"DAMNIT!"
"Dude, chill out, its just a game."
"YEAH WELL, IT'S A STUPID GAME!"
Raven glanced up from her book to see that Kid Devil had once again become pissed off at the game he, Robin, and Beast Boy were playing. She shook her head at the ridiculousness of it because, as it would turn out, Eddie was a little bit of a hot head and just as competitive as Cyborg. He had to be the best as what he did and if he wasn't he got mad at himself for not being good enough. Case in point, he was mad at himself for losing to Beast Boy and Robin again.
"I've only been dead a couple of years, there's no way I could have forgotten how to play!" The devilish boy complained. "This is stupid!"
Raven could feel the annoyance rolling off of Garfield even though he said nothing. Raven snorted and turned the page of her book.
It had been just over a week since Cyborg had departed with the other Titans and things were going well. There hadn't been any major crime incidents during this time other than a car chase and even that was taken care of quickly when the Titans arrived. Kid Devil fit in okay with the original Titans, though the boy was a poor cook when compared to Cyborg (not that Raven had any room to talk). The only thing he could make successfully was macaroni and cheese, though the only brand he would make was Kraft Dinner. This had led Garfield to make the joke that Eddie was no longer Kid Devil, he was Kraft Dinner because the initials were the same.
Needless to say, he was the only one who thought it was funny.
Raven glanced at the remaining pages of her book. There was only about ten left and it saddened her. This was the book Garfield had gotten her and she was already almost done with it (again). She made a mental note to check her account balance later, she wanted the next set. This R.A. Salvatore really knew how to write and she was eager to read more since a quick Google search had reveal that there was at least a dozen more books. With a small sigh she grabbed her bookmark and set it in place. She glanced at the clock and saw that it was nearing lunch time.
What sounds good to eat? She pondered as she got up from her spot next to Garfield and headed for the kitchen.
Garfield glanced at Raven as she did so, his eyes sweeping her body. He couldn't help but to lick his lips and grin.
He wasn't entirely sure what it was that had changed, but there was something about Raven that seemed to draw his eyes to her like a moth to a flame lately. She was much more open and affectionate than he had ever seen and it was just…awesome. Just this morning, when she had come and got Emmy for breakfast, she had quite sneakily given him a kiss as he rolled out of bed. He'd been so startled that he had frozen long enough for her to chuckle and teleport herself and Emelia out of there. It hadn't been the first time she had initiated a kiss, but then again they hadn't done any extensive kissing either (such as making out, which Garfield was looking forward to).
Regardless, he definitely liked the direction this relationship was going.
"HA! I FINALLY BEAT YOU!"
Garfield snapped his attention back to the television and scowled. While he had been checking out Raven, Eddie's car had come up and bumped his own, sending him spiraling into a wall and exploding. Eddie was catching up to Robin now and Garfield had to wait for his car to respawn.
Raven glanced up from the can opener before her, noting that Gar had become a bit more annoyed with the game. She snorted as she returned her attention to the cans of tomato soup she was opening. She just couldn't understand getting aggravated with a video game at all. Well, she hadn't actually played a game before…so...
We really should ask Gar to find us a game to try. Knowledge murmured. He would like that.
It's on my to do list. Raven responded as the last can opened, then poured the contents out of each can into a fair sized pot and set it on the stove to heat up. Tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches were quick and easy to make for a terrible cook like her, so it was the optimal choice to feed her daughter and vegetarian lover.
That before or after Garfield? Desire teased.
Raven's face lit up at that thought. Shush!
She rolled her eyes as Desire giggled. The promiscuous emotion was a little more harmless than she had anticipated, but that didn't mean she would let her guard down around her more 'physically intimate' side. She had to take that part slow as to ascertain whether or not she could do those things without her powers reacting. So far, kissing and cuddling were safe. The *ahem* rear massage hadn't been repeated yet, so the results were unknown.
Within minutes the soup was ready, so Raven telekinetically grabbed the bread and cheese and started making the sandwiches. It wasn't long after that that all the food was ready.
"Lunch!" She called out as her powers set plates and cups out, the pile of sandwiches stacking neatly on a plate and the pot of soup sitting on an oven mitt next to it on the table.
Emelia and Martin were the first ones there, of course. The house rule was that the kids had their fill before their parents/Cyborg got any food. She made them plates as they settled into their chairs, then made herself and Starfire plates. The alien princess was rummaging in the fridge, probably for that hunk of strange blue meat. Raven wasn't sure what a smaqyu beast was and she most certainly didn't want to find out after hearing that the only way to kill one was to travel inside its mouth and punch your way through to the brain. That chunk of meat was apparently from one that Robin had killed while they were on Tamaran, but why Robin was killing such dangerous beasts was beyond Raven.
