And here I am again, my friends and loyal fans! Its time for yet another chapter of BARCODE! My writer's block is nice and UN-blocked, so we can finally go on with the story at a steady pace. Are you ready? I sure am! I don't own Teen Titans! Sorr this one is so short, but I want to keep the ideas of my chapters in seperate ideas.

BARCODE

Part 18: Jailbreak

Beast Boy awoke from his after lunch nap, rising up and scratching his head. Tilting it to one side until his neck popped in a satisfying way, he rose from the couch. He'd been asleep for almost two hours after lunch, giving his food plenty of time to digest. It had been almost three weeks since… he flushed quietly… since he'd kissed her. But… she'd been strangely distant from him lately, leaving most of his lessons up to Robin and Cyborg. His vocabulary was still growing, but he was more interested in her at the moment. She looked so sad sometimes… why, though? Didn't she like him back? After all they'd been through together, surely he was worthy of some… small affection…? He frowned confusedly, a tiny whine emerging from his throat. He went and sat by the window, sitting in the dreamy warmth of the mid-afternoon sun. Straining his animal caliber ears, he listened through the glass.

She was on the roof chanting her three strange words. All alone. He thought about going up to see her, but decided against it. When he'd done that few days ago, she'd gone and locked herself in her room. She needed time in the sun, even if it was all alone…

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

The scientist that had been in jail for so long sat up in the middle of the night. There was something looking at him through the bars of his cell window. His heart beating hard, he got out of bed and slunk over to it. Careful not to wake his cell-partner or alert the guard nearby, he leaned as far out as he could.

"Hello there." It was Garfield Logan! He'd scaled the walls, eluded security and was peering in at him from the darkness. The man recoiled briefly, but quickly regained himself.

"S…Sir?" The man whispered. "Why didn't you contact me through the lighters I made for you? It's too dangerous for you here!"

Garfield gave a soft laugh. "There were... complications. Mine was broken." There was a long silence, and when they were sure no one was listening, he spoke again. "B-406 is dead. B-407 killed her." The man's face portrayed shock. "There's more. We got some DNA from the empath girl. There's a new fetus growing."

"But I thought the secondary base was destroyed." The man whispered. "I saw it on the news! It imploded into itself because of one of the Teen Titans. Raven, I think her name was."

"That's our blood doner." Garfield said darkly. "She escaped with help from her friends, but I already got what I wanted from her. Her perfect DNA." Adjusting his iron grip on the wall outside window, he spoke again. "The fetus is in a single-room lab out in the desert."

"The Omega room…" the man gasped, looking wide-eyed. Only the most out of control of the numbers went there! "Will this new creation really be that powerful?"

"I don't know. All of my staff are either dead or… well, you know." Garfield gestured to the cell he was in. "I only need one back, though." He reached forward. With scientific precision… pried the bars apart. "One to watch over the fetus to be sure it grows properly. Maintenance only."

"I'll be a wanted man…" the scientist whispered as he was lifted into the air by his shirt.

"Everything you'll need is already there. Including fake IDs and so on." Garfield said, having thought of everything. "Your job is easy. Keep her alive until she is ready to be born."

"She?"

"Yes. This new number… B-408. Its gender is female." Garfield said, putting the man over his massive shoulder. "The girl's DNA kept the fetus flesh-colored, despite any genetic alterations that were made." He carefully climbed down the wall, the man in tow. "She'll look absolutely normal. Just like everyone else… except for whatever power she develops." He leapt over the wall and they landed gracefully, running out into the night.

-------------------------------------------------------

"Extraordinary…" The scientist said, absolutely fascinated. "The Omega room…" he peered about as though he were in a rock star's living room. Every piece of machinery was cutting edge. Every read-out was up to the tenth of the second.

And there in the center of the room was B-408. The fetus had developed into a teen already, which was floating serenely in the liquid vat. Hooked up to an oxygen mask and several IVs, she hung suspended in the tube like an unborn child. Which, technically, she was. Only the bare beginnings of hair were visible, and she only moved now and then in response to loud noises. A small patch of pubic hair bashfully covered her soft sex… and B-408 was tattooed on her left buttock.

"Yes." Garfield said, looking around. "I designed this place in case we should ever need an absolutely minimal fallback spot. It's undetectable, untraceable, and can't be seen on heat scanners either." He patted a console proudly. "It's the culmination of my life's work." He turned to look at B-408. "B-407 would've been my ultimate success… but not anymore." He said soberly. "He's turned against me, and his shock orb has been removed."

