Chapter Seven: Vaati vs. Control Freak

They entered the video store and saw a fat, nerdy-looking man with long hair waving what looked like a TV remote at the frightened patron of the store. "Control Freak, do we have to beat you down again?" Raven said, getting the man's attention. "It gets old after a while."

Control Freak noticed her and her long-haired friend behind him. As he saw Vaati, he burst out laughing. "Hey Raven! Who's your girlfriend?"

Raven just stared at him with an annoyed expression. Vaati, however, looked very unamused by Control Freak's taunt. "Well, well. We have ourselves a comedian," he said, narrowing his eyes. "Unfortunately, I, the great Wind Mage Vaati, find your jokes rather pathetic. In fact, you look like the most pathetic, insignificant scum I've ever laid eyes on."

Control Freak stopped laughing, but still kept his smile. His eyes, however, betrayed a hint of dislike at the Wind Mage's remark. "I wouldn't be talking if I were you, elf boy. You've got the silliest name I've ever heard!"

If looks could kill, Vaati would have vaporized Control Freak where he stood. "I commend your bravery but pity your foolhardiness. You should not have tried my patience, Control Freak." The last two words were spoken with disdain.

"You shouldn't have tried mine!" Control Freak retaliated, pointing his remote at a cardboard figure of a knight and pressing a button. Immediately the figure transformed into a real knight. With a real sword. However, Vaati just laughed. "Thanks for providing me with a weapon."

As the knight swung at him with its sword, Vaati sidestepped the attack and kicked the knight's arm, causing it to lose its grip on its sword. Vaati caught the blade and swiftly cut the knight in half. Vaati then looked at Control Freak with the most sinister expression the geeky villain had ever seen. The fact that he had blood-red eyes didn't help at all.

Then Raven used her power to rip the remote out of the distracted Control Freak's grasp and caught it. His weapon gone, Control Freak tried to make a run for it. As Raven was preparing to stop him, Vaati held up a hand to her and said, "Let me take care of this windbag."

He pointed his finger at the retreating Control Freak and cried, "To Stone With You!"

Immediately, a flash of light streaked out of his finger and struck the supervillain. A second later, a statue of Control Freak was standing in the middle of the sidewalk where the real one had been seconds before. Vaati looked at his handiwork and said, "I can't believe I still have that spell!"

Raven was surprised at what the Wind Mage had done. "Is…is he…"

"Of course not," Vaati answered. "The Stoning Spell does indeed turn them to stone, but once it is reversed, they will still be alive. I assume your authorities are already on their way to clean up our little mess."

Vaati casually tossed the sword aside, no longer having a need for it. Seconds later, the other Titans arrived and saw the stone Control Freak standing on the sidewalk. Vaati and Raven then emerged from the video store and looked up at them. "Wha…what happened to him?" Robin said, astonished.

"What does it look like? I turned him to stone so he couldn't escape. He's not dead, though. Once you have the means to properly subdue him, I will remove the spell, and he'll be back to normal."

"Well, that won't be too hard," Cyborg said with a smirk, seeing Control Freak's remote in Raven's hand.

Robin produced a pair of handcuffs and said, "We're ready."

Vaati nodded and pointed his finger at the statue. The statue quickly became flesh and blood again as Control Freak fell to the ground. Before he knew it, Robin had him in handcuffs. A police car then pulled up, and two officers stepped out. "What's going on here?" one of them asked.

"This guy tried to rob the video store," Robin told them, pushing Control Freak forward. "He's all yours, guys."

As they were putting Control Freak in the car, the nerd glanced at Vaati. "I didn't get a chance to tell you, but you have one kick-ass costume!"

Then he was shoved into the car. The two cops then got in and drove off. Vaati watched the vehicle leave and said, "Was that supposed to be a compliment?"

"Yeah," Robin answered. "If you look weird, you instantly earn his respect. So coming from him, it's both a compliment and insult."

Vaati shook his head in amusement. "I have to say, though, he was laughably easy to defeat."

The Teen Titans all looked at him. "We know," they all said in unison.