Chapter 16: Innocence Lost
Writer's Note: A bit of explanation before we begin.
Janus is the name of this arc. Who is Janus? Janus was the Roman god of doors and beginnings (the month January is named after him). So what does that have to do with the story? Well, the thing is, Janus was said to have two faces, so he could see who was coming and going out of his temple at the same time.
However, the phrase "two-faced" also means someone who is deceitful, hiding something, or a traitor. Hence, some people use the term "Janus" to describe someone who is not what they appear. It is that definition of the word that applies, the one that stands for two faces that applies to this arc.
For when it comes to faces, which is the real one?
Which is the false one?
And which one is the dangerous one…?
Don't judge a book by its cover was a lesson everyone should learn, but even lessons learned tend to be forgotten unless you are reminded of them. Something like that had just happened to Savior.
With a name like "The Amazing Mumbo", the idea of taking the foe he was fighting seriously didn't exactly come to Savior. After seeing the blue-skinned, long-nosed magician, the feeling of a joke was only reinforced.
Pity for Savior, as he had found out the hard way that looks weren't everything. Goofy name and appearance aside, Mumbo had demonstrated all kinds of illusion and matter generating/disintegrating tricks that had kept the Titans hopping. Or flying.
Savior was doing the latter, as Mumbo had pulled a hammer the size of a Buick and whacked him with it, sending the white-haired Titan tumbling through the air. He bounced off a brick wall and hit the ground, not seriously hurt except in the ego.
Well, ok then. If a frontal assault didn't work…
Cyborg was trying his luck next.
"And as you will see…" Mumbo said, tugging at the sleeve of his suit. "There's nothing up my sleeve except…MY SLEEVE!" Mumbo laughed, and suddenly lines of red cloth shot out of his sleeve, which wrapped up Cyborg like a birthday present in two seconds flat. Cyborg fell to the ground, muffled yells coming from the bundle as he tried to get out.
Beast Boy, in the form of a tiger, roared and tried to pounce on Mumbo, but the magician darted aside and waved his hand, and suddenly Beast Boy was stuck in a wood box.
"And now in honour of my fallen comrade Roy, I will put a twist on an old trick and saw this tiger in half!" Mumbo said, producing a saw.
"No! Wait! You don't have any idea how to do that!" Beast Boy yelled.
"Don't worry, I've been practicing in prison! I've done this trick a thousand times now!" Mumbo said.
Beast Boy paused, confused and not sure if he should be relieved or not.
"So I'm bound to get it right sooner or later!" Mumbo finished.
Beast Boy concluded he was a fool for even considering stopping panicking and went right back to it, thrashing about as Mumbo lowered the saw…
And then the white thread, so small it could barely be seen with the naked eye, flew over Mumbo's shoulder and inserted itself into his ear. Indeed, it was so thin Mumbo barely felt it, and dismissed the feeling as nothing bad as he began to saw…
At least until his arm yanked the saw out and dropped it. The thing was, Mumbo had not been planning to do that.
"Hey! What the hell!" Mumbo yelled as his arm moved on its own accord, as if it had a life of its own. "What are you doing! What am I DOING? AH! STOP!" Mumbo yelled, as his hand reached into his coat and withdrew his magic wand, the source of all his spells. He continued to scream that this wasn't what he wanted to do and tried to use his other arm to pull his traitorous limb back, but then his other arm went limp, even as the arm holding his wand reared back and threw it through the air.
Mumbo wailed as Savior reached up and caught the wand with the hand that didn't have the Shimmer strand coming out of it. The strand that got thinner and thinner as it went along until it vanished into Mumbo's ear.
"Gotta love deus ex machinas." Savior said, and broke the wand with one clench of his hand. Mumbo's outfit immediately vanished as all his spells deactivated.
"No…" Mumbo said, falling to his knees. He knew why he had lost beforehand: he always took his wand out and someone grabbed it. This time, he had vowed to not take it out for ANY reason…except his body had done it anyway, against his will. "How?"
"Figure it out for yourself. Sleep." Savior said. Mumbo's eyes twitched and then he keeled over, snoring.
The other Titans approached as Savior withdrew the Shimmer-strand from Mumbo's ear. He looked at it distastefully.
"Ugh. Clean your ears someday buddy, you have enough wax in there to start a candle factory." Savior said.
