TheUbu (I'd be Ubu but someone took it!)
I'm a crazy Canadian and some of my writing may reflect that. Don't be alarmed and run for the hills, I'm sure it won't hurt too badly.
Disclaimer: I don't own the Teen Titans; any characters contained within are not mine and belong to their respective owners with whom I have no affiliation. Don't you just hate it when you can't think of anything completely random? Then you start going off on this rant about how random stuff is hard to come up with and without even knowing it, you've just put a bunch of random stuff in the disclaimer. Weird huh?
Chapter Four
Beast Boy had followed Raven throughout the whole tower to see what kind of emotions the different rooms brought up in him and how well he could empathically deal with the emotions left in those rooms. They were alone because Raven thought Beast Boy could still use a little more time to adjust to their new circumstances, so the others were out. Robin had been out since 9:00AM because Mumbo had regained consciousness and he intended to interrogate him.
They entered the room Raven had left for last: The common room. She'd decided to leave it for last because the other Titans had been interacting in there recently so it would be ripe with residual emotions. No matter how much time passed, a room would always have a faint hint of emotions, that was just the way it worked, but the common room would be particularly strong. Beast Boy's concentration on containing his powers had not faltered once throughout the whole tower and this pleased him.
Dealing with empathy was a new thing for Beast Boy. It's hard to describe how it allowed him to perceive others emotions but if he had to describe it, he'd have said that it was like a mix of sounds, tastes, and the way different temperatures feel on the skin. He'd been able to identify the way a few felt with Raven's help; happiness, sadness, fear, anxiousness, and concern.
"Get ready." Raven warned him as they approached the common room doors.
Beast Boy just nodded.
The doors slid open and he felt a torrent of emotions roll over him. He almost took a step back from the sudden flood of emotions but he restrained himself. It was tough to feel what emotions were there because they all seemed to mingle into one another but Beast Boy could recognize a few.
'What's that? Easy, that one's happiness and there's a little anxiousness. What are those though?'
Beast Boy was very surprised. Not by the strength of the emotions alone, but because they were so strong despite the fact that his friends weren't even in the room. If this was what they were like after his friends had been away for a couple of hours, what would it feel like coming straight from them? So far, he's only felt a little emotion from Raven. What he felt was fairly weak too. He figured that she must have been suppressing her emotions; probably out of habit, but Beast Boy got the impression that it was also for his sake. Maybe that was just wishful thinking.
"Are you alright?" Raven asked, rousing him for his deep thought.
"Yea, they were a little surprising though. Are they always really strong in here?"
"Usually." She replied as they both made their way into the room. "But that's no stronger than what normally comes from people."
"So you've been suppressing yours then." Beast Boy stated so that it was in no way a question.
"Well, yes. I have been because I wasn't sure if you could handle them."
Beast Boy thought for a moment. 'She's had to control her emotions all of her life and now she's free to express them. We don't even know if this will last long and she's suppressing them for my sake…'
"It's ok Rae, I was a little caught off guard before but I'm pretty sure I can handle it if you let go of them. Besides, you should have some fun now when you won't blow anything up."
He felt a little warmth pass over him. It resembled happiness but was a little different. Could it be gratitude?
:-:-:-:-:
"It's ok Rae, I was a little caught off guard before but I'm pretty sure I can handle it if you let go of them." Beast Boy said with a small smile. "Besides, you should have some fun now when you won't blow anything up."
How could he be so kind? Last night he doubted, and with founded doubt in Raven's opinion, that they would ever be able to return to the way they were originally. He was handling his emotions and those he felt empathically a great deal better than she would have expected anyone to in a situation such as this.
Sure, Starfire had managed to control her emotions when they had switched bodies, but it wasn't as hard for her. Her powers were very much like Raven's: driven by emotion. Even if Starfire was emotional, she knew how to bring up, or put down the emotions she wanted at will.
Beast Boy was a different story. It seemed like he lived to be, and to make others, happy.
'It must just be in his nature.' She thought. 'Even if he can't be happy right now, he wants others to be happy.'
"Thanks Beast Boy, but I don't think I should start getting used to expressing my emotions. It would be harder to suppress them when we get this sorted out." She explained in her usual monotone.
