Titan Tamer of The Swordsman
Chapter Twenty Five
Transformation
A/N
Karsap: Time for the next chapter.
Yuki: Transformation huh what's this chapter about?
Kotemon: I'm guessing it's me Digivolving into Mega?
Karsap: Actually no Kotemon it's about Starfire.
Kotemon: Oh sorry about that.
Karsap: That's okay Kotemon. So Yuki do the disclaimer.
Yuki: Okay! Karsap doesn't own Digimon or Teen Titans, but he owns Me Yuki Hata.
"Long ago, on a small blue planet called Earth, there was a young alien girl who lived in a T shaped building. She had many friends. She was very powerful... and very brave." A Voice spoke up sounding a little similar to Fanglongmon, but you almost feel the size and divinity to it.
"And although she never thought much of it, she was very beautiful.
Her life seemed entirely perfect... until one day."
Titans Tower
"Huh?" Starfire stared at herself in the mirror in the hallway bathroom of the Tower. For the most part, she looked like her normal, Tamaranian self... that is, with the exception of a large bump that jutted out of her forehead. With a tentative poke, the strange blemish shivered slightly, as if it were filled with very cold pudding. She leaned closer, pressing it against the glass, and moaned worriedly. She then slowly slid down the mirror with a little whine as the bump squealed against the glass.
Not knowing how to attend to the defect, she pushed down on the growth and succeeded in flattening it. However, a relieved sigh barely escaped her mouth before it popped back out again. When she tried mashing it down again, it simply appeared in another spot beneath her hairline. A few frantic prods put the thing out of sight, but only for a moment as it came right back to the center of her forehead, exactly where it was in the first place.
The distraught beauty groaned in frustration and poked furiously at the protuberance, which shifted all over her head as fast as she could get her finger after it, and finally jammed down the spot where it first cropped up. It appeared as though it had disappeared for good, but when a knock on the door drew her attention, it swelled forth no worse for ware and caused her to groan again.
In the hall, Beast Boy was whining and doing the classic dance favored by little kids with full bladders. "Starfire, hurry up!" The stressed changeling whined as he crossed his legs and held his nether region, "You've been in there for twenty minutes, and I'm not paper-trained!"
"One moment more, please!" The alien called out from within the bathroom.
The distressed teen hopped slowly toward the door, which opened when he was just short of the threshold. The occupant peeked out, showing her forehead back under control, but the bump asserted itself anew and she ducked back in, slamming the door. The green teen rushed, but was an instant too late as he slammed into the door face first and tumbled backwards, stopping himself from hitting the floor with a leg bent backwards under his body.
He staggered up and clapped both hands over himself to hold it in, but the sound of flowing water drew his attention elsewhere. Out the window, he saw Robin outside; he was wearing an apron decorated with a potted plant and whistling happily as he played a hose over some bushes. Beast Boy was groaning and sweating profusely at the scene as he quickly turned his head away. Unfortunately, when he did so, he saw Cyborg holding a glass under a running faucet. The shape-shifter twitched uncontrollably as perspiration gushed from every pore and once more, he turned his head to try and think of other, more distracting thoughts. However, his eyes came across the resident mage, who was outside and meditating. She levitated two large boulders while floating in midair; now this wouldn't be so bad for the greenling, but he immediately noticed that the boulders gave way to a torrent that gushed over the precipice below her, creating a new waterfall that flowed through their island.
This was the final straw. Beast Boy could only take so much, and he couldn't take anymore; he needed to find relief and fast. Or at least, he wanted to, but another part of his mind told him to just wait. So, with all the restraint he could muster, he focused on holding it in. "A, B, C, D, E, F, G..." He strained to say as he looked around the hall, "...H, I, J, K, L, M, N, OOOOOOOO..." His eyes landed on a potted plant that stood at the far end of the hall. "...PEEEEEEEEEE!" Not being able to hold it in anymore, the desperate Titan sprinted across the hall towards the plant. The next thing that happened... I'm sure you can figure it out.
Meanwhile in Yuki and Kotemon's room the Tamer took out The Big Book of Classification of Demons as the Digimon watches, "Hey Kotemon listen to this." Yuki said, "What is it Yuki?" Kotemon asked, "It says here that the next prince of hell is a demon called Belphegor a demon who comes to people who lies all day long doing nothing and turns them into blobs thus making him prince of Sloth." The Tamer read, "Wow that's evil." The Digimon said, "Indeed." Yuki added.
Back with the Tamaranian after finding herself in a terrible predicament that she couldn't figure out how to solve, Starfire made her way to the Ops Center in hopes of finding the resident mage for advice. As luck would have it, she found her friend sitting on the couch immersed in heavy reading. As she made her way over to the couch, a large, floppy green hat that covered her entire forehead rested on her head.
When the Tamaranian took a seat next to the blue-clad mage, Raven merely glanced over to her friend before returning her attention to her book.
After taking a few deep breaths, Starfire began speaking in a light whisper, "I fear something is terribly wrong with me." She stated. Her voice then increased in volume as she began freaking out, "I could have Irinean measles, or perhaps my epidermis has become infested with steiner mites, or..."
The panicking auburn-haired Titan was cut off when the violet-haired teen slammed her book shut. "Okay. What are you talking about?" Raven asked, a bit peeved at the disruption of her reading.
"I caution." The worried alien teen warned as she gripped the brim of her large hat, "What you are about to see may shock and disturb you." She shuddered a bit before finally lifting the headgear. Once it was removed, the unwanted growth popped out, completely exposed to the open.
However, much to Starfire's surprise, the Gothic teen remained emotionless, "It's a zit. Everybody gets them." She explained flatly as she opened her book back up to read, "Deal with it."
