I do NOT own Teen Titans
Notes and replies to reviews:
Time skips will be less extreme for the most part from now on.
What did she do to warrant the death penalty? Answered in this chapter. More like what she attempted to do.
Sadly the attack was only stopped briefly. There would be more than one ship.
I would think maybe other ships would've picked them up. Then they would've restarted operations. Sorry, this is told from Raven's and Beast Boy's point of view, so hard to answer all questions within the story. So probably a lot of details I'm leaving out. Maybe including it as something read from the ship's files or something Aeopie would know is something I might do later on. Hope the story isn't becoming to convoluted and starting to flop.
If the power comes from the DNA would make sense for him to have it. If it's a learned skill then not so much sense. Which is why I don't just give him a billion shapes. So if he were given Kid Flash's DNA he would have the super speed, but wouldn't know how to create shock waves with his hands unless he learned it himself or was taught.
Raven will heal her eyes eventually. She made a choice not to for a reason, and she staying true to that decision. In the show Slade and Terra conquer the city, yet the Justice league isn't called. I think they, like the Titans, must be pretty busy. Certainly within this chapter they will be.
Time: Two weeks later.
Aeopie,... Tamaran,... New Shapes,... Aeopie's World,...
"I win." The girl gave an excited squeal, grinning across the table at him.
"So I see." Beast Boy admitted, wondering how a nine-year old could beat him at checkers time and time again. It was embarrassing. Sure he hadn't been focusing on the game, but still. The shape shifter looked at the makeshift board. He'd been soundly clobbered.
"Another." Aeopie asked, grinning impishly at him, her orange eyes a shade darker than usual.
"I guess." He sighed, knowing he couldn't say no. The girl had quickly discovered just how easy to was to get her way with just a pout or a frown. Tears weren't needed anymore.
The shape shifter used a rag to clean the board, and started drawing the checker pieces once again. Realizing games might help the timid girl get over her trauma he'd suggested some of the Gordanian computer games that the ship's computers carried. Ten seconds into the first game, with the screen displaying a very realistic image of a humanoid figure leaking guts all over the place, he'd turned it off and simply said that there was no way that was suitable for a nine-year old kid. He though she'd agreed with the sentiment. Her eyes had been a really dark orange while the rest of the face had been pale.
Considering his options, he'd searched for something to draw with. It'd been futile until, when asked, the girl had immediately produced several markers. It seemed she knew the ship very well. Something about that nagged at him, but he'd just pushed the thought to one side, too busy trying to understand an alien kid who'd spent goodness knows how much time in a Gordanian brig. A table in the kitchen, or whatever it was called on a ship, became a carefully drawn checkerboard. Lacking pieces, they simply drew in an 'x' for each checker, which was then erased and redrawn for each move. She always picked a bright orange for her 'checker pieces,' while he went with green or blue.
He'd learned a few things about the strange girl, who perhaps wasn't so strange after all. Like most kids he'd found she liked small animals. Her eyes always lit up when he changed into a kitten or puppy. She even liked playing fetch. How that'd started he had no idea. Why he was willing to humiliate him in such a fashion he had no idea. He only knew when she pouted his heart melted. She would throw a plastic stick, and they would both chase after it. He would get it first and return it to her. He wasn't exactly sure why that made her squeal, though it did. Then she would grin, and throw the stick again. And for some unexplainable reason he would chase it again. There were a lot of things he'd discovered he didn't understand.
That was how he'd learned she wasn't used to the ship's gravity, which to him seemed normal. It turned out her planet was quite a bit smaller than earth. She was certainly no Tamaranian. A game of fetch left her panting, requiring her to often sit down to catch her breath. Which begged the question, why had the Gordanians even bothered to shackle her? They were a match even for Starfire when it came to hand-to-hand combat, so why bother tying the hands of girl who even a five-year old earth kid could beat up?
From talking he'd also learned her people were pacifists. Given her fear they would kill her, he'd found that hard to believe at first. But she'd explained there was only one law her people had that carried even imprisonment, let alone the death penalty. What that law was she had yet to explain. The world she'd described was strange. A place where there were no prisons, and where the few crimes were met with less drastic measures like counselling, or the equivalent of community service. He'd managed to weasel that much out of her, after which she'd went quiet again, obviously afraid she'd told him too much.
With another sigh he made his first move, erasing and then redrawing a dark blue 'x.' "At least let me take a few of your pieces this time." He stated, glancing at her.
