Teen Titans: Dangerous Waters
Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans.
A/N: And we're back! Sorry for the delayed update. Between losing my old writing computer and a new schedule at work, things had gotten pretty hectic for a time. But enough about me! You have all waited long enough, so here it is. Enjoy!
Chapter 2: The Skyward
The Chelsea Piers that jutted out from Manhattan on the Hudson River had a long history of hosting passenger ships from around the world. For over one hundred and sixty years they functioned in this capacity, with thousands of vessels coming and going and millions of people doing the same. It was grandiose ocean liners often described by the press as floating palaces that more often than not tied up their mooring lines to the piers, and such a sight occured on a daily basis for all those years until the rise of air travel by jet airliners slowly but surely all but completely doomed their industry in the latter half of the twentieth century. But while no one could argue that air travel has become more convenient, a great many afficianados in tourism contend that travel by a well-constructed and adorned seagoing vessel is still far more relaxing and enjoyable.
The MS Skyward was a worthy inheritor of this legacy. Towering around the size of a twenty two floor building which included sixteen passenger decks and extending to just over the distance of three football fields, she was roughly five times the size of the ill-fated RMS Titanic. She was without exaggeration one of the largest passenger ships ever constructed, and was the single largest to ever sail on the grand old transatlantic route between North America and Europe.
Her exterior consisted of a massive sleek hull painted in black with red below the waterline, a towering superstructure painted in white, and two striking smokestacks painted in a beige-gold hue. This color scheme was chosen specifically as to allow the Skyward, despite her modern design, to more closely resemble the old time classic ocean liners of the aforementioned era long since passed.
The interior of the vessel was also nothing to scoff at, featuring all the amenities one would expect at a luxury resort hotel on land. This included a grand atrium with a gilded staircase and elevators, six pools each lined with hot tubs and two with water slides, eight drinking establishments ranging from poolside bars to authentic pubs, ten restaurants ranging from burger joints and pizza parlors to a massive buffet and regal dining halls, an all-inclusive spa and gymnaisum, a library, a casino, eight lounges and nightclubs, a movie theatre, a live performance theatre for plays and musicals, ten different stores ranging from souvenier shops to luxury boutiques, an art gallery, a ballroom, a 360 degree view observation deck, and of course an emergency medical center.
In addition to all of the above, the Skyward also featured more than enough lifeboats and life rafts to easily carry twice her allotment of passengers and crew. That said, thanks to top of the line safety features as well as advanced communications and navigation equipment, the risks posed to the ship were typically minimal.
It was on this grandiose behemoth that the Teen Titans would be spending the next five nights, the typical amount of time for a voyage between the United States and Great Britain these days. A private car from the airport had just dropped the team off at the piers, leaving them with an unobstructed view of the liner.
"Wooooooooooah," Beast Boy was in awe of the massive vessel, and who could blame him?
"Yes, its big and it floats. Your mind is blown, right?" Raven quipped with her trademark sarcasm, earning herself an annoyed glare from the green shapeshifter.
"Joy!" Starfire's eyes were practically sparkling. "I feel much of the enthusiasm!"
"I'm glad you're happy, Star," Robin told her sincerely, "I admit I'm still a bit skeptical, but- ah!" he was interrupted as his alien girlfriend pulled him into a crushing embrace.
"Oh, you would not be the you if you were not 'skeptical,'" she giggled, "But a vacation with my boyfriend and the dearest of friends? What more could I ask for?"
"All right, you two lovebirds," Cyborg chimed in with a grin at the spectacle, "We'd better get in line before this big boat leaves us behind."
About half an hour later, after going through the boring proceedures of checking in and going through the necessary security screenings at the terminal on the pier alongside the ship, the team was welcomed aboard alongside the other passengers ascending the gangway that led to the entrance at the central atrium on Deck 4. A team of stewards had taken their suitcases to bring to their cabins for them, and after a short ride on the elevators, the five superheroes were led down a hallway on the starboard, or right side of Deck 10.
