When Starfire hadn't come back within 10 minutes, Robin knew something was wrong. He waited patiently on the roof for her arrival, a mustard bottle with a straw in hand. Wanting to call her without pushing her to return home, he stared at the sky and occasionally glanced down at his communicator. When he got the call, Cyborg's face appeared on the display instead of Starfire's. He told Robin what happened.
The mustard fell to the roof forgotten. His grip on the communicator tightened. He could feel the blood leaving his face.
"No."
"This is the portal?" Robin asked sternly. He and Raven had come as quickly as they could to the warehouse. Robots were strewn everywhere and the machinery was buzzing with electricity. Cyborg had managed to stabilize the power levels so the control panels wouldn't short circuit and implode on itself. But it was still greatly damaged and the Kraang had escaped in the midst of the fight.
"Yeah. I'm already running calculations on how to fix it, but it's foreign technology. I'm not entirely sure how compatible this is to anything we have or how much time it'll take to get it running. And without those Kraang around, It's going to be tougher to figure this out, but not impossible," Cyborg said.
"Start work right away," Robin ordered. More time lost would mean less of a chance of finding Starfire and bringing her home.
"Already on it," Cyborg responded. He began taking apart the damaged control panel to see what parts would need repairing. Robin turned to Raven and Beast Boy. The latter had previously stayed out of Robin's way for fear of invoking his anger for messing up the mission and thus losing Starfire. He cringed when Robin looked at him.
"Raven, see if you can find a way to locate Starfire. Beast Boy, track down one of the Kraang and bring it back here. We need it to tell us how the portal works." They nodded in unison. Raven went into a meditative position and concentrated on Starfire's energy. Beast Boy morphed into a bloodhound, determinately sniffing the robots to pick up a scent. He paced all throughout the warehouse, the place reeking of the brains. What he needed was a fresh scent.
Travelling towards the far end, his nose caught something. He followed the lead in an erratic pattern along the floor.
Where is it going? he wondered. In the darkened edge of the building, a shadow passed by. He lifted his head and growled. By the purple glow of a radioactive looking tube, a brain was attempting to pull the tube out of its place with its tiny tentacles. It turned and spotted the angry dog. Squealing pathetically, it made a mad dash for the exit.
Not this time. With hackles raised, Beast Boy snarled and lunged at the brain. He snapped down on one of its tentacles with his jaw, causing it to wail in pain. Holding it down with a paw, he captured more of its tentacles in his teeth to ensure it wouldn't escape. The noise drew Robin's attention and he rushed over.
Beast Boy presented the thrashing brain to him. Robin grasped its tentacles in his gloved hand and the bloodhound released his hold.
"Good work, Beast Boy," Robin crisply thanked him. He examined the brain, trying to make some sense of what he was holding. Still in dog form, Beast Boy felt the need for more reassurance that he did a good job. He gently nudged Robin's free hand with his muzzle. Robin looked at him quizzically and Beast Boy's head lowered under his gaze. A small smirk emerged from his wound up leader, who then rubbed his hand gently on the top of the bloodhound's head.
"Good work, Beast Boy," Robin thanked him, in a softer tone this time. The green dog's tail wagged and his floppy ears perked up.
"We'll find a way to bring Starfire home," Robin reassured his friend and himself. In the meantime, he had some interrogating to do. Squinting at the upset brain, he reminded himself that his girlfriend could put these creatures in their place if they tried to lay a hand on her. For now, he could only hope that she was safe.
Monotone voices reached her ears. Metal footsteps clanged against the floors. Struggling to open her eyes, Starfire slowly regained her consciousness. Her back stung and was pressed against a cold material. She tried raising her arms, but found they were held down. Adjusting to the disorienting lighting of the room, she glanced down at her body and her eyes widened.
She was strapped down to a metal table. Several robots milled around the room, whether carrying a laser gun or typing away at a screen that lit up with each tap. A few robots stood over a table, conversing without realizing that their captive was awake.
"Kraang will begin the dissection of that which is known as the human with strange powers that came through the portal," one rambled.
No. Her breathing grew shallow.
"Does Kraang think Kraang should begin with the instrument known as the laser scalpel or the instrument that is known as scissors?"
