Elisa-Krane: Hello to all my lovely readers, especially to those who have reviewed so far! I was so surprised when I checked back here a few nights ago to find out that I had went from 6 to 16 reviews that, after reading everyone's great comments, I immediately got to work on Chapter 3. I know that many of the reviewers, if not all of the reviewers so far, have been awaiting the arrival of Chapter 3, and here it is! Hopefully you will all enjoy Chapter 3 and it's chaotic events... I know that some of you were expecting chaos, and you got it, I mean, it's even in the title of this chapter!
Disclaimer: Does anyone here EVER own the Teen Titans? Or Jell-O, for that matter?
A Heart Sought After
-=-=-=-
Chapter 3- Chaos Followed by Toilet Water
It took about fifteen minutes by air before we arrived at our destination: Skate Zone, an indoor roller-skating place that was very popular with preteens and young teens. There you could spend hours of your life skating your little heart out in a continuous oval pattern, falling down many times in the process.
The three of us, after landing from our trip, walked inside and over to a counter where a woman in her early 20's stood behind. Her face brightened when seeing the three of us approach her.
"No way! It's the Teen Titans! I never thought I'd be seeing you guys here! Are you here to skate, or is there trouble nearby?" She asked cheerfully, but her tone dropped when she noticed that not all of us were present, "Where are the other two?"
"They...didn't want to come," Robin lied, obviously trying to cover up the real reason, "And we're just here to skate."
"Awesome! I can't believe you guys are here! This just totally made my day!" The girl replied happily, "I've always wanted to meet you guys! I mean, I've read about you in the papers, but I never thought I'd ever get to meet you in person!"
"Well, we're glad we've made your day," Robin smiled.
"So, how much will we have to pay you for us to skate?" Beast Boy asked eagerly.
"Oh please, nothing at all! It's on me! Don't worry, you guys are welcome anytime!" She exclaimed in a bubbly manner, which made me shiver for a moment.
"Thanks!" Beast Boy exclaimed.
The woman calmed and looked toward Robin and I with a serious expression on her face, "Although I have to tell you, we here at Skate Zone have a policy that says that capes are not allowed within the rink. I'm sorry, but I will have to take your capes for the time that you are here."
I couldn't believe this. It's bad enough I'm stuck ROLLER-SKATING, of all things, in front of a large group of people. It's even worse that I don't know how to skate, and now THIS? Now I was going to have to take off my cloak in front of the two male teammates who liked me and have them gawk at me for the rest of the day now that I don't have anything to cover my leotard-clad body with? This is just great. Just GREAT.
Beast Boy laughed, "Ha ha, I don't have a cape to take off!"
"Shut it. NOW." I glared at the green boy with a piercing glare.
"Well, it looks like we get to see Raven without the cape!" Beast Boy continued, nudging Robin in the side as he took off his cape.
"Yeah Raven, you heard the lady," Robin said as he handed the young woman his cape.
"Don't get any ideas," I frowned at the both of them as I unlatched my cloak and slowly pulled it off of me, revealing me in nothing but my long-sleeved leotard, belt chain, and shoes. They just stared at me as I handed my cloak reluctantly to the woman.
"Whoa, Raven," Beast Boy stated as a blush formed on his face as well as Robin's. I just knew they'd be gawking.
I blushed even more than they did. I don't like guys eyeing me like that. I really don't.
"Stop staring. NOW." I ordered them.
"Ok, whatever you say, Raven," Beast Boy replied, looking to Robin who was still staring, and then to the woman, "Anything else your policy wants us to do?"
"That will be all," The woman confirmed, watching the scene between us that she caused. Well, that her stupid policy caused.
"STOP. STARING. NOW." I ordered Robin, snapping in his face to wake him from his gaze.
"Wha- Oh, sorry Raven, I couldn't help stari- I mean, couldn't help looking at you take your cloak off," He stammered.
I turned away from them and quickly headed into the next room. Filled with many kids of all ages, this room was slightly darker than the first one. It was the room that contained the oval-shaped skating rink, skate rental booth, and a food court with tables toward the back. On the one side sat a handful of arcade games, begging to be played. If I was lucky, those two would go off at some time to play and leave me some time alone to myself, but I highly doubted that that would happen.
The boys quickly raced to catch up to me as they looked around the room.
"Hey Rae, check this place out! This is gonna be so awesome! Rob and I can't WAIT to teach you how to roller-skate!" Beast Boy exclaimed, looking toward the rink.
[And I can't WAIT to get out of here,] I thought. Easy for HIM to say that this will be awesome. Him and Robin are already having a good time, and we just got here.
"Don't call me Rae." I replied, "And I am SO excited to learn how to roller-skate," I said sarcastically, rolling my eyes.
"C'mon, let's go get our skates!" Beast Boy grinned, dragging me by the arm over to the rental booth while Robin followed. Luckily, the man there didn't seem to have as much of an obsession over us like that woman did.
"Hey, you're the Teen Titans! Looks like you guys are in need of some skates. What sizes do you need?"
"Uh, we really don't know...cause we don't wear brand name shoes to know the sizes," Beast Boy replied.
"Oh, right...then, let me take your shoes and I'll find you matching skate sizes," The man said.
"Dude, it must stink to be the guy who takes everyone's shoes...I mean, it's like you're stuck watching over other people's smelly shoes," Beast Boy commented, taking off his shoes, "Here, you can add mine to the collection," He handed them to the man.
"Nice shade of fuchsia you got there," The man replied, grinning to Beast Boy.
