Beast Boy made his way up to the fifth level of the parking complex he was told to go to. He had crossed the city in about half an hour, he had been planning the worst way to hurt Mason the whole way. If he so much as plucked a single hair from her head, Beast Boy was going to rip him to pieces. Beast Boy did his best to bury the hatred as he arrived on the fifth level and immediately saw the familiar black van parked on the south side. Mason stood with another mercenary at his side, he was waiting for him.
"Twenty-nine minutes and thirty-six seconds," Mason said after glancing at his watch, "I was correct about your speed I guess." Mason smiled the cold familiar smile of arrogance that Beast Boy had come to recognize from the man, he saw it on him every time the two met. He never guessed that it was a carefully crafted mask.
"Where is she?" Beast Boy sneered.
"Punctual as ever." Mason laughed, "Good, saves the two of us time."
"WHERE IS SHE?!" Beast Boy shouted, clearly losing his patience. A good sign for Mason.
Mason opened the back door of the van to show the still unconscious body of Sarah. Beast Boy took a step forward, as if Mason had gone through the trouble of this whole business just to give her back for free. He was dead wrong. Mason slammed the door shut and stood in front of it to block Beast Boys path.
"Nothing in life is free." He said.
"What do you want?" Beast Boy said. "I know how you operate Mason. So just tell me what the fuck it is you want so I can leave with Sarah."
"What I want?" Mason echoed. "First thing, you have no idea how I operate. Yes I kidnap and extort people, sure. But I'm also willing to kill anyone who stands in between me and a job well done. What do I want? I want you, Beast Boy. I want you."
Beast Boy was silent and simply gave a confused and perplexed look. He didn't know what Mason was talking about.
"Allow me to explain," Mason continued, "when I last met you and your little friends I lost an insider in the U.S. Army, I lost a nuclear weapon that I was going to sell to a well paying client, and I was beaten to a pulp. In short, professionally, you and your team humiliated me. You turned me into a God damn JOKE!"
Mason paused for a moment before continuing, "You made me look like an asshole Beast Boy, I don't like it when people make me look like an asshole. So what I mean when I say 'I want you', I mean 'I want to peel your face off of your fucking skull'. Get the picture?"
Beast Boy glanced around the level but didn't move, he knew Mason had more back up than just one mercenary.
"You don't want to make a deal…" Beast Boy said slowly, "You want revenge."
Mason nodded, "You may still survive this night Beast Boy. But not without me inflicting some measure of pain on you. So how about this: you surrender, I take you in, I kick the shit out of you for making it look like I can pull off a simple job, I ask you a few questions, then you leave. How does that sound?"
"How about this," Beast Boy said as he clenched his fists, "I throw you over that railing over there and I take Sarah back with me."
Mason smiled, "That's the spirit."
Beast Boy charged forward while simultaneously changing into a large gorilla. He smashed into the first mercenary and tossed him aside with ease, but Mason had rolled out of the way just in time. Mason stood up casually as if nothing had happened and brushed the dust from his black suit jacket.
An infuriated Beast Boy raised up his gorilla fists in an attempt to crush Mason beneath his fists but he stopped and took a step back as a tranquilizer dart was shot into his chest. He snarled and ripped it out from his chest and charged forward once more. The snipers hiding from behind the cars continued to fire and pumped Beast Boy full of tranquilizers.
By the time Beast Boy made his way to Mason his ramming speed charge was reduced to a tired shuffle as he struggled to remain awake. Beast Boy threw a half-hearted punch at Mason and the arms dealer side stepped it with ease. With Beast Boy next to him and exposed, Mason produced a tranquilizer pistol from the confines of his jacket and shot Beast Boy point blank in the neck. The last shot was the one that brought Beast Boy to his knees and back to his human form.
Beast Boy's eyes were heavy, the world seemed to be spinning. He collapsed onto all fours and found that his body suddenly felt like it weighed a ton. He had to stay awake, he had to. But a swift kick to the ribs brought him sprawling down the floor.
Mason knelt down besides Beast Boy and said, "You have enough tranquilizer to take down a bull elephant, a good measurement considering that you are one, eh?" Beast Boy's eyes were beginning to close. Mason decided to reassure his enemy before he slipped off to dream land. "Don't worry, like I said you may live through this still. There's someone else out there I want more than you, Juan Fuentes. This is all part of a bigger plan my boy, and it hopefully doesn't include me having to kill you."
Beast Boy's eyes finally closed as he fell into a deep dreamless and drug induced sleep. All part of the plan indeed. Mason glanced behind to see the other mercenaries approaching him cradeling rifles that they used to take down Beast Boy. But he saw something else, a vague shapeless form. He knew it wasn't really there, he knew it was so when he heard the familiar childish voice say: "Please don't hurt them Macey."
"I won't Vincent, I wont." He said to the empty air.
"Who are you talking to sir?" one of the mercenaries asked.
"Nothing," Mason replied as he took out his cell phone, "load the boy into the van with the girl, then check on Frank and make sure he's alright."
While the other mercenaries ran off to help the mercenary named Frank who was knocked aside like a rag doll by Beast Boy, Mason dialed a number into his cell phone and then said when the line came to life, "Ramon?"
"What is it Mason?" The FARC commander spat, Mason could tell the man was still pissed. "I'm busy."
"I'm sure Alex told you about my 'sacrificial lamb'?"
Silence on the other end. He knew what Mason was talking about.
"Come to the old lodge outside the city, I have a toy I know you'll love." Mason clicked the red hang-up button and then dialed another number, the plan was going smoothly.
"Yes?" Mason heard Alejandro's voice on the phone.
"Alex," Mason said as he watched Beast Boy be loaded into the van, "two things: First, I need some soldiers to borrow. Second, I have an offer for you that I think you will find most interesting…"
Sorry if it's a little too short for your tastes. Please review. Next chapter, The Titans and Unit Zero try to find Beast Boy and Sarah while Mason's sinister plot continues to unfold, and it's effects will change the history of Columbia and may very well endager the informer's life.