Space, the infinite void that exists between celestial bodies; while not completely empty, it does consist of a hard vacuum containing a low density of particles. Shooting through the vast darkness, a distant flash from which four glowing objects flew through the cosmos. In the distance, the habitable planet known as Earth could be seen. As the four objects flew past, three of the objects continued on their path while one lone stream of light broke away from the group and headed straight through the planets atmosphere.
0-0
As a full moon shined brightly over Jump City, one could see that the carnival had come to visit and was currently set up on the city boardwalk that cast into the bay from the waterfront. The teenage superheroes, along with hundreds of other citizens of Jump, were convinced that a little break was exactly what they needed after the who Plasmus fiasco. The carnival had what every carnival came with: a Ferris wheel, roller coaster, and booth games. You know, the usual. Robin and Starfire were sitting in one of the giant wheel's cars as a fireworks show began lighting up the night sky in brilliant green, blue, and red.
"Beautiful." The auburn haired teen sighed blissfully as she watched the pyrotechnics in complete awe, "Tell me again what they are called."
"Fireworks." Robin told her as more multicolored rockets exploded over the bay.
The last explosion unleashed a larger blast than the previous. This caused the Tamaranean to flinch in concern, "On my planet, such explosions would mean the Gordanians were attacking. You are certain Earth is not under attack?"
"Positive." Robin said reassuringly, "Cotton candy?" he asked as he held up a large puff of pink stuff on a cone to her.
"The last time I ate a ball of cotton, it was white. And it did not taste very-"
"This is different." Robin reassured her as he pulled off a wad from the ball and popped it into his mouth.
Cautiously, Starfire followed suit as she placed a small wad of the pink substance into her mouth. She smiled with delight when she realized that this cotton was different from the cotton she ate back at the Tower. "Mmmm… Eeep! It vanished!" The orange-skinned alien yelped in surprise as she held up her hand to her mouth.
"Yeah. It'll do that." Robin chuckled as he found his teammates surprise endearing. More fireworks lit up the sky in the distance as they both Titans turned to face the display.
"When I first came to this planet, I did not think I would ever fit in." Starfire sighed, relaxing as she enjoyed the time she was spending with the spiky-haired teen, "Earth was full of strange things." She turned to face the black-haired Titan, who turned to look at her, "But now I see that-"
A large glare from the fireworks cut the alien off; catching Robins' attention as he turned to face the bay again, "Here comes the finale! Yes!" He cheered as the display turned into a fusillade of redoubled intensity in the sky. "Whoo-hoo-hoo! Amazing!"
Starfire smiled sincerely at her teammates enthusiasm, "Earth is full of amazing things too." She finished her previous statement as she turned to face the sky as well.
"Best planet I've ever been to." Robin said with a smile.
The two teens enjoyed watching the pyrotechnics display together, but the moment was ruined when a pink and black mechanical missile-shaped creature with four protruding tentacles swept past the Ferris wheel and yanked Starfire from her seat in its tentacles; the orange-skinned teen screamed in surprise.
"STARFIRE!" Robin shouted as he stood up from his seat as the missile shot further and further from the carnival.
0-0
The octopus-missile craft continued flying higher and higher through the atmosphere as Starfire struggled against the hold on her.
"Wherever you are taking me, I do not wish to go!" She stated. In an act of desperation, the teen captive fired a starbolt at the tentacles' base, causing the craft to stop in midair. As the craft crackled all over with the energy of the shot, Starfire took this opportunity to extricate herself from the hold she was in and flew back towards the carnival.
When the missile regained its senses, it scanned the sky to see its target gaining distance. In a quick flash, the craft turned and shot in Starfires direction, intent on not letting her escape.
0-0
Back on the boardwalk, Beast Boy and Cyborg were standing in front of a carnival game booth counter, each with a few plastic rings in hand, rows of bottles set up in a square in front of them. Cyborg tossed his remaining rings at the bottles, bouncing off the necks of bottles. Beast Boy tossed his last ring at a bottle, the sound of a –cling- ringing through the air as the projectile rattled down on the neck of a bottle.
"Boo-yah!" Cyborg whooped as he held up his hand.
"Sweet!" Beast Boy cheered with a toothy grin as he traded a high-five with the larger, metallic teen. Beast Boy turned to the teller and pointed to the largest prize in the booth, a huge stuffed chicken.
As the two males walked away from the booth, they noticed Kylar and Raven standing next to a post and ran up to join them. The gray-skinned mage was holding a hotdog in her left hand and a plum of blue cotton candy in her right. The brunette was holding a plate of funnel cake in both hands.
"Hah!" Beast Boy cheered as he and Cyborg approached the other two teens, "Told you we'd win a prize." He gloated as he held the stuffed chicken in front of Kylar and Raven.
"Yep, you sure did." Kylar said as he handed Cyborg the funnel cake in his left hand, who promptly took a bite of the food, "Just make sure you don't choke it in public." He said as an off-hand comment.
The last comment caused Cyborg to choke on his food as Raven quickly turned away from the trio of boys. "Wha! W-Wait… NO!" Beast Boy stuttered as he quickly tossed the stuffed chicken far from him. Kylar chuckled at the smaller green teens embarrassment.
After Beast Boy got rid of the stuffed poultry, Robin landed next to the group in a crouch, "Titans! Trouble!" He called out as he stood up. The rest of the group turned to face him.
Cyborg looked around as if looking for someone, "Where's Starfire?" He asked.
"That's the trouble." Robin returned as he motioned for the rest of the group to follow him.
After throwing the food away, the other four members ran off. When they reached the end of the pier, the four of them looked over the bay and saw a scintillating object plummeting straight towards the waves. As the object got closer, the teens were able to discern Starfires' form as she pulled up sharply to skim the surface of the water, causing a broad wake to splash up behind her. She looked back and gasped as she noticed the missile-like craft hot on her tail. She quickly turned onto her back and threw a couple of starbolts, only for them to have no effect.
