Insaneiac: Ello chaps. Back for a bit more Beast Boy suffering are ye? Well, aside from one individual, who continues to warn me about my life ending should Beast Boy's ends… You know who you are, that always seems to be the case. Now, if I really wanted to frighten you all, and trust me, that ranks high on my list, I could make this one big Raven Beast Boy fluff fest. We could call it fluff-stock 06, with opening act of Robin and Starfire, followed by Cyborg and…well, no one cares about Cyborg…but the thing is, I have an outlet for fluff already. If any of you chaps have played Tales of Symphonia, feel free to check it out when you have a chance for the…lighter side of the crazed freak of nature. Anyways, on with the show.

Disclaimer: I do not own Beast Boy…or Teen Titans. However, Slade soon will.

Chapter 7: The Final Free Day
A smile hid behind has mask as he watched Winry enter the room, a collar grasped firmly in her hand. For the first time since Terra, Slade had been in relatively high spirits. He was still the heartless, soulless, demonic icon of terror that everyone made him out to be, he was just happy about something. That tended to mean even worse things would start happening. As it stood, he was mere minutes from unleashing his most decisive blow to the Titan's yet. He felt much like the grand villain, revealing himself at the beginning of the second act, or the end of the first. Of course, this was no staged play, and there were no actors at all.

Only puppets on strings that he controlled with ease.

"Ah Winry. I trust that it's ready." Slade opened, his voice retaining its emotionless quality. He could have laughed at her reaction, but chose to hide his joy. Not that it was a hard task for him in the slightest. His character was such that he could kill his mother, and be just as happy as though he'd won the lottery. But you would never notice it. Winry growled under her breath as she tossed the collar onto his desk, glaring icily. "Now now Winry, try to be pleasant."

"Shove it Slade." She growled.

"I take it that fear of what might become of young Richard kept you awake long enough to finish this then? That is why you have become so…unruly." Slade dissected, observing Winry with great patience.

"You know what, when this fails just like your pathetic attempts at "apprentices", Slade, I'll be there to laugh at you. And trust me, Slade. You will fail. You always do." Winry blurted out. At first, she had seemed almost horrified at what she had said, but yet when she resolved herself, she finished strong and potently. She could blame this on the grand total of seven hours sleep in the last three days, she could blame it on her overwhelming hatred consummating an unholy union with stress, or she could just put it all into being pissed off.

Her fears, however, would be dashed as a rippling laughter, frostier than ice, filled the room. 'He's…laughing at me…LAUGHING!' Winry's mind erupted, before she watched Slade stand.

"Miss Winry…" Slade began, closing the distance in-between them. Every step he completed brought the feeling of death itself a renewed sense of being. "…do you know what it is that keeps me from breaking your little neck, and being done with you once and for all?"

"I know it's not by looks…you're too busy chasing after little boys." He reply came, sharper than anything she had ever uttered before. She had wholly expected Slade to destroy her for such a comment, but all that came was another chilling, disturbing laugh. "WHAT IS SO FRIGGEN FUNNY!" She yelled, enraged and horrified at the same time.

"You, miss Winry." He replied, backing the young woman into a wall, removing any space between herself and the madman. "And your little, incessant comments. Watching you attempt to take some control never ceases to amuse me."

"I am NOT here for your amusement you sick, pathetic man!" Winry growled, as a hand wrapped itself around her throat. Her eyes bulged dangerously as he felt it tighten; threatening her with the aspect of being separated from the air she needed to live.

"You are here for whatever reason I decide, Miss Winry." Slade continued, as he picked her up off the ground, and raised her into the air by her neck. The look of complete fear, of utter and total overwhelmed horror, within her eyes was priceless. "And despite your protests, you still do what I say. So, Winry, I ask you this." Slade droned, as he brought her eye level with him. "Are you truly so hateful of me or do you hate yourself for being so subservient?"

And with that, he released her throat, letting her slump down to the ground. Even when he turned his back on her, Winry's eyes were wide with horror. Every word just then, every little syllable just sank in. Every single bit of it made…absolute sense. He was right. "No…"

"Please, don't let your petty sense of drama consume yourself. You're nothing but a servant, my slave." Slade replied, revelling in his destruction of her soul. "No one cares about you now, and when you die, just as many will care then. The only effect you will ever truly have is in helping me get my apprentices and my pets."

