Disclaimer: This is a fan work created at no profit and for entertainment purposes only. The author acknowledges that Teen Titans and related characters are property of Warner Entertainment.
Teen Titans: Menace in Mexico City
Chapter 2 – Ulterior Motives
Two animated avatars did battle in the yawning central chamber of a massive star ship dry dock With swords of light and the underlying force that bound the universe together as their chosen weapons, they clashed and span in a deadly dance of war.
Their sward crackled as the pair met again and pushed off, each driving their opponent back a long stride. One, dressed in a long, brown robe, reached behind him and gestured. A piece of vast machinery of unknown purpose tore free of its mooring and went flying toward his green robed opponent, who scrambled to drop to the ground and escape being smashed.
"Duuuuude!"
Beast Boy and Control Freak were on the Titans' familiar, circular couch with a huge bowl of chips and an equally huge bowl of salsa between them. The former looked on helplessly as the latter's on screen avatar sent yet another massive block of metal his way.
"How are you doing that?"
Freak laughed with a malevolence reminiscent of his villainous days (which technically meant the previous week). "It I told you, young padawan, you would use it against me."
"You suck." Beast Boy pouted, making his character jump over the last attack and charge toward Freak's.
"Then how come I'm winning" Freak's avatar pirouetted out of the way and soon the two were crossing their swords again. He took advantage of Beast Boy's frustration to feint him, leaving an opening that he exploited with a flurry of sword swipes, shaving off a healthy percentage of the changeling's hit points.
Beast Boy fumed. The game seemed real cool and all, especially one based on one of his favorite franchises, but all the moves actually required skill and timing instead of being friendly to his button mashing ways.
"I meant as a person." He grumbled as one sidestep and thrust capped off his fifteenth consecutive loss. He glared at his new friend (who at the moment was still a jerk in his mind, just like Cyborg was a jerk when they played racing games). "And ya know, it's pretty tacky to wear that thing all the time."
He was pointing at the medal hanging from the pudgy geek's neck.
The day before, the mayor of Jump City held a ceremony to thank the Titans for capturing Aionor and Malchior. Robin tried to argue that most of the attack had been directed at the Titans themselves, but the mayor's mind was on the good publicity the city was getting from footage of their heroes defeating a real, live dragon and he was not going to miss riding that wave to tourist dollars and election PR.
It was Starfire and Beast Boy who insisted that Robin give credit where credit as due and tell the mayor about Control Freak's part in helping them save the day. Thought reluctant, the mayor was eventually swayed to give the fanboy a medal by the idea of what a great Movie of the Week his reform would make (They were still counting the advertising revenue from Jinx's heel-face turn).
They were right too. Both Barbara Walters and Katie Couric were already calling for interviews. Freak was holding out for Oprah. And he hadn't taken off the medal since.
"Hey, you've got a whole closet full of medals. I've only got the one." Freak said defensively.
"It's not a closet." Beast Boy said defensively. "It's a trophy case. Rob makes us keep all out medals, keys to the city and discount cards from local shops in there."
"You get discounts?"
"Oh yeah, lots of places; the wedge shaped pizza place, Cook's electronics, the video store..." Beast Boy shrugged.
Freak perked up ."Can I borrow that one from Cook's? Because you guys thrashed my place and I have to replace a bunch of stuff."
A sly grin came to Beast Boy's face. "Only if you show me how to do that 'throwing things with your brain' move."
"That's so not fair. It's you guys' fault my place got smashed up in the first place!"
Knowing he now had the upper hand, Beast Boy casually picked up a chip and loaded it with salsa, contemplating it as if it were a momentous decision. "Not my fault, dude. That was all Rae."
Freak saw his chance as Beast Boy crammed the chip in his mouth. "Speaking of which, how's that going?" He waggled his eyebrows suggestively.
"Hrk!" Beast Boy choked on the chip and went into a coughing fit. It took a minute for him to get his breath back and glare at Control Freak. "Dude, do NOT do that eyebrow thing when talking about my girlfriend. It's creepy."
"Sorry, couldn't resist." Freak laughed. "But seriously, how's it going?"
"Great! We've been hanging out a lot more and last night, we watched a movie together..." Beast Boy slumped a little. "But, the thing is, what if she gets bored with that stuff? I mean, I'm totally happy with just that, but this is Rae; she deserves a totally awesome boyfriend. Except I don't know how to be a totally awesome boyfriend."
"Don't look at me, " Control Freak shrugged, fiddling with his controller, "My old girlfriend turned out to be an evil mastermind using me to kill you guys... or torture Raven... or something, I wasn't really clear on that."
"Yeah, that was complicated." Beast Boy agreed.
"Hey, but you guys are going on that trip in a few days." Freak offered, "And there's probably all sorts of awesome romantic stuff to do in Mexico."
"You're right!" Beast Boy perked up, "Like going to Niagara Falls, or the Eiffel Tower."
