SUMMARY OF PREVIOUS CHAPTER: The environment at Titans Tower is tense and each one of the Titans is afraid that their team would split up. Robin cannot stand or be where Starfire is. Red X and Cyborg go downtown to buy spare parts for the T-Car and Robin uses this time to wash and check his R-Cycle. Starfire talks to Robin and Starfire passes out again. Robin takes Starfire to the main room and the rest of the Titans eventually show up. Starfire is thinner and has bruises all over her body so Robin confronts Red X, blaming him of Starfire's condition. The fight is cut short when the alarm goes off, showing that Slade is causing trouble at the docks. Robin orders Red X to stay with Starfire who has already woken up. The Titans leave for the docks and Red X tells Starfire that he has to go with the Titans to protect Robin. Starfire tells him that he Red X is weak and he should not go fight Slade. Red X tells Starfire that Robin is not same by himself and they finally agree to help Robin out. Red X arrives at the docks and he finds no one. After checking the place he is hit by Robin who had been fighting Slade. Robin and Red X fight against Raven who lost control of her emotions when something was revealed to her. Red X uses his physic abilities to stop Raven and BB takes her back to the Tower. Slade attacks Robin, Cyborg and Red X. Red X is feeling weak and Slade takes advantage of this. Right about when Slade is going to hurt them, Starfire appears. Slade and Starfire fight and Slade throws a bomb at Robin. Robin wakes up and finds out that Starfire saved Red X and that Cyborg saved him and he goes ballistic, full of jealousy. Robin yells at Starfire that she should leave the Tower with Red X when Starfire only wanted to make sure that he was ok. The next morning Robin wakes up only to find out that Starfire and Red X have left the Tower and the team.
DISCLAIMER: Do not have possession of the Titans.
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Chapter 5
Counterpart
Robin's fingers felt the envelope that he held in his hand. He was alone in his room while the rest of the Titans talked in the main room about what to do about Starfire. Even though the other Titans were a few doors away from him, he already felt the loneliness of not having Starfire around anymore. Regardless of his attitude towards her the last couple of weeks, he at least knew she was there. Now she was gone and not alone but with him, Red X. Robin walked to his bed and sat on it while he threw the envelope to his side. He was not ready to read it yet. In the main room BB, Raven and Cyborg talked about what was happening with the team, or what was left of it.
-"I can't believe she left us"-BB said
-"She didn't leave us. Robin kicked her out"-Raven said
-"He didn't know what he was saying. He was mad"-Cyborg said
-"Doesn't matter, she's gone anyway"-BB said
-"I'm not concerned that she's gone, but that Robin is still here"-Raven said
-"I guess he's reading the letter"-Cyborg said
-"What do you think she wrote him?"-BB asked
-"I don't know, but we must do what Starfire asked us to do"-Raven answered
-"And we will, Rae. It's our only hope to get our team back together"-BB said
BB handed the letter to Raven on his way out of the main room. Cyborg saw the bags of spare parts and decided to begin working on the T-Car to take his mind out of what had just happened. Raven was left alone in the main room, holding the letter in her hands. She knew there was more to what they had read. Starfire was smart enough to leave clues of what was going on, she just needed to find them. Raven sat on the couch and began re-reading the letter all over again.
"Dear Friends:
Given the circumstances of our presence at the Tower, Red X and I have decided to leave in order for you to have some peace in your lives. Forgive us for any misunderstanding or misbehavior that any of us might have done and please remember that we only have your well-being in our mind. Please, do not feel that we are abandoning you since this is not true at all; we have only decided to take a different approach to stop the enemy. Do not search for us, we will be alright. We do not wish to be found, I do not wish to be found; at least not yet. I only wish to ask you for one favor, which is for all of you to take care of Robin, for he needs to be secure and protected at all times. Do not attempt to explain the reasons why we have left to him, just make sure he reads the letter I have written for him. I leave the life of our leader and my friend in your hands. Please take care of him as I did, as if he is the most valuable person in you life.
Starfire"
Raven read the letter a couple of more times to try to see between the lines and find any secret meaning that Starfire's words might have. Raven could not find anything else that Slade had not told her before. Slade was not lying. Robin and Starfire were in great danger. Even if she had not believed Slade before when they found him at the docks, she was now beginning to believe that he was not lying at all and that Starfire and Red X knew exactly what was going on, hence their decision to leave Titans Tower. She had hoped that Slade had not told her truth but he did. The truth had been so shocking and disturbing to her that she had lost control over her emotions and had almost killed her friends. If it was not for Red X that calmed her just in time she have had disappeared in the shadows and never come back again. Even though she more or less knew what was going on between Red X and Starfire, it was not her job to tell Robin or anybody else for that matter. Time would make the truth come out to light eventually. Raven folded the letter and took it with her to her room. She needed a lot of time to meditate. Meanwhile, Robin looked at the still sealed envelope and imagined what the letter could say.
