Fan Fiction ❯ After The End ❯ Trustworthy ( Chapter 4 )

Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans, unfortunately. Any views or opinions expressed in this fan-fiction are strictly those of the author, me. The latter statement is probably just a formality, unless I somehow work my love of all things Canadian (GO CANADA) into this fan-fiction. Cheese is the root of all evil. If I were to use one word to describe all of the themes to all of my fics so far, I wonder what that word would be. Happy multicolored explosions in the sky day.

 

Please Read and review. Constructive criticism wanted.

 

Chapter 4: Trustworthy

 

The door to the abandoned warehouse burst open banging against the adjacent wall, and Robin appeared almost dragging Beast Boy inside by the back of his neck. The changeling, although irritated by his leader's behavior, made no move to escape. Robin was angry, and the last thing that they needed was a needless fight to break out between two Titans. After all, they all only had one goal, and no one wanted to jeopardize that… at least not when they were thinking clearly.

 

“Let go of me now! I told you I can explain, Robin!” Beast Boy yelled at the top of his lungs now that they were in the safety of the warehouse. He had not dared do so before out of fear that his pleas would attract some unwanted attention. Although, if what Raven said to him was true, he no longer had to fear any attention that he drew. The choker Raven forced on him should keep him safe, but Robin still was free game.

 

“Explain what?” Robin questioned furiously before he shoved his teammate against the wall and held him there. “Explain why I saw you and Raven coming back from the destroyed tower and she wasn't trying to kill you? Explain where you got that choker that does not look like anything a human could have made? Explain that little embrace she gave you before leaving? Pick one Beast Boy, because I think you have a lot of explaining to do!”

 

Beast Boy's anger grew as he felt Robin pushing him harder against the wall. He had been ignored all the way back to the warehouse, and it was getting on hiss nerves. “How about I explain that if you don't listen to me when I tell you to let me go, I will make you regret it.”

 

Both Cyborg and Starfire looked on in horror. They had not expected anything like this when Robin left to find their friend. Now, they were on the verge of an all out brawl. Each were confused, but their instincts guided their actions. They had to stop this.

 

“Yo, Robin,” Cyborg yelled. “Whatever happened out there, we can settle it without senseless violence. Just listen to BB and let him go. We can work this out, but you both just need to calm down. I'm sure BB had a good reason for whatever happened out there.”

 

“Yes friends,” Starfire pleaded, “Cyborg is correct. There is no need for conflict between friends. Please let friend Beast Boy go, Robin. It saddens me to see you both in such a state of aggression towards each other.”

 

Robin narrowed his eyes in Rage, completely ignoring the pleas of his friends. “Just try it, Beast Boy. You aren't going anywhere until I get some answers. As far as I can tell, you look like you are playing both sides in this, if not only Raven's. I want to know exactly what is going on between you and Raven, because as of right now, you are guilty until proven innocent. Now, answer me! What went on out there, and don't even think about lying. We've lived with you long enough to be able to read you like a book.”

 

Beast Boy stopped struggling, not because he had given up, but because his rage had almost completely taken control of his body. “I said let me go,” Beast Boy said coldly. He was done with putting up with this.

 

“And I said I wanted answers,” Robin said just as enticingly. Unfortunately, it was the wrong choice on his part.

 

Without warning, Beast Boy morphed into a cobra, easily slithering out of Robin's grip before he even knew what had happened. The changeling fell to the floor and slithered between Robin's legs and emerged behind the masked Titan. With his rage still driving him, Beast Boy transformed into the Arkaen he studied earlier and quickly made his point.

 

Robin was in the middle of spinning around to look for the green Titan when an emerald tentacle wrapped itself tightly around his waist. Instantly, he was lifted high off the ground and forcefully shoved into the wall now behind him. Another tentacle came at him seemingly from out of nowhere and wrapped itself around the Titan leader's head, eventually forcing him to come face to face with his teammate. The glowing white eyes of the emerald Arkaen burned with a fury that shook Robin to his very core.

 

Suddenly, a green disk of energy collided with the back of beast Boy. In his Arkaen form, he barely felt it. It was frighteningly well armored now that he felt exactly what an actual Arkaen feels. Yet, even though the attack was a minor nuisance to beast Boy, it still got his attention. Slowly, the changeling turned its body around to see Starfire ready with a second Starbolt and Cyborg with his arm cannon ready.

 

In the back of his mind, he knew that he would never be able to convince his fellow Titans of his innocence if he continued his aggressive behavior. Reluctantly, he turned his body back to Robin to let him go, but he almost laughed at what he saw. Robin was unsuccessfully trying to saw at the tentacle holding his head with one of his bird-a-rangs. Beast Boy did not even feel his pitiful attempt at freedom. Slowly, his tentacles unraveled from Robin and he fell to the floor while Beast Boy reverted back to his human form.

