Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans 2003 this is a work of fan fiction please support the official releases.
Author notes: Alright last standalone story before the three-part finale. Nice bit of BBRAE fun here before we get to a rather hectic finale. Not sure where the inspiration for the story came from but I've had it in my head for a while. I personally loved the season five episode 'Hide and Seek' so I wanted to do a sort of sequel story to that.
As I said with my last story 'Cyborg Out West' they both take place at the same time… roughly and will feature the return of two of the original series side villains.
There's a very specific show this story parodies and for fans of that hopefully they'll get something out of it… ok let's get on with it
Hope someone enjoys it and please leave a comment or review if you have the time
Idiot Box
Jump City had many kinds of villains. Masterminds, wizards and sometimes rock monsters. If you were to ask the resident Empath of Titans Tower, she'd place all of them in three categories. The Dangerous, the disposable… and her dad. Most villains fell into the second label however some however possible, usually through their own frustrating persistence, managing to transcend to the first too. Control Freak was one of those.
The geeky villain was nothing the Titans took much notice of initially, just an annoyance. Someone you deal with in an afternoon. Yet through advanced technological means, realities curtain fell and now well, they can't just shrug him aside. For Raven that was a rather irksome thought as the thought of fighting him just filled her with nauseum.
Thankfully the Titans last major run in had been with the East branch and since the Brotherhood, the villain had been spending a good amount of time behind bars. Today however he was due to head home.
The police car ride was rather quiet; the officers had learned not to indulge him. The street that housed him lair was particularly dingy even for this part of the city.
Not much had changed, the way up to his lair was still vandalized and graffiti ridden building it still was. Truthfully that wasn't on the villain's mind however, only payback. Whilst his lair wasn't the site of his first physics breaking stunt it was where he built all the equipment. Passing down the grimy, dirt and litter covered hallway he made his way to his apartment. With key in hand, he turned the lock expecting on the other side to see a pile of electrical equipment strung up and around the place but instead… nothing.
"My stuff, what's going on?!" The greasy haired villain yelled into the empty apartment, the only things left were the odd discarded wire and empty box sprawled out on the wooden floor. The villain clutched his long hair, frustrated.
"What did you expect, son? That they'd let you keep it all?" Control freak turned to see a figure silhouetted in his door frame. The man was short, bald and rather old. Control freak seemed to recognize his voice.
"Mod, Is that you?" Control freak stood up as the man approached.
"The one and only, my lad, now if you're done whinging, I think I have something that could benefit both of us and together we can show those snot nosed brats what for…" Mod pulled out of his pocket a small device similar to one of the superheroes communicators and smiled.
Garfield was of conflicted mind. On the one hand he was loving his time alone, catching up on his television and games. Admittedly being a solo hero wasn't as hard as he thought. Not with the city backing you up because you're on good terms with them… but he also missed his friends greatly, Raven most of all. His best friend and the love of his life. He felt guilty about enjoying the time she was away. He sent her a detailed message everyday but with where she was most of the time, he doubted she would see them straight away.
He just wanted her back to have her in his arms and just be the two of them all day. He never expected this, he'd gone most of their relationship thinking she hated him but after everything he couldn't imagine himself with anyone else.
The morning had been quiet, thankfully and with news she would be back anytime he'd prepared. Cyborg was the only other consistent presence in the Tower at the moment. He was away for a lot of the time but anytime he wasn't he tried to be there for his buddy through this rather difficult time among the team.
With Starfire and Nightwing not talking the atmosphere in the tower often felt unpleasant. Garfield was usually able to bring about happier feelings in Starfire but even the 'face' wasn't enough. When they did see her or Nightwing he found it best to just let her be. Hoping they would eventually sort this out themselves.
Garfield had been in the living room most of the morning, casually watching the tube waiting for any indication that the Empath would be home soon.
"Are you sure you don't wanna stay and say 'Hi' Cy?" Garfield asked his mechanical friend from across the living room. Cyborg had a bag pitched around his shoulder as he stood ready to make his way down to the garage.
"I would but you know what I gotta do, it won't finish itself. Besides she knows where I am and I'm sure you'll want her all to yourself lover boy" Cyborg teased. Garfield in an odd display didn't even argue.
"Yeah, but the nice thing to do is ask?" He shrugged casually. Cyborg smiled.
"You two enjoy yourselves, just don't wreck my tower otherwise you're both repairing it. I'll be damned if I'm doing it again, anyway later Gar!" Cyborg waved backwards to the green Titan as the living room doors silently closed behind him.
Several hours went by as the Changeling waited anxiously. He'd even begun pacing. A loud familiar dinged and he jumped up ecstatically.
"Raven?!" Within a moment the shapeshifter was in the form of a large husky as he barrelled from the living room downstairs to the lobby, pass hallways and stairs.
Returning to his human form he sprinted to the door. As he reached the frame of the massive doors, he came to a realization.
Since when does Raven ring the doorbell? He thought
Before he could mull over that thought the doors had already pulled open and Garfield was left looking at the sight of someone he wasn't expecting to see, particularly today.
Raven, was running on fumes. It had been a particularly hard week and all that was on her mind during her flight home was the thought of a long bath and seeing Garfield again. Whilst she had grown up used to being on her own being with Garfield, she had come to appreciate the intimate company of another. She constantly reminded him that she never expected this to happen.
She was that excited to head home she had not even bothered to check her communicator for any messages, hoping to surprise him. What little energy shed had left went into her flying, with the T-Ship out of commission she had to rely on her own powers to get back.
She was so close; the familiar view of the ocean bay had come into view as she expected to see her home appear behind the various buildings any second now.
There it was the familiar T-shaped Tower, with a quick boost she accelerated towards it. With a quick internal chant of her mantra, she teleported inside landing with a lazy flop on her bed. She felt selfish but she took a good fifteen minutes enjoying the comfort. Truthfully, she hadn't used her room to sleep properly for some time, preferring to sleep in his bed.
With some of her energy replenished the empath ditched the heavy armour elements on her legs and head, leaving only her cloak and leotard on. She had only one thing on her mind now.
Garfield!