-'Why am I making stuff up? Just read it!'-Robin thought
Robin sighed and grabbed the envelope. He examined the white paper and read the recipient's name. The only letters written on the envelope read "Robin". Robin's fingertips touched the space where his name was written and in a quick movement, he opened the envelope. He did not know if the same type of paper was used to write the other letter to the rest of the Titans but his was pink. He unfolded the paper and began reading his note.
"Robin:
I know there is nothing I can say to make you understand the reasons why I have decided to leave our Tower, yet I wish to assure you that it was not for anything that you said last night. I understand you were upset for what occurred but still I believe I made the correct decision. Whether you believe me or not, Red X's life was more in danger than yours. This letter was not written with the intention of making you understand why we left or to justify our actions but to let you know that wherever we are right now, we are alright. As I told the rest of the Titans, neither of us wishes to be found. Please, do not search for any of us for we shall not be found. We have not become your enemy but a distant ally to defeat Slade. Keep in mind that regardless of what happens, you would always be my best friend and the most important person in my life.
Starfire"
Starfire's words infuriated Robin and he tore the letter apart. He threw it on the floor and got out of his room and made his way to the main room.
-'That bastard is controlling her, she would never leave us or me'-Robin thought
Robin tried to search for Starfire's communicator signal but the screen would not display anything. He then realized that the game station was connected to the big screen and prevented the map from appearing. Robin could not see beyond his anger and pulled the games station's cables carelessly until the ripped. He then grabbed the game console and with a growl he threw it against the wall. The console broke and the sound made BB and Raven come out of their respective rooms to see what was going on at the living room. They saw Robin typing on the super computer and staring at the big screen.
-"I guess he read the letter"-BB said
-"Most likely yes"-Raven said
BB looked at the floor and saw the ripped cables of the game station and gasped. He then ran to the other side of the room and saw his game console on the floor, broken into many pieces. BB lifted the bigger pieces of what was left of his game and noticed that the video game that was in it had also suffered the consequences of Robin's anger. Neither Cyborg nor BB would be able to play Mega Monkeys IV again. BB hugged the broken pieces of his only joy in life and walked towards Robin who was still unaware of Raven and BB's presence and stood right next to Robin.
-"Dude, what is your deal? What did the game station ever do to you?"-BB asked
Robin made a frown and without stopping what he was doing he answered BB with a very unfriendly voice.
-"It was on my way"-Robin answered
-"But you could've just unplugged it, it's not that hard"-BB said
-"I have told you to unplug it when it's not being used"-Robin said
-"But I was going to play afterwards"-BB said
-"I don't care. It is not supposed to be here when you are not using it"-Robin said
-"But…dude…you could have asked me to unplug it for you and…"-BB said
-"You were supposed to do it when you stopped playing with it"-Robin said
BB whined like a puppy and held his game station closer to him while he walked away from the main room and went to his room. He knew Robin would had not broken the station if he was not upset but he also knew better than to mess with Robin when his anger was caused by something related to Starfire. Raven observed BB when he got out of the room and felt pity for him. Robin was acting like a jerk, again.
-"You didn't have to break the thing, you know that?"-Raven asked
-"Don't get me started, rules are rules"-Robin answered
-"You could have punished him by not allowing him using it for a week or so. You did not have to break it the way you did"-Raven said
-"Since when did you become the leader of this team?"-Robin asked
-"Since when did you become such a jerk?"-Raven asked
-"Leave me alone. I am not in the mood to talk to anyone. I'm very busy"-Robin answered
-"She doesn't want to be found"-Raven said
-"He doesn't want to be found. She wants to be found, I know it"-Robin said
-"No, she doesn't"-Raven said
-"What do you know about her?"-Robin asked
-"More than you think"-Raven said
Robin stopped typing and glared at Raven. Raven was becoming a pest to Robin because she was the only one that had the guts to tell him how wrong he was and how stupid he was acting. Raven knew something else about Starfire and he knew she would not tell him even if he ordered her to. Why did Starfire not trust him enough to tell him the truth? The machine beeped and Robin finally got a signal of Starfire's location. A piece of paper slipped out from the machine with the coordinates of Starfire's location. Robin grabbed it and without looking at Raven, he made his way out of the main room. After the doors closed he made a personal note to himself to get a new communicator since his had been lost when fighting Slade. He had almost forgotten how important it was to stay in touch with the other Titans, even if they did not want to be in touch with him right now. He shook this thought from his mind and quickly began reading the coordinates that were printed on the paper. After he read the numbers, Robin made a frown and sighed in desperation.
-"These are the coordinates of the Tower"-Robin said
Robin decided to look around the Tower to find Starfire. Maybe she was hiding in some place in it since the Tower was huge and there were many places that not even he knew what they were. Robin walked to all the empty rooms, including Red X's former room and checked every single corner of them. He found nothing in all the rooms. He was hoping to find some clues at Red X's room but he had left nothing important inside.
