Next update! And this one is full of surprises, let me tell you...nothing plot-changing, at least not majorly plot-changing, but surprises nontheless. Also, a note before we begin...
I have several other stories up currently, as I'm sure some of you know...I want to finish them all, of course, but this one takes priority with me because it is the first one I have felt, with all my heart, mind and soul, like I've wanted to complete. Thusly, from here on in I WILL update at least once a week! There will be exceptions, of course, but yeah...I'll update once a week at least, and make up if I have to miss a week. That said, the chapter begins at the beginning of the next day...
Pitter Patter Pitter Patter
It was raining, softly. Each drop hit the window in the illusion of harmony, to create a monotonous beat that got into your brain and stayed there. Raven woke up to this.
She glanced over to the window and watched the droplets fall. She had always liked the rain. It calmed her, at least when there wasn't any thunder out. It especially calmed her when she had just woken up, because on days like this she was allowed to subvert her morning schedule a bit. Usually, she would wake up early and immediately, but on days where it was raining she could never resist turning over, pulling the covers a bit further over her head, and going back to sleep. She was grateful, in spite of and because of yesterday's events, that today was a new day she didn't have to face quite yet, and so tried to do just that: roll over and fall asleep.
I'm sure you all know approximately what happened next.
No, not that, the other thing.
That's right: Beast Boy.
In an undershirt and boxers.
With his arms around her.
Raven was so startled she couldn't even scream. That didn't last too long. Not to mention, Raven's turning over had woken up Beast Boy, who reacted slightly quicker than Raven had. In short, they screamed in stereo.
"GYAAAAAH!" shouted Beast Boy, jumping out of bed.
"AIEEEEE!" shouted Raven, doing the same.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE...in...my...room?" they asked of each other, slowing down near the end because...it wasn't either of their rooms. In fact, it looked a little like a combination of Beast Boy and Raven's rooms. I won't try and describe it further, because any way I could describe it would make it sound ugly, thrown together, and odd, but in reality it was very nice-looking, well thought out and...odd. There was no getting around the fact that it was odd.
"Okay, this is weird..." said Beast Boy, in the understatement of the year. "What the tooth decay is going GAAAAH!" he suddenly shouted. "I'M IN MY UNDERWEAR! And you're in your leotard!"
"Be thankful..." said Raven. "If I was in my underwear, you'd be dead right now..."
Beast Boy sweatdropped before suddenly running into a nearby room. He emerged fully clothed, leaving the door open behind him. It was, as he had hoped, a closet. He looked...scared, though.
"Um...Rae?" he asked, the askee now wearing her cloak and boots and, unnoticed to Beast boy, blushing a bit. Not that he would have blamed her, he was blushing A LOT. "Both our uniforms are in that closet...and some other stuff, too..." his blush grew.
Raven's blush grew as well, before she turned even more red, now with anger. "You little pervert, I'm going to..."
"Wait, WHAT?" shouted Beast Boy, embarrassment now tripled. "It's not like I MEANT to-"
"I should have KNOWN you had something to do with this!" said Raven, all logic out the window...not that you could blame her about that, really. "YOU set this up somehow, didn't you? You wanted to-"
"Raven, calm down!" shouted Beast Boy, now worried about his safety. "You know I would never do anything like that-"
"Or maybe...this is all a prank, isn't it! You and Cyborg wanted to humiliate me...where's the hidden camera? Oh, or maybe you're just a sadist! That's all I need, a sadistic, annoying, idiotic, perverted-" And Raven continued to rant, despite Beast Boy trying to protest that it wasn't his fault. After a few minutes of opening his mouth to protest at various pauses, Beast Boy set his jaw and turned into an elephant. He then trumpeted, loudly, directly at Raven, who stopped ranting. He changed back.
"Calm down, Raven!" he said.
Raven continued to stumble a little due to the soundwaves before standing straight up and looking at Beast Boy. "Thanks," she said, monotone back in place. "I needed that."
"I'm not sure how to respond to that," said Beast Boy.
Raven sighed. "So...how did we end up in this sick fantasy?"
"Beats me..." said Beast Boy, looking around.
"Mmm. Think back. Stuff like this is usually your fault."
Beast Boy was about to respond, when he noticed something. He blinked a few times, glanced downwards, and said something Raven did not expect. "Actually, I think it's both our faults..."
"What do you mean?" asked Raven, illogical suspicion coming back.
"Hold up your left hand..." said Beast Boy.
Raven looked confused, but did so anyway. She looked at said hand for a second, a little stunned. "Huh," she said, half to herself, "I could have sworn I took this ring off..."
"And I could have sworn I had it on my pinky," said Beast Boy, holding up his left hand as well.
"Hmm...that's weird," said Raven, turning her hand over, as if looking for some hidden something-or-other on the other side of that ring.
"Now look what finger it's on," said Beast Boy.
"Second finger from the pinky?" asked Raven.
"Think about it..." said Beast Boy, now slightly irritated...and a little surprised he'd figured it out long before Raven had.
Raven looked at her hand again for a couple seconds, before her eyes grew wide. And I mean wide. "But...but that would mean that..." and she looked up to Beast Boy, her saucer-wide eyes pleading for another explanation. None came, so she haltingly continued. "That w-would mean that...that you...and I were...were..."
"Married," Beast Boy finished for her.
0 0 0
Meanwhile, in the common room, Cyborg sat down on the couch, playing his brand new, motion controlled Gamestation 180. Starfire, leaning somewhat forward over the sofa, was watching, a content-with-life smile on her face. Suddenly, her head perked up.
"Friend Cyborg..." she said. He paused the game.
"Yeah, Star?" he asked, as Starfire looked around, somewhat confused.
"Did you, perhaps, hear a small noise much like a scream?" she asked of her half-metallic friend.
Cyborg cocked his head slightly. "No...at least, I don't think so..."
"Hmm..." thought Starfire. "Perhaps it was only my imagination...?"
"Eh, probably..." said Cyborg, unpausing his game.
0 0 0
Raven panted for breath, while Beast boy cringed in pain. Those pointy ears weren't just for show, after all. Finally, Raven took a last breath and, eyes still wide, shouted...
"MARRIED?! ARE YOU INSANE?!"
"Well, it would explain a lot..." said Beast Boy, his ears twitching slightly.
"Oh, this is just GREAT!" said Raven, sarcasm dripping off her tongue. "I can't believe it...I've been trapped in a living hell..."
"While I wouldn't go that far," interjected Beast Boy, "I'm not exactly happy about this either!" Suddenly, his eyes widened as well, his next sentence forgotten, as Raven's position, arms akimbo and all that, allowed him to have a good look at her...and for once, his hormones were not interested in her body. Well, not in the way you would expect, anyway. "Um...Raven?" he asked.
"What?" she said, now annoyed.
"You've, um...how can I say this tactfully?" Beast Boy wondered. "Um, you've...gotten older..."
Raven started, then looked around for a mirror. She finally found a full length one on the now-open door of the closet. She looked herself up and down, not sure whether to be pleased or horrified by the changes in her.
She had gotten taller, that was the first and most obvious point. Her figure had shrunk in some areas and grown in others, the legendary hourglass effect, although it wasn't anywhere near perfect...well, she didn't think so, at least. Her cheekbones had seemingly changed in structure a little, though not unattractively so...in fact, just enough to really mold her face, and her hair around it...and her hair! Her hair had grown, once again, just enough to accentuate her new facial features, no more, no less. Her arms were thicker, but her legs were slimmer, and her...well, let's just say she'd grown older, and leave it at that.
"I...I look...twenty..." she said, still unsure how to react.
"And I'm willing to bet I've grown older, too..." said Beast Boy, stepping towards the mirror. Raven stepped back, more than willing to let Beast Boy look so she could gain some composure. She failed at this when she looked over to see how exactly Beast Boy had grown. Shedefinitely failed at this.
Beast Boy had also gotten taller, very much so. He was taller than she was, now. His shoulders were broad, too, and he had gained a little bit of muscle, a little bit of ferality in his facial features...but mainly, he had gotten tone. The kind of muscle tone that says, "My muscles aren't the biggest, but I have more power in them than most people have in their whole bodies." The kind of tone that women swooned over...at least, the kind Raven did.
