"How much further do we have to go?" Beast Boy asked, turning from the side of a cliff to look at Brave. The green clad emotion shrugged, leaning against a nearby tree.
"Not far. It shouldn't take more than ten minutes once we cross this bridge," she replied, nodding at the log stretched across the chasm that had opened in their path.
"Which should only take an hour or two, by the time we get Timid across," Rude commented dryly, nodding at the trembling emotion. Timid had inched her way over to the edge, only to scramble back after seeing how far down it went.
"Don't worry. I'll help her across," Beast Boy offered.
"Aw! That's so nice of you, Beast Boy!" Happy squealed, smiling widely.
"Are you sure?" Brave asked uncertainly, "You might end up falling yourself while helping her." Rude and Happy nodded in agreement
"Totally. I'll make sure that Timid makes it to the other side, even if I have to risk falling to help her across," Beast Boy assured them, before adding with some embarrassment, "Besides, even if I do fall, I can just turn into a bird, right?"
"That's pretty brave of you," Brave stated, looking at Beast Boy with a slight hint of admiration, "Really kind of you, too. Thanks."
"No problem," Beast Boy replied, smiling humbly. As he said it, each emotion looked down at her clothing, feeling them tighten and shorten slightly.
"Is it just me, or is my shirt a bit smaller?" asked Rude, looking down at her stained shirt.
"All of our outfits shrunk a bit again," Brave replied, inspecting everyone's clothes with a keen eye, "We should get going."
Without hesitation, the green emotion jumped onto the log and strode confidently across to the other side. On the other side, she turned around and looked at the others.
"Come on! Last one over is a rotten egg," Brave mock-challenged.
Giggling, Happy took a step onto the makeshift bridge. Taking a deep breath, she carefully made her way across. Once she had reached the end of the log, she jumped to the ground in a burst of excited laughter.
Rude came next. Walking onto the log, she made her way across, making sure she didn't look down. Instead, she looked straight ahead, trying to appear detached and bored as she crossed the large gap in the ground.
"Okay, Timid, we've gotta go now," Beast Boy said calmly, taking a step onto the log. He turned, so his back was facing the other side, and held out his hands for Timid.
Trembling, Timid grasped his hands and placed a foot on the log. Beast Boy nodded appraisingly.
"Good. Now the other foot," he encouraged her softly.
She nodded and shakily placed the other foot on the log. Taking a quick glance behind him, Beast Boy took another step across the log. After a bit of urging from Beast Boy, Timid took another uncertain step as well.
They slowly made their way across the log, until they had made it halfway across.
"We're halfway there," Beast Boy informed her happily, "It shouldn't be too long now."
Timid nodded lightly, making sure her eyes didn't stray from Beast Boy's face. She had made it this far without looking down or getting too scared, so she could make it the rest of the way, right?
Spoke too soon.
As Timid took her next step, a loud crack emitted from the old log. While the others could tell that the crack hadn't been big, and it wasn't any more dangerous than before, the sound caused Timid to look down in shock.
Her stomach churned as she stared down at the endless pit below her. She watched as a small piece of bark- the reason for the cracking sound- fell into the darkness and out of sight. As she stared, her vision began to blur with frightened tears.
"Timid, look at me. Don't look down," Beast Boy's calm voice pulled her from her terror slightly, as she was able to look back at his caring face. "Now, take another step. The faster we get across, the sooner we get to leave this realm."
Taking a weak breath, she nodded. Thinking of Beast Boy's promise that they would leave soon, she took a quick step forward. As she placed her foot down, however, rotting bark under her foot shifted. With a small yelp, she flailed her arms around as her foot slipped off the log.
Reacting quickly, Beast Boy grabbed one of her arms and helped her steady herself, sacrificing his own balance while he did so.
With wide eyes, the emotions watched as his feet slipped off either side of the log. With a painful thud, the log stopped his decent. The three emotions on the other side hissed as he landed, straddling the tree trunk.
"That's gotta hurt," Rude muttered, while Brave and Happy nodded.
"A-are you all right?" Timid asked him worriedly as he slowly lifted himself up.
"I'm fine," he replied, his voice a few decibels higher than usual. Coughing lightly, he insisted, "Really. Let's just keep going."
Shaking more than she had before, Timid nodded, and they finished crossing quickly and carefully.
Once they had reached the other side, Timid collapsed to the ground, trembling like a leaf in a hurricane. Laughing lightly, Beast Boy kneeled down and patted her on the back.
