The Titans Rock Band
Disclaimer: Believe it or not – Teen Titans doesn't belong to me!
Summary: After being rejected by the society, the titans work hard to earn a living as Christmas is coming soon … Christmas fic. R & R!
It was midnight at the T-tower. The titans were sleeping soundly until … the siren rang.
"RING …!"
"What … what happened?" Beastboy jerked his head up, wiping away his drool. He then heard Robin shouting, "Up, titans! There's a robbery at a bank nearby! Get up quick!"
Instantaneously, everyone rushed out from their room, wide-awake. Their sleepiness seemed disappeared with a puff of smoke.
"Titans, are you ready?" Robin shouted, thrusting his hand up.
Starfire, Raven, Cyborg and Beastboy nodded. Together, they answered with might, "Let's go!"
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"Hee-ah!" The titans landed together in front of the bank. They were ready to strike when they stopped, astonished by what they had seen. The police squad was at the doors, with 2 huge, gigantic robots. The robots had silver, polished, shining coat and a few pairs of enormous crab-like pincers – where in there held 2 struggling burly-looking men, with their loot in their hands. The chief of police was smiling away and patted the robot's shining 'arm'.
The titans were totally flabbergasted. For seconds, they just stared at the scene with their mouths open. "What's going on here?" they asked themselves. Then, Robin spoke – not intentional to spoil the surprisingly joyful atmosphere.
"Err … excuse me, sir? What's going on here? I heard there's a robbery …"
"Haha …" the police chief laughed merrily, slapping Robin's back. "There IS a robbery here and guess what? We've caught the culprits – thanks to our newly-invented-with-state-to-art-technology-robots – the X3's!" And a thunderous applause was heard, response to the police chief.
"What!" the titans exclaimed.
"I'm sorry to say that, but … we no longer need you anymore, titans," the chief said. "These robots are perfect – they have riffles fixed on their arms, they can turn invisible, they can look through walls ….."
"Enough," said Robin, putting up a hand. "We understand, we'll leave."
The titans turned and tramped away with disappointment. Behind them, they could still hear the police squad laughing cheerfully, celebrating their success.
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"I just can't believe it!" yelled Beastboy, throwing up his hands. "They want to replace us with 2 creepy robots? Oh, puh-lease."
"C-r-e-e-p-y robots?" Cyborg protested. "Hey, I'm half robot too!"
"I was not talking about you!" shot back Beastboy.
"Shut up, you two," hissed Raven, motioning towards Robin. He was sitting on the couch, his shoulders slumped with his face in his hands. He heaved out another sigh of frustration.
Starfire bent down and put a comforting hand on Robin's shoulder. "Robin …" she tried to say something soothing but nothing came out.
"I'm ok. I'd appreciate it if you guys leave me alone to calm down," said Robin, getting up and trudged wearily to his room. "Goodnight."
The titans couldn't help but watched with sympathy. "Poor Robin …" whispered Star. "This is too much for him."
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Beastboy yawned and rubbed his eyes. It was six in the morning. He walked to the living with heavy footsteps and greeted, "Good morning, gu …" He stopped when he saw the empty living. Unlike any normal days when the titans gathered and had their morning chat, the place was deserted. "So, last night incident wasn't a dream. In fact, it's a nightmare!" He sighed again and started to walk back to his room.
"Good morning, BB." Beastboy froze when he heard a voice greeting him. He turned his head around and caught Robin sitting at a corner, with stacks of newspaper around him.
"Ro … Robin? What are you doing here so early in the morning? And what's with the papers?"
"Well, I didn't even close my eyes the whole night," answered Robin, scanning through the papers in his hands. "I was thinking about the whole stuff all night and I had made a decision."
"What decision?" Beastboy held his breath.
"Well, since we are already clearly rejected by the society, there's no use spending our days worrying, grumbling and doing nothing. We have to accept the fact." By the time, Raven, Cyborg and Starfire had poured into the living room.
