(Pulls self from rubble) I...I'm ALIVE!! Praise the Lord!
In all seriousness, though, I am truly sorry for not updating, as my Internet was inaccessible for the past week, and I could find no substitutes...I won't go into detail, except to say it was my fault. So, since it was my fault, I'm going to give you guys the chapter I missed, the new chapter this week AND a bonus chapter for this week! Is that worth the extra wait?
Well, whether it is or not, good news: the first action scene takes place in this chapter! And it's a doozy of an action scene! YAY! Let's start!
"I still can't believe you got us in here," said Raven.
Raven and Beast Boy sat at the opposite end of the restaurant from the kitchen, in a secluded booth. An air of thickness surrounded them through no fault of their own...perhaps it was the place's general snobbery? At any rate, the only lighting around was that of the nearby lamp, and it was rather dim at that...in other words, the perfect place for a romantic date.
"Well, we are the Titans," said Beast Boy, grinning as usual. "Although, I've gotta say, it was nice of them to give us this private booth..."
"I wouldn't necessarily say that..." said Raven, scooting a little further away from Beast Boy.
"Yeah, you're right..." Beast Boy responded. "Mieux en Ville probably doesn't want paparazzi any more than we do..."
"Not quite what I meant," said Raven, "But okay."
"Then what did you mean?" Beast Boy asked.
"Look around you..." said Raven, tensing slightly. "Dim lighting...romantic atmosphere...private booth...French food...this is very, very, awkward..."
"Well, it's not like we actually have to start making out..." said Beast boy, slightly confused.
Raven only grumbled in response. There was a moment's silence.
"Wait a second..." said Beast boy, realizing something. Raven looked over to him. He suddenly grinned once more. "You said you'd be impressed if I actually got us in here, didn't you!"
Raven blinked. "That was acting."
"Most of it, anyway!" said Beast Boy, "But I know that part wasn't! C'mon, Rae...you know you're impressed..."
"Why do you care if I am or not?" Raven asked.
Beast Boy opened and shut his mouth, then thought the question over. "I...actually don't really know..."
He suddenly brightened again. "But I do know that you are definitely impressed with me!"
"I am not impressed," said Raven.
"Yes you are," retorted Beast Boy.
"No, I'm not..." emphasized Raven.
"Oh, yes you are!" Beast Boy said.
"No. I'm not." said Raven, anger creeping into her voice.
"Yes you are."
"No. I. Am. Not!" said Raven, now thoroughly angry at the fact Beast Boy was bringing her to his level.
Beast Boy was silent for a couple of seconds. Suddenly, "Are too."
"Am not," said Raven.
Beast Boy was slightly surprised she responded in kind, rather than end the argument totally. He pressed forward anyway. "Are too."
"Am not."
"You so are!"
"Am not,"
"Oh yeah, you are."
"Amnot,"
"Are too."
Raven suddenly revealed her plan. "Are too."
Beast Boy smirked. "Sorry, Raven, but I've watched too many cartoons to fall for that one...which means you just admitted that you're impressed with me! Sweet!"
Raven raised an eyebrow. -Well...it seems I've underestimated Beast boy just a tad,- she thought. She noted his victory dance, which he somehow managed to perform without leaving his seat. -Very, very, slightly...- She then reached over and put her hand on Beast Boy's arm to get his attention. "Stop. The waiter will be coming with our food soon, and I don't want you embarrassing me any more than you have to."
Beast boy looked down at Raven's hand, slightly creeped out. "Okay, just...please take your hand off my arm..." Raven looked down, blushed, and removed the offending hand quicker than she had ever moved in her life. She turned away from Beast Boy, vowing revenge on Affection later for slipping that to her subconsciously. "And you thought the lighting was awkward..." mumbled Beast Boy as the food came.
"Sorry to keep you waiting," said the stereotypical French waiter...except for the fact that he didn't have an accent. "Now, let's see here...grilled chicken, salad, and herbal tea for the young lady..."
"Thank you," said Raven. The waiter bowed slightly to her. Then he turned and grabbed the other tray.
"And ratatouille, rice, and water for the young man!"
"Thanks, dude!" said Beast Boy, giving a thumbs up. The waiter gave one right back, further crushing his stereotypical French waiter demeanor.
"If you need anything else, then please..." and the waiter gave another bow, much deeper this time, "Do not hesitate to ask!" And he walked away.
Beast Boy licked his lips and picked up his fork. Raven eyed him suspiciously. "Let me guess..." said Raven, "You're only eating that because of the movie Ratatouille."
Beast Boy looked up, fork comically perched in midair. "Well...yes and no..."
"What do you mean?" asked Raven.
"Well, Ratatouille the movie was the reason I first tried the dish...but now I just eat it because it's delicious and vegetarian! Unless, you know, they add some special ingredient to the stuff..." and here he looked suspiciously at his food. "And I specifically asked them not to, so that probably means that they did..."
"Uh, huh..." said Raven, now wishing she hadn't asked. "Well...enjoy, I guess.."
"Ah, ah, a-"
"I said stop doing that," said Raven, vein bulging.
"Sorry," said Beast Boy. "But as I was saying: you can't sayenjoy here and get away with it!"
"Wuh...what?" asked Raven, now very thoroughly wishing she hadn't asked.
"This is a French restaurant," said Beast Boy. "You have to say bon appetite!"
Raven sighed. "Fine..." she said. "Bon appetite, or whatever you want me to say,"
Beast Boy smiled, bringing his fork down-
Doot, doo doo doo, doot doo doo doot doo
Beast Boy sighed as he and Raven pulled out their communicators. "Yes, what is it, Nightwing?"
"Sorry to interrupt," said Nightwing, "But trouble's brewing. Psykinesis is back in town, and we don't know where he is. We need you to drop what you're doing and find him fast!"
"Um, right..." said Beast Boy. "Um...who's Psykinesis, again?..."
Nightwing's jaw dropped shortly before he was pushed off camera by Cyborg, who proceeded yelling. "YOU FORGOT WHO PSYKINESIS IS?! Did you hit your head, or are you just goin' slower than normal?!" A calm hand pushed Cyborg off screen before Nightwing walked back on.
"Psykinesis," said the team leader, "Is the most wanted villain in the world today, next to Slade...and just like Slade, the Titans have never been able to bring him completely down. He's got incredible telepathic and telekinetic powers."
Beast Boy just looked blank.
"He's really evil, and he's psychic," clarified Raven.
"I got that part!" said Beast boy, a little angrily. "I'm just wondering why this dude's supposed to be so tough!"
"You have hit your head, haven't you?" asked Nightwing, raising an eyebrow.
"Um...sure," said Beast Boy. "Let's go with that."
"At any rate," said Nightwing, "Be on the lookout. We have no idea where he is or what he's doing, so-"
And that's when the kitchen across the restaurant exploded.
As people screamed and ran, Beast boy and Raven stood up to get a better view. They were only partially surprised by what they saw. It was a giant...thing made entirely of food and kitchenware. Two counters were its legs, its feet being four chairs, two stuck together to make each foot. Its body was a refrigerator, along with some generic foodstuffs scattered around it. A stove sat where each shoulder would be, and its arms had just been constructed out of the debris left after the explosion. Five loaves of each bread sat on each of the creature's hands, just like fingers, and sticking out of each the fingers was a large knife, or the equivalent.
