Disclaimer: If I owned the Teen Titans, then I'd be updating in cartoons, not chapters.
I have revised all the chapters in this story so they flow better and have corrected any errors I found. I'm not an English major so it still won't be perfect. Any random text you see probably was put there by one of my cats sitting on the keyboard. Cat owners, you know what I'm talking about.
Again, I'm sorry for the horribly inhuman delay on updating this story. I love you all for forgiving me (or not—I wouldn't blame you if you didn't) and appreciate all your reviews and comments over the years. Even the smallest review makes me smile because I know that I've made least one person smile with my writing and that's the best feeling of all.
Enough of the badly concealed "please review because it inflates my ego" statements. Onto the story!
"Are you crazy?! Time to go home? Maybe for you, but I'm stickin' here." Cyborg said, grooving to the music. "This place is hoppin'!"
"Fine, see you later dude." Beast Boy said. Cyborg gave him two thumbs up and a big smile. Beast Boy smiled back. "So this means we're cool for the whole singing clown thing?" he asked hopefully. Both of Cyborg's thumbs up turned into thumbs down and his smile was replaced with a frown. "Ooookay then. Let's go Raven and, uh, Trevor."
"Where?!" Trevor asked glancing around. Raven looked ready to rip him a new one and Beast Boy wondered if the guy had been dropped on his head as a kid. Still, he had done his job for the day—apparently quite well considering the look on Cyborg's face—so he needed to get paid.
"Hey Raven, can you teleport us back to the Tower?" he asked, turning to her. Raven felt low on energy but could pull off one more teleportation before she would be spent for the day. She gave him a nod. "Great! Let's go outside so we don't make a scene." Once outside, Raven told her passengers to stay close to her. Trevor tried to get particularly close to her, but Beast Boy blocked his way and the young man ended up smashing into the green teen. This caused him to lose his balance and fall on Raven who had just completed her teleportation spell. The result was Raven landing first on the sandy shore, followed by Beast Boy on top of her with Trevor on top of him.
"I claim this land in the name of Trevor's everywhere!" the jester proclaimed, standing on top of Beast Boy.
"Dude! Get your feet off my booty!"
"Ha-ha! You said 'feet'!" Trevor laughed, jumping off the poor Titan to point at him mockingly. Beast Boy grumbled, but then realized the sand on the island was remarkably squishy and warm tonight. It wasn't until the sand started shifting and growling did he look down at it.
"Err whoops. Sorry Rae." Beast Boy said, getting off of Raven. Said Titan pulled herself out of the crater that had been created when all three of them landed. Sitting up she spat out a mouth full of sand. More sand covered the entirety of her front. Seeing the twinkle in Beast Boy's eye and his mouth opening she quickly cut him off by saying, "If the words 'sand' and 'witch' leave your mouth in the next five seconds then at the stroke of midnight, you're going to be buried up to your neck out here."
"Mustard remind you of rule 5 of the contract?" Beast Boy said, pulling it out of his back pocket and unfolding it. "Lettuce look at it. Ahem. 'Raven shall not punish Beast Boy for the things he does while she's under his control'. Olive that rule, don't you? Rav—" The rest of his sentence died in his throat as he looked over at Raven. He had been expecting her to be pounding her head against the closest boulder but not this. The slight breeze that was present tousled her hair ever so slightly as the moonlight behind her made her seem like she was glowing. But that glow was nothing compared to the small smile she had on her face. The look made his heart nearly stop and he almost forgot how to breathe. She was stunning. Simply and utterly stunning.
"You're never going stop with the corny jokes not matter how many times I ask, are you?" Raven asked. Feeling his tongue tied in a knot, Beast Boy simply shook his head.
"Good." she replied, the smile not leaving her face.
"Ahhh! I'm sinking!" Trevor cried, breaking the blissful moment and bringing the two teens back down to Earth. They looked over to see Trevor flailing around and clawing the ground.
Raven scowled as Beast Boy vowed to himself that he would step into a library more than once a decade. He never wanted to be that dumb.
"You stay here with him and I'll go get the coupon." he said. "Be back in a sec."
"'kaaaaaay!" Trevor sang out into the night. Hurriedly, Beast Boy ran into the Tower searching for his pants. Realizing Raven had been the last one to wear them, Beast Boy ran to the bathroom closest to Raven's room. Inside he located the uniform he was looking for in the hamper. Searching the pockets, he found the coupon.
"Yes!" he exclaimed, making his way out of the Tower. Outside again, he ran along the beach until he was met with a very different scene than before. He had to stifle a laugh.
"What'd he do?" Beast Boy asked, looking at the irritated Raven.
"He tried to serenade me." Raven explained, arms crossed, sitting on the beach and glaring at the form of Trevor, upside down with half his body plunged in the sand as his legs wiggled in the air. The boom-box next to him looked like it had been thrown into a wood-chipper. "That crack in the Tower was from his singing, not me." She gestured towards the nearest window to them. Indeed, there was a long crack in it that had spider-webbed out.
