At long last, after a good couple years wait, I am FINALLY returning to my work on my Teen Titans fanfiction continuation of the DCTTAU. And boy am I hoping you all find just this part alone more than worth the long wait (and leave a respectable amount of feedback while we're at it)! Ladies and gentlemen, Titan-ics of all ages, I now present you the beginning of what will hopefully prove my triumphant return to the Teen Titans fanfiction community! Read on, and prepare, to be amazed!

A/N: But first, as I'd best remind you, I do not own Teen Titans, or anything else DC-based. I do, however, own the OC race of beings that make their ominous debut here in this prologue. And with my legal bases covered, let's, without further ado, begin our story.

Prologue:

She shuddered slightly, waiting on the surface of the planet she'd disembarked upon. She looked around left to right at the area she was now standing in, her ship parked on the ground behind her. She sighed slightly as she ended up briefly gazing at her ship. The ship honestly hadn't entirely been necessary, and neither was her current outfit. After all, her species was a race that was quite adequately capable of surviving in space without a ship or protective clothing of any sort, let alone the kind she was wearing. But in this case, she'd decided that it was better safe than sorry. After all, if what she'd heard about the area was true, then immediate possession of a vessel and protective outfit would be a wise course of action for even beings like herself that were capable of breathing in the vacuum of space.

She took another glance at the area directly in front of her, and mentally shuddered at the thought of what she'd heard about the alleged nature of this planet. If the information she'd heard was true, and she had no reason to believe that her sources on the matter would have lied, then this planet was reportedly one of two planets that served as a physical boundary for a galaxy where the literal forces of light and darkness had zero hope of balance. And in the case of this planet, she was arguably on the threshold of an entrance to a galaxy where light literally did not exist. And judging by the eerie look of the area around her, she had no trouble at all believing that this was indeed the true nature of this planet.

The planet itself had hardly looked all that appealing from the outside of its atmosphere, seemingly resembling nothing more than a ball of hardened gray sludge with nondescript hills sticking out on its surface every now and then. One such hill was what she was now standing in front of, and she could now get a clear look at some details about it that made her feel even more unnerved. For this hill, as it so turned out, was the exterior of none other than a very Hellish looking cave. Lined across the cave's entrance on both the top and bottom were a long line of stalactites and stalagmites that were positioned so that they made the cave resemble a gaping mouth filled with razor-sharp teeth as if it were the jaws of a beast ready to devour her, an image she was not all that keen to keep in her head.

And even without the unappealing and unnerving nature of the planet's own appearance to consider, there was the appearance of the night sky she could see around the area of this planet's location. She looked skyward. Much like had been the case when she'd earlier been in the process of reaching the planet and landing her ship, the night sky looked completely normal and filled with the twinkling lights of countless stars, but the night sky in front of her looked very ominously unnatural in its darkness. This alternate night sky that intertwined with the ordinary night sky behind her was completely devoid of any stars, and looked so ominously dark black that she now couldn't help but notice that she couldn't even see the outline of the cave. She mentally shuddered, as this alone was all the more proof she needed to truly believe that this planet was merely an anchor holding a land of immeasurable literal darkness in place, and that traveling deep enough within the cave would result in her entering a darkness so total and absolute that it would be entirely likely that even the lights built into her suit wouldn't be able to help her see through the hollow and chilling nothingness located beyond the far side of this planet.

She directed her gaze towards the cave entrance, and it took all her willpower not to jolt in surprise. At some point while she'd been distracted, another being had come into view in front of her. It only took one look to recognize it as one of the natives she had been searching for.

The being in question seemed about the same height as her. Of course, for understandable reasons, this had initially proven quite difficult to determine. For this being was such a dark black that Blackfire now couldn't help but wonder if it had perhaps either arrived earlier then now or been standing there the whole time. After all, with how dark black it was in color, she could now see how it could have possibly been standing idle against the considerably dark gray surface of the cave entrance interior. Even the stalagmites were positioned just well enough so that it wouldn't stand out against their lighter gray surface.

But once she was able to adequately pinpoint its presence, she took note of how it seemed to resemble a hooded black cloak made of literal shadow energy. And if she concentrated, she could make out 'arms' folded across its 'chest'. Then, right before her eyes, she saw what appeared to be a pair of twin red circles of light materialize in the center of the 'hood'. The sight of which caused her to again fight with all her willpower not to physically shudder.

