Titan's East electric blue T-Ship banked to the left. Bumblebee was at the helm and she had an ear to ear grin on her face. Mas Y Menos were chattering away in Spanish, in a very animated tone and it was clear to both Aqualad and Speedy that they were talking about Beast Boy and Raven in a very positive tone.
Speedy and Aqualad were both sitting quietly in their compartments, with their arms crossed and sullen expressions on their faces. Speedy stared at the Tower in the bay as they made their final approach, when he heard a voice in his head set.
"Acaso no es maravilloso que se casaron el Chico Bestia y Raven?" Mas asked.
"Si, es maravilloso." Speedy replied in an unconvincing monotone.
"Son la pareja perfecta, verdad Aqualad?"
"Demasiado perfecto." Aqualad replied in a grumble.
Bumblebee's laughter echoed in their headsets.
"What's with you guys? It is marvelous that they got married and they are the perfect couple." She chastised the two gloomsters. "If I didn't know better, I'd say you guys are jealous."
"Jealous? You couldn't be more wrong, Bumblebee." Speedy retorted.
"What's with you guys? What aren't you happy for them?"
"We have our reasons." Aqualad replied. "And before you ask, you wouldn't understand."
"OK, whatever." She replied before muting her mike and shaking her head. "Boys! Who can understand them?"
As she guided her T-Ship to it's landing spot she saw an assortment of aircraft already parked in the Tower's hangar, including the Batwing and the Doom Patrol Jet. As she landed no one noticed a small, single seater jet flying overhead in a holding pattern. It was unmarked, except for a red X on each wing. It broke its flight pattern and flew away, disappearing over the horizon in the ocean.
-( - )-
Titans East were among the last to arrive and rode the lift down to the common room. When the doors opened they were greeted by the aroma of Cyborg's kitchen's greatest hits. There were tables buried in food and in the middle of the room was the monster wedding cake the Tin Man had prepared overnight.
There was also a crowd present. As expected, the men were congregated around the food, stuffing their faces when they weren't talking. They all seemed to have a sour expression on their faces, which only temporarily disappeared when they ate another morsel.
The women were all busy chattering in excited tones. Bumblebee quickly joined Jinx, Kole and Argent, and Starfire; grabbing a glass of wine on her way.
"Where are the bride and groom?" She asked as she took a sip from her glass.
"I believe the will be here soon." Starfire replied as she chugged down the contents of her glass. "Argent, are you sure this is grape juice? It does not taste like the grape juice."
"I said it's made from grape juice. It's called wine, Starfire. Do you like it?"
The princess giggled.
"What's so funny?" Jinx asked.
"The wine … it gives me the warm fuzzies. I shall have another one." She hiccuped.
"Uh, Starfire; how many glassed have you had?"
"This is my ninth glass. I have the warm feeling in my cheeks, is that normal?"
Bumblebee took the glass from her. "I think you should stick to mineral water for a while."
"But I like the wine." She protested.
- ( - )-
Raven was levitating, in the lotus position, over their bed. That in itself wasn't unusual; what was unusual was that she wasn't wearing any clothes. Her green husband was still asleep, enjoying a post coital nap. The room was silent except for Raven whispering her mantra repeatedly. Her meditation was interrupted by a digital alarm clock which began to beep. She opened her eyes and she came back down, landing next to he mate, who she gently nudged.
"Gar, wake up, it's time for the reception."
"Just five more minutes, Rave." He mumbled, still half asleep.
She nudged him a second time.
"Sorry, Gar; you need to get up now."
He opened his eyes, As soon as her saw her he smiled. "If I have to wake up, this is the way to do it: with a love goddess at my side."
She responded with one of her tiny Raven smiles. "Actually, I'm a demoness, not a goddess."
"Nope, wrong … you're a goddess. Trust me, I know."
Her smile widened. "I guess I'll have to take your word for it." She replied as she pulled him out of the bed. "Come on, we need to get dressed. It's time for the reception."
-( - )-
"Where are they?" Nightwing asked.
Cyborg looked at the clock built into his left forearm. "Beats me. They're late."
"That's so unlike Raven."
"Well, she did marry the grass stain. I was kinda hoping she would rub off on him, though it looks like the other way around."
