Hello hello my dear readers! Its been a little while since we had a chat, hasn't it? Well fear not, I haven't forgotten anyone nor have I given up on my story. I'm just dealing with some IRL issues right now that aren't what I'd call fun: lingering sinus and respiratory infections, bills, and car troubles. *sighs* unfortunately, that's life.
Now, the real reason I'm posting this is to let everyone know that there's been a bit (read: a lot) of tweaking and editing going on with the story when I have a few minutes to spare and it's some legitimately pleasing results, at least imo.
Firstly, the entirety of the story is now broken down into six parts. The part you're reading now is part 1, Those Violet Eyes, and it'll end somewhere around chapter 50 or so. Y'all know how I tend to get carried away with stuff lol. The following arcs (or stories) will either be noted/emphasized within TVE or made into their own story (As in, a separate posting). I haven't decided which though, because there's a time skip every arc after the 3rd one and Idk how well that will flow in one story.
Its really funny because when I originally sat down and scribbled this up, it was only about 20 chapters worth. But you guys loved it and I loved writing it, so I added more. 20 turned into 60 within months and it was only recently that I realized that I just had too much content and had to sit down and break it down. It has been a COLOSSAL trial to work out all the kinks, but nothing's perfect lol. That's part of the reason why I had to take a few (read: accidentally 6) months off: I burned myself out my own story trying to cram it all in 60 chapters. But I know better than to do something that stupid now. Still, the sheer volume of content I have…well, its no joke. Arc 2 will have a rather obscure villain brought in, for example, and the things he does will have effects that are present in every arc/story after. The finale arc will be addressing (my version of) something few people pay attention to lore-wise as well. There are dozens of scripted villains and hero's that will be coming and going in the story too. Everyone from Doctor Light to Danny the Brick makes an appearance. But for clarities sake, please do no refer to the Young Justice cast as YJ, they were TEEN TITANS in the comics long before that show came out. Here, they're just Titans. And yes, that DOES mean they'll be back in the stories.
Secondly, and I need you to pay attention to this part…
This story will be going on for years. Each of the following arcs/stories will be 20 to 30 chapters long except the last one, which will be the shortest at probably 10 to 15. There are 52 weeks in a year.
Go ahead, do the math.
Yeah, that's a lot of writing.
Now, back to the main topic at hand: I'm sorry I haven't been consistent with chapters lately, but that's life, ya know? I'm trying to get back into the groove I used to have and its not really working so I have to find a new way to do it and just roll with it. Chapters will be…well, sporadic, until I can get my feet back under me with writing.
Now, here's where I'm going to do something unusual: I want to know if there's any Titans/villains you all want to see. I have certain ones set aside for various plot scenarios, but there are still quite a few available. I do like a few good subplots (you guys are going to kill me in a few chapters for some of the things that I've subtly written into the story and you probably will kill me over future stuff planned lol), so toss me couple of reasonable suggestions if you'd like. I'll add them to my notes and see if there's a way to weave some in.
But that does NOT mean suggest something like cheating or three way romances or any kind of romantic conflict. All of that is set in stone and I won't change it.
Remember what happened to Red X?
Good.
Unfortunately, I'm not sure when the next chapter will be up because I'm also working on Taking A Hint too (which has received a shocking amount of attention) while fiddling around with the idea of picking up Are You A Loli? once again. That was one of two stories that I didn't need to post until I had more content for them, cause it kinda just flopped in my head and then lay there like a dead fish. Then after I get those two finished up, I have a few projects that I have to choose from to work on alongside TVE. Each of them is a little bit of a doozy in story, with one in particular that would rival TVE in size and detail.
All in all, I've got a long road ahead of me. I hope you all will stick with me!
To heal or not to heal, that is the question.
Raven released her hair and turned her head to the side, exposing her uniformed neck to her vanity mirror. One of the larger marks Gar had left was still partially visible above the hem of her uniform, a purplish blot on her pale skin. There were a couple more a little further down on her neck, but they weren't visible with her uniform on.
It's so embarrassing! Timid wailed.
I still can't believe he was serious when he said he was marking me! Brave with a wry chuckle.
Maybe we shouldn't have let SOMEONE take the reigns for a moment. Rude said pointedly, not that Desire could defend herself. She was, after all, still very much unconscious from Brave knocking her out last night. If the forest green cloaked emoticlone hadn't done so, Raven wouldn't have gotten any sleep.
