You know, I really wanted this chapter to go a different way. But then I got sick, and this chapter got rebooted inside my head. This was the result. And I personally think it is a lot better than my original idea for this. Hope you guys like it!
Also, I just noticed this story's gone on for over a hundred thousand words. And not one hint of BBRae romance so far... I'm kind of proud of myself for dragging it out this far to be honest. Since I just want them to kiss already!
Mailbox Time!
GolemXIV: Oh yeah, gotta love the good old fashioned butt whoopings! Action chapters are just like my favorite things to write since I can imagine it in my head. Oh don't worry, the two will have more teamwork in the future. Cause trust me, they are really going to need it for the next battle. Enjoy!
Foamsatmouth: You better believe it!
alfred19: Um, Google Translate wasn't much help here. Are you saying I should get straight to the point? Enjoy the chapter!
LionessStephanie: Can't tell you that, and I think besides the white furred squirrel there was no animals harmed. It's the middle of winter in Canada. Not really going to find much in the way of animals. Sorry about the Lloyd thing, damn autocorrect. I have since fixed it. There is a little more Beast conversation. And some good old Beast trolling. Enjoy the chapter!
Azarath Cat: I think I did answer that question, yes I do ship those two as well. I hope that you enjoy this chapter!
Captain Ea Rayos: I enjoy the enthusiasm! Hope this was what you were hoping for!
Thedas743: Well I'm glad that I was able to put something in that you enjoyed! No need to fear, there are a few things answered in this chapter! You stay awesome too dude! And enjoy the chapter!
ExplodingKnuckler: Thanks, I know you're only at Chapter One. But I do hope you've managed to catch up by now! If you have, then enjoy the update!
RPGPersona: It's okay. I wasn't expecting to use other honorary Titans either. Than after the suggestions poured in, I thought, what the hell. This is an AU. So lets treat it like one! I really upped the idiocy factor on Speedy in that chapter in my opinion. Of course, it wouldn't be the Teen Titans if they didn't argue about hair. Oh yeah, Rage would have her eyes on the prize. There's nothing she loves more than a tasty piece of green meat. Eh, not a river or stream, but a lake. A well known lake. Also, I think I made Zatanna a little more clear this chapter. Enjoy!
NATSUxERZA 123456: I prefer to say his human beast form. Instead of fully shifting into the Beast this time, Beast Boy kept partial control as he let the Beast build up his form. Also, Zatanna's motives become a little more clear this chapter. Well, there is some more character insight actually in this chapter, along with a little bit of fluff. So I hope you enjoy!
Bluedog197: Yeah, I can see where that game went all wrong with them. Oh, don't worry, it isn't a new villain. Heck, I bet you'll be surprised a little bit at the end here. Enjoy the chapter my good friend!
Since Last Time: 3 more favs, 4 more follows (Total: 95 favs, 117 follows)
Updated: October 14, 2016 9:50 P.M.
Disclaimer: I saw an exclusive look at Doctor Strange! Oh, and I don't own this. I guess that's important to say too.
Chapter Eighteen: Let Sleeping Dogs Lie
It had been a whole week since the last attack forced Beast Boy and Raven to move from their spot in northern Canada. Seeing as their area had been compromised by the sighting of the Alpha Team. The two had traveled through the night, and rested on and off for the two days after that on their way down south. They would have flown if they could, but without cloud cover, the Watchtower could have easily sighted them. Plus, every now and then, they had to take cover when they saw a superhero out in the distance. So it took them three whole days to get to the area they were now camped at.
They were just outside Lake Huron, one of five of the Great Lakes between the U.S. and Canada. Resting on the Northeastern side of Michigan, where they had set up the pocket home on the shore in a national forest. And they had stayed there ever since.
There was still snow on the ground since it was the middle of February, but it was slightly warmer here than it was up in northern Canada. A nice good and refreshing twenty degrees.
Raven was on her bed, reading a large book. The title was in a language that looked to be Azarathian. In English, it would translate to, 'Astral Projection and it's Many Forms.'
Beast Boy was sitting on his pillow on the ground. His drawing book was in one hand, while the other held a white tipped pen. He was in the middle of working on one of his drawings. He seems very concentrated on the drawing.
Though he was physically concentrated on it, his mind was far from it.
'Okay, we're definitely going to need to visit a laundromat soon if we ever want all our uniforms cleaned. I think I saw one out in the city.'
