Chapter 35
Mock Date...
"Everything has gotta be perfect!" Robin said as he lit the candles, "If this doesn't go right, then who knows how long we'll have to wait for another opportunity like this!"
"Yeah!" Beast Boy agreed as he worked with the lighting, "How's the food coming Cy?"
"Ready to go." Cyborg said, "Now let's just hope Raven and Starfire can get them in here."
Almost as soon as Polybius revealed that Donna was going to visit next week, the group chat went ballistic as to how best take advantage of this. Ultimately it was decided that a romantic dinner for just the two of them was the plan of action. Even though Polybius didn't eat around anybody else, it was all about the setting. The romantic setting had to be right.
Meanwhile, Polybius and Donna had finally met up after months of not seeing each other. While they had thrown around the idea of inviting the others, they decided against it. After Polybius had told the team that Donna was coming over, everybody was acting weird about it. Therefore, Polybius chose not to tell them what day she was coming.
However, they found out.
Both Starfire and Raven, the latter of which had grown more accepting and onboard with the plan over the months, had been watching him. And now that they followed Polybius out to the forest. From there, Raven used her powers to hide them from him.
Taking a seat under a tree, Polybius pulled out his phone and began texting.
'You almost here yet?' Polybius texted.
'Almost there.' Donna replied almost immediately.
Polybius then put down his phone and moved over to his backpack. He had been tormented by the words of Darkbius recently. Therefore, in an attempt to prove the darker version of himself wrong, he decided to rage against the evil and do something he had never done before.
Pulling out a small box, Polybius opened it up to reveal a pair of rather expensive earrings. They were in the shape of a star to match her uniform. The mute couldn't help but smile at the idea of giving them to Donna.
In buying these, Polybius wasn't really sure what he hoped to get out of it. However, he knew it was going to make Donna really happy.
Putting them back in his bag, he then looked up at the sky to see someone flying towards his location. He quickly stood up to see as they descended towards his position.
"Polybius!" Donna shouted as she approached him.
The mute waved as Donna touched the ground. She then quickly rushed over to him on foot and stopped just short of him.
"Hello!" Donna greeted with a smile on her face.
Polybius smiled back.
As the two greeted each other, Starfire and Raven watched closely as Raven called Robin on her phone.
"They are together." Raven said, "Donna is talking about something, we make out what she is saying, or how Polybius is responding."
"Then give them a little time before you lead them here. Let them go hang out somewhere, but don't let them eat." Robin said, "Or else Cyborg is gonna get upset over the wasted food."
"Got it." Raven replied.
The two female heroines followed Polybius and Donna as the two went on a stroll together towards and through. They weren't the only two watching as Darkbius and Hostbius observed the two as well. They were also paying close attention to the situation as it unfolded in front of them.
"Do you think one of them is gonna ask?" Hostbius asked.
"Today?" Darkbius questioned, "No. Not today. But this little ploy of the Titans should push Donna in the right direction. Polybius, I'm a bit uncertain about. He's been teetering back and forth of actually going forward with it. And honestly, I think if it happened today, it would come down to what side of the bed he woke up on."
"I see." Hostbius said.
"But remember what our job is." Darkbius said.
"I do." Hostbius said, "After all, I was sent to help you because you were being perceived as failing that."
"Yes, I know." Darkbius spat back, "Just follow my lead."
"Got it." Hostbius said before pointing at where Starfire and Raven were, "And what about those two?"
"Don't worry about them." Darkbius said, "Whatever they do, they'll play right into our plans.
As the two exited the park, Starfire and Raven decided to intercept them.
"Polybius! Donna!" Starfire shouted as she and Raven headed towards them.
The two looked over, a tad bit surprised to see their friends headed their way.
"Hello, friends!" Starfire greeted as the two landed in front of them, "Donna, how have you been. It feels as if an eternity has passed since I last saw you!"
"Yeah, it has been a while." Donna said, "How have you been?"
"Wonderful ever since I started dating Robin!" Starfire answered, "I did not know that dating was such a wonderful thing!"
