Current Events > Teen Titans CYOA: Romance Resurrected Part 20

(+) Yeah! (+)

B

B

You go to Raven as she walks in.

"Rumiko's almost done eating," you tell her, "we can talk with her outside."

"Okay," Raven says.

Rumiko uses the very last bit of duck meat to swipe up the Salsa Verde and clean her plate. Rumiko has a big smile as she finishes eating, and she washes it all down with her drink. Sibbie takes her plate for her and Rumiko pays the bill. You then wave her over and she walks with you and Raven outside.

"Hello, Raven-san!" Rumiko says. "Hisashiburi! <Long time, no see!>"

"It's great to see you, too, Rumiko," Raven says. "What brings you here?"

"It's obviously for the holidays, right?" you say.

"Yes," Rumiko says. "Meri Kurisumasu!"

Rumiko then reaches into her purse and hands you a small white box with a red ribbon holding it closed.

"Thank you," you say.

"Dozo <Go ahead>," she says with ushering hands.

"Oh," you say. "Open it now?"

"Hai!"

You untie the ribbon and Raven takes off the lid. You see something shining inside and you bring it out. You find it's two circular pendants, each one engraved with a kanji.

"Oh, these are lovely," Raven says. "Thank you, Rumiko. What do each of these mean?"

"I believe this one is 'shiro,' meaning 'white,'" you say. "And this is 'karasu,' which can be for both 'crow' and 'raven.'"

"Oh, that makes sense," Raven says. "One for each of us."

"Arigato, Rumiko-san," you say with a quick bow.

"Doitashimashite," Rumiko says back with her own bow.

*KABOOM* An explosion goes off just a few blocks from here!

"Oh, c'mon...!" Raven groans as you all look that way. "I guess that's my work calling. We'll have to finish this conversation later."

"I can help!" Rumiko says with her hand raised all the way up.

"What?" you and Raven say.

"I don't know if that's such a good idea," Raven says.

"But you know how good I am," Rumiko says. "We did duel, remember?"

They both look to you for the tiebreaker.

A) Raven goes without you and Rumiko
B) Let Rumiko go with Raven

B

B)

bump, will get this after dinner

B

"Well, I suppose there can't be any harm in it," you say. "But Rumiko-san, you'll need a disguise."

She brings out a pink scarf that goes with her outfit and she wraps it around her to cover her face.

"I guess that works," you say. "And if things get really bad, just get out of there and let Raven and the Titans handle things."

"Hai!" Rumiko says.

"Okay," Raven says with a slight sigh, "let's get going."

Raven spins to transform back into her costume, and floats up. Rumiko uses some wind magic to make a little cloud. Rumiko hops on and the cloud helps her fly behind Raven, going up and over the buildings. As for you, you return to work to finish the lunch rush.

[cut to Raven]

Raven and Rumiko make it to the street where the explosion came from and spot something in golden yellow metal flying around with jets, smashing and blasting at the surroundings, as well as the Titans. From the curves of the body and the blonde hair flowing in the wind, the criminal is female.

"Raven, good, you're here!" Robin says. "And...?"

"This is Rumiko, a friend of Rorek's, we'll do proper introductions later," Raven says quickly. "Who is this rocket girl?"

"I am Electra, daughter of Atlas, second of the Pleiades!" she says for herself. "And I shall avenge what has happened to this world!"

"Wait," Cyborg says. "Kitten? Is that you?"

"I am no cat! I am a nymph and daughter of Atlas!"

"No, that's definitely Kitten," Beast Boy says. "We can hear it in your voice."

"Plus, you can't be a daughter of the robot, Atlas," Robin says, "because he's a robot."

"Silence!" Electra/Kitten shouts.

Whoever it is, she blasts forward at the boys on the ground. Beast Boy transforms into a turtle to be low to the ground while Cyborg and Robin jump to the sides. Starfire flies into Electra's path and they collide! Starfire digs her heels in and slows Electra to a stop! But then Electra's jets start blasting harder!

"How should we help?" Rumiko asks Raven.

A) Help Starfire push Electra
B) Pull Electra back

B

bump

B

B

"We'll pull her back," Raven says.

Raven leads Rumiko to fly behind Electra, and Raven grabs one of Electra's feet with a rope made from aura. Rumiko follows suit and grabs the other leg. Rumiko's little cloud does its best to help her fly the other direction.

"Huh?" Electra says, noticing what's happening.

With Rumiko and Raven pulling Electra back, Starfire pushing her back starts to make progress! Electra puts more into her rockets, and she starts to pull Raven and Rumiko back!

"Totemo tsuyoi! <So strong!>" Rumiko says.

"Anka o tsukuru!" Starfire responds.

