This can't be right..
4 months since I last updated?! Okay, FINE. Now you guys get a fat-ass chapter to make up for it.
I'm glad everyone who read this liked it. Hey, what can I say? I'm just a gifted writer.. a CONCEITED gifted writer.
I'm putting off my BREAKFAST so you guys can read this. So be happy! : )
Review responses:
Katergator: Wow, you're so inspiring!! Glad you like it so much!! :D Makes me feel so happy. Robin's issues with fangirls is something pretty unaddressed in every other fic out there, so I make use of it with some original torture methods.. Being a huge Robin fangirl (you have no idea how crazy I am.. I bet I'm the only one!) I like to poke fun at the poor lil boy wonder.. If you have any ideas, PLEASE don't hesitate to tell me! Hope you enjoy this chapter as much as the last! : )
Overseer47: HEY! I know you! ..The Titans live in NYC? Well, I sure as hell haven't seen any snow upon the Titans tower, so it can't be NYC! And don't even mention Florida, cause hurricanes are nonexistent as well. Meh. I'm probably wrong. I'll check it out someday, but this story is keeping local to my 'hood. I'm in the Bay Area, BTW. I gots access to Tahoe AND the City. Forget So Cal. They're all bums down there! XD
Nightwater: Glad you like. Pocket? Starfire's never been in Robin's pocket.. yet. Wait, that was a figure of speech, wasn't it? OO cough Robin's pretty thickheaded about girls for being such a genius. It's gonna be that way for a LONG time in this story. I think. P
Celestial: Perhaps.. Well of COURSE it's going to be Robin/Star. But not at first. I don't like to jump to conclusions. I like to torture my readers with the wait-and-see-mwhahahah technique. And the letters? OHOHO! I MYSELF haven't decided on that yet! I could pull a Metal-Gear-Solid-sudden-plot-twist on you, so be careful!! Lol
Clouded leopard: Oh, that happens to me all the time in the library.. Just ignore them and hope they'll go away. XD Grocery Shopping is finished! YAY. Although people are asking for a SEQUEL now. Punks!!
Thanks to all other reviewers!! Glad you liked the Power Rangers! Now, you'll like this one more, cause we got the NINJA TURTLES, SAILOR MOON, and the X-MEN all in one long chapter!! WOO!
Auctionable Love
Chapter 4- And the winners are…
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Previously on A. L.: The Titans have been put through a grueling battle with the Mighty Morhpin Power Rangers. BB's stomach isn't too happy with Starfire's Pudding of Victory, and Robin is having issues with Starfire's hair. Why is Starfire so disliked? Stay tuned..
Ah. Yet another glorious morning in Bikini Bottom.. er.. the city where the Titans live (location withheld to protect the innocent). Okay, fine: Jump City. What the hell is wrong with the kid who named the city?! Someone fire him.
Ahem. The stadium wasn't bustling with much excitement today, for many teams had lost yesterday and their fans left with them. To the limo driver's happiness, parking was easier to find. To Robin's dismay, there were even more fangirls today than yesterday! The world is strange. The paparazzi deserve to be shot.
Numbers were drawn yet again. Arrow was again holding the box. Robin used great ingenious to make BB get the number this time.
BB, rubbing a sore behind (courtesy of Robin), stepped up and put his hand in the box. He withdrew his hand and read "1".
"Trés bien! Merci!" Arrow smiled. She patted BB's head lovingly, as if he were a little child who had sung the ABC's wonderfully. BB felt quite accomplished and returned to his team grinning proudly. Raven almost smacked him. Hard. She didn't have time though, because they had to prepare for battle.
"The first match for today will determine who gets to proceed to the finals! Not even the author knows how many participants actually were in the tournament, but we're not worried about that," Cupid said. "Audience: sit tight for the battle of the Teen Titans versus the Sailor Senshi, led by the famous Sailor Moon!"
The Titans raised their eyebrows, half in question, half in concern. Not physically in half, but as in… oh, never mind..
5 girls in extremely short Sailor Uniforms posed on the opposite side of the arena. 2 were blond, 1 was a brunette, and 2 had unnatural hair colors. don't know who I'm talking about? Northarc . com / images/ smoon/ 5group.jpg -- take out the spaces!
