Hide-And-Seek
The creature was off in the distance, its large green tail destroying the huge buildings around it with little to no effort at all. Its gigantic silver claws sliced through solid cement and ripped so many telephone lines down that the heroes couldn't be sure just how many were now broken beyond repair. Civilians ran for their lives, terrified of the damage and destruction that the powerful lizard-like creature was bound to unleash, as they attempted to avoid being crushed underneath the monster's huge, scaled feet that crushed car after car as it stomped along the street.
The teenaged heroes knew that defeating the creature would be quite difficult-no, make that nearly impossible, but they also weren't known for giving up on a challenge very easily. No, these heroes knew how to hold their own, and they refused to go down without at least a hard, fair fight.
The young green Changeling morphed into a majestic hawk, flying into the air and circling the creature's head, ferociously pecking at its eyes. This did not sway the monster at all, and it easily batted the Changeling out of the way and through an upstairs window.
The half-robot man aimed his supersonic cannon arm at the monster's back, shooting a bright blue beam into the skin of the reptilian foe. This momentarily distracted the creature, but as it turned and roared in response, the force of the noise knocked the man off his feet, shattering a few of his cybernetic circuits in the process.
The mysterious empath whispered an ancient incantation to herself, and a dark energy form ascended from what seemed like nothing, briefly lifting the monster off the ground and dispatching it mercilessly onto the street. The creature screeched, and with its strong arms, hurled an abandoned bus at the dark girl, breaking her concentration and propelling her into a stop sign.
The red-headed alien girl rose above the city, hurling ball after ball after ball of bright green energy in the monster's direction. The monster turned and reached up for her, gnashing its teeth and swinging its arms wildly. The alien backed away, continuing to hurl her bolts of energy in hopes of subduing the ugly creature.
From afar, she heard the strong, commanding voice of her leader below, loudly taunting the monster. It turned its attention from the alien girl in the sky to the human boy on the ground, becoming angrier by the second. It began advancing on him, and he took off running as fast as he could, with the monster close behind him. The Changeling soared down toward the ground, hoping to divert the creature's attention, but it was futile. As the leader began to falter, and the monster began to catch up, the alien girl could do nothing but watch as the large, scaly foot of the monster hovered above the boy and slammed into the earth…
"NOOOOO!"
Starfire woke with a start, droplets of sweat running down her face. She didn't think to take a few deep breaths, and she didn't even bother to stop for a few moments to realize that she actually wasn't in the middle of Tokyo, as she'd thought, but in her own bedroom, safe and sound. The image of her fearless leader getting crushed underneath the lizard monster's foot was too much for her to bear, and she zipped out of her room, discarding her warm blankets behind her.
Starfire flew down the hall and up the stairs, her mind racing. I must find Robin, she thought to herself. I must find Robin. As she turned into another hallway and rounded a corner, she spotted her destination: Robin's room. Starfire knocked loudly on the door, anxiously awaiting the appearance of her teammate.
Inside the room, Robin stirred and grumpily slammed a pillow over his ears. "Ugh, what time is it?" he groaned. "3:45? Who in the hell could be at my door at 3:45 in the morning?!" Muttering to himself, Robin forced himself up from his bed and sauntered sleepily toward the door.
As soon as he opened his bedroom door, he was met with the bone-crushing hug of his alien teammate. "Oh, Robin!" she cried. "I thought you were hurt! I-I could never forgive myself if something happened to you-"
"Whoa, whoa, Star!" Robin wheezed, removing himself from her suffocating embrace. "What's going on?"
"I-I-there was a monster!" Starfire spluttered, her voice rising as she motioned wildly with her hands. "And it-it was destroying the city, and I-I tried to help, and t-the others, they tried, but you-" She couldn't finish, and began to cry.
Robin suddenly understood. "Starfire, it was another nightmare about Tokyo, wasn't it?" he asked gently. Starfire had been having a lot of nightmares lately, many of which centered around the team's last 'vacation' together to Japan.
Starfire nodded. "I am quite sorry, friend Robin," she moaned. "It just seemed so very real to me, and I-"
Robin held up his hand. "Don't worry, Star," he assured her, wiping her tears from her eyes. "Tokyo was two years ago. It's all in the past. What matters is that I'm safe, you are safe, and so is everybody else on the team. We're together, and we're home. Daizo and his monsters are long gone, and there's nothing for you to worry about. He can't hurt us anymore."
Starfire peered at him. "Then...you are, in fact, the okay?" she asked.
