Titans: Elemental

Chapter 50: Transformation, Part 2

We see a particular group of planets and zoom in slowly on the centermost one.

Starfire is advancing cautiously along a path that winds through a thick forest. As a low, hissing respiration is heard, she stops for a moment and looks around. Many trumpet-like projections sprout from the bushes and undergrowth.

Starfire, "hello? Someone is there?"

She sets off down the path, not noticing the many thick vines that snake out after her.

Starfire, "your planet is most inhospitable. I would perhaps be welcomed here?"

The vines rear up and prepare to seize her; she turns to look over her shoulder, but they drop to the ground an instant before she gets her eyes to them. All she sees when she turns is a mass of unmoving tendrils on the forest floor. After a moment's uncertainty, she starts off again, but a loud growling stops her in her tracks. This time, when the vines rear up, she sees the thing they are attached to, a huge flower on a very long stalk, with a mouth at the center of the blossom.

Turning back to face it, Starfire gasps in shock; the alien equivalent of a Venus flytrap slavers a bit and opens its mouth very wide, revealing too many deadly pointed teeth for anyone's good. It strikes like a cobra, sparking her to leap backward and then float up with a panicked cry. She flies off and soon has to dodge a few vine strikes; even a quick 360-degree spin around a tree trunk does her no good, as the tendril wraps around and crushes the wood as it reaches along. One quick gasp is all she has time for before the tree topples toward her; she skids backward and just barely avoids being crushed by it.

Starfire pokes her head up out of the leaves and gasps as the killer plant's shadow falls over her. It snaps a few times, forcing her to take flight again, then lashes all its vines into the air. One snags her ankle; she cries out in fear and is soon securely caught up in the entire mass of crazed vegetable matter.

Starfire, "let go now, please!"

That enormous maw opens as wide as it will go, while the vines carry the struggling Titan toward her fate as a light snack.

Starfire, "no!"

The plant quickly chomps Starfire into his mouth, and its placid chewing instantly tells what has befallen her. After a moments, however, it rears back and spits her out; she bounces along the forest path, leaving splatters of saliva on the ground. Her eyes pop wide open at the realization that she has not become an appetizer, and the plant coughs disgustedly and slithers away. She looks warily back toward it, then turns her eyes disappointedly toward the ground. Even this particular monster wants nothing to do with her.

Dissolve to a long shot of Starfire, sitting by a small pond whose waters glow from the reflected starlight. There is a rustle of leaves, and presently a humanoid shape moves partially into view to observe from behind a bush. Most of the body is white, with black markings around the face and neck and magenta ones on the head and back. The curiously blinking, blank white eyes, magenta-rimmed in the black that crosses the face and without visible irises or pupils.

We see the truly despondent Starfire, looking at her reflection on the water. The large bump on her forehead starts to squirm a bit; soon it reshapes itself into a large, upward-curving horn.

Starfire, "oh….", she puts hands to her face, "... what is happening to me?"

"Something wonderful."

Starfire looks up with a surprised gasp. At the opposite shore of the pond, the hem of a flowing white gown can be seen at the water's edge. The wearer's reflection can be seen, a tall woman whose skin and hair are the same color as this clothing, and who has two thin antennae standing up from her forehead. Her entire body glows slightly, and as she floats across the pond, her eyes can be seen to be pure magenta, with a dark streak visible at the center of each.

Starfire huddles and turns her face away.

Starfire, "please. I am too repellent to be seen by one so glorious."

The woman moves closer; her voice is the one that spoke a moment ago.

Woman, "fear not, young Tamaranean. There is nothing wrong with you."

Starfire turns to her, "nothing wrong?"

Woman, "come. All will be made clear shortly."

The two proceed away, approaching a distant area criss-crossed by many glowing filaments that stretch overhead.

Narrator, "and with hope in her heart, the strange little alien followed the mysterious woman to the strangest place she had ever seen…."

….

We see the planet's Starfire visited earlier.

The T-Sub traces a dotted-line course to the second one she visited.

We see the eight Titans amid a group of the stripe-nailed inhabitants. Vic, Jack and Dick each pull on one of BB's ears to make them look something like Starfire's, Vic clapping a hand over his mouth to hold in his gorge; whatever he sees in that ear is enough to make him sick, and one creature gestures with its tongue to tip them off. Raven just hangs in the background as Blackfire chews her nails in worry, with Rose and Began running her back in comfort.

The planets again.