"Then it was definitely worth the money if he did this to the others all day." Beast Boy replied, pulling Trevor by the leg out of the sand. He gave him the money and the coupon. Once the slip of paper hit his hand, Trevor's eyes went wide.
"SHE'S BEAUTIFUL!" he shouted, clutching it to his chest as if he had found his true love.
"Uh, dude, it's just a coupon." Trevor growled at the Titan fiercely.
"She's MINE and you can't have her back!"
"Um...Okay?"
"Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine..." Trevor continued to shout as he left the island. Both Titans looked on with confused stares.
"Did he just—?"
"—run across the water?" Raven finished. "Oh yeah."
"That's just..." Beast Boy shook his head suddenly reminded of so many cartoons he watched on television. "Never mind." He looked down at the purple-haired beauty who was now lying down on the beach. Chuckling, he asked, "Gonna sleep out here tonight?"
"Definitely not in this dress." Raven replied, her eyes closed. Suddenly, she groaned.
"What?" he asked, sitting down next to her.
"I'm going to have to go shopping for new curtains since I'm wearing my old ones."
"Well they definitely frame your body nicely!" Beast Boy joked. "Get it? Curtains? Window frame?"
"Ha, ha, ha." Raven replied, pushing down her instinct to chuck a rock at his head.
"All puniness aside, I think they do look prettier on you than the window." Beast Boy said, his face tinting slightly pink. At this, Raven opened her eyes and looked over at him.
"Oh, um...thanks." she said, sitting up and brushing the sand off of her. She faced slightly away from the Titan next to her. Both were silent until she spoke again. "It's almost midnight."
"Yeah." Beast Boy agreed. He wasn't sure what to do next. Earlier in the night he decided that he would tell Raven he liked her when the bet was over, and now it was coming to a close. But who knew if Raven would even listen to him after the bet? He could probably get a couple words out, but knowing how closed off Raven kept her emotions, did he really think she would listen to everything he would say? Probably not. So perhaps the best situation was to do it right now, before the bet was over.
"So…I had a fun time with you today." Beast Boy began. "A real fun time."
"It was an…interesting day, but I can't say I hated it completely." Raven said, looking out into the moonlight. "Even if you did make me eat my lunch with my face."
Beast Boy chuckled. "Well—" He bit back the humor-filled comment he was going to make; now was not the time for jokes. For once, Beast Boy needed to be serious. Seriously.
"So, uh, Raven. I, uh, I mean I, uh…" he stumbled over his words.
"Feeling particularly articulate today?" Raven asked.
"Well, I h-have something to say." Beast Boy replied, cursing his slight cracking voice. His companion didn't need to be an empath to figure out he was nervous about something.
"I'm listening." she replied, giving him her full attention.
"Okay, so, uh, just keep doing that, okay?" Beast Boy said. "Just listen. Don't say anything, move, or disappear until I'm done." Raven furrowed her brows, but kept silent. What was so important that she had to—?
Raven's eyes widened slightly as she realized what Beast Boy was going to do. He was going to tell her he had feelings for her, and knowing him he would probably want a response back. And that was the problem: she had no response back yet. Raven hadn't expected him to crack this early. She still needed time to reflect and decide on her feelings. A day was not enough time to figure everything out. It was too much of a rash decision, and Raven didn't make rash decisions. Unfortunately for Raven, all she could do now was listen. She was bounded by the contract to follow what Beast Boy had instructed her to do.
"Okay, so this is kind of tough to say." Beast Boy continued, not meeting Raven's gaze, but eventually he did look up, taking a big gulp in the process. "Raven, I think you're really pretty a-and you're so awesome." When Raven gave no reaction, he dropped the gaze and looked to the sand and sighed.
"I spent the day with you today Raven, and I saw a side of you that I've never seen before. You're fun and nice and great and beautiful." Raven watched as the changeling's cheeks tinged pink.
"What I'm trying to say is…well…I…" Beast Boy looked up at Raven. "Raven, I really like—"
RRrrruUUUmmmBbbLLLeeE!
Suddenly, a large tentacle shot out of the water, illuminated by the moonlight. Before either of the two Titans could react, it lunged towards their position on the beach. Both of them jumped out of the way just in time for it to smash into the sand where they had just been.
"What is that?" Raven shouted as more tentacles appeared out of the bay and headed towards them.
"I think it's Charlie, but he never acts like this!" Beast Boy replied back, running alongside Raven and dodging another attack.
"Who's Charlie?"
"The giant squid that lives at the bottom of the bay." he explained, biting back a curse. He had been so close to letting Raven know how he felt about her!
The purple haired teen shot him a look. "What's a giant squid doing here?"