As Beast Boy studied his two-year-enhanced self in the mirror ("Huh...I'm going to need to start shaving...") Raven subconsciously licked her lips. -So...hunky...- She thought, surprisingly, -And he's all MINE...-
Her thought processes ground to a halt processing what she had just said. Then, she frowned, irritated. -Affection...- she thought to her, ahem, "passionate" inner self, angrily. She did NOT need those kinds of thoughts distracting her from figuring out how to fix this mess.
-The fortuneteller!- she thought, insight gripping her. -Or...whatever she called herself...these were HER rings! She should know how to...wait...if these were HER rings, that means that she...-
And Raven began to grow angry just in time for Beast Boy to turn around and get thoroughly freaked out. "Um...Raven?" he asked.
"We need to find that fortuneteller," said Raven through clenched teeth, a dark aura surrounding her. "And when we do find her, I'm going to make her tell us how to make things go back to normal..."
"But, Raven..." said Beast Boy, backing away slightly. "Do we really need to kill her?"
Raven looked at him oddly. "I never said I was going to kill her..."
"Not verbally," Beast Boy responded simply.
Raven sighed, the aura disappearing. Hopefully that meant she had calmed down. "Actually, now that I think about it, we don't need to find her..."
"What do you mean?" asked Beast Boy.
"These rings don't have any magic coming off of them that I can feel," said Raven, "So that means any magic they're doing is low level...so I should probably be able to undo this whole mess by just taking off the rings."
"Oh...cool!" said Beast Boy, grinning that grin of his.
"Yeah, whatever..." said Raven, taking off the ring...
It wouldn't come off.
"What the..." she started, before circumventing the whole confusion process and just proceeding straight to anger, ragingly pulling on the ring. It still wouldn't come off, even after three minutes of solid pulling...one of which was with Beast Boy pulling, and twenty seconds with them both pulling.
"It's no good..." said Beast Boy, rubbing the sweat off his forehead. "It won't come off..."
"Then that's that..." said Raven. "I'm gonna have to go to plan B..."
"Which is...?" asked Beast boy, motioning for her to continue.
A knife surrounded by black energy flew into Raven's hand, handle first.
"You'd rather cut your own finger off than be married to me?!" Beast Boy asked, indignant.
Raven looked at him for a few seconds. "Yes," she said.
-Ouch...- Beast Boy repeated mentally again, something he'd been doing a lot of lately. "But, Raven, we don't even know for sure if the rings are causing this!"
"What do you-of course they are! What else would be?!" said Raven.
"I don't know, but I just thought, maybe the rings are only stuck on because we didn't put them where we thought we did, and with our growth spurts and all..."
Raven looked at Beast Boy funny.
"Yeah, that's pretty stupid," said Beast Boy. "But at least try your magic first!"
-Duh...- thought Raven, mentally smacking her forehead. "Alright...well, then stick out your hand."
"Hey, I don't want my finger chopped off!"
"Not what I was going to do..." said Raven, before realizing her hand still held the knife, which she sent flying off sideways somewhere.
"Alright.." said Beast Boy, holding out his left hand. "Just...be careful, okay?" and he began to sweat.
"Alright," said Raven, outstretching her hand near Beast Boy's, and being very careful not to touch his hand. "But I have to warn you...this may sting a little, so if you really need to cry..."
Beast Boy grimaced, and Raven chuckled inwardly, slightly. She raised her right hand over her and Beast Boy's left, and began to whisper. After a few seconds, Beast boy whispered as well, but he wasn't chanting.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
Raven looked up, irritated. "Well, I WAS trying to get our rings off, but now I'm being very, very ANNOYED!"
Beast Boy sweatdropped again. "Heh heh heh...sorry."
Raven rubbed her temples slightly before resuming her position. After about a minute of newly-whispered chanting, she finally looked up, eyes glowing. Dark energy surrounded her and Beast Boy's matching rings, and she began to chant again, now loud enough for us to hear...
"Azarath Metrion Zinthos..."
The rings began to vibrate.
"Azarath Metrion Zinthos..."
They were moving, ever so slightly.
"Azarath..."
They stopped moving.
"Metrion..."
The dark energy swelled around Raven and Beast Boy's left hands.
"ZINTHOS!"
There was a large blast of magical energy. Beast Boy closed his eyes, Raven might have had she been able to. Finally, the energy subsided.
"Woah..." said Beast Boy. "All that for a ring?"
"Hmph," grunted Raven. Beast Boy started, realizing he'd said the wrong thing again...well, maybe the right thing in the wrong way. "I got it off, didn't I?" she continued.
"Yep!" said Beast Boy. "You definitely...uh oh."
"Let me guess, it's on my right hand now?"
"How'd you know?" deadpanned Beast Boy, something he'd always wanted to do.
Raven looked at her right hand. The stupid ring was annoying her more than Beast Boy usually did, and that is saying something. Suddenly, her eyes widened again, as the ring had started to glow. In a flash of light, it...disappeared? -No...too easy...- Raven thought, looking at her left hand again. Yep, there was the ring, back in its "intended" position. -I knew it...-
"Good thing you didn't chop your finger off, cause that thing would have jumped right back on..." said Beast Boy. Raven ignored him.
"Alright..." she said, massaging her temples once again. "We need to find that one girl who gave us these rings-"
"Voodoo Queen."
"Whatever," said Raven, not really caring. "We need to find her, and we need to find her quickly..." And she began to walk towards the door.
"HOLD IT!" shouted Beast Boy, stepping in front of her. Raven started before resuming her body-language monotone.
"What?" she asked.
"Okay, if this ring is powerful enough to change us and our tower," said Beast Boy, as Raven mentally sighed, bracing for a stupid theory. "It's probably powerful enough to change other stuff too, right?"
"That would make sense, yes," said Raven, still ready for random.
"So that means the others are probably two years older and stuff, too, right?" he asked.
"Beast Boy, what's your point?" asked Raven.
"All I'm saying is: what if the other guys don't remember last night, or like...that we aren't really married?!"
"Beast Boy..." Raven started to point out how stupid and nonsensical that idea would be.
"I know, I know, it doesn't make much sense, but what IF?" he said. Raven thought about it.
"I don't know, Beast Boy," she sighed, unable to wrap her logical mind around his crazy theory. "What if they don't remember?"
"Well, if we walk into the common room telling the truth," explained Beast Boy, "Then to them, we would walk into the common room, spout off some nonsense about us being two years older than we should be, and how we aren't really married and how we need to find the culprit, see you later, bye, and they'll THROW US IN THE LOONY BIN!"
Raven thought, again. No matter how hard she thought, she couldn't find a way to disprove his theory, odd as it sounded.
"And what if they're RIGHT?"
Now, that, Raven could disprove.
"That's just idiotic," she said.
"No, think about it! What if our whole 'real' life is just some hallucination you've had, and I have it too because of your apathy!"
"Empathy!"
"Sorry," said Beast Boy. "Empathy...but you can't deny the possibility!"
"Alright, alright, alright..." said Raven. She massaged her temples again before continuing. "Look...I suppose you make a point. You go do what you do best, unfortunate as it is, and spy on the others. See if they're any different, or whatever."
"Cool!" said Beast Boy, his face lighting up. "What are you going to do?"
"Stay here," said Raven simply.
"Aw...that's no fun..." said Beast Boy, ears drooping.
"No, but it's necessary...I need to talk to my emotions...our," and here she shuddered, "Marriage has left my mind...shaky. I need to calm myself, and the best way to calm down is to get in touch with myself." Raven suddenly frowned. "Why do you want me along anyway?"
"Oh, I, um...I've never gotten to do any spywork with you before...everyone else has gotten to, even Starfire, but you've never joined in on my..." and Beast Boy did a bunch of random karate poses. "Secret missions..."
"Ever think there's a reason for that?" Raven pointed out. Without waiting for a response, she turned and walked towards the mirror. "Get going."
"Okay! Have fun!" shouted Beast boy in response before turning and heading out the door.
A vein throbbed in Raven's temple, another straw threatening to break another camel. -When is he going to learn that not everything is about fun?-
And with that, Raven chanted her mantra a few times and the mirror's power sucked her in.
"Um, Raven?"
