The Amazing Mumbo, beneath his mask, has glowing blue eyes. He wears the mask mostly because he thinks it looks cool, but partially to cover his eyes. When he is lucid, he is not very confident in his appearance, be it in his magic form or human form.
His name is Mitchell Jenson.
It was assumed to be a new malady at first, a star wrestler losing significant muscle mass overnight, but as the cases spread, the Titans became suspicious. Wrestlers, body builders, discus throwers; it seemed that every type of athlete in Jump City were losing their strength, being reduced to husks of their former selves.
The Titans were on the case.
As Robin and Cyborg tried to pinpoint who the next target could be, Raven scoured through files of criminal and villain databases to see who may be capable of draining one’s strength. Meanwhile, Starfire was out soaring the skies, keeping an eye out for anything suspicious as Beast Boy had taken to observe various news and security footage to scan for clues.
Tired eyes flicked to various points on the screen, lids gradually lowering only to shoot open moments later. This was so boring… but he needed to do this. Large pointed ears perked up and swiveled forward as the changeling attempted to focus once more.
Beast Boy knew he wasn’t the research guy, but he’d grown tired of standing idly by and watching his friends do all the heavy thinking. He could be helpful too, he was sure. There had to be more to him than battle.
That thought became a dwindling hope as a yawn split his mouth wide open.
Why couldn’t he do this?!
“AaaaUUUGGGHHHH!” the changeling let out a loud groan of frustration, burying his face in his hands. “Why is this guy so boring?!”
“What guy?” Cyborg quirked a brow at his best friend, momentarily stepping away from his work with Robin to observe the footage.
“This guy!!!” Beast Boy pointed to a man on the screen with exasperation.
The man appeared to be rather unremarkable, save for his ill fitting attire that was bursting at the seams. He was a white man with brown eyes and short brown hair parted down the middle. His attire was that of a typical office worker; pair of tan trousers with a button up white collared shirt and a red neck tie.
“He keeps butting into the news reports to say he’ll be famous someday. We get it, Bennett Smith; you want attention! Auuugghhh,” the changeling groaned again. “He’s in the security footage too! I can’t escape him!”
Cyborg blinked with his one human eye. “… So you found a consistent figure in the case?”
There was a moment of silence as Beast Boy stared forward blankly, taking in the new information. While it took a few seconds, he was soon leaping out of his seat with an ear to ear grin.
“Dudes! I found a clue!”
“Not so fast, Sherlock,” Raven droned. “You found a possible clue.”
“Nah. I found the guy who did it,” the green teen scoffed, rubbing his fingernails on his chest and looking at them as though he could see through his gloves. “You’ll see.”
Before the magus could respond, the main ops room was flooded with red light that faded in and out, a loud alarm blaring to hammer in the alert.
“Trouble!” Robin shouted at the team leapt to their feet.
-
‘This place is a death trap,’ the changeling thought to himself as he soared through the sky, eagle eyes scanning the scrapyard below.
The various hunks of metal looked like they could infect one with tetanus from a single glance. It didn’t help that the pieces seemed so haphazardly sorted into piles that could topple from a lone gust of wind. Top it all off with equipment that looked as old as the scraps in the piles and you have a genuine threat to life and limb.
The workers here were in danger regardless of whether or not they were being held captive by some unknown force. At least he was able to spot the captives easily… too easily.
Turing mid-air, the green eagles soared back to his team, descending to the ground and landing in human form as Starfire followed.
“That place is a death trap in more ways than one,” Beast Boy informed Robin as he stood up straight, jabbing his thumb in the direction of the scrapyard.
“Yes, I do believe this location is a place of both death and traps,” the Tamaranean agreed. “There are three people being held captive in the center of the scrapyard. There seems to be no one guarding them. I suspect a trap awaits us.”
“It must be for us specifically,” Robin mused aloud. “There aren’t any police around, so we must have been the only ones to get the alert.”
“This creep must have some serious tech know-how if they could trigger our system specifically,” Cyborg noted.
“They must have something tailored to us,” Raven warned. “We’ll have to be careful.”
“Trap or no trap, we need to take whoever this is down,” Robin informed. “Here’s the plan…”
While Cyborf used the main entrance to make his way into the scrapyard, Robin used his bo staff to pole vault his way over the fence in the back. Beast Boy, Raven, and Starfire were able to use their powers to descend from the sky to assorted spots throughout the scrapyard.
