Teen Titans – Side Stories and After – Snippets; Foxes Upon Foxes and Magical Girls Galore
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Teen Titans ; After Tokyo?
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While the fanfare had been at its end, our heroes had concluded their exciting Japan vacation and had stuck a pin in the trip's concluding criminal mind and his capture; while Daizo and Brushogun's feats had plagued the country for some time. When the time to pack and say farewell to their adoring fans came too soon for a certain green imp, the others never expected that Bb would even be able to keep his ego from floating off once they'd return to Jump City.
Actually, he'd given the comic artists he'd met at their celebratory victory ideas some cues as to what to put next on the shelves. A few comic tips from a super hero from the states was…interesting for business.
Too bad our heroes didn't know just how famous they'd really gotten.
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In the streets, they had dozens of headshots from photographers right in the city of Jump. Even if Robin in Gotham wasn't a fan of photo ops, this Robin knew how to grin and never show his worst side.
Speaking…
"Jump City Gazette! Robin! Is it true that you and your team single handedly stopped a criminal in Tokyo called..."Brushogun, and that you were wrongfully convicted -
"We'll have no further questions, y'all. Kay? These heroes, jus' wanna chill back at the tower. Bb? Star? Can you handle these "fine" folks for us?"
The two bobbed their heads, excitedly. "We shall tell them of our thrilling adventure with much gusto, friends Robin, Raven and Cyborg –
"Count on getting me on the cover, cause' I so wanna rock this shirt some more!" Bb raised his brows and posed like a model in his Titan themed print tee, making Raven hold back a chuckle. Robin tried to be glad, but that false killing…something had snapped. He still wanted to forget. And for Starfire, he needed to do his very best. For all of his teammates.
/RR/CY
Returning to Titans Tower, Raven made sure to have a private therapy session with their leader. He was still holding onto an uneven aura which worried her.
"Robin." He sat across from her by the living room; he took the sofa while she sat in a seat cushion on the floor. She did have a meditation schedule later to keep to. His gloved hand flew restlessly to slap his forehead as Robin finally let out a low groan, softly. "I'm, sorry for the way I –
"Don't apologize." Raven tutted him, "Just find a way to cope with it, then you can move on. We all can."
He looked to her determined expression as she tried to see to his pain in anyway she was able.
"It was what, that reporter tried to talk to us about…"
"The arrest by Daizo and his men." Raven frowned.
"Yeah…They didn't even take me to jail yet. Didn't have a chance, but that attack…I remember I escaped and…it was rough. Finding where there was any information on Brushogun, I had to go underground. To get…. Or, to lose a part of who I was…But why?"
Dick let his head fall lower into his hands, as his butt stayed put on the living room sofa, while Raven analyzed the rest of Dick's confession carefully in her mind.
"Why was my costume any different from…." Dick grumbled to them both, "With Batman I could do fine…. I just can't keep remembering or el –
"Or you won't want to forget, you'll become obsessed." Raven reminded her leader. "You'd…Over analyze the situation, like with –
"Stop." Dick put up a palm, halting that last part. "Its not like that, I was serious, and determined as any of us to find the answers we wanted to hear…But, I was wrong. We saved the real Brushogun and…I guess, that felt right to you too, right?"
"Oh." Raven realized it now… Even if Dick had Batman's infallible logic regarding protecting the innocent until proven guilty, he still questioned the logic of letting the criminal behind the real monster escape captivity. As in, Brushogun had died and had returned to the start of all living tings, while Daizo's plan had been exposed to the city and the "tourist" heroes.
"We knew he'd lived a long time after, and we still weren't able to stop him from going like he did… But, Daizo is going to pay for what he did to that man. Brushogun was human and he didn't deserve to –
"There are only so many lives that we can save, Rob." Cy popped up with a large stack of pizzas balanced in his right hand. "You guys hungry?"
"Not right now."
"Ditto." Raven shrugged in unison with Robin's bouts.
"Suit yourselves." He sighed, shrugging and going after the next surface he could place the boxes onto, jut to dig in after a long time away from home.
