Chapter 8- Free Enterprise
"Azerath, metrion, zinthose," Raven chanted as she meditated by the main window of the living room. "Azerath, metrion, zinthose…azerath, metrion, zin—"
She stopped abruptly and a startled look came across her face.
-
Robin flexed every muscle in his body, trying to keep himself from being torn apart as the tentacles kept tugging at his arms and legs. The computer recognized his increased resistance and tightened its' grip around him doing everything it could to prevent him from escaping. Robin screamed; his left arm had been yanked out of its' socket rendering it useless as he remained suspended there in the middle of the course. He let the rest of his body go limp, and thought to himself how nice it would've been to tell Starfire how sorry he was for yelling at her the way he did, or how he truly felt for her after everything they had been through together. He closed his eyes, gritted his teeth, and braced himself waiting for the next limb to be dislocated when suddenly a black aura formed around each tentacle that held him up in the air. They fell apart, releasing its' grasp around Robin and he fell painfully to the ground with a loud THUMP!
"ROBIN," Raven called out to him.
Robin lay on his side and began moaning; cradling his dislocated shoulder as Raven made her way over towards him.
She knelt over her battered friend and turned him slowly on his back. "Robin, are you okay," she asked nervously.
He let out a cry of pain as Raven sat him up and his arm moved freely about his socket like a frayed rag-doll's; limp, twisted, and flimsy.
"My arm," he said sobbingly. "My arm…it's dislocated!"
She looked at him, thinking of what Cyborg would do to help. "We need to get you inside," she said. "Can you make it to the tower?"
He took in a few breathes and said, "I think so…"
She helped Robin to his feet and put his good arm around her shoulder bracing him as they began sluggishly making their way to the base of the tower. Robin turned slightly, trying to look over his shoulder seeing if his onlooker was still there; he was gone.
-
"AAAAAWWWWWWGGGGGHHHHH," Robin whaled as Cyborg re-located his arm back into his socket.
"Man, that's what happens when you try pushing yourself too hard," Cyborg said as he went over to a medicine cabinet and pulled out a bottle of Ibuprofen. "Here." He threw the bottle to Robin and he caught it with his other hand. "Take a few of these. You're gonna be soar for a while and don't try moving it around."
"Thanks," Robin said swallowing his pride as he sat there rubbing his shoulder gently.
The three Titans standing around Robin gave him an expressionless stare and exited the room.
"So…what was he really doing out there Raven," Beast Boy asked as he walked along side her through the hallway.
"I don't know," she said vacantly. "It's none of my business…"
"Guess his mood hasn't changed much since last night," Cyborg said walking along with them.
"Well what about Star," Beast Boy asked looking up at his robotic friend. "Has she come out of her room yet?"
"Not that I know of, she'll probably be in there for a while," Cyborg said. "Since neither one of them wants to see each other."
"What about Deathstroke? Should we tell him?"
"No…he's got enough on his mind right now."
The three went back into the living room where Cyborg and Beast Boy started a new video game and Raven sat at the couch and read her book.
-
Starfire sat on the roof of the tower with the events of last night still weighing heavily upon her. She pulled her knees in toward her chest and wrapped her arms around them cradling herself as she sat there watching the water hit the side of the rocky island that their tower was stationed on. She sighed, and thought about how angry she was at Robin, but also, how much she missed seeing the boy she was so fawned of. "What was that supposed to be back there," she replayed Robin's words in her head. "Save me! I don't need you risking your life to save me!" She pictured his many angry facial expressions from last night as she rested her chin on her knees and looked off into the horizon. "Well maybe you should stop being so selfish and start thinking about how other people would feel!" Her mouth began to quiver, and a tear formed in the corner of her eye. She tried holding back her emotions, but her sadness and anger overwhelmed her. She buried her face in her lap and started crying.
-
"Hey I got mail," Beast Boy bellowed as he strolled into the living room with a smile and a handful of letters.
Raven ignored him.
"Anything good," Cyborg asked flipping through channels.
"Eh, just junk," said Beast Boy as he began scrolling through the envelopes. "Bills…bills…bills…bills…more bills…bills…"he stopped at a yellow piece of paper. "Hey check this out," he yelled. "There's a dance next Saturday!"
