“I'm much stronger than I look”

Starfire was almost falling down. Her powers were lacking because of the emotional stress and her endurance was significantly affected by it. She was about to pass out when Red X came in. “She is Starfire!”, he said as he pulled the mask off Starfire and he fell back to the floor in front of her. Robin backed away shocked.

Starfire was breathing heavily, trying to gather her strength back. She looked at Red X, he was bleeding from his arms, the wounds had gotten bigger and he couldn’t stand anymore. He just held her mask on his hand tightly. The alien girl let her head down. “Starfire? Are you working for- “, the door was opened up by Cyborg’s sonic cannon, cutting off Robin’s question. Is that what he noticed first? The rest of the team entered, and they froze at the sight of Starfire in the Red S suit. “Star!”, Beast Boy yelled out loud. “Starfire! Tell me, why are you working for Slade? Is it because of that picture of Blackfire?”, Robin insisted. Blackfire, she had to stop her. She couldn’t lose any more time. “Starfire!”, Cyborg yelled. “What is going on?”, Raven asked horrified. The princess let herself fall to the ground, just steps away from Red X. “Star, please, tell me why you are working for Slade. Did Red X put you up to this?”, Robin tried asking once more. Starfire lifted her head up slowly and took her gloves off. “Is Red X using you? I can- “, Robin slowly moved closer, trying to reach Red X with his hands. Was Slade that important to Robin?

She stood up, extending her right arm with a starbolt ready to blow on her hand. “Leave him alone”, she spoke firmly. The Titans looked scared as they stood there frozen, not knowing what to do. “Starfire, I am just trying to catch Slade and if Red X is working for him then I have to take him down”, Robin tried to explain himself. “You have already done that”, she responded, her eyes were glowing, and her hand had finally stopped shaking. “But I have to take him in to question him about Slade”, Robin tried to come closer once more. “Do not touch him”, her tone was firm again, no cracks even if she felt like crying. “But Slade-“, she cut him off. “Robin, I need you to let him go. Can you do that for me, please?”, she spoke softly, putting her hand down again. “You know I can’t, Star. I have to catch Slade”. His voice cut through her hope.

She closed her eyes.

“Then, I am sorry”, she opened her eyes fully lit up. She groaned as she gathered all her strength and built a green energy force field around herself and the masked thief. She walked in front of Red X and released her power in an explosion. Her teammates were pushed away because of the blast. She quickly grabbed the utility belts, carried Red X in her arms and flew out of the building.

-

The door automatically opened letting the Teen Titans into the main area of the Tower. They walked in silently. Cyborg and Beast Boy sat on the couch. Raven stood by the window, looking at the dark city in front of her. Robin was the last one to enter. He walked to his teammates and stopped in front of them, trying to get his thoughts in order so he could say something, but it wasn’t working.

“What was that?”, Cyborg was the first one to speak. Nobody replied. “It shouldn’t have happened”, he continued, letting his head fall into his hands. “I should’ve known. I felt her energy. It had changed since that night when Slade poisoned Robin. But I just thought she just felt sad like she said”. Beast Boy stood up after Raven spoke. “Well, I told you all that she was Red S. And what did you do? You didn’t believe me. So there, it shouldn’t have happened because I told you about it but you didn’t take my word for it”, he yelled at the others. “We didn’t believe you because you are not a reliable source”, Raven replied, turning her back to the rest of her team. “And you are?”, the shape shifter clapped back immediately. “Well, they had just stolen the T-Ship I thought that you were just shocked and-“, the green teen cut her off. “You thought that I made it up because I went all coocoo because they stole our T-Ship”, she turned back and walked to him.

“Stop it both of you. We didn’t believe it because it’s Starfire. She could never hurt us”, Cyborg stood up, pushing the empath and the shape shifter away before their argument got more heated. Robin didn’t know what to say to everything that his teammates where discussing. His mind tried to stay technical, to think critically but there was one thing that didn’t make any sense at all. If she was being forced to work for Slade, why did she kiss Red X? “But she hurt us”, he meant she hurt him, but he couldn’t bring himself to accept that.  “And we have to stop her”.

Beast Boy laughed. “May I remind you that we didn’t “stop you” when you were working with Slade”, he sat back on the couch. “I wasn’t working with Slade”, the leader angrily replied. “Maybe she isn’t working with him either”, Raven sat beside Cyborg.

