Short Fiction 70305
Deception
"Dave is there something wrong with the car?" a woman questioned nervously as her husband drove their family car way above the speed limit. "The brakes!" the man named Dave yelled. "Something's wrong with the brakes! I can't stop the car!" The woman turned to her husband "the brakes?" Waking up in the backseat from hearing the sound of panicking in his parent's voice was a 10 year old boy named Garfield. "Mom? What's going on?" he asked getting scared from the look she was giving his stepdad. "What did he do this time Mom?" he guessed that was the reason she was panicking. " MOM ANSWER M-" He was cut off by his stepdad who was growing irritated from all the talking. " CAN YOU JUST SHUT UP AND LET ME FIGURE SOMETHING OUT!" He snapped at Garfield while taking his eyes off the road.
That was the last time Garfield had ever seen his parents again. When Dave took his eyes off the road he missed a stop sign and collided with a truck sending the car into a river. Garfield survived somehow, but his parents didn't. He had to watch as the car sank. He was too scared to do anything. He dreamed of being brave that day and saving them, but he knew that wasn't possible. His stepdad always told him that his imagination would deceive him.
Seven years later he still blames himself for their deaths. During the first two years, he was placed in several orphanages, however he was kicked out every single one of them. He picked fights, only because the other boys would talk about him for his love for animals. They called him a freak, weirdo, girl, anything they knew would push his buttons. That all stopped when he was adopted by a older lady named Tsunade. She was pretty creepy when he first saw her. She had brown skin, black hair, and eerie eyes. Turns out it was just her makeup for that day. She adopted Garfield and treated him like a grandson until she passed from a heart attack when he was 16.
He moved on til he was accepted into the Teen Titans, a group that promised to stop all evil in town.
It was now Garfield's 17th birthday. Everything was peaceful. Nice and quiet actually... 'Now that won't do.' he thought to himself while designing a plan to wake up his teammates. After thinking everything through he tiptoed to the kitchen and pulled out two pans.'1...2...3!' He then ran through the hallway screaming "I didn't get no sleep because of y'all. Y'all not gon get no sleep because of me. POW POW PO-" He was interrupted as a pillow came out of nowhere and hit him in the head. "Shut it! I'm trying to sleep." someone yelled. "Come on, Wake up Cy". Just then his teammate, Cyborg, threw another pillow at him causing him to drop the pans. "Dick is going to kill you" he said before walking off and back into his room. Right on cue, Garfield's team captain , Dick, walked in and scolded him for waking up the team. After 5 minutes or so, he stopped and wished Garfield a happy birthday. Then he walked to the kitchen to make breakfast, only for himself. Dick thought that everyone was old enough to cook and feed themselves. "Happy birthday Gar!" shouted a girl with unusual, bright pink hair. " Thanks Korri" Garfield said as she stacked horribly wrapped gifts in his arms. " Since today is a special day we should celebrate. Isn't that right Dick?" She said trying to get the team out of the house. One thing that anyone knows if you live in the team house is that Dick has a crush on Korri. It's obvious to anyone else except her. She thinks he's just being nice and only thinks of him as a friend. "Yeah sure if we don't have any missions today" Dick supposed. The team hasn't gone out to have fun together since Cyborg's birthday-Which was 5 months ago..."Great I'll go make breakfast. Gar, do me a favor and wake up Raven for me?" She asked. "Sure thing Kor" he replied while running off to Raven's room. Not even bothering to knock he barged in the room in the middle of singing. "Heya M-" he said before he was cut off by Raven who hates people coming into her room without knocking. "GET OUT MY ROOM!" she screamed while dragging him out my his shirt. "God don't people know how to knock anymore?" she continued her ranting after kicking him out. Taking the hint he stood up and knocked this time. Answering the door was a still angry Raven "What?" "Korri is making breakfast. She told me to get you." Growing annoyed with his presence she said "That was something you could have said outside my door". Garfield frowned and turned to walk back to the kitchen. Raven started to feel a little guilty watching him walk away but shook the feeling as she closed her door. She was in the middle of working on something when he came in her room. This thing she was working on has the ability to make people see their worst fears. She was performing the hand seals when she looked at him. Not completely sure how to activate the spell she didn't worry. Shaking her head at herself, she walked into the chaos in the kitchen. 'Korri can't cook for her life' she thought as she looked at the charred bacon and eggs. She noticed that she had also made oatmeal. Tempted to eat it until she saw the large salt jar by the stove instead of the sugar. "No thanks, I'll eat cereal " she concluded.