Robin couldn't help but chuckle. He thought the way that she spoke was adorable. "Of course, Starfire," he replied. "I'm great, just a little sleepy. Now, why don't we do something to make you feel a little bit better? Take your mind off of it. Does that sound like a good idea to you?"
Starfire blinked. "Yes, Robin," she answered meekly. "I believe that is a good plan."
Robin grinned uncharacteristically. "Awesome," he said. "Come on in, then, and we'll think of one together!"
He motioned for her to enter his room, and she floated over to his bed, perching herself atop his many blankets. As he approached her, Robin couldn't help but stare at her. She was truly a beauty, a dazzling, wondrous Tamaranean gem with a beautiful figure and an adorable personality. Robin always suspected that there was nothing she could do to make him like her even more than he already did, but every moment they spent time together, he was proven wrong.
"Come sit, friend Robin!" she said softly, patting the bed. Robin obeyed, and flopped down onto his pillows next to her. "Now, what shall we do?"
"Hmm," Robin murmured, stroking his chin thoughtfully. Starfire giggled, and the chirp-like sound made Robin's insides melt. "Something fun to do...Oh, I know! We could play a game of hide-and-seek! Do you know what hide-and-seek is, Star?"
She shook her head. "No, I do not believe I do, Robin," she replied. "I have played the tag of lasers, and the game about the red man who sometimes cannot get through the line of people holding him back."
"Red Rover," Robin corrected, smiling fondly at the memory. Back when Terra was still a part of the team, the group had gone to visit Titans East, and jointly decided to play a rousing game of Red Rover, with only one rule: no powers allowed. Of course, that rule spelled trouble for shape-shifter Beast Boy, who had planned to spend the entire time trying to show off his animal strength to Terra. The team made up of Robin, Starfire, Aqualad, Raven, and Mas y Menos ultimately won against Cyborg, Beast Boy, Speedy, Bumblebee, and Terra, due to Starfire's natural alien strength being a key advantage. In the end, Beast Boy had pouted and accused Starfire of cheating, with Raven levitating him into Aqualad's steaming pot of spaghetti meat as punishment for accusing her best friend of such a thing.
"Of course. Red Rover," Starfire said sheepishly, flushing with embarrassment. "My mistake. So, Robin, what is this 'hide-and-seek' that you speak of?"
"Well," Robin explained, "basically what happens is that one person covers their eyes and counts to a specific number, and the other person runs off and hides somewhere. But they only have until that number to find a hiding spot. Then, the first person finishes counting and goes to seek out the other person. If they can't find them, though, they can give up, and the other person will win. That's basically all that goes into hide-and-seek. Get it?"
Starfire nodded excitedly. "I believe I do understand the premise of this game, Robin," she said. "It sounds like a wonderfully festive time, indeed. So, who shall hide first? Shall you hide, and I seek?"
Robin nodded. "Yeah, that sounds great. But I should warn you, Star...I've played dozens of games of hide-and-seek, and no one has ever managed to find me without surrendering. It's probably going to be tough."
A determined look spread over Starfire's face, and she declared, "We shall see about that, Boy Wonder!"
Robin smirked, amused by the thought of Starfire being able to find him, the expert, during her very first game of hide-and-seek. "Okay, Star, cover your eyes, face the wall, and count down from one hundred to one," he instructed. "When you're done, say 'Ready or not, here I come!' and try to find me...if you can!" He playfully winked at her.
Starfire clenched her fists. "I assure you, Robin, I shall find you faster than a Flarnop consumes the Snervian blork worms on the mountain of T'Larflog!" she exclaimed. Robin chuckled again, not exactly understanding how threatening she was meaning to be, but nevertheless knowing that she meant business.
"Alright, Star. Start counting," he replied. "Good luck! And remember, the winner gets a special prize!"
Starfire nodded, turning to face the wall and cover her eyes. "100, 99, 98, 97…"
Robin slipped quietly out of the room, amused by the events of the night so far. It had started with Starfire coming to his room crying after a nightmare, and now they were playing hide-and-seek at nearly four o'clock in the morning.
He pushed those thoughts out of his head and scurried down the hallway, looking for a good place to hide from his naive alien friend. As he neared the training room, glancing at the equipment closet, he decided to scratch that idea. This is one of the first places she'll look, he thought to himself. I can't hide here.
77, 76, 75, 74…
Robin came upon the operations room, the team's general group hangout room. "Where can I hide in here?" he muttered quietly. "I don't fit in the cupboard, the closet and the pantry are both full…" Robin scratched his head and bolted, eager to find a spot before Starfire was done counting.
