And In Color
Robin smiled lazily as he watched his teammates relax. It was the perfect day. It was already mid-afternoon and there hadn't been a single emergency the entire day. Starfire had used this rare peace as an opportunity to teach Silky what to eat and what not to eat. Cyborg had completely overtaken the kitchen table, drawing schematics for a new ride for Beast Boy. The shape shifter had been so excited that he ran to his room, determined to scour through the mess to find his own original plans. Robin himself had used the opportunity to catch up on the news.
He smiled more. He knew exactly what Raven would say if she could see him now. "Working even during a break, aren't you?"
Speaking of which, where was Raven?
As soon as that thought entered his mind it was pushed out. She was probably just using the opportunity to meditate. She was complaining of a throbbing headache last night.
Robin was pulled out of his musings when the doors slid open. He looked up, expecting to see Raven but instead a confused and anxious Beast Boy stood there.
"Uh, guys? Has anyone seen Raven?" he asked.
Robin frowned and put his newspaper down. "You mean she's not in her room?" he asked.
Beast Boy shook his head. "I checked. Her bed was freshly made. I don't think she slept in it last night or this morning."
"Are you sure man?" Cyborg asked.
Beast Boy nodded. "I checked dude. She hasn't been in her room since yesterday." He said tapping his nose for emphasis.
"Perhaps she went out." Starfire suggested. "Did she leave a note?"
"Nothing."
Robin's frowned deepened. "Cyborg I'm going to need you to look through the surveillance footage AS-"
Robin was cut off sharply when the television snapped out with a screech of static.
/
"Jazz honey! Could you tell Danny dinner will be ready in five?" Maddie Fenton hollered from downstairs.
With a sigh, Jazz Fenton rolled off of her bed and went to her brother's room. She knocked on the door.
"Dinner's in five minutes little brother." She said through the door.
There was no response. Jazz shrugged, figuring Danny was out ghost funny. If he's late, she'll cover for him.
Twenty minutes later he was still nowhere to be found and Jazz's façade was failing.
"So, you said Danny went to Sam's house?" Jack asked.
"Yup." Jazz said nervously.
Maddie frowned. "To work on a school project?" she asked.
"Yup."
"Well he should have at least called." Jack said dejectedly.
"That just mean more fudge for us! Right Dad?" Jazz asked.
"I like the way you think Jazzy-pants!"
"Remind me to ground Danny when he gets home hun." Maddie said.
Jazz didn't even bother to salvage the situation. She and Danny had a home-before-dinner policy. If he was willing to break that, he could get grounded for all she cared.
The silence was shattered by the TV turning on with a screech of static.
/
"Greetings people of Earth!" An overweight balding redhead man shouted on the screen. "I, Control Freak, master of all thing television, am broadcasting to you live on every electronic device on Earth!"
He seemed rather proud of himself for that. "I am proud to present to you a new and exciting series starring none other than Raven, the mystic sorceress of the Teen Titans," he said as a picture of Raven in mid-flight, eyes glowing white, appeared on the screen.
"And this geek I found in some small town in Illinois. Fenton, I think" he said indifferently as a picture of Danny in mid-fall filled the screen for an instant.
Almost immediately, Control Freak's face reappeared. "There's a twist of course. I have injected Raven with a special blend of chemicals that not only renders her powerless, but completely paralyzed! Now, our hero has no choice but to let the zero save her. And the best part is that they have no idea the whole world is watching!"
Control Freak squealed. "This is so exciting!" His tone change. "Oh, and Titans? This is all going on in my own modified environment. If you interfere in any way, the show will be terminated. Permanently."
He brightened up again. "And now ladies and gentlemen, I present….. Live!"
/
Raven's eyes fluttered open and slammed shut again. Her head hurt. The sun was bright. She opened her eyes slowly, adjusting to the light, until she found herself staring at a sky outlined by tree branches. She realized she was in a forest for some reason. Had Robin done this as some kind of training exercise? Raven tried getting up…and found she couldn't move anything from the neck down. The situation suddenly turned darker for her. Here she was, unknown territory, powerless and paralyzed from the waist down and she did the first thing that came to mind.
