Killer Moth growled in frustation as his experiment failed yet another time. Normally, he would have promptly solved the problem that creating an antidote was, if the sample he was studying was conventional. But he had soon discovered, much to his displeasure, that the blue substance that looked harmless at first, though understandably repulsive, appeared to be quite hostile when it felt endangered. Killer Moth glanced at the dissolved pulp that once served him as a glove, resting on a corner of the desk, and mused how something could do acid, neutral and basic damage at the same time.
Hidden within his twisted mind, a part of him wished that his sample had activated its defense system when Silkie ate one of its peers. That way, the current and humiliating situation would never had happened and, perhaps, the pet's owners might have been inconsolable enough to prove themselves useless to the Titans, thus ensuring a bright future for the criminals of Jump City. The malevolent geneticist shook such thoughts off his head. As sweet those thoughts of revenge were, it distracted him from his work. And as did the disturbing notion that the creature did not consider being eaten as dangerous enough to initiate self-defense.
He glared at the substance stuck into one of his flasks. However much it tried to liquefy its glass prison, all of Killer Moth's material was fireproof, waterproof, bulletproof and could most likely use 'proof' as a suffix to all the words enclosed in a dictionary. His scientific glassware even survived to Kitten's constant shrieks, irrefutable confirmation of its resistance.
Killer Moth emitted a long sigh before turning back to his science.The sooner he found a cure, the sooner the annoying duo composed of Beast Boy and Starfire would leave his house. As he slivered the aggressive matter with his scalpel, he silently prayed that something would be left of his upper home when he finished his experimentations. He dropped the fresh sample in a test tube where a mauvish liquid was contained. As the two substances met, wisps of smoke were emanated, yet not perturbing Killer Moth's attention.
When the reaction was complete, the winged villain took the tube and held it inches from his face where a smile made a stealthy apparition. So far, the solution seemed the one he was waiting for, but he needed to make certain of that. Killer Moth drew near another test tube where ounces of his victim were resting. Carefully, he let a few droplets fall into the second tube and smirked as the creature screeched in agony. If his solution could not cure Larva M-Three-Nineteen, at least it would rid him off this dreadful organism. In the end, he put both tubes back in their positions.
Killer Moth let out a sigh of relief as he slumped in his chair. However, his abrupt impact with the cold floor reminded him that the police had confiscated his chair, yet leaving his desk and his lamp. "I bet those imbeciles from the police station needed a chair and plundered mine." He remarked while getting up and rubbing his sore back. Killer Moth then looked at the room's only window, observing the luminosity. "4 A.M. already?" He groaned. "Well, at least I finished soon enough for the pubescents above her to return their tower early. I shouldn't be bothered by pesky and teenaged law enforcers for now."
With that, he moved toward the stairs to inform his unlikely collaborators of his success. Although he made sure to slip on a new glove before doing so. Working with starving and omnivorous insects taught him to always have a few extra pairs of gloves in one of his hidden pockets.
----
Beast Boy was standing behind the counter of Mega Meaty Meat, indifferently listening to a indignant customer ranting about how outraged he was that his steak was not five inches large as described in the menu, but four point ninety eight inches. The green teen was inwardly debating whether to remove his earplugs to hear if his interlocutor had something interesting to say when a piercing "HEEEEEELP!" echoed within the parody of restaurant, the whole city block and, optionally, Beast Boy's head too.
The changeling swiftly took a nearby stool, not noticing his immediate superior who previously stood on the piece of furniture coming crashing down on the floor, and shoved it against the counter. Thanks to it, he could actually reach the top of the counter, thus allowing him to deliver a heroic speech.
"Don't worry, citizens of Jump City!" He ripped his uniform, revealing an outrageous blue outfit that would make's Robin's fashion look like the summum of good taste and cause foes as well as children cower in fear before its utter hideousness. In short, an outfit fit for a real hero. The emerald letters 'BB' were proudly plastered onto his chest above a bigger golden 'S', surrounded by a green circle. " SuperBB is here!"
