Author's Note: HEY! sorry it's taken me so long to update, but i had issues that needed clearing up, and no internet access for a week and a half, as well as some minor writer's block…but i'm over that…anywayz, i'll try to have the next chapter up faster, i'm working on it now. of course, this is the first mention of the Titans since Beast Boy left the team, and i promise there will be more of these to come, so don't worry. another thing: i've introduced many new characters over this and last chapter, and any that do not appear in the Teen Titan show or comics belong to ME. also, any lyrics used by the Badboiz belong to ME, so please don't use characters or lyrics without my consent. so yeah, i bet some of you are getting curious about how long i'm gonna stick with this story? well don't sweat it, i'm gonna try to stick with it til the end...and you guys REALLY gotta stop trying to guess the plot, you're starting to scare me with how close you get! i really don't have anything more to say, so i present to you chapter ten of Life With No Green…
iamhollywood: well, you'll just have to stick around to find out about Bart and Argent, won't you?
TDG3RD: thanx for the compliment, and Gar hasn't even met half of the interesting characters i have in mind for him…
dragoon-bane: THEY ARE BACK! MUHAHAHA! (whoa, sugar rush eeeee!)
rikagirl: new friends are fun, old friends return
Lee: about the ASAP part…o.O
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters in the Teen Titans show or comics.
The only hint that there were actually living beings in the Tower's kitchen was the soft sizzling and crackling coming from a pot full of water on the stove, vapor rising from the boiling liquid and fading into the air. The breakfast table was painfully quiet, even though four teenagers, all close friends, were gathered around it. And the silence was not the comfortable kind easily shared by family members or best friends, when there is simply nothing worth saying—it was a tense, awkward kind that everyone sharing it was unbearably aware of. Hence the irritated looks cast across the table and fingers tapping gently on the table's surface.
Raven sat with her legs crossed at one end of the table, holding a mug of steaming herbal tea with both hands and gazing decidedly at the kitchen sink. Starfire sat beside her, sighing occasionally and glancing at her friends, unsure of whether to lighten the mood or not, sipping softly at her bottle of mustard. Across from her was Cyborg, his plate of eggs and sausage untouched, trading seemingly unspoken insults with Robin, who was leaning on the counter by the stove. Their faces changed expressions with each glare they exchanged, usually going from annoyed to seething, their simmering anger detectable by even an amateur of human emotions like Starfire.
It was Saturday morning and it had been a total of two weeks since Beast Boy had been hit by the mutate bomb, as it had come to be referred to, but the Titans were far from mending the gaps of doubt and sour feelings that had appeared when the once-green elf had ceased to be a member of the team. All four remaining members considered it a miracle that the Titans had been able to defeat any of the criminals or enemies that had popped up in the last two weeks, as dysfunctional and slow as they had been. So far, no foul or suspicious words had erupted in the press, but Robin had warned the team to be on their best behavior, because it always only took so long.
Raven had agreed with Robin on this one point, and was waiting almost anxiously to see what the paparazzi would make of Beast Boy's disappearance. Almost everyone knew the Titans had achieved an almost perfect balance of things that typically led them to victory, but everyone also had a slight idea of what would happen if the Titans lost a member permanently: they would fall apart. So much had been proven when the team had lost someone before, like when Slade took away Robin, or like Starfire's testimony of what the future would amount to if she disappeared, and thanks be that both hadn't been lost permanently.
Of course, the scenario was a tad different with Beast Boy.
A soft ding sounded through the kitchen, followed by a loud pop as pieces of bread flew out of the toaster by the stove. Before she knew what was happening, Raven was balancing her tea in one hand and an overturned chair barely stopped from crashing to the floor in the other, a beaming Starfire walking to the table with four pieces of toast set neatly on a plate, mustard smiley-faces painted on each. Starfire had apparently decided to try to lighten the mood. Raising an eyebrow while she righted the chair, Raven bemusedly wondered how this was going to 'go down'.
