The sun is down, the birds are sleeping, and on nights like this where the rain was once again heavy, people are going to bed for a goodnight sleep if the rain doesn't give them insomnia. He just finished his favorite 80's song, Night Begins to Shine, and he just finished hooking himself up to his bed.
"Ugh, bed time. Lights out." The room went dark. "And night light on." A single bulb turned on right over him, not bright enough to illuminate the whole room, but enough where no darkness was near him anyway. That it until it went out. "Nightlight out? Lights on?" The metallic titan said really spooked this time. "Lights on! Lights on lights on lights on!" He repeated, and when that didn't work, and the flash of light and boom of thunder ripped through the room. I lightning storm. "Ah, I do not like the dark! I can't see where things are! I got to find a light!" The titan screamed as he ran around only to trip over something. "Ah, what was that?!" The door was opened manually, prompting Cyborg to shine a light from his left eye, revealing his friends in a red light. "Oh, it's only you guys. Whew." He sighed relieved.
"Are you okay?" Robin asked.
"We heard the screams of the little girl." Starfire added.
"Wait, me scream like a girl? No way." Cyborg tried brushing the comment off while standing up, throwing out his chest and putting his fists around his hips.
"Regardless, it seems like the power went out. We'll check the grid tomorrow." Robin shrugged, but Cyborg didn't like the sound of that.
"No, you will check the grid immediately!" Beast Boy chuckled.
"Dude, are you afraid of the dark?"
"Cy, that's pretty lame, even for you." Jinx also chuckled while crossing her arms.
"It's not the dark I'm afraid of. I mean, the blackout part is pretty startling, but it's more so the lightning."
"Should we perhaps do the party of the slumber?" Starfire asked.
"Yeah, let's do it!" Robin agreed.
"Slumber party!" All but Cyborg and Jinx shouted. Once they were in all of there pajamas, including Jinx wearing a white tank top and black mini shorts and her hair down in a pony tail, the six teens were all in their sleeping bags in the living room. Though she and Raven were thrown off by his nightly headgear.
"You seriously wear that to bed?" Jinx questioned.
"Justh my nefer ending war aganth crooked teeth. I thall nefer thurrender. Anyway, the first thing we'll do isth make a blanket fort!" They all cheered in agreement. "With theth very detailed blueprints I made." They all then groaned. "What, ith'll be fun! We'll lay out the foundathion, then, in thwo hourths we'll...I'll make it mythelf." The titan leader gave in when the others didn't want to make an overly complicated fort of his overly planned details.
"Hey Cy, you know the best part about slumber parties? Pillow Fight!" Beast Boy yelled as he attacked his best friend first, and yet Starfire took advantage of his post swing and got her own hit in, but she too left herself open when Cy got a hit in. Same thing when he was caught off guard by Jinx. It all rounded back to Beast Boy hitting her, only to be ganged up and and beaten down by Star, Jinx and Cy, all grunting and laughing all the while.
"Raven, help! I'm under attack!" He called out, but his girlfriend was enjoying his beat down even though she wasn't participating.
"Nah, I'm good over here." She replied with an amused smile.
"Come on, mama!" He pleaded.
"Fight of the pillow!" Starfire yelled, and they all started to chant with her. "Fight of the pillow! Fight of the pillow!"
"Alright then." Using her magic, their pillows were taken from their hands, and savagely beat them down laughing while Raven didn't even need to lift a finger. "I win." She dryly cheered with a smile and simple fist pump. After a couple of hours of playing games like Capitalopoly, Cero and Apologies, they reached a round of truth or dare where everyone was telling their biggest fears.
"So you really want to know why I'm afraid of lightning storms?" Cyborg sounded apprehensive, but the others looked at him expectedly. They each have drawn straws and he's the unfortunate first. "Fine, but don't ask me again after tonight okay? I'm still carrying a lot of baggage about it. It was a night just like this. My dad couldn't make it, obviously, but mom actually attended my first, and last finals of football when I was in high school. The Comets v Trojans. I won us the game. That's the rain started to hit hard and the wind became fierce. I wanted to show dad the trophy, that I accomplished what I always wanted to do. Mom was more concerned about heading home since it was nearer but I wanted to see the look on his face that I got brand spanking new trophy, so we went to his work place. I wish we didn't. Along the way, through what seemed like unbelievable luck, a lightning bolt hit a tree, and even though we tried avoiding it, it landed right on top of us. We were crushed, but obviously I clung onto the thread of life. I thought I became a freak after that. I was dropped out, my girlfriend at the time ditched me, and I did nothing but run away. Tried to run away from all the hurt. All the pain. But I never outran it. Then I met you guys when Starfire first came. And the rest is history."
