Disclaimer: Teen Titans and all its characters, names, locations and so on, are the intellectual property of its respective owners. I do not claim ownership over Teen Titans or anything within it. I am not making any profit from these fanfictions either.
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Night was slowly fading out as stars quietly disappeared, already outshone by the sun that had yet to rise over the gleaming horizon. Jump City was still asleep and the Titans were no exception. Back in his room, Beast Boy even seemed to be the heaviest and loudiest sleeper in the tower. Despite his animal features, he was not the sort to rise at daybreak; and to his teammates' delight, nor was he the kind to turn into a rooster and wake everyone up every early morning.
Beast Boy's face bore a large smile, his dreams undoubtedly filled with galores of tofu, pranks, jokes and, refinements of luxury, him finally beating Cyborg to a video game. His dream self was casually gloating at his friend who saw himself forced to serve the changeling some vegetarian treat after losing a bet when a distressed voice and a bright light cause him to fall from bed and to crash on the messy floor.
"Friend Beast Boy!" Starfire's voice was as thunderous to Beast Boy's tired eardrums as the swooshing door of his room was silent. "It is most disastrous!"
"What?" He sat up in bed and looked at the tall, orange blur in front of him. His barely awake eyes would need a few more seconds before adapting themselves to the sudden light, although he recognised his alien friend's voice instantly.
"It is terrible!" Another blur, much tinier and paler, appeared inches from his face. "Silkie is sick!"
Beast Boy took what he assumed to be their pet from his friend's arms. He blinked a few times and the blur became more precise, revealing a trembling Silkie staring at him with sad eyes.
"...You don't happen to know a vet for genetically modified silk worms, do you?"
"Is 'vet' the abbrevation of vetenary surgeon?" Starfire replied, glancing at Silkie. "Raven once told me about them during meditation. She even suggested you should see one in case you had fleas."
Beast Boy let out an irritated grunt. "Yes Star, those doctors. And I don't have fleas!" He added as he crossed his arms. But he didn't forget the matter at hand. "So, do you know one?"
"Sadly, no. But I think I know someone who may be able to help us..."
----
"Do you really think it's a good idea, Star?"
The changeling, borrowing the form of an eagle, and the alien were flying as fast as they could above the American ground, directing to the East. Starfire was carrying her beloved silk worm in her arms, too concerned of its health to admire the varied landscapes under them. The sun was still rising and had not reached its maximum light, but it was enough to disturb the two friends. And soon enough, it would blind them.
"For Silkie's sake, we do not have the choice."
"Probably..." Beast Boy sighed, sounding strange with his beak. "Dude, I should have brought sunglasses."
"I do not think a bird can wear glasses." Despite a situation she considered most severe, Starfire still allowed herself to smile.
"And I don't think a bird can fly from America to Europe either!" His beak still distorting his voice, his whine sounded almost ridiculous.
"Stand corrected friend. Some migratory birds of Earth regularly do this." The alien giggled. "But do not worry, if you faint and start diving down towards your watery grave, I will save you."
Beast Boy gulped. "You spend too much time with Raven."
His comment about a fellow teammate made Starfire stop dead in her tracks, causing the green eagle to bump into her back and to let out an indignant "Ouch!" Still clutching her pet in her arms, she turned to Beast Boy, who was rubbing his neck with a wing while hovering with his other wing as well as can be expected.
"Will our friends approve of what we are about to do?" She asked, worried. "After all, it is not what heroes like us should do... And they will surely get suspiscious of our absence."
"Don't worry Star, I got that covered. And we shut our communicators off." Beast Boy replied, a sly grin on his face. "I don't think they'll worry about us."
----
Back in Titans Tower, Raven had already woken up and was drinking some herbal tea she had made. She was savoring the calm within the tower when she spotted a note resting on the kitchen table. Daybreak provided her enough light to make some tea, but not to read. She turned the light on and recognised Beast Boy's scrawl.
