I do NOT own Teen Titans
Time: The next day.
Waking Up,... Breakfast,... Sparring,... The Riddle and Meditation,...
A black smoke that was ice cold swirled around him; shivering, he held his arms around himself, trying to conserve some heat. Where is this place? Beast Boy wondered. It was impossible to see any distance, but somehow it felt familiar. The black is sort of like Raven's magic, and the chill is how it feels to the touch. So this has something to do with Raven. But what? He tried to analyze the situation, but other than it involved the girl somehow, he came up empty. He had no idea how he'd got here, or exactly where here was.
"Morning." A dark voice came from somewhere in front of him. "Sorry if it seems a bit strange, but it's the best I can do."
"Rage?" Beast Boy asked, not sure if it was her.
"It's me." She replied.
"Heard you've been beating up on the emoticlones again." The shape shifter said, not knowing what else to say.
"Nay. She barged in here looking for a fight, so I just obliged her." The voice had a little chuckle to it. "You should've seen her face. Priceless."
"I'll bet." He looked around, still unable to see through the smoke. Being a bat might fix that problem, but then he wouldn't be able to talk.
"Learn any good shapes lately?"
"A few. A super strong octopus that squirts acid, and a giant crocodile."
"Nice." There was a pause. "Not all creatures are real you know?"
"Not real?" He was sure she meant something other than mythological creatures like unicorns.
"I'm sure you'll figure it out. Raven's life depends on it. As does those of all your friends. If my guess is right, you have two days."
Beast Boy gulped. "If it's that important, then stop with the riddles. Just tell me what you mean."
"Where's the fun in that?" The dark voice asked.
"It's no fun when the stakes are so high." He insisted. "Please."
"I have my reasons, and they aren't just for my amusement. I would if I could." The demonic voice sounded apologetic.
He sighed, rubbing his forehead. Why are things never simple? He wondered.
"This I will tell you straight out, though." Rage spoke again. "She likes old books and charms. If you like her, then fight for her."
"Raven?" He asked.
"Who else would I mean? Things will go bad if she gets too serious over bird brain. Not in the short term, but in the long run it will create a menace just as abhorrent as Trigon himself."
"How?" He demanded.
"Better for her not to know." Rage replied from the darkness. "And you better get out of her room before she wakes up." There was a small laugh. "I'm pretty sure she won't appreciate that ... yet."
He blinked, sitting up on the floor. In front of him was Raven, sleeping on her bed. Vaguely he recalled meditating with her the night before, and her falling asleep. Obviously he must have wandered off to dreamland himself. Heeding the red-clad emoticlone's warning, he fled the room, wondering if it had been just a dream. In his own room he sat down to think, and decided it was too serious to ignore. He also had the feeling that this wasn't something he could ask anyone about. It no doubt had something to do with Trigon's ability to see and hear all; saying a word would attract the monster's attention. He gulped and shuddered; that was something he definitely didn't want to do.
The violet-haired girl yawned and stretched; warm and comfortable, she drew the blankets tightly around her, and enjoyed a few more minutes rest. If I slept like that every night, then maybe Beast Boy wouldn't irritate me so easily. She mused. The thought brought her fully awake, and she looked around recalling the previous evening. As unbelievable as if was, the shape shifter had sat down and meditated with her. Or maybe it was a dream. She deliberated on the issue, and decided it'd been real. Given she had no recollection of him leaving, it was also obvious she'd fallen asleep with him still there. Blushing a little, she looked at the blanket. That must've been his doing too.
Sitting, she levitated, and started to mediate. "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos." She intoned, quickly finding the peace her mantra usually brought her. The premonition still lurked in the back of her mind, but it no longer dominated her thoughts. "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos." She passively recited over and over for an hour.
Descending into Nevermore, she reached out with her senses, and found Knowledge. Levitating, she soon reached the yellow-clad emoticlone who was resting under a tree with a book in her hand.
"Morning." The emoticlone said, not looking up. Even for her, she appeared to be deep in thought.
"Morning." Raven replied, sitting down. "Any more clues on what Trigon is up to?"
