To Miss Geek (Guest): 1) Yes I'm okay, thanks for asking! I hate the hospital and hopefully my dignity heals soon. :) 2) Yes you reviewed! *does stupid happy dance because of your review. 3) Thanks! I'm glad you liked it, Jason will be Jason lol. Enjoy this next chapter.
To guest awesome (Guest): I will desperately write more! This chapter is literally 5,000 words thick, engulf each sentence! Thanks for reviewing!
To Guest: I am! Enjoy this chapter, more chapters will be coming out soon. :)
To Guest: Assuming that we haven't heard from Starfire in a while, I expect you to assume the worst. But you know what they say, Hope for the best but expect the worst! Thanks for reviewing! :)
To Hahahaha (Guest): We'll have to wait and see if Star's pregnant or not...lol "may Karras be impotent" I was rolling on the floor laughing at your comment. :)
A/N: 12 reviews?! I'm gushing! Great reviews guys, thank you! Since I received so many AMAZING reviews I will post this next chapter along with a smile. Hopefully you all know where we left off, the Team is on Tameran, and it's time for battle! Enjoy the next chapter!
"Are you strong enough to defeat your inner demons? Are you strong enough to take what you are asked to do and mend it to fit your needs? Or are you weak? Is weakness determined by following the calls of your wants? Carry on Sissy…Carry on and burn in hell for eternity if you give into the temptation of social interactions of the damned." -Louddragon
Flash POV
We flood out of the Ship and Nightwing signals for me and Jinx to get into our defending position. Jinx nods and points towards the main entrance to the vast Tamaranian castle. Guards are swarming from the entrance, their battle cries are piercing the thin air, and their strides are rapid in size and pace. They're holding long staffs with sharp looking instruments at the end; the blue sparks coming from the end look menacing. I glance at Nightwing; he's getting into position with me and Jinx. "Go!" I shout at him. "Jinxy and I will be fine! We can hold off the swarm, go through the back entrance and find Karras!" I yell and he nods.
He signals for Cyborg, Batgirl and Robin to follow, Beast Boy and Raven are surrounded by black energy and they sink into the ground.
The swarm is getting closer and I bite my lip in anticipation, no fear though, just like my Mentor taught me. Fear equals injury. "Jinxy, you ready?" I yell over the roars of the soldiers.
She nods and lifts slightly off the ground, her pink magic surrounds her and she whispers something before looking at me with her big pink eyes. "Wally, be careful. They're stronger than us." She chargers towards the group to distance ourselves from the Ship a little, I look at her retreating form and my heart thuds in eagerness as the staffs also shoot blue electricity.
I run after her at my speed, the guards I'm approaching are red-haired and sweaty, they're menacing facial expressions are twisted grotesquely and they immediately attempt to subdue me as I approach. I'm out of his grasp in seconds, and he's sprawled on the ground. I grin; he had no chance against me. I Grab his staff and electrocute him as I turn around and stab another guy with it, more come at me and I race through the crowd, zapping and stabbing more of them. The crowd fluctuates between thickening and thinning. Blue sparks pop up from the place I stab them, and I realize that this is not just electrocution, it paralyzes you.
Realization dawns on me as I see pink flashes out of my peripheral vision. I start to head towards it but the tingling sensation behind me attempts to mollify me. I turn around and barely dodge the attack as the staff slices past my head. Other guards are now trying to stab at me and dodging them turns into a vigorous dance to stay alive. Before I can think of a plan to get myself out of this particular swarm, their faces become blank and their eyes turn pink, they quickly collapse on the ground. I look around for the source and Jinx gingerly steps over some of their unconscious forms. "Is that a new type of hex?" I ask as I catch my breath.
She smirks. "Yeah, look alive Wally. A new swarm is coming from the entrance." Her hands light up with pink hexes.
