Disclaimer: Don't own Teen Titans or the quote.
Chapter 6: Coming Back
"I don't like being back here," he said, staring across the drawing room. "I never thought I'd be stuck in this house again."
Sirius Black (I LOVE SIRIUS), Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling
Beastboy gazed out the window of the T-Ship. The fluffy white clouds were below them and the dazzling sun above them. He sighed. The changeling was intensely bored. Robin and Cyborg were the pilots of the T-Ship and would take turns piloting the way to Upper Lamumba. They still had two hours left.
In the other parts of the plane were Starfire and Terra, in Raven's usual spot. Starfire was reading a book about airplanes translated into Tamaranian from Intelligence and Terra was listening to her Walkman and staring out the window. The Ravens were teleporting themselves to Africa.
He glanced down at his hands. They were a healthy peach color, a color he hadn't seen on his own skin for over a decade. Cyborg had programmed another holographic skin for him, just like the one Cy had used when he had sneaked into the Hive. This one portrayed Beastboy as the same way he looked before except with normal colored flesh and dark brown-blonde hair. They had decided against Beastboy's original hair color, a medium brown. The hair was more spiked than usual, black at the tips. The changeling wore tan baggy cargo pants, with several pockets holding money, his communicator, bug repellant, and other random useful items. He had a dark blue shirt on, plain and unadorned. The other Titans were disguised, as well. They were going as a bunch of teens studying different cultures.
The other Titans were similarly dressed. Starfire had on a very large white t-shirt with a picture of Earth on it that she had insisted she wanted to wear and a tight pair of blue jeans. Black sunglasses cleverly hid her all green eyes from all and also her oddly shaped eyebrows. Her hair was gathered in one very long braid with a blue hair tie. The sleeves were so long that they reached her wrists. Terra had a green long sleeved t-shirt and baggy light blue jeans and had dyed her hair black so no one could recognize her. Her hair was in a ponytail and a baseball cap was pulled low over her eyes. Robin was wearing a shirt that said, 'I PWN YOU' and large blue jeans. Cyborg had his holographic skin on and a large gray shirt and black cargo pants.
Beastboy knew for a fact that Galtry was still in Upper Lamumba and was still looking for him. Out there, there was no television or news, so he couldn't possibly know about Beastboy's new home. King Tawaba, head of Upper Lamumba, wouldn't allow him to leave. King Tawaba had been a friend of Beastboy's parents, Marie and Mark Logan. He knew about the Teen Titans and knew that Galtry couldn't be let into America or he could murder Beastboy with some crafty plan. He wondered what Galtry now looked like, and if he would recognize Beastboy, who was going by the name Eric Charles Shapiro. Robin was going by Christopher (Chris) Peterson, Cyborg was going by his real name, Victor Stone, Terra was going as Tara Samantha Smith, and Starfire as Sunny Cassandra Evans. The T-Ship also had a holographic skin and was disguised as a private jet plane.
"Beast—um, Eric?" Robin's voice crackled into Beastboy's headphones, jerking him out of his thoughts.
"What?" Beastboy said, sitting up.
"Just thought you wanted to know that we're going to start landing now."
'Eric' stared out the window, looking at the large forest with a long, winding river running through the mash of green. There were several small clearings in this never-ending forest with small villages. He thought he would never again come back to Upper Lamumba, but here he was, minutes away from the place.
"Um…which one is Upper Lamumba?" Cyborg looked at the villages.
"The one to the left of the river, with the big patch of land for planes," Beastboy replied. He remembered seeing his parents drown in that same river.
Starfire put away her book. "Do they speak English here?" Starfire was being passed for an exchange student to explain her speaking habits.
"Most of them do," Beastboy gripped his armrest as they dipped down.
The T-Ship roared to a stop and the five teens carefully stepped out into the hot, scorching African country. The air was buzzing with gnats, flies, and mosquitoes and everyone felt like they wanted to jump into the nearby river. Waiting for them were the Ravens, each wearing individual outfits and with holographic skins. The others could already tell that two other Ravens had been solidified: Sarcasm and Jealousy.
