The Lion Sinks Its Teeth


The team hiked through the humid misty forest. The mist that wasn't burned off by the rising sun, just like how Beast Boy couldn't shake the sadness in his heart. "I'm sorry."

"Huh? Oh, hey Rae."

"It's... I'm sorry you had to see that."

"Hehe, It's okay, but I know you can relate."

"What does that mean?"

"I don't know. You always know what someone's going through. Empath I guess," Garfield briefly grinned. Raven shook her head. "But that's not what I'm worried about." Raven rose her eyebrow. "The terrorists. Their name is the same as Toros' parents' station."

"Alpha?" The purple-haired teen asked. Beast Boy nodded and studied Toros leading the way. "Are you sure you're not just paranoid?"

"When was the last time I was paranoid?" Raven narrowed her eyes, but no words came out of her mouth. "Exactly. There's got to be a reason why Toros is involved in all of this. Just... be careful."

"Tell yourself that."

Finally, they got to the clearing. Robin and Toros came out first and saw the tribe. Their animal-hide tents were clumped together, barely allowing any room for the little children to run around. The tribal people instantly snapped their necks and glared at the newcomers. The children, seeing the strangers, clutched their mothers as more strangers came out, this time Raven and Starfire. Even the red-painted men jumped back when they saw Cyborg's robotic armor glistening in the sun. The tribesmen were about to grab their spears! "Ons is nie hier om jou seer te maak nie!" Toros said, which means "We're not here to hurt you." Yet the Dapper Mense tribe didn't change their suspicious stares.

But then Beast Boy came out of the woods, and each member of the tribe gasped, dropping whatever weapon they had. The froze. They looked at each other, whispering. One child, the bravest one, broke from his mother's grasp and ran over to the titans. "Uh... hi," Cyborg said. The child didn't say a word. He just cautiously approached Beast Boy.

"Uh... Hey, I mean...Um what's the word? Hallo?" Beast Boy said.

"Is jy 'n groen seun?" The boy asked in his tongue. Garfield's eyes widened as he recognized the phrase and vigorously nodded. "Verender."

"Huh?" Beast Boy couldn't understand that word.

"He's asking you to change," Toros explained. "Maybe he means shapeshift?"

"Oh, sure little dude." The green titan morphed into a big green lion before changing back. The boy and his tribe all gasped.

"Groen Seun!" The tribe shouted. The men and women ran to Beast Boy and hugged and kissed his cheeks, throwing him onto their shoulders. "Groen Seun! Groen seun!"

"Whoa! HAha! HAha, it's good to see you all HAHA!" Garfield laughed.

"What's going on?" Cyborg asked.

"It looks like the tribe remembers Garfield," Toros smiled. "They're calling him Groen Seun, green boy." Garfield's feet slowly touched the ground, and he hugged and laughed with each person as small tears streamed down his face. His forehead touched the heads of teens and kids he knew as babes, and he laughed with old wily men who he barely understood. He threw his arms around the necks and bellies of dear mothers that would scowl him for taking a piece of food early, or teaching their kids a ridiculous stunt. Garfield couldn't stop smiling as he greeted each and every face he could remember.

"HAhah! ek is tuis, ek is tuis! I'm home! I'm home," Beast Boy beamed as he wept. As the celebration dispersed, Garfield finally wiped his eyes of the tears. "Oh man, I wish I could speak better."

"You forgot the language?" Toros asked rather quickly.

"Uhh... Yeeeeahhh," Beast Boy slowly said, rubbing the back of his head. Out of the throng of tribal people, a dark elderly man with long vertical strands of red paint on his face stood with a leaning staff. Beast Boy bowed and hugged the elder man. "Hallo, Hoofman (Chief)." The Chief, picking up on the fact Gar couldn't speak much, nodded his head but threw his arms around Beast Boy in a warm embrace.

"Hoofman," Toros hastily said to the leader. The thin wiry smile on the Chief turned. A dark cloud crept into Beast Boy's mind at the sight. He looked at Raven. He caught her eyes and slightly nodded. She felt it too. The Chief spoke to Toros. The blond changeling nodded and only briefly interrupted to clarify. Beast Boy narrowed his eyes when the Chief finally finished. "He said there were some men that came from the north and ordered them to get off the area, saying there was a disease or something. He says we should try the Marrah Mountains."

