(A/N: I'm sorry it took so long to update. I hope you enjoy this chapter. I think this is the second to last chapter. R&R Please, every review is valued. Thanks!)
Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans
Chapter 6: While People Partied
Raven sat cross-legged in the air, eyes closed, hands on her knees, palms facing upwards, bobbing up and down every few inches in the corner of Beast Boy's room. She seemed to be meditating but in reality it was unnecessary; She had gained control over her powers after she defeated her father. However, for her own purposes, she kept her new ability a secret. It was only for appearances' sake that she continued to meditate.
On the other side of the room, Beast Boy sat in a chair staring at the ceiling with unfocused eyes. In his peripheral vision he could see the empath floating in the far corner, silently meditating. He turned his head slightly until he was staring straight at the gray titan. The chair groaned slightly under the shifting weight, and Beast Boy watched as Raven cracked one eye open. Around him, the walls of his room pulsated slightly in time with the faint music coming from the party.
Raven opened her other eye, glanced towards her friend, and waited for him to break the heavy silence. Beast Boy watched her lazily, not uttering a single word. He knew she wanted him to speak first and he refused to do what she wanted. They sat in silent competition for a few minutes before Raven decided to back down. With a resigned sigh she sank slowly to the floor and then stood up and walked over to Beast Boy's chair. Beast Boy observed this indifferently and Raven heaved another sigh before speaking.
"Beast Boy." The green shape shifter continued to stare at Raven. He made no motion to indicate he'd heard her. "Beast Boy!" Raven tried again, this time a little louder. The other titan still didn't respond. "BEAST BOY!" The empath repeated, very loudly. Beast Boy was silent. Impatient and growing angry, Raven closed her eyes and gave a small flick with her hand. Obsidian tendrils of magic engulfed the chair Beast Boy sat on. With and upward gesture, Raven levitated the chair then proceeded to flip it over, dumping Beast Boy to the floor.
"Beast Boy, We need to talk." Raven stated kneeling down to the floor. Beast Boy didn't look at her as he stood up and sat back down in the chair. Groaning inwardly, Raven flipped the chair over and Beast Boy landed on the floor in a pile. Once again, Beast boy stood up, righted the chair and threw himself onto it. Raven nearly screamed with frustration as she used her powers to knock over the chair. This is getting redundant . . . Raven thought, watching Beast Boy tumble to the ground for the third time. Beast Boy merely brushed himself off and reached for the chair again. "Enough!" Raven spat, waving her hand, and sending the chair to her room. At this, Beast Boy could not remain silent.
"Raven!" he whined angrily. "That was my best chair!" If she had been anybody else, Raven would have screamed in frustration. . .
Speedy watched Robin dragged Starfire away as Cyborg began his countdown. Strange . . . he thought. Beside him, a petite blond girl was stamping her foot and huffing angrily. Her heavily made-up face was screwed up into a tight angry grimace. Around the two teens, people had begun to cheer and yell for the new year. The blond girl began yelling too, but for an entirely different reason.
"What a jerk! Nobody does that to me and gets away with it!" she cried and shook her head furiously. "I'll make him pay." Speedy looked over at the girl, instantly disliking her. Suddenly, as if she sensed him scrutinizing her, the girl looked up and glared at Speedy. "And like, just what do you think you're doing?" she hissed, music starting up in the background.
"I thought it was pretty obvious I was staring at you." Speedy smirked.
"Well then take a picture. It'll last longer." The girl narrowed her eyes at Speedy.
"Original." Speedy said wryly, sarcasm ebbing slightly into his voice. "But I'd rather not."
"Then don't" she snarled and stalked away in the direction Robin had gone. Speedy watched her go, not at all sorry to see her walk away.
"Nice girl." A voice said, sarcastically from behind him. Speedy grinned.
"Almost as nice as your leader."
"Robin? Man, I know he can be intense but not like your little girlfriend," Cyborg joked half-heartedly. Speedy cocked an eyebrow.
"Girlfriend?"
"That 'nice' girl, man." The teen archer smiled slightly.
"She's not my girlfriend," he said, lightly. Cyborg gave a small chuckle.
"Yo, no offense, but dude, you sound just like Robin." Speedy's eye twitched slightly and Cyborg began to laugh harder. Coincidentally, a girl chose to dance past the two titans at that very moment.
"Hey Robin, I like the new look!" she cried before disappearing. At this, Cyborg collapsed, convulsing with laughter and Speedy's eyes narrowed.
"It's Speedy, and this 'look' is all mine!" he hissed under his breath. As an afterthought he added, "Especially the hair!" On the floor, Cyborg began to cry tears of mirth. . .