Raven was halfway through her second sandwich when the kids declared that they were full and scrambled away to go back to whatever it was they were doing before. The boys got up from the couch soon after that and came over. Garfield settled in Emelia's spot while Robin took Martin's. They polished off the food the kids left before getting more. Eddie just got himself a plate and sat at the end of the table, pouting about something or another. Raven figured he lost THE GAME again.
What're we gonna do tonight? Happy asked. Raven could feel the boredom present in her normally ecstatic emotion and she knew that she wasn't going to get any more reading done.
The same thing we do every night, Pinky. Rude replied. Try to take over the world!
Raven paused, as did all her other emotions.
Did you just…reference one of the cartoons Garfield and Emelia watch? Knowledge asked.
Obviously. Rude snapped.
Raven softly snorted to herself as she finished her food. All of her emotions had become so much more vocal in the past few months and it was almost bizarre. A year ago they were all always quiet but now she could hardly get them to shut up. Raven didn't think it was a bad thing though, she was enjoying herself on a daily basis.
You mean you're enjoying the kisses more than anything. Desire teased again.
I won't deny that. Raven thought, her lips twitching up as she struggled to not smile. She was very much enjoying the kisses. Ambushing Garfield with kisses was more entertaining than Affection said it would be too. He made the funniest faces when she did it.
I told you it would be fun! Affection said cheekily. Raven could hear the snickers of her other emotions as she finally grinned. She felt great and feeling this good this often was nothing less than wonderful.
"What're you smiling like a fox in a henhouse for, mama?"
Raven looked up from her nearly empty bowl of soup to find Garfield staring at her, half a grin on his face as he munched on his fifth grilled cheese sandwich. There were more crumbs on his chin than on his plate. She could hear Desire licking her lips. He looks yummy. Can I have a bite?
Ignoring said emotion, Raven shrugged. "Just enjoying life."
"Uh huh." Beast Boy chuckled. "Enjoying yer book too, I see."
"Of course. Too bad I'm almost done with it."
"Guess its time to go get the next set, huh?" Garfield said slyly. Raven looked away, feeling her cheeks warm up a little bit. Apparently he was very much going to fulfill his offer from the trip to Comicon.
"I guess so." Raven murmured, both happy and embarrassed that such a thing was happening.
"Emmy! Get your shoes on, we're going to the store!" Garfield called out before wolfing down the rest of his food.
"Okaaaaay! Come on Mister Spooky!"
"Oh, for the love of Azar…"
Meanwhile…
"Sounds of chaos, my ass." Rose snorted as she wiped her blade clean. "Seriously, how could a loser like you be a villain? All you had was a suped up guitar."
Punk Rocket couldn't answer, of course, because he was dead.
Being stabbed twice in each lung, three times in the heart, and once in the head does that to a guy, ya know.
Not that Rose cared. Tracking him down had been ridiculously easy, just like learning his habits and finding the best place to ambush him. Hell, he didn't even lock his apartment! She had literally been able to just walk in, wait around for his dumbass to come back, then stick him like the pig he is.
Well, was.
Now she had to find something to do with the body. She couldn't just carry it down the stairs or toss it out the window. Hm…
"A robbery?" She murmured as she eyeballed his guitar. Smiling to herself, she grabbed the instrument and took it to the bedroom and placed it on its stand ( it would look like he had let someone he was familiar with in) before she returned to the kitchen/living room where the dead idiot lay. Looking around, she noted that the only valuable things he owned was a big flat screen tv. Boys. She thought as she rolled her eyes. She checked the windows until she found what she was looking for: a dumpster, conveniently located below his bedroom window about two floors down. Humming cheerfully to herself, she removed the blinds and window panes, exposing his room to the bright sunlight and hot air of Jump City. Rose returned to the kitchen/living room and unplugged the television and picked it up with a grunt.
What I wouldn't give for Eddie to be here…She thought as she struggled with the electronic device. It took her a moment to get it through the doorway to his sparsely furnished bedroom, but she managed. But she had no sooner set it on the window sill than she got a call.
"Hello?" She panted into the microphone
"Why are you out of breath, child?" The dark and foreboding voice of her father asked.
"Ah, its nothing dad, just…moving a tv…." Rose quickly lied. Well, half lied.
"You have a tv?"
"Yes, father, I do. Its not like I have a dojo in my apartment to train all day. Sometimes I just sit and watch tv before bed." Rose snorted. "Not the news though, its just trash."
"Sounds boring."
"For the most part yeah." Rose edged the tv closer to the edge. "So what's up?"
