Another week, another chapter! This chapters going to be pretty pivotal to the story, and unlike the last couple will be mostly BBxRae focused. Unfortunately, I am uncertain as to this story's fate, as it hasn't really been getting as many reviews as I'd hoped. It's gotten a lot of hits and alerts, so I know people are reading. Well, we'll just wait and see for now.

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Chapter 8: Eruption

Beast Boy woke up the next morning rather tired. Despite his best efforts the night before, he found sleep elusive and spent most of the night tossing and turning. His thoughts, even though he tried his hardest, kept drifting back to the purple-haired girl that he had literally dreamed about one day being able to call his own. He really liked her; that much he knew, but she had always seemed just outside of his reach. She was so close, yet always so far away. Her behavior the previous day only drove that sad reality into Beast Boy even harder.

He had promised himself the day before that he would let go, but as hard as he tried, he couldn't. It was impossible. It was hard enough to get over Terra, and now he was having to do the same thing all over again. He had to at least talk to her. He had to understand why at least she was suddenly being so hostile to him for no apparent reason. Was it something he did? Ever since yesterday, whenever she wasn't avoiding him completely, she would make a particularly nasty remark practically every time he said something. It was like her to be hostile, at least to him, but not like this!

Unfortunately, talking to her proved very difficult that day. It seemed that no matter what he did, he couldn't catch her alone. Either she was meditating or worse, talking to Eutonos. In fact, much to Beast Boy's horror, she seemed to be doing that a lot lately. He had gone to her three times that day only to find her talking to him! Every time he saw the two of them together, he could feel the beginnings of both rage and regret boiling up inside of him.

"So, your powers are controlled by your emotions?" Eutonos asked Raven as they sat at the kitchen together, both sipping a cup of herbal tea.

She nodded as she took another sip. "Yes. Before I slew my father, I wasn't even allowed to feel. Only after he died was I finally able to express myself. But even now, my powers are still controlled by emotions, so I still have to keep them in check."

"Fascinating," Eutonos said as he tapped his gloved fingers on the table. "Your powers from what you describe seem very similar to Calabos from what we've seen and read."

Raven nodded wordlessly. "Are his powers exactly like mine?"

Eutonos shook his head. "No. While they are similar, Calabos does have a few abilities I don't think you have. For starters, during his first war he was known to be able to raise the undead to do his bidding. He undoubtedly learned that from his master, Kilthar. However, his most feared ability was his ability to control others. His will was so powerful he could warp the mind of another and turn them into his slave. Permanently."

Raven had unintentionally swallowed at hearing the last part. "I take it he used this often?" she asked.

The mage nodded. "Yes. He's more daemon than human, really. At least in spirit. During his first war, he was infamous for his ruthlessness and bloodlust. Those he didn't kill, he converted. Sometimes, those he didn't convert…he ate."

Raven swallowed again and felt herself get slightly sick. A wave of nausea passed over her as she realized that this was what she could have been – a heartless killer. She thanked Azar it hadn't turned out that way.

"Now you have some idea of the kind of person we face," Eutonos said as he drank the last of his tea. As Raven finished hers, she silently thanked Azar that not all villains were like that.

"It's been great talking to you," she said as she stood up and washed her dishes. "I have to go meditate. Do you want to discuss this later?" she asked.

"Sure. I would like to learn a little more about how you control your powers, too," he said.

"Okay. I'll see you later," Raven said. The empath turned and made her way to her room.

Meanwhile, Beast Boy was lying down on his bed, staring up at the ceiling and a thousand thoughts racing through his head. He wasn't alone though, for Evad was sitting on the top bunk with his feet dangling over the side. The two had been chatting for a while, and somehow Evad wasn't totally disgusted by the state of Beast Boy's room.

"What's wrong, Beast Boy?" the wind mage asked. "You seem kind of quiet."

The changeling didn't respond at first. "What? Nah, I'm fine," he said in an unconvincing voice. "Just thinking."

"Thinking about the empath, hmm?" Evad asked suggestively.

It was a good thing he was on the bottom bunk, for his face suddenly turned pink. "What I-uh, no!" he stuttered. Was it really that obvious? "Why-why do you ask?"

"I dunno, it's just how much you talk about her and how many times I've caught you looking in her direction when you think no one's watching," the templar said with a smug smile on his face. "You were doing it last night, remember?"

Actually, he was. During their little pizza party last night, Beast Boy found himself unintentionally throwing glances in her direction every so often. It got to the point where one time Raven noticed and in turn gave him an accusing glare, causing him back down.

