Flashing Lights and Sounds

By Jedi-and

Disclaimer: I do not own TT, nor do I own Mr. Noel Collins but I DO own some of my own characters.

Chapter 4: Change of Pace
"And now, the Blacktrinian ruler Trimanion Hollucus approaches the stand."

A bizarre cobbled together radio spoke in another strange language, a rough, grating language compared to English, as the clawed hand of one of the newest Titans fiddled with it to try and get better reception. It was dark and the moon was pregnantly full as the young man sat on the top of the Titans Tower, staring out into the infinite, thinking of his friends back home. The night was cool and calm, which mirrored his outward appearance, but on the inside, he was tense. Tonight was the night the 100 year war would end. It had taken several more weeks than expected, but it had finally happened.

Tonight, he would listen to history.

The T-Shirt he wore fluttered in the wind, as did his trouser legs, but his eyes never left the fixed position they were set on, on one star in the sky.

"I hear it's tonight." Came a soft voice from behind, and he turned around to see Starfire there, wearing a long nightgown with a robe over it. It was around one AM, and the rest of the Titans had gone to bed. Nigel just nodded as she sat next to him, watching him tune the radio so that the makeshift translator would turn the grating tongue into English.

"The latest statistics on this war are as following. The total cost of this war has been over 5,200,000 Necrons for the Tamaraneans, and over 14,200,000 Necrons for the Royalist Empire of Blacktrinia." This was roughly total to over 50 billion in US dollars.

The Titans, apparently not as sleepy as they might have indicated earlier, joined Starfire and Nigel on the roof, one by one, all in their night clothes, to hear the continuing statistics.

"As of midday today, the total number of soldiers wounded in action is 34 million Tamaranean defence core, 19 million Blacktrinian conquest division, and 2 million Red Star fighters, also known as the Tempest Core. All in all, a grand total of 45 million people were injured merely in the military." Calculating the numbers for innocents might take several decades, but at least whatever number it was would finally stop rising. "The total number of soldiers killed or missing in action at midday today was over 600 million for the Tamaraneans and 550 million for the Blacktrinians, making a total of over onethousand million deaths in all."

"So much reckless hate." Starfire commented, wrapping her robe closer to her body.

"The same casualty count as both our World Wars and the Crusades put together. Terrible…but…speaking from a purely clinical point, not bad for a century long war." Noel said quietly. Starfire looked over at Savior with sudden anger in her eyes.

"Noel, how can you be so callous! Those were my people who were dying! And Nigel's!"

"I know that Kory, but I'm talking from war study and not from emotion. And considering that this was a century long war with two species that have both cracked interstellar travel, and considering the kind of weapons one could potentially develop with that kind of technology, 100 million dead isn't really so bad, specially over the course of 100 years. I was expecting the casualties to be in the billions."

"You are DISAPPOINTED in the low number?"

"NO! Star, I'm not going to explain it to you now, but a very evil Earth man by the name of Josef Stalin put it best. 'A single death is a tragedy. A million, or 100 million, deaths is a statistic.'" Noel quoted.

"It does not matter. It ends today. Today, the war shall end." Nigel said softly.

"Let's hope so." Noel replied.

"Could we have picked a less chilly spot to hear history?" Beast Boy exclaimed as the Titans tried to get comfortable, ready to hear the announcement.

"I don't see why you're so eager. History isn't always that great. I watched the Twin Towers collapse on live TV. If that's witnessing history, I think it royally sucks." Noel said. Raven gave him a whack on the arm. "Ow! Don't blame me, people should know these things!"

"Shut up! Something!" Starfire said.

"The two have signed the agreement, and now, at approximately 33 minutes past the hour, the war that has lasted for 102 years, 2 months, 16 days and 20 hours is finally. Over."

A huge sign of relief came from Nigel as he smiled broadly, tears of joy forming in Starfire's eye as the others chanted and celebrated. Well, expect Noel and Raven, who seemed a tad bit more reserved in their happiness, Raven due to instinct and Noel due to the appearance that he might know something the others didn't. Anyone looking at Titan Tower that evening would have thought that all the others had gone crazy.

