The Strong Men
"Rebecca, he's not going to like this," replied the middle-aged blonde. "You know he'll get upset at-"
"We'll be fine, Alex," Rebecca said. "Don't worry. Toros and Garfield will understand." The two boys ran into the little wooden house; one boy was green and the other was a normal-looking blonde.
"Hey, boys," Alex said, "How are you doing?"
"We just got back from the Dapper Mense. They taught Garfield how to turn into a gorilla today," Toros smiled. "But he squashed the Chief's tent doing it."
"It was an accident!" Garfield shouted at Toros's laughing.
"That's nice," Alex quickly said. "Listen, boys, we have to talk about something." Toros saw his father's gritted teeth and his hand combing through his hair.
"Dad, what's wrong?"
"Well, you know we've been... struggling to find some work, right?" The Changing Boys nodded. "Your father and I... found work up north. Far north."
Toros and Garfield looked at each other. "WHAT?! But that means that I won't see Garfield anymore!"
"He can visit on weekends."
"THAT'S NOT GOOD ENOUGH!" Toros shouted. He balled his fists while his teeth gnashed together. Could anyone blame him? Years of being a part of each other's lives and now his parents wanted to rip them apart? And after just a single year of getting their powers after their kidnapping.
No! They couldn't break up his family. Not now. "Why? Why can't we just stay here?"
"We looked everywhere, sweetie," Rebecca said. "America's the only place with the most options, but we knew you didn't want to go there. The only job we could find was the one up north with the government."
"What about Garfield's parents? They could-"
"They don't have any use for radioactive scientists with bio-life," Alex finished, sagging his shoulders. "I'm sorry. There's nothing we could do." Toros stomped his foot.
"It's not fair!"
"Don't talk back to me, young man," Alex said. "The decision is final." Garfield's green pointed ears drooped. He rested his hand on Toros's back.
"It's okay. I can come and visit. It'll be like our sleepovers."
"No, it won't!" Toros shouted. The green kid stumbled backward. "It won't be the same! There's no point in us moving up north when we're perfectly fine here! Why do we have to move?! We can just live with the Dapper Mense! They'll take us in!"
"The Dapper Mense don't just let anyone stay with them," Rebecca said. "Please, sweetie, listen."
"Why?! There's no point in listening to people who won't listen to me!" The blond boy stormed out of the house; tears blinded his eyes. His mother and father rushed after him, leaving Garfield dazed and alone in the little house. Looking around, the green kid could trace all the little ridges and dents from his and Toros's rough-housing. In a house that felt so familiar, he now stood as a ghost haunting the remains of his playground. A photo hung on the opposite wall taken before the two boys got their powers. Both blond, both beaming smiles, and the boys stood with their parents behind them.
And now he stood as an alien in a house that felt like a second nursery. Like a little black sheep cast out into the wilderness. Of course, being the black sheep would become a familiar feeling for the rest of his life.
It was night. Garfield's parents would probably be worried about him, but the green boy's feet walked back to the Dapper Mense tribe. Brown and black people with red painted stripes along their eyes, the Dapper Mense people were always welcoming to Garfield. Even if they were weirded out by his greenness. Garfield stumbled back to the tribe where the women were the first to notice him. "(Green Boy)" They said in their native language. "(What's wrong?)"
"(Nothing wrong. Where is Chief?)" Garfield's accent was obviously rattling against the African language, but the people loved him more in spite of it.
"(After what you did to his tent, I imagine he's still trying to fix it,)" They laughed, not at Gar, but at the scene. The green boy briefly smiled and walked through a spaced-out lot of tents, firepits, and kids darting around. Sometimes, the kids would stop, ask Beast Boy to change for them, but he shook his head and kept walking until he made it to the Chief's tent.
Or what was left of it.
Ripped animal hide with jutting wooden stakes sat miserably like a trash heap. The graying-haired man looked over his former house with a great sigh as a young green hand tapped his side. The Chief looked down. "Garfield? (What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be home?)"
"My...(My...)" Garfield tried his best to speak the language, but the choking words and gripping sadness were too much. Tears started pouring down his green cheeks. "My... Myy..." The Chief placed a heavy hand on the boy's shoulder and smiled.
"(Come, sit. Now, slowly, tell me what's wrong.)" And Garfield did. For a moment, the Chief sat pensively stroking his black and gray beard. Periodically, he would lightly slap his quads with his hand while glaring into the ground but asked Garfield to continue. "(Your brother's parents are right. They would be out of place in our tribe.)"
"(I know, but-)" Garfield squeezed his eyes shut, "What about us!" He dropped the language for a moment. "I don't want to be alone again! I don't want Toros to leave, but... but!" He looked into Chief's eyes. Could he understand what the green boy said? Garfield sniffled as he wiped his eyes cleared. "(Sorry. I'm upset.)"