"Thanks," The green boy replied and then looked to Robin and I, "We're waiting...."
"Here's mine," Robin said as he handed the man his shoes. I handed him mine a few seconds after.
"Ok, I'll have your skates in a minute," The man replied, running off to find the right sizes.
"What's NEXT to go, my chain?" I asked the two boys and glared at them as I gestured to the chain that hung lazily around my waist.
"If anyone was gonna take your chain, it would have been that woman who took your cape," Beast Boy retorted, looking at me with a sly grin.
"I'm glad no one has," I sighed, "Because that's all I have left of my sanity."
"Then you better keep that chain on before you break loose and blow up the place," Robin looked at me with a smile. I didn't know exactly why he was smiling right after he talked about me blowing up stuff because I don't exactly consider that a good thing, but who knows when it comes to him. Maybe he thinks it's cute when I blow up stuff. I have no idea.
"Why are you smiling at me? There is no reason to smile. Especially not today," I glared at Robin, who quickly stopped smiling and looked at me with a more leaderly expression on his face.
"Of COURSE there's a reason to smile! Especially today! We're going roller-skating!" Beast Boy exclaimed with a huge grin on his face. I turned away from both of them to avoid seeing any smiling from either of them. While turned, I secretly pinched my arm to make sure this wasn't a horrible nightmare I was dreaming. Unfortunately, it wasn't.
"Raven...turn around...speak to us...please?" Beast Boy pleaded, grabbing my leg and getting down on his knees while pleading, "Please?" He tugged at my leg.
"Let go of my leg now," I demanded, but he still clung on.
"PLEASE?" He looked up at me while still clung to my leg. I started to teeter from side to side as the green boy clung onto me. Robin went over to us and tried to pull Beast Boy off of me, but only resulted in all three of us falling down on top of each other. Even worse, I had somehow gotten sandwiched in the middle during the process.
"Uh...Hey Raven," Robin said as he faced my piercing glare that was not too far away from his face.
"Could a certain small, annoying green boy get off of me? NOW?"
"Aw, it was comfy up here too..." The boy whined as he got off of me. I quickly got up after him and was even more determined to leave than before.
"I'm surprised she didn't break something," Beast Boy whispered to Robin as I stood far way from them, sulking.
"Yeah, I am too," Robin replied back quietly. Suddenly, many men and women ran/skated out of their respective bathrooms, soaking wet and frantic.
"RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!!! THE TOILETS ARE EXPLODING!!!" A man shouted as he ran by. Robin and Beast Boy just looked at me.
"That's what you get if you try to get close with me," Was all I said in reply.
-=-=-=-
Back at the tower, Cyborg and Starfire were playing video games. Well, Cyborg was still trying to teach Starfire how to play them, but she was a lost case from the beginning.
"This green button over here is controlled by my thumb? And pressing it makes my car speed up?"
"Yes it does, Starfire,"
"But then how can my thumb control the orange button next to it that makes my car slow down if it is too busy controlling the green button that makes my car speed up?"
"Starfire, we've been through this already. You're either going to be speeding up or slowing down, so you don't need to use both buttons at the same time."
"But what if I don't want to be speeding up OR slowing down?"
"Then, uh...you either press the green button until the car won't go any faster or you press the orange button until the car doesn't go at all..."
"Oh, ok...but what if I break the speed limit? Won't I get a ticket if I go too fast?"
"It's a racing game, Starfire, there ARE no speed limits," Cyborg sighed. He was getting a headache from all of this, and he was about ready to tell someone else to teach her. Too bad there wasn't anyone else there to tell at the moment.
"But aren't the roads dangerous if there are no speed limits?"
"It's a RACING GAME!!! Of COURSE the roads are dangerous!!! That's PART of the GAME!!!"
Starfire was, for once, silent.
Cyborg noticed this and quickly calmed down again, "Look, Starfire, I'm sorry, just don't worry about the game, ok? I guess I'm not as good as a teacher as I thought I was. I'm sure Robin or Beast Boy would be happy to teach you."
"No, it is ok. I do not think that I will ever understand how to play, and I do not want to waste any more time than has already been wasted to try and understand," She said sadly, "Perhaps we can do something different instead while we wait for the others to return, such as looking out for trouble."
"I'm sorry about this," Cyborg replied, "And it's probably a good idea to look for trouble. I'll check the news," He stated, turning the TV channel to a news station and began to watch as a special report appeared on the screen.
"This just in..." The announcer explained, "The toilets at Jump City's Skate Zone have all suddenly exploded and are flooding the entire building. We do not know any other information at this time," She finished as a camera zoomed in from an aerial view on the building as everyone evacuated the building at once with toilet water following them.
"Um, Cyborg?" Starfire said uneasily, her eyes never leaving the screen.
"Yes, Star?" He replied, his eyes too never leaving the screen.
"Wasn't that the place where our friends went to?" She asked him.
"I believe it was, Starfire," Cyborg answered nervously.
The two Titans looked at each other and said at the same time:
"Raven."
-=-=-=-
I watched the scene before me while leaned up against the side of the building. There was not much I could do to soak up or stop the flooding, so I just stood there, sulking. The three of us were the only people here who knew that I did it, and none of us were about to tell the press that one of their beloved Teen Titans went and blew up all of the toilets in the nearest Skate Zone and flooded the building. I had recently ordered Beast Boy to help suck up the water as an elephant, saying that none of this would have happened if it wasn't for him. He reluctantly agreed to do so as he went off, mumbling something about smelling like dirty toilet water for two months.
