CHAPTER FIVE
As the stranger disappeared into the night sky, Beast Boy emerged from the shattered window of the apartment store, swelled in size as he morphed into a ferocious, green tyrannosaur, and stepped over the remnants of a black Chevy truck. Cyborg and Robin raced over to join their friend.
The Boy Wonder came to a screeching halt in front of the shape-shifter, gazing up. "Beast Boy! What the hell…"
Beast Boy's inhuman bellow tore into the night, catching the other Titans off guard. Robin leapt back, eyes wide. Green energy blasts—he wondered what the hell Starfire was doing—struck shape-shifter's neck, and the bellow turned into a cry of pain. Angry, he brought a powerful foot up and took aim at his comrades below. The two stood there for a moment, gazing with shock at their furious friend, but snapped out of it just in time, leapt aside, and narrowly missed being crushed beneath the powerful, clawed foot.
"Yo B.B., what happened to the all-tofu diet?" Cyborg yelled.
The energy blasts soon ceased, and as the shape-shifter continued to bellow in all his fury, the fifth member of the Titans made her appearance. Raven floated upright, her cloak whipping about in the breeze, her hood low over her eyes. She inspected the debacle around her and made a decision. Her hand went up, bringing with it the pavement below. Whipping it upward as if she were straightening a bedspread, the concrete rippled beneath Beast Boy's feet and tossed him into the air. He landed with an unceremonious crash onto his backside.
Raven refused to allow him a moment to regain his footing, and stretched out with her mind to the shattered remains of the automobiles. Stringing them together into a gigantic chain, she sent it whirling after the shape-shifter. Abruptly, it wrapped around the green giant until he was firmly secured, and then he crashed to the ground. Robin and Cyborg joined Raven as she floated slowly to the ground, her eyes never leaving the beast.
"Raven!" Robin said, gasping for breath. "What the hell's going on?"
She turned to him, eyes filled with concern. "Beast Boy and Starfire. They are not acting like themselves."
Cyborg snarled. "No shit! So what do we do?"
"There's a presence at work. I do not know what it is, but their actions should be evidence enough. We must hurry before they break their binds."
"And do what?" Robin demanded.
"We must capture the blue being. He is at the center of this."
Robin frowned. "How do you know that?"
"Because he is the denominator."
"Say what?"
"He is the one thing new in this situation. Beast Boy and Starfire have never had these problems before."
Robin considered her words. "So what are you saying? Mind control?"
"I'm not sure."
"But…I don't want to fight them."
"Nor do I," Raven replied.
"Raven, if they break their binds…"
Raven eyed Robin sympathetically, and finished for him: "They may continue to fight one another. Do not worry. I have moved Starfire away from here."
Cyborg scowled. "Don't worry?! What'd ya mean don't worry! These are our friends we're talking about."
"And as our friends, they now rely on us to figure out what is happening to them."
"Then what are we waiting for?" Robin asked, producing his grapple. "Titans, move!" He pressed the trigger, sending the claw of his grapple skyward, and followed it a moment later. Cyborg turned and raced off a dark alley. Raven stood there for moment, eyeing Beast Boy, praying that her restraints proved worthy. He seemed to have lost consciousness—that was a good thing—for he wasn't moving, save for his slow, rhythmic breathing. Raven sighed and took to the sky after her friends.
* * *
From the darkness, Rancor emerged.
He was a large man, his thick, leathery skin the deepest of blacks. Bony knobs covered him from head to toe, with spikes at his shoulders, along the length of his spine—precisely where extra protection would be needed—conforming to his body like a glove, a natural coat of armor, including natural shin guards and gauntlets of thick bone. A long coat of blood-red leather clung to his powerful figure.
Behind him, someone followed. A young woman—Starfire, as her friends called her—with hands bound tightly behind her back, and her feet tied together at the ankles. She was encased in a soft, white light, floating upright. Her eyes were open, but they were glazed over and she seemed oblivious to her surroundings.
With a smirk of satisfaction, Rancor waved a hand toward the green dinosaur, letting the power flow through him. The makeshift chains shattered and spilled away the massive bulk. Almost immediately, the shape-shifter changed, reverting back to human form. He rose to a knee and rubbed his sore head. Rancor smirked.
"Wh…where am I?" the little green man murmured.
Rancor reminded him.
* * *
[You see, Beastie. They don't care for you much. They don't respect your abilities. Some friends you have there. Then again, perhaps I do not understand them as you do. Perhaps you prefer to be at the bottom of the barrel.]
Beast Boy stared at his hands. His vision was blurred, his hands trembled. The vibrations of his heart pounding in his chest combined with the mysterious voice echoed like thunder in his skull, amplifying his headache, which didn't help his vision any.
[Then again, perhaps not. You would do better on your own.]
"No, you're wrong," he murmured. "They're my friends."