The defender of the weak, the oppressed and the vegetarian then hopped off the counter and ran out of the shop, ignoring the "Hey, there are still patrons to serve!", "Wait! I didn't complain about how crual it was to let a fly drown in a meat juice soup yet!" and other "See? If you don't eat your meat you'll end up like him." coming from behind him. He had already reached the source of all those calls for help, conveniently close to his working area, anyway.
Beast B--er, SuperBB could not help but gasp at the horrific scene before him. A blonde teenaged girl was held captive by the dark and ominous powers of none other than his arch enemy, powers which also darkened the whole street, turning it into a worrying battlefield. "Crow! I should have known it was you again!" He yelled. It was tradition for heroes and villains to have a meaningless discussion and state the obvious before a combat and none of them wanted to disregard the custom.
The young woman called Crow whirled around, distinct irritation written on her visage. She bore a suspicious resemblance to Raven save for her costume. She wore a black bodysuit, covered by long dress with open sides to give more mobility to her legs. The red of her dress matched her crimson gloves and knee-high boots. The whole attire suited the gray-skinned sorceress perfectly, neither too ample or too tight, and so did her scarlet hat, unavoidable accessory to any self-respecting witch.
"Do you have any education?" She roared before crossing her arms in an annoyed manner. "How rude of you to interrupt my gloating!" She waited for SuperBB's reaction. And waited. And waited. In the end, she sighed, uncrossed her arms and used her telekinesy to remove SuperBB's earplugs.
"And that," The hostage, a Terra look-alike, still had enough control over her darkness-encased body to jerk her thumb toward the hero who finally noticed his enemy had spoken. "is supposed to save me?"
"Sadly, yes." Crow replied, stroking her chin. "Must be a sample of hero: if it pleases the citizens, after they'll have a real one."
"Shouldn't we fight or something?" SuperBB barged in.
"Oh, yes." She pointed at her captive. "So, you stay in the background and watch while we mindlessly fight each other, purposely ignoring the arts of diplomacy and compromises advocated by our sacrosanct constitution, okay?" She briefly saluted and both her listeners nodded, although SuperBB did not understand the last part of the sentence. Afterward, she blasted her foe with dark energy, sending him head first into a fire hydrant and starting the battle.
The junevile hero shortly got back to his feet and dashed toward the witch. Crow braced herself for the upcoming blow but to her surprise, SuperBB jumped over her. Before she could even react, she found herself spread out on the asphalt due to a low kick from behind. She rolled sideways to evade the next strike, not caring about her hat that had been sent flying, and it was SuperBB's turn to meet the ground as Crow's leg hit the nape of his neck hard. She then quickly retreated to a safer area to prevent any counter-attack, knowing her enemy would require much more power to be taken down.
Whilst the two teens battled, the captive citizen a few feet aside of them struggled to lift her arm and looked her watch. 'I know the fight is traditional and all, but I'll be late for the dentist if it takes too much time...' She glanced at her captor. Her chances of rescue were at a low level, Crow currently having the upper hand. 'Very late. Why does she always choose me as a hostage?' She shrugged. 'Oh well. Two more captures and I'll have a key ring thanks to the member card she gave me.'
"Come on, are you even trying? I feel like I'm fighting someone asleep." Crow taunted as she dodged all of SuperBB's blows, not even bothering to attack herself. "Wake up Beast Boy."
He stared at her with his mouth open. "How do you know my secret identity?" He asked, disbelief flooding his mind.
Crow rolled her eyes. "You kept your name tag one, genius." She cocked her hands on her hips, a taunting smile still plastered on her face. "You will not defeat the mistress of dark arts, boring books and herbal tea with such frailty." He was still dumbly staring at her. "Oh, Azar... Frailty is a synonym of weakness, can your ephemeral brain register that?" She harshly poked his forehead, as if she wanted to drive her finger through his skull and switch his brain on.
"Well, I guess I'll need a scarecrow then, right?" He ventured, desperate.
Crow stopped poking and opted to push him instead, making him stumble back. "I am so going to complain to the company. The hero samples they send are worthless." She took a quick look of SuperBB, who somehow managed to trip himself and rolled her eyes. Again. She looked skyward again as the hero tried finally stood up but tripped another time. She attempted to look at him before commenting.
Stuck.
"What?" She shrieked, distraughtly ordering her nerves to move her eyeballs. "Don't tell me I rolled my eyes so much they're now jammed?"
