That Voodoo that You Do
"STANKBALL! WHOO!" yelled a half metallic individual as he hurled a ball of sticky, stinky, green socks across the room at a smaller green child
But as the ball of stank hurtled through the air it lost structural integrity and fell apart before reaching its intended target.
"Aw man." the metal man said in disdain, dropping his arms to prove his disappointment
"Dude, guess no Stankball today." replied the green boy "The ball just won't hold together." he explained
"No way man, I've been waiting for a good game of Stankball for too long to let it die today." he proclaimed "There has got to be a way to keep the ball from falling apart" he muttered
"Well Cy, maybe we can tie it together. I got this piece of cloth and I think it'll work." BeastBoy suggested
"You know B, that's not a half bad idea." Cyborg replied "You know B, you're scaring me." he told him
"Ha ha. I'm not as dumb as everyone says I am." he replied
"I know dog, just messing with ya." he chuckled
After the light banter BeastBoy went to work by taking a piece of cloth that he used to wipe his face whenever he got sweaty and tied it to the ball, securing the nasty socks that composed it, together. With a now, stable ball the two boys could resume their favorite made up game.
"You're going down B!" Cyborg yelled, hurling the ball at BeastBoy
"No way Cy. I'm gonna make it to the lightening round!" BeastBoy exclaimed, dodging the stinky pile and returning the favor
The two boys bounded up and down the halls, passing rooms in a flash. Soon however they grew dangerously close to Raven's room and the girl in question was busy reading one of her ancient tomes until the god awful noise of BeastBoy and Cyborg's laughter broke her concentration.
"Peons." she muttered, trying to block out their noise
Nonetheless, try as she might she could not ignore the blatant disregard for her quiet and decided that hurting them would be the only way to quiet them. Stalking over to her door she opened it, ready to dismember if need be, but as soon she opened her door she got quite a surprise. BeastBoy, not knowing that the door would be opening, fired the stankball at Cyborg who was currently standing in front of the door. The large boy dove out of the way at the last second and when the door open Raven got a face-full of stank.
"WHAM!"
Upon impact her head cocked back and the force threw her of balance. Raven's new best friends were stink and green...for about five seconds. That was when her brain registered that BeastBoy was probably the one who clobbered her. Also her brain told her that BeastBoy would pay. But unknown to her the piece of cloth that kept the ball together flew off and landed on her nightstand, on her enchanted mirror. But Raven would need no cloth to keep the ball together; her powers did that for her. Laughter ended when BeastBoy and Cyborg saw Raven begin to regain her balance and the Stankball glow in her dark powers.
"Crap." BeastBoy muttered
"BeastBoy...RUN!" hollered Cyborg, hauling tail
BeastBoy was not far behind him and Raven was not far behind BeastBoy, the look of wanting them both dead clear in her eyes.
With the three Titans running around the tower and the other two (Starfire and Robin) doing 'who-knows-what' nobody noticed Raven's mirror pull in the strange cloth that fell on top of it.
Out of all the emotions in Raven's head the most powerful of them were Rage and, surprisingly, Timid. The reason for this phenomena was for Rage embodied not only Raven's anger but, her demonic side as well while Timid portrayed not only sadness but, fear also. Fear caused the tower to turn into a haunted house and if it had not been for Raven coming to terms with that fear the darkness might have overwhelmed her. Luckily Timid was far too much in her character to release such power normally. She, unlike her sister emotions, did not meditate or train or have fun...in a manner of speaking. Timid's way of passing the time by was by playing with her dolls, one of each of the five Titans. It was her little way of conversing with them without actually conversing with them. Now, dolls, in a person's mind, a very strange thing. But with the ability to create these thought patterns Timid was able to create these dolls. But playing with dolls by yourself can be lonesome, but Timid enjoyed the solitude. One reason because her other sister emotions were usually too busy or by Timid's terms, didn't play right. Happy usually played but then got so caught up into something else that she would wander off and leave Timid. Knowledge was too literal with pretending and ended up overanalyzing everything. Bravery played far too rough with the dolls and Timid usually avoided her. Rudeness was well...just plain rude and ended up either burping Timid away or falling asleep. Rage was out of the question. She would most likely destroy the dolls if she had half the chance. The only emotions to play with Timid regularly were Wisdom and Affection but as of late the two emotions were just so busy. When Timid, timidly asked why the only reply she got from either one was
"A great change is about to take place and it will affect all of us, you more so than anyone."
Now Timid wasn't a fan of changes and liked things to run normally but she was not one to argue so she didn't voice her quiet opinion. She simply played with her dolls, mimicking the Titans day-to-day activities (when they were not fighting crime). As of right now she was pressing her Robin doll and Starfire doll together as if they were hugging each other deeply. And for some reason their faces kept touching. But soon she turned to her BeastBoy, Cyborg, and Raven dolls. She had the BeastBoy and Cyborg dolls running away while the Raven doll was hot on their trail, the normal angry look on its face. Timid sighed.
"Raven is very angry with them...again. I hope she does not hate them." She thought
Timid knew very well that Raven didn't hate Cyborg nor BeastBoy but it was in her character to worry over simple things so she could not help herself. But playing with dolls helped her not worry so often, it was just that she wished the dolls would play with her instead of the other way around. You could sum up what she as experiencing into three simple words.
"I am lonely."
However, her loneliness would come to an end in quite a while.
"What is that?" she wondered as she saw something float from the sky
From the looks of it she saw a piece of green cloth, floating down from the dark sky. At first she thought it might belong to Bravery, thinking that the emotion must have torn a piece of her cloak by accident.
