Chapter 25
Starfire jerked awake as something punctured her neck. Crying out in pain she tried to wrench away, but was held fast. Something cold and metallic encased her hands and ankles, holding her aloft. A strange metal weight was clamped around her neck and she recognised the nauseating feel of a Citadelian restraining collar. A leering man's face swum into view and she narrowed her eyes as she saw Hunder.
Something groaned beside her and Starfire turned her head, sucking in a gasp of breath. Raven was strung up beside her, the same metal bands encasing her hands and ankles, and a restraining collar around her neck. She was slumped forward, unconscious and her skin was covered in smudges. They were in a small metallic cell, with only a single door exiting the room, a tiny console beside it.
Starfire snarled and turned her head back to Hunder, her body straining against her bonds. "What have you done?" she cried in Tamaranian.
"I have returned you to your rightful place, Princess," he leered in the same language. "As a prize for the Citadel. The Masters are paying us very handsomely for your return and Grafnor will be the next Grand Ruler."
"I will never be a prize," she snarled angrily.
Hunder smiled maliciously. "You do not have a choice, dear Princess." He leaned forward and began to whisper quietly in her ear, his hand drifting up her leg. Starfire's eyes widened in fear as she listened to his words and her skin crawled beneath his seeking hand.
"No!" she shrieked, throwing her body around as she tried to free herself, while Hunder simply laughed, his fingers bruising her inner thigh. "Why are you doing this? What have I ever done to you?"
"You placed a pretender on the throne!" Hunder snarled harshly, grabbing her hair behind her neck and forcing her head back. His face hovered inches above hers, his breath harsh on her face. "Galfore should never have been placed on the throne. He is not of noble birth. Torkor was next in line after the And'r line ceased."
"No, he was not!" cried Starfire; bile rising in her throat caused by his hand that was now drifting up her stomach. "Ady'r family is next in line."
"There are no more Ady'r," he hissed at her before he suddenly sniffed her hair and she saw lust creep into his eyes. "You smell so good," he said, nuzzling her cheek, his hand so nauseatingly close to her breast. "The Masters are allowing me the honor of being your first, but perhaps I should give you a taste of the pleasure I will bring you."
She head butted him as hard as she could considering the position she was in. "You will never have me," she snarled, straining against her bonds as he clapped both hands over his face and doubled over in pain.
"Is it done?" a deep voice igrated n the language of the Citadelians from a small speaker in the wall beside the door.
Hunder straightened and removed his hands from his face. He turned and bowed toward the closed door behind him. "Yes Master," he replied in the same language, turning his gleeful eye back toward Starfire. "She has had her transformation. She is susceptible to this drug now. Soon she will be writhing and panting under her own hormones, begging for release. She will service every single Master placed before her and then she will burn out. A fitting end."
"Good," the voice said. "Leave her. We will return when she is ripe and transport her to the arena for the public servicing and the impending explosion."
"What of the other?"
"Leave her. It will break the prize more if her friend is there to witness."
"Release her!" Starfire cried passionately. "I will do whatever you wish, but you must release her!"
"You are already going to do everything we wish," the voice sinisterly said.
Hunder bowed again, grinning maliciously. "See you soon, Princess," he drawled before leaving the room, the door slamming closed behind him.
"Raven," Starfire called urgently as she slowly rotated her wrists and ankles in the confines, trying to loosen them enough to free herself. "Raven, please." Tears filled her eyes; she must get Raven out of her before she began to lose control. Raven should not be forced to live the horrors of the Citadel. "Oh X'hal please, spare her this."
Something crept down Starfire's arm from under her gorget, before dropping to the floor with a plop. Starfire watched in amazement as a small green lizard dashed toward the door and up the wall before peering through the small square window in the door.
"All clear," Beast Boy said as he morphed back into his natural shape. "Star, you okay? Did he hurt you? Did he touch you? What did they give you?"
"No," she replied as her heart began to flutter in her chest. "He did not touch me, Beast Boy, it is good that you remained hidden. It gladdens my heart to see you, I did not know you were there. Please, release Raven."
