Here's the next art of Beast Boy's Game for your enjoyment! Wow, ever since this story came to the story before it has gotten a lot of attention! Hahaha! I guess people heeded my words and went to read the original before coming here! Yay for me! Okay, now on with the show! I don't own Teen Titans!

Beast Boy's Game

Part 5: Missing Crew

Beast Boy grinned as a wavering light ignited in the side building, streaming out the window. He could go in a little more safely now. "Who knew electricity was so old…?" he mumbled. "Cyborg would probably lecture me for sayin' that." He rolled his eyes, parting Raven's cloak so he could take longer strides. It billowed behind him as he walked quickly, making him feel very dramatic. Licking his lips, he went around the building and found the doorway. Pulling the whittling knife out of the broken lock, he gripped it for a moment… "Nah…" he dropped it to one side. "What good is that when I can be a tiger or something?" he grinned. "Raven's powers didn't work because she was scared, but mine would work even if I was wetting myself!" he laughed nervously, then peered into the building. Stepping through the threshold, he found it rather uninteresting.

It was a tool shed. A rusty pick axe, loads of rope, some barrels, hammer and nails… everything meant for maintenance. Beast Boy went to one of the windows and peered out. He spotted the weathervane spinning idly, powering the place all by itself. He looked up at the crude lightbulb, tapping it with one finger to be sure it was reliable. Tap tap… Yup, It was working alright… Beast Boy's shoe scuffed something, and he looked down.

Squatting, he found a key. It was an old bronze thing, half-rusted, and double toothed on the end. Very, very old key design. Whatever lock this key opened could probably be outwitted by a screwdriver. But BB didn't have a screwdriver, so… "I better keep this." He said. "Every game's got keys in it." Pocketing it and patting the place where it lay, he looked around some more. He spotted a stairwell.

It led down into a dimly lit room, one made entirely of brick. Even the floor. A large, metallic, pod-shaped thing was on one side of the room, and a pair of archways on the other two walls. Curious, Beast Boy went and got a closer look at the machine. It was old and rusted, clearly belonging in 1912… but what was it? It had three pull-down switches set on springs. The green teen pulled at one, and it went back to its original position. Maybe a certain combination? He fiddled with them for a little while, but soon gave up. It didn't look too important…

Beast Boy went through one of the three thresholds the room had to have a look at the next room. (He'd come through one, the machine took up one wall, and then there were two more) It was pitch black. Apparently, the weathervane only powered the first two rooms. Not daring to enter the darkness, he thought he'd try the other one instead. It was very small, and was completely stockpiled with coal. He suddenly knew what the machine was for. Turning around and going back to it, he walked around behind it. "Thought so…" he mumbled. It was an old steam generator. Heat and water made steam to move the mechanical parts, and generate electricity. It looked long-dead though… Spotting a bucket sitting to one side, Beast Boy went and got a load of coal. Forcing the grate open and peering inside, he found it to be well-used. There was even a can of petrol (gas) nearby. Pouring the coal in and drenching it down with the petrol, he looked around for something to light it with. Were there matches in 1912…? He didn't know.

He spotted a striking stone sitting on the top of the generator, and pulled it down. "Easy… easy…" he mumbled. He'd seen Cyborg singe his own face lighting the grill, so he didn't want to burn himself the same way… Easing his hand in over the coal he struck the stones together once, twice, three times –! A spark caught fire, and Beast Boy retreated quickly. Making to shut the grate to keep the heat in, he –!

A burnt arm shot out and grabbed him by the throat!

