NOTE: Just for the die-hard overly commited comic book fans (as myself) out there. I would like to state that I am still using some facts that may not be comic book related, so please don't correct me on that, I already know. Oh, and also for those who think "sakutia" is real, please realize that it's not. It's not really, I promise. I'm just really good at wrting. .:wink:.
The Beast Returns: Chapter 3
Robin, Cyborg, Starfire, and an unconscious Raven were flying back towards the Titans' Tower in silence that afternoon. The Titans were stunned, shocked, and completely mortified over their loss. Not only did the Titans fail in their mission to save those people from that burning ship, but they had lost someone that no one could replace in their hearts, they had lost one of their team members, a friend, and a part of their family; they had lost Beast Boy. And all the Titans were blaming themselves for it.
The Tower came into view, and they were almost home. Usually the warm and glistening welcome of the Tower would make them all feel like they were victorious in their finished missions. But they weren't today, and when they looked up at the Tower they all thought of nothing but the green changeling that was no more. Cyborg couldn't help but shed a tear for losing his best friend.
"Robin?" he choked over the microphone. He got no reply.
"Maybe we should turn back and search," Robin lowered his head; he was fighting hard against that painful knot in his throat that seemed to threaten tears in his masked eyes.
"And then what? Be torn up even more then we already are? No, we need--,"
"At least we would know, Robin!" Cyborg shouted in the speaker, "We've got to go back! There still could be a chance that he survived! We need to go back! We need to know!" Robin let go of a quiet hiccup to release the tension in that knot of his. He thought about it, and he looked at the Tower that they were heading towards. And then he realized, things would never be the same, the Tower would be a lot quieter now that… He sat back in his seat and sighed.
"We need to take Raven home first,"
He busted through the door like it was nothing but air. He ran inside to catch the cool breeze of the indoors; he felt disoriented and dazed as he tried to regain his focus, but the loss of blood wouldn't allow him so. He fell onto his knees breathing hard on the cold bare floor that was in the Tower's lobby. To any human eye it would appear that he was only tired and weak. Sweat beads were falling down his pale green cheeks, his hair was matted down flat, and his face was dirty and covered in soot. His muscles would tense up, his bones would snap, mounds of hair would grow in strange places he never knew he had, his teeth would grow large and then small again, and as he tried to catch his breath a different animal-like sound came out of him each time he inhaled. All of this would be what any human eye would see, but to him, he knew on the inside that his body was changing…permanently.
He could feel it, he could feel it taking its form inside of him once more, and he knew what he had to do. There was no time to speak or to even question why, so he ran towards the elevator that would take him to his desired location. He constantly pressed the up button until the doors breezed open and he collapsed inside. The doors closed behind him, and he laid there in complete agony, but only for a few moments, for the elevator was impatient and needed to know his destination. He pushed up onto his aching and still transforming kneecaps, so he could press the button that would take him to where he wanted to be. He looked at the eight buttons that were paired together side by side with his sickly yellow eyes, and he slammed his fist down on the button. The elevator chimed happily, now knowing where he needed to go. His fist slowly tensed down and he tried to keep himself balanced as the elevator went up the shaft.
The elevator only went up one level and the doors opened again. He started burning up, he panted when he tried to get up to walk. He began sweating waterfalls when he reached the cabinets on the other side of the sanitized white room. His back sent him one giant jolt of pain and he was on the floor again, and he couldn't take it anymore. He became angry as he literally ripped his uniform right off of him to cool down. Blood flowed like hot tar down his back when it blended with the ashes that were still clinging to him. He couldn't stand the pain, he pummeled his fists right into the cabinet just to release the stress his body was giving off. Two large dents were made into the cabinet that pocketed his fists firmly. He became even angrier with himself when he realized that he might have damaged the contents within. But it didn't matter now; his hands relaxed and shook manically when he opened the doors that revealed his salvation.
He saw small syringes with needles already attached to them on the door to the right. He ignored the syringes for the moment; he was more focused on the thousands of small vials that held thousands of different kinds of medicines for all different kinds of things in the inside of the cabinet. But only one was of interest to him. It was the medicine that was administered to him a long time ago, back when his anger was released in horrifying ways. It was created by his so-called best friend in this very room, and he knew that he still had some left. It was the antidote for his primal beast. And he knew that it was in here.
He began to greedily rummage through all the vials and all the bottles to find the one true medicine that will solve all his problems. He threw all the others that were no use to him on the floor as they shattered at his feet. A puddle of medication blended together on the floor and there were only so many left inside the cabinet. That was until he found it. The contents within the vial glowed a mysterious green in his eyes, but he paid no attention to it as he grasped one of the needle-ready syringes and filled it to its maximum capacity. He lifted his arm, ready to give him his relief. He stabbed his arm on the underside and gave out a loud sharp roar of pain as he injected himself with the antidote. He had never felt more relieved in his life when he fell to the ground and knew no more.
