The next day, the entity continued its watch over the curious beings known as the Teen Titans. It was now curious about the others from its study of Raven. The one named Beast Boy, despite his odd behavior, was intellectually dull. No wonder the one called Raven often disliked him. The one called Cyborg was part machine. The technology was nothing interesting compared to what the entity knew. His personality was mixed, but not hard to figure out. And the one called Robin possessed leadership and combat skills over his teammates. He was dedicated to his team. Aside from some personal issues, which the entity was not interested in, there was little to him that was not a mystery. That left the Tamaranean, Starfire. The entity had little dealings with Tamaraneans. It wondered more about Starfire, despite her less than sterling intellect. At least, she seemed that way. And yet, she had potential. Perhaps she was worth the entity's time. Yes. It would examine Starfire at close range next. It waited for the right moment…
"Ladies and gentleman!" cried Cyborg. "Presenting the Amazing Beast-dini!"
On the roof of Titans Tower, Beast Boy was hanging upside down from a scaffolding, bound in chains. A cannon was pointed at him. The other Titans watched.
"Are you sure this is safe?" Robin asked.
"Hey, I'm a professional!" Beast Boy retorted.
"What exactly is the point of this?" Raven said.
"We're going to see if we can do acts for kid's parties on the side." Cyborg explained.
"That way, we can do more good for the city aside from kicking butt. Still," he mused, "Kicking butt IS a good hobby!"
"Whatever, Cy!" Beast Boy exclaimed. "Just get on with the act!"
"Right." Cyborg prepared to light the fuse. "And now, behold! The Great Beast-dini will attempt to escape his bonds before this cannon fires! Ready?"
"Fire away, Cy!" the changeling replied. Cyborg lit the fuse with a built in lighter.
"And now, watch the master in action!" he exclaimed.
Beast Boy grunted as he tried to work himself free.
"I saw Teller do this once…" he said. Suddenly, there was a metallic clinking. A key fell down. "Um, Cy, could you get that? That key is kind of important!"
Raven started giggling. "Wow that IS amazing! He dropped his means of escape!"
Meanwhile, the cannon fuse was getting shorter by the second!
"Um, I do believe the cannon is about to fire!" Starfire exclaimed.
Cyborg quickly picked up the key and unlocked the chains from Beast Boy.
"Hey! I could've done that!" he protested.
"Fine!" Cyborg replied. "Have it YOUR way!"
He walked off, leaving Beast Boy struggled with the loose chains. The cannon was now a few seconds from firing!
"Aw, to hell with it!" he exclaimed, turning into a snake.
He slithered out of sight just before the cannon exploded in a cloud of black smoke and bright flame! Raven put out the fire.
"Too much powder there, Cy." she said.
Starfire applauded. "Good job, friend Raven! And you too, Beast Boy, for your narrow escape."
He resumed human form. "Thank you, thank you! I'm here all week!"
"And let's keep it that way!" Robin said. "No more stunts, okay?"
Beast Boy sighed. "Well, Cy. Back to the drawing board."
The Titans all went back inside for dinner.
It was Starfire's choice of food tonight. In preparation, the Titans each secretly took a large dose of Pepto Bismol before seating themselves. Her food selection seemed surprisingly normal, consisting of various vegetables and what looked like white steaks.
"What is it?" asked Robin.
"Well, I decided to try my hand at Earth cooking." she explained. "I stopped at the pier earlier today, and a kind man gave me some extra fish he called mackerel."
Beast Boy turned a darker shade of green. "Oh man, Star! Its meat! Real meat! I can't eat that!"
Cyborg grabbed his friend's plate. "More for me then! I love fish as much as any meat!"
Robin chuckled. "I wish Aqualad could hear that!" he laughed.
"You know," Raven began. "Fish IS considered to be brain food. Maybe Beast Boy is afraid of increasing his IQ?"
The shape-shifter shot an evil glance at her.
"I'm tired of you and your jokes about my brain!" he said. "Can't you come up with something new?"
Raven shrugged and resumed her dinner. Starfire indulged in her own cooking as well, surprising herself. Cyborg's teachings had done wonders for her skills. Beast Boy, meanwhile, helped himself to a heaping plate of salad.
