Amazing, I'm finally back. And I have a new story. Booyah! So I hope you guys like the first chapter.
Disclaimer: I don't own the Teen Titans series, animated or otherwise.
This story takes place right after the series finale episode, "Things Change". In case you haven't seen it, here's the baseline: The Titans return to Jump City after defeating the Brotherhood of Evil and are attacked by a creature with the ability to morph into anything it touches. Beast Boy soon sees a girl who looks exactly like Terra, but when he confronts her at a local high school, she says she has no idea who he is and doesn't use her powers. If it really is Terra, this poses the idea that she either lost her memory or is lying. It is never explained which is the case. The last we see of Terra is her telling Beast Boy to basically let her live her life in peace. Beast Boy then leaves the school to help his friends fight the monster.
And here we begin.
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Slow Dancing On Broken Glass
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Chapter 1. Altered
By the time Beast Boy joined them in their battle, the strange white android that the Titans had been fighting against for the past three days had morphed with the concrete of the walls and had pinned Starfire and Cyborg to the floor. Raven was lying a couple meters away, attempting to recover from her last blow to the head. Their leader was struggling to release his two friends; struggling because the monster was not giving him any weak point to attack.
Beast Boy sprinted in the form of a lean cheetah to help and jumped up onto the creature's back. The distraction proved long enough for one of Robin's bombs to hit it square in the face. Beast Boy jumped away to safety before the force sent their foe stumbling backwards into a pile of white containers.
"The creature is persistent, yes?" Starfire asked, helping Cyborg to his feet. He grunted in anger and picked off the remains of concrete from his body.
"Guys, we cannot get our butts kicked by some cheesy ripoff of Amazo!" the half-robot declared angrily.
"If we had more backup, this wouldn't be so difficult."
Beast Boy bit his lip in apprehension, waiting for his leader to glare at him, but it was unnecessary; everyone understood Robin's innuendo of the shifter's absence. Wanting desperately to make up for not being there for his team when they needed him, he desperately looked around the recycling plant for any way to subdue the enemy. Only then did he take another look at the metal white containers that currently surrounded the creature.
"Robin, what's in those things?" he asked, his eyes widening.
"Probably some kind of ethane gas," Robin replied. A second passed before he smiled, understanding Beast Boy's sudden idea. "Raven! Can you create a shield around this thing?"
If Raven was still shaken from the blow, she didn't show it. "Just tell me when."
"Okay, then," said Beast Boy, and he morphed into a green rhinoceros. He took a few steps back before charging straight toward the steel cylinders. A moment later, he gored one of the containers with his horn and threw it at the creature.
"Now, Raven!" Robin shouted. Her eyes glowed white and she held both hands in front of her body.
"Azarath Metrion Zinthos!
As the black energy surrounded it, the creature's body adapted to the same form as the gas, making it invisible to their eyes.
"This might be our only chance at taking this thing down," Robin said, pointing at the red hot molten metal. "Raven, do you think you can move it into the pit?"
"No problem," she replied, and began to do so. As the orb floated closer to the pit, the thought that the creature would simply merge with the melted metal again occurred to Robin, but he was willing to wager that science would win this battle. As it disappeared beneath the surface of the metal and Raven's eyes turned to their original hue, his wish was granted. A loud blast vibrated throughout the building and all five of the Titans were knocked down by the explosion emitting from the pit. The sound of sealing tiles and metal panels being blown apart from the wall echoed in their ears.
A minute later, the team stood from their recumbent positions to check out the damage; many of the garage doors had buckled and bent open, and pieces of the roof were blown completely off. Most of the melted metal was on the floor around them, slowly cooling to its original form. The monster was nowhere in sight.
"Booyah! Now that's how you open a can of butt whoopin!"
"Employees at other businesses for several blocks around the recycling facility said they could hear and feel the blast. Dozens of Jump City firefighters rushed to the scene and the fire was extinguished at about 2:00 pm."
Robin fingered the remote control idly as he listened to the anchorwoman. From the comfort of their cushioned chairs, all of the titans, excluding one, watched with him. Then, the TV screen switched from the newsroom to a camera shot recorded from the height of a helicopter. A girl with long red hair flew into the shot, apparently searching for something.
Starfire squealed. "Yes! I have finally been casted broadly into the world of television!"
"Hush, Star!" Cyborg whispered, his eyes glued to the screen when he saw his own form bending a metal door back into place. Raven lifted an eyebrow in amusement, but said nothing.
"Our local heroes, the Teen Titans, joined the crews as they checked the rest of the building. Initial reports indicate that there was no radical structural damage to the building, nor were any of the Titans themselves majorly injured."
"We're just happy to help-"
Cyborg's mouth dropped open as he pointed at the screen. "Yo, man! Why are you the one who gets to be interviewed?"
