A Change of Venue
"Pick an item of power, a universe, and a vehicle," the voice of the author said.
The fanfic author's avatar froze realizing he'd just become a character in one of his own stories. "Times like this make me wish I wrote porn," he muttered. "What's with the three things?"
"An item of power, so you don't get killed right away, a destination, so I know where to send you, and finally a vehicle, so you aren't forced to walk everywhere," the voice replied.
"A genie lamp, specifically the one with Barbra Edna playing the genie-" he started.
"No wishes or wish granting devices," the voice interrupted.
"How about a green lantern ring?" he asked hopefully.
"Which one?"
"The Sentinal's?"
"No chance," the voice of the author said flatly.
"How about an Andalite cube from Animorphs?"
"Agreed. Go on."
"Destination... DC and not a gritty one, either. A plain-jane DC with the Justice League, not their evil counterparts."
"Hmmm, I believe I can work with that."
"Joy. And for transportation... the Blood of Amber."
"Nope, try again."
"A T.A.R.D.I.S."
"Negative, not going to happen," the author said, amused.
"Fine, can I have a space ship?" he asked hopefully.
"A spaceship is a lot more reasonable than a time and space ship."
"Exterior design look of a Tardis, meaning blue phone booth that's bigger on the inside than the outside, but with only space travel capabilities," he haggled.
"Sounds reasonable. Go on."
"Inside, the Death Star."
"Are you out of your mind?!"
"No giant, planet destroying laser, or anything like that," he argued. "It just gives me room to store all my crap."
"That's extreme, but as long as you have no exterior weapons at all... I suppose I can approve it."
"And a notice-me-not charm to prevent accidents."
"Granted! Ready?"
"If I say no, are you going to give me more time to prepare?"
"No," the author replied with a chuckle.
"Then I'm ready, willing, and able!" he called out with a forced smile.
Story starts... Now!
John blinked and looked around, finding himself in the captain's chair of a bridge that looked like a cross between Star Trek and Star Wars, probably because the Star Trek design had a view screen while Star Wars had windows like spacecraft were nothing more than faster cars. Polished black floors with bright white walls and polished chrome everywhere were the Empire's standard look, and gave a much more military feel than Star Trek's decor where everything was chosen to make people feel at ease.
Storm Troopers and droids went about their jobs as John watched, grinning. The amount of droids and clones needed to run the Death Star meant he had a lot of personnel to throw at any problems he ran into.
Finally, he turned his attention to the Andalite cube in his lap. It was about the size of a shoebox and the surface was covered in microscopic circuitry. Placing a palm on top of it, he willed it to work, causing it to glow blue for a moment as it granted him the ability it had granted a group of children that allowed them to fight off an invasion of alien body snatchers.
"Three minutes out from Earth orbit," a protocol droid announced. "Orders, Sir?"
"Tap into the satellite system surrounding the planet and locate the coordinates for the group labeled 'The Teen Titans'."
"In progress."
*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*
"What now?" Beast Boy groaned as red lights started flashing, distracting him from his video game.
"On screen," Cyborg ordered and Beast Boy's game was replaced by the sight of a blue, British police box plunging through the atmosphere.
"You've got to be joking," Raven said.
"Trajectory puts it at... our front yard," Cyborg said.
Everyone just stared.
"What is so disheartening about the blue box?" Starfire asked as everyone stared silently.
"It's not disheartening, Star. It's just..." Robin trailed off.
"Impossible," Raven said. "The blue police box is from a TV show."
"TV show?" Star asked thoughtfully. "Are we sure it is not Control Freak with his remote?"
That seemed to break everyone out of their stunned state.
"It very well could be," Robin admitted. "Everyone suit up and prepare for the worst."
"Titans go!" Beast Boy shouted, leaping over the sofa and changing into a green cheetah as he sped out of the room.
"ETA?" Robin asked.
"At current speed... about half an hour," Cyborg said.
"Oh," Robin said as everyone sat back down and waited for Beast Boy to return.
1/2 an hour later...
"I can't believe you guys left me hangin' like that," Beast Boy pouted.
"We expected you to return," Raven replied.
"Here it comes," Cyborg announced as the blue box slowed and landed without a bump on the front lawn of Titan Tower.
The door opened and out stepped a man who was about six foot one, with dark hair and eyes, and broad shoulders. He was dressed in dark clothing that looked like it was designed for the military and had a metal cube under his arm. "Hello. My name is John. Is Cyborg available?"
