Current Events > Teen Titans CYOA: Romance Resurrected Part 20

(+) Yeah! (+)

C

C

You choose the Curry Bread Calzone, as do your father and Grandfather Sixth. Your sisters go with Insalata Frittatas, while Raven, your mother and grandmother go with Tomates Farcies. As for drinks, your parents and grandparents have white wine while you, Raven and your sisters have lemonade.

"I'll bring those as they're ready," Elena says.

She takes the orders to the kitchen then does her rounds to her other tables. The drinks are brought out first, of course.

"Thank you," you say.

Elena heads out again and your father calls for a toast.

"To Rory and Raven," he says. "They'll be newlyweds in the new year, and they already have such a wonderful life together."

"Aw, you missed an opportunity for a good rhyme," mother says.

Everyone chuckles, and then everyone raises their glasses. You all clink the glasses for the toast and sip some more.

"So, Rory," mother asks. "Any plans for tomorrow?"

"Not really," you say. "With Christmas Eve in a couple days, Raven and I were going to meet with the Titans to exchange gifts. We would meet at Titans Tower for that, as Shadowfax can get me across the water. And of course, they'll join us for Christmas Day at Ledyard. But tomorrow, the 23rd, no real plans."

A) Let your family explore on their own again
B) Go with your family somewhere

B

B

A

COIN TOSS

B

"I suppose we could all go somewhere," you says, also looking to Raven.

"Well, yeah," Raven says. "Hopefully I won't need to be called away, but we can definitely go somewhere."

"So where would we go?" mother asks.

"We already saw the Exploratorium," you say.

"Oh, yeah?" Raven says. "That was a fun place, right?"

"Yeah," Rebecca says, "the colored shadows exhibit was really fun."

"I liked the wind harp," Roselind says.

"Oh, yeah, that's nice, too," Raven says.

"Y'know," you say, "I think it'd be really nice to see the..."

A) Palace of Fine Arts Theatre
B) Walt Disney Family Museum
C) Jump City Botanical Garden

B.

A

bump, been busy

B

"Walt Disney Family Museum. It's a great look into his life, as well as American history of the time."

"That does sound like fun," mother says. "And it'll be educational, just like the Exploratorium. We'll meet in the morning at 11, go to the museum, and then have lunch afterwards."

"That should be fine," you say.

The appetizers arrive, and the order is correct: three Curry Bread Calzones, three Tomates Farcies and two Insalata Frittatas. You thank Elena again and you all dig in.

"Mmm," Grandfather Sixth says. "Soft, flakey bread, and that filling is rich."

"And this is a good size," father says. "I hope I don't get full just on this."

"True," you say, "the calzone can be a main dish depending on the size, but we made these about three-quarters the standard size to get even more out of the amount of ingredients we have."

"Savvy," father says.

"I really like the noodles inside the tomatoes," mother says.

"We whipped up a lemon fettuccine and put a couple scoops in each tomato," Elena says as she returns. "Any refills needed?"

Your mother gets a bit more white wine while your sisters have more lemonade.

"Is everything good so far?" she asks the table.

"Yes, very good," father says.

"That's good," Elena says. "The Jewel Butter Seafood Bowls will be out momentarily."

"Thank you, Elena," you say.

Elena heads back, checking in with her other tables along the way, and you eat up the calzone. It really is well done, with the soft bread and the sweet and zesty tomato filling.

Just as Elena said, the Jewel Butter Seafood Bowls arrive a few minutes later, with Sibbie helping bring them out since they're very sizeable bowls. Your family and even Raven marvel at seeing both the sizzling salmon steak, glittering salmon roe and sleek squid, as well as the lovely silver and white porcelain bowls they are served in.

"Thank you, Elena," you say. "Thank you, Sibbie. As this dish is inspired by Japanese cuisine as well as French, bon apptit and shokuyoku o sosoru."

Elena and Sibbie move on to other tables while you and your family dig in. You start with your favorite part of the dish...

