Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans or any of the characters in this story, just the plot.
Chapter 3: Happy
I hope life treats you kind,
And I hope you have
All you've dreamed of.
and I wish to you joy,
And happiness.
But above all this, I wish you love.
And I will always love you.
I will always love you...
I Will Always Love You, Whitney Houston
"...check downtown near the mall..."
"...shall go where we first met..."
"...going to our old hangout..."
"...then I'll go check the alleys..."
"...perhaps she is at the mall of shopping..."
Beastboy sat listlessly on the couch, listening to the others planning where to try and find Raven. Raven, who had formed the Teen Titans. Raven, who had saved his life more than once. Raven, who would have rather drowned than ride in a whale's mouth. Raven...the girl he had loved.
"BB?"
Beastboy looked up at Cyborg. "What? I'll just wait here...in case she comes back...which isn't likely..." His voice trailed off dejectedly.
"Dude, what happened between you and Rae last week?"
Beastboy studied the floor. He wondered who chose red as the carpeting color. Why did dirty feet never stain it? Who bothered vacuuming the carpet at all? Maybe a secret janitor came in at night when they were all asleep...He stared at the rich ruby colored carpeting, examining each hair before finally replying. "Nothing."
"Come on, BB, what really happened? You can tell me, it's not as if the others are listening," Cyborg looked at the others, who were all arguing over where to check.
"Well..." Beastboy fiddled with his gray gloves, taking one off, then putting it back on. Why do I wear spandex? He thought to himself. It helps in battle cause it doesn't flap around, but why spandex? Why don't I wear something else? "We were just talking...about Malchior...and..." The changeling nodded towards Terra, who was insisting that she be the one to check Raven's favorite depressing café.
"And that lead to kissing how?" Cyborg thought of his crush, Jinx. He just loved how her pink hair shone in the sun and how her black dress twirled when in combat...Is that how Beastboy felt about Terra and Raven? With different hair colors and clothing articles?
Beastboy shrugged. I wonder who chose this dumb outfit anyway...I just woke up one day to find my old clothes gone and a million replicas of this dumb spandex thing. It's not fair! Everyone else got to chose their outfits...Cyborg's naked, if you think about it that way, Robin had his outfit from Batty, Starfire's clothes come from Tamaran and Raven's cloak from who knows where, but she got to chose it herself! Who chooses the outfits anyway? We just found Terra's outfit on this very couch once she joined...Maybe the secret janitor put it there. Maybe the secret janitor is really a zombie from—
"GARFIELD LOGAN!! We're trying to talk to you here!" Robin's face suddenly came into view.
Beastboy winced. "Dude, don't call me that!"
"Your real name is Garfield?!" Terra sat down next to him. "That's...um...interesting." She stifled her laughter.
"It's better than Victor or D—"Beastboy started to say, but Robin cut him off.
"Err, yea, anyway," Robin glared at him for nearly mentioning his name in front of Terra. Cyborg might not have a reason to hide his name, but Robin did, and he didn't trust Terra. Yet. "BB, we're all gonna split now, see you in half hour and call us if she comes back. Titans, go!"
The teens ran out of the tower.
Raven surveyed herself in the mirror.
Not bad, she thought.
Raven had changed her attire. She wore dark blue jeans and a...dark green...spaghetti strap top. A dark blue jacket covered her gray arms and had a hood that she put up to hide her purple hair. Dark sunglasses covered her violet eyes, black and green sneakers replacing her usual blue slippers. Why green? She didn't know. The empath simply figured that she was hanging around Beastboy too much. The jacket was carefully placed so that none of her gray skin showed on her neck or arms.
Currently, Raven was residing in a run down apartment near the edge of town, where they had once battled with Thunder and Lightning. The apartment was tiny, with one bedroom, a bathroom and a kitchen. She would have to make do until she could move to another town. The empath didn't plan on spending her life in a shabby apartment with hardly anything in it. The week she had already spent in it was long enough.
The teenage girl left the apartment, pocketing her keys and then stuffing her hands in her pocket. Gray hands would immediately give her away and from the many police cars and pedestrians, people were looking for her. Silly Beastboy. The residents of Jump City were too blind to find anything. Or anyone.
Raven walked silently down to the place she hated most: the mall. This was the only outfit besides her cloak and leotard that she owned. Suddenly, a shadow passed over her. Looking up quickly confirmed her trepidation: Starfire was scanning the city from the skies. Raven made no sudden movements and walked quickly into a dark alley, breathing deeply and evenly so not to set off her powers. That would give everything away. After all, teens didn't usual know how to crack glass by just getting nervous or mad.