Beast Boy huffed wearily. "Those mountains are gonna be hard. They can mess up telephones and stuff."

"The coms should be fine. Wait, how do you know that?" Cy asked.

"My parents and I got lost and stranded when we went there. Luckily, the Dapper Mense saved us."

Toros stroked his hairless chin. "If the Alpha terrorists are there, I think I know why they're disrupting the area." He bowed to the leader. "Dankie (Thank you)." The Chief bowed his head with his solemn frown. As Toros turned back to the group, the Chief grabbed Beast Boy's arm and quickly whispered something. Garfield's eyes shot open. The leader released him and glared. His wrinkled forehead and tightly pressed lips only sank Beast Boy's heart further. "Garfield, are you coming?"

"I'm comin'." He shouted and ran over to the group. Beast Boy looked back, watching each person's face turn to deep worry.

Getting through the thick forest, the team boarded the T-Ship; Beast Boy was lingering. His gaze was on the ground since they left the Dapper Mense.

"What did that leader tell you?" Raven asked. Garfield seemed to lift his head with every fiber in his bones.

"Snakes don't kill far prey."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I don't know," He said. "The worst part is I don't want to."

***********F************


The wind barely blew over the crater that now formed the extinct volcano. It rose gradually above sea level as it left the dense forest lands behind, stretching into tall emerald, lime, and paling green grass. The Marrah Mountains stood with their higher earth-formed lip on the northern end of the massive basin. Tallgrass grew in the plain around the crater with sporadic trees to decorate the area, but the hole plunged deep into a dense forest covered by the mist that never disappeared. The Titans landed on the southern end of the crater, and Beast Boy dropped onto the grass that stood at his calves. Raven was about to jump, too. "Wait stop!"

"What?" Raven said.

"Don't step on the grass. You and Starfire hover."

"Why?"

"Because you two don't have pants," Beast Boy smirked only for a moment, "And there may be some snakes in grass this tall." Though the half-demon glared, she hovered two inches above the ground. The team slowly crossed the sea of green and came to the edge of the misty crater. Cyborg was busily typing on his computerized arm while Robin and Toros looked all around. Toros changed into a dog and sniffed around before changing back.

"Someone was here," The blonde said, wrinkling his nose. "But there's something else."

"Beast Boy was right about the coms," Robin added, looking at his static T-Com. "I can't pick up anything here."

"I'm picking up some massive electromagnetic energy going on around here. They must be jamming the frequency somehow," Cyborg said. "And something else. What is that?"

"If they have a jamming device, it makes sense why airplanes couldn't find them. But what are they looking for here?" Toros asked. Beast Boy studied his friend's face. Toros's blue eyes poured right into the crater below, but they didn't waver like someone looking for something. They seemed fixed in one specific spot. The middle. Toros glanced at Beast Boy. "What?"

"Nothing."

"AAAACCCHHHOOOO!" Starfire blasted a green bolt right into the sky, exploding a band of birds flying above. Fried bird started plopping to the ground.

"Gesundheit," Raven muttered.

"Is she okay?" Toros asked. "She's been sniffling ever since we got off the ship."

"She's fine. Alien allergies. Anyway, we should split up," Beast Boy said. Toros narrowed his eyes but slowly nodded. "I'll take Cyborg and Raven."

"I'll take Robin and Starfire then," Toros replied.

"Alright, let's get going," Beast Boy smiled. The others started off, but Garfield held Toros back. "Hey, be careful out there."

"Really? You're more danger-prone than me, Mini-me," Toros laughed.

"I mean it. Please be safe. And keep my friends safe. They're all the family I have left." Toros's smile disappeared. He nodded and left with Robin and Starfire to the east. Beast Boy pensively stared at his blond copy before walking away. He trailed behind Raven and Cyborg, looking at the grass sweep his feet.

"What are you doing?" Raven asked after Cyborg spent a whole three minutes fiddling with his arm.

"I'm trying to translate what that tribe leader said to Toros."

"You can do that? Since when?"

"Since we came back from Toyko. Figured bird-boy wouldn't like his girlfriend kissing every person around to understand their language," Cyborg smirked. "I just want to know if what Toros told us was true."

