After Pa left with a message for someone called Tsunade (whom she learned was the one Naruto affectionately called Baa-chan), Raven and Naruto went for breakfast, the still unconscious Cyborg floating behind them with her magic. As they road the elevator, he noticed something. "Did you cut your hair?"
"Yes." She replied simply. She'd done it last night before falling asleep, not wanting to deal with the tangles in the morning.
"It suits you." He commented, causing her to blush. It really did. She had looked good with her long hair, but this hime-style cut really seemed to fit her. It made her even more beautiful. "Wait, what?"
Luckily for them, their blushes had died down before the elevator deposited them in the main room, which consisted of a kitchen, the command area, the TV, and a gorgeous view over the city. Upon entering, three pairs of curious eyes locked on them.
"What happened to him?" Robin asked, referring to the still-floating Cyborg.
Raven smirked. "He lost a fight with a toad." She said with her usual snark.
Robin and Starfire shared confused looks as Beast-Boy, who had paused his video game, burst out laughing. "Hahaha!"
As the duo went to the kitchen area for some food, after Raven had floated Cyborg over to the couch, Starfire noticed their apparent closeness, and uncharacteristically smirked. While she was still naive in many things, romance was no longer one of them. When Titans Tower was first built, she had gone to the store of books to get materials to learn of the Earth Culture. One of the books must have had the wrong title though. She'd bought a book on the shades of gray, fascinated that Earth apparently had 50 different types. When she first read it, she'd turned red enough that her hair seemed pale in comparison. Quickly hiding it under her bed, she had vowed never to open it again. However, after Kitten had tried to steal Robin, she'd decided to look at the book one last time for some help to seduc- I mean woo Robin. When she read it, though, she'd found she quite liked it. Since then, she had gotten many similar books, though she was careful to hide them from her teammates. Yes, it's true. Starfire is a closet pervert. (Somewhere up in Heaven, Jiraiya cheers in victory). As such, she's able to see the attraction between the two, even if they did not.
Determined to get them together, both to help her friend and have one less rival for Robin's affection, she formulated a plan. Floating over to the duo as they finished preparing their breakfast, or tea in Raven's case, Starfire innocently asked "Friend Raven, could you ask Naruto if we may share the lip contact?"
All activity screeches to a halt, only the sound of a few plates shattering, courtesy of some 'random' spikes in magic, breaking the silence. All eyes, even the now awake Cyborg's, turn to her. Before Raven could respond, Robin yelled, "What! Why!?" Starfire smiled. She had not considered this. She knew from her reading that jealousy could be used to help one realize that they had 'the feelings', but had only meant to use it on Raven. Now, it appeared that it had worked on Robin as well.
Pretending that she did not realize why he had asked that, she replied "My people can learn any language through lip contact, and I wish to converse with friend Naruto."
As Robin tried to explain to the 'seemingly' oblivious alien why you can't just kiss a guy, Raven reluctantly conveyed her request to Naruto. As much as she, for some reason, disliked the idea, she could see the practicality of it. However, his response totally shocked the Titans, who did not need to know his language to understand him.
"What! No, no, no. Not doing that! Nuh uh!" He rapidly shook his head, his palm out in a defensive position.
"Why not?" She asked, confused. 'Most guys would give their right arm to kiss her (No pun intended), so why did he refuse. Oh no, don't tell me he's gay!' she thought, unaware of the similar thoughts running through the other Titans' heads.
"No more super powered kisses! I've already had a toad kiss me to place me in an illusion world and nearly had my soul sucked out by another one. No more! If I'm going to kiss someone, it's going to be a nice, non-powered kiss with a girl I like!" Naruto denied vehemently.
Raven sighed in relief. "So you're not gay?" She asked for clarification.
Naruto shuddered, remembering how his first kiss had been taken by a certain Uchiha. "Kami no!"
Raven smiled at that, though she wondered why she cared so much. It wasn't like she thought being gay was wrong. "Wait, your soul was almost sucked out?" 'that must have been one hell of a kiss' she thought, annoyed.
"Yeah, that chick was crazier than the snake lady! If I hadn't switched with a Kage Bushin, she would have gotten me! Kami, sometimes I wish I didn't get their memories." He mumbled that last part, though Raven heard it. Despite not fully understanding, she was pleased to know he hadn't enjoyed it.