Robin then decided to check the rooms that were occupied. He would begin with Raven's room. She had said that she knew more than he did and that was probably a clue that she knew where Starfire was. Robin walked to Raven's room and knocked on her door. For a moment there was no response and Robin knocked again. The door opened to reveal an annoyed Raven standing in front of him.
-"What?"-Raven asked
-"The communicator says that Starfire is in Titans Tower. I am checking every room and it's your turn to cooperate"-Robin answered
-"No one comes into my room but me"-Raven said
-"What are you hiding?"-Robin asked
-"Nothing"-Raven answered
-"Then why don't you let me go inside?"-Robin asked
-"Because this is my room"-Raven answered
-"And I am giving you an order"-Robin said
-"And I won't follow it"-Raven said
Robin looked at Raven and realized that Raven is not the type of people that likes to lie. If she had someone hiding in her room she would definitely tell them…unless Malchior came back.
-"Raven, are you hiding Starfire in there?"-Robin asked
-"No"-Raven answered
-"Are you sure? I need to talk to her"-Robin said
-"She's not here"-Raven said
-"Would you tell me is she comes by?"-Robin asked
-"She won't be coming back"-Raven answered
Robin frowned and Raven crossed her arms in disagreement. He had nothing more to say.
-"Thank you, Raven"-Robin said
-"You're welcomed"-Raven said
Raven turned back and the door closed behind her. Robin heard when Raven began meditating and decided to leave her alone. The next room in the list was BB's. Robin repeated the procedure and began knocking on his door. Compared to Raven, BB answered the door immediately. BB's face seemed sad and questioning when he saw Robin standing at his door.
-"I need to inspect you room"-Robin said
BB looked at Robin and then back at his room. It was not a surprise to Robin to see the filthy condition of BB's room. The floor had empty boxes of food, dirty and clean clothes and some stains. The walls were decorated by video game posters and his bed was undone by who knows how many months. In the middle of the room Robin spotted an object that caught his attention. He tried to figure out what it was but he could not put the pieces together.
-'Pieces!'-Robin thought
It was then when Robin realized that BB was trying to repair his game console. Robin felt bad about poor BB. He had done nothing to him and yet, Robin had allowed his anger to take over him and harm his friends. He now saw why Starfire had told him that he could not handle the truth because he could not handle his emotions. How many times had he hurt her? Too many times to remember at the moment, Robin thought. Robin shifted his look from the game station to BB's face. He was not sure about having the right to check BB's room now.
-"So, can I check your room?"-Robin asked
BB clenched his fists, controlling his anger. He knew he had to control his anger in order for him to not turn into the beast he turned in before. Raven had tried to help him out and for the first time in weeks he saw that meditating did pay off…or maybe not.
-"You already thrashed my game, what else do you want?"-BB asked
Robin had no answer for that one; he did not even see it coming, at least not from BB.
-"I'm sorry Beast Boy"-Robin answered
-"Whatever, man"-BB said
BB mumbled something else that Robin could not understand and closed the door. His search was not going as expected. Robin tried to continue his search and saw that the next room belonged to Cyborg. He skipped that room and decided to check it with Cyborg's permission. He did not want to make anybody more upset than they already were. Robin continued his search and nothing good had come out of it. He had checked almost 90 of the Tower and he had found absolutely nothing. Maybe the coordinates were wrong. The only two places that were left to search were the garage and Starfire's room. He decided to re-check the coordinates and make sure he had not done anything wrong in his calculations. Maybe he had pressed the search button for another Titan and this was the reason why the coordinates of the Tower had appeared.
Robin re-checked the search engine and the same coordinates were given to him. His frustration was getting the best of him as he walked to the elevator and made his way to the garage. The elevator opened to reveal a very messy garage with tools and car parts all around. He could not stand messy places and these objects prevented him from moving around freely. Robin had not seen Cyborg working on the T-Car and began kicking anything that stood on his way. Cyborg cleared his throat and Robin stopped the kicking.
-"Kicking my spare parts won't bring her back, ya know?"-Cyborg said
-"Then what will?"-Robin asked
-"Time and patience"-Cyborg answered
Robin decided that there was nothing to look for there in the garage and sighed. Cyborg saw Robin's disappointment and hoped he could do something for his friend but he knew there was nothing he could do to make him feel better. Cyborg thought that he could at least try and walked to a locked box at the end of the garage.
-"Robin, I know you lost your communicator"-Cyborg said
-"Yes, can you build me a new one?"-Robin asked
-"Already did, here ya go"-Cyborg answered
Robin ran towards Cyborg and he handed Robin the brand new communicator. Robin grinned and put his communicator inside his utility belt.
