Robin and Starfire had by now found a place with enough vegetarian options to keep Beast Boy happy and enough meat options to keep Cyborg happy. Robin parked the R-Cycle in front and they each got off. Starfire tried to read the sign above them, but failed when its strange characters did not register in her brain. If only Robin could speak Chinese, she thought. The temptation of language acquisition through "lip contact" was still there, but she had decided since the adventure in Tokyo not to try it with anyone but Robin. Fortunately, there was a translation into English right underneath the sign, and lip contact was not necessary.
The two teens stared at the menu plastered on the window, assessing options. "I wonder if they use gorka berries in any of their dishes," Starfire mused.
"I doubt it," Robin replied.
Starfire looked around, then at Robin, then at herself, then back at Robin. "Robin," she said, "is fetching the lunch an enjoyable activity?"
He turned his gaze from the menu to his girlfriend, not entirely sure how to respond to that. "I suppose it can be. Why do you ask?"
She answered matter-of-factly, "Because we are the two of us alone doing the hanging out while participating in an enjoyable activity together, therefore making this a date. I am correct in my definition of the 'date', am I not?"
Robin looked back at the menu, pretending to be fully interested in the list of various ways to prepare chicken. In reality, he was trying desperately not to say anything he would regret. He still remembered that time when Star had lost her powers on an alien planet all because he had said that she wasn't his girlfriend, and it took almost a whole day of him putting his foot deeper in his mouth to mend both her powers and their relationship. "Well," he said, trying to think before saying each word, "that is basically the definition of a date, but this isn't it."
"Why?" she asked.
He fumbled for an excuse. "Because…we're not really stopping here to hang out. We're just picking up food and bringing it back to the team. If we were really staying here and having lunch together, then it would be a date. But we don't have time to do that."
"Oh," she said, her voice betraying a hint of disappointment.
It wasn't that Robin didn't want to date Starfire. He had wanted to since she had first crash landed into his life. There was just something that bothered him about the whole situation. Maybe it was from all the years of Bruce telling him to put his life as a hero first and his personal life second, without the two intermingling. Back in Tokyo, he had realized that being a hero wasn't everything, and he had every intention of being more human and less heroic. Then Slade came back. Focusing all his energies on that madman was the only way to defeat him. He couldn't even consider dropping his guard now. Slade could do unbelievably terrible things. As much as Robin hated to admit it, he and his arch nemesis were a lot alike, at least mentally. It was his responsibility to stop him. Now was not the time to start a relationship.
Starfire began to speak again after a short pause in the conversation. "I am not doing something wrong, am I, Robin?"
"What? No! Of course you're not," he said, looking up at her this time. He seemed a genuine mixture of shocked and concerned. "Why would you think that?"
She sighed. "Because I spoke with Kim and her friend Monique about what the normal teenagers do, and apparently it is very unusual to be together for this long and still to have never had the official first date. I thought that perhaps there is something I ought to be doing to be more of the normal girlfriend."
He shook his head. "Star, if I had wanted a normal girlfriend, I could have asked any average girl in town. I don't like normal. I like you. You are a super powerful space princess who saves people's lives every day. What do normal girls have on that?"
Starfire smiled and blushed a little, as she always did when hearing compliments from Robin. No one made her feel as happy and loved as he did, even with little statements like that one.
"It gladdens me to hear you say so, Robin," she said. She began scrutinizing the menu again.
It was now that Raven's words of advice echoed through Robin's head. He hated to ruin one of his few moments alone with Starfire, but she was right. If something was bothering Starfire and it never came out, this could turn into the "neither a girl nor your friend" situation all over again.
He tapped her on the shoulder and she looked at him. "Um, Starfire?"
"Yes?" she responded innocently.
He replied, "I have a question for you. I know you might not want to answer, but I need to know both as your team leader and because I care about you."
Starfire realized what he was talking about instantly. Chills ran up her spine, but she decided to let him ask the inevitable question. "Of course, Robin. What is it?"
