Current Events > Teen Titans CYOA: Romance Resurrected Part 23

(+) Yeah! (+)

A

bump, will get this in the morning

A

"Challenge accepted!" you say.

You look to Raven and lock eyes with her. She nods and you both step forward.

"CUSTOS!" you both shout.

Your white Guardian shield spell layers on top of Raven's black one, and the others stand behind the two of you. Gizmo's drones power up and fire green lasers! The lasers clash with your Custos, and you feel the force of it!

"C'mon c'mon c'mon c'mon c'mon c'mon c'mon!!" Gizmo shouts at his drones.

The green laser starts to bore through your Custos!

"Be ready," you tell Raven.

With a sizzle and crackle, the green lasers make it through your Custos and now hit Raven's! She lets out a yelp of surprise and then braces her Custos with both hands. With your Custos already damaged, you take it away. You can't recast it so soon, it's that powerful of a defensive spell. So if you can't block the laser forever, what're you to do?

A) Enchantment
B) Alchemy

A

A)

A

The lightbulb turns on and you bring out your moon dust! You throw it all over the shelves and boxes!

"UDARI AFARI!" you shout.

The dust activates with the Durability Charm!

"GWEGLORI SYB!" you add.

Now the items are heat resistant, hopefully enough for the intense energy of the lasers.

"Get ready to move!" Raven says as the green beams dig through her Custos.

"But what about our stuff?" Beast Boy asks.

"Beast Boy, just move!" Robin says as he pulls him out of the way.

Starfire jumps to the same side as they do while you help sweep Raven up and away before she drops the shield. *WHUM* The green lasers crash into the shelving unit! The lasers last only a few more seconds before stopping.

"AHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Gizmo laughs at his presumed destruction of the Titans' possessions. "Huh?"

The shelf is still standing! And nothing's on fire!

"Hey!" he shouts. "What gives?!"

"Wow, it actually worked," you say.

"Get him!" Robin says as he points at Gizmo.

As the five of you rush in, you use...

A) Arcana
B) Elemental
C) Sound

C

C.

C

C

You construct a magic charge and imbue it with Sound magic. You throw the charge at Gizmo, curving it into the gap between all the drones. The charge sticks to Gizmo's force field.

"Cover your ears!" you shout.

Raven, Starfire and Robin cover their ears, and Beast Boy turns into an armadillo, an animal with a horrible sense of hearing.

"OTO BAKUHATSU!" you shout while covering your own ears.

*BANG* The magic charge explodes and you see Gizmo freak out!

"You stinking frag bag, dump scraping, gas sniffing, cluster worm!" he rattles off.

The force field goes down, and now Gizmo is vulernable! Starfire flies in to dropkick him into the wall!

"Wow," you say. "Alright, well..."

A) Help restrain Gizmo
B) Check on sleeping Plasmus
C) Check on the Overload situation

C

bump

C)

bump, rly busy again.

C

"Perhaps we should check on the others fighting Overload?"

"Yeah, the generator room is on the far side from here," Raven says. "I'll show you the way."

You follow Raven while Robin restrains Gizmo. You go down a hall with several turns, and see a golden orange glow emanating from a doorway. The two of you enter that room, and it takes a moment for your eyes to adjust to the light, but the easy thing to see is the walls are covered in scorch marks.

You then see Cyborg, Argent and Jinx in the room, looking rather frazzled. And you mean that in both the American and British sense. They look frustrated, tired, and the ladies have some burnt locks of hair.

"Where's Overload?" you and Raven ask.

"Right here," Cyborg says as he holds out a rubber square.

The rubber square is a sleeve and inside is a red circuit board. And it looks angry...

"We managed to cut him off from the generator long enough to stick him inside this," Cyborg says.

"Oh, so Overload is a living piece of technology," you say.

"Yep," the others say.

You use some Restoration on Jinx and Argent so their hair is no longer burnt.

"Thanks," they both smile.

"Could you also help our clothes?" Argent asks as she and Jinx look to the scorched parts of their skirts and sleeves.

"I'm sorry, ladies, Restoration magic only works on living things. We'd need actual sewing kits for those."