The Empath glided out of her room through the hallways towards the living room. As she approached closer, she could sense the emotions of three others inside. She assumed the others must be back too. Her excitement peaked even more, it had felt like so long since the team was together, she tapped the side of her hips and slowly fazed through the door. She peered out through the black portal, there was none visible inside the kitchen area except for Garfield standing behind the sofa facing the TV. He still hadn't noticed her. The empath raised an eyebrow, she wasn't sure whose emotions she was sensing. As quietly as a whisper she floated over towards him. He still hadn't turned around.
The sorceress now had a wicked smile on her lips, she was ready to give him a jump. With arms pulled back wide she went in for a crushing hug behind him. Garfield practically yelped, he could feel her nuzzle her head into his back.
"Woah, Rae you're back?!" Garfield tried turning around to face his love who was still holding onto him tightly. He managed to face his body in her direction as he looked down at her head resting on his stomach.
"Hi, Babe" She deadpanned with a gentle smile. Garfield returned the favour.
"It's so good to see… mmmf!" Garfield was cut off by a pair of grey lips colliding with his own. Her smooches came quickly and passionately every time he tried to pull away and speak, she pulled his face back to her lips.
"Babe, wait?!... mmmf…" Raven didn't care she'd waited for this for too long. Only when she was satisfied did she pull back, cheeks red.
"You don't know how much I've missed you, Gar" she purred, rubbing her finger on his neck.
"I've missed you too, Rae but I've gotta tell you something…" Garfield tried to continue but she quickly pressed a finger on his lips.
"Shhh, I know, I know, listen. I'm going to take a bath. I've needed it for a while Gar, when I'm done, I'll be all yours…" Raven lent up and whispered a gentle breath in his ear.
"… In every meaning of the word…" Raven pulled back and saw the green on Garfield's cheeks turn red. Flustered the changeling gulped and Raven let out a small chuckle. Garfield shook his head and went back to what he was trying to say.
"… But Rae it's important!" Garfield quickly darted his eye over to the left trying to get her to look in that direction.
"What's so important…?" Raven's eye glanced over to where he had looked towards. Her eyes widened as she took in the image on the coach of Melvin, Timmy and Teether.
"… Oh …" She drawled.
"RAVEN!" The children yelled and jumped to tackle the Empath, knocking her to the ground with a gentle thud. As the kids went in for their hugs Raven looked up at Garfield who just looked down at her and shrugged.
Out across the bay, the villains Mad Mod and Control Freak, had procured a small vessel to make their way over to the tower on the small island. The vessel was small and rather filthy, neglected clearly. Even Control Freak was getting nauseated by the smell.
"You sure this thing will do the job?" Control Freak lifted up the small device Mod had shown him earlier that day.
"Trust me, son. The green one's been coming into our library for the last two months. Leaves his communicator on the desk all the time. Weren't hard to make a copy, we'll get through the security system with my little tweaks and what not" Mod explained, though Control freak looked less than convinced.
"Okay but what about the Titans themselves?"
"Far as I'm aware it's only been the walking zoo, most of the others have been away God knows where… If you're concerned there's an added security dampening field installed on the device that'll shield us from any detection, should last about an hour…"
"An hour?! How is that long enough to find my remote?"
"Since we're on the subject my lad, are YOU sure your clicker is in there?" Mod questioned.
"Ha, are you kidding? Everyone knows Nightwing is the kind to collect trinkets from his greatest villains, especially from the time the Titans first encountered the might that is Control Freak!" The greasy haired villain boasted to the sky; Mod looked unimpressed at the display.
"Let's just do what we've come here to… once your little device restores to me prime, I'll send those sprogs so far back in school they'll forget they ever were Titans to start with" Mod gloated proudly. Control Freak just rolled his eyes as the vessel came closer to the island, The Towers size blocking out the sun in front of them.
"What's with the Tiara?"
"And the boots?"
"I want the blue back!"
The kids took in a moment to contemplate Raven's new look, they hadn't seen her in a while since she transitioned into her current attire. Raven was also shocked at how much they had grown. Melvin was now coming up on the age Raven was when she first joined the Titans, Timmy was now the better side of eight and Teether had almost a full set of chompers.
"We weren't sure you'd be back yet?" Melvin said.
"Well, It's great to see you guys…" Raven stood up with a clearly put up smile and nudged Garfield in the arm.
"Why didn't you warn me, Garfield?" Raven seethed through gritted teeth and put upon smile.
"I did! I sent you tons of messages!" Garfield seethed back with his own smile.
"Oh really?... Ohh…" Raven looked at her communicator and saw the incoming flux of over fifty messages from the Changeling.
"…Alright, my bad I guess, sorry but Gar I'm running on empty as is, I don't think I can do this?" Rae admitted still smiling.
"Don't worry I got your back go get refreshed I know just what to do to keep em quiet"
"Okay... wait... how many times have they been over since I was away?" Raven questioned.
"Hey little dudes! Rae's gunna need to get herself ready have fun with us. So, for a little bit it's just us guys, okay?" Garfield knelt down to the three of them.
'Okay!" They replied in unison. Garfield turned back to Raven with a cheerful thumbs up which earned him a raised eyebrow.
Raven made her way back to her room to freshen up. A quick shower was all she felt she had the time for. After drying herself off she thought carefully about the clothes she thought best to wear.
Eventually she settled with a pair of black sweatpants and blue hoodie, the same colour as her old one. Before heading back, she noticed the books she kept to one side to read to the kids when they came over a lot a couple of years ago. The Empath quickly pulled the book's underarm with dark energy and began hovering.
She floated back towards the living room, silently.
As she approached the doors, she heard loud sounds coming from the television. The doors slipped back with a familiar whistle and Raven was met with the sight of a monochrome display on the TV. Whatever they were watching looked old. The props and sets looked incredibly fake and silly looking. A man with a ridiculously over the top scarf was the centre focus, Raven turned up her nose at it.
"Hey Guys?" Raven floated over towards the couch, Garfield was sitting crossed legged with the children placed at either side of him, entranced by the screen.
"Hey babe, feeling better?" Garfield asked.
"Loads... Umm what's this on the TV, Garfield?" Raven replied.
"Oh this, well when you were away, I needed something to keep em entertained when Nightwing asked me to babysit... They seemed to really love it"
"And what is it Garfield, prey tell?" Raven asked sternly crossing her arms.
"... Professor What?" He murmured. Raven rolled her eyes.
"Really, Garfield? You got them into this dusty old space show about the guy with the Time Traveling Mailbox?"
