Cyborg, or rather at the moment, Victor Stone, was having a nice dream while hooked up to a portable battery. A smell came into his room that whafted into his nose, waking the titan up, seeing that it was 7 am on his internal clock.
"Hmmm, HMMMM! That smells so good!" Dispatching himself from the battery, the teen practically floated through the air by his nose, and when he exited his guest room, everyone else did the same. Except for Richard and Garfield.
"What is that divine smell?!" Kori asked in excitement.
"I've never smelled something so good!" Holly exclaimed.
"Delicious." Raven sighed.
"Oh, that's just Alfred making breakfast." Richard explained. For of the titans ran off towards the dining room, except for Garfield. "Why aren't you running?" He asked in confusion.
"I smells meats dude. And you knows how I feels about meats." Garfield yawned while rubbing his eyes. "Although, I do smell some good stuff that isn't meat."
"Well let's find out what it is." So the two boys went to the dining room, where they would find a breakfast that appealed to everyone. Poached eggs and omelets, grilled bacon, sausages, grilled hash browns, buttered toast and English muffins, and two foods that everyone loves, waffles covered in maple syrup along with chocolate pudding!"
"Waffles!" Garfield shouted with exuberance.
"Yeah, waffles bro! Booyah!" Victor cheered as well. As Garfield sat down, Alfred gave him a plate that didn't have meat.
"Enjoy Master Garfield." The butler said.
"Oh you know it Butler Man!" The boy responded before wolfing down.
"Alfred, I forgot to mention it last night, but dinner was exquisite, and I just remembered how much I love eating your breakfasts." Richard complimented.
"Thank you Master Richard, it is a privilege to serve more than Master Bruce for once."
"Say Alfred, have you worked as a top notch chef or something?" Holly asked. "The Hive had a five star grade chef and he didn't make breakfast this good." The older man chuckled.
"Thank you Miss Holly, but it's simply experience my dear. When you've been a butler as long as I have, any dish you make can be among the best anyone has ever tasted."
"You certainly rank among the best that Tamaran has to offer." Kori complimented as well. Alfred chuckled, appreciating the rare praise he got given who Bruce is. Once breakfast was eaten, the titans headed out of the manor, seeing the city skyline. In preparation for how toxic the city environment is, Beast Boy had noise cancelling headgear and nose plugs to block out most of the harmful stuff. Given how sensitive his sensory attributes were, instead of near flat out negating his hearing and smell, he now just has about the sensory sensitivity of a person with autism who can handle being in a city; a little uncomfortable but not debilitating. "What shall we do Robin? We have the whole day to do things."
"Well, let's hit some of the most famous spots. Like...
A cool breeze rustled the orange and brown leaves of the trees. While clouds blocked out the sun, they weren't so think the sun wasn't able to make the place bright. Many types of trees adorned Gotham Park, such as elms, maples, beeches, sycamores, oaks, etc. The leaf covered grass stood tall from relative lack of maintenance, but that just made the park look more natural looking. The occasional bird chirped as they stood on tree branches or flew overhead. Six teenagers trekked through the paths laid for regular or out of town visitors. None of them spoke as they just took in the fresh new change of being in a natural park instead of the comforts of a tower or the noisiness of a city, even if cars and the occasional alarm of a police car disrupted the peace.
As they walked, they each observed something that they rarely pay attention to about each other. Kori gazed into Richard's blue eyes, unable to get over seeing a shade she never knew he had before yesterday. Richard observed Kori's flowing hair as it was pushed by the wind, making strands fly off on their own while the main portion of her hair acted like a flag, wavering in such a beautiful and seemingly random pattern that just entranced the Boy Wonder.
Rachel was taking in Gar's face, wanting to memorize his new normal looking features and entertaining the idea if they were just normal people since birth. Going to school, stumbling through puberty and going on dates with such a lovable goofball. Such an alternate life felt just as fulfilling as the one she's experiencing now, being able to freely feel how much joy and satisfaction she couldn't before accepting her demon. The sorceress was just filled with bliss. Garfield smiled as he noticed her smiling. It's been becoming more common to see but he just loved her smile. It was always his goal to make her smile as much as possible for the longest time, and he loved it was something he could successfully do every day now.