"Okay then, here we are, Centennial Deck, suites 10-58 and 10-59," the lead steward announced, opening the two doors one at a time before stepping back so his co-workers could carry the luggage inside. As they did so, he retrieved a piece of folded paper from inside a pocket on his jacket, and continued, "Let's see... ah, here we go. Robin, Starfire, and Cyborg are in 10-58, and Raven and Beast Boy are assigned to 10-59."
Silence.
The air in this particular section of the corridor suddenly became very still as the team leader, the alien princess, and the half-man/half-machine all at once shifted their focus to the dark sorceress.
Raven's violet eyes were wide, her mind clearly trying to come to terms with what was just told to her and the rest of the team. Disbelief soon gave way to irritation, rising steadily. As if things weren't bad enough for her already, being forced into a confined area surrounded by thousands of strangers broadcasting their emotions a short distance away, now this glorified bellhop was telling her she was going to have to share a living space with the green shapeshifter who grated on her last nerves on a semi-daily basis, who was at the center of these conflicting feelings she still didn't recognize, and was somehow connected to the unsettling visitation into her mindscape performed by that unnerving stranger.
For a brief moment, she glanced to the teammate in question on her left, who merely grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck while looking down at his feet nervously, his face flushed as he purposely avoided her piercing gaze. Raven promptly shifted her focus back to the lead steward and fixed a glare upon him. The poor man couldn't help but take step back and look over his shoulder in the direction of his co-workers.
"Um, no. No way. Absolutely not. I am not sharing a room with this guy," she pointed her thumb over at Beast Boy as she enunciated. She hadn't meant to come off as harshly as she did, but her mind was abuzz with numerous thoughts colliding all at once, and the words left her lips before she could stop them. She missed his expression falling and his pointed ears dropping.
"It's actually four and a half rooms, plus a large balcony, and your suite is linked with that of your other friends," the lead steward tried reasoning with the half-demon.
"Friend Raven..." Starfire took a step forward in a vain attempt to diffuse the sitation.
"That's still unacceptable," Raven's tone was sharp and icy, her eyes narrowing further, "This trip is going to last four full days, right?"
"Five full days, actually," the crewman answered honestly, and bravely to his credit. A bead of sweat formed on the side of his face. His co-workers were aware of the situation at this point, and had elected to stay inside the suites.
"Hell. NO!" the dark sorceress blurted out harshly before she could stop herself. The immediate area around the group in the corridor seemed to vibrate faintly for a second, the wall sconces and accent tables shaking just slightly enough to make a rattling noise.
"What's going on, here?" a firm, masculine voice called the group's attention from off to the left further down the corridor. A man in a white ship's officer uniform accentuated with black and gold epaulets and an officer's cap quickened his pace, stepping between the lead steward and Raven.
"Mr. Nielson!" the former exclaimed, unable to hide the relief in his voice.
"Who?" Robin arched a brow as he inspected the new arrival.
"Third Officer Nielson. I'm with the bridge staff of this fine vessel," the man elaborated. "I was making my rounds when I heard the commotion. What seems to be the problem, here?"
"This young lady seems to have a problem with the sleeping arrangements," the lead steward gestured to Raven as he explained, careful to stay behind the officer while doing so.
"You're damn right I do," the half-demon shifted her glare to the other man, who quickly regarded her with an unamused expression. It only served to piss her off further.
"Is that so?" Nielson started, pausing for a moment in thought before continuing, "Well, miss, I have a few questions for you: do you have any special needs? Are you disabled? Any extenuating medical conditions? And, would staying in these quarters adversely impact any of those for you?"
Now it was Raven's turn to take a step back, her glare almost vanishing outright. She hadn't quite expected to be countered that way. She hardened her gaze once more, but looked down to the floor before replying curtly, "No, not in the way you mean."
"Then there is no reason to rearrange anything. There are passengers who do meet that criteria who need tending to, all while you hold up these men here," the officer gestured towards the stewards as he dismissed the empath further. She said nothing in reply, merely kept her gaze scrunched up and downcast.
Robin took the opportunity to step in and shift focus, pulling some cash out of his pocket to tip the stewards with. The lead steward then handed Robin a small paper folder that held their suite's keycards in it. It wasn't long before he, his co-workers, and Nielson departed after that, leaving the team to their business.