"Titans, get ready to dock," the T-ship was ten miles away from the Tower, it was time to dive under water to the launch pad under the Tower.
"Vertical stabilizers shifted, angle of attack shallow, speed has decreased, passing diving point in approximately two minutes," Cyborg informed, the T-ship began to dive at a twenty degree angle, and it soon hit the surface and was underwater. The jets turned on and the T-ship cruised through the water into the Titan's water shaft that connected to the launch pad. The T-ship landed slowly on the turning dock until it came to a full stop, and the dock began to rise and twirl around until it breached the water's surface inside the Tower. Everyone got out of their cockpit and landed on the dock. Starfire opened up Raven's cockpit and carefully lifted her out of it. Robin moved over to the side of the dock.
"Put her over here, Starfire," Robin asked, Starfire placed Raven on top of a stretcher that was conveniently located under the first aid station in the docks. It was use for these kinds of missions, especially the failed ones.
"Cyborg, can you check her vitals?" Cyborg bent down and lifted up his robotic arm and he studied it as his arm beeped quietly. He put his arm down.
"She's fine, heart rate is a little fast and blood pressure is slightly high, but she'll be alright, she just overstressed herself," Cyborg stood up a little more after he finished.
"Let's get her to her room," Robin commanded.
"Not to the infirmary?" Cyborg raised his human brow. Robin shook his head.
"She just needs some good rest; I've learned well enough in the past to not have Raven wake up in the infirmary. Besides, her mind has got to be throbbing like crazy,"
Cyborg agreed, and the three of them took Raven into the elevator shaft up to the top floor of the Tower. All three of the Titans stood in silent; Cyborg couldn't help but notice the tension increasing in Raven's face, and how her brows quivered. Starfire was staring at the elevator floor and was quietly thinking to herself. Robin sensed her troubled mind and took her hand into his, and she smiled slightly.
The elevator chimed and arrived at the top floor, which held the Operations Room and all of the Titans bedrooms. The elevator doors automatically opened and the Titans stepped out of the shaft.
"I'll carry her from here; that way we can just leave the stretcher in the elevator to take it back," Cyborg suggested, and Robin nodded. He picked up her light figure and walked towards her bedroom with Robin and Starfire in tow. The door opened to Raven's room, and the weary Titans walked quietly inside. Cyborg continued to walk towards her bed, and with a gentle touch, he placed her on top of her bed. The rest of the Titans turned around in silence and left her room in peace.
The door closed behind them; they all stood there in the hallway and gave a long blank stare to each other. The Titans were stumped; they did not know what to do now. All of them felt nothing, all of them felt confused, but most of all the Titans have never felt more worthless. Seconds grew into minutes and minutes seemed to grow into hours. The silence between them lingered in the air for what seemed like forever. However, even in that silence, noises still protrude through halls. The silent churning of machinery inside the walls, the clicking of the computers underneath their feet, and the sounds of the next brand cereal could be heard from the television in the Operations Room, but none of them paid any attention to it. They didn't care; they only cared about the loss of their friend.
"So…who wants to be the one to break the news to Raven?" Cyborg said, breaking the silence. Robin frowned at the thought.
"We shouldn't worry about that right now, we've got bigger things to care about," Robin stated, Cyborg raised his brow in wonder, "I'm going to the Ops," and Robin slumped down the hall.
Cyborg and Starfire lingered behind a little longer; they were trying to figure out what they should do to keep their mind occupied. Then Cyborg realized something.
"Hey, did we leave the TV on?" Cyborg and Starfire began to follow Robin to the Ops. The sound of the television increased as their steps began to retire behind, and Cyborg thought more about the subject along the way. He doesn't remember turning the television on, nor does he remember anyone watching it before they left this morning. So how could it still be on? To his human mind, he may have just overlooked the thought. However, once the door slid open, he had his answer, and Starfire gasped in shock.
"No…,"
"It's…not possible,"
"Oh, hey guys, how's it going?"
Beast Boy was sitting on the sofa watching television when the Titans came in. He turned around and smiled softly at them. A double take required all three of them to fully comprehend what they were seeing in front of them. Nevertheless what they saw was true. It was indeed Beast Boy. He was sitting there laughing at one of his favorite programs while the others couldn't figure out what to say. At that precise moment, Robin, Starfire, and Cyborg were on an emotional roller coaster that no one knew how to stop. Cyborg felt happy yet extremely upset at the same time; he didn't know if he should hug the grass stain or strangle him until he turned purple. Starfire felt confused; she wasn't sure if he was even there. Starfire kept denying herself that he is just a ghost and that he isn't real. She quivered as she gently grasped Robin's arm. However, Robin knew better to think that this was a spirit of Beast Boy; he knew that he was definitely the real deal. Thus, Robin was enraged; his mask furrowed, his lips tightened, his teeth grind, and his muscles tensed. How could he just sit there and smile like nothing happened? They had just lost so many people out there. It was time to get some answers.
