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External Training Course, Titans Tower. 0726 Hours, 21 JULY 2014
Raven tried to squash the little quail of satisfaction and self-righteousness as she watched Beast Boy stagger about, viewing the world through half-lidded eyes that sank increasingly lower. Whenever they would fully close, his head would nod forward before snapping back upright as he drew in a deep breath, shaking his head to appear momentarily awake before the process began anew. After breakfast, during which the changeling had nearly dropping his face into his bowl of cereal several times, the Titans had been summoned outside by their eager leader to take part in his newly designed training course. Robin stood at the control panel, adjusting parameters and making the finishing touches.
"Man, it's way too early for all of this," Cyborg grumbled.
"But, friend, it is such a glorious day!" Starfire returned jubilantly. "The sun is bright, our city is safe, and Robin has crafted a new obstacle course for us to run."
"Star, I bet if you were ever actually cut, you would bleed rainbows and puppy dogs," muttered the shape shifter as his head fell against his mechanical friend's thick arm. "And then they woulddmmmgfrrkghhh . . ."
"Star, we might need you to smack lips with salad head here," smirked the large Titan. "I think he's startin' to develop his own language."
"No, Rita. Don't let her turn me into a toilet bowl with flowers," he mumbled. "I'd make an ugly daffodil."
"Oh, nuh-uh. No way, man. Don't you even dare slobber on my new chrome finish!" he warned sternly as drool began to drip from the green boy's lips.
"All right. Ready to go?" Robin called from the control panel.
"Do we get a choice?" Raven asked.
"Not really," he shrugged as he hopped down from the spire. He took his place at the starting line and said, "I'll go first so that you guys have a chance to see it."
"Pudding," Beast Boy mumbled. Cyborg rolled his eyes and sidestepped, and the changeling crashed to the ground. He quickly righted himself and glared at his friend, who adopted the guise of innocence, until the buzzer sounded and the course began.
Robin dashed forth as streams of fire roared at varying heights across his path, and he weaved through them before pulling a civilian dummy out of the way as another flame spewed from a turret.
"It's a beautiful day here today as Robin, the Boy Wonder, clears the first civilian with a tackle and tuck. This is Cyborg and announcing with me today is the lean, green, morphin' machine, Beast Boy," dictated the technological teen in his best impersonation of a sports announcer voice.
"Thanks, Cy. It is some real beautiful weather this morning - skies are clear, the water's crystal blue - just a great day to watch some obstacle courses. Now, back to the tackle and tuck - a classic, Cy, a true classic, and harder than it looks too. Most folks forget that tuck," continued the weary changeling, brightening slightly as he joined in.
"That they do, BB. Looks as though our competitor has made his way to the next obstacle, and it seems to be quite a doozy," Cyborg announced as Robin dodged across the sand, evading the explosions that sent plumes of the coarse sediment spraying into the air. Leaping back onto a stretch of rock, he picked up a child-sized dummy and secured its arms about his neck as he ducked and leapt through a forest of rotating pillars with thick limbs. A glancing blow caught his ribs and he staggered as the other boys hissed in sympathy.
"Oooh. That's goin' to cost him some time," Cyborg noted. Gritting his teeth, Robin recovered and ducked under the next arm before sliding between a simultaneous pair, protecting his passenger along the way.
"Beautiful return though. You know, most competitors take a hit, and they just get stuck in that rut. But he takes the knocks and just keeps on rolling," admired the shape shifter. Clearing the field of pillars, Robin set his charge upon the ground and threw a pair of batarangs into the wall that rose up before him. Charging forth, he leapt and grabbed them, lifting himself over the top of the barrier.
"We're in the final stretch now. It all comes down to this," whispered the mechanical teen.
"Do you believe in miracles? How about in a thing called love? Because this is where dreams come true, folks. Where boys are separated from the men. Girls from the women. Caterpillars from the butterflies. This, ladies and gentlegerms, this is where legends are born!" Beast Boy cheered as Robin's hand slapped against the red button, halting the timer. The green boy's arms erupted into the air and he yelled, "Goalllllllllll!"