"Wow, I'm sorry dude." Beast Boy empathetically said, placing a hand on his left arm. The rest didn't know what to say, so they just gave out condolences.
"It's alright. And you guys know I used to have a fear of losing my humanity, if I became fully machine, but thanks to you guys, these fears don't have quite a solid grip on me that they used to." That is until another lighting bolt shined and a boom echoed through the room, and he panicked by going into his sleeping bag.
"Hey hey, bro. We got ya." BB assured.
"Yeah, we're here for you." Robin agreed. Cyborg peaked out, and looked thankful.
"Thanks.
"Alright, so I guess it's my turn then." Beast Boy sighed. "I have a fear of waterfalls. Because, you know, parents. And I'm not all that great around needles. Even though I was too sick to remember the procedure for some reason needles makes me antsy." The green changeling shuddered. Raven placed an arm around his shoulders, being supportive.
"Mine would be betrayal." Starfire went next. "I know you all would not betray me, but just the thought still gives me the shivers down my spinal column. At least Blackfire and I are on good terms now."
"I know thith will theem thilly but...let'th just thay that thircus's and I don'th geth along." Robin admitted. "Clownths, animal torthure while training them, all the food they throw at us if we don'th do well, ith wathn't the beth life without my parenths righth next to me, even when they were alive. And the clownths. I'm noth afraid of Joker. I fought him frequenthly when I wath with Batman, but clownths are forever tainthed for me."
"For me, I guess it's abandonment." Jinx answered. "It's similar to Starfire, but of different circumstances. I never knew my parents, or any of my family, having been raised as early as I could in orphanages. And let me tell you, if you think orphanages in the US is bad, you haven't seen any of the ones in India. I was shunned for my skin color and tendency of bad luck, no matter how much good luck charms was on my person. I got my first family when Brother Blood recruited me for the Hive, and I became friends with Gizmo and Mammoth. Could've done without Billy and See-more, and I wished I had female friends, but it was nice, while I was there. Then Cy and I happened and I was abandoned again. I cried myself to sleep that night. But now..." A single tear trailed down her face as the metahuman wiped it away, looking at her friends with an appreciative smile. "...now I have you guys as my family. Ones that won't abandon me. Like Star." Feeling her emotions well up, Jinx shoved her face into a pillow in between her body and legs and wept into it. "Thank you. Thank you for caring for me despite my evil past." Cyborg couldn't help feeling sympathetic for his friend, so he skootched over and hugged her. And just him. She leaned into his body and kept crying, though now silently.
"You all already know about me. My evil dad, my emotional suppression, my evil side taking over, all that stuff." Raven listed off. "But, with all those issues completely over with, the only things that I'm afraid of now is...girly stuff." Cries turned into chuckles as Jinx raised her tear stained face to her fellow dark titan.
"Girly stuff? I know I'm not Ms. Sunny Princess like Star but I'm not afraid to get a bit feminine. What do you have to be afraid of in terms of girliness?"
"Too much bright pink, make up, poofy dresses if they're not black, brightly colored bows and ribbons covered in glitter, that kind of stuff." The half-demon sorceress listed. "Imagine having all that on your birthday, or prom night."
"Yeah, that would be a nightmare." Jinx shuddered. "I know my hair is pink but that's just one thing."
"So we know our fears. What do we do with this now?" Beast Boy asked.
"Simple." Starfire answered. "We be there for each other. If there is something to talk about, then we support each other. Since we are family, it is only right we help each other whenever we need it."
"Wow, way to make it cliché like a movie ending Star." The pink haired metahuman rolled her eyes.
"I think it's too late to play the tough gal card by this point." Beast Boy chuckled. "You're lucky you're not wearing mascara."
"Careful Garfield." The witch threatened with a smile and a spark of pink energy. "I could zap your bag while you're asleep in it and have the zipper get stuck, and I'll paint it for good measure."
"Jinx, as cliché as it is, you don't need to keep your wall up this time." Raven spoke up. "I think Star is right. Because of what we went through, Robin and I are very close, because we supported each other during our darkest moments. As much as I think your cool girl thing is that, cool, you can always talk to us."
