face twisted in delight, "Perfect."

Coughing, Strange decided to direct the conversation back to the League, "That can be saved for later. You're on a mission right now."

"Ah yes," Sardath gestured back to the holograms. "Only these 6 were on Rimbor. But since then the Kroloteans have posted planetary watch alerts for every criminal in the League."

"The Kroloteans!" Strange tensed up. "That's who stole your Zeta platform tech! They used it to secretly invade Earth, which is how they found about other Leaguers."

"I know," Sardath nodded. "I told you that the last time that you were here."

"Of course!" Strange face palmed. "Kroloteans, right! I misunderstood you. I thought it was just a Rannian word for 'thief'."

"It might as well be," Alanna muttered bitterly.

Superboy stepped forward, "Yeah, Krolotean culture revolves around stolen tech. We heard. Question is what do we do about it?"

"My father's Zeta shield will help," Alanna pressed on the holographic projector again. A diagram of their planets appeared.

"If I can perfect the design," Sardath stated. "Your primitive Zeta tubes would still function within the confines of the earthling atmosphere, but unauthorized travel to and from other worlds will become impossible. In short, my shield will prevent more Kroloteans from invading your world via Zeta beam while trapping any still entrenched there."

Miss Martian spoke up, "And in the meantime Adam tells us you've located the Kroloteans' Zeta platform here on Rann?"

"Indeed," Sardath inclined his head. "But the jungles of Rann can be dangerous. You Earthlings will need a guide."

Alanna stepped forward, "I'll go, father. You must complete your work on the zeta shield."

Sardath frowned, "But transportation out of the city of Ranagar is not also without risks, Alanna. We must disguise these earthlings."

"Look, enough with this Earthlings thing," Superboy growled. "I am half-Kryptonian, and Miss Martian is...Martian!"

"You came here from Earth?" Sardath questioned. "Did you not?"

"Yeah, but…" Superboy sighed. "Never mind."

Spirit crossed her arms, "It's the same everywhere, isn't it? Even in space, you're judged by where you come from, not who you are."

Dusk floated down to the strange object which had crashed into the middle of downtown Tokyo. It seemed to be a round escape pod opened to show a thick chair. Whatever had been in the sphere was gone now. There was no sign of the person or creature outside of the crater created by the impact. The screaming public was panicking in all directions.

"This appears to be alien in origin," Black Bat silently appeared beside the ghost.

Dusk looked down to the strange tech. The panels on the inside of the pod were covered in symbols that he didn't recognize at all, "You're right. I've been to a lot of places on Earth, but none of them had anything like this. You'd think that the League would be all over this considering the flack that they're getting for the alien problem."

"This might be unrelated to the little green men…at least directly," Black Bat suggested. "The seat looks to be fitted for a larger creature. If the League is that busy, then they might not be ready for another visitor."

"Huh," Dusk shook his head. "Whatever was in here must be able to blend in, because there's no significant panic in any direction. Do you think that you can track it?"

"Perhaps, but maybe we should leave it to the authorities," Black Bat turned to face the approaching sirens. "I'd rather not have to deal with the Tokyo police force, and then the League most likely."

"Good point—" Dusk was interrupted by an explosion in the distance. "Never mind. Let's deal with this quickly."

They rushed out of the crater and down the streets to the sounds of violence. As they ran, they easily dodged the fleeing people. Right before they came into view of the trouble, a car which looked like it had been curled into a half ball came flying down to the side. Seeing the debris heading towards some civilians, Dusk rushed over and blasted the vehicle away with some ectoplasm. The group of teenagers that he saved looked to him in awe. A girl wearing a tight pony tail took steps forward to approach him, but Dusk ignored that in order to rush towards the scene of the mayhem.

Upon returning to Black Bat's side, Dusk heard the young woman say, "Of course she found the trouble. She always finds the trouble."

The halfa recognized what she meant. Out in the chaos zone was the easily recognizable form of the Ravager, Rose Wilson. She was covered completely in black and bronze armor. The only visible part of her was her long white hair flowing down her back. Twin blades shined in her hands as Ravager tried to slice her opponent in half. Rose's target blocked each of the swipes with what appeared to be thick handcuffs which completely covered the alien's hands and forearms. The stranger seemed to wear a black prison outfit which outlined a seemingly feminine form and a helmet over her head.

"Jeeze," Dusk unsheathed Soul Shredder. "Which one do we help?"

Black Bat tilted her head as she watched the alien bring her hand cuffs down to Ravager's head. While the mercenary dodged, she was still sent tumbling away as the stranger's hands smashed into the concrete and turned the surrounding street into rubble, "Well, I do owe Ravager a favor, and I doubt that you want to get on her bad side."

Dusk sighed, "Fine."

Before the alien could follow up with an attack to the downed Ravager, Black Bat rushed forward to give a sweeping kick to the stranger. To the trained assassin's surprise, the other woman didn't tumble onto her back. Instead, she floated upward to get out of the range of the duo. As she reached the height of her flight, the alien brought her arms up to swing the metal handcuffs down. Before she could finish her swipe, though, Dusk unleashed an arc of ectoplasm from his sword. The energy burst smashed into the woman and sent her flying down the street and into the side of a delivery truck.

"Oh. Hey there, Dusk. It's been a while," Ravager looked up to the ghost.

"Did you really pick a fight with an unknown alien species?" Dusk questioned.

