It works!! Thank you so much to all the people that have been voting on my book whilst I've been on an edit-frenzy, unable to upload something new to you all. Hope you enjoy!
I walk into the living quarters in excitement which quickly turns to puzzlement, staring at the many screens depicting the citizens of the city. "The burgers are cheesed, the dogs are hot, and the fireworks are about to begin," Cyborg says. "Man, I love the Fourth of July!"
Starfire moves over to the robotic teen, patting a spot on the couch in between her and Robin, and I jump over the couch graciously, placing my feet on the coffee table. "Please. This is a celebration of the month July, or the number four?" the alien princess questions.
"Neither," Robin replies cooly, leaning forward and addressing Starfire. "It's Independence Day, sorta like America's birthday."
"Oh! Should we then bake the America a cake?"
"No cake, and no tea!" Beast Boy exclaims from right above me, and I look up curiously. "See, it all started back in 1492 with this tea party, in Boston. King George, or maybe it was King Norm, anyway..."
"It was King George the Third," I correct, causing Cyborg and Raven to laugh at the green teen and Robin to grin, Starfire giving me a knowledgeable smile.
Beast Boy glares at me and clears his throat. "Anyway..." he explains. "... the British were trying to make the colonists drink all this tea. But they were like, 'Dude! No way! We're sick of nasty, old tea and your crummy, English muffins!' So they decided, 'Revolution!' "
"That's not what happened," I say.
"Where'd you learn history? A cereal box?" Raven questions, leaning back.
Beast Boy looks down at her. "What's your point?" he asks, and I sigh quietly in disgust--not to be mistaken by disbelief.
"Okay," Robin announces, catching our attention, "the fireworks should be starting in five..."
"... Four... three... two..." we chant, joining in as the television counts down to the fireworks.
Static interrupts the countdown, before the face of a familiar British villain fills the screen. "Hello, my duckies," he simply says.
We all jump out of our seats, Starfire gasping in horror. "Mad Mod!" Robin shouts.
"Oh, come on!" I exclaim, even though the villain can't see or hear me.
"So sorry to interrupt, but your revolution will not be televised," he explains, as if he did indeed hear me. "Matter of fact, it's been outright cancelled... as in, it never happened!"
Mad Mod twirls his cane and a hypnoscreen appears in his place. "Don't look!" Robin orders, and I pull my arm to cover my eyes, just like everyone else.
After a few tense moments of waiting, Mad Mod continues, but I don't look up--just in case the hypnoscreens are still active. "You American colonies have been rebellious long enough," he says. "I'm reclaiming this city in the name of jolly old England! And you lot had best bow down before your new ruler... King Moddy the First!"
The villain spirals off into maniac laughter before finally stopping. "That would be me." Mad Mod cleares his throat, and I turn around so that I can finally open my eyes. The other Titans are already on the move, and Cyborg grabs me by the hand just as the others run out the door.
"The American Revolution was a hoax," Mad Mod corrects, his voice echoing throughout the city and beyond. "The Declaration of Independence is a tissue of lies."
I grab Robin's hands as Starfire grabs Cyborg's and we lift up into the air. "The train! Over there!" Robin calls out, swinging his left foot in the direction of the vehicle.
"There is no George Washington, and there never was. And from now on..." I speed up, lowering myself and the Boy Wonder slowly as we begin to approach the train. Looking over, I notice Starfire has done the same with Cyborg, Beast Boy and Raven flying either side of us.
"... they're not cookies... they're called biscuits! Say it with me..." Mad Mod's voice cuts off as we jump onto the train, just as it enters the tunnel.
"There, now," Mad Mod says, his voice distant.
"This way!" I whisper, jumping from carriage to carriage until I reach the one at the very end.
"We'll have you unruly Yanks acting like proper Brits in time for tea." Robin reaches me and plants a red and yellow explosive on the wall, pulling me back as it explodes.
We jump into the carriage with haste, and we're all standing before Mod as the dust subsides. "Class dismissed, Mod," the leader says. "Your twisted history lesson is over!"
"Oh, is it now, my little snot?" Mad Mod counters, and Robin and I lunge as the others prepare their attack. A transparent shield comes down and I pull a rock under it as I continue my jump. I collide with the shield, but Robin makes it through, and I turn to Cyborg, who steps back when I do.
"Can't you lift it?" I ask, and he simply shakes his head in defeat.
"Aren't you getting a little old for this?" Robin asks, and I whip my head around to find Robin and Mad Mod, each with both hands on the villain's jewelled cane.
