The darkness in Jump City was unbearable. Who would have thought that nighttimes in such a protected city would be so…dark? The shadows of the night were only elongated and sharpened by the vast horizon that now poured down rain. For seconds the shadows would vanish in a flash of lightning, replacing the eerie silence with a thunderous explosion of noise. Trash bins in ally ways were beginning to fill with the ever-pouring rain, and were now avoided by normally stoic rodents that ravenged them for the usually meager food they supplied.

A flash of lightning suddenly illuminated an out-of-the-way ally, and with that ally a man huddled in the omnipresent shadows where the flashes of lightning couldn't reach. Shivering, the bulbous figure suddenly upped and began sprinting out of the back ally and into the street. As he ran, the man couldn't help but glance over his shoulder, huffing as he searched for some unseen assailant.

Finally, the man reached the street, where, surprisingly, there was an absence of vehicles occupying the road. He turned down and continued his dash into the unknown. His assailant unseen and no one to turn to, he was lost.

But to give up wasn't his style. He needed a plan, a plan involving a capable team to carryout the necessary steps in order to achieve success. His gears were set in motion as he ran, almost entirely on instinct.

His brown trench coat was getting drenched, but his valued machinery was safely tucked inside. Gloved hands clenched at his side, while the hood that effectively hid his face in shadow flapped around his ears. He needed a plan.

His feet splashed through a puddle as he neared the edge of a lake. The cold water caught and clung to his pants, drawing shivers that make his entire form shake. He reached the lake and gazed out over the water. There, on the island in the middle of that lake.

Perfect.

Beast boy laughed out loud at the scene in front of him. Having green hair and skin was nowhere near as bad as the current situation of one of his fellow team members. Silently patting himself on the back, Beast boy watched the security monitors currently surveying the mayhem he had unleashed in the Titans lounge. He laughed again.

Currently unaware of the look the other members of the tower were giving him, Robin yawned as he hobbled over to the breakfast table for his morning meal. Or if that was what you wanted to call it, considering it was four in the morning. The storm awakened most of the teammates from their slumber, resulting in a very unfocused boy wonder. The only one still asleep was Cyborg, his half robotic body's sleep mode uninterrupted by the noise of thunder.

Beast boy mentally noted to give Cyborg a view of the currently recording tapes, as the scene being displayed was one that would never be seen again, and if Robin found out he was the one responsible, it was likely that he too would never be seen again either.

Raven was awakened like everybody else, by the storms thunderous noise. She huddled in bed for a second, attempting once again to fall into peaceful oblivion, only to have it snatched away from her grasp by yet another thunderous boom from the storm.

Sighing, she arose from her bed, wrapped her dark blue cloak around her shivering form, as currently she was clad only in a black skin-tight leotard. Bracing herself, she whispered a few words and surrounded herself in a dark aura.

She quietly vanished from her room to reappear in a similar aura at the towers kitchen. Starfire, the beautiful orange alien female from Tameran, was already huddled at the table. She looked visibly shaken by the storms ferocity.

Looking over the young aliens face, Raven noted that fear and sat down near Starfire. Starfire took this action with a little; "Eep!" as she hadn't noticed Raven's arrival, then seeing Raven's current position next to her, took the subtle invitation to talk.

"In my home world," she began, "storms such as these are rare, and often are followed by misfortune and hardship. I do not know what they mean on Earth, but I do so hope that this storm does not follow the same rules."

"Actually Star, Earth's storms are much more common than on Tameran," Raven replied in a dull monotone, giving the impression she didn't really care. "I doubt that this particular storm will cause any harm."

Starfire shot Raven a thankful smile, to portray her gratefulness at Raven's apparent understanding.

It was right then that Robin entered the room from the sliding doors that led to the hallway lined by the Titans bedrooms.

Walking slowly into the lounge, he was unaware of the shocked looks that Starfire and Raven shot at him. He had just woken up and wasn't fully in tune with his legendary perceptiveness.

He wasn't, however, blind. After stumbling over to the table where the other two Titans sat, Robin noticed they were ogling at his face.

He instinctively brought his hand up to his face, but felt nothing out of the ordinary. His trademark mask was in place, as was his gelled up, spiky hair. Wondering what was wrong, he walked over to the window, gazing at his own reflection.

His eyes widened in fear, before clouding in anger.

"BEAST BOY!" he cried out against a thunder crack.

Beast boy snickered in the security room. He continued to survey the monitors, his fingers nearly flying over the keyboard as he adjusted the camera angle and focus while continuing to train the lens on Robin's new hairdo.

