Twilight and Spike saw no choice but just head back to Equestria, deciding to leave the mess for the authorities to clean after, and the both of them were super devastated anyway.

Upon returning, Twilight just went straight to her room and threw herself upon her bed, sobbing into her pillow, while Spike bravely and calmly told Starlight what they had seen. “Oh, my…!” Starlight cried “I don’t blame her for being so upset.”

“You think I’m not either?” Spike cried as tears came to his face too, “I loved all those kids. I could trust them like Twilight did, and now… now they’re gone.”

He couldn’t hold it in and began to cry softly, and Starlight cuddled him close. Though she was never as close to the humans as Spike and Twilight were, she shed a few tears herself, and wondered who or what would do something so horrible!

Meanwhile, the Titans had healed from their injuries thanks to Raven. “You could really do the hospitals out of a job.” Cyborg commented in thanks. “You’re welcome…” replied Raven.

Still, the city was in so much devastation despite only a small part of it was crumpled, as well as a good number of people were dead, but there was worse to come…

Robin checked the news; reports were coming in from many cities across America. Buildings were shattered, streets were are messed up, many people had been brutally slaughtered or roasted, while others were left injured, homeless, jobless, and without their loved ones.

Robin angrily clenched his fists. There was no doubt those three creatures he and the Titans had fought were responsible for all this senseless chaos.

The new report continued…

“Worse still, our newsroom has been flooding with panic-ridden phone calls from people concerned over the strange anomaly that strangely appeared in the skies. Astronomers and scientists have no clue as to what it is, but have conclusively confirmed that the object is slowly expanding.”

Hearing this, Robin dashed to the window and looked up at the sky, and surely enough the black hole way up high did seem a little bit bigger than when it was first spotted. “Cyborg, can you scan it yet?”

Cyborg tried to everything he could, but wasn’t able to identify it at all. “Whatever that thing is, it either can’t be scanned, or maybe it’s some kind of thing we don’t know about.”

While the two of them chatted, Raven had gone to her room and looked in her specially-sealed chest where she kept her dangerous and foreboding items. This was where she had hidden The Dark Prognosticus when she took it back from Beast Boy… only now it was gone!

“No!” she cried. Her pupils sank deeply into her eyes as her insides were rocked with extreme fear. She remembered what the villains had said during the fight: “You don’t stand a chance against the power of The Dark Prognosticus!”

She looked out her window, and could see some of the destruction in the city, and the black hole in the sky which only further worried her. Though she hardly knew anything about the power of the Prognosticus, she feared that the world as she knew it was in grave peril. Even graver than when Trigon tried to takeover. “Today was just the beginning!” she felt.

Her communicator went off with the signal for Robin calling all Titans to the lounge.

Once the four met in the lounge, Robin let Starfire open the meeting. She held up a special paper that had the insignia of her home planet on the front. “I have received a distressful message from Galfore, my K'norfka.”

Cyborg was confused, “How do you send mail like that through outer space?” Starfire just gave him a strict look for interrupting, as well addressing a non-important issue. “Sorry.”

Starfire cleared her throat and continued, “He says that he wishes for us to come to Tamaran at once. He fears that the planet may be in grave peril!”

“Peril from what?” Robin asked. “He writes that he is uncertain, but I fear the situation may be dreadful. I feel we should go at once.”

The others weren’t so sure that was a good idea at the moment; given the state the city was in and that those three creeps could show up again. “We can’t just leave the city, Star.” Robin said to her, and before Starfire could say anything more, there was a buzzing at the computer indicating someone at the front door.

…It was the Doom Patrol, and they looked awfully upset about something. Elasti-Girl’s eyes were stained as though she had been crying, and she still pretty much was.

They let them all in and brought them all to the lounge, “What brings you all here?” Raven asked.

Robot-Man and Negative just hung their heads low, and Elasti-Girl was quivering as she tried to maintain herself and not break out sobbing again. So Mento remorsefully told them, “We found Beast Boy.”

“Say what?!” Cyborg cried with joy.

“Oh, that is most wonderful!” added Starfire “May we see him? Is he all right?”

Mento shut his eyes and hung his head down a bit, and said it bluntly, “…He’s dead!”

A horrifying silence broke out as the Titans all gawked at him in absolute shock!

After a few moments, Robot-Man brought in a large concealed cryogenic-capsule with the Doom Patrol Logo on it. “You sure you want to see? …It’s pretty nasty!” Negative-Man warned them. “Show us.” said Robin.