Beast Boy dashed over to Raven, carefully lifting her head and brushing away the hair from her face. "Rae, baby, come on." He caressed her face and Raven's eyes snapped open. Beast Boy breathed a huge sigh of relief.
Raven groaned and lifted her head from Beast Boy's hand. "Gar? What happened? Where are we?"
"In the Citadel," Starfire said softly, staring at point in the distance. Her fingers were beginning to twitch beneath the metal bands. "Oh X'hal." She looked over at Raven and Beast Boy. "You must get out of here, as quickly as possible. Raven, can you release yourself?"
Raven nodded, her eyes filling with power. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos." Nothing happened. "Something's blocking me."
Beast Boy shifted into a gorilla and tore at her bonds. They didn't move so he shifted into a crocodile, biting down hard on the bonds. He shifted back confused, rubbing his jaw. "Ow."
Starfire nodded, her heart heavy. "They were created to withhold Tamaranian strength. They are blocking my star bolts too. It is the collars, they are designed to restrain and prevent power usage, but I had hoped that they would not be able to restrain yours."
"How do we get out of here then?"
Starfire's knees began to tremor and she closed her eyes and tried to concentrate on something else. Robin. She must tell him what is happening. He must come and free Raven and Beast Boy. And there were things that she had to tell him. But this was going to hurt him so much.
Sweat suddenly drenched her body and she moaned throatily at the sudden heat below her navel.
Beast Boy looked at her in surprise. "What did he do to you?"
Senses were becoming overloaded. The light was too bright, the sounds too loud. A strong, masculine scent wafted in the air. Her eyes raked Beast Boy's form and licked her lips maliciously. Male, how delicious. A surge of anger swept through her. This was not her chosen! This was not the one she shared the a'tiyk valm with! How dare he present himself to her! Destroy the male! Kill!
"No!" she cried, forcing her eyes from his body. "Beast Boy be an animal, please. I cannot handle it."
"Handle what?" Raven asked, while a confused Beast Boy morphed into a wolf.
Starfire breathed a sigh of relief as the fury within her dimmed. A sudden understanding swept through her. She looked at Raven, studying her carefully, but she didn't invoke the same sort of fury and neither did Beast Boy now he was in animal form. A plan began to form in her mind. Oh dear sweet X'hal, it was worse than she had ever imagined. But she had to do it, for the sake of her friends. She would go into this willingly, for she would never allow them to live the horrors of the Citadel. They would instead have to endure her and she did not know which one would be worse.
Beast Boy placed his head against Starfire's leg, trying to be comforting but Starfire screamed, that simple touch igniting her flesh. "No! Please, too much!"
"Starfire, what's going on?" Raven asked urgently, her face pale.
"They injected me with a drug," she said softly as she tried to control the tremors in her body. "I have seen them use it before and I never believed it would ever be used on me. It is designed to heighten the desires of my natural morn'lo before the green energy we contain burns us from the inside. But that is not what it is going to do."
"What's morn'lo?"
Starfire raised her tear filled eyes to her friends. "Raven, Beast Boy. You are my good friends and I love you both. I must contact Robin and tell him what is happening while there is still time. I will find a way to release you and then you must remove yourselves from my path. There is nothing that can be done to prevent this from occurring. Do nothing to stop me, show no aggression and do not touch me! I will try not to harm you, Beast Boy if you remain in your animal form. Stay with Raven, protect her and get out of the Citadel soon as you can. I will protect you with every ounce of my being, but I cannot protect anyone else from what I will become. This body will be a shell. It is not me, the things I will do will not be me. Remember what I was."
Starfire bowed her head and closed her eyes, before her head shot up again. "If you see Blackfire, tell her I understand and I forgive her. She will know what I speak of. Go with her, she will help you escape. And if I should happen to turn on you, you must kill me. Do not hesitate because I will not."
She closed her eyes once more, ignoring the protests of her aghast friends.
TTTTT
Robin.
...
Robin please.
...
Robin, you must wake.
Starfire?
Yes. Robin, you must wake.
What happened? I was hit in the neck with something and then there was an explosion. Star, are you okay?
I believe you may have been drugged.
Starfire, there is nothing here, nothing but blackness and your voice. Where are we?
You are unconscious. You must wake!
So must you.