"Aqualad brought him here when the Titans East were watching the Tower, but now he refuses to leave—RAVEN!" he shouted as one of the tentacles managed to coil around Raven's body and lift her high into the air. Suddenly the enormous body of Charlie rose from the bay with Raven still clutched tightly in his grip. He was a dark red squid with glowing red eyes. He had to be at least 20 feet tall with even longer tentacles.
On land, Beast Boy shouted, "Charlie! What's gotten into you?!" before taking into the air himself in the form of a falcon.
"Me." It was a single worded reply, but one that sent shivers down both Titans' spines. They knew that voice. It wasn't so much as spoken, but thought in their minds. Raven stopped struggling in her bindings to glare down with a look of pure hatred.
"Malchior." she spat as Beast Boy landed on the large tentacle that held her and transformed back to his human self.
"Malchior? Why are you possessing Charlie and not in your dumb old book in Raven's room?!" Beast Boy shouted at the dragon in the cephalopod's body. The giant squid's body shook with what the two Titans presumed as laugher.
"Foolish green one." Malchior spoke. "It was dear Raven who released me from my prison."
"Yeah right! Raven would never do something stupid like that!" Beast Boy retorted. "Right, Raven?" he added on, looking at her. She reddened and wouldn't meet his gaze.
"Well…"
Flashback
Raven was in her room. She had a large knife with her. She needed it to cut up a large chocolate cake. She put the cake on her table.
"This cake will be tough to cut through." she said. "I should take a big swing at it in order to cut it." And that's what she did. She held the knife very high up in the air with the intent on cutting with as much force as she could. Suddenly while she was in mid-swing, Silkie stormed into her room and plowed into her table, knocking it a good foot and a half to the left. Now instead of swinging at her intended target, she brought the knife down on Malchior's book which had been on the table. Raven had his book out on the table because she was going to taunt him by the fact he could not have any of her chocolate cake. The book turned to powder after being sliced.
"Oh no." Raven said. "Malchior's book has been destroyed. I should at least be responsible and keep the remains so there's no chance of him returning." But suddenly as Raven was doing the responsible thing and getting a glass jar for the powdered book, a huge gust of wind came from her window and swept the ashes into the air. They swirled around her room before leaving out the open window into the night air, with Malchior giggling madly.
"That isn't good." Raven said. "Once the bet is over with Beast Boy, I will go and get his ashes. I don't want to go now in case it takes a lot of time. I want to be here tomorrow to fulfill the bet."
End Flashback
"…"
"…"
"...Dude, just, dude." Beast Boy remarked in shock. "Raven, that's the worse lie I've ever heard and Star's told some whoppers! First off, your windows are never open. Second, Silkie can't charge into your room 'cause you always lock your door. Third, you slice everything with your powers. And fourth—"
"—I do not giggle." Malchior interrupted, squeezing Raven rather tightly. "Enough of this foolishness. I did not allow my being to be devoured by multiple fish, regurgitated, and finally eaten by this giant squid to squander my precious time with your stupidity. Prepare to die."
As Malchior prepared to squeeze every last breath (and rib) out of the girl in his clutches, she vanished in a haze of black energy, reappearing on shore, panting.
"Raven!" Beast Boy took off as fast as he could as a pterodactyl towards land to grab Raven by her shoulders before one of Malchior's large tentacles could crush her to tiny half-demon bits. They flew up to the roof which was just out of reach for Malchior's limbs, but not his cursing.
"Thanks." Raven said as they landed, clutching her probably bruised innards. "I don't think I can teleport much more. Between the crazy car ride, magical make-overs, and the fact it's midnight, I don't have much energy left."
"Then we should figure out how to get rid of the soul parasite before you run out." Beast Boy said, resuming normal form. They heard breaking glass from below, indicating that Malchior was attacking the Tower itself now. Had Beast Boy not accidentally disabled the alarm system, it would have been flashing red and sending alerts to the others. "Can't we like, seal him in another book or something?"
"That's actually a good plan, but the only problem is his book was very magical and capable of holding his soul." Raven said. "I'm not sure if I own something that will do that. A lot of the things I own are very magical, but they're so old and/or fragile that they wouldn't hold his soul or vise-versa."
"Then you go find something that will hold him and I'll keep him from destroying the Tower." said Beast Boy. Raven gave a brief nod before heading towards the stairs of the roof. Leaning over the edge of the roof, Beast Boy glanced down to see Malchior blasting the Tower with ink that seemed to become acidic and erode away some of the windows. If Beast Boy didn't stop him soon, the structure of the building wouldn't be able to hold.
"I need to stop Malchior, but I don't want to hurt Charlie." Beast Boy thought out loud to himself. A sudden idea popped in his head and he added, "I know! I'll get some help! Cannonball!" With that, he jumped off the ledge and turned into a rhino. He hit Malchior smack-dab in the head with enough force to knock him back into the water. It would leave Charlie with a lump and a pounding headache, but it gave Beast Boy enough of a distraction to turn into a marlin and head to the place he knew he would find the help he needed.