"Okay, I won't tell you that." She attempted to glare daggers at her short foe but her gaze only met the top of the buildings. Suddenly, she grasped SuperBB's wrist and knelt down, the only current way to actually look him eye to eye. And even in her embarassing position, her glare was close to make his blood curl.
"You've won for now." Her eyes glowed white. "But I'm not through with you. I'll be back."
Her threat complete, she disappeared. Now void of her menacing powers, her prisoner was finally set free and she wasted no time to launch herself in her savior's arms, though more out of respect for the tradition than attraction for the green boy. Moreover, the hero took this opportunity to start a no less customary victory speech.
"You saw it citizens of Jump City!" He addressed the empty streets, triyng to sound as mature and heroic as he could, which miserably failed due to his high-pitched voice. "Once again, good has triumphed against evil. And believe me, she won't ever come back!" He was about to add "Unlike the twenty seventh previous times..." under his breath when an all too familiar witch reappeared in front of him, eyes still glowing. "A-a-already back?" He stuttered, almost dropping his damsel in distress.
"No. I just forgot my hat." She bowed to take it, before turning back to SuperBB. "Besides, it'd be twenty nine times, not twenty seven." She teleported again, for good this time.
'Dude, I hate psychopaths... Er, empaths... Telepaths... Whatever she is.' He was so deep in his thoughts that he did not notice the open palm dangerously close to his face before he had a red mark on his cheek. "What was that for?" He shouted in disbelief, staring at the person he saved for the twenty sev-sorry, twenty ninth time. She did not look possessed. The same blue eyes and blonde hair... Yes, the same person. Until she laughed exactly like Kitten, holding her hand as if ready, enthusiastic even, to repeat her deed.
Several "Nooooo!" escaped his lips as he was slapped again and again. Rescued citizens were just are not grateful anymore.
----
Although he realized long ago that Beast Boy was awake, Killer Moth continued slapping him, it was very enjoyable after all. So far, he had assured Starfire that the screams were only because of a nightmare, but he had to stop when he noticed her glaring at him, visibly unconvinced. "Alright. He's awake now." He coughed uneasily, standing up and stepping away from Beast Boy who was sitting against the wall.
"Wha-what happened?" The green teen asked, although his red cheeks could make one wonder the veracity of the epiteth.
"You were asleep and as you did not respond to our demands to wake up, Killer Moth slapped you out of your slumber." She eyed the said villain. "A little too enthusiastically, may I add."
Killer Moth just whistled innocently, hands behind his back and looking away, but he eventually replied. "At least, he did not languorously murmured 'Oh, Robin, you are so boilering...', unlike a certain someone." Killer Moth's imitation of Starfire as he quoted her was a little too impressive. He clasped his hand together, managed to mimick fluttering eyelashes even though he did not have any, and his voice perfectly matched the alien's one. The whole display caused both Beast Boy and Silkie to shy away, respectively behind Starfire and in her arms. For her part, she felt blood rushing to her cheeks.
The villain shrugged. "I supposed you meant 'hot', although hot-tempered would suit him so much better." Thankfully for him, Starfire was too occupied trying not to blush more to scream at him for criticizing her beloved Robin. He coughed again, although this time to attract attention. "Anyhow, I think I found a cure for your pet." He hastily dodged Starfire jumping on him to hug him and thank him, which caused the princess to fall with a crash behind him. Killer Moth rolled his eyes. 'Aliens.'
He walked past the teens, not bothering to assist Beast Boy who was helping Starfire up for the second time of the night, and stopped, standing in front of the hall leading to his basement. "The cure is in my laboratory. Come." He then disappeared down the corridor, while the teenagers hurriedly followed him. The room was now much more illuminated thanks to the imminent sunrise. They spotted the geneticist near his table, carefully holding a test tube in one hand and a new, clean needle in the other.
"This should cure him." He filled his needle with the antidote and approached Silkie, when he was interrupted by Starfire.
"You will not harm Silkie!"
"The cure is in this needle. Do you want him to become healthy again or not?" He retorted.
"This will hurt him."
"And cure him."
