It was December, and Jump City was getting ready for Christmas. The weather was cool, but not unbearably cold, the snow covered everything with a white fluffy blanket and there was not a single cloud on the clear blue sky above.
In other words, perfect Christmas.
"DAAAADDY!"
Well, almost perfect. The piercing scream was easily heard in the secret basement lair thanks to cameras and microphones placed in the house above it; although its lonely inhabitant suspected that even without them, he could hear that shrilling voice calling for him.
Killer Moth (the greatest dad, and an upcoming newest villain in Jump City – at least according to him) jumped in surprise, dropping the vial full of mutagen he was holding; he desperately tried to grab it, but it hit the floor with a loud sound. He winced, gently icked up the vial and once again thanked his past self for the decision to buy the most resilient glass he could for his experiments.
His sigh of relief was overshadowed by an even louder shout "DAAAADDY!" from upstairs, causing him to sprint towards the hidden stairs leading from his secret villain lair (temporarily placed in his basement). Halfway to his daughter's room he realized he was still holding the vial, but he was too much in a hurry to go back to his basement.
"DA…!" The newest, and loudest, shout was stopped by the sound of doors banging open as Killer Moth jumped into the room. He was still wearing his armor, and the doors were bent out of shape by his massive and heavy body, causing him to wince again. That was not shaping to be his best day.
Seeing no danger, and just his supremely annoyed daughter, he felt the first rush of adrenaline die down a bit. "What's wrong, Kitten? Daddy was working…"
"What HAPPENED?! Fang broke up with me, that's what!" The teenage girl with a bit unfortunate name started to rant, completely ignoring her dad as he tried to say something. "He didn't want to go with me to the Christmas ball for some stupid reason! And now I'm without a date!"
… The reason was probably the fact that he would cause panic and/or get arrested, Killer Moth thought to himself, considering that her 'boyfriend' was a mutated result of a failed experiment. Still, he did feel sorry for his daughter. "I'm sure you can find another date…" He started, only to be interrupted by Kitten again.
"Sure dad, it's not like the ball is tomorrow… oh wait, IT IS!" The angry teenager looked at her dad with fury in her eyes, causing the massive and armored figure to shrink a bit. "How could you forget?!"
"Daddy was busy working for the past few days…" Killer Moth weakly tried to defend himself, but at this point his daughter went back to ignoring him. The up-and-coming supervillain sighed internally; they were arguing more and more lately, and he was growing more and more worried. He did his best as a dad, but nothing seemed to fix the issues; neither the gifts, money, or doing anything his daughter wanted at a whim.
Of course, he was also too proud to ask anyone else for advice; after all, lesser man then him managed to be good fathers, surely a genius like him would do just fine. It was nothing but a short burst of teenage rebellion, he was sure.
"… and since I can't find a date, you will do it for me!" Kitten finished her long rant, and the moment Killer Moth's brain processed the last few words he almost jumped out of his armor. "And it has to be someone amazing! Someone that will make everyone jealous, someone fitting for me!"
"What, how, but" Killer Moth sputtered, trying to find words to express his shock. "Kitten, be reasonable! How can I find someone like that? And…" He looked at the clock; it was already after midnight! "And you want me to do it now?!" But even as he protested, he was already trying to think of any candidate. Some socialite, or media star, someone well-known, age has to at least mostly match; he will need to pay him a lot, but that's fine. And if money is an issue, intimidation is an option, he just finished a large batch of his mutated moths…
As he mused and planned, lost in his own world, he missed the emotions suddenly visible on his daughter's face. For a short moment, Kitten looked… shocked. And sad. Like the idea of her dad refusing just never occurred to her. But it lasted only few seconds, before anger overshadowed all other emotions again. "YES! I want… I want…" She hesitated for a moment and then, suddenly, had a genius idea. There was one celebrity her father could easily find, one that would make her famous not only in Jump City but in the entire country!
"I want Robin! From Teen Titans!"
After a few moments of cognitive dissonance, faced with impossible choice of either refusing his daughter or engaging the undefeatable Titans in battle, Killer Moth sighed.
Perhaps this sacrifice will be enough to finally fix his family.
It was middle of the night when the alarm sounded in the Tower. As usual, Robin was already on the case by the time other sleepy Titans assembled in their garage.