"And the crowd goes wild!" Cyborg joined in and Starfire giggled as Raven rolled her eyes at the pair's antics. Breathing heavily, Robin approached the team and offered a large smile.
"All right. Who's next?"
Training ultimately ended with mixed results after Beast Boy blundered through the obstacles, seized by his drowsiness once again. Aside from a few singed hairs and several bruises, he had emerged unharmed though his civilians had not fared as well. Even in his semi-awake state, he had attempted to understate the claw marks he had left as a leopard in his first rescue with little luck. His second civilian had fared better after he took several hits before shifting into an ankylosaurus and bashing through the forest of rotating pillars. Reluctantly, Robin had called a halt to their training so that repairs could be made and Beast Boy had staggered inside to crash upon the couch.
While Cyborg had turned his attention to the obvious ruin, Starfire had floated at the shoulder of her surly boyfriend as he ran a diagnostic on the system.
"Can you believe this? He wrecked my course," he said to her, his anger apparent.
"I doubt that was friend Beast Boy's intention," she reasoned.
"No, but it's not the first time it's happened. I'm beginning to think that we need to have a curfew for when everybody needs to be in their rooms or something so that he'll actually go to bed."
"Would we not all have to follow the curfew?"
"To keep it fair, yes."
"I do not like it," she declared.
"No?" he glanced up towards her with a frown and was surprised by her lips on his. He flushed as she drew away and smiled softly at him.
"I prefer snuggling with my dearest boyfriend than sleeping alone," she said.
"I, uh, that's-that's...ummm...good point," he concluded. Beaming at him, she rose into the air, soaring towards the sun and reveling in its glow. Robin gazed after her for a moment before a deep chuckle brought him back to reality. He snapped a glare towards Cyborg who was rewriting one of the pillars, catching the mischievous twinkle in his organic eye and he huffed, "Shut up."
"Hey, man, I saw nothin'," he smirked knowingly.
Within the Tower, Raven had retrieved her book from her dim sanctuary before returning to the main room and rolling her eyes at the sight of the shape shifter sprawled out upon the couch. Capturing one of the few cushions he had not claimed in his quest for a slumbering position, she settled back and opened her book. Over the years, the couch had become her customary reading position despite the multitude of distractions that inhabited the room. She was not particularly eager to admit it, but she acknowledged that she had grown to prefer the presence of her friends over her vaunted solitude even if she was not directly interacting with them.
A sudden movement pulled her attention from her tome, and she lifted her gaze, frowning as she found the room empty beside her and Beast Boy. There was another twitch and she finally noted it was the changeling's ears dancing, flattening along his head before flaring outward again. She studied the phenomenon interestedly, watching his ears jump about in response to his dreams. They swiveled, searching for some phantom sound before snapping back as though striking at some irritants along his neck. As she took further note of his sleeping form, she realized that aside from regular movements and adjustments, he made minor shifts in his form.
Scales would ripple along his skin only to be replaced by smooth, mossy green flesh. Hair sprouted into feathers before growing into quills that then thinned back into his wild locks. Fear, obvious even without the boon of her empathy, flashed across his face as talons tipped his fingers and his lips were pulled back to reveal a fang-filled maw. Tentatively, she ran her fingers along one of his ears and recoiled as it flickered, carefully watching him.
Casting a furtive glance about the room, she performed a cursory empathic scan and located her remaining friends. Robin maintained his stoic guard, his swelling affection for the joyous blur flitting about overhead making their way through the cracks of his shield. Amusement colored Cyborg as he conducted repairs, tinged by his focus and dedication to his craft.
