They arrived on the scene and saw a shadow running away. Raven's eyes glowed and a black shield went up in front of the thief. Shaman landed behind him, turning into water so that he could soak the suit, destroy any mechanical stuff in it, make it heavy, whatever works. As the other Titans showed up as the thief turned around. Shaman turned back into his normal blue self upon seeing that the thief was...Beast Boy.


"Not a word Changeling, they're not your friends anymore. Do not talk to them, give any clues, or anything that would help them figure it out. Otherwise..." Beast Boy's...Changeling's eyes narrowed as he heard the command. He pointed an advanced form of the thermal blaster, similar to Robin's when he was an apprentice, but much more lethal. It was great that he knew more words now, it wasn't great in how he learned them. Books.

He shot at the ground in front of the Titans so a fissure was created by the explosion, as well as smoke. As they covered their eyes he slipped away as fast as he could. On a nearby building he looked back. Robin was talking to the others, but where was Shaman? "Hyaaa!" He turned and saw a huge rocky fist fly at him and hit him in the stomach. He flew back a few feet. He looked up and there was a yellow skinned Shaman staring at him, his bloodshot eyes were glistening with tears. "Why! For the love of all the elements and Tofu of this world! Why?!?"

But Changeling...Beast Boy couldn't answer, not the way his friends wanted him too. He answered the way his master Slade wanted him too. By charging Shaman as the alien animal he saw on Tamaran. Shaman only had enough time to jump out of the way, his elbow banging hard against the cement. He watched as Beast Boy flew into night, a shadow in the moon, a stain on his mind. One that would not leave until he knew.

He tried getting up but found it too painful. He felt someone pick up his arm, then felt the odd sensation of thousands of needles painlessly entering it. He looked at Raven's glowing blue hands as she healed his broken arm. "I've reduced it to a minor fracture, but you will need a cast for a few weeks." He nodded, his throat had a rock in it too large for him to get words past. His sight darkened, blurred, and soon all he could see was that moving traffic light...Robin coming near him before he blacked out.


Changeling entered the lair where Slade was sitting, watching several screens of Beast Boy's mission. He knew what was coming. "Excellent work Garfield. Your mistakes were minimal, you followed my orders to the letter. All you needed was a mentor. Someone who could help you claim the potential that you have."

"Claim this Slade!" Beast Boy shouted before turning into a cheetah and charging Slade. That was until Slade's bo staff landed within his jaws causing him to stop, then throwing him to the ground. Beast Boy tried getting up when Slade's heavily armored foot crashed into his ribs. Gasping for breath, Beast Boy grasped the floor, pushing himself up until a heavy hand forced his face into the concrete.

"I monitored your vital signs on the mission Beast Boy. Adrenaline, endorphins, you do not want to admit it. But on some level, there was a thrill. Higher than Robin had. Probably from your background when you were a thief. You have a larger history with crime than Robin, because you've been on both side's of the fence. You understand the rush, the thrill, the pleasure of outwitting those who try and stop you. You know what it is like to stay 3 steps ahead of an enemy. And you love it. Such traits kept you alive when you were

"Shut it Slade! I'm not proud of what I once was nor did I have understanding of Justice then."

"That would be Master to you, Changeling!" He threw Beast Boy against a wall. He rushed towards where Beast Boy was, when a large green elephant rushed at him, waving it's trunk at him. Slade pushed his muscles sideways, summersaulting under the trunk, using his momentum to get behind the great behemoth. He got up as a large Lion clawed at his throat. He leaned backwards so the lion's angle would be off. It landed on its paws, looking pleased with itself. Slade looked at where some scars would be on his chest from the claws that tore through his armor. Interesting. He's progressing faster than I had hoped. He didn't get that deep when we fought at the park. He jumped aside as a panther leaped at him. He turned around, twisting his bo-staff at an angle where it collided with Changeling's skull, knocking him out.

"I was wrong to consider Robin for an apprentice. I have arguably the most adaptive and dangerous of them."


Shaman paced back and forth in the Living Room as Cyborg, Mas y Menos, and Speedy tried getting their thoughts off of what happened by playing Gamestation. They informed the Titans East, who had been fighting an escaped Plasmus downtown, what happened. Jinx and BumbleBee were behind the couch, on either side of Cyborg's shoulders, glaring at the other. Robin and Raven were at the computer. Finally after 30 minutes of tense silence, Cyborg threw down his remote and headed to the mainframe. "Beast Boy wouldn't betray us unless he had a good reason. That reason may very well be because of probes like with Robin. I'm checking all of us." Shaman glanced at Cyborg, then turned to stare at a wall. He hoped this would give an answer, but he just didn't know.

And he was right. All of them had been checked, there was no sign of any probes. There was a higher electrical level in the blood, but everyone assumed it was stress and the effects of the adrenaline that night.