Chapter Two: Echoes

"It's been a while since you've come to me."

"They've been quiet recently."

"So why are you here today?"

"I was out for three days, Doc."

"Mhm."

"That's the longest I've been gone since Terra."

"Is there any reason why they've come out?"

"Not that I can figure. I checked my log and they didn't give me anything."

"Perhaps they've just been cooped up for too long. If you worked with them instead of trying to ignore them, maybe you can begin to heal."

"I don't need to heal, I need them out of my life."

"They are a part of you, Garfield. You have to learn to accept them."

"My name is Beast Boy."


Beast Boy met up with the other Titans around 11:30. They wondered where had disappeared to, but he brushed off their questions. They were probably wondering about the note he left. But they quickly forgot about it once Cy got the stankball out. As usual, Raven sat underneath a tree while the rest of the team played.

During the end of a round, Beast Boy went over and plopped himself beside her. She raised an eyebrow at him without taking her eyes off the book.

"Dude, I am working up a sweat," Beast Boy said.

"Thanks for sharing," Raven drawled.

"Nah like the good kind of sweat, like the kind you get after an intense workout and leaves you feeling good, you know," Beast Boy said.

"Yes," Raven said simply.

"You should join us, it's fun," Beast Boy urged.

"Ah yes, running around, getting sweaty and trying to not get hit by a ball of dirty laundry. I couldn't imagine anything more fun," Raven droned.

"Come on, it's not like you haven't read that book already."

"Actually I haven't. I got it from the library last weekend."

"Oh. Well, what's it about?"

This made Raven look up. "You want to know about the book that I'm reading?"

Beast Boy gave her a look. "Well, yeah. I've asked before and you never really answered me, so…"

Raven searched her memory, but couldn't recall a time that he had done so. But it didn't look like he was lying. "Hm. Well, this book is called a Court of Mist and Fury. I've only just started it, but the previous book was very good. It was about a girl who grew up looking after her sisters after her mother was killed and her father was crippled. She accidentally killed a magical being known as a Fae, and another came and kidnapped her, bringing her to his home. All the Fae were cursed, forced to wear masks. Tamlin, a High Lord of the Fae, the one who captured her, had to make her fall in love with him to break the curse. He failed and sent her home, but she was attacked and went back to save him. She was put through a series of grueling trials, and was beaten and humiliated by her enemies. She was eventually able to break the curse, and she was reborn as a Fae. She and Tamlin went back to the Spring Court. Now, I haven't gotten far in this new book, but it's turning out everything may not have been such a fairytale ending."

"Huh," Beast Boy said.

"That's it? You ask me about my book and all you come up with is 'huh'?" Raven asked darkly.

"No, it's, uh, interesting. Seems a little dark for my taste, though," Beast Boy laughed.

"You watch horror movies and play zombie games all day and you think this is dark?" Raven asked.

"I mean, why's it not a happy ending?" Beast Boy asked.

"Well, she's been stuck in the house the whole time. She hasn't really been allowed to leave. And Tamlin gets mad when she undermines his authority," Raven said.

"She's…stuck? Like, caged?" Beast Boy asked.

"Yes, I suppose. She thought she was free from the horrors of Under the Mountain, but she has nightmares every night. And she feels alone in this house. Tamlin's a control freak, and her closest friends don't realize what's wrong. She needs to escape, she feels like the walls are closing in around her."

"She's…trapped?" Beast Boy asked dazedly. Raven glanced at her green friend. His face was pale, fists clenched together tightly and his chest rose and fell unevenly. In his eyes was a kind of feral emotion she'd rarely seen in him before.

"Hey are you ok?" Raven asked.

"Haha, yeah, I think I just need some fresh air," Beast Boy laughed.

"But...we're outside," Raven said.

"Oh yeah, haha, it's probably just humid out," Beast Boy said.