Now they both pout.

"Well, to make up for that," you say, "I can make more dessert."

A) More Dark Chocolate Self-Saucing Pudding
B) White Chocolate & Ginger Mud Cake
C) "Triple C" Sponge Cake

C

B

B

"We had dark chocolate, so how about some white chocolate? Perhaps a White Chocolate & Ginger Mud Cake."

"Oooh, sounds good," Argent says. "Let's go."

Everyone regroups at the elevator and heads upstairs. Argent and Jinx go to change into fresh clothes while you get to work in the kitchen.

You preheat the oven to 160 Celsius, aka 320 Fahrenheit, then grease a round cake pan, and then line the pan's base and sides with 3 layers of baking paper, greasing between layers so they stick together.

You melt white chocolate and butter in a bowl and stir it all together until it's smooth. You let this cool for 10 minutes while you crack five eggs and lightly beat them. Then you throw sour cream, flour, ginger, and sugar together with the eggs in a big bowl, add the chocolate and whisk it all together until smooth. This all goes into the pan and then into the oven to bake for the next hour.

Jinx and Argent return, in very cute pajamas. Jinx has a very fluffy nightgown while Argent has red fleece sweatpants and a black tank top.

"Is it ready yet?" Argent asks.

"Sorry, being a cake, it still has about 45 minutes left," you say. "Actually, closer to 90 minutes because it needs a second baking phase, and then the glaze."

"What?" Argent and Jinx say.

"Why'd you go with something that'd take so long?" Raven asks.

"Well, we're already up this late," you say with a shrug.

"Yeah I guess," Raven says. "Let's see if the On Demand remembers where the movie left off."

Raven turns the television on.

"Rorek," she says, "your Malleo bopped a chunk of pixels outta whack."

"Sorry," you say as you see the desaturated spot on the screen.

"Don't worry, I can fix it," Cyborg says.

Cyborg fiddles around with the hardware and that patch regains its color. Raven then goes to the menu and finds Slumber Party Massacre available under "Continue Watching."

"Could we not?" Jinx asks. "We just had our own slumber party surprise, let's watch something that doesn't have murder."

A) Watch a comedy
B) Watch an action movie
C) Watch some sitcoms

C.

B.

bump

B.

B

"What about an action movie?" you suggest.

"Ooh, yeah, there's one I've been meaning to watch," Beast Boy says. "Battle of Blood!"

Robin takes the remote to search that and find it on the On Demand menu, just like Slumber Party Massacre.

"Isn't that one also rated R?" Robin says.

"What're you so worried about?" Cyborg asks. "At least this one is just about violence, not lewd stuff."

"I guess..." Robin says, still a bit nervous.

Beast Boy presses play, and as things begin, it is already apparent this is low level 1980s action movie material. Something about that makes it fun already.

Story wise, this seems like a knockoff of Bloodsport with Jean-Claude Van Damme. The main character, Jesse Vyse (pronounced like "vice"), is a young man trained in martial arts, joins the police and becomes a detective, as opposed to Jean-Claude playing Frank Dux who was in the American military.

But to the point, Detective Vyse works homicide and is on the case of a body drifting in Seafoam City Bay. And though bloated from being in the water, it's clear this man was pummeled and beaten.

"Did someone hate this guy or what?" Detective Grady, Vyse's partner, says.

"But there are also defensive wounds," Medical Examiner Fry says as he shows them the man's hands. "See? This is the kind of bruising from punching and hitting something with fists, and these are bruises from guarding."

"So he fought this someone and lost," Vyse surmises.

"And lost big," Grady says. "We gotta ask around, see who saw this guy before the fight."

Identification is difficult from the battered and bloated face, and there's nothing in the man's pants pockets, but fingerprints help. This is one David Brose, gym teacher for Seafoam High School. Vyse and Grady of course go to the school to ask about Mr. Brose.

"A big strong guy, but not the kind of guy who would get into fist fights," Vyse says after the interviews.

"Wait, isn't that his parking spot?" Grady asks as they pass a line of cars.

They see the sign reading "Mr. Brose," but parked in the spot is a red Ferrari 308 GTS.

