7An idea for a story popped into my head when I thought about a new way to see the one liner, 'stick up her ass.' Of course, it would have to be about Raven.
Raven sighed as she sat back in the leather chair in her booth. Poetry night at the white lotus was usually invigorating, but tonight she just wasn't feeling it. Her thoughts kept on wandering to the rest of her team. The old party warehouse had been renovated and turned into a new bar/nightclub, and the titans had to go for their opening party. Drinks half off, girls get in free.
Raven wasn't one for the party life, but honestly being surrounded by her team's fun would be better than sitting here listening to depressing poetry that hit way too close to home. Well, it would have been. Fact of the matter was, her team was moving on. They weren't breaking up—not by a longshot. Starfire's recount of the future was enough to keep them from ever wanting that.
It just seemed that every titan was pairing off, or finding some new person to hang out with. At the tower they were always family, but at parties? The couples 'RobStar' and 'CyBee' stayed closer than their ship names, and Terra always managed to drag Beast Boy off somewhere. No one would want to get between Jinx and Kid Flash, for multiple reasons. Any single Titans, had a constant wall of admirers around them. Raven loved Aqualad and Speedy, but she wasn't willing to lose an eye for party quality time. There was no point to partying with them. The only thing that hadn't changed was that parties still held little to no appeal for Raven.
Raven looked up as light washed over her face. People stumbled out of the club across the street, having had so much fun that Raven could still hear the faint noises of their willful shrieking. Light pulsed through the windows, changing colors with every beat of music, and you could see the silhouettes of people dancing inside. Raven sighed and stood up. She might as well try to join her team. She could always leave if things got too… boring.
She slid out of her booth, paid the totally-not-hipster owner, Tatiana, at the register, and slipped quietly through the front door.
Jason sat back in his seat, arms crossed, and listened to the ongoing conversation. He didn't usually hang out with the rest of the Jump villains (read: nuisances). However, he was bored, there were no jobs, and there was a club opening. Might as well. Red X, Punk Rocket, Seemore, Gizmo, Billy Numerous, Kyd Wykkyd, Mammoth, and Johnny Rancid all sat around a table in the club, making casual conversation. Which is a too-nice way of saying they were bitching about the lack of available girls. Jason sighed, and leaned back in his seat. Here we go.
"Cheshire?" Mammoth scratched his head.
"Dunno partner. I get the feelin' that anyone with her would have to be on her particular wavelength, if you get my meaning." Billy twirled a finger next to his head in emphasis.
"You see that's the problem. Jinx had a good head on her shoulders, and she wasn't crazy," Seemore put in, sitting forward in his chair.
"Yeah, well you forgot the part where she joined those crud-munchin' Titans!" Gizmo looked at the table sullenly. Jason tipped his chair back on two legs, bored. 'Is that kid even old enough to be here? Is he even old enough to like girls?' He never really could tell how old the slouching kid was. Could be anywhere from twelve to four, and that was a conservative estimate.
"Then let's include hero girls then. Starfire's smokin'. And I bet she could give you one wild ride." Johnny Rancid laughed at his innuendo while the rest of the table generally agreed.
Jason set his chair back on the ground with a small 'thump.' "If we're talking Titan girls, then what about Raven?"
The table went silent for a solid second.
Raven stopped right inside the door and looked past the tables, at the mess of sweaty bodies supposedly moving to the music. 'I have to walk through that?' She kept a tight grip on her cloak and walked on, mentally preparing for the crush of bodies.
Bright color flicked in Raven's peripheral vision. She blinked and turned her head as she caught a glance of the table of male villains in full costume. 'Robin must really be set on taking a break if he let that go.' Costumed villains always meant trouble. Not that they were the trouble. They just tended to be looking for it. Raven lowered her head, sank into her cloak, and walked a little faster.
"-aven" Raven froze. She sighed and turned, ready to take down the troublemaker that felt like bothering her tonight. Maybe something interesting would happen after all.
"HA! 'What about Raven?' What about her?" Johnny Rancid laughed derisively, and was quickly followed by the rest of the table as they dissolved into laughter. Raven stilled.
"Raven's the kind of girl that would only take the stick outta 'er arse to swing at you." Punk Rocket stopped long enough to speak before he gave in to another peal of laughter.
"Raven's cold, man, too cold." Seemore shook his head.