"I need you to go to the Bay and release the three."
Rose stood there for a moment processing what he said before the shock set in. "You want me to release Cinderblock, Plasmus, and Overload?"
"Within the hour."
"What happened to all those guards on your payroll?"
"Their services were no longer required, so their employment was terminated."
"Um…right…" Rose swallowed nervously. She did not need her employment to end anytime soon. "Um, it'll take me longer than an hour to just get there."
A pause. "Why?"
Rose's nervousness gave way to annoyance as she rolled her eyes. "I don't have a car, remember? I walk everywhere."
There was silence on the other end of the line before she heard some typing. She raised an eyebrow, wondering what her father was doing. Probably looking up the fastest route to-
"Check your account."
Rose, startled, pulled away from her phone for a moment and stared at it dumbly. Then she minimized the call window and hit her banking app. Within five seconds it pulled up and she punched in her account and password.
She almost dropped the phone when she read her balance.
"Holy shit, dad, that's a lot of numbers!" She exclaimed, bringing the phone back to her face.
"Get something nice, four doors, good gas mileage, good trunk space. For downtime and work, of course. But not red. Cops usually target red vehicles first. And not a hummer. I hate those things. Damned gas hogs."
"Um, yeah, sure dad…thanks." Rose said, thinking of her new multi-million dollar account balance.
"You have two hours to release the three. Enjoy your early Christmas present." Click, doooooooo-
Rose pulled away and stared at her phone. Sometimes she just didn't understand her father at all.
Emmy sat in her car seat kicking her feet as they drove along, Mister Spooky buckled in right next to her in the seat. Both her mommy and daddy were really happy right now, which was good. She liked it when they were happy. She liked it when everyone was happy. They were her family and they should be happy. 'Cause they were hers and she was happy they were so they should be happy too. Yup yup. Happy happy happy!
"Gar, how about some music?"
"Sure." Emma's daddy said before he reached over and turned the radio on.
-You are so damn fine
I'm so damn glad you're mine
And you stay on my mind
I think about you all the damn time
You are so damn fine
I'm so damn glad you're mine
And you stay on my mind
I think about you all the damn time
Okay she bad and she know it
And she don't ever ask for bread
And she know I'ma throw it
Ain't gotta ask her if its wet
Cause I know its the ocean-
Whatever else the man on the radio said was lost as her daddy loudly cleared his throat and changed the station. Her mommy was looking at him with a raised eyebrow, but he wasn't looking back at her. Emmy giggled. Her mommy and daddy were funny.
Her daddy stopped changing stations when he found something that he referred to as 'rock'', not that Emmy knew what that was. Music was just music to her. Her mommy seemed to think about music the same way she did but her daddy had one hundred and ninety two CD's in the tower and sixty two in the car in a big folder-thing here in the backseat with Emmy. Whatever they were listening to sounded fun, though Emmy didn't know what scene or an arms race was.
Before Emmy realized it, they were at the store, a big building with BARNES AND NOBLES on the from of it. She could smell coffee and tea inside, along with lots of books. This wasn't the store they usually went to, Books-A-Million, but it still looked nice.
She waited patiently for her mother to unbuckle her from her seat and help her out of the car. Her daddy came around and closed the door behind them as she took her mommy's hand. However, before they left the car there she had one last thing to do.
"Mister Spooky, watch the car please!" She called out to the doll sitting in the window. With that done, she turned back to her mommy, who was looking at the car oddly.
"Wasn't he still buckled in?" Her mommy murmured to her daddy as they walked. He glanced at her in confusion.
"No? He was in Emmy's seat." They traded glances before her daddy sighed. "Great. So, a priest or just some salt?"
"Maybe both." Mommy murmured again.
"That's not reassuring."
Emmy giggled again. She didn't know what they were worried about, Mister Spooky was Mister Spooky. He wouldn't hurt anyone. He was her second bestest friend.
Within a couple of minutes they had gotten to the front door, where daddy opened the door for her and mommy, who said thank you to daddy. The big funny grin on daddy's face made Emmy giggle as they walked in.
"Alright Emelia, the kids section is there in the back left corner." Mommy said, pointing in that direction before she pointed straight back. "I'll be in that section and your father will be a couple isles from me. Okay?"
"Yes mommy!" Emmy chirped happily before she took off.
"Don't run!" Daddy called out.
"Never thought I'd hear you say that."
"Hush, Smartalec."
Emmy giggled again as she ran through a dozen rows of books. She couldn't read any of them yet so she didn't even bother to stop to look at them. She was too excited to see if there were any more Berenstein Bears books, those were her favorite.
