The Ballad of Beast Boy

"Go, Beast Boy! Stop the generator!" Mento called to him between bouts of agony.

"But sir, you need my help!"

"Don't worry about us, Beast Boy," Elasti-Girl struggled.

He turned to face the erected tower which stood in the center of the room. It generated a massive black hole at the top which continued to pull objects into it. If it were to grow any larger then it would surely be able to pull in much larger things, such as the entire building or any one of the neighboring villages and its people.

"Do it now!" Mento ordered.

Beast Boy flinched from the anger in Mento's voice. He had never morphed into an animal that would be big enough to take out the tower, but he knew he had to try. His eyes shut tightly and his fists clenched and in a moment's notice he had morphed into a green tyrannosaurus. He roared in disbelief, and with a sense of overwhelming achievement he turned back to the Doom Patrol who writhed in agony under the beams installed by the Brotherhood of Evil.

"Quite impressive, green one," the Brain's robotic voice congratulated him. "But now you must choose to either save your family or destroy your enemy."

The green dinosaur wavered under the pressure, and in the blink of an eye he raced over to his team mates. With a swish of his powerful tail and with help from his powerful jaws, Beast Boy was able to destroy the machines that produced the beams and save his team.

"Good going, kid," Robotman thanked him between huffs of breath.

Mento glared at him as he gasped for air. Although Beast Boy was in animal form he could still notice the anger in Mento's expression.

"Negative Man," Mento started.

"I'm on it, boss," he said as his astral body then zapped from his flesh and infiltrated the tower that was generating the black hole.

Within seconds the tower began to rupture and produce smoke from the tampering as Negative Man then returned to his body. The black hole began to dissipate as the tower began falling apart with the Brotherhood looking on in disappointment.

"What a shame," the Brain said, "all that hard work, but no matter. You may have destroyed the machine, but I still have the blueprints to make another." It said as it mocked the Doom Patrol's efforts. "Madame Rouge, if you would be so kind." It said as Madame Rouge then pulled down a nearby lever causing the floor to open up and swallow the villains and then close once more.

"We did it!" Beast Boy cheered as he morphed back into his human self.

"No thanks to you," Mento snapped as he turned to the young boy.

"Steve," Elasti-Girl started to object.

"I gave you an order, Beast Boy, and you disobeyed me. Because of you the Brain and the others got away,"

"But we took out the tower," Beast Boy's voice was small and soft and hurt.

"What good is that when they can just build another? What good are you to this team if you can't follow a simple order?"

"Steve!" Elasti-Girl put herself between Beast Boy and Mento. "That's enough! Beast Boy did a great job, and if it weren't for him none of us would be standing here now."

"Yeah, give the kid a break," Robotman agreed.

"The Brotherhood may have gotten away, but we'll find them again." Negative Man assured him.

"Now isn't the time to be hard on him, Steve. Today was a big accomplishment for him," she said referring to his morphing into a tyrannosaur.

"Alright, alright," Mento gave in. "I'm sorry for getting after you, Beast Boy-" he began, but stopped once he realized that Beast Boy was no longer there.

[SCENE BREAK]

"You're up early," Raven noted as she walked on to the roof.

"Yeah, thought I'd catch the sunrise before it, you know...rose."

"Smooth,"

"What are you doing up here?"

"I come up here to meditate. This is usually a good time to find my center, sometimes it's the only time I get."

"Oh,"

"Is everything OK?" She asked.

"I don't know. I've been having a lot of weird dreams lately,"

"What are they about?"

"Sometimes they're different, but they usually have something to do with the Doom Patrol," he sighed as he put his head on his knees.

"What's so weird about that?"

"I always wake up feeling like there's a reason for them,"

"Maybe there is," Raven said as she then sat cross-legged and began to hover just above the roof. "Have you tried getting in touch with them?"

"I don't really have a way,"

"So then why don't you go visit them?"

His ears flickered to the idea. "You think I should?"

"If you think you should, then why not? It's not like any of us can stop you. They were your family once, and no matter how much you may think otherwise, they still are."