"Greetings," A large man stepped out in front of them: King Tawaba. His body was imposing, but his brown eyes kind. Those eyes met with Beastboy's green ones. They had contacted each other before to arrange where the others would stay. "Welcome to Upper Lamumba."
Beastboy caught sight of another man, not as large, skulking in the shadows of several large cacao trees. He had on a ruffled, grubby brown t-shirt and matching trousers and looked very annoyed.
"Very nice to meet you," Robin stepped out, shaking the leader's hand. "I'm Chris. This is Victor, and here's Tara, Sunny, and Eric. I'm sure you and the other seven girls have met…"
"Yes, and they have very…unusual…names," King Tawaba smiled a good-natured grin. "Casey, Daisy, Kasy, Lacy, Macy, Tracy, and Stacey."
"Their mother thought they were funny, too," Robin said with a little chuckle. Starfire had made up the names. The Ravens were coming as sisters from one very large family.
"This is Galtry," King Tawaba gestured towards the annoyed man, who stepped out. "He was very curious about you."
Galtry leered at them. He hated children. Then he caught sight of Beastboy and narrowed his dark, beady eyes. "Who are you again?"
"Um, Eric. I come from…New Jersey," Beastboy fibbed, trying to look cool and unconcerned.
"Well then, Eric, you look very similar to a troublesome young man who ran away from me a few years back," Galtry said slowly. He knew this boy, whoever he was, was lying, but he couldn't possibly be the green-skinned nuisance who had run away to who knows where.
"Um, okay."
"You all look like a very rich bunch," Galtry continued, a spark glowing in his eyes. Maybe I could murder all their parents and take their money, he thought.
Isn't he subtle? Robin reflected.
"Galtry, would you please check on the newborns for me?" King Tawaba asked politely. Galtry grunted, sent one last glare at the foreigners, and left. King Tawaba met eyes with Beastboy. Without a word, they embraced each other. "Your parents would have been proud," King Tawaba said solemnly. "Let me show you to your room…"
He led them to one very large hut. The hut's roof was made out of long strips of grass, dried out and yellow-brown. The walls were made out of sturdy rainforest tree wood and there were several windows with no glass. Stairs could be seen on the inside.
"There are several rooms inside—take your pick," King Tawaba smiled. "I'm afraid there's no—er—modern bathrooms, but there is an outhouse in the back."
Robin turned green.
"Ro—Chris?" Starfire whispered to Robin. "What is this…outhouse…the friendly man speaks of?"
"Um, it's a bathroom, sort of. Except you can't flush the toilet," Robin nearly gagged. The thought of it made him want to throw up. He wondered how much it smelled, and then immediately regretted it as the thought made him turn even greener.
"Oh," Starfire replied. "Thank you for telling me, friend Chris."
"No problem!" Robin choked up. "I, uh, need to be excused!" Robin ran off and retching noises came from behind a prickly bush.
"Don't mind him, he has, um, diarrhea," Cyborg assured the confused King Tawaba. "He, uh, needs to…throw up because of his…um…"
"Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis!" Beastboy piped up. "He got it in, er, Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch, Wales!"
King Tawaba raised an amused eyebrow.
"He'll live," Beastboy said brightly.
Behind the bush, puke began to leak out from behind the edges.
Everyone quickly hurried into the hut.
"There are several rooms upstairs," King Tawaba gestured his ringed hand upwards. "Take your pick. If you need me, I shall be in the largest hut near the back of the village. And…" He glanced around to make sure no one was listening, and then said softly to Beastboy, "The temple is on the west side of the river. Follow the trail." The king left without another word, his imposing frame disappearing in the distance.
"Can I talk now?" A quiet voice spoke up. Timid was standing with the other Ravens, lurking meekly in the back of the group.
"Sure," Cyborg answered. The Ravens had been instructed not to talk, lest they gave away their cover.
"I must go check on friend Chris!" Starfire proclaimed, sweeping outside, where retching noises continued. Cyborg and the other Ravens went to stake out rooms, leaving Beastboy and Terra behind.
"Um…want to get rooms, then?" Beastboy cast his eyes toward the stairway up which Cyborg and the others had just disappeared.
