Chapter 4 (A/N: The gadgets are improvised.)
Beast Boy held his pained stomach. That was the last time he went for ice cream late at night. It was the first time he had obeyed his late night cravings, and it was definitely his last.
He belched loudly, and smacked his chest with his fist. He yawned, and shook his head quickly to try to wake himself up. It wasn't until 3:00 that he finally managed to get to sleep last night. He and Raven had only stayed in the main room until the ice cream was gone. It was nice talking with her though. Who'd have though that Raven could be so vulnerable inside? She didn't open up to people well, particularly him, so he was quite surprised when she agreed to share the ice cream, and her insecurity.
Beast Boy had meant what he said about their deal. He had never really looked into his relationship with Terra. Ever since he found out that she was working for Slade, he tried not to think about her. But he didn't have much of a choice last night. He didn't mind much, it was just that he'd talked about Terra so little since she turned to stone that the entire issue alone seemed a stranger to him.
But maybe if he had been more cautious, then maybe the whole Terra situation wouldn't have happened. He sighed, then finally got out of bed. He looked at his clock. 11:30.
Yawning once more, Beast boy made his way out the door, then to the bathrooms. When he left he accidentally bumped into Cyborg, who was eager to play some one-on-one video game racing. Not even willing to joke about saying no, Beast Boy gladly followed Cyborg into the main room (A/N: I'm tired of typing out a long name.)
Since no one had bothered to go get the groceries, Beast Boy was still without Tofu. And that wasn't a very good situation considering it was Starfire's turn to make breakfast. Fortunately for him, there was plenty of his Gloppity Goodness. He got it out from the container it rested in inside the fridge, and unceremoniously dumped it into a throw-away cup, tossed in a spoon, and joined Cyborg.
No one else was in the room with them, but they could hear the loud grunting coming from the training room. Right after Cyborg pressed the button to turn the game on, the screen zapped out. "Aw! Come on!"
"Dude! What did you do?"
"I didn't do anything! Robin's probably putting too much juice into the fight simulator again."
"Well, let's go tell him to turn it off! I want to be able to do something while I eat!"
(In the training room.)
Beast Boy looked through the glass at Robin. He was sweating and gritting his teeth, his stance cautious. As Beast Boy sucked the goo off the spoon, he checked the Player Choice Monitor. Of course, Slade was the virtual villain
He observed the mass of the metal walls behind the glass. It was a HUUUUUUGE room. The original gym was the one they typically exercised in, but for actually combat, they went to the new addition to the Tower: The Training Room. Beast Boy, still not completely understanding the room, he asked Cyborg, who showed him the setting options.
Level One – Number of Players
Level Two – Fight mode or Target Practice.
Level Three (Target Mode) – Choose starting target level and Progressive or repeat level.
Level Four (Fight Mode) (Options depend on Level One choice) – Player vs. Player mode or Player(s) vs. Virtual Opponent.
Level Five (Fight Mode) (Optional, depending on Level Four choice) – Virtual Opponent options and levels.
Level Six – Environment Settings
Level Seven – Trap/Ambush settings
Cyborg looked at Beast Boy after he had finished reading him all the levels and settings. "So, you get it?"
Beast Boy was sucking on the spoon he used to eat his Gloppity Goodness, his eyes wide. "Ummmb…Ohkhay."
Cyborg's face went as red as his mechanical eye. "Okay. These are Robin's current levels and settings: Level one, One Player; Level two, Fight Mode; Level Four, Player vs. Virtual Opponent; Level Five, Virtual Opponent Slade level 9; Level six, Environment Desert; Level Seven, Trap settings on Ambush settings off."
"Oh! Cool." Beast boy said excitedly. From their point of view, Robin was doing nothing but punching air. They heard a loud beeping, and Robin straightened with a slightly dissatisfied sigh. He exited the room, and wiped his brow.
He glanced at Cyborg with a tight lip. "Cyborg, is there anyway we can make it so our virtual opponents are a little more…realistic?"
"Realistic?"
"It's not really training if they disappear every time you throw a punch."
Understanding, Cyborg nodded, and typed in some stuff. "I've been workin on that. I made out a list for the stuff I need, but we haven't been to town."
Robin was using a fleece towel around his neck. "That reminds me. We need to go grocery shopping. We're out of a lot of stuff in the fridge and cabinets. Including ice cream."
