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We don't own Teen Titans, if we did, we'd be rich, and we'd totally screw it up.From the Authors:
Night 4: Blind Faith
As the light of dawn shined its wonderful golden rays of the morning over the sleepy city, the thundering roar of motorcycle disturbed the once-easy peace and zoomed through the streets like a flash of black lightning. The rider, clad in black as though he were just a shadow, raced along with no intention of stopping.
The rider's long black coat flew through the air like an angel's wings gracefully, and against the light of the dawning sun, the rider raced against it, as though trying to beat it to the finish. The roar of the Harley Davidson suddenly dulled considerably as the rider stopped by a church. A small pleasant looking grey church, but it looked incredibly worn out, and it made the rider think that it would crumple into tiny pieces at any moment.
Parking the bike, the rider got off and scanned the area, looking as though he was suspecting an attack. His fists clenched tightly, ready to lash out at any enemy, but when the rider made sure the coast was clear, he unclenched them and took off his helmet.
What was under the helmet was the face that belonged to a hardened veteran. In a poor light; he would have appeared at least in his forties. But, in actuality, he was only in his 20's. His eyes were a cold vengeful grey and his features were extremely pale. He looked like he was spat out of High School and went right through a horrible war. A jagged scar ran down his right cheek to his jaw and three terrible identical scars on his other cheek. A bandana covered his bald head, concealing his forehead from view, as though he had something to hide from the world.
The rider was dressed in what resembled to be a black priest's cassock with the white clerical collar around his neck. He seemed somewhat fit but lanky with broad shoulders. Suddenly, he reached down into his pocket, and pulled up a folded newspaper article, he scowled vengefully and hissed, "Vampire… You're mine."
He straightened his collar and walked off into the morning lit streets, making no sounds like as though he were a phantom…
"HIYAH!" Starfire yelled as she swung her fist blindly at her target with the hope of actually making physical (and obviously, painful) contact, but she could only feel the air rushing around her fist as it hit absolutely nothing.
"Too slow," her opponent taunted in a grave and monotonous voice. His voice held no emotion, but it was clearly meant as a taunt. If her opponent even displayed any emotion, he'd be smirking right now. He was just that good at hiding it.
Growling, the young Tamaranian swung her leg with enough force to bench press a massive elephant, however, like before, her opponent evaded the attack and she struck nothing but air.
Of course, she would have decimated her opponent by now if she wasn't blindfolded.
Upon the surface of the island, behind the tall T-shaped structure, Starfire and her Master Shadow were out training. Usually, and normally, fledglings would be trained at night since they were unable to walk under the light of the sun due to the fact that they would burn under the sun's rays and disintegrate into a pile of dust. However, Starfire was a special type of fledgling; she came from a race of aliens that absorbed sunlight like how a sponge absorbs water, therefore there wasn't any need to worry about Starfire burning to death. Shadow on the other hand, still disliked sunlight immensely, being exclusively nocturnal in nature, but Starfire was a morning person so he just had to compromise. They had both woken up early to start the alien princess's rigorous training.
Second by second, Starfire grew increasingly enraged, and then she swung her fist at where Shadow's face was but then he just ducked underneath the incoming blow before slipping away. Starfire cried angrily and ripped off her blindfold, her eyes glowing green and hotly glaring at her Master.
"Master!" she cried angrily, "Please, what is the point of this? How can I hit you when my eyes are concealed?"
"Fledgling," Shadow spoke seriously, "We vampires are able to see in the dark, true, however there will be times when our sharp sense of sight can be blinded so we must also learn to rely on our other senses in combat. You must use your ears, nose and tongue. Listen for your opponent, smell your opponent and…" Shadow paused. "Alright, I'm not so sure how the tongue can be used in combat but I think it has something to do with tasting the air to sense out your opponent. My Mistress taught me that." He went back into a battle stance. "Now, let's try this again. Put on your blindfold, fledgling." Starfire pouted like an angry, scolded child but then she put on her blindfold and did as instructed, albeit reluctantly and with absolute frustration.
Shadow was not using his powers and neither was she. All they would be using were their bodies and their vampire strength. Starfire's normal strength was that of an average vampire but now that she'd been turned, her strength had been enhanced beyond the usual parameters of her own race. In short, her fists now packed 5 times the usual whallop so she had to be careful on how much strength she used, or else the next poor bastard who'd meet her fist would have his head smashed into bloody pieces.
