Okay. My First Fanfic.
Disclaimer: I do not own The Teen Titans or anything in this story, other than the story itself.
The Way The Game Is Played: A Teen Titans FanFiction
By SkilletFan000
"Azarath...Metrion...Zinthos"
"Azarath...Metrion...Zinthos"
All was quiet in the common room at Titans Tower. The sole occupant of the room was Raven, who was deep in meditation. That is, until Beast Boy and Cyborg arrived.
"Whoo! Yeah!" shouted Beast Boy, shattering Raven's concentration and causing her to fall to the floor.
"BOOYAH!" shouted Cyborg
"Oh, hi Raven, sorry 'bout that...heh heh...Anyway, Cyborg and I just got Super Ninja Onslaught 5! Wanna play?"
"No." Raven said with a hint of disgust in her usual monotone
"Please? Just one round?" Pleaded the green changeling
"No! Stop being a pain and leave me alone!" the empaths' temper was peaking
"Please, please? Come on, you know you wanna!"
"Stop that"
"Please?" Beast Boy would not give up. He morphed into the cutest cartoon-looking kitten that ever existed and sat on the floor in front of Raven,
giving her an unmerciful dose of, "The Face"
Raven sighed, smiled to herself and almost agreed. She almost never did anything with them, and when she did, it usually wasn't what they wanted to do. Most at the time, it was always a compromise, for her...'maybe I should'...'you know you want to, for him' said Affection...'maybe not'...'one round couldn't hurt'...'No. Maybe next time?' Raven debated in her head. -'keep saying that, and there won't be anymore 'next times' to wait for'- said Rude. -'Not this time...'- Raven said to herself, almost reluctantly -'As you wish. just remember...'- commented wisdom.
"No." She decided. "If I can't meditate here, I'll just do it somewhere else." Raven got up and, after brushing imaginary particles of dust off of herself, walked out of the room.
"Fine, Sheesh. Just try'n'a be nice." huffed Beast Boy
"Leave her, dude. You got enough on your hands with me, 'cuz I'm gonna whoop yo' butt! Be glad she didn't throw you out the window or something."
"Yeah, I was just wondering why she didn't..." wondered Beast Boy
"Never mind that now, you can wonder later, Sherlock, right now it's butt whoop time!"
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah!" Beast Boy and Cyborg leaped over the back of the couch and started plugging in wires and controllers and whatnot into the monitor. As they worked Beast Boy commented, "It's too bad Robin's not here. He'd enjoy this."
"Yeah. and he'd mash us! this is the one kind of game I can't beat him at" returned Cyborg
"True." agreed Beast Boy
"I hope he's having fun."
"This is Robin we're talking about! Him and Bushido went to train with the True Master, y'know, the most skilled martial artist of them all! Of course he's having fun!"
Just then Starfire floated in.
"Greetings and joy to you friends! are you planning on doing of the videogames? May I watch?"
"Sure Star" Said Beast Boy
"Nothin' to buy at the 'Mall of Shopping'?" Cyborg teased, as the game loaded.
"Truthfully, it was not much fun without friend Robin, so I returned to see if you wanted to do the hanging out?"
"Sure, if you want to play, you can."
"I will observe, and try to gain the knowledge of how to defeat the small flat enemies that will doubtless begin attacking you soon"
"Um, sure Star..." This was a little confusing to Beast Boy, who sometimes had trouble understanding the Tamaraneans' interesting style of english.
Once the game loaded, Beast Boy and Cyborg started playing furiously. About half an hour later, Raven walked in, and began preparing her customary cup of tea.
"I thought you were meditating" said Beast Boy
"I couldn't concentrate, I felt bad that I didn't do stuff with you guys earlier and I wanted to apologize."
*Game Paused*
Cyborg and Beast Boy turned as one.
"Did she just say what I think she said" said Beast Boy, wide-eyed
"I think she did." replied Cyborg, sharing Beast Boy's expression
"Weirdness."
"What?" asked Raven, turning."Can't I apologize?"
"Sure you can." said Beast Boy quickly, grinning.
"You sure you don't wanna play?"
"Well, I...?"