'Or you could just go around everywhere naked master. You really don't need clothes for yourself since you're naked in an animal form.'
'... I suggested that to Raven that one time. Remember?'
'Oh…'
'Yeah Beast, not doing it. Besides, unless I learned how to speak in my animal forms, I would have to morph into my normal form to talk to her.'
'Would that really be such a bad thing master.'
Beast Boy's eyebrow arched in the real world. 'So anyways, we're also starting to run a little low on food. So we're going to need to go to a store soon, or visit a few farms out in the country and hope they have food stored away in their silos.'
'You could just have me hunt for food and be done with it master.'
'Hello! Vegan here!'
'Don't bite it till you try it master.'
'... Okay, how about this, if things get desperate, I'll let you out so you can hunt for Rae. Deal?'
'... Fine. But you better have your own source of food by then too master. We don't want to be weak from hunger again like when we faced the archer and the speedster.'
Beast Boy nodded his head to himself as he continued drawing. Going over the rest of the things with his Beast that they were either starting to run low on, or were going to need soon.
Raven's eyes were trying to read her book. But on the inside, she was conflicted with herself. A part of her really wanted to drop the book, get up, and start questioning Beast Boy. While the other just wanted to sit in her spot and read her book in peace.
Only, she couldn't read it, because she couldn't focus on it. As her eyes kept on wandering up to her green teammate.
Her eyes moved again to her friend, and she could vaguely hear Rude in her mind. Yelling at her to grow a pair and talk to their damn friend… Well, that was a watered down version of what she had said. Too many cuss words were in it for Raven to barely make out her meaning. But Raven understood it, and she did want to do that.
But Raven didn't even know where to start. There was just so many different things about him that she was curious about. What was his own past like? What was it with him and being able to switch from jokester mode to Batman mode with the snap of a finger?...
Plus, it hadn't helped that ever since the fight, it was like Beast Boy had been… off.
It wasn't like he really didn't seem so carefree and happy anymore. He could still be found smiling and all that other stuff she knew that was familiar with him. Hell, he was smiling a little even though he seemed concentrated on something.
It was just that it had somehow… changed. Like it had toned itself down. He seemed more calm, commanding, in charge so to say. Even though the fight had been a week before, and he was normal again, the very air around him seemed to hold the weight he had wielded before. Raven didn't know if he was changing, or if it had just been there the whole time without her realizing it. But she could see it now, and she could see how it was affecting him.
He hardly ever tried to start a conversation with her outside of mealtimes anymore. And when he did talk to her, it was to see if she was okay. Like his own little way of checking up on her after what had happened before, while still giving her her space.
Outside of that, he seemed to stay out of her presence, even though they stayed in the same room. When they trained, he did it with such a single minded focus that Raven had to stop him several times from destroying the forest around them. And sometimes at night, Raven would hear their door open, and would see out of the crack of her eyelids as Beast Boy snuck out. Only to come in about two or so hours later looking exhausted. Yet he never spoke about what he did. And as of yet, Raven hadn't felt the need to ask.
Even his emotional beacon didn't seem as bright as usual.
There was no more attempts at starting a random game of stankball. Even though the piles of repaired stinky clothes at the sides of the home looked ripe for it. There was no attempts of him trying to start a joke or prank with her. Even though at moments, it looked like he was going to do it, but then he'd change his mind and turn away again. He was still smiling and happy, yet it was subdued.
Was it because of what happened during the fight at the end when Green Arrow tried to catch her off guard? Did it have something to do with what had happened before the fight? Did he just not see her in the same light anymore after learning about that part of her past? Did he think that she wanted to be left alone after revealing such a big secret about herself? Or was it the way he had dealt with the previous victims he mentioned? As if he was waiting for her to be ready to talk about it.
And why did that make her feel so sad? Why was she sad that Beast Boy seemed to be afraid to want to talk to her?
…
'Because I like him. I actually do like Garfield.' Raven admitted sadly to herself.
Yeah. Because she liked him. The dark monotonous Raven liked her friend. She thought her crush would have truly faded with time. She thought it would die from the treachery of Malchior, or the burn of her worst memory. But it hadn't.
Ever since the realization of it, it had gotten stronger. His words that fateful day a week ago had only sealed that fact in her mind. It wasn't going to fade. And now she could genuinely admit that to herself now. She might not choose to ever act on it, she didn't know how she came to this realization before, but she knew it now. So she could admit it. If only to herself.
At least that seemed to appeal to some of her emoticlones.
