31The Titans came and visited me everyday, though I was left alone now. Starfire and Robin always came by together - I think Starfire made Robin come with her. Cyborg only came by with the other three. Raven was my most frequent visitor, bringing me thick books to read, while she either read or meditated. We rarely spoke.
Eventually I was discharged from the hospital. My body was fully recovered, and there was nothing they could do for my memory. Besides, going home might jolt some memories. They threw a party for me when I arrived at the Tower. It was fun, but it all felt forced. I had to be led to my room (Robin did the honors). I was shocked at the wreckage inside.
Looking around, I spotted piles of clothes, unorganized CDs, stacks of gaming magazines, some stuffed animals, and not a bare spot on the floor. I shook my head and started cleaning up, piling the dirty clothes by the door and putting the clean ones up. I barely left my room for that first week, getting things organized. I found some interesting things, too. Apparently Beast Boy wasn't as stupid as they thought - hidden in his closet were neatly organized novels, obviously read over and over. I also found stacks and stacks of drawings - some were really crappy, but most were quality work. I began to understand things a little better - maybe I truly was Morph, as Slade had said. I was obviously keeping things hidden from my supposed friends. After much searching and cleaning, I found a journal - hidden under a loose floorboard underneath a large chest in the closet. I flipped through it. The last entry was dated a few days before... before whatever had happened occured.
Ever wish you could just be yourself? I think I understand how Raven feels, more than she will ever realize. She has to keep her emotions in check all the time, or she could destroy something. Me - I have to keep my intelligence and artistic abilities in check. This group needs a comic relief guy, and I'm the only one who can fill the role. Sure, I have to act like a complete idiot sometimes, and pretend I don't understand things, but they need me like this. So I'll keep going on, hiding my serious side under stacks of clothes, and channeling my creativity into drawings done late at night, when they think I'm sleeping. Not that I don't enjoy the video games and comic books... I wouldn't be able to deal with it at all if they weren't in my personality too. Oh well, BB out.
I nodded slowly, understanding seeping into my half-numb brain. I flipped through other entries. There was no mention of Slade, or Morph. And these entires went way back, before I - he... joined the Titans. Slade had been trying to trick me, as I'd thought. Well, two could play at that game, and I was just the one to play. But first, I needed to confirm a suspicion. I took out a blank piece of paper and a pencil, and focused on the image on the cover of one of the magazines, and began sketching. An hour later, I had a near perfect replica of the cover. Things made perfect sense now, and I knew why I hadn't regained my memories. I was Beast Boy, but I was the repressed side. The part of him that needed to come out. While his perky, bouncy, happy side healed, I had emerged, my one chance to be truly expressed. And as I realized this, I regained the memory of how to change my form. That was good. Now T could truly teach Slade a lesson for trying to hurt my friends.
I walked out of my room, casually, carrying what appeared to be a stack of laundry. This no longer disturbed anyone - though initially Cyborg had passed out. As soon as I was out of sight though, I dropped the few coevering clothes in the laundry room and strapped on the backpack. Opening the window, I leapt out, changing into a large eagle and heading for the city. RAVEN'S POV (Beginning when BB comes home)
I'm sitting here, watching this pointless party. He seems to be enjoying himself, but I think he senses the falsity as much as I do. Starfire has made a Pudding of Joyous Return for him. It isn't too bad - and Beast Boy is able to judge it without the memory of the Pudding of Sadness. I will never admit it, but I miss the goofy little runt. Though I only laughed at them in the confines of my head, I did enjoy his jokes. I just can't ever show it.
He has to be shown to his room. Robin leads him, but I follow, hidden in the shadows. I think I am hoping his room will jog his memory. Therefore, it was just plain scary when he started cleaning. Beast boy, cleaning. I glanced out the closest window - No, demon hordes weren't trampling the planet, but the shock factor was nearly the same.