Looking back at her lost teammates, she summed up his response. "He said no."
"Seemed like a whole lot more that that." Cyborg commented.
"Yeah, what'd he say?" Beast-Boy questioned excitedly.
Turning back to her tea, she replied cryptically, "Eh, something about a toad and his soul." Beside her, Naruto chuckled, being able to guess why she'd said that. She may hide it, but he could tell she was a prankster, if in words instead of action.
"Oh Yeah!" Cyborg suddenly rounded on Beast-Boy and hit him upside the head.
"Dude! Why'd you do that!" He complained. "My poor head." He wined as a comically large tear formed in his eye.
"That was for earlier yo!"
"What do you mean "That was for earlier"?"
"What's going on?" Naruto asked, confused as the duo argued.
"Cyborg thinks that Pa was Beast-Boy, so he's getting 'revenge' for getting knocked out earlier." She answered, taking a sip of her tea.
"But he looks nothing like Pa!"
"He can change into animals, but they're always green." She explained, then thought for a moment. She was pretty sure he'd realized that it hadn't been Beast-Boy. Eh, it was probably just the head injury.
"Really…" He commented, seeming speculative before looking back at the duo. "Should we stop them?"
"Nah, they'll figure it out." She replied with a smirk, which was returned full force.
"Please, explain why it is bad to be the old maid?" Starfire questioned, not really getting the game.
After Cyborg and Beast-Boy resolved their differences, Starfire had convinced them all to play a game to "bond" with their new friend. She had insisted that Naruto and Raven sit together. Raven had planned on researching a translation spell for Naruto, but he'd been so excited once she explained what Starfire wanted that she couldn't say no.
Raven was currently sharing a deck with Naruto, seeing as how he couldn't really hold his cards right and play with just one hand. Inside his mindscape, the now awake Kurama chuckled silently to himself. He considered reminding Naruto that he could just make a temporary arm with his unique hinge, but he decided that he'd rather let Naruto suffer, then make him feel stupid later. It had nothing to do with the fact that the brat enjoyed being near the half demon. Nothing at all.
Cyborg had offered to build him a replacement arm later, but the idea of a metal arm just reminded him too much of Sasori.
As Starfire finished her question, three large metal objects flew past the window behind her. "Whoa! What was that!" Cyborg shouted.
"Giant worms?" Beast-Boy questioned. Just then the three objects flew back into view, revealing them to be space ships, with two identical ships firing energy beams at the third.
"Uh, don't think so." Raven replied dryly.
"Titans, GO!" Robin shouted as they all ran out of the room, with Raven dragging Naruto behind them. She didn't know him nearly as well as she'd like, but she knew he was a fighter, and that he was a good person. He'd follow whether she told him to stay or not. Better have him with them so she could make sure he didn't over do it with his injuries.
The team, plus one inter-dimensional shinobi, ran onto the roof to get a better view. From there, they could see that one ship looked similar to a rocket, while the smaller pursuers resembled sting-rays.
In an impressive display of flying, the rocket executed a somersault, flying past his enemies. "Whoever he is, the guy's a good pilot." Cyborg commented.
The sip weaved between enemy fire before rising up above one of the rays, taking it out with twin blue beams.
"That guy's a great pilot." Exclaimed Robin.
"So, should we do something?" Naruto asked.
"We don't know who they are, or who the good guy is." Raven commented.
Her reasoning made sense, but looking back at the others, it was clear they who they were rooting for.
Just then a figure launched from the rocket, landing on the remaining enemy ship. He crawled up the side before slamming his fists into the glowing red light. "Did he just take down that ship with his bare hands!" Robin asked in disbelief.
"Looks like it." Cyborg confirmed before the now-smoking ship flew past them, headed strait for the city. "Come on man, you can do it!" Cyborg encouraged the rider. As it neared the City, he jerked the ship off course to crash in the uninhabited woods outside the city, saving the inhabitants. Naruto's respect for the man rose.
They quickly rushed to the crash site to check on the guy. When they arrived, a silver man emerged from the flames. "It takes more than a plasmatic implosion to bring down Val-Yor." He said, taking a dramatic pose.
'Was he just waiting for us to arrive to leave the crash? Cause it took us several minutes to get here.' Naruto thought with a sweat drop. Starfire took a quick picture with a large camera, the flash blinding him for a second. 'Oi, where'd she get that? Because I know she didn't have it earlier.' Her tight suit clearly had no space for it and- 'Where'd it go!' He thought in confusion, seeing as it was now gone.