"No more chasing now, please!" She pleaded as she dodged more lashing tentacles. The alien teen angled herself toward the pier again and flew neatly over the other five Titans; the pursuer did likewise.
"Who's her new best friend?" Beast Boy asked jokingly as the two flyers passed by.
"Don't know," Robin said as he socked his right fist against his left palm, "but I can't wait to meet him."
The teens glanced back in the direction where the chase led. Starfire looped around the Ferris wheel and then back to the pier, where she landed behind the rest of the team, the craft approaching them quickly.
Beast Boy was the first to attack, leaping high and turning into an alligator to bite at the tentacles' bases, only to barely miss as it flew past him. Raven levitated a nearby hot dog cart and heaved it at the oncoming vehicle, only for that to be ineffective as well as it crashed right through.
When the thing tried to race past Cyborg and Kylar, they both grabbed the tentacles, the latter surrounding his arms with energy, and hauled on them with all their strength. "Don't know what you did to make this thing mad Star, but it couldn't hurt to apologize!" The cyborg grunted as the force of the foreign craft was dragging him and the brunette forward.
"I am… sorry?" She asked, more as a statement, still trying to find the reason why the thing would be chasing her.
The tentacles were finally able to yank themselves from the two teens grips and the craft continued on its path to its target. Robin, reacting quickly to protect his friend, whipped out his staff, extended it, and went on the offensive when he leaped at the machine. Swinging mightily at the front of the craft that reverberated throughout its entire form, Robin was able to drive it back. It tumbled over the guardrails as it skidded across the boardwalk. The rest of the team followed it and looked down just as it splashed in the water.
"So, did we just win?" Beast Boy, back in his human form, asked in a bewildered tone.
As if right on queue, the enemy craft crashed through the planks at the Titans' feet with no noticeable damage inflicted. "Nope." Kylar deadpanned as the rest of the team scattered to avoid oncoming attacks from their enemy.
Robin vaulted onto the front end of the missile-craft, "Don't see an OFF switch. Guess we need to make one." Kylar landed next to him a moment later, "Think you can break it?"
Kylar shot a determined grin at the masked teen as he narrowed his eyes, "Let's find out." He formed his purplish-black energy around his right arm as he brought it down on the machines surface, promptly punching a hole, exposing the wiring underneath. "You're turn!" The brunette called out as he quickly leaped away from the machine as a tentacle whipped past, trying to flick him off.
With a nod, Robin got to work and pulled out a handful of wiring from the hole. Sparks flew from the broken connection as he jumped away. The craft started veering uncontrollably in every direction as it rose higher and higher towards the stratosphere until it finally exploded in a mighty conflagration among the fireworks that were still going off.
Robin landed next to Starfire as they watched the explosion fade in the distance, "Whatever that thing was, it can't hurt you now." He put a hand on her shoulder to comfort the girl.
"But… why did it wish to hurt me at all?" She asked in a worried tone.
0-0
After the events that happened at the boardwalk, the Titans figured that now would be the best time to head back to the Tower for some well deserved rest. As the doors to the operations center opened, Starfire, positively ecstatic, was the first to enter, while her teammates stood at the doorway.
"Come, friends," she said happily, a sight gag showing flowers floating around her head, bathing her in light, "I shall thank you for my rescue by reciting the Poem of Gratitude. All six thousand verses."
After she mentioned just how long the poem was, the other teens, now inside the Ops Center, stared at her with a wide-eyed expression. However, this didn't surprise them nearly as what followed.
"I see you haven't changed a bit." A young, female voice said from behind the team. The voice sounded a bit cocky in tone, but very smooth. The team turned to face where the voice came from and saw a teenage girl, similar in appearance to Starfire, leaning against the back of the couch. Her clothing was black rather than violet. Her hair was in the same color as the clothes she wore, her eyes were narrow and blue, and she was wearing metallic, full-body armor beneath her clothes. "When we were little, I was always rescuing Starfire." The girl said as she pushed off the couch and walked towards the group.
"Sister!" Starfire squealed in delight as she flew up and hugged the pallet swapped version of herself, who laughed as she returned the hug.
When the two separated, the black-haired girl held up a necklace with a large green gem, "Brought you a present."
"A Centauri moon diamond?!" Starfire gasped deeply as her eyes went wide at the sight of the gem. "Where did you get-"
"On the Centauri moons, of course." Her sister replied as she fastened the jewelry around Starfire's neck, "Oh, look, it matches your eyes." She complemented as she took a step back.
The complement caused the recipient to beam for a moment, before grabbing her black-haired sisters wrists, "You must meet my friends!" Starfire said ecstatically as she yanked her across the operations center. When they reached the other five teens in the room, the auburn-haired alien said, "I wish to introduce my sister-"
"Blackfire." The other orange-skinned teen said as she stepped forward, surprising Starfire with her boldness. "And since Star told me all about the Titans in her transmissions, let me guess." She said as she brought a hand up to her chin, "Cyborg." She said as she pointed to the metallic teen.
"Pleased to meet you, little lady." The larger teen said, holding out a hand for her to shake. Blackfire grabbed his hand; a loud grinding of metal rang throughout the room as she squeezed it. After letting go, Cyborg found his fingers were temporarily out of alignment, "Little lady, big handshake." He commented as he rubbed his hand, "Well, all right."
Blackfire chuckled as she went to the next Titan, "Raven. I like that gemstone on your Ajna chakra." She said, addressing the red gemstone on the gray-skinned mages forehead.
"You… know about chakras?" Raven asked, impressed at the visitors' knowledge of meditation.
"I got way into meditation on Altara Prime." Blackfire answered as she turned to the green teen. "Beast Boy, what's up?"
"Nothin' but the ceiling, baby." He quipped as he pointed his hands at the taller teen in a gun fashion.
"Ah haha. Good one!" Blackfire laughed as she moved to the next Titan.