Starfire passed her over.
Raven sweat dropped in relief.
As soon as she was about to walk out, a large body slammed onto her.
"Where do you think you're going, baby?" A deep voice crooned into her ear. It smelled like cigarettes and beer.
Several other figures emerged from the darkness.
"A chick like you shouldn't wander around Jump City alone," The voice turned out to be an ugly, sullied young man of maybe twenty or twenty-one. He grinned at her maliciously.
"Get off me," Raven said loudly. Hopefully they'd leave before she was forced to resort to her powers.
"No, I don't think so, baby," He leaned in closer and the other guys formed a ring around her to block her escape. "Not until we have some fun."
Raven curled her lip in disgust. She tried to draw back her fist for a punch (all those hours of training actually pay off in the end), but two men on the side grabbed her wrists. The empath was strong, but not strong enough to throw off the combined weights of four hundred pounds. That was more Cyborg's thing. She then opened her mouth to say her famous words, but a stinking rag was stuffed into her mouth. Raven nearly threw up from the smell.
In Raven's mind, she concentrated on the row of trashcans behind the men. She couldn't use as much force without speaking, but she could still drive the cans into the men's backsides...
It was Beastboy's turn to search.
He wandered around aimlessly, randomly signing autographs for those who asked. The changeling didn't have much hope left anymore. After all, they had spent the whole week searching. Raven was probably in China or something now.
His extra sensitive ears picked up a man's voice in an abandoned alley that he had just passed by. Turning around curiously, he walked into the alley, finding a ring of gangsters surrounding a girl of fifteen or sixteen. He couldn't see her face because of a hood...
Just like Raven, he noted sadly.
"What are you doing?" Beastboy stood at the entrance of the alleyway.
"AAH! It's a Teen Titan! Run!" They all started running in haphazard directions. The one closest to the girl dragged her towards him, holding a gun towards her forehead.
"C-come any closer, Titan, and the g-girl's gone!" He stammered.
Beastboy wrinkled his nose. The man smelled like marijuana. He didn't bother replying; the man wasn't worth it. The changeling quickly turned into a tiger and knocked the gun out of his hand, knocking the man unconscious as well. The man's reflexes were too slow to pull the trigger. Beastboy quickly knocked out the others, then changed back to attend to the girl.
During the 'fight', she had taken a gag out of her mouth, then watched, looking rather bored, on the side. As soon as he was finished and wasn't blocking the way out anymore, she started to run towards the entrance of the alleyway.
Beastboy caught her by her arm. "Whoa! Where are you going in such a hurry, dudette? Are you ok?"
The girl didn't seem to want to respond. She turned her face away.
Beastboy frowned. Was she a criminal or something? Why wouldn't she show her face?
"Look, um, whatever your name is, I'm a Titan. I won't hurt you. I just need to check for injuries before you can go...Robin would kill me if I didn't..." After a moment's thought, he also added, "And I have to check your identity." For all he knew, she could be a drug dealer or something.
The girl struggled to pull her arm out of his grasp in vain. She was very strong, but Beastboy was stronger.
"Get off," The girl's voice sounded familiar. Beastboy shook his head. Now he was hearing things. This was getting stupid.
"You know, this would go a lot faster if you just—"
Beastboy was cut off when the girl stomped on his foot. He let go in surprise and pain. The girl tried to zoom away, but the changeling quickly caught her again. He grabbed both of her wrists and pinned her to a wall. Beastboy narrowed his eyes. There was something about this girl...
The teenage girl in front of him did a spinning kick and her flying foot hit him squarely in the stomach and he staggered back.
Wow, this girl is really strong for someone her age, He thought.
Suddenly, a strong gust of wind blew and her hood fell back onto her shoulders.
He gasped.
Shoulder-length violet hair spilled out of the hood.
Beastboy still couldn't see the girl's face, but he already knew who it was.
"Raven!" Beastboy tried to look at her face to face, but Raven kept turning away. He grabbed her arm again.
"Go away, Beastboy!" Raven's voice sounded the same as ever. She yanked her arm, but BB still held on persistently. "Let me go!"
"Raven, stop! I just want to talk!"
"Let me go, Beastboy, before I have to force you. I'm not going back while that traitor is still in the tower."
Beastboy finally managed to spin her around.
"Nice colors," He said, finally getting a glimpse at her face and outfit. "Green."
Raven closed her eyes. As soon as Beastboy let go, as much as she didn't want him to, she had to run. Or fly. Now that Terra was back, there was no reason for her to be a Teen Titan anymore. After all, they all liked that traitor better than her.