"Chief said the village was attacked by elephants, not terrorists," Beast Boy spoke up, "He didn't know anything about the village being burned. The elephants must have run them out before the terrorists burned the place." The sorceress and metal man stopped and looked back at their green friend.

"But why elephants?" Raven asked.

Cyborg shrugged, "Sometimes elephants go crazy."

"No. Not like these," Garfield said, "Why would the Alpha terrorists burn a place down after elephants stampeded? And what about Toros? Why would he lie to us?"

"Maybe he got the words wrong? Or maybe you do? You said you haven't spoken the language in a while," Cyborg said.

Beast Boy rolled his eyes. "Yeah, but I know the words: elephants, not burned, and I don't know."

"BB, I know you're jealous and all but-"

"I'm not jealous! Why would I be jealous of Toros?"

Cyborg shrugged, "He's smart, thinks things through, seems to have a better handle at the whole animal-changing thing. I don't know. Maybe because he's better than you?"

"EVERYONE'S BETTER THAN ME!" The silence strangled them before Beast Boy spoke again. "Raven can read faster than me, Robin knows everything about investigation and fighting, Starfire learns faster than I ever could, and you know more about technology than anyone I know! I just know how to turn on my video games! Everyone is better than me at something, but I'm not jealous about it! I'm more worried about my friends, Cyborg! Both you guys and Toros!" The green teen scowled the metal man who winced with regret. "Yeah, he's better at planning, changing, and thinking than me, but I don't care. I care about my friends more than what I can do." The silence killed any noise around them.

Just then, Cyborg's arm started beeping loudly. He scanned over the territory, and his mouth dropped. "What's wrong?" Raven asked.

"My sensors just identified the weird signal I was getting. It's... uranium."

"Wait, Uranium? Isn't that stuff highly reactive or something?" Garfield asked. "If the Alpha terrorists are after that, shouldn't we have some radioactive gear?"

"The stuff is deep underground. It won't be able to reach us," Cyborg said, "But there should be a processing plant or a factory or something. They can't just hide the stuff here."

"They probably ship it some other place," Raven finally spoke. "Either way, we won't get anywhere just standing here."

Cyborg nodded, "The signal's coming from down there, in the center of the crater. We should be safe from the radiation."

"Are you sure? Cause I can't have another head on my shoulder or something," Beast Boy whined. "I don't want to look like a freak."

"You don't already?" Raven smirked.

"Exactly," Beast Boy exclaimed. The half-demon rose her eyebrow and frowned a bit. "I know what I look like, Rae. Which is why I have to protect what I've already got."

"I... I didn't mean." But Raven didn't get to finish when Beast Boy and Cyborg jumped down into the crater.

Meanwhile, Toros, Starfire, and Robin trekked the other side of the crater. Robin examined the ground, grabbing a bit of dirt in his gloved hands. "Someone was here recently, but the tire tracks go further east." He looked down the crater's horizontal edge. "They might haul things out of the crater, but what?"

"*sniff* Look!" Starfire said stuffily, pointing to the east. Out of the far-off distance came a line of speeding jeeps. "It does not seem like they are friendly."

"Those are the Alpha terrorists," Toros growled, dusting off his green jumpsuit. "Get ready to fight." Robin and Starfire stood slightly in front of Toros as the terrorists surrounded them in a semi-circle against the edge. Their leader came off one of the jeeps, wearing a mask shaped like a lion's face; the henchmen had similar animal faces.

"Looks like our plan worked," He said in a deep voice.

"What is your plan?" Starfire said with glowing hands and eyes, though her sniffles continued.

"Making sure that things don't come undone," The leader replied. Robin and Starfire got into fighting stances, but Robin spotted something. The terrorists had matching jumpsuits with stun guns strapped to their backs, but none of them went for the guns.

And all of the terrorists' jumpsuits had the same color: Green.

"Starfire get away from GAAAHH!"

"Robin AAAAAHHH!" Two electric bolts shot them in the back. The heroes tumbled to the ground. Robin's vision was fading, but he could see Toros standing over them.

"T-T-Toros."

"Don't worry, this is all part of the plan," He whispered to him. "Take them to the holding faculty and don't harm them or I'll squash each and every one of you."

The leader slowly nodded, "I wouldn't think of it." Robin's eyes grew heavy and everything turned black.

Continued...