CHAPTER TEN
Numara touched the blacktop of the roof once more, and went gently to one knee. He set the girl down, careful not to hurt her further. She seemed lost, harmed by something in a way she did not deserve. She twisted and squirmed against the ground. Crimson blood wept through the lacerations from the bite in her left foot.
The girl murmured something. He didn't have to strain to hear what she was saying, thanks to the aid of the Gem of Ages. "Star, hold tight. I'm coming for you…"
Numara frowned and went to dress Raven's wounds.
Raven raced through the depths of the mind. She now knew how Rancor held her friends tightly within his grasp. They were tools to be used whenever he so desired.
And so she plunged herself into the darkness, passing from one tortured mind to the next, from Beast Boy, who had so abruptly been hauled far away from her detection, to Starfire. She found her quickly, and it didn't take Raven long to realize that the Tamaranian was locked in a duel to the death with Numara.
No, not Numara. Something changed in her line of vision, and she could see the obvious clash between Starfire's imagination and the truth of reality. Starfire was not battling Numara, who she thought to be the enemy, but rather Robin. No doubt the Boy Wonder was doing his best not to harm the girl, but Starfire aimed with an intent to kill. Raven feared for their lives.
She stepped between them, calling for an end to the battle, but they kept fighting. Limbs, Robin's staff, and Starfire's emerald starbolt simply passed through her. She realized she was no more than a spectator of imagery, that the fight was being held on the plane of reality. She spun about, racing time somewhere within the depths Starfire's troubled mind.
"I'm coming, Starfire," she whispered, and flew off into the darkness.
Once she was clear of the vision, she spotted something else on the horizon. A faint, flickering light. Within the flame, she saw Starfire, standing, waiting. She was alone. Taking a deep breath, she shot off into the darkness and raced for her friend. She felt her heart pounding in her chest and bit her lip so hard that the coppery taste of blood filled her mouth.
She had to dispel the intruder, or Starfire would continue to fight until she or all the other Titans were dead.
"I'm coming," she murmured, determined.
Robin was knocked from his feet by a starbolt that took the floor out from under him. Debris flew up into his face, biting his skin and stinging his eyes. He could hear his staff tumbling away from him and rolling out of reach. Starfire took to the air once more raining green energy down all around him. He spun this way and that, trying to avoid their deadly, burning touch, and somehow, he managed to escape.
He leapt up and connected a blow to Starfire's chest, driving her back with his fist. She fell into the wall and slowly slid to her backside against the wall.
Robin retrieved his staff and approached her, eyes narrowed. He glanced to Cyborg, still laying, unconscious, and saw the sweltered flesh where her blasts had touched him. She had intended to kill, and would have had Robin not interfered. Then, she had tried to kill him. Several times.
He twirled his staff in one hand as he quietly stared at the girl.
[She'll do it again, Dick, when she comes to.]
Robin was getting used to that voice. He didn't even respond.
[You know she will. You and your friends will die, unless you do something about it. You're gonna have to kill her, Dick, and you know it.]
The Boy Wonder went to a knee and peered into Starfire's pained eyes. She was not moving. She watched him with eyes that looked to be dead, but he knew that she was merely unconscious.
[You have to do it. You have to end it before she has a chance to fight back.]
Whether or not he liked the voice, he was inclined to believe it.
He had to end it here.
"I'm sorry Starfire. It never should have ended like this."
He took her hands, kissed them gently, gazing into her delicate face, still beautiful despite the smear of ash and blood from the battle. She was so dear to him, he didn't know how he could possibly survive this tragic end.
Robin shook his head. That wasn't true. He knew exactly how he could survive this. He would have to destroy Rancor and avenge his friends. It was the only way.
He lifted her hands to his face and sobbed into them.
When Raven touched down next to the sobbing girl, she wasn't quite sure whether the sadness that brought them forth was genuine or not. Regardless, she was determined to free her friend from this horrible state of mind. She knelt by Starfire's side and whispered softly into her ear.
"It's not real. Take control of your thoughts. Free yourself from this mystic cage. You are your own person, Starfire. Trust me. You have to find your center."
Starfire lifted her eyes and gazed into Raven's melancholy expression. Raven sat back slightly, eyes wide at the ferocity that Starfire seemed to hold within her.
"He killed you! He killed you! I will avenge you, Raven. I will avenge all our friends. I promise."
Raven rocked back on her heels, stunned by the girl's outburst.
"Look at me Star. I live. So do the other Titans."
"But, I've seen the graves. They are here, right here, in the realm of dreams."
