Disclaimer: I, Gero, Do not own teen titans, the cartoon or the comic. i do not own national geographic, and am not affiliated with it in any way. i do not own any mentioned songs, movies, big screen t.v.'s, video games, or entities in this fan fiction, if i do bring in one of my own characters i will state it strictly.

That aside, for anyone who is tracking me, i am truly sorry for taking so long for this. i believe i did mention before i am bad on sticking with an idea for too long, and it may take months to get something done, maybe even years. however this and TNaF seem to pull me back. as always constructive criticism is more then welcome here, and so are flames, if viable and entertaining. Please, enjoy the story.

Update: I fixed the mistake with Africa, thanks again for letting me know, I'm still kicking myself. started on the second chapter, and I am looking for someone to help edit the story, if anyone would want to please PM me, thanks

Prologue

They had gone after him, chased him down, and for what? He was genetically unstable, and they still felt that locking him away until he chemically broke down would keep people 'safe'. At first he didn't know what was going on, no alarms sounded when they entered the tower, no one had warned him. They gagged him, tied him up and dragged him out. Robin had been using the one bathroom in the entire tower at just this time and had heard to commotion. He chased them down as he pulled out his communicator flipped open. But a voice stopped him from hitting the call button, and eerily familiar voice. His mentors voice…

They said that it was for the best, he couldn't speak but he heard alright, heard the masked monster tell his former pupil that they had a reason, but for now he would be left in the dark. When robin demanded an answer batman shot down his attempt. They had the world behind them; a public outcry had come overnight. By the end of it robin let them leave. It wasn't until morning the others found him sitting at the main computer, dumb struck. A 'creature' looking like the beast had attacked the children. It had deep green fur, it was beast boy. Raven pulled her hood up, hiding her face from the world as she examined this. It couldn't have been…

Star fire begged to know why he had not awakened them. And robin said it had been an order, that batman wouldn't break his word. He had been wrong.

It had been a lapse in judgment that had let him break out as they were loading him onto the ship. He just disappeared. But finding a single celled organism as it fell into the ocean was a bit hard. They brought out their data scanner, but there was no scent to be found, and no heart to listen to. No one present had been capable of finding him. He ran, and they gave chase. They were like rabid dogs on the trail of a rather cunning fox.

He finally fought back. It was useless. He couldn't win agenst them... he couldn't go home, robin had given him away. Was he a part of the plan? The others couldn't be trusted. Star fire was in love with the enemy, and he wouldn't drag Cyborg or raven into this. They were the only two, unless... had they gotten to them too? He made it to South America, home turf. They feared the beast more than he did, but he never let it out. Now it was time. The public image of him was shattered. They wanted blood. The team was infiltrated. The heroes were agenst him…

He looked at the border of the Amazon before glancing back to the rest of the world. They had so kindly turned their back on him. He was simply returning the favor… he began to walk into the rain forest as the transformation came for the last time.

Not until it was too late did robin realize his mentor had lied to him, supposedly for the greater good.

Not until it was too late did they discover it was Adonis, tired of losing, which set up beast boy. A clever plan and some hair dye had tricked them all, the titans yelled to the world.

Not until it was too late did raven look for anything remotely like beast boy's wild flame of life. It had since become nothing much more then instinct and completely hidden in plain sight, among others who shared his instinct for survival.

Not until it was too late did they search for him, from the deepest water, to the farthest of space.

Not until it was too late did they realize they had lost the spark of joy they had for granted.

Not until it was too late did they realize they lost one of the five pillars that held the titans together.

And after the days turned to weeks, and the search teams finally give in, did they despair. The weeks turned to months, and they lost hope. The months turn to years, and they grieved…

Chapter One; the myth, a reality

He lazily flipped the channels of the big screen TV... Ever since the day of the betrayal he had found no matter how much he rested he didn't have too much willpower to do anything. His finger halted for a moment as he hit the National Geographic Channel. He shook his head as the title came up, Myth and Reality of a Tribe. He almost changed the channel, but for some reason he couldn't move his finger. It wasn't that it was physically impossible, it was that feeling... The fear that if he did he would miss something. So he watched.

The TV showed a picture of a British looking man. It would eventually flash threw other pictures of the area, a drawing of the myth, which looked almost like Sasquatch, or unusually muscled monkey with a long jaw. It was a show that took myths, and found some truth in them, though it disproved them in the same fell swoop. It seemed this one was about a spirit creature that both haunted and protected the tribe near the Amazon.

"We are currently in a village in South America, near the Amazon. At first I questioned why we were sent here, to record the famine that passes through? Perhaps the disease or hunger? But no, they sent us to gather reports for N.G. because of Him."

The picture changed to video and showed a man in his tent talking into the camera." it is the eighth day we've been here already I have journal entries to present." he smiled and picked up a journal." first I must say, only human error is the reason we do not have much video, but it won't happen again." he began reading slowly

"Date: the 23rd of august, first journal entry."