No! She pressed her entire being against the large straps, trying to tear them away from the table.
"Kraang believes Kraang is supposed to start with that which is known as a bone saw."
"NO!" The straps were wrenched from the table, freeing the frightened Tamaranian. The Kraang turned only to be flung off their metal feet by a flying starbolt.
"You. Will. Not. Touch. Me." Starfire seethed, eyes glowing and blasting away a robot with each word. Whirring of the laser guns sounding behind her and she leaped into the air, darting towards the nearest exit. An alarm sounded and red light flooded the hallways. Charging her hands with glowing green energy, she easily powered through groups of robots that came running.
Turning sharply at each corner, she blindly sped through the floor, unsure of where to go. She passed by a turn and halted mid-flight. Coming back, she saw that there was a window at the end of the hall. Between the flashes of red, a city came into sight. She could hear the parading robots closing in on her from all sides. Charging up her energy, she built up an energy shield around her, decimating the robots that came into view as well as the window. Flying through the opening, she left the horrid place behind. She allowed her energy to fade and relished the feeling of the cool night air against her skin.
Never again. Once more, she would take her freedom into her own hands.
"Is everything set up?"
"Yup. We just need to adjust the magnification and then we'll be good to go."
"150x magnification right?"
"Right. It should be strong enough to see some of the constellations, despite the light pollution from the city."
April set the telescope to the correct settings and peered through the eyepiece. She slowly adjusted the dial until the stars were crystal clear.
"Wow," she gasped. "Come here, look at sky!" She grabbed Donnie's hand and pulled him towards the eyepiece. Blushing briefly, he focused on view of the night sky to check that the telescope was doing its job.
After reading through a few astronomy and weather reports, Donnie mapped out best nights for stargazing. To make sure the giant terrapin wouldn't be discovered, April asked her aunt when she would be away on business and coordinated the date with her friend. They set up a high-powered telescope that Donnie had scavenged and repaired on the roof of her apartment building. The night was going to be a little chilly for the New York residents, so April prepared hot chocolate, currently steaming hot inside a thermos, to warm them up later. Donnie brought a few blankets in his bag just in case the hot chocolate wasn't enough to combat the chills of the night.
Studying the stars carefully, Donnie finally found the first of many constellations. He lifted his head and glanced at April. Meeting her excited smile with his own, he found his voice after a moment.
"It's beautiful. T-the sky I mean," he stammered, gripping the telescope nervously. Before he could ramble, April stepped forward to the eyepiece and gently took it from his hands.
"So, what did you want to show me?" she asked. Donnie's science mode kicked in and he relaxed. She was his best friend, after all. She wanted to be out here with him and that was all that mattered. And by Einstein's mustache, he was going to make the most of this time.
"Well, Miss O'Neil," he began dramatically. "If you look and see the bright star, Hamal, towards the upper right, you can make a connection to another star far above it and a little to the left. Do you see it?"
"I'm pretty sure I found them," April responded. She followed his directions and her eyes traveled across the mass of stars through the telescope.
"Below Hamal, there's another bright star called Sheraton. Draw lines between all three of those and another star below Sheraton. What's the constellation?" he quizzed her. April tapped her finger to her chin for a moment, and then smirked.
"Is it Raph? I was thinking Aries, but then I remembered that Raph does like to ram into things," she joked, glancing up at Donnie.
"You could say he has a tendency to butt heads with Leo," he remarked. Giggling at their puns, April turned her focus back to the telescope.
"All right, let's see if I can find one for you to figure out the name of."
"Bring it on. I'll bet that I can find it faster than you did," he challenged her.
"Oh, I doubt it. I'll make this one tough," April ribbed him. After a few moments of searching, she found a group of stars that might throw the genius off.
"Your turn." She stepped aside to allow Donnie a go. "Do you see that cluster that makes a thin diamond?"
"Yup. I see it," confidence seeping through his words.
"The bottom star of that is the top corner of a rectangle. The opposite corner of the rectangle from the edge of the diamond connects to two stars on the lower right."
"I am mentally drawing the lines."
"What constellation is that?"
"Hmm." Concentrated in thought, Donnie unconsciously stuck out his tongue. "Is it. . . Lacerta the lizard?"