"Think we found him..." said Raven as Beast Boy stood in awe, both a little unsure how to feel at the moment.
"Hold out as long as you can," said Nightwing, "We'll be there soon." And he cut off communications, never knowing Beast Boy and Raven never heard the last sentence because they were distracted by their table suddenly floating in the air.
"That's just a waste..." Beast Boy said as the table turned on its side, dumping everything off of itself, before floating up to where the creature's head would be if it had one. It sat gently, now forming said head upon the beast's body. Shortly thereafter, two unlit candlesticks floated up and landed on the table. They suddenly lit, giving the impression of two eyes. The figure suddenly spoke...kind of. At the very least, its way of speaking did confirm it was Psykinesis.
-Raven...Beast Boy...- Psykinesis "said",-How long has it been?-
"You tell me, dude," said Beast Boy, cracking his knuckles. "And I know this is completely off topic, but I have to say that if you're going up against the Titans, you should probably try a construction site instead of a French restaurant next time..." And with that, the shapeshifter charged forth, turning into a raptor and closing the distance between him and Psykinesis rapidly.
Psykinesis raised his right hand.
Beast Boy suddenly started to float in midair. Shortly after he realized this, the dinosaur he was looked very panicked. Shortly after this, Beast Boy was himself again, still looking panicked. "Hey...woah! What's going on...?"
-You are correct...and I would try a construction zone...- and Psykinesis chuckled, waving his right arm. Beast Boy went flying over to the other side of Mieux en Ville, through the wall, and into a dumpster in the alley.
"GAAAAAAH!" he shouted, a little redundantly.
-That is, I would if I thought you might actually be a threat...- Psykinesis finished. Raven floated up behind him.
"Azarath Metrion ZINTHOS!" she shouted, sending some of the leftover utensils straight towards Psykinesis. He didn't even bother glancing backwards, but instead sank into the ground, closing the hole behind him. In fact, he sank almost before Raven had finished her chant. Raven, in turn, floated there, astounded. Psykinesis came back up behind her.
Silently as he could, he tried to impale Raven with his claws, but she dodged just in time. She dodged several swipes, in fact, before he finally managed to take advantage of her focus on his arms and kick her instead. She floated back a few feet and looked up to see Psykinesis trying to impale her again...
Beast Boy, in the form of a tiger, suddenly jumped between her and the blow. He was stabbed in the shoulder and neck region, and then flung aside. He transformed back into Beast Boy to fix his wounds before going tiger again and pouncing again. Psykinesis swatted him aside like a fly.
Floating behind him again, Raven tried this time to move him instead of the objects around him. Before she could do so, however, he turned and fired a blast of pink psychic energy at her. She dodged the blast, firing back in kind. He moved his arm, creating a force field, also pink in color, before she even managed to fire. Beast Boy jumped next to Raven and stood there, ready for attack and trying to think of one of his own that might work.
Psykinesis lowered his protective barrier and chuckled. -Pitiful...- he thought to his foes. -Your puny minds are like an open book to me...I know your every move before you can ever make it...-
"Just because you know what's coming," said Beast Boy, "Doesn't mean you can stop it!"
"He seems to be doing a pretty good job so far," said Raven. Beast boy grimaced.
-Ah, Beast Boy...- thought Psykinesis almost nostalgically. -Full of confidence as ever...false confidence, befitting a fool...-
"HEY!" said Beast Boy. "I've got every right to be confident, because-"
-Because the rest of the Titans are coming, and they're going to kick my butt?- interrupted Psykinesis. -Is that what you were going to say?-
Beast Boy blinked a few times. "Maybe..." he said, now a bit more cautious.
Psykinesis suddenly fired another blast. Beast boy and Raven dodged in opposite directions, Raven sent a few "whips" of dark energy straight towards the thing's midsection. Psykinesis responded by sending out a few whips of his own, which hit Raven's at perpendicular angles and destroyed it self destroying them. Another blast of psychic energy followed, and he would have sent an extra blast at the place Raven was dodging to if Beast Boy hadn't tried to jump on his back as a gorilla.
As you might expect, poor BB failed at this, Psykinesis swatting at Beast Boy again. Beast Boy didn't need to be psychic to see that coming, though, and latched onto the conglomeration's arm. The conglomeration responded by sending a blast of fire from his candlestick eyes and scorching Beast Boy straight off.
Raven tried the "float up behind him" trick again, not to try and surprise him, but merely to hit where his defense was weak. This time, she tried sending two nearby tables into his backside. He responded by turning around, crossing his arms in an X shape, and slashing straight through the tables. He leapt forward as he did this, so he could get closer to Raven. His "claws" glowed pink as he sliced again, recreating the X and sending slashes of psychic energy straight at Raven. She dodged again, and the slashes went straight through the wall, cutting into the pavement outside along with some poor bystander's car.
Psykinesis leapt towards where Raven was dodging as the blast subsided, ready to slash her to ribbons. Beast Boy, now as a wolf, met him in midair again, as Psykinesis expected. He slammed Beast Boy into the ground forcefully enough to force the shapeshifter back into human form, and the hand he used to do it glowed with pink energy. He fired a blast of psychic energy, point blank, directly into and around Beast Boy, who let out a scream of pain as the whole restaurant lit up. Psykinesis then picked up the changeling, now stabbing into him with his knifed hands. Beast Boy groaned, barely fighting back death by use of his animal genes. Psykinesis through him against the wall, adding another blast of energy for good measure.
Beast Boy would have died that day if another blast of energy, this one made of pure sound, hadn't slammed into Psykinesis's blast.
Raven ran over to Beast Boy, shock fading as he slowly transformed to and from some animal she couldn't recognize, now fully healed...well, not fully. He'd lost some blood and he was almost unconscious. But he was alive. Raven breathed a sigh of relief and then looked up to her team, whom, as you have probably guessed, had just arrived.
Nightwing had just finished firing off some "witty" remark, Raven guessed. He looked mad...like serious mad. Cyborg was serious mad too, but his mad was more like a "You just messed with my friend, you're gonna pay," kind of mad. Starfire's righteous fury was going strong, judging by the size of the Starbolts around her hands. Psykinesis suddenly chuckled again.
-Ah...it feels good to back in the game,- he thought. -I have been looking forward to this moment, truly I have...you've all grown up in the year I've been gone! Especially Beast Boy and Raven...- And he looked straight at the ones he was speaking of. -Yes...a buffet of information those two are...such thoughts rattling inside their heads!-
"Shut it," said Cyborg.
"You're going to pay, Psykinesis!" shouted Nightwing. "I will not let you get away with this!"
-That's exactly what you said at Malaysia...- pointed out Psykinesis.-And we both know how THAT turned out...- In response to this, Nightwing gritted his teeth, gave an animalistic growl, and sprang towards Psykinesis faster than Raven had ever seen him move.
Not fast enough, of course.
Psykinesis slashed at Nightwing, who barely avoided being impaled. Even so, he didn't escape unscathed, two scratches appearing on his shoulder as he was thrown backwards. Cyborg and Starfire attacked next, together, as Raven tried healing some of the minor injuries that Beast Boy hadn't gotten completely rid of.
Psykinesis put up his usual force field to the energy blasts of the Titans, and only brought it down long enough to fire a psychic blast that sent Cyborg sprawling. Starfire took advantage of this moment to try her eye lasers, but he dodged, jumped forward, and slammed her aside. Nightwing came rushing back in to try and knock the monster off its feet with his bo staff, only for the monster to raise its leg and stomp down on top of Nightwing.
