The fireworks going off at the pier had most of the Titans in awe. Robin, Beast Boy and Cyborg were "ohh"ing and "ahh"ing at the bright explosions, while Raven had her usual neutral expression. Ben, in normal clothes, had taken Starfire onto the Ferris wheel so that they could get a better view.
"Tell me again what they are called" Starfire requested, her green eyes dazzled by the colours on display in the night sky. "Fireworks, humans set them off in celebration. We even have a special time of year that we set them off at" the brunette teen replied.
Starfire's happy expression became a frown. "On my home planet, such explosions would mean the Gordanians were attacking. You are certain earth is not under attack" she asked. A chuckle escaped Ben's lips. Unlike his teammates who had grown annoyed by Starfire's lack of earth knowledge, and cuisine, Ben found it cute. "Don't worry. Even if it was, we could handle it" Ben replied, resting his hand on her shoulder.
Starfire leaned into his touch slightly, a happy smile gracing her lips. "That is good" she murmured.
Down on the ground, Raven caught herself looking at the two on the Ferris Wheel and felt her powers spike from the feeling in her chest. Why Ben had taken the overly cheerful alien up there in the first place was a mystery, but it made Raven feel something she really didn't like.
"Hey Raven, we were going to the bumper cars, you wanna come?" Beast Boy asked the goth girl. Before she even had time to recognise what the green teen said, the look on her face creeped the green skinned teen out and he slowly began backing away.
Back on the Ferris Wheel, Starfire had moved over slightly and was leaning against Ben's chest. The brunette teen was slightly uncomfortable at the close contact, to the point his back was like a brick wall, but he was still happy Starfire was enjoying herself. "When I first came to this planet, I did not think I would ever fit in" Starfire said, nestling her head against Ben's shoulder. "Earth was full of strange things, but now I see that..." she continued, but the sound of the fireworks had gotten even louder and had stopped her trail of thought. "Don't worry Star" Ben told her, "I'll always be there for you".
The two just sat there in silence, enjoying the lights. The loud booms and the shower of sparks had the two in an odd calm. It lasted for a while, but once the light show had ended, the Ferris Wheel began moving again. "Earth is full of amazing things" Starfire muttered. "My Grandpa once said that, in all his travels, Earth had something that no where else did" Ben replied.
Suddenly, a purple creature with several tentacles that was shaped like a squid flew down and wrapped themselves around Starfire, before flying off with her. Ben cried out to her, but it was already too har away.
His hand shot to the Omnitrix and pushed the activation button. The black and green dial popped up and showed the typical silhouette of the alien.
"Come on, Stinkfly!" Ben cried in desperation, before he threw himself off the edge. The green light signalled the transformation and a scaled, fish like creature with a black skirt shaped thing that was attached to his hips came down to his shins. "Oh come on" came the raspy voice of Ripjaws as he hit the pier below.
"Ben, what happened!?" Robin cried, as he and the others ran over. "Something took Star, I'm going after them" Ripjaws replied before he ran over to the edge and lunged into the water.
The creature had made it quite far from the pier, but Ripjaws' skirt had turned into tail fins and he was rapidly approaching the fleeing tentacle monster.
Starfire was struggling against the creature's grasp, but it was clearly pointless. "Wherever you are taking me, I do not wish to go!" Star shouted at her captor, before firing an energy blast at it.
This managed to free her from it's hold and she immediately flew back to shore. While they were flying, Ripjaws jumped out of the ocean and grabbed onto the metallic creature. "Okay pal, fun's over" Ben told it, before slashing at the thing with the talons that ended each of his fingers.
Starfire tried to fire more bolts at it's exposed internal components, but they just bounced off. "No more chasing now please" Starfire asked, trying to fly faster.
Suddenly, Ripjaws began to feel his throat burn. He wrapped his hands around his neck and his breathing became raspy. "Can't... breathe" Ripjaws choked out.
Starfire turned back and saw her friend struggling to breathe. They were so close to the pier, the others could surely do something. But...
"Sorry Ben" Star said.
The orange skinned girl raised her hand and fired an energy blast at her transformed friend. There wasn't much power behind it, just enough to knock him over and back into the water.
The others had reached the end of the pier and watched as Starfire flew between them, followed by the mechanical squid. "Who's her new best friend?" Beast Boy asked as Starfire did a lap around the Ferris Wheel. "Don't know, but I can't wait to meet him" Robin replied, slamming his fist into the opposite palm.