For what seemed like an eternity, this entity stared her down, examining and taking note of everything it could, memorizing every detail it would need. Then, right as she was seconds away from losing her composure, she heard a reverberating deep voice speak seemingly both within and outside her mind, "You are the one who transmitted the arrival signal?"

For a brief second, she was caught off guard. But then she managed to realize that the being in front of her, despite seemingly showing zero signs of moving a mouth, let alone any movement whatsoever, had just now spoken to her. "Yes," she responded. "I am."

The being seemed to raise its nonexistent left eyebrow, seemingly not fully convinced due to the visitor's relatively slow response time to its question. Then it seemed to accept the response it had gotten. "You truly dare to step foot on this land?"

Without hesitation, she nodded. "I do," she responded, her voice burning with determination.

The native hummed, its voice mostly impassive, but with just a tiny hint of approval present. The being then nodded its head, and directed its full attention upon her, its red eyes unblinking as they stared directly towards her helmeted face. "And you are the one who wishes to hold a meeting with our council?"

She lifted her gloved right hand, clenching it into a fist at the same time. "I am," she growled.

The dark being grunted, its shadowy head nodding. "Very well," it stated. "You may enter." It turned around to face the entrance to the cave. "Follow me."

For about an hour, they walked through the dark tunnel. The only source of light available being a series of glowing ominous red crystals affixed upon the left and right walls like torches. As they trekked further and further down the path, she couldn't help but notice how with each pair of crystals they passed, the light emitting from them grew gradually dimmer and dimmer.

At long last, after passing a pair of crystals giving off such dim light that they might as well not have been glowing at all, they entered a vast circular cavern. Much to her surprise, the room was surprisingly well lit considering the virtually nonexistent glow of the last pair of crystal 'torches' she and her guide had passed on the way to this chamber. The light for this room was provided by a pair of braziers that glowed with two red flames.

However, what attracted her attention the most were the gaping circular tunnel entrance in between the two braziers and the 12 beings gathered together in the very center of the chamber. One look at the impossibly black darkness within this tunnel entrance was enough for her to recognize it as the entrance to the galaxy of absolute darkness located beyond this planet.

Meanwhile, the 12 identical beings gathered about in the very center of the cavern, their red eyes agleam and staring ominously towards her and her guide, all looked exactly like her guide. In fact, the sight of these 12 other beings was enough to cause her to unconsciously pause in her movement. By the time she realized this and redirected her attention back towards her guide, he had already taken 13 steps ahead of her, and she hurriedly prepared herself to catch up with him. Her guide turned his head to face her, his red eyes bright and fierce, and his right arm raised with his 'hand' directly facing her. It was clear that this gesture from him was a silent order to 'wait'.

She relaxed as the shadowy figure turned his head away from her, and joined his 12 compatriots. They positioned themselves so that all 13 of the shadowy beings were standing together side by side in a circle, their arms positioned much like those of a praying mantis. Then they leaned forward, their heads coming together and merging together as one, and for the next few minutes, they stayed this way, unmoving and silent.

As they remained thus merged together, she leaned her head in their direction, trying to hear them speaking if they were in fact talking. However, while she was able to hear some noises being spoken amongst them, she couldn't hear enough to adequately mentally string together a coherent statement, let alone a conversation. Unlike the fluent English that he had used in his speech with her not too long ago, what few words she could now hear spoken in their communication were of an ominous and unnerving language that she had no hope of understanding.

They reached an end to their conversation, and their heads detached from their merger, allowing each of them to take several steps backward in their respective directions. As one, they all turned around and positioned themselves so that they were facing her, the one who'd greeted her standing in the very center of the line. The being in question stepped forward, his arms folded across his chest.

It came to a stop, red eyes impassive and gazing intently at the one who'd dared step foot on his home planet and threshold to the entire galaxy he and his kin unrepentantly ruled all to themselves. Then he nodded his head a single time.

"My fellow councilmen and I are willing to potentially allow an alliance with you, much as a predecessor of yours once did so many years ago." Sensing that she was about to make a happy response to this news, he lifted his hand to forestall any comment from her. "However, my fellow councilmen and I must know this; what is it you wish to offer to us in exchange for this companionship?"

She nodded her head, took a deep breath, and then exhaled. She looked directly into the face of the being who'd addressed her, her eyes agleam with determination underneath the visor of her helmet.