"You did great," he told her.
"You too," Brave complimented, walking over with Happy and Rude at her heels, "I didn't know you were that serious about saving her."
"I wouldn't let any of you get hurt," he replied, grinning self-consciously.
Happy grinned, while Brave and Rude looked satisfied, and slightly embarrassed, with his reply. Timid's shaking diminished slightly, and Beast Boy blushed when he realized what he had said.
"I mean it-" he began assuring them that what he said was true, but he was cut off by a sudden change in their clothing.
With a small gasp, Timid watched as her already straining hood fell off her head and shrunk so that when she pulled it back on, it didn't cast a shadow over her face. Her gray jeans were close to becoming hip huggers, and the sweater under her hoodie was beginning to touch her skin.
Brave watched calmly as her pant legs raised until they reached the middle of her calf. The sleeves of her gi ended higher up her arm, just short of becoming quarter-length, and the pale green T-shirt underneath grew a bit tighter.
A small ripping sound caused Rude to look down at her pants as the holes in her jeans became a bit larger, and the material became tighter. Her T-shirt was beginning to stretch across her chest in a more obvious way.
Happy watched in amusement as her skirt shortened until it rested half an inch above the top of her knees. Her blouse became a bit tighter, fitting more closely around her waist than it had before.
"Great," Beast Boy groaned, "Another change. I guess we should keep trying to find Knowledge and Wisdom."
"What do you think we've been doing for the past few hours?" Rude quipped, before turning to Brave, "Well, what are you waiting for? Lead the way."
Happy smiled and followed Brave and Rude. Beast Boy started forward, before stopping and turning to Timid.
"Coming?" he asked her. The gray emotion nodded and stood up, pulling at her hood in a futile attempt to cover her face more. Beast Boy smiled, and they followed the others. Timid stayed by his side, casting nervous glances at the green boy.
'What if he doesn't like the new changes? He might think it's too revealing…' she thought self-consciously. Her worries dimmed a bit as he flashed a small grin at her from the side, but of course, if they went away completely, we wouldn't be dealing with Timid, would we?
"You all right, Timid?" Beast Boy asked, noticing her nervous behavior.
"Y-yeah," she stammered. Looking at the ground, she tugged at her hood.
"You seem worried," Beast Boy told her, "What's the matter?"
"It- It's nothing," Timid replied, "It's just…"
"What?" Beast Boy asked, stopping and turning to her. He placed his hands on her shoulders and made her look at him.
A blush crossed the timid emotion's features, and she nervously replied, "M-my outfit… my outfit… you probably don't like it."
"What? No, of course I do," Beats Boy assured her hurriedly, "It's very… you. I like it a lot."
Timid looked down and cast him an unsure glance from beneath her eyelashes.
"Really," Beast Boy continued, "You look great." Beast Boy smiled when a dark blush appeared on her face.
"Thank you," Timid replied quietly.
Suddenly, her hood fell off completely, shrinking so that it was nothing more than a flap of material at the back of her neck. The rest of her outfit began to change as well, the pants growing tighter, and the hoodie dipping closer to her waist.
As they watched the changes with wide eyes, up ahead someone gave a small shout, "Not again!"
They turned around to see Rude examining her clothing with an exasperated expression on her face. The waist of her pants was lower on her hips, and her T-shirt just barely reached her jeans with the sleeves having become shorter.
The hem of Happy's skirt now rested an inch above her knees, and her blouse was noticeably tighter, and shorter in the sleeves.
Brave's pants had grown tighter around her hips, and the legs were only a few inches away from the bottom of her knees. Her T-shirt was much tighter, and the neckline of her dark green gi was beginning to dip lower.
"We'd better hurry," Beast Boy said, looking at each emotion. They all nodded, and Happy, Rude, and Brave continued walking at a slightly faster pace.
"Coming?" asked Beast Boy, turning to Timid and offering his hand. She nodded shyly, taking his hand hesitantly, and they followed the others quickly.
-
Raven looked up from her book as another odd wave of emotion washed over her. Terror was the first thing she felt, making her feel paralyzed on the couch. The feeling filled her for several minutes, before others replaced it. Admiration and gratitude, with a small hint of embarrassment, if she wasn't mistaken. Her cheeks grew warm, and she realized to her great annoyance that she was blushing.
"What the hell?" she muttered angrily. Grumbling, she put her book down and stared irately at the wall. Something was against her meditating and reading today.
