Chapter 79 - A Blast of a Weekend - Part 5

Jump City-Wayne Mansion 2-Remote with ocean view

After the Titans finished clearing the debris, they returned to their temporary base in Jump City. Rachel followed the group, and upon arrival, seeing the rest unmasking and heading to their rooms to change into casual clothes, she decided to explore the mansion. Stepping outside to the garden with its ocean view, she was captivated by the beauty of the scene. She had read about oceans and seen videos while in Azarath but experiencing it firsthand was awe-inspiring. She closed her eyes, taking deep breaths, feeling the breeze on her face and tasting the faint saltiness in the air. While Azarath was her home, this place had its own unique charm.

Barbara Gordon, or Batgirl, came outside wearing a tank top and jeans, her red hair cascading down her shoulders. She called out to Rachel with a smile, "Lovely scenery, right? I enjoy the view as well."

Hearing this, Rachel opened her eyes and turned to address her. "Yes, it definitely has its charm."

Barbara joined Rachel at the edge of the garden, also taking in the serene ocean view. "The ocean has a way of calming the mind," Barbara said, her voice gentle yet filled with admiration for the scenery. "Whenever I need to clear my thoughts, this is where I come." After taking a deep breath, she turned to look at Rachel and introduced herself, "I am Barbara, Barbara Gordon. I go by Batgirl during patrols. Originally and primarily part of the Bat family of Gotham, I am also part of this new team, the Teen Titans. But, knowing Orach and seeing that bangle on your wrist, which I am pretty sure is a terminal like the one Wonder Woman has, you already know about all the members, don't you?"

Rachel was surprised that her terminal was recognized but, keeping her calm demeanor, she nodded. "Nice to meet you, Barbara. Yes, you are correct. This is my terminal, and Mother Empress already briefed me about the group since I am meant to be part of the team. Other than Beast Boy, I have read some of the exploits of the rest as well."

Barbara looked at the advanced piece of technology with interest and a trace of envy. "Man, I am jealous. I have seen Mother Empress work, she is extremely powerful. How did you manage to convince Orach to give you a terminal? I would love one too."

Rachel, puzzled, replied, "Orach just gave me one. I didn't have to convince him. Have you tried asking Orach? Maybe he'll give you one?"

Barbara, even more convinced of Rachel's importance to Orach, sighed and replied, "Honestly, my first meeting with Orach was scary. Dick, or Robin, and I had just come in for some training after school to the Wayne Mansion back in Gotham only to see Bruce sparring with Orach. Bruce is an expert at fighting techniques, but despite that, he couldn't stack up to Orach. That was the first time we saw him getting cornered. Later, once they finished their spar, Dick, in his excitement, forgot what Bruce had warned us about and directly approached Orach, challenging him for a spar as well. I still remember how Orach just waved his hand and sent Dick flying across the Batcave. The worst part that scared me was when Orach snapped his fingers and Dick just vanished. Bruce and I didn't know what happened until 3 hours later when he arrived at the mansion fully soaked as if he had just gone for a swim. Turned out Orach simply dropped him in the Gotham river. Suffice it to say, I find talking to him daunting."

Rachel was surprised, intrigued, and amused by this account. She had grown up seeing Orach's kindness, love, and fairness. This new perspective showed a contrast to his personality as she knew it, leading her to conclude that Orach most likely didn't show his true self to others but just those he considered family. It was fun hearing about Orach's life in the outside world. The mischievous side of her was already thinking of ways to use this as ammunition to tease Orach, her father.

Barbara, noticing a smile slowly appearing on Rachel's face, thought she found Dick's fate amusing. She then noticed that Rachel was still in her uniform and asked, "By the way, it's unlikely we will have any more emergencies today, so you can get into something more comfortable, you know? Or do you not have casual clothes? If not, how about we and the rest of the girls go to a mall and help you select some clothes? We need to help Starfire get some new clothes as well to help her blend in. With your looks, I bet you would look good in casual clothes like this." She pointed to her own clothing and turned to show her attire.

