Anything, Anytime, Anywhere, For You
Chapter Forty-Four
"The Day Before"
A/N: When this one is done, only five shall remain. I dedicate this, the sixth to last chapter to my close friend/archnemesis, Darth CHoW. I even went ahead and threw in a bit of your favorite pairing. NOT MUCH! Just a bit. XD And only for drama. If only my brainwashing machine worked, I could turn you to BB/Rae. -shrugs- I guess making a brainwashing machine out of potatoes isn't a good idea...
---- ---- ---- ---- ----
Robin was standing beneath the alter now, looking at the faces of all his friends as he waited for Starfire to come out from the palace. Starfire's father, the King, stood behind him; he would be handling the ceremony himself. Robin looked down the aisle, expecting to see his blushing bride emerging from the palace on Tamaran; instead he saw a man wearing an orange and black mask, and next to him was a second man; this one bore a strong resemblance to a clown.
"Did you really think you'd wind up with a girl as pretty as her?" The Joker asked as he whipped out his pistol and shot Robin in the leg. Robin screamed, and suddenly he realized that all the people around were not his friends; they were his foes. Red X, the Riddler, Kitten, Two-Face, Mad Mod, Ding Dong Daddy; all of his foes were around him at his wedding.
"Oh don't worry Robin, I'll take real good care of her." Red X laughed, and Robin noticed that Starfire was standing right beside him. Then he noticed X's hand looked very comfortable on Starfire's thigh. Then Robin screamed, but a moment later Slade stepped forward and cut his head off with a large broadsword.
With a scream Robin jolted awake, covered in sweat. He looked around, but quickly realized that it was the middle of the night on the day before his wedding day. It had only been a dream brought on by nerves, and perhaps too much of that strange Tamaranian dish he had eaten for dinner.
Whereas Robin's misfortune was in the form of a dream, another of the Teen Titans was facing a very real problem. Cyborg was sitting on a bench in the middle of the hallway, watching danger fast approach from every direction. It wasn't that he couldn't pick between Bumblebee and Jinx – for in fact he already had. He was just mortally afraid of how the loser would take rejection. Both women were very scary when angry.
Then Cyborg spotted a shadow. Someone was approaching him. He groaned, fearing it may be one of the girls. However, when the owner of the shadow stepped into light, he found that it was not one of the girls at all – instead it was Beast Boy.
"What are you doing here?" Cyborg asked him. "Shouldn't you be in bed?"
"No." Beast Boy told him right away. "I'm afraid."
"Of what?" Cyborg asked, amused look present on his face.
"Raven dude. She's mad at me." Beast Boy told him. "If I go back to my room, she'll be able to find me."
"Aside from the fact Raven could probably do the psychic thing and find you anyway, why are you hiding from her in the first place?" Cyborg asked.
Beast Boy sighed and leaned back in his seat. "It's Terra dude. Ever since she saved me from the big ugly alien guys, she's been... different."
"You mean she's been a bit more obvious on her liking you?" Cyborg asked, raising his human eyebrow.
"Cy... no. Terra and I talked two years ago when she first came back... she said she didn't like me anymore." Beast Boy told his mechanical friend.
"Was this before or after she found out you were dating Raven?" Cyborg asked.
"Umm... does it matter?" Beast Boy sighed.
"Hell yes it matters! BB buddy, you know Terra. She's not exactly had a great run with being our friend... if she knew you were dating Raven, of course she'd deny having feelings for you, because she'd be afraid she'd split up the team, again, and we'd hate her." Cyborg attempted to explain in his logical sense.
"But we'd never hate Terra!" Beast Boy announced.
"I know that, you know that; does she?" Cyborg asked sagely.
"Wow... well... it doesn't matter, does it?" Beast Boy asked nervously.
"Well, if Terra likes you as much as you think then yeah, it matters. I mean, this could hurt you and Raven. You know Raven." Cyborg told him.
"Yeah, but... dude, Terra's my friend now. She used to be a lot more, but that's over." Beast Boy said, sounding sure but worried.
"That doesn't mean Terra wants to be 'just friends'. And to be honest, I wouldn't want to be on the bad side of either of those girls. You outta talk to her BB. If not . . ." Cyborg drew a finger across his neck in a dramatic motion.
"You're one to talk. Dude, Jinx, Bumblebee -- what's all that about?"
"Don't hate me 'cause the girls love me." Cyborg grinned.
----
Back on Earth in the middle of a mountain range sits The Brain's castle. It is here that the Brotherhood of Evil has their main base, and it is there that The Brain, Monsieur Mallah, Madam Rouge and General Immortus all sat around a table with five seats. The fifth seat was contained by Slade Wilson, who had a strange metallic device sitting in front of him. He crossed his fingers and looked at the Brotherhood's Leaders with his menacing single-eye.
"This," Slade informed them. "Is Duamathrax's mind manipulation device. With your superior intellect you can reprogram it to work as a mind-control device. Of course, it won't be cheap."
