Wheres The Beauty In This Beast?: Chapter 4

Where’s the Beauty in this Beast?: Chapter 4

It proved to be the easiest thing to do… nothing. Simply sitting on his hunches and waiting passively for the tension to die down between the two canine-like types, and for realization to dawn on the tiny creature that he meant no harm. It seemed to be working, the little male’s brows knitting together in confusion at Sonic’s behavior, before amber eyes widened a second later. Red-violet fur peeked out from behind the stone and cautiously tip-toed closer, visibly ready to sprint if the need would arise.

Although excited at his progress, Sonic steeled himself and resisted any temptation to greet the creature again; that reaction would only be his downfall. Tentatively walking closer, the small creature stopped about a foot away and curiously warbled another line of nothingness. Sonic frowned at the garbling but sensed the meaning through the little one’s tone and voice. Pulling his ears back and smoothing out his fur, Sonic stooped down and rumbled softly, making sure to hide his fearsome fangs from sight. The small creature tilted its head slightly before baring its stubby canines and beaming happily. Enlightened by this accomplishment, Sonic’s tail happily wagged behind him, the whirlwind stirring up swaying grass, and he leaned forward to sniff his new acquaintance. The bubbly little male laughed at the touch and gently shoved Sonic’s muzzle back a few paces, still giggling to itself.

An energizing warmth swelled in Sonic’s chest that trailed down to his speedy tail and he panted excitedly, happy to have changed the little guy’s mind of him. Little guy? He paused from his playfulness and perked up, gazing at the rising sun poking over the horizon and the light encompassing such brilliant beauty. That same warmth seemed to have spread throughout his body and now was basking him in its heat, a sudden new awareness taking place in his mind all the while. By the time the light and warmth dissipated from his body, thousands of questions came tumbling through his mind, more specifically… What just happened? He peered down at his form and was surprised to see his original cobalt fur coating his body, along with peach arms and a tan stomach painting his features. His brows knitted together again. “Wha—” He felt for his throat in alarm. He could talk again. What the heck was going on?

“Um… e-excuse me… Mister Monster Guy?”

Sonic peered down at a much clearer version of the stranger he was just interacting with. Indeed, it did seem to hold certain dog features, a Chihuahua hybrid of some sort, with maroon fur and tufts of white fluff coating its underbelly, tail, and hair. Like he witnessed before, fairy-like wings were jutting out of its back, and on the center of its chest… Was that a green stone? Sonic rubbed his head at the new information and looked back at the awaiting stranger. Clearly it had said something from before and was waiting for a response. Embarrassed at the predicament, Sonic scratched the back of his head and chuckled, “Sorry, little guy. I couldn’t get the last part you said. Mind repeating that?”

The little chihuahua blinked at him, hearing Sonic’s true voice for the first time, but then shrugged it off. “I was wondering how you did that. That was amazing!” It was clearly a he, with the scratchy tone in his voice, and the ball of fluff jumped into the air, beating his wings incessantly and flying around Sonic from all directions, his mouth going at blinding speeds. “First you were with those teeth! And those claws! And then BAM! You’re now a… a…” He halted his chatter, clearly trying to find what to call Sonic.

“Hedgehog.” Sonic scratched under his nose lazily. “Sonic the Hedgehog.”

“Sonic, that’s a cool name! I like that name!” The little guy pumped up a fist in mid-flight and then looked back at Sonic curiously. “But how did you do that changing stuff?”

Sonic suppressed a sigh and placed a hand on his hip, “Honestly, I have no idea.” He off-handedly muttered, “but I hope I don’t go through that again…” His friend cocked his head at that. Sonic turned back towards him, “You got a name?”

The maroon fella frowned in thought till looking down in worry, contemplating over something. “Hmmmm… huh?” He jumped in alarm, “what IS my name?” He dropped to the ground and started running in circles. “AHHH! I don’t know! I can’t remember!”

Sonic was taken back by this news. Can’t remember? Does that mean… He hoped he was wrong, but only one way to test that theory. “You forgot who you are?” He had run into amnesiacs before, Shadow being the most popular, and adding another one to the list was not something he was looking forward to. The Chihuahua’s little nod was all the confirmation he needed.

“Yep. I remember something falling from the sky…” He reenacted the scene, quite clumsily, and continued, “and everything just going all white… and then nothing! I can’t remember a thing past that!” He sulked in defeat, clearly troubled by his dilemma.

Uh oh, did I fall on him? Sonic sweat dropped. It was bad enough when someone lost a sense of who they were, but to be the one to cause it? This couldn’t possibly get any worse. His thoughts were interrupted by the poor amnesiac again.

