Um...soooo...yea. It's waaaaaaay past wednesday...like..by a month. BUT! I have good reasons, i just have to think of them first. -- But seriously...things have been a bit hectic on my end so i couldn't really focus enough to finsih, but it's here now so i hope u enjoy. I'm astounded by all the reviews i got, i just hope my delay hasn't turned away most of my faithful readers. I think I'd die:s Things are heating up and please believe they're only going to get hotter. But, sadly, im at a loss as to how to type the next chapter, so it may be a while before it's released...or maybe it wont, i dont know how my brain likes to work these days. What you guys have to know is that none of the chapters i write are pre-meditated. I think as i type, i even started this whole project on a whim, no fore thought what so ever. That's why it takes a while for me to sumit regularly. But anyway, enough of the excuses, on with the story!
P.S. Is it me, or does anyone else think Raven was acting like a TOTAL jerk towards BB the WHOLE time in Trouble in Tokyo? I thought the movie was awesome, but all the BB hate from her really turned me off from it a little. ESPECIALLY when she commented on his looks! I was like ( ! But the whole Kareoke/ Break Dance scene had my laughing my butt of...and Robin was pretty cool (although a little too cool if you ask me.) Plus the whole StarRob thing was handle pretty well (especially when he was chugging down those mints the first time they went in for a kiss...that was funny as heck).
Now...seriously this time...on with the story )
Monday…May 8, 2006. Hour: 1417.
Cinderblock
"Titans, GO!"
At the call the team sprung into action immediately, undertaking their roles with flawless execution and timing only made possible by years of training and teamwork.
Robin, taking the lead, withdrew his retractable bo- staff from his utility belt, swinging it briefly over his head as he charged head-on to the monster made of stone. With a push from his finely tuned legs he soared in the sky cocking his staff to the side, his arm covering a portion of his face, and with a grunt, released a horrible horizontal strike to the side of Cinderblocks skull. Klink! Went the pole as it made contact, chipping off a small chunk of the behemoth's head in the process.
"Rawrr!" Cinderblock howled as he, fueled by anger, gathered himself enough to retaliate, only to once again meet the business end of Robin's Bo-Staff.
"Ha!Ya!Ha!Ha!" Robin breathed as with flawless, almost, artistic swings he devastated Cinderblock.
"Yahhhh!" Robin yelled as he once again lunged into the air, his arms over his head, to finish him of with one, last demolishing overhead strike…or ,at least, that's what Robin wanted him to think. Purposely making the strike a tad bit slower, Robin fully expected Cinderblock to block his attack. He wasn't disappointed. Raising his massive forearm, Cinderblock absorbed the compelling force of the blow, causing dust clouds to rise from his feet from the shock of the attack. And in the brief period that Robin seemed almost weightless, as if floating in mid-air, he grinned.
"Now!" He ordered as he used his position and inertia to vault over Cinderblock's head, using his forearm as a base, blocking his view. Cinderblock tried to reach out for Robin's tumbling form, but all he was greeted with was a glowing green fist to the face.
"HA!" Starfire bellowed, as, with her fist still connected to his face, shot off three, point blank range, starbolts.
"Gahhh!" Cinderblock bawled as he stumbled back holding his face in agony. He tried frantically to rub off the ash obscuring his eyesight with his gargantuan hands, but didn't get very far as an oddly familiar green ankylosaurus swept its club-like tail under his feet, clipping him hard as he flew backwards, colliding with the ground with enough force to create a few fissures. His job done, Beast Boy transformed into a humming bird and buzzed out of the way as a dark portal opened in the sky, directly over top of Cinderblock. Just recovering from his shock, Cinderblock open his eyes to see that it was Cyborg, not Raven, who arose from the aperture, his sonic cannon ready and flaring to be shot.
"Home Delivery!" Cyborg shouted with a smirk as, without hesitation, he released a flood of sonic energy directly into the gut of Cinderblock.
