I don't own Teen Titans. The flashback for this chapter seemed appropriate since Valentine's is just around the corner! Sorry for the long delay, my loyal, and probably tired of waiting, fans! Here we go!

Raven's Game 3: Final Shadow

Part 12 – Skitter Skatter

FLASHBACK

Beast Boy sat on the couch, a book in his lap. Anyone who wandered into the room would probably think they'd wandered into another dimension. A place that was so upside down and backwards that Beast Boy would stop to read. No one was in the common room in the moment but him. Robin was at the movies with Starfire, "just as friends" Yeah right, boy wonder. Cyborg was in the garage, making minor repairs from a recent car chase. Raven, he guessed, was off meditating somewhere.

The green teen was deep in a poetry book at the moment. Valentine's Day was coming up, and Beast Boy was looking for a romantic poem. He would find one, copy it into a card of his own making (giving credit to the author, of course), and then put it on Raven's pillow. It was perfect. Raven wasn't into all that flowers and candy sort of junk, so he had to be extra careful about portraying his affections properly. They'd been dating almost a year and a half, but still…

He flipped the page, his mind numbed from all the fancy wording. He'd even brought a small dictionary with him to help him with some of the words, and often found himself looking things up. Sighing to himself, he found the word he was looking for and returned to the poetry book. Mumbling to himself, he turned a few pages.

Beast Boy's eyes became perfect circles when he saw the picture. It was a man and a woman, completely naked, kissing in the standing position. Nothing naughty was showing, of course. The young couple were carefully hidden in each other's arms. And, the way the woman's knee was bent upward just slightly hid the masculinity of her partner. His arms, wrapped loosely around her, kept her breasts decently hidden. It was very erotic, but romantic in a hazy sort of way. Studying the amazing pencil drawing for a few moments and trying not to think of Raven that way, he forced his eyes to the wording. Licking his lips, he read in a whisper. "I saw eternity the other night, like a great ring of pure and endless light. All calm as it was bright…" his brow furrowed as he read it a few times over. He'd actually read quite a bit of poetry, and saw a deep double meaning. It felt really strange to him to be interpreting poetry, but hey… his girl was worth it. (That, and the kiss he was hoping for in exchange for his card… It was Valentine's Day, after all.)

Meaning number one spoke of the end of the world. The silence before a final storm, the last time the sun went down. He'd thumbed through Raven's mythology books enough times to see something similar in the poem…

Raven herself entered the common room and Beast Boy's head snapped around to see her. Quickly shoving both books under the sofa, he greeted her in a rather squeaky voice. She eyed him for a moment. The TV wasn't on, nor was the gamestation. He wasn't cooking, but sitting on the couch. What was he doing, then? "All alone?" she asked, opening the cabinet to reach for some tea bags. Her hood fell back as she reached on her tippy-toes.

"Uh… yeah." Beast Boy said, red quickly rising in his cheeks and across his nose. Quickly rising so she wouldn't be looking in the same direction as his hidden books, he went and leaned on the counter to watch her work. "Meditation go okay?" He said, kicking himself at how lame that sounded.

"Yeah." She said, starting the front-left stove burner with a flick of her powers. "Bored today or something?" she said, equally embarrassed at how lame this conversation was. Both of them knew what the other was thinking about. This would be their first real Valentine's Day with a significant other. The first had gone by and they were a couple, but the Titans had spent the whole day hunting Plasmus through the sewers. Neither was in the mood for romance after all that…

The second meaning of the poem he'd read pounded in Beast Boy's mind, and he flushed when Raven's cloak shifted. Her long, soft, pale leg was exposed and the green teen swore he got a nose bleed right then and there. Tearing his eyes away and clearing his throat, he walked from the common room. As soon as he was around the corner, he ran for his life. Why did she still make him so jittery?

