Chapter 3
"That's An Interesting Color"
The four Titans were currently sitting in the main room, preparing to eat their lunch. Robin had taken it upon himself to prepare a meal for Cyborg so the half-robot wouldn't starve to death waiting on an immobile and unconscious teenage stranger. Raven was drinking a cup of herbal tea, not really in the mood to eat anything, Starfire was preparing something that none of them could remember, pronounce, or eat for that matter (would you eat something that was pink and bubbling?), and Beast Boy was making a sandwich out of yet another tofu product. All were just about ready to sit down and enjoy their meal when- "GUYS! GET IN HERE! NOW!"
Raven's cup shattered, Starfire's 'concoction' spilled on the floor a little, and the other two boys simply jumped.
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Cyborg hid the file until the rest of the Titans came into the room. "Cyborg! What's the problem?" Robin demanded upon entering.
"Yeah man! What's your deal?" Beast Boy agreed, clearly not happy at having his 'feast' interrupted.
Cyborg began clicking buttons again on the computer, "Well I was snooping around Ella's heritage to see who she really was- stop giving me that look Raven, you know you wanted to know where she came from too- and I found out who her parentage is! Or . . . at least one of them-."
"Just spit it out dude!" Beast Boy shouted, curiosity getting the best of him.
Starfire turned her head a bit, looking confused, "Please Cyborg, please proceed with this 'spitting' of information that friend Beast Boy speaks of."
Robin was about to correct her when Raven stepped forward. "Do you honestly think when she wakes up she's going to be very happy with you for telling us her personal information- not to mention looking it up without permition to begin with- without asking her first? Call me crazy but I don't think she'll be very thrilled when she wake's up."
Starfire crossed her arms, standing next to Raven. "I agree with friend Raven. A persons private matters are their own, not for someone else such as us to invade.
Beast Boy pouted, "Well then plug your ears! Cause I wanna know!"
Cyborg turned his attention to Raven, "I think you should hear this Raven."
She glared suspiciously, "Why?"
He clicked the button on his screen that showed the matches name. "Because you're the match."
The room was dead silent. Then, "What have you done!?"
The Titans attention shifted away from a frozen and unmoving (and possibly not breathing) Raven to the girl who was now fuming with anger in the bed next to Cyborg. "Oh sh-."
Ella's hands suddenly lashed out and covered Cyborg's mouth. "Shut . . . up!" She screeched, her breathing labored as she refrained from murdering the robot then and there. Cyborg stared in horror as his mouth was covered with a violet aura. "Give me the disk . . . right . . . now." Hesitantly he opened the hard-drive and handed her the disk with her DNA information and medical records downloaded onto it. The moment she had both hands on it she got out of the bed and snapped it on her knee, after that she held the two pieces separately in both hands and the CD reduced to dust. "Now, what did you say?" She growled, removing the aura on his mouth for him to speak.
Beast Boy was still staring at Raven when he blatantly interrupted them. "Uh, Cy?"
Cyborg didn't remove his eyes from Ella. "Y-Yeah?"
"I think you're gonna need a bucket over here."
Ella momentarily turned away from Cyborg as she grabbed the empty trash-can behind her and flung it at him. Turning back she seemed to know what he had said. Beast Boy easily caught it, walking over towards Raven. "Why?" Cyborg asked. He noticed Raven had fallen to her knees and was staring at Ella who watched nervously back.
Just as he placed the trash-can in front of her, Raven gripped the edges and the contents of what she had eaten that morning were spilled into the bucket. "That's why." Beast Boy responded as he knelt next to Raven.
"Great! Just great! I wake up and I get to deal with this? Are you kidding me!?" Ella ranted. She turned back to Cyborg. "What the hell did you have to go and do that for? This is why I didn't want anyone to know about me! I'm not even supposed to be here!"
As her rant continue, Beast Boy had his hand on Raven's back reassuringly. The young goth continued to empty the contents in her stomach, Robin not really paying attention. He was still staring at Ella, wondering whether or not he should step in and help Cyborg before he got what was coming to him. Starfire was leaning over Raven, not accustomed to seeing someone barf, she wondered what was going on. Even though Beast Boy could strongly smell the stuff in the trash-can, he wasn't actually looking or examining it like Starfire kind of was. "Uh, Star? Maybe you don't want to get that close."