"The Sailor Scouts!?" Starfire exclaimed happily. "I have seen them on the electronic pleasure device!"
"It's a TV, Star.." Robin informed her nervously.
"GO!" Cupid shouted, probably dropping a flag somewhere.
The Senshi posed in a line, and the leader began a little speech. Too bad the Titans had no clue what they were saying. They just stood there a little while, blinking.
"What the…?" Cyborg blasphemized.
"What is it, Cy?" Robin asked.
"I ran a translator.. they're speaking Japanese. And they're telling us, and I quote, 'In the name of the moon, we, the Sailor Scouts, defenders of the universe, shall---'"
"WHY do we care? Let's just pound them," Raven stated.
"Titans, GO!" Robin shouted importantly. Just as the Titans dashed past him, he heard a squeaky "Mun Tiara Maziyuku!" come from the squeaky voice of Sailor Moon. A glittery head piece hit him on the forehead and bounced off, clattering on the ground. Robin's eye twitched. "That didn't even HURT!" Maybe he should show her what PROPER projectiles could do… Thus, he fired a volley of birdarangs upon the blonde, who ran, shrieking pitifully.
"Ziyupita Oku Evorushan--- KYAAAAA!" Sailor Jupiter screamed as green starbolts nearly burnt off her ponytail.
"How come we always get stuck with the weaklings?" Cyborg sighed, popping some of Mercury's bubbles with a metallic finger.
"Weaklings in short skirts.." BB drooled, eyeing Sailor Venus in a PG-13 manner. Raven brought a heavy fist upon his perverted head.
Before Raven could pound BB with every fiber of her being, a piece of foreign paper with Japanese characters plastered itself to her forehead. It then spontaneously combusted.
To make a long story short, Raven freaked, her powers went out of control, half the arena's lights went out, the Titans found themselves on the ceiling rafters, and all that remained of the Sailor Senshi were a couple tiaras and a pink scepter.
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Robin shook his head disbelievingly. If the semi-final match was that easy, then the final must be cake. Speaking of cake, it was lunch break. Caterers brought in tables, laden with food of every type, to fill the arena floor.
Robin munched a chunk of hamburger as he stood around with his friends. Starfire was enjoying a crème brulée; BB was scarfing down a hot tofu dog; Cyborg chose pizza smothered in ten different kinds of meat; Raven found Chinese cuisine to be quite tasty. It was silent among them, the space filled with other chatter.. well, silent for a little while.
"Oh my GOD!" BB choked, dropping his tofu dog onto his plate. "It's the Ninja Turtles!!" he pointed in shock. His friends turned instinctively to find the green heroes in the nearby corner, talking amongst themselves. If you don't know who these guys are, well.. you deserve to be shot in the head 5 times.
".. I can't believe we lost!!" the red-bandanaed one spoke angrily.
One wearing purple spoke up also. "Who were they again? The X-men?"
"I dunno, but whoever faces off with them is in for a big loss," the blue one replied, leaning against the wall.
"Dude! Cheese Pizza!" the orange one exclaimed, having discovered a stack of the almighty, universal, and free delivered meal-in-a-box.
"X-men, huh?" Robin repeated, his fingers brushing his chin as he turned back to his team. He found them helping themselves to seconds without him. Before he could irritably ask if they were listening at all, a soft greeting caused him to turn.
It was Cupid and Arrow, patiently standing like proper hosts of a party. They looked quite different up close, rather than on stage. Cupid had an air of stateliness, with his hands tucked into the wide sleeves of his robe. His hair, dark as the night, left a lingering contrast with the bleached white of his robe. It pained Robin's eyes. His crystal-blue irises, framed by almond-shaped eyes, imbibed everything around him without giving the slightest hint of interest; his mouth was curved in a little smile that gave off the aura of an impending plot development in this story.
As for Arrow, she was wearing pink again; it was a pale tint of sugar pink, yet a shimmery white in the shadows. Her dress had two pieces; a flowy, layered skirt, and an incredibly small sweetheart top, strapless. Her arms were covered with long evening gloves. A little scarf donned her head of silver curls. Her blue eyes curved with the smile of her lips, crimson against coppered skin. She regarded everything with great interest.