Raven narrowed her eyes at him, but in a few moments his fists unclenched, his breathing steadied and that feral look was gone from his eyes. But he wouldn't make eye contact with her. Which was odd, since he always looked at her when they were talking.

"You sure you're ok Beast Boy?" Raven asked.

"Oh yeah, I'm good now," Beast Boy said.

Now, Raven thought. He wasn't before though. What could have set him off like that? It looked like he was about to have a panic attack.

Raven was tempted to reach out with her empathic abilities and figure it out, but stopped herself. Firstly, she didn't want to pry. If he didn't want to tell her, she shouldn't go in his head. She respected his privacy, even if he didn't always respect hers.

Secondly, her teachings stopped her. The monks of Azarath had taught her a long time ago how to block out the emotions of others. It was one of her first lessons, even before she had mastered her own. Now she could block out the emotions of everyone around, unless she was subjected to severe trauma herself, or someone that she was emotionally attached to had was experiencing extreme levels of emotions. Which limited it down to four people exactly. Oh, and being in crowded places with high levels of emotion for extended periods of time would wear her down.

But still she wondered what would have affected Beast Boy in such a way.

"I just figured you'd be reading some spellbook or some spooky history book," Beast Boy said, breaking her from her thoughts.

"The whole point of coming out here was to relax. I thought it counterproductive to research the Familiars used by the Spanish covens in the fourth century during our day off," Raven replied drily.

"And magic girls and handsome immortals trapped in a house is relaxing?" Beast Boy teased.

"To each their own," Raven replied, eager to return to her book.

"Heh, looks like the next game's about to start," Beast Boy said, standing up and stretching. "Sure you don't want to come? Last chance."

Raven rolled her eyes. "No thanks. Besides, it's not like you've got any secret pasts I can read about."

She noticed Beast Boy stiffen slightly. "Nope haha, I'm an open book, no secrets here! Alright gotta go byeee!"

Raven stared at Beast Boy as he raced towards the game. Now she was certain something was up. He was acting strange, stranger than usual at that. The game started up again, and Raven kept a careful eye on Beast Boy while reading. He was getting hit a lot more than he was in the previous game. He also tripped a few times, and was constantly unfocused, like his mind was somewhere else. Raven frowned. This wasn't like him. Beast Boy was not very good at multitasking, but when he got in the mindset of something, he was totally focused on it.

On the other side of the field, Beast Boy growled, snatching up the ball and looking for a target. No of them were allowed to use their powers, so Starfire was grounded. But she was still lightning fast, having those long legs. Robin was also quick on his feet, and really good at dodging. Cyborg was big and clunky, the obvious target. Beast Boy feigned like he was going to throw it at the tin man, only to throw it at Starfire.

It was a clumsy feint, and Starfire saw it coming and ducked. Beast Boy growled to himself, then started running near Robin. Cyborg raced Star to the ball, but Star's long legs were too quick for the tin man. She grabbed it and threw it at Cy, who skidded to a stop just as it hit him in the chest. Cyborg let out an oomph, the ball knocking the wind out of him.

It was dark, cold and cramped. He couldn't breathe, there was no air. He gasped, trying desperately to inhale but there was no air. He grabbed the bars and shook, desperately trying to break out, to be free, to go out into the night and be free, but he couldn't breathe, there was no air he was suffocating-

Beast Boy blinked and suddenly he was back in reality. The sun was shining and the air was fresh. The grass under his feet was alive, the birds were chirping. Beast Boy inhaled deeply.

Only to get hit in the head with the ball.

"Heads up BB!" Cyborg yelled, laughing.

"Oh, it's on tin man," Beast Boy shouted back, grabbing the ball and racing towards him.

"Bring it grass stain," Cy said, motioning with his fingers.

The rest of the team might have missed it, but she hadn't. Raven set her book down on her lap and stared at the green titan. She'd recognize that look anywhere. She'd worn it a few times, alone in her room where she was safe. For her, it had been her father that had struck terror into her heart. What was Beast Boy afraid of?


