Disclaimer : We don't own nobody you probably heard of in this fic, so don't bother suing us cuz We're broke. We do, however, own the fan-made characters which we will reveal momentarily, steal these and we will tell Raven you drank her tea.
Summary:
5 years have now passed and with the Teen Titans now grown up, it's time to start training some new apprentices. Let's see how the new Titans in training adapt to their new family shall we. (By the way, The main characters for this story aren't the Titans, so there! ;-P)
Background:
1)Isaac "I/O" Owens : Age 10
Character Description: The oldest of the apprentices, I/O was blessed with the gift of knowledge and has a genius level IQ despite his young age. I/O stand at an average 10 year old height (4'9") and has brown hair and eyes. He wants to be viewed as a mature adult, yet sometimes has trouble suppressing his childish impulses. Following the deaths of his parents, I/O was adopted by the Teen Titans both due to his incredible intellect and the inability for a normal family to support his advanced schooling.
2)Digi Owens: Age 5
Character Description: The younger sister of I/O,she joined her brother in moving to the Titan's Tower. Standing at about 2'7" and having strawberry blonde hair and big blue eyes, Digi epitomizes the word "cute". Very helpful and sweet, she always wants to "assist" her big brother's experiments, much to I/O's dismay. Despite their differences, I/O is slightly protective of his little sister (in the same way a nuclear warhead is slightly destructive, usually with the same results).
3)Timothy (Sketch) Anderson : Age 9
Character Description: Sketch (as he likes to be called rather than his real name) is the kid brother of Jinx. Stands at 4'2" and has light brown and has green eyes. Much like Jinx, Sketch possesses supernatural talents. Although they aren't as developed yet, they seem to be related to his artwork. Unfortunately, artistic talent doesn't necessarily mean intellectual prosperity, as Sketch's poor grades reflect. Prior to the deaths of Mr. & Mrs. Owens, Sketch and I/O were neighbors and childhood friends despite being two completely different people. Sketch views life as a big game to be enjoyed to the fullest and is a carefree person altogether.
4)Joy: Age 2
Character Description: As the half human/ half Tameranian daughter of Starfire and Nightwing, she's more than a handful to deal with, like any toddler. Compound this with the fact that she can fly and is far stronger than the average two year old and you redefine the phrase "terrible two's". Has red hair, torquise colored eyes, and is sweet enough to cause cavities.
5) Belle :Age 9
Character Description: One of Sketch's classmates, she is a close friend of him and Digi. She stands at around 4' 7", with grey eyes and brown hair that hangs to the middle of her back, often she ties it at the base of her neck. She wears glasses and has a jade pendant necklace. She is the second youngest of five children, and the only girl as well. Because of this she had to learn to assert herself, oftentimes to the point of being pushy. This fact leaves her with few friends aside from Digi and Sketch. She has a more passive side, but there are very few whom she allows to witness it. She usually wears plain, utilitarian clothes and she almost never wears dresses. Academically and physically average, she learns quickly and never backs down from a challenge.
Age List for the Teen Titans and other story important characters (others to be announced later)
Robin : 20 Has adopted the name of Nightwing following the recruitment of a second Robin by Batman
Cyborg: 21 Serves as academic tutor to the youngsters in Titan's Tower
Raven: 20 Loosened up a bit since Joy was born, Who woulda guessed she had a soft spot for kids?
Starfire: 19 Same old Starfire, just seems to have adopted the role of Supermom to the children
Beast Boy: 17 Has mellowed a lot since Terra's revival and re-instatement into the team
Terra: 18 Was released from her stone prison and welcomed back into the team following her rehabilitation (a few years stuck in rock'll give you a heck of a cramp)
Jinx: 20 After discovering that she has a younger brother, she left the life of crime and now works as a nurse, and keeps in close contact with the Titans, especially Cyborg...
Blackfire: 22 Following a near fatal accident, Starfire nursed her back to health and now Blackfire helps around the Tower, as a nanny and occasionally in the field, when her more permanent injuries allow.
