Teen Titans: Grim Reminder

Disclaimer: Don't own anything used here.

Author's Note: I was inspired to type this story after recently watching Season 2 and stumbled across an old pro-wrestling vignette on YouTube that seemed so fitting to Terra's actions, especially on what Beast Boy must've felt between Aftershock Parts 1 and 2. Not sure if it's my best work, especially with the ending, but I think I did alright.

It was a lazy day at Titans' Tower. Even Jump City was pretty laid back, which was always good for its resident guardians. But with laziness comes boredom, unless one can find something to occupy himself. That was the case for the Common Room, where all five Titans were currently located. Raven was sitting on the couch, reading an old book about the many paths of mysticism. Robin and Starfire were playing chess nearby, the joyful Tamaranean being taught the Earth game by the Boy Wonder. Cyborg was cooking up his interpretation of a Meat Lovers Pizza. (He had pointed out once before that the famous Meat Lovers clearly "didn't have enough meat, y'all".)

But Beast Boy… The green changeling was channel surfing. As usual, he couldn't find much of anything good on. A cooking show… A reality show about some famous celebrity beauty… A hip-hop channel hosting a twerking competition… The news… Nope. Not a lot of luck there. Unfortunately, the mash-up of different sounds, voices, and music brought on by the constant changing of channels was beginning to grate on the nearby empath's nerves…

"Just pick a channel…" Raven said in her dry monotone, staring pointedly at her bored friend.

"There's nothing on so far. I gotta find something I like." Beast Boy grumbled. About 1,000 channels in all and yet he had not found a single interesting show. 475 unchecked channels to go. It was beginning to wear thin on even Beast Boy.

The remote suddenly became encased with black energy as Raven moved the remote to her hand. "I'm picking a channel. You will watch. And you will enjoy. Are we clear?" Her amethyst eyes bore into Beast Boy's, clearly indicating that she was not to be crossed. Beast Boy could only nod in agreement.

Raven then pressed a random selection of numbers. The channel changed. On the screen seemed to be a professional wrestling show. Beast Boy recognized the arena setup as a rerun of an old-school episode of WWE's Monday Night Raw. A match was finishing up as one wrestler hit his signature attack upon his opponent and scored the pinfall victory. After some pomp and circumstance involving music, commentary, and posturing, the screen faded out. A commercial break.

Beast Boy laid back, somewhat glad that Raven's random button-pushing led to something he could enjoy. Sure, some people (like Robin and Raven, for example) would scoff at the sport as "completely fake", but then again, Beast Boy didn't think that those critics ever tried watching it. Not to mention, some of the Titans' adventures might be considered "unreal" from a spectator's point of view, now that Beast Boy thought about it.

The show came back on, but instead of the arena, the screen showed a graveyard at night, specifically a freshly-dug grave in front of a tree. A pile of dirt to the left of it…and a tall, intimidating man wearing black and purple to the right of it. The man stood with a grim demeanor about him, his long, greasy, jet-black hair adding to his dark appearance. It was obvious to many a fan who this was. After all, The Undertaker is a huge name in the business…

"The rains have now stopped… but it's only the quiet before the real storm… Buried Alive… Who could've thought that it would come to this…?" began The Undertaker. Beast Boy, knowing of the rules of a Buried Alive Match (first one to dump his opponent in a grave and then bury him in dirt wins) couldn't help but agree with that sentiment. Such stipulations need only be used as a last resort.

"Each time you escape the clutches of these purple (gloved) fists, you grew stronger, yet more evil…"

Beast Boy's mind instantly and unwittingly clicked to a certain terrible point in his life… A certain blonde geomancer… She had managed to evade the Titans repeatedly, whether by running away or by kicking their ass. And every time, she had seemingly become more corrupt…

Raven had sensed this sudden change in BB's mood. Having given the TV only the amount of attention reserved for background noise, she had heard the deep voice of the gothic man on the screen and could venture a guess as to the changeling's mood swing.