"What? She was smashing stuff. I thought you hero types would support my jumping in," Ravager shrugged. "Plus, with all this alien controversy, I could hurt the invader as much as I want without any consequences."

"It doesn't matter now," Black Bat shook her head. "Let's just finish this quickly so we can leave—what's she doing?"

The stranger was smashing her handcuffs into cars which lined the street. Each blow crushed the vehicles with ease. While her strength was terrifying, her actions were strange. Deciding that it was best to not let her free her hands, Dusk rushed forward to finish the fight before it could begin. As he made it halfway to his enemy, the ends of the handcuffs tumbled off to free her slender hands. While her forearms were still stuck together, the alien released a satisfied hum. She pointed her palms out to the approaching Dusk.

To everyone's shock, green energy appeared in the alien's hands. Bolts of green energy burst from her palms. While Dusk was able to block the first few blasts with his sword, the number of bolts overwhelmed him and knocked him backwards in a miniature explosion. Upon recovering, the halfa flew further back to avoid getting caught up in further attacks.

While he moved back, Black Bat and Ravager snuck around the alien. Wanting to be careful in order to avoid getting caught up into any more unexpected abilities, they kept their distance by throwing shuriken and smoke bombs at the alien. Giving a roar of rage, the stranger blasted the weapons away. Disoriented by the smoke, she flew upward and unleashed a barrage of energy bolts down on her foes. The energy blasts covered the entire street in miniature explosions. All three of her foes desperately scrambled to avoid getting caught up in the deadly attack. After a full minute, the alien stopped her attack and began to pant heavily behind her helm. Despite her exhaustion, she continued to stare intently down at the now obliterated street and surrounding buildings.

Before the battle could continue, the stranger was distracted by the sound of a horn being sounded through the miniature war zone. She gave a yelp of surprise as she was pulled through a portal which took her further down the street. The alien looked back to her enemies' location to see a purple energy wall pop up between her and her foes. Giving another battle cry, the alien unleashed another barrage of energy bolts. This time, though, the energy was absorbed by the wall.

Another horn sound created a portal on the other side of the wall. Herald stepped out of the portal with another man. The newcomer was dressed in a sleeveless green and blue track suit covered in metal armor. A strange backpack covered his entire back. His feet was covered by roller skates with rockets on the sides. His facial features were hidden by a helmet a tinted face shield, but Dusk recognized him.

"Gear?"

"Hey, Dusk," Gear waved. "Herald stopped by and said that you could use some help."

Dusk looked to the larger man, "How did you know—Wait. Flow of the universe?"

"I felt the need to bring a reliable ally," Herald noted. "I did not know why, but this is an interesting scenario."

Black Bat glanced to the line of tiny sphere projectors which created the barrier, "That tech seems familiar."

"I scanned Rocket and Icon's tech. Don't tell them that I replicated it. I don't want to deal with the lecture," Gear stated.

"Well, could you take it down," Ravager pulled out a gun. "I'm going to take that freak down."

"No need," Gear glanced back to the wall to see that the alien stopped firing at the energy field. "There's a ninety-seven percent chance that she'll try to fly over the wall. Just point up."

Dusk frowned as Ravager followed Gear's suggestion, "Don't kill her."

"I won't," Ravager smirked. Upon seeing her enemy's head pop over the wall, she fired a shot. The bullet rocked against the metal helmet and shattered it. Stunned by the blow, the alien tumbled through the air. "But she's going to have one hell of a headache."

Scoffing, Black Bat threw some bola which caught the alien and trapped her limbs to limit her movements. As the stranger fell, they saw her now exposed crimson hair flair around her like a burning halo. Right before she slammed onto the ground, the alien stopped mid-air, whipped back her hair, and unleashed green energy beams from her eyes.

Dusk jumped forward and blocked the blasts with his sword. Now able to predict where the energy would come from, the halfa forced himself forward until he was right in front of his foe. He batted her upside the head and stopped her eye beams. Upon being hit, the alien tumbled to the ground. Before Dusk could follow up with his attack, he paused when he saw the once helmeted woman's face. His heart began to hammer harder as he looked upon the face of the most beautiful woman that he had ever seen. Her soft features and full lips were only enhanced by her orange skin. A suddenly glow from her eyes forced him out of his trance. He moved his weapon to her neck to stop her from attacking once more.

Dusk's enemy knelt before him defeated. Soul Shredder was pointed right at the strange fighter's neck. The ghoul didn't dare move his blade away from his foe's neck. The previous fight had been one of the strangest, most chaotic, and dangerous conflicts he'd had in a long time. If he gave the prisoner any room to move, it might very well be his end.

That's what he thought, at least, before he looked to his foe's eyes. While the alien's appearance had thrown him off during the fight, the strange look in his enemy's eyes made him think twice about his usual tactics.

"I see…" Dusk muttered to himself because he wasn't sure if the strange being in front of him could even understand him, "Causing all this destruction while having eyes like those…"

He instantly knew what he needed to do. Another second of thought wasn't even necessary. Dusk quickly removed his sword from his foe's throat and brought it above his head. Then, with a roar, he brought the Fright Knight's legacy down to the defeated enemy before anyone could react. Unlike his previous swings of Soul Shredder, though, he didn't intend use the weapon's special ability. No, this time, he was aiming for one clean cut.

