Chapter 6
Starfire and Robin joined the team in the air above the lake. They all floated silently and watched the island billow smoke like a twisted factory that produces broken dreams. No one asked Robin what had happened. They didn't need to. It was obvious that Slade had alluded them again. After half an hour of staring in horror and disbelief Raven turned and began to fly toward the tower.
"Let's go. Soda has been waiting for us on the roof for over an hour."
Beast Boy looked at her in awe. 'How does she do that?' he thought. But he followed her nonetheless.
Raven had been right. As they flew back toward their home, they could see a little red dot sitting on the edge of the roof. Of course it was Soda's bright red hair. Raven flew a little faster to get ahead of the group. No doubt this girl would have some questions about the smoke factory that was slowly eating away at their minds. She wanted to go ahead and answer her questions before Robin had to.
'He is not in the right condition or mind frame to answer questions about Slade.' she thought.
Raven put her feet out gracefully and touched the cement finish of the roof. Sure enough, the red haired dot jumped up and started shooting her with question after question from the machine gun that was her mouth.
"Why is the island smoking?"
"There was an explosion."
"Is everyone okay?"
"I trust you mean physically. Yes, physically we are okay. But mentally we are beaten and tired. Especially Robin, so I suggest you not talk about it with him."
"He's the masked boy, right? And you're Raven?"
"Yes."
"So the tall robot guy is Cyborg, the green one is Beast Boy, and the green eyed girl is Starfire?"
"I congratulate you on your memory."
She doesn't trust you one bit.
She doesn't?
I see it in her eyes. She doesn't trust you as far as she can throw you.
Well, I guess it's true that trust is something that must be earned…
Raven's expression changed from apathetic to alert. She couldn't read minds, but she could sense energy. This girl had a different energy to her sometimes. It would change from Soda's to someone else's. Back and forth, like a conversation.
"What are you hiding?"
"Huh?"
"Your energy, it's different."
"My…energy?"
Raven couldn't take it anymore.
"Yes you naïve pathetic little girl, your energy!"
Raven wasn't expecting what happened next. Usually when she insulted someone, she got one of two responses back: the person would shrink back in fear, or they would fight back with insults of their own. Usually it was the first choice.
Raven wasn't expecting poetry from a machine gun.
A smile played on Soda's lips. She was looking at Raven, but obviously not concentrating on her. Soda was looking past Raven, at something she couldn't see. Then she spoke in a calm and warm voice,
"Naivety is part of life. You have to embrace it and love it like you would love a friend or something of sentimental value. If you took naivety out of the world, it wouldn't be our world anymore."
Raven's eyes widened. She was being lectured, lectured by a girl she barely knew! A girl she just met last night! And what's more, she completely understood and agreed with what Soda was saying!
Raven stood staring at Soda in disbelief when another thing she wasn't expecting to happen happened. The red headed girl switched her personality from grave and serious to happy and friendly.
"Do you like waffles? I can make some if you want, you know. I know you guys have had a rough day. It's really no trouble, I like making waffles. Too much, actually…"
She was not only a machine gun, but a faucet. She could switch her emotions on and off. Just like that.
Raven was about to open her mouth and ask Soda where she came from before she heard a familiar voice beside her.
"Well I, for one, would LOVE some waffles. Raven doesn't eat much of anything though. Mostly she drinks herbal tea."
Cyborg was standing next to Raven, looking down at the short energetic faucet.
"What did you say about waffles!" came a shrill cry that belonged to Beast Boy.
"Soda just offered to make us waffles for all the hard work we did."
Beast Boy started drooling. "I…love…waffles…"
"Well okay, I'll make some for everybody." Soda said, smiling.
The Titans walked down the stairs to the kitchen, the red headed wonder gliding in front, leading the way. When they got to the door leading into the kitchen, Soda flung it open and marched in.
"Be careful! It's messy in there. You'll trip over some-"
Cyborg was cut short by an unfamiliar sight. The kitchen floor.
"Oh my God! We have a FLOOR in here!" he shouted.
"Most rooms in upper stories have floors." Raven pointed out.
"Beast Boy gasped, "The linoleum! It's WHITE! There are no stains!"
"Yeah, those were really tough to scrub off. You guys had a nice little garbage pile going there, too. I figured it was the least I could do since you guys saved my life and all."
Everyone went galloping around the house screaming their lungs out. Even Robin, which made the Titans more relaxed.
"Look at this! She cleaned the bathroom!" Robin yelled to Starfire.
"Soda also cleaned the room of living!" Starfire yelled back.
"I cleaned everything except your bedrooms. I hope you don't mind, I wasn't sure if you wanted me in there or not."
"You really have done more than enough for us. Thank you very much. The tower needed to be cleaned." Robin said.
"It was actually kind of fun. By the way, I found a waffle iron buried under some trash bags. I washed it and it works just fine."
"WAFFLES." Beast Boy drooled.
After Soda made a delicious batch of waffles they all sat in a group around the kitchen table talking.
"So you moved here because your parents passed away?" Robin asked.
"Yeah."
"I'm very sorry to hear that."
"Well, it's kind of interesting actually." She got up and started to clear the table. "I know I should feel sad, but I don't. I mean, I loved my parents. Sort of. But they were never home. They were always on business trips and stuff like that. They would send us money and checks through the mail, and we would pay the bills and go shopping. We learned how to take care of ourselves at an early age."
"Why did you move here?"
"Without mom and dad's money we couldn't pay the bills. We had to sell our old house for money. My brother got a tip from his friend that their were a lot of jobs available in Metro City. I'm actually looking for a job right now."
"Your brother? How old is he? What's his name?" asked Cyborg.
"Well, he's eighteen and his name is Joey. He's really OH CRAP! CAN I USE YOUR PHONE?"
"Uh, sure…" said Beast Boy. His ears were shot because the machine gun had just exploded right in them.
"He's gonna be soooo mad…" Soda said as she quickly dialed the buttons.
End Chapter 6
A/N: I bet you guys were wondering what happened to Joey, right? Well, he'll be here full force in chapter seven! Keep those lovely reviews and suggestions flowing!