"To make things worse, Christmas is just around the corner," continued Robin. "We have to earn a living or else, we will be spending Christmas time with an empty stomach."
"Are you ok, Robin?" asked Star.
"Yeah, that's so not like you," Cyborg chimed in.
"Guys, I'm not kidding. I've think about it all night and I've decided that we must look for another job," said Robin, deadly-serious.
"WHAT!"
"I was looking through the classified ads in the papers and I've found one, for me," smiled Robin, throwing a newspaper to each titan. "Now, you find yours."
"Robin, have you lost your mind?" asked Raven, catching the papers using her telekinetic power.
"No," stressed Robin. "This is the least we can do to save ourselves from starving to death, and to save our Christmas too."
"I wish you are right … Hey! I've found a suitable job!" announced Cyborg.
"Guess what? I've found mine too!" shouted Starfire, jumping up and down happily.
"Sigh … I don't think this is the right one, but I think I've found mine," joined in Raven, her face expressionless.
"How about you, BB?" asked Robin.
"Wait, I'm still searching," said Beastboy, sweat-dropped.
"He's found his too," answered Cyborg for Beastboy.
"What! I'm not done yet," glared Besatboy.
"Don't worry, I've found one for you," said Cyborg with a twinkle in his eyes. "This!" he proclaimed, pointing towards a small ad at the corner of his papers.
"No way!" Beastboy could feel his eyes bulging out.
"If you are all done, then let's make a move! Go, titans!" Robin stood up.
All the titans did was sighing …
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"Scene no. 5 – fighting scene on the ship's deck. Ready .. 3, 2, 1 action!" ordered the director.
"Hee-ah!" The man who acted as Robin's opponent pretended to give him a punch on the stomach – softly and slow-motioned-ly.
Robin squirmed uncomfortably in his pirate costume. The thick fabric was suffocating him and his hands felt heavy because of the metal hook attached. Plus, the moving ship made his head spin. During this scene, he was supposed to fight back but he couldn't. He felt like fainting.
"Cut!" shouted the director. He stomped angrily towards Robin and scolded,"You! What do you think you are doing? You are supposed to fight back!"
"I'm sorry," Robin apologized. "Let's try again."
"This time, make sure you do it right," hissed the director. "3, 2, 1 action!"
Again, Robin's opponent punched him softly on his stomach. He tried to swing his leg up but his leg felt heavy. He stumbled across the deck instead.
"Cut!" yelled the director again. "Hoy, pirate! What's wrong with you, huh! Do it right or you are out!"
Robin got up and smoothed his costume. He posed to strike and he kept telling himself – fight back … fight back … fight back … His vision started to blur but he struggled to keep himself awake. Finally, he heard the director's order and without thinking, he flung his leg at his opponent hard.
SPLASH!
"Help! I don't know how to swim!" Uh-oh. Apparently, his opponent may be a good fighter but a lousy swimmer.
The director scowled at Robin and shouted, "OUT!"
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"To begin, click 'start' on the taskbar. Next, point your cursor to 'all programs'. Then, move your cursor to 'accessories'. Lastly, click on 'paint' and tah-dah! 'Paint' is here!" explained Cyborg to a class of 5-year-old kids.
"Sir?" a mischievous-looking boy put up his hand. "Could you please explain again?"
"You want me to explain again? Hullo, this is the 18th time you want me to explain! You're disturbing my class, boy!" said Cyborg.
"Sir, you can teach me personally for one last time. By this way, I won't be disturbing your class. Please …" beg the boy.
Cyborg rolled his eyes. "Ok, ok. But this is the last time."
Cyborg bent down and looked into the boy's monitor. His eyes nearly popped out! On the screen was a pig, revoltingly drawn with ugly shades of green. An arrow was pointed towards the drawing and there was the word – MR CYBORG. Cyborg could feel his eyes burning. He turned towards the boy but he was nowhere to be seen! By then, Cyborg heard a voice behind him,"Hey, look! What's this button for?" His heart stopped beating.