As soon as he said that the sliding doors swished open, revealing the chromatically challenged couple. Everyone stopped what they were doing and began to applaud, though the men were definitely less than enthusiastic with their clapping.
The women present mobbed Raven, who found herself suddenly separated from her husband by an overenthusiastic gaggle of women who proceeded to congratulate her. Beast Boy smiled as he watched until he felt a strong hand grab his arm and pull him away as well. It was Aqualad and the changeling suddenly found himself surrounded by unfriendly faces.
"Uh, wassup guys?"
"Apparently, you are." Speedy complained.
Gar noticed that in addition to Aqualad and Speedy there were others who looked unhappy: Kid Flash, Hot Spot, Bushido, Red Star, Thunder, Lightning and others. They all had crossed arms and looked annoyed. Even Jericho looked upset.
"Uh, I don't get it. Why are you guys mad at me?"
"You had to do it." Wally complained.
"Do what?"
"You had to get married, pit sniffer."
"What are doing here, Gizmo? You're a freaking bad guy."
"I stopped being one, sludgehead, for the movie, remember?"
"Whatever … why are you guys upset with me and Raven getting hitched. Don't tell me all of you have a crush on her. Sorry guys, she's mine."
Billy Numerous approached Gar and poked him in the chest. "You don't get it, do you buckaroo?"
"Get what?"
Hot Spot pushed forward. "Because you just had to go ahead and get married, all our girlfriends now expect us to marry them."
"They do?"
"Yes, Gar, they do; and it's all your fault." Aqualad interjected. "Tula won't talk about anything else."
Gar smiled sheepishly. "Then what's the problem, go ahead an marry them."
"Maybe we don't want to get married." Speedy growled. "Not that our ladies care. Jade went on strike when I told her I didn't want to tie the knot any time soon."
"What do you mean Cheshire went on strike?"
"What he means, buckaroo, is no more nookie until we say I do. Why did you have to go and marry Raven? Everything was just fine until Nightwing told us you got married in some weird ceremony Raven came up with. And is it true you got married in the nude in Hell?"
"It wasn't a weird ceremony, and no, we weren't in Hell and we weren't naked. What are you guys talking about?"
"What we're talking about, Garfield, is that thanks to you things are a mess with our girlfriends."
The angry mob was closing in around the changeling and Beast Boy was figuratively feeling that a noose was tightening around his neck and was beginning to worry that if he didn't escape that a real noose would soon find its way around his neck.
"Uh, guys … can't we talk this over?" His voice warbled as he sweatdropped.
Before anyone could answer Cyborg elbowed his way through the crowd.
"Sorry, gents; I need to steal the green bean." He interjected as he whisked his green buddy away into the kitchen. The changeling heaved a huge sigh of relief.
"Thanks, Cy; I've never seen the guys so pissed off at me before."
The tin man grinned. "Well, you heard what happened, their ladies want them to pop the question and are gonna hold back on then until they do. Don't worry, I'll take care of them. Now you go and hang with the wifey, I got this covered."
Raven was already seated at the table of honor and Cyborg personally escorted her husband to her side. Plates of food appeared before them and the changeling's problems were soon forgotten.
Little did he know that more trouble was brewing.
-( - )-
Several hours later …
The party had long since ended and the guests had left. Mento and Elastigirl, who were Beast Boy's adoptive parents, had presented the Chromatically Challenged Couple with a grand wedding gift, a 10 million dollar trust fund. Batman's gift was less generous but still grand: he rented a private island in the Caribbean for a month long honeymoon, with transportation on a WayneCorp private jet. Nightwing instructed them to pack their bags as they would be leaving the next morning.
The bags were packed and the Logans had settled in for the night. Garfield fell asleep immediately, while Raven tossed and turned, her psyche still jumbled up by all of the events of the day.
Unable to settle down she rose and placing her cape and hood over he nightgown she decided that maybe meditating on the roof would help calm herself down. She put on a pair of slippers and opened a portal. She stepped into it and was immediately teleported to the Tower's roof.
A cool breeze was blowing and Raven slowly inhaled the briny air. She walked to the roof's edge and stared at the city across the bay. Even though it was 2 AM there was still a steady flow of traffic across the bay bridge into the city. The city lights twinkled like those on a Christmas Tree, and Raven felt a sense of peace and tranquility.
