Growing Up (Falling Down) Chapter 2 by 6-String Samurai
T- Minus: 3 days
Beast Boy's hand was killing him. After pulling off the glove, he looked down at the row of knuckles of his left hand and noticed that they were swollen and one looked like it had just started bleeding. It had certainly FELT like he had just punched a half-ton of metal.
It couldn't be…
He's dead…
As Beast Boy continued to stare at his hand and endlessly contemplated the disturbing appearance of what looked to be an old friend, his four other tower mates ran into the atrium of the main entrance. Still clad in only civilian clothes they wore around the tower, they were fully ready to pounce on Beast Boy's attacker. The scene that greeted them quickly put a stop to any apocalyptic thoughts involving their green teammate.
Cyborg arm into its standard configuration, Robin's tensed muscles relaxed leaving him standing with his staff at his side looking quite confused, Starfire's starbolt energy flowed back into her veins and the black energy coursing through Raven disappeared as she too raised an eyebrow at the scene greeting her.
Beast Boy stood, facing perpendicular to the entrance to Titans tower, with one shoulder facing the door and one facing the Titans giving his friends a view of his profile. He was still staring, almost as if hypnotized by his battered knuckles. As if that wasn't odd enough, when looking out the door, the four teens saw a large metal robot laying flat on his back, clad in XX-Large t-shirt and jeans, staring up at the sky with a hand running over his chin as if thinking. It was painfully apparent that Beast Boy had just punched the strange visitor with all his might.
Running over to their friend, it was Robin who finally broke out of confusion at the whole scene laid out in front of him, "Beast Boy, what happened?" Turning to look at the large figure sprawled out on the lawn he noticed that the figure had obviously slid quite a distance on the ground, leaving a large trench in the ground. Turning back to Beast Boy, who was still in a daze and staring at his ungloved hand, Robin continued, "Who is he; what did he say?"
Finally Beast Boy's attention snapped away from his hand as if he were slapped and looked toward his leader and his teammates who all were wearing a looking at him as they were all thinking the same question in their minds.
Looking toward the figure still on the lawn, who was now starting to get up, Beast Boy turned his back to his friends and stalked over to the stranger, but not before saying quietly, with a tinge of anger just loud enough for them to hear, "He said hi."
Surprised at their usually plucky teammate giving such a heated response, they watched him stalk his way over to the visitor.
A few yards away, Cliff Steele was still on his back and looking up at the sky. It was a great day with the temperature around 70° and not a cloud in sight, and even though the punch hadn't hurt in the tradition sense, the receptors located all over his plated hide registered the sudden voltage differential and reported that: yes, he had been struck and yes, you probably shouldn't keep doing that. Sure, Dr. Caulder had worked hard to restore some semblance of feeling in his "skin," but thankfully, Caulder hadn't faithfully reproduced the feelings of pain that could befall a regular human after getting slugged in the face, or in a more dire situation, getting shot multiple times; that just wouldn't have been conducive to superhero work.
As he lay there on the ground still looking up into an impossibly clear blue sky, Cliff decided to give himself a moment to reflect on what could have possibly led to him getting hit in the face. It was a rule of thumb he used for every barroom altercation and fight he'd ever been in. It was always important to get perspective. So he asked himself the usual questions that he often asked himself when on the ground reeling from a punch. Did he deserve that? Did he owe x-person money? Did I say something offensive to x-person's female companion? Did I puke on x-person's shoes?
Maybe, no, nope I don't think so, and I can't do that anymore.
The fist in the face was almost nostalgic. The last time he had been welcomed with a greeting like that was back before the full body conversion that made him into a robot. It was often when he ran into former girlfriend at a bar, or when in his many wild nights of drinking at a bar, he had unknowingly walked up to a couple at a club he was attending with his buddies and began hitting on a female totally ignoring her boyfriend standing just a foot away. These confrontations usually resorted in full out brawls that landed Cliff in the pokey for the night, a wicked hangover in the morning and an equally wicked shiner to show off to his friends; but from an old friend, that was almost rude and unexpected.
Figuring that he should get a full explanation from his young friend before this became a full fledged incident, began pulling himself up to his feet, "Hey kid, I know we ain't exactly seen each other in a while now, but I don't remember us having a secret handshake that consisted of…"
The metal man didn't quite get the rest of his lame joke out before the same green, melon-sized hand that had hit him, made a grab for his t-shirt to bring his face up to the eyes of the owner of said fist.
