Chapter 7- Reckless Girls and Royal Zarnoff's
"Whoever this guy is…he sure has a sense of urgency," Red X said sarcastically, blending himself into the shadows of the dark ally as a Police car drove by.
He waited there restlessly at the drop-off point where he'd get paid; a dark, dreary ally full of garbage and trash cans, with a single street light that illuminated this small rundown portion of the ghetto. He rest himself impatiently against the base of the street light waiting for his contact to pick up his "merchandise," that he was already a half an hour late for. He paused; the sound of footsteps coming from behind him caused him to freeze and remain motionless as he listened to the noise progressively getting louder. He turned swiftly but came up short when no one was visibly there. He looked all around him, still hearing the oncoming footsteps but couldn't spot a soul to identify making the dull noises. Red X turned around again and squinted in the darkness trying to make out the dark figure coming his way as friend or foe. The figure stopped, and all he could see were his narrow white eyes that almost seemed to glow in the darkness.
"Are you the guy," Red X asked putting his hand over an X-star in his back pouch, ready to defend himself. "Are you Deathstroke?"
The silhouette stood there, gazing at him as if studying and predicting his next move until it finally came one step closer towards the light Red X was standing under. Red X squinted again, it was still very dark and hard to see but he could almost make out a distinct outline of this mysterious being that seemed to slouch over like a troll and had a large orange circle on his face. Red X gripped his hand tighter around his weapon, ready to strike when suddenly the presence before him threw a brief case out on the ground in front of him. It slid towards him making an annoying scrapping sound that came to a halt just in front of his feet. The brief case popped open and revealed an unearthly amount of money that Red X assumed was the pay-off.
Looking down at the pay-load, Red X chuckled slightly and said, "Looks like you came through after all. Well…a deals a deal. Here's—"he looked up to find his visitor gone.
Red X gasped. He turned every direction in search of him, but found no one. He was gone, and he didn't even take the diamond he had worked so hard to steal. Red X looked back down at the open brief case and noticed a white strip of paper amongst the green that seemed to stick out like a soar thumb. He reached down and pulled it out, curious to see that it had his named written on it. He opened it up and it read:
"Dear Mr. X,
Consider your trophy a down payment for you next assignment.
I will be contacting you soon."
Red X looked up from the note, confused, happy, and disturbed all at the same time.
"ALRIGHT," he said to himself as he crumpled up the note and threw it in a near-by trash can.
He closed the lid, picked up the brief case, stuck the diamond in one of his belt pouches and began heading out of the alley; happy that he was now 2 million dollars richer.
"Easy money," he said aloud to himself. "I love it when the good-guy wins." He pressed the button on his belt buckle and disappeared into the night.
-
"STARFIRE!" Robin got up and hurried over to the huge pile of rock and rubble that covered one of his dearest friends. "No…no….NNNOOOOOO," he yelled as he frantically started moving away as much debris as he could.
The other Titans managed to shake off Red X's last attacks and rushed over to where Robin was standing. They stood there in disbelief that their friend could've survived something like this.
"HELP ME," Robin yelled nervously as he moved a huge chunk of cement.
The three other Titans rushed over to the wreckage and began moving debris, when suddenly something amazing happened.
"EERRRRRAAAGGGHHHHh!" Starfire burst through the top portion of the huge pile that covered her and drew in a deep breath of air. She coughed several times then tried pushing herself up and out of the debris pile when Cyborg, Beast Boy, and Raven came over to help her. Robin dropped slightly onto his knees, thankful that she was okay and threw the piece of rubble in his hands off to the side.
"Star, are you okay," Cyborg asked frenetically.
"Dude, wicked save," Beast Boy yelled happy to see his friend relatively unharmed.
"Please friends," said Starfire as Cyborg helped her out. "I am undamaged."
"You had us worried there for a second," Raven said trying to hide her relief.
Robin stayed there on his knees trying to hold back his emotions and happiness as he looked down at the floor. He felt as though for a brief moment in time that he had lost her; he had lost a part of himself that he could never get back.
Starfire regained her balance and looked at her friends curiously. "Where is Robin," she asked somewhat concerned that he was not amongst the rest of them assisting her. "He is…okay!"
