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:

"Come on, Star, do you really want to do this?" –Cyborg

Part Four: Invincible

Chapter Sixteen

Starfire flinched as Cyborg's yell reverberated throughout the tower. There were many, many levels and rooms in Titans Tower, but she was sure that the volume of his scream reached each and every one of them. It was only a matter of times before the Titans came to his aid.

She regretted her eyes glowing; she had thought that Cyborg's own eyes would be closed and her escape would go unnoticed. She should have waited longer. Now she would have to deal with this obstacle sooner than she would have liked.

"Cyborg!" Robin's voice came.

"What's going on?" That was Raven.

"Are you okay, dude?"And Beast Boy. Gang's all here.

The lights went up and so did Starfire as the rest of the Titans arrived. The four stared at their former teammate, who was backed into a corner with a shutdown robot hunched down next to her. Her eyes were still glowing a threatening red, and they all readied themselves for a fight.

"This is not an ideal situation," Starfire said, hovering a few inches off the ground. The Titans eyed her warily. "I had planned on our confrontation to come much later, but it seems as if now I have no choice."

"You've always had a choice," Robin interjected, his voice coming out strangled and much squeakier than he would have liked. "You still have one now . . . you can choose to come back to us." Starfire shrugged.

"I could, yes, but why ever should I want to? I have very much enjoyed being evil, and it has so far been working out to my advantage."

"That stops now," Beast Boy replied. "Because now you've got to deal with us." Starfire laughed mockingly.

"Please, I have dealt with you before, at much lesser power. What could possibly make you believe that you can take me?"

"We outnumber you," Beast Boy pointed out.

"But you do not outpower me," Starfire replied. "I could easily blow you all away as if you were feathers floating on the air." The Titans paused for a moment. This was true.

"Come on, Star, do you really want to do this?" Cyborg asked. Starfire considered her answer.

"Well, no; at least, not under these circumstances. I have other things to attend to first. However, it does not seem as though you will let me go on with what I had planned and return to do this battle at a later time."

"Not likely," Raven said, monotone. Starfire bit her lip. She didn't want to finish the Titans yet. She wanted to gloat and bask in the glory of her ingenious evil plan first, then bring them to their end. She had to stall them and make her escape. A broad smile spread over her face as she glanced at Deathstroke and an idea formed in her head.

"Well then I suppose I will just have to have my robot deter you from stopping me as I go along with my plans," she said, gesturing to Deathstroke.

"Hah, bring it on!" Beast Boy exclaimed confidently. "Thanks to my brilliance, he went down easy last time." Starfire smirked.

"Deathstroke went down too easily before because he was merely the opening act before the main attraction," Starfire said, indicating herself. The Titans gritted their teeth at the metaphor. "The last time you faced him, you were not his principal target. Now, you are."

Starfire reached behind the robot's back and turned its power on. It shuddered, and came to life.

"Well, this has been fun, but I really must be on my way," Starfire said. "I have a city to turn evil."

"What?" The Titans stared at her incredulously. Starfire smiled. Just the reaction she was looking for.

"Oh, it is just a little plan of mine," she said nonchalantly. "I am simply going to hook up Slade's brainwashing machinery to the Jump City satellite tower and perform the same procedure on the city that he did on me."

To Starfire's disappointment, no one commented on her evil genius plan. They were too busy processing the other information she had just given them: she had been brainwashed. And that meant that she, Starfire, wasn't necessarily evil. She had just been made to think she was, and hadn't been doing any of this of her own free will.

Did that mean that there was still a chance to save her?

"Do not worry, just because you will be busy fighting Deathstroke does not mean that you will miss out on the show," Starfire added, trying to direct attention back to her plan. "Deathstroke is to only to keep you out of my way, not fatally wound you. That will come later when we resume our own personal battle. Tata, Titans." Satisfied with the look on their faces, Starfire commanded Deathstroke to go after them, gathered Slade's machinery in her arms, and flew over the Titans' heads, out of Cyborg's room, and out of the Tower. They immediately started after her, but Deathstroke leapt into action and blocked their path.

"Remember my brilliant plan?" Beast Boy reminded them. "Split up; he can't go after all of us at once!"

"And meanwhile someone can escape and go after Starfire," Raven added. "I'll . . ."

"I'll go," Robin volunteered, jumping up to meet the charging Deathstroke. He threw a fog disk so it wouldn't be able to see him as he drop kicked it in the face.

"I don't think that's a good idea," Raven protested as she used her powers to stop Deathstroke's wildly flailing arms from knocking Robin to the floor.

"I'm going," he said more firmly, leapfrogging over the robot and out into the hallway. Deathstroke turned and aimed its sonic cannon at Robin's retreating figure, but Beast Boy transformed into a lion, leapt up, and tackled the robot. It fell forward through the door and into the hallway, blasting a large, gaping hole in the opposite wall. Cyborg's jaw dropped open as Beast Boy backed up and shook off chunks of plaster. He transformed back into his human form and looked at Cyborg apologetically, but luckily it wasn't him whom Cyborg was fuming at.