Well, not the restful kind.
I don't know, I enjoyed it. Affection murmured.
Rude snorted. Of course you did. But now we gotta deal with these damn marks!
I say we leave them. Knowledge declared. There was silence in Raven's head for a moment before Timid spoke up.
Why?
Well, it was obviously a combination of Garfield's testosterone and his animal instincts that made him mark us, so if we heal it he'll just do it again. Medically speaking, it isn't hurting anything and if it did, a healing trance would fix it right, quick, and in a hurry. Socially speaking, our hair and uniform hide roughly ninety percent of it. If anyone sees it, they were too close to begin with.
Those logical answers are fine, Knowledge, but what is your opinion on it? Rude demanded.
A pause, followed by a feeling of embarrassment. I find it a little…erotic…that he marked me to let other guys know I'm taken.
That makes two of us. Rage chimed in. I think its kinda hot! It's like a passive-aggressive possession thing and I'm completely okay with being his property as long as he understands that he's mine and I'll hurt him if he flirts with any other girls or hurt the girls if any of them flirt with him!
I second that. Jealousy practically growled.
Of course you do. Rude snapped.
Raven sighed and set her head in her hand as her emotions started a miniature war in her head. This was one of the downsides to given her emotions a voice; when they got riled up they argued. It was a bit more of a headache than she'd like, but she also figured it was easier to let them hash it out and get a conclusive opinion afterwards. It had to be easier to figure out what her heart wanted this way too, instead of the way a normal girl would do it.
But then again, internal peace and quiet sounded good too...
She sighed once more and refocused her thoughts on Garfield, directing her empathy to see how he was this morning. He was, in fact, feeling pretty good, bouncing around in his room doing whatever it was he did before breakfast. Emelia, judging from the joy and amusement in the little girl's aura, was happy and laughing. Garfield must be playing with her.
I want to play with them too… Timid murmured under the cacophony of voices in Raven's head.
Well, why don't we go? Brave suggested loudly, shushing the others instantly.
Raven thought about it for a moment, her lips twitching upwards at the notion of spending an early morning with Garfield. It was a pleasing thought (and so much better than an internal conflict!), so she changed back into her night attire (Garfield's pajamas had become her regular sleeping clothes and she didn't regret it the least bit) and checked herself in the mirror before opening a portal to Garfield's room.
She wasn't entirely sure what she was walking into though.
"Pray tell, fair maiden, what-eth be-eth thy will?" Garfield said in a terrible mock English accent, banging what appeared to be a paper towel roll onto a pillow that was tied to his arm like a shield. On his head was a paper maché hat (is that the comic section? Raven wondered) and he was wearing a cardboard box on his chest like it was armour, with holes cut out for his head and arms. It was greatly contrasting his black and red plaid pajama bottoms and his pink bunny slippers. It was also apparent that he hadn't noticed her portal in directly behind him.
Emelia glanced at her mother for the briefest second before she looked back at her father. "Daddy-"
"Sir Daddy of Jumpalot." Garfield corrected her in all seriousness.
Emmy giggled. "Sir Daddy of Jumpalot…um…" She trailed off in thought, "…Uh...tell me you think of Uncle Robin?"
Garfield twirled his makeshift sword and tilted his head thoughtfully. "Sir Robin of Gothamingham? Well, he's a good sport, but he doth run-eth around with-eth a stick up his butt at times, wot wot. I have to say though, Sirrah Robin is excellent in a fight and he always carries the tastiest of snacks in utility belt, not that he is keen on sharing. Bad form, bad form I say!"
Azar help me, he's being so serious! Happy giggled uncontrollably, making Raven's hand clamp itself over her mouth so that she didn't laugh out loud.
Emelia was all giggles though.
"Sir Daddy of Jumpalot, what do you think of Uncle Cyborg?" She said after she stopped.
"Terrible form he has, wot wot and toodlepip!" Garfield barked out. "I say, Sirrah Cyborg of Meatington has got to be the most ravenous meat eating monstrosity of a man that has ever had the mispleasure of being misplaced on this melancholy menagerie of misfits that we call the Titans! Terrible form to hide a man's tofu and try to make him eat meat! Terrible form, I say!"
Raven's eyes were watering and she was starting to shake from holding back her laughter while Emmy was rolling across the bed laughing. Garfield strutted across the room like some sort of bizarre peacock, shaking his roller tube and striking the occasional pose. How he hadn't seen Raven was beyond her.
