Hmmnah. I feel like I didn't do well enough on the Rob/Star stuff on the last chapter. Then again, it's often said that the biggest critic of your work is yourself. I think that's true. I just hope you guyz liked it.
HEY!
Who gets Nintendo Power magazine? Has anyone seen the new sketches of Zelda for The Legend of Zelda: The Twilight Princess? Like…have you seen her dress and hair and accessories and all that?
OH MY GOSH.
I want her dress. So bad. And that's major, cuz I HATE wearing dresses. But I want Zelda's dress. I wanna wear it. All the time. I want my hair to be done like hers too. And I REALLY hate putting my hair up. But I want her hair. And her dress. And her accessories. They're just SO COOL! I can't wait for Twilight Princess. I am twitching with excitement. –twitch- see? I'm almost as excited for the Twilight Princess to come out as I am about GOING TO COMIC-CON ON SATURDAY! Can you believe it? It's my birthday present from my mom…well…okay so my birthday was in June, but my Mom asked me what I wanted for my birthday, and I said I wanted to go to San Diego comic con international, and she said okay, as long as I didn't mind not getting anything else.
SO I WENT TO COMIC-CON! What did this mean? I was there on the same day that the Teen Titans Animated panel was! I only wish Marv Wolfman and Geoff Johns would be there, but unfortunately they're only there on Thursday. And Thursday wasn't an option for me. Ahh, well, still. IT'S SO COOL! My friend and I WERE gonna dress up…she as Huntress and I as Addie Kane, second HIVE mistress and Slade's wife, but unfortunately…we're lazy bums. So we didn't bother. We had fun though! Holy CRAP though, there were like ten MILLION boxes of old comics there! I now filled in the gaps that I'm missing from the latest Teen Titans incarnation collection, PLUS I got a ton of the comic books from the eighties, my favorite Titans period. I have a couple from the sixties, and actually quite a few from the 2000's incarnation as well…(the one right after the Technis Imperative)…that added up to FORTY SEVEN comic books. How cool is THAT? I still have welts in my arms from those heavy plastic bags I had to carry them in… AND! I got to see the Teen Titans Animated voice panel! It was SO COOL! I saw the beginning of the End part 3 before it even showed later that night, and it was really cool (they did a table reading of it as well)…And I saw some of the characters that are gonna be in season five! We're talking Kid Flash, Kole, Argent, the Fearsome Five (Psimon maybe?) and JERICHO! I'm so happy Jericho is gonna be in the animated series! He's just so cool…I love his afro and sideburns…I wonder if they'll really play him as Slade's son though? And MUTE? How're they gonna explain that? Cuz in the comic books, as a child, Joseph Wilson (Jericho's real name) got his throat slit when he was young by some kidnappers who had something against Slade/Deathstroke the Terminator (his DAD). But can they really do that in a Y7 show? And are they gonna introduce Addie? Like…Slade's wife? I mean, I really like her and all but…Geez, I'm really confusing myself. Hmm…idk. There were some others that I forget too…hmmnah. I'm just excited about season five! I have a good feeling Star nd Rob are gonna kiss. At least, they'd BETTER…-is ready to throw calculators if necessary- Well, in any case…
COMIC CON WAS AWESOME!
Let's start?
Dedication: To Yasmine, the…what were you again? OH right…haha ur the Swedish Swiss turned Japanese cheese. LMAO. And to think it's only the second week of summer school. We still have four weeks to go…ahhgg midterms next week. Blegh. 100 Ways To Kill Kandice, coming to a bookstore near you! Hehehehe we really gotta finish that.
Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans. I do, however own every single member of Scorpio's family, as I created each one out of love, care, and absolute boredom. IF YOU EVER USE THEM WITHOUT MY PERMISSION, I WILL SET FIRE TO YOUR COMPUTER. AND YOU. AND MAYBE YOUR COUCH JUST FOR FUN.
Yes, I have mental stability issues! Thank you for noticing!
Meep…
"Raven…I am in need of a precise and absolutely definite answer on this subject of grave urgency!" Starfire flew right through the door of the empath's room the next morning without pause. Her hair stuck out in various places, as she had most likely just recently gotten out of bed, but her eyes were bright and alert.
"Don't bother knocking…" Raven rolled her eyes from where she sat at her desk, voice dripping with sarcasm. Around the Tamaranian's neck hung a thin chain of glittering silver. It caught the empath's attention almost as much as her friend's abrupt entrance.
"I…oh…I am sorry, friend Raven. However this is a matter of utmost peril!" Starfire looked as though she were about to wet herself, her feet doing something of a nervous dance in midair.
"What is it?" Raven suddenly found herself jumping up, imagining the worst possible scenario purely out of habit. "Did Scorpio-?"
"That is not the type of matter I speak about. Come! We must resolve this together!" With that, the empath felt a strong hand enclose around her wrist and drag her away from her dark personal sanctuary and into the land of purple and white to get to the bottom of this 'matter of utmost peril'.
"Well? What happened?" Beast Boy jumped up from the couch where he had been sitting, previously watching Cyborg attempt to fix the Game Station.
"What do you mean what happened?" Robin, having just awoken, was not exactly fully conscious quite yet. He did not expect to be ambushed by a hyper green teen as soon as he walked into the living room.