Cy turned away by the kitchen island and wondered if those two were twins separated at birth, both being way too similar in how moody they could be. What a pair. Speaking of twins….
/BB
Starfire and Bb had a blast creating a riveting story for the reporters to add to their columns. One face; a Lois Lane from the Daily Planet in Metropolis had come to catch a scoop, and boy did she ever!
After waving goodbye to the Nosy - Nancy crew, Starfire went to scour the city for a "salad" at her favorite café, while Bb went on a different walk.
To Murakami High School.
Being on a Thursday that they'd landed back at home; his hunch was that at noontime, it was time to eat as his tummy gurgled noisily before he could quiet it. Bb pulled a very cute Japanese racoon dog mascot keychain out of his pocket. He wondered if Terra…
Idea! It was his job to keep an eye out for Slade in case he got any bright ideas, so Terra was on his radar less often to not invade her privacy. Much.
He peeked into her classroom window as a small bird, to see the diligent high school girl prepping for her exams, as she…
Did he sound too obsessed?? Uh – oh!
The Titans had all readily dubbed this syndrome the "Robin" syndrome, leaving the boy wonder to take the backlash for that name. He wasn't too happy about it. But now…
Was Bb less than innocent for doing this? He decided. Then and there, he'd leave his gift somewhere and forget; let Terra take a breather from the past for a while, if she even wanted to remember.
/ST/CAT
Starfire had passed by a cute shop that had just opened on her way out of her favorite new café. After the robot alien had attacked, she'd simply pushed away the thought and had gone back to being, normal. In the shop was a lot of the color pink, but she saw one side that screamed intergalactic diva.
"I wish to try on everything in this section, please!" She called right over to the closest sales rep on the floor, who smiled as big as a rainbow at this ditzy miss who'd popped her head in the doorway. The rep had two tight braids and wore a great deal of plaid for the fall, high socks and a black skirt. She had freckles but looked to not mind the look, she was slim enough to fit into anything in the shop. "Right this way! I'll help to find you the best outfit in our shop! Do tell; is this a date –
"D – date??" Dread filled those words. Starfire let the rep's words slowly sink her mood, as an unbeatable battle vessel in the outer reaches of the quadrant.
"I…. have not heard of this thing, a date, you ask??" She laughed, but the blush on her cheeks was fresh as sunshine on a hot day at the beach. "No! I am dressing up to find what I wish to wear –
"Are you sure???" The sales person looked as bubbly as Kori did on a better day.
"Oh! I know you!" The rep soon gawked at the fact she'd not realized it sooner. "You're Starfire! The Starfire! Oh, my gawsh! You are super tall - and that outfit, we have to make this count. Let's go try on a ton!"
Her fan now had the alien girl trying on all intergalactic, preppy, and even indie styles in the cozy shop. Only goth and punk were difficult without the right make up. Starfire rocked every one, making sure to have the rep try on hats as a plus to their little expenditure. Starfire noticed however that no one else was in the store but she and the…
"Um, not to be rude in any way…yet, there are no other employees in this "shop of the fashion?" She pointed out, seeing the girl rep give a small warmer expression; as if to let Starfire know the truth about this space she'd wandered along into.
"You, own all of these beautiful outfits??"
"I moved to Jump after graduating from business school, was top of my class so I invested in my mini – dream."
"Oh! It is not at all so mini!" Starfire floated about and reassured. "I would love to model for your clients, if…it would be an ok solution? Your shop has so much; and it is a shame that I do not see many girls and women like myself –
"That…" The girl suddenly jumped up to hug Star round in a bear hug. "Is a great idea!! I'm Cat. You can call me C. We are going to get along fine, Princess! –
"Just, Starfire is fine and I also would like to purchase the outfits we tried on."
"You got it, partner!" C took out her cell and shot a picture of the two, while Starfire exchanged her info and bright by tomorrow, would begin her first act as a model born for the runway. There was no way she'd wished for all of these gems of the city to sit all by themselves without someone to love their construction as much as she did. Little did she know, that the designer was none other than this Cat she'd snapped a selfie with before going on her merry way to meet up with her dear teammates.