This was a new experience for Cliff. Even before his conversion made it hard for any regular man to lift any part of his body, years in the military and an above-average size, made it hard for just anyone looking for a fight to bring him down to their level. It certainly had never happened with his green, five foot, 6 inch tall, former teammate. The pair of green eyes staring at him were full of hate.
Still partially kneeled on the ground to look at his smaller friend, Cliff returned the stare with a lazy, "Hey…how's it going green bean?" that would have led you to believe he was casually shooting the breeze with a friend.
The four other Titans moved their way out of the main entrance of the Tower and were now standing several feet away from the confrontation that was taking place between their teammate and who they guessed was, emphasis on was, a friend of Beast Boy's.
All four teens were torn. Certainly Beast Boy had a reason for his reaction, should they help their friend or just watch to see what would happen? The visitor, who was clearly not an average visitor, was most definitely a large, metal man. Even stranger, they had never seen their friend use his powers in such a manner. Beast Boy's head, torso, and legs were still looked normal, but his arms were different; they were large and covered in fur that barely concealed the tensioned muscles. It would have looked comical any other day, what with a small teenager with large, overgrown, furry arms. Instead it looked quite frightening with him using the large arms to hold up the metal man.
Predictably it was Raven who was first to get her bearings back and finally spoke up with a tinge of surprise in her voice, "Well…that's certainly new."
Her three friends only nodded. Yes, it certainly was new. In the few years they had fought along side the changeling they had seen many strange and new animals in his repertoire of shapes, but they hadn't seen him partially transformed like this. Sure, there was that time after the Adonis incident when he had added three claw marks on Cyborg's chest plate in anger, but never something this drastic. The arms were very large, and looked as if they'd be hanging and dragging on the ground were they not hoisting the metal man up to Beast Boy's level.
It was Cyborg who spoke next, a look of recognition appearing on his face, "Hey guys, I think I know who that is. He looks a bit different from the old newspaper prints, but I think…" He took a pause to use his cybernetic eye to get an even closer look at the visitor and his green friend having a stare down before continuing enthusiastically, "That's Robot Man from the Doom Patrol!"
Like a conditioned reflex, Raven's sarcastic bite decided to chime in and curb her teammate's enthusiasm, "What's got your circuits in such a bunch?"
Then like a counter-conditioned reflex, Starfire jumped in to ease the blow to his ego, "Yes friend, why are you so surprised to see this Robotic Man?"
Robin was only half listening to the conversation as he continued to observe Beast Boy and the robotic stranger.
Cyborg stared at the two girls as if they had each grown another head, but then realizing the two had probably never heard of the legendary Doom Patrol or of Cliff 'Robot Man' Steele since they had only arrived on their planet, or in Raven's case, plane of existence in the past few years. Neither was into superhero history like he was.
Readying himself for the explanation and yanking a white board seemingly out of nowhere, Cyborg sat the two girls down on the grass of their lawn and Cyborg coughed to clear his throat before scribbling on the whiteboard with a marker stashed in one of his fingers, "The Doom Patrol are famous! They're one of the most highly decorated superhero teams a few years back. They've received multiple awards and commendations from countries all over the world," taking in a large gulp of air to continue, "They've taken on some of the worst villains and monsters and have been solely responsible for saving the earth on several occasions."
Cyborg then flipped the whiteboard over to get empty white space, and continued, "As for THE Robot Man, he's old school! Some of my designs were based on information learned from his construction!" Taking a break to catch his breath, he continued as he drew a schematic of what resembled Robot Man, "of course, my body has more sophisticated weapons systems and circuitry, but his body was constructed for the sole purpose of bringing the smack down!"
By this point Cyborg, who was shocked earlier, looked as if a diode in his brain was about to burnout from the excitement he was experiencing. "I can't believe that he's here, in front of OUR tower!"
It was Robin who broke Cyborg's train of thought and prevented it from going full steam ahead into oblivion. He added quietly to his friends' presentation, "The Doom Patrol was also known for using some of the most controversial and destructive methods to accomplish their goals."
"Hey man, you can't hold it against them; they got the job done!" Cyborg responded in defense of his childhood heroes.
