Cyborg and Raven entered living room a few minutes before the others returned from their double date.
"So," Beast Boy looked at Raven and Cyborg. "Did you two have fun while we were out?"
"Plenty," Raven replied with a sly smile. She turned and headed towards her room. "I'll be going to bed now," she said over her shoulder.
"What was that about?" Terra asked Cyborg.
"I'll explain later. So, how was your date?" Raven heard Cyborg say. She was still within earshot, so she stopped to hear their responses.
"Uh, good, I suppose," Robin said.
"Fine," said Terra.
"Wonderful!" Starfire exclaimed.
"Great," Beast Boy spoke.
Raven read in all of their minds that they planned to have a talk with her soon.
And they did.
Throughout the next day, Raven spent a minimum of an hour listening to her friends relate the happenings of the other night. She was somewhat surprised at the variety of responses.
Starfire, the first of the four to claim Raven's ear, was ecstatic, having thought from her little knowledge on the subject that the date went perfectly. Raven had had to listen to her chatter for nearly two hours. But Raven reminded herself that she didn't know how much more time she would have to be with her friend. She had to make every moment count.
Surprisingly, Robin was the next to approach her. He was uncertain if the date had been successful. It took Raven some time to reassure Robin that Starfire was happy with their date, and that was what mattered.
Terra had related the happenings of the date in almost as much detail as Starfire. Raven congratulated her and was surprised when Terra hugged her tightly in thanks.
Beast Boy had been nearly as unsure as Robin, but he had also had a great time. Raven encouraged him to ask Terra out again, this time without Robin and Starfire going along.
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Raven gave a weary sigh as she closed her door following Beast Boy's exit. She looked at the clock: three in the afternoon.
Raven plopped down on her bed, thinking about the dilemmas of her four friends. Suddenly she stood back up, realizing that she had been so preoccupied with Starfire, Robin, Terra, and Beast Boy that she had barely spent any time with Cyborg.
Grabbing a small cloth bag, she headed for the garage.
Cyborg was at a worktable when Raven walked in, his back turned towards her.
She approached him in her usual silent manner.
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Cyborg literally jumped when Raven suddenly appeared next to him.
"Sorry," she said. Her dark violet eyes dropped to what he had been working on. "What are you doing?"
"Oh, I was just working on some additions to Robin's bo staff."
"Like what?"
Cyborg looked at her, trying to decipher whether or not she was really interested. Raven simply stared back at him, her look sincere. Finally, he answered. "Well, at the moment I'm working on making the ends detachable so it could be used like nun-chucks. But there's not enough room for the chain to retract."
Raven looked at the mess of metal and chain laying before them for a moment, as if trying to solve a difficult puzzle. "What if you used a wheel to make it similar to a pulley mechanism," Raven suggested.
"What?"
Raven pointed. "You're trying to fit two separate large chains into a rather slim staff. If you connect the two ends together by using only one chain, you can then use a wheel system to pull the chain back inside. It would also increase the range." Raven drew a quick sketch.
When she looked back at him, she found him staring at her, mouth agape. "Raven…That's brilliant! How did you…"
"I picked up a few things while I was away."
"Oh. Well, thanks, Rae. That's a great idea! By the way, was there something you wanted?"
Raven nodded. "Yeah, I was hoping you could take a look at something when you got a chance."
"Well, now that I know how to fix my problem, I can work on Robin's staff later. What did you want to show me?"
Raven moved to an empty worktable and set the bag that Cyborg hadn't noticed before on the counter. She slid two identical items from within the bag. At first glance they appeared similar to the thin sticks women sometimes put in their hair to make a bun more ornate.
A closer look quickly disproved the assumption. They were thin rods of metal that widened slightly at one end. Near the wider end were two buttons that could be held simultaneously with both the thumb and forefinger, and they appeared to be no more than decoration.
Raven picked one up and faced a wall meant for practice and experimenting with new or improved weapons.
"When the top button is pressed, a laser emerges," she explained as she demonstrated. "Then, when the bottom is pressed, it fires." A moment passed, and then all Cyborg saw was a streak of silver before there was a dart where the red light of the laser had been on the wall a seconds before.
"Wow. What came out of it?"
"A miniature dart. Some are filled with a muscle relaxant, others with a form of anesthesia, and a few with a substance that will cause temporary paralysis." She paused. "I was hoping you could help me erase the split second hesitation that occurs before the dart fires," Raven explained. "I was also considering making the laser beam visible only if special glasses are worn," Raven added. "Will you help me?"
"Of course, Rae. I think your problem is here…" he pointed.
Cyborg and Raven worked companionably for hours, though they completely lost tract of time.
Until the alarm sounded.
They rushed to where the others had gathered as well.
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"Looks like we've got a new bad guy on our hands. I get the feeling this won't be easy like the other night for Raven and Cyborg," Robin told them. "Be careful, everyone. Ready?" They all nodded. "Right. Then let's go." He turned and head towards the door.
No one else moved. "Um, Robin…" Starfire started.
Robin turned around to see them all still standing still. "What? We need to go."
"Robin," Raven said, bringing his attention to the cloaked girl. "Aren't you forgetting something?"