"Alright, fine. I get your point." Jinx was getting annoyed by their insistence, but then sighed after a few seconds. "I'll...keep that in mind. This kind of thing just wasn't encouraged in the Hive."
"We're here." Cyborg hugged her close. The girl was confused about her feelings, but she at least leaned back into his body, closing her eyes, though not smiling.
"Thanks."
"Well, now that we reathed whath I presume to be a mandathory lethon, leth's rethume with the thlumber party." Robin said. After watching a movie, drinking the warm milk and brushing their teeth, they tried going to sleep with the lights off. Only for a lightning flash to illuminate the living room and a boom to rumble the room. Cy yelled in response, prompting someone to turn on the lights. "Why do I geth the feeling you won'th geth usthd to ith?" Robin asked.
"No, it wasn't just the lightning, although that alone would've made me jump and squirm anyway, but I picked up something on my radar!"
"What do you mean?" Starfire asked.
"Just watch." Showing them his arm, a radar which was a black background and a red line showed all six in the room, and a mysterious seventh that somehow...oh yeah, security is down along with electricity. Cameras are down, locks are pickable, and defenses are dormant.
"Wait, I can hear it as well." Beast Boy realized before concentrating. "The air. Something is moving it around."
"What if it's just one of our little buddies?" Jinx questioned. "They tend to go around anywhere in the tower. One might've come back from a mission out."
"In a storm like this? They'd either short circuit or get hypothermia." Cyborg pointed out, before realizing. "In fact, where are they? They haven't come around at least once." Taking his headgear off, Robin spoke to his communicator.
"Birdarang, Boombox, come in." Static answered. "Birdarang, Super Robin, come in." Still static. "We're alone." So together, the titans started searching for their little buddies, on high alert as they could, prepared to fight this threat. As they passed the bathroom, a flash of lightning illuminated the hallway, and Raven noticed something in the bathroom mirror.
"Guys, there's something in the mirror there." Entering the bathroom, the door slammed shut, though we don't see inside.
"Augh! Let me out of here!" Cyborg was heard screaming.
"Cyborg, there's no reason to freak out!" Robin tried to keep the situation calm.
"Raven, what is that you saw so that we can get out of here?" Jinx questioned, getting tired of this horror movie scenario she's in.
"Quiet, you'll see. Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" Only a collective gasp could be heard.
"Is that...Bloody Mary?" Beast Boy asked.
"But how? We didn't do the ritual to summon Bloody Mary." Jinx objected.
"Who is this Mary that is Bloody?" Starfire asked.
"Bloody Mary is-"He didn't get to answer that since even if one person didn't say it, her name was said three times, and thus her power came through and the titans were forced out of the bathroom, breaking the door down.
"She-she's real." Robin said, quivering with fear. The apparition walked towards them, though her gaze was especially on Cyborg.
"Wait, why is she looking at me? Is it because I'm black? The black guys always go out first!"
"Not for me when Raven made that thing in the past since she wouldn't admit she was scared!" Beast Boy pointed out.
"Come on that was one time!" The half-demon girl complained.
"Titans, retreat!" The scared Boy Wonder yelled, and they ran away. Beast Boy and Robin would try to throw stuff at her, like plants and birdarangs, but they just phased right through her. Starfire and Jinx tried to slow her down, but again they went right through. Raven formed demonic chains that wrapped around her, which seemed to have worked, until the apparition turned into blood and slipped through. Reaching a dead end, the titans unable to run anywhere else, and turned to see that aside from Raven, she hasn't slowed down once. Cowering in fear, the ghost approached Cyborg, and thrust her hand through his chest. Cyborg screamed, but surprisingly nothing bad happened, as she simply took out an intricately designed, English styled comb and started combing her hair, letting all the blood drip off.
"What?" Raven questioned incredulously. "She scared and chased us for a comb?"
"Oh, I forgot I had that comb." Cyborg uttered.
"What comb dude?" Beast Boy asked.
"I got that for a sweet price and meant to give it to Jinx, but then we had to fight a villain and forgot about it."
"You got me a present?" The metahuman asked, a smile growing on her face for a second before remembering the ghost. "But what does the comb have to do with her?"
"Oh, pardon my intrusions titans." The girl spoke in an English accent. "I've been searching for this comb for centuries. It's always been my favorite in getting out the messiest of gunk, and as you could see, I'm one of those that act as how they look."
"So you've just had a bad hair day for centuries?" Robin asked Bloody Mary.
