Thank you: twolostsouls25 and 5dRaWkCaB for replying to chapter one.

And again, many thanks to Dustin Perry, my beta, for making my work so much easier.

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to any of the characters in this chapter.

Chapter 2: 'Won't get fooled again.'

Alternate title: Punching bag

Adonis wasn't the type of villain to do any real threatening 'maniacal laughter'. Nevertheless it was clear he'd been practising. Though it wouldn't have won any kind of evil contest, it would have gotten an A for effort. A single small bag of cash hung over his red, armoured shoulder as he currently stomped a treadmill to pieces and laughed away madly.

Goliath Gym was made up from an entrance hall which led to the separate dressing rooms, a bar, some out-door-sports fields next to a giant pool and ofcourse to the main work-out hall. This giant hall existed from four rooms which together formed a crude square. There were cardio and stamina-training-devices in the first room to the left, where he was right now. The room behind that was filled with weights and other machines devised specifically to produce broad muscles. The room to his right was mostly filled with yoga-equipment and was used for all sorts of group-sessions. The room diagonal to him was a giant, indoors sport-hall, ready for playing soccer, basket and other such sports.

And oh, how he hated this place. Every single room, he hated it so. Right now, apart from him, it was abandoned. But he could still see their faces. All the jocks that had made fun of him. All the losers that had told him he'd always be a weakling. Even after caving in and trying to make himself more like them, by coming to train here, they still laughed. Who was laughing now, huh? He was! He'd found a way to become stronger than all of them combined. He was the Adonis now! It all deserved a good laugh as he smashed the treadmill under his metal sole.

Until he heard the voice, that is.

"Looks like you've got nowhere to run." Said the leader of the Teen Titans. Robin and the rest watched the man in the red mechanized armor turn around and face them.

"I'm not running anywhere." He said in retaliation. "But hey..." He bend down, grabbed the smashed piece of machinery and threw it at his five foes. They ducked out of the way, dispersing. "Tread carefully."

"Truly." Spoke Starfire to her four friends, high up in the sky. "I was not aware that the training facilities on your world housed much money and other valuables to steal."

Cyborg crawled up from the floor after the forced duck. A green fly flew past him towards the villain. "There ain't much cash around here. Adonis is just a big oaf." Said white and blue armoured titan. A bright flash occurred and the next thing he knew, Cyborg was back on the floor. Starfire flew down and started to pull up her friend. They could both see the barrel of the energy-based cannon on Adonis' right arm.

"At least I was smart enough to upgrade, loser." He aimed his second shot at Robin, who was running at him full speed, his long bo-staff in hand, ready to strike. With a lock-on and ready to fire, Adonis still stopped before pulling the trigger when he heard the voice behind him.

"You're still pretty stupid." Said Beast Boy.

By the time Adonis turned, Garfield had already changed into a giant gorilla and punched him square in the face. It send the second-rate villain twirling in a collision-course with Robin. If boy-wonder hadn't been so nimble, he could have seriously gotten hurt. Instead, the caped young hero somersaulted over the approaching menace and even kicked him hard in the chest. The grounds shook as the giant piece of metal hit the floor. Before the villain could get up again, Raven flew up next to him, through the floor, and conjured thick black ropes that bound him down.

"Hey cutie. I didn't know you were into this kind of stuff, but I can get down with it." Adonis mocked as he threw in a fat wink.

"Ugh." Was all the reply Raven felt was necessary.

"But it's clear to me you lightweights don't know the ropes about real training!" He said as he flexed his artificial 'muscles' and broke the binding ropes.

In one swell swoop he swatted Raven out of the way and stood upright. She was caught by Robin and Beast Boy. Adonis aimed his gun again, this time at the defenceless trio. His beam charged for a mere few moments and just as he pulled the trigger he was blasted himself. A combination of blue and orangy-yellow energy hit him right in the shoulder. His own gun got misdirected due to the impact of Starfire's hit. His blast impacted with the ceiling above his targets instead. But that wasn't all it did, it threw him through the wall and into the next room, which housed all the weights and related equipment.

