When we last saw Henry, he was interrupted during his reflection of the day…
The Titans talked and laughed as they ate their meal. That day had been a good day, and Henry smiled as he thought about it. He was now a Titan, and he felt like it. He was getting closer to the Titans, and that was good. Suddenly, something interrupted his happy thoughts. He felt like he was being watched, and an image filled his mind. A blood-red eye filled his mind, and he felt like it was staring directly at him. One word spoke in Henry's head, and it was not his own voice speaking it.
Crayak.
Henry stood there, his mouth slightly open. He continued to mentally stare at what he saw in his mind. The blood-red eye merely sat there, and Henry noticed the similarly-colored tentacles connected to it. The word in his mind echoed, and repeated.
Crayak.
Crayak.
Crayak.
Then it stopped, and the eye looked over towards a white light that had begun shining. The eye closed, and the image disappeared along with the word.
"Henry, you okay man?" Cyborg asked, looking concerned. Henry jolted back to reality, shaking his head all about, as if he was shaking water off of it.
"Yeah, I just kinda phased out for a second," Henry replied, returning to his smile. "How was dinner?" he asked, looking at the crumbs that lay where the pizza rolls once where.
"That was really good, dude," Beast Boy complimented, leaning back in his stool and rubbing his stomach.
"Yeah, I've gotta agree with BB on this one," Cyborg added, also rubbing his mechanical stomach.
"Thank you, but it would not have been possible for my fantastic assistant," Henry said, motioning towards Raven. She looked at him, eyebrow raised.
"Assistant?" she asked.
"Fine," Henry admitted teasingly. "My co-chef, Raven." Raven crossed her arms and smiled.
"There you go," she replied. Robin stood up and looked at the clock.
"Well, it looks like time for bed," Robin yawned. Henry turned to look at it.
"Dude, it's only eight o'clock," Beast Boy replied.
"I know. But as the saying goes, 'Early to bed and early to wise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise,'" Robin returned. He walked over to the elevator. "Raven and Henry are on patrol tonight," he added as he stepped into the elevator. As the doors closed, Henry could have sworn he heard the beginning of La Bamba start to play. What is with that elevator and 80's music? thought Henry, before another thing entered his mind.
"Wait, patrol?" he asked. "What does he mean by patrol?" Starfire stood up to answer that question.
"Patrol is when we go out into the city, and look out for any crimes to stop," she explained. Cyborg and Beast Boy looked at each other, looking slightly nervous.
"Yeah, stop crimes," the changeling chuckled nervously. He then stood up and went over to the couch, and Cyborg shortly followed him. Starfire, Raven, and Henry looked at the dirty dishes left behind by dinner. Henry shot his hand to his face, and placed a finger on his nose.
"Nose goes!" he said quickly.
"What?" a confused alien asked as Raven copied Henry's motions.
"You do 'nose goes' if there is something left and nobody in the group wants to do it. You have to put your finger on your nose, and say 'nose goes' really fast. If you don't do it, or you're the last person to, you have to do the thing," Henry said, removing his finger.
"Oh," Starfire said simply. "What is the thing I have to do?"
"Umm… I guess wash the dishes," Henry suggested. He felt bad, and he moved to grab them. "Sorry, Starfire, you didn't know. It wasn't fair to you," but Starfire stopped him.
"No, no, I will do them. Next time, though, I will beat you in the nose that goes," she said gently, floating over to pick up the dishes. Raven then spoke up.
"Patrol usually starts at nine, but if you want to go now, we might as well," she said, putting up her hood.
"Fine by me," the new Titan replied, and Raven grabbed his shoulder. He could barely react to the action before he fell through the floor. After a brief moment of darkness, Henry appeared and fell onto a cold metal surface. He stood up and looked out what was Jump City. He could see the U-shape of the city, and many twinkling lights shined in an array of colors, although most of them were yellow. The moon sat low in the sky, shining brightly over the city. Its reflection rippled in the water as the waves distorted its image. The air was a bit chilly, but by putting up his own hood, Henry began to feel warmer almost immediately. Plus, adding a little thermal energy to himself and his orange jumpsuit, and he was feeling warmer than he had inside the Tower.