"Grawrrr!" Cinderblock's body molded around the blast, as the street just cracked and cracked until…
SPlooossh! The street caved in.
"Woah…Woah…WOAH!" Cyborg yelped as he continued to descend, coming dangerously close the gaping whole in the street he created. But…just as he was about to enter the dark depths, he felt two soft, yet strong hands grab hold of his wrists.
"I have you friend." Starfire said confidently as she soared over to a safe spot to let him down.
"Starfire! ThankyouThankyouThankyou!"
"You are most welcomed friend, shall we return?"
"Yes, let's shall."
With that, they made their way back over to the rest of the team who were congregated around the hole.
"We are victorious, yes?" Starfire asked as she set down Cyborg.
"It sure looks that way Star, but I want to make sure he's down for the count with my own eyes."
"Don't tell me you want us to go down there too!"
Robin answered with a simple nod.
"Aw man! What did I tell you about us and going into sewers?"
"I don't know," Robin started with a roll of the eyes, "what did you tell me about 'us and going into sewers'?"
"I'm not surprised you didn't hear, probably had cheap hair gel stuck in your ears."
"What was tha-," Robin began to say but was quickly cut off by a jumbo sized stone hand breaking through the concrete below him, and wrapping itself around his ankle.
"Yarr!" Cinderblock shouted as the rest of him exploded from the under earth swinging Robin over his head like a lasso until finally deciding to let him go wherever he may fall, which he coincidently seemed to be heading for the side of a concrete building.
"Robin!" Starfire lamented. Without hesitation she charged her fastest to catch up with his fleeting form as Cyborg and Beast Boy were too stunned to react. Closer and closer his ultimately frail human body raced to its demise as, to Starfire, it only seemed to be getting further and further away.
"Oh X'hal…I'm not going to make it in time. Please…Please someone help Robin…" she prayed silently.
But, as all hope seemed lost, a sable gateway opened just as Robin was about to collide with the structure, causing him to fly right through and appear…surprisingly, behind Starfire who, due to years of training, had the reflexes to turn around and catch him, despite her shock.
"Ugh…thanks Star," Robin said
"It was not I friend…it was Raven," she informed, smiling down on him as she held him in her arms.
Finding his cloaked teammate hovering high over the battle field, he made brief eye contact and gave a simple nod, which she returned, and all was understood. They didn't need many words between them. And, wordlessly, the couple returned their attention on the battle to see Cyborg trying his best to distract the brute as Beast Boy set up for a sneak attack. Little did he know, Raven also saw an opening for a sneak attack, so she positioned herself to deliver a blow on his unguarded right side, as Beast Boy, unbeknownst to her, set up for one on his left.
Cinderblock clasped his two hands together and raised them over his head, moving to plow the metal titan straight into the ground. Seeing the rather slow motion from a mile away, Cyborg instinctually jumped back, but was caught off guard by the fact that the attack never actually came, instead he was greeted by the howls of the crag monster being pelted with troughs of black energy.
Beast Boy, seeing that the enemy was temporarily paralyzed, but not knowing by whom, thought it was the best time for him to make his move. He sprinted straight for the behemoth in human form, deciding which animal would be the best to tackle the giant.
Ram? No. Bull? No. Rhino? No. Triceratops? Perfect.
With a confident smirk on his face, Beast Boy was nanoseconds from beginning the transformation, when, in that instant, he noticed something was wrong.
In a manner of what were less than seconds he observed that, though clearly overwhelmed, Cinderblock seemed to not be letting up; in fact, he appeared to be summoning some sort of inner strength and starting to repel what ever it was that he was preoccupied with. But again the force behind the attack seemed to double up in strength, and the rock monster was once more on the defensive. Seeing that he was no match for the beam of onyx, Cinderblock did something that was almost too smart of an idea for him. Using the force of the attack, he shifted his massive weight to one side, allowing the tremendous amount of energy to push only on the right side of him, rather than in the middle, spinning him like a pinwheel, putting him effectively out of the range of the blast, and placing Beast Boy smack-dab in the middle of it.