Starfire heard Shadow step around her almost silently, and then spun around to swing her fist in his face, where she thought it would be. But alas, he caught it with relevant ease. "Good," he praised. She felt like smiling, "But not good enough." He let go of her and sent a palm strike into her chest, sending her staggering back. "Don't stop attacking until the opponent stops moving."
Starfire lifted up the blindfold, exposing her timid wide eyed expression, "You mean…kill?"
"Fledgling," he began, "There are…people out there who hate us, vampires, for being what we are. They will not hesitate to hunt us down and kill us so it's either kill or be killed." He added, "Remember that."
Starfire nodded, "I will, Master." Ever since she had come to Earth, she had to reduce on the amount of power she would put since joining the Titans because the Titans couldn't kill. As a Tamaranian, she was trained to kill but had not practiced them since coming to this planet. Now, she would have to put her killing techniques to the test. She would have to fight like she wanted to kill Shadow…even though she didn't want to. The innocence inside her sweet soul screamed that it didn't want her to kill, but to remember love and peace, what she stood for
"Master, why do they hunt our kind?" she asked timidly. Over the past few days, she had accepted herself as a vampire. It was not something she could ignore. She was still Tamaranian but she was also a vampire, she knew her life would get odder and odder as the years would pass by.
"They do it because it all starts with fear," he explained with the slightest hint of warning in tone.
"Fear?" Starfire questioned.
"All creatures fear something they do not comprehend and fear often leads to something worst." He further explained gravely, "Fear will lead to anger, which leads to hate, which then leads to suffering. That is the cycle of human nature."
Starfire gasped, "That's horrible!" She wasn't naïve at all. She knew how cruel the world could be. A lot of other races thought of her people to be…inferior…
"Well, that's just life," Shadow said almost cynically, "Now, we continue."
Starfire got ready again and then struck at her Master hard. She moved with him, following the sound of his footsteps, following his scent…following him with smell and hearing…she could hear his every move and focus on them to knew where he was and where to strike.
'She's improving,' Shadow thought proudly as he dodged her punches and kicks. He was nearly hit with an uppercut and barely dodged a haymaker. 'And she's becoming faster too. I barely saw that coming.' He then said, "Enough." Starfire stopped her onslaught.
"Master?" Starfire questioned as she removed the blindfold.
"Your friends are waking up and I do believe you wish to join them for breakfast," he turned towards the Tower, "Let us go, fledgling."
"Alright, Master," Starfire walked obediently over to him and he wrapped his arms around her. Starfire couldn't help but flush at the physical contact. Then, they both vanished into a shadow portal, slipping into the darkness of the abyss.
Breakfast with the Titans was still an awkward affair for Shadow. He sat at that table that was laden with food and watched as all the Titans, his fledgling included, indulged themselves. Beast Boy was eating his (tasteless) tofu, Cyborg was eating bacon, eggs and waffles, Raven just had herbal tea with two slices of toast, Robin was eating pancakes and Starfire was eating a bit of everything. He envied how she could still taste normal food. He had lost his ability to taste normal human food for a very long time now. He didn't want to be here, sitting at the table with the 5 Titans as he was a loner by nature, but his fledgling had once again used her 'Puppy-Dog-Eyes' to coax him into joining and once again he had fallen prey to it. He wondered if that was Starfire's unique talent, or perhaps, the unique talent of every woman on Earth.
He had been living in the Tower for a little over a week now, teaching Starfire about being a vampire and training her. The other Titans were still a little wary of him but had accepted him, albeit gradually. They had even started to treat him like a member of the 'family'.
Family…Shadow often wondered about his. His mind wondered to past images of the family he once had, God knows how many centuries ago. Were there any traces of his family left in the world? He often asked himself that.
Beast Boy had attempted to persuade the vampire into playing videogames in which the centuries old vampire had politely declined. He saw no point in playing with such toys. Cyborg had also requested his help in fixing the T-Car but Shadow had never really learnt how to drive or work on one since he didn't quite need a vehicle with his powers and all. He did, however, enjoy reading and he and Raven would often be seen reading thick books together. He had brought along a few of his own that he'd stored in a sub-space pocket dimension for his own access. The enchantress had seen the titles and was surprised. They were pretty rare and Shadow had just shrugged. He also enjoyed sparring with Robin, even though his face would never show it. He did have to hold back though so the Boy Wonder wouldn't end up as a mere bloody splatter on the wall.