Soul Shredder cut its target in half with ease.

All of the alien's restraints tumbled onto the broken concrete. The stranger blinked as her limbs were freed. As a show of peace, Dusk sheathed Soul Shredder and stepped back to give her some space.

"What are you doing?!" Ravager shouted.

"I don't think that she's a bad person. She's just scared," Dusk kept his eyes on the beautiful alien. "I don't know if you can understand me, but my name is Dusk. What—"

The halfa tensed as the alien lunged at him. He was prepared to blast her away with a burst of energy. Before he could, though, her lips smashed into his to create a smoldering kiss. While having experienced a kiss before, it had been extremely chaste. The current lip lock was filled with passion matching her crimson hair. Dusk froze in shock as his former foe grabbed the side of his head and forced her tongue into his mouth.

"Woooooooooo!" Ravager clapped her hands. "That boy works fast!"

"Should…we do something?" Gear questioned.

"Let's see how this plays out," Black Bat stared at the scene intently.

Herald blinked, "Are you a secret perv or something?"

"Yes she is!" Ravager shouted.

Before Black Bat could respond, the alien released Dusk. As the halfa stumbled back, she pointed at the symbol on his chest, "Dusk of the Phantom Family. As a warrior opposed to the scourge of Apokolips, you—Huh?"

Dusk tumbled onto his back.

"Critical blow," Gear noted.

Ravager let out a low whistle, "That must have been one hell of a kiss."

The alien looked to them, "You must be his allies. I am Koriand'r, previously of Tamaran. I wish to speak to the Phantom Family."

"You're an alien, right?" Black Bat questioned. "How do you know about Dusk? Also, not that we're complaining, but why did you kiss him?"

"Oh. I forgot. Earth is rumored to be uninformed," Koriand'r nodded. "There is a lot that we need to discuss. Do you have a battle cave to which we can return? It would be best to get out of the open. My jailors should be arriving soon."

Herald held up his horn, "Can do. This has to be a story that I need to hear. Before that, though, could someone get Dusk up? He seems to still be stunned."

"The Guys in White killed Vortex once he was down. Then, they attacked our city. A friend of ours died protecting us. His name was Klemper and he was the first loved one to die. After that, we learned about the plans to kill all ghosts, so we went to war to protect ourselves. People died. I didn't know many of them besides a guy named Skulker. My brother…almost died, but he survived and ended the war by being awesome. Peace treaties were discussed from there. Things seemed to be looking up, but we had a lot of scars."

"Scars?"

"Not physical ones. Danny began to fade away from losing part of his obsession, and I was stressing over not being able to do anything to help the people I cared about. We worked on getting better for half a year. I trained and made new friends. He branched out to fix his obsession. There were setbacks, like Danny losing control over his body and then going through a traumatic training exercise, but things worked out. We even found a new family member. You know him. Dusk."

"What's his story?"

"That's…not for me to tell. Let's just say that his transformation into a ghost was more painful than most. We were happy for a while. Lots of friends and family. Hell, no one died on another massive attack to our city. At least until Freakshow showed up. We managed to stop him too, but at the cost of two good friends."

"I'm sorry for your losses. No offense, though, it doesn't sound that bad."

"No. It wasn't. For me, at least. I'm sure that Danny would argue otherwise, but I don't know everything that happened to him. What I do know, though, is that he would agree that the worst was just around the corner. The end of the Phantom Family. It started off when a ghost named Clockwork released the worst criminal the Ghost Zone has ever known. That criminal was an alternate version of my brother. We call him Dark Dan."

Spirit carefully slumped down onto the seat of a train in order to avoid having the hood of her cloak to slip down. She was surprised that such an advanced species would use something that humans were already moving past. Part of her thought that it might be used as an excuse by the government to keep track of the citizens.

'We should be fine,' Alanna mentally told them as the train doors began to close. She was proven wrong as two armed guards forced their way into the train. 'Unless the Rannian Science Patrol comes in for routine ID checks.'

'I'll create a diversion, lead them off the train,' Strange stated.

Alanna tried to argue, 'No, it's not safe. I—'

'You are the jungle guide, remember? I'll ditch these guys and circle back to your father's compound. Help him finish the Zeta shield.'

Alanna reached over to gently grasp his hand, 'Be careful.'

Upon seeing the tender sight, the disguised Miss Martian and Superboy looked away. Spirit glanced to them. They had once been the longest lasting couple in Young Justice. She didn't know why they broke up and didn't consider it her business.

When the guards started to walk towards them, Strange leapt up and began to swing his arms around, "Beware the Jabberwock, my son! The jaws that bite, the claws that catch! Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun the frumious Bandersnatch!" the scientist then grasped at one of the guard's face. "Got your nose!"

Chuckling, he rushed out of the train car. With the guards right on his tails, he activated his jetpack and flew away. The group on the train watched as he left, "No time to say hello! Goodbye, I'm late, I'm late, I'm late!"

Once the doors closed, Alanna voiced her thoughts, 'Jabberwock? Bandersnatch?'

Miss Martian shrugged, 'His last name is strange.'

Spirit gave her companions an exasperated look, 'Really? Jabberwock? A poem by Lewis Carroll? Through the Looking Glass? Neither of you know that?'

Superboy and Miss Martian stared at her.