She was disturbed (out of her peace) when she saw Garfield run in the kitchen. " Idiot, what's wrong?" Relieved when he saw Raven "Help! Cy is trying to hurt me. " he pleaded. Just then a suspicious looking Cyborg entered the kitchen with a water gun. "Oh Garfield you know what time it is?" Cyborg asked with a creepy smile spreading across his face. " Birthday licks" answered Dick from the living room. Raven stood still. Shocked—because she never knew when his birthday was. She hadn't even given him a gift or friendly good morning. When it was her birthday, Garfield was the first person to wish her a happy birthday. He even tried to make her breakfast.
'Least I can do is help him out' she thought. "What did I say about water guns in the house" she scolded Cyborg. " At least use a nerf gun." "RAVEN!" Garfield said watching Cyborg run to take her advice. " Don't worry. I threw all the nerf guns away last week.'' She said casually taking note of his sigh of relief. " Gee, Thanks Rav." He thanked her before running away into the living room and jumping on Dick just because he felt like it. Dick let out a faint "Oof" before he push Garfield off of him. " I talked to Korri and we decided on going on a road trip " He told him. " Sounds good to me. Where are we going?" he asked. "Birmingham" Dick said, not noticing the uneasy look on Garfield's face. "Birmingham? Like Birmingham, Alabama?" He asked, trying to clarify. "Yes, The Steel City" he replied. "Um yeah sure, that sounds good". Birmingham was Garfield's birth town. He used to live there with his parents until their deaths. He moved to New Jersey when he was adopted by Tsunade and stayed there after she died. Hearing the word Birmingham brought back so many memories. Memories of his parents, the orphanages , and Tsunade. He imagined never going back there, but you know how your imagination isn't always real. He never told any of the titans about his past, except Cyborg. He felt like the others would judge him. He kept his problems to himself. He always did that. He was broken away from his thoughts when the mission alarm went off. Dick quickly jumped up and tapped the alarm. "Titans Report!" He yelled, calling for all the titans. Right at this command, Raven, Korri, and Cyborg came to the living room. " The Hive is at it again " he told them. " They robbed a bank and have hostages. We leave in 5. Titans go!" All 5 of them quickly changed clothes and met in the mission car.
They drove to the bank ready to take down the Hive. The Hive is a group of 5 criminal students from the H.I.V.E. Academy. Jinx, their former leader, has the hots for Cyborg so he always takes her down easily. Their new leader, Gizmo , was a short genius who specializes in making mechanical tools and weapons. Then there's Mammoth and Billy Numerous. Mammoth is the total opposite of gizmo and Billy gets his name from his ability to create numerous clones of himself. For some reason, their new teammate, Kyd Wykkyd, didn't make a appearance, but it's not like they're complaining. The Teen Titans took them down with ease and returned the money they stole. They then went home to plan their first road trip together. While Dick and Korri talked quietly, Raven read , and Cyborg was cleaning his robotic arm, Garfield was sleeping. He's always had a hard time sleeping for some reason. Whenever he went to sleep he saw himself in a hospital bed paralyzed.