"Robin's fine," Cyborg assured her. "He just—"but before he could finish Starfire was already making her way over towards him.
"Robin," Starfire asked as she slowly came closer to her secret love. "Robin, you are…okay?"
He was now standing on his feet with his back turned to everyone, rapidly drawing in air through his nose making a distinct noise that Starfire recognized as anger.
"Robin, you are—"before she could finish her sentence, Robin turned around and grabbed her by the arm.
"WHAT WAS THAT SUPPOSED TO BE BACK THERE," Robin angrily said looking straight into her eyes.
Starfire was taken by his sudden outburst of anger as he gripped her arm tightly in his hand. She couldn't say a word, so many thoughts and emotions went through came over her all at once that she was awestruck as he stood there yelling.
"Robin, I—"she tried to explain herself but was interrupted.
"YOU COULD'VE GOTTEN YOURSELF HURT, AND WHAT YOU DID WAS RECKLESS AND UNCALLED FOR," Robin said showing his frustration.
Starfire tensed and only starred back at him as he continued shouting at her, making her feel unwanted and appreciated. She thought she was about to cry, but instead, felt as though a match were lit inside of her and her fuse was beginning to burn. He kept yelling, and yelling, and yelling, making sure she knew how reckless and ruthless her actions were and it began to make Starfire furious. She felt her pulse quicken and her patience grow short, she could feel herself getting warmer and warmer until finally the fuse burned out and…she exploded.
'YOU ARE ACTING LIKE A ROYAL ZARNOFF," Starfire yelled back at Robin. "I WAS MERELY TRYING TO SAVE YOU!"
Robin didn't budge he held his ground and yelled back at her. "SAVE ME! I DON'T NEED YOU RISKING YOUR LIFE TO SAVE ME! YOU COULD'VE GOTTEN YOURSELF HURT AND—"he was cut off.
"WELL MAYBE I DIDN'T WANT YOU GETTING HURT! MAYBE I WAS WORRIED THAT YOU WOULDN'T MAKE IT IF ALL THOSE LARGE BLOCKS OF CEILING FELL ON YOU," Starfire shouted.
"WELL MAYBE YOU SHOULD STOP BEING SO SELFISH AND START THINKING ABOUT HOW OTHER PEOPLE WOULD FEEL IF THEY PRATICALLY SAW AN ENTIRE BUILDING FALLING ON TOP OF SOMEONE LIKE YOU!"
Starfire briefly paused then got back in his face again. "WELL MAYBE I DIDN'T WANT TO SEE AN ENTIRE BUILDING FALL ON TOP OF YOU! MAYBE I—"Robin cut her off again.
"WELL MAYBE I DON'T WANT YOU TAKING THOSE KINDS OF CHANCES OF CHANCES WITH YOUR LIFE," exclaimed Robin inches away from her face.
"WELL MAYBE I'M WILLING TO TAKE THOSE KINDS CHANCES FOR YOU," yelled Starfire getting into his face as well.
"WELL MAYBE I CARE ENOUGH ABOUT YOU TO NOT WANT TO SEE YOU GET HURT," Robin yelled pointing at her.
"WELL MAYBE I CARE ENOUGH ABOUT YOU TO NOT WANT TO SEE YOU GET HURT," Starfire yelled pointing her finger at him as well.
They both stopped, now realizing how much of their inner feelings they had just revealed to each other. They both now silently starred at one another taking in all this new information and processing it as to what it could mean.
"Ya know what," Robin finally said. "We're getting nowhere with this, I'm not going to argue with you anymore. I'm getting out of here!"
Starfire paused, finally getting back into reality. "FINE, then I'll see YOU when I get home then," she yelled at him as he walked away.
He turned around to face her and in a childish manner said, "FINE!"
Starfire continue looking at him then yelled, "FINE!" She started making her way to the door when Robin yelled something back at her.
"FINE," he said as he turned around again.
She turned back as she was walking out…again and said, "FINE!"
Robin turned once more. "Fine," he said almost mocking her.
The two went their separate ways and were gone.
