The next morning, Starfire and Raven set off on patrol. Due to the lowest crime rate that the city had seen in weeks, the Titans had actually agreed that only one of them was needed to patrol at any one time, but Starfire had offered to accompany Raven. It had been some time since they'd seen Beast Boy, but they remained in contact with him and always passed by his new home on their patrols.
The green shapeshifter had found his own way to help the city – he'd opened an animal shelter. There were hordes of loose cats and dogs in Jump City, and Beast Boy took them all in. The land the shelter was built on was one of the things the city had gratefully donated to the Titans after their victory over the Brotherhood, and Cyborg & his apprentices had helped Beast Boy with the actual construction. Though it appeared to be quite mundane on the outside, it was likely the most state-of-the-art soup kitchen in the world, outfitted with all the technological innovations that Cyborg had built into the Titans Tower. Beast Boy had taken to living there in order to better care for the animals, but he remained as much a part of the team as ever and kept in close communication with his teammates via his own communicator and the powerful computer running the shelter itself.
As the girls touched down in front of the shelter, Starfire drew her communicator and tuned it to Beast Boy's frequency.
"Friend Beast Boy, we are here to see you! May we come in?"
Immediately, protective steel plating sprang out of the building's walls and covered every door and window. Thick metal struts projected out from the building at a downward angle, planting themselves forcefully into the ground. It now looked more like a military bunker than an animal shelter. Raven glared at the front door and snatched the communicator from a confused Starfire's hands.
"Real funny. Star wanted to come here to see you. Don't be a jerk, open up."
The radio was silent for a few seconds, then crackled to life as their green teammate finally responded. His voice was barely audible over an alarm blaring in the background.
"-not me -early-ystem. Can you hear me? It's this stupid early warning defence system Cy installed, I can't figure out how to shut the thing off. Dude, this siren is so frickin' lo-"
"Early warning for what?" asked Raven, suspicion written all over her face. Cyborg's machines didn't just go haywire, no matter who was operating them.
"He said it was for 'size-mic activity', whatever the heck that even means. I think he was just making fun of me. I can't help that I'm short, it's the way I was born."
"Friend Raven, is the ground supposed to be shaking?"
"Whoa, the ground is shaking."
Raven and Starfire were instantly on high alert as the very earth they stood on began to tremble dangerously.
"No, Star, this is an earthquake. Don't they have earthquakes on-" Raven paused. "Never mind. Just get ready to help people." She didn't bother reporting back to Robin. He'd already know.
They took flight as the ground became too unsteady to stand on. Nearby citizens were having a hard time staying on two feet as they stumbled towards their homes in a panic. Starfire felt as confused as they were, though she had her Tamaranean gifts to keep her safe. She gazed at the chaos around her: people running in every direction, car alarms being set off, the sound of objects breaking and crashing both near and far, and above all – the disturbing chorus of thousands of screaming citizens.
As she scanned the area, her eyes landed on Raven once more and she quickly felt a small wave of relief. The solemn girl had retained her composure as the event escalated and was concentrating silently, levitating in cross-legged meditation. Black energy flared from her body as she performed some odd ritual. Knowing that her friend was keeping a cool head made Starfire feel more sure of herself. She quietly nodded – more to herself than to Raven – and looked back at the chaos with renewed assertion. She would be ready to act.
She did not have to wait long. Raven stopped what she was doing and turned, pointing towards a nearby skyscraper.
"Star, that building is going to collapse. Come on!"
"Yes!" replied Star, a little too eagerly. The pair sped off to the skyscraper, some nameless office building. The building's steel skeleton groaned under the stress the earth was putting on it. It had not been built to take this kind of punishment, and it was simply not going to stand for that.
"Raven, look! Down below. It appears that the citizens are leaving the building already!"
Everyone in the skyscraper indeed appeared to have left, probably according to the emergency escape plan of whatever company owned the place. They could be seen collected at the base of the building far below, running away from it in droves. However, something was still not right.
"Almost. There's still.. some people left, near the top of the building. They're trapped."