This was Psykinesis' first (although, admittedly, only) mistake thus far: underestimating Nightwing's strength. As the monster was thrown off balance by Nightwing's great heave upwards, Starfire and Cyborg took the opportunity to launch some Starbolts and missiles, respectively. Both hit their mark, and Psykinesis was sent sprawling. Raven, who had just finished doing all she could for Beast Boy, followed, rising up through the smoke and chanting her famous mantra.
"Azarath Metrion Zinthos!"
Dozens of dark whips were sent in the psychic villain's general direction, and the majority of them hit their mark. As the beast cried in pain, the massive windstorm created by the magical upheaval sent him spiraling into the wall, several of his "parts" trailing after him. A large table, encased by black energy, was sent after him, effectively destroying him utterly.
Well, okay, probably not true. He was down for a couple seconds, at least.
As the Titans stood, drawing air into their lungs, Beast Boy woke up, groggily. The others, having their backs turned, did not notice until he spoke. "D...did we...win?"
The Titans turned. "Beast Boy!" they shouted as one. Then they all ran/flew towards the green changeling. Raven got there first, enveloping her "husband" in a massive hug.
"Don't ever scare me like that ever again..." she said, holding him close. After a few seconds, she whispered softly enough that no one but Beast Boy could hear: "The hug is acting, but the words are true, got it?"
"Got it," he whispered back. Raven let him go, and he stood up to have Starfire take Raven's place in the hug-a-thon.
"Oh, it is glorious that you are alright, friend Beast Boy!" said Starfire, forgetting to restrain herself.
"That's great, Star..." said Beast Boy, struggling to breath. "But...I'm still a little tender..."
"Eep!" Starfire squeaked, quickly letting him go. He stumbled a little, but kept his balance. "Forgive me..."
"Heh, it's cool..." said Beast Boy.
Cyborg stepped forward. "You really had us worried there, BB..." he said.
"Yeah," said Nightwing. "But I have to say-"
There was a shuffling noise, a loud one. All the Titans looked towards it.
Psykinesis was reforming himself.
Nightwing recovered from the shock first, scanning the restaurant for anything that could be used as a tactical advantage. After a couple seconds, and just in time for the others to get into their battle stances, it hit him. -Perfect!- he thought, before turning. "Cyborg!" he said. All the Titans glanced towards Nightwing momentarily, but Cyborg stayed glancing. Nightwing suddenly smirked. "I've still got the boom if you've still got the sonic."
Cyborg looked a little stunned, looked up at the area around Psykinesis's reformation, and smiled. "Sweet!" he said, forming his familiar sonic cannon. "You bet I do!"
With these words, Cyborg and Nightwing ran towards Psykinesis. They ran up the walls, jumped across, and fired their respective weapons. Psykinesis had just reformed himself. The cannon hit the disk. Psykinesis threw up his shield at the exact same time. The energies mixed.
A light pink ball of purest energy slowly began growing where an explosion should be.
"Uh oh..." said Cyborg, simply.
"Energy backup!" shouted Nightwing, running back towards the rest of his team. Cyborg followed. Starfire and Beast Boy first had the instinct to run, but being heroes, they decided to stay behind and help their team. Raven kept them from making that mistake.
"Get close to me!" she shouted over the familiar hum of an energy device exploding. "Hurry!"
The Titans paused momentarily before heeding Raven's words. But heed them they did, and just in time, as the energy finally let itself loose a second after Raven threw up her energy field.
The shockwave, the most dangerous part of an explosion in that in can literally liquefy you if it's strong enough, ripped through the restaurant like butter, and Raven's shield could barely stand it. The explosion itself, which is ironically the least dangerous part of an explosion, shattered what power it had left, sending the Titans flying. If they hadn't been superheroes with years of training, they would be dead. As it was, they were knocked off their feet and sent flying into the street. Nightwing was the only one to land on his feet, and barely at that. He got in a fighting stance, bo staff now drawn again, as quickly as possible. The others got up and did the same, minus bo staff, of course.
About ten seconds passed. The Titans didn't let down their guard, but they did become less tense. After a few more seconds, Beast Boy figured the fight was over, and if it wasn't...well, the others could handle Psykinesis for a split second while he got ready. The green changeling looked around. "Wow," he said. "I sure hope they have insurance..."
Nightwing was about to respond when the debris from Mieux en Ville went flying in different directions. A pink light began to glow, and it slowly grew bigger in some areas, and smaller in others, as if it were moving...which, coincidentally, it was. It was heading straight for the Titans, in fact. When it was about ten feet away, the light slowly faded, allowing the Titans to see the heart, brain, and body of Psykinesis for (at least, in Beast Boy's and Raven's experiences) the first time.
It was a ball of semi-solid pink energy, about a foot in diameter. Occasionally, a crackle of pinkish-white energy flared across its surface. The Titans were astounded. Beast Boy broke the silence: "THAT'S Psykinesis?!"
"I'm just as surprised as you are..." said Nightwing.
The ball suddenly chuckled...and although Psykinesis looked a lot less imposing now, he made up for it with his new voice, now unblocked by physical objects. -Looks like I've had to take off my coat to take care of you Titans!- he quipped forcefully, moving towards our heroes once again. -You really have improved since I've been gone...-
"Titans, get ready!" said Nightwing, brandishing his bo staff once again. The others got ready as well, Beast Boy turning into an snake.
Psykinesis fired off a broad beam of energy. All the Titans dodged it, some less gracefully than others. Nightwing leapt into the air as he dodged, trying to bring his bo staff down onto the pink ball. He stopped in midair and was flung off unceremoniously. A curved, pink beam of energy appeared on the end of the bo staff, turning it into a scythe.
-I don't know why,- mused Psykinesis, -But I've always had an affinity for scythes...- And he swung the staff behind him, barely missing Beast Boy, who struck underneath the blow. Psykinesis floated aside, bringing the scythe down on Beast boy's neck. Beast Boy barely had time to turn into a cockroach in order to dodge...not that it would have mattered, since cockroaches can survive without their heads.
Raven and Starfire tried out their newest as-of-yet unnamed combo, in which Starfire melted the nearby remains of a lamppost into red hot metal, and Raven threw it with her magicks. In response, the psychic scythe of Psykinesis (try saying that three times fast) moved to cover the entire staff, making a nice shield as he twirled it around. Nearby, Cyborg tried a sonic cannon blast, but Psykinesis deflected the still-hot metal towards him. Cyborg dodged, but the metal cut through his arm like it was butter.
"GAAAAAH!" he yelled, then looked over to Beast Boy, who had just re-entered the territory of Homo Sapiens. "If you say anything involving the word 'disarmed'..."
"I wasn't planning to!" appeased Beast Boy. Before his and Cyborg's scintillating conversation could continue, a curved beam of energy headed toward them, followed quickly by two smaller ones. No one had anywhere to dodge, so Raven blocked the blows with another car. This proved to be a mistake, as Psykinesis picked up the pieces and threw them at Raven. They hit their mark, and Raven was buried under a pile of scrap. Then, Psykinesis raised his scythe, energy gathering around it. He brought it down-
This time it was Nightwing instead of Beast Boy who interfered. He did so by throwing a few energy disks, which interrupted Psykinesis's attack nicely by forcing him to attack the disks instead. As the smoke from the latest blast cleared, Starfire came rushing in with a massive onslaught of Starbolts.