"An Tothu."
Both Cyborg and Robin gave Beast Boy a peculiar look. "Huh," they said in unison.
He slurped on the spoon a little bit before pulling it out of his mouth. "And Tofu. We're out of Tofu."
"Oh," they said together.
Robin put the towel away, and opened the door to leave the Training Room, and held it open for his friends to leave. Beast Boy was followed by Cyborg, since Cyborg had to take a moment to shut down the room. "Well get the girls and we'll decide who's getting the groceries."
Beast Boy looked over at Robin and pursed his lips in annoyance. "Why is only one of us going?"
"Not one. Two. And we already know that no one's going to want to go. Why make everyone suffer?" Robin's voice practically reeked of reason.
"Okay, then why two?"
"We need a lot of stuff. One of us can't carry it alone."
"And I think I'm gonna add the stuff we need for the Training Room to the list." Cyborg chimed in. "That way it'll be done in one trip."
(The Main Room.)
Raven blew at the hair in her face, and turned the page. The hiss sounded from the electronic doors. She looked up and saw the boys come in. Choosing to ignore them, Raven continued to read. "Since we all know we need groceries and stuff, are there any volunteers to go to town?"
"Nope."
"Not now please. I am trying to write this 'recipe' down. With this 'How-To' cooking program, I think I will at last be able to perfect your Earthly ways of culinary preparation."
Everyone winced, but Raven was the one that spoke all their thoughts. "Let's hope so."
"Nobody's going to volunteer?" Robin asked persistently.
The entire room echoed in one big, "No."
Robin sighed, then he got out his Birdarang. "Come on." The room then echoed with a big groan, but everyone went to Robin, and circled the Birdarang that he was placing on the sturdy carpet. Once he stood, he looked around the circle. "Ready?" They nodded in response, and looked down at the hook. Robin pressed a button on his belt, causing the Birdarang to spin rapidly. "You all know how it is. Whoever the wings point to have to do the shopping." They waited for about twenty seconds, until the Birdarang very slowly came to a stop.
Beast Boy looked down with dismay as the left wing pointed a sharp edge at him from the floor. Since the person going with him was directly across from him, he looked up only slightly to check the shoes. Recognition hit as soon as he saw those violet 'elf-booties', and he looked up to meet her eyes. Raven's face didn't look altogether pleased, but it didn't look angry either.
Robin bent over while he spoke. "Okay you two, we'll see you when you get back, and there's a list on the refrigerator." He reached into his back pocket, and pulled out a wad of bills. "This should cover everything."
"And here's print-out of the stuff I'm gonna need for the Training Room." Cyborg told them, printing out a list from a slot in his arm, then handing it to Beast Boy after he accepted the money.
He looked at Raven as she got the grocery list from a spot where it was on the fridge, and walked over to her to check the grocery list. "There's a lot more stuff on here than there is on mine. We'll just do it together."
"Fine," Raven said, dead to the point, and deadpanned.
She spread her arms, and surrounded them both in black, and they launched, flying through the windows and into the city. Beast Boy crouched, knowing if he stood much longer he'd be sick. Knowing he was going somewhere was one thing, but not being able see anything, and only feeling movement was another thing.
When the blackness around them finally disappeared, they were on a sidewalk in the city. Beast Boy rose to his feet, and looked to his left, seeing a shop called 'Tech Tech Today!' (A/N: I'm not sure if you get it, but that's a play from the joke 'To-to-TODAY JUNIOR!)
They entered the shop, and Beast Boy looked down at the list. "Uh…two metabahlic…orbit thingys…"
Raven peeked over his shoulder. "That's a metabolic orbital transmitter Beast Boy. And there's some right over there."
He looked in the direction Raven was pointing in, noticing some…blue lollipop thing. "Oh, cool. How do you know?"
She picked it up, and walked over to where the shopping baskets were, and dropped inside as she said, "Because I've been here before to help Cyborg shop. You should know too. You've shopped with him haven't you?"
Beast Boy shrugged, and looked at the next thing on the list. "Actually I just come with him for the mini-arcade in the corner."
Raven looked up from the basket she was levitating. "I should have guessed."
Beast Boy showed Raven the list. "Okay, I think I know this one. Does it say 'Holographic Materializing Adaptor'?"
She looked at the list, and then checked around the store. "Yes, well done. You managed to pronounce it."