'Sometimes I hate being the only artsy person on the Team…'

From then on, the trip was rather mundane. They waiting in silence for their train to get close to their destination. Once they were only a kilometer away from their goal, Alana stood up and readied her equipment, 'We'll be in range of the coordinates soon.'

Spirit looked out the window to see the beauty of Rann, 'I wish that Vic could have come. This planet has such a romantic view. It might have lessened his worries. Nightwing probably wanted to avoid romantic tension, though.'

'More romantic tension, you mean,' Miss Martian hissed bitterly.

Spirit looked to the ex-couple in surprised, 'I…Sorry, I didn't mean to bring up bad feelings. I just miss Victor.'

'We know, Spirit,' Superboy sighed. 'Let's just drop it. How much farther, Alanna?'

Alanna stopped her scrutinizing look to glance at her portable holographic device, 'We're close enough…now.'

Superboy moved to kick open the doors. While the other flew out of the train, the Kryptonian leapt out. Once in the jungle, they made their way through the foliage while avoiding anything 'too pretty.' Eventually, they made their way to a large building covered by glass windows.

'It's bigger than I anticipated,' Alanna gasped. 'How could something this size have been built without Science Command knowing about it?'

'Spirit and I will scout ahead,' Miss Martian activated her camouflage ability. 'I'll send you and image of where to rendezvous.'

Nodding, Spirit turned invisible. The two women then flew into the compound. Once inside, they saw dozens of Kroloteans working round the massive Zeta Platforms machine. Looking up, Miss Martian spotted a metal skylight. She used the telepathy to force it open, 'I found your opening.'

After the other two members of their group made their way to the top of the building, Miss Martian carefully floated them down into the shadows. 'Six Zeta Platform?'

'Not for long,' Superboy opened a box to show tiny bombs. 'These are small target explosives. Should permanently disable the platforms without blowing the whole base before the Kroloteans know what hit 'em.'

'Spirit and I will place them. You two wait here,' Miss Martian noted. With the aid of their invisibility and camouflage, the two women easily placed the bombs below the platforms without anyone noticing them.

'Done,' Spirit stated once the final bomb was placed. 'Let's get out of here.'

Before they could move, though, a small alarm went off. For a brief moment, Spirit wondered if one of them were spotted. This was proven wrong when the machine's antenna began to raise. It moved through the sky light to block off their exit.

'The escape route's blocked, we're trapped inside with the bombs!' Alanna shouted.

'Don't worry. We have a plan b,' Superboy mentioned. 'Spirit, a little help?'

'On it,' Spirit rushed to the duo. As she moved, she created a duplicate. The two invisible copies grabbed onto the flightless aliens and turned them invisible as well. They then flew up and towards the nearest wall. Before they exited the base, Spirit turned back to see chaos as nothing appeared on the Zeta Platforms.

Once free from the building, they made their way back into the jungle. Spirit freed her companions and absorbed the duplicate. Alanna stared at the ghost in shock as Miss Martian joined them, 'What was that?'

'My duplicate passed on its visibility combined with intangibility onto you for a few seconds,' Spirit explained.

'Why didn't you just use that to get in?'

'We've learned to always have a physical escape route just in case of energy barriers,' Superboy explained.

Alanna looked at Spirit with a bit of fear, 'What other powers do you have?'

'Ectoplasmic blasts. Energy blades. Super strength. Oh, and overshadowing.'

'Overshadowing?' Alanna shook her fear. 'No wonder Apokolips wants you. Do you know how much damage you could do to the universe with that ability alone?'

'Don't worry. I've known them forever. They rarely use that power because they consider it morally wrong to invade people's minds without permission,' Superboy explained. He left a hint that he wanted to add something else to his sentence. This caused Miss Martian to stiffen.

Before the conversation could continue, the bombs went off inside the base. All eye turned to the compound. Even from their distance, they could see the smoke from the fallout drifting into the air. Muffled shouts of the Kroloteans could be heard trying to deal with the fallout.

Miss Martian shook her head, 'We're done here. Let's head back.'

'Wait,' Spirit raised a hand. 'Something was wrong in there. No one showed up during the Zeta process.'

'It's a perfect excuse for us,' Superboy argued. 'They'll suspect a malfunction. No way they'll look for us.'

'Yes, but we didn't do anything to stop the Zeta process. Why didn't even one of them show up?' Alanna questioned.

'Maybe the teams on Earth stopped them?' Miss Martian suggested.

'All of them?' Superboy shook his head. 'We're never that lucky.'

'Yeah. Something's wrong,' Spirit stared at the base. 'I want to figure out what.'

'That's not our mission,' Miss Martian noted.

'No, but when did that ever stop us?' Spirit questioned.

Miss Martian chuckled, 'Good point. What do you want to do?'

'They're weakened and confused,' Spirit stated. 'Perfect for picking up some captives for interrogation.'

'I won't be able to read their minds,' Miss Martian mentioned. 'They're too…different.'

'We can figure it out.' Spirit shook her head. 'If they're really the universe's thieves, then they should have plenty of info. They'll know why Apokolips is after my family.'

Superboy sighed, 'Do you have a plan?'

'Yeah,' Spirit's eyes began to glow brightly, 'Give me the go, and I'll finish this.'

Miss Martian nodded, 'Do it.'

"I was expecting more," Koriand'r glanced around the rundown apartment building. "Considering your impressive battle prowess, you should have a large battle cave."