Robin was about to speak when his communicator started ringing. He opened it up and saw the major’s face in his screen. “Robin, turn on the news. Jump City is under attack”, the call ended. The leader immediately turned on the TV and tuned in a news channel. On their large screen they saw a video in which Blackfire spoke to the citizens of Jump City declaring that she would become the new ruler of the city and will be taking Earth soon. Slade stood next to her and behind them there was an army of tamaraneans.

“Do not try to stop me. I will not have mercy on anyone who tries to defeat me. I will be announcing the new rules of Jump City, or may I say of this new Tamaranean colony”. The video ended.

“I can’t believe it”, Beast Boy said. “She wasn’t just working with Slade, she was working with Blackfire to take our planet”, Robin stated as he walked to the screen. “Was this her plan all along?”, he continued. “Are you hearing yourself?”, Cyborg stood up and walked to Robin. “Cyborg, Tamaran is taking over our planet. Don’t you see it?”, the leader asked angrily. “The only thing I see is that you are getting Slade obsessed again. You are not making sense. Starfire didn’t come to Earth to take it, she came to ask for help and we helped her”, the half robot replied. “He’s right. We helped her, we helped you when Slade took you, we tried to help Terra when he took her, but we were too late. Maybe if we stop fighting, we can help Star once again before it’s too late for her too”, Beast Boy stood up, slowly getting closer to the pair of teens. “Come on, Robin. You know Starfire, she is our friend. I know you are hurt, but she’s your best friend”, Cyborg calmed down. “You said it before, she’s been there for all of us. We have to be by her side now if she needs us”, Raven also walked to the leader. He sighed. “Well, we know where to look”.

-

Starfire sat on the edge of the couch of the leaving room in the lodge. She hid her face in her hands, trying to keep her tears from falling, trying to keep herself from sobbing, trying not to break. So many thoughts, so many questions. Why did Robin react like that? Why did he get so obsessed with Slade? Would he able to hurt her just to get to Slade? She shook her head. He wouldn’t, this wasn’t him. Did Slade poison Robin again? Why else would he be able to hurt her? Why didn’t he care about the kiss? Why did she do it?

“Are you okay?”, Jason’s voice interrupter her tangled thoughts. She looked up at him. “I should be the one asking. Are you okay, Jason?”, she moved away just a bit when he came to sit beside her. “I feel better, thanks for patching me up and giving me whatever those pills were”, he smiled at her, she did too but the tears in her eyes made them sparkle with sadness.

“I am sorry”, she apologized, hiding her face again as her tears started falling down. “Hey, Star, don’t say sorry. We had a rough day, it’s okay”, she looked back up as he said that. “Slade called, he said we must wait for his order to get the diamond to him”, she tried to hide a crack in her voice, but she couldn’t, and she bit her lip to keep herself together. “I am so- It is just too much and-“, again she bit her bottom lip. “Do you wanna talk about it?”, he asked moving closer to her. She shook her head, breaking down once more, trying to hide herself again but Jason stopped her, wrapping her arms around her waist in a tight hug. She put her arms around his shoulders, her face buried in the space were his right one met his neck.

Starfire’s body was shaking as she cried her heart out. Jason held her firmly, trying as hard as she was doing to keep her from breaking. She felt so fragile in his arms, so vulnerable and so shattered. He tried his best to keep her pieces together, but he could feel her breaking again and again as a new wave of tears hit her.

She cried for a while and he waited patiently, caressing her hair with one of his hands, pushing away her guilt with reassuring words and listening to her mumbling about how sorry she was. Maybe 10 minutes after that, they had moved around. Jason was sitting with his back on the backrest of the couch. She sat beside him, her head on his chest, with her face still trying to find a hiding spot, and her arms were around his waist. He was still caressing her red hair softly, playing with it from time to time and then just brushing it with his fingers.

“Jason?”, Starfire looked up. “Hey”, he replied his voice sounded soft like a whisper. “I am grateful for your company and understanding”, she was still looking up at him. “Anytime”, he replied in his regular playful tone. “I feel ready to talk about it”, she moved away from him. The warmth of her body was no longer on his and he missed it immediately. The alien princess sat by his side, closer to the edge of the couch.

