Poor Twisted Me Chapter 1
Hi, Mud again. Holy crap! 11 reviews! I'm used to, at most, three a chapter. Anyways, to everyone, Cyborg's going to meet his future girlfriend in this, because just about everyone seems to feel sorry for him. Anyway, time to answer some reviews.
Mya Dawning- Thanks! I always had a passion for writing, even when I was like 8 years old. 'Course, you can't write too well at that age, but I still got a lot of experience from that. Thanks for the review!
ScarletAngel68- Yeah, I have those references hidden all over the place. Once the story's finished, I'll put them all down, but not until then. I'm so evil, aren't I?
HyDrOmAtIc- Thank you too! I wanted Slade to be retired, cause I don't really like him, so I decided to have it take place in the future. Glad you think that way about it!
Sanity-Stealing-Lawn-Gnome- I love your name! I have gnomes too, but they steal my boxers instead of my sanity, and every December they take a break and go help Santa at the North Pole ^_^
Eyes of Nevermore- Intriguing penname. Yeah, I like big words too. TERRA MUST DIE!!! Thank you for reminding me of that ^_^ Thanks for reviewing!
StarfireRobin4ever- Yeah, I love Robin/Starfire too, even if BBRaven is my favorite. Hopefully there will be a lot of Robin/Starfire fluff in chapters to come. Yay!
Kestrel- Thank you! BBRaven forever!
VanillaSuga- OH MY GOD!! You are my writing idol!! And I felt really guilty about that review, and now I feel kind of stupid, seeing as it was the beginning. But I'm elated you were so benevolent as to grace me with your presence.
warprince2000- Thanks! I will update soon. (I am now, aren't I?)
shadowcat0304- Wow, I'm flattered. That's an excellent phrase, "wondrous toils of writing". Except you misspelled 'descriptive', so I will completely discredit your opinion. Kidding! I've never read your stories, so I wouldn't know how I compare...
Celeste- Thank you, and your vocabulary's not too bad itself. I loved that last line too, but it was a pain in the ass coming up with it. When I finally got it, it was one of those "Eureka!" moments. Ever have those? Anyways, your pretty sharp yourself, not to mention you used the word 'subliminal'. I can barely spell it ^_^
Anyways, on with the chapter. Enjoi.
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Cyborg pulled into the Axis parking lot and hoped out of the T-Car. He whistled happily as he pulled his Black Label board out of the trunk, taking careful notice not to dent the car. He spotted his two friends Noah and James, already riding around.
"You didn't start without me now, did ya?" Cyborg yelled out as he strolled over to his companions. Noah hopped off his board, walked over to Cyborg, and lapped him a hi-five. James turned his head and unknowingly crashed into the fence.
"Nice," Cyborg joked. James dusted himself off and said, "Shut up."
Noah gestured over to the ramps and rails that lat before them. "We were about to play H-O-R-S-E, you wanna join?"
Cyborg nodded. "Hell yeah!" the half-robot said. Hopping onto his board, he maneuvered his way through until reaching a rail. He ollied onto the rail, did a stall, and then did a kickflip as he pushed himself off. James whistled. "Not bad."
Noah pushed off, picking up a lot of speed, and steered towards a ramp. As he flew off the gradient, he kicked his foot, sending the board spinning vertically. He almost landed it, but as he landed the shock caused him to lose his balance, and he stumbled off his board.
"H!" Cyborg yelled in jest. Noah stuck out his tongue and blew a raspberry. Boys will be boys.
"Can I join you?" an accented voice from behind Cyborg asked. They all turned around, and then looked with surprise at this newcomer.
Standing there was a relatively young girl, probably the same age as Cyborg. She was very beautiful, or at least Cyborg thought so, and judging by the color of her skin, was Hispanic in descent. The girl had wavy black hair that extended to just below her shoulders and gorgeous brown eyes. She had a smile that radiated splendor, like nothing Cyborg had ever seen. She was dressed in all black, and she wore a silver bracelet on her left hand that was almost as dazzling as herself.
"Sure you can skate with that leg, hun?" James asked nonchalantly. Cyborg peeled his eyes off the girls radiating beauty to see what he meant. Cyborg was truly shocked when he saw that her right leg was robotic. Realizing James's intention, he punched him on the shoulder and gestured to his own mechanized leg.
The girl frowned at this tactless query. Hopping onto her own board, she said, "Watch me."