"See?" Beast Boy said as he turned to Raven, "She thinks I'm funny."
"Statistically, I suppose someone has to." Raven returned in a flat tone, deflating the changelings' ego.
"Kylar, my sister tells me you have some very interesting abilities." She said as she approached the brunette, who seemed to be roughly the same height as her.
"I am humbled, oh Queen of the Night Tulips." He said with a bow, "Perhaps I could show you them sometime."
"My, my." She said with a smirk as Kylar straightened himself, "Quite the charmer, aren't you? I'll have to take you up on that offer." The black-jacketed teen returned the smirk to the girl. "And you must be Robin." She said before zipping behind him and fingering his cape, "Oh, I am loving this cape. It's positively luscious!"
"Thanks. It's a high-density polymerized titanium, ten times stronger than steel." The spiky-haired teen explained.
"Fascinating." She awed, Robin directing an appreciative glance over his shoulder at the girl. She zipped back in front of the shorter teen and leaned closer, "And this mask makes you look very mysterious."
Starfire gasped as her older sister got closer to Robin, "So, beloved sister," The auburn-haired teen interjected, placing herself between her sibling and teammate, "What brings you to Earth?"
Blackfire backed away and walked towards the couch, "I was in the quadrant. Thought I'd see if Earthlings like to party." She explained as she hopped over the back and sat down, "Besides, I needed a rest. Nearly got sucked into a black hole on the way here."
At this comment, the four boys zipped to the couch in the blink of an eye, leaving Raven by herself at the kitchen counter.
"Black hole?"
"Whoa!"
"No way!"
"Cool!"
The four male teens voiced their excitement, eagerly waiting for an explanation from the visiting alien.
Blackfire smirked at the attention she was getting, "Okay, so I'm cruising through the Draconis Nebula, and-"
"Sister! That nebula is full of black holes! You know travel there is forbidden!" Starfire voiced, cutting her sisters' explanation off. The remark was met with dead silence, except for a cricket chirping, and confused looks from the five at the couch.
"Most fun things in life are." Blackfire returned, "Now be a sweetie and bring me one of those sodas I've heard so much about." She said as she waved off her sister before turning back to the boys. "So anyway, I'm zooming over an event horizon, approaching light speed, when all of a sudden-"
As Blackfire continued her story, Starfire walked towards the kitchen, grumbling all the way as she opened the fridge, revealing the inside to be an under-the-counter model. She reached in and pulled out a can labeled soda, "I see you have not changed either." She said in a disgruntled tone to herself.
0-0
Floating through the cosmos, what looks to be a prison ship was traveling around a planet. On the outside, three bright streaks of light flash towards the large hovering vessel. Once they reached the ship, the objects revealed to be duplicates of the craft that the Titans fought at the pier and placed themselves in a row of four docking tubes, only one space open, indicating a missing craft.
Two crustaceous looking crewmen were silhouetted in the shadows next in what appeared to be the cockpit of the prison vessel, "Our target was not located." One crewman said in a deep pitch, "The drones have failed."
"Have they?" The second crewman inquired as he reached for a panel that showed the status of the docking tubes. The crewman extended one clawed hand and pressed on the tube with the missing craft, a view of Earth appeared on the panel, "The one that probed Earth did not return. That is where we will find the girl."
With a nod, the first crewman turned to the ships controls and began typing the coordinates for their destination.
0-0
The next day at Titans Tower, the team found the time to just relax and try to be hospitable to their guest. With what happened the night before, they were glad that there were no acts of crime going on in the city.
Inside the main corridor of the Tower, Starfire, still wearing the necklace, was walking towards one of the guest rooms that the Tower was equipped with, "Sister?" She called as she opened a door, only to find no one inside. "Sister?" She called again as she looked around a bit more. "Sister, I seek your companionship." Coming to the Ops Center, she entered to see Beast Boy and Cyborg using the holographic screen on the window to play a racing game. On the screen were two vehicles, one green and one white, speeding along a twisting elevated track.
"You want to pass me, but you can't pass me." Cyborg said as he and the green teen were seated on the couch. Using the white car to block his opponent, Cyborg was in the lead at the moment, "You can't pa-" Suddenly the green car cut in front of the white car, "You passed me!" Cyborg shouted in surprise.
"Tighten the turn… jets… and nitro!" Beast Boy grinned as his car pulled in front and crossed the finish line before the white car. As the screen flashed the words 'Player 2 Wins' Beast Boy jumped up and did a victory dance as Cyborg slumped over, only for the two to rematch a second later.
Starfire flew behind the two, "Tell me, have either of you seen Blackfire?" She asked once she reached her two teammates.
"Blazin' B?" Beast Boy asked as he continued focusing on the game, "She was here just a second ago." His face went slack as Cyborg grinned, the reason being that the white car knocked the green car off the tracks.
"Aw, yeah! Back in the lead!" Cyborg cheered as his car pulled ahead.
"What fun!" Starfire exclaimed, interlocking her hands together, "May I join your game?"
"Winner plays Blackfire." Cyborg stated, still focused on the game.
"Yeah." Beast Boy added as his eyes filled with hearts, "She rules at this game."
"I see…" Starfire said in a dejected tone as she walked out of the Ops Center.
0-0
Starfire continued her search as she walked through the corridor outside the common area. She approached a door and knocked on it. It opened a small amount to reveal Raven peering out. "Is… my sister in there?" Starfire asked cautiously, probably already knowing the answer since Raven doesn't let anyone in her room.
"No." The mage stated evenly.
"Oh… Might you wish to hang out with me? We could visit your favorite depressing café."
"Already been. It was open mic and Blackfire wanted to share. Your sister's poetry is surprisingly dark." With that, Raven shut her door, leaving the orange-skinned alien with her head hanging dejectedly as she walked away.
As she walked, she bumped into Kylar, who was rubbing the back of his neck. "Friend Kylar!" She said happily, "Perhaps you would like to spend time together?"