-"Thanks"-Robin said
-"No big"-Cyborg said
-"I better go"-Robin said
-"I better get back to work"-Cyborg said
This said, Robin ran back to the elevator and made his way to the main room. There was no other place left to search but Starfire's room and for some reason, Robin was very afraid of going inside her room without her permission or without her being there. He realized it was the fear of remembering that it had been her room and that she had been there last night and that now she was not. It was the fear of not knowing when would she, if she ever did, come back to him.
The elevator's doors opened and revealed the quiet living room of Titans Tower. If this had been a normal day, Cyborg and BB would be playing video games, Raven would be next to them trying to mediate and argue with them and he and Starfire would be anywhere else but here. They would probably be at the roof or at the training room or downtown. He had not appreciated how much these moments meant to him until now, now that she was gone. Robin walked to the door and got out of the living room, making his way to Starfire's room. Once he got there he thought of knocking on the door but he quickly realized it would be useless. No one was there.
Robin used his override password and the door opened. He stood at the door and looked for the switch, which was right next to the door. He slowly turned the light on and the room was filled with brightness, an empty brightness that he disliked. Robin walked inside her room and as soon as he was a few inches away from the door's range, it closed shut and he was left inside Starfire's room alone by himself. Robin examined the room. It was impeccable, like if nobody had used it at all. The first thing that caught Robin's eye was to see the missing first aid kit, the one that belonged in the living room. The last time that Starfire had passed out he had looked for it in the main room and he found nothing, which was why he had to run to the restroom and grab the one in there.
Robin walked to the little nightstand where the first aid kit was and opened it. To his surprise the kit had been used several times and its inside was almost empty. The only objects left were a couple of bandages, a little bottle of alcohol and some suturing stitches. He could not imagine how often had this kit been used but he hoped that it was not used on Starfire but on Red X. Robin felt tempted to search Starfire's room and so he did. The first place he looked at was under the bed where he found nothing. He walked around the room and growled at the frustration of not finding any place where things could be hidden since Starfire's room was extremely clean. Robin sat on the side of the bed and looked at the drawers of the nightstand. He mentally slapped himself on the head for not looking inside them first and quickly jumped to the floor to examine the drawers.
Inside the first drawer he found a little brown box that had a ribbon all around it. He slowly untied the ribbon and carefully opened the box. Its contents surprised Robin and made him miss Starfire even more. Inside the box Robin found a stack of pictures of himself. Some of them showed him and Starfire together and some were parts of bigger pictures where, he thought, he had being with someone else but Starfire had gotten the best part of the picture. He looked at the pictures and put them back inside the box while he remembered how he had his own stack of Starfire's pictures inside his drawer.
The second drawer only had three items. The first one made Robin growl: it was Starfire's communicator.
-'So this is why the signal comes from the Tower'-Robin thought
All this time he had been looking for the signal of the communicator to find Starfire and Starfire did not even have the communicator with her. The second item he saw was a little black box that looked familiar to Robin. He grabbed it and when he opened he realized why it was so familiar to him. It was the little black box in which he had given Starfire the dolphin necklace and bracelet and for his misfortune, the jewelry was inside the box; she had not taken it with her either.
The last thing he saw was a plastic box that had a bunch of bottles inside. He opened the box and found that the bottles were empty bottles of pain-relief medicine. Robin opened one bottle after the other and they were all empty, all five of them. He felt a shiver went down his spine and regretted every single word of meanness that he had uttered to her. She, most than everyone else he knew, deserved nothing but kindness and respect from him. Robin's conscious was killing him.
-'Star, what's happening to you?'-Robin thought
Robin grabbed the plastic box with the empty bottles of medicine and decided to show them to the rest of the Titans. It was about time that he left his immatureness aside and began acting like the leader he was. Robin was about to leave the room when he remembered that he had not searched Starfire's closet. He left the box on the bed and made his way to the closet. He opened the door and saw nothing unusual. The closet was perfectly arranged, the clothes on its place and the drawers closed. Robin imagined that those drawers contained Starfire's underclothes and decided that it was not a good idea for him to search them. He would ask Raven to check them for him later on.
Robin closed the closet's door and when he turned back an idea came into his mind. He again mentally slapped himself on the head for not thinking about this before and grabbed the box from the bed on his way out of the room. Robin arrived to the main room and left the plastic box on the couch. His target was to activate the search engine again; he knew the perfect way to find Starfire's location.
After Red X had taken Starfire away the first time they met him, Robin had asked Cyborg to work on nano GPS technology for their outfits. If a Titan went missing and his communicator was not reachable, they would be able to pinpoint their location by their clothes. Robin could not help to grin to the idea of finding Starfire. Robin began looking for Starfire in the search engine, it was supposed to take only a few seconds but for Robin, these seconds felt like hours. Right about when the big screen would display Starfire's location the alarm went off.