Meanwhile, part of the ceiling above Raven, Beast Boy and Robin started to collapse. For once thinking faster than his teammates, Beast Boy quickly assumed the form of a Columbian mammoth, shielding his friends from most of the impact and giving Robin a chance to get the knocked-out Raven out of the danger zone. It hurt like hell, but at least his friends were safe. By the time he could safely change back, Cyborg and Starfire had already disappeared into the next room. It didn't matter very much, he knew they could handle themselves. Instead of joining them, he therefore jogged over to Robin and the girl he was taking care of. Her head lay on his shoulder and her body limply clung to his as he sat on his knees.

"Dude, is she alright?" Beast Boy asked.

"She's just unconscious. I think she'll be alright.

The changeling sighed with relief. "Thank God."

"It's strange though, that she couldn't hold him down and that his punch had so much effect on her. Anyway, I'll get her on her feet, you go help out the others."

"But..."

"Titan, go!"

Beast Boy saluted out of comical reflex and ran off to help his friends. With one last look at Raven, as he turned around, his feelings of concern transformed into a primal rage.

At the same time their three teammates avoided being crushed to death, Cyborg and Starfire dashed after Adonis. They found him in the next room, holding a double-handed heavy lifters' barbell equipped with weights of about 500lbs. Before they could do anything else he swung it at them. Starfire, being able to fly, successfully avoided it. Cyborg however got hit full-on. The pressure hurled him into the wall. For a few second he thought he'd be able to get up but by then Adonis was all over him. The villain used his powerful suit and the barbell to pin him down. "How much do you press?" He asked with a mad glint in his eyes.

"Man." Cyborg said, trying to struggle his arms free. "I'm only gonna say this once." Deciding he couldn't get his arms free he merely pressed his blaster against Adonis' side. "Your puns are stupid." He fired away. Adonis sank to one knee. A small part of his armour broke off.

A moment later he was hit again, but not by Cyborg. He flew a few feet further, dropping the barbell, as Starfire knocked him over the head. "Agreed. Your choosing of the words is 'filled with the aw'."

A momentary silence hung over the fighters. "Are you trying to say it's awful?" Adonis asked, rubbing his head as he crawled upright.

A confused Starfire turned to her friend who gave her a nod of confirmation. "Oops." The female alien replied, embarrassed. Shades of red filled her orange cheeks.

This little diversion was all Adonis needed. He quickly raised his arm and the cannon attached and blasted. The first shot hit Starfire, who was propelled away through multiple walls. "Oops." Adonis mocked. His second shot was directed at Cyborg who, in seeing his friend get hit, had enough time to shoot his own gun. Both targets were hit. The impacts were enormous and by the time the dust settled, only Adonis stood upright, battered but not beaten. His energy-based gun was severely damaged however.

"I knew things would... work-out?" He laughed at his own joke until he remembered his enemy's words. "Stupid Cyborg, I am funny." Adonis coughed wearily. "Besides I'm Adonis! You hear me?" He aimed his blaster at Cyborg, who struggling to get upright. I've got the better tech and nature's never brought forth a better specimen then me!"

"Maybe we should find out together." The call made Adonis turn around, he saw the little green titan stand across the room. "You see, I've got a whole catalogue right here."

Adonis' now worthless gun retracted into the armour of his arm. "Okay, sure. But first... Let's hit the gym!"

He pounced the ground hard, creating a rift in the floor headed straight for Beast Boy. By the time it reached him, however, Garfield was no longer there. Instead there was a cheetah running past the broken up earth, heading fast for the source. Before Adonis could even properly recover from his display of immense strength (or at least immensely strong armor) the swift cat was on him. It's claws raked his suit as the feline pushed itself away from him. Garfield landed behind his enemy and quickly morphed. Adonis, slightly worried about the cracks in his suit, was a little slow to turn around. When he did, however, he no longer saw the cheetah but a giant green kangaroo. Especially the beast's back legs were incredibly noteworthy, as they expanded and expanded until they took up everything within the villain's line of sight.

The force of impact knocked him on his back. When he reopened his eyes an off-coloured rhino stomped it's paws on his chest. Every blow was followed by the next so rapidly that there was not much for Adonis to do but grunt. Every shock made him lose control of his mechanized suit. No matter how many times he tried to retake it, another stomp was there to knock it out of grasp once more.

This was all to familiar. Him on the ground, a bigger, overpowered bully knocking him down. His entire life he'd tried to become stronger than them, but no matter how much he tried, it would seem he was destined to fail. The jocks back then, the Titans now. It was all so unfair. All the emotions he had as a small frightened kid returned now, full force. The flashbacks of the locker he'd been put in, the humiliation of the time they stole his pants in the middle of school, every time he got picked last for any sport, all the beatings, ... It was so unfair. All he'd wanted was to feel that power. Hadn't he been entitled to that? For all his suffering. The memories were too much. Adonis cried.