"This is quite the view," Henry said in earnest.
"Yes, it is," Raven agreed, "but we have work to do," she continued. "Now, how this works is that every other night, two of us go out to walk around the city, looking for any trouble, and we put a stop to it. If there's a bigger threat, we call in to the others, and they come help."
"Pretty simple," Henry replied after a moment of contemplation. "What happens on the nights we aren't on patrol?"
"The JCPD put some extra cars out. Jump says that works out for them, and I won't question it. That's the way it's been these last few years, and it's worked out so far," Raven explained.
"Got it. So, where do we go now?" asked the male teen enthusiastically. He was genuinely excited—this was the first steps to becoming a 'real' member, in his eyes. He knew that he'd have to do whatever the others did, and it was exciting. This was way better than his old, boring life back home! The thought of home briefly saddened him, but he brushed it off. There were people out there depending on him, and he couldn't fail them. He was a Teen Titan now, and he had the responsibilities of one.
"I usually start at the park, and work my way through the streets," Raven responded.
"Then let's go!" Henry replied. A familiar disc of black energy formed underneath of them, and off they flew. Henry held on to the handles, and he briefly considered absorbing the energy, just to be funny. Then he realized that he couldn't fly, and that Raven probably wasn't going to catch him if he pulled something like that, and so decided against it. Suddenly, a though popped in his head.
"Raven," he said, "can you make this look like something other than a disc?" he asked.
"I never have, but I could. Why?"
"Can you humor me, and make this look like a carpet?" Raven stopped moving the disc, and turned back to look at him.
"Why?" she asked with a confused look. Not that Henry could see it, of course—her hood was still up.
"Just… just can you do it? This one time, unless you feel like doing it again?" After a few seconds of silence, Raven turned around, sat down, and the disc turned into a carpet-shaped wave of energy. Henry fell, and grabbed the sides. "Awesome!" he exclaimed. Raven shrugged as the 'carpet' flew on towards the city.
What is up with him? Raven thought to herself. Brave spoke up in her mind: He's just being stupid. I say when we land, we beat him up! Of course, the empathy ignored her Emoticlone's comment. Raven turned and moved through the air, flying over the coast and finally over some buildings. Henry's voice came from behind her, overriding the sound of traffic from below.
"I can show you the world… Shining, shimmering—" Henry sang, before Raven interrupted him.
"Shut, up. Tell me, Henry, now when did you start acting like, Beast Boy?" Raven continued, perfectly in tune with the song. [AN: Go back over Raven's line, and sing it in place of '—splendid. Tell me, princess, when did you last let your heart decide?' It works!] Henry stared at Raven, his jaw hanging, and although she couldn't see it, Raven could feel his feeling of shock and amazement.
"Dang, Raven. That was pretty good. Did you, like, have that planned or something?" he asked, impressed.
"No, I thought of that just now," replied the empath.*
"You know, Raven, you sounded pretty good. You should sing more often," he said, not even realizing that he said it. Raven didn't answer—how was she supposed to? Instead, she merely waited in silence, landing half a minute later on the green grass of the Jump City Park. The glowing 'carpet' disappeared, and the two stood up. The sun had already set, but a few brilliant streaks of color lay on the horizon. However, streetlights were already on, and not many people were out and about that night. Henry and Raven were near downtown Jump City, and Henry was thinking of everywhere there could be criminal activity.
"Follow me," Raven instructed, and she began to walk towards an area where there was little light shining.
"Where're we going?" asked Henry, following his guide.
"To the same place I always go to first. The number one place for non-powered villains in Jump City: The
Piston Broke," Raven answered, still facing forward. Henry sniggered at that.
"What is that, some sort of terrible bar?"
