Chapter 7: Mall chaos

Nicholas Galtry was driving in the middle of downtown; he was looking for the best place to spread the hate for his nephew. He already marked the beach, park and now downtown. He would return to these places later on in the day after he finished his scouting. Just as he was about to take a side road something caught his eye. It was a car, but it wasn't any ordinary car. It was the T-Car, the Teen Titans usually vehicle of choice. The car was almost impossible not to recognize; it was the only car on the streets that was armored. A sinister smiled grew on his face he couldn't believe his luck.

"I can't believe it. The Titans are out on a joy ride. Hopefully Garfield is with them. I could have a little fun with this."

Galtry watched the car pull up to an intersection. Making a u turn he followed the car and pulled up next to it. Taking a look into the car he smiled at what he saw. Every single Titan was in the car including his nephew. At the moment he was talking to a red headed woman and another with a hood. The two other boys were in the front listening intently to what his nephew had to say. The boy in the passenger then looked out his window and made eye contact with Galtry. Realizing this was the team leader, Robin Galtry waved at him. Robin just smiled at him and waved back. The light turned green, the T-Car then accelerated slightly ahead of Galtry's car; he stayed a comfortable distance behind of the car. Finally the T-Car turned into a parking lot; they were at the Central mall. Galtry pulled into a parking spot ten cars away from theirs. He watched as all the Titans stepped out of the car and headed for the entrance to the mall. Once again Robin looked directly at Galtry, this time a little suspicious. Galtry tried to act natural, like he was preparing himself to get out of the car. Once the boy wonder stopped looking his way, he quietly dropped a couple curses.

"That was too close. Robin is more observant than I thought. I'm going to have to keep a further distance away from them." Looking at the mall, he let out a small laugh. This was the perfect place to start his plans. He could also keep an eye on his nephew, he let out another laugh. He loved his ingenious mind.

Robin turned back to his friends he had a strange feeling about the person in that car. Something about that man was off; it almost felt like he was following them here. He was about to speak out his suspicions to the others but then a thought jumped into his brain. The man was probably just going to the mall like any other busy citizen who had nothing to do on a Sunday morning. He looked back at the man one last time and the unnerving feeling came back to him. Something was definitely not right about this man. Deciding it would be best to speak his mind, Robin was about to open his mouth but was forced into the mall by a very excited alien.

Losing sight of the man, the boy wonder spoke to his team. "Hey guys did anyone else notice the guy behind us a second ago? Something about him seemed off. I got a strange feeling from him, something unnerving."

"Yeah, I got the same feeling when I saw him at the intersection five minutes ago. I don't like this Rob." Cyborg remarked.

The three other Titans just looked behind them; they didn't see anybody so they just shrugged their shoulders and began to venture further into the mall. Robin and Cyborg both looked at each other; both giving each other a 'forget about it look, but keep your eyes open' look. Both nodded their heads and followed the others.

An hour had passed and all five Titans were walking on the second floor looking at all the shops trying to find something interesting. Whenever Starfire saw a store she liked, she would force all her friends into the store to help her look for something. For everyone else this was incredibly painful, because she always brought them to clothes stores. It wasn't until Raven pulled her aside giving her a quick talk did the alien girl finally stopped pushing them to random stores. The only exception was Robin; he had to be in every store his girlfriend picked.

Laughing at his leader's disinterest, Cyborg looked at his two companions and saw something that surprised him. Whenever Beast boy was not paying attention, Raven seemed to be checking him out. Cyborg was staring at the two for a moment in astonishment and confusion. He looked away for a second and looked back again, this time Raven was just standing there waiting for the other two to return from the store. Thinking it was just his imagination he ignored it. But there it was again, he looked away and she checked him out again. Now Cyborg was freaking out; his whole world just flipped upside down. He doubled back again to make one final confirmation, nothing changed. Cyborg mind began to race. 'Since when did this happen? How did I not see this coming? But wait, this is my little sister Raven and best bud BB. What the Hell is going on here?'

At this point Robin and Starfire returned from the store, letting out a sigh of relief Raven began to walk ahead of the group. She wanted to go to the only store in the whole mall that made her feel comfortable. It was a small gothic store; that contained numerous Edgar Allen Poe stories and other dark authors. Once she went into the store Cyborg began to speak to Robin.

"Uh Robin? I'm going to need to talk to Star for a minute alone, okay? I just want to ask her something." The boy wonder just shrugged as he watched his best friend drag his girlfriend off to a corner.

"What is it friend? Is something wrong? You seem to be on edge." Starfire was now watching a fidgety Cyborg.

Cyborg was twirling his fingers for a minute before he practically screamed at Starfire in confusion.

