Chapter 2:
Beast Boy raced forward, wanting to get this over and done with as quickly as possible. As he rounded his first turn a rumbling noise filled his ears. He looked up to the canyon wall to find that a landslide was heading his way. 'Hawk" was his first instinct but, luckily he caught himself and, instead, sprinted onward until he was out of the danger zone. He only just made it and his ears twitched as soon as he heard Robin yelling out to him
"Beast Boy, get it together!"
He was about to retort back but realised that Robin was right. That had been a near miss and he could have avoided it easily if he wanted to. It might have only been a training course but it was full of real danger.
He rounded the next corner and whimpered as he saw a small laser sense motion and aim in his direction. He leapt out of the way, coming out in a tuck and roll only to leap out the way of another laser.
'This would be SO much easier if I were a hummingbird' he thought as he dodged another shot.
Through various leaps, flips, and bounds, Beast Boy managed to make it through the laser field. He slowed his pace as he felt the pain in his spine double and a new headache form. Up ahead was flat ground and Beast Boy could only guess that something was going to come popping out from under ground. Of course as soon as he put a toe onto the field a large concrete pillar, rounded at the top, shot out of the ground. Beast Boy stumbled around it and continued across the dirt field, zigzagging in accordance to the pillars.
"BB what are you doing?! You can whoop this in cheetah mode easy!" Cyborg yelled with a hint of confusion lacing his words.
'So true…' Beast Boy whined to himself.
He, very clumsily, made it through the rest dirt field as his legs started giving out on him in alternation. They were still sore and slightly swollen from earlier that day and changing his direction so quickly and with such force wasn't doing him any favours. He felt like one giant bruise, sure that there must be internal bleeding in every portion of his anatomy. His stomach was twisting up and the only thing that kept Beast Boy running was the fact that his friends were watching and that there was only on part of the course left.
He could see the dead end coming up in front of him and he kept his eyes and ears alert for any signs of movement. He heard another rumble and immediately looked up, expecting to see another landslide but, instead, his feet completely lost track of the ground and he began to fall. Without hesitating to think, Beast Boy shifted into a crow, pain rippling through his body. He gave a 'caw' in anguish and flapped his tired, sore wings furiously to bring himself back out onto even ground. He hesitated before shifting back, preparing himself to show no trace of pain. His body stretched back into its original form, the pain once again tearing through his thin frame, and he climbed back up to the control panel with a sheepish grin plastered on his face.
The other Titans didn't look amused, least of all Robin. Starfire had a questioning look in her eye that was all too familiar, and Cyborg and Raven were watching Beast Boy with their eyebrows furrowed.
"What was that?" Robin asked bluntly, "these training sessions aren't a joke Beast Boy."
'A joke. That's all they ever see me as isn't it?' Beast Boy thought.
"I was just trying out a new approach…" Beast Boy said in a half statement, half question.
Robin raised an eyebrow, "And what approach might that be?"
Beast Boy laughed nervously before answering, "Uuh, your approach…kind of."
Robin's face turned more serious, "Beast Boy if you want to run the course the same way I do, I suggest you train that way. As it is, you have your own style and it's dangerous for you not to use it to its fullest potential. Do you know how you get to your fullest potential?" he asked in a rather condescending tone.
"Training." Beast Boy mumbled moodily.
Robin nodded once and then turned to the rest of the group, "and that goes for everyone."
Cyborg laughed and turned to Robin "Let's just be glad he didn't try Raven's approach". Starfire and Robin chuckled contentedly and Raven smirked a little.
'Oh no. I was wrong. I'm not just a joke; I'm stupid too.' Beast Boy thought, 'Oh well. At least everyone's distracted enough to forget the stats.'
Cyborg was playfully imitating Beast Boy on the course trying to use Raven's powers against the avalanche. He fell to the ground, pretending to be a pancake.
"Well, if that's all then I'm gonna go catch myself an afternoon nap" Beast Boy said.
"Oh yah," Cyborg said getting up off the ground and dusting himself off "we haven't checked your stats yet."
Beast Boy tried to act casually "Well, like Robin said, they don't show any of my full potential so there's really no point in analysing them, right?"
Cyborg looked at the control panel and then back to Beast Boy with a sneaky grin on his face. "No point? Sorry man, this thing is pure entertainment"
The Titans crowded around the screen, the video on one side and the stats on the other. After they got past the dirt field, Cyborg stopped the video.
"Hey BB, what's going on here? I've been watching your stats and, while you were originally in some pain, it got worse over the course of the training field. Watch…"
Cyborg rewound the tape and went forward a little faster to show the increase of Beast Boy's pain levels. When they got the end of the dirt field Cyborg paused the tape again, waiting for an explanation.
"Hey, like I said, I got a little beat up while fighting Cinderblock this morning. The course probably just aggravated my injuries."
Cyborg appeared to accept the answer but not without another unintentionally snarky remark,
"I didn't know you knew the word aggravated."
He resumed the tape and the part Beast Boy dreaded came next. Hoping beyond all hope that Cyborg would be watching the video instead of the stats, Beast Boy watched as the ground crumbled beneath him, he morphed, and his pain spiked. For a second, Beast Boy believed Cy had missed it but a moment later he rewound the tape and stopped it where the spike was at its absolute highest. The Titans looked away from the screen and to Beast Boy for an answer. He shrunk away, his mind reeling, looking for an excuse, an out…but it wasn't coming.