Kylar looked at her and gave her a smile, "Sure, I'd love to hang out with you." He replied. Starfire grew a bright smile on her face at the words, only for it to disappear at the next sentence, "As soon as I take a quick rest; your sister really wore me out. I had no idea she was so flexible." He said as he began walking towards the Ops Center. The sound of cracks rang through the corridor as Kylar tilted his head to the sides. With a sigh, the alien Titan continued her search for her older sister.
0-0
Further inside the Tower, Starfire walked out of the elevator and saw that the door to the gym was open. From outside, she could see the shadows of Blackfire and Robin on the wall, close enough to touch.
"That's perfect, Robin." Starfire heard her sister say from inside the gym, "Hold me just like that, and…" The little sister gasped sharply before flying to the entrance of the gym, where she saw her sister throw the masked teen the full width of the room, who promptly crashed into a rack of dumbbells. "Learned that move from a Ven-Zo master on Tyrus Three." She said as Robin peeled himself off the floor, badly dazed from the impact.
"Hello, Robin… and… my sister." Starfire said as she entered the gym. The two other teens turned to face her, "Am I interrupting?"
"Not at all. Blackfire was just showing me some alien martial arts." Robin said with a smile as his senses returned, "How come you never taught me these cool moves?" Starfire nervously rubbed her left arm with her right hand as she glanced away from the duo.
"Probably because she doesn't know them. I always was the better fighter." Blackfire explained before grabbing the spiky-haired Titan and leading him away, "Come on. I'll show you the technique I once used to stop a raging orthax."
The little sister stared bug-eyed after them for a moment before hanging her head sadly as they left the gym.
0-0
Inside the Main Operations Room, all the Titans except Starfire were lounging on the couch, facing the holographic screen. Kylar had his legs extended and resting on the table and Raven was reading a book. Outside, they could see the sun setting in the distance. A moment later, Starfire entered the living room with a large stack of DVDs, popcorn, and snacks piled high in her hands.
"Friends!" The orange-skinned Titan cheered as she approached the rest of the team, still balancing the objects in her hands perfectly, "I invite you to join me in the togetherness of a stay-home movie night. I bring you popcorn and non-cotton candies. Tell me, what sort of movie shall we view?"
"Action."
"Comedy."
"Fantasy."
"Sci-Fi."
"Horror."
All the Titans responded. Completely caught off guard by the information, Starfire dropped her load of goodies. "Perhaps a double feature?" She asked nervously as a large sweat drop fell down the side of her head.
"Forget the flicks, kids." The Titans heard a voice call out behind them. They all turned around to see Blackfire enter the Ops Center, dressed in one of Starfire's spare outfits without the metal armor underneath, "We're going out!"
"We are?" Starfire asked in a puzzled tone. "Where did you-? Are those my-?" Starfire began asking her sister as she walked by her.
Ignoring her sister, Blackfire approached the couch, "Heard about a party downtown. Cool crowd, hot music." This caught the boys' attention.
"Yeah!"
"All right."
"I'm in."
"Why not?" The boys' voiced in agreement to the plan. Raven on the other hand paid no attention as she continued reading her book.
"And it's in a creepy run-down warehouse." Blackfire added. This grabbed the mages' attention and one by one, Starfire's comrades got up and filed past her.
"Whoo!" Cyborg cheered as he walked by.
"I am a party animal." Beast Boy stated before he turned into a gorilla and walked out of the room.
Robin, Kylar, and Raven passed by without saying anything before they exited the room.
The last one to leave was Blackfire, "Hey, sweetie, raided your closet. Hope you don't mind me borrowing your look." She said before flying out of the room.
"Why not?" Starfire sighed sadly, dropping her head, "You have already borrowed my friends." She looked around her to see the scattered remains of her plan to spend time with her comrades.
0-0
Nighttime in Jump City at the creepy run-down warehouse Blackfire mentioned, a long line of partygoers were standing outside, trying to get in. A techno house dance beat could be heard from outside the building while multicolored pink and blue lights pulsed to the music inside.
Inside the creepy structure, the black-haired beauty made her way among the crowd as she led all the Titans, except Starfire and Kylar, who followed behind her. Beast Boy was back in his human form since the guard at the front enforced there was no admittance to animals inside the building.
"Step aside, Earthlings, the queen of the galaxy has arrived!" Blackfire ordered, as the crowd seemed to part around her like she owned the place.
As the rest of the group followed the confident orange-skinned alien, Raven glanced behind them and saw Starfire standing at a distance.
"Oh… excuse… oh… uh…" Starfire apologized shyly as she moved hesitantly through the dancers, getting jostled back and forth as she walked. Someone walked past her and stepped on her foot, "Ow! You really should apologize after stepping on someone's foot."
Raven shook her head at the sight of her orange teammate before turning around and moving further into the crowd.
0-0
Deeper inside the warehouse, Blackfire was already dancing to the beat. The other Titans who were accompanying her just watched as she flowed with the music.
"Now don't tell me you big tough superheroes are afraid of a little dancing." The black haired alien laughed as she turned to see the boys just standing in the center of the dance floor.
"Betcha Cyborg can do the Robot." Beast Boy commented as he did a little bit of the old dance. This action got the green teen a very unappreciative glare from the big bionic man who was standing next to him. Blackfire began dancing across from the pair again. The action was apparently contagious since Beast Boy, Cyborg, and Robin started getting into the spirit of things shortly after.
Raven and Starfire were watching the boys move to the beat, the blue-clad mage holding her traditional bored look, "This party is pointless." She said evenly.
A Goth-looking boy walked up and stood next to her, "Everything's pointless. Wanna go talk about it?"
With a quick glance to the side and a shrug, both Goths walked away and left the orange-skinned teen by herself. She was about to follow them, but was stopped when a couple of slacker looking teens wearing cut jeans and ragged button up flannel shirts cut in front of her.