Hello there. Star wanted to go the mall of some nearby town and she insisted to be there early, so we'll be gone when you read that. She seemed pretty eager to go, so we'll probably be there for a while. Also, we shut off our communicators. I don't want to be bothered every two minutes by Robin being...
Raven raised an eyebrow, amused at the following word, hastily crossed out. It was jealous. Looks like Beast Boy was not as clueless as one would have expected. Then again, their leader's jealousy was as obvious as his obsession over the tortuous Slade.
...by Robin being over paranoid. Don't worry, we'll be fine!
She put the note back where she found it and turned the light off. "Well, as long as Starfire doesn't force him to wear make-up and girl clothes, I guess they'll be fine." She took a sip of her cup. "I just hope that Robin won't be too noisy when he finds out Starfire prefered to shop with Beast Boy rather than him."
----
"Finally, our destination. France!" Starfire said relieved. Carrying both Beast Boy, who was behaving like a dead weight since a few hours, and Silkie while flying was a prowess she would prefer not to repeat. The changeling had nearly fainted during their journey over the Atlantic and Starfire thanked her inhuman strenght that allowed her to save her friend with only one hand. Silkie's increasing wails didn't help either.
She landed and unceremoniously dropped Beast Boy, her stamina finally giving out. Thankfully, the fall was enough to withdraw him from his torpor. "We're there?" Still exhausted, his question sounded more like a hushed stutter than an actual sentence. He looked at the sky and noticed it was afternoon in Europe, while his teammates would probably still be asleep back in Jump City.
"Yes friend. Now, we shall visit the one we are looking for."
"Yeah. But it's not like you just landed in front of the jail where all the villains are kept frozen..."
Starfire didn't answer. She simply smiled and pointed behind Beast Boy. Intrigued, he turned around and gasped. There stood a tremendous building, towering above the thick concrete walls surrounding it. Multiple guard towers were scattered over the fortifications, the main two bordering the access road. Surprisingly, the whole facility displayed light colours such as white and soft grey, which was unlikely for a prison. Some would say it was only another important building among others.
Only the presence of several armed soldiers gave away the true purpose of the structure. Most of the one Beast Boy could see were patrolling on the covered ways or in the courtyard, but a few of them were guarding the entry. They wore the camouflaged uniforms so typical of military forces, their only head protection being green berets and they all carried assault rifles that bore a design very different to what he used to see in America. And the soldiers who usually kept an eye on the access road were now glaring suspiciously at the green changeling and orange-skinned alien who landed near them.
"Err..." Beast Boy nervously rubbed the back of his neck. "Baonjour. Nous vouloar parler avec prizonié a vou." His vain attempt at talking French merely received raised eyebrows, confused expressions and a few eyerolls. His butchered accent also caused Silkie to wail and sent a chill down Starfire's spine.
The sergent of the squad, a tall man in his forties, finally spoke. "If you try to speak Molière's langage to cajole us, learn that we happen to speak Shakespeare's slang." Strangely enough, he had a Scottish accent. "Anyways, who are you to ask about such a top secret matter?" He added, tightening his grip on his FAMAS.
"I am Beast Boy." He gestured to his friend. "This is Starfire and she's carrying our silk worm Silkie. We're from the Teen Titans, a group of super heroes in America. With many other heroes, we were the ones who froze the Brotherhood of Evil and their allies. And we need something from one of the prisoners." Starfire and the rest of the squad watched Beast Boy's introduction as the sergent's grip on his weapon loosened.
"Oh, sorry, I didn't know we were faced with celebrities. You may follow the road to the main door of the prison, then ask the actual staff. They'll be able to help you better than us." The soldiers left the said road to let the two teens go into the courtyard. As they walked toward the main building, Beast Boy's sensitive ears heard a few comments from the guards.
"Who did you expect them to be with such outfits?" A voice, clearly French, pointed out.
"Well, they could be supervillains. They both happen to have arguable fashion." This one sounded as if he came from Eastern Europe.
"Touché."
He heard another voice, with an Italian accent, comment. "A silk worm? And I thought naked mole rats were odd pets." What sounded like grunts of approval soon followed.
