Chapter 12: Gates

Chapter12 dedicated to: MyMonkeyIsOrange

Raucous knocking at the door had Starfire leaping from Robin's arms in surprise. Upon immediate instinct, she'd twirled to face the door with blazing eyes and glowing fists. Robin's unmasked eyes widened curiously. "Yo, it's Cyborg. I'm coming in!" the metal titan announced. Starfire watched as Robin snatched up his mask. The door slid open and Cyborg walked in, just as the Boy Wonder was slapping it messily over his eyes.

Cyborg stared.

Robin straightened out his eye-mask.

Cyborg stared.

Starfire coughed.

Cyborg stared.

"Jeez… Cyborg, try and gimme a second before you come bursting into the room. Gawd…" Robin hissed. The android blinked his human eye several times.

"Dawg… she knows who you….?"

"So do all of you. Just because you don't know my name or the color of my eyes doesn't mean you don't know me…" Robin frowned.

"But she…"

"Just leave it alone, Cy. Now, why'd you come bursting in?" The ebony-haired boy slurred. Cyborg stared at Starfire queerly.

"Yeah… right. Y'all might want to come see this… We're at the spot you told us to go, Star. I think you may have been on to something…" Cyborg said. Starfire's eyes widened.

"Truly?" she floated swiftly out of the room, brushing past Cyborg. He looked over at Robin.

"Um… now what exactly were y'all…"

"Talking." Robin replied shortly, jerking a brow up. Cyborg reddened and nodded.

"Er, yeah. Of course… that's what I thought," he mumbled. Robin nodded.

"Of course." He said and then he made a motion with his hand implying they should follow Starfire. When they stepped out into the main chamber and over to the control panel, Robin fell into the same awed silence as the other three. Starfire was staring out with transfixed eyes. Raven seemed almost afraid as she stared….

"X-Hal… give me strength…" Starfire murmured as she stared. Outside the observation panels a great black orb quivered with jade light. It was massive. Even in the supposed soundlessness of space, a low hum could be perceived, deep and rich and almost musical. It seemed to shiver in its place, as if tethered to some invisible force and trying to break free. Starfire's eyes darted down to the shards. They throbbed brilliantly and aided to the singing of the sphere outside with their own tiny tinkle of sound.

Starfire's flashed silver-jade once and she dragged her gaze from the shards. It was amazing. The object was much too large to miss, but the rippling ebony surface was almost undetectable from more than a few feet away. It was like a mirage that appeared and disappeared at whim. Only now that the shards were so close did the orb pulse with green light. Suddenly, the titans' silent reverencing was cut short. Raven's body jerked and she stumbled back.

"Raven!" Beast Boy yelped and turned. Raven's eyes went blank and she spoke, a soft whisper that was not her own.

"Four gates wrought of magic's fire to guard creation here desired. Born of knowledge, empowered by darkness… twisted into purity's soul. Visions seen to cast four fates, to summon loyalty the deepest hates. Final death, it here awaits.

"Greed formed a fifth task; see beyond the ruler's mask. Forgotten soul will soon arise, here to stop a kingdom's demise. But wielded high, let the power call and finish now the end of all. May all that is mortal… fall…" Raven took in a choking breath and clutched at her throat, her eyes coming back into to focus. Starfire stared. Robin gaped. Beast Boy quivered.

"Well… that was… er…" Cyborg scratched the back of his head and blinked. Starfire furrowed her tiny brows.

"Four gates… guarding… guarding a desired creation? Four gates guarding the power source?" She peeped. Robin pondered for a moment.

"I would guess… it makes sense. Born of knowledge, science, empowered by darkness…"

"Dark magic," Raven finished. She had regained her composure and appeared unfazed by the strange prophecy.

"Twisted into… purity's soul…?" Starfire turned and stared back out at the massive orb. It was… probably about half the size of Tamaran. Plenty of room for four gates. "Perhaps we should try to enter it? The orb?" she asked suddenly. The titans all stared at her.

"Do you think that's a good idea…?" Cyborg asked. Starfire looked down.

"I do not know. But I believe what we are looking for is within. I truly do," She murmured. Robin narrowed his eyes.