Rachel raised an eyebrow. For her, her battle suit was the most comfortable. But then she thought about the fact she was on the outside, so she decided to play the part. She tapped on her terminal, and the battle suit retracted into it, revealing the casual clothes she had bought for herself.

Barbara, seeing the suit disappear, was surprised and taken aback. When she saw Rachel's outfit, she was amazed. "Wow, girl. Didn't know your suit could do that. Also, those clothes look good on you. You look hot, girl! Wait, is that what I think it is?" She stepped closer to touch and feel the jacket. "Wow, it is! It's from my favorite brand's new collection! Girlfriend, you've got great taste."

Rachel was elated that her choices were appreciated but stumped and confused by some of Barbara's words. Thinking it better to clarify, she asked, "Umm… Thank you for the compliment. I bought these today. But one point of clarification, what do you mean I look 'hot'? My body temperature is normal, and it's pretty pleasant right now."

Barbara giggled, realizing that Rachel probably had no interaction with the outside world. She had found Rachel logical and seriously scary when angry, but this innocent side made her feel it was okay to let her guard down. Throughout this conversation, she had been on guard. Now, she started to see why Orach wanted her here with them. It was clear that Orach wouldn't be able to teach her about interactions in the outside world. He wanted the team to guide Rachel, and in return, they would get a heavy hitter.

Seeing Rachel's expression shift from confusion to displeasure, Barbara smiled and explained, "When a person calls another person 'hot,' they mean the person looks attractive and desirable. In this context, I was complimenting you, saying this attire makes you look good and attractive. Nothing to do with temperature. Got it? Also, sorry for laughing. I meant no offense. It's just that you not being aware of that caught me off guard since it's a widely used term."

Rachel initially thought Barbara was laughing at her, which displeased her. But after hearing the explanation, she understood and felt embarrassed.

Barbara continued, "It's clear you don't have much experience in the outside world. But don't worry about it. I, together with the rest of the team, especially us girls, are here for you. We'll help you navigate and learn." She reached out to grasp Rachel's shoulder to comfort her.

Rachel appreciated Barbara's guidance and accepted her offer. She knew she had to learn to navigate and live in this world. Afterwards, on Barbara's suggestion, they both returned inside, where they found the rest of the team in casual clothes with snacks spread out on the dining table and the big television playing football matches.

On seeing Rachel in her casual civilian attire, everyone was taken aback. Despite their fear of her immense power, the boys couldn't help but find her attractive. Beast Boy, unable to contain himself, blurted out, "Wow, Rachel, you're smoking hot!" But the moment the words left his mouth, the temperature in the room plummeted, and a ripple in space appeared behind him. While the others went on high alert, Barbara and Dick went stiff, recognizing the unique method of travel. Only one other person besides Rachel traveled this way. Just then, Orach emerged from the ripple, with Diana holding his arm and wearing a smile that was both helpless and amused. Unbeknownst to the group, Orach and Diana had been observing them from a folded space created by Orach, content with Barbara's handling of Rachel. However, Orach couldn't stay hidden after hearing Beast Boy's comment.

Seeing two people materialize out of thin air, those who didn't recognize them immediately assumed defensive stances. But the tension dissipated when Rachel, with a beaming smile, called out, "Orach!" She vanished and reappeared in front of him, hugging him tightly.

Beast Boy felt an overwhelming urge to flee, yet he was frozen in place. It wasn't just terror that immobilized him; it felt like a more potent and deadly version of Rachel's magical pressure was bearing down on him. He couldn't even turn to see who stood behind him. He felt as if a predator had locked onto him.

Orach, whose gaze had been icy towards Beast Boy, softened upon feeling Rachel's embrace. He looked down at her with a smile and patted her head. "So, did you enjoy your first day in the outside world? I heard you went shopping. Did you get everything you needed?"