Afterward, Robin did the dishes and cleaned the dinner table, while Cyborg and Beast Boy engaged in their favorite racing game on the Gamestation. Raven, as usual, was reading a thick book. Starfire decided to read the latest issue of Cosmopolitan, which she picked up at a convenience store. When he finished cleaning the kitchen, Robin sat next to Starfire to read his own magazine, one about martial arts.
Near midnight, the Titans started to turn in for the day. Starfire was the first to head to her room.
"Good night, Robin!" she said to him on her way to her room.
"Good night, Star!" he replied, about to head to the security room and lock down the tower.
In her room, Starfire had gathered her showering supplies; soap, shampoo, conditioner, a towel, a change of underwear, and a silky, pink robe. She took off her boots, gathered her showering materials, and was about to head out the door when…WHAM! She ran into something! It felt like she walked into a wall. She thought she did, when she realized her bed was nearly 10 feet away from the wall in the direction she was walking. Clearing her vision, and setting down her showering supplies, she looked at what she ran into. It was a tall, black rectangle!
"What is this?" she said aloud.
She felt the thing over, trying to guess what it was. She sniffed it as well, determining it wasn't a giant bar of dark chocolate as she thought it could be. A gift from Raven? It was dark and lacking in intricacy. Raven's style was typically like that. She decided that's what it must be. As it also appeared out of nowhere, and only Raven could do that amongst the occupants of the Tower, it was a theory that made sense.
Accepting the gift, she walked over to it and picked it up with both arms. It wasn't particularly heavy, but it was rather awkward. She set it next to her dresser. Admiring it, she knocked on it as if it was a door, just for fun. It felt hard as metal, but gave a ringing sound like a crystal.
Starfire was about to pick up her things, when she noticed something out of the corner of her eye. The monolith was peppered with glowing dots. They were stars!
"How lovely!" Starfire said aloud. "It is full of stars!"
She walked to it, even more curious about it. She rubbed her hand on it. It was still smooth. That is, until Star's hand suddenly dropped inside the starry void! Starfire shrieked! She tried to escape, but a powerful grip pulled her inside! Starfire vanished from sight, leaving her room empty, except for the monolith, which resumed its black, featureless form.
Starfire screamed as she was flung headlong through the star gate. When she calmed down, though, she realized she was in no real danger. Yet. She was unconcerned too, as her species could tolerate the conditions of space. What was unnerving, however, was the fact that a force outside of her own was propelling her through the galaxy to parts unknown. She was scared, wishing for Robin's company. She tried to fight against the force, but it was useless. Suddenly, the stars seemed to all go out! Starfire shuddered at the darkness. She hated darkness.
Then, something appeared in front of her. It was a nebula of some sort. A planetary nebula! To Starfire, it seemed a lovely display of celestial mechanics. It reminded her of a huge flower, with multiple hues. She tried to reach out and touch it, but whatever was behind her journey shielded her from the outside world. And even if it did not, the gases were thinner than that of a fog on Earth.
"Am I on a tour of some sort?" Starfire said aloud.
As she did, something caught her attention. It was the central star, a white dwarf. She shuddered at the sight. These tiny stars, slightly larger than Earth, had terrible gravity. Even a Tamaranean could not stand it! Fortunately, the scene vanished. Starfire waited for the next wonder to come into view.
When it did, she was taken aback. It was an open star cluster, the Pleiades! The brilliant, blue stars and the faint nebula present made for a beautiful view for the Tamaranean girl. She thought of the Earth legend behind them, which said something about seven sisters. Starfire immediately thought of her own sister, and felt regret for her.
She returned her thoughts to the view, which unfortunately has vanished. The next destination was one that was prominent in Starfire's memory; Saturn! The ringed planet provided Starfire with a prominent impression of the Terran system when she first arrived there. To her, it was the most beautiful planet, aside from Earth itself, of course!
