48 43: Alien Info Seeking

The area that surrounded the star Vega existed as a complex and vastly diverse system. Its planets numbered in the dozens, races in the hundreds, cultures in the thousands, and sentient beings in the trillions. Truly, it was a place where one could spend the entirety of their life and only see a fraction of what Vega had to offer.

The system enjoyed something of a unique existence in the galaxy and the wider universe beyond. The disparate histories of its many inhabitant races were practically impossible to fully cover and chronicle. But in recent years, the system had come to be dominated by the interplanetary empire simply known as the Citadel.

The Citadelians were a ruthlessly aggressive and expansionary race. Someone from Earth or familiar with its culture would describe them as a race that looked similar to gorillas. The truth wasn't nearly so simple. In reality, the Citadelians were not a product of evolution or any other natural process.

No, the Citadelians were a race of clones. Every one of them was functionally identical to the last. Their entire race — and the empire they'd come to represent — were modeled after and controlled by a single being. The original source of this cloning was half-Okaaran and half-Branx — two other races native to the Vega system — and as such, was sterile, unable to continue his line. He took his legacy into his own two hands and the Citadel was born.

The Citadelian progenitor's name had been lost to time. But the being himself still lived. Uploaded to a massive computer network, the progenitor attained a certain, incomplete form of immortality. He was Complex-Complex and he was the true power and control behind the star-system-spanning Citadel.

In most of the Milky Way Galaxy and the universe beyond, aggressively expansionist empires were discouraged. They were kept in check the the universe's peacekeepers — the Green Lantern Corps. But within the star Vega's vast orbit, that was not the case.

For reasons only known to the Guardians of the Universe — the ancient backers of the Corps — Vega was different. Unique. The Green Lanterns were restricted when it came to the Vega system, 'strongly encouraged' to leave it to its own devices entirely. As such, Vega was a system where war and crime reigned unchecked by the usual balance of the cosmos.

All the while, the classified reason for the Guardians' noninterference lurked beneath the surface of the system's thirteenth planet — Okaara. The Orange Light of Avarice hoarded everything it could reach. Overwhelming, all-powerful GREED shined within Okaaran caverns, left to its wielder's every whim in accordance with an ancient pact between two organizational forces of the Emotional Spectrum — the Orange Light of Avarice and the Green Light of Will.

Vega was a unique microcosm of the universe. A larger-than-average system that was left to its own devices, for good and for bad. Nevertheless, its inhabitants had adapted to the only balance they'd ever known, usually with conflict upon conflict to show for their troubles.

And while the outer universe was discouraged from interacting with Vega, those within its bounds were under no such limit. Such was the case with the current situation that plagued one member of the New Teen Titans of Earth. Starfire — Koriand'r of Tamaran, the bright, beating heart of the Titans with her optimism and infectious enthusiasm — had been stolen from the world she'd come to call her second home.

Her past had come calling in the form of a sudden kidnapping in broad daylight. A situation she thought dealt with from before her arrival on Earth returned to the fore. From many light years away, the race of sadistic scientists that had once held her captive took back what was 'theirs'.

The Psions were a cruel, callous, and cold race — utterly sadistic in both their methods and goals. With their enhanced intellect and alien sense of empathy, they loved nothing more than to experiment on those they saw as lesser. Which to a Psion, was everyone. Even members of their own race.

Kori had been taken captive by them when her homeworld briefly fell to the Citadel. She was made as an example that was meant to break her people's spirits and forcefully pacify them. She was then sold into slavery to the Psions and experimented on ruthlessly until she rebelled and escaped, eventually making her way to Earth.

Now, her nightmare had come back, reemerging with abrupt horror that set into Kori's mind. The only thing that kept her going during those trying times was her Rage. An emotion she was loathe to return to. But it seemed that she might not get another choice…

Already, the familiar Rage was beginning to burn like fire in her heart. She'd been restrained immediately after her kidnapping, strapped with bonds of metal and technology that weren't afraid to resort to torture to keep her in line. Every time she tried to access the energy within her, an excruciating zap of pure nerve damage tore a scream from her gagged mouth.

Squat, hateful creatures surrounded her, poking and prodding with instruments of vicious experimental glee. They were vaguely reptilian but still humanoid in shape if not function. Unfeeling, slit-pupil eyes examined her in the name of sadistic 'science'. Fang-filled maws hissed and clicked a harsh sibilant language that Kori couldn't hope to comprehend.

The initial experimentation went on for what felt like hours. Kori plotted her escape the entire time, her usual carefreeness gone like dust in the wind. She planned to make her captors HURT, just as they were doing to her. But before she could come to anything concrete — much less act on her plans —, Kori's situation changed.

She was transferred away from the painfully impersonal lab where she'd been restrained. A collar was strapped around her neck, one that would have been almost cliche if it didn't promise an existence of pain in Kori's future. Then she was dumped from an uncaringly great height into what could only have been a prison.

