Unexpected reunion
Hasty footsteps echoed through the streets as a figure moved through an abandoned alley, a black briefcase clutched under his arm.
Following him in mouse form was a certain shape-shifter that stopped behind a trashcan close by before morphing back to human form.
The briefcase was given to a taller man with long, blonde hair – probably his partner in crime.
"Robin! I think I got us the big fish. It's just like you said. That thief got a partner," Beast Boy whispered into his communicator.
"What's their location?" his leader's voice cracked through the yellow device.
"They're in a back alley in-"
Beast Boy stopped, hearing footsteps approaching from behind and turned around.
And that's when he saw black.
"Beast Boy? Beast Boy, come in!" Robin's voice continued before someone picked up the yellow device and shut it off.
"Look what we got here! A little peeping tom," a deep voice spoke. "Get him out of here."
Somewhere near the Jump City bank, 4 certain heroes looked on in worry as Robin's communicator greeted them with silence,
"What has happened to Beast Boy?" Starfire asked, floating close to the Boy Wonder.
"Whatever it was, it didn't sound good," Raven said, her voice cool and leveled even while worrying.
"But we have to find him. Cyborg, can you make out the location of where Beast Boy's communicator was last active?" Robin asked the oldest team member.
"Leave it to me."
The darkness slowly faded as the shape-shifter's conscience kicked back in. His eyes slowly opened and his focus sharpened. "Man, that was a cheap move," he groaned, wanting to hold his still throbbing head.
That's when he realized he couldn't move his arms – in fact, he saw that he was tied to a chair.
He chuckled at the futile attempt to restrain him. "I guess they haven't heard of me yet – or even the Teen Titans," he smirked.
But his smirk vanished, when a jolt of electricity zapped him as soon as he tried to morph out of the ropes.
The pain didn't last for long though and Beast Boy shut his eyes, waiting for the pain to fade. "Uh…I don't think they have to know."
He straightened up slowly, his eyes on the lookout for something to cut the ropes with. That's when he realized that he was…in a grocery store.
"Since when do villains have public hideouts?" he wondered before he had an idea.
He tried to reach into his back pocket, aiming for his communicator…but his fingers found nothing. "Great! Don't tell me those dudes ditched my communicator. Guess I gotta find my way out another way," he murmured, his eyes once again looking for some sort of knife.
Meanwhile a certain blonde-haired schoolgirl made her way through the dark streets, deciding to get some fresh air after spending quite some time surrounded by 4 walls.
And she liked the mild night breeze that ruffled her hair and made a mental note to come out at night more often.
"Seriously? Why did this have to happen to me? And why isn't Robin getting a move on already?"
The schoolgirl stopped in front of a grocery store, the faint sounds obviously coming from somewhere inside.
Why was Beast Boy in a closed grocery store?
Probably to stop some villain.
"This is so embarrassing! Why did I have to be tied to this chair? I refuse to sit and do nothing!" Beast Boy's voice came from inside, now more angrily.
And then the sound of his scream followed as a few flashes of light appeared in Terra's vision.
With a startled gasp, she rushed towards the door…but of course, it was locked.
Terra searched her surrounding for some sort of weapon…when her eyes rested on a small rock lying on the side of the street.
She picked it up, images from before her petrification flashing through her mind.
She wasn't using her powers…but that didn't stop her from trying to help.
Terra pulled back her arm and with all her strength, threw the rock against the glass door. It shattered and the tiny glass shards dropped to the floor.
The girl rushed inside…when suddenly rattling sounds came from behind her and she turned around to see that some sort of security system had been activated as metal gates began encasing the store.
But Beast Boy was more important right now.
Terra rushed from aisle through aisle before she stopped in the far back of the store, seeing a little green by the floor.
She slowly moved around the aisle and she saw her former teammate lying tied to a chair on the floor.
He looked up before pure shock crossed his face, seeing his best friend staring back at him. "T-terra? What…are you doing here?"
It was quite some time since she last heard his voice – and she realized that she missed it.
"Rescuing you apparently," she replied, turning away, disappearing in another aisle.
She stopped in front of the kitchen aisle and ripped open a box of kitchen knives and took the largest one out before returning to the changeling.
Terra knelt down next to him and cut open the ropes.
"Thanks, Terra!" Beast Boy smiled, stretching and twisting his numb wrists. "Finally I can kick some butt again…and I know just whose I'll kick first," he said, punching his palm.
"I'm not Terra."
He turned to her. "What? You just saved me. How could you not be Terra?" he asked…but decided to avoid getting into an argument.
"I haven't yet," she replied and walked over to the now locked down entrance.
"Can't you use your powers to get us out?" Beast Boy asked before she gave him an annoyed look.
"I just used this rock to break the glass," she replied.
Terra lowered her gaze.
And strangely, that rock was the only thing that was made of earth – the rest of the store was only metal.
