These next chapters will be easy to write since there not as boring.

Chapter 7: the White Dragon

His head was pounding, his eyes swollen shut, lip split, hands broken, shins cracked, and ears ringing. Even through the ringing in his ears he was able to pick out the muffled voices of Hunter and Charlie standing over him. They had taken a break from beating him when they had gotten a phone call. Still strapped to the chair he had been pushed to the ground, facing away from the two men, but he did his best to keep his ears on the conversation.

"Alright I'll let him know." Charlie clicked the phone off. "That was Thornton. They had the kid, but thanks to the fucking Titans, he got away."

Hunter cursed under his breath. "So what about, that thing?" Beast Boy was positive they were referring to him.

"Meh, I say we keep having fun. I'm actually curious to see what it can do."

"Yeah, like why is it green? Maybe it just pukes green sludge or something."

Beast Boy could hear they're footsteps coming toward him. "I say we find out. Hey if it's anything cool we could probably sell it to the highest bidder." Keys began jingling by Beast Boy's ear. "We're gonna see what you can do, freak. We've got guns, so no funny business." Taking one of the keys, he placed it into one of the holes on the collar and turned, shutting down the device and removing it from his neck. "Alright now, lets-AGH!"

Bones, muscles and flesh knit themselves together. The pain vanished along with any semblance of the happy-go-lucky, green shape changer. Instead stood a hulking eight foot tall, black werebeast with its claws wrapped around Charlie's throat. Charlie wriggled in its grip as he was lifted into the air. It's maw open wide as it licked its fangs before running its tongue over Charlie's head.

The noise was split with a loud crack as shots began to ring out. Hunter was attempting to bring the creature down, but each bullet that pierced its skin was quickly pushed out and sealed back together. The black Beast roared. Not with pain, but hunger and rage.

Black Beast was back and he was pissed.

:0:—

They had flown separately, but Drake could feel the geomancers eyes on him for most of the flight to the foreclosed home. He didn't know much about her, but from what little he did know it was all negative. Still he tried to keep an open mind. That stuff was all in the past after all. Just as long as she knew to keep her relationship with Beast Boy professional.

They landed, Drake becoming human again and Terra tossing aside her boulder.

"This the place?" She asked.

"That's what Melchior said," the name left a bad taste in his mouth, "can't believe I'm listening to that asshat again."

Terra cringed from the small embers he was spitting. "Bad blood I'm guessing? What happened?"

He made his way to the house. "Long story. Just know he's the bad guy and as soon as we—" he froze midstep, holding out his hand to stop her from moving further.

"What? What is it?"

He took a long sniff of the air and his lip curled into a snarl. "I smell blood."

Immediately they took off for the house, kicking the door in and followed the scent until they came to a room in the back of the house. Once they had gotten there, Terra began gagging on the fresh smell of blood, but Drake blocked her path to keep her from seeing what was inside.

Beast Boy sat on his knees, blood staining his skin, uniform and dripping from his lips and teeth. Strewn Around him were the bits and pieces of, from what he could tell, two men. Quickly assessing the room, just like Robin had taught him, he could see guns, the tipped over chair with bloody straps, and the PCC.

It was simple to deduce what had happened to him.

He ran to him, kneeling to eye level and calling his name. "Beast Boy! Beast Boy! Beast Boy!" Nothing. His normally bright and exuberant eyes were dull and rooted to the floor as if he was in a whole other world. Drake brought the palm of his hand across his face, "GAR!"

Beast Boy took a sharp inhale as some form of life coming back into his eyes, but also realization. They started darting all over the room from Drake to Terra to the bodies on the floor.

"Oh.. god… I—"

Drake grabbed him by his shoulders and shook him, jamming his finger into his chest. "Gar look at me. It was them or you. No NOT feel guilty for defending yourself."

He acted as if he hadn't heard him, but instead went a paler shade of green. "I...I… killed…"

"Drake," he turned around seeing Terra digging in the pockets of one of the men and revealed a badge, "they're cops."

Drake snorted, "Of course they are. Then what were they doing torturing him." Terra began sputtering, her blue eyes looking down at the carnage in shock. Drake ran to her. "Hey, stay with me. Get Gar outta here and I'll meet you two outside." She nodded her head quickly then did as she was told.