"What about Auntie Starfire?" Emmy giggled once more.
"Princess Koriandr of Tamaran is undisputedly one of the sweetest and kindest people I have ever had the pleasure of meeting, wot wot. She is a strong and powerful warrior in her own right and an excellent mother." Garfield paused before he leaned in close to his daughter to whisper. "She is also a horrid cook, has no ability to sing, and the poetry her people writes is as bland and boring as watching paint dry. But don't tell her I said that!"
"Auntie Star's Pudding of Joy is pretty yucky." Emmy nodded solemnly, though she still had a huge grin on her face.
"Yucky? Yucky you say!" Garfield all but shouted as he jumped back, almost bumping into Raven in the process.. "'Tis the same color as our enemy Plasmus and twice as thick as him! We once took some into battle and all our enemies ran away wot wot! Johnny Rancid was eaten alive by it once, you know. Poor chap was screaming about gobbledygook and wotnot for weeks. I say, if we had taken some into battle with the dastardly devil named Slade, we certainly would have won!"
"Stick him to the wall, daddy!"
Garfield shook his head. "Nay, my little princess. We would make him eat it!"
Raven, who had the immeasurably amusing idea of feeding some to Rose, couldn't suppress the giggle that came bubbling up at the thought of the little trollop gagging on the alien food.
Garfield, caught completely off guard by the sound, shrieked in fright and jumped straight up in the air, shifting to a cat and hanging onto the ceiling by his claws. The pillow, cardboard box, and roller tube fell to the floor a heartbeat later as Raven and Emelia stared up at him.
And then they both cracked up.
Garfield yowled at both of them from the ceiling before he dropped down, his tail all floofed up and the rest of his hair standing up. Raven saw this and had to lean against the wall just to stand, she was laughing so hard.
Garfield yowled at her again before he growled and cat-stomped his way over to his bed and jumped up to the top bunk. Raven slid to the floor and laughed herself absolutely silly at the sight of a floofy green cat hanging on the edge of the bed.
"Gar, come down here." She called out to him when she had finally finished laughing.
Cat-Garfield snorted and it made her chuckle. For someone who liked pranks and scaring people, he sure didn't like being the victim.
"Come on Gar." She called up to him as she climbed to her feet. "Stop being a sour puss and come down."
Cat-Garfield made a series of noises that sounded like he was mocking what she was saying. She rolled her eyes and sat down on the bed next to Emelia, who was still giggling.
"Guess your father is a scaredy cat." She said to the little girl, who found that to be even funnier than what just happened.
"Daddy's being silly this morning." Emelia said as she gave her mother a hug. "Good morning mommy!"
"Good morning Emmy." Raven hugged her daughter back, then glanced upwards at the bottom of the top bunk. "Good morning Garfield."
His only response was an annoyed meow. Raven rolled her eyes and lay back on the bed. It smelled just like him and was still a bit warn, so it was rather comfortable.
I could sleep here without complaint… She thought as a feeling of drowsiness washed over her. She closed her eyes and yawned.
Lazy, we just woke up a couple of hours ago, we didn't need to go back to sleep! Knowledge scolded. The brown clad emotion grumbled something and the sleepiness let up. Raven let out a small, amused chuckle at the thought of how comfortable she was with Garfield. It sure was a nice feeling.
"Mommy, look!" Emmy whispered beside her. Raven cracked an eye open saw a green cat head poked over the edge of the upper bed. Garfield was studying her form intently and she couldn't help but to feel a bit prideful that he was doing so.
We should totally stretch and puff our chest out. Desire suddenly said out of nowhere.
Azar, when did you wake up? Rude groaned.
When I smelt Gar's bed.
No funny business today, understand? Brave growled.
Yeah yeah. Just tease the boy this once and I'll behave.
Raven mulled this over for a moment. She had never done something like that before, so she was slightly wary of it. She didn't want to send too strong a message, just a little jibe about her assets. How could she-
Oh for Azar's sake, just do it! Desire shouted.
Raven did as the emoticlone asked, stretching her arms up as she arced her back and sending her chest up into the air. She stretched out her legs too for good measure, genuinely enjoying the way her muscles felt from doing so. Garfield's eye got wider.
Raven, can I…? Affection asked, seeking permission for something she wanted. Raven pondered it briefly before accepting the request.