Slade: 35 While still an obstacle to the Titans, he seems to have taken more of a back seat to the younger villains. However, he remains as cunning and ruthless as ever, through the production of ever more powerful and versatile androids.
And now, we begin the fanfic....
----Chapter 1----
Future Forward: The more things change, the more fun we have
Our story starts in the most unassuming of ways, Raven sitting in the dining room, enjoying the peace and quiet of early morning with a good book and a steaming cup of her favorite herbal tea... The serenity of the day so enveloping... The birds singing, the waves crashing upon the shore below the tower, the sounds of life in it's many forms awakening to the day, so peaceful... so calm... so..
BBBBOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
"....Great," Raven thought deflatedly, "the kids are awake"
"GET BACK HERE!" came a shout from the room beyond, "I'm not gonna hurt ya, just maim ya a little!"
"I said I was sorry!" came another voice
"Not as sorry as you're gonna be when I catch ya!!!" retorted the first.
"Just what I needed to start the day," Raven muttered, "another famous I/O and Sketch free for all"
Just then the denim and green blur that was Sketch raced past Raven, "You didn't see me, K?" shouted the pursued little boy as he passed
"WHERE IS HE!?" Shouted I/O as he entered, his normally clean and orderly appearence marred by burn marks and an unimaginable amount of soot and smoke... almost enough to make the blaster he carried seem reasonably sized.
Raven glanced at him above the edge of her book, and with a cock of the eyebrow simply pointed towards the counter, behind which Sketch had taken refuge.
"MISS RAVEN, YOU TRAITOR!!!" shouted Sketch as he came out of his hiding spot and pointed an accusing finger towards Raven, totally unaware he had just given away his safe position. The color drained from his face as he realized his mistake.
"AHA!" declared I/O leveling his weapon and taking aim. "What's the matter, PAL... don't you wanna know what THIS button does too?"
"No fighting before breakfast" a cheerful voice said as the blaster was taken from I/O's hands.
"But.. but..." I/O began protesting to the self appointed mother figure "..he just blew up something I spent weeks working on".
"No buts young man, Now go wash up, you have things to do today... And as for you," Starfire said as she turned to Sketch, "Stop breaking I/O's toys"
"THEY AREN"T TOYS!" I/O hollered from down the hall.
"I DON'T HEAR WASHING DOWN THERE!" Starfire yelled back, " Now Sketch, go and tell the others it's time for breakfast".
" Fiiiiiine," Sketch whined as he walked into the hall out of the dining room...
"HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEYYYYYYY, YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLL, FOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOODDDDDDDDDDDSSSSSSSSSSSSS OOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
"Okay, anything else ya need Starfire?" asked Sketch as he walked back into the room.with a cocky grin
" I could have done that, I meant for you to go tell them," She answered
"Be more specific next time then."
":Congratulations," Raven commented, "You just volunteered to clean the kitchen today."
"Awwww, Man...." Sketch whined.
"Serves ya right," a newly clean I/O retorted, "That'll teach you to mess with other people's stuff."
"He's actually doing it because he was cocky," Raven corrected, "And since you seem to enjoy the idea of him working, you get to help."
"But..."
"Keep it up and you'll also have the lovely duty of cleaning the toilets, and just to warn you, remember that last night was tofu and chili dog night, and you know how that chili just flows through Cyborg" Raven said in a taunting voice while enjoying the sight of a now visibly disgusted I/O.
"Yes Ma'am" I/O muttered dejectedly as he and Sketch took their seats at the table.
"Awwww YEAH! Bacon and eggs over here Star!" exclaimed the ever boisterous Cyborg as he entered the dining room ahead of the others.
Digi, Beastboy, Nightwing and the rest of the Titans crew assembled at the oversized table for a meal which the term "Feeding frenzy" would be too mild, although two of the diners were noticably quiet, the glares they sent each other from across the table spoke volumes to the few who caught them.