Rachel let go of Orach and proudly displayed her new clothes. "Yes, the saleswoman and Mother Empress helped me pick out new outfits. Do you like them?" She twirled around, showing off her attire.

While Orach had reservations about Rachel showing skin, he remembered Diana's lecture and restrained himself. With a tender smile, he replied, "They suit you. You look beautiful."

Rachel's grin widened at the compliment. She then noticed the beautiful woman beside Orach, smiling warmly at her. Connecting the dots, she recognized Diana from the files she'd read, despite Diana being in civilian attire.

Diana, noticing Rachel's attention, took the opportunity to introduce herself. "Hello, Rachel. I'm Diana, Orach's partner. It's so good to finally meet you. If this fool had told me about you sooner, I would have been there for you from the start. But no matter, I look forward to getting to know you." She extended her hand for a handshake.

Rachel hesitated but, as an empath, she felt the genuine warmth and compassion from Diana. She nodded and shook Diana's hand. "Nice to meet you, Diana. I've heard a lot about you."

Diana's smile widened. "I hope all good things. Orach speaks very highly of you."

Feeling more at ease, Rachel nodded. "He's been like a father to me. If you're with him, I guess the date went well?"

Diana chuckled. "Yes, and I must thank you. I heard you helped him with dancing lessons. We had a great time on the dance floor last night."

Rachel, sensing the sincerity, nodded and replied, "No problem! I'm glad I could help. You should have seen him practicing alone. It was funny and didn't look like dancing at all." She smirked at Orach.

Diana, amused, saw this as a bonding opportunity. "Is that so? He did tell me he couldn't dance, but I didn't think he'd be that bad. Do tell! Better yet, did you capture any pictures or videos?"

Orach, though enjoying their rapport, felt uncomfortable with the topic being discussed in front of everyone. Still, he resigned himself to let it play out, wearing a wry smile.

Rachel, sensing Diana's playful spirit, decided to share. "I might have a few... interesting clips." She giggled, and Diana joined in, both women bonding over their shared amusement.

Sensing the growing camaraderie, Diana looked at the group and proposed, "How about we all go out for fun, shopping, and dinner? It'll be our treat. It'll give us all a chance to get to know each other better. What do you say, Titans?"

Barbara and Dick sighed in relief, silently thanking Diana. The others, though still wary and cautious, especially seeing Beast Boy's terrified expression, were intrigued.

Barbara and Dick shared a glance before Dick began, "Titans, you can relax. Let me introduce Miss Diana Prince and Mr. Orach. But you already know them by different titles. Miss Diana is Wonder Woman, and Orach is the higher realm being from the articles you've read."

As his words sank in, the Titans' eyes widened, and they dropped their stances. Wonder Woman was a respected champion and a top member of the Justice League. They admired her greatly. As for Orach, they felt conflicted; his actions and the articles made it difficult to classify him as a hero, yet they couldn't deny his power.

CLAP

Diana clapped her hands to regain their attention. "So, how about that treat? Let's all go out and have fun."

The room erupted in excited agreement. Everyone was eager for a break and a chance to bond.

Orach, seeing Diana's plan unfold, sighed and released Beast Boy from his aura. The moment he was free, Beast Boy hid behind Dick, still visibly shaken. Dick comforted him and advised the team to prepare to move out.

As they got ready, Diana turned to Orach, her eyes twinkling with mischief. "Oh, and Orach, you're footing the bill. Consider it your penance for not telling me about our daughter sooner."

Orach sighed but smiled. "Yes, dear. Anything for you and our new family."

Rachel felt a surge of happiness hearing Orach and Diana's banter. It gave her a sense of the family she had always longed for.

Orach opened another ripple in space and with that, the group headed out, excited for the evening ahead. 

Soon at the mall, Diana noticed their group of beautiful girls were attracting a lot of attention, some even looking at Starfire with hunger and lust in their eyes. While she saw Orach subtly waving his hand, causing these onlookers to disappear, probably being thrown somewhere to cool off, she decided to focus on their first task: hitting the clothing store to purchase outfits. When she brought up the idea, it garnered enthusiastic support from everyone, and Rachel offered to guide them to the store she had visited earlier.

