Well, I finally got the next chapter out. Sorry for the wait, but I was very busy with work and life in general. For those who are waiting for the BB/Rae... Hold on. It'll come, and it'll be good.


Chapter 3

Fate Worse Than Death


"Remember what I told you. No arguing or fighting. If you can't think of anything nice to say, you'd be better off not saying anything at all." Two pairs of footsteps echoed along the long metal hallway, one firm and graceful, the other sluggish and inexperienced. Robin slowed his pace a bit and waited for Starfire to catch up to him. They say slow and steady wins the race, well, that's exactly how they made their way to the common room for dinner. "I'm not saying this to be mean, but we really don't need another fight to break out between you two."

Starfire sighed. "I understand..."

"That doesn't sound very convincing."

"I am sorry. I am still angry with Raven."

"I understand, but I still don't want you to say anything about BeastBoy or her attitude, however bad it may be." He had to agree that Raven had been far less tolerant than usual, though completely understandable given the current situation.

"I will be civil, Robin." Starfire gave Robin a small smile, causing him to blush. "I promise."

"Thanks Starfire. I'm sure we'll all feel a little bit better tomorrow."

When Robin and Starfire walked into the kitchen, the smell of burnt tea leaves was the first thing to catch their attention. As Starfire took in the sight, her eyes widened and she couldn't help but gasp in surprise. "X'hal... It looks like a slithering glorbnark has passed through our eating facilities and exploded." Robin, though he had no idea what she said, only nodded in response.

It looked like a battlefield had taken place. Slime of every disgusting color imaginable was splattered over everything. Shredded plastic and paper littered the floor, along with some sort of ash, which was spread out everywhere, sticking to the walls and ceiling with relative ease. Probably because of the food. Several small cloths were enveloped in black energy and floated briskly around the kitchen, cleaning off counters, cabinets and anything else that was covered in debris. Anyone else would be running away screaming for an exorcist, but since that demon was their purple haired teammate, who seemed to have herself preoccupied with a massive pile of dishes, Robin and Starfire simply stared. Seeing Raven doing the dishes was just as strange as an alien creature randomly entering the tower and blowing itself up in their kitchen.

The cloth that was wiping off the kitchen table finished its job and shot off towards the next mess, which Starfire happened to be in the way. Even though she was well known for her speed and grace, the Tameranean barely had enough time to squeak and duck as the grungy projectile slammed into the wall behind her.

"Raven?" Robin asked the empath, who was currently elbow deep in dishwater. "What happened in here?" He took a step forward and immediately had to dodge several rags that decided to switch places. Six out of seven was pretty good, but he still ended up with a wet cloth on his face.

She didn't even slow down in her tasks as she answered. "My emotions slipped." Not exactly what happened, but they didn't need to know she blew a gasket and spilled her guts. Figuratively speaking, of course.

Robin cringed slightly as he pulled the rag off his face and tossed it in the trash. Whatever was scattered all over the kitchen was now dripping off his face. "Must've been one heck of a slip."

"I will acquire a sanitary towel." Starfire floated to the cabinet where they kept the clean dishrags and opened it. An empty shelf greeted her. She blinked. "Where are the sanitary towels?"

"They're gone." Raven stated simply.

"Gone?" She repeated.

"Yes."

"All of them?"

"Yes."

"How?"

"Don't ask."

"But... I just did."

Raven rolled her eyes and continued her cleaning without comment. It had only been aboutthirty minutes since her little talk with Cyborg, and she was nowhere near ready for another conversation that required three or more words per sentence. Especially to Starfire.

Starfire felt her temper begin to flare again. She had to remember what Robin had told her, as well as what she had learned from her friend in the past. Perhaps a snack of the food in the 'fridge' would calm her erratic emotions as well as abate her hunger till dinner... That thought was quickly dashed as she reached her next destination."...Where is the rest of the fridge?" She stared wide-eyed at the mutilated appliance.

"Over here." Cyborg grunted as he struggled to pull the refrigerator door out of the kitchen wall. "There might be a towel on the handle, but s'not a big deal... Delivery guy should be here soon... I'm sure he's got some napkins...YAA!" He gave one final yank and staggered back as the wall finally released its quarry with a metallic groan. "Booya! Victory!" He held up the twisted object in the air with one hand and a peace sign with the other. His cheer was quickly cut short by a loud buzzing sound.