The police had shown up a few minutes after the incident, and the press a few minutes after them. I had hidden myself on the other side of the building so neither would find me in my current state, which was cloakless, bare-footed, mad, and guilty. Unfortunately, Robin found my location and cautiously walked over to me.
"Hey, Raven...I'm sorry about what happened," He said apologetically as he leaned on the building a few feet away from me.
"I blame that green rodent more than you," I mumbled, crossing my arms.
"It's still partly my fault, though. If I waited for your opinion before deciding to go here today, this might not have happened."
"Perhaps it wouldn't have happened, but there's no way we can know for sure now," I replied, looking toward him, "I still blame him much more than I blame you, Robin. If he didn't go about grabbing onto people as much as he does, you two would probably be teaching me how to skate right now instead of dealing with a large plumbing problem."
"Yeah, I was just trying to get him off of you. I had no idea that THIS would happen," He stated, gesturing over to the front of the building where everyone else was, skating around in panic, talking to people on cell phones about the current situation, and telling the police and press all they knew while the police called the local plumbers to help get things back to normal.
"I had a feeling that something bad would happen with my powers while we were here, but I wasn't thinking that would be this extreme as it is."
"I don't think any of us were," He commented.
There was silence for a moment until I spoke up.
"Do you think that Cyborg and Starfire have any idea of what's going on right now, or do you think they're too busy playing video games?"
"Knowing Starfire, she's probably still trying to learn how to," He replied, a weak smile forming on his face.
"Do you think we should call them?" I asked, "After all, we're not coming home until this gets mostly settled, and that might take a while."
"I'll call them in a few minutes," He replied, "I don't want them to get mad at us for not calling. But first, I wanted to see if you're going to be all right. Emotionally, I mean."
"As long as I don't see any pesky green rodents for the next couple of weeks, I'll be fine."
"I'm surprised you're not equally as mad at the both of us. After all, I was just as determined as he was to get to know you," He sighed.
"True, but he was annoying from the beginning, so that makes me mad at him more than you."
"You sure hate him, don't you?" He inquired.
"Let's just say he's not on my favorites list," I replied.
Robin nodded.
"I understand how he could quickly get on your nerves, Raven..."
It was my turn to nod.
"Well, thanks for letting me talk to you. I should probably call the others now," He said to me, "I'm glad we had this talk."
Silence again for another moment before I again spoke up.
"I'm glad too. I hope you don't mind if I come with you to the front of the building. I'm kind of curious to see what's going on out there."
"I don't mind. I always enjoy your company," He smiled at me as we walked to the front of the building.
-=-=-=-
Meanwhile, Starfire and Cyborg were already on their way to the Skate Zone. With Starfire carrying Cyborg, they could arrive there quicker, but not without a sudden call on their communicators.
"It's probably Robin. I'll answer it," Cyborg replied, answering the call through his arm, which served as a communicator.
"Hey Robin," Cyborg stated.
"Cyborg, there's a bit of a problem at the Skate Zone. I was just calling to-"
"We know, and we're already on our way," Cyborg responded, cutting off Robin with his response.
"Ok, well then I'll guess we'll see you in a few minutes," Robin said as he turned off the communicator.
"Yep, we sure will," Cyborg muttered to himself as he turned off his communicator.
-=-=-=-
Robin and I were standing near the front of the building when Starfire and Cyborg landed from their flight and walked over to us. It had only been a few minutes after we called them, which made me conclude that the video game lessons weren't as successful as expected.
"Friends! Why are you without capes and shoes? It is awful damp out here to not be wearing shoes," Starfire observed as she stood in front of us.
"Maybe because the people here took them so we COULD skate," I bleakly replied.
"So you blew up all of the toilets?" Cyborg asked as he looked at me. He was probably staring at me without my cape on, for all I know.
"It was an accident. Blame it on the 4-foot grass stain," I muttered edgily.
"Where is he, by the way?" Cyborg inquired, looking around the area.
"I sent him off to suck up the water. I haven't seen him in about 30 minutes," I said, shrugging at the group, "And I kind of hope I don't see him for a while."
"She's really mad at him," Robin whispered to the other two, who nodded in response.
"So, I'm assuming that video game lessons didn't turn out so well?" I asked, trying to pry the subject off of me.
"You can say that again," Cyborg replied.
"I was very confused, and Cyborg was not willing to help me after so many times of explaining to me," Starfire added.
"I can help you if you want, Starfire," Robin stated with a smile, which made Starfire grin with glee.
"Oh THANK you, Robin!" Starfire beamed, hugging the leader tightly.
"You're-welcome!" Robin gasped, being choked by Starfire's hug.
"Aww, what a Kodak moment!" Cyborg grinned, watching the two. It was obvious that him and Starfire were oblivious to the fact that Robin liked me and not Starfire.
Starfire let go of him as he fell to the ground and panted for breath.
"Uh, Starfire, I think you hugged him a little too hard," I stated, gesturing to the panting boy.
"Oh, I am sorry, Robin. I did not mean to take away your breath," She replied, kneeling down next to him, "I promise I will make you forgiveness pudding when we get home."
"No, it's ok, Starfire, you don't have to make me forgiveness pudding," He replied.
"How come none of you wish to accept my offer to make you forgiveness pudding?"
"Because nothing was that big of a deal that we needed you to make it for us," Cyborg stated, "In fact, we'd probably be happier if you made us some Jell-O brand pudding from one of those little boxes you can buy at the store."
