It Happens
Changes
(One Month Later in Mech City)
Starfire laughed and kissed Cyborg on the cheek. He had just won the tickle fight that they were having in his office. Everyone who worked there was used to it now. Cyborg got Starfire hired as his personal filer. Of course everyone knew the real reason he hired her (since he never needed help with files before). But no one complained because after all he was considered the hero of Mech City.
There was a knock on the office door and Starfire went to answer it while Cyborg hurried behind his desk and pretended to be looking over the drawn drafts of his latest invention.
"Good afternoon Sir or Madam," Starfire said brightly as soon as she opened the door, "welcome to Cyborg's office."
"Thank You," Gizmo responded, "but you don't need to do the formalities with me," he told her, "even if I'm a major shareholder," he added and entered the office.
"Hi," Cyborg snarled at Gizmo who laughed heartily.
"Same old Cyborg," Gizmo said simply, "doing pretty well for yourself," he said, "even though you're still a piece of crud by my standards," he declared victoriously.
Cyborg jumped at Gizmo but Gizmo sidestepped him and Cyborg ended up crashing into his own office wall. Gizmo grinned but stopped and ducked as a starbolt barely missed his head.
"That would've been your last starbolt of it that had hit me darling," Gizmo said threateningly as he glared at Starfire who stood firm and glared at him, "I can't get Cyborg fired," he admitted, "but I can retire you," he said darkly and fear crept into Starfire's eyes.
"Leave her alone," Cyborg ordered after he finally pried himself out of the wall, "great now I'm going to have to fix this," he said angrily as he looked over the damage.
"How quaint," Gizmo said sarcastically.
"You're a real a-whole, do you know that," Starfire said in annoyance.
"Well you're no angel either sweetheart," Gizmo threw back, "I never ran out a member of my team," he countered.
"Raven has nothing to do with this," Cyborg said seriously.
"Neither did she until she threw a Starbolt at me," Gizmo said frankly, "anyway I came to tell you that your latest invention is needed in six days."
"What!" Cyborg shouted, "I made it clear that I need another three weeks!" he cried angrily, "at least!"
"Then build a prototype strong enough to last until everything's ready," Gizmo suggested.
"I already have a prototype," Cyborg told him, "but it will barely last over a month and…" he started to say.
"Then use it jackass!" Gizmo exploded, "by one month you should be finished!" he screamed.
"Hmmm, good point," Cyborg agreed and Gizmo nearly grabbed Cyborg who made quick distance.
"I could kill you," Gizmo growled in extreme anger, "I swear, if I weren't so rich and I life wasn't so perfect," he said, "I would grind you finer than powder," he snarled.
"Okay," Cyborg said slowly while Starfire now held unto Cyborg's shoulder as she stared fearfully at a furious 6ft tall bald headed Gizmo, "um, nice suit," he said with a wide grin.
"Scum bucket," Gizmo muttered then straightened his sky blue type and cleared his throat, "have the prototype ready in two days," he said formally.
"It will be ready by tomorrow," Cyborg told him.
"Good," Gizmo responded, "bye then," he said and turned to leave.
"Wait," Starfire said suddenly, "how is your girlfriend Jinx?" she asked him.
"Fine," Gizmo told her.
"And Raven?" Cyborg asked and got a hard nudge from Starfire in response, "I mean, just out of curiosity," he said with a nervous laugh.
"She's still alive," Gizmo responded coldly, "not that any of you former TITANS would care," he added.
"Hey we care!" Cyborg shouted.
"Oh please," Gizmo spat, "you don't even know where she currently resides," he said scornfully.
"And you do?" Starfire asked.
"You bet I do," Gizmo declared, "after all she lives near to Jinx's mansion."
"I thought that mansion was for the entire Hive team," Cyborg said, "well from what I heard," he added.
"But isn't that neighbourhood bad?" Starfire asked openly.
"You expect her to live harmoniously in the suburbs?" Gizmo asked Starfire, "she's hated universally," he reminded, "living in a bad neighbourhood is the best thing for her," he declared, "keeps her from hateful goodie goodies like you," he added.
"Hey we didn't intend for this to happen," Cyborg said defensively.
"Yet it did," Gizmo pointed out, "the Teen Titans ruined her life."
"Raven's no angel!" Starfire cried angrily.
"Well dear, neither are you," Gizmo said with mock sweetness.
"Don't go insulting my girl Gizmo," Cyborg warned.
"Well tell her not to insult Raven," Gizmo countered, "Raven's my friend," he added.
"That will encourage living a good lifestyle," Starfire said sarcastically.
"Well if she stayed with you guy's she'd probably be living Terra's new lifestyle," Gizmo said, "six feet under."