END OF FLASHBACK

The dice skittered across the bored, and a bead of sweat worked its way down Cyborg's forehead. They came to stop, reading nine. A 5 and a 4. Starfire swallowed, having been the one to roll the dice. The yellow game piece advanced, sliding along to smooth wood of the game board. The princess had been drained of color and almost sank into shadows… and been attacked by Raven's shadow… what terrible thing would she bring upon them this time? The red-headed girl warily leaned forward while Cyborg kept watch.

Beast Boy saw a bug crawling along the floor out of the corner of his eye. Was that… some kind of beetle? Odd… he'd never seen living things in Dark Fall's games that weren't some sort of threat. Its rainbow on black shell glittered in the dim light, and it skittered aimlessly along.

Raven followed Beast Boy's eyes and saw the bug too, regarding it warily. She'd have to make sure it didn't decide to crawl on her mate's face… he would freak out and broadcast his little girl scream directly into her face. She tried not to smirk at the thought. Her now long, purple hair dripped down from over her shoulders onto Beast Boy's cheek. "Like the new look." He smiled as widely as his prison would allow. Raven's cheeks colored just a little, and she turned over to Starfire.

Starfire's eyes portrayed fear. An unbridled fear that made her mouth gape ever so slightly. "Skit… skitter…" she couldn't even read the words the game had formed for her. Cyborg, growing concerned, leaned over her shoulder to read it aloud.

THEY SKITTER SKATTER EVERYWHERE,

DEVOUR FLESH, YOUR BONES ARE BARE

"Er… that's no good. That's not zombies or something, is it?" Everyone glared at Beast Boy for his vague attempt at a joke. "Sorry…" he looked embarrassed, looking away. Something caught his eye, though. The beetle from before was back, but it was looking at him now. Right at him.

Thousands more beetles emerged from cracks, shadows, and the woodwork.

Raven's pupils turned into tiny dots and a girlish shriek of terror escaped Starfire. "Scarabs!" Raven shouted.

"What?" Beast Boy cried. "Where? Where? I can't see!" You could tell he was trying to turn his head, but he just couldn't see them all. He could barely see the one from before, stuck in the floor like he was.

Cyborg leveled his sonic cannon and blasted as Starbolts sizzled the air! Tiny squeaks of dying insects were heard, but the swarm as a whole kept coming. "Shit shit shit shit…" Raven started tugging at Beast Boy, grunting in effort. She had to free him before they got to him, stuck in the floor. They would… they would…

"I'm stuuuuuuuck!" Beast Boy groaned with all his strength.

"Turn into something big to break out." Raven commanded. Blast after blast was heard in the background, but more and more creepy crawlies were coming. "Hurry up!"

"I can't! You're stuck in this with me! I'd crush your arms into the floor!" Beast Boy cried, grunting uselessly while he tried his own strength to get out of the floor. Raven's arms were, in fact, holding his underarms. If he became a gorilla or something, his change in size would crush her slender limbs into the wooden floor he was stuck in. "Blast me out!"

"I told you I can't! This wood… quicksand is slippery to my magic! I can't grip it to make it explode!" Raven gasped when she spotted a shiny black scarab by Beast Boy's ear. Without thinking Raven bashed her forehead against it, and bug goo was on her face. She groaned, dizzy for a moment from hurting herself. Suddenly she felt two or three of them crawling on her legs. "Aaagh! Get off me!" Raven thrashed around but they held fast. A blossom of pain exploded on her left calf and she cried out. Jerking herself around, her eyes glowed white. A blast of black magic the width of a thread lanced from her chakra gem. The beetle squeaked like a mouse as it died. Raven repeated the process with any others that managed to get to her.

"There is no end to them!" Starfire said, hovering just above the swarm and still blasting away. Luckily, scarabs cannot jump. "They will come forever!"

""Where's a can of Raid when you need one?"" Cyborg shouted, stomping on five or six as he aimed his next blast. Like a horrible black flood, the mass of insects were coming closer. "We gotta get outta here!"

