Chapter 15: Unleashed Smashing the Slade replica's head did nothing to ease Beast Boy's anger.
After all, Tezumi was still missing and Beast Boy shifted his gaze to the cracked mirror in front of him.
And that sense of hollowness intensified as his bruised face stared back at him.
Was Tezumi really the one hurting him – or is it he that hurt himself?
His reflected expression formed a frown as he answered his own question. "Neither."
Meanwhile a certain blonde-haired girl hurried along the streets with an uneasy feeling. She still couldn't believe that she had been sought out by Raven but she still felt the tension between them and she wasn't sure why she had talked to her in the first place.
The gates of the Theme Park rose in front of her and Terra stopped for a moment, a flood of memories cruising through her mind, causing a weak smile to appear on her face before she went inside.
She stopped once more as she reached the 'House of Mirrors', more unpleasant memories seeking her this time and Terra felt her heartbeat increase its pace.
She had tried so hard to keep away from him and now she was forced to look for him herself – no, she…chose to.
And he would probably have done the same thing if he knew that someone was persuasive enough to make her isolate herself from her friends willingly – like Slade had done once.
But she had to make sure…that this was as close as she got to him – and for the last time.
With hesitant steps, Terra entered the hallway as her reflections imitated her movement.
"Beast Boy?" she murmured, clutching the yellow device in her hand.
Terra came up at a hall – a hall filled with cracked mirrors and shards of glass scattered on the floor. The girl slowly made her way to the center as her eyes took in her surrounding.
What happened here?
Why was Beast Boy not here?
The sound of metal caught her attention and she looked down.
Surrounded by mirror remains lied what seemed to have been a demolished robot and Terra's eyes wandered around in search for the cause of it. Her eyes caught a peculiar object to her right not far from the broken android – and her eyes widened in realization.
Terra's eyes caught sight of an orange and black mask and she felt fear gripping her – fear for a certain shape-shifter.
The sudden beeping woke her from her trance and the former Titan looked at the device still clutched in her hand as it began to blink.
And she realized that if his own team was unable to bring him to his senses…then how could she?
Terra turned away from the mirrors…before something struck her head hard.
"Could you reach Beast Boy?" Raven asked as she took in Robin's angry but pensive expression.
"His…device is shut off."
That was all Raven needed to hear for her to fall into that thoughtful stage herself.
Why was the communicator shut off?
Could it be that Beast Boy didn't receive the device at all?
Or could it be…?
Raven jumped up from behind the car as Mumbo's soldiers kept Cyborg and Starfire occupied.
"What happened?" Robin asked as he jumped aside to avoid a flying car.
"I know what happened," Raven replied and began to float away.
"Raven!" she heard her leader shout but right now more important matters were calling her.
Raven used her magic to make Robin's communicator float out of his pocket without him knowing and she activated it.
A red dot blinked on the virtual map of Jump City and Raven immediately knew where she was heading. And after a few minutes, she found herself walking through a long, narrow hallway before she came up at a hall.
"Come out before I have to get you," Raven said, her voice echoing through the hallways.
But nobody answered her and she walked through the hall, her eyes moving to the yellow communicator in her hand.
The red dot was still on the screen and Raven's eyes wandered around until she saw a Titan communicator blinking on the ground next to an exact copy of Slade's mask.
But the owner was nowhere in sight.
Did…Slade probably attack Beast Boy…or Terra?
Her thought was answered by a shadow spreading over her and Raven formed a shield, her back still facing the peculiar object approaching her.
The half-demon heard the clanking of metal before the force sent her onto the ground, the shield managing to take most of the damage before it disappeared. Raven spun around and floated upwards. "Come out…whoever you are!"
But there was no answer.
"Don't tell me I didn't warn you," Raven said as her eyes turned white, scanning her surrounding as pieces of mirrors and the bumper car that had attacked her moments ago floated in the air.
Raven frowned when she realized that her attacker was nowhere to be found.