A) The salmon steak
B) The salmon roe
C) The squid

A

A)

A

The salmon steak. It is the star of the dish, after all. Slow roasted with butter, wheat flour, and Meunire Sauce, made of browned butter, chopped parsley and lemon juice, the salmon has crisp skin and juicy, flakey meat. The meat is tender but it isn't falling apart, so that you get good portions of the fish on your fork.

You pop a piece in your mouth before scooping the sushi rice. It's short-grained, and flavored with orange and lemon juice to compliment the lemon in the salmon. Of course the combination works, and the rice's flavors enhance what is in the salmon.

"This is so good," Raven says. "What're these little seeds with the salmon roe?"

"Pomegranate and tonburi seeds," you say. "Steamed to be soft like sunflower seeds. Though I will say, be careful not to get them stuck in your teeth, they're pretty small seeds."

You move onto the salmon roe yourself, and you appreciate what the tonburi seeds bring to the flavor profile and the texture. The roe themselves are soft and warm, and are good even without the rice.

"I know we're only halfway into the main dish," mother asks, "but did you have something special in mind for dessert?"

A) Swedish Creme
B) Pumpkin Bread Sweet Roll
C) Gingerbread Cheesecake

B.

C

bump

C

C

"Oh, yes," you say. "Danita, our ptissier and baker, has made quite a lovely gingerbread cheesecake."

"Oooh~," mother says. "That sounds delightful."

"Then we'll make sure everyone has a slice after dinner," you say.

As everyone continues with their meals, you move to the squid. It doesn't cut well without a knife, but you just go with sticking a tentacle with your fork and chomping off a piece, then scooping rice with a spoon and popping that into your mouth.

The squid is squishy and juicy in its own way, almost like a fatty piece of meat. The squid was sauteed with its liver and other innards, in a blend of butter, garlic, soy sauce, more Meunire, lemon juice and chopped parsley. The flavor is strong on the squid, as squid itself is rather mild, you wonder if the recipe needs tweaking.

"Girls," your mother says to your sisters. "Eat up."

"The squid's too squishy," Roselind says.

"And just gross anyway," Rebecca says.

"Did you even try it?" mother asks.

Roselind says, "Yes," while Rebecca says, "No..."

"Becca, you need to actually take a bite before you judge it," mother says. "And Rose, 'too squishy' isn't an excuse."

Your sisters grumble.

"Perhaps the squid cooked just a little too long," you say. "Squids heat up quickly, so not even two minutes is enough. Otherwise, it has to cook for half an hour to go back around to being tender."

"Really?" Raven says. "Didn't know that."

"Just try and eat it," your mother tells your sisters.

Rebecca cuts the squid and eats it with some rice, as does Roselind. They both struggle to get through it, but they do get it down.

"Keep at it," you tell them. "The cheesecake will be served soon."

Elena returns to check in and you let her know to slice up a gingerbread cheesecake. She also takes back your grandparents' bowls as they're done with the meal. You also suggest the drink choice of be hot cocoa. Elena takes that information with her to the kitchen, and your family finishes up the meal just in time for the cocoa and cheesecake.

"Mmm~, it smells wonderful," grandmother says.

"This makes up for the squid," Rebecca says, making everyone else chuckle.

Raven also enjoys the cake and cocoa, as do you. The cake is creamy, and the gingerbread cookie mix, along with the cinnamon and nutmeg, gives it a wholegrain flavor, like digestive biscuits or graham crackers.

"So if we're going to be meeting in the morning," Raven asks you, "do you want me to pick up breakfast on the way? Or are we having breakfast at your place?"

A) Pick up something
B) Have something at the house

B.

bump

B

B

"No, I can make something," you say. "You don't need to worry about running around."

"Alright," she says.

Everyone eats up and enjoys the cake. The cocoa also goes well, with it being rich in flavor and warming for your stomach.

After finishing dessert, Elena and Sibbie clean up the table, and your father takes care of the bill, even though you say he doesn't have to. Father's even nice enough to give a 20% tip, bringing the total to $323.