When the Titans returned home, Robin returned to the evidence room while Raven went to meditate. Star went to make dinner, a "glorious feast to finish off a fantastic outing" so Beast Boy and Cyborg decided to play some video games.

"Come on, come on," Beast Boy muttered, thumb rapidly pressing the A button. Cyborg was just a few feet ahead of him, and the finish line was in sight.

"Gah!" Beast Boy exclaimed as Cyborg passed the finish line a second ahead of him.

"Ha! Better luck next time grass stain!" Cyborg laughed.

"This time, I'm so gonna kick your ass," Beast Boy said, pressing Next Race.

"Sure you are. That's what you said last time. And the time before that. And the time before that," Cyborg said.

"Oh yeah, well just watch. You can't win 17 times in a row," Beast Boy said.

"First of all, it's 18 now. Secondly, I can and I will," Cyborg boasted.

Despite Beast Boy's best efforts, Cyborg did in fact win the next race. Cyborg whooped as Beast Boy slumped back on the couch with a groan. "Booyah! What'd I tell ya?"

"No way. That's so not fair!"

"You're almost as bad as your tofu burgers!"

"I'll take that as a compliment because my tofu burgers are THE BEST!"

"That's only cause you haven't had real food. Trust me, anything I grill up is ten times better than your fake food."

"How can it be fake if it's more natural than your gross meat?"

"There's nothing natural about vegetables trying to pose as meat."

"It is if vegetables can do it better!"

"That's just like saying if Robin's a better detective, why can't he fly."

"What? Dude that makes no sense."

"Sure it does! Just cause Robin's smart and a good kicker doesn't mean he's Raven, and he shouldn't try to be."

"Huh."

"Yeah, that's what Mrs. Jacobson's English class taught me."

"Who?"

"My freshman year English teacher."

"Oh."

"So, uh, BB, I uh, saw the note you left on your door."

Oh yeah. Beast Boy had forgotten about that. He returned to his room early this morning and stuck a sticky note on his door telling the Titan's he'd meet them at the park later.

"Where'd you go this morning? Got a hot date or something?"

"Maybe I do what's it to you?"

"Nothing! I was just curious."

"Hm. There's a new series of comics that's supposed to be coming soon, and I wanted to see if it was in yet."

"Oh. Cool, cool. So no hot date?"

"More like too many. Everyone wants a piece of the Beast!"

"What, you got a line of swooning maidens cheering outside your window every morning that you've got to escape? Is that it? Am I going to have to civilian-proof the tower now?"

Beast Boy laughed. "Yeah man, my adoring fans won't leave me alone. I might have to get a restraining order on the whole city!"

"Ha! If only that worked on villains. Sorry Control Freak, you legally have to stay four hundred feet away from me at all times," Cyborg laughed.

"Dude, if I were Robin, I'd use that on Kitten. Seriously man, she gives me the creeps," Beast Boy chuckled.

"Speaking of TV and psychos, ready for the next round?" Cyborg asked, holding up his remote.

"You know it! I'm totally gonna beat you this time," Beast Boy said.

"We'll see about that," Cyborg rebuked. The screen began counting down, and soon the game was on. Beast Boy did not in fact beat him that time, nor for the next several rounds. He eventually pulled off a win, causing the green teen to cry out in joy. Cyborg exclaimed that he had cheated, but Beast Boy wouldn't let him have it, dancing his victory boogie. In classic Starfire punctuality, Starfire promptly announced that dinner was ready, and Beast Boy rushed off to gather the rest of the team. Soon, the five of them were gathered at the kitchen table, carefully picking at the strange item in front of them. Starfire beamed at them, pleased that they enjoyed her meal, while the rest of the team discreetly disposed of the object. All was right in the world, and everything was how it should be.


Raven stared at the objects in her hands, then discreetly looked around at her opponents. None of their tells were showing. Good. She laid down one of the cards in her hand and picked up the next one.