Beast Boy really didn't feel like talking and he wasn't always one to hide how he was feeling, so he glared at Raven. "Raven," he whined, "I don't want to talk. I just-" Raven fixed him with a cold stare and immediately the smallest titan shut up. However, Beast Boy could never stay quiet for long. "I'm serious, Raven. I won't talk." Raven merely smirked at the boy.
"Funny Beast Boy, I can still hear your voice." She watched Beast Boy's eyes widen as the full impact of her words dawned on him. Immediately, his hands flew to his mouth in an effort to restrain himself from talking. Raven smiled inwardly as she watched Beast Boy's facial expressions change with each thought that passed through his empty head. She almost laughed as Beast Boy continued his inner struggle; half of him wanting to talk, the other half refusing to give in to Raven. She watched as his face turned an odd shade of purple as he held his breath, trying to stay silent. Sighing, Raven said, "Beast Boy . . . Not talking isn't the same as Not breathing."
At her words, Beast Boy let out a huge breath. At the same time, words came tumbling out of his mouth in a rush. "But Raaaaaven!" Beast Boy whined,
"Idon'twanttotalkanymorebecauseIknowallyourgoingtosayisyoucantdothisandyoucan'tdothatandI'msickandtiredofhearingitraven" he said in one long breath. Raven blinked in surprise then shook her head.
"Not this again, Beast Boy." She groaned in her monotone.
"See! I TOLD YOU SO!" Beast Boy was frustrated again. "I knew that's what you were going to say! That's what you always say, Raven!"
"Oh Really?"
"Yes! Every time!" Beast Boy's eyes widened. "AH RAVEN! I saw this in a movie once! This girl was being controlled by Evil Robots!"
"Oh Really?"
"Duuuude, all she could do after the evil robots took over was say the same thing over and over!" The emerald titan's eyes grew larger.
"Oh Really?" Beast Boy looked at Raven in shock.
"Oh no! It's happening!" Beast Boy backed away from Raven and began talking to himself. "Raven's being controlled by Evil Robots. Think, Beast Boy, think! How did that movie end? Come on, Beast Boy, think!" Beast Boy muttered to himself as he backed away from Raven. Suddenly he grabbed his head. "Gah! Too Much THINKING!"
"Oh Really?" Raven just couldn't resist.
"Now I Remember!" Beast Boy exclaimed, letting go of his head. "I never finished watching the movie . . ." he trailed off.
"Oh Really?" Raven struggled hard to contain her laughter. Beast Boy gaped in terror, his face was so comical that Raven couldn't control her self. She burst out laughing. Beast Boy stared at her and screamed with fright.
"Raven you're laughing! And nothing's exploding! But you don't laugh. . . that means. . . YOU'RE AN EVIL ROBOT RAVEN!"
"Beast Boy, calm down, I'm not a Robot."
"A likely excuse! That's probably what you'd say if you were a Robot!" Raven stopped, Beast Boy had a good point. Beast Boy continued. "And you were laughing! Raven 'doesn't do' laughter!" the green titan imitated Raven.
"Beast Boy, shut up." the gray titan used her powers to cover Beast Boy's mouth. This isn't good, she thought and let go of her fellow titan. If Beast Boy realizes I messed up . . . She watched as the wheels in Beast Boy's empty head began to turn and realization spread across his face. Too late, the empath thought.
"You are Raven. . . but then that means . . . you were laughing and nothing exploded . . . nothing exploded . . ." Beast Boy grew silent. A moment later, he stepped towards Raven beginning to get mad. "How long?" he asked in a low growl.
"Beast Boy, I-" Raven tried to explain but Beast Boy cut her off.
"How long, Raven?" He demanded, huffing angrily. "How long have you been able to control your powers?"
"After we defeated my father and saved the world." Raven said quietly, pulling her hood over her head.
"Then this entire time you've . . .All this time I've . . ." Beast Boy couldn't finish his sentence and Raven looked away, ashamed.
"Beast Boy . . ." she said gently, though unable to look him in the eyes. "Listen, I di-"
"Save it, Raven." Beast Boy interrupted, "I don't want to hear anymore of your lies." He turned and walked towards the door. Before walking out, he cast his fellow titan one last baleful look then left his room . . .
Starfire pushed her way through the crowds in order to find Robin, it seemed like she'd been doing that a lot lately but she didn't care. Up ahead, she could make out Robin's extremely spiked hair. In front of her, Robin walked slowly towards the main door, blushing bright red and breathing heavily to calm himself down. He felt like a fool just walking away from Starfire after he kissed her. She's probably really confused. . . Oh crap what have I done. . . Robin lifted a hand to his head in an exasperated manner. Why the hell did I listen to Cyborg? WHY? She probably hates me. . . Every possible worst case scenario flashed through Robin's head; Starfire hating him, Starfire being really confused and then hating him, Starfire blasting out his brains with a starbolt because she hated him so much. Robin stopped walking and hung his head. What if she hates me because I walked away . . . I should go back and explain . . . No, but then I'll look like and idiot! . . . No, No, I'll do it. . . I'll just go back and explain. . . even though there's not a whole lot that needs to be explained . . . Robin thought and he stood up straight. He spun around towards the direction from he had just come from and came face to face with a certain, red-headed Tameranian alien.
