CHAPTER EIGHT
Robin sunk to a knee and peered through the darkness at his brainwashed friend. Just as Numara had warned, Rancor had stationed the green shape-shifter atop Titans Tower, but the Boy Wonder knew there was no better way to sneak up on an intruder than through the rooftop entrance. Besides, as important an asset as Beast Boy was to the Teen Titans, his fighting skills were unrefined; thus, he was not the team's best defender.
"Okay," Robin said. "Let's go."
"Wait." Raven took hold of his shoulder, her eyes locked on Beast Boy.
Numara stepped to her side. "What is it?"
"Rancor's telepathic, right?"
"I think I've been pretty clear on that fact," the Nasserian replied.
"I could be wrong, but it would seem the last thing we want to do is walk up to someone under his control."
"Raven's right." Cyborg leaned next to Robin. "If he can read our minds, he's gotta already know we're here, right?"
Numara nodded. "That is highly possible, though it would be a different story for me. The Gem of Ages, which gives me my powers, shields me from his vision."
"That gives me an idea." Raven turned and held out her hands. "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos." Black fire engulfed a grate that lead into a shaft within the Tower. She lifted it up and lay it aside gently. The others gathered around and peered into the darkness.
"Ah, man," Cyborg muttered as he inspected the opening. "No way I fit through there."
"No problem," Raven replied. "We're not going in this way."
"What'd ya mean by that?"
"We're going through Beast Boy."
Robin frowned. "Say again?"
Numara understood instantly. His lips curved into a tight smile at the girl's plan. "See you on the other side," he said quietly, and leapt into the dark shaft.
* * *
The battle ended almost before it had begun. As the painfully blinding light faded, Starfire found that she was lying on her back. Odd. She hadn't even felt the blow that had knocked her down. The Tamaranian tried to sit up, tried to move, but found that she could only remain there, as if locked in place. Her head was spinning, she was disoriented, and she could not sense Raven's killer.
She lay on the charred ground, staring into the crimson moon. She recalled that she had only seen that moon once before, in that hell where Raven had come to ask her to avenge their friends. The heat was thick again, steam rising from the cracks in the ground, burning her delicate skin and lungs. Starfire held back tears as she realized that fate was a cruel beast, and it wasn't going to spare her life.
The sound of metal skimming across the rough surface of scorched earth at her side took her attention from the moon. She began trembling as the blurred shape of a blue-skinned creature appeared over her. Slowly, as her enemy leaned closer, his face cleared in her vision; there was a sinister smirk on her attacker's face. Long, black bangs fell into eyes with a silvery blue shine.
"Didn't mean to leave ya hangin', bitch," the stranger said. Starfire realized suddenly why she could not move. He was sitting on her, straddling her so that her arms were tightly wedged between his legs and her own slender torso. For some reason, she couldn't tap her powers, so he did as he pleased with her. The green light in her eyes had faded. She squirmed, desperate to escape, but there would be no escape. He had her. How he had beaten her with such efficiency was still a mystery, but it was decidedly clear that she had not stood a chance.
The blue creature smirked. "Damn. You're not quite what I expected."
"You are every bit what I expected! You are a fiend and a butcher!"
He bowed his head, a sly, cocky little smirk on his face. "I aim to cleave, bitch." She gasped as she felt cold steel rest against her chin. "I've got to admit it's going to be a real shame cuttin' you. A real shame. You're perfection, know that? Then again, looks aren't everything. Sometimes it depends on what you've got inside, ain't that right?"
Starfire trembled. He drew the knife down as he spoke, brushing the tip of the blade against the skin of her neck, over her collarbone, and down the center of her chest. He did not press enough to break the fabric, but the indecency of the touch was nauseating. She had no desire to face him lying down and defenseless. He was going to have his way with her, she was certain, and there was nothing she nor anyone else could do about it. Her vision blurred again as tears filled her eyes.
The creature gazed at her. He leaned forward, chuckling, his breath hot against her tender cheek. Starfire squirmed beneath him, trying to wiggle out of his grasp. She knew there would be no escape. He had her locked in some type of spell. Her powers were lost to her, frozen within her fear.
"You will never have me. You may violate my body, but my soul belongs to me."
"We'll just see about that, won't we." As he rose the knife, poised to strike at her heart, his smirk faded. "Enough games. I am through with you. You choose not to humor me, so I shall humor myself." He leaned close, and his smirk returned. "I shall enjoy watching you squirm."
She closed her eyes. "My soul belongs to me," she whimpered. She was not at all convinced that she was right. Quite the opposite, in fact. She was utterly petrified.