"Oh, Rory," your mother says as you all exit, "we need to give you what we got you before we go."

You go with your family back to the cars, and they bring out bags from Pier 39.

"We got you vanilla caramels," mother says, "Neopolitan taffy, Gummi Bears, and an adorable penguin ornament."

"Thank you," you say. "How much was it?"

"Oh, no, you don't need to pay us back," she says. "These were gifts."

"Well, alright," you say.

You take the gift bag and follow Raven and your sisters back to your car.

"Are you sure you can find your way to the hotel from here?" you ask your father.

"Yes, yes," he says. "See you all in the morning."

"See you then," you say.

You wait for the Escalade to drive away before exiting the parking lot, and you make your way back to your place.

As you pull onto Ledyard Street, Raven gets a call on her communicator.

"Cyborg, what is it?" she asks.

"There's some kind of Batman knock-off running around!" Cyborg says. "He's already grabbed up a lot of valuables while evading us."

"Um, okay," Raven says. "I'll, or, we...?"

A) Have Raven go alone
B) Drop your sisters off then go with her
C) Bring your sisters, too

B

bump

B)

B

"We'll be on our way," you say. "After I drop my sisters off."

"What?" they both say.

"You heard me," you say as you pull up to the house. "I trust you two can be alone in a small suburban home on your own, yes?"

"Yes..." they groan.

"But we're going to be eating another dessert," Rebecca says.

"Yes!" Roselind says. "More cookies!"

"Fine," you say as you have the garage door open. "But if you get a stomach ache, that's on you."

You park the car, everyone gets out, and you let your sisters into the house. You get on Shadowfax and follow Raven out, making sure the garage door closes. Raven leads the way, and you find your way to the Dogpatch neighborhood of Jump City.

You continue on past the Institute of Contemporary Art, and on to Mariposa Park a few blocks away. And it's clear as you approach that this is where the Titans have contained the criminal.

You stop in an open spot in the parking lot and have Shadowfax stand. The criminal that Cyborg described as a knockoff Batman really does look like a knockoff Batman. He's orange and jellow, but he has the boots, gloves, cape and cowl, and even a utility belt. Instead of a bat silhouette on his chest, he has red claw marks tracing an angular letter C.

"So he's Claw Man?" you say.

Beast Boy gets thrown as a green snake towards you, but he turns into a bird first to flap and steady himself. Then he turns into his human form to land on his feet.

"Actually, he says he's Cat Man," Beast Boy says. "So he's a knockoff of Batman AND Catwoman."

"I'm not a knockoff!" Cat Man shouts. "I am the superior version of them both! Thefts and burglaries she could never pull off, because of the mental and physical abilities that surprise him!"

But then Robin dropkicks Cat Man in the side! Cat Man rolls through the impact to get back to his feet. Robin kips up, and while he throws bird-arangs, Cat Man throws what must be cat-arangs. Those all clash, but Cat Man runs up and scoops one off the ground. He throws that one again but Robin knocks it away with his staff. Robin swings but Cat Man drops under the staff and rolls to kangaroo kick Robin under the chin!

A) Jump in with melee
B) Jump in with magic

B.

B

B

B

"Okay," you say to Raven, "let's try this."

You create shackles with Binding Magic and she copies you, and you both sling your shackles at Cat Man. Cat Man sees those coming and he twists throw the air to let those pass over and under him!

"In that case," you say.

You use Illusion magic to create an expanse of darkness across the park to obscure the landscape. You rush forward while Raven dives below with her shadow phasing power. Cat Man squares up as you approach, but you use more Illusion magic to make multiples of yourself! You go left while the Illusion Roreks go from the middle and right. But Cat Man throws catarangs at you and the right one! You roll but the illusion decoys are exposed!

Cat Man rushes at you, you dodge his punches but he spins and uses his cape to keep you from seeing a leg sweep! You end up falling, but you hurry to kip up, only for Cat Man to spin and clothesline you back down!