"What happened at the football game last night?" he asked, saying it pretty directly in an attempt to get it over with.
Starfire looked at her reflection in the restaurant window instead of answering. She had never revealed to anyone more than they needed to know about her past. Mostly, it was because she didn't want to remember it herself. Thanks to Shego, she had no choice.
"I will tell you," she sighed eventually, looking into her boyfriend's masked eyes. "But please, may we find a place to be seated? It is not a short explanation."
Fortunately, the restaurant they had chosen had a few tables outside, so the teens quickly found a seat and Starfire began her tale.
"I have not always had my powers," she began. "The energy bolts through the eyes is a sign of maturity in Tamaranians, and having greater strength than the average human is as common as flight in my home world, but the star bolts from the hands is not normal even on Tamaran. Blackfire and I are the only ones who have them, or so I thought. You remember when I first came to this planet?"
"Of course," he replied. It had been his first mission without Batman. How could he forget?
"Well," she continued, "I never told you everything about the time I spent as a prisoner before I came. It was my sister who betrayed me. She thought that I would steal her throne, so she arranged for me to be sent away to Tamaran's enemies as a servant. But things backfired on everyone and we were both taken prisoner by another ship. Our captors…they tortured us. They injected us each with radioactive energy." The memories of pain poured back, but she kept talking this time. "They wished to see how much energy we could take in before we were…well…destroyed. I know not how, but the energy we absorbed became a part of us and gave us the power of the star bolts." She shuddered. "I should have informed you sooner, Robin, I know. When I was welcomed to this planet, I attempted to forget the pain. Indeed, I rarely thought of it at all until last night. It is not easy to have the memories of torture."
Robin was stunned. He had always figured that her powers were just part of being Tamaranian. Then again, when he had been on Tamaran, he had only seen Starfire and her sister using actual star bolts. The very idea of anybody torturing Starfire made him feel like punching somebody, but he kept his cool. "Wow," he said finally, "Star, I had no idea. But at the game…what happened with Shego?"
Starfire began again, "Even I have the confusion there. When the Shego and I grabbed each the other, I felt the same power go into me as when I was receiving my star bolts. The only other person in this universe with the identical powers to mine is Blackfire, but Shego's energy bolts felt like they came from the exact same source as mine and my sister's. It is impossible, and that is why I was so confused. With the confusion came the shock and the memories and…I was back on the ship." She slumped over and hung her head almost low enough to hit the table, embarrassed for her apparent weakness.
Robin put a comforting arm around her shoulders. He still hated the circus, after losing his parents there as a kid. He knew that if he watched the acrobats' show again, he'd probably crumble. "It's okay, Star. I understand. There's nothing wrong with feeling overwhelmed, especially with something that hurts so much. I'm just glad you told me." She straightened up, feeling encouraged. He put his arm down and gently clasped her hand, silently cheering when she didn't move it away. "Tell you what," he said. "We'll get lunch, then head straight back to the Tower and find out everything we can about Shego's powers and where they come from. Sound good?"
"Excellent!" she grinned, her usual happy glow returning to her face.
Their little moment was interrupted by a short-haired girl running up the sidewalk with one hand to her forehead. Her eyes were half closed, seeking out a couple of friendly masses of emotion. Raven stopped just short of Robin and Starfire's table and opened her eyes.
"Hello, friend Raven," Starfire said.
"What happened to your cloak?" Robin asked, noticing the burned edge.
Raven only had one word. "Shego."
Speaking of Shego, the heroes remaining in the alley found it harder to keep up with her than before. The change of costume was really paying off. Beast Boy slashed at her with his claws, but every tear fixed itself within seconds. Finally, Shego threw the green tiger off of her and into the wall of the antique shop. Beast Boy transformed back and rubbed his head.
"Dude," he said. "This is so not a one person job."
"Then move your green butt and grab Kim and Ron like Raven said," Cyborg ordered. Beast Boy dashed inside obediently. Shego now looked to the half-robot, half-quarterback for a challenge. "Looks like I'm up next," he said, readying his sonic cannon.
