The next week of school was rather timid and dull. BB was still walking around with a limp, and wasn't as energetic as he normally was in class. It was so strange that even a few of his teachers were down because they missed his usual antics. Terra was around making sure he wasn't down, just like the others, but the only one who was enjoying it was Raven because it gave her a break from him so she wouldn't have to break him.
BB told the others about the conversation that he and his mom had over the weekend, making Cy and Rob want to "question" Cid and his friends about what they know, but surprisingly none of them were there.
They took their speculations to the principal, but he told them that things that happened out of school were out of his control. All he could do was to question them himself and act accordingly to what they tell him.
That evening, Cy had a game. As he played, the others watched and cheered, Raven was still remembering the past weekend where she learned why he and Robin have such a strong and personal friendship. It wasn't just her; Starfire was feeling the same as well. Even though she has only known then for a few months, she couldn't help but be in awe over how strong their bond is and she considered herself lucky to have friends like them.
The crowd cheered as the home team lead at half-time. BB called over the cotton candy seller and asked for a couple of bags for him and Terra to share.
"What is that fluffy, pink cloud you two are eating?" Star asked.
"You mean cotton candy?" Terra asked back.
"Yes, I have never seen anything like that."
"Well, do you want to try some?"
"Very much so!" She exclaimed.
Terra handed her a bag, and Starfire reached her hand in and pulled out a small amount, then put it in her mouth. Her eyes lit up as the sweet taste engulfed her taste buds. Starfire asked for more, and Terra gave her her own bag since one bag was enough for BB and Terra.
Star offered to share with Rob, but he wasn't there, then asked Raven and she shrugged and decided to share with her.
In the locker room, Cy and his teammates were heading out for the start of the second half, where Robin was there to greet him.
"What is it man?" Cy asked.
"I just saw Cid and his buds in the stands; we can ask them ourselves if he was there."
"Even if he was, it's not like he's going own up and say he did it or he saw something."
"Yeah, I guess I'm getting ahead of myself, but there is something we can do."
"That being?"
"We can ask BB if he remembers the faces of the guys who jumped him look like and if Cid's goons are the ones."
"Sounds good to me, but I gotta go. You take care of it while I take care of the game." Cy finished before putting his helmet off and jogging to catch up with his teammates.
Rob was walking back to where the others were as Cy was playing and asked BB if he remembered the guys who attacked him. BB nodded and Rob pointed in the direction of Cid and his fellows. BB's reaction was all Rob needed as proof and couldn't wait for the game to be over so he could tell Cy.
They watched in utter disbelief that Cid and his crew were cheering for the other team.
"Talk about school spirit." Raven scoffed.
The game finished with Cy's team barely pulling out the win.
"That was a close one son! We just might have a chance at state this year!" Cy's coach exclaimed as he patted his back. "Hit the shower's boys!" The coach said to the rest of the team in the locker room.
Cy walked out of the shower room with a towel around his waist and walked to his locker. He pulled out his duffel bag, opened it and pulled out his cell phone to call and tell his mom that his team won.
He got dressed, high-fived the other teammates and walked out of the locker room to greet his friends.
"Great win tonight Cy." BB greeted.
"Thanks, so did Rob talk ask you if you remembered the guys who took you out?"
"Yeah, and it was Cid's losers." BB growled. "Let's get em back."
"Oh that's smart, just walk up and beat them up with all of the people watching." Raven scoffed.
"She's got a point Gar." Terra said. "If you want to get em back, you need to get the proof that they attacked you."
"And how do we do that?" BB huffed, because he was being ganged up on verbally.
"Knowing Cid and his pals, they're the cocky type. If you provoke them enough, they'll gladly say they did it, and when they do, have a tape recorder with you."
"Sounds like a really good plan." Starfire said.
"I agree." Rob said. "We'll take care of it this weekend."
"Say what!" Cy asked and brought Robin to the side. "You forget that this weekend, you were finally going to take Star out on a tour of the city?" He whispered.
"Oh crap." Rob groaned.