In the time it took for a person to blink, the obsidian laser raced toward the green teen, hungering for his life. In the blink of an eye, any other person would be dead. But Beast Boy was definitely not like anyone else. With reflexes that didn't seem to be real, reflexes that even Robin couldn't speak of, Beast Boy reacted. Knowing that it would be impossible for him to transform and still have time to avoid the blast, Beast Boy, without thought, pushed off with every fiber of muscle he could derive from his legs, and attempted to jump over the ray, but realized that only half of his body would make it out in time. For a brief moment, which to him seemed like minutes, time slowed down, almost as if it did specifically for him. With the blast literally only a foot away from him, and moving at incredible speeds, Beast Boy let his instincts drive him, that split-second decision making that was one of his few pillars of principles that separated him from the animals he transformed into.
Without thought, he twisted his body as hard as he could to the right. Bringing his head down, he was now looking at the world in reverse. The beam blew past his chin and he could feel the heat radiating from it. Quickly, but not quickly enough, his legs followed the course his upper body took. Not able to look back, for fear his chin be seared off, he wasn't sure whether or not his legs had clearance. Once again he relied on his instinct and spread his legs wide as the blast traveled its way down the rest of his body, burning the upper layer of his outfit from its intensity. And as he descended towards the ground, he could feel the same heat sail through the opening he made with his legs. The material that clung to his inner thigh began to cinder, but did not burn the whole way through, as the material around his stomach and his chest had. Finally, as the blast traveled its course and careened into the side of an unfortunate building, time returned to normal. Landing on his back rather hard, Beast Boy brushed it off, and rolled like a log until finally he sprung up into a crouched position with a sneer on his face. It was evident that he was far from happy.
Following the path that the beam came from, he directed his sneer to the source of it: Raven. She looked back at him with a steely expression on her face.
"Raven! What are you trying to do? You almost killed me!" Beast Boy scolded, gesturing wildly.
"You're the one who got in my way," Raven countered with an edge in her monotone voice.
"BB…you okay?" Cyborg asked walking up to his green pal. But Beast Boy didn't even see him…he didn't even hear him. His attention was wholly on Raven.
"How about you watch what your doing then huh! I could have been split in two by your stupid attack!"
"Yeah, I know. What a pity." She said less than enthusiastically.
"Uh guys?" Cyborg tried to ask…bewildered. It was typical for the two to argue, no it was more than that, it was almost natural. But never during a battle had they done so before. And never had Beast Boy had a look on his face like the one he had on now. Typically, he would wear a face of feigned anger with an underlying tinge of mirth. And Raven would say things in her cut throat, stoic manner, but there would always a glint in her eyes, just enough to know that it was all in good humor…usually. But now, now it was something different, now it border lined on hate. And it seemed that line was getting thinner and thinner with each comment.
"The only pity here is that I'm stuck on a team with someone like you."
Cyborg reeled at his statement.
Raven was quite for an agonizing moment before slowly descending to the ground; right in front of Beast Boy who followed her every movement with his eyes, and stared him straight in the face.
"Wow. Looks like now you're the mind reader." She said with a dangerous look in her eyes. He gladly returned the look. Cyborg had no idea what was going on and what he should do. But, he knew if he didn't things were going to get worse, a lot worse, so he tried anyway.
"Um…" Cyborg attempted but was cut short by the cry of their leader.
"Guys! Move!" He warned, but it was too late.
Spotting the opportunity laid in front of him, even Cinderblock knew it wasn't one he should let pass. Running toward the nearest traffic pole, he uprooted it and headed straight for the bickering titans and Cyborg who were too caught up to even notice the barreling behemoth. With a grunt, Cinderblock reared back well behind his head, almost like a MLB player, and let it rip.