"So you see, you left me with no choice… I must now be your judge, your jury…and your executioner…"

Beast Boy, and in turn, Raven by way of her empath powers to clarify her theory, were reminded of when the five friends regrouped underground after the traitorous Terra had mopped the floor with them. Robin had given her a second chance, as Beast Boy requested. She nearly killed them as a response.

No choice, indeed.

"If it takes destroying The Undertaker to destroy you, Mankind... Well, then that's what I will do… You must be extinguished."

Ironically, that was the mindset going into what would be the final conflict with Terra, Slade's robo-army, the fused-together form of Cinderblock, Overload, and Plasmus…and eventually, Slade himself. The city was in danger. Most likely, the whole planet was in danger. After all, what madman stops at just one city? Friendship can only get someone little stroke sometimes, especially after she puts humanity in jeopardy and beats the crap out of her friends in the process… And, during the Titans' counterattack in the ruins of Jump City, no one was more determined to win than Beast Boy. Who could blame him, really?

"Why don't you try and imagine what those last few breaths of air will taste like…"

Raven recalled her mud-fight with Terra during her initial rampage. She remembered vividly how, despite Rage being unleashed, Terra managed to drag her underneath the mud, the last thing she saw at the time being her smug smile of victory and dominance. She remembered what that last gasp of air tasted like…

As if a final insult to injury, it strangely tasted like desert sand…

"Try and imagine what it would be like…trying to claw your way out of a bottomless pit…"

Beast Boy knew all too well of that, Raven was certain. She felt a spike of… a particular sorrow. The kind of sorrow that one gets when he is reminded of one of his worst or traumatizing moments. "Hitting a little too close to home", so to speak. Most likely, it had something to do when he went one-on-one with Terra during that same initial rampage. He never did tell anyone the details of that… She suspected that Cyborg knew, since they were together when dealing with Plasmus.

Either way, it seemed Terra had figuratively rubbed salt in BB's wound. Or maybe he still really couldn't believe it at the time…

"Try to imagine what it will be like… to never… Rest… In Peace…"

Raven sensed a feeling of morbid curiosity from Beast Boy when Undertaker said that. It wasn't difficult to guess what he was wondering about. The statue, of course. Despite her justified grudge against her, she occasionally had the same grim questions in her mind whenever Terra came up in conversation.

Is she ok somehow?

Did she die? Or is she just permanently paralyzed?

If she's alive, is she conscious? Or put into a permanent stasis of sleep?

If she's conscious, does she see or hear anything? Or are all her senses trapped in that form-fitting shell of rock? Her mind possibly being slowly driven insane by the sheer nothingness of it all?

No matter the possible answers, there was nothing positive about them. The Undertaker would be correct in this particular case. Despite her final actions that ended up stopping Slade and saving all of Jump, Terra had certainly received her punishment for her previous actions. Call it karma, call it an act of God, but a peaceful rest for Terra seemed to be off the table…

The Undertaker had moved toward the dirt pile as he spoke his message. He grabbed the shovel that was sticking out from the dirt pile. The camera shifted to a view from the grave's bottom, looking up. "This…is the final thing you will ever see…" He then proceeded to bury the camera in dirt, representing the viewpoint of the unfortunate opponent. Thus, ended the macabre vignette.

Again, the pale empath agreed with the gothic wrestler, in a sense. Beast Boy was definitely still bothered by the whole Terra incident, even now, 2 years after it had happened. She knew he had to 'bury it' somehow and get himself over it. Was there going to be a chance of him getting depressed whenever there was talk of earthquakes or volcanoes? Or if they happened to meet other heroes or villains that have earth-related superpowers, especially female ones? Raven was certain that Terra wasn't the planet's sole geomancer…

One glance at the sullen jokester justified her thought. Yes, his lingering issues had to be buried for good. As annoying as he was to her, even she thought that Beast Boy just wasn't himself without his trademark goofy smile and energetic attitude. In some odd way, she found that…endearing. If only he could do something about his off-kilter sense of humor… But that's another problem.

Beast Boy had stood up and started to leave the Common Room, despite the wrestling action continuing with promoting the next match. Letting loose a light sigh, Raven got up to follow. This didn't go unnoticed by the others. Cyborg gave Raven a questioning look as he walked over, pizza in hand, to the couch to take over the TV.