"I figured as much. Look, you take her out, BB and I will take care of them."
"But you'll be outnumbered."
"We won't be going to fight them; we'll be going just to get a confession from them. Besides, we wouldn't want you to miss out on the fun now would we?" He asked with a smile. "Okay, sorry about that guys, but we just needed to clear something up."
"It's no problem. I was just wondering how you were planning to get then to admit it." Terra asked.
"I know where Cid hangs out. He always goes to that pool hall by Crash Alley. I always see him there playing for money when I'm practicing the routes. Check there this weekend." Robin said.
Friday was here and BB was feeling a lot better, he was back to his old tricks and decided to go old school with putting a whoopee-cushion on his teacher's seat. The whole class groaned when they heard it go off, knowing who did it. Terra had her head lowered because her face was red from the blush of embarrassment, but rose up and smacked BB on the back of the head when he started to laugh. After hearing the slap that echoed throughout the classroom, the teacher turned around and snickered before starting the lesson.
In science, Cy was taking the test that Raven helped him study for. The first few minutes he had a hard time trying figure out the problems, but he soon found his rhythm and he had no problem finishing the test. He was able to finish with ample time to relax and enjoy the fact that the hardest test of the year was over for him.
Robin was next to him and was having some trouble, but he was able to get a few study sessions in with Raven and eventually finished before time ran out.
"How do you feel you did?" Cy asked him as they were leaving the room for lunch.
Robin scoffed. "Don't ask."
"Aw, c'mon, you couldn't have done that bad."
"It's not that it was bad, it just didn't go as well as I hoped."
"I see, well we can't worry about it now, its lunch time."
Both, followed by Raven, headed to the cafeteria. All three sat down at their normal table and were met by the other three soon after. The entire lunch period BB couldn't take his eyes off of Cid. He was full of anger and rage that he wanted to walk over and start a school-wide fight, but Terra was able to keep him in tact. It was a rare lunchtime since it was so quiet, due to BB's growing animosity towards Cid.
Before they knew it, the bell rang, signaling that they had to get back to class. BB thought it would be a great way to sneak a hit in, but Cy made sure he didn't go anywhere. He didn't want to change BB getting expelled and others suspended for either cheering for the fight or joining in.
Throughout the rest of the day, BB was fuming. He could barely sit still in class. Normally he always had a smile, but he felt angry because he kept thinking of how helpless he was to defend himself. Terra saw that he was unable to concentrate on taking down notes, so she focused since their finals were coming up and they could study together.
The minutes seemed like hours, and hours like days for BB until school was out for the week. He decided to walk home instead of having Cy drive him home. Normally, Terra would've gone with him, but she felt that he needed this time alone. He needed to vent.
After dropping everyone off, Cy was relaxing at home, knowing he was done with all the heavy work in school for the year. The only thing he needed to focus on was the last game of the year, which determines your final athletic score. Before he began his daily workout, he was called by his uncle Charlie.
"Hey Vic, after our last conversation, I did some calls and pulled some strings with some of the guys I know and if your friend's father is really abusing her like that, then what we can do is have a undercover camera put on her, and if he hits her—in the face, then we can arrest him for child abuse."
"That's great! When can we do this?" Cy asked excitedly.
"The only day we'll be able to do it is tomorrow."
Cy almost dropped the phone when he heard it. "Tomorrow?"
"Yeah. It'll have to be tomorrow or weeks later."
"I see…"
"Is it tomorrow?"
Cy paused for a minute, knowing how much else was going on that day. "Yes."
After hanging up, Cy knew he had three people to call. The first one was Raven. He told her that tomorrow was going to be the end of her nightmare and explained how before hanging up. Next, he called Rob and told him that his date/tour with Starfire would probably be a little late after telling him the circumstances. Robin didn't mind at all, he didn't mind if it had to wait until next weekend, as long as Raven was safe. Before he hung up with Rob what time Cid hangs out at the pool hall and found out that it was in the evening when the big players arrive. Last, he called BB and told him the time that he would hopefully be picking him up and to make sure he had a recorder and an empty tape.