And then his thought went over to his adorable little fledgling. Her tanned orange skin, her fiery red hair and his eyes that shone brightly like precious emeralds…she was beautiful, as beautiful as his beloved Mistress.
He had already fed the previous night and wasn't really hungry. Starfire had also fed but was still hesitant to feed on other human beings. Therefore, she still drank from Shadow and to her his blood tasted like the richest wines. He allowed her to drink from him, to drink in his life-force, but sooner or later she'd have to still get over her fears and feed on humans for sustenance. "That's how it has to be," the vampire told the alien princess.
He then decided to finally say something that disrupted the usual flow of a Teen Titans breakfast, "I'm taking Starfire to the dentist later." Everyone stared at him strangely. He knew it was awkwardly random but it was just something that needed to be done. Starfire had been a vampire for a week so now she had to start her periodical fang check up. Thankfully, dentists were fully aware of the existence of vampires. He just never explained it to the Titans.
"… The dentist?" Raven cocked her eyebrows cynically.
"Yes, the dentist." Shadow nodded nonchalantly, as if it wasn't anything new.
"You're taking Starfire to see a dentist?" Robin's eyes widened at the absolute random insanity of Shadow's announcement.
"I know it sounds oddly ridiculous but, yes, I am."
Beast Boy and Cyborg on the other hand traded amused glances and snickered uncontrollably.
"Um…why a dentist, Master?" Starfire questioned.
Shadow sighed and was going to explain something that would've sounded completely ludicrous but it had to be done. He felt he could trust the Titans even if they didn't trust him all that much. He began, "Ever since the beginning, dentists have played an important role in the vampire society. In fact, dentists are a small gaggle of humans that actually do know of our existence." He saw everyone looking at him in disbelief but he paid them no mind as he continued his explanation, "Dentists are the individuals that will check a vampire's teeth and treat them. How else do you expect us to have white and clean fangs?" He pulled his lips to expose his pearly white fangs to prove his point. "This doesn't come by its own, you know. Now, there's a dentist in the city so I'll be calling him to make an appointment. My fledgling should've had her appointment days ago but you all have been quite busy. But, this can no longer be put off and she needs to get her check up to see if her fangs will be healthy." He then left the room and went to the phone to make a call to the dentist. The Titans couldn't help but find that this was the most ludicrous and unbelievable bit of information that they've ever heard.
Beast Boy, with a mischievous smile etched across his lips, went over to Starfire and stood in front of her with a bold composure. His expression turned solemnly grim and serious as he tiptoed to her height and whispered in a gravely warning voice,
"Starfire, do not go to the dentist,"
"Why not, friend?" Starfire inquired, "Master said it was important."
"Well," Beast Boy began, "The dentist will want you to open your mouth and then he'll begin picking and prodding at it with these metal tools." Starfire gasped and he continued, "Then, he'll take a drill and drill into your molars." She gasped again more dramatically and shocked, "Then he'll take a needle and (SMACK!) Hey!" Beast Boy held his head as the pain echoed through his head, "Raven!"
"Don't listen to the idiot, Starfire," Raven said nearly exasperatedly. She'd heard enough, and thus, needed to put a stop to it.
"But, what if-" Starfire said fearfully.
"Since when has Beast Boy been serious about this stuff? When was the last time he's been to a dentist anyway?" Raven monotonously pointed out.
"You know, she's right," Cyborg said, rubbing his chin considerably, "When was the last time you got a check up?" Cyborg shot Beast Boy a questioning, yet evilly grinning look. Beast Boy knew that look, oh he knew it too well…
"No way, no how! I'm not going to the dentist!" Beast Boy objected.
"You know you should, Beast Boy," Robin said joining in. "It may not be so bad."
"And I might start eating meat, but you don't see that happening anytime soon!"
"Alright, it's done," Shadow announced casually as he walked back into the kitchen.
"Yo, Shadow, you got room for one more?" Cyborg grinned at the vampire.
"Why?" Shadow asked with an eyebrow quirked.
"BB needs a check up too!"
"No I don't!" Beast Boy snapped, "And you can't make me!"
Shadow gave all the Titans a deadpan look and then went to make another call.
Well…looks like someone else will be tagging along to the dentist.
"I hate you guys… I really do." Beast Boy coldly muttered as the three walked in the city streets. BB had his hands in his pockets.