Beast Boy jumped into the air and turned into a crocodile, attempting to clamp his giant maw around the attacking robot. Within inches of bisecting the flying robot, it slipped through Beast Boy's mouth and out to safety. Raven attempted to throw a hot dog stand at the robot, but all it did was shatter harmlessly off it's outer shell.
As the creature flew between the titans, Cyborg grabbed onto the end of it's tentacles and tried pulling it back, "don't know what you did to make this thing mad, Star, but it couldn't hurt to apologise" the metallic teen told his friend.
"I am sorry?" she tried.
Within the few seconds Cyborg was holding the creature, a pale blur leapt out of the water. Before anyone could comprehend what it was, a slashing sound was heard and the tentacles went slack. "Fried squid, anyone?" Ripjaws quipped, kneeling on the other side of the destroyed robot. With it's bottom half destroyed, the top part flew off into the sky and exploded in spectacular fashion.
"Whatever that thing was, it can't hurt you now" Robin told Starfire, though her frown was concerning. "But why did it wish to hurt me at all?" she asked, though none present knew the answer.
Once the others had arrived at the living room of Titan's Tower, Starfire offered them a poem. "Come friends, I shall thank you by reciting the poem of gratitude, all six thousand verses" she told them, though they were looking at the other girl who had managed to sneak past their security.
The one who was the spitting image of Starfire, except her hair and parts of her clothes were pitch black and her sleeves were metallic and longer.
"I see you haven't changed a bit" the stranger stated as she leant against the sofa, facing everyone, "when we were little, I was always rescuing Starfire".
Starfire let out a shriek of excitement and ran over to the stranger with her arm stretched to the sides. "Sister!" Starfire cried as her arms wrapped around the other girl.
"Brought you a present" the black-haired girl told her sister, holding up a green jewel that could be worn around her neck. Starfire gasped at the jewel and gained a twinkle in her eyes, "a Centari moon diamond? Where did you get..." Star began to ask. "On the Centari moons, of course" the other girl replied, before wrapping to jewel around Starfire's neck. "Oh look, it matches your eyes" she complimented.
Starfire offered a kind smile, before remembering the others in the room. "You must meet my friends!" Star said as she dragged the new girl towards the others. "I wish to introduce my big sister" Starfire said to the others, before the new girl walked forward.
"Blackfire. And since Star told me all about the Titans in her transmissions, let me guess..." the new girl said before walking over to the others.
"Cyborg" she said, as the metallic teen offered Blackfire his hand. "Pleased to meet you little lady" he replied, though seemed shocked at the sound of metal scraping against metal. He brought his appendage up and found that Blackfire had crushed his hand and the middle part was out of shape. "Little lady, big handshake. Well alright" he quipped, attempting to flex his broken fingers.
"Raven" Blackfire said, moving onto the next person. "I like that gem stone on your ajna chakra" she commented, that actually made raven smile slightly. "You... know about chakras?" Raven asked, her smile remaining on her lips. Blackfire smiled back "I got way into meditation on altara prime".
Blackfire moved onto the next person and smiled at the short green teen. "Beast Boy, what's up?" she greeted. "Nothing but the ceiling, baby" Beast Boy replied, getting Blackfire to laugh. "Ha ha, good one" she told him. The green teen leant over to Raven and whispered "see, she thinks I'm funny" though Raven wasn't impressed. "Statistically, I suppose someone has to" she replied, getting Beast Boy to deflate slightly.
"Robin, oh I am loving this cape, it's positively luscious!" Blackfire said, pinching at the edges and looking it over. "Thanks, it's a high-density polymerized titanium, ten times stronger than steel" Robin replied, happy that someone finally thought it was cool. "Fascinating" Blackfire replied.
"And you must be the great Ben 10, I had no idea you were so handsome" Blackfire complimented the final person in the line. Ben blushed at the complimented and began rubbing the back of his head, "thanks" he replied "you're not too bad yourself". Blackfire seemed shocked by the compliment, before blushing and giving him half lidded eyes, "thanks cutie".
Starfire, annoyed by her sister's closeness to her friend, gave the two a shocked expression before moving between them. "Beloved sister! What brings you to earth?" she asked politely. "I was in the quadrant, thought I'd see if earthlings liked to party" Blackfire said before jumping over and sitting on the couch, "besides I needed a rest, nearly got sucked into a black hole on the way here".