"On the contrary, laddie," Mod replies, thumb now resting on the red ruby. "I'm feeling younger by the tick." He presses on the ruby and the two are wreathed in red energy.
"Robin!" Starfire shouts, and I hammer on the door frantically. Cyborg lowers himself and tries to lift up the shield once more, but it's locked in place.
The light fades and I look up to see a frail old man in Robin's clothes fall to the ground. "Ha! Now that'll put the peas back in your porridge!" Mad Mod says in a superior manner. As I look from the villain to the defeated hero, I notice his newly found youth that he seems to have gained from the Boy Wonder.
Mad Mod's hair is now a bright red instead of its usual grey, and even his skin is lighter. His clothing has somehow changed, too. Now, he sports a white shirt with blue shorts and a blazer, with a necktie hung around his neck.
"You will change him back!" Starfire declares.
"Sorry, love," Mod says as he sits down in his seat, "but like I've always said, youth is wasted on the young. Ta-ra, Titans!" He pushes a lever and his side of the carriage separates from ours, accelerating and taking a different turn.
Our train crashes quickly due to its altered course, and I pull myself up through the hole in the roof. "Oh, where has he gone with our friend?" Starfire questions, looking around.
"Maybe the same place he went with our city," Beast Boy notes.
Just then, a paperboy walks past us, waving a newspaper in our face. "Read all 'bout it! King moody teaches Titans a lesson!" he calls, apparently not noticing that we're the Titans he's talking about, something I find oddly refreshing.
I take the paper out of his hands and show it to the others. "Hey! We've been Union-Jacked!" Cyborg exclaims.
The sound of loud marching distracts us and we turn around to see two robots in red attire and tall, black hats walking towards us. Their chests expand, revealing a mechanism of some kind, and hypnoscreens take their place.
"Hit 'em hard, hit 'em fast, and whatever you do, don't look at the..." Cyborg trails off at the sound of drool, and I look over to see the green Titan, eyes bugged and figure slouched. "... hypnoscreens."
The robots begin to fire at us and I pull up a shield of water as the attention is brought back to Beast Boy. "Quick! Make him laugh!" Raven says, and Starfire pulls the shapeshifter to the side whilst Cyborg, Raven and I charge.
I pull one of the guards up and into the air, slamming it into the ground and into the wall. Raven pulls it under her influence and begins tearing it apart whilst I move to help Cyborg.
The mechanic teen lunges at the second robot, but it grabs his fists, filling my ears with the agonising sound of grinding metal as he is pushed back. A pillar of earth shoots up from the ground and Cyborg steps to the side as I throw the second guard up, looking behind me at Starfire and Beast Boy.
"Yo, Brit Boy! We could use a hand!" he shouts, and my eyebrows furrow in confusion before I turn around to see Beast Boy, indeed behaving like a Brit. He stands with proper posture, his hair neatly parted in the middle and off to either side.
The expression on the shapeshifter's face is priceless as he speaks, a British accent prominent in his voice. "Right, then," he says, readying his fists. "Have at you!"
The instant I look away to comment something to Beast Boy, I hear a groan and see a Cyborg-shaped hole in the wall to my right. The half-robot avoids blasts from the British guard before turning around and fighting fire with fire, sending Mad Mod's robot flying back. It quickly gets up, however, and Cyborg punches it relentlessly before turning away and looking at his worn out muscles in shock.
The guard, having barely moved during that portion of the attack, punches Cyborg back with incredible force. Starfire quickly takes his place, firing starbolts that have no effect on the guard. Its arms extend and it grabs the alien princess by the biceps, squeezing her.
Realising that now is the perfect opportunity to strike, I ready balls of fire, but use part of my energy to protect Starfire with a wall of water first before firing my attack. The guard barely moves, just as it did with the other two attacks, and opens its chest to reveal several sharp objects that come whizzing in my direction before I can react.
I let out a short yelp of shock and close my eyes, covering them with my forearm instinctively. After a few seconds of nothing coming towards me and piercing my skin as I anticipated, I open my eyes slowly, only to find myself encased in pitch darkness.
I nervously hold a ball of fire in my hand and scan the area, feeling the walls of dust that have formed around me. I use my fingers to punch a hole in the dirt and am instantly blinded by the light of the outside world. I hadn't thought I was in there for that long, but I was evidently mistaken.
"They are... quite durable," Starfire notes, and I take in my surroundings. The same two robots walk towards Starfire and Cyborg, now evidently worn out from the fight. A bus lies vertically further back, just behind a wall of fire, and I pull the fire towards me and stretch a line between the two Titans and the two robots.
