I can't thank you guys enough for all the support you're showing this story, but I can try. Thank you.
This is another longer chapter but with several section breaks so you can read at your leisure. The reason for this one's length is that the goal of this chapter in particular is to set up the specific connections of several different characters in the larger plot. The purpose of the title "Bonds" is two-fold as it highlights some of the bonds within the Team and also makes reference to Starfire's past (which involves a darker use of the word "bond" meaning chains or shackles).
Again, thank you to all of you reading and following my work. You're the best. ;) I'd love to know your thoughts and ideas, so if you've got time, please leave a review. Your feedback and encouragement means the world. -Ren
Sunday Nov 13, 2016. 9:00 PM PST
The once-pristine living area of the Team's Jump City base looked as though a tornado had whipped through, but the room had lost a battle with a far more destructive force: a herd of teenagers. Soda cans and wrappers lay littered across the couch. Colonies of unidentifiable foodstuffs were building their own countries deep in the red carpet. If the walls could talk, they would protest the horror of whatever unholy mixture dripped down their painted sides, the result of Starfire's attempts at preparing a traditional Tamaranean meal.
"This place always feels so empty when everyone clears out," Cassie said, staring forlornly around the junkyard of a room.
"You just miss your boyfriend being around," Gar said from his spot on the couch. Wonder Girl launched a pillow at his head. "Hey!"
"I wish Nightwing would make up his mind whether he's coming or going," Victor said as he activated a team of cleaning bots, all of whom required a kick to the rear before reluctantly going near the various messes. "Guy was barely here two days before taking off again."
"I worry more for our new friend, Rachel," Kory said from her seat in the kitchen. The robot wiping the mess off the kitchen walls threw down its rag and quit at spotting the cookbook in Starfire's hands. "I am still puzzled by many of Earth's customs and conventions and I have been living here for three months."
"She's in good hands with Zatanna," Megan assured as she came down the stairs, Conner following close behind.
"Well, I guess it's just the seven of us, then," Bart said, seeming to materialize in front of the group.
"Bart?" Megan said. "I thought you would have gone home by now."
"Yeah…about that. I've actually been hanging over at the Warehouse the last few weeks. Grandpa Barry and Grandma Iris are awesome, but what with the babies being born, things were getting pretty awkward, not to mention loud and smelly. Have you ever heard of someone having to tune out their own parent's baby monitor? Gives a whole new meaning to the term 'baby-daddy.' But since you all finally got settled in here, I thought I'd come crash with you."
"Lucky. Us." Conner grit his teeth.
"I know, right!"
Megan gave Conner a sympathetic pat on the back.
While the teens engaged in their own activities and conversations, Superboy lowered his tone so that only M'gann could hear. "When are you going to visit Artemis?"
"A little later in the week," she answered. "Tuesday or Wednesday if I can manage it. Can you hold down the fort while I'm gone?"
"Of course," Conner said. "I even promise not to kill Kid Flash while you're away, no matter how annoying he gets."
Megan winced at Superboy's choice of words.
"God, I'm an idiot," Conner growled in frustration.
You're not an idiot, Megan assured. How was it the simple touch of her mind in his always helped to calm him down?
Conner decided it best to change the subject. "Do you really think Zatanna and Rachel will be fine? Not everyone takes to adopting a new family member as quickly as you."
"Your family came around," Megan reminded him. "They'll do the same."
Monday Nov 14, 2016. 5:30 PM EST.
Steam rose off boiling water atop an old electric stove and reached out across the peeling floral wallpaper adorned with portraits of Christ, the Madonna, and Venice in spring. Sliced vegetables lay scattered across the kitchen counter while the sounds of New York traffic seeped through the apartment's dusty windows. Zatanna glanced up from Megan's recipe at the sound of the old front door creaking open.
"How was school?" Zatanna asked as footsteps echoed down the narrow hall.
"Fine," Raven answered.