Reaching forth again, she gingerly traced Beast Boy's ears, attempting to placate the rampant fear that had seized him. He initially stiffened at her touch, but the continual whisper of her fingers drove the tension from his form and his features returned to as normal as possible for him. Smiling softly as he relaxed, she continued to run her fingers along his ear as she lifted her book with her other hand and picked up where she had left off, turning the pages with small exercises of her power. Without the clamor of the television or other distractions, Raven slipped into a strange sense of serenity, one that usually required her to settle into meditation, and the world began to narrow.
At least an hour had passed before she was startled from her calm by the shriek of the alarm, and she noted that at some point, Beast Boy's head had come to rest upon her thigh. Panicking slightly, she shoved him off her lap and he yelped as he tumbled to the floor. He sat up, rubbing his head as he glanced about in confusion and Raven strode to the console.
"Dude, what happened?"
"The alarm startled you off of the couch," she answered hurriedly. He groaned as he stood up, rubbing his head and approached her, failing to notice the light flush in the shade of her hood.
"You know, I take it back. I'm not bored anymore. Now can we go back to once-a-week alerts?" he pleaded as she rolled her eyes.
Schwartz First National Bank, Jump City. 1027 Hours, 21 JULY 2014
Bank patrons and employees alike cowered upon the floor, quivering and mindfully noting the gashes that had been torn in the marble floors and the sundered desks. Their hands were splayed upon the ground before them and the unwarranted movement of a sharp-dressed man's hands brought a sharp whistling through the air as the floor directly in front of his fingers ripped open. The captives exchanged fearful glances and the occasional whisper of comfort to those with tears streaming down their face as the lash lifted back into the air, hovering watchfully like its comrades. Arching over them and swaying slightly were thin, mechanical tendrils composed of tiny pointed bars that spun individual of each other.
The tendrils traced back to metal ports along a slick, black suit with silvery shards positioned along it to vaguely resemble minimalist armor. Wearing the suit was a lean man whose face was obscured by a heavy, dark-visored mask that reflected the scene before him. Nodes were arranged periodically along his body, and ran in rows along either side of his spine. Scattered upon the floor behind him were the remains of a hooded jacket and sweatpants that had disguised his entry into the bank.
He kept his hostages docile with tendrils looming over their heads, ready to drill downward at the slightest provocation and more than ready to maim any who wised to be an example. As they diligently watched the captives, the man allowed his focus to fall upon the vault, where more of his extensions busied themselves with sawing around the door.
"Remain calm and you shall all return home without any further incident," he promised, his voice hollow and booming through the mask. "I have no desire to hurt you, but I won't regret doing so."
"How 'bout this? Surrender and you can go to jail without gettin' your butt whupped by a bunch of teenagers," Cyborg challenged as he leveled his sonic cannon at the man and strode from the portal Raven had created.
Other obsidian gateways appeared beneath the hostages, whisking them away from their captor who did not bother attacking them. Instead, he waited for the Teen Titans to assembled behind him, giving no more than a casual glance over his shoulder towards them. His whip-thin tendrils realigned themselves, drawing from their other pursuits to rise up over the Teen Titans, likes snakes preparing to strike, as he considered their offer.
"Children," he growled, "Lives are threatened and they send children to brave the danger. Disgusting."
"Says the Slender Man wannabe," Beast Boy observed before he morphed into a Tyrannosaurus rex and roared threateningly.
Tentacles retracted and bound themselves tightly around the villain's limb, forming a close-knit armor tipped with the swaying ends. He threw an arm upward and they lashed about the dinosaur's maw, forcing it shut as he swung out of the way of the Titans' barrage. His line shortened, pulling him atop Beast Boy's head. From his new vantage point, he sent another tendril slicing through the air to rip through the support of the shimmering chandelier. They dove out of the way as it crashed to the floor while Beast Boy reared, attempting to smear his unwanted passenger against the ceiling.