"Uh oh, big brother and Sketch are at it again, what got brokeded this time?" asked Digi as she watched both I/O and Sketch glaring at each other over the table as they ate.
"Now now Digi, what have I said about talking about such things during breakfast" Starfire chided while feeding Joy.
"Eh, I'm sure they'll settle things out eventually. Fightings part of being a kid," Terra commented, "I remember when I was a kid, me and the boys in my neighborhood were always fighting."
"You and the boys?" Jinx asked.
"What? You don't think I'd fight the girls do ya? They were always playing with their dollies and crud. Wouldn't have been fair, besides, Big Tony was the only one who could put up a decent fight" she said with a grin.
The rest of the meal went by with relative harmony, as did the first of the two troublemaker's cleaning periods, thanks to the watchful eyes of Blackfire, who was the acting nanny/housekeeper for the team. Which was completed just in time for class...
--Classroom--
--In Titan's Tower--
"Well, class time I/O," Cyborg said cheerfully,"T'day we're gonna be doing some work with ion phase disruptors."
"You mean the new first strike technology the military's been working with?"
"Yeah, that's the stuff"
"Cooooool"
--Cut to the local public school--
"Turn to page 92 and read chapter 7 and answer the study questions by the end of the period," a bored looking teacher commanded.
"Okay," an annoyed Sketch commented under his breath, "this class officially bites."
"Oh, it's not so bad," replied a voice behind him.
"Shut up Belle, I'm not cut out for this history stuff, Give me art class or recess any day"
"You mean classes where you don't gotta think?"
"Yeah, exact... HEY!"
Behind him the girl named Belle snickered, "You're too silly, you know that right?"
"Bah!," Sketch replied, sticking his tongue out at her. "OWW!" he exclaimed as she smacked the bottom of his jaw up, "What'd ya do that for?"
"It's rude to stick your tongue out, that's why," She replied sticking her tongue out at him briefly before erupting into giggles.
Sketch tried to glare at her but couldn't contain himself and he started giggling too.
"Stop playing around and get to work!" the teacher shouted from the front of the room.
"Yes, mine Furher," Sketch commented under his breath, which elicited another round of giggles from Belle.
--Cut to Kindergarden--
"Coloring, coloring, pretty pretty flowers," sang Digi in her little kindergarden class.
(Rather than force you all to endure this senseless display of cuteness further, I think we'll switch scenes...)
--Back at Titan's Tower--
"So if you cross the positive ion supply with the negative ion supply in a controlled environment, the results can be witnessed firsthand," Cyborg lectured.
"Like this?" I/O asked, having completed the attachments a few minutes prior he was just waiting for his mentor to complete his speech. Cyborg had a tendency to get testy if he knew I/O jumped ahead of him.
"Scuse me! Coming through!" came Jinx's frantic voice, followed be an equally agitated Jinx chasing the laughing Joy, who's power of flight was developing quite well according to Starfire and Blackfire.
"Remind me to invent a playpen that'll hold that kid one of these days," Cyborg muttered as he grabbed Joy out of the air and handed her to a winded Jinx, who smiled and gave him a kiss on the cheek.
"Thanks a lot," Jinx said with a smile as she left the room, tossing a wave to I/O on her way out.
"Duely noted," I/O replied, "But why is your face red?"
" Alrighty..." Cyborg began again when he realized the strange look he was recieving. "As I was saying...."
--Back to Sketch--
"Now This is what I like about school," Sketch sighed standing in front of an easel wearing a smock with more paint on it than the canvas in front of him.
"Ahh, if it isn't my little prodigy," the bubbly teacher remarked coming up behind him, What are we making today?"
"I call it a MegaRoboDinoBot... I'm gonna see if I/O'll make one for me... when he stops being mad about that thing I blew up today... heh"
"How lovely Timmy, I bet you're gonna be a great artist when you grow up," she said with a smile as she walked off to check on the other students.
"Pfft, It's Sketch," He muttered defiantly.
--Let's just see here...--
"One for you... One for you.." Digi chorused as she helped pass out snacks to the other students... Sickeningly cute, ain't it?