But Raven emerges and knees Cat Man in the face! Cat Man stays up with pure core strength! You spin up to your feet and Raven kicks again. Cat Man blocks it, throws the foot away but Raven pommels and kicks from the other direction. She catches him on the cheek but he stays up again.

You build up some mana in your hand and rush up. Raven moves aside and you thrust your hand forward. Cat Man goes to block but you stop short of hitting Cat Man!

"Arcana, Melleo!" you say.

The blunt blast of energy hits Cat Man in the abs, doubling him over! Cat Man goes to his utility belt and throws down the classic smoke bombs!

"That's not going to work now," Raven says. "I can sense where you are by your emotions."

But then out from the smoke, Cat Man throws something at your head! You get hit, and the thing clamps onto your mouth! And Raven's, too! The two of you grumble and grunt as you try to take the items off, but they're stuck on with strong adhesive!

"Where'd you learn that trick?" Robin asks Cat Man.

"I'm no fool, Boy Wonder," Cat Man says from somewhere in the smoke. "I research my targets very thoroughly. If I was going to steal something in your city, I needed to know how to best deal with you."

"Then that energy he used against Starfire," Cyborg says. "He must've learned from Control Freak the kind of energy that counteracts her own."

"And while I'm at it," Cat Man says.

He suddenly leaps into the air and throws something towards Cyborg! He dodges, but it comes back around! It continues to follow him as he runs!

"Magnetic tracer rigged with explosives," Cat Man says. "The moment it makes contact with you, you'll be done for!"

Cat Man then runs in the opposite direction of Cyborg and heads for Beast Boy.

"I won't need anything to counter you," Cat Man says. "I spent nine years of my life in the African wilds, from the Serengeti to the Savanna, facing real animals. I can handle a boy playing pretend!"

Beast Boy then turns into a green Tyrannosaurus!

"How about that?" Robin asks with a smirk and a thumb pointing to the dinosaur.

"A reptile that big, this deep into December?" Cat Man smirks. "Easy."

Cat Man brings out a nozzle and he starts spraying Beast Boy with liquid!

"Not quite Mr. Freeze's ice gun, but this cold spray mix should do something!"

Beast Boy reels back and lets out a T-Rex yelp before changing into a bear. Cat Man then gets up and under Beast Boy to suplex him over head! Beast Boy takes a tumble, and Cat Man continues running away!

A) Give chase
B) Free your mouth
C) Help Cyborg with the homing bomb

C.

C

C

You motion to Raven and she looks at you. You point to yourself with one hand and at Cyborg with the other as he's still running from the homing bomb. She looks over at Cyborg and then back at you and nods. Then she points at herself, and then at Cat Man, Robin and Beast Boy (now a green wolf) as they're heading off in the other direction. You nod, understanding she'll go with them.

Raven flies off while you run to catch up with Cyborg. You think about what to use to stop the magnetic tracer. You start with trying to lasso the thing, so you make a rope out of mana and make that rope into the loop. You swing the loop and throw it, and you miss. You reel it back in, go again, and hook a wing!

The loop closes tight on the tracer and you dig in your heels, but the tracer starts pulling you along! You can't stay up on your feet and you fall forward, only to be pulled along on the ground! You shout and scream as you go but it's all muffled by the adhesive strip on your mouth. You let the magic lasso disappear, and you skid to a stop. At least you can say you were a land surfer for about 20 seconds.

You groan as you get up and dust yourself off. Cyborg makes a wide turn so that he stays on the grass of the park grounds, but that only allows the tracer to make up some ground in its pursuit of him. He puts as much as he can into running, and you decide to circumvent them both!

You cut a hard left and hurry for a point ahead of Cyborg at the north of the park. He sees you and seems to understand. He keeps a steady pace, you keep a straight line but speed up. You already prepare a lot of mana because you're going to need something big.

