Chapter 12: The Conspiracy

"Rescue? Me?" The Mandalorian asked skeptically.

"Yeah." The human rescuer replied. "Now come on. We got to get you out of here." He then gave the orders to the other two humanoid bounty hunters to get the Mandalorian out of the cell.

Kaiyu felt very strange after listening to the rescuer's reply.

His boss ordered these three bounty hunters to save his life by risking the exposure of the Bounty Hunter Guild. Most of the Bounty Hunter Guild would not dare to take such a similar practice on rescuing their fellow fallen-guild member. They normally abandon you as a punishment for failing the task. All of the guilds follow a strict code of secrecy in order to survive in a fierce bounty hunting business. Even if you are the guild master's favorite "henchman", they usually cut ties with you.

That is why he was a little surprised to see himself being rescued by his companions.

Why would the boss want to rescue me? Kaiyu thought. I had failed the mission so it was natural for him to cut me loose...

As he kept wondering about the guild master's intention of this "small crusade", the human leader gave him back his equipment. Including his helmet.

"You needed this right?" He asked.

The Mandalorian looked into his helmet and nodded quietly to the rescuer's question. He slowly put on his helmet and felt his strength coming back to him. The adrenaline of hunting down his prey has boiled up like a bowling hot water.

For those who know little about the Mandalorian's helmet, it is the most important asset to the creed. It represents the warrior spirit of The Mandalorians and its nobility. Being part of the creed makes it worthwhile to wear it for eternity.

However, the other races didn't think it that way because they consider the helmet to be one big unnecessary decoration that has a cool looking T shaped visor.

"Hmph. What's so special about Mandalorian's helmet? It's not different than the ordinary ones." said the Rodian bounty hunter. "Let's just leave this place quickly before someone sees us."

The Trandoshan bounty hunter agreed with the Rodian's opinion. "Yeah. Don't want to die in this miserable place for saving your ass Mandalorian." He gave a glaring look at the Mandalorian's face with a hiss. The Human bounty hunter thought the two will start a brawl. But it didn't happen.

Instead, the Trandoshan walked out of the jail cell to secure the escape route for The Mandalorian. This followed suit by the Rodian.

Truth be told, some members of the Bounty Hunter Guild don't like the lone Mandalorian at all. They always think he receives all the good stuff while the others don't. The guild master's favoritism in the bounty hunter guild really sickens them to its very core. It makes them feel jealous a lot towards the Mandalorian.

"Never mind those two." The human bounty hunter reassured. "They are just a bunch of idiots who don't respect you."

However, Kaiyu didn't mind about it at all. He knew that some of the members were giving him a displeasure look. He didn't need to look at their face as he could sense it behind his back. "I don't care." He replied. "As long as they don't intend to backstab me." He then followed the two humanoids' back, leaving the human bounty behind.

"Hopefully." the human bounty hunter said. He let out a long sigh and hopes that this rescue mission will go smoothly with ease as the "paid executioner" takes care of the more important matters.

But he should have noticed sooner that the Mandalorian is having his doubts about being rescued...

(Meanwhile at the Jump City's union hospital)

While Robin, Raven, and Cyborg were in Starfire's room, Beast Boy went to a snack vending machine to get something to eat.

"Let see...Hmm...what would I like to eat..." said Beast Boy as he glazed through the various kinds of snacks. Such as Chocolate Bars and Chili Chips.

While he was busy making up his mind to buy one, he didn't pay any attention to his surroundings. It is very strange to not hear nurses who are in a rush bringing the patient for an inspection or doctors discussing over the patient's condition, whether or not to begin a surgical operation immediately. For a green mutant who has enhanced hearing abilities thanks to his animal-shape shifting genes, he should be aware right now that he is all alone in the hallway.

"Ahh! I think I will choose vegetable nachos."

He then inserted his one dollar note in the machine and waited for his nachos to fall down. While waiting, he whistled his mouth and looked around in the hallway to see if there is anybody to talk with. Cause Beast Boy loves to talk with people.

"Hmm...nobody is here..." Beast Boy noticed. "I wonder if it's lunch break." He flipped out his Titan's call and checked the current time.

"03:15 PM"

"Huh...a bit late for lunchtime so...hmm...maybe taking a nap?" He asked.

"For an eternity that is~"

"Huh?!"

He heard a sudden chilling voice behind his back as it feels like it has crawled into his ears. He turned back to see if there is someone there. But there was nobody. He then looked through the hallways on both sides. All he could see was...the light flickering brightly.

"Umm...Hello? Are you a nurse? Or a...doctor?" He quietly asked. "You know that...it is a bad idea...to scare me...I really don't like...scary stuff so..."

He kept looking through the hallway, hoping that someone will show up. But what it did was the lights went out one by one, as the darkness devoured the corridor in every minute.

Ding! Ding! Ding!

"I'm serious! It's not funny! You know that Beast Boy is a..." He stepped back to run to the other side of the corridor but it also slowly killed the lights out in the same way.