"Um, excuse me Savior, but might I ask what the HELL DID YOU JUST DO?" Cyborg said incredulously.
"I used the Shimmer to connect to his nervous system, read his memories to find out his weakness, take over his motor controls to make him give me the wand, and then poked a specific part of his brain to make him fall asleep." Savior explained.
"Oh, great. SINCE WHEN CAN YOU DO THAT!??!?!?"
"Recently."
"Explain." Beast Boy said.
"Remember how I nearly got killed when Peek-A-Boo teleported me into the sky and I had trouble saving myself because I couldn't think of an effective way to use the Shimmer?" Savior said in one long run on sentence. "Well, I figured I needed to learn more ways to use it. So for the past few weeks I've been training with Robin, and while studying my power, we found out I can basically "jack into" other people's nervous systems. Not sure how, Robin thinks it's because the Shimmer derives from a beneficial mutation of my nervous system." Savior explained. He didn't mention that that connection with his nervous system is why he felt agonizing pain whenever the Shimmer got cut. "It's delicate, but Robin was kind, brave, or stupid enough to act as a guinea pig while I fine-tuned it. It's pretty interesting, I can read your mind, control your body, etc. Problem is I have to stay connected to do it, otherwise I forget whatever I learned almost immediately."
"You can learn anything?"
"As long as I'm connected. Starfire, do you trust me?" Savior said.
"Yes…but…why?" Starfire said in hesitation.
"Ok then. Don't move…" Savior said as he raised his hand. The very thin strand flowed out and carefully went into Starfire's ear. She looked a bit freaked, but only because she had never had anything like this happen to her.
"What do you feel Star?" Beast Boy asked.
"Just a very slight pressure in my ear…I only notice it because I'm aware of it…" Starfire said.
"Ah, there we go." Savior said, and then he said something that sounded like total gibberish to everyone. Everyone except Starfire, whose eyes widened, and then she squealed in delight and responded with more utter gibberish. The Titans's eyes darted back and forth as Savior and Starfire carried on this gibberish conversation for about twenty seconds.
"Ok, WHAT'S GOING ON HERE!" Cyborg finally yelled.
"He speaks my language now!" Starfire said. Apparently she and Noel had been speaking in Tamaran-ese or whatever Starfire's native language was.
"Only if I stay connected." Savior said, withdrawing the strand. "I have trouble remembering one thought I picked from someone's brain this way, never mind a whole language."
Starfire grinned.
Savior said some more gibberish. Starfire's grin vanished and she looked sad.
"What did I do to you, Savior?" Starfire said.
"What? What did I say? I said I was glad to see you were smiling!"
"No, you said "May all of your teeth fall out"."
Beast Boy and Cyborg cracked up.
"See what I mean?" Savior muttered.
"Interesting talent, but I suggest we take Mumbo to jail and head home. I think it's going to rain soon." Raven said.
"Sure has been a lot of rain lately. Maybe Thunder and Lightning have been really bored these days…" Robin said to himself.
"Hey Savior, do me!" Beast Boy said.
"Hey hey, this trick isn't a toy now. It's delicate. If I'm not careful when I'm poking around in your brain, I could accidentally erase your short-term memory, or cut a blood vessel which would result in a massive cerebral hemorrhage and pretty near instant death." Savior said.
"Oh, why didn't you say that BEFORE YOU WENT POKING IN THE MIND OF MY GIRLFRIEND!" Robin yelled.
"It is ok Robin! I trust Savior, he is very careful!" Starfire said, and flew up into the sky.
"What the lady said." Savior said, and swung/pulled himself after Savior.
"Ok who carries Mumbo…" Cyborg asked.
"Hey, Starfire! Kory!" Savior said as he swung up next to Starfire. "Are you ok?"
"Yes…why Noel?" Starfire asked.
"When I was in your head I got some weird…sensations. They seemed a bit off to me, I just wondered if you were feeling alright." Savior said.
"Yes, I am fine! Totally fine! Absolutely nothing is wrong with me!" Starfire said, grinning widely. A bit too widely for Savior's taste, but he could see no reason why Starfire, the sweetest example of innocence Noel had ever met, would lie to him, so he let it rest and swung off.
Starfire watched Savior go, and then her grin faded as she put a hand to her chest.