"No, wait …" Oops, too late. The boy had already pushed the button on Cyborg's arm. And everything went black.
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"Star ……fire …!"
"Coming, Miss Chloe," answered Starfire. She looked at herself in the mirror of the changing room and smiled with satisfaction – white bonnet, black miniskirt and a creamy laced apron – purr-fect! She smoothed her skirt, took a last glance at herself and rushed out.
"Yes, Miss Chloe?"
"Yes? Do you know you are late? What are you doing so long in the room?" asked the manager of the animal shelter in an unpleasant tone.
"I'm sorry, Miss Chloe …"
"No time to apologize," cut the plump manager. She threw Star a broom and ordered, "Now, go and clean up the chambers, then feed the animals, got it?"
"Y ... Yes, Miss Chloe." With a sigh, Star strode towards the first cage and lift up the heavy metal door. She wrinkled her nose as the stinking smell of animals wafted through her nostrils.
"Eww … it stinks in here. I never realize cats are that smelly," she said to herself. She walked inside and looked around. In the first chamber lived 5 cats – all mixed-breed. There was one in black, one with chocolate-brown coat and 3 white ones with brown patches.
"Oh, they are so adorable!" she exclaimed and patted their heads. The cats meowed and rubbed their heads against her leg. "Nice kitty. I know you're hungry so I brought you this." She poured the food into their metal plate. The cats meowed a 'thank you' and gulped down their food.
Star smiled to herself. She started to sweep the dirty floor full of cats' stools and fur. She then spotted the 6th cat curled up in a corner. It has dirty orange fur with dark brown stripes. Its eyes were an eerie yellow and they were staring straight at Star.
"Hey, kitty, are you ok?" Star walked towards the cat. The cat didn't answer – correction – the cat didn't meow. "Why aren't you eating? Are you sick?" Star asked again. No response. "Come on, kitty. Don't be afraid, I'm your friend." Still no reaction. A fearful thought came across Star's mind – maybe it's dead!
Star slowly inched her way towards the cat. She reached out her hand hesitatingly and touched its body. The cat jerked away and let out and angry 'meow'. Ok, so the cat's not dead but it is nuts! – Star's mind screamed. The cat was now striding towards her, its fur standing up. It arched its back and meowed as if trying to say 'I'm going to kill you'. Then, it jumped towards Star and began scratching her clothes.
"Hey, stop! Go away!" But the cat kept on attacking her. Its sharp nails scratched through Star's arm and blood came oozing out! Star was totally freaked out. She had no choice but to throw an energy ball at the cat.
BOMB!
The energy ball missed the cat but it didn't miss the walls and ceilings. Soon, there was a loud crashing sound.
"What's happening?" Miss Chloe came running to the cage. She gasped at what she saw. There was debris all around the chamber.
"You!" she pointed an accusing finger towards Star. Star tried to explain but she cut her off. "You are FIRED!"
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Raven rolled her eyes angrily. She was standing at the ground floor of a shopping mall, dressed as a meatball and holding a plate full of meatballs. "Delicious homemade meatballs from Round & Round Meatballs! Come and have a try!" she called out to the shoppers around. Well, they didn't taste a single one, in fact, they laughed at her.
"Haha … she's so funny-looking!"
"And that's so embarrassing! A grown-up like her dressed as a huge, juicy meatball, haha …."
Raven clenched her fist and gritted her teeth. How she wish she could throw a truck on them! But she just ignored them and continued shouting, "Meatballs! Sweet, succulent meatballs!"
"Mummy, look! There's a meatball there!" Raven heard a kid shouted. She turned and saw a young boy tugging at his mom's skirt. "Can I go and play with her, mummy? Please …"
"Of course you can, sweetheart. You can ask for a meatball from her too," answered his mother as she continued chatting on the phone.