The three boys watched as she gained speed, her hair flying in the wind as she sped along. Coming to a rail, she ollied onto it and grinded the whole portion of it. As she came to the conclusion of the rail, she ollied off and kicked her foot off to the side, making the board gyrate as she was temporarily airborne. The board stopped spinning as she neared the ground, and she rolled off as she made perfect contact with the soil.
"Dude, you just got shown up by a chick!" Noah teased. Cyborg rolled his eyes at his immature comment. The girl picked up her board, and walked over. "Name's Carmen."
"Noah."
"James."
"Cy-Cyb-Cyborg."
Carmen winked at the half robot, causing him to blush furiously. Noah and James grinned at each other, no stranger to this kind of thing.
"You wanna play H-O-R-S-E with us?" Noah asked. Carmen nodded. After about another half-hour of skateboarding, Carmen won, having gotten but a single letter. Cyborg and the others were just amazed.
"We're gonna go. Later Cy, later Carmen." Noah yelled as he climbed into the driver's seat of his Audi. James hopped into the passenger side and called out, "See ya!"
Cyborg grinned as they sped off. A minute passed before he found himself covetously staring at Carmen again.
"Oh my god, you are hot," Cyborg said, unaware he had actually said that. Carmen blushed and said, "You're not too bad yourself, Cyborg."
The half-robot flushed intensely, then realizing he had said it out loud. "Heh, heh, thanks."
It was there, outside the Axis skate park that Cyborg's primal instincts took over. Before his common sense could kick in, he found himself pressing his lips against hers. Carmen was slightly taken aback, but closed her eyes as she kissed him back passionately. Cyborg snaked his arms around her back and embraced her as the two continued their corporeal enjoyment.
'Holy shit, am I lucky or what?' Cyborg thought to himself. This was going to be a very, very good day.
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"Azareth Metrion Zinthos, Azareth Metrion..." Raven chanted quietly under her breath. As usual, Beast Boy had aroused her frustration, this time over too many prosaic jokes. A soft knock on her door interrupted her rumination, and Beast Boy's voice called out, "Umm, Raven? I just wanted to..." he paused, as if endeavoring with his words.
"What do you want this time?" Raven yelled, a slight tone of anger in her voice. Beast Boy gulped and said, "I'm sorry, okay? I know I went too far, and I'm sorry."
Raven was astounded by his apology. It was never like him to apologize, especially in such a short time frame. She contemplated for a minute and walked over to her door. Nudging it open ever so slightly, she peeked her face through. "What did you say?"
Beast Boy wasn't sure whether she was gloating or didn't hear him. Hoping it was the latter, he looked at the ground and said, "I'm sorry. Can you forgive me?"
Raven smiled faintly under her hood. "Look me in the eyes and say it."
'Okay, she's definitely gloating,' Beast Boy thought to himself. Part of his mind told him to forget it, but the more powerful half forced him to swallow his pride. Bringing his fixation from the floor upwards into Raven's eyes, he managed to squeeze out, "I'm...sorry...Raven."
Although Beast Boy couldn't see it, Raven smiled even wider under her hood. She knew it wasn't like her to do this, but for some strange reason, she always felt...different around the little changeling. Before she knew what she was saying, she was asking him, "You want to come in?"
Beast Boy was unaware if this was good or bad. He decided to take his chances and comply. "Umm, sure."
'Holy crap, did I just invite him into my room?' Raven thought to herself as she walked back into the decorum of her room. Beast Boy cautiously tiptoed in, making sure to duck and roll at any possible threat. As his nerves calmed, he slowly took in his surroundings. To his surprise, nothing had changed much over the course of three years. Of course, he had only been in here once, but it wasn't exactly something to forget.
Raven soon found herself staring pensively at the jumpy Beast Boy.
'Wow...look at those abs..." she said to herself. 'Holy shit! What the hell is wrong with me!? I can't be thinking things like that!'
'Oh, but you know you want to,' the voice in the back of her head told her. Raven's struggle within was interposed by Beast Boy's confused stare.
"Uh, you okay, Rae?" Beast Boy asked. Raven snapped out of her trance. "Yes! I'm fine."
Beast Boy swallowed and sighed. It was now or never. "Raven...I have something to tell you..."
Raven looked at him inquisitively. "Something...the matter?"
