Chapter 3 – That Was Unexpected

Raven started walking towards an area away from the others, when she didn't see him follow, she turned to give Beast Boy a questioning look.

Beast Boy stared at his shuffling feet and said, "But not right now. I'm still way too angry. Talkin' with you right now would be, like you say, 'pointless'." He said the last word with a snarl, believing he was accurately mimicking Raven.

With that, he moved away from Raven, put his back against the nearest wall, and sat with his knees drawn to his chest. He laid his head down on his knees and was silent.

He wasn't really that angry; he just wanted to see if he could make her sweat for a change.

Raven, wide-eyed and blinking, quickly raised her hood and went to a spot she thought was as far away from Beast Boy as possible. She sat in lotus position, facing the wall. Although she was repeating her mantra over and over again, she never managed to levitate.

Marsha and Landon silently watched this exchange. Marsha started to move to Beast Boy, to help him with his anger.

Landon put a hand on her shoulder, pulled her away and whispered, "No. Those two must work this out for themselves. Their issues go far beyond anger."

"But, Landon!" Marsha began, "Reducing the anger will get them to talk sooner."

Landon said, "Beast Boy is not angry. Not in the sense you believe. Besides, if you go to talk to him, you will raise her anger."

Marsha raised a questioning eyebrow.

Landon continued, "Did you not notice? She hesitated before giving you permission to heal Beast Boy. Raven wanted him to see her when he first noticed his pain was gone. That's why she stood behind you, to let him know that she at least tried to do what he wanted of her. Leave them be."

"If Raven and Beast Boy cannot figure out a way to settle their differences," he smirked, "I'm sure their teammates will help them find a way."

As Beast Boy and Raven moved to their respective areas, Cyborg decided to take a look around and examine some of the trashed mechanisms. He was particularly interested in the red gems that were scattered about.

While making his way to one of the destroyed machines, he glimpsed Robin out of the corner of his eye. He stopped and did a double take, and immediately fell to his knees, laughing, pointing wildly and slapping the floor with unbridled glee.

Cyborg, gasping, said, "Come over here, widdle Wobin. You know you shouldn't have those nasty birdawangs and dirty explosive discs. Those things are much too dangerwous for widdle babies to pway wif."

He couldn't catch his breath enough to say anything else before dissolving into a guffawing puddle on the floor.

Bumblebee glanced over in the direction Cyborg was pointing. She started walking over to him to try to stop his laughing or at least, quiet him down a little.

The closer she got to Cyborg, however, the more she realized just what it was that she had seen and started snickering. By the time she reached the metal Titan, she was doubled over, holding her sides. She fell to the floor beside Cyborg, laughing just as loudly as he was.

They glanced at each other and stopped laughing.

Bumblebee said, "Look, Cy, I really am sorry. That didn't come out right. I wasn't feeling sorry for you because I think you're not dateable. I felt sorry because I don't like baseball. I have never liked baseball. I will never like baseball. But I really, really like you. And I didn't want to give you any reason to try to find someone else to go with you."

She then took a breath and continued, "Please forgive me. I really am sorry."

Bumblebee then licked one finger and ran it along the top ridge of his still-human ear, causing Cyborg to shudder as she added, "Please, Sparky?"

Cyborg stared at Bumblebee for a while.

Frowning, he whispered, "No fair messin' with the 'spot', Bee."

Then he grinned and said, "Besides, you know I can't stay mad at you for long, girl. I really like you, too."

The pair then turned their attention back to Robin, and the unrestrained laughter continued.

A red-faced Robin rolled his eyes skyward. Turning his back to the pair, he was rewarded with the sound of fading laughter.

Robin started to glare at the floor, but Starfire grabbed his hand and squeezed it, saying "Do not worry yourself, friend Robin. They are but jealous of the fact that your legs are much better looking than theirs. At least I think so."

Seeing him brighten a bit, Starfire then leaned closer and breathed into Robin's ear, "Do you remember when friend Cyborg was turned into the Bear of Teddies? And friend Raven was a fluffy, white rabbit?"

When Robin started to laugh out loud, Starfire turned him around and hugged him, saying, "It is glorious that you are once again without the sadness, friend Robin!"

Robin braced himself, but the hug wasn't as bone crushing as usual. He put his arms around the girl and felt that everything was ok.