"Friends!" Starfire exclaimed with sincerity and cheer, setting the plate of toast in the center of the table. "Let us eat the bread of toast together, and then go down to your city's park, possibly? I have heard a fair of festivities is taking place, and—"
"Thanks, but no thanks, Star," Cyborg suddenly said, a little louder than necessary. "Robin might want us to check with him first every time we make any sort of conversation or social advances towards anyone, and I'm not sure I want to make that much trouble when I'm buying a pretzel—"
"What?" Robin growled dangerously. His face had been growing steadily redder with every word Cyborg spoke. Starfire had an expression of utter helplessness on her face, her eyes pleading with her two friends, toast forgotten on the table.
"Oh boy," Raven droned, taking a sip of her herbal tea. "Here we go. Again."
Both Cyborg and Robin ignored her comment and Starfire's nonverbal messages, having focus only for each other. "Well, you know," Cyborg began again, rising from the table with his still-full plate. "Since it's now necessary for you to sift through our harmless, personal business, I just figured—"
"You contacted Bumblebee and gave her confidential information! That's not harmless—"
"She's a member of Titans East! I called her for an evaluation on how everything's going over there—"
"And letting her know of issues over here that don't concern them and could put them in danger later on, if we're not careful!"
"You put me in charge of the creation and overseeing of Titans East, they're an extension of us, the original Titans; a hand can't pick up things without any freaking fingers! I was fulfilling my duty. Besides, word is starting to get around, now, Robin—people have been noticing his absence! When Titans East called us, they might've just gotten wind of some rumors. I probably wasn't telling them anything they didn't already know. It might've even been coincidence!"
"Contacting us in a matter of days after we lost an important team member to offer extra assistance is NOT coincidence! You were the only one to have communicated with them since the incident, Cyborg, and don't pretend your not close to Bumblebee. It would've been easy let our situation slip—"
"Just because you have commitment issues doesn't mean we all do, Robin!"
"That's not the point! You broke protocol, Cyborg, and you know it, so you might as well admit it!"
Raven sighed as the quarreling continued, taking another sip of her tea, which was starting to get lukewarm. Cyborg had thrown his plate in the sink and was bending over a recoiling Robin as he told him off, only to switch positions when Robin began telling him off. Raven wondered if Bumblebee had known the trouble she would cause when she politely informed the Titans that any member of Titans East was eager and ready to go if the Titans needed any help in Jump City. Most likely not. Raven peered over at Starfire, who was shooting positively grumpy looks at the boys, both oblivious to the two girls and the rest of their surroundings. Raising her mug, Raven watched her Tamaranian friend, muttering into her tea, "And three…two…one…"
"ENOUGH!" Starfire thundered, silencing the argument instantly and looming over the two boys like a hungry lioness. Robin and Cyborg stared at her, stunned, angry words gone in their startlement. Raven hid a snicker in her tea, quickly resuming her equilibrium of emotions afterwards, lest she break out in a laughing fit only to explode something. She really didn't know what was so funny, but she had been reminded of her dull sense of humor many times by…ah, no, don't think of him, Raven scolded herself, turning her attention back to Starfire and the others after the few seconds it had been diverted.
Starfire seemed to shrink back to normal size when she spoke again, her good nature returning, though worry was weaved in her voice. "Friends, please," she said, clasping her hands in front of her. "This is much more than 'the getting on the nerves'. You mustn't fight like this! If Beast Boy were here, I am sure he would not want you fighting because of him."
Cyborg and Robin glanced at each other, not in anger but in guilt. Starfire had this amazing ability to make peace between friends through shame, Raven noted. It was clever, but Raven never even considered that Starfire did it on purpose. Robin stepped forward, apology in his every movement. "Star, we're not fighting because of him, we're just…" He looked to Cyborg in distress, but Cyborg was too busy staring at the ground, at loss for words as well.
"Yes? You are just what?" Starfire asked, inquisitive yet firm. "You are fighting over dispensed information about him, are you not? I believe you are also still mad at his departure, yes?"
"She's right." Raven sat her tea down and rose, aroused by this last bit of unintentional wisdom. "You two have got to stop this. Cyborg already contacted Titans East, whether or not it was about Beast Boy, and Titans East already offered us help, whether or not it was spurred by knowledge of Beast Boy's resignation. It all has now happened in the past, and bickering over it won't change anything. We either accept their offer or not, and move on."