Color began flooding to Beast Boy's face. "Yeah. Raven, I...lo...lo..." he began stuttering wildly, choking on the word 'love'.
Raven was about to ask him something, when a loud, prompt tap on her door grabbed her attention. She walked over to the steel door and nudged it open ever so slightly, like she always did. Starfire was standing in the doorway, a huge grin plastered on her face, eyes looking like upside-down U's and everything.
Raven sighed. This couldn't be good.
"What do you want?" she asked dully. Starfire continued grinning and cheerfully said, "There is a new zoo opening in Jump City, and I thought we could all go!"
Pause. "No."
SLAM! Raven closed her door with a little unnecessary force. Starfire slumped at her failed attempt to socialize with Raven, and walked off dejectedly.
"Hey! I want to go to the zoo!" Beast Boy protested, forgetting his prospect of confessing to Raven. The pacifist groaned, knowing very well how this conversation was going to turn out.
"Alright, fine. But no stupid jokes whatsoever," Raven said. Beast Boy lit up at the thought of spending time with Raven that didn't involve pain or fighting.
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Starfire slumped on the couch sadly. Robin, who had been flipping through the channels, saw her melancholy demeanor and knew what had happened. "Raven say no?" he asked casually.
Starfire nodded, slightly frustrated at his cavalier mood. "Yes! Why must it be that every time I try to do something nice for her she throws it back at me?"
Robin scooted a little closer to her. "That's just the way she is. I guess she would hang out with you more, but that whole 'I can't feel emotions' thing gets in the way," he said comfortingly. He placed a consoling hand on her shoulder and hugged her slightly. Starfire blushed at his touch and managed to say, "Yes...Raven's emotional problem is most unfortunate."
"What about my emotional problem?" a familiar voice rang out from behind them. Robin and Star turned around and saw Raven standing in the hallway, with Beast Boy, a couple feet behind her, covetously looking at the Azareth. Starfire's gloomy mood evaporated instantaneously. "Raven! You have decided to accompany us to the zoo!"
"Don't get used to it," Raven said under her hood. Although apparent to no one, Raven was smiling under her hood.
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"I call shotgun!" Beast Boy yelled as Robin approached the door to the garage. Robin shook his head. "No need, Beast Boy. The zoo's only a couple blocks from here, so we can walk."
"Awww!" was the immediate response from the green shape shifter. Raven rolled her eyes at his languor.
After about fifteen minutes of walking and incessant complaining from Beast Boy, they reached the zoo. Seeing as they were the Teen Titans, they didn't have to pay. Which was a nice little perk to being a superhero.
The first thing they came to was the gorilla exhibit. Starfire let out and "Eep!" and ran over to the glass barrier cutting the gorillas off from civilization, her three friends running behind her to keep up.
"Beast Boy, he looks like you!" she said comically. Beast Boy groaned at the sheer risibility of her statement. She curiously looked at a male silverback, which stopped eating his carrot to look at her. The Tamaran waved joyously, to which was responded by a loud roar and pounding of fists against chest. Starfire yelped and jumped into Robin's arms out of fear. The masked leader stumbled under the unexpected load, but didn't lose his balance.
Beast Boy laughed. Walking over to the angered gorilla, he began making sinuous gestures with his hands, as if speaking in some form of sign language. The other Titans looked quizzically at each other, not knowing what to make of the situation. The chagrined ape made similar, just as unstilted, hand movements in response.
"Now I've seen everything," Robin said. The gorilla slowly shuffled away, and Beast Boy wore a proud look on his face upon exiting his chat with the silverback.
"Mind telling us what that was about?" Raven asked monotonously. Starfire, who had just realized she was still in Robin's arms, jumped out, discomfited. Beast Boy grinned wider and said, "Gorillas have their own form of hand dialogue, much like sign language. To a male silverback, waving is a form of insult."
Beast Boy may not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but he sure knew zoology.
"...Interesting," Robin said.
All of a sudden, panicked screaming broke out nearby, and a horrified mob of people began running all over. When Robin looked to see what was wrong, he growled.
"Titans, GO!"
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-A few minutes earlier-
Lyrim, cloaked from all forms of human perception, strolled down the road of the zoo, with Fenrir at his side. He studied the eclectic crowd of civilians, and sighed.
"Look at them all, Fenrir. Their lives are full of grief and suffering, bound to this plane by their own misery. I think we should release them of their pain, don't you?"