"Well, yeah…" Beast Boy said sheepishly. "By the way, your leader seems to be talking to her a lot," he said, changing the subject. And it had really gotten on his nerves. He had been trying like hell today just to talk to her, and even that had now become impossible thanks to that huge green-robed jerk!

"I know," the gray-cloaked templar said. "I don't know why, he really hasn't said much. You know, I sure could go for some more of that pizza." At saying the word little miniature pizza slices appeared over his eyes, and he rubbed his stomach hungrily while licking his lips. Every one of them last night had gone through pizza like a horde of locusts, and Evad had actually eaten himself sick.

"Yeah, we should have some leftover, though it won't taste as good," Beast Boy said, and went back to thinking about Raven.

"You know, I would love to have more of that ice cream as well," Evad continued. "With that syrup and that stuff you call 'whipped cream'…"

Suddenly, a light bulb went off over Beast Boy's head. Whipped cream…the gears in his mind started turning. He tried to resist, but he was unable. His prankster mind could do little to stop the ideas that started flooding into his head.

Noticing his silence, Evad looked down at Beast Boy curiously. "Beast Boy, are you there?" He still didn't reply. Right when he was about to yell, the shape-shifter sprang to life and looked up at the wind mage. With his hand, he motioned for him to come down.

"Hey, I have a question. You like pulling pranks too, right?" Beast Boy asked when the mage floated down to the ground.

"Um, yes. Why?" he asked.

A mischievous grin spread over Beast Boy's face – the same one he got whenever he got a brilliant idea. A moment after thinking it over in his head (and weighting the risks), Beast Boy finally faced his gray-cloaked friend.

"How would you like to help me pull one the best pranks I've done in a year?"

Raven had gone to her room to relax and meditate for the time, hopefully to get her mind on important things and off Beast Boy. She had taken care to lock her door as well. She knew Beast Boy could still come in with it locked, but at least that way he wouldn't be able to cause much trouble. Or so she had thought.

Facing her window, she slowly uttered her mantra and floated into the air. It didn't take very long for her mind and body to sink into her fully meditative state. While in this state, she was almost oblivious to things going on around her save for loud or violent events. It was therefore no surprise that she didn't notice the gray smoke slowly creep in from under her door and enter her room. She also didn't notice when the gray smoke materialized and formed a rather nervous, yet mischievous looking Evad. In his hands he carried two objects: one was a camera, the other was a pie pan filled past the top with whipped cream.

Cautiously, the wind mage floated over (so as not to make any footsteps) to the unaware empath, and without making a sound, placed the pie pan right underneath her on the floor. Next, he silently placed the camera on her bed, dematerialized, and sifted back into the hallway through the crack under her door. When at last he materialized in the hall outside her door, he faced an eager-looking Beast Boy and gave him a sloppy salute.

"Phase one is complete!" he said in a proud whisper.

Beast Boy rubbed his hands together evilly. "This is going to be so sweet! Now, on to phase two!" he said, his voice quivering with anticipation. Beast Boy turned to her door, but stopped right before he entered. "Um, you might want to get out of here now," he advised the wind mage. Evad nodded and promptly took off. Finally, Beast Boy went back to his task, morphed into a spider, and crawled under her door.

Once in her room, he changed back and was relieved to see Raven was still meditating, and to Beast Boy's relief, the pie pan was placed almost perfectly underneath her. Grabbing the camera off her bed, he silently approached her from behind, walked around, and faced her from the front. He could barely contain his excitement. This was just too sweet. It was immature and stupid, he knew, but the prankster in him couldn't resist. And if this didn't get Raven to stop avoiding him, then nothing would. Beast Boy readied the camera and placed it next to his eye, being sure to get a good shot. Finally, the changeling took a deep breath, and yelled at the top of his lungs.

"RAVEN!"

The startled mage was instantly shaken out of her meditation. Unfortunately she also lost concentration and fell straight toward the ground…right onto the whipped cream. The collision made a satisfying splat, and her eyes widened to the size of saucers. With his lightning reflexes, Beast Boy took a picture right as she hit the pan. Her expression was priceless.

It took Raven only a second to realize what had happened. The shape-shifter had startled her and caused her to fall flat on her rear, only Raven now just noticed a peculiar wet sensation sinking in through her leotard. She looked down slowly and to her horror found that she was sitting right on a pie pan of whipped cream. Raven looked up to find Beast Boy, but the changeling had already taken off. She promptly stood up and looked around to examine her rear, which was now soaked and plastered white with the sweet topping. As she looked down she heard another click, and saw Beast Boy run away from her doorway again before she could react. Rage and embarrassment building, she clenched her fists and gritted her teeth fiercely before letting out a yell that shook the entire tower.