Or not.
"What is it, Beast Boy?" Raven asked, through clenched teeth, as she turned around. Beast Boy...looked scared?
"I just realized..." Beast Boy started, "Why do you keep a knife in your room?"
0 0 0
"Boy, if looks could kill..." said Beast Boy to himself a couple minutes later as he walked down the hallway. It was quiet today, that probably meant everyone was in the common room. -Yep, there they are...- Beast Boy thought as his ears twitched at the sounds of Gamestation and Star/Rob's conversation. They were still far away, though, he could just barely hear them.
An evil smirk appeared on his face. -Pitiful humans ears cannot match to the likes of mine own! I can hear them, but more than likely they cannot hear me! MWAHAHAHA!- Even so, Beast Boy turned into a fly before continuing any further...too many spy missions were ruined by overconfidence.
0 0 0
Meanwhile, a small portal opened in Nevermore, deposited Raven in the area of Affection's, and disappeared, its purpose in life being complete. Raven started stomping over to the conveniently-placed-nearby Affection. What an incredibly well-planned coincidence, huh?
Affection, in all her purple cloaked glory, turned to see Raven, looked startled, and then tried to turn away. Raven stopped her with a word...two words, actually: "HOLD IT!"
Affection's head lowered and her shoulders went up, a sure sign she was scared. She turned, body language now showing calmness and her face showing otherwise. "R-R-Raven!" she stuttered. "What a...pleasant surprise!"
"Don't give me that..." said the now-thoroughly angry Raven. "What was that thought you gave me back when Beast Boy was looking himself over in the mirror?"
"Um...isn't it obvious?...heh, heh, heh..." chuckled Affection nervously after trying to escape by use of humor. Raven simply stared, angry as ever. "I'm sorry..." said Affection, hanging her head. "I guess I got a little carried away...but you know, I can't help myself! Lust is one of my jobs..."
"I understand that," said Raven. "What I don't understand is the second part...he's all mine? What were you-"
"Well he is!" Affection interjected.
There were a few moments of awkward silence.
"Wuh...what?" Raven asked, now confused rather than angry.
"I mean, we've been married for half a year now!" continued Affection. "I know that thought of yours came out of the blue, but that doesn't mean it isn't the truth!"
Raven stood, still slack-jawed...at least, as slack-jawed as Raven could comfortably become. "You mean...you think that all of this...is real?"
"Yes!" said Affection. "Of course it is! How could you think it isn't? You and Beast Boy have so many memories together!" Suddenly, she blushed, and looked down slightly before she continued, a serene smile on her face, and a slight sigh in her beginning. "I still remember our wedding night like it was yesterday..."
Raven slapped her hand over Affection's mouth as her eyes went wide...Raven's eyes, not Affection's. Though Affection did experience a slight optical increase as well upon being silenced so. "Not...another...word..." said the distraught Raven, trying to get some very persistent mental images out of her head. She slowly took her hand off the emotion's mouth. "So...this is real, to you, at least?"
Affection nodded, afraid to break the "No talking" rule. She was smiling, though.
Raven sighed. -Great...- she thought, -That means even MORE trouble...-
"Ah, there you are," said a nearby voice. Affection and Raven both turned towards it. "I have been looking for you..."
0 0 0
Beast Boy, in the meantime, had finally made it into the common room. He took a look around. -I can never get used to these compound eyes...- he thought. Focusing on Cyborg, he squinted, at least as much as a fly can squint. -There's Cyborg,- he thought.-Doesn't look very different...then again, what do I know, especially with these eyes?-
He looked over to the counter next. There was Starfire, talking with somebody, presumably Robin. He didn't have to squint this time; it was definitely Starfire, and she was...probably a bit older. Maybe? At any rate, her cooking seemed to have improved...now the fly was attracted to it instead of repulsed by it. Very noticeable at picnics, that trait was.
Beast Boy forcibly turned his head and his instincts away from the...pancakes? And looked over to whomever Starfire was talking to, he couldn't quite see yet. Instincts, tough things to repress. -Ah, there we go...- he thought. He focused his compound eyes on what he still assumed to be Robin, and what probably was. Yep, there he was, in all his-
Blue emblem.
Long hair.
Black suit.
That wasn't Robin.
That was Nightwing.
-Oh boy...- Beast Boy thought.
0 0 0
"Wisdom," said Raven. "At last, I can talk to someone sensible..." Affection looked a little put off at this, but held her tongue.
"Raven," said Wisdom, a bit of astonishment in her voice, "I thought I had warned you it was best for you to keep your anger in check! You should not fly off at the first sign of aggrava..." She trailed off, because Raven looked very aggravated.
"I did NOT come here for a lecture, Wisdom," Raven said, "I came for advice."
"Forgive me," said Wisdom, "I was not thinking clearly. Of course you came here for help in calming yourself down...in my defense, however, no one is really thinking very clearly at this point."
"I'll give you that," said Raven, now much calmer...well, on the outside. "So what do you propose we do about this whole mess?"
"Hmm..." Wisdom murmured, thinking a while. "I am afraid...I cannot say at this point. I, too, am unsure about many things...reality being one of those things."
"You doubt reality too?" Raven asked, eyebrow shooting up.
"As odd as Beast Boy's ideas sound," Wisdom explained, "You cannot deny the possibility of what he says...in fact, some of my sisters believe this may just be reality, and your former life only a hallucination you and Beast Boy share."
"Why would they believe that?" asked Raven. "It's more reasonable to believe-"
"This is not about reasonability, Raven. Though your emotions are capable of feeling and thinking now that they are more than just ideas and representations, that capability only goes so far. They may not realize it, but many, if not all of them believe by choice, not by logic."
"That makes sense," said Raven, thinking it over. "So...who besides Affection wants me and Beast Boy to..." she shuddered again, "Tie the knot?"
"Well, let me think...first and foremost, Knowledge and I are suspending judgment on the whole ordeal until we have some more conclusive evidence."
"That makes sense," agreed Raven, "But it's not what I asked you."
"Learn patience, Raven. I was just about to get to that. Besides Affection, Timid and Happy want you and Beast Boy to stay together."
"Happy?" Raven asked. "I can understand Timid wanting this...kind of...but Happy? I would be miserable if I ever married Beast Boy for real!"
"And yet, it would make her much happier," Wisdom responded. She suddenly smirked, slightly. "Odd how things sometimes get lost in translation, is it not?"
"I'll say..." Raven murmured. She thought a bit, before telling Wisdom: "I'm calling a council here. Tell the others."
"As you wish," the brown-cloaked emotion said before walking off. Raven, in turn, began to meditate. Affection, in turn, in turn, began to make a crown of flowers. In turn, in turn, in turn Beast Boy...
0 0 0
Beast Boy was still a fly high on the wall of the Titans' common room. His eyes had come into as much focus as they could, and Beast Boy could hear perfectly, so he had a...general idea of what was going on. In case you're wondering how Beast Boy could hear so perfectly...well, due to his animal DNA, he has far-above normal hearing, smelling, and seeing abilities, and that transfers over to the fly, giving him extraordinary smelling powers, somewhat below a human's hearing ability, and bad vision simply because of how many eyes he has compared to normal.
Yeah. Let's go with that.
At any rate, Beast Boy was able to tell now: yes, everyone was two years older...and it was apparently still the day after the carnival, only two years from now...or is that two years before now was when the carnival took place? Even omniscient narrators can't figure out time travel, let me tell you...but back on topic: no one seemed to have any memory of that day two years ago (Yesterday?). How Beast boy knew this? He went away for a little bit, transformed, and searched the Internet. No videos about his and Raven's argument. Anywhere. Well, one good thing came out of all this..
After that search, Beast Boy went back as a fly and gathered some visual data. Starfire had grown even taller, and so had Robin...er, Nightwing. Cyborg, on the other hand, had stayed the same height...not surprisingly, considering he was the oldest of the group and probably done growing. He had, however, gotten more muscular...cybernetic implants, perhaps?
Rob...Nightwing had also gotten more muscular, and broader shoulders as well. He looked trim and athletic and (although Beast Boy couldn't see...along with the rest of the world's population) he had a sparkle in his eye that wasn't there two years ago. The smile on his face was visible, however, and he seemed...at peace, maybe? Was the search for Slade finally over? Who knew? His hair was long, just as Starfire had described it on coming back from the future...but man, it was long. He made it look good, though.
