I do NOT own Teen Titans
Time: The next morning.
The Shop,... Breakfast,... The Fight,... Nap Time,...
A falcon was the perfect form for getting around a city. No need to follow the traffic rules, or even the roads for that matter. Of course getting somewhere depended on knowing how to get their first. That was the part Beast Boy was having trouble with. He could recall Raven mentioning a number of stores she frequented, but finding them was another thing entirely. For that matter, what sort of store is open at four a.m? The shape shifter wondered. Folding his wings close to his body, he plummeted towards the ground, until just a hundred feet above the road he stretched them out to catch the air once more. From this position he surveyed the area, able to clearly see the signs of more than two dozen shops. One, called the Magical Merchandise of the Occult, sounded familiar, so he dropped down in front of it and returned to his human form. As he'd expected, even at this hour the rundown store was open. He pulled a hood up over his head, not caring at the moment to bring attention to his green skin and pointed ears.
The inside was dark; too dark. If not for his sensitive eyes, the display of books and other items would have been lost amidst the tangible gloom. It made him wonder how the regular customers managed to find anything. His eyes scanned the place, noting stacks of books along with numerous pieces of jewelry with signs denoting them as charms of some sort. Definitely Raven's sort of place. He mused with a small smile.
He browsed through the books, though only a few were in English. Some were supposedly grimoires, and idly he wondered if anyone could cast a spell if they performed the right ceremony, or if only certain people could. The shape shifter studied the spells in some of the texts, barely able to make sense even of the ones that were in his native tongue. Plus he had no clue which ones Raven already had. Placing them back, he wandered through the store, finally stopping at a rack of charms. He turned as his ears picked up footsteps.
"May I help you?" A young woman spoke, peering at him. Obviously she had no difficulty seeing in the dark.
"A charm for good luck, or protection." He replied.
The woman, short with blonde hair and amber eyes, studied him for a few seconds. "This way." She said.
The shape shifter followed her, as she twisted around stacks of books and other objects. Finally they came to a stop far in the back of the store.
"Those bring good luck." She pointed at several bracelets on a rack.
He studied them, immediately skipping past three that were formed like a dragon, not wanting to remind her of Malchior. Though even as he studied the others, his eyes kept being drawn back to one of the dragon ones. A simple silver loop shaped in the form of a dragon. Two small emeralds marked its eyes. Eventually he picked it up and studied it.
"Supposedly it was formed from the treasure of a great silver dragon." The woman informed him. "Legend has it that it absorbed some of the dragon's magic and can aid in battle, as well as protect again dark magic."
"It feels interesting." The shape shifter replied. His hands tingled when they touched it. Turning his gaze back to the rack, he pick out a simple bracelet that he thought Raven might like. He really had no more idea if she would then he had about the books. He paid for the two items, and left the store. Outside he slipped the dragon bracelet on his own wrist. It was a perfect fit.
She opened one violet eye, and peered around the room. Did I really agree to another bet? She asked herself, unable to believe it. What was I thinking? She knew he wouldn't hold it against her if she backed out of it, and that was what she was seriously thinking about doing. On the other hand, what could one more 'experiment' hurt? The violet-haired girl mused, trying to convince herself. She sighed and sat up. Soon she was chanting, meditating.
An hour later she entered the kitchen to find him there, cooking pancakes. "Morning." She greeted him impassively, blocking all thoughts of experiments from her mind.
"Morning." Beast Boy greeted. "Want pancakes?"
"Sure." She sat down at her usual place, noting the teabag that was already there. Steam coming from the kettle indicated the water would soon be boiled.
"So the ... umm... match. That will take place in Nevermore." He asked.
"Of course. Knowledge getting out here would be bad news." The violet-hair girl replied, still wondering whether to wimp out or not.
"Ah." He lifted the pan off the stove, and evenly divided the pancakes. The kettle started to boil so he filled her cup.
"New bracelet." She commented, her violet eyes gazing at it with a fierce intensity.
"Yeah. Supposedly was made from the treasure of some dragon. Do dragons actually hoard loot like that?"