Impressed by her story, Beast Boy, Cyborg and Robin jumped over and began asking her questions. Raven, on the other hand, had found her fondness for Blackfire slowly dissipating at the display Ben and the alien girl had put on.
Starfire heard part of the story and suddenly became worried. "Sister, that nebula is full of black holes. You know travel there is forbidden" she commented, though none seemed to pay her any mind, with Blackfire replying "most fun things are, now be a sweetie and bring me one of those sodas I've heard so much about".
Ben walked over and put a hand on Starfire's shoulder, offering her a kind smile. "You stay here and catch up with your sister" the brunette told her "I'll go get everyone something to drink". Starfire smiled at her friend's kindness and went over to the others, while Ben walked towards the kitchen. He found a soda and something for the rest of them, while everyone else began to talk about Blackfire's story.
Out in space, three more of the robots that had attacked the Titans returned to their ship of origin. Aboard were two aliens wearing red armour with four yellow slits for eyes. "Our target was not located, the drones have failed" the first crew member said to his partner, disgruntled by the failure. "Have they?" The second asked, before turning to a terminal and bringing up a holo-projection of the fourth drone's last known location. "The one that probed Earth did not return" he said, before their destination changed to the tiny blue planet.
"That is where we will find the girl".
Back on Earth, Starfire was looking for her sister and was calling out as she looked for her. She eventually found Beast Boy and Cyborg playing a game on the main TV. "Tell me, have either of you seen Blackfire?" she asked her friends, though they didn't even turn from their game to look at her when they replied. "Yeah, her and Ben went out on a date a few minutes ago" Beast Boy informed her.
Starfire's look became one of sadness as she realised what was happening. Throughout the day, Blackfire had taken as much time with her friends as possible. It had made her upset when they all would rather play games or go to a creepy café or train with Blackfire than her. And now her sister was taking the boy she liked.
At a fast food place in the middle of Jump City, Ben and Blackfire were having a great time. "So wait, you threw him into outer space?" the alien girl said, wiping a tear from her eye. "Yeah, he came back a few weeks later, but it felt so good" he replied, taking a sip from his smoothie.
Before he was finished drinking, Blackfire reached over and took the drink from his hand. Ben was shocked when he saw her drinking from it, with eyes that mirrored the one she gave him before.
"Hmm, that's good" she replied, before handing the drink back to Ben. The poor boy was speechless at the alien girl's flirtatious action, though they were beginning to become a regular occurrence.
The two enjoyed their food together, and made conversation about their past exploits, until they both realised how late it was. Ben payed for the food and their drinks using the money he'd got from working with the Titans, before they both began walking back to the tower.
As they walked, Ben slowly began to think about the girl he'd started spending so much time with. It was clear Blackfire liked him, else she wouldn't be here now. And Ben liked her too. She was pretty, funny, and had a quality about her that made Ben feel happy.
But there was something about Blackfire that made him nervous. She was clearly hiding something, and the robot coming after Starfire was way too close to Blackfire's appearance to be a coincidence. Plus...
Ben knew Raven and Starfire liked him as well.
The way Starfire acted around him, and the subtle glances Raven gave when she did were enough to clue him in. Everything else made it obvious.
The two had almost reached Titan's tower when Ben stopped walking. "Ben, what's wrong?" the orange skinned girl asked, a genuine frown on her face.
"Why do you hate Starfire?" the teen asked, standing a few paces away from Blackfire. "What are you talking about?" Blackfire asked, though it was clear she knew what he meant. Ben confidently slid his hands into the pockets of his jacket and stared Blackfire down. "I've seen the look before, the one you give Starfire" Ben told her, "my cousin gave her sister that same look. She was jealous of her skills and abilities, which lead to her being a party animal and hanging with bad people".
Blackfire gave a defeated look. Ben had figured her out, and she didn't have the ability to lie straight to Ben's face. "I was always jealous of her, she developed her powers so easily, while I was seen as the lesser" Blackfire confessed, "so I decided to come here and steal her life away".
Ben went silent. He understood feeling that way, but couldn't condone it.
"I'd understand if you don't want to see me anymore" the tamaranean girl finished, her eyes down cast to the ground.
Before she could walk away, Ben's hand grabbed her forearm. "Trust me, I get what you're feeling, but it's not Starfire's fault. It took me years to actually like my cousin, let alone get along with her" the brunette teen told her, "Maybe just try being around her more".
With that, Ben resumed walking towards the tower while Blackfire stood there in contemplation.