"Hyah! Hah! Hah! Yah!" she shouted, her Starbolts noticeably larger than yesterday/two years ago. Instead of bothering to block them, Psykinesis put up a force field. The Starbolts dissipated harmlessly against it.
Cyborg was up next, driving his left hand's sonic cannon into a punch strong enough to break the forcefield and send both him and Psykinesis stumbling...well, Psykinesis floated backwards a little bit. At any rate, the villain recovered first, swirling the scythe around to meet Beast Boy's head dead center.
-Nice try,- said the sphere to the alligator, sending it flying with a quick toss upwards. Beast Boy landed, next to Raven, head now healed, as a human. He rubbed his landing point and the scythe's entry point gently.
"Talk about a headache..." Beast boy quipped to Raven, who had just regained consciousness and was not in a good mood.
"I told you to be more careful!" she shouted to him...although she would have talked normally if it hadn't been for all the energy blasts.
"I was being careful!" said Beast Boy. "Alligators can take WAY more punishment than anything else I can turn into...it's like they're wearing armor!"
"Hmm. Whatever..." mumbled Raven, flying back into the fray.
"She says I'm not being careful..." said Beast Boy, beginning to walk forward. "I'm being as careful as-" And then he stopped in midstep as pain shot through his body. He hunched slightly, putting his fingers to his temples. "In my defense, I didn't know my previous injuries were having an effect on me..." he mumbled to people he didn't know were there...in other words, you guys. Shaking off the pain, he ran forward, now as a cheetah.
He got there just in time to dodge another scythe swing, this one in a wide enough arc that all the Titans had to dodge it. He transformed into a gorilla once the swing was past, dodged another one, and charged forward, trying to grab the scythe. He missed, as he expected, but Psykinesis's moving out of the way left him open, as he realized a split-second before it happened, to the scythe being grabbed by Nightwing. The two began a tugging match inside a projected force field meant to protect Psykinesis.
Nightwing proved stronger than Psykinesis mental powers, pulling the scythe away. He swung what was now a bo staff. Psykinesis dodged, but had to bring down his force field to do so, meaning that he was now wide open again. Still, somehow he managed to dodge energy blasts from all sides and even managed to shoot a few of his own. Two tense minutes went on like this before Psykinesis was surrounded. The Titans stood there, waiting for a distraction of any kind to keep the villain from reading their minds so they could attack. None came, so Psykinesis started talking.
-Is that the best you can do?- he asked. -While you admittedly have improved, you're still nowhere close to even touching me...- And suddenly one of Psykinesis's leftover energy blasts that he'd grabbed in midair slammed into Nightwing's side. The other Titans were distracted by this.
"Nightwi-YAAAAH!" shouted Starfire as the pavement below her suddenly tied her like a rope. As this happened, Cyborg recovered and tried another sonic cannon, but that was deflected to Beast Boy, who dodged just in time to be hit with another pink energy blast. Raven, the naturally cautious member of the team, retreated slightly, still waiting for an opportune time to attack.
Psykinesis suddenly flew straight towards and through Raven ,sending her flying through the air before being grabbed by psychic energy waves and slammed against a building. She fell slightly before regaining control of herself, just in time to avoid being hit by another Psykinesis rush.
Then again, she wasn't his target. Nightwing, who had traversed several rooftops quickly, thinking as little as possible so he might not tip himself off, was sent flying into the air, along with a large chunk of the building itself. Psykinesis rushed through Nightwing again, and again and again and again and many agains before finally blasting him to the ground with an energy beam. A green pterodactyl flew next to the energy beam before turning into a similarly colored T-Rex and trying to chomp Psykinesis to bits. Psykinesis stopped the T-Rex in midair, swung it around once to build momentum, and threw him straight at Cyborg and the recently freed Starfire. They both dodged at the last second, before Starfire threw a ginormous Starbolt at Psykinesis.
Cyborg followed this Starbolt with a sonic cannon blast, the latter powering the former and giving the whole thing a weird sea-green tint. Psykinesis would have reflected this blast and added his own energy to it, leading to catastrophic results, except for the fact that Raven blasted him with her own dark energy as well. This forced him to put up a barrier instead. As the sound waves and smoke cleared, Raven passed through the now-gone force field and tried a wave of dark energy, disappearing like a curtain, at point blank.
He dodged Raven's first "curtain", and every subsequent one he mirrored with perfect symmetry. After a few rounds of this, he suddenly shot a quickened wave straight down, catching Raven off guard. "Oof!" she grunted, shortly before hitting the freeze disk Nightwing had thrown and meant for Psykinesis.
"Raven!" shouted the battered leader, more worried for his frozen teammate than he was about giving away his precise position, which he had only been able to hide so far because he didn't exactly know where he was, either. He needn't have worried, as a once-again Pterodactyl Beast boy swooped up and caught her. Psykinesis charged up a blast.
-Like shooting fish in a barrel...- he thought, taking aim at the now slow-flying dinosaur.
He was interrupted by Cyborg suddenly slamming his fist, sonic cannon charged, into him. He had seen it coming, but didn't think Starfire could fly that fast. As a result of this, he only had just enough time to change his blast into a force field. The suddenness of a blast of energy transferred over to this field and sent both him and Cyborg spiraling once again. He recovered just in time to see Starfire rushing towards him.
"This is for my friend Beast Boy, you marnab zilmorock!" she shouted, turning at the last second and kicking Psykinesis diagonally towards Cyborg. The psychic villain, believe it or not, was too dizzy to have seen that one coming.
He sped past Cyborg, who was smirking. "And THIS is for my right arm, and for Raven!" he shouted, adding (somewhat awkwardly) his own version of the battle cry in as he blasted Psykinesis with his remaining sonic cannon.
-What?! No!- shouted Psykinesis as he was driven into the pavement far below. Up above, Starfire grabbed Cyborg's shoulders, flying down for a safe landing. Beast Boy and Nightwing, whose combined efforts had just gotten Raven out of the ice, rushed over as well.
"And this is for Malaysia!" said Nightwing, holding up another freeze disk. The he gave a "Hyah!" for dramatic effect as he tossed the disk at the still recuperating villain.
It froze the mass of psychic energy solid.
No one was celebrating, though, and Beast Boy pointed out why. "Who wants to bet he ain't down yet?" he said, preparing himself. The other Titans did so as well. They did so rightfully, it appeared, as the ice broke outwards, shards flying directly towards the Titans. Starfire and Cyborg did most of the work melting the shards, but Robin and his exploding disks did their fair share too. Suddenly, all four Titans were flat on the ground.
-Enough of this!- shouted Psykinesis angrily. A nearby skyscraper suddenly was torn out of the ground and began glowing, brightly, with pink energy. Psykinesis flew into the air quickly and raised the monolith above his "head". -Farewell, Titans!- And he tossed the building at them.
"Azarath Metrion Zinthos!"
I'm sure you all knew this was coming, but it's still a relief to hear. A black beam of energy impacted the building ,pushing it back from its intended target. Psykinesis caught it and began pushing back. It appeared to be a stalemate -Ha!- he scoffed. -You think I didn't know that was coming?!-
"I don't care what you know is coming or not!" shouted Raven, eyes glowing with her signature white-dark energy. "I'm going to beat you, because you've hurt too many innocent people to walk away unscratched!" And she pushed harder, the building actually moving a couple of feet towards Psykinesis.