--Again with I/O's "class"--
This was his favorite time of the day. a period of a few hours where Cyborg allowed I/O to do as he wished in the scientific sectors of the tower. Today he was doing fairly routine work in the biology department.
"There has got to be a better way to secure my lab," He muttered as he typed away. "Sketch and Digi are always causing so much trouble."
"Let's see, 'Disintigration fields'... Nah, don't wanna hurt Digi... 'Stasis chamber'.... Nah, The Titan's would wanna find them sometime... 'Dimensional vortexes' ...To dangerous, wouldn't wanna open a gate to some monster world or something... I wonder if any of the others would have an idea..."
I/O decided not to disturb Cyborg, who was in the middle of a nap, He would just set him to do other schoolwork.
Feeling a bit hungry, He decided to go by the kitchen for a snack, at least that way if someone decided to stop him and set him back to his studies he would have a decent excuse. Starfire was at the kitchen table bouncing a giggling Joy on her lap, Jinx was sitting across the table chatting with her, occasionally sipping from a coffee cup in frnt of her.
"Well well, What do we have here?" she inquired when she noticed I/O, "I doubt Cyborg let you go this early."
"Study period," He replied, "I was hungry so I came down for a snack"
"There are leftovers in the refrigerator if you like," Starfire recommended, He didn't know why, but that lady took to motherhood like a duck to water, and she insisted on treating all the younger residents of the tower like her own children.
"No thanks Miss Star, I'll just make a sandwich."
"Okay then, Make sure you clean up after you finish."
"Will do Ma'am, by the way, You wouldn't happen to have ay advise on how to stop Sketch and Digi from messing with my experiments would you? I'm trying to figure out a way to keep them from blowing up my stuff..."
"Tie him up and toss him in a closet, that'll solve the whole problem," Jinx recommended playfully.
"NO! You must not do such a thing, it is not right to treat your friends such a way!" Starfire shouted, startling Joy into a fit of crying.
"Relax, relax, I was just kidding Star," Jinx answered as Starfire rocked Joy in an attept to calm the toddler. "Besides, I/O would never do such a thing, would you?"
"Hmm?" I/O replied, "Sorry, I was just thinking..."
"You would never do such a thing as tie the children up. Would. You. I/O." Jinx reiterated as she locked I/O with 'The Look'.
"Oh, Of course of course, I would Neeeeeever even consider it," He replied, hoping he sounded sincere enough to convince the ladies.
"Then all is well!" sang Starfire, once again well entrenched into her typical happy-go-lucky persona.
"Well, guess I'll be going now," I/O said as he gathered up his sandwiches. "see you three later." And with that he headed out the kitchen door to look for more, and hopefullly better advise on how to solve his problem. I/O had barely left the room when behind him the bubbly voice of Starfire was heard, "He wouldn't really do that... would he?" followed by a sigh, presumably from Jinx.
--Sketch and Digi--
This was His favorite time of the day, RECESS! This wasn't a large school, so the entire campus had recess at the same time. As always, Sketch, Digi and Belle hung out on the playground together. There was the perfect spot for the three of them to relax, right by the swings which Digi loved more than anything, a fact which would no doubt disturb I/O if he knew. Digi was as always trying vainly to swing above the bar and do a complete flip, Belle had given up on telling her it was impossible months ago, Sketch meanwhile sat under the shade of a nearby tree earning his chosen name, and Belle was up to her elbows in a new book, just the title of which gave Sketch a headache... How could someone read that much anyway? He couldn't remember ever seeing her without some sort of book on her.
"You think big brother's gonna still be mad at you when we get home?" Digi asked Sketch as she slowed down her swinging.
"We can hope not," Sketch replied with a shrug.
"Oh come on. What's the worst he could do?" Belle asked, "I mean, he's only a kid like us, what's he gonna do, run you down on a scooter?"
