Me: Decided that I'd type again so here's another chapter.

Jay: Remember the disclaimer…

Me: *groans* Sadly, I don't own the Teen Titans.

Chapter 10: The Tournament: Part 1

Four months later…

"Mom! I'm going to train with Gar!" I yelled as Gar opened the door for us to go outside. I crossed my fingers, hoping she wouldn't stop us this time.

My mom shouted back from Crow's room. "You two are not going anywhere! You're going to leave me alone with this destructive little baby?"

"Well, that was the idea." Gar muttered. "He nearly broke my finger in the morning."

I sighed. My mother made Gar and I take care of Crow so she could get some free time and sleep. Taking care of my little brother was not that easy. For a four month old baby, he was already the size of a one year old. He was growing rapidly. Crow was now strong, strong enough to bend a toaster. In fact, we were now at our tenth toaster this week. To Crow, toast popping out of a toaster was "magical". Which was absolutely ridiculous. Anyways, sometimes I wished she took care of him all by herself. Gar and I needed some free time. Mom already took care of him nearly all night long because he was fussy and sometimes screamed in his sleep. She also fed him, dressed him, changed his diapers, bathed him…couldn't she take care of him in the daytime too?

"I guess we're skipping training. Again." I groaned and hung my head while we walked to Crow's room.

Two pairs of amethyst eyes met mine, one pair was exhausted while the other was happy and energetic. He was sitting on my mom's lap, playing with one of his many stuffed animals that he was ripping apart. Toys never lasted long with him. When he saw us, Crow giggled and stretched his hands out for Gar to carry him.

"Hey, how's it going big boy? Are you torturing your mother or what?" Gar asked Crow. Crow laughed again and clapped his hands. I guess he liked torturing Mom.

"Mom, can we not take care of Crow right now? We were going to train." I pleaded.

She stiffened and then gave me the evil eye. "No. I am not-and will not-take care of him by myself."

"C'mon Rae, Jay and I need some time to ourselves." Gar told her.

Mother gave him the super-deluxe-evil-glare. "You were the one who decided the little guy was happening. So no. I haven't had a good sleep in weeks, Gar. Weeks! I need some time to myself. You two aren't helping at all!"

He raised his hands in defense. "Well, um…when you put it that way-"

"What Gar means to say is, we will help you with Crow, but we all do have a point. We need some time to ourselves." I interrupted quickly. "So maybe we should leave Crow with someone."

"No." was my mother's immediate reply. "I won't burden anyone with Crow. He is rather adorable and sweet, but he is a handful. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to take a nap." With that, Mother left us with Crow.

Gar looked down at my brother. "You are a naughty little guy, huh? You'll be the death of me. You and your mother." Gar muttered and then looked at me. "Hold him for a sec, will you? I need to um…take a wazz."

Before I could object, Gar changed into a cheetah and ran out of the room. I inwardly groaned. He was probably going to watch a football game or something.

"Gar, I told you a million times, NOT TO PHASE IN THE HOUSE!" Mom scolded loudly. Crow and I jumped.

We looked at each other. "Gar is so dead." I murmured and set Crow down on the carpet.

"Dead, dead, dead!" Crow piped up, ripping apart a plush Gar.

I couldn't help chuckling. Yep, this boy had humor.

I sat on the carpet to watch my little brother rip apart some more toys. This was getting expensive, letting him destroy household items and toys. The only reason we kept buying him toys was because when we did stop buying him toys, he was tearing pillows apart and he found Gar's secret stash of Boo-Yah! energy drink. Crow was caffeinated for twenty-four hours straight, destroying whatever he could find. Gar and I had to go to the hospital for about a week because he had accidentally dropped some heavy items on us. Fortunately for my mom, she defended herself with her powers but was stuck taking care of Crow until we were feeling better.

Gar was so proud of his 'little monster' even though Crow had dislocated his shoulder. He kept saying that Crow would make a great superhero one day and he'd get all the ladies. Gar thought that he'd get Mother's powers, and Mother thought Crow would have Gar's powers. This had become a frequent argument in our household and I usually had to stop it from going to far. Sometimes they acted like little kids, but Mom told me that when they were teenagers, they bickered in the Tower until it drove the others insane.

It always surprised me, how much they loved each other when they were younger, but fell for other people. Nightwing for Mom, Terra for Garfield. It was strange. I wondered why they didn't end up together sooner. Gar said "it was mostly Raven's fault she didn't admit that she was in to me [Gar]." Sometimes, I wish Mom didn't fall for Nightwing and betrayed Starfire. It was totally unfair to my younger half-siblings. I wondered if they'd hate me when they were older because of their father's affair.

Crow grabbed his stuffed monkey (the only toy he hadn't tried to destroy) and threw it at my face. I spat out bits of fluff and looked at Crow's face. He was pouting because I wasn't paying attention to him. I didn't like to admit it, but for a baby he was a cute little guy.

"Alright, little bro. You have my attention." I told him. Crow grinned and showed me his teeth. They were sharper than normal teeth, but not as sharp as Gar's. He looked just like him when he smiled, but when he gave me a serious look he looked like Mom.