When she got to the kids section she raced right to where the books she wanted were. And she was in luck, because there were two there that she didn't have. Maybe mommy and daddy would get her both?
"-I'm telling you, this was a great idea! Who's gonna look for us here?" A voice said in a hushed whisper.
"Yeah, but if we get caught we're in big trouble for skipping school!" Another voice said.
Emmy peeked her head around the nearest corner and found two teenage girls sitting there, hidden from view behind a card of discount books. Emmy wasn't sure how she had missed the cart a moment ago (she does know what a discount is, thanks to her mommy), so she should have gone there first. Ignoring the girls, Emmy ran up to the cart, her books in her hand. They girls eyed her warily but said nothing.
The one on the right, a chubby brunette, looked back at her friend, a skinny blonde. "Look, its not like we're doing it all week, its just one day away from school!"
"I know, I know, settle down Jillian." The blonde rolled her eyes. "I'm not complaining, just a little paranoid. You know how my mom gets overprotective of me."
What's school? Emmy thought to herself, forgetting about the books (mostly because there weren't any she wanted that she could see). When she couldn't come up with an answer, she popped her head around the cart and asked the girls directly. "What's school?"
Both girls nearly jumped out of their skins when she did that. The brunette, Jillian, glared at Emmy but the blonde waved her friend off and answered her.
"School is were you go to learn a lot of stuff and meet new friends." She said.
Emmy perked up immediately. "I like to learn! And I like new friends! Can I go to school?"
"You sure can!" The blonde laughed. "I'm surprised you're not in preschool already!"
Emmy didn't know what preschool was, but she had already forgotten the school subject for one reason: the blonde girl. She looked a lot like a girl in one of daddy's picture albums. Emmy tilted her head and stared at the girl. She couldn't quite remember what this girls name was…
"What?" The girl asked, raising an eyebrow.
Emmy concentrated, focusing her mind on the girl. This girl knew who she was, so she knew her own name, which Emmy could…
Not find?
She blinked in confusion. This girl's mind was weird. She didn't have any memories up until a few months ago. That didn't make any sense, she wasn't like Emmy and Martin. No, wait…she does have memories, but it was like there was a wall between them and what she remembered now.
How annoying. She thought before she tilted her head the other way and concentrated on the 'wall'. When it cracked under her powers, the blonde girl froze, her face screwing up in pain. When the wall crumbled under Emmy's psychic assault, she gasped and clutched her head.
A name was the first thing to pop up in the girls mind and it made Emmy smile. "You're miss T-"
The blonde girl had a very distressed look in her eye as she jumped to her feet and bolted for the nearest exit. Her friend Jillian gaped at her retreating form before jumping up and taking off after her. Emmy stared at them running away for a moment before huffing and looking back to the cart.
"Ruuuuuude." She grumbled.
Raven was beyond happy right now. Clutched in her arms was the Icewind Dale Trilogy, the next set in the Drizzt series. Not only was it the collectors edition version, but it just happened to be the last copy in the store too! She was very very lucky to have come today. She knew it was taking a chance since Barnes and Nobles was farther away from the tower than Books a Million was, but she had definitely made the right call.
"Get everything you want Mama?"
Raven turned around to find Garfield standing there, a smug grin on his face and two manga in his left hand. She nodded.
"Very much so. Did you find something too?"
He nodded and held them up. "Yep! First volume of Overlord and first volume of Black Clover!"
Raven gave him a little smile. "I suppose we should get Emelia and check out then."
They found said little girl sitting on the floor with several books, reading them. Raven heard Garfield mutter something about her definitely being Raven's kid, but she ignored him.
"Emelia. Do you have some books you want? Its time to go." She said to the little girl.
"Already?" Emmy asked, jerking her head up from what she was reading. "But we just got here!"
"We've been here an hour already." Garfield laughed. "If we stay any longer then I'll have to drag your mother out!"
Raven glared at him. "Are you saying I have a problem?"
Garfield stuck his tongue out. "Rae, I've bought you bookcases as a form of apology for months now and all of them are full!"
Raven huffed but didn't deny it.
"Have you even read all those books?"
Raven hesitated to answer. "Well…no. Some of them are duplicates, signed copies just for collecting. Others I'm missing books in the series and want to read them all in one go, so I'm waiting to read them."
"What? Are you serious? If you have copies, just how many books do you have?!"
"….I don't know…five or six hundred?" Raven admitted sheepishly. Gar's eyes got huge.
"Can I have these? Pleeeaaassseee?" Emmy interrupted, three books in her arms. Garfield looked at her doing The Face before reaching over and ruffling her hair.
"Sure thing, angel."