Shego jumped over his first blast and bounced off a wall to avoid his second. She landed squatting on his shoulders and reached her fiery hand out, prepared to shut him down again. He grabbed her arm and threw her off.
A girl's voice interrupted the fight. "Nice costume, Shego," Kim said, posed next to Ron and Beast Boy with her hands ready to do battle. "Jealous of the original?"
Shego replied, "Actually, I've improved on it. Want to test it out?"
With that, the rivals began to fight. This time, Shego had a definite upper hand. Not only were her energy bolts hotter and bigger, but she also seemed to move a little bit faster and hit a little bit harder than before. Cyborg wanted to shoot, but he didn't want to risk hitting Kim, as the two were dancing around each other so much.
Seeing Kim needed help, Ron called, "Hang on, KP!" and grabbed a tightly tied, fully stocked black trash bag. He swung it a few times, then hurled it at Shego's head. She ducked and it landed on Beast Boy, who had been trying to help from the other side.
"Aw, dude!" Beast Boy said, picking up on the scent of the heavy bag.
"Whoops!" Ron said, hurrying over to help out the green teen. "Heh…sorry about that."
Shego used her grappling device to swing up onto the roof of the antique shop and started to rain energy bolts on Kim. Kim avoided them with a series of backflips and cartwheels. "Still not seeing any improvements," she said as she climbed up to Shego's level.
"I'm not done yet," Shego replied, pushing a button on her suit. Instantly, the suit assumed stealth mode and she was completely invisible.
"You know, that's actually not that original," Ron commented. "I mean, Kim's suit back home does that too…hey!" Invisible Shego slashed through his belt with a hot, sharp fingernail. His pants fell down. "No fair! I was even wearing a belt this time!"
"Real mature, Shego," Kim said sarcastically.
While Ron pulled his pants back up, Beast Boy took a beating from a woman he couldn't see. "Hey! Ow! Stand still!" He tried to dodge her, but it was impossible. In a final attempt to escape, he shrank down into a mouse's body and ran for cover. An invisible foot stomped on him, knocking him out cold.
Kim jumped down to help Beast Boy while Cyborg fired a couple of sonic blasts Shego's direction. She turned around and lunged for him. He dodged her easily. "Can't get past me so easily, missy. My electronic eye copied your heat trail back at the chemical factory. I can see every move you make."
It was true. He shot at Shego repeatedly, and she only barely jumped out of the way. Kim opened her purse and took out a small container. "Cy!" she shouted, getting his attention. "Take this!" She tossed it to him.
He caught it in his large hand and looked at it skeptically. "This is lipstick."
"It's a laser!" she explained. "I have a suit just like hers. Shoot the laser through the button to the left of the center of the belt, and it'll disable the stealth mode!"
"Her left or mine?"
"Hers!"
Cyborg clicked open the lid of the lipstick container and sent a little red beam straight through the stealth mode button. Shego reappeared in full color and saw that Cyborg's cannon was aimed right at her face.
"Now I can see you with both eyes, little lady," he told her. "We can do this the easy way or the hard way."
"How about my way?" Shego replied with an evil smirk.
Cyborg shot at her. One of her gloved hands turned into a metal scoop that caught the blast and threw it at the overhang above Cyborg. The roof crumbled and landed in a pile on top of him. Shego jumped into the pile and pulled a green screwdriver out of one of her suit's pockets. While her enemy was still recovering from the roof falling on him, she managed to take off one of his legs and both of his hands before Ron grabbed her and pulled her off.
"Nobody takes apart my booyah buddy!" he exclaimed enthusiastically.
Kim landed a flying kick in Shego's stomach, then flipped over to face her. "You're still not that original," she added.
Now, Shego was mad. "How original is this?" She gripped Ron with her sharp fingernails and the green lines on her suit began to slow. Energy flowed out of them, through her nails, and into him. He reacted like he was getting shocked, then went unconscious.
"Ron!" Kim exclaimed.