Freak stared at him blankly. "Um... maybe you should download one of those tour guide apps when you get there."
TT^TT^^TT
"Robin?" Starfire knocked timidly on the open door to the Boy Wonder's room.
Said Boy Wonder was carefully folding shirts and placing them in his suitcase. The trip was still two days away, but he was determined to be ready to go far ahead of time. "Hey, Star." He smiled at her, "What's on your mind?"
Star floated into the room, rubbing her arm in a girlish display of nerves. "I do not know how to ask this question, so I shall simply ask: Robin, why are we going to the Mexico?"
He blinked. "What's wrong? I thought you wanted to go. You were excited yesterday."
"Indeed. And I am still excited, but I have been doing the thinking and what I do not understand if why you are so eager to go. You do not like the vacations, or leaving our city unprotected, and yet with this trip, you were very quick to make the arrangements and have even made Friend Cyborg rush in making holo-rings for myself, Beast Boy and Raven. Please: tell me why this is."
Robin sighed and sat the shirt he'd been folding aside. "I guess you wouldn't accept it if I said that what happened in Tokyo changed my mind about the whole 'heroes don't take vacations' thing."
She shook her head. "No. I will not accept a lie. You are not so easily swayed in the brand of oatmeal you eat, much less something like this."
That had been a week before and Robin was still mildly rankled by Cyborg's faux pas during his turn doing the shopping. So what if the new brand cost less and had more servings per box? That was a decision that needed to be discussed as a group, damn it! Plus, this kind didn't have those little dehydrated strawberries he loved so very, very much.
"You're right, Star." He hung his head. "It's a lot of things. First, I have learned more about being a good leader over the years. I know I was wrong now not to have given you all a break after emotionally draining battles, like the Terra situation or when Trigon came. It hurt the team and I don't want that to happen again, so after this one, the four of you are getting the time you need to recover."
Star's luminous, green eyes met his. "The four of us... but what of you, Robin? Will you not be doing the vacationing with us?"
He couldn't lie to her. No matte how much he wanted to. "I... will. But you're right; there is a reason I was especially willing to go to Mexico: The night Malchior attacked, I got a call..." He stared down at the suitcase and clothes covering his bed. "from Batman."
A gasp escaped Starfire and she brought her hands up to cover her mouth. "Your mentor? But you said that the two of you do not get along. Why would he suddenly call?"
Robin set his jaw against the memory. "As much as it pained him, he needed my help. Someone's been stealing tech goods in Mexico that got his attention. He sent Batgirl to investigate-" He noticed a glare from the princess at this. She didn't know anything for sure, but Star instinctively disliked the idea that he'd spent time fighting crime side by side with another woman, no matter how far in the past,
"A... different Batgirl." He amended, mollifying her. "The problem is, she hasn't check in for days."
Starfire nodded, relieved that it wasn't something she'd feared, like a lead on Slade's whereabouts, or some other obsession. "And he has asked you to find her. Wonderful! We shall aid you and then both you and the new Batgirl who you do not have the 'history' with can all enjoy our vacation together."
"Whoa, wait a minute, Star." Robin rounded the bed and placed his hands on her shoulders in an effort to calm her exuberance.
Confusion entered her eyes, along with a measure of hurt. "You... do not wish to have our help?"
"Please don't take it like that." He said softly. "But what I said earlier is true: you and the others need some time to recover after what's happened. It's my responsibility to make sure of that. This shouldn't be a mission where I need any help at all anyway." He hung his head, feeling guilty and shamed for the final reason. "And... well Batman wouldn't be very happy with the Titans getting involved in Bat-family business."
To his surprise, Starfire offered him a warm, understanding smile. "And though you have your differences, you no more with to disappoint your mentor than I do Galfore."
As much as it galled him, she'd read him perfectly. He had his reasons from breaking from his role as Batman's protege, but none of them had anything to do with losing respect for the man, nor had they dissolved the familial bond between them.
"You're right Star." He admitted.
She hugged him gently. "Then I understand. But I still wish to help. Is there really no way?"
He cocked his head in thought. "Actually, yes. I need help hiding this from the others. You know that they won't be as understanding as you about this sort of thing."
Excitement lit the princess's eyes and she floated in spite of herself. "I do! And I have a very good cover in mind as well. We shall go on many of the dates while on vacation. And some of those will in truth be your time to accomplish your mission!"
Robin smiled. It was exactly what he had in mind. "That's a great idea, Star!"
She leaned down and kissed him on the cheek. "And of course, many of those dates will be real, yes?"
TT^TT^TT
A/N: And there you have it. The plot is all laid out. For a start at least. If you remember WGID, you'll know that nothing is as simple is it starts out looking. Feel free to guess where this is going in reviews and we'll see how close anyone comes to my plans. I remember someone guessing from the outset of WGID that Aionor was a descendant of Rorek, for example.
Next Chapter: Everyone gets ready for the trip and Control Freak gets asked a favor.