Starfire and Beast Boy looked around them. Besides the gigantic edifice they were going to, the prison simply consisted of barracks, garages and supply depots. All of them were buzzing with activity, those servicemen were not only guards, they also seemed to be workers. Some of them barely glanced at them before returning to work. The two Titans were not surprised; compared to the villains kept frozen there, they were not too incredible.
They eventually reached the main door. Starfire was about to open it when a green hand grabbed the doorknob. She blinked as Beast Boy pulled the glass door and gestured her to enter first.
"We're in France. Best place to show gallantry, isn't it?" He gave her a toothy grin.
"Oh, yes, gallantry. Shall I curtsey too?" She asked cheerfully.
"Hm, maybe later. I think Silkie is getting impatient." True to his word, the silk worm was glaring angrily at him between coughing fits and sneezes.
Starfire nodded and she walked in, followed by the changeling. Behind a large black desk, a young secretary was sitting on a comfortable chair with a document in one hand and a coffee cup in the other. She was wearing a red jacket and blue skirt, both of them cut to look professional. They approached the desk and Beast Boy was about to say something when the woman talked, still focused on her work. "May I help you?"
"Yes. We would like to see one of the frozen villains, please." Starfire's polite request finally made the secretary looked at them.
"Teen super heroes, I presume?" They both nodded. "The sergent called me about you two coming. I'll lead you to the cells." She got up and the three of them disappeared into one of the corridors.
"You came here in time. We will soon transfer the prisoners to a more suitable jail. Even with all those soldiers outside, we're not prepared for criminals with super powers." She instinctively began to explain, used to do so any time someone would visit the facility. "The cells are at the very opposite of the entrance, it gives the guards more time to intercept the captives. But those supervillains would probably go through the walls as if it was butter..."
"Tell me about it." Beast Boy muttered. "About those soldiers... I'd have expected them to sound more, you know, French."
"They're from the Foreign Legion. This elite force accepts anyone in its ranks, as long as he swears to protect France and freedom. The usual stuff, if you want." She casually replied, not even bothering to glance at her speaker. They eventually arrived in front of a heavily guarded door. "But enough general knowledge. We're here." She nodded at the guards and the door soon whooshed open.
"Find whoever you're looking for. Meanwhile, I'll go get the technicians to unfreeze him or her." With that, she disappeared into a room near the entrance.
Neon lights had been placed at the base and at the top of the walls, providing a dim illumination to the room. Beams were reflecting through the icy prisons and gave the villains within them an unreal glow. The giant icicle that had previously contained all of the enemies the Titans defeated in Paris had been cut, thus separating each criminal and putting each one in a lone frozen prison. The cells simply consisted of those prisons encased in a steel frame, connected to monitors displaying the captives' vital signs. Starfire, Beast Boy and even Silkie felt intimidated, surrounded by all those threatening enemies who looked ready to pounce them even thouh their current states forbid them to.
They finally found who they were looking for. They were casting a few worried glances at their beloved pet when the secretary and a technician arrived. "Who do you want me to thaw out?" The former politely asked.
"Him." They said, simultaneously pointing at the villain encased in his frozen prison. The secretary nodded at the technician who began to thaw him out. Silkie didn't know whether to be intimidated or glad to soon meet its creator once again.
Even petrified, Killer Moth gave the impression to stare through its little mind.
----
After what felt like an eternity, Killer Moth finally woke up from his frozen torpor. His multi-faceted eyes quickly adapted to the sudden wave of light and he saw three silhouettes in front of him, three familiar faces he wished never to see again. Adrenaline increased within him and he was about to jump on his enemies when he felt cold metal around his wrists and ankles. He had been handcuffed, footcuffed and probably wingcuffed too. The humanoid moth let out a low growl as he vainly tried to break himself free, but the steel locks persisted to prevent him to appease his thirst for revenge. Ultimately he gave up and did his best not to sound full of hatred.
"What a nice surprise. Beast Boy and Starfire. Oh, and even Larva M-Three-Nineteen." He told them in his distorted voice. "What owes me this pleasure? Excuse me for not bowing, but as you see I'm a little incapacited for the moment."
