After years of neglect, the residence that once brought pride to Killer Moth's heart was nothing but an old forsaken ruin. After his first arrest by the Teen Titans, any remotely threatening device or creature within his home had been confiscated by the police, and their scientific squads had added insult to injury by labelling the whole property as a genetic hazard. This, and the eventual presence of a mad geneticist, appeared to be enough to frighten any vandal, as the house looked untouched. Deserted, but untouched.
"Well." Killer Moth stood in front of the main door, facing his two unlikely companions. "One of you must go back to your tower and bring me back that... thing from your fridge. Who would be the more furtive?"
Beast Boy instantly raised his hand. "That would be me." To prove his point, he turned into a green fly and started buzzing around the villain's head, awaiting the rest of the briefing.
"Good." He turned to Starfire. "You will come in with me. I presume you won't trust me alone down there, right?" She nodded and Beast Boy flew up and down, doing his best at mimicking his friend's gesture. "I knew it. Now, go." And with a buzz, the fly was gone.
Killer Moth then turned his attention to the wooden door and took hold of its handle, still carrying Starfire's bags with his free hand. He was about to open it when the door cracked and fell inside the hall, the handle still held in the villain's hand. "Shaping up good..." He grunted sarcastically as he entered his home, unfeelingly stepping on the collapsed door and throwing the handle over his shoulder. Starfire hesitantly followed him, wishing nothing else would fall down on her or Silkie.
----
As Beast Boy flew toward the tower, he wondered how Killer Moth could see with those multifaceted eyes of his. Seeing with such eyes was already difficult when the sun was out to warm up this side of the planet, but it was a whole new challenge by night, in particular with all those headlights and street lamps blinding him. From times to times, he even had to fight off his fly instincts that urged him to go incinerate himself on a lamp.
How did Killer Moth manage to see with such eyes?
Eventually, he stopped on the branch of a nearby oak. He looked around, his complex vision spotting no witness to his next transformation. The changeling turned into an owl, a night hunter being a much wiser choice than an insect to reach his destination. He would turn back into a fly within the tower. He took advantage of this brief break to polish up his plan. 'Enter the tower, get the blue thingumajig... I hope it won't bite me... And go back to Killer Moth's labo. All that furtively, of course.' He frowned. 'Dude, that rules out humming any tune from my favorite spy movies. So not cool.'
Hoping nobody would be in front of the fridge, the green owl took flight toward his T-shaped target.
----
Killer Moth tried to ignore the memories rushing back into his mind. As he walked in his home after a long absence, images of his Kitten's youth kept flowing through his head. Wonderful ones like her birth or when he raised her with his wife. And much more painful ones such as the day her mother left them or the rest of their life after their first encounter with the Teen Titans. But ultimately, the rising nostalgy caused an emotion the villain did not feel for ages to resurface.
Guilt.
Guilt to have abandoned his only daughter, his dear child in a cold prison. Guilt to have sided, even though being imposed such a truce, with some of the heroes who sent her to this prison. And even guilt to be free, at least from a block of ice, while she did not have this chance. He chucled lightly at that, he used to consider this a silly sort of remorse. And this quiet laughter was enough to bring him back to reality and the fact that he was not alone.
He swiveled round and discovered Starfire holding Silkie with one arm and, more importantly to his eyes, about to open a door with her free hand. The alien, overridden with curiosity, evidently did not know the importance the room she wanted to access had for Killer Moth. Therefore, she was understandably surprised when his gloved hand clutched her wrist, forcefully driving it from the golden door handle.
Due to his particular appearance, Killer Moth was already significantly frightening, even to Starfire. But at this instant, the said villain had spread out his striated wings and was threateningly towering over the alien, thus shading her from the little illumination provided by the skylight pearing through the windows. His menacing fanged jaw was centimeters from her orange face and his many-sided eyes seemed to stare right through her head, lit by what she assumed to be fury. Starfire was not one to be easily intimidated, but she could not help but admit that, whatever was fueling his rage, Killer Moth was terrifying, petrifying even. Silkie would not contest that, as he happened to be frozen in fear.
"You already hurt my daughter enough." He hissed, senting a chill down Starfire's spine. "Don't you dare soil her bedroom with your presence."
Insensitively, he released her armour-clad wrist, turned his back to her and walked down the hall. Starfire, still taken aback by the villain's eruption of anger, just looked at him disappear into a side corridor and then watched her wristband. It was cracked. Badly. She made a mental note not to underestimate Killer Moth's strength when she heard the said geneticist harshly commanding her to follow him. Slowly coming out of her outburst-induced daze, she headed for whatever room he was in now.
----
Sparks flew from the eviscerated communicator as Robin fused two wires together with a thin stick-shaped blowlamp. Angered by his lack of power to locate the missing Titans, his frustation had gotten the better of him and he had thrown his communicator a wall with enough strength to tear it open. Now, the teenaged leader was left to repair it, too embarassed, or rather too proud, to ask Cyborg to do it. He did not want any other comment about him showing any hint of jealousy, and it was an excellent opportunity to train his hi-tech skills, and he might even be able to add a few updates of his own devising...