Robin had started nodding as Raven spoke, and Cyborg had looked up. Now they looked at each other, and Cyborg held out his robotic hand. "Truce?" he gravelly asked Robin.
"Truce," Robin agreed, grasping Cyborg's hand.
As if to punctuate their renewed friendship, the Titans alarm blared through the Tower, flashing red lights illuminating the kitchen. All the Titans looked at each other, and Robin gave a timid smile. "Okay," he said, heading to the door. "Titans: go!"
Around forty minutes earlier (or something like that)
"So you got everything? Cell phone included?" Steve asked once more as Gar and he walked up the sidewalk to the International House of Pancakes, heading towards the double-glass doors where a friendly sign plastered on the inside read 'Yes, we're OPEN'. Gar nodded his head, putting his hand in one of his back pockets to make sure his two twenty dollar bills were still there…it hadn't been often he had been trusted with more than ten dollars since he lost sixty dollars when he was twelve, and Gar could definitely get used to having enough money to do something with. Of course, Steve had said this money should last him for a week or two, and he shouldn't be expecting anymore freeloading when he got a job, which he would get in another couple weeks. According to Steve.
"And I'll pick you up at the mall three hours from now? Outside T.J. Benny's?"
Gar nodded again as they came up to the door, though Steve seemed unwilling to relax. He looked at his foster father, glad he could know for sure that at least one person cared enough for him, even if he would rather know for sure that four other certain people cared as Steve did…"Don't worry," Gar told Steve as he opened the door to the restaurant, shaking away his bitter thoughts, "I'll be fine."
"Oh," Steve laughed quickly, jerking away his eyes from a huge, tattooed and pierced bulk of a man smoking a cigarette, "did it seem like I was worried? I wasn't worried. I know you'll be fine. Nothing could possibly happen in a crowded, family-fun restaurant, right?"
Gar tried not to laugh at the falsely cheerful and slightly ludicrous smile on Steve's face, and gave his party's name to the hostess. "Ah, you're with that group, are you?" she asked, picking up a menu and handing it to a waitress standing beside her. "You must be knew to the mix, I haven't seen you around before."
The hostess gave a friendly wink, and the waitress mumbled a barely coherent, "Right this way." Gar started to follow her, but was stopped when Steve touched him on the arm.
"I told you you'd make it work," Steve said fondly, all apprehension gone from his face. "Now go have some fun."
Gar smiled at Steve, then jogged to catch up with the waitress, who was waiting impatiently by the bathrooms. She instantly took off when she saw Gar coming towards her, leading him to a corner of the restaurant where a large group of teens sat around one of the huge corner booths with the circular tables. They were all average-looking guys, probably about four or five of them. Most were dressed in the usual Saturday attire, shorts and a T-shirt, but each had on something black. Gar searched the group for a familiar face, but before he could locate Kassie or Michael, the whole table exploded in laughter, causing many of the surrounding parties to turn and give wild or annoyed glares.
"Gar!" someone cried from behind him as the laughter died down, and he turned as well. Kassie was running around a bend, waving. Her voice must've also caught the attention of the table, because Michael suddenly appeared out of the crowd as most of them stood up to let him through.
"Hey, glad you two finally showed up," he commented as Kassie stopped beside Gar. The waitress put Gar's menu on the table, snatched another menu from a passing waiter, put it on top of Gar's, and left. "We decided to postpone ordering until you guys arrived," he added, leading Kassie and Gar up to the table.
"An' it was a powerful difficult time, considerin' John here 'as a stomach of an elephant or sumin', an' he 'asn't aten since lunch yesterday," one of the boys around the table shouted with a strong Australian accent of a sort, jabbing a thumb at the person sitting next to him.
"Well, it wasn't my fault you came over and emptied my fridge at lunch yesterday," the guy being accused whined in an injured voice. "Damn those campus passes," he grumbled amid another spell of laughter.
"And weren't you the one who suggested giving a campus pass to Nick?" Kassie asked lightly over the laughing, a lilting light in her eyes.
