A/N Hiya! Hope you enjoyed the first chapter, I left it at a bit of cliffhanger for kicks and giggles, but no worries as it didn't take long for this update to come! This is my first time writing a Teen Titans fanfic so I apologize if some of the characters don't stay in character 100% of the time (I especially struggle with Raven). I have done my research though so I'm hoping that won't be an issue! Please feel free to send me reviews, constructive criticism is much appreciated! I occasionally struggle with sticking to the right POV as well so I will try my best but let me know if I accidently switch so I can fix it! Thanks for reading!
Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans or anything affiliated with them, but dang it would be awesome if I did...
How could he allow himself to be beaten so easily, and by Mumbo Jumbo of all villains? The last thing Robin remembered was Raven breaking Mumbo's wand. After that he wasn't really sure what had happened. Robin slowly opened his eyes as he heard Cyborg talking to someone. He realized that he felt a breeze on his torso, maybe he'd torn his uniform? He sat up and looked down to see something he wasn't expecting at all. His stomach was… completely uncovered and not at all how he remembered it. And he was… wearing a skirt? Robin nearly screamed but held it in as he was trained to stay calm in every situation. Slowly, he turned to his right to see an even stranger sight, himself sitting right next to him.
"Oh my god…" The other version of himself turned slowly and looked at him in surprise. Robin looked the clone over, everything was exactly the same, the hair, and the uniform; everything except the voice.
"I… Robin? What… what has happened here? I do not understand? I am, not myself now?" Starfire's voice spoke from Robin's body and it was a strange sight to see. Starfire looked at Robin with pleading eyes, well, as pleading as they can get with a mask on. Her expression changed momentarily though as she stared at Robin's face.
"Robin… my… your eyes!" Robin was confused by what Starfire was saying, but it didn't take long for him to realize what she was implying. He quickly covered his eyes with one hand before anyone else could see. Protecting his identity was still a major priority in Robin's life, even around the ones he knew well.
"Star... in my, um, your belt, in the third pocket on the left should be an extra mask." Starfire quickly came out of her daze and found the mask the Robin had indicated. Robin take the mask and, turning around briefly, put it on his face. It fit a bit weird on his or Star's face, but it would do for now.
"Nice mask Star, I'm surprised Robin let you wear one of his!" Beastboy, who had apparently woken up, commented from behind Starfire. His voice wasn't coming out of his body however, it was coming out of Raven's. It looked just like Raven of course, except for the eyes which were now the dark green shade of Beastboy's.
"Uh… B… I don't know how to break this to you but… something must have happened when Mumbo's wand broke." Cyborg struggled for the right words to say while Beastboy looked back at him with confusion.
"What, did I sprout a third eye or something?"
"I wish that's all that happened…" The monotonous voice rang out from behind the Changeling. Beastboy turned around to see what both Robin and Starfire had already experienced: his body sitting next to him. It didn't take long for Beastboy to look down at himself and see that he was now in Raven's body and not his own.
"What… how… I – I'm a girl?!" At that moment a streetlamp's bulb burst, raining glass down on the Titans. Three more streetlamps suffered the same fate.
"Beastboy, calm down. You're crazed emotions will make my powers go haywire."
"Listen team, I think the best thing for us to do now is head back to the tower so we can sort this out without causing any damage or harming any civilians." Robin stood quickly and extended his hand to help Starfire up. She smiled, which was a weird sight to see on his usually neutral face. "By the way, what happened to Mumbo?"
"I don't know man… he wasn't here when I got back. All I saw was you guys passed out on the ground, I'm guessing he got away." Cyborg turned to head back to the T-car.
"We'll have to find him, that wand has the answer to our problem. Let's get back to the tower first, I'll meet you guys there." Robin mad his way over to the R-cycle while the others piled into the T-car. It was a short drive back and soon everyone was gathered in the common room looking to Robin for what to do next. "I'm going to do some research and see if I can find any leads to where Mumbo might have run off to. As for now I suppose you all will have to stay here. The sooner we can fix this the sooner things can go back to normal." With that Robin turned made his way to the crime lab to do more research.
