Hello, and welcome to my first oneshot! This is just a silly little (okay, not all that "little") story that was partially inspired by some of the school dances that I've been to. As mentioned in the story, it takes place after the movie and everything... And, considering Terra is one of the characters in this one (I couldn't resist ^_^), it also takes place after the Terra-returns fanfiction that I haven't written yet. -brick'd-
Anyway, I'm sure you're interested in which couplings will appear at the dance. The couples that will be mentioned are: Robin/Starfire, BB/Terra, Jinx/Kidflash, a small hint of Cyborg/Bumblebee, and a bit of Más and Menos crushing on Starfire :P On a similar note, I tried to give parts to as many Honorary and Titans East characters as I could, although a couple of them may be missing. You can interpret how these characters spent the dance as you wish.
There are five songs mentioned or alluded to in this story, the first of which is in the title ;) Can you catch them all? (I'll tell you what the songs are and who sings them after the fanfic)
Tonight's Gonna Be a Good Night
"Oh, come on! It'll be fun!"
Robin took a deep breath and tried to force all images of taping the shapeshifter's mouth shut and setting Raven on him out of his mind. He could not believe he was having this debate… much less that Beast Boy was being so persistent in his argument.
"For the last time," the team leader calmly replied, "Holding a dance for all of the Titans is not practical. There's no way we would be able to pull it off."
Cyborg, who had been listening to the argument for a few minutes now, decided that it was time to give his own opinion on the matter. "I don't know, I think B's got a point," he stated. "I mean, we took that vacation in Tokyo and things turned out fine. What's the harm in taking just a night off?"
Robin grit his teeth. Great, another one, he thought, rapidly losing his patience. "Look, just five of us was one thing. But every Titan – West, East and Honorary – that there is? Do you know how many young heroes are in our team? Not to mention, they're stationed all over the world!" As he spoke, his voice rose to almost hysterical tones. "How could we get them all together at once for some party? And how do you think all of the supervillains are going to react when they hear that the heroes are gone for the night?"
Cyborg shrugged. "We could just schedule it a month or two ahead of time so everyone could get ready – you know, like you're supposed to for dances? And then tell everybody to not let word get out."
Robin sighed. "You're making this sound so easy, but it isn't," he insisted. "Cyborg, you know we all have important work to do. No matter when any sort of dance is planned, people are going to be busy." He turned and began to walk away. "The answer is no, and it's going to stay that way. End of discussion!"
"Aww, you sure?" the half-robot called after innocently. "'Cause I'm sure Star would like it…"
Robin stopped in his tracks and sucked in a breath. He did not just pull that trick on me!
0 0 0 0 0
"You should have just set me on them," Raven muttered.
"Shut up," Robin mumbled as he straightened his tie for about the fifteenth time. Honestly, he didn't think she was really as opposed to going to the dance as she acted – after all, it wasn't like she had to.
Starfire and Terra had practically had to drag the Azarathean to the mall to find a dress. She wore a rather simple, midnight blue gown, and shining silver clips kept her hair back. Robin sported the same tuxedo he had worn at Kitten's junior prom, but for this dance, he had taken the time to comb his hair back rather than keep it spiked. He was just thankful that this time around, he got to choose his own date.
Speaking of which… At that moment, Starfire entered the room, a giddy look on her face and Terra following close behind. The Tamaranian wore a bright spring-green gown, and the geomancer's was a flowing sea-blue. Both wore their hair in updos, and Terra kept her signature butterfly hairpiece at the base of hers.
Robin gave Starfire a small smile, and then blushed madly when he realized that he was staring. He rubbed the back of his neck and cleared his throat, trying to think of something to say.
Terra grinned and struck a pose. "Robin, I know I look amazing, but it's not polite to stare," she teased as Starfire giggled at the attention.
Beast Boy and Cyborg, both sporting tuxes and (in the former's case) uncharacteristically neatly combed hair, appeared next. "We're all ready, right? Let's go!" the changeling shouted excitedly as he grabbed Terra's hand and started sprinting for the front door. Cyborg, meanwhile, gave Robin a look.
