Disclaimer
Mistakes have been fixed.
- Also, I'm from Denmark, so there may be mistakes in this (I know there are some) - I'd be happy if somebody would point them out, so I can improve at this. Any constrictive criticism is most welcome.
Enjoy!
This happens to often, she thought slowly, as in a daze.
There were robots, as always. Many of them. And, for the first time, perhaps too many. Starfires gaze slowly moved, and she felt like she was just watching a play in the theatre, like the robot factory was a stage, and her fellow team-mates the actors.
But it was not.
Raven was loosing the firm grip, she usually held around her powers. She had trouble controlling her magic, because she was forced to use it too much. She did not have the time for controlling spells or to calm herself, before she released the barely contained magic within her, and the result was frightening. But Slade's minions were not able to feel fear, and they did not care, that thrusting themselves towards Raven would destroy them.
Even Beast Boy was growing weary. He, who could switch to a dozen animals in half a minute without problems, had reached the current maximum of his abilities. Bigger robots, robots that could attack with much heavier fire, were charging him, and he constantly changed from big to small: big to actually do some damage, and small to avoid being blasted to pieces. The changes, which had first happened rapidly, were now more lingering, and sometimes, Beast Boy's true, green human form shoved, a clear sign of his weakening state.
Cyborg had also reached the point, from which one struggles even to do the simplest of things. But Cyborg was stronger than the metal and muscles that was his physical form: he did not give in, though the numbers of robots was truly frightening. He was no longer able to use his sonic blaster, so he beat the robots off with raw force, a task which seemed impossible. Still, he had the inner strength to try and get to where Robin and Slade were fighting.
Oh, Robin, Starfire thought.
It was him, the clever strategist as always, who had thought of it. All the robots, Slade had created. They had to come from somewhere, the parts, the technology… Robin told this to the rest of the Titans, and then a miracle ensued: Beast Boy suggested Slade might be sitting in a basement somewhere, handcrafting all of the robots and going "It's alive!" every time he finished one, and the mental image actually made Raven chuckle the slightest bit. Beast Boy was in heaven. And while Starfire, Beast Boy and Cyborg dwelled in the glory of the moment and a blushing Raven mumbled something about herbal tea, Robin scurried of to his room to investigate and examine information and the detail hidden within them, once again becoming the Robin Starfire liked the least. They did not see him the rest of the day. Nor the next, or the one after. Cyborg tried to talk to him the second day: Starfire never found out exactly which words were exchanged, but ten minutes after he had gone to the leader's room, Cyborg came stomping back, and the fact that he did not utter a word about Robin in days said more than a thousand useless phrases.
Once again, they were trapped in a situation, where the group was malfunctioning. Once again, the problems began with Slade. Because it could not be Robin. Starfire would not let it be Robin.
When the Boy Wonder finally emerged from his room, he had figured out where the robots had to be built. It was not even in Jump City, but further out, in an old complex which had been rebuilt recently, only a couple of years ago… shortly after they had learned the name "Slade". Robin did not share much detail. He had an attitude that seemed to signal, "Now or never. Final showdown." He was ready to strike at Slade, like Slade had so often done to him.
The four of the Titans had not expected Slade to be at the complex. Somehow, none of them could imagine him just sitting around, patiently overlooking the process of creating his personal army. Robin did not utter a word, but Starfire could tell he did not agree. His stance, the way he looked, the way she could not reach him, even though she wanted to so badly… it told her exactly what he thought. He was preparing his battle, his own, personal war with Slade, and he wanted it to end, now.
When Cyborg blasted the doors, they found the gigantic room filled with robots, waiting. Slade stood at the back, his arms behind him as usually.
"That took you long enough," he simply said, and they all knew he talked only to Robin.
The battle ensued.
And here she was, floating in midair, feeling strangely hollow. There was no righteous fury in her, only cool emptiness. Starfire watched as Beast Boy turned in to a hawk, avoided enemy fired, soared upwards – and became his natural form, instantly falling from the air with a faint cry of surprise, unable to maintain the animal form. Raven shrieked out, an almost unnatural sound filled with frustration, anger and hurt, before rushing to him, encircling him in darkness for a second, before they both vanished and reappeared an instant later on the floor. Raven immediately got targeted by several robots, who pinned her to the ground with their weight. Darkness exploded around her. The robots blew up, only to be replaced by some new.
Starfire had long ago decided that it had been foolish to attempt an attack at the place, where their enemies were so strong in number.
Cyborg roared with pain and fell to the ground, five meters from the place, where Robin and Slade were fighting at a speed that was frightening and unnatural. Starfire's mind began to scream at her. Do not just hang here. Do something. Aid your friends!