Cyborg looked back at him, intrigued by this dance that Beast Boy spoke of. "Oh really, where at?"
Beast Boy looked down at the flyer and read the information presented. "It looks like it's at the Jump City Broadmoor."
"Isn't that like a really nice resort here in town or something," Cyborg asked all the more interested in the subject.
"Yeah," Beast Boy said. "They're having it in that big old huge ball-room they got…and look, it's for anyone in High School!"
"Hmm," Cyborg said putting his finger to his lips and looking off into space.
"Don't even think about it," Raven said harshly as she remained focused on her book.
"What," Cyborg asked innocently.
"You think you're gonna get Robin and Starfire to go to that dance so they'll finally hook-up," said Raven as she turned the page in her book.
"How did you know that," Cyborg asked as a sweat drop went down the side of his face trying to figure out how she literally knew that.
Raven looked up at him and said, "Because I can read minds."
Cyborg and Beast Boy starred intuitively at her with nervous looks on their faces.
"Um…can you read them all the time," Beast Boy asked as he began sweating excessively.
"Yes," she said breaking away from her book and turning to face him. "And you should be ashamed of yourself for what you keep under your mattress."
There was absolute silence in the room as all eyes were fixed on Beast Boy standing there with a crimson red face and a puddle of sweat at the base of his feet.
"…eeewwww," Cyborg said obviously grossed out.
Beast Boy glanced back and forth at his friends, thinking of something to say to get everyone's attention off him and what he had under his mattress. "So ah…Cyborg," he said frantically looking about the room. "What did you…have in mind for…ROBIN AND STARFIRE!"
"Well obviously something not involving p—"he stopped himself when he noticed that Starfire had entered the room.
"Please, do not stop conversing because of my presence," Starfire said as she went into the kitchen. "Continue."
"Ah, oh, Star um…we were just talkin' about…Portobello mushrooms," Cyborg said.
"Yeah," Beast Boy said happy to have changed their prior subject. "Gotta love those mushrooms."
"I see," said Starfire with a very sad look on her face. She went to the cupboard and took out a bowl along with a spoon, some milk from the refrigerator, and the box of Coca-Pebbles from the cabinet (I LOVE THAT STUFF!). She poured herself a bowl of cereal and sat down at the counter, but she only starred down at the brown pebbles that floated about in her bowl of milk. She remembered how her and Robin would sometimes get up early in the morning just so they could sit down and have breakfast together while the other Titans remained nestled in their beds.
"Hey Cyborg," Robin said as he entered the room. "How many—"he stopped as his eyes landed on Starfire sitting at the counter.
Starfire kept her eyes fixed on her bowl of Coca-Pebbles as she listened to the sound of Robin making his way into the kitchen. He went to the refrigerator and took out a left-over fajita and a soda from a few nights ago, then without saying another word, or even looking at Starfire, he turned to the door and left the room. There wasn't a sound. The only things that could be heard were the laughs coming from the T.V. as everyone remained silent where they were. Beast Boy glanced over at Starfire and noticed a tear forming in her eye as she put a spoonful of the chocolaty cereal in her mouth.
"So Cyborg," Beast Boy said breaking the silence. "You…wanna play a video-game?"
Cyborg looked briefly over at Starfire and noted how melancholy her mood was. "Yeah…sure," he said as he plugged in two Game-Station controllers.
Starfire finished her late afternoon breakfast and went back to her room where she wasn't seen for the rest of the night.
"Alright Cyborg," Raven said closing her book and placing it on the coffee table. "What did you have in mind for those two?"
Beast Boy and Cyborg looked at each other. "What made you change yer mind," Cyborg asked.
"There's a lot more tension between those two then I thought," she said crossing her arms. "I don't think they're going to apologize until the other one does it first."
"Alright then," Cyborg said leaning in towards everyone. "Here's the plan."
-
The next morning Robin woke up at 8:30 and looked out his window to see rainfall with a cloud covered sky that cast a depressing mood over the entire city. He got dressed and went to the kitchen to make himself breakfast, when suddenly the alarm went off and the tower was filled with red blinking lights. He had forgotten the lead Deathstroke gave him a few days ago; Johnny Rancid was going to show off his "new dog" downtown at 8:30 in the morning today. The other four Titans entered the living room after hearing the alarm and gathered around the computer.