"I know you know exactly how much chaos followed them in their exploits, don't tell me you completely glossed over those parts of the newspaper clippings!" responded Robin, who's voice was slowly gaining volume.
"You would know about newspaper clippings you obsessive little…"
"You better watch what you say you tin…"
"FRIENDS! This is of little importance right now!"
Both boys, who at this point were nose to nose and in each other's face's stopped their argument as Starfire brought things back into perspective, "Friend Cyborg…whatever happened to the Doom Patrol?"
Cyborg, with his gaze still locked with Robin in a silent argument continued, his voice losing the exuberance and child-like excitement it had earlier, "Well Star…nobody exactly knows, they just up and disappeared one day; anybody that would've known is gone and isn't talking."
Raven, who had been silent since Cyborg's rant, spoke up and was clearly annoyed at their antics, "Yes…as interesting as this impromptu history lesson is…it still doesn't explain why he's here." Then shifting her gaze from the testosterone duo to her green teammate jabbing a thumb in his direction, Raven continued, "Or why Beast Boy would just hit him like that."
Speculation continued among the group who had seemingly forgotten the fact that Beast Boy was still holding the hulking robot to eye level to stare him in the eye. Beast Boy still hadn't said a word which was a record for the hyperactive teen. Today was a day of firsts: First time they'd seen BB this angry and the first time they'd seen him this quiet.
The silence was broken seconds later:
"Who are you?" Screamed Beast Boy, as his voice boomed across the large grassy field in front of Titans Tower.
Beast Boy began shaking and Raven strongly suspected it wasn't due to exhaustion that was causing him to shake. The heat she had felt earlier in the kitchen from her green friend now felt like a raging fire from this distance. Her training should have been able to lessen the effects of his emotions, but the anger was just too strong and even muted, was still blazing.
Ignoring the volume and angry green face occupying his view, Cliff replied looking rather bored and annoyed, "Kid…don't tell me it's been that long since we've seen each other. Even you couldn't have forgotten a giant made of metal."
If his reply was meant to placate the changeling into letting him go, it didn't work, but instead further angered the teen. Beast Boy's voice increased several more decibels, "I don't know who you are, but you got some nerve showing up here looking like that!"
"Kid, seriously, it's me. Put me down and let's talk about this like rational…"
"Stop lying to me!" Beast boy punctuated the statement by giving the robot a firm shaking and growling.
"Or not…" Cliff signed and turned toward the other 4 teenagers, who up to this point, had been standing on the sidelines of the argument, waiting to see what their friend would do, "A little help?"
Surprising her friends, it was Raven who beat Robin to the punch and asked with fire in her voice, "Not before you tell us who you are, and why Beast Boy's so angry with you."
"Listen, sweetheart…" said Cliff sounding like he was trying to explain something to a kindergartner.
Beast Boy suddenly began growling very loudly.
He continued, "My name is Cliff Steele, and I'm just here to say hi to an old friend"
Raven was seconds away from actually helping Beast Boy and throwing the metal man into the bay for the "sweetheart" comment but was interrupted again by an irate Beast Boy, "Don't you old friend me," pausing to take a heaving breath before screaming, "you're not Cliff!"
"And why wouldn't I be smarty pants?" replied the robot tiredly as he turned back to his friend.
Beast Boy's reply, no longer raging and now deathly calm shocked everybody to the bone. The hatred that had been radiating off Beast Boy and being picked up by Raven's powers quickly turned to a cold, dark feeling of regret and sadness, "He's dead."
The group lapsed into silence.
A robotic cackle from Robot Man suddenly echoed across the field, shocking the Titans and, if possible, angering Beast Boy even further causing his monstrous arms to quake as the muscle fibers rippled and contracted. His hands gripped the front of Cliff's clothes even tighter causing his knuckles to lighten in color.
Beast Boy howled, "SHUT UP!" He cocked his fist back threatening to punch the imposter again, "Don't you dare laugh at him!"
"Robin, what should we do?" squeaked a nervous Starfire as she twirled her hair around her index finger in worry, "Should we not stop Beast Boy? This robot man is not doing anything wrong."
Robin didn't seem to hear Stafire's plea for guidance as he closely watched the green teen's body language. It was doubtful that Beast Boy could really hurt the metal man by punching him again, and he wanted to see how things would play out. Maybe the robot would speak up and finally clear up what had happened.