Books, cloaks, trinkets, all assortment of items lay sprawled out on Raven's bedroom floor. Her usual tidy room was starting to resemble Beast Boy's. It had been about 5 minutes since she started her search and Raven had yet to find anything that would be able to contain Malchior's soul. The only thing powerful enough she found was her mirror and she was not going to lock that crazy dragon in her head, though she certainly deserved it for being so stupid in the first place and destroying the book. She had let her emotions get in the way of common sense and had destroyed the book in anger. It had really been a foolish thing to do and she was certainly paying for it now.
Raven peaked out of her closet when she heard a THWACK! at her window of something colliding with it. Because she no longer had any window dressings on her windows, she was able to see a green sparrow.
"What are you doing here?" she asked, opening up her window to let Beast Boy inside. He flew in and changed back, his hair and clothes dripping wet.
"You were taking a long time so I wanted to see what's up." he replied, taking off his black flannel jacket and wringing it out the open window.
"But what about Malchior? You're supposed to be keeping him under control." Raven said, looking out the window to see how much damage the giant possessed squid had done. What she had not expected to see was another giant squid, this one pink in color, wrestling with Malchior—and winning. "Don't tell me Aqualad brought two giant squids here."
"Of course." Beast Boy replied. "He couldn't take Charlie away from his wife."
"His…wife?"
"Barbara."
"Ugh." Raven groaned at the randomness of it all. Beast Boy looked around at the mess.
"So did you find anything that will be new digs for our dragon fiend?" he asked.
"Unfortunately not yet." Raven replied. "I can try make an object more magical, but that will require energy and I'll already be pushing my limit when I have to re-seal Malchior again so I would rather find something that's already in the condition to hold him."
"How about this?" Beast Boy asked, picking up a vase from Raven's shelf. "It feels magical."
"It is quite magical." Raven said, taking the vase from him and putting it back on the shelf. "But it would shatter immediately on contact with Malchior's soul." She paused before giving Beast Boy a scrutinizing look. "How did you know that was magical?"
"I dunno. It just felt like it." he replied. "I don't really know how to describe it other than a feeling."
"Hmm…I wonder if you managed to keep a sliver of the magic I gave you and the others." Raven thought out loud, recalling the time when she empowered her friends with her dark magic before she left to become the portal.
"You mean I can still kick butt with your powers?" Beast Boy made waving motions with his hands like Raven did when she was casting a spell.
"No, but you can help me find something magical to seal Malchior in." Raven said.
"You mean you're giving me permission to snoop around your room?" he asked, incredulously. Raven sighed before answering.
"I suppose I am, but only this one time." she added, seeing the gleeful look on his face. "The longer Malchior is free, the stronger he'll become. You've probably notice that he hasn't attempted any spells or curses since he's been free."
"Yeah, I was actually wondering about that." the green boy said, staring out the window where Malchior and Barbara were still fighting. They seemed to be tentacle wrestling now.
"That's because he doesn't have enough power to cast any. Merging with…Charlie…took enough out of him. I'm surprised he didn't bid his time to let his powers increase before attacking."
"Well if I was an angry evil dragon that was eaten and pooped out by fish all day, I'd want to get revenge as fast as I could."
"I…suppose that makes sense." Raven said, not in complete agreement but she couldn't think of a better reason. "Now help me search."
Beast Boy gave her a quick nod before looking around the room as Raven headed back into her closet. He realized he didn't know what to start with and started picking up objects randomly, but his train of thought slowly began to digress into his earlier ponderings. He glanced over to the closet where he saw Raven still throwing things out of it. A large plush chicken came sailing out and knocked over an empty water glass on Raven's dresser. Behind it flew a purple penguin, a sparkly hula-hoop, a sombrero, a remote-control car (with remote), a large inflatable saxophone, and enough bouncy balls to trip an elephant.
Beast Boy looked at everything slacked-jawed. They were things that he had given her over the years that he honestly hadn't expected her to keep. Picking up the chicken and minding the bouncy balls, Beast Boy made his way over to the closet and poked his head in.
"Raven?" She was on her knees hunched over a box. When he called her name out, she turned to him.
"Did you find something?" she asked staring up at him expectantly. He grinned and held up the chicken.
"This." he said.
"It's just a toy. Keep looking." Raven said, turning back to the box she was searching through.
"I mean you kept it." Beast Boy explained, coming further into the lit closet. "And all those other things I gave you." he added gesturing behind him with his thumb.
Raven paused in her search again to send him a puzzled glance.
"Of course I kept them." she said, standing up. "Was I not supposed to?"
"I guess I didn't think you would."
"Well…surprise, I keep the things my friends give me, even if most of them are ridiculous." Raven replied, digging through another box to pull out a small booklet and handed it to Beast Boy.
"What?! No way! You kept Cy's 'free hugs' coupon book?" he exclaimed, thumbing through it. He noticed a tear in the back. "You used one?" he asked, curiously, suddenly getting that feeling again he had had before in the garage also coupled with disbelief over Raven wanting a hug.