She was swung past the rings, toward the giant orange moon, Titan. Starfire was bemused at the fact this moon, which was as orange as she was, was called simply "Titan". 'Perhaps one day,' she thought, 'When I have long since passed on, this moon might be named Koriand'r!' She laughed at the thought.
Now, she was approaching another moon, one rather strange in appearance. The moon had one dark side, one light side. It was none other than Iapetus. The moon was literally two-faced, for reasons unknown. Perhaps the Cassini spacecraft, orbiting Saturn, would reveal the answer. Starfire suddenly thought how funny it would be if the Cassini craft took a picture of her floating in space! Perhaps her friends might see it and…
The view of Iapetus vanished. Starfire waited for the next wonder, but none was forthcoming. She was scared. Then, a bright light filled her vision. When she could see again, she saw she was in a stark, white room.
It was rather lovely, though bare. There was no carpet, simply white tiles, with black lines in between. Starfire stood up and examined the room.
"Hello?" she said.
"Is someone her?"
She wondered who might be behind this whole thing. She though it could be Mad Mod, but if that was so, why didn't he reveal himself or attempt to hypnotize her? Could it be Mumbo Jumbo? No, this wasn't his style. Slade? But then why would he come after her, when his current interest was Raven? Was it to make Raven or Robin mad?
Wait! The gift from Raven! Starfire concluded this was a joke or something by Raven.
"Okay Raven, this is very hilarious! Now please show yourself?"
There was no answer. Starfire went through a partially open door. It lead to a bathroom. Out of curiosity, she tried the sink, the tub and shower fixture and the toilet. All functioned normally. Another door was in the bathroom. She followed that to a kitchen. It had all the normal appliances of Titans Tower.
The food, upon Starfire's examination, was rather limited in selection. And there were no other beverages available, aside from water and tea leaves.
"This HAS to be Raven's doing!" Starfire said. "Hello! Raven? Can you hear me? I do not know what manner of game this is you are playing, but I would like you to show yourself! Please?"
There was still no response. Starfire found a tall glass and drank some water. It was surprisingly good tasting, especially compared to the city water back home, which, unfiltered, tasted awful!
Starfire resumed her exploration. She came upon the living room, which was also tiled, like the rest of the 'house'. She saw no doors or windows that lead outside. And she was afraid to damage the wall, least a horrible thing might happen! Another door led back the bedroom. Sighing, she returned to the living room and sat down in a chair.
It was nice and comfortable. There was nothing to read, however. 'Raven would go crazy here!' she thought. She found a remote control, wondering what it went to. She then noticed the large, white cabinet in front of the chair. She went to it and opened the large doors on its face. There was a modest sized plasma screen television there. Sitting down again, Starfire turned it on. Surprisingly, it worked.
She flipped through the channels, stopping at 'Lifetime'. She paused there, and then continued to channel surf. She found 'Oxygen' as well. After a few minutes of surfing, she flipped between 'Lifetime' and 'Oxygen'. She rarely got to watch those channels at home; the three boys hated them, and Raven didn't care one way or another. In fact, Raven rarely watched TV, which was probably why she was so smart at times. Starfire chuckled at that thought. For all she knew, it might be true!
After an hour or so of watching the shows between the two channels, she turned the TV off. She was sleepy and still hadn't showered. Going to the bedroom, she looked for showering supplies. There was nothing there.
"Damn." she said aloud. Not even a change of clothes.
Going into the bathroom, she found a bar of soap, a wash cloth, and a towel. Taking the robe with her, Starfire returned to the bedroom and removed her armbands, then her collar device (she remembered she took off her boots before she ran into the monolith). She closed the door that lead to the living room. She went back to the bathroom and closed the door that lead to the kitchen. She didn't want to risk the chance of someone walking in on her.
Going back to the bedroom, she took off her halter top, her skirt, and her purple underwear. She stretched, cracking a few joints. Naked, she carried the robe with her as she went into the bathroom. She enjoyed a long hot shower, feeling relaxed and cleansed. Afterwards, she dried herself with the towel. She tried to dry that and the wash cloth with her powers, but for some reason they didn't work! Confused by this, she simply hung them up.