Even in his enraged state, at the suffering his friends had gone through, Beast Boy's heart proved to be great. Sadly, his sense wasn't as vast. Seeing his foe snivelling and pleading for him to stop, was enough to invoke his pity. Still pressuring him down as a rhino, he stopped his constant pounding.

"Why do you bullies keep doing this to me?" Adonis' tears covered his cheeks by now. "What have I done wrong? What have I done to you? I just want to be left alone! Leave me alone!" He cried between sobs.

Garfield Logan reappeared, standing on top of the red exoskeleton. He changed so that he could talk some sense into the sorrowful creature beneath his legs. Too bad for him, this also left him vulnerable. "Dude, look, if you don't want us to ..." That's as far as he got.

Because by that time, Adonis had resumed control over his suit and diverted all extra power to his left arm. The strike was hard, without being in a strong animal body, the impact was dire for the teen boy. Later, the green lad couldn't even recall Adonis yelling 'gotcha'.

As he crashed between some weights he, in futility, raised his arm, his index finger pointing upward. "Dude." He managed wearily. His arms dropped, the world was blurry and he couldn't even begin to focus changing into an animal. He was dully aware the villain loomed over him. As Adonis (one of the three blurry shapes he saw as Adonis had to be real) raised his right foot, he even had the sense to think: 'Oy. This is gonna hurt'. The heavy metal foot sank quickly, to deliver the finishing blow.

Adonis had indeed, after wiping the tears of his face, now replaced with a giant grin, gotten up and had walked over to the puny hero before him. He hated them all, but this one in particular. The first time they'd faced off this little runt had had the luck to get the better of him. Even the second match between them, though he couldn't remember any of it, he'd lost to this pathetic excuse for a Titan. They'd both squared off as some sort of werewolves and still he'd been beaten! But no more. This time he'd make sure the little guy stayed down. With the mad grin still plastered on his face he raised his foot, savouring the moment. This was the beginning of a whole new world for him. A world in which he could be 'the Adonis' and no longer a wimp. And all it took was the squishing of a dorky, little geek. His foot went down hard.

But it never reached it's destination. When it was a few mere centimetres away from BB's face, Adonis was hit by two 50 kilogram plates, levitated by Raven herself. The force wasn't enough to send him flying but he did stagger back. Adonis' right foot landed a few millimetres from the changeling's own feet. Raven sank down, clearly exhausted.

Luckily, Robin was there to take over. His discs flew continuously at Adonis, forcing him to cover his exposed face and taking small, staggering steps backwards. By the time the giant uncovered his eyes, Grayson had already moved in close enough. With one leap he jumped up and, staff in hand, hit him hard over the head. After all his team had gone through, Adonis' grunt of dismay was like music to Robin's ears. He hit him again and again and again. Harder and harder and harder. But just as he was about to strike for the the fifth time, his enemy grabbed his weapon in his two hands at either side and easily broke it.
Knowing that any advantage in combat must be taken without hesitation, Robin acted almost instinctively. With Adonis' two arms wide open he jumped up, kicked the villain in his face and so used it to launch himself away. One back-flip later and Robin already reached for another weapon, his hands found some freeze-discs in his belt. He didn't have time to throw them however, as at that moment the infantry arrived.

Standing in the rubble of the hole between this room and the next, both Starfire and Victor stone reappeared in the nick of time. With the combined strength of Cyborg's laser and Star's eye-beam, the foe was quickly rendered harmless. Or at least, almost. When they saw Adonis go down, they stopped blasting. Cyborg still aimed his cannon at the enemy however, deciding he wouldn't let him get the upper hand again.

Starfire flew over to her fallen friend. Not to Raven, who was sitting a few metres away from him, but to Beast Boy. She seemed tired and was still breathing deeply, but appeared otherwise fine. BB looked a whole lot worse.

"Beast Boy!" She called out. As she sank by his side she quickly noticed he was indeed conscious, his eyes still trying empty attempts to focus. "Please friend." She tried, holding up four fingers. "Enlighten me with the number of fingers you witness me holding in upright position."

Logan tried real hard. "Blue?" He ventured.

