OK, I'm sure you people wanna put my head on a mantle but the truth was I just had writers block. I've been rather busy also (I got a movie agent) and I'm pretty excited about that.

But onto the story.

Chapter Eight: Raven

Two weeks had passed since Starfire had arrived in Jump City.

Crime was at an all time low.

And the three superheroes were growing restless.

"Dude," Beast Boy declared to his two friends as they watched a French cooking show, which they could not understand due to their lack of fluency, "we should go out and do something."

"Agreed," said Starfire. "While the crime fighting has been rewarding, I cannot help but feel an emptiness occurring between now and the time that civilians need us."

Robin sighed. He couldn't help but feel desperate to find anyway to fight the boredom. He got up from the couch and headed towards the table to the newspaper.

Gotta be something in here to kill some time, he thought. His blue eyes skimmed through the paper as fast as he could until an article caught his attention.

NEW POETRY CAFÉ GAINS HUGE CROWDS

After being open for only three weeks Poe's Poetry Corner and Coffee Shop has drawn in huge crowds not just for a perk but for poetry as well. Every night at 8PM the shop gathers over fifty patrons who are either there to listen and drink or just share.

"It's a pretty awesome place," declares Andy Sins as he drinks a black coffee. "You know, people come in, all sorts of people, just read their stuff and then just listen to others. They should open another place like this."

Robin looked at his two friends. "How does a poetry café sound?"

Poe's Poetry Corner and Coffee Shop had a very large black bird over its sign. Clenched between the bills of the bird was a human eye.

Naturally anyone who saw it knew that it was an amazing statue. But to an alien who was new to this world, it might just scare them a little.

"Are you sure this corner of poetry and coffee is safe?" Starfire asked as she covered the end of Robin's cape over her face.

Robin turned around to the alien teen with a smile. "Trust me."

"Yea," agreed Beast Boy, "the only scary thing in here is probably the poetry."

The door jingled as the entered and from what Robin saw, the article wasn't lying when it described the popularity of the small shop.

Though it was only mid afternoon the area was packed. Luckily for the three superheroes they were able to find a small table for them to sit at.

Robin looked around the café. Lots of Goths and other people who probably went outside during daylight hours seldom.

Suddenly Robin could feel all the eyes in the store on him and his friends.

Great, he thought. This was exactly the type of thing he was trying to avoid. He and his friends had gotten some fair attention of Jump City and whenever they went out to stop a bank robbery, there would always be a crowd taking pictures. It made their job harder and it distracted them.

Starfire leaned over and whispered into his ear, "Robin, why are these people staring at us."

"Because they recognize us," he whispered back. He leaned forward on the table towards Beast Boy. "Perhaps we should leave."
The green teenager waved a hand at Robin. "Relax, fearless leader. The B-Man has got this in the bag." He stood up and addressed the store. "Hey, I know what you're thinking. 'Oh my god, it the superheroes.' Actually...we're the fan club. You know, we dress up like them because it's the only way we can pass time in the void that is our lives."

"Oh," chorused the store. They went back to doing whatever they were doing before.

"A clever explanation," congratulated Starfire. "How did you come up with it?"

Beast Boy shrugged. "Aw, I just heard it on TV once."

A waiter approached the trio. "What can I get you?"

"Black coffee," said Robin. He then looked at Starfire. She hadn't tried coffee before and she might not like it black. He ordered the same for her but with lots of milk, cream and sugar.

"And what do you want?" the waiter asked Beast Boy.

Beast Boy looked rather embarrassed and scratched the back of his head. "Uh...do you guys have chocolate milk? Cause if you do I'll take a large."

The waiter raised an eyebrow as if he was questioning the changeling's order but nodded. He left and went to get their orders.

Robin leaned forward on the table past Starfire so that he could see Beast Boy's face.

"You don't like coffee?"
Beast Boy made a disgusted face. "Dude, the stuff tastes like pee. Chocolate milk is my coffee."

Robin chuckled.

Beast Boy smiled and looked around the café. While to the naked eye it looked like he was just scanning the shop, he was actually looking for someone to hit on.

It was then that she caught his attention.

The strange thing was she was doing nothing to do so. The girl wore a blue cloak and appeared to be reading a book. Beast Boy couldn't tell anything else about her because her back was to him.

He had to try her out.

"Guys," he whispered, "see that chick over there?" He pointed very lightly so that it would not attract attention.

"Yea," responded Robin. Starfire nodded.

"I'm gonna go hit on her," he said in an almost impulsive voice.

Starfire looked confused. "Why would you wish to harm her?"

"He means he's going to see if she's attracted to him," Robin explained.

"Oh," said Starfire. "I wish you luck in the courting of unknown females."

Beast Boy winked and got up from the table.

Okay, BB, he thought, you can do this. Just release the old animal charm.

He approached the table with a confident air about him. He faced the girl as she continued to read her book.

She didn't seem to pay any attention to him at all.

Ah, a bookworm, thought Beast Boy. He pulled out the chair opposite to her and sat down.

"Hi there," he greeted.

She seemed to have two other books on the table right next to her arm. Beast Boy could tell from the cover on the top of the pile that it was Stephen King's Misery.

