Chp.10: The Battle Begins

"Robin!" Starfire exclaimed as he slipped on the boots she had previously worn in her performance.

"Well, now, aren't you the sneaky one," Lyss growled, wiping the blood off of his cheek with his thumb. "I should've realized sooner." He smirked.

"It wouldn't of made a difference," Robin kept serious. He knew if he got to over-confident that the battle would surely end sooner than he hoped. "Now, surrender quietly, and Starfire and I will leave."

"Tell me, Robin... Why do you fight so hard to be perfect?"

"Perfect? I just fight for my friends... I help people."

"Is that so....?" Lyss smirked in a way that made Robin cringe in anger.

"You're really starting to tick... me...OFF!" He ran at him and threw his metal stick down at him. Lyss lifted up his right arm and blocked it, using the metal cuff on his wrist. Robin paused for a mere second, his eyes wide, when he was suddenly pushed back against the far wall by red light. He hit the wall so hard that he left a dent in it. His body slid down to the floor, and his head lolled to the side. "Uhhhnnnn...." He muttered, only half aware of what was going on at that moment. Blood trickled down his lip.

Lyss began walking towards him in a confident stride as he made a red sword of light erupt from his hand. His green eyes twinkled viciously, a smile erupting from his lips. "You'll die just like the other man all those years ago."

"Bite me!" Robin rose up his head and threw his boomerang at Lyss's head.

Starfire ran in Robin's direction. "Robin!" She cried worriedly.

"Stop," He held his hand out at her. He looked over at her and smiled half-heartedly. "Why don't you go change or something....?"

"I---" She watched as he pulled himself to his feet.

"Go find Raven, Beast Boy, and Cyborg. Tell them to prepare to leave. I'll be finished in a few seconds."

"Oh... yes..." She looked at her feet, lifted into the air, and headed in the direction of the door.

"Oh, no you DON'T!" Lyss sent red beams of light heading towards her as if they were snakes.

"STARFIRE!"

"HAAAAAA!" She whirled around with a face of pure fury as she blasted the red lights away with her eye-beams. She held her hands in the air, turned around in circles three times, and transformed back into her regular outfit. "I will not let you take advantage of anyone anymore!"

"No, Star, get out of here!" Robin yelled.

"I see you have gone through you metamorphasis," Lyss crossed his arms. "Funny how you never completed it."

Starfire landed and ran up next to Robin, putting her hands on his shoulder. "I do not care about anything you say!" She yelled. "You are a cruel, uncaring, insensitive fiend, and I can no longer stand what you have done to my family, my name, my entire home planet!!!!" She lit up with white light. Lyss blasted the light, frowning angrily. The light dissolved before she could stop him. She fell to the floor.

"She nearly became chrysalis," He muttered. "Not bad, but it's a good thing I stopped that."

Robin picked her head up off the floor. She was out cold. He stood up, the fringe of his bangs shadowing out his face. "You just buried yourself and put flowers on your grave."

Lyss held out his sword of light defensively.

"You hurt Starfire..."

He looked at the boy rather uneasily as Robin took strides toward him.

"You tricked her family...."

He took a few steps back.

"...and you made the mistake of making me mad...." Robin looked up at him. "Now you'll see why on earth I'm called the one-man army."

Robin charged at him and punched him in the gut. Lyss stared ahead, wide-eyed and out of breath. He recovered quickly and brought the sword down upon Robin's back.

"Agh!" Robin winced as the blade singed through his armor, right into his skin. He dropped down onto his hands, brought his feet up in the air, and kicked Lyss in the jaw with both feet. Lyss fell onto his back, and Robin brought himself on top of him with another flip. He began punching him in the face, but only until Lyss pulled a similar trick, bringing his own feet in the air, and rolling Robin off of him.

Lyss stood up, holding the red sword out in front of him once more.

Robin looked up and saw Starfire's dad in the corner, fearfully hiding in the corner.

"Just so you know... You are as much to blame as this monster behind me..." Robin said to him. "You're a filthy coward who can't stand up to this demon, a scared little boy in a grown man's body, hiding from anyone who might take away what you wanted. That's why you had that man killed, isn't it....? That's why you sent him to death. You wanted the woman he had, and you got her to, didn't you...? You made her your queen, and now, you're letting this jerk do the same thing to your daughter!" Starfire's father burst into tears of guilt.

"Shut up, boy!" Lyss pulled back his sword to slice him once more.

White light suddenly hit Lyss and sent him falling to the floor. Starfire rose up, her hair turning white with a golden shine. Her eyes glowed with white light as her clothing turned silver as well.

"Starfire???" Robin exclaimed from his spot on the floor.

Lyss rose up slowly, his armor falling apart. "No way..."

"Well, it's like they say... like mother, like daughter..." Starfire's father said.

"Huh?!" Robin looked over at the king who smiled sadly at him. "Okay, now I'm interested."

"Dear, boy... Her mother was a chrysalis too.... It was what made me fall for her... and what made me lose her in the end..."

"You mean Starfire is gonna die if we don't stop her?!"