"There was a reported robbery in a jewelry shop." He said, already revving up his motorcycle as other Titans got into the T-Car. "Police arrived quickly, but the perpetrator is apparently not human. They called us instead of pursuing themselves, just in case, but they have eyes on the suspect."
"What do we know about them?" Beast Boy asked, stretching as much as he could in the limited space of their car while Cyborg drove them into the city. The green superhero yawned. "Are they some kind of owl-supervillian?"
"No. He's some king of a spider hybrid." Robin was very happy that he did not have arachnophobia as he looked at the blurry image he got from police. "Imagine a huge spider, but it has only four legs, and there is a human body hanging underneath."
"That sounds… bad." Beast Boy said, wincing. "How is the human body connected to the exoskeleton?" He checked the images on the display in the car. "Yeah, wouldn't like to be that guy. Everyone, be extra careful when hitting the head or the human body. It looks sturdy, but the head is carrying the weight of entire human body when on spider legs; if you hit it too hard, you can easily break his neck."
"Alright, do keep that in mind everyone. Expect usual spider-themed powers; shooting web, poison bite. He's gonna be faster than he looks for sure." Robin listed off the usual safety precautions. While every supervillain would claim to be unique, there were usually some overlaps and repeats in terms of powers. "Beast Boy, any tips on beating him without risking serious injury?"
Their fauna and flora expert was already considering it himself. "The spider body probably has an exoskeleton, so it's hard outside, but if you break it you can accidentally kill him. Human body would be safer, but you'd have to get close to the head and we'd still risk breaking the neck. Try to hit the legs, everyone. Even if they break, we can fix them."
"So the only spot we can safely hit is also small and fast-moving?" Cyborg was not happy to hear it. He was effectively the slowest of the Titans, and his ranged attacks were not accurate enough for this. "Great."
Starfire and Raven didn't have much to add to the ongoing discussion. The Tamaranian was ready to jump out of the car and attack the criminal at any moment, while Raven was focusing on calming her emotions and controlling her power, which was a bit harder than usual after being woken up by a sudden alarm.
They caught up to the chase pretty quickly, with police car slowing down as they sped past it. The criminal, noticing the chase went from police to actual superhero team, doubled up on his efforts to escape.
He was also running on the walls and windows, jumping from building to building. It was a miracle the police managed to keep up until now, Robin thought to himself, until his analytical mind found a better explanation then just luck. "Everyone, he's an amateur. He could have easily lost the police, but he clearly panicked and just started running."
"Oh, great. A high-speed amateur criminal in a fragile body. Why would this guy do something so stupid?" Cyborg sped up, the T-Car easily catching up to the running suspect. They were directly below him now.
"We can ask him later. Titans, go!" Robin ordered, and he himself got ready to jump from his bike and follow the others.
Amateur or not, the half-spider seemed to at least have some idea what to do. He turned around mid-step and spat out huge globs of some grey, sticky substance; while Robin easily dodged it on his speedy motorcycle, even the T-Car was not agile enough to avoid a hit from that close. The half-liquid mass hit both the front and left side of the car; with the suddenly limited visibility, Cyborg had no choice but to stop.
Worse, Beast Boy was in the process of getting out and transforming; the smallest Titan completely disappeared in the sticky mass. Starfire, who managed to get out from the other side of the car, quickly flew towards him and started tearing the sticky prison to shreds, allowing her friend to breathe. He started trying different transformations to help, but with how sticky it was it would take a while to get rid of all the strands. Raven, who was just behind Beast Boy, was now stuck inside T-Car and tried to gently use her magic to remove the offending substance.
Robin, very disappointed, already started planning a new training session on not getting hit when his target suddenly turned and jumped into a small passage between buildings. It was too small and littered with trash, so instead of risking driving through it he used his grappling hook to follow the half-spider criminal.
What followed was a fast-paced chase around the buildings, sometimes over or under them. His target was agile and fast, but he was also clearly an amateur. Robin was sure he would get him quickly. He was just an arm's length behind the criminal and ready to engage in melee…
Then, suddenly, the half-spider turned around and noticed how close Robin was. In panic, he started flailing his limbs – both human and spider – and started to fall from the building, straight towards Robin. What followed was a moment of panicked melee between the falling and panicking villain and surprised hero, and despite being a much better fighter Robin found himself at disadvantage. They were both falling now, and he could barely reach the wall; he had very limited movement options in this situation. He could use his grappling hook or some other tool to fix it, but it would take time, and with his opponent attacking him in panicked frenzy he simply did not have time for that.