"Where were you!" Beast Boy turned back around to watch the television again; blowing off the question like it was dust on his shirt. Robin growled and stormed towards the sofa, "Answer me!"
"I was on the ship, dude," Beast Boy stood up to face him with the sofa between him and Robin, "'trying to protect the innocent,'"
"You disobeyed orders," Robin judged a little too quickly for his own tastes. Beast Boy was offended.
"Oh, really? And in what way did I disobey orders?" he asked sardonically, purposely disrespecting Robin.
"You and Raven were supposed to stay on deck and save those people!" Robin yelled angrily.
"She told me to go down to the bottom of the ship and support it--,"
"You are suppose to contact me and the others to inform of a new order,"
"Like I had the time! The flames were gaining up on--,"
"You could've made time! You could have sent Starfire out to help Raven! You could have saved all those people!" Beast Boy turned to walk around the sofa to go to his room.
"I was busy trying to do…something else!" he tried to cover up his story. He didn't want to tell Robin what he saw down there in the dining hall. He wouldn't understand. Nobody understands. Which was why he was walking fast towards the door to avoid this conversation, but Robin intercepted him.
"And what was that, Beast Boy? It definitely wasn't supporting the ship because the ship's already gone now,"
"The ship was going down anyway!" The others couldn't believe what he just said. Robin was about to lose his patience, when Beast Boy said this. The silence in that room couldn't be anymore deadly then it already became when the three Titans first walked through the door. How could he be so selfish?
"You…cost thousands of innocent lives on that burning cruise ship," Robin got deathly close to his face, so close that Beast Boy could make out the outline of his eyes within his mask, "and all because you were doing 'something else,'" Beast Boy gave the tightest stare that he ever gave in his life and it was directly at Robin. He growled softly and his muscles tensed within his clothes.
"You leave Raven to save those people alone, you suddenly disappear without contact, you have us mourn over you because we all thought that you were dead! What exactly did you do Beast Boy? Because it seems to me that you did absolutely nothing!"
"Don't you just pin this on me, Boy Blunder!" He stood up straight so he could get right into Robin's face, "All of you have as much fault in this as I do! Where exactly were you, all-fearless leader? Oh, that's right! You were snuggled up all warm and cozy inside the T-ship, while me and Raven are risking our lives to save others!"
"You saved no one! Raven was the only one obeying orders and now she's overstressed herself to a point of unconsciousness, and all because you weren't there to help," Beast Boy's blood began to boil inside of him. He began to shake with anger as beads of relieving pain rolled down his green cranium. Robin and Beast Boy both stood there in mass amounts of anger; they both were staring each other down like an evil criminal. Robin realized that he couldn't look at Beast Boy anymore; he felt completely disgusted with the green changeling. Robin walked over to the counter island and leaned up against it; he forced himself into deep thought.
Their job was to protect the innocent, use their power for good, and to bring justice to anyone who opposes. To Robin, Beast Boy broke the biggest one of all; he did not only disobey, but he completely ignored it. Ever since Robin first met him, he perceived the green changeling as a person would eventually disobey an order. However, he never imagine that he would pull a stunt like this. Beast Boy was always a laid-back person, but Robin never once believed that he would let his laziness get in the way of innocents. That was until Beast Boy developed this recent attitude of his. And Robin has had enough of it.
The awkward silence once again rose into the air. Cyborg and Starfire were watching this verbal war the entire time, but their eyes were still glued to Beast Boy, who was standing deathly still and only focusing on the wall across from him with his slits of eyes. Robin eventually spoke again.
"Now the media is going to be on our tails for months. There's going to be law suit after law suit from all of this," he said with creepy calm. He sighed and stood up straight, "And I can just see the headlines now, 'Teen Titans fail for first time,' 'Teen Titans responsible for thousands of lives,' 'Teen Titans mass murderers!'" He hit his fist on the counter top; everyone, except Beast Boy, flinched in surprise. He walked back in front of Beast Boy.
"I don't see any reason why I shouldn't just kick you off this team right now and take you straight to jail, Beast Boy," Robin began to lose it. Starfire gasped again.
"Don't you dare talk to me like that," Beast Boy growled at him. Robin was ready for him.
