Ok, here are standard disclaimers. I do not own, nor claim to own any rights to the Teen Titans, or any other borrowed characters. I also make no claims towards any original characters I invent for this story.
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Raven stared at her mother, completely dumbfounded.
"You can't be serious." She replied. "I can't be the Head Matriarch, we're returning to Earth."
The elevator doors opened with a chime and Arella stepped off the lift. She turned and with a subtle head gesture she beckoned the 5 Titans to follow her. With a scowl Raven followed her and was joined by the others.
Arella led them to her private office. Her personal assistant was seated at her desk outside of the office's front door and raised an eyebrow when she saw that Arella had company. She rose to her feet.
"Welcome back Mistress Arella and Mistress Raven. We are all very relieved that neither of you were injured in the terrorist attack and that …"
Arella raised her hand to silence the woman.
"Thank you Xola, we are all in perfect health." She interrupted as she entered her office, followed by the Titans. "I don't want to be interrupted … by anyone."
"Yes Mistress, I will see to it that no one interrupts you." She replied as she closed the office door.
Once they had their privacy Raven snarled at her mother.
"I don't want to be the head Matriarch; in fact I don't want be a Matriarch at all! I just came here to introduce you to Gar. And what did I get for my trouble! You forced us into an early marriage …"
"Which you seem to be enjoying thoroughly, my lustful daughter."
Raven's face became red with anger.
"I DON"T WANT TO BE HEAD MATRIARCH!"
"You don't have in choice in the matter …"
"Yes! I know!" Raven huffed in an exasperated voice."If elected you have to serve. But why me? It's only a ceremonial position anyway."
Arella paced around the room, in a slow, deliberate pace.
"You're right; it is a ceremonial position, like the assembly and the Mayor's office. Everything is decided by the council through a vote."
"So why me?"
Arella sighed.
"The natives are getting restless Raven."
"And what's that supposed to mean?"
"They're demanding reforms, democratic reforms."
"Well, then give them the reforms."
"Are you insane? They want the assembly to have the same weight as the council!"
"So?"
"What do you think this is Raven? The United States? We wouldn't be able to buy out the assembly the way American plutocrats bribe their politicians. We would actually have to share our rule with the rabble."
Raven became indignant at her mother's comment.
"That 'rabble' is the people of Azarath, in case you have forgotten mother!"
"Yes Raven, we know that you care for them. And they love you, polls show that even the husbands adore you, not that their opinion counts."
Raven heaved a weary sigh.
"You just want to use me. It's the only thing you want from me … I never should have returned to Azarath."
Raven took Beast Boy's hand. The feeling of loathing she was feeling was boiling over and if she stayed even a moment longer she knew that she might do something she would later regret.
"Let's go Titans." She moaned in a clearly frustrated voice.
"And where are you going?" Arella harrumphed.
"We're going to our apartment. Or do I need the Council's permission to do that as well?"
Arella shook her head.
"The council is meeting tomorrow morning at 10 for the vote. I'll come to collect you at 9:30."
Arella paused.
"And no guests, they can watch from here on video stream."
Raven stomped out of the office, still holding her husband's hand while the other 3 Titans followed.
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Terra flew away from Azarath as fast as she could will her boulder to fly. She looked down uneasily at the bottomless void below, which was shrouded in an unnatural mist. The massive ledge where terra firma awaited felt distant and once she was flying over it she heaved a sigh of relief. She glanced over her shoulder to see if anyone was pursuing her and she was gratified to see that the lone, distracted border guard at the bridge did not even see her.
She flew to the rendezvous point and hid herself amongst the boulders, waiting for Herald to arrive, unaware that his parents had been rescued and he would not be returning.
She checked her chronometer (Slade was a stickler for precision) and saw that the next rendezvous would be in just 7 minutes.
"Perfect timing." She muttered sotto voce.
While she waited Terra pondered what had happened. To say that she felt frustrated was an understatement. How was it possible that he had chosen the witch? She remembered how Raven always treated him like dirt from her own days as a Titan. How could she have trapped him? He even … married her, but how, and why?
Terra grimaced as the mental image of her beloved in intimate embrace with the witch formed in her mind.
"That should be me! He should be sleeping in my bed and not hers." She muttered bitterly. "If only I had kissed him on that Ferris wheel, we could have run away, he would have been mine, my lover, my mate … my husband."
Terra's train of thought was interrupted as a portal began open just a few yards from where she was sitting. She hopped to her feet and approached the growing black maelstrom. As soon as it stopped growing a figure emerged.