"I agree," Ravager nodded. "But such is the life of an outlaw, Koriab...Koriannie...Err…"

"If it helps, the literal translation of my name in your language is Starfire," Koriand'r noted.

"Starfire," Dusk shifted uncomfortably. "Why, um, did you kiss me?"

"Kiss? Oh yes. My species is capable of learning new languages through lip contact," Starfire explained.

"Really?" Gear's eyes lit up. "How does that work exactly? Is it some type of transfer of nerve pulses involving muscle memory? Is the French style important?"

"What is this…French style?" Starfire questioned.

"Using your tongue," Black Bat clarified. "You really shoved it in there. For a second, I thought that you were trying to kill him by pushing your tongue through the back of his head."

Dusk frowned at his old friend, "Really?"

Black Bat shrugged.

"I take it that the 'French kiss' is rather personal in Earth culture?" Starfire tilted her head. "While technically not necessary, some of my people think that tongue contact helps correct incorrect dialect. My apologies if I projected an inappropriate meaning."

"No. Let's just forget about it," Dusk sighed. "There's more important things to address. You look like a prisoner. I have two questions. Who was holding you, and why were they doing it?"

Before Starfire could answer, a loud booming voice shook the ground, "Weaklings of Earth, do not panic. We are not here for any of you."

Upon hearing the projected voice, everyone in the room shared a concerned look. They rushed to the windows and peeked though the boards blocking their view. A large floating spacecraft with a slick cruiser design hovered above the city. An energy field burst off the top of the vehicle and covered Tokyo in a massive dome.

"We are of the Citadel. While I know that your tiny brains know nothing of us, you should be cautious of us. Our power is far greater than your puny military strength. Fortunately for you, our sights are not set on you. A possession of ours has crashed into your city, and we wish to retrieve it. Do not get in our way and do not aide our slave. If you obey these simple commands, none of you will be harmed. Once we are done, you may go back to you insignificant lives."

All eyes turned to Starfire. Herald was the first one to speak, "Possession?"

"I was given to the Citadel by my…people as a gesture of alliance," Starfire explained. "I managed to escape, but I had nowhere to go. The only thing that I could think of would be go to a planet that wouldn't immediately turn me away or give me back to the Citadel. Earth seemed like a good temporary choice considering how isolated it is for now. The Citadel seems to have their sights on the Phantom Family considering how close my navigation landed to you."

"Why would the Citadel be interested me?" Dusk questioned.

"They might want to ally with Apokolips," Starfire blinked. "You do know that you're wanted by them, no?"

"No," Dusk gained a deep frown. "That's news to me."

"Is it just Dusk that's wanted?" Herald questioned.

"You mean from Earth? No. Everyone associated with that symbol is wanted by Apokolips," Starfire pointed to the Phantom logo on his chest. "Oh and the Justice League is wanted by a few intergalactic governments."

Once again, everyone else in the room shared concerned looks. Ravager let out a low whistle, "I think that we've been out of the loop for too long."

"You're right," Black Bat nodded. "I don't like not knowing something so important. Did Bumblebee mention this to you, Herald?"

"She never brought it up…" Herald stroked his chin in thought.

"We have a valuable source of information right now, though," Gear pointed at the alien in the room.

"I am not very knowledgeable on the current politics of the universe," Starfire noted. "But I'm willing to help as much as I can for assistance."

"There's still the problem of the…Citadel," Dusk noted. "Herald could teleport us out of here, but that would leave the city unprotected. What are the chances that the invaders will get frustrated and start attacking civilians?"

Starfire raised an eyebrow, "Citadelians are known as the cruelest people in the galaxy. It's only a matter of time before they start attacking the weak masses for their own amusement."

Dusk sighed, "Then we have to stop them. It's only a matter of time before the League gets here, but I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I just let people get hurt."

"Fighting aliens?" Ravager's hands twitched to her swords. "Sounds like a good challenge."

"You want to fight the Citadel?" Starfire questioned.

Black Bat sighed, "Not like we have much of a choice. Are you in?"

"You kidding?" Starfire cracked her knuckles. "I would love to kick the glorthlocs out of them after everything that they put me through."

"That sounds brutal," Gear shifted uncomfortably. "I'm not good at fighting, but I can't just stand by. Backpack, load the images from the cameras in the city."

The backpack on the tech guru's shifted. A long laser head extended from the metal. With a small buzz, the machine unleashed holographic images of the city. They all gained the sight of strange gorilla creatures moving through the cities.

"Um, when did you do this?" Herald questioned.

"I got bored while you were talking. Sorry, but I do think about one hundred times faster than a supercomputer," Gear explained. "I hacked into the city's mainframe by giving a mental signal to Backpack. No big deal."

"Geeze," Ravager gave him a weary look. "Remind me to turn off my phone around you."

Gear shrugged, "Too late."

"It was less than one year. One catastrophe after another. It would take too long to explain the context of each situation, but they were all terrible. So many people died. I…loved all of them in some way. Brothers. Sisters. Teachers. Best friends. So many people. By the end of it, my family was no more. You know how only three of us are wanted by Apokolips? Well, there used to be a lot more active members of us. A…whole lot more. I even lost my brother, the one that I was cloned from. He was…everything to me."