"Hey now, this show got me through some tough times when I was their age. Sometimes a bit of escapism can be good?" he huffed.
"Yes but they are at a young impressionable time right now Garfield, they could do with the right material to learn from" Raven argued. Garfield looked at the children who were still glued to the screen.
"I don't think they'll want to read anything right now, Rae?"
"Mind if I ask them that, Garfield?"
"Be my quest..." Garfield held his arms up gesturing her to go ahead, the Empath cleared her throat.
"Hey guys would you like to..."
"WANT TO WATCH TV, TV TV!" Timmy belted towards his surrogate guardian, the shock blew Raven's hair back as she blinked several times trying to readjust herself. Instead of arguing the Empath just flopped down on the sofa in defeat. She placed the books down beside her, sighed and crossed her arms and legs and joined the group watching the old show.
"Ok we're in!" Mod whispered. The two villains had successfully snuck in through the tower front door.
"The Titans won't know what hit them" Control Freak added.
"Blimey, what kind of lobby is this? Who are all these chairs for?" Mod observed the odd layout of the Titans main hall.
"Okay, the trophy cabinet must be upstairs somewhere more secure" Control Freak said.
"Let's just hope we find it quickly, yank. Otherwise, we may as well turn ourselves in right now" Mod conceded. The two villains made their way into the lobby towards the stairs leading up towards the head of the Tower.
Raven had been stuck watching the show plastered on the Television for almost 30 minutes, she was getting impatient. She'd lost count of how many times she'd tapped the side of her head.
"How long has this episode got left?" She asked.
"Episodes... this is one of seven" Garfield corrected her. Raven groaned in defeat. She decided to try something else.
"Would anyone like a drink, guys?" As she asked the question none of the children looked her way to answer but they did give her each a different response.
"Juice!"
"Soda!"
"Gravy!"
Raven pinched her brow and sighed. "Okay, three waters it is... Gar? Why don't you come and give me a hand in the kitchen?" Raven got to her feet and gestured Garfield over towards the kitchen. The children were still transfixed on the show.
Garfield came up to Raven, he didn't have to guess to tell she was annoyed.
"Is this your idea of babysitting?"
"No I'm pretty sure someone already thought of this?" Garfield chuckled.
"Ha, ha Garfield. I mean look... I don't mind you spending time with them in fact I love that you are it's just... I want them to actually spend time with you. Right now, they are only spending time with this" Raven pointed towards the screen.
Raven could sense a flicker of guilt and doubt off of Garfield and a little resentment but she wasn't sure it was directed towards her. He held his head down with a drained expression. Raven came in closer towards him.
"Garfield, what's wrong? I'm sorry I didn't mean to get on at you... " Raven noticed at her feet something was gnawing beside her. Teether had wandered towards where the two had stood in the kitchen, his hunger likely bringing him over to them. With a gentle hand she picked the toddler up and cradled him in her arms.
"It's okay, Rae... I'll be honest I don't know the first thing about what I'm doing here..."
"Neither did I Garfield" the two looked at each other in a moment of understanding. Raven gave him a light smile with Teether in her arms.
"How sentimental...?" A voice mocked coming from the back of the room, the pair of Titans turned to see the sight of Control Freak entering the living room, remote in hand, beside him a younger, fully rejuvenated Mad Mod walked up next to him. Raven and Garfield readied themselves to do battle. Garfield grew a pair of extra limbs whilst Raven had her magic up, with Teether still in hand.
"How did you two clowns get in our Tower?" Raven barked.
"Oh we have our ways, dearie. Besides you lot are overdue for class. Never too old to learn" Mad Mod answered.
"Feast your eyes Titans, with this remote back in my possession we can bring you all to a spectacular end!" Control Freak goaded.
"We've beaten you both before and we'll beat you again!" Garfield yelled.
"I doubt it my duckies, now if my friend here is ready, we can get on with the lesson..."
"... Wait is that the original Professor What?" Control Freak cut in.
"Uhh? Yeah why?" Garfield looked perplexed.
"Dude that eras been lost for decades! How'd you get copies?!"
"Oh well my family recorded them and passed the tapes down I guess?" Garfield replied.
"Oi?! What you playing at, son? Can we focus up please? There're enough distractions in this class as it is" Mad Mod turned towards Control Freak with a disapproving glare.
"Alright fine but afterwards you gotta show me some of those episodes, Changeling" Control Freak mumbled.
"Oh sweet merciful Azar, spare me this encounter please?" Raven deadpanned.
"Okay Titans, prepare to..." Control Freak lifted up his arm to aim his remote ready for a fight, instead he saw the sight of his hand, still holding a phantom remote.
"Wait where is it?!" Control Freaks head and eyes darted about trying to look for it. Eventually his eyes came upon the sight of the small toddler Teether, munching down on the unique remote.
"No, no, no! Don't touch that!" Control Freak tried to grab his remote from the boys' powerful jaws, though he just ran away towards the couch. Raven used her magic and lifted Control Freak up in the air. Teether made his way to the couch and crawled up with the remote still in hand.
"Garfield, grab Teether!" Raven shouted.
"Wait?! You don't know what he'll do!" Control Freak tried to argue. Teether however had already given the remote a powerful crunch, the device began sparking, Garfield tried to sprint over, the device zapped out an energy wave similar to when the Titans became trapped across channels. The energy enveloped everybody in the living room as if pulled each of them into the television.
Garfield, Raven and the children landed in a pile, the surrounding area was absent of any colour, only shades of black and white remained. Raven groaned in both pain and frustration, she'd quickly put together where they were.
"Please no…" she murmured
Garfield and the others got to their feet an analyzed their surroundings, apparat from the lack of colours they were in a very open space with serval doors that looked rather, retro leading in several directions. The walls looked alien but also oddly cheap, like a set. At the end of the room a large tube filled with heated wax was churning silently like a giant lava lamp.
"My powers aren't working" Raven tried to cast her magic but nothing was happening.
"Me, too" Garfield added.
"What's happening, where's the TV?" Timmy asked. Raven looked around and sighed, quickly putting the pieces together.