Garfield took the books from her, then swiped the one from Raven's arms before she could say anything. He took off down the isle, leaving a surprised Raven in his wake.
After he turned the corner, she sighed. "Can't you behave for five minutes?"
"Nope!"
Raven whirled around, eyes wide as she found Garfield standing behind her. He must have shifted and flown-
He leaned in, kissed her, then stepped back. "Karma." He snickered before shifting into a bird and taking off over the shelves.
Raven stood there for a moment, slightly shocked that he had just turned things around on her like that. Her hands came up and brushed her lips as a slight smile began to form on her face.
It was the first time he had kissed her first.
Needless to say, Raven was still very much in a good mood when then hit a traffic jam twenty minutes after leaving the store and sat in the same spot for ten minutes.
"For crying out loud, we were only thirty minutes from home!" Garfield grumbled as he thonked his head against the steering wheel.
"Why not take this street? We can turn off of it to get to the road the bay prison is on and that one leads to the intersection the tower tunnel is connected to." Ramen suggested, pointing at the sign that read Pickler Street not that far ahead of them.
Garfield looked over at it thoughtfully. He figured it was about ten minutes longer a drive, but since traffic wasn't even moving…
"Okay." He said, grinning. "Think you can get us over there?"
Raven snorted and held up a hand. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos!"
The car glowed black as it lifted right up off the ground and into the air. Raven carefully maneuvered over towards that street, feeling the shock of the people around them as she did so.
For some reason, Garfield started singing under his breath. "Oh you, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, we love you…"
Neither Raven nor Emelia had any idea what he was singing but both figured it was from a movie (this was Garfield/daddy, after all). Thankfully he quit when the car landed and very shortly after that they were headed down Pickler Street. Within a few minutes of that they turned into Bayway Drive, the same road that the metahuman prison was on. Both teens had been there multiple times over the past few years, turning in one villain or another, so they were both very familiar with the road-
"Mommy, daddy, I saw one of your friends in the bookstore!" Emelia said suddenly.
Raven looked over her shoulder at her surrogate daughter. "Oh you did? Who was it?"
"Her name is-look, its Miss Rose!"
Raven turned back around and looked to the right to see that it was indeed Rose getting into what appeared to be a brand new Camero, black with two orange racing stripes. She was wearing all black (In the summer? Raven wondered) and talking on the phone.
"That's new." Garfield murmured. "How can she afford that with her job?"
"Doesn't her father have money? Maybe he bought it for her." Raven suggested.
Garfield shrugged as they continued down the road. "It's possible. And speaking of parents, Emmy, you see that big building up ahead?"
Emmy looked to the right to see the big building with a big metal door overlooking the water. They would be passing by it very soon. "Yeah!"
"That's the Jump City Bay Prison where me and mommy put all our really bad bad guys!" He said proudly.
"Coooooool!"
"Yuuuup! Me and mommy-"
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Garfield hit the brakes just in time for the giant armored doors of the prison to go flying by in front of the car. If he had waited a few seconds longer Raven and Emelia would have been crushed and killed. Within seconds both teens recovered from their abrupt stop and whipped their heads towards the prison just in time to see Cinderblock stomp out, Plasmus and Overload right behind him.
Garfield unbuckled himself and opened the door, shouting. "Raven! Teleport the car to the tower and get the others! I'll hold them here!"
"Are you crazy?! You can't beat all three of them!" Raven shouted back, unbuckling herself.
"I don't have to beat them I just have to keep them here long enough for you to get back! Now GO!" He shouted before shifting into a tyrannosaurus rex and charging Cinderblock. The stone monstrosity wasn't expecting to see a Titan so soon, so he got slammed backwards into the other two monstrosities behind him and they fell back into the prison courtyard. He roared out in shock and it shook the car.
Cursing to herself in Azarathian (so that Emelia wouldn't understand) Raven chanted her mantra and once again encased the car in her magic. It sunk into the ground seconds later and reappeared in the Titans garage.
Garfield grinned as he shifted back to himself and looked at the jumbled pile of his enemies. That was a pretty good hit in his opinion. They must be pretty mad too, judging from the yelling and screeching and the sound of rocks grating on each other.
Oh wait. They weren't yelling.
They were combining.
He watched in trepidation as the three swarmed together, their parts rearranging and expanding, plasma covering stone and electricity shooting from random places. When it was done, the monstrosity known as Ternion climbed to its feet and roared, shaking everything in courtyard around them.
Garfield chuckled as he looked up at his towering foe. "This must be how Gandalf felt when taking on the Balrog. Wonder if I get extra XP if I solo him? Eh, only one way to find out…LEEEERRROOOYYYY JEEENNNKKIIINNSSSSS!"
