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Nobody's Fool
To superheroes, sleep was one of those aspects of life that could be taken for granted. Uninterrupted sleep, in particular, was a rare thing, and for the Teen Titans, it was even rarer. One Titan, in particular, loved his sleep and loved it in a variety of forms.
Not last night, however,
Last night, his anxiety and apprehension kept the usually very lazy shapeshifter awake, staring at his ceiling. As the light from the morning sun peered in through the gaps between his concealed curtain windows, he sighed.
Beast Boy was lying on the bottom bunk still in his usual purple and black uniform. His eyes were sunken, the evidence of a sleepless night clear on his face. His room was messy, but no more so than for any teenager of his age. Random piles of clothes and junk littered parts of his floor.
He turned towards the wall beside his door to see a large calendar hanging crookedly. A particular date was circled in a red marker with a crudely drawn skull and Crossbones beside it. "Gauntlet day"
As Beast Boy began his normal routine, he struggled to find the energy to put any speed into his movements. Normally, he wasn't awake at such an early hour and hoped none of the others were up either. He had no energy for their heckling. Hoping to skulk into the kitchen and grab breakfast without being noticed, he morphed into a housefly and buzzed towards the living room.
The green fly hovered low around the drawers of the kitchen area before morphing back into his human form crouched in front of the fridge. He quietly grabbed a few plates of tofu he'd prepared the day before and lightly pushed the fridge door closed.
As the aroma of soy filled his nose, the scent of another familiar lavender bouquet came peering from the couch towards the front of the room.
Beast Boy's eyes widened; he knew exactly who was sitting over there and today she was the last person he wanted to see.
"Good morning, Beast Boy" The empath's familiar, croaky voice had the tiniest hint of happiness. "Why are you sneaking about?" she asked.
Beast Boy stood up and approached the couch with his small plate of tofu in hand.
"I wasn't sneaking," he defended.
Raven sat in her usual leotard and cloak. The book in her hand looked ancient and rather frightening by the design of its cover. The empath didn't look up towards the changeling and simply turned another page before answering. "Whatever you say"
Beast Boy sat down on the other side of the couch and began awkwardly nibbling at his tofu cubes. The negative emotions pouring from him were palpable. Raven took notice.
"Why so glum, chum?" She deadpanned. Beast Boy turned towards her taken aback by her choice of words. He looked perplexed. "Excuse me?" The changeling raised an eyebrow towards her.
"Why are you so down, Beast Boy?" she asked, still not taking her attention away from her book.
"You know why" he countered, turning back towards his food.
"Is it time for your monthly bath?" She replied with a hint of a smirk.
"What? No! You know exactly what today is and why you're so giddy." He turned back towards her with a look of frustration. While the empath often showed no outward hint of emotion, he knew her well enough to know when she was letting certain emotions show. His heightened senses helped as well.
"Guilty, but you can hardly blame me. It's my favorite time of year." Raven continued reading, still not turning towards her teammate.
"Yeah, yeah, I don't wanna hear this" he pouted pathetically.
"Because tomorrow I'll get a whole day to myself without being pestered, and if I'm lucky, maybe a few days on top of that." She carried on.
"Maybe I'll surprise you this year" He replied smugly. The Empath let out a snide chuckle.
"Please" she snarked.
"What do you have no faith in me at all is that it?" The changeling sounded insulted at her comment.
"It's not a matter of faith, it's a matter of fact. I know you, Beast Boy. If you have something to do today, you'd happily put it off until tomorrow."
Beast Boy looked hurt and turned back towards his food.
"Is that how you see me?"
He asked sounded genuinely wounded.
"You're a goofball Beast Boy, you were a goofball when we met and you're still one now. So no, I don't think you'll suprise me today. Now if you don't mind I'd like to finish this spellbook before the mornings over." Raven kept her eyes on the pages after finishing her words, she still didn't even look towards the changeling.
Is that how she sees me? He muddled
Out of all the Titans, Raven and Beast Boy had the most turbulent journey. Since they met, they hadn't really gotten along properly. Raven had even admitted that she couldn't stand him in their first year. Beast Boy tried his best, but he couldn't get behind Raven's whole deal. They were at odds with each other constantly, and each time they had a moment where they had to be reminded that they were, in fact, friends, they would often be right back to questioning it not long after.
Beast Boy knew Raven had been through a lot recently. The truth of her parentage and the battle against her father had taken a lot out of all of them. With Trigon's defeat, Beast Boy felt he understood her a lot better. The way she acted for all those years, why she was so distant, and the need to control her emotions all made sense. After that, he hoped in her newly proclaimed "emotional freedom," she would open up a little more to everyone and especially to him. Yet, Raven was still Raven. Still reserved, still putting him down, and still sporting a massive temper. Their back-and-forth was a normality among the tower. The others had grown to accept it. Beast Boy, however, was growing tired of it.
Both Titans could sense the others approaching towards the living room. Raven could sense the other Titans' emotions, while Beast Boy could hear them approaching from behind the living room door.