"Hey, hot alien girl. You digging this scene?" One of the slackers asked, as the duo looked the Titan over.
Starfire began blushing in embarrassment at not understanding the question, "I… did not know we were supposed to bring shovels."
The two slackers began laughing themselves silly at the comment, causing Starfire to feel even more uncomfortable. Just as the slackers came down from their laugh attack, two hands appeared at the sides of their heads and knocked them together, effectively dropping the two to the ground.
When the slackers fell from view, Starfire looked up to see Kylar standing in front of her, giving her a friendly smile, "Man, I thought those two would never shut up." He said as he stepped over them.
"Friend Kylar, why are you not with my sister and the others?" The auburn-haired teen asked sadly.
Kylar chuckled nervously before answering, "I may have gotten lost in the crowd," He joked as he scratched the back of his head. He noticed that his orange-skinned teammate was looking down, sadly. "You're not having a good time."
"Of course, I am having fun." Starfire lied with a smile as she picked her head up.
The brunette gave her a bored look and raised his left eyebrow, "Sure." He put both hands on her shoulders and turned her around, "C'mon, I'll go get you a drink." He pushed the alien teen forward before she could protest.
0-0
Outside of Earth's atmosphere, the alien prison ship from before softly drifted above the planet's orbit. Inside the bridge of the ship, two silhouetted, crustacean looking extraterrestrials were watching the planet on what looked to be a screen that projected on the front window.
"The girl may have defeated one probe," One of the silhouettes said as its clawed hand touched a panel that showed the status of the remaining three probes, "but she will not fare so well against three." The shadowy figure finished as it pressed one final button on the panel.
Outside the ship, the three remaining octopus-looking probes were launched one by one and rocketed towards Earth, ready and willing to intercept their target by any means necessary.
0-0
Back at the creepy warehouse, the music and lights showed no sign of faltering as the partygoers continued enjoying the merriment of their surroundings: all but one lonely auburn-haired teen on the roof, sitting on the ledge with her head in her hands.
Starfire looked up to the sky to see three trails of light streak across the sky. Sighing heavily, she hung her head again, "Perhaps I do not belong here after all." She said dejectedly.
"Of course you don't." The alien Titan heard a voice come from behind her. She turned around to see Robin standing by the entrance of the stairs that lead up to the roof. "You belong down there, having fun with the rest of us." He said as he approached his friend, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing is wrong. Everything is wonderful." Starfire replied with a fake smile. The Boy Wonder took a seat next to her, hanging his feet over the edge. "The pounding music and blinding lights are quite enjoyable." These words barely left her mouth before her real mood reappeared on her face. "Everything is not wonderful. I am happy to see her, but Blackfire rules the video games, and she is able to share very depressing poems, and she is very flexible, and she knows the cool moves-" Robin showed a look of concern as he saw her visage drop, "-and she always knows when people are not talking about shovels." She finished, releasing a heavy sigh. "And I am nothing like her."
Robin placed a hand on her shoulder, trying to console the sulking teen, "No, you're not." He said in a comforting tone, "And I think-"
The sound of a –creak- from hinges resounded behind them, effectively cutting the Boy Wonder off. The two teens turned around to see Blackfire propping up a skylight window and letting herself out. What really caught their attention, however, was that Starfire's older sisters' hair was now shorter and bright pink.
"How do I look?" The confident extraterrestrial asked approaching the two and swiping her hand through her hair.
"Pink." Robin replied bluntly, not giving the teen any thought, "Look, can you give us a minute here?"
Blackfire pouted at Robins' response; not exactly what she expected from the masked teen. However, her demeanor changed in an instant when she heard the music change. "*Gasp* Oh, I love this song!" She said happily.
In the next instant, the black-haired alien flew over to the pair, grabbed Robin's arm, and yanked him down through the skylight she came from. When the two passed through the skylight, the window swung shut, leaving Starfire alone on the roof again. With a weary sigh, the little sister stood up from the ledge. What caught her attention next was a cup that was held up next to her head. She turned to see her messy brown-haired teammate standing next to her.
"So this is where you went to hide." Kylar said with a smile as the orange extraterrestrial took the cup. "I thought you left the party."
"I am sorry." Starfire said a bit sadly, "I did not want to be in the loud music and flashing lights anymore."
Kylar gave the girl a concerned look, "You don't have to go down if you don't want to."
"No, you misunderstand," the auburn-haired teen began, "it is not the party that upsets me." She released a heavy sigh before turning to the brunette, "I feel that my sister is trying to-"
"Look out!" Kylar shouted as he pushed his comrade away from him. After Starfire was away from the brunette, she looked back and saw another missile looking octopus craft swoop by, one of the tentacles seizing her friend, and then darting away.
"Kylar!" Starfire called out as the craft flew further and further from her, the brunette in fully in tow. Without a second thought, the alien Titan sped off to chase the brunettes' captor.
0-0
Inside the building, Beast Boy and Cyborg were dancing to the beat as though they owned the dance floor. However, the little green goofball stopped busting a move and looked up when he heard what sounded like glass breaking. When he looked up, he saw a familiar black-jacketed brunette fall to the ground.
"WHA! Ky! What's going on?!" Beast Boy cried out in surprise as the brunette stood up, rubbing his head.
"Starfire needs help." He replied, "Go get the others, NOW!" The brunette demanded. With a nod from the greenling, Kylar formed his aura around his feet and arms before shooting back into the air through the skylight and out of sight.
After the brunette left, Beast Boy ran across the room to track down the bionic teen. He was finally able to find the larger African teen dancing in the center of the room, "Cy! Star's in trouble!" The changeling shouted over the music.
This caught the metallic Titans' attention as he stopped dancing and turned to look. Immediately as he turned around, he saw Beast Boy get grabbed by a tentacle that shot out from behind and get dragged toward the door.
"Whoa! Help!" The green teen cried out as he struggled against the probe craft.
Cyborg ran after him, but was broadsided by another probe; knocking the teen up against the wall.