Aeopie grinned, and the orange in her eyes changed. "We'll see." She replied, making a move. While waiting on him she took a sip from a cup. He'd tried to mix one of the cakes into a cup of hot water to make hot chocolate, and she'd fallen in love with the drink.
"So. Is there any world with people you're willing to go to?" Beast Boy asked, looking at the board. From the side of his eyes he saw her frown with her eye color changing again. His ears told him her heart was now racing. He sighed. While getting a few alien forms was nice, he did want to return to earth. But even the mention of it caused the girl terror which, if his instincts were right, was total and absolute. He was afraid of what would happen if he forced her.
"This is a Gordanian ship." She explained. "People will attack."
She was lying. He knew it, and he thought she knew he knew. And it didn't make sense. According to her even going to a Gordanian world would get them shot at. Any attempts to suggest they could call ahead to warn them was met with silence. Nor did he believe a Gordanian ship would be automatically fired on. The race was powerful, and people would hesitate to draw their wrath down upon themselves. There would be caution and fear, but not immediate violence.
Which left him with one conclusion. It wasn't the ship that would cause people to attack. It was Aeopie. He'd tried to look up her race in the ship's database. There'd been only warnings to not approach any of her kind. The Gordanians did have a brutal justice system, and the punishment for anyone who approached a world populated with her people was death. No exceptions. Not just the captain, but the whole crew would be executed in a way that defied belief. The gruesome detail the computer had gone into caused him to shudder.
Her people are a race of pacifists. The shape shifter mused to himself. Physically weak, with no weapons. Which should make the blue-skinned reptiles called Gordanians drool. Easy pickings. Right? Yet they're terrified of them.
"Your move."
Her voice drew him from his thoughts. Looking at the board he quickly made a move. "If we don't visit a world soon we'll have to start eating Gordanian food.." Beast Boy told her.
"Okay." Came the reply. Meaning she'd rather eat the food than visit a populated world.
The shape shifter sighed. "Why do the Gordanians fear you so much anyway?" He was pretty sure it wasn't just the Gordanians. Her people would be easy prey for any aggressive race.
The girl shrugged, and focused on the board. Her eyes though twitched, and he could see she was nervously peeking at him. Her heart was beating at twice its normal rate.
The shape shifter closed his own eyes and sighed. They couldn't just stay away from everyone forever. "How did they capture you if they're not allowed near your worlds?" He asked.
She trembled, but seemed to know he needed at least one answer. "Robot." She explained, voice quavering. "Was small and cute and ..." The girl frowned, obviously near tears. "Was different and I wanted to see it. But now I can't ever go home again." The tears started, and then she was sobbing uncontrollably.
Watching, his heart broke with tears of his own filling his eyes.
Raven climbed the steps to her new home. It wasn't much. One bedroom with a small kitchen and facilities. Whoever controlled the silver minions had ordered Titans Tower evacuated. The rest of them had found places that were a bit better, but she found she liked the small, dark space she'd discovered.
Two days after they'd stopped moving the robotic legion had reactivated, and had given their orders. Facilities to mine mineral deposits near Jump City were to be constructed. Work hours were from five a.m. to six p.m. with no holidays. Anyone outside after seven p.m. would be punished. The education system was to be dismantled and only necessary instructions were to be given to children... The orders continued, but what it basically broke down to was that Jump City would be a mining base for whoever was behind the silver minions. Its citizens would be slaves.
Jump City wasn't the only place targeted. Several thousand of the robots had been dropped in various major cities around the world. In all nearly two billion people were now beneath the control of the unknown villain. Places that were populated with superheroes had been specially targeted to counter them. Metropolis had been scattered with a dust made from kryptonite. Superman was severely weakened while in what was his home city. Rumor had it that a computer virus had rendered many of the devices used by Batman useless. The news wasn't good.
And worst of all, there'd been no further news about Beast Boy. What little was left of the media had carried no reports of the green-skinned hero. Worry beat in the violet-eyed girl's heart, and even meditation couldn't dislodge it. He's smart and strong. The violet-eyed girl told herself. If worse comes to worse he can hide better than any of us. The bottom of the sea or even deep beneath the ground.
She opened the door and stepped inside, careful to lock it behind her. Whoever was behind the attack had ordered the police department, along with a number of other services, dismantled. While she had little to fear from common thugs, it was better to play it safe. The rest of the people weren't so lucky. Nearly everyone had been robbed at one point or other by the ever-growing swarm of gangs and looters. The would be conquers weren't going to get much in terms of minerals from the city. It would tear itself apart long before the mining facilities could be built. That led to the idea that they didn't understand humans very well, which had led to the idea they weren't human.
