Disclaimer: I DIS-CLAIM what I am writing. I do not claim Teen Titans. I don't even own the title; it was going to be used as an ep title.
NOTE: Whenever one of the girls is named it is referring to the body being occupied, otherwise the actual person may be specified in (these).
NOTE: After changing back, the girls will be referred to normally.
Chapter 14: Flares of Antagonism
Starfire couldn't tell what it was exactly that was pressed to her back, but then again she wasn't very eager to confirm if it was a weapon or not.
There was a hand on her shoulder, moving her over and a sound of shuffling behind her.
Before she could wonder, none other than Control Freak walked around her, a remote in hand. He pointed it at the other four, motioning Raven to join the rest. "No quick movements." Raven shuffled over, hiccupping.
Starfire could feel her eyes burning with Tameranian fury. She couldn't believe that they- her own team mates- had been hiding Control Freak…
She grit her teeth, her eyes narrowing at the four across from her. If she wasn't being held as a hostage Robin would be dead already and Cyborg would be a pile of used parts. Not only one, but a second villain in the house… behind her back!
But still, even if they had been taking occupancy in the tower, Robin should have upped the security.
Robin moved back as Control Freak rounded the four up. He couldn't look at Starfire in this shame. He should have told her before, or at least been more careful with villains in his own home. Stupid.
Mad Mod stood behind Starfire and by the way her muscles had stiffened, Robin bet the villain had a weapon to keep her idle.
"Now my duckies." Mad Mod cleared his throat to gain their attention. He placed a firm hand on Starfire's shoulder, turning her slightly. "You'll follow Moddie up, any rebellion will be quickly executed." He nodded at Control Freak.
The villainous nerd hit a few buttons on his remote, bringing some of the metal in the garage to life.
Cords and scraps of metal slithered to life piecing themselves together before rounding on the cornered four. With little objection, they wound around hands and wrists, drawing them tightly together.
When Control Freak had looked over the bondage to ensure it was tight enough he nodded at Mad Mod.
Mod turned Starfire in front of her, nudging the possible weapon into her back to ensure she stepped into the elevator.
"Take the very next one up." The British man gave the titans a firm look as the elevator door slid shut.
Starfire nearly shook in her anger. She had gotten enough stress for the evening… she did not need this.
Mad Mod seemed to notice her seething anger (the glowing eyes and hands were hard to ignore). "Ah poppet, they were doin it all in your best interest." He patted her shoulder and Starfire had to push back the urge to shirk away.
"Yeah… worked out super." There was the sound of whooshing around them as the box ascended.
"Didn't it?" By his voice she could tell the senile old man was grinning.
The Tameranian clamped her teeth down on her tongue to stop any hateful comebacks.
The rest of the ride up was silent.
"Right then." Mad Mod stopped Starfire in front of an all too familiar door. "If you would be so kind…" He nudged her in the back toward the keypad.
Control Freak paused the four a little ways down the hall, waiting for clearance.
Grudgingly, Starfire punched in the access code. A door glided open and the blinding whiteness of the interrogation room met her eyes. Mad Mod placed his hand once again on her shoulder and pulled her back down the hall a little as he nodded at his partner.
"Move it." Control Freak pressed a button on his remote, pushing the four violently forward. They were silent besides a still sniffling Raven as they crossed the threshold of the room.
When the four had reached the middle where the table was stationed, Mad Mod moved back to the door with Starfire.
Starfire was at the door, when the object stabbed her painfully in the back. She opened her mouth to cry out, but before she could Mad Mod had let go out her.
It resulted in the girl tripping in her heels and landing ungracefully on her forearms. There was the sound of something clattering beside her.
"Cyborg built this room, not even his sonic cannon can penetrate the walls. I think you five will be quite right for some time…" Mad Mod grinned from the doorway before he gave a snide nod.
The door slammed shut to the sound of hysterical laughter.
Starfire groaned, massaging the spot on her back. It hadn't been sharp, but boy had the jab hurt. She pushed herself up, immediately spotting five familiar faces. She scowled at them and turned to find the source of the previous noise.
An arm length stick with a diamond shaped metal bobble at the end lay discarded. Her eyes drank it in momentarily, wishing for no other thing than it to be what she thought it was.
Wrenching over, her fingers curled around the end of the stick and she pulled it to her.
"Raven?" Robin asked warily, tugging at his bondage that had yet to loosen.
"Is it…?" She asked, her anger momentarily dissolved as she looked it up and down. Could it be the..
"Raven…" There was a soft voice calling her name this time, sounding just as mesmerized as she was. Starfire looked up to see Raven looking at the object in her hand.
Starfire stepped over to the other girl, now eyeing the small button right below the metal bobble. "S-should we?" Raven asked finally tearing her eyes away to look up at a shrinking Starfire (the medicine had begun to wear off).