Cyborg, at the last second, turned around at his leader's call, only to see too late the sparking end of a traffic light collide straight into his "ribs". He gasped as the blow forced out all the air in his "lungs". But it didn't stop there. Like a broom Cinderblock swept up the two other titans who were now aware of their attacker, albeit overdue. Their bodies curved around the pole like napkins, each on either side of Cyborg, faces scrunched with both shock and agony. With another mighty heave Cinderblock propelled them further, off of the pole and straight through AJ's Music Store's shopping window. Glass splattered everywhere, lodging themselves into the bodies of their victims, and shelves were demolished by the fleshy projectiles, sprawling Cds and Dvds all over the place.
"Guys!"
"Friends!" Robin and Starfire shouted simultaneously, rushing over to the scene.
Normally, Cinderblock would take this time to barge in and further add injury, and he tried so, but found himself almost collapsing under his own weight. Realizing that he wasn't in any condition to continue on the battle, especially against two very healthy and very angry titans, he turned around and, as swiftly as he could manage, made his retreat.
Robin looked over his shoulder as he ran towards his friends and teammates to see the image of a retreating Cinderblock, and gritted his teeth.
Next time. He thought to himself. His friend's health was more important.
As they approached the gaping hole that used to be a window, they could see a bulky mass shakily beginning to stand up.
"Cyborg!" Robin both stated and asked, inquiring his condition, the condition of the other two, and an explanation. That one word implied so much.
As they made their way through the hole, they got a better look at their friends. It wasn't pretty. Cyborg seemed to be the least damaged, sporting only a dent in his rib plate, and some large scraping to his left side. The other two were by far worse off. Bruising could be seen forming around Ravens eyes, cheeks and thighs and a streak of blood running down the side of her face, some seeping into her closed eyes. Beast Boy also seemed to be developing some nasty bruises as well and a few could be seen around his stomach, due to the singed fabric. On top of that his right leg appeared to be bending at an odd angle, a very dangerous angle. As if that weren't enough, both were littered with sharp glass sticking out of their flesh, causing trickles of the red liquid to fall just about all around them, and both were unconscious. Robin's eyes narrowed with determination.
"Questions later. We need to get them to the tower. Now."
(o.o) (n.n) (X.x)
Thursday, May 25. Hour- 1845
Overload
Two weeks. It had only been two weeks since Beast Boy had broken his leg. It was fractured in two places, a nasty break. Normally, a person, even a young person, would be laid up for no less than six months, four if they're lucky. Beast Boy was back in action in two weeks. Needless to say, the others we're puzzled. When asked how he could possibly be already healed, he would scratch the back of his head and simply said, "Guess I'm just a quick healer," and that would be it. Cyborg, although skeptical, let it go and was just glad his friend was back to normal. Robin, who was always the skeptic, would every now and then try to bring it up slyly in casual conversation. But ultimately he was just glad that his friend was back to normal, and his teammate was fully functional. Starfire didn't care either way, she was simply ecstatic that her friend was in good health once more.
But Raven…she didn't believe him for even a second. She resigned herself to the fact that she would never again believe a word that comes from his mouth. With him, there seemed to be no real distinction between truths and lies. She hadn't the mindset to believe what he says is true, or the proof that what he says is a lie. So she simply regarded him as a fictional character who donned any persona or any life story that the writer gave him. He could be or do anything he wanted. For all she cared, he wasn't real.
Even as the green boy in front of her got shocked with who knows how many volts by the electrifying evil-doer, she didn't think anything of it. For all she knew…he's retardant to electricity. Heck, for all she knows he can shoot electricity. So, as bolt after bolt struck him, even though she could have put up a shield for him by now, she didn't. He'd just pull out another trick from his sleeve and show them something that no one ever thought anyone could do, and everything would be all hunky-dory. Who knows what crazy idea his writer had cooking up for him next?
"Raven!" Robin shouted at her, drawing her attention away from Beast Boy and back to him.
"What are you doing! Why are you just standing there! Help him!"
"I'm sure he can help himself." Raven said matter- of- factly.
Rather than sitting there and arguing with her, Robin leapt into action. Withdrawing three, specially marked exploding disc, Robin took aim and launched them with unwavering accuracy towards Overload. Expecting them to just be normal discs…Overload laughed.