Crow crawled to his crib and pulled out a dog bone from under it. He bit the dog bone and sucked on it like a lollipop. I cringed. Where did he get the dog bone from?

"Crow! Don't suck on that." I said and carried him. I took the dog bone away from him. It was probably Gar's since he had a habit of biting on dog bones too. "Mother would be disgusted that her son sucks on dog bones."

He gave me a mean glare, like the ones Mom gives to Gar when he's done something bad. Then he did something I didn't expect. He bawled and whimpered loudly.

I bit my lip. "Shush, Crow. C'mon, little guy, shush before Mom comes." I said frantically. "Crow, please don't cry."

He cried louder and I was forced to give him the dog bone back. He gave me a smug smile as he chewed on the dog bone.

Gar knocked on the door. "I heard crying and Raven forced me to come here. Is everything okay?" He noticed Crow was sucking on a dog bone and his eyes widened. "Is that my dog bone?"

"Yeah it is. You should be careful about where you leave those, Gar."

Gar said, "Crow! Why the fudge did you take my dog bone? I was looking for it for weeks! I dug holes everywhere on this island!"

Crow just shrugged and offered the dog bone to him, saliva dripping from one of the ends.

"Um…I'm flattered, but no. Keep it."

Crow shrugged again as if to say, Your loss and resumed sucking on it.

Gar turned to me. "It's my turn to look after the little guy. Oh by the way, I got this flyer from Cyborg. Forgot to give it to you months ago but…here you go." He put a crumpled flyer into my hands and shooed me out of Crow's room.

I walked out of the room, closing the door gently. I walked to my room and sat on my desk. I turned on the lights and read the flyer.

Are you under the age of thirteen? Do you want to test your abilities in a tournament of heroes in training? Then you're in luck!

The Tournament of Young Heroes is starting November 4th. The winner will receive a gold trophy and a hundred dollars in cash! Entries must be turned in by October 21st.

*We are not responsible for any injuries, deaths, or brain damage.*

A tournament? That sounded pretty cool to me. A gold trophy? That was worth it. A hundred bucks? Not that much but oh well. I wondered who would be going to the tournament. Knowing Nightwing, his kids would probably be there, and Uncle Cy's kids might enter too. I looked at the calendar. The date was October twenty-first.

I jumped in my seat and pulled out my laptop. I hacked into a secret version of the Internet, but it was only for heroes. I typed Tournament of Young Heroes in the search engine and hit enter.

The website was the first of the results. I clicked it. The site was cool. It had pictures of heroes in the background. I saw my mom, Gar, Cyborg, Superman, Batman, even Nightwing. I clicked on the tab that said Tournaments and found the tournament I was looking for. The entry for it was there. I filled it in, stating how old I was, my mentor, my parents (thankfully, that one was optional but I only put my mom), and all that. I e-mailed it to the people running it.

I was really excited. I would meet people like me. Kids with superpowers and/or abilities. I wondered if Superman's grandkids would be there (A/N He and Lois Lane didn't have any bio kids in the comics, but in Superman Returns they had a son named Jason.) I heard-okay, eavesdropped-from my mom that he had three kids, all of them are girls. I wondered if there would be more superkids there. Maybe Aqualad's kid, or maybe Batman's grandson. It would be really…epic to see all of the contestants and battle them.

I was hungry for battle.

I checked the date of the tournament again, and then I froze. That day was my birthday. On the day of the tournament marked one year since running off and meeting Father. I leaned back on the wall. So much had changed, so much had happened. To think that this had happened just because I wanted to know the identity of my father. I chuckled to myself. One year had pretty much changed my life. If it didn't happen, then Mom wouldn't have had Crow and I would still be stuck in here.

I ran out of the room to show my mother the flyer. Fortunately, when I barged into her room, she was wide awake and staring at the ceiling. Strange. I thought she'd be sleeping.

"Hey, Jay." my mom said wearily and pressed the back of her hand on her forehead. Her eyes were closed.

"Hi, Mom. Are you okay?" I asked, concerned. The dark circles under her eyes now seemed permanent.

She closed her eyelids even tighter now, I could see the crease marks on her forehead. Her eyebrows were scrunched up, as if she was in pain. Finally, she said, "Why are you here?"

My eyes narrowed. Mother didn't answer my question. "I think that can wait. You don't look so good."

"Gee, thanks son." she whispered sarcastically. Well, at least she felt better enough to be sarcastic.

"Mom, do you need a doctor or something?"

"No. This will heal on it's own."

"Mother, please. I don't think this sort of thing will heal on its own."

"Tell me why you came here so you can leave quicker."

I feigned hurt. "I am offended."

She let out a low growl. "Jay…"

"There's a tournament happening on my birthday. It's called the Tournament of Young Heroes."

"Where's it gonna be?"

I looked at the flyer in my hand. "It doesn't say."

"Then, fool, there must be a hidden message on it. Hold it out to the light." my mother snapped and I did as I was told. It said, Sky Temple.

I was confused. Where was that?"

My mom was now miffed at me. "Where is it?"

"Sky Temple." I replied. "I don't know where that is."