"What's a gym teacher doing with a car worth one and a half times his salary?" Grady asks.

"Time to look into his financials," Vyse says.

The detectives return to their Buick Skyhawk Type T, and then things cut to back in the precinct. They get the bank records, and see quite the roller coaster. Mr. Brose was making fairly big withdrawals of a couple thousand dollars, then making incredibly big deposits in the tens of thousands. And credit card records show him having a room at the Rhea River Hotel, known for having a casino.

"Mr. Brose was a gambler," Vyse says.

"And a good one to be multiplying his money like that," Grady says. "Oh, maybe not that good. Looks like the deposits started falling off."

"Maybe he got desperate," Vyse says. "Remember what that one kid said about a guy talking to Brose behind the gym?"

"Loan sharks don't usually kill the people that owe them," Grady says. "But they do hang around casinos. Let's go check it out."

The detectives go to Rhea River Hotel and find the casino. And we get a glimpse of some rather shady characters as they watch the detectives.

The mud cake is done with phase one, so you take it out, loosely cover with foil, and put it back in the oven to cook for another hour.

Back in the movie, the detectives ask employees, from dealers to cigarette girls to the bartender to the manager about Brose. They all deny having seen Brose, but the financial records do get the manager to sweat. They ask to see video of the last few weeks, since they know cameras are in the casino to keep the players honest. The manager concedes and lets them see the footage, and they have proof Brose was here and 90% of the employees were lying just now.

The manager sweats more, knowing he and the employees are in trouble for hindering the investigation, but then the manager's boss walks in. He introduces himself as Ludovico Haviaras, and he smooths things over, saying with all the guests they see, his employees can't be expected to remember everyone that come in. Vyse counters with how video also goes against those claims.

"Brose was a high roller," he says. "He won big, spent big, everyone had a good time when he was around. People tend to remember guys like that."

Haviaras does his best to keep his smile and counters Vyse by asking if there's any evidence as to foul play. There is not, so Haviaras "politely" asks the detectives leave so that the guests can enjoy their stay. Vyse & Grady go but they're both suspicious of Haviaras.

However, looking into Haviaras, he's fairly clean. Some accusations but nothing could ever be proven. But Vyse says nothing could be disproven, either. Vyse suggests they go get Brose's car to see if there are other clues in it.

But as Vyse & Grady return to the school, someone's driving away in it? Grady blocks the Ferrari's path, the driver gets out of the car to complain, but it's one of the shady characters from the casino! And when he realizes it's the detectives, he tries to run for it! Vyse chases the guy down while Grady secures the Ferrari!

The chase in the school leads to a dead end but the shady guy tries to go up the chainlink fence! Vyse catches him and drags him down! The shady guy brings out a knife and gets ready to fight, but Vyse is also ready.

"Finally, some action," Beast Boy says.

Not bad fight choreography for 1980s, but a very dramatic use of slow motion and a lot of spit flying when Vyse lands a back fist on the guy. Vyse tells him to surrender but the guy keeps fighting, so Vyse ends up punching him again, breaking the guy's nose and causing blood to pour out! The shady guy realizes he's caught, so he runs from Vyse to go after Grady. Grady sees the knife, brings out his gun, and though Vyse shouts for him not to, Grady shoots the shady guy to avoid getting stabbed!

Vyse runs up to shady guy and asks how he has the keys to Brose's car. But the shady guy just laughs and lets himself die!

"He wanted you to kill him," Vyse says to Grady. "So that he couldn't tell us the truth."

"Why would he do that?" Grady asks.

ME Fry examines shady guy, Randy Larosa. He wasn't the one who fought Brose, there are no wounds on Larosa that suggest Brose hit him, and none of the bruises on Brose match up to Larosa's hands or feet. Vyse backs that up by thinking on Larosa's fighting style. He went right for a knife, but there are no stab wounds or cuts. The more Vyse thinks about it, Brose looked to have blocked kicks and grapples.

Grady gets frustrated trying to fit the pieces together. Brose is a gambler whose luck was running out. Rhea River Hotel denies seeing him but the cameras say otherwise. Brose's car was being stolen by someone just hours after they visited the hotel (dramatic irony is that only the audience knows Larosa was there). What's connecting all these things?

