Vermillion
Chapter 4: Carnations
:1:
"Wanna play poker?" asked Beast Boy, shuffling a deck of checkered cards.
Raven narrowed her eyes and wished an anvil would fall on his head. Ever since they found out about the disturbing, horn-dog stalker that is Red X, the Titans pledged never to leave her in a room alone. Thus, she was stuck on the sofa in all her waking hours, getting increasingly cranky and thinking up increasingly bloody ways to execute the others' deaths.
"No," she managed, her eye twitching.
It was Beast Boy's shift now. He was morphing into every animal he could think of, doing tricks and jumping on top of Raven as a form of primitive entertainment. The only way she got him to stop was by threatening to throw him out of the large windows and watch him drop ten stories. Fun. It was a mark off of her friends' supposed intelligences that they didn't know better than to stick both her and Beast Boy alone in the same room by now.
"Hey Raven?" asked Beast Boy hesitantly.
"What?"
"You know that Red X dude?"
"No, I don't."
He ignored her sarcasm and continued. "Do you like being—you know... yeah... by him?"
"Do you think I like being touched by him?"
Beast Boy flushed and shook his head at Raven's deadly, deadly look. "Right. Um... wanna play Mega Destructo Lord 3000?" he asked, pointing to the controllers.
She closed her eyes and counted to ten. No, wait—twenty. Twenty-three. "You know what, Beast Boy? Why don't you play by yourself and I'll sit here and read my book?" she said calmly.
He frowned and looked over his shoulder to see if Robin was standing at the doorway. He had been very insistent that Raven was preoccupied in the tower and would have maimed Beast Boy for neglecting his duty as Raven's 'protector.' Honestly, though—she really thought she was old enough to take care of herself. But Robin had said she was a wailing infant and needed safeguarding—and who could argue with Robin?
"Are you sure?" Beast Boy asked, looking hungrily at the gaming station.
"Yes," Raven sighed. She shouldn't punish Beast Boy for Robin's utter stupidity.
With a joyous cry, Beast Boy practically leapt onto the gaming station and turned it on. Raven rolled her eyes and opened her book, a biography on one of the cruelest women in the world—Agrippina the Younger, the mother, sister, and wife of three different, cruel Roman emperors.
:2:
"What do you want to do?" Raven asked dully, her chin propped on her hand.
"I dunno. What do you want to do?" Cyborg answered, fiddling with his arm.
"How about we go mess up Robin's workplace and wait for him to go homicidal and poison us with Starfire's pudding?"
"Nah."
"I can't believe I'm saying this: wanna go shopping for wigs?"
"I don't think blonde hair would fit me."
"It'll fit you better than it does me."
"Hello? Half robot man here?"
"Hello? Grayish skin here?"
"You're right. Let's take you to a tanning salon."
"No, thanks. I don't want to get cancer. You can if you want to, though."
"Don't have much to tan, anyhow. Besides, I'm black. What kind of tan would I get?"
"Let's drag Beast Boy to the salon then."
"Why not? It's not like we can have a burping contest." Cyborg knocked on the metal of his kneecap and grimaced. His finger transformed into a screwdriver and he pried it open to look inside to find a tiny rubber fish. "BB..." he growled.
"I hate this."
"So do I."
"...so what now?" Raven said, flopping uncharacteristically down on the couch. She placed her hands under her head and closed her eyes for a nap.
"Let's play 'tie up Boy Wonder and take off his mask.' "
"That's a great idea," said Raven in a monotone. "That is, if he will ever come out of that pile of newspaper clippings.
"Get some shut-eye?"
"What else? Unless you want to watch a horror movie. After it, you'll have fluffy white dreams full of candy and fairies."
"Now that's scary."
:3:
Raven slumped in her position on the couch and desperately hoped that someone would hold up a bank. She snuck a glance at the happy face of Starfire as she leaned close to Raven and held up a book that was awfully familiar.
"Friend Raven, I have taken the liberty of going to your favorite dark café and purchasing a book of depressing poetry to read to you!" she said, beaming as if she had done Raven a favor.
"That's not depressing poetry, Star..." Raven said, leaning away from the alien.