"On time as I req …" Terra stopped mid sentence.
She stared bug eyed at the person who emerged from the portal.
"Slade?"
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Raven collapsed onto one of the couches in her apartment, while Beast Boy sat down next to her. She cradled her head in her hands while rubbing your temples.
"Are you OK Raven?" Robin asked.
"What do you think?" She replied morosely. "In just three short days we were forced to get married, Terra almost murdered Gar, and now I'm being shanghaied into becoming the Head Matriarch because they think that I'll be able to pacify the masses."
"Rae, you mean … you're not … happy that we're official?"
She looked at her mate and caressed his cheek with the back side of her hand.
"I am ... I just wish it could have been on our own terms … and back at home with a proper ceremony and not that abomination that humiliated you."
Starfire looked perplexed.
"I do not understand Raven, how was our friend Beast Boy humiliated?"
Raven recounted the lopsided ceremony to her teammates.
"Yeah, that does kind of blow." Cyborg agreed.
"Then we shall do the correcting of the humiliation." Starfire added.
Raven looked perplexed.
"Really? How?"
Starfire giggled.
"Have you forgotten friend? I am a Princess of Tamaran. Like my sister I can conduct wedding ceremonies."
"Awright!" Cyborg cheered. "But don't we need some fixings to celebrate? I mean we can't have a wedding party without champagne and food!"
"We aren't 21 yet." Robin reminded his team.
"The drinking age on Azarath is 18." Raven corrected him as she picked up a phone and dialed up the Tower kitchen.
"They'll have some food and drinks here in 20 minutes."
"What about Terra?" Robin asked.
"She isn't invited to the party." Beast Boy replied.
"Very funny Beast Boy." The Boy Wonder moaned.
Raven was at a console and began to type some search commands.
"According to the latest report she escaped from Azarath. She dug a tunnel and escaped through the bottom of the city. The tunnel has been plugged up and magical shielding has been added to prevent her re-entry. We won't have to worry about her ... at least for now."
"Glorious!" Starfire announced. "We shall begin the ceremony now."
"How long will this take Starfire?" Raven asked with a hint of concern in her voice.
"The ceremony is very simple. It begins with the Ode to Marriage, which is short."
"Define 'short'" Raven demanded.
"It is a mere 348 verses."
The other 4 Titans moaned in response. Starfire tapped her fingers together.
"Perhaps I could recite only the first 10 verses?"
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"Well, 'Partner', it seems that I have tracked you down. I suspected you would be here."
Terra huffed at her former mentor.
"Why can't you mind your own business Slade?"
"Because your business affects my business, our business Terra. Or have you forgotten that we have a business empire back at Jump City?"
Terra narrowed her eyes.
"You can keep it!"
Slade chuckled.
"Your kingdom for a green boy Terra? You can forget about him child, he married Raven and Azarathian marriages are undissolvable. He can't divorce Raven or even cheat on her, not unless he wishes to die a painful death."
"I could protect him." She protested.
"Not from the curse you can't."
Terra frowned at Slade.
"So what do you expect me to do? Just walk away and let Raven win? And this is all your fault Slade, if you hadn't interfered at the amusement park he would be mine now and we would have defeated the others. What do you have to say about that?"
The one eyed villain crossed his arms in a cocky and self confident stance.
"I'd say you are correct Terra."
"It's about time!" Terra sneered at him.
"And as for what I expect you to do … I expect you to let me help you."
"Help me?" She responded skeptically.
"Yes Terra, to help you destroy the Titans."
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The alarm clock screamed it morning wake up call, its loud bell clattering like a runaway train, slicing through the tranquility of the master suite like a hot knife through butter. At first the neither of the two figures sleeping in the octagonal shaped bed even stirred, while the bell rang louder and louder until the changeling covered his ears while he whimpered. Finally a gray arm reached over and mercifully silenced the time piece.
"Oh my head! I'm dying Rae! What's wrong with me?"
Raven sat up in the bed and rubbed her own head with her hand.
"I believe it's called a hangover Gar."
"Can you make it go away?" He pleaded.
Raven leaned over him, placing her hands on his head as the blue light appeared. He continued to whimper and moan pathetically. She stopped after a minute.
"That's the best I can do Gar. You shouldn't have got so carried away last night. You drank way too much champagne."
His face still planted in the pillow he replied in a muffled voice.
"Cy, Robin and Star drank more than I did."