Robin stood and nonchalantly threw the remote at Cyborg. "You guys better get some rest. We'll need it if we ever want to find out where that thing came from."
"Does it matter?" Raven asked. "We took care of it. End of story."
Robin shook his head. "I know there's more to it than that. I don't know what, but I will find out. Nobody nearly destroys my city and gets away with it."
With that said, Robin began to walk towards the doors. His journey was quickly halted when Starfire flew over to him, hovering above the ground with a bowl of some sort of green, slithering concoction.
"You are sure I cannot tempt you into joining me while ingesting a warm bowl of Nigleners?"
Robin had to swallow a little before answering, the stench of the dish rendering him speechless. "No, thanks, Starfire. Already ate. Besides, I need to talk to Beast Boy."
Her smile vanished as she gently landed back on her feet. Beast Boy had left them immediately after the monster had been defeated, turning into a dog and running in the direction of the Tower. Robin gave them all a swift glance that clearly said "I'll handle it," before continuing towards the doors. He was soon alone in the hallway and walked purposefully to the last room on the right. He slid the door open, revealing a room that had not been occupied even before the Brotherhood of Evil had forced the Titans' hand.
It was Terra's old room.
"How did you know I'd be in here?" Beast Boy asked disdainfully. He was standing at the other end of the room with his back to the door, staring out through the window to see the city.
"It seemed appropriate," Robin replied, turning around to type in a security code into a small pad beside the door. A loud beeping noise emitted from the device and a light click could be heard. Robin had been locking the door. It was clear that he did not want any distractions. He turned around to look at his friend.
"I want you to tell me what happened."
Beast Boy exhaled sharply, shaking his head. "Like you care. Nobody... nobody else seems to care."
"Of course we care. But our first obligation is to the city. We have to deal with our other problems before we go running around-"
"Well, guess what Mr. Obvious! We don't have to worry about the 'problem' anymore, 'cuz it doesn't matter! She's never coming back!"
Beast Boy had started making his way across the room toward Robin the moment he had said the word 'problem' and had gotten in his face. The sudden outburst almost shocked Robin. Almost. But the teenager's rage was only a mask to hide his intense grief. He fell to his knees, burying his face into the carpet and sobbed quietly. Robin stared at him for a moment before walking past his trembling form to one of the cushioned chairs. He closed his eyes and he waited for Beast Boy to calm down.
'To think he really cared about her this much,' Robin thought while his friend wallowed in his sadness. A good ten minutes passed before Beast Boy finally lifted his face. His green eyes were speckled with red and the tear streaks running down his face were gruffly wiped away before he walked over and sat in an opposite chair. When he heard his breathing finally go back to normal, Robin opened his eyes.
"Tell me."
Beast Boy told him everything. He relived the past few days with perfect clarity; he told Robin how he had taken the girl to the pizza parlor and into this very room the day before to try and jog her memory. He talked about his confrontation with Slade, and the girl's last words to him before disappearing in the sea of her fellow students.
"Things change, Beast Boy. The girl you want me to be is just a memory."
"She just can't accept it. Slade said she didn't want to..." Beast Boy's voice faded as he leaned his head back in the chair, looking at the stars that were painted on the ceiling.
"Maybe you were right, Beast Boy," Robin said, determined to get through to him. "It seems more likely that she somehow lost her memories of everything before when she was freed. She said that all she remembered was high school, right? There might have been some kind of accident while we were gone."
When Beast Boy did not respond, Robin leaned forward in his chair to look at him. "If you really think it's her, then we'll look into it. All of us. I promise."
The two Titans sat in silence for a while before Beast Boy lowered his head to meet Robin's gaze. "You'll really help me find out for sure?"
"Of course. We're a team; what kind of a leader would I be if I didn't trust my teammates?"
Beast Boy managed a weak smile. "Thanks, Robin."
Robin smiled as well and stood up. "I want to see you up bright and early for training exercises tomorrow, understand?"
"Dude, didn't we just get back from saving the entire generation of heroes from an evil, talking brain?" the shifter complained instantly, still bearing the same smile. Robin chuckled lightly before walking past him to the door. Beast Boy shifted into a dog and began to circle around himself to get more comfortable in the chair.
"Oh, and Beast Boy?"
The Titan in question picked his head up to look over the chair at his leader. Robin was already halfway through the door and was placing his hand onto the light switch.
"Good work, today."
And with that as a parting word, the Boy Wonder switched the lights off and closed the door, leaving Beast Boy alone to ponder his thoughts. It didn't take long for him to settle into a peaceful sleep. He didn't notice that in the dark, with the light of the moon shining through the window, the old present he had given his beloved was shining in the pale light, reflecting an illuminated heart shape near his paw.
So, did you guys like? I hope so! Please review, criticize, favorite and wait patiently for the next chapter. I have it in my head, just not on paper.
Thanks again for reading!