/TITE/CY
"How's it hangin', Mas, Menos? Speedy, yo! Aqua – lad, Bee! Get over here an 'say hey to your –
"You had to… fly all the way back like right after you just got home?" Speedy looked up from his mirror to see Aqua – lad narrowing his eyes at Roy's rude question.
The deep-sea diver smiled up at his ex – captain. "It's great to see you too, Cyborg. We just got back from our own mission a few days ago. Argent is putting together a team of Titans in the UK. Britain was –
"¡Muy agradable! Tuvimos que ver el cambio de guardia y mas casi lo enloquece! Tuvimos que encontrar un restaurante sin pescado para Aqualad y lavar rápido..." The twins turned with their attention raised at Roy Harper. With a frown, the twins returned to their story's conclusion. " Fue regañado por una abuela enojada en –
"Hey! She hit me with a cane AND her purse! I thought she needed help crossing the street!" Snorted the red headed Titan side kick, with arms crossed and his eyes as slits below his mask. The usual, Speedy – Style tantrum. Classic.
"You didn't miss much." Cy ignored the teen's fit and decided to keep count of his own misadventures with the Titans West. "Robin almost banned us from having fun on our trip to Japan, Bb became a teen celebrity, Raven got to be a chewing gum company's mascot, and Starfire and the Boy Wonder –
"Finally got together. We got that, Sparky. Like it wasn't a thing before." Smirked Bee as she stood cooler than Cy could remember, even if they'd just stayed friends for now. "They are seriously too awkward about it, but Star was really hoping he'd try to open up an' be honest. She's already too cheerful an' open and you'd be surprised how deep that girl can get."
Nodding, Aqualad remembered their talk in the tower after the Brotherhood of Evil had been defeated.
"Enough gossip – so how is the city? Did your team get home ok?" Garth interrupted, finding that too much gabbing on wasn't his way to spend an afternoon.
"I got here the day before with my team, we even got interviewed by the Daily Planet."
"When we took over an' stopped Control Freak…did she have black hair and interrupt a whole lot –
"A lot of reporters do that." Roy scratched his head, making Beecher's eyes droop as she seemed to find the joke less than amusing. Was Bee's memory that good, he still wondered, anyway?
"No, no. Miss Lane! I read a ton of her stories an' she never's gotten one article wrong when it comes to the JLA." Bee proudly added, seeing as Cy was already gawking at the woman in charge of this team.
" Especially, Superman –
"¿En serio? ¡Tuvieron suerte! Lois Lane no es solo la mejor. También es la principal reportera de todo lo relacionado con Superman y Luthor en Metrópolis. Nos enteramos por Kid Flash, ¿quién sigue en Central City con su mentor? ¿Recuerda?"
"Congrats, Sparky. You're officially a true celebrity if Lois came out of her way to catch you guys in action. Way ta' go."
"Y- yeah, but somethin' still feels a bit…. I dunno, Robin was pretty down even when they wanted to interview him first –
"The, blues?" Aqualad cocked his head, "Him? Well… Robin was Batman's partner. He has to hate the limelight by now, maybe…"
"Naw, it was pretty deep. Rave brought him around but so far; I hope it's nothing we can't handle."
"Take a load off an' stay awhile, Sparky." Bee brought out the sound system as the music started playing. "We were just about to kick it here an' celebrate another victory. Can't turn into your leader who'd ban a mini - vacation." She snickered a bit, though didn't mean much harm from the way she said it. Still Cy decided to leave by the next morning, seeing as he'd come all this way after fighting off his last lag from the T – ship's trip across the water. He'd be sure to talk to his leader in the next hour to report the rest. After all, the Titans still needed him to be there and watch their backs.
"Oh, by the way; what happened to you in Tokyo? You never told us what you got to experience." Aqualad fired up his famous dish as the cooking commenced from in the kitchen attached to the living room. Cy boogied down with Speedy and Mas, trying to get around to speaking his part as Garth wanted.
