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:

"This is what Slade wanted. He wanted to tear us all apart. And from the looks of things, he's succeeding." –Beast Boy

Part Four: Invincible

Chapter Thirteen

The car ride home was virtually silent. No one knew what to say; they all felt guilty. Starfire had known Cyborg wouldn't be able to shoot her, and she was right. At the very last second, he had put his sonic cannon down. And Robin hadn't even moved. He didn't even try. He just watched her go. He did the one thing he always promised himself he wouldn't: he failed.

And now Starfire had the Jewel of Charta. She was taking it to Slade, and he would be invincible. If the Titans couldn't stop him before, they sure as hell wouldn't be able to now. Robin cursed himself. It was all his fault.

The silence was broken for a second by Raven. She had to say it, for her own reasons. It wasn't to be cruel, it wasn't to rub it in his face, it wasn't to make him feel any worse than he already did. It just had to be said.

"You let her go."

Robin nodded, his face emotionless.

"I let her go."

Starfire knew she didn't have much time before the Titans picked up on the tracking signal. She had to collect Slade's brainwashing equipment quickly. Not that it mattered if the Titans confronted her, she did after all have the Jewel of Charta, but she preferred that they not know her plan quite yet.

She smiled. Her plan. She was going to hook Slade's brainwashing machine up to Jump City's satellite tower, so whoever turned on the TV or radio or computer would become evil themselves and worship Starfire as their queen. She would have an entire willing army at her fingertips.

It was brilliant, and had come to her the second the power of the Jewel of Charta combined with her own. Through the gem, Starfire had not only become invincible, but she had also received knowledge on things she had never known before. Suddenly she knew which wires she would need to connect Slade's machine to the satellite tower and how to repair Deathstroke. She knew what strategy to use to control an evil army and not cause rebellion, so she would not follow in Slade's failure. She knew how to cripple each Titan; where to hit them, how to provoke them, and what to do to defeat them. She knew it would be easy.

She also knew another thing she had never known before: that the Jewel of Charta was evil. She had heard of it before Blackfire and known it was powerful, but thought that anyone could use it and become invincible. But this was not true. There was a reason Blackfire wanted the gem, and that was because only a truly evil person could use it to become invincible. And, in return, only a truly innocent person could remove it from that evil person's possession through defeat.

This meant that even if Starfire wanted to, now that the Jewel of Charta was in place, she would never be able to remove it. Someone innocent and pure would have to fight and defeat her to end her invincibility.

But who?

Robin remained in the car as the others slowly, sluggishly, got out. He couldn't bring himself to move. It was too much. He was hurting. That goes without saying.

Cyborg made a move to say something to him, but Raven laid a pale hand on his arm to stop him. She shook her head, making it clear that it was best to leave him alone. He did so, reluctantly. As they walked away from their disheartened friend, all of them could feel their hearts breaking for him. And for themselves. Starfire was the sweetest girl that had ever existed. But that girl was gone. They had known it, of course, but actually facing her made it that much more real. True. Concrete.

And, now that the Jewel of Charta was in her possession, irreversible.

"What are we going to do?" Beast Boy whispered. Raven could feel the heaviness of the impending role of leadership weighing on her. It was clear that Robin wasn't able to provide any answers at the moment, so the questions went to her. The only problem was, she was as unsure as the rest of them.

"I don't know," she answered truthfully, not looking at their distraught faces. "It doesn't seem as if there's anything we can do."

"There has to be," Beast Boy insisted. "We can't just . . . we can't just leave Star with the same guy that made her this way! Who knows what he'll do to her? Just because she meets his requirements to be his apprentice, doesn't mean she's safe from him. I saw what he did to Terra." Beast Boy shuddered inwardly as he remembered coming upon the blonde girl and all his rage dying away as he realized that Slade had been abusing her. He remembered her begging him to kill her. He had come with every intention to. But to see her the way she was, to hear her asking it of him . . . that had crushed him, hurt him more than when she had actually betrayed him.

The Titans settled into a quiet, uncomfortable silence. They all knew Beast Boy was right. But what could they do?

The silence was interrupted by a frantic beeping coming from Cyborg's arm. Cyborg's human eye widened. He knew what the beep was. But how was it possible . . . ? He lifted his arm slowly, not daring to look, not daring to hope.

"What is it?" Raven asked, urgently. Cyborg had no choice but to look.

"It's . . . it's Star," he whispered hoarsely. He stared at the screen, unbelieving. "Her . . . her tracking device. It's been activated. I know where she is."