"Robin, what should we…?" repeated Starfire.
Robin cut her off in his calm, but commanding tone, "No…we need to find out what's going on…" he paused as he noted her worried facial expression turn a bit sour at his words and added, "Don't worry Star, if things get out of hand, we'll stop him."
Starfire forced on a smile and looked at her two other teammates to see what they thought. They both nodded and turned back to the spectacle that was taking place in their front yard.
"Listen kid, what do you want from me?" said Cliff, who was beginning to get annoyed at being held up to the green boy's face and getting screamed at by said green boy, "I've told you who I am!"
"Tell me the truth! Who are you, who sent you!" replies the changeling in a ragged voice from all the yelling.
"I'm Cliff Steele, what else do you need me to say to prove…"
"You can't prove it to me, I know what happened to him!"
Finally fed up with the denials and stubbornness Robot Man used his large metal hands to break the hold the teen has on his collar and reverses the hold and brings the Green Boy even closer to his face as he spoke in gravely electronic voice that was filled with ire, "Fine…don't believe me, but I can prove it to you!"
A pair each of human, cybernetic, half-demon and alien ears perked up to finally hear the final piece of the puzzle that caused their morning breakfast to be disturbed so suddenly by the visitor. The group also tensed at the sudden change in position with the Robot holding their friend by the collar. It was Robin who spoke up with an edge in his voice, "Watch the hands."
Cliff ignored the others and continued now that he had Beast Boy's raging eyes at attention waiting to see what he would say, "Your birth parents were named Mark and Marie, they died when you were six in a boating accident, you were put in the custody of…"
A loud retort cut off further explanation, "Ha, you have to do a lot better than that!" the sneer on Beast Boy's face widened, "Parroting my personal file isn't gonna prove jack!"
Eyes narrowing at the interruption, Cliff fell into a moment of thought.
"I knew it!" said an enthusiastic by angry beast boy as he brought his hands up to pry the metal fists off of his collar.
Beast Boy's attempt at breaking free was suddenly put to a stop as the metal man calmly replied, "All right…you have three gun shot wounds; one on your shoulder, your calf and your thigh from a botched extraction when we were sent on a rescue mission in Panama…"
Starfire's gasp in the background was accompanied by looks of shock and surprise on Cyborg, Raven and Robin's faces. Beast Boy had suddenly stopped struggling to free himself and was now quiet.
Robot Man continued as he noticed the boy didn't reply, "You have a three inch scar on the palm and back of your right hand from your stupid attempt at stopping a goon from skewering Rita when she had her back turned in that drug bust in Ecuador."
Beast Boy had yet to reply to the robot's statements, and only stared at the ground, not moving or not making a sound; which only worried his teammates since only moments before he had been screaming his lungs out.
Robot Man quickly released the boy who still hadn't lifted his eyes from the ground, and kneeled in front of him placing both hands on the teen's shoulders, "Sorry to bring up the past kid," he sighed, "It still sucks don't it?"
Beast Boy finally looked up from the grass, with his eyes watery and replied, "yeah…a lot," he then returned his gaze to the ground feeling thoroughly embarrassed, "sorry about belting ya."
The robot gave a slight chuckle, "Oh don't worry about it; not the first time it's happened, I'm sure it ain't the last." Cliff's face settled into a slight smirk as Beast boy laughed awkwardly still staring at the ground as he ran his ungloved thumb and forefinger over his eyes to clear up any moisture that had accumulated.
The other assembled Titans all finally relaxed, seeing that their friend had calmed down. Robin turned toward his team and pulled them into a huddle, "…what just happened?"
"It looks like they have made up yes?" chimed in Starfire as her perky mood returning at the crisis being averted.
Raven then threw in her two cents, "Certainly seems so."
Cyborg was next, "But what was the grass stain talking about?"
Robin brought his hand up to his chin as he pondered the information he had heard, "Well…as far as I can tell, BB must have worked with them at some point."
Starfire turned toward her friend and leader in confusion, "But why has Beast Boy never spoke of them?"
Answering in her usual droll monotone and smirking, "Yeah, he always likes to talk about himself."
Cyborg then questioned, "So what do we do Rob?"
Taking a moment to think Robin replied, "Well…I say we wait to see what happens next and then we ask Beast Boy later," he paused, "I don't think it's a good idea to ask him now anyway."