"I should return it to her." Timid thought "I hope she doesn't think I tried to take it or it did it." she thought as well
Grabbing the piece of cloth however quickly showed her that it did not belong to Bravery.
"It smells like BeastBoy." She murmured, holding the cloth to her nose
The smell was not that bad and frankly it wasn't very sticky like BeastBoy's usually clothing items were.
"Could this be from...the real world?" she wondered, eyeing the piece of cloth diligently
It was definitely BeastBoy's. The faint pungent smell of the outside and green color assured her of that, but how exactly did it get inside the mirror? That was the true question. But, sticking true to her nature, Timid didn't push the matter further. She simply took the piece of cloth and wrapped it around the head of her BeastBoy doll. She would return the cloth when Raven decided to visit her head. However, she had no clue that, putting that piece of cloth on her BeastBoy doll, would cause so much trouble.
Raven had long ceased her hunt of BeastBoy and Cyborg, saying that she would get them later. Cyborg, tired from running for his life went to tune the T-Car, his way of relaxing, while BeastBoy sat in front of the television, watching television. That was until Raven came in and sat down next to him and started to read a book. BeastBoy did not utter a word and kept his eyes glued on the TV, hoping that if he stayed quiet enough Raven would react. Luckily his planned seemed to work and Raven did not do and say anything to him at the current moment.
"Whew, guess Raven isn't mad anymore. Better not do anything that might make her mad though." BeastBoy thought
Seemingly in the clear BeastBoy began to relax and slink back further into the sofa, until Raven's hand went up. BeastBoy immediately tensed up, thinking that Raven was going to hit him or throw him or maim him. But all her hand did was go to her head for a moment and relieve some tension she seemed to have. She barely even registered BeastBoy's stare and when she turned her head she questioned him quickly.
"What?"
"Nothing!" he replied quickly "You just look like you have headache." he replied
Then, without a moment's notice he morphed into a goldfish. Raven's eyebrow went up as she watched the boy flop around erratically. But she paid him no mind, just another of BeastBoy's antics. However, this was no antic. BeastBoy didn't morph on his own free will, it had just happened, and another problem that arose was that he could not morph back. Oh, and yet another problem was that now that he had gills instead of lungs he was starting to suffocate. He tried to portray his condition to Raven but all she heard nothing. He thought his erratic flopping would get her attention but she was too focused on her book.
"Can't breath!" he yelled in his head as the lack of oxygen started to get to him
In his last attempt to get her attention he hopped onto her lap, hoping that it would be enough. Raven looked down to see a green goldfish in her lap, its mouth opening and closing as if it were trying to communicate with her.
"BeastBoy, what are you doing?" she asked, "If you truly believe that this will make up for earlier you are sorely mistaken."
But as she nagged she noticed that his movements started to slow and his gaping mouth started to close.
"BeastBoy?"
Then he stopped all together.
"BeastBoy!"
She immediately took him in her hands and using her powers, hit the faucet at full blast! A cup made its way under the water and filled to the brim in less than ten seconds! She literally hurled him into the water and prayed that she was not too late! After a few more agonizing seconds his body began to move and his mouth opened and closed rapidly while his gills went into over time.
"Air!" he cheered
BeastBoy now had a new respect for air as he filtered it through the water, hungrily absorbing it into his body. Meanwhile Raven stood over him, watching his actions carefully. She knew this was not a prank. BeastBoy sometimes had a crude sense of humor but he would never put his life on the line for just a joke. Something was seriously wrong.
"I'm not going to ask if you are okay because it is obvious that you are not. But, if you can, can you tell me what is happening?" she asked
Through the water BeastBoy couldn't really here what Raven was saying but he did here 'what is happening' so he shook his head, indicating that he did not know what was happening.
"Can you morph back?" she asked
Once again he shook his head, but then, at that moment he morphed back to his human self, bursting the glass that he was in. Glass went flying but Raven's shield went up, saving her from being impaled. Cover in water he looked around, wondering what the heck had just happen! Raven dropped her shield and looked at BeastBoy with a mix of relief and anger.
"Well, at least you're okay." she replied, using her powers to take the broken glass and safely dispose of it.
"Okay, that was scary." he thought
"I know." she replied
"You were worried?" he asked, slightly surprised
"Of course I was." she replied, but then realized how worried she sounded "But only because you're death will be by my hands." she replied quickly
"Yeah."
"Yeah."
Then it was quiet...for about five seconds.
"Don't know what happened. I just morphed then I couldn't morph back." He said out of the blue
"You had no control?" she asked
"Nope, none." he replied "I wasn't even thinking about fish!" he exclaimed
"Maybe it was like a muscle spasm. An involuntary reaction." Raven mused
"Maybe, but that still doesn't explain why I couldn't morph back!" he told her
"Maybe..." but she was interrupted by the Titans Alert
"Trouble." they both said instinctively but Raven was the first to the computer
She quickly deciphered the emergency and figured out that there was an armed bank robbery at Jump City National.
"Titans, Go!" barked Robin from the doors and the Titans were on their way to thwart the crime
Timid was hyperventilating. The news of BeastBoy nearly suffocating was too much for her. She did not want Raven to lose a friend. She was just playing with her doll, using her powers to manipulate it structure like BeastBoy did with his body and turned it into a goldfish, then BeastBoy was in trouble and she quickly dismissed the doll. In her state her powers leap from her body erratically and one bolt hit the doll, turning back to its original form.
"He is okay." She breathed, trying to regain her breath
The other emotions had their own way of dealing with the news but Timid took it the hardest. The fear of losing him had been too great and now she was exhausted and she needed to recollect her self and gain back her lost energy.