“Oh, MAN, what am I gonna do?! What CAN I do? Where do I go from here?!” He was flying in every which direction, talking to almost any innate object (or Sonic) around in his panicked state. “What’ll I… Oof, I’m hungry.” He fell from the air like a sack of potatoes, Sonic’s quick reflexes being the sole savior for the little guy. Catching him with ease, Sonic chuckled to himself.

Reminds me of Charmy. He hadn’t spent much time with the Chaotix in a while, but just spending a day at the trio’s HQ can prove how much of a handful Charmy can “bee.” Looking on the bright side, Sonic chose to be the voice of reason. “Hey, don’t worry! I’ll help you get your memory back.”

Amber eyes blinked owlishly at him in awe, and he fainted a smile, “Really? You mean it?” He leapt out of Sonic’s hands and plopped on his head, Sonic not minding at all.

“Absolutely!” He takes a couple steps, beginning his new quest. “I’m sure we’ll find somebody who knows you if we look around.” Though talking-dog-fairies might be harder to find.

A maroon-and-white- face leaned over his head and peered into his eyes with a wide grin, jumping off and resorting to flying side-by-side. “Oh, thank you! You’re the best, Mister Monster Gu—I mean, Sonic the Hedgehog!”

Sonic grinned at lifting his friend’s spirits and slapped five with him before looking out into the distance and spotting the towns from before. He glanced back at his flying buddy and jabbed a thumb in said direction. “Wat’ya say we check out that town then. There’s bound to be something they know, and who knows, good grub too!”

His companion excitedly nodded and seated comfortably on his head, holding onto his quills for support. “That sounds great! Ready when you are!”

And with that, the Blue Blur took off and without knowing, was on the start of a new adventure, one that would be changing him in many ways for the better.

Blue Titans (Continued): Chapter 4

A last thwack left a minion crumple to the floor and Robin and Starfire were left standing. Starfire dimmed her glowing eyes to a normal green and Robin hooked the staff to his belt. They looked around at the dazed henchmen sprawled out on the ground and glanced at each other with suspicion. It seemed a little peculiar for Slade to strike them at a deserted building.

 Almost as if he didn’t want us here, Robin said to himself. He pressed onwards through the ghostly warehouse and Starfire followed behind.

 Her gentle voice was touched with worry as she passed over a groaning minion. “Do you think he may be hiding here?” He didn’t answer, but his silence gave her the answer she needed.

 The former sidekick of Batman had grown accustomed to matching a villain’s lair with their personality. For Slade, it just showed the rat he was, able to escape the clutches of death numerous times. Robin growled and clenched his fist. Starfire is right, he reminded himself, we still have a chance at stopping him. He searched the oncoming darkness with darting eyes. Something isn’t right.

 He slowed his pace and signaled Starfire to stop. The young detective crept to one of the cement walls and felt around it. Before the two got here, Robin took the initiative to study the blueprints of the warehouse and any details about its architecture.

 Where did those minions come from? They couldn’t have dropped through the roof, only hide near the ceiling, and they would have been spotted earlier if they used the entrance. He couldn’t answer the nagging question in his mind till he wiped the cold wall with a finger. He inspected his gloved hand and found what he was looking for. No dust.

 The rest of the place was layered with dirt and cobwebs, yet this section was recently cleared up. He studied the wall some more and found two notches slightly protruding out. To an on-viewer it would look like part of the wall’s rough texture, but the Titan knew better. He rested his index fingers on the small bumps and pressed. Instantly, a click sounded and the hidden door unlatched as it slid to the side. Starfire’s gasp was heard and Robin’s eyes widened.

 There standing before them, was Slade himself.

 ___________________________________________________________________________________

Meanwhile…

 Tree, tree, tree, rock, tree—wait, rock?

 Beast Boy backed up and looked inside the bracken. Indeed, there was a rock hidden underneath, but had a grayish tint to it. The shape-shifter groaned and continued on. How were they supposed to find this emerald? It’s been a three-hour search and still no luck. A constant blue blur raced around him and snaked through the forest. It returned to him and stopped, revealing the cobalt hedgehog. A shake of the speedster’s head had Beast Boy flop on the ground.

 “How much longer do we have to search?” He glanced up at Sonic with frustration, “it IS here, right?”

 Sonic scratched his head and chuckled. “Yeah, about that… it could have warped anywhere.”

 Beast Boy’s eyes widened at this and his head fell back down. He outstretched his hands to the sky in exaggeration, “Then why are we even looking here?!”

