THE universe is a massive place. It represents everything yet nothing at all. And as vast as the universe is, so too are the theories relating to its very being. Some scientists contend the very creation of the universe was the result of a 'Big Bang', a cataclysmic event that triggered an infinity of unstable, gaseous conditions that constantly change and evolve. Or devolve, depending on what state of life that segment of the universe resides. In that regard, there are some who would have it that the 'Big Bang' was somehow related to the spawning activities of giant, space faring turtles with massive elephants on their backs holding up some existence or another.Others would contend that the universe is the 'snowglobe' of God, a creator we have never known and have never seen, yet whose presence dictates every aspect of our limited existence. And still others claim the universe is the imaginative state of alien beings in another dimension who are hellbent on playing some cosmic, multiplayer game of make believe; that we are fabrications in a giant heliosphere known as 'the World'.
Of course, in that mix, somehow life continues to evolve and change to whatever the conditions are that have brought us into being; games, spawning turtles, or what have you. Life seems to recycle itself through a great wellspring that is unseen and forever present. We populate that wellspring through our continual desire to simply live and to be.
Living is what mankind did at the end of the fourteenth century Earth, when a massive pulse wave of such destructive force brought us to our literal and figurative knees. Mankind was nearing its own holocaust as a rampant disease known as the Bubonic Plague was forcing him to re-evaluate his general purpose in the scheme of things.
How fortunate, it was, that the pulse wave had chosen then to arrive and irradiate man under a deluge of cosmic radiation from some unknown source. Was it from God? Or was it the ripple effect of some giant turtles' orgasm? Perhaps it was an orchestrated attack from other-dimensional beings who tired of man's escapades in religious idiocies?
Then again, maybe life just decided to get a jump on evolution, for it was that the wave had mutated the Bubonic Plague, that existed to various degrees in most of European society, into something never before encountered. Mankind suddenly found himself endowed with supernatural gifts from the heavens. He could fly unhindered, swim without breath, turn invisible to witness the ladies of the time in their less than flattering forms, and sear holes through walls just by looking at them.
Now, this wasn't without ramifications, as, during the first century of this or so, the totally faithful mistook this for a sign of Satan's hand and started frying their neighbors in various ways which included: stake burning, acid burnings, shot by burning arrows, tar and feathering, ignited methane, and a number of other archaic ways to melt one's flesh.
It wasn't until they were frying their neighbors with their naked eyes that they realized that, perhaps, they were all subject to this bewitching power. And since many of them were in positions of power and didn't want to be burned alive or fricasseed in general, they decided that it was indeed a gift from God and declared it justly so. It was then that the religious elite turned their gifts towards persecuting those without powers and claiming they were reverse witches sent to take away their godly gifts. Such is humanity.
After three centuries of this, humanity decided enough was enough, and let the non-powered people, the new minorities on the block, alone and built a reformed society in which peace reigned. Well, not entirely. They still tried to burn people, but strangely, more and more people seemed to be becoming fire resistant. Then they formed a new world order where they tried to outdo one another in doing good deeds for those less endowed souls not blessed with the supernatural tendencies of these heroic 'gods'.
Which brings us to the twenty-first century. Some seven hundred years, give or take a few since space tends to warp time into a neat little bow, had passed since the pulse wave struck Europe. A sprawling metropolis of cities and great civilizations were united under one canopy of justice; the justice of the superheroic.
There were some cities devoted purely to the decidedly un-superheroic, the segment of the populace with no abilities whatsoever~ which included general usefulness. And, of course, great cities of those bent on doing nasty deeds towards the powerless and trying to out super the superheroic. There were nations on the other side of the globe that hadn't been affected by the invading pulse wave, but no one cared about them, because those people were savages.
Space travel to the moon and the outer planets was commonplace. So was the communication with the local alien civilizations that had made a home on a few scattered space stations lining Uranus. They didn't have powers. In fact, they didn't have much to do with Earth since that whole pulse wave phenomenon that had wiped out their fleets doing battle with another fleet of aliens.
Both fleets had come from a great distance and thought Earth would make a good home. But when the inhabitants of said planet started showing signs of superiority, they found it best to leave well enough alone. That's not to say they didn't do business with the human empire or didn't have a few outposts on Earth. After all, a little sunshine planet side was good for the soul every once in a while.
