Jump City Sonata
A Teen Titans Fan Fiction by Jake McDonald
Opening Notes: Part 4. First, I want to apologize for the slight delay in posting this chapter. As you'll find out when you read, I really suck at writing any kind of believable Cyborg and Beast Boy interaction. The problem lies not with them, but with me. They're both such simple characters that when I write them, they come off as too complicated. All of my other characters have depth and scope, but Cyborg is... himself. When he's mad, he's mad. When he's happy, he's happy. There's no in-between for him really, and he can switch back and forth between multiple emotions very quickly. It makes transitioning him from one feeling to the next hard to explain. He's just a really reactive kind of guy.
Beast Boy will always try to make light of any situation, so throwing him in the deep end like I did in this chapter become difficult. He's all alone and in new territory, so he feels out of place, but can't quite bring himself to stop it or go for help. It makes him seem... less Beast Boyish...
On top of all that, I had another difficult drug use scene to handle. Please note that I do not drink on a regular basis, do not promote drinking at all, especially if you're under 21 years of age, and that if you don't have the ability to sober yourself up in two seconds flat, you should not operate a motorcycle or any other vehicle while under the influence of alcohol.
More Raven OOC goodness in this chapter, as well as some startling revelations. And finally, some decent length action!
Standard disclaimers apply. I don't own Teen Titans, but wish I had cable so I could watch them on a regular basis.
Star knew the aquarium was in City Section Nine, so all she had to do was fly high enough to find it. Jump City wasn't organic in any way. When it was decided to build a city on this part of the California coast line, the whole thing had been planned out in such a way that it was a huge grid. It left room for expansion in a neat orderly manner, and kept everything inside the city easy to find.
It also made it a snap for the Titans to divided up and number the sections however they wanted. So, as Starfire flew high above the city she began counting, starting with City Section One, right next to Titan Tower. When she found her mark she flew back down to the aquarium, so that she could start at the waterfront and search all the warehouses in order until she found number seven.
As she began to float down the street, Star found her mind wandering to Robin. She was sure he would be insistent about her going after Rob, even if Rob was another boy. He would understand.
"But, we are not even dating yet..." Star said to herself quietly as she landed. Why would she think such things if she and Robin hadn't even kissed yet? A blush crept up on her cheeks as she thought of Robin and kissing. Then her mind shifted gears again, and went back to Rob.
"Why am I standing here thinking of kissing Robin when Rob is in danger!" she shouted aloud. Every second she wasted was another that brought him closer to death, and he was in this mess because of her in the first place, and she should have know that Jake and Trent were evil men, and she should never have left Rob alone with them, and-
"Oh, this is all my fault!" Starfire shouted angrily as she stomped on the ground.
She didn't notice the large crack she had opened in the pavement as she walked away, fuming.
Raven pulled off her helmet and looked up at the three story apartment building she had just parked in front of. It was a nondescript brick structure with three windows on either side of the door, continuing in that pattern (minus the door) all the way up the building.
"It's very plain." Raven commented in a monotone.
"Yeah well," Jinx winked, "it's also very cheep. I'm not exactly rolling in cash you know."
"True enough. Is it any better on the inside?"
"Come on in and find out!" Jinx led Raven to the door, opened it with a security key, and walked in. Up two flights of stairs (there was no elevator) and Jinx took almost three minutes unlocking all seven locks on the door of apartment 3A. When they finally got in to the apartment, Raven arched an eyebrow in surprise.
The whole place was decorated quite nicely, considering Jinx's limited budget. The furniture didn't match, but looked decent enough, several pieces of what Raven assumed to be Jinx's own artwork were hung on the walls, as well as a few Escher prints. The TV was small, only 20 inches (Beast Boy and Cyborg would have had heart attacks) and the small kitchen attached to the living room was well stocked with cheep utensils and plates. Raven also noticed two wire hangers that had been bent into small holders for two bottles of wine.
Picking one up, she saw that the label had been peeled off, "Is this stuff any good?"
"That stuff," Jinx replied from where she was getting two wine glasses out of the cupboard, "like almost everything in this apartment, is the cheep stuff."
"So it's the good stuff then." Raven cracked a slight smile.
"Damn skippy it is." Jinx took the bottle and poured them both glasses of the red wine, "You drink very much?"
"No. Just a few times actually. Always wine, usually at a poetry reading."
"So you've never sat around, talked about boys and gotten completely shit-faced with your girlfriends?" Jinx's eyes were sparkling.
"My 'girlfriends' consists of only Starfire, and Robin forbids any kind of drug or alcohol in Titan Tower. Besides, if I lost control while I was drunk, the results could be... tragic... to any one near by."
"Too bad. I met this really hot guy at the bookstore today, and I'm dying to talk about it." Jinx fell rather gracelessly onto her couch with a sigh.
Raven smiled and sat down across from her on a squishy chair, "Alright then," she paused as she took a sip of her wine, "spill."