"You…bastard." Winry muttered.

"Name calling is never acceptable Winry, even for you. Now leave." He responded, his voice still retaining its emptiness. Where the Winry who once believed in her strength might have scoffed off like a teenaged daughter, or an angry and betrayed brat, this Winry feebly stood up, and trotted off, almost as if she had died within herself.

Of course, this mattered nothing to the mastermind. The suffering of anyone under his rule meant little more than hurt moral, which was easily rectified with a strong and potent dose of fear. No, he had more important things to fill his mind with. His mind and eye focused on his monitor, relaying a stream from his secret little camera within Titan Tower infirmary, watching his prize with great patience and wanting as he rubbed the collar in his left hand. Behind the mask, his smile grew much more demonic than anything it had resembled before.

"Today is your last day as a free person, boy. Today, you bow to a master like proper animals should." He cooed to the screen, his voice riddled with venom and malice. "You will be my property."

------ Titan Tower ------

The tower, usually peaked to the brim with noise, mayhem and craziness, was silent. It resembled the silence one could find nestled within a graveyard at the peak of midnight. Accompanying it was a creepy and pure silence, much like the kind that heralds in catastrophe. Raven had left with Cyborg and Starfire to check on some disturbances in and around the city. That left two people within the tower. One heartbroken and depressed, not to mention mentally shattered Beast Boy, and one supposedly fearless and equally supposedly selfless Robin.

One of which was just finishing up the single hardest thing he had even set out to accomplish. Well, perhaps the second hardest thing, when he glanced into foresight. In his hands he held two of the largest chocolate sundaes he had ever seen created, loaded with every flavour of ice cream that Cyborg hid in his room. The bowls were nothing short of gargantuan, sure enough to give Godzilla a good case of the inferiority complex. It had taken him an amazing amount of effort to even come up with the elaborate design of such a monstrosity of teeth rotting sweetness.

Yet Robin knew he had to make this effort. He knew that, despite the gut wrenching horror that welled within him, surrounding itself around the prospect of a deadly brain freeze and his teeth falling apart, he needed to connect with Beast Boy. And while the saying typically went "The quickest way to a woman's heart is through her stomach" Robin was sure that this could be applied to the only walking black hole living on the world as well.

It struck him personally when Raven suggested this, opting to leave with the other two worry warts to let Robin and Beast Boy connect. It made him feel as though Raven though he couldn't do it. That he was incapable of doing something like this. With a big grin on his face, as he looked at the mountains of icy goodness, he laughed. You never tell Robin what he can or can not do.

Quickly, he ran to the infirmary, the second home of Beast Boy as it were, and stopped at his door. Looking up at the semi-unaware titan, Robin brought a sincere, if not slightly forced, smile to his face. "Beast Boy, common. I got a surprise for you!" Robin blurted out.

The fact that Robin looked like a little boy who had just successfully coloured his first picture brought a grin to his face. With a nod, Robin left him to slip back into his costume. A few minutes later, and a few inner hours of Beast Boy tearing his mind apart, trying to deduce if Robin might be trying to kill him in order to prevent Slade from taking him away, he walked into the main hall, and turned to see Robin.

Robin, grinning like a mad man, holding two of the largest spoons he had ever seen, standing in between two of the largest sundaes he had ever seen.

"DUDE!" Beast Boy yelled, his eyes watering as if he had just been presented with the award of "World's Greatest Superhero." Within a few seconds, the two had happily begun devouring the super sundaes as it were. Within an hour of shovelling, and the slurping up the melted mixture of flavours, Robin and Beast Boy flopped onto the couch, each of them patting a full stomach. Beast Boy, of course, had gone wild with ice cream fever, and was in the midst of fighting a life or death battle with the God of all ice cream headaches.

"If I never…" Robin began, a burp breaking his statement in two. "…eat ice cream again, I could die happy."

"Dude…I hear…" Beast Boy replied, a similar belch interrupting his statement. "…you loud and clear."