But then they DO find something that connects Larosa to the hotel, as he has one of their cigarrette packs in his jacket. And Larosa had to have taken notice of Brose to know he had the Ferrari.

"This can't just be a mugging gone wrong," Vyse says. "Why would everyone at Rhea River pretend they didn't know Brose?"

A) Take a guess
B) Keep quiet

A

A

bump, been busy again

and busy again...

A

"Brose must've been party to something illegal," you say. "Something the casino is doing and they had Brose do it, and then it didn't go well, so they have to pretend he was never there."

"Right, right," Robin says with a nod. "He was losing money after doing so well, so he was desperate to make back what he lost."

And just as you and Robin put it together, Vyse and Grady put it together that Brose was losing money, the casino offered him a way out but that meant he had to do something illegal for them. It didn't go well given Brose died, so Haviaras told everyone to keep quiet.

"Action and mystery movies don't have the same punch when it's basically our lives, huh?" Raven asks.

"Is the mud cake ready yet?" Argent asks.

"Almost," you say. "And even after I bring it out of the oven, it still needs to cool so I can pour glaze on it."

Vyse and Grady go back to the Rhea River Hotel with a warrant and forensics team and they sweep the entire estate, both the building and the grounds around it, for any evidence of what happened to Brose. And they find blood. Haviaras has a point, they can't be sure whose blood that is, so the forensics team does their best to sample the blood and rush it to the lab.

But Vyse doesn't like the delay. Now Haviaras has time to do something about what's going on here. In fact, he's had since Vyse and Grady first showed up here. But what're they to do? Going back there won't do anything, Haviaras has scared the casino employees into staying quiet and and Larosa into choosing death over talking. Vyse thinks hard on what they can do.

A) Find that other shady guy Larosa was with
B) Recreate the circumstances that got Brose in deep with the casino

B

B

bump, busy again

bump, still too busy. most wonderful time of the year isn't rly living up to it.

B

"Oh I hope they recreate the circumstances that got Brose in deep with the casino," you say.

And Vyse then suggests they have someone go undercover to be the new high roller that then loses big. That'll get Haviaras to offer the same deal he did to Brose.

"Nice guess," Robin says.

"Well it seemed like the most convoluted plan so why wouldn't the movie go with that?"

And so Vyse & Grady enlist the help of a gambling expert in the police force, Sheffield Flink. Flink has gone undercover to expose casinos and backroom gambling groups before, and has never been to the Rhea River so this works out well for the undercover mission.

With Vyse & Grady in a surveillance truck, Flink goes to the hotel at sunset. Flink wins big all night, amassing quite the fortune. He reports back at the end of the night, bringing up who was eyeing him. Haviaras and a rather conspicuous thug were the most obvious. But just this one night won't be enough, so they decide to come back the next night.

Cut to night two, and Flink wins big again. Flink notices Haviaras and the thug still watching him. Night three, Flink actually talks with Haviaras. Haviaras is very impressed by Flink, Flink thanks him, and Haviaras offers Flink an "opportunity to really make a killing." Haviaras gives Flink a card and Flink reports back to Vyse & Grady. This can't be what Haviaras offered Brose, Flink hasn't even lost anything yet. But maybe Haviaras is desperate, needing someone to essentially take Brose's place.

The decision is made that Flink will still meet with Haviaras as the time and place on the card. Flink arrives with the surveillance truck following a safe distance behind. It's a warehouse thought to be abandoned, but when Flink walks up, there's a doorman. He sees the card Haviaras gave Flink and lets Flink in. Flink sees it's an underground fight ring!

"Oooh!" the group says, in some cases mockingly.

"That's why Brose looks like he fought someone before he died," Beast Boy says. "Cuz he fought someone and died."

But then Haviaras brings Flink to a back office, and threatens him with a gun! Haviaras sees through the police's undercover operation! He knows they sent Flink in to investigate, but they've only sent him to his death! Flink uses the signal word! Grady calls for reinforcements while Vyse drives the truck into the warehouse! Haviaras still shoots Flink, but only gets him in the leg. The gamblers and fighters run for it! Haviaras also runs for it, but Vyse pursues while Grady helps Flink.