"Beastboy, why doesn't anyone like me anymore?" Terra said straightforwardly. She wasn't going to try and disguise her question with little side comments or other questions. The blonde was tired of not being part of the team, being not trusted, and being avoided. "You never look me in the eye, Starfire never talks to me anymore, Cyborg doesn't play video games with me, Robin plain doesn't trust me, and Raven hates me. Or she would, if she were here. Why? I'm sorry, I really am, and I'm not about to betray you again."
The changeling shifted uneasily. "Um…what are you talking about? Everyone likes you. Raven is just…like that. She hates everything." Beastboy's old affections had secretly been stirring up inside him, and he tried to suppress them in vain. He loved how Terra's eyes sparkled in the sun, how her blonde hair caught the sunlight, and how she was always happy and cheerful. But a nagging voice kept him away from looking at her, talking to her, being friends with her. That nagging voice sounded amazingly like Raven's: Don't trust her. She betrayed you; she even tried to murder you. Don't be fooled by that smile.
"Then why aren't I part of the team? Why did Raven run away?" A single, clear tear ran from a sky blue eye down her soft cheek.
Beastboy stepped toward her and wiped the tear away. "Look…the others are just not used to you being back. It will take some time for them to get used to the idea, but they still like you…"
"But…it's not just them, it's you, too!" More tears streamed down Terra's delicate face. "You don't talk to me, either, and we don't go…we don't go…well, out anymore. We always used to go to the park or something together!"
The changeling didn't answer. Instead, he took her by the shoulders and looked her directly in the eyes for the first time in weeks. Beastboy leaned down and their lips connected.
Miles away, a black raven of black energy rose from a derelict old building.
Raven struggled against her bonds, the harsh rope cutting into her malleable skin. Her cloak was tattered and ripped, her leotard cut in some places. The small shoes she usually wore were splattered with mud, slashed and shredded. A metal bracelet was on her wrist. There was something extremely unusual about the color of her clothes, though: they were black, black as the midnight sky. After she had been capture by Slade, her clothes had morphed themselves back into her usual uniform. Until her emotions started become solidified. Then her clothes had turned jet black.
"It's no use, Raven," Slade emerged from the shadows of the abandoned building they were in. It was an old warehouse from long, long ago. "Save your energy."
The girl glared at him. Raven hated him with her heart and soul.
"While you're here, I might as well entertain you, shall I?" Slade gestured towards a small laptop that was placed in front of the wall on which Raven was bound to. The screen flickered and came to life, showing Beastboy and Terra in what seemed to be a hut made of wood and straw.
Then Beastboy spoke words that broke her heart. "Everyone likes you. Raven is just…like that. She hates everything."
I do not! Raven felt fury and sadness well up inside of her. She thought that Beastboy understood most of all that she wasn't creepy—just different. Of course, the video could be fake, but Raven doubted that. She could sense that that was the real Beastboy on the video.
The screen flickered and turned black.
"You're just a ball of hate, aren't you, Raven?" Slade's cold voice cut through the thin air. "A furled up ball full of nothing but hate…a monster."
Raven knew what he was trying to do. He wanted her to lose control. She knew that once she lost control, the bracelet would take over her body and then she would be helpless, unable to help the emotions that had escaped from her mind, and helpless to stop whatever her body was doing.
"A monster who can't love, who can't feel anything but hate…an evil monster that needs to be locked away. You can't feel love, and you can't be loved. The other Titans always have and always will like Terra better, especially the changeling. You are nothing but a speck of dust in Titans Tower, a useful tool in battles, and nothing more."
Breathe, Raven mentally told herself. Ignore him… But she could feel herself losing control at his words.
"You can never be loved," He repeated. "Your father only wants to use your powers and your mother abandoned you. You are only a tool, not considered worthy of anything else. Even Malchior felt that way. You are nothing. Useless."
The screen flicked on again just in time to show Beastboy leaning down onto Terra, his lips on hers.
Raven screamed, and the bracelet glowed red. With a whoosh of power, a black raven rose into the skies above the warehouse and headed for Upper Lamumba.
"Thanks, uh, Sunny," Robin weakly smiled at Starfire. He was cleaned up and no longer sick.