"Um...well...you don't seem to be hurt," Beastboy's grip tightened. "Why did you let those guys corner you?"
"I didn't notice them sneaking up," Raven opened her eyes, then gazed at the concrete floor. "Even though they smelled worse than your whale breath."
Beastboy grinned and relaxed his grip. Wrong move.
Raven shot out of his hands and flew into the air.
"Raven!" Beastboy quickly brought out his communicator and quickly called Titans Tower. "I found her! She's heading towards the pizza place."
Without waiting for an answer, he changed into a falcon and zoomed after her.
In the place where Beastboy had last stood, Slade emerged from the shadows. "So," He said quietly. "The raven has flown out of the coop."
Below her, several windows shattered. Raven winced. She could never escape if she left such an obvious trail.
Escape, Raven thought. Is that how I think about Titans Tower now? A place I have to escape?
She sighed and looked down. The empath had just passed the pizza place.... So many memories had been from there. She recalled the many times that Beastboy and Cyborg had argued over the type of pizza they had. Raven hesitated slightly in her flight. Was this really the right thing to do...? Suddenly, a flashback of Terra and Beastboy sharing the same drink at that pizza place popped into her head. Raven flew quicker.
Suddenly, something jumped on her and she found herself falling.
What the...
Raven looked up into the mechanical eyes of one of Slade's robots. Before she could say or do anything, more jumped onto the rooftop that they had landed on. She was surrounded.
"AZARATH, METRION, ZINTHOS!" Raven shouted. She didn't have time for this. A huge black wave of energy washed over the rooftop, but nothing happened to the robots.
Raven threw black energy spikes and tossed items at the robots, but nothing affected them. They closed in on her menacingly. The empath realized she was defenseless because her black energy didn't affect them. There was only one thing left to do...
She screamed.
Beastboy and the other Titans scoured Jump City, following various trails of exploded items. Suddenly, a black energy field expanded from a rooftop ahead of them. A few moments later, a scream cut through the air. Pedestrians looked up, confused.
"TITANS, GO!"
Beastboy changed into a duck (yes, a duck) and flew up to the roof, then changed back into a human. Starfire landed next to him, along with Robin, who had swung up with his cord thing. Cyborg thundered up the stairs and joined them. They all gaped at the masses of robots for a few seconds before attacking.
Robin knocked down several with his bo staff and Beastboy in his tiger form. However, Cyborg and Starfire's energy blasts and starbolts had no effect on the robots. Cyborg resorted to just knocking them down with his super-strength and Starfire followed suit. Terra pelted rocks at them.
However, after all of Slade's robots were defeated, there was no sign of Raven.
"Rae?" Beastboy asked the air.
"I'm afraid your little friend won't be able to respond," Slade stepped out of the place where he had been secretly watching on the side of the roof, behind a shed. In his arms were a limp figure with pale gray skin and purple hair...
"What have you done?" Robin asked angrily as one of her arms flopped to the side. Terra shivered and moved behind Beastboy.
"Well, since your silly little Terra has proved to be a failure, I've made a trade," Slade smirked. Robin wanted to stab him. "You keep that asinine blonde and I keep Raven."
"No one can replace Raven or trade her for someone else!" Beastboy angrily said, spots of color rising to his green cheeks.
"That's not what Raven thinks now, is it?" Slade smoothed back a lock of Raven's mauve hair. She's much prettier than Terra and much more powerful, anyway, Slade thought. Raven stirred. "She thinks that you don't need her."
"Raven does not think so negatively!" Starfire exclaimed. "She is our friend and would never wish to leave us!"
The other Titans cringed. Slade was right, but Starfire didn't know. Starfire thought that Raven was just playing a new game she had learned, hide and seek.
Raven woke up and opened her eyes. What the hell...she thought drowsily. She tried to sit up herself, but was thus unable to. "Where am I..."
Beastboy couldn't stand it anymore. He turned into a gorilla and lunged forcefully at Slade, but Slade easily dodged the changeling.
"We can't have that now, can we? You might hurt your little girlfriend," Slade said coolly. Raven tried to sit up again, but Slade placed his hand on her chest, preventing her.
"Get off me..." She mumbled. She didn't want him touching her there.
"Raven's not his girlfriend!" Terra exploded angrily, jealousy taking over her facial features.
Beastboy blushed.
Suddenly, Slade threw down a small, round object. Dark gray smoke issued from it and the Titans coughed. When the smoke cleared, a mirror and Raven stood where Slade last was. Except Raven had somehow changed into a pink outfit.
