Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans.
A Strange Business
Chapter Seven: Raiding the Castle
The large black door slid open with a monstrous groan, and Starfire squinted as the light assaulted her sensitive eyes. The strange substance that was still being pumped into her body only got worse with prolonged exposure, her sight and balance almost completely lost to her now. Sounds were muffled and difficult to understand, and so Starfire could only guess over what had happened in the past few hours. It felt as though she were somewhere different; her logical mind told her that they had most likely arrived at the Citadel home world some time ago.
"Enjoying yourself, sister dear?"
Starfire assumed it was Blackfire speaking, although there was no way to be sure in her current condition. All she could hear were some distant muffled noises, as though everyone were talking through a pillow. She attempted to speak, and winced at the dryness in her throat.
"Sister… do not…"
Blackfire cupped her hand around her ear. "What's that? I can't hear you. You'll have to speak up."
Starfire shook her head. "I… what…"
Blackfire smirked and struck her sister across the face, causing her to yell in pain. Although Starfire's vision and hearing were impaired, her nerves had been put on fire by the strange substance, so that even the lightest blow would cause her indescribable pain.
Blackfire brought her hand back again, only for her hand to be grabbed by one of the Gordanian guards. She whirled on her heel to face him, wrenching her arm from his grasp.
"What do you think you're doing? I-"
Her words caught in her throat as she saw the cause of the Gordanian's restraint. The giant blue monster before her stepped forward, dressed in the orange garb that only belonged to one being in the universe: the First Citadelian. The leader of the powerful alien force known only as The Citadel, he was the result of an experiment by the Psions to mate two of the most powerful species in the known galaxy at the time. He revolted against his creators, and began using their cloning technology to create an army of subservient Citadelians, who would never question orders of think for themselves.
Using this army, the First Citadelian conquered the Psions, using them for his own purposes. He forged an alliance with the Gordanians, although neither questioned who the dominant side was. Then he came across Tamaran, and took a liking to the species of the planet. With the help of Blackfire, he managed to take over the planet, although her part in the invasion was known by few. Starfire and Galfore were among those who knew of her treachery. It was then that the pact between the two planets was made. The First Citadelian agreed to leave the Tamaranians in peace if they handed Starfire to him as his personal slave. With little choice but to comply, they did so.
The First Citadelian smirked at how things had come full circle. His arms clasped behind his back, he stalked past the trembling Blackfire and to the barely conscious Starfire. Using a large finger, her tilted her head up so that he could look at her. He smiled.
"Yes… that is her." He smirked at the Tamaranian. "First… you will pay for defying me. Then you will fulfil your duty as part of the pact. The only reason I did not return to your planet and conquer it after your escape is because of other, more pressing engagements." His smirk intensified as something disturbing flashed across his blank red eyes. "Now… I have none."
He turned and left the room, Blackfire quickly following. The door clanged shut behind them, and Blackfire looked to the alien ruler towering above her.
"What are you going to do to her?" she asked, her voice sounding more malicious than concerned.
"It does not concern you."
"She's my sister."
"Whom you helped us capture. I do not see why you are concerned for her health after you did so."
He stopped and turned to a Gordanian guard. "Tell the Psions to begin phase one of the operation."
The Gordanian nodded and left. Blackfire cocked an eyebrow. "Operation? What does that mean?"
"Nothing that concerns you," he boomed pointedly, turning to face her. "You have your payment. You are free to leave. Go."
He turned and left, walking down the corridor. Left alone, Blackfire turned back to the door, where she could hear the muffled grunts of Starfire as she attempted to escape in vain. Blackfire paused for a moment, but then walked away, shaking her head free of such thoughts.
"Stop being so stupid…"
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Through the viewscreen, the planet didn't look anywhere near as threatening as he had been told. It appeared so peaceful and serene, the pale blues and yellows swirling happily around one another. And yet, it was one of the most heavily guarded and violent planets in the known universe. That is, if Val-Yor was correct in what he told him.
"Well, here we are," the alien hero said, a silent snarl curling his lips as he gestured to the viewscreen. "I've put us just out of their sensor range. Now how do you propose we get through their defences?"