Raven shot him a small smirk before taking the booklet back from her teammate. "He didn't specify who or what had to be the receiver of the hug."
"Dude, is that why Cy hugged the stankball for a whole minute that one time? I thought he got another virus or something!"
"It was payback after he introduced Starfire with the concept of 'sleepovers'." she explained. "You never, ever, want a Tamaranian to braid your hair." she added, touching hers. Realizing it was now rather sloppily hanging in part of a ponytail due to the action of the night, Raven pulled out the band and shook her head to try to get her hair back into its normal position.
Beast Boy gulped watching her seemingly innocent action. He could have sworn she had done that whole display in slow motion, her hair tossing around her face and neck, softly caressing them. If he had been unsure of his attraction to Raven before, he certainly would have nothing to be unsure of now.
While Beast Boy seemed oblivious to the flow of time, Raven sure wasn't and she was wondering why he seemed to be staring at her for half a minute, unblinking.
"Beast Boy? Are you okay?" she asked, noticing his pupils had dilated slightly. Had Malchior given him a concussion and it was just surfacing now? She stepped closer trying to diagnose him further.
Beast Boy suddenly because aware of how close Raven was getting to him. Her intense gaze made his heart race and he felt his palms start to sweat.
"Y-yeah I'm fine." he said, with an awkward chuckle, rubbing the back of his head. He stopped instantly when he felt Raven cup the bottom of his chin and look into his eyes.
"Hmmm…I suppose so." Raven said, turning his head this way and that to examine him. "I thought I saw—" Realization dawned on Raven as she realized what she had actually seen.
Begin Flashbacks
"He'll notice." Raven said to Cyborg sitting next to her at the table. They were both looking at their fearless leader as he made himself a sandwich at the kitchen counter. However, Robin's attention was not at all focused on his sandwich making but instead on his alien teammate who was fluttering all around the common room giving it a good dusting, humming merrily to a tune she had heard earlier on the radio.
"He won't notice, look at him!" Cyborg gestured at their friend's stupor state. Raven shrugged and took a sip of her tea. Moments later there was a resounding CRACK! followed by a yelp of pain. Everyone in the common room turned their attention to the Boy Wonder as he held his jaw in pain and stared incredulous at his sandwich that had a big bite out of it. But that wasn't the only thing it had in it.
"Dude, is that why we keep losing all the TV remotes?!" Beast Boy exclaimed from the couch.
"Friends! Do you like the new outfit I have purchased from the mall of shopping?" Starfire asked, as she came up on the roof where the rest of the Titans were starting up a BBQ. Cyborg was grilling, Beast Boy was eating all the chips, Raven was meditating, and Robin was listening to his music, sitting on the ledge of the roof enjoying the breeze from the bay. Starfire twirled around with her new skirt and white spaghetti-strap top on. The skirt was red and flowy. It blew up all around her as she twirled for her friends. Everyone heard a slight gagging sound behind them and turned to see that Robin was now missing from the party.
Raven sighed as they all heard the splash of water from down below. "I'll go get him."
"If you want to appear more nonchalant as you stare blatantly at Starfire from behind your newspaper, it probably shouldn't be upside down." Raven remarked to Robin as she read her own book near him at the counter as Starfire gave Silkie a bath in the sink.
"I'm not healing that." Raven said in a deadpanned manner to Robin as he held his nose in pain. The empath watched the others, who hadn't notice Robin's peril, talking together further up the path in the park they were in. "I thought you had learned to not walk into trees just because she smiles at you." Robin huffed at her.
"Fine, but when you, uh, might like someone and do stupid things, I'm taking full advantage." Raven rolled her eyes, both at Robin denying his feelings and his words about her liking someone.
"That will never happen."
End Flashbacks
That last memory felt like it had happened an eternity ago, but in reality it was merely a week. Just a week ago Raven didn't believe she would ever develop feelings for another person. Yet here she was, staring at Beast Boy and she could feel her heartbeat quicken. It was hard to believe—maybe even a little too hard to believe. Did she really like him or was she caught up in the moment?
Speaking of moments, Raven realized she and Beast Boy were having another one. He stood in front of her with the same unfocused look Robin reserved for Starfire. Worse than that, he was getting closer.
"Listen Raven," he said. "About before—"
"We have to keep searching." Raven retorted, cutting him off. She hadn't been ready before for this conversation and she definitely wasn't ready now.
"Can't we search and talk?" he suggested, still coming closer to her, their eyes locked.
"Beast Boy, just not now…" she replied, feeling her heart beating faster. He was getting close, so close. She took a step back.
"Why not?" he asked, curiously, tilting his head in a manner that Raven found cute.
"Because—AH!" Raven had taken a step backwards again and accidentally stepped on a pile of the bouncy balls. She flew backwards into the giant mound of stuff she had tossed out earlier.