"Then I am normal?" The Tamaranian asked as a smile stretched across her face. "Oh, thank you, Raven!" She gleefully cheered as she swept the young mage into a crushing hug. "Now I shall no longer feel worry or shame or-*GASP*" The auburn-haired teen gasped in shock when she noticed the door to the Ops Center open to admit Robin. Quickly releasing the blue-cloaked mage, Starfire jammed the hat back on her head and pulled it down to cover the top half of her face. However, this proved to be an unnecessary action as the Boy Wonder crossed the room without regarding the two girls.
After looking in the direction of their leader, and seeing her friends' reaction, Raven rolled her eyes before moving to pick up her book, "Just so you know, that's not really dealing with it." She said as she made her way around the couch and toward the door.
Starfire could only watch her friend leave as a very worried expression emerged on her face.
But one little bump was only the beginning of her worries. The Voice continued. Deep down inside, something strange was happening-something very strange indeed.
Back in the Ops Center, Starfire sat in the center of the couch, flanked by Robin and Cyborg; a GameStation race was in progress on the window screen. As the two boys tapped away on their controllers, the changing Tamaranian huddled under her big green chapeau as she watched intently.
"The next day, she grew tusks on her neck."
Two tiny tusks popped out from the girls' neck, one protruding from each side. She gasped and tried to pull her head down into her neck piece. With a short squeal, two palms pressed to cover the new growths, and a lightning-fast dive over the couch, Starfire quickly hid from her friends-but the two competitive Titans were so engrossed in their game that they failed to notice her move at all. Starfire put her eyes up over the cushions to look at them, but ducked back out of sight just as they gave their thumbs a rest and glanced her way. Both racers traded a puzzled look, shrugged, and then grew crazed grins as they returned to their game.
"The day after that..."
"Ahhh..." Beast Boy sighed with hearts in his eyes and drool oozing from the corner of his mouth.
In the Ops Center kitchen, a belly-busting ice cream sundae stood tall in the middle of the counter, the object of the changelings' affection. The green teen reached up and placed a cherry on the highest scoop, finishing his masterpiece. Along with Beast Boy, Starfire stood on the opposite side of the counter as she regarded the creation as well, only what was odd about her appearance was that she wore a wide scarf to hide her neck.
As the excited vegetarian turned around to rummage through the cabinets for utensils, the auburn-haired teen leaned eagerly toward the sundae.
"...her fingernails grew long and ugly."
Without warning, Starfire's hands swelled in size as long striped nails grew on each of her digits. Running a panicked eye them, the girl hastily shoved her hands into the sundae with a gasp. Towering scoops, chocolate syrup, and sprinkles splattered in a heap on the counter. Right after she destroyed the delicious dessert, Beast Boy stood up from the cabinets, holding spoons for himself and his friend, but the destruction of his masterpiece caused his eyes to bulge out of his skull, scream, and then faint.
And the day after that, she developed bizarre cravings for the most unusual foods.
The ever changing teen was standing in front of the fridge and inspected some of the moldy leftovers that occupied the inside. Along with her large hat and scarf, she added blue oven mitts to her ensemble. As she continued looking for something to eat, a fly started buzzing near her head. After a few seconds of watching the small insect, she whipped out one padded hand and seized it. The young Tamaranian then turned her palm over and peered carefully at her prey. What happened next was a bit surprising even to the alien; she lashed out her considerably long tongue and laid it squarely across the insect. Whisking it into her mouth, she chewed it for a bit before swallowing; a little hiccup escaping her lips after the meal. Just as she finished eating, though, Yuki and Kotemon happened to be walking behind her and caught a glimpse of the lashing. Performing a double take in her direction, they saw their teammate close the fridge and turn around. Meeting their puzzled gaze, Starfire quickly clapped her left hand over her mouth and hurried out of the room, leaving the Digimon and Tamer even more confused.
"And with each passing day..."
Trying to hide herself from the world, a very despondent Starfire sat on her bed, hugging her knees as she tried ever so hard to figure out what was happening to her. Her shadow was cast on the wall by the door.
"...the strange little alien grew stranger..."
Her ears became large and pointed as she covered them with a panicked gasp.
"...and stranger..."
The skin on her arms then transformed as scales grew on them.
"...and stranger still."
Finally, without warning, her boots split from under her, exposing feet much larger than normal with auburn hair all over the upper surface.
After staring at these horrid transformations and processing all of it, Starfire moaned sadly. "My friends must not see how hideous I have become, or they will surely think I am turning into some sort of horrible monster." She told herself as she hugged her knees again. "I must never allow anyone to see me... ever again."
Just as the dejected Titan made up her mind, an alarm and flashing red light shook her out of her rut and forced a little shriek out of her.
From outside her door, the transformed alien could hear her team leader calling, "Starfire! Trouble!" Robin shouted from the hallway, "We need to go!"
In fear of her friend coming in and seeing her in such a state, Starfire pulled her blanket up to cover her, "Please proceed!" She called back as she pulled the blanket over her head, "I will... join you shortly!"
Jump City Football Stadium
Trouble was brewing in downtown Jump as the team of heroes rushed to the source. Night had fallen, and before long, they found themselves at an empty football stadium, with the gridiron sitting under the broad glare of the facility's floodlights. Inside the structure, members of two opposing high school teams fled downfield, accompanied by cheerleaders and marching band performers. The source of their fear soon came to light as out of the shadows came a familiar humanoid oozing monster, stumping after the fleeing crowd and screeching insanely. He moved in on the group, which had stuffed itself into the entrance to one of the locker rooms, and unleashed a roar before slamming one slimy fist into the turf and digging it in deep. What he pulled up was several yards of a broken sewage line leaking green liquid from the exposed end. Plasmus licked his lips eagerly before directing the flow into his mouth.