Suddenly a bolt of electricity shot out of the gamestation console and struck Beast Boy and Cyborg. As they lay writhing in pain on the couch, Starfire and Raven rushed over, but before either of them could do anything, both of the boys were both sucked into the game console.
"What the...?" gasped Raven
"Where have they gone?" said Starfire "This is a normal part of the game also?"
"I don't think..."
Raven was cut off by a loud crackling of static on the screen, which was suddenly replaced by the face of Gizmo.
"Gizmo!" exclaimed a shocked Raven
"Thats right scrum buffers! The one and only ultimate genius of the universe! BWAHAHAHAHA"
"Whatever. What do you want, and more importantly, where are our friends?" said Raven, not in the least bit ruffled
"I want a game!"
"What!"
"You heard me witch. I challenge you and the alien to a game of 'Super Ninja Onslaught 5'! BWAHAHAHA!"
"And what if we say no?" (Definitely ruffled now)
"Then Snot kid and Cyber-brain are doomed to roam cyberspace, FOREVER! BWAHAHAH-"
"Cut with the laugh. How do we get them back?"
"Are you stupid? You play the game!"
"If we win, will you give them back?" questioned Raven
"mmmfrgf...fine, yeah I guess, if you win, which you won't! ya creepy, freak-out, kludge-head!"
"But Raven, what if we lose?" asked Starfire worriedly
"Then they're my prisoners! and by the way, you will!"
"Starfire?" Raven asked
"Let us 'Kick the Butt'!" growled the alien, becoming intensely angry.
Starfire and Raven, who despite popular belief, was actually better than Beast Boy at videogames, each grabbed a controller from the floor.
"By the way, one last thing," laughed Gizmo, "You'll be playing as them! So try not damage my prizes- 'cuz they can still feel pain!"
Gizmo disappeared, and the game screen reappeared, this time, in a long hallway. As Gizmo had said, the game characters were replaced by Cyborg and Beast Boy.
Raven had Beast Boy and Starfire was controlling Cyborg. 'Just as well,' thought Raven 'Cyborg's less likely to get hurt if she accidentally does something wrong' The countdown initiated. 3...2...1...GO! Raven and Starfire, using the controllers, began to explore with Cyborg and Beast Boy.
[With Beast Boy and Cyborg]
As soon as the bolt of energy hit them, Beast Boy and Cyborg knew something was up. A moment later when they found themselves standing in a strange world which seems to be populated by videogame characters. Looking around, Beast Boy was sure that he had never seen so many characters all in one place. He was about to say something to Cyborg, when a small man in overalls with a large mustache, accompanied by a small boy dressed in green with a sword, and a blue hedgehog, walked over.
"I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore Toto." whispered Beast Boy to Cyborg
"Who are you? What game are you from?" asked the small man, in an Italian accent
"Uh, I'm Beast Boy, and this is Cyborg." said Beast Boy hesitantly
"What game are you from?" asked the small boy.
"Uh, we're from...reality? tried Cyborg
"I've never heard of that game before" said the boy, confused.
"Uh, dude, I think he meant 'reality' as in, outside the box." the hedgehog informed the boy.
"Um, yeah, we are." Beast Boy still was trying to grasp what had happened.
Suddenly, both he and Cyborg started disappearing, much to their astonishment and alarm.
"What the...?" said Cyborg, alarmed.
"Relax, dude, its normal. Someone wants to play as you. Just relax. Oh, and don't forget to exhale just before your mouth vanishes, Its a reflex to inhale when you reappear." said the hedgehog.
"Uh...thanks..." Beast Boy trailed off, still not convinced, but as his mouth vanished, he did as he was advised and exhaled.
[...]
Reappearing in a long hallway, Beast Boy and Cyborg immediately sucked in a huge breath each.
"No kidding...what, hey! I can't move!" yelled Cyborg
"Join the club." responded Beast Boy.
Looking around they saw the long hallway, which was hexagon shaped and had no windows.
"Where are we?" Asked Beast Boy quizzically
"It looks like a souped-up version of the hallways in Super Ninja Onslaught 5" commented Cyborg
"Okay, next question, why can I move every part of my body except my feet and legs?" asked Beast Boy
"If Sonic wasn't joking, then it's 'cuz we're videogame characters, we can't walk until the people with the controllers move us, but we can still move around, as long as we don't use our feet and legs."