 Sonic shrugged and stretched out. “I said, ‘it could have warped anywhere.’ But usually one’s around the last spot it was used…” Sonic froze at his words. A confident grin formed on his face and he dashed back the way they came. “Race ya back to Cyborg!”

 Beast Boy stared at the cloud of dust left behind and pulled at his ears. “After this is over, I’m playing ‘Mega Monkeys 4.’” He pushed himself up and transformed into a cheetah as he followed the fastest thing alive.

 ___________________________________________________________________________________

 Cyborg was operating his arm while rotating a miniature satellite embedded in his shoulder. So far, no change in locking on a coordinate; the emerald was popping up all over the place. Before he could tear his arm off, a gush of wind whirled by him and he turned to see Sonic standing next to him. The Titan raised a brow at the hedgehog. “Anything?”

 Sonic shook his head with a smirk, “Nope, but I’ve got an idea.”

 A rustling of bushes startled them and they turned to see a cheetah with sticks and leaves stuck to his fur. Sonic covered his mouth to hold back a snicker and Cyborg couldn’t help but grin. The large cat turned back into Beast Boy and the teen jabbed a finger at them.

 “DON’T. TELL. RAVEN.”

 That was the breaking point. Sonic dropped his hand and started laughing his head off. “What…” he managed to say between breaths, “you don’t want a STICKY friendship?” He fell to the ground and rolled in laughter. The two Titans looked on in annoyance.

 Cyborg twitched an eyebrow, “Man, that was cheesy, even for you.”

 Sonic snickered as the humorous moment passed and he got to his feet. “Sometimes they’re the best.” Beast Boy pulled the debris off his suit as Sonic continued where he left off. “Before I warped here, I was fighting Eggman at his base.” His iconic grin showed, “I think the emerald warped to those coordinates on this world.”

 Beast Boy was stumped. “Why didn’t you and the emerald warp together?”

 The hedgehog shook his head, “At the speed I was traveling, I probably got teleported to a random place. But the Chaos Emerald…” He tapped his foot in thought, “it was last used on the base and it would have been sent to the same spot here.”

 Cyborg pondered on this and nodded. It seemed logical the emerald would stay rooted to its spot whereas Sonic’s velocity would have carried him miles away; he could break the sound barrier after all, so who’s to say warp-speed wouldn’t further stretch the distance? He opened a plate of armor on his other arm and started up his navigation system. “Do you have the coordinates?”

 Sonic gave a thumbs-up and chanted, “40.8655 Degrees North, and 73.8092 Degrees West.” Cyborg and Beast Boy stared at him dumbfounded, but Sonic shrugged it off. “I watched Tails punch it in a hundred times on the Tornado.”

 Cyborg, still in a state of shock, slowly nodded and typed in the coordinates. Instantly, his hardware picked it up and tracked it from halfway across the city in another woodlands area. “I’ve got a match,” he pointed diagonally to his right, “Northwest. I’ll send the T-car here while you go ahead.”

 “Sounds like a plan,” Sonic did some final stretching before turning to Beast Boy. “You coming?”

Beast Boy looked back at Cyborg, then to Sonic. He groaned and dragged his feet to the hedgehog. “Fine, but I’m not dashing off again.”

 Sonic chuckled and bolted into the woods while Beast Boy tailed behind as a peregrine falcon. Cyborg watched them disappear and homed in on his car.

 “Hope the others are in better luck.”

 ___________________________________________________________________________________

 The city cameras were still up as Raven continued her investigation; her short, lilac hair hung above her shoulders with her hood down as her eyes focused on every detail displayed. A soft groan sounded behind her but she didn’t bother looking. “You’re up.” Her comment was left unanswered and the footsteps from behind grew louder.

 She spotted Shadow through her peripheral vision leaning on the door. He scoffed and Raven braced herself for his prideful lecture. “I am the Ultimate Lifeform,” he huffed, “I don’t go down so easily.”

 And there it is. She rolled her eyes and kept typing.

 Shadow walked up and stood beside her in front of the screens. “What are you looking for?”

Raven kept her eyes on the monitors. “Not what,” she corrected. “Who.” She enlarged one camera view, saw no one was there, and carried on. “And as for your answer, Slade.”

 She noticed Shadow fold his arms and study the screens. “Is he the foe of your world?” She gave a small nod and Shadow closed his eyes and sighed. “Some things never change.”

 Raven’s curiosity got the best of her and she paused to look at the hedgehog. “Do you have a lot of enemies on your world?” Shadow turned his head away with arms locked.

 “Tsk. That’s none of your business.”

