Current Events > Teen Titans CYOA: Romance Resurrected Part 20

(+) Yeah! (+)

Frank arrives at his office as A Christmas Carol Live begins. Curious about his brother's gift, Frank opens it up and finds said picture frame. There's heartfelt nostalgia seeing himself and James as young kids, especially after reading James' note, "To Frank, the best brother a guy ever had." Fast forward in the show to where they reach the Ghost of Christmas Future. Frank is having a drink, so he doesn't see the looming spirit trying to reach out for him!

But then the spirit retracts as a drunk, angry, shotgun-wielding Loudermilk storms in! Loudermilk takes shots but as he explains in a rant, he's still "blind, stinking, druUUuUunk~!" so he can't really aim the big shotgun that well. Frank retreats back to the elevator and it arrives just in time to avoid a lot of buck shot, and then there's another Ghost of Christmas Future. Frank thinks it's the one for the show, but no, THIS is the one. The spooky tormented souls inside its robe give it away, but Frank again plays it off like the props department went all out.

But now, Frank and the ghost ride the elevator as the mode of transportation through the bleak future that awaits. First, Grace and a teenage Calvin. Because Calvin has not spoken in a decade, he has been committed to an asylum, and Grace's visiting hours are barely "hours." Frank fights off the fear and sadness by pointing out this is a "possible future," that things can change. Frank knows people at NYU, they can help Calvin.

Next is a group of rich women having lunch, and one complains about homeless kids asking for scraps. The woman tells them to go away, and asks the waiter to shoo these "filthy little creatures." But then one of the others says, "Oh, Claire..." That echoes in Frank's ears. The friend wants Claire to be nicer, they're children. Claire replies, "Please, darling, don't tell me. I wasted years on pathetic little creatures like those. Finally, thank God, a friend said to me..."

Frank lips the words at the same time Claire says them, "Scrape 'em off, Claire. If you want to save somebody, safe yourself." Frank apologizes to Claire for putting that in her head, and Claire says, looking in his general direction, "Thanks a lot, Lumpy." Claire then wipes away a tear and smiles to her friends. Frank is upset with the ghost for showing him that.

Third is a funeral. Wendy is standing there so Frank fears his brother, James, has died young. But then now, James, a bit chubbier now, walks up to stand with her. So then, if James is alive, who's in the casket? Surprise! This is Frank's funeral, and only James and Wendy came. Frank is now IN the casket as his corpse is about to be cremated! Frank feels the fire and begs James to spare him from this! Frank begs for his life, shouting "I WANNA LIIIIVE~!"

And then DING, Frank returns to the elevator, and he stumbles out back to his office! He's so happy to be alive and to see the sun poster. But Loudermilk is there aiming his gun. "MILKMAN~!" Frank hugs Loudermilk and sings, "I'm ALIVE~ and so are you! Oh, are you happy to see me or is that a shotgun in your pocket?" Frank throws it aside and it goes off, shooting the ceiling.

Frank, in his frantic joy, has Loudermilk high-five and other such things with him. And then he even gives Loudermilk the belly blow! Frank then goes on about how he'll rehire Loudermilk, twice his old salary, as the Vice-President! He can even have Frank's office. Loudermilk politely declines, and he also asks what's the catch? Frank jokes that the catch is Loudermilk needs a shower!

Loudermilk is very confused. He was looking for "Francis Xavier Cross." Frank says "That's me! But the great thing is, it's NOT me!" Frank says he learned a great word from the Jewish people: schmuck. Frank was a schmuck. But now, he's not that schmuck! What time is it? Loudermilk realizes he no longer has his watch! But point is, it's still Christmas Eve, the show is still going, they can use that!

Frank interrupts the show right at the big moment of Scrooge's own redemption. Everyone thinks this is gonna end Frank after the day he's been having. This is much to Cummings' delight, but then BAM, he gets hit with the door as Loudermilk busts in, with the shotgun! He tells them all to keep the camera on Frank!