Starfire weighed her options. Robin had said they never finished testing it… but maybe she was lucky enough that the two had finished it when they were breaking out. She bit her lip, in usual circumstances she never would have tried.
But she really wanted her own body. She wanted to be able to conjure her center and press out her powers to search out Control Freak…
…rip his throat out and tear the British man's thick accent right from his body…
Starfire licked her lips. "Yes."
Raven's eyes seemed to glow with a bit of happiness before she seemed to remember her predicament. Either way she nodded and stepped closer to Starfire.
Starfire breathed out, trying to fight the quelling feeling that had begun to swamp her stomach. She gripped the stick near the top and Raven put her hands just under hers.
Starfire (Raven) clamped her eyes shut and hit the button.
Instantaneously, there was an explosion. There was a shocking blast of whiteness that knocked the two girls back in opposite directions.
Raven crashed back into something that gave a cry of indignation, while Starfire slid back until her back smacked against the hard table.
After a second, the light faded, leaving the occupants rubbing their eyes and waiting for the blindness to clear.
"I'm blind!" There was a shout and some scuffling from Beast Boy followed by a metal smacking sound and a yell from Cyborg.
Raven groaned and tried to push herself up. Her hands fumbled on something that wasn't quite as solid as the ground..
"Ugh." She opened her eyes, letting them focus. She brought up a cuffed hand to wipe her eyes when she abruptly paused. Was her mind playing tricks on her? Was her skin really… gray?
Quickly, she grabbed a lock of hair, delighted to feel the short silky violet hairs.
"Starfire!" Raven yelled, almost in happiness.
The other girl across the room had just pushed herself away from the table. She was still focusing with the light as her back throbbed. The first thing Starfire spotted was the distance to the floor… it was so much further…
Red hairs hung down in her face and in a burst of happiness the Tameranian blew them out of the way. "I am me!" She twirled around unexpectedly, hugging herself in her overflow of joy.
"Raven?" There was a soft mutter near the girl's ear and Raven turned her head. She had forgotten she had landed quite forcefully on someone.
Robin, adorned in his typical mask looked quizzically at her. Raven was nearly sitting on him, but the boy had braced his arms against the floor to keep himself up. Raven might have smiled if the weight of what he had done had not come slamming back at that instant.
Her expressions quickly became dark and the telekinetic girl jumped to her feet. Robin, under her harsh gaze, also got up backing up a few steps.
"Look Rav-"
"Oh no." She put out a hand to stop him (black tendrils floated at her fingertips making the bondage on her wrists fall). She stepped forward and he took one back. "Don't even try to reason."
Cyborg had grabbed Beast Boy at her sudden temperament and moved away toward Starfire behind the table. Cyborg wanted to draw as little attention to himself as possible while she was venting…
"Raven I didn't-" He took another faltering step back as she proceeded on him.
"Didn't what? Think?" She growled, one of the chairs at the table was picked up and thrown at the back wall (the other three ducked). "At least if you were going to bring him in here you should have been more careful!"
Robin frowned finally, taking offense at her accusations. "I was careful!" He yelled back, leaning back toward her trying to take control of the situation. "And it wasn't MY idea to bring him in here."
"Then whose was it?" She raised an eyebrow, her temper still fuming.
Robin shut his mouth. He shouldn't rat them out…
His mind searched for another name quickly.
Raven drew her conclusion from his silence, she rounded on the other three before he could come up with a painfully obvious lie.
"You two." She seethed, her tone every bit accusing.
Beast Boy shrank behind Cyborg, dissolving instantly out of sight. Cyborg opened his mouth to try and defend himself. Raven swished her hand, and the table separating them slid out of the way and crashed into the sidewall.
Cyborg cringed at the crunch of metal… he could only imagine the same treatment for himself. "Raven, you just need to calm down and think rationally…" Cyborg tried to pacify her first, if he could get the anger out of the way she could start seeing much clearer.
"No." She started forward, the magic on her fingertips sparking. "I want you to answer me; why did you bring a damn villain into the tower and not put the proper safety precautions in place?" Her voice was sour now as she looked him in the eye.
"I did, but somehow they-" Cyborg was searching for words out of the air, he had never been at the receiving end of Raven's anger and found it increasingly hard to keep her at bay.
"Yes, well what good that did you." She frowned at the taller boy before spinning on the spot to stop Robin in his track.
Robin had planned on sneaking up on her if she decided to go after Cyborg any more. He didn't know exactly what he was going to do with his hands still fastened behind him, but maybe he could reach a bird-a-rang…
"And you…" She looked at him oddly, the anger being pushed away for something a little more foreign. She moved toward him, feeling his presence wary of her. To her steps, he began to back down again.
He worked on the cuffs as she got closer. He didn't know what she was planning, but he didn't feel like trusting that look she had.