Raven dropped the last few dishes into the drainer and levitated the rags into the nearest trashcan just as Robin spoke. "Just in time for dinner too. I'm gonna get cleaned up." You didn't even have to look to know that he was getting nauseous from the smell. "Whatever this stuff is, it stinks." She looked behind her and watched the three leave the kitchen for their various reasons. Robin headed off first, most likely to wash his face, and Starfire was quick to follow. From the emotions that filled the room, she probably left just to get away from her. Cyborg looked like he was going to greet the delivery boy and get the Chinese food that was ordered.

Finally alone again, Raven slowly pulled the only surviving clean towel from her cloak, one that she had failed to tell Starfire of its whereabouts, and started drying her hands. As she gazed at the towel, a strange pain in her chest began to grow. It was the same feeling she had when she found the tea. She stopped her motions and brought it to her face. The soft, slightly damp surface felt nice against her skin and she soon found herself taking a deep breath, as if she was searching for that particular scent that she had come to know so well. 'Great.' She thought, realizing what she was doing. ' First I blow up the kitchen, and now I'm coddling a dishtowel.' She mentally berated herself a few more times as she threw the green object over her shoulder and headed to her seat at the table to wait for her friends...

BeastBoy flew backwards several feet and hit a rather large bookshelf with a sickening crunch. Slade lowered his and chuckled. This was becoming far too easy. "Two down. Three to go."

The smell of burnt flesh and the sight of the attack was too much for him. Cyborg slowly pulled himself to his knees staring at his friend's body. 'No way...B... This can't be happening...' He yelled in rage and fired his sonic cannon. "Slade!" The beam passed harmlessly through the hologram's midsection and blew a hole in the wall.

"Was that supposed to do something, child?"

"Shut up!" He yelled as he fired off several more shots, practically leveling the south end of the building. He just lost his best friend right in front of his eyes. There was no way he was gonna let that happen again. "You're goin down if I have to take the whole building down to do it!"

Slade shook his head. "You shouldn't worry Cyborg. You and your friends will be joining him soon." Slade raised his hand and blasted the half man in the chest, knocking him off his feet. "Do say hello to Raven's father for me."

Cyborg closed his eye and braced himself for the next attack, cursing at being so helpless. If only he had seen through Slade's plan, maybe BeastBoy wouldn't have gotten killed...

Crunch.

Slade's image exploded in a flash of light.

Cyborg blinked and looked around nervously. "What the heck?"

"Heh. I found the last holo thingy." BeastBoy stuck his green hand out of the pile of books he landed in and weakly held up a little smashed device.

"BeastBoy!" The changeling soon found himself in a bone crushing hug, courtesy of the resident Tameranean.

"Star... ribs... Ouch."

Starfire quickly released him and Beastboy fell to the ground with a thud. "Oh! I am very sorry!"

"Heh, no problem Star..."

"You're alive?" Robin tried to stand again and grimaced. "How?" He asked, finally giving up on getting up.

BeastBoy stood up and clutched his chest with his free hand, groaning in pain. "Why? Disappointed or something?"Felt like he had a few busted ribs... and Star's hug, though one handed, didn't help any. Definitely gonna be feeling that in the morning.

"Don't talk like that! You know what I meant. Were you trying to scare us to death?"

BeastBoy winced and mumbled as he leaned against the wall, "Hey I thought the rock idea was pretty good..." He massaged his throbbing temples and sighed, "Dude! That is one game of laser tag I'm not gonna be forgetting any time soon."

Cyborg laughed. "Yeah, and you did a great job, too. Now how 'bout you let me take a look at that emitter?"

"You want? Catch." BeastBoy tossed the tiny machine to him.

As soon as it was in his grasp, Cyborg turned the crumpled ball of metal over a couple of times. "Wow, you really did a number on this thing. What'd you do to it? Smash it with a rock?"

"Yeah Cy..." BeastBoy shook his head as he limped over towards Raven. Apparently he bruised his leg somewhere along the line. "I smashed it with a rock. We're in a library! I whacked it with a book, you moron!" He crouched down and looked at the pale girl worriedly.

"Dang. Must've been a thick book."

"All I know was that it was old, big and thick. Totally Raven worthy stuff."

"And how would you know when a book is or isn't Raven worthy?"