The cowering teens stared in disgust at the sight. "Is that a sewer pipe?" One of the football players asked, not really wanting to know the answer.
"EWWWWWWW!" The entire crowd shouted as a response.
The burgundy blob paid them no mind as he continued drinking his fill. When he finished, he lowered the pipe and wiped his mouth. But the sound of whistling drew his attention, causing him to turn to the noise. To Plasmus' surprise, three black-and-yellow discs struck his check and sunk in. After a moment, the projectiles exploded, tearing his upper body apart into purple ribbons that splayed in all directions. However, this had little to no effect on him as he quickly reassembled himself before roaring in fury.
"I don't know what's more disgusting, Plasmus," The monster looked down the field and saw Robin standing close to the opposite end zone, "The way you look, or the stuff you eat." The leader of the Titans quipped as Cyborg, Beast Boy, Yuki, Kotemon, and Raven joined him. Plasmus responded by vomiting forth a wide stream of sludge. "Titans! Go!"
Each member of the team scattered in different directions to dodge the deluge, Robin leaping high into the air. When he came down from his leap, he brandished his fighting staff and charged the villain. As Plasmus hurled handfuls of slime, the Boy Wonder swerved back and forth and ended with a bound that carried him over the semi-liquid villain's head. He stabbed the staff straight down its' full length behind the eyes, but seemed to have no effect. When Robin landed behind him, the behemoth regurgitated a new torrent that brought up only a piece of the retractable weapon.
What came next was one huge mass of sludge that seized the spiky-haired teen and flung him to the far goal, where he bounced off one upright post before crashing to the ground.
After Robin cleared the battle zone, Cyborg came up, sonic cannon at the ready, and fired a couple of blasts that blew holes straight through the villains' arms. "Come on, Booger-man!" The bionic bruiser taunted, continuing to fire on his target as he made his approach. "Gimme what you got!"
The cybernetic teen smirked as the next blast he released blew away the monsters' head, but it didn't take long for the villain to put himself back together. To retaliate, Plasmus fired a gush of gunk from his chest that flew through the air at an alarming rate.
Cyborg only had time to let out a surprised shout before the sludge connected with him and sent him sliding backward toward the goalpost where Robin fell. Plastered head to toe in Plasmus' leftovers, the metallic Titan slammed against the support and tumbled onto the end zone.
Sitting up, he shook some of the mess off his head, snorted in a breath, and let off a strangled cry before sneezing at full force, more slime pouring from both nostrils. "I'm gonna be smelling that for a week."
Yuki and Kotemon were next members to enter the fray, "Alright time for round two for you." the Tamer said as he took out his D-Arc and the Matrix Digivolution card
*Cue DigiModify! Blank track*
With that said Yuki whirls the Matrix Digivolution card around catching it in his hand he then swipes the card through the D-Arc. "Digi-Modify..." as he shouted letting the data of the card run through it, "...Matrix Digivoltion!"
*Cue Digimon Tamers~Digivolution Theme (US)*
The words MATRIX DIGIVOLUTION appeared on Yuki's D-Arc and it begins the Digivoultion process with Kotemon shouting "Kotemon... Digivolve to.. Asuramon!"
The Ultimate then flew to the villain swooping in low, he flew around the hulking mass of purple goo, gaining its' attention. Floating in the air, Asuramon's fists are covered in flames, "Asura Bakunenken!" he shouted as he fires off the flames from his fists of his four arms at his opponent. Plasmus braced himself for the attacks, but they started to melt and the villain collapsed into a pile. Asuramon landed in front of the pile and smirked at his success, but it soon disappeared when the massive sludge villain gathered himself and rose to face the Ultimate.
Now looking at the villain Asuramon three heads glared before speaking, "Alright not enough for you." the Ultimate as he and Plasmus charged at each other with both punched the other in the face making both of them crash into the stadium seats opposite of each other, Yuki came up to his partner, "Are you okay Asuramon?" he asked, as the Ultimate stood up, "Ouch, yeah I'm fine." Asuramon said.
As Plasmus stood up and stand up and starts to walk toward the Tamer and Digimon, leaving him unaware of the blue-cloaked mage that floated up behind him. Since the villain was distracted, this gave Raven the perfect opportunity to levitate the dug-up sewer line and wrap it around him tightly. "Azarath Metrion-ulp!" A gooey blast filled her mouth before she could finish the spell. The goo came from several tentacles that shot out of the back of the villains' head and wrapped around her body. She was then flung over his shoulders and onto the grass. As she stood up with a groan, her cloak now covered in slime, Cyborg came up behind her. "Yuck." She sighed in disgust.
"Cyborg!" The metallic Titan heard a voice call out from behind him. When he turned around, he saw Beast Boy running towards him, "Time for the Beast Boy Blitz!" The changeling said before leaping into the air and transforming into an armadillo.
Turning his attention back to the green animal, Cyborg caught him and turned just in time to see the brunette weaving through the air, dodging tendrils of purple sludge. Readying himself, the bionic teen threw the green Titan. Mid-flight, the armadillo became a rhinoceros, but no longer being distracted, Plasmus easily swatted the animal toward the sidelines.
Back in human form, Beast Boy crashed into a table loaded with coolers and ended up amid a swamp of orange colored liquid and purple gunk. Pushing a cooler off his head, he licked the glop off his face. "Orange-flavored bad guy? Gross-yet strangely refreshing." He commented.
The six Titans laid across the football field covered in slime as Plasmus stomped towards them. However, to the teams surprise, a sudden rain of starbolts ended his advance and surrounded him in smoke. When it cleared, the team saw a new crater in the field, which was filling not only with sewage from the line he broke, but also with his amorphous remains. The purple sludge bubbled as Robin, Cyborg, Yuki, Asuramon, and Raven looked into the hole.