"Yeah, but he didn' spect me to stop raiding 'is lunch tray and start on 'is fridge," Nick reconciled, causing everyone to laugh harder or start laughing yet again.
As the laughter died down again, a new person spoke. "Now stop bickering, you two, so Kassie and Michael can introduce us to their new friend."
"We weren't bickering!" John protested, but fell silent as Kassie gave him one of her looks. Nick snickered, then fell silent also.
Michael cleared his throat and took the floor. "Lady and gentlemen," he announced in a ridiculously low and showy voice, "first I would like to tell you all I am using this preposterous broadcast voice because I plan to become the world's top announcer one day, announcing the best of the best—"
"Aw, just cut to the chase, man, or else we'll all just introduce ourselves," a guy sitting at the end of the booth complained, shoving Michael a bit.
"You suck," Michael retorted brilliantly in his normal voice. "Anyway, Gar, the dorks who sit in front of you are the Badboiz garage band, who'll introduce themselves because they suck, and guys, this is Garfield Logan, preferably Gar, just moved from the chill of Maine."
The guy on the end of the booth whistled. "Sure made your way down here, didn't you?" he said, extending his hand so Gar could shake it. He had dusty-blonde hair that he was constantly brushing out of his eyes, and looked to Gar like one of the surfer guys you would see in a sports magazine: hard-ripped, tall, tan, and down-to-earth. Today he was wearing sandals and shorts, with a black T-shirt on. Gar noticed he was also acquiring some attention from the opposite sex around him; excluding Kassie, of course. "I'm Tye Suliven, drummer of the Badboiz."
"An' I'm Nick Sculler, mate, the coolest New Zealander bass guitarist plus back-up vocals you'll ever meet," Nick interrupted, leaning across Tye and shaking Gar's hand before Tye could. He had bleached-blonde hair, gelled and spiked at the top, a crooked grin and a silver ring decorating his right nostril. He seemed a bit shorter than Tye, and had on a sleeveless black shirt with shorts and tennis shoes.
"I beg to differ on the 'coolest' part," Tye muttered, shaking Gar's hand as soon as Nick had stopped.
"Now don't start bickering with Nick," the guy sitting beside Nick said, shooting a glower at Nick before giving Gar a huge smile and reaching across the table to do his introductory. He had short brown hair, very much like Michael's and was wearing all black, T-shirt, shorts, tennis shoes and even a black wrist band. "John Stofbecker, guitarist two and back-up vocalist two." He shook Gar's hand. "But my guitar is the spiffiest one out of all of ours."
"You wish, little brother." The same guy that had scolded Nick and John for bickering and had stood up beside Kassie now came forward, holding his hand out. He looked extremely similar to John, with the same eyes and face, but black hair instead of brown. He seemed to share a fondness for black as well, since he was wearing a black shirt, black jeans, and black converse shoes. "Benji Stofbecker, lead vocals and rhythm guitarist. John and me are the founders of the Badboiz, and proud of it to this day."
"Even though there's not always a lot to be proud of," Kassie smirked playfully, earning a soft punch in the arm from Benji and groans from the rest of the band. "What?" Kassie asked innocently, "You guys should be glad to recieve feedback from your assistant manager, seeing as I'm the one who listens to you from the audience at gigs."
"Yeah, and you know how much we love hearing your voice cheering in the crowd of wild fans," Benji replied, winking at Kassie while she snorted at took his seat at the booth.
"More like how much you love hearing her, Benji," John grumbled, gaining a few chuckles and snickers from the rest of the guys. "Now stop flirting so we can eat already."
"Yeah, 'e's startin' to drool on me," Nick said out of the side of his mouth as everyone scooted around the booth to make room for Michael, Gar, and Benji. Soon Gar had taken Tye's old spot, the edge of the booth, followed by Michael, then Tye, John, Nick, Kassie, and Benji. They had finally managed to get all their orders settled with an incredulous-looking waitress, who had kept refusing John and Michael's pleas to go out with them between every order, when John and Tye began grilling Gar on what it was like in Maine while Kassie, Nick, and Benji were debating the band's schedule mixed with school. Since Gar had never been to Maine and was uncomfortable about answering questions he didn't really know the answers too, he somehow succeeded in turning around the conversation.
