Two months later …
A balmy late summer ocean breeze blew through the open windows in the cavernous living room in the La Jolla house. Freddy was playing a video game on the brand new GameStation XL he bought the other day, the newest Mega Monkeys game.
He was seated by himself on one of three couches that formed a U like shape. He was seated in the middle couch, which faced a 70 inch plasma TV, which displayed in glorious high resolution the high jinks of the monkeys in the game.
He was wearing a headset, which is why the room was silent and Raven appreciated that. She was sitting on the left hand side couch, reading a book, while her husband napped with his head resting in her lap. They had dinner plans for that night, a dinner for four at the "Marine Room" restaurant in La Jolla, which was going to be a special event as Raven had kept good on her word and set Freddy up with a date. Freddy of course had no idea. He figured that it would just be the three of them, sticking together per Batman's instructions.
The truth was that Freddy was beginning to feel like a spare wheel on the outings and wished there was a way he could just let the Chromatically Challenged Couple™ go out on their own. Raven got around to taking some driving classes and was no longer a menace behind the wheel, so they didn't need him to drive them around. But orders were orders, and when Batman issued them, they were to be followed. The last thing Freddy wanted was to get chewed out by Cap for disobeying orders.
He completed the level and paused the game, clandestinely glancing out of the corner of his eyes at them. He recalled the warnings Cap gave him regarding Raven. The biggest warning was that she had terrifying demonic powers and she should not be trifled with. That warning came all the way from the top, from Shazam himself. He was also warned that Raven was foul tempered and disagreeable, and was quick to anger.
Over the past two months he learned that the warnings were very accurate, Raven was indeed all those things, she would never win the Miss Congeniality award nor would anyone ever describe her as sweet or bubbly.
But Freddy learned a lot about Raven since joining their exiled group. She was quick to anger, but was even quicker to forgive. She had a nasty temper, but was always quick to apologize. She was also loyal and cared deeply for her friends. And while not one to be overly demonstrative with her affection he could tell that she was deeply in love with her husband. Oh, and she was loud, very loud … at night. Freddy often resorted to playing video games wearing his head phones in a feeble attempt to grant them a modicum of privacy. There was one thing he was certain of, Beast Boy was a stud, as Raven's moans often lasted an hour or longer, every single night.
And the headset was indeed very good at drowning out noise, so much so that he didn't hear the doorbell ring. Raven however, did hear it and after gently rousing the changeling from his nap she got up and glided over the front door. After verifying the identity of the visitor she allowed her to enter.
Beast Boy was still yawning when Raven escorted their guest into the room. Raven gestured at Freddy, who was in his Cap Jr. form and so focused on the video game that he didn't notice the guest's arrival.
"He's easy on the eyes." The young woman remarked in a New Zealand accent.
Freddy remained oblivious and Raven had to tap him on the shoulder to get his attention. He turned with a jerk to face Raven, who gestured with her hands that he should remove the headphones.
"What's up Raven? Is it already time to go?" He asked as he removed the headset.
"We have a guest." She gestured at the young women who stood next to her. She was a brunette, about the same height as Raven.
Freddy stood up and extended his hand to the new arrival. "Freddy, I'd like you to meet Toni Manetti."
They shook hands, after which she turned to Raven. "I don't care what Bats says, we're indoors."
The young woman slammed her fists together and her holographic disguise disappeared.
"You can call me Argent."
Freddy smiled "You're a Titan!"
"Well, an honorary Titan. I hope I didn't scare you with my transformation. I hate going undercover, but like Raven, I stand out in a crowd, since I look … well … different."
Freddy stared approvingly. "I think you look great."
Argent grinned and turned to Raven. "He's sweet, even if he is a pretty boy."
Freddy's expression changed to one that betrayed the unease he w as suddenly feeling. "Actually, this isn't the real me."
"I don't see any holorings on you."
"No, it's not a disguise, it's more of an alter ego … I'll show you." He said half heartedly.
Freddy stepped away and with a forlorn look on his face he muttered the words: "Captain Marvel."
A lightning bolt materialized and struck Freddy, leaving him shrouded in a small cloud of smoke, which quickly dissipated, revealing a lean young man with a cane. He limped back towards Raven and Argent.
"This … is the real me."
Argent stared at the transformed boy. His right leg was clearly deformed and he leaned on his cane as continued to limp. The look on his face was pained and his discomfort wasn't only from his leg. He turned to face the gray sorceress.
"I appreciate what you're trying to do, Raven … but as you can already see from the look on her face …"
Argent scowled. "Do you really think I'm that shallow?"