The girl lowered the book so that only the top of her head up to her eyes showed. She seemed to have some sort of jewel fused into the center of her forehead. Her skin was strangely pale but that didn't deter Beast Boy.

Her eyes sent him a message: 'Go away'. She raised the book back up.

"Whatcha reading?" he asked.

The girl lowered her book again in the same position it was before.

"Can't you read?" she asked bitterly.

Beast Boy squinted and looked at the cover of her book.

"The Raven and Other Works by Edgar Allen Poe," he read. "Sounds cool."

The girl nodded and raised the book to its previous position.

"I'm Beast Boy," the green teenager said extending an open hand.

Mystery girl stayed where she was.

Whew, Beast Boy thought, better go to plan B. I should really work on 'A' for the future though.

"So...your book," he said, trying to show interest, "what's happening in it?"

"I don't know," she responded, the book still covering her face.

Beast Boy gave a chuckle. "Okay, how can you be reading it and not know what's going on? Is it, like, hard to understand, cause I have a way with words."

The girl folded the book down on the table. Her face looked stern and her voiced matched it. "No. I don't know what's going on because I seem to be constantly interrupted by a green little man who seems to have more of a way with body odor than with words."

Beast Boy could literally feel himself shrink in his chair.

"Oh," was all he could say weakly.

A scream erupted behind Beast Boy. He turned around and saw three people brandishing assault riffles. Each of the robbers seemed to have their weapon aimed at a certain sector of the store.

"All right," called the leader. "This is gonna be quick. You two," he pointed his weapon at Robin and Starfire. "I don't believe that fan club crap for one minute. Take of that belt and slide it across the floor. As for you, dear, if you make a laser beam with your hands I start make some heads blow, understand."

Robin quickly removed his utility belt and slid it across the floor so it was now at his captor's feet.

Starfire remained motionless and kept her hands on the table.

"What about that one?" another one of the robbers said pointing his rifle at Beast Boy.

The changeling gave a small whimper that could only be heard by him.

"I'll stay here," he said with a scared smile.

The lead robber smiled and turned to his partners. "All right, you two, keep an eye on everyone." He aimed his rifle at the cashier. "You empty that and the safe and the register."

As Beast Boy sat there, his mind raced like a horse.

"Hey," he whispered to his mystery girl, who still sat with her book down, "are you scared?"

The girl pushed her seat back and stood up straight, pulling the blue hood over her head so that most of her face was hidden.

"I don't do fear," she replied.

"Hey, sit down," one of the robbers.

The girl closed her eyes and began chanting something.

"Do what he says," urged Beast Boy, "or he'll kill you."

"Azarath, metrion, zinthos," the girl shouted.

She's gone nuts, thought Beast Boy as he stood up to protect her from any gunfire.

But as he gazed at the robbers, he saw their weapons become almost highlighted with some sort of dark energy. In it, light became dark and dark became light. The weapons soon curled like pretzels.

"Wha-what the hell?" cursed one of the robbers.

Robin picked up his coffee mug and threw it at the lead robber. It seemed that everyone thought this to be the appropriate course of action and began doing the same.

Five minutes later police vehicles, one of them containing the three culprits, surrounded the area.

"Are you all right?" asked Robin as he put his belt back on.

"I am undamaged," said Starfire.

"Me too," said Beast Boy. He looked back towards his table and saw that his mystery friend and heroine had left. "Where'd she go?" he asked out loud.

He quickly dashed out of the store and leapt into the air, changing quickly into a crow. With a literal birds eye view of the area, it did not take him long to find her walking down the street carrying a large blue duffel bag.

As he swooped down he quickly turned back into human form so that he was in front of her. Robin and Starfire quickly caught up.

"Dude," panted Beast Boy, "that was amazing. What'd you do to their guns anyway?"

"Telekinesis," explained the girl. "All it requires is a disciplined mind and a lot of patience." She walked past Beast Boy.

"Hey, wait up," he said walking in front of her. He turned around and faced her while walking backwards. As he spoke he would look back every few seconds to make sure he wouldn't hit anything.

"Look, I know you seem to be all 'leave me alone' and everything but what you did back there kicked ass! And you know, what, you have a gift. Now you can either just walk to wherever you're heading or you can, like, you know, become a superhero." Just as Beast Boy turned around, he ran into a streetlight. He gave a four-letter curse.

He regained himself and stood up straight, wiping a drop of blood from his nostril.

"So what's your answer?"

The girl sighed and dropped her bag. "Raven," she said.

Beast Boy raised an eyebrow.

"My name," she explained, "that's my name."

"Oh," said Beast Boy.

"Why do you want me to join?" Raven asked, turning to face all three of them.

"Well," said Robin, "I think you would make a great addition."

"I've read about your work in the newspaper. What are you guys called?"

"We're...working on that," explained Beast Boy. "But are you in?"
Raven sighed. "Gee, either walk around the world aimlessly or join some youth superheroes whose club doesn't have a name?" She looked at the three of them with an emotionless face. "No one better go into my room."

To Be Continued...

All right I finally got it done. If you want to yell at me for taking so long to update, that's cool. I'll be a lot quicker with the next-possibly last-chapter. So please update and if you could, point me in the direction of any other stories that talk about how the Titans formed and all that good stuff. Thanks.

Shadow Avenger