"Actually, it's you," April grinned deviously.
"I'm a turtle, not a lizard! I thought you knew what species I was by now!" he whined.
"You're a lizard because you stick out your tongue like one," April said.
"And when do I stick out my tongue? I didn't use it to catch worms from my dinner plate before we discovered pizza," he said indignantly.
"You do it all the time! Just now when you were thinking, your tongue was right there in broad daylight- well nighttime- but I could see it is my point." She poked him in the plastron to get her point across.
"Do I really? Huh, I guess I never noticed that before," Donnie realized. Leave it to April to point out something even he didn't know.
"Well what kind of ninja doesn't notice his own habits?" he jokingly asked, rubbing the back of his head. April put on a pouting face at this remark. She knew he often compared himself to his brothers when it came to his ninuitsu skills. He was amazing at what he did, especially compared to a beginner like April.
"A pretty great ninja. You can balance on two fingers for hours on end. That takes a lot of skill. I can hardly do a proper kick combo." Donnie needed to realize how far he had come since his childhood training. Berating himself wouldn't do him any good. And, even though she didn't like to admit it, she still had a ways to go to catch up with him.
"You'll get there," he encouraged her. "It just takes hours upon hours of practice to learn the proper form." She knew he was trying to compliment her, and she did appreciate that, but she wanted him to acknowledge his own worth. She had to try an indirect approach.
"Until I get it, you'd better appreciate your ninja skills. Because one day I'll kick your shell. Then you can worry about how good you are," April said with a smirk.
"You're going to give me a run for my money. Still, I can't wait until that day," he said honestly. "Maybe Leo will finally ask you to join us on patrols. Then the city will be even safer under our watch."
"It's already pretty safe with you guys fighting the Kraang and the Foot all the time, but thanks," she smiled.
The mention of the Kraang reminded Donnie of their last mission in TCRI. Leatherhead was a difficult loss for the turtles, even if he had a tendency of grabbing Donnie's face and trying to pull his head out of his shell. What really shook them up was the realization that the Kraang were after April instead of her father. It was worrisome enough that she was involved in the fight against the Kraang, but her being the center of their attention was enough to mark them as a greater threat than before.
"I'm more worried about the Kraang getting to you," he confessed. Ever since he had decoded the file the Kraang had on April, he and his brothers checked up on her more often. Mikey was usually the one to text her while she was at school, but they all made sure that the Kraang hadn't found her when they couldn't be by her side. They invited her over to the lair for more visits than her aunt was comfortable with considering she knew little about April's "school friends". April was part of the family, and family looked out for each other when they were in trouble.
April shrugged. The Kraang knew where she went to school and it was only a matter of time before they found her current address. That part did scare her. But she had an army of ninjas by her side.
"Well, I can't help why they're after me, but that's why I have you. And Leo. And Raph. And Mikey. And Splinter. I know I'm safe when you're around and that's enough to keep me from being afraid all the time." She looked up at Donnie sincerely and he blushed modestly.
However, her attention was quickly diverted. Looking past Donnie, she spotted something in the distance.
"Uh, Donnie?"
He followed the direction her finger was pointing. Then he saw it. A green light soared across the sky and faded out. But a brightly colored shape was still approaching them. Donnie quickly dove for his bag and dug through the contents.
"What are you looking for? You're going to miss it!" April exclaimed.
"I need better eyes to see it with. Aha!" He triumphantly pulled out a spyglass and aimed it at the oncoming shape. As it passed nearly directly above them, he caught a human shape among flashes of red and purple. He followed the shape until it dove down into the distant alleys.
"It looked like a human wearing a purple outfit," he said.
"Where did they come from?" April asked. Donnie ran a few dozen calculations and followed the direction the stranger came from.
"By my guess, I'm 89% sure they came from TCRI."
"Maybe they were someone the Kraang poured mutagen on," April sadly guessed. She hugged herself at the thought. "I hope it wasn't Dad."
Donnie placed his hands on her shoulders and met her eyes.
"They wouldn't hurt your father. They need him in good shape so that they can get you. And I'm not about to let that happen," he promised her. April stepped into his plastron and he wrapped his arms around her, protecting her from the worries that plagued her.