"Well, whatever's going on, it can't stop me from meditating if I want to," Raven mumbled stubbornly, "That should stop these stupid flashes of emotion."
Shifting into a meditative position, Raven closed her eyes and began chanting.
She continued to chant when she heard the door hiss open behind her.
Gasping, Starfire swooped past the meditating empath and picked up Silkie, who had moved from the corner, and was now chewing on one of the coffee table legs.
"Bad Silkie," the Tameranian scolded, picking up her pet, "The table of coffee is not for your consumption."
Suddenly, Raven let out a small gasp. Starfire looked over at her in surprise, unused to hearing Raven gasp during meditation.
Raven looked over at Starfire, as she realized that she had gasped out loud. A sudden surge of trepidation had surprised the gasp out of her. As Starfire looked at her questioningly, that trepidation grew, and was soon accompanied by uncertainty.
It was then that Raven noticed the invisible hands had returned, and were resting on her shoulders. Slowly, her unease turned to comfort and modesty, and another blush spread across her face.
Feeling her face heat up, Raven scowled. Starfire continued to stare at her, puzzlement evident on her pretty features.
"Friend Raven, are you all right?" she questioned, looking at Raven with concern.
"Uh… yes," Raven replied hesitantly. Starfire scrutinized Raven's face carefully, not completely believing Raven's answer.
"All right," she shrugged at last, "Come, Silkie, your knorf'ka Starfire will make you some delicious sustenance for your tummy."
Taking a deep breath, Raven forced herself to calm down a bit, before returning to her meditation.
"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos…"
-
"Okay everyone, eyes and ears open. We're entering chimera territory," Brave commanded, glancing back at the others. She stopped and looked back at them when everyone came to an abrupt halt. "What?"
"Chimera territory?" Beast Boy parroted, "I thought you were joking!"
"I leave the joking to Happy," Brave replied, "Besides, what's the big deal? We probably won't run into any."
A rustle in a nearby bush caused everyone (except for Brave) to jump, and Timid to whimper and jump behind Beast Boy.
"Okay, so maybe I spoke to soon," Brave admitted, calmly moving into a fighting stance.
Moving closer, Beast Boy shifted into a green tiger and crouched next to Brave, facing the bush.
Almost immediately, a large monster jumped out, snarling. With a shout, Timid jumped behind Happy and Rude. Happy giggled nervously, and Rude's eyes widened as they stared at the monstrous creature.
It glared at them with beady, lightly glowing eyes, placed on a flat face with a snarling, fanged mouth. The top half of its body was muscular and reminiscent of a Bigfoot, with crimson fur and dark gray skin. Dangerous blades grew out of its mane of spiky hair.
Armor covered its chest and back, and the breastplate looked like an inverted triangle with an ovular gem set in the center. The sections between its neck and shoulders had blades protruding from them, which curved backwards. Segmented blades, with outwards facing tips jutted out of its shoulder. Growing out of its ape-like arms were blades, textured to appear almost like rock, with the final one growing from the back of its large fist, shaped like a three bladed spearhead.
The bottom half of the monster was covered in armor-like skin. Besides looking segmented, it mostly appeared smooth and sharp. A long rattlesnake-like tail, armed with a cylindrical club of blades on the end, twisted around behind six legs, covered in segmented blades.
"What the hell is that?" Beast Boy yelped, shifting back into his human form.
"That's the Ape Scorpian," Brave replied calmly, "Pretty cool, eh?"
"Yeah… if it weren't going to attack us, it would be really cool," Beast Boy replied, staring at its many deadly blades.
"Just don't look into the gem on its chest," Brave warned, "It came from its fusion with a basilisk; it'll turn you to stone."
"I'll keep that in mind," Beast Boy replied, before shifting into a bat.
Gliding upward, Beast Boy let out a shrill screech before swooping towards the Ape Scorpian. He pulled out of his dive abruptly to avoid being skewered as the chimera extended its head, snarled threateningly and swung one of its arms, blades sticking out like giant needles.
As Beast Boy pulled back from its attack, Brave ran forward. With a short war cry, she delivered a strong kick to its chest. Her leg shook from the impact, but the Ape Scorpian was naturally armored, and seemed unharmed.
"I'm thinking they're going to need help," Rude groaned, watching as Beast Boy dove in and out, and Brave continued to kick at its armored chest. Cracking her knuckles, she ran towards the monster and slammed her fist into its chest.
