Chapter 4

The Beast was half-way across the room and gaining fast on the boy. He could smell his fear radiating off him in rank waves. He didn't stand a chance. The Beast could feel his well-toned muscles working effortlessly under his green fur. His huge claws skidding slightly on the tiled floor, begging to be used for their true purpose of tearing through flesh.

The crowd had retreated to the furthest corner of the room, wanting above all not to be caught in the crossfire. The boy was almost to the door, Jinx following half-heartedly, when The Beast caught him. It made a powerful swipe at his back, tearing through his suit and scratching his back. It wasn't life-threatening, but the scratches were long and deep. They hurt and would leave scars that would last for the rest of his life.

The boy had never been so scared in his life. The force of the blow had knocked him forward, and he quickly turned to face his attacker. The Beast rose up before him like an angry storm.

"P-Please don't kill me!" he cried, his voice high and unsteady. The Beast didn't understand what the pitiful creature before him had said, but it didn't make any difference anyway. He was a rabbit, and it was the fox. As far as The Beast was concerned, it was meant to be. It raised it's giant paw, the boy's blood gleaming on the end of razor-sharp talons. It swung downwards, aiming for the boy's throat.

Behind him, back in the middle of the room, Raven groaned.

The Beast missed, diverting his strike at the last moment to land next to the boy's head. The boy stared at the paw, panting heavily. The Beast however was facing the other way, it's superhuman hearing had picked up Raven's groan and it's mate's voice had resonated inside it like a string being plucked on a harp. She was still alive.

Forgetting his prey, The Beast turned and walked tentatively towards the middle of the room where Raven lay. Behind it, Jinx pulled the boy up by his wrist, and they slipped quickly through the doors. The Beast was standing over Raven, watching her. Robin moved forward to stop it, but Cyborg held him back.

"He won't hurt her." he said, eyes fixed on the scene before him. Raven lay still, and The Beast began to get worried. It leant down closer to her and nudged her shoulder with it's muzzle. She frowned slightly, and The Beast rejoiced. Then it smelt all along the length of her prone form. It couldn't smell any blood, and in it's primitive mind, it decided that she was just sleeping. But even so, she needed the protection of her mate. So it carefully stepped over her to lie behind her, shielding her back with it's own body, and in a position to see anyone coming from the front. Though it was lying down, it's eyes were alert, and it's ears were flicking in all directions, listening for any danger.

Robin realized with a jolt that Starfire was standing at his elbow. He turned to look at her. She looked kind of distorted, somehow unlike Starfire, and his words died in his throat. Starfire however, as soon as she realized he was looking at her, squealed in delight and threw her arms around him. Robin smiled and his arm encircled her waist and hugged her back. This was Starfire alright.

"Oh Robin! I am so happy to see you again!" she cried.

"Me too, Star." was all he could manage while her warm front was being pressed against his. They broke apart, grinning shyly.

"We should get back to the Tower." said Cyborg. Robin was suddenly reminded of the pressing threat of the implants, the sight of Raven lying unconsious on the floor being too much to postpone the thought for long. Cyborg stepped nervously towards the sleeping beauty and her monstrous protector. The Beast pulled Raven closer to it and rested it's paw on her hip, glaring at Cyborg in an obvious, "Mine" gesture.

"BB? We gotta get Raven back to the Tower, okay? She needs medical attention." he spoke slowly, enunciating every word carefully in the hopes of getting the creature before him to understand. The Beast recognized Cyborg as an ally, but couldn't quite figure out what he was doing. It recognized some of the sounds he was making, "Raven" was what they called it's mate, wasn't it? And "BB" seemed to mean itself, and "Tower" was something, but what? Judging by the man's tone, he wanted them to go there, could it be the lair?

Images of video games and culinary disasters flickered briefly through it's mind, and The Beast understood that going there was in it's best interests. It pulled itself to it's feet and carefully lifted Raven.

"Why don't you let me carry her?" said Cyborg, approaching his lost friend, but he was met only with a soft warning growl. This man may be it's friend, but The Beast would be the only one to handle Raven. Cyborg retreated, knowing that she was more than safe in his care.

As they walked towards the door, they could feel the eyes of everyone there watching them. And they had good reason to, they must have really looked a spectacle. An eight-foot, green beast carrying an unconcious goth, a robot-man in a tux, only Robin and Starfire looked normal. They looked the perfect couple in their delicate evening wear, any normal teen's dream.

They were just passing through the door, when Robin noticed something on the floor, and he knelt down to pick it up. It was one of the boy's watches, the blue and black one that controlled Raven's implant.

"It must have fallen off when Beastboy attacked him." said Cyborg, having turned around to investigate the delay.

"I don't think so. Remember, Jinx helped him up, she must have taken it off on purpose and left it for us." said Robin, eyeing the malicious gadget in his hand.

The boy was furious. Not only had he lost his two most illustrious prizes, but he had been humiliated. He paced back and forth in his living room, his back burning, but he would deal with that later. Right now there was work to be done. They would pay for what they'd done to him, and pay dearly. But how would he do it? He stopped pacing and sunk into a nearby armchair.