Evening slowly set in and the shape-shifter found himself walking to his only place of sanctuary that was left – the coffee shop. Beast Boy dropped himself on the seat by the counter again but this time opted for a milkshake instead before resting his head on his arms.
All this thinking made him tired and he wished he could just go to sleep in his bed. But he didn't know if Robin would be happy to see him back – in fact nobody seemed to be against his decision.
Anger made itself obvious on the face of the green boy.
Yes, nobody…except Raven.
His anger diminished slightly – she still wanted him on the team even if she wanted him to get rid of Terra and Tezumi.
But what…if she was right?
His actions were also responsible for the tensions in the team – but he knew an innocent girl was in danger.
And as his duty as a hero, he had to help her!
"Where do I start?" Beast Boy groaned tiredly, not having any clue of Tezumi's whereabouts.
And as if answering him, giggling sounded behind the shape-shifter and he whirled around, recognizing that sound from a mile.
Beast Boy only gaped at the figure dressed in school uniform, his eyes roaming for a few seconds, taking the girl in before he stopped on the small, dark eyes.
"Nani? Watashi wa watashinokao ni nanika o motto imasu ka?" the dark-haired girl asked with a confused look.
Beast Boy broke out in a huge grin after he heard her voice. "Tezumi!" he cried and ran up to her before he stopped and concern crossed his face. "Are…are you ok?" he asked.
She arched her eyebrow confused. "Anata wa hontoni kimiyona otokodesu." "I...guess you are," the changeling mumbled and smiled at her, causing her to smile back.
"Shikashi, sore wa anata ga hijo ni shinrai no hitodearu koto o imi shimasu," she said and took his hand and a light blush appeared on his face, causing her to giggle. "Dono yo ni wareware wa kono basho o suteru to, ikutsu ka no basho ga yori puraibeto mitsukerudeshou ka?" she said in a low voice, her grip tightening for one moment and the shape-shifter found himself staring at her for a moment.
And suddenly he wished that the coffee shop was uninhabited of customers and workers…only so he could stare longer at the mysterious girl in front of him without having to worry about stares directed at him.
He broke out of his thought when he heard her sigh before he was pulled on his hand.
"Ikimashou," she said while dragging him, leaving a glass of chocolate milkshake forgotten on the counter…
"And where exactly are we touring?" Beast Boy asked but this time, the girl didn't answer as they were walking through the emptying streets of Jump City.
And so the rest of the walk was silent and Beast Boy slowly realized that her walk was fast like she was impatient to get somewhere – like she wanted to show him something.
After a few more minutes of walking, she turned a narrow and dark alley and Beast Boy noticed that they were not surrounded by houses but by walls – by nothing but high, windowless walls and he wondered where they were as they continued their way through the now curving and somewhat maze-like alley.
And finally, somewhere near a dead-end, she stopped and turned to him with a smirk on her face.
"I don't know if I should be interested…or creeped out of this place," Beast Boy said, taking a last look at the deserted and cold surrounding before looking at Tezumi.
And that strange feeling of familiarity and warmth spread through him as he took in her mischief-filled eyes. "Watashi wa anata o korosu mae ni, saigo no negai?" the dark-haired girl whispered, leaning closer.
But he somehow leaned towards the first option and a smirk crossed his face. "You know what I would answer," he replied and mirrored her action.
They once again made contact and once again did the shape-shifter regret having wrong thoughts about Tezumi. How could he think of ever being wrong about this girl? How could he think that she was too weak to fight against Slade?
Terra managed to fight back so why couldn't she?
He broke out of his thoughts when he felt her pulling away, her cocky expression still intact. "Anata wa hontoni anata no yujin ni me o hikara sete oku hitsuyo ga arimasu. Amarini mo warui anatawa machigatta hito no ue ni tokei o iji suru koto o kimemashita," she purred as she placed her finger under his chin playfully, her smirk turning into a grin.
"You know, I don't really care what you just said," he replied and made the first move this time, not willing to let her go like all these other times as he continued where they left off.
And he realized that she was quite passionate – like this was the last time they would see each other. And he wondered if she thought like that…maybe he could take things to the next level – after all he was sure she wanted this as well.