Victor and Holly enjoyed...just feeling absolutely normal for once. They've come to accept and have fun with their abilities and wouldn't ever change it for anything, but for Cyborg, it was nostalgic returning to a sense of normalcy, when he only concerned with sports, his then girlfriend back in Detroit, and pushing his limits to always be better than he was yesterday. Normal may be gone, but the life he lived now was just as good. Especially with newest, Jinxy friend Holly. Holly on the other hand now could have an appreciation of feeling normal. Life in India was horrible and the life she grew accustomed to hammered in a normal life seemed like something she could never have, no matter how much she might've subconsciously wanted it. But now, walking with Victor and her four other friends, it was a dream come true. Some lived normal lives, some never knew it, but this one walk helped them all gain an appreciation they could unanimously say was one of the greatest experiences they shared together.
After taking a trip to the Gotham History Museum, they found a statue of a muscular man holding a bronze Earth over his shoulders, inspired by Atlas and maybe ripping off the Rockefeller statue in New York, but nobody seemed to take issue.
"Hey does anybody have a camera?" Victor asked.
"I brought one." Richard answered as he brought out a SungSam NX1 out of a backpack he wore. Victor ran up below the statue, mimicking the position said statue. "Try to take a picture of me like this."
"Oh, I get ya." The Boy Wonder smiled as he got into the perfect angle, snapped a picture, and showed it to Victor. It was perfect, only that the top of the globe had Holly poking out, sticking a tongue out and making the peace sign. Confused, he looked up to see his friend laughing since she used her acrobatic skills to get up there before the picture was taken. Jumping down onto the ground, the Indian girl kept laughing as she past the giggling Kori and Rachel, and looked at the picture.
"Perfect. We look nice together with me photobombing your shot."
"Why you little rascal." Victor laughed as he took hold of Holly's head with an arm and gave her a noogie. She cried out in pain though, making him stop and let her go.
"Ow, ow! Your knuckles are made of titanium, Chrome Dome. Careful next time." She complained while massaging her head.
"Sorry." Victor looked remorseful. He then got lightly slugged in the arm by the smiling titan.
"Don't worry about it. Just no more noogies and such." He could agree to that.
"Ok."
When it was lunch time, they went to the Gotham Central Subway Station, where they dined at a place called 'Danny Rodriguez's Steakhouse', an NBA player founded fine cuisine restaurant built in 1965(A/N: I made the guy up). There was a wall that acted as a 'Wall of Fame' of anyone managing to eat a certain amount of steak in an hour with the rest of the full course food. While the rest of the titans had in respective order, Richard had a Prime Rib Steak Salad, Kori had a Roasted Rib Sandwich, Rachel had a chicken salad and Holly had a Mary Jane's Salmon Burger. Garfield just had grilled seasoned vegetables and sweet potato fries. But Cyborg is what was really entertaining. Everybody currently there were in impressed awe as Victor tackled eating an 80 Oz, 5 straight pound of Porterhouse Steak, along with bread, a baked potato, shrimp and a small salad. He ate all the small stuff before beginning on the main course. Even though his friends knew he could eat way more, they acted as excited as the rest of the audience to keep up their civilian act and they really did want him to win. Cyborg even pretended to be feeling stuffed about 80% through the challenge, just to show off to everyone else.
"Come on Vic, you can do it!" Holly encouraged.
"Stay the focused Victor! I believe in you!" Kori cheered.
"He's like a freaking wolf!" Richard 'gasped' as he pretended to not believe what he was seeing. Beast Boy was the only one not cheering, given his view on meat eating.
"Come on Vic, just two more bites, and the whole thing will be free." Holly told him, wanting him to not lose out.
