"How quickly we forget Raven. My name is Chastity."
Raven tensed up upon hearing those words. I didn't matter that Azarathian law was on her side and that technically she had been chaste in her erotic encounter with her betrothed. It didn't matter that she could have consummated with him and it would have been perfectly legitimate under Azarathian law and morality. There was a facet of Raven's psyche that was unable to come to terms with the pleasurable encounter she shared earlier with her betrothed, no matter how many thousands of years of Azarathian tradition said that it was permissible. The fact that this emoticlone stood before her was a shot across her bow which said that somewhere deep in her mind she believed she crossed the line.
Raven didn't need to be reminded that that the myriad of Ravens surrounding her in their rainbow of capes and hoods were merely abstractions of her psyche. They weren't little Ravens tugging at her, like the angels and devils that appeared in the old Warner Brothers cartoons, little miniature figures that appeared on Porky Pig's shoulders, attempting to lead him down the road of righteousness or perdition. She knew that she was really facing herself, confronting her hang ups, prejudices and instincts as well as her own base desires.
Just because Raven kept her mind in order with a near Vulcan like discipline didn't mean she lacked emotions or desires. She was a woman in her prime after all, and her Trigonic heritage only augmented the carnal desire she felt for her betrothed. The make out session she shared earlier with Gar was the most exquisite experience she ever enjoyed and she found herself feeling unhappy when it was over. Yet there was a part of her mind that felt it was wrong to enjoy it, and Chastity standing before her was proof of that. Raven stared her down before replying.
"I am not unchaste. Gar is my betrothed and will soon be my spouse. Under the laws and traditions of our people I have every right to share my body with him."
Chastity shook her head in disagreement.
"Maybe so Raven, but our beloved is not Azarathian, in case you have forgotten. He was raised in an Earth tradition that has different sexual mores than our own, with rules that are much stricter. If we really honor and respect him then we should wait until we are married to him."
"He didn't seem to mind." Lust chortled in the background. "Once he got into it he seemed rather uninhibited. He can do wonders with his tongue, and that was only on our chest, imagine what he could do ..."
"That is beyond the point. He is a man and is more easily tempted by the moment. What if he later has regrets? What if he has second thoughts about us? We could end up losing him over a brief moment of passion and pleasure. Is it really worth it?" Chastity retorted.
"Has anyone ever told you that you're a killjoy? You know there is a difference between celibacy and chastity, don't you?" Brave asked in a harrumph while she crossed her arms. "And we aren't gonna lose Beastie Boo, he already agreed to marry us, so will you stop bellyaching. You make it sound like we molested a child. He is a 28 year old man for Azar's sake!"
Chastity glared at Brave. "Don't be ridiculous. I'm not asking Raven to be celibate! Or do you actually believe I'm not looking forward to our honeymoon?"
"Then what's your point?" Lust interjected.
Chastity crossed her arms and frowned. "My point is that he is the one we've been waiting for, one of the 'good guys' that women claim have been hunted to extinction. We've been chaste all these years, not that we haven't had opportunities to engage in casual sex, yet we didn't. So now that he's proposed we've suddenly decided to go slut on him?"
"Get off your high horse, you prude!" Rude belched at her. "We're betrothed, for Azar's sake, we're practically married. We aren't being slutty."
A gray caped emoticlone piped up. "I … I … I think chastity has a point."
Brave frowned at Timid. "You'd be happy if we died virgins."
"No, I wouldn't … but I think Chastity is right. Garfield is very … innocent. He's also a virgin."
"Innocent? Bullshit! He was sucking on our nipples, and he was enjoying it, you saw the boner in his pants!" Lust shouted.
"But he stopped … and apologized … he was blushing, he knew he did something wrong." Timid replied. "And … I know it felt good, but … it also felt wrong … we aren't like that."
"Speak for yourself, prude, some of us want to get laid." Lust admonished her.
"We all want to get laid, and we will, at the right time … listen ladies, it isn't gonna kill us to wait. " Chastity interrupted. "You all think I hate sex. Nothing could be further from the truth … but we need to do this right, or we could end up losing him."
She then turned her focus back to Raven.
"He admires us Raven, that much we know, he sees us in a different light than other girls … don't ask me why, after the way we treated him in the past. And he's already told us he wants to wait, so let's wait, dammit! We'll never find another guy like him, one who will put up with our crap, and we have a lot of that. SO whatever you do, don't blow it, OK?" Chastity rebuked her master before suddenly fading away.
Raven sighed. She was hoping to bring order to her mind, and so far things were only getting worse. She turned to Wisdom and Knowledge.