"BEAST BOY!!!"

The yell was loud enough for practically everyone in the tower to hear. Cyborg and Jinx were talking in the kitchen when they heard it. The pink-haired villain was so startled she practically dropped her glass of water. Slightly confused, she turned to Cyborg.

"What was that about?"

The mechanical man groaned loudly. "I think BB's at it again. Chances are nine out of ten he did something to get her PO'd. Probably a prank, from the sound of it." He reached up and gingerly rubbed his aching ears.

"Little guy's got a death wish, doesn't he?" Jinxed asked casually.

"He must," Cyborg said. Suddenly the kitchen doors burst open and the shape-shifter ran through at a breakneck pace. Cyborg stepped in his path and Beast Boy stopped just inches short of painfully colliding with him. "Beast Boy, what did you do now???"

Panting, Beast Boy looked up at him frantically. "Sorry, don't have time to talk. She's probably still changing her leotard, but I gotta get out of here-"

"Changing her leotard?? Just what did you do?" Cyborg asked again.

"Never mind that, I gotta go! Oh by the way, you didn't happen to see Evad around, did you? I told him he should probably go, too."

"No, why?" Suddenly, the realization hit Cyborg and he looked down at him in shock. "Oh no, you didn't…"

"Hey! I would've done it myself, but I needed his help, otherwise I would never had asked him!" Beast Boy said defensively.

"Beast Boy, I can't believe you! It's one thing to get me to help with your pranks, it's another to ask a complete stranger-"

"He's not a complete stranger! Besides, I only asked him. Okay, I convinced him. But he did it willingly!" Just then, Beast Boy's ears perked as he picked up Raven's angry voice.

"Where are you, Beast Boy?!" he heard her shout.

"Dang, I think she's coming! I gotta go. See ya!" Clutching his camera tightly, Beast Boy sprinted away, most likely for the tower's exit. Only a couple minutes later, an absolutely furious Raven (clad in a fresh leotard) stormed into the kitchen, eyes red with fury.

"Where is Beast Boy?" she asked angrily. Both Cyborg and Jinx shrugged nervously.

"Do you know where he went? For your sake, you'd better tell me if you do."

Fearing for his own skin, Cyborg quickly answered her. "No, we don't know, but we saw him headed that way." He pointed in the direction Beast Boy had gone. Without saying a word, Raven took off in that direction.

She had searched the tower for a full two hours before finally giving up and figuring he must have been somewhere in the city. Sometimes it surprised even her how fast he could move when he wanted to. By now, everyone in the tower had found out, including the four templar who were all embarrassed. With no one else to turn to, Raven had taken out some of her frustration on Evad's brother.

"He's your brother! Can't you do something about him?!" she asked to his face angrily.

"I'm his brother, not his father! I can't look after everything he does!" Lekim said nervously.

"Let him go, Raven. It's not his fault." Rather angry and embarrassed himself, Robin addressed the templar's leader. "We're really sorry about this. Really, we didn't think Beast Boy would pull one of you into his pranks."

Eutonos waved a hand to silence him. "It's not your fault. You weren't the ones who did this, anyway. And if I know Evad, which I do, he probably did it willingly. Trust me, he's done plenty of things like this to us." He turned to Raven. "Don't worry, I'll take care of him when he gets back."

Raven folded her arms and glared away angrily. "Good. Because you wouldn't want me to."

"Boyfriend Robin, is friend Raven going to kill friend Beast Boy?" Starfire asked worriedly behind his back.

"Let's hope she doesn't," was all he said in reply.

Outside the tower, a green crab crawled up onto the beach surrounding the tower and morphed into Beast Boy.

"Boy Beast Boy, you are smart! I should've thought of that a long time ago!" Never before had he hid in the ocean, and thankfully it hadn't occurred to Raven to search there. He gulped though as he remembered why he had to hide in the first place. As he looked up, he saw Evad fly over and land beside him.

"I hid in the city, as you told me. Boy, is that place loud!" he said.

"Well, we'd better go," Beast Boy said. He dreaded his fate, and by the looks of it, Evad did, too.

"I shouldn't have agreed to this. Eutonos is going to kill me," he said sadly.

Beast Boy sighed and looked at him. "Frankly, I'd be more afraid of Raven doing that to me." Before entering, Beast Boy ran over to the spot in the sand where he had buried his camera and brought it with him into the tower. When they had reached the common room, they had found the rest of the teenagers there, all looking at them with either glares of amusement or accusation.

"Uh, hey guys," Beast Boy said sheepishly while turning red. He looked around, and to his horror found Raven right in the middle, looking daggers at him.

