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Peter had already run into a bit of trouble. Parking the Spider-Mobile for a bit to check out a camera shop, he exited in just enough time to see two people start it up and drive away, tires squealing.

"Sonuva....THAT'S MY CAR!" he yelled, running after it.

"Note to self, add better security systems to the shopping list," he muttered as he flipped onto a building to continue his chase on higher ground. If nothing else, at least the semi-populated streets would be enough to slow the joyriders down.

That is, if they were going to avoid pedestrians at all.

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They didn't seem to care much for avoiding carts or stalls, at any rate. They slammed into a stall of leafy-looking crabs, sending wood and crabs flying.

The owner held his hands to his face, distraught.

"MY CRABBAGES!"

"I will---hey!"

Starfire dodged a number of flying crabs in her simple investigation of the planet. That last mission had been quite tiring, so she'd hoped to shop in peace.

There was never a peaceful day, especially not with a familiar friend in distress. "Here!"

In her hurry to catch up with Peter, Starfire made an attempt at throwing the crabbage she'd caught at its merchant. Unfortunately, her aim was likely off. Sorry about the incoming food, sir.

"Peter! What has happened?"

The car took a turn, and Peter expertly skidded into one himself, continuing the chase.

"For those of you at home that are just now joining us, my car got stolen. Mind helping me get it back?"

"I do not!" Starfire lowered herself and shot forward, a starbolt flickering in her hand. She wouldn't attack the car or cause undue damage to it unless necessary, but if she couldn't catch up and lift it...

That would be her first plan. She ducked and weaved, hoping to catch up with it. "Peter, are you all right?"

"What? Yeah, I'm fine. This isn't the first time I've had to chase down a carjacker, even if this is the first time it's been my car."

One of the joyriders glanced back, seeing the pair. He grabbed his gun, and fired at them.

"MOVE!" Peter shouted, dodging but still continuing his forward pace. "And now they're shooting at us. Great."

Starfire ducked and rolled, throwing a starbolt bridge between her hands. If made hot enough, it would melt one or two bullets that she failed to completely dodge.

"I should avoid damaging the car, yes?" she breathed, flying somewhere in front of him for protection. She was scanning the environment for a way to attack without hurting the car.

"Preferably, yeah." Peter said, deftly weblining up trashcan lid to use as a shield.

"If I could get on the car, I could stop them, but I'd need to be higher up to pull that off" The teenager's brain cycled through possible ideas. "...how far do you think you can swing me?

"Far enough!" Starfire promised. Hey, if she could lift up the entire car, swinging another person wouldn't be a problem at all. She rolled out of the way of another round of bullets, leaned down, and grasped his arms. The same routine she'd worked with Robin a hundred times before.

She put on a burst of speed, careful not to wobble too much when dodging. "Ready?"

"Just a sec." he said curling his knees up. There wasn't any amount of apprehension in his voice, given the fact that he regularly performed death-defying feats of acrobatics on a daily basis

"Alright. On the count of three. One. Two. Three-"

"Three!" Starfire called simultaneously, swinging him forward. When he was sailing toward the car, she swooped closer and shot at the gun with her eyebeams. Got one---got nicked by the other. Rats.

She continued to fly as a distraction, silently hoping he'd be all right.

Peter arced up into the air. One he;d reached a point directly above the vehicle, a webline lanced, out, and he pulled himself quickly downward, using the lid as a shield to protect his body from the bullets. He landed safely on the back of the Spider-Mobile with a thud.

"Didn't your mother ever teach you that it's not nice to take things that aren't yours?" He said wryly.

Starfire had to smile a little at that. She pressed onward, providing the distraction and hoping to find a way to slow them down.

"It is very rude," she agreed sagely.

The carjacker in the passenger seat didn't seem to agree, climbing out to grab the wallcrawler. Said wallcrawler promptly stood to the side, letting the crook onto the ground.

"And then there were two." he said. The driver pointed his gun at Peter, getting wrenched out of his hand and a punch to the face for his efforts. Peter roughly shoved him over to the passenger side, dropped into the seat, slammed on the brakes, and promptly skidded into a shop of expensive and fragile antiques.

"SONOFA-" *BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP* Went the horn as Peter smacked his head into it.

"PETER!" The girl's scream almost could have shattered the windows of the car, causing further damage. Fortunately it did not, because the car's accident was causing more than enough damage on its own.

She lifted an arm to shield against flying debris, catching what items she could. Even with her best flight, she could tell that they were racking up an extraordinarily high bill.

"Oh Peter," she started, trying to comfort and check for injuries as best she could. This was going to be a long day.

Peter probably should've been grateful for his enhanced durability. It had, he reflected, kept him form being seriously injured in the crash, and the minor cuts and bruises he had gotten would heal up in less than a day.

Of course, this all ended up being secondary to the fact that he'd had his car for only a day before he'd been forced to sell it to pay for the damages.

"...I hate my life."

Starfire sighed, floating over to drape her arms over his shoulders. She had tried to offer a number of obscure services to assist the shopowners, but nothing she could do would save Peter's car.

"I am sorry. But please, do not despair. You will have an automobile again!"

"It's not just the car okay?" He snapped.

"My parents? Died in a plane crash. My uncle? Dead because I screwed up. I constantly mess up by relationships with people. One of my best friends wants to kill me, another one will probably be wanting to do the same thing if he wakes up from podsleep, because I'm responsible for his father dying, and the only other normal friend I have probably won't want anything do with me after she finds out. And on top of all that, the entire planet? Gone. What the hell is wrong with me that I don't even get to keep Earth? Huh?"

The car had just been the straw that broke the camel's back. Peter, who had been holding himself together by using the Spider-Man persona since he'd gotten on the ship, finally couldn't take it anymore.

He certainly got her to recoil. Starfire winced, taking a moment to compose herself. Their situations were awful when examined in that light, and not at all idea. She had her own complaints. But why did poor Peter feel so alone.

"What is wrong with you is also wrong with all of us. I also have a relative who would rather I disappear, long-deceased parents, relationship errors, and a lost planet! But that was not hopeless."

Peter would likely feel guilty about this later, but right now he was on a roll.

"Yeah, well, I'm not you. I can't be the eternal optimist. Every time I even think of being a little optimistic, karma comes in and makes it so that everything sucks and falls to shit."

"I understand why you feel this way. Misfortunes happen far too often, and I do not know how to stop their occurrence."

She sighed quietly, clasping her hands over her chest. This was going to take some careful maneuvering.

"Yet they can be countered with good fortune! It is coming, and I do know how to create that."

You'll see, Peter. She's confident that you'll see soon.

"Fine, you do that." Peter said, throwing up his hands and walking away, still stewing.

But, Peter being Peter, after 20 minutes he'd finally wind down. And then the guilt would start. And then the guilt would most likely lead to him avoiding her for the forseeable future. At least until Starfire forced him to interact with her.

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