As Val-Yor walked towards them, his abandoned ship landed dramatically behind him. "That was some amazing flying." Robin complimented.
"Thanks! Val-Yor of Vernathia, pleased to meet you!"
"I'm Robin, And we're the Teen Titans. That's Raven, Naruto, Beast-Boy-" He said, pointing to each member in turn.
'Well, he is staying with us. I guess that makes him a temporary titan' Raven thought. 'Should have asked first before introducing him as one though'
"Cyborg." Said person extended his hand, shaking Val-Yor's hand. "Man, you sure know how to make an entrance."
"It's all in a day's work!" He said, smirking.
A chibified Beast-Boy, his eyes sparkling, asked "You do that every day!" If it was possible, the sparkling became even brighter.
'The hell! Did he just shape-shift into that thing?' Naruto wondered.
'Unfortunately not kit. It's more like that damned sunset genjutsu those bowl-cut friends of yours use.' Kurama corrected. 'Be grateful it isn't worse than this. I don't think I could take living with anything as bad as that damned illusion.'
Naruto shuddered at the thought, then became even more confused. 'But he doesn't even have chakra! How is he doing it!'
'Lee can't use chakra outside his body, yet he still managed. However the changeling does it, it's just as unbreakable. It defies all logic.'
"No, most day's I fight more than just two of them." Val-Yor replied arrogantly, his teeth shining.
'No! It's just like Guy!' He looked around, only to see Raven chibified as well. 'No! Anyone but her! I won't lose her to this!'
He quickly shook her, thankfully dispelling the illusion. When she looked at him, annoyed, he pointed at Beast-Boy. "You are NOT Doing that!"
She looked over, then blanched at her still-transformed team mate. "I wasn't doing that." She denied.
"Yes, you were!"
Thinking he was joking, she looked back into his eyes, only to find him dead serious. She shuddered. "Thanks."
"No problem."
Val-Yor, who had been watching their interaction with a confident smile, let his face fall to one of displeasure when he spotted Starfire.
"Val-Yor! I Welcome you to Earth!" She greeted cheerfully.
"I see you have a Tamaranian." He commented with carefully disguised distaste, something Naruto noticed. After spending the first half of your life hated, it was something you learned to pick up on. His new-found respect of the man immediately fell. It was clear that he was judging her, for what he didn't know, but they clearly hadn't met before.
"Yeah." Robin confirmed. "Starfire's part of the team."
"So, who where those guys?" Cyborg inquired.
"They were not guys at all." He replied, his frown becoming a smirk.
After hearing that the Locrix were machines bent on Galactic domination, and that Val-Yor was going to blow up their home world with something called the eradicator, Robin had volunteered his team to help. He'd offered to let Naruto stay behind, but he was sure that he could take them, even with only one arm.
On his ship, the Titans listened in rapt fascination. "It was me versus twenty of them. They had me surrounded. There were Crixies to the left of me- Crixies to the right. Things weren't looking good for Val-Yor."
"What did you do?!" Cyborg asked excitedly. Naruto sat off to the side. 'I don't understand a word he just said, but he's a pretty good storyteller.'
"Well, I certainly wasn't going to let them get me," He said, full of confidence, "So I led them to a trap, short circuited the lot of them, and escaped without a scratch!"
"Dude! Those Crixies didn't know what was comin." Beast-Boy said in awe.
Val-Yor chuckled. "They sure didn't son." The titans all turned to each other with wide smiles, even Raven, prompting Naruto to sweat drop for the second time that day. "Just installed a new neutron turbo engine!" He placed a hand on Cyborg's shoulder. You wanna… give her a spin?" He asked, pointing to the ship's controls.
Cyborg looked back at him, tears of joy streaming from his good eye. "A-biga-di-ha-da-da?" He asked in disbelief, pointing to himself, then back at the controls, before seemingly drooling in pleasure.
"I think that's a yes." Raven unnecessarily translated for Val-Yor, who allowed Cyborg to jump onto the controls.
He then dragged Robin to another chair. "Robin, why don't you navigate."
As he sat down in the chair, numerous holographic displays popped up. "Ooh." He awed.
"Raven, Beast-Boy, man the blasters."
