Chapter 4
Starfire cradled her head in her hands. Not looking up, not wanting to see the destruction Nightmare was wreaking on her friends.
Raven was down, screaming soundlessly now, as Beast Boy cradled her in his arms. Robin seemed frozen, unable to do anything but watch as Nightmare laughed. Cyborg lay on his side near her. Eyes blank and deathly still.
"Why are you doing this to us?" Star whispered, unable to think of anything else to say.
"Why? There is no why. Because I can, may be a more appropriate answer. Because you stood in my way, yet another. There is no why."
Star shivered, refusing to look up, to meet the soulless, demonic eyes she knew were watching her.
"You monster!" Beast Boy stood, quivering with rage. "Do you even realize what you've done to them?!"
"What doesn't kill you can only make you stronger!" Nightmare quoted gleefully, like a child reciting his favorite lines from a book.
"This ends now!" With a growl, Beast Boy transformed into a bird, winging into the air. Nightmare laughed and leveled his staff at him.
"Bye-bye birdie!"
"No!" Robin leaped, shoving Beast Boy out of the way as the bolt hit him instead.
"Robin!" Star screamed as Robin fell to floor completely still.
"No!" Beast Boy screamed as he landed on the floor next to Robin, "You weren't supposed to..." He slammed his fist into the ground again and again. Star let out a tiny sob, her heart freezing over.
"Robin... Robin... Robin..." She sobbed, rocking herself back and forth, her arms clenched protectively around herself.
"No! You can't do this to us! This isn't right!" Beast Boy continued slamming his hands into the floor over and over again, ignoring the pain when they began to bleed.
My friends... Star's mind buzzed helplessly. He's going to kill us all...
OOOOO
What's going on? I looked around quickly. The gym? How did I get here? We were fighting Nightmare... How did this happen? His staff! That must have been... The memory seemed fuzzy. Just out of reach, but there non-the-less. But the more I seemed to think about it, the fainter it became.
An explosion interrupted his thoughts.
"Robin!" Star? "They're attacking! There's too many! You have to come!"
Without a second thought I raced from the room, bolting through the corridors to reach the others in time. I was stopped at the end of the corridor by a familiar sight.
"Slade!"
"Of course Robin. Who did you expect?" I settled into a crouch, ready to fight. Slade did the same, we circled each other, but a scream from the other room cut through my concentration.
"Star!"
"Forget them Robin, you have bigger problems." Slade aimed a kick at my head, I ducked and feinted to the left, going right instead. I thrust my fist into the brief opening Slade left in his defense. My fist was stopped as Slade blocked, throwing me against the wall.
"Oof!" I slid to the floor with the wind knocked out of me. I clutched my aching ribs, pulling myself to my feet, barely avoiding the punishing kick that was meant for my head.
Blocking out everything except Slade, I bounced on the balls of my feet, centering myself to fight. I struck out while he was off balance from the missed kick, catching him squarely in the stomach and forcing him back against the wall. I hurried to follow up the initial attack, charging straight into the wall as Slade flipped over my head.
"Give up Robin. You're obviously no match for me."
"Wanna' bet?" I growled, spinning around to block his punch, but catching his knee directly in my stomach.
"Oh Robin... Everything would be so much easier if you would just give up," Slade said, pulling my head back by my hair, "But I do so admire your determination. Quite a bit like me actually."
With a barely controlled growl, my feet connected with Slade's stomach, throwing him off me.
"I'm nothing like you!"
"Oh Robin. You need to stop fooling yourself like this. You must have seen at least a few similarities. I even dare say more than a few."
"Stop talking! Just stop!"
"Oh poor Robin. Is it the fact you know I'm right or that fact that you're wrong that hurts you more? Always the hero, always so good, so righteous..."
"Stop it!" I slammed my fist into Slade's stomach before he could react, driving my other hand in a split second later.
With a barrage of punches, I forced him back, he feebly trying to defend himself.
I forced him onto the ground, drawing my Bird-A-Rang out of my belt as I did.
Amazingly, Slade began to laugh, holding his stomach as he did so.
"Very good Robin. Your anger makes you stronger I see. But I'm afraid we will have to cut this little adventure short."
"And why is that?" I ask threateningly, putting more of my weight on Slade's chest.
"Because," He said, barking out a laugh, "Your friends need you."
I froze. Oh god. The screams had stopped some time ago. I had just been too focused to realize it.
"No!" Horrified I took off down the hall, listening to Slade's echoing laughter.
I desperately tried to open the automatic door to the common room with no success. I drew a device out of my belt and attached it to the door, running around the corner for cover as the door was blasted open. Not even waiting for the dust to settle, I rushed into the room.
"Oh god!" The words escaped before I could prevent them. Cyborg's legs protruded from the wall, presumably from him entering it at high speed. Raven lay on the floor in a puddle of silvery blood, her body and face covered by her cloak. Beast Boy lay in the corner of the room, numerous fatal gouges scoring the flanks of his lion form. And Star...
"Oh god! Starfire!" I ran to her, gently propping her up against me as I brushed her hair away from her face. She was burned severely, her blood mixing with the ash on her body. Her eyes cracked open slightly.
"Robin...?" Her voice cracked and broke as if it was hard for her to speak.
"Star... Oh god... What happened?"
"I called you... But you didn't come... And then they came and... Raven was screaming so loud... And Cyborg saved me... But they killed him... And Beast Boy was trying so hard to defend us... And you weren't there..." She took a deep breath, "Why didn't you come Robin?" Her eyes fluttered close and she sighed, expelling the last of the air from her lungs.
"Star? Star! No!" I hunched over her body, crying desperately, her last words echoing in my ears...