"Beast Boy, I believe you have some apologizing to do," Robin said sternly.

"I believe you do too, Evad," said Eutonos.

"Sorry Raven," the two guilty pranksters said in unison with their heads cast downward. Beast Boy looked up to see if some of Raven's anger had subsided, but it was not to be. Her eyes were now slowly turning red and her hands were swirling with black energy.

"Sorry? Trust me, when I'm done with you, you WILL be!" she shouted. Beast Boy gasped as he felt her energy start to engulf him.

"Raven!" Robin shouted in an attempt to calm him down. Miraculously, she halted and glanced at him. "Look, I know you're angry, but try to stay calm."

"Calm? You want me to stay calm?" she shouted, her voice steadily rising. "This little grass stain invades my room, then he embarrasses me in front of a guest no less, then he takes a PICTURE OF IT!!!"

Now starting to feel truly guilty, Beast Boy rubbed the back of his neck. "Raven, I'm really sorry. I really am. I just wasn't thinking-"

"That's just the problem! You never think! You're not even capable of such a thing!" she shouted. Then she approached him and held out her hand. "Now give it to me."

Beast Boy looked down at the camera then back at her. "What? No, come on, Rav-"

"NOW!" she shouted. Not wanting to anger her more, he handed it over. The half-demon opened up the back and exposed the film.

"Hey!" Beast Boy protested, but it was useless. Raven wordlessly tore out the film, tore it to shreds with her powers, then surrounded the entire device in her black energy and shattered it. "Noooo…" Beast Boy lamented, but his words fell on deaf ears.

"Just be glad I did that to your camera and not to you," she said venomously. Next, she turned to the gray-cloaked mage beside Beast Boy, who currently had his hood pulled over his head. "And as for you, just be thankful your leader's dealing with you and I'm not." With that, she turned around and abruptly left the kitchen. The ten teenagers stood around awkwardly in silence for an unknown amount of time before Robin finally spoke up.

"Beast Boy, go apologize to her," he ordered.

"But I already apologized!"

"Sorry, but that's not going to cut it after what you did. Go apologize to her again, and I want you to talk to her, too. You've already caused enough trouble here. Now go." Not bothering to protest, Beast Boy shoved his hands in his pockets, lowered his head, and silently left the kitchen.

"And as for you, you have some work to do," Eutonos said to Evad, which was his own way of saying 'you're in biiiiiig trouble'. The wind mage gulped nervously and pulled his hood entirely over his face.

Beast Boy had wanted to be able to talk to Raven all day, but not like this. Sure he had done this in the first place as a way to get her attention, but now he was having second thoughts about his strategy. But since now he had no other option, he forced himself towards Raven's door and lightly knocked on her door.

"Hey Raven, you there?" it's Beast Boy, he said nervously. He stood in front of the doorway and awaited his fate. If she chose now to unleash her anger on him, there was no saving him now. For a while he wondered if she would even come out, but after a few seconds of waiting her door slid open. She stood there with arms folded and a passive expression, though Beast Boy could clearly see the workings of rage under her eyes.

"Back already? Do you have a death wish?" she asked him. The changeling gulped loudly and began to sweat. Mustering his courage, he folded his hands together and answered her.

"First of all, don't blame Evad for this. I'm the one who put him up to it. I convinced him to do it in the first place. He didn't even want to at first. If you want to blame someone, blame me."

"He still did it," she said cooly. "But I guess I should at least relieved you're willing to shoulder the blame. I guess you're not completely hopeless after all." Her words stung Beast Boy like a hornet, but he refused to let it get to him.

"Heh heh, yeah. Look, I just wanted to say I'm really sorry. I know you probably don't believe me, but I really am. If I had known it would have gotten to you so badly, I wouldn't have done it." And he was telling the truth on that one. "So do you, um, do you forgive me?" He knew it was pointless to ask this early, but he tried anyway.

Raven closed her eyes in frustration. "Trust me, it's going to be a while for that to happen." At this, Beast Boy lowered his head in shame.

"Raven, is there anything I can say or do to make you forgive me?"

"No," she answered flatly. "Unless you're willing to be thrown out the window. And unless you really do want that to happen, I suggest you just go."

"Raven, wait!" Beast Boy said. He was there, and he had to ask her. He at least had to talk to her. "Look, I'm sorry, Raven. I don't wanna bother you, but I need to ask you something…I need to know…" He looked at the floor bashfully. "…why you've been acting this way."

"Acting like what?" Raven asked.

"Acting like…you hate me," he finally said.