Normally, the changeling wouldn't bite back at the Empath. The theoretical wrath of her temper would often be enough for him to back down from any attempt at a rebuttal.
It had been years now, though, and the changeling had grown brave.
"Spellbook huh? Is that what you're calling it? Because it looks like you ripped off the cover of one of your other books and placed it over that popular trashy vampire novel everyone talks about." Beast Boy turned back with a victorious grin on his face, taking a bite of a few cubes.
On the collar of his uniform, Beast Boy felt a sharp tug as his head was whipped around, coming into direct eye contact with a pair of glaring amethyst eyes. The Empath had him by the collar of his uniform. Their noses were practically rubbing against one another. The changeling gulped.
"HOW DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THAT!?" She seethed through her teeth sounding more angry than she had in a long time. Beast Boy smiled a cheeky grin.
"I didn't", he replied.
The empath's face burst into a bright red blush as the doors to the living room whistled open. Raven pushed the changeling back towards his spot and darted back to hers. The other three Titans began making their way over towards them.
"It's not trashy" she whispered in an angry tone.
"Whatever you say", he replied smugly. The Empath gave him an intense glare before snapping the book shut as Robin approached from behind them.
"Good morning, guys. Beast Boy, are you ready for tomorrow?" Robin asked. The changeling looked down with a scrunched frown.
"As ready as I'll ever be," he replied with a fake smile. The Titans leader crossed his arms.
"Alright, well hopefully you try a little harder this year" Robin remarked.
"I do try!" The changeling raised his hands, sounding offended for the second time this morning.
Raven let out a second snide chuckle, which earned her a glare from the changeling.
"I know you can do better, Beast Boy, we all do." Robin believed the changeling could do better. In reality, he knew why he didn't participate in the Gauntlet like the others. It was a reason he respected but felt it was misplaced.
Since Terra and Brother Blood, Robin had developed a special training session that all the Titans would participate in every 10 weeks. The risk of betrayal and infiltration had risen a lot among the team. They needed to be prepared; this gauntlet, as it was nicknamed, was the solution.
Each Titan would get a turn to take on the rest of the team in a special combat course below the tower island. The purpose was to hone each member's skills against one another in case of an incident. It was also a great way for the other Titans to vent their frustrations out on each other.
Which is why Raven was the most successful of the Titans at the Gauntlet. The Empath delighted in taking part in this exercise and was currently the only one to defeat all four other Titans in its three-year run.
Robin and Starfire were the next most consistent, although they could beat all the others, they had trouble with each other. They would both make up excuses, but the others knew exactly why.
Cyborg was often too cocky, and when he would get someone like Starfire early, he would often only end up beating two of them.
Then there was Beast Boy. Who had never beaten a single member of the team. In the three years of the exercise, each time he was beaten by his first opponent. If it was Raven, he would give up instantly so he could be spared her wrath, much to her frustration.
The other Titans took Beast Boy's poor performance as an aspect of his laziness. The truth which Robin knew was that he truthfully didn't want to fight his friends. He had been at the epicentre of the biggest betrayals amongst the team. The changeling didn't have the heart to hurt any of them. They were his family, issues and all.
This honourable reason had its own drawbacks. The Titans' opinion of his skills had slowly faded. Cyborg had walked over towards the coach with his face stuffed with elements of a large breakfast.
"I just hope I get to go first this time. I've been itching to fight for years."
Cyborg wasn't kidding. In the years doing the Gauntlet, he had never gotten Beast Boy and he had never gotten him. The only time they had fought was when Trigon gifted Cyborg an evil clone, which, in his words, hardly counted.
"Friend Beast Boy you seem to be down in the garbage?" The kind Tamaranean entered from behind the couch to Beast Boy's right.
"Dumps, Star" Robin corrected.
"It's okay, Star. I'm fine." The changeling reassured. He looked away for a moment and turned back, keeping his head down. "I just hate doing this thing," he admitted.
"I appreciate you're feelings Beast Boy but this is a chance for you to hone your skills and ours as well. You've been doing this almost as long if not longer than even me. I know you have the skills to beat even Raven at this" Robin was sincere in his words he wanted Beast Boy to push himself past his own doubts.
"I'd like to see that" Raven snarked. Robin looked annoyed and turned towards the Empath with a look of disapproval.
"You're not helping Raven" he placed his hands at his sides as he replied to her in a stern tone.
Raven looked irritated and turned her eyes away from him. She said nothing in response and simply stewed in her frustration.
Starfire bent down towards the changeling, looking concerned. "Do you wish to forgo this year?" Starfire was the most thoughtful of the Titans, and Beast Boy had always liked that about her.
"I don't think that's a good idea; we need to keep ourselves ready for any possibility. I need to see that he's capable of being serious." Robin knew Starfire meant well, but his instincts as a leader kept pestering in his head.
"You think I can't be serious?" Beast Boy stood up from the couch looking hurt.
"Yes", Raven shot in.
"Raven, enough!" Robin barked as the Empath looked away once again.