While he was near Starfire, he feared nothing.

He had engaged in battle with beings far beyond his level and found a way to defeat them. But it was because she was in danger. The enemy had hurt her. He wanted them to realize that hurting his Starfire while he lived was the most foolish thing anyone could do.

He thought about what it would be like without her and he blinked rapidly, trying to hold back tears.

He decided to tell Starfire how he felt now. Right now. Before anything else happened to give him an excuse not to tell her.

"Star…" he began.

He was rudely interrupted by Cyborg's voice booming throughout the chamber, asking, "Hey! Where are all the red crystals and spare parts? They were just here a moment ago!"

Since every one in the chamber was preoccupied, no one had noticed the destroyed mechanoids phasing through the floor, along with the crystals.

Landon volunteered, "Maybe they just took longer to dissolve than my previous adversary."

Cyborg shrugged and said, "You're probably right. I really want to examine one of those crystals, though. Maybe I could adapt one to use as a power source, in case I run short while we're still here."

Landon asked, "What makes you think they may have been a power source?"

Cyborg replied, "Because the crystal was still pulsing even after the unit had been destroyed."

Landon nodded and with Marsha in tow, started toward the door leading to the next room.

Bumblebee piped up, "Hey, how's about waiting for us to get settled a bit before opening the door?

Marsha replied, "It may be better if you came in after us. Besides, not to be rude, but this is our test. If we cannot make it through without you, we will not be chosen to explore the new face of our world. It is very important to us that we are considered worthy."

Bumblebee looked to Robin. "Hey, Stoplight! We're not gonna let them go in there without us, are we?"

An exasperated Robin, realizing that he will have to postpone his talk with Starfire again, glared at Bumblebee, sighed and said, "No."

He then whispered to Starfire, "Go check on Raven, make sure she's ready to move."

Starfire nodded, and moved over to kneel in front of Raven. When she saw the dried tears on the empath's face, she whispered, wide-eyed, "Friend Raven? You have been crying?"

Beast Boy's hyper-sensitive hearing picked up Raven's name just in time to hear Starfire's whispered question.

"Raven?" he thought.

"Crying?" Beast Boy was stunned. Raven never cries. She's way to strong for that.

He shuddered and said, under his breath, "This is because of me? This has gotten way out of hand. I want to make her laugh, not cry."

Beast Boy stood and walked over to where Starfire and Raven were. He waved Starfire away and knelt behind Raven. He then said, "Raven, I'm sorry. I'm ready to talk, now."

Raven growled, in a husky voice, "Well, I'm not."

Beast Boy winced, but said nothing, thinking, "Well, I deserved that." Then he asked, "Will you walk with me to the door?"

Raven said nothing, but stood up and made her way to the door. Beast Boy and the other Titans followed close behind.

Bumblebee asked about the symbol on Landon's uniform. "I notice that your symbol is different from Marsha's. Yours looks like a snake. Marsha's looks familiar, but I can't quite pin down the silhouette."

Beast Boy said, "Dude, it's a mongoose. The snake and mongoose are natural enemies. The mongoose can absorb a lot of snake venom before it's taken out."

He then turned to Marsha. "But you two aren't enemies, at least not from where I'm sittin'. Soooooooo, what gives?"

"We are not enemies, but we are opposites. The Snake clan is a warrior faction." Marsha began, "They are trained exclusively in the art of breaking things and killing people." Marsha continued, "Members of the Mongoose clan are trained to be diplomats. We are nurturers, for lack of a better term. We try to get people to work together, to keep them from killing each other to get what they need."

She then brushed her hand lightly against Landon's and said, "We have learned much from each other since our pairing, though. Landon has taught me to defend myself, in case diplomacy fails.
I believe he said, 'Sometimes, the only way to get someone to believe that a peaceful solution is acceptable is to show them the alternative.'"

Landon, after grabbing Marsha's hand and squeezing it, said, "And Marsha has taught me to make sure a situation requires violence before using it.
She said, 'Violence is not the answer. Violence is the question. The answer is yes or no.'"

Beast Boy said, "Pairing?"

After staring at the back of Raven's head for a few moments, he looked at Marsha and said, "Oh, ok." And followed them through the open doorway.

