Titans West
The subway was a mess. Today had been the day it was suppose to reopen, new and improved from renovations. An update was needed, aging trains were being replaced, the turnstiles no longer let you slip past them so you had to pay for your ticket, you could guess which had the higher priority.
The mayor had been there, had given his speech for the ribbon cutting ceremony, naturally that was happening on the subway platform that everyone would be using to board the underground trains, and it was suppose to have ended in dramatic fashion with the bold declaration "May the first train arrive!"
It didn't arrive, not on the mayor's time, so there was a little embarrassment there. However, when the first train did arrive, it just so happened that a second train was on the same track heading in the opposite direction and had shown up right as the first train had.
You could imagine the wreck, both trains as it turned out had been rigged not to slow down, so people were running for their lives, trying to save themselves from the carnage. As it had happened, the Teen Titans had been keeping to the shadows, watching, waiting for the Clock King's attack to happen. Red had been sure that if there was any time that Jump City's latest madman was going to strike, it would happen here.
Their glorious leader hadn't been wrong, and the Titans had leapt into action. Both himself, the half-man, half-machine, and one hundred percent incredible Cyborg, Wonder Girl, and Terra had gone for the trains. That left the rest to go into rescue mode to save the people. Those trains were crashing into support pillars, tearing up the subway platform, and a lot of other stuff that was just another form of destruction.
It was a real mess, sometime during the commotion, the mayor had disappeared, and Red had snagged Wonder Girl to go with him. That had been almost an hour ago and the only thing of note after that was when Kid Flash raced off. That left the four of them to sift through the wreckage, searching for anyone who might have been killed or were buried.
This was grim, Cyborg felt, but it needed to be done. Man, this had been something. If you looked around, you could see pillars of earth breaking through concrete and supporting the ceiling above as well as pressed against sections of the train as if to hold them. Terra had really gone full out with her fine control over her gross control there. The geokinetic was getting better and better with the finer details of her powers.
He was doing scans, using all sorts of vision from infrared to x-ray, doing his best to see if he could find some kind of life. His best bud, the ever green Beast Boy, was a bloodhound, using his sensitive nose to smell out the scent of human whether living or dead. Raven was concentrating on her empathetic powers and doing emotion-based scans. You'd think someone still alive under that wreck would be scared out of their minds so that was what the empath was looking for. Kid Flash had been using his speed, checking through as much as he could then vibrating through anything that had gotten in his way. At least until he left.
Still, clean up was going to be a bitch, so hopefully they caught the asshole responsible.
To think, it all started with a mudslinging campaign, from a hilarious banner of the mayor with devil horns, a crudely made mustache, and something that might or might not have been a cigar in the mouth, then to mistimed traffic lights, then all the way to this. There had been escalation, and talk about this Clock King had reached their ears. Sure, Cyborg hadn't voted for the mayor—what, he was over eighteen so yes, he had that right thank you very much—but inconveniences becoming life-threatening was where the line was drawn.
All the research he had done, finding out that the man behind this all was a guy called Temple Fugate, scratching their heads on why he hated Mayor George Wolfman so much, it better result in an arrest.
"Geez, the fumes are starting to get to me," BB moaned, the green canine jumping down from a wrecked subway compartment like a mountain goat. "I need a break."
"Take it," he told his bro. You'd think gas wouldn't be involved with the subway renovation, but you'd be wrong.
There was a sense of urgency, expecting that people were caught up in the mess, but so far they had been lucky. So far, but there was still so much to get through. It just took wrong place, wrong time, being in the wrong spot, moving or not moving, and you were buried. Every inch had to be looked through. Still, he was getting the impression that the trains were empty.
That would be a major relief, and that was why he was letting BB take five. Still, this was a good time to also check in with the others.
"My scans haven't picked up on anyone yet. What about you?" he called up to the most empathic of Titans.
Hovering high in the air, a dark blue cloak hiding all of her body from sight, Raven's gaze was on the train wreckage. She was quiet, mostly due to concentrating. When she did answer, "I have yet to detect any signs of life."
Not necessarily a bad or a good thing. Raven could detect emotions like radar under the right circumstances. However, you needed to be conscious or, you know, alive for her to get a ping on you. That, or she spent enough time with you to memorize your emotional state from miles away.