"British engineering, love," Beast Boy replies. The one thing that hasn't changed whilst I've been trapped in my cocoon of sorts is that Beast Boy still remains a Brit--his accent, at least. "Finest in the world."
"Can you please stop talking like that?" Raven asks from his left, voicing my thoughts.
Beast Boy glares at her before muttering, "You're just jealous because I sound like a rock star." He mimics an electric guitar and I roll my eyes.
I move to where the four Titans now stand as the robots approach. "Stand your ground!" Cyborg commands, having taken up the role of leader. "We can take 'em!"
More footsteps approach and we look behind us to see four more of the guards. "You stand by that?" I ask, holding my hands out on either side in preparation.
"RUN AWAY!!" the shapeshifter screeches, and we run down a convenient nearby alley. Once we reach the end, we look around, and I look behind us. Sure enough, the guards are still after us, but we've gained a considerable amount against them.
I glance around quickly and begin to run in a direction that I randomly selected. The other Titans follow me without question, most likely because they don't have a better idea.
I fly over a railing and begin to sink into the water before remembering that three of the four teenagers behind me can't breathe underwater. With this in mind, I wait for them to catch up before sinking together, creating small air gaps for them to breathe in, similar to an astronaut's helmet.
Beast Boy breaks the ice, his rich accent cutting through the silence. "Phew! Jolly good thing those squaddies didn't fancy a swim." Raven begins to float towards him, but I hold out my hand, signalling for her to wait. I create a current that pulls the other Titans under the bridge, before bringing them to the surface.
Once there, I nod to Raven, and she quickly spikes his hair and whacks him, bringing him back to his senses. "Dude! Why'd you--" Beast Boy cuts himself off at the sound of his voice. "Sweet! I'm American!"
"You're welcome," Raven replies, smiling.
"Hey!" Cyborg says, and I wince at the volume and tone of his voice. "We need a plan! We have to stop Mad Mod, save Robin, and take back the city. I know they're tough, but we gotta tackle these tin toys head on. Full frontal assault!"
"No," Starfire argues. "We must find Robin. Once Robin's youth is restored, he will lead us to victory."
"You're both wrong," Raven states. "Mad Mod's behind all this, so we have to sneak into his control room and take him down first."
"Wrong again," I counter, remembering my plan from before, deep inside the water. "We need to fake a surrender so that they take us straight to Mod, then save Robin and get our country back to normal."
"No way," Beast Boy says, in an accent that is almost more stupid than the British one. "What we need to do is go underground! Organise a resistance movement, starting with a grained gerbil army!"
Beast Boy, Starfire, and Cyborg begin to shout at one another. Despite not feeling comfortable with the volume that they're yelling at, I figure one more voice won't hurt, and soon find myself joining in. "ENOUGH!!" Raven shouts, silencing us. "We need to pick a plan and stick with it."
"It may not look like it, but this is still America," Cyborg says, after glancing at me briefly. "So I say we vote. Who's for full frontal assault?"
No one says anything, and we take turns voting for our own suggestions. "Find Robin."
"Sneak attack."
"Fake surrender," I say, chiming in with my suggestion.
"Gerbil commandos!" Beast Boy shouts, and, after a moment's thought, "Actually, training gerbils takes forever. I vote for Starfire."
I sigh and Starfire giggles excitedly. "It's your plan. Lead the way," Cyborg tells her.
~~~
Cyborg and Starfire run to the checkpoint, and signal for us to move forward when they discover that it's all clear. The half-robot looks down at his forearm panel before looking back up. "Got a lock on Robin's locator. Dead ahead."
"Robin?" Starfire blurts, looking up at the Boy Wonder underneath the clock tower before squealing and zooming towards him. "Robin!" He doesn't respond, and she moves to hug him, hands passing right through.
"Starfire, get out of there!" I shout, my hands cupping my face to maximise the volume of my voice. "NOW!" When she says nothing and only stares in shock at the hologram, I begin to pull her back myself, just as an explosion gives her enough momentum to land on top of me.
The clock rises and a screen filled with static appears. I look away quickly, now accustomed to Mad Mod's trickery, but look back slowly when he begins to speak with no hypnoscreen behind him.
"I'm afraid not, pet. Jolly old Robbie's here with me... sound as a pound." Mod pulls a frail old man to his side, the elder shaking with what I presume is raw, unfiltered anger. "But it looks like you lot have wandered into a trap."