"You are especially welcome, friend Chris!" Starfire beamed at him. "Would you like to do the 'exploring the village' with me?"
"Sure, St—Sunny," The teen quickly corrected himself. The two walked along the roaring river in silence, swatting at hovering mosquitoes every now and then. It wasn't that romantic—walking alongside a really loud river with bugs trying to sting you in 90-degree weather usually isn't—but Robin and Starfire enjoyed each other's company.
They hadn't been walking for more than five minutes when a huge, dark shadow caught their eye as it flitted between the trees of the forest across the river.
"What is that?" Starfire squinted at the trees. "It looks just like Raven's—"
"DUCK!" Robin grabbed Starfire and pulled her down. She screamed. The massive shadow missed hitting them by inches.
"Raven's duck?" The Tamaranian girl was very confused. "I thought it looked more like Raven's powers."
"It is!" Robin stepped protectively in front of her as the dark shadow revealed itself to be Raven's raven. A dark figure emerged from the raven.
"Dude, I heard a scream, and—" Beastboy stopped mid-sentence, shocked. Terra trailed behind him. Their moment had been interrupted by the scream and they had come running out to help their friends, just to find Raven standing there in a black outfit.
"Raven!" Beastboy ran towards the black-clad girl, but Raven's eyes glowed a callous red and two jets of black energy hit him in the chest. He was knocked onto his back, but not unconscious.
"Friend Raven! Why do you—eep!" Starfire dodged a bolt of black energy.
Raven's raven swooped up behind them, snapping and biting and trying to engulf the teens in its shadows. Terra started to raise her hands to summon up the rocks around them, but Robin put a hand on her arm.
"We're still going undercover, remember!" He whispered to her urgently. They dodged the bolt that Raven sent at them. "And we don't want to hurt Raven!"
"Raven, what the hell are you doing?!" Beastboy shouted, leaping to one side as the raven lunged at him.
Behind him, people began to gather, including Galtry and King Tawaba.
Raven didn't respond. Instead, her eyes flashed green and a green wisp of smoke shot out from her chakra, zooming into the hut the Titans were to stay in.
Beastboy suddenly understood. Slade's plan was forming! Brave had just been solidified. Now only Gross and Timid were to solidify before Raven was completely emotionless, and then the emotions might not be able to get back in, stone or not. Also, since Raven hardly had any emotions left in her, there would be nothing stopping Slade from commanding her to fight the Titans. Looking around, he saw that the others understood, too.
Taking advantage of their distraction, Raven conjured up four claws of black energy that snatched Robin, Starfire, and Terra, lifting them up in the air precariously as they struggled in vain. Beastboy had turned into a mouse to avoid the claw, but a large rock enveloped in black energy was zooming towards him at full speed.
Suddenly, a jet of white blue energy shot out and slammed into Raven, knocking her unconscious. The rock dropped onto the ground unceremoniously, and the claws dissipated. Robin, Starfire, and Terra dropped to the ground, landing in crouches. Cyborg stood behind them, his holographic skin off, his plasma canon lowering itself.
"I knew it!" Galtry stalked up to Beastboy. "You are Garfield Logan!"
Beastboy glanced down at himself. After his morph, the holographic skin had turned off, and his skin and hair were green again.
"I'm your guardian! You're coming home with me right now, young man!" Galtry grabbed Beastboy's arm and started dragging him away. The changeling glanced helplessly back at the other Titans and Terra.
"Actually, Mr. Galtry, uh, Garfield here is allowed to live on his own now," Robin stepped forward. "He's, um, eighteen now."
"No, he's sixteen!" Galtry insisted.
"I have a birth certificate," Robin took out a folded certificate from a pocket. It had the name Garfield Logan on it and his birth year as eighteen years ago.
"T-that's not possible!" Galtry sputtered. "When he came here, he was three! THREE! Thirteen years have passed since that!"
"Perhaps you have miscounted?" Starfire said innocently, catching on. "Time does 'fly fast', as some people say. Though I do not understand why people think time has wings or the power of flight."