"Oh, come on. It was your first day. You must have more to say about it than that."
"Not really," Raven said in an uninterested tone. "The teachers gave me a lot homework. I'll be in my room studying."
With that, the preteen locked herself in her bedroom, dropping her book-bag on the floor with a heavy thump. Raven's room was small and simple with unadorned walls and plain spare sheets dug out from the closet, but she didn't mind. At least it was a space of her own.
Raven collapsed atop her bed, rubbing her fingers against her throbbing forehead. All day, she'd used every ounce of self-restraint to keep from crying out in pain. There was so much noise in New York, physical and emotional. So many people, everywhere she turned. This city was packed with them, every street, every block, every building bustling with lifeforms whose emotions she sensed like cold rain on her skin.
Raven didn't mind the nuns, the uniforms, or the morning Mass her Catholic private school- the same school Zatanna had once attended- required of her. If anything, it reminded Raven of life at the monastery and gave her some sense of normalcy. But the raging hormones of her middle school classmates did nothing to aid her migraines. Seventh grade was full of more drama than the soap operas Kory and Megan enjoyed watching so much.
"Rachel?" Zatanna asked, knocking on the door. Raven groaned into her pillow as each knock struck like a sledgehammer to the head.
"Rachel," Zatanna tried again. "Dinner's ready."
"No, thank you," Raven replied. "I'm not hungry."
"Xon-siva, open the door, please. I'd rather not blast it off."
Raven muttered an Azarathean swear under her breath. She hated when her cousin called her by that name. It reminded her of Azar's scoldings, her warnings, and other things Raven would much rather forget about her old life. She rose just enough to wave her hand in the direction of the door, unlocking it with her telekinesis before burying her face in her pillow again.
"Rachel, what's wrong?" Zee asked in a kinder voice at finding the girl looking unwell. "Are you ill?"
"You could say that."
Zatanna winced sympathetically. "It's the headache again. Okay, I don't care what Megan says about natural remedies, I'm getting you some aspirin."
Raven nodded in agreement.
"Do you want to try to eat something?" Zatanna asked. "I don't like the idea of you taking aspirin on an empty stomach."
"I can try," Raven said, rising off the bed and following Zatanna into the combination kitchen and living space. She sat at the small dining table their grandmother had brought back from Italy years before either cousin was born. Raven absently traced the floral carvings along the dark wood's edge, observing the decades' worth of wear and tear the old piece bore, wondering what the stories were behind each chip and mark.
Zatanna had told Raven a little about their mutual relations in the three days since she moved in. The apartment had been in the family for generations having been purchased when their great-grandparents immigrated as a young married couple during the second World War. But Zee avoided discussing what Raven most longed to learn: about the mother she'd never known and what Arella's life on Earth had been like when she was still Angela Roth.
Raven knew from the records Victor had shown her that the Roths had lived in Gotham, not New York. Why had they moved? Where had her mother lived, gone to school, played as a girl? Raven didn't dare ask Zatanna what she knew of their mothers' childhood together. Megan had gently informed Raven of the sad fate of Zee's mother before the cousins ever met. Zatanna's mother, Raven's aunt, had a long history of depression, something Raven wondered if Arella had also suffered from and if it had a part in why she ran away from home. Arella's disappearance had been too much for Sindella Roth Zatara to handle, and, assuming her little sister's life had ended, Sindella ended hers, too when Zatanna was just seven.
Raven managed to eat some of the vegetable soup Zatanna had prepared and gratefully took the aspirin offered her with a glass of water. It didn't eliminate the headache completely, but it dulled the pain.
"I was thinking that we could do some training tomorrow after school if you're up to it," Zatanna said. "You should get back home earlier since you won't have to meet with your teachers like today."
Raven nodded. "That's fine with me."