Shadow was once again dressed in his black Alucard-esque attire. He gave Beast Boy a questioning look, "You can face monsters, psychopathic and super powered villains and robots, but you're afraid to go to the dentist?" It just didn't make sense to Shadow, after all, to him there was little to be afraid of, especially if you were a centuries old vampire.
"Dude, I know it's just that…" BB looked flustered and shamefully embarrassed at admitting this, but, "I just… had a bad childhood experience."
Starfire cocked her head in confusion at her green friend, who simply looked down shamefully to avoid eye contact. "Was it really horrible, Friend Beast Boy?"
Seeing as how Beast Boy didn't want to answer, Shadow sighed and said to his fledgling, "If he doesn't want to talk about, then respect his decision."
Starfire gave a small nod and there was no more talking among the trio.
They soon arrived in front of a building. It was the clinic where Starfire, and hopefully Beast Boy, would be getting their check ups. None of the three noticed someone watching them from a window behind the blinds that were closed. His shadow slowly moved away from view…
The trio entered the building and were greeted by a lovely brunette nurse who told them to wait in the waiting room. Beast Boy sat down and fidgeted nervously while Starfire was unsure of what to expect, merely cocking her head in wonder. The walls were white and had charts and diagrams related to dental health. There was also a display case filled with false teeth models as well as a rack filled with pamphlets and magazines.
"Can you please stop fidgeting?" Shadow shot the green changeling an annoyed glance.
"Dude, I can't help it," Beast Boy said nervously as beads of sweat poured heavily from his forehead, "I mean; I never got over going to the dentist!"
"You have to get over it sometime, Beast Boy," Shadow said with a sigh and crossing his arms. The same nurse from before came out of the dentist's office.
"The doctor will see you now," she looked at the clipboard, "Miss Starfire, please."
"Here!" Starfire stood up and so did Shadow. However, the nurse told him not to.
"Why?" Shadow questioned.
"Doctor's orders. He doesn't want any distractions," the nurse explained. Shadow narrowed his eyes suspiciously but then Starfire took his hands and gave a gentle and reassuring squeeze.
"I shall be fine, Master," Starfire smiled reassuringly. Shadow nodded and sat back down. Starfire followed the nurse into the dentist's office.
"What a brave soul…" Beast Boy remarked dramatically, the vampire next to him could only roll his eyes.
As Starfire walked into the office, the first thing she noticed was a somewhat medium tall man wearing the usual dentist outfit. His back was facing her as he tinkered with several tools.
"Um, excuse me," Starfire said timidly, and took a few steps closer towards the dentist, "But, are you the 'dentist'?"
"Why, yes, I am. You must be my new patient." The "dentist" turned around to face the red haired vampire and instantly looking into his cold grey eyes sent shivers down her spine. Instinctively, she took a step back as unexpected fear made the hair on her body stand up in shock. She felt the coldness of fright crawl its way all over her body as the dentist took small steps towards her with a sinister smile. But quickly, her fear melted away into courage and her warrior's ferocity, as quickly evident by the anger illuminating in her emerald eyes.
"What do you want with me?!" Starfire demanded as the dentist reached down into his pocket to get something out, and his smile never left his maddened face.
"To smell the garlic, vampire." With superhuman reflexes that Starfire had only witnessed in humans like Slade, she couldn't even see how fast it took for the dentist to take the object from his pocket and place it right under her nose.
"Wait, what are you- huh?" Instantly her warrior nature dissipated as a strange aroma made its way into her nostrils and entranced her with its powerful, strong alien smell. Her mind began to slowly feel heavier and heavier by the second, disabling her eyesight into a blurry dazed state as every muscle in her being felt fatigue and weak; dead weights in need of discarding.
Starfire's right eye looked down to see what was causing her drugged state… and her eyes widened and she gasped nearly incredulously. It was simply a ring of garlic, held together by a makeshift string. For a moment, Starfire mentally noted that if Raven were in her position, she would laugh cynically at the thought of how the simple smell of garlic could knock you out with just one whiff.
ZK Chromedragozoid: Well, looks like the dentist isn't all he seems to be. What will happen? Will Shadow save her? Will Beast Boy get over his fears? Well, u gotta wait for the next chap then.
Phantom Soldier: What ZK said, sorry if this chapter seems so short. We got hit with writer's block. But let us assure you we are NOT abandoning this story!