Evil: The Other Side

by Blair Lebeau, SocialButterfli

Summary:

Starfire has always been sweet and innocent. But when Slade realizes her power, he brainwashes her to become his next apprentice and the Titans can only watch as she embraces the other side. Is it possible that Starfire has become truly evil? RobStar

Disclaimer:

You'd think that if I owned Teen Titans, I would have told you by now. But I don't. Still. Damn. I also don't own Wal-Mart, and don't know if they have a Starfire costume.

Quote:

"I'm Kent!" –Kent

Part Two: Captured

Chapter Five

Kent Riley stopped singing along to the radio as he pulled into the parking lot of the mechanics warehouse he owned and noticed that there was a strange, modern car illegally parked in two spaces. He was surprised to see a car there, because it was a Sunday, and the warehouse was closed. He himself was just stopping by because his wife's birthday was the next day, and to keep her from finding her present, he had hidden it in his office. Looking at his watch, he saw that it was ten in the morning. The warehouse had a security officer stationed until eight to prevent vandalism, so the car could only have been there two hours at the latest. Kent hoped that it wasn't a confused costumer who didn't see the "closed on Sundays" sign. He hated to keep people waiting.

Kent jogged up to the front door, keys jingling in his hand. He didn't see anyone wandering around the lot, so he wasn't quite sure what to think. As he neared the door, he noticed that it was slightly ajar, the lock broken.

"Damn teenagers!" Kent cursed under his breath. "Do I need to get freaking security cameras or something?" He yanked open the door, preparing himself to see the damage. He had seen pretty crude things in his day, and every time this happened the graffiti seemed to get worse.

But there was no way he could have prepared himself for what the damage really was.

Right in front of the door, an unconscious teenager was sprawled out, one green gloved hand reaching outward.

"Holy shit!" Kent gasped, immediately kneeling down next to the boy. "Son, are you alright? Son?" As he shook his shoulder, the boy twitched and groaned. It was now that Kent recognized who he was: Robin, of the Teen Titans. Who else would wear such odd clothes?

"S-st-Starfire?" Robin moaned, trying to lift his head to look up.

"The Teen Titans!" Kent exclaimed. "Wow, it's the Teen Titans! Here! In my warehouse! Hurt! Hey, you're hurt! Are you okay?" He put the bruised teen super hero's arm around his neck so he could help him up. "What happened here?"

"Slade," Robin grunted. "Wh-where's my team?"

"The rest of you are here?" Kent asked, incredulously. "Really! This is the best day of my life! The Teen Titans! Where?" With great effort, Robin pointed to the main room.

"Last I s-saw, there," Robin replied. Supporting the Boy Wonder's weight, he helped him walk. They both stopped when they came into the view of the damage Slade had done.

The Titans were scattered at different ends of the room, unmoving except for Raven who was stirring just slightly, as if she were having a bad dream.

"Holy shit!" Kent cursed again. "The Teen Titans! Hurt! In my warehouse! What happened here?" Robin shook his head.

"Don't ask," he said, his voice hoarse. "Just help."

"S-sure, kid, anything you say," Kent replied, nervously. "Maybe I should call an ambulance. I've got my cell phone right here . . ."

"No!" Robin cried, immediately regretting the outburst because his throat was sore. He coughed, then continued, quieter and slower. "We don't need an ambulance. We just need to get home."

"But . . ."

"Please. If we can wake Raven, she has healing powers. We don't need to get anyone else involved in this."

"Ah, bad publicity, huh?" Kent said, laughing inappropriately. "I get it. The papers would have a field day if they found out the Titans took a beating. How much you wanna pay me to keep quiet?" A steely glare from Robin caused the babbling middle-aged man to laugh nervously. "Just kidding, kid, seriously. I would never let that happen to you guys. I love you guys! So does my little girl, Katey, she really looks up to you guys. Last Halloween, she colored her hair red with magic marker and went out and bought a costume at Wal-Mart, the purple skirt, shirt, and boots so she could be just like Starfire, her favorite. To tell the truth, it gave me a heart attack to see her in that purple get-up, it's very . . . showy, and my little Katey is only nine. That Starfire's a looker, that's for sure."

At the mention of her name, Robin felt his heart drop. Starfire. He looked around, hoping beyond hope that she would be there . . . but of course she wasn't. Slade had her. Robin tightened his fists. Slade.

" . . . So are you?" Robin looked at the man supporting him in surprise. He had tuned him out with heart-wrenching thoughts of Starfire and hatred and rage towards Slade.

"What?"

"I said, I've always wondered if you two had something between you. You know, it seems like you might be going out, maybe. So are you?" Robin closed his eyes. Kent's intrusive question snapped reality in half for him. No, they weren't going out, but he was going to ask her out as soon as he got home, because he had this awful dream that Slade came back and defeated them badly and took Starfire away. But of course that didn't actually happen. Because Starfire couldn't be gone. It didn't make sense. Starfire was always by his side. Why would she ever leave it?

But when Robin opened his eyes, he knew that it had happened. She was gone. And there was nothing he could do about it.

"Robin?" Raven croaked. She had awoken, and was trying desperately to lift herself up. With the help of Kent, Robin limped over to her and helped her sit up.

"I'm Kent," Kent introduced himself almost cheerfully. He was so excited to be meeting the Teen Titans, even though the conditions were horrible. Raven merely nodded at him.

"Are you okay?" Robin asked, concerned.

"Mm hmm. I just need to meditate for a moment and heal myself. Then I can work on you, and the others. Are they okay?" Robin shrugged.

"It's . . . it's hard to tell. Can your powers bring people out of a coma?" Raven shook her head.