Once they arrived, the boys were about to follow the girls inside, but Orach and Dick stopped them at the threshold. Orach asked Diana to take care of the girls while he handled the boys. He instructed Diana and Rachel to use their terminals for all expenses, announcing that the girls could buy whatever they wanted with no spending limit, as long as they used Diana's or Rachel's terminals to pay. Diana raised an eyebrow at Orach's generosity, sensing something fishy from her connection with him. However, trusting him, she nodded, and the girls entered the store with cheers, thanking Orach for the treat.

Bianca, the saleswoman, lit up with excitement upon seeing Rachel leading the group of girls into the shop. She rushed to welcome them, thrilled to have them as customers. With her guidance, the girls went on a shopping spree, trying out new clothes and having a blast. Diana and Bianca helped them choose outfits, making suggestions and adding to the fun. Diana spent extra time bonding with Rachel, who enjoyed being taken care of by Diana, having missed the feeling of a mother figure after losing her birth mother. Starfire also felt loved and welcomed, easily assembling a whole wardrobe for all types of events, spending around $17K on clothes, lingerie, and accessories. She was thankful and promised to stand by her new friends.

Almost all the girls bought something, and with Rachel's help, Diana used her terminal to pay for all their purchases, totaling around $30K. Diana found the terminal easy to use and decided it was more convenient than carrying a purse. They then hit other stores to get more items for Starfire, following the same route Rachel had taken in the morning.

While the girls were busy shopping, Orach took the boys to the game center. He called the manager and ended up paying for all the boys and other present, earning cheers and thanks. Beast Boy, initially on edge around Orach, slowly relaxed and started having fun as he enjoyed the games. Dick approached Orach while the others were busy bowling, requesting forgiveness for Beast Boy's loose tongue and promising to teach him to be respectful in front of Rachel. Orach nodded, stating that with his friendship with Bruce and knowing Dick for a while, Dick should look out for Rachel and inform him immediately if anyone hurt her. Dick agreed, and Orach dropped the matter, engaging in a chat with Mother Empress.

Mother Empress informed Orach that Luthor was trying to protect his funds but was failing, as all his attempts were being countered. Orach smirked, instructing Mother Empress to continue "bleeding this hubris-filled fool." The terminals were tapping into what he called the "Bank of Naked Luthor" to pay for all expenses. He planned to open more such "banks" as he encountered other wealthy but annoying individuals during his stay on Earth.

Later, everyone met up at the game center. After a heated but fun boys vs. girls bowling match and a few dance-offs, Orach and Diana treated the Titans to a lavish dinner. They returned to the mansion around 10 PM, exhausted from the excitement and fun. Orach noticed Rachel tagging along with Diana and him as they prepared to leave. Diana had convinced Rachel to stay with her on weekends while staying with the Titans during the week.

Originally, Diana wanted Rachel to stay with her and commute as needed. However, considering the Titans planned to hold sparring and training sessions to understand each other's moves, weaknesses, and improve coordination, and that Rachel needed to be around her peers for rich experiences, Diana compromised. Rachel's understanding of space law and her ability to use magic to commute easily to Jump City from anywhere made the arrangement convenient.

With their goodbyes, the family of three departed from the Titans' temporary base.

Central City

Last week, Joe and Cisco's trip to Starling City led to a startling discovery. Upon their return yesterday, they shared their findings with Barry and Caitlin, leaving Caitlin visibly shaken. The three of them, Barry, Cisco, and Caitlin headed to Star Labs because Cisco wanted to run some tests to uncover any anomalies. His tests revealed a hidden chamber that wasn't on the building's original plans.

The chamber they found was astonishingly advanced, filled with futuristic equipment that seemed out of place for their time. What shocked them most was the yellow-suited man's outfit inside. Above a central control terminal was a holographic screen displaying articles with fluctuating titles, each bearing future date stamps.