Sketch meanwhile was in the middle of a daydream... or more accurately daynightmare, in which he was being chased by his MegaRoboDinoBot, carrying a very miffed I/O on it's shoulder... "You'd be surprised," Was the only answer he could muster, despite the peculiar look Belle gave him.
With a shrug Belle turned back to the book on her lap, She enjoyed reading outside despite the way the breeze messed with the pages.
"Hey, Why doesn't your brother ever come to school anyway?" Belle asked looking up from her book, "Is he sick a lot or something?"
Sketch just snorted, "Heck no, He's just some sorta genius-boy, so they gotta teach him at home."
"Yeah!" Digi chorused, "Big brother's real smart!"
"Ooooh," Belle said, "Well, he can't be too smart. I mean, He's friends with Sketch isn't he?" She teased, with a wink at Digi.
"HEY!" Sketch shouted, as Digi nearly fell off her swing giggling.
--I/O--
The meeting with Jinx and Starfire had proved futile. Not that it surprised him too much, But Jinx at least should have had some decent ideas, she used to break into security for crying out loud. It was a pretty nice day out, so I/O decided to eat lunch on the roof, Starfire and Blackfire had a lovely garden up there with plants from all over the galaxy. As he punched the button on the elevator he wondered where everyone was, Nightwing would likely be training right now, maybe with Blackfire, injured or not that girl could fight... Raven obviously would be meditating, the only time she had where she could concentrate enough to do that these days was when the kids were at school... but that left Terra and Beastboy, the rowdiest members of the group, well perhaps aside from Sketch that is... I/O just shrugged, Those two could be anywhere, and it's not likely that they'd have any good ideas anyway.
"YO! Watch it!" a voice yelled as the elevator door opened and a blonde woman dove in grasping wildly for a basketball landing face first at I/O's feet.
"Hello Terra," I/O muttered.
"Out on you! out on you! My ball now!" sang a obviously happy Beastboy, dancing around in the distance.
"So... How much is he losing by this time?" I/O asked as he helped the woman to her feet.
"Oh, he's only six points down now, the score's sixteen to ten," She replied, "He just seems to have forgotten I spotted him that ten!" she finished in a voice both knew would be heard by the small green one as she ran off to continue the game.
"I didn't forget! I just choose not to remember!" Beastboy shouted back, just before ducking a large orange projectile aimed at his head.
"I swear, If I grow up to be like either of those two I'm gonna jump off this tower," I/O muttered under his breath as he pressed the button for the main floor. He wouldn't likely get any good ideas from them, and remaining on the roof wouldn't get him any peace or quiet the way those two were going at it.
"I'll just go finish up with Cyborg, maybe Nightwing'll have some decent ideas when he finishes with his training," I/O sighed.
--Sketch and Digi--
"Gotta get home sometime you know," Belle consoled a foreboding Sketch, "I can do the last rites if ya want them tho."
Sketch did a double take at the grinning girl, "Not funny, not funny at all," he muttered dejectedly.
"Aww, come on. Lighten up, I mean you live with the Teen Titans for crying out loud. I really doubt they'd let someone be murdered in their own home."
"Nope!" Digi agreed, "they won't even let ya get beat up too bad."
"Gee, you two are just making me feel soooo much better, You know that right?" the doomed one replied sarcastically.
"That's what we're here for," Belle said cheerfully, giving Sketch a slap on the back. "Well, this is my street, I'll see y'all tomorrow... well at least you Digi."
"HEY!" Sketch yelled, But the third member of their little party had already jogged down the side street and was well on her way home.
"Um, Digi... You wouldn't happen to know if I/O's made any new... blasters or anything do you?" Sketch asked after a little while.
"Uh uh."
"Okay, so all I gotta look out for is the usual ones, eh? Great," Sketch sighed, "might as well get this over with."
They continued home, Digi playing some childish game of hopscotch over the sidewalk cracks and Sketch having strange imaginings of the grim reaper and a demon playing checkers for his soul.
