Chapter 5

Beast Boy was presently in the process of working out. Having been contained in such a small space for a year did not do him much good. Now he was feeling loose. Between some weightlifting, the treadmill, a little shadowboxing, and morphing into various animal forms he felt well conditioned.


The titans were on their way back. "How is Magenta holding up?" asked Robin through the communicator installed in his helmet. "Is she still hurting?"

"No," answered Omen from the back seat. "She's passed out."

"We'll get her checked out when we get back to the tower," added Cyborg.

"Okay," said Robin. "Cyborg, get Kid Flash on the line and tell him to meet us at the tower."

"You got it," Cyborg replied. He switched frequencies. "Cyborg to Kid Flash."

After a moment the image of Kid Flash appeared on the dashboard monitor of the T-car. "This is Kid Flash. Go ahead Cyborg."

"Can you meet us at Titans Tower? Magenta's had one of her incidents."

Kid Flash's expression turned from pleasant to concern. "Is she alright? Was it bad?"

"She's unconscious at the moment," added Cyborg. "I think her fight with Gizmo put a major strain on her."

"Alright, I'll see you there. Kid Flash out."

Cyborg switched back over to Robin. "He's on his way, Robin."

"That's good," Robin replied. His attention switched over to Omen. "Omen, have you had any further insights as to why the H.I.V.E. broke those guys out?"

"None," she replied. "I was too wrapped up in the fight and so were they. Any thoughts coming from them were only to ensure their escape."

"They've got something in mind," Robin determined. "We're going to find out what."


The raven was currently perched on a railing of the tower roof keeping a vigilant watch towards the mainland of Jump City. There were no visible roads leading from Jump City to the tower. The titans would travel through a hidden tunnel underground and beneath the water.

The attention of the raven was drawn to something it heard. The sound was that of something moving very fast as it ripped through the wind. The sound grew louder as if it were closing in on the tower. Seconds later there was silence. The raven looked around from where it was perched. It could see nothing. Then it took off and circled the tower coming to the front entrance. There was someone there at the door, looking as if he/she was attempting to gain access to the tower. This person was clothed in a yellow uniform with a yellow mask covering the eyes. The raven sent a mental image to Beast Boy.


Beast Boy's shadowboxing was interrupted by an instant flash before his eyes. Someone was here. The person's image appeared again, long enough for him to get a clear picture of who it was. "Kid Flash is here?" he asked out loud turning toward the closed gym door as if Kid Flash were just on the other side. "I wonder why that is."

Beast Boy decided his workout was done. Aware of Kid's speed he knew he had to get out of sight quick while Kid Flash accessed the tower. It was only right he would access the tower properly using his retinal and vocal I.D. Beast Boy picked up his coat and hurried out of the gym bound for Raven's room, believing the other titans still respected her wishes that they stay out. It would be the proper place to hide. He entered and placed the coat in her closet. Then Beast Boy morphed into a bat and clung to a hanger rack in the dark of the closet. He determined he'd be there a while.


The door opened for Kid Flash and he hurried through the tower to the Rec. room. He powered up the monitor and switched the screen to the mainland view camera. Kid Flash then switched on the communicator. "Kid Flash to the titans. I'm at the tower waiting for you."

The image of Cyborg cut in at the lower right of the monitor. "Copy that, K.F. We're on approach now."

"Is Magenta still sleeping?"

"Yeah," Cyborg replied. "She seems to be okay so far. We'll be taking her to medical as soon as we arrive."

"Roger that. See you when you get here." Kid Flash powered off the communicator.


The R-cycle and the T-car parked in the cavern beneath the tower. The titans entered bringing Magenta. Kid Flash hurried to the entrance to meet them. The door opened up and everyone gave a brief greeting before continuing on to medical.

As Cyborg carried Magenta, Kid Flash walked beside him. Magenta's eyes cracked open a bit and she turned to see that her childhood friend was near. "Wally?" she weakly asked.

"Hey there," he greeted quietly. "Just take it easy. You're going to be fine now."


"You'll be okay?" Robin asked Kid Flash.

"Sure I will," he answered after offering to stay with Magenta until she woke up. "You guys go ahead and find out about the H.I.V.E.'s intentions and I'll stay with her."

"Alright then," Robin concluded. "I'll go update the criminal database and get started on some research."

"You will do no such thing," Starfire objected. "It is getting late and you should rest. There will be enough time for us to investigate what the H.I.V.E. intends in the morning."

"Besides," added Cyborg, "we'll know about as much tomorrow as we do now. It isn't like we have any leads."

"Fine," decided Robin. "But I will update the database first."

"And I've got to adjust the security measures," said Cyborg.

The titans left Kid Flash alone in medical with Magenta. Starfire and Omen retired to their rooms and Robin and Cyborg both headed for the security room. Once there Robin sat at one console while Cyborg sat at another. Cyborg finished within a couple of minutes.