Red Star cocked an eyebrow and looked at Val-Yor. "I would guess that depends on how good a pilot you are."
If it were physically possible, Val-Yor's jaw would have hit the floor. "What are you high on, Tr-?"
He stopped himself in mid-sentence. "-Red Star?" he corrected frustratingly, grinding his teeth.
Choosing to ignore the slip up as well as the glare Val-Yor was shooting his way, Red Star just nodded and looked at the viewscreen ahead of him. "If you can get us into the planet's atmosphere, we can abandon the ship and fly the rest of the way in."
"All right. Let's assume, for the moment, that I actually agree to letting my ship get blown to bits. How do you propose we get off the planet if my ship has been destroyed by enemy fire? Which, by the way, I guarantee it will be."
Red Star shrugged. "We will figure that out when we get there. You see," he said, turning to Val-Yor, "Starfire and I can withstand the harsh conditions of space."
Val-Yor seemed taken aback for a moment, but quickly blew it off with a wave of his hand and a smirk. "Then maybe I should just wait in orbit for you."
The Russian hero's eyes thinned threateningly. "If you were anyone else, I would most likely trust you to do just that. But, considering who and what you are, I will have to insist that you accompany me to the surface. For you see," he said slowly, "I do not trust cowards."
Val-Yor looked ready to explode, but instead simply clenched his jaw as tightly as he could. "Fine. How about we go now?"
Red Star nodded. "Very well."
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Breathing heavily as he stepped through the much too wide doorway, Robin wiped a thick layer of sweat from his brow. Hot Spot was now resting where Argent was once sat, hunched forward over the control panel in front of him, using his crossed arms as a pillow of sorts. A further look around the room revealed Argent stood looking at several flashing lights, trying to look as though she knew exactly what they did.
Robin frowned. He still wasn't sure what to do about the British Titan. On the one hand, he could pretend like nothing happened, and hope that she would get the message and never speak of it again. The other option was to simply walk up to her and talk about what happened, and tell her that he doesn't like her in that way.
Robin thought for a moment.
Option one. Easier.
And with that, the Boy Wonder made his way over to the pilot seat, where Gnaww was working the controls. Robin wasn't sure what would require Gnaww's attention now the ship was set on one constant course, but he admittedly knew little about the mechanics of space travel. Perhaps if he had Cyborg with him, he could ask him to question the rat like creature as to what he was doing. Of course, if Cyborg were here, he would have repaired the wrecked T-ship components, and they would have most likely been on their way to the Citadel home world much faster.
He began to wonder if having so many missions and members was such a good idea. The five of them made such a good team, it made little sense to split them up on different missions around the world.
Not to mention how their friendships were being stretched by the distance being put between them, both figurative and literal. He sighed as he approached Gnaww.
"How much longer?"
"Half an hour. Longer if you keep on bothering me!" he bit back irritably, but quickly cowered in response to Robin's glare.
But his heart wasn't in the glare, and the Boy Wonder turned around with another sigh. He flopped into an empty chair, crossing his arms as he did so. His bad feeling surrounding Starfire hadn't faded in the least, and the training hadn't helped ease his anxiousness. If anything, it had made him worse.
"Penny for you thoughts."
Robin looked over to see Argent sat in a chair next to her. Feeling the heat rise in his cheeks, Robin smiled nervously and tugged at his collar.
"I, err- hi, Argent."
Apparently, Argent was feeling just as nervous as he after the incident back on the planet's surface.
"Look, Robin, I'm sorry if what I did was wrong. I just thought that-"
"It's okay. Uh, you didn't, I mean… uh…" he smiled helplessly. "Please help me out here."
A good natured grin crossed her pale features, and she nodded. "Let's just consider it forgotten and talk about something else."
The Boy Wonder nodded, letting out a grateful breath. "Right, right."
"So… what are you planning on doing when we get there?"
Robin shrugged. "No idea. I'm not really used to forcing my way onto alien planets. We'll just have to improvise."
"Fair enough." She considered the Titan leader's troubled expression for a moment. "But that's not what's bothering you, is it?"