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! (Repeated)
That was the sound of machine guns ripping across the bank as the bank robbers tried to keep the Titans at bay while they made their get away. The Titans took positions behind columns to avoid the gunfire. The firing soon ceased; to allow the robbers time to escape. However this gave the Titans time to retaliate.
"Raven! Guns!" Robin ordered
Raven quickly let out her hand and summoned her magic words.
"Azerath Metrion Zinthos!"
Each gun was incased in black and then fell apart, piece-by-piece. With their only defense against the Titans eliminated the robbers made a hasty retreat.
"Cyborg, Starfire! Car!" came Robin
With that the two Titans fired their respective energy attacks, eradicating the two back tires of the car. The car grinded to a stop and the robbers tried to get away by foot.
"BeastBoy! Get them." Robin yelled
A small humming bird flew over the heads of the robbers and instantly morphed into a Tyrannosaurus Rex.
She had to be quiet. The only way she would regain her powers was is she stayed quiet. As quiet as a mouse, a very quiet mouse.
A thunderous roar filled the city as the T-Rex stopped the robbers in their tracks! With no weapons the robbers were basically screwed and the other Titans were closing in. But then the mighty T-Rex that stood before them morphed into a wee little mouse.
"Not again!" he wailed in his head
The robbers didn't waste anytime with this sudden turn of events. Why the green changeling thought he would scare them, as a mouse was not their concern. They ran over him, nearly trampling him to death (one even tried to).
"Oh come on!" he wailed
Foolishly thinking they were in the clear the robbers never noticed the black energy shield materialize in front of them.
BLAM!
They were done after that collision.
"BeastBoy, what happened?" Robin commanded, irate that BeastBoy would pull something like this
A series of squeaks was all that Robin got as a response but, because the Boy Wonder couldn't speak mouse, he didn't understand what BeastBoy was trying to say.
"I may be able to answer that...to a degree." came Raven, after making sure the robbers could not escape
"What?"
"I am not sure of the cause but BeastBoy has been having strange spasms in his metamorphic abilities. I was witness to this abnormality earlier, before the emergency." she said, massaging her temple
"Then why didn't you tell anyone? If BeastBoy's powers are acting up then he shouldn't be out in the field." Robin asked
"Let me rephrase." she started "Right before the emergency." she replied "We had no time to tell anyone and we were all in a hurry."
"Let's just get back to the tower so we can figure this out." Robin replied, slightly exhausted
The ride back was very quiet as Robin, Raven, and BeastBoy (back to normal) wondered what caused BeastBoy's abnormality. Robin thought that BeastBoy might have been losing his grip on his powers. His DNA was unstable after all. Raven thought that maybe BeastBoy was going through a hormonal change. Puberty could be messing with his powers. BeastBoy thought that he was losing it and that he might be sent to the loony bin. But he didn't feel crazy, if that was some sort of feeling. Whatever the reason something was up and all this thinking by Raven gave her a slight headache.
"I am glad those bad men were stopped, but something is wrong with BeastBoy." Timid murmured
Her powers were still slipping from her and she had yet to calm down. She thought that playing with her dolls would help her to relax, it usually did. Now what was her favorite animal...ah yes, a whale.
"Oh no." BeastBoy muttered, doubling over in pain
"Friend, what is the matter?" Starfire asked
"Don't know, but I'm transforming, something big. A blue whale I think." he muttered "Can't control it."
"Out of the car!" Cyborg yelled
Try as he might to stop the transformation BeastBoy slowly transformed into a blue whale. Starfire didn't think, she just grabbed him and flew out of the car, immediately making her way to the beach. Her flight speed gradually slowed as he gained in weight. And if it had not been for her immense strength she would have dropped him. Finally she was over the water and started to swing the oversized mammal.
"Raah!" she roared and with all that she could muster she flung the sea creature, watching as he sailed across the sky before plummeting to the waves below.
When he hit the water the splash was monstrous, creating an updraft of water 30 feet high!
Something happened to BeastBoy, again! He turned into a blue whale and then was pulled out of the T-Car by Starfire and they both just flew away! She was just playing with her dolls when it happened. She had just turned her BeastBoy doll into...a...whale?
Could it be...me?" she wondered
When she was playing with it at first he turned into a goldfish, then a mouse, and now a whale; all the things that she did to the doll.
"It is me!" she wailed, realizing what was happening "I'm doing this to BeastBoy!"
Only one problem, she wailed and realized a little too loudly and another emotion over heard her.
"So, she is the one controlling him, eh? Interesting."
"Raaahuuuh." said the whale
After his catapulting from Starfire, BeastBoy tried in vain to communicate with the others, but they could not speak whale.
"You know, I may be able to decipher what the green bean is saying." Cyborg said
"How?" Robin asked
"Well whales and dolphins have a sort of language, a highly sophisticated one. It allows them to speak to one another even at a great distance. I might be able to use my sonic analyzer to read what he is saying." he explained
Opening up his arm Cyborg pointed it toward BeastBoy and the hum of machinery could be heard from his robotic appendage. The sounds of BeastBoy's 'language' continued to spur from his mouth and while it was not a clear translation, Cyborg's arm was able to decipher enough for the Titans to understand.
"Dude! I'm going crazy!"
"Well, he's okay...sorta." Raven quipped
"Raven...are you, okay?" Starfire asked, watching, as Raven seemed to be losing the battle of soothing her headache
"I'm okay Starfire, just a headache." She told her
That's when the eyes of BeastBoy the whale went wide.
"A headache!" came the gargled voice from Cyborg's arm
Raven had a headache when he had morphed into a fish. Then when he morphed into a mouse he saw her with a headache! She had a headache in the T-Car, now she had a headache now! Whatever was happening to him had something to do with Raven's headaches. It had something to do with her head!