"Aw come on Rae… I'm not allowed to feel emotions right now, I'm going to need you to do that for me. I'm happy when you guys are happy so that's going to be the best I can get. And look at it this way, it'll be a lot easier for me to deal with emotions coming from all four of you if I start off with one."
What he said did make sense, but should she? Could she? She'd not been allowed to express her emotions since early childhood. Save for the incident with Malchior, she had always suppressed her emotions. She was allowed to feel now though and it seemed like the perfect time to let out her pent up emotions. Besides, it would prepare Beast Boy for what to expect around the others.
"I-I'll try I guess." She said, mentally cursing herself for stuttering.
"Alright!" Beast Boy happily exclaimed.
He quickly shut is mouth and eyes and inhaled a deep breath through his nose. He opened his eyes again shortly after.
"I've gotten the counting down to five now." He said as he stood. "We should get something to eat. It's two o'clock and I still haven't had lunch."
Raven started to suppress a laugh but stopped herself. It came out as a sort of half-laugh half-grunt.
:-:-:-:-:
A grunt-like laugh escaped Raven's green mouth and Beast Boy just stared at her. He wanted her to express her emotions but that was just odd.
"What? You said you wanted me to express my emotions." She replied to his weird look. "You always seem to have food on the mind. I thought that was kind of funny."
Beast Boy just smirked as he entered the kitchen.
'This ought to get some emotion out of her.'
"I was thinking Raven, since you seemed to like those tofu eggs so much, why don't we have a crème of tofu soup?" He said as he reached into the cupboard for a pot.
"Now hold on a second!" Raven said quickly. "The tofu eggs weren't that bad but I don't want to eat tofu for every meal!"
Something that felt like a slightly cool breeze blew past Beast Boy. He had succeeded in getting a rise out of her. The emotion he felt was strong but not overpowering so he was pleased.
"Chill out, I was just kidding. How about some tomato soup?"
"That sounds better." Raven replied with a softer tone in voice.
:-:-:-:-:
"That damn idiot!" Shouted Robin as he slammed the door of the T-Car shut.
Cyborg was about to yell at him for hurting his 'baby' but decided against it seeing the mood Robin was in. Cyborg and Starfire had just picked up Robin from a five-hour interrogation of Mumbo. Mumbo played it tough for about an hour and a half before even speaking but Robin had dealt with that before. Once Mumbo had started talking, the small amount of information that he gave bore little relevance to Raven and Beast Boy's problem.
He always danced around the subject of the hat and tried to redirect the conversation, but Robin got him in the end. He ended up admitting that he found the hat accidentally when he was moving items in an estate sale. He didn't have the slightest idea how it worked and the best he could do was say that it was 'magic'. He said that since the hat was destroyed, he could see no way to reverse its effects.
"I can't believe anyone would be stupid enough to mess with something so powerful without having full knowledge of its workings!" Robin shouted again.
"It didn't go so well I take it." Said Cyborg, not removing his eyes from the road ahead of him.
Robin gave him an irritable glare. "What do you think?"
"Friends please!" Came Starfire from the back seat. "Let us not fight with one another! What did you learn from the Mumbo?"
"That fool has no idea how to reverse what he did. He was an idiot with power when he had the hat, now he's just an idiot."
"Perhaps the hat can be repaired?" She asked.
"We tried that. It's just shreds now, whatever power it held disappeared when it was destroyed."
"Great, just great." Muttered Cyborg guiltily.
Robin's tensed shoulders relaxed and he let out a deep sigh.
"It's not your fault Cy, you made the right call. I would have done the same thing if I could have gotten out of those stupid cloths. Beast Boy and Raven sounded like they were in a lot of pain too."
Cyborg smiled, some of his guilt had been alleviated but he still had that nagging feeling in the back of his mind.
:-:-:-:-:
Beast Boy brought both of the empty bowls to the sink and turned on the faucet. He'd enjoyed his meal alone with Raven. It was a far cry from a date, but it was he and her alone nonetheless.
"That was good. Thanks a lot BB." Said Raven with a smile.