Robin stared out the window of the city bus he was sitting on and watched the city fly by outside. As was often the case these days, his thoughts drifted to Starfire. He was sure she wouldn't need his help; she could handle a few thugs. So why did he feel the need to head to where she was to help her? To save her...
The logical side of his brain was telling him that if he was going to pursue a relationship with Star, then he needed to overcome the overprotective feelings he was having right now, so that they could still fight together effectively in combat against super-villains, but his heart was telling him that she needed his help.
His heart was holding most of his attention at the moment.
His thoughts were interrupted by a soft female voice, "Um, Richard? Why did we take the bus?" Kia asked from her seat next to him.
Without turning away from the window, Robin replied, "I didn't want to get that nice cab driver mixed up in all of this."
"Oh." she was quite for several minutes, then she poked him hard in the shoulder, "When did you meet Starfire?"
"About a year and a half ago, right after she came to Earth." Robin wasn't really paying attention to Kia. Would Star be grateful to him for coming to help her, or would she think that he thought she wasn't capable of handling the situation?
"How did you meet her?" Kia poked him in the shoulder again.
"At a charity function I was at with Bruce. She was there representing the Titans."
"And how did you meet Raven?"
"She helped me capture some bank robbers one day."
"How does your mask stay on in the first place?"
"Simple non-irritant adhesive."
"I knew it!" Kia shouted as she punched him full on in the shoulder. Only the pain blossoming through his arm made him realize what he'd just divulged.
Busted.
Blinking at Kia blankly, Robin, for the second time that night, stated his feelings in the shortest, most profound way possible, "Fuck."
He then buried his face in his hands, rubbed his eyes, then began slamming his head repeatedly into the window of the bus, "Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!"
"Stop it!" Kia dragged him away from his self inflicted punishment, "Say it!" she whispered with a gleam in her eye, "You're Robin, aren't you!"
Robin sighed and pulled out his Justice League ID. Showing it to her, he spoke quietly, "Yeah. I'm Robin. Look, you can't tell anyone! Not your best friend, not your brother, not your mother, not even a freakin' priest. No one can know that Dick Grayson is Robin. Got it?"
"Yeah. Hey does that mean that Bruce Wayne is-" he cut her excited revelation off before she could even finish.
"No. If you ever meet Bruce, he CAN NOT KNOW about this. Batman and I... we met shortly after I started living with Bruce... he doesn't know, and I'm afraid he'd be very disappointed with me if he did. He... really dislikes violence, and he'd disapprove of my lifestyle if he knew all I did was fight bad guys all the time."
"How do you keep it a secret living way out here?" Kia sat back, interested now.
Robin was starting to run out of lies, "I send him phony progress reports from the Jump City University. He thinks I'm majoring in forensics."
"But... you're only seventeen. Why would you be going to collage?"
Robin blinked, then smiled a little as he flushed and turned away again. Mumbling, he replied, "I'm not bragging or anything, but I graduated high school when I was fourteen."
"Holy....! You must be a genius!"
"Working with Batman does that to you. He's one of the smartest men I've ever met."
"I bet he is..." Kia trailed off and looked down at her hands, folded in her lap, "Wow."
"Yeah, wow." Robin sat back, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"So, um..." Kia fidgeted, "Can I still call you Richard?"
Robin looked up and smiled at her, "I think I'd like that."
Kia blushed deeply and turned away from him.
Robin the Boy Wonder suddenly started to think of himself in a whole different light. Two girls in one night? Robin the Lady Killer was more like it....
"And this," Beast Boy said with a wide sweep of his arm, "Is the Rec-Room!" Candy made appropriate noises of astonishment and wonder as the changeling led her around and showed her the various forms of entertainment the Titans partook of on a regular basis.
Cyborg rolled his eye for the second time that night. The scene in the garage had been similar to the one he was watching now. Candy had been excited over seeing the T-Sub/ Star-Cruiser, as well as all of the tools Cyborg had for modifying the various equipment and vehicals the team used. She had gushed over how sweet she thought it was the Beast Boy lived in such an awesome place.
"What am I?" mumbled Cy, "Chopped liver?" Not wanting to experience Beast Boy's tour of the tower any more, he called out across the room, "Hey, BB! I'm headed for my room. I'll be pluggin' in to charge in about an hour, so if you need anything before then, call me. I'm shutting down tonight."
"Sweet dude. We'll call if we need anything!" Beast Boy waved at him, not really paying attention. Cyborg shrugged and walked to the elevator.
"So," Candy asked as Cyborg vanished behind the closing doors, "What's YOUR room like?"
"Nothin' special." Beast Boy shrugged, "I don't spend much time there, other then to sleep."
"So you hang out here a lot?"
"Here, and in the gym. Robin has us training a lot. Then there's the butt kicking duties, and the occasional trip to the pizza joint or the arcade. Life's pretty easy when you're short and green.""Is the super-hero gig really all that dangerous?" Candy sat down on the couch and Beast Boy joined her.