"Man, that officer must have some brass balls," Cyborg mused aloud, "Or maybe they're just the ship's anchors."
Beast Boy let out a sharp cackle at that. Raven said nothing, but after shaking momentarily, she violently snatched a key card from Robin and stormed inside the suite he was assigned to, slamming the door behind her as the others stared wide-eyed.
"Uhhh... wanna hit the buffet, dude?" the green shapeshifter asked his cybernetic teammate after an awkward moment of silence, and was met with a prompt nod.
"Oh yeeeah, let's get this vacation started!" and with that the two boys were off.
"Boyfriend Robin, I am confused," Starfire scratched her head, "Why would the man in the important uniform have balls made of brass or the anchors of the ship in his personal possession?"
"That's not... I'll explain later Star. For now, let's look around inside and unpack," Robin told her with a smile before she followed him into their suite, her familiar enthusastic expression returning.
"Oh yes! The next few days will be most enjoyable!"
About two hours later, once the last of the passengers were accounted for and the lifeboat drill was completed, the crew of the Skyward made final preparations for the voyage. The gangways were retracted one by one as the exterior doors on decks 1 and 4 were sealed. The last briefcase filled with cash collected for the charity ball was placed in the ship's vault, which was locked immediately after.
On the bridge of the large and elegant liner, the ship's officers were all in attendance along with the harbor pilot, whose job it was to navigate the ship out of the Hudson River and into New York Sound before disembarking as the ship approached the open ocean. An older gentleman in a decorated officer's uniform with gold embroidary arrived at this time. He was a caucasian male who appeared to be in his mid-fifties, sporting grey hair and a thin mustache and beard.
"Captain VanRoojen on deck!" the First Officer exclaimed, prompting the others present to join him in salute.
"At ease, Mr. Murtaugh, everyone," the Captain nodded as he approached. He then turned to the Second and Third Officers, "Mr. Smith, Mr. Nielson, what's our status?"
"Headcount of the passengers and crew is complete, sir. Engineering reports all systems are a 'go,'" Smith informed his superior.
"All that remains are the docking lines," Nielson added.
"Are we ready to depart, then?" the Captain inquired with the pilot as he turned to face her. She nodded promptly.
"Yes, sir," she affirmed. VanRoojen returned the gesture then looked forward out and over the bow.
"Very well then. Cast off the lines and activate the engines and bow thrusters. Half full starboard, half reverse port on the stern, half port on the bow."
"Yes, Captain!" Murtaugh acknowledged, pressing a button on the control panel in front of him. After a couple minutes the red light beside it turned green, and he then pressed a couple more buttons and carefully moved the telemotors into the proper setting. He then did the same with a dial beside them.
Down below the waterline, at the aft end of the massive vessel, the four large rotating propeller pods roared to life, kicking up dirt and sediment from the floor of the harbor just beneath them. On the opposite end, the bow thrusters did the same. The MS Skyward slowly backed away from the pier, moving to her left, or port side. After another minute or so, the telemotors and dial were shifted, and the ship was then propelled forward out and away from the piers and into the river proper, turning to port and sailing down the river in the direction of the iconic Statue of Liberty with the pilot controlling the steering joystick. Captain VanRoojen sounded the horn in a long blast.
Simultaneously, all along the upper decks of the vessel, crowds of passengers had gathered at the railings, waving to the people who stood ashore to watch the Skyward depart and vice versa. Lively music was played through the numerous loudspeakers, and the sail-away party had commenced.
"Umm, Star, do you know anyone down there?" Cyborg asked the Tamaranean princess, who was waving both of her arms widly and joining in the cheers of the other passengers around them.
"Nope!" she answered instantly, her celebratory mood infectious. Robin chuckled good naturedly, and took her hand in his, meeting her grin with a warm smile.
"I wonder where Beast Boy scampered off to," their cybernetic teammate wondered aloud.
"It's a big ship to explore," the team leader reasoned, "I'm sure we'll see him and Raven later tonight."