He smiled weakly. "Come on, you're a powerful super hero. You don't have to be shallow to find me …" He sighed. "To find me unattractive."
"I don't find your disability to be unattractive, and just so you know, Raven told me about it already."
"What?" He turned to Raven. "You told her?"
"She also told me that you had inner strength … she also told me that you're cute … but there is one thing about you I do find unattractive."
Freddy frowned at the Kiwi super heroine. He stood up straight, no longer leaning on his cane, in spite of the discomfort it caused him.
"And what would that be?"
"You were feeling sorry for yourself."
Freddy turned away and looked at the floor. "You're right." He stammered. "I was doing what I was afraid you would do … I prejudged you, I just assumed that you would only see what was wrong with me."
"You should give me more credit than that."
He turned back towards Argent. "You're right, I should … may I ask you a question?"
"Sure."
He leaned on his cane and smiled. "So, after I made a total ass of myself, would you still like to be my date for dinner tonight?"
Argent smiled. "Raven was right, you do have inner strength. Most guys would have shrunk away after making a blunder like that, but you manned up and accepted it. You're a bit of alright."
"I'll take that as a yes." He replied.
Beast Boy joined the group and chimed in. "We gotta get ready to go, or we'll miss our reservation."
He slammed his holorings together and transformed into a blonde man with freckles. Raven followed suit and so did Argent. Freddy stepped back and shouted "Captain Marvel". Once his transformation was complete he turned to the others.
"I'm ready." He announced.
"And just what do you think you're doing?" Argent asked.
At first Freddy was at a loss for words. "Uh … my disguise?"
"Your disguise? My date's Freddy Freeman, not Captain Marvel Junior."
Freddy rubbed the back of his neck. "Oh yeah … I don't need a disguise."
Before Freddy could revert back to his normal form a red light flashed from the ceiling and a loud buzzer rang. The TV automatically switched from the video game to a videophone call and Nightwing appeared on the screen. He was flanked by Starfire, who was wearing a Batgirl costume with her cowl down.
"Titans! There's been a development!"
"What is it?" Raven shouted.
"It's Deathstroke … you need to come to Gotham right now!"
Beast Boy stepped in front of the group.
"Dude, we don't have transportation."
"You won't need it." He replied as a large bookcase slid open, revealing a tunnel which began to make whirring sounds and glow yellow.
"What's that?" The changeling asked.
"It's a Zeta tube. Instant teleportation. But hurry, we don't have time."
The four heroes bolted into the tube and disappeared. The tube powered down and the bookcase slid back into position, hiding it from view.
-( scene break )-
Washington, DC … 30 minutes earlier.
President O'Connor sighed as he leaned back in his chair in the oval office. It was going on 10 PM and he once again missed tucking the kids into bed for the night. His wife was going to be cross with him, but there were still reports to read, no one ever said that being the President was an easy job. He resumed reading the report in his hand, something about crop failures in the Midwest and when he finished the page he realized that he couldn't remember what he just read. With a groan he dropped the sheaf of papers on his desk.
"Quitting time." He muttered to himself as he slowly rose from his chair, feeling the stiffness that was beginning to set into his whole body after sitting for 4 hours straight. He headed for the main door and opened it, exiting into the hallway. He was so tired that he almost didn't notice that the guards who normally flanked the door were missing. O'Connor was a former military officer himself and his instincts quickly kicked in. Something was wrong. He saw the panic button a few yards down the hallway and ran towards it.
Before he reached the alarm he was body slammed into the floor. Whoever hit him lacked mass, but was hard as rock, and his body screamed in pain from the impact. He crashed into the floor and rolled over, ready to get up and face his assailant. He was well trained in unarmed combat and was prepared to defend himself. Unfortunately his opponent wasn't unarmed, as the razor sharp blades on his neck informed him. Standing above him, with her yellow booted foot on his chest was a young woman, who was wearing a cowl. She grinned maliciously at him.
"Good evening, Mr. President. You're coming with us."
"What have you done to the guards?"
"They're dead, now if you'll stand up please."
O'Connor, with a grimace on his face, rose to his feet. The woman kept the swords on his neck the entire time.
"Hands behind your back." She ordered. He complied and felt a pair of handcuffs snap around his wrists. She had an accomplice with her.
"You won't get away with this." He growled.
"We already did." She gloated.
"I won't go." He challenged her. "I don't care if you kill me."
She laughed. "That would be too bad; we're also taking your family."
"Leave them out of this! I'm the one you want!"
"Sorry Mr. President, they're coming with us. I suggest that you not resist ... it would be a shame if something happened to them."