"Well, I'm happy for you, Star." Donna replied with a smile on her face.
"What about you, Donna?" Raven followed up, "Thinking about dating anyone?"
The situation suddenly got really awkward for Polybius. Out of everyone, Raven was the last person he suspected to ask that kind of a question. This caught Polybius off guard as he could tell Donna too was also taken off guard by the question.
"Me?" Donna asked, "Oh, please, like my mother would ever allow that."
"She doesn't have to know about everything." Raven said, "So let's say you could without fear of repercussion, would you?"
"Maybe." Donna answered, "I've never dated anyone before, so I'm not sure how good I would be at it."
"Which is what makes dating wonderful!" Starfire said, "The other person doesn't have to ever dated anyone either! You two can just be together and do whatever you want!"
"That sounds fun and all, but I'm not so sure I'm all that interested." Donna replied.
"Then how about you go on a mock date to see what it is like!" Starfire proposed.
"Mock date?" Donna asked.
The mute gave a visible look of confusion as he pulled out a bottle of water and began to drink.
"Yes, a mock date!" Starfire said, "With Polybius!"
Polybius choked on his water as Donna nervously laughed at the idea.
"You can't be serious!" Donna said.
"She is very serious." Raven said, "Because Polybius too needs to get out of his anti-relationship mindset, he's stuck in and open up."
Polybius scowled at the goth girl.
"A mock date with Polybius?" Donna asked.
"That is what I have said!" Starfire stated, "Come friends! Let us go to the tower and not waste any time!"
Before either Polybius or Donna could protest, the two found themselves being dragged to the tower and up to the main room. Once there, the two were quickly sat down across from each other at the dining table, and the tone was immediately set.
"Uh…" Donna said as Starfire and Raven quickly exited the room and were replaced by the boys.
"Welcome to Titans Resturante." Beast Boy greeted in a poor French accent, "What can we do for you?"
"What?" Donna asked, confused as Polybius looked around the room.
Low lighting. Candles. Red rose petals. Hearts. Soft sexy jazz. And everything romantic.
Polybius wanted to hurl because it looked like the start of a porno in his mind.
"What would the fair and pretty maiden, and handsome young lad like to drink?" Cyborg asked, also making a horrible french accent attempt.
Polybius shook his head as Donna got a little red in the face.
"W- Water?" Donna questioned.
"Of course, my lady." Cyborg said, "And you good sir?"
Polybius just gave a thumbs up.
"I take it you want one as well?" Cyborg asked.
Another thumbs up form the mute.
"Coming right up." Cyborg said as he walked off.
"Please, take some time to look at the menu." Robin said, he as well doing a horrible french accent, "We will be back shortly with your beverages."
The three boys then walked off, leaving Polybius and Donna alone in the dining room.
Polybius looked up at Donna to see that she was considerably red in the face and trying to stifle a laugh. The mute couldn't help himself as he began to silently laugh, causing her to give in and laugh too.
"What the heck?" Donna asked, "What is this, nonsense!?"
The mute shook his head in humorous confusion.
As the two laughed, Raven walked down the hall with a smile on her face. She couldn't explain why, but oddly she was in a very good mood. Starfire was right behind her as they headed to the security room, where they would monitor the two.
However, on the way there, Raven suddenly got a sharp headache and had to stop and lean against the wall.
"Raven!?" Starfire said with worry in her voice, "Are you alright?"
Inside Raven's mind, there was a small battle going on.
"Take that creep!" The Green Raven shouted.
The green Raven quickly found herself in a cage she could not break out of.
"Get out of here!" Yellow Raven ordered, "You have no place here!"
"Oh, but I do." Darkbius said, turning his attention to the Yellow Raven, "And I am not leaving until it's done."
"You have been messing with this mind for far too long!" Yellow Raven spat back, "I will not let you disrupt this balance any longer."
"You are gonna do what we want." Darkbius countered, "Now, where is that purple, passionate one? As well as that pink bitch as well?"
