The next night, LG, Sayia Man, and Bat-Mite learned that Damian had been hacking the Titans files for info on Raven.
"Snooping as usual, I see?" Bat-Mite smirked.
"Mm-hmm." LG replied.
"I dunno about you guys, but I am feelin' amped for Thursday! Cuz it's tomorrow~!" Bat-Mite grinned. "Besides, I can mock Damian for getting busted later!"
"Uh... Thursday?" Raven asked.
"Yeah, cuz I have something special planned!" Bat-Mite grinned, gleefully skipping down the hallway.
"Did he eat some instant coffee?" Beast Boy asked Raven.
"I have no idea." Raven replied.
"Thursday's gonna be great... 'Cuz I got a date!" Bat-Mite grinned.
"I guess anybody can do it if it's that easy..." Beast Boy commented to Raven.
"Don't wait up, guys!" Bat-Mite chuckled. "I got a date, I got a date, I got a date, hey-hey-hey-hey!"
"It's nice that you're going with him." Sayia Man smiled to LG.
"I might as well..." LG shrugged to him.
"Don't sweat it; he seems like a good guy," Beast Boy replied. "Sure, he's kinda zany, but he has great intentions in mind."
"Hmm..." LG hummed. "I guess I better make the most of it."
"You'll be fine." Sayia Man smiled.
"Yeah!" Beast Boy grinned. "You can do this!"
So, the following day, Bat-Mite and Sayia Man were duking it out in the simulation chamber. Sayia Man glared as he fought, showing the strength he had which could almost match the Man of Steel's himself.
"Whoa, you're tough!" Bat-Mite grinned. "But I'm no slouch either!"
"Where'd you say you were from again?" Sayia Man asked.
"The fifth dimension!" Bat-Mite replied.
"Right..." Sayia Man replied. "To be honest, I don't know much about my own life... I never knew my parents."
"That's rough, man," Bat-Mite replied. "But y'know what I do when I miss those I had in the past? I think of all the hombrés I have in the present."
"Yeah... That's true..." Sayia Man said. "Usually whenever Cherry would let me, I'd have dinner with her and her parents. Sometimes I slept over in the guest room across the hall from her bedroom."
"I'd like to meet 'em sometime." Bat-Mite replied, powering up his battle aura.
"Depends if you get that far with Cherry." Sayia Man chuckled.
An enemy soon came behind him and Sayia Man soon grabbed him gave it a pile-drive into the floor like in wrestling.
"I'll take things slow, work my way up the ladder." Bat-Mite replied as he popped up behind the enemy and snapped his neck like a twig.
"That's usually best," Sayia Man said. "Cherry's not like other girls."
"Yeah... She's way better..." Bat-Mite beamed.
"You better be good to her, man," Sayia Man chuckled. "She's like a sister to me."
"I promise, superhero's honor!" Bat-Mite swore.
"Good boy." Sayia Man approved.
"Alright," Bat-Mite sighed. "Simulation, off."
Sayia Man soon took a stretch once they finished. "Ah, I love a good work-out..." he smiled as he stretched himself before checking his muscles.
"Same here." Bat-Mite replied.
"You know, sometimes I dream I'm a god like Hercules and Zeus." Sayia Man smirked.
"Well, you are tough enough to pass for one." Bat-Mite replied.
"Hey guys, Starfire said we'll be having a group outing to the fair tonight," Blue Beetle announced, entering the room. "It's part of a team-bonding exercise, apparently."
"All right!" Sayia Man beamed. "I hope there's a strength tester."
"Well, it is a carnival," Blue Beetle replied. "Guess you could have your date there."
"Hm... It could work." Bat-Mite shrugged.
"Take her to the Ferris Wheel first," Sayia Man whispered. "Cherry loves doing that before anything else because she can see everything from the sky."
"Bonzo idea, man," Bat-Mite nodded. "I'll take you up on that!"
Sayia Man nodded with a small smile.
Cherry was soon seen taking a nap, but she soon struggled and tossed and turned in her sleep. "No... No... Stay away from me..." she then muttered.
Cherry dreamt about being in some sort of black void with blazing red eyes staring at her.
"Wake up... Wake up..." a voice seemed to say. "You and your allies... Have the power to stop this from becoming a reality..."
"Who's there?" Cherry asked. "Atticus, this is NOT funny!"
"Oh, him? He's downstairs in the van..." a different voice replied. "But seriously, though, all that other stuff is true too."