"Are you all enjoying the food?" Arrow asked.
BB swallowed the hard lump in his throat. "Yeah.." he replied, nodding, although he suddenly lost his appetite. His spider-sense gave him sickening vibes, and it wasn't from the food. Because the food tasted too good.
"I'm glad to hear that!" Arrow bowed her head in appreciation. "And I also hope you do well in the final round."
"We're facing the X-men, right?" Robin asked curiously.
Cupid nodded slowly. "Yes. I believe you are correct. It'll be a fine face-off. I look forward to it."
"So, when DO we fight them? Tomorrow?" Cy asked.
"Why, after the meal, of course."
"And they tell us this NOW?" Raven muttered to Starfire in a low voice. Star merely smiled.
"If you'll excuse me," Cupid bowed, then strode off.
"Farewell!" Star waved politely.
Cy's eyes scanned the room all the while. "Hey! Ice cream!"
"I'll come with you!" BB exclaimed, trailing after him. Raven also accompanied them, for sheer purpose of refilling her sparkling cider.
"Pudding!" Starfire cried, spying a large bowl in the other direction. "Robin, would you like some?"
"No thanks, I'm--"
"Okay!" she said, gliding off. She didn't really hear his reply; pudding was so exciting!
"So, Robin, what are those projectiles of yours called?" Arrow asked, starting some conversation. "I've always wondered about their name.."
"Birdarangs," he replied, pulling one out for a demo.
Arrow took it into her hands delicately, caressing the smooth edges as she turned it over and over. "So cleverly designed.. I assume they make chirping noises when thrown, non?"
Robin blushed slightly. "Actually, yes.. It.. er.. goes with the theme.." he tried to explain, his hand rubbing the back of his head.
Arrow merely smiled as she handed it back to him. She watched him for a moment, still as a statue. Robin kept his eyes focused elsewhere, not daring to look into her eyes. He felt her eyes heavy on him. It was eerie.
By this time, Cy, BB, and Rae had returned, each holding their desired foods. They munched idly before Cy broke the silence, as BB was wolfing down food and Raven never said much anyway.
"So," he began, "Arrow, you do much of this.. convention-hosting biz?" he asked, unsure of what to call it.
"Non, monsieur. I'm afraid this is my first! My brother and I… we like to.. how you say, 'experiment' with events.."
BB nearly choked on his ice cream. "Th-that's.. Cupid's your.. brother?"
"Oui. Pourquoi?"
"Oh, erm.. no reason," BB coughed. "You just look so.. different.."
Arrow smiled placidly at him. BB was unsure of what to think.
"Robin! I brought you that creamy-broolie of which you are fond of!" Star rejoiced, presenting Robin with a bowl.
"It's crème brulée," Arrow corrected.
"Yes. Is that not what I had spoken?" Star asked, puzzled.
"No, Star. It's a French dish," Cy explained. "You hafta pronounce it with an accent."
Star became even more confused, but she decided not to say anything, as her pudding was very tasty. Robin had nearly finished his creamy-broolie; he was eating rather ravenously out of nervousness. He could tell Arrow's attention was focused on him.. it was strange, usually he would've ignored it.. but this feeling was different.. His gut felt cold as ice and the blood rushed to his head. He'd never felt this before, not from anyone.. from fighting Slade, or not even.. being with Starfire..
Suddenly his creamy-broolie didn't look too appetizing, and Robin was beginning to regret ever eating it. He gulped nausea down and held his bowl idly, stirring the spoon around aimlessly.
"Ah, excusez-moi; I must be going. The final match is about to begin," Arrow excused herself, disappearing into the crowd.
"Final match! Alright!" BB cheered. "Everyone ready?"
"Yes! Let us commence in the battle to victory!" Star grinned.
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"Ladies and Gentlemen! Welcome to the final event of the convention!" Cupid announced. "The winners of the final battle will be given the Grand Prize, the thing all superheroes would enjoy most of all.."
"An all-expense paid weeklong vacation at the Kazuno Hot Springs resort!" Arrow exclaimed, drawing awe from the audience.
Raven's ears perked up. Vacation? Now THAT sounded nice.. Relaxation all day, every day for a WEEK, with no disturbances. She looked around; her teammates were just as interested.