It was like no prison Kori had ever seen though. Certainly not like the place she was held captive her first time beneath these damned lizards' thumb. Instead of the frigid, clinical architecture Kori expected from prison, she found herself surrounded by nature. Or a controlled approximation of nature, at least.

It 'looked' right. There were trees and vines and shrubs and strange plants of every which kind. The colors — greens, blues, reds, and purples — seemed right, even if some were suitably alien to even Kori's sensibilities. But something was off. It felt… forced. Artificial.

'There,' Kori noted. 'The Gold-Rooted Mind-Killer of Rashashoon should not be next to the Carnivorous Snow Trap of Aello. They did not even put in the proper care of construction when designing this habitat!'

Indeed, plant species from many different worlds were packed together in this prison, seemingly without care or thought. The only way it looked right at all was at first glance. Anyone with a modicum of intelligence and familiarity with the plants in question would have almost instantly noticed the problem.

Kori cautiously began her trek through this strange environmental prison. Her eyes and ears were open and she kept herself ready for anything. She quickly found that she wasn't alone there.

A humanoid alien ran screaming for his life through the out-of-place trees. Kori hid herself just in time to see what he was running from.

Kori didn't know why there was what seemed to be a dinosaur in her new prison but she didn't care to immediately find out. It was certainly intimidating as it chuffed and chased the running alien with unflinching persistence. It also seemed quite hungry… and Kori wasn't too keen on helping it expand its diet at the moment.

She briefly wondered just what it was doing here. And what SHE was doing there as well. Was this not intended to be a prison but some kind of natural preserve instead?

Kori sighed to herself, "More of the experiments, most likely. This does not spark the joy…"

A deep rumble from behind her hiding place pulled Kori from her mental assessment of the prison she found herself in. She suddenly had much more pressing concerns to worry about. Like the large, LARGE predatory feline prowling and preparing to pounce at her back.

But this predator, Kori recognized. And she couldn't help but smile widely for the first time in all of this at the sight. A Long-Toothed Cloud Stalker from her homeworld, known for their ruthless predatory efficiency, dappled gray-white fur, intelligence… and their use as mounts by ancient Tamareans.

Those stupid lizards had put a Tamarean in an enclosure with one of their greatest historical allies. They might as well have handed Kori the keys to her new prison! Still grinning, Kori chirped and beckoned the big cat closer, much to its obvious surprise.

"Here, kitty of kitties. Come to Momma Kori~ You will be of great help with the escape. I will call you 'Boy'! After one of my bestest of friends!"

"Mrrow~?" Confused but intrigued by the strange woman that she (yes, she) couldn't help but trust, the Cloud Stalker came closer and chirped. The poor girl had no idea what she was getting into with Kori…

IIIII

I frowned with a slightly furrowed brow as Raven explained her current situation. She laid out all of the facts and they weren't looking great, I had to say. Starfire — Kori as Raven called her. I suppose I might as well be on a first-name basis with the Titans if I was going to be interacting with them often — had been kidnapped. She was straight-up stolen by an unknown third party in the Titans' most recent conflict.

Raven had dived through the portal after her and ended up here. She didn't know practically anything about what was going on. And I could tell it was eating her up inside. All Raven had to go off of was the fact that Kori shouldn't be too far away — likely within the Vega system —, that she'd been taken by someone or something objectively hostile, and that Raven had to get her back as soon as she possibly could.

Now, obviously, I corrected her on that last bit. WE had to get Kori back as soon as we could. I declared my intention to help with a wide smirk, one that contrasted hilariously with Raven's damn-near constant deadpan expression. I got a great twitch of combined relief and exasperation from her at that one.

It wasn't as if I had anything better to do at the moment. Savage would be… busy for a while here. I couldn't see the Tamareans letting him go easily. He'd likely have to completely conquer them before we could continue our bro-trip. So really, Raven showed up at the perfect time to give me something to do as well!

Also… "She's quite literally impossible to hate. Why wouldn't I help save her? She's a ball of joy and energy. Even after only meeting her once, I'm more than willing to go the extra mile for Kori."

Raven's lips twitched downward into a slight frown, "… Point. And, well, your help will certainly make this much simpler. Do you… have a plan…?"

"Do you?" I asked, raising a single eyebrow at her. "I'm supposed to be on vacation here. I said I'd help, not do everything for you, Raven."

She fixed me with a flat stare, "… Fine. If you're going to be a dick about it, I'll do all the real work."

"Alright, alright," I chuckled. "I'll help. Let's see what we're working with."

"Unfortunately, not much," Raven scowled, though this time, not at me. "I'm entirely out of my depth here in an alien solar system. And I assume you're not familiar with this place either, right?"

I waved my hand so-so, "Vaguely. It's a bit of a criminal haven system. Think Gotham or Bludhaven but, ya know, much larger in scale. Information will be easy enough to come by if we know where to look."