It was within the confines of just such an outpost that this little tale truly begins in earnest. It was a small community, really. A few skyscrapers here and there and only one major shuttle port for alien spacecraft. The main facilities located in the middle of this two mile wide metropolis, small by normal Earthen standards, was a haven of the scientific geniuses of the alien race.
And inside this large cone-like structure, one wily scientist had been developing a cure for the common cold. He'd been using rats to try to extract whatever bacteria was the culprit in making the un-super sick, when he had inadvertently mutated a new variant of the cold virus which had somehow mutated into a giant insect the size of a man's head. The scientist called this a 'flu bug' and ran in terror as the flu bugs began chewing holes through the titanium enriched walls...
"Titans! Fan out!!" Boy Blunder called out to his teammates as they engaged the rather large insects that were making short work of the silvery walls of the towering cone of a skyscraper housing the science labs.
In unison, the group of five teenagers did their best to stop the rampaging flu bugs. Boy Blunder was the oldest. At nineteen years of age, he was six-foot-three-inches tall with an afro of blonde hair. His eyes were rimmed with a bright yellow mask which didn't help differentiate his face from his hair. He thought that it hid who he really was, but, really, anyone with any sense at all would know that he was actually Robin Dickson. Well, anyone that knew who Robin Dickson was, anyhow.
His skin tight, lime green leotards and tunic augmented his slender frame that wasn't really muscular but was still defined. Standard yellow boots and a yellow vest made up the rest of his costume. And, he was fond of a silly red cape that kept getting caught on sharp jettings wherever he went. The cape was some kind of homage to his childhood hero, Mighty Super Guy.
Next on the team was eighteen year old Rufus Cunningham, a dark skinned Filipino who'd had several strength augmenting armor units grafted to his flesh. He somehow thought this made him a cyborg when, in all actuality, it just made him a heavily armored man of five-foot-seven stature. This was a boost considering his real height was five-foot-three. No one ever told him that he was always ridiculed behind his back for being an overweight superhero in metal duds.
Rufus was two hundred and ninety pounds of solid fat. With the armor, it was somewhere along the lines of three hundred and thirty. It was truly a good thing he had the armor with its strength enhancing capabilities, elsewise he'd only be able to move a few feet a minute and harbor an innate ability to absorb any physical blow dealt him. Now he had movement AND an incredible blow absorbing ability.
"Rufus! Your left!" Boy Blunder called out, warning his colleague of the metal munching bug leaping towards his back.
"I told you...call me CYCLOPS!!" Rufus shouted as he punched the insect away with a meaty fist.
"Ugh..." Boy Blunder started, rolling his eyes, "That has got to be the stupidest name I've ever heard! We'll discuss your superheroic name later,"
Rufus scowled in disdain. He liked the name Cyclops. Mostly because he wore a visor with one eye piece in it that allowed him to look through walls and over great distances. The insect he punched went flying through a hole in the wall into the next room over, that was equally filled with strange, scientific devises surrounding tables with beakers and test tubes on them.
It made Rufus' eyes sore as he took in the cosmetically sanitized white room beyond. Fighting through a scientific haven in order to route out a pest problem was a real pain. But the Analili, as the alien scientists called themselves, had sent out the distress call.
The wall at the far end of that room burst open as several flu bugs were hurdled through the hole and unto the floor. Through the newly formed hole came two beings. One was the mysterious dark knightstress, for some reason she liked to be referred to as 'knightstress', Kraven.
This seventeen year old stood five-foot-nine and had long, mid-back length jet black hair that she constantly kept pulled back under the hood of her dark green cloak. She fancied herself almost a Robin Hood archetype. Which really wasn't the case, but no one felt the need to argue with her over the matter.
Kraven was an enigma to pretty much anyone who knew her; in fact, no one really knew her real name. Though, rumor had it she was descended of an ancient alien race that no longer lived on the Earth.
That may or may not have explained her hovering capabilities and her knack for blending into any lighted surface. Really, what people should have been calling her was 'lightstress.' Though she still had an uncanny way of disappearing into dark alleys.
A flu bug flung itself at Kraven and grabbed her by the bra of her two piece outfit barely covered by her cloak. The two piece was dark green, as well, and only served to point out that she was a pale white. Kraven's almost sullen, violet-red eyes peered down at the insect trying to rip her bra off in some kind of primal rage, like it somehow wanted to see if she had a reverse tan hiding underneath.
Seeing this, her teammate, Sapphire, came to the aide of her struggling companion desperately trying to pry the thing's insectile appendages away from her garment while still remaining clothed.