Best not make it easy to trap them all in one place.
As the heroes scoped out the location, the towers of scrap loomed over them and creaked ominously. If the villain didn’t get them, the rusted metal just might…
From the look of things, there was nothing out of the ordinary in the scrapyard to indicate a trap. While there may have been assorted machinery, they could handle such things with minimal effort.
The team gradually made their way to the center of the scrapyard, each making sure to keep their distance from each other.
Eyeing the captive workers, the team wondered how to best rescue them.
“...Starfire and Raven, you two get the workers out,” Robin instructed. “Me, Cyborg, and Beast Boy will keep a lookout.”
The two female members nodded, flying their way over to the captives.
As Raven used her powers to unravel the ropes that bound them, Beast Boy’s ears twitched at the sound of a rumble.
“The wrecking ball!” Beast Boy shouted in warning.
As the heavy steel sphere careened towards the captives, Starfire flew at top speed to grab the chain and keep the wrecking ball from making contact.
“Get them out, quick!” Robin shouted as he, Beast Boy, and Cyborg rushed the captives to safety.
Meanwhile, whoever was operating the crane was making the ball spin around, dragging Starfire along on its chain. The Tamaranean did her best to lift the chain, dragging the wrecking ball higher and higher out of harm’s way.
The three male Titans were quick to make their way back inside to aid their friends.
“Beast Boy! See if you can get whoever’s in the crane out!”
The changeling nodded to his leader, flying up as a falcon and flittering inside as a hummingbird.
“That’s it, dude,” Beast Boy scowled as he returned to human form, lashing out at the operator as he leapt out of the machine.
As the changeling pursued him, the mysterious man took an impossible leap out of the crane and onto the connected chain.
Their attacker climbed his way up to Starfire, who readied a star bolt, only to be distracted by the sight of a gem embedded into the man’s hand. It glowed a deep crimson as he reached out to make contact.
Not knowing what the gem could do, Starfire flew out of his reach, letting go of the chain.
Raven caught the wrecking ball with her magic and slowly lowered it to the ground, detaching it from the chain and rendering it useless.
Meanwhile, the new villain slid down the chain, landing on the now stationary wrecking ball with a crazed smile.
“Did you really think a wrecking ball would stop us?” Raven droned as the team observed the man atop the wrecking ball.
“No,” the man chuckled, leaping to the ground and dusting off his clothes. “I just wanted to make an entrance!”
“Aaauuuugggggggg!” Beast Boy let out a long groan. “It’s that boring guy again! Wait… Ha!”
The changeling pointed at Raven, eyes as wide as his smile.
“I was RIGHT! You owe me five bucks!”
“We never made a bet, moron,” Raven pointed out with a roll of he eyes
“Can’t blame a guy for tryin’,” he shrugged.
“Silence!” the man the team now recognized at Bennett Smith barked. “I will be talked over no more!”
Bennett proceeded to rip off his average attire to reveal the uniform underneath.
“Not as Osmosis!”
Villain revealed, he seemed to have an appearance that clashed horribly. His muscles bulged unnaturally, starkly contrasting the particularly average face, and his bright white uniform with red lightning bolts resembling veins stuck out too much for his look. The uniform consisted of a skin tight top and shorts below, made to look as though it was a single piece with a belt hiding the separation.
The Titans were unimpressed.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Beast Boy waved a hand dismissively. "Get your stupid villain speech out of the way already so we can get to kicking your butt!"
"Don't rile him up," Robin scowled.
"He is correct," Starfire agreed. "We do not know what he can do and we do not wish to make our situation worse."
"Well spoken, you two," Osmosis cooed, softly clapping his hands together. "A lovely couple thinking alike as any healthy couple should."
Robin's back stiffened and his eye twitched. The sickly sweet tone from that creep made his skin crawl.
"If you're tryna embarrass him with that lovey dovey stuff, we took care of that already," Cyborg pointed out with a sly grin.
"Immunization by repetition, baby!" Beast Boy laughed, pumping his fists.
"Try again," the leader scowled.
"Oh, I'd love to," Osmosis grinned, "but I need to give my speech first."
"Oh brother," Raven uttered with disdain, followed by a groan from Beast Boy.