"I'm at a loss. This … is uncharted territory for me. I want to share myself with him … fully. But what if Chastity is right and it's a mistake; regardless of our traditions … I ... I don't know what to do."
"Our beloved has expressed his desire to wait until our marriage is formalized before consummating." Knowledge announced. "Beyond that, we do not know what he believes to be acceptable behavior prior to the wedding."
"Knowledge is correct. We need to be open and discuss this with him. Only then will we be able to establish what is acceptable erotic interaction before the wedding." Wisdom added.
It was then that Timid and Fear, both donning their gray capes, stepped before Raven. Fear's cape was a dark charcoal gray.
"Is it really a good idea to push the envelope?" Timid asked. "What if he gets the wrong message?"
"It's too risky … it's unacceptable … what if it backfires and we lose him forever?" Fear concluded.
"Life is risk." Wisdom piped up. "There is a very small risk that things could go wrong. But without risk there is no accomplishment, we can't have a real relationship with him unless we are willing to assume some risk, otherwise our relationship will be become stagnant and will die on its own."
"Being sincere with him will open the doors to a richer and more fulfilling relationship." Knowledge added.
"Yeah, go talk to him!" Brave cheered.
A Raven donning a light pink cape stepped forward. Raven recognized her from a previous visit. She was Love.
"Raven, do we not trust our beloved enough to share our body with him? If so, then we should also trust him with our soul. We have nothing to fear Raven, for he is our soul mate."
Raven closed her eyes and nodded her agreement. When she reopened her eyes she was back in their room. To her surprise Gar was awake and was sitting up in the bed.
"Are you OK Rae? You began to shake and were speaking in some strange language."
Raven floated down to the bed and landed next to him.
"It was probably Azarathian."
"Why were you shaking? Are you ill?" He asked in a worried tone.
"No, it's not that. I had to go to Nevermore for a visit."
The changelings face fell and his ears drooped. Raven's heart ached as she had not seen that expression on his face in years.
"You went to Nevermore? Why? It was my fault, wasn't it? I should have kept my hormones in check. Now I've gone and messed you up. I'm such an idiot! I'm so sorry."
"No! That's not it. I was the one who started it … and don't worry Gar … I … I loved it, and I ... I want to do it again."
"Oh… OK … so … why did you go to Nevermore? Did one of your emotions break loose?"
"No … that's not it … I needed to confer with them … you see … I was just afraid that … you might have … misunderstood me … my motives … I was afraid that you might think I was … some kind of … a slut, a loose woman." She stammered.
Gar broke out in laughter.
"Raven … you have to be the most virtuous woman I've ever met … listen Rave … I understand what you told me about Azarathian engagements and I don't judge you for that … but if anyone is owed an apology it's you … I went way beyond merely caressing your chest … I was way out of line."
"Don't apologize … it was wonderful Gar … I just want you to know that you are the most important person in the world to me … and that I respect your beliefs …"
"Rave, trust me, I really don't want to wait … it's just that …"
"You don't have to. I'm yours, in heart, body and soul." She spoke in a hopeful voice.
"I know, and so am I … there is a part of me that's screaming 'go for it', but …"
"It's alright Gar. I understand, really, I do. We'll wait until our honeymoon. But I think we might need to discuss just what we're comfortable with now… I don't want to push the envelope too far. I just don't want to mess things up."
He nodded his understanding.
"It won't be long Rave, I want us to get married right after we rescue Nightwing and Star, before the semester begins. As for what we can do in the meantime, I'm good with where we are right now."
She heaved a sigh of relief.
"But now we better get some sleep, we have some bad guy butt to kick tomorrow." He added.
Raven snuggled up to her fiancé, and for a brief moment all was well in the universe. Happiness filled her soul and her troubles were soon forgotten as he wrapped his arms around her. Of course tomorrow she would join her teammates in what would no doubt be a daring and dangerous rescue mission. That she could handle. The real kicker was that she would have to face her future in-laws as well. Oh well, no one ever said that being a Titan was easy. Especially being the Titan known as Raven.
-(scene break )-
Victor slammed shut the passenger door on the late model BMW sedan his father kept in the garage, and plugged in his mp3 player into the car's stereo system. He pulled up a playlist he knew his father didn't particularly like and braced himself for the usual complaints about how his music was crude and lacked the sophistication and timelessness that "classic" rock and roll possessed. Much to his surprise his father said nothing as he pulled the expensive German sedan out of the garage and zoomed away from the house.
Mariana Butte was located on Metropolis's west side and STAR Labs was on the other side of town. The Silas impostor guided the car down the residential access streets until it reached the freeway on ramp. Cyborg noticed that his father seemed unusually taciturn as he hadn't uttered a word since they left the house. The silence became uncomfortable and Victor decided to break the ice.
