CHAPTER FIVE

Raven left the med bay, pulling up her hood as she went. She met the rest of the Titans in the living room.

"Where's Beast Boy?" Robin asked. "Is he still asleep?"

"No, he's awake."

"Well, then where is he?" Robin demanded.

"He needs to rest!" Raven snapped, surprising everyone, even herself. "He's been through a lot and his body hasn't had time to recover yet." She continued in a gentler tone.

"Okay, Raven, okay." Robin said soothingly, holding up his hands in a surrender position.

"Sorry." Raven muttered. "I didn't get a lot of sleep last night and I'm a little on edge."

"Don't worry about it." Robin said, dismissing the incident with a wave of his hand, then instantly snapping back into leadership mode. "Let's move it Titans!"

The four Titans followed the sounds of destruction in their usual fashion. Robin rode his motorcycle, Starfire and Raven flew, and Cyborg drove his car. Raven shook her head when she saw yet another monster wreaking havoc on the streets of Jump City.

"What's with all the monsters?" Raven asked, touching her communicator to transmit her question to the rest of her teammates.

"I don't like this." Robin said grimly.

"There's way to many monsters lately." Cyborg agreed.

"Yeah, and I'm stuck at home, missing all the fun." Beast Boy pouted.

Raven almost fell out of the sky when she heard his voice. "Beast Boy!" She practically roared.

"What?"

"Your supposed to be resting!"

"I am resting! I'm laying down and everything." Beast Boy protested.

"Your supposed to sleeping." Raven reminded him.

"Oh come on! If I can't go into battle, I at least have to be able to hear what's going on! I'll be quiet, I promise." Beast Boy pleaded.

"Fine. But one more word from you. . ."

"One more word from either of you and I'm doubling your training time." Robin interrupted. Raven and Beast Boy both shut up, Raven blushing bright red under her hood. She had to stop thinking about Beast Boy, laying at home in the darkened med. bay, pouting. If she didn't get him out of her thoughts she'd never be able to concentrate on the battle.

"He's fine." Cyborg said quietly through the communicator. Raven smiled and shook her head. It still amazed her, even after all this time, how well the other Titans knew her. But right now she had to concentrate. Raven shook her head and focused on the battle, frowning when she got close enough to really see the monster.

"Didn't we fight this thing already?" She asked, dodging a flailing limb.

"Yeah, isn't this the thing that Beast Boy tore apart last night?" Cyborg asked. Raven stopped and glared at him, and Cyborg actually blushed. "Sorry." He mumbled.

"It's the same exact one." Robin said, dodging a strike. "What's going on here?"

"Who knows?" Raven jumped backwards, but tripped on a stone and fell hard on her butt, banging her elbows and getting the wind knocked out of her.

"Raven! Are you hurt?" Starfire yelled. Raven simply waved, unable to speak and blinking back tears from the sudden pain in her elbows.

"Raven?" Beast Boy's panicked voice was suddenly in her ear. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." She managed to gasp out.

"You don't sound fine."

"Just got. . . the wind. . . knocked out. . . of me." She panted.

"Oh. Are you sure?"

"I'm fine." Raven said, having finally got her breath back.

"Okay." Beast Boy clicked off and Raven quickly took to the air to avoid another tentacle-thing, and frowned when she noticed something.

"Guys, this is the same thing from last night, but it's bigger!" Raven yelled down to them. Cyborg paused while his mechanical eye scanned the monster, then nodded.

"Raven's right! This thing is genetically identical to the one we fought last night, only bigger!"

"How can it be the same one?" Robin asked, using his bo staff to stop a tentacle from hitting him. "That ones dead, it has to be!"

"I have a very bad feeling about this." Starfire told Raven.

"So do I, Star, so do I." Raven muttered, using a psychic shield to stop a tentacle from impaling her. Starfire's eyes glowed green and she shot a bolt at the monster, but it just bounced off and barley missed Cyborg.

"Not only is it bigger, it's badder!" Cyborg yelled, grabbing a tentacle with his bare hands and holding it away from his body. But another tentacle slipped up behind him and knocked him off his feet. The two tried to grab him, but Cyborg had faster reflexes than the monster and he rolled out of range.

"It's smarter too." Robin grunted, preforming a back flip over a tentacle that had just tried to repeat the trick.

"I have a really bad feeling about this." Starfire repeated, shooting blot after blot at the creature. But everyone just bounced off harmlessly and flew up into the air. Raven tried to surround it with her psychic energy and lift it, hoping it's weak spot was underneath, but the monster was just too heavy.

Raven frowned when she tested the weight. She had lifting thing bigger than this before, but this monster seemed to have simply to much mass. Raven could just feel the unnaturalness of it, and it alarmed her.

"There something wrong here!" Raven called to Cyborg.

"I can tell you three things that are wrong!" Cyborg yelled back. "This thing is big, it's ugly, and it's wreaking our city!"

"Exactly, it's big!" Raven yelled back.

"What?" Robin yelled, cartwheeling over one of the tentacles and coming to a stop near her. "What's up Raven?"

"There's something unnatural about this thing."

"Raven, monsters are unnatural by definition."

"That's not what I'm talking about!" Raven snapped back. "What I'm saying is. . ."

But she didn't get to finish.

Taking advantage of their distraction, the monster reared back and swung a tentacle full force at Robin's back. With instinct born from years of training, Robin threw himself to his knees. The tentacle soared over his head and slammed Raven in the stomach. Her eyes went wide, and all the breath left her lungs in a whoosh. Robin could only watch in horror as the unconscious Goth soared through the air and slammed into the side of one of the brick buildings lining the street.

"RAVEN!" Robin screamed in horror. "RAVEN!"

"RAVEN!" Echoed Beast Boy's voice in Robin's ear. In the Tower just across town, Beast Boy was on his knees beside his bed in the darkened med. bay. He was doubled over in pain, trying to grab his ribs and his head at the same time. It felt that something was trying to rip his head open from the inside, while his heart tried to pound it's self out of his chest. He knew what it was. It was the Beast. The Beast inside of him was reacting to the knowledge that Raven was hurt and was trying to get out. It roared inside his head and with a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach, Beast Boy realized that he could understand what it was saying.

Let me out!

"No!" Beast Boy yelled back.

Let me out!

"No! You only want to cause pain!"

Pain is good. Hurt who hurt Raven.

"No! Raven wouldn't want that!"

The Beast roared louder, and renewed its fight. It was so strong that Beast Boy fell onto his stomach, his nose beginning to bleed.

"NO! Stay in there!" Beast Boy yelled, writhing on the floor in pain. But he could feel his body weakening under the attack on his mind.

"NOOOO!" He screamed as his mind snapped and the Beast came roaring to the surface.

All the Teen Titans looked up when they heard a loud roar, and Robin's face paled.

"Uh oh." He whispered.