 

“It doesn't feel good to be captured by one of those, does it, Robin?” Beast Boy spoke coldly as he watched as the boy wonder struggled to his feet. “Try being held with around three more tentacles for half the night. Not pleasant. If you would have let me explain in the first place instead of assuming the worst like it seems you always do with me. First, you wouldn't believe me during the Beast incident, and now this. Anyway, after I left, I got some fresh air to clear my head. I was on my way back when I found a man who had almost been tortured to death. I had to try and save him, Robin. I just had to. Every life matters. However, in doing so, I got caught by one of those Arkaens.” Beast Boy's eyes lowed to the ground, and his rage was replaced by despair. “The other guy didn't make it, Robin. The Arkaen held me as I watched his get torn to pieces.”

 

“That still doesn't explain why you were with Raven,” Robin choked out while rubbing his neck, “or why you too seemed so close from what I saw.”

 

Beast Boy shot Robin a death glare that rivaled Raven's usual ones. “I was getting to that. Learn some patience, but since that is a physical impossibility for you, I'll give you the short version. I am now unwillingly Raven's servant, but a more accurate way of putting it is that I am now her personal slave. This choker will kill me either if I try to take it off or if Raven thinks it to. I am basically now at her mercy, especially now that she knows who I am.”

 

“She knows what?” Cyborg asked in disbelief. “There's no way she saw through my hologram! Did you do or say anything to give yourself away?”

 

“Despite what you all think of me,” Beast Boy said trying to calm himself, “I am not that stupid. I have no clue how she knew it was me, dudes. Raven can feel other people's emotions if she wants to, right? Maybe she felt mind. …I can't control what I feel around her. But the point is she knows and I am at her command. And, it only gets worse from there, guys. She may make me fight for their side, and I won't be able to refuse.”

 

“So,” Cyborg spoke up before Robin could interject knowing that his temper was still an issue here, “what you are saying is that she will pretty much be able to get you to do anything for her, even fight for her. So, you'll be around her all the time, right? And, she'll trust you because she holds your life in her hands, right?”

 

“Yeah,” Beast Boy answered sounding quite annoyed. “I think I understand what the term `personal slave' means, Cyborg. You don't have to remind me of what all I'll be forced to do for her. I get it. We're all screwed.”

 

“No,” Cyborg defended, “it's not like that. I just mean that this could work to our advantage. I mean, you'll be there and have the perfect opportunity to incapacitate Raven.”

 

“Dudes,” Beast Boy stated with all seriousness, “I'll tell you right here and now that I will not kill Raven, and I will not allow her to be killed. We're finding a way to reverse what Trigon did to her, or I won't help.”

 

“Beast Boy, just hear me out now. I think I've found a way to make this all better, or at least give us all hope which we desperately need. By incapacitate, I mean render unconscious. All you need to do, BB, is tranquilize Raven while she's asleep. At that point, we'll be thereto haul her out and to a safe location where she can be restrained from using her powers. Then, the Justice League cleans up Trigon and whatever flocked to Earth to find him. If you are right, Beast Boy, then whatever Trigon is doing to Raven should be stopped, or at least it'll make it to where he can no longer do it. That'll give us the chance to really find a way to reverse everything, because Red is really not her color, BB.”

 

No one laughed at Cyborg's attempt to lighten the mood. No one even smiled. It was not a time for jokes, and everyone could not help but feel a little worse than they had before. Robin, still trying his best to keep his temper in check, slowly walked over to Starfire's side. Deep down, he still was not content with all that Beast Boy had told them. It was never in his nature to take things at face value. He was not raised like that. However, another fight was the last thing that they needed, so he kept most of his questions about Beast Boy to himself.

 

“Cyborg,” Robin began as he put a comforting arm around Starfire's shoulder, “how much time do we have left before you go offline?”

 

Beast Boy's eyes widened and his head shot in the direction of Robin. “He's going WHAT? No, no, no, no. He's got his reserves, right? …RIGHT?” All of the other Titans' eyes fell downcast to the floor. Their unspoken answer was picked up immediately by Beast Boy. “But, …there has to be something we can do, isn't there? I mean, we have to be able to charge him somehow, right?”

 

“I'M sorry, BB,” Cyborg stated solemnly. “There's not enough left in this city that has not already been destroyed for me to whip something up. Besides, I'm the only one out of us with the mechanical know-how to create something like that. By the time all of you got back from searching the city, I'd already be gone.”

 

“Please,” Beast Boy now pleaded. Cyborg was his best friend, and he never wanted to see him go. “Tell me that it won't be permanent. We can always juice you up after this is all over. I mean, someone out there will know how to get power to you, right?”

 

Cyborg almost laughed at the desperation in beast Boy's voice, but in doing so, he would use up too much power that he desperately needed. “No, BB. It won't be permanent. I'm sure someone in the Justice League would be kind enough to fix me. I won't die from long term exposure to a non existent amount of power. All I need is a full battery, and I'll be back before you know it.”

 

“Sweet!” Beast Boy exclaimed while leaping fist first into the air. “Don't ever scare me like that again, dude.”

 

“As I asked before,” Robin interrupted beast Boy's personal celebration. “How long do we have until we're without your expertise?”