"Uh, dude, after I left you alone with your dear Starfire?"
"Oh…" Robin tilted his head and his mouth shaped into something of a half smirk. "Nothing."
"Man, I've already told you, you're a bad liar." Cyborg looked up from his repair project on the floor, a minute screwdriver in his hand.
"What?" The Boy Wonder blinked a few times and the smile was gone. "Really guys, nothing happened." Beast Boy sighed.
"Do we need to bring up the security tapes?" There were cameras in nearly every room of the Tower, including bedrooms, just in case there was any form of emergency. Titans were free to deactivate it as they pleased, but it was recommended that the tiny devices were kept on for most of the day. Starfire, not particularly mechanically savvy, wasn't really sure how to turn off the camera, so there was always footage from her room. The Changeling smirked and pulled up the feed from the Titans database on his arm, as the television was still broken and found… "A lunch invite? That's the best you could give us?"
"I told you there was nothing to see." Robin shrugged and grinned mischievously. "No T Tower linked security cameras at the pizza place."
"Eh…" Beast Boy looked unconcerned. "Cy can hijack any footage worth viewing from any camera within a twenty mile radius. Watch yourself Boy Wonder."
"…Shut up."
Raven sat cross-legged on Starfire's circular bed, watching as the Tamaranian princess paced the room anxiously.
"Would you kindly tell me why it is that I'm in here, before I escort myself out? All this light is getting to my eyes…"
"Friend, we have an emergency on our hands." Starfire's face was grave, worry lines creased on her face.
"I kinda got that when you dragged me from my room five minutes ago. Care to tell me what the emergency is?" Raven watched as her friend paused at the center of the room and contemplated something. "Um…Star?"
"YOU MUST ASSIST ME IN THE CHOOSING OF MY GARMETS FOR TODAY'S OUTING!" The empath was practically knocked off the bed by Starfire's startlingly loud outburst.
"That's your emergency? A fashion problem?" Raven picked herself up off the floor and shook her head. "You're talking to the wrong girl."
"But Raven…please? I am not accustomed to donning anything other than my usual Tamaranian apparel." The alien girl's eyes were wide and pleading. "As I have heard young Earthen children say…pretty please?" Raven groaned at the cuteness. This was really not her thing. But…Star was her friend. How could she forget the body switching incident? It had bonded the two, perhaps more than Raven would have personally liked. Regardless, they were friends, and Starfire really did seem to want to dress appropriately.
"…Fine. I'll help you with your…clothing issues. I can't guarantee anything, but…I'll do my best."
"Oh! Thankyouthankyouthankyou!" Starfire threw her arms around Raven in a grateful hug.
The empath groaned and rolled her eyes. This endeavor would likely prove to be most…interesting.
"Let's go back to my room…I have some extra clothes in there that you can try out…I'm not sure they're very…you though…" Raven didn't even bother to remind herself that no one other than she was allowed in her room.
"So you guys are meeting at the pizza place later?" Cyborg took a long sip from the Coke can at his side. Putting a Game Station back together was proving more difficult than he had originally thought.
"Yep." Robin sat on the couch, watching his cybernetic friend picking up parts, examining them, and slotted them into their proper niches.
"Took you two a while, dude." Beast Boy grinned and took a swig of his own carbonated beverage.
"Don't even get me started on you and Raven." The Changeling's face turned from playful taunt to sullen silence.
"You're a riot…"
"Man, what are you so uptight about?" Peeling the plastic covering from a fiber optic wire with careful fingers, Cyborg looked to the side, if only for a second. "Something went down last night that's making you weird. I mean, weirder than you normally are. I can tell by that look on your face B. What happened?"
"I…I don't wanna talk about it."
"C'mon, it's just Rob and I-"
"I said I don't wanna talk about it, okay?" Beast Boy's face was accented with pain.
"Alright, alright, but it ain't good to hold in all those emotions dawg. Just look at Raven, she's tearin' herself apart from the inside out over you, in case you haven't noticed." The Changeling abruptly leaped from the couch and tackled Cyborg, smashing the metal side of his head into the plush, carpeted floor of the living room with ape hands. His head remained human.
"Leave her out of this. She doesn't have a choice!"
"But you do, grass stain." The cybernetic man felt the pressure ease from his neck and suddenly the weight of his green friend was lifted from him altogether. Robin helped the both of them to their feet, smiling slightly.
"I don't think I'll be recommending you two as good therapists anytime soon." His grin shrunk rapidly. "Now can we get back to the matter at hand?"
"What matter?" Cyborg rubbed his neck.
"Uh…I have a date, allow me to repeat, I have a date with Starfire in an hour. What am I supposed to do? What am I supposed to say?"
"Um…dude…if that's your idea of a 'matter', you're one hell of a lucky guy." Beast Boy rearranged a few hairs on his head that had gone astray when he tackled his best friend.
"Maybe in your opinion…"
"...Jeans?" Raven plucked the only pair she had from its hanger, and why she even owned the blackish grey pants was beyond her. "Sorry, but there isn't much to choose from…"
"Do not be of worry, friend, I am sure these shall work quite well! Friend Robin recommended that we dress as civilians so we might not be recognized." Starfire smiled and took the jeans from her empathic friend's outstretched hand with enthusiasm.