"The realm of dreams?" Raven was alarmed. Starfire had never mentioned a realm of dreams before, but this wasn't the first she had heard of such a place. She had heard it before, long ago, while drifting within the various temporal states of dimension within her own vast mind. But who?
Oh well. It really didn't mattered now. What mattered now was that she guide her friend back to reality, or Rancor's vision would kill her.
She drew a deep breath. "Do you remember what I told you about meditating?" she asked, her voice barely a whisper.
"Of course. I could not forget."
"Good, because I don't have time to teach you again. All that I ask is that you trust me, and I'll help you find your way home. Do you trust me?" Starfire stared at her for a long moment, and then drew a slow, calculated breath. She did not speak, but merely nodded. Raven wet her dry lips with her tongue and sat cross-legged on the cold ground, taking Starfire's hands in her own. "Now, clear your mind. Find your center."
It was Starfire, moments later, that began to chant the ancient, magical incantations Raven always used during meditation, the words that helped her to focus so she could use her awesome powers with sensibility.
Starfire had been learning those words herself.
By the sound of her voice, Raven realized that her friend was already more relaxed, more at ease with herself. She was at the point where she could manipulate the so-called realm of dreams. Starfire could now force Rancor out of her brain.
When she finally found him, that's exactly what she did.
* * *
As Rancor's carefully woven dreamworld began to crumble, Starfire felt herself being lifted from the realm of dreams and back into reality. The first thought that came to mind was that, for whatever reason, she hurt very much. The throes of battle with the other Titans had undoubtedly brought out the best—and worst—in all of their powers.
When her vision began to clear, Starfire gasped at what she saw.
Robin stood over her, his staff in hand. She could see the dangerous gleam in his dark eyes, the hateful sneer on his lips. Starfire trembled. She knew what he was thinking. There was intent in his dark, piercing eyes, savage hunger. He had tried to save her before, but the battle had not been worth it. He couldn't get her back, but at least he could free her of Rancor's evil grasp. The thought was unthinkable, but she saw enough hatred in those eyes, enough righteousness, that he might be able to finish the job nonetheless.
Starfire wished that she could cry up at him, to tell him that they no longer had to fear Rancor's hold of her, but she could not find her voice.
Robin lifted the staff over his head, tears streaming down his cheeks. "Goodbye Star. I'm sorry." She closed her eyes. She wasn't going to make him look into her eyes as he executed her. That would be too much. She wondered how he could bring himself to this point, but she understood without having to delve to deeply into the matter.
The truth was, Batman had done it before, so why not his apprentice? Why not the Boy Wonder?
Because, Starfire thought, on the verge of tears of her own, he is my friend. He should not be forced to do this.
All the same, he thought he was protecting the world from her. Maybe he was. Maybe Rancor still had a hold of her, in some deep, emotional way that she had yet to understand. Raven couldn't have been that thorough.
Poised to strike, Robin took aim for her jaw with his staff. It would be a painless death, she knew. Quick and clean. The Boy Wonder would do her that honor, at least.
Starfire whimpered.
"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!"
Even before Robin let loose the final blow, Raven's powers ripped the staff from his hands. She threw it aside, out into the hallway, where it would be no more of a threat, and floated over to join her friends. Her leg had a tourniquet—no doubt from the shreds of her cloak—tied tightly, just above the ankle, to slow the flow of blood.
"No!" Robin shouted, whirling around to face her. "Why'd you stop me?"
"You mustn't harm her," Raven whispered. "She is our friend."
"But Rancor…"
"Is no longer here. The coward fled." She looked down to Starfire, who had begun to weep full force, and knelt at her side. "I infiltrated her plane of thought. I helped her to free herself of Rancor's grasp."
"You mean, she's free?" Robin whispered.
"She is."
He melted to his knees before Starfire, unable to speak. They simply stared into one another's eyes, both saddened and relieved at the same time.
"Welcome back, Starfire," the Boy Wonder whispered.
Starfire forced a smile through her tears and lay back to rest.
In the meantime, Raven floated over to see to Cyborg.
Numara stepped into the room and gazed about at the terrible damage done during the battle. He moved over to Raven.
"How's the foot?"
"Been better."
"You'll need more than a tourniquet."
"I know."
"I'll help."
Raven stared at him, and finally nodded. "It would be greatly appreciated."
Numara nodded and knelt at her side.
Starfire dried her tears long enough to peer over at Numara, and then to Robin. "I thought he was our enemy."
Robin smiled meekly. "For a time," he whispered, "so did I."