"Wonderful. I'll just dust off my alien informant contact books and see if I can't hear what we need to hear," Raven drawled, scathing sarcasm not quite subtle in her voice.

I chuckled, "I know you don't mean that but I think it'll be our best course of action. At least at first. I think we're going to have to go undercover."

"Is it really undercover if no one knows who we are?" Raven asked flatly.

"Yes?" I blinked. "You're not going to be acting as a hero, at least."

"Great," Raven deadpanned. "Just call me Rave-bacca. You can be Sean Solo."

I grinned at her, intensely amused by her monotone remarks, "I don't know if we need to go that far. But I will say that it's probably a good thing that my current vessel is flying the Jolly Roger."

She stared dead at me, "… And WHY would that matter?"

"The Jolly Rogers is UNIVERSALLY famous and recognizable," I explained matter-of-factly. "We won't have any trouble getting into whatever seedy establishments we need to while we're flying it."

"We're going undercover… To God knows what den of criminality… As space pirates," Raven said, flatly laying out our current 'plan'.

"What? Do you not think I have it in me~?" I teased.

She paused, getting briefly lost in her mind before coming back to reality with a pleasurable little shudder, "… No. I think you do. You definitely do… You're certainly dashing enough for it."

Buffing my nails on my shirt, I smirked, "I am, aren't I?"

Raven's unamused deadpan expression wasn't as convincing as she probably wanted it to be, "… Whatever. Garfield is going to be so mad that he's missing out on playing space pirate."

"We'll have to be sure to give him a chance when the rest of your team catches up to you," I chuckled. "Savage is probably going to be just as pissed about missing out."

"I don't know who that is," Raven stated flatly.

"He's just the True Immortal 'BEST FRIEND' that I'm taking this little vacation trip with," I explained. "He's currently tied up with fucking a generation of demi-gods into the Tamarean royal guard and Kori's sister Blackfire."

Raven stared at me. And stared… "Sure. Why not? That checks out for you. I'm going to try and forget that I asked. Now what?"

"Now, my beautifully brooding goth~" I let a purring chuckle roll from my lips. "We dress the part, act the part, and find out where exactly that part takes us."

Raven went utterly still at my praising little 'nickname'. Her eyes adopted a mild 'deer in headlights' look. As if she barely knew what to do with my flirting. She was very clearly thrilled by it though. The not-so-little voice shouting inside her soul told me that much.

"Yesssssss~! Quick, quick, flirt back! Please~?! We NEED this! Call him 'Sir'! Daddy! Master! Master-Daddy-Sir! Tell him that we're already HIS~!"

It was a fascinating little phenomenon Raven had going there. Another half to her soul, just as much HER as the half she showed the world. A much more expressive reflection of herself. A mirrored soul, two halves of a whole.

It wasn't the spectrum of emotional aspects that I knew to expect from her. More… distilled. Refined. Whole. She wasn't restraining and repressing her emotions anymore after being FREED from her father but those chains left a certain mark. This was how her soul adapted and compensated. And I had a feeling it would make teasing Raven so, so much more fun~…

Raven seemed to be doing her best to ignore her inner half, "… I guess I am already used to wearing a costume."

"That's the spirit!" I laughed. "Let's see if we can't 'space pirate' you up! I'll even let you help pick my outfit."

"Joy…" Externally, Raven barely twitched. But I could faintly 'hear' her other half squealing with excitement inside her soul.

"C'mon, Miss Enthusiasm," I chuckled. "Let's take this to the ship. I feel like you might want a bit of privacy for what's to come~…"

"And now I'm worried," Raven deadpanned.

"And excited," Her inner voice added. "And thrilled. And horny. So fucking horny… And-fuck, yes~! Do you think he's going to strip us himself~?!"

Raven's cheeks flushed almost unnoticeably but she seemed to be 'ignoring' her other half, "… Ahem. Yes. I would like to go back to your ship. Just me. And you. In private… A-Ahem and there's nothing weird about that. Of course…"

"Of course," I nodded matter-of-factly, flashing her just a hint of a knowing smirk. "Nothing weird about it at all."

Raven frowned, "I feel like you're making fun of me."

"Me?" I gasped. "Never!"

"You're a dick," She rolled her eyes at me, already full of long-suffering exasperation.

"Yeah? Would a dick do this~?" I teased.

Before she could respond or really react, I teleported both of us up to me and Savage's ship. Savage was obviously still busy at the moment so Raven and I finally got the privacy we were after. The ship was currently anchored off of a landing pad connected to the royal palace. And with Savage holding the locals' attention, Raven and I wouldn't be bothered here for a good long while.

She blinked as she found herself back in my arms. During the teleportation, I'd maneuvered us back into the position that she'd arrived in. My arms supported her from below, clutching her to my chest. Blushing color quickly invaded Raven's cheeks at the intimate closeness.