Several of his extra limbs stabbed into the wall and he pulled himself to safety as the changeling smashed into the ceiling. Anchoring himself in place, he cast more tendrils towards the giant beast's ankles, twining them together. More spread along the wall like creeping roots, stabbing through to the other side, and Beast Boy, more dazed by his tactic of dislodging his passenger than he had intended, suddenly found he was without footing. Before he could crash into the floor, he shifted into a falcon and swooped out of the loop that had constrained him.
"Hey, Dr. Hentai! Why dont'cha come down here and play!"
The criminal pushed himself from the wall to evade the blasts from the sonic cannon and starbolts, his installed weaponry catching him before he landed and lowering him gently to the ground as he hissed, "The name's Kraken."
"Wait, is that 'Kray-ken' or 'Krak-en?'" the verdant oxen asked as he rammed into the villain, knocking him from his feet. Tumbling expertly back into, he caught Robin's staff on his forearm, the layer of tendrils absorbing the savage blow while also capturing his arm. With a grunt, Kraken spun and threw the leader at the approaching Beast Boy, causing him to stumble. As he did so, more extensions snapped out to capture the desk propelled towards him by a black force. They constricted about it, grinding it into splinters as Raven collected a new arsenal to launch at him. Kraken was suddenly thrown from his feet and into the adjacent wall by a starbolt and before he could recover, a sonic blast drove him into the tellers' counter.
Cyborg maintained the blast for a moment before stopping, waiting for the dust to settle as the team remained poised, ready for the tentacles that suddenly shot from the dust and debris. They dodged aside and the tendrils altered their course, diving into the walls and floor before Kraken rose over them. He loomed upon his tentacles, towering over the youths and regarding them with palpable distaste.
"Can't you see it? You're being used to fight somebody else's war. Get out while you're still alive," he instructed. "Get out before they throw you at somebody, something, that you can't beat."
"Dude, we've saved the world. At least twice," Beast Boy pointed out. "I mean, if you wanna get technical about it, we mighta caused one of them too, but I think that still counts."
"We can handle ourselves," Raven added as she sent a desk at Kraken. He staggered backwards at the impact but was quickly pulled forwards again as Cyborg, Starfire, and an elephantine Beast Boy each seized a tendril and yanked. Birdarangs struck his other extensions, encasing them in ice. With a slight growl, Kraken curled himself into a protective ball as he crashed to the floor, tendrils slithering from grasps as they went slack. Flexing the frozen limbs, he shattered their frosty shackles and rose up to send them stabbing at the heroes.
Valiant efforts were made to evade their grasp, Robin managing to last the longest. Beast Boy had been captured in the middle of a shift, unable to escape the dark casket that molded to what form he tried to slide into. When Cyborg had moved to help him, he had missed the reaching limb that snaked around his ankle and, once reinforced, hauled him into the air. They slithered around the shield that Raven created, catching and binding her before she could form it into a bubble. Starfire shot towards the ceiling, attempting to escape the dogged pursuers that had quickly moved to surround her. Finally, Robin had succeeded in dodging them with acrobatic flair and quick strikes, never lingering after a blow as he made his way to their source. However, there were too many of them and as they began lashing about his arms and legs, he was pulled into the forest of slithering limbs alongside his comrades.
"Do you have any idea how easy it would be, right here, right now, to kill you? It's a damn miracle that somebody else hasn't done so," Kraken seethed.
"Oh, goodie. Monologue time. My favormmphhh! Mmh!"
Beast Boy, his mouth covered by more tendrils, glared at their captor who snarled, "Shut up and listen up. I'm trying to save your lives. You -"
He was silenced by the chandelier suddenly crashing into him and propelling him into the wall. His grips loosened and the Titans slipped free as Raven's eyes glowed and she said, "Normally, I'm a fan of anybody that can shut Beast Boy up. But his babble is actually preferable to your own."
"Aww, Rae," the changeling swooned, upside down upon the floor. "You do care."
"Enough."