“I do not like lying to my friends. I do not like lying to-“, she caught a sob right before it made her break again. “To Robin?”, X asked, and she nodded. “But I feel hurt by him too. I know I am the one who is wrong, I am the one lying, and I am the one who betrayed them, but I am hurt too”, she sighed. “It hurts talking about him”. Jason moved forward so his face was closer to hers. “Then forget about him. I wanna know more about you. Who’s this mysterious alien princess with those amazing powers?”, Starfire giggled at his question. “What do you want to know?”, she played along. “Do you fly everywhere you go just because you can?”, she nodded. “Do you use your powers for mundane things like frying an egg or baking something?”, she looked away. “I am not good at cooking Earth foods, but I do make the best Tamaranean dishes. I shall prepare them for you sometime”, she smiled again. “Is your body always that warm?”, she pouted as she thought about her answer. “Well, the cold only affects me when it is very strong. I do stay warm even in the snow”, she nodded. “You are amazing”, the words slipped out of his mouth but the smile on her face made him feel better.

“What about you, Jason?”, she moved closer to him, pushing him a little bit when she bumped her shoulder on his. “What do you want to know, miss warm princess?”, she looked away. Her eyes looking around as her mind tried to come out with an interesting question. “Where did you learn French?”, she asked, and he moved his head to the side. “When did I tell you about French?”, she shook her head. “You did not. I received it through the lip contact. I noticed when I read a sign in the museum and I could understand a word in French”. The lip contact, he thought. “My adoptive father taught me. I am also learning Chinese, German and Russian”, somehow he hoped she was interested in learning any of those languages. “What is an adoptive father? Is it a different father?”, Starfire looked back at him. “Well, when kids lose their true parents, sometimes they will get adopted by another father or mother, those become your adoptive parents”, he explained looking away, thinking about his own ‘true parents’. “Are they not real? Why are they not just your new parents? Or are they your k’norfka?”, Bruce wasn’t his real father to him, but he was to Dick, he thought. “I guess they can become just your parents with time, but we are not there yet. What is a k’norfka? Can I learn Tamaranean through lip contact?”, Jason frowned, and Starfire giggled.

“Jason… About the lip contact”, the alien princess looked down at her feet. “I am sorry”, he looked back at her when she said that. He wasn’t sorry. “It’s okay”, no it wasn’t just okay. “I was scared, and I just wanted to…”, she moved her head to the other side, away from him. “It’s okay”, no, again, it wasn’t just okay. “I do not even know what I wanted. I just felt scared and alone, but then I did not feel alone anymore”. Both teens stayed silent for a couple of minutes. “Starfire?”, she turned her head back and looked at him. “Yes, Jason”, he looked into her emerald eyes. He felt trapped in them. “Did you-“.

Before Jason could speak a loud noise broke the mood. Jason groaned, as he took his mask from the coffee table and put it on. He looked through the glass wall in front of them while he stood up. “There’s an elephant in the patio”, he announced. Starfire stood up. “My friends. We can’t let them take the diamond or know about the plan”, Starfire put on her utility belt, which was on the coffee table too. Red X put on his too.

The Titans walked to the door and knocked on it. “They are very polite”, Jason joked around. “Starfire, we want to talk”, Cyborg yelled. “That seems worse”, X replied. “Do you want me to make them go away?”, Starfire shook her head. “We have to get to Slade and give him the diamond. Take it, it is in my room. Then drive to Slade, I will distract them and then I will go with you”, Starfire pushed Jason. “Starfire, open up!”, Beast Boy yelled. “Are you sure?”, Red X asked and she nodded.

As Red X ran into Starfire’s room, she walked to the door and opened it. “Star, can we talk?”, Robin asked as he stood in front of her. “I do not wish to talk. Please, I need you to leave”, her voice was soft like it usually was. “We won’t leave, Star. We are your friends. If you need us, we will be here for you”, he continued. He sounded more like her Robin than he did back in the museum. “Come on Star, we know about Blackfire and Slade. We can take both down together?”, Cyborg tried to get her to let her guard down, but she refused once again. “I am warning you, stay away from me”, she stated firmly. “Starfire, you don’t want to hurt us. I can feel it. Whatever it’s going on, we will help you”, Raven tried to touch her arm, but the alien princess pushed her away. “You do not understand. I am not on your side anymore. I am- “, evil?

Once again, a loud noise interrupted their conversation. This time, the cause of it made Starfire shiver. Blackfire landed behind her teammates. “Hello, little sister”, the Titans got ready to fight her. “Don’t worry Star, we’ll take care of her”, Cyborg. “Didn’t you kids hear the news? I won’t have mercy on you”, the purple haired girl walked to the Titans, playing with the red emerald shaped diamond she wore in a necklace. “We won’t have mercy on you either”, Robin declared as the team got ready to fight her. “This will be fun”, Blackfire caressed the jewel but before she could fight the teens, her sister stood in front of her.