I sigh in aggravation. "How many guards does this place have?" I look at the guards swarming from the doors, this time they're bigger and their weapons look like golden large pistols with sharp blades on the end. The electricity spewing from them is green, and looks much deadlier. "Nevermind, don't answer that." I swallow and pick up a new staff from the pile of decrepit soldiers.
Jinx bites her lip, a habit she clearly picked up from me. "It seems like they have quadrants, the more soldiers we use up the stronger the forces they send out."
I brace myself as the groups of Tamaranians start to shout and yell in their distinctly annoying language. "If that's the case then Nightwing better hurry the hell up. Stay close to me Jinxy; we're going to need each other's help."
She rolls her eyes and lifts her body slightly into the air, she propels herself forward and I stick close to her. I immediately zap one of the big burly guards with my staff and they scream and thrash until they fall unconscious, Jinx is working on keeping the fluctuations of them under control by hexing them so they move slower. This helps me immensely; I grab one of the zapping guns and discharge dozens of guards at once. Jinx gasps as one of them breaks free of her hex control and attacks her. I run to her aid and stab the guard in his shoulder, I shoot and he goes flying, the gun is much stronger than I thought. A large hand lands on my back and I turn around to a punch in the face. I silently ask myself why punching me in the face is so common for behemoths. I taste blood and stand up quickly, I dodge the electricity bullets whizzing past me, and I'm once again surrounded. My back bumps into something and I see Jinx behind me.
We're both facing the crowd; we're surrounded and panting loudly. One of the soldiers yells something in Tamaranian at me it sounds like "Eyeball, eyeball, chocolate steering girdle." I wince.
"No idea what you're saying buddy, I'll be more than happy to zap some English out of you though." I say and aim my electricity gun at the man. As soon as I do this the swarm of them aims their weapons at us. The man speaks in Tamaranian again and I sigh in annoyance. "Listen mustache, we're just trying to defend our Ship. Can you give us a break?"
They sneer at me and Jinx elbows me harshly. "They can't understand you." She whispers.
"I know that, but it's still annoying." I stare at the man and sigh as I tighten my grip on the gun-like instrument. I'm about to pull the trigger but one of the guards beats me to it, my arms sizzles and I feel electronic impulses got through me, I'm on the ground within seconds convulsing and all I see are stars. I hear shouting and see pink sparkles. Huge feet begin to trample me and blood beings to color my vision. I'm stiff, I can't move and I'm being trampled. As my Mentor once said, fear equals injury. I guess I was not as courageous as I could've been. My ribs crack beneath me and the pink flashes suddenly stop. Jinx isn't fighting anymore. Before I black out I hear a pair of handcuffs and I'm electrocuted once again. The darkness makes the pain go away, and I'm once again floating in the unknown. That's funny I don't remember ordering fear, it wasn't on the menu.
Raven POV
We reappear in an empty hallway in the Castle; it's great to know that I estimated the power I used to transport us correctly; one mistake and we could've ended up in a different universe. I look at Beast Boy and he smirks at me, I signal for him to listen out for any footsteps or presences and we begin our trek to find Starfire.
Our footsteps are nearly silent, and we both stay in our battle stances. Our faces are twisted in concentration and I reach down the long hallways with my Empathy to search for any souls in our way. I try and detect Starfire's presence but I feel nothing, not an ounce of her soul left. I look at Beast Boy with concern. "I can't sense her, what's going on?" I say in a low undetectable tone.
He looks at me and his ear twitches as he listens for a sound. "There are soldiers coming to check this corridor, we need to go." He says briskly.
I ponder this and shake my head. "I'm sensing about five soldiers coming our way; we could ambush them and shake answers out of them." I suggest violently.
Beast Boy smirks. "I like the way you think, sadistic." His eyebrows waggle at me and I roll my eyes. He turns into a lion and roars loudly to attract the guards.