"You . . . my wall . . . my Tower! Ohh, you're going down." Cyborg sprang at the fallen robot as did Beast Boy. But Raven hung back, thinking and, well, worrying. She wasn't sure of Robin's ability to stop Starfire, and wanted to keep an eye on him. What Starfire was planning to do would be devastating, and possibly irreversible. If Robin failed . . . well, Raven didn't want to think of that possibility.

Maybe I should go after him, she considered, anxious. Cyborg and Beast Boy can handle Deathstroke by themselves, can't they?

"Raven!" Apparently, they couldn't. Starfire hadn't been lying; now that the Titans were its main objective, Deathstroke was much tougher. Cyborg had already tried what he had done last time, but the blast from his sonic cannon aimed at the robot's battery pack was easily blocked. Raven sighed. She would just have to put her trust in her leader. But whether that was enough, she didn't know. She could only hope.

Raven looked over the battle scene before her. Deathstroke had Cyborg pinned down with one arm but Beast Boy's saber tiger teeth were sunken into its other arm and Deathstroke was desperately trying to shake him off while Cyborg used Beast Boy's distraction to try to escape.

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" she shouted, and various electrical cords that were lying on a metal table in Cyborg's room shot forward and wrapped themselves around Deathstroke's feet until it lost its balance and fell. Unfortunately, it fell on top of Cyborg, taking metallic Boy with it. Raven resisted urge to just walk away and leave her two teammates there as they struggled to free themselves of the unseemly dog pile. Pathetic.

Finally the robot regained its balance and stood, releasing Cyborg but stepping on Beast Boy's face.

"Gahhh!" Beast Boy wailed. He quickly morphed into an alligator and snapped at Deathstroke's foot. The robot stumbled backwards into Cyborg, its foot still trapped in the green reptile's snout. It raised its sonic cannon, but a quick "Azarath Metrion Zinthos" brought a carefully aimed black energy from Raven that managed to disassemble it. Deathstroke watched as its lost weapon fell to the floor, but the robot remained unfazed. While the sonic cannon was the only artillery Deathstroke had used so far, Slade was not an amateur. Upon building Deathstroke, he supplied the robot with many more weapons, each more powerful than the last, to be used if necessary. And now, it was.

Deathstroke kicked free of Beast Boy's grip and hit Cyborg heavily in the chest so that he flew through his doorway and back into his room. Unhindered, the robot stretched out its other arm; the mechanical hand receded and a large, futuristic taser gun took its place.

"What's that thing do?" Beast Boy asked, rubbing his sore jaw and retreating back to his friends.

"Only one way to find out!" Cyborg replied before rushing the robot at full speed. There was the high pitched sound of the taser charging, a flash of red, the crackle of surging electricity, and a solid thump of Cyborg's body hitting the ground.

"Cy!" Beast Boy cried out. The humanoid's red eye flickered to black as his battery cell drained. Luckily, the wires that had previously been used to recharge Deathstroke were nearby.

"Beast Boy, distract Deathstroke while I recharge Cyborg," Raven called as she willed the wires to fit into Cyborg's battery pack. Immediately the hum of electricity flowing through Cyborg's circuits filled the room.

Meanwhile, angered, Beast Boy had taken the form of a bull, pawed the ground and snorted steam through his nostrils, then charged. But Deathstroke was ready for him with another zap of electricity. Upon hearing the taser charge up, Beast Boy stopped his charge and immediately turned into a monkey and leapt out of the way. After the shot missed him, he jumped at Deathstroke, screeching and clambering about the robot's head. It thrashed its arms wildly at the monkey, desperate to remove the furry figure from its head. Finally, Beast Boy was thrown to the ground, so hard that he was stunned for a moment. The hum of Deathstroke's taser charging brought Raven's attention to the dazed green monkey that was in its line of fire. Before Beast Boy could even shriek, a shield of black energy blocked the blast, causing it to bounce off and burn a hole in Cyborg's ceiling.

"Thanks, Rae," Beast Boy said, breathlessly. He made his way to her side. "Is Cyborg going to be alright?"

"He'll be fine," Raven replied, eyeing Deathstroke warily. "Luckily there was minimal damage, so he should be restored in no time." Under her breath, she added, "Serves him right for just rushing at him like an idiot."

"What?"

"Nothing." Their conversation ended there as Deathstroke charged, taser outstretched and humming with deadly electricity. Beast Boy was ready to fight back, but Raven had another idea. She held up a dome-like shield of black energy to protect them. All of Deathstroke's taser blasts bounced off. Raven smiled.

"What are you doing?" Beast Boy asked, irritated.

"Saving our necks," Raven replied cooly. "Not to mention formulating a plan. Notice how my power repels Deathstroke's electricity?"