Terra wrapped Beast Boy's arm around her shoulders, hoisted him to his feet, and led him out of the house, While Drake went to the two men. Digging around in their pockets he found one of their cell phones and began going through the recent contacts. After mumbling off a few names to memorize them he dialed a number.

"911 what is your emergency?"

"Yes I'm at a foreclosed home on 45 snake river drive, there are two bodies here that look like they were attacked by some wild animal." Without waiting for a response he crushed the phone in his hand to bits and tossed it aside.

:0:—

Noise.

So much noise.

Voices.

What were they saying? Were they even human.

Flashes. Visions. Smells. Sounds.

It was as if someone had taken his basic five senses and dialed them up to twenty. He could hear everything, see so much father, and smell so much more.

But everything was chaos.

So he ran. He ran away from the noise, away from the smells and sights, but couldn't get away.

In between the images of strangers staring at him were mixtures of red and white being splashed against his eyes like paint. Entrails. Red. Blood. A pair of lifeless eyes. Emily's eyes.

Emily….

Emily….

"EMILY!"

Fire pierced his skull like a hot iron, causing him to cry out in excruciating agony. He grabbed the sides of his head, leaning backwards and crying out to the heavens. The pain slowly began to fade as he felt his body surrender to something else entirely.

:0:—

"And here we are." Malchior gestured to the parking garage.

Bumble Bee looked over the garage, her eyes moving up to the office building above. She faced him with a stern look. "You sure?"

Malchior turned his head to each of the Titans, each of whom were showing the same amount of distrust. He smirked beneath his scarf. "Of course I'm sure. Contrary to what Drake May say, I wouldn't lie about something like this."

"What exactly is supposed to happen?" Kid Flash asked. "What does 'going nuclear' mean?"

An ear splitting roar sounded from the darkness of the parking garage forcing civilians to begin evacuating from the office complex above.

Malchior casually glanced in the direction of the ensuing chaos. "I believe we're about to find out. Shall we?"

Bumble bee took to the sky. "Kid, start getting people out of there, Donna your with me. Malchior—"

"Stop him from reducing this city to cinders. Way ahead of you." Out of the corner of her eye she, noted that Malchior had taken a small book from his coat pocket and began thumbing through it.

She left him to his own devices while she and Donna flew into the garage.

"Great Hera!" They stopped mid air once they saw the grotesque sight before them.

Ethan had appeared to be in the middle of some type of transformation, changing his skin, size and shape. Already he had grown to the point that his head was hitting the concrete ceiling, skin was shifting to scales, and extra appendages, such as a tail and wings, began protruding from his body. He curled over as pain rippled through his body, causing him to let out a roar of pain, shaking the garage to its foundation.

Bumble Bee searched for Malchior, finding him just staring at The monstrosity in awe. "Malchior! Look alive!" He continued gaping at the scene as if she hadn't spiked. "MALCHIOR!"

He jolted out of his stupor. "Apologies."

She shook her head with an eye roll. "Donna lets go." They flew towards the ever changing Ethan, Donna using her lasso to bring him down and Bumble Bee using her stingers. "Ethan! It's the Titans!"

He roared, now in irritation, and began swatting at the Titans, all the while he continued his transformation. Donna threw the lasso around his neck and with what strength she could muster attempted to bring him down. It worked…. for the moment. With each passing second he got larger, stronger and more annoyed.

He roared one last time, lunging at the Amazon until a wave of violet energy began pushing through the garage. Ethan double over again, but this time it was in the reverse. His body shrank, wings, tail and scales retreating back into his body until he was merely an exhausted mess on the ground.

Donna removed the lasso from the now human Ethan, Bumble Bee and Kid Flash joined her.

"Civilians out and safe." He reported. Looking down at the unconscious Etha he asked, "What the hell happened here?"

"A spell." Malchior joined the Titans, motioning to the pillar behind him. A symbol in the shape of a dragon's eye and painted in blood, was surging with the same violet energy from before. "That symbol will keep Dragon Knights from using their powers as long as magic flows through it."

"So he's powerless?" Donna sermised. "As are you?"

"Indeed." Malchior removed the same book from before from his coat. "However even though I can't use my dragon based powers, I can still call upon the sorcery that I studied centuries ago." He flipped through the pages of his book. "I do wish to thank you. Couldn't have done it without the Teen Titans." Green energy shot out from the pages of his book, enveloping the Titans and rendering them unconscious.