Starfire bit her lip in agony. She then proceeded to look over to Raven, who was still weary and sitting down. "I'm sure he'll be fine." She said, reassuringly.

"Whatever." Was all Raven seemed to have to say, which shocked Starfire even further.

Meanwhile, a few metres over, Cyborg noticed the discs in his leader's hands. "Do your thing man." He told him encouragingly. They both knew the freeze-discs could hold their enemy captive.

Boy Wonder nodded as an answer. "Adonis. You've had your warming up, you've had your work-out. Now, it's time for your 'cool-down'." The spiky teen said and threw the freeze-discs.

He should have thrown them sooner because during his little quip, the mechanical macho had grabbed a barbell and used it to push himself upright. In a quick spin he swung the metal rod like a bat and hit the disc just right. It flew straight back to Robin who was flash-frozen up to his waste. Without the ability to move anywhere or even to take something out of his utility-belt, boy wonder bashed at the ice madly, trying to get free.

"And you say my puns are bad?" Adonis asked mockingly to Cyborg.

Cyborg's response was a quick blast but Adonis was able to duck. Instead of blowing the bad guy away, the shot made a giant hole in the wall. Adonis tried to swiftly roll up again but his armour was starting to give. Therefore, while still on one knee, he threw the barbell like a javelin. Through luck or skill or both it hit Cyborg right in the arm, with enough velocity to penetrate all that circuitry and pin him to the wall, effectively disabling his blaster in the process. In a bitter struggle, the teen titan tried to get his mechanical arm free, but it went very slow. Adonis laughed victoriously as he got up.

"Stop your laughter!" A voice defied him. It was Starfire who, after gently laying down her green friend, stood upright. The villain turned to face her but was across the room. In an angry move she threw five energy bolts. "You will hurt my friends no more this night!"

Once again Adonis was able to dodge the incoming attack, but Starfire was all the way across the room, there was no way he'd get to her without getting hit. His armour was starting to wear down and he knew from personal experience, that Starfire was a force to be reckoned with. "If you insist. He said. Turning around, he sprinted for the hole in the wall made by Cyborg mere moments before. Beyond it lay the cold outside world, basking in the night. He jumped through and made his escape.

"Come back you coward!" The infuriated alien screamed. "This is not yet the over!" She made haste to give chase.

"Yes it is, Star." Robin sighed loudly enough to make his girlfriend halt. "We underestimated him, look around." Starfire did as he asked and saw what he meant. "Cyborg's pinned down, Raven's exhausted, Beast Boy is down and I'm literally on ice."

"But I can..." She started in a futile attempt.

"I believe there's a good chance you could." Her boyfriend replied. "But seeing our track-record tonight, I don't want to risk it. I also don't want to risk the well-being of our team. We're getting them home."

"But what if the Adonis does something horrible again?" She reasoned.

"Next time, we'll be ready. I don't like to admit it, we lost the battle. But Starfire, I promise you, this war ain't over. Now please, can you help me before my toes freeze off!?"

Somewhat reluctantly, Starfire complied.


A few kilometers further, Adonis slowed his pace. At least, his suit slowed down. The wear and tear was was extensive, he realized now. As the sweat ran across his face he did his best to keep it moving. This seemed to include him cursing to the infernal contraption. Right now he was glad the five weren't following him anymore. The upgrades were quite something, but if he had had to face the orange girl as well in the end, he wouldn't have gotten away.

Adonis kept going on ferociously until he reached the abandoned warehouse 5 clicks from Gym. It might not have been as far away from those teenaged heroes as he'd liked, but that ought to teach him for picking a target so close to his lair. Oh yes, if there was anything his time with the brotherhood had thought him, it was that a proper villain needed a proper hide-out. Though the old warehouse itself didn't look like it, it was heavily fortified. The crummy state any passerby would see it in, would be enough to not raise suspicion. The building was tall, and square and looked like a cliche from some second-rate horror-flick. Adonis thought it was perfect.

As the hidden scanner above the heavy metal, entrance checked his eyes, Adonis realized he'd lost the bag of cash in the brawl. It wasn't a lot of money but the thought mattered. Every time he tried something those brats would gang up on him. He could take any of the wimps alone, he knew that. But they just teamed up, just like the jocks used to in school. How he hated them all. He wanted to kill every last one of them.