"What is it," Cyborg asked.
"It's Johnny Rancid," Robin replied. "He's got a new dog and he's headed downtown."
"Well doesn't that sound lovely," Raven said sarcastically in her monotone voice.
Robin turned to face his team and shouted, "TITANS, MOVE!"
Everyone scrambled out of the room as Robin got on his motorcycle, and the rest of the Titans got in the T-Car and headed for the scene of the crime.
-
"AH, HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Johnny Rancid stood on top of a totaled car with his hands on his hips and his chest bulged out with pride. "THAT'S IT, RUN! HA HA HA! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES, RUN FROM MY LITTLE PET!"
A car exploded as a giant three story mechanical cobra, slithered over the vehicle and ruptured the gas-line. Johnny Rancid chuckled with delight at the sight of the huge explosion when suddenly he was struck by a green bolt of energy. He got up and searched for his attacker and was rewarded with a sight of the Teen Titans.
"You forgot to fill out the adoption papers on this one Rancid," Robin said taunting him. "Looks like we'll have to take you in."
"That's what you think Bird Boy," said Johnny Rancid as his giant cobra slithered behind him. "Kids, meet Wrath! Wrath…meet lunch!" With that his mechanical monster immediately dashed towards them exposing its' huge sharp metal teeth as it dove for the Titans.
"TITANS, SEPERATE," Robin shouted to his team as the snake drove its' head into the ground.
The five teenagers lunged out of the way then surrounded the enormous beast and poised themselves for battle. Cyborg's forearm and hand turned into a cannon and blasted the robotic snake with a wave of sonic booms that shot the beast rearward into a building. The thing looked as though it were down for the count, and the Titans cautiously made their way over towards it ready to strike again. Suddenly, a huge tail swung through the air out from the smoke cloud and headed straight for Robin. Seeing this attack coming his way, he quickly ducked but one of his fellow teammates took the hit for him instead. Beast Boy was flung through the air like a rag-doll and crashed through the roof of a building somewhere off into the distance. The metallic snake emerged from the dust cloud with glaring angry eyes, as its' mouth began to slowly open and glow a bright red.
Johnny Rancid jumped on top of his depraved creation and stood on its' head with his hands on his hip. "I almost forgot," he said in his loud, proud voice. "This one's packing more of a punch then my last little monster."
The Titans froze, awestruck as to what was about to come at them as the robotic snake drew in more energy.
"Get ready for the—"Johnny Rancid got into a dramatic pose. "Beaming, Wrath Attack!"
The Titans slowly stepped backwards, horrified as the snake had a huge glowing red orb of energy in it's' mouth and was preparing to fire.
Johnny Rancid steadied himself to call out the offensive maneuver and shouted, "Beaming…WRATH—ATTACK!"
The huge snake jerked its' head back then leaned in and fired its' weapon. A huge beam of red light came pouring from its' mouth and headed straight for the Titans. A massive explosion went off, and a building crumbled to the ground under the power of the enormous beam of energy. A smokescreen formed over the environment, and all that could be seen now was Johnny Rancid stationed atop his monster laughing with delight at his achievement of destroying the Teen Titans.
"AH HAHAHAHAHA," he jeered. "You're toast! You're all toast! Now the city belongs to Johnny Rancid, and now no one can stop—"he was abruptly struck in the back, and throw off of the snake.
The mechanical monster looked up and was hit in the face by an onslaught of starbolts from above, then was whacked in the side by a bus with a black aura around it. The vehicle erupted into a huge fireball and dealt an incredible blow to the snake, but the invisible Titans somewhere in the smokescreen did not stop their offense. Cyborg hit it with his sonic cannon, then Robin leapt onto its' head and steadied himself. He reached into the back pouch of his belt and pulled out what looked like a handful of ball Barings, but where actually explosives. He placed his hand firmly under the top of the mechanical snake's mouth and pulled back, forcing the snake to open wide and threw in the explosives. He dismounted his foe, and landed softly on the ground below him. There was a brief pause as Robin knelt there, then suddenly the snake's head exploded into a thousand pieces of chard metal and shrapnel. The limp mechanical body fell and shook the ground around everyone as a secondary explosion went off behind Robin. He got to his feet and took in a deep breath as he looked up at the sky and let the soothing rain cool his warm face.