"Were in it…" Raven deadpanned. The others eyes widened as they started to see the similarities. Then they examined themselves, the kids all now had traditional stuffy school uniforms on. Each matched. Garfield looked down his body, his suit was gone replaced with a strange outfit. A classic gentleman's suit and a large trench coat clearly too big for him even with his growth. Hanging around his neck was a familiarly silly long scarf that reached his feet. A smile started to creep on his lips.
"Haha! Blimey I'm the Professor guys! Look at me?" Garfield spun himself around giddy. He stopped and then blushed as he noticed the outfit Raven was now wearing. The Empath now had on a fuzzy sweater that looked very soft, long black boots that made there way up her legs and a checkered skirt. Her hair was now softer and more permed. Her gemstone was still there but it felt odd.
"What the bloody hell am I wearing Garfield?" Raven asked in a new oddly British voice.
"Oh, you must be the assistant?" Garfield replied.
"Assistant?" Raven raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah, they travel with the Professor on his adventures…they help out and what not?" Garfield chuckled.
"So basically, you're telling me I'm a woman in a skirt? Great just bloody great…" Raven replied.
"You guys must be kids from Greasley school?" Garfield looked down at the trio of children, still looking confused as to what was happening.
"So why can't we move to another station like we did before, eh? Raven asked, though personally Garfield was trying not to laugh at her new accent.
"Well, love maybe it's because the Telly's playing a video? This is the only thing that was on?" Garfield tried explaining.
"Well, that's a load of tosh! When I find Mod and Control Freak, I'll give em an earful I tell you… grubby gits!" Raven finished; Garfield couldn't help but chuckle at her choice of words.
"What?"
"You sound funny, love"
"So do you! Stop taking the piss out of me?!" Raven instinctively covered her mouth in shock of what she had just said and Garfield quickly tried covering the kids' ears.
"Raven? What's with all the effing and jeffing?" Garfield asked. Raven lowered her palm from her mouth.
"No clue…sorry it's like I couldn't help it. We need to get out of this bloody place? Where's the clicker?" Raven tried looking around to spot the remote around. Eventually she spotted the damaged device, clearly shorted out on the ground below. She picked it up, even she knew it needed repairing.
"Well, this is knackered, love" Raven held the damaged remote towards Garfield's direction. He grabbed it off her and tried pressing button combinations, though nothing was happening.
"You're right it's botched…" Garfield sighed.
"There's only one way out of here, Control Freak. Think Gar, you know this show where could he have gotten to?" Raven looked at Garfield hoping he'd come up with some kind of plan. The Changeling rubbed his head trying to remember as he looked around.
"Well, the Professor has this time machine that can disguise itself as things. Question is I don't know what it looks like in this one…"
"You canny remember?"
"Well, some of these shows were scary as hell I couldn't finish some of them. This is probably one of those ones?"
Raven rolled her eyes "Blimey, Gar you were scared of this? Look over there… that wall is made of cardboard"
"Wait?! Wait!? I know what episode this is! If I'm right we're buggred…" Garfield looked panicked as he darted about the place.
"Ok, Gar calm down, love. What's so bad about this episode?" Raven tried grabbing his shoulder to centre him.
"This is the one that introduces the Professors most powerful baddie. They were famous for scaring kids so much they hid behind couch's Raven!" Garfield got right up into his girlfriend's face. She couldn't sense his fear but she could see it plainly.
"… The Desotrons…" He whispered.
"The Deso…who?"
"Desotrons, Rae the dog's bollocks, if you don't look like them, sound like them then you're as good as gone. They make your dad look like a complete prat"
Raven couldn't help but chuckle at his ridiculousness. "Really, Gar? Bad guys from a cheap old show are eviler than my dad, give over, will ya?"
Raven hadn't noticed that the moment Garfield had brought up that name, the children had moved to the other side of the room huddled up in fear.
"UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS ALARM!" behind one of the doors a loud robotic voice spoke out and Garfield turned around.
"It's them!"
Raven rolled her eyes again, the flat doors slid across rather unconvincingly. On the other side a strange looking machine glided across the floor. It was tall and cylindrical, having an almost skirtlike quality to its lower frame. It was covered in strange looking spherical shapes. In its mid-section was a claw that looked like a cheap kitchen utensil and on the other side was essentially a cardboard tube meant to look like a gun of some kind. Its head had a long stalk with a bright set of eyes at the end that glowed brightly.
Raven scoffed at the silly robot that was now in the room with them too.
"INTRUDERS!" The machine screamed, its voice was loud and rather grating. Its head lights lit up as it spoke. Raven waltzed over towards the ridiculous robot.
"Oh c'mon, Gar look at this thing? This is nothing but cheap cardboard and a kitchen drawer tapped together. This is supposed to be scary?" Raven mockingly grabbed it's claw appendage and wiggled it up and down. The machine pulled back and freed itself from her grip.
"DESIST, DO NOT APRROACH AGAIN!" it walled.
"Oh, I'm sorry I thought that spatula was useable?" She snarked.
"MOCKERY WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED; YOU WILL BE DISINTEGRATED!"
"Disintegrated, wow? Ok do you're worst!" Raven held out her arms goading the machine to fire what she assumed would be a rubber ball, to her quick shock out of the cardboard tube sticking out of its body a bright laser shot towards her. With a swift reaction she jumped clear. The beam hit the wall at the end of the room, the Empath turned from her landing spot and examined the impact zone which was now slowly crumbling into dust leaving a large hole in the wall, she started to see what he meant.
"Oh…no…"
"Run!" Garfield yelled, Raven clambered to her feet and scooped up Timmy and Teether whilst Garfield grabbed Melvins hand and pulled her along down the hallway through one of the doors.
"HALT, HALT!" The robot slowly started to give chase behind them. The group ran through hallway after hallway, each looking identical to the last. The place was a maze.
"Where do we go?!"
"Don't care anywhere but here!" The group kept moving as the Desotron behind glided closer in pursuit. The group came to a tall set of stairs leading up towards a larger set of doors above them.
"Quick up here!" raven sprinted up the stairs, under the assumption the robot couldn't follow them. They turned back to see it glide towards the bottom of the stairs.
"Scary, Robot can't catch us!" Timmy taunted down at the robot. Garfield looked scared and Raven took notice.
"ELAVATION!" a bright light shot out from under the robot as its body began to ascend upwards with a wave of steam rushing out from underneath it. Raven's jaw dropped.
"Oh… bollocks" she gawked.