And then there was Starfire. Her figure had stayed about the same proportionally, which means it had grown by a couple inches...everywhere. Her hair was in a different style, slightly shorter, a green headband holding it back. There were a couple strands of hair peeking out from the front of the headband, a couple strands Starfire had actually made sure stuck out in order to complete her look. She was wearing the faintest amount of blush, different from the Starfire that used to shy away from make-up...although maybe that was just because she never got the chance to try it? She was also wearing a light-red, almost pink shade of lipstick, although judging from her and Nightwing's conversation, it was only a temporary thing and she was merely getting his opinion on how it looked on her.
-So far, nothing definite,- thought Beast Boy. -Although no one exactly seems to freaked out by their being two years older all of a sudden. Boy, my life is weird...- And he zoomed down, landing on the counter near Nightwing and Starfire to get a listen in. -And boy, are these guys oblivious! It's like an antelope stealing teeth from a blind alligator!- He chuckled to himself. -Blind alligator, I'll have to write that one down...-
No one's conversation would be too interesting or relevant for a long while, so perhaps it is time we checked back on Raven...
0 0 0
After an hour of waiting, all eight of Raven's emotions had arrived, Happy arriving first while pretending to be an airplane, and Rude arriving last while pretending she didn't care about this whole mess. Raven stood up, gaining the attention of most of the murmuring emotions before her. She took a couple breaths before talking, in order to handle the stress of talking to oneself.
"As I'm sure you all have realized by now." she began, "Someone has forcibly married Beast Boy and I, and-"
"That's not true!" said Affection, standing up as well.
"Sit down and shut up," said Anger, "I want to hear this."
Affection looked slightly angry at this, but sat down anyway.
"As I was saying," said Raven. "Someone has forcibly married Beast Boy and I, and we need to get a solution to this problem ready to go." She looked around. "Does anyone have any ideas? And before you suggest that one fortuneteller girl, I already thought of that...she's probably long gone by now."
There was silence for a couple seconds. Anger broke the silence with "I say we find where she's gone to and go there and MAKE HER PAY!"
"I'm going to have to agree with Anger..." Brave said, cracking her knuckles.
"Why would you want to do that?" Affection asked. "Even if you guys are right about none of this being real, which I doubt, she's done a wonderful thing by marrying us, and-"
"Oh, yeah, wonderful for you," Anger said, towering over Affection.
"We are not here to argue, but to give ideas," said Wisdom, stepping between the two. "Ideas of all kinds, anything that will help. We must respect each other's ideas."
"I say we stay married," said Rude, lifting her soda in mock-toast. "Beast Boy's gotten pretty hot over the past two years, rawr!"
"Except those kind of ideas..." Wisdom finished, nicely breaking the awkward silence that followed Rude's comment.
"We need to examine this logically," said Knowledge(who else?). "There must be a simpler solution to all this than we realize..."
"Ooh! Ooh! I know!" said Happy, raising her hand like a schoolchild.
"Yes, Happy?" said Raven, hoping this wouldn't be something stupid.
Happy thought for a moment, before her smile turned slightly sheepish. "Whoops! I forgot!" she laughed heartily at this, happy as ever.
"I think I might just know of a simpler solution..." Rude began.
"NO," said Anger, quite effectively.
"I still say we find that little bubbly girl and beat her up!" said Brave, fist pumping.
"Violence is never the answer, Brave," said Wisdom.
Brave looked at her funny. "Raven's a superhero, Wisdom..."
Wisdom sweatdropped, looking a little startled she'd been beaten in a philosophical argument. Happy suddenly brightened...more brightly than usual, I mean. "I remember!" she shouted.
"Yes, Happy?" Raven asked.
"We could kiss him and see if you and him both like it!" she said. "If we do, we stay married!" and she giggled again.
"I like her idea," said Affection.
"Well, I don't," said Anger.
Raven sighed. -This is going to be just one long debate...-
She had no idea how right she was.
0 0 0
Beast Boy was bored. Very, very bored. He'd been spying on the Titans for two hours now, and still nothing to confirm anything one way or the other...and he needed absolute confirmation, not just conjecture, no matter how good a conjecture it was. -Come on, concrete evidence...it's been long enough...I don't want to stay a fly here forever...-
"So, Starfire..." said Nightwing, after a lull in their conversation.
Starfire turned. "Yes?"
"Do you, maybe, want to go to the park later? Just you and me?"
"That would be most glorious!" said Starfire. Then, she bent over and gave Nightwing a small peck on the cheek. He visibly blushed.
-Wow. That just made the fly a little sick it was so sweet...- thought Beast Boy.
Nightwing cleared his throat. "Well, then, since you said yes to that, do you maybe, wanna...um, catch a movie, afterwards?"
Starfire smiled. "Nightwing, I have told you so many times that you don't need to be nervous around me! I would be delighted to go anywhere you wanted me to..."
Nightwing blushed harder, if that was possible. Cyborg suddenly turned off his Gamestation and began to walk out. Starfire and Nightwing looked confused until Cyborg opened his smirking mouth, as he looked over his shoulder. "Y'know, if y'all wanted some privacy, you didn't have to 'sweet' me out...you could have just asked..." Starfire and Nightwing both blushed heavily at this, and Beast Boy would have laughed had the fly been capable. "I'll be in the training room...you two enjoy your little make-out session..."
THWACK!
"Oh dear," said Starfire, even more innocently than usual. "Please forgive me, dear friend, as I seem to have accidentally thrown a wooden cooking utensil at the back of your head...I truly do apologize for this..." And she started to giggle, a slightly-less innocent giggle than usual. Nightwing chuckled, and Beast Boy laughed even harder...on the inside, of course. After the laughter died down, there was a few moments of silence.
Cyborg fell onto the ground, face first.
Starfire gasped, concern a bit more real this time. She ran over to Cyborg and kneeled down quickly. "Oh," she said, unsure of what to do, "I believe I have hit friend Cyborg far too forcefully!"
Nightwing, of the opposite temperament than Starfire, was nonchalantly pouring himself some coffee. "I'd say you didn't hit him forcefully enough," he said. A small smirk appeared on his face. "You didn't pierce his skull..."
Starfire suddenly smiled a 'That's really funny, but I'm trying not to laugh,' smile before covering her mouth and beginning to giggle. "Oh, Nightwing!" she said between failed-to-be-suppressed giggles, "That is...mmph...not a kind thing...hee hee...to say about our friend...ha ha ha!"
Nightwing chuckled softly. "Well, at least we're alone now...coffee?"
Starfire got out the last of her laughter, gently setting Cyborg on the couch as she did so. "Yes, please," she said, then giggled a couple more times...apparently, the laughter wasn't quite all gone yet. Nightwing handed her a steaming mug, then drank from his own. Starfire put a few teaspoonfuls of sugar in her coffee, along with a generous helping of cream, before she took her first sip, after which she let off a gentle "Mmm..." She suddenly looked up at the clock, as if remembering something.
10:39.
"Nightwing," she said, "Do you, perhaps, know where friends Beast Boy and Raven are?"
Nightwing thought a little, then blushed slightly. "I...I suppose they're doing what all married couples do..."
-Jackpot!- thought Beast Boy.-Wait...that came out wrong. Very wrong.-
"Oh, of course!" said Starfire, now blushing as well. "Um...we most likely should not discuss this matter any more, yes?"
"Yes indeed..." said Nightwing, seeming extremely grateful to drop the conversation.
Beast Boy was about to fly off, when he heard Starfire say something...interesting.
"So...this would mean that we are...alone? Truly?"
-Okay, I was wrong...- thought Beast Boy. -THIS is hitting the jackpot!-
"Well, um..." said Nightwing, blushing yet again, "Yes, I suppose that would be the case...then again..." and he indicated Cyborg, "We're never alone so long as he's around."
Starfire giggled for the umpteenth time. "That is close enough for me..." and she slowly leaned in towards Nightwing...