The walk to the elevator and the elevator ride itself gave Robin some time to think about his current situation. He was in Starfire's body. Of all the people he could have switched bodies with, Starfire was probably last on his list. It felt wrong, almost like an invasion of privacy in a certain sense. Then again, maybe it would help him learn more about her and her powers. He felt lighter being in her body, and the extra height was a nice bonus. The outfit would take time getting used to though, it was tight and revealing, which he didn't have a problem with on her of course, but being in her body he just felt so exposed… The elevator doors slid open to reveal the crime lab. He made his way over to the computer and sat down. Robin stared at the computer for a few minutes realizing he had no idea where to start.
Beastboy went straight for the couch as soon as he got back to the tower. He wasn't really listening to whatever Robin was saying, all he could do was think about how weird all of this was. He was inside Raven's body, the one person who happened to have the creepiest powers. Not to mention Beastboy felt that if he did one thing wrong Raven would probably kill after this whole thing was over. The changeling couldn't even begin to describe how uncomfortable he felt at the moment.
"Beastboy you need to calm down, getting worked up is going to make my powers harder to control." Beastboy turned to face Raven who was sitting next to him on the couch, it was weird to be basically looking at himself but see those big violet eyes instead of his own.
"I'm trying Rae but this is just too weird for me! I mean I'm a girl now! And I'm not just in any girl's body, I'm in yours! Oh that sounds weird…" Beastboy couldn't stop the sudden blush that showed on his cheeks over that last comment.
"Well don't get used to it, we'll have this all sorted out soon." Raven turned to face the window and quietly added: "Besides, what's wrong with being me?"
"Your powers are making me feel all weird inside too…" The Changeling's pale face turned a shade of green as a wave of nausea swept over him. Suddenly one of the cupboard doors in the kitchen flew open and slammed shut a few times.
"That's why I have to meditate several times a day, Beastboy. Maybe you ought to try meditating."
"I guess if you think it will help…" Beastboy sat back on the couch and crossed his legs. It was weird having his legs completely exposed like this but then again they weren't really his legs. He rested the back of his hands on his knees and held his fingers in the classic 'meditation pose.' "Okay now what?" Raven rolled her eyes, she wasn't really in the mood to play teacher right now, especially not with someone like Beastboy, but she figured it was the best way to keep him from blowing things up. She decided she might as well meditate with him, even though she didn't really need to in this body.
"Take a deep breath and close your eyes. You have to try to clear your mind of everything, which shouldn't be too hard for you since there's not much there anyway."
"Hey!"
"Once you've cleared your mind you need to try to find your center, once you've done that then you can begin the mantra. Azarath, Metrion, Zin-"
"Uh Rae, where is my 'center' at and how do I find it?" Raven sighed audibly, sometimes it was easy to forget how dense the Changeling really was.
"It's basically finding your inner-self and connecting with it. It's especially important with my powers as they deal a lot with my soul self, which is essentially the same thing. All you really need to do is clear your mind and focus only on yourself and your breathing, ok? Now where were we? Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos."
"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos." Beastboy picked up the mantra and did his best to keep in time with her. After maybe half an hour of meditation Raven decided that would be enough for now. She slowly opened her eyes and let the world come rushing back to her. It was then she heard a strange sound coming from next to her. She turned to see Beastboy, though it looked like herself, asleep on the couch. He must have gotten bored from the meditation, but at least he can't do any harm while he's asleep.
Raven decided to take the rare moment of silence around Beastboy to think things over. It was such a strange situation they had landed themselves in. Being in Beastboy's body she felt kind of gross and she couldn't help but wonder when the last time he showered was. Their height and build were similar so she didn't feel all that different in that sense, but the more she thought about the more she realized other things that were different. For one, her ears were picking up sounds that she would normally not be able to hear. Beastboy's quiet breathing, a fly buzzing around the room, the sound of someone moving around on the floor below, and not to mention the sound of waves crashing against the shore down below. It was a bit unsettling to hear all these things and a tad annoying too. She figured Beastboy must have gotten so used to it that he didn't notice it anymore.