"(I can tell,)" The Chief sighed but smiled, "(Don't get your heart down, Green Boy. You and your brother will be together again. I know it.)"
"(What if... things aren't same?)" Garfield sniffled. The Chief's smile faltered just a bit, but with a deep breath, he smiled brighter.
"(Things will change. But you will always be friends, always be brothers. That's how friends are.)" It wasn't much to go on, but Garfield slowly nodded. The Chief patted his green head. "(Don't cry anymore, little one. You two will be fine.)" Then his smile turned mischievous, curling up his lips with his growing wrinkles. "(But since you're here, you can help me with the mess you made.)"
"(Chief Sorry! Sorry!)"
"(Sorry doesn't fix the tent!)" The Chief sternly yet somehow jovially said. Garfield groaned as the Chief sent him to work that night. "(Work, Green Boy, it helps you clear your mind.)" Garfield never understood the wisdom behind the Chief's words, but he quickly learned to follow them.
He had to.
In Africa, you never know what snakes lurk about.
************************f******
As Cyborg and Starfire focused on preparing the T-ship, Toros and Robin were going over strategies for their trans-Atlantic flight. Beast Boy still eyed his older 'identical' brother with a gloomy frown. Toros's parents announcing their departure played again and again in his mind. But another thing kept butting in. If Toros had problems with Africa, why didn't he call him? Beast Boy finally shook his head. "I'm going out of my mind."
"You were already out of it to begin with," Raven smirked. Garfield didn't jump or scream. He just sighed, still staring at Toros.
"It's just... what you guys said is... making me feel funny. Toros's a good friend-"
"We didn't say he wasn't," Raven interrupted, "We just want you to be careful." Beast Boy grumbled to himself. "How did you and Toros meet, anyways?"
"Both of our parents were scientists. My parents dealt with rare diseases... like a deadly disease that turns monkeys green," Beast Boy mumbled a little to himself. Raven nodded. "Anyways, Toros's family specialized in radioactive stuff. But they also dealt with... what are those scientists that deal with society and junk?"
"Anthropologists?"
"Yeah, that. Anyways, there was a meeting of all the scientists stationed in Africa one day, kinda like a nerd convention," Beast Boy chuckled lightly at his own joke. He was so focused on the story that he failed to hear Raven's tiny laugh. "When Toros and I met, I thought I was looking at an awesome mirror that put me in different clothes."
"How old were you?"
"Five? Seven? I don't remember. Anyway, Toros's parents met my parents and we became friends. Then Toros and his folks got kidnapped the first time by bio-terrorists."
"Bio-Terrorists?"
"Really, really bad people. They practiced chemicals on him. Fortunately, they accidentally gave him the ability to change into animals." Beast Boy sighed as he looked at his green face in the orange reflection of the T-ship. "Without the color change."
"He was kidnapped twice? Why?" Raven asked after a long pause.
"I don't know. His parents worked for the local government in Africa, so... maybe that made them targets? The local government brought them from America to solve their problem."
"What was that?"
"I don't know. Something about land distribution or something," Beast Boy replied, sighing. He slid down to the ground and tucked his head into his knees; Raven sat down with him. "I trust him, but... how many people I thought I could trust ended up trying to kill me? I just..." He didn't finish. He just sighed, staring at his gloved hand.
"Do you trust us?" Beast Boy's head shot up and nodded. "Then you should trust us enough to help you. Just like you've helped us."
"Awww," Garfield grinned, "You're getting soft on me, Rae." Raven's eyebrow twitched in her glare.
"You know another dimension is just a black hole away?"
"Hehe, sorry. But... thanks."
"Alright, everyone!" Shouted Cyborg. "Time to pack everything up and get a move on."
***********************T********
A minute must have passed by. That's what it felt like as the team flew over the long pale brown and green stretches of the African continent. They flew over the lion, wildebeest, and hyena-dominated safari and zoomed towards the thickening forests and jungles of the land. "Amazing," Starfire marveled. "I have read about Africa in your Earth books, but I did not think Africa was this-"
"Green? Yeah, it's more beautiful than people think," Beast Boy interrupted.
"And more dangerous," Toros added.
"Haha! What's new?" Beast Boy laughed. His lookalike smirked a bit.
"So does anyone have a clue where we're supposed to go?" Raven asked.
"Marrah Mountains are further north," Toros said. "We should be there in a moment. The remaining tribe there might help us to-"
"Look!" Beast Boy cried. In the field of trees rose a pillowy black smoke that darkened the sky above.
"Darn it," Toros grumbled. "They got here first."
"Wait." Garfield's eyes widened. "Toros... isn't that the..." Toros nodded from his seat.