"How would I know? Until a few months back I thought they were just myths. According to legend they do." Her eyes remained on the bracelet.
"Hrm. Hope I don't get uncontrollable urges to start robbing banks in that form." He smiled at her.
"If you do I will visit you in prison." A slight smile crossed her lips.
"Thanks." He poured syrup on his pancakes and took a bite.
"Only dragon form remember." She reminded him before starting to eat.
"Yeah." He sighed. "Tried the shape a bit earlier. She's going to enjoy clobbering me today. So what do I forfeit if I lose?"
"Hmm." She still had no idea. "You have to play at least one game of chess a day with me until you win a game." It was something she enjoyed, but there was rarely anyone around to play with.
"Oh. I guess that's okay."
A comfortable silence descended on the table.
In Nevermore Beast Boy noticed Knowledge had a pale look to her. "You okay?" He asked, concerned.
"She'd just afraid." Raven explained. "I told her if she loses it's two weeks with Rage. Trust me, she's going to give it everything she's got today."
"Isn't that a bit harsh? How about if she loses I take her place and spend two weeks with Rage."
The violet-haired girl frowned. "She's my evil side remember."
"Maybe. But she's a cute evil side." He grinned at her reaction.
"She has four red eyes that glow. How is that cute?" Raven demanded.
"Those just make her look mysterious." He explained.
"She ripped your arm off." She pointed out, fuming.
"That was just a misunderstanding." Beast Boy replied, watching her face.
"Hrmph. Just turn into a dragon and start fighting." The irritated girl stated.
Soon he was soaring through the forest's yellow sky, trying to avoid pink clouds. Knowledge had taken to the air too, and was levitating about a hundred feet from him.
Two weeks with a monster? If I don't win I might as well kiss my life good-bye. The yellow-clad emoticlone solemnly mused to herself. She raised her hands and sent bolts of dark energy at the shape shifter.
Beast Boy evaded the first attack with ease. Like most birds of prey the dragon had superb eyesight, which allowed him to keep his eyes on the emoticlone. He dodged and breathed back fire. It was pitifully weak compared to the first time he'd used it. He gained some altitude, and dived at his opponent. She didn't even wait for him to get close before teleporting away. A blast of black energy hit him, and he realized she must have moved to a spot just above him. He closed his wings to drop swiftly away from her, but it was no use. She followed, and poured blast after blast of black magic into his back. She had come up with a good plan. He mused. Just stay behind me. That's why you don't give someone like her time to think; they can always find the flaw in any strategy.
She was winning. Thankfully. She sighed to herself, not letting up on the attack. However the bolts of black magic weren't as effective as she'd hoped. It seems the legends were true, and dragons were somewhat resistant to magic. At least this one was to the dark type she used.
He felt a tingling sensation come from his right wing and looked at it. Strangely the bracelet he'd worn was now etched into his wing tip. What that meant he had no idea, and didn't have time to think about it. Knowledge would wear him down before he even got in a single decent attack. He judged how far he was from the ground, and suddenly twisted around so he was falling backwards. Fire erupted from his jaws, and streaked towards his foe. She vanished. He twisted and sent more flame at where she'd appeared just a dozen yards away to his right. Having such a flexible neck was useful. Knowing the ground was getting close, he righted himself and swooped low. Then the emoticlone was at his back again, throwing more dark magic at him.
He'd nearly hit her with that last attack. She'd expected him to take longer to recover, but that neck of his was very flexible. She backed of, and threw more bolts of dark magic from a distance. It missed more often, but it was safer.
As he grew used to the shape, he learned how to avoid her attacks. The form was more nimble than he'd thought. His massive wings opened and closed, twisting every which way, allowing him to maneuver pretty well. As long as Knowledge kept so far away, she wouldn't be able to do much damage. A few times she'd given up throwing bolts magic and had tried to clobber him with rocks. If she had much time to think, she would figure out how to beat him, and he really wanted to win. Still, he hoped Raven didn't send the yellow-clad emoticlone to Rage's domain. Given how afraid she was, it would probably give her a heartattack.
