Chapter 3: First Halloween
It was Starfire's first Halloween. Naturally, there was some culture shock.
"So we are to dress up in costumes?" Starfire asked Beast Boy. "Do we not already do that?"
"That's different!" Beast Boy insisted. "Uh, how do I explain this?"
But Starfire had already moved onto her next question. "If I understand you correctly, people can simply come to our door and demand that we give them food? That seems rather rude. What right do they have to demand free stuff from people they do not even know?"
Beast Boy scratched his head. "Well, that is pretty strange... Wait a minute. You're missing the point!"
"I do not comprehend this Hollow Ween," Starfire said sadly. "You must think me obtuse."
"No, Starfire, we think that Beast Boy is obtuse," Raven replied.
"Hey!" the changeling sputtered in outrage. Then he rubbed his chin in thought. "Uh, what does 'obtuse' mean?"
"You're just lacking some knowledge," Raven continued without missing a beat. "Halloween, or All Hallows Eve as it was originally called, was an important date on the Catholic calendar. It was a time to observe and honor saints. In those times, people believed that the souls of the dead came back to Earth to visit their friends and family."
"That is good," Starfire said, smiling.
"These disembodied spirits would seek out living bodies to possess for the following year."
"Oh, that is bad."
"On the night of October 31, people would extinguish the fires in their homes to make them cold and undesirable. They would also dress up in ghoulish costumes and make noisy parades to frighten off the spirits."
Starfire stared at Raven blankly.
"This is good," Raven informed her.
The empath drew her cloak around her. "Over the centuries, people became less believing in the supernatural, but they still enjoyed dressing up as hobgoblins, ghosts, witches, and so on."
"But, Raven, we know that ghosts do exists," Starfire said in a worried tone. "Is it not irresponsible of us to par-tay when there is such danger?"
Raven looked taken back.
"Ha, you confused her too! Who's obese now?" Beast Boy cried, pointing at the dark girl.
There was a chilling silence.
"Uh, BB, you just said Raven was fat," Cyborg said nervously.
Beast Boy looked confused then terrified when he saw four red, glowing eyes. Dodging black orbs of energy, he ran from the room screaming, "I'm too young to die!"
Robin took the seat that Raven just vacated. He said, "Star, you don't have to worry about ghosts. We don't see too many of them these days and I'd think that if a ghost was visiting his parents, the last thing he'd want to do would be to possess them."
"I suppose that makes sense," Starfire said.
"Besides," Robin continued. "Any hostile spirits out there will just have to get in line behind the super villains, killer robots, and unfriendly extraterrestrials that will probably attack the Tower tonight."
"Robin, being pessimistic is my thing," Raven scolded as she came back into the room dragging a charred and crispy green boy behind her.
She turned to Starfire and said, "Anyway, the Halloween traditions that we have today were brought to America by Irish immigrants in the 1840s..."
"History blah blah satanic rituals blah blah blah. You're making everything too complicated!" Beast Boy cried, leaping to his feet and ignoring Raven's deadly glare. "The true meaning of Halloween is going out dressed as someone or something you're not and getting free candy from people."
Starfire brightened. "I think I understand. We must conceal our identities when we go out and steal sugared treats from the unarmed and helpless populace!"
Beast Boy stared at her in bewilderment. "You have a talent for making any Earth tradition sound sinister and evil, do you know that?"
"Thank you?"
"I think she has the basic idea," Robin said. "Starfire, just dress up as someone you admire. For some bizarre reason, children enjoy dressing up as superheroes. Or you can go as someone you've seen on tv or in the movies. Speaking of which, I have to go pick up my costume. See you guys soon."
Robin whirled and with a flutter of his cape, he was gone.
Cyborg snapped his fingers. "I need a cape! I knew I forgot something." He quickly followed in Robin's direction.
"What are you going as, Raven?" Starfire asked.
"I don't do Halloween," Raven replied curtly.
"That's your answer for everything!" Beast Boy complained.
The Teen Titans would go out trick-or-treating later that night about the time they would go out for nightly patrols, but in the meantime, they would throw a party for the City's kids where they could eat and have fun in peace.