Even now, he was still trying to grasp just what her powers were or what they could do. Thanks to their jaunt in Gotham, the title of most powerful Teen Titan could be awarded to her. However, since emotions were tied to her powers, they had all been keeping an eye on her. Weeks being poisoned with fear toxin had to do something to you. For the first month back in Jump, they had been right about that.
Things inside the tower would get busted up with no apparent cause, flares of Raven's power being responsible for that. On top of that, there was also the influx of recruits who were taking up the League's offer to join the Initiative now that H.I.V.E. was going the way of defunct. BB and Kid Flash had to take a lot of heat for that since none wanted to risk Raven there.
She had locked herself up in a room a lot for the first few months, coming out for food or for mandatory classes. She never opened up about what she did in there, or how she coped with her experience. Sometimes, Cyborg still wondered if it was affecting her still.
The cyborg wanted to say more here, but you know how it is. Someone just has to call and cut you off first. Well, since he was leading the search and rescue mission over here, he'd take that responsibility.
"Yo, Wonder Girl. Tell me you have good news," he answered. It looked like he was speaking to thin air, but this was the digital age and Bluetooth was a thing. His was just in his arm, and he didn't need to hold to his face or anything.
"Bad guy got away, though I don't know how. Mayor's safe. We'll give you the deets at the Tower," the warrior princess on the line responded.
You got to be kidding. Another bad guy gets away? They really needed to shape up on that front. Still, so far just injuries, no deaths, and the man who was being threatened by the supervillain of the week was rescued. Still a win, but not a total one.
"Hey guys, mayor's safe. Rest of the team will let us know how it went down," he announced, drawing the attention of the other three.
"That's great. Good to know," Terra remarked. Girl was sweaty from all the work she had been doing today, so a little snark was allowed. "When do we get to go home?"
"That sounds like a great idea. We can try tracking down that Clock King guy later," Beast Boy added. The green shapeshifter shook his head. "I think there must be some kind of fumes in here. Getting woozy."
The gas mentioned earlier? Yeah, they might have to pack it up or find a way to let this place air out. Not easy to do because the fastest way would be to open up a hole in the ceiling that stretched up to the surface.
"Go get fresh air if you need to. Let's keep at it a little while longer then turn it over to the police, let them handle the rest," Cyborg decided. Thinking for a second, "Let's also try to find where they fuel this thing up. Or find if a gas main got broken. That'll need to be patched up quickly."
Quickly reconfiguring his scanning, Cyborg got back to work. He may not have done this in a while, but he offered up a prayer that no one got caught under all of this. At least let them have that win today.
Titans Tower rested on an island just off the coast in plain view of Jump City, California. Tall and T-shaped, it was the headquarters of what was officially called Titans West. Thanks to an unexpected surge in recruitment, the T.I.T.A.N. Initiative had to be expanded and quickly. While this tower could house a school's worth of metahumans, that did not mean that was entirely a good idea.
Three new towers had to be constructed, and each given its own name and roster. In the Toronto area, Canada, was Titans North. One of two international locations, this one covered the frigid north with some…occasional border crossings to deal with threats that tended not to respect the world's longest border.
In the east, Steel City, Pennsylvania, was Titans East. They covered much of the eastern seaboard, certain cities outside of their jurisdiction. That tower was the first of the three newly commissioned ones to be complete and online, allowing for some relief here on the west coast.
Originally slated for Houston, then changed to Cancun, Mexico, was Titans South. The Yucatan and much of the gulf there would be overseen by them. It also helped for those of Hispanic descent who weren't quite…legal in the States to be assigned there. Miguel Barragan, a.k.a. Bunker, acted as a liaison and the unofficial team leader there. His upbeat nature was missed somewhat, but there were necessities that had to be addressed. Plus, some of them who went to Titans South were itching for some action against the cartels. Hopefully they weren't in over their heads there.
So many changes in so little time. The Initiative was shaping up to be something else. Who knew what would come next? Perhaps the next expansion would take it overseas? There had to be metahumans on the other side of the world, and that would mean teens as well.
Thoughts for another day. For now, the victorious Titans West were returning home, and more than ready to take it easy. Whenever something big went down, the usual criminal elements kept low profiles, waiting for the heat to die down, then went back to business as usual. The team would get the night off, especially since the mayor was the one in danger today.
The rec room was where this ragtag group gathered. The couch was a popular spot, long and curved into a semicircle. Between it and the windows that granted a nice view of the city beyond was the most prize possession of all: the wide screen plasma TV. Creature comforts littered the room, leading to a kitchenette that the majority of any kind of cooking took place. A bar with seats acted as a boundary, setting the two areas apart.