A freezing blast from Sapphire's vision rays stopped the creature cold in its tracks. This enabled Kraven to break the flu bug into a thousand or more pieces.
"I hate it when you do that. What if you missed?" Kraven stood staring at Sapphire.
"You're welcome, friend," Sapphire responded and threw her fist into another bug.
Sapphire's real name was Jeannie Ramone and she was one of the few who knew something about Kraven. She knew a secret that she had been sworn to keep; that Kraven's real hair color was white and that she always dyed her hair black out of embarrassment.
Jeannie stood something like four-foot-seven and was generally called a pixie. She didn't mind given how slender she was, by the fact she weighed only eighty seven pounds, and that she actually was descended from the faerie kingdom.
Faeries were hard to find these days and tended to keep to themselves. That wasn't Sapphire's thing. She was just like her father; an explorer who wanted to sample the human world more thoroughly. A chip off the old blockhead.
Her father had a fetish for human women, what with being a faerie, and married a superheroic actress from New Yorktown which was somewhere in the Ukraine. She didn't remember where exactly. Sapphire had never been to where her parents had met and now lived.
Sapphire's long, ankle length pink hair whipped around in a spiral as she swirled a kick into a few more of the flu bugs. Whatever else anyone needed to know about the small faerie girl would be that she was sixteen, had innate ice-faerie powers and had a liking for purple velvet full body suits. One of which she was wearing with black high heels.
The group calling themselves the 'Lean Titans' came together in the room and scanned for any more potential threats. All the insects seemed to have been taken care of. Until a flu bug jumped up from behind a counter and grinned a vicious grin.
"Sweeeeeeeeett!!" It shouted, prompting Sapphire to scream and kick it in the face, causing the bug to slam into the floor.
Sapphire was about to stomp on it, when it held up its appendages in a surrendering gesture and transformed back into its human form. This would be the final member of the group, Terrance Tambini, aka Bestial Lad.
He had blue skin and wore a form fitting latex suit colored, fittingly enough, black and blue with stripes of the blue running the length of his body. He had short, mahogany hair and stood five-foot-ten-inches tall when he wasn't cowering on the floor in a fetal position hoping to not get the snot kicked out of him.
"It's me! Stop!" he groveled.
"Bestial Lad! What the heck are you doing!? Why did you take the shape of such a godawful thing?" Sapphire inquired, with her hands on her hips.
"I was trying to infiltrate the bugs! You know, a bit of blending in?" he cast his green eyed gaze up at her pink eyes.
"Oh really? Why don't you 'blend' this for scaring the holy excrements out of me!?" she shouted and gave him a quick kick to the gut that wasn't meant to hurt, but he cringed anyhow.
"That had better not have been you trying to rip my bra off," Kraven spoke with a menacing glare towards Terrance.
"Nooo..." he innocently pled, waving his hands and smiling as pleasantly as he could under her gaze.
"Alright, Titans, let's go home," Boy Blunder stated, trying to undercut the potential fight building between teammates.
One of the Analili scientists entered the room and looked around with his black oval eyes, his blueish skin a stark contrast to his bright white lab coat.
"No need to thank us, sir, we're just doing what we do best," Boy Blunder said proffering his hand in a friendly greeting.
"Well, then here's the bill for what you do best," the alien said, handing a pad to the leader of the Titans.
Boy Blunder stared at him with a quirked eyebrow and slightly pursed lips.
"Of course," he said, and the group left the premises to get back into their scram jet.
***** "You know, if people keep 'rewardin' us with bills, we're not going to be in this do-gooder business for much longer. What ever happened to 'thanks for saving our bacons?'" Rufus inquired as they walked down the main hall of the Titan tower designed in the shape of a giant 'L'.
"You mean someone actually used to thank us? I must've had that day off," Terrance quipped.
He came up beside Kraven and propped his arm around her shoulders, trying to pull her close with as sexy a smile as he could muster. However, he was met with a scowl and a quick brush off. Terrance stopped at a junction and watched Kraven disappear down the hall to where her room was located. He sighed to himself. She never did want to be part of the team even if she was technically part of the team.
"That girl is always as happy as a lark being roasted at a barbeque," Robin commented as he pulled off his 'disguising' mask and let his afro bounce a bit.
"'A lark at a barbeque?' Dude, that's disgusting! I think you need to change your diet!" Terrance commented as a slight smile tugged at the corner of his dark blue lips.
"It's just an expression, Bestial Lad," Robin the Boy Blunder stated in response and headed towards the Titan's lounge.