He breathed more fire, and it barely crossed the distance to his foe. This time she didn't teleport away, but merely raised a barrier.
"Righteous anger. Idiot. The flame is magic, and depends on your emotions." A dark voice muttered in his ear.
Emotion. He mused. Usually he wasn't one to feel much anger, and he wondered how to go about summoning an emotion at will. Focusing, he thought about being forced to eat meat. A dark hate flooded him, and he sent a bolt of pure black energy at the emoticlone.
Knowledge blinked. That was new. Thankfully she'd been far enough away to see it coming, and had teleport away, but why would he be suddenly using some sort of dark flame?
"IDIOT!" Rage's voice screamed in his head. Sometime hate is justified. Sometime rage is right. Sometime anger is just. But if you focus on resentment like that, it will burn you away until there's no difference between you and a monster like Trigon."
He struggled to regain his equilibrium. For some reason the blast of black flame, or whatever it'd been, had caused him a moment of weakness. "You said anger, so I used anger." He replied, not knowing if he was talking to himself or not.
"I said righteous anger. Not blind resentment. I know all about that, and trust me, if you hold onto that feeling it will destroy you. Love needs to be nurtured, and such hate would only kill it. You forgave her for that, so cleanse that emotion from yourself. Instead recall the emotions you felt when you struck to protect her from Slade."
He twisted away from the attacks Knowledge had resumed throwing his way. Righteous anger. He mused, and imagined Raven in danger, that Slade was going to hurt her. The next blast of flame reached across the distance between them and hit the barrier the yellow-clad emoticlone had put in place. It broke, but she'd already teleported away. It wasn't the same as he'd used that night, but it was more powerful than anything he'd managed so far today.
"Think pure thoughts." The demonic voice ordered. "Think of how you care for her, and breathe a tiny flame on the tattoo on your wing."
He obeyed, recalling how being with Raven made him feel. To his surprise the tattoo briefly glowed with a pure white light.
"A rare find that." The voice mused darkly. "Keep it charged in such a manner, and it will provide protection against many forms of dangers. It would be useless to her though, as only a silver dragon can restore its power." There was a slight pause before the voice continued. "It's amusing to watch. See her below? How she is so torn between wanting you to win, and yet being afraid you will? Fight well." He felt something withdraw from him, and realized she was no longer watching him.
The battle continued. Knowledge kept her distance, using mainly bolts of dark energy. He tried to close the distance, and exhaled fire. More than an hour passed as they each struggled to force the other to surrender. Once in a while he breathed flame on the tattoo, and it seemed to help against her attacks.
Suddenly a dark hand reached into the sky, drawing their attention, and they looked down. Raven was motioning for them to land.
"Time's up." She told them. "It's time for the team to practice. Guess it's a draw."
Beast Boy could've sworn she sounded disappointed.
The yellow-clad emoticlone gulped. She hadn't won. "And me?" She asked fearfully.
Raven shrugged. "You're me, remember. You must've known I wasn't going to put you in with Rage."
Knowledge slumped to the ground. "I was afraid you might change your mind." She admitted.
"Don't be silly. It might be a hit on my pride when you lose a fight, but I'm not that cruel." She turned towards Beast Boy and decided the heck with it. She knew what she wanted. She leaned in and gave him a quick peck on the lips. "A draw might not be a win, but it isn't a loss either." She replied, and turned around, knowing her face was a bright red. She headed for the forbidden door.
The shape shifter smiled, and followed her.
She spoke as they walked together. "A silver dragon, according to legend, is a righteous being. It protects. Why did you breathe dark energy once?"
"I was trying to use emotion to help with the attacks." The jubilant shape shifter replied. "I guess I got the wrong emotion. It made me feel weak for a while."
"From what I've read, a dragon's color reflects its heart." Raven explained. "Being silver means your heart is pretty pure." The violet-haired girl frowned. "Supposedly a dragon's color can change. If your heart ceases to be pure and becomes dark, you might become a black dragon. Or if you're always angry, then red. Blue would be a dragon with a calm heart, slow to anger and enjoying peaceful activities."