Raven took a look up again, and finally put her book on Astral Projection down. She just couldn't focus on it, and her curiosity wasn't going to go away. The complex mystery that was Beast Boy was calling to her. Demanding answers from the person that so haunted her mind. She could have meditated to try and rid herself of the urge, but Raven felt it was finally time she got some answers.
Rude could be heard shouting 'it's about damn time' inside her mind. So she sat up, mentally preparing herself to speak to Beast Boy.
Only, she saw what he was concentrated on. His drawing book.
Raven could see him in that single minded zone of his when he drew. Raven sighed, she didn't feel like she could try to bother him now when he was immersed in his own thing. The last thing he needed was her distracting him from his work. Despite her emoticlones protests, she made to lie back again.
But then she took one look at his drawing book, and that curiosity from before came back. Memories flashed in her mind of all the drawings she had seen him do before over his shoulder. A jungle with a creek running through it, Cyborg's face the first time he tried tofu, a lone person meditating in the light of the Common Room. And more…
Raven decided to do something she hadn't done in a while Instead of just lying on her bed and doing nothing till their next meal. She got in the lotus position, but instead of levitating a few feet off her bed, Raven only floated a mere inch. She opened one eye to make sure he was still focused on his book, and then concentrated as she quietly whispered her mantra.
"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos."
Her body stayed where it was, as her black soul self came out through her face. The dark astral form of Raven took one look around the room, and then back at its floating body to make sure it was okay. Then it went into the shadows of the room, and traveled to where it would be behind Beast Boy. When it got to him, it finally peered over his shoulder at the drawing book in his hand.
It was a drawing of a night sky. Raven could easily see every star he had so delicately placed into it. Beneath those, was the lights of Jump City… how long had it been since she had been there? And how had Beast Boy turned such a bland city like Jump into what she felt was a beautiful drawing. If Raven had been in her body, she would have felt a tear slide down her cheek at the sight of their old home.
It looked like he was putting in a few stars in the upper right corner of the night sky. She didn't know why, the drawing looked beautiful enough as it was. Yet it was like he felt they needed to be in there, so Raven wasn't going to judge him. His art had improved even more than she remembered. And for some reason, that made her happy.
'I wonder what other drawings he has in there if his writing has improved this much...' Raven thought in slight awe to herself.
'I wonder if BB has any drawings on us.' Happy said.
'I wonder if he put any drawings of us defeating villains in there.' Brave said.
'I wonder if he has any perverted drawings of anyone in there.' Rude said with a burp at the end.
'... Okay, I don't think I needed that thought in my head.' Raven thought to herself.
Beast Boy finished and lifted his book a little bit to check his work. He had been meaning to fix that drawing for a while now, but it hadn't been till he had accidentally flipped to it that he had remembered what he had forgot to put in it. To think it had only been a couple weeks ago when he made it. Another time, another place for him. He sighed at the sight of his old home, and made to start turning the page so he could get to the next drawing he had wanted to improve. But then he paused.
There was a cold presence behind his shoulder. It wasn't breathing, but the cold it emitted was very familiar. Beast Boy almost paled at what he had been about to do, he hadn't been going to stay on the next page certainly. It was the one after that he wanted to do, at least that's what he wanted to do. It wasn't his fault Beast loved to take a few seconds to look at that one picture… right?
Beast Boy hid his fear with amusement.
"Hey Rae. Any particular reason why you're peering over my shoulder when your body is floating over your bed?" He asked her astral form while still staring at his book, his voice sounding amused.
Raven was slightly shocked by this, and the loss of concentration made her astral form zoom right back to her body. She fell back onto her bed with a small thump as she stared at Beast Boy in surprise. He looked up from his book at her to grin slightly.
"Well?" He asked.
Raven had to fight back a blush at being caught. She honestly hoped that her face wasn't blushing now. Inside, her Knowledge was amazed at how perceptive he was to catch her soul self.
'Wow, I could have sworn all his attention was on his drawings.' Knowledge said to Raven. Who finally managed to compose herself and give a disinterested face.
'He's perspective. I'll give him that.' Raven thought back.
'That's our BB!' Happy said with delight.
'Ugh…'
"I was merely curious as to what you were drawing Garfield." Raven said in a flat tone.
Beast Boy shrugged. "Eh, I was only finishing up an old drawing of mine is all. And I was just heading to the next one when I noticed you peeping over my shoulder." He said nonchalantly. This made Raven blush a little bit.