As Raven was sitting on the couch pondering over all these thoughts she felt her stomach begin to rumble and a rather unfeminine sound come from it. She quickly clasped her green hands over her stomach to calm it down. She turned around to look at the clock in the kitchen, it was already 1:30 and none of the Titans had eaten lunch yet. She figured it couldn't hurt to make some sandwiches for everyone. She rose and made her way to the kitchen, grabbing supplies from the fridge and cupboard. Peanut butter and jelly for Robin, bananas and mustard for Starfire, a BLT with extra 'B' for Cyborg, a tofu BLT for Beastboy, and banana and honey for herself. It didn't take long to prepare the sandwiches, and in that time Cyborg had made his way back into the common room.
"Aw no B, you better not be making anything with tofu!" Raven turned at the sound of Cyborg talking; he had apparently forgotten about the body switch. "Oh my bad Rae, this is just gonna take some time getting used to… Wait a sec, you're making lunch?"
"I was making lunch for myself and figured I could take a few moments out of my day to prepare something for everyone else, yes." Raven handed Cyborg his sandwich on a plate and went over to the couch to wake the sleeping boy.
"Thanks Rae! Maybe being in Beastboy's body has brought out your nice side!" Cyborg stuffed the sandwich into his mouth and began chewing obnoxiously. Normally Raven would have used her telekinesis to throw something at him but it didn't take long to remember that power wasn't hers anymore. She stood in front of Beastboy sleeping on the couch. He didn't bother her as much because, well, he didn't look like himself anymore. It was almost disturbing to be staring at herself sleeping on the couch.
"Beastboy, wake up." The Changeling continued to snore and made no movement to get up. He might look like her on the outside, but it was definitely the same Beastboy on the inside. "Beastboy, I'm giving you one more chance before I use force." She waited for five seconds before resorting to smacking him upside the head.
"Ahh! Was that really necessary?" Beastboy rubbed the back of his head as he sat up on the couch. "Geez you have a lot of hair…"
"Lunch is ready." With that Raven turned and walked back to the kitchen to finish her food. On the way she pulled out her, or rather Beastboy's, communicator and called both Robin and Starfire to let them know about lunch.
Beastboy had almost forgotten about the switch while he was sleeping. In fact, the meditation probably helped him have the best nap he'd ever had. The nap was cut short, however, when he was rudely awakened by Raven. After she informed him that lunch was ready she was gone. Beastboy stretched out his pale arms and got up from the couch to make his way to the kitchen. Cyborg was finishing up a sandwich and burped loudly when he was done.
"That was actually pretty good, thanks Rae." Cyborg smiled as he got up and placed his plate in the sink. He made his way over to the couch and turned on the TV to the sports channel. Beastboy sat down and Raven dropped a plate in front of him.
"You made everyone lunch?" Beastboy asked with curiosity, Raven cooking was a rare enough thing, but having it actually taste good was even weirder. Beastboy poked the sandwich with one slender finger, then checked the insides: tofu turkey and veggies.
"Why is everyone so surprised by this fact?" Starfire and Robin made their way into the kitchen, it was weird to see Starfire walking with a pep in her step and a smile on her face in Robin's body, in fact it kind of creeped Beastboy out.
"Friend Robin and I offer our apologies for almost missing lunch, it is most certainly an important meal of the day!" Starfire, in Robin's body, sat down next Raven who then placed a plate in front of her. "I thank you for your preparation of the food friend Beastboy!" Starfire smiled brightly at him.
"Actually, Star, Raven made it."
"Oh! Well my thanks goes to you then friend Raven!" Starfire took a large bite of her sandwich, which appeared to be dripping mustard out the back.
"Hey Cy, come over here for a sec." Robin called across the room. "Listen, since everyone is here I might as well let you guys know that I'm not sure how soon we'll be able to fix this. Tracking down Mumbo is proving harder than I was expecting, especially since he's laying low until his wand is fixed. I'll be checking for any sightings of him or any general suspicious activity, but it could be a few days." Robin paused to let that sink in. Beastboy wasn't particularly happy to hear the news, being in Raven's body for several days? It had only been a few hours and Beastboy was already having trouble.
