Alright, first and for most, I want to let it know that this story is now dedicated to kittiekat10105 for ALWAYS reviewing my stories. Even when I hadn't updated in months, you still faithfully left a kind review when I finally got around to it. You are incredible, and I wish I had more readers like you who actually review!
Second, I want to thank Pollimigo for reviewing as well and I also want to thank him/her for the name suggestions! It was a huge help! Thanks so much for your help and for your wonderful reviews!
You two both rock, and I hope you enjoy the rest of the story! (=
After finishing breakfast and convincing Stinger to allow Sparrow to live, the Titans decided to go into the city and look for clues that might led to Slade's whereabouts. The first problem arose with how they would split up.
"Alright, me and Wasp will go together, Robin with Starfire, Sparrow with Stinger…" Moonfire started but was cut off. "No way! I am not going with her!" Sparrow stated immediately. Moonfire looked surprised. "But you always go together." she pointed out, confused. "Yeah, but that was before she wanted my severed head on a silver platter!" Sparrow replied.
Stinger rolled her eyes. "I already said I was sorry. But in my defense, I didn't know it was Crow who put the tofu in my steak and not you." Stinger said, shooting a death glare at Crow.
"That's what everyone says! You're just waiting for everybody to leave so that you can stab me in the back when nobody's around!" Sparrow accused, her eyes wide. Everyone groaned. "Sparrow, you've just been watching too many horror movies. Nobody's going to stab you in the back!" Moonfire said, in an attempt to convince her to go.
"That's just what she wants you to think!" Sparrow shrieked dramatically. She suddenly wrapped her arms around a very surprised Darkstar, hiding behind his back. "Can't I just go with Darkstar?" she pleaded. "That's okay with you isn't it Darkstar?" she added, looking at him with sudden shyness, a light blush spreading across her face. "Yeah, no problem." Darkstar said, smiling at her.
Moonfire turned toward Stinger. "Let her go." Stinger said. "We wouldn't want to get between the lovebirds." she added, smirking as she saw both their faces flush a deep red. "I'll just go with Crow." she added, turning to look at Crow with a wicked smile on her face. Crow gulped nervously, knowing he was going to be in trouble for the prank he'd pulled on her.
Moonfire rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Okay fine, whatever!" she said. "Alright, so I'm with Wasp, Robin's with Starfire, Sparrow is with Darkstar, Stinger is with Crow, Cyborg will go with Beastboy, and…" "Whoa, wait a minute!" Terra said suddenly. "What?" Moonfire asked, turning toward her. "I want to go with Beastboy too!" Terra insisted. Everyone turned to stare at her.
"You want to go with Beastboy?" Robin asked, clearly uncomfortable with the idea. Terra nodded fiercely, winking at Beastboy and acting as though the breakup never happened. Crow and Sparrow glared at Terra, pure, undisguised fury on their faces while Raven looked about ready to throw someone out a window.
"Um… well, Terra… I don't think that's such a good idea…" Moonfire started. "I want to go with him!" Terra hissed. "And no little, know-it-all kid is going to stop me!" she added. Moonfire growled, seriously pissed off. "Don't call me a kid! I'M NOT A LITTLE KID!" she snarled.
Moonfire and Terra glared at one another, daring the other to look away first, when Beastboy spoke up. "She can come." he said. Everyone spun around in shock… all except Terra, who looked absolutely thrilled. "Are you sure?" Cyborg asked, as surprised by the words as everyone else.
"We have to find Slade." Beastboy said simply, looking annoyed when Terra hugged him, totally oblivious to everyone else's anger. "Okay…" Moonfire said, trying to clear her head and focus on the mission.
"So I'm with Wasp, Robin's with Starfire, Sparrow's with Darkstar, Stinger's with Crow, Beastboy's with Terra, and Cyborg's with Raven." she said, talking a deep breath when she was finished. "Anyone want to make any other changes before we go?" she asked, looking around the room. No complaints arouse. "Good, then let's go."