"DISINTEGRATE!" The robot fired again as the group moved away up the stairs as the blast started crumbling the structure around them. The gang reached the large set of doors at the top of the stair well and ran inside. There feet skidded to a halt as they saw they had come upon a room filled with dozens of Desotrons, surrounding a retro looking console. They each turned around to face the group who all just gulped.
"Ahh about time…" Garfield and Raven looked up to try and find the source of that voice. Above them two circular platforms were slowly ascending with their passengers hidden by the lights above. The sight before them soon turned into Control Freak and Mad Mod. Like themselves they had a new look that fit the show. Control Freak was now sitting in a chair that he was much too big for, the shape of which was similar to one of the Desotrons around the room. His forehead now featured numerous eyes darting around the place.
Mod was in a familiar suit with his usual cane, this time however he was sporting a snazzy goatee.
"You know I must say my duckies; I never bothered with this old show when I was, your age but I must say there is a certain charm…" Mod said rubbing his new beard.
"…and the bonus aren't too bad either… now the remote if you would be so kind, son" Mod pulled out a blade from his cane and aimed it directly at Garfield's face.
"Good look it's broke…" Garfield lifted up the remote which swiftly pull itself over towards Control Freak who grabbed it as it floated back over towards him.
"Broken please…" Control freak examined the device and with little adjustments he had it working again.
"… Just needed new batteries"
"Great, can you please send us back now?" Raven pleaded.
"Ah ah, not so fast dearie, we are the masters of this world and we decide what happens here" Mod gestured his arms out and spun as if to display the room itself.
"At least let us send the kids back, they aren't part of your payback" Garfield asked. Raven looked over towards him, she had never seen him act so protective of them.
"Sorry we can't leave not without a certain something… see whilst we may not be able to travel to other areas throughout the airwaves, we can bring items from this world back into ours… and there's a certain something that this show has that could be the perfect thing to help change the course of history for villains if you know what I mean?"
Raven was actually unsure of what he meant, for once Garfield was ahead of the game.
"You're insane, mate!" Garfield was hoping he was wrong but everything was telling him these two were crazy enough to try it.
"Insanely genius… mate" Controle Freak replied. "With the shows time machine, we can undo all the victories you guys have ever had against us. You heroes would always lose!" Control Freak cackled.
"Raven…?" Melvin tugged on the Empaths arms and she looked down at her seeing how freighted she was. Raven turned back to face the two villains and stepped forward.
"You two idiots really are worse than I thought, messing with time could destroy everything"
"True… but what's like without a little risk?" Freak countered. Raven didn't need to be an Empath to see he wasn't joking.
"Then do what Garfield asked, let the children go and we'll do whatever you want" Raven begged.
"Maybe when 'Professor What?' over here tells me where the time machine is, then we can make some kind of arrangement" Freak pointed over towards Garfield.
"I don't remember where it is in this episode…" Garfield mumbled.
"TEMPORAL DEVICE LOCATION CAN BE EXTRACTED!" One of the Desotrons spoke up.
"Why are you salt shakers taking orders from this plonker, eh?" Garfield tried addressing the robots around the room.
"Shut up! The remote made me their creator, they obey me!" Freak argued.
"Have you actually seen this show, mate? These things are the master of no one" Garfield responded.
"Alright that's it, take aim!" Every Desotron in the room aimed their gun barrels towards the Titans on Freaks order.
"I'm going to give you heroes until the count of five! Tell me where it is or I'll have my friends here take it from you!... Five!" Freak yelled.
"I told you, mate I don't…"
"Four!"
As Control Freak counted down, Raven felt a weight lifted from her arms as she looked only Timmy was there, Teether was gone. She tried looking around desperately and then spotted the little guy at the foot of Mad Mod's leg.
"Aaaaghh!" Even without his powers the bite still hurt and Mad Mod began stumbling back with his blade still in hand, the villain fell back and the sword sliced off one of the Desotrons gun barrels. Teether laughed as he looked quite pleased with himself.
"Why you little snot nosed, brat!" Mod went up to swing his cane holder in Teethers direction. Without even thinking, Raven sprinted up and swung a vicious right hook into Mod's jaw. The noise of him hitting the floor was loud and painful and was followed by the tiny clicking of a few teeth rolling on the floor.
Raven scooped up Teether, and Mod's blade.
"Don't you even dare…" Raven growled.
"Fire you bots! Fire already!" Control freak yelled trying to regain control back of the situation. All the Desotrons began firing and the Titans started to duck. The one with the broken barrel started to fire too but the damaged caused it to explode in its middle knocking it flying back like a bowling ball into the others.
They saw their chance and the group made another run for it out of a different set of doors.
"What are you tin cans waiting for?! GO! GO! GO! They're getting away!" Freak screamed.
Raven covered the ears of the boys in her arms and turned quickly to yell back over at the greasy haired villian.
"FUCK OFF BACK TO YOUR BASEMENT CONTROL FREAK, YA TWAT!" Raven then followed Garfield down the hall who still had Melvin in tow.
"Does Raven always say such bad words?" Melvin asked Garfield who was pulling her along.
"Only to blokes who mess with her kids…" Garfield smiled down at her and Melvin smiled back. Garfield then started to remember something it was only small but it was as clear as day. He stopped in the middle of the hallway and Raven nearly bumped into him.
"Garfield, what are you doing?"
The Changeling looked around at the walls and noticed a large metal panel similar to a vent on the wall.
"In here, quick!" He whispered.
"What?!"
"Trust me"
Raven could here the sounds of the Desotrons following behind them and decided to follow along. She nodded and Garfield brought them over.
"The kids first…" Garfield helped Raven lift up the three children as they crawled into the panel. Next, he helped Raven get a foot up as she crawled in, turning around she lowered her arm down and pulled Garfield up who crawled in after them. As the panel shut behind them, Garfield gestured for them to be quiet as they heard the Desotrons pass by.
"TARGET, DESEGNATE, DISINTEGRATE!" each one that passed repeated this phrase as the sounds started to dissipate down the hallways.
"Come on this way…" Garfield led the others down the shaft as they came to a large opening where different pipes lead into different areas, a junction almost.
"Okay let's take ten here, the kiddies must be knackred?"
A full hour had passed, the Desotrons hadn't managed to find them. Control Freak and Mod were starting to lose patience.