Robin scrolled through the criminal database list. Beginning with Control Freak, he updated the record to indicate "At Large." He did the same with the record of Johnny Rancid as well as Killer Moth's. No changes were made to the records of Gizmo, Jinx or Mammoth. Those had already indicated "At Large."

Robin and Cyborg both stood up and exited the security room. Cyborg turned to the monitors for one last look. The cameras broadcasted nothing out of the ordinary outside the tower. There was just some black bird perched on the roof.


All seemed quiet in the tower. The bat hanging upside down in Raven's closet detached itself from the hanger rack and swooped down to the floor. It became Beast Boy again and the changeling now stood straight. He gave the silence some extra time since it began nearly ninety minutes ago. Beast Boy determined everyone was finally asleep. He would still be keeping his ears alert for any unusual noises.

Beast Boy grabbed his coat, slipped it on, and quietly crept from Raven's room. He made his way to the security room. Beast Boy was not interested in the monitors that broadcast the island. He sat at the database console and brought up the records. He was not happy with his discovery. The records of his and Raven's six assailants all indicated the same thing: "At Large."

The expression on Beast Boy's face turned menacing. Enough anger rose within him that his right hand began to morph as the fingers extended and claws grew. Leaving the images of Control Freak, Gizmo, Jinx, Johnny Rancid, Killer Moth, and Mammoth on the screens, Beast Boy used his Beast hand to engrave a message into the wall nearby: "THEY'RE MINE."

The changeling headed for the roof and met his guide there. He morphed into raven form, letting his coat fall to the tower surface. "Before I begin, I feel there is one place I have to visit."

"Why?" inquired the raven.

"I just have to," Beast Boy decided.

"Then lead the way," said the raven.

Beast Boy shifted his form to a hawk. He took off then came about and swooped down to pick up his coat. The hawk took the lead and the raven followed him across the water to Jump City.


A strange feeling came over Omen. "Someone unfamiliar is in the tower." She tried to reach out to the mind of the intruder, but something barred her powers from that person's mind. "Who can possibly keep me out?"


The hawk and the raven landed on an apartment rooftop in a dilapidated section of Jump City – the ghetto. The hawk morphed back into human form and took one step toward the ledge with his coat in his left hand. A disturbing vision hit him.


Two figures stood near each other with shameless expressions on their faces. They were looking down towards the alley of Beast Boy's and Raven's attack. Beast Boy knew the voice that spoke up. "Your students along with some of this city's rather… unusual criminals have finally met with some success."


"Students?" wondered Beast Boy. Then it dawned on him and he gasped. "Did Slade and Brother Blood have something to do with this?"

Beast Boy continued over to the ledge and looked over at the same spot where he and Raven made their last stand a year ago. Next Beast Boy morphed into a monkey and made his way down the walls of the building clinging onto the coat. He restored his human form, set the coat aside, and walked on until he stood in the location of his and Raven's death. The visions – briefly pleasant but growing appalling – swamped his mind. With each passing vision he grew so enraged.


Raven and Beast Boy had just stepped out of a dark club and proceeded along the sidewalk hand in hand. As they continued on there was silence between them but both would look at each other and smile frequently while pedestrians and street traffic produced night noise.

Beast Boy made up his mind. It was time. They were in a clearing where it was just the two of them. He stopped a split second before saying, "Raven?"

She stopped and turned to face him. "Yes, Beast Boy?" she asked.

Beast Boy began nervously, "I… I just wanted… to say…" He was disrupted when he noticed six charging individuals some distance behind Raven. His tone went serious. "Behind you!" Raven spun around to see what Beast Boy was referring to.

Johnny Rancid charged along side Gizmo who was using his jet-pack tech to fly while Killer Moth flew near Gizmo. A banged-up looking white van followed, being driven by Jinx with Mammoth in the front passenger seat and Control Freak sitting right behind them in the center. All expressions were menacing and determined. Every one of them halted and quickly stepped from their vehicles.

Jinxed stepped out in front. With a smug grin she spoke. "Tonight we get to take the two of you down."

Raven and Beast Boy both reached for their communicators and were about to call for help when Control Freak whipped out his remote and quickly pressed a set of buttons. "Ha! No such luck now, titans! I've jammed your signals!"

A burning crack whipped their communicators from their hands. After both made an agonized hiss, Beast Boy and Raven looked to see that Killer Moth had used his energy whip to disarm them. Then the fight began.

Offensively and defensively Raven and Beast boy held up well in the beginning. But between Killer Moth flying circles around them and using his energy whip, Gizmo's tech, Jinx's hexes, the brute strength of Mammoth, Control Freak's remote tricks, and Johnny Rancid's blaster and motorcycle they found themselves outmatched. Raven and Beast Boy were wearing down.