The screen displayed an image of Dr. Light robbing the city bank downtown. It was not long until the rest of the Titans showed up at the living room to wait for orders from their leader. Robin's search for Starfire had to wait a little bit more than expected. He immediately assigned positions to leave the Tower. BB carried Cyborg, Raven flew and Robin used his R-Cycle to get to the scene of the crime. In moments, all four Titans arrived at the entrance of the bank. Robin slid his bike in order for it to stop and was immediately surrounded by a big shadow that came from the ground, from which Raven appeared. Both of them turned to see BB leave Cyborg on the ground and morph back into his human form. The Titans were surprised to see that this was not a small case of bank robbing but something of greater magnitude. In other times, the Titans would just go inside the bank, kick the bad guy's butt and leave. This time it was different. Dr Light was not by himself, he had hostages inside the bank. There were police cabs and officers surrounding the bank and plenty of bystanders to make the situation even worse. While Robin analyzed the situation, a police officer approached him.
-"What is the situation inside?"-Robin asked
-"There are 15 people inside; men, women and children"-The office answered
-"What is Dr Light asking for in exchange?"-Robin asked
-"He is asking for you"-The officer answered
Robin made a face and looked at the rest o the Titans who shrugged also in amusement.
-"How do you know he wants me?"-Robin asked
-"He used one of the hostage's cell phone and asked where were you. That is why we called you. We thought this was a smaller disturbance and that we didn't need to bother you but we were wrong"-The officer answered
-"Is there anything else I should know before I go in?"-Robin asked
-"Yes, he wants you to go inside without anybody else or any of your weapons"-The officer answered
Robin frowned and turned to see the bank. He did not like the way things sounded.
-"Thanks, we'll take it from here, just cover our backs"-Robin said
-"Done"-The officer said
The policeman ran back to the other officers and asked them to keep an eye on the Titans. They immediately got into position behind the open doors of their cabs and became ready to fire if necessary. The Titans surrounded Robin to hear him out.
-"Dude, are you seriously thinking of going inside by yourself?"-BB asked
-"This has the word setup written all over it"-Raven said
-"When can't let ya go inside without protection"-Cyborg said
-"Starfire isn't here. She can't get mad at you for not protecting me at all times"-Robin said
-"There is no way we are leaving you alone with that psycho"-BB said
-"But you can't go with me, I'll be ok"-Robin said
-"Man, I think maybe Raven should go with you. If she uses the shadows to get there he will not see her"-Cyborg said
-"That's a good idea. Wait until I am inside"-Robin said
-"Are you really gonna leave your stuff here?"-BB asked
-"I will leave my utility belt if that's what you are asking"-Robin answered
-"Got it"-BB said
Robin reluctantly removed his utility belt and gave it to Cyborg. Raven flew to the side of the bank to await BB's signal that it was safe to go inside. Robin told the officer to tell Dr Light that he was on his way so he could open the door. The officer did as told and Robin began walking towards the door. Robin stood at the doorway and it slowly opened. Robin gave a last look at the people outside and walked inside the building. The first thing Robin saw was the hostages who were on the floor, scared to death. He walked a little bit more towards the people and saw the relief in their eyes when they saw him.
-"Everything will be alright. I'll get you out of here"-Robin said
-"I would not count on that"-Dr Light said
Robin turned to see Dr Light standing on the counter, arms crossed and showing off a new uniform. He had changed his all-black spandex uniform for an all-white spandex outfit.
-"What do you want with me?"-Robin asked
-"You know how much your head is worth?"-Dr Light answered
-"What are you talking about?"-Robin asked
-"Haven't you had a lot of work lately? Every villain in Jump City is after you"-Dr Light answered
-"Who put a price on my head?"-Robin asked
-"Who else but Slade"-Dr Light answered
Robin could feel his anger starting to build up. What was Slade's plan? He had no idea and things were just getting more confusing by the minute. Outside the building BB gave the signal to Raven to go inside the bank. Raven did as told and she walked towards the wall to go right though it but she was shocked. The building was protected by an invisible force field of pure electricity. Raven was mildly electrocuted and sent flying backwards to the middle of the street. Cyborg and BB ran towards her to make sure she was ok.
-"Raven, wake up!"-BB said
-"Let me check her vitals, man"-Cyborg said
Cyborg checked Raven for any severe damage but he found none. Raven opened her eyes and rubbed her forehead.