Rumiko uses more aura to create a hook in the ground, and then she ties the magic rope around it! Raven does the same, and now Electra is anchored to the ground! Starfire lets off and Electra flies at full speed, pulling the ropes tight. The ropes cause Electra to smack off the ground, and she flies back up in a daze! The jets cut out and she falls on the floor with a metal *CLONK*

Electra groans as she slowly pushes herself up of the ground. She staggers to her feet and the helmet's visor cracks and falls away. She turns around, and of course, it's Kitten!

"Fine, it's me!" Kitten says.

"Like we all said!" Beast Boy says.

"How did you get free from MI6?" Raven asks.

"Does it matter? Whether I seduced a pervert or faked my own death, I got out, didn't I?"

"I guess that's true," Raven says. "But then where did you get that armor?"

"My fiance you stole from me had a suit of his own like this," Kitten says. "I memorized the schematics and stole some stuff from MI6 to put it together."

Raven thinks back to London.

"That guy you kidnapped was a superhero!?" she blurts out.

"His name is Diego!" Kitten shouts. "And you ruined everything!"

Kitten powers up her rockets and aims at Raven, but Rumiko creates a fog!

"Hey! What's going on?!" Kitten shouts.

The Titans fan out to flank Kitten, Raven and Starfire going up. Kitten flies up and they're right there to double dropkick her back down! Robin lassos her with his grappling hook, and then Cyborg and Beast Boy as an elephant help pull her down! Kitten crashes against the pavement again, and Rumiko flies around her, throwing down Binding magic that anchors her to the ground with chains.

"What's with you magic users and bondage?!" Kitten barks.

"What are we supposed to do with her?" Raven asks the group. "She keeps breaking out of places."

"We'll have to ask around," Robin says. "For now, Miss Rumiko doesn't have to stay while we wait."

"Right," Raven says. "Okay, Rumiko, I'll take you...

A) Back to the restaurant
B) Back to Rumiko's hotel
C) To Titan Tower

C.

C

C

C

"To Titan Tower. I'll let Rorek know and we can all meet up there later on."

"Okay," Robin says.

Raven leads the way and Rumiko follows on her cloud. They go across the city to the island and land in front of the front door. Raven lets Rumiko in and Rumiko admires the lobby and its high ceiling. They got to the elevator and ride up to the top floor, and right into the living room.

"Oooh~!" Rumiko says as she looks around. "Hadena~! <Fancy~!>"

Raven's empathy is able to read that Rumiko is impressed.

"It's not that big of a deal," Raven says. "Just an open floor plan to make it feel big."

Raven brings out her phone and texts Rorek.

[back to Rorek]

You put the finishing touches on an order of Nine Vegetable Terrine, and then your phone receives a text. You check and see it's from Raven.

Kitten busted out of MI6 prison, she was the one causing problems. We caught her, though. I brought Rumiko to Titan Tower so you can come over and hang out later

Kitten got out? What in the world? But at least everything is fine now. You'll of course head to the tower after work for a late dinner.

A) Make something there
B) Bring something there

A

A

A

You'll make a meal for everyone there, using whatever they'll have available in the pantry.

For now, the Magical Melting Pot is in the lull after lunch, so everyone on the team hurries to have a lunch break. You help divvy up what's left of karaage and everyone gets some soup and slices of bread.

"Alright," you say as everyone has a plate. "One of our specials tonight is the Green Tea Kurozubuta, aka Green Tea Black Vinegar Pork. Do we have the pork shoulder?"

"Yes, sir," Harper says.

"How is the smoked soy sauce?" you ask.

"Just needs another hour so we're right on schedule," Verdinelli says.

"Very good," you say. "And what of the spear squid? That came in today, didn't it?"

"Yes, Chef," Emile says. "We'll get those defrosted shortly."

"Alright," you say. "Let's also make sure to mash the potatoes before five, we'll need a batch ready to go right away."

"Yes, Chef," Emile says. "We'll have a nice, smooth batch."

"We've got plenty of eggs set aside to be soft-boiled, too," Danita adds.

"This Spear Squid Causa is sounding good already," you say. "And now, our third special..."

A) French Curry Lobster Rice
B) Hainanese Chicken & Rice
C) Saumon Confit Flamme

C

A)

A

"French Curry Lobster Rice, with a side of Cognac."

"Ooo~!" the wait staff says.

"I've got my lobster guy on speed dial," Harper says.

"And plenty of saffron rice in the pantry," Emile says.

"Very good," you say. "Verdinelli, are you okay with making the American-French Curry Sauce?"

"Uh, yes, sir," he says, not sounding that sure.

"You can support Emile with that so he can focus on the Sauce Americaine."

Your team's lunch break is over, the dishes are done and everyone prepares for the dinner shift.

There are several orders of each special, so you float between boiling spiny lobsters and checking the pork shoulder as it smokes.