"Raven!" Beast Boy had to shield himself from the few things that flew at him. When he looked again, Raven had completely disappeared from sight. "Raven?" he called out, getting no response. Hurriedly he went to the pile and began to remove stuff, realizing Raven's closet had to be enchanted in order to hold as much as it did. A couple of seconds into digging, he stumbled upon something that made him do a double-take.
Flashback
"They're magical!" 14 year-old Beast Boy laughed, as Raven held up her birthday present in disgust. "I saw them in a shop and knew they'd be perfect for you!"
"Aren't you supposed to taken the girl out on a few dates before this type of present?" Cyborg remarked, eyebrow raised. Behind him Robin laughed loudly.
"Dude! It's not like that!" the changeling rebuffed. "It's hilarious! Now we can say Raven has a magical pair of—"
"I'm going to my room." Raven interrupted, standing up. "Thank you for the gifts. Most of you." she added, glaring at her green changeling. After that she left the room with her gifts.
All of her gifts.
End Flashback
Of all the gifts he had gotten Raven over the years, this had to be the one he least thought she would keep. He reached out to grab them when a nagging feeling that he was forgetting something plagued his brain. He ignored it, chuckling to himself as he grabbed them and held them sky-high—except they weren't the only thing that came out of the pile and Beast Boy instantly remembered what he had forgotten.
Flashback
"Say it!" Jinx said, blasting Raven with pink energy, but the latter dodged and threw a trash can.
"No!" Raven responded. Jinx bent backwards and the can flew over her and crashed into the side of the club. However, Raven took that moment to sweep out her leg and knock Jinx off balance. Her attack worked but came at a price.
Riiiiiiiip!
Looking down, Raven saw her dress hadn't been the best outfit for fighting in and now had a large tear down the front. It went all the way up to the black sash around her waist, leaving little to the imagination about her lower half. From on the ground, Jinx burst out laughing. To make matters worse, both Gar and Cyborg came barreling through the backdoor.
"We heard crashes and—" Gar began, but was stopped in his tracks when he saw Raven. She hastily grabbed the ends of her dress to close it and started manipulating the fibers to repair the dress, but it was too late. Both boys turned bright red and covered their eyes.
End Flashback
He had been too embarrassed to notice then, but he certainly noticed now as he held Raven up by the back of her green underpants with little white swirls all over them.
Raven, who had been knocked out after her ungraceful crash, found herself in a rude awakening. Her eyes were opened wide and she couldn't even utter a single word from receiving the ultimate wedgie.
Beast Boy was no better as he looked on in horror of what he had done. Quickly, he dropped his grasp, causing Raven to fall down.
"Raven," he started out. "I am so, so sorry." Said half-demon turned her head and stared owl-like up at him.
"…Ow…" was all she could say. Suddenly like a dam exploded, Beast Boy began to laugh. Raven's expression, what he had done to her, it was all too much for him to handle and soon he found himself on the floor next to her, clutching his sides.
SLAP!
"Ow!" he yelped, now clutching the back of his head. "I deserved that."
"Damn right you did!" Raven fumed next to him, her face red with anger and humiliation as she tried discreetly to de-wedgie herself. "What was that for?"
"I was trying to pull you out of the pile when I saw your, er, them, and remembered when I gave them to you. I didn't realize you were actually wearing them!"
Raven turned redder. "What about earlier when—?"
"I totally didn't notice. Honestly." he said with a blush. A small smile then worked its way on his face. "I thought you would have thrown them out."
"They were…functional." his companion admitted. "I hate shopping so…" This only made Beast Boy laugh again.
"In that case, next year I'm getting you a fake mustache so when your upper lip gets cold—"
"Yes, ha ha, I both save and use some of the stupid things you've gotten me over the years."
"Hey, that's actually on my list!" he exclaimed. Raven furrowed her brows.
"What list?"
"The list of things you do in your room!"
"…You're ridiculous." she replied, making Beast Boy grin harder.
"No, you're ridiculous, Miss Magical Under—" Suddenly Beast Boy gasped. "Raven, they're magical!"
"Yes, they don't get dirty. I did noticed that."
"But that's not all they do." he said, with a mischievous grin.
Malchior was getting stronger (and angrier) by the minute. Charlie's body seemed to have doubled in size and was developing a scaly demeanor. It wasn't long before he finally threw off the pink squid completely. Barbara's body flew through the air towards the Tower. Suddenly at the last moment it was enveloped in dark energy and stopped inches from the glass.
"Ah you're back." said Malchior noticing Raven floating in the air near the edge of the bay. She was now wearing her normal uniform. Beast Boy hovered in hawk form next to her. "You think your aquatic friends can save you? Think again!" he roared, making a swipe at the airborne Titans. They dodged his massive tentacles. "The longer I'm free, the more powerful I shall become! And then my dear sweet Raven, you shall die!"