"Oww…"
"I think you might need some help as well," Happy giggled, before running into the brawl.
Changing into a hawk, Beast Boy flew out of the monster's reach and examined the scene.
Rude and Happy were hitting and kicking at the Ape Scorpian's chest, being careful not to look into its gem. Brave had obviously decided that it wasn't doing anything and was circling the monster. Slowly, she approached the monster from the side so she could attempt to climb onto its back. A small movement from the monster's tail caught Beast Boy's keen eyes, and he screeched a warning to Brave. She didn't seem to notice however.
Launching himself forward, Beast Boy plunged towards the Ape Scorpian's tail. As he neared the ground, he shifted into a gorilla and caught the monster's tail in his large hands, just as it was swinging toward Brave.
Brave turned around to see Beast Boy struggling to keep the tail at a safe distance as the end of its mace-like tail swung at his head. Seeing his arms beginning to shake, she rushed forward and helped hold the tail away from them.
Brave gave Beast Boy a small smile, which he returned as best as he could in his animal form, and looked back at the monster's tail. Her eyes widened as she saw energy gathering around its tail. She opened her mouth to warn Beast Boy, but she wasn't fast enough.
With an explosion of energy from the end of its tail, the Ape Scorpian knocked Beast Boy back, forcing him to revert back to human form. The attack also hit Brave, Happy, and Rude, stunning them momentarily. With the three emotions stunned, the Ape Scorpian turned its full attention onto Beast Boy.
Beast Boy stared at the Ape Scorpian. The monster's last attack had winded him, and he struggled to regain his breath as its massive tail was swung towards him. Beast Boy's eyes widened as its spiked tail came nearer.
"NOOO!"
A shriek filled the air, and the monster stopped its attack, tail only inches away from Beast Boy's head. The Ape Scorpian turned around, noticing Timid for the first time.
Gasping, Timid clamped a hand against her mouth. Afraid that she had offended the terrifying monster, she took a step back. With a feral grin, the Ape Scorpian began creeping toward her. Beast Boy was ignored; it had a new target…
As the monster stalked toward her, Timid scrambled back, only to trip over a root poking from the ground.
The monster loomed over her, jaws dripping with saliva. Desperately, she held up an arm to shield her face. The Ape Scorpian lifted one of its giant fists, pointing the three-edged blade that grew from it at Timid.
Just as it was about to bring its fist down on the trembling emotion, a green wolf pounced on its arm. Careful not stab himself with the blades growing from the monster's arm, Beast Boy bit down on its wrist.
With a thunderous roar, the monster shook its arm. Beast Boy clamped on harder while Timid quickly crawled away. Happy quickly engulfed Timid in a hug, while Rude watched the fight between Beast Boy and the Ape Scorpian in fascinated horror. Brave watched, silently cheering for Beast Boy's courage.
Despite the monster's flailing arm, Beast Boy kept his jaw clamped on its arm, but was slowly growing tired. He could feel his teeth slowly slipping off, and with one final shake of its arm, the Ape Scorpian was able to fling Beast Boy headfirst into a nearby tree.
Dizzily, Beast Boy sat up, holding his head. White spots flashed in his eyes, and his head was throbbing painfully. Groaning, he stood up and turned around to face the monster, who growled at him menacingly. Ignoring the pain in his head, Beast Boy transformed into a green bull.
Snorting and kicking some dirt up with his hoof, Beast Boy lowered his sharp horns and charged at the Ape Scorpian. Due to Beast Boy's dizzy charge, the monster easily dodged him. Raising one of its bladed arms, it swiped at the dizzy Beast Boy. The green shape-shifter flew a few feet in the air. With a grunt, Beast Boy fell to the ground and reverted to his normal form.
"Beast Boy!" the four emotions exclaimed. The four emotions watched as he rolled over. Grunting, he tried to lift himself up, but his strength was quickly diminishing after his blow to the head, and with a groan, he passed out.
The emotions quickly ran over to Beast Boy. Brave reached him first, unaccustomed fear speeding her up. The others kneeled down next to her, and quickly checked on Beast Boy. Although the broad side of the blades on the monster's arms had hit him the most, a long cut had been made down his side from the ends of the overlapping blades. Luckily, they weren't deep.
"He'll be fine," Rude informed them after a minute. "We'll need to heal him, but he's-"
A loud roar cut her off, reminding all of them of the monster still standing there. Curling her firsts, Brave stood up and glared at the monster, determination flashing in her eyes.
