Disclaimer: See chapter one.
I am so happy about the November premieres with the new episodes of "Teen Titans!" I loved "Car Trouble." (Is it just me, or did Raven do a lot more smiling than normal for that episode?) Alright, enough of that. Let's go see what Ebony's up to!
~*Chapter 3*~
Ebony stuffed a forkful of tofu pancakes in her mouth while the boys could just watch in awe. Beast Boy knew that Ebony was dead, and yet she had made herself completely at home in Titans Tower. He couldn't help but think that something was up. Of course, that took up a very small amount of his brain. Most of it was focused on being blissfully happy that Ebony was alive. Robin was surprised. He was happy, yes, but he too couldn't help but think that this happening was a little strange. Little ten-year-old kids don't just rise from the dead. Still, he was happy, really happy. Cyborg was just shocked that somebody was actually enjoying Beast Boy's tofu junk.
Robin was the first to speak up.
"So, how have you been, Ebony?"
Ebony didn't look up from her plate of pancakes.
"Fine," she replied. That was all she said.
{Okay, a girl of few words?} Robin thought.
"Where were you?" Cyborg asked.
"Away,"
"Okay,"
There was more silence. Something wasn't quite right. Ebony stuffed another forkful of tofu pancakes in her mouth. She took a sip of Beast Boy's fake milk and brushed a few stray strands of her blue, spiky hair out of her violet-blue eyes. They flashed lights across the room making the white walls have dark rainbows on them.
What was going on? This was not normal for a girl like Ebony.
"What do you guys want to do today?" Beast Boy asked Cyborg and Robin.
"Let's go to the mall of shopping!" Ebony exploded, jumping up from her seat. "Can we go shopping today? Please! Please! Please!"
"That's more of a girl thing, Ebony," Beast Boy said matter-of- factly. He stopped short, realizing something. "Hey! Wait a second! You were just all doom and gloom, like, two minutes ago. What's with you suddenly being the happiest little girl alive?"
"I just wanted to go shopping!" Ebony sobbed. She ran from the table and up the stairs to the roof of Titans Tower.
"What is that girl's problem?" Cyborg asked, standing up. "She's acting really weird."
"Someone's having mood swings," Beast Boy snickered under his breath.
"I think something is behind Ebony coming back to life," Robin announced, crossing his arms. "I mean, sure, I'm happy she's alive, but this is just a little too weird."
"Why?"
"Humans don't just come back to life you know."
"Ebony isn't human."
"You know what I mean!"
Beast Boy crossed his arms and looked at the leader of the Titans stubbornly.
"I think it's a little strange, too," he agreed, "but I think Ebony would tell us if someone or something was controlling her."
"Sure," Cyborg agreed sarcastically.
"Ebony is a secretive one," Robin pointed out. "Cyborg had to bribe her with a lollipop last time so that she would tell us that Blackfire was trying to destroy us all."
"That doesn't mean that people can't change," Beast Boy argued.
"Some things never change," Robin said icily.
At that moment, Starfire came downstairs with a crying Ebony at her side.
"I request to know what you three did to Ebony in order to make her so upset," Starfire said, folding her hands.
"We didn't say anything that was meant to hurt her!" Beast Boy shouted. "We just said that we didn't want to go shopping with her. It's sort of a girl thing, you know."
"What about the games that flash on the giant image-viewing screen?"
"You mean the video games?" Cyborg asked. "Woah, I didn't think of that."
"You could go to the video game and electronics store located inside the mall of shopping," Starfire suggested. "Would you like that, Ebony?"
Ebony nodded, rubbing her eyes of her tears. She sniffed and gave Starfire a hug.
"I just want to be with everyone to make up for the time that we have been apart,"
"Speaking of which, Ebony, I wish to sa-"
"To the video game store!" Beast Boy announced, thrusting his arms in the air.