She could always rely on him to keep her safe when she felt vulnerable. April O'Neil was a tough cookie, but she still needed reassurance from someone once in a while. If anything, Donnie was a pillar of strength that grounded her through the trials of life.
"Besides, I don't think your dad wears purple. It doesn't really work for him," he added.
Her first instinct was to hide. She dove from the sky and ducked down in the alleyways of the unfamiliar city. Leaning against a wall for balance, Starfire rubbed her arms, exiling any thoughts of what the creatures could have done to her.
"I have escaped. I am away from them. Take deep breaths," she told herself. Inhaling, she eased out of her shallow breaths into deeper, calmer ones. Slowly, but surely she reduced her heart rate and regained her senses.
"Okay, what do I do now? The Titans. I must contact my friends." Walking herself through protocol that Robin had drilled into the team, she remembered the first steps of being lost in an unfamiliar location. Reaching into her pocket, her fingers touched a familiar device. Thankfully, the creatures had not taken her communicator.
"Hmm, for a species of brains, they do not seem to be very intelligent," she commented to no one in particular. She opened the screen and pleaded to X'Hal that the signal would reach her friends. After a few moments, disappointment fell on her. The only response she received was static.
"Please, Robin. Cyborg. Anyone, please respond! Please. . ." Hanging her head, she bit her lip. A noise from the shadows of the alley made her jump. She pointed a starbolt at the disturbance, only to find a cat holding a freshly caught rat in its jaws. Lowering her arm, her starbolt faded. She couldn't stay here.
The next step in the protocol was to find a safe place. If in an unfamiliar location, it was unwise to allow the locals to spot you. They knew how to tell a stranger apart from the crowd and being discovered here would be more than dangerous. If trouble arose, she had no way of calling for backup. Poking her head out of the alleyway, Starfire took in her surroundings. The city was a concrete jungle, certainly different from the open atmosphere of Jump City. Buildings were built close together and made to cram as many people in one place as comfortably as possible. The outdoors would make it easy for someone to spot her. She would have to find a building to hide in.
Then she saw it. A condemned apartment complex that was in dire need of rebuilding, complete with boarded windows. Hopefully no workers would come by to begin demolition for some time. Making sure no one was in the dimly-lit street, Starfire darted to the building and flew up to one of the closed off windows in the alleyway. She easily removed a plank and squeezed through the narrow opening.
Looking around, she found that the furniture from the previous owner was still there. Everything was draped in cloths in an attempt to keep away the dust. After removing a few cloths, she finally found a couch. There were a few stains and it smelled of mothballs, but it was otherwise in good condition. Settling down, she took care to not to let the fabric touch her sensitive back. She would need to treat that in the morning, along with trying to contact the Justice League or anyone who could assist her.
For now, all she could do was try to get a good night's rest. It never came to her. With her emotions overwhelmed with loss and confusion, the chill of the night air sent goosebumps travelling across her skin. When she finally did fall asleep, nightmares chased her conscious into the darkest parts of her memories. A single thought brought some peace to the endless night.
"Robin," she whispered.
"Our cameras captured footage of an explosion in one of the upper floors. Can you tell us what happened here at your facility?" a reporter asked her interviewee. As she spoke, the clip she referenced played on the screen and cut to the front receptionist.
"What happened was a mishap with a chemistry experiment. No one was injured and there is no need for concern," she answered in a clipped tone.
"It seems like more than a chemical combo gone wrong. Some are concerned for the safety of your workers if something like this happened right under your noses," the reporter added.
"No one was injured and there is no need for concern," the receptionist repeated in the same tone. "All of our workers are equipped for such emergencies and we will ensure that it does not happen again. No more questions. We are closed right now."
Donnie paused the news feed video of TCRI on his laptop. He and April mulled over what Ms. Campbell had said, or rather what she refused to say.
"Looks like her lips are sealed tight. Then again, she's not going to say anything to regular humans," April commented.
"Well if she won't say anything, we can always do our own investigating." Through a few strokes of the keyboard, Donnie rewound the video back to the footage of the green explosion. He zoomed in and improved the quality of the image to get a better look. April squinted at the image, leaning closer to the screen.