The British villain begins to laugh maniacally, a hypnoscreen now behind his face. As I look away from the screen so to avoid being hypnotised, I notice the dozens of soldiers surrounding us, guns at the ready.
"I do not believe my plan is going to work," Starfire squeaks as the five of us begin to take steps back, away from the looming danger.
"Fire!" All at once, the robots' guns fire at us, and I hold out my hands to block the blasts with a wall of earth. I pull it back down to see the guards pulling their guns back, but I doubt that they'll stay like that forever.
"Who votes for a full frontal assault?" Cyborg calls, over the chaos that's beginning to ensue.
"Don't just stand there! Keep blasting!" comes Mad Mod's voice. We all charge, and I move to lift Robin up and carry him automatically before realising that he's not here fighting with us.
Now free to attack with all my energy, I charge at the guards on foot. I make fists of ice, and punch the first guard that I find into Beast Boy, who rams into it and sends it flying. A different guard joins the first one in the air, and with a flick of my wrist, a ball of fire causes them to explode, fireworks lighting up the sky.
Beast Boy stares in awe, before smirking. "USA! USA! US--" He stops short when a guard stands in front of him, before blasting him away without a thought.
Raven takes his place on the attack, pulling up rocks from the ground to destabilise our adversaries. I lift them up, one by one, and slam them into different robots, sending them all in different directions.
I grin at Raven and look back, what I see in front of me causing my smile to evaporate off my face. In front of the soldiers that we just bested stand several more, and what's more, three tanks are lined up behind them.
Cyborg's sonic cannon blasts right by my ear, causing me to jump in my place. "Keep fighting! We're gonna win!" he shouts encouragingly.
I glance at the army of robots that are headed towards us. "You sure about that?" Raven asks.
Cyborg looks up and stares at the lineup. "Okay... so much for my plan."
"RUN AWAY!!" the shapeshifter yells, and I dive out of the way as the tank in the middle blows a hole in the wall behind us. Without thinking, I sprint towards it, behind Cyborg and Starfire.
"Off you go! You lot couldn't beat the Brits in 1776, and you can't beat us now!" Mad Mod's voice irritates me to no end, but I shake it out of my focus and jump into the hole in the ground that the other Titans did before me, and the tanks ride over us.
"The sky looks like a giant British flag! The whole city's gone haywire!" Cyborg exclaims once our pursuers are well out of earshot, looking up first and then back at us.
"Dude, tell me about it," Beast Boy agrees. "Bangers and mash? Bubble and squeak? Toad in the hole? Don't British people speak English?"
"Well, that's two plans down--"
"--And three to go," Raven finishes, looking up at the robotic teen who began the sentence.
Beast Boy's eyes brighten and I don't have the time to tell him that we won't be using his plan before he launches into his explanation. "Okay. First, we're gonna need a cargo plane full of shaving cream, then--"
"May I still do the vote for Ember's trick surrender?" Starfire places her hand over Beast Boy's mouth, cutting him off as she asks the question.
I smile at her. "Okay. Listen to these instructions, because one wrong move, and we've doomed the whole city."
~~~
I sigh from my corner and step out into the open, my hands behind my head. I close my eyes and let the wind guide me to the front, ignoring the surprised cackle from Mad Mod.
"Hah! I see you've come to your senses, lassy," he says. "But where are your friends?"
I smirk at Mad Mod through the screen. "What kind of captive would I be if I told you that?" I ask mockingly. "I'm here to surrender myself, not them."
Mad Mod hums to himself before clicking his tongue disapprovingly and shaking his head. "You know, us Brits aren't as stupid as we look, dearie," he explains, jumping back and pointing his cane at me. "I know none of you snotties would ever surrender!"
I fight hard to stop a groan from escaping. Time for some good acting. "But we've tried everything. How can we possibly defeat you?"
"That's true, love. But I still smell a rat."
This time, I let my growl loose, and allow my eyes to flare red. "Look, do you want me to surrender or not? Because I can just walk away right now."
Mad Mod shoots me a bone-chilling smile. "Of course I want you to surrender. I just had to keep you talking so that you wouldn't notice what's behind you!"
I slowly turn around, moving my hands down to my neck and my fingers pointed in front of me. All around me are soldiers, their guns pointed at me. "Another full frontal assault it is, then," I mutter, before, "Cyborg! Starfire! Now!"
The soldiers fire, but I protect myself with a shield of water as Cyborg and Starfire blast away at them. I slip into the alleyway after feeling a rock in my shoe; Raven's signal to sneak in.
