Disclaimer: Here's my extremely creative and inspiring disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans.
Chapter 2: Shimmer
I can't find a good quote.
Lily
Beastboy gazed at his ceiling, just a few feet above him. He was laying on the bunk bed in his room, thinking. Amazing, isn't it?
Raven. Why wouldn't she tell the others about her visions or why her colors had different colors? She was hiding something; he knew it. He had known it ever since they had gone to Upper Lamumba. Terra was not the reason that she left the Titans. What was? Trigon?
Beastboy flipped over and jumped off the top bunk, landing in a crouch. His room still looked the same as ever, except with new furniture because his old furniture was destroyed when he turned into a Man-Beast. It was the same type and color furniture, though, so no creativity there. He looked out his window at the sun, which was slowly climbing to the top of its stoop on top of the world.
Maybe her powers changed colors according to her emotions, Beastboy mused. Maybe…maybe…
BB shook his head. No, he shouldn't think about things like that. Raven would never like him if he kept butting into her privacy. He exited his room to seek Cyborg to play the Teen Titans video game that EA Games had donated to them a couple of days ago.
Stepping out into the hallway, he started walking down to the common room. He stared at the floor while he walked, wondering why the hallway was so bare. No pictures on the walls, no odds and ends from the Titans' rooms, nothing. Not even a smelly odor or scuff marks from STANKBALL or muddy footprints. Maybe the secret janitor cleaned it up. Beastboy imagined the secret janitor as a fat, balding man who was extremely rich because he secretly cleaned Titans Tower. No, he had to be skinny and wear spandex, so that no one could hear him while he cleaned. Spandex! How Beastboy hated spandex. But it helped him in battles. But still, maybe something else could replace spandex, like—
Beastboy cried out as he walked right into a closed door, not paying attention as he was thinking about spandex and secret janitors. He cursed loudly.
"Clever," Raven's mordant voice came from nowhere.
BB whirled around and saw her standing right behind him. Apparently, she had just come out of her room and had been floating behind him and was just about to go around him when he walked into the door. He sweat dropped nervously. "Heh…was thinking about…" He blushed. He certainly wasn't going to say secret janitors and spandex. "Stupid things. Never mind." He reached out to the secret spot to the right of the door that opened at his touch, though not without scanning his eyes for the correct DNA first. BB punched in the code: 844482667777—TITANS. The door slid open silently. He wondered how the secret janitor got through that door. Did it accept his DNA, too?
"What kind of stupid things?" Raven asked suddenly. Her violet eyes showed no curiosity, though.
Beastboy scratched the back of his neck as he walked down the red-carpeted steps to the common room center. "Really stupid things. Dude, they were even stupider than usual." He tripped over himself and tumbled down the rest of the steps.
Raven sighed. "I can see you're feeling coordinated today." Light red energy glowed around Beastboy and lifted him up, straightening the carpet.
BB blushed, thinking about Love. She had had the same color cloak. "Um, thanks." Maybe Raven's the secret janitor! He thought excitedly, but shook off the notion. Beastboy decided to take a sudden risk and asked casually, "So, now your emotions show in your powers."
The empath froze. How did he know? And did he realize anything when her powers were red when she lifted him up? She lowered her eyes and spoke to the floor, taking a deep breath first to prevent her voice from trembling. "How did you know?"
Beastboy studied her stoic expression carefully. "You're not the only empath in Titans Tower," He repeated the line from weeks before. His heart beated wildly.
"I thought you could only tell emotions," Raven dared to look up, her eyes meeting with his immediately. The sudden eye contact made butterflies flutter in her stomach.
The changeling tried to see what she was feeling in those lovely violet eyes, but nothing came up. He could still sense her nervousness. Why would she be nervous? "I could tell…that you felt…" He ransacked his brain for the appropriate word. "Anxious. You aren't sure whether Trigon is gone, but it seems like he is because of what's happening to your emotions…right? I just sort of guessed."
Raven trembled. "U-um…yea." Great. She was stammering. Raven did not stammer. She mentally reprimanded herself. You sound like an idiot, Raven, She thought crossly. Stuttering like some fool.
Beastboy noticed she was trembling. Damn, what'd I do? He thought to himself. "Well, um, anyway, I think he's gone. Really gone, not like Slade."