He felt one of her arms remove from his shoulders and he used this change to wrap his arms round her waist, pulling her closer. He managed a peek and his eyes rested on her right leg that somehow managed to move against his waist. And as his thoughts were filled with counteractions to her bold act, his eyes widened in surprise as her arm moved again towards him.
With a strong push, he managed to create some distance before he stepped back. But he wasn't fast enough to evade the pain that engraved in his shoulder before he toppled to the ground.
He looked up to see Tezumi standing over him with a kunai in her hand before he looked to the direction of the pain that slowly began to subside. His eyes looked in shock at what he saw – his suit was torn from the shoulder that also reached a small portion of his upper back, revealing a long gash beneath it.
He stood up, flinching from the pain before a foot to his face sent him back onto the ground. "Ok, I…didn't know you could cheat…during sparring matches," Beast Boy groaned, getting into a sitting position.
Tezumi stepped up to him. "Watashi wa anata no uchigawa ni sono kimono o mite mimashou. Watashi no emonowa sukoshi modotte takau baai, watashi wa sore ga sukidesu."
"Translation please?" the shape-shifter asked, evading the knife but failed to see the fist that slammed into his stomach, causing him to trip forward in time to see the knife approach him. He caught it before reaching him. "T-Tezumi, I'm still crippled from the last time we tangoed," he groaned, not in the mood to be touched like this.
She took him by surprise however, when she slammed her knee against his chin with a jump, causing him to fly backwards onto the ground hard. He sat back up to see her giggle at him. "Watashi wa anata ga dono-yo ni orokana shinjirukoto ga dekimasen." Her eyes stared into his, her smirk once again erasing her innocence. "Otaku…"
Beast Boy gaped at the girl in front of him as the word slowly registered in his mind. Images of Tokyo replayed in his mind – images of a giggling girl he met in front of the manga publishing store. Images of that same girl turning into a deadly, pink, cat-girl before she tried to kill him.
"O-otaku?" he stammered, finally realizing who Tezumi really was.
After all, Tezumi was still missing and Beast Boy shifted his gaze to the cracked mirror in front of him.
And that sense of hollowness intensified as his bruised face stared back at him.
Was Tezumi really the one hurting him – or is it he that hurt himself?
His reflected expression formed a frown as he answered his own question. "Neither."
Meanwhile a certain blonde-haired girl hurried along the streets with an uneasy feeling. She still couldn't believe that she had been sought out by Raven but she still felt the tension between them and she wasn't sure why she had talked to her in the first place.
The gates of the Theme Park rose in front of her and Terra stopped for a moment, a flood of memories cruising through her mind, causing a weak smile to appear on her face before she went inside.
She stopped once more as she reached the 'House of Mirrors', more unpleasant memories seeking her this time and Terra felt her heartbeat increase its pace.
She had tried so hard to keep away from him and now she was forced to look for him herself – no, she…chose to.
And he would probably have done the same thing if he knew that someone was persuasive enough to make her isolate herself from her friends willingly – like Slade had done once.
But she had to make sure…that this was as close as she got to him – and for the last time.
With hesitant steps, Terra entered the hallway as her reflections imitated her movement.
"Beast Boy?" she murmured, clutching the yellow device in her hand.
Terra came up at a hall – a hall filled with cracked mirrors and shards of glass scattered on the floor. The girl slowly made her way to the center as her eyes took in her surrounding.
What happened here?
Why was Beast Boy not here?
The sound of metal caught her attention and she looked down.
Surrounded by mirror remains lied what seemed to have been a demolished robot and Terra's eyes wandered around in search for the cause of it. Her eyes caught a peculiar object to her right not far from the broken android – and her eyes widened in realization.
Terra's eyes caught sight of an orange and black mask and she felt fear gripping her – fear for a certain shape-shifter.
The sudden beeping woke her from her trance and the former Titan looked at the device still clutched in her hand as it began to blink.
And she realized that if his own team was unable to bring him to his senses…then how could she?
