A Teen Titan Again (complete)

Swimming in Connections

The bell on the door gives a light cling as two boys walk in. I look up in the mirror to see those two dirtbags that stole the T-car and took it for a joy ride.

"So she was like, help me help me! Oh Cash noooo! Ah ha haa! Man that girl ain't never getting out of there!" The tall one says, flicking some quarters on the counter. "Gimme two root beers, and go heavy on the whipped cream, lady!" I gulp, hoping they don't notice that I used the whole bucket load. The waitress returns with their drinks-which have no whipped cream. "Yo, what is this? C'mon I said whipped cream! Ain't that an easy order? Or is you too stupid to get it right!"

"Yeah! Stupid!" the short one choruses. "Hey Cash, look." He tugs on the tall one's sleeve-Cash, I guess-and points at my plate.

"Good catch, Sammy. Now how 'bout you, snot face." Cash holds up a fist, walking towards me slowly. "You don't take my whipped cream. Nobody takes my whipped cream."

"Yeah Cash! Get 'im!" Sammy encourages, bouncing on his toes.

Cackling, Cash slams his fist on the edge of the plate closest to me. The pie and all it's covered in flies up in slow motion, smearing white all over my face. While I'm busy wiping all the crap off my face, something whaps the back of my knees, and I fall face-down to the floor. Sammy comes out from behind me, snickering and holding a pool stick. I glare, and turn into a parrot. Prepping to fly away I launch of the ground, but something crushes my entire body-Cash grabbed me with one fat hand. I struggle uselessly against him, but he and Sammy just stroll out the door, root beers in hand. Bright lights pop at the edges of my vision, and I gasp.

Cash throws me to the ground, and before I can think, Sammy is pressing his thumb into my neck-hard. I see the root beer cup come down, and feel myself lifted up, then dropped into the full glass. I flounder around, wishing the diner people would help, but knowing full well they won't. The other root beer now comes towards me, flipped upside down at the last second. Now I'm in a long tube, with just enough sense to fly to the liquid-less top before I drown. Looking out, a grinning Cash is duct-taping where the glasses meet, so nothing at all can escape, including me.

Raven

"Raven, Cyborg, we really need to go find him! He could be in danger!" Robin is arguing with us, trying to make us go out and find Beast Boy. From when I last saw him, he was fine, just really upset over Terra. Speaking of, that's Cyborg's side of the arguement.

"Oh really? We were already in danger with the blonde brat in the tower! Now we're fine, and you're healed! You never 'broke your limit' or whatever without her here ruining everything! If we find her, we might find Terra! No one wants or needs that!" Listening to Cyborg's point of view is like a stab in the gut. I move over to help Starfire prepare some food from Tamaran.

"Thank you friend Raven! All that is left for me to require of you and your assistance is to slice and flip the Blaach tails, de-frost the Glorg, and boil the Glurk scales! Then we may dine, so long as I may have my side of zorkaberries. Silkie may have already eaten them all!" I marvel at how easily Starfire can push aside her feelings when thinking of home. When I think of home, normally some things explode around me from the emotions-namely, the Glorg. Oops. "Well, I suppose that may be an acceptable way to de-frost the Glorg, although I believe merely putting it in the microwave would have accomplished the equivalent, yes?" I allow myself a small laugh, and nod.

Starfire eventually finishes prepping dinner, and finds a way to force all of us to choke it down. She also sets aside a small portion of organic Glorg and Glurk scales, which are apparently called Glarp and Glanck scales when meat-free. Go figure. I guess she expects Beast Boy to come back before Silkie gets to them.

Obviously, he doesn't, and we just munch in silence, with only the rare off-handed comment about how the Glorg tasted when spread across the Glurk scales, or asking why the zorkaberries combined with the Blaach tails create the Tamaranean equivalent of an atomic bomb. I carefully store that information away, along with some extra of everything, in case I meet up with Beast Boy or Terra.

Even thought I'm doing it near-constantly now, I excuse myself to meditate again. Sliding the lock shut, I fling open my blinds, and notice all the particles of dirt floating around. It's been a long time since my window was last opened. Well, now it's only been two seconds, since I literally just opened it, but still. I pull my hood up, covering my face, and float out the window, to the diner. If she's not there, then Beast Boy and I only have one place left to look. Suddenly, I smell root beer. Blech. Slowly, I can feel it creeping over my mouth, drowning out my air. I gasp, and drop nearly to the ground below the tower. I catch myself just before hitting the water, and drag my floating body onto the shore. But I wasn't wet; that could only have happened if I was connected to someone else, like when Slade came back for Robin. The only person I'm connected to now is. . . Beast Boy.