Author's Note: Hey guys. Here's the fifteenth chapter! Almost done! Before I give you the chapter, I want to make some notes:
Jurodan - Yes, I know they are pretty out of character most of the time, I didn't really want to have to worry about making everything completely in character. But this is one of those stories where I will probably end up going back and do some heavy editing anyway. Thanks, though, that is one of the few times anyone has really given me some contructive criticism. I appreciate it.
Oh yeah, and if anyone had any questions they would like answered, just ask me through your review and I'm sure I'll be able to answer it within my Author's Notes. Thanks!
And, finally, enjoy chapter fifteen!(By the way, this is not the final chapter.)
"Welcome to Gotham City Carnival." The portly man in maroon overalls said in an alien-high voice. He scurried around the group clumsily, taking their money and putting the orange wrist bands on them. "Enjoy your night." He bowed back into the entrance booth.
"Thanks!" Robin called to him as they made their way into the carnival. The dirt trail left a thin layer of dust on their shoes as they walked. The grounds were already filled with people. Riding the different rides, playing the games, and eating the carnival food.
"What should we do first?" Robin asked when they stopped to look around.
"I would like to have some more of that cotton of candy." Starfire said brightly.
"Go carts!" Cyborg said, pointing to a different direction.
"Roller coasters." Terra stated, staring up at one nearby. Beast Boy stared at Terra and then up at the roller coaster.
"Yeah, the roller coasters." He repeated eagerly.
"..." Raven said nothing, but looked to the direction of the 'Whack-a-Mole'.
"Well, how about we just take it one at a time? Unless you guys are willing to split up?" Robin offered, looking at everyone. They all looked at each other, silently communicating.
"Let's split up. We can make three groups of two then." Cyborg said. "Me and Star can pair up." He walked over to her and put a hand on her shoulder.
"I'll go with Terra." Beast Boy and Robin said at the same time. They stared at each other, Beast Boy glared more than anything. He gave up and looked away. He knew Robin wouldn't give in, and he didn't want to be stuck with him for a good hour or so.
"Fine, I'll just go with Raven." Beast Boy said in a strained voice. "Besides, I'm up for a few good games." He said in a cheery voice, swallowing the lump in his throat.
"What are you talking about." Raven said.
"Hey, I saw you looking over at the games. I know you wanna play."
"Whatever."
"Alright. So, the groups are settled, right? Cyborg and Starfire, Raven and Beast Boy, and Terra and I." Robin spoke up again.
"Right." Everyone said together.
"Right. Then let's meet back here around six. Okay? Then we can all grab something to eat, relax, and catch the fireworks around eight or so. Everyone got it?" Robin went over the plan. They all nodded. In charge again, Robin. Beast Boy thought with a sigh. He shook his head and glanced at Raven. The others were already heading to where they wanted to go, leaving Raven and him alone.
"So, uh, wanna get going?" He asked.
"...Sure..." She muttered, already inching toward the games and activities. Beast Boy smiled to himself. Hopefully hitting the crap out of little plastic moles would take his mind off things. Beast Boy and Raven showed the man at the 'Whack-a-Mole' station their wrist bands. He nodded and handed them two, black foam-covered mallets. They each took a side of their little game area and pressed the green on button.
As Beast Boy readied himself for the moles to start popping out, he said, "Whoever loses, buys the winner something, alright? And the winner chooses what he wants the other to buy."
"He?" Raven raised an eyebrow. "We'll see about that."
"You're on." Beast Boy said just as the first mole popped out. He slammed the mallet down hard, but he missed. "What! How could I miss that?" He exclaimed angrily to himself.
"Bad aim, maybe." Raven replied, she already had three moles hit, while Beast Boy still had none. Oh crap, she might beat me. He thought desperately, trying to hit two moles at once, succeeding.
"Yes!" He cried as he hit a few more.
"Not bad." Raven muttered, her eyes darting around the game surface, watching for more moles. She hit three that popped out in one swing. "But perhaps not good enough..." She added.
"Since when have you been so competitive?" Beast Boy asked, taking a side glance at her. She shrugged slightly, hitting another mole, the mallet bouncing off it slightly, making a little 'boing!' noise.
They continued playing for another few minutes, their scores showing on a screen above them. Suddenly there was a shrill siren's screech by them, making the two jump.
"By gum! The little lady has beat our high score!" The man at the counter stated. They stopped playing and looked up at their scores. Beast Boy had two hundred thirty-nine, while Raven had... three hundred fifty-five. Beast Boy's mouth dropped.
"How? How did you?" He said in awe, looking at her. She just shrugged again, hiding a small smile. The man at the counter patted her on the back and handed over her prize. It was a huge cream-colored teddy bear. It was almost the size of her, and she had difficulties holding it. Around the bear's neck was a deep red bow, tied neatly on.
"Thanks." She mumbled to the man, shifting her feet, trying to keep hold of the bear.
"Come back now, ya hear?" He said. "You could always come 'round for the competitions. I think ya'd be good at that, missy." He winked and turned away to tend to other people wanting to start a game.
"I guess I owe you something, then?" Beast Boy finally asked, somewhat embarrassed of the defeat, but got over it quickly.
