A/N: Got a comment from guest reviewer Vin saying, "How did that guy hope to carry away a cyborg who weights half a ton?" Well, obviously our mysterious pizza villain had intel and more abilities than met the eye. Apparently he can produce energy blasts, so he may just have super strength in his arsenal. :) Hopefully that answers your questions.
Also, speaking of reviewers, just a quick shoutout to JP-Ryder and MrRayNey for being my first couple of reviewers! Means a lot to me!
The next morning, Megan got up and left the guest bedroom for the Titans' main living area. Cyborg was in the kitchen fixing up breakfast, Robin was channel-surfing, and Raven was sitting on the couch beside him, a book in one hand and a cup of tea in the other.
"Nice set-up," Megan complimented, and Cyborg turned to wave good morning.
"Thanks," he said. "Robin and I designed the whole place ourselves. Hey, breakfast is almost ready. After that, do you want to start working on that ship of yours?"
"Maybe," Megan said, scanning the room. "Where are your other teammates?"
Cyborg flipped a pancake. "Starfire's probably hunting Silkie down to feed him, although he's probably helped himself to something by now," he grumbled.
"And Beast Boy?" Megan wondered.
The Titans joined in unison. "Sleeping."
Megan huffed and sat down.
"You've probably missed the green bean," Cyborg guessed, and Megan nodded in reply.
"Of course. He's like my little brother."
Cyborg cleaned his hands on a rag, reminiscent of a bartender. "What was he like, back then?"
"So much spirit," Megan said like she didn't even need to think about it. "This kid had lost everything, but he persevered. Even when he began mutating because of my blood, he was willing to understand his new abilities and gradually learned to accept the change." She put her hand in her hands, resting her elbows on the countertop. "To be honest, sometimes I feel like I wrecked his life more than I saved it. But when I get to see him so happy, smiling and joking, I feel like maybe I didn't screw up so badly after all."
"Trust me," Cyborg said, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder, "saving BB's life wasn't 'screwing up'. I'm glad you did what you did. Life wouldn't be the same without that grass stain around."
Megan smiled at him. "Yeah. Thanks, Cyborg."
He smiled back. "No, thank you, little lady." He turned off the griddle. "ALL RIGHT," he suddenly bellowed. "BREAKFAST Y'ALL."
Everyone gathered around the countertop as Cyborg dished out pancakes. Beast Boy finally meandered through the doors, yawning.
"Those pancakes egg and dairy free?" he asked, pointing.
"Sorry, BB, I like em this way," Cyborg said, spearing his pancakes with a fork and shoving the entire stack into his mouth. "Mm mm!"
Beast Boy slouched, wiping his nose blearily. "I was led here under false pretenses," he claimed.
Cyborg closed his eyes and raised his eyebrows. "All I said was breakfast was ready, and it is."
"It's really good!" Megan exclaimed. "These are the best pancakes I've ever tasted!"
"Indeed, friend Megan!" Starfire chimed in as she poured an entire bottle of mustard over her stack.
Beast Boy opened a cupboard and pulled out some cereal for himself. "So, after that disastrous visit to the pizza parlor, who's up for more weekend fun?" He looked over hopefully at Megan.
"Oh, definitely!" she said. "I would love to. I was actually hoping to spend some one-on-one time with my little bro!"
Beast Boy clapped his hands together. "Yeah! We could go to the park, throw a frisbee around n stuff."
"Guess we'll let you two do some catching up," Robin said. "If there's any more trouble, Beast Boy will be able to contact us with his communicator." Robin held up his own communicator so Megan would know what he was talking about. "If you want, I can give you one of our extras, just in case."
Megan shook her head. "If it came to that, it would be much simpler for me to contact you using my telepathy."
Raven raised an eyebrow. "You have telepathy?"
Megan nodded. "Even more than that, I can form a telepathic link across a group that can transgress language barriers."
"Handy," Raven commented and returned to her book.
"Isn't she the coolest?" Beast Boy said. "She could throw our frisbee with her mind!"
"So could I, but you never called my powers 'cool'," Raven deadpanned. "Just 'creepy'."