"You're lying!" Galtry brought out a handgun from his pocket and held it to Beastboy's head. "Not that it matters, because his fortune is mine!" He cackled loudly.
Beastboy rolled his eyes and turned into a T-Rex and snorted at Galtry's terrified face. He snatched the gun from Galtry's hand with his mouth and brought down his enormous teeth and dropped the gun, now bent cleanly in half. The changeling stomped to Raven's limp body, and then turned back into a human.
"Rae?"
Raven's violet eyes snapped open. "Go get the stone," She whispered. Suddenly, her eyes glowed white and Beastboy leapt back from the spikes of black energy thrown at him. He stared at her, confused at what she was doing. He caught sight of the metal bracelet, glowing red. Maybe that was controlling her? Beastboy didn't waste time wondering. He turned into a cheetah and ran away, leaping over the river into the rainforest, heading for the collapsed temple he knew was hidden in the trees.
Terra hopped on a rock and flew after him while the others fought Raven. Cyborg blasted at her but missed, but Starfire's starbolt caught her in the ankle and Raven fell down, unconscious yet again. Robin shouted instructions to Intelligence and told her to keep an eye on Raven, and then the other Titans followed Beastboy.
"Are we going to fetch the Alucinor Mortis?" Starfire asked, flying beside Beastboy, who had changed into an African gray parrot.
"Yes, it's in the temple just ahead," Beastboy replied.
Cyborg and Robin were riding on one very large rock with Terra. Beastboy morphed back and dropped lightly onto the rock.
"Do you have snake poison?" Beastboy asked Robin. The changeling fiddled with his holographic rings, trying to figure out which ones would get him back into his spandex uniform. He kept tripping over the pants he was wearing.
"Yeah," Robin brought out a small can from his pocket. "Why? Are we going to need it?"
"Um, duh. We're in Africa. Look!" Beastboy pointed at a long, slithering blue-black snake that was at least five feet long and about three inches thick. "A black mamba. Dendroaspis polylepis. If one of those bite you, you get paralyzed and die in seven to fifteen hours."
Terra hid behind Beastboy, blocking the snake from her view.
"Dude, can't we just blast it or something?" Cyborg eyed the long snake suspiciously.
"Miss and it will be on you in five seconds, guaranteed," Beastboy assured him. "They move extremely quickly."
"So how is Robin's spray going to get it faster than my canon?" Cyborg asked. They had zoomed past the snake by now, but he could've sworn he saw another black mamba lurking in the shadows of the trees.
Beastboy sighed. "It doesn't," He said with exasperation, as if explaining something extremely simple to a three-year-old. "You put the spray around you and on yourself so that it wards off the snakes. Duh!"
"Well, that was an interesting lecture, Professor Beastboy, but can we just concentrate on getting the stone back and stop worrying about black mambos poisoning us?" Robin swatted a mosquito on his leg. He decided that he never wanted to go to Africa again.
"Spray yourself first. I don't need any, 'cause no snake can poison me," Beastboy squinted into the trees ahead. "Turn left, Terra. Into that little clearing."
Robin, Cyborg, Terra, and Starfire sprayed themselves with the snake venom. They stank so much that Robin turned green again.
"So, how'd you get the birth certificate?" Beastboy asked Robin. Stupid rings don't work, he thought grumpily to himself.
"I thought we might run into some problems, so I just asked the JLA to make a fake one for me," Robin replied. "Flash made it." He knew that Beastboy admired Flash more than any other JLA members.
"Thanks," Beastboy said. They rode in silence for a few minutes.
"Stop."
Terra stopped the rock and the others nearly fell off at the sudden impede. "Why are we stopping?"
"The rock can't fit through the trees from here," Beastboy pointed to the trees in front of them, which were closely grown together, roots clabbering for space. "And we cant' fly above the trees, either, because then we would lose the trail."
"What trail?" Cyborg was unused to seeing Beastboy like this. It was a whole other side of his friend—a more serious and, well, smart side. Cyborg was unnerved by the change.
"Duh, the one we've been following for like, a half hour," Beastboy replied. The others glanced down at saw a tiny dirt trail beneath them, one that was about one foot across. None of them had noticed the trail; Terra had just been listening to BB's directions, not looking at the path.