This interruption upsets Mr. Rhineland as he watches at home. Frank asks the world why they're watching a TV show on Christmas Eve, and Rhineland shouts at his TV, "Paying your salary, you ass!" Frank then wonders what jerk puts a live TV show on Christmas Eve. Someone replies, "Only you, Frank." Frank grumbles but he admits, a week ago, that guy would've been fired. But now, he admits that's right. He even admits to the idea of stapling the antlers to the mice.

Frank goes on to admit other things, like James wasn't supposed to get the VCR. But then he reveals the answer James didn't get right in the trivia game, and they're all stunned. How did Frank know they were even playing that game?

Rhineland calls into the control room but Loudermilk has bound and gagged Cummings and answers. He says Cummings is "tied up," and claims Cummings has called Rhineland "a flatulating butthead."

Frank continues going around the set, goofs around with the props, and orders champagne for everyone. And the good stuff, not the cheap stuff he sends others. Frank wants to make this into a Christmas party like back in the day! Frank also gets to kiss one of the lovely dancers because of mistletoe. It was a very good kiss, but not a great kiss. There's only ever been one great, and that's Claire. Claire, and the shelter, are all watching, as Frank brings up their romance, and even the Kama Sutra things they tried. Claire hurries out to get a taxi to the IBC building, and it turns out the cabby is the Ghost of Christmas Past!

Frank and the cast start singing carols, and Frank talks about how this "miracle" of being a better person doesn't just have to happen around Christmas. "If you waste that miracle, you're gonna burn for it. I know." So you have to do something good, help people out, and not just for the poor and hungry but for all people! You'll then want "the miracle" over and over again! Frank believes in it now. And then Calvin walks up, and Frank asks him, "Did I forget something, big man?"

"God bless us, everyone." CALVIN SPOKE!! Grace is overjoyed, Frank is happy, and he helps Calvin up to be on camera. Grace takes Calvin as Frank spots Claire hiding behind something. Frank brings her out in front of the cameras, though she's very reluctant. "Claire, the whole world. The whole world, Claire. And they lived happily ever after."

Grace helps start up another song. "Think of your fellow~ man. Lend him a help~ing hand. Put a little love in your heart!" As the song grows, Frank hears other voices. He looks up and sees the three ghosts, and even Herman, who now has fairy wings like the Ghost of Christmas Present, implying he's an angel or spirit of some sort. Claire tries to see what Frank sees, but he just smiles and they kiss.

Everyone sings along, Frank goofs around that he can see through the fourth wall and tells the audience watching in theaters/at home to sing along, a wonderful and happy ending to the film. James gets the last line, "My brother, the King of Christmas."

"Rory," Roselind says, surprising you.

"Are you crying?" Rebecca asks.

A) Yes
B) No! (cheap denial but still try)

wow I went way too hard on that one

A.

B

B

B

"N-No!" you say, quickly wiping a tear.

Your sisters obviously don't believe what you said.

"Really?" Rebecca says. "Crying?"

"Over Scrooged?" Roselind adds.

"It's a good movie," you say. "It has a very touching story of redemption. You two would know that if you stayed to watch."

Your sisters roll their eyes and sit on the couch.

"Can we watch something while you shower?" Roselind asks.

"Yes, fine," you say as you hand the remote over.

You get up and go to the bathroom. From what it sounds like, your sisters find the Christmas episode of SpongeBob.

This Christ-mas feels, like the very first Christmas to me~.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Q50phagfTU

You go to the bathroom and get going on your shower. You are lucky there's hot water still, but you go quickly all the same. You then go to your room, dry and dress, and given your long hair, your sisters may have a point about showering early to help with the drying. But you cheat with a bit of Heat magic to speed that up.

"Alright, you two," you say as you return to the living room. "It's almost 11:30. Start getting ready for bed."

"Aww..." they both pout.

"C'mon, we agreed," you say. "11:30 is late enough."

"Are you going to bed now?" Rebecca asks.

"Yes," you say. "I'll be getting up to make sure you two get going in the morning to join mom and dad for their Pier 39 trip."

Your sisters grumble and go to the guest room. You take care of turning off the television and the lights as you all go to the hallway.

"What do you two want for breakfast in the morning?" you ask.

"Can we have pancakes?" Roselind asks.