That first week, he barely left his room. The only times we saw him were mealtimes and when he took a load of laundry down to wash. The first time he did that, Cyborg passed out. He didn't even play video games, though passing by is room, I saw he was organizing his magazines. It wasn't long before I saw other things as I passed his room. Stacks of drawings, and novels. While he was doing laundry one time, I snuck into his room. I know I shouldn't have, especially since I yell at him all the time for trying to get into mine, but I wanted to know more. The first thing I spotted was a piece of bright green paper, laying on the bottom bunk. I picked it up and read:
Dear... whoever finds this.
You may not understand, but I am still your friend Beast Boy. Just not the side of him you knew. Slade has been trying to convince me that I worked for him, but I know better than that. I'm using my own brand of talent to teach him a lesson. If I don't come back... Just know that Beast Boy cared about you all very much. And Raven, thank you for letting me borrow those books. I think you sensed what I was somehow.
Beast Boy
"No..." I stared numbly at the letter. I hadn't been dreaming, Slade had contacted him. And now Beast By was going to take him on, alone. I couldn't let this happen. BB's POV
I had my plan all set, and ready. Slade would be here any minute. I was meeting him on top of an office building, near the petrochemical plant. He thought I had found something interesting for him. I had - but he wouldn't like it.
I was hidden, waiting in the shadows. I saw a lone figure jump onto the building. I waited. The figure came into the light. It was Slade. He waited, imperturbable. I smirked. Soon, he wouldn't be so calm. He walked forward a little. "Morph? What is it that you have for me?"
"I have for you a deep hatred. You tried to pit me against my friends. And my name is Beast Boy!" Something swooped at Slade, and he kicked at the owl figure - it shattered, the green clay sculpture breaking into pieces. He spun, getting knocked over by another green shape. A huge green T-Rex. He scrambled out of the way, only to be swooped at by another green form - a falcon. He shattered that sculpture, dodging the T-Rex again and was bowled over by a green tiger. Slade's one visible eye widened, and he pressed a button on his suit. A small laser emerged from the back of both arms, and he fired wildly. The wire-framed cardboard T- Rex burned, while the tiger was pitted with holes, the paper mache - still wet - didn't flame. Slade spun around wildly, frantically looking for the real me.
He didn't even feel me land on him. Quickly, I shifted forms from the small spider to a mighty python, coiling around his neck, and squeezing. His heartbeat slowed, and he went limp after about a minute. I released him - I wasn't out to kill, just to warn. I shifted back into my normal form. "Never try and pit one Titan against the others." I walked to the edge of the building, preparing to turn into a bird and fly away. A red beam of light narrowly missed my head. I spun - Slade was on his feet. He'd obviously faked passing out.
"You are going to regret challenging me alone, boy." He stepped forward, the laser aimed at my chest. But he was still expecting the Beast Boy that was dumb. Before he could fire, I shifted into a hummingbird and rushed at him. I flitted around his head, buzzing his face - and once he was disoriented, I transformed into a gorilla, and grabbed him in my massive arms. He was clever too, though, and smashed his metal mask against my forehead. I dropped him, reeling in stunned pain. He struck the upper part of my shoulder with the red beam. It burned, and I roared in pain, charging at him. He was much faster, and agile too - he struck me with four powerful hits before I even registered he had moved. I dropped to my gorilla knees, grunting in pain. He launched a kick at me, but I changed into a mouse and scurried out of the way. I hid in the shadows, trying to regain my strength.
"Where are you, boy?" Slade taunted, thinking he had the upper hand. I wasn't beaten yet though. I charged at him as a tiger, raking my claws across his chest. He recoverd quickly and brutally kicked me in the back of the head. I went skidding across the roof, my upper half hanging over the edge. I got to my feet, only to find the laser less than an inch from my head. "You came here alone, you'll die here alone, and I am going to finish what I began almost three months ago."
"He's not alone!" A green blast of energy knocked him away from me. I looked over. Starfire.
"When you mess with one of us, you mess with all of us!" Robin said, pulling a staff out of nowhere.
"You'll finish nothing." Raven said, rising from the other side of the building. Cyborg, riding on a little black circle, added, "But we might finish you."