A silence settled between them. Zatanna tapped her heel against the leg of the chair she was sitting in, struggling to think of what to say. Her conversations with Raven were always short-lived; Zee didn't yet know how to really relate to her new charge. Rachel was just so quiet, so cautious and she'd suffered so much loss. Zatanna wrestled with how to talk to the girl, not wishing to reopen a wound.
She could ask about Azarath, what sorts of spells Raven already knew, how she practiced them, what methods the monks used to channel their energy. Such information was vital to knowing what and how to work with her cousin, but again Zee hesitated to go there. The girl didn't seem at all against discussing her childhood home with the Team, though she didn't speak much about what caused its destruction.
It had been Megan that relayed how a cursed fire had consumed the temple, prompting its leader Azar to send Raven to Earth. Naturally everyone wondered the same thing about the destruction of Azarath: who did it and why? But no one wanted to make Raven repeat her story, so no one pressed for details.
"I think I'll go finish my homework now," Raven said, clearing her dishes with a wave of her hand. Due to spending her teenage years living alongside a Martian, Zee didn't think much out of the ordinary about flying spoons and bowls.
"Alright," Zatanna said, moving to the sink to rinse out her own bowl. It was only when she heard Raven's bedroom door close that the magician groaned into her hands. Why was this parenting thing so hard? Of course she knew there would be challenges, but Megan had always made it look so easy with Gar, so natural. The adoptive siblings didn't have this wall between them, this distance neither Zee nor Raven seemed able to bridge.
Zatanna went to her own room and closed the door. It was a simple space with a single bed covered in her grandmother's quilts, a nightstand, and a dresser above which sat an old mirror with pictures and postcards tucked into the corners.
Zee carefully removed a small, crinkled photo of a young woman with blonde hair and blue eyes holding a newborn baby wrapped in pink blankets. The woman looked tired, but happy as she smiled down at her daughter, Zatanna. A nine year old Angela smiled shyly at the camera as she stood with her arm around Sindella.
Could they be like that? Zatanna wondered. Could she and Rachel ever be close like their mothers were before everything had gone so horribly wrong? Could they be a family?
Angela was only a preteen in Zatanna's infancy, but Zee had some memories of her aunt. She remembered a high school-aged Angela serving cake at Zatanna's fifth birthday, bringing candy canes at Christmas, and hiding Easter eggs for her to find. Though these memories were few and fuzzy at best, it was more than Raven had. As much as Zatanna felt robbed of her own mother, she could still remember Sindella's face, the way she'd laugh and smile, at least on the good days. Zee knew what it was to be loved by a mother. That was something the young girl down the hall would never know.
Zatanna kneeled at the edge of her bed and clasped her hands together.
"God, give me patience and strength and understanding," she whispered under her breath. "Give me the wisdom to know what to do…"
Zatanna continued praying, unaware of three sets of red eyes watching from the shadows.
"How I do love irony," said a cold, cruel voice, unheard but by his two brothers. "The girl asks for an angel, but instead she gets a demon. She calls on the Trinity, but shall be answered by us three."
The shadow slithered like a snake, winding across the walls and slipping through the cracks of Raven's bedroom door.
Inside, the empath was already asleep in her bed having turned in early due to the strain of the day.
"She looks so peaceful when she sleeps," a second voice in the shadows snickered. "Almost like the little angel her cousin wishes her to be. My, my, how our sister has the Earthlings fooled. Even she seems unaware of her true nature."
"Unaware," said the third brother, "or simply in denial."
"Well," said the first brother. "That shall all change soon enough."
Tuesday Nov 15, 2016. 10:30 AM EST
Artemis, who had finally come clean about her pregnancy to her boss, had reduced her workload to part-time. "Linda" now worked the weekends for the local news station having taken some advice from Iris on balancing work and health. Artemis hesitantly agreed to let the JLA cover her basic expenses like rent and the electricity bill. Where she could, Artemis always preferred to do things herself. Both nature and nurture taught her the value of self-reliance, but it wasn't just about her anymore. The two budding lives within her were worth swallowing her pride.