"HELP!" she hollered.
"Gaah!" she heard from nearby, as if she just woke someone up.
There was a rustling of leaves and suddenly the sky was replaced by someone's face. It was a boy, around her age. He had pale skin and messy black hair. He shockingly blue eyes looked over her in curiosity.
"Who are you?" he asked.
"You don't know who I am?" Raven asked.
"Should I?" the boy asked examining her critically.
Raven blinked. This boy didn't know who she was? "I'm Raven." She answered. "Who're you?"
"Danny." He replied. "Do you know where we are Raven?" he asked.
"Not a clue in the slightest."
Danny looked around. "It looks like a forest. The sparse kind they have on the outskirts of a town."
"Why would we be here?"
He stood up and looked down at Raven, shrugging. "Dunno. The best thing we can do to find out is start walking." He reached down, grabbed Ravens hand and hoisted her up.
"Danny, wait. You don't-"
Danny let her go and almost immediately Raven crumbled to the ground in a tangle of her own arms and legs.
"Are you okay?" Danny asked kneeling to check on her.
"Apparently, I've been paralyzed from the neck down and my powers are gone." She deadpanned.
"Powers?" Danny asked with wide blue eyes. "You have powers? What kind of powers?"
"The kind that aren't working right now." Raven said drily. "You need to focus Danny. How are we going to move if I can't even turn my neck?" she asked.
Danny surveyed the surroundings and looked thoughtful. "Don't go anywhere. I'll be right back." He said as he moved out of Raven's range of vision.
"Not like I have much of a choice." She grumbled. She heard a lot of rustling from where Danny had gone.
"What are you doing?" she asked.
"Well, my dad made me join the boy scouts and the only thing I was good at was arts and crafts. So I thought I'd finally make use of that." He said. "Besides, it'd be absolutely diabolical of me to just ditch you"
Raven rolled her eyes. "It's nice to know chivalry isn't dead." She said.
He went over to Raven and dragged her so she leaned against a tree. "So I built this." Danny said proudly.
Raven cringed when she saw it. Danny had made some kind of…carrier out of vines. It reminded her of something an overenthusiastic father would carry his child in.
"No way." She said.
Danny deflated. "C'mon Raven. Give it a shot. It's secure. I promise." He said.
"It's degrading."
"It's not like anyone's watching Rae." He said. "Besides, how else am I going to lug you around?" he asked.
Raven sighed defeated. He had a point. "Fine." She said.
She allowed Danny to pick her up and settle her into the carrier. He bent over her, tying several of the vines together as some kind of seatbelt. His hands fluttered around her waist and his hair tickled her chin. Danny picked up the carrier surprisingly easily and strapped it to himself.
"How does it feel?" he asked straightening out.
Her legs dangled limply out of the holes Danny left and her cheek was on his back. She blushed at the utter indecency of it all.
"Humiliating." She deadpanned.
"At least you didn't say you weren't comfortable." He said,
"Well, here we go." He said and he started walking.
/
"So, where are you from?" he asked.
"Are you trying to make small talk?" Raven asked. "Please don't."
"I myself am from Amity Park, that's in Illinois." He said, completely ignoring her. Raven rolled her eyes.
"It would be an okay town if it weren't for one thing." Danny said as he leapt over a small stream.
"And what's that?" Raven asked, playing along.
"It's haunted." Danny said. "My parents built a portal to the Ghost Zone and, well, it leaks."
"That must be horrible for business." Raven remarked.
"Not really." Danny said as they trudged up a small hill. "There's this other ghost, Phantom, who makes it his job to protect us."
"Sounds like you guys have your own town hero." Raven said.
"Yeah, I guess." Danny said. "What about you?"
"You honestly have no idea who I am. Do you?" Raven asked.
"Nope."
"Ever heard of the Teen Titans?" she asked.