Well, perhaps not the hooded girl. She was feisty. Adonis contemplated on making some sort of hypnotic ray to force her to be his girlfriend as the doors automatically opened and he walked inside.

Unlike the outdated exterior of the building, it's innards were quite up to date. Upon a time it had looked quite differently and it had had three stories. But seeing as the machinery used for fixing his suit consisted of two giant, cylinder shaped energy-tanks, he had seen the need to remove all these floors and put up new walls as he pleased. Right now he stood in the entrance hall, which was no more than a small corridor. He walked through it and reached a crossroads. Ahead would lead him to his computer-room, the place were he planned all his nefarious deeds. Right would lead him to his living quarters.

Adonis took left, it was there he could store his suit and repair it later on. These quarters consisted of three aligned rooms. The one he came into was the middle one. If he walked to the door on the left side of this place he'd find a storage-unit for all his spare parts. If he took the door opposite to that he'd end up in his laboratory where he made new improved parts for his suit. Though he knew he would have need for both rooms later on, he merely walked to the giant machine that occupied most of the far-end wall of the middle room. In front of the giant cylinders was a piece of metal with a hole in it that was shaped exactly like his mechanized armour. Next to that was the giant computer he'd use to run diagnostics on, and deliver updates into the suit. It looked like it belonged to a deranged scientist, which I suppose it did as a matter of fact. Next to that was a coat-hanger, supporting a red bathrobe and some regular pieces of clothing.

He did the same procedure he'd done a hundred times before. Turn back. Step back. Guide in the electronic wires. Command the suit to open. Jump down.

This time however, due to his fatigue, he didn't even undo his jumpsuit. Rather he just put on the bathrobe and called it a night. The boy headed back through the entrance he came through, ignored the computer room and walked straight into the living quarters. The first room he arrived in was the salon. In the middle stood a huge, red couch shaped like a crescent moon. From it, he could always watch his favourite shows on the giant flat-screen above the doorway. The same doorway in which he now stood frozen in surprise. There were some motivational posters put on the walls which he used to look at when he needed the strength to finish his armor. There were some book shelves and cupboards in which he had interesting stuff to pass his nights. There was even a safe containing his loot. But right now, all those things were irrelevant. He merely looked over to his bar in the far right corner of the room. Especially the unexpected female guest had his attention.

"Good to zee you again, Adonis." Madame Rouge spoke in her thick accent, shaking a cocktail. "I do hope you vont mind me pouring myzelf a liddle drink?" She asked him politely and started pouring the mixture into two glasses. In each glass was a single cherry.

"What are you doing here? I thought you were still in jail." The boy asked in a mistrusting tone of voice as he squinted his eyes at her.

"Come now, old friend. Iz that a vay to treat a lady?" She picked up both drinks, the one in her left went to her mouth, the one in her right was transported all the way to the unwilling host. It was a useful power, the ability to stretch your body like that.

"How did you get past my security systems?" He tried with a different approach.

"A voman haz her vays." She replied coyly. She then proceeded to eat the cherry in her glass.

"But. If. You. Must. Know. It. Was. Honestly. Not. That. Easy." The sound did not come from madame Rouge and droned on without any intonation.

The computerized, deadly voice was enough to make the young man avert his attention from the woman to the source at his left. In another doorway stood the brain. It was once again in it's skull-painted transport vehicle the lad had seen him in so many times when he was still part of the brotherhood of evil. And where the brain was...

"You should be proud of yourself. It took us a while and a lot of close-calls. I don't like close-calls." … the ape was not far behind. Monsieur Mallah stood in the doorway to his right. He had to say no more in that thick accent of his, he looked menacing enough.

"Yes. This. Base. Will. Serve. Our. Purposes. Splendidly. My. Dear. Friend." The hated droning continued.

"Though ve vill have to redecorate." Said the red lady slightly annoyed, finishing her drink. "Thiz iz such a boyz place. But don't vorry. I'm sure you vill like the adjuztmentz I've planned."

"So." The boy asked, thinking he understood the situation. "You wan't me to rejoin the brotherhood and use my lair as a base of operations to destroy the Teen Titans." He sipped his drink, mulling it over. It certainly had an appeal to it, these other villains were smart and strong and with his new upgrades they could definitely take down the Titans. "Perhaps we could ask Cynderblock to join us, we keep in touch sometimes."

"Not entirely so." Said monsieur Mallah, closing in slowly.