"So, you dudes play at gigs?" Gar asked after blankly reassuring Tye that the puffin population was quite fine (A/N: I'm not crazy, they're a type of bird—I swear, go type it in on Google!) in Maine.
"When we can," John said keenly, relieved like Gar to be talking about something other than remote artic birds. "Kassie and Michael usually set them up for us, but it's hard to get booked in places like Jump City."
"Tell me about it," Michael said, pouring himself some orange juice out of one of the pitchers the waitress had brought by earlier. "Last weekend I was literally kicked out of X-Zone, one of the coolest clubs in Jump City that restricts underage drinking and everything, because they said they didn't want a bunch of kids playing at the club. But who normally goes there? Practically every high school student in the city, that's who." Michael made a face, and chugged the rest of his orange juice. "Dorks didn't even look at the band's resumé-thingy."
"Why is it so hard because you're in Jump City? To get booked, I mean," Gar continued curiously.
"Well, you see, this city's a damn big one," Tye said. "Rivaling Los Angeles and Miami, I think. So there's tons of other bands right out of the garage like us, that's why we still call ourselves a garage band, and they're all trying to make it big like us. Plus the added factor of—"
"Tourist attraction," John finished for Tye, taking over. "With tons of tourist coming in practically all the time, minus a few weeks of September, October, and March, clubs and entertainers or anyone that wants live music only wants the best. Bands always scramble for the publicity, and it's like a madhouse at boardwalks and beachside outlets."
"Wait—tourists?" Gar halted John. A potbellied man wearing a huge Hawaiian print shirt with a straw hat and camera hanging around his neck popped into Gar's mind. He hadn't ever really seen any tourists before, and what was in Jump City worth seeing?
"Yeeeeaaaah…" Michael looked at him as if he were crazy. "What would you call the idiots walking into rip-off souvenir shops and coming out with little half-broken gadgets that they're so proud of. It's why all the would-be homeless people in this city are not homeless—they just go into the tourist business, giving tours and selling trinkets."
Tye gave Michael a dirty look, and John snickered. "Yeah the tourists are sometimes gullible around here. But you can't blame them, I'm sure the tourists that go to Gotham City and Metropolis are the same way," John concluded, finishing his orange juice like Michael just as two waitress appeared next to the table with trays full of steaming pancakes, eggs, waffles, and whatnot. John's face brightened considerably. "Finally!"
"Huh?" Gar's plate of buttermilk pancakes was sat down in front of him. They hadn't had any tofu, though Gar sometimes wondered why he continued his tofu practice. "Gotham City and Metropolis?" he repeated stupidly.
"You know, home of the 'Dark Knight' and Superman?" Tye answered while John and Michael both tucked in to their meals. "Not as many tourists go there, of course, anymore, since both guys are now on Justice League's watchtower space station more often than at their original bases. But in Jump City, the tourists flock because of the bay and beaches as well as hopes of glimpsing the Teen Titans, and they're usually not disappointed."
Gar's fork froze halfway to his mouth, and he practically felt the heat rushing to his face. Luckily everyone was to busy eating or being handed their plates to notice his sudden lapse of cool, and Gar was able to recover himself with a small "Oh," before he shoved a mouthful of syrupy pancakes into his mouth. I should've been ready for that, Gar thought as he chewed. The Titans are probably everyday news to people in Jump City…though I really haven't seen any news about them.
"Yeah, it gets annoying when people start flashing their cameras as five battling teens and typically a large monster of some sort are heading directly at them," Michael stated between his bites. "If I was one of the Titans, I'd probably be pissed at having to save those dopes. It's like, hello, ever heard of running in the other direction?"
John laughed and then started coughing, his face turning red while Nick pounded on his back until the guilty piece of egg came up. Without thinking, Gar said absently, "To tell you the truth, we never really noticed."