"Yes, pancakes can be done," you say.

"Special pancakes?" Rebecca asks.

"Special how?" you ask back.

"I dunno," they both say.

A) Try gingerbread pancakes
B) Try Christmas sprinkle pancakes
C) Try chocolate pancakes

A

bump

B

C

bump. sry, guys, got busy today.

C

"Then how about chocolate pancakes?" you say. "We can even top them with powdered sugar, maybe some marshmallows or peanut butter."

"Mmm~!" they both say.

They both get in the bed, Roselind on the left and Rebecca on the right, and they tuck themselves in

"Alright, see you two in the morning," you say.

You turn off the light, close the door, then go to your room to also get to bed.

The next morning, you get going as you would for work, but you also knock on the guest room door to wake your sisters.

"You two get washed up while I make the pancakes," you say.

You hear the grumblings of a response and then go to the kitchen. You bring out the all-purpose flour, cocoa powder, granulated sugar, baking powder, salt, baking soda, unsalted butter and eggs as you hear the guest door open and the bathroom door close. It's hard to say if they're both in there or just one of them.

In a large bowl, you sift the flour, cocoa, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt together, while you whisk eggs, butter and milk in a medium bowl. The liquid in the medium bowl goes into the powder mix in the large bowl to become the moist, somewhat lumpy batter.

You butter a skillet over medium heat and scoop two big tablespoons of batter into it, making two to two-and-a-half inch circles. You cook each side evenly, which is only about 30 seconds. You make a good stack of about a dozen so you and your sisters can have four each. And as you wait on your sisters to finish up, you bring out the powdered sugar, peanut butter, marshmallows and chocolate syrup for the toppings.

Your sisters walk out, each of them sporting a side ponytail. Roselind's is on her right, Rebecca's is on her left. They've gone with the inverted look, Roselind wearing a white dress with black trim and Rebecca wearing a black dress with white trim. The dresses have Christmas/winter related patterns, even. Roselind's white dress has black snowflakes while Rebecca's black dress has white snowmen. Taking that further, Roselind has black stockings and white shoes while Rebecca has white stockings and black shoes.

Your sisters sit at the table and you serve them a plate of pancakes and a tall glass of milk. They take care of topping the pancakes themselves, with Rebecca going heavy on the powdered sugar while Roselind smears on a lot of peanut butter. You sit and eat, using the sugar and the syrup and the marshmallows evenly. You all eat your fill, and you all brush your teeth in time for your parents driving up.

"Good morning, girls," your mother says as she hugs each of them. "And good morning, Rory."

"Good morning, mum," you say.

"I smell chocolate and mint," your father says.

"We had chocolate pancakes for breakfast," Roselind says.

"And the toothpaste Rory has is mint," Rebecca says.

"Well that explains it then," he says.

"So you're ready to head out then?" mother asks the twins.

"Yes," they both say.

Your sisters head out to the Escalade with your grandparents to get into the back.

"Alright, so we'll see you for dinner then?" mother asks.

"Yes, that's fine," you say.

"Do you want us to get you anything from the shops?" she asks.

A) No, that's okay
B) Well...

B.

A

bump

B

B

"Well..." you say. "If you can, I wouldn't mind something from Christmas in San Francisco. As you can see, I have a lot of generic ornaments, but I wouldn't mind something unique."

"Okay," she says.

"Oh, and also," you say. "Maybe something from Candy Baron. Gummi Bears, Neapolitan taffy, maybe some vanilla caramels."

"All of that for you?" she chuckles.

"I'll share with Raven," you say.

"Alright," she says. "We'll see you later."

Your mother and father go to the Escalade and they drive off. You go back to the dining room, bring the dishes to the kitchen and wash them to put in the dish washer. You also get dishes that were soaking in the sink into the dish washer, then run it. You'll wait until this is done to head out, you don't want to be away if it has a problem.

A) Visit the restaurant first
B) Have lunch with Raven first

B)

B

B

You decide to have lunch with Raven at the Shadowy Scorpion first. Then you'll swing by the restaurant to make sure it isn't having any problems.