"We're stuck!" Raven reminded him angrily. A scarab came close to Beast Boy's face and he saw it. Drawing a deep breath he blew on it over and over, as though that would get rid of it. Raven blasted it into bug goo. "Beast Boy, I can still heal my arms when it's over. Turn into something big and get out of there." She said intensely.

"I said NO!" he roared, his face flushed red. "I can't hurt you!"

"I'm going to hurt YOU if you don't do what I say!" Raven snapped angrily, blasting another bug with her chakra beam. "Do it!" Losing all dignity, the gothic girl slammed her forehead against his. He yelped in surprise and pain, and Raven reared back to do it again.

There was something crawling in her hair.

A cry of panic escaped her and she thrashed around. But it was no use. She was effectively stuck in the floor with him. A lump rose on Beast Boy's forehead in the shape of her chakra gem, and he saw stars for a moment. "Raven, I can't break your arms just to –!" she slammed her head against his again, making him cry out.

"Do as I say!" There were tears of pain in Raven's eyes, and her hair hung down like a veil. The two of them didn't even notice how much closer the swarm was getting. They were only a few feet away–!

"If ya'll are gonna do something you better do it fast!" Cyborg shouted, still blasting awkwardly with his left hand alone. Five or six began crawling up his leg and he slapped them quickly away before more came. If any of them got to his fleshy parts instead of metal…

"We are being overrun!" Starfire was blasting with all she had, but she was wearing down as well. The shiny black beetles kept coming, though. The squeaking, rushing, six-legged things had no end to them. They just kept coming.

"Raven –!" Beast Boy said, his voice cracking. He didn't wanna… he really didn't…

"Do it, Gar…" Raven whispered, twin tears going down her eyes. Beast Boy huffed a few times, getting ready for the transformation. Finally deciding upon the animal, there was a loud woosh. Raven screamed in pain as both of her arms broke. The entire room was enveloped in black, cackling and sparking and throwing off bolts on anything that moved. Replacing Beast Boy was Beast, who burst from the floor like a wild animal! He howled and roared at a moon that was not there. Raven was thrown in the explosion. The black magic that surrounded the room made the air heavy, and every single scarab suddenly imploded on itself. Bug goo was everywhere.

No more came. The threat of Starfire's roll was over. The black magic faded from the room, retreating back to Raven. All three Titans rushed to where she lay. Her arms were in awkward positions, clearly not meant to be that way. She lay there staring blankly at the ceiling, hyperventilating in pain. Blood ran here and there, but the damage was done. Raven's arms were broken. Beast returned to being Beast Boy, who rushed over to be at her side the fastest of all. "Raven! Raven are you…?" he trailed away when he got a good look at her arms. "Oh c'mon Rae… you weren't lying were you?" He started tearing up for the half dozenth time since they began. Dark Fall sure knew how to bring so much misery…

There was a long, awkward silence of the three of them staring at her. Waiting for any reaction, any words that might signal she would be okay. Sure, she could heal herself easily, but if she was in shock she couldn't use any magic at all. Suddenly, "My… arms hurt." Raven said flatly, conjuring smiles on all of her friends' faces. Her teeth were gritted, and Beast Boy propped her head up. Her white outfit was stained with her blood and bug goo. "Dammit." Raven hissed when she tried to move one of her arms.

"Diagnostics say that you've got two breaks in your left arm, and five in the other." Cyborg said, checking his left arm's readout.

"Gee, thanks." Raven grunted. "Beast Boy. Move one of my hands to the other arm." Beast Boy did as he was told, but could barely stomach her cries of pain as he did so. Raven's left hand rested on her right upper arm. A soft blue glow made itself known under her hand. "This might take a while." She told the others. "Sit down and try to rest, all of you." she commanded. Everyone sat in a circle around her, though Beast Boy kept her head cradled in his lap. "Azarath… Metrion… Zinthos… Azarath… Metrion…" she would be doing that for a long time. They tried to ignore the thousands and thousands of dead insects all around them.

