"The stars, the light, it blankets you
Oh sleep sound my child."
At the turn of a key, two bonds pathetically fell to the floor with a clank. Stooped in her sister's hold, Starfire shot a wide-eyed look to her wrists, messaging them tenderly—no more electrifying. Hiccupping violently, gasping for air, her gaze skipped across the air to frantically find her sister, coughing under the suppression of gas—collapsed upon their knees, they were.
"Girls!" The Green Lantern barked through the bars, "Get out of here!"
"Stand back!" Blackfire barked, pushing her fist forward.
Starfire caught the arm of her sister, leveling her wrist his hers. Together, they stuck their arms towards the bar's direction, the League's cell, causing them to scamper like mice to side wall. An intertwining blow of blinding white lights blasted from their palms, thrusting itself forth, melting the bars into gooey liquid.
"BOQ GONK LIQART? (What is going on?)" A barking voice sounded and five men were heard to be banging down the halls! Red beams firing off the outside walls broke through the peaks of the walls and rummaged under the metal door frame.
Four erupted from their prison holds, advancing onto new ground free of their footsteps. The Flash, Lantern, and Wonder Woman backed the girls against the wall in a protective huddle. Batman was last to push them to the air, yelling.
"Go! We'll fight them off."
Airborne, Starfire lunged back, her voice trembling. "…please, do not harm them…"
"We'll try our best!"
Paused in her place, Starfire reluctantly fled to the sky, pulled by her sister's strong grip.
"Do not cry.
Light up the world with your smile."
A bark down the hall. "HEY! WHO'S IN THERE?"
A rip, a gnash, and the collision of sparks! Another grab and the robotic man flinched at the shock of the wires. Beckoned, he observed the generator once more. Deep in the bowls, Cyborg marveled at the size of the engine room, its wires intertwining together as vines, consuming the room of two stories. Stuffiness encouraged by the snoring of system, the hogging breaths of mechanisms suppressed breathing to a mere minimum. Within the forest of thin orange wires sending sparks here and there, the heart of the generator sat in a body of silver sat, peering over Cyborg as a challenge.
Stoic, his mouth over turned, his brows furrowed, and his stance strong—his left leg and arm in front—he rose his activating cannon to meet its level. An electric blue sparked into power.
The voice took a form of a soldier with sparking sort of gun, "HEY KID! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?"
*BOOM!*
Blackout!
Two stories up, Robin stopped in his tracks, his heart beating frantically as he swung left, then right in position. He huffed violently, relocating his direction. Darkness slam down vision and blocked off corridors of sinister creaking. In the pit of darkness, he hushed himself and heard footsteps, quaking from somewhere. His eyes narrowed—
On impulse, Robin lashed behind and swung a palm to his right side, catching a bare hand of a man, mid-grab. An emergency light flickered a fuzzy beam.
"Robin." A deep voice belonging to the strong face of a man. "I underestimated you."
He was broad, large, heroic in size. A black suit fitted him. He was strong-faced—stoic with a tint of resentment, it was.
Robin threw the man's hand, drew back, locked his fists, seething, "what's to underestimate."
"Youth, ability, leadership—the kind that is waging a war within a war." To his words, Robin gnashed his teeth. "Now, I suggest you try not to run away," the man pulled out a gun, its neck fizzing with yellow sparks, and slowly outstretched the arm and hand that held it.
The Boy Wonder lowered his palms and drew up his stance. Calmly he spoke, "Roak, you are?"
"Roak I am." In slow circles, the president rounded the boy at gun point. Robin listened to his footsteps intently, eyes locked on the ground for concentration. "The Teen Titans, I hear about. Heroes of Jump City. Heroes of the United States of America. Even honored in the east after the Brotherhood of Evil episode. The Teen Titans," he repeated, "Not much of children are you anymore."
"Where are you going with this speech Roak?"
"President Roak," he corrected.
"My friend doesn't abide that name. Why should I?"
"This Starfire." Roak stopped in his circle, pressing the gun a bit closer to his Robin's back, sending him to cringe against the heat that radiated. "A weakness, you have for her."