"It looks like a human girl, but she seems. . . different somehow," she said, sharing a worried glance with Donnie. Based on the image, they both feared that the Kraang were experimenting on humans.
"Let me try something." Donnie dug and opened up a missing person's database from the New York Police Department's secure files. Running a search for young, redheaded women, he leaned back in his chair, waiting for the results. April set a hand on his shoulder at the several images of women that were never found, hoping that their families found some kind of peace. Donnie understood and leaned into her touch.
They compared the girl in the video to the women, but none of them seemed to match. The face types weren't right and their hair wasn't nearly as brightly colored as the girl.
"Maybe her hair color changed," April suggested.
"It's definitely a possibility. The Kraang are getting pretty crafty at testing genes from all varieties of animals," Donnie agreed. Just then, the door to the lab opened, causing April and Donnie to look up. Splinter strode in with the rest of his sons following closely behind him.
"Did you find any information on what escaped?" he asked. After they came back to the lair, Donnie and April explained to everyone what they had seen. While Splinter did not normally involve himself in his son's missions, this one in particular intrigued him.
"Not what. Who," April corrected.
"We found a news image of the explosion and we found her," Donnie said as he enlarged the image on his laptop. Everyone leaned in to get a better look. Leo grew serious at the prospect of human civilians being harmed. Mikey tilted his head, wondering who the girl was. Raph studied her, wondering how she managed to blow up an entire floor. Splinter stroked his thin beard, wondering what such a powerful being could mean.
"I did a basic search on the missing person's database, but we didn't find her listed. I can search more thoroughly through it tonight," Donnie continued.
"If she got away from the Kraang, then she needs our help," Mikey piped up.
"Mikey's right," Leo said.
"He is?" Raph asked.
"Whoever she is, she's not friends with the Kraang and needs help controlling whatever powers she has. But if she can create explosions and fly, then we need to be sure she doesn't hurt anyone. We need to find her before the Kraang do and see what she can tell us about what the they're are up to," Leo decided.
Mikey turned his attention back to the girl as Leo spoke. She didn't seem like the kind of person who would hurt anyone. To him, she seemed scared, despite the damage she caused to TCRI. Hopefully, they would find her soon.
Smoothing out her skirt, Starfire carefully stepped out of the alleyway and followed the light flow of pedestrian traffic. So far, her plan was going well. No one spared her a glance, meaning she could blend in for now. As far as the civilians knew, she was simply an everyday girl making her way downtown.
Her main concern was whether or not she could use her powers in public. It was no trouble back home, as everyone in Jump City knew what she and the other Titans looked like and were accepting of them. However, she remembered Cyborg discussing a theory that parallel worlds existed without superheroes. This dimension could easily be one of those places.
After traveling for a few blocks, she found a convenience store. She opened the door and walked inside. The cashier kept his nose buried in a newspaper, not acknowledging his newest customer. Starfire found a rotating stand and began to rummage through it.
She lifted a solitary map out of the stand, holding it carefully. It read "New York" at the top in bold letters. So she was in the United States. Maybe Jump City existed in this dimension. Glancing at the stand once more, she felt disappointed at the lack of a map of the nation. Pondering what to do next, a flash of blue and red caught her eye.
In the store across the street, an employee was setting up a large poster of Superman. Starfire set the map down and rushed across the street, barely dodging a speeding taxi. Briefly apologizing over her shoulder, she grinned at the sight of a familiar face. So superheroes were known in this world. There was a chance she could make contact with the Justice League here!
With this place being her only feasible lead, she strode into the store, hoping they were hosting an event in the near future. When they had time, the Titans would sometimes make appearances at fundraisers or the children's hospital to make a more personal connection with the public. Perhaps it was the same here.
"Welcome to Carl's Comics," a voice said. Starfire turned and politely smiled at the cashier. The dark-skinned man with a tag reading "Malachi" leaned on the counter, happy at the sight of a new customer on a slow day. "I don't believe I've seen you around here. You ever been here?" he asked casually.
"No, I have not. I only found this establishment today," Starfire replied honestly. So far, most of the people seemed concerned with only their personal business. Malachi's friendly attitude was a welcome change for her.
"Well, glad you could come. And I love your Starfire cosplay," he commented, gesturing at her outfit.