Raven, Cyborg, and Beast Boy stood there with raised eyebrows and confused looks on their faces. After standing there for several minutes, they all began looking around at each other trying to figure out what just happened between Robin and Starfire. They all looked forward and remained silent, until Cyborg put on a fake smile and blurted out,
"HEY LETS ALL GO OUT FOR WAFFLES!"
-
Robin drove around the city for a little while that night hoping he'd get home at a different time than Starfire, since he wanted to avoid her as much as possible. Starfire was the first one back to the tower that night, since the other three went out for waffles hoping their two angry friends would work things out if they were alone, and went up to the roof to collect her thoughts. Starfire heard the sound of Robin's motorcycle pulled up to the garage at the base of the tower, where he parked it and immediately went inside. On any other day she would've been happy to hear him coming in like that, but today, she was extremely upset with him. She waited for a little while, making sure he'd be long gone before she went back down to her room to retire for the night. She went to the staircase and hesitated before opening the door that led to the lower levels. She knew the rest of her friends had not come back yet and that she and Robin were the only ones currently in the tower. She finally opened the door and entered the stairwell, still hesitant of going all the way. She walked down a few flights of steps before hitting the upper level of the tower were everyone's rooms were, and headed for her own quarters. She stopped at the bathroom door and listened. The sounds and noises of shower water hitting the bottom of the tub could be heard inside as she slowly crept towards the entrance. She knew one of the ways Robin would unwind from anything, whether it be a hard day of training, taking out bad guys, or collecting his thoughts, he would always take a long shower that he said would seem to "wash all his troubles away." Starfire stood there with her ear against the door, listening in on his shower, hoping he'd wash all his anger away for her. She sighed, then went to her room and changed into her night gown and grabbed her teddy bear that all the more made her think of him. She sat on her bed with her knees drawn toward her chest, looking at her small, soft, brown teddy bear thinking of the boy she always dreamed of. She was still very mad at him, and would be for a while, but she still wished he wasn't so upset over the "reckless mistake" she had made earlier that day.
Robin got out of the shower and put his boxers, undershirt, and mask back on and left the bathroom still drying his wet hair with a towel. He passed by Starfire's room where he noticed a dim light still protruding from inside that almost seemed to cast him out, rather then invite him in like it usually seemed to do. He stopped at the door and looked at the name that went across it: Starfire. He knew that he and the girl he cared about were now fighting, and that she was probably very upset with him and there wasn't much he could say or do right now to change that. He sighed then thought to himself how reckless she was for risking her life the way she did earlier and almost giving him a heart attack. He looked back at the door one last time before making his way to his room and retired for the rest of the night.
-
"I'll have the Belgium Waffle please, with a side of bacon," said Cyborg to the waitress.
"I'll have the same thing, except minus the bacon," said Beast Boy handing her the menu.
"Same here, only could I have blueberries on top of mine," said Raven in her monotone voice handing the waitress her menu as well.
"I'll have those right out for you in a second," said the waitress as she went off into the kitchen.
There was silence among the three Titans as they sat there at their booth waiting for their delicious waffles to come out. It was now one in the morning, and they decided to retreat to the local neighborhood Waffle House after witnessing their friends' little "scene" that took place earlier that night. Beast Boy shifted in his seat and Cyborg cleared his throat and looked about the restaurant trying not to stir up conversation until Raven finally spoke.
"Um…I know this isn't my style," she said trying to sound as uninterested in the topic as possible. "But…what went on between Robin and Starfire earlier tonight?"
Beast Boy and Cyborg looked at each other and then back at Raven.
"What do you mean," Beast Boy asked trying to pass off as being oblivious to the subject.
"What exactly were they fighting about," Raven asked.
"Well if you couldn't tell before," Cyborg said stepping into the conversation. "They've both…got a thing for each other."
"I knew that," Raven said looking at him as though he were stupid. "It's just Robin doesn't usually get mad at Starfire, and tonight he exploded in her face, but for what?"
Cyborg leaned forward slightly and rested his head on the knuckles of his hands and looked at Raven. "Well, he thought he lost Star tonight and it scared him. I guess that's why he blew up the way he did."