The boys and Ebony paraded out of Titans Tower, leaving Starfire in the dust. Once they were outside, Beast Boy turned into pterodactyl and let Robin ride on his back. Ebony levitated off the ground and took Cyborg's hand. They all went off for the mall.
Meanwhile, at his hideout, Slade watched as one of the people he called clicked something into a super computer.
"Nice job," Slade commented, folding his arms. "You did well controlling the little one."
"Thank you," the person replied, turning to Slade, "but it was hard! That little ducky has a stubborn body that doesn't like to be controlled."
"Well, that just proves that you can be of some use to me. I once heard that you almost defeated the Titans."
"I would've done it if that nosy Robin didn't come and crash my school!"
"I understand," Slade said, truly meaning it. "That happened to me. I was extremely close to defeating the Titans. Robin's too smart."
"Agreed,"
"If we work together, we can defeat him and his little Titan friends. Two strong forces together create a squad. More people to the squad makes the squad a team. More people to the team makes the team an army."
"I get it," the person agreed, "but I can't do anything like this! Look at me! I'm an old guy and the hologram of my younger version was destroyed!"
"I shall restore your youth."
Slade shot out an arm, and a white glow surrounded the person's body. He writhed in the delightful pain as he felt everything about him become younger. Hair started growing upon his head as his skin turned paler. His clothes changed, too. He was in a tight shirt with the English flag on it and white bellbottom pants. His blue sunglasses reached the tip of his nose as his hair turned bright, ketchup colored red.
When the light faded, a young teacher with a very strange outfit stood before Slade. The teacher smiled evilly.
"Allow me to formerly introduce myself," he insisted. "I am Mad Mod. With my hypno-screens, I can force anybody to lose their mind, especially that Beast Boy ducky."
"Well then, Mad Mod," Slade began, "do we have a deal? You join me and I shall keep your youth. Together, along with the power of the others I have called, we shall destroy the Teen Titans."
"We'll teach those duckies a lesson they'll never forget."
Slade nodded and signaled for Mad Mod to leave. He did and another person walked into the room.
"You wanted to see me?" he asked.
"Yes," Slade confirmed, motioning towards a computer system. "I am using this computer in order to completely control the small girl. However, all the kinks haven't been fixed."
"Say no more," the other being said. "I am the one they call Fixit. I repair things that come to me broken."
"So I've heard," Slade said, folding his arms. Fixit walked over to the super computer and examined it.
"Repairs should not talk long. Who is it that you are trying to control?"
"A little girl who is the sister of one of the Titans,"
"The Teen Titans?"
"Yes,"
"The one called Cyborg is part of the team," Fixit said gently, remembering the past rendezvous he had with him. "He showed me how beautiful the real world is. I wanted to be like him. That is why I have not made repairs on myself."
"Then I shall make them for you."
Slade snapped his fingers and Cinderblock walked out from the shadows. He picked Fixit up in his arms and carried him to who knows where. Fixit struggled to get free.
"Wait!" he shouted, trying to wriggle out of the grasp of Cinderblock. "I do not wish to be a complete robot!"
"Sure you do," Slade insisted. "Trust me."
Everything went silent.
Back in the city, Robin, Cyborg, Beast Boy, and Ebony strolled through the mall looking at all the stuff on display in the stores. Ebony was acting a little more hyper than usual. She happily danced in circles around the boys, making them feel a little uncomfortable, not to mention suspicious.
"Thank you so much for bringing me to the mall!" Ebony cheered. "I love hanging out with the Titans!"
"It's, uh, great to hang out with you, too, Ebony," Robin said, feeling a little nervous.
"Yeah, it's great," Beast Boy added, scratching the back of his head. "Do you guys want to head straight to the video game store or do you want to window shop for a bit?"
"Oh!" Ebony gasped. "Can we go to the candy store please?"
The Titans exchanged curious looks.
"Why don't you go into the candy store and pick out what you want while we wait here for you?" Cyborg suggested.
"Okay!"
Ebony skipped off into the candy store. The boys sat on a bench behind them.
