Chapter 4
In it for the long haul
(Or Playing The Waiting Game)
Once the rest of the Titans arrived back to the tower, they all went to the infirmary to check on Beast boy and Raven.
They found not worse for wear; broken glass of beakers and syringes in the garbage, ripped curtains and a break in the window. Raven was sitting in a chair next to Beast boy's bed, her head and eyes continuously rotating from his face, heart monitor and the now theorized alien watch.
Cyborg went to Beast boy's side; making sure everything was set-up properly before setting his mind on figuring out what that watch was made of.
"Cyborg."
He paused in his work to turn his attention to the empath, staring back at him with an unreadable expression but with a clear sign of worry in her eyes.
"What's happening to him?"
For Cyborg, ever since going to Nevermore, he began seeing Raven like a younger sister, one that he would protect (not that she needed it) and be there to help her whenever he can. But right now, with this whole new development from what seem to have started from space.
"I don't know yet Raven, but l will find out."
Scene Break
It's been two hours since they left Cyborg to the care of Beast boy and finding out what the alien was made of. Robin and Star were in the Kitchen preparing an early lunch since they skipped breakfast and Raven took the couch lost in thought after being informed on what the rest of the team were told after she left.
"Alien technology has invaded Beast boy? Can we get it out of him with our magic?" Asked a worried Happy.
"No, we can't, if he was being possessed, we could've done something, but this is something bio- mechanical, no mind for us to actually control and force out of him. Answered Knowledge.
While that was going on, Robin asked Starfire if she knew anything and what kind of alien they saw.
"I am unaware as of what the watch is and where it is from, but the 'Piscciss Volann' is an aquatic race; its jaw can rip through almost anything, even this world's titanium. While l was young l took classes and research of other species and beyond in the Vega System."
It was this point that Raven felt the emotional output of worry, confusion, astonishment and contempt from Cyborg as he made his way to the lounge.
When he entered the room, the conversation ceases as all three headed towards where Raven was; two to the couch and one to stand in front of the monitor.
Taking a deep breath, Cyborg started.
"Okay, from what we know thanks to the Doc and the information from Jack-"
A sound of a glass suddenly burst in the air, making three of the Titans jump. No one said anything but did make subtle glances towards Raven, who showed no reaction to the sound and the eyes around her, her attention focused on Cyborg.
"Continue."
"…Ahem, anyway from the information from…the fisherman. We can likely confirm that the watch is the reason for his coma." He then it some keys on his arm to bring up the hospital pictures on the big screen, showing the extra nerves ending coming from the watch and fusing within Beast boy's body. "This shows that it reacts like a symbiote would, spreading what looks like nerve endings and connecting itself to him on a microscopic level, basically bonding with his already unstable D.N.A".
The Titans already knew of this information but seeing what's happening up-close is still a whole new experience.
"You said it was bio-mechanical, can't you hack into it?" Asked Raven
"That's the weird thing about this. I should be able to, but l can't." Seeing his teammates confused faces he elaborated. "My body is made from a Mother Box my found dad found and experimented with." He said with frown; his father being a poor subject to him. "It's basically a more powerful version of a super computer, a high grade of alien tech. He then brought up a 3-D image he took of the watch in question on the screen. "However, whatever this watch is on an entirely different level; we're talking layers upon layers of code l can barely begin to tell when it even started and don't even get me talkin' about the firewalls!"
Raising a brow and frowning in worried, Robin did ask. "How many?"
Prompting Cyborg to sign in what looked like defeat and scratch the back of his head. "I don't know, could be hundreds, thousands even, l barley breach the surface, got through at lease a dozen and that's with combining what l know with my robotic side."
He paused to let that sink in with everyone. Robin was the first to recover, soon after was Starfire after a bit of tears; no doubt those two have seen cases like this before. One being the ward of Batman and the other a warrior princess. Turning his attention to Raven, at first glance she would look like her regular solemn self, as if unattached or unconcerned about the situation before them all. But the subtle trembling of her right hand would indicate otherwise knowing her small tells about her feelings.; that she was taking this harder than anyone else due to her inexperience.
If Cyborg could read her mind, he would see how right he was, her emotions were brewing up a storm of worry and concern. After Rages' outburst when hearing the fisherman's name, she'd been repeating her mantra to better control herself with some success.
Once he saw the trembling stop, he continued.
"And now for the good news. More info from Doctor Grant indicated that whenever Beast boy started transforming, soon after the watch would be glowing green and he would slowly revert. My best guess is that the watch is functionality has a conduit; a regulator to help with the shifting, so when he does it detects it, figures out what the problem is and fixes it so that next time the problem doesn't occur."
With a puzzled frown, Starfire raised her hand. "I am confused friend, while l am glad friend Beast boy will not be in much pain, how is this the good news?"
"I'm getting to that Star." Said the now grinning Cyborg. After scanning BB's brainwave pattern and finding them to be healthy, l deduced it's the watches way of helping him cope with the pain, and as soon as its finished updating it should allow the green bean to wake up."