"Maybe I will," he seemed to cheer up some. "Thanks Raven!" He said as he morphed into a dog and licked the side of her face as he then ran inside barking with happiness.

She wiped the slobber off her face and shut her eyes tightly, "Find your center, Raven. Find your center." But her eyes reopened once more and she smiled a little just as the sun was coming up.

[SCENE BREAK]

"Are you sure you don't want us to go with you?" Robin asked.

"I'll be fine, besides you guys need to stay here in case anything comes up." Beast Boy explained.

"Oh! I do wish you well on your travels!" Starfire exclaimed as she proceeded to hug him. "Be safe, friend, and do not talk to the strangers!"

"Thanks...Star," he said as he gasped for air.

"Be careful out there, man," Cyborg said. "I'd let you use the T-Car, but then I remembered what happened the last time I let you operate heavy machinery," he laughed.

"That's probably for the best," he laughed awkwardly. "Well I guess I'm off," Beast Boy said as he then turned to Raven.

"I think we had our moment when you licked me," she said.

"Thanks again," he smiled as he walked out of the room.

"I will miss him," Starfire said as her eyes began to tear up.

"He's coming back, Star," Robin said.

"But what if he finds his stay more pleasurable back with his old team than he does with us, his new team?"

"Something tells me he won't," Cyborg tried to whisper while holding in a laugh.

He then whispered into Starfire's ear causing her to giggle as well. They both then turned to Raven and began staring at her all while trying their best to hold back their laughter.

"What?" She asked.

"Nothing," Cyborg mused.

"Tell me, Raven," Starfire started as she hovered over to her, "is the licking of one a common custom between two people before the other departs on a journey?" She asked while holding back her laugh.

Raven looked at both of them with no expression and sighed, "Then again, he just might decide to stay over there after all." She said causing both Starfire and Cyborg to burst into an uncontrollable laughing fit.

[SCENE BREAK]

It may have taken him a few days, but Beast Boy finally made it to the headquarters of the Doom Patrol. With the Brotherhood frozen and no indication of any trouble, he was sure he'd find them there. But as he made his way towards the building, and really ever since he left Jump City, Beast Boy had the feeling that he was not alone on this journey. He looked over his shoulders so many times that he was certain he broke his neck at one point, but luckily that wasn't the case.

He walked up to the building and, without knowing what else to do, rang the doorbell. He waited for what seemed like forever, but was really only a few minutes before a familiar robot answered the door. Robotman stood there glaring at Beast Boy making him feel very uncomfortable.

"Hi,"

"Kid!" Robotman suddenly morphed into the fun loving person Beast Boy knew back when he was still on the team.

He grabbed Beast Boy by the arms and gave him a hug that could've rivaled Starfire's. "Hey...Cliff," he said as he gasped for air. "Nice to see you...too,"

"It's been a long time, kid," Robotman said as the two walked through the halls of the Doom Patrol's headquarters.

"I know, and I'm sorry that I walked out on you guys,"

"You had every right. If I were you I would've done the same thing."

"Yeah?"

"Sure," he paused. "Besides, you look like you found a real good spot with the Titans,"

"Yeah," he agreed. "So how's everything been holding up with the others?" Robotman grew silent and made no eye-contact. "Cliff?"

"It's been rough, kid. With the Brotherhood dealt with and no one on our case anymore, Mento went a little stir crazy. He went a little rogue at one point too. Got himself into a real bad accident after he claims he went after Madame Rouge."

"Madame Rouge? But she's-"

"Yeah, I know,"

"Well how is he doing on?" He asked as they stopped in front of a door.

"See for yourself," Robotman said as he pressed a button that opened the door and revealed an infirmary-like room.

There were monitors and machines and computers everywhere. It wasn't a room much bigger than a hospital room, and there in the center lie Mento. He was still in his bed, bandaged from head-to-toe. His eyes were shut as the breathing monitor connected to him gave off the only indication that he was still alive.