"We have to trust Starfire's judgment on this. She's the one with the—with the key. She led us here, so I'm going to guess she knows what she's talking about. Starfire, if you think we should go in, we will."

"I do. But I have no way to guarantee it is possible… or safe," Starfire closed her eyes and took a deep breath. The shards pulsed with energy.

"We'll risk it. Cyborg, take us into that… thing," Robin directed. Cyborg sighed and nodded. He took up the controls and the Star ship moved slowly forward. The passengers of the craft were completely oblivious to the yellow-eyed form that was perched atop the ship.

Starfire looked over at Raven. The dark girl looked troubled. "Friend Raven, do you perceive something to be wrong?" Starfire asked softly. Raven looked over.

"No. Not yet. But I feel something. Probably just t-the magic in the source we're after. That's all. I'm trying to understand, though. Visions seen to cast four fates, to summon loyalty the deepest hates. Final death, it here awaits. I don't understand what that means. I don't know if I want to understand what that means," She shook her head. "I guess… what comes, comes,"

"I-Indeed," Starfire stuttered. She looked away. The front of the craft was nearly at the outer edge of the shivering orb. Why was she bringing her friends into this danger? "Cyborg… Stop." Starfire said quietly. The android's eye widened in surprise, and then he did as she said.

"What is it, Star?"

"Perhaps I should… enter alone. This is my fate, not yours. You are my dearest friends and I would not be able to go on if any of you were hurt." Starfire hugged herself, suddenly very cold. Robin moved to her side and wrapped his arms around her.

"Starfire, I'm not leaving you to go through with this alone. I don't know what to expect but I'm ready to face it. I promised you. I will never let you go," Robin murmured. Starfire looked over at him with dark eyes.

"I understand, but I had also asked that you would… not let our friendship cloud your judgment. I must ask that you do not let our-our love do that to your judgment either."

"I'm not. Titans, are we doing this with her or not?" Robin asked the others, staring at them all through his mask. It was an honest question. He wanted their honest answers.

"Yeah, Dawg,"

"Dude, uh, duh…"

"Um, yes."

"That's what I hoped you would say. Starfire, we all want this to be done with. We don't want you to have to live with these shards. They're not good for you, Star. We've got your back with this. We're going to do this together and you're going to be free of this. Ok?" Robin said. Starfire closed her eyes and nodded slowly. Robin met gazes with Cyborg and the android took the hint. He moved the craft forward again. The black orb shuddered violently as the star ship lurched against it. Jade light crackled outward.

Starfire inhaled sharply as craft inched forward into the orb. The orb continued to shake and the ship was rumbling and groaning. Starfire bit her lip. The shards pulsed. The Star ship jerked suddenly and the titans lost their balance, tumbling to the ground. Cyborg lost his hands on the steering and scrambled to his feet to regain control. The craft was tilting tediously and the orb seemed to thunder against them. The shards flashed. Starfire looked down at them, looked over at Robin, Raven, and Beast Boy sprawled out on the floor, and looked over at Cyborg trying to keep the ship going forward.

She narrowed her emerald eyes.

"AARRRAAAHHHGGG!" Starfire yelled and shot into the air, her arms snapped out to either side and her eyes flowed with green light. The shards pulsed and swarmed with bright jade color. She was encased in a cocoon of warbling symbols that writhed in great rings about her. They expelled heat. She had done this before. Back in the infirmary. Back when she hadn't known how to control it. Back when she hadn't tried to control it. Starfire willed the rings outward, further and further. Her arms shook. The rings swelled out and consumed the other titans so they were within the great sphere Starfire had created. She continued to press them out. They expanded to encompass the ship. Starfire angled her body forward the titans picked themselves up onto their feet and stared. Cyborg stepped back from the control panel and stared.

Raven crumpled to the ground as the dark magic pulsed wildly out from Starfire. The Tamaranian strained, eyes still ablaze. The green rings of symbols completely consumed the view outside of the observation panels. The ship groaned and pushed forward. They began to move slowly, but steadily into the orb. Starfire continued to hover and press forward, her hair whipping wildly about her in some phantom breeze. Atop the craft, the yellow-eyed creature stared up at the great jade thing encircling them and it smiled to itself.

