Disclaimer- I don't own the Teen Titans. I don't own the Olympics, Dance Dance Revolution, or any of that stuff. But I do own Raven's new name! Bear with me, please.
Raven Roth, or Rhea Rox as she was better known (corny name, but oh well!) stood behind the counter at the arcade where she worked. It was only 8:30 in the morning and the mall hadn't even opened yet, but Mr. J had insisted on early arrival. Why? Raven had yet to find out. The senile old man was probably babbling about something different all together. But the empath had still shown up at the rather large 'store of entertainment,' as Starfire would often put it. Raven half-smiled at the memory. She missed the naïve alien girl. And she missed the half-robot half-human hybrid. She missed the gung-ho leader as well. But one particular titan still stuck in her mind- Beast Boy. She missed those idiotic pranks, and those annoying jokes. Absurd, she knew it, but it just wasn't the same without him.
'I wonder how things are going for them,' Raven thought absentmindedly, turning on the blue radio beside her. As if to magically answer her question, an announcement on the Olympics had just came in. "…and the Olympic Gold Medallist for Volley Ball (coughTitanRisingcough) is Victor 'Cyborg' Stone from the U.S.! He's the first and probably the only man to compete in the Olympics that is a half-robot. I swear, this guy was just amazing! There must be victory downloaded into his circuits because that's all he gave to win us that gold."
'Cyborg in the Olympics?' thought Raven. 'Well hooray for him,' "And in Criminal Records," shouted the Radio guy. "Dick Grayson and Kori Anders have apprehended yet another criminal, today it was Slade Wilson. He has been charged with 570 robberies, 8 murders, and arson. He was convicted yesterday evening for all of these crimes, and was given the death sentence…" 'Oh, detectives, are we?' Raven thought with a smile. 'It's surprising he hasn't proposed to her yet, with being work mates and whatnot.'
She stared at the radio for a moment, as if eyeing it would make the hunk of technology spit out something about BB. 'I doubt it,' the girl thought and smirked. 'Probably tells low class jokes for some deaf seniors at a nursing home. Heh. Nursing home. Funny.' The Goth stared around the arcade, as if the games would bring back some sort of bittersweet memory. Then, one machine caught her eye-
In the corner or the arcade stood a huge black Dance Dance Revolution machine. Raven recognized it immediately as one of the video games BB and Cyborg had brought home on day to try to get out of combat practice. 'Sorry. Not gonna work guys. Take it back tomorrow,' ordered Robin. 'He never did let us have any fun,' Raven wrinkled her nose. 'But when he was around Starfire, man, that was a totally different story.'
Ah, but the first time she played that Glorious Video Game was a time of surprises.
Flashback
She was at the Odysseus Dance Club (It's a real place, too) with the other titans, and she really didn't want to go. Honestly, she had begged on her hands and knees not to go, but the other four had dragged her out anyway. Of course, she had to be wearing some regular attire. It was like a rule that other than saving the day, super heroes couldn't run around in tights. So, the reluctant empath went out wearing a snug pair of blue jeans, purple flip-flops, and a purple tank top. Two strands of her light violet hair fell against the front of her face, making her chakra almost disappear, and giving her a serious look as well. She had lagged behind the other titans, who were in higher spirits, hoping that they would not notice if she slipped away. The plan was so full proof- they were all so wonderfully gullible when they were happy. They were passing a dark alleyway- this was great. She'd drop behind for a moment or two, and then just vanish into thin air…so close…so close…
"Hey Raven, you are going to come with us aren't you?" Beast Boy asked, letting the other titans walk ahead him. 'Shoot,' Raven thought and looked past him. "I uh…OH MY GOSH! A GIANT HAMSTER!" she shouted. "GIANT HAMSTER? WHERE!" Beast Boy turned around frantically to try to find the false over-sized rodent. Raven took the extra time to bolt into the alleyway, escaping her teammate. "Hey! There's no hamster…Raven? Where did you…argh…" Beast Boy growled in defeat. Then he got an idea…a brilliant idea…
"Phew," Raven sighed, and crept out of the alleyway. Melting into her soul self would be much easier and much safer, but she wasn't thinking. She began to walk away from the Odysseus Dance Club when a pair of hands gripped onto her shoulders. "You know," breathed a voice, the person's hot breath caressing the back of her bare neck. "It's not right to run away from your friends." Raven spun around to find Beast Boy smirking at her. "Come on," he said, holding out his hand. "You know you want toooooooo," he tempted in a childish voice. "No, I'm sure I don't," Raven said crossly. "Oh, I think you do," he said, pulling out a blue covered book. Raven recognized it as her Journal. Her eyes widened, as she snatched it out of his hands, and replaced it with a ten-dollar bill. "Not a word," she hissed. "Aww, only ten?" BB whined. Raven cringed, slamming ten more dollars into his hand. "I didn't read anything," he said with a smug smirk. "I hate you," Raven said maliciously, stomping towards the Odysseus. "Who doesn't?" Beast Boy thought aloud, walking there with her.
When the two arrived in the dance club, the music was blaring like bloody murder, and there were disco lights EVERYWHERE! (Yay, disco lights!) Two enormous lava lamps stood brightly atop the dance walls, and a rather large mirror disco ball hung from the ceiling. Two spotlights shone on the mirror ball, making the colors ricochet of the mirrors and dance on the walls. Two very big speakers were in the back of the club, quivering from the music. Aside from the dance arena, there was a small game set, where there was PacMan, DDR, Air Hockey, Pool, and other meaningless games. That was where we found our own beloved Raven this evening- in the Game Set. Sitting there like a mindless zombie, just waiting for the night to end. Her other comrades were dancing to their hearts content, which was weird, because none of them really could dance. When I say that, I mean they stink. But no one dared say that to the titans.