Don't these fools learn? Overload absorbs any type of energy. Overload invincible! Overload…huh?
When he noticed the smoke from the discs weren't fading, but rather, we're expanding, Overload realized too late what was happening.
He was being extinguished.
Overload let out a feral growl upon his discovery, thrashing about like a loon trying to rid himself of the creeping smoke, but to no avail.
Robin took this momentary break in battle to check up on the assaulted titan.
"Beast Boy! Are you okay!" He asked frantically.
For a moment, Beast Boy just gazed at Robin. For some odd reason, his hair was a bright shade of orange, with green, rotating swirls mixed in. Also, his skin was the most appealing blue he'd ever seen, while his mask served as a stark contrast by being a very deep shade of red. What's more, there seemed to be two of them, in the exact same position, with the exact same gestures, wearing the exact same expressions.
"Dude, I never knew you could be so pretty…or that you had a twin." He raised his hand up to shake the twin's hand, but got indignant when the gesture wasn't received. "C'mon dude, don't leave me hangin'!" He said with a slur.
Robin just stared at his green teammate. Then it hit him.
Being hit with constant electrical surges must have disrupted the charges in his brain. That's probably why his eyesight is all messed up now.
At his revelation, Robin took hold of both Beast Boy's shoulders and began to shake him.
"Beast Boy! Beast Boy snap out of it!"
"Snap what? Ginger snaps? I like ginger snaps…"
"BeastBoy!"
Finally, Robin had caught his attention. Slowly his eyes refocused.
"Robin?"
Robin let a sigh of relief when he saw that Beast Boy was going to be okay. He was about to help him up to his feet, when suddenly Beast Boy grabbed him by the arm with more strength than Robin thought he had. Then, without warning, he threw him away, diving with him right after. Before any protest could be made, an especially bright, especially vicious bolt of electricity eviscerated the exact same spot they had just dove away from.
Obviously, this brought all the attention back on Overload.
Robin's creeping gas was still quickly devouring the villain, who was now having some trouble with the debris Raven was hurling at him. Normally, he would easily be able to either repel or dodge or even destroy anything she threw at him, but with the extinguishing gas quickly taking over him, he was weakened considerably. Cyborg and Starfire were trying there best to contribute to the battle, but there was little they could do with this monster. Considering that they're more potent attacks involve a type of energy, her starbolts and his sonic cannon, they would do nothing but strengthen the fiend. Cyborg especially was susceptible to Overload. Considering that his life force relies off of a current of electricity, any contact with a source of high voltage, particularly an entity comprised entirely of it, would cause him to short circuit. So they did the best they could, creating diversions and the sort for the ones that could actually attack with out recourse. But right now Raven was the only on attacking. She didn't have her heart in the battle. In the past, she was known to dispatch this particular fiend single handedly, without too much effort. Most considered her to be, arguably, the most powerful of the five, in sheer force. So it made one wonder why she was taking her time about it on this particular occasion.
Looks like he's back to normal. Good, let's see what other tricks he has.
Feigning that she miscalculated in one of her attacks, she left herself wide open for a counterattack, which Overload took without hesitation. Zapping her with a small bolt, she flew back into a wall of cardboard boxes.
That last attack was weak; this battle will be over soon.
So, while hiding herself in a pile of cardboard, she pretended to be incapacitated as she watched to see what else her green mystery had in store for her.
She never had the chance.
With surprising inspiration, Overload figured to finish the indigo-clad titan. With another weak, but effective, bolt, he set ablaze the mass of boxes that encased Raven, the fire spreading at a rapid pace. She hadn't foreseen this.
"Raven!" Cyborg and Starfire shouted at the same time, rushing over to the fiery scene before their friend was burned alive. Robin, eyes still on Overload, told Beast Boy, "Beast Boy, help Raven! I'll handle Overload."
"Help her with what? She can phase through solid objects, remember?" Beast Boy snappily said.