"YOU MONSTERS! Why are you doing this? Who are you!?" He shouted at her.
The woman prodded him along with her sword. He resisted and felt her accomplice shove him.
"My name is Ravager. As to why, Deathstroke the Terminator has his reasons."
"Deathstroke? That's impossible. He's dead."
"He's waiting for us Mr. President, and if you don't mind we should hurry."
Ravager's accomplice grabbed the President by the elbow and pulled, dragging him along. O'Connor turned towards the assistant and gasped when he saw who it was.
"Robin!? You're working with them?"
A young man, wearing an all black version of Dick's Robin costume grinned at the President. The 'R' logo stood out on his chest.
"You're a Teen Titan! What are you doing?"
"You're mistaken, Mr. President. He isn't a Teen Titan … he's one of my Terror Titans."
O'Connor stared in disbelief at the Teen Wonder, unaware that he was a clone.
"Robin … don't do this!"
"Sorry, sir, but in case you forgot … you fired us, so we switched sides. Now if you'll please come with us."
"I don't believe this, this is insane!" O'Connor shouted as he resisted being dragged. "Heroes don't switch sides!"
"Robin, we don't have time for this." Raptor remarked in a stern voice.
The dark Robin jumped in the air and connected a spinning heel kick to the President's head, knocking him out cold. He caught the man as he collapsed and threw him over his shoulder. He quickly followed Ravager down the hallway, passing several slain Marines and Secret Service agents along the way, until they were outside of the White House.
An Air Force helicopter was waiting outside, its propellers spinning, ready to take off. Dark Robin tossed the President inside the chopper, after which he and Ravager boarded. Deathstroke was at the controls and the chopper took off, disappearing into the dark, moonless nighttime sky. The radio in the cockpit crackled to life.
"Seven Niner Niner, we have you have on radar". A control tower voice buzzed in Deathstroke's headset. "Please confirm code, destination and manifest."
"This is Seven Niner Niner … authorization code Charlie Alpha Bravo Fox Niner Seven. We're headed for Bethesda, we're transporting an injured White House staffer."
"Roger Seven Niner Niner. Proceed to your destination under night time visual rules."
"Roger, Seven Niner Niner out." Deathstroke responded as he flew away from the White House.
O'Connor was still seeing stars when regained consciousness. Once his vision cleared he saw his wife and two children, bound and gagged, lying on the floor next to him. His wife was shedding silent tears and the fear was evident in her eyes.
Standing above them were Rose and her Terror Titans. Like Dark Robin, the Beast Boy, Raven and Starfire clones were dressed in black versions of the costumes associated with them. The Cyborg clone had black tech components in place of the usual blue. All had expressions on their faces that were cold and unfeeling and their faces were as hard as flint. Rose addressed her team.
"Well done, you performed flawlessly." She congratulated them.
"It was hardly a challenge." The Dark Raven remarked in a voice that was devoid of all emotion.
"Raven is right, we want a real challenge." The Dark Starfire agreed.
Rose wiped the blood off of her sword before sheathing it. "You will get your challenge, my Terror Titans. You will get to prove yourselves."
Dark Cyborg grinned. "We'll show the Teen Titans who the real Titans are."
Dark Beast Boy slammed his fist into his palm. "Too bad they won't be alive when they find out." He chortled.
President O'Connor finally understood why he and his family were kidnapped.
They were bait.
The helicopter veered off course, vanishing from radar as Deathstroke turned on a cloaking device just as fighter jets were being scrambled from nearby Andrews Air Force base. They were gone.
-( scene break )-
The Terror Titans make their debut!
And now, mailbag time!
Avandra the Mary Sue Slayer
Damned Batman, he had to do that, hadn't he? Well, I guess it's better for both couples to know they can actually have offspring! The part when they bought the condoms was hilarious, especially Raven's reaction. Does she have a temper!
There's something more I liked: I think Freddy's beginning to understand why Beast Boy is with Raven. She's not the shallow kind at all and likes people for who they truly are (well, Aqualad may be an exception here).
LOL! No one said that Garth and Rachel can have kids. BB's genome is adaptive, which is why he can impregnate his woman. And Raven can get feisty, especially when she feels uncomfortable. It's how she hides her discomfort.
Jason9000
You know I've always wondered what the psyche backlash is on the Captain Marvel family since they change from kids who haven't even hit their teens to full grown adults able to wrestle with Superman. The shifting of hormones must take it's toll after a while.
It must be the magic. Shazam!