"Boo-yah!" The African Titan cheered.
"Awesome!" Beast Boy attributed as he ran up to join the rest of the team.
"Way to go, Star...fire?" The masked leader turned around and saw a sight that threw him and the rest of the teens completely off-guard. What they saw was their Tamaranean teammate, but her choice of attire was what baffled them; along with the oven mitts, scarf, and large green hat, she now wore yellow galoshes and a matching raincoat that covered her entire body, except for the top half of her face.
Each Titan shot her a bemused looked as they tried processing the sight before them.
"Interesting fashion statement." The gray-skinned mage stated.
"The raincoat was a nice choice." the Tamer added, "Um yeah." the three headed Ultimate added.
"Yeah, uh... nice slicker." The slime covered, green teen complimented.
"Starfire... you've been acting kind of... strange lately." Robin said as he approached his friend, "Is everything okay?" He asked with concern.
The girl in question backed up with a scared little moan as the masked Titan approached, but a loud rumbling from behind diverted his attention. Looking over his shoulder, Robin and the other Titans saw a maroon geyser erupt from the crater Plasmus fell into. The geyser boiled and formed a gargantuan humanoid creature with thinner arms and legs than before. A huge screaming mouth sat below a row of bulbous green eyes that stretched up both shoulders and across the top of his head. Once he was fully formed, the new Plasmus released a long, grating scream.
"Ewwww!" Cyborg recoiled at the sight in front of him.
"Just when you thought he couldn't get uglier." Raven deadpanned.
"Dude! That is sick!" Beast Boy awed as he processed the sight of the monster, "And not in the good way."
"No matter how nasty he gets, he's just a monster." Robin stated, "And like every other monster, he's got to go!" Listening to her leaders' words, Starfire recoiled in shock as he rushed toward the enemy. She let off a little moan and buried her face even deeper in her scarf Yuki heard this and looked at the Tamaranian "Um Star-" was all the Tamer said before the others now attacked the villain.
The Boy Wonder dashed in and flung a handful of explosive discs that exploded on contact, Raven and Asuramon flew around the new gargantuan mass of slime and released a few bursts of their respective powers against him, and Cyborg fired off a cannon salvo that blasted holes through his body. However, the combined assault of the four Titans' just infuriated the villain even more.
To retaliate, his eyes swelled and burst like giant pimples, releasing a flood of luridly tinted ichor; the titanium teen and Tamer dove for cover with a yell, leaving the covered Tamaranean alone. She looked up just in time to take the full blast of viscous slime in the face. The force of the blast caused her large green hat to tumble off her head before landing at her feet, where the rest of her hastily donned outerwear had been blasted away by the torrent as well.
Starfire let off a panicked gasp once she realized that her disguise had been undone. In the battle zone, the other five Titans except Asuramon were faring very badly against Plasmus. Raven was caught up in one sludgy fist, Beast Boy had sunk to his waist in the head, Robin had been driven halfway into the ground by Plasmus' right fist, and Cyborg was firing a fusillade of cannon shots that did no damage at all. While Yuki stared wide eyed at her
After a moment, however, they stopped their struggles and stared dumbstruck at the exposed alien girl.
"Starfire?" The spiky-haired Titan asked as he shot his comrade a bemused look.
"Ewww!" Even the repulsive sludge creature was taken aback by Starfire's new transformations.
What happened next may or may not have actually happened, but inside the young aliens' mind was the sound of laughter from everyone in the stadium. Players and supporters from the interrupted football game, Robin, Cyborg, Beast Boy, Raven, and even Plasmus were all laughing at her.
Yuki and Asuramon who was finally piecing Star's strange behavior over the last week together, didn't help her situation, the once-beautiful alien girl feeling more and more like a monster with every second of ridicule. Robin ran over to the alien girl as she tried to cover herself.
"Starfire! What's wrong?" he asked.
"I am sorry! I have… got to go!" she said lifting off.
"Starfire! Wait!" Robin cried out as the girl flew off into the heavens, Plasmus still laughing at Starfire's appearance. With his red face showing, Asuramon walked over to the criminal who was still laughing when he saw the Ultimate walk up to him.
"LAUGH AT THIS! FIRE FIST OF SHIVA!" Asuramon shouted as he fires off the flames from his fists of his four arms on Plasmus, burning the slime away as the monster screamed in pain until the slime was completely gone, revealing the sleeping human underneath it all. The Ultimate De-Digivolve back into Kotemonas the other Titans walked up to him.
"Well, that was intense," Cyborg said.
"That was for Star," Kotemon said as it shown his eyes was red for a second then turned back to to their natural yellow color.
"Let's take him to jail, then get after Starfire. Hopefully, she didn't go too far," Robin said as the Titans nodded in agreement.
In The Thermosphere
Once she had broken the atmosphere, Starfire glanced over her shoulder toward her adopted home once last time. "I truly am a monster." She sobbed before continuing her flight into the vast unknown, her tears floating weightlessly in her wake.
"And so the sad, strange girl flew far away, into the cold dark loneliness of outer space."
Who knows just how long Starfire had been floating in the vast nothingness? Hours? Days? However long it had been, her mood had not changed; she still had a dejected look on her face as she tried finding a new place to call home.
"Surely," thought the odd little alien, "a horrible, ugly monster like me does not belong on Earth with such good and handsome friends."
In the distance, she could see a planet whose surface was splotched with bright pink streaks, as if paint dripped onto a canvas.
"But where was she to go? Not even her home planet would take her in, looking as strange as she did."
After regarding the pink planet once more, the odd little alien girl turned her back on her home planet and continued on.
"I must find a new world," she decided, "one with monsters as horrible and ugly as I."