At first Artemis feared utter boredom when faced with the loss of her daily routine, but she found the extra hours became practically vital as the pregnancy forced her to sleep much longer and more often due to near-chronic fatigue.
She was just sitting down to a lazy breakfast of toast and a pre-made protein shake, her hair still damp from her shower, when a knock on the door surprised Artemis. In a half-hearted effort to make herself presentable, she dusted the crumbs from the loose maternity top she wore over sweatpants. Artemis peered through the peephole, always wary as an ex-hero and daughter of a known criminal. She threw open the door at spotting the red-haired, brown-eyed woman on the other side.
"Don't you guys ever call ahead of time?" Artemis said, putting on a playful scowl.
But Megan was too focused on her friend's rounded stomach to notice her facial expression. The Martian's eyes doubled in size and in true Happy Harbor High School cheerleader fashion she squealed "Oh. My. GOD!"
Friday Nov 18, 2016. 4:30 PM PST
Cassie sat in the living room on the couch with a textbook propped against her knees, chewing the edge of her pencil as she stared at a particularly stubborn math problem.
She looked up as an electronic voice signaled visitors in the entryway.
Recognized: Miss Martian, B05. Superboy, B04. Robin, B20. Kid Flash, B23.
Cassie zeroed in on the familiar dark hair and sunglasses she'd been waiting five long, torturous school days to see.
"Tim!" Wonder Girl flew over to greet her boyfriend, blushing when she realized how spazztic she must look next to the cool and collected Robin. "Hi," she said, suddenly shy.
"Hi, yourself, gorgeous."
Any trace of shyness on either teen's part vanished as the two kissed, causing their friends to stand there feeling awkward. The conversation between Megan and Conner, which had been largely one-sided as Megan gushed over the details of the baby shower she was planning for Artemis, came to a grinding halt as they spotted their teenage friends tangled together.
"So-I-uh just remembered I promised my folks I'd give them a call, maybe make plans to visit the farm the next week," Conner said, slowly backing away. He pointed over his shoulder and said, "So, I'm going to go do that, now."
"And I should go keep an eye out for Rachel," Megan said, walking briskly back to the Zeta-Beam room at the front of the complex. That just left Bart.
"Soooo," the speedster said, thinking of his own reason to leave. "I guess I'll go keep an eye out for Rae, too. And the others. Not that I would be- I mean- Oh, look! Blue and Static are here."
The fastest kid on Earth couldn't get away fast enough, even if the couple, whose attention was clearly elsewhere, most likely hadn't noticed his slip-up.
"Hey, dudes!" Bart said greeting Jaime and Virgil in the front hall.
"Hey, hermano! Long time no see."
"What's up, Kid?" Static said.
"Not much. Been pretty normal around here. Unless you count Zatanna's long-lost cousin popping up from a different dimension as abnormal."
"After everything I've seen?" Jaime said. "Hardly."
"Batman gave us the lowdown on the new girl," Static said.
"You should meet her when she comes by," Bart said. "Oh, hey, in fact, Rachel's here now."
"Oh, 'Rachel' is it?" Jaime said, giving the speedster a knowing wink. "She's cute, huh?"
Bart thought it best not to answer.
"Rachel!" Megan greeted, meeting the girl in a warm hug hardly an instant after she'd teleported into the Tower. She hugged Zatanna as well.
"Sorry we're late," Zatanna said. "I had some League business to handle. Took a bit longer than I'd planned."
"We wouldn't have been late if you'd let me teleport myself," Raven said, picking up her bag and heading inside without so much as a goodbye to her mentor.
"What's that about?" Megan asked.
Zee groaned. "She's been like that all day. Is that normal?"
"Yes," Megan laughed. "It's called having a teenager. How's the training going? Can Rachel really teleport on her own now?"