For a few more brief moments, the two existed as comrades, and to anyone that might have been watching, spying, or recording, the two looked like friends of the best calibre. Robin had to admit, it felt good to finally find something to reached Beast Boy with. Now he just needed to step passed his role as leader. He needed to reach through his role as Robin of Teen Titans. And as mind numbingly hard as it was, he needed to relinquish his fear of Slade. This was not his problem alone to brood over, nor was it Beast Boy's to suffer over.

"Beast Boy…do you trust me?" Robin muttered, sighing deeply. In earnest, he had expected a typical Beast Boy answer. He never got that. Instead, what he got was another case of Beast Boy breaking the mould that his run in the Titan's was thought to create and solidify.

"No. I don't." Beast Boy replied, his eyes suddenly darkening again. He had a feeling, ever since he saw Robin smiling, that this was going to happen.

"Well, Beast Boy, I trust you. And knowing that, this stays between us, okay?" Robin replied, catching Beast Boy off guard. Sighing, Robin knew what he had to do. The only way, only way at all, he was going to connect with Beast Boy…was by dropping his role as Robin. With a long a deep breath, he made eye contact with Beast Boy, who gave him a sullen nod. His eyes quickly shot open as he watched Robin peel away his mask from his eyes. He could only stare as he saw for the first time Robin's eyes. The first thing that came to his head, other than a vicious nagging to shut his mouth, was his eyes. They were human. Blue, human eyes.

"Ro…Robin?" Beast Boy muttered, seeing Robin shake his head. With another sigh, possibly one designed to reaffirm his strength, Robin locked eyes with Beast Boy.

"First of all, and this will stay between you, me, and Raven. My name is Richard. You're the third person alive to know my real name Beast Boy. Not even Starfire or Cyborg knows it. Okay?" Richard began, almost defensively, eliciting a stunned nod from Beast Boy. "And what I say to you, what we talk about, I want you to say as though I was a regular person. My mask is off, and my position as Leader is not here right now. As of this point and time, Beast Boy, we're equals."

"…It's Garfield…" Beast Boy replied, after a while of though. Richard knew exactly what he had been speaking off, and nodded in reply.

"…You can't fight him alone." Were the first words out of Richard's mouth, knowing exactly what would come. "I know because…I can't fight him alone. Every time I've been in trouble, been at risk of succumbing to him…I'm saved by my friends. Beas…Garfield…Slade is no villain. He's a calculated and clear minded veteran of evil. He knows how to strike you, where to strike you, and just how hard to strike you to lure you right too him."

"Do you fear me?" Garfield spoke on impulse, breaking the eye contact and staring at the ground.

"What makes you…"

"Him Rob…Richard. Do you fear…him within me?" Garfield returned, shivering as he referred to the darkness that dwelled and swelled within him. Darkness known all to well by both of the boys.

"…It's not that…"

"No Richard! Yes or no!" Garfield growled, reaffirming eye contact with Richard. This time, his suppressed eyes flared with emotion. With a mind-numbing lust craving only the complete and total truth from Richard. He didn't want a pleasant excuse or an explanation. He wanted an honest yes or an honest no. Nothing in-between.

"…Yes Garfield. You…he…horrifies me. I've lost count of the times my mind wandered to what you could truly do if you tried. But yet, I know who you are." Richard replied, not expecting the glare within Garfield's eyes to become even fiercer.

"NO YOU DON'T!" He yelled, startling Richard quite thoroughly. What had at one point held resemblance to a conversation had left, gone with the wind. "You haven't the slightest CLUE! You might think you do, but all you see is comic relief...IS A WALKING JOKE!"

"And what about you then? Do you know me? Do you have even the slightest clue what my life has been?" Richard retorted, a fist clenched at his side. "Beast Boy, I guarantee you that if you knew, if you saw, anything that happened in my life…it would chill you to the bone." That one calmed him down; at least it looked like it did. In all honesty, he just wasn't sure with Beast Boy anymore.

"When I was young…my parents were killed." Garfield muttered. For a brief period of time, both he and Richard had become victims. "Someone rigged our boat with an explosive…and in the chaos of it all; I was tossed off the boat. My parents weren't nearly as lucky."

"Garfield…"

"My adopted father was murdered by a pair of American hunters, just so they can take me away and sell me. SELL ME!" Garfield growled, fists clenched as tightly as he could. "Like I was a jewel or an accessory." Then, with a gaze at Richard, his eyes turned fierce. "Even Terra, who I… who I really liked… was killed. Everyone that has ever tried to love me Richard…they die."