They quickly realized that the 'man in yellow,' or the fake Dr. Wells, was actually from the future. The fluctuating titles suggested that the system might be grappling with some sort of bug. Among the titles that caught their attention were:

"Justice League Vanishes Amid Crisis" "Tides of War: Atlantis Declares War" "Flash Missing: Vanishes in Crisis" "Madness of Gotham Spreads to Metropolis" "Justice League Disbands: CADMUS Security Force Takes Charge" "War of Gods Devastates Australia" "The Fall of Supergirl: Dies in Crisis" "Saiyan God Vanishes with Three-Headed Dragon"

Even though each title raised a lot of questions and many unknowns were at play, they each implied catastrophic events awaited them in the future. They even interacted with a futuristic-looking AI, but their investigation was cut short when they noticed Dr. Wells heading their way. They quickly ceased their inquiry and fled to avoid getting caught.

Later, they convened at the West House to discuss their findings. As the discussion progressed, Barry revealed his accidental experience with time travel and his conversation with Orach about it.

"We need to ask Orach for help," Caitlin suggested. "Barry, you mentioned that Orach specifically warned you against messing with time the last time you traveled?"

"No! I don't want to involve him," Barry retorted. "He won't care about helping me get my father out of prison. Once we tell him the man in yellow broke his precious time laws, he'll immediately kill the man in yellow for messing with time. You read those articles. Even if he seems supportive or friendly, the only person that matters to him is Wonder Woman. No, we need to do this by ourselves."

The room fell silent after Barry's response. They decided to delve into research in the coming week that would help them access Cisco's dreams to gather more information about what happened between Cisco and Dr. Wells in the original timeline.

For tonight, with all the revelations this week, they were mentally exhausted and hence decided to head to their homes to get some shut-eye. As the rest were leaving, Caitlin saw how pensive Barry looked. A part of her wanted to invite him out for another night out like they did last time since she too had a rough week meeting an estranged and metahuman Ronnie. But, she hesitated and soon stepped outside and left. She reached her apartment building but never got out of her car. While sitting in her car, thinking about how both she and Barry deserved some sort of stress relief, she called Barry.

"Barry, I know it's been a lot this week. How about we go out again? You know, like last time. It did us both some good," Caitlin said over the phone.

After a round of convincing, reminding him how good they felt after unloading on each other and letting loose, in the next moment, she saw a yellow lightning streak for a moment and Barry was sitting in her companion seat.

"Alright, you win," Barry said with a small smile.

Later that night, they went to their bar and once again after a toast, singing, and getting plastered drunk, at least Caitlin did, they came back to Caitlin's apartment and just talked about Ronnie, Iris, and what the future held. At the end of the night, after unloading on each other and making promises to support one another in what was to come, Barry tucked her in bed.

Seeing her smiling face as she fell asleep, he wondered how the love of his life, his best friend, was happy despite the byline on some of those articles and how she was moving happily on with Eddie. He couldn't help but think about how he had come to rely on Caitlin not just as his support during missions, his doctor, but as a close friend who despite everything, despite the danger, despite the threats they face, is always there for him and is now even someone who he could just go have fun and unload his worries on. Barry couldn't help but realize how important Caitlin was to him. A part of him still carried feelings for Iris, and he also knew that similarly, Caitlin carried the torch for Ronnie in her heart. They were two peas in a pod, alike in so many ways. He kissed her forehead, thanked her, and promised himself to help her with Ronnie, before leaving.

As Barry sped back to his own home, he couldn't shake off the ominous feeling those future headlines had left him with. His mind raced with thoughts about the impending crises and the role he might play in them.

Back at Star Labs, the hidden chamber lay in silence, but the fluctuating headlines continued to shift as if the future itself was in flux. Somewhere in the shadows, the man in yellow watched worriedly and continued to formulate a way to get his future back.