Knowledge shook her head. "Until something happens, there won't be." She frowned. "But Rage was active earlier."
"What? How?" The girl asked, wondering if her peaceful feeling was about to take a nosedive.
"Just a few minutes before you woke up she breached the seal on her domain." Knowledge flipped a page in her book.
"She what?" Raven focused her full attention on the yellow-clad emoticlone, her eyes burning like lasers into her.
Knowledge shrugged. "She didn't leave. I don't think she could. But she reached outside of it."
"How?" Raven demanded.
"I don't know." The emoticlone pushed her spectacles back in place.
"What was she trying to do?"
"I don't know."
Raven sat back and sighed. "You sure? I mean there's no way she could've breached the seal. I would've detected it."
"I'm sure." Knowledge flipped another page. "She used portal magic to bypass it. I'm just not sure how, or what she was up to."
"Great." She sighed, and rested back against a tree.
"As far as I can tell, she didn't do any harm." Knowledge comforted her.
"If I can't breach her seal to get in, then it's impossible for her to breach it to get out." Raven insisted. "She was only a threat before because of Trigon. You sure he wasn't involved?"
"What she did had nothing to do with him. I would have sensed the malice." The emoticlone pointed out. "She's also not possessed by him. Once again, no malice."
"And the day started off so good to." Raven mused out loud.
Knowledge chuckled, smiling.
"What?" She looked at the smiling emoticlone.
"Oh. I was just wondering if being tucked in by a certain someone had anything to do with that." Knowledge kept her face stoic, but there was a twinkle in her eyes.
"Definitely not!" Raven practically shouted.
"I think it was." Came a voice from her left. Looking, she saw Happy enter the clearing, smiling.
"And now we know he's better than Robin because ..." Whap! A book flew through the air and hit her on the forehead. Eyes rolling up, she fell backwards, unconscious.
"Ouch!" Raven muttered, rubbing her head. "That hurts me too remember."
"Sorry." Knowledge replied, rising to retrieve her book. "It must've slipped."
"Yeah. With enough force to knock someone out." She looked at the unconscious emoticlone. "What was that all about?"
"Nothing." Knowledge lied, using her cloak to create a pillow for Happy. "Just some idle speculation and nothing for you to be concerned about."
"Right." Raven used her usual sarcastic tone. "It's nothing. That's why you practically murdered Happy."
"Stop worrying about Rage." The emoticlone advised her. "She hates Trigon even more than you do, and won't willingly aid him. Forget about the premonition until we have more information to go on. Fretting about it will only wear you out."
"That's it? Stop worrying? And you're my smart side?" Raven looked at the emoticlone, obviously irritated.
"That's it." Came the reply. "Oh. And bring BB the next time you visit."
"Why?"
The emoticlone shrugged. "It'll be nice to have someone to talk to."
"Forget it." Raven firmly stated. "He's never getting into my mind again. Did Brave say anything about her fight with Rage?"
"Did you expect her to?" Knowledge laughed. "Her pride's been injured. We're not going to get much out of her."
Raven sighed again. I'm a really difficult person to deal with. She admitted to herself.
Beast Boy cooked another batch of pancakes, wondering if she would bother eating them. He figured she would be down soon, and the gesture wouldn't hurt. Well, it wouldn't hurt anything other than his feelings. But thinking on Rage's words of old books and charms, he'd decided trying food wouldn't do any harm. Unless it caused her to blast him, in which case it would be very painful. Briefly he wondered why she avoided the food Cyborg cooked. It certainly wasn't because she was squeamish over meat.
"Morning." He greeted the violet-haired girl, noting she looked a lot better than she had the day before.
"Morning." Raven responded, sitting down at the table. She was surprised at the offered plate of pancakes, and took them gratefully. The kettle was already almost boiled, and there was a teabag beside her plate. "Thanks." She added, pouring syrup on the pancakes. If he's cooking for me again, he must've forgiven me for being so vicious. She mused, and a slight smile appeared on her lips.
He sat down across from her, and dug into his own breakfast, wondering what Rage had meant by all creatures not being real. He wasn't the best at riddles.