"How did this happen?"

"We're still trying to figure that out, but he went into a coma a few days after we brought him back; haven't been able to talk to him about anything sense." He said as he and Beast Boy stood at the bed side.

"Cliff?" A familiar woman's voice called from behind them. "Who was at the d-" she began, but stopped in her tracks when she saw Beast Boy. "Beast Boy?"

"Hey, Rita," he said shyly.

She walked closer to him still in a little bit of shock. "It's been so long since we've last seen you," she smiled as she then caressed his cheek.

In an instant Beast Boy found himself giving his former teammate, who basically acted as a mother to him, a hug. It took Elasti-Girl by surprise, but she got over it and began hugging him back. For the first time in a long time Beast Boy began feeling at home again.

"What's going on?" Negative Man walked in from the other side of the room. "I heard the doorbell ring, which is kind of weird that a superhero headquarters even has a doorbell," he started, but Robotman soon shushed him as he motioned to Beast Boy and Elasti-Girl.

"Whoa," Negative Man said, "that you over there, Beast Man?" He joked.

"Negative Man," Beast Boy turned to him with a smile. "Long time, no see," he smiled as he walked over to him and gave him a hug.

He then noticed that Negative Man's body began to feel a bit heavier, as if he were no longer holding himself up...as if he were no longer able to hold himself up.

"Negative Man?" Beast Boy asked as he tried to back away, but Negative Man's body didn't back away or even answer.

Instead it fell over and on to the floor once Beast Boy let go.

"AHHHH!" He screamed as he saw the lifeless body of his old teammate lying on the floor. "Negative Man!"

"Yeah?" A voice resembling that of Negative Man's asked from behind him.

Beast Boy turned to see his astral form hovering in the air just before him. He let out a sigh of relief as the others let out a small laugh. Negative Man then returned to his body.

"It would be nice if you can place me on the floor gently next time," Negative Man said as he rubbed his head.

"Not funny!" Beast Boy huffed.

"Yes it was," Negative Man teased the young Titan as he got to his feet. "Always has been, always will be," he laughed.

Beast Boy came around with a smile of his own as he gave in.

"I've missed you guys!" Beast Boy exclaimed.

"And we've missed you," Elasti-Girl said. "It's always felt like there's been a piece of us missing since you left the team. I almost forgot how that began to feel, until after our little reunion a while back." She smiled.

"It feels just like the good, old days," Beast Boy smiled grinned from ear to ear. It began to fade, however, once he realized that the others weren't smiling or agreeing with him. "What's wrong?"

"I wish things were the same, Beast Boy," Elasti-Girl said as she glanced at Robotman and Negative Man, "but they aren't. The truth is that...the Doom Patrol is breaking up."

The words hit him like a ton of bricks. He could feel his heart stop almost immediately and suddenly he could no longer breathe. It was like everything he had ever known, everything he came from, his whole past, was being erased right in front of his eyes.

"'Breaking up'? But, but why?"

"It's just the way some things happen, kid," Cliff said as he placed his hand on Beast Boy's shoulder. "People grow up, and they grow apart," he sighed.

"But let's not dwell on that," Rita quickly tried to change the subject. "How have you been?"

"How can you tell me that you guys are disbanding and act like it doesn't mean anything? This is the Doom Patrol, how can you guys be disbanding? How can we be disbanding?"

"It hasn't been we for a long time, Beast Boy," Negative Man added.

"Like Cliff said, it happens and there's really nothing we can do about it," Elasti-Girl started. "What do you say we all go to the Main Hall and grab a little something to eat, yeah?"

"Don't treat him like a kid, Rita," a faint voice said from behind Robotman.

"Mento?" Beast Boy asked as Robotman turned and they could all see him as he lay there, still.

They all gathered around his bed and watched as his fingers began to twitch some and soon his eyes began to flutter open. He couldn't make out much as his vision still adjusted to the lighting, but he could see the four blurry figures standing over him.

"It's been a while," Mento murmured.

