"Hey, Ciela," Beast Boy said as I headed towards Ops. "what are you up to?"

"I just got here, so nothing, really." I said.

"Great! Want to come with me downtown?"

"Um... sure."

Beast Boy's eyes lit up, and he grabbed my arm and dragged me down the hallway.


"Man, am I glad you're here. Everybody else is too busy to have any real fun." Beast Boy said as we walked down the street.

"Was that before or after you annoyed everyone?" I said.

Beast Boy slumped his shoulders. "I wish I could always have someone to hang out with."

Nearby, we heard two girls giggling at a table at the Pizza Corner. Beast Boy's eyes shimmered with stars, and he hurried over to the table.

"Leave the person who does want to hang out with you to try and pick up chicks who definitely don't. Good strategy." I sighed.

"Hey, there, ladies. Wanna take a ride on my moped?" Beast Boy said to the two blonde girls.

"You own a moped?" one of them said.

"No, but I'm saving up." Beast Boy leaned against the table, but his hand landed on their pizza. He slipped and faceplanted into the pizza. Their jug of juice rocketed into the air and landed on his head.

The two girls laughed and walked away. Beast Boy tugged the juice jug off and shook out his hair.

"Very smooth." I said, pulling a slice of pepperoni off his arm. "Next time, you might want to try a different approach."

Beast Boy looked across the street. The two girls knelt around a fuzzy brown dog and gushed over it.

"How about a little more... ruff approach?" Beast Boy grinned. He transformed into a dog and ran across the street to the girls. I followed him. The girls looked down at him and scowled.

"Is that a green dog?" one of the girls said.

"Ew, what is that horrible smell?" the other girl said, and the two covered their noses.

"Go away, you yucky dog! Shoo!"

Beast Boy's ears drooped, and he trotted away. I walked beside him and patted his head.

"It's okay, Beast Boy. Not everyone appreciates your determination." I said.

Beast Boy paused to bow his head and whimper. The yelp of a different dog echoed from the shrubbery, and another green dog sprinted around the corner and slammed into Beast Boy.

"Beast Boy! Are you okay?" I said.

The two dogs sat up and shook their heads. Beast Boy gawked at the other dog; it wasn't every day that he saw a fellow green creature. The dog's ears perked at a quiet, warping sound. The warping rapidly grew quicker, and a red and black spaceship flew over the trees and parked right above us. The dog ran away.

"Hang on!" I said, gripping Beast Boy's collar.

A bright beam hit us, and for a second, my body was lifted from the air before my vision went black.


"Bad dog! You should not try to escape!" a voice said.

I opened my eyes and cringed at the bright spotlight. I rubbed my eyes and sat up. A big, several feet tall silhouette loomed over Beast Boy. It leaned forward into the light, revealing a stone bodied alien dressed in a yellow spacesuit named Soto.

Beast Boy changed back into his original form and gripped the thick, metal collar around his neck. "Um... You sure you got the right dog?"

"Of course! Soto knows his dog anywhere! You are Soto's dog!" Soto said.

"Your dog? I'm not your dog!" Beast Boy tried to pry the collar off. "What did you put on me?!"

"Soto's dog needed a collar, so I made one special for it. But then Soto's dog escaped, so Soto had to fix Dog's collar."

"Dude! I am not your dog!"

"You can't get through his thick skull... literally." I said. "Soto's got the mind of a two-year-old."

Soto clapped his hands and smiled. "You are funny! Soto likes you!"

"Okay, I didn't want to have to do this, but you leave me no choice!" Beast Boy transformed into a saber-tooth tiger and lunged at Soto. Soto pressed a button, and the energy leash tied to the collar shortened and pulled him back just out of reach. He changed into many different animals to try and get the collar off, but the leash couldn't be broken and the collar remained fitted to his neck.

Soto laughed and chapped his hands. While Beast Boy tried to fly away as a pterodactyl, Soto stood up and wrapped him up in a bone-crushing hug, forcing him to changed back to a human. "You are not Soto's dog, you are better than Soto's dog!"

He dropped Beast Boy onto a large purple pillow and handed him a dog bowl full of yellow and purple food.

"Um... thanks." Beast Boy said, holding up a yellow and brown-striped chicken leg. That is... I hoped it was chicken.

"You can change into any pet? Any pet Soto asks?" Soto said.

"Well, I don't mean to brag, but..."

"Change!"

"If I do, will you let me go?"

"Mm-hm!" Soto nodded with a smile. Beast Boy transformed into a giraffe. Soto giggled. "Change!"

"Uh, hello? Aren't we forgetting something?" Beast Boy said, pointing at the collar.

Soto scowled. "Bad dog! Soto said change!"

"And Beast Boy said-!" Soto pressed another button and shocked Beast Boy. He changed into a parrot. "Happy now?"

"Change!" Each time, Soto shouted his demand with another electric shock, forcing Beast Boy to transform into another animal.

"Stop it, Soto!" I said, stopping his flurry of giggles. I stood on my feet. "This is not how to treat pets! If anyone's being the bad guy, you are!"

I took a couple steps towards him, but a violent tug at my stomach stopped me. I looked down and saw a collar, just like Beast Boy's, wrapped around my stomach. Over by the front of the ship, near the control panels, I saw my belt and my guns draped over a side bar. I looked behind me, and there was a second leash attached to the ground, next to Beast Boy's.

"You... you think Soto is bad?" Soto said, his lip quivering. He lowered himself down, hovering his face uncomfortable close to mine. "You do not like Soto?"