51, 50, 49, 48...
He raced back down the hall and down two flights of stairs, with Cyborg's garage coming into his line of sight. Robin immediately knew that he couldn't hide there; if he accidentally messed something up or left something out of place, Cyborg would blast him into oblivion with his sonic cannon. Robin continued on.
35, 34, 33, 32…
He began to brainstorm ideas as he walked. He couldn't hide in his own room...Starfire was counting there. He couldn't hide in the game room...there was nothing to hide under, or even behind. There was no way he would hide in the basement...after the time that the friends watched that horror movie, he was still scared to death to go into the basement alone, especially at night. And he certainly couldn't go up to the roof...with his luck, Cyborg or Raven had activated the night alarms, and any attempt to go up to the roof would not only tip Starfire off, but wake the entire Tower up as well.
18, 17, 16, 15...
By this point, Robin was getting worried. Starfire was almost to one, and he still hadn't found himself a good enough hiding spot to stump her. Then, as he stood there, pondering his options, he spotted the laundry room, just a few paces down the hallway.
The laundry room. That's it!
9, 8, 7...
Thinking quickly, Robin sprinted down to the laundry room, shutting the door behind him. He clambered inside one of the five labeled dryers that were lined up on the other side of the room. He was pretty sure that this one happened to be Starfire's.
5, 4, 3, 2...
As he counted to one in his head, he pulled the door of the dryer shut and curled up into a ball as he heard Starfire's far-off voice yell, "Ready or not! Here I come, friend Robin!"
Robin grinned, and willed himself to stay quiet.
Meanwhile, Starfire ventured out of Robin's room. "Ready or not, here I come, friend Robin!" she hollered, excitement building up inside of her. She went to the operations room first, expecting to find Robin there, but he was decidedly not. "Hm. That's odd," she murmured to herself. "Maybe he is in the training room."
She arrived at the door of the training room, and found it locked. "Oh, I think not, Robin!" she shouted, aiming her starbolts and blasting the door clean off its hinges. She searched the room from top to bottom, including the closets. Realizing that Robin was indeed not there, as she had previously suspected, she quietly snuck out of the room, hoping that no one would notice the broken door.
Starfire continued to search. She searched the bathrooms, she searched the infirmary, she searched the gym, and she even went up to search the roof. Thank X'Hal Raven and Cyborg didn't activate the alarms, she thought. Otherwise, I would be in the deep do, as friend Beast Boy says.
Starfire was beginning to get worried. She couldn't help but worry that Robin had gotten lost somehow, unable to find his way back to her, and the more she tried to convince herself that there was no way it could happen, the more concerned she became. She trotted down the stairs along anxiously, fearing the worst for her leader, when her eyes landed on a red pajama shirt button in front of the laundry room door. Her lips curled into a devious smile.
I win, Boy Wonder.
It had been at least fifteen minutes since he had entered his dryer hideout, and Robin was beginning to feel very proud of himself. I did it, he thought victoriously. Starfire will never, ever find me in here. I am the all-time champion of hide-and-seek...all peasants, kneel before me! Although, if Cyborg or Beast Boy were here, they probably would have told me to take it easier on her. I suppose I could have...but where's the fun in that?
He imagined Starfire wandering aimlessly around the Tower, calling his name desperately, looking in every nook and cranny she could, and becoming frustrated when he was nowhere to be found. He figured that Starfire was nearly ready to give up, surrender, and accept her defeat with dignity and maybe a few starbolts being fired angrily at his behind.
Oh well. It's still gonna be worth it.
He rubbed his hands together, satisfied with the way his plan had gone and longing to reveal his location to a dumbfounded Starfire, when all of a sudden…
"I believe I have found you, Robin."
Robin jolted at the sound of her voice, and nearly hit his head on the inside wall of the dryer. "What-How-H-How did you-?" he stuttered, scrambling out onto the floor.
Starfire placed a hand on her slender hip and held up the red button for Robin to see. Robin's mouth dropped open, and he looked down at his shirt. Sure enough, a shiny, red button was missing from the top.
She smiled smugly at him. "Call it...a hunch?"
Robin crossed his arms over his chest and straightened up. "That's not fair," he replied. "You cheated. You never would have found me if my button hadn't fallen off."
"And you should simply learn to be more careful," Starfire evenly shot back. "Besides, I did not cheat. I used what I would call a convenient resource. Now please, Robin. What is my special prize for winning the game of hide-and-seek?" She gazed at him expectantly.