"Of course it is!" she persisted. "I purchased it from a young girl with a depressed countenance!"
Probably because a reader went back and told her how horrible it was, thought Raven maliciously.
"And now I will read to you the first poem..." said Starfire.
Raven pulled her hood up and resisted the urge to huddle into a frightened ball.
"Every night you come to me
When the moon is shining bright.
Every night I open my arms
Beneath the twinkling starlight.
Your eyes excited,
Your lips cracked with desire,
My chest heaving,
My groin ripping with fire..."
Starfire trailed off with a sudden blush on her cheeks. She mouthed, "Robin," then gulped and continued.
"We sigh and embrace and touch and release
This is truly splendor in the grass,
We kiss and hold and push and bite,
And you laugh at my sass."
Raven rolled her eyes at the horrible rhyming and gritted her teeth. Starfire took this for enjoyment and continued, faster and with more emotion.
"Oh, the stars which break overhead!
Oh, how we shine in our joy!
We break away reluctantly,
Me, your mistress, you my boy."
Raven trembled in suppressed horror.
"Your chest, your six-pack, your delicious--"
Raven leapt up from her seat and took off, Starfire in hot pursuit. "Friend Raven, where are you going?"
"Bathroom," she groaned, barely reaching the toilet in time. She retched the morning's breakfast and sat back, wiping her brow. But Starfire was not silenced.
"Here's another:
Dancing in the darkness of your apartment,
We revel in each other's hot..."
Raven moaned in horror and, losing control, reached out with her power and tore the book to shreds. "There."
Starfire's eyes widened and swelled with tears. "You do not like the poetry?"
"No," said Raven remorselessly, flushing the toilet and walking away. She heard Starfire sniffle and run off in Robin's direction, but she didn't care. The poetry was nonsense, and Starfire must be really dense not to realize it.
:4:
Apparently, to Raven's surprise, Robin understood why she had destroyed the poetry book. Instead of sitting down and telling Raven off in a Leaderly manner, Robin strapped on his helmet, told Raven to get on behind him, and headed for the movie theater. They did not see Starfire staring after them wistfully. They did not see Beast Boy's troubled expression. They saw the stretch of road, the buildings on both sides, and the big sign broadcasting Daughter of Dracula.
Halfway through the movie, Robin the demon-driven fighter closed his eyes and prayed for the bloodshed to end.
They sat in an empty theater and looked up at a tall screen where every drop of blood was amplified ten times, making Robin sick to his stomach. He glanced up at Raven, who was watching the movie, unfazed by the screaming and kicking onscreen, and wondered how she could eat so much popcorn when the hero's arm was being thrown across the empty warehouse. Oh, how he regretted agreeing to this, but it was the only way she would be amused. Starfire obviously didn't know what she needed. Beast Boy didn't share any of her interests. Cyborg languished every moment away from his cars.
"Ugh," Robin remarked when the villainess broke another man's neck with only her left hand. The head hung at a direct ninety-degree angle. Robin closed his eyes and wished he were doing something else.
"Looks like bird boy can't handle a little gore," said a creepy voice from behind them. He glanced back to see Red X perched behind Raven, a hand stroking her hair. Raven herself seemed to have frozen in her place, almost as if she was dreading turning and looking into the skull mask. "You need a real man, Raven, one that isn't afraid of holding you and can match you step by step, breath by breath."
Robin narrowed his eyes. What right did this criminal nave to say he wasn't a 'real man'? He could have insulted the fact Red X had to hide behind a mask. He could have said that Raven preferred his company to Red X's. He could have said a whole list of things. Instead, he came up with the most brilliant, original statement in the world.
"Shut up!"
Red X narrowed his eyes and moved over to Robin, catching his neck between his chest and elbow in a swift movement. He pushed Robin's head down angrily. "You don't deserve her. You have the redhead. Don't mess with Raven."
"YOU don't deserve her! What can you offer her? A life of crime! AND you were created by me! Whoever you are, Red X is my identity!"
"You lost it when I came along. You never used it to its full extent. That's why I'm here."
"Damn you!" cried Robin, reaching upward, grabbing hold of Red X's belt and pulling him over his head and flinging him to the next row down. Red X tumbled to the ground, his head hitting the stone.