"Well then help with the fire, the whole warehouse will burn down at this rate!"
"Those two can handle it." Beast Boy retorted, eyes now on Robin.
"I'm not asking you, I'm ordering you!" Robin forcefully stated, eyes now on Beast Boy.
But, as their eyes locked, they heard a loud crackling noise, and, assuming that it was yet another one of Overloads attacks, they both jumped back reflexively, directing their eyes back to the source of the attack, only to find no one there.
Rather, near an outlet there was a mound of what resembled soap lather that was beginning to dissipate. Robin knew what had happened, and with a low growl of a voice simply made the statement, "He got away." With any other villain, Robin would have quickly given chase, but, with a person who can travel through electric lines at the speed of electricity, it was a rather impossible deed.
Placing duty over frustration, Robin sharply turned around, cape fluttering from the action, and moved to help with the expunging of the fire.
With out a word, Beast Boy knew he was supposed to follow. They both then noticed that Raven had indeed freed herself from her predicament and was now helping with the inferno. Seeing that the last two had joined them, Cyborg raised an inquisitive brow.
"Yo! What happened to Mr. Glowstick?"
Robin decided not to answer, his scowl gaining intensity as he put more effort in his work to rid himself of the fact that… "He got away." Beast Boy answered for them.
Starfire, sensing her leader's distress, broke away from her duty and landed next to him, resting a hand on his shoulder.
"Do not worry. I am sure we will be victorious next time!" She said with an infectiously bright smile, even in the presence of a roaring fire.
She didn't know how wrong she would be.
Tuesday, June 6, 2006 – Hour: 0816
Johnny Rancid
"Later losers! Woo Hoo Hoo Hoo!" Johnny taunted as he pulled off on his motorcycle with a screech, sack of money in tow. A battered Cyborg could only glare at the gothic villain as he rode off to the horizon. The team had never been bested by Johnny before, so it was needless to say that Robin was less than happy.
"Next time Robin, I am sure of it." Starfire exclaimed, trying to suppress her own disappointment.
Friday, June 9. 2006- Hour: 0955
Mumbo Jumbo
"And now it is time for the great and magnificent Mumbo Jumbo to make his exit, stage left! Ta Ta Titans! HA HA HA HA!" He vanished in a storm of smoke and glitter.
Maybe Starfire would have offered a word of condolence, if she wasn't bound and gagged by an assortment of colorful handkerchiefs.
Wednesday, June 21, 2006- Hour: 1241
Le Blanc
"Ha Ha Ha! Ze Titans are no match for ze inveencible Le Blanc! Au revoir lozears! Bwa Ha Ha Ha!"
Starfire couldn't think of anything. There wasn't anything to be said. The Titans had lost, not to Slade, not to the Hive, Not even to Control Freak. The Titans had lost…to Le Blanc…arguably the lamest villain in Jump City. Wordlessly, the team turned back defeated, back to Titans Tower.
Wednesday, June 21, 2006- Hour: 1315
Titans Tower
To say the air was thick was an understatement. Thick simply didn't begin to describe the kind of atmosphere that engulfed every extremity of the tower. No, you'd be much closer in the description if it was said that the air was suffocating in its concretion. Shoulders were tense, eyes were lulled, and spirits were at an all time low. But oddly enough the tense air surrounding the Titans, who were congregated in the common room, was also charged with… eeriness. The kind of feeling you only experience when everyone is thinking the same thing, but no one wants to put it in words, no one wants to be the bringer of bad news. Unfortunately, Robin didn't have that luxury of choice. He was the leader, he does what needs to get done, and right now, something needed to be done. Desperately.
Slowly, groggily, Robin raised his head up, which he had bowed deep in thought, to look upon his team, or more pointedly, what was left of them. It was then he noticed how each of his teammates was taking things in such varied ways. Starfire, being Starfire, had an expression on her face that clearly read 'distressed'. She was in the kitchen trying to find something to keep her mind off of things, probably to cook. But what was odd was that she was walking to the different appliances. Normally she would float from place to place with a big smile on her face, but he guessed the happiness just wasn't there now to tap into. Even the bright sheen from her long auburn locks seemed to be a little lackluster. It hurt Robin to see her like that, so unhappy.