I wait in the alley until Raven joins me, a neutral expression on her face whilst mine displays a grin. "Ready?" I ask her, and she nods before transforming into her soul self and flies to the other end of the street, before motioning at me to follow.
I look around, before looking down at the ground and slowly parting it, creating a tunnel to pass through. When I appear at the surface, Raven's already at the next checkpoint, and I fly over to her, not having to worry about the empty space of the street anymore. Once I reach her, the screen behind us flickers.
"You little snots really thought you could just sneak in?" Mad Mod says. The noise of fighting ceases and I understand that this is being broadcasted everywhere, not just to Raven and I. "You know, there's an old British saying, my duckies. 'Those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it.' And you lot are as doomed as doomed can be!"
I glance at Raven, and, without saying a word, we both fly over to the others to aide them. "Retreat?" I ask offhandedly, seeing that even though there's now five of us fighting and not three, we are still heavily outnumbered.
"Retreat," Cyborg replies wearily, and we all run off once more.
~~~
After what feels like hours of being chased, we finally lose our enemies and arrive at the only building in the whole city that isn't painted in the colours of the British, the enemies of the day.
"City Hall," Cyborg notes, opening the doors to a room full of dust. "We should be able to hide here... 'til Mad Mod's tanks come to tear it down."
"Whoa," Raven says quietly, taking her hood off. "That was actually more depressing than what I was gonna say."
"Do not despair," Starfire tells us, and I wonder how she still manages to wear a smile. It doesn't matter how at this stage, because seeing it lifts my spirits, even slightly. "We will rescue Robin and save the city and stop the Mad Mod... somehow."
Beast Boy slumps down next to the table. "Well, let's face it. My gerbil commando plan is just lame."
"It's not any worse than my plan," Raven states.
"Or mine."
"Or mine."
"Or mine," I add, glancing at the mechanic teen and the alien princess that preceeded me.
"Now I know how George Washington felt when Napoleon beat him at Pearl Harbour," Beast Boy comments, his historical inaccuracies bringing a brighter smile to my face as I try not to laugh.
"Well, he's right about one thing," Raven says. "This is hopeless. We tried everything we could think of. Nothing worked."
"But why not?" Cyborg argues. "We're dealing with a scrawny little stick-man with a tricked-out cane! Why can't we bring him down?"
"Because the Mad Mod was right," Starfire points out from the other side of the room, and we all turn to face her in confusion.
"The American Revolution really was a hoax?" Beast Boy confirms, eyes and mouth wide like a goldfish.
"No, dude," I reply, lightly smacking him out of his daze.
Starfire looks at me, before repeating, "No. He said, 'Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.' " She looks at the constitution on the wall, before turning back to us. "We have failed to learn from the history Mad Mod is attempting to rewrite. Your democracy is not merely about voting. It is about compromise. Out of many different people, you make one country. Out of many flawed ideas, you create one that works."
"We don't need five different plans..." Cyborg exclaims, his voice lighter in pitch than before as a result of newly-found hope.
"... We just need one," Raven finishes.
~~~
Cyborg glances at me after opening the wires to the hypnoscreens, and I send currents of water through them. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Mad Mod--with a crown on his head and minus the white wig--taunting Robin as he tries to stand, causing me to work faster.
"Wha--? Oy! Who told you lot to stop?" Mad Mod exclaims, and I slip through the crowds and stand right behind Mad Mod, ready to taunt him right back. "Keep marching! My British subjects are in the middle of adoring me!"
Cyborg blasts the balloon holding the carriage up, causing it to deflate, and we fall to the ground. Raven hurls the guards out of the way, causing Mad Mod to look in their direction.
"Man, I bet even real British people don't like you!" Cyborg calls.
"A frontal assault?" Mad Mod says, finding the situation funny. "Haven't you sprogs tried that already?" He ducks as Cyborg's sonic cannon flies over his head, and whilst his grip is loosened on the cane, I pull it into my hand.
"Haven't you tried brainwashing us before?" I ask, smirking. Mad Mod turns to look at me and I twirl his cane in his face. "You know, you're not that smart, even for a Brit."
Mad Mod gasps, before chuckling playfully. "Come on, lassy. Give that back."
I glance at the Boy Wonder through my peripheral vision, who's now laughing as hard as his old age and frail state will allow him. My eyes venture to the chair that he sits on, and, not wishing to injure him, I decide to lift him up on that. "I don't think I will. I'll be taking this... and old Robin over here."
