Chap. 4
Argument
Two days later…
Beast Boy stood in front of the door. Gently, he rapped twice. "Who is it?" said a sad voice from the room. "It's me Star." He said. There was silence, then she replied, "What do you want?" "I-I want to apologize Star. I really screwed up and now you're suffering for it." Again silence. "Star, please open the door. I have to say this to your face." He begged. There seemed to be a deep breath from behind the door. Then she spoke in a cold, brittle voice, "I accept your apology, but you cannot come in." "Wha.. Star I need to say this to your face." He said. But she replied, "Beast Boy, I am no longer myself because of you. You took away the very essence of who I am. Right now, I can barely stand to listen to you. Now please, go." "But Star, I…" "GO AWAY!" she yelled harshly. A look of incredible hurt on his face, Beast Boy backed away and walked off.
"Hand me that wrench, will you Martin?" asked Brett, as he placed another bolt onto the cannon. The two of them had done impressive work over the last few days. The ray was almost halfway done, and very few parts had actually been damaged. But it didn't bring them much joy, because though they had the ray, they were no closer to finding any sort of way to reverse the effects. Martin was in fact looking over a chart of Tammerian body chemistry, hoping to find some sort of genetic reflex that might aid them. But he was coming up empty. "This is going nowhere." He sighed. Turing to his partner, he asked, "Are you sure we can't get Blackfire here?" Replacing a circuit board, the bat replied, "I tried talking with the Centari. It's not even an option. If Star was in danger of dying, they might reconsider, but since she's not, they say no." Running his hand over his face, Martin said, "What are we going to do? She hasn't come out of her room in two days, and we're not any closer to a cure. What if we have to tell her she'll be like this forever?" "At least she'd listen to you." said a new voice sadly. They turned, to see Beast Boy walk into the lab. "You tried to apologize, I take it?" asked Brett. "She wouldn't even let me in her room." "Well I really can't say I'm surprised." replied Martin. "You saw how depressed she was." "I just wish there was something I could do." the green one replied. "But I can't fix the ray, and I don't know what else I can do. How are you guys coming with it?" At that, both heroes sighed. "I'll be frank." Said Martin. "If you want to help you'd best start helping her accept being human. We don't even know if we can change her back." "Are you guys.." "Yeah." "Oh man.' he said, sitting down on a table. But then, he said, "You know, maybe it's not such a bad idea. I mean, Star's not gonna stand out in a crowd anymore. She won't get mobbed everywhere she goes. I mean, I'd want to normal again, why shouldn't she?"
At that, Martin actually backed away from Beast Boy, with a look on his face of someone who has just seen the unthinkable. Beast Boy would've asked about it, but suddenly, he felt a hand wrap around his shirt collar and drag him upward. Brett's face, twisted with anger, encompassed his view. "Normal?!" the bat sneered. "You think that you at least gave her that? Screw normalcy Greenie! Is this normal?" he asked, pulling at his fur. "So what if she can walk in crowds? Just because the masses think its normal doesn't mean it is. That's problem with you humans. Nothing is ever accepted until it's completely like you." Beast tried to open his mouth, but Brett cut him off. "And don't start with the green thing ok? There's a difference. You may be green, but you're still a human. Starfire never was, and she never wanted to be! Just like I don't want to be! She had an identity, but you had to be an idiot, and now she doesn't have that anymore. So don't try to make yourself feel better about this, cause you don't fucking deserve it!" "Brett enough ok?" said Martin pleadingly. An angry look still on his face, Brett slowly put Beast Boy down. Turning he went back to work on the machine. Beast Boy looked at Martin, but all he got was, "He's just stressed." Once again, Beast Boy walked out of a room, feeling completely alone and rejected.
She stood at the door, surprised at what she was about to do. Normally, she was the one locked in a room, having others beg her to come out. It was weird to be on the opposite end, but if she had to do it for Starfire, then her friend really needed help. Gently knocking, Raven said, "Starfire?" "Yes, Raven?" she replied sadly. "Uh, are you going to come out of there soon?" Raven asked awkwardly. "How can I?" Star responded bitterly. "Well, I just asked cause I wanted to know if you felt like going to the mall." said Raven, though she couldn't believe she was saying it. There was silence, then the sound of footsteps towards the door. It opened a bit and Star poked her head out. "You…would take me there?" "Yeah, I guess. I mean, it might help you feel better for a little while." The empath replied. Star's eyes seemed to water for a moment, then she said, "Raven, I… thank you. I can't believe I've been this self-centered, and you still want to help me." "Well we're friends aren't we?" Raven answered. Suddenly, the door opened, and for the first time in days, Starfire walked out. "Yes, we are. Come, let us go." "Sure." Raven said, as they walked for the exit, although Raven wondered just what she was gonna do at the mall.