"Is that a threat?" Robin said in his same tone. Beast Boy was breathing hard, his fists tightened, and he was ready to pounce.
"Maybe it is, because I've had enough of the way you are treating me," Beast Boy said.
"And I've had enough of your attitude! You and your pissed off little self is the major reason of why we failed!" He rubbed his brow, "When are you going to change, Beast Boy? When are you going to finally grow up and start facing reality like a man? When are you going to stop taking life like it's just a big joke and start realizing the importance of protecting this city!"
"I don't have to hear this," Beast Boy began to pace towards the sliding doors. Robin intercepted him again.
"You're not going anywhere," Robin growled.
"Move, Robin," Beast Boy growled right back.
"I'm not done with you yet," Robin stared him down.
"Move over, Robin," Beast Boy said menacingly low.
"Not until I have your communicator," That was the last straw.
"GET OUT OF MY WAY!" He roared. Beast Boy grabbed Robin's arm so quickly Robin didn't have time to think, and he flung him over his shoulders into the window across the entire Operations room. The windows were so thick that Robin did not go through, but he hit it hard enough to leave a crack and a large bruise on the back of his head.
"Robin!" Starfire cried and flew towards him along with Cyborg. Robin opened his eyes and found Beast Boy had already left.
"That spike-headed freak!" Beast Boy yelled when he stormed through his bedroom door, "He can't treat me like that! He doesn't even have the right to!" He started grabbing closed wardrobe drawers and thrower them across the room. "Nobody treats me like that! Nobody!" He took his claws and swiped the sides of his walls. He stood still, breathing in deeply with aggression. He lifted up his arms to look at the palms of his hands; they were still in claw form. Then, he remembered the changeling he met on the ship, and he wondered…how? Beast Boy transformed his claws back to normal and sat down in his chair in front of his desk, but when he sat down he was sent a jolt of pain from his lower back and he yelped. Annoyed by his weakness, he removed the top of his uniform leaving his torso bare. Beast Boy was bandaged around his front and back. The back of him was still white, but the front was lightly red. He finally found his comfort, removed his shredded clothes off his computer screen, and began his search.
The sun in all its shining glory began to depart behind the city lights when Raven woke up. It was not dark, but the glimmering sun was bright enough to shine straight through her bedroom window and blind her with beams of light when she turned over. She groaned and covered her eyes with her forearm and rolled over again to get more sleep. Immediately her eyes darted open.
"The ship! Ahh!" she exclaimed and slammed her palms into her forehead, it throbbed as if her mind wanted to escape her skull. Raven laid back down to try and make the pain go away; it eventually resided. She released the tension in her face and just laid there on her bed trying to remember how she had gotten back into her room. She remembered the burning cruise ship, the mass amounts of people that her and Beast Boy had to save, but she didn't know if they saved everyone or not.
"I must've blacked out," she muttered aimlessly, "I told Cyborg that there was too many people for me and Beast Boy to handle," The sound of his name drew her attention, and she realized that the last thing that she could remember was Beast Boy running into the fires of the cruise ship.
"Beast Boy," she said to the ceiling, "I wonder if he made it out okay," Raven decided that she had rested enough and went down to the Operations Room to find anyone that would give her some answers.
Raven opened the door to the Ops. to only walk in and discover Robin watching the news on the television. She walked down rubbing the side of her head slightly as she traveled towards the sofa. Suddenly, she felt a huge wave of anger rush all over her; she stopped in her tracks and quickly figured out that Robin was emulating this tremendous vibe of emotion. Raven approached Robin with extreme caution, for she was expecting the worse from him, as if he was going to literally explode or something. She guessed that he was aware of her presence and decided to speak up.
"Robin," she called. No response came to him. Raven felt him tense up and his anger grew. She quickly pressured her head with the soft of her palm to relieve her of his angry tirade.
"Robin, would you please calm down? Your anger is giving me a huge headache," Raven rubbed her temples with her fingers, trying to add some relief to her aching head. In several difficult seconds, Robin's anger eventually resided and Raven's mind could function properly.
"Thank you," Robin sat there feeling calmer than he was before, however he still had the same angered expression grazing his face as he watched the television screen intently for news reports. Raven noticed his unchanging physical appearance, especially when he did not respond back to her, and still felt a bit of his heated emotions.
"Would you like to tell me why you are so angered?" She gave it a shot. After all, she wanted to know.
"I don't want to talk about it," Robin stated in a low menacing grunt. Raven felt a little uncomfortable after his response, she didn't want to press the matters anymore then they already seem to be doing.
"Okay…," she said fearfully. Since Robin was in no mood for talking, or rather than telling her what happened, she decides to find out where the others were.
"Do you know where the others are?" she asked calmly slow.
