Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans...but neither do you, so ha.
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Chapter 3: Guilt
Cyborg breathed a sigh of relief as he managed to hook the power back up again. The lights soon flicked on, illuminating the tower. He wiped his hands together as if he were brushing off imaginary dust, walking back into the front room. "I'd say the power's workin' okay, now," he proclaimed proudly, standing in the doorway.
Raven remained silent as she continued to meditate, hovering above the ground and muttering, 'Azerath, Metrion, Zinthos'. Beast Boy sprung from the couch, immediately plugging in his video games.
Cyborg walked further into the room when he noticed a message alert flashing on his mechanical arm. He punched a button, and Robin appeared on the small screen on his robotic forearm.
"Yo, Robin, what's the news on Star?" he asked. Beast Boy and Raven turned around after they heard Cyborg ask about Starfire, both curious and also beginning to get worried about her, themselves.
Robin's face was grim and serious as he replied, "She's gone, Cyborg. I don't know what happened to her. But I have a pretty good guess," he added bitterly.
Cyborg's heart sank when Robin reported the bad news and quickly asked, "What?"
"Slade," Robin sneered, flipping his communicator shut, leaving Cyborg staring at a fuzzy screen.
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Grogginess...achiness...confusion...
Where am I? Starfire thought as her eyes slowly opened. Dizziness overwhelmed her body, and she slowly sat up, holding a hand to her head. She felt lightheaded and woozy, trying to recall what had happened. She cringed as she struggled to sit up, her muscles aching in pain.
A sudden memory brought Starfire out of her confusion and into realization.
Slade.
As if on cue, Slade's footsteps echoed in the empty warehouse. Starfire froze in fright as she heard them slowly getting closer. She automatically sprung to her feet, although her muscles were sore. Her heart started beating faster, her palms moist. Although she was terrified, she stood in a prepared stance for whatever might come her way.
"Ah, Starfire. I see you have awoken," Slade commented, his eerie voice echoing and bouncing off the walls.
Starfire ignored his comment. "What do you want?" she demanded, her voice weak and hinting her fright, even though she intended for it to come out strong and defiant.
Slade was now a few feet away from Starfire, standing with his hands behind his back in a relaxed manner. He laughed darkly, making Starfire cringe. "You don't expect me to tell you my plan, do you?" he said monotonously, slowly circling around Starfire like a vulture.
Even though Starfire was naive, she knew Slade intended for that to be a rhetorical question, so she didn't answer and stared at him coldly. "Then why have you taken me here?" she asked instead, clutching her fists.
Slade fell silent for a few moments, almost as if he were contemplating how to reply. He finally said after a slight hesitation, "Stupid girl, I don't want you." He paused again.
"I want Robin."
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Robin burst through the doors of Titans Tower, his hair matted to his face and his clothes clinging to his body. "TITANS, EMERGENCY!" he shouted, running into the front room. Cyborg, Raven and Beast Boy were already situated in the front room, staring at Robin wide-eyed.
"You didn't find Star?" Beast Boy asked quietly, looking down sadly at the ground.
Robin didn't respond to Beast Boy and looked straight at Cyborg. "Cyborg, you heard me. Slade has Starfire. Haven't you picked up any clues as to where they are?"
Cyborg looked up from the computer monitor. "Sorry man, not a single sign so far. Slade was smart and destroyed her communicator. He must have somehow messed with the tracking device on Star's uniform, 'cause I'm not getting anything," he replied apologetically, typing some codes on the computer and still getting no results. Cyborg turned around in his chair and looked at Robin. "How about you; did you find any clues or evidence?"
Robin's eyes narrowed. "No. Nothing." He clutched his fist in anger, pacing around the room. A silence fell upon the titans until Raven broke it.
"I'm going to try and reach her," she announced, hovering over the ground and closing her eyes. All eyes were on Raven as she deeply concentrated, trying to get through to Starfire. After a few minutes of silence, Raven spoke up in an irritable voice, "I can't get through to her. There's some sort of distraction blocking her mind."
"I bet you she was drugged and now her thoughts are foggy," Cyborg spoke up.
Guilt; five simple letters, yet it never seems to disappear.
Robin let out a groan. "This is all my fault. How could I have just...let her go alone? If anything ever happens to her, I'll never forgive myself," he mumbled, pacing back and forth and running a hand through his wet hair. "I've got to find her," he said loudly as he looked up. "We've got to find her."
"Dude, Robin, it's almost midnight," Beast Boy spoke up.
"I wouldn't care if there was a hurricane on its way! We've got to find her!" he yelled, punching the wall. "I just can't let Slade hurt Starfire! I just can't!" he continued, saying the word 'Slade' as if it were a curse word.
"Robin, we all care about Starfire just as much as you do, it's just that it's late, and we tried but just couldn't -"
"Couldn't help the one person who doesn't deserve what she's gotten? We're all just too pathetic to help one of our best friends?" Robin spat, his face becoming furious.
"Robin, Starfire will be fine. In the morning we'll find her," Raven told him, staring at him steadily. Robin glared at her, and finally said, "No. I'm going to find her now. And if you guys want to come with me, fine. But if you don't-" Robin paused, "then be that way." He exited the room and ran to the garage to get on his motorcycle.
The remaining three sat in a bitter silence.
That was the only time they could truly say that they'd experienced a deafening silence.
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"Robin?" Starfire asked incredulously, eyes widening. "Why do you want Robin?" she demanded.
Slade clicked his tongue. "Tsk tsk, being nosy is not very polite."
Starfire clutched her fists again, repeating her question. "What do you want with him?" she said, crisply pronouncing every syllable.
"I always thought you were smart, for an alien. I thought you had already figured it out, but I suppose not," he said dryly, pausing. "You know all too well, I'm sure, that I have been after Robin for quite awhile. He thought he was being tricky all of those other times he got away from me...but I finally figured out his weakness."
He turned his head sharply and stared at Starfire.
"After much observation, it has come to my attention that his weakness is quite manifest."
He smirked under his mask.
"That obvious weakness of his, my dear, is you."
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DUN DUN DUN...another cliffy! Sorry if the writing in this chapter sucked, tell me in your review if it did. Thanks to all of my reviewers, you guys are the ones who are helping me along. Hope you liked it and please REVIEW
--Faded Starlight--