"Oh. Interesting. Of course I just transform into one. I'm not an actual dragon."
"True." She replied. "But Malchior was dark in color, and since he was the source of your DNA ..." She shrugged. "You're not green and you're not the color he was."
He thought about it as they walked through the forbidden door.
Beast Boy sniffed the air. He'd once told Raven that his sense of smell was only a little better than human, and that was true. But it was still somewhat better. "Something's wrong with the air." He said, looking around, sniffing.
"Wrong?" She asked, turning to look at him, hoping her cheeks weren't too red.
He nodded. "It smells different."
"Smells fine to me." The violet-haired girl commented, sniffing the air herself. "You sure?"
He tilted his head. "And the tower doesn't sound right." The shape shifter added, frowning..
"Maybe Starfire's cooking, and Cyborg running the fans at high to clear out the smell." She suggested.
He shook his head. "I know what that's like. This is different." He yawned.
"I'm sure it's nothing." Raven replied sleepily, yawning as well. She wondered why her eyes were closed. Hmm. Sleep. The violet-haired girl thought, slumping down on the floor.
"Raven?" Beast Boy asked, worried. He yawned again, and felt himself falling. His last conscious thought was an effort to change into an amoeba.
Beast Boy awoke in a place that was vast beyond comprehension. For a full minute he sat and stared, unable to comprehend how a place could be so inconceivably immense. It stretched upwards for mile upon countless mile. Surely it must reach even beyond the moon, assuming there was such a thing in this place. Other than the floor where he sat, it was the same in all directions. A whole cosmos that was empty. He blinked, or tried to. Failing, he knew something was wrong. It was only when a creature the side of a galaxy walked past that he understood he was an amoeba. Things weren't large; he was small.
The shape shifter would've shook his head and rubbed his temples, if he'd had such appendages. Analyzing the foreign toxins in his body, he carefully removed them. Slowly, he recalled that something had been wrong with the air, and that both he and Raven had passed out. Knock-out gas of some sort. He realized, also noting that the presence of the strange gas in the air would've affected sound.
Being so small had distorted his view of the creature he'd seen walking around, but it'd looked familiar. He had a bad feeling about this. He would've gulped if he'd had the ability to.
He considered his options. Being an amoeba would be safer, but it would take forever to look around. Turning into an Etruscan shrew, he scampered to the sides of the corridor he was in, and looked around. Weighting in at one and a half grams, with a body length of three centimeters, he hoped he would be beneath the notice of anyone he ran into. If not then his size wouldn't afford him much protection. The boy sighed, wishing for a small form that was also tough. Picking a direction, he scurried along the passageway.
Vibrations coming from the floor alerted him to several sets of footsteps. Quickly returning to an amoeba, the shape shifter waited until the unknown creatures passed him. Then he turned towards them and, for a quick second, turned into a small sparrow. He still didn't know where he was, but the creatures he recognized. They were tall, with blue skin and a tail. The reptilian aliens could only be Gordanians.
Beast Boy pondered what that could mean for several minutes, dreading his conclusions. Returning to the form an Etruscan shrew he resumed his exploration. He came across room after room filled with strange equipment, and was tempted to resume his human form for a bit in order to investigate, but decided to play it safe. Realizing just how much his size was hampering him, he decided on a change of strategy.
Returning to the corridor, the shape shifter used the form of a sparrow to fly to the ceiling, and once again used his amoeba form. Eventually a Gordanian walk by beneath him. He let himself fall on it, and soon he had the genetic code to become one himself. He slid from the creature, and let it get out of sight before he took on the new form. He sighed as he realized he was green. "Duh." He told himself. Oh well, maybe they come in colors other than blue. He mused. Or maybe they'll think I just got a disease of some sort and avoid me. Which, given I don't know the language, would be good.
Sighing again, he started walking. Wherever he was, it was huge even to something that wasn't the size of an amoeba. Eventually he came to a display on the wall that showed a view of space. He gulped, and took it as a sign that his conclusions were right. He was on a Gordanian ship.
End of Chapter.
Many thanks to those who read and review.