"You need some better expressions," Terrance said, mostly to himself.
He waited until the rest of his teammates headed into the lounge and then proceeded down the hall towards Kraven's room. She hadn't been acting like her usual self. In fact, she'd been a bit moodier than normal.
Terrance walked down a few hallways that were half circles in design that culminated in a regular joining with the floors. They were made of sleek, titanium materials that gave off a slight silver-white sheen. All of the building was made of this high-tech metal and was equipped with the latest in communications software. A fact that came in useful when using the comm on the wall outside of Kraven's dorm. He looked around the halls to make sure no one was looking and then pressed the intercom switch.
"Uh, Kraven? Are you all right?" he inquired into the unit and awaited a response.
No response was forthcoming, which caused a slight trickle of sweat to bead on his brow. Several very long seconds passed and Kraven's door finally slid open. She stood there, with a stoic expression, and glared somewhat icily at Terrance.
"Hey...You just took off back there. I thought you might be upset...or something," he stated absently, rubbing the back of his neck with his right hand.
Kraven said nothing as she stared into his eyes with a penetrating gaze. Then a sudden, albeit slight, smile tugged the corners of her lips. She grabbed Terrance by the scruff of his neck and yanked him into her room. The door slid shut a moment later with the barest of whiffs.
* * * * * "What's wrong with Cyclops!?" Rufus yelled as he stood in front of the big screened TV in the lounge, effectively blocking Robin's view.
"It's dorky. Move, will ya?" he spoke, and Rufus thumped into the sofa seat with a huff and crossed his arms angrily, not understanding why his choice in codenames was so unacceptable.
Robin changed channels looking for something to watch.
"Yeah, keep flipping, Boy Blunder! You talk of dorky titles, what about yours!?" Rufus countered with a broad grin crossing his face.
"Hey, my name is a pun! And people like puns! The name you want is for sissies and I never imagined you as a sissy. But, hey, if you want to be a sissy," Robin cast his gaze back towards the TV and away from Rufus.
Rufus could only answer with a pout and a hmphing sound. Jeannie, the girl known as Sapphire, simply sat there on a neighboring chair and listened intently to her teammates going over this matter of names that should have already been resolved.
"What about 'Powerman'?" Jeannie inquired, hoping to offer something else to consider.
"Lame! How 'bout, the 'Titanium Fist'!?" Rufus leapt to his feet and held his fist up towards the ceiling ten feet above.
"Too derivative," Robin said, still flipping channels and not finding anything to watch.
"Oh, I know! 'Lord Chaos!'" Jeannie pipped in with a joyous smile.
"Oh yeah, he's real 'lordly,'" Robin quipped.
"Bite me, you little...!?" Rufus began.
"Little? Well, I guess compared to your bulk," Robin countered.
Jeannie saw where things were going and jumped out of her seat to place herself between the two before things came to blows. She had to think quick and blurted the first thing that came to mind.
"'The Iron Giant!'"
Rufus stared at her as if she'd just lost her mind.
"How about 'Knuckles?'" Robin chimed in with a smile.
"Alright, that does it!" Rufus exclaimed, trying to peel Jeannie's grip off of his shoulders.
She was small, but her grip was one of steel. Jeannie pushed against Rufus to prevent him from taking a swing at Robin who just sat on the couch laughing. Then a thought struck her.
"Say, where are Bestial Lad and Kraven?"
Robin shrugged as a channel caught his attention.
"...Sex. It is mankind's greatest saving grace and his most lethal bane. It is an act of reproduction that keeps our species strong. The male penetrates the female like so..."
The three teens stared at the graphic image being displayed on the giant television screen and were hypnotized by the professor giving whatever synopsis on the subject matter he deemed relevant.
"...with genetic patterns being traced back to the late fourteenth century during which time an unknown wave of force struck our atmosphere and mutated the viral infection, the Bubonic Plague, in such a manner as to evolve the DNA strands of most of European society. The variance in the genetic makeup seems to suggest an orchestrated and intelligent intent. This variance ends up evolving through natural, sexual means and builds upon our enhanced bodies, creating even greater potential..."
"So, who's up for some pizza?" Robin inquired, getting to his feet and heading for the door.
"I'm game," Rufus responded following Robin.
"Goody, I'm famished! Should we get Kraven and Bestial Lad?" Jeannie asked.
"Nah. Let them get their own," Robin replied and they all headed out to the local pizzeria.