The top of the Tower and the Titans' rooms would be off-limits of course, but the young children and the teenagers would each have their own floor to enjoy.
Beast Boy had taken a final check over the decorations and deemed the Tower to be horrifying. Starfire, who had been following him around reading Internet printouts about Halloween, had been disappointed to discover that the team had no plans to hold a séance in the local cemetery or to summon a demon from the netherworlds.
An hour later, the parties downstairs were already in full swing and the Titans would join them in another few minutes. Anyone who couldn't wait to catch a glimpse of the Titans was welcome to walk up the stairwell and knock on the door for candy. No one had yet done so though.
Beast Boy slouched on the couch in the Main Room flipping through channels while waiting for his friends to show up.
"Cooking show... game show... soap opera... what the-?"
"FROM THE PRODUCERS WHO BROUGHT YOU FREDDY VS JASON AND JASON X, WE BRING YOU FREDDY VS JASON: IN SPACE!"
"Now, that's just stupid," Beast Boy muttered, turning off the television.
Suddenly, speakers lowered from the ceiling and blew Beast Boy across the room with the music of the Imperial March.
It is better known as the theme song for-
"Darth Vader!" Beast Boy shouted. "Awesome!"
The Sith Lord otherwise known as Cyborg walked into the room wearing the trademark helmet and a long, flowing black cape behind him. His normally blue and white armor was now a midnight black and while Cyborg would not pass for Vader upon close examination, his cybernetic body made him imposing enough that one was willing to overlook that.
The familiar deep, regulated, wheezy breathing resonated from the helmet.
Beast Boy blinked. "Great impression, man!"
Cyborg yanked off his helmet and gasped for breath. "It's not an impression! I was suffocating because I forgot to put air holes in!"
Beast Boy laughed. Then he said, "You better fix that because you can't go around without the helmet. No offense, dude, but you're the wrong color to play Anakin."
"Vader should have been black and you know it!" Cyborg shouted, shaking his fist at the other teen. Then he settled down and smiled. "I can make air holes easily enough. Check this out. The Jedi would have killed for this!"
His right arm shifted into his sonic cannon and charged up. But what came out wasn't the familiar energy blast but instead was a thin stream of blue light that tapered off into a point. It looked extremely familiar...
"Oh my God! You have a lightsaber built into your arm!" Beast Boy shrieked like a fangirl.
"Behold the power of the Force!" Cyborg boomed. "And my kickass tech skills!"
"That's a nice looking sword you got there," a Spanish-accented voice said from the shadows. "But I find it is not what the weapon is made of that matters, but the skill of the one who wields it."
Dressed entirely in black, the masked man strolled in the light, his scabbard banging against his hip. He threw his cape back and gave a deep bow. He said, "Diego de la Vega at your service. But you may call me Zorro."
Cyborg shifted his arm back to normal then slapped the Boy Wonder on the back. "Great accent, man. For a second, I thought Mas and Menos learned English then stopped by the Tower!"
"Thanks, I've been working on it," Robin replied in his regular voice.
Beast Boy sighed then pointed to the white lenses of Robin's mask. "Dude, you'll really do anything to keep the mask on, won't you? Are you like hideously scarred or something?"
Robin frowned.
"So speaks the green boy with pointed ears," a bored voice said from behind them.
"At least I have nothing to hide," Beast Boy retorted, turning around. His eyes widened. "Raven! You were supposed to dress up!"
Raven's violet eyes peered at him from under her hood. She replied, "I'm Little Red Riding Hood."
"Your cloak's blue!"
"Nothing gets past you," Raven said, rolling her eyes. She looked the other boy over. "Why are you wearing a trench coat? Are you going as Dick Tracy?"
Beast Boy was wearing a nondescript coat and hat and he looked more like a would-be flasher than anything else. Raven had commented because the get-up was way too subdued for the jokester. There had to be a catch.
The young superhero grinned widely. "No, I just have a surprise. You know how difficult it is to work with my look? So I have decided to work with my greenness. So, ladies and gentlemen, I give you the one, the only...