"Raven!" Starfire rushed forward and hugged Raven with all of her strength. "Are you undamaged? How did you manage to change into my day of birth present so quickly?"
Cyborg curiously picked up the mirror. It was gray with two red gems on the top and bottom.... He gasped and quickly looked away from it. "Beastboy! Look, it's Raven's meditation mirror!"
"I have no clue," Raven giggled. Starfire looked at her curiously. "But I sure am happy to be here!" She looked around her. "So this is what the real world looks like! AWESOME!" Raven zoomed into the air, doing twirls and flips.
Beastboy's eyes widened. He looked at Raven, and then the mirror. "Happy..." He muttered.
"Raven, come down!" Robin called into the air. He didn't want her to run away again.
"Whatever you say, Boy Wonder!" Raven giggled happily and did a loop de loop before landing. "Wow! It's such a beautiful evening!" (It was night by now)
Terra and Robin stared in awe.
"What'd she do, take a Prozac?" Terra asked to no one in particular.
"Happy!" Beastboy demanded. "Is that you?"
"Sure is!" Happy giggled again. "Did I ever tell you that you were hilarious?" She grinned and poked his stomach.
"Um, yea," Beastboy blinked. How did Happy get out? And if this was Happy, where was the original Raven?
Cyborg started explaining to the other Titans.
"Ugh, why are your clothes so gray?" Happy tugged Terra's hair. "You should wear some brighter colors! It would really suit your looks!"
"Um, thanks, Happy...?" Terra looked perplexed.
"Happy, where's Raven?" Beastboy asked.
"I'm right here!" Happy chuckled. "Silly!"
"No, I meant the Raven that you used to be in the mind of!"
"Oh, I'm probably in Slade's lair," Happy smiled. "We don't really like it there, though."
Starfire scratched her head in confused. "I do not understand—I thought you were here! And why are you saying we?"
"Cause Raven IS me, that's why! The doctor says we have multiple personalities, but we don't agree!" Happy cracked up at her own joke. "Did I ever tell you that purple looks great on you, Star? Loving your eyes, too! They're just so GREEN, like BB's!"
Starfire blinked. "Thank you, friend Happy Raven..."
Happy laughed loudly. "YOU'RE WELCOME!!!"
"Raven...er, Happy.... Can you take us to Raven? The blue one," Robin asked cautiously, as if afraid Happy would explode.
"No, I don't think so," Happy bounced around the rooftop exuberantly, her bright lavender eyes sparkling with delight. "We sort of kind of lost the connection between our minds, you know?" Happy giggled. "But oh well! I LOVE being free!"
Beastboy frowned. As much as he liked the happy version of Raven, he'd still prefer the original. After all, if Happy was here, where was Raven?
WOW!! At this rate, I'll actually get FIFTY REVIEWS! 0.0 -ish truly shocked- I meant to update earlier...right after Halloween, in fact, but Iunno, school, extracurriculars, friends...It just slipped. -smiles nervously- Had a great Halloween, btw. Went to a few parties, got lotsa candy...-grins happily- Oh, and The Beast Within was SUCH A COOL EPISODE!! FWEE! Raven BB Luv. Anyway...onwards!
Zee, IAmImmortal, soraoathkeeper, Brittany, and rae/bbGOOD--thanks so much!! -hugs-
spAybaraSimonslit-- TY! I debated a lot whether to bring Terra back or not...I don't really like bringing Terra back or fics where she's back just because the explanations are usually unreasonable. I think mine was dumb. xD I mean, what kind of person survives being covered with moltem lava (besides Slade)? Heh. xP
dana1313-- Thanks so much! Did you know that when I make little faces like yours, they cut it out?! So I can't post one of those faces here cuz automatically cuts it out! -whimpers-
DarkGoddessRaven-- Read and find out! xP
Soldier of Darkness-- LMAO, me too! I always find the best fics at like 2 AM...DIE TERRA!! Should I kill her off? o0
Sammeh: FOOD! -jumps on cookie and chomps-
dancingirl3-- Calm down now...xP -pats back-
Zeldagurli-- Thanks. -grins happily and munches on muffin- Blueberry is my favorite type of muffin!
Mel-The-Gryphon-- COOKIES!! -munches away satisfyingly- At this rate, I'm gonna get sick from having so much food. xD
Dannysckr-- WOAH! Long review! Thanks so much! -loves reviews-
Ho hum...can you believe it, I was writing more of the story and when I went to see how many pages it was, it was already over 50!! My longest fic I have ever written was an HP one and it was 104 pages, so 50 is pretty impressive, I think...o0 And it's not even halfway done...-cackles ebilly-
Please review,
Lily