"Too bad your daddy is up there." She said to Emelia, keeping her eye barely cracked and locked on Garfield as she relaxed back onto the bed. "I was in the mood to cuddle."
She watched as the green cat head shifted back into the scowling visage of a human boy.
"Pft, yeah right." Garfield snorted. "You were waiting to ambush me like some kind of spider or something."
Raven half opened her eyes and gave him a little grin. "Think of it as karma for all the pranks and stuff you've played on me for the past few years."
"Karma, huh?" The green boy's brow furrowed for a moment before a wide grin split his face. Raven had no time to react before he turned into a squirrel, climbed down and across the bottom of the top bunk, and then dropped down on her in his human form, his hands on either side of her head and his legs on the sides of her hips. He was, essentially, straddling her.
Raven looked up at him with wide eyes as he grinned down at her maniacally.
"You know, Rae…" He said slowly, evilly. "A little birdie just so happened to tell me some time back that you're…ticklish."
I'm going to KILL Robin. Raven thought as Garfield's grin widened. She slowly pushed her hands and wrists palm down on the bed and started pushing them under her back. Her boyfriend let out a low and dark chuckle before he suddenly sat up, grabbing her by the upper arms and pulling her up with him. She was so startled that her arms came out to balance herself and that was when he pounced.
His hands slid down her arms quicker than greased lightning and grabbed her wrists. He took a firm grip on each one before pushing her back onto the bed and shoving her arms up so that he could take both wrists in one hand. He paused, looking down at her shocked expression as he ran a finger across her palms.
"Karma, Rae, karma." He chuckled as she shivered.
"Don't...you...dare…" Raven gasped as she struggled in his grasp. Unfortunately, he was a lot stronger than her and he pinned her legs in place with his own.
Gar snickered. "Whaddaya gonna do? Take kisses away?"
NO! Affection, Happy, Desire, and Timid all shouted in Raven's head. She frowned and Gar's grin grew wider still.
"Gar, I've only been tickled once and I legitimately hated it." She said sternly as she kept trying to wiggle free. "So don't."
"Ah, come on Rae, it could be fun." He stuck his tongue out at her. " Besides, you're the only person I've ever heard of with ticklish palms and wrists. How'd Rob even find that out anyways?"
Raven rolled her eyes. "Training. He was trying to teach me that trick where you take a gun from someone face to face and turn it on them in the same movement. His hands kept brushing my wrists when he did it and I couldn't keep ahold of the toy gun. And since this was before I defeated Trigon, I sort of destroyed the training room."
Garfield's grin didn't fade, but he did raise an eyebrow. "Guess it's a good thing Trigon is gone, huh?"
"That doesn't mean I want to be tickled!"
Garfield merely grinned and ran his finger across Raven's palm again. Her face screwed up and she started wiggling harder, making him laugh as he kept doing it. This was gonna be a lot of fun-
"Daddy, what's that on mommy's neck?"
Both teens stopped and looked at Emelia, who had (somehow) been forgotten about. The little girl was staring at her mother in curiosity. Garfield and Raven looked at each other before Garfield tilted Raven's head to the side to see her neck.
"You kept it." He murmured with no small amusement.
"I'll heal it if you don't let me go." Raven threatened.
"I'll just mark you again." Gar growled back at her. Raven flushed at the thought of a repeat of yesterday and bit back a retort that would have probably resulted in him biting her (again!) right her in front of Emelia.
"Daaaaddddyyyyy!" Emmy whined.
"Daddy just kissed mommy too hard on her neck yesterday, that's all." Garfield said to his daughter, not taking his eyes off her mother.
Emelia's eyes widened. "Geesh, daddy, were you trying to hurt mommy?"
Gar chuckled. "No, angel, I was making sure mommy knows she's mine."
That aggressiveness… Rage practically purred in Raven's head as her body began to warm up.
I love it when he's being serious like that. Affection sighed happily. That just shows how serious he is about us as a couple.
I vote for another kissing session! Desire shouted. This is the perfect time to…hey…what's he doing?
Raven refocused her attention on Garfield, who's right ear had swiveled towards the door. There was a curious look on his face. Raven glanced at Emelia, who was looking at the door confusedly. She was about to ask what was going on when she heard a voice in the hallway.
"Emmy Emmy Emmy Emmy Emmy!"
"Martin?" She asked, just as surprised. "Without Star?"
"That's what I was thinking." Gar said as he released Raven and sat up on his knees. "Did Cy make breakfast early or something?"