OOOOO
Starfire cradled her head in her hands. Not looking up, not wanting to see the destruction Nightmare was wreaking on her friends.
Raven was down, screaming soundlessly now, as Beast Boy cradled her in his arms. Robin seemed frozen, unable to do anything but watch as Nightmare laughed. Cyborg lay on his side near her. Eyes blank and deathly still.
"Why are you doing this to us?" Star whispered, unable to think of anything else to say.
"Why? There is no why. Because I can, may be a more appropriate answer. Because you stood in my way, yet another. There is no why."
Star shivered, refusing to look up, to meet the soulless, demonic eyes she knew were watching her.
"You monster!" Beast Boy stood, quivering with rage. "Do you even realize what you've done to them?!"
"What doesn't kill you can only make you stronger!" Nightmare quoted gleefully, like a child reciting his favorite lines from a book.
"This ends now!" With a growl, Beast Boy transformed into a bird, winging into the air. Nightmare laughed and leveled his staff at him.
"Bye-bye birdie!"
"No!" Robin leaped, shoving Beast Boy out of the way as the bolt hit him instead.
"Robin!" Star screamed as Robin fell to floor completely still.
"No!" Beast Boy screamed as he landed on the floor next to Robin, "You weren't supposed to..." He slammed his fist into the ground again and again. Star let out a tiny sob, her heart freezing over.
"Robin... Robin... Robin..." She sobbed, rocking herself back and forth, her arms clenched protectively around herself.
"No! You can't do this to us! This isn't right!" Beast Boy continued slamming his hands into the floor over and over again, ignoring the pain when they began to bleed.
My friends... Star's mind buzzed helplessly. He's going to kill us all...
OOOOO
What's going on? I looked around quickly. The gym? How did I get here? We were fighting Nightmare... How did this happen? His staff! That must have been... The memory seemed fuzzy. Just out of reach, but there non-the-less. But the more I seemed to think about it, the fainter it became.
An explosion interrupted his thoughts.
"Robin!" Star? "They're attacking! There's too many! You have to come!"
Without a second thought I raced from the room, bolting through the corridors to reach the others in time. I was stopped at the end of the corridor by a familiar sight.
"Slade!"
"Of course Robin. Who did you expect?" I settled into a crouch, ready to fight. Slade did the same, we circled each other, but a scream from the other room cut through my concentration.
"Star!"
"Forget them Robin, you have bigger problems." Slade aimed a kick at my head, I ducked and feinted to the left, going right instead. I thrust my fist into the brief opening Slade left in his defense. My fist was stopped as Slade blocked, throwing me against the wall.
"Oof!" I slid to the floor with the wind knocked out of me. I clutched my aching ribs, pulling myself to my feet, barely avoiding the punishing kick that was meant for my head.
Blocking out everything except Slade, I bounced on the balls of my feet, centering myself to fight. I struck out while he was off balance from the missed kick, catching him squarely in the stomach and forcing him back against the wall. I hurried to follow up the initial attack, charging straight into the wall as Slade flipped over my head.
"Give up Robin. You're obviously no match for me."
"Wanna' bet?" I growled, spinning around to block his punch, but catching his knee directly in my stomach.
"Oh Robin... Everything would be so much easier if you would just give up," Slade said, pulling my head back by my hair, "But I do so admire your determination. Quite a bit like me actually."
With a barely controlled growl, my feet connected with Slade's stomach, throwing him off me.
"I'm nothing like you!"
"Oh Robin. You need to stop fooling yourself like this. You must have seen at least a few similarities. I even dare say more than a few."
"Stop talking! Just stop!"
"Oh poor Robin. Is it the fact you know I'm right or that fact that you're wrong that hurts you more? Always the hero, always so good, so righteous..."
"Stop it!" I slammed my fist into Slade's stomach before he could react, driving my other hand in a split second later.
With a barrage of punches, I forced him back, he feebly trying to defend himself.
I forced him onto the ground, drawing my Bird-A-Rang out of my belt as I did.
Amazingly, Slade began to laugh, holding his stomach as he did so.
"Very good Robin. Your anger makes you stronger I see. But I'm afraid we will have to cut this little adventure short."
"And why is that?" I ask threateningly, putting more of my weight on Slade's chest.
"Because," He said, barking out a laugh, "Your friends need you."
I froze. Oh god. The screams had stopped some time ago. I had just been too focused to realize it.
"No!" Horrified I took off down the hall, listening to Slade's echoing laughter.
I desperately tried to open the automatic door to the common room with no success. I drew a device out of my belt and attached it to the door, running around the corner for cover as the door was blasted open. Not even waiting for the dust to settle, I rushed into the room.
"Oh god!" The words escaped before I could prevent them. Cyborg's legs protruded from the wall, presumably from him entering it at high speed. Raven lay on the floor in a puddle of silvery blood, her body and face covered by her cloak. Beast Boy lay in the corner of the room, numerous fatal gouges scoring the flanks of his lion form. And Star...
"Oh god! Starfire!" I ran to her, gently propping her up against me as I brushed her hair away from her face. She was burned severely, her blood mixing with the ash on her body. Her eyes cracked open slightly.
"Robin...?" Her voice cracked and broke as if it was hard for her to speak.
"Star... Oh god... What happened?"
"I called you... But you didn't come... And then they came and... Raven was screaming so loud... And Cyborg saved me... But they killed him... And Beast Boy was trying so hard to defend us... And you weren't there..." She took a deep breath, "Why didn't you come Robin?" Her eyes fluttered close and she sighed, expelling the last of the air from her lungs.
"Star? Star! No!" I hunched over her body, crying desperately, her last words echoing in my ears...
OOOOO