Now the T-Sub heads off and reappears at the top to visit Starfire's first stop.

On the surface, Dick has stood BB on his head and pulled off one shoe to call the neck-tusked creatures to the hairy feet. As Vic, Bryan and Rose laugh themselves stupid, Blackfire rubs her arms in worry, and Jack and Raven watch the five smelly toes disgustedly, one of the beings points somewhere; a new clue.

The planets again.

Next the vessel crosses to the tiny one that was Starfire's fourth stop. The Titans are on the surface, with a crowd of the miniature denizens gathered. One is perched on Vic's shoulder, another on Raven's head, one on each of Jack's shoulders, still others standing in stacks. This time, Vic and Rose have cheerfully grabbed BB's head and hauled upward to stretch out his neck, and Dick and Blackfire point their index fingers out from each side of it to stand for the tusks that popped out there. The one on Raven's head points away with one of its feet; another lead.

Throughout all of this, BB has looked very put out at having to be used for the demonstrations.

The planets again.

The next leg of the T-Sub's journey takes it to the site of Starfire's third visit, and as soon as it gets close enough, the globe opens up a huge mouth and swallows the ship whole. A moment later, the planet spits it out, away from the cluster.

….

We see the area Starfire was being led to when we last saw her. It is a large cavern whose back wall is marked by the glowing filaments seen earlier, and large crystal formations jut from the ground. The two advance across the floor.

Woman, "you are changing. Do you know why?"

Starfire, "it is because I have a zit?"

The two reach a large, hollow, hemispherical shell that has been propped up on the ground to serve as a chair.

Woman, with a muffled chuckle, "not quite, my dear", Starfire sits, "you are experiencing the Transformation, a perfectly normal part of the Tamaranean life cycle."

Starfire, "but I do not understand. When my sister had a Transformation, she merely turned purple for two days. Why have I-?"

Woman, "transformation is different for each Tamaranean. And you, sweet child, are one of the special few who will transform into a chrysalis."

Starfire recoils a bit at this last word, then looks down at her arm and gasps sharply. The scaly skin is rapidly developing layers of ropy tissue that begin to spread over the rest of her body. She tumbles from her seat and writhes on the ground as the white female stands over her.

Woman, "relax, dear", a shell starts to cover Starfire's body, "it will all be over soon."

In no time flat, this material has enveloped everything but her head.

Starfire, "how do you know these things?"

Woman, "I know, my dear, because I….", as her own face goes ropy, "... am a Cironielian chrysalis eater."

She trails off into a raspy chuckle. Starfire's bugged-out eyes tell all about the undiluted horror raging in her mind.

Then we see the silhouette of the growling woman. The hands curl as two pairs of long jointed legs sprout from the body. Large crab claws grow from the arms, the body takes on an insect contour, and the thing starts to turn toward us; its shape now matches the dark figure that jumped among the asteroids earlier.

One of those legs, white with magenta stripes, slams down near Starfire, and as the thing howls over her, we see all of it. Humanoid head and torso, white with black and magenta markings, and the same pair of eyes that watched Starfire by the pond. The outer-space creature, the spy, the woman, and the chrysalis eater are one and the same. Starfire lets out a long, terrified scream, and the predator roars down at her, and both noises ring out.

….

A dark tunnel is shown whose far end disappears into the distance. The T-Sub flies forward, dodging several spikes that pop out from all directions, and races along for a while before putting on a burst of speed. The vessel approaches an opening, where rows of spikes are coming together from above and below to block the path; Dick merely grits his teeth and steers straight through the barriers. We then see an outer-space view of part of a large asteroid whose surface has a large crater in which the spikes are fully seen: a set of teeth. The T-Sub, which was in the gullet of this gigantic subterranean creature that was trying to chew it up, peels out.

BB, "okay, so, we know she's not there. Phew."

Jack, "let's be more careful of asteroids from now on."

Dick, "wherever Starfire is…. I just hope she's all right."

Blackfire, "so do I."

….

Back with Starfire, who is still putting forth her best effort to break through the tough shell that has formed over her. A final piece extends partially up toward her head; she screams at its advance, and we pull back slightly to show the chrysalis eater leaning down next to her and smacking its lips. Now its voice has the scratchy, raspy tone heard when its metamorphosis began.

Chrysalis eater, "wonderful. Soon, your cocoon will be complete, and you, my dear, will be at the peak of flavor", it circles to her other side, "in the meantime, please scream all you wish. It whets my appetite."