Beast Boy gave a short-lived scream as a burnt corpse made itself known amongst the flames. It hadn't been there a second ago, he was sure of it! It's course, hardened fingers gripped his throat with an iron grip so strong that he gasped, immiediatly using all his air. "Ack! Guh….!" He grunted as he was lifted off the ground. A burnt, almost skeletal head leaned out of the flames, staring at him with eye-less sockets. Beast Boy's eyes were starting to roll into his head as his legs kicked at air. Hanging there he fought as fiercely as he could, trying to pry his enemy off of his windpipe. His world was spinning… spinning, growing dark…

"Malaki!" the creature hissed at him. Beast Boy's last rational thoughts formed a hasty plan for survival. Using his foot, he kicked the door of the coal grate shut! The creature's brittle arm was crushed and it was forced inside. Slamming the latch into the lock position, Beast Boy fell backward into the wall with a grunt. Prying the burnt arm off of himself he tossed it quickly to one side. Scooting down the wall until he was in the sitting position, he stared at it…

It burst into flames, and was gone.

Gasping andhacking for air, Beast Boy sat there for a long time. Forcing down the tears of distress as best he could, he tried to focus. As oxygen worked its way back into his system, he felt more alive again. "What… the hell… was that… supposed… to be…?" he gasped softly between breaths. He scratched at his throat, finding ash on his fingers after he did. Whimpering softly he rubbed at his neck until it had all come off onto his hands. Then, he rubbed his hands on the brick wall. Feeling a little better, he curled into the cloak and sat there for a while, trying to get his courage back. Just out of nowhere, that had happened. Was this the terror Raven had felt when she…? Of course it was. He had to face it too. Right now.

Curling into Raven's cloak that he wore, he found solace in the warm darkness it provide. Her scent pleased his senses, bringing him back to reality. His animal side enjoyed her smell, and that was like sixty percent of choosing a mate in the animal kingdom. Not that he could have kids anyway, being what he was… BB blushed in the darkness, deciding it was time to move on.

Standing dynamically, Beast Boy made his way to the front of the generator. When he arrived, he worked with shaky fingers. The little needle in the heat indicator was steadily rising, and settled at around eight-hundred degrees. The green teen guessed that was okay, since it wasn't in the little red part of the indicator. Now, all he needed was water to make it work. Should he go outside with the bucket…? Wait, where would he put it in the machine? He looked around for a funnel or tank in which to pour water, but couldn't find one. If it was a steam-powered generator, where did the water come from? His eyes spotted a set of pipes, and he followed them up to the ceiling. The pipes ran along the ceiling… and over to the coal room. Walking quickly, he followed the pipes into the coal room and to the left. There in the corner was a set of three valves. So, the water came from outside, though the pipes. He squatted down and opened all three valves. His animal-caliber hearing sensed the burbling liquid making its way to the next room. Suddenly, he knew what the three switches were for.

Wandering back, up the stairs into the tool shed he looked at the lighthouse through the window. The lights were out. He ran down the stairs and hit the first switch, then came back. The first slit of a window on the lighthouse was lit up. Grinning, Beast Boy went and flipped the other two, coming back a second time. Feeling proud of himself, he saw that the lighthouse's windows were well lit now. The beacon at the top wasn't on though… He frowned slightly, but suddenly remembered that most lighthouse beacons were fire, not electricity. At least, way back then… back now… back…. Uhm…

Beast Boy made his way to the generator room again, and found the dark threshold to be lit now. Smiling at his own problem solving, he looked at the generator for a moment. It had been a puzzle for him, but he'd solved it. Burnt corpse zombie or no. Shivering, he wandered in.

He was met with what looked like a wall of cubbyholes. Intrigued, he went and looked into several of them. He frowned in disappointment though. It was mostly lighthouse stuff. Candle stubs, cloth, cleaning supplies, outdated ordering lists, nothing very useful… He spotted something interesting in the last cubbyhole he checked out. It looked kind of like a mailman's bag. Thinking about how Raven had used Starfire's purse to keep things from the game in, he pulled it out and inspected it. It was made of worn, very scratched leather. The name 'Drake' was stitched very carefully into the side, a namesake of its owner. Opening it, he found nothing very useful. A few scattered tools, a broken candlestick, some coins, and an empty wine-bottle. Emptying it carefully onto the floor and inspecting the contents, Beast Boy decided to just take the bag.