"Like you're gonna find her!" Red Raven said, suddenly appearing, "Now die!"
Shooting red magic at the darker Polybius, everyone was shocked when Red Raven suddenly vanished as if she had never existed. What was even scarier is that Darkbius hadn't even moved to face her.
"Alright, then." Darkbius said, "Anybody else?"
No response.
"No?" Darkbius answered himself, "Alright then! Purple, get your ass here now!"
The purple Raven appeared in front of him.
"You're in charge so long as it's convenient for us." Darkbius said.
"You mean it's love makin time?" Purple Raven asked, "Well, I hope you got a bed because you are looking mighty fine."
"Yeah, shut up." Darkbius ordered, "You aren't hooking up with anybody. I need you to serve my plans. And that pink one is your second in command."
"No!" Yellow Raven shouted.
The Yellow Raven attempted to conjure a spell, however, before she could finish, she collapsed and grasped her chest.
"M- My he- hear- art- t!" Yellow Raven managed out.
"Your heart's not beating." Darkbius explained, "Now I'm gonna make this very clear for every single one of you bitches in here. You serve me! And you all are going to do as I say when I say. Got it?"
All of the Ravens silently agreed.
"Alright." Darkbius said, "And firstly, big Raven isn't to know about this. And if she finds out, I promise you, there are fates far worse than death, which all of you will quickly discover should you dare to defy us!"
Meanwhile, back in the main room, Polybius and Donna sat in a somewhat awkward silence as neither one of them knew how to handle the situation they had been thrusted into.
"So, uh…" Donna started, "What do we do?"
The mute shrugged his shoulders. He had no clue as to what had possessed his friends to do this.
"Well, then." Donna started, "What does Google say that we need to do on dates?"
Polybius couldn't help but think that that was a good idea. Pulling out his phone, he quickly went to Google and texted in 'how to date.'
The first result he came on was a wiki article. After skipping over the first few sections about finding the person, he came up with things to do. After skimming through it, he put his phone away and shook his head.
"Nothing good?" Donna asked.
The mute continued to shake his head.
"Go figures." Donna commented.
Another long silence ensued, engaging the Titans, who had started live-streaming the mock date to the group chat.
"They need to start talking!" Beast Boy said.
"Give them time." Robin assured them, "We did force them into that rather awkward situation."
"They aren't even trying." Cyborg commented, "Can they at least talk to each other.
"Are you certain you are okay, friend Raven?" Starfire asked as the two entered the room.
"I've never felt better!" Raven replied, "Let's get Donna and Polybius together!"
"That's the spirit!" Cyborg agreed.
Hostbius stood in the back of the room and watched the Titans, unable to be detected by them.
"Yes. Keep saying that." Hostbius said, "Keep pushing it. See what happens. I dare you, I double dare you."
Meanwhile, back on Polybius and Donna's end, the two were looking at their phones, desperately searching for an answer to their situation.
"You just want to bail?" Donna asked, "And go somewhere else?"
The mute quickly stood up and nodded his head. The two attempted to make a hasty exit but were stopped by the locked door.
"You're kidding me?" Donna asked.
Polybius then motioned for her to punch down the door, but she shook her head.
"No." Donna said, "I'm not gonna destroy the tower."
Polybius pointed at the door and tried to express that he only wanted the door knocked down.
"No." Donna said "I-"
Donna cut herself off as her eyes set on a camera behind Polybius, rather well hidden in the dark corner of the room.
"Hold up." Donna said.
Walking over to the camera, the mute in toe, they looked at it and saw that it was on and live streaming.
"Oh, no way!" Donna said, anger prevalent in her voice as Polybius looked at the camera.
"That's not good." Beast Boy said on the Titan's end.
The mute took the camera from Wonder Girl and looked directly into the screen. After flashing a small smile, he quickly raised it up over his head and smashed it on the ground.
"No!" Cyborg said as the feed cut off, "That wasn't cheap!"
The five Titan quickly rushed to the main room to find that the two had fled.