"Uh..." BeastBoy's face turned an interesting shade of red, "Can we move Raven? She can't be comfortable with all that junk pokin' her in the back."

Cyborg laughed inwardly at BB's reaction. "Like I said before, she's gonna be just fine. Go ahead and bring her over here."

"Starfire, are you okay?" Robin asked as she helped him stand, the child still in one arm.

She smiled weakly in return. "Yes, I am not severely injured. Tameraneans are well known for taking excessive amounts of damage and blood loss before death occurs."

"That's... comforting." He looked at the changeling, who slowly made his way to the group in the form of a gorilla while carrying Raven. "What about you? How the heck did you survive that hit? Not that I'm complaining or anything, but Cyborg's whole leg got blown off by the last one."

BeastBoy shrugged as best he could before setting her down and changing back. "Dunno... You're the smart one. You figure it out. I've been doin' enough thinking for one day."

Robin balanced himself on his good leg, with Starfire's help, and surveyed the damage around him. All of his friends were badly injured, but at least none of them were dead. He was sure Raven would be able to heal all of them as soon as she woke up, but that didn't leave him any more at ease. They were lucky this time. The trap was almost perfect, and if it wasn't for BeastBoy's hearing, they'd all be dead. "Find anything out?" He asked.

"Yeah." Cyborg tossed the object in question to his leader. "Looks like Slade placed several emitters strategically around the library to increase the power of the laser. After each one was destroyed, the laser's power levels were reduced until it was only a fraction of what it once was."

BeastBoy nodded. "Okay... Now lets just pretend that I didn't get a word you just said."

Cyborg rolled his eye. "Less holo-thingies, weaker laser."

"Oh. Now why didn't you say that in the first place?"

"Friends..." The three boys turned and looked at Starfire. "I believe the young child is finally awakening."

Tap. Tap. Tap. Sip. Flip.

Tap. Tap. Tap. Sip. Flip.

The mood at the table was tense, to say the least. Raven sat at her usual place at one end, reading a book while taking the occasional sip of her water, again acting as nothing had ever happened. Any and all type of conversation directed towards her was simply ignored or glared upon. "So... Raven. How was your meditation today?"

Her eyes shifted to Robin, who visibly flinched.

"Nevermind."

And where Raven was quiet and antisocial, Starfire was simply trying to make a scene.

Cyborg stared wide-eyed at her viscous attack. "Um, Star. I think the eggroll is dead. You can eat it anytime now." She acted as though she didn't hear and continued jabbing mercilessly at her dinner with her chopsticks. Robin and Cyborg looked at eachother nervously. 'I thought you talked to her!' Cyborg mouthed.

'I did!' Was mouthed back 'Did you talk to Raven?'

"What?" Cyborg whispered as he leaned in close. He wasn't as good at reading lips as their leader despite having a computerized brain.

"I said, 'Did you talk to Raven?'"

"Yeah."

"Well?"

"She didn't say much, but I did convince her to—"

"Cyborg."

Both boys jerked their heads in Raven's direction. If that was her, it would've been the first thing she had said since dinner started. She turned a page in her book and never even looked up. Robin glanced back at Cyborg, who just shrugged. Maybe they were just hearing things... "If you say one more thing to him, you won't beleaving this table in one piece."

Okay... So she did speak.

"None of you know anything about my feelings. I'll deal with his death in my own way." Raven took a sip of her drink and returned her attention to her book. "Alone."

"Raven," Robin started, unsure as to whether or not it would be wise to continue this conversation. "We don't know how you feel because you won't tell us."

"I don't tell you because it's none of your business."

"But you're our friend, girl. We wanna help."

"Being friends doesn't mean I have to tell you every aspect of my life. Drop it."

Starfire listened for a few more minutes while Robin and Cyborg fruitlessly tried to talk to Raven, until finally she had enough. "Why do you prevent us from helping you?" She asked, interrupting the boys. "What have we done to make you so angry at us?"

"The fact that you three won't shut up and let me read in peace." Raven flipped the page.

Starfire's eyes narrowed dangerously at her teammate. "Then you truly enjoy the silence that has been brought from BeastBoy's death."

"Starfire!" Robin's mask stretched as his eyes widened.

Raven's eyebrow twitched. "Not as much as you enjoy butting into other people's business." She said, setting the book on the table and glaring.