"A strength." He growled back, whimpering against the sparks that seethed upon his back.
"These friends you call the Titans—I have made a habit of underestimating those who I should not have in the first place. Never did I expect you would follow us. Never did I expect you would break out of a Tamaranean prison. Never did I expect you would stop a war."
Robin's eyes widened, "The war? I-It's been stopped?"
"You tell me." Suddenly, Roak plunged forward, violently swinging the neck of the gun to the boy's back. Yelping against the electrifying daggers, the he broke to the floor. "OUR SYSTEMS AND CANONS OBLITERATED—SHUT DOWN! THE TAMARANEAN ATTACKS DISINTAGRATED BY FORCEFIELDS! CAN A WAR EVEN HAPPEN?" He paused and violently seized Robin by the shirt. "On your feet, boy!"
Thrown to the wall, he wobbled, rocking left and right, breathing heavily. Oh the wall felt so cold. Tenderly, he placed his seething back to it, slowly turning around, catching a sly grin of Roak, his gun still pointed in his direction.
"Well you and your team are in luck," he snarled. "On the lives of seventy-seven Earthlings, an armistice has been purchased."
"Wha… What do you mean?"
"Seventy-seven tamaraneans were killed in the beginning by a bomb. To justify an end, seventy-seven earthlings will be obliterated under a tamaranean bomb that shall rise to the heavens on the seventh hour—purchasing peace."
"You're lying!"
"I am not. Noticed the cease fire on your flight over here? We have six hours to gather recruits. You see, Robin. To every action there is a consequence. How does it feel, Titan," he spat out the word, "to be the reason for the consequence?"
He stood in silence, his eyes trembling against the floor that held his eye contact. Softly, he begged himself to breathe.
"Seventy-three we have. The seventy-fourth we took from a prison roof, the seventy-fifth, we found destroying a generator, the seventy-sixth we are taking out on the ship's roof as we speak, and—"
"YOU WILL NOT TOUCH MY FRIENDS!
"—and the seventy-fourth, I have at gun point."
"Please! Just!" He huffed frantically, "Just take me…only me."
"One cannot replace seventy-seven," He paused, rolling his rough grimace back onto the boy. "…however…" Robin's attention met the words that lingered on. "Superman has advised me to spare you."
"He advised you to spare all of us." He pushed his eyes to meet his, his words breaking from his tongue that wielded them, "Didn't he."
"How would you know?" His voice was sly—patronizing.
"Because he's not like you."
"And he does not have to know about four recruits."
"You speak as if you won the war. Are you even phased at the loss of seventy-seven innocent lives?"
"Answer one question and I will answer yours. Do you renounce Titan-hood? Do you choose to fight for the United Forces of Earth?" He clicked the Taser-gun, "May I remind you that this is the ticket to life, Robin."
Upon a dwelling thought, a girl's voice sweetly chimed, singing a memory.
"Oh Robin!" Starfire gasped, rushing to the floor. Trying to manage her shameful giggling, she placed a gentle hand upon her best friend's forehead, "My greatest…apologies! I often forget that the third button causes the door to go into attack mode." Robin clutched his head with a groan and suddenly gave a few hiccups of snickering. With one look at each other, pathetically collapsed upon the floor in the hallway, their pace of giggles erupted into a full on laughter.
Slowly, Robin looked from the floor and into the dark eyes, beating before him, and slowly, he raised his hands to the air—his face stoic and still. "No."
*BOOM!*
Down to the floor he fell, electric shocks piercing his senses, sending spasms throughout his body that pulsed with pain. Writhing upon the floor, exhaustion hushed him into stillness. Over the boy's unconscious body, Roak snarled, "To answer a question: phased, I am not. We told you to not interrupt this war, Titan. Now that you have, seventy-seven deaths is a cheap cost for the Teen Titan's termination."
"Forget the times we fought another
Repeat the days we've weathered."