He later woke himself up. When he got up, he could hear Cyborg and Dick arguing over something. "Nah are you crazy? You're not taking my baby!" Cyborg yelled. "Come on Cy. We'll only be using it for a couple of hours. Plus you'll be driving". Cyborg stopped to think about it. Dick wanted to use his new techno car to drive the titans, but Cyborg loves that car more than he loves himself.
While Cyborg thought about it quietly, Garfield used the opportunity to get revenge for the birthday licks. He threw a ball, successfully hitting Cyborg, but also hitting Dick in the face. Stunned, the pair slowly turned to him and began chasing him throughout the teen tower. They later caught him, but he was again saved by Raven who was tired of their shenanigans. "Stop acting like little kids and go to sleep already." All three boys mumbled a small "Fine" and slowly walked back towards their rooms. Raven felt a ping of guilt as she watched Garfield walk back to his room.
Two days later, after countless fights and arguments, The Teen Titan's road trip had finally been planned. They were set to leave in two hours. Two hours for Garfield to pack clothes, snacks, and other unnessercery stuff. Once he was done, he began daydreaming. He hadn't been to Birmingham since he was 11 or 12 years old. Whichever one, he couldn't really remember. He tried so hard to forget the past, everything that happened to his parents and the car crash on that day. His thoughts were interrupted by a knock on his door. "Yo, Gar you better be packing we leave in 30 minutes". "Alright, I'm packing." Had he really been daydreaming for a hour or was time going by fast again? He wondered if this was a sign that Warp was coming back. He made his way down to the car and saw everyone except Korri. "Where's Korri?" he asked. "She's still packing." Dick replied while checking his watch. It was normal for Korri to over pack for something. They were going to Birmingham for only 2 days and it would take about 16 hours to get there by a car. Raven suggested they take a plane instead, but Cyborg and Dick refused.
Korri finally made her way down to the team car with 3 excessively large bags. Garfield wondered how all of their stuff would fit in the car with Korri's bags taking half of the space. Somehow, Cyborg managed to fit everything in and they all got in the car. Cyborg was the driver, while Dick was in the passenger seat, and Raven, Garfield , and Korri sat in the back. Garfield didn't mind sitting in the back, but Korri was causing a minor fuss over it. She wanted to switch seats so that she could see up front, but Dick told her he has to sit in the passenger seat because he's the team captain. After everything was settled out, Garfield laid uncomfortably in the back, as they finally got on the highway.
The Teen Titans road trip was happening just like he imagined. Dick arguing with Cyborg about whether they're going the right way or not. Raven reading, Korri talking to literally no one about all the fun things they were going to do , and himself? What exactly is he doing? He's looking out the window daydreaming it appears, but actually he's trying to distract himself. That becomes harder to do as they are currently only a couple of cities away from Birmingham now. He didn't want to go on this trip. He would rather go to Florida and smell fish or go to Detroit and p— "Gar you want anything?" Cyborg asked, taking Garfield out of his thoughts. He looked around and saw that they were in the drive through at McDonald's.
"Sure, I'll get 2 vegetable wraps with a sprite and large fry." At that he heard Raven mumble something about how much he eats. Cyborg ordered all the food and by the time he pulled up to the window it was done. Everything they ordered was there except Korri's ice cream. She was given a refund on it due to their machine being broken.