I can hear their footsteps before I see them, I take no chances and I immediately pummel two of them with my black powers. I slam one into the wall and his bones crunch underneath him, I've heard that familiar sound too many times to wince. I look over at Beast Boy and two of them have taken out their sharp looking spear instruments. The blue sparks at the end of them look menacing along with the illegally sized blade made out of solid gold. Beast Boy turns into an elephant and crushes the instruments; he then uses his trunk to smash the guards into each other. They fall into a heap onto the floor and he returns to his normal size.
One guard is eyeing both of us wearily, he's holding his staff tightly, and I can see the strain on his fingers. "Tell us where Starfire is and we won't hurt you." Beast Boy says calmly.
The man lunges towards me and I use my powers to block him off and smash his staff into pieces. He punches at the black wall separating us and Beast Boy's goat form throws him into a wall. The Tamaranian man crumples and pulls out a small golden knife. "Tell us where Starfire is." I ask impatiently.
His eyes regard me curiously and he stands up slowly. Beast Boy growls and I put out my hand to calm him. The man speaks, but it's in his native tongue. Beast Boy snorts. "That sounded like he said 'pickle butt gold humble.'"
I smack his arm. "Gar, shut up." I look at the man again. "Where is Starfire?" I say between clenched teeth.
The man suddenly lunges for me, but before I can smack him away his face crashes into mine. His lips press against mine, and I'm left completely astounded. I shove him away quickly and Beast Boy pummels him to the ground.
Beast Boy mutters some incomprehensible things and before I know it the Tamaranian spits on him and stabs him with the small golden knife. Beast Boy yells and I pull him off with my powers. I raise my fist and trap the guard in my powers, he struggles and the knife falls. "Why the hell did you kiss me?"
The guard raises his eyebrow. "I was merely communicating." He says in an English dialect.
"Communicate my ASS!" Beast boy yells as he nurses his injured stab wound on his shoulder. "I'm going to kick the shit out of you!" He hollers.
"Gar, shh! We don't want any more guards to know we're here." I hiss and turn back to the red haired native alien. "Why did you kiss me?"
"Kiss? Is that what you call it? It was merely lip to lip contact that transfers knowledge of your planet and your languages." He says formally.
"On our planet it means much more." I feel my face warm up and curse my girly mind.
The guard looks from me to Gar and smirks. "I see, I hope I didn't offend the green elf. I was not aware of your courtship."
Gar sputters and I roll my eyes. "We didn't come here to have a friendly chat, where the hell is Starfire?" I say angrily.
He gives me that same quizzical look and I begin to fear for the worst. "I do not know who this Starfire is, please explain." He asks politely.
Gar whirls out from the corner of my eye and punches the guard in the face. "Don't play stupid!" He grunts.
I yank him back and sigh. "Gar, stay calm." I give him a small smile.
The guard chortles. "Yes, do as milady says and do the staying of calm."
I use my powers to slap an invisible hand across his face; the guard spits blood and looks at me darkly. "There will be more of us here any moment, what do you seek and why?"
I grunt in frustration. "Where is Karras' wife?" I nearly yell and the wallpaper begins to peel as a result of my power influx.
"You must mean Princess Koriand'r? I presume she is dead now, there has been some talk of her being unable to conceive." He smirks devilishly at me.
My stomach clenches and my heart lurches in disgust. "Where is she?" I yell and the walls begin to shake.
"Unbeknownst to you, Koriand'r married Karras to produce offspring; she has not shown any recent signs of pregnancy so he must move on to find another mate." He looks around nonchalantly. "I assume she is in the dungeon chambers, just a carcass now."
I grit my teeth and I feel my vision blur, anger boils within me and I can't stop my powers from lashing out at him. A hand suddenly lands on my shoulders and Gar looks at me with appreciation and that gives me the strength to calm down. As quick as lightning he punches the guy out cold, I unclench my powers as the guard slumps on the floor. "Thanks." I whisper to him before plunging our bodies into the darkness of my powers. We travel silently in the void of the unknown and we end up in a long stone hallway.
Beast Boy exhales and looks around. "Is this the lowest part of the castle?"