'Damn it! I didn't want to blush!' Raven thought.
'Sorry.' Timid said back as she finally appeared.
'There she is! Get that penny from her!' Rude and Rage yelled at the same time.
'Eep!' Raven was distracted by the war going on on her mind. So she had zoned out a bit.
"Uh… Earth to Rae?" Beast Boy asked as he nudged Raven with the end of his pen. Raven snapped out of it.
"I wasn't peeping." Raven finally said back.
Beast Boy shrugged. "Sure, and I wasn't checking you out while you were zoned out." He said in what was supposed to be a sarcastic tone.
"Were you?" Raven asked.
Beast Boy now had to hold his blush back. "Of course not."
'At least, not too much.' He thought in his mind.
Before she could speak again, he opened up his book and went to a different page. He put his white tipped pen back into his belt while he pulled out a violet pen in its place. As it looked like he was tracing in something in the book with it.
During the time he had been speaking, his emotional beacon had shown a little brighter than before. But now, as he became silent again, it started to dim back to what it had been. Raven found herself uncomfortable with him just wanting to go back to ignoring her like that. She hadn't really minded his comment about checking her out all that much. At least he had been paying some attention to her.
Wait, was she going insane for wanting Beast Boy to actually invade her privacy? To have him look in her direction, or get another round of stankball going... or something? If only to at least get him to interact with her.
Talking seemed to have done some good for her emotional balance, but then, what could she have him talk about that wouldn't distract him from what he was doing? There was so many questions she wanted to ask… yet they all seemed a little too personal for her to ask him them.
An idea came to mind. There was one question that seemed to stick out in her mind. And maybe it could answer several others if she asked it right.
"Gar, when was the first time you ever drew something?" Raven asked in a calm voice.
Beast Boy's hand stilled, as his body seemed to involuntarily tense. Was it just her, or was his arm shaking. 'Azar, did I ask the wrong question?' Raven thought, as the silence stretched out between them.
…
…
"I was four." He finally said, in a quiet voice. Raven almost could have sworn he hadn't spoke, but then he looked up to her. He set his pen down and called her closer with his hand.
Raven quietly followed his command and floated off the bed to settle down next to him. As she got close, she could have sworn she saw a pencil drawing on the page he had been working on. A drawing in the middle of being colored in. But as she got closer, Beast Boy started to flip back through the pages. The pencil drawing was lost in the maze of art that showed before her eyes. The few she was able to make out made her eyes widen.
Beast Boy seemed to speak in the background of her mind. "I was four, at least I think I was, when my parents had taken me to one of the villages in Upper Lamumba. A place in Northern Africa that most people don't know about." His eyes seemed to take on a faraway look, even as he continued to skim through the pages. Raven was still looking at the drawings. Watching as the Tower, a green moped, Silkie, and other things flitted before her eyes.
"Sometimes, my parents had been known to bring in supplies, medicine, food, and other stuff for the villagers. But this one time, they had brought something in for the kids… art supplies." Beast Boy paused, as if lost in thought. Raven saw him pause on one of the earlier pages, showing a drawing of what looked to be a purple helmet.
Then his hands continued to move, to fast for her to make out anything else as he resumed speaking.
"I had seen my parents with all kinds of things before. But it was normally devices, medical supplies, and other things I couldn't even name now. Since they were world renowned geneticists. Yet instead of all those, they had brought out empty books. Pens, pencils, markers, and even finger paint… and they spent most of the day teaching the kids how to take something from their minds, and how to put it on the page and turn it into art…"
Beast Boy finally stopped skimming, as there was no pages left. It was right on the front page, and Raven didn't know what to think. Sure, his art was amazing now, but back then… 'Are those supposed to be stick figures? Or is that a weird ball of fuzz?'
Beast Boy seemed to sense her confusion, and gave a small chuckle. "I had begged my parents if I could join in the fun. And they had let me sit alongside the other kids as they taught. But I had tried to draw a giraffe without their help, and this was the end result." Beast Boy said in a sad voice.
'So that's what it's supposed to be.' Raven thought to herself.
Beast Boy looked down to his drawing at last, and let a sad smile show on his face. "Yeah, my parents, when they saw this. I don't think I'd ever seen my mother smile so widely before. Or seen my dad have to suppress so many giggles." He let out a sigh as he turned the page. And Raven almost gasped.