Slade snarled, and pressed a different button on his suit. Suddenly, there were robot replicas of him swarming from every direction. I didn't lose track of the real one though, and it appeared he wasn't using this as a distraction to escape. We rushed at each other, my claws meeting his fist. I won, but he jumped up and kicked my jaw, knocking it out of place. I yowled at him and morphed a bull, charging at him and pinning him between my horns and the air vent. One of his andriods blasted a powerful yellow beam into my left back leg, and I went down on that side. Slade easily freed himself, and I shifted back to my natural form. I grabbed my leg, where a deep burn had sliced through my uniform. The man looked down at me, sneering. "And so it ends, just as it should have three months ago." He shot me in my other shoulder and kicked me in the head, knocking me off the side of the building.
"BEAST BOY!" Raven yelled. I heard her as I fell, saw her trying to get to me. I shook my head. For a brief instant, I saw something in her eyes - fear, recognition, sadness - some combination of all those emotions. She nodded once, and seemed to understand.
FLASH - A ring toss game at a carnival. Cyborg and I have just won. "Boo-yah!"
"Sweet!" I take the giant chicken and hand it to Raven. "Toldja we'd win ya a prize."
She half-glared at me. "A giant chicken. I must be the luckiest girl in the world."
FLASH - Starfire says, "Taste!" and shoves a spoon into my mouth. My eyes water, and I gag, wiping the substance off my tongue. I ask her, "What is that, cream of toenails?"
She answers, "Pudding of Sadness. It is what the people of my planet eat when something bad happens." She took a bite then too, and went into all sorts of contortions. The stuff was bad to her, too.
FLASH - "I was born ready. Time to do what I do best. Try not to be jealous." I got out of the T-sub and changed into a whale. I heard Raven say, "'He just put on 300,000 pounds. I am so jealous."
Just like that, my memory came back. I shifted to a flea, landing easily. Now wasn't the time to hide my creativity - or intelligence. Everyone expected me to be dead, just like last time. Last time I had survived by being in T-Rex form, shifting back when I lost consciousness. This time I transformed into a spider monkey and nimbly made my way up the side of the building. Slade had Raven backed against the edge. The robots were keeping the other Titans away from the face off. Raven had a burn on each arm, and Slade was obviously winning. "You made the same mistake he did, challenging me alone! And now you'll die, just like your little boyfriend."
That was too much. I leapt onto Slade's face, biting and scratching, the pain from my own injuries forgotten. No one threatens Raven! He grabbed me by the scruff of my neck, and I changed to a porqupine, my quills stabbing into his hand. Slade dropped me, and stomped on my back, his thick boots protecting his feet. I screamed in pain, and shifted into a skunk, quelling the nausea from my wounds. I was hurt bad, but I didn't care. I dumped a full load into his face, blinding him and forcing him to stumble backward. Things were spinning, a little out of focus... I was certain that some of my ribs were broken, and probably worse things as well, but I didn't care. I concentrated and morphed into a T-Rex. It was ironic, really.
Slade didn't even see me. I spun, sending him flying with my massive tail. I shifted back into my natural form. Robin, Starfire and Cyborg had just finished with the robots. Raven was the first to my side. My vision was blurry, but I could tell it was her by the voice. "Beast Boy?"
I tried to answer, but I shivered instead. Suddenly I was cold. "Why is it so cold?" I asked, startled to hear my words were slurred.
"No! Beast Boy..." It sounded like she was crying.
"Come on, BB, hold on..." Cyborg said. He was holding back tears too. I understood - it wasn't cold, I was dying. "Raven... In my room.. Under my bed... my journal..." I hoped she understood. My vision was fading. I closed my eyes. "No, Beast Boy, stay with me. We're almost there." Raven said, choking back tears. I hadn't realized we were moving, but I opened my eyes. I could vaguely see that we were in one of her telekinetic bubbles. "The others?" I asked, my voice sounding too raspy to be me.
"Following in the T-car." She answered, swallowing thickly. I nodded weakly. "Raven... thanks..." I closed my eyes again. The cold was spreading.
"Beast Boy, no... Don't leave me... I-" I didn't hear the rest.
There was only blackness.
Now, I'll be posting two endings to this. If you want the dark, tragic ending, proceed directly to the next chapter. If you want a fluffy happy ending, skip chapter three and go to chapter four.