Judging by the happy expression on his face, he couldn't tell she was being sarcastic. "Awesome! Okay, so where do you put those?" She looked up the signs hanging above the aisles, looking for aisle three. She floated over to it when she found it, carrying the basket with her mind. The aisle looked long, so she went down slowly and carefully. She checked the label on a mysteriously wrapped product, and tossed it over her shoulder to land in the basket.
"Okay Beast Boy. What's next on the list?" Raven turned around, and even left the aisle, but Beast Boy was no where to be found. "Beast Boy?" She raised her voice, but still no response. She knew there was only one place he could go. "Oh no," she moaned, and went to the very back corner of the store.
Sure enough, where she heard loud beeping electronic zapping and artificial explosions, she found Beast Boy. He was grunting at a screen, and was twisting a joy-stick while quickly pressing buttons. Walking over to him, Raven saw the title of the game, Mega Monkeys Quest 2, and mentally groaned. Where did people get such ridiculous titles?
Once she reached him, she eyed the screen. It was poorly animated compared to what he usually played at home, but he appeared to be having fun. When he should be helping her get Cyborg's supplies. "Beast Boy!"
"Aah!" He swerved the joy-stick, and the animated green monkey narrowly missed a large flashing fire-ball. His face turned away from the screen long enough to glare at Raven. "What'd you do that for? I almost got my life knocked out, and I've only got one left."
The serious way he took his gaming was almost laughable. "We were supposed to shop together! The least you could do is help me get it over with. Come on, if you're not willing to help, then you can handle the groceries on your own, and I'll get whatever Cyborg needs. Just give me the list."
Beast Boy started panting, his fingers pressing the buttons rather quickly, and his right thumb was tapping a button on top of the joy stick. "I can't, it's in my pocket."
Not seeing the difficulty, Raven continued. "So, just turn away from the game for five seconds."
He leaned in closer, his eyes getting wide, and his fingers faster. "I can't, I've almost beat the game!"
Impatiently, Raven put her hands on her hips, and began drumming her fingers on a jewel on her belt. "So play again later."
His fingers on the brink of smoking, he leaned so close to the screen that his breath fogged the glass. "I can't! I'm all out of quarters!"
At last frustrated, Raven threw up her hands. "SO PLAY IT SOME OTHER TIME! JUST GIVE ME THE LIST!"
A loud, systematic beeping erupted from the game. Raven brought her hands back in like they were on fire. It looked like it was in one piece, but it kept on making that noise. When the changeling turned to her, his eyes were wide, and his nose was a little squished from the glass. Defensively, Raven let her cloak cover her completely. "I didn't do anything."
If it was possible, his eyes got even bigger, almost bulging out of his head. "I know! I finally beat it! Yahoo!" His hands curled into fists, he brought his arms out, and Raven almost sighed with dismay when he began his classic 'Beast Boy Dance'. "Go Beast Boy, Go Beast Boy! You beat it! Broke the record! Oh yeah! Get down now! Woo!"
Raven closed her eyes, and relaxed, her patience regained. "Now, could you hand me the list?"
He stopped dancing long enough to respond. "Oh that's okay Raven. I'm done. I can help now."
Satisfied, Raven accepted the offer, and her eyes once again shifted to the game screen, that now had a weird monkey dancing on it with the words, "YOU GOT THE HIGH SCORE."
Shaking her head, she voiced her low opinion, "I really don't understand your appeal to these things."
He looked at the game, and smiled broadly. "It's fun. You've played before."
Her brow rose. "You glued the controller to my hands."
He spread his arms. "Well there you go! You didn't even try! Come on, I read one of your books."
"By your own choice," she reminded him.
"And I liked it didn't I?" He pointed out smugly.
"Um…yeahiguessso," Raven grumbled, angry that he beat her.
"So come on! You can't knock it until you've tried it." He took her hand, and had her stand in front of the video game.
Raven looked up, slightly nervous. This wasn't even the typical gaming station they had at the Tower. This was a dinky little arcade game, and she was nervous. A thought came into her head as she reached for the joy-stick, warm from Beast Boy's hands. "I don't have any money." He knelt down, and took off a shoe, and as he emptied it, he revealed two quarters. She gave him a suspicious glance as he fed the machine. "I thought you said you were out of quarters?"
He blushed, and looked at the screen. "I kinda made it up so I could keep playing."
"I couldn't tell. So what do I do?"
