Disclaimer: Teen Titans is not mine.
Summary: After losing her powers, Starfire feels she cannot be part of the Teen Titans anymore. She leaves the team of teenage heroes to live a normal life like a normal girl. But Robin shows her that powers do not make a hero.
Note: Thanks for all the reviews! Keep them coming!
The dawn broke free from the darkness of the night. Its light peeked through the curtains of a purple decorated room. Eventually, it peeked through the eyes of a red-haired girl.
What was usually greeted on a day like this with a "Good Morning, Glorious Day!" was greeted instead with a "Today is most unpleasant." With a fallen face, she dragged herself to the bathroom and got ready for her first official normal day. Or, in her case, a not so normal day.
"Morning Star!" Beastboy greeted her as she came to the kitchen. He wore his white chef hat with a spatula in hand. "You want some tofu waffles?"
"No she does not want tofu waffles. No one wants tofu waffles." Cyborg answered for her, fighting his friend.
"Well, I do. Who asked you anyway?" Beastboy countered. And they had their daily morning breakfast fight. Until Raven came in and, using her telekinesis, used two spatulas to hit them on their heads.
Starfire was not hungry. She sat slouched on the couch flipping channels. Robin came in and took a seat next to her.
"Everything all right?" he asked.
"Everything is all right. What ever should be wrong?" Yeah, who was she kidding? "No, Robin. Nothing is all right. I understand you have said to do the relaxing. But I cannot."
Before anything else could be done, the Titans alarm sounded off. The Tower blinked in flashes of red light.
"We'll talk later. Come on," Robin led her to the colossal computer monitor that covered a lot of the wall space on one side of the room.
Cyborg examined the screen as Raven typed on the keyboard. A map of the city appeared in one window. On another window was a summary of the villain. On the final window was a live video of the villain: Kitten.
"Hi Robbie-poo!"
Robin shivered.
Oh, this was not good. Starfire was already on the not-so-happy side. She stepped forward, arms crossed. Kitten only smirked.
"You have come to destroy the city or take Robin again?" she asked. "It is not possible."
"I don't want that. Ew, Robin is so old. Besides, I have Fang." Fang appeared beside her and they started making out in front of the Titans.
The Titans illustrated digusted looks on their faces. Robin's eyes were drooped. Did she just call him old? Raven fake coughed.
Kitten glared at her for ruining their moment.
"What is it you wish to do?" Starfire asked.
"I want a rematch with you. If your friends are coming, they better not fight. It's between us. Get it alien? No fighting but us." She pointed at the alien. And a red dot popped up in the window of the map. "See you there." Kitten's window turned black.
Starfire's eyes lit up. "Let us go. I wish to attack her personally."
"Starfire, you don't have powers-" Beastboy cut himself off.
Starfire expected this. She had an answer she was quite proud of. She had wanted this since her first encounter with the spoiled brat. "Neither does this Kitten. Now, we may fight evenly. No powers to no powers. We shall now see who of us is the better." As unfortunate as it was to have her powers lost, the alien had been satisfied to get this opportunity. Though relentless at first, the team agreed to let her come after a final say by their leader. "But if you're in trouble, you know what to do," he said. She merely nodded.
"We'll be there, too." Cyborg added for reassurance.
"Her coordinates lead here." Raven typed on the keyboard and zoomed into the map of the city. It lead to the amusement park the Titans had gone to a long time ago where Robin and Starfire watched fireworks on a Ferris wheel, and Beastboy won Raven a giant chicken.
"Strange location,"
"It does not matter. We must go."
The four heroes set out in their own vehicles while Beastboy and Raven flew. Cyborg drove his T-car and Starfire rode with Robin on his R-cycle. It felt strange considering she was not used to riding, but flying. She had ridden his cycle once but that was a while back in Tokyo.
"It is deserted." Starfire pointed out.
It was a Saturday. The amusement park was expected with young children running around, parents laughing at the silliness of their children, clowns blowing balloons, and young lovers sitting together on the slowness of a Ferris wheel. In short, it was not packed.
"Bet'cha I can get Raven another chicken." Beastboy finally said after a moment of pondering. All he received was not one but four glares for his immatureness during a mission.