Raven hopped out of the bed, still disrobed and stretched, while her husband watched clandestinely with a grin on his face. That was one sight he would never grow tired of. His gray goddess was the epitome of feminine perfection, or as he would say: she was hot!
BB, you are one lucky bastard. He told himself as Raven made her way to bathroom, to prepare herself for the Council meeting. As soon as he heard the shower start he got up, ignoring his still aching head. He was certain that she would need him to scrub her back.
And he would never think once of ignoring her needs.
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For once Raven decided to wear Matriarchal white, but instead of wearing a dress she stuck with her leotard and cape. She flew to the Hall of Matriarchs under her own power. She refused a protective escort, even though her mother's security chief was adamant that she not travel alone. Raven blew her off and took to the sky while her mother boarded her armored air limousine.
The gray sorceress flew as fast as she could, leaving her mother and her entourage behind. The truth was that she had no desire to be associated with her mother, or any of the Matriarchs for that matter. As she zoomed across town she saw people wave at her, ordinary Azarathian women who were on their way to their way to their middle class jobs. She waved back at them while she pondered the enormous responsibility she carried on her shoulders. They were her people and they were counting on her. If only they understood how little authority she would have as Head Matriarch. Hers would be a bully pulpit at best, assuming she was even elected, which she hoped would not come to pass.
Raven landed in front of the street level entrance to the Hall of Matriarchs, which was locked as the Matriarchs always arrived in their flying cars, landing on the rooftop. Raven phased through the locked glass doors and was greeted by several guards, who trained their energy weapons on her. Before they could recognize her she seized their plasma rifles with her obsidian light and crushed them.
She marched past the astonished guards, who began to apologize to her once they did recognize her. Ignoring them she made her way to the great hall. She had visited the great hall as a child when her mother brought her to the council meetings when she was a child.
The great hall looked like a small arena. Each matriarchal house had a small box, like those found in an opera house. Raven recalled that the House of Roth's box was on the middle level. As she entered she saw dozens of Matriarchs milling about, talking and socializing before the meeting was to begin.
"Raven! So you did take him as your first!"
Raven saw that it was her old acquaintance Nara, who she had met in the street the day that she returned to Azarath.
"I took him as my one and only." She replied.
Nara giggled.
"Oh Raven! You can't be a mono! We're going to elect you as head Matriarch!"
Raven glared at the young woman. Nara's mother had died during Terra's attack, yet she seemed completely unfazed.
"Watch me." She replied curtly as she headed off to her seat without excusing herself. Nara watched her walk away with a bemused expression as she was joined by another young Matriarch.
"Your friend sure is strange, and she's also a mono."
"No one's perfect." Nara replied with a cunning grin. "But she'll do just fine. The masses love that she's a mono. It will be the perfect distraction."
Raven took her seat and was soon joined by her mother. Within a few minutes a woman stepped up to the podium in the center of the hall and loudly banged a large gavel on the podium. Raven recognized her as the late Xanathia's oldest daughter, a woman of about Arella's age.
"We have a quorum!" The woman shouted. "The first order of business is to elect a new Head Matriarch. Are there any nominations?"
Several women shouted 'Raven of the House of Roth'.
"Are there any others?" She shouted.
"Nara of the House of Rakan" Raven shouted.
"Any others?" The woman shouted. "There are no more. Let the voting begin. All in favor if Nara of Rakan?"
A handful of 'ayes' echoed throughout the hall.
"All in favor of Raven of Roth?"
The hall thundered in a chorus of 'ayes'. The chairwoman banged her gavel.
"Raven of the House of Roth is elected."
The hall broke into thunderous applause while Raven crossed her arms and frowned. Once the applause died down the chairwoman banged her gavel again.
"Congratulations Raven. We will now proceed to the next order of business: The bailout of the House of Roth. Arella your house owes 7.685 billion credits to the other houses. It is proposed that these debts be covered by the public treasury …"
"Excuse me!" Raven stood up and shouted. "How exactly is the treasury supposed to cover that many credits?"
Another Matriarch, who Raven recognized as the Finance Minster stood up.
"3 billion will be covered by increased taxation …"
"You mean on the working class?" Raven snarled into her microphone.
The Finance Minister laughed.
"Who else would we tax? And the rest will come out of budget cuts to education, public health and public relief."
Raven's eyes glowed red.
"You're going to cut education? In Azarath of all places? And what are the unemployed supposed to do? Isn't the unemployment rate at 17%?"