"Perhaps this would be a time of learning more about one another, no?"
"You do have a point Star, it would be good to at least learn a little about each other's powers in case some villain decides to attack before we can get switched back. I suppose training will be called off this afternoon, but I suggest everyone work on learning to use these powers, however temporary they may be." With that Robin stood and placed his empty plate in the sink. "Can I meet you on the roof in an hour Star, I'd like to do some training." Robin turned before he could see the large smile spread across Starfire's face.
"Most certainly friend Robin!" Star, also done with her meal, went to watch TV with Cyborg.
"I think I'm gonna go back to my room for a bit… It's been a weird day." Beastboy had been rather quite since waking from his nap and wasn't in the mood for video games in fear that he'd accidently blow something up. He figured hanging out in his room for a bit would be the safest option. Once back in his room Beastboy flopped onto the bottom bunk of his bed and sighed heavily. He wasn't sure he could last any longer with these unpredictable powers. Not sure what else to do, Beastboy stood and walked over to the full length mirror in the corner of his room.
He realized that he'd never really paid much attention to how Raven looked. Sure, he had noticed her, but she was always hiding behind her hood and he never really got a good look at her face before. Leaning in close he inspected the heart shape of her face, her slim nose and lips, even the strange gem on her forehead. He felt the need to poke the gem a few times, it was a weird thing to have on her forehead all the time but then again he didn't really understand much about Raven.
Stepping back he took in her figure. She certainly wasn't ugly… but definitely not the prettiest girl he'd ever seen. Beastboy shook his head, where had that thought come from? Beastboy put his hands on his hips, her hips. Girls had so many strange curves he wasn't used to seeing on his own body. Beastboy couldn't stop his eyes from wondering and eventually he found himself starring at her chest. His thoughts starting running a mile a minute, a once in a lifetime opportunity had presented itself to him, and he was so tempted to take it. Beastboy quickly shook his head to clear the thoughts, that would be an invasion of privacy and he couldn't allow himself to think that way about Raven.
Turning to the side he looked down at the cloak that surrounded him. It was kind of cool to have a cape, he'd never worn one before and it made him feel sort of like Superman. He grasped the end of the cape and flicked it out in the most dramatic way he could muster.
"I could get used to this." Beastboy continued to flap the cloak and making accompanying sound effects. After a few minutes his attention was again diverted back to the mirror. He decided to unclasp the cape and let it fall to the ground around him. How could Raven wear this outfit all the time? Beastboy realized his legs were kind of cold and the leotard felt tight. For someone who was pretty reserved, her choice of uniform was a bit revealing. Beastboy turned to the side and looked himself up and down again. It seemed Raven was even thinner than Beastboy, aside from all the curves that his body lacked. Beastboy found his hands on his hips again, but this time pushed them down, following the curve of Raven's body until he had both hands on her rear.
"Ahem." Beast quickly removed his hands and held them up in surrender as he turned to the sound of the familiar voice coming from his doorframe. "If you're done, I think it would be good for us to have a talk about our powers." Raven was standing in the door way of Beastboy's room giving him her best death stare she could with Beastboy's elfish face.
"Ah… how long have you been standing there?" Beastboy squeaked out.
"Long enough. Let's go somewhere less… revolting." Beastboy quickly re-clasped the cloak around his shoulders and followed Raven out of his room. After a short trek the ended up in the common room again which was now vacant of the other Titans.
"Where's Star and Cy?"
"Star is with Robin, Cyborg is working on his car." Raven sat down on the couch with her body angled towards the middle so as to face Beastboy when he sat down.
"Well, who should start first?"
"Well, it would be better for you to learn a bit about my powers first so that you don't blow anything or anyone up. My powers can be a bit more… dangerous." Beastboy nodded as he sat down next to Raven. "My powers, as I explained earlier are driven by emotion. I spend hours every day meditating in order to control my emotions and therefore not to lose control of my powers. It's important for me to hinder my emotions but not suppress them completely. If I hold back certain emotions my powers can escape as well… It's important to find a balance of controlling my emotions without completely suppressing them. Do you understand?"
