Beast Boy curled up against the tree truck, his eyes wide with fear and panic. Stories always had happy endings. In the movies, you just knew, even at the worst and most grim parts, that the hero would save the day and overcome the bad guys. That the zombie-freak-things wouldn't eat the hero's brains, and that the fire just couldn't burn up the guy carrying the girl out of the flames.

Beast Boy watched as the blade was raised above his head. This just had to have a happy ending. His partners would come and bail him away from the bad guy just like they always did. He always told himself in the bulk of the horror movies that, no matter how wounded the guy was, he would escape the burning building or whatever and save his family and they would all get out. It was the ending where they were running away from the orange, heat-induced tongues that made you smile.

It was the dazed and amazed look glazed in their eyes that made it all worth while.

Beast Boy watched what could be his last moments of life just like a movie. It was the scene where the monster robot killer was holding the knife above the child's head, waiting until the peak of the moment to swing it down.

Beast Boy looked up at the man. He was big, strong, and wearing armor to boot. All he could see was the killer's blood red eyes, a look of pure ecstasy painted throughout them, almost as if these moments were all that he couldn't live without. Beast Boy almost wanted to know what his eyes were like once the blade were in his victim, or even when he pulled it out. That tone of red was not a look; it was not like frowning or smiling; something that you could control.

It was like your heart beating.

That tone of red was the intensity of the situation, both for killer and the victim. It was the blood-lust that swam through this villain's veins every moment of his life. And once he realized that this was the ending moments of his life, that this killer's eyes would be the last thing he saw, Beast Boy felt even more terrified.

The killer laughed. This, right then, once Beast Boy had found that spot in his eyes, was the peak of the moment. He felt the disruption of the air around him as the blade sawed awkwardly through it, and screamed as the skin broke around the metal in his shoulder. He screamed as it bit into his flesh, digging down until it's thirst for blood was satisfied. Beast Boy screamed as the blade retreated, it's instant meal coating it's cold steel sides. The killer laughed and watched as the red substance coated Beast Boy's black and purple uniform; running down his slick green skin like tainted water. The killer twirled the blade in his hand, watching as a few droplets of the red liquid broke away and landed on the ground beside his feet.

Beast Boy gasped and brought a gloved hand to his shoulder only to peal it away and stare down on it. The green titan closed his eyes and tried to breathe deeply, picturing what he found most soothing.

Terra.

He closed his eyes tighter. So... This is what death feels like. He thought shakily, waiting for the killer to stab his un-blocked chest. And even if his arms happened to be crossed over it, Beast Boy didn't doubt the fact that his killer was strong enough to saw through bone just to get to that tiny pumping muscle in his chest.

And his mind wandered away from Terra just to picture that big, sharp, steel knife tearing straight through the middle of his heart. His breath hitched as the thought flashed through his mind.

"Kid."

This was the voice of his killer. Beast Boy opened his eyes to show that he respected the masked murderer enough to look at those cold, blood-colored eyes while he spoke.

"You have been the most enjoyable talking hunk of meat I've cut up in a while." The killer stooped down to BB's level, the blade still twirling in his palm. "I'm glad I've had the chance to do this. Thank you."

The green titan blinked up at the killer, and almost laughed. "Do you normally thank the people you kill, or am I special?"

The killer smirked at his remark. "I do not kill because I want to. I kill because I need to. That is all I need to tell you, so you know your life is not going to waste."

Beast Boy smirked back, all the while his breath speeding and slowing as his blood drained over his arm and right leg.

"Beast Boy!"

BB's eyes lit up as he saw Raven and Starfire standing behind the killer. Rae's black aura was encased around the blade as Star held two green orbs to the killer's neck. Cyborg and Robin followed suit, taking extra precaution around the killer as their eyes shifted over the wounded titan.

BB blacked out then as his adrenaline slowed and the picture of Terra flooded into his mind.

Robin raced over to him, placing two fingers gently on the crook of his neck. He felt Beast Boy's pulse. It was low. Cyborg scooped the titan up as Starfire and Raven held the killer's hands behind his back with their powers. In a matter of moments, Beast Boy was having his wound wiped clean and his left arm being hooked up to an IV with a steady supply of water. Raven hooked a small plastic pipe to Beast Boy's throat and started timing his heartbeats to when she squeezed the small plastic nob at the end. Raven had to make sure Beast Boy was breathing normally.

Cyborg, Robin, and Starfire sat in the living room of the tower. Cyborg was washing away the droplets of blood that had run onto his arm as he carried Beast Boy to the medical wing of the tower. Robin called the police station numerous times to make sure the killer was secured in a cell, and Starfire tattered around, trying to talk herself into thinking that Beast Boy would wake the next morning and get out of bed and be just as goofy and happy as he usually was.

A thick cloud of worry hung over the tower like drapes as they anxiously waited for news from the cloaked female tending to the patient in the medical wing.

Raven watched Beast Boy as he painfully slept. She watched his sides heave under his dirty uniform. Raven put one hand on the green titan's uninjured shoulder as she tried to imagine the horror he must have experienced. She sighed heavily.