Summary: A battle with Control Freak with a surprising resoltion leads to randomness and a good conversation. In the end, Robin can only say, "What an odd day it had been."
Mainly focusing on Robin and Raven friendship...or read it however you will. XD
Social Life
Everyone stared at the newcomer who had entered the fight with a flying kick to the head of Conrol Freak and with a stereotypical martial arts call.
Everyone except for Control Freak, that was. He went sprawling face-down on the floor, his precious remote control spinning out of his hands and coming to rest at Robin's feet. Absentmindedly, the Titans' leader picked up the remote control, but continued watching the interloper.
"What?" The unwanted helper was apparently not completely oblivious to their stares.
When no one else spoke, Robin and Raven apparently both decided it was their duty to prevent further awkwardness.
"Why did you just do that?" Raven's flat voice questioned.
"Um, thanks for the help, but we really had it under control." Robin said at the same time.
Their new "ally" spoke up cheerfully. "Well, that's what you think! You didn't see him pointing that remote control OVER THERE!" The ally's voice rose dramatically at the end of the sentence.
Cyborg decided to spare his leader, and replied, "Actually, dude, we kinda did. That's why Starfire was over there, waiting to blast that display before it could try to eat us." Cyborg glared at some candy which had fallen on the floor suspiciously.
The newcomer's eyes widened in alarm, then narrowed. "I cannot allow that to come to any harm. That was why I interferred in your fight, Titans. If you would callously allow harm to come to such an innocent and beautiful creation, I must say that my faith in you all has been misplaced!" The speaker was talking with a haughty air, and becoming rapidly indignant.
"What's the big deal? Control Freak already destroyed half the displays and electronics in the store," Raven pointed out, glancing at the offending geek to reassure herself that he was still unconcious.
"Tell me about it!" Beast Boy exclaimed, stumbling over to a once-glorious science fiction display, now in shambles. "And he's supposed to care about what's on TV!" The other Titans ignored Beast Boy as he broke down into nearly hysteric sobs and began attempting to fit togetherpieces of a collector's edition Clash of the Planets' action set. "Ruke! I'll put you back together again..."
The newcomer's eyes softened. "I see. You have forced yourself to harden your hearts toward Control Freak's destruction, so as not to be hurt more deeply by his actions. I'm touched!"
The other Titans looked downright dubious, except for Starfire, who nodded emphatically. "Yes, you understand our horrible plight!" The alien girl floated to land on the ground softly, and turned her head slightly to the side, causing her hair to shield her eyes from the destruction. "It is a terrible sight to see so many symbols of culture destroyed so carelessly."
"I think I'm going to be sick," muttered Raven as she noticed that both Starfire and their "helper" beginning to look more than a little teary-eyed. As if watching a train wreck, her team leader nodded his head, but continued watching the interactions in horror. Cyborg remained untouched by either end of the emotional spectrum, but appeared increasingly sympathetic with the tearful champions of goodness, justice, and all things shown on a big screen. After all, at Titans Tower, everything was on a big screen, including his video games.
"Seriously, I'm going to get some air," Raven droned. Finally tearing his eyes away, Robin hurridly joined her on her way out the door. "Are you sure it's okay to leave them in there like that?" Raven asked Robin once they had reached the safety of the parking lot.
"Yeah, I think so. Unless you want to go in there and keep an eye on them..." Robin trailed off with a grin as Raven became so unsettled by the thought that she began walking instead of floating.
The two began to walk back to the tower, since everyone had carpooled on the way to the electronics store, and both knew without asking that they didn't want to risk reentering the gut-wrenching crime scene to ask Cyborg for the keys. Although, in his distracted state, he might have let me have them without any questions, Robin mused.
Suddenly he froze. Raven stopped and looked at him in askance. "We forgot about Control Freak! Damn, we have to go back!" Robin closed his eyes and came close to hitting himself in the head for his own stupidity.
"Relax, the police got the signal, too. Let them handle it," Raven said calmly and started walking again. "That weirdo kicked him pretty hard. He'll probably be out for at least another hour. And if he wakes up, he'll probably just join in the sob fest."
Robin relaxed considerably at this. "Yeah, and I do have his remote, after all. He really can't do much without it." He smirked a little at realization that he now had the afternoon relatively free, but after only a few more steps, he stopped and frowned again. "But do you really think we should have left that...nerd in there with them?"