"Bleed for me, bitch."
She could not open her eyes. She waited for him to plunge the knife into her flesh, waited for cold steel to bite into her heart and end her miserable existence.
Starfire's life was at an end, and she knew it.
Rancor smirked as he considered the variety of ways in which he could take her. She was so very close to him. So very near. Soon, all in her heart would be vanquished, and Starfire, the Tamaranian, would be his slave.
He had to thank the green-skinned shape-shifter. Their previous spat, thanks to Rancor's cunning meddling, would be the perfect tool.
He took another step toward the girl's fated downfall.
Victory was close at hand.
Starfire never felt the killing blow, but she didn't recall dying either. In fact, little changed in the moments following his demand for her to bleed.
Then again, she thought she heard a faint cry in the distance, a familiar voice echoing through the dead realm of dreams. A breeze brushed her own disheveled hair from her face, lifting it out of her eyes. She caught sight of a green shape as it flew past her, tearing her from her enemy's death grip. Starfire lunged up, catching her racing heart in the palm of her hand, trying to soothe herself.
Beast Boy had come for her.
She remembered what he had done to her back at Titans Tower, and her tears returned. The pink remnants of a booby trapped cake showered her once more, and shock and anger and disappointment rushed through her veins to her pounding heart. "No," she cried. "Why did you have to do such a horrible thing?! Why do you insist on harming on your own friends?!"
Beast Boy was locked in a heated engagement, throwing a series of punches and trying to ward off her assailant's own vicious blows, so he never heard her fierce interrogation. And as he fought, Starfire felt her own perilous hate draining from her. She realized suddenly that he too had suffered the fate of Raven and Cyborg and Robin, each in their own ways her dearest friends.
Four tombstones, side by side. She wondered if a fifth grave awaited her next to their own.
She recalled her conversation with Robin, back at the Tower.
"Look, Beast Boy hasn't come back yet. Cyborg and I are going out to look for him. Wanna come?"
"Why would I do that? I don't care if he wants to stay out all night."
"Come on, Star. You don't mean that."
"Why wouldn't I? You don't know me, Robin. None of you do."
"I don't believe that's how you really feel. Beast Boy has done some crazy things, but I can't see how such an incredibly stupid incident could destroy your friendship."
"It was his stupidity that caused it."
"Starfire…"
"I do not have any more to say about him. If you wish to discuss other matters, then that would be acceptable."
Robin sighed. "I see. Well, I'd better get going then."
"Perhaps that would be best."
She hadn't slammed her door in his face, but it probably felt that way to Robin. She had never acted in such a terrible manner before, showing complete indifference to the well-being of her shape-shifting friend. Why she would want to act that way, how such manners had forced their way into her usually candid, cheerful heart, was beyond her comprehension. It just didn't fit her nature.
The fall of her friends weighed heavily on Starfire's fragile mind. She watched as the two of them tumbled away in a blue and green blur, fading into the darkness. In silence, she waited. For a time, no one joined the lonesome, sad superhero.
The wind was suddenly cold. It gently lifted her silky hair from her shoulders. She crossed her arms over her chest, hugging herself, wishing for warmth. Sorrow clinging to her heart, Starfire feel to her knees. Her tears flowed freely now, streaming down her face. Torment ran like ice through her veins, bringing with it a piercing pain.
A hand, warm and comforting, clasped over her shoulder.
"Star?"
The tears faded into wonder as her emerald eyes turned to another friend. "Cyborg!" The beauty leapt to her feet, shock replacing her sorrow. "Cyborg?" She looked the young man before her up and down, trying to convince herself that her friend had truly joined her. She was persuaded, not by his appearance, but instead by the warmth of his touch as his palm gently touched her face. Sad eyes gazed back to her. "My friend, what has happened to you?"
"I'm whole, Starfire," Cyborg replied. Starfire's hands gently cradled his face. He didn't look whole to her. He looked to be a complete stranger. His metallic parts had given way to flesh and blood. She realized that she was looking at her friend before his cybernetic transformation. He stood there, the man before the accident, pure human. "Can't you see? I'm normal. I'm a human again."
"Normal?" she murmured. He smiled. "But Cyborg, how–"
"Don't worry about me, Star. I can move on. I feel all is right with the world." He knelt beside her, taking her hands in his. "There is one that will try to take it from me. He'll try to destroy the Titans in heart and spirit. You are our lifeline, Star. You have to make a stand. You must defeat him."
"But I do not know how. He's too fast."
"Believe in yourself. That's all you can do."