"Not now, Cyborg… Perhaps later." She simply said, not even stopping her walk.

"If you smell what The Rock is cooking!" was heard from the TV, followed by upbeat-sounding music, as Raven walked through the doorway. 'Ironic. Another reference to the earthly element…' she thought, slightly shaking her head.

As she suspected, Beast Boy was lurking in the empty space that was Terra's former room. The earth-inspired wall design was still there. Nobody had wanted to change the room in any way, apparently in respect of their former friend. Just like before, he was in the form of an old dog, curled up on the empty bed with a sad look on his face. Raven was both saddened and annoyed by this as she stood in the doorway.

"Gar… I thought we've all been over this…" she said in a soft tone, her gaze soft yet reprimanding. The response was a small series of whimpers as Beast Boy lifted his head. Raven crossed her arms, remaining silent as if waiting. Eventually, the green Titan shifted back to his human form.

"Sorry, Rae…" he said, looking at the floor and fidgeting with his hands.

"It's Raven… You can't keep doing this, you know. Bad things will happen. People are born, people—"

"Will die." Beast Boy interrupted, having heard her say morals of the sort before. "It's part of the balance of things. I know… It's just that… I never like to think about that whole thing. I could've…. I could've saved her…"

"It's not healthy to dwell on the past at every little thing that reminds you of it. It usually makes things worse…" the empath paused, thinking of something that could help her get Beast Boy to understand better. Then, her eyebrows raised. "Ah, such as… well… my birthday…"

Both Titans remembered clearly Trigon's attempted invasion of Earth… Raven continued, floating over to him. "Even after that happened, I still don't like my birthday. You know what they say about old habits, right…? However, I knew that there was no point dwelling on a prophecy that has no real power anymore. Especially since you guys always try to make my birthday…fun…" She said the last word as if remembering something disturbing. Beast Boy could only chuckle nervously at that, like a child with his hand caught in the cookie jar. "So… I try and go with it. No more Trigon. No more prophecy. Just another superhero turning a year older."

"Yeah, but-" Beast Boy was cut off this time, a gentle gray finger pressed against his lips.

"No, Gar. Don't even think about bringing up the 'should've, could've, would've' stuff. You and I both know that Terra was quite a flawed person with insecurities about her powers. Just because someone is gifted with powers doesn't mean that he or she is the right person to have them, unfortunately. But you know…" the smallest of smiles graced Raven's face, much to Beast Boy's amazement. "Most people would rather see their loved ones live happy lives with no regrets, powers or no powers. You tried your best to save her. I think that's good enough. So, go live already." She accentuated her last statement with a gentle slap upside Beast Boy's head, causing him to flinch.

Absently rubbing his head, Beast Boy pondered her words for a few moments. He found it amusingly odd that the Titans' gloomiest member was somehow always the one that could take the weight off of his mind. Perhaps that was one reason why he seemed to hang around her more than he did with the others, including his video game counterpart, Cyborg.

"I guess you're right. If that were me frozen as a statue, I wouldn't want you guys cracking up over it for years… That'd be awful." The changeling stated, standing up. Raven's smile widened by just a wee bit, sensing her friend's mood improving.

"Now you're getting it." She said.

Beast Boy's signature smile, fang and all, was back. "After all, if that happened, how could I…" he paused. And then, sounding like someone with the worst case of laryngitis ever, he continued "Rest…In…Peace!?" Raven leaned her head down while slapping a palm on her face. He just had to try his own Undertaker impression… Beast Boy laughed with her silent response.

But, despite her truly being slightly annoyed by Beast Boy's impression, the facepalm successfully concealed the wide grin she had on. She had sensed the all-too-familiar bounciness that was Beast Boy's happiness. His joke was no front or bluff after all. Certainly, the Terra issue was still there, but Raven had definitely helped. And no matter how much she would dread the impending time when he would start annoying her with jokes and stupid ideas again, Raven decided that she preferred this Beast Boy after all.