"Yeah or he doesn't like being the damsel in distress," Beast Boy said laughing at his own joke.
Raven and Cyborg gave him a lame stare then simply ignored his comment.
Cyborg shifted in his seat then replied, "Maybe it's time they knew how they felt about one another."
"You sure you want to get into that," Raven asked taking a sip of her tea.
"Yeah, cause for all you know, they may never want to admit that to each other," Beast Boy interjected.
"Well...still," Cyborg said not knowing what to say.
"We can think of a way to…get Robin and Starfire to kiss and make up later," Raven said taking her silverware out of her napkin. "But for now, I want my waffles."
The waitress came out and handed the Titans their plates of waffles and they began consuming their early morning breakfast.
-
Robin woke up at eleven the next morning and immediately went outside to run through the obstacle course; the events of last night still fresh in his mind. He went to the computer that overlooked the entire circuit and began programming in his advanced difficulty level and course settings. He set the timer for a five minute delay so he could warm-up and headed down to the field. He began stretching and moving his arms around, then got down and did a few push-ups. He got to his feet again but, he felt as though something were wrong. He scanned the rocks and hills above him while hopping up and down trying to get his blood flowing in search of something, but what? He sensed a presence among his environment, watching him, studying him as he prepared himself to run the course. The timer buzzed, his five minute warm-up period was over and his ten second count-down had begun. He poised himself ready to sprint off into the course, and put his thoughts off to the side.
3…2…1…The timer rang and he immediately made a mad dash into the field. A series of twelve targets popped up from the ground and Robin quickly began the task of taking each one out. He punched, kicked, and swiped down target after target, then one more came up and he sprinted towards it. He leapt into the air and spun into a round-house kick when something off into the distance caught his eye. His foot made contact with the wooden board, but slightly caught him off-guard as he was distracted by this foreigner standing on top of a huge boulder overlooking the course. Robin landed on his feet, a slight pain going through his ankle after taking out the last object, and quickly turned to see who was watching him. The sun cast a glare in his eyes, nearly blinding his view of the newcomer that seemed to watch him motionlessly as Robin stood there in the middle of the course. He put his hand above his eyes trying to block out the glare, but could still only make out a blackened silhouette created by the sun as they stood there starring at one another. Suddenly, something cold, hard, and solid hit Robin in the back and immediately shot him forward, throwing him to the ground and sliding to a halt. Slightly dazed, Robin began getting on his feet, when suddenly another obstacle nearly took his head off. He ducked quickly and did a back flip out of the way, but was struck in the side by another blunt object that flung him backwards and under another obstruction. A giant hammer came down aiming for Robin's chest, but he was swiftly able to roll out of the way as more and more hammers came crashing down inches away from his body. Robin managed to escape the series of obstacles, then quickly got to his feet again and headed for the computer that stood at the end of the terrain. Robin looked over his shoulder and spotted his onlooker still watching him intuitively as several groups of laser cannons came out from the ground and began charging. Robin managed to spot these in time before dodging a hoard of oncoming laser fire that whizzed pasted him like fast moving neon lights. He ducked, jumped, rolled, flipped, and spun as the volume of red glowing lights seemed to increase as he made his way closer to the base of the guns. He pulled out several explosive disks and hurled them at his mechanical attackers creating a huge explosion that shook Robin's bones. He jumped over the flames and landed softly behind them trying to catch his breath, when two pairs of long metal tentacles reached out and wrapped themselves around his wrists and ankles. Robin was now suspended in mid-air and could feel his arms and legs being yanked out of their sockets as the tentacles pulled tighter and tighter. He looked over searching for his spectator who he found standing in the same spot as before with his hands behind his back, observing Robin as the tentacles slowly began pulling him apart.
Robin let out a cried out in agony, looking up at the sky and bracing himself, for he knew the pain had only just begun.