The dishwasher on normal level settings is rather quick, not even an hour. You leave it be so the dishes can dry inside, nice and warm, and you text Raven about lunch.

You: Ready to go to the Shadowy Scorpion?

Raven: Sure. Meet you there.

You: Okay, on my way.

You put your phone away and go to the garage.

A) Take Shadowfax
B) Take the car

A.

A

A

A

A

You go with Shadowfax, you don't need to haul anything around today. You put on your leather jacket and drive off to the Shadowy Scorpion.

You arrive and park out front. You look around but don't see Raven. You also look inside through the storefront window but you don't see Raven, either. You do see what she meant about the Christmas lights, and they are indeed all blue.

"Hey," Raven says as she floats down.

"Hello there," you say as she lands.

"Were you waiting long?" she asks.

"No, I only just got here."

You two walk in and the wait staff all wear black Santa Girl dresses with black 'n' white striped socks.

"Very cute outfits," you say.

"They have them every year," Raven says. "But yeah, it's cute."

"I be you'd look cute in it," you say.

"Rorek," Raven playfully scolds with a smirk.

"Hi, Raven," Languish greets. "Hi, Rorek."

"Hi, Languish," Raven greets back.

Languish shows you to a table and gives you the Christmas season menu.

For drinks, you each go with a "Long Black Veil" coffee. It is of course based on the Long Black, the Aussie cousin to the Americano. Where an Americano is one shot of espresso then three ounces of hot water poured into your cup, Long Black has the water poured in first then two shots espresso. The Shadowy Scorpion's twist on it is three shots espresso, and topped with chocolate syrup.

For your meal, you go with the...

A) Jingle Bell Pepper Poppers
B) A Very Berry Christmas
C) Salty the Snow Ham

bump

C

C

bump, got busy again

B

COIN TOSS

C

"I'm interested in seeing this Salty the Snow Ham," you say with a slight chuckle.

"The name is rather corny," Raven says with a smirk.

"Yeah," Languish says with a sigh. "It's the best we could come up with, even as a group. But the meal itself is good. Three slices of honey baked ham, arranged kinda like a snowman, biggest slice on the bottom. We also serve it with a side of loose veggies, and y'know, kids can arrange them to make the snowman face and buttons."

"Well that's rather whimsical for a gothic cafe like this," you say.

"What can I say?" Languish shrugs. "It's the Christmas season. Even we feel better about things."

"I'll have the Jingle Bell Pepper Poppers," Raven says.

"Alright," Languish says. "I'll be back with the drinks first."

Languish goes to the kitchen and you take a moment to admire more of the cafe. The blue lights aren't overwhelming, or else everything would be blue. But because the Christmas trees are artificial and done up with the fake snow frosting, and are decorated with tinsel, they reflect a lot of the blue light around the room in sparkling patterns.

You see rather spooky ornaments on the trees, such as little skulls and bats. They must've converted Halloween decorations. How rather creative, and efficient since they really only need one set of decorations between both holidays.

Languish returns with your coffee and you take a sip. The espresso definitely kicks in, and you really like the richness the chocolate syrup gives it.

"Very nice," you say.

"So if your family's having dinner at the restaurant," Raven asks, "what's the menu for tonight?"

A) Jewel Butter Seafood Bowl
B) Calamari Ripieni
C) White Knight Venison

C

A

C

COIN TOSS

A

"The main dish will be the Jewel Butter Seafood Bowl," you say. "A great blend of French and Japanese styles of seafood, taking a slow roasted salmon steak meunire, a lightly buttered squid liver saut, and some salmon roe pickled in soy sauce, all on top of short grain rice, all inside our loveliest donburi bowls."

"Does sound nice," Raven says. "What else?"

"Well, we can have some vegetable related dishes," you say. "Insalata Frittata, Tomates Farcies. I might even try out a recipe for Curry Bread Calzones."

"Oooh, a calzone?" Raven says. "That sounds really good, too."

Languish returns and serves you the Salty the Snow Ham and Raven her Jingle Bell Pepper Poppers. As Languish described, the "snow ham" is arranged as three circles of three different sizes, and plenty of loose veggies, from peas to bits of carrots to green beans. You decide to move things around, green beans as the arms and the peas as the buttons on the body.