"Really? You wish for me to make you forgiveness pudding of the Jell- O brand?"
"Sure, why not, Star," Cyborg smiled.
"If anyone should be making pudding, it's either me or that green rodent," I said, looking to all of them.
"Perhaps what we need is for all of us to make each other forgiveness pudding of the Jell-O brand." Starfire suggested, "Then we will all be able to forgive each other in a peaceful manner."
"If you think that'll solve everything, Starfire," I retorted, "Then why not."
"Oh, glorious! Tonight we shall have a forgiveness pudding making festival to relieve us of all our troubles!" She grinned, jumping around in delight.
"I was being sarcastic," I replied sourly.
"...Oh..." She frowned. Just then, Beast Boy came over to us. There goes my not seeing him for the next couple of weeks. Luckily, though, he was carrying our cloaks and shoes with him.
"Hey guys," He said serenely to us, "I figured I'd take a break and see what you guys were up to." He handed Robin his cape and shoes, "Here you go, Robin. I managed to get our stuff back. And here's your stuff, Raven," He handed me my cloak and shoes with a slight reluctance on his face.
"Thank you," Robin and I said to him at the same time as we started putting our clothes back on.
"You're welcome." He smiled, "I had no idea that you two showed up here." He looked to Starfire and Cyborg. "So, how were the video game lessons?"
"They did not turn out the way we thought they would," Starfire replied sadly.
"Maybe I can help teach you how to play, Star," He replied.
"I've already volunteered to do that," Robin stated, rubbing his shoulder as he stood up.
"Perhaps if Robin is not successful, you can teach me, Beast Boy," Starfire said, looking to Beast Boy.
"Thanks, Star," Beast Boy smiled.
"Yeah, thanks, Star, for having real confidence in me," Robin remarked, looking to Starfire with a fake hurt expression on his face.
"I guess she doesn't think you can teach her," Cyborg commented, looking to Robin with a grin.
"Oh, I think she thinks that you can teach her, Robin." I spoke up, "Why else would she squeeze the living daylights out of you?"
"Daylight lives? And I squeezed it out of Robin? Does this mean that Robin is now night and dead?"
We all shook our heads.
"It's an expression, Starfire," I said dully.
"Oh! Right!" She exclaimed, "I squeezed something out of him."
"That totally did not sound right," Beast Boy commented. I had to agree with him, it did sound rather wrong.
"Starfire, don't say dirty comments," I chided as I looked at her, hoping that this time she would grasp the concept.
"I said something...naughty?"
"It just sounded wrong, that's all," Cyborg stated.
"Oh. I am sorry. I promise that I will make you ALL forgiveness pudding of the Jell-O brand when we arrive home."
"What's with the Jell-O?" Beast Boy whispered to Robin.
"Cyborg made a comment about it to her, and now she wants to make it for us instead of her usual stuff, thinking that it will make us happier if she makes the Jell-O pudding instead," Robin replied in a whisper back to Beast Boy.
"Well, it WILL make us happier if she makes Jell-O pudding," Beast Boy quietly remarked back.
[ANYTHING that isn't her bitter forgiveness pudding will make us happier,] I thought to myself.
"So, what's going on with the flooding?" Cyborg asked.
"I think everything will be ok, once all the water's cleared out and the toilets are replaced," Beast Boy replied, "I don't think they know yet, Rae," He looked to me. I assumed that the 'they' referred to the police, the press, and the people that worked there. While we're at it, let's just throw in everyone else for the heck of it all.
"And they won't unless they pry it out of us," I remarked.
"I think they should know who did it. It was merely an accident, and they know how sensitive your powers are," Robin commented.
"I thought you didn't want to tell either," I replied.
"They're going to find out sometime, and the sooner the better, and the sooner you tell them, the more forgiving they'll be," Robin explained, "If they find out on their own, they won't be happy that you didn't say something to them."
We had all finished getting our clothes back on as the owner of Skate Zone walked over to us. I gulped and figured that now was my chance to tell him what happened.
"Um, sir...I'm sorry for-"
"Wow! The Teen Titans! I can't believe that you guys came here! We're going to get so many more customers now that you guys came here! Please, stop by anytime!" He donned a bright smile on his face as he shook each of our hands, "Please, don't worry about the flooding. Only a couple of the toilets were completely broken, and that's nothing we can't replace."
"I-I'm sorry...I didn't mean to..." I stammered as he shook my hand.
"Please, don't worry about it, Raven! Everything will be just fine, if not better than ever! Just next time, don't get carried away and blow up more things, ok?"
"Ok," I replied. I doubted that there would be a next time, because I doubted that I would ever let Robin and Beast Boy take me here again, but that was no reason for me not to be nice to him.
"That's the spirit!" He exclaimed as he went on to shaking Beast Boy's hand, "Now you better not make her mad, you hear? You don't want her going about and blowing up stuff, now do you?"
"No sir, I don't," Beast Boy replied, looking to the ground and then up to me, "Sorry, Raven. I didn't mean to get your powers all haywire."
"Just don't do it again," I sternly looked at him, and then smiled.
The owner finished shaking our hands and went over to Robin, "Do you mind if I get a picture taken with you guys?"
"Go on, you can take a picture," Robin smiled, "We have time."
The owner gestured for one of the press to come over and take a picture of all of us together.
"Smile, everybody!" The reporter said to all of us as we put on our best smiles for the camera.