"…He's still going to be wearing his mask, won't he?"
"I…suppose so. He has not told me otherwise, and I have no reason to doubt that he would not continue to keep his eyes undisclosed to us."
"I have no doubt that you'll be recognized immediately." Raven's features just barely hinted at as smile. "They say that a person's eyes are the windows into their soul." There was an awkward silence, as Starfire had no idea of how she was supposed to respond to Raven's odd comment. It was the empath who broke the silence by tossing two shirts into the Tamaranian's waiting arms. "I have no doubt that those will fit…"
"…Thank you, friend Raven." Starfire eyed the tops with curiosity. Both were long sleeved and seemed to be made up of a thin, black cotton material.
"Actually…" The empath triumphantly pulled a lilac shirt of similar material from the very back of her wardrobe, handing it to Starfire and taking back the first two that she had given. "Take that one. You're more of a lilac person." A final reach into the closet produced a black camisole. "Wear this underneath. I've been told that it gives a nice underlying effect and keeps everything covered properly with a slightly see-through top such as that." Starfire took the camisole gratefully.
"Truly, Raven, I thank you for your kindness!" The Tamaranian could not resist shooting a peculiar look at her friend. "But…if you do not find it inappropriate of me to ask…wherever did you…?"
"Get a lilac top and learn that a black camisole gives a nice underlying effect?" Raven smirked slightly. "I have this third cousin, two times removed, named Lila." The empath pronounced the name as Lie-lah. There was apparent distaste in her voice as she continued to speak. "She's part demon herself…not as much as me, but enough to give her magic. Li's always trying to make me…brighter." The empath shuddered.
"You…do not like this cousin…Lila?"
"Like her? I hate her. Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be motive enough for her to give up on me."
"Perhaps I shall one day meet this cousin Lila." Starfire mused, more to herself than anything else as she continued to examine her new clothing.
"I highly doubt that. Aside from the occasional package of clothing she sends me, Lila and I never communicate. I don't think she'd ever come to the Tower." Though Raven was fairly certain of herself at the time, soon she would learn that her instincts on this matter were dead wrong. However, that is another story of another time, another circumstance, one that will be told later. "Oh, and take these shoes too. I doubt your purple boots will go with your new clothes." The Tamaranian accepted the pair of strappy, spike healed black sandals gratefully.
"I should perhaps be taking leave of you now…" Starfire clutched the new clothes to her chest.
"Um…Star…one more thing…"
"Well guys? Advice? Something? Anything?"
"Calm down Robbie Poo…" Robin shot a sour look at the now tranquil Beast Boy.
"Shut up."
"Man, she likes you the way you are. Why are you asking us how to act and what to say? Just be your normal, hyper-obsessive little self and she'll love you. Hell, she already does." Cyborg now had the Game Station in his lap, tinkering with it mercilessly. "Stupid…microscopic…parts…"
"I do have one piece of advice though…" Robin turned to look at his Changeling friend, unsure if this would be another crack or a serious answer.
"And what would that be?"
"Don't bring your communicator." And with a quick flick of his wrist, Beast Boy had removed the tiny black and yellow device from Robin's belt.
"Hey!"
"Hey what dawg? You asked for our advice, and this is it. I gotta say, I agree with green genes here. Any trouble that happens, Raven, B, and I can handle it. Don't screw up the date by some distress call.
"Yeah…yeah guess you're right…" Robin sighed. "I…I need to go change. We're trying not to be recognized, and I'm not exactly inconspicuous in this cape."
"You're still going to wear your mask, aren't you?" Cyborg looked up from his broken plaything.
"Yeah, why?" The answer had come out more defensive than Robin intended.
"Good luck not getting recognized…"
"About Scorpio…"
"Yes?" Raven was reluctant to ask, but she felt she had to know.
"You'd been going out with Scorpio for how long before you left him…and the planet?" The Tamaranian considered the question carefully.
"I believe it to have been six months."
"And all that time, you weren't aware that Scorpio could control minds?"
"I…I was never given any motive to believe so." Starfire's answer was simple and concise. After a moment, she added a thought. "However, I have always known that some of his family possessed abnormal abilities." Raven was suddenly slightly more interested.
"Like what?"
"Well…There was Aquarius, who's power much resembles yours, friend Raven. Hers is the talent to see into someone's soul." Starfire thought back, remembering her past with distinct clarity. "Leo…he could shift silver at will…he made rather splendid bracelets for all of his…companions." They were actually more like girls that flocked around the playboy every time he left the house, but that was not needed to be mentioned. "He once shaped a set of two fine bracelets for Taurus and I, however I do not wear it any longer as I continue to mourn her."
"Taurus…" Raven contemplated the name. "Your best friend from Tamaran."
"Yes! Have I spoken of her in your presence previously?"
"Oh…um…" The empath looked slightly embarrassed. "I'm sorry, Starfire, sometimes I can't help but look into your mind when there's something I don't understand."
"…It is of no matter, as long as it is you and not Scorpio." Starfire sighed.
"So…you mentioned Taurus. Did she have any abnormal powers?"