"You're going to take that mask off when we get to the dance, right?" he asked. Robin started.
"My mask? Why would I –"
Cyborg held up a hand to cut his leader off. "Man, you wear that thing too much! You're only going to be around friends there… You know, fellow heroes. People you can trust."
"I agree with Cyborg," Starfire piped in. "You will look much nicer if you permit us to see your eyes."
Robin thought it over for a moment. "Okay, if the other masked heroes don't have theirs on at the dance, then I'll take mine off too," he finally agreed. Then, an insisted, "But you'll see – they'll still be wearing theirs too."
The others seemed to be satisfied with this answer, so they followed Beast Boy and Terra out. At this point, Robin finally remembered what he was going to say earlier. Turning to Starfire, he took her hand and said, "You look wonderful tonight."
The Tamaranian smiled and blushed. "Thank you."
0 0 0 0 0
When the Titans entered the dance hall about half an hour later, they were greeted by flashing lights, blaring music and many of the fellow heroes that were already there. Color-changing lights danced over the walls, and streamers were hung everywhere. At the center of the room, a classic disco ball spun slowly, scattering even more light over the ceiling, floor and partying teenagers. At one end of the room, a young woman stood behind the DJ booth. As the song ended, the woman stopped the music momentarily and reached for the microphone.
"Hello and welcome, Titans of the world, to the first-ever Heroes' Prom!" she called out enthusiastically. "Now, it looks like just about everyone has arrived, so please take a moment to let me remind you all of tonight's rules. First off, there will be no inappropriate dancing – remember, this is a K+ environment! Second, this is a night to have fun and relax, so please, no fighting. And finally, please refrain from using your powers in any way that will disrupt others' enjoyment of tonight's dance. I will not hesitate to kick any serious rule-breakers out of this party. And I really can do that, because I'm the author. Now have fun!"
As the DJ set the mic down and turned the music back on, Beast Boy turned to Robin.
"'I'm the author?' What the heck does that mean? Where'd you hire this chick?" he asked.
"Don't ask," Robin replied.
At that moment, Kidflash and Jinx stepped out of the throng.
"Hey guys!" the speedster greeted. "Nice party you've got going here."
Jinx raised an eyebrow. "Why do you still have that mask on, leader-boy?"
She had a point – Kidflash was, indeed, maskless. Before Robin could protest, someone at his side said, "I can fix that," and the next thing he knew, his mask had been ripped off. He looked over in shock to see a smirking and also mask-free Speedy turn and make a run for it, clutching his precious eyewear. He was about to go after his mischievous friend, but was held back by a soft but firm grip.
"Robin, you did promise," Starfire reminded him as he turned back around. She tried to give him a reassuring smile, but it was difficult to do with the others craning in to get a good look at his bright green eyes.
0 0 0 0 0
"All right, everyone!" the DJ chirped, "Before we get into the mushy stuff, let's take a moment to honor the single ladies here tonight, shall we?"
As an upbeat tune began to play, a number of female guests cheered. Raven was not one of them.
Terra and Beast Boy eased off of the dance floor for a breather to find the Azarathean standing by a wall, alone. Terra rushed over.
"Hey, you all right?" she asked, a note of concern in her voice.
Raven merely shrugged. "I don't do dances. You should have guessed that by now."
Terra rolled her eyes. "Aww, come on! You won't have any fun if you don't try it." She grinned. "Besides, you have to dance to this song. It isn't quite the same for Star or me or the guys, but you…"
"Eh, I'll pass."
At that moment, the conversation was interrupted as Bumblebee practically stormed up to Raven.
"There you are!" the leader of the Titans East huffed. "Now let's go; we have a dance floor to take over."
Raven began to protest as Bumblebee grabbed her wrist and started dragging her off, but gave up when Argent and Kole appeared to help.
Terra just stood there for a moment as her friend was whisked away, then turned to her date and laughed.
"I guess that's one way to get her to join in!"
0 0 0 0 0
Jinx and Kidflash sat by the snack table, drinking punch as they took a moment's respite from the party.
"Nice dance, eh?" Kidflash asked. "I'll bet you didn't get to do anything like this back when you were with those HIVE kids."