I am awake. I know where I am. Raven and Beast Boy are with me. They are why you must wake. They must not stay here, it is too dangerous. You must help them escape.
"Robin."
Cyborg! That was Cyborg's voice, did you hear it, Star?
No. Please wake up.
"Robin, man. You need to wake up."
Where are you Starfire? Why is it so important that I wake?
I am in the Citadel.
"Starfire!" Robin screamed, bolting upright. Cyborg yelled and fell over backward, sprawling on the floor of Robin's bedroom.
"Robin! You scared the crap outta me."
Robin stared down at Cyborg, his eyes wild. "Cyborg, assemble the Titan Network."
"Already done," Cyborg replied, picking himself off the floor. "Herald's picking up the stragglers as we speak. We're just waiting for you. Robin, the Citadel has-"
"I know, they've got Starfire, Beast Boy and Raven."
"I'm sorry," Cyborg said softly. "I couldn't reach them in time. By the time I'd stopped Grafnor from killing you and made it to the stands, they had already been taken."
"We've been played," Robin said. He leapt out of bed; the adrenaline sweeping through his body wiping out the last traces of the drug that was used to incapacitate him. "I'll get dressed and be out in a minute."
"They're okay, then?"
"For the moment."
Cyborg nodded, quickly leaving the room.
Robin. Her mind voice was trembling, as though it had taken great concentration to reach him.
Starfire, I will come for you.
Robin, I have a gift for you. Go to the dresser against the wall in our bedroom and open the bottom left drawer. You will find what you need there.
Okay, got it, Robin sent as he pulled out a large brown paper package tied up with string, briefly wondering why he'd never noticed it before. He placed it on the bed and quickly opened it. Starfire, no!
Robin, in the future I saw, this is what happened when I was not there. I hoped that this would be a natural evolution for you and I could share in this step, but it seems that it cannot be helped. I will not last much longer.
Starfire, no. I will come for you. You need to hang on. Please.
I cannot. Already I feel the effects of what they have given me surging through my veins. I cannot hold this link much longer; I must close it while there is enough of me left. I will do my best to free Raven and Beast Boy, I will hold onto their lives with all my strength but you must come for them. Promise me; promise me you will save them! I cannot bear to think that I will go through this and they will not be spared.
Starfire, what are you talking about?
Promise me!
I promise, Star.
Robin… Richard, I have loved you for so long and I hoped we could have an eternity together, but it is not to be. You said there was to be no more sacrifices, but it seems I have one more left to make.
Starfire, no! I will not let you!
I do not have a choice. It was taken from us. Please listen, Richard; there is something I must tell you.
TTTTT
Starfire's voice rang in his mind as he donned her last gift. You must learn to live and love again, Richard.
He slipped the black shirt over his head, smoothing out the creases. He noticed the small transparent section of the shirt that enabled his e'ara to be seen. His fingers ran lightly over the blue emblem that spread across his chest and down his arms. Become the night.
He snapped on the gray belt, slipped on the black and gray gloves and clenched his hands into fists. Spread your wings and soar.
A tear slipped from beneath the black mask. And let me go.
TTTTT
The door to Robin and Starfire's room opened and the crowd of Titans fell instantly silent as the dark figure stepped out.
Cyborg sucked in a startled breath, his knees weak. "Nightwing."
Nightwing raised his head, his masked eyes surveying the Titans coldly. "Titans."
Cyborg took a few steps forward. "Man, are you sure you want to do this? There's no going back."
Nightwing turned his head, his face emotionless. "Robin is gone." He looked out into the sea of Titans. "The Citadel has taken two of our own and we must get them back."
"Only two?" Cyborg blurted. "I thought they had three? Who are we missing?"
Nightwing raised his voice over the sudden rabble of the Titans. "Here's how it's going to work. Herald, when you take us to the Citadel, we'll need a large room with lots of space to move in as a base and it doesn't matter if the room is already full of Citadelians. We'll take them out first. I want you to keep a portal open back here, if you can. If you can't, stay out of the way, watch for injured and open a portal to return them here. You are our lifeline. We cannot afford to lose you."
"Gotcha, boss."
Kid Flash blinked. "Hey, can't he just take us straight to our missing people?"