Starfire, "I have no reason to scream. I can no longer have a home or friends or family. I am far too ugly for such things."

Chrysalis eater, "ohhh…. I don't think you're ugly at all, my dear."

The intended lunch screams as that last plate of the shell slides up to cover her head and seal her in completely.

Chrysalis eater, "in fact, you look good enough to eat!"

It laughs gratingly.

Dick, "Starfire!"

Across the cavern, he and the other Titans are charging in.

Blackfire, "get away from her, you witch!"

Dick takes a huge leap and hurls a wingding, but this is easily swatted down.

The two square off and move to one side a bit as BB, Jack, Blackfire, Rose, Bryan, Vic, and Raven rush up to them and the chrysalis eater.

Dodging swing after swing of those deadly sharp claws, Dick jumps again and winds up on the other side of the monster, which wheels to face him.

Dick, "I'll hold her off", it charges, "get Starfire out of here!"

He dives away from a downward claw stab.

Vic, "Starfire? Where's-?"

The others look toward the cocoon.

Starfire, from inside the cocoon, "um…. In here."

Ground level, she is looking up at a very confused Vic through the cocoon. BB leans into view with an equally puzzled gasp, followed by Raven and the others.

Raven, "whoa."

Blackfire, "my sister turned into a chrysalis."

Jack, "it's not the most surprising thing we've seen."

Dick backs up before the chrysalis eater's lunges and stays out of reach for a while, but it gets in a lucky grab and slings him away. Turning its attention to the others, who are now trying to figure out the best way to hoss that freight, it snarls and goes straight for them with a colossal leap. They hold their ground for as long as they can, but are forced to get out of the way at the last second; the beast makes a perfect four-point landing, using its legs and claws to ward off the Titans.

Chrysalis eater, "your friend belongs to me now. You can have her back once I finish digesting her."

Blackfire, "YOU'RE NOT EATING MY SISTER!"

As Raven floats up and Dick and Rose dash over, one of the massive claws plows the jumping Vic and Bryan aside. Raven aims a few black shots at the body, Dick tries a jumping strike, and Rose strikes at the monster with her staff, BB leaps and comes down at it in lion form, but none of the attacks has any effect. Next, Raven throws a blast at the back, making the chrysalis eater mad and causing it to swing a claw at her; she shields herself, but the impact drives her backward.

Jack starts firing icicles at the chrysalis eater, but they merely bounce off of her

The green jungle cat rears up for another jump, but it is seized and brought toward the gaping jaws. As BB is lowered toward them, though, he becomes a giant turtle and the teeth grind harmlessly against the shell. She hits him with her claw and into a wall as Blackfire starts rapidly shooting starbolts at the monster!

Vic's cannon beam scores a direct hit on the thorax and pushes the creature across the cavern; BB falls free and tumbles to the ground upside down. Here comes the bionic Titan, ready to unload another high-powered blast; before he can get it out, though, the chrysalis eater gets one claw locked around the muzzle and throws him for distance. He skids past Raven, who flies up toward the ceiling.

Raven, "I think it's time we wrapped this up."

Blackfire, "I couldn't agree more!"

Raven exerts her powers over the web of filaments that run throughout the place, wads the lot up into a ball, and heaves it down at the chrysalis eater. In a twinkling, it is thickly covered from one end to the other and the Titans, BB in human form, run in to finish the job. The bindings are quickly broken, though, and all are thrown back as the creature roars in fury. As soon as Dick gets himself upright, he scales a handful of discs that explode against the head and thorax to push the enemy back. Not giving it a chance to counterattack, Raven levitates many small crystals from the floor and projects them in a barrage that hits the ground with the force of small, caliber artillery shells. Jack does the same with his icicles. The chrysalis eater is left ducking and covering as the Titans regroup at the other end of the cavern.

Hissing and spitting, the chrysalis eater takes a few steps back and starts to climb the natural stone columns that run from floor to ceiling in the cavern. It reaches the top very quickly and pushes off to sail over the Titans' heads; they turn in time to see it land at the opposite side. A shocked gasp from the others, and the leader and Blackfire are off and running. The hungry being moves toward Starfire and leans down to sink its teeth into the head end of her cocoon; only Dick's feet, first slide under the body, knocks her away, interrupting the meal and stealing second base in the bargain. Those massive jaws end up crunching into the cavern's stone floor instead. Blackfire is able to send a starbolt at her that's strong enough to knock them aqay.