Fenrir growled in agreement. Lyrim took notice and laughed at the prospect of 'liberating anguished souls'.
He looked all around for a useful subject, and settled on the Komodo dragon exhibit. He grinned, and with but a thought in his mind he used his powers to take over the mind of the dragon. Controlling it mentally, he forced it to tear open the fence with its satirical claws. It took the crowd about half a second to realize it had escaped. Once they did, they ran like hell all over the place. Picking out the nearest poor soul, the dragon, or rather its body controlled by Lyrim, pounced on the unfortunate passer-by, whom happened to be an elderly man.
The old man yelled weakly, nearly having a stroke, and struggled under the substantial weight of the lizard. As he was about to sink its razor-sharp fangs into the poor twisted man, a peculiar green colored bolt knocked it off the old man. Lyrim turned his head and saw four young "heroes" aiding his would-be victim. One, who appeared to be the leader, helped the man up and withdrew a metal staff. With a press of a button, it extended to more than thrice its size. Lyrim raised and eyebrow, commiserating his bondage to technology.
As he studied his obstructers, he took careful notice to remember them. The one who had "saved" the old man was a Tamaran, a race he had fleeting comprehension of. This one must have been of royal blood, as she could wield starbolts. She was very pretty, and her brilliant green eyes and orange skin would be easy for Lyrim to remember.
As the Komodo dragon regained its balance, Lyrim decided to let go of its mind and scrutinize these youths instead. A moderately small, green human changed into a giant snake, and began to wrap itself around the dragon. Lyrim took careful notice of his proclivity of animals.
As he averted his concentration to the final subject, he noticed that it was an Azareth. He knew the Azareth ways well, having lived there for a period of time. Those days were the bane of his memories. Evidently, his ideology on "freeing people from their pain" was not well noted on Azareth. Thus, he spent his days there out in hiding, before he was able to leave that futile place. This Azareth was a female, with lavender hair and eyes to match. She mumbled a few words, and the dragon became enshrouded in a black aura. Lyrim observed sanctimoniously as she worked with the green one to restore the dragon back to its original place, sealing the broken ingress.
He got an idea. He knelt down to Fenrir, and began whispering in his ear. "Fenrir, I have a job for you. I want you to..." he whispered more, so that not even the narrator of this story could hear what he said. Fenrir roared in accordance and began racing off to the place of their dwelling, a.k.a. Titans Tower.
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"You have to introduce me to your friends some time, Cyborg," Carmen said as she walked Cyborg to his car. Cyborg nodded and replied, "I'll be sure to. Say, where did you get that bracelet?" he asked, nudging to the bangle situated on her wrist.
Carmen's smiled lessened, and she began explaining, "Oh, I got this from my parents. See, my parents died when I was only a little girl living in Costa Rica. Back then; we lived in a rain forest type place, so there were a lot of leopards and things like that. When I was 13, I accidentally left a window open, and a leopard snuck in at the middle of the night," she said, pausing from the lump of unshed tears in her throat. Cyborg put his arm around her tenderly.
"I'm okay...anyway, the leopard got to my room first, and it attacked me in my sleep. I got badly hurt, so my leg had to be amputated..." she continued, pointing to her artificial leg. "...But my parents stopped it from killing me. I was practically unconscious from the pain, so I don't recall much about that night. But the next morning, I remember waking up and seeing my parent's bodies on the floor, next to the leopard's. How they managed to kill it, I don't know, but..." she paused, tears slowly sliding down her face.
Cyborg made an empathetic sound, and hugged her tightly. Carmen sniffled, and wiped her face with her sleeve. "Thanks...so when I found them, my mom had a bracelet on. So I took it, being the only thing to remember her by. The Child Protection Agency caught wind of my parent's death, so I ended up being shuttled back and forth between different foster homes. After a while I got fed up with it, and once I was 18 I legally emancipated myself."
Cyborg continued embracing her. "Oh my God...I'm so sorry."
Carmen softly touched his face, and said, "Don't be...it's not your fault."
Cyborg walked her back to his car. "You want a ride?"
"Sure."
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Okay! First chapter done! Oooh, what is Fenrir going to do? All I'm going to say is that it's going to be funnier then the omniscience makes it out to be. Well, it'll be funny to everyone except Raven. Oops, said too much. Anyways, this is Mud signing out.