Riddling itself into his long ears, silence shook Tamaran into eeriness—her wind to sweep the ash and smoke from the grounds into the level above—boxing the warzone in a gray arena. Furrowed-browed and strong in his six foot stance, Beast Boy stood upon the edge of the world, upon the ship's roof, waiting for a cue. He breathed slowly, careful to keep the stillness in the air. With eagle-eyes, he remained focused on the two armies—still on a standoff—with a bat and ball in his hand. Slowly, his worry increased and he scanned the sky for any traces of light.
"Gotta be 'bout an hour by now."
Just then, a raspy metal door cranked open, unleashing ten chomping footsteps onto the roof, sending Beast Boy to whirl around and scamper back violently. In helmets and suits of armor, silver and gloomy as the sky, they quaked underneath. To Beast Boy, his fists and what they obtained, trembling, they looked reluctant in their stance.
"I'm gonna say this one last time." He loaded his bat and raised the firework. "I. do. not. want. to. hurt. you."
In the quiet, he heard the armor shaking, clattering against steel, riddling a chime into the air. Hesitation paused them in their steps. Slowly, their slow footsteps became a run and they all advanced forward, some flying forth and other with glowing hands, racing for his wrists.
His arm almost in their clutches, he tossed the ball to the air—it to rise high into the arms of smog. To the air, he broke, flapping in the form of a condor, swinging the bat within his beak.
'Come on B.B you can do this. Show that Tin man what're made of.'
Time reigned by the counts of heartbeats, the ball came down oh so slowly, sequencing its fall with the swing of the plank. Three… two… one… And!
*WHACK!*
"My heart, your heart will be strong
My heart, your heart, will stay together."
Upon the outskirts, stillness broke. Whoosh! From the swirling gas's claws, Starfire—a golden belt flickering in the far off light of fireworks—and Blackfire erupted and swung through the rush of air, dodging two red lasers shooting between their movements in the sky. Suddenly, a shooting star shot to the air with a tail of sparking white—exploding with red, white, and orange flames that caressed the faces of the sisters. It blinked the way to the battle field—fast they flew against the rush of rush itself. They entered a field of smoke.
At the crack of a red whip, a weight dropped from above, toppling Starfire from her flight—she only catching peaking glimpses of her fall as she fell. Hitting the harsh bite of ground, she whimpered, suddenly scampering to her knees at the sight of blood upon the ground. "Blackfire, are you—" She whipped around to suddenly choke out a dramatic shriek. "Blackfire!"
There was a lot of blood. So much. Too much. There, a gash severed through her stomach, the wounded peppered by the white dust that swished above. She lied—her body askew and her head crooked peering down her stomach. With a deep breath, her hand brushed against it.
"…would you look at that…"
Violently, Starfire cupped her mouth. She flailed her arms around her sister and scooped her from the dirt. "Blackfire no!" Tears swelled from her eyes, trying to contact the eyes of her sister. In a daze they went—as if daydreaming at the stars that dared to twinkle through the smog.
"Sister." She let out a wail. "Please breathe for me!"
"S-Starfire, I-I," Violently, she spat out a breath, "I-I am so sorry for who I was."
"No, sister! Do not speak this way!" Starfire clenched her eyes tightly, "raven, raven, I know I heard you in my prison. Raven, please, come quick, please—" A fragile hand placed itself on the Starfire wet cheek. She clenched it tenderly. She surrendered herself, breaking down, bobbing her head to her sister's. Hunched over, her shoulders quivered with each sob. "Sister. I have always loved you for who you are."
Rubbed into the mix of emotion—the swinging tide pulling her under the crash of waves—a tear seeped down the cheek of Blackfire as she fluttered her eyes to a close. "Love," she choked, "what a strange word, doubling as a verb… and noun…. A-A claim and a-action. A-A claim proved b-by an action. An action p-proved by a claim."
"Oh Sister." She tossed her head, eyes clenched and cheeks wet, trying to dissolve the scene. She let out a wail, "it's the thing that will save us all."
Smiling—her eyes still dazed—a wave of emotion collapsed upon the girl on the ground, causing her to cry under the suppression—her chest quaked, rising and falling which each sob. She paused and let such peace blanket her.