Beast Boy loved it when Raven smiled. It was a very rare occurrence to see Raven truly smile and even though he'd known her for years, Beast Boy was sure he could count the number of times she did on two hands. She was pretty when she smiled, even if she was green. That was one of the reasons he always tried to make her smile and after he and Cyborg traveled into her mind, he wanted to make her laugh. When he heard Happy laugh for the first time, laugh a true and hearty laugh, it sounded like sweet music to his ears.
He averted his eyes from her and blushed slightly. It was odd to hear Raven use his nickname. The bowl he had been washing turned black and he let go of it. It hung in the air where he released it though.
"Damn." He muttered.
'One… Two… Three… Four… Five…'
As he was half way through mentally counting the last word, the bowl dropped from where it hovered and splashed into the warm water of the sink. Water sloshed out of the sink and hit Beast Boy. Raven giggled a little and Beast Boy blushed again. At least he got to hear her laugh. He closed his eyes and forced the emotion down.
"I meant to do that." He said as he opened his eyes.
"Of course you did." Raven said sarcastically and laughed.
Beast Boy felt like smiling and laughing himself but he quelled the thought. This was a lot harder than he thought. He was finally enjoying a little time with Raven and he had managed not to act like a complete idiot, but it felt a little empty. If only he could laugh with her, tell a joke, or just goof around.
'This is what she dealt with every day of her life.' He realized. 'And I'd been trying my hardest to make her smile and laugh. She couldn't though, even if she wanted to. I was being such a damn a heel.'
"Hey Raven?"
"Yes?"
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry for trying to make you laugh, bugging you when you were meditating or reading, and just being a fool all the time. This is a lot harder than you let on and me joking around all the time can't have helped." He said still looking at the dishes in the sink.
"Don't be, please don't be. I did have to work to keep my emotions in check but I like it when you tell me jokes. I may not have been able to laugh but it's nice that somebody was trying." She said with a slight red tint in her cheeks.
"Thanks Raven."
"For what?"
"For being you." He said honestly.
Raven blushed and looked away but said nothing.
'Man she looks pretty.'
'You should tell her you like her.' Part of his mind said.
'Yea, that'll be the day.' He thought back. '"Raven, I love you."'
'So you lover her!'
'Well… Yea, I do…' He thought defeated.
One of the dishes in the water cracked in half but the water muffled the sound.
"Uh, Raven?"
"Yes?"
"I just want you to know tha-"
Cyborg, Starfire, and Robin interrupted Beast Boy. They entered the common room and Beast Boy was hit with a strong sort of sour chill. From the look of them, it was pretty easy to see that the emotions must be frustration and defeat.
Robin dropped heavily on the semi-circular couch, Cyborg followed suit.
"So what did you find out?" Raven asked, still sitting at the table with a cup of tea in hand.
Robin turned his head and saw Beast Boy standing by the sink.
"What about-" Raven cut him off.
"This concerns him as well."
"Well, alright. Basically Mumbo is useless without the hat. Seeing as it has now been destroyed, there's no way he can help. He found the hat by accident. That incompetent fool didn't even know how the damn thing worked!" Robin finished with anger rising in his voice.
Beast Boy could feel the emotions Robin was casting off: frustration, anger, and deep resentment. Again, he didn't need Raven to tell him what they were; it was plain to see in the state their leader was in. It was a very strange feeling, Beast Boy could feel anger and frustration rising in himself as a result of what his friend was feeling. He quickly squelched the hot feeling growing in his chest.
'One… Two… Three… Four… Five…'
When he opened his eyes, he saw Cyborg looking at him from the couch almost expectantly.
"You're taking this pretty well B."
"I hadn't really expected him to help us out." He said in a monotone that was frighteningly similar to that of Ravens.
:-:-:-:-:
"You're taking this pretty well B." Said Cyborg.
Raven stood and walked to the sink with her empty mug. Beast Boy simply looked at Cyborg.
"I hadn't really expected him to help us out." He replied plainly.
'He is taking this surprisingly well… Last night he seemed so forlorn. What could have changed that?' She wondered.
"How well are you progressing with Raven Beast Boy?" Starfire asked.
"Alright I guess. I haven't blown anything up anyway."
"Yes, he's doing very well. I'm sure that I can start teaching him how to use his powers soon." Raven added.