Hi, Mud again. Holy crap! 11 reviews! I'm used to, at most, three a chapter. Anyways, to everyone, Cyborg's going to meet his future girlfriend in this, because just about everyone seems to feel sorry for him. Anyway, time to answer some reviews.
Mya Dawning- Thanks! I always had a passion for writing, even when I was like 8 years old. 'Course, you can't write too well at that age, but I still got a lot of experience from that. Thanks for the review!
ScarletAngel68- Yeah, I have those references hidden all over the place. Once the story's finished, I'll put them all down, but not until then. I'm so evil, aren't I?
HyDrOmAtIc- Thank you too! I wanted Slade to be retired, cause I don't really like him, so I decided to have it take place in the future. Glad you think that way about it!
Sanity-Stealing-Lawn-Gnome- I love your name! I have gnomes too, but they steal my boxers instead of my sanity, and every December they take a break and go help Santa at the North Pole ^_^
Eyes of Nevermore- Intriguing penname. Yeah, I like big words too. TERRA MUST DIE!!! Thank you for reminding me of that ^_^ Thanks for reviewing!
StarfireRobin4ever- Yeah, I love Robin/Starfire too, even if BBRaven is my favorite. Hopefully there will be a lot of Robin/Starfire fluff in chapters to come. Yay!
Kestrel- Thank you! BBRaven forever!
VanillaSuga- OH MY GOD!! You are my writing idol!! And I felt really guilty about that review, and now I feel kind of stupid, seeing as it was the beginning. But I'm elated you were so benevolent as to grace me with your presence.
warprince2000- Thanks! I will update soon. (I am now, aren't I?)
shadowcat0304- Wow, I'm flattered. That's an excellent phrase, "wondrous toils of writing". Except you misspelled 'descriptive', so I will completely discredit your opinion. Kidding! I've never read your stories, so I wouldn't know how I compare...
Celeste- Thank you, and your vocabulary's not too bad itself. I loved that last line too, but it was a pain in the ass coming up with it. When I finally got it, it was one of those "Eureka!" moments. Ever have those? Anyways, your pretty sharp yourself, not to mention you used the word 'subliminal'. I can barely spell it ^_^
Anyways, on with the chapter. Enjoi.
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Cyborg pulled into the Axis parking lot and hoped out of the T-Car. He whistled happily as he pulled his Black Label board out of the trunk, taking careful notice not to dent the car. He spotted his two friends Noah and James, already riding around.
"You didn't start without me now, did ya?" Cyborg yelled out as he strolled over to his companions. Noah hopped off his board, walked over to Cyborg, and lapped him a hi-five. James turned his head and unknowingly crashed into the fence.
"Nice," Cyborg joked. James dusted himself off and said, "Shut up."
Noah gestured over to the ramps and rails that lat before them. "We were about to play H-O-R-S-E, you wanna join?"
Cyborg nodded. "Hell yeah!" the half-robot said. Hopping onto his board, he maneuvered his way through until reaching a rail. He ollied onto the rail, did a stall, and then did a kickflip as he pushed himself off. James whistled. "Not bad."
Noah pushed off, picking up a lot of speed, and steered towards a ramp. As he flew off the gradient, he kicked his foot, sending the board spinning vertically. He almost landed it, but as he landed the shock caused him to lose his balance, and he stumbled off his board.
"H!" Cyborg yelled in jest. Noah stuck out his tongue and blew a raspberry. Boys will be boys.
"Can I join you?" an accented voice from behind Cyborg asked. They all turned around, and then looked with surprise at this newcomer.
Standing there was a relatively young girl, probably the same age as Cyborg. She was very beautiful, or at least Cyborg thought so, and judging by the color of her skin, was Hispanic in descent. The girl had wavy black hair that extended to just below her shoulders and gorgeous brown eyes. She had a smile that radiated splendor, like nothing Cyborg had ever seen. She was dressed in all black, and she wore a silver bracelet on her left hand that was almost as dazzling as herself.
"Sure you can skate with that leg, hun?" James asked nonchalantly. Cyborg peeled his eyes off the girls radiating beauty to see what he meant. Cyborg was truly shocked when he saw that her right leg was robotic. Realizing James's intention, he punched him on the shoulder and gestured to his own mechanized leg.
The girl frowned at this tactless query. Hopping onto her own board, she said, "Watch me."