I stopped posting my writing works in progress because I was only able to upload so many words per post at one point, but that issue seems to have resolved itself!
More to come!
Beast Boy was never one for being cooped up. Sure, he could find a way to get comfortable just about anywhere, but it had to be his choice. He was like a cat in that way; fine with boxes until you forced him into one.
And he certainly felt forced into this box.
“Think you could stay in your room for a bit, Beast Boy? Kind of busy here.”
While Robin may have phrased that like a question, the changeling knew better. That was an order painted to look nicer than it was. Years with Mento had taught him that.
He could play his games he’d taken with him from Dayton Manor, but he was basically being told to do so and that made the option no longer fun.
Instead, he impatiently fidgeted, flopping back and forth on the bed in the room dubbed his until the Titans Tower could be built.
The changeling let out a long groan and stretched his limbs as far as they could go, morphing into a cat for a literal cat stretch.
He stared at his paws before his slit pupils dilated.
“Oh, duh!” Beast Boy returned to human form and slapped his head. “I can shape shift!”
Wringing his hands together, the young teen came up with his master plan.
They were just in a house right now. There was no fancy-schmancy security system or cameras like those at Dayton Manor.
With a sneaky grin, he wiggled his fingers as he approached the window. Opening it a crack, he slid out as a snake and flew off as a pigeon.
-
The pigeon soared through the sky relatively unnoticed. He may have been green, but some
kinds of pigeons have a similar coloring on them. Sure, he’d spot the difference from a mile away, but most people didn’t have his encyclopedic knowledge of animals.
It was a shame, really… He was more than willing to share what he knew.
If only someone would actually listen to him… Oh well.
Scanning the city from above, he spotted something peculiar. Among the sprawl of towering buildings, there was something that just didn’t seem to belong; a tiny white cube seemingly squished by the large grey structures surrounding it.
Wanting a closer look, the changeling descended, landing on human feet once he was close enough to the ground.
The building was certainly small, but it struck him as cozy. There were flower boxes beneath the two widows and the exterior was painted a soft white with some accents in pastel pink, blue, and yellow.
The sign on the structure read, ‘Tasty Treats and Vegan Eats’.
Vegan eats? He liked to eat vegan! Curiosity piqued, Beast Boy cracked open the door to look inside.
While the exterior seemed to be that of a bakery, the interior seemed to resemble a fifties diner with its round chairs, small tables, tiled floor, and jukebox.
There seemed to be a single family in the bakery and no one else. He could only assume they were grandparents with their grandchildren.
Beast Boy found himself smiling at the quaint little scene.
An older woman sat in one of the chairs and bounced a little toddler girl on her knee. Across from the two sat an old man holding a triceratops figure as he did battle with the T-Rex figure held by a young boy sitting next to him.
The young teen contemplated whether he should enter and interrupt. He sniffed the air and caught the scent of delectable baked goods. As he opened the door just a smidge more, the bell above jingled and alerted the family to his presence.
“Oh! Hello, dearie,” the older woman smiled, handing the toddler off to the grandfather and standing up. “Come on in!”
“Uh… Okay?” Beast Boy tentatively stepped inside, waiting for the family to notice his strange appearance and kick him out.
As the woman made her way behind the counter, the changeling eyed her. She was kind of tall for an old woman and had curly red hair with streaks of white. She was dressed in a white button up and a high waisted pink skirt.
He had to wonder if she was blind, being so friendly to him…
He approached the counter and looked up to see her eyes; clear and a pretty shade of blue.
“I can’t say I’ve seen you here before. Would you like a free sample?”
Not blind… weird. Wait. Did she say free?
His ears perked up and he eyed the baked goods behind the glass,
“They don’t have animal products in them? And I don’t have to pay you later or something?”
“One hundred percent vegan and free as the air you breathe,” she smiled as she readied a few samples.
“Oh, cool!” he perked up with a smile.
As he watched the older woman go about picking out what to give him, the changeling’s large ears picked something out, swiveling towards the sound of small footsteps. Turning and looking down, he saw the young boy. Before he could say anything, the green teen was greeted with a loud, “Why are you green?!”
Beast Boy flinched a bit. Man, this kid did not have a concept of the inside voice. Then again, he could have the same problem sometimes. After wiggling his finger in his ear, he responded.