"Well, yeah, but it's just part of who I am I guess. I wouldn't know what to do with myself if I didn't have the Titans. It's kind of like... I dunno. My life's work I guess. I want to help make the world a better place. I want to keep people safe." Beast Boy had become serious and quiet towards the end of his little speech.
"That's so noble." Candy leaned forward, offering him a nice deep view of her breasts down her top. He could almost see her belly button, "Do you get any... compensation... for all the work you do?"
"Uh..." Beast Boy suddenly had a hard time thinking, let alone speaking, "Yeah... we, uh... get to live in the Tower here, and we get a small salary for spending money.... and all our food is charged to a J.L. account... don't know where they get the money from though..."
"Nothing else? Just money?" She scooted a bit closer to him on the couch.
"Well... there's the great health benefits..."
He found himself unable to talk anymore as she put her hand on his thigh.
"I think you should get something more then just that stuff..." she leaned in closer, and he could smell her perfume. His keen animal like sense of smell also picked up an odor he was unfamiliar with. One that made his human side want her to keep doing whatever it was she was doing to produce that smell.
"Um..." he found his voice again, "You want something to drink maybe?"
"Maybe..." her voice was low and husky.
Beast Boy gulped.
Just then, the screen of a monitor on the other side of the room blipped on and a yellow screen came up. Beast Boy noticed it and laughed nervously, "Um... I'd better see what that is..." he got up slowly, making sure the bulge in his pants wasn't too noticeable, and went over to the computer.
It was a call sign from Robin. It meant that whatever situation he was in, he had in under control, but to be ready for back action if he called for back up.
"What is it?" Candy asked as she leaned on him from behind.
Beast Boy could feel his body temp rising again at her closeness, "It's a call from Robin.... just a heads up that he might need back up. I'd better... um... go tell Cy."
"Oh, okay." she sounded slightly disappointed, "Hurry back okay? I want to continue our... conversation..."
Gulping again on his way to the elevator, Beast Boy replied with a shaky voice, "O-okay...." he hit the door close button as soon as he was inside the elevator and then punched the button for the residence level.
"So then, Mammoth is all like, 'Come on Baby, don't be like that!'" And this girl..." Jinx dissolved into giggles for a moment, "This chick flat out slapped him across the face!"
The two girls sitting in Jinx's living room both burst out laughing. The half empty bottle of wine on the coffee table between them vibrated dangerously, but it was the TV that got the axe this time. The screen split down the center and a little smoke puffed from the back of it.
Raven's powers had been blowing this up for quite some time now, but Jinx just waved off her apologies and laughed. She seemed to find a drunk Raven quite amusing.
"So," the pink haired sorceress said as she stopped laughing, "You have any juicy boy stories?"
"Not really." Raven shrugged, "My experiences with boys are fairly limited."
"Oh, come on! There's got to be some boy you've had a crush on or something! Ever been kissed?"
Raven stopped smiling and looked down at the table, "Um... yeah."
"Oh... was it... not good?"
"Hmm?" Raven hadn't been paying attention, "Oh, no... it was... well with Brandon it was good, but with-"
"Wait... there's been more then one?" Jinx leaned forward and slurped down some more wine, "Oh, this is gonna' be good."
"Like I was saying," Raven half grinned, "Brandon was fairly good. Decent kisser, and he had a little experience in bed, so he was a good teacher for my first time-"
"Holy...!" Jinx had cut her off again, "Wait, you fucked him?"
"Yeah the whole horniness thing really gets in the way when you're trying to meditate. I decided I needed some release."
"So you just found some random guy and had sex with him? Just like that?"
"No, we knew each other. We hang out at the same cafe. Anyway, that was great, but when Robin kissed me earlier tonight..."
"... You kissed Robin? Wait, Robin kissed you?!?" Jinx grinned wildly, "I thought he had the hots for Starfire!"
"He does, he was just proving to me that I could feel more then I thought I could." Raven smiled at the memory, "He was right, as usual."
"You're sweet on him aren't you?" Jinx nudged her new friend.
"No... I'm happy for Star though. She's getting a hell of a man."
"So anyone special in your life other then the Boy Wonder?"
"Not really. I feel like I might be ready for a relationship... like, a real relationship, but I don't know anyone who would be able to handle one with me." she frowned, "I'm not exactly the most expressive person in the world, by necessity."
"Well, I'm sure you'll find someone. Things always work out for the good guys in the end."
"Thanks. THAT logic makes me feel so much better." Raven grinned sarcastically.
That's when her T-Comp started beeping.
"What's up?" Jinx asked as Raven snapped open the small communicator.
"Nothing really. Just a code yellow call sign. It means Robin wants the team ready to go if he calls. It's just to make sure we're awake enough to come out in the middle of the night." Raven shrugged as she closed the device.
"Hey... can you call anyone on the team with that thing?"
"Yes. Why?" Raven narrowed her eyes at Jinx suspiciously.