I nod and reach out with my powers. "There's nothing of her here." The stone cold hallways are dripping some type of fluid onto the floor; our feet make squishy sounds as we scale the hallways.
Beads of sweat drip down my forehead and I sense Gar's anxiety. As we round the corner of the metallic and rocky hallway I start to notice the doors implanted on the walls. I peer inside of each one and Gar follows suit with the opposite side of the hallway. It narrows out and curves into another slew of doors stuck in the walls. The cells are dark and dreary, I can only see slumped unmoving shapes behind them, and the stench of the halls is nearly unbearable. It's like eggs and moldy dough. The anticipation hanging between me and Gar is intolerable. "Starfire!" I shout in a hushed tone. "Starfire! Make a noise, tell us where you are!" I whisper frantically.
I hear Gar gasp. "Rae, you need to see this." He says in a deep and loud tone.
I rush over to where he's looking into the door and I peer in. Everything inside of me suddenly drops, my organs feel like they've been engulfed by each other and my heart erratically beats. Starfire is tied up by her wrists, they're slit and bloody. Her feet are dangling off the floor, dripping blood and ichor. Her face is gagged and her hair matted, the markings on her body suggest that she was beaten to a pulp three times over. Bruises cover her naked body; missing chunks of skin throw my temper over the edge.
I use my powers to rip the metal door off of its bolted hinges. Beast Boy rushes in after me and he uses his claws to slash the metal chains. I catch her as she falls.
"Is she breathing?" Beast Boy asks loudly.
I look down at Starfire's face and panic courses through me. I'm suddenly paralyzed by the thought. The only other Titan that looked at me as more than a creepy teammate but as a friend, a sister, might be dead. I suddenly can't move and tears slip down my cheeks, it's been a while since I had a good cry. Seeing her like this kills me especially when barely two weeks before she was normal and healthy, it's not right, it's not fair.
Beast Boy shakes me. "Raven! Raven, answer me!" He shoves his fingers to Starfire's neck and presses down harshly. His face pales and his chin quivers. "RAVEN! I DON'T KNOW IF THIS IS HER PULSE OR NOT!" He roars. He grabs my face and I stare into his green eyes. "DO NOT FREEZE UP, You are a TITAN, this is your JOB, lose your mind LATER!" He screams.
I sense some guards coming down the hallway and I snap out of my moment of shock. "Go guard the door; I'll check if she's…" I am unable to finish that thought but Beast boy nods anyways and morphs into a giant gorilla. He runs into the hallway and the fighting ensues.
I look back down at Starfire's lifeless body and wince. She's nearly unrecognizable. I press my fingers to her neck and pray for a pulse. I wait moments that seem like an eternity and it flickers dully beneath my fingers, she's on the verge of dying. More tears flood my vision and I quickly wipe them away. I summon up some of my courage and wrap my cloak around her naked beaten body. I take off the gag on her mouth and I notice that her face is literally one big bruise. I can only imagine Richard's reaction once he sees her. I lift her up and run into the hallway. Gar throws one guard against the wall and returns to his normal form.
"We need to get her to the Ship so I can heal her; she's going to die within the next couple hours if we keep waiting." I say with urge.
Beast Boy nods. "I can hear more guards coming, do you have enough strength to teleport us back to the Ship?"
I lie purposely and nod. I lift my head and my black power swirls around us. We soar upwards and before I know it we're standing outside the Ship. Unconscious guards are scattered all over the place, their lightning staffs gleaming in the sun. I notice Starfire's skin starts to glow, and her once pale complexion begins to return to normal. "This is a good sign, but where's Jinx and Flash?" I ask as I look around.
We hurry into the Ship and realization hits me. "We're alone." I whisper eerily and lay Starfire gently down on a reclined seat towards the back of the Ship.
Beast Boy shuffles his feet nervously and looks out one of the circular windows while biting his lip. "I need to go find the others." He says without looking at me.
My heart pounds irregularly and the seams on the carpet begin to peel. My powers are weakened so my emotion influxes won't draw attention. "No." I say forcefully.