"Walking Silkie, in garage," he said or rather grumbled. Nonetheless, Raven understood what he said. With Robin's recent unnatural ability to speak, she pieced to together that Starfire was taking Silkie out while Cyborg was working on his car. However, he forgot someone.
"What about Beast Boy?" Robin's tension grew as his muscles stiffened. Raven could sense his anger rising dangerously high as she suddenly heard his teeth grinding soundly behind the noise of the television. Now, she was starting to get nervous.
"Alright…I'll find out later," he was like a time bomb that may go off any second. Therefore, to not try and fan the already rising flames, she quickly turned back to find Cyborg to see if he could give her any answers.
Raven exited the Ops, quickly paced towards the elevator, and went down the shaft all the way down to the underground sector of Titans' Tower. There she would find the garage and the underwater hanger to the T-ship. Raven stepped out of the elevator and took a sharp right into the Titan's personal garage, or nicknamed "Cy's Shop," since Cyborg was the only one who would stay in the garage for hours at a time. She saw Cyborg working on his car in silence. Besides the sounds of intense drilling and welding, she found this very strange that there was no sound, no music, or any kind of talking whatsoever, it disturbed her somewhat that Cyborg could work without his blaring music. Raven walked quietly towards him, Cyborg has the hood of the T-car propped up and seemed to be welding something within the engine.
"Cyborg?" Raven called in curiosity. Cyborg halted his welding and lifted his mask of metal from his head to get a clearer picture of Raven standing next to his car. He smiled.
"Oh, hey, Raven. Mind givin' me a hand?" Cyborg spoke in a seemingly fake cheerfulness that couldn't fool Raven. However, she shrugged her shoulders and decided to help him out; it was the only way she would be able to get some answers from him.
"What do you need?" she said as she walked towards the tool table.
"five eighths and a three quarters," Raven grabbed the necessary tools and hand them over to Cyborg. He immediately began working on upgrading his new engine, which left the two in a moderate silence. Cyborg continued to work on his car, and Raven continued to give and take tools from Cyborg. One thing that Raven did notice about Cyborg was that he kept working on the same part of his car. He kept re-doing the same repair to past the time, so to snap him out of it she decided to speak up.
"So, how long was I out?" Raven asked trying to make a conversation. Cyborg stopped bustling with his car to look up at her. He gave her a fake smile.
"Not long, only a few hours," he said.
"A lot can happen in a few hours," Cyborg drooped his head down, staring at the concrete of the garage, "and the last place I remember was the cruise ship," Cyborg started to tense.
"Why don't you go ask Robin to fill you in? I'm sure he'll have more information than I do. He has been watching the news ever since we got home," Cyborg said in his still fake voice.
"Robin is upset and in no mood to talk about what happened. Plus, Starfire is out, and Robin wouldn't tell me where Beast Boy is, so that leaves you," Raven hated being left in the dark about news that everyone else knew; she was already in the dark much of the time anyway, but when it came to important information that may cost innocent lives or the well-being of her friends, she wanted to know what was going on. Something didn't feel right either, Raven could sense how Cyborg was feeling, even if he was half-machine; anger, disappointment, even shock was illuminating from him, but what made her feel like something was wrong was when Cyborg was feeling betrayed, and that worried her a bit.
"Look, Raven, I…," he sighed, "I don't know what to tell you. Once you blacked out, everything just went wrong," Now, Raven was concerned.
"What do you mean?" she asked. Cyborg had to gather as much courage as he could to tell her the truth. It was hard for him, because not only they had failed to save so many lives, but also Raven would feel like it was her fault. He knew her too well not to know that. However, Raven needed to know the truth, but his heart was just not ready yet.
"I…really don't want to break this to you. Actually…I really don't want to talk about it at all right now," he looked up and saw disappointment written all over her face. Raven inhaled and decided to accept that answer from him.
"Alright, I can understand that, but can you at least tell me where Beast Boy is?" she asked him. Cyborg wasn't too quick to answer this question; it was another question he didn't want to answer, but he couldn't deprive her of both questions.
"He's in his room," Raven nodded.
"I'm going to see if I can talk to him," she said. Cyborg realized what she said and stopped her in her tracks.
"Wait," Raven turned around and he had her attention again, "When we came home afterwards, we found Beast Boy watching TV, and that's why Robin is furious right now. I've tried to get Beast Boy come out of his room all day to try to calm both of them down, but he just yells at me and says that he doesn't want to talk,"
"So, you want me to be careful?"
"Not just that, find out some answers first. Personally, I think he's hiding something from us,"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, something happened to him on that cruise ship that he doesn't want anyone to know about, he said that no one would understand," Raven understood and decided to go to him.