Timid quickly changed the BeastBoy doll back into its normal form and kept it as far away from her as possible, scared that if she did harm to the doll she would do harm to BeastBoy.
"BeastBoy might be hurt and it's all because of ME!" she cried, putting the Niagara Falls to shame with her flow of tears
While a small moat appeared around her another emotion strolled by, scooping up the door in her hands.
"Huh?" Timid wondered after hearing footsteps
The timid emotion looked up and then fear was soon etched on her face. Standing above her was her worst nightmare.
"Rage!"
"The one and only." the red emotion replied
Then Timid saw the BeastBoy doll in Rage's clutches.
"No!"
She tried to reach for it but Rage kept it just out of her reach.
"Give it back!" she squealed, jumping for it
"Not a chance." Rage, replied, shoving Timid away "With this little thing I can cause a load of chaos." she said, "I may even be able to gain more influence." she mused, taking flight
"Nooooooooooooooooooo!" Timid cried, but it was too late
As she watched Rage fly away with the BeastBoy doll she felt herself split in two. She wanted to go after her and stop Rage but she was just far to scared to do anything. She just fell to her knees and continued to cry.
Back at the tower the Titans were trying to find out just the reason for BeastBoy's abnormality. All except, the boy in question. BeastBoy had his own lead on why this was happening. Slinking down the hallway BeastBoy made his way toward Raven's room, looking around to see if anyone was watching him. When he reached her door he looked to the left and the right before turning into a fly and squeezing under the door. In her room he morphed back to his human form and sighed a breath of relief. That was until the door opened behind him.
"Ahh!" he yelled, flipping around to come face to face with Cyborg "Dude! How'd you get in here? This is Raven's room!" he squealed
"By-pass code." Cyborg replied "And you should know you shouldn't come in here without permission." Cyborg scolded
"Oh yeah." he said sheepishly
"Why are you in here?" Cyborg asked
"It's like this dude. Every time I've transformed without my permission Raven's had a headache."
"Yeah, so?"
"Well, that must mean something's going on inside her head that's making me transform or something." he replied
"What, Raven's doing this?" Cyborg asked
"I think."
"What, she's getting you back from earlier?" Cyborg asked
"Nah, Raven wouldn't transform me during a battle or in the T-Car. Maybe something's going on in her head and I'm about to find out." BeastBoy replied, heading toward the nightstand
"Oh no...you ain't thinking what I think you thinking?" Cyborg asked
"You got it."
"Not again. Remember what happened last time we went into Rae's head. I don't want a repeat performance of last time." Cyborg told him
"Well Trigon's not around anymore so we should be okay." BeastBoy replied
"We...who said anything about 'we'?" Cyborg asked, "I ain't going in Rae's head."
"Well I don't want to go alone." BeastBoy said
"To bad, 'cause you're not going at all. Come here."
"Sorry Cy." BeastBoy said, looking into the mirror
"A dark hand reached out from the mirror and hung in the air for a few seconds before dive-bombing on BeastBoy and pulling him in
"B!"
Cyborg leapt for BeastBoy and tried to pull him back, but like before, it was in vain as they were both pulled into Raven's head.
"Waah!" BeastBoy yelled
"Not again!" Cyborg yelled
Meanwhile, in a different part of Raven's mind, a dark emotion that went by the name of Rage was busily manipulating a doll that had now become a tool in a grand plan of conquest.
"Wisdom!" yelled of very sad, scared emotion
The aforementioned emotion calmly turned to her sister emotion and saw the look of worry on face. A normal occurrence for Timid...except for now, she looked as if she was flying for dear life.
"Sister Timid, is something the matter?" Wisdom asked calmly
Timid though, not in the right state of mind, didn't hear Wisdom and because of her current velocity she couldn't stop herself.
KER-BLAM!
A tangled heap of arms and legs was now on the ground, composed of Timid and Wisdom. The near concussion that Wisdom endure kept her out of the picture for a few moments, so it was up to Timid to pull herself away, untangling herself from her wiser counterpart.
"Wisdom! Are you okay?" Wisdom asked, slowly taking steps away
The next word that uttered from Wisdom's mouth was never heard of by the grey-cloaked emotion and when Timid heard it she nearly had a heart attack.
"Wha?"
"Oh no, I hurt YOU!" she wailed "I SO SORRY!" she cried, holding her face in her hands
"Calm yourself sister, I cannot be truly hurt. I am just rather surprise from the sudden impact." She told her
"So you're, okay?" Timid asked hopefully
Wisdom sighed, but smiled slightly as well. Timid was rather naive in a way. Almost like a small child.
"Yes, I am okay." she told Timid, giving her a reassuring smile "Now, may I ask, why are you in such a hurry to see me?" Wisdom asked
At that Timid shrank back and looked at her toes, looking surprisingly like a child who had been caught with their hand in the cookie jar.
"Well..." she mumbled, idly playing with her fingers "I...BeastBoy...Rage." she mumbled, unsure of her words
"This would not happen to be about the previous occurrences with BeastBoy, would it?" she asked, though she had feeling it was
"Well...yes."
"I thought. I believe that it relates to Raven's recent headaches. Her powers have been expressing themselves unbeknownst to her. I was unable to find the source of the problem because the occurrences were quick and small. I do believe however that an emotion must be expressing herself without knowing it." Wisdom mused, "Thus Raven's powers, in a way, have cause much of the confusion."
"They have...Raven's powers." Timid mumbled
"I thought I was correct. Though I do wonder which emotion it is."