"Okay," Beast Boy began, "am I the only one to notice that we a one- woman freak circus following us?"
"She is acting strange," Robin agreed.
"She acts like nothing is wrong!" Cyborg argued. "She's a ten-year- old that's risen from the dead and has made herself completely at home in Titans Tower eating Beast Boy's tofu junk!"
"Hey, those things taste better than they look!" Beast Boy shouted.
"Enough about the tofu already!" Robin broke up the fight between his fellow Titans. "We have a bigger problem to worry about than someone liking tofu! We have this girl who we know died in a battle. All of a sudden, she's come back acting as if nothing's wrong. Sure, Raven's creepy and I'd expect that from a relative of hers, but this is too creepy even for someone of Raven's kind."
"Totally," Beast Boy said.
At that moment, Ebony came out of the candy store.
"They didn't have what I wanted," she sighed.
"Whatever," Cyborg said flatly. "Are you guys about ready to go to the video game store?"
"I'm ready!" Ebony cheered, skipping ahead of the boys. She received a few stares from the other shoppers walking down the halls. The boys lagged behind, hoping no one would see that Ebony was with them.
"Freak," Beast Boy mumbled under his breath.
Back at Titans Tower, Starfire sat at the couch watching TV. Raven gently walked down the stairs to the TV room and sat down next to her.
"Greetings, Raven!"
"Hi."
"Are you feeling any better?"
"Yes,"
The two girls sat in silence for a little while. Starfire flipped through a few channels. Raven picked up a book of depressing poetry and began skimming through the pages. Most of them, she had read. While she skimmed, she thought. Her sister had risen from the dead. The Titans hadn't gotten a call for work in days. She couldn't help but think that someone was behind a crazy plan to get the Titans. She had agreed with Starfire when she said she thought Slade was behind all this. It was very possible. It was more possible than she wanted it to be. Both of them were worried. They just didn't show it. Both of them sighed at the same time. It was too tricky of a riddle to figure out.
"Where did Ebony go?" Raven finally asked.
"To the mall of shopping," Starfire replied, "with the boys."
Raven nodded and turned another page.
"To do what?" she asked.
"She and the boys went to the store of the flashing games that appear on the image-viewing screen."
"You mean video games,"
"Yes!" Starfire cheered.
"Did they say what they were going to do there?" Raven continued to question.
"I believe they were looking to do the 'window shopping' there, whatever that might mean."
"That means that they were just looking at what the store had," Raven replied. "They aren't going to buy anything."
"Perhaps Ebony will purchase a book of depressing poetry like yours."
"Maybe,"
"Raven, I have noticed that you and Ebony are not very much alike," Starfire announced, "like Sister and me."
"We may be related, but we're not completely alike," Raven confirmed. "Still, something bothers me about that."
"What?"
"Well, it's a part of my past," Raven began, unintentionally building dramatic tension. "I guess I might as well tell you this now."
"What?" Starfire asked, silently begging for more.
"Starfire," Raven began, taking a deep breath, "I was born through rape."
Starfire went pale. She had not been on earth that long, but she knew exactly what Raven was talking about.
"What bothers me is about Trigon, my father. What happened to make Ebony?"
"I do not know," Starfire confessed. "Maybe that is another secret that we should never uncover. Maybe some secrets are better left undisturbed."
"Maybe," Raven agreed, "but I'm not convinced."
Back at Slade's hideout, he was watching the tiniest of the people he called use magic to control something.
"I should have thought of that a long time ago," Slade said. "Maybe we don't need that super computer to control the little one."
"I told you," the person said, "I can pull the strings on anybody."
"Alright, you can control her."
"Thank you, Sir. The Puppet King is the ruler of the Titans."
The Puppet King turned back to his strings and magic. He pulled one string on a puppet. The puppet had spiky blue hair, a black leotard, and lavender sheer fabric.
"Confession time," he said, and he stabbed his controller through the puppet.