"Let me down… Please…" She requested.

"If you insist," I chuckled.

I set her down on her feet again, leaving her with a subtle pinch of her butt. She tried very hard to hide the squeak my pinch elicited… and didn't quite succeed. Especially considering the squeak was kind of 'two-toned' as her inner voice got in on the action, much less eager to hide her enjoyment than Raven's outer persona.

Raven glared at me but didn't acknowledge my harassment in the face of my mischievous smirk, instead changing the subject, "… So how is this going to work? Do you have a bunch of costumes stashed away somewhere around here?"

"No, I was thinking I'd just conjure them up wholesale and save us the trouble," I answered casually.

Raven was struck silent by that for some reason. Her mirrored soul's exclamation enlightened me as to why, "Outfit's made of Daddy's POWER… Fuck, yesssss~!"

As always, Raven did her best to ignore her enthusiastic emotions on the outside. She cleared her throat, "Ahem… W-What did you have in mind?"

Playing along with her outward acceptance, I adopted a considering expression, "Well, as I mentioned earlier, and as you can probably see from our current ship, we're going for a sort of 'space pirate' vibe at the moment. For myself, I was thinking of going with something like this…"

My whole outfit suddenly shimmered and shifted as I spoke. My casual, loose, almost flowing shirt and dark jeans combo disappeared. Steampunk-esque armor in many different bits and sections took its place. It was suitably mismatched and patchwork for a pirate, looking like power armor that had been mostly thrown together with grit and elbow grease. Not bulky or 'scrappy' but certainly self-made and well-worn with a certain almost bronze and rustic flair.

"I've always wanted to go the steampunk route but never got the chance," I said with a grin.

Raven stared… "… It's good in its own right but not really what I think of when I think of you."

"It feels like it's trying too hard," Raven's inner voice added.

"Fine," I put on an exaggerated pout. "Ruin my steampunk dreams, why don't you? What do you have in mind then?"

"Back to your usual outfit," Raven all but ordered, a trace of excitement leaking into her monotone. "I think we stick with the classics. Keep the all-black base. Add a good roguish jacket. And some proper stomping boots."

"Oh, and shades!"

"… And shades," Raven conceded to her other half.

My outfit shifted again, following the direction she had in mind. A pair of black leather and silver metal 'proper stomping boots' appeared on my feet, rising to my mid-shin. With the jacket, I had a bit of fun, making it a dark, dark gray — almost dull silver to match my hair —, and open-splayed affair that ended just below my beltline. A few meaningless aesthetic accessories — in the form of dangling earrings and a silver necklace — and a pair of pitch-black shades that didn't obscure vision from my side capped it all off.

Raven was staring again, "… Fuck."

Even her inner voice was seemingly stunned silent as well, "… Oh, fuck indeed."

"It's certainly much more comfortable than the armor was," I smirked.

"Hng," Raven made an unintelligible little noise. "… You look good like this. Dangerous. Dark…"

"Fucking dashing and dastardly!"

"I like it," Raven finished simply, ignoring the enthusiastic voice inside her soul.

I grinned wickedly at her, "Good. Because it's your turn now. And I get to choose for you. Stay still. This won't hurt a bit~"

"Is it wrong that I kind of want it to…?" The little voice inside Raven asked.

Raven hissed inwardly, "Shut. Up."

I already had something in mind for Raven. Something not quite casual. And certainly not something that could be mistaken for a superhero costume. It was much more 'mage' than 'hero'.

Black. All black. It was only right for a quintessential goth like Raven. Her cloak morphed under my will and magic, becoming a long, suitably dramatic jacket that was left open. The base of her costume became a corset — not too tight but enough to enhance and lift her considerable bust — and form-fitting, curve-hugging slacks. 'Proper stomping boots' covered her feet and lower legs, lacing up almost to the knee. Then there was the cherry on top of the whole beautifully gothic scene…

Raven's hand reached up to her neck, finding and brushing across the soft leather choker she found there, "Did you just…?"

"Oh, God, yessss~…! He did!" Raven's inner voice groaned, the faint 'voice' reaching my ears husky and lewd.

"Yes, that'll do nicely. Very nicely indeed," I nodded to myself.

She stood there in silence, still seemingly stunned. Graceful fingers traced the choker around her neck reverently. A look of awe breached her usual dead expression. A damn-near vicious shudder ran through her whole body, her attention far off in fantasy land.

Not showing the amusement I was feeling, I clapped, "Right! Let's see if we can't find ourselves a little space smuggler's den. I'd give it good odds that there's a place like that around here somewhere. Who knows, it might even give me some good ideas to incorporate into the Dead End."

IIIII

It did not.

"Didi, this place is pathetic," I shook my head in disdain.

"Compared to the Dead End, everywhere is pathetic," Raven deadpanned.

