1
Starfire walked down the hallway, heading toward French Class. As she passed through the halls, she saw Robin hanging out with a few other boys. Starfire smiled to herself. Ever since that dance, she had felt something different about that boy. Something wonderful, yet it made her stomach feel strange whenever she saw him.
As she passed by Robin and his friends, she caught Robin's eye. They stared at each other for a few seconds. Robin smiled at Starfire. She felt that strange feeling in her stomach again. Their gaze was broken when Jeff, a boy who was talking to Robin, playfully punched Robin on the arm. Robin wrenched his eyes away from Starfire and went back to his friends. Starfire continued to her classroom.
"Hey, Starfire!"
Starfire turned to see Victor running toward her.
"Hello, friend Victor! It is wonderful to see you!" greeted Starfire warmly. Victor stopped in front of her.
"Listen, Starfire. I want to thank you for what you said last night. I felt like I didn't belong among other humans before. But you showed me how wrong I was. Thanks," said Victor. He smiled widely at Starfire, who returned the smile.
"You are welcomed! It is glorious to see you in such a positive mood!" said Starfire joyously. The bell rang and the two friends walked down the hall together.
After French, Irma and Hay Lin ran up to Cornelia, Will, Taranee, Starfire, Victor, and Robin in the cafeteria.
"Hey, guys. Wussup?" asked Irma, taking a seat next to Will. They all exchanged hellos.
"Wow. It's really a storm out there," commented Robin, who was looking out the window.
Whoosh
The group could hear the strong wind from outside. Rain hammered against the glass. It made a thud noise which made Starfire shiver.
"I find that I do not enjoy this weather," she said, rubbing her arms as though to keep her warm.
"I don't think anybody does," said Victor, laughing. They finished their lunch in silence.
After the last bell had rung, the eight friends made their way to the main exit. Hay Lin pushed open the door. To her surprise, the door slammed shut.
"Whoa!" she exclaimed.
"The wind must be pretty strong," inferred Cornelia. Hay Lin, Robin, and Victor tried to push the door open. But it wouldn't budge more than a few inches.
"Need some help?" said a voice from behind.
The group turned to see Beast Boy standing behind them, his bookbag slung over his shoulder. He walked over to the door and helped the others push the door. With an extra person, the door opened wide enough for everyone to walk through.
"Thanks, Beast Boy. The wind is pretty darn angry today," said Irma.
"I can't see a thing!" exclaimed Starfire. The rain seemed like a curtain of water in front of them.
"If we hurry, we'll be able to get home before it gets really bad," said Robin, blocking the rain from his eyes with his hand.
"Lets go."
The nine eighth graders started walking. The rain continued to pour harder and harder. But they were almost home. That was a good sign...
Suddenly, a street lamp exploded into a million pieces. Starfire shrieked and grabbed onto the nearest person's arm, which happened to be Robin's. Robin blushed a little, but it was hard to tell from all the rain.
"We need to get home. Now," said Will. Cornelia nodded.
"Yeah. My new sweater is almost ruined!" she exclaimed. They started walking, their paces quickened.
"Help!" cried Taranee. The sidewalk had split in two, nearly having Taranee falling to her death.
"That's it. Something is definitely going on," said Victor. Suddenly, the wind picked up. It was now so strong, the nine seemed to be being pushed back. A swirl of black swished passed them. It surprisingly knocked the kids off their feet. More black spirals started flying from the fence that surrounded the junkyard. Robin shouted something at his friends, but they couldn't hear him. Robin realized this, and grabbed Starfire's hand. He motioned her to walk toward him. She did as he told.
Soon, the others were doing the same. They tried to follow Robin, while dodging the black spirals. Robin led them to the fence. The old wooden fence was bent and broken. This was good for the group, because they were shielded by the bent wooden frame.
"Guys, there is something behind that fence, and we need to find out what," said Robin. Starfire, Victor, Will, Irma, Taranee, Cornelia, and Hay Lin nodded. Beast Boy, however, looked confused.