"Get away from me..." Cherry shuddered. "You can't scare me, ya know... I don't scare easily."
"Alright, but all ya gotta do is wake up!" the voice replied.
"Wake up?" Cherry asked before her eyes opened and she was in her new bedroom and she soon let out a small sigh of relief. "Oh, thank God."
"Hey, Cherry, you up?" asked Lionel's voice from outside. "Star sez we're about to head out; apparently we're going to the fair."
"I'll be right there, just gotta powder my nose real quick." Cherry replied.
"Cool! I'll be downstairs!" Lionel replied.
Cherry let out a small sigh and came to the bathroom for a moment and soon took out her journal and wrote down what she dreamt about.
Eventually, she came downstairs and they headed out.
"You okay?" Atticus asked Cherry.
"Fine... Guess I just overworked myself." Cherry shrugged.
"Alright... Just hope you're not too pooped to go on the Ferris Wheel!" Lionel replied.
"Nah," Cherry replied. "I like to go on the Ferris Wheel first anyway, it gives me a great view of the whole park."
"Then we do that first!" Lionel grinned.
'Sounds good to me." Cherry replied.
Jaime glanced out the window, until he was poked by the hilt of a sword Damian was carrying. "Dude, did you HAVE to bring the sword?" Jaime asked, annoyed.
"You never know when it might be needed," Damian replied. "I thought you were one of the experts."
"Yeah, an expert who knows to conceal a weapon!" Lionel retorted. "What kinda idiot carries around a weapon that can be seen in plain sight?!"
Damien just glanced at him.
"You better hide it just to make sure." Atticus told Damian.
"How's he supposed to hide something that huge?" Lionel asked. "And I'm not gonna shrink it so he can carry it around."
"Any advice?" Damian asked.
"Whaaaat?!" Cherry asked. "You're asking us for heeeelp?!"
"How the tables have turned!" Lionel smirked.
Damian glared in annoyance.
"Just this: have fun, as long as it's legal," Lionel concluded. "That means either leave the sword in the car, or stay in here with it."
"Fine... I'll keep it in the car..." Damian grumbled slightly.
"Damn right ya will." Lionel replied as he got out of the car.
"Just don't embarrass me." Cherry glared to Damian.
"You don't need me to do that." Damian smirked.
"Shut up, brat!" Lionel snapped.
Damian just growled.
They soon came into the fair once they were let inside and Cherry looked around for the Ferris Wheel to go there first.
"Hey, there it is!" Lionel pointed over at the ferris wheel. "Let's GO!"
"Yeah." Cherry smiled softly before running with him that way.
And so, they got on the ferris wheel, and enjoyed the ride.
"Giant slides... Concession stands... Spinny rides... Roller-coasters..." Cherry said as she looked out into the horizon. "Ooh, a haunted house~"
Lionel sighed, clutching the seats and bracing himself. "Pretty nice view, eh?" he asked. "But still, these all look cool..." he then added.
"Hm... A tunnel of love..." Cherry then spotted. "I can't say I've been on one of those before. They look so mushy."
"Could be fun to go on... Y'know, as a joke!" Lionel replied, blushing.
"Psh, yeah!" Cherry replied with a smirk.
"Y'know what? Might as well let the others know to meet us at the end via text," Lionel replied, snapping his fingers and sending the text to the others' phones. "Besides, not like we'll end up kissing in there or something!"
"Hm..." Cherry replied before holding her stomach. "Ooh..."
"What? What's wrong?" Lionel asked.
"Guess I'm hungry." Cherry replied.
"Then let's get some eats beforehand!" Lionel decided. "Whaddya wanna eat?"
"Hmm... I could go for a burger or two." Cherry suggested.
"Done and done!" Lionel replied, as he conjured two burgers for both of them.
"There's just something about a fair hamburger..." Cherry said before she soon ate hers.
"How do you figure?" Lionel replied, eating his burger.
"Mm... I dunno... I guess it's just good to pig out once in a while." Cherry shrugged.
"I hear ya." Lionel replied.
Eventually, they finished their burgers and their ferris wheel ride. Atticus soon came to the strength test game and was given the mallet and smirked as he began to pound the machine, ringing the bell every time and was winning prizes for each and every one of his friends.
Beast Boy glanced at his phone. "Whoa, I'm getting a text from Lionel!"
"Huh?" Atticus asked before he did the same. "Hey, me too. Must be a group text."