"Cool!" Beast-Boy exclaimed as he sped past Raven to his station.
"Can I blast whoever I want?" She asked in annoyance, walking to hers.
"Naruto, why don't you-" Naruto cut him off, pointing to his mouth. "Oh that's right, you can't understand me. Well, I can't place you at the controls if we're going to be attacked. Still, you're a fine man!" He said as he clapped him on the back, though he failed to move the shinobi.
He then went to stand dramatically at his command chair, completely bypassing Starfire, which Naruto noted. Starfire looked at him hopefully as she waited. When no offer came, asked "Ummm, is there not a task for me? I also wish to be useful." Before he could reply, the ship was rocked by an explosion, throwing Starfire around.
"Intruders!" The silver alien shouted. "The cargo hold has been compromised!"
"The Locrix?" Robin asked.
"They're after the eradicator! Cyborg, keep us on course and keep an eye out for more." He ordered.
"Can do!"
"You four, come with me!" He continued, indicating Raven, Beast-Boy, Robin, and Naruto.
As they left the bridge, Starfire followed them. Upon their arrival, Val-Yor blasted the leading robot with some red energy beams from his eyes, as the rest of the Titans jumped down behind him. "I'll take the ugly one." Val-Yor commented, before the opposing groups leapt at each other. Val-Yor defeated two in close combat as Beast-Boy first smashed one as a gorilla, before climbing onto a second as a squirrel. Behind him, another was encased in black energy as Raven threw it into another.
Robin dodged several tentacle-like limbs, before he jumping up to the roof and launching himself into a drop-kick smashing into one. He had to quickly backflip out of range of several other limbs that attempted to skewer him. As more shot towards him, the bots failed to notice the small green rodent running atop them. Said rodent jumped into the air before shifting into an alligator and flying chomped one, then it rapidly shifted into a triceratops to ram another. Off to the side, Starfire and Naruto were blasting through a large group with a mixture of Starbolts and Rasengan's.
Robin missed an arm and was thrown into the wall. "Watch out! They can sting you!" Val-Yor warned as he held back an enemy. Just as warned, several protrusions attempted to impale Robin, which he dodged, before running along the curved walls, avoiding the rest in an impressive display of acrobatics. Jumping down, he threw two birdarangs, which curved around before both hitting one dead-center.
"Nice shot!" Val-Yor grunted as he threw away his opponent.
"Thanks." Robin looked over the room, before two more mechs landed in front of them.
"Think you can handle these two?" The alien questioned, receiving a confident "Got It!" in return.
As Val-Yor flew over the scene, he saw Raven blast a Crixie that was about to fry the bomb, before it got back up. "Hit it in the central processor" He suggested, before flying towards the recovering bot. "Like this!" He yelled as he punched a hole straight through it's chest. As several more surrounded them, Raven fired off several sharp blasts of energy that pierced each one in the indicated area. They stood still for a moment, before all falling in sync.
"Heh, remind me to stay on your good side." He commented. Making his way over to the bomb, he watched Beast-Boy take out several in succession. "Nice work son!" He complimented, rubbing his hair. A robot began to sneak up behind him, before being blasted away by a bolt of green energy. It stumbled back into the eradicator before falling to the ground. The bomb beeped a few times, before calming down. "WATCH IT! Are you trying to blow up the ship!" He yelled in Starfire's face. Naruto, who was next to her, frowned. Sure, she made a mistake, but she'd done it while protecting him.
"I will be more careful next time." She apologized.
"There won't be a next time." He declined harshly before storming off and took out the remaining Locrix as she looked on, hurt.
Naruto nudged her to grab her attention, told her "Hey, don't listen to that guy! You were just protecting a comrade, and we're still in one piece!" He gave her a thumbs up and smiled. "You did good!"
While she still couldn't understand, his message must have gotten across, as she gave him a small smile. "Yes, thank you, friend Naruto."
Back with Val-Yor, the rest of the Titans were in awe of his decimation of the remaining forces.
"That was awesome!"
"Cool!"
"Not bad." Commented Beast-Boy, Robin, and Raven, respectively.
"Ok team, back to the bridge! We need to be ready in case they are foolish enough to launch another attack." As the walked past him to the bridge, Naruto heard Starfire speak, and decided stay back to listen, hidden from both of the,. Val-Yor seemed to have a grudge against Starfire, which both he and Kurama could easily sense, and he wanted to make sure that his friend was safe.