You could find the pair of Beast Boy and Terra lounging on the couch. Their sprawl took up many of the cushioned seats, cats in human form one could say, though one of the two could make it literal. Further down the couch was Cyborg who was going over readings via a panel on his arm. That was the impression he gave off, though he could probably be playing a mobile game and no one would be the wiser. Raven took up an end, a large book or tome in hand. Practically at the edge, she kept to herself yet was not isolating herself in her room as often. Sometimes, if your timing was just right, you happened to look towards her, and nothing blocked your sight of allowed her to notice your gaze, you'd see her dark colored eyes linger on the green shapeshifter for the briefest of instances.
No, do not mention that on pain of having your eternal soul being ripped out of your body. Her words.
Kid Flash was back, checking out the kitchenette, searching for anything to snack on. Not even Tamaranean dishes were safe from him, though there had not been such alien delicacies in the Tower for some time. All of this and more is what Red Robin and Wonder Girl walked in on, and it would be here that the daily debriefing took place.
"Man, we're gonna have to start putting bells on these bad guys," Cyborg remarked.
"Couldn't he be crushed under all of that clock stuff?" Terra asked.
Red Robin shook his head. "So far, no body found. If there's no body, assume they're still alive. They're still cleaning up the wreckage, so that may change."
"So we have to count down the minutes until they either find something or nothing. That sounds like a great time," Cyborg grumbled. Collapsing back in his seat and resting his weight into the couch cushions, he spat out, "Aren't the crazies suppose to be in Gotham? Did they follow us back or something?"
This did feel like something that would have happened in Gotham. A man declaring vengeance because he was five minutes late. That had Arkham written all over him. However, there was an intelligence, one that did suggest that Fugate knew what he was doing and didn't care who got hurt. It was becoming an actual miracle that no deaths had been announced from the subway yet.
"If he comes back, then let's do what we do best and kick ass," Beast Boy suggested. Pausing, he added, "After like the third or fourth time."
Beside him, Wonder Girl stretched out her arms, arching her back slightly as she did so. "Are we done? Call it a day?"
Glancing at the armor-wearing blonde, Red Robin picked up on the not-so-subtle cue there. With much of their work and responsibilities done, there was no further reason to stick it out. Emergencies were a thing, but like mentioned before, today something big went down so the usual bad guys would be keeping low. A night off sounded great, especially if it meant spending a little more time with Cassie.
So naturally the doors to the rec room had to open before he could voice the affirmative. Another voice, however, spoke in his stead. "Greetings, my friends! I have missed you very much!"
And just like that, multiple heads whipped around, one became a dog's head so as to better emulate a wagging tail, and right there with several bags dumped on the floor was the last member of their crew, one whose leave of absence had seemingly come to an end at last.
Kid Flash was in front of the newly arrived Tamaranean, and he cried out loudly, "Starfire! You came back! You didn't abandon us!"
"My apologies, my friend, I miscalculated my time afar," the alien beauty said, a smile that was smaller than typical gracing her face. "Time sped away before I recalled that I have responsibilities here. I hope you can forgive my unnecessary absence."
While not a good time to make unintentional puns involving time considering the latest bad guy of the week, there were no hard feelings here. Following the last stint over in Gotham, Starfire had elected to go on sabbatical and spend it side by side with his former Batclan colleague Nightwing over in Blüdhaven. If the check-ins with her former partner were to be believed, Red Robin suspected some attraction was there between the two. It may be mutual even, provided that Nightwing get out of his own way.
Romance didn't seem to be a strong suit for them. Blame it on the water in Gotham.
"Was wondering where my favorite alien was," Cyborg called out as he got off the couch, making his way over with a swagger in his step. "Kicking butt in Blüdhaven? Changing hearts and minds?"
"Ah yes. Blüdhaven. I shall remember that particular settlement for many reasons, though it did teach me of what I have here in this one," Starfire replied, her speech initially halting. Red Robin had a basic understanding of what had gone on in that city on the east coast. It had been a stark contrast with Jump, that city far less welcoming and filled with enough corruption that it was thinking of making it an export. The culture clash would have been far worse there.
"You have to have some stories, right?" Beast Boy was joining the gathering now, looking eager. "Don't keep them all to yourself! Share!"