The Titans were back on the road and this time everything was peaceful. No one was fighting or cursing someone out, everyone except Cyborg and Garfield was sleeping. To take advantage of the peace Cyborg decided to talk to Garfield about why he's been acting so strange. "Yo beasty." he called out looking at him through the rearview mirror. Beasty is one of the nicknames he has Garfield. When he first started, everyone would call him Beast Boy for his affiliation with animals. "Hm?" Garfield looked at him. "What's going on with you man?" He asked with a slight sound of concern in his voice. "Is it because we're going to Steel city?" He said spot on the reason why Garfield was acting weird. "Yeah" he admitted. "It feels unsettling going back after all this years." He looked down and started playing with his fingers nervously "I'm not sure I can." Switching lanes on the highway and driving just at the speed limit Cyborg scoffed. "I think I know how you feel bro. When my old man died in that plane crash, I was pretty struck. I felt useless when he sacrificed his life for mine and felt out of place when he turned me in a robot. I was mad for awhile at him till I went back to the old house and found a note he left me. He did it all to save me. After the accident I was missing a couple body parts here and there. He got them replaced and saved me. I look up to him now." He looked back at Garfield and rolled his only eye at how he was on the verge of falling asleep. "Here's a tip for your problem. Know that it wasn't your fault. There was nothing you could do. It's okay to cry because you're sad and It's better than keeping it all in and exploding or something. Visit their graves and talk to them. " He suggested looking in the rear view mirror again to check on everyone. Garfield fell asleep and thought about what he said, but little did the two boys know that Raven was actually awake. She was just closing her eyes so no one would talk to her. She heard the conversation between the two and thought about her parents.
They finally made it to The Steel City. He had to admit that it had changed since the last time he was there. The rundown buildings that used to be there were now new and modern. Magical even. They stopped at the hotel to drop off their things and Korri suggested that they go to a place called Playstation. Everyone knew how to skate except for Garfield. He needs a walker in order to, but everyone of them had been rented. He debated stealing one from a random kid when he fell for the 10th? No maybe 15th time. He was just about to give up until Raven came and offered to help him. He wasn't falling anymore. The pair eventually left and got some food to eat. They went to Steak-N-Shake and talked for a few hours. He noticed that she wasn't as cold as she portrays herself. She was actually pretty cool but of course he already knew that.
Raven found out that day that he wasn't as dumb as she thought. He's actually pretty smart and can hold a conversation.
They felt at peace around each other. She thought this would be a good time to ask about his parents so she did. There was then a sudden change in the atmosphere, the bright smile on his face fell. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. It's just that I overheard you and Cyborg talking in the car and I just got curious." She explained. " No, it's okay" he said trying to lift her spirits. He told her the story about what happened to his parents and his life after their deaths. Raven nodded her head taking everything in. ' Just like I thought. It is him.' she said to herself. "So what about your parents?" He asked hoping to learn more about her. " They're not really exciting. My mom was headmistress of this group of pacifists and my dad is one of satan's top demons-. Garfield cut her off "Hold up. So your mom did it with satan?" Raven nodded her head. "Cool, tell me more about him." " I don't know anymore about him. He left me when I was born. He only comes and visits me when he wants power or to see if I'm following in his footsteps." She said becoming angry after every word. She wasn't mad at Garfield, she was mad her dad and how he would be visiting soon. Sensing her anger, he reached over the table and placed a hand on her shoulder. " Come with me" he said as he took her to the one place he said he would never go again. The pair made it the place and sat down on the hill. Just below them is the river. The river they died at. "We can just go back to the hotel if you want? You don't have to be here." She said now knowing the story behind this river. " No it's okay. I'm trying to forget." He told her with his eyes close. "Cy told me that it's okay to cry and it's better to then keeping all that pent up anger inside of you." Raven took his advice. One teardrop started and now she's crying. For the first time in years. She wanted to forget all the pain her father caused her, but she knew in order to do that she would have to talk to him face to face. "This river is actually calming to me for some reason." Garfield looked at her and wished it was the same for him. After they both got done crying and talking about each other's parents they went to the hotel and fell asleep.
The teen titans trip was almost coming to a end. They only had one day left to spend in Birmingham, so everyone decided to go to separate places. Dick went to Dick's sporting goods to find new workout gear. Cyborg went to techmart and saved a fortune on random technology pieces. Korri went to petsmart to pet every cat she found. Garfield and Raven went to yogurt mountain. They continued talking to each other about their past. They were slowly getting over everything by just being with each other. They soon went back to the hotel to pack up for the ride back. Dick let Korri sit in the front seat this time and he sat in the back. She was so happy about it that she kissed him on the cheek. They were driving on the road when something just felt off to them. Everyone in the car could feel it.