"It is I." Timid murmured
"I see. When did you come to this realization?" Wisdom asked
"Not too long ago. That was when Rage came and took my doll." She told her
"I would not happen to be your BeastBoy doll, would it?" Wisdom asked
Timid nodded her head.
"Did you, by any chance, discover something from the real dimension?" Wisdom asked
Timid nodded her head again.
"Was this object from BeastBoy?" Wisdom asked
Timid nodded her head yet again.
"One more question, have you, in any way, been manipulating the doll while the object has been in the general area?"
Timid nodded her head once more and only after this last question did she dare to speak.
"Yes, that doll...I, am the cause of all BeastBoy's troubles." she said, tearing "He nearly died because of ME!" she wailed
"There is no need to blame yourself sister, you did not know of the consequences of manipulating real world objects in relation to the activities that happen within Raven's mind. You inadvertently created a Voodoo doll." she replied, soothing her sister emotion "However, now that Rage possesses this doll, BeastBoy is in grave danger. We must locate Rage immediately and take possession of the doll from her." Wisdom told her "Well will need help from the other emotions."
"Will we be able to stop her?" Timid asked
"Most likely. Rage is powerful, but together you, me, and our sisters are formidable." she replied
"Oh..."
"Now let us locate our sister...emotions?" Wisdom question, looking off in a random direction
"What is the matter? Did Rage hurt the other emotions? Are we doomed?" Timid asked
"No, however, our problems have grown significantly."
"How?"
"We have visitors."
"I don't believe you got me dragged in here again." Complained a robotic man
"Ya didn't have to come ya know." Replied his green companion "Even though I sorta asked."
"And let you run around Rae's head unsupervised? I'd rather let Rae kill me out right before I did something like that." He told him
"Well then dude, stop complaining!" BeastBoy squealed
"Well Rae is gonna kill us slowly and painfully for going back in her head or did you forget the talking to she gave us last time?"
"Ah, it wasn't that bad, Raven just warned us if we went back in her head she'd mess with ours. Besides, she was grateful for helping her with her father trying to take over her head so it wasn't that bad."
"Whatever dog, just know, I'm telling Rae that this was your idea and I tried to stop ya."
"Come on dude."
"B, we don't know heads or tails of this place. What makes you believe you know where ya going?" Cyborg asked
"I don't."
"Well...at least you were honest."
"Listen Cy, we don't need to know where we're going. One of Rae's emotions are probably gonna popped up out of nowhere and tell us where to go."
"Do you understand the flaw in your logic?" Cyborg asked
"Whatcha mean?"
"The last time we were here Rae's emotions had us running around in circles. We barely got to the 'Forbidden Door'" Cyborg replied, stating the fact with his fingers
"Hey, that Timid helped." BeastBoy pointed out
"Yeah...guess you right. But still, I'd rather not have to fight the little demons running around this girl's head."
"You and me both."
"Turn back." A soft voice said
"Ahh!" they both yelled
Turning to and fro the two Titans looked for the source of the voice that they recognized all too well.
"It's those freak raven things we saw the last time we were here!" BeastBoy squealed
"Ya think! I TOLD you I didn't want to have to fight any of the little demons in this girl's head!" Cyborg bellowed, switching to his Sonic Cannon
"Hey, at least they didn't bite you! My tongue's never been the same since!" BeastBoy retaliated
"Turn back." The voice said again, this time followed by a giggle
"Where are they?" BeastBoy asked
"I don't know? My sensors can't exactly pick up anything in this place."
"Turn...ha, ha, ha...back, ha." the voice said, beginning to laugh
Soon the voice wasn't so soft and was quite loud, laughing up a storm. The voice sounded familiar.
"Wait a sec... is that..." wondered BeastBoy
Checking behind a decrepit tree BeastBoy's deduction proved to be accurate.
"Happy?"
"The one and only." the happy emotion replied
"So it was you?" Cyborg asked
"Yep, you guys shoulda seen the looks on your faces. It was priceless." She laughed, holding her stomach to curb the pain of laughter "Where are they? I don't know?" she mocked
"Very funny." BeastBoy mutter
"Hilarious." replied Cyborg
"Oh come on, it was just a joke. BB over here should know; he is the Master of Pranks."
"The Master of Pranks? You talking about the same BB, right?" Cyborg asked
"Hey, I've gotten you with some good ones!" BeastBoy defended "Or do we need to discuss the 'Soda Pop' incident?"
"Fine, B's got some good pranks but he's a long way from being the master." Cyborg replied
"Whatever." he replied, then he turned to Happy "Okay, I sorta need to ask you something." BeastBoy told her
"Shoot."
"Okay, something freaky has been happening to me and I think that something in Raven's head is the reason." he told her
"Oh, the whole 'nearly crushing everyone in the T-Car by turning into a whale' thing?" she asked
"Yeah, that and others."
"Oh...well sorry, can't help ya. Don't know what's been going on in Rae's head. You should ask Wisdom, she probably knows. She usually hangs out at the big tree over there." Happy replied pointing to a large tree that resembled an oak in the wintertime, "But she's so boring." she added "Not as bad as Knowledge, but still."
"I think we'll be able to handle it. Let's go Cy." BeastBoy replied
"Right behind ya."
"Hey? Don't ya wanna play?" Happy asked
"We would but...if Raven figures out we're in her head she'll have our heads." BeastBoy replied
"Yeah, maybe later, if we have some time...and our lives." Cyborg added
"Fine then, but you promise?" she asked
"Uh...yeah?"
"Yes!" she squealed, jumping up and down like a child going to Disney World
"Yeah...okay, bye." Cyborg mumbled, watching the strange emotion warily
As they left her she seemed to be mumbling something in to herself before disappearing completely.
