Chapter 4
Steel screeched against gravel as a city bus slid across the pavement and crashed into an insurance agency, sending glass and flames all about. Civilians who hadn't yet fled the premises ran for their lives and did their best to avoid getting harmed by flying debris. The Titans hadn't expected such a battle their first week back together but it seemed that once word had gotten out that the team was back together again numerous villains were ready to challenge them once more. And it seemed Cinderblock had beaten all others to the punch.
"This is ridiculous," Nightwing cursed as he ducked out of the way of electrical wire being used as a whip by the fiend. "I haven't heard a word from this bastard for the last two years."
"Guess he's been waiting for a special occasion to break out of prison," said Cyborg, grabbing a streetlamp and plucking it out of the sidewalk like a weed in the garden. He reared back and swung with all of his might, smacking the villain in the back and causing him to stumble.
"Almost a homerun, but let's see if I can smack it out of the park," Beast Boy grinned and turned into a large stegosaurus with a particularly harsh tail. He swung the barbed appendage and hit the creature with such veracity that he staggered and fell flat on his stone face. The changeling turned back to his human form and cheered. "And the Beast Man knocks it out of the stadium and into the stratosphere!"
"How can you think that was better than my hit?" asked Cyborg.
"Cuz I managed to knock him down," Beast Boy gloated.
"Then leave it to me to give the blow of finishing," said Starfire, swooping down and showering the walking block with starbolts.
Cinderblock roared with anger. He forced himself back to his feet and picked up a minivan, hurling it at Starfire who easily flew out of the way. Raven was quick to grab the vehicle with her powers and set it down before it could cause any damage. She was keeping to her word that she was only going to protect her friends in battle and would not attack anyone or anything. Just being around such chaos and destruction unsettled her and she wished she could escape to a more peaceful environment.
"You're all seasoned superheroes, can we please wrap this up?" she asked.
"What, do you think we're enjoying this?" asked Nightwing.
"Deep down, yes," she replied. "I think you all are."
None wanted to admit it but they were, in fact, enjoying themselves. No, they didn't like damaging the city or putting people's lives in danger, but they did enjoy working together. They had the sort of team chemistry others could only dream of.
"Alright you heard the lady," said Beast Boy, cracking his knuckles then his neck. "Time to finish this and get back to lounging around the tower." He turned into a mouse and ran towards the monster. He got between its legs and changed into a T-Rex, causing Cinderblock to lose balance and fall back. He smacked the villain in the head with his tail for good measure then changed back. "Dick, Vic, go!"
Nightwing and Cyborg proceeded to tie their adversary down Gulliver's Travels style, anchoring cables on either side of him to keep him down flat. He tried to get up but Beast Boy, in elephant form, kept two legs on his shoulders while Starfire shot starbolts at his head to keep him stunned. Once the cables were secured the fight was over, with Cinderblock groaning angrily in defeat.
"Well that was easier than it used to be," Nightwing smirked victoriously.
"You should have done that when the fight began," said Raven in a scolding manner. "There wouldn't be nearly as much damage."
"Relax, we were just getting back in the groove," Beast Boy smiled.
"And seeing as we are very much back in our groove, shall I suggest some celebratory pizza?" Cyborg asked.
"Sounds good to me," said Nightwing, wiping a bead of sweat from his brow. "Let me talk to the chief about getting a cleanup crew in here and I'll join you guys at the shop. My treat."
"That goes without saying," Cyborg laughed.
"Dick, please do not take too long," said Starfire, growing a little antsy. "We have an appointment to keep, remember?"
"Oh right. Um… shit," said Nightwing, looking around. "Vic, could you talk to the chief for me? Kori and I've got someplace we need to be."
"How come I can't do it?" Beast Boy frowned.
"Cuz I know what it's like to be a team leader," said Cyborg, nudging his best friend with a smirk. "Maybe if you'd stuck around and headed a team instead of doing freelance hero work you'd get offered the boring paperwork."
"Whatever," Beast Boy pouted. He knew that organizing the cleanup work was boring but that didn't mean he didn't want the position at least offered to him.
"Well I'm going to head back to the tower and clean up," said Nightwing.
"Wonderful, I shall accompany you," said Starfire who scooped her husband up and took off towards their home so quickly she left an imprint in the ground.