When he hung up, sat down and took a deep breath. Tomorrow was going to be a BIG day for him and the others.
At Star's house, she was beaming with energy, she couldn't wait for tomorrow. It was her first date and she was full of energy. She was practically flying down the stairs, but came to a screeching halt when her father appeared at the bottom with the phone in his hand.
"It's for you Star. It's some boy." His last word sent the message that he didn't approve of her dating, but reluctantly gave in because of his wife.
Star answered to see that Robin was on the line. He was hesitant at first, but told her that he doesn't know if they'll be going tomorrow because of what would be happened with Raven and her father. Star seemed upset, but then replied with a happy tone agreeing with Robin that Raven's safety comes first.
After they hung up, Robin was down because he wished he had his bike so he wouldn't have to rely on using Cy's car. He grumbled for a few moments, but there was nothing he could do and went about his day.
Terra wanted to call BB, but decided not to. Something inside her told her that this weekend was a turning point for him. It's almost like she had a psychic connection with him, because to her, it seemed as if he was mad at himself and not Cid. It was a quiet night and she spent it looking at the stars wishing he would call so she could at least talk to him.
Saturday finally arrived and it was one of the days the gang dreaded having. Cy got up and took his time eating breakfast after his morning shower. He waited for his uncle to call so he could head down to Raven's house and get it over with. Time seemed like it had stopped until the call came. He got dressed and headed downstairs, where his mom was waiting. She gave him a hug and kiss for good luck, because anything can happen.
After getting in his car, he rubbed his face before starting it and headed down to Raven's place.
As he approached her house, he saw his uncle and two other officers standing a few houses down from hers, so they wouldn't be noticed. He pulled up beside them to see how it was going to go down.
Charlie figured that since he was going to be there, it would be better if he was wearing the camera for a better view. Since Cy didn't have any hair, they placed it on the collar of his shirt and tested it for the best angle to fit his height. After all of the pieces were in place, he called Raven's house from his cell phone and told her that he was right outside, but before she hung up, he could hear her father screaming at her for all of the times that guys have called. Feeling the need that the time was right, he rushed to the door and knocked on it, only to have an angry Mr. Roth open it and practically yell his head off.
"I came to pick up your daughter."
"For what! What would the likes of you want with her…like I didn't know."
"Me and the rest of our friends were going to go to the movies."
"I bet, and let me guess, you'd try something while you were in there huh?"
"No, I wouldn't." Cy retorted.
"It doesn't matter, you and no one like you will go anywhere with her."
"What do you mean, 'no one like me?"
"I think you know. Raven! Come say goodbye to your friend."
Raven walked out, and saw Cy at the edge of the doorway, with her father in his face. Cy gave her a wink, telling her that it was time.
"I'm going out with my friends."
"No you won't! You won't go anywhere with anyone like him." Raven's father growled as he grabbed her arm with force and pulled her back.
"You're my father, you can't—"Raven angrily started, but was punched in the face.
Cy stepped in and grabbed Raven's father, but he punched Cy, sending him to the ground outside. Her father stepped down the steps as Cy was getting up and they began fighting. Cy ducked the first few punches Mr. Roth threw at him, and retaliated with his own punches. Blow after blow was traded, as Mr. Roth was knocked down again. As Cy walked over to him, Raven's father resorted to playing dirty and threw some dirt in Cy's eyes, then proceeded to give him everything he had.
Going on instinct, Cy went into all-block boxing pose and waited for Mr. Roth to attack so he could counter and it proved to be a good move as he felt his gut being impacted, so he deflected the punch with his left hand and attacked with his right. A loud grunt gave away Mr. Roth's position and Cy was back on the offensive and hit him with three continuous punches that took him down for the count.
After it was over, Cy fell to his knees, gasping for air. Raven ran to the kitchen and ran a glass of water to wash out Cy's eyes as his uncle and the two officers ran over. Charlie checked on his nephew, while the others were arresting Raven's father.