Robin was in a dark corner of the garage, planning to ambush Cyborg as it was the first place he would come to newt morning, which would allow the quick-tempered teen to convince the cyborg to pinpoint Starfire's location. He was too focused on his work to notice a bug entering through an open window and flying to the stairs. A green fly.
----
Starfire had a few second thoughts about going into the room that served Killer Moth both as a basement and a laboratory. Entering such areas never brought her luck, instead it brought her four-eyed rats trying to digest her and mutated moths with a similar goal. But what she had been doing for the past hours was for her pet's sake, and she had to continue. She went down the stairs, noticing that Killer Moth had left her bags near the end of them.
Nonetheless, she observed the vast room, still curious about the villain's home. Unlike Cyborg, Beast Boy and Raven, she had never been in this house, much less this basement. But from what she recalled from their description, it changed much. There were only some furniture and accessories left, a desk with a lamp and a pair of cupboards to be more exact, all of them covered with a thin layer of dust.
As she moved toward the desk to turn on the lamp, Killer Moth knelt down in a corner while making sure not to be in within her eyeshot. He touched the ground with his hand until he felt an incision in the wood. Checking once again whether he could be seen, he silently opened a trapdoor, revealing a cache full of scientific items. A full copy of his former material, test tubes, pipettes, flasks and other glassware, as well as a microscope, all intact thanks to a preservative substance coating the hidden compartment. Killer Moth briefly congratulated himself for such a backup equipment and put it out, quietly as ever.
He now approached the desk, now dust free thanks to Starfire who had cleaned it after switching the lamp on. She expected the villain to use this table, though not knowing what he would use. But she soon got her answer as Killer Moth delicately put down his glassware.
"How did you acquire those? I thought the police had confiscated everything." She asked him, genuinely intriqued yet somewhat doubtful that he would answer.
"It was laying over there." He lied, jerking his thumb toward the corner he came from. "Come on,did you really expect them to be skilled? They can't even stop the most pathetic shoplifter." Sadly for Jump City, it was true. Their police had much experience when it came to hiding behind their cars; the best in the country in this discipline actually; and waiting for the Titans to come do their job, but that was it.
"If you say so." Starfire glanced at the test tubes. "I presume we only have to wait for friend Beast Boy."
Killer Moth nodded. 'Does she always have to put friend before their names? Thank goodness she does not call me fiend Killer Moth...'
----
Beast Boy was thankful their trip lasted long enough for night to set in, asleep Titans meant an easier infiltration. He morphed back into his human self in front of the fridge, still making sure to be the most silent he could. The light pouring out the fridge gave him enough luminosity to find his blue target, but unknown to him, he was not alone in the living room.
'The fridge is open now?' Cyborg rolled his eyes. 'Man, does Robin know what sleep is about?' The beam provided by the fridge did not go unnoticed to the half robot, still hidden in his shelf, nor the sound of its opening for that matter. 'Please don't open the cupboard, I don't want to deal with a jealous bird boy now...'
He finally heard the fridge be closed. As nothing happened in the next minutes, he assumed Robin would not bother him. He thought it could not be Raven, as she would have checked on him. Of course, he could not have expected Beast Boy to come secretly. More because the cyborg could not picture the changeling being quiet in this lifetime than anything else, though.
----
Starfire had been trying to start a conversation with Killer Moth but she failed miserably. Consequently, they were reduced to play rock, paper scissors for the past half hour - Silkie was winning - when a green owl, carrying a tiny bag in its beak, appeared over the stairs and flew into the room. Before long, it morphed into the short and green teen the duo was expecting.
"Mission accomplished, sir!" He saluted, the plastic bag proudly hanging under his chin, attached to one of his pointy teeth.
'Great, the Doom Patrol reflexes kicked back.' Killer Moth thought as Beast Boy gave him a glass container that one could have mistaken for a jam jar if it was not for the moving substance inside. With its blue resident, it looked more like something the Tamaranean would have cooked. Speaking of which, he saw Beast Boy give the alien a yellow bottle that he had produced from his bag.
"Here Star, I figured you were hungry after all that flight." He gave her a cheery smile as he took out a tofu hotdog from the bag for himself.
Killer Moth's eye nearly twitched when he saw Starfire gulp down mustard before using the container as a feeding bottle for Silkie. '...If he adopted their eating habits, no wonder he got an indigestion.' He quickly turned his attention to his microscope, worryingly glancing toward the three devourishing monsters in his basement from times to times.
Early enough, they had finished their frugal meal and decided to withdraw to the upper part of the room to leave the geneticist in peace for his work. "Oh, by the way. Good old paranoid Robin might notice some of the food disappeared from the fridge, so we should go back before they wake up." Beast Boy said, still close enough for Killer Moth to hear.