Alanna looked away, "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. It's not your fault, and I think about it a lot anyway," Spirit took a deep breath to stop the stinging in her eyes. "I tried so hard to save everyone, but I couldn't do it. Those that I did manage to save just ended up leaving. Even the one I gave this up for."

The halfa reached down to pull down her right boot down to expose a metal leg.

"You…lost your leg?" Alanna grew pale.

"It was worth it, but…" Spirit fixed her boot. "On the same day, I lost the pet I had my entire life."

"Gods have mercy," Alanna shook her head.

"Yeah. I've lost a lot, and I'll probably keep losing more. Such is the life of a ghost. That's what makes things hard. Eventually, everyone is going to leave me. It's so hard to feel emotionally attached. I'm getting a new little brother soon, and I don't feel excited. I have an amazing boyfriend that I love, but I can't feel passionate about it. Six years of life feels like six hundred. And I can't help but wonder…"

"Wonder what?"

"When was it exactly? When was it that I started hating being a superhero?"

Spirit dropped the tied up Krolotean to the ground, 'That's the last one.'

Superboy eyed the pile of knocked out aliens, 'You sure?'

'Yeah, I checked everywhere,' Spirit nodded. 'That base is empty.'

'Good,' Miss Martian eyed a Krolotean with a high ranking sash. 'We can go now.'

'No,' Spirit turned away from them and began to walk back to the base. 'If aliens are after us, then I want to send a message.'

'What do you mean?' Alanna questioned.

'I mean, they need to know that we can kill them if need be,' Spirit spoke her next words out loud. "Cover your ears."

"What?" Superboy's eyes widened. He watched as the other clone took a deep stance and took a deep breath. "Everyone down!"

The Kryptonian grabbed Alanna and pulled her to the ground. Miss Martian mirrored his action. They all desperately clutched at their ears. Knowing that her companions were ready, Spirit let out her breath in the form of the wail of death.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Physical, green sound waves burst from the halfa's mouth. Everything began to tremble as the ectoplasm attack spread throughout the area. While all the organic beings in the area groaned in agony, the base before Spirit began to crumble. Within seconds, the already injured base tumbled over to leave a pile of rubble. Once her target was destroyed, the halfa stopped her yell to collapse to her knees while gasping for air.

"Holy shit," Superboy pushed himself up. "Since when could you do that?"

"For…a few…months," Spirit gasped. "I…need a full tank to do it, though. Danny…could handle it better."

"It's still impressive," M'gann noted.

Alanna stared in fear at the most terrifying creature that she ever witnessed. She scrambled backward to gain some distance from the ghost. Spirit ignored her actions. Instead, she slammed her fingers into the dirt to draw the Phantom logo, "Now they'll know. This is what will happen if they come for my family."

The roar of a horn sounded through the hanger of the space ship. Hairy gorilla resembling aliens turned to see a blur rip in space appear at the end of the metal room. Some of them moved from the resting hover vehicles lining the wall to check on the strange portal. Without waiting to see what would come out, the Citadelians lifted their laser rifles and opened fire into the unknown. Their actions had little effect, but they refused to stop their shooting until several tiny spheres passed through the portal.

Upon making contact with the ground, some of the tiny orbs released smoke which hid the portal from sight. The other spheres gained tiny springs at the bottom of them and jumped onto the nearest alien. Once Gear's tech made contact with a Citadelian, it released an electric burst which stunned them. Having seen some of their comrades getting taken down, the remaining ape creatures rushed to deal with the threat. Before they could get to the portal, though, two of the guards on either side of the hanger were pulled into the shadows while screaming in terror.

Distracted by the sneak attacks by Black Bat and Ravager, the Citadel warriors couldn't stop Starfire and Dusk from rushing out of the portal. They attacked the much larger creatures with glowing fists and sent several of them flying away. With the hardest hitters now the focus of attention, the remaining members of the squad rushed in to back up the frontline fighters. While the ladies with no superhuman abilities used their weapons and martial arts skills to beat down their foes, the superhuman Gear and Herald showed their lack of killer instinct by trapping the aliens in wire and teleporting them away.

Within a few short minutes, the hanger was empty. Flashing lights and loud alarms signaled that the remaining aliens were alerted to their presence. Herald nodded at that, "The scouts should come running back now."

"We'll be surrounded when they do, though," Black Bat argued. "We need to hurry with the plan before we get overwhelmed. Come on, Rookie."

"Err, I don't know if—Woah!" Gear shouted in shock as the woman grabbed him and dragged him into the shadows.

Starfire frowned up seeing Gear's nervousness, "Will he be okay?"

"Bat's with him. He'll be fine as long as he does what she says and keeps his stealth tech on," Ravager reached down to grab onto one of the laser rifles. "Hello, beautiful. Alien guns. A whole new world has opened up to me."

"Until they finish, we need to keep attention off of them," Dusk glanced to Starfire. "You know your way around the ship somewhat, right? You think that you could lead us to the bridge?"

Starfire nodded as she floated up in the air, "Follow me."

Together, the group of four charged down the metal hallways of the ship without an ounce of discretion. Each foe they ran into was quickly defeated by Starfire's rage filled energy bolts. They quickly ran into a squadron of Citadel warriors pointing their rifles at the three Earthlings and one Tamaranian. Before the invaders could open fire down the hallway, they were covered in a barrage of energy bullets themselves. The shots literally rained down from the ceiling as Ravager shot into a portal created by Herald.