"He'll never do it." Garfield tried acting as the pessimist, but Vic could tell he didn't not believe. It was just principal was all.
"Do it." Rachel said. Taking the last two bites of steak left, he stuffed them into his hot grease filled mouth, chewed thoroughly, and swallowed. The current owner of the establishment clicked the time.
"7 minutes 28 seconds! A new record!" Everyone cheered as all the titans hugged their giant of a friend, whom yelled in celebration,
"Booyah!" Soon, there was a new picture on the wall. 'Victor Stone' it said. The picture had the big man in center with Garfield sitting down below in front of Victor's eating seat, Richard and Kori hugging on the right, and Rachel with Victor's arm slung around her shoulders on his left. Holly was behind her close friend, her face right next to his with a proud, smiling face and two peace signs. Even if the restaurant didn't know it, it was a memorable day when Gotham had the titans win a eating challenge that day.
"So, what are we doing at this clock tower, dude?" Garfield asked. The titans were now at a certain 15 story penthouse building, with a clocktower up top, which was where they were. Oddly, they were under a field of invisibility that Rachel created upon Robin's request, also providing a floating platform with her soul-self in the shape of a disk. That is until Robin jumped onto the roof, and found a certain tile.
"To show you the cool entrance." Pressing the tile, part of the ceiling opened up to show an entry tunnel. One by one, they jumped in, now inside the clock tower.
"Nice tastes." Rachel commented, finding two curved bookshelves surrounding the round center of the room. There's also a study, a couple of high quality leather cushioned couches, and a four way view of the entire city. And of course, the elevator, but hey, who doesn't want to enter a room like this with the secret entrance?
"Thanks. It took quite a bit to find the perfect feng shui of the room." A female voice responded. From behind one of the bookshelves came a red haired woman in a wheelchair. Her fiery red hair was in a messy bun. "Hi Richard. It's nice to see you again after so long."
"Hey Barbara." The Boy Wonder responded as they briefly hugged. "Guys, this is Barbara. She used to be Batgirl."
"Wait, you used to be Batgirl, and now you stay here doing nothing but reading and chilling out?" Holly asked. "Hey I mean, this is a cool place and all and you do you, but I think I'd go crazy if I was wheelchair bound. So many things I love to do just taken away."
"Heh, yeah. It was like that at first, but as they say. When one door closes..." Barbara went to a William Shakespear bust and flipped the head back. Her face was scanned. 'Identity confirmed.' a computer voice said as the windows closed off, filling the room with darkness before three giant screens and a control board came up, filling the room in a dull light blue hue. "...another one opens. I may no longer be Batgirl, but now I go by someone even more helpful. Oracle." She said with a smile. Victor whistled.
"Now this is some state of the art technology. We need to update the tower with this stuff."
"If you can somehow convince Batman. Only his inner circle gets to use his best Wayne technology. But yeah, I can survey the whole city and find out anything I need within the minute."
"So Rich, does that mean-"
"I may have been the first Robin Gar, but I'm now more of a Titan than a Bat member, so I can't just ask him for stuff. Not that I could much more when I did work for him." Richard replied with a light scowl.
"So, how long have you known each other?" Kori asked curiously.
"Quite some time. We made a real good trio. I could walk back then. Things have changed quite a bit since then."
"Yeah. Well, it's been good seeing you. Let's catch up more later on." Richard suggested. Barbara smiled.
"Sure. Let's meet up here again and we'll go all somewhere. And use the elevator next time so no one sees something suspicious."
As the titans were leaving through the elevators and exited the lobby, Holly noticed something on a bulletin board and screamed, thus attracting the other's attention.
"What is it Holly?!" Victor asked, alarmed.
"It's the Black Storm Festival! Going on from midnight to 3 AM! And it has some of my favorite goth rock bands! The Deathday Slaughter, The Grace Sisters, Murmurs in the Umbra, Gore Gavels, Devils of Freedom, The Flatline, and more!"
"I was not aware you liked the rock of the goths." Kori commented.
