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.

Quote:

"And what if we don't get Star back? What then?" –Robin

Part Two: Captured

Chapter Six

The rain was falling softly, like a mist, as Starfire twirled around like a ballerina, jumping gracefully from puddle to puddle. She felt two strong hands grip her waist and lift her into the air, then bring her back down. She turned around to face the owner. A smile graced her face when she saw that it was Robin, but then again, she had known that from just his touch. They danced a while longer, fast and slow, fancy and simple, but never letting each other go. And then, abruptly, the rain stopped, and so did Robin. Slowly, ever so slowly, he backed away, a sad smile on his face, releasing her hand until just their fingertips were touching. Then, the rain began to fall again, faster and harder, until it became so dark that it obscured Robin from her vision. She called out to him, but he was gone. And she was alone.

"Robin," she called out. "Robin, where have you gone? Please, do not leave me!" There was no reply except for a low, sinister chuckle. And with that, Starfire's eyes fluttered open to meet the one who seemed to think her anguished dream was so amusing.

Slade.

"Did you have a nice sleep?" he asked, smiling in a creepily pleasant way. "I was beginning to think you would never wake up." Starfire glared, and made the effort to sit up–only to find that she couldn't. She was lying on a metal bed, held down by straps that not even her strength could break.

"Why have you bound me with these belts?" she asked, grunting. "Release me!" Slade wagged a finger in her face, as if scolding a child.

"Ah-ah-ah, it won't do you any good to try to escape. I've made sure that the straps are secure enough that even your strength cannot do anything." Starfire's eyes began to glow. "That won't help either. Go ahead, try it. But in case you haven't noticed, there are two wires attached to your shoulders that are slowly zapping you of your star bolt energy to ensure that you won't attack me. Believe me, my dear, with all the time I've had, lying in wait while you continued to believe that I was gone for good, this procedure is foolproof."

"Procedure?" Starfire gasped. It was now that she took in her surroundings. They were in a dark room, filled with tall metal shelves holding glass bottles with strange-looking liquids inside them. Electricity crackled through a futuristic machine. There was another metal bed across the room that seemed to have another unmoving body on it. This made Starfire think of the movie Frankenstein that Beast Boy had made them watch. Was Slade creating some sort of monster to terrorize Jump City? The last monsters he had, when Terra was his apprentice, he had combined them and now they were in a high-security cage, guaranteed to never escape. He would need new minions.

"Yes. Procedure. After all, my dear, how do you expect to enjoy all that I offer you if you refuse to take advantage of it? I must make sure that you will be a willing and obedient apprentice and fulfill your full potential. There is only one way I can secure that." He gestured to the table next to her metal bed, where some sort of metal helmet lay that had wires connected to it. Starfire began to panic, as it looked like the helmet was meant for her. She struggled harder, but it was no use.

"Please . . . no . . ." The words he had spoken earlier about her, before the battle, were ringing in her head. Just imagine if she were evil. What if she were? She couldn't be, could she? There was no way someone like her could be truly evil, was there?

"Now, I trust you will hold still and not struggle so this will go as smoothly as possible, correct?" Without waiting for an answer–because exactly what kind of answer could he expect from that?–he lifted the metal helmet and fitted it over the girl's crimson red hair. As he did this, Starfire focused on rubbing her shoulders against the metal bed. There was a sticky substance that attached the wires to her; if she managed to wear the residue away, she could regain her energy and blast the evil villain. And then she would be free to go home, to her friends, to Robin.

Starfire stopped fidgeting for a moment as a wave of worry struck her. Why the Titans hadn't come to rescue her yet? She was wearing a tracking device, after all. All the Titans had one. So shouldn't they have tracked her down by now? Unless . . . unless they didn't want her back. But no, that couldn't be it, could it?

She was then struck by another thought: the last time she had seen them, they were all badly hurt and unconscious. What if they were so badly wounded, they hadn't woken up? What if no one found them, and they just laid there until . . . Starfire began to work her shoulders again. She had to get free, she had to help her friends.