"But Beast Boy…"
"Beast Boy is dead, like the other Titans. You can't expect more of any of us." He leaned forward, gripping her wrist tightly. He was hurting her, but she was too drawn into his intense, caring gaze to loose sight of his love for her. His love for the Titans and what they stood for. "It's your battle now, Star. You have to fight it."
She nodded, and wet her lips.
"You have to fight it, Star, and there's nothing I can do to help. Nothing at all. You are alone. You are utterly alone. Alone…"
Alone.
Starfire gasped as his skin began to grow taut. Soon, it became so dry that it began to crack like clay and peel slowly from his body. Beneath, a smooth, blue surface emerged. Cyborg faded from view to be replaced by a blue-skinned demon, the enemy that Beast Boy had only recently taken to battle. It happened so quickly that she was caught completely off guard.
"All alone," her enemy hissed, and struck out with his clawed hand. She screamed as he grazed her cheek and split it open. The pain ate at her, causing her to lose her balance and fall to the earth. She watched up to him, holding her face, trembling in fear. Crimson liquid oozed between her fingers. "All alone," he whispered again, coming close. "A lonesome death. I pity you, fool."
"My friends," she murmured.
"Your friends are no more." He pulled a mass of green fur from his belt and tossed it to her. It landed in her lap. She picked it up and ran her fingers slowly through the thick, olive coat. At first Starfire had trouble recognizing it. Then she realized that it was the color of Beast Boy's hair. It was his scalp. She realized that it was still slick with blood. "Now, all you have is me, Numara of Nassera."
The girl reeled back and vomited, heaving until her stomach was empty. She wished to turn away, to crawl to safety, but she could not bring herself to move. Her enemy smirked, and drew the sword sheathed at his belt. He lifted the weapon and buried the tip deep into the earth, between her legs, halfway from her knees to her crotch. "Don't move," he whispered, and fell to a knee, leaning against the weapon. He gazed, almost hungrily, at the length of her slender body. "Ah, such a pretty thing."
She closed her eyes, trembling. "I will kill you," she murmured.
He smirked. "Oh really now? You promise my death? Very amusing."
"You do not know who you are dealing with."
"Oh, don't I, Koriand'r?"
Starfire gasped.
"You couldn't protect them from me."
He changed. His flesh, like clay, altered molds several times. She saw her friends there, in his place. Raven. Beast Boy. Cyborg. Robin. She watched on with terror, unable to tear her eyes away from his ferocious nature. The murderer was trying to get to her through her innocence and emotion. Starfire didn't know for sure how to combat such a villain. She was not Raven, someone who could lock away her emotions at the drop of a hat. Emotion fueled her powers—righteous anger, unbridled joy. Emotion made her what she was, gave her strength. However, this man knew who she was, from where she had gained her powers, and he did not seem the least bit concerned.
Again he changed, back to his own form.
"I will fight you, completely and relentlessly, until one or both of us are dead. I shall not knowingly allow you to end this in such a manner."
"Doesn't seem you have much of a choice," the man replied, slowly drawing a hand up the purple leather of her boot and tracing a finger along the smooth flesh of her toned thigh. "I look forward to seeing how you intend to fight me."
His hand stopped there, at the tender spot between her legs. Starfire reddened with both fury and embarrassment.
"Ah, but don't stop there. Tell me how you intend to destroy me, dear one. Little Miss Koriand'r." He rose suddenly and stepped aside. A lightning bolt raced across the night sky, revealing the silhouette of something hanging from the charred skeleton of a nearby tree.
Starfire screamed.
His feet hung several feet from the ground as he dangled by his neck from a length of rope. His cape fell to his knees. His costume was undisturbed, a brilliant red suit with green sleeves and tights. Emotions rushed through her body, a mixture of shock and regret, a regret that she may have been able to change it all had she not been the cause of their separation.
The Rekmas was complete.
Tears streamed down her cheeks. "Robin…"
Her hands balled into tight fists. Like a switch going on in her head, righteous fury finally returned. Her eyes shimmered with green energy. The glow engulfed her completely. Intent raged through her, an intent to harm, to kill. Her enemy stood before her, laughing.
Flight returned to her frail body, and her awesome power came with it. She was no longer so frail.
"I will destroy you!"
In a matter of a few seconds, Starfire turned the world around her into a flaming, green hell. Her enemy stumbled back, shocked by the sudden resurgence of power. Hate reverberated through her entire body, and she focused it all on the world around her.
In the real world, Rancor brushed his fingers through Starfire's soft hair. As he had vowed, the girl had stumbled into his control, and now there could be no stopping him.