I think…I'll just get right down to it with chapter two…
Disclaimer: The Transitive Property of Ownership: Me equals Californian Artsy Rebel Valley Girl Authoress. Californian Artsy Rebel Valley Girl Authoress equals No ownership of Teen Titans. Therefore, No ownership of Teen Titans equals Me.
For all the math people out there… -grin- not that I'm one of your blessed kind…
Dedication: To CheerfulOblivious. You've been reviewing me forever, and here's my chance to properly thank you! Applause! Applause! Thanks for being there for my sad fics chica. -smile-
The Titans and Taurus all sat around the table in the dining room, if you could call it that, assorted beverages scattered across the surface. Nobody spoke, and nobody had since they had all settled in their seats. Raven took a sip of her tea and blankly stared at the wall. Beast Boy, who sat beside her, pulled at his spandex suit and fidgeted constantly, glancing at his girlfriend every so often. Starfire was at the head of the table, eyes fixated on the girl who called herself Taurus. Robin cleared his throat to the red head's left for the third time in five minutes, hoping to spark some sort of conversation. His efforts were fruitless, to his disappointment. Cyborg, from his seat between his leader and the newcomer, twitched uncomfortably at the lack of interaction. Never had Titans Tower been so silent.
"So…Starfire…" The half metal man could take the staring no longer. "Taurus was your best friend on Tamaran."
"Correct, she was." Starfire's icy and unbelieving gaze was still locked on the brunette. "But she is dead. This was confirmed by the finest doctor in all of Tamaran. I do not know what you are, but you are not my dear friend."
"Sweetie, do I look dead to you?" Taurus tapped the table with a blue coated fingernail.
Her twin gold rings sparkled in the afternoon sun pouring through the paneled windows.
"Well…no…" Starfire faltered. The sight of her best friend, if it were truly she, after two long years was too much for her to handle. Tears sparkled at the edges of her eyes.
"Then I'm here, I'm alive, so stop worryin'!"
"How can I stop worrying? It is as though you have returned from the dead!"
"Damn straight." The Titans watched the two girls with curiosity. "And Star, honey, don't cry. You know I can't stand it when you cry."
"You are not Taurus. It is not possible."
"Test me. Ask me anythin'. I'm who I say I am." Starfire's eyes flared, the tears evaporating.
"Very well. I shall quiz you. One mistake, however, and I swear I shall blast you into the next dimension!"
"Yeah, yeah. Ask away." Taurus rolled her eyes but smiled. Her friend had learned to express her aggression. That was a good thing. The questioning began.
"What is my true name?"
"Koriand'r"
"What color are the eyes of Gemini and Geminey?"
"Violet."
"Where did we often do the 'hanging out'?"
"Wend'xn Ridge, an' sometimes the Palace Gardens."
"What is my favorite color?" Taurus gave her friend a look which quite clearly said you've got to be kidding me.
"Purple."
"What was my most embarrassing moment of all the meetings with the Royal Council which I was forced to attend?" Starfire grinned in spite of her doubt. Her supposed 'friend' laughed as well.
"You walked into the council room in your pajamas as a short cut to the palace kitchens thinkin' it would be empty, but really there was a meetin' goin' on. But, Star, I think all of Tamaran would know the answer to that one. You know how crazy our people can get…"
"Who did brother Ryand'r often do the 'hanging out' with?"
"My sister Libra." Taurus smirked. "C'mon Star! Gimmie some hard ones."
"Who was the first boy I wished to court me?" Robin's eyes popped open at these words.
"My brother Leo." Both Raven and Beast Boy restrained laughs at the expression on their leader's face.
"What is my greatest fear?"
"To be eaten by a numbnar." The silent Titans exchanged odd glances.
"With whom did I share my first kiss?" Now Robin's eyes were practically sagging out of their sockets. Cyborg and Beast Boy were on the verge of hysteria, while Raven merely smiled.
"Up until the time I was pronounced dead, you hadn't kissed anyone at all. After that, I can't be sure." Robin released a sigh of relief.
"We would often play games as children. What game was our favorite?" Taurus' face brightened at the question. Apparently, it pleased her.
"I thought you might've forgotten, sugar! I'm glad the past hasn't been wiped away. Our favorite was the war game, where we'd trade roles as the Gordanians an' the Tamaranians. Tamaran always won, of course."
"At what age did we meet?" Starfire's expression, which had started as steely and unbelieving, was slowly melting to warmth and hope, with a hint of recognition.
"You were ten. I was eleven."
"From where did I acquire your lasers, and for what birthday did I present them to you?"
"Warlords of Okaara. Thirteen."