"What the Hell is going on with Raven?" Cyborg was flailing his arms in the air at this point. Starfire was now looking at Cyborg strangely, she was very confused.

"What do you mean? There isn't anything wrong with friend Raven. She seems fine at the moment." Cyborg just planted his face in his hands. He knew she had an idea at what was going on, he just needed to ask the right questions.

"Why is she looking at BB like that?" After hearing the question, Starfire began to jump up and down in excitement. She felt a huge weight lift off her shoulders. Someone else on the team now had an idea about Raven's affection.

"Oh Cyborg you finally see what I see. Raven is in love with Beast boy." She jumped up and hugged the stunned metallic man. Cyborg didn't know what to think. His little sister was in love with his best friend. He then buried deep into his own memory trying to find out when this happened. His brain pushed out dozens of memories that confirmed his thought. His eyes widened even more when he remembered what the two girls said yesterday afternoon. He now understood what they meant.

"Wait? So Raven likes BB? Does he know about this? Why did I never see this coming? And how long has this been going on?" Starfire tried to calm him down but was failing. Finally calming down he waited for her to respond.

"Yes. Raven has the feelings for Beast boy. No he doesn't know yet. You never saw this coming because you were too busy teasing Beast boy about Terra and hanging with the Bumblebee. And from what Raven has told me, she has liked him for a long time. I think since the Malchior incident." Starfire was now looking at a statue. Cyborg was frozen in place he couldn't figure out how to react to what he just heard.

Looking over at his friends Cyborg saw Raven walking toward a distracted Beast boy who was looking down at the first floor; she was now carrying a bag containing two books. He looked back at Starfire and finally spoke.

"Okay, I think I'm over the initial shock. I'll confront her about it tonight. Mind telling her I know about it?" Starfire nodded. Looking back at Raven who was once again checking out Beast boy, Cyborg sat on the ground and closed his eyes. "On second thought, I don't think I'm over it yet. This is too weird for me Star." Starfire patted the man's back.

"Cyborg it was bound to happen. Now we have to wait for her to make her move. I asked if I could help but she refused. She wants to do this alone." Finally accepting the truth, Cyborg looked back at Raven. This time when she looked at the changeling he didn't freak out; he actually saw something there. As he got up he smiled at the alien girl in front of him.

"Alright, I'm definitely over it now. Now that I think about it, they are perfect for each other. Huh, who would have thought?" Smiling Starfire took Cyborg's hand and dragged him back to the waiting group. Robin was staring at Starfire strangely while Raven and Beast boy were watching Cyborg with strange looks. Cyborg looked at his two friends and smiled. Confused Raven looked at Starfire. Starfire mouthed the words, "he knows" to her before she walked off with her boyfriend.

To say that Raven was upset would be an understatement. She was furious, Beast boy's best friend now knew about her crush. This was not good, she could only see two outcomes come out of this and both were bad. Either Cyborg would tell Beast boy about her feelings or worse he would tease her about it. This was a lose-lose situation for her. A quick chant of her mantra calmed her down before she blew up a trash can.

For the rest of the mall trip, Cyborg and Starfire kept pushing Robin into stores with them so the other two could be alone for a while. After the sixth time this happened Beast boy began to get suspicious.

"Um, Raven? Why does Cyborg and Starfire keep pushing Robin into stores without us? This has to be the sixth time they've left us alone together. Do you know what is going on?" Knowing exactly what was going on Raven tried to hide the blush on her face with the hood of her cape. Deciding that lying and changing the subject was the best option she answered him.

"I have no idea. Hey lets go get some food, I'm getting hungry." Before Beast boy could respond, Raven was already walking towards the food court. Following close behind her, he finally caught up with her. The two heroes walked next to each other the entire way to the food court. Every time Beast boy was looking away, Raven took a quick glance at him.

Now noticing that the people around them were staring at them, Beast boy began to feel uneasy. He hated the way the people of Jump City looked at him. He noticed how the people around him would look at the other Titans with respect and amazement, but when they looked at him they seemed disgusted. He got the feeling that they were looking down at him, like he was a freak or a monster. One time when he was alone on the street people gave him dirty looks. A teenager even threw a bottle at him and shouted the word "freak" out of a car window. No one on the street even took a second glance at the green hero. Sometimes he wished he wasn't green with pointy ears, now was one of those moments.

Finally getting to the food court, Raven ordered a medium plain pizza with half the slices with tofu and two drinks, iced tea and root beer. Sitting down with their beverages Beast boy looked up at the girl across from him.

"Um, thanks for the food Rae. But you didn't have to pay. I do have my own money." Raven just lifted up her hand making a gesture that told him to stop talking.