The violet-haired girl ate happily. The food was good, and the silence was nice. She decided she really did enjoy his company; at least sometimes. Blushing, she recalled that he'd tucked her into bed the night before. Following Knowledge's advice, she pushed her worries about Rage and Trigon to one side.
He found himself standing outside of Robin's door once again. Once again he heard muttering coming from inside.
"Hi Beast Boy." Their leader greeted him.
"I need the day off." The shape shifter replied.
Robin appeared to give it some thought. "I wish I could." He finally said. "But given Raven thinks Trigon is up to something, I want everyone at the tower for the next few days. We need to be ready if he tries something."
Beast Boy nodded. He could tell that Robin really did regret not being able to give him the day off. And needing to stick together made sense. Back when the Brotherhood of Evil had made their move, separating had nearly caused them a major defeat. But still, how could he hunt for something if he was stuck at the tower? "Having more animal forms I can use will help." He pointed out. "It's worth the risk."
Robin appeared to give it some thought.
"How about a bet?" The shape shifter suggested.
"A bet?"
He nodded. "If I beat Cyborg in a sparring match today, I get the day off. If not then I don't. Beating him would show I'm improving."
Their leader was quiet for a long time. Then he sighed. "Okay, but try not to go too far from the tower. Assuming you win."
"Okay." He turned to leave.
"Hey, Beast Boy. Good luck." Robin called after him.
He turned around. "I'll need it. I figure I got at best a fifty/fifty chance today."
"A new strategy?"
The shape shifter nodded. "Problem is getting close to him before he hits me with that cannon. Running and flying just don't cut it. So I had to come up with something other than those two methods of travel."
"Ah. Will be interesting to see." The leader smiled.
Standing on the obstacle course the first thing their leader did was pull out a poster. Beast Boy gulped, recognizing the person in the picture.
"Seems we got a new villain on the loose." Robin spoke out in a loud voice. "Only description we got is that he's short and wears a black cloak. He took down Kid Flash and Jinx yesterday, so he's pretty good."
"How?" Raven intoned apathetically.
"They're not sure. It seemed like magic, but Jinx couldn't detect anything, so might have been some device that duplicated it. Teleportation seemed to be one of his tricks, but her barriers couldn't hold him."
"If it's magic, then it must be pretty powerful." Raven replied impassively. "And a black cloak would be something a magician would wear."
"Yeah, my thinking exactly." Robin agreed. "If any of you spot him, alert the rest of us, and we'll handle it as a team." Their leader put the poster to one side, and announced that today they would be sparring again.
He stood thirty feet from his foe and waited, patiently studying the layout of the course.
"Ready B?" Cyborg asked.
He nodded, and dropped down on all four in the form of a cheetah. He raced at his foe, muscles straining, eyes focused on the sonic cannon. When he knew it was fractions of a second from firing, he dodged to one side, and changed into a twenty-four foot long Python reticulatus; the longest snake in the world. Since he was eleven feet from his opponent, and the shape change took place instantly, his open jaws were instantly on the sonic cannon, pushing it aside. His body constricted with amazing speed, and wrapped around the stunned Titan.
Still flesh was pretty weak against his opponent's titanium enhanced frame, and the cannon was brought to bear. It fired, and the match was over. He'd lost.
"Close." He heard Cyborg mutter.
"Again." Ordered Robin, who'd been watching.
Standing back at thirty feet once more, he considered his options. He would need to change form again as soon as the Python wrapped around the other Titan. Either the beast or the Torkop, since using the giant crocodile was out. He shuddered, recalling the poster Robin had shown them. It burned, knowing the giant crocodile would give him certain victory.
"Go." Robin commanded.
Once more he raced forward as a cheetah. This time he was twelve feet from his foe before the sonic cannon was brought to bear. Dodging, he became the Python again. It was close, but the cannon was knocked a fraction of a degree off course. He contracted, and became the beast just before Cyborg could re-aim it. He attacked savagely, trying to keep his opponent from bringing the cannon to bear. Before the Maximum-7 chip it would have been an easy victory. As it was, the cybernetic teen matched the speed of the beast even if he lacked its natural weapons. Knowing it could end either way, he desperately switched to a Torkop and managed to wrap three of his arms around the cannon. Lifting his other three tentacles, he aimed them as his foe's face. Victory was assured, and the match ended.