"Places, not people," Herald said. "Usually I need some sort of reference point, or coordinates, unless it's a point I can actually see. Galfore gave me some that should serve."
"Where is Galfore?" Nightwing asked, casting his eye around the room. "I would have thought he'd be coming with us."
"His wife was injured and his people are in turmoil," Cyborg said softly. "Tamaran is preparing for war. They need their Grand Ruler. He said, may X'hal be with us and that Starfire would understand."
Nightwing swore, before he set his mind back on the task at hand. "Starfire will never know. Jinx, Jericho, Bushido, you will be guarding Herald. Mas Y Menos, you will be in charge of retrieving injured and returning them through portal, Kid Flash, you need to scout, but stay in the goddamn first room until we've secured it please."
Kid Flash nodded. "Sure, boss."
"The rest of you pick a partner. All girls must be paired with a guy, sorry but believe me it's for the best. Do not lose sight of your partner at any time and if your partner is injured both of you head back to the portal. I want no deaths on our side. Keep your communicators on at all times. No one is to go anywhere past the first room until I say so. We need to locate Raven and Beast Boy and get out, before the place goes down. And trust me, the place is going down. We will not have a lot of time. Questions?"
Speedy raised his hand. "It sounds like these guys are gonna try their hardest to kill us. Are we returning the favour?"
Nightwing sighed. He wanted to say yes, he truly did. Those monsters deserved it, but he and the rest of the Titans had a code to uphold. "No. Knock 'em unconscious as fast as you can. I have the feeling there are going to be lots of them."
"What about Starfire?" Bumblebee asked quietly; shrinking back as Nightwing swung his gaze to her.
Nightwing took a deep breath and let it out slowly, still unwilling to believe it himself. He cast out his mind for her, begging for an answer, but there was nothing. Just a dark haze of impenetrable rage. "Starfire is gone."
There was a general outcry of disbelief in the room and everyone began to speak at once.
"How is she gone?" Bumblebee cried anxiously.
"Dis cannot be!" Red Star roared.
"You said they were fine!" Cyborg bellowed.
"Be quiet!" Nightwing bellowed over the top of the noise. "And listen closely. This is important. They have drugged her and the person we know as Starfire is gone. She is now a weapon. If any of you happen to see the body she once inhabited, run the other direction. Do not engage, males especially and contact me as soon as you're safe. Don't touch her; don't talk to her, nothing. She will not know you and she will be destroying everything in her path. And that could include us." Nightwing swallowed and a single tear dripped down his cheek. "And if any of you happen to see her body fall, take her to the portal. There is a ring on her finger I would like back."
TTTTT
Richard, they have injected me with a drug. It was designed to heighten my natural morn'lo desires tenfold, I have seen them use it before. It will override the natural sex drive, making the body seek release from any available source, again and again until the green energy we contain burns us from inside. I will not have any control over what I do and the drug was designed to end my life. But they have not understood the nature of our a'tiyk valm. Yes, I will seek out release, but until I find my chosen that release will be in the form of violence, I can already feel it churning inside me. I will so angry at any male that is not you that I will destroy them. I will dismantle the Citadel, piece by piece until it is destroyed or I am. You must get to Raven and Beast Boy before that happens and you will not have long. Beast Boy should be safe from me as long as he remains in animal form. I will not know our friends. If they see me, they must run, for I will not spare them. Remember me for what I was, not what I will become. Forgive me. I do not wish to do this but they have given me no choice.
Starfire, I love you. Fight it. You are stronger than this.
Richard, you do not understand. I am fighting it the only way I can, for I will not allow them to touch me. I am yours and I will forever be yours alone. That is something they cannot take from us. D'anthe l'ani, I must go, Hunder will return soon and I must release Raven before he does. Do not let yourself become isolated, you must lean on our friends during this time. They will need you and you will need them. I will live on in your shared memories of me.
Starfire, I will love you forever.
You must learn to live and love again, Richard. Become the night. Spread your wings and soar. And let me go.
Author's note: Herald's powers… I have no clue; I can't find any reference on exactly how he uses his horn that's why I clarified it. That is my Herald's powers, and if it's wrong, oh well.