The next room was much larger than the previous ones and had no roof! Sunlight bathed the area and was glinting off the large body of water in the center of the room. There was a narrow sandy bank on each side. In front of the group, a few yards away, two large rowboats sat in the water, tied to a pier.

Starfire was beside herself with glee. She floated around the area, saying, "This is glorious! I so love the sunlight!"

She beamed at Robin and asked, "Please, friend Robin, walk with me down to the edge of the water?"

Robin said nothing, just smiled, took her hand and started walking.

Beast Boy was not so pleased with this place. The closer the group got to the water, the more ill at ease he was, but he said nothing. He figured he was just sensing the latest 'test' coming their way.

Before Raven could step into one of the boats, Beast Boy rushed to get into one before she did, and held his hand out to her. Raven stood, silent for a few seconds, before reluctantly taking the offered hand and allowing Beast Boy to help her step into the rowboat.

Raven, Starfire, Robin and Beast Boy were in one boat; Cyborg, Bumblebee, Landon and Marsha were in the other. Beast Boy sat, grabbed the oars and started rowing toward the opposite shore.

Cyborg did the same and started up with a rendition of 'O Sole Mio', but after being glared at by both parties, muttered, "Philistines", and continued rowing in silence.

When they were nearly half way across, Raven slid closer to Beast Boy and said, "I'm ready to talk now."

Beast Boy looked at her. She hadn't noticed the sweat pouring off his face until then.

He said, "I'm sorry, Raven, but I can't. You know that weird feelin' you get when you're walkin' up the last three steps out of the basement? Well, that's how I feel about this place. All I want to do is get you…uh…us, to the opposite shore and out of this room as fast as I can. Once we get to the other side, I'll listen 'til my ears fall off. So, please wait. Please?"

She nodded in agreement, but didn't move away.

For another minute, all that could be heard was the sound of two sets of oars slapping the water. Every one started looking around, wondering why nothing was happening yet.

Suddenly, two metallic tentacles erupted from the water, wrapping themselves around Marsha and Bumblebee. Bumblebee immediately shrank to insect size, avoiding the coil, firing bio-electric blasts at it as she gained altitude.

Marsha was dragged underwater before she could react.

Landon screamed, "No!" and immediately dove in after her.

Beast Boy growled, " I knew it, I knew it!" He then released the oars and dove in, morphing into a shark after hitting the water.

Starfire started to dive, but Robin stopped her, giving her a rebreather from his utility belt like the one he was already wearing, before diving in himself.

Raven enclosed herself in a dark energy bubble before going in.

Bumblebee and Cyborg remained in and near the boats, since the metal man was not equipped for underwater work, and bio-electric stings don't work well underwater.

Cyborg, in frustration, unlimbered his sonic cannon and pushed his face into the water, looking for something to shoot at. He could see faint flashes of green light, but he couldn't see where or what was being shot at.

The tentacle was constricting, forcing all the air from Marsha's lungs and pulling her further into the murky water. She struggled, but couldn't get any leverage to try to push herself out of its grasp.

She started to pass out.

There was a flash of light, and suddenly, Landon was there, hacking at the tentacle with a massive, double-bladed axe. The tentacle parted. Grabbing the unconscious Marsha, he made a frantic dash for the surface.

Starfire and Robin had gotten close enough to the creature's body to see that it resembled a giant squid. No eyes, but a large, gem, pulsing with a reddish light, was in the middle of its 'face'. She remembered hearing Cyborg mention that the crystal may be a power source, so she fired a series of starbolts at it.

They bounced harmlessly away.

Robin fired a couple of explosive discs towards the gem, but other tentacles slapped them away.

Starfire was about to move in closer to hit it, but stopped when she saw Robin grabbed by one of the tentacles.

She started to panic when she could not pull the tentacle off him. His struggles were growing weaker.

Finally, remembering what Landon had done, she reached under the tentacle with the arm closest to Robin, and then slammed her other arm down on it as hard as she could, and the tentacle separated!

She quickly grabbed him and moved toward the surface.

Raven saw that her magic bolts were also having no effect on the creature, there was very little debris to throw at it and it was too large for her to move. She was tiring and started moving her bubble back toward the surface, when she was captured by two of the coils.

Raven was in trouble.

The coils were constricting, causing the pressure inside the bubble to increase.