FLASHBACK (Same one as earlier)

The second meaning to the poem was still in Beast Boy's mind that night. He'd decided on that particular poem, written it in very neat cursive in a blank card, and was going to place it on Raven's pillow as a gift. She'd find it when he wasn't around, so it wouldn't be as awkward as giving it to her directly. Signing his name in the card as well, he took a deep breath and walked to their room. He regretted his plan as soon as the door was open. Raven sat in the middle of the room, eyes closed in meditation, candles all around her. Holding his breath and tip-toeing past her, be gently placed the card on her pillow. Tip-toeing even quieter the second time, he was almost out the door when, "Cute." He flinched at the sound of her voice.

"Er…" Beast Boy said, scratching the back of his head. His blush ran across both cheeks and his nose. "Huppy… heeepy…. Happy Valentine's." he said awkwardly.

"A poem about the end of the world for Valentine's Day?" Raven quirked an amused eyebrow. "Cute." She said again, putting the card down. She must've called it to her with her powers while he was trying to retreat…

"It's got two meanings!" Beast Boy defended quickly. "The first one's the end of the world!" He made to say the other one, but stopped.

"And the other?" Raven asked.

"It's… uhm… its about… ah…" he turned redder and redder as he went. Finally she saved him.

"Here's your present." Raven gestured and a back of little heart candies dropped onto his head from out of nowhere. "I had Starfire pick them up for me." He picked them up and peered at them through the clear plastic. Instead of being little heart candies that said be mine and I love you, they said things like screw you and what're you lookin' at?

"Classy." Beast Boy tried not to laugh at the joke candies, and started retreating. The door slid shut, and he was gone again.

Raven let him go, and a soft smile found her face. Sitting there, still in the lotus position, she read the card over and over. She'd seen the poem before of course, and glanced over to her bookshelf. The book it was from wasn't on the shelf. He must've borrowed it to find something to put in his homemade card. A tiny blush colored Raven's cheeks, and she spoke aloud the poem that told of the end of the world. "I saw eternity the other night, like a great ring of pure and endless light… all calm as it was bright…" She paused for a long time.

The poem's second meaning referred to a married couple, talking of their wedding ring(s). Also, that they had just made love, talking of the eternal bond of laying together. It spoke of the moments just after climax, where there's nothing at all in the world except for you and your lover…

Raven blushed.

END OF FLASHBACK

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A FEW HOURS LATER

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Raven lay there, breathing hard. Her friends watched as her shaky arms moved themselves about slowly. The breaks had taken a lot of time to heal, and on top of that everyone was getting hungry. How long had they been in the game? It felt like an eternity since they'd seen the sun…

Beast Boy, Raven's head still in his lap, crooned silently over her. If her arms would fall tiredly, he would catch them before they hit the floor. Then, she would wait a few minutes to rest, and try again. She wouldn't let anyone go anywhere until she was healed. Which was probably for the better. They needed another rest. They deserved one. So long as they didn't roll the dice, they were okay for the moment. "Whose turn is it now?" said Beast Boy, watching his mate like a hawk.

"Mine." Said Cyborg darkly.

"And then mine." Raven put in. "I think it might be waiting for us to slip up." She flexed her arms one way, then the other.

"What do you mean?" Beast Boy asked.

"I don't think it plans on letting us finish this game." Raven said. "Think about it. I gathered all the symbols, so I would've destroyed it if I'd stayed in the first game." She paused for a moment and Beast Boy caught her arms as they fell. Gently supporting them, he guided them down to the wooden floor. "And then, Beast Boy activated the time machine at the end of the second game. He could've gone back and kept it all from ever happening. That would've been to Dark Fall's disadvantage too."

"Yeah… what about this one?" Cyborg wanted to know.