She turned her head to him. "Please friends, what is wrong with friend Raven? Is she having 'the episode' as you and Cyborg put it? Or is this another one of those girl things Robin once mentioned?"
Ella's attention faltered and she turned to Starfire, "Episodes and girl problems?" She glanced at Robin, "What exactly do you talk about when Raven isn't in the room?"
Raven finally had stopped hurling, but was still unable to move. Beast Boy cringed as the smell grew a bit stronger, "Raven?" She didn't respond, "Starfire, help Raven go . . . clean up a bit or something. I doubt she's feeling very well right now."
Starfire was about to follow orders when Raven held her hand up to stop her. "No." Her voice was cracked from the lovely side-affects of her momentary panic attack. Standing up on her own she shakily walked over to Ella, who stood facing her. The expression on Ella's face was slight disgust and clear nervousness. Raven finally reached her and placed both hands on the side of Ella's hood. Ella didn't move at all, knowing exactly what Raven was going to do, she closed her eyes.
With a slight push, Ella's hood fell back, revealing a face that was unmistakeably like someone else's in the room (Me:hint hint RAVEN hint hint). It wasn't completely pale it was still far from average. Her hair was an almost black color, but seemed to have some unseen tint in it. It was long, looking like the few times they had seen Raven's hair had been, down her back and maybe a bit messy, but hardly if it was. Taking a deep breath, Ella opened her eyes to reveal a perfect mirror image of Raven's own.
Ella's eyes seemed to turn to glass for a second before reverting back to normal. She suddenly grabbed Raven by the shoulder and encased them in a violet aura. Less then a split second later, black energy snapped at the walls of the enclosure, threatening to break free and blow the tower to smithereens. The rest of the Titans stepped away until the attack wavered and finally diminished altogether. Ella's shield disappeared and she stepped away from Raven, turning her attention to the Titans. "Mind-reader, telekinesis, and a psychic. It comes in handy sometimes." She smiled weakly, trying to create a less tense atmosphere. She held her hand out, "Hi, I'm Ella. Your future . . . niece, I guess you could say. I call you guys that stuff anyway."
After a moment of hesitancy, Starfire stepped forward with the usual smile plastered on her face. "Welcome new friend!" Crushing Ella in a hug, Starfire continued her greeting.
To everyone's complete surprise, Ella was laughing. She didn't seem to be in any pain at all. Seeing their surprise, Ella winked at them. "Trust me, it gets a lot worse where I come from."
Upon letting go, Robin came and stood in front of her. "So, . . . you really are from the future? Huh?"
Ella's eyes seemed to be all the answer he needed as the look he had seen so many times on a previously barfing Titan appeared on her own face. "No, I'm just making this up for the hell of it. YES I'M FROM THE FUTURE!"
Cyborg gave her a pat on the back, startling her a little. "So, then why are you here?"
Ella seemed very weary now as she glanced at a blank Raven. " . . . Uh, I don't really know . . ."
Robin stared in disbelief, "So this is just what? A friendly visit?" He scoffed.
Ella glared back, "For all you know it could be."
"I doubt it."
"You doubt a lot of things in case you haven't noticed."
"Okay!" Beast Boy stood in between the two, casually slinging his arm around Ella who really didn't seem to care all that much. "Maybe we should leave Ella and her uh," He glanced at Raven who seemed to be daring him to say the word 'mother'. He weighed the odds on whether or not he'd get away with his life. The odds were against him. "Relative to themselves?"
The Titans shrugged and left the room, leaving Ella and Raven alone. Ella's eyes glazed over again for a half second before reverting and waiting for Raven to say what she knew was coming. Raven had her arms crossed, resisting the urge to vomit again with the taste still in her mouth, "Wait here." She ordered, it sounded more like a threat to Ella but then again this was Raven they were talking about. Technically not the mother that she knew her as just yet (and not for a LONG time people! This isn't that kind of story!). After spending a few moments in the bathroom Raven came back out, she used her powers to push the chair behind Ella forward, making her sit down. Raven stood in front of her, interrogation style.