"I wish to apologize. I did not mean to endanger your ship. I was only trying to help."
He turned back to face her with glowing eyes, and said in a voice dripping with contempt, "I don't need help from a stupid Troq." Causing Starfire to gasp.
Later, as they walked towards the bridge, Naruto listened to the others talking talk among each other. He assumed they were talking about how great Val-Yor was, as he heard his name mentioned several times. Starfire trailed behind them, looking depressed, and Naruto seethed inside. He had no idea what a 'troq' was, but he could tell it was an insult. A horrible one at that, if her reaction was any indication. He'd called her that several times while he insulted her. He walked away after about a minute of verbal abuse. It was a good thing he had, because he was one insult away from having a Rasengan shoved up his ass, and Kurama's encouragement to do so hadn't really helped. Usually, the fox didn't take an interest in humans, but apparently he'd taken a liking to her. With his negative emotion sensing, he could easily tell that his host's alien friend didn't have a single mean bone in her body. That, coupled with her innocent joy, and he'd been unable to resist growing fond of her in the short time they'd been in this dimension.
From the very beginning Naruto had to restrain himself from interfering. Only the threat of the Locrix looming over them, which they needed his help stop, kept him from doing so. As much as they wished it were otherwise, he had not lied about them. Kurama had confirmed that he hadn't told a single lie since they'd met. 'He might be a bastard, but at least he's an honest bastard.' He thought dryly. He wanted to comfort Starfire, but he didn't want to make a scene in front of her friends.
Robin noticed Starfire hanging back, and called "Starfire, come on. We don't want to be late for the briefing."
"Last one there's a rotten egg!" Beast-boy challenged, seemingly oblivious to his teammates mood as he rushed off. As the others moved to join him, Naruto came to a decision and grabbed Raven by the arm. Unable to follow due to said arm, the three boys soon left them behind.
"Naruto?" She questioned, before noticing Starfire. She wondered why she hadn't run off with the others.
"Raven, I need you to tell Starfire to kiss me." He said with a frown.
"What!" she yelled, surprised. "Why! I thought you didn't want to do that." Her exclamation was enough to rouse some curiosity in her depressed teammate.
"Something bad happened. I need to talk to her about it. Please." He explained.
Raven turned to look back at Starfire before arguing some more, only to stop as she finally noticed the look in her friend's eyes. Wondering what the hell happened, and seeing that Naruto seemed to know, she obliged. "Starfire." She stated, gently to get her attention.
"Yes friend Raven?" She put on a smile so fake that it physically hurt Naruto.
"Naruto said he needs to talk to you."
"Ok." She waited for him to tell Raven what he wanted to say, but when he didn't, she looked at her female friend, confused.
Her concern for her friend far outweighing her distaste of them kissing, she clarified. "Himself. He wants you to kiss him so you can talk."
She tilted her head. "I thought he did not want to do the lip contact." She was far too depressed by Val-Yor's words to be thinking about getting the two together.
"He said it's important."
She looked back at their blonde companion and saw the serious expression on his face. "Ok." She said, hesitantly. She walked forward and pressed her lips against him. There was no passion there. Both were stiff with their arms hanging at their sides. Naruto, as in tuned with his body as he was, noticed a flow of energy between them. It wasn't chakra, but it was similar. While Kurama could have blocked it, he knew what was going on and let it pass. After several seconds, she broke contact and stepped back.
"Can you understand me?" Naruto questioned.
"Yes friend Naruto. It is good to finally converse with you." She replied with a small amount of her usual cheer entering her voice.
"Do you want Raven here?"
"I do not understand, here for what?" She questioned, not knowing that he knew of the other alien's animosity towards her.
"Val-Yor." He said, confusing Raven and drawing a look of sad understanding from the red-head.
"She may stay." She conceded, knowing that her friend would get the answers sooner or later now that she knew something was going on. She prepared for him to start questioning her.
"Are you alright?" He asked with a gentleness that surprised the two girls.
"Of course! I'm-" she began with her false smile, only to sigh, knowing he would not be fooled by it. "No, I am not alright." She corrected herself and hugged her arms against her chest, fighting back tears.
Naruto and Raven lock gazes, before nodding. Together, they hugged their friend, who allowed her pent-up tears to fall.