"So here's the final battle, everyone! The face-off between the Teen Titans and the X-men!"
BB's jaw dropped. The X-MEN? OMG. The X-men were TOTALLY awesome. He'd been a fan of theirs for like AGES. Like, even longer than those turtle guys.
And he was gonna FIGHT them?
Woah.
Robin surveyed the X-men. He'd heard of them before. So, the leader was 'Cyclops', the oldest guy in the middle. Then there was Jean Gray, with powers like Raven's, except less dark and creepy; Nightcrawler was blue and could.. teleport? That's it? Yay. Rogue was a cranky-looking girl with odd hair… She could absorb powers of her victims.. And the youngest girl, Shadowcat, who could walk through stuff.
Interesting..
"FIGHT!"
Robin went after Cyclops, dodging the lasers fired at him.. He threw 3 birdarangs at once, all spinning wildly. Robin observed closely how each one was shot down. Hmm..
BB leapt at Nightcrawler, in the form of a lion, but choked on a puff of smoke as soon as pouncing.
"Where'd he-- AHHH!"
"Got you!" Nightcrawler said, grabbing the lion around his mane. B quickly shifted to a large fish and gave him a faceful of finslaps, then transformed into a monkey, quickly jumping on NC's head and unleashing some major monkey fury. It was blue vs green in this raging mini-battle.
Meanwhile, Rogue jumped at Starfire, who simply flew up and out of the way, and then came crashing down with a kick into Rogue's back. Rogue growled angrily and retaliated with a punch and a kick, both of which Star blocked with her superior alien strength. Frustrated, Rogue finally took off her glove, which puzzled Star; she stood and watched as Rogue touched her arm. In an instant, Star fell to the ground, her energy drained. It was surprising she down so soon into the match.
Cy wasn't doing too well, either. He couldn't hit Shadowcat no matter how hard he tried. And he couldn't ask for help, either. Everyone was preoccupied.
Snorting, Cy tossed an electrical shock bomb at her, which flew right through Kitty just as he had predicted. Whose idea was it to partner him against her, anyway?! Times like these called for drastic measures.
"Look! It's Megaman!"
"OMG Where?!" Kitty squealed, turning to look. Cy immediately blasted her with his buster arm, which actually hit her this time! HA! She was so distracted, she forgot to keep her ghost-mode thing on!
But now Shadowcat looked angry as she got up from the floor, her hair smoldering dangerously.
"Azarath Metrion ZINTHOS!" Raven chanted, summoning a random chair to hurl at Jean Gray. It hit her.. almost. Jean's hands flew up to her head as she concentrated, pushing the chair back at Raven. The two kept pushing it back and forth, a psychic version of Pong, until the chair was pressed between their powers. It gave way and crushed itself, forcing the two to try a new object: their bodies!
Yes, everybody was KUNG-FU FIGHTING! music
Uh.. sorta..
Robin quickly formed a master plan as he kicked Cyclops in the shin. He jumped up fired 5 birdarangs to keep him busy.
Cyclops took the bait and began clearing away the little buggers. But before he could finish, Robin took the opening from Cyclops's side and kicked him in the face, sending the freak-goggles flying.
"Yes! Hahhaha!" Robin laughed victoriously.
"Pfft. Cheap shot," Cyclops replied in an uncharacteristically nasty manner. He had his eyes closed and was unable to retrieve his goggles, so decided he was down to hand-to-hand combat. He listened closely to the sound of Robin's laughter, and took aim.
Robin stopped laughing long enough to notice a punch was being thrown at him, and expertly ducked. Then, he slid his foot around in an arc, catching Cyclops's legs and causing him to fall to the floor in a blind heap.
"Augh! My nose!: Cyclops muttered, his voice muffled by the floor tiles.
"..Sorry," Robin apologized, kinda feeling ashamed. This guy was nothing without powers, and he couldn't use them without the goggle things. "Maybe you should quit. I kind of have a blackbelt in 27 kinds of martial arts.."
"Right. I'll do that," Cyclops accepted, getting up. He held his nose gingerly.