"You guys focus on making sure BB's all healed up. I've got some unfinished business…" Brave told them, before stomping towards the monster, eyes glowing.
"You know, I'm not usually a very angry emotion," Brave calmly told the chimera, "A little aggressive at times, perhaps, but not angry. However, you've made me angry. First, you attacked me, and my friends." She took a step closer, and the monster began to grow slightly more cautious about the deceptively calm girl in front of it. "Then, you stunned us and went after poor, defenseless Timid." Another step and her voice had a slightly angrier tone to it. "Then, you decide to slam Beast Boy into a tree. And now look what you've done!" By now, the monster was visibly terrified of Brave and the aura she was emitting. With a tremendous war cry, Brave ran toward the monster.
Rude and Happy watched as Brave attack the monster, grimacing at the cacophony of fighting noises in the background, followed by a high-pitched scream.
"Is its limb supposed to bend that way?" Happy asked, wincing. There was another, higher scream, and they both winced. "Or that?" Another scream of sheer pain, and Happy's eyes widened. Rude had a slightly green shade.
"All right, I've seen enough."
"Couldn't agree with you more," Happy said, and they both turned back to Beast Boy.
Timid was already doing her best to heal him through her tears and trembling, and once Happy and Rude joined her, Beast Boy was healed quickly.
Opening his eyes, Beast Boy groaned and sat up. "What's going on?" There was a high shriek, and he turned around just in time to see Brave's final attack on the monster.
The green emotion walked back, confusion spreading across her triumphant face when she saw her slack jawed companions.
"I think I'm going to be sick," said Beast Boy, holding a hand to his mouth.
"Get in line," Rude grumbled.
Shrugging, Brave sat down next to Beast Boy. "Are you all right?"
"Yeah, I think so," he replied, putting a hand to his head, "Actually, I feel great."
"Good," Brave nodded, "Because if you weren't, I'd have to go back over there and teach that chimera even more of a lesson."
"You did that for me?" Beast Boy asked, looking over at her with wide eyes. Brave grinned.
"Yeah," she replied, "I did. We were all really worried about you."
"Oh. Thanks," Beast Boy smiled and looked down bashfully, "I'm sorry I got in the way."
"You didn't get in the way," Happy assured him. The others nodded their agreement.
"You were actually really brave, BB," Brave told him, smiling at him fondly.
Rude and Happy smiled, and nodded energetically. Timid smiled at him nervously, and gave a light little nod to show that she agreed as well.
Their smiles suddenly stopped however, due to another small change in their clothes.
Next to Beast Boy, Brave watched as her gi became a bit tighter, and the neckline lowered a bit. Her pants grew tighter, causing her to groan, "These are going to get too tight to fight properly."
Brave watched with slight boredom as the bottom of her shirt raised enough to see the smallest sliver of her midriff, and the collar of the T-shirt under her gi widened a bit, and dipped just a little lower.
To her left, Rude looked at her own changes indifferently. Her pants were tighter, and fell lower on her hips. Her T-shirt had also grown a bit shorter, and the short sleeves were shorter and sat on the top of her shoulders. As her shirt grew slightly tighter, the stains that decorated it grew smaller as well, although not too much smaller.
Timid fidgeted uncomfortably as the hood on her hoodie became nothing more than a collar. She could feel the sweater underneath growing tighter with the hoodie. Her jeans were now stretched a bit tighter around her thighs and hips.
Happy giggled at her changes, as her skirt became another half an inch shorter. Her blouse wasn't as loose anymore, and the material seemed just a tad thinner. The loosely knotted necktie was about a centimeter shorter, but the knee socks remained unchanged.
"I want to say it this time," Happy said abruptly.
"Say what?" Beast Boy asked, looking at her questioningly. Happy took a deep breath and recited, "Now we really have to find Knowledge and Wisdom."
Beast Boy laughed, and nodded.
"Yeah, we do. Now, let's move it, troops."
Confidently, he began to walk through the forest, continuing the journey to the next portal.
"Hey, captain? The portals this way," Rude informed him, jerking her thumb in the direction they had been traveling before the chimera attacked.
"I knew that," he insisted, smiling through his embarrassment, as he turned around and walked in the right direction.