Michael and Tye stared at him as John's face returned to its regular shade of peach, and it took Gar a minute to realize what he had said. "I meant me…and my foster dad!" Gar blurted. "Yeah, the—the times we've been out, we've never really noticed all the tourists or whatever. I mean, it's not like they go walking around in…uh, Hawaiian print shirts with huge cameras hanging around their necks, right?"
Michael shrugged, and was about to reply when a high-pitched, cheerfully preppy voice that Gar had heard once before called across the restaurant, "OOhh my gaw, Garfield? Is that you? And Benji?"
All the guys at the table light our soft moans, and John whispered harshly, "Speaking of annoying…"
Nicole Jackson suddenly appeared next to Gar, wearing barely butt-length cut-off shorts with a seriously tiny pink tank-top and flip-flops. Her blonde hair fell across her shoulders, gleaming in sunlight, and her smile was as wide as her face, showing almost all of her straight, extremely white teeth. She was incredibly hot, but if you went by the rolling eyes, tight smiles, and false glee plastered on every single face, excluding Michael, she was far from it.
"Nicole!" Michael exclaimed hopefully, a genuine grin on his face. "What's up?"
"Nothing," Nicole said quickly, her eyes on Gar instead. Michael's face fell. "So, you met the band I see?" she asked Gar, who simply nodded, a little creeped out by Nicole's stare. He usually liked blondes, but Nicole had a tendency to scare him. And that was saying something.
"He's been accepted as one of us now, poor boy," John spoke up. Nick, Tye, and Michael laughed, while Benji continued eating and Kassie silently moved her lips. It looked like she was praying.
"Ah, so this was his coronation breakfast," Nicole said, placing an arm around Gar and sitting halfway on his lap. He stiffened, and sent a pleading look around the table. Michael was watching him longingly, John and Nick were snickering into their hands and food, and Tye was shaking his head. Kassie was still busy praying or whatever, and Benji gave him a powerless smile with a 'you're on your own, kid' look. "Don't look like you're used to this," Nicole purred, referring to Gar's barely eaten pancakes. She batted her eyes.
Michael dropped his fork, yawned, and stretched back at that instant, his two waffles that had been stacked on his plate gone, his eggs also. Done praying, Kassie snorted and said, "Well, Michael sure is, for that matter."
John and Nick couldn't hide their amusement behind their hands any longer, and Nicole gave a haughty glare at them and Kassie. Michael grinned again at her, and she returned her attention to Gar. "I see that," she said, giving a fake laugh. Gar didn't. "Now, the day calls, so I should get going." She told this to everyone, and removed herself from Gar. She gave him a flattering smile and waved to rest of the table. "No doubt you all will see me soon enough, so be good while I'm gone. I'll be back for you, Gar," she added, and with a last flip of her hair disappeared further into the restaurant.
"At last," Kassie breathed, mouthing a silent 'thank you' to the ceiling. Gar guessed she had been praying for Nicole's departure.
John nodded in agreement, then looked towards his older brother. "You know, you owe Gar a 'thank you,' Benji," he said seriously, the smile creeping into his voice at the last second the only thing that implied he was joking.
"I do?" Benji asked confusedly, clearly not following John's humor.
"Sure! He got Nicole off your back! Try to tell me you're not relieved."
Everyone at the table burst into laughter, Gar and Benji included. "I guess I do, then," Benji remarked. "Thank you."
"I'm not sure I can say you're welcome," Gar replied apologetically, earning more laughs.
"Aw, come on, guys," Michael said when the noise died down again. "Consider yourselves lucky to be flirted with by her."
Benji stuck out his tongue. "You wouldn't be saying that if you were the one being flirted with. It's freaking frightening to be on the receiving end of her hair flips. She barely misses your head sometimes. Besides," he said, putting his arm around Kassie as she blushed slightly, "I like my picks better."
John gave a catcall, and Michael shook his head. "You're blind. She's got everything you could want in a girl—blonde hair, gorgeous eyes, a busting bosom, a big ass—"
"You perv!" Kassie yelped as the others laughed, grabbing one of the biscuits she had gotten with her meal and chucking it at his head.
"Hey!" he said as it hit him squarely in the forehead. "I'm just sayin—"
But no one ever found out just what Michael was going to say.