Jinx leaned forward again with a glint in her eye, "Wanna' drunk-dial Beast Boy?"
Starfire floated soundlessly down any alleyway between warehouses six and seven on the docks. She kept close to the walls and in the shadows so as not to be seen, and she even suppressed her energy to keep from glowing.
Hearing voices up ahead, she came to a stop just before the corner of the building seven. Peeking around the corner, she saw three young men, all wearing red bandanas. The Red Caps.
A quick evaluation of the situation showed that none of these three were Trent or Rob, but that they might have some useful information about where their leader was.
Star quickly powered up a starbolt, aimed it at the ground between the three and let it fly. The resulting explosion threw all of them backwards and to the ground. She darted out of her hiding place quickly and as she flew past the first man, kicked him soundly in the head, knocking him out. The second hadn't even made it to his feet before she back handed him out of her way and into the doors of the warehouse. He too slumped to the ground.
The third man was on his feet and holding a crowbar out in front of him, waving it around to keep her at bay. She landed neatly inside the arch of one of his swings and caught the bar. Heating it with the energy from her hands, she bent it quickly around his wrists, and cooled it.
Her eyes glowing with a fierce green light, she demanded, "Where is Trent?"
"On his way! He'll be here any minute!" the man wasn't about to get blasted into little bits by Starfire of the Teen Titans if he could help it, "I swear! He just called a minute ago!"
"Very well." Star clunked him in the head with a right hook and he fell to the ground, "I shall see him when gets here." With that, she flew up to the top of the warehouse and crouched like a gargoyle, awaiting the arrival of her prey.
Cyborg heard his door slide open and slide shut quickly. He looked up from where he was putting the finishing touches on a smaller version of his sonic cannon, "You know, there is such a thing as knocking." Seeing Beast Boy leaned up against his door, slightly out of breath, he arched his eyebrow yet again, "Not having a very good time?"
"Dude, I've heard of chicks being forward, but this girl know exactly what she wants."
"Isn't that why you brought her here?"
"No! She seemed so interesting back at the car show, and interested in me, not what size I could make my-"
"Too much info there BB." Cyborg arched an eyebrow. He knew his friend too well. He spoke quietly, "This is really about how you feel about her isn't it? How it doesn't even compare to what you felt for Terra."
Beast Boy's face fell. He walked a few steps into the room and fell down to a sitting position on the floor, "Yeah. Terra wasn't just cute and friendly... she was... interested in me. She actually liked a little green midget with pointy ears."
"I like you too BB. Lot's of people like you for you. Is it really such a bad thing for the girl down there to like you in a physical way?"
"She just wants to bag herself a Titan. She'd go after Raven if she was here."
"Maybe, but you should have seen that before you got her here." Cy knelt down next to his friend and put a hand on his shoulder, "Not every girl you meet is gonna' fall for you like Terra did. Some are gonna' be just like the hussy downstairs. If you want to have a relationship, you have to look for more then a pretty face and big boobs."
Beast Boy grinned up at Cyborg, "They are nice and big aren't they?"
"Getting off topic BB."
"Right. I'm gonna' go back down there, and tell her it's time to go."
"How you gonna' do that?"
"I'll just use the code yellow we got from Robin as an excuse."
"Good plan. Solid. Use work to blow the chicks off." Cyborg grinned.
"Shut it tin man, or I'll send her up here to polish your body armor."
"Whatever. Hey, I'm gonna' power down now. If Robin calls for help, come activate me again."
"Will do." Beast Boy saluted as he stepped backwards out of Cyborg's room.
Walking down the hall, he felt his T-Comp buzzing against his leg in his pocket. Fishing it out as he got in the elevator, he flipped it open to see Raven on the other side.
She was leaning back from her T-Comp, so the glass of wine in her hand was highly visible, "Hey BB! Just calling to see what you and Cy were up to!"
"Raven?" was she giggling? "What's going on? Are you drinking wine?" his eyes got wide, "Dude! Are you drunk?"
"Maybe! We've only had what... half the bottle?"
"Raven! You know you can't do that! If you lose control-"
"Oh calm down Beast Boy!" Raven giggled again, "Jinx is right here with me, and she'll tell me if I start to get too wild..."
"Jinx! You're drinking wine and hanging out with JINX?!?" Beast Boy thought he was about to die on the spot.
"Yeah! She's got this really cool pad down town and enough wine to keep us trashed for a good long time! Woo!"
"Did you just say 'Woo!'?" Beast Boy was getting more confused by the second, "Look, Rea.... stop drinking. You got the code yellow from Rob right? You need to be SOBER to fight in a battle."
"Oh... okay... party pooper..."
"And we're having a talk about this when you get home! Don't think I wont wait up for you!" Raven stuck out her tongue and giggled just before she signed off.
Beast Boy sighed as the doors to the elevator opened and he stepped out into the Rec-Room. Walking down the steps and to the couch, he sat down, still rubbing his eyes.
"Stupid Raven..." he muttered.