 Raven glared at him, but before she could say anything, a yellow blur whizzed past them. The two stopped to look and watched the colored streak circle around and stop on the dime before them; the newcomer was grinning from ear-to-ear and Raven instantly recognized him. She turned back to her work while calling over her shoulder. “Hello, Kid Flash.”

 The native speedster’s voice echoed in the room. “Hey, Raven.” A long silence followed before he quipped, “who’s the black Sonic clone?” Raven’s eyes widened and she twirled around to shut him up, but it was too late.

 The hedgehog didn’t take this lightly. He marched up to the yellow-and-red clothed teen and sneered, “WHAT did you call me?”

 Kid Flash backed away with hands in defense, “Easy fella,” he stuttered while keeping his distance. “It wasn’t personal.”

 Shadow’s eyes narrowed on the superhero before he huffed, “He’s the faker, not me.”

 Kid Flash looked back at Raven wearily, but she gave him the hint to drop it. She started with introductions, “Kid Flash, meet Shadow.” She glanced at the ebony hedgehog and pointed at the spandex-wearing teen. “Kid Flash visits Jump City once in a while and helps us sometimes.”

 Looking back at Kid Flash, she dawned on their last encounter, the robbery fight against Plasmas and some others, not long ago. She remembered Kid Flash sweeping Jinx off her feet and wordlessly taking her to get cleaned up, and honestly, Raven couldn’t blame her; both girls were drenched in Plasmas’ slime after the heroines worked together to bring the monster down. Raven for one, could attest to how gross that moment was, and given that Jinx took pride in her beauty, there was no telling of her reaction if she stayed.

 In speaking of Jinx, she wasn’t with Kid Flash right now as usual. Raven’s brow quirked. “Where’s Jinx?”

 The speedster pointed out to the city. “She’s hanging with the Titans East. Bumblebee is still getting that stuff out of her hair. I wasn’t staying there for long… There’s no telling if she’d bring down the house.”

 Literally, Raven mentally added.

 A fond smile drew over the speedster’s face. I actually came to check on Sonic; he’s got a long road to recovery after that fight. He looked around the room, lost to recent events. “Where is everyone?”

 Raven’s passive eyes hardened and her monotone picked up. “Slade’s back, and the others are on separate missions. We’re trying to find him before he gets his hands on something beyond his control.”

 Sky-blue eyes quirked in confusion to that. “Sonic’s with them too?”

 Raven shrugged. “He got his rest. There’s no sense in keeping a hyperactive hedgehog here.”

 Kid Flash took this in and nodded. He turned to Shadow, who apparently was giving him a death stare. “What?”

 The Ultimate Lifeform glared at him. “So you’re a speedster too.” He scoffed, “and here I thought Sonic was my only rival.”

 The teen held up his hands again, “Woah, I wouldn’t say rivals. I’m more--” He stopped mid-sentence and gaped at the hedgehog. “Wait… you’ve matched Sonic’s speeds??” His sudden threw Shadow off, the emo having little time to register the kid invading his space. “How fast were you going?!”

 Shadow, for once, stammered and tried to find the words to say. “I-- uh-- it’s—uh…” It took all of Raven’s strength to not chuckle and anger the dark being more. Shadow shook off the shock and answered, “he may have tied you, but I have won several times.” He threw another menacing glare and warned, “and my top speeds are none of your concern.”

 Kid Flash leaned closer and grinned, “Think you can beat me?”

 Shadow scoffed. “Don’t patronize me.”

 That’s it. Raven stood up and faced the boys. “Shadow, you’re in no condition to run. Go back to your room or I will make you.” Before Shadow could object, she faced Kid Flash, “and if you’re staying, could you order some pizza for us? I’ll pay for it.”

 The speedster grinned and did a quick stretch. “It’s fine. Sonic already treated me when I was saving you guys, so it’s my turn. I’ll be back in a flash.”* A yellow blur followed his words as he left the Tower out to the city.

 Raven turned back to Shadow and the two did another ‘glaring contest.’ Shadow eventually yielded and muttered as he left to his room. Raven seated herself and caught up with what she missed on the cameras. Great, she ran a hand along her face, now I have two to babysit.

 *Easter Egg: Flash’s slogan

I am going through that right now with drawing out the ROTTMNT characters... Ugh, I can hear my paper calling to me again 🎨🖌️

I love these human versions!!!! So GOOD!!!!

just regular human ninja teens

Introducing... Dice the Cat! To be introduced in the second Arc of "Blue Titans (Continued)"

I like in Teen Titans that Robin’s mask is just as expressive as like cartoon spidey masks. Especially when they do this thing:

OR WHEN HE DOES THIS:

he’s so silly I love him lmao