I'm sorry it took so long, fanfiction wouldn't let me post it up for the last three days, but here is my longest chapter ever. Enjoy! And please review.
"You were running your power supply dry. It was inevitable that you would soon be unable to use them at all…"
Something caught Starfire's eye. There lay a small, brown book that bore the insignia 'BD'.
A cave came into view in the cliffside. By its entrance was a speedboat.
"Who else would leave a badge with the insignia 'S' on the seat?" Raven scepticised.
"And you're sure it was a badge and not a-," Robin couldn't finish his sentence for a loud ringing sound filled the air. Suddenly a colossal explosion came from the right of the boat.
"Azarath, Metrion, ZINTHOS!" she shouted and a sudden wave of darkness surrounded the boat. Within the orb of ebony magic, all was silent except for the occasional sounds of rocks hitting the wall of black and the unsteady breathing of each of the titans.
"Of course I'm not okay!" Suddenly, the force field shattered throwing the rubble in all directions away from the boat. A thin layer of dust showered them. Raven looked stunned; she sat down and took a deep breath.
He grabbed her by the back of her shirt and threw her forward. "You will do as I say,"
She was within reaching distance of the forest when suddenly, a few hundred volts of electricity passed through her body. She fell to the floor. Her clothes were dark and steaming. It all came so suddenly that she thought that that was the end. She saw a white light before everything went black.
There was a tangled sea of auburn hair sending waves of blue electricity amongst itself. Just as the waves were dying, the black blanket caught a spark and developed it into a flame. The flame spread and divided into two. Cloud of smoke formed beneath the ceiling and still the princess slept.
There on the back of her chair was a black dress. On the front of the dress was Slade's trademark insignia.
"Fly!" shouted Beast Boy, but still Starfire fell.
"She's not gonna fly," Cyborg spoke worriedly.
"Then I'll do it for her."
Beast Boy landed by Robin and Raven and morphed back to human, "Dudes, where'd he go?" They all came down to the ground by Cyborg to find that Starfire was no longer there.
Slade materialized in a dark and intimidating looking cave. Starfire was in his clutches. His hands were firmly placed on her arms behind her. She struggled to fight him off but was only wearing herself out. Slade neither recoiled nor released her. She calmed down and allowed Slade to push her forward. I cannot believe I was nearly free, how could I have not seen Slade?
A heavily armoured man wearing all black with thin green stripes came walking towards them and stopped a few meters in front of them, "State you name," he commanded.
"Slade," he replied simply.
"State your purpose."
"To defeat the Brindar and claim the prize."
"Follow me," the armoured man started to walk back from where he came. Slade followed with Starfire at his hand. When they got to a door, the armoured man turned to them with his ever-expressionless features, "Need I explain further?"
"No, I have all the information I need," and with that the man left. Slade opened the door with one hand and pushed Starfire in with the other, "This is your quarters, and you are not to leave it. Food is on the table and you better get some rest, you will be fighting in the morning."
Slade left a very nervous looking Starfire. She turned to look around the room. It was plain and dull but with the same disturbing characteristics of the corridor they had just went through. There was a bed; it wasn't much of a bed, more of a hard surface than anything. The ceiling was very high up and the light at the top wouldn't stop blinking. Starfire walked over to the table where lay a plate of hard dry bread. Starfire sat down on the bed and got out her communicator. She found out a while ago that it was broken, there must be a loose circuit because the exterior looked intact, but Starfire couldn't tell if it was the inside that was broken because the communicator happened to have four tiny little bolts in each corner and it would be impossible to get them out with only your fingers. This suddenly sparked off an idea in Starfire, time for my second act of rebellion.
She got up off the bed and hid the communicator back into her skirt pocket. She then walked over to a little grey electrical box that she just noticed under the table and with the bread that she just grabbed off the top of the table, she whacked it against the little grey box, hoping that it was the kind of box she wanted it to be. Suddenly all the lights turned out. Within minutes, Slade appeared at the door carrying a tool box and a fierce expression. "Here," he said spitefully throwing the tool box over to her, "All of the lights have switched off; I guess it's your idea of being defiant. You will fix it, I don't care if you get electrocuted, but of course, you've already had experience with electric shocks, haven't you?" he said coldly. She stared back at him with fiery eyes. She grinned behind him mask and left. Starfire was alone once again, with a tool box. I have just outsmarted Slade, she thought to herself.
She grabbed her communicator and got to work.
Meanwhile, the other Titans had already searched everywhere and anywhere for Starfire but with no luck. They were now all in Titans tower talking amongst themselves when the doorbell rang. Robin went to answer it and found himself standing in front of Titans East. "What are you doing here?"
Bumblebee flew right up in front of her teammates and greeted Robin, "I heard you've got a little problem here, thought we could come and help."
"Thanks, we could use all the help you can give. We've got nothing so far."
Robin led everyone into the main room where they greeted everyone else. "So, what can we do?" asked Aqualad.
"Well there are places where we can't look where maybe you can. You think you can do that?" Cyborg asked from the computer.