Like a ray of light his eyes fell on the watch on his wrist peeking out from under his sleeve. Yes…… He would kill the girls, if he couldn't have them, if they were too good for him, then no-one else would have them either, especially not that pretty-boy Robin. He had been scowling, but now he was grinning, but it couldn't be called a happy expression. Anyone who saw him would know that he was thinking something malevolent.

He raised his wrist for a more advantageous view, and he noticed for the first time that Raven's watch was missing. Cursing, he realized he must have lost it when that animal attacked him. He would just have to make do with Starfire. He fingered the button lovingly, marvelling at his own genius. His fingers tensed, ready to strike, in mere seconds the world would be one, stuck-up, heartless girl less. He hesitated for a second, then pressed the button. He found himself waiting for something, though he didn't know what. No alarms would sound, no explosions, so he just contented himself with the knowledge that she was dead, and he would get his reaction later, when all of Jump City would know his name.

As for now however, he felt like paying a certain sorceress a visit.

Once Raven was resting in the infirmary, and Beastboy had reverted back to his human form (then promptly passed out), Robin, Cyborg and Starfire had gone to the lab where Cyborg kept his tools, not taking the time to change out of their dishevelled evening wear. Robin had tossed the recovered watch to Cyborg,

"Get that……..thing off her." he'd growled through clenched teeth, seething with barely contained outrage. Then he'd spun around and left. He headed to his room and tore off the tainted suit, replacing it with his familiar uniform, and proceeded to the gym.

Which was where he could be found now, tearing into the punching bag like he was trying to come out the other side. Once again he'd managed to find a way to blame himself for what had happened, and he was working out his anger, his muscles straining, sweat sliding down his face and neck. Why didn't I take him down when I had the chance? he thought, kicking the bag much harder than was safe. If he wasn't moving as fast as he was, he would have overbalanced, and his mind blocked the pain that shot from his ankle. Why didn't I stop him? Why didn't I do something?

He was interrupted by his communicator beeping at him,

"Robin" he answered.

"I think I've got it, man, you might wanna come up here." crackled Cyborg's voice.

"I'm on my way."

Robin swept through the automatic door just as Cyborg prised the device off a wincing Starfire's neck. With it's little clamps sticking up, it looked like some obscene, mechanical beetle that had been flipped on it's back. Robin was so relieved it surprised him, and as he looked at Starfire she seemed to shine with a new light. His euphoria was short lived, because at that moment the device exploded.

They all stared at the blackened circle where the implant had been in stunned silence. It hadn't been a big explosion, but if that thing had still been attached………Thirty seconds earlier, and Starfire would have been dead for sure.

Raven was awake, though she was under strict orders not to leave her bed. So she lay in the infirmary, surrounded by machines that beeped sleepily to themselves, going over what had happened in her mind. She remembered refusing to kiss the boy, and the pain that followed, though that was starting to get fuzzy as her mind numbed the memory for her. But what was nagging her was Beastboy. She knew he had transformed into his beast within, the fact that he still lay asleep in the bed next to her was testimony enough.

She turned her head and looked at him, his breathing was deep and steady, his face was calm. Did he already know what he'd done? That he'd almost killed the boy? It was strange to think that inside this goofy, excentric teen, was a ferocious, primal monster, and that it was her who brought that monster out. She had indistinct memories she could only have got while unconcious, of feeling the beast close to her, lying next to her, carrying her gently back to the Tower. Did this change anything? Was he more than just a friend to her? And most importantly, could she afford to even think about it?

Raven lay in the bed, just watching the sleeping form in the neighbouring bed, and a twinge of affection broke through the barriers around her heart. The door to the infirmary slid open and Cyborg walked in, carrying a tray of sinister-looking tools, and looking ashen-faced.

"What's wrong?" she asked as he motioned for her to sit up.

"These things explode." he answered darkly, begginning to poke and prod at her implant.

"Starfire?"

"She's fine, I got it off her in time." Raven couldn't see Cyborg, but she could feel him working on the device on her neck. He moved so he was in her field of vision,

"But don't worry, he can't activate them without his watch, and we have yours." he said, smiling weakly.

"How did you get it?" she asked.

"Er, Jinx got it off him and left it for us without him noticing." he said, trying to sound nonchalant. Raven didn't say anything. They had all noticed the change in Cyborg when he returned from working undercover in the Hive Academy, but none of them mentioned it. Now it seemed one of their enemies needed their help, and like it or not, she had been a friend to them in that sickly sweet prison in suburban Jump City. They couldn't just leave her there.

"We'll get her out Cyborg." said Raven, wincing as the device was extracted from her spinal cord. "He's not gonna get to hurt her."

"No, he won't." Cyborg replied, his face deathly serious, meeting her eyes with an icy honesty. Raven could appreciate the controlled sense of revenge that she knew her friend was feeling, and she was just glad that it wasn't her in the boy's place.