Robin wiped sweat from his brow. The air seemed to ripple with the intense heat Starfire's solar energy was giving off. The back end of the ship shuddered. The lighting within the craft flickered twice and then died out before flipping back on and glowing with the same silver-jade glow of Starfire's shard-light. Starfire closed her eyes and her wildly flying hair stilled. She hovered upright. The huge green orb she had created shrunk in until it consumed Starfire and Starfire alone. The symbols making up the rings stopped their dancing. They dropped to the ground, again forming a liquid pool. Then, it all seeped back up into Star's body and her eyes flashed open. She dropped to the ground and landed on her feet, slumped over a little and panting. Raven groaned and struggled to her feet. The foul feeling of black magic had left the air.

Raven rubbed her temples. Robin looked over. "Are you alright?" he asked. Raven coughed and nodded.

"Peachy…" she grumbled. Robin ignored the sarcasm. Starfire leaned over and placed her hands on her knees. In and out. Deep breaths… Starfire shuddered a sigh. She felt dizzy. That was… uncomfortable. Her wrists ached. Robin gently place a hand on her shoulder.

"Starfire, you did it. We're in. You going to be ok?" he asked her. Starfire didn't respond, blinking the spots from her eyes and heaving for breath. Robin crouched down in front of her and lightly looped his arms about her waist. He helped her stand up straight and then leaned her against his shoulder. Her body was trembling. Cyborg and Beast Boy exchanged glances, bathed in the deep jade light that now flooded the ship.

Starfire moaned softly, bringing a hand to her forehead. All these damn spots…. She again tried to blink them away. Robin used one hand to rub her back. Everyone was quiet. Starfire's breathing slowed comfortably and finally she stood up straighter, removing her weight off of Robin. "I do hope that this was the correct thing to do. That was rather uncomfortable," she commented primly. Beast Boy blinked.

"Dude…" he shook his head and gave the alien girl an odd look. Cyborg and Raven had moved to stand before the observational panels. The metal titan laid a light hand on Raven's shoulder.

"You sure you're ok, Rae?" he inquired. Raven nodded. "Alright," he let his hand drop back to his side. Both looked out and gazed curiously at the sight before them. A great silver wall stretched up from pale golden earth. The ground seemed as if it had been fully composed of gold-dust and faint traces of green, glowing residue littered the area. It was queer. The silver wall appeared to stretch up infinitely… and it could be assumed it made a complete barrier to the very top of the huge orb they were now in.

Starfire looked out as well. "I will go out first. If the conditions are favorable for Terrans than I will open the hatch from outside for you to exit. Is that alright?" She suggested. Robin nodded.

"Probably a pretty good way to start…"

Starfire again crossed to the back wall of the ship and quietly placed her palm on it. The yellow glow wreathed her hand and expanded out as expected to create the door. She entered the hidden chamber wordlessly and the wall closed up after her. As soon as she stepped out she found herself thoroughly surprised. The conditions were exactly as she would have expected on earth, save a very slight lack of gravity. It would do nothing but make them all feel a little lighter when they stepped out. Luckily, there was plenty of oxygen, so it appeared they would be able to continue on with her. Starfire curious glanced to her left and to her right. The wall appeared to go on forever in both directions. She sighed and hovered in the air.

Starfire flew around the side of the Tamaranian Star Ship and quickly opened the hatch from the outside. "Friends, it is fine for you all to come out," Star said softly. They nodded and trotted out from the ship. Robin looked around.

"Is this the first gate?" He asked, jerking a thumb towards the silver wall. Starfire shrugged.

"I am not shu—AHHHHHH!" Starfire was kicked hard in the stomach as a figure came sailing down. The others saw it. A shadow, a wraith. Robin gritted his teeth and spun out his bo-staff. The thing slipped out of view and reappeared with a blink of yellow-eyes. Starfire picked herself up off of the ground. The thing swept by and Starfire blasted a round of starbolts at it. The thing was moving so fast it could only be perceived as a shadow of dark hair, a humanoid body, perhaps, and yellow eyes. Maybe a flash of red…

The thing disappeared straight through the silver wall. Robin stopped his charge after the thing and skidded to a halt, the toes of his boots tapping the edge of the silver wall. Starfire looked on with wide eyes. The stirred cloud of golden dust that had risen from the immensely brief scuffle settled.