She decided that this would be a good time to meditate and that she needed it. Tomorrow would be another emotionally tumultuous day, at least until they reached the island. She made a mental note to thank Bruce again for his gift as it would be just what the doctor ordered, a quiet, private place where she and her husband could do anything they wanted, even make love on their private beach. A small smile appeared on her lips, as that idea was sounding better and better.
She stopped thinking about playing hide the zucchini with her husband and got back on track with her meditation session. Before she began she reached out with her senses to see if he was OK. He was still sound asleep in their room. Raven folded her legs as she began to levitate, but stopped dead in her tracks. She stood up straight and dark balls of energy formed around her fists and she became airborne.
"There's no point in hiding, I already sensed your presence. Show yourself, now!"
A long moment passed before finally about 20 feet in front of her a human figure materialized.
"Relax, Raven; I didn't come here to fight."
A huge frown formed on her face. "What are you doing here, Red X?"
"I just came to see if the news was true."
"Don't lie, you came to spy on me."
"OK, I did come to do that too."
"You have no shame, do you? Let me guess, you came to tell me that if I ever divorce my husband that you'll be waiting for me."
"My offer still stands."
Raven's eyes split into their Trigonic formation. "If you know what's good for you, you'll leave right now and never return."
"Raven, you misunderstand me. I'm not wishing for your marriage to fail, I'm just saying that if it does that I'll be there for you."
"Aren't you a knight in shining armor?"
"Come on, Raven; I'm being nice here, we're having a moment here, don't spoil it."
Raven shook her head as her eyes reverted to their normal indigo color. "I will say this for the last time: we will never have a relationship. Is that understood?"
Red X slouched in defeat. "I'm sorry to hear you say that."
"You think you can always have what you want, Red X; but you can't."
He suddenly stood up straight and extended his arms. Red X's shout out of his hands. One hit Raven on her face, covering her mouth, while two larger ones wrapped around her body. She lost her balance and fell on the floor.
"I always get what I want, Raven."
The sorceress squirmed but was unable to break Red X's red bindings.
"Relax, Raven; I won't hurt you, and I promise to return you to your idiot husband when I'm done with you. Just cooperate and I promise you won't be damaged."
Raven's eyes turned crimson red as she continued to squirm. Red X heard a mosquito buzz by him but ignored it
"Raven, please don't make this any harder than it has to be. Listen, for all you know, I can please you more that he ..."
Red X did not finish his sentence as he was shocked by a powerful electric charge and fell flat on his face. From her vantage point Raven could see what looked like an electric eel on his back, which quickly morphed into the changeling's human form. Beast Boy removed Red X's belt and and gloves, after which he cuffed him. He then pulled out his communicator and called the others. He then ran to his wife's side. Raven tried to speak, but all that came out was a muffled sound.
"You want me to peel it off?"
She nodded.
"It's gonna hurt."
She glared in reply.
"OK, here goes ..."
He ripped off the X covering her mouth. To her credit she didn't complain, but instead shouted her mantra, after which her bindings were torn and she was freed.
"I'm gonna kill that sonofabitch!" She screamed.
Nightwing and the others burst through the roof's access door.
"Are you guys OK?"
Raven pointed at Red X's still unconscious form.
"He was going to kidnap and rape me!"
Nightwing's masked eyes boggled at the sight before him.
"You guys captured Red X!"
"Yes, Nightwing; I'm fine, thanks for asking."
Grayson ignored her words and took Red X into custody.
"It's OK, Rave. We caught him, he's gonna pay for everything he's ever done."
"How did you know?"
"I didn't. I woke up and used the Tower's cameras to find you. I found you just when he uncloaked."
"I still want to kill him." She seethed.
"So did I, Rave. It took everything I had to not give him a fatal shock. Are you OK?"
"I will be … thanks for saving me. I can't believe I let my guard down."
Beast Boy's communicator chirped. He flipped it open and saw Cyborg's face."
"We're gonna unmask Red X, so get your butts down here cuz you don't wanna miss this."
-( - )-
Who do you guys think Red X should be? I'm willing to entertain suggestions.
Sorry for the update delay. I should be better about updating for a while.