"Don't worry, Dusk. Your stupid soft skinned morality should be fine," Ravager kicked one of the obviously still breathing aliens. "Looks like they set their phasers to stun. Probably wanted their slave back alive. Too bad. Now I'll have to figure out how to make my new toy lethal."

Starfire frowned, "You care about their safety? They are the enemy, you know."

"I'm well aware," Dusk ignored the stare in favor of continuing down the hall. "That doesn't mean that they don't deserve to be treated like sentient beings."

With backup enemies arriving, they had no time to continue the conversation. Starfire continued to guide them through the space ship. As they moved, the scouts from the city returned to chase them through the halls. They refused to stop their charge, but Dusk did manage to slow their pursuers by turning the floor behind them intangible for a few brief moments.

In a few minutes, the makeshift fighting force moved from the dark hallways into a large control room filled with chairs in front of panels. Every seat was abandoned as the Citadel fighters were standing and pointing their guns at the entrance. At the center of the bridge was a gorilla creature which was twice as big as his underlings.

"What is this?" the captain sneered at them. "Have the Earthlings finally grown some flimbles?"

Spirit looked out the window to stare at the moon hovering over Rann. They had returned to Sardath's home with the leader Krolotean. Strange and Sardath were still in the middle of working on the Zeta Shield, and Miss Martian was interrogating their captive. While she waited for the word to teleport home, Spirit rested and enjoyed the sights of the alien planet.

"Um…Excuse me?"

Spirit looked over her shoulder to see Alanna fidgeting behind her, "Hey."

"C-Can I sit down?" Alanna gestured to the chair next to Spirit.

The halfa shrugged, "Sure, but I'm surprised that you'd want to. You looked pretty terrified before."

"Yes, I won't deny that," Alanna took her seat. "You have to admit, what you can do is pretty scary, though."

"I know," Spirit nodded. "That's why I'm not bitter towards humans…Earthlings…whatever. If I were powerless, then I would be scared too. Not only do I remind people of their own mortality, but I'm more powerful than most people could ever be."

"You…don't seem like a bad person, though," Alanna reasoned. "You made sure to keep the Kroloteans safe. That's more than most people with your power would do."

"Yeah. I try to be responsible with my powers," Spirit turned her eyes back to the moon.

"I spoke with Superboy," Alanna mentioned. "While I need to keep some things silent, there are some things that he mentioned about you that I have some questions about. What was your life like? What's it like to live after death?"

Spirit shook her head, "You don't want to know that."

"Yes, I do," Alanna nodded. "I think that it would help me get over my fear. You don't have to say everything, but I want to know about you. Who is the girl wanted by Apokolips?"

"Me, huh? You sure that you want to know? Some things can't be unlearned."

"I'm sure it can't be that bad."

Dusk looked over to Starfire, "What are flimbles?"

"Genitals."

"Oh," Dusk moved his eyes back to the captain. "Why do you think that we don't have balls?"

"Are you kidding?!" the captain scoffed. "A random attack on some weaklings and then you disappear for five years."

"Five years?" Ravager shook her head. "Dude, we were all brats five years ago. Well, more of a brat in my case. But still, none of us could have attacked you."

"Ah…" the Citadel leader narrowed his eyes. "So the Justice League kept it secret, even from such great fighters. Interesting."

"This confirms that he knows why the League is wanted," Herald noted.

"What about me?" Dusk questioned. "Do you know why I'm wanted?"

"You think that I would give away such information for free, Earthling?" the captain scoffed. "How about a deal? Considering the conquest interest in this area, I'd prefer to get away before Apokolips or the Reach decide to go to war with my people. Give us back our troq property, and we give you the info. Then, we'll leave you to enjoy your pathetic ball of rock until it's turned to ash."

Dusk narrowed his eyes, "Not happening."

"Fine," the captain smirked. "I'm sure Darkseid will pay a high price for you, and your friends will make excellent slaves."

"You think that we will fall that easily?" Starfire's eyes lit up with green energy.

"Yes," the captain glanced behind the vigilantes to see the remaining Citadel soldiers rushing to assist them. "Because you're vastly outnumber—What?!"

The Citadel warriors went wide eyed as the metal doors slid shut and the lights went off. The turrets turned to the aliens and opened fire on the underling Citadelians. They were all downed within seconds.

"You know," Dusk mentioned. "My family always preferred quality over quantity."

"Hey!" Gear's voice sounded through the speaker system. "Dusk, I got control over the ship. I'm directing it to the destination as planned."

"Impossible!" the captain declared. "Even an Eighth level intellect would take at least an hour to hack our system!"

"It's not a matter of intellect," Gear turned the turrets to the leader. "Don't underestimate a technopath!"

The Citadel captain crossed his arms over his face and withstood the bullets. Each blast bounced off his skin like it was nothing, "Me?! You're the one underestimating an elite Citadelian—GAH!"

Starfire had rushed forward with the bullets. With the woman now in his path, Gear stopped the flow of bullets. The Tamaranian threw a massive uppercut which smashed into the man's stomach. The cracks from the larger alien's ribs and the blood which flowed from his mouth showed just how powerful the female alien was.

When the captain knelt over to clutch his damaged midsection, Starfire grabbed his jaw and brought him forward so that she could glower in pure hatred at his pain filled features, "Elite Citadelian's have nothing on the Tamaranian royal family. Don't worry, I won't kill you. I want you to go back to the Citadel disgraced. Before they execute you, make sure to tell them that Koriand'r of Tamaran is no one's property."