“Star, come on, we can take her”, Beast Boy said. “What is it, sis? I thought you wanted to be on the right side of history”, Starfire’s hands were shaking. “Are you trying to disrespect your queen?”, Starfire shook her head. “Are you and your human friend traitors?”, Blackfire’s eyes burned through her sister’s. “You mean Slade?”, Robin asked as he moved closer to the purple eyed girl. “Yes, do you want me to kill him after I kill them?”. Again, all eyes were on Starfire. “It is not that, I just wish to assist you. You should not waste your time with petty fights”, the red-haired princess explained, trying to sound as calm and collected as she could. “Interesting, sister”, Blackfire playfully smiled at the thought of what was about to come. Starfire looked back at her friends, they were confused. “Does that mean you are giving up?”, Beast Boy asked. “No, ‘dude’, that means, she is taking you down”, Blackfire laughed as she lifted herself up. “Come on, sis, show time!”, the older girl announced watching from above.

Starfire turned around, her powers weren’t ready to use, she didn’t feel anger, she felt fear, just pure fear. Red X saw her from inside the lodge as he was about to go to the basement. He couldn’t leave her alone, she looked like she needed help and she was there for him before, so he decided to be by her side now.

The door opened and Red X walked out. “Starfire remember the X”, he said, pointing to the clocking device in his utility belt. “Who is this? Is he your new boyfriend, sis? You are really into capes, aren’t you?”, Blackfire asked, still looking at the scene like it was some twisted horror movie made just for her. Red X stood back.

“I got it, get to Slade”, the Tamaranean princess stated. “Wait”, Robin yelled in his regular commanding tone. “What is going on, Star?”, was he finally asking what she wanted him to ask? “Why are you two working for Slade together?”, the masked hero asked, walking up to her. “Sister, I’m getting bored”, Blackfire booed. But lucky for Starfire, she felt the fury she needed building up slowly. “What did Slade offer you?”, Robin continued approaching her. “Why do you want to protect him?”, Starfire chuckled. She didn’t want to, but she did. “Robin is there anything else you want to know?”, the Tamaranean teen firmly asked. “Yes”, Robin finally stood in front if her, just a couple of steps away. “Have you been working for him ever since you came to Earth? Is that why way became a Titan? Did you help Slade get to me?”, the shock that appeared in her face while he made his questions quickly turned into anger. “How dare you insinuate that? I would never hurt you, Robin”, she quickly answered, her eyes fully lit up. “Well you have already done that”, did he mean the kiss? “How?”, she asked, her eyes going back to normal. “You are working with Slade, aren’t you?”, his tone, his frown, Slade.

Her eyes lit up once more and another explosion of green energy sent the Titans flying away. Red X, covered behind his cape and his mask hid the horror in his expression. He had never seen her like this.

“Yes, I am. I am working with Slade and serving my sister to take this planet. But the only thing you care about is Slade”, Starfire angrily yelled out her words. Robin and the rest of the team were getting back up slowly. Raven was the first one to approach Starfire, who had a Starbolt ready to blow in her hand. When the half demon touched it, thinking the alien would let it go, it hurt her. Starfire stood still, fear trying to break her again and many emotions did the same but for the first time she couldn’t allow herself to feel them.

A birdarang pushed her hand away, when Starfire tried to reach Raven’s. She looked back at Robin. “Starfire, this is your last chance. Stop it or we will have to take you down”, the leader of the team declared. The alien princess didn’t answer, she just looked at him, trying read his eyes, trying to guess if there was any way things could go back to how they were before. When did she care that much about him asking about the kiss? The real question she wanted to hear from him was the one was about to ask back at the lodge, at least she thought he would say what she wished for. But this was her last chance and also their last chance.

She could feel the tears building up and the fury flying away. No, no, no. Don’t. Not right now. She tried to focus on the anger, on the fury, but no amount of fury could wash over the pain she felt for just thinking about losing him. No, no, no. Don’t leave. Who was she asking to stay? Did she want him to stay or did she want the fury to stay? Too many emotions, her powers were getting weaker and she let her arms fall to the sides of her body.