"Why didn't we rush in after he hit her Lt.?" One of them asked.
"Because I am in charge and we move when we say we move."
"Yes sir."
After watching them take Mr. Roth to the squad car, he turned back to Cy, who was having his eyes washed out with water from Raven.
"This is probably the only time I'll ever be able to do anything like this for you kid, so watch yourself." Charlie said as he reached out and patted his brother's son on the shoulder, before leaving.
When they saw that he was gone, Cy and Raven sat on the ground, both in silence.
"How do you feel?" Cy asked as he caught his breath.
"To be honest, I don't know."
"I understand." He said as he stood up. "Well, no use sitting around here, why not head back to my place and maybe you'll feel better."
"I would like that." She smiled and replied as she helped him up.
Cy dusted himself off before they went back into Raven's house to get some clothes for her, since her father was going to be in jail and no one would be able to bail him out, since the only one who could is with him.
Elinore was outside to greet them as she awaited to hear what happened. Cy sat on the couch and Raven next to him. He asked Raven if she could call BB and Robin to see if they could be here soon, and she did so while he filled him mom in on everything that happened.
He leaned his head back and relaxed for a few minutes, before he got up and took a shower to wash away the blood that was on him. There were several cuts on his arms and face, so he didn't know whether it was his or from Raven's father.
When he finished, he walked downstairs to see Raven and Elinore chatting over the events that had perspired. Raven told him that the guys would be there in a little while, so that prompted Cy to hustle back upstairs and change into some street clothes.
The guys were dropped off by their parents and the four of them talked and waited for the evening to come. Cy filled them in on what happened earlier and ate pizza while the relaxed. The others also noticed that BB wasn't as angry as he was the day before.
Evening finally came and they headed out for the last confrontation of the day. BB showed that he brought his pocket recorder before they left. All three guys wanted this day to be over with as soon as possible. Cy turned on some music to hopefully ease the tension.
As he drove there, they went over how it was going to happen and the final plan was that BB was going to provoke Cid and get into his head so he wouldn't notice what BB was really up to. Before they knew it, the pool hall was within sight and Cy parked his car before they got out to see people walking in the pool hall. All three took a deep breath, before heading in.
Loud music, chatter and the smacking off the billiard balls hitting each other filled the room…as did the smell of alcohol and cigarettes.
They scanned the room and found Cid, who had just won a game, in the back. Cy and Rob stood near the entrance as BB headed towards him and started his recorder.
"Well hello, little green midget." Cid smirked, and high-fived his friends.
"Better to be small and green, then tall and yellow." BB growled back.
"Oooh…" The others cawed.
"What do you want, a game?" Cid asked.
"Yeah, sure." BB responded. "One-hundred dollars."
"Easiest one-hundred I'll ever make."
They racked up the balls and Cid "graciously" let BB start. BB broke and knocked in two striped balls. He continued and sent two more in before missing. Cid took over, and had a big smile on his face. Ball after ball was being knocked in as Cy and Rob watched from the distance.
The game wasn't looking good, but BB caught a lucky break and was able to get back into it. He put every single one of his in and was down to the eight-ball, but missed. Cid rubbed his pool stick back and forth as his smile grew even larger and knocked every one in, but he too, missed on the eight-ball. His smile didn't waver as the ball was in a precarious spot.
BB took a deep breath, aimed and fired. The ball bounced off one side, then the other and as it approached the hole he need to win, it slowed and looked like it wasn't going in, but had enough momentum to fall in.
Cid was nowhere near happy, and his faced showed it, but BB help out his hand and received payment.
"I bet you wish you had that luck a few days ago." Cid grumbled.
"What do you mean by that?" BB asked.
"It seems like your head isn't as hard and you proclaim it to be, but allow my associates to remind you." Cid said and snapped his fingers.
BB reached in his pocket and stopped the recording before running to join Cy and Rob, who stood up in front of the others. Even though they were outnumbered, two to one, they each popped their knuckles and started fighting. Cy took on the two bigger ones and Robin, the ones his size.