"We have to get down," Cyborg said. "The smoke's soot might clog the engines." They quickly touched down into a nearby clearing and walked over to the scorched area. Huts, buildings, and crafted houses laid in charred smoldering disarray. The whole area was painted black. Beast Boy was the first to set foot onto the tribe's clearing. The silent air strangled his throat. He couldn't talk. All he could do is look at the destruction around him. He stepped onto the inky ground and stopped. Starfire hovered over to him.
"Beast Boy, are you okay?"
"Do you hear that?" Beast Boy said in a broken voice. The alien couldn't find anything to even make a sound. "This place used to be filled with laughing kids and nagging mothers that would yell at me for getting into trouble. And the guys would wrestle me over near the firepit." His chuckle was heavier than his words. A soft wind blew, rudely rustling the soot on the ground as if to disturb the souls of the innocent. "This was the Dapper Mense tribe. They showed me how to control my powers. My mom didn't think they could do it, but... they did." He took a thick breath as his chest tightened. Gritted teeth gnawed the pain in his head and heart."They were my family. And after my parents died..." Beast Boy dropped to his knees, mixing his pants with the ground's soot. His hands gripped blackened dirt in an attempt to reach the tribes' souls, but they weren't there. They would never be there again. "I can't believe they're gone." Starfire knelt down and hugged his head.
"What's worse," Toros sighed, "is that they were the only people that knew what the terrorists were up to."
"Toros, these guys were our friends," Garfield muttered with a spit of disgust.
"I know, but we have to figure out what happened. I'm sorry, Gar, but we're on a time crunch. Let's look around and find some clues."
Beast Boy still clutched and stared at the ground. "I am sorry about your loss," Starfire quietly said.
"*sniff* it's okay, Star. It's okay." Beast Boy smiled but looked at his blond lookalike. "At least you're sorry about it," He grumbled, biting back the venom on his tongue.
"Uh I'm no animal expert, but is that what I think it is?" Raven called the two. Beast Boy and Starfire walked over and, though it was hard to see at first, they saw multiple footprints. Animal Footprints. Garfield knelt down, examining the shape. "An elephant?"
"A lot of elephants. Close together," Beast Boy said, looking around. "But those huts didn't burn themselves. Did they just burn the place after the elephant stampede or before? And why?"
"Maybe they have the elephants as pets. Like in the place you call India?" Starfire proposed.
Beast Boy shook his head. "No, Star. These elephants were stampeding." Just then Cyborg, Robin, and Toros came back to them.
"There might be hope!" Toros smiled excitedly. "We didn't find any human bones."
"That's... morbid," Raven muttered.
"It means they might still be alive," Robin said. "Starfire, can you see anything from above?" The alien zoomed above the trees and looked all around. Further south, a small column of white smoke rose to the clouds.
"There is something over there!" She shouted from above.
Beast Boy narrowed his eyes. "South? Why? That's near their warring tribe, the Wraakgierig. They should have gone southeast or west."
"Maybe they got over their differences," Toros shrugged, "A lot of tribes have been forced together because of these terrorists."
Beast Boy crossed his arms and frowned. "Toros, is there something you're not telling us? Because of all the terrorists you've fought, why is this group actually winning?"
"They're not winning," Toros said firmly, "I'm just having trouble with them."
"You're way too smart to be out-thunk by some random terrorists... unless they had an edge," Beast Boy said.
Toros stared with widening his eyes and finally sighed, "Geez, you've gotten smarter."
"That's debatable," Raven smiled smugly, making Garfield grumbled under his breath.
"The terrorists are a new batch, calling themselves the Alpha Pact. Anyway, they're highly organized and fast. They seem to be after something, but I don't know what." Beast Boy's eyes slightly stretched open, but he kept his lips pressed together. "Anyway, we have to get to the tribe first."
"And you have a plan for this?" Garfield asked.
"Of course," Toros said, scoffing, "Find the Dapper Mense, figure out the situation, and go from there." Beast Boy nodded. "I just hope we're not too late."
"Don't worry," Garfield smiled, slapping his hand on Toros' shoulder. "Together, there's nothing's the Changing Boys can't do"
"Hehe, Changing Boys. I haven't heard that since..." Toros bowed his head.
"Changing Boys?" Cyborg asked. "What's that?"
"When we got our powers, our parents nicknamed us the Changing Boys. I always imagined we would be this cool family of shapeshifting heroes or something," Beast Boy smiled and shrugged. "Funny how things turned out."
"Can we please find this tribe?"
"What's the hurry, Rae?" Beast Boy asked.
"Didn't you say that those tribes were fighting each other?" Raven said. Fear gripped the green teen's heart.
"She's right," Toros said. "We should get going." They passed the field of soot and went deeper into the forest, but Garfield stayed behind for a bit longer. The wind finally broke the silence of the blackened field. He could almost trace the path he would walk from the start of his life to the end. He felt a hand on his shoulder.
"It's time to move on," Raven said in the most understanding tone he had ever heard.
"Yeah... move on." He left with the footsteps of the past... behind him.
Continued...