-
A/N:
That Robin, always getting himself in a tight pickle, but…will he be able to get out of this one? LOL. Well, if you hadn't guessed it, I'm back from my trip. It was pretty good and my mom brought her laptop with us so I was able to check the comments you all left me while I was away. It really sucked cause I wanted to write something SOOO BAD after I read all your comments and I was like, "AW COME ON WE NEED TO GET HOME I NEED TO WRITE MORE OF MY STORY!" I'm gonna forewarn all of you, these next few chapters are gonna get a little…mushy/romantic. Don't worry I'll still play with your minds, especially with this part that I've had planned since I originally thought this fanfic up, but…action might not be as…abundant as in formal chapters. So what do you guys think though so far? Red X was hired by Deathstroke to steal that diamond, Robin and Starfire are at each other's thoughts, and now there's some guy watching Robin being torn apart and not even doing anything about it! Hehehehehe, I really hope I'm driving you all insane. I'm gonna love my comments at the end of this story, especially when Robin and Deathstroke come face to face. Well anyways, thanks for the comments everyone, and I'll have the next chapter up as soon as possible. Next Chapter: "Free Enterprise"
Infamous One- Sorry about your pneumonia man, hope you feel better though. But about your comment, it's up to you to figure out whether Slade is "lurking about" or directly involved with this, but like I said before…you may THINK you have things figured out, but I'm gonna toy with your mind. Hehehehehehehe. Thanks for the post.
Aries-Raven- LOL, did you really think I was gonna kill off Starfire! How could I, I'm not THAT evil of a person (gives evil grin). HAHAHAHAHA, too bad I wasn't there to see the look on your face. Well, as you now know, she's alive still just…really pissed off at Robin. I thought it'd make it a little interesting to have the Titans loose even after preparing for Red X, and I think just having Starfire look as though she had just died really raised some eyebrows with a lot of my readers. I'm glad you also liked the mask thing, I knew it added a tasteful element of mystery to the story, and come on, be honest, you know what wanted to know right away what happened after reading it. And to answer your other question, yes, mushy as in love. I'm a TOTAL Robin/Starfire person, I like sticking to the original story and they're just…a funny pair of teenagers going through your stereotypical high school kinda drama. LOL, hoped you liked this chapter and thanks for the comment.
KaliAnn- Hehehehehehe, after reading your comment it was pretty clear to me that I'm doing my job of raising some eyebrows and making you think. Brother Blood is in prison right now, so he's going to have to step out of character to get to the Titans since he can't…directly do anything to them, does that make sense? Besides, how do you know Slade and Brother Blood don't have some kinda connection, or that Slade's involved with this story at all (gives evil grin). I think you're gonna be the one who's surprised the most at the end. Hope you enjoyed the chapter and thanks for the comment, and yes…Red X is a pain in the neck but he's also my second favorite villain from Slade (nn).
Rose Eclipse- Thanks for dropping by and checking out my fic. I'm glad you recognized that I used correct terminology from the D.C. comics and I'm gonna go further with that as well. I'm glad you like how I portray the characters and I hope you'll enjoy this story as it goes on. Check back soon, I update OFTEN. Thanks for the comment!
Van Gordan- I'm VERY PLEASED you liked these last two chapters. Yes keeping you on your toes and making you think is my style, and hopefully, revealing that Red X was hired by Deathstroke and that this "mysterious guest" that's watching Robin "twists your stomach" even more, LOL. I'm sorry if my next upcoming chapters are gonna be kinda all warm fuzzy feeling kinda chapters, but…I'll just let you in on a little secret….after I'm done with the romance, hehehehehe, which will be soon…terrible things will happen, AWEFUL things….awfully terrible things! MUAHHAHAHAHHAHHAHAHHAHAH! But ya know I gotta say something. It sucks that they're bringin' Slade back this Saturday cause I kinda feel it won't make story seem as accurate, or work with the rest of everything. I mean, I put Brother Blood in jail cause well…a few days before I wrote it, Titans East pt.II was on and I based it off of Brother Blood being sent to jail after that. But don't worry…I'm not gonna stop writing this…even if it doesn't go along with the T.V. show which was REALLY what I was shooting for, but hey, what can ya do. I just hope my fic will still have its vibe even after the show reveals that Slade is still alive…Maybe I'll just base this off of the premise that it's taking place prior to Season 4, yeah maybe I'll just say that. Thanks for the comment!