Putting the robe on, she returned to the bedroom. Starfire placed her clothes on the top of the dresser and laid down on the bed. She turned off the lights to the room, leaving the bathroom as the only source of light. Starfire considered turning off those lights too, but realized it would be too dark for her liking.
Lying down, she sighed. It was now obvious that Raven had nothing to do with the monolith or her trip through space. So what was it then? An alien intelligence of some sort? If so, what did they want with her? Could an automated system also have brought her here? If so, what did that mean for her? That she would sit out here in this place for the rest of her life? That thought frightened her even more than the dark.
"I want to see Robin again!" she cried out. "I want to be with my friends! Why am I here? What do you want with me?"
She started crying. The pain of being alone, without her friends that she loved so much was too much for the young girl. Sobbing, she slowly drifted off to sleep.
At the foot of her bed, appeared the monolith. It sensed the pain and anguish of Starfire, her need for friendship. To keep her locked up without a friend was cruelty to her. Especially when it came to the one called Robin. She had strong feelings for him. Understanding what it wanted to know, the monolith waited until Starfire woke up to summon its powers and send her home.
When Starfire did rise, she was confused at the dark shape in the room. After turning on the lights and seeing the monolith, she screamed.
"What do you want?" she yelled.
It didn't respond. Realizing it was just an inanimate object, Starfire discarded the robe she had slept in, and got dressed in the clothes she had on yesterday. When she finished, the monolith started to glow.
"What are you doing now?" she asked. She was sucked into it without warning. The empty 'house' then vanished back into the mind of its creator.
Robin entered Starfire's room only to receive a shock. He called Raven over. They entered the room and examined the monolith.
"Guess we know where Star is." Raven said.
"Where exactly did it send you?" Robin asked her.
"To a nice, white room. Cozy, if lonely."
"For Star, that would be torture."
The monolith now glowed and spat out Starfire. Then, it vanished. She got up and saw Robin. Without a word, she hugged him. Robin returned her embrace.
"No fair." Raven said aloud. "When I went in and came back through that thing, I was naked!"
Starfire looked at her. "You knew about this?"
"I didn't know it was here until this morning."
"Why didn't you tell us about that black thing?"
"Because I didn't think it was important. I'm sorry, Star."
She sighed. "So, you were naked, huh?"
Raven blushed. "Yeah. So?"
Starfire giggled. "Well…" She took off her arm bands.
Robin grabbed her hands. "Um, I don't think so Star."
She looked at him. "Well then, leave the room, silly!"
Blushing, he did so and closed the door behind him.
"Um, Star?" said Raven. "You don't have to get undressed to make me feel better, you know?"
"I need to change clothes, Raven. I have been wearing these since yesterday night."
"Oh." She blushed. "So, what did you see on your trip?"
Starfire got out her change of clothes and underwear. She stripped naked and dressed as she talked.
"I saw a nebula, the Pleiades, Saturn, a two-faced moon, and Koriand'r."
"What is that last one?"
"Oh, sorry. Titan, I meant Titan. I thought that moon should be named for me."
"Because of you both have orange skin?"
"And because we are both Titans."
"Oh. I see." Raven sighed.
Starfire, now dressed, sat down. "So, when Robin came up to get you when you returned, what happened?"
'Oh boy, here it goes.' she thought.
"Umm, I just said I overslept." She didn't feel the need to tell her that Robin knew of the monolith as well, otherwise an argument might result. She'd had to let him know that.
"He saw you naked, didn't he?" Starfire asked her. Raven nodded.
"What happened next?"
"I…just told him to leave while I got dressed."
"Oh. Well, that's innocent enough I guess."
"Yeah, it is." Raven wiped the sweat off her forehead. "Come on, Star. Let's eat!"
"Race you!" Starfire flew out of her room and rushed to the dining room. Raven took her time.
"One little trip, and she's already a space case." she said aloud.
She walked briskly down the hall.
The entity took another glance at the Teen Titans. They were such a happy group together, even the one called Raven. Satisfied with its curiosity, the entity left the region about Titans Tower went past Earth orbit off to the reaches of interstellar space, off to parts unknown.
THE END