"Quite so." She agreed. Once she was done combing, even though her clothes and skin were still bloody, at least her hair was now proper looking and straight, if still red and wet. "Ahhh. Finally I have good hair. Now I just need stain remover for my clothes and shampoo. Thanks for holding onto my comb. Toodaloo!" She said farewell before vanishing, all the blood on the floors fading away as well. It was also just then that the lights came back on.
"Well that was...just plain weird." Jinx said. She then looked at Cyborg. "Cy, I appreciate you getting me something, but if you really want to get me something for my hair, scrunchies will do fine."
"Noted." He said. Robin's communicator rang, and the titan leader answered it.
"Yes?"
"Hey Rob, what happened? We were walking around, minding our own business when everything went dark for a second."
"Uh, I don't think you'd believe me if I told you. Just go to bed or something."
"Roger that." Once the call hung up, the titans, having been scared exhausted, just went to their sleeping bags, went into Robin's fort, and fell asleep, though not before Raven summoned a dream catcher because Beast Boy asked for one. Once morning came, all of the titans were having an awkward breakfast.
"So the folklore of Bloody Mary...just a case of bad hair." Robin summed up, pinching the bridge of his nose as he drank his coffee.
"Well, I can certainly say, after what felt like nearly dying even if I wasn't in any danger at all, lightning storms just don't give me the heeby jeebies anymore. Although, now I'm just scared of ghosts now."
"Really, my tin man afraid of ghosts? Please." Jinx chuckled, along with Raven and Beast Boy.
"Yeah dude. I mean, she was scary, but we've got Raven here to protect us." BB laughed.
"Yeah. So don't worry about any more ghosts haunting us." The sorceress said, only that she and Beast Boy knew a secret together. Ghosts were all over the place. Hillbilly ghosts, a trio that was tall, fat and stinky, and an overly friendly ghost. The tower was insanely haunted by the sheer quantity of ghosts thanks to their supernatural senses, but since they don't mean any harm, why scare the rest?
A/N: Well, I certainly wasn't expecting this ending, but it certainly subverts the angry ghost cliché. Whoo Whoo! We reached 10,000 reads in total! Nice work everybody!
Hey Eris, I got to say something. Your review for Vegetables on chapter 36, the plot you gave is something I had similarly planned out for Smile Bones, with the stomach plot thrown out. I'm sorry that I didn't mention earlier but I didn't think of it at the time. But, there is still something from what I've read. Instead of a secret hypnotic organization, how about we replace the vegetable plot with a food based turf war. The titans are eating pizza, discussing pizza toppings when they get caught in a city wide fad on what is superior, meat vs vegetables. Basically it's a combination of the Danny Phantom pilor episode with the food festivals and the Chowder episode 'A taste of Marzipan'. That way Vegetables still has a funny plot, or rather Meat vs Vegetables now, and Smile Bones can have what you recommended for Vegetables, only Cyborg will be the hero of that episode. We'll talk about Smile Bones more when we actually get to that episode though. Here's the two episodes to focus on now.
Boys vs Girls. Originally, I wasn't going to touch this since it's flawed in not just execution, but concept, along with the fact it's easy to accidently be sexist even without meaning to. Each gender has their own advantages, and whatever they do have are marginal and can be made up or compensated. Not to mention they just stuck to themselves, not reached out to other people to balance things out. Battle of the Sexes is something that shouldn't be anything more than a silly board/card game and reality show. But now that I know what few people I have left helping me are capable of, I think we can pull it off. I think not only can it be fixed, but end in a genuinely good lesson that proves that will most of everyone feel good. I don't know what to do, so come up with whatever you think is best. My one suggestion is bringing in more titans. Both the tweens and each of the titan teams of the compass directions like East and such.
The Best Robin. Each of the titans have to leave for something personal. Star goes to Tamaran, Cyborg and Jinx go to Detroit and Beast Boy and Raven goes to Africa for his regular visits. Alone for a few days, and with each of the titans from the compass directions too busy, and having just came from the battle of the sexes, Robin decides to bring in those were were or are Robin. Jason(in his Red Hood get up), Tim, Stephanie, Damian and Carrie(I know that's in the future when Batman is in his fifties but all robins should get an opportunity to shine). They fight crimes and...try to have fun, if they can have fun since I don't know about Jason but anyway, they eventually have to fight both the Hive and Brother Blood as they kidnapped the mayor. That's all I got. You can fill the rest in. Thank you for reading.