"Yes."
"How are we allowed in there? I don't think any of us are twenty-one yet," Henry asked, confused. He could have sworn he heard her chuckle after that.
"Oh, let's just say that it was rather expensive the last time a Titan wasn't allowed in here…" Raven replied, her voice filled with a sort of humorous nostalgia.
"Okay, explain. I've got to know what happened," Henry said back, curious.
"Legally, I can't tell you exactly what happened. But let's say that it involves official Titan business, an owner who wouldn't let us in, and a rather… explosive use of Starfire's abilities," Raven offered. The newest Titan merely walked on, not even wanting to consider being on the receiving end of what had happened. The two continued on in silence, until finally reaching a corner. They turned left, and crossed the empty street. After a short distance, Raven turned into an alley, and Henry turned to follow her. A low-hanging sign nearly smacked him in the face, and he ducked, watching Raven step out of a dark portal a few feet in front of him.
"Thanks for the warning, Rae," Henry said sarcastically.
"Do not call me Rae. My name is Raven," she replied immediately, stressing the last syllable of her name.
"Sorry, Rae-ven," Henry said, putting heavy emphasis on each syllable in a mockery of Raven. The twosome stepped through a door, and the sight was rather… disappointing. The bar itself ran along the left-hand side of the room. Various people in the bar looked up at them, then turned back to their drinks or conversations. Tables dotted the room, with only a few having intact tablecloths on them. Some were missing entirely, some had holes in them, and some had stains that suggested alcoholic drinks had returned to the outside world, and decided to visit the tabletop before getting cleaned up. Dim lights hung from the low ceiling, and a few were missing bulbs. The bartender looked up from the glass he was cleaning, and grunted.
"Ah, Miss Raven of the Teen Titans," he greeted with a frown. "For what reason do I owe your appearance at my, ehm, fine establishment?"
"We're looking for any suspicious activity. Just a routine patrol tonight, Al," Raven answered in a monotone. "Any rumors going around lately?" Al snorted.
"Like I care what these baboons say. All I do is give 'em their poison, make sure they pay, and thrown 'em out if they're startin' a ruckus." By now, the two Titans had reached the bar itself, and were directly across from the bartender himself. He was a chubby man, with a five o-clock shadow and no moustache to speak of. Balding in the middle of his head, he had hair that connected in a squished crescent along the back of his head. He smelled of smoke, alcohol, and general human stink, and he looked like he didn't give a rat's behind about anyone else but himself. Raven put her hands on the table and leaned in.
"Do you remember the last time you refused to help us?" she asked calmly. Raven gave the impression that she wasn't very pleased, and Henry smiled in the darkness of his hood. She was going to put the bartender into a tight spot, and Henry was going to enjoy watching it.
"Erm, yeah," replied Al, nervously returning to his glass.
"Do you want that to happen again?"
"Ahhh….. no."
"So what have you heard lately?" she asked, rising to her original stature. The bartender set down the glass again, and looked at Raven.
"Alright, I'll say this quick. The last couple of days, there's been somethin' weird goin' on. The usual crowd ain't been showin' up, and I don't like it. See, you know who comes here, and just the other day this one dude comes in, all high-and-mighty like, and he starts spoutin' some nonsense about bein' gods and kings and whatnot. Now, Mickey Jay, he's an old friend of mine, he speaks up. Wants to know how this new fella is gonna do all that, and he calls him out on a bluff. New guy don't like that, and he shoots Mickey. Not with no gun, mind ya, but with slime, like outta his hand or somethin'. And he covers Mickey's face with it, and Mickey just kinda lays there after a while." Henry and Raven looked at each other. It seemed that the new guy in town was connected with the incident earlier that day.
"Interesting…" Henry said to himself.
"How come you didn't say anything to us? Or to the police? There has to be a body," Raven said forcefully. She felt a slight wave of panic emanate from the bartender, but she was having none of it.