They continued to fall, and Robin decided to risk it. He could take a hit or two, those limbs didn't hit that hard, but hitting the pavement below at that speed would be lethal. Just one quick draw of his grappling hook, one shot, and… why was his hand shaking?
He realized too late that the 'hit' he took while drawing and firing wasn't a flailing hand of spider leg. Instead, the spider head spit something at him; he wasn't sure if it was some kind of dart or just liquid, but whatever it was, he instantly lost feeling in his left leg. He was still in the air, and his body was already starting to shake; he tried to aim and the closest window, to get inside…
But it was too late. His entire body was convulsing now, and he hit the wall next to the window he was aiming was. At least he didn't feel pain from that hit, but his entire body was now burning in horrible agony. He couldn't even reach his communicator, and he was falling!
"Robin!" He heard, and even in his current state he felt the sudden deceleration before he lost consciousness.
Cyborg looked at T-Car with annoyance. Sure it wasn't anything dangerous, but cleaning this would be a pain. Beast Boy stayed with him, trying to remove some stubborn sticky fibers from his body. He tried to transform few times, but either got blocked by constraining strands or they got into his beak, wing or other body parts and made it impossible to fly. Some even got into his mouth while he was trying to transform, and he now felt a horrible taste in his mouth, which he tried to wash down with some juice he got from the car.
"Cyborg!" He suddenly heard, and turned around just in time to see Starfire landing with way too much force, almost cracking the road. He almost open his mouth to remind her to be more gentle, but then his brain caught up to what his eyes were seeing and he quickly took command.
"Starfire, put him on the ground, and put something soft under his head!" He jumped into the car and opened the extensive first aid kit he always carried with him. Next to the car, Robin was convulsing, his breathing irregular and turning into worrying hiss at times. Starfire put him on the ground, and with nothing else around just put her arm under his head. Beast Boy, seeing this, turned into a small dog and quickly moved under Robin's head, his soft body ensuring their leader wouldn't hurt himself. Raven immediately joined them, trying to use her magic to heal but quickly finding out she had little idea what to do against this poison.
"I caught him, he was falling, but that, that monster did something to him!" Starfire tried to explain, but holding dying Robin in her arms was not making it easier for her. Still, she managed to explain enough for everyone, and most importantly Cyborg, to understand what was going on.
Their team medic jumped out of the car with a syringe and quickly injected Robin with it. It was risky, since he didn't know exactly what kind of toxin it was, but with his patient dying it couldn't make it worse at that point, and fortunately his armor had an in-built diagnostic systems that helped him make that decision. In a moment, convulsion slowed down, and while the breathing was still irregular and hissing it was at least a bit better. Good, he at least managed to counter the worst spasms with it. "Alright, put him in recovery position now."
Cyborg was switching between checking his diagnostic software and grabbing more medicine from the first aid kit. He considered calling the ambulance, but at this point he was reasonably sure their leader was not in risk of dying. The poison caused massive muscle convulsions, but fortunately it wasn't supernatural in origin; he already identified it (helped by Beast Boy correctly identifying the spider species their enemy was) and he had an antidote in the Tower. "You did good, Star. Let's get him to the Tower as fast as possible."
Fortunately for Robin, it took just few minutes for Starfire to fly him and Cyborg home. There, after few more injections and being treated with some League-supplied medical technology, Robin was no longer in risk of dying. And with the help of Raven's healing, he was even capable of walking… even if very, very slowly and painfully, with a visible limp.
Unfortunately, the remaining effects of both poison and muscle relaxant meant he was really weak physically. There was also some lingering muscle damage, but nothing permanent. And while his body hurt all over, his pride hurt even more; he was taken out by some amateur criminal! He was already planning extensive aerial combat training for himself.
With their leader mostly safe, the Titans returned to their hunt for the perpetrator, but by that point he was long gone. Beast Boy was still out, trying to track him, alongside Raven and Cyborg. While the half-mechanical Titan wanted to stay with his patient in the Tower, Robin convinced him to go; in case other Titans got hit by this poison, he would be needed there. Their leader, as usual, was way too focused on the mission to let small details like almost dying stop it.
Starfire, however, refused to leave his side. While Robin argued that of all of them she was easily the best suited for this mission, she argued that someone had to stay with him no matter what. And since she was the one arguing the loudest to stay, in the end her leader found himself unable to make her leave.