"Yeah, I'm here," Cyborg said, stepping forward.
"I'm told you are a tech genius and wish to be fully organic, yes?" John asked.
"Yeah," Cyborg agreed cautiously.
"Excellent," John said. "I'm in need of a tech genius and am in possession of an Andalite cube, which can restore you to factory specs human if you like."
"Andalite cube?" Robin asked.
"Yes, I've already used it on myself, so allow me to demonstrate." John turned to the green skinned teen. "Beast Boy, I need to scan you and then I need someone to injure me, preferably a simple cut on my arm."
"Why do you need to scan me?" Beast Boy asked.
"Because I'm going to turn myself into your clone and then turn back into me, removing all injuries as I'm rebuilt from my DNA up."
"Why me?"
"You're distinctive, so the change will be easy to see."
"You're serious," Cyborg said in shock.
"Completely," John said, holding out a hand to Beast Boy.
Beast Boy took his hand just as Raven yelled out, "Stop!"
John released Beast Boy's hand and waited.
"You're excited by the thought of turning into Beast Boy," she accused.
"I've never been anyone else," John replied. "It should be a blast to see the world through his eyes. Does he see the same colors as me? Does he feel sunlight on his skin the way I do?"
"So you've never done this before?" Robin asked.
"Nope, just got the cube. This is my first chance to try it out and see what it's like."
"So this is untested?" Robin asked.
John snorted. "Untested by me personally, tested and used by countless others elsewhere. Don't mistake me riding a bike for the first time, with me inventing the bike."
"Oh."
John extended his hand and Beast Boy did the same. After a second, Beast Boy yawned and a second later John released his hand. "Ready?"
"Yeah, show me what you got," Beast Boy said.
John grinned and transformed into a duplicate of Beast Boy, his uniform hanging loosely on his smaller frame.
"Cool!" the green teen said while John looked around and even took deep breaths just to smell the air.
"I can wiggle my ears!" John enthused, wiggling his pointed green ears.
"My ears, you mean," Beast Boy corrected.
"I think all your senses are slightly better than a normal human's."
"Really?"
"Definitely. Maybe shifting heals you so your senses don't become dull with age like most people," John guessed.
"I think Doc mentioned something about that once," Beast Boy said.
"Now what?" Cyborg asked anxiously.
"Oh yeah. I need someone to cut my arm so I can demonstrate how shifting heals it," John said nervously.
"We'll take your word for it," Cyborg said. "Let's skip to healing me."
"Ok. Normally you put your hand on the cube, but yours aren't organic. So place your forehead against it and think 'on'," John said, holding up the cube.
"Think on?" Cyborg asked while doing so. A blue glow was emitted from the cube for a moment.
"Why Beast Boy?" Robin asked.
"'Cause Beast Boy's cool," John said.
"That's not the whole truth," Raven said.
"There's a whole bunch of reasons, but they can be boiled down to: Beast Boy's cool," John said, rolling his eyes.
Raven nodded and Beast Boy placed a hand on Cyborg's forehead and yawned.
"Dude, what's with the yawning?" he asked.
"Copying DNA soothes the donor. It's a safety feature," John replied.
"Now what?" Cyborg asked anxiously.
"Now, picture yourself as Beast Boy and will yourself to become him," John said.
Cyborg's form slowly melted into Beast Boy's, metallic parts and limbs being pushed aside by new growth causing Cyborg to stumble and go down in a tangle of limbs, real and artificial. The new Beast Boy attempted to rise with some difficulty. "Whoa!"
"What's wrong?" Starfire demanded, concerned.
"He's overwhelmed," Raven said, quickly helping him stand. "Going from his old form to this one has seriously affected his emotional stability."
"That's because half his brain was silicone before," John said. "It's now one hundred percent organic and Beast Boy has stronger emotions than most people anyway."
"I do?" Beast Boy asked.
"Definitely."
"I can feel the air on my skin!" Cyborg said excitedly, wrapping his arms around Raven and crying happily, only wearing a shirt as everything else had fallen off.
"I can feel something too," Raven muttered, blushing.
"How long's he going to be like this?" Robin asked.
"Happy?" John shrugged. "Damned if I know."
Star joined the hug, smooshing her two friends with her great Tamaranian strength.
Cyborg shifted into a boa constrictor, causing the girls to scream and jump back in surprise.
"He has Beast Boy's powers as well?" Raven asked, surprised.
Typing by: Ordieth!
AN: Wrote two sections of this before realizing I had no plot.