Chapter 20: Monsters

Starfire had called for Robin but there was no answer. We were completely alone in the Titan's infirmary. A few hours ago, everyone left to investigate Jump City. With the alien threat still in effect, Robin wanted to make sure that these monsters wouldn't attack innocent civilians.

Robin stayed behind to watch Starfire but we haven't seen him around lately. We assumed that he was out with the rest of the team, until he came in earlier to bring Starfire her dinner. They both tried to exchange a few words but things were still awkward between them. Respecting the fact that she preferred to be alone, Robin quietly walked out of the room.

Starfire was halfway finished with the meal. Robin had arranged for her to eat the same meal they had eaten and I have to admit, it smelt really good. She finished her chicken strips and started to eat her mashed potatoes. Unfortunately, Robin had forgotten to bring her something to drink.

"Guess I'll go get it myself" She whispered, disengaging herself from the IV drip. She was not supposed to be out of bed yet but I guess it's not harmful to run a quick errand. I followed her up to the common room and we snuck into the kitchen. She rummaged through the coverts, pulled out a cup and quickly filled it with ice and water.

As we were heading back, I noticed that the atmosphere was unusually tense. With the titans out and Robin not around, it didn't feel right being by ourselves. Of course Starfire was capable of defending herself but that didn't make the situation less scary. For some reason, I felt like we were being watched.

Starfire crawled back into her bed, finished her meal and tried to get some rest. She couldn't sleep, neither of us could. There was too much going on right now.

My eyes flew open once I heard the sound of shattering glass. Starfire gasped and clutched the blanket around her "what was that?" She whispered, pushing the covers off and placing her feet on the floor.

She slowly emerged into the hallway, trying to investigate where the noise came from. Suddenly, a pair of gloved hands grabbed her and shoved her back in the infirmary. Starfire was caught off guard, but then we realized that it was Robin. He shut the door behind him, locking it tight, making sure that nothing would get in.

"You're not hurt, are you?" He asked examining her from head to toe.

Starfire shot him a confused look "No" She said "What's going on? You're freaking me out."

"We need to get you out of here."

"Why?" She asked.

Robin was silent for a moment, hoping that we would process what was happening. Starfire's eyes widened, realizing what he was trying to imply "They're here" She said "aren't they?"

Robin closed his eyes and slowly nodded his head "Yes" He whispered.

Starfire's face dropped realizing that her nightmare had become a reality. The Citadel was here, waiting to claim their overdue prize. But somehow I wasn't surprised. We have been worrying about this for the past few days. We all knew that it wouldn't be long for these aliens to appear on our doorstep.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! A large fist started pounding against the door. Starfire issued a small scream and huddled close to Robin.

"Star" He said "stay behind me"

Starfire did as she was instructed and huddled against the wall. Robin reached for his explosives, taking a huge step so that he stood protectively over her. They would literally only get her over his dead body. There was no way that Robin would allow these aliens to take her away.

The door broke down and Starfire screamed as two monsters started flooding the room. I squeezed my eyes shut and braced myself for whatever they planned on doing to us. I heard Robin shout a cry, some explosives, and loud thuds of bodies hitting the floor. I opened my eyes, seeing that Robin had taken both of them down "Come on!" He shouted "Let's get out of here!"

He grabbed her hand and they both ran out of the infirmary. I curled up tightly around Starfire's shoulder. Thankfully, there were no more aliens around us, but it is likely that we will encounter more.

Starfire started to look uncomfortable when Robin tried to lead her down the tower. Not because the aliens were coming after us, but she was becoming weak and tired from that short run. With the medicine and drugs still in effect, she was already running out of breath "Robin…" She panted "I can't…I have to stop and rest."

Robin turned around but he didn't let go of her hand "We're almost there" He said "You have hang on a little longer!"

After Starfire's brief rest, they continued running through the corridors of the tower. Unfortunately, they had caught up to us, and they were chasing us from a distance. I knew that I shouldn't have looked back but I was curious to see what they looked like.