-"Are you alright?"-BB asked
-"At least I didn't hit any walls this time"-Raven answered
-"She will be alright"-Cyborg said
-"Now how do we get in? We can't touch the walls"-BB said
-"Let me try my blaster"-Cyborg said
-"No"-Raven said
-"Why not?"-Cyborg asked
-"You may worsen the force field. Your cannon might unstable it and make it explode. It could take out the whole building and the people inside"-Raven answered
-"Good point"-Cyborg said
-"Then what do we do? We have to help Robin. He has no way of defending himself"-BB said
-"Is this the same Robin we are talking about? He can take care of himself"-Raven said
-"He can, but with those people inside the tables are turned against him"-Cyborg said
-"We may not be able to touch the walls but we might be able to touch the floor"-Raven said
-"Hello Raven, the only way to touch the floor is to get inside and we can't"-BB said
-"Unless Raven uses her powers to go underneath the building"-Cyborg said
-"Oh! Yeah, that would work too"-BB said
Cyborg told the policemen what they wanted to do and asked them to be on the watch for anything unusual. BB carried Raven to the back of the building and Cyborg followed them. They did not want Dr Light to notice their entrance, so they decided to sneak in by the back "door". Cyborg asked Raven to get them all inside the building as they did not know what the situation was; they did not want to take any risks, Robin's life was on the line. Raven stood up in between Cyborg and BB and concentrated in getting all of them inside. She closed her eyes and a big shadow began surrounding them until the only thing they could see was the darkness that was all around them. They all closed their eyes and before they knew it, Raven had teletransported them to the back part of the counter.
Cyborg whispered to Raven and BB to stay quiet and he began using his laser view to see right through the counter. He was able to see the hostages still on the floor. He also saw Dr Light and Robin fighting against each other.
-"We need to get this people out of here"-Cyborg said
-"How do we do that?"-BB asked
-"Beast Boy, morph into a little, non-scary animal and tell the people that we will get them out of there"-Raven answered
-"Are you going to use your powers to get them out?"-Cyborg asked
-"Yes, as long as Robin distracts him we will be alright"-Raven answered
BB and Cyborg nodded and BB morphed into a rat. He ran across the room and reached a man that was on the other side of the counter, away from where Robin and Dr Light were fighting. BB lured the man away from view and when they were hiding he resumed human form only to explain their plan to him. BB asked the man to tell the other hostages what was going to happen and to give them a signal when everyone knew the plan so they could put it to practice. The man thanked BB and he morphed back into a rat to go back to the counter and tell the rest of the Titans what had happened. The Titans just needed the people to give them the signal so they could save them and begin protecting Robin.
The man began telling the person next to him what was going to happen and this person told the other and the other and so on. Meanwhile, Dr Light and Robin were having a pretty tough battle against each other. Dr Light was eager to get his reward for bringing the Boy Wonder to Slade.
-"It is not so easy without your weapons, is it?"-Dr Light asked
-"I don't need any weapons to defeat you"-Robin answered
-"Oh, but I think you do to defeat my partner"-Dr Light said
-"What?"-Robin said
The door of the vault exploded, sending many broken parts in all directions. Robin wondered who could have joined Dr Light in his idea of killing him and could only wait for the smoke to clear up. Raven used this distraction to hurry up and get the last five people out of the bank while Cyborg and BB prepared to counterattack Dr Light and the new enemy. They just hoped it was not Slade himself. The smoke finally cleared and Robin was face to face with an old strong enemy. Robin wished he had brought his utility belt with him.
-"We meet again"-Atlas said
-"Unfortunately for you, this will be the last time"-Robin said
-"I wouldn't be so sure about it"-Dr Light said
Atlas walked towards Robin so that Robin was in between Dr Light and him. Robin glared at them both and prepared for a serious fight alone, or so he thought. Robin realized that the hostages were all gone; he could now fight without the worry of innocent people getting hurt.
-'Where are they?'-Robin thought
-"Cat ate your tongue?"-Dr Light asked
-"No, how about yours?"-Robin answered
-"What do plan to do? No one can help you know"-Atlas said
-"That's what you think"-BB said
Atlas and Dr Light turned to see BB standing on the counter and growled.
-"That's impossible! I have a shield surrounding the building! How did you get in?"-Dr Light asked
-"Same way as I got in"-Cyborg answered
Both enemies turned to the opposite side were BB was and saw Cyborg getting his cannon ready to attack either one of them.
-"You! How did you get in?"-Atlas asked
-"The same way your hostages got out"-Raven answered
Again, both enemies turned and saw Raven coming from the floor in front of Robin. As soon as Raven was back into human form she turned to face Dr Light.
-"So, didn't you get enough of the dark last time?"-Raven asked
-"Didn't you get enough of the light?"-Dr Light asked
After saying this Raven and Dr Light began fighting each other. Raven tried to cover Dr Light with her shadows and Dr Light evaded them trying to shock Raven with his bolts of lightning. Meanwhile, Cyborg shot his laser against Atlas that only made him stumble a little but he quickly stroked back at him. BB jumped to where Robin was and got him out of the fight. BB handed Robin his utility belt and Robin immediately put it on.