And while he would never say it himself, he appreciated her being here. Some time ago anyone being a witness to his weakness would be a humiliation, but nowadays it really wasn't that bad. And Starfire was making sure he had water to drink, and she managed to reheat some food for him as well. To his annoyance, even holding a spoon for too long was a bit tiring, but he managed to at least eat without an accident.
As evening approached, he managed to walk around, even if slowly and carefully, without too much pain. At least on his pain scale; he survived worse. Starfire was making sure he still spent most of the time resting, despite his occasional protests.
Which is why they were the only two people in the Tower when mayor's office redirected Killer Moth's call to them in the late evening.
Shortly before the villain contacted the Titans, Cyborg and his spider-hunting team noticed the sudden problem they faced. ".. Is it just me, or are these things a bit too big for normal moths?" He asked, pointing his cannon at the dog-sized bug in front of him.
When they heard screams and saw panicking people running away, they thought it was their target being found. Instead, they arrived at the bridge just in time to see a mass of moth-like bugs of unusual size. They didn't seem to attack people, fortunately, but… "They're eating the support cables! Stop them!" Cyborg shouted, shooting next to the damaged structure, hitting and vaporizing some of the creatures. "Titans, go!"
Fortunately, despite being big, they weren't too tough. Cyborg kept firing from the ground, quickly setting his gun to lower power and faster firing rate. Beast Boy was switching between different predator forms, quickly tearing through individual moths. Raven found out that the creatures instinctively run away from her magic – a pretty common reaction among living things – and she used it to scare them away from the cables they were eating through.
"Stop!" Both the moths and heroes stopped fighting as they heard the loud shout. A group of moths, carrying a big speaker, approached them slowly. The speaker continued, "You will surrender now, or I will have my children eat through these cables… and then through the bodies of everyone in the Jump City! Your leader already surrendered!"
Seeing that - at least for now – no one was in danger, and any time spent talking was more time for civilians to evacuate, Cyborg decided to let the criminal talk, while he called Robin. "Hey Robin, we were just called by some villain…"
In the Tower, Robin was fuming with anger. "Yes, I know. I will let you know what to do in a moment." He closed the communicator, but made sure to left it on. Cyborg should hear this conversation as well. "What are your demands?" He addressed the villain, while discreetly pressing the 'Alert Justice League' button. His hopes of getting any kind of help from them were low, but it didn't hurt to try.
"My demands are simple. The city will name me its ruler, Teen Titans will surrender, and Robin…" The leader of Titans straightened up despite the pain. What would it be? Some horrible form of torture, vengeance, execution? "...will take this lovely young lady to her Christmas ball."
Said young lady entered the view, smiling widely. "Hi, Robie-Poo!" She said, waving her hand.
Robin's brain froze as he tried to process what he just heard. "Er, what?"
"You're gonna be my date tonight!" The teenager on the screen seemed to be almost jumping with glee. "Everyone will talk about it, in Jump City, in the entire country! I'll be famous"
"… why me?" Robin asked, more confused than anything. To his surprise, Justice League actually answered; on a side screen he could see them mobilizing already. He just needed to buy them some time.
"Isn't it obvious? Nobody else can bring a date like this! By the way, my name is Kitten!"
Both superheroes slowly looked at Killer Moth. "Why are you looking at me like that? It's a normal name!" The villain protested. "Besides, you have no proof I'm her dad!"
Robin very slowly covered his face with his hands, sighed, counted to three, then to five, and then lowered his arms again. He didn't have much in the way of alternatives here. "I agree. Where do we meet?"
"Yes! I knew it! Daddy, you're the best!" The teenager hugged her dad, who seemed a bit surprised… but also happy. If not for the threats of eating the city population alive, they would seem like a normal family, nothing else. Still, they were villains, and Robin knew Cyborg was already trying to find this 'Kitten' – it would be absurdly easy with a name like this – and the League would help them take care of it.
After hearing the meet-up location, Robin closed the channel – and was instantly hugged by Starfire. "Starfire, easy there. It's nothing." However, to his surprise, the Tamaranian was not letting him go. "Starfire?" He asked, this time with a bit of worry in his voice.
"I am going with you." She declared, letting him go.
"What? No! You're more needed with the other Titans." Robin protested. "And who knows what will this girl do if she sees you there?"
"I am not letting her take advantage of you while you can't defend yourself." Starfire declared, her voice unwavering.