He pointed at the array of monkeys in front of them. "You gotta pick your monkey's color."
Her lip pursed. There wasn't a purple color, so she picked the blue. "Now what?"
"Just move the joy-stick and tap on it to put in your name." Raven lazily obeyed, and waited. Surprisingly, a set of instructions appeared before her, and she read them. While she did it, she put her fingers in the appropriate places. She tapped the joy-stick button, that supposedly signified 'start', and began playing.
Two minutes later, Beast Boy was actively involving himself. "You're going too far to the left! Get on the right! That's too far! There's a bomb there, what are you doing on the right, get on the left! Wait that's---"
"Either make up your mind or be quiet! I'm trying to collect the bananas!"
"But you're collecting the rotten ones!"
"What makes you think they're rotten?"
"They're BROWN Raven!"
She ignored him, and continued to play. She wasn't as excited as Beast Boy was, but surprisingly, she was feeling…challenged. It was hard getting the right items because everything was so packed together. Her right hand was hurting, her left fingers were red, and she was rigid. She wasn't doing badly but she clearly wasn't an expert. "Why wont this stick-thing move right!?" She tried moving it completely to the right, but the monkey only moved a little bit, causing her to land directly in the line of fire.
Beast Boy observed Raven playing. She didn't know much about playing, and she wasn't very excited about it, but she didn't seem to mind the game so much. He was glad she was willing to give it a chance. He looked down at her hand, and only her fingers were wrapped around the stick. "Well there's your problem! You're holding the stick wrong!" He put his fingers over hers, and made her curl around the stick with a complete fist. Suddenly, Raven gasped, and she almost looked mad, but she beat the level.
He let go of her hand, and smiled. "Alright! You beat the first level!" He held up his hand for a high-five.
Her head took on the sarcastic tilt. "Not gonna happen Beast Boy."
Frowning, Beast Boy looked at the screen. "Okay, this is your first boss. Brace yourself for one of the scariest monsters you'll ever see in all arcading!"
Raven waited, and upon seeing a large red blob, she responded. "Ooh. I'm so scared." Out of no where, the blob transformed into a disfigured demon, blotchy animated flame shooting from its body. Admittedly, it was quite creepy. "Oookay…weird."
Beast Boy smiled a little. "It's awesome isn't it? Now you just have to beat him."
"I gathered that. How do I do it?"
"You've gotta use the monkey shield you got to deflect the fireballs."
Raven twisted the joy-stick, and pressed a button to activate her shield. She was actually doing it well, and was dodging a good number of the attacks. Suddenly, fireballs appeared from behind her. "Hey, what are those? You didn't tell me about those."
Beast Boy leaned in closer to the screen, as if he were playing it himself. "You've gotta use your bonus magic to make the shield surround you."
She tried to press the button to activate the bonus, but her monkey was getting hit by the fireballs so she couldn't execute her move. "Why didn't you say that earlier?" Too late, Raven's shield activated, causing her to lose all her points, and her last life. Full of frustration, she pounded her fist on the games control panels. A black charge emerged from her hands, and shot into the machine. "Ah!" They both flinched as the machine blasted in front of them. Slowly, they uncovered their eyes, and saw that there was a large whole, clear through the machine. With an angered sigh, Raven left the arcade, and went farther in the shop until she found the person at the register.
She had a very bright smile on her face as Raven approached, Beast Boy trailing slowly behind. Raven put her hands on the clear counter. "I accidentally broke one of your machines. Just let me know how much I owe, and I'll make the payments."
The perky girl behind the register giggled, and twirled her curly blond hair in her fingers. "Naw! That wont be necessary Miss Raven! You and your boyfriend are TOTALLY off the hook."
Raven choked on her words, and stepped back from the counter.
Beast Boy stepped up, a slight blush on his face. "Uh, s'cuse me? We're SO not boyfriend and girlfriend. We're just friends."
The girl giggled again, and she leaned forward a little bit, her green eyes shining with mischief. "Oh sweeties, don't worry! My lips are sealed!"
Beast Boy put his hands on the desk, and leaned forward, so he was face to face with the clerk, her light freckles in plain view. "Lady, we're SERIOUSLY just friends!" He persisted.
She didn't seem to comprehend it at first, then she nodded. "Got it. Your FRIENDS!" Her voice lowered to a whisper. "I understand that!"