The tendrils rattled as they lifted from the floor, the tapered cells forming them beginning to spin faster. They seized about the former light source and shredded through it, tearing it apart and scattering the pieces as Kraken stormed from the maelstrom, his serpentine limbs massing behind him like a wave. His hands were balled into fists and the tentacles lashed at the marble floor, tearing into it, with a hungry rage and ill intent. The Titans readied their weapons, or became them as Beast Boy shifted into the shape of sleek raptor, and, for a moment, neither side moved.
"That's enough of that. You want to endanger yourselves, get killed? I can oblige you," Kraken offered and suddenly the tendrils were pulling the blocks they had surreptitiously carved from the floor, swinging them at the heroes. Cyborg managed to blast one aside, only to be pulled from his feet and slammed into a wall where one of the crude flails shoved him deeper into the crater. Prepared for the onslaught this time, Raven created a protective bubble about her that the tendrils and their weapons bashed at, each blow causing it to shudder but she did not break concentration. A birdarang spun through the air to cut one tendril before it could smash into Starfire as Robin bounded atop another.
He raced through the technological tangle, soon finding he was accompanied by a green spider monkey, but Kraken responded to their attempts at advance with the whirring tendrils. Beast Boy shrieked as he clasped a tendril only to feel the flesh stripped away while Robin barely dodged another of the armament that merely opened a line of bright red along his cheek instead of tearing it off. Another stabbed towards him and he was forced to flip out of the way, landing back upon the bank floor a safe distance away from the concentration of the tendrils. There was a weight upon his shoulder and he found a strangely grim-faced lemur perched upon it, long narrow, middle fingers curling about his arm to secure him.
"What's the plan, o' most fearless of leaders?" he asked.
"I'm working on it," he grumbled as he scanned the ravaged interior of the bank. Starfire kept Cyborg covered as he emerged from the wall, leaning against it for support, and Raven was bombarded by the remainder of the clubs, her sphere beginning to crack and sweat beading upon her face as she fought to keep it intact. The thinner tendrils tested the cobweb fissures, prodding them in search of an entry, and an idea sprang to the masked youth's mind.
"I need an ankylosaurus. Get as close to him as you can," he instructed and Beast Boy saluted.
"Aye-aye, mon capitaine!" he saluted before jumping to the floor. As he charged forth, his form swelled and scales and plates replaced fur until an ankylosaurus was thundering towards Kraken. His natural armor managed to hold off the whip-like limbs that flickered at him, and he lowered his broad head, refusing their attempts at halting him. Even as they bound about his ankle, he struggled forward and was feet away from Kraken when Robin hurtled out from under the ankylosaurus's belly, sliding to a stop at the masked man's feet. There was a moment of surprise before the Boy Wonder threw the readied batarang that exploded against the mirrored helm.
Kraken roared, making to clutch at his ears as Robin rose and brought the telescoping escrima sticks down across the villain's face. Before he could recover, the youth delivered a flurry of blows, striking at any points not obscured by armor or tendril and Kraken attempted to retract his limbs, pull them back to form some defense. Finally, the rain of blows relented and he dared to lift his head in time to witness the club tail of the ankylosaurus arcing towards him. He was thrown bodily across the room, tendrils screaming after him as they lost whatever holds they had been maintaing. Skidding several feet, he came to rest amongst a pile of rubble and he struggled to his feet as the Teen Titans converged.
He regarded them wearily, the broken lens revealing a gaze of jade, and his tendrils stirred before springing back to life. The heroes tensed only for them to form a cocoon about him, coiling protectively around him. They twisted and flowed together as their whirring sound was accompanied by a fierce grinding cacophony. Before the Titans could attack, the second sound stopped and the cocoon began shrinking, disappearing down a hole tunneled through the floor. Circling about it, they gazed through the shredded wiring and pipes to the basement floor where another crevasse had been drilled.
The heroes descended, Raven delivering her flightless teammates to the bottom tunnel while the others drifted into the sewer main under their own power. The surprisingly thick pipe was devoid of Kraken's presence, and Beast Boy winced as he changed from a gliding squirrel to his human form and pinched his nostrils together. He grumbled, "I don't think I'm gonna be tracking him by smell."