Shego threw his limp body to the side. "Your turn, princess," she said, turning on the redhead. This was what she had been waiting for.
"What does Drakken want?" Kim demanded, taking a step back to avoid Shego's punch, then throwing a few of her own.
Shego paused to point to her neon green letter "S" on the suit. "Can't you read, Kimmie? Drakken's done. I've got a new boss now."
"Slade," Kim realized.
"Ooh, let's all clap for Kimmie's powers of observation," Shego mocked, dodging a kick and shooting an energy bolt. "Let me just tell you one thing, princess: Drakken, I think we all knew he was an idiot. Slade, well, he's the real deal. I think we might actually take over the world this time around…after finishing you off course."
Kim slid out of the way of the energy bolt, but since she wasn't wearing her normal mission shoes, she slid a little too far and landed in a corner, a very vulnerable position. The tip of her white shoe was singed, and it felt hotter than Shego's energy bolts usually did. Kim sprang back up and made two fists, ready to take on whatever Shego had in store next.
"So what is Slade planning?" Kim demanded.
Shego laughed. "You really think I'd fall for that? Bad guys always lose when they tell the good guys their plans. What do you think this is, my first day on the job?"
Ron lifted his head up, starting to regain consciousness. "Wha…what happened?" He looked around and saw Rufus trying to wake up the still paralyzed Beast Boy in mouse form, and Cyborg trying to push the rubble off of himself with only one limb, having little success. As the effects of Shego's suit started to wear off, Ron sat up and saw KP fighting Shego. His vision was still kind of blurry, but he could tell that this time Shego might actually be winning. Uh-oh, he thought. Kim needs help. Ron Stoppable, you know what you have to do.
The two female fighters exchanged blows, both skillfully blocking and dodging at the right moments. Shego moved forward until Kim was fenced in. Her hands burned bright with fury, and her face smiled with pure evil. Now was the time to finish her arch foe. She had waited for this for so long. There was nowhere for her nemesis to run. The energy bolts reached their hottest level, and the sharp nails that Slade had added stuck out, ready to cut something.
"Nice knowing you, princess," she said, pulling her arm back to strike. Kim really wished she was wearing her battle suit.
Just before she could strike, a vase was shoved over Shego's head, blocking her vision. Her green flames faded while her voice echoed inside, "Who the heck turned off the lights?"
"That would be me," Ron said from behind her. He twisted the vase around so its front design showed. "I guess that angry monkey was useful for something."
"I'm going to get you, you little…ugh…get it off!" Shego shouted, pulling at the tightly fit vase in frustration. The buffoon had interrupted her triumph. This was worse than Kim escaping. She had honestly expected Kim to get herself out at the last second, but her dopey sidekick? That was just embarrassing.
As she stumbled back and forth attempting to remove it, Cyborg's voice under the pile of roofing tiles chuckled, "Yo, that's what I'm talking about! Green Queen ain't too cool now, is she?"
"Green Queen?" Ron repeated.
"I give people nicknames. It's what I do," Cyborg explained. "Now could somebody with arms get me out of here so I can finish whooping her butt?"
"Not so fast, kids," Shego said, feeling really angry now. One hot, sharpened claw smashed the vase open and revealed her green face and long, black hair. "I've got a mission, and it's not over yet."
Kim grabbed Shego's arm and slammed her against the wall. She pointed her lipstick at a nearby dumpster and sliced through enough to make its contents flood over Shego, then took off running. She picked up Rufus and Beast Boy and called to Ron, "Get Cyborg's parts into the car before Shego comes back out!"
Ron obediently dug out Cyborg's limbs and struggled to carry them to the T-Car. Then, he returned for the rest of his friend. He piled the many pieces of Cyborg into the back seat, next to where Kim had placed Rufus and Beast Boy. Kim took the driver's seat and Ron sat shotgun.
Rufus was close to giving up on waking Beast Boy. As a last resort, he whispered in his squeaky voice, "Boogers."
Beast Boy instantly changed into his human form and laughed hysterically. "Ha ha! Good one! Ha…wait, why am I in the T-Car?"