The team was playing Spoons. After Starfire's glorious meal, they decided to have a game night. Starfire even got Robin out of the evidence room to play. Beast Boy got first vote on a game, but luckily his choice of Throw The Burrito had been vetoed. The team eventually decided on Spoons. She had Sp, Robin only had S, Cyborg had Spoo, Starfire had Spo, and Beast Boy had Spoon. And based on the way it was looking, this might be the last round.

The instant Starfire reached for a spoon, both her and Robin grabbed one as well. Beast Boy fumbled with his cards, allowing Cyborg to snatch up the last remaining spoon.

"Ha! Sorry BB, but that's Spoons for you!" Cyborg gloated.

"Ah man, I had three Kings! I just needed one more! Just one!" Beast Boy complained.

"Alright Titans, that's a wrap," Robin said. "I expect everyone to be up at 6am for training tomorrow."

"Ah, man," Beast Boy groaned. "Do we have to?"

"Yes." Robin glared at Beast Boy. "Right now it's especially important that we keep up our training."

Beast Boy sighed. "I know. Welp, Imma catch some Z's, I'll see you all in zee morning."

Starfire bid the team goodnight and followed Beast Boy out of the common room. Robin went to make coffee. He'd probably be up for another couple hours working on the case.

Raven watched Beast Boy leave. He slowed to chat with Starfire as they headed back to their rooms. Ever since the encounter this morning, he'd been acting normally. Well, as normal as someone like Beast Boy could be. It was probably nothing anyhow. Beast Boy was easily frightened. For all she knew it could have just been the groundhog in him jumping at his own shadow. Beast Boy probably didn't even remember the little fright he had earlier today. He would bounce back, like he always did.

"Man, how are you so good at this game?" Cyborg asked, interrupting her thoughts. "Don't lie, did you use a spell to predict who was gonna get it first?"

Raven smirked under her hood. "No. None were needed."

"Come on, I bet you'd be really good at poker. You've already got the face for it," Cyborg said.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Raven asked coldly.

"Nothing! I just, uh, well you're really hard to read," Cyborg said.

Raven hmphed. "I suppose you're right."

"Please, come on, you gotta let me know," Cyborg begged.

Raven crossed her arms. "Sorry, but a magician never reveals their secrets."

"Come on, please Raven?" Cyborg pleaded.

"Fine. But only since you asked so politely," Raven said. "You have to find their tells."

"Their tells? Whose tells? Whose ratting on who?" Cyborg asked.

"Tells are the physical reactions to your thought process," Raven explained. "For instance, Starfire likes to hum quietly when she is getting close to winning."

"Really? What are my tells?" Cyborg asked.

"You purse your lips when you get a good card," Raven said. "When you get frustrated because you haven't been getting cards you're looking for, you frown. The more often you frown, the closer you are to winning."

"Huh," Cyborg said. "I never noticed. Damn. Okay, then what are your tells?"

"I don't have any," Raven said.

"Yes you do," Robin called from the kitchen. "You tilt your head back a little whenever you pick up a good card."

"That's a lie," Raven deadpanned.

"Ha! Looks like the master still has more to learn," Cyborg said. "Alright, what are Robin's tells?"

"Don't tell him Raven," Robin said, entering the common room with a steaming mug in one hand.

Raven raised an eyebrow. "And why shouldn't I? You revealed mine."

Robin just grinned. "Because it'll drive Cyborg crazy."

"Ah come on man!" Cyborg complained.

"Fair point," Raven said.

"Any poker player will tell ya Cy, you don't play the game, you play the players," Robin said.

"Y'all suck. Fine. What about Beast Boy? What's his, he wrinkles his nose or something?" Cyborg asked.

"When he has a bad hand he keeps his hand away from him, his grip loose," Raven explained. "The better his hand, the closer he keeps it to himself and the tighter he holds them."