"Yippe!" The boy ran towards Raven. Raven swallowed hard – uh-oh, this is not a good sign. Well, it really is not a good sign. The boy rushed towards Raven and … punched her hard on the stomach!
"Hooray, mummy. I'm playing boxing with her!" cheered the boy. Then he started to bite on Raven's soft, fluffy costume. "Mummy, the meatball is yummy!" He continued to kick and punch on Raven's big, round tummy, nearly causing Raven to fall over!
Raven could tolerate no more to the boy's attitude. Finally, she thundered, "GET YOUR FILTHY HANDS OFF ME!" Oh no. The boy started to cry. "Mummy, the meatball yelled at me! Waa …"
Soon, everyone turn their attention towards Raven. They started to comment again, pointing towards her. The worst is yet to come. The boy's mother stomped towards Raven and slapped her across the face. "How dare you yell at my little Billy!"
Raven glared at the woman in front of her. She wished she could send the woman crashing through the glass doors using her power … but she couldn't.
"What are you staring at?" the woman scowled at her. "Are you trying t …"
"I QUIT!" shouted Raven.
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"Ladies and gentleman, girls and boys, welcome to the zoo! Today, we have a special performance presented to you – animal transforming! Let's put our hands together for our friend – Beastboy!"
Beastboy walked out proudly to the outdoor stage. The kids clapped and cheered happily. "Beastboy … beastboy …" Beastboy made a small bow. He took a deep breath and started his performance.
First, he turned into a bear. Next he turned into an antelope. Then he turned into a panda. As he turned from beast to beast, the children applauded. "This task is way too easy, and way too smooth. Thanks to Cyborg," thought BB.
Soon, the performance was coming to an end. Beastboy ended his debut by turning into a cute-looking hamster. He did some somersaults and bowed. The children were tickled to their bones. They laughed and threw BB some flowers. Beastboy was on top of the world!
PLOP!
A pebble hit hard on Beastboy hamster's head. Then another pebble was thrown towards him. Another and another. "Ouch! That hurts!"
"I hate hamster! I hate hamster!" BB could hear a boy shouting. He stuck out his tongue at BB and this time, threw his sandals towards BB. Before he could transform back to human, the sandal hit BB hard and he fell, fainted.
"This is no easy task ……" he thought.
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That night, the titans gathered at the living room and told their working experience. They laughed at each other but soon, they were feeling down again.
"Sigh … It seems that Robin's brilliant idea had turned into a disaster," muttered Cyborg.
"Hey! It has nothing to do with my idea! No matter how, we have to work! This is the only way to earn a living!" said Robin.
"Yeah, Robin's right," agreed Raven. "If only we can find a job which we can work together and take care of each other."
"Oh. You mean like a basketball team?" asked Beastboy.
"Wrong, idiot!" Raven struck BB's head hard.
"Ouch! Not another one!"
"Or you mean a troupe of ballet dancers?" offered Starfire.
"Hullo, we don't dance ballet," said Cyborg.
"Or maybe a cheerleading squad or a voluntary team or caroling group …" Star blabbered. The titans rolled their eyes and slapped their foreheads.
"How about a rock band?" asked Robin.
"A rock band … that sounds good to me!"
"Yeah, that's the perfect idea. A rock band sounds so cool!"
Robin grinned. "And we will call ourselves 'The Titans". Agree?"
"Agree!" the titans cheered.
"I'll be the bassist," announced Robin.
"I'll play the drum," said Cyborg.
"Me the violinist," BB joined in.
"You?" the titans frowned.
"Yeah, me! What? Believe it or not – I have a diploma in music and I've been playing the violin since I was 4!" boasted BB.
"I'll be the keyboardist," offered Raven. "But who will be the song leader?"
"Me me me!" volunteered Star gleefully.
"You! No way!" the titans shouted together.
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TO BE CONTINUED ……
A/N: Sigh … this story is too long to be a one-shot. Maybe it will end at the 2nd chapter. So, R & R.