"The people in the village... they tested themselves agenst Diablo's, as some have come to know him, thanks to my camera man and best friend José. Others called him the beast, I, however, feel content to call him the reaper. My companions and I, as I stated, joined a small village ridden with disease, we were told to help them threw the dry season and report on the situation. When we first got here the higher ups enlightened me as to why we truly were here. "

"We first witnessed the beast on our fourth day here. It was darker than one would come to expect in the wilderness, but the new moon had not yet begun to wax. At first he melded with the dark, all but his eyes were practically invisible. His eyes were what worried me, white as satin, but satin never looked as cold as his eyes did. One younger male stepped up, dagger in hand. "

"I thought he was positively mad, but their ritual dictated that he was to challenge the beast if it came to close, it was a rite of passage for those of higher ambitions. To beat, defend from, or tame the reaper and win would lead one to spiritual enlightenment. One is only allowed to use weapons they created, if any. And they must be spiritually cleansed to attack the beast. Once a year is when it truly comes down to the few."

"Every year once during the blood moon, one of the spiritually budding warriors travels into its territory, and if brought about must fight the beast. They will have to find the lair of the reaper and take something from there, usually brought back are bones or tufts of fur. These items are forged into talisman of sorts, if the warrior comes back alive. They return and bring the item to the shaman for spiritual cleansing, and then they ask the item that is a part of the reaper for protection. The ritual for asking the reaper must happen on the summer solace or else it is considered void by these people."

"Its interesting how something that can drag away their young in the dead of night is considered revered and liken to a deity. I must find out more so I ask their shaman leader. His story is that of interest. He says when he was looking for ingredients for a ritual four years ago the beast saved his life, he was about to fall into a crevice from an earthquake, but the beast took him by the arm. Its claws, he said, cut into his arm and left five prominent marks. "

I would not believe except many of the tribe said they witnessed the holy action with their own eyes. Any to come in such kind of a contact were, albeit a bit feared, liken to Jesus during the resurrection. "

he looked up to the camera, An almost twisted smile prominent on his face." however, the truly enlightening thing came on a few days later, yesterday in fact, and it took some convincing, but it's what brought us to a fully functional watch." he leaned down again to read out of his journal.

"Date: august 26th, second journal entry."

"We had another gander at reaper today. The villagers called us lucky, for such a thing is said to only happen few times during the showing of the reaper. A leopard attack one of the village children, a nine year old with black hair and dark sharp eyes. She got under a canoe the people use to travel the rivers of the Amazon for protection. I, along with my team and the villagers scrambled for weapons, but something else had different plans. "

"The reaper had been close, presumably hunting and had heard the little girl's screams. It cleared the forty feet between us and the Amazon tree line in a matter of heart beats. The shock of seeing the beast froze us in our places; however the leopard only had time to turn. The battle raged, though the creature, surprisingly humanoid in appearance, had the upper hand from the beginning. What's surprising is that when the beast was done he threw the body to the side and flipped the canoe to show the girl. I stepped forward to intervene, but the shaman stopped me, saying that the beast was to be trusted; it had saved their own before, this was no different. It leaned its head down and sniffed her knee. It had an amazingly small cut, as if she had just barely escaped the claws, but they did indeed taste her flesh."

"Its tongue slipped out and licked the wound, and the girl shivered slightly. I was afraid the taste of blood would have caused a hunger to beset him, when it didn't I realized he was cleaning the wound, and an animal does to its young... she, had become comfortable with the sacred beast and began to run her hair threw his mane. He pulled away his head slightly, almost like a dog who thought it would be hit, but instead was rewards with a fond hand. Apparently my fear of him setting on her like a lion to a lamb was completely off. A villager, a young tribesman stepped forward slowly and whatever magic held the beast in its trance like state snapped. He glanced up and released a small growl before retreating into the forest once more. "

His voice had grown excited as he read threw the entry, he signaled to someone off screen, and as he watched the TV he finished his reading.

"The girl was immediately pulled aside, and the highest skinner and Taylor of this tribe began to work on the leopard body. The meat he explained was to be considered holy, and that their tribe's disease would be cured threw meals with it. The thing that won't stop bugging me is that he, which is why I speak of him as a being instead of a mere creature, showed sentience, where other creatures would have retreated and attacked, he countered. Remarkably intelligent, it has a pack mentality and I think that perhaps this creature has taken the tribe under its wing... this report is being sent with what few pictures and a little video we caught of the fight."

The picture that appeared on screen froze the one seated on the couch. It was fuzzed and the creature was low to the ground, but it was still almost completely unmistakable. He stood suddenly, sending whatever he had on his lap flying. The fight scene played, and a focused shot of the creature licking the girl's leg. He gasped and suddenly found it hard to breath.

"Believe me when I say we will keep our equipment close and ready at all times. We are not quite sure as to why he had saved her, but we will find out."

He froze the image and reversed it, letting it play again, just to make sure he wasn't dreaming. With a slow swallow to help him find his voice he raised his arm." Robin... its Cyborg... you need to get here man... I don't give a damn about your computer, ill fix it, just get down here!" he yelled. Jesus Christ... was that beast boy?

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A big Thanks goes to RabulaTasa for restoring the creative juices. This is based off of his Original Title, and that got the gears going on a few other stories. so once again thank you.

for notes on the story, i actually got the idea from watching National geographic as they were following up on a village they did a documentary on.