And then there was Cyborg, busying himself with some contraption of his own creation on the kitchen table. Having half a face, much couldn't be read from the metal man's expression. Rather, he wholly involved him self with the construction of his device. One would think that this meant that he was doing alright with their situation, but Robin knew better. It was only when he was truly upset that he would delve that deep into his gadgets. It's almost as if, temporarily, he tries to forget that he's half human, relying on his "emotionless" robotic half to get him through.
Robin could see that Raven too was less than her normal self. He expected her to handle things best, maybe even more so than himself, but sadly it wasn't the case. She was on the far side of the room, near the door in the middle of the floor, trying her best to meditate. Small dots of sweat formed on her forehead, a sign of her effort to concentrate, and, although still kempt, her hair was in slight disarray, a few strands sticking out here and there. For any other person, slightly unkempt hair was no big thing, but with Raven, in was unheard of. She took immaculate care of her violet strands, he couldn't remember a time when her hair wasn't picturesque. It was a large sign of what her mind was preoccupied with.
And then there was Beast Boy. He puzzled Robin more so than anyone else. Always the optimist, he would typically be up and about trying his best to cheer everyone up. Although in the end only making himself a nuisance, what with his lame jokes and all, he did prove to make the team lighten up a little bit, at the very least get their minds of off their problems. But now, the Beast Boy in front of him was anything but the Beast Boy Robin had envisioned. Eyes lulled, mouth caught in a tight, perpetual frown, and the signs of bags developing under his eyes, he definitely wasn't the Beast Boy he knew. He just sat there, back to all of his friends, hopefully not intentionally, staring out of the window and over the ocean. There was no fidgeting, just a solid, stoic, stare. Robin didn't know what could cause such a turn of attitude in his green teammate, but he knew it would have to wait for the moment. Right now, he had to prevent the implosion of the team he worked hard to put, and keep, together.
A wry smile crept up on his lips as he, for the first time in hours, broke the silence that laced the room.
"Le Blanc… huh…" He said as more of a statement than a question in a tired, raspy voice.
Cyborg stopped his screwdriver in mid turn as he heard his words, but didn't take his eyes away from his project. Starfire put down the potato peeler she had in her grasp and gazed intently at it. Raven slowly opened her eyes only to stop halfway, half out of exhaustion, half out of shame. And Beast Boy just sat there and stared, as if he hadn't heard a thing.
"Yeah…that's pretty lame…" Robin answered himself, voicing the thought that ran through everyone's mind at the mention of the French "villain".
He pushed himself up to a standing position, noting the soreness in his back from leaning against the edge of the island counter. With a sigh he ran his fingers through his perfectly slicked raven hair, somehow it managing to keep its shape. He mulled over his next words.
Just before he brought himself to speak, Beast Boy cut in, somewhat startling the rest. He hadn't spoken the entire time.
"Everyone has their ruts." He voiced, his focus still outside of the tower and scoped onto the crashing waves that both pelted and caressed the shore to their island. Faintly he could see the reflections of his teammates off of the glass of the window. Faintly he could see Robin's expression turn from one of mild surprise to one of heated disagreement. Shoulda kept my mouth shut, he thought, faintly.
"We're not everyone! We're the Titans, we can't have ruts!"
"We'll not everyone can be the picture of perfection, Robin." Beast Boy replied more harshly than he intended. He was in no mood.
"Do you know what happens when we have one of these…"ruts"? Huh, do you! Hundreds of people get hurt, and the city takes on Millions of dollars in property damages! Athletes have ruts. Artists have ruts. Us? We can't afford ruts, we don't... have ruts."
"Oh? And what do you call this?"
"Neglect."