As she continued her search, Starfire came across one foreign planet that was arid under a red sky, where a couple of inhabitants sported large tusks on either side of their necks.
Smiling ingratiatingly at the pair of aliens, the auburn-haired teen waved to get their attention, "Hello, fellow ugly monsters!" She called out, hopeful that these strange creatures would accept her.
Unfortunately, her words sparked a surprised gasp from the would-be new friends, who then muttered something in their own language and ran away. Starfire hung her head before leaving the planet and making her way to the next one.
This time, her path carried her to a planet with a surface under a bright blue sky, where many tall trees had growths that looked very much like her fingernails. As she searched the land, Starfire noticed a couple of large anteater-looking creatures speaking to each other; their claws were of the same design, and many similar horny growths protruded from their bodies.
Looking at her own fingernails, Starfire elicited a small laugh as she moved across the clearing. But as soon as the two creatures got a good look at one of her hirsute feet, they squealed and made a break for it, leaving the girl alone.
Still looking for a new home, the rejected Titan made her way to a third planet, this one covered with dense forestation and many phosphorescent growths on tree trunks, all under a vivid green sky. However, this planet also housed a very aggressive type of species, namely scaly greenish creatures, that charged the transformed Tamaranean as soon as they caught sight of her.
After being rejected by not one, not two, but three different species, Starfire finally made her way to one last tiny, yellow planet that was small enough for her to sit on. The planet was not more than a few feet in diameter, and several tiny creatures with very hairy feet and no arms stood on the hemisphere opposite her perch. Though their shouted words were unintelligible, the tone revealed just how much they resented her presence.
With a heavy sigh, the dejected outcast lifted herself off the planet and ventured further into the unknown.
"But with each new world she visited, the strange alien girl felt uglier and uglier. And with nowhere else to go, she wandered alone into the deepest, darkest part of the galaxy."
Starfire made her way through an asteroid belt, weaving through the rocks in hopes of finding a far off place where a great, warm welcome was waiting for her. As she continued, a silhouette of a crab-spider hybrid clambered over the edge of an asteroid and jumped into space, keeping a long tail on the fleeing girl.
"But she was not really alone."
Earth
Back on Earth, after dropping Plasmus off at prison. The Titans had been in a complete panic as they tried thinking of everything to get their missing friend back. Trying to track Starfire via her T-Comm led to the revelation that she had left Earth entirely, but the signal went cold as she left further and further into space. In an attempt to fly out and retrieve their friend, the team came to the conclusion to adjust the T-Sub for deep space the roof of the Tower, Robin stood at the edge, surveying the bay. It was night out and the stars shined brightly overhead as the city lights lit up on shore. Looking back and forth in the sky once more, in hopes of seeing the orange-skinned Titan, he reached for his communicator and held it up to his face.
"Cyborg! How long until we can launch?" The worried leader asked into his device.
"Oh, about five minutes after you QUIT ASKING ME THAT!" The annoyed bionic shouted through the communicator; a sight gag revealing his mouth popping out from the screen, causing Robin to recoil from the force of the yell.
Underneath the Tower, inside an underground launch silo, the T-Sub was attached to a pair of large booster engines, in the glowing cybernetic blue that was part of a certain Titan. It stood with its bow pointed straight up at the silo hatch. As the service structure retracted, the five earthbound Titans settled into their individual cockpits; Cyborg and Robin occupying the two leading seats, Raven seated the right wing, Beast Boy sitting in the middle, and Yuki and Kotemon at the rear.
"Are we sure this thing is ready to fly?" The blue-cloaked mage asked cautiously over the headset.
"No!" The cybernetic tinkerer shouted, "You know the T-Sub was built for deep sea, not deep space."
"I don't care what it was built for." Robin stated evenly, ceasing the complaints, "It's going into space. We've gotta find Starfire." Without letting anyone add anymore to the conversation, the spiky-haired teen reached forward and pressed a button on his controls, "Main power online."
"Defense systems active." Raven confirmed as she pushed a button on her console.
"Oxygen tanks at maximum." Beast Boy smiled as he pressed a button on his armrest.
"Navigation systems fully functional."Yuki stated as he flicked a few switches on his and Kotemon's console.
"Fusion thrusters ready to fire." Cyborg begrudgingly added as he gripped his steering wheel.
Above the silo, the hatch to the outside opened up. With it now open, it allowed the T-Sub to rise on its supports. Once it had fully ascended from underground, Robin gave the order to launch.
"Titans! Launch!"
The engines fired at full force and created a massive cloud of exhaust that surrounded the base of the Tower. With a mighty roar, the converted T-Sub cleared the island and traced a course straight to the heavens.
Inside the craft, Cyborg hunched over his controls, bracing himself as the successful rocket vibrated violently. "Told you she was ready to fly!" He bragged, his voice shaking due to said vibrations.
"Hmmm..." Raven merely rolled her eyes.
The team was carried ever higher and after a few more seconds, the booster engines were jettisoned as the T-Sub pierced the atmosphere and began coasting in out space. With a massive grin stretched across his face, Cyborg pressed a button on his steering wheel that brought a couple of thrusters into action; firing from the aft quarters on port and starboard. With the added power, the vessel flew off into the galaxy in the search for the lost Titan.
With Starfire
Said lost Titan had found another strange planet, this one lust with dreary vegetation under a purple sky. She was advancing cautiously along a path that passed through a thick forest. As she walked, a low, hissing respiration caught her attention and caused her to stop and look around.