"What about Raven?" Candy asked from where she was still sitting, less then two feet from where he'd just sat down.
Beast Boy let out a little noise of surprise, and turned to her, "Nothing! She's just being..." he trailed off as he took in the sight before him.
Candy had removed her shirt and pants, and was sitting on the couch in just her underwear (which wasn't much to begin with) leaning in towards Beast Boy.
"Um... where did your clothes go?"
She pointed down to the floor a short distance away, where her shirt and jeans were lying in a crumpled heap. "Oh." was all he had to say. She took advantage of his momentary distraction by taking one of his hands and placing it over her left breast.
Beast Boy's eyes got wide and he whimpered.
Robin and Kia got off the bus at the aquarium stop, and looked around the dark street. It was quiet, and the looming warehouses down the street seemed more ominous then they did during the day.
"This is creepy." Kia said as she took a few steps forward.
"Nothing we can't handle." Robin replied as he started down the street towards the docks.
"Easy for you to say... you're the Boy Wond-oof!" Kia had tripped and fallen flat on her face.
"Kia!" Robin dashed back and helped her sit up. She had a skinned knee, but otherwise seemed fine.
"I'm okay... but what did I trip on?" they looked down and saw a large crack in the street, leading to what seemed to be a foot print. Robin jumped over to it and inspected the small crater for a few moments.
"Any clues?" Kia had stood and now she was bending down to look over his shoulder.
"Yeah... this foot print... it's the same shoe size Starfire wears."
"So she stomped really hard?"
"I guess. Don't know why though. Maybe she was trying to scare someone off..."
"Well, that would scare the shit out of me, so it probably worked." Kia stood up and looked down the street, "We'll find out when we get down there I guess." When Robin didn't reply and she turned to see what he was doing.
He was staring off down the street in the opposite direction, watching a pair of car headlights growing closer. The two of them stepped back off the street as the car drove past, and it zipped by at a clip that had to be over the speed limit.
Robin was startled when Kia grabbed his arm, "Richard! That was by brother! He was in that car!"
"Shit." Robin looked at her, "If things get bad, hide. Other then that, just try to keep up."
"Right." and they took off running down the street.
"I'm gonna' stay up and wait for you!" Raven did a fair imitation of Beast Boy's voice as she Jinx rolled about on the couch laughing their heads off. In the kitchen, the microwave shorted out, all of the glasses in the cupboards shattered, and the tile floor cracked.
The two girls were either too oblivious, or too drunk to care.
As the wine bottle finally exploded, and the table it was on disintegrated into splinters, they finally seemed to get control for just a moment. Then they glanced at each other and burst out laughing all over again.
Then the whole room exploded.
When the smoke started to clear, and the small bits of flame started to go down, Armory and Flyte floated down from the sky, "That'll teach those two bitches to mess with us!" Armory shouted.
"Hell yeah!" was Flyte's reply.
"Man, you guys need a new M.O.!" Jinx called out as she descended from the sky above them. Raven floated there as well, from where she'd just dropped Jinx like a living bomb.
As Jinx slammed Flyte out of the air, Raven chanted out the words that enhanced her powers to a slightly higher level, "Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" The black energies lanced out and caught Armory in mid-air, then slammed him down into the top of a building, sending chunks of concrete flying.
As Flyte slammed into the ground, Jinx leapt up off of him and blasted the side of the crumbling apartment building that used to be her home with waves of pink energy. The unstable brick fell forward, right on top of the H.I.V.E. student.
Armory fell on top of the pile of brick a moment latter, his nose bleeding and his eye swelling shut rapidly. Raven floated down to stand next to Jinx as they surveyed the damage. The building looked like a doll house, with no front wall.
"Well," Raven said as she held a black glowing hand up to Jinx's head, "that sucked."
As Jinx felt the fuzziness of the wine fading from her mind, she looked over and Raven, "You sobered up quick."
"My powers burn all impurities from my system when I use them in large amounts, like hurling midgets into buildings or creating a force bubble to protect from an explosion."
"That's kind of cool." Jinx kicked a stray brick closer to the pile, "But you're right, this sucks." she sighed, "Guess I'll need to find a place to crash before I get paid again and can find a new apartment."
"I think I can help with that." Raven walked over to Robin's motorcycle and picked up her helmet, "But first let's see what Robin is up to, and why he put out the code yellow. I'm kind of in the mood to kick some more ass now."
Jinx, without a home, without any friends, and really, without anything better to do, shrugged, "Okay." She grabbed a helmet and they were off in a matter of seconds, Raven using the onboard computer to triangulate Robin's position.
Starfire watched from her perch as a lone car pulled up to the warehouse and stopped. It sat there for several minutes before the doors of warehouse nineteen across the street from seven opened up, and a small horde of red bandana wearing Red Caps poured out into the street.
"Oh my." Star whispered as the doors of the car opened up and Trent got out, followed by a rather beaten up looking Rob. Trent pulled out a gun and shouted so he could be heard by his entire gang, "Open the doors, Rob! We might even make you a full member if you just give us what we want!"