He looks at me with his piercing green eyes and I swallow the lump in my throat. "This is not up for discussion, we need to get some real medical supplies for Starfire, and you barely have enough energy to heal her." He scolds lightly.
"I can't let you go alone!" I say loudly enough to make his eye twitch.
He suddenly pulls me into his arms and he squeezes me with such a velocity I feel as if I might pop. I hug him back tightly and rest my head on his chest. He breathes into my hair and sends shivers down my spine. "Flash and Jinx were obviously captured we can't risk waiting for the others to find them. Conserve your powers and when you feel some of it come back heal Star, we all have a job to do." He let's go of me and holds my face in his calloused hands.
I nod at him softly. "Please be careful." I whisper. Acutely he leans down and kisses my forehead, I close my eyes and savor this moment, I pretend that this mission isn't life and death and we're back in the tower about to snuggle into bed together. I feel him retract and he jogs out of the Ship before I open my eyes. When I do I watch the door close and I hear the bark of a bloodhound before he runs forcefully back to the castle. I look at Starfire's nearly lifeless body and take a deep breath. Healing her will be very difficult, but if I can find enough strength within myself I can do this. I don't want the others to see her like this so I'll have to put up a blue tarp or blanket. I can do this, I have strength.
Strength is all I need.
Nightwing POV
We take out another hoard of large guards, Cyborg grunts happily as he collects more of their gun spears and we continue our way towards the heart of the palace. Cyborg scanned the place pretty well and he discovered that the Ruler's throne is located in the middle of the castle, which is one hallway walk away from us. The only problem now is a new quadrant of guards blocking our way. I look over at Babs and Robin; they look at me and nod. "I need to get in there, give me clearance for a couple moments and this will be over before we know it."
Cyborg grunts again and powers up his cannons along with the gun spears, he shoots into the crowd of guards and they fall one by one, Babs and Robin proceed in throwing batarangs and miniature versions of my bat bombs into the crowd to disperse a pathway for me. I run through and front flip over a couple guards trying to subdue me, I avoid them expertly and sprint through as fast as I can.
As I approach the door I whip out a grenade and throw it at the almost wooden frame, it explodes and shakes the foundation I'm standing on, the doors swing open and peel off of their hinges, the thumping sounds they make echo in the hallway and I can feel the guards breathing down my neck. The smoke clears and I see a burly man sitting in a throne sized chair, his chest is out and scratch marks are raked across his gleaming skin. He smirks devilishly at me and I realize who this is. "KARRAS!" I yell and charge towards him with my Eskrima Sticks out.
He stands and stretches like he's woken up from a nap. "Who are you and what do you want?" He regards me in a familiar dialect, surprisingly English.
"I want Starfire; we're here to take her back to Earth." I say strongly as I pause a few feet before him, he's very tall and his dark red hair is combed back to address the crown on his head. It gleams sharply and mimics the sharp way his eyes are colored.
Karras crosses his arms and narrows his eyes at me. "There is no Starfire, but only Koriand'r. She cannot return to Earth with you." He says in an allocated manner.
"Why the hell not?" I ask with anger in my voice.
"You wouldn't want to take a corpse to Earth would you now?" He asks in a besmirching method.
The air in my lungs suddenly escapes me and my body feels like it is on fire. My vision blurs considerably and the room spins. "Corpse?" I whisper weakly.
"Yes, a corpse. Now please tell your forces to leave my planet immediately, we have lost quite the amount of guards because of them." He turns around and walks back to his throne. "Be gone petulance." He waves his hand dismissively.
Something in me snaps and I whip out my bat bombs, about ten of them. I aim them at his head and my brain starts to move in slow motion. The bombs bounce off of his head and the room literally explodes. I'm thrown backwards, and I realize that I've made a mistake, I used too many bombs. Rubble from the ceiling begins to crumble and fall, a piece hurtles towards me and I prepare myself to try to take the brunt of it. A blue blast coming from behind me shines and the piece of rubble explodes into bits and pieces that bounce off my face and cut my cheeks.