Robin paused for a moment, then shook his head. "No, it's not."
"What's the problem?"
"I-" he sighed. "Do you think it was a good idea to expand the Titans?"
"I dunno. It made sense, I suppose. Why? Do you think it wasn't?"
"No, no, that's not it. I like all of the new members, and what they bring to the team, but…" He looked around the room to Hot Spot. "… I just feel like I'm taking everyone away from what they're used to. I mean, you and Hot Spot were doing fine without being a member of the Titans. We only gave out those communicators so that you would all be safe."
"And we are."
Robin smiled slightly. "You call this safe?" he said, gesturing to the ship around him. Argent smiled back, and Robin sighed.
"It's not just the other members. My friends… we're not together as much as I'd like. We're always being split up, accompanying other, newer Titans on missions all round the globe. And, the five of us… we're a good team. We've been working together for so long, it just feels… incomplete without them."
"You're thinking of disbanding the Titans? The bigger version, I mean."
Robin shook his head vehemently. "I would call it a disbanding. I was more thinking of just… letting everyone go about their business. Between all of us, we pretty much have the entire planet covered anyway." He shrugged, letting out a deep breath. "I don't know. Maybe it isn't such a good idea. Maybe it's just me worrying about Starfire. And Red Star, of course," he added quickly.
Argent smiled fondly. "Of course."
A yawn from behind her attracted the attention of both of the Titans. Hot Spot stretched mightily as he made his way over to them.
"Aren't we there yet?"
"Hey, this is as fast as my baby can go. You want it to got faster, you're welcome to get out and push," Gnaww responded quickly, the pride in his ship evident in his voice.
Shaking his head, the Moroccan hero turned towards Robin and Argent. "So what have you guys been up to?"
"Oh, you know. Just talking about stuff," Argent replied nonchalantly, sending a knowing look at Robin. He just smiled.
Seeing the quick silent exchange between the two, Hot Spot just sighed.
"You Titans are weird, you know that?"
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Blackfire entered her sister's darkened cell and wrinkled her nose at the smell that came forth. As the light from outside the room spread across the room, it became clear where the smell was coming from.
It was Starfire's burnt flesh.
Burns ran the lengths of her arms and her exposed stomach, and although there were no cuts or tears in her clothing, Blackfire knew that she had been burnt beneath the clothing as well. She looked over and saw the machine responsible, grimacing at the memories it induced of the Psions torture of both her and Starfire. They used it to continually subject herself and Starfire to tests on how much damage their newly acquired powers would allow their bodies to take.
Usually, it didn't cause such damage, but in conjunction with the fluid that was being pumped through Starfire's veins, it had burnt Starfire's skin almost beyond recognition, as well as subjecting her to pain that Blackfire could only imagine. She walked over to her sister and reached out for her face, pausing for a moment before continuing.
What are you doing? This… thing banished you from you home world! Stole the love of your people from you! And here you are, feeling sorry for her. She deserved everything that happened to her… that you did to her. You betrayed her to the Citadel, along with the rest of your people. She deserved that. You tried to frame her for all of your crimes. She deserved that too. You tried to force her to marry Glgrdsklechhh. All of it, she deserved.
Blackfire stroked the side of her sister's face.
She deserved this, too.
She closed her eyes.
And yet she forgave you for everything. She'll probably forgive you for this, too. Just because you're her sister. She knows everything that you did to her, and still…
The raven haired Tamaranian shook her head. Starfire groaned in pain, and Blackfire looked away.
Why are you looking away? This is what you wanted, isn't it?
She put her hands over her ears.
Isn't it?
The noise of weapons fire shook her from her thoughts. She walked out of the cell, looking at the two Gordanian guards as she went.
"What's going on?"
Either they didn't hear her, or they were purposely ignoring her. A sudden explosion rocked the ground beneath them, and they stumbled. One Gordanian looked to the other.
"What was that?"
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Val-Yor ground his teeth as his ship, now a flaming ball of fire, collided with the bottom of the Citadel's fortress. He closed his eyes and put his head down, acting out of some kind of respect for the vessel.