"I uh...had a phase. A reeeeallllly grim phase." The girl awkwardly replied.
"Cool." Rachel replied. That perked up the goth loving titan.
"You like it? You want to come with me tonight?"
"Girl, let me tell you; while I do not like being called creepy, I collect creepy magic based relics. I one time wanted to redecorate my room to a nightmare I had, and when Johnny Rancid warped reality one time, it was more cool looking. Granted while I'm more of a soft tone melodic music kind of person, going to a goth concert wouldn't have been a waste of time even if I was still my old self. I'd love to go with you to it." The half-demon titan assured. Holly squealed as she hugged her female best friend.
"Tonight's going to be so epic!"
After walking out of the Thinway musical of Panther Prince, each of the titans were amazed by such a theatrical display.
"Man, that was awesome!" Garfield exclaimed.
"You know it! When Mkuu beat his evil uncle, that was great! Booyah!" Victor agreed.
"Eh, I don't know." Holly shrugged. "I mean, I sort of like him, but he needed several cues and a smack to the head to head back. I just think he's played too much of a hero."
"Eh, I think otherwise. I mean, if I was indirectly the cause of killing my parents, even if it was an evil uncle that delivered the blow, I'd stay clear anywhere near the area to out of guilt and shame." Richard explained. "What do you think Kori?" He asked his girlfriend. The disguised alien girl looked conflicted.
"I liked the musical play...although I was quite saddened through several segments."
"Yeah, I noticed that. What was that about? Was it Paka's death?"
"The sibling rivalry between Paka and Wound. It reminded me of me and Blackfire. And seeing what just happened..." The rest of her friends were hit by a realization truck.
"Oh, Star. I...I'm so sorry." Robin tried apologizing, not having thought of that similarity.
"Yeah, probably should've gone for the Felines musical. That one was also had cats." Gar pulled his collar nervously.
"It is the okay. I might have felt worse, but I am just glad my sister and I have reconciled." Starfire smiled when Robin grasped her hand and gave her a comforting grin.
"Next time, definitely Felines."
Finally reaching the one amusement park in the whole city, the titans enjoyed smelling the salty smell of the sea combined with the smell of popcorn and other confectionaries. Gar and Vic made jokes that made Richard blush in embarrassed annoyance as Kori ate her mustard covered hotdog. The boys then made a bet. If he could beat the two at knocking some milk bottles over with only one ball, then they'd have to apologize. If either of them win, then he'd loudly proclaim his love for his girlfriend to everyone while throwing money from his wallet onto the ground for everyone to grab. The girls either giggled or shook their heads from their friends being such boys. Victor managed to knock off two due to miscalculating how heavy they were, Garfield didn't even get one, but Richard was able to score all three. He was able to win Kori a sliding whistle which she found joyous. Victor and Garfield then apologized by, by Richard's request, getting onto their hands and knees, apologizing profusely. Rachel and Holly laughed. Garfield won the highest at the ring toss, and got one of those addictive ball in a cup toys. Richard with his super hero skills were able to score double bull all three times, winning a grand prize. Again, he gave Kori his prize, which was a unicorn style plush hat. Holly did the next two at the dunk tank and skee ball, and with her luck powers, hit the dead centers all the time, winning every major prize.
In order they got: a Batman themed basketball, a semi-automatic 12 clip Zerf gun and a plug in led disco ball for Holly.
A light up star bubble wand, a 100 color art set and a rainbow colored umbrella hat(which she changed to black secretly) for Rachel.
A stuffed cat, a ridable horse stick, a light up princess wand and pom poms for Kori.
A light up skull mask, a pin art toy, toy boxing gloves and foam nunchaku for Richard.