"Okay, you might have a point there," I admitted. "But come on! It's like they're not even trying with this place!"

"I don't know," Raven said. "I think it's kind of… quaint."

I looked at her with incredulity in my eyes. Then back to the smuggler's den that we'd happened across after following where the solar winds of the Vega system took us. It was a station, and not a particularly large one, placed in a prime location within the planet-packed habitable zone of Vega. It certainly had nothing on the Watchtower. And after we'd 'docked' (read: tied the anchor around one of the protruding docking ports with magic), we saw that it was even less than I first thought.

The whole thing was circular and almost flat — a standard-ish disk shape. The docking ports extruded from all the way around it like the inverted spokes of a wheel. Latched to those docking ports — in much more traditionally secure ways than our ship was — were personal to small trader class ships of every size, shape, and specification.

I'd give the station one thing. It certainly didn't lack diversity in the 'spaceship' department. There were everything from long, angular, and aerodynamic ships to circular saucers, and from blocky cargo ships to what looked to be nimble single-seat fighters. That likely meant that the people we'd find inside would be just as diverse — quite a boon for our current purposes.

Upon entering the smuggler's station, Raven and I found ourselves in a circular entry hall that looked to run its entire circumference. As one might expect, there were no 'customs' or 'organized security'. This was the type of place to police itself. I'm sure whatever rules it had were unwritten and likely more common sense than any strict restriction.

Past the initial 'ring' of the station, I found myself bemused and almost baffled, "This… It's all a single fucking room!"

"So it seems," Raven let out a monotone hum.

The core of the station was practically everything it had to offer. It was just a bit bigger than the Dead End originally was before all of Didi and my space fuckery. Tiny, compared to just about any other space station I'd been on. But it seemed the small-scale, limited operation was serving this place well.

It wasn't quite bustling. But it was busy. Full of alien beings that ran the humanoid-esque gamut from near-human Tamareans to men of stone skin. I even saw a rare energy being playing darts of all things. The station seemed to serve as a mixture of a bar, casino, and games area. It felt more like a cliche old-west saloon than an alien space station.

Some beings played various alien bar games of one kind or another, most of which I didn't immediately recognize unlike the energy being playing darts. More gambled, either on the former games or card games of their own. And all of them were drinking, it seemed. The atmosphere in the station wasn't hostile but there was a certain background of tension that came with these sorts of seedy establishments.

Really, the place bore only a passing resemblance to the Dead End, mainly in the diversity and the constantly flowing drinks. My bar didn't have nearly this tense of an atmosphere, I liked to think. And there was barely any… anything here. Like it was just held together by a common interest instead of Power, Heart, and Death. Which… was fair. But a bit disappointing for the bartender in me. I felt there at least should have been a sense of Relations or Comradery in a place like this.

Raven rolled her eyes at my slight sulking, "Come on, Da-… dummy… We've got information to uncover."

Her little, almost slip of the tongue was enough to raise my mood back up. She'd been 'struggling' since I gave her that choker collar she was wearing. So, so many 'sneaky' glances that she thought I didn't notice. And it felt like her inner voice hadn't stopped drooling and gushing for a moment since.

"Of course, Raven," I replied without mentioning her slip — a half-knowing, half-teasing lilt to my voice. "Standing around looking pretty won't do us any good here."

"… You're certainly good at it though," Raven muttered under her breath.

"Hmm? What was that?" I hummed inquisitively, pretending not to hear her.

She glared at me slightly, "Shut up. How do you plan on getting this information anyway? It's not like we have anything of value to trade."

"You might be surprised there," I chuckled. "The best payment for information is cold hard cash. Which to be fair, we don't have. But the second best payment is more information. And that is something I have in spades."

"This is going to be good, isn't it?" A smirk ghosted across Raven's face.

I matched her expression with a vicious smirk of my own, "Likely better. I'm going to overpay so damn much. These poor people won't know what hit them."

"Heh," She let out a single flat chuckle. "After you then. I'll follow your lead."

"Won't you always~?" I teased.

"Yes, Daddy!" Raven's inner voice answered with a moan from within her soul.

Raven herself seemed to decide that simply ignoring me was her best course of action. I let her have her small victory, chuckling as I led the way up to the circular bar at the core of the station. The bartender there was of a species I didn't recognize, male and dark violet-purple from head to toe with long, tentacle-esque hair that matched the rest of his purple coloration. As an afterthought, I remembered to cast an intent translation spell over Raven and myself.

"Whaddya want, Pink-Skin?" He asked before I could even sit down.

I blinked, glancing at Raven, "Is that racist? It feels racist."

"It's not racist!" The bartender snapped. "Yer pink and ya got skin! Simple as that. Don't go throwing around accusations like that inside my bar."

"My apologies," I nodded and sat. Raven joined me, already amused by the brief exchange. "We're looking for a friend of ours. And we were hoping we could find some information here."