[Maybe this day wasn't so bad after all,] I pondered as the reporter took what would be the front picture of tomorrow's paper.
-=-=-=-
I hope you enjoyed Chapter 3 and all its chaos! Well, like I've said in the past chapters, It's your choice whether or not you want to review...I'm not going to force you to.
Disclaimer: Does anyone here EVER own the Teen Titans? Or Jell-O, for that matter?
A Heart Sought After
-=-=-=-
Chapter 3- Chaos Followed by Toilet Water
It took about fifteen minutes by air before we arrived at our destination: Skate Zone, an indoor roller-skating place that was very popular with preteens and young teens. There you could spend hours of your life skating your little heart out in a continuous oval pattern, falling down many times in the process.
The three of us, after landing from our trip, walked inside and over to a counter where a woman in her early 20's stood behind. Her face brightened when seeing the three of us approach her.
"No way! It's the Teen Titans! I never thought I'd be seeing you guys here! Are you here to skate, or is there trouble nearby?" She asked cheerfully, but her tone dropped when she noticed that not all of us were present, "Where are the other two?"
"They...didn't want to come," Robin lied, obviously trying to cover up the real reason, "And we're just here to skate."
"Awesome! I can't believe you guys are here! This just totally made my day!" The girl replied happily, "I've always wanted to meet you guys! I mean, I've read about you in the papers, but I never thought I'd ever get to meet you in person!"
"Well, we're glad we've made your day," Robin smiled.
"So, how much will we have to pay you for us to skate?" Beast Boy asked eagerly.
"Oh please, nothing at all! It's on me! Don't worry, you guys are welcome anytime!" She exclaimed in a bubbly manner, which made me shiver for a moment.
"Thanks!" Beast Boy exclaimed.
The woman calmed and looked toward Robin and I with a serious expression on her face, "Although I have to tell you, we here at Skate Zone have a policy that says that capes are not allowed within the rink. I'm sorry, but I will have to take your capes for the time that you are here."
I couldn't believe this. It's bad enough I'm stuck ROLLER-SKATING, of all things, in front of a large group of people. It's even worse that I don't know how to skate, and now THIS? Now I was going to have to take off my cloak in front of the two male teammates who liked me and have them gawk at me for the rest of the day now that I don't have anything to cover my leotard-clad body with? This is just great. Just GREAT.
Beast Boy laughed, "Ha ha, I don't have a cape to take off!"
"Shut it. NOW." I glared at the green boy with a piercing glare.
"Well, it looks like we get to see Raven without the cape!" Beast Boy continued, nudging Robin in the side as he took off his cape.
"Yeah Raven, you heard the lady," Robin said as he handed the young woman his cape.
"Don't get any ideas," I frowned at the both of them as I unlatched my cloak and slowly pulled it off of me, revealing me in nothing but my long-sleeved leotard, belt chain, and shoes. They just stared at me as I handed my cloak reluctantly to the woman.
"Whoa, Raven," Beast Boy stated as a blush formed on his face as well as Robin's. I just knew they'd be gawking.
I blushed even more than they did. I don't like guys eyeing me like that. I really don't.
"Stop staring. NOW." I ordered them.
"Ok, whatever you say, Raven," Beast Boy replied, looking to Robin who was still staring, and then to the woman, "Anything else your policy wants us to do?"
"That will be all," The woman confirmed, watching the scene between us that she caused. Well, that her stupid policy caused.
"STOP. STARING. NOW." I ordered Robin, snapping in his face to wake him from his gaze.
"Wha- Oh, sorry Raven, I couldn't help stari- I mean, couldn't help looking at you take your cloak off," He stammered.
I turned away from them and quickly headed into the next room. Filled with many kids of all ages, this room was slightly darker than the first one. It was the room that contained the oval-shaped skating rink, skate rental booth, and a food court with tables toward the back. On the one side sat a handful of arcade games, begging to be played. If I was lucky, those two would go off at some time to play and leave me some time alone to myself, but I highly doubted that that would happen.
The boys quickly raced to catch up to me as they looked around the room.
"Hey Rae, check this place out! This is gonna be so awesome! Rob and I can't WAIT to teach you how to roller-skate!" Beast Boy exclaimed, looking toward the rink.
[And I can't WAIT to get out of here,] I thought. Easy for HIM to say that this will be awesome. Him and Robin are already having a good time, and we just got here.
"Don't call me Rae." I replied, "And I am SO excited to learn how to roller-skate," I said sarcastically, rolling my eyes.
"C'mon, let's go get our skates!" Beast Boy grinned, dragging me by the arm over to the rental booth while Robin followed. Luckily, the man there didn't seem to have as much of an obsession over us like that woman did.
"Hey, you're the Teen Titans! Looks like you guys are in need of some skates. What sizes do you need?"
"Uh, we really don't know...cause we don't wear brand name shoes to know the sizes," Beast Boy replied.
"Oh, right...then, let me take your shoes and I'll find you matching skate sizes," The man said.
"Dude, it must stink to be the guy who takes everyone's shoes...I mean, it's like you're stuck watching over other people's smelly shoes," Beast Boy commented, taking off his shoes, "Here, you can add mine to the collection," He handed them to the man.
"Nice shade of fuchsia you got there," The man replied, grinning to Beast Boy.
"Thanks," The green boy replied and then looked to Robin and I, "We're waiting...."
"Here's mine," Robin said as he handed the man his shoes. I handed him mine a few seconds after.
"Ok, I'll have your skates in a minute," The man replied, running off to find the right sizes.