-
Raven tapped her finger on her book, patience running thin. It had happened again. She had been reading, minding her own business, when all of a sudden she had another wave of emotion. First, there had been fear. There had been a lot of fear, and surprise. Then, there had been respect, and admiration, followed by more fear and righteous fury. Finally, there had been an enormous feeling of admiration and gratitude.
Of course, she had just been really getting into her meditation when the feelings had struck. It made her wonder if she really wanted to open her book, when more likely than not, she would be interrupted by these stupid sentiments.
"Friend Raven, you are sure you are all right?" Starfire called from the kitchen, "You have been tapping on your book for a while now, and you ceased your meditation most abruptly."
"I'm fine," Raven growled through her teeth, "Just… peachy."
Shrugging, Starfire returned to preparing her pet's meal.
"Just peachy."
-
Purple silk rustled as a very nervous emotion paced in a clearing in her realm.
"Oh no," she muttered, "It didn't work! I can't believe it didn't work…"
She paused, looking at her garb. Her long purple dress had become shorter at the bottom, and now fell just above her ankles. The graceful sleeves that had once reached her wrist now rested a little past her elbows.
Taking a deep breath, she lifted her hands and prepared to try again.
"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos." She concentrated on her powers, picturing a small sphere of black energy in her mind's eye.
Black magic crackled in between her open palms, not taking the form of anything in particular, before disappearing completely. She looked at her empty hands in confusion. Suddenly, there was a large explosion behind her. Turning around, she watched as a small tree went up in black flames. Okay… not exactly what she had wanted.
Sighing in frustration, Affection stomped out the last of the burning tree and walked in the direction of the nearest portal.
"I just hope things are going better with the others…"
-
"Oooooh… We're off to see the Wisdom, the wonderful Wisdom of Rae!"
"Can someone get her a pair of ruby slippers so she'll go away?" Rude groaned.
"Oh, lighten up a little. You know you want to join in," Happy said, pausing before returning to her song, "She certainly is a wonderful Wis, if ever a Wis there was."
"Are those two always arguing?" Beast Boy asked Brave, amused at the two playfully bantering emotions.
"Pretty much, but they both like it," Brave replied, looking over at Beast Boy before looking back at the sky ahead of them and returning to her thoughts.
'I don't understand what happened back there with the chimera,' Brave thought, watching a pale green sky peek between dark green leaves, 'When Beast Boy got hurt, I felt… not brave. I felt… afraid? Is that possible?
'I shouldn't have. I should have known he would be fine. He had Timid, Happy, and Rude to heal him. Still though, the thought of him not making it…' she shuddered, catching the eye of the green changeling next to her.
"What's wrong?" Beast Boy asked. She looked over at him and considered her words before she replied.
"I was just thinking of the fight with the Ape Scorpian," Brave told him, keeping her face blank.
"About how you kicked its butt?" Beast Boy asked, smiling. Brave gave him a small smile in return but shook her head.
"No, about how you could have been hurt by the chimera. You might have… died, or something." Brave replied. Beast Boy laughed.
"Is that all?" he asked, "You shouldn't worry about me. I was fine. I've got you guys around; how could I not be?"
"But, what if we hadn't been around?" Timid suddenly spoke up, "What if you had been too badly hurt for us to fix you? What if-"
"Calm down, Timid," Beast Boy said, smiling, "Danger is part of the whole super hero business. I risk getting hurt every day. Why should it be any different in here? Besides, when it came down to it, I knew I might have been hurt when I fought the monster, but I would never let that stop me from helping one of you."
"Do you really mean that?" Timid asked. Brave watched him intently, anxious to hear his answer as well.
"Of course," he assured them.
"You'd be willing to risk even something like that just in order to ensure our safety?" Brave asked, a bit skeptical.
"Any day," he replied truthfully, "Any where. Any time."
"Even if you and Raven just had a fight?"
Beast Boy paused, pretending to think hard, before sighing and replying, "Yes. Even then."
"Why?" Brave asked bluntly. Beast Boy was caught by surprise by the question, and it showed clearly on his face, but he quickly recovered.
"Because Raven's my friend. And you're all part of her, so that makes you my friends, too," Beast Boy replied truthfully, "I'd do anything for a friend."
Braved beamed at him, while Timid offered a shy smile for his words.
"You really are a kind and brave person to be willing to help your friends that much," Brave told Beast Boy sincerely.
The green clad emotion looked down suddenly.
"Not again," she muttered.