"You know who I am?" she lit up. Her spirit lifted and her hands clasped together in front of her chest.
"Sure do. I'm really into Teen Titans right now. It's an older comic, but it's fun to see younger characters kick some butt. We have a new shipment of them. Would you like to see them?" he offered.
"I believe I would," she hesitated. A comic? Back home, the comics featured fictional characters. Was that not the case in this world? Malachi led her to an opened cardboard box set aside on a shelf. He triumphantly pulled out a brand new comic in a plastic sleeve and presented it to her.
"Check it out," he said as she examined it. "The manufacturing company decided to make new copies to appeal to the younger generation. Then the collectors can stop whining about not having enough antique editions in the store."
"May I open it?" she asked carefully.
"Normally I wouldn't, but my manager's not around. Go ahead and I'll make that the reader's copy," he grinned. "I need to line these up actually and take stock, but take a look." He picked up the box and brought it to the front of the store, where the shelves where beginning to look bare.
"Thank you," she called after him. Stafire opened the packaging and stared at the cover. She recognized herself, Cyborg, Robin, Beast Boy, and a few other Titans. The outfits were stylistically different, but the color scheme was true to each Titan. Carefully opening the small book, she gasped at the image. The Titans were battling Trigon. Raven was nowhere to be found and each hero carried battle damage.
These comics were not published fan stories. They depicted actual events that happened. She shut the book in fear. What if these books told the future of the Titans? What if she learned something she was not supposed to? Even worse was the realization that for these comics to exist would mean that the Teen Titans did not in this dimension. The official reporting of the Titans activities belonged only in the newspaper and on parts of the Internet Robin discouraged the team from peeking through.
There was no one to contact. She had to stay hidden unless she wanted to risk drawing attention to herself. The only way home was through those awful brain creatures.
Starfire paced to Malachi and presented him with the comic. He seemed surprised, but took the comic back.
"Thanks. You sure you don't want it? It's going to be hard to sell it now with the packaging undone," he said. Starfire shook her head vehemently.
"I am certain. I wish you a most pleasant day," she said quickly before heading out the door.
"Oh! You too! Wait. . ." He reached after her briefly, wondering why she left so suddenly. He hoped she would come back. She was a really cute girl and she could work a crop top like no tomorrow.
Over the next few days, Starfire spent the daytime scavenging for spare food from the dumpsters by restaurants and bakeries. She also soothed her aching back with ice she coerced from a male cashier of a store with a soda machine. She glanced at the injury in a bathroom mirror, but there was little she could do about the damage without medical supplies. Besides, she was certain she could receive attention on it once she returned home.
At night, she kept a vigilant watch on the building she escaped from. She learned the name of TCRI when passing by a television store that was playing the news channel. The featured story presented a video of her escape from the living nightmare. So far, the only activity was the occasional truck pulling into the side garage. Finally, her opportunity came.
A lone Kraang left the building and ventured into the city. Tracking him like a hawk, Starfire followed the robot carefully and determinately. This one would be the one to tell her how she could make her way home. She was sure of it.
April left Mr. Murakami's, happy that she finally got a fresh meal that wasn't pizza for once. Homework was out of the way, so maybe she could head down to the lair and get some extra training with Splinter done.
About to turn the street corner, April halted at the sound of familiar whirring. She ducked down and peeked around the corner. Across the way, two Kraang were walking to meet each other in front of the flower shop.
"Kraang, did you receive the latest announcement from Kraang," one droned.
"I did, Kraang. I am looking forward to finding this new source of energy that is known as a battery. Then perhaps Kraang can return to the dimension of Kraang for the time that is known as vacation time at more frequent intervals," the other responded in monotone. April squinted her eyes. A new battery source for the Kraang didn't sound like good news.
"Agreed. Kraang must continue to the base that Kraang was assigned to."
"Kraang also must continue. Have a Kraang night, Kraang." They continued on and April took off after the first Kraang. If he was going to another base, it would be an advantage for her to learn the location for the guys. It was possible that they were holding her father there. Whipping out her phone, she sent out an urgent message to Leo.
Whatever those aliens were up to, April was going to find out. Her stubborn O'Neil streak would make sure of it.