"What's NEXT to go, my chain?" I asked the two boys and glared at them as I gestured to the chain that hung lazily around my waist.
"If anyone was gonna take your chain, it would have been that woman who took your cape," Beast Boy retorted, looking at me with a sly grin.
"I'm glad no one has," I sighed, "Because that's all I have left of my sanity."
"Then you better keep that chain on before you break loose and blow up the place," Robin looked at me with a smile. I didn't know exactly why he was smiling right after he talked about me blowing up stuff because I don't exactly consider that a good thing, but who knows when it comes to him. Maybe he thinks it's cute when I blow up stuff. I have no idea.
"Why are you smiling at me? There is no reason to smile. Especially not today," I glared at Robin, who quickly stopped smiling and looked at me with a more leaderly expression on his face.
"Of COURSE there's a reason to smile! Especially today! We're going roller-skating!" Beast Boy exclaimed with a huge grin on his face. I turned away from both of them to avoid seeing any smiling from either of them. While turned, I secretly pinched my arm to make sure this wasn't a horrible nightmare I was dreaming. Unfortunately, it wasn't.
"Raven...turn around...speak to us...please?" Beast Boy pleaded, grabbing my leg and getting down on his knees while pleading, "Please?" He tugged at my leg.
"Let go of my leg now," I demanded, but he still clung on.
"PLEASE?" He looked up at me while still clung to my leg. I started to teeter from side to side as the green boy clung onto me. Robin went over to us and tried to pull Beast Boy off of me, but only resulted in all three of us falling down on top of each other. Even worse, I had somehow gotten sandwiched in the middle during the process.
"Uh...Hey Raven," Robin said as he faced my piercing glare that was not too far away from his face.
"Could a certain small, annoying green boy get off of me? NOW?"
"Aw, it was comfy up here too..." The boy whined as he got off of me. I quickly got up after him and was even more determined to leave than before.
"I'm surprised she didn't break something," Beast Boy whispered to Robin as I stood far way from them, sulking.
"Yeah, I am too," Robin replied back quietly. Suddenly, many men and women ran/skated out of their respective bathrooms, soaking wet and frantic.
"RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!!! THE TOILETS ARE EXPLODING!!!" A man shouted as he ran by. Robin and Beast Boy just looked at me.
"That's what you get if you try to get close with me," Was all I said in reply.
-=-=-=-
Back at the tower, Cyborg and Starfire were playing video games. Well, Cyborg was still trying to teach Starfire how to play them, but she was a lost case from the beginning.
"This green button over here is controlled by my thumb? And pressing it makes my car speed up?"
"Yes it does, Starfire,"
"But then how can my thumb control the orange button next to it that makes my car slow down if it is too busy controlling the green button that makes my car speed up?"
"Starfire, we've been through this already. You're either going to be speeding up or slowing down, so you don't need to use both buttons at the same time."
"But what if I don't want to be speeding up OR slowing down?"
"Then, uh...you either press the green button until the car won't go any faster or you press the orange button until the car doesn't go at all..."
"Oh, ok...but what if I break the speed limit? Won't I get a ticket if I go too fast?"
"It's a racing game, Starfire, there ARE no speed limits," Cyborg sighed. He was getting a headache from all of this, and he was about ready to tell someone else to teach her. Too bad there wasn't anyone else there to tell at the moment.
"But aren't the roads dangerous if there are no speed limits?"
"It's a RACING GAME!!! Of COURSE the roads are dangerous!!! That's PART of the GAME!!!"
Starfire was, for once, silent.
Cyborg noticed this and quickly calmed down again, "Look, Starfire, I'm sorry, just don't worry about the game, ok? I guess I'm not as good as a teacher as I thought I was. I'm sure Robin or Beast Boy would be happy to teach you."
"No, it is ok. I do not think that I will ever understand how to play, and I do not want to waste any more time than has already been wasted to try and understand," She said sadly, "Perhaps we can do something different instead while we wait for the others to return, such as looking out for trouble."
"I'm sorry about this," Cyborg replied, "And it's probably a good idea to look for trouble. I'll check the news," He stated, turning the TV channel to a news station and began to watch as a special report appeared on the screen.
"This just in..." The announcer explained, "The toilets at Jump City's Skate Zone have all suddenly exploded and are flooding the entire building. We do not know any other information at this time," She finished as a camera zoomed in from an aerial view on the building as everyone evacuated the building at once with toilet water following them.
"Um, Cyborg?" Starfire said uneasily, her eyes never leaving the screen.
"Yes, Star?" He replied, his eyes too never leaving the screen.
"Wasn't that the place where our friends went to?" She asked him.
"I believe it was, Starfire," Cyborg answered nervously.
The two Titans looked at each other and said at the same time:
"Raven."
-=-=-=-
I watched the scene before me while leaned up against the side of the building. There was not much I could do to soak up or stop the flooding, so I just stood there, sulking. The three of us were the only people here who knew that I did it, and none of us were about to tell the press that one of their beloved Teen Titans went and blew up all of the toilets in the nearest Skate Zone and flooded the building. I had recently ordered Beast Boy to help suck up the water as an elephant, saying that none of this would have happened if it wasn't for him. He reluctantly agreed to do so as he went off, mumbling something about smelling like dirty toilet water for two months.
The police had shown up a few minutes after the incident, and the press a few minutes after them. I had hidden myself on the other side of the building so neither would find me in my current state, which was cloakless, bare-footed, mad, and guilty. Unfortunately, Robin found my location and cautiously walked over to me.