"That's not it," Robin said.

"What?" Raven asked.

"That's not Beast Boy's tell," Robin said.

"I heard you just fine. That is his tell," Raven said.

"No, it's not. That's the fake tell he has. You noticed how his facial expressions are random and rarely line up with his hand?" Robin asked.

"He always looks stupidly serious to me," Cyborg said.

"His random expressions and fake tell draw attention away from his real tell," Robin said.

"There's no way Beast Boy has a fake tell." Raven crossed her arms.

"Beast Boy's a good liar. He's a very good liar," Robin shrugged, heading towards the elevator.

"That's impossible. I'd have realized if he had a fake tell," Raven said stubbornly.

"If BB is as good a poker player as you say, how'd he get so good?" Cyborg asked.

"Same way anyone gets good at anything. Lots and lots of practice." Robin's voice echoed through the room as he left.


Beast boy stretched, loosening his muscles. He didn't really need to, not for this, but he did it anyway. He was stalling. Of course he was. Beast Boy inhaled sharply, gathering his thoughts. Then he moved.

He was sure if any of the other Titans saw him, they would be shocked. He always complained about training and Robin had to constantly yell at him to focus on what he was doing. That's why Beast Boy had made sure everyone was asleep before coming out here. Even Robin, who had stayed up another hour after the other Titans had fallen asleep, was resting now. But Beast Boy couldn't sleep. His instincts were screaming at him to move, to run, to fly. Raven's stupid book had thrown him off guard. He had twisted and turned, her words haunting him in his bed. Finally, he had given up and came out here.

Beast Boy didn't like the gym. It smelled bad. Too much sweat and motor oil. Gross. He much preferred the outside course that Cyborg had made. It was right by the ocean, so he could faintly smell the scents of the city wafting in from the shore.

His body flowed through the motions as he ran the course, dodging lasers, flying discs, giant metal fists and pits that opened up in the ground. He had already run the course a dozen times tonight, he could probably do it with his eyes closed. But that wasn't the point.

When he had first started with the Titans, Beast Boy found he could achieve eight full transformations in about five seconds. By now he had boosted that number to an average of twelve in five seconds. His personal best was fifteen transformations in five seconds. He was still working on that, but that number meant nothing without application. Thus the obstacle course. He tried not to use any form twice. But after seventeen times, he was starting to run out of animals.

Sprinting down the field as a bongo, he turned into a fossa to destroy flying discs that flew at him. At the sound of lasers, he turned into a glossy black cockatoo to avoid being hit. He flew a distance before landing on the dirt as an okapi. He leapt over the pit that appeared beneath him, sailing the remainder of the distance as an albatross, before shifting into a mantis shrimp to punch through some stones hurled at him. Finally, he turned into a pig to saunter across the finish line happily. 1:46. Not his worst.

Enough of that for today. Now for the most difficult part.

Beast Boy groaned as he reverted back to his humany form. Why couldn't he shift his muscles into a state of not aching? He didn't even workout as a human! This was so unfair.

Whatever. He wasn't gonna get any less sore by just laying there. This was really the most difficult part of his powers. It required a lot of concentration, and Beast Boy didn't like concentrating. But he did it anyway.

Whenever he turned into an animal, that animal had a standard body that was in his DNA. Mento theorized that his physical health in his human form also had a big impact on the state of his animals. Thus the workouts. But Beast Boy was trying to find a way around that. He'd been working on changing the muscle mass, bone density, height, length of limbs, etc. of his different animals. Annoyingly, his normal form was hardest to manipulate. It was most likely a psychological thing. He spent most of his time in that form, so no doubt his brain would have a tight grip on how his human form was supposed to be. But it'd be great if he could give himself a couple extra inches. Just enough to be taller than Raven. Then she would be the shortest Titan and he'd get to make fun of her for it.