"At what age were we enlisted in the Tamaranian Army?"
"You were fourteen. I was fifteen."
"What did I want most dearly at the age we met?" Taurus looked her best friend dead in the eye.
"Someone to understand you. A true friend who didn't give a damn about who you were."
"What were my views on being of the Royal Family?" Starfire looked at the brunette critically. These last questions were key factors in her belief.
"You hated it, honey. You hated being treated differently from everyone else. You hated that nobody thought you'd make a good ruler." Taurus bit her lip and smiled softly. "You hated that even though you were royalty, nobody believed in you."
"Very well. I have one final question for you." Starfire was smiling widely now, her eyes brimming with tears again; tears of excitement.
"Shoot." Taurus was grinning as well, pushing her Stetson up slightly and leaning forward.
"What scores did we receive on our combat exams?"
"One hundred an' fifty percent…" The two girls rose again, now almost laughing, both sets of eyes shining brightly.
"Extra credit for excellent team combat!" They finished together, shrieking simultaneously and leaping at each other from across the table. They embraced one another in midair, smiling and laughing and crying all at once. Taurus' foot hit Beast Boy's glass of soda, but the two girls scarcely noticed the Changeling's protests of annoyance.
Confused though she was, there was no mistaking the joy alight in Starfire's emerald eyes. Their happiness was interrupted, however, by the wail of a siren. Taurus jumped back, startled.
"What the hell is that?"
"Titans alarm system." Raven explained, standing up. "We have to go."
"Titans what now?"
"Taurus…the Teen Titans, my friends, we are super heroes." Starfire smiled apologetically, leaping from the tabletop and taking to the sky once again. "I am truly sorry, but we must take leave of you now to save the city. We will return shortly, I am sure."
"She's got that right." Robin stood as well, running for the door. "Titans, GO!" Raven had phased into the floor before the team leader had even finished his exclamation, and Beast Boy jumped out of his chair, stumbling after his teammates, still grumbling about perfectly good spilled soda. Cyborg, however, lagged behind. He gave the Taurus a quick wink and tossed her hat back to her. She caught it with an odd expression on her face, not even previously aware that it'd left her crown.
"Ya dropped that." He jetted away before she could utter a word of thanks. The brunette was left alone and speechless. Slightly befuddled at what had just happened, the Tamaranian girl hopped off the table and placed the brown Stetson back on her wavy brown hair. Starfire's words ran through her mind.
"…we must take leave of you now to save the city."
Taurus' mouth rapidly changed from a smile to a grim slash as the words registered. Her hands settled on the twin laser shooters given to her so many years ago.
"Honey," The brunette growled as though Starfire were right in front of her. "You're goin' into battle, then I'm comin' with ya." With that, Taurus flew from the room and after her best friend.
Starfire had her arms folded to her chest, flying downwards in a straight nosedive with her eyes glowing green. Beside her was Raven, a look of determination burning in her eyes. Her mouth was moving, but the wind that flooded her ears kept the Tamaranian princess from hearing the words. Starfire could only assume that her empathic friend was merely reciting her usual mantra, readying her powers for use. The two had gotten instructions via com-link as they had traveled to the heart of Jump City, and now that plan was being put to action. Starfire and Raven would move in first, making the initial attack, followed by Robin, Cyborg, and Beast Boy. If all went well, the fight would be over in a good ten minutes.
After all, it was just a group of punks stealing from a couple of stores.
"There!" Starfire pointed to a small cluster of boys dressed in black, one holding a bat and proudly gesturing at the window he'd broken using it. The girls landed in unison, glaring at the teenagers angrily. It turned out that they were not all boys. A few girls lingered in their ranks.
"Drop the bat." Raven glanced sharply at the obvious leader of the group, who clutched the bat to his chest.
"Hell no!"
"Fine then, I'll make you." The empath's eyes glowed white and the weapon flew into her outstretched hand.
"Hey! Not cool, yo!" The boy made a rude hand gesture, to which Raven merely rolled her eyes.
"Check it out…" A few more punks rounded the corner to join the ranks. "It's the Teen Titan chicks."
"I am not a young chicken and am exhausted of hearing such preposterous accusations!" Starfire's eyes flashed dangerously.
"The Goth's pretty damn hot…"
"Shut up you idiot! She'll kill you!" Even from where they stood, the two female Titans could smell the distinct aroma of beer lacing the air. It was quite clear to both that these teens were drunk.
"What do you say?" Raven shot Starfire a sideways glance. "Take them down and tie them up?"
"Agreed, friend." Before they could make a move, however, their communicators buzzed loudly.
"Starfire…Raven…come in…" Robin's voice emitted from both tiny devices. The empath snatched her com-link and spoke into it.