"Still hard to believe that that emotion is part of Raven." Cyborg said
"Yeah. Still hard for me too." BeastBoy replied
"Yeah, me too."
"Ahh!" they both yelled
The sound of Happy's laughter could be heard echoing in their ears.
"Don't do that!" they bellowed, steam billowing out of their ears
"Do what?"
They mumbled something incoherent.
"We said we'd play later." Cyborg reminded
"I know. But Wisdom sorta wants me to take you guys to her. Probably for one of her boring talks." Happy told them
"Hmm." BeastBoy thought "Wonder what for..." he stopped mid-sentence and doubled over in pain once again
"Yo B, what's the matter?" Cyborg asked
"Someone...in my head...making me...transform." he managed to say
"Who, where?" Cyborg asked
"Don't know...but I can feel it...can't stop...argh!" he roared, morphing into cheetah and taking off in a random direction
"What's with him?" Happy asked
"Don't know, but we need to follow him." Cyborg replied
"You can't possibly catch up with him. You're to much of a slowpoke." She giggled
Cyborg grunted, but knew that to be true.
"Let's find Wisdom, she'll know what to do." She said "Come on."
Reluctantly he followed, yet he took one last look and saw BeastBoy disappear over a nearby hill.
"Don't worry dog, you'll be okay." He murmured before following Happy
"Ah, my pet is on his way to his mistress. What an obedient little pawn." a dark voice cackled "When he arrives phase two of my plan shall commence and soon everything will be consumed by rage."
It did not take very long to reach the large bare oak that stood tall in an open field. The decrepit tree surrounded by barren land was easily to locate, though hopping from floating platforms had been a chore for Cyborg. Upon his and Happy's arrival it could be seen that Raven's other emotions had been gathered to the same local and they were all hovering over a single brown caped emotion that seemed to be the epicenter of the collaboration.
"You have arrived...where is BeastBoy?" asked the brown caped emotion
"You knew we were here?" Cyborg asked
She nodded her head.
"I sensed you upon your arrival." she replied, "Now please, where is BeastBoy?" she asked again
"Not sure. He said something about someone in his head and then took off. I'm worried about the little guy." He told her
"I was afraid of this. Rage has already taken control."
"Rage...how...when...what is going on?" he demanded
"Sit, this shall take some explaining." She told him
BeastBoy ran and ran and continued to run until he came to the darkest recesses of Raven's mind. Sitting on a rock, waiting for him, was Rage, smiling devilishly and holding a strange doll in her hand. The doll strangely resembled a cheetah.
"Stop." she said and BeastBoy obeyed immediately
Then, with a wave of her hand, the doll morphed into a miniaturized version of him, sporting a fetching headband. With the transformation of the doll came the transformation of the real BeastBoy, back to his own original form.
"What's going on?" he immediately demanded the moment he could communicate with her
"Not much, though I do have complete and utter control over you." she replied
"What?"
"See this doll." She said, referring to the doll "This is what you would call a 'Voodoo' doll." she replied
"Voodoo doll?" he gasped "You mean, that's what's been controlling me?" he asked
"Yes." she replied, her dark smile growing larger
"You've been doing all this stuff to me? Ya nearly killed me!" he yelled
"Actually, I was not the one who attempted to end your life. It was actually my 'sister' emotion Timid and her ignorance to her own powers. She is the one who caused you so much pain earlier, even though she did not realize it."
"Really?"
"Yes, but now I have control of the doll you and you will follow my every whim, my pet."
"No way dude, I'm nobody's pet!"
"Roll over."
BeastBoy did as he was told.
"Beg."
He started panting and got on his knees.
"Play dead."
He performed an overly dramatic death scene.
"Speak."
"Dude! Stop doing that!" he yelled
"Did I not tell you I had control over you?"
"What are you gonna do?" BeastBoy demanded
"Use you to consume this mind with rage." she replied, "Well, a different part of you, a part you keep well hidden away."
"No." he gasped, realizing what she meant
"Oh yes." she replied, her grin growing ever the more sinister
"So you telling me, because of something of BeastBoy's getting in Rae's head and Timid messing with it, she was able to control B?" Cyborg asked, looking for clarity
"Yes." replied Wisdom
"And now Rage has got the doll?"
"Unfortunately."
"If BeastBoy is hurt it will be because of ME!" wailed Timid, breaking down
"I have already told you, it is not your fault that this unfortunate event has befallen BeastBoy. You were unaware of the effects that real world items have when in contact with Raven's powers. None of us could have possibly realized this outcome." Wisdom told her
"This occurrence is definite something that needs to be studied further." Knowledge implied
"We can study later, right now we need to find Rage and beat her to a pulp." Bravery chimed
"Bravery...is correct."
There was a collective gasp from the group of emotions; one, for the fact that Wisdom approved of violence and two, because Bravery was correct.
"I think Wisdom bonked her head or something." Happy quipped
"No, I have sustained no head injury. Bravery is correct. Though I detest violence we cannot simple subdue Rage as we normally do."
"How come?" Cyborg asked, "Ya'll sorta got her outnumbered. I mean; I know she's tough but she can't possibly handle all ya'll by herself."
"Correct. However, she will not be doing battle by herself."
"You are correct Wisdom." A voice said
The emotions looked pass the giant oak to see Rage approaching and behind the red emotion came a creature that put fear in all the hearts of the people standing under the oak.
"Aw man, not that, anything but that." Cyborg whined
"I see you haven't forgotten BeastBoy's true form." Rage replied
"You know very well that that is not his true form, it is merely another side of him, much like ourselves." Wisdom countered
"Rage is a true form, of all beings! It is simply repressed!" Rage barked, "I am just powerful enough to unleash and control his!"