At this point, Raven stood up in disgust and shoved her popcorn at Robin. "Control yourself," she said coldly.
"Hey, I just saved your hide!" argued Robin, tossing the bag aside.
"I could have handled him! I'm not some stupid child unable to defend herself!"
"No, she's more than a child," whispered Red X suggestively. He placed his hands on her shoulders from behind her and gently moved them down to her fingers. She shivered and pressed her lips together in anger.
"Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" she hissed throwing a bunch of lights that were ripped out of the wall and cracking with electricity at Red X. He whipped out a long rod in black and silver and parried them, but it gave Robin the chance to give him a kick on his neck. Red X fell to the ground, then went up on his knees and tripped Robin.
"She's mine!" he yelled, taking out a silver-bladed knife. Red X brought it down towards Robin's prostrate figure, but Robin rolled away and the knife rooted itself in the ground.
"Don't. Ever. Do. That. AGAIN!" yelled Raven. Her eyes glowed a ghostly gray and her cape started whipping around to an unseen wind. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" A group of seats uprooted themselves from the cement and she hurled them towards Red X in fury.
He was knocked against the wall and tumbled onto three seats where he promptly rolled to the ground.
"Raven, I..." began Robin, looking at the girl in wonder.
"Shut it, Robin," she said. "I told you I can defend myself."
Red X got up and laughed uproariously. "I like it when you're feisty, darling," he said. "You have so much energy."
Robin's mask narrowed when he heard Red X's comment and he launched himself at Red X, taking out his collapsible staff. He swiped upwards and Red X blocked it almost instantly. Robin continued to try to hit Red X and the villain continued to match him blow by blow. "You're getting predictable in your old age, Robin," sneered Red X, giving Robin a whirling kick. Robin flew several feet and tumbled onto the aisle. He struggled to get up and Red X used that time to derisively blow a kiss to Raven.
Robin seemed to take that as some sort of insult, so he thrust his staff into Red X's stomach and hit him on the neck in rage. Red X took several steps back, rolled his head to ease the pain, and swiped his rod at Robin's feet. Robin jumped and brought his staff down towards Red X's shoulder but the other brought up his rod and held it about his head, holding Robin's attack at bay.
Raven, in the meanwhile, crossed her arms over her chest and scowled. The credits for the movie began rolling in the background, followed by eerie violin music. She lifted her eyebrows in irritation and stretched herself in shadow, sinking into the floor and teleporting off.
Robin and Red X barely noticed.
"Why do you want her anyway?" panted Robin, blocking Red X's assault. They had cast aside their rods and started to fight with only their fists, feinting and parrying expertly, completely and utterly evenly matched.
"Why?" repeated Red X, kicking Robin in the side. The Boy Wonder doubled over in the sudden pain and Red X pulled him up by his collar. "Take a look into yourself. Why do you want her?"
"But I don't! I'm in love and I'm perfectly happy with Starfire!" protested Robin, grabbing Red X's wrist.
"Are you? Then why are you so jealous?" He snickered and dropped Robin disdainfully. "Until next time, little birdie."
Red X picked up his rod and mockingly saluted Robin, then vanished into thin air.
Robin propped himself up and rubbed his side. "Ow..."
:5:
"Hey Raven," called Cyborg when he looked up from the blue, fuzzy food in front of him.
"Stupid macho-manic, traffic-light wearing, arrogant little--" Raven glowered, steam practically shooting out of her ears. "I'm perfectly capable of handling my own problems! And X! Despicable, condescending, perverted, self-important smart-ass..."
"You're not talking about me, are you Rae?" asked Beast Boy, falling into step next to her. "And where's Robin?"
"Probably busting his guts with Red X," said Raven. "Frankly, I don't care."
"Oh, come on! You don't really mean that, do you?"
"I can protect myself! I don't need Boy Wonder doing it for me!"
"Maybe he's doing it because he cares about you," said Cyborg sagely, taking out a tub of ice cream.
"Robin is fighting with Red X?" asked Starfire worriedly.
"Don't worry," said Raven darkly, "the worst they can do is to kill each other. No, make that the best."