Naturally, the French Curry Lobster Rice can only have Cognac for those 21 and older, so plenty of adults order that, though it's still a weekday.

The potatoes for the causa are done boiling, so you help mash them up while Danita dices the avocado and onion. A mixture of one teaspoon grated garlic, one tablespoon of aji amarillo, one tablespoon of lemon juice and one tablespoon of olive oil is mixed in with the potatoes, then seasoned with salt. The onion, avocado and more lemon juice is mixed with shredded tuna to make a nice pt.

A baking pan is lined with cling wrap and you bring out tall cylindrical molds. The very bottom layer is the mashed potatoes, and then on top of that is the tuna-avocado pt.

You help make the squid burger patties, cleaning and dressing the calamari before dicing it with some onions. You put it through a food processor with a thumb's worth of ginger, a tablespoon of soy sauce and tablespoon of lemon juice, some egg white and a half cup of Panko bread crumbs, as well as salt and pepper. You get the ground squid paste and form the patties to match the mold's diameter before cooking those up nice and brown on both sides.

The patties are put on top of the tuna-avocado pt layer, and then the mashed potatoes are another layer on top of that. These are chilled then flipped to slip out of the molds so that now the pt is on top of the patty. You then drizzle with mayonnaise and garnished with a soft-boiled egg, chopped olives and a parsley.

After dinner comes dessert, and Danita helps serve up apple pie with ice cream, aka a la mode. As things wind down, you help with the dishes and close up. You then get going so that your late dinner with Rumiko and the Titans isn't too late.

"Hello, everyone," you say as you arrive.

Raven floats over to greet you with a hug, and then stays by your side as you walk to the kitchen area.

"Alright, time to eat," Beast Boy says with a big smile as he sits at the counter.

"Well, let's first see what we have here," you say as you look through the pantry.

A) Mushroom Napoleon
B) White Potage Curry Udon
C) Pancakes

C.

bump

A

RANDOMIZE

A

"Let's have some Mushroom Napoleon."

"Ooo~," the group says.

"Sounds fancy," Beast Boy says.

You bring out some ready-made pie dough and cut those into long rectangular strips before putting those in the oven to bake.

You mince button mushrooms, onions and garlic, crush peanuts, and then clean and thinly slice shiitake mushrooms. The garlic is fried on a pan with butter, cooking them until the garlic is fragrant. Then you throw in the button mushrooms and onions to sautee them into being tender.

You use Alchemy to make water into white wine and pour it into the pan. You cook until the white wine evaporates, and you pour a few tablespoons of cream onto it all. You season with salt and pepper to get a nice flavor, then cook the shiitake mushrooms and olive oil in another pan. The shiitake cook until tender, and you season with salt and pepper again.

The pie dough is done baking so you bring those out to cool them off. You divide them up so that you can start layering. You put a layer of the creamy garlic-onion-mushroom paste on, then put on another strip, and another layer of the creamy paste. Then you sprinkle on peanuts, put on a layer of shiitake slices, and drizzle on some dark chocolate syrup to add some sweetness to the dish.

"Whoa...!" the group says.

"It's like a mushroom pie cake...!" Beast Boy says.

Everyone gets one to start, and as you sit and eat, you talk with Rumiko about...

A) Christmas
B) The wedding

B

A)

A

"So, Rumiko-san," you say while pouring everyone a drink of milk. "Since you're here now, what are your plans for Christmas?"

"Eto... <Uh...>" she says while you serve her a glass. "It won't be too different from other years. My parents and I will host the rest of our family for Christmas and New Year's."

"Wow, an entire week?" Cyborg says.

"Hai," Rumiko says. "Many live far away, so it would be too much for them to go back and forth."

"That is actually very nice," Starfire says. "Perhaps we should host our fellow Titans for the holiday time."

"That'd be fun," Beast Boy says. "It's been awhile since we've seen some of them."

"Well, we could ask," Robin says, "but everyone has their area to protect, even during the holidays."

"We can even host a dinner at the Magical Melting Pot," you say. "Taking a night for the group is no big deal."

A) Make it Christmas Eve
B) Make it New Year's Eve
C) Make it a non-holiday night

C.

C

C

C

"But we'll be sure it's not an actual holiday night. My team of chefs definitely deserves time off. We can arrange for the 26th or 27th."

"That should work out," Robin says. "We can have everyone arrive on Christmas Eve, then spend Christmas day together, and have dinner at the restaurant on the 26th."

"We'll put that in the calendar," you say.

As you all enjoy the Mushroom Napoleon, Cyborg, Starfire and Beast Boy go back for seconds.

"So, I know these are like mushroom cakes," Beast Boy says, "but what's dessert?"

"Beast Boy, you just started on another slice," Raven scolds.

"It's alright," you chuckle. "As a chef, I should always be ready with the next course."