Zatanna nodded. "Yes, she can. But I wanted to accompany her this time at least. She hasn't tried the spell over so long a distance before. It's crazy, Meg, how fast she learns. It took me four months to master that spell and here Rachel's got it down in a week. She doesn't even have to say her incantations out loud."
Megan thought she detected a hint of jealousy in her friend's tone. She remembered how hard Zatanna had worked when first joining the Team, practicing her spells for hours each day with no one else around to guide her. "Well, that's probably due to her psychic ability," Megan said. "Like how speaking into someone's mind is as natural for me as talking. It's probably nothing to worry about."
"Probably." But the magician sounded doubtful.
"I'll work with Rachel this weekend," Megan assured. "I'll try to figure out the link between her different abilities so you'll know how best to work going forward."
"Hey, Rae," Bart said jogging up to the girl to match her stride.
"Oh, hi, Bart."
"You haven't met Static and Blue Beetle yet, right? Come meet the guys."
"I will, but later, okay? I'm not feeling too great right now."
"Bad first week?" he guessed.
"I'd rather not talk about it."
"Alright," Bart said. "But we're still on for video games later?"
Raven sighed. "Sure. For once, I could actually use a mindless distraction."
"Great! Well, I mean, not great that you're feeling the mode but…"
Raven shook her head, trying to contain her exasperation. "I don't know what that means, but maybe you can explain it later, when my head doesn't feel like it's splitting in two. I'm going to go lay down for a bit. I'll see you later."
"Yeah, sure," Bart said, outwardly staying upbeat. "Later."
"Smooth, Kid," Static said placing an arm around the disappointed speedster as Raven vanished from view.
"Oh, shut up!"
Static laughed. "Alright, alright. Hey, any clue where Cy's at?"
Bart shrugged. "He's usually in either the lab or garage."
"Got it. Thanks."
Virgil decided to try the lab first. "Yo, Vic, you in here?"
"Static," Cyborg greeted, emerging from the back of the large room. "What's up, my man?" The two exchanged a firm handshake.
"I've got some intel from the Lanterns I thought you should take a look at."
He inserted a flash drive and images of various space vessels appeared on the computer's main monitor.
"There's been a major spike in traffic in the Orion belt the last few months, particularly near the New Genesis/ Apokolips territories."
"That ship, there," Cyborg said pointing to a green, disk-like ship on the screen. "It looks like the one Kory came in. In other words…"
Static nodded grimly. "The slave trade is on the rise. As if that weren't bad enough, we've got trouble brewing in our own backyard. The JLA's been in talks with our alien allies. We've got new leads on the Meta-Gene and what the bad guys are planning to do with it. It seems the Light and the Reach were only pieces of a much larger puzzle. There's a sort of Intergalactic Injustice League in the works. You know my thoughts on the situation, Cy. These guys won't come blasting in Independence Day style. They'll attack from the inside, just like they did before. Luthor's already sowing discord among the UN. Why fight us head on when they can have us fight amongst ourselves?"
"I know where you're heading with this, Static," Cyborg said. "I know you read up on Rae's bio. But she's just a kid. You can't let your experience with the Reach cloud your judgement here."
"I know," Static said. "I'll admit, I'm not crazy about the fact that she comes from off-planet, but that's not my main concern. You ran her DNA against every catalogued species we and every allied planet we have on record and turned up blank on who or what her father was. Well, I dug deeper."
Static keyed in a specific code which opened a classified file from the drive. "There's one type of genetic code you can't break down because it isn't limited to physical form," Virgil said, pulling up a three dimensional rendering of a double helix. "The metaphysical kind. Raven's either half god, or half demon. And since her DNA doesn't much resemble Cassie's, we know the most logical conclusion."
"Even if that's the case," Victor said, "I'm not going to condemn a child for her parentage. Look at Superboy. Look at Artemis. Hell, look at Aqualad. All have a pretty messed-up family tree, on their fathers' sides no less, but no one's blaming them for it."