The man in the red bathrobe backed away, slightly faster.

"We. Do. Want. Your. Hide. Out. But. This. May. Come. To. You. As. A. Shock."

Adonis felt a sharp, pain erupt in his back and spread across his body quickly. Every muscle in his body tightened and he quickly found himself losing consciousness. He sank to his knees and then fell over completely. Behind him stood General Immortus, holding an electrical prod.

"We. Need. You. For. Something. Else. Monsieur. Mallah. Make. Sure. Our. Friend. Is. Secured. General. Immortus. Have. Your. Troops. Start. Redecorating. This. Place. Madame. Rouge. Go. And. Find. Our. Good. Friend. Chang." The leader of the brotherhood declared.

His team moved at his command.


A good ten minutes after Adonis had left the Teen Titans were all back on their feet. Battered but not broken they moved towards the T-car, parked just outside the nearly abandoned Gym. Robin put something in the trunk and moved for the front-passenger seat. They left the only attendant, an old security guard who in cowardice had hidden from Adonis and the big fight, and asked him to inform the police of what had happened here this night. Though Cyborg was initially reluctant about this because then the fact that they'd lost this fight would be made public. However he understood that it was the right thing to do and eventually complied.

As they neared the T-car, Beast Boy, remarked something vital. Still rubbing his head due to his major headache he asked his friend. "Hey Cy, how are you going to drive with only one hand?" It was a valid point. Cyborg's right hand was still looked like a scrapheap of shards of metal and circuitry. The barbell had done quite some damage. "Maybe you should let me drive, huh?" The green boy continued hopefully.

Victor Stone was standing at the other side of the vehicle at the drivers seat, the doorhandle was in his good hand as he replied. "B if I'm not going to let you drive when you are alright, what makes you think I'd let you risk my baby when you've got some sort of concussion?" He climbed in the car and shut the door.

When BB sank himself in his seat as the last passenger, sitting behind Robin and next to Starfire (who in her turn sat next to Raven) he answered the question. "Maybe my concussion."

"Just get in." Robin complained. "The sooner we're out of this cold, the better."

The half-man, half-robot chuckled. "Don't worry Beast Boy." He said, pulling out a wire from the back of his neck. He plugged it into the T-car's dashboard. "I can drive this beauty hands-free. Just don't try this at home kids." He laughed at his own joke. "And don't worry Robin, the internal heating-system is online." The engine started and Cyborg started the long journey home.

"Strange." Robin said mostly to himself, lost in thought.

"Not really. Our friend Cyborg is always up to the date with the latest of gadgets." Starfire offered.

"No, not that Star." Robin said, trying to make himself clear. "It's just that when you guys talked about Beast Boy's concussion, I was sure Raven would make some sort of remark like: 'A concussion might help Beast Boy'. Or 'You can't hurt what you don't have'."

"Dude, not cool." Garfield spoke in retaliation, rubbing his hurt head but unable to soothe his hurt pride.

"Yeah, that's right Rae." Cyborg continued, "You love ripping on BB. What gives, why ain't ya in the zone?"

In one blink all eyes in the car were turned on Raven, even Cyborg glanced from the road to the rear-view mirror in order to see her reaction.

"I was just mulling about our tremendous defeat back there." Said Raven, clearly uninterested in teasing Beast Boy at this moment. She didn't bat an eye.

"I hear that!" Stone replied in agreement. "Someone mind telling me how we lost to that second-rate villain when we've taken down bad guys like Slade, Brother Blood, Raven's old man and the 'Brotherhood of Evil'?"

"I suppose I could have paid more attention to the fight and not let myself get distracted by my bad choice of words." Said Starfire apologetically. Her eyes were now focused on her lap in shame.

"Don't feel too bad Starfire." Robin filled in. "If I hadn't tried to show off with some long pun, he'd be an ice-cube by now."

"Yeah, and even though I say that pinning me down like that was a lucky one-in-a-million shot, I suppose I could have been more careful." Cyborg admitted reluctantly.

"I even had him down." Logan continued the sharing of blame. "If I hadn't taken pity on him when he cried he'd be in jail by now, where he belongs."

"I had him first. If I hadn't underestimated his upgrades I could have hold him in my grip, saving us all a lot of trouble." The statement was droned in Raven's usual controlled voice but somewhere in it hided a faint sense of shame.