With that, Negative-Man pressed on a switch on the capsule, which made the covers on the glass rise, revealing Beast Boy’s dead body, frozen inside! Starfire gasped at the horrible sight she and the others saw.

He was very dead, as was hinted by the enormous hole blown right through his body with bits of his severed intestines and his organs dangling out. His jaw was hanging wide open and his green skin looked awfully pale from death, not the freezing!

Negative-Man regretted to say “We thought we’d bring him back here to you guys, so maybe…” he paused “We could all bury him and have a little service for him.”

“I can’t believe it!” Robin murmured.

Cyborg placed his hands on the glass of the capsule and felt his insides aching with grief, “Beast Boy.”

Raven stood where she was in total shock and sadness. A tear rolled down her eye.

Elasti-Girl explained, “We found him like this, a few hundred miles out of town in a field. He’d been dead maybe a week or so.” She held in her sorrows again, but it was getting harder to stay strong.

“Beast Boy…!” Starfire sobbed as she fell to the floor and let out her emotions. Robin held her tightly, while trying to keep his own cool as well. “Do you have any idea what could’ve done this?”

“Not a clue.” replied Robot-Man, “But from the looks of that hole in him, he was definitely murdered.”

Cyborg began to have a good idea; betting Beast Boy had a run-in with those three creeps they had fought, and they obviously overpowered them! “I swear, if I ever see those mother-(bleeping) bitches again, I’ll blow a hole through their hearts for this!”

Robin felt the same as Cyborg, but still, as much as the situation was mournful and upsetting, he reminded everyone as he asked Starfire, “Do you still want to go to Tamaran, Star?”

Starfire wiped her eyes, and though her heart was very broken at the moment, she still couldn’t very much ignore the calling of her home planet.

“Listen, do you think you guys would mind keeping an eye on the city while we’re away?”

Mento sighed softly, “We’re not house-warmers, but… given all that’s just happened, you got it.”

“We’ll also keep Beast Boy frozen until we’re ready to bury him.” said Elasti-Girl.

The Titans were thankful, but it was still so incredibly hard for them to get over all this. Beast Boy was dead. Now they could never hope to make up with him for the falling out…

…but now was not the time to really be thinking about that; not with greater things to worry about.

Soon, the T-Ship was all fueled up and mounted on the Launchpad outside. With the Doom Patrol in the tower, Robin spoke to them over the com, and he explained to them the situation of the creatures they fought. “We’ll be back as soon as we can.”

“Don’t worry…” said Mento “If these creeps decide to show up, we’ll do what we can.”

With that, the T-Ship blasted off for its long journey to Tameran. They would be sure to make it there by Earth’s nightfall, and hopefully everything would be all right.

Their takeoff did not go unnoticed.

That strange creature was hiding near the boat docks overlooking the Titan’s island, and he saw everything since the Doom Patrol had arrived. “Could they be the ones I seek?” he wondered, and he looked in his book whispering “Speak to me, Light Prognosticus. Tell me the clues…”

He searched through the pages and read a segment that told of three teams:

He stopped reading, and looked back at Titan’s tower where the Doom Patrol’s ship was parked, and the smoke trail of the T-ship had just faded. “Perhaps they are and perhaps they are not.” He thought to himself “I shall have to observe them more.”

Then he realized one other problem: Even if the Titans and the Doom Patrol were acceptable teams to help him in his quest, they were still only two teams. Who and where was the third team?

He looked down at the Light Prognosticus, “I know you will guide me through to the answer I seek.”

Meanwhile, Twilight had finally come out of her room where she had spent most of the day sobbing and sleeping after crying herself to exhaustion. She found all her friends waiting at the table, and all of them looking as grim as she did.

“Spike told us everything.” Rainbow explained “So we thought we’d come check on you.”

“We’re so sorry, Twilight.” said Fluttershy. “We’re more than sorry,” added Pinkie “We’re double sorry! No, Triple.” She wasn’t trying to liven up the mood, she really meant it.

Twilight smiled sadly, “Thank you, every-pony. I just can’t believe this happened. Why did it happen?”

The ponies honestly didn’t know what to say, all they could do was be there for Twilight.

Rarity sighed and turned her head to look out a window, “Huh?” she snapped softly.

“What’s up with you?” asked Applejack, Rarity didn’t answer but just stood there and gawking up at something in the sky. Applejack walked over and looked out at the sky. “What in the hootin’ nanny…?”