They looked around and didn't see anything, but it felt like something bad was going to happen. Raven started to get nervous because this feeling felt familiar. " Garfield I think it's him." She said in a panicky tone before she suddenly passed out.
As if on cue, the ground shook violently. Buildings shook, trees fell, and car alarms went off. The Titans could hear people screaming, but everyone around them was frozen in place. No one was able to move. They jumped out the car and looked around. The shaking grew even more hectic when they saw a figure coming up from the ground. "Raven." the figure called from the darkness with a deep, raspy voice. When the figure made its way into the light the group saw a giant red man with horns on his head walking slowly towards them. The atmosphere slowly turned from a cool to a hot feeling, like they were burning. "These must be your new friends huh?" he guessed towering over the group. Frozen, but only for a couple of seconds was Dick before he yelled "TITANS ATTACK!" On his command he, Korri, and Cyborg ran full speed toward the beast. He landed a swift kick to his stomach while Cyborg and Korri sent blasts of blue and green energy towards his legs. This went on for a few minutes while Garfield stayed with Raven making sure she was okay. He wanted to go and fight, but this was her Father he was dealing with. He didn't want to hurt her by killing her dad. Although he deserved it for all the pain he put her through. Bringing his attention back to his other teammates he was met with a horrible sight.
Bruised, battered, and bloody were the current conditions of his teammates. The beast stepped on their bodies like they were trash. It continued making its way over to the pair slowly. Reaching its hand out in a teasing manner It said "I'm ever so thankful for you looking after my daughter but now i must be taking her with me." It tried to grab Raven out of Garfield's hands only for him to move back taking Raven with him. "Come on now boy. That's my daughter." Garfield continued moving back taking Raven before saying "Daughter? As if. She loved you and you did nothing but hurt her." He pointed a finger at the beast. " You're a monster who doesn't deserve her. You broke her" he started crying looking down on Raven. "You were suppose to be there for her yet you weren't. You never were. You treated her like she didn't even exist and now you only want her back for power. You're a horrible dad. You're supposed to protect her but you only brought the danger to her. Leave her alone you monster!" he cried holding on tight to Raven. "I'm not leaving her side." he said meeting the beasts eyes with a determined look. "Aww that's cute. So cute in fact that i'll allow you to go with her." It stated. "Like hell we're going." He argued. "That's funny because you are going to hell". It laughed holding it stomach. " You were going with me anyway you know. You commited a sin few years ago I believed." It thought out loud while holding its chin. "But that's not important now. Give me back my daughter!" It yelled but it was too late. Garfield took off running with Raven in his arms.
He needed to find a place where she could wake up. Some place safe. 'The river' he thought. He then ran to the river. The river his parents died in. The river Raven said that calms her.
When he made it to the river he set her down on the hill and poked her face. "Wake up. Your dad is tryna kill me yo." He said like that was normal. She sat up and rubbed her eyes. "What?" she groaned. "Your dad." She snapped her head to look at him. To see if he was playing. She only saw the truth in his eyes and notice the sweat pouring down his face. "Where are we?" she asked looking around then she saw the river. "Your dad has to be stopped Rav." He put a hand on her shoulder. " I can help you." "No" she said harshly, more than she meant to. He wanted to help her more than anything. He couldn't stand the thought of her being alone. "you can't do this alone" he said " you could get hurt -" " and you could die" she argued back. " Just sit here and let me handle this." It didn't matter in the end. She loved her lovable "dumb" teammate. Well Garfield wasn't dumb. He was just a creature of instinct. The boy was utterly without guile, but she didn't want him to fight her battles. She wanted him to be ready for what is coming next. 'It's time for him to wake up' She slowly walked towards him, making him step back towards the edge of the hill. " You don't understand. If we were to fight together and lose this battle he'll drag you down to hell and I can't have that."