"Whatever it is, you better go unlock the door before-"
BONK!
Both teens jaws dropped open before they jumped up and scrambled to the door. Garfield hit the unlock and opened it to reveal a slightly dazed Martin, still in his space-themed pajamas, sitting on the floor rubbing his forehead.
"Azar! Are you okay, Martin?" Raven asked as she scooped the boy up and checked his head with a glowing hand.
"Nuh huh." He said, nodding. "Mama saysa Imma warrear! Warrear's canna take hits!"
"It's warrior, Martin." Emelia corrected him from at her mothers side.
"Jesus Christ, he dented the door!" Garfield exclaimed. Raven glanced at the half shut door and found that there was indeed a sizable dent from his head.
"Warrior indeed." She murmured, shaking her head.
"Imma be Martin tha Warrear when I grows up!" Martin said proudly. "Imma be as strong as mama and Imma has a sward too! And and and-"
"Warrior." Emelia said again.
"Warrear!"
"Warrior!"
"Warrear!"
Emelia sighed. "Nevermind."
"That's cool and all, little buddy, but where's your mama anyways?" Garfield asked as he rubbed the dented door, wondering how he was going to get that out.
"Oh yeah!" Martin exclaimed. "Mama and papa are with…um…I dunno their names…"
Raven raised an eyebrow before taking a moment to focus her empathy on her distant friends. They were with…
"The Doom Patrol is here?" Raven said, surprised. Garfield's head snapped towards her, also surprised.
"Never told me they'd be visiting." He said as he shut the door. He glanced at Raven. "I'll take Emelia to them if you want to go change real quick…"
Raven pondered this before nodding. "It might be better to…cover up."
Garfield snickered before he scooped up the kids and started down the hallway. Raven rolled her eyes at his amusement and opened a portal back to her room. She paused long enough to check out Gar's muscular backside.
You know, Raven, we really should get a nice feel of his torso. Desire commented.
One day, Desire. Not today, obviously, but still… Raven thought as she stepped back into her room. One day…
"Mommmmyyyyy! Hurry uuuupppp!"
Raven rolled her eyes and shook her head, but smiled. She was coming up to the common room doors, back in her uniform. Emelia and Martin were sitting on Gar's back, with the animorph having taken the form of a rather small horse.
"I will get there when I get there, Emelia." Raven said as she strode up. Gar gave a nicker and tossed his head at the kids. They scrambled off and he shifted back into his human form.
"About time Mama showed up." He chuckled as he stuck his tongue out at her.
"I was gone for a whole three minutes." Raven shot back.
"That's two minutes and fifty nine seconds too long!" Gar fakely protested.
Raven rolled her eyes and shook her head again. "You're an idiot."
"Maybe." He grinned. "But I'm your idiot now."
"I guess you are." Raven helplessly shook her head as her hand went and entwined her fingers with his. Emelia took her other hand as Garfield's grinned widened. Martin grabbed Emmy's hand and together the four walked through the door.
They were greeted by the sight of the Doom Patrol sitting at the kitchen counter, Kid Devil at the stove cooking (read: burning) bacon, and Starfire flitting about the area getting more stuff out to eat. Robin was nowhere in sight.
"Garfield, Raven!" Rita called out. "We decided to surprise you with…"
She trailed off as she looked down towards their hands. A smile lit up her face before she turned to Robotman. "Told you. Pay up."
"Aw come on, how could you know they'd be together next time we came by?!" Cliff protested loudly.
Rita's smile turned smug. "Mother's intuition. Now cough it up."
Robotman scowled as a flap popped open at his waist and he pulled out a handful of cash. Carefully, he picked out a twenty and tossed it at her.
"Nice doing business with you." Rita said as she turned back to the confused teenagers.
"I told you not to bet with her." Negativeman sighed. "No one ever listens to me…"
Ignoring the others, Mento got up and walked up to the teens and kids. "Good morning Raven, Beast Boy, Emelia, Martin. We were in the area and decided to stop for a visit."
"Pawpaw!" Emelia shouted as she darted forward, unable to contain her excitement. The older man smiled and scooped her up, letting the little girl wrap her arms around his neck as he laughed (something that was a rare occurrence with the normally super serious hero). Martin dashed past them and climbed up in his chair.
"You guys could have given us a heads up, I would have put my uniform on." Garfield chuckled.