"Take advantage… what?" Robin shook his head. "What are you talking about, Starfire? I'll be fine, really."
"I am not asking, friend Robin. I am going with you, and that if final." She answered, her eyes full of both worry and conviction. Robin had no choice but to sigh and agree. He still didn't understand why she was so stubborn about it, but he didn't have time to argue.
"Help me get into my tuxedo."
The Christmas ball was almost cancelled because of the moth attack, but Killer Moth quickly added it to his demands, guaranteeing safety for all involved and promising vengeance and death if it was cancelled. The fact that he basically forced a bunch of teenagers to attend under threats of violence did not make him popular at all, but it was overshadowed in the minds of said teenagers by the sudden revelation that their classmate was actually a daughter of a supervillain.
Kitten was, of course, basking in the spotlight. Her classmates suddenly treated her with big respect (or, rather, fear), while some of the more courageous ones were asking her about her life as a daughter of Killer Moth. Why, her daddy was of course the best! No, they never had problems with bugs at home, why would they? Yes, she knew, of course she did, she wasn't blind! And yes, her date is coming soon, you'll see!
In fact, she vastly underestimated the interest she got just from people learning about her dad. She would be on the first page of all news outlet tomorrow, for sure. And once her date arrives, she will be even more famous!
The idea that she may as well be in police custody by that time never occurred to her.
From Robin's point of view, this entire venture was just a way to give his friends and Justice League more time to find and capture Killer Moth. And preferably find a way to disable all of his killer bugs at the same time. It shouldn't take long; Cyborg quickly found Kitten's home address, and League was working on a way to eliminate all moths at the same time.
He was just going to have a bit tense, but mostly boring evening. His biggest worry was Starfire. She carried him to the spot just outside, and repeatedly refused to leave him alone for some reason. He hoped she wouldn't just punch Kitten the moment she sees her; she was acting really weird for no reason. He decided on some hostage and unusual situations training for his team in two weeks, once they clear the other two special trainings he was preparing.
"Robbie-Poo!" Kitten said loudly, causing the people present – both teenagers and adults – to look in their direction. She quickly walked towards him, but her smile disappeared as she saw Starfire next to him. "You can go now. Leave me with my Robin." She waved her hand at the Tamaranian in dismissal.
"I will stay, thank you." Starfire answered coldly.
For a moment, Robin was worried that a fight will ensure, and he quickly changed topic. "We should go in, right?" He asked, pointing at the entrance. He really didn't like all the attention, especially with dozens of reporters everywhere, but it couldn't be helped.
"Oh, yes!" Forgetting about Starfire, Kitten went back to her wide smile. She put her hand on Robin's face; he flinched at the touch, but otherwise remained stoic and unmoving. For whatever reason, this made him feel weirdly uncomfortable. "Look how handsome you are! Really, a perfect date for someone like me."
Robin tried to focus on anything else, and noticed how Starfire's hands involuntarily formed fists. Was she jealous? He was surprised by this, but after a moment decided it wasn't the best time for thinking about that. They can talk about it later. Right now, he just needed to get through this evening until his friends and League get Killer Moth. Then he will personally slap handcuffs on that girl.
Suddenly, Kitten's voice grew quieter for a moment. "Now, compliment me on my dress, my Robbie-Poo."
"No. You forced me to come here, but that's it." Robin answered, equally quietly. He didn't want to humiliate her right now; he'd rather not risk her throwing a tantrum and risking innocent lives. He was essentially a hostage, and he was not going to let her forget that.
Kitten's face turned nasty, her smile becoming almost predatory. "You're forgetting yourself, Robbie. One word to my dad, and he is listening, and people start dying. Now, compliment me on my dress. And do it loud, so that everyone can hear."
Robin swallowed and, slowly and loudly, said the words. The feeling of unease was stll there, confusingly. Why? He wasn't in any danger right now. "You have a very nice dress… Kitten."
"Oh Robbie-Poo! Thank you! You are such a gentleman!" Kitten answered loudly, her smile wide and full of satisfaction." She lowered her voice again. "Now take my arm, lead me in, and smile."
Robin forced a grimace that someone could smile on his face, and took her arm, leading her inside. Starfire followed a bit behind, her hands still in form of closed fists. Robin paid her little attention now, focusing instead on his own discomfort. He could slowly walk without that much pain, but he was still very weak. Hopefully his team would catch Killer Moth before his legs gave out.