Danny was quiet foe a moment, pondering. "Oh yeah. That superhero team from California! My friend Tucker's absolutely nuts about you guys. He seriously looks up to Cyborg." He said.
"Yeah, well, I'm a member of it."
"Huh. It's funny how I forgot. I almost never forget a face. Especially one like yours." He said absently.
"Is that an insult?"
"No."
Raven blushed and blamed it on the humidity.
Danny looked up. "Would you look at that? It's already dark out. I guess we should call it a night." He said.
He unstrapped the carrier and pulled Raven out of it, propping her up against a tree. Raven realized it was indeed dark out, she could barely see her hands. She also realized they were in some sort of sparse clearing, with a few shrubs littered around. Danny settled down next to her.
"So, what now?" he asked.
Raven sighed. "Let's just get some sleep. We'll think about what to do in the morning." She said. She felt her body slouching up against her. "Could you lay me on the ground, please?" she asked.
"Sure." Danny said, doing just that.
He lay down next to her as they both stared at the night's sky.
"Huh." He said.
"What is it?" Raven asked.
"I know one thing about where we are." Danny said. "It's not natural, not by Earth standards."
Raven raised an eyebrow. "What makes you say that?"
"The constellations are wrong. Big and Little Dipper are facing the wrong way, Orion's belt is in the oriented differently. Heck, the North star is in the east." He said pointing them out for Raven's benefit.
Raven was impressed. "How can you tell?"
"I want to be an astronaut when I grow up. Having the constellations under your thumb is an unspoken requirement." He said.
A comfortable silence passed between them. It lasted so long Raven thought Danny had fallen asleep until he spoke.
"I've got a bad feeling about this place." He said.
He wasn't the only one.
/
"There you have it, viewers!" Control Freak blared taking up the whole screen. "Our stars have realized all is not right with their situation. But they're safe. For the moment." He said ominously. "Tomorrow, they face their first challenge. Don't miss the next episode of…Live!" he announced.
Control Freak snickered. "It's not like you have much of a choice."
/
As every screen in the world faded to black, Robin frowned.
"Change of plans." He said. "Cyborg. I need you to contact the Fenton family. Try and see if there's any reason why their son would be dragged into this."
"Friend Robin, Control Freak warned us not to interfere." Starfire said tentatively.
"Well, we can't just sit here and do nothing!" Robin barked. "Who knows what Control Freak has in store for them?"
"Dude, there's nothing we can do except watch." Beast Boy said.
Robin scowled. If there's one thing he hated, it was not being able to do anything. But it seemed like it was the only thing he could do.
"Yo Rob, I've got the Fentons." Cyborg said.
"Put them on speaker."
/
"Jack! Do you know what this means?" Maddie exclaimed.
"I do Mads." Jack said solemnly. "My son is a star!" he exclaimed.
"Jack! No! He's in danger and there's nothing we can do to help him." Maddie said tearfully.
"Don't worry Mom. Danny can take care of himself. He is a Fenton, after all." Jazz said comfortably.
At that moment the front door burst open and a frantic Sam and Tucker rushed in. The spoke simultaneously. "Mr. and Mrs. Fenton! Did you see-"
"Yes, we saw. The whole world saw!" Maddie said.
"Well, what can we do?" Sam asked.
"We could try contacting the Titans." Tucker offered. "Maybe they-"
He was cut off by the phone ringing. Jazz answered it.
"Hello?" she asked. Her eyes widened. "Just a second. I'll put you on speaker."
She set the phone down and pressed the speaker button.
"This is Robin of the Teen Titans speaking." An authoritative voice said. "Mr. and Mrs. Fenton, I was wondering if there was any reason why your son would be thrown into this?" he asked.
"Not that we know of. Danny stays out of trouble." Maddie said.
Sam, Tucker and Jazz wore guilty looks but said nothing.
"Well, we certainly can't sit and do nothing." Robin said. "We're working on tracking Control Freak down. We just need your help to figure out a way to help them without being detected."
"We'll do all it takes to get our son back." Jack said.