The older Titan turned her head to the left and reached to put up her hood. Beastboy's hand shot out before he could stop himself and touched Raven's. In shock, she let the hood drop and a light blush spread across her cheeks.
Beastboy could've pinched himself. What was he doing? Nevertheless, he let his stupid tongue say the words in his mind. "Don't. It's nice to see your face."
Raven swallowed. She willed her hand not to start sweating in Beastboy's. "Erm, thanks." Her hand dropped to her side as Beastboy slowly let go. She wondered why nothing was breaking, like it had last time.
The light in the room suddenly began to change. The two turned and stared out the window. The sun toned down from its bright red to a gentle yellow and the sky became blue. The dried grass turned healthy and green, wildflowers popping up. The Titans gaped in shock.
"Dude, and it's not even spring," Beastboy muttered. His hand brushed against hers.
Raven frowned. What had just happened? She bet if she walked outside, it'd be ten degrees cooler. "I—I think I'm doing it…"
Looking at her curiously, Beastboy asked, "Doing what?" He mustered up the courage to take her hand in his. Raven felt her heart flutter.
"Never mind," She muttered.
He decided not to press her and changed the subject. He took a breath and said, "I really meant it when I said I liked you." Beastboy took her other hand. He fervently hoped that there would be no interruptions this time, like the other two times he had tried to kiss a girl (Terra and Raven).
Raven almost objected. She almost stepped away, almost ran to her room, almost snapped at him, for hadn't he called her creepy? Hadn't he kissed Terra and told the little brat she was emotionless? Hadn't he annoyed her over and over? But before she could do a thing, or gather up the audacity to do anything, he placed his lips on hers. Her heart raced. She certainly hadn't felt this way when Malchior kissed her and she had lost Innocence.
Beastboy couldn't believe it. He was kissing Raven, the girl he had crushed on for years before Terra, and after Terra. He felt her tense up and then relax into the kiss. Her lips and body were warm against his as adrenaline pumped through his body.
Unseen by the two, a person stopped at the entrance to the common room, staring in shock. Sadness, jealousy, and hurt mingled her facial features. She slunk away, unnoticed.
"Raven…" Beastboy mumbled softly into her ear as they pulled apart. She had felt so delicate against him, like a china doll. He leaned in for another kiss when footsteps came from the hallway to the right. They quickly parted.
"Greetings, friend Beastboy," Starfire greeted Beastboy, walking to where he was standing in front of the couch. "What is 'up'?"
"NOTHING!" Beastboy shouted, flustered. Starfire jumped and looked surprised. "I mean, uh, nothing! What would make you think I've been doing anything out of the ordinary? 'C-cause I've just been standing here, thinking about secret janitors and spandex, not doing anything…" He stuttered. "U-uh, I think I'll go…pick some weeds! Yeah! And I'll mail them to…um…GALTRY!! I'm sure he'll love it…" He babbled, running out of the room.
Starfire blinked, watching him leave. What just happened?
Raven mumbled something about reading tea and left, just as disconcerted.
The confused teen stood alone in the common room. She sniffed her armpit surreptitiously, but could find no odor. She shrugged. Perhaps it was just 'one of those days', as Robin often said.
"No you don't know what it's like…"
Something thudded.
"When nothing feels all right…"
He heard a loud yell of rage.
"You don't know what it's like…"
Robin switched off his music and frowned. What was that noise? He strained his ears.
"ARGH!"
He exited his room and followed the noise to its source. The leader paused in front of the room the noise was projecting from in the workout room. The yelling continued and then died away to soft sobs.
"Terra?" Robin peeked inside the door, gazing at her small figure in the middle of the large room, surrounded by large weights that she had apparently been throwing around. "Problems?" He hated the traitor, but still…
She shook her head, her blonde hair bouncing. "N-no…please g-go away…"
Robin started to say something, but stopped. He walked away with a shrug. Consolation was never really his thing. He figured he would just go get Starfire to soothe Terra and her heartaches, whatever they were.
"Star?" Robin's masked eyes admired Starfire's perfect figure, silhouetted in the sun pouring in through the windows of the common room. She stood there, looking very confused and innocent.
"I do not understand, Robin," Starfire's clear voice rang out, clear and concise. Her orange hair shone in the sun as she moved toward Robin. "I walked into the room and I greeted friends Beastboy and Raven, but Beastboy has gone to pick weeds to give to Galtry and Raven has gone to read her tea. Are these Earth expressions? They are quite as queer as 'digging the scene'."