"Oh. That's also known as a sacred place in Tokyo. Your father and I went there once."

"Why?" I ventured.

She bit her lip. "Just sightseeing."

I didn't think that was the whole truth, but I also knew Mother would kill me if I pressed her too hard. "Okay then. So can I go?"

"Sure. Don't you have to fill out an entry form though?"

I nodded. "I already sent it in. Juts in case you said no."

Mom gave me a faint smile with her eyes still closed. "That's my boy." she said softly.

"You really don't look so good Mom. Do you want Gar to take a look?"

"NO!" she yelled, alarmed. Mom sat up and her eyes were opened in fear. She noticed me standing there, horrified yet worried. She regained her composure. "No, that's fine. Don't tell him, okay?"

I nodded. I was still wondering if she needed a psychologist.

"I don't need a psychologist, Jay." she said as if she was reading my mind.

I nodded again. "Okay. Um, bye Mom. Please get some sleep."

"Sure." she said doubtfully. "That'll happen."

I closed the door. I looked at the door for a long time before leaving. Was Mother sick or something?

Something small was hovering in the corner of my eye. I turned to the right and saw Crow. He was grabbing his toes and laughing, going through walls. I blinked. Crow was flying! And going through walls!

"Jay! I need a word with you." Gar called from the common room.

I walked there suspiciously. "What's up?"

"Remember when we had that bet? Where I had to prove I loved Raven and the loser had to prank her?"

My heart sank and anxiety grabbed my chest. "Um, no?"

He grinned evilly. "Yeah you do. As soon as I get Crow, I'm gonna watch you prank Raven." He laughed and gave me a thumbs-up. "Hope that you live to tell the tale. Where is she anyways?"

"Her bedroom." I said before I could stop myself.

"Cool. I'll be there in a bit, kid." Gar dashed off to find Crow.

I slapped myself hard in the face. Mother was going to kill me.

"Okay, I've got pie, duct tape, a stick, and a duck." I said frantically. "How am I gonna pull this off?"

I've got to admit, I'm not much of a prankster. The duck seemed to agree with me. It quacked.

I told it to shut up. It quacked at me loudly and tried to bite my thumb.

I apologized to the duck.

The duck nibbled on my finger.

"Pie, duct tape, a stick, and a duck. Pie, duct tape, a stick, and a duck. Pie, duct tape, a stick, and a duck. How am I supposed to do this?" I said, grabbing fistfuls of my hair. "Um, maybe I attach the duck to the stick with duct tape, throw pie at Mom's face, then attack her with the duck stick?

The duck quacked in disagreement.

"Yeah, I know. Not gonna work." I told the duck. "I'm no good at this."

The duck looked at me as if to say, I'm probably better at this than you are.

I didn't doubt it.

"Hmm…maybe it's a catapult sort of thing? I put the duck on one end of the stick and pie on the other and make the duck fly on Mom's face? Or vice versa? And the duck tape could be used for tying Mom down so Gar can take a picture of her? Gah, what do you think?" I yelled at the duck.

It shook its head.

"WHY AM I TALKING TO A DUCK?" I shouted. I was glad the walls of my room were thick enough so my voice would come out muffled on the other side. Was I going insane by talking to a duck?"

I heard a knock and opened the door. No knock on my door. I poked my head out the door and saw Gar enter their room.

"No!" I cried. "Gar don't go!"

I ran to their room and heard Gar say, "Rae! What happened to you?"

My mom looked worse now. Her porcelain skin seemed paler. Her lips were chapped. The dark circles under her eyes now seemed a deeper color. Her violet hair was messy and she looked miserable. Surprised to see Gar, yet miserable. Mother's eyes found mine and she scowled. She thought I told Gar. I had to think of something. Fast.

I pulled on his sleeve. "I can explain! I-"

"Whoa. Dude, you did this to your mom? You pranked your mom bye butting this weird makeup and making her look bad? Jay, I've never seen anything like it!" Way to go, buddy!" He raised his hand so we could high-five.

I was shocked. He thought that this was the prank?

My mother locked eyes with me and I got the message. Play along.

"Oh, yeah. I did. Aren't you proud of me?"

"Yeah! C'mon, lets have some cake to celebrate. You wanna come, Raven?"

Mom cleared her throat. "No, thanks. Maybe later."

Gar shrugged. "Okay. Your loss though. C'mon, Jay!" He dragged me to the kitchen and pulled out two slices of pie from the refrigerator.

"You, sir," Gar said as he gave me my slice of pie. "are a great makeup artist."

I nodded my thanks, my mouth full of pie and my head full of worry. What happened to Mom while I was gone?

We both ate our pie in silence, if you can count Gar wolfing down the pie silent. Pieces of pie were flying out of his mouth. Some went in my hair. That was gross. I flicked them off my hair. I was gonna have to shampoo twice tonight.

I finished my pie and bolted into Crow's room. He was asleep. Good. I raced to my room and slammed the door shut. I jumped on my bed and lay on my back, thinking about my mother and her mysterious sickness.

That's it. I'm done with this chapter. Please review! I at least want three or four reviews before I update again.