"That's the thing. There weren't no body. New guy starts tellin' all the customers what the plan is, and by the time a whole crowd of 'em started to leave, Mickey gets back up. Only it ain't Mickey, see. He's all covered in that slime, or whatever the hell it is. And I says to him, 'Mickey, you okay?' and it just looks at me. No eyes, no mouth, no nothing, just slime, but it stares at me." Al looked at Raven, and she realized it wasn't fear of her that she was feeling—no, it was remembering what had happened that had made the usual tough-guy demeanor of Al disappear.
"Is there… anything else you can tell me?" asked Raven, turning to walk away.
"Yeah. Just earlier tonight, I heard a couple of guys talkin' about meeting at the 'lectronics store. Oh, and one last thing," added Al. He looked afraid, like he was reliving a nightmare. "His voice was terrifying. Made me feel like I was hearin' my Pop. He wasn't a very good man. He beat Ma, and I was scared of him as a kid. Thank God he's rotting in prison."
"Thank you for your assistance tonight, Al. Take the rest of the night off," Raven suggested as they left, Henry following shortly behind. The door slammed behind them as they stepped out into the alley.
"Sounds like our good friend from earlier," commented Henry as they began to walk onto the street.
"Sounds like we're heading to the electronics store," Raven replied. "We a couple blocks away, so we might as well. Just follow me."
"Good thing Cyborg and Beast Boy aren't out with us," Henry thought aloud. "They'd probably be rushing over there with no regard for the mission."
"You're not giving either of them very much credit. The two can be a bit much at times, but Cyborg and Beast Boy aren't always messing around."
"Oh," Henry replied. "I just never really saw it that way. Remember, I've always known you guys as cartoon characters. From how you guys have been portrayed, I've just mostly seen his screwing-around side. Of course, I've seen you all at your extremes. From super-serious to silly, I've seen it all." They continued on in silence, taking various turns when they reached a corner. Suddenly, Raven stopped just they reached a corner. She held her hand up, and peered around the edge of the building.
"Shh…" she shushed, looking out at the strange sight in front of her. Two very different individuals stood on the roof of the electronic store. One was short, skinny, and bald, with a backpack. The other was tall, husky, and had orange-red hair. The second person held something in his hand, and although Raven couldn't see it, she had a pretty good idea of what it was.
"What is it? What do you see, Raven?" asked a frustrated teenage boy. He wanted to see what was happening, but he wasn't about to just walk out there if Raven was still looking.
"Gizmo and Control Freak," she responded. "What are they doing, working together?"
"Well, they're both tech guys, right? Maybe that has something to do with it," suggested Henry. Raven turned around to look at him.
"Good thinking," Raven said, and then put her hands on his shoulders.
"Wha—" started Henry, but then the ground beneath him disappeared for the second time that night. They re-appeared on the top of a building, and Henry managed to not fall this time. Raven removed her hands, and began to walk towards something. "You know, you should warn me nex—"
"Quiet! Listen…" Raven said softly, and motioned towards a large building. Henry recognized it as the building they were just standing near. Which meant that they were on top of the electronics store! Then he noticed the two figures—Gizmo and Control Freak. The villains were looking out from behind the sign on the roof. Henry strained to listen, but efforts paid off.
"…much longer until we bust in," Control Freak was saying. He sounded different, although neither Raven nor Henry could tell what exactly was different.
"Yeah, then we can get what Gemlon wants us to," Gizmo added. Raven looked over at Henry.
"All right, you get out there and distract them, and I'll take care of them," Raven whispered, and she disappeared into a dark portal. Great, Henry thought to himself. He walked towards the two criminals, and tapped Gizmo on the shoulder.
"Whadda ya want, Freako?" asked the former H.I.V.E. student, turning to face him. He saw Henry, and made a surprised face. "Hey, who's this snot-muncher?" he exclaimed. Henry took a step back as Control Freak turned to see what Gizmo was talking about. Henry smiled and waved at them.