Vyse and Haviaras square off in the fight ring's, well, ring. Vyse disarms Haviaras of his gun so now it's down to hand-to-hand. Another greatly choreographed scene, lots of dramatic slow-motion for when someone makes impact, and certainly a lot of blood flying from noses and mouths. But of course, Vyse wins in the end and Haviaras is arrested.

As things wrap up, Flink will be alright since it was just the outside of his thigh that got hit. Grady notes they still need to look into who gambled at the fight ring, but Vyse says that can wait. He feels like he needs a drink. Flink jokes that drinks are on him, since he still has that small fortune he made.

"A cheesy ending to a cheesy movie," Beast Boy says. "Nice."

The cake is done baking so you create the glaze while it cools. Sugar and water mixes in a smaller saucepan over medium heat, swirling the mix for about four minutes until it becomes a golden caramel. You add a couple tablespoons of warm water, bring to a simmer, and whisk in some thin cream before bringing to a boil. You then pour the caramel over white chocolate, and stir so that the chocolate melts and the mix is smooth. Then all that's left is to pour it over the cake so that it drips over the sides.

"And second dessert is served," you say.

Everyone gets a slice and a tall glass of milk.

"Mmm~!" Jinx and Argent say.

"This is really good," Argent says. "Not quite the dark chocolate pudding but still, really good."

"Thank you," you say.

A) Watch the news
B) Watch a sitcom
C) Watch infomercials

A.

bump

B)

B

With the movie over, the group finds late night reruns of a sitcom to watch.

"Up next," the channel narrator says, "another episode of Runway Runaways."

"What's this one about?" Argent asks.

"Two sorta dopey supermodels can't take the supermodel lifestyle, so they flee New York to live in Montana," Jinx says.

"So like what Paris and Nicole did, but as a sitcom," Cyborg says.

"Who?" Argent asks.

"Y'know," Jinx says. "Paris Holton and Nicole Richards."

"Oh, right," Argent says. "Maybe this is where they got the idea from."

"I don't think this series lasted that long," Beast Boy says.

The supermodels, Vicki Willigan and Tiffany Babeski, are woken up by a rooster crowing. They are still drowsy as they get out of bed in their frilly nightgowns and both make their way to the bathroom. They both grumble, since they can't both go first, and so they play rock-paper-scissors. But they tie three times in a row, both sides always using paper. Tiffany gets a coin to help decide, flips it, but neither one calls it.

"Okay, hold on," Tiffany says. "I'll be heads and you be tails."

"Wait, why not the other way around?" Vicki asks.

"Okay, fine," Tiffany says. "You'll be tails and I'll be heads."

"Okay," Vicki says, the audience chuckling as she clearly misses the trick.

Tiffany flips the coin, it's heads, and Vicki pouts while Tiffany goes first. Title card and theme song, then cut to after they're both all washed up.

"Good morning, girls," a nice old lady says as the models enter the kitchen.

"Good morning, Miss Martha," they both say.

Miss Martha has made a big breakfast with all the usuals: bacon, eggs, sausages, and pancakes.

"Y'know, Tiff, a plus side of quitting modeling is no longer having to worry about what we eat," Vicki says.

"Yeah, but we have to be careful not to make it into a plus size," Tiff says, the audience laughing.

"Well that's why you girls need to make sure you do some work," Miss Martha says. "If you models did more than just try clothes on and walk around in 'em, you wouldn't have to worry about what you eat."

"Hmm..." Vicki and Tiff both say as they think on that. "I dunno..."

The audience laughs again and Miss Martha shakes her head with an amused smirk. Cut to after Vicki and Tiff finish eating and they do yard work. Their supermodel habits kick in as they strut up and down the path, which gets the audience to chuckle and applaud as Tiff & Vicki "model" their jeans and loosely buttoned shirts. Then they snap out of it to trim the bushes and and water the lawn.

"Oh, hey there, girls," a stout man says as he drives by in his rusty old truck.

"Hi, Bart!" the models say while waving.