A) Dorayaki
B) Peppermint Bark Pretzels
C) PB & Chocolate Snowballs

B.

A

bump

B

B

You go back to the kitchen, grab up the bag of pretzels, the bag of peppermint candy canes, and just about all the chocolate you can find, from both solid pieces of chocolate to chocolate syrup. You also set out wax paper and a cookie sheet.

"Would someone like helping me?" you ask. "Just use this tenderizing hammer to bash up the candy canes."

Rumiko and Beast Boy volunteer and use the hammers to crush the candy canes. Meanwhile, you melt dark chocolate in one bowl, white chocolate in another, then throw some pretzels into the dark chocolate. You mix them around, bring them out, letting excess drip off before putting them on the cookie sheet.

The white chocolate is drizzled on the pretzels, then you pour out the mashed peppermint to press the pretzels on one side. After that, you cool them down to the chocolate hardens and the candy cane pieces are embedded.

"And voila," you say. "Peppermint Bark Pretzels."

Everyone has a handful each and you all munch while going to the couch.

A) Watch a Christmas type movie
B) Watch something else

C play a board game

A.

Die Hard.

A

A

"What kind of Christmas movies are on?" you ask.

Cyborg has the remote and scans the cable guide.

"We've got It's A Wonderful Life, several versions of A Christmas Carol, and Die Hard."

"Why is Die Hard on right now?" Raven asks with a bit of a chuckle.

"Because it's a Christmas movie," Beast Boy says matter-of-factly.

"No it's not," Raven says with a bit of a chuckle.

"It kind of is," you say. "It happens during Christmas time."

"Oh, so if there was a scary movie that happened during Christmas, it counts as a Christmas movie?"

"Well, there have been some Christmas time horror movies made lately," you say.

"Oh, that's true. Let's see if we can find one."

"No, no," Robin says. "We can't be watching a scary Christmas movie. Go to one of the Christmas Carol movies."

"Which one?" Cyborg asks. "The Muppets one? Or the Jim Carrey CG one?"

"Where's the Bill Murray one?" you ask.

"Wait, Bill Murray was in one of the Christmas Carol remakes?" Raven asks.

"Yes," you say. "It's called 'Scrooged.'"

Raven looks at you, and though she tries, she can't contain her laughter.

"Scrooged?" she repeats. "That's what it's called?"

"Yes," you say again. "It's very good, honestly."

"That one's not on TV anywhere," Cyborg says. "And I don't think it's On Demand anywhere."

"Then let's go with..."

A) Muppets
B) Jim Carrey CG
C) Die Hard

C.

C

C

"Die Hard."

"But it's not a Christmas movie!" Raven laughs.

"That's still up for debate," Beast Boy says.

"We're watching it anyway!" Cyborg says.

Rumiko giggles.

"Omoshiroi <So funny,>" she says.

The television flips over to the channel and you tune in right as the radical German terrorists take over the Nakatomi Plaza.

"See, look," you say. "They were having a Christmas party. That makes this a Christmas movie."

Raven rolls her eyes but still chuckles.

Everyone in the tower is taken hostage except for McClane, who slips away, and Argyle, the limo driver in the garage, who remains oblivious to events.

"Wait, is that Snape?" Raven asks.

"Alan Rickman, yes," you say.

The leader of the radicals, Hans Gruber, admits he is posing as a terrorist to steal the $640 million in untraceable bearer bonds in the building's vault. He kills executive Joseph Takagi after failing to extract the access code from him, and tasks his henchman, Theo, with breaking into the vault. The terrorists are alerted to McClane's presence and one of them, Tony, is sent after him.

Naturally, McClane kills Tony in their fight, and McClane takes Tony's weapon and radio. McClane uses to contact the Los Angeles Police Department. The LAPD are naturally skeptical, but one Sergeant Al Powell is sent to investigate anyway.

Meanwhile, McClane kills more terrorists and recovers their bag of C-4 explosives and detonators. Clearly, the terrorists were planning to blow up the building as they left with the bonds. Sergeant Powell doesn't find anything in his little search, but then McClane gets his attention by dropping a dead German on his car! Powell calls for reinforcements and LAPD sends a SWAT unit! The terrorists fire on the police, but then McClane drops armed C-4 down the elevator shaft to blow the terrorists up!

Holly McClane's co-worker, Harry Ellis, a complete weasel, attempts to make good with Gruber. They make contact with McClane and Ellis negotiates on Gruber's behalf, but when McClane refuses to surrender, Gruber kills Ellis.

"Ohhh..." everyone says.

"Ottotto <Oops>," Rumiko says. "I should get to my hotel room, it is getting late."

"We can take you," Raven says.

"No, no, I can fly there myself," Rumiko says politely.

A) Insist to take her to her hotel
B) See her off the island at least