This couple feet was apparently all it took, as the Titans finally managed to stand up. Beast Boy suddenly grinned. "It's like I said, dude!" said Beast Boy. "Just because you know what's coming doesn't mean you can stop it!"
-Grr...after I deal with the girl, you're next, you annoying little green vermin!-shouted Psykinesis.
"That's right, drag my skin color into this..." Beast Boy said, suddenly grousing. "You don't see me making fun of you because you're pink, do you?"
"Alright, Titans!" said Nightwing. "It seems Psykinesis only has so much energy to give...so if we keep battering at him, then eventually..."
"One of us is gonna hit hard enough to break through his preplanned defense!" said Cyborg.
"Got it!" said Beast Boy, running forward.
"What is he doing?" asked Cyborg, a little incredulous.
"He appears to be running towards the mean ball of pink energy we are fighting, yes?" asked Starfire.
"Beast Boy!" shouted Nightwing. "We don't have a plan yet!"
"I don't need no stinkin' plan!" shouted back Beast Boy.
"That explains so much..." said Cyborg. Raven would have said it, except she was playing tug-of-war in reverse with a psychic psycho.
Beast Boy ran up behind Psykinesis. He felt a thought. -T-Rex again? You really are uncreative...-
"And you," said Beast Boy, "Are way too confident!" with that, he transformed into the previously mentioned dinosaur, towering over the villain. He took a step forward, head crouched, and bit into the force field Psykinesis put up ahead of time. Still, this allowed Raven to push the building forward a little bit, and the downward motion of the bite brought Psykinesis down to ground level.
The Titans, seeing Beast Boy had managed to get this "plan" up and running, followed Beast Boy's lead, rushing forward and banging on the barrier. At first, nothing seemed to happen.
WHACK. WHACK.
BZZT.
CRASH.
Suddenly, Psykinesis grunted. The force field got noticeably thinner, and the building moved forward a couple feet. The Titans, seeing their success, threw in a few more complex moves.
CRACKLE.
WIFFWIFFWIFFCRASH.
SHOOM, SHOOM, SHOOM.
Cyborg grabbed a nearby lamppost and threw it. Starfire melted it in midair, repeating an earlier combo. The hot metal sliced through the force field, but it quickly stood up again.
GROPOPOP.
KLANG.
BERAOAW.
Nightwing leapt backwards into the air, letting Starfire catch him. She spun around several times and, with a kiss ("For luck!"), threw him. He came down on the shield much harder than he would have normally and his efforts, combined with Beast Boy's gorilla punch and Cyborg's left hook, made the shield thicker. The Titans were confused until they looked over and saw the building had moved a great distance forward.
Raven was walking forward too, towards the building. She stopped about a foot away, increased the amount of energy around her hands, andslammed her dainty fingers, knuckles, and palm into its surface. Another great distance was moved forwards. "Keep going! I think one more attack should do it!" she shouted, now able to speak.
-No!- screamed Psykinesis, utterly fearful. -Stop! I beg of you!-
NALPORONON.
BOONONGIN.
ZAP.
"Or not..." murmured Raven, but then, she wasn't too far off.
"Where's that hot-headed arrogance of yours now, huh?!" taunted Beast Boy to Psykinesis.
"You know the word 'arrogance?'" asked Cyborg.
"Shut up and give me the catapult..." said Beast Boy. He was referring to a combo he and Cyborg had devised...he figured that after two years, Cyborg would've made that necessary adjustments.
"You know we haven't tested out that move yet!" said Cyborg.
"Well, we are now!" said Beast Boy, proving once again that he needs no stinkin' plan.
"Okay, man, it's your body..." said Cyborg, shrugging. He then turned away from Psykinesis and Beast Boy, a catapult popping out of his left shoulder. Beast Boy hopped in, now an armadillo. "Yo, Nightwing! Hey man, stop beating on that force field and look over here!" Cyborg shouted. Nightwing stopped beating on the force field and looked over, a little angrily. "Um, I mean, Nightwing, sir! Permission to fire, sir?"
"You've gone from one extreme to the other, Cyborg," said Nightwing. "Nevertheless, permission granted."
Starfire giggled at the opportunity to try out this new move, (Or maybe at Nightwing's "wit") and then flew out a great distance. The green armadillo in the catapult rolled into a ball, shortly before he was flung out to Starfire. Without his right hand to balance him, Cyborg fell over.
Behind him, Nightwing walked up to Psykinesis spun around his bo staff a few times, and drove the iron bar into the force field. It slowly began to crack.
-NO!- shouted the villain, a little humiliated he was getting defeated so...comically.
Meanwhile, Starfire caught Beast Boy, tossed him slightly up into the air, caught him again, giggled, surrounded Beast Boy with green energy, and threw him. Hard. Beast Boy flew like a football, though he was shaped like a soccer ball...and he spun like a top, which isn't like a ball at all. After traveling back a great distance, he gave one final spin and transformed into a rhinoceros.
The building stopped moving, Raven ready to move it at the last second so Beast Boy wouldn't get hurt.
Nightwing drove the bo staff into the ground and used it to help his leap away.
Psykinesis "looked" up to see Beast Boy plummeting towards him, spinning having built up kinetic energy, Starbolt building up more, and horn focusing it.
The green rhinoceros Beast Boy was gave a surprisingly evil smirk.
Everyone watched the rhino's descent.
-Ah, crud...- said Psykinesis, nicely summarizing the situation.
Beast Boy impacted.
Raven tried to move the building out of the way, but she needn't have bothered.
The massive explosion of psychic energy took care of the building.
Psykinesis's scream was heard loud and clear as all the psychic energy was driven from his body. So was Beast Boy's. In fact, Beast Boy's was even louder, and it echoedlonger in their minds after it had subsided. But then again, they didn't know when it subsided, considering that the sound of the explosion hit their ears long before the screams were over. The others could only stare in shock at the silhouette of Beast Boy, now human, taking a massive amount of energy point blank.
Finally, with one last resounding boom, the smoke came in place of the explosion, obscuring what had happened. Everyone spoke at once.
"BEAST BOY!"
They ran towards the smoldering crater, prepared for the worst. Seconds passed, ever so slowly.
The smoke finally cleared, and the team all looked around, frantically. They looked for a sign, a piece of cloth, a green, pointed ear, a stupid smile, anything. But it was obvious...
No one was there.
"No!" said Raven, more shocked than any of them. She hadn't even gotten a chance to say goodbye...or, more importantly, to talk about...that incident...
Starfire sniveled, then began to cry, burying her head on Nightwing's shoulder. Nightwing frowned deeply, putting his hand on her shoulder, eyes filled (even through his mask) with remorse.
"I tried to tell him it was too dangerous..." said Cyborg, "But would he listen? No! He never listens! He..." Cyborg stopped, suddenly staring at the ground. "He's gone..."
Starfire sobbed even more deeply now, and Raven began to cry too. Not much, just a tear or two...she was too shocked to do much more.
Nightwing tightened his fist, the most anger he would allow himself at this point. "Psykinesis..." he muttered, teeth gritted.
There were a few moments of extremely long silence. A cough broke it.