Noel was right: something was wrong.
But she couldn't tell anyone.
Hopefully it would go away.
The burning sensation re-awoke in her, stronger this time.
Hopefully.
"Ok, time for takeout!" Cyborg said as he sat down and grabbed the phone.
"I immediately vote AGAINST Chinese." Savior said.
"What? Why?"
"You've been eating from Zhang Ce's restaurant all week! I think all that MSG is causing…problems in some of us…" Savior said, his eyes flicking towards Starfire, who was sitting in a chair and staring at the wall. It wasn't like Starfire, and he knew it.
"Ok fine, pizza!"
"I can go for that." Noel said.
"And to decide who gets it, we will turn to our holiest of rituals: THE HAT!" Beast Boy said as he got a hat and put everyone's names in it.
In the end Starfire was chosen to get the pizza.
"Ok friends, I will be back soon with the round discs with the blood-coloured sauce and curdled cow extract you like so much!" Starfire said, grinning (again, too hard).
"Ok Starfire. See you soon!" Robin said.
"See you soon too Tim…" Starfire said, as she turned and left the room. The feeling was back.
It was getting stronger. If it got any worse…
Oh, Tim…
She wished she knew what to do.
"Hope she gets back soon, I'm hungry." Robin said when his girlfriend had left.
Unfortunately, Robin was the only one NOT there when Starfire returned with the pizzas. Seven or so minutes after Starfire had left, Batman had called, urgently requesting that Robin do something. The Titans weren't given the details, but Batman had INSISTED that Robin come alone. Everyone except Raven had tried to argue with Batman, telling him they should let him back their leader up, but Batman had insisted Robin go alone, and when the teenagers had continue to argue he had just glared at all of them. That had shut them up, as well as turned Beast Boy as white as a sheet. Robin had thanked them and insisted he would be alright, then left. Batman blinked out from the screen.
"Go shake your ears." Noel said to the screen. Victor and Gar looked at him strangely. Noel sighed.
"It's Shakespeare." Noel said. It took him a while to explain, and he was rather surprised that Starfire hadn't returned by then.
Starfire returned forty minutes later, apologizing profusely, saying she had gotten lost. Thankfully, her Starbolt talent had the added effect of being able to heat things, and the pizzas were piping hot.
It was around this time that things began.
Had Noel been at the table, he may have noticed it. But he had gotten into a single-player video game, and after getting stuck on a level, was reading a video game magazine to find out what to do. And since he was perusing the magazine, he didn't notice the way Starfire was looking at him.
Not just him. Victor and Beast Boy were also subject to her gazes. But they were too busy pigging out on the pizza to notice. Only Raven was spared the gaze, and she was too into her own world to notice either.
So Starfire looked. There was hunger in her eyes, a deep hunger, and a hunger that any man worth his salt would have known well…if he had been looking closely. The look contradicted almost every way Starfire usually looked, and it clearly made her uncomfortable, as she fidgeted and twitched, constantly crossing and uncrossing her legs.
Outside the rain had started, and a few minutes later Starfire got up and started leaving.
"You want any more Starfire?" Cyborg asked in between bites of his 14th slice of pepperoni. It was more of a toss-off then an actual desire to save any sustenance for Starfire.
"No…" Starfire whispered.
"You sure you're not hungry?" Cyborg asked, in the tone that husbands used when they reply "No" when their wives ask them if their clothing makes them look fat.
"Oh yes…I'm hungry…" Starfire said, her eyes glittering as she walked out.
A loud blast of thunder shook the room.
"Man, I hate those things. It's like they're signaling something bad is about to happen." Beast Boy said, and continued on his slice.
"Man, who knew they made pizzas out of tofu…" Cyborg muttered.
Some time had passed.
Cyborg had retired to his room to recharge his systems, Raven had gone to hers to meditate. Savior was playing his game, trying to get past the part where he was stuck.
And Starfire was wandering the halls, clutching her chest.
It hadn't gone away.
It had gotten worse.
It was happening. She hadn't wanted to admit it, but it was happening, and she had to react.
If only Tim was still around…but she couldn't wait.
She had to.
It was ironic that Beast Boy had noticed the thunder clap. It was with him that it started, all with something as innocent as a knock on a door.