"Hello? Someone is there?" Starfire asked before turning back around and walking down the path. As she walked, she failed to notice many thick vines that snaked out of the shrubbery after her. "Your planet is most inhospitable." The wandering Tamaranean stated, "I would perhaps be welcomed here?" She stopped walking again. The vines that were following her reared up and prepared to seize her, but before they could, the lonely alien girl turned to look over her shoulder. Just as she did so, the aggressive tracheophyte dropped to the ground. All Starfire saw when she turned was a mass of unmoving tendrils on the forest floor. After a moment's uncertainty, she started off again, but a loud growling stopped her in her tracks. When the vines reared up, so did the thing they were attached to: a huge flower on a very long stalk, with a mouth at the center of the blossom.
Turning back to face it, Starfire gasped in shock. The alien Venus flytrap salivated a bit and opened its mouth very wide, revealing too many deadly pointed teeth for the young Titans' good. Without a moment's hesitation, the plant lunged at the girl in the hopes of capturing its' next meal. This sparked her to leap backwards and then float up with a panicked cry. She flew off and soon had to dodge a few vines strikes. She tried evasive maneuvers by performing a quick 360-degree spin around a tree trunk, but that failed to slow down her pursuer as the thick tendril wrapped around and crushed the wood like a matchstick.
Starfire only had time for one quick gasp before the tree toppled toward her. Luckily, she was struck by the top part of the tree, only breaking a few branches as it came down on her. She put her head up out of the leaves and rubbed her head. However, the shadow of killer plant fell over, leaving her no time to rest. It snapped a few times, forcing her to take flight again, then lashed all its vines into the air. One snagged her ankle, prompting a cry of fear from the prey, and soon securely tied the girl up with the other tendrils.
"Let go now, please!" The terrified alien girl pleaded as she struggled to break free of her binds.
The enormous maw of the plant opened as wide as it could go, while the vines carried the struggling Titan toward her fate as a light snack.
"No!" Starfire cried just before the plants' maw closed around her.
Once inside, the alien flytrap chewed for a few moments. However, something must not have felt right for the plant as it reared its' head back and spit the young teen out. The rejected meal bounced along the forest path, leaving splatters of saliva on the ground. Coughing disgustedly, the carnivorous plant slithered away.
Once she came to a stop, her eyes popped wide open at the realization that she had not become plant food. She looked warily back toward the flora, then turned her eyes disappointedly toward the ground as she realized that not even monsterous carnivores wanted anything to do with her. Picking herself off, she made her way to a small pond whose waters glowed from the reflected starlight. After cleaning off the saliva, a truly despondent Starfire sat at the edge of the water and looked at her reflection on the water. After a moment, the large bump on her forehead started squirming, then it reshaped itself into a large, upward-curving horn.
"Oh..." Starfire groaned sadly as she covered her face with her hands, "...what is happening to me?"
"Something wonderful." A female voice called out to answer the grief-stricken Titan.
This caused the young girl to look up with a surprised gasp as she looked toward the opposite shore of the pond, where the hem of a flowing white gown could be seen at the water's edge. When she looked, Starfire saw a tall woman whose skin and hair were the same color as the gown, and who had two thin antennae standing up from her forehead. Her entire body was glowing, and as she floated across the pond, the Tamaranian noticed her eyes were pure magenta, with a dark streak visible at the center of each.
As this beautiful woman approached, the orange-skinned alien huddled and turned her face away, "Please. I am too repellent to be seen by one so glorious."
Despite her pleas, the woman continued approaching, "Fear not, young Tamaranian." The mysterious woman comforted in a soothing voice, "There is nothing wrong with you."
"Nothing wrong?" Starfire asked as she turned back to face the tall alien.
"Come. All will be made clear shortly." The woman in white offered her hand for the saddened girl to take. Once her hand was accepted, the woman helped the Tamaranian off the ground and led her through the forest, approaching a distant tunnel criss-crossed by many glowing filaments.
"And with hope in her heart, the strange little alien followed the mysterious woman to the strangest place she had ever seen."
With the others
For the rest of the Titans, the search for Starfire hadn't exactly been going smoothly. As they piloted the T-Sub from planet to planet, they had found that their missing teammate had in fact been there. At each stop, though, the team used Beast Boy as demonstrations for the multiple transformations that Starfire had gone through; these included the pointed ears, the large, hairy feet, and the tusks that grew from her neck.
As they continued flying through space, they came across one planet that looked like a massive asteroid with a tunnel that passed through the surface. Thinking their friend could be there, the team steered the T-Sub into the planet, but soon found that it was anything but.
To their surprise, the entrance behind them closed, revealing pointed teeth. The vessel continued flying through at increasing speeds, dodging several spikes that popped out from all directions. It raced along for a while before putting on a burst of speed. After a few moments, another opening could be seen in the distance and the vessel sped off to escape, however a row of spikes were coming together from above and below to block the path. Without any hesitation, the T-Sub steered straight through the barriers, escaping a less than healthy fate at the hands of the strange planet.
Inside each cockpit, the teens gathered themselves from the thought of almost biting it.
"Okay, so we know she's not there. Phew." Beast Boy let out a relieved sigh as a sweat-drop fell from his head.
In Yuki and Kotemon's compartment, The Tamer tried catching his breath as he glanced over his shoulder, "Yeah, definitely not." He sighed, feeling as though he had lost a few years of his life.
"Wherever Starfire is..." Robin worried as he looked ahead again, "...I just hope she's all right."
With Starfire
Starfire was being led through a large cavern whose walls were marked by glowing filaments, and large crystal formations jutted from the ground. As they walked, they saw their reflections in the crystals.
"You are changing." The woman in white stated as the two advanced through the cavern, "Do you know why?"
"It is because I have a zit?" The confused Tamaranian asked, a bit worried about her well-being. The woman chuckled a bit at her innocent reply.