Neither of them were convinced. They looked at each other, slightly embarrassed, but Beast Boy laughed nervously, and put the list in his back pocket on the desk in front of the clerk. "Could you get us this stuff please? We need all of it except for the first two things."
She looked down, and smiled. "Of course!" Taking the list with her, the lady left to go get the things on the list, leaving Beast Boy and Raven in quite an awkward position.
They were both blushing, and Beast Boy stepped back from the counter, scratching the back of his head again. "Jeez…you'd figure people would know that we're just friends."
Raven looked a little mad under her cloak. "When the public sees two people together it's always the first assumption they make." She looked over at Beast Boy, and her look hardened. "No matter how false it is."
He backed off a little. "What's your deal? You don't need to snap."
Blushing even more, Raven turned away until the clerk came back, a basket in hand.
"I recognized the first two things on the list in this basket. Is it yours by any chance?"
Beast Boy leaned over to look in the basket, and saw the two things Raven had gotten earlier. "Yup. Thanks for getting it back."
She tilted her head, and smiled broadly, the white teeth in her mouth almost blue. Did she bleach her teeth or something? "Oh, it's no problem! I'm always ready to assist the heroes of my city! It's the least I can do!"
Raven looked up, her blush gone. "Anyway, I'd seriously like to pay you back. It's not right that you just let me off the hook for destroying one of your machines."
The clerk was busy entering the item prices into the cash register when she flapped her hand at Raven in a 'forget-it' gesture. "Raven darling, it's NO trouble! We were gonna trash that machine anyway because it was getting so dirty and dusty. You just saved us some gas money! Thanks a-million, girl!"
Raven blinked in surprise, and glanced at the floor, then back up. "Oh, well…alright then."
The clerk thumped a button with her middle finger, and announced the total with a smile. "$435.73!"
Beast Boy's jaw dropped to the top surface of the counter. "Whoa! How come techy stuff is always so expensive," he complained, getting the money out of his pocket.
Raven rolled her eyes. "Because the so-called 'techy stuff' is actually the product of hours of designing, testing, developing and building. All that work can't go unnoticed."
Beast Boy's brows furrowed in confusion. "Oookay." He took the change, and the bags. "Thanks miss!"
The clerk wiggled her fingers as the Titans walked out of the store. "Thanks for your business kids! Have a nice friendly day!"
They flinched in unison at her choice of words, and turned around to confront her, but the door that led to the backroom was already swinging from being shut. Raven started back towards the counter. "Where're you goin'?" Beast Boy asked anxiously.
"To set that woman straight." Beast Boy yelped, and morphed into an octopus, wrapping a tentacle around Raven's waist, and pulling her back. She wriggled in his grasp, and looked at the beady black eyes. "What are you doing?"
Beast Boy changed back, and immediately got in her face. "Raven, the back room is NEVER a good place to go!"
She put her hands on her hips in exasperation, and asked, "Why is that?"
His eyes widened massively, and his arms flailed about. "HELLO! Don't you remember Newfu? You go into a back room, and you end up finding tons of cows and creepy little talking alien Tofu that makes a bunch of Bob's out of itself that make burgers out of THEMSELVES!" Beast Boy gasped deeply, and clutched his chest to regain his normal breathing.
Raven's arms crossed, and sighed, watching his blue face turn green again. "Don't be so suspicious. How many times can that happen in one lifetime?"
Beast Boy stopped his heavy breathing, and his arms started flailing again. "I don't know, and I don't want to find out! Why is it such a big deal?"
Raven gave him a look like he had just grown two heads. "You don't care if someone thinks we're a couple?"
Beast Boy shrugged, and picked up the bag that he had dropped when he turned into an octopus. "From the look on her face, I think she just believes we're at a hard time in our relationship." He began to leave, and turned his head to look back at Raven. "By the way, why did you jolt before?"
She stopped in her tracks, and her eyes shifted. "What do you mean?"
By that time, she had resumed pace, and was walking just a little bit behind him so he couldn't see her blush. "You know, when I tried to help you with the joy-stick?"
Raven feigned a shrug, and rubbed her arm self-consciously. "I didn't do it on purpose. I didn't even realize I did it..."
As Beast Boy nodded, and his lips pursed in understanding, Raven started to lag behind again. She didn't really want to discuss that matter with Beast Boy.
She didn't exactly like sharing what happened in her visions…