The three boys watched as she gained speed, her hair flying in the wind as she sped along. Coming to a rail, she ollied onto it and grinded the whole portion of it. As she came to the conclusion of the rail, she ollied off and kicked her foot off to the side, making the board gyrate as she was temporarily airborne. The board stopped spinning as she neared the ground, and she rolled off as she made perfect contact with the soil.
"Dude, you just got shown up by a chick!" Noah teased. Cyborg rolled his eyes at his immature comment. The girl picked up her board, and walked over. "Name's Carmen."
"Noah."
"James."
"Cy-Cyb-Cyborg."
Carmen winked at the half robot, causing him to blush furiously. Noah and James grinned at each other, no stranger to this kind of thing.
"You wanna play H-O-R-S-E with us?" Noah asked. Carmen nodded. After about another half-hour of skateboarding, Carmen won, having gotten but a single letter. Cyborg and the others were just amazed.
"We're gonna go. Later Cy, later Carmen." Noah yelled as he climbed into the driver's seat of his Audi. James hopped into the passenger side and called out, "See ya!"
Cyborg grinned as they sped off. A minute passed before he found himself covetously staring at Carmen again.
"Oh my god, you are hot," Cyborg said, unaware he had actually said that. Carmen blushed and said, "You're not too bad yourself, Cyborg."
The half-robot flushed intensely, then realizing he had said it out loud. "Heh, heh, thanks."
It was there, outside the Axis skate park that Cyborg's primal instincts took over. Before his common sense could kick in, he found himself pressing his lips against hers. Carmen was slightly taken aback, but closed her eyes as she kissed him back passionately. Cyborg snaked his arms around her back and embraced her as the two continued their corporeal enjoyment.
'Holy shit, am I lucky or what?' Cyborg thought to himself. This was going to be a very, very good day.
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"Azareth Metrion Zinthos, Azareth Metrion..." Raven chanted quietly under her breath. As usual, Beast Boy had aroused her frustration, this time over too many prosaic jokes. A soft knock on her door interrupted her rumination, and Beast Boy's voice called out, "Umm, Raven? I just wanted to..." he paused, as if endeavoring with his words.
"What do you want this time?" Raven yelled, a slight tone of anger in her voice. Beast Boy gulped and said, "I'm sorry, okay? I know I went too far, and I'm sorry."
Raven was astounded by his apology. It was never like him to apologize, especially in such a short time frame. She contemplated for a minute and walked over to her door. Nudging it open ever so slightly, she peeked her face through. "What did you say?"
Beast Boy wasn't sure whether she was gloating or didn't hear him. Hoping it was the latter, he looked at the ground and said, "I'm sorry. Can you forgive me?"
Raven smiled faintly under her hood. "Look me in the eyes and say it."
'Okay, she's definitely gloating,' Beast Boy thought to himself. Part of his mind told him to forget it, but the more powerful half forced him to swallow his pride. Bringing his fixation from the floor upwards into Raven's eyes, he managed to squeeze out, "I'm...sorry...Raven."
Although Beast Boy couldn't see it, Raven smiled even wider under her hood. She knew it wasn't like her to do this, but for some strange reason, she always felt...different around the little changeling. Before she knew what she was saying, she was asking him, "You want to come in?"
Beast Boy was unaware if this was good or bad. He decided to take his chances and comply. "Umm, sure."
'Holy crap, did I just invite him into my room?' Raven thought to herself as she walked back into the decorum of her room. Beast Boy cautiously tiptoed in, making sure to duck and roll at any possible threat. As his nerves calmed, he slowly took in his surroundings. To his surprise, nothing had changed much over the course of three years. Of course, he had only been in here once, but it wasn't exactly something to forget.
Raven soon found herself staring pensively at the jumpy Beast Boy.
'Wow...look at those abs..." she said to herself. 'Holy shit! What the hell is wrong with me!? I can't be thinking things like that!'
'Oh, but you know you want to,' the voice in the back of her head told her. Raven's struggle within was interposed by Beast Boy's confused stare.
"Uh, you okay, Rae?" Beast Boy asked. Raven snapped out of her trance. "Yes! I'm fine."
Beast Boy swallowed and sighed. It was now or never. "Raven...I have something to tell you..."
Raven looked at him inquisitively. "Something...the matter?"