--Titan's Tower--
"Welcome home! How was your day of school?" Starfire asked cheerily as the two youngsters entered the tower. "There are cookies and juice for you on the table to snack on as you do the work of home."
"Weee!" Digi squealed happily as she dashed off to the kitchen, Starfire always made good cookies. Pudding on the other hand...
"Um... have you seen I/O around?" Sketch asked the adopted matron of the household.
"Hmm, I believe he has gone to speak with Robin, he was quite insistant that he be alowed into the training room to do so."
"Um, Okay, thanks," he replied as he wandered off to the kitchen where Digi was already plowing through her snack. Sketch sat down at the table and pulled out his math homework, at least this way if I/O shot at him he'd have a decent excuse for the teacher if I/O missed and fried it... He hated math.
"So you're telling me there's a way to make a laser dome that doesn't do more than shock a creature larger than a bug but is still strong enough to keep unwanted pests out?" I/O's voice echoed down the hall coming closer.
"Yeah, But it's still in the experimental phases so far, It's being developed by the space administration to secure landing fields against potential threats on unexplored worlds. It uses solid light technology so in theory it could be used to secure almost any area, I'm surprised Cyborg hasn't mentioned it to you, he's been trying to find a way to use it to replace the fragile windows around here, these plastisteel windows just don't take a beating like they used to." Nightwing replied. That made Sketch relax a little, He wouldn't allow anything to happen. He wondered momentarily why Starfire always called Nightwing Robin, but then Starfire did a lot of things that seemd to defy explanation.
"Well, I haven't really asked Cyborg yet, but I'll talk to him about it when I see him next. I gotta figure a way to keep Sketch and Digi out of my laboratory, they cause way too much trouble when they manage to get in there."
'Great' Sketch thought, 'there goes any chance that he might have forgotten.'
"Hehehe, I know what you mean, Beastboy was a lot like that when he was younger too. Except he kept getting into Raven's stuff.
"And he's still alive?"
"Yup, But you shoulda seen some of the beatings he got," Nightwing said with a laugh. "Well, I gotta go. I haven't seen Joy at all today, and you know how she gets if she doesn't get to spend time with 'DaDa'." And with that he walked off to the playroom, carrying Sketch's hopes of a pain free afternoon with him.
"So, I almost didn't expect to see you again today," I/O commented icily as he regarded Sketch from the doorway.
"Um... Hiya... You're not still mad... are ya?" Sketch replied nervously.
"Mad? Nonono, I'm not mad. Am I Digi?"
"Nope! Not mad he's furry... Furri.... Furriouse," Digi stumbled over the word, despite it being a well used phrase from I/O.
"That's right Sis. Now, Why don't you go and play with Joy and Nightwing, They're in the playroom. Sketch and I need to have a grown up talk."
"But you're not growned up yet!" Digi countered defiantly.
"No.. maybe not, But don't you think it's selfish to keep all the cookies and juice down here when Joy might want some too?" I/O countered.
"Ooooh!" Digi cried as she grabbed a plateful of cookies and her cup of juice and shot from the room. At her age sharing was as enjoyable as playing espicially with Joy, who tended to play with food more often than eat it.
"So... do I get the customary five minutes?" Sketch asked nervously.
"Five minutes?" I/O asked confused.
"Yeah, you know to make my will and stuff."
"Number one, You've had the whole schoolday to do that. Number two, I'm not gonna kill you... that would be too easy. I've spent the whole day thinking about how to get even with you... now follow me," Sketch followed obediently as I/O led him outside into the backyard where a grill was set up.
"What's going on?" Sketch asked, even more puzzled than I/O was earlier.
"We're gonna have a cookout, can't you tell?"
"But you're not allowed to grill, only the adults can do that."
"I know."
"That's why I'm here." Sketch jumped at the unexpected voice behind him. He hated when Miss Raven snuck up on him like that.
"Um... H..Hi Miss Raven," Sketch stammered.
"Hello Sketch, Hello again I/O."
"Did you get it?" I/O asked, straight to the point as usual.