The team had discussed that and had agreed with her. Their technology was beyond what humans currently had. The way they'd tried to restructure things was self-defeating. In the end it didn't help much. The silver minions were still practically indestructible, and there wasn't much of a chance without access to the tower's resources that they could find a weakness.
Cyborg was still working on it though. He'd hacked into several computer systems and was trying to run simulations to find a weakness. Robin had taken to the streets and was making random attacks on the robots using various methods, hoping to find someway to beat them. Starfire had disappeared somewhere.
Raven sighed. She was looking at things from a more mystical point of view, but in her weakened state it was slow. Happy and Timid were still missing, and she was still not welcomed in Nevermore.
A knocked on the door interrupted her thoughts. Carefully, she reached out with her senses only to find it was the missing Starfire. The violet-eyed girl opened the door to let her friend in.
"How're you doing, friend Raven?" The orange-skinned alien asked, sounding defeated.
"I'm fine." She intoned. "And you?" She looked the girl over with her blurry vision, not liking what she saw. Defeat wasn't just in her voice, it was written all over her body posture.
"I've come to say good-bye."
The reply startled Raven. She'd never expected the girl to leave. "Why?" She intoned.
"Tamaran is finally dying." Came the reply. "The blow the Gordanians stuck in my youth was a fatal one. We always knew that." The girl sank down in a chair, unable to stand. "Once my people numbered in the billions.' She explained. "Yet only a few thousand of us survived. Can you imagine the weapons they used to cause such destruction?"
Raven swallowed, frowning. Tamaranians were tough. Very very tough. It took a lot to even hurt one, let alone kill them.
"Four fifths of the oceans were boiled dry, and lost into space along with over half of our atmosphere." Starfire continued. "We'd once hoped what was left of the oceans might recover, and that life might then spread across the land. It's not to be. We always knew it wasn't to be, yet we'd hoped." Sobs came from her. "We will try to colonize another world, but our race is not welcomed by other people. And to have children we need a world like Tamaran used to be."
Dropping her facade, Raven didn't know what to do. She pulled the girl close and hugged her, weeping as well. This was no time to pretend she didn't feel. She could, and it hurt so much. Almost she wished she were truly emotionless.
Beast Boy knew he was in trouble. Angry, he'd decided to go down to the planet they were around and find new shapes he could use. His anger was only partly at Aeopie. Sure her refusal to explain why he couldn't go home was getting to him, but he doubted it was her fault. Most of it was at the idea a kid could be so afraid that she would try to avoid all people. And somehow he doubted her kind was meant to live solitary lives. Obviously she wanted to go home, but she didn't believe she could. Afraid he might take his anger out on her, he'd left.
Anger wasn't a good thing on a world where the gravity was twice what you're used to. A place where the creatures are so fast you can't even see them move. He'd got half a mile from the cargo craft he'd used to land before realizing the trouble he was in. He'd been loud moving around, and sound was something that carried quite well on this world. It was also something its inhabitants were quite adept at detecting.
The way behind him was blocked by what could be thought of as a wolf pack. Forward there were several creatures the size of elephants, if a bit squatter. The shape of either he wouldn't mind having, but not at the cost of his life. Running wasn't an option given he weighted twice what he normally did. Nor was flying since any bird shape he had wouldn't be able to take off in this brutal gravity field. Hiding as an amoeba would only get him so far as he was pretty sure there would be plenty of small stuff waiting to tear him apart.
It would take a very power form to let him do much, and he could only come up with two possibilities. Killer Croc, or the beast. He became the beast since it was a little faster, yet almost as strong. It wouldn't be good enough. Focusing on his hands he saw them grow the claws that came with Killer Croc's form. Then desperately, he pushed his mind to its limits and changed his skin to that of the Killer Croc's as well. It was the best he could do, the speed and reflexes of the beast, combined with some of the natural weapons and defenses of the man-shaped crocodile.
One of the squat elephants reached him, and he put his back to a giant tree, hoping he would only have to face one foe at a time. Its charge nearly impaled him on its tusks, but he slipped between them and raked his claws down across its three eyes. Two of them started to bleed. It screamed a scream no earth-born ear had ever heard, nor would ever want to hear. In the thick atmosphere it sounded eerie, sending shivers down his spine. Knowing it couldn't risk its last eye, the creature backed off.