The Titans all looked up. Somewhere in the crater, a bit of dust started moving. A figure stood up. The Titans were shocked again, this time in a good way...unless this was another of Psykinesis's tricks?
The figure walked toward them, limping slightly and coughing. It looked up, blinked...
...and flashed that trademark grin.
"Beast Boy!" they shouted again, rushing towards him. They all hugged him at once, and he hugged back. He suddenly chuckled.
"Anyone get the number of that atom bomb?" he asked. The Titans chuckled, but not because of the joke...they were giddy. They let the green changeling go, finally.
"You green-haired moron!" ribbed Cyborg good-naturedly. "I told you not to do that move!"
"What can I say?" chuckled Beast Boy. "I've always had a flair for thedramatique!"
"Just try and control yourself next time, alright, Beast Boy?" asked Nightwing.
Beast Boy nodded...then suddenly frowned. "Oh, that's right!" said Beast Boy, turning towards Raven. "I wasn't supposed to worry you like that anymore, was I?"
"I think I can forgive you," said Raven.
Beast Boy smiled. There was a short silence, before Cyborg nudged Raven. "Well ,what're you waiting for?" the half-mechanical Titan asked Raven, "Give your man a kiss!"
Starfire giggled her trademark giggle, and Raven thought fast. "I would," she started, just before the answer came to her, "And I do really want to, but 'my man'..." and she looked at Cyborg, eyebrow raised, who in turn looked very innocent. She resumed her explanation. "'My Man' still looks...a little tender."
"Yeah, kind of..." said Beast Boy, massaging his own lower back a little. "But don't worry...a couple minutes and I'll be ready for anything!"
"Glad to hear it," said Raven. Inside, she thought, -Kiss him?! I'm glad he's alright, but...KISS him?!-
0 0 0
A couple minutes later, police arrived, and the kiss was forgotten as they stored the excess psychic energy left over in a special storage container and began talking with the Titans over exactly what happened. A couple minutes into the talk, Psykinesis reformed himself. But, his powers were ineffective against the specially-made plastic dome that surrounded him, and he spent his time ramming into it very uselessly. A police officer suddenly waved over Nightwing, who in turn suddenly looked very sick.
"I'll be right back, guys..." he mumbled, leaving them to talk amongst themselves.
Beast Boy smiled, lately having been glad to be alive since...well, you know. Raven suddenly took him aside. "Yeah?" he asked.
"A bit overacting, don't you think?" she asked.
"What?...oh, the ready for anything thing...I don't know, I just thought that-"
"On second thought, forget it," said Raven. "But I still want to talk to you later...privately...about the argument."
"Great!" said Beast Boy, beaming. "Wait, I mean, not great, I mean...it's not great we have to talk but I'm glad we're going to? Um..."
Raven sighed.
"Bad news, team..." said Nightwing, coming back over. The Titans all looked at him. "Looks like all the property damage has set us back pretty steeply...we now owe the city $15,000..."
Everyone present gasped. "WHAT?!" they said as one.
"But, Nightwing!" Starfire said, floating quickly up to him. "I thought that the government payed for all the damaged we caused to the city with our battles?"
"Usually, yes," explained Nightwing, "But if we really mess things up, and especially if it's our fault, we have to pay some of the expenses..." he suddenly smirked. "If you want to know more, you can just ask Beast Boy."
All the Titans looked to the offending changeling, who looked peeved. He sighed. "Okay, admittedly, the 'Sheep Parade' was totally my fault...but the 'Merry-go-round-and-round Incident' was a total accident in which all the events were out of my control...and the "String Cheese Theory' was just not me!"
"But friend Beast Boy," said Starfire, "You were holding the block of cheese when we arrived..."
"And the strainer!" interjected Cyborg.
"Not to mention the fact that you were covered in marinara sauce..." murmured Raven.
"I WAS FRAMED!"
0 0 0
"Ah..." said Cyborg, for once the team had finished going through the red tape, payed everything off, finished apologizing to the owners of Mieux en Ville, and had the celebratory victory dinner, the sun had set. It was 7:29, and everyone was ready to relax. "Finally, we're back at home...I don't know about y'all, but-"
Whump.
Everyone turned around to see Beast Boy passed out on the floor. "Oh, great!" said Cyborg, worried again. "He didn't tell us he was in THIS bad of a shape!"
"Shut up and help us move him..." grumbled Raven.
0 0 0
Beast Boy had come out of unconsciousness, but still wasn't awake yet. In short, he was dreaming.
In his dream, he was inside Raven's mind again. He had been for the last several hours in dreamland, but only for about half an hour out here in the real world. He looked around, lonely...Raven's mind was completely empty. He had checked every nook and cranny. He had also checked every crevice, dune, and dimension. Nothing. He had done so in utter silence, with barely even a thought throughout the dream. He looked around again, and took a deep breath.
"HELLO!" he screamed desperately.
All he could hear was his own echo. He sat down, knees bent, folded his arms across his knees, and bent his head onto his arms. Universal signs of sadness.
Finally, someone answered back.
"There's no one here, Beast Boy..."
Not that answering back was necessarily a good thing.
Beast Boy stood and turned. A figure was there...he was about Beast Boy's height, but any other feature was unrecognizable...he was wearing a dark brown cloak, maybe black?...who could tell in this light? A chain hung around his neck...no, it was attached to his shoulders. The figure spoke again. "No one but you and me..."
Beast Boy tensed. The voice was monotone and gave no hint to either good or evil, happiness or sadness, friendship or hatred...
...so how did it manage to sound so scary?
"W-who are you...?" Beast Boy stammered.
"That depends entirely on who you are..." the figure said, vaguely. The monotone was still there...not a monotone with potential for emotion, either, unlike Raven's. Maybe that was what was so scary about it.
"What?" said Beast Boy, backing away...there was something about this guy that he definitely didn't like.
"I am either you best friend..." said the figure, leaving the rest of his sentence unfinished.
Beast Boy bumped into something behind him. He turned around.
There was the figure.
Beast Boy practically ran backwards, but tripped. The figure took a step forward and looked down. Beast Boy looked up.
"...or your worst enemy," the being finished.
Beast Boy's breathing had quickened. Sweat fell off of him like rain. Tears actually formed in his eyes. -Why am I so scared?- he thought.
The figure took another step forward, and somehow offered his hand without moving said hand out of the cloak's long sleeve. "Don't be afraid..." said the mysterious man. "Take my hand..."
Beast Boy looked at the hand for a long time...a short time...no time...less than no time. Time was moving backwards, it seemed. He looked up.
There, in the blackness of the hood, he saw himself. He was on a riverboat. He could tell it was the past, somehow or other...so why did he look the same as he did in the present? He squinted. A hand appeared on his shoulder in the hood. The Beast Boy in the hood looked up, happily...Beast Boy gasped.
It was his parents.
His dad was holding Beast Boy's shoulder, and his mom was standing next to him. They both looked on him with pride. The Beast Boy outside the hood stared, for a long time. He suddenly felt a pressure on his own shoulder. He looked up.
There were his parents, again, still looking on him with pride.
It was his worst fear and his dearest hope, what had just happened. Beast Boy stood up, never taking his eyes off of them, the people he loved...weren't they? He blinked, and when he opened his eyes, there they were still looking...
But now, where their eyes should have been, there was darkness.