"...It's interesting to note the growth pattern here, in this fetus, as the genetic components mutate. Some have theorized this as a gift from God. Others suggest that an alien race was trying to wipe us out. Both theories are ludicrous as..." the professor continued before suddenly blanking out.
Robin set down the remote and once again headed out.
***** "Hello, my name is Piminie Rickets. And, I thought I'd take a second to pause the tale to get those not in the know up to date!" a roach sized flea began speaking in the middle of the sidewalk to no one in particular, "These last several hundred years have been unusual years for us all. When the great pulse struck, civilization ceased being the way it was and became something entirely different!"
A cool wind blew across the walk, which caused his antennae to flop along his back. From nowhere, Piminie pulled out an atlas of the world. In the same manner, he summoned a little pointer. Tall buildings disappearing into the sky overhead made this little flea completely out of place.
"You see, the Bubonic Plague had struck a good portion of Western Europe. This was after already carving havoc out of the East. The plague didn't just effect humans, oh no! It struck the critters of nature as well! From little and cute cockroaches all the way up the animal kingdom to the mighty bears! The pulse wave caused a mutation within the plague which had a unique affect on lifeforms around the world. Suddenly, those that couldn't talk, could! And those who were unintelligent, ...well, they stayed unintelligent, but their kids usually ended up being geniuses! We found ourselves in the age of super Homo Sapiens and super everything else! Which usually meant that there was a need for super exterminators.
"Of course, there was a vast portion of the populace that was unaffected. Including the various tribal nations in the far west, across the expansive oceans, all the way on the other side of the world! However, trade with them didn't really occur until roughly 1776 when alien nations began building massive cities over there and communicating with the native populace," he indicated the lands west of Europe on the map, "The peoples there established for themselves a mighty nation expanding sea to sea and called it the United Nation of the Turtle People. Who else is down with U.N.T.P.? Hey, you know me!"
A giant foot traipsing across Piminie silenced his tirade and unholy looking Irish jig. The owner of that foot was Robin Dickson, and he strolled with his two other friends on their way to Harrietta's Pizzeria located right around the corner from where the dancing, yet informative, flea had once been.
"...and I've recently finished constructing my model train set. Though, I still don't have a train..." Jeannie was chittering away at Robin as they approached the order window.
"Yeah, a large pepperoni and sausage, don't be stingy with the sauce..." Robin told the cashier who was taking their order.
"I'll take a large anchovie and artichoke special with the works!" Rufus cut in, prompting disgusted looks from his teammates.
"Yeaaahh...anyway, Saph, I have a model train that I don't use anymore," Robin spoke, ignoring Rufus and paying the cashier what they owed him.
The group went to sit down at one of the tables lining the outside of the restaurant. Harrietta's Pizzeria sat catty corner on seventh and main and was the best place to get pizza in town. They often went there to socialize and wind down. Being exhausted from fighting supervillians throughout the day, the group hadn't even felt like changing into civilian clothing.
"You should see how pretty the tunnel is I made for my train set! I have little mountains and happy little trees all over it!" Jeannie related the details of her project to Robin with a wide grin.
"Sounds cool," Robin said.
"What's cool, is the killer sound system hooked up in my pad! Stop by my dorm and check it sometime," Rufus pipped in to both of them.
"Oh, I would love to!" Jeannie spoke cheerfully.
"Yeah, that's what I'm screaming!" Rufus responded and flumped his hands on the table top. "You know, what I want to know is why the heck Bestial Lad and Kraven are always late on the scene."
"Yeah, I've been thinking about that myself. Today, they didn't show up until those flu bugs were practically handing us our butts," Robin placed his arms behind his head.
"Last week, they were late for every one of our engagements! Against the Manacle Claw, against Crimson Titty, and not to mention Sponge Mayhem and his Squishball associates. You need to talk to those two," Rufus pointed his finger at Robin.
"I wouldn't know what to say," Robin spoke quietly.
"You're our leader! Be a leader! Say, 'look you two, quit screwin' around!' Say, 'get with the program, we gotta be out there jammin' it home!'" he emphasized with his fist into his hand.
"I wonder why it is they are always late?" Jeannie inquired, paraphrasing the group's outspoken question.
On the other side of the street, a construction worker started using a jackhammer to dig a hole into the concrete. Robin and Rufus watched the act absently.
"Man, he's really pounding away at that," Rufus commented wryly.