"I. Can. Pay. You. Anything. You. Want. Mister. Wilson." The Brain responded.
"I desire no money." Slade told him flat out. "What I want is simple. I'll give you the power to conquer the world, but in return you must give me access to everything in the Paris Museum."
"That. Is. All. You. Want?" The Brain asked.
"Indeed." Slade informed him, beneath his mask, a dark and sinister smile on his lips.
"Why?" Monsieur Mallah asked, raising a hairy eyebrow.
"Because there are things inside the museum I want." Slade told them. "It's a simple deal."
"There is no such thing." General Immortus announced. "I've been around long enough to know better. You have an angle, and though I do not yet know what it is, I doubt we should agree so easily."
Slade laughed. "Fine. Take your time and investigate my angle, but remember that the Teen Titans are currently on another planet and the Justice League is busy in Gotham, the Joker unleashed some nerve gas yesterday. If you want to blow this chance, be my guest."
The Brain did not like not knowing Slade's angle, but he knew he needed to hurry with this new prize. . .
----
Whereas Robin was nervous and unable to sleep, Starfire was dreaming peacefully in a deep slumber. She was having good dreams of what her life would be like soon, after the wedding. Sadly her dreams were about to be interrupted by her greatest, deepest, darkest fear of all.
As Starfire squirmed beneath her blanket, the door cracked open slowly and someone slipped inside. It was Rose the Ravager, Slade's daughter, of course. Rose looked at the sleeping Starfire and her hand relaxed on the grip of her sword. Her father had ordered them all dead; but if Starfire was stabbed to death with Rose's sword, it would be suspicious.
So Rose had captured something to kill her with. A local animal from Tamaran that could easily kill Starfire without arising suspicion. Rose placed a brown sack on the ground and flipped it open, a long pink snake crawled out -- a enormous shoe-worm.
Rose quickly left the room, shutting the door on her wait out; she expected the shoe-worm to kill Starfire in her sleep, so now she had to go plan the deaths of the others.
----
Raven was in the royal library. Yes, it was the middle of the night, but she prefered the night to the day; and she prefered these books as opposed to her bedroom. If she went up there, Beast Boy might show up, and she couldn't see him now.
Raven felt bad. It was ironic, Beast Boy was hiding from her because he was afraid she was mad, and she was hiding from him for the same reason. The previous day, she had saved the lives of millions -- and risked his own. She had made the right choice, she knew she had. If she had tried to save the person she loved, millions would be dead, and Raven could not do that. She feared he was angry at her, she feared this would give Terra the perfect excuse to come between them.
Raven sighed and looked through the book in front of her, not really seeing the words. That's when someone's voice reached her ear, a familiar, female voice.
"Hey Raven, can we talk?" Terra asked, sitting down across the table from Raven.
"I have a feeling you won't leave even if I say no." Raven responded, not looking up from the page. "So I may as well say yes."
"Here's the thing." Terra said, looking over at Raven with a peculiar look on her face. "When I came back... when Luthor brought me back and tried to use my powers for evil, all I could think about was seeing you guys again. That was it, that was all I wanted... then... look, when I saw you and Beast Boy together, it hurt, but I didn't care because he seemed happy. For two years I've sat back and watched because I thought you would treat him right--"
"I do." Raven cut her off coldly.
"The hell you do! You almost let him die yesterday!" Terra snapped loudly.
"Make no mistake Terra, I love him. He may be weird and annoying, but I love him. I don't, however, love him enough to sacrifice millions of innocent men, women and children for him. It hurts to say this, but our job is unique. We have to make choices and sacrifices for the greater good."
"Letting Beast Boy die is the greater good?" Terra asked in an icy voice.
"Would you honestly save someone important to you if it meant ending millions of innocent lives?" Raven asked, just as cold. "Would you be that selfish and cold?"
"Raven... I just don't see how you could do that. How you could leave him behind and not even try to save him!" Terra yelled at her.
"Why do you think he needs saving? He's a superhero, just like us. He can take care of himself." Raven justified. "Just because you don't have faith enough in him to believe that, doesn't mean I don't."
Terra sighed, then she stood up and ran a hand through her long blonde hair and chewed on the end of it, looking at Raven.
"... When I thought you loved him, I didn't care if you were together. Now that I'm not so sure, I'm going to do everything I can to get him back." Terra informed her harshly.
"Fine." Raven said simply. "But he got over you a long time ago."
Terra turned and walked out of the royal library, muttering something that sounded a lot like "We'll see" as she went. Raven went back to her book. She denied it, but she was secretly worried about Beast Boy's heart. Had she ruined the best thing to ever happen to her?
----
Robin was sitting on the balcony of the castle, looking at the Tamaranian night sky and he sighed deeply. Then a soft female voice shook his attention.
"Hello Robin."