Beast Boy gasped, taking an involuntary step backwards. The figure spoke again, its monotone now gone. Now his voice had a friendly tinge to it, as if he was truly concerned for Beast Boy. "Don't be afraid of the dark..." it said, chest rising and falling as it breathed. "The darkness can be your friend...your power...your greatest weapon..."
Then, the figure didn't speak again, yet it did. A voice, the same words and same monotone as before sounded, but it seemed to come from outside the figure this time. The figure and Beast Boy's parents stepped forward.
"I am either your best friend," said the voice, as the three people besides Beast Boy in the dream moved in closer. Beast Boy didn't know whether to fight them off or embrace them. They came closer and closer, and at the very moment they touched him, Beast Boy woke up, and at the very moment Beast Boy woke up, the sentence finished. "Or your worst enemy..."
And that is why Beast Boy woke up screaming.
0 0 0
Beast Boy took several deep breaths, then looked around.
-The...the Tower!- he said to himself. -I'm safe...- and he breathed a sigh of relief.
"Have a bad dream?" asked a monotone voice behind him. Beast Boy turned, screaming.
It was Raven.
"I'll take that as a yes..." Raven mumbled, raising an eyebrow.
"Heh...sorry..." said Beast Boy. He looked around. "Um...why am I on the couch, anyway?"
"You passed out at about seven-thirty," said Raven. Beast Boy looked to the clock, which read 11:30 exactly. "At any rate, I'm glad you're awake...although you probably won't be moving around too much for the next few days. Nightwing's orders."
"Really? Well, crud..." Then Beast Boy suddenly brightened. "Well, at any rate, I feel good!" and he stood up. "Yeah, I think maybe I'll get off of this couch sometimes when the Boy Wonder isn't loo-"
Shooting, searing pain. Lots of it.
Beast Boy sat back down, grimacing heavily. Raven sweatdropped. "Yeah...you're doing pretty well there...besides, I thought your goal in life was 'maximum couch time'?" Beast Boy didn't answer this, so Raven occupied herself by walking over to the kitchen counter, where a fresh pot of herbal tea was simmering. Beast Boy watched her, eyes half-lidded. After a bit, he spoke up.
"Hey...mind if I have some?"
Raven's head popped up slightly. She turned around. Beast Boy didn'tseem to be kidding. "You...really want to try it?"
"Yeah," said Beast Boy. "I've actually wanted to for a while...I've always wondered why you think the stuff rocks so much, so I figured the best way to find out would be to taste myself."
"That would be a good way to find out," said Raven, getting out a second mug. As she poured the tea, she kept talking. "So...why didn't you ever ask me about the tea before?"
"I kinda figured that you might get mad at me for asking to use something that really only belongs to you...so I guess I waited until I was sick, so I knew you wouldn't throw me out a window or something."
"I see..." said Raven, walking over and handing Beast Boy a mug.-Does he really think I'm that...angry? Of course he does, you idiot! You remember that argument!-
She sat down on the couch, slowly sipping the warm tea. It suddenly occurred to her that she'd forgotten to warn Beast Boy about the most important part of herbal tea. "Watch out!" she suddenly said, turning. "It's hot!"
But, to her surprise, Beast Boy had already taken a great sip of less-than-boiling-hot-herb-flavored water, and he wasn't crying out in pain about his tongue. He smacked his lips a couple times. "Huh..." he mused. "Not bad...not something I'd go to the trouble of making every day, but I'd definitely be able to survive on it without complaining...better than plain water or diet soda, definitely..."
Raven was surprised once again. "Wow," she said. "Most people don't like herbal tea...too bitter for them."
"Yeah, it's pretty bitter," said Beast Boy before taking another large sip, "But I'm okay with that."
"And next you're going to start comparing the herbal tea to me, right?" Raven asked, spotting the cliché a mile away.
Beast Boy looked up from his mug, bewildered. "Huh? Why would I do that? It's not like you at all!" Raven blinked a few times. She had not been expecting that. Beast Boy slowly leaned back. "If I had to pick a food to compare you to, I'd think it would be...dark chocolate."
"How cliché," said Raven, glad that Beast Boy hadn't completely proven her estimation of his creative powers to be an underestimation.
Beast Boy looked at Raven. "Yeah, I know, the whole 'bittersweet' thing is obvious, but that's not why I'm thinking it."
"Really? Why are you thinking I'm like dark chocolate, then?" asked Raven.
"Well, first off, dark chocolate is actually the most chocolate of all chocolates."
"Excuse me?" said Raven, confused.
"Yeah, the people who make chocolate actually put in less cocoa into, like, milk chocolate than they do dark chocolate..." Beast Boy explained "The cocoa increase of dark chocolate is what makes it bitter."
"Really?" asked Raven.
"Yeah," said Beast boy. "And that's why it reminds me of you."
You could practically see the question mark above Raven's head.
"You know, 'cause you don't have any extra stuff added," said Beast Boy. "You're just...you. And that makes you awesome!" And he flashed, once again, that trademark grin.
Raven was a little flattered. "Um...thanks, Beast Boy..."
"Plus," he continued as if he hadn't heard her, which was entirely possible considering how quiet Raven had been, "Dark chocolate can't usually be found as anything besides dark chocolate...I mean, you've got chocolate cereal, chocolate syrup, hot chocolate...but you don't see nearly as many types of dark chocolate...dark chocolate won't change for anyone, but people still love it." Raven was flattered again. Beast Boy suddenly looked panicked. "In a platonic way, I mean!" he said, eager to clean up his mess.
"I see..." said Raven, slightly amused to see him feeling so awkward.
Beast Boy gave a sigh of relief before continuing. "Okay...but there's one other thing that makes me think you're like dark chocolate, Raven...dark chocolate tries to hide itself."
Raven was confused again. "What?" she asked.
"Dark chocolate is, well, dark," said Beast Boy. "At first glance, it's not a remarkable color...it blends in with the background...and yet..." and he looked contemplative. "If you put several types of chocolate on a table and compare them by sight alone, dark chocolate is what stands out the most...all the other chocolates look too much alike."
Raven was surprised, and she said so. "Wow...I'm surprised you were able to come up with all that..."
"To be honest, so am I..." admitted Beast Boy.
Raven sighed, but only half meant it. There was a short silence. "Thanks...for the compliments..." said Raven, feeling a little awkward.
"You're welcome!" said Beast Boy, glad to have made her happy. "Now it's your turn!" Raven looked at him, blinking. "You know...tell me about which food I remind you of!"
Raven sat there for a few seconds, taking a sip of tea. She set the mug down, and told Beast Boy honestly, "I'm sorry, Beast Boy, but I've never really given much thought to what food you're like..."
"Oh! That's okay..." he said, but Raven noted the tinge of disappointment in his voice.
"But," she said, "I'll make sure to think it over and tell you about it later."
"Cool," said Beast Boy, and then he picked up his mug of herbal tea and finished it.
There was a short, but not uncomfortable silence.
"So..." began Raven. Beast Boy looked to her. "So, what was your dream about? Or do you not feel comfortable talking about it...?"
"Nah, I'm okay," reassured Beast Boy. "Let's see...my dream was about...about...um..."
"Can't remember?" asked Raven.
"I remember how it made me feel..." said Beast Boy. "I was frightened, there was some relief, but mainly...I was confused. Really confused."
"Sounds like one of your dreams, alright," deadpanned Raven.
"Watch it," said Beast Boy, smirking slightly.