Starfire looked at her friend, puzzled. They were still several hundred feet away.
"How do you know?" she asked.
Raven swallowed nervously as she opened her mouth to reply.
"I can feel their fear."
They entered through a broken window near the top floor, when a thought occurred to Starfire.
"Wait. This building may topple, and hurt many people below. I will make sure they are safe." Starfire took off to the ground to herd people away from the skyscraper.
Raven nodded quickly and drew her communicator.
"Robin. Starfire and I are at the..." She glanced around. "...Alpine Paper office building, just northwest of Beast Boy's place. It's about to collapse." She didn't wait for a reply, but mounted the comm on her belt just in case. Robin's voice came through as she rushed further into the building.
"Roger. Cyborg and I are dealing with similar problems. Beast Boy says he's on his way. We'll be there as soon as we can."
"Amazing. He figured out how to leave his own home." she said to nobody in particular. This floor of the building was rocking dangerously. Raven was actually within earshot of the trapped civilians now, and she could see why – one of the main roof supports had given way due to the entire structure warping, and brought down the roof with it. There were chunks of concrete, drywall, wooden planks and steel girders everywhere. Dust obscured her vision and infiltrated her lungs, causing her to cough. She brought her cloak across her face as she pressed forward.
As Raven neared the victims, she noticed that she was sweating – not due to stress, but due to heat. The room she was in had become uncomfortably warm in the short time she'd been there. Now tackling excessive temperatures, shaking, dust-clogged senses and a loud rumbling noise -
That noise hadn't been there before. Raven hurriedly emerged into the next room and readied her powers, as she saw the trapped civilians. She moved some rubble out of the way and freed them, urging them to run for the exit as fast as they could. The ominous rumble grew to a roar. The escaping civilians were still a few meters ahead of her when the wall next to Raven exploded.
-TT-
Something rang out in Starfire's mind and she snapped her head up towards the tower. An instant later she was halfway there, when the top of it was rocked by the explosion, blowing out the glass for two to three floors below.
She plowed through the debris with starbolts, all the building's stability already gone. She was greeted with a grim picture: Raven was trapped underneath a large pile of concrete, barely conscious. There was a small amount of blood running down her head and she was coughing weakly, one hand outstretched and projecting a telekinetic barrier over the three terrified office workers, the only thing keeping a large section of roof from crushing them to death. With her senses dazzled by the explosion & dust, and the electrifying pain jolting through her entire body from the concrete on her back, it took all of Raven's effort just to keep from passing out. To also manifest a shield like that was a superhuman feat.
"Raven!" screamed Starfire. At her voice, Raven stirred and glanced up – and her shield began to fail. She mumbled something incomprehensible as the field over the citizens faltered and the debris began to shift. The remaining roof began to slide as well, connected to the debris over Raven. It would sure fall and kill her when the shield completely failed.
Starfire did not have time to rescue both. Raven was her best friend, but she was duty-bound to protect the people of the city. How could she choose?
The telekinetic field winked out of existence. Starfire felt adrenaline rush through her body as panic gripped her... and a green blur whooshed past her body, to the civilians. She was in shock for one second before relief washed over her: A giant green gorilla was standing over them, supporting the debris with his enormous back and keeping it from falling.
"Get her, Star! This isn't exactly.. hnnng.. easy!" shouted Beast Boy, straining under the weight of the roof. She didn't need to be told twice. Eyes blazing bright green, she flexed her deceptively strong alien muscles and threw the entire pile of debris right off of Raven's body. Tentatively, she examined the girl. She'd passed out but was breathing normally. Starfire gently picked her up, cradling her protectively as she looked back at Beast Boy. The civilians had already run from harm, waiting at the exit for the Titans. The shapeshifter turned into a fly, easily avoiding the roof as he let it come crashing down around him.
"This building's coming down, Star. You gotta take Rae back to the Tower right away. I've got these guys, just go!" said Beast Boy. He transformed into a large pterodactyl, and the civilians climbed onto his back. He and Starfire leapt from the building and took off into the sky safely, letting it crash to Earth behind them.