"It was not a problem Gar. I wanted to pay." Beast boy nodded his head and gave her one of his big goofy smiles. Raven smiled back shyly, she stared at him for a few seconds before she realized there was an awkward silence hanging over them.

"So, uh how are you doing with the whole Terra thing?" Once he heard the question his ears drooped down. Raven saw this and pinched her arm hard. 'Okay that was stupid Raven. Quick apologize.'

"I'm sorry Gar. I shouldn't have brought it up. I know it still must hurt. After all it was just yesterday she ripped out your heart." As her eyes widened she mentally slapped herself. 'Get off the subject you idiot. Talk about something else.' Unfortunately her tongue was not working in her favor.

"You know you can do better than her. She was a bitch and a traitor. Always was always will be." Beast boy slammed his fist into the table. He looked up at Raven and what she saw only made her wince. He had an extremely angry expression on his face and unshed tears in his eyes. Beast boy stood up from his seat and took a deep breath.

"Will you excuse me for a moment? I have to wash up, I'll be right back." Raven watched him head for the bathroom. Once he was out of sight she put her head in her hands.

"Great going Raven, you just had to bring up Terra? Didn't you? I'm an idiot, why couldn't I just talk about something else? The weather, our friends, anything would have been better than that." At that moment her friends were walking up to her. At the same moment some man ran right into Cyborg; after apologizing he followed Beast boy to the bathroom. Ignoring the random guy, Raven looked at Starfire who had hope in her eyes. But when the empath shook her head the alien looked disappointed. When Cyborg saw her distraught he too was disappointed, the only one who didn't know was Robin and he looked utterly confused.

"Raven, why are you upset? What happened? And where is Beast boy?" Raven looked up at her leader and just groaned.

"He is in the bathroom. I'm upset because I said some things that made him upset." Robin just looked at her with more confusion until he heard a man call to them that their pizza was ready. Robin smiled and went to get the pizza.

Cyborg followed Robin to the pizza restaurant so he could order a pizza for him and the others that they would enjoy, leaving Starfire with Raven.

"What did you say that made him so upset Raven?" Raven looked up at her alien friend and shook her head again.

"I brought up Terra. I'm such an idiot. I tried to change the subject but words just kept slipping out of my mouth." Starfire placed her hand on her friends shoulder.

"It's okay Raven. It was one mistake you won't make again. You will have your chance to apologize soon, I promise. This was only a bump of speed." Shaking her head, Raven corrected her.

"It's called a speed bump Starfire. And thank you for the advice." The alien girl just smiled at her before giving her a bone crushing hug.

Once Raven was freed from her friend's death grip, she tried to prepare a conversation in her mind, so she didn't look like a fool in front of him again. She was half way through her thought when her communicator went off. Getting aggravated Raven flipped open the small device only to see that the distress beacon was activated. Tracing the beacon to the Central Mall bathroom, Raven's heart stopped for a second. Her eyes widened as she whispered the word, "No."

Noticing that everyone else on the team had the same reaction Raven jumped from her seat and raced to the bathroom, with her friends not far behind her.

(Back when, the two sat down at the food court)

Galtry watched the whole scene play out in front of him. He had been following them ever since they entered the mall. When he saw the way Raven was looking at Beast boy a sinister grin grew on his face.

"It appears someone has a crush on you Garfield. Could it be that someone actually loves you? That must be the lovely Raven I read about. Her description fits her perfectly. Maybe I could use this to my advantage."

At the moment Galtry was holding an expensive looking statue in his hands. It was a small tiger made of jade. Not just ten minutes ago he stole it from an antique shop intending on planting it on Garfield's person, making him look like a thief. He was currently watching the two young adults sit down at a table in the food court. He was about to make a move when Garfield stood up and stormed off towards the bathroom. Galtry smiled.

"This is too easy." Getting another idea in his head, the grown man let out a small evil laugh.

"Oh, this is the perfect time to add a little bit of fear and pain into his life style." Galtry got up and followed the green man to the bathroom but was stopped when he ran into something made of metal and flesh. Looking up he realized it was the Teen Titan known as Cyborg. After quickly apologizing to the man, he followed his nephew to the bathroom.

Before entering the bathroom, Galtry reached into his pocket only to pull out a three inch blade. Once he was ready he opened the door. To his luck he and his nephew were the only ones in the bathroom. He walked up slowly behind his nephew. He heard his nephew talking about someone by the name of Terra, but he didn't care. Galtry began to speak to his nephew.

"Tough week isn't it Garfield?" Beast boy didn't look up he only responded solemnly.