"So I uh… don't feel… but do feel… sometimes?" Beastboy attempted to make sense of the Goth's words.
"Close enough…" Raven sighed. "My powers are very diverse and a lot can be done with them if you know how to use them. One of my powers that is almost constantly active is my empathy, do you know what that is?"
"There's EMP bombs in one of my video games?"
"Not even close… empathy is the ability to sense and feel what other people are feeling. I want you to focus on me, and see if you can sense what I'm feeling right now." Beastboy was still a bit confused by this power but did his best to focus on Raven and look for some emotion coming off of her. He was expecting a word to pop up in head telling him the emotion, instead what he got was a sort of cold feeling in his gut. The best way he could describe it is like someone flicking him in the stomach over and over in an annoying way.
"Ah… are you annoyed?" Raven, who had been staring at him blankly, flashed him a surprised look before she quickly recovered her blank stare.
"Somewhat, yes. It's not the only thing I'm feeling but it's probably the strongest emotion."
"That was a weird, it was like I could feel it in my gut." Beastboy admitted.
"It takes a bit of time to be able to identify all the emotions people could be feeling and recognize how they present themselves to you. I don't expect you to learn them all, but the big ones are pretty easy. Happiness will feel warm and sunny, anger will feel burning hot sharp, and sadness will feel cold and wet. It's a useful power because if you learn to use it correctly, you can usually tell when someone is lying or what their intentions are." Raven paused for a moment to let it sink in. "It also allows me to sense the presence of others. If you focus you should be able to feel the other Titans in the tower." Beastboy focused again and soon more feelings came rushing at him from different areas, he felt extreme warmth and softness as well as a dull feeling coming from the roof and he felt a cool feeling coming from down below in the garage. He couldn't identify any of the emotions at the moment, but it was interesting nonetheless to be able to feel where everyone else was.
"This is actually pretty cool!" Beastboy flashed a smile at Raven who still remained emotionless.
"It can be useful yes, but in certain situations it can be a problem because if someone is feeling one particular emotion very strongly then you will also feel that emotion strongly and it can be almost paralyzing. I will go ahead and teach you two more things for today, I don't won't to overwhelm your little brain." Beastboy frowned at Raven's unique sense of humor. "Let's work on the telekinesis."
"Oh, I know that one! That's where you move things with your creepy energy!"
"Yes, that's it. In order to move things with my powers I use a part of myself to move the object. That object becomes a part of me for a short time. The reason for this is because my powers are controlled by me inner-self. Basically what you need to do is focus on an object and imagine it doing what you want it to do and then say those words I always say: Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos. So let's say you focus on this book, you surround it with your energy and you want it slide across the table so you make it slide across the table. Give it a try." Raven nodded toward a small book that rested on the coffee table in front of them.
"Alright I can do that." Beastboy focused on the book and imagined it moving across the table. "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!" After a few seconds nothing happened. He tried focusing harder but still nothing happened. Defeated, he turned back to Raven for help.
"You need to reach inside yourself to access the energy that allows you to move things, Beastboy. Intently starring at the object isn't enough." Reaching inside himself was something Beastboy had never done but he figured it couldn't be that hard to do. He focused first on himself and clearing his mind and steadying his breathing, then he moved his focus to the book and only the book. He imagined it sliding across the table and said those infamous words and within in a matter of seconds a stream of black energy poured out of Beastboy's hand and surrounded the book. Excited, he focused again on moving the book, however, his excitement got the better of him because he ended up launching the book across the room and into the wall.
"Oh… well I did move it!" Not one to be let down easy, the Changeling did his best to look on the bright side of things.
"Yes you did, but you need to control your emotions Beastboy. In battle if you get too worked up you could end up throwing a rock at a teammate instead of the enemy. Let's try again." After exploding a teacup, shredding another book, and snapping a pen in half, Beastboy was finally able to slide cup across the coffee table.
