Hello readers,
If you haven't seen "Teen Titans Go! vs. Teen Titans" you will probably want to skip this story as it makes many references to the movie and is full of spoilers.
-(-)-
It was now exactly thirty days after the Infinite Earths incident, and things had not returned to normalcy, not even close. And not just because Jump City was still recovering from Hexagon's rampage. Several office buildings had been completely destroyed and the downtown area was still a complete shambles as work crews worked incessantly to clear the debris that Hexagon left in his wake.
The Tower had also been damaged, when Hexagon threw his ax at the "Unkindness" and missed, hitting the Tower instead, almost splitting it into two halves. Cyborg and a repair crew worked around the clock and the Tower, though not fully repaired, was once again inhabitable and the Titans no longer had to stay at a downtown hotel.
But while the Tower was almost back to normal, Jump City wasn't. The media was still going full bore covering the endless number of Teen Titans that arrived from parallel universes to battle the amped up Trigon, who was somehow two Trigons rolled into one: Hexagon.
The local news media had spent countless hours dissecting who were all the different teams and how they differed from the local heroes. It didn't take them long to figure out that the locals seemed to have worked the closest with a parallel universe team that resembled them the most, though there were differences. For one thing, the other Titans were shorter and had bigger heads. A local reporter had dubbed them the "Bobble head Titans" and the name stuck.
Raven was back in her room, which had fortunately been spared any major damage. Some books had fallen off the bookcases, but with a flick of her wrist and some dark energy they were quickly restored to their rightful places.
Raven sat down at her desk and flipped open her laptop computer. One of the last tasks Cyborg completed was getting the Titans mainframe back online and he uploaded all of his logs and videos from the very, very strange adventure they had the month before. Raven decided to review the videos.
Raven started with what her teammates did after she and her bobble head counterpart had been kidnapped by the two Trigons. She calmly watched the videos with great interest, mumbling "now that's disturbing" as she watched her teammates and their counterparts battle the other universe's Santa Claus and his wife. She continued watching up to the moment where the combined teams caught up with her and the other Raven, just right after her father had drained the other Raven of her demonic powers. She paused the playback and sat back in her chair.
Raven didn't need to see the video to remember what happened next. It was impossible to forget, as it was so unexpected. She stared at the frozen scene, where she was leaning over her unconscious counterpart, who was so short that she was barely reached Raven's waist in height. She stared at the image, where she was facing her Robin, informing him that the other Raven was alive but had lost all her powers to Trigon.
She sighed and hit the play button. The other team's Beast Boy body slammed her, shoving her out of the way as he leaned over the still inert other Raven.
"Are you OK, mama?" He asked, his voice warbling with concern. "Mama Rae Rae?"
She paused it again.
"He really loves her. I wasn't imagining it." She whispered to herself. "Nobody's ever loved me like that."
She hit the play button and watched the other Raven leap to her feet, grab him and tell him he was handsome and tried to kiss him. She paused it again as the other Raven puckered up.
"And she loves him too … she really loves Beast Boy, well, her Beast Boy." She whispered again as she shook her head. "But why? He's even goofier than my Beast Boy."
Raven paused at her choice of words.
"Did I just say 'my Beast Boy'?"
There was a knock on her door. It startled her and she leaped to her feet.
"Who's there?"
"It's me, Beast Boy … can I come in?"
Raven hesitated, before finally saying 'yes'.
The door slid open and he carefully entered. He saw the frozen image on her laptop screen.
"I see you've been watching Chrome Dome's uploads too."
"Yeah, I have."
He walked up to her desk and looked at the screen.
"Kinda surprising, huh?"
"You can say that again." She replied. "Did you ask him about that?"
He shook his head. "No, I didn't have time. Did you talk with her about it?"
"No, I didn't have time either."
He continued to stare at the screen. "He calls her 'mama'."
"Yes, I noticed." She replied in her monotone. "Beast Boy … did you ever call Terra … mama?"
He shook his head. "No … I mean … she was never really my girlfriend."
"Of course." She whispered in reply.
He pointed at her laptop. "May I?"
"Sure … whatever."
He replayed the scene.
"And you've never looked so handsome." The other Raven complemented his counterpart.
"No one's ever told me I'm handsome."
She looked at him. "You mean Terra never told you that you're handsome?"
He shook his head. "Nope, never."
She shrugged her shoulders. "Well, if it helps, you are handsome."
"I am?"
She nodded.
A small smile formed on his face. "Thanks."
"You're welcome … watching this makes me feel jealous … no one has ever shown that much concern for me, he really loves her."
"I was really worried after the Trigons ran off with you."
"You were?"
He sat down at her desk, fidgeting with his fingers.
"Well, yeah, I mean I didn't know if I'd ever see you again. I don't think I ever felt so focused on a mission … failure wasn't an option. When we came out of that portal and I saw that you were OK, well, I felt a lot better."
"I also felt a lot better when I saw you arrive … I mean all of you." She stammered.
They both fell silent and stared at the floor. Finally, she broke the silence.
"Garfield …."
His eyes widened. The last time she used his real name was to give him a hard time.
"Yeah?"
"Do you think you'll find 'the one' some day?"
He shrugged. "I don't know … I hope so. What about you?"
"I doubt it."
"Why?"
"Because I'm me."
He gave her a small smile. "Don't sell yourself short, Raven."
"Thanks … I guess."
The changeling's communicator trilled. "Beast Boy, please come to my office." Robin's voice commanded.
"Oh yeah, he also wants to talk about the videos. He's been obsessed with his counterpart since they left."
"You know our fearless leader, 'obsessed' is his middle name. I think he's worried that Starfire might not be in love with him anymore. The other Starfire didn't seem so keen on their Robin."
He sighed. "I guess I'll go talk with him."
"Good luck with that. I'll see you at dinner." She droned.
He nodded, then suddenly smiled. He leaned over and pecked her on her lips.
"See you at dinner, mama."
Raven's eyes shot wide open and she felt paralyzed. The changeling made a quick exit from her room and the door slid shut behind him.
-(-)-
Beast Boy made a bee line to Robin's office, where he hoped to find a safe place to stay for a while. He had a goofy grin on his face. Just as he was about to reach Robin's office, the sorceress rose from a portal in the floor, blocking his path. She looked mildly cross.
"Just what do you think you're doing?"
He nervously rubbed the back of his neck. "Um, I uh, stole a kiss?"
She furrowed her brow. "So you think you can just steal a kiss like that?"
"I know … that was wrong … I'm sorry." He said as he sweat dropped.
"You'd better be sorry. Listen buster, the next time you decide to steal a kiss from me ..."
She stopped mid sentence and grabbed him. She slammed her lips to his and gave him a kiss that sent a lightning bolt down his spine. They smooched for several seconds until she pulled away. After catching her breath she resumed speaking.
"The next time you steal a kiss from me, I expect a good kiss, understood?"
He looked astonished, but quickly recovered. "Whatever you say, mama."
-(-)-
Robin stared impatiently at the clock on the wall in his office.
"Where is he? He said he was on his way … great … now I'll have to go find him. Beast Boy, you can be so unreliable sometimes." He grumbled to himself as he pushed the open button and his door swished open, revealing the Chromatically Challenged Couple kissing very passionately. His mouth opened, but no sound came out. He then instinctively shut the door and went back to his desk and sat down.
"I didn't see anything." He whispered to himself. "I didn't see anything at all."