Raven giggles as she looks at your culinary work of art. She cuts a bit off a yellow bell pepper, covered in cheddar cheese and bits of bacon, then blows on it before popping it in her mouth. She nods in approval and Languish has a soft smile before she leaves to tend to another table.

You enjoy the ham and vegetables, they're about as good as any ham and vegetables can be. Well salted and well buttered, nice temperature on everything, and the ham isn't too tough to cut through. Overall, a good meal, especially for a tiny caf like this.

"So what do you wanna do before dinner?" Raven asks.

"Well, I'm going to check in with the Melting Pot and help them prepare for the dinner," you say. "But after that, I suppose you and I could..."

A) Relax at home
B) Check in with the Titans

A.

B

bump

B

B

"... check in with the Titans. We can hang out for a bit, see what they're up to."

"Alright," Raven says.

You two eat up and finish your meals. You pay the bill with a nice 20% tip for Languish. From there, you and Raven exit and ride on Shadowfax. You make your way through the holiday traffic to reach the water and Titans Tower.

"Hello," you say as you and Raven walk into the living room.

"Oh, hey, Rorek," Beast Boy and Cyborg both say. "Hey, Raven."

They're the only ones here, and of course, they're playing a video game.

"Where are Robin and Starfire?" Raven asks.

"On a date," Cyborg says.

"Yeah, they want some 'alone time' before Christmas, heh heh," Beast Boy says.

"That's fair," you say.

"So what're you two up to?" Cyborg asks.

"Well, we came over to see what you all were up to," you say.

"Oh," Beast Boy says. "Would've thought you two would be spending some 'alone time,' too, heh heh."

"Stop saying 'alone time' and fake chuckling," Raven says.

"Then do you guys wanna join in?" Cyborg asks, pointing to the video game on screen. "It's getting boring just kicking BB's butt again and again."

"You haven't been kicking my butt!" Beast Boy says. "But yeah, it is getting a little boring as just the two of us."

A) Join in
B) Don't join in

A

A

A

A

"Alright, sure," you say. "We've got time to kill."

You go up to the couch and sit on the right side. You're handed a remote to be Player 3, with Cyborg as Player 1 and Beast Boy as Player 2.

"So what game even is this?" you ask.

"Celebrity Toon Slam Extreme!" both Beast Boy and Cyborg say with big grins.

"Okay..." you say back. "And that means...?"

"Well, you ever play Uber Bash Bros?" Beast Boy asks.

"No, but I do know that one," you say. "With all the Wintendo characters?"

"Yeah," Beast Boy says. "This is like that, but instead of Wintendo characters, it's all iconic cartoon characters since like, ever. Looney Tunes, Disney, and a few other places."

"Wow, that must be quite the roster," you say.

"Oh, yeah!" Cyborg says. "All sorts of different abilities and fighting styles, as well as levels based on iconic locations from those various franchises. It's a lot of fun. Right now, I'm playing as Wile E. Coyote while Beast Boy's being a big ol' Mickey main."

"Hey, man, Mickey's legit," Beast Boy says. "Why wouldn't I go with him?"

"Boy, that's a lot of choices," you say.

Bugs Bunny | Daffy Duck | Porky Pig | Wile E. Coyote | Sylvester the Cat
Tweetie Bird | Granny | Lola Bunny | Foghorn Leghorn | Elmer Fudd
Yosemite Sam | Marvin the Martian | Pepe Le Pew | Road Runner | The Goofy Gophers
Mickey Mouse | Minnie Mouse | Donald Duck | Goofy | Pluto
Pete | Max Goof | Daisy | Scrooge McDuck | Chip & Dale
Woody Woodpecker | Yogi Bear | Booboo | Huckleberry Hound | Snagglepuss
Quick Draw McGraw | Bullwinkle the Moose | Rocky the Squirrel | Atom Ant | Captain Caveman

You aren't sure what to make of such a roster, but you go with...

A) Bugs Bunny
B) Daffy Duck
C) Donald Duck
D) Goofy

E. Elmer Fudd