"That is correct Head Mistress. The schools and libraries will have to make do with a 50% budget cut, as for what the unemployed will do; we expect that will leave Azarath."
Raven was livid.
"I will veto this Bill if it's passed." She threatened.
"We will need an accurate ballot count for this bill." The chairwoman announced. "You may use the voting consoles in your booths now."
Raven reached for her console and pressed the button labeled "Nay" while Arella pressed the "Aye" button on her own console. Several seconds elapsed while the other Matriarchs cast their vote.
"The vote is complete. The Bill passed with 97% voting aye. I am sorry Head Mistress, but the vote is veto proof and has passed."
A feeling of utter disgust flooded Ravens senses. The Matriarchs were going to stick Azarathian families with the bill, the huge bill, for their financial mistakes. And at the moment there was absolutely nothing she could do about it. It frustrated her to no end. She had no problem fighting and defeating villains, but the Matriarchs were operating within the laws of Azarath. If she were to defy them … she would become the outlaw.
Raven turned and stormed out of the hall.
"If they think I'm going to be their lapdog … they picked a fight with the wrong woman!" She muttered under her breath.
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And we are back! Sorry for the delay!
And now, a much delayed mail bag!
Stella de Oro - "Loving the story so far! Keep up the good work and can't wait for more. This is easily one of my favorite in-progress stories right now. Of course, I just discovered it yesterday and I've read the entire thing between yesterday and today. I did read most of the original a long time ago, but I am liking this version better, based on what I remember of the old version."
Thanks! I think that this story is more interesting and the writing a little better than the original.
Blanc Corbeau - "Hey!
the first story of tough times in jump city was one of the first i have ever read on this site, so it's a good surprise to see that it's being re-written.
I really like your writing, and this story is simply wonderful.
the reaction of the characters to certain things are well described, yet i believe the story is straight and very forward.
the plot is engaging, but what some characters are thinking could be explained a little bit longer.
Anyhow, if I was Terra, i would just go on Earth on a rempaging spree!
just kidding! ...maybe."
Thanks! I will take your suggestion to heart.
Jack b - "I have to say I'm puzzled as well, while the gift is a great story I would have thought that this one at least rivals it's quality, if not more. And raven must be getting very annoyed at her mother by now :)"
Yeah, I made Arella into an even bigger jerk than in the original story!
Hairul The Nightrage Beast - "From my POV once Raven is Head Matriarch, with the pwoers vested on her, she will scrap the backward Matriarchal and also Polygamous system to that of Monos and the Matriarchs will be so be out of business. And yeah it takes 2 to play the cunning game with Terra and the Titans sure will whacked the snot outta Terra if she went All Guns Blazing.
P.S. I'm looking forward to the next chapter and don't abandon this fic like the other fics, one thing that pisses me off is that when writers do their fics hanging in the mid with no ending to the story meh. It's one of my pet peeves."
I will finish this story before writing the alternate ending to The Gift!
GreenRock - "Well, Slade will definitely not approve of Terra suddenly abandoning him to go gallivanting off on her own agenda; maybe repercussions are on the cards for Terra.
Who knows what other diabolical methods Terra will resort to to get BB; she just can't seem to get the message."
Slade always has something up his heavily armored sleeve!
FelynxTiger - "There should be a book by Slade call 'how to be a villain and create great plans for Dummies' lol
looks like being an apprentice wasn't a total waste
I'm glad that the other titans respect Raven's decision , the family bounding is to sweet
.chapter"
I thought I saw that book at Barnes and Noble!
AkumaKami64 - "No offense, but somehow, what Arella is doing isn't all that surprising at this point. And I'm enjoying the Azarathians react to Robin being the leader of the team and everything else. Ohh, as for why this is unpopular compared to Gift, I'd guess the summary."
I will update the summary! Thanks!
Densharr - "Hey, you restarted this story! Awesome. It was one of the earlier TT stories that I read, and part of the reason that I like BBRae so much.
...slaps forehead. Of COURSE Rae got nominated to be Head Matriarch. I nearly laughed when the guard thought that Robin was Raven's... Master. I can just imagine the comical eye-popping.
Can't wait for the next chapter!"
Sorry to keep you waiting!
titanfan45 - "Raven as head Matriarch, that would be most interesting. Although you aren't getting the interest in this story that you'd like, I'm glad you are having fun with it as it is a very well written and intetresting story."
After writing The Gift I can only hope this story measures up.