He looked back and forth as he slowly moved back to the snack vending machine area where the light is still on. Now he is surrounded by darkness.

"is a...is a...is a..." He swallowed his salvia slowly as shivered his legs like a whimpering dog. And then...

Dang!

"Ahhh!" He quickly morphed into a timid green colored mouse as he covered his head and closed his eyes. He begged God for help, hoping that he won't get eaten alive by the creatures coming out from the dark.

Please don't eat me! Please don't eat me! Please don't eat me! He prayed inside his heart, wishing that the monsters will leave him alone.

Why is not hurting me?! Are the monsters...not there? Beast Boy wondered as he slowly morphed back to his human self. He opened his eyes with courage and saw the lights are all...turned back on?

"Huh? There were no monsters...?" He asked to himself. "Then what was the loud sound I heard?"

He looked back at the vending machine and saw a bag of vegetable nacho already at the take-out port.

"Ohhh! It was the nacho's sound!" he sighed of relief. "How silly I was." He smacked his head by himself as he felt ashamed of being afraid. He took the nacho bag out of the vending machine and opened it to smell the crispy vegetable's pleasant scent.

"Hahaha! There are no monsters in the hospital Beast Boy. It's all in your-"

"Head~?"

When he turned around to head back to Starfire's room, he saw a caped figure with a terrifying mask standing right in front of him. It had two big metal clawed gauntlets on both forearms, reminiscing the universal monster during the early 40s. It didn't give him the time to react as the caped figure grabbed his face, making his vision pitch black.

(At Starfire's room)

"Hey Cyborg," Raven asked.

"Yeah, Raven?"

"Do you know where Beast Boy is?"

"He said he was hungry and went to buy some snacks" Cyborg replied.

"But don't you think it's taking him too long...? Like how long will it take to buy one snack?" She found it strange for the green mutant to take such a long time to buy a snack.

"Well, I guess he-"

Abruptly during their conversation, they saw Beast Boy's body being thrown into Starfire's room. It shattered the glass window when it happened. The three Titans were talking by surprise to a sudden incident.

"BEAST BOY?!" Robin started as he stood up from his chair. The other two also stood up from their seat when they saw Beast Boy laying on the floor.

"Owww..." Beast Boy groaned in pain as he laid on the floor on his back. He tried to move his arms so he could support his upper body up. But the impact of being flung away was so enormous that he felt weak to do so.

Cyborg went to help his best friend in a hurry as he held his body up. "What happened?!" He asked.

Beast Boy replied weakly as he pointed outside of the room. "We...are being attacked..."

Cyborg looked through the broken window and wondered who did this to him. "Robin." He said. "I'll go outside and take a look who did this to BB." He then gently put Beast Boy back on the floor as he transformed his right arm into a sonic cannon. He took a step close to the door and laid his left hand on the doorknob. It made him a little nervous to do this because the person whoever threw Beast Boy through the glass window must be stronger than. Or it could be stronger than himself. He took a deep breath and busted the door open as he ready his aim to fire his sonic cannon. He took a big step as if he leaped over the other side of the corridor.

"HOLD IT RIGHT THERE! WHOEVER YOU-"

VOOM!

"AHHH!"

He was being blown away by some kind of invisible wind power! It cut through the air as it made a big sonic boom! The two Titans witnessed their mechanic friend flew away to the end of the corridor! They all rushed to the hallway to see if he is alright.

"CYBORG!" Robin yelled as he looked over to his beaten up friend. He saw there was an enormous crack on the wall behind Cyborg's back. It tells a lot how painful it was when he received the wind attack.

"Ow..." Cyborg groaned as he felt hold his lower stomach in pain. "Robin, be careful...that guy is...strong.." When he pointed his finger at the figure, the two Titans looked over their back and got a clear view of who the attacker was.

We have learned the attacker was wearing a cape with a horrifying mask. A mask that resembles a bit with an executioner mask, exploiting the assassin's professionalism. Taking a careful look at the clothing, he is wearing some kind of metal plate armor that has a lot of ancient writings which are not originated from earth. It makes the Titans clear that this person is not from Jump City. Or from this planet. It makes the two standing teenage vigilantes bring up their guard to get ready for the attack. Because this mysterious attack is not only menacing at the way he stood there, it also made him extremely dangerous when he forced Cyborg's body to be blown away.

"WHO ARE YOU?!" Robin asked.

"Does it matter who I am?" The attacker replied in a robotic voice. "You should all know your position that I am here to kill you all."

"Kill us? Who sent you?" Raven asked.

"...By someone who wants to eliminate you and the Tamaran Princess at once."

"Tamran princess? You mean..!"

"Yes, Boy Wonder. It is a pity that you are involved too. But do not worry. I will end this quickly. So that..." He reached out to his utility belt and drew his vibrostaff. It is a double-handed melee weapon that has a very sharp moon-shaped blade on the end.

"You can reunite with her in the afterlife." And then the battle began when he leaped over to attack.