Fan Fiction ❯ Don't Eat Your Hero ❯ The Vow ( Chapter 2 )

Disclaimer: Since I obviously don't own the copyright to Teen Titans, I'm taking advantage of the Fair Use Clause of the Copyright laws to write a story with them in it. Who knew the government would protect the little guys? Anyway, I hope you enjoy.

 

Chapter 2: The Vow

 

The first noise everyone heard was Raven coughing as she had involuntarily swallowed her herbal tea, but it had gone down the wrong tube. Coughing madly and grasping her throat she nearly doubled over. “What…” She coughed a few times and the others stared at her unsure what to do, “…was that?” She asked between coughs, trying to regain her composure. Sitting back up she looked at Beast Boy, covering her mouth as she flew into another coughing fit. The others followed suit.

“It's PeTA's new ad campaign!” He said proudly.

There was a profound silence that was interrupted only by Raven's coughing. Robin was the next to speak, “It's… what?”

Beast Boy was smiling, oblivious to the other Titan's reactions, “It's PeTA's new ad campaign, I got the idea and sent it in to them. The letter I got a few days ago was them saying it was a great idea!” He beamed.

“You came up with that?” Raven asked in a surprised tone, finally managing to stop coughing.

“Yeah, what do you guys think?” Beast Boy looked at his teammates. Robin and Cyborg's mouths hung open limply, Starfire was blushing shrunk back in her seat. Raven was returning to her normal position, but with a uneasy look on her face.

“Are you sure this is a good idea Beast Boy? I mean…” Robin paused trying to think of something to say to finish the sentence, but came up blank.

Beast Boy frowned, “You don't like it… I knew you wouldn't I never should have showed you.” He stood up, walked over to the VCR and pressed eject. The other titans looked between each other, trying to figure out what to say.

“But you are not the burger of ham that we ate for lunch.” Starfire added innocently.

Beast Boy turned scowling, “Yeah, but I could be. How would it make you feel to know that you were accidentally eating your own friend?”

Starfire sat back in her seat her lip trembling a bit. Cyborg had turned a shade of green and Robin looked a little horrified. Raven folded her arms across her chest and shook her head. Beast Boy snorted, grabbed the tape and left.

 

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Beast Boy jumped onto the lower bunk bed, they didn't understand. They never would. With a sigh he grabbed his bag, which he hadn't emptied, and pulled out the picture of Terra. After looking at it for a moment he placed it on his chest, “Why don't they get it?” He murmured, gnawing on his lip uneasily.

Beast Boy knew they wouldn't understand because they weren't like him. None of them could experience what it was like to become a cat, a puppy, or a lion. Nobody knew the freedom it gave him, the joy it gave him. And the sadness it gave him knowing that other people ate the animals he so loved to become. It hurt when they went out for pizza and Cyborg wanted it topped with sausage or pepperoni. Robin was even worse, tossing aside the first PeTA packet that had been handed to him and saying something about not crawling to the top of the food chain to eat tofu. Starfire's unearthly meals rarely contained meat, thankfully, but here as well as her home world she had eaten meat with great tenacity. In fact the only other person in the tower who didn't eat meat was Raven who apparently subsisted entirely off of herbal tea and the occasional apple. Beast Boy sighed and placed the photo back, “I just hope they aren't angry at me…”

 

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Starfire sat down in her room, playing with Silkie joylessly. “Oh, my little bungorf…” she trailed off, resting the mutant silkworm in its crib. It was asleep in moments and she sat down on her bed looking around her room unhappily. She had not seen Beast Boy so upset before. She couldn't help but feel responsible… she had asked a foolish question. Her frown widened, she would have to apologize, but what if he was still angry? A small current of dread filled her, what if he did not accept her apology? What if he pushed her away? Starfire lay back on her bed as her insecurities filled her until a knock at her door.

“Who is it?” She asked, floating to the door.

“It's me, Beast Boy.” The voice came from the other side.

Starfire stiffened, had he come to yell at her? She wasn't sure how much she had angered him with her comment. She opened the door with a forced smile, “I am much sorry for what I have said earlier.” She said quickly before Beast Boy could even open his mouth.

He stared at her for a moment, then shook a little, “Uh… yeah…” Starfire's smile faded, he was still angry with her, he was going to yell at her, he was going to… “I'm sorry for snapping at you earlier… it's just this means a lot to me.” Beast Boy said slowly, and then looked down.

“Apology accepted!” Starfire was elated, grabbing and hugging the green imp until she heard a small pop and gasp for air at which point she released him.

Beast Boy took in a large gulp of air and stumbled back against the wall opposite her room. He grabbed his shore shoulder and winced, “Please… stop doing that.” he murmured to which Starfire blushed and smiled.

