In the living room, each of the titans except Robin were doing something in the living room. Cyborg was playing a video game, Beast Boy was relaxing as a cat, Starfire and Jinx were petting their respective animal buddies in their laps while Raven was reading a book. That is until Garfield's stomach growled and he jumped in a startle.
"Whoo, my tummy's telling me's its hungry!" It was then all their stomachs growled.
"It is getting around time for dinner." Jinx commented.
"Titans, time for dinner!" They heard Robin call out. Going into the kitchen, they witnessed a truly magnificent dinner. In the center was a plate of mash potatoes surrounded by chicken, steak, rump roast and stroganoff noodles in a salad.
"Whoa dude, what's the occasion?!" Beast Boy asked the Boy Wonder.
"I just thought that I'd make an extra nice meal for all of us. Curtesy of Alfred and his recipes."
"Booyah, we've got to thank him for this stuff!" Cyborg exclaimed. After dinner, they were searching through the movies when a commercial really got them which featured a red hot pepper.
"I'm a hot pepper! Hot hot, hot pepper pepper! I'm a hot pepper! Hot hot, hot pepper pepper! I'm hot like the fire, hot like the sun! When we talking about me, I be number one! Come on down tomorrow to Jump City's new hot pepper eating challenge! Win, and you could win your very own pepper mill! But not just any pepper mill, but a magical one by Voodoo herbalist Marie Laveau, which can grind stuff no matter how hard! Steel, titanium, chromium, whatever! So come on down and see if you can handle me! I'm a hot pepper! Hot hot, hot pepper pepper! I'm a hot pepper! Hot hot, hot pepper! Hahaha, fire!"
"Oh man, we've got to try that! Beast Boy jumped up and pointed at the commercial. Robin looked uncomfortable with the idea.
"Uh, I don't know. We don't really need a pepper mill." Jinx chuckled at his reaction.
"What, you a lightweight Robin?" He looked away.
"Uh, I'm just not a big fan of spicy foods. Both the taste, and everything after as well." He then shivered. "I'll never forget that first taco I had."
"You don't have to stay in bro." Beast Boy shrugged. "You can just drop out when you're reaching your limit."
"Indeed Robin." Starfire took Robin's hands. "We will not think of any less of you if you were to drop out." Jinx coughed quietly to her friends,
"$10 if first round."
"You're on!" Cyborg and Beast Boy agreed as they shook her hands. Robin just grumbled.
"Hello Jump City, I'm Brent Garcia, and I am the host of this new contest that involves eating hot peppers! We've got up to 120 people here and it seems like each of them want either the prize or just have an excuse to eat hot peppers. And to our surprise, we have the Teen Titans participating!" A camera moved to show each of the titans waving to either the camera or the fans. "But that's not the only surprise! For some reason the Hive Five are participating as well!"
"What?!" All of the titans gasped as each of the villainous group members sat next to them.
"What, weren't expecting us you snot munchers?" Gizmo laughed.
"Still going by those silly names? What are you, still five years old?"
"Hey, for the record, I'm approaching nine years old now. And second-"
"Wait, you're nine?" The pink haired witch was caught off guard by that fact.
"Really, you forgot my age?" He questioned. Mentally slapping herself and rubbing her eyes, she took a close look and noticed Gizmo was practically indeed no longer a genius toddler. He now stood about 4.3 feet tall, a foot taller than when she first knew him, and even started growing some orange hair on his head.
"Whoa, how could I not notice?" The teen girl was stupefied by the sudden perceptive change. The other titans agreed and were about to comment when Brent called their attention.
"Alright, the contest is about to begin! Get prepared to taste a zillion degrees! But first, just to make sure we have some actual players, we're going to start off with bell peppers. They're not hot at all, but it will weed out those who dislike peppers!" Being given green bell peppers, everyone took a bite, but no one left.
"Haha, what is this, candy?" Beast Boy scoffed. "Ok, now we can actually begin the contest. First up is banana peppers. The scoville rating is a simple 500. Whoever can't handle this is-"
"Whoa, wow." Robin coughed a bit before he eventually started choking, and ran yelling for milk. "Need milk! Need milk!" Cyborg and Beast Boy each handed Jinx $5.
"Uh, okay... so the next pepper is the Cubanelle Pepper. This rating is 1000." Each person was handed a hand sized red or green pepper, and only one other person left. Nobody left, but it did appear that they were detecting something as most of everybody was getting red and sweaty in the face. Except the titans and Hive Five. "Alright. Next up is the Poblano pepper, up to 1,500 units." Still, nobody left. "Next is the New Mexico pepper. 2,500." Even with a Scoville score of an additional 1000, everybody else stayed in their seats, though Raven started to pant a bit. "Very good. Now we're leaving the little leagues. Your first real challenge is the Espelette pepper. A score of 4,000." When Raven took a bite, her face was starting to become as red as the pepper she ate, but was managing to keep her composure while nine people quit. "Alright, now we're having some quitters. Next up is the iconic Mexican pepper, Jalapeno. A score at 8,000." It appeared Raven has reached her limit, as one bite finally sent the half-demon sorceress to scream as she ran towards a bucket of ice cream and dunk her head into it. "Wow, our second titan down. Let's see how much more everyone else can take."