"How?"

"I assume by his own means. His and that girl's." Garfield said evenly. The man winced at that, trying not to imagine the spray of blood from the green teen's hand. "I've been laying low for the time being, biding my time…" he handed the man a clipboard that was thick with papers and scratched notes. "But I'm done hiding now."

"Sir?"

"I'm going to fight the Teen Titans."

"What?"

"You heard me. Now get to work!" Garfield snapped. The man jumped, grabbing a pen to start at the temperature check of the vat's liquid. "If I don't come back, you will have to continue on your own."

"I'm… all that's left?"

"Yes."

"But sir…"

"Dozens of scientists are no longer necessary." Garfield said, turning his back and removing his shirt. The serial number was revealed and the man gasped. "B-408, this girl, will be the last super soldier I ever create. She is the last of the numbers. Period." There was a long silence, and he stared straight ahead for a moment before leaving. "If I don't come back……" he paused for a long time more, as though hesitant. "If I don't come back, be sure... be sureto name her. She can't be called B-408 for her entire life."

"Yessir." The man said obediently, genuinely sad to see him go. "Godspeed." He said it aloud but B-001, Garfield Logan, was already gone. "I'll no doubt hear about this on the news…" turning a TV on as background noise.

------------------------------------------------

"King me!" Beast Boy declared, moving the knight forward three spaces. He grinned at her as he knocked her queen off the board.Raven sighed. She knew she'd been pushing her luck trying to teach his something as complicated as chess.

Robin suddenly strode into the room, not looking happy at all. "There's been a jailbreak." He said. Raven jumped to her feet, ready for action. Beast Boy followed, but he put up a hand to stop them. "The prisoner's been gone for hours, though. He vanished in the middle of the night." Robin's head turned only slightly when Cyborg came into the common room via the elevator. Silently, the metal man spread out a collection of photographs. "Look." Robin pointed as everyone gathered around. Pictures of the cell's window bars were all over the table.

"Bent…" Raven murmured, touching one as though she could feel the cold metal. "B-406?" Beast Boy tensed at the name.

"No." Cyborg said. "She was confirmed dead and cremated, remember?" They all nodded soberly, knowing it to be so. She had no parents, but… Beast Boy had scattered her ashes in the forest, where he felt they belonged.

"Sorry." Raven murmured.

"But look again." Robin pointed. "The bars were bent outward." Everyone took a closer look. "Someone or something bent the bars from the outside. Whatever it was took him and ran off."

"Who was it that was taken?" Raven asked.

"One of the scientists from the first underground base." Robin said. "The one where we met Beast Boy." He jabbed his thumb at the green teen, who had picked up one of the photos.

"Mmm…" the green teen said. "Lighter man." He said, making a motion with his thumb that resembled the flicking open of a lighter.

"Agreed." Raven nodded. "He's gotten away several times. This is probably him we're talking about." She licked her dry lips, looking closely at the photograph Beast Boy was holding. "He must be freakishly strong to do something like that, though… see the indentations in the metal?" she turned the photo over for the others to see.

"Fingermarks." Robin nodded soberly. "He's no ordinary man."

The window of the common room suddenly smashed apart!

A huge, hulking figure tumbled in. It crashed across the floor, smashing the couch in two. The Titans scattered at the kitchen was battered with debris, rolling out of the way. The thing was all muscle. There was no way it could've been human. Beast Boy's eyes widened as he saw a serial number on their attacker's back. B-001.

Looking at his hand and seeing the B-407 printed there, Beast Boy approached the figure slowly. "Hullo?" he asked. "What is your name?" Careful and ready to protect his crotch this time, he came close to have a better look. The figure suddenly wrenched around and grabbed him by the throat! He gagged as he was lifted into the air, his legs kicking at nothing.

"B-406 sends her warmest regards." The thing snarled. Beast Boy paled. It was him. The man he'd seen at the very beginning of his life. The man whom he'd gotten his identity from. Garfield Logan.

B-001.

Cliffie! Oh no! That seems like a good place to stop anyway, though! I've gotta tell you guys… its almost over! It's time for the final battle! But what of this new bio-warrior, B-408? Will the Titans find out about her, or will she live to fight another day? Can they even defeat Garfield, though? He seems pissed! We'll find out next time on BARCODE! It's "Hero!" See you there!