She spoke, her breath beginning to die, "…starfire… you… you have to stop all… all this—this war. Power, b-blood…w-weapons…and…and alliances won't stop it. W-Which do you love?"
Her eyes clenched, tears streamed, and she nodded in her distress, "Earth and Tamaran, sister."
In the wind's solemn song, Blackfire rubbed the tear from the cheek of her sister.
"Blackfire?"
"Forget the times we fought another." Her voice linked together in rhythms, spawning a beautiful song to sweep away the pain of a wound, pulling her under. "Repeat the days we cherished."
Starfire withdrew her head, hiccupping her voice into melody, "F-Find what is true even in the dark. Relive the sight, oh, let it be our wish."
A firework's blasted from the distance and together, such voices came together, "You are the light to me, you must spread it for me now. Do not let it fade, hold it tight, be the key to light. Hush my little light you are safe. The morning will rise to end the night. Let it come up on the sky for us. The stars, the light, it blankets you. Oh sleep sound my child. Do not cry. Light up the world with your smile. Forget the times we fought another. Repeat the days we've weathered. My heart, your heart will be strong. My heart, your heart, will stay together."
Soon, her eyes ceased to flutter and metal bars in form of eye lid shut her from the world—in a sleep she went, so peaceful, free from hell. A heartbeat stopped, leaving her sisters to shutter in quiet, and breaths—oh such weak breaths—were stilled.
"Oh Blackfire!" She bowed, collapsing upon her sister's vacant body, sobbing. Breath by breath, oh inch by inch, we slip from this reality ruled by pain and hurt and into a dream, the only place where drops of blood spurt bundles of flowers instantly. Where our fingertips paint sunsets on concrete, where tears are only of joy, and where a song is so easy to sing
At a fireworks blast, she withdrew her head and looked to the distance of highlighted smoke with glossy green eyes. It called her name and to her feet, she slowly rose, pushing the falling tears from her cheeks. Upright in her stance, the swirl of memories took her away—voices filled her head, colliding into one sometimes.
"WHY DO YOU RELEASE ME?"
"Did I do that?"
"No…You did not…"
"Those look bad, I can help you, I have healing powers!"
"…why do you wish to help me…?"
"Maybe because we all can be friends…"
"I'm Robin."
"Robin! Please! Leave now! I do not deserve to be in your presence!"
Starfire, we're your friends Tamaranean or not."
"Oh friends! I do not wish to be alone!"
Starfire…Y-You need to promise me something. With this war…I… I don't know what'll happen, Star..P-promise me that… that…you'll be safe… and...
and brave... and-"
"You're not thinkin' 'bout leavin' us, are ya?"
"Friends, it must not end this way. There is something I must do, I can feel it."
"Mommy! Please do not let me go!"
"Sweetheart. Close your eyes and sing."
"This… this will not happen… to… anyone… else… I will not… let it."
"Friends… I-I will… stop… t-this…this… war… somehow…"
… dead silence…
Firework blast! Her eyes blinked from the distance-it calling her name as an eerie swoon, a plead-her to feel her chest collapsing within itself. Her white dress red dyed. Tamaran—he crown locked upon her face. Earth—a golden belt drooped around her waist.
"…starfire… you… you have to stop all… all this—this war. Power, b-blood…w-weapons…and…and alliances won't stop it."
*BOOM!*
She shot to the air, twirling like a comet thrusting into the arms of smoke, eyes of white brilliance, hell-bound. In fast flight, she wipped her cheeks, furrowed a strong brow, and penetrated distance.
Author's Note: A reader once asked me if anyone would die. I knew my answer: Two. This chapter was very hard to write because of the death of such a sister. This is also the chapter I have prepared most for though so I shouldn't be complaining about tardiness. Anyway, I absolutely love the Robin character so I wanted him (especially) to have a strong point and I am so glad that his scene introduces the climax of the story-next chapter! Another note: the lullaby is very grotesque which seems a little bit odd. In this chapter, it is revealed that it explains the relationship of Blackfire and Starfire, sadly setting the scene for her death. Anyway, thank you so much for reading! I really appreciate all commentary and I am so excited to show Chapter 19: To Be a Heroine.