Kim put Cyborg's key in the ignition. She could hear Shego escaping her garbage dungeon as the engine turned on. "Shego isn't here to fight this time," she announced. "She's here to destroy us. We're her only objective. I don't know why or what the bigger plan is, but we have to get away from her."
Cyborg realized what was happening. "Kim, I trust you as an Honorary Titan, but there ain't no way anybody but Cyborg drives the T-Car."
"Cyborg can't drive because he is missing a leg and two hands," Kim pointed out, taking it out of park. "Kim has a driver's license and all four limbs intact."
"And Ron can push the pretty buttons," Ron added, stretching out a finger to touch the nearest blue glowing dot.
"DNT, Ron," Kim said, gently tapping his hand away.
"Aw," he groaned, "not the DNT."
Kim could now see out of the rearview mirror that something green and glowing was coming out of the alley. She pulled out of the parking space and checked her Titans communicator. "The others are only a few streets over," she said. "Beast Boy and Rufus, try to fix Cyborg. Ron, you're lookout." She drove off toward the other Titans' location. Shego reached the sidewalk just as they were out of reach.
"Dang it!" she shouted, taking out her rage on a nearby stop sign by frying the red octagon to a crisp.
The little black circle in her ear buzzed. "Apprentice," Slade's voice demanded, "why are the Titans still on the move?"
"Hey, those kids are pretty tough," Shego said, unable to think up a good excuse. "I did manage to take apart the metal one."
"Is he still alive?"
"Probably. It's not like I checked his pulse or anything. What am I, a nurse?" She was frustrated by the evasion, as well as Slade's persistence. Frustration always brought out her sarcastic side.
"No, you are an apprentice, and you must retrieve the Teen Titans and finish them off. Do not disappoint me again. You will not like the consequences."
Shego checked the screen on her wrist for the teens' locations. "Yeesh, I'll take care of it, okay? Just let me do my thing, and I'll let you do…whatever you're doing with Drakken's robots. They're heading toward the bridge. I can stop them there."
"You will make sure that they do not leave the bridge," Slade insisted.
"Yes!" she exploded. "Are you done bugging me, or can I actually go fight teenagers now? I mean, by now you're practically micromanaging me!"
"Watch your tone, apprentice…"
Shego took on a tone of mock respect. "Oh, I am so sorry, Your Supreme Evil Highness. You are always right about everything and I am an idiot. Happy now?"
"Apprentice!"
"What? I'm having an off day! Just hang up so I can focus on following those kids."
The response was silence. Apparently, Slade had decided to hang up rather than deal with Shego's attitude for one more second. For now, at least.
"Finally," Shego sighed, checking her locator screen again.
A small Chinese woman took two steps out the antique shop. She shook her finger at the strange green lady. "You…I saw you! You broke my monkey vase! You had better be paying for that, miss…what is your name?"
Shego fired an energy bolt and broke the window next to the woman into splinters of glass tinged with green. "Go," she answered. "Shego."
"Eep!" the woman exclaimed, scrambling for the relative protection of her shop.
That problem now taken care of, Shego released her grappling device and swung up onto the top of the nearest tall building. She looked down the road and could see the T-Car speeding away. If she jumped from roof to roof, the odds of catching up were pretty good. She sprang onto the next rooftop and ran its length, then hopped across the gap to the next one. "I'm coming for you, Kimmie," she said, seeing a stop sign up ahead.
(A/N: Hey, everyone! Sorry it's been a while since I last posted. School is really keeping me busy. This chapter was originally going to end a lot later, but this seemed like a reasonable place to leave off since it's already so long. Also, I didn't check all the facts on Starfire's backstory, just the basic ones, and I adjusted them as necessary to keep it as consistent as possible with the TV show, since that is what I'm basing this story on. Hopefully I kept it general enough to fit the cartoon without staying too far from the comics. Anyway, you can expect a confrontation between Starfire and Shego very soon. How will that go, you may ask? Oh, it'll be good...)