“It’s part of my superpowers,” he shrugged. “I can turn into animals.”
The boy took in a deep breath, eyes seeming to sparkle as his mouth split into a smile that took up nearly half his face.
“That’s so cool!” the child loudly exclaimed, seemingly too young to be skeptical.
Something he did was cool? Beast Boy pondered to himself. More often than not, he was seen as a freak for what he could do… most certainly not cool.
“You thinks so?! You wanna see?!”
“Yeah!” the boy bounced up and down. “Can you turn into a dinosaur? A big one?!”
“Not inside, I hope,” the woman interjected, setting a few samples on the counter. “Here you are. Let me know how you like it!”
The young boy slumped his shoulders as the hero’s attention was now taken by food.
“Oooo!” the teenager uttered in awe of the treats before him. Taking the tiny plastic spoon in his hand, he dug into the small paper cup. Popping the dessert in his mouth, he let out a pleased, “Mmmmm! Coconut cream pie!”
The woman nodded and gestured to the remaining dessert samples.
S’more doughnut; macadamia nut cookie.”
“Don’t mind if I do!” the changeling wiggled his fingers in anticipation, taking the morsels and popping them into his mouth.
“They’re so good!” he exclaimed, giddy with his new bakery discovery. “How’d you make them so good?!”
“Years of experience and experimentation. I’m lactose intolerant myself, while my husband is allergic to eggs. Our son turned out to be a vegetarian, so I had to learn to make foods we could all eat.”
Beast Boy nodded, about to chip in with why he was a vegetarian, but the boy interrupted.
“Can you turn into a dinosaur now?”
The changeling looked over to the older woman and asked, “Do you mind if I turn into a little one, ma’am?”
“That’s perfectly fine,” she replied. “But please, call me Maggie.”
“Thanks, Miss Maggie,” he nodded with a smile, turning to the young boy.
“Alright! Here comes an eoraptor!”
In a split second, the green teen became a small dinosaur, approximately three feet long. Turning his head to take in his surroundings and make sure he didn’t hit anything with his tail, he struck a few poses, almost like a museum display.
“That’s so cool!” the boy bounced excitedly.
“Well I’ll be,” the older man uttered, bouncing his granddaughter on his knee. “Did you see that, Clara?”
The little dinosaur looked over at the little girl and greeted her with an excited trill.
The toddler let out a frightened cry and attempted to hide herself against her grandfather’s torso.
The eoraptor returned to a teen in an instant, ears drooped in worry and remorse.
“H-hey, don’t be scared! I’m sorry! I can make it better! I can turn into other things!”
He frantically looked over to the old man. “Does she have a favorite animal?!”
Rubbing the little girl’s back, the grandfather replied. “She’s never without her koala teddy bear.”
Beast Boy nodded and became a koala on the spot, doing his best to look non-threatening.
“Look at that,” the older man nudged the girl and pointed her gaze to the fuzzy green koala.
Clara’s eyes widened and her attitude quickly changed, reaching out in an attempt to pet the furry being.
“Kala,” she babbled. “Give kala?”
The green koala walked over and held his paws up to the older man.
Knowing what the teen wanted, the man lowered his arm so the transformed teen could grab onto it. Lifting him up and placing him on his lap, he instinctually placed his hand on the marsupial’s back to keep him upright as one might a baby.
The toddler promptly reached out and hugged the koala, cooing excitedly.
“There we go. No need to be scared,” the grandfather assured.
“Clara gets scared a lot,” the young boy informed, patting the toddler on the back. “That’s why I gotta protect her!”
The boy proudly puffed out his chest.
“It’s what big brothers do!”
Beast Boy turned to the little boy and gave him the koala equivalent of a thumbs up. It was a little clunky with his current digits, but he did have the bonus of two thumbs per paw.
It was times like these he wished he could talk in animal form. He would tell the boy he was doing a good job. It’s something he wished he’d heard more often when he was younger.
“You’re doing a good job, Chester,” Maggie assured. “You too, young man.”
The changeling did his best to smile in koala form, mostly just showing his limited teeth.
“I’m guessing you can’t talk while you’re an animal?”
He shook his head no.
“Well, hopefully she won’t take too much longer with you and you can go back to normal soon.”