They sat there for a while, letting her cry in their arms. After she had finished crying, he asked, "Are you feeling better?" She nodded, then he asked the question that had been weighing on his mind. "Good. Now, can you tell me what Troq means?" They both felt her flinch at the word. "Please," he continued. "I need to know what he called you."
Now, Raven was starting to put the pieces together. And the picture it made wasn't pleasant. At some point, Val-Yor had insulted Starfire, maybe done worse. And she hadn't noticed because she'd been too wrapped up in her hero-worship.
"It means nothing." She responded as she took a step back from the group hug, confusing Naruto for a second, before the true meaning hit.
"That bastard!" Naruto spat venomously. Raven, who couldn't understand when Starfire spoke in Elemental, was concerned at what could make her normally happy friend curse like she couldn't understand, he elaborated. "Val-Yor was calling her Troq on the cargo hold after you guys left. I stayed behind because I could tell he didn't like her." He paused, before looking at Raven dead in the eyes. "It means nothing. He was calling her a nothing, like she doesn't matter. Like she's worthless!" Inside his mindscape, Kurama growled, doing his best to keep his anger from seeping between their link.
Raven took a calming breath before asking "Why would he call you such a name?" She asked, maintaining her calm demeanor for her friend's sake.
"There are those on other planets that feel like Tamaranians are inferior, Troq is what they call us."
"He's calling you that, just because you're a Tamaranian?" She asked, both for clarification and for Naruto.
He, in turn, understood her situation from his childhood. "And you know that if you retaliate, you'll just be proving him right."
Her eyes lifted in understanding. "Yes. You know what it's like to be judged for a reason outside of your control?"
"Yea, I know what it feels like to be judged. The glares, the name calling, the pain of being all alone." Seeing their confusion mingled with concern, he explained. "For a long time, my village hated me for Kurama. Before being sealed into me, he was placed under a powerful illusion and forced to attack my home. A lot of good people died that night, and even though it wasn't his fault, they didn't know that, and they hated him. Whenever they looked at me, they could only see him."
The girls gasped, and inside the seal, Kurama spoke 'Sorry about that kit'
'It wasn't your fault. We both know that.' He continued: "So yes, I know what it feels like." He placed a hand on her shoulder. "But you are not what other people say you are. You are your own person, and both Raven and I know how great a person that is. You are smart and brave. You are not worthless. You're our friend."
"He's right." Raven added, pulling Starfire into another hug. "I may not be very good at showing it, but I really care about you. All the Titans do." She said, pulling back. "Now, let's go tell Robin." Naruto, fully on board with that idea, was about to turn to head back to the bridge before Starfire's words stopped him.
"Wait, perhaps we should wait to inform Robin later. I do not wish to endanger the mission." She spoke sadly. When she repeated it in Elemental for Naruto, he shook his head.
"No. My sensei had a saying. "Those who abandon the rules are scum, this is true. But those who abandon their friends are worse than scum." If we tell Robin, we might endanger the mission and become scum. If we don't, we are abandoning you, becoming less than scum." He thought for a moment before adding with a smile, "Besides, I'd gladly become scum for you."
Raven nodded. "He's right. Robin needs to know."
Starefire smiled, and nodded.
"What took so long Troq! We need to plan for the mission, and you're holding us up!" Val-Yor reprimanded as they entered the bridge. Before anyone could comment however, an alarm blared.
"More Crixies?" Beast-Boy asked.
Val-Yor typed rapidly on his command board. "No, mines." A hologram of said minefield appeared above the table. "A dirty Locrix trap! Our ship won't be able to pass through the mine field. If one goes, they'll all go." He turned back to face the newcomers. "This is a job for you, Troqie! Get out there and move those mines."
"Are you sure it's safe?" Robin asked.
"It's just a few mines."
Raven, understanding what he was doing, was about to come to her friend's defense before she beat her to it. "Val-Yor. You are such a brave warrior. Are you sure you do not wish to move these devices yourself!" Starfire challenged.
"Of course I could move them!" he snapped back, "But I'm needed inside. Only an experience pilot could navigate through here. Besides, your people can withstand the hostile conditions of space." Both girls scowled, but couldn't deny his logic.
While Raven and Naruto stayed on the bridge to make sure Val-Yor didn't do anything that could get their friend hurt, Starfire was putting on her headset by the airlock. Before she could leave, Cyborg approached her. "Are you sure you want to do this."