"Sez to meet him and Cherry by the Tunnel of Love, at the exit." Jaime read.
"Cherry? At the Tunnel of Love?" Atticus asked, almost laughing.
Starfire glanced at her phone. "We might as well head over and see them."
"All right, let's see what the fuss is." Atticus said.
"I have an odd feeling." Raven commented.
So they went and waited by the exit... Only to see, on the way out, Lionel and Cherry, locked in a passionate embrace, their lips connecting with one another.
"Cherry?!" Atticus gasped, unable to keep it in as he looked shocked about what his best friend was doing.
At that, Cherry and Lionel opened their eyes, and their faces went red.
"Who are you and what have you done with my best friend?!" Atticus glared, grabbing a hold of Cherry.
"Atticus, you jerk, it's me!" Cherry glared.
"Oh... So it is..." Atticus said to that, letting her go.
"Looks like you got my text..." Lionel replied.
"So... Are you two bonded together?" Starfire asked.
"Ew, don't say it like that..." Cherry rolled her eyes with a grimace.
"If you mean, boyfriend/girlfriend, then sure, we're dating now." Lionel replied.
"When did this happen?!" Atticus asked.
"About five minutes ago." Cherry shrugged.
"Yup. We went in, and one thing led to another, but it didn't escalate any further than kissing, I swear." Lionel added.
Atticus soon did an anime fall.
"Don't be such a doofus, Atticus." Cherry said.
"Yeah. Besides, it was really great..." Lionel blushed.
"Eh, yeah," Cherry replied before quoting from a fantasy book series she used to read. "At least you didn't turn into a frog or something."
"I thought you said magic wasn't real?" Beast Boy then smirked to her.
"Oh, shush." Cherry rolled her eyes.
"For what it's worth, I consider this team-bonding exercise to be a huge success!" Lionel grinned.
"Awesome!" Atticus beamed.
"You guys and being so happy-go-lucky all the time..." Cherry muttered like Haruhi from the Ouran High School Host Club.
"He's happy-go-lucky," Lionel replied. "I'm more... Spunky."
"Are you two having fun?" Starfire asked Cherry and Lionel.
"Yeah... I actually am..." Cherry replied. "I feel different on the inside... I can't explain it though."
"That's either love or gas.. Sometimes it's both," Beast Boy replied. "Maybe describe the feeling?"
"Romantic, Beast Boy..." Cherry rolled her eyes before trying to. "I dunno... My stomach feels tingly."
"Then it's LOVE!" Beast Boy replied.
"Maybe it's heartburn..." Cherry said. "I am a little bloated."
"A little?" Beast Boy asked. "You look like you swallowed a beach ball!"
"Seriously?" Lionel asked.
Beast Boy soon laughed which made Cherry knee him in the stomach.
"Word of advice? Know when to shut up." Lionel commented.
"Noted..." Beast Boy muttered wearily.
"Yeah, I bet..." Lionel snorted.
"Booop! Nerd Alert," Cherry mocked a siren. "Boooop! Folks, this is not a drill. Boooop!"
"You mock because you have fear." Raven told her.
"Cherry? Fear? No way!" Lionel replied. "She made it clear she has no fear earlier!"
"Deep down inside." Raven replied. "Repressing something?"
Cherry just looked away from Raven.
"If she doesn't wanna talk, no sense bringing it up." Lionel replied.
Cherry nodded in silence then, crossing her arms. Being quiet was never a good sign for Cherry.
"We should probably go..." Lionel suggested.
Cherry let out a small shrug.
"What's wrong?" Atticus asked Cherry.
Cherry soon looked over and whispered to him.
"Ohh..." Atticus replied. "Come on, guys, time to go."
Lionel nodded and snapped his fingers, teleporting them all to the car. Cherry stared down at her feet.
"Don't worry, you didn't do anything wrong." Atticus told Lionel.
"I hope not..." Lionel replied. "I also hope Cherry will be okay..."
"She's... She's shook up from a dream she had..." Atticus replied.
"Ah... Probably a prophetic one..." Lionel replied, getting in the car.
Atticus gave Cherry a glass of water. Cherry shakily took it before sipping it down.
"Whatever's got her shaken up... I gotta feeling it's gonna happen in a few days..." Lionel shuddered.
"Let's just hope she can sleep..." Atticus said. "Dreams are really important to her."
"Alright...I just hope she'll be alright..." Lionel sighed.
"All we can do is wait..." Atticus told him while Cherry seemed to be in her own little world.