"Yes? Oh hello Starfire…" Beast Boy said, and then trailed off as he saw how Starfire was looking at him.
"Kory? What's…"
And that was all Gar Logan got to say, as Starfire leaned down, grabbed his head, and pressed her lips to his.
Crushed, more likely, the kiss was extremely forceful. Beast Boy's incredible shock pretty much froze all his thinking functions, even as Starfire pushed him backwards and pinned him against the wall.
It was when she slipped him the tongue that Beast Boy's shock finally shattered, and after failing to push Starfire away on his own, turned into a gorilla and did it.
"KORY! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!?!??!?!" Beast Boy yelled as he turned back into his human form. "I know I'm cute, but…"
"Don't talk. I need you." Starfire said breathily as she walked towards him. Beast Boy backed up, the shock coming back.
This wasn't happening. The way Starfire was acting, talking…well, Beast Boy, in the back of his mind, recognized the state Starfire was in. But the other part of his mind refused to associate the word with anything Starfire. It just WASN'T her. Yet here she was, acting like that word that Beast Boy would not apply to her but knew that it rhymed with "thorny".
"What, what, huh? How, why…but you're with Robin…I can't…no what the hell…" Beast Boy said as he continued backing up. Later, the thing that shamed him most, that was despite his shock and honest protest to not want to have anything to do of this nature with his friend's girl, part of him had woken up and was jabbering at him to do exactly what she wanted.
"I need you Gar. I need you…" Starfire breathed, as she cornered him against the wall. Beast Boy turned into a weasel and dove between her legs and ran across the room.
"I'm leaving! And you and I will never speak of this again!" Beast Boy said as he opened the door and closed it behind him, running away down the hall. The fact that he had fled from his OWN ROOM would not occur to him until later, neither did the idea he should have reported to Raven to see if Starfire was being mind-controlled or something. He was freaked and that dominated his mindset until it was too late.
Back in his room, Starfire leaned against the wall, breathing heavily. It was as she expected. But it didn't change the fact that her body continued to order her, with increasing ferocity, to do what she had to do.
And for that she needed a man. And with the option of Robin out of the picture, she had to use any man she could.
But Gar was out. And Victor may not have the proper…equipment. That left…
"Noel…"
Noel, much like Gar, never knew what happened.
He had finally gotten past the part he was stuck in, and had just saved at a save point, when Starfire had come in and sat down next to him. He was turning his head to ask her what she wanted when she pounced on him, pinning him to the couch as she did her best impression of a French woman.
Noel was just as shocked as Gar was, but Starfire had him in a position where she had better control, and hence she was able to hold him down and hold her kiss even as she clawed at his shirt. She had managed to rip some of it off by the time Noel was able to push her off.
"KORY WHAT ARE YOU DO-MFFFF!" Noel got out before she forced herself on him again. She had a sweet-tasting mouth, but much like Beast Boy, that realization registered at the back of Noel's head. Most of his thoughts were occupied with getting Starfire off him.
"Have you lost your mind?" he managed to say as he pushed her off him again.
"No. I need you Noel. Take me." Starfire said, and with that unzipped her top and shrugged it off. Noel's eyes nearly bugged out of his head.
Guess she is pretty close to human…The annoying yammering hentai thought-thinker in the back of Noel's head was immediately stepped on even as Starfire pushed herself back down on Noel, pressing herself against him even as she fumbled for his belt. That finally snapped Noel out of it, and the Shimmer shot out of his hands and wrapped around Starfire, pulling her back and pinning her to the couch.
"What the heck is going on Kory!" he said, trying to fix his torn shirt and not look at the now bare-breasted Tamaran.
"Oh Noel…" she said.
"Look I don't know…" Noel said, trying to avoid looking at Starfire as much as possible.
And in the end, that was how he saw Robin.
Robin had walked into the room and found Noel pinning a topless Kory to the couch with his shirt ripped up and his belt undone. To say that Tim Drake was shocked was an understatement.
"Um…uh…well uh…" Noel said as he saw Tim, trying to find an explanation for what had just happened. His mind was blank. "Er…um…gee…well…uh…I'm gonna run now."
Robin screamed and threw himself at Noel, who pushed himself away with the Shimmer. Robin had his metal fighting pole out and would have thrown it at Noel to knock him down so he could beat him to a pulp, except Starfire grabbed him first.