Without warning they both started walking. Beast Boy headed down the hall and Cyborg walked straight into a wall.
"Ow!" grumbled Cyborg rubbing his nose
"Dude!" laughed Beast Boy "You walk like a beginner's controlling you..." he trailed off, hoping he didn't have the same fate in store.
"Friend Raven, I do not believe I have quite mastered the moving yet. Could you show me how you do it so easily?" asked Starfire
Raven flushed a bit. "It's not like I never play videogames, I just don't do it very often... Here- like this."
Raven said slightly sheepishly, demonstrating movement as she did so.
"Oh that is most informative and extremely humorous and entertaining!" exclaimed Starfire as Raven made Beast Boy do a small dance, which ended in a very nice twirl, like a ballet dancer.
"Dude!" Cyborg laughed "Your probably being controlled by a girl!" as Beast Boy did a small dance, complete with ballet twirl at the end.
"Hey! We're not in control, remember?" Beast Boy yelled, blushing furiously
"I know I I'm not, but you could be using that as an excuse!" Cyborg said, grinning mischieviously
"I AM NOT!" screamed Beast Boy
"I know man, I'm only teasin'" said Cyborg "Here, I'll make a deal with you, I won't laugh at what they make you do if you don't laugh at what they make me do. Deal?"
"Deal" agreed Beast Boy smiling.
Cyborg started walking around randomly, bumping stuff, walking into walls and almost hitting Beast Boy a few times, before his user seemingly got the hang of it and was able to control a straight line. Beast Boy and Cyborg started walking down the hall, Beast Boy smothering chuckles as Cyborg haphazardly stumbled along beside him. Suddenly, ninjas popped out everywhere, and made a rush at them. Beast Boy was about to scream for his mommy, when he leaped toward the attackers, and started punching, kicking and generally pummeling the enemy.
"Whoa, Nice moves dude!" exclaimed Cyborg, not realizing that he was just standing there.
"Thanks, I only wish I could say that they were mine. Whoever is at the other of this is killer!"
"Ha, you wouldn't say that if you knew!" came Gizmo's voice from out of nowhere
"Gizmo? What's he doing here, or, wherever he is." said Beast Boy, smashing two ninjas into a wall.
"I put you here, scrum buffers!"
"You mean this is your fault! What do you want?"
"Exactly what I'm getting!" said Gizmo triumphantly
"And exactly what are you getting?" Called Cyborg, stomping a ninja, then kicking him into a wall
"A game of 'Super Ninja Onslaught 5' against the witch and the alien you call friends!"
"Rae and Star? Wait, oh man, you're not saying...they're controlling us?" asked Beast Boy
"Yep! Great isn't it!" said Gizmo
"So...who's controlling who...?" Beast Boy asked hesitantly.
"Birdie girl is controlling you, and Starflunk is totally messing up the game with Cyborg"
"I could not be more embarrassed" said Beast Boy
"Whoa, Raven's good..." commented Cyborg
"Yeah, twenty minutes ago, I woulda said that we're sunk, but maybe not." Grinned Beast Boy finishing off the last two ninjas by morphing into a gorilla and smashing their heads together. As the fallen ninjas faded away, Beast Boy And Cyborg walked through the door at the far end of the hall.
"But I'm still not gonna get used to this, moving around and kicking butt without actually telling my body to." grumbled Beast Boy.
Emerging into the next hall, Cyborg groaned. "More?"
"I guess so" sighed the green changeling
"I sure hope Star does a little more this time." said Cyborg grinning
[With Raven and Starfire]
"Friend Raven! You kicked the butt gloriously back there!"
"Thanks Starfire...I think"
"Oh, you are quite welcome friend" They moved Cyborg and Beast Boy through the door at the end of the hall.
"I wonder what this is like for the boys? They must be freaked out by now." Said Raven
"I do not know. We must win so that we may ask them when they return!"
Emerging into the next hall Raven groaned. "More?"