Four heads nodded in agreement and turned their attention back towards their friend and Robot Man to see they had yes to say anything since their exchanged apologies. The silence turned awkward and oppressive.
Seeing that his young friend was still at a loss for words, he released Beast Boy's shoulders and stood up to his full height of 7'5" and dusted off his clothes.
The four titans still observing the scene were surprised by Cliff's height and size as they had only seen him flat on his back. His metal body was bulky, his arms and legs large and thick; the strength his body conveyed in its large frame was apparent. They were used to seeing Cyborg on a day to day basis, but even Cyborg didn't look as big as he usually did in comparison to Robot Man. Cyborg's body was covered in electronics, analytical equipment and weapons systems while Robot Man's frame was designed for hand to hand combat.
It was surprising to see the large metal giant do something as normal and human as tussling Beast Boy's hair. Beast Boy didn't seem to react to the friendly gesture and continued to stare at the ground.
Clearing his throat, which was a totally useless gesture for a robot and something that just felt like the right thing to do at the moment, Cliff's friendly but electronic voice spoke up, "Well…maybe showing up on such short notice without a call was a bad idea," he paused as Beast Boy turned his gaze upwards to look him the eye, "I just came by to drop off a birthday present and maybe chat for a while…but I think it might be a better idea for me to get out of your hair."
He turned and began walking away from the group and said over his shoulder, "lemme just get something off my bike."
As the metal giant lumbered back toward his bike, the four titans walked up to Beast Boy to check on their friend. Robin spoke up first, "So, Beast Boy, is everything ok?" What he really wanted to ask was who that was and what was going on, but he shoved the thoughts aside deciding that Beast boy would talk when he was good and ready.
Beast Boy turned to their leader and gave a very unconvincing, "Yeah"
As Cliff continued down the hill, his bike finally came into view; it was the strangest monstrosity that they'd ever seen. Instead of one wheel in the back, there were two large, heavily grooved wheels. The engine was especially large; looking as thought it belonged in a work truck instead of a motorcycle. Due to its size, the engine was mounted behind the large leather seat, almost between the tires, that looked a perfect fit for Cliff's size. The metal frame of the bike looked much heftier than a regular motorcycle and the bike's appearance screamed custom job.
Cyborg was already drooling and already forgot about asking Beast Boy what was going on.
It was Starfire who spoke up next, deciding to give a try at getting information out of the smaller green teen, "How do you know this Robot Man Beast Boy?"
Unexpectedly, Beast boy didn't try to redirect their attention or get angry and tell them to go away, he answered simply, "Oh, well me and Cliff used to work together."
"So…you used to be on the Doom Patrol?" Raven questioned, trying not to sound interested or concerned.
"Yeah for a bit…" replied the Green Boy, who was now watching Cliff bring over a plastic bin that had been stored on his bike and make his way back up the hill to the small group. He sounded more and more depressed with each answer.
"So what happened to them?" Robin continued, "Cyborg was saying they disappeared one day."
Beast boy's response was cut off as Cliff finally made his way back over to the group and looked at each teen. They were all looking at him expectedly, even the cybernetic teen; he could tell maybe dropping off his gift and leaving wouldn't be that easy. Placing the gift on the ground and looking down at Beast Boy, he held out his hand which the green boy grasped and shook.
"Well, kid, I think the gift is self explanatory. It took me a little time to get it all together, but I think you'll like what you see." He released the Boy's hand and gave him a smile, "But I think it's time I get outta here, I got a long trip back home…it was good seeing you Gar."
He gave a quick nod to the two other boys and the girls and began walking away, shocking the teens that he could come and go so quickly with nothing more than a gift and a handshake.
"Wait!"
Cliff signed, knowing that he should have known better than to avoid this inevitable conversation. He turned back around to see that the Green Boy had caught up to him.
"Don't tell me you came all this way, dropped off a present…" he paused which made Cliff nervous, "and leave without staying for MY party?"
"Kid, I really don't think…"
"Dude, come on, the Cliff Steele I know wouldn't ever turn his back on a party." Beast boy smiled at his large friend and noted with satisfaction that the he seemed to be reconsidering.
His smile faded somewhat to a simple grin that didn't reach his sad eyes, "Besides, you need to tell me what happened."