"BOOYAH," Cyborg yelled as everyone gathered around Robin.
"Very nice dude," Beast Boy cheered.
Robin didn't say anything. He looked among his friends for Starfire but noticed her floating off in the distance away from everyone else. He glared at her angrily, then went over to his motorcycle and mounted the wet seat as he put his helmet on. His bike screeched, and he drove off into the distance without saying another word.
"Well…see you when we get home then," Raven said sarcastically.
The three looked at each other then skimmed over at Starfire who had now landed and was slouched over slightly with a depressed look on her face.
The three looked back at each other and Raven said, "So…when are we gonna…ya know. Do that thing to get them to stop fighting."
Cyborg paused and thought about it for a minute, then looked over at Starfire who was flying through the air on her way back to the tower. "How bout when we get home."
The three Titans arrested the unconscious Johnny Rancid, bounded his hands behind his back, then got into the T-Car and drove off.
-
Robin sat on one of the bar stools at the kitchen counter with a look of anger across his face. He was slouched forward with his elbows firmly on the table, and had a can of soda in his hand. He sighed and took a gulp of his cold carbonated beverage when suddenly the door slid open and Starfire stood in the entryway. She had a towel hung over her shoulders and the same angry look as Robin on her face as she entered the room and went to the kitchen cabinet. She took out a coffee mug and filled it with water from the sink and put it in the microwave and set the timer. She crossed her arms and leaned back on the counter that Robin was seated at, paying no attention to him. Robin did the same. He took another sip of his soda and looked off to the side, doing everything he could not to pay any attention to the love of his life as the two remain completely silent in their places. Starfire stayed fixed in her position, but she couldn't help but slowly turn her head and shoot a quick glance over her shoulder at Robin, careful to make sure he didn't notice. To her surprise, he did the same. Robin remained where he was, his head turned to the side, but he too gave a quick glance over at Starfire. They were startled when their eyes met for a brief moment in time, but they broke the connection and looked off into space again. The two standing in the kitchen now had crimson red faces and a faint smile formed around their faces as they tried to hind themselves from one another. The timer went off and Starfire went to take her hot mug out of the microwave and put a bag of instant hot chocolate in it. She stirred it about and put in a few marshmallows, then left the kitchen and exited the room as silently as she had come in. Robin's angry look returned to his face and he sat there indisposed to speak as he took another sip of his drink. At around that time, Cyborg came quietly into the room and stood a few feet away from Robin with his hands behind his back.
He looked around the room trying to seem as innocent as possible then dropped a yellow sheet of paper on the floor in front of him.
"Oh look," he said with a fake smile. "I seem to have dropped the flyer to the 9th Annual Jump City Ballroom Dance at the Broadmoor that's gonna take place next Saturday!"
Robin looked up from his drink and remained still; trying to conceal his interest in this dance Cyborg spoke of.
"Boy, I sure wish I had someone EXTRA SPECIAL to take to such an event," Cyborg continued. "Oh well, I don't really need it anyway since I don't have anyone EXTRA SPECIAL to take to it."
Cyborg turned and strolled out of the room whistling a pleasant tune. His song gradually slowed down as he neared the door and inconspicuously looked over at his friend seated at the table. Robin glared angrily over at Cyborg and a sweat drop went down his face as he smiled fugitively and dashed out the doorway. Robin looked obscurely around the room and shot a quick look down at the flyer then back at his surroundings. He did this several times more, then went over and picked up the yellow sheet of paper that rested on the ground. He sat back in his seat and began reading the information presented about the dance.
"Did he take it," Beast Boy asked tugging anxiously at Cyborg's shoulder.
"Yeah…he took it alright," Cyborg said watching Robin through the doorway with his x-ray vision.
"Alright that's phase one, Raven your turn," Beast Boy whispered.
Raven sighed then replied, "This is so pointless," and made her way off into the dark hallway.
"Dude, by this time tomorrow, they'll be all over each other again," Beast Boy said proudly as him and Cyborg headed for Robin's room.
Cyborg looked down at him seriously and sighed. "I hope so."