~*End of Chapter Three*~
I am so happy about the November premieres with the new episodes of "Teen Titans!" I loved "Car Trouble." (Is it just me, or did Raven do a lot more smiling than normal for that episode?) Alright, enough of that. Let's go see what Ebony's up to!
~*Chapter 3*~
Ebony stuffed a forkful of tofu pancakes in her mouth while the boys could just watch in awe. Beast Boy knew that Ebony was dead, and yet she had made herself completely at home in Titans Tower. He couldn't help but think that something was up. Of course, that took up a very small amount of his brain. Most of it was focused on being blissfully happy that Ebony was alive. Robin was surprised. He was happy, yes, but he too couldn't help but think that this happening was a little strange. Little ten-year-old kids don't just rise from the dead. Still, he was happy, really happy. Cyborg was just shocked that somebody was actually enjoying Beast Boy's tofu junk.
Robin was the first to speak up.
"So, how have you been, Ebony?"
Ebony didn't look up from her plate of pancakes.
"Fine," she replied. That was all she said.
{Okay, a girl of few words?} Robin thought.
"Where were you?" Cyborg asked.
"Away,"
"Okay,"
There was more silence. Something wasn't quite right. Ebony stuffed another forkful of tofu pancakes in her mouth. She took a sip of Beast Boy's fake milk and brushed a few stray strands of her blue, spiky hair out of her violet-blue eyes. They flashed lights across the room making the white walls have dark rainbows on them.
What was going on? This was not normal for a girl like Ebony.
"What do you guys want to do today?" Beast Boy asked Cyborg and Robin.
"Let's go to the mall of shopping!" Ebony exploded, jumping up from her seat. "Can we go shopping today? Please! Please! Please!"
"That's more of a girl thing, Ebony," Beast Boy said matter-of- factly. He stopped short, realizing something. "Hey! Wait a second! You were just all doom and gloom, like, two minutes ago. What's with you suddenly being the happiest little girl alive?"
"I just wanted to go shopping!" Ebony sobbed. She ran from the table and up the stairs to the roof of Titans Tower.
"What is that girl's problem?" Cyborg asked, standing up. "She's acting really weird."
"Someone's having mood swings," Beast Boy snickered under his breath.
"I think something is behind Ebony coming back to life," Robin announced, crossing his arms. "I mean, sure, I'm happy she's alive, but this is just a little too weird."
"Why?"
"Humans don't just come back to life you know."
"Ebony isn't human."
"You know what I mean!"
Beast Boy crossed his arms and looked at the leader of the Titans stubbornly.
"I think it's a little strange, too," he agreed, "but I think Ebony would tell us if someone or something was controlling her."
"Sure," Cyborg agreed sarcastically.
"Ebony is a secretive one," Robin pointed out. "Cyborg had to bribe her with a lollipop last time so that she would tell us that Blackfire was trying to destroy us all."
"That doesn't mean that people can't change," Beast Boy argued.
"Some things never change," Robin said icily.
At that moment, Starfire came downstairs with a crying Ebony at her side.
"I request to know what you three did to Ebony in order to make her so upset," Starfire said, folding her hands.
"We didn't say anything that was meant to hurt her!" Beast Boy shouted. "We just said that we didn't want to go shopping with her. It's sort of a girl thing, you know."
"What about the games that flash on the giant image-viewing screen?"
"You mean the video games?" Cyborg asked. "Woah, I didn't think of that."
"You could go to the video game and electronics store located inside the mall of shopping," Starfire suggested. "Would you like that, Ebony?"
Ebony nodded, rubbing her eyes of her tears. She sniffed and gave Starfire a hug.
"I just want to be with everyone to make up for the time that we have been apart,"
"Speaking of which, Ebony, I wish to sa-"
"To the video game store!" Beast Boy announced, thrusting his arms in the air.
The boys and Ebony paraded out of Titans Tower, leaving Starfire in the dust. Once they were outside, Beast Boy turned into pterodactyl and let Robin ride on his back. Ebony levitated off the ground and took Cyborg's hand. They all went off for the mall.