Throwing the strap over his shoulder, he looked around. There were more stairs, leading out of the room, and a large threshold that was stuffed full of barrels. He leaned, squinting in the light to see what the barrels said. They were just serial numbers. But, they were corked up. Pulling one of the corks out, Beast Boy watched a thick yellowish liquid dribble out. Quickly corking it again, he stared at the small puddle he'd made. Oil. Probably for lanterns and for the steam generator. Swallowing and still remember his little run-in with the zombie-thing, Beast Boy decided to climb the stairs.

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"Where's Raven?" Robin asked. The gothic Titan had not shown up at the dinner table.

"You know where she is presently, friend Robin." said Starfire quietly, still a little upset. "She claims the only thing we can do is wait for Beast Boy's return…"

"She's been on the roof all day, man. She hasn't moved except to use the bathroom." Cyborg said, forcing a bite of pizza into his cheek to speak. "Waitin' for BB to show up again…" he trailed off, staring at his plate. A set of bread-sticks steamed near the middle of the table, and he grabbed a few.

"Hey, only grab one at a time. That's the rule, remember?" Robin interjected.

"They ain't for me, man." Cyborg rose from the table, getting a clean plate from the cabinet and placing them there. Getting two pieces of pizza and a soda, he walked towards the elevator. "I doubt she's eaten all day." He said, stepping inside. "I'm gonna go talk to her." The doors hissed shut, and he was gone form the common room. He waited patiently, watching the little indicator tell him what floor he was on. Stepping out at last, he went up the stairwell and pushed the door open with his shoulder.

Raven sat there, looking very tired. Her head was rested on the heels of her hands, her haunted eyes staring at the disk. The sun was going down, but she didn't look like she had any intention of moving. She looked up when she heard Cyborg coming, and brightened just a little. "Hey." She mumbled in a course voice.

"Hey." He said back, sitting next to her with the plate. "Brought you some goodies. You've been up here all day–"

"I don't care." She snapped. "I'll wait as long as it takes for him to get back."

"I know, I know." Cyborg said, not wanting to arouse her anger at a time like that. "He was the same way when you disappeared into the game." He handed her the plate and set the soda down on the cement next to her.

Her expression softened. "…Really? He never told me that…" she asked quietly, picking up one of the breadsticks. Taking a tentative bite, she looked at him with curious eyes.

"Yeah. You should'a seen him." Cyborg said, looking at the disk but seeing the past. "He didn't wanna do anything but look for you while you were gone. He stayed up the latest, slept the least if at all, and didn't even shower or eat unless we made him." He offered a weak smile. "He about fell asleep in the shower, all curled up in a ball. Who knew he took showers sitting down?" He sweat-dropped when he saw Raven blushing.

"Wow…" She mumbled, chewing thoughtfully.
"I think maybe those couple of days was when he really started liking you, y'know?" Cyborg spoke like a big brother, though he felt he had that title for both Raven and Beast Boy. "He'd been crushin' on you for months, but…"

"You don't know what you've got until it's gone." Raven whispered, taking another small bite. "I read his diary when I was in the game, so I already knew that before I came out. But… it took me a while to get used to it."

"Really?" Cyborg asked. "I always thought you two would hit it off pretty well, given the chance." He shrugged at the look she gave him, but soon she couldn't hold it and gave in.

"I kissed him the first night I was back from the game." She admitted, blushing lightly. The soda can flopped over on its side thanks to her powers, but thankfully didn't explode. Since it wasn't open, there was no spill.

"Huh." said Cyborg neutrally, setting it back up again before it rolled away.

"Over time, though… it just seemed to happen all by itself." She didn't dare meet his eyes for fear of a mean joke. "We're more than friends, but sometimes I wonder if it's all just a ruse." She paused for a moment. "I mean… I'm a half-demon and he's… well… Beast Boy." She said. He cheeks stained pink as she said, "His DNA is so corrupt with animal genes that he'll never be able to have children. I wonder if that's why he wants to be with me, someone who won't have children…?"

