In a mansion on the mountains that overlook Jump City, a girl with white hair glared down at the city bellow. Specifically, a certain 'T' shaped building that was the home and headquarters of five teenaged superheroes. The Teen Titans. The city's beloved team of crime-fighters; children and teens idolized them; adults lauded them for their courage and sense of justice at a young age. It was enough to make the girl sick, to think that a group of teenagers her age were able to thwart her father's schemes on multiple occasions. To think one of them had betrayed her father after he had chosen the boy as his apprentice; chosen him over his own daughter.
Tonight was going to be a big night for the Titans. Jump City was throwing a huge celebration in honor of their adolescent protectors. A fancy ball at city hall, sure to be the city's biggest even for a long time to come. Doubtless, the heroes were eager to bask in the spotlight and enjoy the night's activities.
The white-haired girl was anticipating tonight's events as well. She was looking forward to crashing their big fancy party, staining the celebration with the blood of the very people it was honoring. She would defeat the teens that had bested her father, and as they laid wounded and beaten, they would know that their downfall was caused by the legacy of their most hated foe.
The very thought brought a smile to the girl's face. No, she wasn't doing this to honor her father… she was doing this to surpass him.
….
In the halls of the tower the white-haired girl was glaring at, a green-skinned boy in formal wear stood in front of the door of one of his teammate's rooms, struggling with his tie. Beast Boy's mind was speeding a mile a minute, clouded by the upcoming events of this evening. He felt a bit stuffy wearing such formal clothes, they felt so different from the clothes he usually wore. He still wasn't use to wearing a tie, hence his difficulty with the article of clothing. What had him most anxious, however, were his plans for the night. The celebration at city hall was a ball in honor of the team he was a part of, and he was planning on using it as an opportunity to ask a certain grey-skinned girl on the team to dance with him. If he gathered the nerve, maybe even ask her on a date. In fact, it was this anxiousness that lead him to rush to Raven's door for a preemptive strike without fixing his tie. Now he's floundering around making a fool of himself in front of her door, he was only thankful that she had not left her room yet.
Beast Boy stopped for a moment to ponder when exactly he started having feelings towards the rather gloomy girl. Was it sometime after the battle with the Brotherhood of Evil? Maybe it was after he realized Terra was truly gone from his life, maybe even before then. For as far back as he can remember since he met Raven, he had always wanted to see her smile. He figured it was just because she was so reserved all the time, but perhaps the desire to make her smile developed into something more along the way.
Just then, the door opened as Raven left her room to join the rest of the team before they left. She wasn't wearing her usual cloak and leotard, but rather a strapless dark blue dress that went down to her ankles, it was simple yet elegant and fit her figure perfectly. She raised an eyebrow at Beast Boy, who realized he was gawking like an idiot.
"Ah… um" Beast Boy uttered, unable to form proper words.
Raven sighed in response, then mumbled an incantation. Beast Boy's tie flew up, surrounded by dark energy, and then fixed itself properly around his collar. "Next time fix it yourself" Raven said in a monotone as she walked by her silence-stricken teammate, "come on, the others are probably waiting in the common room."
Beast Boy took a moment to collect himself, then followed her.
The two entered the common room to be greeted by the sound of Starfire's squeals. "Robin, you are most handsome in that!" she exclaimed, as she admired her boyfriend's formal wear. She, herself, was wearing a pink dress that went down to her knees and had thin straps with small frills.
"Thanks, Starfire" Robin responded, both embarrassed and flattered by his girlfriend's enthusiasm.
"Booyah! I'm so ready for tonight, I'm gonna find a pretty little lady to dance the night away with!" Cyborg yelled out in excitement. "Hey, Rae. You're lookin' really good tonight."
"Thanks" Raven responded quickly, though a hint of gratitude was clearly present in her tone. "But really, I just want to get tonight over with. I'm not too good with these kinds of gatherings."