"No way!" Beast Boy exclaimed. "So . . . we could go get her? Right now?" Cyborg nodded, a look of wonder clear on his face, but Raven was more skeptical.

"Wait," she insisted. "Something isn't right. If Slade knew how to turn it off, why would he turn it back on? He did this before, led us right into a trap. Are we going to fall for that again?" She paused to let her point sink in, then remembered something else. "It also doesn't help that he's invincible now. If this is a trap, we would never be able to defeat him, and then everything would be lost."

"But if we don't respond, then everything might be lost anyway," Beast Boy protested. "This could be our chance."

"Maybe we should let Robin decide," Cyborg intervened. "He is, after all, our leader."

"A fine leader he's turning out to be," Raven scoffed. "In case you haven't noticed, he's been a bit lacking in the leadership department. Besides, we all know that he would choose to go after her without even considering the risks. He's not stable right now. His thoughts are focused on Starfire, not on the team, or justice, or what's the best decision."

"So we're just going to keep it from him?" Beast Boy asked, incredulously. "After all he's done for us, we're just going to turn on him like that?"

"I don't know if I'm comfortable with this, Rae," Cyborg admitted. "I'm with you all the way on the possibility that this might be a trap, but I don't think we should keep secrets from Robin."

"What secrets?" The Titans froze at the sound of Robin's voice; he had finally dragged himself out of the car and overheard the last part of their conversation. His tone wasn't irritated that there was a secret, but rather, he sounded tired, like he was ready to give up. Starfire was evil, and now his team was keeping things from him . . . there's only so much one teenage super hero can take.

"Tell him, Raven," Beast Boy said, his voice almost hard. Raven glared at the green Titans, but conceded.

"Starfire's tracking device was been reactivated." She relayed the information in a matter-of-fact, monotone voice that she hoped would keep Robin from getting worked up over it. It didn't help. Robin's eyes widened and reflected his determination to save Starfire. He was convinced that this was his chance.

"Let's go," he commanded, in a tone that left no room for discussion. "Wherever she is, we have to get there as soon as possible."

"But Robin, you have to consider . . ."

"Raven," he barked, cutting her off so sharply that she almost jumped. "I'm not considering anything except for the fact that Starfire, a member of our team, is in danger and in turn endangering the city. We need to do everything we can to get her back. This is the perfect opportunity, and if you think I'm going to let this pass, then you're a fool." Raven couldn't help but feel stung by his words. They were piercing and cruel, and not like Robin at all.

Hypocrite, she thought bitterly. You're one to talk about doing everything we can and not letting opportunities pass. You just had your chance to stop her, and you let her go. So who's the fool, Robin?

"Just what do you intend to do?" she asked, icily. "Waltz in there, somehow manage to defeat the now-invincible Slade, and magically change Starfire back to her old innocent self? You want to tell me how you plan to do that?"

"Do you have a better plan, Raven?" Robin countered. "If you've got all the answers, let's hear them."

"I may not have all the answers, but at least I'm keeping my head."

"What are you saying, Raven? That I'm not fit for leadership? What, do you want to be the leader of the Teen Titans now? Do you think you're qualified? I'd like to see you try to handle all the pressure I deal with."

"You're not handling it very well right now."

"HEY!" Cyborg shouted. "Break it up! What good is this doing? Bickering isn't going to get Starfire back." Raven quieted, but Robin's temper was still flaring.

"Yeah, I bet you think you'd be a better leader than me, too," Robin raged, turning on Cyborg. "You've been waiting for this, haven't you? You've been waiting for me to have a meltdown so you can come in here and take over. I know you've always wanted to be leader, right from the beginning when we were going after Cinderblock and you screwed up and then threw a hissy fit and left. And then there was that whole Titans East thing . . ."

"Hold up, I know you're not saying that about me," Cyborg said, outraged. "All this time I've had your back and this is what you think of me? You're nothing by an arrogant, obsessive, selfish little punk who can't even get over himself for a second to realize that he's breaking Starfire's heart by being so blocked-off . . ."

"What did you say?"

"Guys!"Beast Boy stepped in the middle of the raging friends, holding his hands up. "Guys. Calm down. Seriously. What are you doing? We're friends. All of us. And look at how we're treating each other. This is what Slade wanted. He wanted to tear us all apart. And from the looks of things, he's succeeding. And the more he succeeds, the more we lose. And the less likely it is that we'll get Star back. Do you want that? Do you want to lose Starfire just because of a stupid fight?" Beast Boy's reasoning finally got through to the hot-headed Boy Wonder; he held his head in his hands, letting out a noise of despair and frustration. Finally, he was able to look Raven and Cyborg in the eye.