A blush almost formed on her face, but she kept it down. Instead, she folded her arms and closed her eyes again. "I don't know what you're talking about, Beast Boy. I've been acting the same way around you as I always have."

"That's not true, and you know it!" Beast Boy said a little louder than he intended. His frustration growing, he threw his arms up. "I mean, these last two days you've been avoiding me like the plague and not even talking to me…and when you actually do say something, you make some kind of mean remark like you did last night!"

Raven however merely turned her head away. "This is the way I always act, and you know it."

"That's not true! Stop lying!" Beast Boy said. "You've always been hostile, at least to me, but not like this! So why is that, Raven?"

Now Raven's voice started rising. "Look, Beast Boy, I've been under a lot of stress, okay? I thought at least you would've been smart enough to know I'm never good around visitors. And you pulling that dumb prank on me didn't help, either."

"I just pulled that 'dumb prank' on you now. You've been acting like this for the past 48 hours!" he said angrily. "And don't give me that crap about you being stressed. Yeah, I know you're not good around visitors, but you seem to be able to talk to pretty much everyone in the tower, especially Robin and Eutonos, whom you barely even know. So what is it, Raven? What is it about me that you find so repulsive? You did this when we went to Tokyo, too. Why is it I'm always the one you want to take your anger out on, huh?"

Now Raven glared at him and clenched her fists. "Well, if I'm talking to Robin or Eutonos, it's because they at least know the meaning of mature conversation - something you seem unable comprehend!" she yelled. "And last time I checked, they don't pull childish pranks or tell stupid jokes around me every chance they get!" Now both of them were yelling, and the noise was echoing through the walls of the tower.

Beast Boy looked her right in the eye. "At least I don't make fun of you or put you down every chance I get! Geez, do you realize how much your sarcasm hurts sometimes? And you do it to me all the time! It's never anyone else, it's just me! Then, you go ahead and be nice this big green earthmover like you've known him your whole life!"

Raven stopped and gave him a smug smile. "You know what I think?"

"What?" Beast Boy asked.

"I think you're jealous."

Beast Boy's eyes widened and he stuttered. "Jealous? Me? Jealous?"

"Yes, jealous. Just like you were jealous when you thought Starfire and I were attracted to Aqualad."

Beast Boy let out a brief, scoffing laugh. "Haha! That's funny. You mean just like the time you were jealous when Terra was with us?"

"Don't you dare…" she warned. The former blonde Titan was a touchy subject with both of them.

"Why, because it makes you uncomfortable? You always put her down just like you put me down. You say I'm your friend, but you always go and do stuff like this!"

Raven glared at him hatefully. "Don't you ever question me on my friendship again! I'm not some amoral traitor like that blonde pebble thrower you used to date!"

Now it was Beast Boy's turn to glare at her. "Don't you talk about Terra that way! And if I'm questioning you, it's only because you've been giving me plenty of reasons to do it! You say you don't open up well, but you find it perfectly easy to open up to someone you barely even know! And then you turn around and treat your friends like dirt just as you always do! You don't care about me! You don't care about anyone but yourself!"

Raven opened her mouth to speak, but Beast Boy was now ranting.

"Why did you treat Terra so badly, Raven, huh? Was it because you didn't trust her? Or maybe you really were jealous?"

"Beast Boy…" Raven said threateningly.

"Was it because everyone seemed to like her? Because she was so pretty? Because her powers were amazing, and yours were just creepy? Or was it because I was dating her and not you?"

That did it.

"HOW DARE YOU!" Raven screamed. "How dare you act like you understand me! How dare you act like you know how I feel! You don't know me, you don't know anything! Don't you ever go running your mouth off about things you don't understand!"

"Wow, you feel? That's a shock! Then don't go acting like you know what I feel when you don't know!" Beast Boy shouted back.

There they were again, arguing like little children without any concern for each other's feelings. By now, their screams were reaching the common room and making everyone nervous.

"That's it! I've had it with you!" Raven screamed. It was a miracle nothing had blown up. "Go away! I don't want to see you anymore, you moronic, immature little ass!"

"Fine! Then I don't want to see you either, you creepy, emotionless goth-bitch!" he screamed back.

"Just GO! I HATE YOU! You ruin everything! Don't ever speak to me ever again!" With that, every light bulb in the hallway shattered, and she slammed her door shut. Suddenly an empty silence filled the tower, and Beast Boy was left alone in the dark.

Uh oh…what'll happen now? Sorry I had to end it there, but this chapter was getting long enough. I'll try and have the next one out soon. In the meantime, please read and don't forget to review! More reviews means a happy author, faster updates, and a continuation of the story! Later.