"Perhaps… I should change into my uniform before we proceed… this is not the easiest of things to fight in," Starfire mumbled, tugging at the ebony material of her dress. Robin looked over and nodded, stepping back from the wall. Starfire disappeared back into the ship.

Raven stepped curiously up to the wall and her eyes glowed white. With one hand fingering her chakra, she used the other to lay the palm on the silver wall. "Azerath… Metrion… Zinthos…" Raven murmured. Her hair flutter up in a short flurry of violet locks. She removed her hand from the wall and looked over at the others as they waited for Starfire to reappear.

"It's not the first gate. This is simply the outer barrier," Raven announced. Starfire reappeared from the ship in her traditional purple costume as this was said.

"Oh, is that so?" she asked innocently. Raven nodded. "Then… we shall simply… blast through it?" Starfire continued. Raven blinked.

"I can probably teleport us through it. Let me make sure I can teleport myself though. Then we'll go through," Raven replied. Starfire looked at Robin for an affirmative. He nodded. Raven faced the wall.

"Azerath. Metrion. ZINTHOS!" Raven hissed as she walked "through" the wall. Or she should have walked through the wall…

THUNK!

"Dammit… Ouch…."

"… … …"

"… … …"

"… … …"

"… … …" The titans stared as Raven rubbed her head irritably.

"Guess we're not going through like that…" Beast Boy said finally. Then he smirked and shifted to rhino form He looked over at Robin and the Boy Wonder sighed and shrugged. The changeling grinned as best he could as a rhino and charged forward. His heavy feet stirred up the amber dust.

THUNK!

"Ow, Ow, Ow, OW!" He hissed as he shifted back to his pointy-eared self. Robin sighed again.

"Guys I don't think that's going to work…." He trailed off as Cyborg let his cannon whir to life. A wide blue beam shot forth. Robin and the other cringed and ducked as it ricocheted off of the silver wall and flew back over their heads. "Like I was saying…"

Starfire moved forward and ran her slender fingers over the silver surface. "I wonder…" she paused and then looked over at Raven. "Perhaps if we combine our telekinetic force…?" she offered. Raven shrugged.

Starfire took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She stretched her hands out in front of her, glassy power danced at her fingertips. Raven moved her hands out similarly.

"Azerath, Metrion, Zinthos!" Raven chanted. At the same moment, Starfire expelled a wave of crystal clear energy as Raven released her obsidian force. The two waves merged together as they hit the wall of silver. "Rrrgggg!" Raven grunted as she continued to power energy forward. Starfire clenched her teeth. Finally, both girls fell back, panting. Robin rubbed the back of his neck.

He moved over to Starfire's side and met her gaze. He inhaled and kissed her lightly. "You think you might need to use the shards…?" he suggested with a slight smirk. Starfire paused. She blinked. She blushed.

"Er… yes, perhaps…" Starfire coughed. "I am most grateful you will be helping me through this…" she said with a sigh. Robin gave her an affectionately lop-sided grin.

"My pleasure. Now, why don't you go see to that wall again," he said. Starfire laughed slightly and nodded, sighing again as she approached the silver barrier.

Author's Note: Yay... Robin's trying to make Star feel happy... so... exciting... yawn... Akk, sorry. I found myself somewhat bored with this chapter, but things will start to pick up soon. Promise. They get to gate one in chapter 14. Chapter 13 will be and "intermission" I think. That will sort of be a little... goofy humor thing I may stick in. If not, then we'll have the first gate in chapter 13... right? Lol. Just ignore me... I'm being spazzy. Anyhow. There's not really any news at the moment, considering the next season doesn't start for quite a while and the movie is still in the wings so I guessI'll only put in the titans news... when there's news... like on merchandice or something. Also, no chapter tomorrow, I've got another sleep over togo to. I'll try and get up apost onStaurday but I garuntee I'll be dead tired so I may just post the intermission. I'm thinking something on the lines on me interviewing the titans about howthey really feel concerning what's going on in WTAFS... or something like that. Ciao.

Love, Princess Starfire of Tamaran