The others smiled slightly at Raven's phrasing. Suddenly Robin smiled as well.
"Yeah, you're right," he said with a grin. "Titans, GO!"
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The Teen Titans arrived at the location to find a cloaked man standing amidst a dozen police cars. Behind him was a jewelry store with a broken widow.
The hood of the man's dark green cloak was down, revealing shoulder-length brown hair and dark brown eyes.
"Ah, the Teen Titans, I presume. Took you long enough," he announced with a flash of white teeth. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Balavan. And this," he said, stepping to one side to reveal a girl they had not seen before, "is Saidi, my assistant."
The girl was nearly half the man's height and very thin, with shocking blue hair and astounding yellow eyes. Two slim antennae protruded from her hair. She otherwise appeared human, including her clothes—a plain white top and tight jean pants with tennis shoes—though she looked very uncomfortable in them.
Starfire gasped. "That girl! She is from a planet not far from mine! But I cannot think of the name. It is a very mysterious planet. I do not know more than that."
"That's okay, Star," Robin assured.
Raven noticed a thick metal strip wrapped firmly around one of the alien girl's wrists. The man, Balavan, wore a similar-looking ring. But before she could say anything, Robin spoke.
"Star, Raven. You two take the girl. The rest of you are with me. We're going after Balavan. Titans, go!"
The two female Titans followed Saidi when she ran back inside the jewelry store, while the remaining four faced Balavan.
The man reached into his cloak with both hands. He withdrew them holding five knives in each hand. He threw one at Robin, who dodged it easily. But much to the surprise of the Titans, the knife didn't slow down as it hit the windshield of a car behind them. Instead, it kept going, as if being pushed by an unseen force, until it broke through both the front and back windshields and lodged itself, hilt-deep, in a building fifty feet away.
The remaining Titans faced their enemy warily.
Though greatly outnumbered, Balavan was a match for all of the four with his flying knives and moves as swift as Robin's.
Terra, occupied with dodging another knife, didn't see Balavan appear next to her, and was knocked unconscious by a chop to the back of her neck.
Cyborg was next, when a knife lodged in his sonic cannon and it backfired on him.
Robin and Beast Boy, now extremely angry, readied to attack together. Suddenly, Raven was thrown from inside the jewelry store and landed violently on the street, unconscious, soon followed in the same manner by Starfire.
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Once Raven and Starfire spotted Saidi in the store, Starfire's hands and eyes glowed green, but Raven stepped in front of her friend. "Wait," she ordered. Raven cautiously approached the small girl. "What has he done to make you help him," Raven asked softly.
The girl looked up at Raven, her eyes widening, a hand unconsciously going to the bracelet. "He said if I was good, I could go home," the girl's voice was small and weak.
Raven reached for the alien's wrist. "Let me help you…"
The girl pulled back. "No! We'll both be hurt."
"I won't touch it. I promise," Raven tried to calm the girl. "He hurts you with that, doesn't he?" She nodded sadly. Starfire's eyes widened noticeably. Raven took a step forward. "Please, let me help…"
The girl shook her head, tears forming in her eyes. "I'm sorry," she whispered.
A sphere of yellow power formed between the girl's small hands and flew at Raven. The cloaked girl was sent flying out the already broken widow, gaining only a few cuts. But she was knocked unconscious either by the force of the blow or from her hard landing outside on the pavement.
Starfire's hands and eyes glowed a fiercer green than before. "You hurt Raven! And all she wanted to do was aid you!"
Starfire struck the blue-haired girl several times before a second yellow orb rendered her in the same state as Raven, though she flew further and landed with more force.
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Both boys were even more angered. Beast Boy changed into a green cobra and Robin charged in with a jump kick.
Balavan threw several knives at the spitting cobra, one catching the snake just above his middle. The knife kept racing through the air until it hit a wall. When Beast Boy changed back, he hung, unconscious from the shock, the knife in his right shoulder pinning him to the building.
Robin's kick, however, did not miss its target. Robin's foot contacted with Balavan's head, and the man was knocked back. Robin landed in a crouch, but as he straightened, he saw Balavan with five knives in one hand.
Robin jumped out of the way, noticing too late that the knives were not for him. One knife flew at each of his unconscious team members.
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I hope everyone had a nice 4th of July!
A/N: 'Balavan' is Hindu for 'powerful,' and 'Saidi' is African for 'helper.' Just in case you wanted to know how I came up with the names!
To my reviewers:
TeenTitansGirl14: I'm happy you liked it! When I went back to edit it I almost did laugh out loud at Raven's wonderful advice. :) Here was a slightly longer chapter for you. Thanks!!!!
Raven777: Thanks so much! Well, here it is!
Aya Sadaka(): Glad you like my pace. I know what it's like to be dying to know what happens next. Thank you for the compliments!
ravenrocks(): I haven't completely decided on the end pairings yet. All I will say is expect the unexpected. lol. Anyway, thanks for the review! Don't give up on me yet!
ShadowShard(): I'm glad you liked! I was worried Raven might get OOC, and I still am! It might be obvious already, but Raven is my favorite character, too. Thank you so much!002(): Thank you for the review. But if she told them it would just ruin the suspense, wouldn't it? ;)