Beast Boy opened his mouth to make a retort, but closed it and let his ears droop instead. The exchange elicited a few good-natured chuckles from the others.
"Come on, Gar," Megan said with a friendly smile. "Let's blow this joint." She got up and headed for the exit and Beast Boy followed suite. "We'll be back in a bit," she waved.
Once the two of them had made it outside, Beast Boy turned to face Megan, an impish grin on his face.
"Race ya!" he shouted, and tossed her the frisbee so he could morph into an eagle. Megan caught the frisbee and laughed as he flew off.
"You're going to need that headstart!" she called after him, and practically rocketed into the air, dust plumes rising over the earth in her wake.
Beast Boy steadily gained altitude as an eagle, eyeing Megan as she flew below him. When he gaiged that he had reached a sufficient height, he prepared himself for an angled descent and transformed into a peregrine falcon before plunging downward.
His powerful body plummeted like a bullet at 200 miles per hour, specialized nostrils and membranes over his eyes allowing him to see and breathe as he fell at such high speeds. It was almost a strange waste of such carefully-crafted majesty that had aided the species in its hunting for generations, to use the ability on a simple race to the park.
He prepared himself as the ground came rushing to meet him, pulling up in a swoop moments before he would have hit the ground. He flapped his wings and circled around to perch atop a tree as his sister arrived, coming to a stop beneath his tree.
The green peregrine falcon flew down from his branch, morphing back into human form a foot above the ground, and Beast Boy fell into a crouch in its place.
"Hah!" he crowed.
Megan suppressed a smile. "I totally let you win," she said.
"Sure you did," he said with a sly tone, and was suddenly attacked by a sentient frisbee.
He fell to the ground with a huff. "Hey!" he cried indignantly.
Megan stuck out her tongue, arms folded. "You're supposed to catch it with your hands, you dweeb."
Beast Boy laughed, getting back to his feet. "Catch...THIS!" he threw the frisbee with all the force he could muster.
Megan's eyes glowed and the frisbee froze before falling harmlessly into the grass.
Beast Boy slumped. "Aww, no fair..."
Megan resurrected the frisbee and grabbed it in midair. "Look alive," she warned, and tossed it to him.
He lept and quickly morphed into a dog, catching it in his mouth before bringing it back to her. She took it from him and made a face.
"It's all slobbery now," she complained. Beast Boy barked and wagged his tail in reply.
"All right," she laughed, and threw it for him, tapping into her super strength to fling it far, far away.
Beast Boy pursued the airborne frisbee, shifting from a dog to a cheetah. With a burst of speed, he chased after it at sixty miles per hour, trying to get a good gain on it, but it wasn't long before he began to tire. Instead, he changed into a Mamenchiasaurus to make up the remaining distance, and caught the frisbee in his mouth, then changed back to human form and spat the frisbee out onto the grass.
Megan flew over to him and used her abilities to effectively remove the now unignorable amounts of slobber from the disk before she dared to pick it up again.
"Your shapeshifting has really improved since you started practicing with me," she said, impressed. "I remember when you couldn't change into anything bigger than a pig."
Beast Boy laughed, rubbing the back of his head. "Yeah," he said. "I've definitely made an improvement."
Megan hummed thoughtfully to herself. "Have you ever tried to morph into anything...different?" she wondered hesitantly.
"Different?" Beast Boy repeated. "What do you mean?"
Megan rubbed her wrist absentmindedly. "You know, like have you ever tried changing color? Or allowing your molecules to spread further apart? Like a liquid? Have you ever tried something like that?"
Beast Boy frowned. "I thought my powers were only limited to animals?"
Megan shook her head. "No, you liked animals, and it was easier for you to shift into something you understood. I'm wondering how far your shapeshifting abilities can really go. I'm wondering what's been left untapped."
"I sort of like my powers the way they are," Beast Boy admitted.
Megan waved her hand. "Never mind then. It was just a thought." A smile returned to her face and she raised the frisbee again. "Let's see you catch this one."
A/N: Took all the willpower in the world not to say "pereGREEN falcon", you're welcome