"Right here," Raven replied handing over a green binder.
"H.. hey! That's mine!" Sketch shouted.
"Oh really? Well, do you see any charcoal around? We need something to fuel the grill right?" I/O replied tauntingly. as he proceeded to tear out pages and toss them into the grill.
"But...But.. You went into my room!" Sketch wimpered.
"Maybe this'll teach you to stay out of other people's rooms then." I/O stated as he finished dropping pages and reached for a bright red canister beside the grill and thuroughly saturated the papers with the contents.
"You're up Miss Raven," he stated stepping back.
"Very well," and as she said that she struck and dropped a match igniting the papers in a bright flash of orange which reached even through the grating of the grill, upon which the makeshift lunch was perched.
"Well," I/O said, interrupting the silence when he felt it had gone on long enough. "Now that that's done, how about a hot dog?"
He couldn't help but feel a little bad as Sketch ran into the tower, but if this is what had to be done to get the point across, then so be it. "I didn't over do it, did I?" he asked as he looked to Raven.
"He'll be fine, He just needs a little time, besides, that was one of his newer notebooks, it didn't have all that much in it anyway," she replied with a shrug.
"Alright, I hope you're right..."
"Come on, You still have a snack waiting, and you still have a little sister to break your toys if that's what you're gonna miss," She teased while ruffling his hair.
"They aren't toys," I/O muttered under his breath as he followed the woman into the tower.
"Alright, what happened to Sketch? I know you had something to do with this," the voice wasn't entirely unexpected. Blackfire wasn't as naive as her sister, and she tended to take just as much interest in the children's well being.
"He simply got a taste of his own medicine," I/O replied stoicly, turning to face the dark haired Tamaranian. "I spent a lot of time talking this through with Raven since Cyborg let me out of class and she assured me that it wasn't too extreme a recourse."
"So you admit you did something to him?" She asked again, arching an eyebrow.
"I never denied it," I/O replied, turning back to his computer and the diagram he was working on.
"You realize you're gonna have to be punished right?"
"I had anticipated as much, yes. What is it to be?"
"I haven't decided yet, but you'll know once I do. Now come upstairs, dinner's ready." And with that Blackfire floated up the stairs leading from the lab and left I/O to make his own way to the dining room where the others already were seated.
Dinner went as always, that is to say about as organized as a soccer riot. But after being around each other for so long, everyone managed to somehow eat enough, even the picky Beastboy.
"I've decided," Blackfire stated as she walked into I/O's room ater that evening. "As punishment for whatever it is that you did to upset Sketch so much, you have to tutor him."
"What!?" I/O yelped. "But he's incompetent, he's about as smart as a howler monkey!"
"Then I guess you're just going to have to remedy that, aren't you?
"But... But it's impossible!"
"Good, the Titan's have done the impossible often, and as a scientist and a potential Titan in training you should take it as a double challenge." She replied with a smirk.
"But..."
"The punishment is final, unless you'd rather I think up something worse?"
"Nothing could be..."
"Want me to have Cyborg seal your lab off and remove your computer?"
"NO!"
"Then looks like you're stuck, You start tomorrow, You'll be responsible for tutoring him for three hours each on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays in Math, Science and History, You choose which each day. I expect he'll manage a significant improvement by the end of the year. I trust we understand each other?"
"Yes Ma'am," I/O replied crestfallen.
"Very good. Now tomorrow's Wednesday, so I suggest you put some thought into what you're going to tutor him tomorrow during your free study period. Now, it's bedtime. Sleep tight," and with that she tucked him in and walked out of the room.
"I never believed it before... But I think they weren't kidding when they said Miss Blackfire used to be evil. Because this sure is," I/O muttered as he tried to fall asleep.
----End Chapter 1----
Well, we hope you liked the first chapter. Post a review if ya like, Constructive criticism is always welcome, and as we mentioned: Flamers will be punished in ways that would scare Genghis Khan. We hope to have chapter 2 up soon, so keep an eye out for it if ya liked this one. :-)