The titans spent half the day scooping out the city, searching for any sign of Slade and coming up empty handed. A few hours after they had started, Moonfire picked up her communicator and contacted the other titans. "Any luck?" she questioned. One by one, they all replied with the same disappointing answer.
Moonfire sighed tiredly. "Well, call if you find anything." she said, shutting the communicator off and turning to Wasp. "Are the others having any more luck then we are?" he questioned. Moonfire shook her head.
"I wish." she replied, looking disheartened. Wasp smiled sympathetically at her. "Relax Moon. We'll find him." he insisted encouragingly. "Thanks." Moonfire replied. "But I don't think I'll be able to fully relax till I know Slade's behind bars again. Wasp merely nodded in agreement and understanding. At that moment Moonfire's communicator rang…
With Darkstar and Sparrow:
"Can you believe her?!" Sparrow spat. "Hugging him and pretending he's still her boyfriend! Doesn't that girl know how to take a hint!" Darkstar nodded patiently, knowing that she was still angry with Terra for not giving up on Beastboy. "She'll give up eventually. You know your dad won't let her get between him and your mom." he insisted.
"I know," Sparrow said. "but I still hate her. What if she doesn't give up? What if one of the things she does ends up changing the future so my parents never get together, changes it so that me and Crow don't exist." she asked, looking scared by the ideas.
The very thought made Darkstar tighten his grip on her hand protectively. "That's not going to happen." he replied, hoping it was true. Sparrow, noticing the way he'd suddenly held her hand tighter, smiled and leaned her head onto his shoulder, making his heart quicken.
Suddenly, Sparrow stiffened, looking across the street. Following her gaze, Darkstar saw a few people walking along the sidewalk, minding their own business. Nothing unusual. "What's wrong?" he questioned. "Nothing, I just… I could have sworn I saw Slade watching us a few seconds ago." she said.
A shiver went up Darkstar's spine at the words, and he looked back at the sidewalk, searching for any sign of Slade and finding none. "Never mind, I'm sure I just imagined it." Sparrow said after a few moments. Darkstar nodded uncertainly and they were about to leave when some people suddenly screamed, mere seconds before three dozen of Slade's robots suddenly leapt in front of them. In front of all of them, stood Slade himself.
"Hello Darkstar, Sparrow." he said, his voice as cold and venomous as always. "It's been a while." "Slade!" Both Sparrow and Darkstar growled, preparing themselves for the fight that was sure to come. And come it did.
Without a moment's hesitation, Slade's robots shot out at them, Slade standing right were he was, watching in amusement. Darkstar and Sparrow both rose in the air and began to fight back. Darkstar shot starbolts at them while Sparrow turned into a lion, slashing at them with razor sharp claws. While they destroyed some of them, others continued to show up.
Darkstar dropped to the ground and started to fight them in hand-to-hand combat while Sparrow used her powers to lift a nearby truck, planning on throwing it at some of the robots. Suddenly, the black glow around the truck began to dim, growing smaller and smaller while the weight of the truck suddenly took much more energy for Sparrow to lift.
At last, the glow went out all together and the truck crashed to the ground. Sparrow then tried to turn into an animal, any animal, and found that she couldn't do that either. My powers… she thought, staring at her hands in confusion. Suddenly she realized what had happened. Terra. she thought. What has she done now?
Sparrow looked up, her gaze going from the robots who were approaching her, to Slade who was looking at her with interest, having seen everything that had just happened and calculating in that cold, evil way of his, to Darkstar, who had also seen what had happened but couldn't help because he was in the middle of a fight with two other robots.
Sparrow raised her arms up in a defensive position, but it was no use. One of the robots grabbed her arm and threw her against a wall, hard. Through her pain, she heard someone yell her name and the sound of footsteps approaching her. Looking up, she came face to face with one of Slade's robots, who grabbed her, pulling her to her feet.