"I ain't heard shit," The bartender grunted.

"We haven't even asked anything yet," Raven noted flatly.

"Still ain't heard shit. Ya want info? Ask my customers, not me," The bartender shut us down completely, clearly trying to remove himself from culpability.

Surprisingly, with his shutdown, Raven and I received two new interested parties. One of the stone-skinned men sat down next to me with a thump. The energy being that had been playing darts also floated/wiggled/phased over to us on Raven's side.

"This One knows many things. This One may be able to help you find what it is you seek," The energy being said? It was less a physical sound and more a fluctuation of many different energies. Our translation spell made sure we still understood the being clearly.

"And 'this one'," The Stone-Skin laughed harshly like smashing rock against rock. "Knows even more! C'mon, now, Flesh-Thing. I'll surely be able to tell you what you need to know. For the right price, of course."

"That," Raven deadpanned. "Was racist."

"Don't be a bitch, girlie," The Stone-Skin growled.

I'd been examining the energy being in curiosity when he said that. Without even looking, I grabbed the back of his stone head and slammed his face into the bar. A loud clang silenced all other activity around us. And the Stone-Skin quickly found that he couldn't remove his head from the perfectly face-shaped dent it had made in the metal bar.

"There's no need to be rude," I tutted softly, a quiet menace lurking beneath my words and tone.

Raven shuddered ever-so-slightly at the sudden violence — the sudden show of my POWER. From what I'd seen from her, that was the sort of thing that perfectly pushed Raven's buttons. Especially when it was used in defense of others instead of outright domineering evil. She gave me a certain LOOK but didn't say anything. My lips twitched slightly at her in 'reply'.

"I think we'll be dealing with you instead of the rude one," I said, turning to the energy being. "What's your name, O' Energetic One?"

The energy being sort of flickered in what seemed to be surprise, "This One is called Awl. This One is impressed-grateful for the respect-consideration it is being shown."

I smiled at it, "Nice to meet you, Awl. I'm Sean and this is Raven. I think it's safe to say we'd both rather deal with someone who isn't a racist and misogynistic dick to us before we've even exchanged names."

Raven waved almost lazily, "What he said. Plus, you seem… cool."

Awl bobbed in place a bit, 'nodding', "This One understands. But This One is not 'cool'. This One is a volatile conflux of energy-life and proto-matter. Touching This One would not be advised."

"It's a figure of speech where we come from," Raven sighed, seemingly quite used to explaining this type of thing for some reason… (*Cough* Starfire *Cough*). "It means 'good' or 'interesting' or 'agreeable' or… It can mean a lot of things. But almost all of them are a compliment."

"AhHHhhH~…" Awl vibrated at a frequency that even our spell had trouble translating. "This One sees. Thank you for the compliment, Xi Raven."

"So you think you can help us find our friend, Awl?" I asked.

"This One believes it can," Awl 'nodded' again. "How did they go missing-lost?"

"Sudden kidnapping via a technologically advanced portal," Raven explained flatly. "Does that ring any bells?"

Awl puzzled for a moment, floating in place in a way that got across the impression of confusion before they seemed to realize something, "Ah, another figure of speech? This One did not 'ring the bells' but it believes it can understand the meaning-truth through context."

Raven sighed again, "Yeah, that's my bad. Let me rephrase that. Do you know of anything similar?"

"Indeed This One does," Awl answered. "Such phenomena have been happening across the system-area recently. This One has lost a friend of its own to these kidnappings-theft. This One is now certain it can help."

A vicious grin settled over my face, "Point us in the right direction and we'll get your friend back too."

Raven nodded her agreement, "Whoever is behind our friend's disappearance has earned our… ire. We're going to make sure they can't do it to anyone else ever again."

"This One is content with such a development," Awl twinkled/flashed/buzzed in their happiness. "The race you seek is the Psions. They are scientists — cruel enslavers by any other name — without care for morality-ethics or ethics-morality. They have consistently overstepped their bounds. Their kidnappings-thefts are widespread and loathed by all This One has spoken to."

"Perfect. Where can we find them?" Raven asked intently.

Awl dutifully answered, "The Psion Wombworld."

Raven's expression went blanker than usual, "The… what…?"

"A poor translation, I'm sure," I chuckled. "I doubt these Psions would keep slaves and prisoners at their nursery world."

Awl paused, "… They are a callous race who do not care for consequences. This One did not make the connection-realization before but it believes they just might do exactly as you have said, Xi Sean."

"Idiots then," Raven scowled.

"We'll just have to take it upon ourselves to limit collateral damage," I reassured. "Thank you for your help, Awl. Do you want compensation? Raven and I don't have any currency that you would find relevant but we can pay with some interesting information of our own."

"This One would not say no to compensation-payment," Awl 'said', almost demurely. "Especially if said compensation-payment is in information. This One seeks to ever increase-grow its knowledge and view of the universe."