"Well, say one of us gets to the middle of the game board. That seems to be our goal." Raven gestured to Jumangi, which lay on the floor where the hole in the floor and the quicksand was used to be. It had long repaired itself automatically when they weren't looking. "Well… what then? We finished a board game. We didn't gather symbols to destroy it or gain access to time travel. We don't have any significant weapon against it right now."

"Are you saying this is all for nothing?" Cyborg demanded. "Its bound to let us out and end the game if one of us reaches the center of the board! Right?"

"Where in the rules of the game did it say that?" Raven said softly, looking at him with even eyes. "It just says 'the first player to reach the end wins.' That's not a guarantee of our safety." She looked at each of them in turn, and then sighed. She shut her eyes for a moment, and lifted her arms to test them again. She wasn't in pain anymore, but she ached so badly…

"Dammit…" Cyborg said grouchily, leaning back against a crate and folding his arms.

"Friends… are we going to get out of here alive?" Starfire whispered. "Friend Robin died to save me… shall we die too?" There was a long silence, for there was no good answer for that sort of question.

"One thing bothers me." Beast Boy spoke up at last. They looked at him, his brow furrowed. "Remember the first time Raven rolled? At the very beginning of the game?" They nodded, and Raven's eyebrow quirked like it always did when asking a silent question. "The words said 'in the game now you will stay until the shadows roll away,' right?"

"Yeah, so?" Cyborg asked.

"What happened on that turn?"

"It got dark, and we realized we were in the game again." Raven said flatly.

"But just making things dark isn't a threat, is it? All the other rolls, except for the second roll for doubles, have had bad stuff happen. Why not the first roll?" Beast Boy pressed.

"Unless… whatever the first turn was is still happening now." Raven's eyes widened in revelation. "What was it, though?"

"Every turn starts a new threat, though… all the terrors of this game vanish when we have rolled again or if we outwit the danger." Starfire mumbled, playing with her red hair. She was unsettled and still thinking of Robin, but she was starting to follow. "But… the poisonous plants stayed for more than one turn…"

"Dark Fall has become inconsistent." Raven said. "Its not upholding the laws of the game like it should. Its evil, but now its breaking its own rules." She was starting to smile, and Beast Boy almost literally saw her eyes light up. "Maybe its not Dark Fall that has to end this game…"

"Maybe it's us." Cyborg said, leaning forward.

"How do you end a game that's not over yet? Hit the reset button?" Beast Boy was thinking of the gamestation when he said this. "That would start it all over again!"

"There's nothing like that here… but… how do you end a board game that's not done yet?" Raven had that evil genius, under-the-eyebrows smile on her face. She sat up and pressed herself into the standing position. "I'm better now." She reported. "My chakra's exhausted from healing, but I'll get by. I think I know what to do."

"What is it, friend?" Starfire fearfully watched Raven pull Jumangi over to their sitting circle. She gulped a little loudly as Raven pulled the doors open and picked up the dice. Starfire shrieked as she rattled them around for a moment. "It is not your turn, friend Raven! What if the Dark Fall punishes you for rolling when it is not your –?"

Raven blew the dice apart by magic.

Everyone gasped. "It gave us the hint with the first rhyme." She let her devilish smile fade and she raised her voice. "What now, Dark Fall?" Raven asked the ceiling. "No dice, no movement. No movement… Game Over!" There was a sudden, screaming howl of wind. Everyone was lifted from where they sat and –!

Raven, Beast Boy, Starfire, and Cyborg fell out of the game world, and into the real one.

Whoa! …NOBODY WINS! AHAHAHAHAHAA! That's the greatest plot-twist ever! Well, the game is over. But… what threats will await them when they get to the real world? Many of you have remembered that "the exciting consequences of the game will vanish when a player reaches Jumangi and called out its name." And, because of that, many of you are asking if Robin will be back. I guess we'll find out, right? I mean, if the game's over… maybe he'll show up in the common room when they get back? Until next time, horror fans!