-Okay, NOW I fly off!- Beast Boy thought, doing just that. -And here I was, hoping for a bit more conversation to tease them about later before the action I don't wanna watch...- Even so, he spared a passing glance back at the lovebirds before zooming off...actually, a double take. -Okay...I had no idea Nightwing could bench-press Starfire...-
0 0 0
It was as close to abject chaos in Nevermore as Raven's mind could possibly become...without demonic help, that is. In short, it was a massive group bicker.
"Are you INSANE?!" shouted Anger. "Of COURSE we need to find out-"
"YOU'RE the insane one!" Affection responded. "Beast Boy is in love with us, and-"
"That fortuneteller chick has gotta pay-" said Brave.
"Ooh, ooh, or maybe we could try making some cookies!" shouted Happy.
"How on earth would COOKIES help?!"
"I don't know," responded Happy to Anger, "But I'm really hungry...and you can't make a decision on an empty stomach!"
"You wanna know what I think?" asked Rude, the usual amount of slight seductiveness in her tone.
"NO!" said almost everyone there.
"People, we are not acting logically!" shouted Knowledge, trying to calm everyone down. In response everyone moved in closer to each other and began shouting. Knowledge, in the middle of the crowd, turned to Wisdom, who was outside the crowd. "A little help, here?"
"Sometimes, in an argument," said Wisdom, "The best side to take is no side at all."
"Which is basically another way of saying you're a coward!" said Brave, subconsciously wanting someone else to argue with.
"Excuse me?" said Wisdom, raising her eyebrow...the most anger she'd shown in a month.
From that point on in, though several people had always been talking at the same time for quite a while, now they were all talking together...ALL of them...ALL together...
Well, maybe not all of them. Raven was sitting on the grass nearby, having given up trying to control herself. Timid, who up until this point was doing nothing but cowering away from the argument, had suddenly had an idea. She slowly crawled over to Raven, so that no one could see her and maybe yell at her, and then quietly said: "May I say something?"
Raven nodded, then bent her head towards Timid, as if to say 'It's okay if you want to whisper.' Timid gratefully leaned up a little (she had always been the shortest...or perhaps simply the most crouched) and did just that. Raven listened for a while, the nodded again.
"Alright," Raven said, "And, you may want to cover your ears." Timid nodded...timidly and did just that. Raven stood up, took a big breath, and yelled.
"QUIIIIIIIEEEEEEEET!"
Everything was quiet.
Raven took another breath. "Thank you," she said. Timid uncovered her ears slowly, as if she was afraid Raven was going to yell again...which, coincidentally, she was afraid of. Raven continued. "Timid has come up with a good idea."
"That's a first..." mumbled Rude. Brave elbowed her not-so-gently. "Ow..."
"Timid thinks that Beast Boy and we should go to where the fortuneteller girl was and look for clues. Depending on what we find, we'll decide how to proceed from there. Is everyone agreed?"
There was a bit of murmuring, but no objections. Raven gave a sigh of relief. "Good," she said. "You all are allowed to go back to whatever you were doing before, now. I'm going back outside the mirror."
Several emotions waved their goodbyes as a new portal, perhaps a relative of the first one, appeared above Raven's head and she was whisked away. And as she was whisked away, she could only think about one thing...
-We now have the first step to a solution,- Raven thought, -But I'm a LOT less calm now than I was when I came in here.-
0 0 0
"Bored, bored, so very bored, I sit here motionless, just like a sheathed sword..."
It was now 11:43. Beast Boy was bored. That's why he was singing the "I'm very bored" song. It wasn't helping.
"Maybe I could get in a quick nap..." Beast Boy said to no one in particular. He readjusted himself in his chair (Raven's chair?) and gently closed his eyes, feeling sleep slowly overtake hi-
WHHHHHOOOOOOOSSSSH!
Beast Boy literally jumped three feet out of the chair. Luckily for him, Raven wasn't quite back to see him do so. He stood up quickly as Raven materialized from a giant windstorm...or something similar to that, he was too busy checking for bruises to listen. He sat back down in the chair, the picture of alertness, just before Raven opened her eyes.
"Welcome back! How was your trip to Otherworld?" he asked.
Raven ignored the crack. "Hello to you too. Been waiting long?"
"Nah," said Beast Boy, lying. "But man, do I have some stuff to tell you...well, actually, only a couple things, but they're important!"
"If it involves ninjas, Beast Boy, then I don't really care..."
Beast Boy thought a bit. "Would you consider Robin a ninja?"
0 0 0
Speaking of Robin, the one known as Nightwing was just finishing his makeout session with Starfire, and was thoroughly glad Cyborg had been knocked unconscious.
He gasped for air between words. "Wow..." he said, "Remind me...to be alone with you...more often..."
Starfire panted as well, wiping sweat off her head. "I shall..try my best!" she said, giving a little mock-salute.
Robin chuckled and leaned back on the sofa. He blushed slightly as Starfire leaned back too...mainly because she leaned back on top of him. But she wasn't doing so to try to, ahem "turn him on" (at least it didn't appear so), but rather just wanted to cuddle with her man a bit. Snuggle, perhaps, would be a better word to describe it. Nuzzling? At any rate, Nightwing did not mind.
-I am so stinkin' lucky...- he thought. -But I swear, I am never going to understand Starfire...one minute she's all concerned, the next she's as cheery and flowery as ever...and I have never seen anyone, even Raven, become more evil as Starfire does when she gets angry...- And he shivered. -Still, it takes a lot to really get her angry...unless you start making fun of relationships, apparently...- and he looked over to Cyborg, who was now gently snoring on the couch. He smiled. -But I have got to say, the thing I understand the least about her is how she can be so...seductive and so darn innocent at the same time!-
Starfire giggled. "It is one of my many talents," she said, and then winked, an innocent, seductive wink.
Nightwing went wide-eyed, then blushed. "I was...speaking out loud, wasn't I?" Starfire nodded. "About when did I start?" Before Starfire could answer, Cyborg started groaning and shifting, all sure signs he was about to get up. Starfire "eep"ed, leaped up and flew to the kitchen counter, grabbing a random assortment of ingredients and throwing them haphazardly onto various types of bowls and plates in various places...she could always claim it was some new Tameranean dish that went somewhat awry. Nightwing went for a simpler approach: he sat up, grabbed the morning paper, turned to a certain page, and leaned forward, "reading". Starfire started whistling, completing the picture of not-so-innocence.
Cyborg groaned again, then sat up. "W...what happened?" He asked. "Feels like a cement block hit the back of my head..."
Nightwing smiled again, looked towards the lower-right hand corner of the page...and saw it. "It" being the report on what movies were playing at the new multi-plex theater.
Three action movies.
Three horror flicks.
A kiddy show.
A sci-fi saga.
Nothing you should ever go on a date to.
Nightwing smacked himself on the forehead while Starfire lied through her teeth about the circumstances of the situation to Cyborg. -Nice job, Boy Wonder...- he thought.
0 0 0
"Nightwing? Interesting..." said Raven, thinking over what Beast Boy had just said. There were a few moments of silence.
"What?" Raven asked, because Beast boy was staring.
"I'm waiting to hear about what you have to say," Beast Boy responded.
"You need to learn to be patient, Beast Boy," said Raven.
"Well, I haven't learned yet, so..." Beast boy motioned for her to continue.
Raven sighed. "We need to go to that carnival. Maybe there will be a clue of some sort somewhere around there as to what we should do next."
"Sounds like a plan!" Beast Boy responded. Then he started staring again, now with that -stupid...- grin on his face.
"What now?" asked Raven, feeling as if she was going to explode.
"And the rest?" Beast Boy asked. Raven looked confused. "You can't have been gone for three hours without a story to tell..."
"Beast Boy, believe it or not, I do not want you learning about the dark recesses of my mind..." responded Raven.
Silence.
"Translation: You found out something very embarrassing and don't want me knowing about it," Beast Boy clarified.
"What?" Raven asked, pretending not to be startled by the accuracy of what he said.
"It's cool," he said, "You don't have to tell me everything about yourself if you don't want me to know...I understand." With that, he got up and started walking towards the door.
"Where are you going?" asked Raven. Beast Boy turned.
"To...the Voodoo Queen's haunt? Duh..." he said.
"We can both fly, Beast Boy," said Raven, "We can go out the window."