"Alright Raven, what do you want to know?" Ella leaned back a little, preparing herself for the stream of questions she knew would soon come. Plus more vomiting.
Raven seemed to decipher what was most important at the moment. "Who is your . . . father?" Raven suddenly found herself disgusted with the word, not that she hadn't before been disgusted with it. Her 'daddy' being Trigon and all.
"Next question."
Raven glared at her, "Not until you answer that one."
Ella stood up, "Then we're done here." Just as she was about to move, Raven's powers shoved her back into the chair.
"Fine!" She snapped, "How old are you?"
"That's an easy one, fifteen."
"Why are you named Ella?"
"After your mother, Arella."(Me: Seriously, that's where I got the name idea in the first place.)
Raven thought about that, it made sense. Ella's name wasn't all too different from Arella, just a couple letters off. "Okay, am I married when you're born?" Raven wasn't exactly fond of the possibility of her not being married (Not to mention being married either, but if she had a kid . . .).
Ella gagged a bit, "Of course you are! You don't change that much Raven. I mean, sure, you grow up but-. "
"Okay! I get it!" She interrupted. "Why do you know how to use star-bolts like Starfire?"
"Well, I'm kind of a wanted kid Raven. I needed to learn how to protect myself and Starfire offered to do as much as she could. I've been attacked a lot, being one of the famous Teen Titan's daughter and all. So far actually I'm the only one but Starfire and Robin-."
"Okay! Again, too much information!" Raven rubbed her temples with her fingers as Ella waited patiently for another question. "Has anything significantly bad happened to you so far?"
Ella looked away. "Well that kinda has to do with the reason I'm here so . . ." She paused, "Next question!"
Raven hissed in frustration. "Fine, how emotional am I in the future?"
"Depends on what you mean by emotional."
Raven thought of a better way to explain it, "Am I . . . one to express myself?"
"Not in the way Starfire does, if that's what you mean. But you're just . . . regular. Like the average person on how much at the right times. But this is circling around the same thing, come on Raven. What do you really wanna know?"
Outside, to only Ella's knowledge (she didn't exactly care enough to tell), the rest of the Titan's were listening intently. Just as they thought Raven would give up they heard, "How exactly did this relationship between me and whoever develop in the first place." All of the Titans stared at one another, surprised at what she wanted to know so badly.
Ella placed her arms behind her head casually. "Love works in mysterious ways Raven." Raven looked like she was going to hit her with something so she continued. "Well, I guess it was always was just kind of there from the day you and 'Whoever' meet. It's not very obvious, I mean you said you were kind of bitter about it but he's the guy that finally gets you to open up to yourself." Ella smiled, somehow Raven had a feeling that from then on when she smiled, it most likely wasn't good. "Allowing you to have me!"
Ella grabbed the trash-can with the new bag already placed in it, (courtesy of Starfire before she left the room, being the only one who probably would have willingly touched it) as Raven once again began the lovely process of vomiting. Ella watched in only minor disgust, it's not like she hadn't seen worse. Or smelled worse for that matter. When she appeared to be finished Ella asked to make sure, "Are you done?" Raven nodded, "Good. You guys can come in now!"
Very awkwardly, the rest of the four Titans entered the room, receiving a death glare from Raven. Ella merely laughed, "Ah the perks of mind-reading."
Raven ignored her, "How long have you been listening?"
Beast Boy cleared his throat, "Um, since the father question and the 'had me' answer."
This time, Raven not having enough in her stomach to continue vomiting, Raven felt very woozy. Predicting her would-be fainting spell, Ella had already warned Beast Boy (coincidentally being the closest to her) so that someone could steady her if she happened to fall. He had already been somewhat next to her and slightly behind her so when he saw her legs giving out a bit, he grabbed onto her arm to steady her. Ella got up out of her chair and placed it behind Raven, Beast Boy helped Raven situate herself into it. "Hold your head between your legs, I heard it helps for nausea." He suggested, teasingly.
To his surprise, Raven did as she was told, willing to do anything to keep the room from spinning. Ella locked eyes with Cyborg, "You do realize this is your fault, correct?"
