Chapter 3 - The Mall
Raven awoke in a not so good mood the next morning. But, she got dressed and went to the kitchen to make her morning batch of herbal tea.
Beast Boy awoke and quickly dressed. He was excited about helping Raven figure out the new prophecy, yet he was worried at the same time. After what Rage attempted to do to her, he never wanted to let her go back to Nevermore again. Well, at least, not without him. He sighed and headed for the kitchen.
(Ops. Room)
Raven sat at the table sipping her tea. She heard the hydraulic door open and looked up. Beast Boy walked in and scanned the room.
"Morning, Rae!" He said as soon as he spotted her.
"Morning," she greeted with a forced smile.
He raised an eyebrow. "You seem happy." He said, then walked over to the fridge.
"Yeah," She somewhat agreed.
"So, what are you planning to do today, Rae?" he asked, then stuffed some tofu in his mouth.
"I know I've been nice to you lately, Beast Boy," she started. His ears perked up. "But I'd like it better if you'd call me Raven."
He swallowed, "Oh, sorry."
Once again, the hydraulic door slid open. Beast Boy and Raven both glanced up.
"Morning, guys." Robin said as he entered the room.
"Good morning, friends!" Starfire greeted as she entered behind Robin. "What shall we do today?"
No one answered.
Just then Cyborg walked in. "Were gonna take my baby for a ride ya'll!" He said throwing his arms in the air. He glanced over at Robin, who wasn't to happy about this. "Oh, come on, Robin! Can't we skip training today? My baby hasn't been out in a long time." Cyborg pleaded.
"Well," Robin started, " I guess we can wait and train when we get back."
"BOOYAH!" Cyborg yelled. "Meet yeh all in the car!" Then he darted out of the room.
"Well somebody's a little too excited this morning," Raven grumbled, obviously back to her normal self.
"Come on, Titans. Cyborg's right." Robin said walking towards the hydraulic door. "We do need a break."
The three Titans responded by following Robin to the Hanger.
(During the car ride ...)
"Okay, Okay. I got a good one." Beast Boy started. "Why did the— "
"Cyborg! Hit the brake of stop!" Starfire squealed, interrupting Beast Boy, which was a good thing.
The T-car skidded to a stop.
"What is it, Star?" Cyborg asked.
"It is the Mall of Shopping!" she said pointing out her window. "May we, please, go there?" She asked, bouncing up and down in her seat excitedly.
Cyborg looked to Robin for approval. Robin nodded and Cyborg pulled the T-car into the mall's parking lot. It wasn't hard to find an empty space to park, for the Titans had chosen to go out on a weekday. So, most people were attending work at the time.
"Which stores of purchasing do you all wish to attend?" Starfire asked as they entered. She turned around to face her friends, then waited for someone to answer.
The Titans scanned the stores behind her, looking for something of their amusement.
"Video games!" Beast Boy yelped and darted off towards Game Stop. Cyborg quickly followed.
After watching her two friends run off, Starfire turned back to Robin and Raven. "Where do you two wish to go?"
"Back to the Tower." Raven muttered under her breath. She looked up at Starfire, whom was waiting for a reply. She was about tell Starfire that she didn't care, but a store in the distance caught her eye. "I didn't know they had a Borders in here." She said walking off towards the store.
Starfire sighed. "Robin, where do you wish to go?" She asked, her voice seeming not as excited as it did before. Robin hesitated to answer. He smiled and took Starfire's hand in his. "Wherever you want to go, Star." He said starting to lead her down through the mall. Starfire blushed and allowed him to give her a tour of all the stores she could to go into.
(Mall's Food Court)
"Hey, Raven." Robin greeted as he and Starfire approached the pale girl. She was quietly sitting at a table for five, reading a new book she had just bought.
She looked up to see the two approaching her, each carrying bright pink bags. "Wow, Robin, never would have guessed you shopped at Victoria's Secret." Raven teased.
"They're not from Victoria's Secret." He scowled. "Plus they're Star's. I'm just carrying them for her."
"Well, aren't you a gentleman." She taunted.
Starfire giggled at her feuding friends. Then quietly sat down next to Raven. Robin tried to ignore Raven's insulting comments and sat down next to Starfire. Raven, in knowing she had won for now, turned her attention back to her book.
"Where are Beast Boy and Cyborg?" Starfire asked to break the short silence between the three.
"Over there." Raven replied, motioning towards the line in front of Burger King, all the while, keeping her eyes locked on her book. Robin and Starfire looked that way, only to find the two boys bickering with one another.
"I'm not eating food from here!" Beast Boy stammered. "It's all made of meat!"
"Maybe that's why they call it BURGER King." Cyborg said, keeping his cool, but about ready to clobber his friend for being so whinny and annoying.
"Well then," Beast Boy said, starting to calm down, "Where are all the vegetarian restaurants?"
But that was the last straw for Cyborg. "There aren't any!"
"What?"
"You heard me." Cyborg said, turning away from his friend.
"Fine. Then I won't eat at all." Beast Boy said, turning away from him as well. He placed his arms across his chest and stuck his nose into the air. "I'll just starve." He mumbled.
Cyborg sighed in relief and turned to the cashier, for it was his turn to order.
"Hi." He greeted her with a smile.
"What can I get yeh?"
Her hazelnut brown hair was pulled back and a few short pieces were hanging in her face. She had dark green eyes and tan skin. Cyborg glanced down at her name tag. It read: "Tara"
It was not the "Terra" he once befriended. But just seeing her name, even if it wasn't spelled the same, brought back memories of her.
"Umm ... hello?" Tara asked trying to get back his attention.
"Oh, uh, yeah. Sorry." He said, glancing up at the menu. "I'd like four number ones, two number threes, three number sevens, a large fry, and a large Coke." He paused and scanned the menu one last time. "Oh, and one of those Hershey Sundae Pies."
Tara stood there astonished. "Umm ... right." She pushed a few buttons on the cash register. "Is that it?" she asked nervously.
"Heh, yeah." Cyborg answered, rubbing the back of his neck. "Yeh sure yeh don't want anything, BB?" He said, turning to his green friend.
Beast Boy groaned in disgust and starting walking back to their table.
"Uh, yeah, that's it." Cyborg said, turning back to Tara.
(Back at the table ...)
Robin, Raven, and Starfire each glanced up as Beast Boy approached. He sat down in the empty chair next to Raven. His arms were still folded across his chest as he slouched down in his chair. He just watched the people walking by, occasionally he just starred at the floor. In all, he was avoiding eye contact with the other Titans. Yes, he was throwing a little hissy-fit. But he couldn't just all the sudden perk up. That would be ... weird.
"Something wrong, Beast Boy?" Robin asked.
At first, Beast Boy acted as if he hadn't even heard him, but then, as if annoyed, he looked up at Robin. And very seriously, I might add.
"Meat."He grumbled.
Just then, a tray piled high with food slammed down on the table. Which happened to make everyone jump.
"Are you still throwing a hissy-fit over that?" Cyborg asked as he plopped down in the chair next to Beast Boy. "I thought you were just gonna let it go and starve." He said, teasingly.
Beast Boy just tried to ignore Cyborg's jeering.
Robin sighed. "Hurry up and eat Cyborg. We all need to go back to the Tower and relax. Away from each other, ... I hope." he added, looking directly at the two boys.
"Sure thing." Cyborg said, stuffing his 'meat' into his mouth.
"Beast Boy?" Robin asked, trying to get the boy's attention. Beast Boy quickly looked up.
"We can stop and get pizza on the way home if you want."
"No thanks." Beast Boy said. "I've lost my appetite."