-"Thank you, Beast Boy"-Robin said
-"Nah! It was nothing"-BB said
-"So we are the only ones left inside this building?"-Robin asked
-"Yes, everybody else is out and safe"-BB answered
-"Good"-Robin said
Robin and BB ran back to the fight scene and saw Raven winning the fight against Dr Light; however, Cyborg was not having the same luck. Robin decided to help Cyborg defeat Atlas since he was a stronger enemy and Raven was capable of stopping Dr Light all by herself. Robin threw a couple of birdarangs to Atlas to get his attention and he did. Cyborg was relieved to see that he was not alone and that for a long time the Titans were acting like a true team. If only they could have Starfire by their side as before, but this was not going to happen and they knew it.
-"Cyborg, use Dr Light energy provider to strengthen your cannon and blast this thin can away"-Robin said
-"I'm on it!"-Cyborg said
Cyborg ran to Dr Light source but was stopped by Dr Light himself.
-"I wouldn't do that if I were you"-Dr Light said
-"I ain't you"-Cyborg said
Cyborg plugged the source to his system and he quickly drained the energy that maintained the field active, along with the light inside the bank.
-"Cyborg let it go!"-Robin yelled
With darkness surrounding all of them, the Titans could only imagine what was happening by the sounds they could hear. Robin heard BB ask for help but he could not locate him.
-"Cyborg, let the source go!"-Robin yelled desperately
Robin saw Cyborg's cannon light up the place a little and for a short instant.
-"Where are you?"-Robin asked
-"Robin, get away from here!"-Raven yelled
Robin's desperation rose for not being able to see what was happening. Where was he supposed to run to? And from whom? Suddenly, Robin felt someone or something grabbing his feet and pulling him down to the floor. A loud thump was heard when Robin smashed his back to the floor. He tried to free himself but whatever was holding him pulled harder and faster until it stopped. Robin felt being tightly grabbed by a metal object.
-'Atlas!'-Robin thought
For a split moment there was no sounds at all, the only thing that could be heard was the rapid breathing of what he hoped were the Titans. He then heard two loud laughs. These laughs belonged to Atlas and Dr Light that had the Titans under their mercy. Dr Light had tied the Titans up with shocking cables and it was only a matter of seconds until he decided to use these cables with them.
-"You wanted some energy didn't you?"-Dr Light asked
-"How about if you give them some?"-Atlas asked
Dr Light began shocking the Titans and they began yelling. Outside the building people could only see the sparks coming from the inside and then the screams of the superhero teens trapped inside.
-"Someone needs to do something!"-One of the bystanders yelled
-"Sir, what do we do?"-A policeman asked
-"I don't know"-The other answered
More sparks and yelling were heard coming from the bank. Inside the building the Titans tried to free themselves from the cables but the slightest movement activated the cables and more shocking would come.
-"Do you think they had enough?"-Dr Light asked
-"A few more shocks won't kill them"-Atlas answered
Dr Light increased the voltage in the machine and prepared himself to shock the Titans with a much greater amount of energy when a sudden green bolt lightened the place. The bolt was followed by a red X that cut the Titans free from the cables. The place was still dark and Atlas and Dr Light could not see what was really going on. Before the Titans knew it, they were lifted from the floor and tossed to the back side of the counter.
-"Now it's our turn"-Red X said
-"You shall no longer hurt my friends"-Starfire said
-"Starfire"-Robin whispered
The Titans were trying to regain full consciousness but this task proved to be hard after the several shocks they had received. They would need to have a check up before they could go back home and relax, if they ever got out of this one. Starfire's bolts and Red X's lasers kept illuminating the place for split seconds. It was not until Atlas fired his cannon and hit Dr Light source that some light came back to the room. The machine was set on fire.
-"We need to get out of here. The machine is going to blow"-Dr Light said
-"You aren't going anywhere"-Red X said
Red X began fighting against Dr Light while Starfire blasted and punched Atlas. BB stood up and rested his arm on the counter to maintain balance. He saw Starfire and Red X fighting. He was expecting to see a super fight between them since they were the strongest people he knew but he saw something entirely different. It was true that they were fighting quite well; however, both of the looked slower than usual, especially Starfire. Her starbolts began weakening by the second. Her eyes had stopped glaring its usual bright green and she was breathing hard.
-"Robin, we need to get out of here"-BB said
Cyborg stood up and saw the same thing that BB had seen and began to feel worried. The fire at the machine was expanding rapidly and the smoke alarms would not go off. Cyborg knew this was not going to end up so well, but it would definitely end up pretty soon.
-"Robin, Red X and Starfire can't keep fighting anymore"-Cyborg said
Robin stood up and that moment the first explosion was heard. The explosion made Atlas, Dr Light, Red X and Starfire fly backwards to the counter. Atlas fell on his back and his leg came off. Dr Light's outfit had caught some of the flame and he was now rolling on the floor to stop himself from burning to death. Red X had caught Starfire before they hit the floor and were a few feet away from where the Titans were.
Robin looked at Red X and saw what seemed to him as Blackfire on his lap.