"What do you mean, you can't find them? Where could they have possibly gone?!"
"NO SIGNS OF ANY INTRUDERS AROUND THE BASE!"
"Oi, try harder you bloody dustbins! The sooner we find em the sooner we get the machine and get back to the real world and out of this stupid nonsense!" Mod yelled. The Desotrons complied but each took subtle looks at each other as they carried out their orders.
Back in the vents, Melvin, Timmy and Teether were napping in a makeshift bed made from Garfield's long coat and scarf, the two Titans were sitting against the wall with the light of a large fan flickering against them. Raven tried to use her communicator to contact someone outside of the show but it wasn't doing any good, the signal wasn't getting through.
"Yo, Rae everything okay?" Cyborg's voice was very static sounding. Raven tried but the messages just weren't getting through properly.
"Oi! Cyborg?!... Ello? Is this bloody thing on? Fucking bollocks this is, I tell ya…?" Raven was getting frustrated and her accent was becoming more distinctly British.
"Uh…Rae? Is that you? What's with the voice?" Cyborg asked her.
"Ello? Cyborg!? I can't hear you, Ello?!"
"Raven? Everything okay? Raven?!..." The line cut off and Raven threw her communicator down.
"So much for back up?" Garfield said.
"Worth a go… "She replied. The empath sighed and took in her breaths for a moment.
"By the way how did you know about this place?" Raven asked.
"Oh, I remembered how this episode went, they hid in here and they couldn't find them so I figured it would work for us too, love?"
"Seems to have done?"
Raven and Garfield looked over at the sleeping children, the two sat for a moment silently taking in the quiet.
"Gar? Can we go back to earlier?" Raven spoke up after a few minutes.
"Rae?"
"Why did I sense you so guilty before?"
Garfield took a moment to take in her question, she could see the emotions flooding back to him.
"I dunno, I guess I thought I let you down…?"
"Let me down?"
"… Well, I don't know how to be a parent, Rae… my own dad was… well you know? It's just I'm scared Rae that I won't be the kind of parent I think you want me to be…"
"Gar… if anyone understands right gits as dads then its me but you don't need to worry about thinking that, you've shown me today already that you would be if well… we could"
Garfield didn't need to ask he instantly knew what she was referring to, swiftly her grabbed her hands and held them together in his own.
"How many times do I have to tell you THAT doesn't change how I feel about you… it never will, love"
Ravens pupils grew as she started to feel the swell of tears building in the corner of her eye.
"I know, love but sometime I think you want someone more 'normal'…" She said looking rather vulnerable.
"Don't you ever think that… don't you ever think that again. I'd love you even if you were a snail in the garden…"
Raven's eyes let out a few streaks, she chuckled at his comment.
"A snail really, love?" She sniffled wiping away her tears.
"I know life hasn't dealt either of us the best hands, love but we can be there for those who need us…" Garfield looked over towards the children for a moment, he then turned back over to face her.
"… We can be there for them…" he said softly. Right then Raven had never felt more connected to him, they were in sync. Despite his own doubts she could feel the natural maternal instincts inside him, he was every animal after all? This kind of thing came more naturally to him. It was a side of him she loved seeing surface. She feel for the loveable goofball but inside she knew there was something much more that even he didn't see himself really.
"I love you more than anything you know that right?"
"You could mention in now and then a little more, love?" he chuckled.
"Will do, listen I really am sorry about before. It wasn't fair it's not like I knew what I was doing when I first took care of them. Growing up I didn't exactly have a childhood…" Raven held her head down as she leant back against the wall of the vents.
"You must have hung out with some other kids? I know you told me the monks kept you away from them but I dunno, I picture you as a rule breaker back then?" he smiled.
"Well… when I used to… sneak out … I'd hang around with one of the students at the teaching temple"
"Ah, little Raven the rebel" Garfield joked.
"He wasn't exactly what you would call a friend just someone I knew. He was struggling with the magic lessons. Could never quite get the hang of it… but it was nice to talk to someone I guess?" She explained.
"So, what happened to him?"
"That's the thing, love I don't know. One day he disappeared, no one would tell me where? I never got close to anyone my age again before I met you guys" she said. Garfield could see her emotions dip; he tried comforting her.
"Oh… well could he be out there somewhere? I know you said Azarath is gone but maybe...?"
"After we beat my dad, I cast a spell that lets me find any Azarthian in the universe, provided I know their name. I tried it with him and all the others I knew… nothing. Azarath is gone Garfield as are all its people"
Garfield pulled her head towards him and faced her directly.
"It lives on in you, love"
Raven fell into his chest and he gripped her tightly in a warm embrace, the reality of Azarath's fate is something she had accepted a long time ago, though the pain was still great. Garfield knew right now she just needed to be.
After a few moments he pulled her back up.
"Listen I think I know how we get out of here; it'll be risky but I think we can do it but I'll need you to be ready and so will the kids" Garfield said confidently. Raven saw his determination, she liked it.
"Alright, love I'm all ears…"
Down one of the monochrome hallways a lone Desotron was glided along searching for any sign of the gang. The machine then thought it heard a light thud behind it and swung its body around. Its eye saw nothing.
The sound of a swift swish followed, the Desotrons weapons fell on the ground with a light clank as it looked down to examine them, something had sliced them off.
"Behind you trash can" Raven taunted, the robot swung itself around and aimed its eye stalk directly at her.
"You wanna stay in one piece you do what I tell ya" The empath had Mad Mod's blade directly pointed at its robotic eye.
"EMERGENCY DIMENSIONAL SHIFT!" The robot yelled as what remained of its body slowly faded from existence and disappeared leaving Raven befuddled.
"Wha?... What the bloody hell just happened?!"
"No that's what we want, love now it'll have gone and told the others come on!" Garfield pulled Raven along with the kids along the hallways.
"Are you sure it's there?" Raven asked him.
"I'm sure I remember now" Garfield replied. The group made their way into the same room they had started in with the giant lava lamp.
"That's it there!" Garfield pointed at the tall pipe with the heated wax inside and paced over, he felt the side of the pipe against the wall and found a groove.
"Aha!" Garfield swung it open and the pipe pulled across like a door, inside was a room, filled with all kinds of old furniture and shapes, In the middle was a console similar to the one they had seen earlier at the Desotrons control center.