Her pants had become tighter, and the legs now only came down to less than an inch below her knees. The sleeves of her gi had shortened as well. The neckline now went down to mid chest, and was it just her, or was the material of her T-shirt underneath a bit thinner? Looking up, Brave examined the other grumbling emotions' outfits.
Happy's skirt was shorter by another half an inch, and now rested about two inches above her knees. Her blouse was slightly more form fitting, and the top button was now placed at her collarbone, instead of the base of her neck, where it had started. Once again, the knee socks and necktie hadn't changed much, although the tie seemed a bit shorter.
The sleeves of Rude's shirt were now almost non-existent, making it more like a muscle shirt than a T-shirt. A very small section of her midriff peeked out from underneath Rude's shirt, which Brave knew Beast Boy would be staring at from the corner of his eye when he noticed it. The holes in Rude's pants were much bigger as well, showing large portions of her legs.
Finally, Brave looked over at Timid. The collar that had replaced her hood was now gone completely. The large hood-less hoodie was a bit smaller and slightly more form fitting. Her faded grey jeans sat just a tad lower on her hips, which Timid was quick to hide by pulling the bottom of her hoodie down, so that it also covered her butt, which was becoming more noticeable as her pants tightened.
Brave looked over at Beast Boy, to gauge his reaction. The changeling was taking in the changes, turning his head frantically to see all of them, although he didn't seem extremely surprised.
"Why does this keep happening?" Beast Boy groaned, "And why did this have to start happening when I came into Raven's head? You'd almost think it was my fault that these changes started happening."
There was a pause as they all considered the idea.
"Nah."
"Well, whatever the case, we should really hurry," Rude said after a while.
"We're in luck," Brave added, "The portal's just up ahead."
"Great. Hopefully, it'll lead to Wisdom's or Knowledge's realms," Beast Boy said, speeding up just a bit.
"Last one there gets to help Rude train for her next chimera battle," Happy challenged, running through the bushes, laughing.
Laughing lightly, Beast boy ran after Happy, followed closely by the other emotions. Hopefully, they'd have more luck at the next portal.
-
Raven stood up from the couch with a small sigh of relief. She had just finished meditating without any more of those ridiculous interruptions. She must have got in a good few hours. She looked down at her watched and scowled. She had been meditating for exactly eleven minutes and forty-three seconds.
Still, at least she hadn't had any more emotion flashes for a while.
Stretching, she walked towards the kitchen to make some tea. Starfire was still there, flipping idly through a magazine. Silkie's meal cooked in the oven, letting off a smell of cinnamon, cheese, and horseradish.
Raven silently pulled out her kettle and filled it with water. Placing it on the back burner of the oven, Raven leaned against the counter and waited for it to boil. As she waited, she felt strangely confused. About what, she had no idea. As she contemplated the odd confusion, she also felt a bit perturbed about… something.
Slowly, these feelings began to change into a strong sense of appreciation, respect, and admiration…
That's when it hit her.
"Not again!" she growled, curling her fists angrily. Her small out burst surprised Starfire into looking up from her magazine.
"Raven, you keep telling me you are fine, but I do not think you are. Please, tell me what is the matter?"
"It's nothing," Raven grumbled. Catching Starfire's stern look, she sighed. "I don't really want to talk about it."
The alien's face fell a bit, and she returned to reading. They sat in silence for a while, before Raven spoke again.
"Where are the others?" she asked. Starfire looked and thought for a second before replying.
"Robin and Cyborg are on the roof playing the b-ball, and Silkie and I are right here," the alien smiled.
"What about Beast Boy?"
Starfire's smile changed to a look of confusion.
"You do not know?" she asked.
"Should I?" Raven raised an eyebrow.
"Yes," Starfire replied, "As soon as we arrived back, he left to apologize and make amends with you for the incident earlier in the day, and I have not seen him since."
Raven looked at Starfire in shock. "He what?"
Hehe, bit of a cliffy, eh?
First off, I'd just like to point out the chimera. Is it not totally awesome! I think you should all know that this monster was created by Regrem Erutaerc! Everyone give him a big round of applause! Seriously, he's got everything about the monster figured out, and he has more of them! Since they're designed for videogames, he already had attacks and everything, so right on for him!
Next, I think I should mention that The Wonderful Wisdom of Rae is not really, completely my idea. It's from a review for the last chapter by Shade Spitfire that both me and Regrem liked. Thank you Shade, I hope you don't mind that we ripped off your idea ;)
That's all I have to say.
Tammy Tamborine