It was a beautiful drawing of a tan woman. She had brown hair that cascaded down her shoulders. She was in a simple tan vest with a white T-shirt underneath along with a pair of blue jeans. But it was almost like you could tell just how much effort the man who drew it had put into the drawing. She appeared to be average in real life, but in a drawing, she put the Mona Lisa to shame.
Beast Boy noticed her surprise, and smiled. "Yeah, my dad, even though he was a world class geneticist first. He also had a hobby of being a talented artist…" Beast Boy flipped the page. "As was my mom." He finished.
This drawing was of a tall tan man. He had short, almost cropped blonde hair. His face seemed angular, even on the page. But his blue eyes were soft, and full of mischief. He wore a simple green vest above a black T-shirt. And was wearing a pair of khakis. He was also normal, but in a way that would have made other woman swoon.
"After they had been done with the others, they had drawn these down for me… to show me what practice would do…"
Beast Boy looked like he was about to turn the page, when he stopped. He looked to Raven, seeing the wonder in her eyes at the drawings. Even though her face tried to hide it. He wondered if he should turn the page or not. But then he did it.
"And then they did this for me. To help give me an idea as to what I could draw if I set my mind to it."
It was a two pages of drawings again. On the left, his mom was standing by the dad. Both in the same clothing as before. Now you could see the jungle that rested in the background. But the little boy in front of them was different. Far different than what Raven would have thought would be there.
It was a fair skinned blonde boy. He had blue eyes, normal ears, a fangless mouth, in overall terms, he was normal. He had a mischievous grin on his face. And even in the picture you could tell how full of energy he was.
Then Raven looked to the other page, and saw a messier drawing of the family. This time, it was a group of three stick figures. Standing in front of what looked like a stick tree jungle. The two tall stick figures were holding the hands of the little one. All of them had smiley faces drawn in. And in bright messy letters on the top was two words.
My family.
Beast Boy took a long look at it. Seeming to be lost in his own world again. While Raven was lost in a world of her own.
'Garfield… Wait… why were they all normal? I thought he had been born with his powers. Wasn't he? But then why would he look so normal as a young boy? And it doesn't make sense that his parents were normal… unless they also had powers...'
Raven opened her mouth, as if to speak, when Beast Boy slammed his book shut. Raven, even knowing about Beast Boy's emotional output as of late, was shocked not only by the slamming of his book, but when the beacon that represented his emotions in general completely disappeared. Like he had clamped down on himself.
She looked up from the book, only to find he was staring away. "Garfield, did something happen to them? Your parents after this." She decided to ask.
He looked at her, his face expressionless. "I don't know what you're talking about." He said flatly.
Raven lifted her eyebrow at him. "Um… Is everything okay Gar?" She decided to ask.
"Oh, everything's just peachy Raven." He said in a sarcastic voice.
"I thought I was supposed to be the sarcastic one here?" Raven asked sarcastically.
Beast Boy only continued to stare expressionless at her. And this made Raven feel kind of uncomfortable. Had this been what it was like when she had stared at him like that?
"What about you just leave me alone, and stop trying to pry into my past." Beast Boy said, before he turned away with his book.
Raven bristled at his words. "I wasn't trying to pry into your past idiot. I only asked when you first learned how to draw. You revealed parts of your past all by yourself." She said in an eerily calm voice.
Beast Boy chuckled harshly at that. "Sure, like I revealed anything to you." Beast Boy said sarcastically.
Raven's reply was immediate. "What about the fact that your parents are dead."
Beast Boy, he seemed to be stuck in a state of shock. "What? Did you think I wouldn't be able to recall the time you swore to me on your parent's graves Gar. Or the fact that you haven't really told me about your parents before in general? That kind of suggests to me that they probably aren't alive anymore."
'Raven! Stop talking about it!'
'Master. Our mate already knows. We can talk about it now-'
"I also saw based on that picture that your parents were normal. Well, above normal, since geneticists are actually pretty smart people. But that still leaves me to believe that they didn't have powers." Raven continued on.
'No! I'm still not ready to talk about it! Not after what happened before with the last time!'
'But master, our mate-'
'Don't call her that! She doesn't deserve that title! And you know that! Now leave it alone!'
The Beast was shocked into silence, as Beast Boy's anger started to grow. Raven had been unaware of the mental exchange. "What happened in your past Gar? Your parents were normal, and I think you were normal too. Did you have your powers forced on you? Or did you willingly-"
"WILL YOU JUST SHUT UP ABOUT IT!" Beast Boy finally shouted at her.