"Well then," Robin hopped off, "let's get going. We don't know how long Intelligence and the others can hold Raven off."
Terra let the rock drop gently onto the rainforest floor, landing it with a small thump. She eyed the path they were to follow, which was reduced to five inches because of the narrow space between the overgrown trees. She sighed. Stupid Raven. She and Beastboy had to stop kissing because of her.
Beastboy sensed her despair and shifted uneasily in his walk. He wished he could undo the kiss; he felt as though he hadn't really meant it. In fact, he was pretty sure that he didn't mean it, but how could he tell Terra that?
The Titans continued quietly, breaking into a jog eventually at Robin's command. Running would be impossible because of the crawling roots and undergrowth that crept over the path, causing someone to stumble every now and then. They went in single file, not saying a word. The rainforest was noisy: monkeys chattered and swung from the treetops above them, parrots screeched up in the canopy, long, poisonous snakes slithered and hissed at the passing group before sliding away, and a number of unknown animals crept all around them. Starfire once glanced up to see if she could fly forward, but there was nothing but green above her. The treetops were so thick with leaves and branches that she couldn't even see the blue sky and blistering sun above them. However, the treetops provided one benefit: shade. It was exceedingly hot and humid, with the sun in its highest spot in the sky. Beads of sweat trickled down the teen's faces and Robin almost regretted wearing a long-sleeved shirt. Almost. Bugs swarmed around them, buzzing and humming, but not one bit them because Beastboy had forced them to spray themselves with bug spray as well as snake repellant. Cyborg swatted at the cloud of gnats, flies, and mosquitoes around them. He had never been so sweaty and tired as he was just then.
"Dude, are we there yet?" Cyborg asked finally. He could've sworn he had seen a jaguar slink past them. He slowed down from his jog and wiped his face.
"Almost," Beastboy squinted into the trees. "I think."
"Do these mosquitoes spread malaria?" Robin eyed the bugs around him suspiciously. They were getting on his nerves.
"What is malaria?" Starfire asked.
"It's this disease that's really deadly," Robin explained. "Do they, BB?"
Beastboy answered, "I don't think so."
Robin, Cyborg, Terra, and Starfire heaved enormous sighs of relief.
"I think they spread influenza instead," He continued.
Starfire shrieked and swatted at the group of bugs. "Is this influenza very deadly?"
"It's the flu, Star," Robin told her calmly. "Influenza is just a fancy name for the flu."
"Since when do you call the flu influenza anyway?" Cyborg asked.
Beastboy shrugged. "That's what the call the flu here."
Cyborg and Robin glanced at each other, both thinking the same thing. Since Starfire and Terra were between Robin and Beastboy, Cyborg and Robin could carry on a whispered conversation without Beastboy hearing.
"BB's acting weird," Cyborg muttered to Robin.
"Maybe…maybe that's what Beastboy is really like, underneath all his jokes," Robin suggested. The thought demoralized both of them. If Beastboy kept acting like this, if they saved Raven, would he act the same after?
"Or maybe it's just his sensitive side, since he and Rae…" Cyborg trailed off.
"But what about Terra?"
Cyborg shrugged.
Up ahead, Beastboy's ear twitched. He could hear every word Robin and Cyborg were saying, but the changeling didn't try to confront them in any way. He had another flashback:
"Nothing. Just…Just a bad dream. How did you hear me?"
The changeling pointed to his ears. "They're not just for decoration." He grinned.
Beastboy suddenly started running with all of his energy, turning into a cheetah. He had to save her; he couldn't let her become an emotionless shell.
"Yo, BB, why are you going so fast?" Cyborg yelled after him, running to keep up.
"Perhaps we are almost there!" Starfire exclaimed, zooming into the air in her excitement. She hit her head on a branch and lowered herself onto the ground and started running.
No matter how fast the others ran, Beastboy was faster. Occasionally, they caught glimpses of Beastboy's green and black spotted tail as he sped around a corner.
Suddenly, Beastboy stopped and the others nearly crashed into him. In front of them was the ruined temple.