"No problem," replied Speedy. Cyborg went back to searching at the computer
"Está bien!" Màs y Menos added in unison.
"That's great, here's a list of where we've been and you can look where we haven't," Robin handed Speedy the sheet of paper.
"Dudes, just to you know, there aren't many places we haven't looked," Beast Boy popped up behind Robin. Speedy took another look at the list and beneath the piece of paper, another piece folded out, and then another and another until the list reached the floor.
"Hey guys, look! Starfire's location's just appeared on the map!" Cyborg announced from the computer. Everyone clustered around it and there it was. Starfire's communicator location was back up.
Suddenly, Robin's communicator beeped. Everyone was looking expectantly towards him. He took out his communicator and opened it. As soon as he saw Starfire's face, he smiled and walked over to the big screen plasma TV and plugged it into the computer by it. Starfire's face appeared full screen so that everyone could see it, and a sight it was. Her hair was even more messed up than the last time they saw it. Her face was covered lightly with dirt and looked as if she hastily tried to clean up a bit before getting in touch with her friends. Her outfit was darkened and didn't look like it could hold up for long. But her eyes were what everyone was looking at. They were big and shining as if renewed with fresh hope.
"Starfire, are you ok?" Robin asked.
"I am for now. I have not got long to talk," she whispered it as if there was someone listening by the door and she didn't want them to know what was going on.
"Where are you?" Bumblebee asked and walked closer to the screen.
"I am under ground as far as I can tell. Slade has taken me here and he says that he plans to defeat a 'Brindar' and claim a prize."
"Brindar?" Beast Boy repeated.
"You know him?" asked Cyborg.
"I know of him," replied Beast Boy, "There's supposedly an underground 'competition' thing where super villains come with humans and make them fight this big black creature called the Brindar and if they win the villain wins this prize. They call it entertainment."
"And if they lose?" asked Raven speaking for the first time.
"It's a fight to the death."
"But Starfire can't fight Brindar, she's not a human. It'd be a bit obvious when she starts shooting starbolts," Aqualad leaned against the sofa back that he stood behind.
Starfire put on a troubled expression and bit her bottom lip. She looked back at the screen; "Actually…" she didn't know how to put it. She could no longer be with the Teen Titans, "I do not have-," but she was cut off when she heard the door start opening. She quickly hid the communicator behind her back and pressed a button with her thumb before looking towards the door with a stunned expression.
Slade entered. "Take off your attire, it wouldn't last you in battle." He threw a black heap onto the bed by Starfire's lap as well as a suspicious glace and then left.
Starfire dropped her communicator on the bed and took hold of the black heap. It was the same dress that she had seen in the building before it burned down. She looked it over and grimaced. When she was unfolding it, something fell out. Starfire looked down at the ground and noticed the same old little book that she had found on the island. She hadn't managed to open it as of yet. She picked it up and turned the lock over in her fingers. Then she took a screw driver from the tool box and slit it into the lock. With a turn and a slight chink noise, the lock fell off. Starfire opened it and was surprised to hear music. It sounded familiar in a way. As if she had heard it long ago. Its sing-song tune reminded her of Tamaran and of her mother. She smiled. She turned the page over but she couldn't understand the writing. It was not in Tamaranian, nor English. It didn't even look human. It was scrawled across the page in a furious jumble of black ink.
Looking back at the bed, she put down the book and started to undress.
The big screen TV flashed off before Starfire could finish what she was about to say. Robin sighed. "That sounded a bit like 'I don not have my powers' to me," Beast Boy stated.
"But why?" Cyborg asked.
"Maybe it was something else," Bumblebee suggested.
"Well when she was falling off that building, she didn't fly, and when she was inside the building, she didn't fly. She didn't shoot starbolts as far as I could see so I agree with BB," Cyborg stated firmly.
"Maybe she just doesn't have the unbridled joy in her to fly?" Raven suggested.
"That's probably it," Robin agreed.
"Huh? What are you guys talking about?" Speedy asked a little confusedly.
"Tamaranian powers are fueled by emotion," Cyborg explained.
"Well maybe that wasn't where she was going, maybe she was trying to say something else," Aqualad suggested. Màs y Menos kept quiet. They had long ago discovered that they weren't all that helpful in discussions.
"She signed off real fast, maybe she's in trouble," Speedy walked up to the fridge and grabbed some corn bread.
"Beast Boy, what do you know about this 'Brindar'?" Robin inquired.
"Well, he's a really big monster with really big teeth and a really little brain. He only obeys his master who's like the leader of the competition. I don't know what the prize is but if Slade wants it it's gotta be good."
"Cyborg, can you look this competition up?" Robin asked. Cyborg gave a quick nod and went back to typing away at the computer.
"What do you want us to do?" asked Bumblebee.
"Brainstorm. How can we get Star out of there?" Robin commanded.
Fifteen minutes later, everyone got together to talk about what they found. Cyborg began, "I've pinpointed Starfire's exact location and I found out what the prize is. It's this immortality potion thing. Can make you live forever. We can't let Slade get it."