Terra turned away from the mirrors…before something struck her head hard.
"Could you reach Beast Boy?" Raven asked as she took in Robin's angry but pensive expression.
"His…device is shut off."
That was all Raven needed to hear for her to fall into that thoughtful stage herself.
Why was the communicator shut off?
Could it be that Beast Boy didn't receive the device at all?
Or could it be…?
Raven jumped up from behind the car as Mumbo's soldiers kept Cyborg and Starfire occupied.
"What happened?" Robin asked as he jumped aside to avoid a flying car.
"I know what happened," Raven replied and began to float away.
"Raven!" she heard her leader shout but right now more important matters were calling her.
Raven used her magic to make Robin's communicator float out of his pocket without him knowing and she activated it.
A red dot blinked on the virtual map of Jump City and Raven immediately knew where she was heading. And after a few minutes, she found herself walking through a long, narrow hallway before she came up at a hall.
"Come out before I have to get you," Raven said, her voice echoing through the hallways.
But nobody answered her and she walked through the hall, her eyes moving to the yellow communicator in her hand.
The red dot was still on the screen and Raven's eyes wandered around until she saw a Titan communicator blinking on the ground next to an exact copy of Slade's mask.
But the owner was nowhere in sight.
Did…Slade probably attack Beast Boy…or Terra?
Her thought was answered by a shadow spreading over her and Raven formed a shield, her back still facing the peculiar object approaching her.
The half-demon heard the clanking of metal before the force sent her onto the ground, the shield managing to take most of the damage before it disappeared. Raven spun around and floated upwards. "Come out…whoever you are!"
But there was no answer.
"Don't tell me I didn't warn you," Raven said as her eyes turned white, scanning her surrounding as pieces of mirrors and the bumper car that had attacked her moments ago floated in the air.
Raven frowned when she realized that her attacker was nowhere to be found.
Evening slowly set in and the shape-shifter found himself walking to his only place of sanctuary that was left – the coffee shop. Beast Boy dropped himself on the seat by the counter again but this time opted for a milkshake instead before resting his head on his arms.
All this thinking made him tired and he wished he could just go to sleep in his bed. But he didn't know if Robin would be happy to see him back – in fact nobody seemed to be against his decision.
Anger made itself obvious on the face of the green boy.
Yes, nobody…except Raven.
His anger diminished slightly – she still wanted him on the team even if she wanted him to get rid of Terra and Tezumi.
But what…if she was right?
His actions were also responsible for the tensions in the team – but he knew an innocent girl was in danger.
And as his duty as a hero, he had to help her!
"Where do I start?" Beast Boy groaned tiredly, not having any clue of Tezumi's whereabouts.
And as if answering him, giggling sounded behind the shape-shifter and he whirled around, recognizing that sound from a mile.
Beast Boy only gaped at the figure dressed in school uniform, his eyes roaming for a few seconds, taking the girl in before he stopped on the small, dark eyes.
"Nani? Watashi wa watashinokao ni nanika o motto imasu ka?" the dark-haired girl asked with a confused look.
Beast Boy broke out in a huge grin after he heard her voice. "Tezumi!" he cried and ran up to her before he stopped and concern crossed his face. "Are…are you ok?" he asked.
She arched her eyebrow confused. "Anata wa hontoni kimiyona otokodesu." "I...guess you are," the changeling mumbled and smiled at her, causing her to smile back.
"Shikashi, sore wa anata ga hijo ni shinrai no hitodearu koto o imi shimasu," she said and took his hand and a light blush appeared on his face, causing her to giggle. "Dono yo ni wareware wa kono basho o suteru to, ikutsu ka no basho ga yori puraibeto mitsukerudeshou ka?" she said in a low voice, her grip tightening for one moment and the shape-shifter found himself staring at her for a moment.
And suddenly he wished that the coffee shop was uninhabited of customers and workers…only so he could stare longer at the mysterious girl in front of him without having to worry about stares directed at him.
He broke out of his thought when he heard her sigh before he was pulled on his hand.
