The monster-like creature pulled itself from the water, digging its long claws into the dock and ripping long gashes in the wood. It stood at its full heigth, which was nearly ten feet tall, and made a gripping motion with its clawed hands, which were connected to almost humanoid arms. The scales on it's back seemed to frill out, its tail curled, and it opened its huge mouth and roared.
Talon's face turned pale and she looked at Rusty. "What are we supposed to do with that?"
"Well, I guess we take it down. It may be easier said than done, but we might as well try."
On the other side of the dock, Stardust prepared her starbolts and took a step forward, but Rorek held out a hand in front of her. "Let me handle this. You wouldn't want to tear your dress."
She looked at him quizically, but he took off his blue corsage and shed the tuxedo jacket, then went to meet the monster head on. He didn't waste any time with an attack, which hit the monster square in the face, sending it down on its side to the dock below. People screamed and scattered to hide behind a over-turned table, having nowhere to run and no escape.
"What's he doing?" Talon said, waving her hand in Rorek's direction. "Why isn't Stardust helping him?" Rusty shrugged, merely glad that he didn't have to join the battle yet.
The reptilian creature regained its feet, then roared furiously, its red eyes set on Rorek, who was planted on the dock between the monster and the civilians. The creature took a hard step forward, then came at a full run, opening its mouth and letting out a burst of blue fire, only to be cancelled out by a white shield thrown from Rorek's hand, who after that took a leap and got in four dangerous hits before he made contact with the ground again.
The monster roared savagely, only this time from the pain of the open wounds it had received from Rorek's deadly power. Rorek, let me help you, Stardust thought, though he seemed to be handling himself quite well so far. As the two-way battle raged on, Stardust's mind wandered and she couldn't help but thinking that Rorek looked hot fighting in a white dress shirt and shining black shoes. She also admired that every time he dodged he escaped danger, and every time he attacked he hit home. If she had been a cartoon, she imagined that admiring hearts would be floating around her head.
But it was all cut short when the creature took a hard swipe with its claws and caught Rorek right across the chest, tearing his shirt clear off and drawing blood. He seemed to ignore the pain and threw up another shield to block an oncoming swipe, then glanced up at the barrage of starbolts that came raining down onto the monster, which roared again and shot blue fire once more, catching the dock ablaze and casting a blue light into the night.
Stardust, already regretting her next move in fear of ruining her dress, shot forward and landed a starbolt directly in the creature's mouth, then planted a double-fisted punch in its face that threw if off the dock and into the water with a huge splash. Still hovering in the air, she shielded her face with her arm, then squinted at the water when everything was still.
"Is it over?" Talon said."Did we-" But her last words were drowned out by the monster bursting from the water again and landing hard on the dock, splitting the wood slightly and putting a strain on the whole structure.
Stardust was suddenly infuriated. She felt like she couldn't do anything without getting interrupted by a villain or a monster, and it made her eyes charge up involuntarily. This thing had messed up her date- and worst of all, it had unforgivably hurt Rorek. She blasted foward in a rage, yelling and shooting eye beams, throwing punches and starbolts, and swiping kicks, ignoring the fact that she was in a long dress and no longer caring if she messed it up. The monster, trying to make a quick recovery from the force of the attack, took a hard snap at Stardust's hovering form, who grabbed it by the jaws and forcefully twisted its head to the side, driving its body to the ground. Then, still in an irritated anger, she drove a kick with her high-heeled sandal that forced the creature various yards into the air, and she threw the largest starbolt she could muster, hitting her mark squarely and sending it flying way out into the ocean waters. After a few minutes of waiting for it to surface again, only a few bubbles came up, and the battle was clearly over.
Stardust landed back on the ground, Rusty coming forward, making a peace sign with his fingers and punching her fist. "That was awesome!" He motioned his hand, as if thinking of a headline to a newspaper. "Alien girl takes down monster with bare hands. You and Rorek were great."
Rorek! Stardust whirled around and saw him sorting through what was left of his clothes. "Rorek, you're hurt. Are you okay?" She stepped foward, worry etched into her face, and placed a hand gently on his chest.
"I'm all right," he said. "It's not that bad of a wound."
"You're bleeding," she protested, picking up the shredded shirt he had been wearing and folded it up, pressing it lightly to the gashes.
She knew he was fighting to show pain by the way he cringed, though it was barely noticable, and his breath sucked in slightly. "Really, I'm quite all right. I've had things like this happen before."
"So have I, but it doesn't make it any less painful."