"Say what?" he asked, lost. The others stared at him. Beast Boy didn't know about their powers, how were they supposed to investigate with him around? They all looked at Robin. Robin nodded at them. They understood him, as though talking telepathically.
"Beast Boy, we want to see what's going on behind that fence," started Taranee.
"Yeah, you know how crazy we are. You don't need to come along if you don't want to," finished Victor. Beast Boy gulped and nodded his head.
"Yeah, I'm not too fond of old junkyards. Besides, I'd rather stay out of the rain," he said. They all nodded and stood up. They entered the junkyard through a hole in the fence. Nearby, an old tire magically turned black and exploded. As the group made their way farther into the junkyard, they could hear something. No...someone.
Another object exploded behind them. Robin wiped his eyes and saw a person lying on the ground. She was completely covered in a dark blue cloak, even her face was covered. Her palms were pressed to her eyes. Her chest rose and fell numerous times. She seemed to be sobbing.
"Hello?" called Robin. The girl turned her head to see Robin and the others. She backed away slowly.
"Please, who are you?" he asked. The girl just whimpered. A swirl of black mist surrounded the Titans. Starfire shrieked. Cornelia screamed. Taranee covered her head.
But Robin didn't do anything. Something was weird. The black mist seemed to be coming from the girl on the floor. Her eyes had turned white. The girl saw Robin watching her and started running away.
"No, come back!" cried Robin. Her tried running after her, but the black mist forced him back.
"Robin, this isn't like anything I've ever seen before!" Victor yelled. His arm was glowing a faint shade of blue, and he seemed to be looking at it. Robin noticed that he was looking at what seemed to be scanners - on his arm!
Well, he is part robot. Thought Robin.
"Guys, I think we're gonna have to use our powers on this one," said Will.
"Agreed, friend Will!" agreed Starfire. She created a green starbolt in her hand and threw it at the mist. The mist was temporarily broken, but it closed itself again.
"Let me try!" cried Hay Lin. "Will, transform us!" Will took out the Heart of Candracar and transformed the girls. Hay Lin created a strong wind and sent it at the mist. It did absolutely nothing.
"We need help, guys! We don't even know what this stuff is made of!" cried Victor.
"Amen to that," said a voice. The group turned to see - Beast Boy!
Beast Boy magically transformed into a green T-rex and started clawing at the black mist. The others, with the help of their powers, helped him. One final blast of wind from Hay Lin made the black mist disappear for good.
"Beast Boy! I never knew you had such abilities!" cried Starfire, running up to the green boy. Irma looked thunderstruck.
"BB! The same dude who used to hang out with me after school can SHAPESHIFT!" she screamed.
"Heh, heh... yeah," said Beast Boy.
"No time now, we need to find that girl!" said Robin.
"That girl that was lying on the disgusting junkyard ground?" asked Cornelia. Robin nodded.
"Tell me, friend Robin. Why must we locate her?" asked Starfire.
"Same here. What's up with her?" asked Victor.
"Dude, I don't even know what girl your talking about," added Beast Boy, looking confused.
"I have a hunch: I think she was the one who created that black stuff. Those black things we saw when we were walking home could be related to her also," said Robin. "Lets go."
Robin started walking in the direction where the girl ran. The others followed him. They came across two different paths to take.
Which one should we take? Wondered Will.
Suddenly, they heard an explosion, which seemed to be coming from the path to the right. Robin gestured for the group to follow him. They did. As they ran down the path, they saw several broken objects. The girl must be close.
"There she is!" cried Taranee, pointing. Sure enough, there was the girl, leaning against a brick wall. Her hood had fallen off. Now that they were close, they could see her chin-length violet hair and dark eyes.
The girl gasped and covered her tear-stained face.
"Please, we just want to help," said Robin, slowly coming toward her. She looked his own age, perhaps fifteen or fourteen. But why was she crying?
"Go away!" the girl cried. She turned and ran, again. They tried to run after her, but it was no use. The girl crawled through a small hole in a fence, much too small for anyone else.
"No, please! Come back!" cried Robin.