Jinx smirked. "Actually, the HIVE Academy held dances fairly often," she informed him.
The speedster raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Really?"
Jinx nodded. "Just ask Cyborg or Bumblebee. They both went to one when they were undercover."
"Oh." Kidflash was quiet for a moment. "Well, I bet it wasn't nearly as fun dancing with a bunch of villains as it is with us hero types, right?"
The enchantress thought it over for a moment. "Actually, you're right," she replied. "At those parties, everyone spent most of the time pranking each other and trying not to get killed in the process."
Kidflash chuckled lightly. "I guess it's a good thing you came over to our side, then." Suddenly, his face lit up as he remembered something. "Oh! I almost forgot." He reached into his suit and pulled out a rose, offering it to Jinx. "For you, milady."
Jinx blushed slightly as she accepted the gift. "You never stop with the roses, do you?" she commented with a small sigh. With that, she stood up and grabbed her partner's hand, pulling him up as well. "Come on; let's get back to the dance floor before the night ends."
0 0 0 0 0
Near the back of the room, a few guys were milling about and chatting as the music played. As the next song came on, Aqualad's face suddenly brightened.
"Ooh, I love this song!" the Atlantean exclaimed. He immediately broke off from the others and started dancing the Thriller.
Speedy smirked. "Nice to see fishboy looking so chipper," he stated, suddenly wishing he had a camera. After a moment, though, he leaned back against the wall and sighed.
"There aren't enough single girls here; I can't get anyone to dance with me!" the archer complained.
Red Star raised an eyebrow. "Actually, I am pretty sure that most of the girls here don't have dates," he replied.
Speedy shrugged. "Yeah, but there still aren't enough of them. And most of them have either already found a dance partner, or won't take anybody." He looked over to Hotspot. "You get what I mean, right?"
Hot Spot merely shrugged back. "Eh, I don't know anybody here too well anyway. It's still a nice change of pace, though."
Más y Menos, who were sitting on the floor in front of the other guys, didn't make any attempt to contribute to the conversation. Both were too busy staring longingly at Starfire, who was laughing as Robin taught her the moves to the strange new dance.
Hotspot gave the twins a look. "You know, you guys would probably have better luck if you went after someone who's actually available."
"¡Callate!" Más snapped.
Speedy chuckled. "Well, at least I can't blame my looks for the lack of a date. After all, Mr. Chick-magnet couldn't get a girl either!"
"I heard that!" Aqualad called back, though he didn't pause his dance for even a moment.
"Hey, guys?" The boys turned hopefully toward the sound of a female voice, only to be disappointed when they recognized her. Terra = not available.
"What's wrong?" Red Star asked.
"I'm just wondering… Do any of you know where Beast Boy went?" the geomancer inquired. "It's the weirdest thing – we were talking one moment, then I turned away for a second and he just disappeared."
Meanwhile, the changeling in question was talking with the DJ at the other side of the room.
"Yeah, I've got that song. I can play it next – for once, there aren't any other requests waiting right now," the DJ replied.
Beast Boy rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, actually… I kinda want to sing it. You wouldn't happen to have, like, a karaoke version of the song or something, would ya?"
The young woman grinned. "Are you kidding? I'm the author!" she exclaimed. "I could play you the rock version of the Veggie Tales theme song if you wanted!" Her face darkened. "Then again, doing something like that might be kind of Deux Ex Machina of me… Not such a good thing…"
Beast Boy simply gave the DJ a bewildered look as he tried to figure out what the heck she was talking about.
"Uh… So you're not going to play it like that?" he asked slowly.
This seemed to snap the DJ out of her reverie. She thought it over for a moment, and then shrugged. "Eh, why not? It'll be fun!" As the song that was playing finished, she switched the music off again and picked up the microphone.
"Hello again, heroes and heroines! I'd like to take a moment to fill a request for one of your teammates, who wishes to sing a special song for his special someone!"