"This place is too big to search together. We have to split up. Raven, check near the booths. Cyborg: the bumper cars. Beastboy: the Ferris wheel. Starfire: the bridge. I'll go check the roller coaster."
Raven did as told. She looked around and did not find anyone. But she felt someone's presence. And it was not any of the other Titan's. It was behind her, as always. Someone was following her but she did not do anything about it. She would wait until she felt it was the right time to attack it. She saw the shadow. Now! She chanted three famous words and shot it out exactly behind her. Believing she had hit it, she was caught off guard when a magenta colored beam came her way. She was hit and slid on the ground.
"Jinx!"
"Well, this should be fun."
Cyborg had decided to ride the bumper cars. I'll look for that brat while I ride this, he thought. He might as well have fun while he was on it, right? That was until his car bumped into another bumper car.
"Say what? Gizmo!"
"What's it to you robo-freak!"
"Freak? Why you-"
"Na, na," Gizmo said sticking out his tongue.
Cyborg chased Gizmo around the bumper car area. Despite the lack of room, he was unable to touch him.
Beastboy flew up to the highest passenger gondola of the dormant Ferris wheel. From above, he saw a good view of the whole park. He saw Robin looking around while Cyborg, Raven, and Starfire seemed to be caught up with their own battles. Beastboy's mind finally settled in and he panicked. He turned into a falcon and started flying down but a pair of hands caught his claws. Big hands. Mammoth.
"Dude!" Beastboy transformed into an elephant as he fell towards the ground bringing the oversized villain with him.
"Robin!" Three communicators sounded towards one.
"Raven, Cyborg, Beastboy!" Robin said from the other side. "What's wrong?"
The replies came late as they were fighting. "Trouble." And each name of the villain they were fighting came out.
"And Starfire?"
No reply.
"Starfire! Come in!" Robin began to worry.
"I am ok," she said a moment later.
The leader sighed in relief.
"No she's not. Dude, you gotta help her. She's at the pier and she's fighting Kitten. I saw her." Beastboy said.
"And you guys?" Robin asked.
"We're ok! Go!" They all responded at the same time.
Robin ran from his location at the roller coaster towards the pier. Beastboy was right: she was fighting Kitten. He was always right about something: she needed help. He came just in time to see Kitten push her to the water where she dove in herself. The two girls started fighting in the coldness of the water. Kitten seemed fine but she had Starfire underneath her struggling to reach the surface for air.
"Starfire!"
Kitten looked for the owner of the voice and grinned when she saw who it was. "Robbie-poo! You came just in time to see her drown to her death."
"We'll see about that," he muttered under his breath. He jumped in the air and positioned himself to kicking her. But the waves were on the girl's side and swooshed her away from his attack causing him to kick the water and landing on it instead. On the other hand, Starfire took this chance to rise and breathe the air she had been deprived of for a long time. When she had enough air to stop all the gasping, she felt Robin's hand take hers and together they climbed up back to dry land with Kitten following not too far behind.
"Two against one? That is so not fair!" Kitten whined.
"She is right."
Robin looked at her in shock.
"Robin, I shall fight her. Alone."
Robin did not say anything. He looked at her once more and nodded. He turned and went off to help the other three Titans. He arrived to see that Cyborg had already beaten Gizmo. Gizmo was somehow buckled to the bumper car and could not move. Together, he and Cyborg made their way to Raven's location. But Raven, too, had Jinx defeated. Jinx was stuck in Raven's dark aura and could not move like her ally, Gizmo. To their pleasure, Beastboy also had defeated his enemy. Apparently, his massive size was enough to beat a tiny green mouse that had been circling him all this time. They took the three H.I.V.E. members and dumped them where the JCPD (Jump City Police Department) would find them sooner or later. And finally they made their way towards the human-like alien.
Starfire was strong. Apparently, she was strong when she had her powers. At the moment she looked like a helpless little girl who had just encountered the school bully. She was standing on her knees with her elbows on the wooden bridge of the pier. I cannot do this, Starfire thought. Her optimism had left her. Tears formed in her eyes and forced themselves to fall. She pounded on the wood with her fist.