He was lost in thought about why Robin deserved such a fate. The constant training and his multitudes of fan girls might have been bearable for Beast boy in the past, but now things were personal. While he would never admit it, Beast boy was jealous of Robin. The boy had everything Beast boy wanted.

Recognition, respect, and above all else, Raven's attention. Heck, he had Starfire's as well, but Starfire's attraction didn't worry him. He knew that Starfire had liked Robin for a long while, and frankly didn't care. But with Raven…

Beast boy glowered in anger. Robin was the only person Raven saw as "presentable in public." He was the only one who got her attention after his little run in with the imaginary Slade and she bonded with him through her mind.

A few cold tears ran down his face before he brushed them off. This business was really killing Beast boy. He had liked Raven from the first moment he saw her, but she never let him close. The only relationship she was apparently willing to share with him was one of annoyance when he tried to talk with her, and frankly, he took what he could get.

He started civilly, attempting to get responses to general questions about the weather or her health, to which she never responded. Then, on one fateful day, he decided he would attempt to tell her a joke he had heard from Cyborg. He quickly got a response this time, even if it was only a sarcastic remark about his apparent lack of humor. So he tried again, even though the shot about his humor had hurt more than he let on.

And thus began a routine that lasted for almost the entire time the Titans were together. He would tell some corny joke, she would shoot him down, he would outwardly complain or tell her she knew he was funny while inwardly dying a little at her responses, but not caring because he had gotten her to talk with him, then leave and attempt it again later. He had finally found a way to communicate with her.

Lately, however, Raven's attention was entirely on Robin. She failed to respond to any of his advances now, and Beast boy hated Robin for that.

So absorbed in his thoughts, Beast boy failed to notice the monitors warning until it was too late to escape. He quickly logged on to the Internet and set up an email for Cyborg for when he awoke. Smiling to himself, Beast boy spun around as the doors to the security room slid open.

Robin stood framed in the doorway, looking Dare I say it? rather menacing in his new pink hairdo.

Beast boy smiled, inconspicuously reached behind himself, and hit the enter key on the keyboard. A message dinged behind him, and he knew the precious footage was now safe within Cyborg's memory banks. He visibly relaxed.

Smiling disarmingly at Robin, Beast boy asked in a rather mischievous, yet innocent tone, "Why Robin, why in the world did you dye your hair pink? You do know that most dyes last for up to a month, right?"

Robin advanced rather menacingly to the green prankster, cracking his knuckles.

Beast boy awoke alone in the med lab. Groaning in pain, he squinted at the overly bright room before slowly getting up and stretching his sore muscles. He groaned again. Taking his leave from the lab, Beast boy walked slowly back to his room for a more comfortable place to sleep of the fights aches and pains.

As he passed by Raven's room, the door slid open, revealing Raven standing in such a way that gave away her anger.

"Why did you do that?" she asked in her cold monotone, the monotone that was reserved for his lectures.

Beast boy shrugged. Like you care anyway, he thought bitterly.

"He deserved it," he replied, not one bit of the bitterness that was voiced in his thoughts was portrayed by his tone of voice.

"Really…" was all she said, her eyes searching for the real answer in his eyes.

"Yeah, really," he said before tuning and continuing along to his room.

Raven was shocked at the malice in his reply. He really believes Robin deserves the pink hair treatment, she thought.

Beast boy was slightly miffed as he reached his room. She'll only talk to me if the subject has to do with Robin now? Great, that's just great…

The last thing he wanted to talk about was Robin. He sighed as he crawled into his familiar sheets with an almost contented grin on his face. He reached out of the clock to see what time it was. It was six eighteen.

And it was still raining.

Only moments after Beast boy finally fell into a deep slumber, somebody began to pound on the front door.

The banging and shouting called Starfire to the door, and opening it while wondering who it was had come to visit them. She was genuinely shocked at who stood at the door.

There, drenched in rain, and pleading for her help stood a villain, an enemy of the Teen Titans.

There at the front door, stood a very shaken and visibly scared out of his wits, unarmed villain.

There stood Control Freak.

Personally, I think thought it would be cool to give a little made up back round info on CF because of his unfounded roles in the cartoon. Even villains deserve the spotlight every now and then, and CR is no exception. If this story goes well, I might consider doing other villains. However, it may take me a while to upload a new chapter. Look forward to it though.

With all light there is darkness…

So isn't the darkness just as important as the light?

-B