"That wasn't anybody's fault!" Cyborg shouted angrily.
"Oh I've heard differently," Gizmo said, "I heard that the monster at fault is none other than that green changeling who revealed Raven's true identity years ago in Steel City," he told them, "so you pay this little green freak to ruin lives or does he just get kicks from doing it and does it for free?" he asked.
"Gizmo," Cyborg snarled.
"Don't 'Gizmo' me," Gizmo snapped.
"What do you want from us?" Starfire demanded, "we can't turn back the clock and undo the hatred that now exists against Raven."
"And you can't turn back the clock and save Terra either," Gizmo said coldly, "you can't give anyone anything," he told them.
Starfire looked at her feet. She felt horrible.
"Where is Raven staying?" Starfire asked.
"Like I'd tell you," Gizmo said hatefully, "Jinx told me what happened when Beast Boy came over with Blackfire to Raven's house," he told them, "total disaster."
"We're not Beast Boy," Cyborg said formally.
"But you're not among the few who didn't care about her paternity either," Gizmo countered.
"That's a lie," Starfire spoke up, "Cyborg didn't care."
"Is that so?" Gizmo asked, "from Raven's own mouth I was informed that in the end you do care in some way," he said.
"Not like the rest of the Titans did," Starfire told Gizmo, "if we all thought like Cyborg," she said, "Raven's paternity would've been kept private."
"Is that so?" Gizmo asked then chuckled, "just have the prototype ready Cyborg," he said formally and left the office.
"It is not fair," Starfire said softly, "we don't control the emotions of the universe."
"But we control our own," Cyborg said, "and ours blinded us to remembering that Raven's our friend," he said to Starfire, "not our enemy."
"And she was still there for me despite how much I hated her," Starfire recalled, "I feel so ashamed," she said.
"But one good thing happened though," Cyborg said, "it all led to us being together now," he said lovingly and kissed her gently on the lips.
"That's true," Starfire agreed, "but I'd give it all up to give Raven back the life she used to have before everyone found out that Slade was her father," she confessed.
"Me too," Cyborg agreed, "me too."
(Three hours later at 6pm at Robin's Mansion)
"You're a really good dancer," Raven commented as she continued to waltz in the ballroom with Robin, "you might just dance your way into the heart of a good girl someday."
"I don't know if many girls can deal with my personal issues," Robin said honestly, "I have too many," he added.
"You'll be okay Robin," Raven said kindly, "you always have been."
"That's just it," Robin said softly, "I'm always just okay," he told her, "never great or awesome, just okay," he said just as the song ended.
"Oh," Raven said after they parted, "um, you want to go do something?" she asked suddenly.
"Like what?" Robin asked.
"I don't know," Raven said, "go for a walk outside or something I guess," she said with a shrug.
"We walked the grounds yesterday," Robin pointed out.
"Yeah but what are going do, go out?" Raven said in a passing manner.
Robin suddenly looked over at her.
"Why not?" Robin asked, "we are hanging out now," he added.
Raven looked at Robin incredulously.
"No offence Robin but by public consensus we hate each other," Raven pointed out, "what is it going to look like when we're suddenly seen together," she said, "what will we say?" she asked.
"Nothing," Robin responded, "we have no obligation to explain ourselves," he told her, "we're no longer underaged heroes of the state," he reminded her, "we can do whatever we want," he said and leaned in to kiss Raven lightly on the lips.
The chandelier suddenly exploded and both Robin and Raven ran screaming from the ballroom.
(On a Farm in Sweden at 8pm)
Menos sat at the dining table sipping Cocoa. His twin brother Mas had already gone to sleep. Menos often wondered what life would've been like if they had remained in Steel City. But both he and his brother agreed that their incestual love would never be accepted there.
Menos enjoyed farming life more than his brother did but there was thing that they enjoyed doing together almost more than being together. And that was killing Slade together.
End Chapter 9
Reggae: Gasp! Slade's murderer (I should I say murderers) has finally been revealed. The relationship between Robin and Raven isn't romantic right now. At this moment they're still confused with their feelings for each other since things changed so much between them since they checked out the 'What If' world a month ago. For the most part Robin invited Raven to his home nearly two weeks after he last visited her and she has been sleeping over by his insistence ever since. Will Robin and Raven move on from their shattered pasts? Is this true love growing or just two lonely young adults seeking comfort with each other? Whatever it is you readers will find out soon. Sorry that I couldn't keep the deadline that I set out for myself. Bad bouts of the flu, computer and internet woes among other things ensured that. Also I've decided to make this story 12 instead of just 10 chapters. I feel that more chapters are needed to fully round off this story so that readers don't feel cheated. Thank you for reading and please review. I'll try my best to complete this story by the end of October 2005.