"Is there not another way?" Starfire asked, determined to prevent her pet any pain. Killer Moth just rolled his eyes, wishing yet again he had chosen to stay in his ice prison.
"He can still ingest it, but the process will be much longer. Therefore, the needle. End of discussion."
As the princess refused again the use of a needle, Killer Moth resisted the urge to smash his table into her face. 'Kitten was right in her fits of fury. She is stupid sometimes.' Of course, the last adverb was a personal addition. He looked at Beast Boy, who had wisely decided not to take part in the argument. 'Not for long...' The villain thought, inwardly smirking.
"Beast Boy." He started in his most calm voice. "You probably know using a needle is much more efficient, don't you agree?" He asked, forcing him into entering the dispute.
"Well..." The unfortunate mediator rubbed the back of his neck. "Some can be eaten." Starfire's triumphant smile did not even have a chance to appear because of his next comment. "While others can be used only with needles... I should know, Mento was like a teacher to me, he taught me all that stuff." Now that his past with the Doom Patrol was known by virtually all his friends and foes, Beast Boy did not mind to speak of those times, unlike before.
"But Killer Moth did say his antidote could be used both ways." She crossed her arms. "Silkie will not feel the sting of the needle, coma."
"I think you mean 'period'." Beast Boy ventured, unsure of what contradicting the strong girl would cause.
The disagreements continued for a while until, tired by his experimentations and sick of these quarrels, Killer Moth accepted to make an edible version of his cure. Thankfully for the unlikely trio, it was quickly prepared, leaving them a little chance to come back before the other Titans were awake. Killer Moth sit on his table, holding the pet in one arm and a spoon with his free hand.
"Open your mouth and gulp down your medecine like a good larva." He ordered, with no success. Silkie persisted not to obey, too worried by his creator. "What? Don't tell me I must do like I had to do for Kitten?" He sighed in frustation. If he ever created other genetically-modified insects, he would teach them not to approach the Titans, especially not the ones he was forced to deal with.
"Oh, look!" He said in a falsely sugary tone. "It is a plane." After a sad imitation of a plane with his spoon, Killer Moth finally lost the patience he had managed to keep since he was stuck with the two teens. "Listen, ungrateful worm. Either you eat this." He shoved the spoon under Silkie's bug eyes. "Or I will make it eat you." Considering the artificial substance was about as menacing as the original 'Fuzzy', if not more, it was perfectly plausible in the poor worm's mind. In Starfire and Beast Boy's ones too, actually.
"If he raised Kitten that way, I understand why she's like she is now..." Beast Boy whispered to Starfire, who nodded, while both glanced worriedly at the geneticist. Killer Moth turned into a nanny was indeed a very scary sight.
"Good." The villain eventually said when the silk worm finally swallowed the cure. "Now, back to your owner." He carelessly threw it at the teens, who bumped into each other as they tried to catch Silkie. In due course, he landed on the changeling's head. "I did my part of the deal. Now, go away and leave me alone." He paused. "At least for today. We all need to sleep." He just knew they would come back to check on him.
Moments later, Beast Boy, Starfire and Silkie found themselves in the garden. Too exhausted to bother leading them back to the exit, Killer Moth simply decided to send them through the window he had thankfully opened before doing so. The lack of damage to the furniture proved that he still had a good aim; they ended up outside at the first throw.
"Well." Beast Boy waited for the window to be closed, quite noisily, before continuing his sentence. "Mission complete." He grinned, glad that Silkie was cured. And to be away from the mad scientist, optionally.
"Yes friend." She tried to return the smile, but just found the strength to yawn. "We should go back to our home now."
"Yeah." He stood up. "But I think we'll have to walk back there, all my limbs are dead sore."
"Indeed." She got to her feet too, grabbing the nearby Silkie as she did so. "I am out of the worn."
"Worn-out Star, worn-out."
The two left the garden an instant later. Unknown to them, a lone figure in the usually deserted neighboorhood spotted them, the impending daybreak providing enough light for him to recognise them. 'Beast Boy and Starfire here? Only them?' A smile appeared on his face. 'This could be interesting. Too bad I have other business to take care of now. As soon as I'm done with it, though... ' The mysterious individual smirked as he walked toward a destination known by him only.