Starfire bounced happily from one display to the next, dragging Raven behind her. The two were shopping at the mall, since the Teen Titans hadn't had any emergencies that morning. Raven hoped that their communicators would go off soon. She hated being around large amounts of people and had no real interest in shopping. Starfire stopped bouncing around just long enough to hear an announcement.
"Zordniks!"
"What's wrong, Star?"
Starfire sighed. "I wanted to get tickets to see a popular Earth band. I entered a drawing, and it appears that I lost." Raven blinked. She was surprised that Starfire even knew about Earth bands, and she was very shocked. But she couldn't allow herself to lose control. To cover her surprise, she asked, "Which band were the tickets for?"
"It is the Gemini band, according to this ticket." Raven yelped, "You mean 'Helena and the Geminis?"
Starfire nodded. "But now that I have lost, I shall go console myself with more Earthly hair ornaments."
Raven quickly escaped to a bench with only one other occupant, a teenage blonde who was quietly sketching. She glanced up at Raven and flipped a page. Another winner of the tickets was announced. Raven sighed. She'd entered the drawing too, but she wouldn't admit it to anyone, except maybe Beast Boy. The blonde glanced up from her sketchbook. She asked, "Did you win?" Raven growled, "No. Did you enter too?" The girl shook her head.
"I already had tickets."
"But that concert's been sold out for weeks!"
Starfire flew over then, almost knocking Raven down. Then she noticed the blonde. "Are you Raven's new friend?" Raven hastily protested, "We just met, Star. I don't even know her name."
The blonde grinned. "I'm Elspeth."
Starfire smiled, "I am Starfire and this is Raven. Would you like to go mall-ratting?"
Elspeth looked extremely confused, until Raven explained, "Star meant to ask if you would like to come with us."
A hundred dollars later, with a few narrow escapes for Raven, the girls got some ice cream and headed outside. Elspeth asked, "Do you two like the band Helena and the Geminis?" Raven nodded and Starfire told Elspeth about the drawing. Elspeth grinned and fished out five tickets from her pockets and gave them to Raven. Raven asked, "How did you get all these tickets?"
"My older sister is the lead singer. See ya at the concert!"
She ran off, grinning.
Elspeth walked over to the concert hall and in mid-stride, her cell phone rang. It's probably Helena, having problems with that conceited lead singer of the opening band, she thought. She flipped open the cell phone. "Hello?" A deep voice replied, "Hello, Firebird. It's been a while. Remember me?" She froze. She'd only heard that voice once but she remembered. Only one person had ever called her that, a masked man she'd met when she was twelve. She gripped the phone tightly and hissed, "What do you want?" He replied, "What do you think?" Elspeth exerted more control over her self and answered, "My answer is the same. I refuse." He chuckled. "I wish you'd reconsider. You have a lot of power, and more control of it now." Elspeth quickly pushed the disconnect button.