"Perhaps letting her breathe and relax from her trip should be her and our first concern." Raven had remained on the couch, but she was peering over the back of the U-shaped furniture.
Levitating off the floor, the Tamaranean flew past the team to give a very thorough lookover of the pale-skinned Titan. "I am glad to see you are in better spirits and health, Raven. I had wondered about the state of your wellbeing the last…months I believe is the correct term. Much joy do I feel of your recovery."
Raven was quick to look away, allowing her facial features to be hidden by her hood. "You need not concern yourself. For what it's worth, your return is a welcome occasion."
The typical shifting of the topic that Raven had nearly perfected. If there was one habit that had not changed, it was that the empath did not like being the center of attention nor having give away too much of what she considered personal information. Getting anything out of her was like pulling teeth.
Hopefully the next time she divulged anything it didn't take some huge disaster or crisis to pull it out.
Feeling her presence first, Red Robin looked away from the sight of the Tamaranean and empath and to Cassie who raised an eyebrow at him. The message was received, want to get out of here? That had been the plan at first, but the return of Starfire had delayed that for a bit. Sticking around wouldn't be out of the ordinary, but hey, the blonde girl beside him was hoping to have some of his time as well.
The masked teen wasn't against the idea himself. The recent action called for a cooldown and what better way to do that than to do something incredibly normal and with someone whom he had been developing feelings for. It seemed almost every day they continued to grow, now to the point that words weren't always needed.
A look, a gesture, something that borderline telepathy yet wasn't, he had gotten to know this girl, one who had been irate with him at first meeting and had mellowed since. There were a lot of things he could choose to do right now, but what he wanted to do was spend alone time with her.
The see you laters wouldn't take too long.
You would think that with the arrival of a prodigal teammate that there would be more activity surrounding the itinerant Tamaranean, interrogating her for stories from another city with another vigilante. Kori had elected to rest in her room instead, claiming lagging of the jet.
A promise of a big breakfast was made followed by Victor going through the fridge to make sure that that promise could be fulfilled. The rest of the team had splintered off, each and every one venturing to do their own thing.
Raven herself had tried to stay out in the large rec room, but ultimately found that she could not stay out there forever. It was an effort on her part to…be more a part of this Initiative, something she had taken on for herself. Today had been taxing, though, so meditation to restore her mental defenses was needed.
Before H.I.V.E., before Gotham and Crane, she would have viewed this new routine of hers with scorn. There would be the argument that she was putting them all in danger. A retort about a certain movie experience would try to refute that only to be turned in favor of her previous self. Logically, she should be in her room, away from everyone else, protecting them.
As surprising as it is to you, she didn't want to do that anymore. Perhaps a side effect of being held in a tube where she could barely stretch out her legs for weeks on end might have to do with that. The enforced loneliness, broken up by one of Gotham's worst, and the exposure to a toxin that no amount of meditation could resist was…transformative.
There would be nights, in the dark, and her mind would…it would begin to make up anything and her powers would feed off of that. Dark, alone, and afraid, she was tired of feeling that way.
As much as it would batter her rebuilt defenses, she was trying to spend time with the others. Victor first, but that would only last so long. The rest of them she was exposed to, and the headaches that resulted…
Loud morons, but far better than nightmarish hallucinations.
Sometimes she did wonder if the toxin had fully left her body. Antidote from Batman aside, how did such a substance interact with her demonic nature? Did that side of her absorb any of it, hiding it away only to seep it out when she was at her most vulnerable?
So long as she was able to keep it together, she would not worry the rest. They had been through so much as it was, a trial they never should have been faced with in the first place. She would find a way to deal with this. It was only a matter of time, but she would regain balance once more.
Again.
Naturally she was able to sense a, well, not quite a spike, but more of a…an extended sequence of frustration. Depending on who it was, what time of day, and who was expressing it, such a scenario was more common in this Tower than you thought. The only surprise was the who this time.
Spending enough time with the Teen Titans, Raven was able to memorize the emotional feel of her teammates. The longer she spent in their company, the easier recognition came. In this case, this was an odd time of the evening to be detecting such frustration from Garfield.
Now, if he was in the rec room, then it would be perfectly normal. A video game, the eternal debate of steak vs. tofu, struggling grades and classes required by the Justice League, and the occasional inner mouth cuts from slightly elongated canine teeth were the typical sources of frustration from the idiotic shapeshifter. The only problem, or problems, was that she could estimate where in the tower he was, and Garfield was currently not in the usual places for that emotion. He was not in the rec room, the classroom, or even in the vicinity of Victor.