Before it could do any more damage it was shot from the side and sent sprawling across the street. Suddenly Darkstar was in front of her. "Are you okay?" he asked, worry and concern clear in his voice and his face. She nodded. "I'm fine." "Call the others! I'll hold them off as long as I can!" he said, reluctantly leaving her to fight on his own.
Reaching for her communicator, Sparrow called the first person she could think of. Within seconds, Moonfire's face was on the screen. "Sparrow! What…" "No time!" Sparrow cut her off. "Slade's here, and he's got a bunch of his robots, and my powers aren't working, and Darkstar's fighting by himself, and you have to come help, NOW!" she yelled.
A look of pure horror crossed Moonfire's face. "Call Stinger and Crow! I'll call our parents! We'll be there soon!" Moonfire promised. Sparrow nodded, and began calling Stinger and Crow. Looking at Darkstar struggling, she only hoped soon would be soon enough.
With Beastboy and Terra:
Terra let out a content sigh. "This is nice." she stated. Beastboy stared at her. "What are you talking about? We're looking for a super-villain. And not just any super-villain, we're searching for Slade." he pointed out. "Yeah, but at least we're searching together." Terra insisted. Beastboy decided to ignore that comment.
Terra frowned, unhappy at being ignored. "Beastboy, what is with you?" she questioned. "Why are you ignoring me?" Beastboy rolled his eyes. "Because you keep acting as though we're still going out, which we're not." he pointed out.
"Ahh… c'mon BB. I know you're mad about me not remembering you, but that wasn't my fault! Can't we just forget about it and move on?" she pleaded. "I'm not mad. Not about that anyways. I'm just annoyed that you won't stop acting like we're boyfriend-girlfriend. I told you, I'm dating Raven." he said calmly.
Terra rolled her eyes. "Beastboy, enough!" she insisted. "This is ridicules! It might be nice now…" she said, spitting the word 'nice' out as though it had burned her tongue. "but c'mon, how do you really think it'll last?" You have no idea. he thought to himself, a small smile crossing his face.
"Hello! Beastboy!" Terra's annoying voice snapped him out of his thoughts. "Oh, uh… sorry, did you say something?" he asked. Terra just stared at him. "Please Beastboy," she begged. "We can start over, forget everything and just go back to the way things used to be."
Beastboy merely shook his head. "I'm sorry Terra, but I'm not willing to do that." he said. Terra looked at him for a long moment before suddenly wrapping her arms around his neck and pressing her lips against his. Beastboy's eyes widened in shock, and he grabbed her arms, pushing her away.
"Terra!" he shouted, furious now. "Yell all you want, but you can't stand there and tell me you didn't enjoy that even a little." Terra said, pleased with herself. "I can and I will because I didn't enjoy that at all!" he yelled back, making her step back in shock.
"What will it take for you to get I don't want to be with you anymore! I'm over you! And I'm sorry, but you just have to move on and find someone else because I'm already taken and I have zero intentions of ditching Raven for you!" he added.
Terra stared at him, as though unable to believe what she was hearing. She had thought for sure that kissing him would work, and now he was even more angry with her then before. Terra simply couldn't understand it.
"But… Beastboy…" she started, but she was cut off by Beastboy's communicator going off. Turning away from her, Beastboy saw Moonfire on the screen. "Did you find anything?" he asked, his voice not betraying anything.
"I'm afraid we found far more then we reckoned for. Darkstar and Sparrow ran into Slade and his army of robots and Sparrow's powers aren't working again so now Darkstar's fighting all by himself!" she told him in a rush. Beastboy's eyes widened, Terra completely forgotten. "I'm on my way!" he said, shutting his communicator off.
Terra growled at him. "Oh, you're willing to do whatever she tells you but you won't take even one kiss from me! What, are you dating Raven and crushing on this girl at the same time?" she demanded. Beastboy couldn't believe what she was saying.