"Hacodavin Starfire." Nigel said, bowing slightly towards her. She noticed that he too had a tear in the corner of his eye as well. It's hard to explain what that word means in English. A direct translation is nearly impossible, as there is a lot of culture behind it. If we really must find a translation, it sort of means congratulations and thank-you in the same word, and it was mainly said after a battle. Whatever it meant, it was a good thing to say to someone who had just won or lost, as it showed them respect.

"Hacodavin Nigel." Starfire replied, before Cyborg showed incredible tact and sensitivity and started to make fun of Nigel, who claimed a bug flew into his eye in his defence.

"Now we have a reason to Celebrate!" Robin called, getting a 'hell yeah' from the lads. Except Noel who looked like he wanted to make a point, but in the end, didn't.

"We will make a grand feast!" The young alien girl called, clasping her hands together and floating over to Robin, and then crushing him in a death hug.

"Make?" Raven asked incredulously, raising a brow.

"Yes! I say that for such a copious amount of celebration, we need to have a day long quest for festivity!" The Blacktrinian commented, holding his arms out wide to accentuate his presentation of the idea to the others.

"A day off?" Robin asked, finally getting air back in to his lungs.

"More or less."

"You really think we can do that?" Robin questioned, Starfire resting her chin on his head, with her arms wrapped over his shoulders.

"You really think we SHOULD do that?" Savior commented. Eveyone glared at him. "Then again, this city has police, let them handle something for a change!" he added, sweatdropping. Cyborg and Beast boy did a happy dance at the idea of a day long party.

"Just in case, I vote we take a vote!" Beast Boy called. "All in favour raise your hand." He said quickly, to prevent Robin from opposing the vote idea. Everyone, bar Robin, raised their hands and claws respectively.

"All opposed?"

They all looked at Robin, who shrugged and sighed.

"Alright, but if the cops get anything they can't handle, we drop everything and get over there."

They all nodded. Tomorrow was going to be good.

As soon as they got up, they realised how big a mistake they had made.

Starfire and Nigel, along with Beast Boy were up and about already, making a huge breakfast, one so large it made the small frame of Raven cringe a little as they sat down. It was a mix of Human, Tamaranean and Blacktrinian food and treats. Some would send you down Pleasure Lane, while others would literally burn your insides out. There was something for everyone, though Gar had the least to eat as a lot of the Blacktrinian foods had meats in them. Well, all the more for everyone else.

Recovering from the side effects of breakfast, the group headed to Jump City and into the Cinema to watch a film, preferably one with many explosions. Only the three single guys actually paid attention throughout the entire thing, as Starfire and Robin had fallen asleep on each other, a combination of lack of sleep and too much food. Raven, on the other hand, was still feeling a particular side effect of breakfast. Exactly what was unsure, but it had caused her to spend a full ten minutes at a time kissing Noel. He didn't much mind.

Being in full costume gave away a few things, but the cinema was empty anyway, as it had been reserved before breakfast. Nigel, actually managing to out-quirk Starfire, spent the entire time upside down, as it actually made more sense to him that way, somehow. Or something. He's an alien, use your bloody imagination! Anyway, buying out an entire cinema was expensive, but they had saved it several times already so one 'small' favour wouldn't matter too much.

The next stop on the agenda was the activity centre with a videogame arcade, bowling ally, pool table and other activities to keep the Titans very much occupied and entertained. Well, the former anyway, as the latter began to fade when all the kids started to lose their cash in games against Cyborg in the computer fighting games. Then Nigel ended up putting a hole in his shoes AND the floor because of his clawed feet. He was promptly kicked out. It didn't keep though, as he was let in again when Robin, Starfire and Savior explained he was one of the newer Titans. This pretty much secured his placement on the team.

Not without some hassle though.

"Okay then, what's his code name?" The bouncer asked, holding back the alien from entering. They looked at Nigel, who quickly thought of something.

