Chapter 12

A week later Raven was heading toward the large training room, hoping to watch Robin and Starfire training with swords again. She slowed her steps slightly when she didn't hear the sound of their training swords clacking together. The last thing she wanted to do was catch them in a personal moment.

"I can not simply just shoot you," she heard Starfire's voice say, as she neared the door, "I remember, all to well, how I felt that one time I did."

"Alright then, defend yourself," Robin's voice said, and Raven froze in the doorway, stunned by what she heard, and saw. Fortunately she caught herself, before her finger pressed the distress beacon button on her communicator, because it took her a moment to realize that it was Starfire, not her sister in the room with Robin. Raven now remembered what Starfire looked like in her armor, which she now wore under her regular outfit. Taking out her communicator, she called Cyborg, who she knew was in Operations.

"Whatcha need Rae?" he asked.

"Take a look at what's going on in training room three," she told him.

There was silence on the communicator for a moment. "Whoa!" Cyborg's voice came over the speaker, "Is that. . . .?"

"No, it's Starfire." Raven assured him, smiling softly, "Same purple, boots, skirt, and top, she just added her armor, and besides, there is no mistaking that bright red mane of hair of hers," she added, "You're getting audio too, right?"

"Yeah, gimmie a sec to turn it up," Cy replied, and Raven's grin grew bigger at his reaction to what they were both now hearing, "That's metal to metal!" he gasped, listening to the ringing of the impacts of their swords. "I hope they know what they're doing," he added

"You've never watched them before have you?" she asked, then went on, knowing the answer, "It's almost like watching a well choreographed dance, or ballet," she explained, "And what's even better is that Robin is almost, if not evenly matched."

Closing her communicator, she settled in to watch. It took about twenty minutes, but finally one of them saw an opening, and Robin went down hard, as Starfire swept his feet out from under him. She watched as he quickly rolled to his feet, then gave Star a quick salute before bringing his sword to the guard position again.

"Shota." Star said softly, an almost predatory smile on her face. This was the first time she had gotten an advantage over Robin, and she felt the thrill of learning that he wasn't unbeatable.

Robin waited, thinking that Star would attack, but realized it wasn't going to work that way when he saw the fire in her eyes. This wasn't the green glow of her righteous fury, this was the look of a predator who has finally seen a weakness in its prey, 'That's not Starfire, Teen Titan, right now,' he thought to himself, 'That's Koriand'r, princess, and warrior of Tamaran.'

Robin had no misconceptions about Starfires training. He knew that because she was a royal that she would have been trained by the best her planet had to offer, and from what he had seen over the last six days, her sword master was as good, or better, than the ones he had trained with, and he realized that the training session had just gone up a notch, 'This is no longer, me training her, this is two masters, sparring with each other,' he thought to himself.

"Come on Robin," Star taunted, her tone of voice catching Robin, and Raven by surprise, "You afraid I might knock you out again, or are you scared you might get beaten by a girl?" Robin gaped at her, then grew concerned, as she raised her left hand to her head, "I am most sorry Robin, that was most rude," she said softly, "I do not know. . . .ungh," she began, but cut off as she pressed her hand against her head, as if trying to fight off a very bad headache.

"Star, are you alright?" he asked, taking a step toward her

"Better than you will be!" she shouted, and Robin barely had time to bring his sword up to parry her attack.

Raven watched, stunned by the ferocity of Starfire's attack, and when Robin jumped, so he landed a fair distance from Star, she pressed the distress beacon on her communicator.

Robin wasn't surprised by the alarm, and took an extra breath, as Star seemed confused by it, 'Something is messing with her mind,' Raven's voice spoke in his head, 'It's like she been drugged, all I'm getting is raw anger.' Robin nodded, but didn't have time for much else, as Star came at him again, 'I've got to find a way to stop her, without hurting her.' he thought, as he took the offensive, driving Star back with a flurry of blows. Seeing that Star was getting angrier, at not being able to gain an advantage over him, Robin knew what she was going to do next, and he braced himself for it.