"Raven I don't care just let me help you please." he begged. "I'm sorry" she said to him as she pushed him head first into the river.
#
Garfield woke up in a white room. 'Since when did he fell asleep?' he thought as he looked at all the Machines. 'and where am I?' He asked himself. Slowly lifting himself up , he looked outside the window and noticed that everything looked almost familiar. He was brought out his thoughts when he felt a ting of pain shoot through his head. "Crap my head!" he shouted while laying on the floor in agony. Just as his cries started, a nurse and doctor ran into the room in shock. " My god" the nurse gasped putting her hands over her mouth. "Quick help me get him on the bed." the doctor commanded. Quickly the doctor and nurse helped him back on the bed and gave him medicine for the headache. " How are you feeling Garfield?" The doctor asked hoping to spark up a conversation. "you've been unconscious for a while." " Where's Raven?" Garfield asked in no mood to socialize. "Who? Who's that?" "Raven. Where is she?" He asked again just wanting answers. "Okay let's just lay you down for a quick second. Okay?" The doctor said in a quiet tone hoping not to upset the small boy any longer. "No! She needs me" He yelled at the doctor who wouldn't let him up. "Please take me to he-" he fell silent as a needle was stuck in his neck and pulled out. He couldn't move. He felt sleepy.
#
He woke up a couple of hours later. After pushing himself to look outside of the window, he saw news reporters. He could almost make out what they were saying, until the door flew open. He was pulled into a tight hug by a older woman he could recall as Tsunade. "You're awake. You're finally awake. " she rejoiced with tears falling down her face." I shouldn't have ever left. I told them you would wake up and I wouldn't be here to see and-" she stopped to catch her breath. " I'm so happy you're awake sweetheart. You're almost as tall as me." She looked at him measuring his height since it's been a long time since she'd seen him stand up." I thought you were dea-" he choked out though the tears that were falling down his face. " Oh dear heavens no." She stopped him " I got a few more decades left for me, Sweetheart". Garfield couldn't believe his eyes. She was alive. Still giving those tight granny hugs and sun filled smiles. He couldn't believe it. " What's going on?" He asked her hoping to finally get some answers. She looked at him sadly " you don't remember do you?" "Please tell me" He prodded. " Ok sit down" she said while gesturing at the gurney. " 2 years ago you tried to commit suicide ." His eyes widen at what she was saying. " you tried to hang yourself but the rope broke and you hit your head. You've been in a coma ever since." 'Impossible' he reasoned with himself ' I was with them not laying on some bed unconscious.' " No" he said out loud " That's not true." his voice cracking from the lack of water "That's not true." He repeated "You're not real. None of this is real . I know it. " He turned away from Tsunade and ran into the hallway of the hospital " RAVEN!" he screamed earning the attention of every employee on duty " PLEASE COME BACK TO ME. I'M SORRY. YOU WIN. OKAY? PLEASE ANYTHING OTHER THAN THIS!" he walked through the hallway sobbing. He made his way to the bathroom and locked the door so he wouldn't get disturbed. He looked into the mirror and screamed " PLEASE RAVEN I'M SORRY TAKE ME BACK FROM THIS PAIN!" growing even more frustrated he leaned against the wall and said in a faint whimper " Raven, Cy, Dick, Kor... what's happening?" Crying silently into his arms he then heard the voices of his teammates. " we're sorry " He jumped up thinking his mind was starting to play more tricks on him. He turned on the water in the sink and wet his face. Looking back up he saw the faces of his imaginary teammates in the mirror standing behind him. Turning around quickly looking straight into the eyes of Raven. " I'm sorry Garfield " he was pulled into a hug by Raven " but it's true. We're not real. Just figments of your imagination. I'm sorry." She said one final time before disappearing. Rekt by his reality he started crying again. His stepdad did say that his imagination would one day deceive him.