"BB chill, we just think you could be a bit less of a..." Before Cyborg could finish, the changeling cut in.
"A joke is that it?" Beast Boy was getting more and more frustrated.
"Come on, man. I didn't say that." Cyborg defended, holding his arms up.
"You're all thinking it, am I just a clown to you all?" Beast Boy was now getting visibly upset, he felt cornered.
"Perhaps if you didn't act like that, we wouldn't think that" Raven's words cut deep but the others soon showed their disapproval.
"Raven!" Robin shouted, losing his patience with her comments.
Beast Boy turned towards Raven, his face full of anger. That anger quickly turned into one of sadness as his eyes began to water; he clenched his fists, trying to hold back tears.
"I'll show you", with that he transformed into a small bird and flew off through the living room doors.
The other Titans turned towards the Empath. Her expression was the same stoic one as it normally was.
"What was that Raven?" Robin asked, hoping for some good reason for her remarks.
"Honesty" she replied
"And you think that's helpful right now?" Robin said.
"Lying wouldn't help, like you said, he needs to be more serious."
"I did, but I wanted to apply a gentler method by having faith in his abilities. He's a valued member of this team; he needs to know where he stands." Robin argued. Raven simply crossed her arms.
"Also, girl, you could stand to be a little nicer to the guy. He's done almost nothing but try and be nice to you." Cyborg wasn't clueless to Raven's attitude towards the changeling. Especially recently.
"He's annoying, lazy and doesn't stop pestering me" Raven was still looking away from the three of them.
"Then you could just ignore him, instead you just keep putting him down" Cyborg countered. Raven didn't appreciate the parental talk and decided to remove herself from the situation.
"So do I have to run off to my room now so we're both even, is that it?" Raven stood up from the couch with her book in hand.
"If you're not going to listen, then you might as well." Robin waved his hand and looked away, clearly done with the whole conversation.
"Whatever I'll be in my room meditating", Raven turned towards the living room doors.
"Alright, enjoy the sappy vampire book!" Cyborg shouted as she walked away. Raven froze in her tracks and gripped her book tightly; her face was filled with anger and embarrassment. Instead of biting, she simply sighed and carried on. Starfire turned towards the two other Titans left in the living room.
"I am concerned about our friends" she admitted.
"So are we," Robin agreed. "I thought she'd become more open, but she's fighting it, and Beast Boy's paying the price."
"It's not just that, those two keep going back and forth. One day they're friends and another day they're not sure what they are. In the end, I can see one of them saying something they can't take back. Then we'll all pay the price."
Cyborg wasn't a fool; he was the oldest of the five and was arguably the best at reading between the lines. He knew that Raven could easily just shrug the changeling off and be done with it, but as they all could see, she was still harsh with him and couldn't figure out why.
"So, what is to be done?" Starfire asked, concerned.
"That's something they need to figure out on their own." Robin replied. "But if the day comes when it goes too far, I promise I'll step in." Robin was concerned about both Titans, yet he was willing to chalk it up to bickering and personality clashes. Currently, he was more focused on tomorrow. "I just want Beast Boy to do well tomorrow; he is perfectly fit to take us all on. I know it." He finished.
Raven had begun to make her way back towards her room. She still felt flustered from Cyborg's remark. In truth, she hadn't needed to meditate nearly as much as before. After fulfilling her destiny, Raven was free of her father's influence. Her powers still required control, but her emotions no longer caused damage when pushed to their limit.
Yet, a life of strict rules and control created a familiar routine. Raven was still Raven; she meditated now not because she needed to but because she actually enjoyed it. Her temper wasn't short because of her father; it was just one of her flaws developed living with four other superheroes.
Before the Empath could make her way back to her room, she first had to head past Beast Boy's. A tiny hint of guilt passed through her head as she approached his door. That feeling was quickly overwhelmed by a flurry of powerful emotions pouring from the changelings' room.
Resentment, anger, sadness, embarrassment, and the strongest of all determination. Something she didn't usually sense from him. Originally, she intended to offer some kind of apology but thought it would be best to leave it for a better time, hoping not to make things worse.
She skulked past his door, hoping he wouldn't notice. In truth, the changeling was too preoccupied to notice. Inside his room, the place was admittedly a little shabby. With clothes spread out among the floor, it was easily the most untidy.
Towards the back of the room, Beast Boy was sitting at the edge of his bunk bed, digging underneath it. Eventually, he pulled out a small cardboard box, which was clearly an old shoe box.
The boy hesitated for a moment, he lightly lifted the lid and examined the contents. At the top of the pile of books were a collection of photos placed in a dingy sleeve. He quickly placed them to the floor, not even having the courage to look at them. The changeling then pulled out a book. Worn and slightly damaged, it was slightly larger than average in size for a book of its type.
"The Book of Animals: An Encyclopaedia" The cover sported a majestic-looking tiger on its cover. Beast Boy held the book in both his hands and lightly opened it. He placed himself in a more comfortable position, crossing his legs, and sat back against the bed.