"Whatever you have to say, Boy Blunder, say it fast. We've got hostiles closing in and…"
"Can you… take… gang alone…?" The connection was bad in those parts.
"We are able!" Starfire announced into her own communicator, backing up slightly as she noticed the teens advancing slowly. "Our opponents are intoxicated, thus we will not require assistance."
"Good…trouble…other side of…" The transmission dropped completely.
"What was it that he wished to tell us?" Starfire looked at Raven expectantly, both girls putting away their communicators.
"Basically that we're alone on this one." The empath flashed her friend a grin before waving her hand to create a barrier between the advancing gang and the two Titans.
"Very well, friend." Starfire smiled as well, her hands glowing with dangerously powerful green orbs.
"Go easy on them, Starfire. They're just kids." A high powered blast erupted to their right. The Tamaranian and the empath bounded to the side, both wide eyed and surprised.
"…Raven?"
"Yeah?"
"You say they are 'just kids'…but they are hardly younger than you or I…and they are armed with…minute bombs?"
"Yeah…take back that last thing I said about going easy on them…"
Robin, Beast Boy, and Cyborg stood side by side, staring down a crowd of tough but drunk looking gangsters. They grinned and slurred their words, but the guns in their hands were pretty damn threatening. These weren't normal guns either. High powered rifles were a better term for them.
"Where did they get that kind of firepower?" Robin wondered aloud, waiting to see if the wasted teens would make the first move.
"Who cares? Let's go guys!" Beast Boy leaped forward, taking the shape of a cheetah.
"B! Don't!" It was too late. The guns began blasting wildly, but thankfully the aim wasn't too good. Robin and Cyborg jumped out of the way, but the Changeling was in the direct line of fire. Suddenly, a robotic hand with a wire attached snatched Beast Boy by the middle and pulled him behind a building.
"Heh…thanks Cy…" The green elf chuckled sheepishly, returning to his normal form at his friend's side as the robotic man reattached his hand.
"Next time, think before ya'll go racing into a bunch of idiots with peashooters like that!"
"Peashooters?"
"Guns."
"Oh…" Beast Boy rolled his eyes at Cyborg's techno-slang. "So what's the plan?"
"The plan?" The half robot shrugged his shoulders, eyeing the team leader who sat across the way. "Try not to get killed."
From the sky, Taurus scanned the large city that lay below. An explosion caught her eye, and the girl couldn't withhold a laugh. She'd be fighting side by side with Starfire once again. The most brilliant teenage combat team to enroll in the Tamaranian Army was about to be reborn at full force.
After such along time, this would be undoubtedly be fun to say the least.
Short chapter! Sorry guys. I think that was a little smoother than chapter one, which I am thankful for. Thanks for all the lovely reviews! You guys are really great. I figure it's the least I can do to mention each of you, to thank you properly. So…thank you to:
Jimmy the Gothic Egg (My first reviewer! Thank you!), Sasscreech, KorrianderX'Hal, differentdestiny4, Sintari-Moons, Akuhei Gin Kitsune, jess.known.as.abby.anonymous (I have a note for you below…), RupertLover09, tigerchic121, Star+Robin, samanthe2121, Flames of the Sun, mysticmagicmage, Snea, Star's-Fire, StarryRavenFire, SecretIllusions, Heartfelt Dream, starrobin4eva, -'.EHWIES.'-, xox.Annie Potter.xox, Princess-Korriandre, The Eccentric CheezySquirrel, devilofheaven, xxSassyActressxx, ChatterBox101, Luisa Perez, jjangel9325232, Elihu (SQUEE!), RainDragon, Queen-of-Azarath, robinstarfire4ever, and ,DeathsLastBreath.
Thanks all of you! I'd write review responses, but as that has been banned I cannot, and besides I'm VERY busy and often don't have time to write them all. So, in Faith I've decided to simply list all you to thank you! Why? Because you deserve it! So thank you, EVERYBODY!
A quick note to jess.known.as.abby.anonymous: You asked whether you could use some of ExBoyfriend's OCs. (Like…Scorpio and Taurus' family, am I to assume?) While I'm TOTALLY flattered that you like my characters so much, I CANNOT and WILL NOT let you use them. The family is not for hire, not just to you but to everyone. They are solely for my use, and that is all. I'm sorry about that, but come on. You can make your own OC's! Hell, they're FUN to make. I had a ball creating mine. It also took me a good three days of continuous labor. I'm not giving up all that, trust me.
Anyways, I'll see you all in the next chapter! I hope you liked this one…drop a review on your way out!
Love,
SushiChica