"You can say that again." Now realizing this stranger knew his name he turned around quickly only to see his uncle plunge a knife deep into his gut. Once Galtry pulled the knife out Beast boy stumbled to the ground. He looked into his nephews eyes and saw only horror. Galtry kneeled down next to his nephew, he then plunged his knife into the boys shoulder. He watched the blood pour out of his nephew's wounds with glee. He finally spoke again.

"I'm not going to kill you Garfield. At least not yet, I want my fun first. Hell is coming for you Garfield, but before it takes you I want this city to know what you really are. I want it to hate you; I want your friends to hate you. And once you are alone in this world, you will come to me. You will come home begging me to take your life. That is when I will do it, but for the time being I am going to enjoy watching you bleed. Goodbye Garfield, for now." Galtry stood up and was about to walk away before he forgot something. He reached into the bleeding changelings pocket and pulled out his communicator.

"Don't want you to bleed to death in the mall bathroom. I'd better call your friends." Galtry found the red alarm button and pressed it hard. Once the alarm was triggered he threw it next to his nephew and ran out of the bathroom into the crowds laughing to himself.

He watched his nephew's friend's race into the bathroom. He heard a scream coming from the bathroom. He let out one last laugh before he headed for the exit. Realizing he still had the statue, he walked to the Titans car. He picked the lock to the rear car door and placed the statue on the back seat. Knowing that the statue had a small tracker on it, he knew the owner of the shop would come to this location once he realized it was stolen. Laughing to himself he ran to his car and sped off into the city to spread some more hate.

(Five minutes earlier)

Beast boy walked into the bathroom. After realizing no one else was in the bathroom he let out all of his rage and sorrow. He slammed his fist into the sink numerous times before he felt the pain in his hand intensify. He began to talk to himself.

"God damn you Terra. Raven's right, you are a bitch and a traitor. I can definitely do better than you, Terra." He heard footsteps behind him but he ignored them. He then heard a familiar voice.

"Tough week isn't it Garfield?" Not realizing whose voice it was he responded solemnly.

"You can say that again." Now realizing this stranger with a familiar voice just called him by his real name he turned around. He looked right into the eyes of his uncle before he plunged a knife into his gut. The pain was intense; it was like fire was engulfing his entire body. Having the knife come from his uncle made it ten times worse than Dr. Light. He stumbled to the ground. Beast boy looked up into his uncles eyes and only saw utter enjoyment. His uncle then kneeled down next to him and plunged the knife into his shoulder. His uncle began to speak and as he listened to this evil rant he remembered the promise his uncle gave him sixteen years ago. Once he was finished he stood up and walked to the door, but he then doubled back. Beast boy was afraid that he was going to stab him again, but he only reached into his pocket. His uncle pulled out his communicator and hit the alarm button.

"Don't want you to bleed to death in the mall bathroom. I'd better call your friends." He then threw the communicator right next to Beast boy and vanished back into the mall. Within a matter of seconds the bathroom door flew open and he saw the most beautiful thing he has ever seen. It was Raven and his friends, but they weren't happy to see him. They were horrified.

"GARFIELD!" Raven screamed as she ran to her bleeding love. She knelt down next to him and looked at him with tears threatening to be freed from her eyes. "What happened? Who did this to you? Tell us Gar!" At this moment all four of his friends were crouched down next to him. Cyborg and Robin both had stern looks on their faces, but their eyes told Beast boy that they were afraid. Starfire was crying into Robin's shoulder, she couldn't handle looking at him any longer.

Blood seeped out of his mouth as he said two words, "Nicholas Galtry." Once he finished his sentence he passed out.

Once he passed out Raven went into panic mode, she thought he was dead. After healing the wounds the best she could Raven looked up at the face of the unconscious hero. She wiped the blood away from his mouth with her cloak and rubbed his cheek affectionately.

Cyborg then reached out and grabbed the unconscious hero. Once Beast boy was secure in his arms he sprinted for the door. He had to get back to the medical bay; that was his best friend's only chance at survival. He needed another blood transfusion. He pushed through the crowds of people, at the moment he didn't care about manners. He had to get his little brother to safety. Finally reaching the T-Car, he shoved the green hero into back seat right next to the jade statue. He was about to peel out of the parking lot when he saw the rest of his friends standing there waiting to be let in. The rest of the team piled into the car and cyborg punched the gas. At the moment, it was a race against time.

For the second time in two days the entire team sat in the medical bay waiting for their friend's blood transfusion to be finished. The only sound in the room was the steady beat of BB's heart monitor. Not being able to take the silence any longer Robin punched a wall.