"No. Of this I am quite positive. Taurus was, in fact, born devoid any Tamaranian abilities at all. She could not even fly, only hover for a short amount of time barely two feet from the ground. That is how we became so very close to one another. No one but her family believed that she was good for anything because she could not produce Starbolts and did not have the traditional strength of Tamaranians at her disposal, and no one ever thought that I could ever make a good ruler one day. We became friends simply because we believed in each other."
"Okay…any other irregular powers in that family?"
"The twins…Gemini and Geminey…they were often known for their mischief. The can teleport, you see, but only when they are together. Somewhat like the powers of Mas y Menos…" Starfire smiled at the thought of the two black haired, violet eyed twins. She missed them. "Virgo was well known for her healing powers…Libra's gift often frightened people more than her eyes…she was able to perceive lies from truth…" Raven believed she should cut this meeting short if her friend was ever going to make it to her date on time.
"Let's put it this way Starfire…which of the family didn't have these uncharacteristic powers?" The Tamaranian girl could count them on one hand.
"Taurus, Cancer, Aries, and Capricorn." Starfire looked slightly grim. "And I had thought Scorpio as well, but apparently that is not so."
"…I see." Silence spread throughout the room.
"If…there is nothing more…than I thank you for your great hospitality friend Raven, and for the provision of these garments. I am much in your debt."
"Oh…last thing…" Raven held out her hand. "Give me your communicator."
"But…why…?"
"Trust me, you don't want to be disturbed during lunch by a distress call." Raven could sense the worry in Starfire's expression. "Don't worry. Even with my shorted powers, I can still beat villains to a bloody pulp if I want to." The Tamaranian giggled and passed her communicator to her empathic friend.
"Thank you so very much!" The empath smiled softly as Starfire exited the room.
"It's the least I could do. Just because I can't afford to love, doesn't mean that you should suffer too." And at the mere thought of Beast Boy and her inability to express her affection towards him, the two black shirts in her hands shredded themselves violently, most of the pieces falling delicately to the floor as the empath held fast onto two battered collars.
Raven, accepting her loveless fate as demonstrated by her still disastrous room, merely sighed and leaned against the wall nearest to her for support. There was nothing she could do, was there? Yet how long would it take to get over Beast Boy? How long would her powers be haphazardly going off? Would it be like this forever? Was she doomed to a life of loneliness and random magic surges?
One of the particularly strange looking masks that still remained on Raven's bookshelf cracked in half and fell to the floor, black smothering the originally smooth mask surface.
It would seem so…
When Robin entered the Titans garage about twenty minutes later, he found Starfire already perched on his motorcycle, dressed in blackish grey jeans and a sheer long sleeved lilac top, a black…thing (what did girls call those? Tank tops?) underneath. In any case, she looked incredibly pretty, regardless of the fact that the clothes gave her girl-next-door type of look. The Boy Wonder was certain that he seemed rather homely as well, dressed in dark jeans and a simple white shirt. His mask remained firmly in place.
"Robin! You are prepared for today's excursion?" Starfire's eyes were glowing warmly, her smile kind and compassionate.
"As ready as I can be." Robin winced, well aware that he had just spoken what sounded to him like a particularly awful line. His…would it be appropriate to call her his girlfriend now? Yes, his girlfriend didn't appear to notice.
"Raven took my communicator from me…" Starfire suddenly commented, tugging at a string of red hair absentmindedly.
"Cyborg and Beast Boy did the same to me." It seemed that he was not the only one who felt a bit awkward at the circumstances.
"Shall we…go then?"
"Sounds good." Robin grinned and mounted his motorcycle. Starfire, having ridden on the rapid yet unstable machine on previous occasions, knew to wrap her arms around his waist in order to keep from flying off. The Boy Wonder had always loved when Starfire rode on his motorcycle with him, as it was much more comfortable to have her arms circling him than Beast Boy's. However, he had never felt that those warm, tanned hands belonged around his waist until now, now that they were…together. This time, when Starfire placed her arms delicately around him, Robin could not help but feel that they were right where they should be.
"Azarath, Metreon, Zinthos…Azarath, Metreon, Zinthos…" It had become quite apparent to Raven that over the last few days, meditating had no effect on her haywire powers whatsoever. It did help to calm her spirit down, however. It put her soul at peace. Meditating made her feel at least a little bit better about this whole Trigon-damned situation. The empath could feel Starfire's cheerful aura as well as…was that Robin who's emotions seemed so…content? It really was amazing…the Tamaranian girl was like a tranquilizer for him. In any case, their aura's were fading, and Raven could only assume they were headed for mainland to grab some pizza for their lunch date.
"THE BITCH SHALL BE MADE SORRY FOR HER SINS AGAINST ME…AND HER EARTH LOVER WILL PERISH AT MY HAND…"
Raven fell from the air and tumbled to the ground in shock. What had she just heard? The empath took time to catch her breath and contemplate the words that seemed to be echoing in her head. Only one person in the Tower would think such a horrifying thing.
"Scorpio…" The empath's eyes were wide. He was planning something, she was sure of it. Somehow, because of her powers, their minds had crossed paths. Raven wouldn't have been surprised if the Tamaranian boy had heard some Azaraths and a couple Metreons in his thoughts as well. The empath bit her lip hesitantly, then decided not to alert Cyborg and Beast Boy. She could handle this one herself. Flying to her bookshelves, she began to throw open one volume after another, searching for a spell powerful enough for her intentions.