One of them punched Cy in the stomach, but to no avail. The move only made Cy smile before he punched him in his stomach, taking him out. The other one took a chair to his back and Cy cried out in pain as it was shattered from the impact, but all it did in the end was piss Cy off. As he rose, his eyes were filled with fire and his unloaded on the hoodlum with a huge combo to his face and mid-section. Cy stepped back and watched as the thug fell to his knees. Cy walked over to him and shoved him to the floor before walking past him.
Robin had a smile on his face as both punks were trying to hit him, but his superior agility allowed him to avoid their attacks. Rob went on the offensive and attacked when he saw an opening. Each hit made the goons weaker and soon both of them ran the other way, only to have one run neck first into Cy's outstretched arm and did a flip before landing stomach first. The other put on the brakes and ran back to Robin, and was kicked in the face. Cid ran to leave, only to be grabbed by BB and thrown through one of the pool hall's windows.
The police soon arrived and to their luck, everyone testified to say that Cy, Rob and BB weren't the one's to throw the first punch. What was most surprising was the one of the officers was none other than Cy's uncle; who just shook his head as he placed Cid in the car before driving away.
Feeling they had everything they needed, they got in Cy's car and headed home.
"So B, how do you feel?" Cy asked.
"I feel a lot better, if only I got to more to Cid though."
"If you think about it, you did since you got the recording of him admitting that he orchestrated the attack on you. By the way, let's hear it. I wanna know what he said." Robin said.
"Sure." BB said as he pulled out the recorder, rewound and played it, only to hear silence. "Uh, guys, I don't think we got it."
"YOU DON'T WHAT!" Cy and Rob exclaimed at the same time.
"Just kidding." BB laughed before the conversation came on.
It was night at the Stone residence when they boys arrived back home. Each of them thought that the events that occurred were rather ironic and that they were lucky as they explained the results to Cy's mother and Raven. They also talked about where Raven was going to be staying and they thought it would be best if she stayed with Cy until the courts decided where. Lastly, before BB left, Rob suggested that he call Terra and tell her that he was doing better; which he did. That move turned out to be a bad one since BB was on the phone for several hours and the entire time, Cy was motioning that Rob was going to be paying the bill.
Although it was late, Cy went and dropped off the boys before heading back home. He let Raven have his bed again like before and he chose the couch. To Raven, it felt like the nightmare was finally over.
Sunday morning was a slow one for all of them. After arriving back from church, Elinore received a call from her brother-in-law about the permanent living conditions for Raven and was told that since she doesn't have any other relatives and that the evidence against her father was more than enough to put him away, and that it was basically her choice on where she wanted to be. Instead of telling her right away, she waited for her son to be in his room changing so she could tell her in private.
All Raven said to Cy when he wondered what they were talking about was that they needed to go by her old place and clean it of her belongings. He asked back if they could postpone it since Robin would be borrowing his car for the day, so she just settled for next weekend.
It was late afternoon when Robin finally woke up. He saw what time it was and hurried up to the shower. The whole time in there, he couldn't choose what places he wanted to visit first. It was so unlike him to be nervous and anxious at the same time. After finishing, he went in his room to decide what to wear.
He finally settled on white pants and a blue shirt to match his black shades. When he finished spraying his cologne on, he called Star to see if she was ready, then called Cy to have him drop off his car.
After hanging up, he went outside and waited for Cy to arrive. The whole time he was impatient and his actions showed it since he was pacing back and forth, then occasionally sitting down and drumming his fingers on the armrest of his seat.
Cy arrived in what seemed like an eternity. He got out and handed Robin the keys. Rob got in the driver's seat, and drove Cy back to his house before leaving. After doing so, Rob felt even more nervous because he wasn't driving his own vehicle and didn't want to wreck it. Hoping to calm him down, he turned on the radio to a multi-genre station as he headed toward Star's place.
Outside of Starfire's place, she was standing outside as evening approached. She was wearing blue jeans and a green shirt. A smile came across her face when she saw Robin approaching.
She ran to the passenger door and go in.