"And now, all I have to do is flip the switch," Slade said after he finished connecting random wires and making sure that the metal helmet was secure on the struggling girl's head. He paid no notice to her rapid movements nor the fact that the wire on her left shoulder had already fallen off. He was so sure that his plan was foolproof that he wasn't worried about anything.

Starfire knew that the last wire was only holding on by a thread because energy was flooding back to her body. She could feel her eyes started to get heated, and knew she didn't have much time as Slade headed towards the switch that would supposedly make her a willing apprentice. Not if she had anything to say about it.

As the last wire fell from her shoulder, Starfire took careful and steady aim at Slade's retreating back. She couldn't afford to miss.

Her eyes glowed, and as his hand stretched out towards the switch, she fired.

"Thanks so much," Kent gushed, clutching the piece of paper with four autographs on it to his heart. "This just . . . it will mean so much to my daughter."

"Yeah, well, it's the least we could do for you helping us out," Beast Boy said, scratching his head. He was the one who lost at rock, paper, scissors (because Raven knew that he always chose rock as well) and so he had to be the one to make Kent leave. Beast Boy had always gone on and on about having obsessed number one fans, but actually meeting one was freaking him out a little. It had been a hard (understatement of the year) day and he just wanted to rest. That, and get Starfire back. Cyborg was recharging as they spoke.

"Oh, anything for you guys, seriously, you're the best, you save our lives all the time, really, it was the least I could do."

"O-kay," Beast Boy said after a long, awkward silence during which Kent just stared at them with his wide, excited eyes. "Well, thanks . . . and stuff. I guess we'll see you around."

"You will!" Kent practically screeched. "Alright! That's awesome! Yes! I will see you then! Right! Okay! Bye now!" Kent turned to go, and Beast Boy exhaled. But then he stopped and turned around. "Uh, I hate to ask, because I know it's a touchy subject, but whenever Starfire is available, you know, whenever she comes back or you get her back from wherever she went, do you think I could get her autograph too? And maybe a picture? And bring my daughter to meet her? Because my daughter, Katey, absolutely adores Starfire, she's her favorite . . . no offense to you, of course, I mean, she loves you too, thinks you're really funny and all, but Starfire's a girl, and Katey's a girl, and of course that just helps her relate, you know, so that's why she's her favorite. I mean, last year for Halloween, she got this costume . . ."

"O-kay," Beast Boy tried again. "Thanks, when we get . . . er, when she gets back, we'll let you know. Okay. Bye now." The next thing Beast Boy knew, the life was being squeezed out of him by the persistent pyschopath.

"Thank you!" Kent all but squealed as he released Beast Boy from the hug. "I will see all of you later! For sure!"

"Uh huh. Sure you will. Bye bye." Finally, he left, and Beast Boy turned to go back to the tower, filled with relief. He had begun to think Kent would never leave.

Robin knocked on Cyborg's door, and it slid open, welcoming him in. The robotic teen was sitting down, his right hand in the form of a buffer, fixing a scratch on his left arm. He looked up as the Boy Wonder walked in.

"Hey, man."

"Hey. How are you doing?" Robin asked, gesturing to what Cyborg was doing. He shrugged.

"Fine. I'm mostly repaired. How about you?" Robin knew Cyborg didn't mean his physical well-being.

"Better, now that you're awake. I'm glad you're okay. Do you think you could, uh, track Starfire now? The sooner we can get to her, the better it will probably be . . ."

"Rob." There was something in Cyborg's tone of voice that Robin didn't like. "Look, I need you to not freak out on me. But there's nothing we can do right now. In battle, Slade broke my tracker device. I'm fixing it, but it could take anywhere from an hour to an entire day. We might have to wait until tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" Robin shouted, incredulously. "It might be too late by then! God knows what Slade is doing to her now, but by tomorrow, she may be . . . she might . . . it might be too late!" Cyborg held up his hands.

"I know, man, I know, but there's nothing I can do."

"Why are you the only one with the tracking device! What if we need to track you, huh? What good will that do us? We all should have the tracking device, maybe on the computer or something . . ."