"You're crazy!" Gizmo supplemented.
Mammoth and Billy were falling over each other with laughter, while Wykkyd tilted his head to one side and shrugged.
Suddenly, the entire table felt a chill, and all its occupants shivered and dismissed it. Jason took a quick look around, and caught sight of a blue cape snapping as it went out the door.
"On that note, I'll see you fellas later." X stood up, slapped a twenty on the table for his drinks, and teleported out. The table was quiet at his sudden departure.
"Well somebody's sore." Seemore shook his head and turned back to the table as they continued their conversation.
Raven hung her head and leaned against the wall on the side of the nightclub while she caught her breath. After a minute, she gave herself a fierce shake. 'Get over it Raven, it's not like they said anything new.'
There it was. The thing Raven had been trying to avoid thinking about. This was the reason she was always left behind, always alone. Raven the party pooper, the creepy one, no fun. She thought she had gotten over this after Malchior, but the truth is the truth, and when even the Titans' rabid fanboys agreed, there was no trying to fool herself. She sighed and turned over to lean on her side. Then her heart jumped, her stomach dropped, and she had to exert great effort to keep herself from splitting the wall in two.
"You don't really believe everything they said, do you?" Red X was right there, leaning his back against the wall, right next to Raven.
"X, I'm not in the mood, please go away," Raven replied, keeping her voice monotone as possible. Unfortunately, Red X caught the slight waver at the very end.
"Huh. Well, I didn't think the little bird would just cower under the big, bad wolves." X turned his head to look at Raven, his mask standing out stark white against the shadows the alleyway.
"I said I'm not in the mood X. Please get out," Raven grit her teeth, trying to regain her inner calm. Seeing the glow of her eyes against the brick really didn't help.
"Here's what I don't get." X rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "If you don't like what they said so much, why don't you try to change?"
"It doesn't bother me! For the last time X, leave me alone." Raven's eyes brightened to a nearly blinding white. She clutched her arms to herself to keep her black aura from leaving her hands. This was the one day she doesn't feel like meditating, and she had to be mocked, shocked and annoyed. Just perfect.
"I dunno, I feel like having some fun—hey batter?" Suddenly, X wasn't leaning next to her anymore.
"Swing." Raven gasped and ducked the blow that came straight to her face. Red X's fist left and imprint on the concrete wall behind her.
"What the hell are you doing?" Raven demanded. She ducked and swerved as X aimed a punch at her torso, and a kick to her face. She leapt to the side as he brought his heel down in a slice that literally broke the ground. 'What is that suit made of?'
"Just trying to help a friend loosen up. I'd say it's working." Red X was suddenly behind her. Raven twirled, and re-activated her aura that had dissipated in her surprise. Her eyes glowed again. X wanted a fight? He had one coming.
X was busy smirking at her, so he didn't notice the dark tendril rapidly coming for him from the shadow of the building behind him. It wrapped around his ankle, and he gave a small "whoa." as it jerked him to the ground. He rolled and teleported away from Raven's aura-enclosed fist as she snarled and left her own imprint on the ground where his head was.
X appeared behind her in a ready stance. "That's more like it."
Raven turned, enraged, and rushed him, forgoing her powers. She just needed one, satisfactory punch. She aimed at his face and swung, but X caught her punch and swung with his other fist. Raven broke away and ducked, trying to kick his legs out from under him in the process. X jumped, and landed just as Raven got up and aimed a good roundhouse kick at his head. X caught her ankle, and swung her in to the wall, pinning her there by her wrists.
Raven stood still, breathing quickly as she glared at him. 'Good thing she's not Starfire. Not feeling like a face-full of laser tonight.'
"Don't tell me you're already tired, Raven."
She shivered imperceptibly at the silky quality he appended to her name, and glared harder, if that were possible. "Not on your life, X."
Sirens broke the tension between them as police cars started coming from down the road. "We should do this again. Until next time, little bird." X released her and saluted as he teleported away. Raven blinked, shocked, until the sirens sounded incredibly loud in her ears.
"Don't call me that." She muttered, as she sank into her own inky portal.
Tell me how you feel. I know the chapter's short-I'm not used to writing longer fics. Thanks for reading.
Deets
Note: revised April 19, 2017. I might come back to this eventually, but school's hittin me hard, and I have no rock-solid direction for this story.