Just as he was getting close, he spotted something. A mechanical creature was floating around the roof of the tower. Curious, Ben reached for his communicator and pressed the call button. "Hey, Cy. There's something going on by the roof. You got anything on the scanners?" Ben asked as a video feed of Cyborg appeared on the display.
"Hold on… Crap! Star's fighting some sort-of robot up there. We'll meet you there" Cyborg quickly told him.
Ben immediately went to the Omnitrix while he ran towards the building. "Come on, Stinkfly!" he begged, before slamming the faceplate down.
His body became molten rock, and his he had flames for a head. "OH, COME ON" Heatblast yelled as his steps sizzled the ground.
Thinking fast, the fire wielding alien used his powers and cut a hole out of the ground. The segmented area caught on fire and Heatblast rode the flaming asphalt towards the roof.
It didn't even take a minute for him to reach the fight, but when he did, his eyes widened. The maroon armoured alien had wrapped Starfire in a green goo and was standing on a floating platform.
"Get away from her. Now!" Heatblast ordered, though the alien didn't seem to care. Heatblast knew he had to be careful. If he misplaced a shot, Star could be hurt, or worse. He just hoped this bluff would work.
Before he could act, alien's platform being to fly away. The alien shot into the sky, carrying Starfire with him. Heatblast made a mad dash for the two, but they were out of reach before he could grab them.
They were flying through the sky while the alien pilot spoke, "Prepare to leave earth orbit. We have the Tamaranian girl" he informed the spacecraft they'd left from.
"Once we return to Centauri, you will pay for what you have done" the one who had kidnapped Starfire told the girl who was in cased in a see-through prison.
Beneath the platform, Heatblast was rapidly approaching them on a flaming platform. "Centauri officers, stand down. Now" Heatblast ordered as a flash of red occurred and Ben dropped onto the platform "This girl is under Plumber protection" he told them as a offered a stubborn expression.
"She has committed numerous crimes against the Centaurai empire. She must be punished" they informed him in response.
Before Ben could respond, another voice was heard. "Stop!" in commanded.
They each turned to see Blackfire hovering above the platform. She had a determined expression as she lowered herself down towards them. "My sister is no the one who committed the crimes. I am" she informed them, "If anyone must be punished, then let it me".
Ben was stunned. "Blackfire" he muttered as she hung her head in shame. "I placed the evidence around Starfire's neck so that you would chase her" she continued, though it was clearly directed at Ben.
The two officers shared a look. "Very well. We will release the girl if you come quietly" they informed her.
Blackfire simply nodded, before hanging her head in shame.
Ben wanted to say something, anything. But in that moment, all words failed him. He cared about Blackfire, yet he was allowing her to be taken.
"Wait!" he called over to them.
Just as Blackfire turned around, Ben did the only thing he could. He wrapped his arms around her and slammed his lips against hers.
Both Tamaranian sisters were shocked by this, though Blackfire more so. She slowly eased into it before she pulled away. She had a questioning look in her eyes, yet Ben only offered her a kind smile.
"I'll see you again" he promised.
With that, Blackfire was taken away by the Centaurai officers. He and Starfire stood on the shore of Jump City as they watched the ship leave orbit.
"I cannot believe she would do that" Starfire stated as her eyes turned towards the ground.
"It's very rare that siblings get along. In the end, she cared about you enough to turn herself in" Ben told her "And when we see her again, you should tell her how you feel".
Starfire turned towards her friend. "Before they took her away, why did you…" she began, but the blush on her cheeks showed why she couldn't finish.
Ben released a sigh, he should have known this was coming. "Because I care about her…" he informed her. Starfire seemed upset by his answer.
"Like I care about you" he finished.
Starfire looked at him with wide eyes, before Ben offered a smile. "We should get back to the others, they're probably wondering where we are" he told her as he started walking along the shore.
A/N: I've had a lot of reviews asking for new chapters. I appreciate them all but, at the same time, I want to make sure they're of a high standard.
However, I received one from thedarkwolf95 who asked for a better flow because I was going from self contained story to self contained story. I feel like I've already established this but these aren't in the same universe. They will get expanded on eventually (unless they're a one off like the older DC animated movies) but I just want to set things up first before I start trying to finish stories. Plus I only write when I have the motivation to write for that particular subject.
Someone else asked for a Ben x Amazonian lemon. I am 100% going to do that as part of a one-shot lemon so look forward to that.