There were two of them. They were huge, filling the corridor and were as different as they were horrifying. For an advanced alien race, they looked like nothing I had ever seen. They were fast, cunning and determined to get their hands on Starfire. They almost looked like apes, mutated ones to be exact. They had black, silvery skin, yellow eyes, and a long skull with two large tusks. The thing that caught me off guard the most was that one of them had multiple limbs. I think back to that one night when I saw the spider-like alien in the window. There's no doubt that this creature resembled it.

Starfire looked exhausted by the time we reached the basement. Robin punched in the code and shoved both of us inside.

"You'll be safe in here" He said "I'll make sure I defeat every last of them."

"No!" Starfire shouted, grabbing his wrist "I'm not letting you fight them alone!"

"Star…" He sighed, trying to untangle her hand from his but she wouldn't let him. She wasn't going to let him go.

"We both know that the only way we're getting out of this is if we fight them together."

Starfire wasn't well enough to fight. But she knew what she was talking about. Even though Robin took down a few with no trouble, these monsters are still extremely dangerous.

Several meters away from us, two shadows, lumpy and grotesque found their way inside the basement and spotted us. The ground on which the three of us stood suddenly trembled beneath our feet. From the corner of my eye, I spotted one of the monsters trying to squeeze through the doorway. A few others had already gotten in and they were coming right for us.

Robin leapt up and starting attacking. He picked his first opponent and knocked it against the wall. The alien roared and swung its large fists at him. Robin didn't even give him the opportunity to attack as he spun around and kicked it in the jaw. Starfire hesitated to attack at first, but she helped Robin finish the creature off with a few blasts from her eyebeams. The creature collapsed on the ground. The second alien was still alive, furious at the death of its companion. It whirled on his stubby legs and lunged at Robin, giving the boy wonder a punch in the gut.

"Robin!" Starfire shouted as he landed right in front of her. Thankfully, the attack didn't harm him. He quickly got back up.

The thing went right for Robin but he nimbly leaped out of the way. The monster roared a cry of anger and went for Starfire next. She warmed up her eyebeams and shot it in the chest. Robin pulled out his explosives and finished the horrible monsters off. The devices designated, blasting away any creature that tried to get near us.

Unfortunately, it wasn't enough. More and more started to come in.

Starfire stood and clenched her fists "This has gone on long enough!" She shouted, warming up her star bolts.

She waited until the last of the aliens entered the room before she leapt in front of Robin and released all of her energy. The green wave rolled off of her and like dominoes, the aliens dropped one by one. Not a single one was left standing in the aftermath of Starfire's attack. She stood for a moment, swayed and was about to collapse on the floor. Robin threw his staff down and caught her. She didn't pass out, but the attack weakened her. She squeezed her eyes shut and leaned against Robin's shoulder.

"I'm fine..." She murmured, trying to give him some reassurance. Robin looked worried but sighed in relief, realizing that she was okay. We looked around and examined the piles of bodies that were splattered across the floor and walls. It was gruesome, but I was glad that Robin and Starfire eliminated these vicious beasts.

Robin's communicator buzzed and he quickly flipped it open. The screen revealed a worried looking Cybernetic titan "My sensors detected alien activity at the tower" He said "Is everything alright over there?"

"They were here" Robin said coldly "But we took care of them."

"Ugh Crap" I heard Cyborg mutter over the device "Somehow I knew they would find their way past my defenses."

"Even our tower's defenses wouldn't have taken them down." Robin said "But thankfully, nobody got hurt."

"That's good to know" Cyborg said "Then I guess we'll meet you back at the Tower."

"Cyborg..." Robin said "Patrol the city one last time. I want to make sure that these aliens are gone for good…or for now at least."

Cyborg smiled "Alright" He said "I'll notify BB and Raven."

"Thanks" Robin said before the conversation ended. He looked down at Starfire, who hadn't said anything since she defeated the aliens. Robin stood up and helped her back on her feet "are you sure that you're alright?" He asked, gently wiping a smudge of something purple and black from her face.

Starfire looked up again into Robin's eyes, and I realized that there was no more resentment between them. She blushed, pushing a wavy strand of red hair out of her face.

"I am now" She said softly.