"No you wouldn't have." Raven snickered, which made her boyfriend shoot a glare at her.
"Well, that's part of the surprise." Elastigirl said as she came up behind Mento. Emelia practically leapt into her arms, making the older woman laugh. "It's been a little while since we've seen you!"
"Yup!" Emelia nodded. "Not since chapter fourteen!"
Rita raised an eyebrow. "Not since what?"
"Nothing!" The little girl said nervously, looking at you.
Her adopted grandmother merely smiled and shook her head at the silliness of children. "Well in any case…how are you?"
"I'm good!" Emmy said happily.
"Well that's good. Are your mommy and daddy treating you well?" Rita asked teasingly.
"Yup!" Emmy said before she paused and made a face. "But daddy isn't being nice to mommy. He kissed her too hard in the shower last night and left a big purpley mark on mommy's neck!"
Other than the sound of frying bacon, dead silence reigned supreme in the room as everyone stared at Raven and Beast Boy, who were too mortified to say anything.
After a moment, Rita cleared her throat as Kid Devil and Robotman started snickering. "Well then…Garfield, I know our birds and bees talk was a little rough considering your unusual nature, but even you know you shouldn't be doing something like-"
"NOTHING HAPPENED!" Both teens shouted. Mento raised an eyebrow, detecting that they weren't exactly telling the truth but also weren't exactly lying either.
Raven felt his skepticism via her empathy and hastily started explaining. "I got injured in battle yesterday and Garfield had to help my clean my wound so that I could heal it!"
Rita raised an eyebrow but smiled too. "Then what's this about a mark I hear?"
Raven had no answer other than a deep scarlet blush that spread across her face. She glanced away, muttering something about Garfield being rabid as said boy stared at the ceiling and began to pray that this conversation would end. It was fine to talk about if it was just him and Raven, but with his adopted parents? No…just no…
Cliff, on the other hand, was roaring in laughter while Larry glared at him. Kid Devil said something along the lines of 'giggity' (whatever that meant) and Starfire, curiously enough, merely shot Raven a I told you so look. Mento sighed and shook his head as Emelia (still in the smiling Elastigirl's arms) looked about in confusion. She looked at Martin, who shrugged.
"Why does everyone jump to that conclusion about us so quickly?" Raven muttered to Garfield, who could only shake his head.
"Mostly because we," Mento gestured to the other members of the Doom Patrol, "Were teenagers once and we know how teens can be. As for your friends…I don't have an answer for that."
"You and me baby ain't nothing but mammals-" Kid Devil started to sing.
"Shut it, Kraft Dinner!" Garfield snapped, glaring at the red boy, who merely laughed.
"I don't remember him last time we were here." Larry said, gesturing at the devil-kin.
"There's been a few things that's happened since my birthday…" Garfield said as he and Raven moved towards the table. They sat down and he started telling them about the first time Emelia misbehaved, Robin and Starfire leaving for a few days and leaving Garfield in charge, the whole 'being stuck at the bottom of the ocean's incident (though the more personal details were omitted), briefly mentioned Garfield's fight with Rose, the fun (and not so fun parts) Garfield, Raven, and Emelia had at the convention, briefly mentioning splitting with Rose, the dreaded 'cat's incident (again, personal details were omitted, for obvious reasons), getting a new team together, meeting the king of Hell, and Kid Devil's resurrection, then the attack on Starfire the other day, followed by the Ternion fight.
Considering that that was a lot to tell, Garfield ended up cooking whilst telling the stories. Raven piped in every now and then, correcting him on some details and adding others in when he forgot something. By the time it was all said and done, everyone present had gotten their food and eaten their fill. Raven set about picking up the dirty dishes with her magic and setting them in the sink to be cleaned later.
"You kids have been busy!" Mento whistled.
"And here I thought cleaning out old Brotherhood bases was entertaining." Robotman chuckled and shook his head. "We should come around more often if you kids are having this much fun!"
"I'll say." Mento also chuckled.
"That's what you guys are doing?" Gar asked, raising an eyebrow.
Larry nodded. "Yeah. Since you put them on ice we've been raiding any and all of their bases that we can find, taking out bots and stripping the places of any tech. If the Brotherhood ever escapes they won't have have jack to fall back on."
Garfield nodded. "Good. It'll be easier to hunt them down and throw them in jail again that way."
"That it will, though I'm pretty sure Rouge will go on a warpath before we take her down." Mento warned. "That woman is as vindictive as they come and twice as heartless."