For Vic and Gar together, they got a collapsible ball, a giant slinky flamenco hat, a drink dispenser hat, a light up black fedora, two light up swords, a paddle ball set, a plastic robot arm with a grip at the end, toy race cars, a jumbo frisbee, a small gumball machine, a Hollywood clap board, a game of Craving Craving Crocs, a paddle ball, six inflatable mallets so they all could play if they wished, fuzzy dice and two red and white striped stove hats. Overall, it was going to be much more fun once they got back into the tower. Once Rachel sent their prizes to the tower, they then went on some actual rides. Some included the wooden High Point Coaster, the indoor Space Adventure Coaster, the log ride Water Splash, a trip through the Mesozoic Playground to see all the famous merchandisable dinosaurs of all the three eras, a classic haunted mansion, and the coaster just slightly less popular than the main inspiration at Cedar Point, Century Power. Cyborg unfortunately couldn't ride all but two of them, only Mesizoic Playground and the haunted mansion, but he at least had Rachel to talk to, since she was motion sick of the G-forces that rollercoasters tend to have, even if she can handle drag races like with Cyborg that one time against Gizmo.
After visiting the Gotham Zoo, where Garfield got to talk to the animals and the titans even witnessing the birth of 2 baby gorillas, it was then that Robin's watch went off, and it read 7 PM.
"Well Titans, it sure has been one heck of a day, but it's time to go back for dinner."
"Yeah, might as well." Holly shrugged. "That way we can get a nap before Rachel and I go to that concert."
"Alright. Let's go back then." Richard acknowledged before giving the order. By time it was 11:30 at night, Rachel came out of her room. Thanks to some shopping done after dinner, the two were looking the part. Wearing a simple leather jacket, a black skirt with thin vertical white lines over stockings and black pumps, along with her hair pulled into a short ponytail and skin tone returned to its natural pale look, the half-demon sorceress looked good. A fake red gem was placed on her forehead where the original used to be.
"Please Rachel, if that's what you call goth, then you are in so much trouble." Holly remarked. Turning to her friend, her eyes widened at what she saw. While Jinx also wore a leather jacket, it had spikes with a flaming skull in the center with a rotting snake going through the eyes and mouth, and it was open to reveal a black and dark red corset which pushed her breasts up, though what could've been seeable was covered by a dark grey veil going around her upper chest and neck. Her hands wore fingerless leather gloves and her legs were not just stockings as well, but fishnets as well. Her shoes were also spiky and gave the girl a good two inches of height. A spiked broker adorned her neck just before going to the skull decorated face that was Jinx, which was partially covered by her hair drooping straight down over the right side of her face while the left was in a curled side ponytail. That showed a skull shaped earing on her left ear. However, the whole thing was broken by her smiling black lips and eyes that were both full of excitement and surrounded by heavy amounts of mascara.
"Jinx, you look..."
"Gloomy? Nihilistic? Straight up spooky?" The goth dressed girl suggested with a chuckle. Rachel then smiled.
"Stylish."
"Thanks. Now..." Holly wrapped her arm around Rachel's shoulders. "...let's get our goth on."
As the girls went to the designated area in one of the grungiest places in Gotham, they found themselves at a stadium that was swarming of pale skinned teens and young adults wearing nothing but black, white and red. They filed in through a ticket stand, which was when Holly bumped her elbow into Rachel.
"Good thing we don't need tickets, huh?" With a nod, she led her goth loving friend into a shadowy corner, and with Raven's magic, they went through the shadow so they could appear inside the stadium. Somehow despite being 10 minutes to midnight in the civilian safe underbelly of Gotham, the inside was even more bleack and dank looking than one of the most corrupted cities in the US. Holly took in a deep breath. "Ah. I love the smell of despair, darkness and excessive goth makeup." Rachel dryly chuckled.
"Okay, reel it in Lydia." Rachel jested, making Holly laugh from that comparison. "Don't you go back into being a villain because of all this."
"Aw, now don't be both hypocritical and stereotypical. You're just as dark as I am even while being a hero. I've seen your dark side against Blackfire after all."
"That was nothing. One time, while I was losing control of one of my emotions, I sucked Dr. Light into my cloak. He nearly died and developed a phobia of me for about a year."
"That's hardcore."