Star had to strain to hear what Rob said in return, "Fine! Okay! Just... don't shoot me, okay man?"
"Open the doors Rob." was Trent's only reply.
Green energy flared in Starfire's eyes. How dare he lead Rob on like that? He was just going to kill him anyway...
Two figures darting down the street from shadow to shadow caught Star's eye and she squinted to see who it was.
"No... it can not be... Robin?" she breathed. But that was definitely Robin, or rather Richard Grayson, and a girl she didn't know, hiding in the shadows just a few dozen yards from the gang of Red Caps.
Who was this girl? And why did she sit so close to Robin as they whispered back and forth. What was Robin doing here in the first place.
Star's anger at the whole situation bubbled over quickly and she lept from the top of the warehouse with a battle cry. Descending into the midst of the Red Caps, she began throwing them left and right, blasting hole in the street with her eye beams, and sending the gang members scampering for cover.
Green energy seemed to burn out of her eyes and a snarl formed on her lips. She wasn't holding back as she punched normal humans as hard as she could, breaking bones and causing internal bleeding.
Starfire had gone into a Tameranian Battle Rage.
"Holy shit..." Kia breathed as she and Robin watched Starfire obliterating the thirty or so gang members with devastating efficiency.
Robin had never seen the girl he loved like this before. This wasn't his Starfire, this wasn't the girl he knew. This was... an alien princess in the height of a battle frenzy of some sort. She was shouting things in her native tongue that sounded like battle cries, and thrashing about so much that it was hard to follow her movements in the blinding green light that poured off of her like fire.
"Something's wrong." he said in a low voice, "She's.... crazy. Star wouldn't hit normal people that hard... she's going to kill someone if I don't stop her!"
"But Richard!" Kia grabbed his arm before he could charge off into the fray, "You don't have your mask! Everyone will figure out who you are if you go out there and fight now!"
"Damn, you're right..." Robin pulled out his T-Comp and spoke into it quickly, "Titans! Trouble on the docks! Warehouse seven!" no response came, and after several seconds he shouted into the communicator, "Titans!"
"We're here." said a voice from behind them. They turned to see the shadows separate and out of a black void rolled Robin's bike. Raven and Jinx hopped off and removed their helmets, both wearing saucy grins.
"Um, Raven, not that I'm not glad to see you, but..." Robin motioned to Jinx.
"She's with me." Raven tossed Robin a small bundle. Looking down at it, he saw it was his spare utility belt and mask, both from inside the seat compartment of his bike.
"Why are you riding my bike, anyway?" he asked as he snapped the belt into place and smoothed the mask over his face. A pass through his mostly neat hair and it was sticking up and messed up just like he liked it.
"You're not the only one who likes to ride you know." Raven poked him in the chest, "Now what's the situation?"
"Hostage up in front of all of this needs rescuing. On top of that, Star's gone completely berserk. We have to subdue her." Robin turned to the battle, "Jinx... stay here and protect Kia. We'll take care of this." and with that he jumped into the fray, knocking a few Red Cap's aside as he charged for Starfire.
Raven turned to Jinx with a helpless shrug and flew up over the battle, towards where Robin had indicated a hostage needed saving.
Jinx stood where she was and fumed. Turning to Kia, she said, "Man, that Boy Wonder sure is a dick!"
Kia giggled, "You don't know the half of it!"
Jinx frowned and tossed a wave of pink energy at the nearest Red Cap, collapsing the ground under his feet.
Beast Boy barely heard the alert Robin was shouting. He was too busy trying to convince himself to pull his tongue out of Candy's mouth. She had him pinned to the couch, her breasts pushing against his chest, and her hands rubbing his sides and hips.
She had been 'helping' him to explore her body for the past half hour, and he was surprised to find that his body seemed to have a mind of it's own. While his brain was screaming at him to get up and go help his friends, his body seemed to not want to respond.
As he gripped her butt firmly and ground his hips upward, he thought to himself that the rest of the team could probably handle whatever it was that Robin was calling about.
Raven was blasted from the sky yet again as she tried to fly towards the young man with the gun pointed at his head. Starfire had noticed that there were additional people trying to stop her as Robin had tried to grab her, and had since been largely ignoring the Red Caps and concentrating her attacks on the two that actually posed a threat.
As she picked herself up off the ground, hurling a Red Cap with a lead pipe who was about to bash her over the head away and into the side of a warehouse with a wave of her hand, Raven searched out Starfire's mind. It was clouded by something, and she couldn't get a firm hold on it.
"Jinx!" she called, and the pink haired former super villain was by her side in a matter of seconds, Kia in toe. Raven arched an eyebrow at Jinx's determination to protect the girl as Robin had ordered, "I need you to protect me for a moment. I have to find out what's wrong with Starfire."