“Star-“, Robin walked to her but a purple blackbolt pushed the masked hero to the ground. “Well, sister, if you are not taking the trash out, I will”, Blackfire announced, her eyes lit up and her hands glowing with energy ready to shoot. A birdarang flew to the older sister and before it touched her, Starfire blasted it with a starbolt. “Do not worry”, Starfire’s eyes started glowing up again as she flew to her friends and started shooting starbolts again and again.

Red X stepped back, shocked at the scene that was evolving in front of him. Starfire was winning the fight, her abilities combined with the the Red X suit were too much for the Teen Titans. One by one her friends fell to the ground, trapped in sticky Xs, electrocuted, out of order or just hurt. The last one standing was Robin, the one who she had been avoiding. Jason knew that this was a changing point for her but didn’t know if she would come out fine from it. He tried to join her, but Blackfire shot him a couple of blackbolts that he didn’t get to avoid.

Starfire turned around to see Red X wounded, she whispered her name in despair. Her eyes going back to normal. “No sidekicks for this one. Robin gets a pass”, Blackfire laughed at the expression on the masked teen as he groaned. Starfire’s anger was back, she was angry at Blackfire for hurting Jason and Robin caught it. He threw one of his smoke pellets to run away but Starfire followed him.

This wasn’t like him; he would never let his teammates on the ground and run away. The anger she felt for Blackfire was covered with worry that she now felt for Robin. What was he trying to do? She went after him, running just like he did.

Something hit her ankles and made her trip. Robin had made her run into the woods, used his Bola to trap her and she fell to the ground as she lost balance. “Starfire, what is this?”, he asked, and she looked up at him. “Why did you hurt our friends? Why are you letting Blackfire control you?”, he stopped himself, she noticed he was struggling to say something. “Why do you care so much about Red X?”, the question hurt more than anything she had taken to this day. And it hurt because she could feel the pain in Robin’s voice. “Do you care about him?”, she sighed when he asked her that. “I do”, she answered, freeing herself from the weapon he had used on her. “And…”, again he was struggling to talk. “Do you care about me?”, again, she felt like he had just shoot her straight to her heart. She couldn’t answer, she couldn’t fall for it. Not now.

“Star, did you become closer to me to help your sister and Slade?”, the pain she felt made her step back. If only she could say what she really felt. “I don’t understand what is going on. I wanna ask you so many questions. One minute we are hanging out on our first date, then you are kissing Red X and taking Earth. It doesn’t make sense”, he continued. “Make it make sense, Starfire”, she shook her head. “No, what? No, you don’t care about our team? About me? About us?”. Us? Again, he was referring to them as a couple. But they weren’t and now she felt like they never would be.

“I have to do this, Robin. It will make sense later”, she spoke up finally and he only grew more confused at her statement. “What does that mean?”. Starfire continued shaking her head. The teen boy got closer to her, close enough for her heart to start beating faster than it normally would and for her cheeks to blush. “Look, Star, I am not good with words. I am not the right one to ask you to open up, but I need you to. Please, Starfire”, his right hand went up to her cheek, caressing it softly with his thumb. “Robin, I cannot”, he put his other hand in her other cheek. “Yes, Star, you can do it”, she shook her head once more. “What can I do to make you trust me again?”, Robin was whispering, and it made her shiver. She knew what she wanted and finally she got it. His lips softly landed on hers and she immediately closed her eyes.

Time froze, or at least that’s how it felt for her. How soft, she thought as her lips danced with his. Sweet, she thought next as their mouths opened up just enough for them to taste each other. Warm, she thought as his arms wrapped around her waist pulling her closer. No, she thought as both let go of the kiss panting. He smiled, looking at her blushing face. “I am sorry for getting so obsessed with Slade. It’s just that he’s put you in so much danger and then he made me hurt you. I still can’t forget about it. I can’t forgive him for that”, his words healed her wounds and her teary eyes reflected how much she needed to hear him. “I trust you, Star, I will help you take Blackfire down. I will follow your lead and we will get our home back”, Robin’s voice sounded so reassuring, so calming and so safe. “Do you trust me, Star?”, he asked. “I do, Robin, I trust you and I-“, as she was about to pour her heart out a purple blackbolt shot Robin on the back, making him fall into her arms.

A/N: hey! hope you like the 7th episode. so blackfire’s finally in the story and she will be even meaner next time they see her. let me know your thoughts for this episode, any guess on what’s next? hope you are having a nice day/night.