0-0
In a dark corner of the warehouse, Raven and the Goth boy from earlier were talking as the fighting started.
"So… do you like show tunes?" The Goth teen asked, receiving a very bored and disapproving look from the gray-skinned Titan.
Before she could respond, the probe hauling Beast Boy away passed by. Her companion beat feet out of there, and she flew to lend a hand, levitating two crates and promptly projecting them at the craft. The impact of the crates jarred Beast Boy out of his captors' grip, causing him to skid across the floor. Through the skylight, Raven spotted the octopus craft silhouetted against the night sky, fighting two other smaller silhouetted figures. In the starry sky, the octopus craft grabbed one of the silhouettes and gained altitude before going into a screaming dive and crashing through the glass, into a pile of crates.
Raven moved back to avoid the impact as it flew by. At the same time, Cyborg landed a punch against the probe that struck him, after which Starfire flew out of the debris and blasting the craft that grabbed her with a starbolt. However, the attack proved to be ineffective as the probe lunged towards her. Before it could reach its target, Kylar slammed into the enemy and crashed through the wall next to them.
Beast Boy, momentarily in the clear, suddenly yelped and jumped in a backflip to get out of the way of the one probe that tried to tow him away. In his backflip, the green teen transformed into a tiger and lunged at the alien craft when he landed, driving it across the room with a swipe of his paws. The craft stopped backing away when it was beneath Starfire; in no time, it and the other two closed in on her. With a gasp, the alien quickly flew around and around, trying to shake them. She was able to get a breather when Kylar, Beast Boy, and Cyborg flew by, or in the case of the metallic teen jumped by, and tackled the three probes to the ground. Starfire turned back to see her three comrades take on her three pursuers. Kylar punched his opponent away, Beast Boy turned into an octopus to fight the probe on equal footing, and Cyborg was wrestling with the tentacles of his opponent. However, the third one was able to get the upper hand by spinning when the cyborg was entwined in its tentacles, resulting in sending the metallic Titan tumbling.
0-0
Robin and Blackfire were standing on the stairs in a different area of the warehouse. The sound of the commotion on the other side of the wall caught the masked Titans attention. He turned and walked towards the noise but was stopped when the visiting Tamaranean grabbed him.
"Where are you going?" She asked, trying to pull the Titan back to the merriment, "Stay and talk to me."
Robin ripped his arm from Blackfires' grip, "Look, I just want to make sure that Starfire's okay." He explained as he began to walk away, Blackfire shooting the teen a disapproving look. Before the Tamaranean could give an argument, Cyborg crashed through the wall, surprising the both of them. As he stood up, rubbing his head and grumbling, Robin ran over to him, "What's going on?"
"Remember that thing that attacked Star?" Cyborg asked as the Boy Wonder helped him up, "It had friends." He finished before rushing back into the melee, leaving Blackfire alone at the top of the stairs.
Robin began to follow suit, but stopped upon seeing Starfire's older sister not moving, "Didn't you hear him? You're sister needs help!"
"Right. Of course." Blackfire responded with a smile. She pulled off her pink hair and dropped it, letting her natural, long black hair flow freely, before running down the stairs to follow the masked Titan.
0-0
As the rest of the Titans continued fighting the probes, Starfire was knocked through the warehouse wall and into another wall before dropping into a nearby dumpster, the lid falling over her from the sudden impact. Before she could get out, however, one of the tentacle monsters slammed down on it and held it shut before hoisting the entire container skyward; the other two probes following the one carrying the dumpster.
Suddenly, one of Robin's birdarangs severed two of the tentacles holding the dumpster, causing it to fall to the ground. It returned to his hand as the remaining Titans formed around him, ready to attack the crafts trying to capture their teammate.
"Teen Titans! GO!" Robin and Cyborg shouted as they prepared to attack. However, before they could move, the black-haired Tamaranean flew over their heads and straight towards the three probes, all of which moved to intercept, flying towards her with tentacles forward. To the Titan's surprise, beams of purple energy shot forth from Blackfire's eyes straight through the crafts' lower bodies, causing them to spark before detonating. As she landed, fragments of hulls and tentacles rained down around the Titans in the alley.
"Aw yeah!" Cyborg cheered as the five Titans ran to her, "Good times!"
"Nice shooting, Tex."
"You took them down so easily."
"Very nice." Four of the present Titans voiced their amazement at the spectacle of how Starfire's sister was able to dispatch the three enemies with ease and proficiency.
"How did you know where to hit them?" Robin asked, completely confused at how quickly she defeated the probes.
"Lucky guess." The black-haired Tamaranean offered with a shrug."
"We could use luck like that." Cyborg said cheerfully as he patted the orange-skinned older sister on the back, "Maybe you oughta join the team."
"Me? A Teen Titan?" Blackfire asked, feigning surprise. However, the group of Titans failed to notice their Tamaranean comrade opening the lid on the dumpster, hearing what the bionic Titan said to her sister. With a gasp and dejected sigh, Starfire closed the lid again, trying to make herself as though she didn't exist.
0-0
Later that evening, the group had gotten back to the comfort of their home to celebrate their victory. Well… most of them anyway. While the boys and Blackfire were hanging out in the Ops Center, Raven had secluded herself in her room to meditate, while the auburn-haired Titan was standing on the roof.
Slowly walking to the edge, Starfire could hear the sound of waves breaking loudly against the island's shores. She was carrying a pink backpack by the shoulder straps that held a few meager possessions inside. Looking up to the moon, the teen was ready to take off into the sky. "She will be a better Titan than I ever was." She sighed as she slung the pack onto her shoulder.
Just as she lifted herself off the roof, a voice from behind her stopped her from going any further, "Were you just going to leave without saying goodbye?" Starfire turned around to see Robin on the roof.