No, he was…
What business was it of hers? So what if he was frustrated in his own room; that was privacy right there. Just him, alone, in his own assigned room, and no…Terra who was…was….in the rec room.
Odd. For the longest time, those two had been inseparable. Always right next to each other, one like a shadow for the other. Not as much nowadays, and that could also be attributed to the personal attention that the Martian Manhunter had bestowed on the geokinetic, attention Raven had learned about after her return.
Mind control from afar, who would have thought? Well, with the proverbial puppet strings detached, Terra was starting to make her own identity now. She was still close with Garfield, no doubt, especially when…passion, shall we say, flooded from whenever they were in either one of their rooms.
This was a unique opportunity. She supposed she could take a look, make sure he was okay, then retreat to her own room. There was no concern here, just…curiosity.
The door to the shapeshifter's room was open, and Raven was able to peek easily through the doorway. The first to catch her sight was the mess. Well, less of a mess and more chaotic order. Nothing looked like it was placed deliberately. The floor had nothing on it, but bedsheets weren't made, so much stuff took up all space on any kind of dresser top, nightstand, and desk surface. There were wrappers, most of it piling on top of a trashcan that needed to be emptied days ago. There was also a smell…best not to go into what that was.
Honestly, she would have thought it would be filthier.
A desktop computer was lit up, much of the light blocked off by the growing adolescent body in front of it. Still wearing the white and red sleeveless jumpsuit of his, Garfield was hunched before the monitor and she could feel irritation mixed up in the frustration. What was he doing?
It had been a long time since she had ever asked permission to enter another person's room. She did not seek to enter any such abode, deeming it as someone else's personal space and to respect it so long as they respected hers. Requesting permission to enter was necessary, in her opinion.
Straightening her back, she lifted a hand and reached out to the door, curling her fingers inward and giving a short rap to the door. Raven felt she had used enough force, yet there was no response from Garfield. Not even a jerking of his shoulders. Odd. She knew that he had sharp hearing so he should have heard that. By every circle of hell, even Bart would have heard it. Nevertheless, no acknowledgement, no response.
If the emotions she was picking up from him were true, yes there was frustration, however a closer look exposed concentration as well. Not a word she would normally use to describe the green teenager.
Then again, there used to be a lot of words she would never have used to describe him. No, she would not provide a list. Despite many attempts, she couldn't forget that once he had been in her mind, brought there by none other than Fate. How he had managed to convince the sorcerer of eld, that was a mystery.
It was immaterial. Just like the emotions that threatened to well up inside. The fragment of her that was passion…the less said the better. Anger, rude, and sloth along with timid kept her from doing anything irrational. Happy and brave were calling her a coward. Wisdom claimed not to take a side but was taking a side by not taking a side.
It had been in her mind, but she could still remember being held by the shapeshifter, embraced tightly with her head against his chest. He was a buffoon, an idiot, so loud, annoying, no ambition, and…and…
…and he had made her feel safe for a brief instant, long enough to penetrate through the fog that Crane's fear-inducing toxin had forced onto her, giving enough of an anchor to center herself. A feeling of safety and from the one person she least expected to experience it with.
It was like planting a seed—and enough with that.
Another sharp rapping on the door, that should be enough to interrupt that trail of thought and draw Garfield's attention. To her slight aggravation, it did not.
What to do? Sate her curiosity or continue on to her room? The choice was obvious. With her hood over her head, Raven began to leave, made it several feet down the hallway, and then her iron will broke because what the hell was he doing in there?
The answer was surprising. Very surprising. Out of all the people in the world, this…this was not something she expected someone of Garfield's intellect to do.
"Are you playing chess?"
Right there on the monitor was the digital format of a checkerboard of black and white, digital representations of the various pieces strewn across that intangible board, no discernable pattern or method to the intricate madness, and it was illuminating a green face whose eyes widened and head jerked up.
Whipping about, an odd noise slipped through dark green lips and a hand pressed itself against a…chest. "You almost gave me a heart attack!" Garfield squeaked out.
"And you an aneurysm to me. I did not take you to be the chess type," she quipped back, keeping her eyes on the monitor.
"Warn a guy next time," he muttered looking back to the computer terminal. He propped his head onto a hand.
"You haven't answered my question," Raven said, though it was plain that the answer was in front of her.