Meanwhile, at his hideout, Slade watched as one of the people he called clicked something into a super computer.
"Nice job," Slade commented, folding his arms. "You did well controlling the little one."
"Thank you," the person replied, turning to Slade, "but it was hard! That little ducky has a stubborn body that doesn't like to be controlled."
"Well, that just proves that you can be of some use to me. I once heard that you almost defeated the Titans."
"I would've done it if that nosy Robin didn't come and crash my school!"
"I understand," Slade said, truly meaning it. "That happened to me. I was extremely close to defeating the Titans. Robin's too smart."
"Agreed,"
"If we work together, we can defeat him and his little Titan friends. Two strong forces together create a squad. More people to the squad makes the squad a team. More people to the team makes the team an army."
"I get it," the person agreed, "but I can't do anything like this! Look at me! I'm an old guy and the hologram of my younger version was destroyed!"
"I shall restore your youth."
Slade shot out an arm, and a white glow surrounded the person's body. He writhed in the delightful pain as he felt everything about him become younger. Hair started growing upon his head as his skin turned paler. His clothes changed, too. He was in a tight shirt with the English flag on it and white bellbottom pants. His blue sunglasses reached the tip of his nose as his hair turned bright, ketchup colored red.
When the light faded, a young teacher with a very strange outfit stood before Slade. The teacher smiled evilly.
"Allow me to formerly introduce myself," he insisted. "I am Mad Mod. With my hypno-screens, I can force anybody to lose their mind, especially that Beast Boy ducky."
"Well then, Mad Mod," Slade began, "do we have a deal? You join me and I shall keep your youth. Together, along with the power of the others I have called, we shall destroy the Teen Titans."
"We'll teach those duckies a lesson they'll never forget."
Slade nodded and signaled for Mad Mod to leave. He did and another person walked into the room.
"You wanted to see me?" he asked.
"Yes," Slade confirmed, motioning towards a computer system. "I am using this computer in order to completely control the small girl. However, all the kinks haven't been fixed."
"Say no more," the other being said. "I am the one they call Fixit. I repair things that come to me broken."
"So I've heard," Slade said, folding his arms. Fixit walked over to the super computer and examined it.
"Repairs should not talk long. Who is it that you are trying to control?"
"A little girl who is the sister of one of the Titans,"
"The Teen Titans?"
"Yes,"
"The one called Cyborg is part of the team," Fixit said gently, remembering the past rendezvous he had with him. "He showed me how beautiful the real world is. I wanted to be like him. That is why I have not made repairs on myself."
"Then I shall make them for you."
Slade snapped his fingers and Cinderblock walked out from the shadows. He picked Fixit up in his arms and carried him to who knows where. Fixit struggled to get free.
"Wait!" he shouted, trying to wriggle out of the grasp of Cinderblock. "I do not wish to be a complete robot!"
"Sure you do," Slade insisted. "Trust me."
Everything went silent.
Back in the city, Robin, Cyborg, Beast Boy, and Ebony strolled through the mall looking at all the stuff on display in the stores. Ebony was acting a little more hyper than usual. She happily danced in circles around the boys, making them feel a little uncomfortable, not to mention suspicious.
"Thank you so much for bringing me to the mall!" Ebony cheered. "I love hanging out with the Titans!"
"It's, uh, great to hang out with you, too, Ebony," Robin said, feeling a little nervous.
"Yeah, it's great," Beast Boy added, scratching the back of his head. "Do you guys want to head straight to the video game store or do you want to window shop for a bit?"
"Oh!" Ebony gasped. "Can we go to the candy store please?"
The Titans exchanged curious looks.
"Why don't you go into the candy store and pick out what you want while we wait here for you?" Cyborg suggested.
"Okay!"
Ebony skipped off into the candy store. The boys sat on a bench behind them.