Beast Boy had regained control of his powers, but only by an inch. He needed her. Like Raven did: she was losing control, growing darker and less human by the moment. Cyborg had gotten to his feet, but his robotic parts were beginning to fail. Still, Starfire hang motionless in the air, her eyes fixed at Robin and Slade. Perhaps it was because she was so high in the air, or because she did not do anything; but Slade's evil minions did not try to attack her.
Robin did not need her, did he? Slade seemed on top in their battle, but Robin could win. His determined fury had tipped the scales before. But then again, at the times where they had actually beaten Slade with joined force, he always slipped their grasp, and was back within months, with new plans and the same, confident smile which could always be heard in his voice.
This has to end, Starfire realised. It has to.
And as enlightenment shone upon her, she suddenly understood fully, how much pain Slade had brought upon her and her friends. He had tormented and terrorised them, had nearly killed them on dozens of occasions, this one included – he had wrecked havoc upon their beautiful city, he had turned them against each other, and, worst of all to Starfire… he had created the Robin, who fought him right now. The Robin, who ripped Starfire's heart apart, every time.
And now the righteous fury cursed through her veins. Now she felt her body tremble with energy and her eyes shine: now, she was ready to do some battling of her own. It was a mirror of the time, when she had first come to earth and met the four strange people, who would later be the best friends, she would ever get: her anger pushed away the girl, she usually was, and she wanted it to be this way.
With a loud cry of unleashed powers, she shot from the air, down towards the two, and blasted Slade with her eye lasers. It took him by surprise and he crashed into a wall. Robin stared at her in complete shock. "Star!" he shouted, "What are you doing?"
"I am finishing this!" she replied, her eyes and hands still burning bright.
"But I'm the one…"
"No!" Starfire interrupted, suddenly angry with him as well, "You do not have the right to call this your war, when it is all of us, who pay the prize!"
With this, she set of towards the place, where Slade had quickly regained composure. "My, my," he said to her advancing form, "that was a bold mo-"
Starfire would not listen. She would not let him taunt her, tease her, she would hear his lies, or his voice, that horrible voice, which sounded like pure, liquefied evil. Starfire crashed her whole body into Slade, once more forcing him into the wall, before flying away and blasting the spot with starbolts. Slade avoided most and threw something at her. Starfire instantly bolted, but the explosion still hit her pretty hard, and she fell a few meters, before she recovered and resumed hovering. She only stood still for half a second, but she was closer to the ground now, and half a second was all Slade needed. He landed a kick at her side, and when she fell again, surprised, he hit her several times, forcing her to the ground. Starfire knew that if she had been human, her neck and some of her ribs would have been broken by now, but her just anger towards the monster gave her strength to withstand. She tried to get away, but Slade was quicker, and so instead, she lit up like a torch, and blasted Slade with both starbolts and eye lasers.
He flew back, but as the warrior he was, landed on his feet, and instantly leaped to a better position. It did not matter. Starfire took of the second she had blasted him, and so she followed her attack up with a yet another, before he could get away, using her eye lasers again. Slade fell. She did not cease her fire. Her eyes were burning.
"Starfire!" Robin yelled from somewhere.
She let the lasers fade, and saw that Slade was beaten. He lay as if he could barely move and moaned slightly. He was alive. He would live. She did not know what to think of it.
Starfire was about to turn to Robin, when Slade was suddenly at his feet, attacking her. She reacted without thinking, and sent at least a dozen starbolts against him, each of them filled with the fire in her veins. Slade was crushed into the ground yet again. The intensity of the starbolts made them explode and do much more damage, than they otherwise would have. The walls trembled around them; the loft began to fall apart on top of them.
It did not matter to her. Starfire felt weak and blurry, and as from a distance, she saw Robin staring at her, his mouth still open from shock. There was no room in his mind for the collapsing building, either. How odd, if they should die like this, when everything was over.
"AZARATH, METRION, ZINTHOS!" a voice screamed.
Raven had teleported them all about fifty meters from the place. As soon as the darkness disappeared, she moaned and fell to the ground. Beast Boy was there immediately, his eyes blank. He held her gently, not saying a word.
Cyborg could barely move. He did not have enough battery to light a lamp, much less keep a whole body active, so he just sat silently on the ground, his head in his hands.
Starfire and Robin were the only ones who watched as the building crashed and burned. Afterwards, they stood silently for a while. Then Robin spoke.
"I just… don't understand. How…" He stopped.
Starfire sighed. She gently laid a hand on his shoulder, turned him towards her, and looked at mask. How she wished to could see his eyes right now.
"It is ended," she whispered, searching his face for reactions. "Only one question remains."
She paused. She wanted to ask him, Does it end with him? Or is it you, Robin? But she knew he would not be able to answer. Therefore, she rephrased the question.
She was scared and uncertain, when she finally asked. His answer would mean everything for her.
"I would like to know, what you are thinking about right now. About how Slade is finally gone or about the fact that you were not the one who vanquished him?"
A/N: I had him answer it. I deleted it again.