Chap. 5
Ambush
The mall was a large, noisy place. Filled with people shopping for every kind of item known to man, it was also hard to move in. Plus, everyone was talking loudly over each other, making it impossible to hear yourself think. Normally, this was the last place Raven would have ever wanted to go. But despite all that, she kept reminding herself, "This is for Starfire." That thought alone was still barely enough to keep her from bringing the whole place down with her powers.
Still, she had to admit, this was having a good effect on Star. She'd actually been smiling the whole time, looking around at the shops in pure happiness. Well, at least it's not a total loss. Raven thought as she walked by. Suddenly, she was enveloped in a horrible-smelling mist. Raven began to cough as the smell invaded her nostrils. Then she heard a voice say, "Did you like the free sample?" Trying to clear her watery eyes, Raven saw a woman standing next to her with a perfume bottle and the most obnoxious smile ever plastered onto her face. "What… is.. that?" Raven coughed out. "It's the new fragrance all the way from Paris 'Eau de la merde a éclaboussé le chien humide . It's all the rage now. Do you want a bottle, they're only $49.99?" "No." Raven replied curtly. The woman started to respond, but thankfully, Starfire chose that moment to drag Raven off to a store. As she walked off, Raven called back to the saleswoman, "Oh, and that name means smell of a wet dog covered in crap."
Outside of the earth, a white hold suddenly cut into the fabric of space. For a moment, it held then collapsed into itself. But not before a small object managed to fly out. The object floated in space for a moment, seeming to look around at its surroundings. Then it saw Earth. Without hesitation, it began to fly towards the planet.
"Is it not adorable Raven?" asked Star, as she hugged the large stuffed lion in her arms. "Uh, sure." said Raven, who in all frankness was quite uncomfortable being in the store. For some reason, Star had dragged her into the Disney Store, and was now fawning over every stuffed toy she saw. Personally, Raven found the cutesy atmosphere extremely disturbing and she was actually starting to feel as though she was having a nervous breakdown. Just then, a couple of boys walked past them and began to stare at Starfire. However, they neglected to stop walking, and soon went face-first into the wall. "Oh, that again?" said Starfire, almost absent-mindedly. "What do you mean again?" asked Raven. "Well while you were with that lady selling perfume, a few other boys did the same thing. Why are they doing that? Is it some new… 'craze' is the right word" "Well, probably because of you." replied Raven. Star however, gasped in surprise. "Me? Oh no, am I doing something to them? Is there some sort of horrible sickness coming from me that is making them lose their focus? We have to do something!" she almost yelled, causing more then a few people to turn around and stare at her. Embarrassed by their stares, Raven quickly pulled Star aside. "Starfire, those boys think you're attractive. That's why they're doing that."
Star was quite surprised to hear that answer. "Why.. would they think that?" she asked haltingly. "You mean you've never had this happen before?" asked Raven. "Well I have had people stare at me." she replied. "But usually they were staring at my skin." "Oh." The empath replied. "Well, I guess you, well, look what they're used to now." At that, Star took another look at her hands. "I'm not different now." she said softly. "Maybe it's not so bad after all…."
The object had broken through the atmosphere and was on a direct course. It's trajectory had it headed for the West Coast of North America. As it got closer and closer, it could start to make out landmarks. It soon saw a large T, and seemed to be headed right for it. But suddenly, it pulled hard to the left, and headed for a building in the city….
Suddenly, Star cocked her head to the side. "Do you hear something?" "Like what?" Raven asked. "It kind of sounds like whistling…" But Star didn't get to finish, because then something seemed to explode outside the store. The impact shattered the glass windows and threw everyone in the store back into the wall. Thankfully, this caused them to miss the glass. Groaning, the two heroes tried to pull themselves out of the wreckage they were buried in. But then, there was the sounds of footsteps on the broken glass, and then an all too familiar voice say, "Hello sister-dear."