"Not a problem." Jinx grinned and with a wave of her hand, a Red Cap fell over his own feet and away from them, "Here." she picked up a discarded baseball bat and handed it to Kia, "Anyone gets past me, bash 'em a good one!"
"Okay!" Kia stood her ground in front of Raven, and the dark psion began to concentrate.
Finally getting a hold on Star's mind, she saw small flashes of memories, and was overcome almost instantly by a feeling of rage and betrayal. Pushing further, she concentrated on what was doing this to the alien girl.
The image she saw was simply of smoke, curling through the air. Not dissipating like cigarette smoke, but lingering, curling into intricate patterns and circles...
Pot smoke. Starfire was high? THIS was what happened to Tameraniens when they got stoned?
"Okay." Raven pulled back to herself, "Jinx, I can clear her head, but I need an opening. Can you help Robin make one for me?"
"I might have to take a few hits, but I'll live." Jinx winced as she ran forward and kicked a stray Red Cap out of her way.
"Kia, stay back." Raven ordered and flew forward to join her friends.
"Starfire!" Robin shouted as he ducked another punch, "It's me! Robin! Snap out of it Star!" he returned her attacks with several punches and kicks of his own, all of which she blocked or dodged. She struck him a glancing blow on his shoulder, but it was enough to send him tumbling back a few yards.
She was already flying at him with a charged starbolt as he regained his footing. Jumping into the air, he planted a kick squarely in her face, sending her flipping end of end into the ground, and releasing the starbolt into the side of one of the warehouses, blowing a hole large enough to drive a truck though in the wall.
"She's playing for keeps!" Robin said to himself as she got up and flew at him again, this time, aiming a punch of her own at his head. He ducked it, but wasn't able to get out of the way of the follow up kick that sent him hurling through the air.
He was spared a harsh landing as a soft hand closed around his arm, bringing him back to the ground on his feet. He looked to his left to see Jinx winking at him, "Raven says she can clear Starfire's head if we can get her an opening."
Robin smiled at her and narrowed his eyes, "How about H.I.V.E. attack plan Alpha?"
"Sounds like a good idea to me!" she shouted, and hurled the pink energy at Starfire, who was already charging in at them again. Robin followed the waves of energy that ripped up the ground in front of Star with a small disk that exploded into a burst of light that stunned the raging alien.
As Star attempted to recover from the light and the flying rocks, Robin and Jinx both leapt over the remains of the street and threw punches that connected solidly with her face. She skidded back along the ground for a few feet before kicked up and over to a standing position.
Starbolts slammed into both Robin and Jinx, plowing them back off their feet. As the green flash subsided, a growling Raven hurled straight down the center, following the same path her two friends had taken just seconds before. She grabbed a hold of Starfire's head and shouted, "Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" using the same sobering up technique she had used to clear Jinx's wine dulled brain earlier.
Starfire immediately stopped fighting and went still. After a moment in which the only sounds that could be heard were Raven's heavy breathing, and Robin and Jinx picking themselves up, she spoke, "Friend Raven.... where are we? And why are you hugging my head? You do not normally hug..."
"Starfire..." Raven floated to the ground, and leaned against her friend, "You had us worried there for a moment... do the planet a favor and NEVER try pot ever again."
"THAT'S what the problem was?" Robin asked as he walked up, "You were STONED?"
"I'm afraid I was deceived into trying to smoke something I was unfamiliar with. I am sorry, Robin. I know you must be very angry with me-"
"Angry? Star, I've been so worried. First I find out you're involved with a drug dealer, then you go blasting off here, and when I catch up to you again, you've gone crazy and you're practically killing people-" Robin was cut off by Starfire this time.
"Oh no! I did not... kill anyone did I?"
"No, they're all still alive." Raven replied, "Enough of the sappy reunion you two. We have bigger fish to fry." They turned as one to glare at Trent, who stood looking like he was about to shit himself, holding Rob in front of him with the gun pressed to his temple.
"I'll kill him! I swear I will!" he shouted.
"You're right Raven. Though this fish is pretty small for my tastes." he glanced over at Jinx, then reached into his utility belt. Pulling out a small sticker, he slapped it on her shoulder.
It was the Titan 'T.'
"What..." she looked up at Robin with a confused look in her eyes.
"It's just a sticker. If you want, you can take it off." Robin smiled at her.
Jinx smiled back, "I don't think so. You're stuck with me now."
"Good. I think you'll make a good addition to the team. So..." Robin turned and narrowed his eyes at Trent, "Titans, GO!"
And the four of them charged.
Beast Boy came up for air and sat back as Candy rubbed her hands lower on his body then she had before. Slowly, with one hand still rubbing, she reached back and un-clasped her bra.
As it fell to the floor and her breasts fell free, Beast Boy whimpered again.
It's that time again: Reviewer responses! I had TONS of feed back this time around, and it could get long if I say something to every last one of you, so unless you had something more to say then, "Hey! Good story! Write more!" (slave drivers... :P) don't expect a personalized response. Here we go.
tsutaki
Voltor
StarfireRobin4ever
SamuraiX Koneko
Lenny
Heaven's Angel
YumiOrrick4ever
knonoka
youdon'tknowmyname
VanyD
Q-T3000
Thank you for responding! It's always good to hear how much people like my stuff.