"Hi guys!" he said cheerfully. "How ya doing today?" Gizmo responded by having four metallic legs pop out of his backpack, and he towered over Henry.
"I said, who are you?" asked the criminal, forcefully. He looked angrier than he had seen in the cartoon, and something else came out of Gizmo's backpack. It appeared to be a fifth leg, but that misconception ended when the sharp blade of it curled under the hanging Gizmo.
"Hi, my name is Henry, and I have a problem," replied Henry, slightly nervous. He didn't like the sharp blade. Control Freak, until now silent, put away his remote and pulled out a small metal cylinder with two small prongs on either end. He held it up in a fighting stance, and four red beams were emitted. Henry tried for a nervous chuckle. "This is when you guys say, 'Hi, Henry,' and make me feel like part of the group." He looked around quickly, looking for any sign of Raven. There wasn't one. C'mon, Henry, think of something! You can't die like this, not to these losers! he thought to himself.
"So, Henry," began Control Freak, "what brings you here? Can't you see we're occupied?"
"With standing on a roof? You don't look very busy," countered Henry. The two villains looked at each other, and nodded. Gizmo turned away, and began to walk towards the edge of the building. He crawled down, and disappeared from view.
"We are now," replied Control Freak. "So, Henry, tell me: who are you? Are you another dumb hero?"
"I… suppose I am," Henry answered, sounding unsure.
"That's too bad—you seemed like a nice guy. You look like you've got some Chell cosplay going on," returned Control Freak, motioning with his hand towards Henry's outfit. Henry's jaw dropped; Control Freak had just made a Portal reference.
"Wait, did you just reference Portal?" asked Henry, dumbfounded.
"Wait, you understood my Portal reference?" asked Control Freak, lowering his weapon. "That's one of the best game's I've ever played!"
"It's one of my favorites!" replied Henry, letting his inner fanboy out. "It's such a great combination of gaming and puzzle-solving. Have you played the sequel?"
"Have I played the sequel? I've been inside the sequel, with my remote." Control Freak de-activated his weapon, and walked over to Henry. "I tell you what, it's pretty interesting when
****POTENTIAL PORTAL AND PORTAL 2 SPOILERS AHEAD. DO NOT READ THE FOLLOWING SECTION IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO HAVE PARTS OF PORTAL 2 SPOILED. SKIP UNTIL YOU SEE THE LINE OF POUND SYMBOLS TO SKIP THE SPOILERS****
Wheatley 'hacks' the turret production controls."
"Yeah, and when GLaDOS gets put into a potato? And when you're falling, and she's there too, and she says, 'How are you holding up? Because I'm a POTATO!'" Control Freak laughed at Henry's recalling of one of the more interesting parts of the game.
"And Cave Johnson's lemon rant?"
"'I don't want your damn lemons! What am I supposed to do with these?' That was hysterical!"
# # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # SAFE TO READ NOW
"Yeah, I know! I tell you what Henry, I'm overlooking this whole 'you're a hero' business. What do you say we get together someday and do co-op?" asked the nerdy criminal hopefully. Before Henry could respond, however, Gizmo's scream echoed out into the street. Control Freak immediately stepped back and pulled out his weapon.
"What did you do, you monster?" hissed Control Freak.
"I didn't do anything! And why am I a monster?"
"I asked you to do co-op with me, and then you betray me like this? We could have been friends, Henry!" said the villain angrily.
"Umm… I didn't do anything," Henry said, noticing Raven appear from the sign. Henry looked at Control Freak, and slowly back away as Raven's form grew taller, and black tentacles began to flow from her robe. Two sets of red eyes glowed from Raven's face, and Henry felt a chill run down his back.
"Oh, really?" Control Freak replied in disbelief. "Then who did?"
"Me," Raven answered, her voice altered, sounding more demonic. Control Freak barely had enough time to turn around when Raven struck. Henry closed his eyes and covered them. When they opened, Raven had returned to normal, and the unconscious forms of Gizmo, whose metal legs and returned to the backpack from whence they came, and Control Freak lay on the ground. Henry walked over to Raven.