"Then it's time to seal you up again before that happens." Raven said, a blush on her face as she held up her magical pair of underwear.
'They absorb a tiny bit of your powers when you wear them.' Beast Boy had explained. 'The more you wear them the more power they have.' Raven realized she had never noticed this fact since they did only take a tiny bit of her power and she couldn't sense the energy coming off of them because she had always assumed it was her own energy she was sensing—and it technically was. They were strong enough to hold Malchior's soul and powerful enough to do it. She was also able to extract some of the stored energy and use it to replenish herself. She wasn't at maximum power but she was better off than she was before.
The dragon in squid's clothing gave off a laugh that shook the Tower.
"Surely you have gone insane."
"Not insane, but a little crazy." Raven replied, giving a quick glance at the green hawk circling above her. To her liking someone was definitely a little crazy for her. Suddenly realizing that the girl in front of him was not joking, Malchior gave a roar of anger. His body glowed an eerie red before completely transforming into a dragon and rising up and out of the bay.
"No! I refuse to be defeated! This time you shall perish. You will die unhappy and alone!"
"There's no way I'm letting that happen!" Beast Boy shouted in his human form on top of Malchior's head. Winding back as far as he could, he lunged forward with his fist successfully punching the evil spirit in the eye. Malchior gave a cry of pain releasing a large stream of fire, shaking his head wildly to toss the changeling off. Beast Boy jumped off, turning back into a falcon.
In the meantime, Raven was doing her best to gather all of her remaining energy for the spell. It was a much more time-consuming task than normal since she was lower on power than normal even with the boost. She only had one shot at this and if she failed…well, that was it. Beast Boy was doing a great job at distracting Malchior but she didn't know how much longer he could last. He was currently in the form of an octopus with all of his legs wrapped around the dragon's jaw. Not only did he have to deal with the strength of the jaw, but Raven could tell Malchior was attempting to morph her teammate back into his human form. She just needed a little more time.
"Fool! You're only prolonging the inevitable!" Malchior spat, successfully removing Beast Boy from his jaw with a blast of fire.
"Beast Boy!" Raven yelled as she watched his flaming human body drop into the water. Instinctively she stopped trying to gather her power and flew towards him only to narrowly escape a jet stream of fire.
"I'm alright!" came Beast Boy's voice from down below. Raven caught a glimpse of his head floating in the water. "He burnt off my club clothes, but I've got my uniform on underneath and that's fire-proof!"
Despite the fact she was dodging a fiery doom herself, Raven gave a huge sigh of relief.
It was time.
The moment Malchior stopped his attack, the dark sorceress turned to face him, thrusting the underwear out in front of her where they hung in the air as they began to glow green.
"Aldruon enlenthra—" she spoke, her body electrifying with dark energy—all the energy she had left. Upon hearing the binding curse, Malchior gave off a roar of desperation and shot intensely hot purple and green enchanted flames at the Titan. Their powers collided together and they struggled back and forth for dominance.
Raven sweated under the intensity of the battle but she managed to keep him in check. "—nalthos—"
Now Malchior was getting desperate to win. Putting more power behind his attack, the body he was possessing was unable to keep his dragon transformation and was starting to shift back. He was a gruesome sight, somewhere between a squid and a furious dragon. He still had wings and the head of a dragon, but his had scaling red tentacles instead of arms or a tail.
"—sola—" Raven fought to form the magic around her into the spell she needed to seal Malchior. She was almost finished, but the amount of power to keep the dragon back was incredibly draining. He was almost overpowering her and she didn't know if she could keep it up anymore. Suddenly she felt a pair of wet arms wrap themselves around her and the weight of another body added to her own.
"You can do it, Rae." Beast Boy said, his head resting on her shoulder next to her own. "Take whatever power is left in me and finish him!"
Understanding what he was doing, Raven used her free hand to entwine her fingers with Beast Boy's, clasping her hand with his. Although he barely had any magic left in him, a little boost was exactly what Raven needed.
"—narisnor!" she shouted out into the night, her energy beam doubling and turning into a mixture of green and black. It fought back Malchior's flames, slowly gaining ground. A tiny stream of black magic was slowly trickling out of the green Titan to combine with Raven's energy flow, helping to push it towards the evil dragon spirit.
"Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" Raven heard Beast Boy shout from behind her and before she had time to even think about what the heck he was doing, she felt her magical core inside of her give a lurch and suddenly what seemed like white lightning shout out of her and rocketed towards Malchior, pushing the curse towards him and finally engulfing him completely.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" he shouted as his soul was pulled from Charlie's body towards the duo to finally be re-sealed again.
In magical underwear.
Once the last of Malchior's soul was sealed, there was an explosion of power causing Beast Boy to lose his grip on Raven and go flying in the opposite direction as her. Quickly managing to turn into a large turtle, Beast Boy pulled into his shell just in time to hit the beach, making a crater in the sand. Once his trajectory had ended, he transformed back, a little dazed. He rubbed his head before looking around. He gave a cheer of victory once he realized Malchior was no longer present.