"Yet, if you did not posses the doll he would not be under your command. Rage is very unruly and wild, much like yourself."
"Always with the quick tongue Wisdom. We shall see just how quick it is after I have my pet pull it out!" she cackled "Attack!" she ordered
The hulking Beast did as it was told and ran at the group of emotion, extending its claws to do battle. Timid immediately cowered behind Wisdom while Bravery and Cyborg stood firm, ready to do battle with the Beast. The other emotions had mixed expressions of the attack, but Wisdom remained perfectly calm.
"So calm, collected, confident, even in the face of such a threat." Rage mused, "What is she planning?" Rage wondered
"Sorry B, but can't let ya do this." Cyborg said
"Let's go!" barked Bravery
Cyborg attacked first, launching a fist at the Beast, but it easily dodged and countered with a claw swipe. Cyborg went flying. Bravery tried launching a kick but the Beast grabbed her leg and threw her away as if she were a gum wrapper! Knowledge tried to stop him by summoning a force shield but he tore through it as if it were nothing, pulling it apart like he was ripping paper. Now nothing stood between Wisdom and the Beast and Rage was confident that the blow the Beast would inflict on Wisdom would be devastating! But at the last moment the Beast was tackled by a variety of animals, green animals.
"What!" roared Rage, as she watched he Beast fight off a numerous creatures "What is the mean of this!" she demanded
"You are not the only emotion who can manipulate dolls." Wisdom replied, revealing a variety of different dolls that all looked like BeastBoy
"YOU HAVE VOODOOS!" Rage questioned
"Yes."
"How!" she demanded "From what I can infer you would need something of BeastBoy's in order to do something such as this!"
"Precisely, I do have things of BeastBoy." she replied
"What? How? When?" Cyborg asked
"You're last visit to Raven's mind. BeastBoy left quite a lot of himself here; I simply collected it all. Animal hair, feathers, trinkets that fell from his pockets, much was left behind by the changeling." she explained
"Why exactly did you collect his stuff?" Cyborg asked "And how come their are so many BBs?"
"I thought it to be wise to hold onto things such as these, I thought them to prove useful in the future. I see that I was correct." she replied, referring to the battle in front of them "As for the multiple BeastBoys I used his ability to multiply when he is in the form of an ameba and created the eight you see before you. You should be familiar with this ability Cyborg." she replied
"Yeah..."
The Beast was powerful, the most powerful of all animals that BeastBoy could morph into but, not even it could stand up against the collective power of eight different animals, all powerful in their own respect. A gorilla held down the Beast's right arm while a lion held the left. A python constricted around the Beast's legs while a wolf dug its fangs into the neck of the Beast. A hippo lay across the Beast's belly while a bat screeched into the Beast's ears along with a skunk that sprayed into the Beast's nose, both of which played havoc on the Beast's senses. Finally a small tortoise lay dangerously in the mouth of the Beast, stopping its ability to bite.
"The Beast is powerful, but it is useless in this state. Admit defeat Rage." Wisdom told her
"Never!" she roared, "I will simply get rid of these annoying duplicates!" she yelled
But before she could her arms were encased in a black aura, impeding her.
"Not likely." Wisdom replied, her hand glowing in dark energy
"You are not powerful enough to hold me." Rage told her
"Alone, yes, but together with my sister emotion, I am."
More hands rose, all glowing darkly and the bounds on Rage's hands grew more powerful. However Rage was still beginning to break free.
"You may be powerful together but you all are not working as one." Rage said, slowly separating her hands
"Timid, you must aid us or Rage will break free."
"I don't know...I can't...She's too powerful..." Timid mumbled
"You are more powerful than you realize. Help us." Wisdom asked
Timid was unsure but she knew that if she didn't try something then Rage would break free and cause pain and that she didn't want to happen. Raising her hand she soon joined her sisters in subduing Rage and Rage's arms grew closer together.
"No!" she roared, trying to break free, but it was in vain
In her struggle she dropped her BeastBoy doll and that was what Wisdom was hoping for. With her other hand she levitated the doll over to her. When it was in range she destroyed it with a simple gesture, ending its existence. Without the power of the doll, the hold it had over BeastBoy was vanquished and the Beast slowly began to shrink, returning to its previous form. The eight animals back away as the Beast once again laid dormant and BeastBoy was revealed, semi-conscious.
"This cannot be!" Rage bellowed, futile struggling in her bonds
"But it is." Wisdom quipped, "Now it is time to end this." She said
Drawing power from all the other emotions, even Rage herself, Wisdom created a ball of pure magical energy and then sent it into each of the eight different BeastBoy dolls she created. A bright light encased the entire area, concealing everything from sight. When the light finally died down the only BeastBoy in sight was the original and the eight dolls were now near the heals of the eight emotions.
"Uh...what exactly just happened?" Cyborg asked
"A revelation." Wisdom replied
"Huh?" Cyborg asked
"The dolls were linked to the numerous BeastBoy's that I multiplied, so if I were to destroy them we would have several BeastBoy's running around, a very bad idea. So I infused their souls into the dolls I created, thus creating living dolls." She explained
"Living?" Timid asked and then her question was answered when the eight BeastBoy dolls slowly rose to their feet
"Dude, what happen?" one asked
"Don't know." another replied
"My head sorta hurts." said yet another
All eight BeastBoy dolls stood around, rubbing their cute little heads as they wondered what was up. Each doll appeared color-coded and their clothes matched the colors of the eight emotions.
"What is the meaning of this!" Rage barked "And why is this pathetic doll clinging to my leg!"