"I don't even want to know how you did that. Just… well done, Raven," Henry commented. Raven looked down at the two defeated villains.
"Let's get these two to the police," Raven replied, and a glow surrounded the two unconscious bodies. They floated into the air, and Raven began to hover over the side of the building. Henry did a quick jog and jumped off the building, absorbing the impact energy. Henry followed shortly behind the empath, in between Control Freak and Gizmo's floating bodies. After a few minutes of silence, Henry spoke up.
"Y'know Raven, I have a problem," he spoke. "Now that I'm a Teen Titan and all, I can't keep going around using my real name."
"Why not?" asked Raven indifferently.
"That's just not how superheroes do things, I guess. You know how Batman doesn't go parading around like, 'Hey everyone, I'm Bru—'"
"Shh! Don't give away his identity!" Raven hushed. "Besides, how do you know Batman's secret identity?"
"Wait, you know?" asked a confused Henry.
"Yes. When I entered Robin's mind a while ago, I learned a few things, the Batman's identity among them. Robin made me promise not to tell anyone, of course, but that's how I found out."
"Ah," Henry replied. "I get it. The reason I know is because, like you guys, Batman is a fictional character in my world. There's a ton of movies about him, in addition to the thousands of comic books, TV shows, and so on. He's really popular, and in fact is probably the reason you guys exist in my universe in the first place."
"How so?"
"The company that published the first Batman comic eventually churned out a comic called 'The Teen Titans,' and over time the comic changed, stopped, and was revived several times. One incarnation was you guys, and that was because of the show on TV**," rattled off Henry.
"You sound like Beast Boy," was how Raven replied. "But, you were saying how you couldn't use your real name?"
"Ah, yes. Right. So, I've been trying to think of a name for myself."
"How's that coming along?"
"Not very good. I can't think of anything cool-sounding," replied the boy teen with disappointment.
After much walking, our young heroes arrived at the police station. After a few minutes of struggling to get Control Freak and Gizmo into the cell, Henry and Raven were free to leave. The criminals, having been stripped of their trademark weapons (and, of course, any and all other weapons), now sat in solitude, complaining about how it "wasn't fair" how Raven and 'that orange guy' had "cheated."
"Well, now what?" asked Henry. "It's only about nine, and we have a long night of patrol ahead of us."
"Yes we do," replied Raven.
The rest of the night was rather uneventful. The only other traces of criminal activity was a cat fight in one of the alleys they passed. The time was about midnight when Henry brought up the idea of taking a break.
"So, Raven, it's been what, four hours since we left the Tower? What do you say we go stop at a café or something," suggested Henry. Raven thought it over for a few seconds, then nodded her head.
"Well, we're supposed to be on patrol, but fifteen minutes would be alright," agreed the empath. "There's a place I've been to a few times before. If we take a right up ahead, we'll be there in about five minutes."
"Awesome," replied Henry. So on they walked, and eventually our heroes reached a small café.
"'Coffee of Doom***,'" read Henry as they approached the door. "Seems like a nice place. I didn't know you drank coffee, Raven."
"I don't," replied the empath as they walked in. Inside were two employees and one customer, and indie music of some sort played a decent volume. Enough to hear it, but it wasn't going to drown your conversation in guitar solos.
"Hey, Hanners, check it out! There's Raven, the Teen Titan," one of the employees called from behind the counter. An African-American male, he had square glasses, medium-length black hair, and short beard. "Hello, and welcome to Coffee of Doom. How may I help you today?"
"Just the herbal tea," Raven said distantly, then walked away.
"And for you, sir?" asked the barista.
"I… uh, don't really drink coffee. What do you suggest?"
"Hmm…. I don't really drink it myself, I just work here," replied the man. "Hannelore, what do you suggest?" he asked, turning to face his blonde coworker.