Robin blinked. "Uh…I don't think so, princess."
Starfire blushed at the nickname. Beastboy and Cyborg had called her that for a few days after they had found out about her royal blood. They had stopped, but Robin had taken up calling her that in private.
"What were Beastboy and Raven doing?" Robin had a shrewd idea.
"Oh, they were simply standing on opposite sides of the room. Perhaps they were in a fight, because they were both flushed and not looking at each other."
Robin guessed his idea wasn't right if they were having a fight…oh well. He should focus on his own relationship, anyway. "Okay. Terra's crying in the workout room…can you find out what's wrong, princess?"
Star agreed to do so and left. As soon as she left, Beastboy came back in from outside, still blushing.
"Hi, Robin," He said, glancing around as if looking for something or someone.
"Hello. Are you mad at Raven or something?" Robin flicked at his gloves. Ugh, spandex.
"Mad? Me? No way! Raven's awesome! I mean, uh, sure! Yeah, I'm really mad! So mad that I drove her to reading tea, I mean, drinking books, uh, or, um, drove her away! Yeah, in fact, I—"
Robin rolled his eyes. "Okay, what are you hiding? Did you kiss?" He blanched. "I don't think I can sit on that couch anymore if you made out on it…"
Before Beastboy could retort, the alarm went off.
When they had arrived at the scene of the crime, which was at an ice skating rink downtown, the first villain they saw was Mammoth, who was just standing in front of the rink, blocking the entrance.
"What the…" Robin muttered. "What do they want, the money?" He surveyed the panorama. People were streaming out back and side exits, screaming. However, several were still just standing on the outside of the rink, yelling something incomprehensible. Gizmo was nowhere to be seen.
"Cyborg, Terra, you take down Mammoth. Raven, Beastboy, go see what's happening inside. Star, you try and see what those people are shouting about. I'll go find Gizmo. Titans, GO!" They split up.
Raven and Beastboy ran inside the building through a side door. Floating above the rink was a teenager, eighteen or nineteen. She had bright, flaringly red hair that was cut right below her ears. She was deathly pale and had tight blue pants with a top similar to Starfire's, without the metal plate and it was yellow. There were black rings around her eyes and she had vivid scarlet lipstick. Something was strangely familiar about her.
"Ah," She said calmly when she spotted Beastboy and Raven. "If it isn't two of the Teen Titans."
"Who are you?" Beastboy demanded. There was a ring of water around the ice, leaving dozens of skaters trapped on the rink.
"I am Shimmer, a matter transmuter," She announced grandly. Her red hair shone as she raised her hands. Pink energy swirled around them and all the ice in the rink melted, unceremoniously dumping the skaters into the icy water.
"What the hell is that?" Beastboy muttered to himself, but didn't waste time wondering. He changed into a large walrus and started fishing people out, leaving Raven to deal with Shimmer.
"Azarath, Metrion—ack!" The floor beneath Raven's feet disappeared and she started falling into the basement, but she flew before she could hit the ground. Raven assumed that by matter transmuter, Shimmer meant that she could change one matter to another matter, like she had changed the solid ice to liquid water and the solid floor to gas.
"Raven, right?" Shimmer smirked. "You're the one who corrupted sweet little Jinx. DIE!" Her hands shimmered with pink and she brought them down swiftly. The air above Raven turned into a large wooden block and drooped directly on her, knocking her unconscious.
"Rae!" Beastboy had gotten the last skater out of the water and ran over to Raven, shoving off the wood block. He knelt over her limp body helplessly. He didn't want to leave her, but he had to stop Shimmer. However, Starfire charged into the room this very minute.
"I do not know who you are, but you are hurting innocent people and I cannot allow that!" Starfire tossed one starbolt after another at Shimmer furiously. Shimmer dodged the tosses easily, yawning.
"I'm afraid you'll have to aim better than that, my dear," Shimmer simpered. She formed a circle in the air with her pink glowing hands and the air around Starfire turned into solid metal bars to form a cage. Starfire fell to the floor in the cage and found herself unable to bend the bars.
Robin arrived just to see that sight. Infuriated, he threw a bird-a-rang at shimmer, but the bird-a-rang turned into oxygen and disappeared. Robin found that all of his tools did the same and, thus defenseless, tried to help Star out of her cage, but only found himself in another cage of his own.