With that said, Starfire unleashed beams of energy from her eyes to the captain's face. The force of the blast sent him flying to the far wall. Upon meeting the metal, the captain slid to the ground in unconsciousness.

Starfire growled, "I am not yet satisfied."

"I hear you sister," Ravager sighed. "I expected more."

"You still want a fight?" Gear's voice sounded through the intercom. The entrance doors slippped open to show Black Bat fighting the Citadel soldiers. "We got five minutes until I can safely move us to the bay."

Dusk boredly unsheathed Soul Shredder, "More than enough time to deal with them."

"So, that's it. That's me. Everything I can tell you without revealing other peoples' issues," Spirit sighed. "Does it make you feel better?"

"No," Alanna crossed her arms to hug herself. "Not really."

"I thought not," Spirit looked to the Rannian. "Be grateful for the peace you have here. You get to have friends and family who don't have a high chance of being murdered tomorrow."

"Yeah," Alanna appeared somewhat relieved. "Good point. What about you, though?"

"I'm going to try to fix my own problems. Don't worry about me," Spirit noted. "But I do have some advice for you if you're willing to listen."

Alanna blinked, "What is it?"

"Tell Strange how you feel," Spirit noticed her blush. "Oh, don't be embarrassed. He likes you too, and he gets along with your dad pretty well. You're all good to go. Take it from a ghost, life is short and fragile. Take advantage of what you have while you have it. Don't have the regrets of not telling people what you need to say to them. I've had too many people like that."

"I'll keep that in—"

"SPIRIT!" Superboy stuck his head in the room. "We're leaving! Now!"

"Jesus! Fine! No need to yell!" Spirit stood up and offered Alanna a hand. "Until next time."

Alanna took the hand. "Until next time."

"SPIRIT!"

"I'm coming!" Spirit quickly rushed out of the room. "What's your problem?"

"It's nothing," Superboy growled.

"Don't lie," Spirit frowned. "What did M'gann do?"

"She ripped the Krolotean's mind apart."

"I see…"

"You see?" Superboy hissed at her. "Don't you have a problem with this?"

"I do, but Miss Martian has always been a bit liberal with her telepathy," Spirit noted.

"No kidding," Superboy grunted. "And it's only gotten worse since…Garr…"

"Is that what this is about? Not just the mind thing?" Spirit narrowed her eyes.

"It's everything," Superboy shook his head. "I don't know how to deal with it."

Spirit looked away, "Look, let's just head back. I don't think that we should pull Sardath and Alanna into this."

"Yeah," Superboy shook his head. "When did everything get so hard?"

"I…don't know, Connor, but I sure wish I did."

Starfire dropped the last Citadel warrior onto the top of the space ship. Once her victim was grounded, she viciously kicked him in the groin before spitting on him, "Pile of fliroun feces."

"I'm surprised that you're not saying anything," Black Bat noted to Dusk as she watched her new companion's brutality.

"I'm not going to judge a beautiful, female slave beating her old handlers," Dusk turned away from the violence to stare out to the rising sun. Gear had safely landed the ship into the Tokyo Bay. With the enemy mostly dealt with, they moved to the top of the vehicle to prepare for their getaway.

Ravager snorted, "Jesus, traveling changed you, didn't it?"

Dusk shook his head and looked to Gear, "Did you download their data?"

"Yeah, but I'll need some time to translate it all," Gear was already working on his holographic computer. "Luckily, they already had a translation ready, so it won't take too long. That's how they talked to you without the kiss thing."

Dusk blushed, "Thanks for the reminder."

Herald glanced to the approaching Starfire, "What about her? The League should be here soon to clean up the mess. Do we leave her with them?"

"I don't think that's a good idea," Dusk sheathed Soul Shredder. "Considering how they're wanted by some alien governments, I don't that adding theft of 'property' is a good idea. We should get her into hiding for now."

"Some normal clothes would help too," Black Bat noted as she eyed Starfire's prisoner outfit. "Unfortunately, Ravager and I have some missions we need to get to in the next few days."

"My house is a no go," Gear spoke up. "My parents would flip."

"I…don't believe that Karin would be pleased if I kept another woman around," Herald rubbed the back of his neck.

"Then I shall go with Dusk of the Phantom Family," Starfire smiled at the halfa. "That's for the best anyway. I am curious about the similarities of our powers."

Dusk eyed the alien. Her beauty only seemed to intensify in the sunlight, "That's…fine. But I don't know much about female clothing. I got a friend that won't ask any questions and could help with that."

"Most excellent!" Starfire explained. She paused, though, when her stomach gave a loud growl, "But it seems that I need sustenance. Where is a field where I can hunt?"

"To the supermarket it is," Dusk couldn't help but chuckle. "Gear, contact me when you get that information."

"Oh! Us too!" Ravager waved her hands. "This was fun. I want to see where this all goes."

"I'm interested too," Herald noted.

"Alright," Gear nodded. "We can gather once I translate everything. It will be like a regular team meeting."

"Team meeting, huh?" Dusk looked off in the distance. He remembered back when he was on a team with some of these very people. It didn't end well. He had lost… "Let's choose some different wording. I don't particularly want this to become a regular thing."