"Robin. Calm down. I know how you feel, and that's a good suggestion, I'll work on that once we get Star back . . ."

"And what if we don't get Star back? What then? What if you never fix your tracking thing, and she's gone forever?"

"Hey, hey, don't blame me; like I said, there's nothing I can do to fix it any faster. Besides, Slade's not dumb. He might have found Star's tracker and disabled it."

"Well what then! What the hell do you expect us to do then? How are we going to find her? How are we going to save her?"

"Look, man, just because you have a special thing with Star that the rest of us don't, doesn't mean that we don't care about her too. All of us are doing everything we can." Robin was too upset to even protest Cyborg's mentioning of the 'special thing' they had. He slumped down in an empty chair, defeated. Cyborg stood and walked over to him, putting a hand on his shoulder. "We'll find her. I promise."

"But what if it's too late?"

Okay so everyone's been asking or commenting on Kent, so here's the deal on the Teen Titans' seemingly number one fan. He might be coming back at the end of the fic, maybe, if I don't forget about him and if I have a place for him. Basically, I created him for a couple reasons. One, I wanted to slightly lighten the blow of Starfire's absence until the Titans recuperate and can really focus on that. Another thing is that I didn't think it was all that realistic for the Titans to all of a sudden wake up and have the energy to get themselves together and go back home without any help. Also, with Cyborg's battery power gone, I needed a way for the Titans to actually get home. This was also my transition to the darker side of the story, and I didn't want it to happen so abruptly. So Kent, the psychotically obsessive owner of the warehouse, was born. According to you guys, he was a helpful addition, so I'm glad he worked out.

Next, Stranded is tonight! Could I be any more excited? Unfortunately, I've got a party to go to and I won't be back until midnight, so I won't be able to watch it tonight. However, I'm SO taping it, which is better anyway, so I can watch it over and over and over and over and over again. Tehe. MAKE SURE YOU WATCH IT!

Also, my amazing softball season has ended, this is my last pre-summer weekend, my exams are Monday and Tuesday and then I'm done and summer is here! All of this means that aside from vacations and whatever else is going down during this crazy summer, I hopefully be updating much more frequently. And I've already got my next fic idea in mind, which means that this summer none of you will have to have SocialButterfli-withdrawal. ;)

However, if I don't update in a very long time, you all can yell at and blame Riles. Don't ask why. Just do so.

Reviewers!

Riles: Exactly what I was going for. Kent's the epitome of annoying people who freak over seeing celebrities. He was fun to play with. I'm glad you didn't think that the battle scene was too rushed. I always worry about that. Have I told you that I love your "Ten Little Titans" fic? It's just so intense. I NEED AN UPDATE! What happens next? Who's the murderer? Gah, I need to know! I'm going to harass you online now. I HATE YOU!

inuxkagforever: My stories are addicting? Seriously! Ah, that's so sweet! Thank you!

xBxMyxJamesxDeanxcandyclouds: Perfect? Hah, yeah right, but thanks for saying it! And heart wrenching? Ah, sweetheart . . . it hasn't even started. Suspense.

Mirage992: Thanks for saying it worked, because that's exactly what I was going for, as I stated above. Thanks!

CidGregor: "Dang, sucks to be Robin." Babe . . . you have no idea. ;) Hope your exams went well!

JulesFire: I was wondering where you were! I was mucho sado. (Yeah...my Spanish needs work.) Well, I guess if I update too fast, I could slow down . . . does next month sound good? No, but seriously, that whole Robin being upset about a psychopathic criminal not being after him, it's so true, and so pathetic. lol

Princess Starfire of Tamaran: I agree, I definitely don't think Arella was well done at all. I was very disappointed. And please, you definitely deserved the bold. You know you did. Thanks for all your compliments!

MayDay Parker: Aww I'm glad you love Beast Boy now, I was really hoping I would make my readers just absolutely adore him after that.

Okay, I need to focus all my energy on harassing Riles. You all should do the same. Don't ask why. Just do it. For me.

Review, too! Don't forget to do that!

Blair