Evil: The Other Side
by Blair Lebeau, SocialButterfli
Summary:
Starfire has always been sweet and innocent. But when Slade realizes her power, he brainwashes her to become his next apprentice and the Titans can only watch as she embraces the other side. Is it possible that Starfire has become truly evil? RobStar
Disclaimer:
You'd think that if I owned Teen Titans, I would have told you by now. But I don't. Still. Damn.
Quote:
"Because I don't like you." –Raven
Part Four: Invincible
Chapter Seventeen
Attach the red wire to the green wire, the Jewel of Charta directed. Starfire nimbly did so. She was sitting atop the Jump City satellite tower, right next to the large satellite dish.
"Red and green, like Christmas," she said absently. Immediately she was overcome with a splitting headache.
Not like Christmas. Like evil. Concentrate on what you're doing. Starfire immediately tried to shake off memories of Christmas with the Titans; decorating a beautiful tree with ornaments, expertly (or messily, in Beast Boy's case) wrapped presents that were each so special and meaningful, the singing of songs together that even Raven was coaxed to participate in, and not to mention eggnog, that creamy liquid that was almost as delicious as glorious mustard . . .
More pain rippled through Starfire's skull. It seemed that every time happy memories or innocent thoughts popped into her head, the Jewel of Charta immediately tried to get them out. And Starfire knew it was all for the best; without the Jewel of Charta, she would not be nearly as evil as she should be. However, it was starting to become a bit of a nuisance . . .
Concentrate. Now take the conjoined wires and plug them into the machine.
She did as she was told.
Go around the back of the dish. There is a control panel near the bottom edge. The blue rimmed outlet is where you should connect the other end of the wires.
She did this also.
Excellent. Now all that is left to do is flip the switch . . .
As she was about to do so, a shadow loomed over her.
"Don't do it, Star . . ."
Robin raced down the hallway, safe from Deathstroke's attack. Starfire was already out of sight and he wasn't sure how much time he had to catch up to her. He wasn't quite sure what he was going to do when it came down to a face off, but he knew that he wasn't going to back down this time. He just hoped he wouldn't have to choose between her and the city.
As he passed his room, he noticed his door was open. He paused and raised an eyebrow; he never left it open for fear of an invasion of privacy. Had Starfire . . .?
Forgetting that he had a crisis to stop, he abandoned his chase of Starfire and tentatively stepped over the threshold, keeping an eye out for something out of place. He saw it almost immediately: the picture frame he had taken from her room after her betrayal. The broken glass of the frame lay around the picture of them dancing together like a halo, showing that the frame had not merely fallen off his desk; someone had pushed it.
The Boy Wonder bent down to pick up the photo that had captured one of his most treasured memories. He held it carefully in his hand, gazing at it as if it held the solution to his problem. Starfire. So innocent and beautiful in that picture, looking at his tuxedoed figure with love shining in her emerald eyes. It was a look that she had ready for him every time they were together, and it was a look he hadn't seen in a long time.
Love . . .
Robin gently placed the picture down on his desk, looking at it longingly one more time before he turned to go. He wasn't sure what he was going to do when he got there, but he had a feeling that, somehow, he would figure it out.
"Do you understand what we're doing?" Raven half growled at Beast Boy. He crossed his arms, offended.
"Uh, yeah, you only explained it about fifty times. I think I got it the first time around!"
"I beg to differ." Beast Boy stuck his tongue out at the empath, but she was too busy figuring out how to angle her power so at least one of Deathstroke's repetitive electric blasts would backfire without herself or Beast Boy getting hit in the process to notice his display of immaturity.
"Are you ready?" she asked when she was sure that her calculations were correct.
"I've been ready," Beast Boy replied impatiently. Raven took a deep breath.
"Okay. On the count of three. One."
Deathstroke's relentless electric blasts continued to bounce off Raven's shield.
"Two."
Both Titans tensed up in preparation.
"Three!"
The shield disappeared. A blur of green and Beast Boy had all but disappeared and scurried for cover. Raven let out a gasp as a small surge of electricity slashed through the shoulder of her cape and leotard, leaving a thin line of red. Her reflexes were quick, however, and she used her hands to fend off the constant shots. Finally a pause allowed her to position her hands so the next blast backfired, shot off the mirror, and hit Deathstroke in the back, right where its battery pack was located. A spark flared up, almost like a mini-firework, and Deathstroke's firearm dropped. Raven relaxed, victorious.
But Deathstroke wasn't done. Slade had one last surprise in wait for the Titans, should they succeed in annihilating the robot beyond repair. The titanium chest of the fried robot produced forth a screen, where the red number "10" appeared and began to count down. Raven repressed a scream and settled for a breathy whimper instead.
7 . . .
Desperately, Raven looked around for Beast Boy, but he remained out of sight.
6 . . .
She knew her power wouldn't be able to contain the explosion because she was too exhausted from holding up a constant shield during Deathstroke's earlier repetitive blasts.
5 . . .
There was no hope of saving theroom from the blow, but she could save herself.
4 . . .
And Cyborg. He was helplessly recharging.
3 . . .
And Beast Boy, if she could find him. Where was he?
2 . . .
Raven's eyes darkened furiously as she backed into Cyborg and constructed a shield around them.
1 . . .
She could only hope that Beast Boy would be okay.
BOOM!