Red Star frowned. They had been forced to abandon the ship after it came under heavy fire and take cover in the forest that surrounded the fortress. But not before Val-Yor put the ship on a collision course with the base of the fortress, eliminating its most powerful weapons. The Russian hero considered the truly pained expression on his companion's face. He wondered what the appropriate response would be. Val-Yor had earlier expressed his distaste in apologies, but he didn't want to be so cold as to simply ignore it. Hesitantly, he put his hand on the alien hero's shoulder. Much to his surprise, Val-Yor didn't shrug the hand off.
"Come. We have to go," Red Star said simply.
Looking up at him, Val-Yor nodded, his face grim with determination. They crouched on the ground and pushed off, flying as fast as they could manage towards the fortress, their chests almost grazing the ground beneath them as they flew. Using years of honed training and experience, they expertly dodged the laser blasts and missiles aimed at them, nimbly twirling and darting from left to right as the ground exploded around them.
Red Star moved to his right to avoid an approaching missile. As it passed him, it suddenly turned and began pursuing him. He grit his teeth as he tried his utmost to shake off the missile, pulling off impressive loops and whirls in his attempt.
Suddenly, the missile exploded behind him. He looked over at Val-Yor, and saw his eyes glowing red from having recently used his eye beams. He nodded at Red Star and continued on to the fortress, which was now directly in front of them.
Bringing back his fist, Val-Yor smashed through the wall, and the two entered. Red Star turned to him.
"Which way?"
Val-Yor frowned as he tried to remember. "From what I saw of the sensor readouts before we were attacked…"
He pointed to his left. "…that way."
Before they could even take a step in the right direction, Gordanians began pouring out of a doorway behind them, taking aim with their energy staffs. Red Star looked over to Val-Yor.
"You find Starfire. I will hold them here."
"Are you crazy? There's no way you can take this many."
"You would be surprised at what I can do. Go, now."
Reluctantly, Val-Yor turned and headed for the stairway leading to the upper levels.
"Surrender."
Red Star turned to look at the Gordanians, cautiously making their way forward.
"There is perhaps something you should know about me," Red Star said, standing to his full height. "You see, my powers require a certain amount of control and concentration to keep in check."
The Gordanians paused in their advance.
"I have recently learned to let these powers flow freely… to become me. But that does not mean that I do not have to exercise some kind of control; a control that I do not like to lose. But now, I am required to stop you at whatever cost is necessary," Red Star continued, his voice rising in anger.
"I will not allow you to keep my friend against her will." Red Star closed his eyes as he allowed the energy to build up inside him, the words of a friend echoing through his mind.
The greater the struggle against your powers, the more it resists. Embrace what you have inside; let it become you… and you will find what you were meant to be.
The Gordanians never even had a chance to move.
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Blackfire almost fell to the ground when the shockwave from Red Star's attack arrived. The Gordanians were similarly disoriented, or they would have certainly noticed Val-Yor approaching from their right.
The hero leapt forward, his leg extended outward. His foot collided with the first Gordanian's chest, sending back and into the second. The pair skidded across the floor and ground to an eventual halt.
Grunting in annoyance and pain, the two gradually pulled themselves to their feet, baring their teeth angrily. Val-Yor leapt forward yet again, slamming his fist into the first Gordanian's mouth, shattering said teeth and sending the Gordanian into unconsciousness.
The second swung its fist at Val-Yor's head, only to swipe fruitlessly at air as Val-Yor ducked, responding with an uppercut that sent the Gordanian vertically up and through the roof.
Nodding in satisfaction, Val-Yor turned to the closed cell door and paused as he spotted Blackfire.
She hesitated as she looked at the hero, the two of them staring silently at one another. Neither of their expressions betrayed any of the emotions broiling inside them.
Val-Yor, whose beliefs and attitude had been thrown upside down by Red Star's actions.
Blackfire, who was beginning to see her sister as just that; her sister, and was feeling the guilt of all she had done to her.
Blackfire reached over and pushed the open button on the cell. Val-Yor, keeping his eyes on the black haired Tamaranian for one moment more, turned and walked into the cell, wincing as he saw Starfire's state.