"We both know who or whatever fathered Raven is a lot worse than some supervillain humans," Static argued. "We both know it was Brother Blood's cult her mother joined and I've got a gut feeling they're the reason Raven was born. Blood's in jail for now, but how long until Luthor grants him amnesty or springs him out some other way? What happens when Blood and his followers try to reclaim Raven?"
"We stop them!"
"And if she is a danger to us all? What then, Cy? I know you want to protect this girl, but what if you can't? Even if you do, you've got to wake up and see that saving her doesn't bring Marcy back."
"Do you think I don't know that?!" Victor slammed his fist against the wall. "You think I don't know that Marcy is dead because of me? She's gone. I can't change that. I can't bring her back, but I will be damned before I let that psychopath Blood or any of his nutjobs hurt one more innocent person, least of all that kid. She's as much a victim in all of this as anybody else."
"And what happens when Zatanna finds out that Raven's father is probably the reason Zee's mother committed suicide?" Static asked. "In Biblical times, they thought mental and behavioral disorders indicated demon possession. Turns out, in some cases they weren't wrong."
"First of all, that's just a theory. Second, Rae isn't responsible for what her father did or didn't do. I get it. The girl's dad is probably one evil dude. That doesn't make her evil. You were suspicious of Kory until you actually got to know her. Why won't you do the same for Rae?"
"I'm not saying I won't," Static said, trying to keep his tone diplomatic. "But you've got to recognize your own bias towards the kid, before it lands us all in trouble. Besides, Kory's is a different case. She told us her entire story from day one. She never hid anything. Not even one horrible detail." Virgil shuttered. "I don't know how she does it. I'm still bitter from my experience with the Reach, but after everything she's been through, Kory still manages to see the bright side of things."
"She's a warrior in every way," Victor said with obvious admiration for his teammate. "I think she could be good for Rae. Maybe help get her out of her shell. Then when she's ready, and not before, Rae can tell us what we need to know."
"I hope you're right," Virgil said. "About Starfire getting through to Raven, that is. Because whatever it is that girl's hiding, we need to know. We don't have much time."
Bart quietly inched his way along the wall where he'd been listening to Static and Cyborg's exchange through the open vent to the lab. Once a safe distance away, he took off at super speed, returning to his bedroom without being spotted and without anyone ever having noticed he'd been gone.
"Isn't nature glorious?!" Starfire said as she hiked along the steep hills that surrounded the Team's tower and overlooked Jump City nestled on the coast below. The sun was fast setting over the horizon, shining through the bare branches and thinning foliage and bouncing off the glass towers of the city. Raven and Gar didn't answer as they walked behind the Tamaranean, neither willing to try to match Kory's enthusiasm.
Kory had offered to show Raven a good place for meditation, insisting the two could bond and discuss life on Earth along the way. While the empath sincerely appreciated Starfire's kindness, if she'd known how much walking their "bonding" would require, Raven would have just teleported them both to the place. M'gann had thankfully advised Raven change from her school uniform into tennis shoes, jeans, and a hoodie, something more appropriate for a chilly autumn hike. Kory had wrestled her wild, red curly hair into a bun and wore black sweatpants with a pink quarter-sleeve top.
As for Gar, Megan had practically dragged her younger brother away from his room to go with the girls, insisting that he get out and get some fresh air despite, or perhaps in light of, his protests that he was so close to defeating Zombie Master 5. The boy's addiction to watching images on a screen had Raven questioning whether she'd made a very, very big mistake in agreeing to let Bart and Gar introduce her to video games.
"Please tell me we're almost there," Gar whined. "Better yet, just tell me the place and I'll fly the rest of way and meet you there."
"Nice try," Starfire said giving Beast Boy a knowing smile. "But your sister already told me she wishes you to exercise in your human form."
"Why? I'm in great shape!" To prove his point, Gar flexed a nonexistent green muscle.
"Is that another joke?" Raven asked.
"No!"
"Alright, you two. Cease with the arguing. Our destination is just down this slope."