"In all seriousness, though, I understand what you're talking about..." said Raven. "Those kinds of dreams where you remember how it made you feel but don't remember why...those are the worst kind."
"Exactly," said Beast Boy. Raven took her last sip of tea.
"Well..." said Raven. "I guess I should be going to bed...good night."
"Good night, Raven!" said Beast Boy, lying back down as she got up. "I'd better get some shut-eye too. That dream took a lot out of me!"
"Funny," said Raven without smiling. "Very...funny."
"You don't have to fake it just because I'm sick..." said Beast Boy.
"Thanks..." said Raven, relieved...she was a great actor, except when it counted. She walked out of the room, throwing another "Good night," over her shoulder.
"Night, Rae..." murmured Beast Boy as he slowly fell asleep.
The rest of the night would be good dreams for Beast Boy...not "Hey I'm flying, there's an ice cream factory and a million dollars all for me" kind of good dreams, but good dreams nevertheless. He needed good dreams.
Raven, meanwhile, entered the door marked Beast Boy and Raven. She rolled her eyes at the thought of Beast Boy mentioning something about 'top billing', took off her extra accessories, and lied down on the bed. And as she lay there, trying to go to sleep, an emotion's voice came through loud and clear.
-You know,- said Affection,-That hug wasn't completely acting...-
-Shut up...- responded Raven.
Aw...cute...okay, not really. At any rate, my usual note-taking...
"...in other words, the perfect place for a romantic date."
And I continue to put Beast Boy and Raven outside their comfort zone. It's a lot of fun, you should try it.
"I...actually don't really know..."
And neither do I, so don't ask me why, alrighty? Good! Sometimes the best way to make a problem go away is to acknowledge it...
"The waiter gave one right back, further crushing his stereotypical French waiter demeanor."
I figured that if everything else about Mieux en Ville was going to be stereotypical, why not make the waiter unstereotypical?
"You're only eating that because of the movie Ratatouille."
And also because it's the only French vegetarian food that I, the author, know. Also, something else: even though Ratatouille is my least liked Pixar film so far, it's still three times better than almost every non-Pixar film. Fact.
"Doot, doo doo doo, doot doo doo doot doo"
I just horribly mangled the Teen Titans theme song. I'm truly sorry.
"He's got incredible telepathic and telekinetic powers."
Ah, Psykinesis, the first Teen Titans villain I ever made up...although, to be honest, take away his telepathy and he's about as tough as Dr. Light...with a cold. Still, his telepathy makes him a great villain...I give anyone who wants to permission to use this villain for their own fan fiction, just so long as you give me credit.
"And I know this is completely off topic, but I have to say that if you're going up against the Titans, you should probably try a construction site instead of a French restaurant next time..."
He would have tried a construction site, too, except Beast Boy and Raven weren't there, and he wanted revenge for something. Something you'll probably never find out about, sorry.
"Just because you know what's coming," said Beast Boy, "Doesn't mean you can stop it!"
Words to live by when you're fighting a psychic. Or Slade.
"This was Psykinesis' first (although, admittedly, only) mistake thus far: underestimating Nightwing's strength."
You'll note something: The only times Psykinesis ever got hit were when he underestimated one of the Titans. Very stupid of him, really.
"I've still got the boom if you've still got the sonic."
Yay Sonic Boom! Really, though, why did they only use that move once? I mean, sure, it has specific requirements in wall space, but I'm pretty sure those requirements were filled at least one other time...
"-I don't know why,- mused Psykinesis, -But I've always had an affinity for scythes...-"
Once again, a character's love for something stemming from my own. Scythes rock!
"-No!- screamed Psykinesis, utterly fearful. -Stop! I beg of you!-"
Isn't it amazing how some people's personality takes a 180 degree turn when they're cornered?
"-NO!-shouted the villain, a little humiliated he was getting defeated so...comically."
And isn't it amazing how this entire chapter went from utterly seriousness to utterly ridiculous in the space of a few paragraphs?
"The others could only stare in shock at the silhouette of Beast Boy, now human, taking a massive amount of energy point blank."
And then right back to serious again? But, seriously, though...Beast boy took a beating in this chapter...even compared to the other Titans, who lost an arm, were crushed, sent flying over the horizon, battered, and...now that I think about it, Star got off pretty easy...that's weird.
"Give your man a kiss!"
Can you say 'awkward'? At any rate...you all wanted to see this. I know you did. I would've loved to type it, but...yeah. Too awkward and illogical, unfortunately.
"But I still want to talk to you later...privately...about the argument."
So why didn't she? Well, she forgot. Things got hectic as soon as they could have been private. Can you blame her?
"Looks like all the property damage has set us back pretty steeply...we now owe the city $15,000..."
I imagine the Titans have some sort of deal with the government where they get paid a certain amount of money for saving the city, as well as get provided with food and housing and such, while the government pays for and/or replaces everything that gets broken during the fights in the city...except in cases such as those above. No, you're probably not going to find out exactly what Beast Boy did, or whether he was really framed...
"He didn't tell us he was in THIS bad of a shape!"
Well, he was impaled several times, and energy blasted, and badly beaten...though his animal genes let him live, I'm sure he didn't come out of all that unscathed.
"In short, he was dreaming."
At first, I was going to have Beast Boy just wake up, no dreaming required...but then I thought that was too boring. So, I had him have a nightmare...the nightmare was always going to be about him meeting something or doing something in Raven's mind, but I didn't decide on what until I wrote it down. Speaking of...
"A figure was there..."
A slice of cake with extra frosting and a mention in one of the chapters I write in the future both go to the first person to guess where the design of ?'s outfit came from...not that wherever it came from has anything to do with this story, mind you. No crossovers here.
...I just realized, this is my first successful story that makes absolutely zero use of crossovering. Weird.
"And that is why Beast Boy woke up screaming."
I know I would...seriously, I creeped myself out writing that dream sequence...I really am glad I did, though, because writing it opens up doors to new plotways, which means the story will be longer, which means I can write more and you can read more. Sweet!
"Hey...mind if I have some?"
That's right, I made use of the plot device where Beast Boy tries Raven's tea...but then I subverted it by having him neither love it nor hate it. General contradictoriness for the win!
"You remember that argument!-"
Aha! She does remember it! So why does she not speak? Well, it's late, and it's been a long day...I don't think either of them are ready to talk at the moment. Maybe in the morning?
"...dark chocolate."
Another cliché! Hip hip hooray! Although, in my defense, I tried to think of reasons that were true about dark chocolate and Raven that most people wouldn't think of...and I think I did pretty well, too.
"Those kinds of dreams where you remember how it made you feel but don't remember why...those are the worst kind."
Definitely the worst kind...half the torture is not knowing. If I'm afraid for my life, I at least want to know why! Well, the dream's over, so Beast Boy's okay...
...or is he?
"-That hug wasn't completely acting...-"
Before you get any ideas, things were still purely platonic. After all, you'd hug your best friend if he or she had just gone through a life-death experience, yes?
By the way...
DISCLAIMER: Teen Titans does not belong to me. It belongs to DC Comics and Glen Murakami. Ratatouille does not belong to me either. It belongs to Disney and Pixar. The unnamed (as of now) property I will deal with after the contest is over, which should be pretty quick.
Well, on that note, the chapter is over, and the next one should be up by tomorrow! That just leaves the final word...AHEM!
God bless you all!