The door to the Common Room slid open, revealing an odd sight to the green and gray Titans. Robin's face was apparently blue from a lack of oxygen as the Boy Wonder struggled against his girlfriend's attempted sleeper-hold. Cyborg was snickering as he watched Starfire holding Robin until she realized that he was fading and promptly dropped him.

"Dare I even ask?" Raven muttered, resuming her dry monotone despite the heart-to-heart she had moments ago.

"Aw, it's nothin', Raven. Star wanted to learn some wrestling moves. Bird boy apparently forgot about her super-strength!" Cyborg answered, grinning. Beast Boy laughed.

"Dude, Star with a sleeper hold? Most criminals wouldn't last 10 seconds!" he chuckled, suddenly having a mental image of Starfire with a World Heavyweight Championship belt.

"I did the hold of sleeper right?" Starfire asked, helping Robin back up to his feet.

"Agh… Yep… Ya did it, Star…" panted the Titans' leader, which caused Starfire to float in joy.

"Awright, Star. Let's take a break from Robin's neck." Cyborg said, causing Robin to give a sigh of relief. "Let's work on the legs. Time to teach you the Sharpshooter!" the mechanical teen's excited bellow caused Robin's eyes to widen considerably in fear. Starfire squealed in excitement, before wondering what exactly a "shooter of sharp" is.

Raven glanced over at her green partner, a small smirk on her face. "Shall we watch?" she asked. Beast Boy grinned. He could count on one hand the number of times that Raven actually invited HIM to do anything with her.

"Sure! I'll get some popcorn!" he said, scurrying off to the nearby kitchen area. Raven sat at the kitchen table and watched Cyborg give his "pupil" instructions on the leg-based submission maneuver, much to the nervousness of the 'Fearless Leader'. Perhaps Beast Boy was right after all about wrestling being entertaining. Perhaps…

A bowl of popcorn soon appeared on the counter by Raven as Robin was told to lie down. The changeling leaped over the counter and sat on the stool next to hers, ready for some prime candid comedy.

"C'mon, Cy… Why can't you be her practice partner? You got the build to handle it, obviously." Robin groaned as Starfire lightly grabbed his legs.

"Yeah, but you know she LOVES doing anything with you, Rob." Cyborg laughed. "Now, Star, cross his legs so they wrap around the leg you just put forward." Starfire complied, hoping she wouldn't hurt her Robin.

"You sure you'll be careful, Star? You are stronger than us humans, remember. Umm… Star?" He seemed to be begging at this point, despite him merely making sure of things.

"It's ok, boyfriend Robin. I think I can do this just right." She replied with a hint of excitement in her voice.

Robin gulped. Beast Boy snickered, knowing what would most likely happen. Raven mentally prepared her healing powers, just in case. But that didn't stop her from casually munching on some popcorn, contentment evident in her eyes. For once, the green Titan's snickering wasn't grating or stress-inducing. It was as it should be, even if half the time, that snickering is over some prank aimed at her… But, in the end, she wouldn't want Beast Boy to be anything less than himself.

"Now, turn him over!" Cyborg instructed, his grin getting wider. Starfire stepped over and around, applying the Sharpshooter.

"YAAAAAAHHHH!"

Thus, Raven proudly had a new way to embarrass Robin whenever he got too strict or stubborn on her or Beast Boy. All she had to do was show Starfire a new pro-wrestling move to practice…

Author's Note: And there it is. I hope you all enjoyed it. Reviews are greatly appreciated, of course. Flames are welcome as long as they are civil about it. But a couple of things to note.

1) For those that aren't wrestling fans: When Undertaker refers to "Mankind", he is actually referring to a wrestler who had a split-personality named Mankind. So, no, Taker was not threatening all of humanity! Lol.

2) For those that are interested in the wrestling vignette itself for a visual perspective, go to YouTube and look for a video entitled "Undertaker Buried Alive Promo 1996 (HD)". I'd post a link to save time but I hear this site's a bit funky on links...

3) A sleeper hold is obvious to explain. But the Sharpshooter? For those that are curious on what exactly Robin went through at the end, just watch any old-school 90's wrestling match featuring the legendary Bret "Hitman" Hart.

Thanks for reading!