"Okay," Beast Boy began, "am I the only one to notice that we a one- woman freak circus following us?"
"She is acting strange," Robin agreed.
"She acts like nothing is wrong!" Cyborg argued. "She's a ten-year- old that's risen from the dead and has made herself completely at home in Titans Tower eating Beast Boy's tofu junk!"
"Hey, those things taste better than they look!" Beast Boy shouted.
"Enough about the tofu already!" Robin broke up the fight between his fellow Titans. "We have a bigger problem to worry about than someone liking tofu! We have this girl who we know died in a battle. All of a sudden, she's come back acting as if nothing's wrong. Sure, Raven's creepy and I'd expect that from a relative of hers, but this is too creepy even for someone of Raven's kind."
"Totally," Beast Boy said.
At that moment, Ebony came out of the candy store.
"They didn't have what I wanted," she sighed.
"Whatever," Cyborg said flatly. "Are you guys about ready to go to the video game store?"
"I'm ready!" Ebony cheered, skipping ahead of the boys. She received a few stares from the other shoppers walking down the halls. The boys lagged behind, hoping no one would see that Ebony was with them.
"Freak," Beast Boy mumbled under his breath.
Back at Titans Tower, Starfire sat at the couch watching TV. Raven gently walked down the stairs to the TV room and sat down next to her.
"Greetings, Raven!"
"Hi."
"Are you feeling any better?"
"Yes,"
The two girls sat in silence for a little while. Starfire flipped through a few channels. Raven picked up a book of depressing poetry and began skimming through the pages. Most of them, she had read. While she skimmed, she thought. Her sister had risen from the dead. The Titans hadn't gotten a call for work in days. She couldn't help but think that someone was behind a crazy plan to get the Titans. She had agreed with Starfire when she said she thought Slade was behind all this. It was very possible. It was more possible than she wanted it to be. Both of them were worried. They just didn't show it. Both of them sighed at the same time. It was too tricky of a riddle to figure out.
"Where did Ebony go?" Raven finally asked.
"To the mall of shopping," Starfire replied, "with the boys."
Raven nodded and turned another page.
"To do what?" she asked.
"She and the boys went to the store of the flashing games that appear on the image-viewing screen."
"You mean video games,"
"Yes!" Starfire cheered.
"Did they say what they were going to do there?" Raven continued to question.
"I believe they were looking to do the 'window shopping' there, whatever that might mean."
"That means that they were just looking at what the store had," Raven replied. "They aren't going to buy anything."
"Perhaps Ebony will purchase a book of depressing poetry like yours."
"Maybe,"
"Raven, I have noticed that you and Ebony are not very much alike," Starfire announced, "like Sister and me."
"We may be related, but we're not completely alike," Raven confirmed. "Still, something bothers me about that."
"What?"
"Well, it's a part of my past," Raven began, unintentionally building dramatic tension. "I guess I might as well tell you this now."
"What?" Starfire asked, silently begging for more.
"Starfire," Raven began, taking a deep breath, "I was born through rape."
Starfire went pale. She had not been on earth that long, but she knew exactly what Raven was talking about.
"What bothers me is about Trigon, my father. What happened to make Ebony?"
"I do not know," Starfire confessed. "Maybe that is another secret that we should never uncover. Maybe some secrets are better left undisturbed."
"Maybe," Raven agreed, "but I'm not convinced."
Back at Slade's hideout, he was watching the tiniest of the people he called use magic to control something.
"I should have thought of that a long time ago," Slade said. "Maybe we don't need that super computer to control the little one."
"I told you," the person said, "I can pull the strings on anybody."
"Alright, you can control her."
"Thank you, Sir. The Puppet King is the ruler of the Titans."
The Puppet King turned back to his strings and magic. He pulled one string on a puppet. The puppet had spiky blue hair, a black leotard, and lavender sheer fabric.
"Confession time," he said, and he stabbed his controller through the puppet.
~*End of Chapter Three*~