"I'll see what I can find out,"
Beast Boy typed away on his keyboard; he was searching for any clues that would lead to the mysterious changeling he met just hours earlier. He typed only one word in his search bar, a word that has haunted him most of his life, "Sakutia." He pressed enter. Beast Boy was not surprised that only one article appeared on the screen. He picked the article and began to read.
What is Sakutia?
Sakutia, also known as "Green Fever," is a lethal and rare viral infection that can cause various nerve symptoms; Sakutia attacks the Central Nervous System. Once Sakutia enters the bloodstream the virus travels up the body and through the heart until it is exposed to the brain. Sakutia slowly takes over the brain by one section at a time.
There are three stages of Sakutia that will ultimately lead to death if not treated immediately.
First stage: Sakutia latches onto the brain stem and the pons. The patient's symptoms will be composed of loss of breath, weakness in muscle strength, high fever, high blood pressure, and the inability of digesting foods. A very likely sign is a green pigment around the area of infection in the skin.
Second stage: Sakutia takes over the cerebellum of the brain. The patient's symptoms are as follows: hallucinations, loss of balance and equilibrium, loss of voluntary motor movement, numbness in all lower and upper extremities (arms and legs), and a green discoloration of blood in the vessels that shows through the skin.
Third stage: Sakutia is exposed to the cerebrum of the brain. At this point both the brain stem and the cerebellum have been permanently damaged. The patient's heart will stop at this stage at any given time.
Sakutia can be misjudged as a common snakebite. Once infected with this disease the patient has no less than forty-eight hours to survive. However, as deadly and horrible this viral infection may be, there have only been seven cases of Sakutia known throughout the entire world. All seven patients were infected within the boundaries of middle Africa.
Is there a cure for Sakutia?
Of recent studies of Sakutia there is no cure for the disease, but there is one record of treatment. This treatment was an untested chemical link between the human and the common chimp to uncover the secret of universal immunity. The scientists that produced this link were the geneticists Mark and Marie Logan. This medication was used to treat their son, Garfield Logan, after unexpectedly receiving a bite from the Cercocebus virdis, otherwise known as the Green-capped Mangabey in the forest where their laboratory was located in Africa.
There is no record to the whereabouts of Garfield Logan or if he is still alive today. He was last seen in Africa before his depart to the United States after the tragic death of his parents in a boat accident two years after his treatment.
Dr. Samuel Register is the latest scientist in heading the research for a cure for Green Fever. However, after recent events, Dr. Register has been disapproved on the project after federal discoveries have been made in his lab in unorthodox procedures and illegal human testing of dangerous cures. Unofficial information has it that Dr. Samuel Register transferred to STAR labs and heads the Control of Supernatural Diseases department for the past five years.
This article was presented to you by STAR Laboratories.
Beast Boy leaned back in his chair, but later regretted it. He yelped loudly in pain when he sat up straight by reaction.
"Sounds like that hurt," his heart jumped in surprise at the sound of a voice from behind. He quickly turned around to find Raven leaning against the tween of his doorway. Beast Boy furrowed his brows giving her a dirty look. Raven felt his annoyance grow inside of him, but kept her ground firm.
"You of all people should know how to respect common privacy of others," he said intentionally.
"It's nice to see you're okay too, Beast Boy," Raven fully walked into his room and shut the door behind her. She leaned up against the door as Beast Boy moved to lie down on his bottom bunk.
"Humph, what do you want anyway? Come to yell at me too?" he very rudely said.
"I don't know what happened, so I can't yell at you even if I really wanted to," Raven lifted herself up from his door and sat down at his computer to try to talk with him better. Beast Boy was laying stomach down on his bed facing away from her and staring at his bedroom wall. Silence overcame them for a short time, for Raven was trying to think of what to say without getting him too upset as Cyborg warned. She can see why.
"So, um, I'm a little…hazy on the details; do you mind telling me what happened?" Beast Boy still faced his bedroom wall.
"Why don't you ask someone else? I'm sure they'll be happy to explain it," he said sarcastically. Raven rolled her eyes.
"Everyone has left me in the dark, and everyone is still upset about it too. I'm starting to worry a little," she said to his bare bandaged back. Beast Boy was dead silent. Great, he thought, they didn't tell her; now I have to break the news, what a great bunch of friends I have. He didn't want to tell her, and didn't have to tell her, that was his choice and he decided to keep his silence unless she asked for it.
"How many survived?" she asked quickly, pulling the pieces together since he wasn't going to do it for her.
"Only the few that you and Starfire saved,"
"What about the other ship that came?"
"It went down when the cruise ship exploded,"
"So…all those people…,"
"…were sent to the depths of Davy Jones' Locker," After he said this, she asked no more questions.