"I am supposing so"
"Why don't you try this time, I kinda dominated that last one." said Raven
"Very well, I believe I have 'The Hang' of it now"
[With Beast Boy and Cyborg]
As if in answer to his wish, Cyborg leaped forward and started bashing ninjas left and right pausing only to blast them with his cannon, while Beast Boy stood by watching, understanding that Raven was giving Starfire a chance. 'Whoa, how did I know that?' thought Beast Boy. 'Ah well its probably nothing.' he thought, cheering Cyborg on, well knowing that Cyborg couldn't take any of his suggestions.
In a matter of minutes, Cyborg had decimated the ninja force to nothing. Beast Boy clapped. "Good job Cy!"
Cyborg puffed out his chest, then realized it had been a trick to get him to show off. He grinned sheepishly. "To bad it was really Star"
Beast Boy grinned. Continuing down the hall, they came to another door. "Y'know, this door looks exactly like the first one"
"I think I can guess what's waiting on the other side"
"Well, only one way to find out. Whats behind door number two?"
Walking through the door, they found... "More Ninjas?"
[With Raven And Starfire]
"Again, Friend Raven?"
"Oh, come on!" cried Raven
"You have got to be doing the kidding me!" exclaimed Starfire, who felt such a statement was appropriate for the circumstances
"lets go Starfire...*sigh*"
Beast Boy and Cyborg jumped on the even larger horde of ninjas, and began punching, kicking, and generally destroying the ninja posses.
"this is really getting old" said Beast Boy, kicking a ninja in the head
"Tell me 'bout it man!" Cyborg blasted a knot of ninjas with his sonic cannon. After ten minutes of warding off ninjas, they finally managed to defeat the largest group of ninjas they had yet encountered.
"This had better be the last door." grumbled Beast Boy as they walked through the door.
[With Robin and Bushido]
"Is something troubling you, Robin-San?" asked Bushido during a break.
"Hmm? Oh, no. I was just wondering how the team is doing without me." Replied Robin thoughtfully
"I am sure they are doing fine."
"Yeah, I just can't help but worry, because I'm not there in the action."
"There is much action here, Robin-San, I am sure we are seeing more than they are. They are most likely having a good time relaxing."
"Yeah, you're probably right. Maybe I am paranoid?"
"No, you just worry too much, Grasshopper. Your friends will do well if there is trouble. You must focus on the here and now. It is time for another lesson." the True Master came up behind them.
"Thank you for the encouragement, True Master."
"My Pleasure, let us begin."
[With Beast Boy and Cyborg]
Beast Boy and Cyborg walked through the door and out into a large arena-like enclosure. Turning his head, Beast Boy couldn't see any enemies.
"Hmm. Nobody's home."
"I Wouldn't be too sure, this is the videogame universe, anything can happen here."
"You got that right scuzz-head!"
Neither of them had been paying attention to the far end of the arena, so it was a surprise when, without warning, both of them ran forward in a charge towards Gizmo, who had appeared at the other end of the arena.
"Why are we running? I mean, I'm all for takin' down the bad guy and kickin' major butt, but aren't we supposed to be in control when we do this?" asked Cyborg
"Yeah, but we don't have any choice." Beast Boy grumbled, just before involuntarily morphing into a green pterodactyl.
"Hey losers! You better hope your creepy friend and the alien are good at videogames, or your sunk!" laughed Gizmo
"Ha! Raven and Starfire could beat you single-handed, you little pest! You're going down!" shouted Beast Boy, before changing into a green tiger and lunging at Gizmo, who barely manage to dodge.
Gizmo activated his spider-leg walker. "Wanna bet? Pussycat!" he cackled.
"You and whose army?" said Beast Boy, morphing back to human form.
"This one!" Gizmo reached down and pressed a button on his chest-pack, causing a swarm of ninjas to leap out of just about everywhere.
"Gah!"
"How many times do you have to ask that man? You always make it worse! It's too bad Raven's not in control of you big mouth too." commented Cyborg as he launched his shoulder-rockets at the enemy.
"How was I supposed to know?" complained Beast Boy as he flipped over two ninjas getting a slice on his left arm, before dispatching them from behind. "OW! Dude, I thought this was videogame-land! If it's not supposed to be real, how come this really hurts?"
"I dunno man, let's just hope the girls know we can still feel pain!" Yelled Cyborg as a throwing star embedded itself in his left arm.