Robin cracked his knuckles as he turned to his friends. Starfire was already KO'd.. that wasn't good.. An exhausted-looking Cyborg sat in a heap on the floor not to far away. Several wires protruded from his exposed back, but not enough to cause too much of a problem; he could move a bit. Shadowcat sat next to him, desperately trying to fix her hair as she muttered to herself.
Raven, on the other hand, was doing better. Although she had taken quite a beating, she had the upper hand on JG; JG could only rely on physical objects for weapons, whereas Raven's powers had limitless forms. This time, she pelted JG with dark little balls about the same size but 18 times heavier than regular golf balls. It worked well, for Jean surrendered, reminded of dreaded memories of gym class dodgeball.
So, Robin mentally calculated, 2 victories for us, and 2 for them… which means that the winner of this match would be decided on the victory of..
Beast Boy?!
Robin immediately turned to see the battle of green vs blue, which wasn't too pretty, just like your brother's fingerpaintings.. BB had a python's grip on NC.
NC was forced to rely on savage kicks and punches, now unable to teleport without taking BB with him. Frustrated with NC's fists beating on his long back, BB changed into a gorilla and threw him a considerable distance. NC quickly disappeared before he could hit the ground.
"Darnit! Where'd he go?!" BB cursed, turning into a wolf. "Now I'll have to sniff him out.." he tasted the air with his nose, finding a distinct scent he was looking for.. It was coming from..
Above?
"AHHHHHH-- oomph!" BB cried, squashed by flying blue meat.. Augh! He was getting hungry again..
NC laughed with his funny accent. "You didn't even see that one coming? Maybe I'm going too hard on you!"
BB growled. This kid is SO going down.. He quickly thought of his next form.. Stork? Not unless he wanted to PECK NC to death.. Er.. Tiger? No, not big enough.. maybe.. A wooly mammoth? YEAH!
Mammoth trumpets filled the air as BB charged, huge tusks at the ready.. BB blinked, and NC was gone again.. But an instant later, he returned, this time with..
A pile of solid-iron benches!
BB didn't even have time to think of where those came from when he charged straight into them, head-first. He blacked out.
The crowd gasped. The match was over. Everyone was stunned. The Titans had LOST. The TITANS. Had lost.
No.
Way.
"… L-ladies and gentlemen, it appears the winners of the whole tournament.. are the X-men," Cupid announced hesitantly, shocked.
Robin sighed. So no vacation, then..
Raven, on the other hand, pounded the ground. It was all that little green TURD's fault! "ARRRRRGH!" Several lights went out from the high ceiling.
"Come on, Raven, let's go.. collect out teammates," Robin said cautiously, trying not to set off her short fuse. He decided it was best if HE retrieved BB. Raven would probably blow the kid's head off if she got to him first.. Robin said a small "thank you" to the sky as he found BB (surprisingly) NOT drooling under the pile of benches.
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They ceremoniously made their way to the limo. Well, it was only ceremonious because people cheered and patted them on the back and shouted empathetic phrases like "Good match!" and "Nice try!". Bah.
There was another limo in front of theirs. The owner was pushing his way through the crowd.
It was Cupid, and boy, did he look angry.
Arrow followed in his wake. She wore a worried expression, and was shouting something to him, but it was muffled by the crowd's cheers. Robin couldn't quite make it out.
Cupid stomped off to his limo and slammed the door shut, locking Arrow out. She hopped back a bit to avoid the swinging of the door, and then moved to the open window, still talking. But Cupid didn't want to listen.
He rolled up the window and the limo drove away.
"Robin," Raven stated, opening their limo door with her powers. "Let's go."
Robin nodded to her, turning. But as he did, he caught Arrow's eye.
She was standing alone on a crowded curb, watching him with a hollow sadness in her eyes.
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THERE! Hope you liked! This wasted away 5 hours of my time. Sigh.
French/Japanese glossary for your convenience:
Mun Tiara Maziyuku- Moon Tiara Magic.. Sailor Moon's principal attack
Ziyupita Oku Evorushun- Jupiter Oak Evolution. YAY
Trés bien- very good
Merci- Thank you
Oui/Non- Yes/No
Pourquoi- Why?
Crème brulée- very tasty
Meh. Review, please! I'm off to the library!
-Bob-chan