The voice laughed long and hard, no doubt mocking him. From inside his mind. The thought drove Beast Boy to the brink of insanity.
"Get out of my head!" the quivering shape-shifter wailed.
[Oh, am I in your head? I am truly sorry. But surely you understand the great potential within yourself, such the likes your friends could never understand.]
"Leave me alone! Leave me…" Beast Boy gave in to his pain, and started to cry. The tears clung to his lids. The pain of what he had done ate at him—the detriment of a city block, the conflict with his friends, and the subduing pain that engulfed him—slowly bringing him to the verge of madness. He stared at his hands, watching as tears fell in large droplets onto his gloves. "What have I done? What have I done?"
* * *
Rancor smirked.
He watched the trembling shape-shifter for some time. The flood of emotions were revealing, tempting, though he knew better than to rush fate. Mind control, while a formidable tool at any level, required a tedious and exact method of progression. The procedure differed depending on the individual, though most minds were simple enough.
What have I done? What have I done?
Rancor did not respond to Beast Boy's pleas. This one would depend upon an answer, and random thoughts were as easy to pass for his own as any. Occasionally Rancor might force himself into the shape-shifter's thoughts, but typically he would sit back and let confusion run its course. Easy enough. After forcing him to question some of his most intimate beliefs, and turning him against his friends, Rancor could begin to pick apart the other Titans.
A raspy chuckle crept through his dire grin.
Of all the Titans, Starfire was the easiest to infiltrate, because her gentle ways had allowed his thoughts to freely penetrate her mind. The intelligence was there—she was undoubtedly as bright as any of the others—but she had something the others did not: unabated trust, the token gem for a Dreamwalker. Trust was at the very essence of her being. It drew him to her like a shark to bloody waters. He had prayed upon trusting fools in the past. He would again in the future. That trust, endearing to her friends, had also brought her to her knees and devoured her soul. The very thought delighted Rancor.
There were a few pressing concerns—especially that Nasserian bastard who had followed him through the Void—though nothing so complicated he couldn't sink his teeth into the heart of the matter and squash it flat, as he did to all of his victims. It would be easy enough to take care of each problem as if it were a separate entity. The Teen Titans could pose a problem if he wasn't careful, but he didn't suppose they had a clue. The green one certainly didn't, and the girl had never understood, not in any sense that could have protected her. After that, all that mattered is that he didn't give the others a chance to understand. That would be easy enough.
Still grinning, Rancor gave Beast Boy a quiet stare behind his back.
* * *
[Surely now you see, they are not your friends. They are against you, Beastie. The whole world is against you. Trust in yourself. Do not play the fool for them any longer. Rise up against them and fight. Fight. It is who you are meant to be, Beastie. You know this. You know I speak the truth.]
"No, please," Beast Boy murmured. "Stop lying to me."
[Not lies! Truth. Get that through that thick skull of yours.]
"They wouldn't do that to me. They wouldn't…"
The darkness crept deeper into him, but as it approached, instead of growing colder, the air about him grew suddenly warm. The warmth of the morning sun in late spring. For a moment, golden light absorbed him, and Beast Boy peered about to see daylight. He stood in a vast, friendly meadow, could smell the sweet scent of nectar all about him in the vibrant flowers. This was a place he had never been before, a place he had no recollection of. A place of peace and quiet and everlasting harmony.
Beast Boy sat there, mesmerized.
The voice returned, gentle, soothing. [I am sorry you feel that way. I have come to remind you of the truth, if you'll let me.]
Beast Boy drew a deep breath.
"What truth?"
From behind, Beast Boy could hear a soft, sinister chuckle.
[I thought you'd never ask, Beastie.]
Garfield Logan lost his parents a long time ago, when he was just a toddler and he and his family lived in Africa. His father had been a scientist, and at the time of his tragic death, he had managed to break the evolutionary barrier. The machine he created could reverse the evolution of a human. Dr. Logan was forced to put his work on hold, however, when Gar contracted sakutia, a deadly disease similar to malaria.
Grief-stricken, his father swore that he would not be burying his son. He used his invention to turn Gar into a green money and kept him that way until the disease had left his system. Gar only dimly remembered being freed of the illness, though he knew the cure's bizarre side effect, how his skin had changed color, and the great power that grew in him, resulting in his namesake.
Odd, though, how clearly he remembered his parents' death, and the pointy-eared demon that had been responsible.
Beast Boy's head perked up when the realization flooded into him.
It was all so clear now. The pointy-eared demon.
And his lowly sidekick.
"No…"
It was just as the voice had been telling him all this time. His friends had been lying to him, keeping him from the truth. The realization broke his heart. The tormented shape-shifter triggered a transformation, taking the likeness of a wolf, neck tilted back with gentle grace, and unleashed its a tragic, haunting song.