The three superheroes along with the countless other passengers around them caught sight of Lady Liberty as the Skyward sailed past the symbolic national monument. The longtime tradition of the statue serving as a greeting and a farewell to passenger ships coming and going from the harbor endured.
As the festivities continued on the passenger decks, down in the lowest levels of the ship, inside the bow section within the forward cargo hold, the lid on one of the many metal crates neatly arranged throughout the large room unlatched and slowly slid off. A pair of white-gloved hands reached up from within and grasped the rim of the container, and a caucasian male with blonde hair and deep red eyes pulled himself out. Aside from the white gloves, he was clad in a pair of black formal shoes, a formal white suit complete with a jacket and accenuating black tie. A white fedora with a black ribbon tied around the rim sat firmly atop his head, and a black leather belt with holsters holding two scoped revolvers was secured around his waist. The man surveyed his surroundings with an eager, arguably offputting grin.
"Alles klar! Ah, it feels good to stretch my legs again!" the man in the white suit called out in a German accent once he was sure their position was secure.
"It was getting way too cramped inside that box," another male stated as he climbed out of the crate as well. He was clad from head to toe in a suit of black combat armor complete with matching gloves, boots, and a helmet that enclosed his face, sporting ominous red-tinted lenses. A submachine gun was slung over his back alongside a military supply backpack, both the same color as his armor. A sidearm handgun and combat knife were holstered and sheathed on his belt, which was lined with additonal supply and ammunition pouches. "Ready when you are," he added.
"Sehr gut. Time to go to work, mercenary. There are more crates full of our boys that need unlocking from the outside," the man in white informed the black-clad soldier-for-hire.
"I feel sorry for them; they have even less space than we had," the latter drolled as they set about their task.
It wasn't long after that when Beast Boy returned to the suite he'd been assigned. He had been carrying a heavy, simple linen bag in one hand and a small plate with a cupcake in the other, and he set both down on the accent table beside the door before fumbling around for the key card in his pocket.
Garfield Mark Logan may have been absentminded a lot of the time, but he was by no means a fool: he knew that Raven wasn't happy to be on this ship, and he was undoubtedly the last person she wanted to be assigned as a roommate. Their relationship was complicated at best, and she wasn't as close to him as she was the other Titans. Still, he hoped the kind gestures he'd brought back with him might help her warm up to the idea of sharing a living space with him, temporarily of course. He opened the door, re-pocketed his key card and recollected the items he'd brought for her, and stepped inside. The door moved back into place and clicked shut behind him.
Though the sun had only just begun to set outside, the interior of the suite was dimly-lit, courtesy of the closed curtains and a set of candles Raven had arranged on the floor in a makeshift meditation circle. The arrangement had been set up in the living room, the coffee table pushed up against the curtains which in-turn were pressed against the double glass doors to the balcony. The door to the interior corridor was fairly heavy, and the sound of it opening and closing had no doubt alerted the half-demon to his return, as had the ray of artificial light that had shone in for a moment. She sat in the middle of the circle of candles, levitating off the floor by about a couple feet or so. She paid him no heed, as if silently hoping he would leave her alone. It was not to be.
"I thought we weren't allowed to bring candles on in our luggage," Beast Boy mused with a slight chuckle. She opened one eye just for a second, regarding him reluctantly in the low light.
"I didn't; I conjured these once I unpacked my spellbook," she informed him in her usual monotone.
"Ah, loophole!" he chimed back in a sing-song voice.
"Is there something you need, Beast Boy? You know better than to disturb my meditation," she told him curtly while keeping her eyes closed. She furrowed her brows and opened them both a second later when he flipped the lightswitch for the living room on, much to her irritation.
"Look, Rae," he began, nervousness evident in his tone, "I get it: you're not happy to be here, or have me here, but I felt bad knowing you were missing all the fun stuff going on."
"Our individual interpretations of the word 'fun' are quite different, and you know that," she reminded him, coming back down to the floor and rising to her feet after a defeated sigh. She snapped her figures and the flames on all the candles went out instantly. She didn't miss how he used that nickname for her again. She still didn't like it.