"Didn't you hear a word Moonfire said!?" he yelled. "Darkstar and Sparrow are in trouble!" Beastboy thought for a moment, then added. "And even if I did have a crush on her which I don't!" he added, shuddering at the thought of crushing on two of his friend's daughter and a girl who in the future he thought of as a niece.
"If I did…" he continued. "Her father would sooner break every bone in my body then let me anywhere near her." That was probably true. Robin struck Beastboy as the type of guy who would murder every boy in the neighborhood who so much as thought of his daughter that way and who 'just happened' to be cleaning a gun on the night his daughter's date comes by to pick her up.
"But none of that matters right now! I have to go help them! And you can either come along or stay behind!" Beastboy said. With that, he turned into a cheetah and ran in the direction of the fight. Terra hesitated for a moment, then followed suit.
Back with Darkstar and Sparrow:
"Darkstar!" Sparrow yelled, watching helplessly as the boy was tossed against the street, the cement cracking from the hard impact. A robot began walking toward him, raising a fist to finish him off when a blue starbolt suddenly hit it. "Hey! That's my brother your messing with!" an all too familiar voice yelled.
"Moonfire! Wasp!" Sparrow yelled in relief as she saw both her friends standing there. Within seconds, both were surrounded with robots as well and they began fighting too. Sparrow turned to the corner where Slade had been standing and was shocked to see he was no longer there.
However, there was no time to think about that as one of the robots got a good hit on Darkstar, knocking him to the ground, unconscious. "DARKSTAR!" Sparrow screamed. Moonfire and Wasp, seeing Darkstar laying on the ground, tried to help him but the swarm of robots stopped them from getting close enough.
One of the robots approached him, raising a clenched fist to finish him off. Sparrow scrambled to her feet, knowing her powers weren't working, yet not caring, planning on rushing over there anyways. But before either of them could move, a boomerang was suddenly tossed at the robot. A half second later, the robot burst into flames.
Looking up, the three titans noticed that Robin and Starfire, along with Stinger and Crow, were standing there. "Titans go!" Robin yelled and they all rushed into the fight. While the others fought, Crow, who must have also known his powers weren't working, ran toward Darkstar, picking his friend's body up and pulling it over to where Sparrow was.
A robot tried to follow but Sparrow, finally feed up with them, jumped to her feet and punched him right across the face, sending him sprawling back into the fight, where the other titans finished him off. Turning, she noticed that Crow was staring at her. Sparrow merely shrugged. "Guess all those training seasons with Moonfire are paying off." she said simply.
Turning their attention back to the fight, Crow and Sparrow fought as much as they could, trying to protect Darkstar, while the other titans fought the majority of the battle. Terra, Beastboy, Cyborg, and Raven showed up quickly and as much as Sparrow, not to mention Robin and Moonfire, searched, Slade seemed to have disappeared from the area.
Suddenly, Crow, Sparrow, and Darkstar were surrounded by ten different robots and try as they might, they couldn't defeat them. The robots might have finished them off then and there if it hadn't been for Raven making a huge, black force field around them. Turning, she managed to say, "Take Darkstar and go back to the Tower! We'll be there soon!"
Obeying her order, Crow and Sparrow picked up Darkstar and left the battle. The battle lasted for about 20 minutes more before the last robot finally lay in a pile of metal on the ground. The titans all took a few moments to catch their breath before searching the nearby area for Slade and finding no sign of him.
"Coward." Moonfire hissed through gritted teeth. Robin put a hand on her shoulder. "Come on, we should get back to the tower." he said, looking as tired and disappointed as she was. Moonfire nodded, and with a final search around the block, she followed the others out.
Yes! I'm so proud of myself! This has to be the longest chapter I've ever posted! Hurray! I hope you enjoyed it, despite the lack of detail in the fight scene and Slade's sudden disappearance. He'll show up again with a larger scene next time, I promise!
Please review, it'd be greatly appreciated. (=