Chapter 2: Mind Games
Beast Boy yawned loudly as he scratched his head and emerged from his shelter in the clearing. He looked around and took a deep breath. It was a beautiful day but he knew he had work to do. Resolving to confront The Beast, Beast Boy skipped breakfast and walked to the middle of the clearing.
Unsure of what to do, he sat down and fidgeted, hoping something would happen. His mind started to drift to the butterfly flying past him a few yards away but he shook his head and tried to focus.
Moments later, his stomach growled and he thought about getting up but shook his head once again and tried to focus.
After nothing happening for ten agonizing minutes, Beast Boy sighed and got up to get something to eat.
Reaching his shelter, he reached in and grabbed his duffel bag. He pulled an energy bar out of it and opened it, hungrily. He ate the bar in two bites and put the wrapper back in his bag.
Resolving to make some progress this time, Beast Boy walked back into the center of clearing and thought about trying meditating. He figured if it worked for Raven it might work for him. Shrugging, he closed his eyes and sat cross-legged on the ground with his arms at his sides.
After a little while, his breathing slowed and he started feeling funny but resolved to continue. Moments later, he felt himself falling into a trance. When he opened his eyes, the grass in the clearing had become darker and the sky had turned black. Instead of the usual sound of forest life, all he heard was an unnerving silence. Fear started to creep in but Beast Boy pushed the feeling away and looked around. There were random pools of blood at various points in the clearing. Beast Boy winced at seeing this but continued to scan the area. A ways away, Beast Boy saw an out of place cottage and looked at it, puzzled.
After a few moments of hesitation, Beast Boy walked towards the cottage, cautiously. As he walked towards it, he looked around again and noticed that there was no moon or stars in the sky, just darkness. He hadn't noticed before because of his acute eyesight, but now that he had, it further unnerved him.
Approaching the cottage, Beast Boy could see that the lights were on inside and there was smoke coming out of the chimney. Finding it odd, but comforting, Beast Boy relaxed and contemplated going inside. Deciding to look in through the windows first, Beast Boy approached a window and tried to peer inside. When he did, however, he found that there was a closed curtain inside, blocking his view. Unsure if he should go inside, Beast Boy looked around and scanned his surroundings once again.
When he did he noticed that the cottage was the only thing remotely alive in the entire forest. It was almost as if the trees and grass were dead husks of themselves. He had assumed up until now that this was The Beast's version of the clearing. That puzzled, him, however. Although The Beast was violent, it wasn't all about death. The Beast was the embodiment of the primal predatory part of nature. If anything, The Beast's version of the clearing should be teeming with predators and a lot of dead prey. Confused and starting to become scared, Beast Boy decided to enter the cottage.
Walking up to the front door, Beast Boy knocked on it a few times. He waited impatiently, becoming more and more unnerved by this version of the clearing. He fidgeted uncomfortably and knocked on the door one last time. Getting no response, Beast Boy tried the door.
The door opened with a creak and revealed a beautiful looking cottage. Taken aback that something like this existed in this version of the clearing, Beast Boy walked in. As he did, he instantly felt much better. He was more at ease and comfortable. Looking around the cottage, he saw a piece of pie on a plate on what looked to be the dining table. He further scanned the cottage, looking for the source. Unable to find one in the one-room cottage, he sat down and examined the pie. He quickly realized it was his favorite, pecan. Shrugging, he got up and continued to examine the cottage as he walked around it. He noticed pictures of various flowers and fauna framed on the walls.
As he walked around, he began to feel sluggish but shrugged it off as exhaustion. He continued to look for any indication of whose cottage this was. Noticing what appeared to be a photo album on the ledge above the fireplace, Beast Boy walked towards it.
Picking it up and examining it, he didn't see any title or writing on the cover. He opened it and began to page through, looking at the pictures. It appeared to be an album of the family whose cottage this was. A husband, wife, and their kid. He chuckled as he reached a picture of the kid jumping into a pile of neatly raked leaves.
As he paged through, Beast Boy couldn't shake the feeling that he knew this family somehow. While paging through the album, he continued to feel increasingly good but sluggish at the same time. Reaching the end of the album, Beast Boy started to realize who the family was. Before he could piece it together, however, he lost consciousness.
When he came too, he was laying on the couch in the cottage, snugly wrapped in a blanket. Forgetting what had happened before he passed out, he sighed, contently.
(Outside Beast Boy's mind in the real world...)
Beast Boy got up from his seated position, eyes glowing red. His form began to change. Large claws emerged from his hands and feet as they grew larger. He gained three feet in height and his form tripled it's muscle. Dark green hair began sprouting all over his body as his suit started to rip. His nose elongated into a snout and his fangs grew to triple their normal length. Letting out a loud roar, his transformation finished with short spikes protruding from his spine and forearms.