"Hey, Raven...I'm sorry about what happened," He said apologetically as he leaned on the building a few feet away from me.
"I blame that green rodent more than you," I mumbled, crossing my arms.
"It's still partly my fault, though. If I waited for your opinion before deciding to go here today, this might not have happened."
"Perhaps it wouldn't have happened, but there's no way we can know for sure now," I replied, looking toward him, "I still blame him much more than I blame you, Robin. If he didn't go about grabbing onto people as much as he does, you two would probably be teaching me how to skate right now instead of dealing with a large plumbing problem."
"Yeah, I was just trying to get him off of you. I had no idea that THIS would happen," He stated, gesturing over to the front of the building where everyone else was, skating around in panic, talking to people on cell phones about the current situation, and telling the police and press all they knew while the police called the local plumbers to help get things back to normal.
"I had a feeling that something bad would happen with my powers while we were here, but I wasn't thinking that would be this extreme as it is."
"I don't think any of us were," He commented.
There was silence for a moment until I spoke up.
"Do you think that Cyborg and Starfire have any idea of what's going on right now, or do you think they're too busy playing video games?"
"Knowing Starfire, she's probably still trying to learn how to," He replied, a weak smile forming on his face.
"Do you think we should call them?" I asked, "After all, we're not coming home until this gets mostly settled, and that might take a while."
"I'll call them in a few minutes," He replied, "I don't want them to get mad at us for not calling. But first, I wanted to see if you're going to be all right. Emotionally, I mean."
"As long as I don't see any pesky green rodents for the next couple of weeks, I'll be fine."
"I'm surprised you're not equally as mad at the both of us. After all, I was just as determined as he was to get to know you," He sighed.
"True, but he was annoying from the beginning, so that makes me mad at him more than you."
"You sure hate him, don't you?" He inquired.
"Let's just say he's not on my favorites list," I replied.
Robin nodded.
"I understand how he could quickly get on your nerves, Raven..."
It was my turn to nod.
"Well, thanks for letting me talk to you. I should probably call the others now," He said to me, "I'm glad we had this talk."
Silence again for another moment before I again spoke up.
"I'm glad too. I hope you don't mind if I come with you to the front of the building. I'm kind of curious to see what's going on out there."
"I don't mind. I always enjoy your company," He smiled at me as we walked to the front of the building.
-=-=-=-
Meanwhile, Starfire and Cyborg were already on their way to the Skate Zone. With Starfire carrying Cyborg, they could arrive there quicker, but not without a sudden call on their communicators.
"It's probably Robin. I'll answer it," Cyborg replied, answering the call through his arm, which served as a communicator.
"Hey Robin," Cyborg stated.
"Cyborg, there's a bit of a problem at the Skate Zone. I was just calling to-"
"We know, and we're already on our way," Cyborg responded, cutting off Robin with his response.
"Ok, well then I'll guess we'll see you in a few minutes," Robin said as he turned off the communicator.
"Yep, we sure will," Cyborg muttered to himself as he turned off his communicator.
-=-=-=-
Robin and I were standing near the front of the building when Starfire and Cyborg landed from their flight and walked over to us. It had only been a few minutes after we called them, which made me conclude that the video game lessons weren't as successful as expected.
"Friends! Why are you without capes and shoes? It is awful damp out here to not be wearing shoes," Starfire observed as she stood in front of us.
"Maybe because the people here took them so we COULD skate," I bleakly replied.
"So you blew up all of the toilets?" Cyborg asked as he looked at me. He was probably staring at me without my cape on, for all I know.
"It was an accident. Blame it on the 4-foot grass stain," I muttered edgily.
"Where is he, by the way?" Cyborg inquired, looking around the area.
"I sent him off to suck up the water. I haven't seen him in about 30 minutes," I said, shrugging at the group, "And I kind of hope I don't see him for a while."
"She's really mad at him," Robin whispered to the other two, who nodded in response.
"So, I'm assuming that video game lessons didn't turn out so well?" I asked, trying to pry the subject off of me.
"You can say that again," Cyborg replied.
"I was very confused, and Cyborg was not willing to help me after so many times of explaining to me," Starfire added.
"I can help you if you want, Starfire," Robin stated with a smile, which made Starfire grin with glee.
"Oh THANK you, Robin!" Starfire beamed, hugging the leader tightly.
"You're-welcome!" Robin gasped, being choked by Starfire's hug.
"Aww, what a Kodak moment!" Cyborg grinned, watching the two. It was obvious that him and Starfire were oblivious to the fact that Robin liked me and not Starfire.
Starfire let go of him as he fell to the ground and panted for breath.
"Uh, Starfire, I think you hugged him a little too hard," I stated, gesturing to the panting boy.
"Oh, I am sorry, Robin. I did not mean to take away your breath," She replied, kneeling down next to him, "I promise I will make you forgiveness pudding when we get home."
"No, it's ok, Starfire, you don't have to make me forgiveness pudding," He replied.
"How come none of you wish to accept my offer to make you forgiveness pudding?"
"Because nothing was that big of a deal that we needed you to make it for us," Cyborg stated, "In fact, we'd probably be happier if you made us some Jell-O brand pudding from one of those little boxes you can buy at the store."
"Really? You wish for me to make you forgiveness pudding of the Jell- O brand?"
"Sure, why not, Star," Cyborg smiled.
"If anyone should be making pudding, it's either me or that green rodent," I said, looking to all of them.