"They call me... uh…Scalpel." He replied, surprisingly convincing for an on the spot title. The others silently groaned at his choice of name, but it would suffice for now. One shouldn't nitpick, but it was a big obvious for a name, seeing he was not only an actual surgeon, but he had claws sharp enough to be blades. Yep, real original.

The bouncer just shrugged and let him back through. Nigel started towards the new bowling lane, at least until he stopped in regards to the other's raised brows.

"I was having difficulties thinking up a good name...what do you earthlings say? Sue me?" He replied bashfully as he sat down for his turn.

"Well, fine, for now, but we have to get you a better name than that..." Cyborg commented. "It just describes…what you are!"

Anyone spot a hypocrite? Yes? No? Let's move on then.

Anyway, after a few rounds (and a few more holes in the floor), the Titans left and made their way over to a small restaurant for lunch. Which they soon left as it happened to be a lunch break for an assemblage of reporters as well. They were followed, of course: reporters seeing costumed metahumans was the equivalent of dumping chum in amongst a group of sharks. So Raven teleported them to a random spot…which happened to be a carnival. Convenient. Their entrance turned a few heads, but they quickly dispersed and got into the swing of things and started to play lots of games.

"Give me three balls my good man!" Beast Boy called, holding up three fingers to a man manning a game booth. The man gave them to Gar, and he passed them around, explaining to Nigel, or maybe I should say Scalpel, how to play human festival games.

"So…what must I do with this?" He asked, looking at the ball.

"Throw it, but not too hard now." Cyborg instructed, throwing his own ball at a piece of wood with a hole in it. The hole seemed far too small to go through, but he tried anyway, and failed just the same. "Aw man! Anyway, the trick is to get it in the hole, then you win a prize."

"Yeah, like this." Beast boy turned into a monkey and threw it. With his long reach he thought he could get a better chance of getting it in, but he missed as well.

"I do not want to hit the outside, right 'great teacher'?" Nigel said in a patronizing tone, before he threw it, dead centre and got it through. Or at least that was what he would have done if the ball hadn't gotten stuck in the hole. "Did I win?"

"No, you have to get it through the 'ole to win." The stall owner informed them, scratching his stomach.

"Crooked game." Cyborg muttered as they wandered off. It did not occur to them until several minutes later, but by the time they realized they could have actually busted him and gotten anything they wanted out of him, he was already gone. Only one word came across the lips of the three gents.

"Aww nerts."

Carnies.

Starfire, Robin, Raven and Savior had gone on a ride known as a waltzer. Ever been on one? No? Well, the ride consisted of a disk that rotates, along with chairs that spin. The thing that makes this a strange ride is that the disk goes up in some places and down in others, and as you are going around and spinning, you can not quite distinguish which way you are facing or where you are. It can give you a great feeling of speed, but it could also royally mess up your sense of vertigo and equilibrium. And unfortunately our teen heroes seemed to love it so much they went on it twice in a row. Which meant when they got off they were a little... disorientated.

"Why is the sky spinning?" Savior asked, lying on the ground. After two goes on such a ride, you became pretty perplexed, and your sense of balance wasn't exactly operating at peak capacity either. Balance was determined due to some kind of liquid in your ears, or something, and with that sloshing around all over the place from all the spinning, it forced you to sit or lie down until it fixed itself.

"Alright, I think I'll forgo good manners and allow myself the privilege of being sick." Raven complained, trying to stand up.

And they weren't done. After the world had righted itself, the group promptly engaged in three rounds on the shooting gallery, five bags of candy floss, a ride on the roller coaster, two goes on the test your strength (which Nigel and Starfire aced) and a few goes on a ride called 'The Vert Wheel', which was a spinning disk that places your body parallel to the floor while going in a circle, completely messing around with the idea of centrifugal force. Teenagers. Always such gluttons for punishment.

Once all this self-inflicted torture was done, they left the carnival and headed back for their reservation at the trendiest Karaoke restaurant in the area, 'The Blue Note'. And since it was Japanese, it was house rules, which meant no shoes and kimono's all around.

"Hey, what is that?" Nigel said, pointing to the menu. Noel looked over.