Having been called out in this manner, she could not look the leader in the eye, but instead dipped her head and descended back to the roof. The backpack slid off her shoulders when she finally looked up at him, "Robin, I-" was all the Tamaranean could say before the low humming of a foreign object alerted the teens to turn around. What they saw was a gray alien drop ship, the same ship that released the probes earlier, approaching the tower. On the outside of the ship, one alien was standing on the top, the moonlight revealed its figure wearing red armor, and shaped like a crustacean. In an instant, the armored alien extended its right arm and lashed out a long, green tentacle at the duo. When it reached them, the attack slammed against Robin, causing him to skid across the roof, and then snared Starfire, wrapping itself around her mouth and body before she could put up any sort of resistance.
Robin quickly got to his feet and saw the ship float away from the tower. Growling as he sprinted most of the length of the roof to catch his teammate, the Boy Wonder leaped off the roof when he reached the edge and flew a few feet towards the vessel. However, the momentum was not enough to carry him as he fell short and began falling. Losing sight of the masked teen, Starfire cried out in terror, her muffled screams ringing throughout the sky.
At the same time, as Robin was falling through the sky, he felt something grab his belt and lift him into the air towards the alien ship. He looked over his should to see Kylar was the one holding his belt.
"Need a lift?" The black-jacketed teen asked with a smile.
"Kylar? What are you doing here?" Robin asked as the two continued flying through the air.
"Does that really matter right now?" Kylar responded, "Let's go get our teammate back."
Robin nodded with a determined look on his face. With that, Kylar heaved the Boy Wonder up closer to him and placed a hand under his shoulder as they approached their target.
0-0
High in the clouds, the shining moon causing the sky to tint a beautiful violet color, the alien prison ship prepared to leave Earth's atmosphere. A thin barrier of translucent energy surrounded the captured Tamaranean while the green tentacle-like binds still covered her arms and mouth. Despite this, however, the girl struggled against them, the sound of her muffled cries ringing around her.
Outside of the barrier, two red-armored aliens were standing at a control panel. One crustacean was dealing with the navigational duties as it pressed buttons on said panel. "Prepare to leave Earth's orbit. We have the Tamaranean girl." One of the extraterrestrials ordered.
The other captor turned towards the imprisoned teen, "Once we return to Centauri, you will pay for what you have done." It said, leaning over the captive imposingly. Starfire couldn't respond, she could only struggle and grunt through her binds.
On the underside of the craft, Kylar and Robin were hanging on opposite sides of the ship. "Nobody's taking her away." Robin said in response to what the now dubbed Centauri said.
"Let's show them what happens when you mess with a Titan." Kylar added with narrow eyes. With a nod from the spiky-haired teen, the two of them vaulted to the deck and landed in between the crustacean and their teammate.
"Our friend stays here!" Robin yelled as he readied himself in a martial artists pose. The brunette next to him summoned his purplish-black flames around his arms and readied himself to attack as well. Tears came to Starfires' eyes as she saw two of her friends came to save her.
With a roar, the Centauri charged at the duo and swung its right arm to attack. The brunette and masked teens were able to easily dodge, but the charger continued its assault on the Boy Wonder. Following with a roundhouse kick, Robin leaped back from his aggressor as it began shooting a multitude of right-handed laser blasts that came from the same weapon that lashed the green tentacle substance. Several of the shots hit the force field holding Starfire, but bounced off, leaving the captive without harm. The crustacean alien charged at the masked teen again and swung its right arm for another attack only to crack upon impact with the field, leaving its underarm exposed for Robin to counter-attack. Thinking quickly, Robin punched the opening in his enemies arm, sending sparks up from the armor and throughout his aggressors' body, sending it tumbling back.
Kylar was engaging the Centauri pilot, flying around the alien as it shot laser blasts at him. Weaving through the blasts, the teen dove down and landed in a crouch in front of the armored visitor. As the pilot swung down at the brunette, Kylar kick its legs out from underneath. Before the alien hit the ground, the black-jacketed Titan sent his opponent into the air with an aura-powered kick. Shooting into the sky after it, Kylar grabbed both crustaceans' arms from behind its back and pulled on them.
"GAAAAH-AAAAH!" The Centauri cried out in pain as the brunette continued pulling on its' arms.
"A crab, huh? Let's crack you open and see how much meat you have." Kylar taunted with a very malicious grin on his face. In the next second, the brunette flipped his enemy over and flew down towards the ship. When the two collided, a crater formed on the surface of the ship with Kylar on top of the Centauri. "Hmm, with crabs I would have white wine, I think." The brunette said as he stood up. He glanced down to see his enemy twitching slightly, presumably unconscious from the impact.
On the other end of the ship, Robin had retreated to a spot near one of the ship's engines on the side. He looked back to see a tentacle lash out at him before barely dodging the attack. Fortunately, or I guess unfortunately, the attack hit the edge of the Boy Wonder's cape and deflected into the engine, causing flames to shoot out of it.
"No!" The Centauri who shot at Robin screamed as he rushed over to the control panel. With one engine out of commission, the craft began losing altitude, causing everyone on board to lose their balance. "I cannot control it!" The same Centauri shouted as it tried to prevent the ship from crashing into a riverbank.
Robin and Kylar scrambled across the deck to the control panel in front of Starfire. Pressing a button, Kylar deactivated the force field as Robin peeled the tentacles from the Tamaraneans' body. "Robin! Kylar!" Starfire cheered as the tentacle left her mouth.
"Come on!" Robin extended a hand to her which she took as the ship fell closer and closer to the ground. With a nod, the three of them leaped from the deck just in time as the ship turned down nose first and grinded into the riverbank, skidding a considerable distance before finally stopping and tumbling forward, landing on its top deck.
Starfire lowered Robin safely to the ground before landing beside him. Kylar landed next to the Tamaranean shortly after. "Star! Robin! Ky!" The three of them turned around to see Beast Boy, Cyborg, and Raven approaching them.
"You guys okay?" The large metallic teen asked when they reached them.