I grinned slightly, "Then I think you'll quite like what I have to share, friend. Do you care if others overhear your 'payment'?"

Awl wiggled, floating roughly in the same place, "This One believes information should be freely shared. Just as with energy-sustenance."

Humming, I looked around us. We'd attracted quite a bit of interest at this point. Some of it sympathetic, at that. It seemed that Awl had been understating just how widespread this kidnapping phenomenon had become recently. Aliens of many different races all looked equally glad that someone would be taking care of these Psions.

The Stone-Skin man who was so rude to Raven hadn't managed to get his head free from the dent it made in the bar. But he had stopped struggling and seemed to be listening intently. My eyes narrowed vindictively at that. I wasn't feeling very forgiving toward him at the moment.

I spoke aloud for our audience to hear, "Since our energetic friend here is so generous, everyone can listen to the story I have to tell. Except for those who have already wronged us. The bartender was just doing his rightful due diligence, at least. I can understand that. But this asshole? He gets to miss out on the secret I have to share."

The Stone-Skin's struggles kicked back into gear at that, his words of protest completely muffled. Even then, he couldn't free himself. And again, I really didn't care for the fucker. A hard tap to the back of his head put him out cold, his body going limp in its dented prison. I saw Raven's lips twitch in satisfaction out of the corner of my eye.

"This One believes this is justly deserved-Karma," Awl said, seemingly satisfied as well. "The Branx Warrior was… unpleasant."

Raven snorted flatly, "That's an understatement. The asshole was asking for it. He's lucky Sean let him off with just this. You don't want to see Sean when he's actually angry."

Awl paused, "… For some reason, This One completely believes you, Xi Raven. Xi Sean is quite formidable-terrifying-intriguing in a way This One has not yet encountered."

I rolled my eyes, unseen behind my dark shades, "Yeah, yeah, there's no need to stroke my ego. No matter how much Raven seems to ~love~ doing that~…"

Raven glared at me without any real heat behind it, "Just tell your story, Sean."

"It is what I seem to do best, isn't it~?" I smirked at her smugly before turning my attention back to Awl's 'payment'.

"This is an old, old story…" I began. "One that all those involved think has been lost to time. They have good reason to think that, even if it's not quite the case. Let me tell you all a little something about the Guardians of the Universe… And only ONE of their many ancient atrocities."

"The Guardians of the Universe?" Awl gave the impression of cocking their head in curiosity. "This One is unfamiliar with such a sect-species."

"Understandable," I nodded, explaining. "They're somewhat beyond the usual ken of the common sentient being. They were perhaps one of the first races in the universe to rise to true intelligence. Immortal and practically all-powerful, they've had a hand in universal events since time immemorial. Not forever. But damn close. These days, you would likely be most familiar with their greatest work… The Green Lantern Corps."

Awl listened intently, ever curious for more. The underlying tension of the bar had somewhat faded away in anticipation of the secret I was sharing. With my mention of the Green Lantern Corps, that tension returned changed. It seemed that even with their noninterference with the Vega system, the Green Lanterns were still universally famous.

One of the nameless aliens in the audience put it into words best, "Dirt on the Green Lanterns…? Are you TRYING to get us to commit suicide by two shots to the back of the head?!"

"This One does not understand. Wouldn't 'two shots to the back of the head' imply that it wasn't suici-…" Awl trailed off as realization struck them. "Ah."

"I'm not here," The bartender grunted gruffly, panicking *just* a bit. "I was never here. And whatever the fuck you say next, I didn't hear shit!"

"Heavy shit," Another alien customer nodded. "But I sure as Hell ain't some friend of the Lanterns. They leave this whole system to rot. Let's hear some bad shit about their masters or whatever."

Grinning grimly, the stage set, I continued, "The Green Lantern Corps wasn't the first attempt from the Guardians at imposing their order upon the universe. The true first attempt went so, so spectacularly… wrong. Tell me, what do you think of when I say '666'?"

"The Silent Death," One alien said.

"The Twelve Hells themselves," Said another.

"It That Consumes All Waves and Particles," Awl intoned heavily.

"My late dead-beat father," Raven deadpanned.

I chuckled at that last contribution, "Yeah, nothing good, right? The opposite of good, in fact. There's a reason for that. And it all comes back to the Guardians of the Universe.

"See, the Guardians' first attempt at imposing order began with the Manhunters. A fleet of robotic supercops with a propensity for excessive force and known for their unrelenting pursuit of their code. 'No Man Escapes the Manhunters'…"

Attentive silence encouraged me to speak my piece, "Eventually, the Manhunters' code became more important than their duty. The Guardians — through ignorance or negligence — didn't even notice their creations' corruption until it was too late. Until the Massacre of Sector 666."

Shock set in almost immediately. 'Massacre' rarely, if ever, meant something good. An entire race of robots going on a sector-wide murder spree sounded even worse. Even if not many of them seemed to realize just how significant the 'sector' part of that was to the story.