The first page had a small message written in pen at the bottom corner.
"To my dear Garfield, I hope you enjoy this book as much as I did at your age. Love Momma"
Beast Boy gripped the book tightly. Memories began flashing through his mind. Right now, though, he focused on his goal.
I'll show them and then I'll show her.
The changeling flipped through the pages to reach the inner contents. Carefully, he made small notes on a pad beside him. There, he sat for the rest of the day.
Raven had snuck into her room feeling strange. She knew she had probably overstepped but was also relishing in a large amount of free time. Ready to turn to her current secret novel, she quickly realized she didn't have the motivation to read. The Empath couldn't explain it. Frustrated, she laid down over her bed, deep in thought.
The next morning came. Surprisingly, Raven had spent most of the day in her room, exactly as she wanted. Yet, in the back of her mind, she felt a nagging sensation, as if the day had been... wasted. The Empath awoke feeling groggy. She hadn't had much sleep. Looking at her bedside clock, she quickly realized what time it was. Oversleeping was not like her.
The Gauntlet was scheduled for the morning, and Robin expected all Titans to be ready to go. As Raven scrambled to get herself together, she remembered whose turn it was.
I have time she thought.
As she floated lightly out of her room, she made her way towards the tower's central elevator. Turning to face the doors, she tapped the button marked with a bold "GT". The doors closed, and down she went.
The smell of seawater against rocks began to fill Raven's lungs as the elevator came to a halt. The doors opened to a large chamber in the shape of a pentagon. The elevator Raven was sitting in made up one side with four other doors sitting on each of the other sides. The floor was a gridded metal through which the seawater below the island was visible.
The other four Titans were already there. Robin turned his head to face the Empath.
"Ah, Raven, glad you could join us" he said, sounding a little annoyed.
Raven was quick to deflect her embarrassment.
"I bet I wasn't far behind Beast Boy" she claimed.
"Actually, he was here first, even before me," Robin corrected. Raven looked astounded, then she moved her eyes to notice the changeling in the back of the group. Beast Boy was standing firmly, his arms clenched down ready for battle. On his face was a look Raven had never seen before. It was an intense glare of determination aimed right at her direction. Like last night, the emotions radiating from him were powerful. The last time she had seen anything close to this was the incident with the Beast. This was different; he wasn't under any chemical influence and was in complete control.
"Okay, now that we're all here, Beast Boy, are you ready?" Robin asked. Uncharacteristically, Beast Boy simply nodded towards his leader. Raven noticed this odd behavior; she couldn't take her eyes off Beast Boy, who was now looking away from her.
"Alright, before we choose the order, a quick reminder of the rules. You get knocked unconscious, you're out. You can cause an opponent's surrender through submitting verbally or via their communicator. You're free to use any means necessary to achieve victory. Your time and performance will be recorded." Robin listed off. The Titans leader pulled out a small remote and a large set of screens lowered themselves down to the upper center of the room.
"Okay, let's roll for the order." Robin pressed the remote again. A list of names sprang up in an order from one to four.
"Right, Cyborg's up first, followed by Starfire, then me, and finally Raven." Robin said.
Beast Boy looked at the order and thought to himself.
Perfect.
"Alright! Finally, I get to take you down, Grass Stain!" Cyborg boasted. Beast Boy didn't say anything and simply stood ready to begin.
"Good luck, Beast Boy" Robin said sincerely.
"Yes, friend Beast Boy, good luck" Starfire chimed in.
Raven stood there with her usual stoic expression and didn't say anything. She simply turned away and made her way towards her door. The other three Titans made their way to each of the other doors around the room.
"Alright Titans, go!" Robin barked as each made their way into their respective chambers. Each door locked behind them except for Cyborg's as he was up first. Beast Boy made his way towards the door ready to begin.
If you were to ask Cyborg about the Gauntlet, he would call it a work of art. The system was designed to adapt to each combatant's strengths and provide a fair ground for each Titan. The arena sat above a water system that ran through the island, where the T-shaped Tower sat.
Beast Boy entered the first room. Darkness awaited him as the lights inside began to turn on. The arena was a tight space with four sides made of stone walls formed from the island bedrock. The ceiling was formed of metallic squares tessellating across it. The floor was the same gridded shape as the previous room. The holes were tiny, yet if one looked closely, they could see the seawater rushing below.
Cyborg stood in the middle of the room grinning. He had been waiting for this. The last time, yes, was an evil clone, but it just wasn't the real thing.
"Ohh I've been waiting a long time for this BB" he said, rubbing his metal hands together. "Let's go!" Upon Cyborg's boast, several of the metallic tiles fell downwards, creating many metallic pillars separating the two Titans.
Truthfully, Beast Boy was happy that Cyborg was the first up. To him, he would be the easiest.
Cyborg had hidden himself behind one of the pillars. Peering over, he fired a quick blast from his Sonic Cannon. The blast collided with the wall, its intended target having moved off. Cyborg attempted a scan with his eye to locate the changeling. Through the pillars, towards the back of the room, he could make out a green blur flashing between each of them. Whatever form he was in, it could move fast.