As they drew closer, the sound of rushing water reached their ears. Starfire expertly stepped from rock to rock, gliding with a grace Raven couldn't help but envy as she followed one step at time, feeling totally clumsy on the unfamiliar terrain. Even Gar, for all his complaining, had no trouble keeping up with Kory. Raven tried to match their pace and gave a startled cry as she slipped.
"Whoa!" Beast Boy cautioned, turning and grasping her by the shoulders before she could fall. "Easy there, Rae."
The girl stiffened under his touch and Gar quickly removed his hands.
"You okay?"
"Fine," she answered, though she sounded a little winded. "Thanks."
Gar nodded and turned to follow Kory.
The three reached the bottom of the hill which transitioned from grass to a gravelly riverbank. A stout ribbon of water cascaded down a rocky cliff-face into a cove.
Koriand'r breathed in the delicious sights and sounds of the rushing water, the birds in the trees, the coolness of the air, savoring the crisp sense of freedom. "Of all the planets I've been to," Kory said, "I think Earth is the most beautiful. I'm always struck by how diverse this planet's terrain and all its many lifeforms are. I hope, in time, you'll come to love it here as much as I do, Rachel."
"That's very sweet of you, Kory," Raven said, but she wasn't looking at either the older girl or the scenery. Instead she watched Gar with concern as his green eyes glazed over and she sensed a feeling of distress come over him. His eyes seemed fixed on the river.
"Gar?" Raven asked gently.
Beast Boy snapped out of his trance, shaking his head back and forth.
"Are you alright?" Starfire asked, noticing her young friend's absent expression.
"Oh, yeah. Just...Just really amazed by the view."
A beeping noise sounded from the communicator in Kory's pocket, alerting her that it was 6:30 PM.
"Oh, I didn't realize the time. Dinner will be soon, so I would advise that we head back now."
"You go ahead, Kory," Raven said. "I'll catch up. I just want to, uh, take in the glory of nature a minute more."
Starfire smiled trustingly and hiked on ahead.
"Gar," Raven said, careful to pull him back by his sleeve as he moved to follow Kory. "You don't have to tell me what's wrong, but just so you know, you really shouldn't bother lying about your feelings in front of an empath."
"Ah," he said, rubbing his neck. "Noted. Hey," he said, forcing a smile. "What do you say we don't hike all the way back on foot."
Raven gained a slightly mischievous glint in her eye. "Why do you think I sent Kory on ahead?"
"Race you back?"
"You do know I can just teleport, right?"
"Whoops. I was thinking flying."
Raven shrugged her shoulders. "Sure. I could use the practice. And it still beats walking."
"Don't be too slow," Gar warned, transforming into a bird. "Or Bart'll eat all the food."
"I do not eat everything in sight," Bart protested later that night after Cyborg remarked on the similarities between the speedster and the Pacman eating dots on the television screen. Raven sighed and leaned her head against the armrest of her chair. Yes, she thought. She'd definitely made a mistake agreeing to this.
She'd managed to sit through the fantasy and science fiction games tolerably well. At least those had a story to them. But now the images on the screen were blurring as her eyes grew heavy with sleep.
"Who's up for a round of ALIEN INVADERS 2053?" Gar asked.
"Pass," Jaime said, rising from his seat. "I've had enough of alien invasions for one lifetime."
"Count me out, too," Bart said. "The gameplay's decent, but the plot is so flawed in terms of actual future events."
"And Zombies and Werewolves is a masterfully realistic tale," Raven said.
"Exactly!"
"They don't have sarcasm in the future, do they, Kid?" Cyborg asked.
But when asked about it later by the other girls, all of whom had been upstairs while the boys engaged in their usual Friday night ritual of gathering in the third floor game room, Raven conceded that there were worse ways to spend a Friday night. Kory smiled sadly to herself, hopeful that her young friends would never know what some of those 'worse ways' were.