 

Cyborg briefly glanced at the screen on his right arm before making a displeased face. “A little over five hours, probably less.” Cyborg turned to the changeling standing beside him. “Hey, Beast Boy. Um… one thing. If you're Raven's… um… servant, then why are you here now? Shouldn't you be with her right now?”

 

Robin slowly looked up at beast Boy to see his answer, but still made it seem through his mask that he was looking at Starfire. That was a question the he wanted the answer to as well. It was one of the holes in beast Boy's story that he noticed. It was one of the reasons that he still did not completely trust him anymore.

 

“Oh yeah,” Beast Boy laughed nervously, but his face told the truth for him. There was nothing but despair in his eyes. He had just gotten back, and although his arrival was less than pleasant, he did not want to leave his friends so soon. Luckily, he had the day, or with Cyborg, five hours. “Raven told me to spend the day resting so that I'll be well energized t do whatever evil things she has planned for me to do to whatever city she's taking me to. I have to meet back with her where Robin found me at sundown, or else she'll kill.”

 

“Crap,” Cyborg mumbled angrily. “I was hoping you'd say something like `She's expecting me back any time now' or `Oh yeah! Gotta go.' That way, I'd at least be able to help yall with this. Now, I just have to sit here and wait for shutdown. This sucks. I'm useless.”

 

“You're not useless Cyborg,” Robin spoke up. “You came up with a plan, and that alone gives us hope for Raven. Besides, now that we know where everyone stands, I'm sure you can use that brain of yours to fine tune what you've come up with.”

 

“There's no real fine tuning to be done,” Cyborg stated plainly. “All we need is some tranquilizers, and before you say anything Robin, I know you've got some. I figured you did, knowing who trained you and all. You don't spend that much time with one of the greats without picking up a few things. Just give the tranquilizers to BB, and he'll slip them in one of Raven's drinks, assuming that she does drink anything anymore.”

 

Robin quickly dig around in his belt for the tranquilizers he kept hidden there. You never know when the only way to beat a bad guy is to put them to sleep. It helps to be prepared, and considering his training, Robin was almost always prepared for whatever could happen. Reluctantly, the boy wonder handed the key to Raven's freedom over to Beast Boy. A part of him remembered most of his accident prone moments and prayed that the changeling would not accidentally drop his some time in the future. Another still held a suspicion that Beast Boy was hiding something from them, and he could not force himself to let it go. He was not raised that way, unfortunately. However, whether he liked it or not, his only hope that this plan would work relied solely on Beast Boy. He had to hope for the best.

 

“May I make a suggestion,” Starfire politely asked, seeing the obvious tension between Robin and Beast Boy.

 

“Sure, Star,” Robin answered cheerfully. There was no way not to talk to Starfire and catch her contagious cheerfulness, and it especially held true for Robin. “Ask away.”

 

“It is my understanding that our planning is completed, yes?” Starfire asked with a sense of hopefulness in her voice. All three of the other Titans looked at each other and then nodded in confirmation to their alien friend. “Then it seems that it would be a most glorious thing to do if we all made friend Cyborg's and Beast Boy's last hours together with us most joyous. I believe that we have gathered, from our many ventures into the remains of the city, a plentiful supply of the cooked triangular vegetables from the ranch of slightly cold weather (Cool Ranch Doritos) and many containers of the dark colored cola of the classic (Coca Cola Classic). I believe a celebration would make our friends feel most glorious.”

 

“That actually sounds like a good idea once I ran it through my Starfire translator program,” Cyborg stated hungrily as his mouth already watered at the very mention of Cool Ranch Doritos. Sure, it was not meat, but it tasted good enough. “Wait! Yall had Doritos and you didn't tell me? What kind of friends are you? Here I am starving my last hours away while you all snicker about how you're going to party once I'm offline!”

 

Robin laughed. “Someone's overly dramatic today. You said it yourself that it wasn't a permanent shutdown, so you can't really call these your last hours.”

 

“So not the point,” Cyborg shot back. “What else do you have hidden around here from me? Pizza? Meat? Cookies? Twink- If I catch one little Twinkie somewhere around this warehouse and you didn't tell me, I swear I'll use the last of my energy to knock you into tomorrow.”

 

“Relax, Cyborg,” Robin tried to reason with his mechanical friend. “There aren't any Twinkies around here. Believe me. I checked.”

 

“Friend Robin,” Starfire spoke softly. “What is a… Twinkie?”

 

Robin sighed. This was going to be a long day for him.

 

That was the scene inside the abandoned warehouse where the Titans hid, but it was missing one remaining Titan. Beast Boy, having uncharacteristically slipped off to one of the many dark corners of the warehouse to be alone, chose to skip out on any celebration that his friends were having. To him, it was far too soon for anyone to be celebrating anything. Besides that, he was utterly exhausted. Having gotten no sleep while in the clutches of the Arkaen, the young changeling opted to catch up on some much needed rest. But even though he was free from the pressure of life for the moment, his dreams were still haunted by the images of his failure, not only to the team, but to Raven.