As Raven was cooling down her burnt tongue, she and robin talked.
"Wow, you certainly lasted longer than me. Jalapeno isn't even considered a strong pepper and yet you dropped out."
"It was certainly more than I was expecting."
"Yeah, but look at the our friends, and the Hive. They're not suffering at all." Looking at the villains, the sorceress noticed something.
"Wait, the hive look too calm." And indeed, as even though they're eating an Aleppo pepper, a rating of 10,000, the Hive weren't even sweating while everyone else was, even if not red in the face. The truth is, while they were clear during the exact testing to ensure there was no wax on their tongue, Gizmo made it that after checking he made nanobots on their tongues secreted wax so that they were covered. While this was unknown to Robin and Raven, the two were nonetheless suspicious.
"If they're cheating, then it's time to even the field." The half-demon's shadow morphed into her bird shaped soul-self, and moved across the ground towards the shadows of the Hive, and entered each one. It was able to find the foreign substance of wax secreting nanobots and destroyed them and the wax, leaving their tongues exposed for the next pepper.
"Finally, now we're onto the real hot, hot peppers! Let's see you survive against the vicious Serrano pepper! The score has been more than doubled to 23,000!" Being given the thin peppers, each one took a bite, but the Hive were shocked that not only could they feel it, but were suffering for it. Especially Gizmo as he fell off his chair. Oddly, only Billy Numerous was not affected, even with the lack of wax. Same with Starfire next to her friends, whom were at least starting to begin to sweat and look somewhat uncomfortable unlike her.
"Hmm, now that's good a good pepper, mild as it is." The multiplying villain sighed with satisfaction.
"Ah! Too hot! Too hot too hot too hot!" The tech kid yelled.
"And there goes our youngest competitor. Next up, we've nearly doubled the count again, by choosing the spiciest Cayenne peppers we can find! They can reach up to a score of 50,000!" When they took a bite, this time it was See-More that dropped out as he went from brown skinned to red, his green eye turned red, and his helmet exploded off from the heat as he yelled for ice cream.
"Wow, now that was an awesome way to lose out. Next up, while it may look like the Byagdi chili pepper received the raisin treatment, but don't let that fool you, or the 100,000 rating score will surely burn you!" For the third time in the row, another Hive member fell because Kyd Wykked soon breathed fire, due to the pepper being so hot. Brent was loving their reactions at this point. "This just keeps getting better and better! Onto the next pepper! Two and a half times hot, we're now onto the next pepper, the Gunter pepper at 250,000!" For once, it was Cyborg who dropped out! For the longest time his tongue was dulled to the heat due to his cyborg body, but it was getting to the point even his tongue was unable to take it, and the mechanical Cyborg called it quits as he literally blew like a whistle, and ran for the ice cream. "Nice! This next pepper is an additional 100,000, reaching up to 350,000 since it's the Habernero pepper!" Beast Boy was really feeling the heat, for at this point he was appearing to be more red than green, like in a certain continuity.
"Don't worry Cy! I'll avenge you by holding out!" Being handed the round orange pepper, he took a bite. After a few seconds, Beast Boy transformed into a pool due to the pepper being too hot.
"Well so much for him." Jinx panted, the heat affecting even her. She turned to Starfire. "Looks like we're the only ones left."
"Indeed. You're doing well to handle this much."
"Hey, how come you look completely fine?" Before the Tamaranean could answer, the next pepper has been presented.
"Next up is another Habernero pepper, but this time it's the Red Savina. Bred right here in California in the place called Walnut, funnily enough, this pepper comes in about as high as 575,000 on the Scoville Ratings!" One bite from the pepper, and Jinx went from grey to red as her hair combusted into flame, causing the girl to scream and run for the nearest water source.
"Oh." Starfire uttered, surprised she dropped out at this point.
"Well that was an... interesting reaction." Brent noted. "Anyway, we have one of the hottest peppers in the world, the infamous ghost pepper. A score of 1 million. People have been known to go to the hospital due to how intense they are. For those that are feeling the heat, drop out now." Some of the more uncomfortable competitors decided to leave if they knew what was good for them, so only 12 remained, including Starfire, Mammoth and Billy Numerous, though Mammoth looked like he couldn't handle too much more. And turns out the ghost pepper was too much as when he tried to keep himself from breathing fire like Kyd Wykked, the fire erupted from his nose, and he roared as he ran. "Oooh, that's got to hurt." Brent cringed. "But very entertaining. Six people left, and they all look like they're about to combust." Of the six, Starfire and Billy were finally feeling the effects, but not as much as everyone else.
"Br-bring it on. My mama gave me chili that could revive the dead! I can take it!" The lone Hive member boasted as he panted.
"Very well hillbilly." Brent mocked the odd sounding Hive member.
"Hey, that's discrimination!"