"Do a quick search," Robin instructed the team. "Stick together. I don't want him sneaking up on any of us. I'm going to look over the scene."
Starfire paired with Raven and Beast Boy, trying to remember a form without a nose, bounded after Cyborg to scour the dank tunnels, struggling against the oppressive odor.
Titans Tower. 1448 Hours, 21 JULY 2014
"Now, I know that math and that book stuff in general isn't exactly my strong suit, but there are five people in this Tower . . . and we have one bathroom with a shower. Why did we think this was a good design?" Beast Boy groaned from beneath the gas mask he had procured from his room. After a fruitless search through the labyrinth running beneath the city, Robin had decided, to the fervent agreement of his teammates, to find their new foe through different means. As he did so, the remainder of the Teen Titans waited outside the door for Starfire to finish her shower.
"Do I look like any sort of architect to you? We're lucky this thing even has runnin' water," Cyborg complained back to the shorter boy sitting against the wall. "Besides, I didn't see you contributin' anything when we were workin' up the blueprints."
"Are you kidding? Remind me again who was the dude who came up with the pool? And the movie-slash-video game library?" he returned.
"Such crucial additions to the Tower," Raven grumbled with a roll of her amethyst eyes. Her voice was muffled and her sharp gaze was her only apparent feature with her cloak drawn over her mouth and nose to ward off the stench.
"You bet your sweet -"
"Garfield," she growled, her eyes easily converting her ire.
"Are you my mummy?" he suddenly asked in a faux British accent, looking up to her through the wide-eyed mask. She was saved from answering as Starfire finally emerged from the restroom, running a fluffy towel through her hair as the steam coiled about her. Noting the short line that had formed, she winced and apologized profusely.
"Forgive me, friends. I did not intend to take that long."
"It's fine," Raven assured her as she telekinetically seized the ocelot that tried to streak through the opened doorway and levitated him into the air. Cyborg chuckled as the sorceress strode into the room, shut the door behind her, and dropped the unmasked shape shifter to the ground.
Wrapping her hair in her towel, Starfire made her way to the main room where Robin worked furiously upon one of the consoles, too focused to notice the pungent stench that lingered over him. After returning to the crime scene, he had found several deposits of heavy, metallic dust. He had noted their placement and offered some to the police before taking a sample of his own to run through the Towers' diagnostics equipment. His fingers danced upon the keyboard with all the dexterity of an expert pianist, and he did not seem to notice the golden girl's entry as she drifted towards the couch. Upon his screen was a metallic sphere with tiny tendrils sprouting along its surface. Hovering at his shoulder, Starfire tilted her head at the subject as Robin analyzed it, scanning through the large block of text that accompanied it.
"What discovery has been found?" she finally asked.
"As far as I can tell, it's a nanocell. Rapid-replication, easily formed by applying different currents. I think it's what Kraken's tendrils were made of," he answered, demonstrating no surprise at her presence. He remained focused upon the screen, studying the information the machines had found. "If I can figure out how he structures them, how he controls them, we'll have a serious advantage in our next encounter."
"You believe he will strike again?"
"He didn't get any of the money he was after, but I'm also trying to track him down. There was some mud in his boot that was left behind, and we're analyzing that, trying to see if there's any identifying characteristics in it."
"You shared this information with the authorities, yes?"
He rolled his eyes and sighed, "Yes, I shared with the police."
"Thank you," she said with a kiss to his cheek. As she pulled back, he turned and captured her lips, looping his arms about her waist and pulling her close. She responded eagerly, grasping his strong shoulders, and he could feel the fire beneath her skin as she deepened the kiss. After a moment, they broke apart and Starfire's eyes sparkled as they met Robin's masked gaze and she noted coyly, "Do you not have evidence to examine, dearest boyfriend?"