Raven was shocked into silence not only by his outburst, but by the monumental wall of anger now emitting from his aura. "My past is my priority Raven! Not yours, not my dead parents, or anyone else for that matter! Got it!"
"But you know all about my past! How am I supposed to get to understand you better if you won't-" Raven was shouting back.
"You, try to understand me! Like how Terra tried to understand me! Is that what you're trying to say here Rae!? Is that it!?" Beast Boy's shout echoed in the room with that name. Shocking Raven into a quieter tone.
"What?" She finally said.
Beast Boy growled. "You heard me Rae. Yeah, I told Terra about all the **** I went through as a kid with my powers. And she told me all the **** she went through because of her powers too. I thought I had actually found someone that could understand me because of it. I thought I would finally be able to put it all to rest with her."
He sadly shook his head, the anger draining out of his system. "Only, you saw what happened to me next. What she did to me, my past, my parents... my heart."
Raven wasn't exactly sure what to do now. As he pulled something out of his belt. It was a framed picture, it showed the same thing that had been in the drawing. Only, it was from an actual camera. It had been the thing he grabbed from his room. Before Raven could say anything though, he put it back.
"I told Terra all about them. I showed her this picture. I trusted her with everything about me Rae. And you saw what she did to me. When I thought someone actually understood me." He said in an angry tone.
"But Gar… I'm not like Terra." She finally said.
Beast Boy sighed at that. "I know you're not Raven. But it doesn't mean it still doesn't hurt to talk about it after all that happened." He said sadly to himself.
Raven wanted to feel angry at him. She had laid her past bare for him, and all he had given was a few breadcrumbs about his past self. How could he be so selfish as to share his past with a stranger, but not his friend!
But she couldn't feel angry. Not when she understood what he meant. The same thing had happened to her after all. She had trusted her very being with a complete stranger who showered her with attention. Only to end up burned in the end. She could understand what happened to him all to well.
She forced a state of calm on herself as she gripped his hand. Even though she wanted to grip it forever and get lost in the feel of it.
"I understand Gar. I understand all too well what you mean by that. I'm sorry that I tried to press you when you weren't ready… just, make sure you tell me when you're ready Gar. Because like you told me, I'll be there for you when you're ready to talk about it."
Beast Boy finally looked to her, though his face looked defeated. "Have you ever heard the phrase, let sleeping dogs lie Raven?" He asked.
Raven nodded her head. "I don't care if your past is just like the three headed Cerberus Gar. If it really hurts as much as I think it does, then I'll do anything if it means helping my friend out." She said in a monotonous, yet sincere tone.
Beast Boy looked at her for a few seconds, seeming to be struck silent. Then he finally started to smile sincerely.
"Okay. I promise I'll talk about it to you eventually. But not now. It still hurts to even think about it." He said to her.
Raven was a little sad about that, but she accepted it. "Okay, Gar." She said to him.
'There Rude, you happy now? Now that we've finally talked to him.' Raven thought to her mind.
She didn't receive an answer. 'Damn, they must still be after that penny... now that I think about it, I could try joining in to take back BB's gift... wait, did I just call him BB?'
Then his smile turned into a smirk, which caught Raven's attention again. "Oh, and you know what I just realized."
Raven looked oddly at him, as his aura filled with mischief again. Before she could say anything though, a stankball that had been behind him hit her right in the face. It had been made of his stinky boxers.
"Let the rematch round of stankball begin!" He said, already following up with two more stank balls to her chest and stomach.
Raven was slightly angry at being caught off guard by the sudden game, but overall she was pleased. Beast Boy was laughing and smiling again. That weight that had been around him before was gone at last. 'Now this is the Beast Boy I know and like.' Raven thought to herself.
Even though she liked him, that didn't stop her from cheating again this round. Even as her emoticlones cheered inside her mind at being used at long last. She gathered up the remaining clothes in the room into one massive stankball. Making Beast Boy sweat drop in his spot.
"Oh, a rematch you say." Raven said in a cool monotonous tone.
'****!' Beast Boy thought, as he moved to dodge the monstrosity.
The Beast inside Beast Boy's mind was cheering slightly in his mind. Even though he was still a little peeved with what his master had said to get him to shut up. But after he saw the results, he felt he could forgive his master.
'Sorry about that Beast. I didn't exactly mean what I said to you earlier.'