Cyborg attempted a few more blasts, each hit never landing as the green form closed in between the pillars. Cyborg backed up towards the back of the room. Beast Boy emerged from out between a set of pillars in the form of a green cheetah. It raced towards the metal Titan at full speed. Cyborg was taken aback by Beast Boy's movements, he had never seen him move this fast. As he closed in, Cyborg prepared to strike with another blast directly at him. As the sonic pulse made its way towards the changeling, the cheetah leapt up, dodging the beam. The beast closed in on Cyborg, jaws open, causing him to reel back with his arms up, ready to grapple him. In an instant, however, the green Cheetah disappeared. Cyborg looked stunned. His scans couldn't find any sign of Beast Boy anywhere. He paced around the room, hoping to find a different green animal.
"Where are you at, grass stain?" Cyborg called out, yet there was no answer.
Cyborg then felt a twitch in his nose as he let out a loud "Achoo!" The sneeze took the Titan off guard. A tingling followed in his throat as his nose began to run.
"Oh no" Cyborg knew exactly where Beast Boy was and what form he was in. "Beast Boy, I swear if you give me the flu again!" Cyborg shouted inside the arena. Deep inside Cyborg's body, the changeling was indeed in the form of a microscopic flu virus. He never enjoyed these kinds of forms, as it was a strange sensation. He was running almost entirely on instinct as the virus began to multiply through Cyborg's body. The metal Titan continued heavy sneezing, he could feel his body succumbing to the virus. With his work done, Beast Boy headed towards an exit pipe that led out towards the inner parts of Cyborg's body. He assumed a much larger form. A Rat. The rodent squeezed its way through Cyborg's systems, biting at any wire that looked not vital but annoying if cut.
Cyborg could feel something tampering with his insides as he began to grow furious. With each bitten wire, his body began to move against his will. His arms twisted and turned on their own.
"When this is over Beast Boy, you won't be able to morph for a year!" Cyborg hated any tampering with his private systems but as his frustration grew, Beast Boy simply carried on throughout his body. The changeling was pretty much applying trial and error at this point. Until the correct cut wire caused the loud "thud" he had been waiting for. Cyborg fell to the ground, unable to get back up.
"I can't move!" Cyborg had lost all control of his body. Those words were exactly what Beast Boy was hoping to hear. After realigning himself to accommodate his friends' fall, he headed towards his torso where he would take his final shape of the match. Cyborg could feel something trying to force its way out of his torso. Whatever it was, it was larger than a rat.
"Wait, what are you doing?!" Cyborg panicked as the armour on his torso began to creak and bend until finally, out popped a large green worm covered in hydraulic fluid.
"Wait, Silkie!?" Cyborg was shocked to see Beast Boy in that form. Although he had displayed the ability to transform into other animals native to alien worlds, Silkie was a genetic experiment. In truth, it had taken some practice before he had it down, but the results in this instance were worth it. He needed something that could bite through tough metal, and it wasn't like Silkie hadn't eaten parts of Cyborg before.
Beast Boy returned to human form and grabbed the communicator at Cyborg's side. With a smug smile, he pressed a command on the communicator, and the device announced, "Combatant Cyborg eliminated." Beast Boy placed the yellow device back on Cyborg's side and stood up before making his way out of the room. Cyborg remained on the ground, still unable to move.
"When I get my hands on you Beast Boy!" Cyborg grunted as he watched the changeling move out of view. "Initiate self repair" Cyborg commanded as he lay there listening to his bodies self repair systems at work. He thought for a moment about the fight, still angry yet part of him was almost impressed.
If I weren't so mad I'd actually be proud of the little Grass stain.
Beast Boy exited Cyborg's room and made his way to the now unlocked door behind which Starfire was waiting. She was one of the most challenging Titans. Despite her kind nature, she was easily the strongest of all five Titans, with the benefits of range and flight at her disposal. Although Beast Boy had beaten an evil version of Starfire before, he still felt bad about it. He wasn't worried, however; he knew her weakness.
As he entered the door, darkness met him once again. As the lights turned on, it revealed a large, circular spire descending upwards in a tall, cylindrical chamber. The spire had many circular beams sticking out, rotating upwards in a curved formation. The floor, however, was missing. The spire had a single bridge leading towards it; the rest of the floor, however, was instead filled with water, which sat slightly below the single bridge leading towards the central spire. The bedrock of the island made up the pool of water below, while the tall chamber was covered in concrete.
As Beast Boy examined the arena, he spotted the sight of the Tamaranean descending towards him.
"Friend Beast Boy?! You were victorious, oh glorious!"
Beast Boy had always admired Starfire, but he genuinely didn't want to hurt her. Unfortunately, she was between him and his end goal. With a sincere smile, he readied himself for battle. Starfire wasn't naïve and had noticed his behaviour since yesterday. He hadn't said much all morning, but instead of probing, she decided to give him the fight he needed.