"So what's been new at work dad?"
"Nothing much, just the same old, same old."
"I see." Victor replied.
He had a strange feeling about his father. While his father was a rather unexcitable individual, something seemed odd about him. He felt … distant … almost like a stranger.
"What about my sonic bifurcator project? Did the team make any progress while I was gone?"
"No son, I'm afraid there's been no progress."
Victor tensed up. There was no sonic bifurcator project.
"Dad, remember Dr. Van Vark? I used to date her. Well, after my disaster with Miranda I think I'm gonna take your advice and start dating her again."
"That sounds like a good idea. I've heard through the grapevine that she really likes you. I'm glad you're giving her a second chance."
Victor suddenly became alarmed. There actually was a Dr. Van Vark at STAR Labs. Dr. George Van Vark.
Who are you? He wondered to himself.
"Hey dad, can you stop somewhere? I need to use the toilet, like right now."
"Just hang in there Victor, we'll be at STAR Labs soon enough."
The robot then took an unexpected off ramp, one that led to a bridge that crossed the Metropolis river.
"Uh dad, this isn't the way to STAR Labs."
"It's a detour, there's roadwork on the usual route."
Victor knew that was a lie. His mind raced as he tried to figure out how to get out of the car as soon as possible. The bridge was looming ahead and Victor decided that he didn't want to cross it. There was next to no traffic at the late night hour and a quick look at the speedometer showed that the car was travelling in excess of 120 mph. Why was the imposter driving so fast? Then it dawned on him, he was going to drive the car off the bridge into the river below.
Victor then grabbed the steering wheel while he mashed his foot on the brake.
"Victor, what are you doing? We're going to crash!"
"Don't you 'Victor' me! Who are you and what have you done with my father?"
The robot did not respond, but instead struggled to regain control of the car. The robot was stronger than Victor and the car began to careen around on the deserted road. In a calculated move Victor pushed the wheel in the opposite direction, catching the robot by surprised. The car flew off the road and went down a steep embankment, where it rolled over. The airbags deployed and the sounds of metal being crushed and glass breaking resonated in the BMW's cabin. After rolling several times the car stopped and was upside down. Victor's door had popped open and after releasing his seatbelt he scrambled out of the car and ran away as fast as he could.
He turned around to look back and saw the robot emerge from the car. Other than the fact that it was now missing half of Sila's face, exposing it metallic skull underneath, it seemed completely unfazed by the crash as it calmly exited the destroyed vehicle. Victor knew he was in big trouble, which was confirmed when the robot ripped the artificial skin off of its hands, revealing razor sharp claws.
"There is no escape, Victor Stone." It called out in a mechanical voice as all pretense of being Silas Stone was dropped. "If you wish to see your father again, you will surrender to me."
"Like hell I will. You're one of the Brotherhood's robots, aren't you?"
The robot paused as it parsed the question.
"You do not have security permissions to receive an answer to that question. But if you do not surrender I will be forced to destroy you Victor Stone."
"Who says you won't kill me anyway?"
"You do not have security permissions …"
"Shut up!"
The robot's preprogrammed error response was interrupted by a laser blast. The robot began to stumble and was hit square in the head by a second shot, after which it began to smoke and it collapsed, quivering as it motor skills control subsystem was ruined. Victor ran up to the robot's wreckage, still aiming the Slade-bot laser pistol he had at it as it spurted in its robotic voice.
"Watchdog reboot in progress … system error … servo controls are offline … system error … power cells 3,4 and 6 are non functional … system error … gyroscopic balance system is offline …"
Victor kept a few of the old Slade-bot laser pistols as mementos from his old Titan days. Remembering Rouge's threat towards his father he recharged two of the pistols while he showered, concerned that the Brotherhood might come after them. He knew that in an all out Brotherhood assault that the two pistols wouldn't be much help. But in this case they came in perfectly handy.
"Catastrophic system failure, going into failsafe mode." The robot gurgled before shutting down.
Victor began to examine the robot and discovered that its chest panel was removable. Much to his delight he discovered a keyboard and a small text only LCD display that showed a Linux boot sequence and a command line prompt.
"OK Mr. Robot, you're going to reveal your secrets to me, like what happened to my father?"
Victor began to hack away, searching for clues in the robot's file system. After a few minutes he grinned and uttered his trademark 'booyah'. He found the file he was searching for, a log file of all the robots high level activities. He typed 'vi robot_ '.
And received an access denied message. He frowned, then typed 'sudo vi robot_ '.
"It's worth a shot." He mumbled as he pressed enter.
The old visual editor opened the log file. Victor grinned. It was all there.