"MARTIAN MANHUNTER!"
Beast Boy threw off his coat, revealing blue trunks, a cape, and criss-crossed red suspenders enclosing his scrawny frame.
"Must... scrub image... off... retina," Raven groaned.
Beast Boy turned his nose up at her. "You're just jealous of my awesome physique."
Raven opened her mouth then paused for a moment. "Nah... too easy."
Cyborg and Robin fell against each other laughing while Beast Boy glowered at Raven.
"Can we get this over with? I have other things to do. Like drown myself in the bathtub."
The boys stared automatically at Raven, but she hadn't spoken...
Coming in from the hallway was the first Tamaranian goth. Starfire floated into the room wearing a short-haired purple wig, a leotard, and a cloak. The strangest thing of all was that the normally smiling alien had a blank, emotionless expression.
Robin's eyes widened so much that even through a mask it was obvious. "Whoa, that's quite a costume, Star."
"Where'd you get it?" Cyborg asked. "Don't tell me you went into Raven's room?"
Starfire dropped the façade for a second and smiled. "Amazingly, there is a shop in the city that was selling Teen Titans costumes." She scratched her side. "They are neither as comfortable nor as durable as our actual uniforms, but I could not resist."
"Do Raven again!" Beast Boy demanded.
Starfire just glared silently at him with a look of barely concealed irritation.
Beast Boy looked between her and Raven and shuddered. "That's scary."
Robin shook off his surprise. "Okay, team, let's go over our entrance plan again."
Cyborg groaned. "Will you unclench for one night? Nobody's going to care how we show up."
Robin glared and the two were soon yelling at each other. Beast Boy then yelled at them to stop ruining Halloween.
Starfire pulled Raven off to the side and looked at her worriedly. "You do not seem pleased."
Raven actually wasn't sure what she was. She knew Starfire didn't mean anything insulting by dressing up as her. The very idea was ridiculous. She said slowly, "I'm not mad. Just confused."
"Robin told me that it was acceptable to wear the garb of a hero I respected," Starfire said.
"But why... me?"
Starfire stared warmly at her. "Because I admire you greatly. There are many heroes that I respect, but there are none that I believe have made the sacrifices you have. You are a hero every second of every day. More so than even Robin. You fight your very self to keep the world safe. I wished to pay homage to that for one night."
For once, Raven was at a loss for words. Then her lips curved into a slight smile. "Thank you, Starfire. But you don't have to act like me the entire night. The party would be lacking without your unique... enthusiasm."
Starfire nodded happily. Then her brow furrowed. "Raven, I do not wish to be ahead of you..."
"Forward," Raven corrected automatically.
"But I believe that it would be strange for there to be two Ravens at the par-tay."
Raven shifted uncomfortably. "I've never been much for celebrating."
"Please have fun with your friends, Raven. These are moments to forget your troubles for just a little while and cherish what you have."
"I suppose, but it's too late to find a costume," Raven replied. She actually looked a little let down.
"I have a costume that you will like. You said once that it made you feel 'cool.'" Starfire leaned over and whispered into Raven's ear.
Raven raised an eyebrow. "That would be amusing. Very well. I'll be back shortly." She enveloped herself in shadow and vanished.
DING-DONG!
The sound of the bell broke up the fighting. Robin made a move for the door, but Starfire beat him to it.
She opened the door to the stairwell and smiled the group standing on the other side. "Greetings, young ones! How may I help you?"
"Trick or treat!" the kids chorused.
"Very well," Starfire said agreeably. She pointed over their heads. "Look, a slumbering snorvax!"
The kids looked.
"Ha, I have tricked you!" Starfire cried. "Have a happy holiday!"
Then she shut the door and flew into the kitchen for a drink. Robin quickly opened the door again and passed out candy while apologizing.
He came back a few minutes later. "Let's get going. Where's Raven?"
"Is this where I say, 'Titans, Go?'"
Robin's jaw dropped when Raven strolled in wearing his crime fighting uniform. He quickly recovered and smirked. "You didn't get enough of wearing it while I was in Japan?"