Rosalind du Coudray
Hahaha, I nearly peed myself with the condom scene...holy crow! I'm so glad that Aqualad is such a sweetie and he and Rach are going to be together! Either way, great chapter once again! Please continue soon! :)
Poor Raven, she wasn't expecting such a variety.
krostovikraven1
well, that was an informative chapter. 0...0 ... anyway... oohh, but i'm excited, Raven can get pregnant. :D ... on with the story then. great chapter as always.
I'll bet the next time you're at the supermarket, you're gonna go look at you know what in the pharmacy section!
DeeThom
Condom conversations are never fun and always embarrassing. I would hate to be BB and Rae right now! And I'm curious as to how Mento will be in this story. Will he and Elastigirl be lenient? Guess we'll find out.
I haven't decided on how they will react to the news.
The Cretin
THE SAVAGE RAVAGER!...love her up. You'd be a fool to not want her on your team.
I have to tell you right now the bits with Bats and the newlyweds were funny. Thankfully, he didn't really intrude to much here. Kinda feel bad for Freddy. Some people can be shallow and some can be deep. He'll find one. A little sensous, a little humorous, great character growing, great chap. Kudos. Hope to read more soon. Keep rockin.
We'll see if Freddy and Argent hit it off, though the dinner date has been postponed indefinitely. Also, the Marine Room is a real restaurant in La Jolla. I had dinner there once. Very fancy and pricey place.
Terra
Visited the Trojans website... Right... I totally believe in you.
Ooh burn! Evil Terra has called me a liar
ThePersonator2000
Wait, wait, wait... If BB can get Raven pregnant, then what if Raechel...
That would be interesting, but I've made Rachel suffer enough in this story, so she isn't pregnant.
EbonyVergil
Batman and Cyborg have a point, it would be reallllllly bad if Raven got pregnant right now. Good thing they got protection now! Good to see Rachel and Aqualad got things worked out, happy things happening for everyone! Which means bad stuff will now happen mwahahahahaha, least I hope! Raven's line "What is he? A monk?" I found pretty funny since she was raised by monks. What is deathstroke's plan? I am very curious to find out in the future chapters, it has to be something that is gonna challenge the league, what could it be? Guess I'll find out in the days to come.
Keep up the good work.
Thanks! Now we know that Deathstroke is luring them into a trap. What will happen?
Ben A
Things sure got awkward in this chapter. The story's getting very interesting now. BTW, have you watched the latest episode of Young Justice? While fighting/talking to Sportsmaster, Deathstroke expressed interest in joining the Light. Sounds like he wants to go from world-class assassin to big bad evil mastermind. Kind of the opposite of what you're doing in this story.
Awkward is fun! And yes, I saw that episode. It was interesting when Sportsmaster called Deathstroke "Slade". In the comics, only the Titans call him by his given name. Then again, he knows their secret identities.
Bluedog197
DUDE awesome good story but gosh batman is all over them. really cool that you have raven and beastboy stay hidden and aqualad and rachel get to stay together yip yip. anyway keep up the good work
You know how Bats is; he's a regular control freak.
Radmila Raznatov
That was disturbing... I LOVED IT! Even though I had no clue wtf you were referring to most of the time when you pulled out the condom talk... BUT THAT WAS FUNNY! And why would Trojans name their condoms Trojans... last time I checked, Trojan came from the Trojan Horse, a horse that broke open and f**ked up everyone's day... KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!
I've often wondered about that choice of brand name, as in the USA it is synonymous with "condom". I also have no idea what brands exist in other countries.
sonicboy678
Yeah, that's actually a pretty embarrassing topic
I know, you could almost feel Raven squirming with discomfort. I was also trying to make the Pharmacist into a douche bag, I'm not sure it worked. Maybe he should have wagged his eye brows at them.
karasu848
Really hoping this story has a happy ending! I always feel so incomplete when it's not a happy ending hahaha
Don't worry, it will.
gyhy
Great chapter! It was hilarious! I was laughing through most of it. Raven and BB can't seem to catch a break everytime they do something naughty somebody calls them.
And now they have to face evil clones.
titanfan45
Great job these last two chapters with Rachael and Garth, they make a nice pair. It was fun to read about Batman nosing into Raven and Beast Boy's affairs regarding intamacy, Cyborg was great in that part as well. The shopping trip was humorous and well written. I admit that I got a good laugh at your revelation concerning your research for this chapter.
Poor Rachel, her life has been one big screw up. And as far as the research, it was necessary to create the scene where Raven is utterly overwhelmed by the choices.
glittergurl022
That was weird...
Weird is my specialty.