"Next time, team, we don't hold anything back." Robin said.

The five teens thought of their actions and defeat in silence for the rest of the ride. It wasn't until they returned to the tower and entered their giant living-room, finding that Silkie had eaten the last slice, that someone talked again. It was Garfield.

"I really hate that guy." He said. Walking over to the cupboards and pulling out a glass and an aspirin. He filled the glass with tab-water and let the pill dissolve.

"I think we all do not like him very much right now." Starfire said, walking over to the table and picking up a happily sleeping Silkie. She petted him lovingly.

"No. I really hate him."

He grabbed a spoon and shook the mixture to speed things up. When he looked up he saw Starfire eyeing him from over at the table flanked by both Robin with a package on his lap and Cyborg. Both boys were seated. All three were looking at him to continue. Only Raven seemed disinterested as she had reclaimed her place in the sofa with her book.

"It's not just the dude's attitude." Logan clarified. He took a sip and continued. "It's not even just the fact that he beat us, hard. Remember the first time we fought him?"

"The night you got those chemicals poured all over you?" Cyborg asked.

"And you both transformed into those weird werewolves?" Robin asked before Beast Boy could even nod.

"And we thought you had kidnapped Raven and had to fight you, but you kicked the butt so much you could not be defeated?" Starfire continued.

"Sounds vaguely familiar, for some reason..." Robin joked.

Beast Boy nodded in agreement and finished his drink.

"Do you blame Adonis for that?" Starfire asked, remembering correctly that it was technically Beast Boy who pushed the two in harms way.

BB seated himself on a bar-stool and supported his head with his right arm. "Not exactly. He did have this way of pushing me to do everything to stop him because I couldn't take his arrogant ego any longer. But do you remember after we fought as werewolves and brought him back to the Tower."

"To administer the antidote." Robin agreed, confirming he did indeed remember.

"Yeah well. Check this out. He told me, right, when he still thought there was no antidote at all, that he was grateful for what I'd done." The green boy continued.

"Whoa, B, you telling me he was thankful you beat him up and stopped him from hurting Raven? You hearing this Raven?" Cyborg asked confused. He looked over to Raven. Only seeing the back of her head and shoulders, it was still clear that she simply shrugged.

"No dude!" BB intervened, waving his hands to stop his friend and let him know he had the wrong idea. "He was glad I transformed us." He sat up straight. "He could remember just as little as I could. But he did remember all that power."

"I always wondered why you don't use that form more often, actually." Robin interjected. "It's probably your best combination of speed, strength and agility."

"If it could fly, it would be perfect for any situation." Starfire agreed.

"Because I hate it." Beast Boy sighed his explanation. "It means giving in to a sort of scary rage and unlike any other form I can't keep my mind straight. I have no recollection of it afterwards, it's like I erased myself from existence. And all I remember is all that anger. It's creepy dudes. When I turn into that... that thing I become something else, something awful. And that's why I hate him so. He felt the same things but enjoyed it all. He wanted nothing more than that power. The same power that caused me so much suffering..."

The room was silent for a little while. The only sound came from the softly snoring Silkie and Raven, who turned a page.

"Then again..." Garfield said as a smile formed on his face. "It was pretty cool to beat you guys."

"You'll never change, now will you man?" Cyborg laughed. "And don't you worry, I got a plan to find him. Robin, you bring what I asked you?"

"Got it right here Cy." Robin answered, holding up the package he'd put in the trunk of the T-car. He handed it over.

"What is it?" Starfire asked as Victor unwrapped the cloth around it.

"It's the piece of Adonis' armour I blasted off." The cybernetic man answered as he showed the red piece of machinery proudly.

"Perhaps I am not accustomed to your earthly ways." Starfire started shyly. "But I do not understand how that will help us find the bad guy."

"I never told anyone this before." Cyborg answered in order to clarify. "But after we stopped Brother Blood when he used my stolen blue-prints to make his fortress I started to make a special computer to detect my machinery. That way, if it was ever used again, and activated, I could see it immediately and make sure no-one used my tech for bad reasons. The computer is fairly large, so I couldn't bring it over to the 'Titans-East Tower' but it is operational here. With some adjustments I can make it track this kind of armor when it's activated. It'll take most of the night to recalibrate the computer. But if I'm guessing correctly it will take Adonis some time to repair his armor as well so it won't be activated any time soon anyway. But when it does, we'll know where he's hiding."

