Chapter 12: Erratic Flight
Robin revved the throttle of his R-Cycle wide open. They were racing for the far side of the woods that stood outside of Jump City, trying to cut the creature off before tracking it would be that much harder.
S.T.A.R. Labs had called within minutes of its escape, saying only that after weeks of the creature being near death, it had suddenly roared back to life and burst from its cage and the building. They had been able to insert a tracking device under its skin during its long illness, and Cyborg was tracking it and sending the coordinates to his teammates.
Robin followed the directions absently; the rest of his mind was torn between trying to figure out what had caused the creature to become a threat again and worrying about Starfire.
The argument they'd had just before the alarm rang had left him disconcerted. Had their communication really broken down so far? He thought he'd been very clear about his desires, or lack thereof. How could she go from him reasserting himself to her thinking he didn't love her in one breath? Robin knew that she was very emotional; it was one of the things he loved about her, but he'd never known her to let those emotions lead to irrationality.
He glanced overhead. She was flying very erratically. She'd dipped dangerously close to the ground more than once, but she seemed to have regained control for the moment.
Robin swallowed and shook his head. He'd have to deal with Starfire later. Right now, he had to worry about the creature, and keeping it from the town.
--
"Aw, dammit," Cyborg's voice crackled over the communicator. "It's made the woods. And I thought this was gonna be easy."
Robin pulled to a halt in front of the tree line. This was a part of the forest he was not familiar with. "It doesn't matter," he replied back. "We know our mission; let's not let a few trees keep us from it. Cyborg, you and Beast Boy stay overhead and keep tracking it. Raven, Starfire and I will go into the woods and follow your lead."
Raven landed just inside the tree line and waited for Robin to lead the way. Starfire landed near her, but instead of waiting, she jogged off into the forest.
"Starfire, wait!" Robin called after her.
"The last reading Cyborg sent indicated that the creature was headed in this direction. Is it not prudent to head that way?" Starfire called over her shoulder.
Robin glanced at Raven, who shrugged. "She's got a point." Raven floated after the Tameranian.
Robin shook his head, and headed after them.
--
Robin and Raven quickly lost Starfire in the trees. "Starfire, wait for us!" Robin called.
She didn't reply.
"The creature's in a clearing straight east of your position," Cyborg announced over the communicator. "We'll meet you there."
"Starfire, do you copy that?" Robin called over the comm..
They were answered this time by the sound of exploding starbolts and flashes of green light through the trees.
Rushing to the clearing, they found Starfire flying around the creature's head, throwing starbolt after starbolt at it. She didn't seem to be making any difference though. Every pass she made only seemed to make the creature angrier.
Cyborg and Beast Boy arrived at the clearing, and Beast Boy quickly changed from a pterodactyl to a large grizzly bear. He attempted several times to make a running lunge at the creature, but Starfire kept getting in the way.
Robin gripped his net capsule in his hand, waiting for an opening. What was Starfire doing?
Starfire kept circling the creature throwing starbolts, getting closer and closer to it. It clawed the air, narrowly missing her. Cyborg, meanwhile, had a bead on it with his sonic cannon. He couldn't fire due to Starfire's barrage.
"Starfire, back off!" Cyborg called. "I've got a clear shot!"
Starfire ignored him as her barrage becoming more frenzied.
"Starfire, retreat!" Robin yelled.
But Starfire didn't seem to hear him. Her eyes glowed green as she crossed in front of the beast, shooting several eyebolts at it, trying, and narrowly missing, to hit the creature's eyes.
The creature continued to swipe at her, and as she was swooping around its side, time seemed to stop for Robin.
In what seemed like slow motion, one of the creature's swipes connected with Starfire, its claws ripping through her side and appearing clearly from her back. Blood appeared around the wounds as her back arched and her head fell back. Her limbs went limp as she slid from the creature's talons and fell to the ground.
"STARFIRE!" the four remaining Titans called together.
They all launched to action at once. Beast Boy transformed into a hummingbird and buzzed around the creature's snout in an effort to distract it. Robin took off at a dead run to reach Starfire, but before he'd gotten more than a few steps, Raven appeared at Starfire's side, threw her cloak around the fallen Titan, and disappeared again. Robin skidded to halt and frantically looked around to see where Raven would reappear. He heard Cyborg's sonic cannon fire off several blasts and turned to see the creature flying off.
Robin was torn. Every fiber of his being wanted to go to Starfire, to see how she was, to save her. But he knew he had to stop the creature. Every muscle was tensed, ready for action, but the division of his desires kept him rooted to his spot.
"Go to her, man," Cyborg's voice sounded from behind him. "BB and I will take care of this."
Robin snapped his head in his teammate's direction, nodded his thanks, and started to run. He realized after the initial rush of adrenaline burned off that he didn't know which way he was going and pulled out his communicator. "Raven, where are you?"
"Just outside the tree line, near your R-Cycle," came the reply.
Robin changed his direction slightly and ran as fast as he could. After what seemed like an eternity, but was in fact only a few minutes, he emerged from the forest and stopped dead in his tracks as his heart and stomach both found their way into his throat at the sight that met his eyes.
Red. That's all he saw at first. A sickening crimson blot seemed to take the place of where Starfire should be. The blot slowly resolved into the sight of Raven kneeling on the ground, Starfire propped up against the witch's knees. Starfire was covered in blood from her chin to the tops of her thigh-high boots. The redness stained Raven's cloak and the white of her legs. Starfire looked for all the world as if she were dead.
Raven's eyes changed from the black that they turned when she was using her powers to their normal violet as Robin approached. "I've healed her wounds the best I can," she said, "but she's lost a lot of blood."
"Can you get her back to the tower?" Robin managed to rasp out.
"I'll have to make a couple of hops, but I think so."
"Do it. I'll meet you there."
Ooo… another cliffie! Yeah, I know this one is short. Life, as usual, has been hard. I've had a lot of this written for a while, but I needed to do the beginning. I wanted to get something up, since it's been so long since the last update. Make with the reviews; maybe I can get the next installment up soon!