"Oh, Robin," said Starfire, jumping off the couch. "I must go to help him!"
At that moment, the doors to the room opened and an exhausted Robin stumbled in. Starfire rushed to his side and helped him to the couch expressing her sweet, kind worries. Robin, smiling gratefully at Starfire, didn't look once at Raven.
Raven rolled her eyes and glanced at Beast Boy, who was still following her. "What do you want?" she asked hostilely.
"Are you sure you're all right? Do you want a green kitty to keep you company?" At that, he morphed into a tiny cat with a pink ribbon and mewed pitifully up at Raven and blinked at her with huge, wobbling green eyes.
Raven maintained a stony silence and walked on, heading towards her room.
"Raven, you really shouldn't be alone," said Beast Boy, running after her.
"I'll be alone if I want to!" she snarled. Beast Boy backed down with a huge sweat drop.
She entered her room and closed the door firmly behind her, locking it. Then she switched on the light and turned to view her sanctuary.
She screamed—and the door melted.
Beast Boy had been walking away dejectedly when Raven finally entered her room, but at the sound of her yell, he rushed in...
...to find that every item in her room, from the walls to the books to the sheets to the tables had been marked with a big, red X...
...and the man responsible, decked in gray with a tattered cape, a torn X on his chest, and a white mask, was waiting in the center of the room with a bunch of red carnations in his hand.
[Fin]
Disclaimer: If I owned Teen Titans, Red X would be my personal slave. But alas! I only have Speedy here... good boy! Shoot the apple!
MWAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! I'm so evil for ending it there, aren't I?
Note: Agrippina the Younger—who Raven was reading about—was the sister of Caligula, a sadistic Emperor who was both schizophrenic and epileptic. (He heard voices in his head and got convulsive seizures.) Caligula also murdered lords to get their beautiful wives and committed incest with his three sisters. Drusilla, the sister whom he loved the most, died in pregnancy with his child. Agrippina the Younger was also the mother of Emperor Nero, who neglected his armies and indulged in the wives of other lords, eventually betraying the mother who worked hard to get him onto the throne. Agrippina herself schemed and murdered to make sure Nero was able to become emperor. She married a rich, elderly man as a young widow and received much money when he died. Then she convinced her uncle the emperor to marry her. (Caligula had died by then.) When he finally named Nero as his successor, he died mysteriously. Thought you wanted to know. XD
At the time I'm writing this, the polls have been dead even [seven for each] for the Robin vs. Red X debate. Thank you, because now I know exactly what to do.
Little Black Teacup: You want Raven and Robin to have a threesome including black-donning, skull-masked Red X? Erm... I'll think about it.
Luna34-1947: Um... I'm not a huge fan of Star/Rob and this IS a Rob or Red X/Rav story. Sorry, but she HAS to end up with one or the other.
tha fonix freeke: [cackles] Just a guy obsessed with Raven? We'll see, we'll see!
DarkChildoftheNite: I'm not quite sure how long. Maybe 8 chapters, give or take one or two or four? I've got the vague plot down but other clues may need to be added.
Peace215: Thank you for that perceptive review. Maybe, when you look back when you know who/what Red X is, you will understand why your review made me grin. Your reasoning was very clear and pretty close to the truth. I can't say anymore now. Keep thinking...
Messenger of Light: Slade? [amused] maybe. Then again, maybe not. (Actually, when I was beginning the story, I thought of that. But I decided it would have been a little TOO weird.)
Le Chat de Darigan: Take over the world? Why ever would I do that? [Hides plans for evil-end-of-the-world machine to hold the world hostage for –as Dr. Evil—ONE MEEEELLION DOLLARS!]
Reality: Hmm... Starfire/Robin is understandable. Raven/Robin is interesting.
PlAySw/Fire: Maybe it is just the costume... But she's been trapped under Red X (the first meeting, where he trapped her on the wall) and I'm 95% sure he's solid. Right. No creepy dude for you.
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--May you prosper, my beautiful, wonderful reviewers! May you live long, my amazing, goodly readers! Bless you all!!!—
[Plays angel music and the clouds part to reveal big white light.]