"Jeez, she really wants to go see that baby doctor," said Beast Boy. The other two Titans snapped their heads towards him with wide eyes. He saw this reaction and said, "What?"
Cyborg sliced across his throat with his hand, saying through his teeth, "Man, shut up!"
"Wait a second, how do you two know about their baby issues?" Raven asked, surprised.
"How do you know about it?" asked Cyborg, equally surprised. "Dick told us in secret, though you wouldn't know it from that big mouthed pile of snot."
"Kori told me in secret as well," said Raven.
"Why all the secrecy, though?" asked Beast Boy. "They're trying to have a baby, what's the big deal? They've been married for a few years now so it's about time."
"Because it's bad luck to talk about it or to reveal a pregnancy that's in its early stages," said Raven. "But I think they've been trying for so long that both needed to talk about it with someone."
"Well we'll have to tell them the cat's outa the bag," Cyborg sighed. "I hope they get good news from this doctor, though."
"Even if they don't there are always different options," said Raven who was ready to change the direction of the conversation. "So are we going to eat pizza or not?"
"Ooh, someone a little hungry?" Beast Boy smirked only to have his own stomach wretch out a dreadful sound that instantly mortified him. He tried to clear his throat to cover the sound but no one was fooled. "Yeah, so, let's go get that pizza!"
"I'll meet you guys over there in a few minutes," said Cyborg. "Gotta play leader for a few minutes."
"Your favorite role," Beast Boy chuckled.
"What can I say?" Cyborg shrugged with a smile. "You two go on ahead. And, Raven, make sure you get me something with meat on it. No matter how much he sweet talks you into nothing but veggies."
"His sweet talk has no effect on me," she said and began walking down the sidewalk towards the pizza shop.
"See ya in a few, Trash Can," Beast Boy smirked and followed after Raven. He was glad to get a moment alone with her. Over the past few days he'd noticed that whenever they were together, and especially when they were alone, the atmosphere between them was, for lack of a better word, fun. Whether it was playful banter or good natured teasing they were enjoying each other's company. "And what do you mean my sweet talk has no effect on you? I swear I've seen your knees buckle once or twice."
"That's a flat out lie," she replied.
"Okay so it might just have been my imagination," he conceded. "But I've got a pretty potent mind cinema up in my brain. Sometimes it's hard for me to remember what's real and what's fake."
"In that case let me assure you that you've never made my knees buckle," she said confidently.
"Well then I guess I've got a new goal to shoot for," he smiled. "Making your knees buckle from my sweet talking."
"You should devote your time to a more accomplishable goal," she suggested. "Like figuring out which came first, the chicken or the egg."
"Or I could just ask you out right now and see where that gets me," he said plainly.
At that moment her foot found a hole in the cement and she stumbled.
"Holy shit, did that actually work?!" he exclaimed, catching her before she fell.
"Of course not!" she snapped and righted herself, pulling out of his grasp. "I tripped, obviously. As if I'd fall for such a lame line. If that's what you call sweet talking then it's no wonder you're single."
"Hey it was just a shot," he laughed. "I wanted to see where we stood. Guess I'll have to actually put some effort in this. Not that I expected anything less. You are the ultimate unattainable woman."
"And what does that mean?"
"You don't know what unattainable means?"
"Of course I know what it means! I meant what do you mean when you say that I'm the ultimate unattainable woman?"
"Well you are, aren't you? The one woman no man can ever be good enough for even though they're all head over heels in love with her?"
She felt heat spread throughout her face but she just shook her head and chuckled. "Now that's what I call sweet talk. But, sadly for you, it hasn't made my knees buckle."
"Well shit," he laughed. "Gonna hafta bring out the big guns for you."
"Hopefully not right now, seeing as I'm wise to your little game," she advised him.
"Fine," he sighed in defeat. "Let's just focus on getting some pizza. My knees are about to buckle from hunger!"
They made it to the restaurant, it was only a few blocks away, and happily ordered two pizzas for the table and two to go. He enjoyed a beer with his vegetarian's delight while she sipped an iced tea and munched on a slice of the meat lovers. It wasn't her favorite, personally, but knowing that Cyborg would be joining them she decided to order his preferred pizza. But she'd had a slice of the veggie as well, just to please the changeling.