Raven said his powers because in truth, they were his now. Even if she wanted her old powers back, the fact of the matter was that she couldn't have them back right now. Not until they came up with a way to fix this problem.
Beast Boy must have picked up on this because he gave her a questioning look. If the others had noticed it, they said nothing.
"That's good." Said Robin. "It'd be a lie if I told you I was comfortable with this situation, but right now I'm down two teammates. The sooner you guys are ready to fight again the better. Don't rush this though, I don't want you guys back before you're both sure you're ready."
Raven thought for a moment. 'Beast Boy has done exceptionally well today, maybe I can start teaching him how to use his powers now.'
"Yo BB. Do you want to go a couple rounds on the game station?" Cyborg asked as he shook a controller in the air.
Raven tensed. He loved to play with Cyborg on the game station but now with his emotion driven powers, this could only result in trouble.
Beast Boy walked to the couch but looked at the game station as though it were a bomb that would go off any second. Then again, he was the bomb; the game station was just the match that would set him off.
"Uh… I'd like to Cy but I think it would better if I didn't." He said pointing to the gem set in his forehead.
"Oh…" Said Cyborg and he lowered his eyes. "Sorry man, I forgot."
"It's ok. I think I'll go for a walk around the tower." He said as he exited the common room.
"Beast Boy has never turned down an opportunity to play on the station of gaming. Has he contracted an illness?" Starfire asked.
It may have seemed like Beast Boy was completely emotionless but Raven knew better. He was pretty dejected and she knew from personal experience the difference between that and being truly emotionless.
"He's just adjusting Star. I'm sure he'll be fine in a while." Robin assured her.
"I think I'll go see how he's doing." Raven said and exited before anyone could reply.
:-:-:-:-:
Beast Boy attempted to skip another stone from the boulder he sat on. The beach he had been walking on was rocky since it faced the inside of the bay and the city. The opposite side of the island had the nice sandy beach because it was the side that was continually pounded by the surf of the ocean. It was still hot out and Beast Boy had his feet in the water.
"Damn." He cursed as he failed at skipping a stone.
Beside him lay a small pile of flat rocks that were perfect for skipping. Unfortunately, Beast Boy wasn't very good at skipping rocks.
'Stop feeling sorry for yourself.' He thought. 'Raven had to deal with this every day of her life! You haven't even had a full day of it and you're moping.'
"Hey." Said Raven from behind him. "You exercised a lot of control back there. You should be proud."
'I don't feel proud.'
"Thanks." He mumbled.
"What are you doing?"
"Skipping rocks. Well, trying to anyway."
"Oh, can I try?" The green Titan asked.
"Sure." He said gesturing to the pile.
"What do you do?"
"You've never skipped rocks before?" Beast Boy asked in disbelief.
"No."
"Ok, you're supposed to get a good flat and round stone, get close to the surface of the water and chuck it along the surface. You're also supposed to put a spin on the rock as you let it go." He explained.
Raven examined the pile of rocks Beast Boy collected and selected one. She spun it around in her hand until she had a comfortable grip on in then crouched close to the water. Pulling her arm back, she quickly swung it forward releasing the stone. It sailed about an inch above the water for a moment before it hit the surface and bounced. It did that again about eight more times before it glided on the water and fell to the depths below.
Beast Boy smiled. 'First time? Yea right.'
"I did it!" She exclaimed with a hint of excitement in her voice.
There we are! A little shorter than the other chapters but it's up nonetheless. This one was a little bit, and I stress little, less dry than chapter three. Do not despair! Chapter five will be chalked FULL of hilarity, fluffiness, and a horribly cruel cliffhanger at the end.
Poor Beast Boy, he was so close! Why is it that those other Titans always have to screw it up for him?
If anyone knows Mumbo Jumbo's real name(Or the name of the guy he is without the hat) I'd appreciate it.
This chapter only required the sacrifice of three cans of coke. I was tempted to drink a fourth but to my horror I found that I've run out! I'm going to head down to the corner store and pick up a twelve-pack after I post this.
Man, it feels like it takes half the time I take to write these chapters just to respond to the reviews. That is the most awesomely amazingly cool thing ever though! You guys rock! I love any and all feedback you may have for me so please continue to review.