As they danced, each of them (mainly Beast Boy) were trying to figure out a way to get Raven off her butt and onto the dace floor. 'She won't leave the Game Set,' thought the changeling. "Hey guys!" BB shouted. His other comrades found their way over to their friend. "Can you help me find a way to get Raven to dance?" "Why do you want her to dance?" asked Cyborg. He quirked his eyebrow in suspicion. "Dude, LOOK AT HER! She looks like she's…DEAD! That's what no fun does to you!" Beast Boy exclaimed, waving his arms wildly about. "Umm, she could always try a video game…" Robin thought aloud. Beast Boy turned his head slowly to the leader. "Uh, I wanted her to dance…not fry her brains like me…wait! Dance Dance Revolution! I'M BRILLIANT!" The boy then proceeded over to the Game Set where he was to persuade the dark girl to have some fun. "Oh, come on Raven! It'll be fun!" he whined. "I don't do fun. You know that," Raven said in monotone. "Ohhhhhh COME ON! Please please please please please please please please please please please puh-leeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeze?" "ALRIGHT! Just stop whining!" the girl said and looked around the Game Set. "Now, which one am I supposed to play?" "That one!" said Beast Boy cheerfully, pointing to the DDR machine. "Ugh…" Raven complained, and walked towards the game with the changeling at her side. Lucky for her, there was a considerably long line, so that bought Raven some time. But eventually, she stepped onto the platform and pressed the big red button for the game to re-start.
She ended up choosing 'Standard Mode' and a song called 'Absolute' by Thuggie D. It started as a very…what's the word I'm looking for? Hyper…yeah. It was sort of hyper at the beginning with arrows flying everywhere at once, but she got used to it after a few tension-filled seconds. The song ended after a few minutes, and Raven did very well for a first time player. She stepped off the stage immediately after she was done, and didn't really want to see what she got. "Come on Rae! You want to see your score, don't you?" Beast Boy asked. "Not really," Raven responded and began to walk to her corner in the Game Set. But alas, Beast Boy grabbed her arm once more before she was to return to her dark corner, and pulled her over to the DDR machine, where everyone was cheering at a high score that was set. "Dude! Raven you got a double A! That's really really good!" he said. "Yay m-" Raven's sentence was cut short by the changeling's arms around her neck. The girl blushed several shades of scarlet and eventually pulled him off, walking to the back of the room. "Don't leave us!" shouted Beast Boy, wrapping his arms this time around her waist. "What the heck are you doing?" Raven asked, blushing again at the uncalled physical contact. "Making you stay?" he said with a cheesy smile. Raven began to pull away, but the changeling only held tighter, making her lose it completely. Her face adopted an extremely surprised, but slightly disgusted expression, and a deafening bang echoed through the Odysseus. The two turned around slowly, and saw that the DDR machine had sadly exploded due to Raven's emotions.
"Oh crap," Raven muttered and ran from Beast Boy's grip and back home.
End Flashback
Sure, it had been a negative experience, but it was very memorable. Yup, Robin had lectured Rae and BB for a record two hours. Raven for her 'unnecessary display of power,' and Beast Boy on 'public displays of affection.'
Raven shook her head in spite of Robin's stupid-ness. Seriously, Public Displays of Affection? As if he didn't have any Private Displays of Affection with a certain Tamaranian. The Azarathian smiled. Thank you, mind-reading abilities.
Finally, the girl noticed where she was standing. She looked down to see a silver platform with arrows beneath her feet. Oh great, she had walked over to the Machine of Memories in her remembering. And she had put the key into the slot that turns it on. 'Well, I'm a smart one,' she thought, realizing that she couldn't turn back. 'Oh, why me?' she wondered, her hand drawing near to the big arrow buttons. "Well, I was good at Standard Mode all those years ago, how about a level up?" she thought aloud, and chose Heavy Mode. Then there was the song to decide on. "I can't take this pressure," Raven said, confirming her pick for Random. Now everyone with a brain knows that if you choose Random without any experience on heavy mode with DDR whatsoever, you are doomed. And lucky Rae, she got Paranoia Eternal. It's difficult enough on light mode, who knows what it's like on heavy. And guess who forgot to check the BPM?
The song started, the volume at like the loudest level possible, and the arrows and other additional moves were next to impossible. Raven's eyes were wide as she moved her feet according to the path of the digital arrows, and her arms were raised to keep her balance. Suddenly, the speed of the song increased drastically, and Raven really had to move. Her feet stepped on the arrows at lightning speed, and it seemed as if she wasn't even touching the ground. She didn't know it, but the mall had opened a few minutes ago and the P.W.A.E.E (a.k.a the 'people who arrive extra early') had already arrived, and they watched in awe as the shy violet-haired clerk danced like a professional…dancer! Eventually crowds of people piled into the arcade, and Raven was now all too aware of their presence. She felt like just quitting right here and now, but she had finally gotten used to the music's flow, and she would practically die if they all thought she didn't like crowds. The truth was, she didn't like crowds, but if for some weird reason some famous person walked through those doors at that very moment, they could probably get her a real job, and Raven couldn't risk that. Besides, some local popularity wasn't that bad. So, the girl continued to dance, until the song ended. She scored a double A once more, just like four years ago. Covered in a layer of sweat, the exhausted girl walked back to her place behind the counter, and people began to walk up and ask her questions. Questions about her dancing skills, to be more specific. "Where did you learn to do that?" one person asked. Raven shrugged and smiled one of her rare smiles. And from then on, the shy arcade girl was known as the Queen of Dance.