"How could we let this happen? This is twice in two days. This Galtry guy means business, for now on we don't let him go anywhere alone. We keep a constant surveillance on Beast boy whenever we are out of the tower. I don't want another reunion in the medical bay." Everyone in the room was looking at their leader; the room seemed to be divided. On one side Raven agreed with Robin the other was Cyborg who knew the changeling wouldn't like this idea.

"Uh, Robin? I don't think the grass stain will like that idea. He likes his privacy and he goes to the comic store alone every Wednesday." This time Robin didn't answer, instead it was Raven.

"It doesn't matter whether he likes it or not. This is for his own safety, someone attempted to take his life twice in two days Cyborg. This is necessary." Raven looked back to Robin who nodded his head in approval. Cyborg tried to plead his case again.

"But Raven, doing this will only make it worse. If this lasts too long he will try to escape on his own. He can't be locked away in the tower for the rest of his life." Getting agitated Raven gave Cyborg one of her death glares, her eyes turned blood red as she stared at the man in front of her.

"I will not let him out of this tower until that man is taken care of. If you or anybody else tries to interfere I will send them to a different dimension. Do you understand?" Now really freaked out Cyborg just nodded his head in defeat.

Robin took a glance at the young hero lying on the medical cot, at the moment he seemed to be calm and relaxed. But when tomorrow came he knew that the same hero would be awake, terrified and furious with his friend's plans for him. Robin then noticed something next to Beast boy's arm, when he reached out for it he only felt cold stone. He picked it up and saw a small jade tiger statue. Seeing that her boyfriend found the statue Starfire began to speak.

"Oh yes I found that next to Beast boy in the car. I think he must have bought it at the mall. It does look like something he would own. I thought he would like to see it when he awoke." Understanding what his girlfriend was trying to do for her friend he gave her a small smile.

"I'm going to the common room to try and find more information on this guy. I think I'll even contact the Doom Patrol. Maybe they know who this guy is." Robin left the others in the medical bay watching over the unconscious hero. Cyborg looked up at Raven and smiled.

"So, you like BB? I did not see that one coming." Raven looked up at her big brother; she was trying to hide a blush. Unfortunately her hood was down, Starfire let out a little giggle as she watched her friends. Raven didn't even try to hide it.

"Seeing that Starfire has already told you about it, there is no point for me to try and hide it. Yes I'm in love with Beast boy. Now let the teasing begin." Instead of teasing her, Cyborg walked up to her and gave her a hug.

"I'm not going to tease you Rae. I'll tease the green bean but not you." Raven looked up at him and smiled.

"Well that's good, now I don't have to throw you out the window." Raven paused for a second. "You're actually fine with this? I would have thought you would be freaking out." Cyborg let out a nervous laugh but didn't answer, Starfire did.

"Oh friend Cyborg most definitely did the freaking out. When he saw you looking at friend Beast boy at the mall he nearly had a breakdown of the nerves." Raven looked up at the tin man; she had a mischievous smile on her face.

"Interesting, I'll remember that the next time I see Bumblebee. She would not be happy to hear that you freaked out about one of her best friends happiness." Cyborg's eye widened.

"You wouldn't do that, would you? That's evil Rae. You know she will go ballistic on me." Cyborg looked down at the empath and saw a smile on her face telling him that she was only joking. "Oh you're good."

"So you're fine with this now. You aren't going to freak out again are you?" Cyborg let out a deep laugh.

"Nah Rae. I'm not going to freak out again. After I got used to it, I saw that you two were actually perfect for each other. I'll just have to tease you two once ya'll are a couple." Raven frowned after hearing those last words, but turned her attention to the boy on the cot.

"How long will he be out Cyborg?" Cyborg looked down at the boy on the cot and answered.

"I gave him a sedative, so he won't wake up till tomorrow morning. We should probably leave so he can be alone." Just then the alarm rang in the tower. All three heroes groaned. Robin called them from their communicators.

"Titans trouble! The Hive Five are attacking a bank downtown." All three Titans looked at each other then back at Robin on the communicator.

"Robin, what about friend Beast boy? We can't leave him here alone, while we are gone." Starfire asked.

Robin looked down and let out a sigh. "I don't like it but we're going to have to leave him alone for the time being. We're already a man down, we need all our firepower. Cyborg I want you to lock up the tower and make sure it's locked up tight. I don't want any one getting to Beast boy. Robin out."

All three Titans groaned as they exited the medical bay. Before leaving, Raven took one last look at the unconscious green man.

"Be safe Gar. We'll be back soon."

I wanted to try something different for this chapter. I wanted to have separate perspectives of confrontation in the bathroom. Hope you all like it.

-GreenHatred77