"Congratulation." Raven said, breaking her stoic expression for a fraction of a second to give him a brief smile.
"Thanks." He replied, his heart suddenly beating faster. He hadn't even realized the girl was watching. Which was probably a good thing given it would have made him nervous; losing in front of her was something he hated.
"Okay. You can take the day off." Robin said.
"Thanks." Given he'd lost the first match, he realized the leader was being generous. There'd been no need for him to allow a rematch, and no reason for him to accept it as an actual match that would satisfy the conditions of the bet.
He sat back to watch Raven, who'd taken to the air to fight Starfire. It would have taken the violet-haired girl all of ten seconds to force the alien to admit defeat, but she drew it out for over an half hour. It gave them both more practice.
"Hey Cy, want to try it again?" He asked.
"Sure." The hyper-competitive teen replied, looking surprised.
Beast Boy grinned. Knowing the cybernetic teen, that Maximum-7 chip was busy trying different simulation, searching for a sure-fire way to win. Rage had been right, he'd just become too complacent.
For the shape shifter having the day off was for the most part wasted; he didn't know where to go, or exactly what he was looking for. Not all creatures are real. He mused to himself. He spent an hour just circling the tower in the form of a falcon. He spent two on the computer, mostly staring at the screen, listing different species. Tired of it, he then spent more time in the air. It was a good day for flying; the sun was hot and there were plenty of thermals. For a while he tried to set a new record for how high he could fly; it wore him out just enough to keep him from being restless as he pondered the problem Rage had given him. For some reason his mind kept coming back to unicorns. Everyone knew they weren't real.
Annoyed at his inability to figure the riddle out, he returned to the tower. It was starting to get dark, and as good as it felt to just fly it was useless to just circle the tower endlessly. Figuring since meditation helped the day before, he decided to try it again. Besides, it would give him a reason to visit Raven.
A knock came at her door, and she reach out to open it. To her surprise it was Beast Boy again. Recalling the previous night, she found herself blushing.
"Mind if I try meditating with you again this evening?" He asked, sounding tired.
She pondered the question. She wasn't sleepy, so she was unlikely to fall asleep like she'd the night before, and it had felt good to meditate with someone. "Why?" She intoned, curious.
The question surprised him. He shrugged and responded. "I have a question that I can't figure out, and its driving me crazy. Since meditating last night might have played a role in figuring out how to beat Cyborg, I was hoping it might help me again. Besides I like spending time with you. Do I really need a reason?"
Recalling that he had feelings for her, she frowned slightly. But he didn't seem to be obsessing on them; not like she had over Robin. She blushed, recalling he'd seen her sort of kiss a poster. "What's the question you're having trouble with?" She asked, pointing to a spot beside her.
"It's sort of a secret. Something I got to figure out by myself." He sighed, rubbing his head. "I'm not the best at riddles."
"It's a riddle?" The violet-haired girl intoned. Since when is he into riddles? She wondered.
"Yeah. I've been thinking about it all day. But I haven't come up with any solid answers. Some that seem they might fit, but nothing I'm sure of."
"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos." She intoned, and he repeated it. She decided to just stop worrying about the emoticlones' suggestion that he was a good match for her, and just enjoy his company. She made sure to evict him this time before she fell asleep.
"Help any?" She asked, as he was leaving.
"No. But at least I'm calmer now, and can think better. Thanks." He smiled at her.
"No problem. Come again tomorrow if you want." She replied, surprised she'd actually said that.
"If you don't mind, I think I will."
End of Chapter.
He finally beat Cyborg's sonic cannon at least once. That must've been satisfying.
Will Raven take Beast Boy to Nevermore with her? And if so, what will happen? And more importantly, just how daring can he be?
What happens in two days, and can he find a creature that isn't real?
Many thanks to those who read and review.