Beast Boy watched as several members of what he called the wolf pack surrounded it, and then attacked. Like him they went for the eyes. The poor creature, blind and panicked, started to emit weird cries that boomed through the mist. The shape shifter shivered again, and just barely noticed one of the wolves attack him. Razor sharp claws slashed at him, ripping into the tough hide he'd formed as protection. Between having flinched out of the way, and the little protection the armor had provided, the wound was minor. The shape shifter stepped forward and slashed as well. His foe flew five feet through the air and landed on its back. In this gravity that wasn't good; a bad fall could kill. It managed to get to its feet and limp off.
Another of the elephant creatures attacked, and he dropped down beneath the threatening tusks. It started to try to crush him beneath its feet. Having to keep three of the sturdy legs on the ground or collapse, it could only use one at a time. That was something Beast Boy was thankful for as his hide took a very serious pounding. His claws ripped into the attacking limbs, and it seemed something resembling a tendon must've been situated in the front of the creature's legs since one of them suddenly went still. The creature turned and tried to hobble off, but the wolf pack was on the job and swiftly took it down. Wonder if feeding them like that will make them like me. The shape shifter wondered. Somehow he doubted it. They would take what he wounded, and then take him. Oh well. He sighed, already tired from fighting the ever tiring gravity of this place.
Instinct caused him to suddenly lift his right claw. The impact of something hitting it slammed him painfully back against the tree. On the claws was the body of something that looked like a snake. Not too huge, but he saw what he thought might be venom dripping from its needle-sharp fangs. With a flip of his wrist he sent it flying just in time to meet the charge of another wolf. He stepped into its attack before it was ready and preempted with a strike of his own. The creature went flying. Landing, it decided to just limp away. Even adapted to this place it seemed the crushing gravity worked against them. If they fell they got hurt, just like he would.
Two members of the wolf pack left the elephant creature they were tearing into and focused their attention on him. Not good. Beast Boy noted, and left the protection of the tree to lash out at one. If both of them got to him at the same time he was a goner. Wonder how long Aeopie would wait in orbit for me. He wondered. Then again, she's so afraid of meeting people she might never leave. His slash caught the wolf across one eye, making it draw back a short ways. Then the other one was on him, and he felt his flesh tear, ripped in several places as its claws sliced brutally through it. Thankfully the hide armor he wore was thick, and seemed to seal wounds to keep them from bleeding excessively. If not for that he would already be dead. Turning he slashed at the wolf with his claws, meeting its next charge. It broke his wrist, but the wolf backed off, bleeding heavily.
He moved back against the tree, panting and dizzy from the effort of just staying on his feet. The remaining elephant creatures had fled with the death of two of them. Two members of the wolf pack were injured in the fall they'd taken and were staying back. The rest though were focusing on him. The end was near. Then a moment of weakness caused him to slip on the blood that was pooling around him. The end isn't just near. The shape shifter realized. It's here. He struggled to get to his feet while, as one, the remaining nine members of the wolf pack turned and charged.
Silence reigned in the clearing. The wolves all rushed over him, with neither of them biting at him or even taking a single slash with their claws. He could see their eyes, and knew it was in their nature to do so. Yet none of them did. Their scent filled his nostril with their stink as they passed within inches of his head. Then they turned and fled, making not a sound. That was strange. Beast Boy thought, struggling to stand up. Looking through the forest in the direction of the cargo craft he knew this was his only chance. Using the DNA he'd gained from the wolf pack he switched into one of them and raced through the trees, trying to keep from collapsing as he drained the last of his strength from his battered body.
Twenty minutes later he stepped from the cargo craft and into the ship. Aeopie was waiting for him. She always seemed to know when he was coming back from a planet, and was always in the same spot. This time she looked frightened. There was a slight pain in his head, and this time he thought he knew its source.
"You tried to kill me." The shape shifter simply said, looking at the girl. Her eyes flared a deep orange, but she didn't deny it.
"Are you going to kill me?" She asked, glancing down the corridor, yet not fleeing. It would be futile even if he was seriously wounded.
"But you just saved me. So I guess it cancels out." Beast Boy added. "Mind getting a jar from the kitchen and filling it with water. Then add a slice of the cake you call food to it."
She blinked, as if surprised at the request. Which given its nature she probably was. "You're not going to kill me?" She asked, clearly not believing it.