You make it to the intercept point in the path, lock eyes with Cyborg and nod. He nods back, you create a summon circle on the ground! Cyborg keeps running at you as you bring out a white MOOSE! It's a lot more than what you usually do with Summoning, but a cluster of squirrels isn't going to cut it!

Cyborg slides and the moose jumps over him, and the moose takes the homing bomb head on! *BOOOOM!* The moose falls over, one of its antlers blasted right off, but Cyborg is untouched and that's what matters. You have the moose disappear, and then sit down on the grass.

"You alright?" Cyborg asks while still catching his own breath.

You nod and give a thumbs up. It'll take a few minutes for you to get energy back after making that moose, though.

"Oh, let me see if I can help with that thing on your face," Cyborg says.

The two of you stand up and he walks over. He scans it with his robotic eye, and then brings a finger up to your face. A little bit of solvent comes out and it slowly eliminates the adhesive keeping the thing on your face. You peel the thing away and wipe the solvent off, as well.

"Thank you, Cyborg," you say. "And I just realized this thing has whiskers on it."

"Probably a 'cat got your tongue' pun that he forgot to use," Cyborg says.

"Speaking of puns," you say, "where'd this cat 'n' mouse game with him begin?"

"The first report was actually at a jewelry store, where he of course took cat's eye gemstones. He actually tripped us up there using cat's eye marbles. He then made a stop by the art museum because they had an Alice in Wonderland gallery on display, and he snatched up a few Cheshire Cat paintings."

"Where'd he put them all?" you ask. "That belt doesn't have any room for the paintings, even rolled up.

"He had a drone fly off with the loot, so we need to catch him to figure out where he sent it."

"Alright, that makes sense."

"Where is the man that thinks he is a cat?!" Starfire shouts as she lands; wait, she sounds muffled, too.

You look over as she lands, and she's wearing a respirator mask like industrial painters would wear.

https://www.citymill.com/media/catalog/product/2/5/254239.jpg

"They went west," Cyborg says.

A) Catch up to the group
B) Intercept like you did Cyborg and the tracer

B.

bump

B

B

"Y'know what?" you say. "Instead of catching up, let's see if we can head Cat Man off like we just did."

"Yeah, good idea," Cyborg says. "Robin, what's happening with the chase?"

"We're on 16th Street," he says, with a lot of wind blowing. "We're swinging from building to building with grappling hooks, but that won't last much longer!"

"Force him to turn back south," Cyborg says. "We'll get on Mariposa Street and try to intercept!"

"Got it!" Robin says.

You hurry back to Shadowfax and Cyborg hops in the T-Car while Starfire flies overhead. Cyborg leads the way out of the park and onto Mariposa Street. As you hurry along, passing Mississippi Street, Texas Street, Missouri Street, and Connecticut Street, you spot another big park.

Across the park, you can spot Cat Man's bright yellow costume flying into the open. Raven uses magical barriers to keep him on that street.

A) Cut across the park
B) Go to the corner of the park

A

bump

A

A

"Cyborg," you say, "go to the corner and block him from Mariposa. I'm going to cut in."

You then turn right, onto Arkansas Street, and get around the public restrooms to drive onto the grass!

"Shadowfax," you shout, "Metamorphosis!"

Shadowfax transforms from motorcycle to steel horse and you gallop across the field!

Cat Man uses his cape to glide along as Raven keeps blocking him from continuing west, and Cyborg's unique technology creates a few walls on the southwest corner. Cat Man has no choice but to glide over the park.

"RAAAH!" Starfire yells as she flies right at him!

Cat Man folds his cape to stop gliding and dive down under her! Then he opens his cape again so he can glide safely to the ground. You and Shadowfax head right for him, and you bring out your Archer mode! You aim mana arrows as Cat Man moves to your right. You shoot three at once! He jumps and rolls, you have Shadowfax make a broad right turn.

This time, you create magic charge arrows. You aim as you approach, and shoot FOUR arrows! He of course uses a cat o' nine tails to swat the arrows, but then you have them explode with

A) Fire
B) Ice
C) Lightning

C