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 7 – Arrival
After several wrong turns, a night sleeping in the T-car because of lost motel reservations, and a detour so that Starfire could see the North American Cactus Museum (And Filling Station), the Titans finally arrived at their destination.
The sun had set an hour earlier and the city was now alive with lights that glittered on the faces of its buildings and illuminated its streets. Being city-dwellers, most of the Titans barely noticed the electrical symphony laid out before them. The one who did completely failed to appreciate it.
"Dude, I think we made a wrong turn again." said Beast Boy. "This is so not Mexico City. Where's the pueblos? Where's the mission?"
Robin, who was back in the front seat for this leg of the trip, gave him a look through the rearview mirror. "You can't be serious."
"I think we both know he is." Raven said, not opening her eyes. She'd been trying to get in a little meditation in the seat between Starfire and Beast Boy. "At least he got the country right this time. Last night he asked the desk clerk at the motel if 'cows really are sacred around here'. Compared to being off tens of thousands of miles, being off a couple hundred years isn't so bad."
Unsure of if she was backing him up or not, Beast Boy went with the one that he liked best and decided she was on his side. "Yeah." he said petulantly to Robin.
"If you know which movies he got all his knowledge of Mexico from," said Cyborg with a grin, "He's still tens of thousands of miles off."
"So..." Beast Boy ventured carefully, "No cowboys?"
"None." affirmed Raven.
"Actually, the 'cow boy' originated in Mexico with the vaquero."
Beast Boy and Raven both gaped at Starfire, who returned the look with a shy smile. She picked up a small book that had been sitting by her side. The cover read, 1001 Fun Facts About Mexico. "I had completed the reading of all of our brochures and the nice woman at the gift shop said that this would be most informative."
Before either of them could comment, Cyborg interrupted. "This it is, ya'll! Our new home away from home for the next week: the fabulous Trinity Towers!"
The other four Titans followed the direction of his pointing finger to the majestic glass, steel and concrete high-rises that made up the Trinity Towers luxury hotel. As they followed the street around them, a skywalk stretching between them became visible, giving the hotel a distinctive look.
"Dude, are we seriously staying in a giant 'H'? Am I the only one getting that Dada thingie?"
"Deja vu?" Robin asked, unable to take his eyes off the hotel and, in his mind's eye, the Titan's Tower during the disastrous few days that Jinx's initial H.I.V.E squad had been in control.
"Isn't that the weird painter dude?" Raven regarded him for a long minute. Sometimes she could swear he was doing it on purpose. It didn't take Beast Boy long to notice. "What?"
Raven shook her head. "There's really nothing I can contribute to this conversation."
"Wait a minute!" Cyborg said, giving Robin a sidelong glance. "What are you acting so shocked for. You made the dang reservations—how did you not know what the hotel looked like?"
Robin shrugged, hoping the question would go away quickly, but knowing his team for as long as he did, he should have known better. Having been overwhelmed by Beast Boy's incredibly intelligent ignorance, Raven was all to ready to apply her sharp wit on someone.
"I believe I can answer that." she ventured. "Robin, does the hotel have a pool?"
He knew where this was going, but there was no way out. "I... yes?"
"You have no idea." Raven concluded, "Does it have a gym on the premises?"
"Nothing that would be of any use to the team." he blurted out before he could stop himself.
Nodding as her theory began to prove itself, Raven went in for the finishing blow. "What kind of security measures do they have?"
"I..." Robin grit his teeth and forced a lie out. "...have no idea."
Of course, it had to be Starfire who ratted him out. "But Robin," She said, leaning over the seat, "Were you not just admiring their use of the 'WayneTech 3800 hyper-threaded keycard system and entry activated hall camera system just last night? I believe you mentioned it along with how the configuration of the emergency stairs prevented the 'murder central' problem."
"I rest my case." said Raven, settling back in her seat.