The two aliens seen reached a large, hollow, hemispherical shell that had been propped up on the ground to serve as a chair. "Not quite, my dear." The beautiful alien reassured as she Starfire took a seat. "You are experiencing the Transformation-a perfectly normal part of the Tamaranean life cycle." She explained.
"But I do not understand." The auburn-haired teen said, "When my sister had Transformation, she merely turned purple for two days. Why have I-"
"Transformation is different for each Tamaranian." The mysterious woman clarified, "And you, sweet child, are one of the special few who will transform into a chrysalis."
Starfire recoiled a bit at her last word, then looked down at her arm and gasped sharply. The scaly skill rapidly developed into layers of ropy tissue that began spreading over the rest of her body. She tumbled from her seat and writhed on the ground as the white female stood over her.
"Relax, dear." The woman comforted as a shell began covering the young Titans' body, "It will all be over soon."
In no time flat, the shell material enveloped her entire body, except for a small opening for her head.
"How do you know these things?" Starfire asked in a panicking tone.
"I know, my dear, because I am a Cironielian chrysalis eater." The woman chuckled in a raspy voice as thick veins began growing across her face.
The horrified teen stared with bulging eyes as the woman in front of her began a transformation like Arukenimon; her hands curled large claws as two pairs of long jointed legs sprouted from her body, and the body took on an insect contour.
Once the woman finished transforming, she stalked towards her prey and slammed one of her white, magenta stripped legs down near her. As the thing howled over her, Starfire noticed the creature had a humanoid head and torso, white with black and magenta markings, and white, pupil-less eyes that stared at the trapped girl.
Starfire released a long, terrified scream as she put forth her best effort to break through the tough shell that formed over her. A final piece extended partially up toward her head and the mortified girl screamed at its advance.
"Wonderful." The Chrysalis eater rasped as it leaned down next to the Tamaranian and smacked its lips. "Soon your cocoon will be complete-and you, my dear, will be at the peak of flavor." It explained as it circled the cocoon. "In the meantime, please scream all you wish. It whets my appetite."
"I have no reason to scream." Starfire sighed resignedly, "I can no longer have a home or friends. I am far too ugly for such things."
"Ohhh..." The creature sighed as it poked at the shell, "I don't think you're ugly at all, my dear." The intended lurch screamed as the last plate of the shell slid up to cover her head and seal her in completely. "In face, you look good enough to eat!" The chrysalis eater laughed gratingly.
"Starfire!" A cry from across the cavern caught the creatures' attention.
When the Chrysalis eater looked in the direction of the voice, it saw Robin and the other Titans charging in. The leader of the team leaped high into the air and hurled a birdarang at the ferocious predator, but it was easily swatted away.
Robin then jumped in with a flying kick that was also blocked, and soon enough, the two were squaring off as Beast Boy, Cyborg, Yuki, Kotemon, and Raven rushed up to him in the chrysalis eater.
Dodging swing after swing of the carnivores' deadly sharp claws, the Boy Wonder jumped again and wound up on the other side of the monster, which wheeled to face him. "I'll hold her off!" Robin shouted back to his comrades, "Get Starfire out of here!" He shouted before diving away from another oncoming slash from the creature.
"Starfire?" The cybernetic Titan questioned as he and the other three teens looked around the cavern for their friend, "Where's-"
"Um..." A muffled voice drew the teams' attention to the cocoon, "In here."
Looking down at the mysterious chrysalis, Cyborg, Yuki, and Kotemon were at a loss for words while Beast Boy let out an equally puzzled gasp.
Raven, on the other hand, was able to summarize everyone's thoughts with one simple word; "Whoa."
Robin backed away from the Chrysalis eater's lunges and stayed just barely out of reach. But just as he tried to dive away from another swipe, the insect-like alien grabbed his right wrist and slung him away.
Turning its' attention to the remaining four teens and Digimon, who were trying to figure out the best way to lift the shell, it snarled and went straight for them with a colossal leap. They tried holding their ground for as long as they could, but were forced to get out of the way at the last second to avoid getting flattened.
"Your friend belongs to me now." The vicious alien growled as it warded off the five Titans, "You can have her back once I finish digesting her."
As Raven floated through the air and Robin dashed over to join the others, Cyborg went in for a jumping right hook, but was plowed aside by one of the massive claws. The mage aimed a few black shots at the body, the brunette let loose a few aura spheres at the creature, the masked Titan attacked with a jumping kick, and the green teen transformed into a lion and came down on the alien, but none of the attacks had any effect.
Raven continued throwing a few blasts of energy at the Chrysalis eater, gaining its attention. The blue-cloaked teen shielded herself from a slash, but the impact drove her backwards. Once it came back down, the green jungle cat reared up for another jump, but it was seized and brought toward the creatures' gaping jaws. As the feline was lowered toward them, though, it morphed into a giant turtle and the teeth bit harmlessly against the shell.
Cyborg's cannon beam scored a direct hit on the thorax and pushed the creature across the cavern; the green turtle fell free and tumbled to the ground upside down. The bionic teen followed up with a flying leap, ready to unload another high-powered blast. Before he could get it out, though, the Chrysalis eater clamped its' claw around the muzzle and threw him across the ground.
Kotemon jumped on its back and got it into a headlock as Yuki tried to tackle it, the gray-skinned mage floated up toward the ceiling. "I think it's time we wrapped this up." She quipped as she exerted her powers over a web of filaments that ran throughout the cave Yuki and Kotemon jumped off it. Wadding the lot up into a ball, and heaving it down at the Chrysalis eater, the webbing covered it from one end to the other as the five other Titans ran in to finish the job.
The bindings didn't hold the beast for long, though, and were quickly broken with a furious roar, throwing back each hero.