The chrysalis eater looks up and finds the Dick and Blackfire at a distance, working over Starfire; it starts toward him, but a chunk of rock levitated by Raven smashes against its back. Another from Jack smashes in her face as she turns around.

She sees them flying in, more projectiles ready to go, and Vic, Bryan, Rose and BB keeping pace with her on the ground. The shape-shifter has now become an ankylosaurus. Rose has her sword out, Bryan has his laser gun out and Vic has his arm ready to blast her. Raven launches her second rock, which the beast bats away easily before charging at the three.

Dick, "Starfire! Are you okay?"

Blackfire, "can you hear us?"

Dick, "Starfire, can you hear me? Hang on", they both pull at the head section, "we're going to get you out!"

They have opened a seam and made good progress in widening it; nothing but blackness can be seen inside.

Starfire, "no", the seam closes; her voice becomes muffled, "please go! You will not wish to see me this way."

Blackfire and Dick work it open again.

Dick, "I'm your friend, Starfire. I don't care how you look."

Blackfire, "and I'm your sister. You could look like Beast Boy with hemorrhoids and I'd still love you."

BB yells, "HEY", as he helps fight off the chrysalis eater.

Dick and Blackfire have it forced very wide by now, and they give big smiles.

Dick grabs a nearby crystal and he holds it straight out.

Dick, "besides, you look fine to me."

A reflection of Starfire's stunned face appears on the surface: no horn on the forehead, no tusks on the neck, everything just as it should be. She gasps sharply. She takes the crystal from Dick and floats happily to the ceiling, showing every part of her body to be back in proper order, even the boots that split open when her feet grew ten sizes in ten seconds. Next, she inspects herself on the polished surface.

Starfire, "I am…. Normal!"

Beams shoot from her eyes, bounce off the crystal, and blow out a patch of ceiling above her. She gets out a tiny little squeak.

Starfire, "mostly."

Dick smiles benignly up at her.

Blackfire hugs her sister and says, "I was so worried about you. It's good to have you back."

But the moment gets cut off when BB and Bryan are flung into view behind them to crash into a stone column. Raven, Jack, Rose and Vic, caught in the huge crab claws, struggle vainly to get free and soon get a little face time with their very angry owner.

Chrysalis eater, "since you have stolen my meal, I shall devour you instead!"

It lifts all four Titans and gets set to chow down, but stops when Starfire and Blackfire fly over. Their eyes are glowing as brightly as their hands do when they are about to fire off a starbolt.

Starfire, "devour THIS!"

They let the thing have both barrels from those green and purple irises and drive it back across the cavern. Vic and the others drop to the ground and look up just as Starfire flies over with both hands blazing, Blackfire following close behind.

The chrysalis eater backs up helplessly, taking hit after hit, and the coup de grace comes when Starfire drills in two more eye-beam blasts that send it crashing up through the ceiling. The thing is projected through the dirt, and it tumbles down the slope toward the surface of the pond where it first saw Starfire. It comes to and looks up with a guttural gasp; their vision blurred but clearing, it is the overgrown plant that tried to eat the Tamaranean earlier. Up comes the head, the jaws open, and the thing lashes straight down. The loud crunch that accompanies this strike tells the rest of the story.

….

We see the Titans, looking up through the new hole in the cavern's ceiling.

BB, "dude! Since when can your eyes do that?"

Blackfire said, "yeah, and can you teach me that?"

Starfire, "since just now. Please do not reject me. I am almost normal."

Dick, "you're exactly as you should be. No matter how you change on the outside, you'll always be Starfire on the inside."

Blackfire, "and that's exactly what we love about you."

She looks to the other Titans for reassurance, gets nods and smiles from all of them, and responds with a blushing smile of her own, message received and understood.

We see the T-Sub launching from the planet's surface.

Narrator, "so the happy young girl returned home with her friends. And they all lived happily ever after…. That is…. Until Beast Boy got the chicken pox."

….

The book being read slowly closed as a little girl's voice said, "daddy, can you please read me another story?"

The narrator said, "tomorrow Cassia. Tomorrow…."

….

Reviews:

Sethelephant: nope.

Bailey Radcliff: glad you enjoyed it so much!

raven 2012: glad you liked it.

Canadude2029: yeah. Don't worry. She'll get better.

….

As you can guess, Jack was reading this story to Cassia.

I wanted to add some context as to who the heck was reading about all of this.