"Yeah, just like someone else I know," Robin stated sardonically as their pizzas were coming.
* * * * * The Next Day...
"Titans! Fan out!!" Robin commanded, as the group, minus two individuals, countered the combined attacks of Elevated Man and his accomplice, Two-toned Larry.
Elevated Man attacked using his innate gravity bending tactics. Tactics which would cause an opponent to fall up into the sky if said opponent were landing on the ground, and to slam into the ground if he were jumping up. He wore a gray workout suit, complete with sweatband.
Two-toned Larry's only innate ability was to create borgasms in his victims, causing them to fall into a deep sleep. He was also fond of wearing a bright orange jumpsuit with patches of olive green at irregular intervals for good measure. The combination of colors and the pattern the patches were laid out in, seemed to help knock his victims out cold.
"Ugh!! Where the heck is Bestial Lad?! We could use his help right about now!" Rufus shouted, not bothering to point out the absence of Kraven as well.
After a prolonged grudge match with the two disgruntled postmen, the Lean Titans were handed a bill by the owner of the building complex they trashed in the process of law enforcement. For some reason, the two had been using the complex, an old newspaper office building that was no longer used, to launch slime rockets at passing motorists. Robin had a feeling the building owner let them use it knowing the Lean Titans would be there to help him collect the insurance.
Exasperated, Robin walked up a stairwell leading to an elevated train station that happened to be nearby. He found a wall to sit on and placed his elbows on his knees and hands to his face and shook his head in disdain. It was too much for him. Leading a team where two of its members were never there anymore, was getting to be a strain.
Jeannie saw him and came to sit next to his side. Rufus decided to stay and argue with the owner over his assessment of the damages to property. Jeannie patted Robin's thigh and tried to be reassuring.
"I'm sure there is a very good reason why Terrance and Kraven are not here," she smiled.
"Uh-huh," Robin grunted knowing all too well what the reason was.
"Maybe they got waylaid by another set of evil-doers?" she reasoned.
"Depends on what you mean by 'waylaid'," he cryptically responded.
"Ohh, It is not like them to be this irresponsible!" she frowned and clenched her fists on top of her knees, "what on Earth could they be doing to cause us this much strife!?"
A train blazed by them on the tracks and zipped through a man made tunnel of complex metals. Jeannie smiled brightly, not because the train didn't stop, especially since the station they were at was never used anymore, but because she had a sudden thought,
"Say, Robin, would you like to conduct your train through my tunnel?"
Robin covered his face with his hands and couldn't help but to laugh to himself.
* * * * * "I can't believe you two!" Robin was practically shouting as Kraven and Terrance sat side by side on the lounge couch.
Nearby, Rufus sat on a stool with his arms crossed trying not to smile. Jeannie busied herself with a string puzzle that had somehow gotten entwined in her fingers.
"Dude, what are you, our father? I'm sorry. I got caught up in something and didn't make it! It happens from time to time, y'know," Terrance plead, gesturing broadly with his hands at nothing.
"This isn't 'time to time', this is all the time! You've shown up maybe three times out of our last fifteen engagements! I don't even know if you're part of this team anymore!" Robin tossed his hands angrily up into the air.
"What!? Oh, come on!" Terrance stood up.
"You know what, I'm done talking," he said and left the room.
Kraven just sat there silently, not offering up any reasons. She slightly straightened the edge of her button up shirt and flattened it over the thigh of her jeans. Rufus shrugged and went to play a game in the Titan arcade room. Jeannie still hadn't figured out how to untangle her fingers, which left Kraven and Terrance to their own devices.
Terrance watched as Kraven got up and walked back to her room. He followed her, shaking his head. He didn't know what Robin was so upset about and it wasn't like Kraven was helping him to understand the situation any better.
Once they were in Kraven's room, she sat on the edge of her bed. Terrance stared at her for a second then took a seat beside her.
"I can't believe how upset he is. He acts like we never do anything around here!" he said.
Kraven sat quietly, deep in her own thoughts. Terrance tapped her on her shoulder.
"Hello? Are you home? Why are you so quiet? You've been moody for like the last week and a half. Course, you're always moody, but I mean really moody. Hey, aren't you going to say anything? Are you mad at me?" Terrance gestured at himself.
This prompted Kraven to look at him. She didn't let him see the emotions behind her solid gaze. After a minute, she decided that then was as good a time as ever to tell him.
"I'm pregnant,"
"Wha...!?" Terrance half started and slipped off the edge of the bed.
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