The air around Beastboy turned into a cage, but Beastboy morphed into a large African elephant and burst it. The ground beneath him turned into water, but BB turned into a seal, and even when the water above him turned into ice, blocking the surface, Beastboy just slammed at the ice and it shattered.
"What a bothersome creature you are," Shimmer scoffed. "Gizmo, be a darling and destroy the green one."
Gizmo, who had followed Robin in, grumbled, "Yes, ma'am." Turning to Beastboy, he barked in his immature voice, "Hey, amoeba boy, tell me where Jinx is and I'll kill you later instead of now!"
Beastboy blinked. For a moment, he actually felt sorry for Gizmo. Though his tone was harsh, his eyes were poignant and mournful. He looked like the child he was, lost, as if he had lost his big sister. He obviously despised Shimmer. Criminals still had feelings, even little bratty seven-year-old geniuses.
Any mercy Beastboy had for Gizmo disappeared when Gizmo fired two yellow bolts of energy at him from one of his machines. He ducked them easily. However, Mammoth had snuck up on him and simply hit Beastboy on his head, knocking him out.
Cyborg and Terra zoomed into the room. Shimmer tried the cage trick with Cyborg and it was efficient, but Terra burst through the cage by making spikes of dirt slice away the bars.
"Why looking so pale, Terra?" Shimmer called, her voice ringing with scorn. "Did Beastboy dump you?" Shimmer knew her weak spot, though she didn't know about Raven and Beastboy.
"SHUT UP!" Terra screamed, sending showers of rocks at Shimmer. Shimmer waved her hand and they turned into water, along with the ground beneath Terra. Before Shimmer could kill Terra, Cyborg blasted her with his cannon. She fell to the ground with a satisfying thud.
"You okay, Terra?" Cyborg asked, hauling her out of the water. She was shivering, water dripping from her clothes and hair, forming a puddle.
She nodded. When Cyborg turned around, he saw Mammoth scooping up Shimmer and darting them away with Gizmo. Cyborg and Terra let them go. They had to help the other Titans.
"BB?" Cyborg poked his friend. Beastboy moaned and sat up, rubbing his head. A little blood came off. He grimaced.
"Where's Raven?" He mumbled incoherently. His eyes swam, unable to focus.
Cyborg carried Raven over. She stirred and opened her eyes.
Starfire and Robin came over, out of their cages. Terra trailed along, looking anywhere but at Beastboy and Raven.
"You okay?" Robin asked.
"I just have a broken leg and was just knocked out. I have bruises all over me and just got my ass kicked. Of course I'm okay," She scowled at Robin and started healing herself with the red and purple energy of Rage and Sarcasm.
"I feel like I have a hangover," Beastboy groaned, wiping away blood from a nosebleed. He sneezed.
"What is this over of hang?" Starfire asked.
"Since when have you ever had one?" Robin inquired suspiciously. He glanced around the rink to make sure no people were still inside.
"Shut up, Robin."
"We have to get Jinx," proclaimed Raven in her monotone voice. She knelt beside Beastboy and placed her hands over his abdomen and started healing him. She prevented herself from shaking from the touch with great difficulty.
Beastboy blushed and turned away. "Hey, Terra, why don't you come over here?" Terra was standing resolutely in a corner.
She shook her head, her back to the others. She couldn't stand seeing Raven and Beastboy. The next thing she knew, however, Beastboy was by her side.
"What's wrong, Terra?" Beastboy asked, all seriousness.
Terra shook her head again. A single tear slid down her cheek slowly. "G-go away, Beastboy. P-please." In her mind, she kept replaying the scene over and over involuntarily—Beastboy and Raven, thinking they were alone in the common room, kissing. How long had it been going on? Had Beastboy ever really liked her in the first place?
"Terra, I just—"
"Beastboy, I need to be alone!" She said forcefully, more tears sliding down. Before she knew it, rocks were swirling around her. The blond closed her eyes and breathed deeply. Don't lose your temper. Don't lose your temper, like Slade told—no, like Robin told you not to, Terra thought. The rocks dropped to the ground. However, she still hadn't regained control over her tongue. "Go snog Raven or something!"
Beastboy became uncomfortable. He could feel the other Titans' eyes boring into his back of his head. "Um…"
Suddenly, a pink energy ball swirled in front of Beastboy and Terra. A flash of purple and more pink flipped out of it, revealing itself to be Jinx. The first thing she said was a loud curse.