Snea: Thank you. I do enjoy being original in everything I do, even lame excuses. Sorry if that didn't make a great deal of sense the first time around but I think you got the gist of it. I fixed it after I read your review though. Thanks for reviewing!
Lilagirl: Thanks. I'm glad that people like it.
lol61188: That would be me. I am updating pretty quickly as compared to how often I did in the past, but even I can't wait to see what happens next! That's why I'm shooting these chapters out so quickly. I hope it's not lessening the quality of my writing. Thanks for reviewing!
warprince2000: Thanks!
Huupa: I think you very much for your three reviews! I too dislike it when the second half of a chapter is nothing more than a similar copy of the first half from a slightly different point of view. I don't really know how I came up with the doing a slight recap while in another point of view before continuing. I think I got that from watching too many movies. You are more than welcome to use this style of writing in your future works. I stake no claim to it so that goes for everyone else who wishes to write with this style, please feel free. Again, thanks for the reviews.
They-Call-Me-Orange: Thanks a lot. I'm glad I could help you. When do you think your first chapter will be up?
WickedWitchoftheSE: Laughs No problem. I like Beast Boy being a bit more mature also. It's a little out of character, but I think this is what he'd be like if he just dropped the funny for a little while. Thanks for reviewing.
FirefliesWish: Ooooh a cookie! I'm glad that the soda gods are happy. I probably should drink as much Coca Cola as I do but it's tough when you've been raised on the stuff (My dad's worked for the Coca Cola corporation since he was 17!). Everyone loves random comments! Thanks for reviewing!
darktrique: Thanks. More funny will come in chapter five!
Coeus: Thank you. You in-depth reviews help me very much. I too think Beast Boy has more going on underneath his clown persona. I'm also glad that people don't find the style of writing I use confusing or annoying. Thanks again for your review!
Raven The Black Rose: Thanks. I'm happy you like it. I do know what you mean and I would be happy if you were to draw them. Thanks for reviewing.
DarkCypher: Not a stabbing! Here's another chapter! Thanks for reviewing.
akiismarina: I fear no evil monkey overlord! Ok… That's a lie… Monkeys are kind of creepy. Even more so if they're evil, and doubly more so if they're overlords. Well I guess my bravery kinda crapped out. I hope you enjoyed that chapter. Thanks for reviewing!
Bogbrush: Thanks!
Pastelstorm: Thank you. I don't want to give anything away but Raven will be using her new abilities in the next chapter. This will result in some of the funny. Thanks for reviewing.
AnimatedWickedRaven: Thanks. I figured that was the most appropriate thing to have Beast Boy do. I've always been told to take a breath and count to ten whenever I get a little ticked off. As for your friends that tease you about it, you should say, "You wouldn't like me when I'm angry!" and then turn green and grow huge and all musclie. (I have and never had and affiliation with Stan Lee of the comic company he owns. The Incredible Hulk is his property and I simply used the reference to make a funny.) If you can't do that, then you should start a food fight. Thanks for reviewing!
OveractiveMind: The fluff was low, it's increasing a little but the good stuff will come in chapter five. Colamo? Is that like the Alamo, but with clowns? That would make for an interesting movie. Thanks for reviewing.
oanfly: Thanks. This chapter saw a little more OOCness from Raven but I'll attempt to remedy some of that in chapter five. Thanks for reviewing.
iforgotmyname: Thank you. I'm glad that so many people like the perspective swapping. Thanks for your review.
FantastObsessed: Huzza!
pureangel86: I started to do a little of that in this chapter, but there will be more, and in a little fluffier way, in the next chapter. Thanks for reviewing.
satusimpson: Thank you very much. I too would love to see this as an episode. The morphing will be fun. Thanks for reviewing. P.S. I'm really enjoying your story "My Eyes!"
Moerkesteskyggen: Thanks. I'd like to apologize to you and to all my readers for any grammatical errors similar in nature to that. I do the bulk of my writing in the wee hours of the morning so my mind is not always on top of it. I'm not going to use that as an excuse though, I'll go back through the whole story and try to fix those mistakes as well as strive to not make them in the future. Thank you very much for pointing those out to me and thanks for reviewing.
Thanks for taking the time to read my story!