Beast Boy nodded and rubbed the toddler’s back, hoping to lull her to sleep.
“I’m sure she’ll get tired soon,” the grandfather spoke up. “We call her our little koala because she needs so much sleep. More so than the usual two-year-old…”
Chester frowned. “Yeah. She gets sick a lot and needs lots o’ sleep.”
‘Poor thing,’ the changeling thought to himself. He was really sick once…
“But she’s been improving,” Maggie tried to lighten the mood. “She hasn’t been to the emergency room in months; just regular doctor visits.”
As predicted, the toddler dozed off.
Carefully prying himself away, Beast Boy slid the child’s plush koala back into her arms. He held up his paws as if the motion would keep her from waking up.
“I think you’re good,” the grandfather chuckled and placed the koala back on the floor.
“Phew,” the green teen sighed upon returning to human form. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare her.”
“No problem, dearie,” Maggie smiled softly. “You made her very happy today. Not many children get to hug a real koala.”
“And I got to see a real dinosaur!” Chester chirped.
“You’re really not mad at me?” Beast Boy asked, hopeful, but a bit skeptical.
“Of course we’re not mad,” Maggie smiled. “Now you really must tell us your name. I can’t just call you dearie forever.”
The changeling snapped to attention and placed the side of his hand to his head in a salute.
“Beast Boy; ex member of the Doom Patrol and current Teen Titan, ma’am!”
“At ease, soldier,” Maggie chuckled. “This is a care-free zone.”
Beast Boy chuckled and lowered his hand.
“Sooo… I should probably buy something, right?”
“If you find something that strikes your fancy.”
The changeling nodded and pulled out his wallet, confirming there was indeed some cash in there before he perused the selection.
As he eyed the vegan cherry pie, his ear twitched at the sound of a bell.
“Guess we’re popular today!” Maggie chirped as she greeted the newcomer.
“Yeah. Right.” The man approached the counter and shoved Beast Boy aside. “Look, let’s make this easy. Open the cash register; now!”
The old woman’s eyes widened before narrowing as she sneered, pulling out the dollar bills.
“You’re lucky my grandchildren are here,” she handed the cash over. “I’d take you on if I was the only one at risk.”
The changeling watched gobsmacked as the robbery took place.
He had to do something.
Reaching into his pocket, he grabbed his communicator. What button was it? Feeling around, he pressed one and dearly hoped it was the silent distress call.
“Is that all?!” the robber snarled. “This is nothing!”
The man shook the handful of dollar bills in the grandmother’s face.
“Give me more!”
“That’s all we have!”
“Like hell it is!” the thug pulled a gun and aimed it at Maggie’s face. “I want everything you got!”
Beast Boy watched in horror as the man threatened the kind old woman’s life, her husband desperately trying to guard their grandchildren.
How could he stop this when the man had a gun in such a confined space filled with people? Sweat beaded on his forehead. He had to tread carefully.
“That’s all we have!” she held her hands up. “If you let me get my purse, I can get you more!”
“You’re staying right there!” the criminal barked, turning his gun on Beast Boy. “You. Freak. Get the old lady’s purse and don’t try any funny business.”
While he should have been scared to have a gun on him, the changeling found himself grateful to not have the gun pointed at the family.
Beast Boy nodded and grabbed the purse from the table, slowly handing it over as he tried to kill time until the rest of his team arrived or he thought of a plan.
The man snatched the purse out of the teen’s hands and set it on the counter.
“You better have money in here, bitch,” he threatened as he dug through the bag with one hand as he pointed the gun back at Maggie with the other.
“I bet you I have more money in my wallet than she does!” Beast Boy blurted out, wanting the focus to be off the poor old woman.
“Like some kid has more money than a grown woman,” the gunman scoffed as he continued to dig.
“I can prove it.”
“Heh. Fine,” he aimed the gun at the teen. “Prove it. And no funny business.”
Beast Boy slowly reached into his pocket, pulling out his wallet and handing it over.
Just as the man snatched it away, the changeling shifted into a fairy wasp, seeming to disappear.
“What?! I said no funny business!” he snarled as he noticed the green wasp land on his hand. Raising his hand to slap the insect, he landed on scales. Large scales.
He now had a green anaconda cutting off the circulation to his arm, rendering the gun unusable.