"Jinx!" Robin hurried forward. He wasn't completely sure whether to trust Jinx, even if Raven did. "Did you see Gizmo or Mammoth?"
Jinx smoothed back her skirt. "Gizmo's in jail, but I think he'll get out for good behavior if he can hold himself back." She scowled. "Mammoth is being an idiot. He's no longer my companion."
"Do you know who that hot girl that was hanging out with him was?" Beastboy asked. Raven clandestinely stepped on his foot, her action hidden by the folds of her dark blue cloak. When he was sure the others weren't looking, he made a face at Raven. Just kidding, he mouthed.
Jinx glanced at the two amusedly, then at Terra, who was staring mundanely at the floor. "Shimmer? She's Mammoth's older sister."
"Older sister?" Starfire asked. She cocked her head, her amber hair swishing to one side. "Where has she been all this time? She is quite powerful."
The pink-cheeked girl put one hand on her hip and looked thoughtful. After a long suspension, she said, "I think she was dead, but somehow Mammoth got her back to life. Probably something he actually learned from the Theory of Mayhem test that Cyborg here nearly failed."
Robin nearly choked. So that was a real test.
Cyborg blushed. He felt fluttery being near this beautiful girl. "Yeah, well, you almost failed the test about how to conquer world domination."
"Well, you—"
"Anyway," Robin interrupted. He didn't want to hear about any more tests. "Shimmer is a dangerous criminal. Do you know any simple way to defeat her, Jinx?"
Jinx raised an eyebrow. "Oh, like I could find out her weaknesses from only seeing a couple of pictures of her."
Suddenly, there was a loud clatter and every Titan and Jinx found themselves surrounded by microphones.
"How do you feel about the new criminal?"
"Is she particularly dangerous?"
"How is your relationship with Starfire going, Robin?"
"Where have you been the last month? There has been rumors that you've been in Africa…can you clarify?"
"Terra—Beastboy: how are you getting along? Or are you and Raven forming a relationship currently?"
"How do you feel about Jinx, Cyborg?"
"Jinx—have you really reformed your criminal ways?"
"Starfire—have you been to Tamaran lately?"
Robin sighed and began to deal with the newscasters. "Shimmer is a very precarious criminal…"
Happy Holidays and Happy 2005 to everyone! :) I haven't updated in forever becase of a) Laziness and lack of fire for Teen Titans, b) The holidays and gift wrapping and all that, and c) Sims 2/the new Marauders Harry Potter fanfiction I'm writing. Sorry for the delay and the pathetic first and second chapter.... I'm very Marauder-y now that I know the sixth Harry Potter book is coming out on July 16...:P
Oh, and for future reference, if I forget you in my replies/thank yous to your reviews, don't feel offended. :P Sometimes I skip over by accident or you review right after I put this up or something, so your review might not have shown up. :)
TDG3RD-- Really? I thought the Yin and Yang was way better than this...thanks!
Tori--Yeah, I think so, too. :P
IAmImmortal--I was never really into romance. xD What's wtv or is that just a typo?
Reveric Tigress--I have an obsession with Harry Potter (Marauders era). :D
Daydreamer1313--Yeah, I'm not really into art that much, but Jackson Pollock is awesome. :) When I was writing that part, I was thinking of his paintings and couldn't remember his name...
flannelsanddramaqueens--Heh, oops. But hey, I get ESP and ESPN confused, too. When I was little, I thought ESP was a TV station...:P
rae1112--Wtf?!
Monique--That's such a pretty name. :)
BreakStuff--Lol, I hate those. Like the first thing you read is, 'BB and Rae started making out on the floor'. Hopefully this wasn't too fast...
dancingirl3--I emailed you. :P
candyclouds711--I hate Terra. xD There's Rob/Star in the next chapter...
quite-a-shame-- They kissed. :)
mew-xena-- -glances around- -whispers- To tell the truth, I haven't really figured out what the vision was of, either. I have this vague idea that I will most probably use, and the idea is that CENSORED.
DarkRavenna-- Lol. :P
warprince2000, ultraviolet4ever, stella-s55, The Mad shoe, sweetpea, Veral42, aurorasmist, 10920, Unforgettable, and purplerave--thanks!
Happy New Year,
Lily