Raven only hoped that she would be in time…
Scorpio was jolted from his thoughts, suddenly aware that some foreign power had, for a mere five seconds, entered his mind and poked around in his thoughts. The Tamaranian boy knew that there was only one person in the Tower who's powers could have crossed with his own.
"Ah, the witch." Slowly, Scorpio closed his eyes and focused on entering Raven's mind. It wasn't hard, though the mind controller's head felt as though it were going to split in two. It hurt so very much, but the results of his efforts were fruitful nonetheless. The empath seemed to be preoccupied with something, so her defenses were low. The alien was positive that she would never know that he'd been there. Her thoughts echoed in his head.
"…confinement spells…confinement spells…come ON…"
Confinement spells? She was looking for a way to keep him in his room until tomorrow morning? Scorpio pulled out of Raven's mind and laughed darkly.
"Lock me up, will you? I'll be long gone by then…"
Starfire and Robin pulled up to the usual Titans pizza hangout, parking the motorcycle on the side of the road and disembarking. The two smiled at one another and pushed the door of the eatery open.
"Starfire! Robin!" A young man in waiter's clothes about the age of twenty spotted them from his post by the cash register. "You guys need a table?"
"That'd be nice Vince." The waiter lead the pair to a free booth.
"Your pizza will be up in a few." Vince smiled and left them. The Titans had been eating here long enough for Vince, their usual waiter, to know exactly what each of them wanted. In this case, as it was only Starfire and Robin, they'd share a pepperoni pizza with a small dish of mustard on the side. It seemed that the alien superhero liked the 'tangy yellow beverage' on her pizza. "Hey! We got some Titans in the house! Alien Girl and Boy Wonder!" Vince called back to the cook, checking his watch.
"Got it!" The cook went to work immediately.
As Vince passed by the double paneled windows near the cash register, he could have sworn he saw a giant spider with a body attached. The waiter shook his head to clear his thoughts. When he looked back, there was no abnormally large exoskeleton wandering the streets.
I really need to stop pulling all-night last minute report things… The evening collage attendee gave his head a final shake before resuming his work.
"Hah! I did it!" Cyborg triumphantly tucked the last minuscule part of the Game Station in place and sealed it up with the remaining plastic side panel. "You thought you could stay broken, didn't you? Well I've got news for you, ya cruddy piece of technology! You can't beat Cyborg!"
"…Dude? You're bragging to a Game Station…" Beast Boy had done many odd things in his life, but certainly nothing like gloating in the face of an electronic item.
"Hey, you try fixing this stupid thing next time Raven decides to take it apart piece by freaking tiny piece." The Changeling decided to let the last comment about Raven slide. He was feeling too sluggish to put up a good argument.
"So what happened when you went clubbing with that Crystal Summers girl last night?"
"Man, it was like-" The agitation on Cyborg's face was apparent, but he suddenly stopped himself. "No. I'll only tell you if you tell me about what went down with Raven." Beast Boy found himself to be caught in his own trap. He didn't want to talk about the empath, but he was dying to find out why his mechanical friend was so annoyed by his recent date.
"I…" The Changeling reminded himself to not be such a pushover in the future. "Fine. You first though."
"Crystal Summers is your typical rich brat. She was pretty nice and all, but everything she talked about was somehow related to shopping. Or shoes. Or Cosmopolitan Magazine." Cyborg rolled his eyes and leaned against the couch, cradling the Game Station in his hands. "She could dance pretty well, but in the end she decided that I wasn't her type. Thank God." The metal man suddenly scowled. "But somehow she wheedled me into going on another date. Tomorrow at seven."
"But I thought she said that you weren't her type…?"
"It's not a date with her, B. It's with her…" Cyborg shuddered. "Totally ghetto friend." Beast Boy was a particularly bright person when he didn't want to be, so it took him a few minutes to process the awkwardness in this expression.
"…Totally…ghetto?" The Changeling finally got it. "Do those two words even fit into the same sentence right?"
"According to Crystal Summers, they do." Cyborg shrugged. "So I'll be going out again tonight, around nine."
"Didn't you just say your date was at seven?"
"It is. I'm hoping if I'm late and tell her it was some city crisis, she might want to give up on me or something."
"Smart." Beast Boy pulled a magazine out from under the couch and began to aimlessly flip through the pages, knowing what was coming.
"So…what happened with you and Raven?"
"Long story short, I was bored out of my mind, so I went to try to get Rae to talk to me. She agreed after some persuasion, so we came here so she could lecture me on poetry and Ernest Hemmingway and Edgar Allen Hoe-" Beast Boy caught himself. "Poe. Edgar Allen Poe. Anyways, I started reciting some dorky poem for her and I guess she kinda got flustered and blew up half the kitchen-"
"That's what that mess was in there? Man, I spent all morning cleaning that up."
"-so she left but didn't take her Edgar Allen…Poe book with her. I started looking through it and found some songs that she had written and they were pretty good but then Raven came charging back in and took the book and the songs from me and then I went to bed." The Changeling looked thoughtful, unusual for him. "I don't think she was mad at me though."