-( scene break )-
Raven was tracing her finger across Gar's chest. He fell asleep almost immediately with his arm wrapped around her and she savored the moment, not ready yet to join him in his slumber. She leaned over and pecked him on the cheek when his old Titan communicator chirped. Using her dark energy she retrieved it from the nightstand and saw that it was Victor calling.
"Gar, wake up, its Cyborg."
He mumbled unintelligibly while Raven flipped the communicator open, revealing Victor's face.
"Raven? Where's BB? "
"He's here with me. What's the matter Victor, why are you calling at this hour? Did something happen?"
"The Brotherhood got my dad, and they almost got me too."
Gar sat up, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.
"Are you OK, tin man?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm at STAR Labs right now. I'll cut to the chase. I'm gonna be Cyborg again. I'm having my old tech, actually enhanced versions of my old tech, reinstalled as we speak. The Brotherhood swapped a robot for my dad and they were using it to capture me."
"A robot?" Raven asked.
"Yeah, and a good one too. It fooled me for a while. It's a good thing I caught on or it would have killed me. After I destroyed it I was able to hack into it. I got some intel out of it on the Brotherhood. I'll be back tomorrow morning."
"What kind of intel?" Gar asked.
"I think I know where to look for the Brotherhood."
Gar leaped out of the bed.
"I'm coming over right now Tin Man."
Raven followed him, throwing her cape around her shoulders. "I'm coming, there's no way you're going without me."
Gar smiled at her.
"I wouldn't have it any other way."
-( scene break )-
We're still moving forward. We need to revisit with Starfire and Nightwing. Hope you liked the two scenes in this chapter.
And now it's mailbag time!
Thisguy720 - "Great chapter, I know whats gonna happen but im still on the edge of my seat."
The next few chapters will have some changes. Rita and Raven are going to be having a "heart to heart" once the Doom Patrol arrives.
xXimmortalXx - "Yayyyy! I love Melvin, Timmy, and Teether. There not that popular but I still love em'."
They aren't comic book canon and unlike Mas y Menos I don't believe they were pulled into the comics from the show.
"Oh and after this fiasco will Rita and Mento actually get to talk to Raven and BB?"
She's gonna have a chat with Raven.
gabylokita41 - "Ive been busy and took me a bit to catch up hope the surgery went well and you recover soon :) the story is great i can say im enjoying it more the second time around i just love it :) keep up the good work."
Thanks, as I promised I'll make small changes to the first part to keep those who have already read it on their toes. Then part 2 will be very different.
krostovikraven1 - "oh no... i wonder what did they do with Cyborg's dad. hope everything went ok with your surgery. update soon."
Still no news for Silas Stone this chapter. Sorry.
Sweetums14 - "This is very interesting and well paced!"
Thanks you!
Maddielove95 - "Poor Star. I hope she regains her speech."
She is in a tough spot. Imagine if suddenly you couldn't communicate with your spouse.
Hairul The Nightrage Beast - "O_o now I have bad feeling Nightwing and Starfire will do what Roy did to the Electrocutioner to the BoE during Rise of Arsenal. They'll gonna gut the BoE first with Mallah, then smash The Brain to Smithereens and Star Nova Blasting Mdm Rouge to a Crisp."
They are pretty pissed off.
JOHNXgambit - "raven the only person that can have an argument with herself and not seem crazy, BTW do timmy melvin teether and bobby appear in comics or are they strictly tv"
I have never seen them in the comics. Some TV show OC's have made it back to the comics: Mas y Menos, Cinderblock and Billy Numerous come to mind.
Bluedog197 - "what in the world do the brotherhood have no respect and i mean come on and cybrogs dad is really a robot and raven is getting yelled at by her emotions this is too good for words but one word explains it all Startlingly impressive so keep it up"
Thanks! Nevermore is one of the features in the show that gets used (and abused) a lot in fan fiction.
titanfan45 - "The Brotherhood of Evil have really outdone theirselves this time. I hope the Titans take them all the way out this time."
They put the 'E' in Evil. They are (like Terra) much more evil in the comics.
Anna - "Great chapter. Can't wait for Doom Patrol and the Titans to rescue Nightwing and Starfire."
Stay tuned.
DeeThom - "Great chapter and (I won't spoil it for anyone else) but I know what happens with Vic (Cyborg) and his father. It makes me happy just thinking about it. I kinda wish that he would get updates and upgrades for his old tech and not just utilize it as is. I'm not sure if that's your plan but your wording made me think he'd just go back to his old tech without any changes. A little clarification would be nice if it isn't an issue."
Actually, I clarified that. It is a of course the latest and greatest version of his tech. Except maybe for the Maxx-7.
Guest - "another great chapter. I love your stories"
Thanks!