"Hope you don't mind me," he says. "Just dropping off some things my wife made."

"Oh, is that apple pie?" Vicki asks.

"And chocolate cake?" Tiff asks.

"Yep," he says.

"I'll get those to the kitchen," Martha says.

"And uh, here are some old clothes that, uh, don't fit her anymore that I thought would be nice on you two," Bart says.

"Your wife used to be size zero?" Vicki asks.

"And wore things this short?" Tiff asks.

The girls look at the tiny dresses with different animal print patterns.

"Y-Yeah," Bart says.

"There's still a tag on this one," Vicki says.

"Bartholomew Botkins," Martha shouts from the doorway. "I keep telling you to leave these girls alone. I have half a mind to put your wife on speed dial."

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry," Bart says as he takes the dresses back.

"Aw," Tiff says. "I kinda liked the cheetah print one."

The audience laughs and the episode goes to commercials.

A) Turn in for bed
B) Stay up to watch a little more

A

A.

B

bump, busy again

B

You finish your slice of cake and your glass of milk to sit at the couch to watch more of this Runway Runaways. Raven joins you, snuggling up on your right. You hear Argent and Jinx talking, or perhaps arguing, quietly and quickly.

"We're going to go to bed," Jinx says as she holds Argent's hand.

"After this episode," Argent says as she tries to go to the couch.

"No, we're going to bed now," Jinx says as she pulls Argent's arm.

"But I'm not tired!" Argent says while struggling against Jinx.

"You will be when you lie down!" Jinx says as she pulls as hard as she can.

"Oh?" Argent says with piqued interest.

"Not like that!" Jinx says. "It's already really late, let's just go!"

"Then you go to bed," Argent says, back to fighting against her.

Jinx and Argent grumble as the tug-o-war continues.

"Fine!" Jinx says as she stops trying. "I'm going to bed. Just don't be loud when you enter the room."

Jinx huffs and puffs as she storms out of the room, but Argent is pleased as she hops over the back to sit on the couch, rather close to you. Raven holds you a little tighter in response.

"I'm turning in," Robin says. "I need to figure out just how Gizmo, Plasmus and Overload got into our generator room."

"Well same here then," Cyborg says. "I have some ideas how they did, and I'm going to reinforce the whole sewage system regardless."

"I shall also go sack the hay," Starfire says before yawning. "Good night, friends."

Those three leave, but Beast Boy stays, and the show returns.

Vicki and Tiff help Miss Martha with shopping in town. They get groceries so there's something for dinner, and Tiff sees those tiny animal print dresses in the window of the clothing store.

"Oh, Tiff, stop," Vicki says. "We don't need those."

"I know," Tiff says. "But I want one."

The audience giggles slightly.

"Why was it wrong for us to accept Mr. Bart's gifts?" Tiff asks Miss Martha.

"Because Bart needs to learn to behave himself," Miss Martha says. "He can't go around oggling young bachelorettes just because his wife has had a few kids."

"Well, what is a good reason for a man to go around oggling young bachelorettes?" Vicki asks.

The audience laughs.

"Well, it isn't on any occasion," Miss Martha says. "But, I suppose it's the least inappropriate when the man is himself young and single."

"Which is why I want the cheetah dress," Tiff says.

The audience laughs again.

"Well, you girls do need things to wear for special occasions," Miss Martha says. "But I'm not sure what special occasion something like that would be for. Let's see what else they have."

The three ladies walk in, Tiff and Vicki do find things that they like, and of course, we get them modeling outfit after outfit in a montage. Vicki has her auburn hair and green eyes while Tiff has her blonde hair and blue eyes that play into their favorite colors.

"Mrow."

You look over at the sound of a cat to see a green cat on the couch.

"Beast Boy?" you say.

"Mrow?" the cat responds.

"Oh, yeah, Beast Boy's gotten into the habit of turning into nocturnal animals to help him stay up late," Raven says.

Cat Beast Boy walks along the couch to then settle in on Argent's lap.

"Hey! That tickles," she says with a giggle.

Cat Beast Boy stretches all four limbs, moving him a little closer to you.

A) Pet him
B) Don't pet him

A