"At least you weren't forced into another date with a totally ghetto girl!"
"At least you have a date!"
The two friends fell silent, still occasionally shooting daggers at each other with their eyes. With a final, decisive sigh, the two boys simultaneously uttered a single word, a word which seemed to be plaguing them both.
"…Girls…"
"Good pizza?" Robin watched Starfire as she chewed the bite she had just taken with thought.
"It is glorious friend Robin, just as it is glorious to be here with you." The Boy Wonder felt his heart flutter, something of a new experience for him. His mind was going blank, however, and that was panicking him. How did he usually act with her? How did he usually speak with her?
Images of the countless times he had yelled at her and slammed doors in her face suddenly flooded his mind, and Robin didn't like them one bit. He didn't want to remember the awful things he'd done to her…that disheartened look of betrayal in her eyes when he was Slade's apprentice mere months ago. He'd disappointed her and hurt her so many times. Looking at her now though, with such trust and affection on her face as she dipped her slice of pizza into the mustard yet again…the fact that she was still here and didn't find his very being absolutely revolting was truly amazing. She accepted him with all his faults and held nothing against him.
"Robin…are you unwell?" The Boy Wonder's head snapped to attention. Starfire was looking at him with apparent concern.
"I…I'm fine…It's just…I'm…"
"What is wrong?"
"I…I'm really, really sorry."
"But…what are you sorry for?" Starfire seemed genuinely confused. Slowly, Robin reached one ungloved hand across the table and took hers, clasping it gently.
"For…everything." It was all he could manage before relinquishing her hand and stuffing a sizable piece of pizza into his mouth to keep from letting his emotions get away with him. Unfortunately for the Boy Wonder, they already had; from the moment he'd bought the necklace at the mall, from the very moment he'd stuck that note in Starfire's room.
From the very moment he'd met her.
Over by the cash register, Vince gazed out the window, waiting for the next customer to pay. Suddenly, an enormous brown spider with a human body dangling from it flashed by. There! He knew he hadn't imagined it! But it was gone again in a matter of seconds. Inwardly, the waiter wondered if he should alert the two Titans in the restaurant. A quick glance to their booth told him otherwise. Robin had Starfire's hand in his own, and he seemed to be saying something that held the alien girl's attention rather well. Vince had always known the pair would get together some day. Who in Jump City didn't, aside from the crazed Robin fan-girls? It had never been a matter of if, but when. It seemed that the inevitable had finally occurred, and Vince was not about to interrupt.
"Ya know, B, you keep talking about how Raven doesn't have a choice about withholding her emotions and all that, right?" The Changeling nodded at his cybernetic friend, who was now connecting a spare television that he had found in the basement of the Tower to the main power lines. "Well then…why haven't you given up on her yet? If you're so sure that she can't feel, then why are you still hanging on?"
"Because…because she's Raven." Beast Boy could thing of no better answer. "I…I don't know…she's special. To me."
"Good. Glad to hear it." Cyborg grinned and stuck a plug into the Game Station, linking it with the new, or rather, old, and smaller television. "Then, for what it's worth, I think you two have a pretty good chance."
"Really?" Beast Boy's eyes were suddenly shining. Cyborg's assurance tended to make matters look slightly better. "Really?"
"Yeah, really." The Changeling suddenly jumped off the couch and grabbed his mechanical friend's head in his hands, kissing him on both cheeks. Cyborg threw Beast Boy off of him, looking disgusted.
"What the hell was that?"
"It's the way they say thank you in this place called Udonia. I saw it on TV." The Changeling grinned sheepishly. Without another word, Cyborg got up off the floor and headed for the kitchen.
"Hey where are you going?" Beast Boy was curious in spite of himself. His friend turned around, still seemingly appalled.
"To boil my face."
Starfire was, for the first time in several days, enjoying herself very much. Robin and she had nearly devoured the pizza and were working on what little was left, laughing and talking as the minutes ticked by. Suddenly, however, with a quick glance through the double paneled windows by the cash register where Vince still stood, the Tamaranian princess let out a scream and dove across the table, tackling Robin and throwing him to the floor.
"Star…what-?" A massive spider with a human body dangling from its underside suddenly flew over the pair, a spray of shattered glass following. Several people screamed and ran from the eatery.
"It is Fang!"
"Yeah it's me." The mutated boy seemed annoyed, but it was hard to tell, as his head was in the form of a spider, and spiders are not the most emotional creatures in the world. "I have a bone to pick with you, Boy Wonder, though you don't seem to be much of one without your costume." The two fallen Titans got up and brushed the glass from their clothes as Fang continued to speak. "You took my girl to a charity ball. My girl."
"What, you think I wanted to?" Robin, disturbed enough as it was that his date was interrupted without being accused of trying to pick up some psycho daughter of a criminal. His hand brushed his pockets, searching for his communicator, swearing when he couldn't find it. Oh, that was right. Beast Boy and Cyborg had taken it from him. Raven had taken Starfire's. The two were hopelessly alone, without backup and Robin found himself without weapons as well, as his belt had also remained at the Tower.
"You've done it before, and now you did it again." Fang suddenly shot a mound of goop from his mouth. It hit Robin squarely in the chest.