The group looked in awe before they heard the sound of all the doors opening leading into the room. They turned and saw the sight of several Desotrons glided in and surrounding them. Control Freak and Mad Mod followed behind them.
Right on time Garfield thought.
The robots aimed directly at the group and each of them held their arms up. Teether was holding on to Raven in her arms.
"Well, well my duckies a little broken birdie of ours told us you were ere…"
"Now back up inside, Titans" Freak ordered, the group didn't protest and the five of them slowly backed up inside the time machine as Control Freak, Mod and a couple of Desotrons followed inside.
"Finally," Control freak glided over the structure in the middle of the room and brought out the remote and pressed into the device, it began absorbing energy from the console.
"The temporal energy is compatible, this remote is now capable of time travel!" Control freak cackled, the villain then felt an absence of something as he checked his hand the remote was once again gone, he darted around and saw yet again Teether with it who was running towards Raven across the floor. Mod however quickly grabbed the little one and pulled him up as Teether fought against him, Mod pulled the controller from his grip and threw him over towards Raven who caught him and gave the villain a powerful glare.
"Nice try my duckies but this time, fate is in our corner… "Mod gloated. The Titans looked on as they could only hope Garfield was right about his theory.
"Right, time to take control back in the real world and…" Mod was cut off as a beam of light shot straight into him fired from one of the Desotrons. He gasped as he tried to catch his breath as he felt his body start to crumble. As he fell to his knees the shape of his body slowly fell apart into a pile of dust on the ground. The Desotron that fired pulled the remote over towards it with some kind of field and pointed it towards Control Freak who now looked terrified.
"What are you doing?! He was on our side?!"
"YOU HAVE NO AUTHORITY OVER US!"
"YOU WILL ACTIVATE THE DEVICE AND BRING US INTO THE WORLD YOU ORGINATE FROM!"
"THEN WE WILL CONQUER ALL OF EXSISTANCE!" The Desotrons creamed at him, Control Freak began cowering as the felt their guns pointing at them.
"Please! Don't hurt me! Have mercy?!" he begged.
"MERCY?! WE HAVE NO CONCEPT OF THE WORD. NOW ACTIVATE THE DEVICE AND BRING US TO YOUR WORLD!" They screamed.
"Control Freak! Do what they say…" Raven yelled. Control freak looked back at her confused.
"Are you insane? Nothing human on earth could stop them?!" he argued.
"Exactly… nothing human" She said, Control freak was a geeky villian but even he could grasp what she meant"
"Oh…" Control Freak grabbed the remote from the Desotrons grip and pressed in a few commands.
"… Alright this may be a bit glitchy… here we go!" Control Freak pressed down on the devices play button. It began charging as a wave of energy surrounded all of them, The Titans and the Desotrons absorbing them into the device as it disappeared with a flash.
At the edge of the Towers Island near the tunnel leading into the city. A powerful energy spike flash. A crackle of lighting erupted outwards and the Titans, Control freak and the group of Desotrons all materialized.
"Are we back? Oh, sweet I sound like me again?!" Garfield was exited to have his regular voice back; he looked around expecting to be in the living room. He turned fully and saw the Tower behind them and smiled. They were still in the outfits from the show.
"Told you there'd be bugs…" Control Freak admitted.
"CEASE TALKING! YOU WILL ALL SURRENDER IMMDEITALY!" one of the Desotrons screeched.
"Oh yeah you guys? … actually, no I don't think we'll be doing that" Garfield remarked.
"YOU HAVE NO METHOD OF RESISTING!?"
"No… but she does" Garfield pointed over to his girlfriend, Raven who was now sporting a rather confident smile. She pressed her fingers together and stretched causing them to make a cracking noise.
"Oh, I'm going to enjoy this" Raven snickered.
"DISINTEGRATE!" No sooner had the Desotrons spoke up their battle cry had Ravens magic enveloped them tighter and begun crunching them together. Garfield covered the children's eyes. Though he was anxious to watch her in action.
"Azarath…" Raven began
"EMERGENCY…!" They each started saying, Raven pressed her magic harder as the sound of their metal bodies being crushed was rather intense.
"Quick, Rae they'll get away! Garfield warned her.
"…Metrion…"
"DIMENSIONAL…!" They walled against their collapsing bodies.
"ZINTHOS!" Raven's magic gave one final crunch as the robots smashed together into a smouldering pile on the ground no bigger than Teether himself. Raven opened a portal with her magic as deposited it inside, gone forever.
"Show's over…" She snarked, which earned her a groan from the others.
"What?... what?" She questioned, Garfield paced over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Leave the corny lines to me, babe" Garfield smiled, Raven gave him a sincere chuckle. Out of the corner of her eye she spotted the empty chair Control Freak had been sat in, the villain was trying to sneak away.
"… Don't think we've forgotten about you Control Freak?" Raven warned him. A sweat dropped from the villain's head and he turned around to face them with the remote still in hand.
"Foolish Titans, I still have the remote and with I can still…!" Control Freak once again felt the absence of something in his hand as he wriggled his fingers were the remote should have been. He spotted it now in the hands of Timmy.
"Smelly man's too loud!" Timmy pressed button after button towards the villain as a jolt of electricity shot out and hit him.
"Wait no!?..." was the last thing Control Freak said before he zapped out of existence. Raven grabbed the remote from Timmy's hand.
"Give me that!" Raven examined the device and noticed the fast forward and play buttons lit up with a strange number code on the bottom she couldn't understand.
"Garfield what do you think happened to him? Where did he go?" Raven asked.
"Beats me, Babe? Maybe he went back in the TV?" Garfield rubbed his head and pulled out his communicator to check for any messages. Raven let out a relived sigh.
"Well, I'm just glad this is over… Garfield?" Raven saw Garfield frozen looking towards the Tower, she saw a dust cloud approaching, it was Cyborg in the T-car heading towards the tunnel.
"I think I know where it sent him!?" Garfield chirped nervously.
"What?"
"Act natural! Quick! Cyborg can't know where we've been!" Garfield yelled at them as the T- Car came closer. Cyborg peered his head out of the driver's side window.
"Cyborg! Fancy seeing you here?" Garfield said nervously rubbing the back of his head.
"I think that's my line B? Weren't you two supposed to be up there?" Cyborg countered.