As the smoke cleared Starfire surveyed the area but there was no sign of Beast Boy. Out of the corner of her eye she spotted a small green blur descending up the spire beams. It was a small green monkey swinging its way up the chamber. Starfire flew behind giving chase. She fired several bolts in his direction. The monkey leapt in midair shifting form into a green hummingbird. He has used this form before against her dark clone and like then Starfire couldn't land a hit on the changeling. As he closed in he changed form again this time into a large gorilla. The ape grappled Starfire pushing her against the Spire. Unfortunately as strong as a silverback was it was still no match for a Tamaranean. Starfire threw a swift kick knocking Beast Boy back as he fell toward one of the beams sticking out of the spire. The ape gripped the beam and pulled itself up. Starfire began to fly towards him arm and pulled back ready to strike a blow on him.
Beast Boy knew he had to play his trump card now. As the green-eyed alien with glowing eyes closed in, she stopped dead in her tracks, seeing before her the form of a tiny green kitten.
Starfire's eyes widened as she remained frozen with cuteness overload.
Beast Boy seized his moment and transformed into a velociraptor, swinging his tail to knock Starfire back through the air. Before she could recover, the changeling jumped towards her and changed form once again. This time, the form of a T-rex filled the air as the extinct reptile grabbed the Tamaranean in its powerful jaws. The two of them fell towards the pool below the chamber. Starfire couldn't pry open the dinosaur's jaws as they both plummeted towards the water.
She did, however, feel the jaws change shape. This time, Beast Boy was in the form of a Mosasaurus diving towards the water. With a great splash, the massive creature entered the water, Starfire still in its jaws. After a few moments, the water settled. The Mosasaurus resurfaced out of the water towards the bridge. Beast Boy changed forms again, this time back into the gorilla from earlier, with Starfire cradled in its arms.
He placed her down gently on the bridge. Her eyes were spinning from dizziness; she was in no condition to fight back as he lightly grabbed the communicator on her belt. He pressed in the command as before with Cyborg. "Combatant Starfire eliminated" Beast Boy's eyes were big with guilt, Starfire was always nice to him but he knew he needed to beat her the way the Gauntlet intended. With two down, Beast Boy made his way towards the door again, leaving Starfire to recover from her head spinning.
The changeling headed out of the second door and turned left once again. Next was Robin, arguably the Titans' best fighter even without powers, he was perfectly capable of beating each of them. If not for his obvious feelings for Starfire, he would easily be top of the leader board. Like with Cyborg, Beast Boy knew this opponent would require intelligence to beat and a little cheating.
For the third time Beast Boy entered a room of Darkness. He watched as the lights revealed a large cube made of metal beams within it forming a tessellating grid-like structure. The ground was covered in the grid panels from Cyborg's room separating the water below. Up above towards the top of the structure stood Robin balancing on the thin metal.
"Beast Boy?" Robin was equally shocked as Starfire. "I knew you had it in you; all it took was a little push." Beast Boy felt a sense of pride at his Leader's compliment. He didn't reply, however, he simply smiled, trying not to lose his focus.
"But you know I can't go easy on you even now" Robin pulled out his bo staff and jumped down towards the changeling. With the staff above his head the weapon collided with the floor with a powerful clang that echoed throughout the arena. As Robin glanced up he saw that the form of Beast Boy had been replaced by a small green Robin. The bird chirped and hopped towards him. Robin's eye twitched behind his mask.
"Ha ha, very funny, Beast Boy! Now, come on, take this seriously!" Robin tried to hit the small bird but it was too quick to land a blow. Beast Boy then changed forms into a flying squirrel and ran up the Titan leader's arm, heading towards the metal grid structure. The small mammal ran through and glided across to the center. Robin pulled out his grappling hook and fired it towards one of the higher beams. The device pulled him up so he could follow the changeling inside the cube.
Robin gave chase to the small mammal, attempting to land a blow with his staff. Beast Boy kept moving, dodging his leader's attacks and drawing him closer inside the structure. As Robin grew frustrated, he began flinging his Birdarangs in an attempt to catch the changeling off guard. As the squirrel kept moving, Robin switched to exploding Birdarangs. The projectiles collided with the metal beams of the structure. As it grew weaker, Robin was too focused on his opponent to notice the structure failing.
As he gained footing to catch his breath, Robin could hear the creaking of the cube around him. As the structure began to fall, he quickly made his way to the edge of the structure, having lost sight of Beast Boy. With a swing of his grapple, he landed beside the collapsing structure. He wondered if this was Beast Boy's plan, yet destroying the structure would be just as much of a disadvantage for him as it would be for the both of them.
As he looked on, he felt a small, sharp pain on the back of his neck. Instinctively, he batted at it with his hand. It felt almost like a bug bite. As he looked towards his hand, his vision started to fall out of focus. The Boy Wonder felt lightheaded and began to go limp before collapsing lightly on the floor. As he faded in and out of consciousness, he heard the faint sound of his comincator before finally fainting. "Combatant Robin eliminated"
Beast Boy felt bad about not putting up a real fight with Robin. Yet he knew he needed as much energy as possible for his final opponent. Knocking him out with an exotic spider bite seemed the quickest solution. Beast Boy made his way to the exit one last time and made his way left to the final door.