There was silence for a good minute, as no one wanted to ask the question they dreaded hearing the answer to.
Robin, being the leader and probably one of the only ones who has seen this kind of thing before with the Batman asked.
"How long do you think it'll be until it's done?"
"Well that depends." He said before turning his attention to the only alien in the room. "Starfire, do you how many species there're in the galaxy?"
At the question Starfire's face pale to a lighter shade of orange. The schooling of hers only studies those in the Vega System, the rest were merely cliff notes, however they were expansive.
"I do not know the number of exact, but if l did the 'rounding upwards', l would say it would be in the thousands."
"I was afraid of that." Said a signing Cyborg, as he did some mental calculations in his head. "Given how fast Beast boy's adaptation is to his environment and should the other species the watch carries in itself be close to a humanoid figure…I'm guessing months."
Silenced followed as the rest of the team let it sink in that the likely hood that they would see the changeling open his eyes again would take a long time. For Starfire; it was hard to swallow, it wasn't like in those 'Disney' movies that she and Beast boy enjoyed watching. No kiss from a love one or a 'true love' kiss could just wake him up. For Raven, this was a new experience for her; first Beast boy started off as just a teammate to roommate, to now a good friend. She found herself enjoying the exploration of that friendship, it was different from what she had with the other Titans; not in a bad way just…different.
Robin took a cleansing breath, to refocus his mind and analyze the situation. He was now down one teammate, one that was the wild-card of the team, able to be just about anywhere should the situation recall it. A team that was still bonding but was making great progress. If Batman was here, he would give the changeling a week to see if there were any changes, then would look for a replacement for the time being. But he wasn't Batman, that was the whole reason he left Gotham, to prove to him and himself that he could be a different kind of hero, and with that mindset, Slade easily almost turned him into a villain. If it wasn't for his team, his friends he still be working for him, so with that in mind.
"We'll wait." He proclaimed, getting the attention of the team. "If what your saying is a N induced coma to help him, and hopefully not take him over. However, if this goes over the window you set, I'm going to have to see if l can find a replacement for him, temporarily until he wakes up. I'm not giving up on him."
Although displease about the subject of a replacement, they knew that the life of superhero was that the safety of the townspeople always comes first.
With that done, Robin signed as he turns back to the screen as it shows its slow process of bonding with Beast boy.
"Be ready Titans, it going to be a long couple of months."
Scene Break
Jack let a long breath as he gazed into his TV, its been a week since him and the superhero Beast boy found something on the beach in the lighting storm. Since then, he has been questioned by the hospital and the Titans; being reminded to not try to expose himself to the media, as this could have negative effects on the Titans, the Mayor and himself. And he admits; its been kinda hard to keep this information quiet, this kind of stuff could put his restaurant on the map. That is, if he could stop seeing the horrendous form of whatever the changeling changed into that night.
And to top it all off, the plumbing in the kitchen started acting up for some reason. So his wife called in a plumber from a flyer in the restaurant and told him to stay at home and watch him, maybe 'pick up some techniques' that doesn't involve fish. So here he was, just gotten back after the plumber showed him what the problem was and how he was going to fix it if it ever happened again.
'Knock Knock'
"Huh."
That's odd, he and his wife weren't expecting anything or anyone today, hopefully it wasn't a news reporter that found out he's a connection to what happen to the wayward titan.
As he got to open the door, it never crossed his mind to check through the peephole and see who was on the other side; if he did, he would have saw the three large men in black suits, like a presidential detail except for marks over their breast pockets and shoulders.
"Can l help yo-OOF!?" Jack started before he was suddenly being punch in the gut by one of the guys and pushed back into the house, as the other two waited by the door as another person strolled in. She was African-American with a croppy short style of hair, she wore simply dress pants, a white undershirt and a bright red jacket (Suicide Squad look), looking like a mom on a Sunday stroll with her kids.
"Sweep the house while l deal with the target." She told one of the guys on her left, who nodded and went to check around the house as he started going towards the kitchen.
"W-who are you?" Asked Jack as he slightly recovered from the hit to his gut.
The woman took her time sitting down opposite of him as one of the two guards left moved to stand beside her as the other stayed near the door.
"Mr. Fisher (I know l know), my name is not important. What is important is that l work for the U.S Government at a place that doesn't exist. However, what we do is for the benefit and safety of mankind and we do everything we can to stop these threats. And right now, the threat is what landed on this beach 7 days ago, a thing that you saw."
Jack at this point was trying to not start trembling at what he was hearing; some form of government claimed to be here to question him, there was a chance that she was lying, but the fact that she knew he was there, was leading him to the side of caution.