"Do NOT hurt him!" Starfire rose from the ground, her eyes and hands glowing dangerously.
"How low are you?" Fang bared his tiny, razor sharp spider teeth. "You already have a girlfriend, and yet you go pick up on mine and then get her arrested."
"She forced me to go to that dance with her you oaf!" A birdarang cut through the air, whizzing by Fang's head and hitting the wall behind. Robin had successfully detached himself from whatever substance that had been holding him down. The birdarang he had found in his back pocket. Unfortunately, that had been his only one.
"You expect me to believe that load of bull sh-"
"SHUT UP!" Starfire blasted Fang with a particularly damaging pair of starbolts, sending him flying through the wall of the previously nice pizza eatery. Robin looked at her oddly. The phrase that the Tamaranian had used was not something he'd come to expect from her. Starfire's expression remained rather savage, but when she turned to Robin, her face softened. "That is the correct term, is it not? When one wishes for another to cease communication? I have often heard Raven say it to Cyborg and Beast Boy, but I am not certain if-" Robin cracked a grin. He really loved this girl.
"It was right. Trust me, it was the most appropriate thing you could say in these circumstances."
"You pack quite a punch, sweetheart." Fang leaped back through the wall and fired a purple beam of paralyzing light at Starfire, his beady eyes fierce. Just before it made contact, a server's tray flew in front of the Tamaranian girl from her right, catching the beam and falling to the floor with a loud, clattering noise. Fang turned to see where the airborne object had come from. Vince, the only normal person left in the restaurant a look of bravery lingering in his eyes, still stood near the cash register, holding another server's tray readily. Starfire and Robin took advantage of Fang's distraction to attack, the Boy Wonder with a fancy spinning kick, knocking the mutant backward, and the Tamaranian princess with a wave of furious starbolts and eyebeams. Fang was down in mere minutes.
"The police should be by in a few minutes." Robin spoke to Vince with ease, having had to explain government procedure so many times that it made his head hurt. "They'll pick up Spider-Boy over there and brief you on insurance and stuff like that. Sorry about the mess…" He turned to Star. "C'mon. We should probably get home." Neither could hide their disappointment that lunch had been ruined.
It had taken a good half an hour of strenuous research, but Raven had finally found a way to strengthen her shorted powers just enough to perform a sealing spell on Scorpio's door. Selecting a small bottle of mystic sand from a cabinet (thank Azar it hadn't already broken), the empath emerged from her room and flew down the hall. Several twists and turns through the Tower brought Raven to her destination. Carefully, she uncorked the bottle and poured the sand along the tiny crevice between the floor and the door itself, then stood back and read carefully from her book.
"Mortix vander calso, lownda inix tansve… Mortix vander calso, lownda inix tansve… Mortix vander calso, lownda inix tansve…" As Raven continued to chant these words, energy gradually crawled up the door, beginning at the sand on the floor. Surprisingly, the energy was purple.
Lila would be proud, Raven mused as the door sealed completely. Seeing that her work was done, the empath collected her book and her now empty bottle and left without another word.
Robin shut off his motorcycle with a sigh and turned to face his date who sat behind him.
"That…didn't really turn out the way I thought it would."
"We are heroes, Robin. Do not be saddened. It is our job to take care of such things." Starfire smiled softly and touched the Boy Wonder's face with gentle fingertips.
"I…yeah I guess but…"
"I had a wonderful time with you this afternoon." And with that, the Tamaranian princess leaned in and gave Robin a split second kiss on the cheek.
Inside his room, Scorpio laughed as his door turned an eerily glowing purple. The witch wasn't very smart was she? The Tamaranian boy threw a starbolt at the window. It shattered, as expected, and he flew out with an evil grin plastered on his face. Bird-boy may have gotten a peck on the cheek, but Scorpio was about to get Starfire completely.
Robin and Starfire entered the Tower's recreation room to find Beast Boy avidly playing Game Station on a television considerably smaller than the one that Starfire had recently blasted. He stopped, however, when the pair entered.
"Cy! They're back!" Beast Boy turned to the entering couple. "How'd the date go?"
"Yeah, give us all the dirty details." Cyborg stuck his head out from the kitchen, the cheek that was still flesh scrubbed so hard that it had turned a violent shade of red.
"Um…there are no dirty details." Robin shrugged, being completely honest.
"Yeah right." Cyborg rolled his eyes.
"He speaks truth! We were ambushed by Fang!" Starfire's eyes were earnest.
"What?" Beast Boy dropped the controller into his lap. "Why didn't you call for backup?"
"We would've had you not taken my communicator away." Robin's voice was steely.
"Didn't Star…?"
"Raven withheld my communication device during this excursion." Starfire shrugged.
"So…your date was pretty much ruined." Cyborg entered the Tower lounge yet again, still scrubbing at his cheek.
"I wouldn't say that." Robin and Starfire exchanged fleeting glances, and each could tell that the other was thinking of the kiss.
"I shall retire to my room now, so I may don my customary clothes and return these garments to Raven."
"Wait…that lilac shirt is Raven's?" Beast Boy looked doubtful.
"Yes. Her third cousin twice removed, Lila, sent it to her." Starfire shrugged and was about to leave when Raven came rushing in.