With a heavy sigh, he entered a room filled with darkness for the last time. The lights revealed much like Starfire's room: a cylindrical chamber with a circular spire reaching up high. Like hers, too, was a pool filled with water; the only footing above was a singular bridge again. Instead of several beams sticking out of the circular spire, the chamber was filled with many cables of different lengths hanging from above, like vines in a jungle.
At the base of the Spire, Raven was floating in her familiar Lotus position, clearly meditating. Upon feeling the familiar wave of strong determination, Raven opened her eyes.
"So, you are taking this seriously?, I suppose you're still capable of surprising me" Raven was genuinely surprised but still off put by the changelings attitude. He didn't answer her and instead continued his intense glare towards her.
"Not talking are we? If I had known it would be this easy I'd have done it years ago." Just like Cyborg had said instead of ignoring she antagonized. Beast Boy simply prepared himself at the other end of the bridge. He'd been waiting for this since yesterday and unlike the rest of the Titans this time he wanted to take this slow.
"Whatever, let's just get this over with." Raven floated upwards, pulling her hood up. Dark magic enveloped her hands as she changed her familiar spell.
"Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" Raven pulled two pieces of rock from the walls of the circular chamber and flung them in Beast Boy's direction. The Rocks collided with the hard metal and broke into smaller chunks that fell in the water.
There was no sign of Beast Boy. Raven floated towards the impact zone and could see no sign of him. Yet she knew he was still here; she could sense him. As she hovered closer to the water, she felt something moving towards her at speed underneath the water. She turned to see the form of a green shark erupt from the water. Raven flew back, arms up, yet no sooner had she done that than the shark had changed into a much smaller fish which made its way through the air towards the Empath. The green fish gave several wet slaps with its fin on Raven's face. The Empath reeled back in mid-air as the fish returned to the water.
"What the heck, Beast Boy?!" Raven tried throwing more rocks into the water. She couldn't see any sign of him again.
Behind her, Raven heard a distinct chirping noise very loudly. She turned and received a jet of water in her face, knocking her back. Beast Boy, in the form of a dolphin, clapped his fins together and cackled before returning underneath the water.
Raven growled in frustration.
"You are pushing your luck, Beast Boy", Raven took a deep breath and tried to focus on his emotions. As she sensed his movements, she felt him moving quickly towards her. She heard a splash coming from her right, so she quickly turned and enveloped a large swordfish in her magic, stopping him midair.
"Gotcha" she claimed, but Beast Boy had other ideas and quickly shifted forms into a large octopus which shot a jet of black ink right in Raven's face.
The Empath was horrified as she tried to wipe off the substance. She dropped Beast Boy back into the water. Her anger was bubbling; she wouldn't be able to stay in control for much longer.
"BEAST BOY!" Raven yelled at the top of her lungs. The Empath coated the entire pool of water with her magic and pulled it up against the walls. There at the bottom of the exposed pool was a small green fish flapping on the rocks. It quickly changed forms to that of a large falcon. As it began to fly upwards, its form was stopped completely by a coat of black energy. Raven had him with both hands, which caused the water to fall back into the pool. She slammed the bird against the central pillar in the middle of the room. He returned to his human form. Releasing her other hand from the magic grip, she pulled down four cables and wrapped them around each of his limbs tightly. Raven landed on the bridge and held her hand up to keep the cables in place. She slowly approached him.
"It's over, Beast Boy" Raven declared as she struggled against his powers. "You can't beat me, whether you're being serious or otherwise."
"Give up, take the easy way out like you do with everything else" Raven held the cables tight yet Beast Boy finally spoke up to answer
"No", he growled
"What?" Raven could feel his anger like a hurricane. The changeling pulled against the cables with her magic. Raven didn't realize he was this strong.
"I'M NOT A JOKE!" Beast Boy roared, filling the room with his voice. The sound quickly changed to a familiar roar. The form of Beast Boy had now been replaced with the Beast. The primal creature broke free of the cables and landed on the bridge in front of Raven. She was paralyzed with astonishment. She hadn't seen this form since the first incident. This time, however, it was much larger, with larger muscles and bigger teeth. The creature roared, causing Raven to raise her hands to prepare her magic.
Instead of attacking, however, the beast lunged towards one of the hanging cables and began swinging upwards towards the ceiling. Raven was confused. She flew up and gave chase through the air. Using her magic, she attempted to use the hanging cables to grab him and pull him back down. As she floated up high, she was now above the water. Right where he wanted her. Using the beast's natural agility, he kept from cable to cable, advancing on her. The empath used her magic to grab two rocks from the nearby wall. She threw them towards the beast's direction, yet the creature was too swift. It used the rocks as a vantage point to make a powerful jump in her direction. The beast seemed to move in slow motion as Raven watched it close in on her, claws out and roaring fiercely. Raven began making a shield with her magic. The empath's vision of the beast, however, was replaced by a massive mass growing from it. In its place, in mid-air above her, was the form of a green-blue whale.