Mad Mod's teeth grind against one another and he shouts, "FIRE!" but I ignore his calls momentarily as I lift Robin off to safety. "Stay here," I tell him offhandedly. "I'll be right back with Mad Mod so we can get you young again."
Before he can get a word in otherwise, I fly back to the scene of the fight and hover in front of the other Titans. "Titans! Go!" I roar, and Raven shields the others as I let out an agonising scream, a tsunami of fire leaping out of my skin and wiping out the soldiers.
I open my eyes and see the dozens of robots in the vicinity completely destroyed, but more on the way in the distance. "Destroy 'em!" Mad Mod shouts, remaining immobile due to the loss of his cane. As the thought flows through my brain, I grip the object tighter.
Starfire hurls Cyborg in the air, and he blasts the guards back with his sonic cannon. Raven fires boulders at the tanks, and I assist her with the action, allowing Beast Boy to run and hide in case we fail.
I toss the cane to Raven, and she flies it over to Beast Boy whilst we fight. I jump on Cyborg's shoulders and off into the air, pulling the nearby soldiers into the air with me. Starfire blasts them with starbolts before taking off, a collection of planes chasing after her.
My hands emit blue light, and I hold them at the ready, but the ground begins to quake, startling me. I whip around and stifle a laugh as Beast Boy appears as an elephant, the cane wrapped around his trunk and Robin straddled on his back.
Now that Beast Boy's secured the masked leader, I lift Mad Mod into the air and pull him to me, wrapping his limbs in chains of water. Beast Boy turns into human form and barely catches Robin. The green teen winces at the weight of the Boy Wonder as he helps him to stand on his own.
Cyborg, Raven and Starfire continue to fight off the soldiers as Beast Boy tosses the cane back to me, and I give it to Robin once he reaches me. "Care to do the honours?" I ask him, and he smirks knowingly.
"Now, now, old bean," Mad Mod pleads. "Let's not do anything hasty." I fly out of the area as Robin presses the jewel of the cane, both males letting out screams as the same crackling light from before surrounds them.
I look up when the light ceases to see Robin smiling from ear to ear, an eyebrow raised at the excuse for a villain in front of him, who falls to the floor, now rightfully the old man in the situation. Robin breaks the cane in two, and the illusion around us slowly fades, leading us back to Jump City.
"Hello, guv'nor," Mad Mod says weakly as he is grabbed at the collar by the Boy Wonder.
"Just like hold times, huh?"
"Robin! You are un-wrinkled!" Starfire flies over to Robin and embraces him. I raise an eyebrow at this, for a different reason to Robin's same action before.
"What took you guys so long?" he asks over the redhead's shoulder.
"We just needed a little time to brush up on our history," Beast Boy replies vaguely, and I smile.
"Uh... Robin?" Starfire asks, and I frown until she points at Mad Mod's empty jacket.
"Where did he--?" Robin stops short as he looks over the carriage, and I fly over beside him to see Mad Mod in just a top and pants. He smiles at us, his pants soon falling down to reveal Union Jack undergarments.
I instantly cover my eyes in unfiltered disgust. "Okay... really not something I needed to see," I hear Raven say.
"My only hope is that I can forget I ever saw that," I whine through my forearm, holding my hand out aimlessly and lifting Mad Mod up so that he can't run away. "Someone catch him if he's running. I don't want to."
Robin chuckles and I feel his presence leave my side. "Well, since you guys saved the day..." he says, grabbing the villain by the back of his collar.
"Now that that's settled..." Cyborg begins, voice raising in volume. "Let's celebrate the Fourth of July!!"
I smile and allow myself to be led back to the Tower, and it's not until I can no longer feel the night's gaze on me that I open my eyes. I look down to see Robin's hand leading me away, and I use my other hand to pry my forearm free.
At this action, Robin turns around and looks at me, his expression softening, and a million different thoughts flutter through my mind. "Thank you," I mutter, shooting him an appreciative smile.
"You're welcome," he says, and I mask my reaction at the tone of his voice. It's not as tough or full as it normally is, but I chalk it up to being drained of his youth and fall back to where Beast Boy is walking with Raven and Starfire.
I watch through the corner of my eye as Robin peels his eyes away from me and catches up to Cyborg, before turning back to the conversation the others are having. "Sorry, what did you say?"
Only thing I understood in this entire transcript was 'bangers and mash' and I can't even remember where I heard it. Also, Ember's taunting Mad Mod, not British people in general. Just thought I'd make that clear.