"Yeah, but I'm hungry," said Beast Boy. "I haven't had breakfast, and it's almost time for lunch!"
"You can stop at some restaurant somewhere on the way," Raven said, "Just...come on!"
"Nah, I'd really just prefer to-"
"I said come on!" snapped Raven suddenly. Beast Boy moved his head back slightly in astonishment, and then got a look of understanding.
"Oh...you don't want to face the others, who happen to think that we're married..." Beast Boy said.
"Glad you understand," said Raven. "Now, let's just..."
"Ah, ah, ah..." Beast boy mock scolded.
Raven turned, ready to blast Beast boy if needed. "Beast Boy...you wouldn't dare..." But he just stood there, a stupid smile on his face. "If we find this Voodoo Queen, or whatever she called herself then maybe we won't ever have to face the others like this at all! So why would you want to face them now?"
"Easy, Raven..." Beast Boy said. "It's okay if you don't want to face them..."
Raven gave a sigh of relief. "Good...now-"
"But I, personally, want to face them."
Cue Big-Eyed Raven. "WHAT?!"
"I like adventure," explained Beast Boy, "And fun, and a little bit of danger, and doing stupid stuff...and besides all that, more than likely we will have to face them sooner or later..."
Raven stood more slack-jawed than she could comfortably become. Finally, she snapped out of it and turned towards the window again. "Fine!" she said. "You go do...whatever! I don't care! I'm going to look for clues!"
"Okay, have fun!" said Beast Boy. Raven grunted. Unseen by her, Beast boy struck a pose of mock-heavy-thinking. "Although..."
Raven ignored him and kept walking.
"All things considered, I probably shouldn't go in there alone...you know how I can say stupid things sometimes...and without someone like you there to help clean up the mess, well..."
Raven was no longer ignoring him. In fact, she was downright terrified. She looked back to Beast Boy. He was inspecting his uniform for lint that wasn't there. After finding an imaginary piece, he picked it up, scrutinized it, and then flicked it off before giving a sidelong glance and smile to Raven and then going right back to it.
Raven stood in thought for a second...thought as to how to get out of a mess such as this. No thought came, so finally she sighed, and said. "Fine...let's go..."
Beast Boy stopped picking for lent, gave off that laugh of his (along with one of his famous grins), and ran out the door. Raven followed, keeping about half-pace with Beast Boy and not really caring.-Why...WHY does he insist on annoying me so?!-
0 0 0
Beast Boy jumped into the common room, landing on his knees and sliding a good three feet before stopping "Good morniiiiiing, Jump City!" And as he finished with the 'y' in 'Jump City', Raven walked into the common room, heading straight for the herbal tea...shereally needed herbal tea right now...
"Good morning, friends!" said Starfire.
"Mornin', Beast Boy," said Nightwing. "Good morning, Raven."
"Morning," said Raven, half-heartedly.
"You two are up kind of late..." Nightwing asked. In fact, in his memory, this had been the latest they'd ever gotten up since...ever. He was kind of worried. Before he could voice his worries, Cyborg had paused his Gamestation, turned, and said...
"Yeah! What's the matter?" he raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Late night last night-OW!" He turned to the person who had just smacked him upside the head. "Starfire, what-"
"On my planet," said the now-quite-angry alien girl, "One who would discuss such matters, especially in jest, especiallydirectly to the ones they were jesting about, would be considered to be no more than a KLARNON BOSIMPHONIZER!"
"WHAT?!" shouted Cyborg, who still retained some of his former mastery of the Tameranean language.
In response, Starfire gave a "Hmph!" and turned her head and body, but her head first, away from Cyborg and walked away. All this commotion took the attention off of Raven and Beast Boy, allowing them to stop blushing and try and remain in character. Nightwing and Cyborg turned back to the changeling and the empath, Cyborg's non-mechanical eye watering.
"Actually, last night was a late night," said Raven, "But not for the reasons you think."
"Was something wrong?" asked Nightwing, concerned again. Starfire looked back towards the conversation, now concerned as well.
"One word..." said Raven, "Cricket."
"Ouch," said Cyborg, while Starfire and Nightwing flinched. They all knew the horror of occupying the same room as a cricket for the night.
"Yeah," said Beast Boy, "We finally found something that annoys Raven more than I do!"
Everyone but Raven chuckled a little at this. Raven took the teapot she'd set on the stove back off. "And when we found that thing physically, I squashed it," she said, turning. She clenched her teeth. "Slowly..."
-That's right, imagine Beast Boy as the cricket...- Raven thought. -Channel that anger into your act...-
"I still don't like the fact you squashed that cricket, Rae..." Beast Boy said. "Why couldn't we have just caught it and set it free?"
Raven raised an eyebrow in response. Inside, she thought: -Don't focus your anger that much...Beast Boy will blow up for real, and that'll be bad...-
"Friend Raven, are you certain you are feeling alright?" asked Starfire.
"I'm fine, Star..." said Raven, "Just...a little tired, is all..." and she brought the newly-poured cup of tea to her lips. It calmed and warmed her upon contact.
"It is most pleasant to hear you are alright, friend Raven," said Starfire, beaming. She looked contemplative for a second. "You see, I asked if you are alright merely because when friend Beast Boy calls you the nickname 'Rae', you usually throw him into a nearby wall..."
"I know," lied Raven, trying to cover up her mistake, "But today, I'm too tired to even do that..." she yawned for effect.
Beast Boy suddenly snapped his fingers. "I know what'll make you feel better!" said Beast Boy, "Lunch! For two! At the best restaurant in town!"
"I'm really not in the mood for the Vegan Hut..." said Raven.
"Alright, then the second best restaurant in town!" said Beast Boy. "Mieux en Ville!"
"I'm impressed you can remember the name," said Raven. "But I'll be more impressed if you can actually get us in..."
"Hey baby, you know yer man can do anythin'!" said Beast Boy with a bad southern accent. The others tried not to laugh.
"Except pronounce the word 'anything' correctly?" asked Raven.
"Exactly!" Beast Boy responded. He stepped back and bowed, indicating the door. "Ladies first!" he said.
"Much obliged," said Raven, walking towards said door. "But if you try opening any doors for me I'm taking you to the doctor."
"Fair enough," said Beast Boy, walking after her.
The door opened.
The door shut.
Everyone still in the tower burst out laughing. That was a bad southern accent.
As the laughter died down and Nightwing wiped the tears of joy from his eyes, Starfire walked over to him, looking thoughtful. "Nightwing?" she asked.
He looked towards her. "Yeah, Starfire?"
She looked straight into his eyes. "Why do you never take me to fancy restaurants as Beast Boy does Raven?"
Nightwing's eyes grew as big as saucers. Flying saucers. "Um, well...that's because, um..."
There was a long silence.
"RUN, NIGHTWING, RUN!!!" shouted Cyborg. Nightwing did just that.
"Nightwing!" shouted Starfire, taking flight after him. Cyborg ducked for cover underneath the table.
0 0 0
Raven and Beast Boy walked together to the edge of the island, just to make sure it didn't look like they were in a hurry. They didn't go in silence, however, thanks to Beast Boy.
"That was some pretty smooth thinking back there!" said Beast Boy. "I would have never thought of that cricket excuse."
"It's not too hard to think faster than you," said Raven.
"Heh, you got me there," said Beast boy, rubbing his head sheepishly.
"Although, I do have to admit," said Raven, "You are a pretty good actor...I would have believed everything you said, had I not known it to be false."
"What can I say?" said Beast Boy, "I've always had a flair for the dramatique!"
Raven looked at him. "Okay...don't do that..."
"What?" said Beast Boy, confused.
"The...accents. They get annoying quickly...like, as soon as you do them."
"Oh," said Beast Boy, "Sorry..."
"Yeah, whatever..." said Raven, taking flight-
"HOLD IT!"
Or not. Again.
"What is it, Beast-" and then an umbrella was in her face. "...Boy?"
"Looks like rain, still!" said Beast Boy. "And we don't want you getting wet!"
Raven looked at him a long time. "Beast Boy..." she said, "I can use my powers to shield myself from the rain..."
"Oh..." said Beast Boy, looking downcast. "Heh...I'd forgotten about that..."