Even if she wanted to, she couldn't get them out…unless…
Her thought was interrupted by the shape-shifter beside her.
"Let a hero handle this," Beast Boy said smugly only for electricity to zap him.
"Stop it!" Terra cried annoyed and worried at the same time and the lightning stopped.
"I'll…get us out. I just need to-"
Suddenly something tugged at him from behind and he realized that Terra had pulled on some sort of collar on his neck.
So that was why he couldn't turn into any animals.
"There's a display case on the back of this collar," he heard Terra's voice from behind him.
"And?"
"I guess you can input some sort of code into it – probably to deactivate it," she said, running her finger across the display. "It's 4 numbers and that would mean for each decimal I would have to input the numbers from 0 – 9 until I will finally crack the code. And that means you will get zapped for quite a while until I can get this collar off," Terra explained.
Beast Boy certainly didn't like the prospect of getting electrocuted even once more…but if he didn't try he wouldn't be able to use his powers.
"Let's do this!"
Terra looked in surprise, hearing his determination in his voice. "Are you sure? I'm not sure you'll make it through all the numbers."
A smile pulled on his lips before he replied to her. "Trust me!"
Terra's eyes widened in surprise at his answer…and she even had to blink a few times to stop tears that threatened to spill. "Ok…this is try number one with code 0001," she murmured before entering said code.
Terra jerked her hand away as a jolt of lightning ran through the collar and for a moment, she wished she could turn deaf, not wanting to hear her former teammate's painful scream.
And she wasn't sure if she would survive through all the numbers.
The shock stopped but Terra hesitated.
"Try…number two," she heard the shape-shifter say with difficulty but she made no move. "Do it!"
Terra bit her lip before she realized that 4 different numbers appeared on the display case – 05:00.
"T-there's a countdown – Beast Boy – your collar…it's a remote control for bombs," Terra cried.
Beast Boy jumped from his sitting position. "Are you kidding me? Those dudes wanted to blow me up!?"
Terra stood up as well…and rushed over to the poultry section of the store until she came up at the large refrigerator and grabbed two glass bottles of grape juice.
"Grab some bottles!" she called to Beast Boy and he complied without another word.
She faced the entrance of the store before with a strained grunt, threw one of the bottles against it.
"You sure it's going to work?" Beast Boy asked as he came up beside her.
"Let's do it together – on three. 1, 2, 3!" she shouted before they threw them simultaneously, the bottles shattering upon impact.
But the metal gate didn't even get a dent.
Terra ran back and took two more bottles, and threw them with all her might…but the result was the same.
She slammed her fists angrily against the metal surface, ignoring the pain.
"Terra…" Beast Boy placed a comforting hand on her shoulder before she turned around.
"Something has to work!"
Terra's outburst didn't surprise him…but her tearful eyes did.
"Are you alright?" he asked carefully.
She closed her eyes, hoping he hadn't seen her cry. "Turn around!"
"Terra, what –"
She didn't let him finish and spun him around herself before she gasped, seeing that she had only about 2 minutes left.
Terra stepped back, the fact that she might lose her life and him slowly sinking in.
"It's too late…"
She didn't know how those words managed to leave her mouth…they just did. "We have less than 2 minutes…"
Beast Boy turned to the schoolgirl. "Terra, it's never too late – not until it really is over."
Those words sent shivers down her spine, remembering that the last time he said that she had endangered his life – just like now.
"Stop calling me that! I'm not the girl you want me to be!" she screamed, the tears finally spilling.
How could she be? She was someone who only hurt people.
The shape-shifter stopped his attempt to approach her and turned away before walking away.
Terra dropped to the floor, leaning against the cold metal surface of the entrance before crying into her hands.
She couldn't care less if anyone saw her like this – she was about to die…and once again she felt like she deserved it.
Footsteps approached her and she sneaked a peek.
"Check this out!"
Beast Boy's change of mood made her curious and her eyes wandered over to his face before a smile unwillingly spread onto her face.
He had spaghetti sticking out of his hair and a big, red tomato on his nose. "You know Robin was scared of clowns? I wonder if he would be scared of this," the shape-shifter chuckled.
Terra giggled. "I don't know…but I find it hilarious."
The shape-shifter beamed at her reaction and carefully sat down in front of her. "If you think this was hilarious then wait until you see this."
The former Titan placed a hand on his and blush crept on his face, seeing this stranger being so affectionate with him – like for a moment, Terra had come back.
"Whoever I was and whoever I am now…I'm glad to have met you, Beast Boy," she smiled at him, the tears in her eyes retreating.
And in that moment, Beast Boy didn't care who she was – all that mattered was that she was here with him.
He slowly leaned into her, not wanting to leave her like this.
She closed her eyes before their lips met.
And right now, it felt like time had stopped…and it could do so forever.
But unfortunately, forever didn't exist.
Because just then he felt an explosion…and the sound of Robin's voice as his eyes were blinded by light.
"Beast Boy!"