"Steve!" Elasti-Girl sounded like she was going to cry as she took his hand.

"Rita," he started.

"No," she stopped him, "you need your rest right now. We can talk later,"

He kind of chuckled, "I've been 'resting' for the past few weeks-"

"'Few weeks'?" Beast Boy exclaimed. "Why didn't anyone tell me anything?" He sounded a little upset, but even more hurt than anything else.

"Beast Boy," Elasti-Girl started,

"No, let me talk to him," Mento said.

"Alright," Elasti-Girl agreed as she and the other two Doom Patrol members left the room.

"What happened?" Beast Boy asked as he approached Mento.

"Not even a 'hello'?" Mento asked rhetorically.

"Sorry,"

"Nah, don't worry about it, son. You remind me of myself...I almost forgot what that was like," he said.

"So, what did happen?"

"I don't really know, to be honest. I was on patrol around the city when I got a distress call. I thought it was just another minor something, but when I got to the scene..." he drifted off.

"Mento?"

"Beast Boy, do you believe in ghosts?"

"After living with Raven, I can say that I do,"

"Well when I got to the scene I saw...I saw Madame Rouge,"

"Madame Rouge? But that's impossible," he thought for a while. "But what does that have to do with ghosts?"

"That's what I saw when I saw her; a ghost."

"But Rouge is just frozen, she isn't-"

"I know, but that's all I could describe it as. Clearly she wasn't an actual ghost," he said as he motioned to his injuries.

"She did this to you?"

"They all think I'm crazy, Beast Boy. I'm the only one who's fought her."

"How do you know?"

"I may have been in a coma, but my mentality was still very much active. I could hear them and since this whole incident they haven't seen her. They haven't seen her since we all fought the Brotherhood."

"Mento, why is the Doom Patrol disbanding?" Beast Boy asked.

"We have nothing to fight for anymore, son. We've run our course. We'll always be a team, but we can't spend our lives sitting in this building. We have to go out and finish our own journeys," he said, but before Beast Boy could respond an alarm began going off.

"What's going on?" Beast Boy asked.

Mento looked at him and said only one thing, "Rouge."

[SCENE BREAK]

With Beast Boy accompanying them, Elasti-Girl, Robotman, and Negative Man set out to find what the reason for the alarm was.

"So whose idea was it to disband?" Beast Boy asked Elasti-Girl as they made their way through the woods.

"It was a mutual agreement, Beast Boy," she told him.

"But why?"

She stopped and turned to him, "You and your friends, the Titans, are the next generation and it's your time right now. You've taken care of our number one enemy, and so what can we do but wait around and chase petty thieves and shadows? I don't know about the others, but I don't want that to be my future forever."

"But you're a hero, it's your job,"

She smiled then kept on walking.

"Don't take it hard, kid," Robotman said. "She's getting to that point in her life, we all are."

"What point is that?"

"You'll know when the day comes," he patted Beast Boy's shoulder as they then kept walking.

"I don't understand," Elasti-Girl said as they came to a clearing, "there's nothing out here,"

"Maybe it was just some kind of prank," Negative Man said.

"I vouldn't be so sure," a thick Russian accent said from the darkness of the shrubbery.

They all quickly turned to see a woman emerge from the trees. She looked just like Madame Rouge, but it couldn't possibly be her.

"Madame Rouge!" Robotman exclaimed in anger. "Mento was right, you have returned,"

She began laughing, "You heroes are all the same. You never see with your minds, just your eyes."

"What's she talking about?" Negative Man asked.

"Pathetic," she spat the word out. "Vhy don't you tell them, Beast Boy," she smirked at him.

They all turned to Beast Boy, "Don't look at me, I don't know what she's-" he then stopped as he began thinking. "Gemini," he whispered.

"Who?" Negative Man asked.

"That isn't Madame Rouge," Beast Boy challenged. "It's Gemini,"

"Again, who?" Negative Man asked once more.

"I don't know exactly, but she's bad news and if I'm right then she's the same person who Mento fought."