"Geez, way to bring everyone's spirits down, Raven" Beast Boy joked. He regretted it immediately afterward, as Raven shot him an impatient glare, then floated away from him.
"Raven really does look good, though. I might even ask her to dance myself" said Cyborg before shooting a sideways look at Beast Boy. "That is unless someone else asks her first" he continued with a playful smirk.
'Shut up' Beast Boy mouthed back, not wanting the rest of the team to hear him. He was starting to regret disclosing his crush to his half-mechanical friend.
"Friends, let us go and do the partying!" Starfire yelled as she and Robin headed to the T-ship in the hanger; Raven following a small distance behind them.
"Oh, I agree with you there!" Cyborg yelled in response, as he and Beast Boy followed the rest.
…
City Hall was flooded with people. It was almost overwhelming how many citizens came to congratulate and thank the young heroes on their work protecting the city. Though the ball was held in the building, the party had extended into the streets because of the high attendance, after all, the Titans were heroes to all of Jump City's citizens, not just the well-off and wealthy.
It was still a little while before the mayor's big speech to honor the heroes, so the Titans were scattered about doing their own thing. Robin and Starfire attracted the most attention, as countless people were curious about their relationship. Robin was trying to stay tightlipped, but Starfire was eager to talk freely. Cyborg was already dancing with more than one girl, clearly the fact he was half-machine was hardly a hindrance.
Beast Boy, was scurrying around, looking for the one girl he wanted to spend time with more than anyone else. It did cause him a bit of pain to turn down the multiple girls who asked him to dance; he didn't expect to find himself as such a hot commodity. However, he decided he wouldn't settle for anyone else.
It took a bit of effort, with the celebration being so big, but he finally found his target. She was sitting at a table drinking what he presumed was tea, turning down every invitation to dance, albeit graciously. Beast Boy began to feel butterflies in his stomach. He was having some second thoughts, after all, it really didn't look like she wanted to dance. Still, he wanted to spend the evening with her. So, maybe they won't do any dancing, they could have a nice conversation. Beast Boy then started to question if he had the capability to have a conversation that would hold Raven's interest, but slapped his cheeks and told himself to stop thinking so hard and just go for it.
Juas as he took his first step toward her, a buzz came from the speakers set up across the area, followed by the Mayor's voice. Beast Boy cursed the lousy timing as he realized that he and the rest of the team should be heading up to the main stage. Raven disappeared in a cloud of darkness, and Cyborg could be heard moving noisily through the crowd. Beast Boy sighed, then turned into a bird and flew to the stage to meet the others. Cyborg was the last to arrive, since he had the most time consuming means of traveling through the crowd. They all assembled as the mayor's speech was just about to reach its climax.
"Really though" the mayor said as the team stepped onto the stage, "we're here to honor these five brave young people who put their lives on the line day in and day out to keep Jump City safe-"
The mayor was interrupted by the sudden crash of a car that was thrown into the crowd, followed by the sound of mass panic. In the middle of the chaos, a huge hairy hulk could be seen shoving his way towards the stage as members of the crowd ran away from him.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Praise those runts for being such great heroes and all that, but really, what would they be without guys like me to fight!" bellowed the monstrous brute. It was Mammoth, sounding quite confident as smacked members of the crowd around him.
Though none of them were in proper uniform, the Titans immediately jumped into action. They half-expected something like this to happen; Robin even brought his utility belt, which he wore over his formal wear, which looked just a tad bit awkward.
"Well, aren't you full of yourself today, Mammoth" Robin said as they converged on the single foe. "So, you're gonna take all five of us alone?" the team leader inquired, a hint of amusement in is voice.
"Oh, who said I came alone?" Mammoth responded smugly.
More screams were then heard from the crowd. The team turned to see whom Mammoth was referring to, and spotted a large group of black and orange clad figures heading in their direction. These new arrivals sparked alarm in all of the Titans. They were all too familiar with these automatons, and the man who controlled them.
Robin clinched his fists.
"Slade."