The titanium body of Deathstroke was ripped apart as it exploded. Shrapnel bounced off of the shield and flames licked at the edges. Raven strained not to lose control. Finally, when the remaining bits of Deathstroke stopped raining down, she let the shield go and used her power to rip already protruding pipes from the walls to hose down the fire. When the fire was put out, Raven surveyed the damage done to the room. Much of Cyborg's technology had been damaged, but luckily his recharging machine had been shielded by Raven's power. Electricity was still humming uninterrupted into Cyborg's circuits, and the android himself was unharmed. The entire room was blackened and there were gaping holes in the walls that led out into the hallway and into Beast Boy's and Starfire's rooms. There was no sign of Beast Boy.
Raven collapsed to her knees, exhausted and despaired, black energy pulsing around her, signs of her anger and grief. Beast Boy was gone. Even in captivity Slade was getting to them, attacking them, trying to bring them down. And this . . . this was Starfire's doing. She had left Deathstroke to them, knowing that whether they defeated him or not they wouldn't be altogether victorious. Starfire . . . bubbly to the point of obnoxious Starfire . . . it was all her fault. She had destroyed their tower. She had destroyed Beast Boy. She had destroyed their souls.
"Damn!" Raven jumped. "That was wicked awesome!" She swivelled her head around to view a completely unharmed Beast Boy, except for a few singed hairs, sitting across the room from her and looking around, dazed. "Who knew that was going to happen?"
"What the hell?" Raven blurted out. Beast Boy looked at her, surprised.
"Rae?"
"Where were you?"
"What do you mean?"
"The explosion, the robot meltdown, any of that ring a bell? I looked for you, but you were nowhere to be found. I thought you were dead!"
"Wishful thinking, huh?" Beast Boy said, smiling sheepishly.
Raven blinked, speechless. Beast Boy chuckled.
"Aww, got a soft spot for me after all, do you?" Raven crossed her arms and glared at the smug changeling.
"Now that is wishful thinking." Beast Boy shrugged, still grinning madly.
"Touche." There was a tense silence as she glared at him and he continued to smile back.
"So are you going to tell me where you were and how you survived this?" Raven asked, scathingly. Beast Boy's grin widened.
"Cockroach!" Raven resisted the urge to scream girlishly. Cockroach? Where? The dark girl may not scare easily, but she wouldn't deny that the ugly little bugs creeped her out.
Beast Boy noticed the apprehensive look on her face and waved his hands wildly to get her attention. When her eyes were on him, he transformed into a cockroach, then reverted back to human form. Smiling.
"See? Cockroach. They can survive anything, even a nuclear explosion." Raven rolled her eyes, then glared.
"Way to look out for yourself."
"It's what I do best!" Beast Boy replied. The grin on his face was of Cheshire cat proportions. The dark girl rolled her eyes.
"A cockroach. How appropriate," Raven scoffed. Beast Boy's smile faded into a confused frown.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Raven ignored him.
"Now what are we going to do about this mess?" She gestured to the demolished room. "Somebody needs to clean this up before Cyborg wakes up and flips out. I vote you."
"Me? Why me?"
"Because I don't like you."
"Hey!"
It was at this opportune moment that their argument was interrupted by the machine "dinging" to signal that Cyborg was fully recharged. His red eye lit up and he opened his other.
"BOOYAH!" Cyborg screamed right in his female teammate's ear. Raven jumped, her body shaking and her ears ringing from the volume. Beast Boy burst out laughing.
"Dude, nice! Do you say that every time you wake up?" he asked. Cyborg grinned.
"Nah. This is a special occasion. I just couldn't resist." He smile faded as he looked around his room. "Hey! What the hell happened here! My room! My tower!"
"Uhh . . . Rae would love to explain to you while I go, uh, do something else . . ."
"Hold it," Raven hissed, grabbing the feeling changeling by the collar. "Are you guys forgetting that we still have Starfire to deal with?" The room fell silent and a feeling of gloom fell over the three Titans. They hadn't necessarily forgotten her, but their minds had been otherwise preoccupied . . . and it had been a lot less painful to think about something else.
"Yeah, let's go," Beast Boy said. "Robin might need us to back him up."
"And we'll be there if he does," Cyborg agreed.
"I just hope he knows what he's doing," Raven admitted her worry. Cyborg clapped her on the shoulder, a little too roughly, but she let it slide just this once.
"Don't worry. If there's anybody that has a chance at stopping her, or, you know, fixing her . . . it's Robin."
And as the three Titans headed out to the T Car, all they could do was hope that Cyborg was right.
Okay, so I had to finish up with Raven, Beast Boy, and Cyborg before I got too into detail with Robin and Starfire. That'll come next chapter, which you probably won't see for a little while because this is my last week home before school starts. Next week I'm going down to my beach house one last time, and on the 29th I start school. Ugh. I don't even want to think about that. But anyway, as for the above chapter, take it as a hint of BBRae if you wish, or don't, whatever floats your boat. I wasn't going for either one, really, it was just what I felt was a typical Raven and Beast Boy moment, so feel free to take it as you want.
Another thing I wanted to mention is this rumor about not being allowed to answer reviewers. I think that's so stupid, especially because I haven't "officially" heard anything about it, only through an email and from some reviewers. But just to be safe, I'm going to hold off on answering you guys until I hear different. Sorry!
And this story officially has over 400 reviews! That's so exciting, thanks guys! Keep it up!
Blair