"I offer you the opportunity to go beyond the boundaries of your system and spread across the entire universe; the ability to freely wander and rule without worry about reprisal from even your eternal enemies of the galaxy of light. I also wish to offer you my services as your champion and eventual willing host to the one you serve and worship as a god."

The being gave a curt nod. "I see." He bowed slightly as if in respect. "Please; do excuse me."

They reformed their circle and merged their heads once more. After several minutes, they once again split apart from their merging.

"My fellow councilmen and I find appeal in your offer. However, we must ask you one other question. Why is it you wish to ally yourself with us? Surely you know how such things you are asking do not come lightly. Are you certain this is what you truly want? And if so, why?"

"Yes," she answered. "I do. And why I want this?" She took yet another deep breath, "Simple. I want revenge." She lifted her right hand, clenching it into a fist in the process, a glowing aura encasing the glove and fist in response to her unconsciously rising sense of tranquil fury.

"Revenge against my sister who throughout my life has wronged me again, and again, and again. Revenge against her friends. Revenge against my people." She lowered her clenched right fist. "I no longer care about anything else. I've lost so much at this point, been wronged so many times, and fallen so very far in my life, that nothing else matters to me. All I want now is the satisfaction of finally getting my long-desired revenge against my sister. For once standing in triumph over her as she gazes helplessly up at me. Finally being the one to have won against her and successfully left her as the one being wronged in her undeservingly, privileged and joyous life that she was too arrogant and selfish to share with me."

She straightened herself up further, standing tall in her determination and focus. "That, and nothing else, is all that I desire now, and I will gladly give you what I am now offering in exchange for this one and true chance at finally achieving it."

For what seemed like an eternity, they all remained silent, staring each other down. Then, right as she was starting to feel the slightest twinge of impatience begin to bubble up within her, the being subtly nodded his head.

"I see. As you can see, we are no strangers to darkness." He nodded his head once more, this time more obviously as opposed to the subtler single nod. "But this darkness that you wish of us is something truly remarkable." He lifted his head, his red eyes now gleaming considerably brighter, almost as if in sadistic joy. "Just like your predecessor's exact same, yet different, desire from so many years since past." He lifted his left 'hand', seemingly clenching it into a 'fist' of his own. "I love it! But please, do excuse me one more time."

In a flash, he and his 12 companions assembled back into a circle and merged their heads together one final time. And this time, after several minutes had passed, she managed to hear them chant, "Chon gon-gon-gon, chon gon-gon-gon, chon gon-gon-gon-gon!"

Once they had finished chanting, they split from their merger and faced her again. "The council has discussed and weighed your offer." The 13 beings bowed slightly in respect, their hands clasped together. "The council has reached a decision. And it is unanimous. You shall grant us exactly what you offered, no more, no less, and in exchange, my fellow councilmen and I, plus all our soldiers, shall personally provide you with all that we can give to allow you to successfully achieve the dark wish you desire, and that your predecessor himself wished from us so many years past. Do you find what we have to offer acceptable, Komand'r of Tamaran?"

She paused before she lifted her hands, clutched the base of her helmet, and with a click, lifted it off and away from her head and face, revealing her face in the light of the flames, her long pitch-black hair cascading down her back now that it was freed from the confines of her helmet. She opened her violet purple eyes, a sadistic look of glee and triumph appearing within them while her mouth simultaneously took on a similarly sadistic and gleeful grin. "Yes," she purred. "I, Blackfire of Tamaran, accept your offer."

And just like that, the prologue for episode 6.04 of the A-LionGleek style Teen Titans season 6 begins! Hoping once again that those of you who read this enjoyed it and found it well worth the wait. Furthermore, I am also hoping to receive a respectable amount of feedback for this chapter. Remember, I require a minimum of 1, maybe 2, reviews for this in order to guarantee that I will post the next chapter. All that said, let's hope you're all ready for some long awaited continuation of A-LionGleek provided enjoyment, because I am BACK!

P.S: And while we're at it, let's all give a warm thank you to my fantastic beta reader (and fellow fanfic writer on this site and fandom) Bearhow!

Coming up next: A seemingly ordinary morning at Titans Tower goes flying out the window when first Starfire, and then a couple surprise visitors, brings some unpleasant news regarding the continued safety of the universe. Sound fun? I certainly hope so!