"Indeed." Starfire then cocked her head, confused. "But I thought that friend Robin was young."
They were almost out of earshot when Killer Moth yelled, before Beast Boy could explain. "And don't you dare enter Kitten's room! I'll know it if you do." The two teens nodded, then disappeared upstairs.
'Coming up with plans and eluding eventual evidence? Since when Beast Boy become smart?' Killer Moth pondered, still looking at the stairs. 'Next thing we'll know, Starfire will speak like that Ding Dong Daddy the Brotherhood called...'
----
"I'm glad it's almost finished. I can't feel my arms anymore." Beast Boy commented as they visited the house, rubbing his sore limbs to emphasize his point. They were currently within one of the corridors.
Starfire was not facing him, currently paying attention to a decorated vase standing upon a handcrafted desk, but she nodded nevertheless. "I am exhausted too." She heard a yawn under her chin. "And Silkie too. I hope Killer Moth will find a cure without too much delay, I desire to sleep." The mention of the villain's name brought a shadow in her green eyes.
"I know we already discussed such matter, but I still have second thoughts..."
The changeling leaned against the wall, arms crossed and eyes closed. "It's okay Star. Silkie will be fine and I doubt Killer Moth will go and commit crimes, so the others won't know."
"In reality, I have regrets about Killer Moth. I am not as effective as friend Raven to sense emotions, but he seems angered and sad."
Beast Boy opened an eye, gazing up at Starfire. Typical Starfire, caring for everyone. "Kitten?" He spotted a glint of jealousy burn in her eyes, but it disappeared as promptly as it came, much to Silkie's relief.
"Most likely. He seems very protective of his daughter." She said, looking down. "He probably thinks we forced him to abandon her, which is true as much as I dislike it."
Beast Boy put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I know Star. But it would have been too dangerous, we made him accept the truce, Fang might have agreed... But I don't think Kitten would have stayed harmless with you around." He would have mentioned that the alien would not have stayed neutral either, but messing with a girl stonger than Cyborg was not very safe.
"You are right."
"Now, how about we go into Kitten's room? Killer Moth will never know..." He devilishly ventured, his immaturity kicking back.
"Her bedroom is this way, but I am not su-" She was cut off as Beast Boy caught her wrist and rocketed toward the indicated direction. Soon enough, Beast Boy stood in front of the forbidden room, while Starfire was slumped a few feet further, as Beast Boy had the bad idea to stop dashing and release her hand at the same time, inviting inertia to do its job.
His mind still blinded by mischief, he did not realize that his friend was sprawled across the floor, trying to see where her beloved pet had landed, as he motioned to open the door.
"I told you not to go in Kitten's room, Beast Boy!" Killer Moth's thundering voice came from the depths of his basement, startling the teen and causing him to quickly withdraw his hand behind his back. He looked around him, surprised not to see the villain.
"Dude, how did he know?" He wondered aloud.
"Your mischief is quite notorious."
Silence.
"Beast Boy?"
"Yeah?"
"Considering how you are the cause of my stumble, would you help me up?" She asked, a distinct note of irritation in her usually cheerful voice.
"Oh, yeah." Beast Boy replied, embarassed, before walking to her, ready to help.
----
Killer Moth rolled his eyes. He expected the changeling not to listen to his interdict, but not to be that noisy. He had heard a feminine shriek, followed by what he assumed to be the alien falling with a crash. The villain speculated how Beast Boy managed to show discretion within the tower. Focusing back on his experiment, he insipidly took a sample of his blue subject and poured it ina test tube. Then, he held the tube up to his head, as if staring at it would make the substance deliver all of its secrets.
"You know, 'blue mold-this thing' isn't very scientific." He unthinkingly told the substance. "I think I will call you Fuzzy, future discussions will be easier."
Of course, the substance did not react.
"I know, I know... I still can't believe I'm reduced to being their lackey either." He replied, desperate for any dialogue he could find that did not involve his enemies.
Fuzzy grew and screeched in its test tube.
"Of course I must free Kitten!" Another screech. "Oh, yeah, and Fang too."
The unholy matter shrank, grew and shrank again.
"What?" Killer Moth hurriedly brought the test tube near his ear. "You have a plan?"
Fuzzy emitted a few bubbles. The geneticist's eyes grew wide.
"Fuzzy, you're a genius!" But his face then bore a frightened expression as the substance whirled around within the tube.
"I'm not that evil!" He let out a disgusted grunt, but continued to listen nonetheless. "...Even the Brotherhood would not stoop that low. You're a monster! How could I ever consider you a friend?"
He produced a needle and laughed coldly. "Terrified much? You should." He introduced the tool into the blue substance and, when he had the right amount of sample, extracted the needle from the screeching subject. Apparently, concentrating on his profession again finally brought Killer Moth out of his temporary insanity.
As he placed the sample upon the slide of his microscope, the geneticist murmured. "I will know everything about you, whatever you are."