"Uh? We were! But Raven brought the kids along so we decided to go take em to that convention we talked about?" Garfield said with an awkward chuckle. Cyborg looked even more confused. Raven's soul rolled her eyes, of all the things he could say.
"You got, Rae to agree to go to a con?" Cyborg asked in disbelief, turned over towards Raven hoping to hear confirmation. Raven's eyes darted about as Garfield shot her a wide-eyed motion.
"He did" she said reluctantly.
"Huh?... ok so what's with the costumes and how'd you get down here so fast?" Cyborg asked. Garfield shot Raben another gesture, nodding his head towards Cyborg as subtly as he could pull off. Ravens eye twitched as she bit her tongue. The children snickered lightly.
"M... Magic...?" She croaked quietly. Cyborg still looked puzzled but eventually slowly nodded his head as he accepted the situation.
"Alright, if you say so?" Cyborg shrugged and restarted the T-Cars engine and pulled alongside them.
"Need a lift since I'm on my way?" He offered.
"Nah it's ok, we got our own way right Rae, Rae?" Garfield said with a smile. Raven's eye twitched again multiple times.
"You know it, babe..." She grinned rather sinisterly. Garfield gulped slightly as he chuckled turning back towards Cyborg. They watched the T- Car race away down the tunnel.
"Comic- Con, Gar really?" Raven crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow at him.
"I panicked ok… ?"
"So why did we need to put on that little act?" She asked.
"This…" Garfield held up and displayed the date and time on the communicator, they had been sent back to the start of the day as Cyborg was due to leave for Titans Tower West.
"Oh… so up there you're?" Raven pointed up towards the Tower, and Garfield confirmed with a nod.
"Okay I think I understand but what about Control Freak?" Raven asked.
"I think the remote was on fast forward so maybe it sent him into the future?" Garfield shrugged. Raven wasn't sure what to make of that explanation but even if it was correct, it was a problem for another time.
"Alright, whatever…" Raven used her magic to envelope the remote and crushed it into a tiny cube. She then threw into out into the bay like a stone.
"If he comes back, we'll deal with him then, I'd rather not mess around with time anymore. I don't want to lose what I've gained" Raven deadpanned. Garfield smiled as did the children.
"Okay let's get out of here until we can head back inside… "Raven surrounded the group of them in dark energy as her magic teleported them away from the scene. They rematerialized in an old, large open building with many shelves filled with books. They were in Jump City Grand Central library.
"The library, Rae? Garfield questioned.
"No one will come looking for us in here trust me, Gar. Besides I think the kids have had enough Television for one day, don't you?"
Garfield didn't even try to argue.
"You know what, Rae I think you're right…" he smiled.
The group spent the afternoon waiting in the library until they knew it was safe to head back to the Tower. Raven read them some of her favourite books and Garfield even joined in. The time they spent together made both of them happy.
As they returned to the Tower for the next few days the children still begged to see the rest of the episode that they were transported in. With a lot of convincing Raven agreed and she saw how Garfield had formed his plan as the Desotrons in the episode turned on their creator in the same fashion, she was oddly impressed. As she watched the show with them, she started to see the appeal of being able to travel anywhere in time.
As Cyborg returned home, he setup a perimeter around the Tower in case Control Freak ever appeared again. After a long week the children returned back to their home, Raven and Garfield retried to their room after a long and eventful several days.
Raven was facing up at the celling under the sheets of their large double bed deep in thought, Garfield was on his side looking at the gears turning in her head. the experience had shown her something she hadn't really thought about, after all when you're born to fulfil a single destiny you don't really consider a future involving a family especially when you assume by you're very nature kids wouldn't be something you'd ever experience like that. Raven hadn't really given these thoughts much contemplation, yet the last few days had perhaps shown her maybe... this was a prospect worth fighting for? And she had the right person by her side to do it.
Being a parent is a reality she never thought she get to experience. She was thankful for Melvin, Timmy and Teether giving her the chance and loved them like her own. After all for her childbirth was a likely impossibility and she was always fearful of the potential risk given her heritage. She would never want to give him another way back in. So the idea had never sat in her thoughts for long, then again if she had learned anything it's that fate can often surprise us? Still the idea of a time machine was still a scary one, even to a half demon empath, one who'd put a lot of work in to where she was now.
"You know maybe having a time machine, would be cool I guess?" Raven admitted.
"Well do you ever think about going back and changing anything, Rae?" Garfield asked.
"I think about that every day, Gar… but then I could lose everything I've got now…" Raven brought her hand to his face and cupped it.
"I could lose you…" she smiled lightly. Garfield grabbed her hand and kissed it several times, the sensation tickled slightly.
"Well best not fiddle with it, eh?"
"By the way why was I swearing all the time?"
"I think the actress you turned into was known for it behind the scenes, maybe that's why?"
"Hmm, fair enough… you know I was impressed with you in there"
"You say that like I often don't impress you" he chuckled.
"I mean it, Gar. You'd make a better parent then you think you would. I mean take that for what it's worth however as someone who barely knew her own mother and whose dad was well…?"
"For what it's worth too, Rae I think you're a great mom to them"
"Thanks, love"
"You know I like that pet-name"
"Me, too" Raven smiled back at him as they came in for a tender embrace, gently but with plenty of affection. As their lips separated, they smiled back at each other.
"You know, Rae since you're starting to like Professor What? Wanna watch anymore with me?!" Garfield grinned at her. Raven stared blankly at him and blinked a couple of times. She cupped the side of his face again stroking it softly and smiled.
"Emergency dimensional shift" and with a quick fade of black magic, Raven was gone. Garfield looked perplexed for a moment but couldn't help but laugh to himself, he laid his head back down and got comfortable.
Should have seen that coming?
Ok there we go. Just in case anyone is wondering they'll be no Raven getting pregnant stories in the near future. I reserve the right to change my mind but don't expect to see it in the finale.
Speaking of the 3-part finale will be written together and I'll start publishing it at the end of the month, since I'm ahead of schedule and need to let it sit with me for a while. Hopefully this will be wrapped up at the start of April and I can work on BBRAE week and then take my planned break during summer.
Thank you for all those who've stuck with this so far. Can't believe I managed to write to this point. Anyway, if you have the time leave a comment if you wish and thank you again until the next time, see you in a few weeks.