"Whatever." The host brushed him off. "At least Billy's in the name so it suits you. Anyway, it's now time for the penultimate pepper, the Trinidad Scorpion. 1.2 million on the Scoville Ratings. Let's see if any remain after this." And indeed there was, since all but Starfire and Billy were left, though the multiplying villain was coughing. "Very impressive. Here is our last pepper. The Carolina Reaper. Reaching up and over 1.5 million, it's the hottest we could legally get. Any hotter then we'd have to use military grade pepper spray." The two finalists took a bite, and while Starfire started to mildly pant, Billy scream as he ran to eat some ice cream, but his tongue was so hot it was evaporating the ice cream faster than it could reach his tongue, leaving the villain to suffer the longest of any of them. "Incredible! We have a winner! It's Starfire of the Teen Titans!"
"Whoo, way to go girl!" The now now bald and mostly scalp burned Jinx cheered as she and the other five titans raised Starfire up into the air in victory.
"Man, you are the spiciest of us!" Beast Boy remarked.
"Can you drink magma?! Cause that's what it seemed like for Billy!" Cyborg laughed.
"Thank you friends!" Starfire giggled. "I would like to thank Tamaran for ensuring I have the superior resistance to everyone else!" As the alien princess was handed a victory milkshake, Raven was also handed a gold decorated wooden box which was the prize.
As the titans entered the living room, there was still something that was on Jinx's mind, aside from her newly restored hair thanks to Raven.
"I can't believe four years have passed when I first knew Gizmo and I've never noticed him growing until he said it."
"That is weird." Cyborg agreed. "In fact, Beast Boy, how old are you going to be for your next birthday?"
"Eigh...teen." The youngest titan realized, and then gasped with sheer shock. "Wait, I'm almost a young adult?!"
"You are?" Raven asked, only to gasp as she blinked her eyes. She was no longer looking at a 5.6 feet tall scrawny teenage boy, but a taller adult male whom still looked lean, but had more muscle along with standing over her at 5 feet. He now stood an inch taller than her, which she guess made sense. They started out at the beginning at 5 feet and 5.4 respectively, but while she remained the same height the past four years, he grew but nobody noticed till now due to not paying attention. "Wow, you're... you're taller."
"Yeah, just barely taller than me as well." Not including her hair, Jinx used her hand to show that he stood above the 5.5 feet witch. When compared to the 5.6 foot tall Starfire, this is what she had to say.
"Hmm, while you have not surpassed me in height, you have certainly reached the point I don't have to look down to your eyes."
"Star?" Robin called for her. She looked, and now that the illusion of stagnant appearances were gone, Robin actually stood at 5.9 feet, not like when he was 5.4 feet. It was odd for him to actually look down at his girlfriend, or for her to look up into his masked eyes. "Wow, I never thought I'd be taller than you."
"Indeed."
"Well, I'm still the same 6.2 foot tall football player I was when I became a robot. I'm surprised we haven't been noticing any aging changes till right now." Then he realized something. "Hey, remember when we teamed up with those other titans with the worlogogs saving the multiverse? You all are the nearly the same height as them now! Or... when we last saw them. That other Beast Boy must've grown past our sense of feet and/or meters by now."
"Oh yeah." Raven remembered. "I remember that the other Raven's Trigon called our universe a squashed down bobble-headed version. Also, if Beast Boy is 18 now, then that makes me 19-"
"-And the rest of us are 20 years old or over." Robin finished her sentence. "We're growing out of being teens of the Teen Titans."
"So, should we just go as The Titans now?" Jinx shrugged questionably. "The villains refer to us as Titans anyway."
"We could, but there may come a time that we'll have to permanently separate as a group. Starting with Beast Boy's birthday, we're going to groom the Tween Titans as our successors if they wish to take our place."
"Oh, and since we're going from teens to adults, let's do some updating ourselves! Like, just call me Beast. I'm no longer a boy, but a fully grown man now." Flexing his muscles, the green teen tried to puff out his masculinity.
"No need to go overboard with that." Jinx chuckled while rolling her eyes. "But perhaps an update could work. Maybe it's about time Starfire ditched the cheerleader look."
"I guess my costume could use the dating of the up." The alien princess pulled at her top and skirt while raising a leg.
"I guess I could also go by Nightwing now, adopt the costume look that I've seen from that much cooler universe." Robin grinned at the idea. "Okay, when preparations are done, and Beast Boy celebrates his birthday a month from now, the Teen Titans are going to evolve into a greater team than we were before. Let's put it here." Stooping down so that Raven and Jinx could better put their hands on his, all six of the titans put their hands together and cheered as they raised them up.
A/N: That's right, the titans are actually becoming older in the literal sense. I've noticed that in my story almost 3 years have passed, and all of them were nearing or reached adulthood. So that's something I'm going to actually explore. Even with the age rating. Now, even though I'm going to boost the rating from K+ to T, it's going to be a very mild T, 12-13 at best. That way I'm not completely alienating the kid audience that will be reading this story. Nothing graphic, nothing overly sexual, just some older based character interaction. If you want me to cover Fixing Teen Titans GO! with a 14-16 demographic in mind, then you'll have to say you want a spin off where it's "Fixing Teen Titans GO!: Uncut." I'll also make a poll about it which you'll find later on. Let me know what you think in the reviews below. Let me know what you think about it.