"Nothin' too crazy. Just…Won't ever touch octopus or squid…. mmbbbb…. again, for a few years…"
His face was fine, but the memory of wasabi being force - fed to the hero still stung at his nostrils as much as that pickled, fish egg platter had made him round and content until Christmas.
"Sorry I asked…"
Aqualad also turned a bit blue as he returned to cooking a fish - free dinner for his entire team of heroes.
/TITW/CY
The heroes got to call Cy that night, finally having met back up in their tower with Robin in better spirits, until he needed to call Raven back into his mind.
"Everything ok?"
~ I'm havin' the time of my life right now. Can't believe Titans East had a mission a few days before we got back – an in, Star City. Cool, huh? Oh, right. So, Argent contacted an' she's good to go. Jericho, The Herald, and she are putting the finishing touches on their tower. I saw a picture. Not bad. They even installed this underwater monorail –
"Retro." Raven smiled, liking the plan already.
"Great, but I need you back here at 900 sharp. Copy –
~ Loud an clear, boss. But, yeah. We can always come visit; they get a lot of flexibility that –
"We don't have time –
Starfire put a hand onto Richard's clenched one by the main computer's dashboard. His look immediately softened, which impressed even Raven so far.
~Don't sweat it. I'll be back by tomorrow. Keep you guys in the knew, an' Bb? Don't go diggin' through the freezer for my stash unless you promise not to eat the whole thing –
"Since when did you even like almond milk ice cream anyway? That's my thing – And…. with coconut…" He soon whimpered, yet now hangry enough to put away his good word for a late-night snack. Raven shot the youngest a glare.…" Bb grumbled to himself. "I'm an animal, dude….so much of a tease…that sooo, isn't cool…"
Cy ignored the boy's grumpy behavior as he had Speedy's that night. ~Ciao, team. See you in 0 – 800 just to make the big guy happy. We, cool? ~
Robin actual smiled, which made the team glad to have seen his spirits back on top. "Don't wait up. We may get a crime alert by the time you're on the road." Dick mischievously raised a brow as he said it, making Cy take on the challenge like he suspected might happen.
~ Like I'd let you go an' bust up some crook without me! Cyborg, out y'all. An' you know who ta' call. ~
"I heard that' - Robin, out." The team leader said with a soft chuckle. He was not Bruce, and he didn't have to be perfect. Everyone made mistakes. It was how you dealt with them that counted in the end.
The screen went dark as their lives soon continued. When the five were finally reunited in Jump, who knew what adventures might await them, and for many more exiting years to come.
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Had to give Robin some drama to keep him out of his own head, and since PTSD is his thing? Social anxiety aside? Heh, he knows who to call for help. Starfire is getting back in touch with her feelings after Robin finally said yes to the dress – or the one she'll be wearing on their perfect night out by the time he gets the message.
Cy is just glad to be home and cannot wait to start a new project or two in the meantime, but he knows how to stay in the moment which is important for healing everything – from deep trauma to gut pains.
Raven is indifferent, as her experience was not as personal like Cy's so she has only to help Robin to find his center once he's had enough of holding her hand for support. That's what friends do, right?
Bb is still keeping a safe look out on Terra, as Slade was never discovered again after their meeting robo – e beasto. (Things change ep.) He wanted to just show his kinder side, like being a guardian in the shadows, but is starting to wonder if he's going to far. So, now it really is time to pull away from old habits. Making way for better methods to grow and learn from his experiences. Terra may never like him like before, but she still knows he's a Titan. May have a fic there, we'll see.
So? What about Star and Rob?
Arsenal and her new team? Will the heroes have more plans to expand like before? Snippets galore continues with a passion! Read on and stay curious!
Also, used the name Cat from Gotham series, no real relation. She is just rocking the runway - with Starfire in the comics also being a model. Gootta start small somewhere? Right? You can never tell what the future may hold. As in Dick's last "not like Bruce," after thought? Anyone can tell that Nightwing is on the horizon, so stay sharp!
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