Chapter 6
The next day the Teen Titans went shopping. They separated and agreed to meet at the food court. The three boys went one way and Starfire dragged Raven into every clothes shop she could find.
It is important to point out now that, while Raven could now control her emotions, she was still very much the same person. Which Starfire found slightly disappointing. Because Raven downright refused to buy anything pink.
"No pink. Purple, yes. Blue, yes. Black, yes. I might even stretch to dark green. But not pink."
Starfire sighed. They had already started to make Raven another uniform. Raven selected several dark shirts and trousers. Starfire smiled.
"You have not got a dress, Raven! You must have a dress."
"I don't want a dress."
"You must have one! When you were gone, Robin's friend, Bruce Wayne threw a big party called a sphere-"
"A ball, Starfire. Not a sphere."
"Yes, a ball and we were required to dress in dresses or tuxedos and wear dead plants. And he said he would like to hold another sph- ball."
Raven sighed and shrugged.
"Fine. Whatever." Starfire squealed and floated several inches off the ground. Dragging Raven to the formal wear area of the store she babbled,
"I already have a dress, but we shall have much fun choosing you one also!"
"Starfire, I'm not really a shopping person. And I've been shopping for three hours. Let's just grab the first dress we see and meet the guys for pizza."
"No! You shall not deny the pleasure of dress-choosing!" Starfire said, stamping her foot, her eyes blazing green. Raven swallowed.
"OK – pick a dress."
Starfire walked down the racks and selected a dress. It was pink. One evil glare on Raven's behalf was enough to return it to the rack. After another half hour Raven was feeling irritable. Starfire sighed and said,
"Alright, just one more."
Raven shook her head in despair and turned away as Starfire looked for another dress. A shop assistant who had been watching in amusement approached and said,
"Miss? The manager told me to give you this one. Mostly because your friend is scaring away the other customers." Raven stared at the dress.
OK – maybe there was a dress that she liked.
It was black. A good start in her opinion. Straight cut, down to the floor with thin shoulder straps. A pair of white gloves and white shoes came with it. Raven looked at the assistant's hopeful face and then at Starfire who wasn't paying attention.
"We'll take it."
"What took you so long? We've been waiting for AGES!" Beastboy complained. Raven rolled her eyes.
"Starfire wanted to try on every item of clothing in the mall."
"We were very successful in our clothes shopping!"
"Great – let's eat." Cyborg complained.
As usual, a large fight about which pizza to get took place. Beastboy ended getting a small tofu pizza while the others ate meat feast. Starfire sneakily tried to order a pot of mustard but Robin caught her and cancelled the order.
As Raven sipped her diet coke, Robin said,
"OK, guys, we need to do something about Slade." Raven choked on the coke and Beastboy had to slap her on the back.
"Slade is still here?" She said, disbelievingly. Robin nodded.
"Yeah. We hoped to have defeated him a long time ago. But we didn't. We've fought a couple of times since you left." Raven looked away. Beastboy grinned at her.
"Hey, don't sweat it. We'll get him."
"Yes, we will!" Starfire agreed. Cyborg swallowed his pizza and said,
"Well, we can't move until he does. Let's just enjoy the peace while we can."
They returned to the tower that night in good spirits. Cyborg and Robin had bought a foosball table and a tournament took place. It came down to Cyborg and Beastboy. The others crowded around to watch, Robin providing a running commentary.
"You are going down, tin man!" Beastboy crowed. Cyborg retorted,
"Wanna bet, elf boy?"
"And Cyborg's got the ball! He kicks it towards the goal posts and, oh! Beastboy saves it!"
Raven stood slightly back and watched with only half her mind on the game. Starfire jumped up and down excitedly.
But the game was brought to an abrupt end by a flashing red light and a siren. Robin looked at his communicator.
"Slade!" He shouted.
They ran for the door. Raven followed them and they met outside the tower as Robin gave them instructions.
"He's got a couple of lackeys at the jewellery store on Davison Avenue. We'll head over that way and try to get information out of them."
The orange and black clad figures ran from the store as the Titans arrived at the scene. There were four of them, all masked. Starfire aimed a green bolt at one but was struck from the air by a flying disc. They launched into attack.
As the last robot fell, Robin looked around.
"Since when did Slade rob jewellery stores?"
"Robin!" Starfire called. She was pointing at the roof of a nearby building, where Slade was just walking away.
"I'll get him." Raven called and flew up. She hovered above the roof and landed. Slade was nowhere to be seen. She took a step forward. The other Titans flew up, Cyborg and Robin carried by the other two.
"Where'd he go?" Cyborg said. Laughter rang over the roof. Slade's laughter. Looking through the darkness, they saw a figure dart behind a pile of boxes. Behind them another figure jumped out of sight. The Titans all prepared for an attack.
"Really, Titans. There's no need to be so hostile." Slade said. Robin stood still but said,
"There's five of us again, Slade. We'll beat you."
"Ah yes, Raven. How nice to see you again."
"Show yourself Slade." Raven called. Slade laughed again.
"It's not time yet."
"No more waiting Slade." Robin spoke again. Slade said,
"Not yet. But feel free to be defeated by a couple of my servants."
From the shadows, two figures appeared. Their faces were emerged in shadow, but from the suits they were wearing, both were clearly female.
Raven froze. It couldn't be. Robin pointed towards the figures.
"Titans! GO!"
"No!" Raven screamed. But the two figures had leapt out of the shadow.
The Teen Titans stopped and stared. The two figures stanced themselves, ready to attack.
They both looked exactly like Raven.
Raven flew forward and seized them both in a case of black light. They both struggled and broke the light. Slade's voice called again.
"Seize them!"
Raven couldn't move, as three more identical copies of her emerged from the darkness. The last thing she knew was a box being thrown at her head, the world swirled into darkness.
"I think she's waking up…"
"Raven?"
Her eyes were heavy. Slowly, painfully, her eyes opened.
They were in a dark room. A single light sat in the centre of it. Chained to the surrounding walls were the other Titans. Raven pulled at the chains but for some reason even her powers couldn't break them.
Raven looked up at the Teen Titans. Starfire spoke first.
"What was that?"
"I… I…"
"You joined Slade?" Robin demanded. Raven shook her head violently.
"No! No, I haven't!"
"Because from here you like very Slade associated!" Cyborg shouted, straining on his chains. She watched them.
"I didn't join Slade. I never would!"
"Then explain why he has lackeys that look just like you!" Robin shouted. Raven bit her lip.
"I can't... I mean, let's escape and then-"
"No." Beastboy finally spoke. He stood, chained to the wall but not struggling.
Raven looked at him. His eyes were fixed on hers.
"Raven – tell us now."
She looked down.
"I'll tell you. But you're not going to like it."