“Sorry…”

 

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“Dude, what are we going to do? I mean, he was really angry, I heard him talking to Terra in his room.” Cyborg said dully, sitting down on the couch next to Robin.

“I don't think talking to a photograph can really be considered as talking to her Cyborg.” Robin mentioned absently, still frowning.

Cyborg merely scowled, “It is to him. But that's not the point, he's really angry dude. What are we gonna do?”

“You could stop eating meat for a while.” Raven's monotone voice sounded off from the corner. They looked up at her, but she hadn't even bothered glancing up from her book.

Robin didn't enjoy the thought and Cyborg didn't relish it either, but after a few moments of thinking about it, they nodded their heads in compliance. “The tower will be meat free for a week…” His voice seemed strained as he said it, “but that's all.”

Beast Boy burst into the room Starfire in tow, he was smiling widely, “THANKS GUYS!”

Robin's jaw dropped, “How long have you been out there?”

“Long enough to hear you say you'd give up meat for a week.” Beast Boy said, beaming. He turned to Raven, “Thanks!” She didn't look up from her book, merely flipping a page. “You guys are just gonna love it! I know a great vegetarian grill, we can go there tonight.”

Cyborg's shoulders fell, “Yay… vegetables…”

“See you guys soon! I gotta make a call.” Beast Boy said, turned and ran off.

“You don't think?” Robin looked at Cyborg, “Nah… he wouldn't…” There was a brief pause and both of their eyes went wide and they ran after him. “Beast Boy! Wait!”

 

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“Mr. Newgrid? Yeah, Beast Boy here, the team promised not to eat meat for the entire week!” Beast Boy smiled looking through the videophone.

“That's excellent Beast Boy.” Mr. Newgrid smiled widely, “The Titans' vow not to eat meat for a week, perhaps we should hold a press conference? Could you bring that up with the team?”

“Sure… although Raven's not much of a press conference-y person… or a camera person… or a person-person…” Beast Boy gnawed on his lip, thinking about how much trouble it would bring him to ask her to get in front of a large crowd of reporters and be shown on cable TV when her heard shouting from outside.

“Beast Boy! Wait!” Robin shouted, rushing towards the unkempt room. He ran in the door, Cyborg behind him. Robin saw the screen was on and sighed with frustration, “Too late…”

“Are those other members of the Teen Titans?” Newgrid asked innocently. He was not able to see them, but heard Robin's voice.

“Yeah, my friends Robin and Cyborg, come here guys, I'd like you to meet someone.” Beast Boy waved for them over.

Robin and Cyborg exchanged glances, finally moving to the videophone and looking into the monitor. The man on the other end was smiling, “My name is Kirk Newgrid, head of PeTA, people for the ethical treatment of animals, and you must be the illustrious Robin and Cyborg of the Teen Titans. It's a pleasure to speak to you.”

“Hello…”

Robin looked to Beast Boy with a raised eyebrow, unsure what to say, but Newgrid started before he could come up with anything, “Beast Boy has informed me of the vow you made earlier, to stop eating meat for a week. I think that's wonderful.”

Cyborg's heart sunk, “Yeah…”

“I was wondering if you would be interested in a press conference. Having such famous heroes saying they're going cruelty free for a week would be a tremendous boost to our organization.” Newgrid said with a widening smile.

Robin bit his lip, “We'll have to talk to the rest of the team about it.”

“Wonderful. Now, I'd like to say that our commercials that our dear friend Beast Boy came up with…” Robin and Cyborg forced themselves to continue smiling although they eyed Beast Boy angrily, “… will be starting tonight.”

All three Titans stared at the screen, “What?” Cyborg and Robin said in unison.

“You said it'd be at least a month….” Beast Boy said stunned.

Kirk's smile faded slightly “We managed to replace some of our other pre-scheduled commercials in your area with yours. I thought you would like it…”

“Are you kidding me? That's great!” Beast Boy said emphatically, waving his arms frantically waving his arms.

Kirk's smile widened, “Well then, the first commercial should come on around eight pm tonight.” Beast Boy could barely contain his excitement; Robin and Cyborg shook their heads.

“Well, I would like to hear back from you about the press conference, of course, we'd also provide you with all the food you'd need for the week as payment.” Kirk said, nodding to Robin.

“Oh… wonderful…” Robin's smile was fading quickly, even though he was trying to keep it from cracking.

“Well, I'm very thankful for that. Now, I'm certain you have more important things to do, like protect the city…” Kirk chuckled, “So I will let you go. Thank you again.”

“Bye Mr. Newgrid.” Beast Boy called out and the screen went blank. Beast Boy suddenly felt two sets of very angry eyes upon him and turned to find Cyborg and Robin glaring at him, he chuckled innocently, swallowing the growing lump in his throat, “Uh… what?”