Metallic hands haul me to my feet and I use my Eskrima Sticks to bat away large baseball sized chunks of stone. "We need to get out of here! This part of the castle is unstable, how many bombs did you use?" He asks as we scram out of the room together.
"Where are the others?" I ask as I carefully dodge his question.
"They're heading to the Ship; there are still some guards hot on our tail so we need to leave NOW!" He yells as a piece of ceiling collapses onto his metallic body.
I yank him up from his stumped position and we continue to run out of the building at blinding speeds. Cracks ripple across the ceiling and I mentally curse myself for causing this. As we barge out of the castle guards shoot their plasma guns at us and Cyborg counter attacks with his canons. Part of the gun shot sizzles across the chest of my Nightwing costume and burns right through the bullet proof protection. I gasp as it burns harshly on my human flesh; I feel the warmth of the blood before I see it.
I spot the jet and drag Cyborg and I towards it. To my relief Raven rushes us in with an alarmed look on her face. If Raven is back then that must mean that she recovered Starfire. I look around the Ship and I notice that a large curtain is separating half of the Ship, she must be in there. As I make my way towards it Raven grabs my shoulder and shakes her head solemnly.
Cyborg looks out one of the windows. "Where is everyone else?" He barks with alarm.
"Robin and Batgirl are behind the curtain. Beast Boy went to go find Jinx and Flash, they were captured." She bites her lip nervously and her eyes widen. "They're surrounded by guards in front of the castle right now, I can sense them."
I look at the blue curtain and back to her. "I can go retrieve them but the guards are about to swarm the Ship. Cyborg get it started."
"No!" Raven says as she opens a black portal. "I'll go bring them back via portal; they're hurt and won't be able to run the rest of the way here." She steps into the portal and it remains open.
"Yo Nighty help me turn on the turbos!" Cyborg yells as he rushes into the cockpit.
I glance one more time at the blue curtain and I feel the worst fear I've ever felt in my life. I follow Cyborg and I swallow every ounce of emotion I'm feeling. I'm emotionally propagated and it makes me regret every negative thing I've ever done to Starfire.
Raven POV
I step out of the open portal and look at the scene unraveling in front of me. Flash is lying on the ground in a bloody heap while Jinx and Beast Boy fight off the guards trying to surround him. I form a black shield with my now shaky weakening powers and block off the guards from the Titans. They look at me with wide eyes and bloody faces and I nod towards the portal. A very weak and horribly injured Jinx lifts Flash gingerly and sprints through the portal. I look at Beast Boy and he stumbles towards me, my vision blurs and my shield weakens as the Tamaranians attempt to rush their way in. One does forge his way in and a sharp stab emits from my chakra. Beast Boy turns into a bear and bats the man away like he's a fly.
He falls to his knees and I attempt to drag him through the portal with me, more guards begin to rush through my shield and they aim their weapons at me. One guard runs at me with his sharpened spear heading straight from my chest, in a flash Beast Boy stand up and takes the brunt of the hit, full force. Blood sprouts from the wound and he arches his back, his throat emits a gurgling sound and his eyes blankly stare at me.
I don't hear myself scream, I don't hear myself cry his name, and I don't notice the hands that pull Beast Boy and I through the portal. I don't even notice the Ship rumbling to life, all I keep seeing is the spear plunging its way through Beast Boy's chest.
My body goes numb and the darkness envelopes my conscience.
A/N: Whew, that took some brain power to configure. Did you like it? Do you want to read more? I hope you all are saying yes! Thanks for reading, and PLEASE REVIEW!
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Next Chapter: A funeral for someone who will be deeply missed. Richards's reaction to Starfire's condition, changes are made, and an enemy lurks in the corners of Gotham waiting to strike; can the Titans heal in time to save a City and each other? Will they be able to? See you there! XOXO