He smiled. "Wise words, Stardust." She smiled back shyly, then glanced over her shoulder when she heard two sets of footsteps. Angel and Miss Metal had finally arrived, arm in arm, and Angel looked up and down Rorek's bleeding torso.
"What'd we miss?"
"Only Godzilla!" Talon exclaimed. "Could you have been a little later, please?"
"Quit being sassy," he replied, but it only made her look pleased with herself. "I guess we should go back to the Tower and take care of Rorek's wound. Miss Metal can come with us."
For once, Stardust didn't protest. "Sounds like a good idea. Let's go."
Rorek gasped through his teeth as Stardust touched the medicated bandage to his chest, and she drew back at the open sign of pain. "No, go on," he said. "It's got to be done sometime."
She placed it back on and wrapped it around him, cringing more than he was, not wanting to hurt him. It was past midnight in the infirmary now, and she and the rest of the team had changed back into uniform. Stardust had looked her prom dress over and was relieved to see that it had escaped all sorts of damage, which was more than could be said for Rorek's tux. Somehow during the heat of the battle, it had been ripped completely in two.
"It's gonna cost a pretty penny to pay back on your tux we rented," she said sadly.
"Probably, but I'll take it in tomorrow and see if we can work out a deal. After all, we did save a lot of people earlier tonight." He grinned. "Perhaps they'll have mercy."
"Well, the city government is our main source of income, so it's hard to tell. They might just take a chunk off our next paycheck."
"Maybe." Rorek slid off the metal table he had been sitting on and stretched carefully. Stardust's eyes fell on his nicely muscled abs, then she shook the thought from her mind and handed him his shirt.
"I don't guess you'll be wearing your armor anytime soon," she said.
Rorek shifted his sky-blue eyes at her, then placed a hand on his own chest, and his hand glowed briefly. He removed the bandage and set back his shoulders to show that there was no longer a wound, not even a scar.
Stardust blinked hard. "You healed yourself. I didn't know... why didn't you just do that in the first place?"
He tilted his head and said quietly, "Because I liked the attention you were giving me."
Stardust blushed hard, not even remembering the last time she was this embarrassed. "Well- yeah, so... uh, okay." She had no idea what she should say to that, but had even less of an idea when he ran his fingers under her chin and titled her face up towards his- and she no longer cared. He kissed her, and she returned it promptly, her fingers digging into the back of his neck, which he didn't seem to mind. And as their luck had it, the door slid open as if on cue.
"Hey, you- oh, sorry," Talon's voice said, and the door slammed shut.
Stardust looked at Rorek and shrugged, and irritated sigh escaping her lips, but he just smiled and kissed her again.
After admiring the space and build of the Tower, Miss Metal paced the floor of the training room and finally stopped to face Angel, who was sitting on a weight bench.
"Some prom," she said, smiling. "I didn't even get to dance with you, and you looked so nice in that suit of yours. Dressy, but nearly gothic. How did you accomplish that?"
Angel shrugged. "I just go to the right places." Then he stood up and flicked on the state-of-the-art radio that sat on a shelf in the corner, tuning it in to a slow music station. "But we don't have to be at the prom to dance, you know."
She smiled broadly, and they waltzed around the room, and Angel dipped her. She laughed, all the blood rushing to her head, and grabbed his jacket and pulled herself upright. After awhile of dancing, they both got tired and sat in the floor, Miss Metal's head in Angel's lap.
He fingered her golden hair and sighed contentedly. "I wish you could stay here with me, Faith."
Miss Metal's face fell. "Your friends don't trust me. I couldn't stay."
"Of course they don't trust you now, but after we get this thing sorted out, you won't be forced to work for anybody. My friends will like you then. Maybe you can even become a Titan."
She sighed. "I don't know about that; I just feel so out of place when I'm around them. I know they'd rather tear me apart than be my friend any day."
"That's not true. We just can't afford to trust everybody we come in contact with, and I understand where they're coming from; Stardust especially. I think she's heard a lot of stories from her mom about trust and betrayal. I guess she just doesn't want to make the same mistakes."
"I guess." Miss Metal closed her eyes, then sat up and looked him in the eye. "Angel, there's something I have to tell you."
Angel's expression grew very serious, and he touched her arm. "What? What is it?"
She sighed deeply. "It's not just that I'm being forced to work for someone. Slade has a ransom that I can't afford to put in danger."
"What do you mean?"
"You. Oh, Angel. He says he'll kill both of us if I don't do what he says. So I have to obey him. I can't afford to lose you. I can't."