I leaned back. "Um... If Soto would treat Soto's dog a little nicer, then he wouldn't be a bad boy anymore."

Soto smiled and patted mine and Beast Boy's head. "Okay!" He turned and walked away, his footsteps rumbling the floor. "Time to go home now!"

"Home?!" Beast Boy said. "And where exactly is 'home'?"

"On far side of galaxy, where Soto's planet is!" Soto pressed different types of buttons. His control panels were shaped like toddler toys, helping to further show how much of a child he was.

Beast Boy and I glanced at each other.

"We get out of this mess, right?" he said.

"Yes. Don't worry, the Titans are on their way." I said.

Beast Boy scoffed and plopped down on the large pillow. "Like they care where I am. They didn't want anything to do with me at all today."

I sat on the edge of the pillow. "I know it seems like that, but you're just as important to the team as everyone else. No one can replace you."

Beast Boy looked at me and smiled. "Thanks, Ciela."

I smiled back. "I mean, they can probably find another 'ladies' man' who spouts horrible puns and stinks at video games, but the green skin is what I'm talking about."

"Hey!" Beast Boy scowled, and I laughed. His expression softened back into a smile.

"Bye bye, planet! We go home now!" Soto called over his shoulder. The spaceship rumbled.

The spaceship lifted into the air, and the forest disappeared below us, replaced by the sky.

"If the others are planning to rescue us, now would be a good time!" Beast Boy said.

"Any second now..." I said, clinging to the pillow.

The ship lurched to the right, and Beast Boy tumbled across the floor. The ship began to descend.

"Hey! Dumb ship! Go up!" Soto cried, pounding his fists against the control panel. He pressed several buttons, and the engines gained more power, but the resistance increased.

Soto landed the ship. The ramp was forced open by Raven's magic, and Soto stomped out of the ship to deal with the other Titans.

"Okay, now that the giant toddler is gone, how are we going to get these off?" Beast Boy said, gripping his collar.

"My guns are over there. Maybe the energy is enough to get the collars off." I said, pointing to the metal bar. "What's the longest animal you can change into?"

Beast Boy tapped his chin and smiled. He transformed into a seventeen-foot python. I gulped as he flicked his tongue at me. He whipped his tail over to the bar and grabbed my belt. He transformed back to a human and handed the belt to me.

"Never do that again." I shivered as I took out a pistol. "Be very still."

"Wait, you're gonna shoot me?!" Beast Boy said.

"What did you think I meant when I said, 'the energy is enough to get the collars off'?" I said. "Just close your eyes and keep your fingers crossed."

Beast Boy squeezed his eyes shut and cringed. Adjusting my body to the rumbling outside, I aimed my pistol at the red circle at the center of the collar. I pulled the trigger, and the laser hit the circle. The collar opened and fell off Beast Boy's neck. He opened his eyes, clutched his neck, and sighed.

"I never doubted you." Beast Boy said, and I shook my head. Beast Boy held out his hand. "Now your turn."

"What?! You can't use my guns!" I said.

"Why not? I let you shoot at my face!"

"No, I meant only I can use these guns. But I can't get a good enough angle to aim properly, so we need to think of something else."

Beast Boy snapped his fingers. "Leave it to me! Now I want you to hold still and try not to scream."

"Uh... What?"

Beast Boy stepped back and transformed into a green grizzly bear. I yelped and closed my eyes as Beast Boy pulled his arm back, his sharp claws gleaming in the large spotlight. He swiped his claws, and the weight of the collar fell off my stomach. I rested a hand on my stomach and gulped.

"C'mon!" Beast Boy grabbed my arm and pulled me towards the ship's opening. "Time to teach this kid a lesson!"

Beast Boy transformed into an elephant and rammed his tusks into Soto, knocking him to the ground. I caught up with him, and we stood in front of Soto as he climbed back to his feet.

"Bad dog! Very bad! Soto will-!" Soto pressed the 'shock' button on his remote, but nothing happened.

Beast Boy tossed our collars at Soto's feet. He transformed into a T-Rex and swung his tail at Soto, knocking him into the air. As he tumbled, Beast Boy flew up above him as a pterodactyl, and kicked his kangaroo feet into his chest. Robin and Cyborg threw punches at him, and Starfire and Raven shot their magic and starbolts, shoving him into the ground. The impact created a large crater.

We walked to the edge of the crater and looked down at Soto. He looked at me and Beast Boy with a quivering lip. A long tongue clipped a collar around Soto's neck. On the other side of the crater was Soto's Dog, sitting next the remote. Soto gasped and climbed out of the crater.

"Doggy! You came back!" Soto cried. The Dog held up its paw.

"I am only here to retrieve my squeaky toys. I refuse to be subject to you any longer." the Dog said.

Soto pouted for a moment before his big grin returned. "I know! Soto can be the doggy now, and you will be the master!" Soto rolled over, leaped around on all fours, and licked the Dog's face.

"Okay... Weird..." Beast Boy said. We watched the Dog and Soto climb the spaceship and take off into the sky.

"Welcome back, guys!" Robin said, placing a hand on mine and Beast Boy's shoulder.

"We have all missed you so!" Starfire said, crushing us in a hug.

"You guys... really missed me?" Beast Boy said.

"Absolutely! How about you help me wax the T-Car?" Cyborg said.

"Better yet, how about we do some sparring in the gym?" Robin said.

"Perhaps you would enjoy eating nauseating amounts of food while Raven and I watch?" Starfire said.

"Thanks, guys, but I think I'm gonna spend some time alone. I've had enough attention for one day." Beast Boy said.

I patted his shoulder, and my vision faded to black.