"Yeah! I did it!" After his exclamation the cup in front of him blew up. "Sort of…"
"Good, you will still have to work on your emotions though. The last thing I'll teach you today is levitating."
"Sweet! I've only flown in the form of a bird so this should be cool!"
"Right well, it's essentially the same concept as the telekinesis. You have to focus on yourself rising into the air and then you will begin flying. Just focus on the direction you want to go. Also to stop you just have focus on yourself slowly lowering to the ground, alright? And don't forget the words!"
"Alright, piece of cake." Beastboy focused again on himself and clearing his mind of distractions. He was familiar with the sensation of flight and so it wasn't hard to imagine his body rising into the air. "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos." With that he slowly began to rise a few feet off the couch. With a grin on his face he focused on moving forward a bit. "Hey this isn't that hard!" Soon he found himself flying around the common room as Raven watched from the couch.
"Alright Beastboy, that's enough." Coming to a stop in midair, he imagined himself landing but forgot the 'slow decent' part and soon crashed into the ground. He quickly picked himself up in time to catch Raven with a smile on her face. Surely enough a warm feeling was emanating from her as well.
"Hey, I got you to smile!" As soon as he mentioned it the smile was wiped from her face.
"Alright, it's time for you to teach me something. Wow I never thought I'd say that before…" Beastboy audibly cracked his knuckles as he sat back down on the couch.
"Alright my apprentice,"
"Don't call me that."
"My student?"
"No."
"Oh-kay, Raven, my powers are fairly simple and very useful. All you really have to do is picture yourself becoming that animal. I can transform into any Earth animal that I know and occasionally aliens but those are a lot harder to focus on. In the animal state you will acquire whatever abilities that animal has, like poison from a snake or sonar from a bat. It would probably be easier for you to try a small animal first, so just think of whatever animal you want to be and yeah you should transform." Beastboy watched as Raven thought for a moment or to, probably deciding what animal to transform into. After a few moments a look of concentration came across her face and soon a small green kitten with large violet eyes was sitting in her place on the couch. "Sweet! Transforming back is basically the same, you just picture being yourself again, or I guess myself in this case…" Soon Raven as Beastboy was sitting on the couch next to him again. "Nice! Just so you know, I can't transform into any humans or objects and definitely not mythological creatures. It helps if you know the animal you want to become pretty well, I've studied different animals for years, and well I guess I grew up around animals too."
"What, were you born in a zoo?" Raven joked in her deadpan tone.
"No! My parents were scientists and they studied animals all over the world. We often lived in the jungle and so it wasn't hard to find animals. Of course I didn't actually have my powers at that time, but I remember most of the animals I saw."
"So you weren't born with your powers?" Ravens tone changed to a more serious, interested voice, which surprised Beastboy. He hadn't told any of the Titans about his past and wasn't sure why he suddenly felt like opening up to Raven now.
"Well, no, but I was pretty young when I did get them. It's a long story though, I don't want to bore your with my life details…"
"No its-" At that moment Cyborg burst through the common room doors, several boxes of pizza in his hands.
"I figured going out in this condition was a bad idea, so I went and picked up some pizzas! Who's hungry?" Cyborg set the pizzas on the table and went back out through the doors, presumably to get Robin and Starfire. Beastboy was surprised to see the clock read 6:14 already, it didn't seem like that much time had passed while they were teaching each other.
"Well, let's eat!" Beastboy exclaimed as he got up and headed into the kitchen.
A/N
And that concludes chapter 2! It ended up being way longer than I was expecting (11 pages!) but I just had so much fun writing the BB/Rae powers part! This chapter took a lot of research, from referencing the episode "Switched" to use many wiki sites to find good descriptions of their powers. Hopefully they came out sounding accurate... Also I'm gonna apologize now for any grammar or spelling errors, I tend to overuse comma's and my spelling isn't great but thank God for spell check right? I recently discovered that after 13 years of schooling I still can't spell the word "sandwich" so that's cool. Well enough ranting, please review and write me nice comments! Hopefully the next update will be out soon!