:0:—

Flapping his massive wings Drake inched himself closer to Terra and her floating boulder. Really he was checking on the changeling as he curled himself into the feedle position at her feet.

"How is he?" The answer was obvious, but he had to ask.

She shook her head. "He's still in shock."

Out of the corner of his eye, Drake could see they were coming up on the parking Garage where Malchior said Ethan would be. Judging by the crowd of frightened civilians, they were in the right place.

"Alright I don't know what we're getting into, just keep an eye on him until—" his necklace flashed a blue light, involuntarily changing him back into his human form, "What the f—YAH!"

Thinking quickly, even if she had no idea what was happening, Terra tore out a scrap of pavement to catch him as he plummeted dangerously to the ground. Even though he was still mid air, he managed to land. Hard.

"I'm guessing that wasn't supposed to happen?" She asked as soon as they touched solid ground.

Coughing and clutching his ribs he got to his feet. "Nope. That's never happened to me before."

She snickered. "Maybe you can try again after thirty minutes or something? Maybe rest a little bit?"

He glared daggers. "I know what your doing and knock it off."

"Let me guess." She continued laughing. "'This happens, but not to me'. Every man suffers performance issues I hear."

Growling, he noticed that she had been setting up these jokes for Beast Boy to possibly latch on too. Unfortunately he wasn't taking the bait.

Although he was understanding, Drake didn't have time for this at the moment.

"Come on." Limping and still grabbing at his ribs, he led the way into the garage, moving past the crowd of pedestrians in their way. With Beast Boy's arm wrapped around her own, she helped guide him inside. Even though the light may have been on in his head, no one was home.

"Ah Damn it!" Drake wasn't at all surprised to see that the Titans were on the ground of the garage, out cold. "Why am I not surprised?"

"Hey," Terra helped Beast Boy into a seated position against a pillar, the same pillar a symbol was glowing, "What's this?"

Drake eyed the symbol with confusion. "I've never seen that before."

Terra looked at Beast Boy, then grinned. "What the awesome Drake doesn't know a magical thingamagig?" Once again, Drake knew what she was doing, but again, there was no movement from the changeling.

Drake shook his head as he got to his knee in front of him. "Gar, I know this is hard, but I need you back with us."

Beast Boy's eyes lifted to meet Drake's. "I…"

Drake put a hand on his shoulder. "I know. Yes it's hard and takes a toll, and I promise I'll help you through it. But I have to find Malchior."

Beast Boy perked up a bit. "Malchior? He's here?"

Drake nodded. "And he has the Dragon Knight. We both know that's not good."

Beast Boy nodded, and his lip twitched upward. "Go kick his ass then."

Drake patted him on his shoulder. "Way ahead of ya. Watch him."

Terra nodded as he got to his feet. "Wait, do you know where he is?"

Drake looked at the symbol. "If that thing shut down our powers, he should still be in the area to keep Ethan's in check. Just gotta find him." With that in mind, he took off searching for Ethan.

:0:—

Ethan's eyes snapped open with a sharp inhale of breath. He quickly got to a seated position on the floor and began searching his surroundings frantically. He appeared to be in some kind of office building, which amazingly was empty. Wasn't it like three in the afternoon? He gasped again. I can hear my own thoughts! It's quiet.

"Hello there." He jumped at the voice. Voice belonging to a young man seated on a chair in front of him dressed in black with a scarf around his mouth. "Good to see you up and awake. Ethan is it?"

Ethan looked him over with a grimace. "Isn't it kind warm for all that black? And a scarf?"

The stranger chuckled. "I suppose I could lose the coat, but the scarf," he lowered it an inch showing off a jagged scar across his jaw and under his nose, "is here to stay."

Ethan nodded in understanding, but before he knew it, panic began set in. "Who are you? What's happening?"

"It's alright my friend," Malchior held out his hand to settle him, "Your safe. Even from yourself. The spell I've placed will keep any Dragon Knight in this area from using their powers? A shut off switch, if you will."

More confusion. "Dragon Knight? Powers? What the hell are you talking about?"

He chuckled again. "Perhaps I should start at the beginning. My name is Malchior and I am like you, only you my friend, are far more important than me." He reached into his coat and removed a book bound in purple scaled leather with a emerald gem in the center. "This gem," he pointed to it, "allows me to control the dragon inside of me, and properly trained, you can too."