Beast Boy's eyes grew wide as saucers. "M-murder Central? Dude, please tell me that's some kind of TV show and not a thing that happens in hotels."
Sighing, Robin thumped his head back against his headrest. "It's what police call the two rooms at the end of the hall, on the corners, near the stairwell in most hotels. They afford the minimum number of people to hear things going on in the room and a quick way for the perpetrator to slip out without notice."
"You are one creepy dude, Rob, you know that?" Cyborg asked.
"Forewarned is forearmed." quoted the Boy Wonder.
Raven rolled her eyes. "See? The look of the hotel has nothing to do with crime or protecting the team and therefore does not exist for Robin. We're going to be lucky if there are enough beds."
She couldn't see it, but her comments made Robin's face turn red. "Um... speaking of that..."
"Oh not you didn't" Cyborg glared threateningly with his good eye.
Robin leaned forward and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "It turns out that there's no such thing as a five bed suite at the Trinity Towers..."
"Man," Cyborg continued ranting, "I know I sleep on a slab back home, but when I'm on vacation, I expect not just a bed, but a bed so soft it feels like it was stuffed with feathers plucked off baby angels, you got me!?"
"That's not what I mean, Cyborg." Robin held his hands up defensively. "They also don't do cots," he spoke quickly, hoping no one picked up on the fact that he had asked, "So we have one two bedroom, suite with two beds to a room and one deluxe single on the floor above that."
"Dibs!" Said everyone but Starfire, who gave them all a strange look.
"Please: what is a 'dib' and why do we speak of them now?" asked the alien princess.
Beast Boy grinned at her. "It's an Earth thing, Star. If you want something and everyone else does too, you have to call 'dibs' first to get it. And nobody can argue with dib-calling," His face grew comically stoic, "It's a sacred trust."
"Oh!" said Starfire, delighted, "Then I would like the 'dibs' too. It would afford Robin and I the 'alone time'."
"Sorry Starfire, but I think it's best for everyone if I got it." said Raven. "Trying to pass myself off as a normal teen for a week is going to require all the meditation I can muster if I don't want to blow up half the hotel. The extra room would give me some peace and quiet."
Starfire gave her a considering look. "You do not also want the 'alone time' with Friend Beast Boy?"
"That's why I called it..." Beast Boy volunteered.
Raven's soul-self overshadowed Cyborg's headrest, making it vibrate madly. "Hey, don't ya'll tease her back there!" The bionic teen warned, watching the trio in the rearview mirror. "If she breaks somethin', it's gonna be ya'll's butts in a sling."
After two sheepish 'sorry's, he grinned, "Now that's that's done, I'd like to point out that we got two couples and one swingin' single here. I ought to be the one to get the spare room so none of ya'll step on my flow."
"Your 'flow'?" Robin asked, painfully conscious of how square he was. He didn't wait for an answer before adding, "Actually... that's a fair point, Cyborg; especially when we consider that you've done all the driving, plus you made the holo-rings that are even making this possible." He raised a hand, "All in favor?"
Starfire and Raven raised their hands, then Raven elbowed Beast Boy in the side to make him raise his.
"That's it's official, Cyborg, you've got your own room for the trip.
"Booyah!" Cyborg pumped a fist, "This is gonna be the best vacation ever! Nothin's gonna get me down all week!"
TT-TT-TT
"Valet parking?!" Cyborg wailed as he pulled into the drive leading to the Trinity Towers main entrance. "You expect me to hand over the keys to my baby to some dude I never met?!"
TT-TT-TT
A/N: This story is not dead! I am just verrah, verrah busy and for some reason, Phantom Reboot is much easier to write. But there will be motion on this! This I swear! Because dang it, I really want to write Miss Martian and Blue Beetle _
As always, if you want, you know, consistent updates, I have several original fiction series going on and to read them, you just need to click the website in my profile. It's all free and updates on a schedule that I haven't broken in three years [barring natural disaster].