"What?" Beast Boy asked, not sure on what he meant, along with the rest of the team.
"You guys are neglecting practices, teamwork, and most of all duty."
It was Beast Boy's turn to change expression now, along with the rest of the team.
"There's no way I'm neglecting anything, especially my duty. Rut or no rut, I know that always comes first, and I'm not going to stand here and be told different!"
"Yeah, Man! If anything the problem isn't us, it's you!" Cyborg attacked.
"Excuse me?" Robin said in a dangerously low voice.
"What's a team without a leader? Huh? If there's a problem with anything it's your leadership! Don't go pegging this thing on us!"
It was Starfire who jumped in now.
"Robin is a most competent leader! Perhaps he is right! Perhaps we are the ones at fault!" She retorted in defense.
"Defend him if you want, but I'm sure as heck ain't gonna sit here and swallow this. He's out there, making bad calls, got bad priorities, getting all hot headed, and your telling me it's everyone else's fault, Psh. Please!" Cyborg snapped.
"Bad Calls! I made the best decisions I could at the time with what I had!"
"Yes, he is most correct!"
"Oh yeah, then how do you explain why we're sitting here and having this argument right now! Eh! Cause it obviously isn't because things are going "swell"."
"You think you can do a better job? Eh Tin man? Mr. Titans East couldn't even keep it together two days before we had to come in and bail your sorry butt out!"
Cyborg was fuming now; he had hit a sore spot.
"Robin…perhaps you shouldn't have said that…" Starfire informed.
Cyborg was about to ignite Armageddon when Raven cut in.
"Enough! This isn't going to accomplish anything."
Beast Boy's head snapped so hard one would think it was made out of rubber.
"Accomplish? The only thing you've tried to accomplish is splitting me in two, Lil' Miss Hacksaw."
"Grow-up Beast Boy, accidents happen, learn to live with it."
"Forget that, I'm having a hard enough time learning to live with you!"
Things we're getting a little hot and the other three could feel it.
"Here let me help you. Three easy things to remember: Stay out of my way, Don't talk to me, and Shut up."
"Well since we're sharing and all, let me help you too. I've only got two rules, so pay attention to what I'm saying... for once. 1) Everything you just said and 2) No more trying to send me to your "daddy"."
If things were getting hot before, it had all changed now. Now things we're really, really cold. A chill that seeps into your bones and warns you of incoming doom. One that just screams, 'get out of there you fool, do you want to die!' Beast Boy had just broken the biggest Taboo in the house. Words can only vaguely describe the consequences of such an action.
Slowly, painfully so, a sneer so strong and so vicious etched itself onto her features. Her canines were plain in view and her eyes hummed its white shade, threatening to end so many lives. If death had a face, it'd be a good impersonation of it. Any sane person would know it's time to high tail it out of there, wet pants and everything. But what Beast Boy was doing was anything but sane. He stared her down, like staring Hades in the eyes. His sneer both matched and dwarfed hers, him having the clear supremacy in canine length. And though his eyes didn't glow, they shined with challenge and determination unlike ever seen from him before. It was like he wanted this, like he was taunting the devil to make a move.
The air was too thick to chance a breath, less you draw the wrath of either of the two behemoths, so the other three remained quite, both curious and frightened. Just before the floodgates of Gahenna poured forth, the oddest thing broke the tension in the room.
A simple, raspy cough.
Dumbfounded by the sound, the two combatants we forced to ceasefire, curiosity taking the both of them. All five pairs of eyes scanned the room until ,simultaneously, all five landed onto the wall sized video monitor that dominated a section of the room.
If you listened closely, you could hear what would be the beginnings of a heart attack coming from Robin. Ba Thumpa Thump Thump Thump…faster and faster. Because on the screen was none other but his mentor and "father", The Dark Knight, Batman, and behind him, The Man of Steel, Superman. Two Legendary Powerhouses at once, observing his team at a less than glorious moment. Ba Thumpa Thump Thump…faster and faster…
"We need to talk. Now."