Chaos Elemental- Now you have me searching like, every damn TT fic on the web looking for Star using drugs. Thanks. But seriously, thanks for the review, and I hope to hear from you after this chapter as well.
Ev- As soon as I read your review, I smacked myself in the face, dug out my copy of Big Guns and sure enough, his eyes are blue. Thanks. :)
starfire ewing- As stated above, the official Dick Grayson eye color in blue. I too have read many stories where his eyes are brown as well, however. There may be a reason for that though. Does anyone out there know what color Tim Drake's eyes are? My collections with him in them are sorely lacking and I'm too lazy t search the internet for it...
Alfredo- I read your comment the same day I picked up my Teen Titans DVD. First six episodes, and a few worthwhile extras, one of which is a from comic to cartoon feature. In that feature, they state that the Robin they used for the animated Teen Titans was BASED on Tim Drake, mostly because he's younger then the Robin they used in the comic books. They go on to say that the Robin in the animated version is also almost an independent character, separate from Batman in any way. He's just.... Robin. So I took a bit of artistic license here (mostly because I know Dick Grayson so much better, and he has more depth to begin with) and used good old Dick as my Robin. No mistake, as I was well aware of what I was doing in the first place. Also note that in the episode when Starfire went 20 years into the future, she met Robin, who was then Nightwing. Also note that Tim Drake is the THIRD Robin, not the second. The second (who's name escapes me at the moment) was killed by the Joker. In closing, don't worry: I'm up to snuff on my Batman and Robin mythos. Thanks for the review.
AnimeHimeko- You are, to date, my most loyal and helpful reviewer. Thank you so much for all the help you've given me throughout the short time this fic has been up. You always have kind words to encourage me, and helpful advise and ideas to keep me on the straight and narrow. I feel this story has come out better because of your help. I think I answered just about all of your questions and concerns in this chapter... Kia was meant to figure out who Robin is, and the weed Star smoked did in fact come back to haunt her (though probably not in the way you thought it would...) As for the characters talking to themselves... I've always been bad with that. I spotted a few spots in this chapter that I did it again, but I feel that those spots help the story to flow a bit better. I'm a very "stream of thought" type writer, in that what I think goes down on the page. So it always sounds good to me in my head, because that's the way I think. The editing process doesn't always work out those little kinks. This story is wrapping up quickly (only one chapter left!) but I already have two sequels in mind, that I feel should be stories that stand by themselves, much like the individual story arcs of the actual show. I hope to have you on board for those as well. They'll be darker, sexier, and probably more violent, but that's why we have the R rating, eh? Thanks again for all of your help, and I hope to hear from you soon.
Brogramn- Who do I like the most? Well, generally, my girlfriend ranks right up there. There's a reason I've been dating her for seven years. Also, my best buddy Joey. He's always there for me. Now, if you were talking about Titans characters, I'm a big Raven fan, and would love to do a Robin/Raven pairing someday. But not in this story. Thanks again for the review, and I'll see you at the end of the next chapter.
Kokuryu- If you like the teen drama aspect of this story, then once again, I highly recommend the Teen Titans comics. The Wolfman/Prez era comics are the best in the drama department, and best of all, it had a huge run. Like nine years or something. They wrote the whole thing VERY well. The newer version they have out now is okay, but it gets a little corny every now and then. Also, thanks for the tip on the eye color. I was thinking someone would tell me before I had to write about it.
NalaravatheRed- No eye lasers allowed. Now stop it with the glowing eyes thing! It's creeping me out! :)
Yuki- Princess Nine fan by chance? Anyway, thanks for the review, and about the Raven/Jinx thing... sorry.... I was kicking that idea around for awhile, and once again, maybe some other time, but not in this story. See, I was brainstorming using my Brain Juice (see below) when I got all these great ideas for a Raven/??? pairing and I think I'm gonna' put Jinx with ???. What? You thought I'd tell you? Riiiiiight. Like that's gonna' happen. Just read and you'll see!
Brain Juice (also known as Grapey Doom)- Start with one 3/4 gallon container. Add three packs of grape Kool-Aid, and two full cups of sugar. Fill container almost all the way up with water. MIX WELL. Serve chilled. It'll make your brain go pop! and your teeth rot out of your head. Yay!
CloudedDragaon- Your worship and praise is of course, not only expected, but well deserved. I know, I know. My modesty knows no bounds. And I promise: more of Drunk!Raven in the future. :)
Next Chapter: Lots of explanations all around, a 'Starfire and Robin Moment', the minor characters bow out, Beast Boy gets busted, Cyborg gets a good laugh, Raven is playful, Jinx does her first Heroic Thing as part of the team, and Robin gets some (bad?) news from an Old Bat....