"I did it." She still clutched the spell book to her chest.
"Did what?" Cyborg lowered his cloth to look at her.
"I locked him in. Scorpio is securely in his room now and won't b able to get out until tomorrow-"
"My dear Starry! How lovely you look in those clothes! I must admit that I prefer the traditional Tamaranian clothes, but you look beautiful nonetheless." Scorpio came into the lounge through the still open door that Raven had come through. Beast Boy edged over to Raven.
"Didn't you just say…?"
"I…I thought…but…"
"Ah, witch, your spell was only on the door of my room. Luckily for me, the window was quite available to escape through." Scorpio smiled cheerfully as the rest of the room scowled at him. "Besides, I mean no harm. I realize that these two," the alien boy pointed at Robin and Starfire jerkily, "are a couple now. I merely wish to give Starfire a final goodbye. Alone. On the roof, perhaps?"
"No freaking-"
"I will accompany you to the roof, Scorpio. For one final goodbye." The other Titans gaped at Starfire with wide eyes and open mouths.
"Excellent!" Scorpio began to climb the stairs that lead to the roof.
"Starfire, listen to me." Raven grabbed the Tamaranian girl's arm, her eyes filled with worry and her voice barely above a whisper. "Promise me you'll be careful. And don't look into his eyes."
"I promise." Starfire managed a smile, then followed Scorpio up the stairs.
Robin was too agitated to speak, and so it was Raven who took control of the situation.
"Cyborg! Did you hook up the security cameras to this…thing?" The empath pointed to the smaller television on the floor.
"Don't need to. I got it all right here…" Cyborg attempted to access the Titans security camera feeds, but as soon as he had pulled up the roof's picture, his arm shorted and completely blacked out, electric sparks flying merrily. "Aww man! The water I used to scrub my face off must've blown my right arm's functions!"
"Then I suggest you start hooking the security cameras up to that television." Raven nodded in Beast Boy's direction. "You help him, seeing as how his arm is totally out of commission." The Changeling nodded and got to work.
"Starry, please hear me out…" Scorpio attempted to face his ex-girlfriend with sorrow in his eyes. "I didn't want to hurt you or any of your friends."
"If you expect me to believe such a tale of fallacies, then you must take me for some sort of fool." Starfire avoided eye contact at all costs.
"Starry, just look at me-" The Tamaranian boy tried to catch the princess by the arm but missed as she twisted away from him.
"NO! I am very well aware of your mind controlling powers. I will not allow myself to be subject to such a thing again. I refuse to look you in the eyes." Scorpio was impressed at the amount that Starfire knew about his power.
"Not bad. I suppose the witch helped you figure all this out."
"Her name is Raven, and she is not a witch, she is an empath and a great friend of mine."
"She is also the daughter of the demon Trigon, a child of hell. She is, quite literally, half devil."
"Half devil and living life as a saint!" Starfire declared, fire raging in her eyes. "She is a better person than you will ever be!"
"I'm hurt." Scorpio smiled slightly.
"But how did you know…?"
"About her origins? The same place I learned about the Titan's rift with Kitten. I hacked the Titans database." Scorpio shrugged as though it were no big deal.
"You…you evil…how could you…" Starfire could think of no words wicked enough to describe the blond boy in front of her. "We…we will say our goodbyes and I simply shall not look into your eyes."
"Well, my dear, that won't be necessary, I assure you."
Starfire would have screamed if her vocal chords hadn't suddenly frozen over with the rest of her body. Scorpio was nearing her immobile form now, but…why did it seem as though he were in great pain? Now their eyes were level, and the hurt his face displayed seemed to fade from his face as their gazes locked.
"You've been a bad girl. It's time for your punishment." Scorpio bit his lip in apparent contemplation. "Though this might hurt your Earth lover more than you. What am I going to do to him, you ponder?" The alien boy seemed to be picking up her thoughts with ease. "You shall see, my dear. You shall see."
"Robin!" The Boy Wonder's head snapped up. He had been thinking about all the different ways there were to hurt an evil alien boy who was trying to steal your girlfriend when he heard Raven say his name.
"What?"
"Since we don't know how long it'll take to hook the surveillance up, get to the roof and watch them for anything that might go wrong." The Boy Wonder nodded absentmindedly and took off, taking the stairs to the roof two at a time.
Robin's jeans were barely up the stairs and out of sight when Cyborg and Beast Boy had managed to link the roof's security feed to the smaller television. As soon as the picture sprang onto the screen, however, the half robot swore.
"What's wrong? Did Starfire look into Scorpio's…?" Raven turned around to find herself face to face with an awfully frightening image.
"Oh shit…"
OH MY GOD! That turned out TOTALLY different from what I had originally planned, but I like it this way better. It was also WAY longer than I had originally intended (sixteen pages! I had originally planned it to only be like…six), but…ah, well. It was still a ton of fun to write. I'm kinda exhausted though…summer school's killing me… Well, in any case, I hope you guyz liked it!
Love,
SushiChica
PS- To all you Harry Potter fans out there, I just pulled off my very first HP ONESHOT! Yay! It's Angelina/Fred (my favorite HP pairing…I'm odd I know…) and well…yeah! Read! Review! Eat! Um…yeah…luv yas!