Maggie was quick to jump in, leaping over the counter with surprising agility and ripping the gun away.
“Dennis; get the kids out! We’ll hold him back!”
“You fucking stupid hag! Rotten old bitch! I’ll- Mm?!?!”
The assailant’s tirade was cut off as Beast Boy’s serpentine body curled around his mouth.
The grandfather nodded and rushed the two children outside, Clara under his arm and Chester tugged by his wrist.
“Okay,” Maggie let out a hesitant sigh. “I think we’re alright.”
Turning to the anaconda, she continued.
“Without a gun, I can handle the likes of him. You can go back to normal, Beast Boy.”
The snake raised and lowered his head in a nod and separated from the criminal, landing on all fours in human form.
“That was close…” the teen panted. “Too close. Are you oka-”
Maggie wasted no time in punching the man in the eye and grabbing him by the collar of his shirt, dragging him towards herself.
“If you come near me or my family ever again, you will not walk away in one piece.”
“Whoa…” Beast Boy uttered in awe. “Way to go, granny...”
“I’d prefer you call me Maggie.”
“Can do, Miss Maggie,” he saluted.
“We should probably call the police to come get this brute.”
“I think my team is on the way, actually,” he pulled out his communicator. “I think I sent out a distress signal. I’m still getting used to this thing.”
Pushing a few buttons, the screen flickered to life, revealing Robin’s face.
“Beast Boy! We got your distress call and are on our way to your coordinates. What’s the trouble?”
“Armed robber. We’ve got him subdued. If you can just send the police our way to arrest him, we should be good.”
“You already have it taken care of? Great work!”
Beast Boy gawked at the communicator a moment, unused to the praise, before perking up with a wide smile.
“Thanks, Robin! I’ll keep it up!”
“Good. You’re proving to be a capable member of the team.”
The changeling couldn’t speak, merely making a high pitched gasping sort of sound.
“Beast Boy?”
“Thank you, sir,” he squeaked out.
“I told you not to call me-”
The green teen ended the call before the other could finish.
“Are you okay, dearie?” Maggie asked, placing a hand on the teen’s shoulder while holding the criminal in the other.
“I’m fine,” he half whispered, fighting back tears.
“He’s right, you know,” she gave his shoulder a few pats. “You’re growing into quite the superhero and fine young man.”
Okay, he was crying now.
“Oh brother,” the criminal grumbled.
Maggie shook the man a few times before turning her attention back to the changeling.
“You don’t hear that a lot, do you? You should.”
“I’m not crying,” was all Beast Boy could muster.
“Well, of course you’re not,” Maggie humored. “This is a happy moment. You just earned one free treat per visit for life!”
He wiped his eyes and smiled at her.
“Really?”
“Of course! You’re welcome anytime.”
The changeling momentarily contemplated if he could just visit the bakery moments apart and get all he wanted, but decided against it. That wouldn’t be right. He didn’t want to run this kind old woman out of business either.
“Wow! Free doughnuts for life!” he beamed.
“And other treats too!” Maggie chirped. “We also make non-sweets. Not to toot my own horn, but I make a mean corn chowder. We have some today, if you’d like to fuel up once this is all sorted. You are a growing boy, after all.”
Beast Boy’s stomach growled and he laughed. “I guess I am!”
“I would like to ask a little favor though.”
“Uh, sure. What is it?”
“Just keep an eye on this brute while I call my husband and let him know we’re okay.”
“Can do,” he gave a salute and yanked the man over to himself. “Try anything and I’m turning into a gorilla. Don’t make me make a mess of this place.”
The criminal grumbled and rolled his eyes.
-
As the police arrived and took the criminal away, Beast Boy and Maggie were finally able to lower their guards.
“I hope my grandbabies will be okay…”
“What do you mean?! I thought you said they made it out safely!”
“They did; they did,” Maggie moved her hands in a placating gesture. “I’m just worried about them psychologically. Clara is probably young enough to forget this, but Chester…”
“Oh,” the changeling’s ears drooped. “I guess this sort of thing is scary for people who aren’t trained for it like I am.”
“You’re so young to be trained for such things…”
“Well, what else was the Doom Patrol supposed to do with a super-powered kid? I needed training and discipline,” he shrugged, parroting Mento. “They couldn’t afford to baby me.”