"No. I don't want anything. I mean, I have a huge bear... what else could a girl possibly need?" She said sarcastically. Great, now how am I going to walk around all night? She thought to herself, a bit irritated.
"Want any help?" Beast Boy offered, holding out a hand.
"No... I'll just got put it in the car..."
"You sure you can leave without re-paying to come back in?"
"I don't know." She sighed. "I guess I'll just have to keep it with me. Unless..." She was staring at something.
"Unless... what?" He tried to look at what she was staring at. All he saw was a group of kids hopping around their mom. Without warning, Raven walked over to them, balancing the bear in her arms.
"Beary bear!" A kid shouted, pointing at the bear.
"You want it?" Raven asked.
"Yeah! Bear!" A little girl said. The mother gave Raven an odd look. One of the kids ran over to their mom.
"Mommy, lady give us bear!" The kid exclaimed.
"Say 'thank you' to the nice lady, then, Tim." The mother sounded tired, but she smiled at Raven. Raven passed the bear over to the kids and started to walk away.
"Thank you!" Some of the kids shouted after her. Raven returned to Beast Boy's side.
"Well, that was nice of you." He commented.
"I had no use for it. Thought they might want it..." She replied, looking around at the other games. Beast Boy smiled. See, Raven? You are a lot nicer than you want to let on. He thought.
"Are you going to finish that?" Starfire asked eagerly, peering at Cyborg over the table.
"Nah, I don't wanna get sick on any of the rides." He replied. "You can have it." He added, pushing the rest of his cotton candy to her. She took the rest of his and shoved it all into her mouth. After a few seconds, she let out a satisfied squeal. She opened her mouth.
"Has it disappeared?"
"Uh, yeah." Cyborg said, standing up and pulling Starfire up with him.
"Where are we going now, my dear friend?" He looked at her with mild surprise.
"Why, we are going to the single best attraction in this whole carnival!"
"More cotton of the candy?" Starfire offered hopefully.
"No! Go carts, man! Let's go!" He exclaimed, dragging her into the direction of the go carts.
When they reached the line, they showed the woman who was controlling the go carts their wrist bands. "Just in time," She said. "We were just loading up the next bunch. Get in there, then." She hustled them inside, showing them their carts. Cyborg jumped right in, but Starfire got in cautiously. She examined everything with puzzlement.
"So... how does one operate this?" She shakily asked Cyborg.
"Just press down on that black pedal to go, and steer with the big circle in front of you. Just like a car... almost." He gave her a quick explanation.
"But... I do not know how to work a... car..." She said, but her voice was drowned out by a loud 'ding' and the reeving of the carts around her. Suddenly they all took off, all besides Starfire. "Eeep!" She let out as the others sped past her. Let's see... black pedal? Big circle... that's this... the wheel, right? She thought to herself, gripping the wheel and then pressing down on the pedal with her foot, the cart jerked forward. In shock, she removed her foot from the pedal, stopping again. She pressed down on the pedal, jerking forward again, but this time she held down on it, making her begin to rush forward. She was heading for a wall. Now what? But then, at the last minute, she turned the wheel sharply. She barely missed the wall, but instead was bumped something else.
"Get a move on, girly!" Someone shouted as a cart passed. A little flushed, she jerked the cart forward again, only accomplishing another bump into a wall. She closed her eyes, turned the wheel, and jammed her foot onto the pedal. An odd screech escaped from below her, hurdling her forward. Her stomach lurched as the cart sped up, she tried to steer with the wheel, but that wasn't doing her much good either. Someone swerved in front of her.
"Hey, watch where you are going!" They shouted angrily when she almost hit them.
"I am v-very s-sorry!" She apologized, trying to get back into the right direction. Another person came up behind her and rammed into the back of her cart. She gripped onto the wheel harder, turning it sharply, landing her right into a wall. "Argh..." She groaned as she let go of the wheel and let up on the pedal. Someone else had come up behind her. Great, now what?
"Woah! Star, you alright?" Came Cyborg's concerned voice, she felt much more relieved. She turned around in her seat to face him. "Not exactly you're best thing today, is it?"
"No..." Starfire replied with a feeble smile.
"Let's get out of here." He said, letting her climb into the back of his cart.
"Here it comes!" Terra shouted, gripping onto the safety bars. The roller coaster was climbing slowly up to the top of the first drop. It paused for a few seconds right when it reached the peak, but then dropped almost straight down at an alarming rate. "WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-HOOOOOOOOOOO!" She screamed at the top of her lungs as they went down. Robin was yelling too.
"YAAAAAA!" Was more what he was letting out.
"Is this fun or what?" She shouted as the roller coaster went on. She looked over at Robin and laughed, his normal, spiky hair was now standing straight up from the drop. Robin laughed too, for she looked pretty goofy herself.
"Looks like we are nearing the end." Robin pointed out as the coaster slowed down again.
"Too bad." Terra replied. "Are there any more?" She asked as they got out of their seats.
"Yeah, we still haven't ridden those three."
"Alright! Then let's get to it!" She exclaimed, grabbing his hand and marching off to the next one.
