Robin was finding it increasingly difficult to keep Starfire out of his mind. He was trying everything he could think of, even leaving Jump City and going up into the hills to think, but nothing worked. His mind was still firmly fixed on the Tamaranian girl who at this rate he wasn't going to see anytime soon.
Why didn't I tell her? Robin thought. Why did I keep stalling and coming up with excuses? Would it really have hurt so much to say how I felt?
He then realised that he hadn't told her because he had been afraid. Afraid of rejection, afraid of making a fool of himself, afraid of losing a friend...for someone who was supposed to face fear and danger every day, this seemed pretty strange. Worst of all, it made him feel weak.
Robin looked back at the city. Starfire had to be there somewhere. She couldn't have just vanished – he wasn't prepared to accept that the girl he loved had disappeared completely. He was going to find her, whatever happened...but without any clues about where to start, he was starting to feel like his good intentions were becoming hopeless.
Slade had only just left when Fury decided what to do. Making sure that Slade was actually gone, and not likely to come back in the new few seconds, he pressed a button on one of the devices on his arm. The security cameras suddenly went offline, and Fury activated the transmitter on Starfire's communicator. He only hoped the Titans would pick it up. He then started knocking on the glass, trying to get Starfire's attention.
Starfire looked up, and was surprised to see Fury trying to get her attention. At first she thought he was taunting her, but when she saw the expression of concern on his face, she realised this was not the case?
"What do you want?" Starfire asked bitterly.
"I've only got about two minutes to explain this, so just be quiet and listen, OK?" Fury replied sharply. Starfire nodded.
"About two months ago I tried to steal some high-tech equipment from Slade's hideout. He caught me, and gave me a choice: help him, or suffer a very slow death. Not much of a choice, really. Anyway, he wanted me to build heavily armoured robots which could defend themselves against certain features. I wasn't sure what for...until I heard him muttering the words "Teen Titans". I then realised what he intended to do. He didn't just want to defeat you – he wanted to destroy you.
"I realised that if I tried to destroy the robots, he would kill me and use them anyway. So I incorporated a failsafe device. All the droids are linked into one transmitter in the centre of the hideout: if I input the proper code into the transmitter, all the robots will shut down. Unfortunately, I only have half of the code: Slade has the other half. That's why I had to wait.
"Once Slade comes back, I'll disable him and take the code – he has it written down somewhere on him. I'll shut down the transmitter, and let you go. Do you understand?"
Starfire nodded, though she didn't believe a word of it. Fury had already betrayed the Titans by building these robots – what was to say that he wouldn't betray them again? Before she could pose this point to him, however, Slade opened the door and entered the prison again. She would have to see if Fury was true to his word.
As it happened, Robin was considering returning to the Tower when his communicator went off. It was Beast Boy.
"We're picking up Starfire's signal," the changeling explained.
"What?! Where?"
"An old factory on the outskirts of the city. We're on our way there: you gonna help us?"
Robin smiled. "I'll be there as soon as I can. Thanks, Beast Boy. Robin out."
He flicked the communicator closed, and scrambled back down the hill to the R-Cycle.
"What happened?" Slade demanded.
"There was a power surge that knocked out the monitoring systems," Fury lied. "I've kept an eye on the prisoner, though."
"Really?" Slade replied, unconvinced. "How convenient. The cameras go offline just after I leave and switch on just before I return. Don't you find that amusing, Fury?"
"Not really," Fury replied.
"Of course not," Slade replied. "You did it, after
all."
Before Fury could react, Slade grabbed his arm and
examined the device that knocked out the cameras.
"Very clever. Were you planning to knock out the entire system to let your friend escape?"
Fury did not reply.
"Not feeling talkative, are we?" Slade remarked. "Well, then, perhaps this will motivate you."
He twisted Fury's arm behind his back, pulled it up, and then kicked the young man to the ground. Slade then stepped on his arm, and turned Fury's head to face him.
"Insolent brat," he rebuked him. "I give you technology beyond your imagination, I give you all my knowledge, I give you the promise of infinite power...and STILL you find reason to betray me." He pushed Fury's head into the floor. "WHY?"
"Because you talk too much," Fury replied defiantly.
Slade picked up the young man, and pinned him against the nearest wall by his neck.
"Very amusing. But your humour will not save you, Fury." He withdrew a small syringe, and moved it towards Fury's neck. "Perhaps this will make you more grateful for my gifts."
However, Slade had forgotten to pay attention to Fury's arms. Fury had managed to move his left hand to his right wrist, and pressed a button on the utility device. A small taser attachment extended out of the device, and charged up.
"Not a chance," Fury replied angrily, before ramming the taser into Slade's abdomen. Slade cried out as the current flowed into his body, before releasing Fury and collapsing onto the floor. Fury retracted the taser, retrieved the code he needed from Slade, and looked down at the psycho with pure hatred. He then ran to the cell control panel, and opened Starfire's cell. Picking up the key from Slade, he started undoing the chains.
"We haven't got much time," Fury spoke as he unfastened Starfire's hands. "We have to..."
His speech was cut off abruptly when Starfire's free left hand grabbed Fury's neck and started strangling him.
"I should crush you like an Orvanion klorbrak for what you have done!" Starfire shouted at the young man. Fury made no reply – he could not even if he wanted to, such was Starfire's grip. Instead, he grabbed the communicator from his belt, and held it in front of her face. She gasped, took it from his hands, and let go of his neck. Fury collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath.
"Why do you still have this?" Starfire demanded.
"Because I used it to inform your friends where you are. They should have detected the signal by now."
Starfire suddenly felt a pang of guilt. Here was a man who had done his best to help her given his situation, and she'd just tried to strangle him. She helped the young man to stand up.
"Forgive me, Fury," she started. "I was too overwhelmed by my anger that I did not believe your good intentions. I am truly sorry."
"You had every right to be angry," Fury replied. "So will the others, once they find out. But we can deal with apologies later. We have to shut down the droids before your friends get here."
"Why before? Can you not help us defeat them?"
"It's not that simple. Slade started mass-producing the droids; he's probably got at least a hundred by now. He'll have even more when your friends arrive, so we have to make sure they're offline."
Starfire nodded. "Where is this transmitter of failsafe?"
Fury smiled. "That's an interesting way of putting it. It's deeper into the hideout than this. I can lead you there, though."
"Please lead the way," Starfire replied, and the two youngsters set off to disable Slade's army before the Titans walked into impossible odds.