"So hardcore." The two girls laughed at how much they reveled in darkness. Going into the mass of goth people, the time has set, the stage went dark, and everyone went silent. A red line appeared as it jumped and beat with the sound of a heart beat, going at a rate a person in rest would. But after four heartbeats, the red line went straight, and the beeping went into one long noise. The Flatline. Four red lights illuminated the stage, showing the singer, two guitarists and a drummer. From the get go, the band went all out with an explosive opening, making everyone scream, including the two titans as they sang along once the singer started.
"Forget the drinks for your hands are shaking! Your face goes blue and your lungs are aching! Fires in the horizons and it's raining cats! This is no game and I'll tell you where its ats! You went to bed in HELLLLLLL! You lie in bed in HELLLLLLL! I don't care! I can't feel it! I don't want it! I won't keep it! Because it's your bed in HELLLLLLL! You lie in bed in HELLLLLLL!" The singer stopped for about a minute, letting his band mates fill the air as the audience screamed and shouted they were in Hell. He then continued. "You're dead exhausted and it's only 10! You're thinking about what could've been! No matter what month it is you can't remember! Whether it be March, June, September and December! You wish things could be the same, but they can't so bear the shame! Wallow in shame in your bed in HELLLLLLL! Because it's your bed in HELLLLLLL!" As the singer went silent again, they were all repeating the phrase 'bed in HELLLLLLL!'. He gave a wicked smile as he resumed singing. "You can't see because you're in a flood! Filled with nothing but hate and raining blood! Go through a door way and you see a light! Is this the way to things that are right?! NO! It's your bed in HELLLLLLL! You lie in bed in HELLLLLLL!" Within a matter of 15 seconds, the guitars and drums started to mellow out, thus the audience started to mellow out, until only strums and light taps filled the air as the singer spoke solemly. "As you lay to rest you're covered in dust. To the end your life's been nothing but bust. So sleep now, forever, for your in bed in Helllllll. You lie in bed...in Helllllllll." The guitarists and drummer than mimicked the repetition of a heartbeat, pumping several times until they stopped. The two titan girls loved the performance, and only had enough time to jump a few times before they went into their next song.
A portal opened up where the two girls entered the sleeping Wayne Manor, having had the time of their lives. As they headed to their rooms Jinx was gushing with joy.
"That...was...awesome!" Holly cackled. "I've never been to a goth concert before but that was so cool!"
"So cool." Rachel chuckled.
"Thanks for going with me. None of the guys at Hive really got me when I was goth and you're the first person I know who does."
"No problem. It's nice to let your inner dark out every so often." The half-demon girl shrugged.
"Definitely. Well, goodnight."
"Night." The two fist bumped before heading back into their rooms.
A/N: This is probably the most interesting vacation based story I've done so far. While I know not everything that's been done here is what typically is Richard Grayson's life, I do think this is what a indirect billionaire teenager would do with his friends on special occasions. So much fun in just 24 hours alone. The goth song was inspired by the lyrics of The Cure's Let's go to bed, though I combined it with one of the song titles having hell in it. Though honestly, the instruments in the song didn't sound goth enough to me. Oh well, not like I'm a goth fan anyway. So, I couldn't do everything mentioned in the review for this but next chapter will be part 3. In fact, it'll be a combination of what Eris suggested, and a simultaneous fix of season 3 episode 7. I haven't seen the Breakfast Club but I'm sure I can make a more proper parody of it than the episode. At the very least Robin won't be crane kicking anyone. And besides, if Beast Boy and Jinx were to be their proper deconstructed stereotypes, BB would be the comic relief and Jinx would be the party girl. Those sound more fitting if I were to make a Breakfast Club parody. Also Eris, I have to ask out of curiosity. As I relooked at your Vegetable plot, I wondered, how did you think of this? What inspired you to write the plot with the hypnosis food corporation? Part 3 is going to be quite interesting. This chapter has been so much fun writing. New York city sure is pretty fun. Thanks.