"What, I can do smart stuff. You think I can't?" A burst of resentment she detected.
"I never said you couldn't. I didn't think your interest would be for this," she corrected. "You tend to prefer competitive games that are fast paced and require quick reaction time. Every second counts."
"Yeah, well, uh…um…you…well I have been playing, I'm just waiting for Ridge to make his move already! It's been like two days!" Garfield huffed.
Ridge? It took a moment for her to recall anyone she knew by that name and what came to mind was a large, lizard-like monstrosity that possessed a British accent. "One of the rescues from H.I.V.E.?" Clarification was needed.
"When he's not trying to beat your face in, he's not a bad guy. Us shapeshifters gotta stick together." A shrugging of broadening shoulders followed.
More clarification was needed. "Shapeshifter?"
"Yeah, he's like thirteen. I know, weird, right? Turns out his monster form has an off switch, he just has to feel really, really safe, and after he got settled in at Titans North, he just shifted back. Called me of all people! Long story short, we got it figured out, he's still kicking Canadian bad guy ass, and we've been doing online games. He's the one that suggested this." A hand in a red and white fingerless glove gestured to the screen. "Didn't want to at first, then he called me a chicken and I couldn't have that. We make a few moves every day. This has been going on for like two months."
Would wonders never cease. She had been completely unaware of this, and she bet a good amount of the Tower was also ignorant. To try and process this, she kept her attention on the digital chess match, took in the placement of every piece, considered that it was Ridge's turn since Garfield had mentioned waiting for the other to make a move, then identified several moves that her green teammate could do.
"Right rook to H5," she offered.
Now Garfield was looking at her over his shoulder, frowning. "Rook?"
"The piece you have at H3," she clarified.
"What's H3? Is that a podcast?"
Perhaps she had started to overestimate to compensate for underestimating. "Do you know the names of the pieces?"
"Well there's the big guy that I gotta protect there, and the not big guy next to him, and a bunch of little cue balls, two funny hats, horseheads, and castle towers. Yeah, I know the names."
What had she been expecting?
Alright, alright, alright, alright, alright! The gang was all together again! Sweet! Sweetness! One of the two! So total CRASH!
All was right in the world right now, all eight of them in the Tower, those other new Teen Titans in their towers and it was going so great. Bart could not contain himself, he was that…um…insert appropriate twenty-first century word here!
Ahh…but he couldn't be too energetic. That annoyed people. He had learned that the hard way and was doing his best here. Still, there was just so much pent-up energy! Both from Kori's return to that Clock King mess, and it was a bit late at night to run it out…unless you were a speedster that could head on over to whatever place had daylight and run it out there so that was a plan!
Bart had considered his plan here for a while—some people might say less than a second, but he had timed himself to one point three seven seconds so ha!—and was ready to put it into action when he got distracted by a pretty girl. No seriously, it was a pretty girl this time. It was Terra and she was pretty, what was the big deal? He could admire! He could also respect that she was a thing with BB and that was still part of the bro code in the twenty-fifth century.
Now why was she distracting him right now? Well, he had passed by the rec room and doubled back because he thought his eyes had tricked him. Nope they hadn't, because Terra was watching TV by herself.
By herself.
Were you getting what he was getting at? No? Okay, maybe he was going too fast here.
Terra was never alone. Well, now that he thought about it… Usually she was never alone. She was always right next to BB, the lucky guy. Now that he was really thinking about it, he was starting to notice that the two of them weren't always together like they used to be. You could find one or the other nowadays. When did that happen? Probably hadn't been paying attention. Again.
Eyes flicker up to the show Terra was watching, a thought that lasted one point one five seconds occurred and then he was sitting right next to the blonde girl on the couch, a hand snatching up popcorn from a bowl—sweet!—that he hadn't known was there until after he had sat down. Terra didn't react. In fact, most of the Titans didn't act or jump or anything when he seemingly appeared out of nowhere because appearing out of nowhere was one of the perks of superspeed.
Anyway, while chewing—forgot to do wait until swallowing, why did waiting always take so long?—he asked, "What'cha watching?" Bits of popcorn spat out of his mouth, which was a shame and a waste.
"I dunno, just on," Terra replied, actually swallowing after she was done chewing. She didn't show any disgust his way at his lack of manners, so win! "Come back from China again?"