"Umm, I don't know. Just give him basic coffee," suggested the girl.
"Okay then, black it is," said the man, whose nametag read "Dale."
"How much will this be, Dale?" asked Henry, suddenly realizing he had no money on him. Dale laughed.
"Relax, kiddo. I'm taking it that you're with Raven here?" asked the employee.
"Uh… yeah," replied Henry.
"It's on the house. Least we can do to help repay you for saving Jump all those times. Well, not you, buy you're with her, so I guess it's okay," said Dale.
"Wow… Thanks!" thanked Henry. A few minutes went by, and their drinks were ready. Raven floated them over to their table, and the two drank in silence.
"This is nice," Raven said after a while. "No Beast Boy trying to tell some stupid jokes, no Robin having us go train some more, no Cyborg and him constantly referring to his 'baby' the T-Car, and no Starfire trying to cook us some forsaken attempt at food. Just calm, quiet, and some great tea." Henry looked at Raven, surprised. It wasn't like her at all to complain in this manner.
"Wow, Raven, I didn't know you felt that way about your teammates," Henry replied, trying to sound neutral. Raven waved away his words with her hand.
"They're not bad. All of the Titans are good people, and I'm lucky to have such great friends… but sometimes, it gets to be a bit much. Meditation helps, but it doesn't take care of everything." Raven took another drink of tea. "I'm sorry. It's late, and we haven't done patrol in a while, and I didn't get to meditate today. I guess I'm just tired," Raven admitted. Henry nodded.
"I get it, I felt that way too at times back home. It wasn't easy having two parents working two different full-time jobs, one during the day and one at night. One was always away, the other was asleep, and I had school. Plus, a sister needed to be taken care of, and that was my job. Only, I can't meditate for the life of me," Henry said in response.
"Have you ever tried?" questioned the empath.
"Yeah, a couple times. Got inspired by you on the TV, and I was bored one day, so I figured, why not give it a shot? But I just couldn't focus, I guess."
"Hmm," was all Raven replied with. The two sat in silence again, the other customer having left several minutes before hand. Suddenly, the ground began to shake. Raven and Henry stood up and looked outside. Although it was dark, they could see—and hear, and feel—a large orange mechanical suit pound down the street.
"Alright dudes, let's go!" called the voice from within the suit as it passed the Coffee of Doom. The two Titans looked at each other.
"Trouble," said Henry.
"Let's go," replied Raven, and they phased out into the street.
*I realize I've neglected Raven's sense of wit, so I figured that this was something she was likely to do.
**This is all true. Go research DC Comics on Wikipedia (yes, I know that it isn't always reliable, but just trust me on this one), and you'll see that Detective Comics was the very begins of the DC we know and love today.
*** "Coffee of Doom" is the name of the coffee shop that is a main part of the life and drama that is Questionable Content, an absolutely FANTASTIC webcomic by Jeph Jacques. Please, go check it out. I cannot stress that enough. It looks poorly-made in the beginning, but it currently looks very, very good. About comic book quality. NOTE: There is foul language as it progresses, so be aware. But it's nothing worse than what you'd hear in an average American high school.
So that's it everyone! Hope you enjoyed this extra-long chapter. It's kind of a celebration for two things: One) WE FINALLY HIT 1,000 VIEWS! WOOOOO! And two) I've adopted a story by makerboy13, called "The Problems Caused By Control Freak." It's a Portal-Teen Titans crossover, and until the point where I re-posted it as "Raven in Aperture," it was the ONLY Portal-Teen Titans crossover on this website. At least, the only one listed as one. So hopefully, if you like both Teen Titans and Portal, you'll go check it out. Chapter One is a combined version of the first two chapters of the original story, but everything afterwards will be all me. Wow. Such excite, very fanfiction, so crossover. That's all for today, other than the standard "Review if you want, and remember if you have questions, suggestions, or other thoughts, PM me!" Have a fan-freaking-tastic day everyone!
—Cortexin