Before any of the combatants could answer, the group turned to see the two Centauri crewmen standing amid the clouds of smoke pouring from their wrecked craft. All six Titans braced themselves for action.
"Titans! Get ready!" Robin ordered as the Centauri approached the group. He, Cyborg, Beast Boy, and Kylar formed around Starfire while Raven floated behind them with orbs of her magic surrounding her hands.
However, instead of attacking, the red-armored alien removed a yellow black-marked pentagon-shaped badge from the plate of armor on its chest and held it up to the group, "In the name of the Grand Centauri Empire, you are all under arrest." This caught every Titan by surprise as they all fell to the ground.
Beast Boy was the first to speak up when they stood back up, "Uh… you can't be the good guys." He said, "We're the good guys." He finished, gesturing to the group.
"And we are Centauri police." The Space Cop replied evenly.
"The Tamaranean girl is a liar and a thief." The other Centauri stated as it pointed to Starfire, "She's committed high crimes throughout the entire Centauri system."
The group of teens exchanged looks of confusion as Robin and Starfire looked at each other.
"I have never even been to the Centauri moons!" The Tamaranean cried in protest to the allegations.
Robin looked at the necklace around his friends' neck before removing it, "But I know someone who has." He said as he held the piece of jewelry up.
Gazing into the large green gem her sister gave her, Starfire gasped as she pieced together everything that had happened.
"You've been chasing the wrong girl." The spiky-haired Titan said as he threw the necklace at the Centauri who caught it with its' left hand. "Where's Blackfire?" He asked as he turned to face the rest of the group.
"Uh…" Beast Boy hesitated with his answer as he pointed towards the sky. Everyone looked to see a tiny black shape zooming among the clouds, away from the area.
"Don't worry, Star. She won't get away with this." Robin stated.
"No she will not!" Starfire growled with sudden ice-cold fury, her narrowed eyes glowing green before shooting off after the dot. The enraged teen flew past a surprised Blackfire before coming to a stop. "Hello, sister." She said in a chilled voice, eyes still glowing and arms crossed in front of her.
Blackfire had changed back into her own clothes along with the armored undergarments. "Aw, you're mad." Blackfire cooed, "I know, I should've told you I was leaving, but you know how I hate goodbyes and-"
"You are a criminal, and you were going to let me take your place in jail!" The angered little sister interrupted.
"Oh… well… yeah," the older sister admitted weakly.
"You will give back what you have stolen and turn yourself over to the police!" Starfire ordered as she leaned closer to her sister.
Blackfire leaned right back towards her, "And what will you do if I don't?" The auburn-haired teen did not have an immediate answer. Not wanting to wait for one, the black-haired Tamaranean warmed up a purple starbolt in her hand and released it, blasting her sister in the stomach, causing her to fall back, "I always was the better fighter," she remarked as Starfire righted herself.
"Not anymore!" The Titan argued defiantly. Blackfire unloaded a machine-gun barrage of starbolts at her sister. Starfire flew through them all without so much as getting her hair singed and gathered herself for a crushing counterstrike. She released her own concentrated starbolt that connected with her older sisters' hand, making the attack Blackfire was about to shoot fizzle out.
In the next instant, one very angry little sister rose to stare her down; both hands lost in the dazzling radiance of the starbolts she was holding. Blackfire merely laughed in her face, but trailed off into a surprised yell as a Centauri tentacle whipped in from behind and tied around her body, ending at her neck. Starfire turned to look toward the source to see the ship was righted and the two crewmen were standing on top.
"Blackfire of Tamaran, you are under arrest." One Centauri policeman said as it reeled in the criminal.
"Farewell, sister." Starfire waved to her now captured older sibling, "Although you did betray and attack me, it was… still very nice to see you."
"Next time it won't be so nice." Blackfire threatened as she struggled against her binds, "I will get out of jail, little sister, and I will get even!" The comment earned her a look of worry from said little sister as she was finally placed inside a containment field when she reached the ship.
0-0
The next morning, after the sun rose into the sky, Starfire was sitting at the edge of the roof of the tower, bathing in the light and lost in thought. She looked out over the sparking bay as the wind blew her air to the side.
"Hey." She heard a voice from behind her. The Tamaranean turned to see Robin standing behind her, "How are you doing?" The masked teen asked as he took a seat next to her.
"I am… sad for my sister." Starfire admitted sullenly.
"And for yourself?"
"I am just glad that the truth was discovered before I was replaced." Starfire sighed as she looked back into the bay.
This earned her a worried look from the spiky-haired Titan, "What are you talking about?"
Starfire turned to face her friend, "Well, you… everyone was having such fun with her, and then Cyborg said-"
"Look. Your sister was interesting, but she could never take your place." Robin explained before giving the girl a warm smile, "No one could ever take your place."
Hearing him loud and clear, Starfire gave the boy a warm answering smile. Enjoying each others company, both teens looked back into the bay as it sparkled in the sunlight, ready for what the day would bring.
"Sisters function as safety nets in a chaotic world simply by being there for each other."
― Carol Saline
Author's Notes:
Oh my god finally, right? I didn't think it would take so long to finish up this chapter, but I got it done finally. Now I can move onto the next one, where the HIVE teens show up and do things. Wonderful.
For those who don't know, in yoga, chakras are points in the body at which spiritual energy is concentrated. There are seven in the body that range from the top of the head to the base of the tailbone, and the Ajna chakra, which is the point centered on the forehead, is the second one down.
Again, thank you all for taking the time to read this story. I wouldn't be anywhere without you or some other cheesy thankful saying. I hope you were entertained by the chapter, if not, I apologize. For those who took the time to read the author's notes, thank you, you are the greatest. For those who don't, when a male bee climaxes, their testicles explode... and they die.
So that's it for this chapter, until next time; See You Space Cowboys.
Disclaimer: I do not own anything from the DC Universe nor do I own anything from Teen Titans. Any other references made belong to their respective owners, again I own any of that.