"Gonna head that way, then I saw what was on TV. What is this? What's going on? Are they suppose to be sitting there talking?" A short attention span didn't mean he didn't get curious and could focus for short periods of time. Glancing to the girl who could literally move the earth, "Where's BB? I haven't been seeing you two together for a while. Like, yesterday or something."
"We're not glued together. He can do his own thing," Terra replied. "I'm not some jealous girlfriend who has to be around him all of the time. And I'm not that girl being used like some kind of periscope for some sick bitch with a bee fetish."
"Crash," Bart agreed. "Yeah, you are different. What was that like back then? It's like you couldn't be away from BB for any time."
"Why are you asking?" A blue eye shifted over to look at him from the corner of the girl's eye socket. "It's been months. It's in the past, what's the point of going over it?"
"Never thought about it until now. Now I want to know about it," the speedster shrugged, still watching but not paying attention to what was on the high-definition screen. Seriously, you call this high-definition? It looked so fake. "I've had people try to mind control me before. A lot of people. A lot of them said something about getting me to stop talking. They couldn't hold on when I started thinking a thousand thoughts a second. For some reason, they can't figure out how to get around that."
"Huh," the blonde geokinetic grunted. "Why didn't I think to do that?"
The teen from the twenty-fifth century was about to answer that question, but for once, sarcasm registered for him. Yay. That was sarcasm, right?
"Not all mind controllers are the same," he said, not really thinking too hard about those words. "But did she make you stick next to BB all the time or was that you?"
"I don't really like talking about this." Terra shifted away from him in her seat.
"It's not that big of—oh, wait, it is that big kind of deal, isn't it?" It was starting to click together and the speedster found himself turning in his seat to face the…was she older or younger than him in this century? Anyway, important thing, he wasn't watching the TV anymore. All attention was on Terra here. Or was it Tara? Terra, Tara, he had never stopped to ask which one she preferred before. "Sorry. I'm still getting used to…people don't like to talk to me, you know? Not even in the twenty-fifth century. I think Wal—the Flash got annoyed with me a lot. Thought I would like the closet a lot and he was way too touchy about those video games of his. Nothing like an Omnicon. Hey, that's kinda close to some console I heard about, Omnicron. Change one letter and—mmm. Yeah, sorry."
Maybe he was doing something right because Terra was looking back at him and she didn't have the usual face that showed annoyance or irritation. Definitely a step up.
"I kinda get it. Even after everything, I don't feel like I belong either," Terra sighed, slumping into the back of the couch. Blue eyes looked down, a hand ran over the couch cushion with fingers tracing some kind of weird pattern only she knew. "But I gotta find my place too. It can't always be at Gar's side. I want to know what I like best. What I want to do. I do like going out there, fighting bad guys, but there has to be more than that, you know?
"It's like I've been in a cloud. Everything's foggy. Then one day, the fog's gone, bee kink is gone, and I finally see everything around me. I want to do it all. I want to have a life, and maybe, I can share that all with Gar, maybe some friends too. I'm not going to do any of it if I hang out at Gar's side all the time and neither will he, but we are still close and I like that. I don't know, does that make sense?"
Honesty never hurt, right? "I don't really get it, but I don't get a lot of stuff either. But hey! Maybe we can do stuff together! You know! That hanging out stuff you were talking about! We can be friends! Not just Teen Titans but friends too! Um, you're…cool with that, right?"
Had to think real hard if he was using the right slang there. Why use temperature to describe something that was crash, right?
"Oh? What kind of things do you want to do?" Terra asked, arching an eyebrow and not in a way that meant she was talking down to him. More like challenging him. He liked a good challenge though superspeed made everything easy.
Sitting up and slinging an arm over the back of the couch, Bart leaned forward and said, "You name the place, the time, and I can get it done in five seconds. Six if I need to take an extra hundred steps. The world is my clam, and I can make anything possible."
Terra gave a smile. "Oyster."
Bart blinked his amber-colored eyes. "Oyster?"
"You said clam. The world is my oyster is how it goes."
It was? Aw man! He thought he had that right too!
"I'll think about it, provided you can stop laying it on thick," Terra continued, relaxing as she shifted in her seat.
Thick? He did no such thing! "I think you mean thin. With how fast I go? I can spread it out real thin," he corrected proudly, tilting his head back.
The corner of the girl's lips quirked. "Ever think about slowing down?"
"Pfft." A wave of the hand because he needed to show how ridiculous of an idea that was. "One thing you need to know about me: nothing slows me down. And nothing ever will."