It was much prettier than anyone had expected. The temple was located right in the middle of a large clearing by a small, gentle stream that wound itself daintily right around the ruins in a circle. The end wandered off deep into the forest to the north. The ruins themselves were a sandy color and the temple was probably shaped like a circle when it first stood. In some of the still solid spots, worn, petite steps that carefully climbed twenty feet into the clear blue sky. At the top, which still stood proudly, was a small bowl-shaped stone that seemed to be embedded with thousands of chips of diamonds and sapphires. A small waterfall trickled out of the bowl, down the steps, and into the stream. The grass surrounding the whole thing was pale green and dotted with wildflowers of hundreds of different colors and the air seemed to cool down a few degrees in the clearing. It was also almost completely silent: no monkeys, birds, or hidden creatures. There was only the sound of the stream running gently in its circle. The place felt magical.
"Glorious," Starfire said softly, her eyes sparkling at the beautiful sight in front of her. "But I do not understand—how does the water fall out of the bowl on top into the stream? How does a small bowl such as that one acquire the water to keep the fall of water flowing?"
Beastboy shrugged. "Magic?"
There was a small pause.
"I thought the temple collapsed completely," Robin remarked. He gazed at the temple, which was half ruined and half solid. He had anticipated just a pile of rocks or something similar to that. "Half of the thing is still solid." Robin was referring to the front of the temple, the side they were facing, with the waterfall flowing smoothly down into the stream.
Beastboy took in a breath of the freshly scented air. "Yeah, well, the half that collapsed was enough to kill the looters that snuck in there." He shoved his hands in his pockets. "Let's go in."
Beastboy turned into a bird and flew over the stream. Robin vaulted himself over with his bo staff and Starfire carried Cyborg while Terra flew over on a rock.
"Dude, how do we get in?" Cyborg eyed the structure with doubt. What if it collapsed on all of them?
"There's an entrance somewhere here…" Beastboy muttered, walking around the ruins. The temple covered at least ten acres of land. He walked around a corner and then called out, "I found it!"
The entrance consisted of two triangular pillars, sloping upwards. One pillar and side of the entrance was crumbled and lay in large chunks of rock and debris. The remainder of the entrance was about five feet by six feet, just large enough for Cyborg to walk through without bumping his head.
"What if the temple collapsed on us?" Terra glanced nervously up at the ceiling above them, with bits of fading paintings on it. It was flat and parts had fallen through.
"Can't you just use your powers to lift the temple as soon as it starts falling?" Robin said as he walked around, examining the paintings above him. He couldn't figure out what religion the temple supported.
Terra shrugged uneasily. "I—I'm not sure if I can hold up something so heavy."
Robin raised an eyebrow. "You've handled heavier things than this temple." His voice came out cold and echoed around the vast room they were standing in.
The blonde remained silent.
"Anyway," Cyborg's booming voice cut through the tension like a knife, "BB, do you know where the stone, whatever it's called, is?"
"No clue, dude. Probably somewhere in the center. Didn't you research it?" Beastboy said.
"Yea, but it just said in a collapsed temple."
"Perhaps we should do the up of splitting Robin always speaks of?" Starfire suggested. She didn't really want to search alone, but to save her best friend and teammate, she would do anything.
The others agreed and split up, disappearing into separate hallways and paths. Several times, one of them met a section that had collapsed. Then they had to turn around. Terra had suggested over their communicators that she lift the collapsed parts with her powers, but Robin disagreed. The whole temple might fall apart if the rocks were lifted.
Starfire flew quickly through the temple. The pictures on the ceiling and walls were interesting, but Starfire was in too much of a hurry to rescue Raven to stop and admire them. Sometimes she heard a scuttling or scraping noise and jumped, frightened. In those cases, she had called the others on her communicator. Beastboy assured her that they were either just particularly large bugs or spiders, or a harmless small snake. Large snakes preferred the trees opposed to an abandoned building.