"Hey." Cyborg put a large hand on her dainty shoulder. "He really likes you, Rae. I dunno if you'll get married or break up or just be boyfriend and girlfriend forever… but I know he likes you a lot. You're genes got nothin' to do with it." He said comfortingly. "There's no telling what'll happen. No kids, but on the bright side there's no need for a cond–" he was about to say something crude, but stopped before he did and sweat-dropped. Raven was staring at him, and he laughed nervously. "I'm not saying I'm assuming you guys are… if you're not… I mean… uh…" he trailed away, turning redder and redder. "Er…" he said uncomfortably. He was waiting for her to speak and break the uncomfortable silence.

"Time will tell." Raven said, still watching the disk out of the corner of her eye. "Thanks for bringing me this, Cyborg."

"No problem, girl. Keep your strength up, all right? Maybe I'll bring you a book later." He joked quietly. She laughed once through her nose, looking at him with thankful eyes. "Don't worry, Raven." He said, facing the door of the stairwell just before he descended. "BB'll be back before you know it."

"I hope so…" Raven whispered after he was gone, reaching for one of the pizza slices. The sun touched the horizon, bathing the world in orange. She watched it do so… but soon her eyes went back to the disk again.

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Beast Boy's brow furrowed when he got to the top of the stairs. The door had a hole in it, as though someone had struck it with an axe. The doorknob wasn't quite aligned with the edge of the door, making it look very old and torn up. The wood was stained with time and grime, and BB knew he didn't need his key for this particular door. Reaching, he pushed it open with one hand. Again, two ways out of the room met him.

He was in the lighthouse itself now. The stairs spiraled away to the left, and one door greeted him. He tried the knob, and it opened. "Hey…" a really great smell met his nose, and his stomach growled. It was the kitchen. A kitchen with all sorts of food, a table for three, and food on the table! Having not had breakfast, Beast Boy lunged forward. He peered into the bowls that were on the table, and found them full of a sort of vegetable stew. He poked an un-gloved finger into one, and found them still warm. Sitting down right away, he reached for a spoon and a piece of bread from the loaf in the middle of the table. He suddenly felt a lump on the chair he was sitting on. Frowning, he stood.

Another set of clothes.

A simple, 1912 outfit of a worker lay in the chair. It was breeches, a rough shirt, and a simple cap. Whoever wore it was probably short and squat, compared to Beast Boy. A really round, short man? All mussed in a pile, the clothes looked like it had been there for maybe three seconds. "What is with these clothes…?" he mumbled, wondering if the clothes belonged to that 'Drake' guy. "People aren't running around naked for no reason…" he thought for a moment. "Unless… this is all that's left of them." He shivered at the thought, swallowing. He spotted a stove off to one side, a simmering pot on it. He went and sniffed at the steam emitting from it. "Soup…" his stomach begged him to take some, and he peered in to do just that.

It was green and moldy in there. A worm poked out and wriggled at him.

Beast Boy jumped back with a yelp, hitting the table with his hip. Grunting in pain he staggered back and hit the cupboard. How could something so nasty smell good? He came close again, peering into the pot. It looked fine now, a simmering pot of soup. Frowning, Beast Boy elected to just eat the bread on the table instead. Sitting down on the one of the two chairs with no clothes on them, he took the loaf in his grasp. "Ack!" he almost broke a tooth on the crust. "What's wrong with this bread!" He looked closer, and found it to be hardtack, not bread. "Aw man…" he mumbled, knowing exactly what that was. Hardtack was the nastiest tasting food on the planet. It had a tendency to taste like burnt toast, and be as hard as a rock. It was only even remotely good when dipped in something to soften it up. Dipping the whole loaf into one of the bowls of soup, he counted slowly to twenty. When he bit it this time it tasted awful, but at least it was chewable. Taking a big bite, he decided to explore the kitchen.