His wish was not fulfilled as Kitten, once again threatening him, managed to get him on the dance floor. Fortunately, it was a very slow dance, but he still had trouble following it at times and grew tired quickly. He really hoped other Titans of the League would solve this problem fast.
Far away, close to Killer Moth's house, Cyborg and rest of the team waited for Justice League to finish finding a way to disrupt the villain's control over the moths. They were getting close; they already found out how the bugs were controlled, and were now setting up equipment to safely take control over the insects and disperse them, instead of having them go into frenzy upon the termination of controlling signal. They weren't sure if that's what would happen if they just stopped the transmission, but they weren't going to risk it.
"At least he just needs to dance with his girlfriend, nothing else." Cyborg commented, looking around. It was freezing cold, and they were outside, cutting off one of the escape routes from the house in preparation for the assault. "While we have to freeze here."
"Dude. Not funny." Beast Boy answered. For some reason, he seemed really tense as he kept watching one of the many news channels livestreaming the event. Cyborg looked at the screen, but all he saw was Robin dancing with that Kitten girl. But Beast Boy was still tense and seemed angry, while Raven's eyes were colder than the ice around them.
"Alright. I obviously can't see it. What's wrong?" Cyborg asked. He still couldn't see anything particularly wrong there. Robin was still weak after the poisoning, but if he needed help Starfire was always close to him, and he doubted that one human girl could be a danger to the Tamaranian.
"You can't see it?" Beast Boy asked, his voice serious and tense. It wasn't a young hero who liked pranks and jokes; it was a former member of Doom Patrol, veteran of many dangerous fights, speaking. And he was angry. "You know, there's a good exercise I do in situations like these. Look at Robin and that girl, and reverse their genders. Imagine Kitten as a guy, Robin as a girl, and look at it once again."
Cyborg, a bit confused but understanding that something serious is happening here, looked at the screen again. Kitten just dancing with Robin, pulling him back into a dance every time he hesitated. And before, she seemed like she wanted to kiss him almost but he backed off… oh.
Oh.
"Yeah. Can you see it now?" Beast Boy said, his voice angry. "If you saw a dude doing all that to a girl, you'd be pissed, wouldn't you? Force her to come be his date, do all that stuff, force her to dance with him. But since it was a girl doing that, it didn't feel that serious, right?"
"… Yeah." Cyborg winced and looked at the equipment deployed by the League. He hoped they would hurry up and get Moth soon. He was also ashamed of how he dismissed his leader's sacrifice, but for now they needed to deal with this situation fast, before something happens and Starfire breaks that girl in half.
Back on the dancing floor, Kitten's smile weakened a tiny bit as her plan to kiss Robin failed, the Titan wiggling a tiny bit to the left or right every time. She was getting a bit frustrated, while Starfire slowly got more and more furious. Her eyes were now slightly glowing with green fire, and the fury inside her was closer and close to overflowing. Not that Kitten noticed it, leaser-focused on Robin.
Having enough, Kitten finally decided to use the same method as previously – blackmail. "Kiss me." She ordered him angrily.
For whatever reason the very idea was so repulsive to Robin, and he winced and moved away instead. "No, thank you. I won't. I don't like you this way… or at all."
"Would you prefer people dying?" Kitten asked, her smile once again skewing and turning into grimace of unhealthy satisfaction. She pulled him closer and Robin, weakened the poison and al the dancing, found himself too weak to just push her away. He could still attack some weak point – even a thumb in the eye would suffice – but she could take that as an excuse to start killing people! Instead, he tried to push back, but she just powered through his weak struggle, smiling triumphantly. He froze, unable to decide what to do, as her face came close and closer to him.
But before she managed to force a kiss, she was suddenly stopped. A hand grabbed her arm, and it was stronger than steel; no matter how much she tried, Kitten couldn't get free. Robin used that moment of hesitation to get free and stumble back, breathing heavily. He was shaking, and he didn't understand why, but he couldn't control it.
In the meantime, Kitten turned to Starfire with fury in her eyes. "Release me this instant, or I'll have someone killed!" She demanded, stomping her foot.
"No."
It took a moment for Kitten's brain to register the refusal, and another moment for her to stumble through with the answer. Seeing the situation in the middle of the dancing floor, everyone around them moved away, giving them space. Kitten looked at Starfire with fury. "I will do that! My daddy is listening, if I tell him to do that he will!"