"Perhaps what we need is for all of us to make each other forgiveness pudding of the Jell-O brand." Starfire suggested, "Then we will all be able to forgive each other in a peaceful manner."
"If you think that'll solve everything, Starfire," I retorted, "Then why not."
"Oh, glorious! Tonight we shall have a forgiveness pudding making festival to relieve us of all our troubles!" She grinned, jumping around in delight.
"I was being sarcastic," I replied sourly.
"...Oh..." She frowned. Just then, Beast Boy came over to us. There goes my not seeing him for the next couple of weeks. Luckily, though, he was carrying our cloaks and shoes with him.
"Hey guys," He said serenely to us, "I figured I'd take a break and see what you guys were up to." He handed Robin his cape and shoes, "Here you go, Robin. I managed to get our stuff back. And here's your stuff, Raven," He handed me my cloak and shoes with a slight reluctance on his face.
"Thank you," Robin and I said to him at the same time as we started putting our clothes back on.
"You're welcome." He smiled, "I had no idea that you two showed up here." He looked to Starfire and Cyborg. "So, how were the video game lessons?"
"They did not turn out the way we thought they would," Starfire replied sadly.
"Maybe I can help teach you how to play, Star," He replied.
"I've already volunteered to do that," Robin stated, rubbing his shoulder as he stood up.
"Perhaps if Robin is not successful, you can teach me, Beast Boy," Starfire said, looking to Beast Boy.
"Thanks, Star," Beast Boy smiled.
"Yeah, thanks, Star, for having real confidence in me," Robin remarked, looking to Starfire with a fake hurt expression on his face.
"I guess she doesn't think you can teach her," Cyborg commented, looking to Robin with a grin.
"Oh, I think she thinks that you can teach her, Robin." I spoke up, "Why else would she squeeze the living daylights out of you?"
"Daylight lives? And I squeezed it out of Robin? Does this mean that Robin is now night and dead?"
We all shook our heads.
"It's an expression, Starfire," I said dully.
"Oh! Right!" She exclaimed, "I squeezed something out of him."
"That totally did not sound right," Beast Boy commented. I had to agree with him, it did sound rather wrong.
"Starfire, don't say dirty comments," I chided as I looked at her, hoping that this time she would grasp the concept.
"I said something...naughty?"
"It just sounded wrong, that's all," Cyborg stated.
"Oh. I am sorry. I promise that I will make you ALL forgiveness pudding of the Jell-O brand when we arrive home."
"What's with the Jell-O?" Beast Boy whispered to Robin.
"Cyborg made a comment about it to her, and now she wants to make it for us instead of her usual stuff, thinking that it will make us happier if she makes the Jell-O pudding instead," Robin replied in a whisper back to Beast Boy.
"Well, it WILL make us happier if she makes Jell-O pudding," Beast Boy quietly remarked back.
[ANYTHING that isn't her bitter forgiveness pudding will make us happier,] I thought to myself.
"So, what's going on with the flooding?" Cyborg asked.
"I think everything will be ok, once all the water's cleared out and the toilets are replaced," Beast Boy replied, "I don't think they know yet, Rae," He looked to me. I assumed that the 'they' referred to the police, the press, and the people that worked there. While we're at it, let's just throw in everyone else for the heck of it all.
"And they won't unless they pry it out of us," I remarked.
"I think they should know who did it. It was merely an accident, and they know how sensitive your powers are," Robin commented.
"I thought you didn't want to tell either," I replied.
"They're going to find out sometime, and the sooner the better, and the sooner you tell them, the more forgiving they'll be," Robin explained, "If they find out on their own, they won't be happy that you didn't say something to them."
We had all finished getting our clothes back on as the owner of Skate Zone walked over to us. I gulped and figured that now was my chance to tell him what happened.
"Um, sir...I'm sorry for-"
"Wow! The Teen Titans! I can't believe that you guys came here! We're going to get so many more customers now that you guys came here! Please, stop by anytime!" He donned a bright smile on his face as he shook each of our hands, "Please, don't worry about the flooding. Only a couple of the toilets were completely broken, and that's nothing we can't replace."
"I-I'm sorry...I didn't mean to..." I stammered as he shook my hand.
"Please, don't worry about it, Raven! Everything will be just fine, if not better than ever! Just next time, don't get carried away and blow up more things, ok?"
"Ok," I replied. I doubted that there would be a next time, because I doubted that I would ever let Robin and Beast Boy take me here again, but that was no reason for me not to be nice to him.
"That's the spirit!" He exclaimed as he went on to shaking Beast Boy's hand, "Now you better not make her mad, you hear? You don't want her going about and blowing up stuff, now do you?"
"No sir, I don't," Beast Boy replied, looking to the ground and then up to me, "Sorry, Raven. I didn't mean to get your powers all haywire."
"Just don't do it again," I sternly looked at him, and then smiled.
The owner finished shaking our hands and went over to Robin, "Do you mind if I get a picture taken with you guys?"
"Go on, you can take a picture," Robin smiled, "We have time."
The owner gestured for one of the press to come over and take a picture of all of us together.
"Smile, everybody!" The reporter said to all of us as we put on our best smiles for the camera.
[Maybe this day wasn't so bad after all,] I pondered as the reporter took what would be the front picture of tomorrow's paper.
-=-=-=-
I hope you enjoyed Chapter 3 and all its chaos! Well, like I've said in the past chapters, It's your choice whether or not you want to review...I'm not going to force you to.