Beast Boy was expecting some kind of response from her. However, he wasn't waiting for her to scream or yell or anything, that wasn't what Raven would do. He was expecting a gasp, maybe a little squeak, or she would shift her weight around, but all he had was dead silence. He heard nothing for several seconds, he guessed he shouldn't be surprised by that, but he wondered…could she really be that cruel not to care about that loss? Or was she taking a moment of silence? Either way he was waiting for to say something. He heard her take in a deep breath.
"Well…we can't undo what's been done, it's all in the past now," She's accepting it? How can she accept the fact that the Titans failed in their mission and lost thousands of lives in that ocean? Plus, she just moves on as if nothing happened within those few seconds of silence? He was angry. He was angry with her. She really was a demon after all, he thought.
"I should've held out longer," He heard her speak, and he slowly lifted himself up and over his shoulder to see where she was. Raven was standing next to his window gazing at the waters outside, the sun was setting and it was getting dark out there, "I could've gathered more strength and I could have carried more people or something," She moved away from the window and sat back down, "I just…can't believe that many lost their lives within a small amount of time,"
"All of us had fault in this, don't just blame yourself," Raven looked up at him, he had his back turned, she furrowed her brows at that comment he made, "Don't go beating yourself over it anyway; I've already taken most of the heat,"
"I guess Robin is a little upset about the whole thing," she responded.
"'A little' is an understatement," he said under his breath. Raven nodded her head in agreement, and relaxed her eyes on her palms
"Cyborg said that he's been watching the news ever since we returned home," she looked up from her hands, and noticed that his back was still turned. She hoped that he was still listening, "I can't say I blame him, now that I know why,"
"I heard the media knocking on our front door already," After Beast Boy had said this, there was a long silent pause. Raven had run out of things to say, and she really didn't want to stay on this subject for long. Plus, she was incredibly surprised that he had allowed her to be in his room for so long. Maybe he has cooled down a bit from this morning, but her emotional magnet of a mind was telling her otherwise. He was still angry, and she felt tons of hatred for Robin coming from him. There was really nothing she could do to calm that emotion down; Robin must have really blown all out at him. The next thing that Raven knew she had to do was start a different subject to get his mind off this cruise ship tragedy.
"So, you want to finish our talk?" she asked him shyly.
"What?" he turned around completely looking confused.
"I said do you want to finish our talk?" a slight pause was enough for Raven to know that Beast Boy was still confused, "You said you wanted to talk later this morning. Well, it's now later, do you still want to finish what we started?"
Raven figured that finishing their earlier conversation would help her get some answers that will fulfill both hers and Cyborg's questions about his recent attitude and behavior lately. Beast Boy finally understood what she was talking about, but turned his back on her again and lay back down on his bunk.
"No," Raven was slightly surprised.
"Why not?" Raven tried to sound as sincere as possible, and she tried not to give him the wrong idea.
"Because I'm not in the mood," he said.
"Well…how so?" she came back. Raven really wanted him to talk to her, and not just for her sake.
"Because I don't know if I tell you my secrets that you're going to go blabbing to everyone else," Beast Boy began to get aggravated; Raven could feel it.
"I can assure you, Beast Boy, that I'm not that kind of person, and I won't tell anyone,"
"No offense, Raven, but I don't think I can even trust you," this statement felt like a pin needle against her heart. She was trying to be his friend, and he can't even trust her. What kind of friend is that if they can't share just one secret?
"Well…why not? What did I do?" she said. Beast Boy sat up and propped himself on his pillow and began to count off on his fingers.
"Well, for one, you insult me. You abuse me, emotionally and physically. You don't have any respect for me as a person or even as a friend. You never want to do the things that I want to do. You treat me as if I'm some bad little kid that needs to be bossed around, and you ignore me to no end. So right now, Raven, I don't consider you a person of trust,"
Raven was silent, and she lowered her head in disappointment for herself. She didn't realize how she has treated him over the years they've been on this team. However, she couldn't just blame herself. Beast Boy played a major part in their daily conflict too. He would always try to start something to get a rise out of her that would ultimately lead to Beast Boy getting his can kicked. Besides, how else was she going to get him quiet? The verbal and more calm way wasn't getting through his skull. So, she felt like she had no other choice sometimes, after all she is half-human. Plus, he says Raven doesn't have respect for common privacy? He should talk, because Beast Boy is the one who interrupts her reading for the most silliest things. So, Raven shouldn't blame herself for his pain, no. Beast Boy brought this onto himself. However, she decided to go ahead and apologize for everything that she did do to him.
"I guess I deserve that," she said in her usual low neutral tone, "I have done all those things to you, but at least I'm trying to redeem myself by talking to you now," he gave her no response, she could feel that he was thinking deeply, "tell me what you're feeling."