Ethan looked down at the book then back at Malchor's silver eyes. "And there's more to it." He continued, "The dragon inside of you, the great white dragon, was worshiped as a god in its lifetime. You are something unique, Ethan, and you've already demonstrated great power, and with the proper training, can truly be a force to be reckoned with."

Malchior extended his hand and helped Ethan to his feet. "All I'm asking is that you come with me, and I will teach you everything it is you need to know."

Ethan contemplated what he was being told, but had more questions. "Why was I freaking out?"

Malchior put a hand on his shoulder. Ethan tried to recoil but his grip was too tight. "You are young and new to your powers. It is not uncommon. The dragon inside of you begged for release considering the extreme stress you were under." Ethan twisted his features. "Yes, I know about your lady friend, and I am so sorry for your loss."

It all came flowing back to him. His chest got tight and he began to hyperventilate. "Emily, sh-She…" Malchior helped guide him to his knees when he lost the feeling in his legs.

"I know. I know what it's like to lose someone you loved. Someone I once loved betrayed me, and it hurt dearly, but I swear to you, we will find the ones responsible and make them pay."

Ethan glanced at him and noted the tenderness in his voice. To anyone else they would be touched by his quick story, but Ethan knew better. He took a moment to gather himself before getting back to his feet.

"I knew someone who told me a lot of the same things your telling me. Saying I was special, that I was unique and important, but in the end he was just telling me what I wanted to hear so that he could take something he wanted from me. Since then I don't trust easily, especially not someone whose making me the same empty promises."

Ethan backed away from him. "I don't know who you are, or what's happening with me, but I'm not going with you. I will not allow myself to be taken advantage of again. And if I freak out again I'll deal with it, but I I'm not going with you."

Malchior regarded him for a moment, his calm and kind persona fading away. "I see." He turned around, thumbing through his book. "That being the case, I find myself having no use for you." He turned back around, a glowing green dagger floating above the open pages of his book. "Pity." The blade, as though it was thrown, flung itself at Ethan's heart.

He shut his eyes and braced himself for the dagger to enter his body. Instead he felt nothing. Was this what being stabbed felt like? Surely he would feel something. He opened his eye a crack to see the dagger had been caught inches from his chest.

:0:—

Ethan was lucky that Drake had found him when he had, a second later and he would be dead. Drake tossed aside the magical blade until it evaporated into nothing.

Malchior scoffed. "Drake Daniels to the rescue once again."

Drake smirked. "I'm just glad you turned the power off. Makes it much easier beat the hell outta you, and since I believe in being fair, I'll make you a deal." Drake removed loaded belt of weapons and handed them to Ethan. He took it, regardless if he had no idea what was happening. "Man to man, no weapons, or magic."

Malchior tensed, gripping his book nervously. Drake couldn't help but grin seeing his obvious discomfort. Finally, he had one up on Malchior. "Let me guess. You've spent so much time on your magic and sorcery that you haven't bothered with any hand to hand skills? Am I right?"

Malchior clenched his jaw, slowly backing away. Seeing that he was attempting to escape Drake hurried towards him.

"What's the old saying?" Malchior struggled to move out of Drakes reach, while flipping through his book. "'He who lives and runs away, lives to fight again another day'?" Drake had grabbed him by his coat, but violet Magic was already surging from his book. "See you around Daniels." With a bright explosion, Malchior was gone.

Drake spun around, his anger building, but couldn't find Malchior anyone. "DAMN IT!" He ran his hands through his hair tempted to curse again, but then remembered he wasn't alone. Or at least wasn't supposed to be. His belt was now on the ground and Ethan was nowhere in sight. "Damn it all to hell." He grabbed his belt and headed for the doors, hurriedly looking the new Dragon Knight.

Stepping into the hallway with offices on both sides, he called out, "Kid!" He glanced through the windows into the offices, hoping to find him. "It's alright I'm not gonna hurt you, I just—"

"Freeze!"

At the end of the hallway, two police officers had their guns aimed at him, and behind those two, were a group of other policemen arresting Ethan.

Crap, he thought, they must have come here when Ethan hulked out.

"Drop the belt," one of the officers demanded, "and get on the ground."

Normally Drake would have taken both of them down, then had gotten him and Ethan out of there, but this was a completely different situation. Doing something like that was likely to frighten Ethan more than he already was and right now he had to think about him.

Sighing he drops the belt and does as he's told, getting on his knees and putting his hands behind his head.