Bumblebee started talking about their ideas, "First we talked about if Starfire faked losing, then we remembered that the monster would beat her until she's dead."
Speedy continued, "Then discussed Beast Boy turning into the monster and faking losing, but then we realized that Beast Boy's always green and the monster's black. Plus if Starfire wins then Slade would get the potion."
Aqualad was next to speak, "Then Màs y Menos said something in Spanish, and then we had a great idea. What if we fake Starfire having superpowers?"
"Raven would be perfect for it; she could hide in the ceiling and then use her powers to make things move and she could surround Starfire's hands in magic so that everyone would think it's her doing it," Speedy finished.
"That might actually work. Then they wouldn't let Starfire and Slade compete in fighting the Brindar," Robin agreed.
"Yeah but how do we get her away from Slade, he's bound to figure out that it's Raven's powers not Starfire's," Beast Boy stated.
"Then we can come in and keep everyone occupied and Raven can teleport us all home."
"One problem, I can only teleport about four people at the same time."
"Then we'll stay back and hold down the fort," Bumblebee smiled. "But don't you think you should tell Star the plan so she can make it look convincing?"
"We have to wait till Star calls us otherwise we might get her into trouble," Cyborg went back to researching the fighting grounds, he smiled. "Or we can get a little bird to tell Star," he suggested as he looked over at Beast Boy.
Starfire looked at herself in the mirror. She was wearing the black dress. It was actually very comfortable. The white sleeves were soft and silky, the silvery white that she had only just noticed across the front of the dress ran across her chest and through the 'S' insignia. It reached down to where her skirt would reach and her boots looked just like her purple ones except they were black. The whole outfit seemed to revolve around her purple one. All except the shirt and skirt were replaced by a very flexible yet sturdy dress that had a zigzagged hem. Starfire sighed and sat back down at her bed. My powers are gone, but they are still risking their lives for me. Why? Even if I make it out alive, I will be of no use to the Titans. I can't even fly anymore. She looked at her hands as if she was about to cry into them, then suddenly, they flickered neon green. Her eyes lit up with surprise and a smile slowly appeared on her face. She managed to hold the green light in her hands as she could before. Her smile widened as she realized how much she missed her powers. Suddenly, there was a slight knock on the door and Starfire jumped up and let the power disappear from her hands. She didn't respond to the knocking, she figured that whoever it was would let them in despite her answer. But she was surprised to see who it was.
"Beast Boy?" she asked disbelievingly, he flew in as a fly which made Starfire curious to how he knocked, and then when Starfire closed the door, he morphed back to his human self.
"Shhh," he put his finger to his lips and then continued in a hushed whisper, "I can't get you outta here, too many guards." He looked around the room, "And you don't even have a window here," then he noticed what she was wearing, "Slade's been torturing you I see," he stated dryly.
"Beast Boy, how glad I am to see you!" she exclaimed in a hushed whisper.
"I can't bust you outta here but we have a plan," he began to explain the plan and then when he was finished, when he was about to leave, he couldn't help but turn back with a sad expression and ask, "So, you've really lost you powers?"
"I think it was only temporary, send everyone my greetings," Beast Boy smiled and transformed into a tiny fly. Starfire opened the door a little and let him fly out. She also took the opportunity to look around the corridor. There was no one there.
Starfire closed the door and started walking back to her bed when she heard an abrupt knocking on the door. Before she could even turn around, there was Slade in her doorway. "We will begin your training." Starfire followed him out of her room reluctantly. They entered a large and very empty hall, completely black but with floodlights at great intervals up on room high poles. Starfire walked in ahead of Slade to take a closer look at the strange markings scrawled across the walls. They were completely unfamiliar but looked strangely like that of the little book she had found long ago. All of a sudden, Starfire felt a sharp pain in the back of her upper right arm and then she felt nothing. Her entire body went numb, the only thing she felt was the tingling in her hands from her starbolts disappearing. Slade stood behind her with a smirk on his face, "I have another lesson for you. Never turn you back on an enemy." In his hand he held another syringe, a bit bigger than before. "Now, let's fight." He quickly sent a low flying kick at her legs, but she was still in a daze and came into sharp contact with the hard ground, but still felt nothing. Starfire got up and threw a very high kick that hit Slade's masked head hard. Before she lowered her leg, she threw it at his head yet again but coming from the opposite direction, and then another one. Slade quickly reacted by grabbing her leg and securely holding it under his pit. She tried to pull away but it was no use. So, putting all of her strength to use, she firmly planted her other leg into the ground and kicked her right leg high into the air, with Slade still holding it. He landed sharply behind her and quickly got up.
Starfire didn't turn around; she just stood there with a firm expression on her face. It softened for a moment, long enough for her to take a step forward, turn around and ask, "What have you done to me?"
"Performance enhancer. You will now feel no pain. Feel no fear." Starfire turned around with her arms around her chest. Suddenly, the fierce expression came back, a hand planted itself on her shoulder, "And I'm quite pleased it worked. Now you are ready."