The Tamaranian had met no dead ends so far. She flew through the hallways, occasionally emerging into a large room. Then she would have to choose from several hallways to go through. Sometimes all but one hallway had collapsed, and she would have to go through that one. Finally, she emerged into another room and found no hallways to go through. Puzzled, the redhead looked around her for signs of a collapse or another opening, but there was nothing but the hallway she had just come from. Then she looked up and saw a large, circular hole in the ceiling. Starfire gasped softly. The hole stretched through three stories of the temple and at the tiny hole at the top of the temple, all the colors of the rainbow shone and danced like a disco ball in a nightclub. Through the dazzling colors, she could see the blue, blue sky and she assumed that the beautiful melody of colors was formed by the bowl on top, with its assorted jewels.
Starfire started to ascend to the other levels when all of a sudden, something hit her in the stomach and knocked her over. She looked up into the metallic face of one of Slade's bots. Two starbolts jolted out of her emerald eyes and hit the robot, sending it flying across the room and slamming into the wall, where it stayed. However, several more bots jumped at her and even more started emerging from the entrance that she had just come from. Starfire fired dozens of starbolts, careful not to hit the temple walls, but every time she tried to escape by flying, more jumped on her. Finally, the Titan tried to bring out her communicator to call for help, but one of the robots snatched it from her hand and crushed it.
I was going to update yesterday, but was down. BUT WHO CARES?! Now you can make those little bars in DIFFERENT COLORS!! -squeal and points to blue bar- -giggles happily- Maybe I can make faces now...-tests- ; o0 xD xP ⌐ ♪ x.x D )
Sunday is my birthday, so CUPCAKES FOR ALL!!!! -hands out cupcakes- Heh.
Just out of curiousty--for all you anonymous reviewers, do you have a fanfiction name or are you just to lazy to log in or what? :P
Unforgettble-- Ah, well, they sorta do. Well, not really. But in the sequal, they do. -grins-
10920-- Peh, alright. But I never really know what to write after Raven and BB cross the line...like, whether they make it secret or shout it to the world.
somatogenic-- I tried. xD Hopefully this chapter was more detailed.... I went over it a few times and added a few lines. Tell me if it's better! :D
Zeldagurli-- -uses pills and loses 300,000 pounds- Yay!
Pain and Tears-- Muffins, cookies, pieces of paper...they all taste great. :) They sorta not really admit their love in the -truck zooms by loudly- chapter, so tell me what you think then. xD
Jade-Monsoons-- Teehee. :)
quite-a-shame-- Yah. I can't stand Robin/Raven...it's just so...eughk.
Regrem Erutaerc-- Really? I didn't know that. That's awesome! I mean, it sucks for BB, but the angst I could make out of that...-cackle-
Amscray-- Nonono, you're mistaken. :P Beastboy is going to use a fake name in Africa. His real name IS Garfield, but in Africa, he's going to use a different name that's not Garfield. And I agree about Star--she's ugly in the comics. xD But she does get engaged to Robin...
IAmImmortal-- TY! -giggle- Me neither. I hate Rav/Cy, Ter/BB, Rav/Rob, BB/Star, Cy/Star, and any homosexual couples. They just don't make sense, except Terra and Beastboy, but I don't like Terra.
Silvery-veritas-- Yeah, I know, but I thought it'd be a lot simpler if I just put the explanation I did. :P And, as said above, I put the wrong thing for yang. -laughs nervously- I'm a shame to my parents, because I'm Chinese and yet I still can't pronounce any Chinese words correctly. xD
warprince2000, DragonWriter2, Raniatlw, CHEENAMI Danny, and dancingirl3--thank you! :) Yes, I will update as soon as I can, but not this weekend because I live in America and it will be Thanksgiving and I will most probably be busy. Plus, Sunday is my birthday (every four years, my birthday lands on Thanksgiving xP), so...yea. xD BTW, anyone know how many seasons there are going to be in Teen Titans? I know there's going to be one more season after this third one, but anything after that?
Note (haha, no break this time): You've probably noticed that I've done small references to many episodes. I've seen pretty much all of them, except Silkie. If you haven't seen the episode I've mentioned, you might want to peek here: It has screencaps and episode descriptions so you can pretty much get the gist of the episode. Of course, it's full of spoilers, but I look at it all the time. :P
Happy Thanksgiving (USA),
Lily