"Don't see why I should." He said, slumping down on the floor. "I would appreciate that jar though." He'd gained four new shapes, but the price had nearly been his life. As the girl moved as fast as she could towards the kitchen he analyzed them. The wolf, which he would have to think of a better name for. The squat elephant creature, again which he would have to think of a better name for. The snake which had nearly got him.
And then strangely enough there was another. The tree he'd been backed against he realized. Guess the plants on this planet aren't exactly plants after all. He mused. It'd been huge. He'd only seen a small fraction of it, but he guessed it was at least sixty feet in diameter, and over five hundred feet tall. It was beyond huge. Immobile there was no way he could attack with it, but as a defense it was pretty impressive. To survive in that gravity it had to be tougher than steel, and its sheer volume meant anything that attacked him in that form would only leave the equivalent of scratches. I'm more than happy with that shape. He painfully mused as the girl came rushing back, half walking fast and half running. She was panting.
"Place it on the floor." He told her. "This is how I usually heal fast." He smiled at her. With the girl watching he vanished into the form of an amoeba. The jar was filled with nice particles of floating matter he could eat, while the water was otherwise pure. A pretty nice place to rest as a single-celled organism and rest.
Two hours later he resumed his human form.
"You okay?" The waiting girl asked, looking worried.
"I'm fine. No wounds anymore." He smiled at her again. She looked like she might've been crying again, and she was pale.
"You going to kill me?" She asked, looking calm as she asked the question.
"Of course not." He replied. That was why he'd let her watch the jar as he healed. In that tiny form he'd been very vulnerable. She had to know that, and she had to know it'd taken a lot of faith in her for him to have trusted her like that. It'd been a risk, but it'd paid off. "So why do people fear you?" He asked.
"We're a race of telepaths." Aeopie explained without hesitation, as if glad to be able to finally talk freely.
Beast Boy listened. It seemed that a little under twenty thousand years ago another race, called the Beolpticians had decided the people of her world would be easy to conquer. The Beolpticians hadn't been a particularly violent or aggressive race. Certainly nothing like the Gordanians. They had just seen a weaker race and decided to take what they could. It'd been a fatal mistake on their part. They'd killed a number of Aeopie's people before they knew what was going on. Her people didn't have war, and didn't understand it. They'd naturally reacted violently with three billion of them sending one command to the invading fleet. 'Do onto your own ten-fold what you planned for us.' Was the message they'd vengefully screamed as they'd held dying friends in their arms.
The Beolpticians had obeyed. They'd returned to their own home world and unleashed the weapons of their fleet upon it. Taken by surprise, the defenses of that world had had no chance. The ships were their own, and there'd been no reason to expect the assault. Aeopie's people had meant what they'd screamed, ten-fold the price for their own dead which numbered in the low thousands. But in their grief and rage they'd made a mistake. The message had come from three billion minds, and in the minds of the would be conquers had been repeated three billion times. They burned their own world clean of all life.
That done they'd visited each of their seven colony worlds and repeated the process. Then, without hesitation, they'd turned their weapons upon each other. In the end only one small vessel had survived. It'd headed back to Talyn, the star of Aeopie's people, and plunged into it.
Her people had watched, horrified at what they'd done as that small ship had re-entered their system not to attack, but merely to give the message that they'd done as they'd been ordered, and to complete the task. Frantically they'd tried to order the ship to stop, but the minds of the people who crewed it had been too shattered to listen or obey. For the two thousand they'd killed the Beolpticians had paid the price of sixteen billion, and with the life of their race as a whole.
As they'd listened to those shattered mind, seeing what they'd done and felt, Aeopie's people had been forever changed. Eight worlds cleansed of life with sixteen billion dead. They'd created the law, killing was forbidden. It was absolute and all-encompassing. Man or woman or child, it didn't matter.
"No wonder people are so afraid of you." Beast Boy said, looking at the now quiet girl. "Without a single weapon you cleansed eight worlds. And there's only one defense. To never come into contact with you. Any ship that does must be suspect, and can't be trusted." The shape shifter frowned, also understanding that her world was as close to paradise as could be obtained. There was no crime, the people could go wherever they wanted freely. There was no need, for if one person was in pain many felt it and would respond. He'd been right, her people were social creatures, and she'd been denied contact with her own kind forever. It must be brutal for her.
It also explained why the Gordanians had went through the efforts of kidnapping her. She meant power for those who controlled her. Power no one could trace or counter.
End of Chapter.
Many thanks to those who read and review.