"I'm sorry," he apologized, sincerely. "I'm just . . . so . . . lost right now. I'm hating myself for my failure and inability to lead you guys like I should. But I shouldn't take it out on either of you. I'm sorry for what I said, to both of you. I know you're just trying to help." Raven nodded, accepting his apology, and Cyborg shrugged.

"That's all we ever try to do, man. Help. We're your team, we're your friends, we're always behind you one hundred percent." Robin hung his head.

"I know. I'm sorry." Cyborg put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"It's okay. Now let's go get our girl." The half robot looked at Raven for her permission, and she nodded.

"We'll go. But we have to be prepared. If Slade attacks and he's wearing the Jewel of Charta, we have to get out of there, with Starfire or without. Because if we go down, then we can never save her." The Titans all agreed and then headed back to the T Car, readying themself for what they believed would be the fight of their lives.

Little did they know that Slade wasn't going to be putting up much of a fight at all.

Okay. Not much to say, I really want to get this up quick because I have so much to do today. Sorry I waited so long to update, but I wanted to wait until The End part 3 aired. And now that it has, we have to wait forever for new episodes. I'm so depressed.

The End part 3 wasn't as good as part 2, but I loved it all the same. Very powerful, and Slade was just so kickass. Did anybody notice Starfire's eyes when Raven hugged Robin? That was just hilarious.

Also I had a lot of really nice reviews from my last chapter, and because I can't reply to all of them, especially because I'm in a rush, I really wanted to say thanks to everyone who did review because I really appreciated what people said. So thanks you guys! 3

dragonofraven: It's true, Raven is extraordinarily powerful and might be able to take Starfire, but for plot purposes, Starfire had to come out on top.

Cosmiclimate: Aww I'm glad it was worth the wait, that's so nice to hear because it was a pretty important part of the story and I wanted to get it right. So thanks!

Aurora Starcrystal: That's exactly what I was going for, so thanks for the reassurance that I got my point across!

Riles: Bite me, kthxbye. Haha just kidding...or am I? I hate you more than you hate me! So there.

Star+Robin: Really, it surprised you? Thanks! And yeah, you're right, if you look at the evil Starfire from The End and evil Star from here they do fit together. I'll have to look to her for further inspiration. Haha I'm glad this is the best Starfire-is-kidnapped-by-Slade-and-becomes-evil scenario ever, thanks!

Captain Cyborg Enterprise-T: Poof! Haha thanks for saying that I'm one of the best fanfic writers, but it's definitely not true. There are a lot better quality writers, trust me. As for the Jewel of Charta being put back together, I actually have no idea, I doubt they used super glue, but I'm sure there was some sort of special machine that could piece it back together. Who knows?

Funvince: Yes, Robin is really messed up, lol. Actually the Titans don't really know why Starfire is evil. They don't know what happened...yet.

xox.Annie Potter.xox: I know, today is the best day ever because (for America) we see Part 3, and the 6th Harry Potter book also comes out! Pretty exciting! I wonder who's going to die...I think it's probably Dumbledore. Or Neville. But I hope not, cuz I like both of them. Why does she keep killing people off? Sirius was my favorite! I miss him.

Princess Starfire of Tamaran: Welcome back, did you have fun? Actually, your idea of what Robin would do is going to come into play near the end of this fic, you'll see. Right now I just wanted to portray his shock and inability to react. It'll happen, you'll see!

ThSamurai: That's brilliant. I never thought of that, but when you suggested it, I read over the chapter and thought of the evil Starfire from Part 2's voice and it fit perfectly! Which is pretty exciting, I think. I'm glad you like this!

TTHPfan: Downright evil is pretty much what I'm going for, lol. Even though they might have kissed I'm glad it's not the last season because I don't know what I would do without new episodes of Teen Titans! Waahhh!

CidGregor: I've decided that I'm not talking to you. Tehe.

TheNextTitan: Raven was using her hand shield because Starfire was coming right at her, not from all around her.

SpazztheSlob: I can't believe you're going to miss it, it was just so amazing! You have to see it ASAP. It was pretty much the most well done episode ever.

Okay I really have to go now but thanks to everyone who reviewed, wanna do it again? You know you want to. Press the button and type your praise or criticism now! Cuz I said so.

Blair