-
A/N:
Sorry guys this one took a lot longer than anticipated to type and get posted. I actually went on yet ANOTHER ONE of my college adventures but it's cool cause I finally know which university I want to attend. Also, tonight was Super Bowl Sunday and I was at my local neighborhood Hooters watching the big game so right now I reek of second hand cigarette smoke and booze. It was fun though cause I got to hang out with a bunch of friend and check out all kinds of hot girls, hehehehehehe. Anyway, it's funny how I came up with the title of this chapter. It's actually the name of one of my textbooks for my Economics class and I was like, hmm…I wonder if I could use it, so I looked up the word enterprise and thought about what this chapter was going to be about and I was like…Dude, that totally fits….If you don't get it it's cause enterprise means a risky or daring undertaking and that's what Raven, Cyborg, and Beast Boy are doing, something very risky to get Robin and Starfire to hook-up finally. But anyway, lovin' the comments and I'm kinda at a lack of words here so I'm just gonna get to the individual reviews now. Thanks everyone. Next Chapter: maybe "A Second Date with Destiny," or I'll think of something else to call it…what do you guys think?
Infamous One- Sorry I'm leavin' ya in so much suspense at the end of my chapters, hopefully you don't feel like I left ya hangin' at the end of this one. Don't get me wrong I'm totally stoked to see that Slade is still alive, it's just I wanted this story to be somewhat accurate the show and since I've seen that episode and how much his personality has changed…I feel it would make my story seem less appealing. But you do have a point, it can't always be 100 accurate, I guess I'll just have to deal with it and keep writing, especially since so much death and destruction is yet to come. Thanks for the review.
Aries-Raven- Do you REALLY KNOW who was standing on the ridge watching Robin? Cause I bet you THINK you know, but you really don't, heheheheheheheheh, or am I just toying with your mind? Heheheheheheh, anyway yeah Rob/Rav could kinda work and after seeing the new episode of Teen Titans I'm sure Rob/Rav fans probably liked how…much they bonded in that episode, but I just really like the idea of Robin and Starfire being together. Thanks for the comment.
Snowfeather- Thanks for checkin' out my fanfic, and yeah…I know…I suck at grammer, what can I say…hooked on fonics dun me good. LOL, thanks for the review and yes Starfire Robin moments are sweet. Check back soon.
Aurora Mayte- Okay first of all, your name is WAY TOO HARD TO SPELL, but thanks for checking out my fanfic. I'm happy you enjoyed the chapter and I hope you read the whole thing through…I assume you read the whole thing through…right? Thanks for the comment.
KaliAnn- You've probably given me the best review so far since I started this story! LOL, yeah it would kill them if one of them died, but don't worry things will…get better between those two love birds. If you liked that, you'll probably LOVE this next chapter or the one after that. I'm glad you liked Red X and fear not, he will be back, MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA. Thanks for the review.
Van Gordan- From your last review I take it that you don't live in the U.S. if you haven't seen the end of season 3. We're already three episodes into season four and yes…Slade's back…WAY BACK…Back in a way you've never seen before. After seeing him return…huh…if you thought he was creepy before…THAT"S NOTHING in comparison to how he is now. He comes back in Birthmark so…hopefully you'll be seeing it soon. I'm glad you thought I did so well with my Star/Rob fight thing. Yes it does open a lot of doors and what will happen between those two in later chapters you'll probably really like. The figure watching Robin, hehehehehehe, I'm not gonna say anything about it except…you have no clue, hehehehehehehehe, and I'm not just saying that. Also, no way could I just kill of Robin like that, and don't worry you don't sound like a "know-it-all," you're thinking, and I like that, it means I'm doing my job. I'm glad you liked Red X, yeah he spiced thing up a bit and yes, he will be back. Now that I think about it…I'm really not sure I'm going to have a chapter with nothing but, "lovey-duvy" kinda stuff. I mean…this one was supposed to be about Cyborg and them getting Robin and Starfire to get back together, but then I came up with Johnny Rancid halfway through the story. So really…I'm not sure I'll have a total romance chapter…maybe this next one, I'm not sure, but knowing myself I'll think of some way to twist things up or come up with another action sequence. Glad your liken everything, and don't stop reading, sorry for making your heart stop.