"NO TIM! IT'S NOT HIS FAULT!" she said, holding Tim fast. Noel took the opportunity to leave, ASAP. He'd find out what was going on when Robin wasn't so determined to kill him.
Robin struggled a bit before he stopped.
"Kory what the hell…"
"Oh Tim…I'm so sorry…I'm so so sorry…" Starfire said, crossing her arms across her bare chest. She closed her eyes and appeared to be waging a furious war within herself, shaking violently for several seconds before the shakes faded.
"Kory, what happened? Oh god, was Noel trying to rape you? Oh if he was I'll kill him…!" Robin said, wondering if he had misjudged his comrade totally and, in the brief moment of that doubt and the possibility of what had happened because if he had judged wrong, filled with murderous rage.
"No Tim…it was me…oh god…" Starfire said, and then said something in her native language. She turned and found her top, putting it back on in a strange show of modesty, considering how she had been acting a moment ago.
"Well then if not…what the hell…" Robin said.
"Oh Tim…I should have said something. But I didn't want to because of what it entailed…and because of that I…oh I'm so sorry…" Kory said, her green eyes tearing up.
"Whoa Kory, it's ok. What's happening? What's wrong?"
Kory sniffed and wiped her eyes.
"It's a bit of a long story, but I'll give the basic…idea. A long time ago, back before my species had fully evolved, we had several problems with…reproduction. Many males were being born barren, if you know what I mean. To survive the females of my species developed something in their bodies we call the Eiltihsll Uba Sisiht now…basically, when it was time to mate, our bodies went into a kind of frenzy…like the canines of your planet, like in 'heat.'"
Robin blushed furiously. He had a feeling he knew what was happening now.
"Well, eventually the problem stopped and so most of the females stopped doing this…but in some lines, it still occurs…and my family's line is one of them. I didn't want to admit it, but it happened…and that's why what happened happened, Tim. I couldn't control myself. Even now, it took me an act of will the greatest warriors on my planet would be amazed by to not well, what do you humans say? 'Jump your bones?'"
Robin blushed even more.
"So…" he stammered.
"Tim…it hasn't gone away. I just quieted it for a bit. The urges will come back Tim…Tim…I need you…"
"Ah…oh…ho boy…." Robin said, feeling like his face was on fire. He had pondered when something like this would happen, but he hadn't expected this.
"Tim, when I first thought this was happening I did some research. Our species are compatible. Tim, I love you…please…I need you…because if it isn't you it'll be someone else…I want it to be you…" Starfire said, stroking the side of Tim's face.
"I I Iyiyiyiy…." Robin said.
"Tim…please…"
"I, uh…well…"
"Tim, I know some place we can be alone. Just you and me. Tell the Titans I was being mind-controlled and you need to go after me alone, because for some reason you're immune to it. Please Tim. I'll go there now so I don't…attack Noel or Gar again, but if you don't come after me…Tim, I want it to be you. We can be together, united as one…and surely you desire me…?" Starfire said, once again slipping back into the state that clashed so much with how the men on the Titans knew Kory.
"…..Ok…ok…" Tim said, still blushing furiously.
"Alright then." Starfire said, and left the room, heading out the window.
Robin sat on the couch for a bit, his mind a storm of emotions, not knowing what to do. He had never expected it to be like this.
But…at the same time…
With Kory…
Robin blushed some more. Well, he needed one thing beforehand…
"Oh my dear sweet Tim…" Starfire said as she smoothed the bed. It was a good thing she had found this place. It would give them privacy for what had to be done.
"You'll come, and I'll bring you in, and then, my dear sweet Tim, I'll bring you to heaven…"
Starfire turned around, looking at the figure chained up and gagged on the wall.
"Isn't that right, Starfire?"
Starfire's eyes widened as she looked at the other her, her twin, the one who had been in the Tower, the one that had invited Robin…
"Yes, my dear Robin will come here, and I'll bring him heaven…" "Starfire" said as she rubbed her hands against her body. But her green eyes showed only vicious rage.
"AND THEN I'LL GIVE HIM HELL."
UH OH. It appears that someone has used disguise to set up something terrible, and while you probably know who it is, that won't help poor teenager Robin, who may soon become the manifestation of a Fefe Dobson song…