"Ikimashou," she said while dragging him, leaving a glass of chocolate milkshake forgotten on the counter…
"And where exactly are we touring?" Beast Boy asked but this time, the girl didn't answer as they were walking through the emptying streets of Jump City.
And so the rest of the walk was silent and Beast Boy slowly realized that her walk was fast like she was impatient to get somewhere – like she wanted to show him something.
After a few more minutes of walking, she turned a narrow and dark alley and Beast Boy noticed that they were not surrounded by houses but by walls – by nothing but high, windowless walls and he wondered where they were as they continued their way through the now curving and somewhat maze-like alley.
And finally, somewhere near a dead-end, she stopped and turned to him with a smirk on her face.
"I don't know if I should be interested…or creeped out of this place," Beast Boy said, taking a last look at the deserted and cold surrounding before looking at Tezumi.
And that strange feeling of familiarity and warmth spread through him as he took in her mischief-filled eyes. "Watashi wa anata o korosu mae ni, saigo no negai?" the dark-haired girl whispered, leaning closer.
But he somehow leaned towards the first option and a smirk crossed his face. "You know what I would answer," he replied and mirrored her action.
They once again made contact and once again did the shape-shifter regret having wrong thoughts about Tezumi. How could he think of ever being wrong about this girl? How could he think that she was too weak to fight against Slade?
Terra managed to fight back so why couldn't she?
He broke out of his thoughts when he felt her pulling away, her cocky expression still intact. "Anata wa hontoni anata no yujin ni me o hikara sete oku hitsuyo ga arimasu. Amarini mo warui anatawa machigatta hito no ue ni tokei o iji suru koto o kimemashita," she purred as she placed her finger under his chin playfully, her smirk turning into a grin.
"You know, I don't really care what you just said," he replied and made the first move this time, not willing to let her go like all these other times as he continued where they left off.
And he realized that she was quite passionate – like this was the last time they would see each other. And he wondered if she thought like that…maybe he could take things to the next level – after all he was sure she wanted this as well.
He felt one of her arms remove from his shoulders and he used this change to wrap his arms round her waist, pulling her closer. He managed a peek and his eyes rested on her right leg that somehow managed to move against his waist. And as his thoughts were filled with counteractions to her bold act, his eyes widened in surprise as her arm moved again towards him.
With a strong push, he managed to create some distance before he stepped back. But he wasn't fast enough to evade the pain that engraved in his shoulder before he toppled to the ground.
He looked up to see Tezumi standing over him with a kunai in her hand before he looked to the direction of the pain that slowly began to subside. His eyes looked in shock at what he saw – his suit was torn from the shoulder that also reached a small portion of his upper back, revealing a long gash beneath it.
He stood up, flinching from the pain before a foot to his face sent him back onto the ground. "Ok, I…didn't know you could cheat…during sparring matches," Beast Boy groaned, getting into a sitting position.
Tezumi stepped up to him. "Watashi wa anata no uchigawa ni sono kimono o mite mimashou. Watashi no emonowa sukoshi modotte takau baai, watashi wa sore ga sukidesu."
"Translation please?" the shape-shifter asked, evading the knife but failed to see the fist that slammed into his stomach, causing him to trip forward in time to see the knife approach him. He caught it before reaching him. "T-Tezumi, I'm still crippled from the last time we tangoed," he groaned, not in the mood to be touched like this.
She took him by surprise however, when she slammed her knee against his chin with a jump, causing him to fly backwards onto the ground hard. He sat back up to see her giggle at him. "Watashi wa anata ga dono-yo ni orokana shinjirukoto ga dekimasen." Her eyes stared into his, her smirk once again erasing her innocence. "Otaku…"
Beast Boy gaped at the girl in front of him as the word slowly registered in his mind. Images of Tokyo replayed in his mind – images of a giggling girl he met in front of the manga publishing store. Images of that same girl turning into a deadly, pink, cat-girl before she tried to kill him.
"O-otaku?" he stammered, finally realizing who Tezumi really was.