"Where are we going?" She asked with a smile on her face.
"Well I thought we'd go get something to eat first. I'm sorry it's so late that I came though."
"It's okay; I know we won't be able to go everywhere you wanted to. I'm just really glad we're out." She replied with a smile.
"Cool."
Rob drove both of them to the infamous Pizza Shack and they ordered a large supreme pizza and two sodas. They spent the time conversing over many topics, Robin's past and Star's, but the main topic was the culture of the United States. It was always a mystery to her because of its history and how it has evolved into today's society.
Before they knew it, two hours had passed due to their engrossed conversation and they moved onto the carnival, which no matter what time of day or year, it was packed. It was Star's first time there and there were so many rides that she wanted to try. A sincere smile stayed on Robin's face as they went from ride to ride, but the last one he chose, which was the Ferris wheel.
The awe that escaped Star's mouth was what Rob was hoping for as she gazed at the view of the entire city on one side and the view of the lake on the other. As the ride neared it's end, Star was next to Robin and both were quiet; they were just enjoying the moment.
It was the time that neither wanted—time to take Starfire back to her home, but it was the inevitable. Although it was the downer of the day, they both were happy at the quality time that they got to spend with each other.
Rob took his time taking her back as he drove along the beach, so Star could get a good view of the lake. As she gazed in wonder, a strange image reflected across the waving tide of the lake. It was in the shape of a giant "T."
"Robin, I just saw a strange shadow on the lake, but not one above it. What is that?"
"You saw the "T!" Rob gasped.
"Yeah, what's going on?"
"Legend has it that long ago, before this land was developed into the city we live in today, that there were six young travelers. All of them were abandoned as children and had to fend for themselves. They all ended up meeting each other and decided that their only way to survive was to stay together. One was small but very versed in fighting, he was their leader. The next in command was as large as life and as strong too. There were three girls, one was an enchantress, the other a master archer and the other was as agile as a rubber-band and skilled with knives. The youngest loved animals so much that he patterned his fighting techniques after them. Well, as the years went on, they got older and technology more advanced—but still nothing like today. The village they lived in was the one they protected and one day while doing so, there was an earthquake that separated them from their home. They had no way of getting back, so they settled on the island you see before you. Eventually they made a boat to make it back to the village, but the island was their home and that home they made a gigantic "T" that also was their home to ward off enemies. They became legendary and were given the name "The Titans," which is what our school's named after." Robin explained as he continued to drive.
"Wow…" Was all Star could say.
"Yeah, now you know the legend of Titan Island, but what amazes me is that you saw it. It was only a folk tale used at our school to inspire everyone, but now that you saw the "T" it makes me wonder if it was more than a myth."
Just as he finished that sentence, Rob was pulling into her neighborhood.
"I had a wonderful time Robin. I hope we get to do this again soon."
"Me too, and hopefully next time I'll have my own ride."
"It wouldn't matter to me as long as we had fun."
"Okay."
He pulled into her driveway, walked around and opened the door for her to get out. Star gave him a hug before she walked to her door, and as she did, her father was inside watching through a window.
Rob watched her walk inside, then got in Cy's car and headed for his house. The home time he drove, he hummed along with the radio and tapped his fingers on the steering wheel.
This time it was Cy's turn to be waiting outside. He saw Rob pull into his drive-way and the first thing he did was run to his car and give it a hug.
"Did you miss daddy?" He asked as he rubbed the hood.
"You don't know how pathetic you look." Rob said.
"You don't know how much this thing cost." Cy replied as he continued to massage his car.
"Fair enough."
"Ready to go home?"
"Yeah."
As Cy drove Rob back to his place, the discussed everything that went on during the day, especially Robin and Starfire's date. They were so caught up that they didn't realize that they were at Rob's house already, but it didn't matter to them since they'd have lunch the next day.
Rob ran inside so he could prepare for the next day and get some rest. Cy took a shortcut and did the same.
All of them had smiles on their faces as they slept, knowing that things were finally going good for them.
End Of Chapter 5