At one point, Beast Boy had been thrown to the ground out of the fight. He found himself near one of the communicators and crawled over to it. Meanwhile Raven, exhausted and wounded, was surrounded. Her six assailants resumed their attacks solely against her.

Beast Boy picked up the communicator and attempted to call for help. "Titans come in! Titans come in! This is Beast Boy calling Titans Tower! We've got trouble!" Beast Boy spun his head around to see that Raven was losing.

Killer Moth spotted Beast Boy and saw what he was attempting. "Look over there!" he yelled pointing towards Beast Boy.

Everyone briefly forgot about the dying Raven and turned to see. Jinx yelled, "K.M., Mammoth – get him!"

Killer Moth flew over to Beast Boy's location while Mammoth charged behind him. After those two left the other four intended to resume attacking Raven, when Johnny spoke up. "She's almost done. Step aside guys, I've got just the thing to finish her."

Johnny went over to his motorcycle and mounted it. He sped away a short distance.

Beast Boy attempted to get through to the tower. "Cyborg, Robin… Starfire – come in! Raven is-!"

His attempt to contact the tower was cut off when the communicator was whipped from his hands once again. Mammoth picked him off the ground and held him in the air. Beast Boy first saw the menacing grin on Mammoth, but then his attention was drawn to the sound of a motorcycle. He looked up and saw Johnny Rancid closing in and followed his direction. Rancid was steering toward Raven!

"NOO!" he cried as Rancid drove right over Raven's back and crushed her. With that, Beast Boy summoned every last ounce of strength he could to make his last stand. He morphed in to as many giant reptiles and pachyderms as he could focus on. In the end he fell after a severe beating by Mammoth. Beast Boy took one last look at Raven, felt himself cry, was mocked by Johnny Rancid, and finally stabbed in the back by Gizmo.

And no one saw it happen.


Fury boiled within Beast Boy. Something wanted out and he decided to release it. His height increased and his uniform was buried in green fur. His jaw expanded and his irises faded to near solid white that gave off a glow. The length of his arms increased and his fingernails grew to sharp claws. The Beast was out. Because of its human host's new mask the face of the Beast was all the more menacing.

The Beast roared and slashed around, throwing everything it got its hands on. To appease its rage the Beast also punch walls, tore out bricks, smashed glass.


The raven had long since taken flight and patrolled the city. It was determined to find someone tonight.


The Beast ignored the screams of passers-by. There were patrolling police officers who spotted it and found themselves a bit too afraid to challenge it, even with their weapons. They hurried away and sought help from the titans.

The Beast finally had enough. Breathing heavily it calmed down and regressed back into Beast Boy. His senses were his own again and suddenly Beast Boy noticed his hands. They were broken, bruised, swollen, and bleeding… but only for a moment. The swelling went down, the bones fixed themselves, and the open wounds closed.

"Whoa," was the only thing Beast Boy could say. He grabbed a nearby rag and wiped away the blood running over his hands. "I've got healing powers now?" he asked out loud as he wiped away the blood.


The titans' alert went off, waking everyone from their sleep, except for Kid Flash and Magenta as the alarm was disabled in the medical room while she recovered. Within a few minutes the other four titans were together. Bringing up the city map display they saw the details of the distress.

Robin was puzzled by what he read. "Reports of some… raging beast?" There was a pause. "It can't be."

"Of course it isn't," replied Cyborg. "Beast Boy wasn't the only one who could do that, remember?"

"Yes," added Starfire. "Adonis was exposed to the same chemical spill as Beast Boy. They both could become this beast."

Robin contacted Kid Flash. "Robin to Kid Flash." There was a pause. "Come in Kid."

After a moment Kid Flash spoke up in a sleepy tone. "Go ahead, Robin."

"We've got a situation. Will you be okay with Magenta?"

"Yeah, we'll be fine. Be careful."

The titans departed the tower.


The raven continued to soar over Jump City keeping a vigilant watch on the streets below. Shortly it spotted someone. Flying some distance ahead at a low altitude was Killer Moth. Killer Moth seemed to be flying in the same pattern as the highway below.

The raven pursued him for a ways when Killer Moth began a descent. It eyed ahead of Killer Moth to speculate where he might be going. Its eyes fell upon the only possible place someone like Killer Moth might need to go – the chemical plant.


Beast Boy was wiping off the last bit of blood the rag would remove. An image showed up in his head. He could see Killer Moth flying through the air over the highway. His vision also noted Killer Moth descending toward the chemical plant. Beast Boy threw the rag aside.

Standing up he walked over toward his coat. "So it begins."

Morphing into a hawk and picking up his coat using his talons, Beast Boy took off for the chemical plant. Revenge was underway.


A/N – I apologize to those reviewers I told that revenge would happen this chapter. I ended up writing a bit more than expected, and made the decision to bring this chapter to an end where I had. R&R and thanks.