"Wonderful!" Starfire exclaimed.

"I'll help you reset your computer, Cyborg." Robin answered loyally.

"Thanks man. I appreciate the help. Let's not waste anymore time, okay?" Cyborg replied and stood up. Followed by Robin he made for the giant door.

"I'll come help too." Beast Boy volunteered and jumped of his seat. But with standing up the headache made it's pressence aware, once more in full force. "Aah." He moaned as he rubbed his temples.

"Yeah... I appreciate the offer, B." Victor said slowly as he turned around. "But remember when I let you help me fix the T-car?"

"Those explosions were completely unrelated to me." Beast Boy said. His eyes shifted from left to right, betraying the fact that he knew they weren't. "And anyway, you can't prove anything."

"And when you helped me fix the R-Cycle, the tires mysteriously vanished." Robin stressed.

"Hey! That could have been anybody's fault. For all you know it was aliens. Besides, I got you new ones, didn't I?" Beast Boy said, trying to defend his honour.

"Yeah, shipped out of China. Five weeks and two attacks by Johnny Rancid later."

"Look B. I really appreciate it but seriously man, you look beat. Get some rest okay?" From the tone in Cyborg's voice, though not completely unfriendly, it was clear the discussion was over.

BB grumbled. "Fine."

"I think I'll go to my room as well." Raven declared. She stood up and passed the former ruler of Tamaran and the changeling. "If he does show up tonight or tomorrow morning, that way I'll be ready for him." She followed in the footsteps of the already gone Cyborg and Robin.

During the entire walk to her room, through the dark, cold, metallic and empty hallways, Raven was by herself and thought of her lousy performance during the fight. She wasn't particularly relieved, however, when her green teammate broke her train of self-directed blames. She was a few mere meters away from her room.

"Uh Raven?" The green morphing-master spoke carefully, knowing he was on thin ice. Actually he'd have welcomed thin ice because he already felt like he was drowning. "I just wanted to tell you something."

Raven turned around, no emotion visible in her eyes or on any other distinguishing feature of her face. "Then say it."

"I just wanted to tell you; thanks. Thanks for saving me back there." The green Titan scratched the back of his head. "If you hadn't shown up when you did, Adonis would have squished me like a fly." He stared hopefully at Raven, wanting her to say something. She didn't. "Is it silly of me to take it as a sign that you might be able to forgive me, then, one day, maybe? Pretty please? I really am sorry dude."

This time she did speak. It was a cold tone. Cold enough to freeze the ice thick shut above the imaginary, drowning changeling. "I'm a Titan. I save anybody, it's what we do. You fall under the category of 'anybody'." This time it was Beast Boy who didn't reply. She didn't hang around for him to neither. She turned to walk over to her room and opened the door.

"Raven... I really want to make up for what I said. I just don't know how." Beast Boy implored to her back as she stood in the doorway.

"You don't have to. All you have to do is accept reality and get your feelings under control instead of boring me with them." She closed the door behind her.

For a moment Beast Boy stood frozen. He'd tried. He'd tried so hard to make it right. And this was how it was rewarded? "Fine!" He shouted. "I've had enough of your attitude. You know what dude?! I'm not even sorry anymore!"

The anger rose up inside him. He added something he didn't really mean but in his rage he no longer cared. The frustrated part of him wanted to hurt her and the rest of him desired some form of emotional confirmation that he wasn't dead to her. "I should have let Adonis rip you to shreds when we were wolves!" It wasn't the best insult but with all that had been going on, it was the only thing that popped in his mind.

He turned and looked into the eyes of Starfire. She stood at the far end of the hallway, looking at him with great sadness written all over her face. Instinctively he knew she'd heard all of, not just his own tantrum. Garfield was glad he was to frustrated for tears.

"What are you looking at?" He asked hotly, the fury still burning in his veins. He turned again and stomped off in the opposite direction, off to his room. Here he'd change himself into a mouse and try his best to find comfort between his blankets. A mouse seemed appropriate for he felt like vermin already.

Solemnly and shocked Starfire realized she had to do something as she stood there, alone in the dark hall. But it would have to wait to the next day. In his state of mind Beast Boy was not fit for reason and if she talked to Raven right now, the girl would know she'd been just outside her room and had heard the entire fight.

Yes, it was best to wait 'till morning.