Color began flooding to Beast Boy's face. "Yeah. Raven, I...lo...lo..." he began stuttering wildly, choking on the word 'love'.
Raven was about to ask him something, when a loud, prompt tap on her door grabbed her attention. She walked over to the steel door and nudged it open ever so slightly, like she always did. Starfire was standing in the doorway, a huge grin plastered on her face, eyes looking like upside-down U's and everything.
Raven sighed. This couldn't be good.
"What do you want?" she asked dully. Starfire continued grinning and cheerfully said, "There is a new zoo opening in Jump City, and I thought we could all go!"
Pause. "No."
SLAM! Raven closed her door with a little unnecessary force. Starfire slumped at her failed attempt to socialize with Raven, and walked off dejectedly.
"Hey! I want to go to the zoo!" Beast Boy protested, forgetting his prospect of confessing to Raven. The pacifist groaned, knowing very well how this conversation was going to turn out.
"Alright, fine. But no stupid jokes whatsoever," Raven said. Beast Boy lit up at the thought of spending time with Raven that didn't involve pain or fighting.
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Starfire slumped on the couch sadly. Robin, who had been flipping through the channels, saw her melancholy demeanor and knew what had happened. "Raven say no?" he asked casually.
Starfire nodded, slightly frustrated at his cavalier mood. "Yes! Why must it be that every time I try to do something nice for her she throws it back at me?"
Robin scooted a little closer to her. "That's just the way she is. I guess she would hang out with you more, but that whole 'I can't feel emotions' thing gets in the way," he said comfortingly. He placed a consoling hand on her shoulder and hugged her slightly. Starfire blushed at his touch and managed to say, "Yes...Raven's emotional problem is most unfortunate."
"What about my emotional problem?" a familiar voice rang out from behind them. Robin and Star turned around and saw Raven standing in the hallway, with Beast Boy, a couple feet behind her, covetously looking at the Azareth. Starfire's gloomy mood evaporated instantaneously. "Raven! You have decided to accompany us to the zoo!"
"Don't get used to it," Raven said under her hood. Although apparent to no one, Raven was smiling under her hood.
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"I call shotgun!" Beast Boy yelled as Robin approached the door to the garage. Robin shook his head. "No need, Beast Boy. The zoo's only a couple blocks from here, so we can walk."
"Awww!" was the immediate response from the green shape shifter. Raven rolled her eyes at his languor.
After about fifteen minutes of walking and incessant complaining from Beast Boy, they reached the zoo. Seeing as they were the Teen Titans, they didn't have to pay. Which was a nice little perk to being a superhero.
The first thing they came to was the gorilla exhibit. Starfire let out and "Eep!" and ran over to the glass barrier cutting the gorillas off from civilization, her three friends running behind her to keep up.
"Beast Boy, he looks like you!" she said comically. Beast Boy groaned at the sheer risibility of her statement. She curiously looked at a male silverback, which stopped eating his carrot to look at her. The Tamaran waved joyously, to which was responded by a loud roar and pounding of fists against chest. Starfire yelped and jumped into Robin's arms out of fear. The masked leader stumbled under the unexpected load, but didn't lose his balance.
Beast Boy laughed. Walking over to the angered gorilla, he began making sinuous gestures with his hands, as if speaking in some form of sign language. The other Titans looked quizzically at each other, not knowing what to make of the situation. The chagrined ape made similar, just as unstilted, hand movements in response.
"Now I've seen everything," Robin said. The gorilla slowly shuffled away, and Beast Boy wore a proud look on his face upon exiting his chat with the silverback.
"Mind telling us what that was about?" Raven asked monotonously. Starfire, who had just realized she was still in Robin's arms, jumped out, discomfited. Beast Boy grinned wider and said, "Gorillas have their own form of hand dialogue, much like sign language. To a male silverback, waving is a form of insult."
Beast Boy may not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but he sure knew zoology.
"...Interesting," Robin said.
All of a sudden, panicked screaming broke out nearby, and a horrified mob of people began running all over. When Robin looked to see what was wrong, he growled.
"Titans, GO!"
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-A few minutes earlier-
Lyrim, cloaked from all forms of human perception, strolled down the road of the zoo, with Fenrir at his side. He studied the eclectic crowd of civilians, and sighed.
"Look at them all, Fenrir. Their lives are full of grief and suffering, bound to this plane by their own misery. I think we should release them of their pain, don't you?"