"I wish to prove my usefulness." She said, before a nearby screen lit up with Val-Yor's image. "Let's get going. We haven't got all day, Troq!" He said before the feed cut off. Up on the bridge, two people grit their teeth, but had decided to wait until after the current crisis to do anything about it.
"Troq?" Cyborg questioned. "What does that mean?"
She turned around to exit. "It means nothing." Then, remembering her earlier conversation, added, "But he is wrong." Before leaving through the airlock.
Cyborg was confused, but he shook it off.
As everyone, aside from Naruto, sat in their stations, Starfire flew towards the minefield.
"Nice and easy." Val-Yor commented as she pushed the first mine out of the way. "We don't want any mistakes this time."
"I will not make any." She declared with determination. Catching the gist of it, Naruto was both proud of his friend, and thoroughly annoyed at the man. They watched as Starfire moved several mines in rapid succession, creating a large enough gap in the field for the ship to pass through. As she released the last mine, however, the bridge crew noticed that it was floating towards another one.
"Watch it Troqie! There on a collision course!" He shouted, slightly panicked.
Starfire gasped, and rushed to stop it. "Ghah! I can't watch!" Beast-Boy quailed, hiding his face in his hands.
Bracing herself between the two mines, she groaned as she pushed back against them, just barely managing to stop their momentum before they touched, and let out a sigh of relief.
Beast-Boy uncovered an eye. "Did we blow up yet?" He asked.
"Yep. That's why you're still talkin'." Raven remarked sarcastically, eliciting an amused snort from Naruto despite his foul mood. As Starfire flew away from the mines, one of her boots brushed its tip, activating it.
"YOU TRIPPED THE DETONATOR! You only have 20 seconds!" Val-Yor shouted in alarm. Determined, Starfire flew at the bomb.
Inside, Robin unbuckled himself. "I'm going out there!"
"No! It's too dangerous!" Val-Yor denied. He sat back down, frustrated beyond belief.
Starfire arrived at the bomb and pushed it out of sight. The bridge watched with baited breaths, before an enormous explosion lit the void. All the Titan's looked on in horror, before Starfire's voice sounded over the communication link. "You may proceed safely." Causing them to cheer while Val-Yor grimaced in irritation.
"Never doubted her for a second!" Beast-Boy claimed as he wrapped his arms around Raven from behind, eliciting a silent growl from a certain blonde. "Raven, you really shouldn't worry so much."
She scowled at him in annoyance, causing him to quickly release his grip on her.
Starfire entered through the airlock, where Cyborg, Raven, and Naruto were waiting for her.
"Way to go Troqie!" Cyborg congratulated, his hand raised for a high five. This caused three reactions. Starfire gasped, Raven scowled, and Naruto, forgetting that he was most likely ignorant of the term's meaning, punched the teen into the wall, denting it. Before he could complain, Starfire marched up to him, poking him in the chest. "You do not call me that!" She demanded.
"But, Val-Yor calls you Troq all the time."
"Cyborg." Raven hissed in agitation.
"That does not make it right." Starfire said sadly, turning away as Cyborg crawled out of the wall.
"It's an insult." Raven told Cyborg. "A bad one."
"But she said it didn't mean anything."
"No." Starfire clarified. "I said it means nothing. When Val-Yor calls me Troq, he is saying that I am worthless, a nothing." She went on to explain how other races looked down upon Tameranians as inferior, something Cyborg could relate to on two levels.
"We were about to tell Robin before the mine field interrupted us." Raven informed her friend.
"Ok. Let's go find him." He responded.
"And that's how we defeated Control Freak." Robin concluded, having regaled Val-Yor with one of his tales.
"Sounds like you handled your team well!" he placed a hand on his shoulder. "You're a true leader. You remind me of myself when I was your age, Spike."
At that, Robin gave an impossibly wide smile before being pulled into a noogie. Just then the bridge door opened. "Robin, can I get a word?" Cyborg asked as he entered with the others. Val-Yor shot him a finger gun before he walked over.
As he explained in a low whisper, Robin harshly questioned "What?"
"And that's what he's been calling her this whole time" Cyborg finished, still whispering.