"I do not do the 'butting in' that you speak of. I am merely trying to help."

"You call that helping? Maybe you didn't get the hint. Do me a favor and shut up. BeastBoy is gone. I know. I'm not stupid. I don't want your so-called help, and I'm not in the mood to listen to your horrible attempts at proper English."

"Guys! Guys! Calm down! This ain't the way BB'd want you two to be acting!" Cyborg tried his best to calm the situation, but his pleas fell on deaf ears.

Suddenly the lights dimmed and the flashing red light and siren reverberated through the room, drawing everyone's attention.


A horrendous scream of agony ripped through the large forest far from Jump City. Birds of all colors and sizes took to the air from the trees in fear, while the many different animals sought shelter in the foliage.

"Awake again?" An older man with a light brown beard and mustache groaned as he sat up in bed. "Lights." He quickly threw his blanket off and sat up rubbing his eyes at the sudden illumination. "That's the fifth time today." After quickly dressing and grabbing his glasses from the shelf, he yawned as he donned his lab coat and headed out of his room into the hall. This was proving quite difficult. Every day, ever since they acquired that... that thing, the experiment just seemed to become more and more volatile. No living thing on Earth; man, beast or alien, has shown the aggression that it has in the past three days. As he rounded the next corner, he narrowed his eyes. A tall man with gray/white hair and a black bodysuit stood with his hands placed casually behind his back next to one of the young scientists on his team. "Wilson?" He said, sounding slightly annoyed. "What are you doing here?"

In front of the two men was a large one-sided mirror that stretched a good ten feet across. On the other side of the glass, a young woman with short blonde hair and white body suit was in a large cell locked in battle with a huge monster of some sort. She blocked a swipe from its claws, that looked like it would've taken her head off if it connected, and slammed the experiment into the ceiling with a well placed kick to its midsection. The entire facility shook from the assault and most of the inhabitants flinched as another shriek tore at their eardrums. The creature then fell a good twenty feet and yelped as it hit the ground.

Wilson continued to watch the creature through six inches of bulletproof glass. "Hello again, Professor." He said, never taking his eyes off the fight. "I see you've made some progress with your new toy." He smirked when it simply growled as it got to its feet and lunged at the woman yet again. "And it seems that your little girl is starting to have a hard time with him. I didn't know she was so weak, given her heritage."

"She's not weak." He walked over to the scientist beside Wilson, but kept his eyes on the experiment. " Her physiology is identical to the original, and with the genetically enhanced DNA, I'd say that she's at least as powerful as Superman."

"But that thing..." He paused as the creature caught a flying punch and swung the woman face first into the thick metal wall. "It's gaining strength far quicker than we thought was ever possible. It's hard to believe it was human at one point." A sudden flash of red and the experiment was thrown from its opponent and sent flying directly into the window, cracking it down the middle. The two men didn't even flinch. The third, however, had ducked for cover and was now busy picking himself off the floor, trying to calm his racing heart. "I was also told that the last tranquilizer was strong enough to kill an elephant." He adjusted his glasses and gave the young man a stern look. "I was told it wouldn't wake up for another three days, and unless my watch is off, it's only been an hour."

"Sir." The young man started shifting through his papers frantically, dropping a few documents in the process. He finally found what he was looking for and shakily handed him a clipboard. "Its body is adapting far quicker than we first anticipated." He then bent down to retrieve his lost papers.

Slowly he flipped through the papers, taking in everything that he deemed important. "The results of the tissue samples need to be given to Ms. Waller immediately." He gave the test results back and glanced back at Wilson as the scientist headed off. "You never did tell me why you were here in the first place."

"I was just checking up on our little guinea pig."

"This is not your experiment, Wilson. You were hired for your expertise due to your previous encounters with them, nothing more."

Wilson shrugged. "I know exactly why you hired me, and I don't care as long as I receive my payment. But keep in mind, if it can't be controlled, then your experiments are pointless." He turned around and started walking down the hall, away from him. "Remember professor. Some animals can't be controlled by conventional methods. To them imprisonment is a fate worse than death."

"Sometimes... it takes a mate to tame a beast."


I'm so sorry for the major delay and the poor quality of parts of the fic. I'll try to get the next chapter out as soon as possible. Thanks again for the great reviews!