And suddenly…Richard didn't feel as alone in the world. For the longest time, he felt like the world dealt him the worse hand in life, giving him the horrible tragedies and brutal events. And here he was, watching a comrade he had never truly taken seriously fight back tears, recounting tragedy equal to his own, and then some. At least Robin had an adopted father still, even if he was the epitome of fear. Garfield truly had no one... or at least more people had come and gone, either by fate or by death. He must have felt like the loneliest soul on the planet.

"Garfield…"

"Don't pity me. I gave up feeling sorry for myself long ago… I just wanted to laugh around people. Even if I had to become the target of laughter, I only wanted to bring some joy here and there." Garfield muttered, wiping away the tears from his eyes. "So there Richard. That is me. A tragic little boy who gave away a need for sympathy, just to make the people around him feel better about their lives.

"Garfield…do you fear me?"

"What's that suppose to mean?"

"When Slade is around…do you fear me?"

For a second, the two comrades could only exchange glances, both equally preparing themselves for what would inevitably come next. "Yes Richard. When you're against him, you put everyone else behind him. It makes me wonder just who or what you'd sacrifice to stop him. He brings the worse out in you, and yet you still keep trying."

"Garfield…I would not, I would never, sacrifice anyone to get to him."

"That is a bold face lie." Garfield responded, catching Richard completely off guard.

"What makes you think that? Huh? Am I truly that heartless and evil to you?"

"Yes." Garfield began, his eyes solid with purpose again, as he stared Richard dead in the eyes. "You want revenge on him, and you would do whatever it takes to get that Robin. Whatever it takes." And with that, Beast Boy had shattered the ideal of equality between the two evaporated with the mood.

"BEAST BOY!" Robin yelled, silencing his team mate. "I would never, EVER, sacrifice anyone on this team to beat Slade. NEVER!" Robin growled, grimacing as he snatched up his mask, and placed it back onto his face. "And the fact that you would even assume I was that low…it sickens me!"

"I sicken you Robin?" Beast Boy growled, grabbing his communicator from his side, holding it as if he meant to crush it. "Fine. I don't need you. I don't need you, this tower, or any of your lies!" Beast Boy finished, hatred of the purest kind filling his eyes, his entire body trembling with the rage of an army.

"Yes you do, because you are worthless without us!" Robin growled back, no long realizing what he was saying. It really did catch him pretty quickly…the fact that he had really just said that…that he had just let his emotions flow through him. But as he watched Beast Boy, he could see that no matter his intention, the words had struck a killing blow to him. Slowly walking up to Robin, Beast Boy's frame was at an eerie stillness, no moving at all. Not trembles, not a shake, not even a full breath.

"Worthless…" Beast Boy began, before driving the communicator into Robin's chest, as hard as he could. The blow took Robin to his knees, panting for breath as he felt a pain resembling his entire chest collapsing in on him. "You're a bastard Robin. A worthless, heartless bastard." Beast Boy continued, tears forming at the edges of his eyes as he looked down at Robin, struggling to get back up. "For all I can care, you and the rest of the Titans can rot. In. HELL!" Beast Boy growled, as he charged out of the Tower.

Robin, despite his pain, knew that the only chance he had to keep him safe was to chase after him. Grabbing his own communicator, he pressed the burst button, and yelled into it. "Raven, we have a problem. FIND BEAST BOY!" And with that, he charged after Beast Boy, desperate not to let him run away.

------ Jump City Alleys ------

The peak of night made Jump City a very foreboding place and the alleys where doubly so in the dead of the night. However, for some obscure and unimaginable reason, the usually filled alleys were completely and utterly empty, save for the odd cat charging from place to place.

Beast Boy touched down, slipping back into his human form. For a moment, the anger and adrenaline pulsed within him, before they evaporated. And then it had all hit him. With a depressed sigh, he slumped up against the wall, and wrapped his arms around his knees. He had just rammed his communicator into Robin's chest, a wave of fear waving over him. What if he had really hurt Robin? One final sigh managed to escape his lips before he just broke down, sobbing and whimpering like a child who's dog just died, or a close, loved one watching his father, mother, sister, or whatever being lowered into the grace.