"You created Silkie, right?" Beast Boy asked, ignoring Killer Moth's sarcasm.
"Yes, I created him. I didn't expect it to be so ungrateful, though."
"Then." It was Starfire's turn to speak. "You undoubtedly know how to cure him from whichever disease he has."
Killer Moth quickly understood what they wanted from him. "You expect me to heal this ungrateful larva for my worst enemies?" The giant insect scoffed at them. "I was the one stuck in ice, yet you seem to be the ones with frozen brains if you think I'll do this... without a worthy compensation..."
Starfire and Beast Boy glanced at each other. "You are a bad man." Killer Moth resisted the urge to reply "No, duh." and nodded at her, silently asking her to continue. "But if you help us, your dark deeds might be forgiven as long as you do not repeat them."
One of his eyes grew bigger as the other seemed to shrink: he raised his eyebrow, faking interest. "It doesn't sound like a fair deal at all. You get a healthy pet while I must behave like a good citizen." He snickered at the very thought of himself not terrorizing the population.
"Well, you get to be unfrozen. Isn't that enough?"
He didn't know Beast Boy meant it to be a hidden threat, but Killer Moth assumed that he would probably rejoin his cold jail if he refused. "I may be unfrozen, but my spawn won't. Heroes like yourselves do not separate families..." He grinned at his enemies' reaction: Starfire's jealousy reappeared and Beast Boy uneasily glanced down. At least, it looked like he managed to culpabilize one of them.
But the changeling had another trick down his sleeve. "Okay. We could unfreeze Kitten." The villain's grin widened, both at the fact that his plan seemed to work and at the alien's growing fury at the mere mention of his daughter's name. "But she'll probably ask us to free her boyfriend too. And to thank her wonderful daddy, she'd probably start making out with him. And his mandibles."
It was Beast Boy's turn to grin as Killer Moth's one was instantly replaced with an expression of sheer digust. "Well..." The geneticist stuttered. "I guess that I could use some time alone, with no child to look after..."
"Delighted to see that we've a deal." The green teen replied as he unlocked the captive who rubbed his sore limbs.
"But you should tell your friend to loosen her grip over Larva M-Three-Nineteen if you want anything left to heal."
True enough, Starfire had been so infuriated at the thought of Kitten that she had completely forgotten about Silkie, who was squeaking in distress under the inhuman pressure crushing its frail body. The alien barely heard her friend yell her name before being most unceremoniously shaken out of her jealous trance by both Beast Boy and Killer Moth. The latter even was overzealous about frantically shaking an enemy. Eventually, she loosened her grip over the silk worm who let out a sigh of relief.
"And I thought that Kitten was the most jealous girl on Earth..." Killer Moth muttered as Starfire was busy excusing herself to her pet. "So, do we have a pet to heal or what?" He asked them, impatient to get out of the prison. As if on cue, the technician opened the door.
"Are you done? I must check some equipments in this room."
"We were about to leave. Thanks again for the help!" Beast Boy answered happily.
"It was our pleasure. And it'll still be one less criminal to guard." The technician replied, trying his best to hide the fear in his voice. Killer Moth was, after all, a dangerous villain.
The three superpowered beings made their way to the secretary waiting for them. She led them to the exit, much faster than she had led the two teens to the cells. Beast Boy had to admit, villains could be quite motivating just by being themselves. Soon enough, they had crossed the courtyard, ignoring the soldiers' meticulous watch over them or more specifically over the humanoid insect.
"Free. At last."
"You still have to respect our agreement." Starfire told him, gesturing to the silk worm in Beast Boy's arms. Indeed, Silkie had found the changeling's arms much safer than the Tamaranean's ones.
"Don't worry, I'll heal Larva M-Three-Nineteen."
"Silkie!" Both teens corrected at the same time.
Killer Moth crossed his arms in a manner that implied he was also rolling his eyes, although you could not tell with such munti-faceted eyes. "Whatever."