"I'll take care of her." Elastigirl said darkly as she sipped on her orange juice. Raven glanced at her warily, sensing more than a little hatred for the shapeshifting woman. It almost rivaled Robin's hatred for Slade or her own hatred for her deceased father.
"Take care of who?" Robin asked as he walked in.
"Good morning beloved!" Starfire said as she jumped up from her seat and flew to him. They kissed and went to the table, where Robin kissed his son on the head and greeted the visiting Doom Patrol.
"Dude, where've you been all morning?" Garfield asked.
"On the phone with the police chief. Several of our villains have been murdered and their bodies are just now getting found." The caped crusader said grimly.
"Really?" Mento asked, instantly interested.
"Who's been killed?" Raven asked as she took her seat again.
"Red X's headless body was fished out of the sewers last night and Punk Rocket was found dead in his apartment." This raised several eyebrows, so Robin shrugged. "Before you ask, I have no idea who it could be killing villains. Haven't heard of any disputes between them lately and I don't know any local ones that violent. We might have a vigilante that's moved into town."
"Greeeaaatttt." Raven said sarcastically. "Just what we need, more psychopaths."
Robin nodded. "And you know what that means."
"Doubling patrols!" Garfield groaned and dropped his head to the table with a thud. Raven reached over and pat his head.
"That's the life of a hero." Robin said humorlessly.
"Headless, huh?" Kid Devil murmured thoughtfully.
Robin heard him and leaned in with a cocked eyebrow. "Know a villain from your previous hero days that did that?"
Kid Devil shook his head. "Not a villain, per say. She was an assassin and a really good one. That's kind of a grey area cause, ya know, the government has assassins too. But before I died she was…uh…retired, so to speak."
"You don't think she's back in the business now, do you?" Robin pressed.
The devil-kin shook his red head and responded evasively. "No, she would be preoccupied with…other things."
"Eddie, if you know something-" Robin started to say but said guy held his hand up to silence him.
"Rob, with all due respect, I don't have to tell you squat. I know what I know from then, not now. I've been dead for a while, remember? I have a lot of people that I need to reconnect with and I won't say a word about someone who turned over a new leaf while I was alive just because of what they used to do. Everyone is redeemable." Eddie said firmly in a very no-nonsense way.
Somewhere out in the city, there was a sneeze, followed by the sound of a can hitting the ground, followed by some very colorful cursing.
Back in the tower, however, Robin frowned and was silent for a time.
"I can respect that, Kid Devil." He said slowly. "But if you get even the faintest inclination that it might be this person, then you will tell me. That kind of person is very dangerous and I will protect my city."
Kid Devil nodded but said no more.
Robin frowned after a moment. "And speaking of you, you didn't fill out the police forms yesterday."
"Sorry man, you called me in to relocate Star's shoulder just as I was getting to them."
"I did, didn't I? Sorry." Robin said honestly. KD shrugged. Garfield and Raven exchanged glances and silently agreed to keep an extra eye out for anyone suspicious.
"How about we find something else to talk about?" Rita said suddenly. There was a pause before everyone nodded. Rita smiled and turned to Raven. "Have you thought about putting Emelia in preschool?"
"Preschool?" Raven asked, surprised with the question. "Actually…no, I haven't. Should I?"
"Well, I know Garfield never had proper schooling and your education was different than what we have here…" Rita trailed off.
Raven looked at Garfield, who was gazing thoughtfully off in the distance. "Gar?"
He was quiet for a moment before he shrugged. "Might be a good idea. Emmy's smart, but there's only so much she can learn here without us buying a library's worth of books and teaching her. And even if we did that, she'd be as socially awkward as you cause she wouldn't have any social interaction with anyone except us…"
Raven raised an eyebrow but ignored his (obviously) playful jibe. "That is true. I suppose I'll look around at preschools in a few days, see what's available. You want to enroll Martin too, Starfire?"
"Of course!" Star nodded.
Raven turned to ask Emelia what she thought of that, but found the little girl with a very thoughtful look on her face. "What?"
Emmy looked at her mother for a moment before she smiled. "Nothing mommy. I was just thinking of a blonde girl I met at the library the other day who said I should be in preschool."
Garfield raised an eyebrow at her, but Emmy just shook her head. It wasn't really important since that girl wasn't a part of her family…even if she was in a picture on her daddy's desk.