Again, the other teens seemed at a loss at what to do. This seemed like a very private conversation and they felt that they were somehow intruding on something very personal.
"Er…you sure? Your party isn't for a couple more days; I'll have to find a place to crash."
"Well…" Beast Boy paused and turned toward Robin, "Is it cool if he stays for a couple days?"
The question came out relaxed and casual, but Robin could see the imploring look in Beast Boy's eyes, "Yeah sure, it's not like we don't have the space."
Cyborg looked ecstatic, while Raven and Starfire were surprised at how easily he made up his mind.
"Robin, are you sure this is a good idea?" questioned Raven.
As he considered his answer, Robin looked over to his green teammate and saw him smiling again and giving his Robot friend a high five and already joking with the metal man, "Yeah, I'm sure of it."
They continued to observe their friend tell his long lost friend about the tower and all the cool stuff he had to show him: his comic collection, all the gadgets they confiscated from crooks, the game station…
The robot smiled as much as his metal face could manage, "Sure kid, it sounds like a ball," his voice turned suddenly serious, "Oh, by the way, I have to apologize"
The teens were worried and waiting to see what he would tell their friend.
"W-what for Cliff?" Stuttered a genuinely worried Beast Boy.
"For this!" said the Giant metal man with a maniacal grin as his hands shot out and gave Beast Boy the worst purple nurple and wedgie the other teens present had ever seen. Beast Boy screamed accordingly.
He then made a run for the door to the tower and ran in leaving Beast boy rolling on the ground in pain. He soon pulled himself off the ground and ran off after his friend but not before yelling at the top of his lungs, "I'm going to rip your arms off and beat you with them you ass!"
A chill ran up Robin's spine as he suddenly realized maybe this wasn't such a good idea. His friends still stood in stunned silence at the explosion of immaturity that had come from the large man and their young cohort.
It was raven who first spoke up, still shocked and worried, "My God…I think we just reunited Beavis & Butthead."
Cyborg and Robin nodded gravely and in unison, "Uh huh"
The group made their way back into the tower, scared to find what devastation the two had caused as they heard what sounded like a stampede coming from the tower. No doubt Beast Boy was charging around the tower in the form of some large animal trying to hurt the metal man.
It was Starfire's next question to Robin that caused him to groan as he realized peace, quiet and sanity would be in short supply for the next few days, "Robin, who is this Beavis Raven speaks of…and why does he have a butt on his head?"
AN:
Thanks for all the reviews I've received for Chapter 1. I wasn't even expecting that many showing up, but I was particularly touched by the reviewers who doubted this was my first story. You made me cry…just a bit.
So the chapter…I never knew how hard it was to write dialogue. It's damn time consuming! That whole scene with BB yelling at Cliff and having the others standing there like statues was just hell to write.
I hope you liked the rest of the chapter…the last bit of silliness exchanged between BB and RM toward the end was something that had just popped into my diseased brain one day and refused to leave. You'll see later, but going back to BB's bio on Titanstower, the two were close friends. To me, Cliff's seems like the cool uncle…who is just a horrid influence on young impressionable minds. Those two will be getting into more trouble later on, usually with Cliff leading the charge.
No BB/raven this time around, but don't worry, I got some planned later. There will be more action too.
Enjoy and keep those critical reviews coming. I like having my inadequacies thrown in my face.
BTW, who thought last weeks ep was awesome? Looking at the old pictures of the DP on Titanstower…boy did Steve AKA Mento look like a total tool; thank God for new character designs…he's got some awesome powers too. They made the DP into an awesome superhero team. I love their cutthroat attitude, as well as their characterizations. Negative man's depressing attitude was hilarious. I liked that argument between the Titans and the DP with Cliff bringing up the fact that BB has been a part of the DP long before he joined the TT. Also liked Mento and BB working together. I was REALLY glad to see them making BB out to be more than comic relief. Kid took out an alien invasion with a scooter and a frigging water gun, he deserves some respect. He also apparently knows how to use a computer if only for the purpose of breaking something. I was really shocked about them revealing BB's real name at the end. I fully intend to make a one shot at some point with Raven and Cyborg mercilessly torturing him about it.
My only gripe? The episodes are too short. It's becoming painfully obvious that TT really should be longer. Aside from that, I loved it.