True to his suspicions, the next time he jumped back, away from her, he saw a green flash, and felt the impact, and flare of heat on his breast plate. He heard Raven call out his name in alarm, as he slid to a stop in a three point stance. "I'm alright," he called out to Raven, "Star told me this armor can take several hits," he explained, 'Now I know it's true.' he thought to himself. He quickly looked around and saw that his sword was several feet in front of him. He also saw Starfire, three feet in the air, her sword in its scabbard, and both her hands glowing green.

"Starfire, stop!" Raven called, as she walked toward her, "We're your friends and want to help you."

"Raven no! Get back!" Robin shouted, then watched as the dark Titan was thrown back, against the wall by a star bolt. "Koriand'r, covatchu!" Raven vat he cutana!" Robin shouted, hoping that telling Star, in her own language, that Raven was her friend, and enough, would have an effect.

On the up side, it had the effect of getting her attention off Raven. On the down side, her attention was now focused on him again. Moving quickly, he managed to dodge the first few star bolts she fired at him. Unfortunately Robin found himself boxed into a corner. "Well, now to see if this armor is as good as Star said it is," he muttered, turning to face her. He was relieved to see Beast Boy, and Cyborg, helping Raven out of the room. "Kori, it's me, Robin," he said, looking back up at her, his arms at his sides.

Robin saw that Star's hands were no longer glowing, and she raised one to her head. "Robin, I'm sorry, but I can not. . .can not stop myself," she said, the strain evident in her voice, "Anger. . .to. . .strong," she added through gritted teeth, then groaned as Robin watched her expression change from one of regret to one of cold fury.

During the lull, Robin had moved out of the corner, and was now midway down a wall, but Star's next flurry of star bolts penned him in again. For the most part Robin was able to dodge the bolts, but more and more of them were finding their marks, as he tired and slowed. It was when he blocked a bolt with his forearm guard that he got an idea, as he found that the bolts bounced off them, and by changing the angle of his arm, he could direct where the bolt would go.

Robin leapt to his right, out of the corner, and clear of the smoke from the burnt padding, and Star immediately launched a couple of bolts at him. The first one, hit him dead center of his chest plate, and the second hit on his left forearm, and went right back at her, followed closely by two sets of three explosive disks. The bolt coming back, caught Star by surprise, and slammed her back into a wall, three of the disks exploded a few feet from her, as she rebounded off the wall, the concussion slamming her back again, and the process repeated for the other three disks, and Star fell to the floor, unconscious. Robin managed to stagger to her side, abut the same time as the others, "Raven. . .you. . . .alright?" he panted, and got a nod from her, "What's. . . .wrong. . . .with her?"

"Like I told you before, it's like she drugged," Raven replied, "she's not angry at anybody, or anything, she's just simply furious," she explained, and Robin's head snapped up as he remembered something Star had taught him about her people. He reached over and took her sword from it's scabbard, and used a tool from his utility belt to scrape something from the hilt.

"Beast Boy. . .my room. . .closet shelf. . .blue box. . . .this big," he panted urgently, "bring it. . .fastasyoucan"

The green Titan nodded, and quickly morphed into a rabbit, and dashed off. A few moments later, a green hawk flew into the room with the box in its talons. Robin caught the box, as Beast Boy morphed back into human form, and the others watched as Robin opened the box, and took out a small phial filled with a bluish liquid. He then took out a small syringe, which he quickly drew a small amount of the liquid into then injected it into Star's neck, just below her jaw. Almost instantly, Star's hands released from the fists they had been clenched into, and her face relaxed into a more peaceful look. Robin sighed and cupped her cheek with his hand, "Nevana ne loneva," he said softly, then scooped her up in his arms, "let's get her to her room."

"You mean the med lab, right?" Cyborg asked, blocking the doors, his arms folded across his chest.

"I don't want her waking up there," Robin argued, "Her room would be more relaxing for her."

"Robin, you put me in charge of taking care of the team, medically," Cyborg reasoned, "she needs to be where she can be monitored, in case she goes crazy again," he added, and hated the way Robin flinched when he said the word 'crazy'.