"That's not good." Raven said, looking at the hole in the wall.
"So much for not destroying the tower." Beast Boy commented.
It wasn't long after fleeing the tower that Polybius and Donna touched ground in the same spot they had met up in earlier that day. There was a tense and thick awkwardness in the air between them.
"Why would they do that?" Donna asked Polybius, "Do they really want us to hook up that bad?"
The mute didn't respond.
"Just to fuel their own sick fantasies!" Donna said, anger rising in her voice, "Ugh! I hate it when people prove my mother right!"
Polybius moved to try and calm her down, but she brushed him off.
"Why can't we just hang out and not have people say 'Those two should get together and fuck!'" Donna stated quite angrily, "Either that or want one of us to hook up with them! I hate it!"
Pulling out his phone, Polybius texted Donna something.
'I don't understand what possessed our friends to do that. They have never done that before and are normally quite better than that.' Polybius texted.
"You won't lie to me, right, Polybius?" Donna asked.
The mute nodded.
"Then answer me this." Donna said, "Is my mother right about everything. And you are the exception, not the standard?"
Polybius was prepared to answer this question. He pulled out his phone and texted an answer.
'I can't help but think that I may be the exception. I think I know why I am the way I am, but that isn't important. What is important is that we both need to be careful and more cautious of people in general.' Polybius texted.
"I hate it." Donna said again, "While I was impressed with your world before, now I can barely stand it."
'This isn't my world. I just live here. My world is up north in Alaska. It was super isolated where I grew up.' Polybius texted.
"Then maybe we should go there." Donna offered.
Polybius immediately shook his head.
"Why not?" Donna asked.
'Too cold.' Polybius texted.
"Fair enough." Donna said, dropping it.
After a moment of silence, Donna let out an angry sigh.
"Well, this visit has been almost completely ruined." Donna commented as she turned away from Polybius "All I wanted to do was come and spend some time with you because I haven't seen you in a long time, and I come to realize that everyone else has lost their freaking minds."
Deciding that this was an excellent time to try and cheer her up, Polybius pulled out his little present for her.
Snapping his fingers, Donna quickly turned around and saw the box in his hand.
"What's that?" Donna asked.
Offering her the box, she took it from him and opened it up.
Opening the box, her face lit up with happiness and joy as she saw what was in the box.
"Polybius!" Donna said, taking hold of the earrings in her hands, "By the gods, they're gorgeous!?"
Polybius smiled as he helped her put them in.
The stars that Polybius had gotten for Donna matched the ones on her uniform perfectly.
"Where did you get these!?" Donna demanded.
'I made them.' Polybius texted back.
"You made these!?" Donna said in shock.
The mute smiled and nodded as he stood back and looked at her wearing them.
"How do they look!?" Donna asked.
Polybius's smile grew as he took a picture.
"Let me see!" Donna said.
Showing her the picture of her wearing the gift, she smiled as she loved how they looked on her with her uniform.
"They're perfect!" Donna said, "Thank you so much! I love them! And I hate that I can't wear them home."
Taking them out, Donna tucked them away in her uniform, making sure to tightly secure them so nothing would happen to them.
"Now, I wish I could stay longer." Donna said.
The mute's happy expression quickly turned to one of disappointment. He hated it when she had to leave.
"Oh, don't worry, Polybius!" Donna said, "I'll be back again. This time, it won't be six months because I am going to become more ambitious with my sneaking off. And I won't do anything stupid to get me caught."
Polybius looked up with a small smile on his face. That was good news.
"I'll text you when I get home like always." Donna said, "Bye."
The two then did their long goodbyes as Donna slowly flew away, and Polybius stood on the ground and watched her fly off, waving the whole time until she was out of sight.
Meanwhile, in the 4 and 9/8ths dimension, an imp was watching over the situation. He couldn't help but agree with the Titans and thought that the two of them should hook up as well.
"But how can I help?" The imp questioned.
And there you have it! Chapter 35 done! I hope you guys have a wonderful rest of your day!