"You don't want to know." He replied.

"I'll have that then."

"Why?" Raven said, raising a brow, in her usual way. She probably exercised that muscle even more then Dwayne Johnson, aka wrestler The Rock.

"I want to know what it is!" He replied quickly, showing off one of his wonderful toothy grins.

"Will they have mustard at this establishment?" Star asked, pulling back the sleeves on her long Kimono.

"No, I don't think so Star." Robin replied. Each of the Titans wore the colour Kimono that seemed to be their colour. Robin in a red Kimono with his tool belt wrapped around the middle, just in case, Starfire and Raven wore a ladies Kimono with the long sleeves and a Butterfly obi, a traditional belt with the bow in the shape of a butterfly. Purple and blue each. Beast Boy wore a green kimono with a white tiger on the back and Cyborg with his grey and blue Kimono. The two newest Titans wore white and black, no prizes to guess who was in which.

"Every establishment should hold mustard!" She replied.

"Mustard is a western invention, this is an eastern style restaurant, They won't have mustard." Raven said, trying to calm the only other girl in the group.

"What is must-hard?" Scalpel asked, tilting his head slightly.

"Only the most wonderful, and delicious drink in the world!"

The others facevaulted. There would have been the usual discussion on the fact that mustard was a condiment, not a drink, but the waitress came back and asked for their orders. Nigel didn't go for that thing he didn't want to know about, and instead went for a thing called an octopus (though lord knew what THAT was). The others went for sushi. Robin allowed them to have ONE glass of a drink called sake Sack-e each, as it had alcohol in it, and after all, none of them were quite of drinking age just yet.

But it must have had an effect on them anyway, as after the meal it was time for the Karaoke lounge to turn on. Each group got their own lounge, with their own screen and microphone. First up, and showing that while the others couldn't hold their liquor, they couldn't most of all, it was the ever popular duo Cy and BB! Who promptly ruined the Bare-Naked ladies song 'One Week' but the others endured it for one reason: to hear Real Emotion, from Final Fantasy X-2, sung by Kory.

She stepped up to the microphone and started, staying quite static and only swaying a little. Unfortunately we can't seem to hear her. That is what happens when the fourth wall is outside the window. We could see that by this time the chorus came, the princess had started to dance around the stage a little, getting cheers from the unattached boys while doing so, her movements where fluid like water, her arms moving as quick as if she was in a fight, but as delicately as if she was catching a flower. Starfire started to really get into it now, with full on dance steps. Having watched the boys play the game for hours on end, she had managed to catch the dance steps on the game's movie player, and so she learned them just in case of this eventuality. She even attracting attention from the other rooms, but we still can't hear her. Why? Our camera man forgot the sound boom, how should I know? The song came to a close and she finished with a power pose. One so powerful she accidentally shot a hole in the ceiling. Damn emotion-linked Starbolts. Real Emotion-linked Starbolts! Ha ha ha…ok, let's move on.

The Titans, and the people who had been drawn by Starfire all applauded happily, ignoring the new ventilation. She bowed and sat down with a blush on her face as the audience dispersed back to their own rooms.

"You've been practicing, haven't you?" Raven asked, somewhat amused but trying her hardest not to show it. A small nod came from Starfire as the rest laughed a little, paid the bill, and left.

After a few hours at a night club, and many slaps later (I'll give you three guesses and the first two don't count on who got THOSE), the Titans arrived back at the tower, tired but happy, as they seated themselves down and relaxed. Starfire and Robin quickly retire to their bedroom, while Raven and Savior dozed off in a big chair. Beast Boy and Cyborg (with red marks on their faces, told ya) had a few rounds on the Game Station. Finally, Nigel searched through the cupboards trying to find some of the thing Starfire had called Must-Hard.

All in all, today was a good day, but tomorrow...

Oh, I don't have a good feeling about tomorrow...

There ya go, just a fun little bit and finally, FINALLY a Super-Hero name for Nigel. I hope you liked it. As for the song it was either that or BNL's One Week, and I flipped a coin. shrugs Sorry!