"Impressive...green one," she congratulated as she took on the voice of the Brain as she began morphing into her natural self.

"You may not be Madame Rouge, but we'll take you down either way!" Elasti-Girl exclaimed. "Doom Patrol, go!" She shouted, but before she or Robotman or Negative Man could move Gemini was able to stretch her limbs quick enough to place little devices onto the chest of each of them, except Beast Boy.

"What are these?" Negative Man asked.

"Allow me to demonstrate," Gemini smirked as she then pressed a button on a controller which seemingly triggered the devices to emit an electric wave powerful enough to subdue each of them and render them unconscious.

"What's going on? What did you do?" He demanded to know as he rushed to Elasti-Girl's side.

"Just a little something that can give us some alone time," she said with words as seductive as she was.

"What do you want with me?"

"Isn't it obvious?" She said as she took out a lasso. "I'm going to finish you off,"

"Why? I haven't done anything to you!"

"Yes you have!" She shouted back as she then wrangled him.

He tried to escape, but the lasso appeared to be electrical as well and she was thus able to subdue his powers, but not to knock him out.

"What did I do?" He said trying to deal with the pain from the electricity.

"Come on, Beast Boy, are you telling me you still haven't connected the dots since our last tango?" She said as she paced around him.

"Can't say that I have,"

"I've come after you and the Doom Patrol in retaliation, I disguise myself as Madame Rouge, my powers are similar to hers, and I'm a villain!" She shouted, but Beast Boy still looked at her with confusion. "You and the other Titans took something from me the day you defeated the Brotherhood of Evil! You took away my mother!" She said as she lashed out at him and slapped him across the face.

"OW!" He cried out. "You're the daughter to Madame Rouge? Then why go after the Doom Patrol? They didn't have anything to do with this!"

"It was all in my mother's name. I was doing it for her!" She slapped him once more.

"Stop that and let me go, dude!"

"Oh no, no, no," she said as she stepped away, "you're not leaving unless you're no longer breathing!" She shouted as she then turned up the voltage and began electrocuting him once more.

She continued to push up the electricity as she laughed manically.

"Enough!" A voice called to Gemini from behind her prompting her to stop electrocuting Beast Boy to turn around.

She turned to find a weak Mento staring her down. "How cute," she laughed. "What are you gonna do? You're a weak, old fool!" She said as she extended her hands to grab him, but as her hands got to him they went straight through. "What?"

"Over here!" He called to her from her right side as he then let off a powerful mind blast that sent her flying back into a tree.

"You'll pay for that!" She said as she got up while rubbing her head.

"Don't think so," he said as he sent off another mind blast that was powerful enough to send her flying off deep into the woods.

He then wobbled over to the semi-conscious Beast Boy. "Garfield, son?" He called to him, but by now Beast Boy only heard mumbles right before he passed out.

[SCENE BREAK]

When he came to he found himself staring up at a gray ceiling. He looked to his right and then to his left and all he could see were computers and monitors and machines. He figured he was in an infirmary-like room. He sat up as he then heard the door to the room opening.

"Mento?" He asked aloud.

"No, it's just me," Raven said with a glass of water.

"Raven? What are you doing here?"

"I kind of live here,"

"I'm back at Titans Tower? But why? What about Elasti-Girl and Robotman and Gemini," he struggled to get out of bed.

"Take it easy," she told him as she calmed him down and gave him the glass of water. "Everyone's fine," she assured. "It's about time you came to. I guess Gemini's device really packed a punch,"

"How long was I out?"

"Couple of weeks,"

"And the Doom Patrol?"

"They're still together at their headquarters, although they had to relocate to pursue Gemini," she said as Beast Boy looked away. "Mento asked me if I would tell you how proud he is of you," she told him.

"Really?"

"Mhmm, and that if you ever need them that they'll be there for you,"

"Thanks," he smiled.

Raven then turned around to leave the room, "Hey, Raven,"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for telling me to go,"

"As long as you promise not to lick me anymore, then you're welcome." She said as she walked out of the room.