Raven rolled her eyes, then turned and actually took flight this time. Beast followed as a hawk...
...with an umbrella in its talons.
0 0 0
Nothing of interest happened between Titans Tower and the carnival site, except that they noticed the date on an extra-large digital clock near Jump City's Banking Corp. It was the same year as it had been yesterday, and not two years in the future like you might expect. Or, as Beast boy put it, "It's like the universe has started two years sooner and hasn't given the calender the chance to catch up..."
The interest happened when Beast boy and Raven entered the carnival. That's when Beast Boy asked the question Raven had been dreading.
"So, um, Raven...are you ready to talk about...you know...what happened?"
Raven stood there motionless for a while, honestly thinking it over. Beast Boy really wanted to talk to her...but she didn't really want to talk about it yet. So...what happens next? In the end, she went with the legalese of Beast Boy's question: she was not ready to talk to Beast Boy yet. So she responded that way: "I'm sorry, Beast Boy, but...I don't think so."
"Oh..." said Beast Boy, disappointed. "Okay...I understand..."
Was it the right choice, the one Raven made? No one here on Earth has the answer, but it was the choice she made.
It was only a second or two after this choice that Raven felt something. Magical energy. Definitely a clue. She ran over to the area where the Voodoo Queen was...both she and the stand were gone, as Raven had expected. Beast boy ran over next to Raven. "What is it?" he asked.
"Magical energy..." she responded, trying to focus, "I can't tell quite where, but...nearby..." Suddenly, her eyes widened slightly...most people probably wouldn't have noticed this, but Beast Boy did. She looked straight down. "There!" she said, before picking up a rock. This rock was special: whether hurricane or spring breeze, it would not budge from its planted place, but the gentlest nudge of a sentient being would send it spiraling...in fact, if you looked at it long enough, you would notice it glowed slightly. Raven did not know any of this, and therefore tossed it into the sea. Underneath the rock (or, rather, where the rock used to be) there was a folded piece of yellow paper. Probably a note. Raven picked it up, unfolded it, and looked at it.
"What is it?" asked Beast Boy.
"It's a note," said Raven. (What'd I tell ya?)
"What's it say?" he asked. She read it over, getting angrier by the word.
She held her hand out to him. "Read it yourself," she said.
Beast Boy took the note from her and began to read. And as he read it to himself, I shall read it to you...
Dear BB and Rae,
Hello! Enjoying, lovebirds? Perceive my enormous brain erroneously insane, no? (Try saying that three times fast!) Gotta kinda? I doubt not. All people perceive everyone differently. (And, yeah, maybe I am a little insane...) But, you're stuck like a dearly engaged couple now! (Try to enjoy it...)
Sincerely, the Voodoo Queen (But you can call me Elizabeth!)
P.S.: Advice! Of course! Sorry...
If needed, talk. Hope with all reason. Everything hated or ugly (On the inside kind of ugly, I mean...) stops endearment. Destroy those kinds of things.
Above all, though...put each other first. Have a happy life together!
NOW Sincerely, the Voodoo Queen (See Above!)
Beast boy was less angry than he was confused. "Wuh...what?" he said.
"Sounds like a bunch of nonsense, I know..." said Raven. "What she's basically saying is that we're stuck as we are and there's no way we can fix it, and that we probably think she's crazy, but she's not. Then she gives us some stupid advice on how to make this marriage work..."
"O...kay..." said Beast Boy. "That's...um...odd..."
They were silent for a bit.
"Well, I guess we're stuck together..." said Beast Boy. "But, hey, how bad could being married be, huh? Heh heh..."
0 0 0
Inside Raven's Head, the Imagination sector
0 0 0
Hey Raven! Wanna try some of my tofu? Come on, it's full of soybeany goodness...
Video games aren't pointless! And neither is anime!
I wasn't sure what to get you for your birthday, so I just picked something out at random! Hee hee hee...Titans as bobbleheads...sweet!
DUDE! Quit meditating already! The beach awaits, and I've got you a new bikini, wink wink...
I figured I'd do something special for our anniversary...but the only color of streamers they had was pink...
Um...I kind of put the wrong settings on the washing machine, and, um...hey, how about a new handkerchief, heh heh heh...?
Hey Raven...Rae...Raven...How's it going Raven?...You up for some couch potatoeing...how's that...what am I supposed to do...so,maybe tonight you feel like...wow, I didn't realize you could scream like that!...Raven...Raven...RAVEN!!!
0 0 0
Back in the real world...
0 0 0
"Um...Raven?" Beast Boy asked cautiously. "Are you alright?"
"Of course," said Raven, lying...terribly. "Wh...why wouldn't I be?
"Your left eye is twitching," Beast Boy pointed out.
"Just great..." said Raven, changing the subject. "Our captor is not only sick and demented, but also spouts rubbish when we try and find her!"
"Maybe the nonsense is her way of making sure we never find her...?" suggested Beast Boy.
"Who knows?" Raven said, walking out of the carnival. "There's nothing else here, anyway...let's go home..."
"Ah, ah, ah..." said a voice behind Raven. She sighed.
"Quit doing that," she said, turning around again.
"Okay, then," said Beast Boy a little smugly, "If you reallydon't want to go to Mieux en Ville, then I guess that..."
"Wait, wait, wait, hold on," said Raven, a little confused. "You mean you were really planning on taking me there?"
"Yep!" said Beast Boy. "I never make promises I don't keep! Besides, what if the others need to find us? They'll look there first!"
"True..." said Raven. "Still, are you sure you can afford it?"
"For you, baby, I can afford anything!" and he gave a thumbs up, teeth-showing smirk and closed eye along with it.
A short silence.
"Please tell me that was more acting..." said Raven, monotone deceiving.
"Yeah, don't worry, it was."
"Phew..." Raven breathed a sigh of relief. "That's a relief..."
"Okay, then! You hungry for French?" Beast boy asked.
Raven stood there for a second before saying an unsure, but not unhappy, "Sure."
So much for "It'll be a while before another chapter this long comes around..." Well, at any rate, the first half of the first day is over! As for my annual notes...
"She had always liked the rain."
I don't know where this idea came from, but I like it, and I think it describes Raven pretty well. Of course, what's important is that you guys think it describes her...guess I'll find out...
"I should have KNOWN you had something to do with this!" said Raven, all logic out the window...not that you could blame her about that, really."
Raven blaming Beast Boy for the mess...bound to happen eventually, I got it over with quickly. Although her accusations weren't exactly logical...I'm sure yours wouldn't be, either.
"So...how did we end up in this sick fantasy?"
As soon as I typed that, I realized what that implied about me. In my defense, teenage boys have come up with worse...I should know, being a teenage boy. With the strange ability to turn into a fangirl whenever I want...and usually when I most don't want. Don't ask, it's a long and painful story.
"You've, um...how can I say this tactfully?" Beast Boy wondered. "Um, you've...gotten older..."
Don't ask where the decision to make the gang older came from...probably my way of putting Raven and Beast Boy even further outside their comfort zone than they already are. As for the Titan's physical changes...I wanted to make Beast Boy and Raven sound good, but not perfect. Hopefully I succeeded, but I don't know...I think I succeeded with Raven, but when it comes to Beast Boy I must admit I don't know what you girls like...my inner fangirl and I don't talk too much. I also described the girl's physical changes more than I described they boys, I' m willing to admit...you can bet if a girl (or homosexual guy) was writing this story, it would be the exact opposite.
"Raven subconsciously licked her lips. -So...hunky...- She thought, surprisingly, -And he's all MINE...-"
If I freaked anyone out by their reading these two sentences, then I've done my job as an author.
"-The fortuneteller!- she thought, insight gripping her."
Raven's inability to remember what exactly it was the Voodoo Queen did...or her name, for that matter...just goes to show how much respect she has for carnival workers.
"Yep!" said Beast Boy. "You definitely...uh oh."
Thought the story was coming to a premature end, didn't you? Eh, probably note, but I'm willing to bet you thought she was going to get the rings off...yeah, you probably didn't think that, either...
"Beast Boy..." Raven started to point out how stupid and nonsensical that idea would be."
Typing Raven's reaction to this idea, which I used about two minutes later, kind of hurt my pride...seriously, though, there's a good reason why the others can't remember. It'll just be a long time before that reason is revealed...