"That is quite simple. The spell I used not only bounded their souls to the dolls but also to each of us." Wisdom replied
"What!"
"Okay, explain." Cyborg asked
"Each doll created is now the exact opposite of the emotion it is bounded to. For example, Rage's doll represents Calmness." she explained
"No, no, no, no, no, no, no!" Rage bellowed, kicking the doll away
The doll however just picked itself up and walked back over to her
"You shouldn't be so mad dude, relax." the doll told her
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" she screamed "You will pay for this! You will pay!"
"Quite. As I was saying, each doll is the opposite of the respective emotion. My own is Unawareness."
"Dude, what's going on?" Wisdom's doll asked
"Bravery's doll represents Reserve."
"No more fighting please." it said
"Knowledge's is Inanity."
"Oh...what is that?" it said, pointing to its feet
"Happy; Poignancy."
"I don't know if I can help." it said
"Rudeness; Politeness."
"Can I help?" it asked
"Affection; Ignorance."
"There's nothing else I need from anybody." it said
"Finally, Timid, your doll represents Boldness." Wisdom said
"I'll trying to help, no matter what." it said
"Why did you create such abominations!" Rage roared, trying to kick away her doll that had latched onto her leg
"You gotta calm down!" it wailed
"That question, I can answer." Affection spoke up
"Yeah?"
"Well, certain changes will be taking place all to soon and Raven's emotions will need more regulation than they have now. So Wisdom and myself decided that it would be beneficial to Raven to create counter balances of all the emotions, to allow her to have an easier time to keep in sync with herself. We decided that little 'guardians' would be the best plan." Love replied
"So ya'll planned this?" Cyborg asked
"Not in the least. We would never put BeastBoy in danger like that! We were going to use many of the small raven's that inhabit Raven's mind, but when this occurrence came up Wisdom skillfully solved both problems. You could say that she killed two birds with one stone, figuratively speaking of course." Love replied
"Okay." Cyborg replied
"So what, now these little guys are gonna follow us everywhere?" Bravery asked
"Precisely. They were created to help to keep one emotion from gaining too much influence and they have come at a good time." Wisdom replied
"I hate you." Rage muttered
Ignoring her Wisdom continued.
"They will stem the tide of rampant powers and also help to let each emotion come to better terms with herself." Wisdom replied
"Oh..." Cyborg mumbled
"I am going to DESTROY this thing!" Rage yelled
"As well, they are indestructible by any means." Wisdom replied
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Rage screamed
"Okay, I sorta get it, but what about the real BB, is he gonna be okay?" Cyborg asked
"With the doll destroyed he is free from its grip, and the transformation to his alternate persona only tired him out, he will be fine. Though I suggest you leave Raven's mind quickly before Raven realizes you were inside.
"Oh, right." Cyborg stated, rushing over to his semi-conscious friend
"Yo dude, what happened?" BeastBoy asked
"Not now, we gotta go." Cyborg replied "Can any of ya'll..."he began
"Help? Why yes, I shall guide you to the Forbidden Door." Wisdom replied "I believe Rage will be fine." she said "You are free to go." she replied, releasing the restraints on Rage
The moment Rage was free she went the task of wailing on the BeastBoy doll that was on her leg, but like Wisdom had informed her, no matter what she did to the doll it never broke and returned to its original condition.
"Why won't it die!" she wailed, crushing it with rocks
"Calm down!" it yelled, dodging rocks
"Come here you little cutie, we are gonna have so much fun together!" Happy said happily
"Are you sure, because I'm not." it said while she carried it away
"Alright you, we got a lot work to do." Bravery told her doll
"Let's just not over do it, okay?" it replied, following after her
"Hmm, this should be dialogued quickly." Knowledge mused
"Huh, what, who?" her doll muttered
"I'm gonna go take a nap." Rudeness said
"Hey, you shouldn't sleep out in the open like this!" her doll scolded
"You are going to love it here!" Affection told her doll, throwing it in the air as if it were a child
"I don't think so. I don't love nothing." it said
"So...you are my, guardian?" Timid asked
The doll shook its head.
"I'm here to help and that's what I'm gonna do." it told her
Timid looked at the doll, watching the warm smile it had on its face and then she too smile, only slightly. However, now, she was not so lonely.
Meanwhile, back in the real world, Raven noticed there was no BeastBoy or Cyborg.
At the Forbidden Door Cyborg, holding BeastBoy over his shoulder, waved his goodbyes to the brown-cloaked emotions known as Wisdom and her doll.
"Well, it's been weird, but I'm glad we were able to help." Cyborg said
"You have done more than you realize, a lot more." Wisdom replied
"Rae's gonna kill me when she finds out that little BeastBoy's are in her head." Cyborg muttered
"I don't believe so." Wisdom replied
"Well, see ya." Cyborg said, stepping through the door
"Well, that is taken care of. I believe I should spend time recollecting on the past events."
"Did they leave?" her doll asked
"Yes." she replied
"Who were they?"
"I will tell you later." she replied
In Raven's room is where Cyborg and BeastBoy emerged; BeastBoy just waking up fully.
"Dude, what happened?" he asked
"I'll tell ya later. Let's just get outta here before Rae show's up." he replied
"Too late." a voice said
Both boys froze in place when they saw Raven standing at the door.
"You two, have some explaining to do. So why don't we start at the beginning." she said, closing her room door.
That readers, is the short That Voodoo that You Do. This has gotta be the longest chapter I have ever written. I mean its long! But I hope you enjoy it. I thought the story was rather funny myself. Give me your feedback. (Hmm, wonder how long Cyborg and BeastBoy have to live. )