"Haha! Woohoo! We did it!" he celebrated. "He was no match for us, right Raven?!" he asked, climbing out of the crater and doing a little boogie. "Raven, where are you?" he added in confusion over not getting a response from the purple haired girl, stopping his dance. It suddenly dawned on him that maybe instead of getting to the beach like he had, Raven could have fallen into the bay she had been floating over previously.
Quickly as he could, Beast Boy dove into the bay once again, this time as a dolphin, using his sonar to help him track underwater. He swarm for a minute or two before finally picking up on something. He saw Charlie, dazed and confused on the bottom of the bay, but what made his heart sink was when he saw a blue-booted foot floating down into a canyon below the sea floor. As fast as he could, he dove into the canyon, seeing Raven's body floating lifelessly downwards. Carefully as he could, he grasped Raven's arm in his mouth—hoping it would move on its own—and took off like a bullet towards the surface.
The time it took him to reach the beach felt like an eternity in his mind. How long had Raven been down in the water? Had she struggled to swim or simply fell in without another word? Was she—?
He couldn't even think about Raven and that four-lettered word. Breaking the surface of the water at the beach, Beast Boy instantly turned back and dragged his teammate to shore.
"Raven wake up!" he cried desperately, shaking the demonic girl slightly. It suddenly dawned on him that she wasn't breathing.
"What-do-I-do?! What-do-I-do?! What-do-I—CPR!" Not even a moment went by before Beast Boy found himself pushing on Raven's chest, trying to get air into her lungs.
"Come on Rae! Breathe" he shouted, hoping any second she would cough up the water and be insulting him; he didn't care for what, but just to know she was breathing.
After pumping on her chest a dozen times he gently pried her jaw open before enveloping her mouth with his and blowing air into her lungs. He gave a couple of large breaths before repeating the entire CPR process over again.
"Breathe dammit!" he swore after his third repetition. "Raven, you have to wake up! I can't lose you!" He pushed hard on her chest. "I have feelings for you! I was trying to tell you before." He breathed into her once again. "You can't leave me! I won't let you!" Push. "You're everything to me!" Breathe. "I don't care if you don't return my feelings." Push. "I want you breathing again!"
And with one final breath, Beast Boy felt Raven's body tense and her eyes flew open before she lunged forward to vomit out water and gasp for air.
"RAVEN!" the changeling shouted loudly in exuberance. He pounded on her back to help her get rid of the residual water in her lungs.
"B-Beast…Boy…" Raven managed to wheeze out, slowly regaining her breath. When the last of her coughing subsided, she turned to look at her rescuer. Once their eyes locked, Beast Boy felt himself lose it. He had almost lost one of the people who meant the most to him; one whom he had realized he had fallen for. With the adrenalin still pumping high in his body, Beast Boy enveloped Raven in his arms and leaned forward with the intent to capture her lips in his own.
Raven didn't know what to think. The last thing she remembered was finally sealing up Malchior, a pulse of power, and then the cold water before an endless darkness. The next thing she knew, there was a pounding on her chest and water in her lungs. She sensed Beast Boy near her when she was coughing up water and heard him exclaim her name. When she finally turned to look at him, she found herself in his arms as he leaned in to kiss her. It was all too much for her to handle and she pushed back to release herself.
When Beast Boy felt Raven struggle against his embrace and pull away from him, he was overcome with disgust with himself. His friend almost dies and the first thing he tries to do is make-out with her! She was very much unconscious during his confession so she had no idea why he was doing what he was doing. She was probably disgusted with him too. It broke his heart.
"Raven, I, uh…" he stuttered out, not even sure where to begin.
"Just give me more time to breathe properly and then you can kiss me." Raven replied, trying to get more oxygen into her lungs.
"Okay, I'll—Huh?!" Beast Boy thought maybe he had water in his ears. Raven couldn't have said what he thought she had said. In fact, Raven hadn't meant to say that at all, but her mouth had spouted out those words before her water-logged brain could stop her. But now that she had time to think them over, she realized how much she really did mean them.
"You heard me." Raven said, having caught her breath, and turning to face Beast Boy, her cheeks slightly pink.
"B-b-but you said—" The changeling's mind churned at a snail's pace trying to put the pieces together.
"I know what I said." With the initial ice broken, Raven felt it was easier and easier to be bold. However, after watching Beast Boy struggling to understand what was going on, Raven realized she needed to be even bolder. Taking a deep calming breath, she said, "You can kiss me now."
Unfortunately her only answer was a blank, wide-eyed stare before Beast Boy's body hit the sandy beach in a dead faint. It took a moment before Raven could react. Soon though, Raven's right eye began to twitch violently. She stared down at Beast Boy who was lying face down in the sand before looking up at the sky and asked, "Azar, is this why you became a monk?"
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