"St-Starfire!" Robin spluttered. "I can explain." Starfire brought up a hand and gently covered Robin's mouth.
"I believe on your planet it is customary to engage in the festivities at a party." Starfire said removing her hand from Robin's mouth.
"Uh. . . festivities?" Robin fidgeted. Starfire giggled then she leaned in and kissed Robin gently on the lips. Robin watched, completely stunned as Starfire drew away. She laughed pleasantly at his agape expression.
"Would you like to partake in the dancing, friend Robin?" she reached for his hand. It fit perfectly in her own. The boy wonder grinned and turned the tables on the Tameranian.
"Let's go," he said, and holding Starfire's hand in his own, he led her further into the crowd of dancing people. . .
As soon as Beast Boy entered the main room, his senses were immediately bombarded by flashing lights, loud music, and an extremely energetic atmosphere that was the exact opposite of Beast Boy's recent angsty moods. Scowling slightly, the normally exuberant titan made his way over to the turntables in the corner of the room in search of Cyborg. At a time like this only Cyborg would know what to do.
"Hey, Cy!" Beast Boy called out as he stepped around the last few people and walked over to the turntables. A figure standing at the turntables turned in Beast Boy's direction.
"Sorry to disappoint you, chump, but I'm not Cyborg." A sassy and somewhat sarcastic voice said as Beast Boy finally saw who the figure was.
"Jinx." Beast Boy breathed.
"The one and only," Jinx quipped. Beast Boy sighed.
"Where's Cyborg?"
"Sorry, don't know, can't help."
"Fine." Slowly Beast Boy turned to leave and Jinx felt almost sorry for the poor titan. Normally, it went against her policies to help people, she was definitely more of a bad-girl type. However, she had promised Cyborg that she would try to get along with everyone for the night, and Beast Boy really looked like he could use some help. Jinx sighed.
"Wait. I don't know where the big guy went after he said I could use the 'tables' . . . but maybe I can . . ." She trailed off and Beast Boy looked at her quizzically.
"What?" Jinx tried again.
"Maybe I can. . ."
"Yeah. . ." Beast Boy prompted.
"Maybe I can . . . help." She spat through gritted teeth. Beast Boy stared at her incredulously. Then he grinned.
"Dude! Ok!" He said and followed her out of the main room and out of the tower. . .
"So that's about it." Beast Boy finished his story and sat quietly with Jinx on the rocky shores outside of Titan's tower. He turned to look at the pink haired witch and was greeted by the most astonishing (and insulting) scene. Jinx lay curled up on the rock beside him, fast asleep.
"Duuuuddeeeee!" Beastboy uttered his customary whine. "That's so not cool!" A few seconds later, Jinx was rudely awakened from a pleasant dream in which she had been brutally kicking Raven's ass and found herself on a rock, soaking wet, sitting next to a sullen Beastboy who would not stop berating her for falling asleep in the middle of his oh-so-important tragic tale of woe. With a quick snap of her fingers, Jinx found herself dry as Beast boy found himself flailing in the water.
"Sorry." Jinx smirked, not sounding sorry at all. Beast boy just glared at her as he pulled himself out of the water. Suddenly, with a twinge of regret, Jinx remembered what Cyborg had said to her earlier about trying to get along. With a snap of her fingers, she dried Beast Boy off and then looked up at the starry sky. "I don't see what the big deal is." She said when she looked back at Beast Boy, who incidentally was still glaring.
"What!" Beast Boy exclaimed. "How can you not see what the big deal is? You just dropped me in the ocean! The very cold and wet ocean!" Jinx grinned.
"Not that. The thing with you and that sorceress. Why does it matter if she doesn't want to go out with you? You guys are still friends and you still like each other." Beast Boy remained silent and Jinx continued. "Plus, you see each other all the time, it's not like . . ."
"like you and Cyborg?" Beast boy asked tentatively and Jinx laughed.
"Me and the big guy? Are you kidding, he's like my brother just like Mammoth and Gizmo." Beast Boy stared.
"Huh? Wha? But I always thought that you . . . and him . . . cause of that time . . . and . . . Gah! I'm confused!"
"Careful, think too hard and your brain might just explode." Jinx laughed as she turned and walked back up to the tower.
"HEY!" Beast Boy called. "Where are you going?"
"Back to the party!" Jinx called back before disappearing into the tower. Beast Boy stared thoughtfully up at the tower.
"Wait for me!" he shouted after a moment, and ran up the path after Jinx.