They fought for nearly twenty minutes, but it felt like hours. The cuts and bruises started to show after a while and Beast Boy was in constant pain, but couldn't stop fighting. Cyborg had lost large amounts of outer plating, as well as some of the fingers from his left hand. After finishing off the last of the ninjas, they turned to Gizmo, who had stayed well back during the brawl. Still fresh, he charged in. Beast Boy was dead tired, and the pain in his left arm made it theoretically unusable, but he couldn't stop Raven from using it. He didn't blame her though, how could she know? He blamed Gizmo, and fervently hoped they would win.
"Man, this isn't working! He's made himself invincible, we can't do this alone!" croaked Beast Boy
"I got it!"
"What?"
"I'm part computer, I should be able to break free of the system...got it! Booyah!" shouted Cyborg triumphantly.
"Now what?"
"I do this!" Cyborg blasted the wall of the arena with strange device his arm morphed into. A huge vortex opened up, and videogame heroes started leaping out. Seeing Gizmo, they immediately attacked him, leaving the other two to rest.
[With Raven and Starfire]
" I don't think we can do this for to much longer Starfire, Beast boy looks pretty banged up" said Raven, who despite herself, was close to tears because of her inability to help.
Starfire was frustrated and was quietly sobbing to herself, when she realized Cyborg wasn't responding to the game controls.
Raven looked away. She knew they would lose, that Gizmo would cheat, that they would be helpless to assist. "We failed them Starfire." Raven said quietly
"Friend Raven look!"
"I don't want to"
"Oh you must! Friend Cyborg has broken free of control and called up the reinforcements!"
Raven's head snapped up. Sure enough, fifty little assorted characters from different videogames were mobbing Gizmo. In less than a minute, Gizmo was on the ground, unarmed, with a jedi holding him down. Starfire and Raven were overjoyed, and Starfire, despite Raven's usual preferences, grabbed her in a tight hug.
[Back in the Game]
"You are a disreputable vagabond. You will return these two to their own world, and then leave this universe forever." Said King Peter.
"Make me!" said Gizmo, sticking his tongue out.
"Just you watch me!" growled a videogame Raven, who had come from nowhere in particular.
"Peace, friend" said a centaur
"You Gizmo, have given your word. If you do not comply, you will be placed in prison on an Asgard prison colony. The Asgard have an exceptional prison system." continued King Peter
"Okay, okay, I'm doing it!" Gizmo snatched a device from a USAF Airman who was standing next to him and pressed a few buttons.
During the whole exchange, Beast Boy had been growing steadily weaker, he had lost a lot of blood, and just before he was teleported back into the real world, everything went black.
[Back in the Real World]
"Ooh." Beast Boy moaned
"Beast Boy?"
"Raven? What are...where...how...mmmph!"
Beast Boy was not expecting a hug. At all.
"Raven? What? Why are you hugging me?"
"I missed you. I thought I had lost you. I failed you. If it hadn't have been for Cyborg, you'd be dead now."
"So, Cyborg healed me? I didn't know he could do that." Beast Boy was in comforting mode.
"No...I did."
"Then you saved my life. If you hadn't healed me, I'd be dead now, so cheer up, smile, and help me up."
"Thanks Beast Boy" Raven said quietly, smiling slightly
"No, thank you." grinned Beast Boy
"I've waited a long time for that smile" he joked
"You want to play Super Ninja Onslaught 5?" offered Raven
"I don't know... I think I may have had enough of videogames for a while"
"Please? Just one round? I never got to say yes when you asked me." Raven was begging, and she knew it.
"Okay. Sure."
And that was where Robin found them when he got back, and immediately accosted Starfire and Cyborg for the whole story. Anything that would get Beast Boy and Raven to play videogames together had to be interesting. Especially playing videogames cuddled up to each other.
'Wisdom was right' thought Raven, as she snuggled closer to Beast Boy and knocked a ninja out.
'Tomorrow could be your last day. So make the most of your life while you have it. Live the next twenty-four hours as if they were your last, and that tomorrow, you will face your judgment. That is the way the game should be played, that is the way life should be lived.'
THE END
(A/N) Life is not a game. I am not advocating that it is. The idea is to live in this moment, and make the most of it, because the next moment, you could meet your maker.
Happy Reading!
-SkilletFan000