Robin turned around, and he saw Luand'r, the Queen of Tamaran and Starfire's mother. They had never really spoken, except on a couple of occasions, and never alone. Now she was out on this balcony alone with him, and she walked up beside him, leaned on the railing of the balcony, and looked up at the skies.
"My daughter loves you." Luand'r said.
"And I love her." Robin replied.
"I do not doubt that." Luand'r told him. "And that is why I am looking forward to tomorrow."
"As am I."
"You understand that by marrying my daughter, you shall inheritaly be a member of this planet's Royal Family?" Luand'r questioned further.
"I'm just happy to be part of a family again." Robin admitted, having lost his own family a long time ago. Though he had Batman, and the Titans as well were as one great family to him.
Robin was about to explain more, he was about to share his feelings with his soon-to-be mother-in-law, however, a scream pierced the night and Robin whirled around in an instant. He recognized that scream, he knew who had shouted it, and in a flash he ran back into the castle, drawing a bird-a-rang from his belt and shouting his fiance's name.
"Starfire!"
Robin ran down the hall faster than he could remember, and the next thing he knew he was outside her door, and he kicked it in. There he saw Starfire on the bed, a shoe-worm lying inches in front of her. She was shaking from head to toe and frozen in place. The shoe-worm was reared up like a cobra ready to strike.
Robin froze. He knew that one false move could cost Starfire her life. Robin stared at Starfire's green eyes, and he knew he had to act now. He gave her a small nod, and then he threw the bird-a-rang; it cut the Shoe-Worm's head off just as it lunged at her exposed leg. Robin ran to the bedside and looked at Starfire.
"Are you alright?" He asked her at once.
Starfire did not respond, she just threw her arms around him in a tight hug. Unfortunately, at that moment nearly everyone else showed up from hearing the scream. Beast Boy, Cyborg, Bumblebee, Jinx, Raven, Terra and King Myand'r all arrived. That was not the unfortunate part. The unfortunate part was that none of them noticed the dead shoe-worm, all they noticed was a half-naked Starfire hugging Robin a little too tightly, which was the most likely cause of Myand'r's angry scowl.
It wasn't until later, after all of the confusion and jokes calmed down, that it was found out the actual reason for what happened. A shoe-worm had been in her room, which instantly made the King insane because he had, the last time the Titans were here, ordered the entire castle searched for shoe-worms and all of them destroyed. Now he was angry beyond belief.
"How could a shoe-worm get in this castle?" Myand'r demanded.
"I do not know dear." Luand'r answered him.
The entire group was now sitting in the throne room around the King's table. Robin, Terra, Raven, Beast Boy, Rose, Cyborg and a fully-dressed Starfire were now listening to the King go crazy.
"This isn't possible!" Myand'r said loudly, banging his fist on the table.
"Perhaps someone let it in." Rose suggested.
"Who could do such a thing?" The King asked, astonished.
"Well... I did see a man earlier roaming around the castle." Rose confirmed. "He looked... odd."
"What do you mean?" Raven asked.
"He didn't dress like a Tamaranian, and he wasn't big like a Tamaranian either." Rose told her. "He had a weird mask on, too."
"A weird mask?" Beast Boy asked.
"Yeah, I remember it was strange because there was only one eye hole on the mask." Rose informed them, and a mutual groan emitted from several of the Titans.
"What is it?" Luand'r asked.
"Slade." Robin said, curling his fist and banging it on the table.
"How many times have we killed him?" Cyborg asked.
"I lost count." Terra admitted, placing her head in her hands and sighing.
"We have to find him, and stop him." Robin said, standing up. "We'll split up into teams of two to go looking for him. Starfire and I will cover the castle wall, Bumblee, Beast Boy, check upstairs, Raven, Jinx, check this floor, Terra, Rose, check downstairs; Cyborg, you go with the King and Queen to the security room and check the computers."
----
As everyone was searching the castle, Rose and Terra were in the bottom floor checking for some sign of Slade.
"Who is this guy?" Rose asked, though she already knew the answer.
"He's a bastard." Terra said simply. "He ruined my life, more than once."
"You were... his apprentice?" Rose asked. She was standing behind Terra as the two searched the dark room alone.
"Yeah I wa... wait, how did you know that?" Terra asked.
"Because my name is Rose Wilson." Rose informed her. "I'm Slade's daughter, and new apprentice."
Before Terra could even comprehend the words, she felt a sharp pain in the arm and looked down to see Rose pressing a needle in her skin and injecting something. Terra wretched away, but it was too late, her vision was already becoming blurry and she moaned and fainted.
Rose looked down at the blonde's unconcious body, and smirked evily. Everything was going perfectly. Now the Titans were split up and vulnerable, and she had already taken one of them down. The one Rose hated worst of all for betraying her father.
Now she just had to get the rest of them.
---- ---- ---- ---- ----
I realize this was shorter, and it took longer to write, but my beloved grandmother is in the hospital due to super high blood pressure. Those of you who are religious, please pray for her. Her name is Linda.
The next six chapters coming ASAP.