(3/17/18)
….
Change For The Better
Chapter One: Brightest Day
…..
May 16, 2014
Beast Boy ran away from Murakami High, tears bubbling up at the corners of his eyes. Terra's final words to him rang in his ears and stabbed him in the chest. The feeling was more painful than any wounds he ever received. A battle wound could be healed- this could not.
He stopped, leaning up against a lamp post and wiping the tears from his eyes. He took his communicator from his pocket and tried to ignore the feeling of his heart shattering. Flipping open his communicator, he checked the location of his teammates. The warehouse was just around the corner, which meant the white monster was as well. He tried his hardest to forget about Terra, but he couldn't.
Forcing himself to move on, he blinked his tears away and transformed into a cheetah. Zipping past the sidewalk, he swerved into the entrance of the warehouse. The monster loomed over him, attacking his fellow Titans with ease. Beast Boy growled, lunging forward to attack. The monster spotted him and pushed past his teammates. Beast Boy skidded to a halt as the monster ran past him and out the door, but it was too little too late. He crashed into a pile of boxes, which began to collapse over him. Turning into an elephant, he broke free from the avalanche.
"Where's it going?" he yelled, transforming back to his normal self.
Robin frowned. "I don't know. Come on, we need to find it before it can do any more damage!"
Beast Boy nodded, turning into a falcon. He flew out the doorway and ascended above the buildings. He spotted a large white blur in the distance, and prepared to land. However, a gust of wind knocked him to the side, pushing him into a distant alleyway.
He fell on top of a dumpster, and slid off onto the concrete. He groaned and turned back into a human. Why couldn't anything go right today? All he wanted was to get Terra back and defeat this monster. Was that too much to ask?
As he was about to run away, he heard a quiet whimper from behind the dumpster. He turned around, shifted into a gorilla, and threw the dumpster to the side. Against the wall, a disheveled young woman lay curled up in the fetal position. A large gash on her neck was oozing blood, which ran down her tanned skin and puddled up on the pavement. The scratches and bruises covering the rest of her body looked painless in comparison.
"Help me!" she screamed.
Her mouth never opened.
Beast Boy felt his eyes widen. Even after all these years, he recognized the touch of a telepath on his mind. He shifted back into a human and crouched over her. Reaching for his communicator, a feeling of helplessness overwhelmed him. He pushed the emergency button and shoved it back in his pocket.
"Shh, it's okay. I'm here," he whispered, pushing her hair away from the wound on her neck.
The woman closed her eyes, and her lips twitched into a faint smile. Beast Boy felt her presence in his mind, and mentally reached out to her. After his days in the Doom Patrol, and even his life from before, the feeling was familiar and comforting to him.
"My name is M'yri'ah. I was attacked by my fellow Martian. Please, help!"
…
"My name is M'yri'ah. I am of the last survivors of Mars, and I know who is attacking your city."
Beast Boy stared out the window of the Titans Tower infirmary. He bite his lip, lowering his head slightly. M'yri'ah's condition has stabilized, and her Martian biology made the healing process much faster than it would've been for a human with such injuries. He would know. After all, it was a Martian's blood that completed the antidote that saved his life all those years ago. It was the reason he never had to worry about minor scrapes or bruises.
Pressing his cheek to the window, he carefully listened as the alien continued to tell Robin her story.
"The white monster of which you speak is not from the planet of Earth. He hails from my home planet, Mars. There were many of his kind, all equally vile and despicable. We did our best to exile these White Martians, but there were too many, and our planet suffered the consequences."
Rage stung at Beast Boy's veins, and his heart tightened in his chest. Closing his eyes, he interrupted as politely as he could manage.
"Not all White Martians were evil," he said, voice cracking. "Some of them were good."
M'yri'ah scowled. "You did not know them as I did. I recognized a Martian's touch on your mind the moment we met. You must have been young, to have known one so intimately. However, you must learn to see past the bias of youth in order to understand the truth."
She noticed the way he was blinking back tears, and her gaze softened.
"Perhaps you would be able to assist me."
Beast Boy felt the tension in his muscles release itself as he looked into her eyes. He saw fear and sadness in her eyes, and despite her earlier slander he knew he needed to hear her out.
"My husband and daughter were on a different escape pod than I was. Ever since our planet was destroyed, I have spent my whole life trying to find them. When I found the White Martian, I was so desperate to find them I confronted him, because I didn't know what else to do. But then I met you, and I sensed the remnants of your mental link. And I thought, maybe, just maybe, together we could find them. Please, I'm begging you."
A sense of grief and duty hit him like a ton of bricks. He looked at Robin, who didn't seem so sure.
"Have you tried going to Martian Manhunter about this? He would be more help than us."
The woman shook her head. "I apologize. It's… complicated. I'm afraid I cannot."
Robin frowned. "Beast Boy? Can I talk to you for a second?"
Beast Boy followed his leader into the hallway, shutting the door behind him.
"We have to help her!" Beast Boy insisted. "Maybe you could talk to Batman! He probably knows where some of the escape pods landed!"
Robin frowned. "Something isn't right here. It just doesn't add up."
Beast Boy knew that look. It was the look Robin often gave him when his ideas were about to be shot down.
"What do you mean?" he asked. The words hadn't even left Robin's mouth, but he already felt his heart being crushed for what was far from the first time that day.
"I don't think M'yri'ah is telling the whole truth. If she's really from Mars, why doesn't she want to go to Manhunter for help?"
Beast Boy bit his lip. "I don't know. Sometimes, we just don't know why people do things. But that doesn't mean we can't help them! Please, Robin. I just have to help."
Robin looked at the door to the infirmary. "We'll talk about this in the morning. I need to look into this first."
With that he left, leaving the young changeling as alone as he felt.
…
Hi again! Spectrobes Princess here! Thanks for reading my fic- it means a lot to me!
I've just got a few important notes to make. First of all, I'm planning to update weekly (on Saturdays), but my schedule is pretty hectic right now so I might not be able to post every week. I'll try to update regularly though. I'm planning to start posting this to AO3 as well, so if anyone prefers that site I just thought I'd let you know it should be up there by the next time I update.
This is technically the first book in a series I'm working on (I say technically since my Jinx backstory fic is set in the same continuity). It's been my little project for the past few years, though I'm just now getting around to actually writing it. It's basically my season 6 (and 7, and 8, and 9…), but it's going to incorporate a lot of DC characters (such as the Justice League) who weren't in the original show. The Titans will still definitely be the main focus, but I like exploring how other DC characters might exist in the Teen Titans universe. I've been having a lot of fun with it so far.
Another note is that M'yri'ah isn't an OC. Make of that what you will.
Anyways, thank you everyone who followed, reviewed, and added this story to their favorites!
Vatara- Hi there! Thanks, I'm glad you like it! I was impressed with how well it turned out too. I felt like a flashback would be an appropriate way to start a story about change. I like seeing snippets of Gar's past as well, especially since the show only went into the Doom Patrol aspect of it :)
Guest- It's set in the TT universe- I just like borrowing elements from other shows. I'm using 2014 as the year Thing Change was set in for a few different reasons, mainly because that's when I started working on this series. It just kind of helped to have a specific year in mind when I was mapping out the timeline, and I didn't feel like I necessarily had to use the year it aired. Sorry if I confused you! I probably should've put an author's note on the prologue to clear that up!
Halsee71- Aww, thank you! BBTerra fics are unfortunately pretty rare, but I'm glad you like mine so far!
Quote of the day:
"Anything can be a fidget spinner if you have determination." -my sister
May the odds be ever in your favor,
~Spectrobes Princess