With a delicate touch that surprised even him, he unhooked Starfire from the machinery that held her captive, putting her barely conscious form over his shoulder. He turned and left the cell. Blackfire was gone when he stepped out into the corridor. Looking left and right, he could see no trace of her.
"Starfire!"
Red Star approached from the other end of the corridor, his joy at finding his friend cut short by his concern for her. He seemed out of breath, but Val-Yor decided to leave it alone for the moment. Red Star gently took Starfire from Val-Yor's arms, looking down at the Tamaranian in despair.
"Is she all right?"
"Tamaranians are tough; she'll be fine."
He looked over at Red Star, and nodded to the corridor. "Come on. Let's get out of here."
The two smashed their way down to the way they came in, and Val-Yor's eyes nearly popped from their sockets as he saw the remains of the room. He looked over at his companion disbelievingly, who was humbly making his way out of the fortress.
"What the hell kind of power do you have, anyway?"
Red Star paused, his back to Val-Yor as he stood next to the gaping hole in the wall. "The worst kind."
With a cocked eyebrow, Val-Yor looked around the charred remains of the room again.
"Do you have any idea how we're going to get off this rock?"
Red Star sighed. "We could steal one of their ships."
Val-Yor shook his head. "Wouldn't work. The Gordanians and the Citadel clones use a DNA recognition system for their ships. There's no way we could use it."
Red Star cautiously looked through the hole in the wall, and froze as he spotted something.
"I have another idea," he said, and Val-Yor followed Red Star's gaze to another ship coming towards the fortress. Red Star turned to Val-Yor. "Is that a Gordanian or Citadel ship?"
Val-Yor shook his head. "Whatever it is, it looks like a pile of junk."
"A pile of junk that can get us off this planet."
The weapons fire started up again as the small ship came under fire. Val-Yor grunted in interest.
"Looks like they're not invited, either."
"We have to keep the ship safe."
Val-Yor nodded. "Then let's get to it."
Red Star cast a concerned glance down at Starfire.
"I'll take care of most of them. Just do what you can without putting her in danger," Val-Yor said, avoiding Red Star's confused gaze. Pushing off from the ground, Val-Yor shot out and around the fortress, setting about destroying its anti-air weapons.
Pausing for only a moment, Red Star quickly joined him, being careful to keep Starfire safe from the weapons fire.
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"This is crazy this is crazy this is crazy this is crazy…"
Robin looked over at the panicking rat creature in annoyance. All things considered, he was doing quite well, albeit accidentally. The fact that someone was destroying the weapon placements on the fortress was helping, too. Robin turned to his two team-mates.
"All right. Argent, I want you to get out there and help whoever is destroying those weapons. Hot Spot, as soon as we land, I want you to blast as fast as you can to the fortress and try to find Starfire and Red Star. I'll stay with the ship and Gnaww."
"Hey, I'm trustworthy! I don't need watching!"
Hot Spot leaned over to the side to see around Robin and at the rat creature. "Uh, yeah, you do."
Gnaww grumbled some alien expletives, and Hot Spot smiled. Robin, meanwhile, was looking as determined as ever.
"Don't waste time fighting guards. If you can get around them instead of fighting them, then do it. As soon as you've found Starfire and Red Star, get out of there as fast as you can."
Hot Spot nodded. "Right."
"Uh… shouldn't the rat thing be flying the ship?" Argent asked, a hint of panic setting into her voice.
Robin whirled on his heel, his eyes wide with alarm as he saw the empty pilot seat. Hot Spot clenched his jaw and looked around the bridge, seeing the tip of Gnaww's tail disappear around the corner into a corridor.
"Hey! Get back here!" he yelled, powering up as he quickly pursued.
The Boy Wonder leapt into the chair, looking through the tiny screen in front of him in an attempt to navigate the ship to a smooth landing.
"Argent! Can you find some way to bring us in for a smooth landing?"
She frowned. "I suppose we'll find out, won't we?"