Robin looked at Star's now peaceful face, as her head rested against his shoulder. Not having an argument he could use, he nodded, and followed the others to the med lab, and placed her on one of the diagnostic beds. "No!" he cried when he saw Cyborg strapping her down, "I promise you she won't attack when she wakes up." he pleaded, grabbing Cyborg's hand.

"And how can you promise that?" Cy asked, "and why did you apologize to her after you gave her, whatever that was?" Cy saw that two of his friends were confused by what he said. "'Nevana ne loneva' means 'forgive me my love'" he translated for them.

"You did what?" Beast Boy demanded, then got nose to nose with Robin, "WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER!"

"Beast Boy calm down." Raven said quietly, "You know that Robin wouldn't do anything to harm Starfire," she reasoned, wondering why Robin wasn't defending himself.

"I'm not so sure I'm worthy of that trust, Raven," Robin said quietly, "You can look through the Tamaranean database, and you won't find what I'm about to tell you," he began, then glanced at the steady rhythms of the monitors, "That means that it's something she told me in confidence, and I stand a good chance of losing her trust when she finds out I've told you. She's going to be waking up in about an hour, and she's going to need our support, not you guys questioning me like this."

"Robin you don't have to do this," Raven said, "We trust you."

"Yes Raven, I do have to do this, you have a right to know now, especially you, so you don't keep wondering when she'll turn on you again," Robin said, and took a deep breath, "You all now how Star's powers work, even newborns are able to fly, because of the unbridled joy that exists in the bond between children and their parents," he explained, "The boundless confidence that provides them with their super strength comes as they complete their training, and, as we learned, eye beams are acquired through the transformation they go through in their early to mid teens."

"You left out her star bolts, righteous fury," Beast Boy pointed out.

"Which is trained using part of a plant that grows on Tamaran," Robin said, "It's called the Vartoch du Lunecha."

"Root of Madness." Cyborg said softly, "No wonder you flinched when I made that comment about Star going crazy. Sorry man I didn't know."

"It's alright Cy," Robin assured him, then went on, "The root is pounded into a paste, then pressed into these grooves on the hilt of their swords, during training," he explained as he took Star's sword, and scraped the rest of the paste off the hilt, "The sap is absorbed through the skin, and well you saw the result."

"So what was that blue stuff?" Raven asked, "It seemed to clear her of the chemical from the root sap very quickly."

Robin looked over at Star, his face sad, "No it didn't Rae." he said softly, "It's a serum derived from the Veka vine, and it effects certain brain functions," he explained, drawing startled gasps from Cyborg and Raven.

"So what does that mean?" Beast Boy asked.

"It suppresses certain emotional responses, which means when she wakes up, she'll be powerless," Robin said with a heavy sigh, his voice cracking. "No flight, no strength, or star bolts, until it wears off tomorrow morning, and she'll know I'm the one that did it to her."

"Robin, you did what you had to," Raven reasoned, as he hung his head, "What would have happened if you had not given her the serum?"

Robin was silent for a moment, as he thought over what she said, "You saw her, when she escaped from the Gordanians," he said, "With the sap in her system it would have been worse, far worse, and nothing on this world would have stopped her, until it wore off," he admitted, then seemed to shake himself from his depression a little, "Just as a warning to you, when she wakes up, she's going to be disoriented, confused and scared," he told them, "Most likely the last thing she's going to remember is when she took me down with a leg sweep."

"Dude, she took you down!" Beast Boy gasped, and Robin nodded, a small smile of pride on his face.

"So that's why you wanted to take her to her room instead of here," Cyborg said, and Robin nodded, "Sorry, but I still think the best place for her is here, and I'm leaving the restraints on just in case," he added. He could tell that Robin wasn't happy with it, but he didn't argue.

"I'm going to get out of this armor, and grab a quick shower," Robin told them, "I'll be right back."

As Robin was walking back to the med lab, Raven met him in that hall. "What else its it that you are keeping back, Robin?" she asked.

"Noth. . ." he started to reply, but Raven cut him off

"Don't insult me by denying it, I'm an empath, remember," Raven said angrily.