"Why didn't you get a drink? We had one hell of a victory today so I think you deserve it," he said after a swig from his bottle.
"I didn't do enough work to warrant a reward," she shrugged. "And I don't like alcohol. The taste doesn't agree with me."
"Fair enough," he nodded. "But I do think you earned a reward. Want another slice of my pizza?"
"You mean the last slice of your pizza? I can't believe you almost ate the entire thing."
"What can I say? Transforming burns a lot of calories. I bet I could beat Vic at an eating contest for sure."
"Please don't put that theory to test."
"Speaking of, where is he? It shouldn't take this long to wrap up a post-villain-takedown mess."
"We caused a lot of damage. I'd be surprised if he even shows up."
"You think that was a lot of damage? Babe, you gotta come see one of my solo gigs."
"Don't call me 'babe'. And I don't think it's alright to brag about something like damaging people's homes and businesses."
"I'm not bragging, I'm just saying we actually did a pretty decent job today keeping the damage to a minimal."
She sighed and wiped some pizza grease off her hands with a napkin. "I could never live like this again. The anxiety, the anger, the bloodshed. After the peace I've had for the last five years this is my worst nightmare."
"Well I can't say I like it all that much either. Guess I'm just used to it at this point."
"How long are you going to keep doing this? I mean, do you ever want to have a different life? Or do you like the spontaneity of working mission to mission and never settling in one spot?"
"I told you already. I'm gonna have my own nature show."
"You were serious?"
"Of course! Who better to host a show about animals than me? Other than being a superhero there's not much stuff I can get away with. I can't exactly hold some humdrum job the way I look. And I do like being constantly on the move. I get to see more of the world that way. But it'd be nice to have a schedule of where I'm going and when and to do what. And if I have my own show then I can choose where I go and what animals I want to talk about."
"So you're going to travel the world and educate people about animals?"
"Yup, that's the plan. I'm gonna take a few college courses to learn all of the right scientific words so I actually sound intelligent, pitch my idea to a few networks, hopefully get picked up by one, and get to work planning the show. Not sure when I'm gonna do it but I'm guessing sooner rather than later. This superhero shit's aging the hell outa me."
She smiled gently and said, "It sounds like you have a very nice, well thought out plan for yourself. I'm genuinely impressed. And going around the world to different animals' natural habitats sounds incredibly inviting to me. No people around, just the calmness of nature."
"You can join me if you want."
"Maybe once in a while, if you're ever my way."
"I'm gonna hold you to it," and he took another swig of his beer. "It'd be nice to have a friend amongst the camera crew. That's the one thing I'm not looking forwards to. At least with this freelance hero gig I get to see a lot of my friends often. If I'm out of the business and living in the wilderness I won't get to see anyone."
"Knowing you I'm sure you'll become friends with your crew."
"Yeah but we won't have the history. They'll just be there cuz it's a job, not because they're my friends."
"Well how about if whenever you feel this way you come see me?"
He laughed. "Yeah, right. I'll be all needy and wanting friendly affection and you'll be keeping me at a ten foot distance."
"I promise I'll welcome you in whenever you turn up on my doorstep. I'll even pat your head to make you feel better."
"Aw, you're too kind. I'll be like a tame wolf who shows up every once in a while for a belly scratch before disappearing for months at a time."
"I'm not scratching your belly."
"How about behind my ear?"
The door of the pizza shop opened and in came Cyborg at last. He spotted them quickly, it wasn't hard, and headed towards their table. "Man, I thought I'd never get outa there. You save me anything?"
Raven turned a box of pizza towards him and opened it, revealing that only a single slice was missing. "All yours."
"You beautiful goddess!" he cheered and practically shoved the pizza, box and all, down his gullet.
"See? Now that could make my knees buckle," she smirked at the changeling.
"What?! You've gotta be kidding me!" Beast Boy exclaimed.
"I am," she said, still smirking
He wanted to be mad at her for getting the better of him but he couldn't. Not with her smiling the way she was, a way that made him want to smile right back at her. He just laughed, picking up his last slice. "You're not gonna make this easy for me, that's for damn sure."
"Make what easy?" asked Cyborg.
"Nothing," both said together.