Fenrir growled in agreement. Lyrim took notice and laughed at the prospect of 'liberating anguished souls'.
He looked all around for a useful subject, and settled on the Komodo dragon exhibit. He grinned, and with but a thought in his mind he used his powers to take over the mind of the dragon. Controlling it mentally, he forced it to tear open the fence with its satirical claws. It took the crowd about half a second to realize it had escaped. Once they did, they ran like hell all over the place. Picking out the nearest poor soul, the dragon, or rather its body controlled by Lyrim, pounced on the unfortunate passer-by, whom happened to be an elderly man.
The old man yelled weakly, nearly having a stroke, and struggled under the substantial weight of the lizard. As he was about to sink its razor-sharp fangs into the poor twisted man, a peculiar green colored bolt knocked it off the old man. Lyrim turned his head and saw four young "heroes" aiding his would-be victim. One, who appeared to be the leader, helped the man up and withdrew a metal staff. With a press of a button, it extended to more than thrice its size. Lyrim raised and eyebrow, commiserating his bondage to technology.
As he studied his obstructers, he took careful notice to remember them. The one who had "saved" the old man was a Tamaran, a race he had fleeting comprehension of. This one must have been of royal blood, as she could wield starbolts. She was very pretty, and her brilliant green eyes and orange skin would be easy for Lyrim to remember.
As the Komodo dragon regained its balance, Lyrim decided to let go of its mind and scrutinize these youths instead. A moderately small, green human changed into a giant snake, and began to wrap itself around the dragon. Lyrim took careful notice of his proclivity of animals.
As he averted his concentration to the final subject, he noticed that it was an Azareth. He knew the Azareth ways well, having lived there for a period of time. Those days were the bane of his memories. Evidently, his ideology on "freeing people from their pain" was not well noted on Azareth. Thus, he spent his days there out in hiding, before he was able to leave that futile place. This Azareth was a female, with lavender hair and eyes to match. She mumbled a few words, and the dragon became enshrouded in a black aura. Lyrim observed sanctimoniously as she worked with the green one to restore the dragon back to its original place, sealing the broken ingress.
He got an idea. He knelt down to Fenrir, and began whispering in his ear. "Fenrir, I have a job for you. I want you to..." he whispered more, so that not even the narrator of this story could hear what he said. Fenrir roared in accordance and began racing off to the place of their dwelling, a.k.a. Titans Tower.
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"You have to introduce me to your friends some time, Cyborg," Carmen said as she walked Cyborg to his car. Cyborg nodded and replied, "I'll be sure to. Say, where did you get that bracelet?" he asked, nudging to the bangle situated on her wrist.
Carmen's smiled lessened, and she began explaining, "Oh, I got this from my parents. See, my parents died when I was only a little girl living in Costa Rica. Back then; we lived in a rain forest type place, so there were a lot of leopards and things like that. When I was 13, I accidentally left a window open, and a leopard snuck in at the middle of the night," she said, pausing from the lump of unshed tears in her throat. Cyborg put his arm around her tenderly.
"I'm okay...anyway, the leopard got to my room first, and it attacked me in my sleep. I got badly hurt, so my leg had to be amputated..." she continued, pointing to her artificial leg. "...But my parents stopped it from killing me. I was practically unconscious from the pain, so I don't recall much about that night. But the next morning, I remember waking up and seeing my parent's bodies on the floor, next to the leopard's. How they managed to kill it, I don't know, but..." she paused, tears slowly sliding down her face.
Cyborg made an empathetic sound, and hugged her tightly. Carmen sniffled, and wiped her face with her sleeve. "Thanks...so when I found them, my mom had a bracelet on. So I took it, being the only thing to remember her by. The Child Protection Agency caught wind of my parent's death, so I ended up being shuttled back and forth between different foster homes. After a while I got fed up with it, and once I was 18 I legally emancipated myself."
Cyborg continued embracing her. "Oh my God...I'm so sorry."
Carmen softly touched his face, and said, "Don't be...it's not your fault."
Cyborg walked her back to his car. "You want a ride?"
"Sure."
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Okay! First chapter done! Oooh, what is Fenrir going to do? All I'm going to say is that it's going to be funnier then the omniscience makes it out to be. Well, it'll be funny to everyone except Raven. Oops, said too much. Anyways, this is Mud signing out.