Cyborg didn't say anything, too afraid that if he got the answer wrong, the punishment would be more then a sarcastic remark that Raven normally handed out fairly easily. Starfire was still in the dark on what was going on with Raven, not being one to ever have a kid show up out of nowhere. "Please Raven, are you okay?"
Raven did not answer so Ella answered for her, speaking in the exact words Raven had said in her mind. "What do you think?" At this, Raven froze, afraid Starfire might become offended. Instead of this though, Starfire actually seemed to consider the question thoroughly in her mind, causing Ella to force herself to not laugh.
"So . . . what do we-?" Robin began
"Do about me?" Ella finished, purposefully showing off her powers a little bit. "Well, I never actually planned this whole thing out-."
"HA! So you did come here on purpose!" Beast Boy shouted over her.
Ella rolled her eyes, "No shit Sherlock, I already admitted that in the little 'interview' you guys were listening to."
"Oh . . . right." His ears drooped a little at being proven wrong. Turning his attention away from the sardonic little girl draped in a cape in front of him, he turned to Raven, who still had her head in between her knees. "Hello, Raven? You in there?"
Raven shook her head in response, causing Cyborg to snicker a little bit. Not being one to give up, Beast Boy squatted down and poked Raven's arm. She hissed in annoyance and lifted her head to glare at him, "Can you be quiet for just a few seconds!" She snapped.
He grinned, "Sure Raven, now that you're up I'll do whatever you want!" He joked.
The strange thing about Ella when her eyes glaze over, they still have the same expression she wants on them. They just seem . . . different somehow, more glass-like. A mischevious expression appeared on her face as her eyes reverted back to normal, "Really shouldn't have said that BB." She laughed. Seeing the suddenly frightened expression on his face, she winked at him. "I'm just messing with you BB." A child like laugh came from the girl, for some reason it sounded very familiar to him. He glanced at Cyborg, apparently he was thinking the same thing with the deciphering and confused look on his face.
Ella winked at them both, "I know who you're thinking about." She continued to giggle, "But you have to guess who!" At that, all of them jumped, her voice didn't sound like her own anymore. She grinned, "I can mimic voices too, did I mention that?" Her voice still wasn't normal.
"NO!" Beast Boy shouted unintentionally. He was still a bit shaken up by her voice change.
Cyborg suddenly pointed directly at Ella, "HAPPY!"
Starfire and Robin, being completely out of the loop as to who they were talking about, simply glanced at the other. Wondering if Cyborg had lost his sanity, Starfire placed a gentle hand on the robot's shoulder like a nurse would on a patient at the psych-ward. "Yes friend, Ella does seem happy at the moment."
"No Star! Happy! As in Raven's emotion!" Cyborg shouted, Raven ignored them, trying to get the dizzy feeling to go away.
"What?" Beast Boy hadn't exactly made the connection yet, so Ella decided to help him out a little. "Seriously, this is more confusing then math!" Ella started laughing again, Beast Boy seemed surprised. "Wait, I thought Raven didn't laugh a lot. Why are you laughing so mcuh? Am I funny in the future or something?"
Ella watched Cyborg from the corner of her eye as she quoted a certain emotion, not changing back to her normal voice yet. "Sure! I've always thought you were funny BB. But hey, looks aren't everything!" The laughter continued and this time, it clicked in Beast Boy's mind the connection Cyborg had made already. Currently the robot was twitching a little at the somewhat scarring memory.
Ella's laughing suddenly turned back to her normal again. "There you go!" She shouted at his thought. "Slow little thing aren't you?"
Beast Boy's mind was still racing, so it took him a moment to respond. "HEY!"
Robin stepped in between them, "Enough!" He shouted. "Ella, what did you have in mind upon staying here?
Ella grinned mischeviously, "Well . . ."
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Okay, well this is chapter 3. I hope the few of you who are reading this aren't mad at me! My computer got like a MILLION viruses on it somehow (I didn't do it!!!) so it took a while to get them off. I take full responsibilty for not updating sooner and I apologize so DON'T STOP READING! I'm already working on the fourth chapter so hopefully it won't take as long.
Okay well that's it! Till next time!