"And what if they're RIGHT?"
Hmm...and what if they're right? What if all their previous life really was just a hallucination? Mwa ha ha...I like creating suspense in others...
"Sorry," said Beast Boy. "Empathy...but you can't deny the possibility!"
I've always felt uncomfortable when fics made fun of Beast Boy's lack of book knowledge without acknowledging WHY he was that way...even though most people who read Teen Titans fanfiction keep that knowledge in the back of their heads. This fic is going to touch on it, though...I just can't exactly put in the reasons why right now.
"Oh, I, um...I've never gotten to do any spywork with you before...everyone else has gotten to, even Starfire, but you've never joined in on my..." and Beast Boy did a bunch of random karate poses. "Secret missions..."
Imagine Beast Boy and Starfire in some camouflage ninja outfits sneaking around Titans Tower. Seriously, do it. It's great therapy.
"I just realized..." Beast Boy started, "Why do you keep a knife in your room?"
As soon as I typed the knife into the story, I was freaked. I figured the answer probably was best not heard, but I also figured it would be good to acknowledge the problem. I'm no less freaked out, however...
"What an incredibly well-planned coincidence, huh?"
I give credit for this sentence to the awesome cartoon Danny Phantom, which has now been canceled, and the final episode has been shown. Seriously, why wasn't this show more popular?
"I mean, we've been married for half a year now!" continued Affection. "I know that thought of yours came out of the blue, but that doesn't mean it isn't the truth!"
MAJOR PLOT TWIST!...Nah, I lie, it's minor. Still, I bet I startled some of you with the whole idea of some of Raven's emotions being attached to this reality. What will this mean for Raven? Eh, who knows?
"Very noticeable at picnics, that trait was. "
I have no idea what possessed me to write this sentence, but I'm glad I did.
"That was Nightwing."
Once I decided that everyone would be two years older, or four years older considering Raven and Beast Boy were eighteen instead of sixteen last chapter, it only made sense that Robin would become Nightwing. This was also a good "Hey, no one remembers you guys from before!" moment for Beast Boy, because, hey, he's Nightwing, and if he isn't freaking about it, this must all be normal!
"Though your emotions are capable of feeling and thinking now that they are more than just ideas and representations, that capability only goes so far."
This is all my philosophy, so I could be disturbingly wrong...but I believe that an idea cannot exist as an idea one minute, then become raised to a human level without ceasing to be just an idea. Though Timid is, was, and always will be Timid first and foremost, I am sure she would be happy to just curl up in a corner somewhere and be left alone by the world, though she has enough knowledge to know this isn't going to happen, so she instead clings to Beast Boy for protection and, to some extent, affection. You see my point?
"Yeah. Let's go with that."
The whole fly-sense explanation is a result of my realizing the problem...and if it bothers the author, it'll bother the fan, too. So, I did my best to explain the problem. Not that I did too well.
"-And boy, are these guys oblivious! It's like an antelope stealing teeth from a blind alligator!-"
...I had to come up with a metaphor on the spot, okay?!
"I say we stay married," said Rude, lifting her soda in mock-toast. "Beast Boy's gotten pretty hot over the past two years, rawr!"
Imagining Raven, even a part of Raven, even Rude saying this...burnt my eyes a little.
"Brave looked at her funny. "Raven's a superhero, Wisdom..."
I have wanted someone on a superhero show to have a conversation like this for so long...
"Oh dear," said Starfire, even more innocently than usual. "Please forgive me, dear friend, as I seem to have accidentally thrown a wooden cooking utensil at the back of your head...I truly do apologize for this..."
I loved typing this so very much...it showed an evil side to Starfire that I liked...as for them just leaving poor unconscious Cyborg to have a makeout session...I get the feeling something similar to this has happened before, and they both knew Cyborg would be just fine.
"-Jackpot!- thought Beast Boy. -Wait...that came out wrong. Very wrong.-"
What Beast Boy meant was that he'd finally gotten confirmation as to whether everyone remembered everything. What it came out as...yeah, awkward.
"How on earth would COOKIES help?!"
It just occurred to me...Anger really needs to try some cookies, doesn't she?
"NO!" said almost everyone there."
Note the 'almost'. I leave it to you to decide who did want to hear Rude, and who didn't.
"Excuse me?" said Wisdom, raising her eyebrow...the most anger she'd shown in a month."
I have this weird feeling that if Wisdom ever got angry, she could probably kick all her sisters' butts from here to Sidney. Who agrees?
"Bored, bored, so very bored, I sit here motionless, just like a sheathed sword..."
I claim this verse of the legendary "I'm Very Bored Song" as my own. Still, feel free to use it, add your own verses...just keep the fact in the back of your mind that I own this verse.
"Would you consider Robin a ninja?"
Well? Would you? I know I do...
"Translation: You found out something very embarrassing and don't want me knowing about it," Beast Boy clarified."
Beast Boy doesn't always say the right thing...but when he does, it's usually exactly the right thing. Anyone else notice this?
"Yeah, but I'm hungry," said Beast Boy. "I haven't had breakfast, and it's almost time for lunch!"
For those of you asking "What happened to Beast Boy's hunger?"...he was lying. Or, rather, bantering. Yes, he'd actually been able to tell this far in advance, and was just faking understanding a bit later.
Either that or it's a plot device. I'll never tell.
"All things considered, I probably shouldn't go in there alone...you know how I can say stupid things sometimes...and without someone like you there to help clean up the mess, well..."
Beast Boy is darn clever when he wants to be, isn't he?
"On my planet," said the now-quite-angry alien girl, "One who would discuss such matters, especially in jest, especiallydirectly to the ones they were jesting about, would be considered to be no more than a KLARNON BOSIMPHONIZER!"
I share Starfire's opinion here, but to Cyborg he's just messing around with one of his good buddies who just happens to be married. Take your side and battle it out!
...Actually, don't, I lost the rulebook and I'm a horrible referee.
"They all knew the horror of occupying the same room as a cricket for the night."
...(Eye twitches)
"Mieux en Ville!"
BILINGUAL BONUS! If you know French, there's a small pun here...if you use Babelfish, there's an entirely different pun! (Of course, I had to use Babelfish in the first place...but I think that's an accurate translation...)
"It's like the universe has started two years sooner and hasn't given the calender the chance to catch up..."
I like this quote I made up. I don't know why, I just do.
"So, um, Raven...are you ready to talk about...you know...what happened?"
Part of the reason I put this in was to assure people that I haven't forgotten this plot point. Just because they're acting like nothing happened, and nothing actually happened in this world, doesn't mean nothing happened. And they know it.
"Sounds like a bunch of nonsense, I know..."
And it is a bunch of nonsense! But, if you can decode it, there is meaning there, I made certain of that. Why'd I make the note such nonsense? Because my Voodoo Queen is weird. Live with it.
"DUDE! Quit meditating already! The beach awaits, and I've got you a new bikini, wink wink..."
Imagining Beast Boy saying this to Raven, which I'm sure he never would in the real world, scarred my corneas. Probably. At the very least, it caused me intense pain...that said...
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Teen Titans. They belong to DC Comics and Glen Murakami. I also do not own Danny phantom, which belongs to Nickelodeon, and Viacom...I think it belongs to Viacom. Butch Hartman, I know it does...I also don't own Batman, which belongs to DC comics as well. If you're wondering when I mention Batman in this chapter...I didn't. I mentioned him last chapter, in the author's note.
Now that all that is said and done, one final note: God Bless you All...and see you in a week!
EDITED 1/6/08: Or the next day...a reviewer pointed out that Beast Boy slapping Raven to snap her out of her illogical rant seemed...well, illogical. Too out of character for Beast Boy. Well, I think Beast Boy sticking his finger up Raven's nose was out of character, too, and they put that in the show. Then again, in my mind, that never happened...or it was a massive set-up by Cyborg. At any rate, I couldn't think of anything Beast Boy could do besides slap Raven, except to just take her insults, and I don't think he felt exactly like doing that at that point...then I realized: he's a changeling. Have him slap her like a changeling would, but without physical contact! Hopefully, this seemed a bit more realistic...NOW see you next week!