Robin sighed, "It's another use for the serum," he told her, "It's used for. . . .prisoner control, which is why Devon'r gave it to me in the first place, in case Blackfire shows up," he explained.

"Okay, but there is something else, I can tell," Raven told him, "Just remember, if it affects you or Starfire, it affects the rest of the team as well."

About twenty minutes after Robin and Raven got back to the med lab, one of the monitors beeped. "She should be commin' around any moment now," Cyborg announced.

A moment later, Star moaned softly and her eyes slowly opened, and she looked around in confusion, "Friends, how did I get here? Why am I strapped down?" she asked in rapid succession, then strained to break free of the restraints on her arms, her face growing panicked as she found she couldn't, "Why can I not break free!"

"It's okay Star, you're going to be alright," Robin said, trying to calm her down, 'Here it comes,' he thought to himself, as he saw the recognition, of what was wrong with her, flash in Star's eyes.

"Veka serum!" she exclaimed, then seemed to calm for a moment, "Robin where is your armor?"

"It's in his room, and you should see the scorch marks on it from when that root stuff. . . ." Beast Boy said, then trailed off when he saw three sets of eyes glaring at him, and Star glaring at Robin, "Okay, shutting up now," he said meekly.

"So you told them of the Vartoch du Lunecha." Star said angrily, "Did you also tell them of my fear of the big hairy spiders, or of small spaces of darkness?" she demanded.

"No Star, I didn't, but you just did that well enough on your own," Robin said, then sighed heavily, "The only reason I told them about the Vartoch, was because it was necessary, especially after you attacked Raven."

Star pulled weakly at the restraints again, then gave Robin a simmering glare, "You enjoy seeing me like this, do you not? Weak, and powerless!" she shouted at him. "Goktana!"

"Shu shesas tarkan du na chana fet?" Robin demanded.

"Shu vata ne shalocfa, rotuna chana fe!" Star shouted back.

Robin's surprise at what Star said was written all over his face, and he came stiffly to attention, and put his right fist to his left shoulder. "As you command, princess." he said angrily, with a slight bow, then headed for the door. He stood there for a moment, and looked back at Star, who was pointedly looking away from him, then he slammed his fist against the door actuator and stormed out.

"Well Star," Cyborg said angrily after a moment, "do you really think of him like that?" he asked, "And what's with you telling him to leave like that, as if it was a royal dismissal?"

"Well he is my shalocfa, and should act as such." Star countered crossly, "Is not one of you going to go to comfort him, and convince him to come back?"

"Why, so you can shred his heart some more!" Beast Boy demanded, "I thought you loved him, but how can you treat him like that?"

"He had your reaction guessed right." Raven said, and Star blinked at the anger in her voice, "He knew that when you found out that he told us about the Vartoch, that you would be angry, and he would lose your trust."

"And you have the gall to think he enjoys seeing you this way?" Cy asked incredulously, "Girl his first reaction was to apologize to you, after he had given you the serum." Just then Cyborg's communicator beeped. "Yeah Rob." he said into it.

"The sword that Star was using was the one we gave her." Robin's voice said over the speaker, "She never used it in training, until we gave it to her, so it shouldn't have had any of the root paste on it," he explained, "Go through the security videos and see if you can find out how it got there," he ordered, then closed the connection.

Cyborg nodded, as he shut down his communicator, then quickly went over to the computer and typed furiously. "You wanna see how happy he is about what he had to do?" he growled at Star, "Well just watch this." he added, and the video from the training room came on the screen, followed by the video from the med lab. "And you can quit trying to get free from those restraints," he told her, "You're staying right where you are until you calm down and think things through.

"No." Star said softly, "I did not do those things, I could not do those things," she almost whispered as she watched the scenes play themselves out on the monitor. "Raven, I. . ." she began.

"Forget it, you weren't yourself," Raven said, cutting her off, "I wouldn't have known that if Robin hadn't told us about the root.

"And look at these," Beast Boy said, holding up one of Robin's arm guards, and his chest plate, showing where the scorch marks were, and how a small section of the arm guard had been melted.

Cyborg had paused the video, and when he saw that Star was through looking at the armor, he restarted it so Star could see all that had happened.