Once he mastered this, maybe he could even combine forms. He imagined himself swooping in for the rescue, wings sprouting from his back, eyes like a hawk, pinchers for hands, eagle-like talons for feet and mandibles erupting from his jaw. What a sight that would be. Might even scare Raven for a change. Or maybe she'd be into that.

He was definitely capable of it. The Beast incident had proven it. No animal on earth resembled anything like it. Watching playbacks of himself, he had noticed certain animal characteristics on display. It was definitely the combination of at least a few animals, DNA manipulated to form a perfect killing machine. It was as fascinating as it was horrifying. If he was going to pursue this power, he had to remain in control. Beast Boy didn't want him to take over every time his regular forms couldn't cut it in battle. Well, it could be worse. At least it wasn't her.

Also, he was fairly sure his sasquatch form was entirely made up. Beast Boy didn't believe in Bigfoot, and even if that was real, he doubted his parents would have its DNA just lying around. Ghosts, though, were totally real.

Plus there were his dinosaur forms. By all rights he probably shouldn't be able to turn into animals that haven't walked the earth in millions of years. Plus, there was that time on Tamarran that he turned into the dog-thing. That thing wasn't even from earth, and its DNA was probably made of entirely different stuff. But if he could turn into that, what prevented him from changing into a Tamaranean? Or a Martian? Or a Kryptonian?

Nah, that was stupid. There was no way he'd be able to turn into those.

He started this training during the war with the Brotherhood of Evil. Whenever he had a spare moment, which was rare, he would try and manipulate his forms. It was a few weeks before he made any progress. And even then, it was only a little. But Beast Boy didn't give up that easily. Once the war was over, he had more time to work on this power. He's been making good progress, but he still had a lot of room to grow. Literally and figuratively. Ha! Raven probably didn't think he knew what a metaphor was. Odd, considering she was the one who taught him.

Beast Boy was a silverback gorilla at the moment. He commanded his whole body to grow, and slowly, painfully, it obeyed. Over the span of twenty seconds, he grew another six inches, his bones became thicker, his muscles became larger. All at once.

He stopped growing his body and walked around a bit, experimenting with his new size and strength. Satisfied, he shifted his attention towards his right arm. It was his limb he was most familiar with because it was his dominant hand. This is probably going to hurt.

Focusing only on his right arm, Beast Boy grew the bones first. His humerus, radius, ulna, wrist, hand and finger bones all enlarged, thickening and strengthening. Wincing, Beast Boy allowed the ligaments and tendons to adjust to the new size. Then he grew the muscles, strengthening his arm to a strength far beyond that of any normal gorilla. Like a gorilla that was given steroids and snorted enough protein powder to drown a whale.

Electric eels would be really good to incorporate into his forms. Just grab someone and electrocute them, that'd be really useful.

Gah! Focus! His fingers. Fingers could be extremely powerful if one used them correctly. He'd seen pro climbers cling to nearly vertical cliffs with nothing but the strength in their fingers. Plus, this way he could focus on smaller muscles and fine tune them. It was good practice.

Wasn't there some comic superhero that had that kind of superpower? Wall crawling would be cool, a bunch of insects did it, but if he could as another animal or himself that'd be great. What was the superhero, spiderfella? Ah, he'd think of it.

Beast Boy tested out his finger muscles, crushing a small stone in his palm and trying to hold something holding onto it with as little surface area of his fingers as he could. Once he was satisfied, Beast Boy returned to his human form and rested for a bit before changing into different animals and manipulating them in different ways. Teeth became longer, eyes became sharper, noses stronger, claws deadlier. His skin and fur changed to different shades of green, a pale green to lime to emerald to so dark it was nearly black. He practiced secreting different toxins as a toad, and formulated different kinds of snake poisons. He hadn't quite gotten to the point where he could form human vocal cords in his forms, but Beast Boy predicted it'd only be a few weeks now before he was at that point. After nearly an hour of this, Beast Boy returned to the Tower, satisfied with his work and that no one had seen him.