Raven stood looking very snug in Robin's red and green tights. She crossed her arms and stared back, one mask to another. "What can I say? Peer pressure is a mighty force. But you can blame Starfire for my current attire."
Beast Boy clapped his hands. "Miss Grumpy finally decided to join the fun!"
Raven glanced at Robin. "You have anything in your belt that'll shut him up?"
"Third pocket from the right."
"You guys are mean!" Beast Boy whined.
"Robin, it is good to see you!" Starfire cried, appearing out of nowhere and hugging the faux-Robin tightly.
Raven struggled in the girl's iron grip. "Hey, let go! You're not acting very Raven-like!"
Starfire giggled. Then she gave a sideway glance at Cyborg. "It seems that while three of us are guised as 'the good guys,' there is a villain among us."
"I like to think of myself as an anti-hero," Cyborg replied in a humored tone. "I'm not evil. I'm just misunderstood. But enough chit-chat. Let's get this party started!"
The Teen Titans went back and forth between the two party floors every half hour, so no one would miss out on meeting their heroes. There were even planned activities such as carving jack-o-lanterns (Starfire tried to use her eyebeams to carve a pumpkin, which exploded and covered everyone in pumpkin guts. The kids thought it was hilarious, of course.), bobbing for apples (Beast Boy cheated by changing into an elephant and sucking up all the apples in one gulp), and other Halloween-themed traditions.
The party had been going for about four hours now and everyone had settled down into their desired activities. The teenagers were dancing, the parents were sitting at tables and talking, and the younger kids were watching the 'Martian Manhunter' fight 'Darth Vader.'
And Raven? She was currently in a dark hallway telling horror stories to anyone brave enough to listen. The stories were horrifying enough though without Raven also using her powers to send all but the hardiest souls running back to the safety of the ballrooms.
Starfire watched all these ongoings from her current station behind the punchbowl. She had chatted amiably with a group of girls for about ten minutes before they had wandered to the next room to see the showing of Carrie that Cyborg had set up.
"So what do you think of Halloween so far?" Robin asked, walking up to the refreshments table.
"It is most wonderful," Starfire replied, looking fondly at the masked man. "We do not have anything like this on my world, and at first, I was a little hesitant to celebrate horror and mayhem. But I can see this is all in the spirit of friendship and camaraderie."
Starfire then bit her lip and drew a box out from under the table. "I wish for you to have this, Robin."
"Thanks, Star, but we don't normally give presents on Halloween," Robin replied, taking the plain black box with a smile. He lifted the top.
A bloody hand jumped out at him.
"ARGH!" Robin cried, falling backwards.
"Happy Halloween!" Starfire yelled happily. "Beast Boy informed me that it was customary to scare one's friends this day and he helped me set up the jumping hand."
"Remind me to thank BB," Robin said through a strained smile while he got to his feet. "When April 1st comes around, be sure to talk to me first."
Robin cleared his throat. "I've been meaning to tell you that I think you look very nice tonight."
Starfire glanced at him. "I will be sure to tell Raven that you think she is pretty."
"What? No! I was talking about – you misunderstood..." Robin babbled.
Starfire giggled. "I know, Robin. You look good as well."
Robin shook his head with a rueful smile. "You're certainly in a joking mood tonight." He looked around the room. "I have to admit that things are going better than I thought. It's been fun."
"So you no longer think we will be attacked by super villains, killer robots, and unfriendly extraterrestrials?" Starfire asked innocently.
Robin chuckled. "I doubt it."
The two stood together listening to the music and just enjoying the moment.
And in the end, though the Tower did end up being attacked by an extraterrestrial killer robot with superpowers, the Titans had a good time overall.
Author's Notes
Just a few things. Fanfic writer Post made Cyborg a Star Wars fan and I just couldn't resist incorporating that idea. The episode of 'The Quest' was obviously the inspiration for Raven's costume. Robin as Zorro was a reference to Batman's origins. I thought Starfire as Raven would be cute. As for Beast Boy, I have no idea where that twisted idea came from.