"Maybe, but it's too risky. I could hurt . . ." A sharp intake of breath followed a pause. "I need to rest. Meditate. It will only take a moment. See to the others." Robin nodded, but before he and Kent could turn away, Raven stopped him with a single-word question. "Starfire?" After a brief pause, Robin simply shook his head and continued on his way.

"What happened to Starfire?" Kent asked as they made their way towards Beast Boy. Every time someone referred to her, Robin felt as if they were grabbing his heart and squeezing it until it burst. Didn't they notice that she wasn't there? Couldn't they just leave it at that?

"She's . . . she's not here right now," Robin said, choking on the words. He didn't offer any other explanation, and Kent finally took the hint and didn't ask further.

When they reached Beast Boy, Robin carefully knelt down next to his friend. Though he had been lying useless on the floor while Beast Boy and Starfire were left to battle Slade alone, Robin hadn't been completely unconscious, and knew what Beast Boy had done for Star. And he was eternally grateful for it.

"Beast Boy," he whispered, shaking the green changeling gently. Beast Boy seemed to tremble for a moment, but then went still. Robin tried again, a little harder this time. Beast Boy sat up abruptly and gasped, as if breathing for the first time in forever.

"Starfire, run!" he called out, unaware of his surroundings. He noticed Robin, and gave a little start. "Robin? What happened?" Did everyone have to ask this question?

"It's okay, Beast Boy," Robin answered, quietly. "You did everything you could, and that means the world to me. And I know it did to Starfire, too." Beast Boy's eyes widened.

"Then . . ." Robin nodded. Beast Boy closed his eyes for a moment, quivering slightly. He had already had to deal with the earth-shattering (literally) loss of Terra. He couldn't stand to lose anyone else. Terra had meant so much to him, the wound was still generally new. And now Starfire.

"I'm Kent!"

"Not now, Kent, please," Robin requested, his voice hard as Kent stuck his hand out to shake hands with the wounded changeling. He withdrew his hand slowly.

"Right. Sorry. Wrong time. But, hey, still great to meet you." Robin ignored him.

"Raven's recuperating. When she's ready, she'll heal you." They moved on to Cyborg, even though Robin knew that the only thing they could do for him was to get him home. His power had been zapped, and only recharging him could wake him up. And since no one except Cyborg knew how to drive the T-Car, Kent would have to drive them home. Robin groaned at this realization. Just what he needed. More time with Kent.

"Robin," Raven called out. "I'm ready." She levitated over to him, knelt down, and placed her hands tentatively around his ankle. As it began to grow, the pain lessened, and Robin felt himself able to place more and more weight on it. Finally, he could stand on his own, and he couldn't get away from Kent fast enough.

Kent and Robin carried Cyborg's stiff body out to Kent's car as Raven healed Beast Boy's feet. When they returned, Beast Boy brought up the problem of the T-Car.

"Cyborg's got that psycho lock on it that only he can work, and only he knows how to drive it, so what? Are we just going to leave it here?"

"Who cares about his stupid car?" Robin said, bitterly. "I just want Cyborg to be okay so he can track down Starfire."

"Hey," Beast Boy said, holding up his hands. "Calm down, Robin. We all want Starfire back, but we have to take care of ourselves first." Robin ran a hair through his stiff hair and sighed.

"I know. I'm sorry. It's just . . . Slade has her." Beast Boy put a hand on Robin's shoulder.

"I know, dude. I know." Beast Boy gave a weak smile, and Robin tried to return the effort, but he didn't have it in him. Meanwhile, Raven was watching Kent with disdain as he told his wife why he was going to be late coming home.

"The Teen Titans, Val! The Teen Titans are here, in my very own warehouse! Why? Oh, uh, well, uh, they had a battle, and, uh, well I'm not supposed to tell anybody this, because, you know, it would be bad publicity for them and I wouldn't want to do that to them, you know, because the Teen Titans and I are tight now, really, great buds, but, uh, they had a battle here, in my very own warehouse! And they kinda lost, so they're kinda hurt, which is the part I'm not supposed to tell, so you can't tell anyone, because it's confidential, you know? So I gotta help them out, because we're such good pals now and, you know, they do so much for us, a guy can only help them out, you know, and of course I'm going to try to get an autograph for Katey out of the deal, and the Teen Titans, Val! Can you believe it?"

"You," Raven said, raising her voice only slightly to get his attention. Kent looked up, surprised and excited.

"Me? You want me? I gotta go, Val, the Teen Titans need me! Uh huh, love you too, tell Katey! The Teen Titans, Val! Okay, bye!" As Kent hurried over, practically skipping, Raven turned to her tired friends.

"Let's go home."

Okay, I know that except for a few moments Robin has been taking Starfire's kidnapping incredibly well, but that's because 1.) he's still dealing with the shock and 2.) he has to take care of his team first before he can worry about Starfire. Don't worry, in the future, you'll see some massive break downs for our Boy Wonder.

Also, everyoneshould go read Princess Starfire of Tamaran's completed fic, Life's Canvas. It was just SOOO good, you have no idea. I normally don't read AU fics, but this was just...uh. Unbelievable. Everyone go read it now. NOW!

Prophecywas pretty cool. What did you guys think? The action was good and I liked how we gota glimpse of Raven's world and her mother. My favorite line was Slade's, where he said to Raven, "you may not be afraid of me, but look who's afraid of you" and it showed the Titans' shocked faces. That was just...awesome. Anyways. Stranded this Saturday! I don't think I've ever been more excited in my life...yay!

Sadly I don't have time to comment on my reviewers today, so I'll say a general thanksto everyone and sorry to those who thought Slade beat the Titans too easily. It's true, I tend to hurry the battle scenes up because I feel like there are more important things to get to. I'll try to fix that, but I already have a lot of the future chapters already written up and I don't feel like going back and changing them...but I'll do my best.

Review! You guys are amazing!

Blair