"You wouldn't understand, no one does,"
"Well, I don't understand now, but if you could--,"
"Don't you get it Raven? I don't want to talk! I don't want you in here and I don't want you--ack!" Beast Boy turned around a little too quickly for his tastes, grabbed his lower back, and fell down onto his bunk bed again. He slowly massaged his bandages, putting pressure on his wounds, and he was groaning in pain. Raven moved closer to sit next to him on his bunk, and she attempted to heal him.
"Don't touch me," he growled. He grabbed a hold of her hand to prevent her from healing him. Raven was offended.
"I'm only trying to help you," she reasoned.
"I don't need your help; I can heal on my own," Beast Boy moved away from her, sitting on his bed and keeping his back away from her, "why can't you just go away!"
"Forgive me for having a sense of worry for the well-being of one of my friends," she said getting angered. Raven didn't want to spend any more time in his room if he wasn't going to appreciate her help. She lifted herself up from his bed and walked towards his door. Beast Boy gave a low growl at her as if she was a predator. Raven stopped at his door.
"Beast Boy, I hope you realize that I was only trying to help you, and it doesn't matter if I don't understand or not, at least I would listen, unlike others. If you insist on treating me as you are now, then you can guarantee that I won't offer anything to you again, because, in my opinion, you don't deserve it," and she shut the door behind her.
Raven walked down the hallway to get far away from Beast Boy's room, but unfortunate for her, her bedroom was right next to his, so she couldn't go very far. However, she decided to go to the Ops. to see what everyone else was doing. She had spent a good thirty minutes in his room, she wondered if Starfire had returned from walking Silkie, she also wondered if Robin had calm down enough to talk to. Raven entered the Ops. to find all of the Titans sitting on the sofa watching the television. Cyborg was the first to notice she had walked in the room.
"So, how'd it go?" Raven walked towards the kitchen, after that she needed some tea.
"I think he needs to be slapped in the face at least a dozen times until he gets a nose bleed,"
"That bad, huh?" Cyborg asked with his arm over the sofa, watching her boil her water, "Well, it wouldn't be so bad if Robin hadn't threaten to kick him off the team," Raven's head perked up.
"He what?"
"Oh, yeah, you were still out of it," Cyborg said. Robin turned himself to Cyborg.
"What else was I suppose to do?" Robin argued.
"You could have reasoned with him instead of yelling at him, makin' him feel even more lousy,"
"He didn't feel anything, he could care less!"
"You still should have reasoned with him," Raven broke this argument, and took Cyborg's side. She made her tea and sat down with everyone on the sofa. Starfire nodded her head at Raven's response.
"Agreed. Robin you shouldn't have yelled at him. He has been on this team as long as all of us. We have become a family here in our times together, and you were about to take that away from him when you said that you wanted his communicator," Robin sighed, he hated it sometimes when his girlfriend was right, "we wouldn't want to wish that on any on our comrades, no matter what wrongs they have caused,"
"You're right," Robin felt low saying this, it was another pet peeve of his, being wrong, "…you're right," Starfire took his gloved hand into hers, and he began to think about the matters at hand, "Then…I guess our next step is to try to talk to him, as friends, instead of teammates. We need to know why he's acting this way, and what exactly is he feeling to make him act this way," The others agreed, Robin thought about what they should to try to execute this plan, "Raven, did you feel anything from Beast Boy that was unusual?"
"I couldn't," she replied promptly.
"You couldn't?" Robin asked.
"His anger was so loud that it masked any other emotions that he may be experiencing. The only other way that I would be able to identify any unusual emotions would to touch his mind and absorb his feelings," she finished and took a sip of her tea. Robin understood the tasks, and everyone knows that no matter how upset Robin will get, he will do anything to keep this team, this family, together.
"We may have to arrange that somehow later,"
Beast Boy removed the syringe from his arm and placed the bottle of medicine back into the white cabinet. He held the syringe in his hand as he began to clean it aggressively. Beads of sweat were rolling down his green face faster and faster with every negative thought that crossed his mind. He finished cleaning and placed everything back in it's proper place. He placed his forehead against the cool white wall before him in the infirmary and attempted to relax his troubled mind, but nothing seem to work. He growled in frustration and hit his fist against the wall.
"Why am I so hot?" he began to take off his shirt to try to cool off, but the window caught his eye. He walked over to it and gazed upon the view on the other side. He saw the moon glistening against the cold waves of the ocean. But then, an idea struck him, "I think I'll go for a swim."
To be continued...
Okay, if that wasn't PAINFULLY obvious who the villain is, I mean seriously I just gave it away like three times, then you need to re-take you're already failing literature class.