Robin shook his head stubbornly. "You didn't win, Star. You cheated. Now give me my button back!" he shouted, grabbing for the tiny button.
Starfire swiped it out of his reach. "On one condition, Robin," she said slyly. "You must catch me first!" And with that, she zipped out of the laundry room and down the hallway, with Robin struggling to catch up.
As Starfire flitted into the operations room, Robin ran after her, breathing heavily. "Starfire, enough of this! Give me back my button!" he hollered childishly.
Starfire giggled. "Only if you give me the prize for winning the game!" she exclaimed, heading toward the other side of the room.
Determined to catch her by any means necessary, Robin hopped up onto the kitchen table and sprinted as fast as he could toward the alien princess. With a loud grunt, he leapt into the air and curled his arms around the Tamaranean's waist, catching her off-guard and sending her falling toward the ground. They landed in an exhausted heap on the wraparound sofa, and Robin pinned Starfire down by her wrists, prying the button from her fingers. "Aha!" he shouted victoriously. "I did it!"
Starfire merely smirked. "Yes, you did, friend Robin," she said slowly. "Now, if I remember right, I was promised a prize, yes?"
Robin shook his head. "No way, Star. You still cheated. I never agreed to that!" he replied.
Starfire rolled her beautiful green eyes. "Well, I did," she said. And the young alien leaned up and planted a quick kiss on the tip of Robin's nose. "There. Now, was that so awful, Boy Wonder?"
Robin's cheeks turned red from pure embarrassment, and before he knew what he was doing, he murmured, "You missed."
Starfire raised an eyebrow. "Forgive me, Robin, but I do not understand. What do you mean, I missed?"
"You missed," Robin repeated. And he leaned down, pressing his lips gently to hers. The action momentarily took Starfire by complete surprise, but she got over it fairly quickly and began to kiss him back, pulling him down closer to her. Their bodies melted together into one, and the argument regarding Robin's red button and Starfire's supposed 'cheating' became a distant, long-forgotten memory. The pent-up longing between the two superheroes was finally released, allowing them to succumb to the wonderful euphoria that surely would have completely taken them over, had it not been for Beast Boy and Cyborg walking into the operations room and seeing their two teammates heatedly making out.
"DUUUUUDES!" Beast Boy squealed loudly, covering his eyes. "Would you just get a room already? My eyes! They buuuurn!"
"BB! Shut up!" Cyborg shushed him urgently.
But it was too late. Robin and Starfire abruptly sat up and clumsily scrambled away from one another, with Starfire nearly tumbling off the couch and onto the floor in the process. "What-what are you guys doing here?" Robin stammered, smoothing out his shirt.
"Beast Boy, I thought you said that you needed your...sleep of the beauty," Starfire added quickly.
"Well, yeah, of course I did, but you two Casanovas INTERRUPTED IT!" Beast Boy hollered, crossing his arms. "And it's such a shame, too. I was in the middle of redecorating my tofu dream castle when I heard you goobers playing HIDE-AND-SEEK at FOUR O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING! Like, really, dudes, what's up with that? Childish much?"
Cyborg flicked Beast Boy in the ear, easily knocking him over. "Just ignore him, guys," he muttered.
Robin rolled his eyes. "Oh, like you've never done anything childish before. Right, Beast Boy?" he challenged. "What about that time you pulled a prank that launched a motor oil balloon at Starfire's face? Or all those times you were badgering Raven to play Stankball with you?"
Beast Boy jumped up. "I'LL HAVE YOU KNOW, STANKBALL IS A GAME OF AGILITY, STRENGTH, AND ENDURANCE! NOW, IF YOU WILL EXCUSE ME, I SHALL HAVE MY BEAUTY SLEEP!" he yelled, shaking his fist at Robin. "AND BOTH OF YOU, KEEP IT IN YOUR PANTS!"
And without another word to his friends, Beast Boy stomped grumpily away, Cyborg following closely in his wake.
Robin turned back to Starfire, whose hair was in slight disarray. "He's such a noob," he murmured. "Sorry about that."
Starfire shrugged her shoulders. "It is okay, friend Robin. At least now, we do not have to hide anything from them," she said mischievously.
Robin grinned and settled down on top of her once again, kissing her with everything that he had. The two teens entered a world that was entirely their own, and were completely oblivious to Beast Boy nearly being blinded by the worst atomic wedgie he had ever experienced in his life, which had seemingly come out of nowhere, his loud yelp of pain, Cyborg's hysterical laughter...
And Raven's diabolical smile.