I took it upon myself to helpfully explain, of course, "Sectors are how the Guardians and later the Green Lanterns partition the universe. There are only 3600 of them. In. The. Entire. Universe… Even the smallest of them is comprised of multiple galaxies.

"The Manhunters slaughtered all sentient life in Sector 666. Man, woman, child… every single being with the capacity for intelligence. They scoured a million races from the face of the universe. It didn't matter how advanced they were — if they were warlike or peaceful. The Manhunters slaughtered them all. Quadrillions of beings, MASSACRED.

"Only five beings survived, twisted into demons of blood and hate. They exist in exile to this day, imprisoned for their 'crimes' and constantly hungering for their revenge…"

If shock set in first, now there was only horror, "Gods below…"

"That… It's unfathomable!"

"Is cruelty on such a scale even possible…?"

"Ancient war crimes in the morning…" Raven deadpanned. "Is there any better way to start the day?"

More than a few of the aliens gaped at her, shocked by her audacity. Dark humor wasn't much of a thing in their cultures, most likely. But humans loved to temper their tragedies with absurdity and irony. It helped us cope.

I merely cracked a grim and morbid smile at her attempt at breaking the mood, "More like ancient police brutality that turned into ancient war crimes but I don't think the difference is something anyone but academics would argue about."

"Truly, This One is seized by tragedy-distress and horror-dread," Awl's energy body had dimmed quite a bit from hearing about the Massacre of Sector 666. "Tell This One, Xi Sean… What has come of the ones who caused this?"

"The Manhunters were culled by their creators," I explained. "Those that survived the culling were exiled just like the survivors of their massacre. They're still out there. If you ever hear their code — No Man Escapes the Manhunters —… Run. Run and pray to whatever deities you may hold dear.

"As for their creators, the Guardians kept trying. Eventually, they hit upon the Green Lantern Corps and somewhat succeeded in bringing their order and peace to the universe. They suppressed knowledge of the Massacre. If you asked, not a single Green Lantern would know what you were talking about.

"The Guardians pushed the atrocity they'd created to the side. They tried to forget… But the universe remembers. The Massacre of Sector 666 left a psychic scar on all life — a scar so grievous it broke causality, echoing throughout time before and since.

"None were scarred more than Death herself. And seeing as I'm quite fond of her, perhaps only the Five Atrocities that survived the Massacre feel more strongly about this secret than I do."

My voice grew dark and heavy at the end of my explanation. My presence pressed down upon the little space station bar. The Guardians and the Manhunters had harmed my Didi with their negligence and rigid code.

For a brief, brief moment, a cloud of POWER suffocated all who drew breath. The entire Vega system felt the empathetic wrath of Death's Prince Consort. Just as quickly as it came, it was gone. And I honestly felt a bit embarrassed about losing control of myself.

The audience in the bar still choked on nothingness, some even fainting outright. And with how far-reaching my brief moment of wrath was, I'd probably interrupted whatever Savage was doing to those poor Tamarean women. Hopefully, I didn't ruin that mood too much…

I certainly didn't ruin the mood between Raven and myself. She was STARING at me again. Like when we were playing dress up. Only about a thousand times more intense. Her expression was utterly flat but there was a HUNGER in her eyes. LUST. Pure, unadulterated LUST.

"I think…" She said slowly. "That's where we take our leave. Awl, it's been a pleasure. Sean and I have… something to take care of."

I smirked wickedly at her, "Rescuing Kori, you mean?"

Raven STARED, the look in her eyes *almost* transitioning into a glare as she regained control of herself, "Of course. That. Is. Exactly. What. I. Meant. Nothing else. Yet…"

Awl 'looked' at us strangely, "Xi Sean, Xi Raven. Your courting rituals are confusing but fascinating."

"Hear that, Raven~?" I laughed. "We're fascinating."

"Frustrating, more like…" Raven muttered to herself.

My laugh petered to a chuckle as I stood and stretched. The rest of the bar was steadfastly avoiding my gaze now but that was only to be expected after an outburst of POWER like the one I just had. Shrugging — nothing to do about that — I moved to take care of one last thing before Raven and I left.

I dislodged the rude Stone-Skin man from his dented prison in the bar. The kick wasn't strictly necessary but he hadn't made a friend in me. He awoke again with a start as he hit the floor. Raven and I were already leaving, only hearing a brief exchange between him and the bartender before we were out the door.

"Wha?! What happened?! What the fuck did I miss?!"

"Shut up, Stone-Skin bastard! Don't ask. Fer yer own good…"

Heh. I smirked to myself. Even Raven's lips twitched despite her current 'frustrations'. Heh times 2: Electric Heh-galoo. I could literally FEEL the lust and desire swirling like a storm behind that dead expression of hers. This had already been a productive little outing. In more ways than one…