"I know." Starlight answered, and Kitten shivered as she heard the answer. The alien voice was colder than the air outside, and the grip on her arm was strong enough to be uncomfortable. "But you will not do that. You are a disgusting gremplork, nothing else."
"I will…" Kitten started, but then she looked into Starfire's eyes and shuddered. Suddenly, her confidence left her. She never saw eyes like this; while the green light emanating from them was scary enough, there was also so much hatred in them.
"If you do that, I will kill you." Starfire said quietly, quiet enough that cameras and reporters wouldn't hear it.
"You… you can't do that! My daddy will…"
"You do not know that, but my family did something similar once." Starfire said, as if she didn't hear the protests at all. Her voice quiet, but full of old pain and determination. "They had a choice between sacrificing one person, or sacrificing many, many more. They chose to sacrifice one." Starfire looked at Robin, who sat down in a chair fair distance away; he seemed to be talking with other Titans, which was the main reason she didn't break that girl in half to go to him this instant and help. Starfire turned her eyes back at the shivering, terrorized girl, who only now realized that she may actually die here. "I had a lot of time to think about this. And I no longer like the choice they made." Starfire remembered that all too well. The horrible things she suffered through, the loss of hope, all of that for the 'greater good'. She would not allow another person to suffer the way she did.
Kitten swallowed heavily, her heart rate skyrocketing. Was it her imagination, or did the grasp on her arm grew stronger? "You, you are a hero! Everyone knows you won't kill an innocent girl like me!" She tried once again to pry off Starfire's fingers from her arm, and once again she failed miserably. "Let me go!"
"If you harm anyone, I will kill you. I will first break your arm." The grasp on her arm became a tiny bit stronger, enough to make Kitten gasp and shut up in absolute terror. "After that, I will break you in half. I will then leave your dying corpse on the floor and go help Robin feel better after what you did to him. Do you understand?"
"No, please don't… let me go, please! I didn't do anything to him!" Kitten tried to argue, tears in her eyes. Her daddy, the press, the fame, her classmates, even the ballroom itself became blurry and unimportant in her mind as she focused all her attention on survival. "I won't do it, I swear! I will leave everyone be, just, just let me go!"
Starfire was so angry, she felt as if her head would explode from all the emotions she felt. Her eyes were shining now, a powerful green light. Only her meditations with Raven, and knowledge that killing Kitten would not make Robin feel any better right now, stopped her from doing something right here and now.
She let go of the girl just in time to hear a sudden commotion behind her. She turned around, and saw the half-spider thief enter the ballroom, causing panic and making people run away.
"Fang! You came back!" Kitten shouted, gasping for air and shaking in the meantime, completely subdued by fear and terror. "Save me!"
"Get your hands off my girl!" The spider-human shouted in return, in a surprisingly human voice. He spat out poison at Starfire and charged.
The Tamaranian looked at the - completely harmless to her - poison, and then just stood there. Both fists and spider legs hit her with full force of charging hybrid, and bounced off, as expected. He was stronger than normal humans, but far from her level of strength and resilience.
"So, you are her boyfriend, then?" Starfire asked, ignoring the flailing limbs. "You know, Beast Boy told us that your body is too delicate to attack… but he said we can hit your legs if we need to."
"Wha… Aaaaaaaarrrgh!" The question never came to be, as he opened his mouth at the same time as Starfire grabbed one of his spider limbs.
CRACK.
Justice League managed to neutralize Killer Moth's control and took over, making all the moths outside of his lab fall asleep. They were now helping with the clean-up, but at this point Jump City could easily deal with it. The damaged bridge was fortunately barely damaged, and the repair would not take as long as originally predicted.
Without his 'children', Killer Moth was easily subdued. He seemed resigned at this point, and willingly surrendered. Apparently, from his point of view, what he did was a great sacrifice that would help him repair the strain relationship with his daughter.
Beast Boy told him that he's a really bad father, and left him with the police.
Fang – the human/spider hybrid – surrendered the moment Starfire broke one of his spider limbs. For some reason this was the moment Kitten gave up completely and started crying, shaking uncontrollably and basically become unresponsive to the world; she was still not reacting to anything or anyone when police arrived to take her. Being underage, she would not end up in prison, but she would definitely get in big trouble once she calmed down.