"Starfire, why didn't you say something?" He asked. Not giving them a chance to answer, he pounded his palm with a fist. "He will apologise. I'm going to make-"
"No Robin," Starfire interrupted. "Our mission is more important than my feelings." Naruto scowled. Whatever she'd said had stopped Robin. Even though logically he agreed that they should wait until after the mission to confront Val-Yor, he was still itching to beat some sense into him.
Before a decision could be made one way or another, an alarm blared. "We've arrived at Sentien!" Prepare for landing." As he says this, the ship had to dodge multiple plasma blasts. With a hard face, he growled "Looks like they were expecting us."
They quickly made their way to the ship's exit ramp "Ok Titans, here's the plan." Val-Yor ordered. "Cyborg and Robin, take the lead. Beast-Boy, Raven, and Naruto, guard our escape route. I'm taking the quantum eradicator and putting an end to the filthy Crixies once and for all!"
Robin glared at the man. "What about Starfire?" He asked.
"Guard the ship Troq." he ordered as he prepped the eradicator.
"No, I am going with you." She declared.
He yelled in response "I gave you an order!"
"I do not take orders from you! If my friends go into danger so do I. Besides, my people can withstand hostile conditions." She threw his earlier words back at him.
As the ship landed, they were met with a hoard of robots guarding the entrance to the canyon that led to their base. "Let's do this!" Val-Yor said.
Immediately, Robin and Cyborg attacked the enemy with a mixture of sonic blasts, birdarangs, and hand-to-hand, allowing Starfire and Val-Yor, who was wearing the eradicator like an over-sized backpack, passage to fly through the throng.
Raven gathered her energy and blasted several droids off the canyon walls. Now that he had room to maneuver in, unlike back in the ship, Naruto summoned several clones as reinforcements, much to the surprise of the remaining Titans. Unfortunately the Locrix had completely destroyed the environment on this planet, so much so that he could barely sense any natural energy, making sage mode nearly impossible. As he and his clones went to town on a large group of robots, though one clone went off somewhere, Beast-Boy maneuvered through the tentacle limbs of another group before flying high above them. There, he transformed into a Brontosaurus, falling on and crushing his group. Reverting back to normal, he gave a proud smile., before flinching back as several more landed by him.
The clone that went off on it's own follows Starfire and Val-Yor. He was impressed with the ease she decimated several bots, but he frowned as he watch the silver alien repeatedly deny her offers of assistance in carrying the weight he was obviously struggling with. Inside the base, he saw Val-Yor place and arm the device. 'It can't have been that easy.' C-Naruto (i.e. Clone-Naruto) thought. Sure enough an iridescent blue barrier trapped Val-Yor with his bomb. He watched with a mixture of awe and pride in his friend as she risked her life and forced her way through the barrier with brute strength before dragging the resisting man out. With only seconds to spare, she grabbed the injured Val-Yor before flying away.
Back with the other Titans, the robots suddenly shut down as Naruto received the information from his clone. "They did it." Robin exclaimed, before Starfire flew out of the explosion carrying Val-Yor, his arm draped across her shoulders for support.
"No, she did it." Cyborg corrected.
"Starfire, are you ok?" Beast-Boy asked.
"Val-Yor requires medical attention." She replied.
Val-Yor stood facing the rest of the Titans on the roof of the tower, his right arm in a sling. "Well, thank you for all your help"
"Don't thank us. Thank Starfire." Robin demanded, pointing at her.
"Yeah, she's the one who saved your sorry butt."
Starfire shifted further into the group, a bit uncomfortable. "Thank you. Starfire." He managed, though you could tell he was struggling. "I have to admit you're not bad for a Troq." Upon saying the word, Naruto punched him in the jaw, knocking him to the ground.
"Kami, that felt good."
"Hey, I was trying to pay her a compliment!" He complained.
"Then why does it still sound like an insult." Raven said, glaring at the man.
"Spike, you understand. I didn't mean anything by it, it's just-"
"Val-Yor" Robin said, cutting him off, "I think it's time for you to go."
He stared at them before saying, "I thought you earthlings were alright. I guess I was wrong. You're just like the Troqs." He flew up to his ship before flying it away.
"I'm sorry Val-Yor treated you like that." Robin apologized. "If I'd known, I never would have let it happen."
"None of us would." Cyborg agreed.
"There is nothing you could have done." Starfire said. "There will always be people who say mean words because you are different, and sometimes their minds cannot be changed. But there are many more people who do not judge others based on how they look or where they are from. Those are the people whose words truly matter."