'Does that mean you're finally considering it master?' The Beast asked in a hopeful voice.
'Maybe… I still don't try to think about her in that way Beast.'
'Maybe if I pull up this memory again.' The Beast said, as he pulled up the incident with the pouch.
'Gah! Can't you tell I have enough problems in the real world!' Beast Boy thought as he barely dodged the massive stankball again. Only to suddenly be frozen in place.
'Nope. I'm all safe and sound in your mind. Hope you enjoy the show master.' The Beast thought, as he let the mental image press into Beast Boy's mind.
Raven wasn't sure after that why Beast Boy would stare at her during the game only to turn away and blush. And even sometime after the game was over. She wasn't even sure why he had locked himself in the bathroom for three hours after that. With the sound of running water going on the whole time. Even after he came out later so they could have dinner, he took one look at her, and was back in the bathroom.
She didn't know what was up with him. All she knew as she fell asleep that night to the sound of running water was that she had totally won the rematch round.
'Heh, I wonder when he'll try to initiate the next one. This was actually pretty fun.'
'Zatanna, your lack of progress is not being very helpful to me.' The voice in her head said.
'How is it my fault those two haven't tried to leave the continent yet! I thought for sure that was going to be the first thing they would do! I didn't think they would drag it out for this long though!' She shouted back.
'Be it as it may, those two Titans have done the unexpected. And you are failing to find out where they are hiding.' The voice said in a scornful tone.
'Is it my fault the searches had to be restarted after those idiot Titans mistakes made the two move! I mean, if they had just waited, I could have set up a smaller area for those two to be able to flee to without getting traced!' Zatanna argued angrily.
'Is that the only reason though for why you have failed sorceress?' The voice questioned.
Zatanna bit her tongue, to keep herself from shouting a list of profanities at the people around her. 'No, I'll admit, that green pest of hers is actually more formidable than I thought.'
The voice laughed at that. 'Now you see why I had him targeted in the first place. There's no way for you to be able to grab the demoness as long as her Beast protector is around to guard her.'
'Then how the hell am I supposed to get him away Nabu! I know that demoness is my only chance, so how do I get him away!' Zatanna yelled to her mind so loudly, she could have sworn a few of the heroes around her looked her way. Including Superboy.
'My teammates are already suspicious of me! I'm being stretched to my limit keeping not only Batman, but Robin, Starfire, and Cyborg under control. Robin has almost managed to break free a couple times already. And I know for a fact that Artemis is highly suspicious of the mind tampering you did to her. So please tell me great Nabu, how do I accomplish what you're asking!?'
The voice in her head laughed at that. 'Why, it's rather simple Zatanna. Other than the demoness, there is only one person he cared about just as much as her. If not, even more than the demoness.'
Zatanna briefly glanced to the other end of the group. Already knowing who it was that the voice in her head was referring to. 'And you're certain that she will be able to do the job?'
The voice's reply was certain, even as the girl turned to look at her with glowing yellow eyes.
'Deary, I'm not just certain. I am absolutely freaking positive that the green one will come running head over heels for his former girlfriend. And once she takes him out, then the demoness will finally be within reach.
Zatanna had a bad feeling in her gut at the plan, but she pushed it down. She's doing this for her father after all. And the deal she made with Nabu stated he needed a better magician than her father for him to give him back his life. And for that, he would only select a host of the best practiced in magic.
Raven was the one who fit the bill. She was the key for Zatanna to get her father back. So for now, she had to let her morals go, no matter what she ended up doing.
'As you say Nabu. And hopefully, we'll find them in the place you suggested for this search.' Zatanna replied, as she continued to walk through a city with the small group that was with her.
'Oh Zatanna. I imagine they'll be here real soon. After all, I do believe that locator probe I programmed will lead him here.
Zatanna said nothing. She had to get her father back, no matter what. And hopefully, when the two appeared here, they would be ready to ambush them. And hopefully it wouldn't be too long, or else Zatanna would have to leave and put the traces along the continent again. Those things were handy, but they just had to keep on having magic pumped into them for them to be sustained.
If she had to leave, and those two came in, she hoped that her secret weapon would be able to capture them.
Author's Notes:
Well, look at what we have here. We get a little bit of Beast Boy and Raven, and a little more understanding as to what is driving Zatanna.
Who is the secret weapon though? How long will it be until they meet her? Will Beast Boy be able to let go of his past? Will he abandon Raven to chase after a trap?
Till Next Time
Allen