He shrugged, "It's busy running through the equipment. I should probably just let the machines do their job."
"You should definitely permit the machines to do their job," she affirmed as her fingers reached for his mask, and, when he did not pull back, peeled it away to reveal the sky blue eyes beneath. They held a softness purposely hidden by the mask, and he gave a warm smile before leaning in to kiss her again. They made their way to the semi-circular couch, and Starfire gave a soft yelp and a giggle as they tumbled onto it. Gentle kisses passed between them and they soon settled into snuggling with each other, merely content to be in such proximity with each other.
Still loitering beside the bathroom, Cyborg and Beast Boy had produced a deck of cards and were engaged in a fierce game, focus dedicated wholly to the competition. They studied each other with pointed gazes, searching for some chink in the others' armor, some weakness to exploit. Beast Boy kept his features schooled, using every acting skill within his repertoire to lure his friend into his trap. He flashed a smile behind his hand as the teen machine fell for his meticulously laid plans and, with great satisfaction and pomp, he delivered his announcement.
"Go fish."
"Man, you have got to be cheatin' or something. You got these cards scented?" he grumbled as he picked a card from the pile and grimaced.
"Please," he scoffed. "It's all skill, dude."
"Well, I guess by the law of averages, you have to be good at something," he ribbed.
Before Beast Boy could offer a retort, his ears twitched and he glanced back towards Cyborg, performing a swift gesture that inspired him to spring into action. As Raven emerged from the shower, in fresh uniform and free of the sewer's stink, she noted the decrepit pair huddling beside the door, supported by canes with silver beards brushing against the ground. Cobwebs had been spun about them and they lurched forward, their backs bowed by age. They turned, shaking and bleary-eyed to regard her and she scowled.
"I wasn't in there that long," she snapped.
"Eh, what's that, lil' lady?" Beast Boy asked, his voice feeble as he cupped a hand about his ear.
"I think she said 'eyes keep gettin' it wrong,'" Cyborg supplied
"'Cats has my favorite songs?'"
"'Fat folk shouldn't wear thongs?'"
Raven folded her arms over her bosom, watching the exchange continue for several minutes before they began to struggle with original ideas and she asked, "Are you two done yet?"
They glanced to each other and stood straight, taking off the beards and dusting off the cobwebs as they nodded.
"Yeah, I think that pretty much covers it. We might revisit this skit again later though," Beast Boy mused.
"I think there's a good chance of that. This worked out well. But, I'll keep a hold on the beards," Cyborg volunteers, tucking them into a compartment in his chest. "We don't want a repeat of the rubber chicken incident."
"Dude, that was totally not my fault," protested the changeling.
"Before the paint peels any further off the walls, would you two hurry up and take your showers?" said the sorceress, setting a hand on her broad hip.
"I was winning at cards, I'm first!"
Beast Boy disappeared into the still steamy bathroom, and a moment later, the sound of the shower emerged from beyond the door. Cyborg grumbled and leaned back against the wall, "You know, I hate to admit it, but the salad head does have a point. Why did nobody think to put in more showers?"
"Can you even use one?"
"I'm waterproofed. I just use some specialized things that I store in the closet - 'cause Star keeps using 'em if I don't hide 'em," he answered.
Raven stared at him for a moment as an elephant's trumpet sounded from within the bathroom, and she sighed, "We have very strange friends."
"Would you change that?" he asked with a smile.
"Not for a second," she said without hesitation. His grin broadened as she left for her room, leaving Cyborg to access the Tower's systems, specifically the shower's temperature control. There was a lull in the spray, but it returned a second later, accompanied by a shape shifter's shriek that turned into a victorious guffaw.
"Bring on the cold, tin man. Penguin!"
A new villain! Kraken changed a little in our writing of him. He was totally mercenary, operating solely for money or other wealth. Here, he has a few other motivations. Anyway, hope that you enjoyed his fight and the rest of the story. Thanks for reading. Please review!