He saw cooking supplies that would last three people close to month, which was probably the idea. There were old order forms for next month's food stock. Ideas and recipes were scattered on a corkboard near the stove. A photograph of a young woman with a heart drawn on it was tacked to a cabinet. He opened all the cabinets, finding the usual stuff you would find in a kitchen. Cups, bowls, utensils, a few bottles of wine, spices, cooking supplies, etc. There was a small freezer sitting on its own in the corner, and he opened that as well. It was stocked full of ground beef. Beast Boy wrinkled his nose and shut it distastefully. But then something else caught his eye.

Of all things, a Bible lay on the cupboard near the stove. It was red leather with gold-stamped letters on the cover. Beast Boy took it down, and found a bookmark in it. Flipping to the place where to bookmark was, his eyes widened. The section of the Bible that was marked was called MALACHI. Did that have something to do with the scratchings on the door? Sitting at the table, Beast Boy looked at it. The section was only perhaps two pages, and the writing was tiny. Not very religious at all, he didn't know what to make of it. But the first few lines caught his interest. Malachi…

An Oracle: The word of the Lord to Isreal through Malachi.

Malachi was… a messenger, then? Did that have anything to do with the 'Malaki' scratched on the door, or the one that the zombie-thing had said? Or was it just coincidence…? "What is all this…?" Beast Boy mumbled. He flipped back and forth through the Bible, as though it might tell him something. He flipped to the very back, and something fell out. It struck the floor with the sound of metal and plastic. Closing the Bible and setting it on the table, he bent down and picked it up. "What's wrong with this picture?" Beast Boy whispered.

The green teen had just picked up a computer chip.

About four inches long and wide, it was relatively thin. But, it wasn't flimsy at all. Whatever it was made of was really, really sturdy. Licking his lips, Beast Boy turned over a few times. It was blue, a sort of electric blue that reminded him a little bit of Cyborg. Not the same blue, but close. Micro-wires crisscrossed across it, a few computer parts here and there. There was a strange, circular symbol embolded on the back. It reminded BB of a crop circle, and it looked very strange indeed. "Something tells me you don't belong here." Beast Boy mumbled, squinting at the tiny writing on it. He could quite read it, for it was too small. Very carefully propping the chip against one of the bowls, Beast Boy rose and turned into a hawk. Digging his claws into the back of the chair, he stared at it with hawk eyes.

MALAKI Processor #1

X – Factor Motherboard

Turning human again, Beast Boy tilted his head. What was that supposed to mean? Was 'Malaki' a computer, then? Deciding right away to keep it, he stuffed it in the bag marked 'Drake.' "I wonder if Drake was even from this time period?" Beast Boy mumbled, taking one more bite of the hardtack. If he got hungry, he could come back later. Raven wasn't as lucky as he, and she'd almost starved in the game… but he had a whole kitchen to himself. Maybe he'd come back later. "The dude from 1912 that picked this up must'a thought Malaki was from Malachi." He mumbled. "No wonder it was in his Bible…" Respectfully putting the Bible back on the cupboard where it belonged, Beast Boy wandered out of the room. It was time to go up the spiraling stairs. Maybe he'd find more clues about the missing crew of the lighthouse… or maybe he'd find Dark Fall waiting for him…

And that's all for part five! I hope you enjoyed it, and I hope I didn't make anyone uncomfortable with the Bible reference. In the game of "DARK FALL 2: Lights Out" it doesn't mention "Malache," but I thought it would be an interesting tidbit to put in. I hope I didn't offend anyone… anyhoo! Beast Boy has picked up a computer chip in 1912? What's up with that? Is Malaki a computer like he thinks it is… or something… more…

Uhm… what did you guys think of the conversation between Cy and Raven on the roof? Not too out of character, I hope? That was a rather delicate scene to write… opinions on that scene in particular would be apprieciated in your reviews!

Next time on Beast Boy's Game! It's "Light the Beacon!" More of the mystery will be revealed, and we'll learn more about the lighthouse keepers. Who is 'Drake,' the guy who owned the bag BB picked up? And what about the other two guys, since the kitchen table was set for three people? We'll find out! See you there! I'm submitting three parts at once! Cookies for anyone who reviews all three! Yay!