"Well, yeah, but still, I felt bad, so I wanted to bring some fun to you instead!" he told her with a cheerful grin, suddenly finding his confidence now that he had her full attention.
She audibly groaned in response.
"Listen, Beast Boy-"
"They got this place set up in the buffet where you can decorate your own cupcakes!" he interrupted excitedly, presenting the one he worked on for her. She took it from his hands, but didn't give it more than a glance before she looked back up at him.
"Beast Boy-" Raven's monotonous tone was gone, and her voice was gaining an edge to it.
"You should have seen Starfire put them away, oh boy. Good thing she has nine stomachs, am I right?" he laughed at the memory as he lifted up the linen pack, grasping it and its contents with both hands.
"Beast Boy..." her irritation was spiking. Why wouldn't he just shut up for five seconds?
"So, I started thinking-"
"There's a first," she couldn't help but jab at him, smirking to herself just slightly. He paused for a moment, then recollected himself. The hurt in his expression had manfisted and vanished in but a second.
"Anyways, I started thinking about what you might like..."
"Beast Boy," she called his name again, more sharply this time.
"... and then it came to me!" his excitment from before had returned.
"Beast Boy," she growled, gnashing her teeth together.
"Just wait, Rae," he reached into the bag with one hand, "You're really gonna like this, I know it!"
It was at that moment that a soft, edible substance made contact with the shapeshifter's face, and once the sting of the forceful impact subsided, he realized what it was: Raven had thrown the cupcake in his face, hard.
The impact was enough to stun him momentarily, enough for him to lose his grip on the bag. It fell, plummeting to the floor and landing atop his foot, heavy contents and all. The shooting pain that resulted was immediate, and Beast Boy fell back and down to the floor in a loud shout.
He was in pain and humiliated, and at that moment, the dark sorceress couldn't bring herself to care. She was upon him in seconds, her rage coming to the surface.
"When are you going to get the truth into your thick skull, Garfield?!" she spat at him with venom, "The best thing you can possibly do for me is to stay away from me! Do you understand, you damnable idiot?! Stay. Away. From. ME!" the whole room shook in tandem with her fury. Beast Boy couldn't help but scoot back along the floor, hurt and fear evident in his eyes. The cupcake's wrapper fell from its mashed up contents on his face as he did so, and the throbbing pain in his foot remained, but his gaze was locked firmly on hers.
"But, Rae, I just-" he found his voice, weakly, before she resumed.
"I don't care, Beast Boy. I don't care about what you have to say, I don't care about what's in that bag, and I don't care about you!" flecks of red were beginning to appear in her eyes.
The young shapeshifter felt a deep stab right in the middle of his chest at her words, his heart aching and his own eyes beginning to water.
"I-I just-" he tried again, still in vain.
"SHUT UP!" she screamed at him, "SHUT UP! JUST SHUT UP ALREADY AND GET AWAY FROM ME!"
At this point, a lamp fell over and the small plate he'd brought the cupcake on floated up out of her grip and shattered, its pieces falling to the floor. The curtains shifted and thrashed about violently, and the remote for the television flew from its perch on the armrest of the couch and hit the wall across from it. All pieces of furniture in the room briefly levitated and shifted positions somewhat, and the once neatly-arranged candles were tossed up and about. The overhead lights flickered and rattled ominously.
Garfield climbed to his feet and, after wiping the pieces of cupcake from his face, he hobbled out of the suite the way he had come, trying and failing to choke back a sob and a sniffle as he did so. Raven slammed the door behind him with her powers.
Finally, she had some peace and quiet again. She should have felt great.
So why did she suddenly feel so... cold?
A/N: Well, that last part certainly escalated. Next chapter, Raven finds out what's in the bag, along with its implications. Meanwhile, the main plot begins to unfold, and of course greater details on that will come later as well. Work on Chapter 3 is already in progress, so you can certainly expect that sooner than this update. Thank you all for reading and I give my most sincere well-wishes to you in these troubling times. Stay smart, stay safe, listen only to the experts and professionals.
Until we meet again, everyone. :)