But none of them were really important to Beast Boy now. Instead, he came back to the Tower to find other Titans in the middle of an argument.
"Starfire, you risked the lives of so many people! Why would you do that!" Robin, sitting on a chair, argued with his savior. He seemed very unhappy about being saved. "We're heroes, we can't just let innocent people die because of some small discomfort!"
"That was not a small discomfort! That gremplork was trying to force yourself on you, and I will not have that. Ever." Starfire retorted, her eyes glowing with green energy.
"Woah, woah. Take a moment, both of you." Cyborg stood between them. "We all had a really bad day today, let's take a moment here. And let's not stress Raven even more, all those panicking people around were already a lot."
"I'm fine." The sorceress answered in her emotionless voice, but the shadows under her feet were moving a bit unnaturally. "I just need some rest and sleep. And meditation. And tea."
With this statement, the discussion died down. Raven made some tea and left for her room, while Robin went to the evidence room – probably to update the case files in a place no one would bother him.
Cyborg went to talk with Starfire, leaving Beast Boy to sigh and slowly move towards the evidence room.
He found Robin in silent, semi-dark room, lit up with blue light of multiple screens. The trophies of their earlier fights littered the room, but neither the reminders of earlier victories nor the darkness hid the visible annoyance on Robin's face – although he tried to hide it when he noticed Beast Boy approaching. "Need anything?"
"Yes." Beast Boy took a deep breath. This would not be a pleasant discussion. "You can feel bad about what happened, you know? There's nothing wrong with that."
"… what are you talking about? I'm fine." Robin turned back to his screen, his fingers moving across the keyboard as he continued to write Kitten's article in their database. "It's not the worst I've been through."
"Yeah, but… look…" Beast Boy stooped mid-sentence, and tried again from a different angle. "What Kitten was trying to do was wrong. She was just one step from some committing sexual assault."
"What?" That got Robin's attention. He turned back to Beast Boy, annoyance and surprise clearly visible on his face. "She just tried to kiss me! Why is everything such a big issue for you? Poison Ivy did that multiple times, and you don't see me pressing charges about that!"
"Wait, what?" That revelation completely shocked the green Titan. "You mean, Poison Ivy assaulted you, forcefully kissed you, and you see nothing wrong with it?"
"She's a villain, Kitten's a villain. Ivy also broke my leg once, it's part of the job. And I'm busy, can't you see?"
"No, that, this is insane! That did the Batman do about this?!"
"He gave me antidote for her poison and I was fine in a minute. Seriously, what's your problem? Never had a villain kiss you? It happened to Batman multiple times, and you don't see him complaining." Robin argued, now visibly agitated. "If it's such a big deal to you, maybe you just need to learn to ignore this better. Villians attack us, we fight back, that's it, and I'd prefer a stupid kiss over having broken arm and not being able to fight for a month! Seriously, Beast Boy, grow up!" At the end of this sentence, the leader of Titans was almost screaming, before he huffed and got back to writing Kitten's file.
"… Are you talking about me, or yourself?" Beast Boy quietly asked.
"What are you talking about?!" Raven turned around so fat his char almost fell over.
"You fingers are shaking." The green Titan pointed out in a quiet, calm voice.
And to Robin's shock, they actually did. "What, why? I'm fine, I'm calm, it was nothing!" He couldn't understand what was going on, was that some kind of aftereffect from Fang's poison? Yes, that has to be it. Nothing else. Why were his eyes wet?
"Do you need a hug?" Beast Boy asked slowly, fully expecting a refusal and anger.
Months ago, Robin would just explode with anger and scream to be left alone, not able to have anyone witness his moment of weakness. And he almost did, but some small but growing part of conscience didn't let him. Instead, he slowly nodded his head.
When Starfire quietly entered the evidence room few minutes later, worried about her friend, she found Robin crying and Beast Boy hugging him, the old and new trauma flowing out in words alongside many tears. At first, she wanted to join the hug, but then she realized that the best she could do for now was leave them alone; Robin rarely wanted anyone else to see his moments of what he thought to be weakness. Beast Boy noticed her, and they wordlessly agreed; Starfire quietly left the room. She could talk to her friends – both of them – later.
For now Robin allowed himself to cry in the safety of Beast Boy's hug, and the green Titan sat with him for long hours afterwards.
Sorry for being late; my health made it harder to write for a while. I now have a small backup of stories to publish, so I should be back to more regular updates.