-'What the hell is Blackfire doing here?'-Robin thought
Robin took a closer look and saw the long red-hair and the green eyes. His eyes had fooled him. This was not Blackfire but Starfire in Blackfire's clothes.
-'There goes my idea of tracking her clothes'-Robin thought
Robin slowly stood up and was brought down by a second explosion. This time the explosion was bigger and made the windows break and the glass ceiling to fall. Robin used his cape to protect himself and Raven used hers to protect herself and BB. Cyborg needed only to cover his head and Red X covered Starfire.
-"The next explosion is gonna blow the place!"-Cyborg said
-"Raven, get us out of here!"-BB yelled
-"No, I have to talk to Starfire"-Robin said
-"There's no time, man. We gotta go now!"-Cyborg said
-"Not without her!"-Robin said
-"She'll be ok. Red X will take her away from here"-BB said
-"That's what I don't want to happen"-Robin said
Starfire had regained half consciousness and saw Robin tried to reach her. She shot a small starbolt to keep him away because she could not move. Her whole body soared and she could hardly breathe.
-"Red X, is happening again"-Starfire said in between breaths
-"Hang on!"-Red X said
-"No, stop!"-Robin said
-"Raven pulled Robin's leg and before he could do something about it Raven had used her powers to get BB, Cyborg, Robin and herself out of the bank.
-"We must escape"-Dr Light said
-"You know Slade is going to kill us, like he killed Mumbo"-Atlas said
-"I don't want to die"-Dr Light said
-"Too late for that"-Red X said
Starfire rested herself on Red X shoulder for support. Red X threw X's to both Atlas and Dr Light and strapped them to the floor. He then looked at Starfire who understood his eyes and knew what to do. The machine needed a little bit of help to finally blow up. Starfire used the last of her strength to shoot a starbolt big enough to spark the machine and made the building blow into pieces.
Outside the building, bystanders, policemen and the Titans observed as the bank blew and its flames got sucked back into the origin of the fire. People were glad it was over and no innocent lives were taken. The policemen began asking the people to leave the scene and the ambulance and fire department arrived. The ambulance ran to aid the Titans that were on the ground, tired of what they had just escaped from.
The fire department began to calm down the small fires that were still on the once standing bank. Cyborg was the first one to be left free since he had no major injuries. Cyborg ran back to the bank and looked for signs of the people that were left inside the building. He was not able to find Starfire or Red X on top of the debris but he was able to see the remaining of Atlas. Later all of them would find out that Dr Light did not make it out alive either.
Back at the ambulance the rest of the Titans had been cured and they were now listening to what Cyborg had seen from the officers. The once hostages thanked the Titans and a cab offered to take them to their Tower; an offer that the Titans refused. The Titans began walking back to their Tower thinking about how close they had been to death and wondering if their former teammates had made it out alive from the fire.
-"Why was she wearing Blackfire's outfit?"-BB asked
-"That is not Blackfire's outfit. Starfire's usual uniform is worn by the warriors. Blackfire's is worn by royalty"-Raven answered
-"How would you know this information?"-Robin asked
-"Starfire told me a long time ago"-Raven answered
-"She is getting worse, isn't she?"-BB asked
-"I'm afraid she is"-Cyborg said
-"What is wrong with her?"-Robin asked
-"Maybe she's…pregnant?"-BB said
Robin stopped walking and glared at BB. He then jumped over BB and threw him to the floor.
-"Don't say that"-Robin said
Raven used her powers to move Robin away from BB and threw him to the floor.
"Hey! Dude! Chill out! I was kidding….besides; it's not like if Starfire is so naïve that it's easy to persuade her and….Oops! Oh! Mmhhh….shutting up now"-BB said
-"Best idea ever"-Raven said
The Titans continued their way to their home and when they arrived, each one of them left to their rooms immediately. The Titans had many things to think about, especially Robin. It was now evident to him that she, in fact, did not want to be tracked at all. She had left her communicator at her room and had changed outfits. At least he knew she was ok and he hoped she had escaped the fire. He had not seen her escape but deep inside he knew that Starfire would not give up so easily and neither would him.
Robin went to Starfire's room and opened the door. He got the plastic box that he had taken from her room a couple of hours ago and put it back where it was. He took a last look at her room and sighed. This was the last time this room would be opened. Robin walked out of the room and used a special code to lock the room. Not even Starfire would be able to open it now. Robin rested his back on the closed door and stared at the floor.
-"It will be kept as you left it, waiting for you to come back"-Robin whispered
With this Robin began walking to his room, he needed a shower and to rest for the remaining of the night. Tomorrow would be a new day at Titans Tower.
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AN: Hope you liked this chapter. I know it gets creepy sometimes but I tried to keep it PG-13. I am already working on the next chapter and you will not have to wait a month for it to come out since I'm on vacation! Take care and enjoy the holidays!