He wouldn't? she thought
The mammal opened its jaws and swallowed her whole. The Empath rolled around in the creature's mouth as it dove towards the water. The collision with the surface of the pool knocked Raven against the whale's teeth. After successfully landing in the pool, Beast Boy spat Raven out and resumed his form as a much smaller fish. Raven spun around in the water from the force of the ejection. She panicked, knowing this was Beast Boy's element. She tried to swim to the surface before a powerful shock rocked through her body. Raven began to lose consciousness as she saw the sight of a green eel in her fading vision. Everything went black.
Raven could make out the feeling of being carried by something. Whatever it was had fur and was big. She felt herself being rested on the floor. She was still delirious and barely conscious but she could make out this blurry image of someone sitting above her. She could hear a faint voice before she lost consciousness again. "Combatant Raven eliminated" the voice faded as she closed her eyes to the darkness.
The faint sound of beeping began to ring in Raven's ears. Her eyes slowly opened. She could make out that she was in the infirmary. Besides her, rested Cyborg, who was laying down on the bed next to her. In the middle of the room, stood Robin, with Beast Boy and Starfire.
"Friend Raven, you are awake" Starfire moved towards her bed. Raven groaned and stroked her head.
"Yeah, what happened?" Raven asked.
"Beast Boy happened, he beat everyone of us and set a new record" Robin declared placing a hand on his shoulder. "I knew you could do it" Beast Boy blushed and placed a hand on the back of his head returning to his normal chirpy grinning self.
"Thanks, it wasn't easy, trust me" he declared.
"Oh, yes, friend, you have done us most proud." Starfire scooped Beast Boy up in a crushing hug, accompanied by the sound of several crunching sounds as his bones felt the pressure of her strength.
"Thanks, Star" he muttered as his cheeks were puffed up from the force of her embrace. Raven turned away; she couldn't look at him.
"Yeah, yeah, well done. You do know that as soon as my arms repair themselves, I'm giving you the mother of all noogies?" Cyborg warned.
"I figured", Beast Boy replied.
"Good" Cyborg smiled, "Nice job, buddy."
"Thanks" he replied, rubbing the back of his head again.
"Raven, do you wish to congratulate...?" No sooner had Starfire turned to face Raven's bed than it was replaced by the sight of an empty one. Raven was gone.
"Raven?" Robin asked.
Beast Boy felt a sense of smugness but also disappointment. In any case, he decided not to let her ruin another day.
"Don't worry about her, listen, today's been exhausting, who wants to spend the rest of the day watching awful movies?" Beast Boy gleefully asked.
"Well you've earned it I guess" Robin conceded. Beast Boy chirped up and smiled.
"Sweet, I'll get the popcorn ready." Beast Boy ran towards the door as Robin and Starfire followed.
"Hey wait, I still can't walk yet, guys? Guys!" Cyborg yelled after them.
Later that night, Beast Boy and the others had retired for the day. Beast Boy, in particular, was exhausted. The changeling was laid out on his bed as he heard a loud knocking on his door.
Beast Boy was jolted out of his slumber and got up to scramble towards his door. Barely awake, he rubbed his eyes as the door opened to reveal Raven standing behind it.
"Huh Raven?"
"Hey"
"Uh, hey, what's up?" The changeling asked. Raven turned her head away from him and didn't say a word for a few seconds. She could still feel some resentment towards him.
"I just wanted to say well done for earlier, you did good"
"Uh, thanks" Beast Boy was surprised at her compliment, especially after yesterday. Raven then turned and made eye contact with him.
"Also this" Raven quickly grabbed Beast Boy and wrapped him in a tight hug. "I'm sorry... Sorry for yesterday." Beast Boy was too in shock to react. After a few seconds, Raven let go and pushed Beast Boy back, which caused him to fall back lightly on the ground. As he looked up at the figure of Raven in the doorway to his room.
"But you need to stop thinking I hate you, I can feel you're resentment and it's annoying" Raven turned away and began walking back to her room. She then felt the wave of a new emotion from Beast Boy. Doubt.
Raven turned back towards his door, he was now standing outside it, looking straight at her.
"Why do I get the feeling you think I'm lying?" She asked.
"I have a question" Beast Boy's words filled her with dread for some reason. She could tell it wasn't like him.
"You said you don't hate me, but do you like me?"
Raven wasn't sure what to think of that question. She thought about it for a while before deciding to answer.
"Of course I do, dummy" Raven then turned and quickly floated away before Beast Boy could respond. She could only make out the sound of his doors closing.
She entered her room and stood there for a second, contemplating the conversation that just occurred. She took off her cloak and slowly placed herself in her bed. No matter how hard she tried, her thoughts kept going back to it.
Why would he ask me that?