And with that, she flew out of the bridge and to the airlock, making her way outside. Struggling to keep up with the quickly descending ship, Argent rubbed her hands together and emitted red energy from her fingertips, creating a slide of sorts for the ship to cruise along on. She pulled out her communicator.
"Argent to Robin! It would really help if you could turn off the engines!"
"Uh… will do."
Robin closed the communicator. "If I can figure out how…"
Meanwhile, Hot Spot was stalking through the cargo bay, having lost Gnaww somewhere in the darkness.
"Why'd you do it, you little rat?"
"Hey, you guys are worth big bucks to the Citadel. I figured I could make a sale."
The darkness and the echoing walls didn't help Hot Spot to find him any faster.
"You really are a rat, aren't you?"
There was no response. Hot Spot heard a grunting coming from above him, and looked up in time to see Gnaww pushing a particularly heavy looking crate from the top of a stack. Nimbly jumping away as it crashed the ground, he looked up to see Gnaww retreating. Using his powers as a boost, he shot up and over the crates, landing in front of the rat as he clambered down the stack of crates.
"Okay, now you're going to go back to the bridge and land this piece of junk. Got that?"
At that moment on the bridge, Robin was scowling in frustration. "How are you supposed to turn this thing off…?"
Growling, Robin kicked the control panel that showed the engine readouts as hard as he could. A loud noise followed as the engines cut out suddenly, jerking Robin back and forth in his chair violently.
In the cargo bay, the sudden jerk knocked Hot Spot off his feet and to the ground. He heard Gnaww yelp, and quickly leapt to his feet. His shoulders dropped as he saw that the rat-like alien had managed to knock himself out on a protruding pipe. Sighing, Hot Spot grabbed him by the leg and dragged him towards the bridge.
Argent struggled to keep the ship stable as it descended rapidly towards the ground, but she somehow managed it. She focused as much as she could on the shape she was creating, hoping that that would help keep it stable enough for the ship to land gracefully.
Or at least as close to gracefully as she could manage.
Gradually, she altered the gradient of the slide until the ship was horizontal as it reached the ground.
"Okay, lads. I hope you're ready for this," she said, though it was more to herself than to her team-mates. Removing the red energy beneath the ship, she winced as it slammed to the ground with an ear-piercing groan, metal twisting and struggling to stay one shape as its momentum dragged the ship along the ground. Gradually, the ship came to a halt, leaving a trench behind it that spewed a cloud of dust and smoke forth as though it were breathing.
Argent allowed herself some deep breaths as she landed on the ground, the ship only slightly visible on the horizon from where she was stood. Putting her hands on her knees, she struggled to stay on her feet. That little stunt had all but exhausted her. A loud footstep behind her interrupted her brief respite.
She barely had a chance to turn around before she was knocked into unconsciousness.
Robin grunted as he pushed the heavy metal door open. After quickly surmising the situation and coming to the conclusion that they were in no immediate danger, he whipped out his communicator.
"Argent? Are you all right?"
Static was the only reply. Hot Spot frowned concernedly over Robin's shoulder.
"Argent? This is Robin, do you read?"
"She cannot hear you."
The two Titans turned to see the First Citadelian stood before them, tossing an unconscious Argent to the ground before them. Hot Spot and Robin readied themselves.
"You," he said, pointing to Robin. The Boy Wonder pulled out his staff and whirled it above his head skilfully before adopting a combat ready pose once again.
"You were the leader. The one who freed my slave."
"Starfire was nobody's slave."
"That is where you are wrong. She is my property, to do with whatever I please. You had no right to take her. And for doing so, I will deal with you personally." He looked over at Hot Spot. "You, I am not concerned with. You may go."
Hot Spot fired up his hands. "Not gonna happen."
The hulking blue creature tilted his head in a slight shrug. "As you wish."
Without warning, he charged forward, fists raised.
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(A/N: A bit of a cliff-hanger, but hey – I've got to keep you coming back for more somehow.
Next chapter: It's everyone versus the First Citadelian as the Titans are finally reunited with one another. But will even their combined strength by enough to defeat the Psion experiment gone wrong?
Anyhow, reviews be groovy.)