"Yeah, and it's making a lot of holes in the ceiling. Cy's not going to be happy when he wakes up."

"That's not the point," Raven retorted, aggravated at Beast Boy's inability to realize where she was going with this. "See that mirror?" She pointed to a large mirror behind the hulking robot that was still shooting at him.

"Damn," Beast Boy whistled. Raven let forth a tiny smile of relief. Finally he got it. "That's a big mirror. Do I even want to know what Cy uses it for?" Raven's small smile fell. She clenched her fists and gritted her teeth. Moron.

Unfortunately her irritation caused the shield to fall, and the two Titans just managed to jump out of the way of one of the unblocked electric blast. Beast Boy's mouth dropped open when he noticed that his hair had been singed.

"Ahh, dude, my perfect hair!" he cried, running his hands through the slightly blackened tresses. Raven rolled her eyes, took a deep breath, and refashioned the shield. She kicked the distressed changeling just hard enough to get his attention. "What?"

"That still wasn't my point," she hissed, her hands trembling as a particularly powerful electric blow shook the shield. She paused a moment to concentrate, then continued. "If Deathstroke stays in that same position with his back to the mirror, I can try to angle one of his electric shots to reflect off the mirror and onto his battery pack, therefore sapping his energy like he did to Cyborg." A lightbulb finally went off in Beast Boy's head.

"Okay, I didn't understand a word you just said, but I've got a better idea!" he said, grinning. "You could, like, make it so when Deathstroke shoots at you with his electric thingy, the blast will bounce off and hit the mirror which will then hit Deathstroke which will make his battery all gone and he will go down, yeah! It's perfect! Go Beast Boy, Go Beast Boy, you're brilliant, with your plan now, go Beast Boy!"

It took every ounce of self control that Raven had not to strangle him right then.

"Rrr . . . y-yesss . . . exactly," Raven struggled to say. "We'll do that."

"Alright, two ingenius plans for Beast Boy when it comes to bringing down the Deathstroke! Awesome!" Raven gritted her teeth and fought not to lose control of the shield as it shuddered from her temper.

"Don't get carried away," she snapped. "This is still dangerous. In order to angle my power, I have to let go of the shield. You're going to have to run for cover."

"I can do that!"

"Yes, I have no doubt," Raven replied sarcastically. "But the problem is that Deathstroke might change his position and go after you, which would render the plan useless. So you have to be inconspicuous, okay?" Beast Boy looked at her. Raven sighed. "Turn into a tiny bug or something so Deathstroke won't see you."

"Oh, okay, awesome!"

"Yeah," Raven said, flatly. "Awesome." Her sarcasm escaped Beast Boy.

"That's the spirit!" He slapped her on the back enthusiastically. She shuddered and turned slowly, ever so slowly, towards the green changeling. He gulped and smiled nervously. She seethed. Cyborg recharged. Deathstroke kept firing.

It was going to be a long battle.

This was a longer chapter, so I hope you enjoyed it. And I threw a little of Beast Boy stupidity, even though I'm normally against it, just because I can and I miss it! I wish they would just start season 5 already. The suspense is killing me!

Okay, not much else to say, so I'm just going to move on to my reviewers, who I actually have time for today. Yay!

TheOne: I've never seen the movie, but the song sounds pretty in a sad way. I'm glad you think my story is good and more than "romance and blech", lol!

AceofSpades15: Aww, it's so nice to hear that my fic keeps you coming back and that you like my writing style. Thanks!

sapphire: Haha I wouldn't call it perfect, but I appreciate that. And as for what happens to Star, you'll just have to wait and see!

darklight989: Vegas is amazing, I've been there and had the time of my life. So much fun, I'm glad you had fun too!

DeathsLastBreath: Yes, Driver's Ed is the most boring thing ever, lol. And you're right about Starfire's memories. That innocent girl is still in there somewhere!

Death Jester: Wow, I don't think it's good enough to submit, but thanks for saying that anyway! And as for the fic lasting for a while, it's actually going to end around Chapter 20, I think, because it's gotta end sometime.

xxSassyActressxx: Yeah, Star's fighting the evil. She just doesn't know it yet.

april4rmH-town: I'm glad you liked Robin's speech, and while you're just going to have to keep reading to find out what happens to Star, just remember that I'm a fan of happy endings!

dragonofraven: I'm glad you liked Starfire's soft spot, and of course Robin's speech was "a little too something", it always is, lol.

Samanthe2121: The red glowing eyes were Starfire's, as you probably figured out from the above chapter. Now that she has the Jewel of Charta, her star bolt color is red instead of green, like it was red instead of purple for Blackfire in Betrothed.

Okay, that's all for me, so I'm going to wrap this up. Review, because I would love to eventually get 400 reviews on this fic. And I'm kinda close, so make me happy, please!

Blair