Twilight, curious at what they were looking at walked over to another window. “What’s wrong?” she asked, but she suddenly saw for herself! “It can’t be…!”

There, in the sky, was the exact same black hole she and Spike had seen in the human world, only it seemed a little bit larger from what they had seen. “What’s it doing here?” Spike asked.

Twilight began to feel something menacing about that darkness. She had never seen anything like it in any book she had read and there was no point in cramming for any references.

“Um… Twilight…” Starlight asked “You didn’t by chance dream of that, did you?”

Twilight shook her head, “My nightmares were horrible, but I don’t remember seeing that thing. Unless…!”

“Unless what?” asked Pinkie and she began to bounce impatiently crying out “Tell me! Tell me! Tell me! Tell me! Tell me…!”

“Pinkie, please, I’m trying to think.” snapped Twilight, but then there was a knock the big doors, and Discord just let himself in, “Yeah, hi. Sorry, I’m late, I couldn’t miss my favorite lunch in the oven.” And he held up a rather weird looking pie-like food that had tentacles stretching out from the crusts, “Anyone care for Dimensional Tentacle Casserole?”

The ponies all gagged at the sight of something so gross, and Flutttershy was rather cross with Discord. “You were supposed to come with us to be here for Twilight.” she scolded.

“Oh, right…” Discord said, actually sounding remorseful, and he magical changed into a black suit and tie, like someone at a funeral would be dressed, and he approached Twilight, “Princess… I can’t begin to tell you how sorry I am that you…” he suddenly stopped as he looked out the window at the sky, and he gasped, followed by the sound of a fire bell ringing--caused by himself of course.

“What? What’s the matter?” cried Rarity.

Discord began to laugh like a demented maniac, “What’s the matter? WHAT’S THE MATTER?!” and he pointed at the object in the sky “THAT… is what’s the matter!”

“Wait, you know what that thingy is up there?” asked Rainbow.

Discord nodded nervously, “As a reality bender I’ve only heard of them, but I never thought I’d ever see one.”

“What is that exactly?” Twilight asked.

In a snap of his fingers, Discord warped the room in a simple classroom with the ponies all seated at their desks, while he himself was dressed in a cardigan, glasses and standing at the chalkboard. “Well, class… to answer your question.” he said, and he pointed his pointer at the board showing a poorly drawn chalk picture of the object “What we have here… is a void.”

“A void…! Of course a void!” said Pinkie “…What’s a void?”

Discord sighed and rolled his eyes, and he pulled down a rollup chart, “A void is another fancy word for a dimensional rift. Basically it is a hole in the very dimensional fabric of space. Is it near, or is it far? Who really knows?”

The ponies all exchanged looks of concern and or confusion, much to Discord’s chagrin. “Looks like I’ll have to be blunt.” He said as he dispelled the classroom scene. “Basically, that is a destructive object in the sky, and while it might be small now, it’s only going to get bigger, and bigger, and bigger…!”

Now the ponies were starting feel freaked out. “Um… did you just say “Destructive?” asked Spike.

“That’s right…” Discord said in a sarcastically sly voice, “Destructive, as in “Destroy!”

“DESTROY!!” the friends cried.

“How is this possible?” cried Twilight “How did it happen? How can we stop it?”

“How should I know?” replied Discord, “I’ve only heard of these things, but I never thought I’d actually see one, but I do know that…” he stopped trying to find his courage to say what he could. “Well come on! Out with it!” snapped Applejack.

Discord gulped, “Well… all I know is. That thing is just going to grow and grow, and anything its path will be horribly obliterated. Nothing will be left. Not even tiny atoms.”

The ponies gasped hard, and Rarity dramatically fainted on the floor.

“This is crazy!” cried Pinkie “We’re all going to die! WE’RE ALL GOING TO DIE!!!”

Fluttershy asked Discord, “Are you sure about all this?”

“Have I ever been wrong?” Discord asked, and the ponies all gave him a straight look. “…I mean when it’s important!”

Twilight, she recollected what the voice in her nightmares warned her, “I am returning! I will destroy…!”

She began to feel if maybe this was not only responsible for killing her human friends, but was this the great evil her nightmares were warning her about? Either way, Equestria was in great danger now.

The friends broke into a song of panic…

Next Chapter: The End of Tamaran Estimated time remaining: 3 Hours, 5 Minutes