"Hold on, Starfire! We're right here." Robin comforted her as he ran to her side and picked her up.
"Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" Raven shouted towards the blonde-haired girl. Kitten was hit with recoil.
"I thought this was going to be a fair match between us." She growled.
"We thought so too but you broke the rules. We weren't supposed to fight but you bought friends. You left us no choice." Raven answered back.
"Whatever. I can make this even." She took out her pink cell phone and dialed someone. "Fang! Get over here! No, not later! Now!"
In a matter of seconds, the spider-headed boyfriend of the girl appeared.
He threw his acid towards the couple but Robin easily dodged it. He set Starfire aside and took out his Bo staff.
"Let's do this," Robin and Fang jumped a few feet away to begin their own battle. Raven, Cyborg, and Beastboy were left with the spoiled brat. She was no trouble at all.
"You know? Your girlfriend over there called me old. Then she calls me 'Robbie-poo.'" Robin started to say.
"So what?"
"I think she's starting to crush on me again." Robin continued with his egotistical strategy.
"Why you-"
"You mad? It's ok. I don't blame her."
Fang attempted to kick him with a spider leg. But it failed.
"You can't even hit me. You're not as strong. You're not as good looking." Robin continued to state. "You don't smell very nice. And, you're an insect."
"Shut up! She does not like you. I'm her boyfriend."
"Well, then you better show her 'cause she doesn't seem very loyal."
Fang's teeth gritted if he had teeth.
"She might even leave you. If she does, tell her this: don't go after me. I'm taken. Even if I wasn't, I wouldn't want to be with someone who just hurt Starfire." His playful tone turned dark.
With a final blow, he swung his staff at the bug boy. Because of his exhaustion, Fang finally fell.
"Fang!" Kitten cried. She cried not because he had fallen but because she had been defeated.
The Titans were satisfied as they returned back home to their large 'T'. They had captured five villains in one morning and before lunch. Well, mostly all of them were satisfied. Starfire's optimism still had not returned. Though Kitten was defeated, she had not been satisfied with the outcome. She had shown weakness in that battle.
Starfire made her way to her room as soon as they had reached home. She did not speak a word to them but her friends left her alone. Robin had started to follow her but Raven instructed him to give her time alone.
"I switched bodies with her. You don't understand how much emotion that body of hers carries. It's almost as much as mine. Except, hers are happier. Her powers are based on her happiness. Think about it: without her powers, her happiness is pretty much gone too."
Starfire did not come down for lunch. Beastboy offered her mustard-flavored waffles. Raven even suggested that they do the 'hanging of the mall' later. But she refused to these. When Cyborg's idea of watching a documentary with a large pizza with pickles, bananas, and mint frosting failed, the Titans had given up for the day. Not even Robin knew what to do.
Night came. Starfire stood next to her bedroom window looking out to the city. If she were going to do what she was planning, it would have to be tonight. She was useless at today's battle despite her determination. If I waited any longer, I would prove my ineffectiveness more, she thought, truly I am a Troq.
She stood up and picked up her bag. Luckily, the bedrooms were strangely in the second floor. From her location, the main door was an easy place to get to. All she had to do was keep quiet so no one would hear her footsteps. All the other Titans were upstairs so this was to be no trouble.
It was now or never. The door swished quietly. As her feet touched the outside, she turned around and stared once more at the only home she had ever been to since she arrived in this planet. She did not know where else to go. All she knew, or thought, was that she was useless and would only get in the way of the Titan's mission. She was normal now. She reasoned she should live a normal life.
Robin worried as he and the rest of the Titans finished their delivered pizzas for dinner. Two mint-frosted pizzas were left. Starfire had skipped breakfast, lunch, and now dinner. He now did not care what Raven said. He had to talk to her.
"Starfire?" He said as he knocked on her door.
No answer.
"Look, Star. I'm gonna open the door ok?" He was grateful she gave the code to her room.
The door slid open. It was dark inside. When he turned on the light, Robin swore his heart skipped a beat.
The room was bare: no shoes, no clothes, no combs, no books, no anything. Above all, no Starfire.
To Be Continued
Review Please!