The woman, seeing his expression pressed on. "We've been tracking what appeared to be a meteorite approaching Earth, but after further research we discovered more problematic. Two ships not of Earth origin entered our higher atmosphere; the bigger of the two giving chase and firing on the smaller one, until the smaller ship deposited something onto earth which he traced down to land somewhere in Jump City. Unfortunately, a light and thunderstorm was happening and for something reason we couldn't get a good signal towards its suppose location. However, imagine our luck, just as soon as the interference disappeared a call of made to the hospital about a certain green superhero being rendered unconscious by something out of this world."
Jack at this point was trying to keep the content in his stomach from appearing on his floor. Whoever these people were, they're connected to powerful people, and if it was the government, what would they do to his and his wife if he did talk?
"All we want is information Mr. Fisher; what you saw and if it has anything to do with the shifters sudden disappearance. I am ready to pay you handsomely, if not…we have other ways to extract the information from you."
To the woman, with the sway of her words, it looked like he was considering her offer or her very real threat. Everything was going smoothly. Just the way she like her plans.
As he was deciding, she noticed that the one she sent to check the house hasn't arrived back yet, even though the place wasn't that big.
Turning to towards the guard beside her. "Go see what's taking him." She ordered.
"Oh, that won't be necessary."
A voice that came from the kitchen; walking out was an older man wearing the typical plumber uniform but with form fitting pants, he had dark brown hair with the beginning of white coming from his sideburns, whipping his hands clean of grease with his cloth.
"Ok Mr. Fisher, l replaced the swivel so it should be working again, however you should replace the four other parts that connect upwards in about a year or so." Turning his attention to address to the woman and her guard. "As for your man Waller, he's currently sleeping in there and won't be waking up anytime soon."
Narrowing her eyes at the unforeseen sight, she addressed him. "Tennyson, l wasn't expecting the Plumbers to come across this so early."
"And l wasn't expecting Cadmus to come here so late."
They stare each other down, looking like old rivals ready to start their own independent war, and Jack was in between them.
"Even with one of my men down, your still outnumbered."
The old plumber simply smiled. "Waller, you of all people should know…"
Bam!
"UUGhh!"
Just then a concentrated greenish white blast came through the door and hit the guard near the door, making him start to twitch and fall to floor before passing out.
The door was pushed open to reveal young teen looking about 15-16 years old. He had dark brown hair and the same green eyes as the older gentleman, he was wearing familiar gear, marking him as a younger plumber-in-training. He had his proto-tool out and trained it on the guard.
"…We plumbers always work in pairs."
Walker, upon seeing the similarities between the two, guessed that this was his grandson she heard about.
"I see that I'm at a disadvantage." She said getting up, silently telling her last remaining guard to stand down. Turning back to Jack, she said her piece. "I hope you think about my offer Mr. Fisher. Time is precious, and my time is mandatory."
With that, she carried on towards the door, not even acknowledging the boy or the weapon that was on her and her escort, until they were going down stairs.
With them down, Jack let a breath he didn't realize he was holding, as the events that let up to this moment began to creep up on him. In a span of two minutes, he was bribed by someone who claimed to work for the U.S Government, and that same person vaguely threatened him with torture for information he knew next to nothing about. Only to be saved by the plumber; who for some reason wasn't just a plumber and casing his place out for whatever this 'Cadmus' organization was.
"Don't worry Mr. Fisher, you'll be okay."
Lifting his head, he met the face of the older plumber, showing a friendly smile that reminded him of his own father. Easing his mind somewhat from what transpired.
"S-she'll be back."
"Unfortunately, yes. Waller is anything but subtle and knowing that we're here may cause some trouble behind the scene."
"M-my wife."
"Don't worry about her Mr. Fisher." The young teen joined his grandfather to explain the other half of the story. "My partner and l already got her to safety and is waiting for us at the checkpoint."
"Good work, Ben."
"Thanks Grandpa Max"
"Wh-what's going to happen us now?"
The now identified Max Tennyson's smile turned a bit sadder at the question. "We're going to have to put you two into witness protection to help stop Waller and her people from locating you and your wife." Seeing the man expression fall, he hurried on. "Its only temporarily, until the information she thinks you have become useless to her. From what I've seen from Beast boy. He has my grandson's personality of being a little bit of a hothead."
"Hey!"
Scene Break
After meeting the rest of the team in the dessert area surrounding the city in the Rust Bucket. The Fishers' were on the road to a safe location.
"So, grandpa do you think we can trust with the Omnitrix? It was tailored to your D.N.A to begin with."
"Ture, but we both know l would have given it to you, these old bones are just not prepared for that kind of action. But this Beast boy D.N.A is a cross between everything and the potential of his with the Omnitrix l think is something even greater then we both could have accomplished if we had it."
Ben Tennyson was at an impasse; he was looking forward to getting the Omnitrix, it could've given them a major advantage against Vilgax, but if what his grandfather was saying is true, it would be cool to have him as an ally then an enemy. Plus, he became quite a fan of the Titans, especially Starfire.
"So, what now?"
"For now, we'll keep an eye on Jump City and see if any erratic changes happened to him in the future. I have own missions to plan out and do, while you have to go back to school for Monday."
"Oh Man!"