"Starfire." She called just as Robin had backed into the wall. There was a stiff air of attention behind her. "If you can get your fingers just under the door, it should come up with a good pull."
Starfire shuffled toward the door with the other two. Raven was acting rather peculiar… but she wasn't going to say something if they could get out. She kneeled where the entrance was and felt along the floor crease for a small bit of leverage.
Halfway down the door there was a small part that jutted out too far, just enough for her to curl her fingers under. She took a breath before wrenching up quickly with a burst of her Tameranian strength.
The door cracked and folded in on itself as though it were a vertical blind. Starfire was showered in white dust and metal pieces, but the hallway opened in front of her.
"Call me when you find them." Raven called, her back still to them keeping Robin in place.
Starfire shook her head of dust, looking back at the two warily. Was it really safe to leave Robin in her clutches?
She had a momentary flashback of their breakup. She blinked hard to still any tears and without a second thought, ducked under the door and into the hall. The other two followed with just as little concern for the boy.
They were alone. This notion made Robin even more anxious to get away. If he could sidestep so carefully…
He moved slightly to the side and tried to step forward. Raven was quicker, and had stepped over and forward making him veer back. The wall was now at his back and his arms were somehow between the two.
It was strange for him to be stuck there. He usually wasn't one to submit to influence…
"Raven." He kept his voice stable and commanding, enough of this… they had criminals to catch.
"Why didn't you listen?" Her voice was curiously soft from the fury she had just previously been raising.
Robin snapped his eyes back to her. "What?" His mind was searching for what she was talking about. He didn't listen about the criminal?
"Starfire." She reminded him, looking slightly perturbed. Oh, right.
Robin now had an overwhelming urge to get away… was it hot in there or what? He tugged his hands behind his back urgently. "We should go get Mod and Control Freak."
Robin attempted to inch forward hoping she would step back in the need for her personal space. She kept her ground and Robin only accomplished closing more of the distance between them, effectively screwing up the situation further.
His breathing came a little too quick and the boy was annoyed how nervous he was. She was just trying to mess with him… that was nothing to get so unsettled for.
A heartbeat passed and the strangest thing happened. There was a twitch of a smile on her lips before a challenging look took its place. She raised a hand and placed it on his shoulder.
Robin looked at her guardedly. This wasn't like her, not at all.
"Stupid boy." She muttered, pulling her hand back and shaking her head. Then, with a whirl of her corset dress she had turned and exited the room.
Robin stood a moment dazed and confused. He went to give another tug at his bondage, only to find it was gone.
Not knowing exactly what to think, the Boy Wonder hurried out of the room after Raven.
Robin caught up with her just as she was starting down the stairs. "Hey," He called lightly as he strode beside her. She keep her downward ascent without giving him a glance.
"We should try and see if they've found the two of them yet." She said automatically and held her hand out for his communicator.
"Wait, can I ask what just happened back there?" Robin talked as he unhooked the gadget from his belt.
"You can, but that doesn't mean you'll get an answer." Raven replied mystically in her business tone.
To Robin it sounded as though he'd just been snuffed. He handed her the communicator as they cleared the stairs.
Ignorant to Robins growing confusion (or maybe she just wanted him to suffer) she flipped it open and dialed up Cyborg.
A moment later the boy appeared. "Status report?" Raven asked.
"We've secured all the higher levels, but most of the security is down. There's a major virus in the systems. We're heading to the living room now." In the background Raven (and Robin who was leaning over to see the screen) could see the familiar rooms passing behind them.
"Okay, we'll be right behind you. Keep us posted." Raven nodded and snapped the device shut. Robin backed away immediately as she handed it back. "Do you know how to reboot the main system?" Raven had finally turned her attention to him.
Robin thought back through his memory. When the tower had been built Cyborg had told him a little about the engineering…
"I might be able to with the encryption codes."
"I guess that'll do. Cyborg can help if you need it." Raven's mind was working, her eyes had become unfocused. She glanced up at the ceiling still thinking.
"Me? You aren't helping?" Robin waved a hand to try and draw the mystic back.
"I'll get you there." She turned to face him, her eyes looking over his features. Before he could speak she extended her arm, palm up. Her power flared around them as Robin placed his hand in hers. Her powers enveloped the two of them.
In the shape of a giant black raven the two vanished up through the ceiling.
Ta-da! So now they are themselves again…-whistles innocently-
Aww, I'm sorry to a few of the Rob/Star fans I had. Robin is a bit insensitive at times… he'll get his punishment. Anyway I wanted to thank any R/S shippers for reading at least this far and enjoying my writing. Maybe I'll write something for those shippers eventually…
A thousand thanks to my beta Sara Cabbage Patch, for making the chapters readable, hehe.
Lovely -occasionally threatening- reviews, thanks everyone!
-Dragonslayer527