Back on the other side of the room, Hot Spot looked up and pointed. "Oh look, there he is," he commented casually as Terra spun around in shock. The geomancer could hardly believe her eyes as she watched the DJ hand a second mic over to Beast Boy, who looked out over the crowd and flashed a somewhat nervous smile as his requested song began to play. He caught sight of her, and his smile brightened. Then he began to sing.
I remember what you wore on the first day
You came into my life and I thought,
"Hey, you know, this could be something."
'Cause everything you do and words you say
You know that it all takes my breath away
And now I'm left with nothing…
Terra blushed deeply. While he wasn't a wonderful singer, Beast Boy was trying hard and actually sounding pretty good. A few of the other Titans glanced at her, smiling – everyone knew who he was singing this song for – and the rest were simply enjoying the scene.
So maybe it's true
That I can't live without you
Maybe two is better than one…
There's so much time
To figure out the rest of my life
And you've already got me coming undone
And I'm thinking two is better than one.
The DJ seemed to be thinking as she listened to the changeling sing. When he finished the chorus, she moved forward, tapped him gently on the shoulder and paused the music.
"I'm so sorry to interrupt," the young woman said a bit uncertainly, "But…" She looked out over the crowd until she spotted Terra, and then grinned. "I believe this particular song is a duet."
0 0 0 0 0
Robin took a deep breath and tried to force all thoughts of what would have happened if he had simply taped the shapeshifter's mouth shut and set Raven on him out of his mind. It had been a long night, and he was a bit surprised to realize that he actually regretted the fact that the dance would soon be over.
"Robin?"
"Yeah?"
Starfire untwined her arm from around his for a moment to point out at the dance floor. "Is that… Cyborg and Bumblebee, dancing together?" she asked, a delighted curiosity in her voice.
Robin looked over toward where she was pointing and chuckled slightly. "Looks like it."
The leader of the Titans let out a contented sigh as he looked around the room. As it turned out, a party filled with superpowered teens tended to be a bit more chaotic than normal dances… but everything had straightened out well enough. Kole had finally gotten Gnaark to relax amidst the crowd and all the flashing lights (and to stop trying to eat his tie). Speedy still sported a nasty black eye from when he had tried a little too hard to impress Pantha in hopes of getting her to dance with him, but at least he wasn't complaining about not having a date anymore. And after Beast Boy and Terra's little duet, a couple of other people had gathered the courage to get up and sing as well (though not always with the best results).
"So! A certain someone told me that you didn't want to have this party."
Robin nearly jumped at the sound of Bumblebee's voice. Lost in thought, he hadn't even noticed that the leader of the Titans East had finished her dance and walked up to him.
"Well," he started, a bit sheepishly, "You know how hard these things are to set up. It just didn't seem practical at the time, and –"
Bumblebee rolled her eyes and smirked. "Robin, you're always practical. Just loosen up a little; you'll be better off that way."
Robin raised an eyebrow. "I let them throw the dance, didn't I?"
"True…" Bumblebee drifted off, thinking. "Well, anyway, you two have a good rest of the night, all right?" She said, smiling at both Robin and Starfire before turning and heading back into the throng.
Robin frowned and turned to his girlfriend. "You don't think I'm too uptight, do you?" he asked uncertainly.
Starfire laughed and took his hand in hers. "I think you are wonderful," she answered simply as she led him back onto the dance floor.
Well, there you have it! I think I got most of the characters down pretty accurately in this one, although I have no idea why I made Speedy act the way he did XD Maybe dances and parties bring out his mischievous side? Also, I hope you found the whole thing about the DJ funny, and not confusing or stupid... I wasn't sure about it, but I showed it to some of my friends and they said it was funny so I kept it in. -hides from potential bricks-
All right, now for those songs. The title is taken from "I Gotta Feeling" by the Black Eyed Peas, Bumblebee and a few other girls force Raven to dance to "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" by Beyoncé (which was really played at my high school prom for the same purpose as in the story), Aqualad dances to "Thriller" by Michael Jackson, the DJ randomly mentions the rock version of the "Veggie Tales" theme song (yes, there is such a thing) by Rebecca St. James, and Beast Boy and Terra sing "Two Is Better Than One" by Boys Like Girls and Taylor Swift.