As soon as Robin got himself upright, he scaled a handful of discs that exploded against the head and thorax to push the enemy back. Not giving it a chance to counterattack, Raven levitated many small crystals from the floor and projected them in a barrage that hit the ground with the force of small-caliber artillery shells. The Chrysalis eater ducked for cover and braced itself from the explosions. Once the explosions stopped, the monster looked up just in time to receive a full blast of aura that sent it skidding across the ground. After coming to a halt, the creature looked up and saw the six Titans regrouping at the other end of the cavern.
Hissing and spitting, it took a few steps back and started climbing the natural stone columns that ran from floor to ceiling in the cavern. It reached the top very quickly and pushed off to sail over the Titans' heads. Turning in time to see it land at the opposite side of the cave, Yuki, Kotemon, Beast Boy, and Cyborg released shocked gasps while their leader sprinted toward their target.
The hungry being moved toward the shell that held their Tamaranian friend and leaned down to sink its teeth into the head end of the cocoon. But before it could indulge in the feast, Robin slide under the body, feet first, and knocked the trapped Titan away. Instead, the massive jaws of the predator ended up crunching into the cavern's stone floor instead.
The Chrysalis eater looked up and found the Boy Wonder at a distance, working over the cocoon; it started approaching him, but a blast of aura struck against its' back. It turned around and found Raven flying toward her, with a large boulder under the mages' influence, while Cyborg, The Tamer, the Digimon and a green ankylosaurus kept pace with them on the ground. The blue-cloaked teen launched the boulder, but the alien punched through it with ease before charging at the four.
With his teammates keeping the creature occupied, Robin got to work at trying to free his friend from her strange shell. "Starfire! Are you okay?" He called out, hoping the auburn-haired Titan was still with them. "Starfire, can you hear me?" He called again. As a response, he heard a weak little moan come from the trapped beauty. "Hang on! I'm going to get you out." He dug his fingers into the face-plate of the cocoon and began prying it open.
However, once he had widened it enough, the seams closed tightly again, keeping the young girl inside, "No!" Starfire cried out in despair, "Please go! You will not wish to see me this way." She explained, tearfully.
"I'm your friend, Starfire." The masked teen said as he forced the shell open again, "I don't care how you look." Once he opened it enough to see inside, he gave the alien beauty a big smile and reached for a small crystal next to him. "Besides," He added as he held the stone in front of his friend, "you look fine to me."
Starfire stared at her reflection. For a moment she was completely speechless at what she saw; no horn on her forehead, no tusks on her neck, everything just as it should be. She gasped sharply before taking the crystal from the spiky-haired leader and floated happily out of the cocoon, revealing every part of her body back in proper order-even her boots were magically fixed from when they were split open by her feet.
"I am... normal!" She cheered, inspecting herself in the polished surface. What happened next was completely unexpected as beams of neon green shot from her eyes, bounced off the crystal, and blew out a patch of ceiling above her. "Mostly." She squeaked nervously at the destruction.
Robin smiled benignly up at her, but the moment was cut off when Yuki and Kotemon crashed into a stone column behind him. Then the green ankylosaurus slammed into them, causing both to crash through solid rock.
"Ow..." Yuki and Kotemon groaned weakly as Beast Boy reverted back to his human form.
Raven and Cyborg were both caught in the huge crab claws of the Chrysalis eater, struggling vainly to get free.
"Since you have stolen my meal," The angered predator snarled, "I shall devour you instead!" It raised both trapped Titans and got ready to chow down, but stopped with the newly freed Tamaranean flew over. Her eyes were glowing as brightly as her hands would when she fired starbolts.
"Devour THIS!" The orange-skinned Titan shouted before unleashing twin beams of energy from her irises, freeing her friends and driving the creature back across the cavern. The cybernetic and Gothic teens dropped to the ground and looked up just as Starfire flew over with both hands blazing. The Chrysalis eater backed up helplessly, taking hit after hit, and the coup de grace came when the young beauty drilled in another eye-beam blast that sent it crashing through the ceiling.
The force of the blast projected the alien through the earth, sending it tumbling down the slope toward the surface of the pond where it first found the Tamaranean. Dazed and confused, the Chrysalis eater came to and looked up with a guttural gasp. The last thing the predator saw was the overgrown plant that tried eating Starfire hovering over it. Opening its' jaw, the carnivorous plant quickly lashed toward the prey, a loud crunch that accompanied the strike told the rest of the story.
Back in the cave, the team had gathered around the auburn-haired alien, all looking up at the massive hole in the ceiling she created when she blasted the creature.
"Dude! Since when can your eyes do that?" Beast Boy ask, fascinated by his friends' new found ability.
"Since just now." The alien replied nervously as she scratched the back of her head. "Please do not reject me. I am almost normal."
The other Titans looked at her with looks of bewilderment. "Star, we'd never reject you." Kylar spoke up, "We're your friends, no matter what happens."
"He's right." Robin came up behind her, gaining her attention, "You're exactly as you should be. No matter how you change on the outside, you'll always be Starfire on the inside."
The worried Tamaranian looked to the other five Titans for reassurance, "Besides, in case you haven't noticed, almost none of us are exactly normal." Yuki reassured with a smile while the others smiled and nodded in agreement.
With no more doubt in her mind, Starfire responded with a blushing smile of her own, happy to be back among her friends. With the message received and understood, the team made their way back to the T-Sub and started their, hopefully uneventful, trek back to their own world.
"So the happy young girl returned home with her friends. And they all lived happily ever after... that is... until Beast Boy got the chicken pox."
A/N: Wow that's another loong time to write as you noticed I changed the narrator of the original episode who was voiced by the late Tony Jay but a new character who is canon to both Digimon and DC try to guess who it is. What happens next? Find out next time on Titan Tamer of The Swordsman. R&R