"This is far from a safe place for children." A voice said, calm and collected. Slowly, Beast Boy glanced to his left. There was a person in a deep brown cloak, rummaging through a trash can. "Especially the young, heartbroken and crying ones. Lot of sickoes in this place."

"Why should I care? Maybe one will pick a fight." Beast Boy replied defensively. Inwardly, he was hopping someone would.

"Yahknow, everyone cares about something. Take me for example. I'm digging through this trashcan. Guess why?"

"Food?" Beast Boy muttered on instinct, not realizing how insulting it truly sounded.

"Hell no. I could care less about food. I have great food where I live. Right now, I am looking for something important to me. Something…precious to me."

"You mean you're not a bum?" Beast Boy grimaced as he felt himself speak once more with the insulting language. Instead of retorting though, the man just laughed. A roaring, full laugh into the air.

"You're a funny one kid. No, I'm no bum. I probably look like it though, don't I?" He replied, flapping his cloak in the air. "Actually, my kid's dog passed away a couple days ago…he kept the collar as a keepsake. Seems a "friend" decided to play a joke on him by throwing it out."

"So you're playing super dad and getting it back for him?"

"Course. That's what fathers do." He replied, as he stiffened for a moment. "BINGO, FOUND IT!" He yelled, as he turned to Beast Boy. The former titan turned smiled at the man, about to congratulate him, when he saw the collar. It looked nothing like what any regular dog would wear in their right mind. It actually looked more like something designed for the most brutal of pet trainers.

"What kind of dog did your son have!" Beast Boy exclaimed, eyeing the mechanical collar something fierce. "Or rather, what dinosaur!"

"Hmm...funny actually. I never even said I had a...son. In all honesty, I had one for a while...an 'adopted' son." The man began. Beast Boy was beginning to feel unnerved as he watched the man, unable to see his face thanks to the hood of his cloak. "Actually, my last kid…I believe… had been a girl." The man muttered, this time much colder. "She was young, full of youthful emotion, with blonde long hair, strong blue eyes, and a determined voice." He recited, as Beast Boy stared, any sense of curiosity he had ever had fading away slowly replaced with a combination of realization and fear. Realization of who the man was talking about, and fear about who the man was. "She had this beautiful little green animal…followed her everywhere she went…except to hell."

"…Slade…" Beast Boy whispered, as he kicked to his feet. The man nodded slowly, an evil laugh filling his ears. Beast Boy stood in fear as he watched the man, watched him as he lifted his hood, revealing that it was, indeed, Slade. The man who swore to take Beast Boy away from the life he had known, loved, and held dear.

"I told you in three days, I would come for you. And guess what, boy? Day three is upon you now." Slade stated, his voice a deathly cold tone. "And I told you that the first thing we'd work on is your habit for crying."

"Go to hell Slade. I'm not going with you, Robin, or anyone!"

"You believe you have a choice? Little boy, the Titans is a choice. I'm not." Slade replied, charging ahead. Before Beast Boy could even blink, Slade's forearm slammed into his neck, pinning him to the wall. Stunned, all Beast Boy could do was stared horrified into his eye as he brought the collar to his neck. With a single button, the collar whirred to life, an unlocking sound filling Beast Boy's ears as the collar spilt open. "Your life of freedom ends now. Your life as my pet, however, begins." Slade finished, as he slapped the collar around Beast Boy's neck. A brutal locking sound filled his hearing once more, as he felt his life slip out of his hands. And with the press of a button, an extreme electrical shock ripped through Beast Boy's body, rendering him unconscious. Tossing the knocked out boy over his shoulder, Slade walked down the alley, disappearing into the night with his intended prey.

A/N: Yes… I said the story was changing…I have a feeling that I dragged BB's character into a new realm of OOC, so tell me please if I did. I will need to renovate that. Anyways, like I said. Big changes. Robin tries to connect with Beast Boy on an emotional level, and fails miserably. Slade kidnaps Beast Boy, and destroys any confidence that Winry might have had. The next few chapters, gents, are going to feel a bit slow…but never fear. If you know me, and I know some of you do, there will be a lot of awesome things to come.