Raven kept walking, but eyed her team leader with something akin to exasperation, remembering whose idea it was to leave them in the first place. "They'll be fine. If there's actually a real threat, Cyborg and Starfire can handle it."
"What about Beast Boy?"
Gravely, Raven turned to face the other Titan, and stated with utter seriousness, "You know he'll do anything to protect the Ruke, Rhea, and their galaxy of space samurai."
Laughing, Robin started walking again. "All right, I get the point. I guess I need to lighten up a little bit." He caught up to Raven and gave her a quick grin, to which she simply shrugged. "Why don't we do something?" Robin asked her on impulse.
She turned her head slightly to look at him. "Like what?"
"Oh, I dunno, maybe watch a movie or something."
Raven raised an eyebrow. "After what we just went through? I think the only thing that would make me want to watch a movie less would be being assailed by popcorn with tofu butter."
"They make tofu butter?" Robin's look could only be described as one of horror.
"You have no idea how many things they can make out of tofu," Raven stated, with the air of one who knew far more on the subject than a being should have to.
"Uh, okay then, a movie is out. How about..." Robin trailed off.
"How about what?" Raven looked at her companion curiously.
"I have no idea." He paused. "We really don't have much in the way of social lives, do we?" He said with a self-depreciating laugh.
"By its very nature, life in a city and in the tower is social. It is society's definition of a social life that we lack. And that type of life is pointless."
Robin stopped, and with a small frown, countered Raven's cynical views with thoughts of his own. "But it is that very type of life that we give our lives to defend. If it's pointless, what are we doing?"
Raven said nothing andcontinued walking, forcing Robin to catch up.
They walked side by side for several blocks in rather uncomfortable silence before Robin spoke up hesitantly. "Raven?"
"Where's the nearest movie theater?"
Robin grinned.
When they got back to the tower that evening, it was several hours past dusk. The other Titans were gathered around the television, watching a movie with lots of screaming and swordfighting. As the two entered the room, Starfire looked up. "Friends! You have missed the beginning of our The Ring from Arnor marathon! You must come join us for the rest!"
"That's okay, Star, I think I'm just going to go to my room for the night. You guys enjoy that," Robin said.
As Starfire looked to be about to protest, Raven spoke up. "Besides, how could you watch any movies after having to deal with Control Freak? I would think you'd have had enough."
Beast Boy looked up at this and was about to respond when Cyborg's large metallic hand covered his mouth and no doubt saved him from bodily harm.
Raven's eyes narrowed, but she let the moment pass and left the living room. Robin grinned at Raven's hypocrisybut followed without saying a word, heading off in the direction of his own room.
His eyes widened slightly when he saw Raven standing outside his door, apparently deep in thought, but he remained silent and walked into his room as she remained silent. He was about to close the door when she spoke. "Robin."
He looked up at her. "Do you want to come in? It looks like you have something on your mind."
"No, that's okay." She paused, her face amazingly easy to read for once. "I just wanted to say one thing."
Robin waited patiently for her to collect her scattered thoughts, and wondered what it could be that was so hard for her to say.
"You were right."
"Huh?"
Raven sighed quietly. "About life. About social life. What we're fighting for. You were right. We put our lives on the line every time we go out into the city, not just for its continued existance, but for people to live out their lives like they want to. To live their social lives. It's...the opposite of pointless."
Robin had raised an eyebrow during this speech, but smiled broadly.
Raven looked up at him and smirked a little. "But you were wrong, too."
"I was?" Robin's expression became confused, to Raven's apparent amusement.
She turned and began walking down the hallway to her room. "We do have a social life."
Robin watched her as she turned the corner into another dark hallway in the tower, and shook his head slightly. What an odd day it had been.
Ok, so I have absolutely NO CLUE where any of that came from. When I was reading the Mary Sue list (remove the spaces): http:www. angelfire. com/ gundam/ otto/ grayswandir/ mary-sue-test. html The first line came to me, except for the part about Control Freak. I have no clue what possessed me to make this a Teen Titans fic, nor do I have any idea where any of the more serious stuff that followed came from. So I'm kind of just sitting here now, stunned at my own creation.
As for the "newcomer," I know nothing about this person. Heck, I don't even know what gender this person is. I don't know if the Titans knew this person before the battle or not. Anyway, the person is only there as a facilitator for the rest of the story, apparently, even though the story was inspired by that person's actions. What more can I say but that my mind works in very odd ways which are mysterious even to me.
I hope you enjoyed this!