Chapter 3: Terror on the Bridge
"Titan's, report!" Robin yelled urgently over the intercom. Raven groaned as she rolled over in bed. Beast Boy had been gone for a mere five days but she had steadily begun to dislike the tower more and more each day. It felt so boring without him.
Which surprised her when she first realized it considering she normally couldn't stand the sight of Beast Boy most days before he vanished. Although she refused to admit it, she envied his privilege to and extent at which he fully displayed every emotion he felt. It was sometimes amusing, but more often than not, she felt like she'd just ruin it and pushed him away for it. Every since he'd left, however, she felt more and more regretful for not even trying to get along with him better, much like the other Titans. It was partially because of this that they had tried so hard to find him.
Despite their exhaustive search over the previous days, they all knew they wouldn't find him if he didn't want to be found. Despite this, anytime the Titans weren't fighting crime or sleeping, they had been actively searching for their teammate. From countless sweeps of the city to actively pursuing any reported sighting of him in the news.
They weren't alone, however, the police had since also been searching for the one responsible for the murder of Slade. Although they were still close allies to the Titans, Beast Boy was still responsible and they intended to find him to deliver justice.
Raven thought of all of this as she made her way to the main room in the Titan Tower. She was interrupted from her thoughts, however, as Starfire came groggily around the corner and bumped into her. She drew a sharp breath, murmured her apologies, and continued walking. Raven followed, not willing to snap at Starfire if she didn't have to. Tensions had unsurprisingly been running high as of late. She found herself fighting with her fellow teammates over unimaginably dumb things.
As the duo entered the common room, they saw Robin aggressively passing back and forth and Cyborg simply staring at the tower supercomputer in a mixture of shock and disappointment.
"Friends, what is wrong?" Starfire asked, looking at Robin. Robin began to uncharacteristically murmur under his breath as he paced even more aggressively if at all possible. "Friend Cyborg?" Starfire turned, hoping for a better response. Cyborg simply pointed at the monitor and opened his mouth for a minute before uttering one word.
"Look" He spoke in a voice filled with uncertainty. Raven and Starfire looked at each other in confusion before floating over to the supercomputer.
Looking at the large monitor, Raven held in a gasp. On the monitor was a larger, more menacing, and evil looking version of The Beast. It simply stood at the top of the Jump City bridge, glaring menacingly at the Titan Tower.
"W...what is that?" Raven said, stuttered before struggling to regain her composure.
"It's Beast Boy. But he's definitely not in control." Robin said, ceasing his pacing and walking over to join them. "And we have to stop him."
"B...but. I... Ca-" Cyborg said, conflicted.
"He hasn't hurt anyone yet, has he?" Raven asked.
"Minus Slade? No, he hasn't hurt a soul." Robin replied, glaring.
"Right." Raven replied, hiding her embarrassment. "Robin's not wrong. But he is our teammate. We don't have to hurt him, just stop him from hurting people." Raven added.
"And if he gives us no choice?" Cyborg asked, hesitantly.
"Our first duty is to protect the city. Even if it's from our teammate." Robin replied, sternly. Cyborg shook his head in despair.
"You know he's right, Cy." Raven said, putting her hand on his shoulder in an attempt to comfort him. Cyborg looked at her in slight surprise before letting out a long sigh.
"Titans!" The Beast bellowed loud enough for the entire city to hear him. "Beast Boy is gone. I am The Beast. I own this city now. If you interfere, you will be dealt with." The Beast then smiled wickedly and jumped down onto the bridge below, landing and crushing a car underneath his weight.
"How can he speak?" Starfire asked.
"I have no idea. But this Beast does look much stronger than the Beast we are used to. Perhaps it's evolved?" Cyborg said, unsure.
"I mean, that would make sense given his powers." Robin said. "We can no longer waste time here, we need to stop this." The Titans nodded in agreement and made their way to Jump City bridge.
When they made it there minutes later, The Beast was in the process of wreaking havoc on the bridge, smashing any cars it could get it's hands on.
"Beast Boy, stop!" Robin commanded, staff drawn.
"Fool. You think there's anything left of him? The idiot couldn't realize our potential so now I'm here to do it instead." The Beast roared.
"What are you?" Robin asked.
"The Beast. The same one you have always feared. This, however, is my full form. Being trapped in Beast Boy's mind, let's say, restricted, my potential. I am, in this form, the perfect apex predator and this city is now my territory. I recommend you leave now if you know what's good for you. I'm giving you this chance at life instead of killing you simply as a form of thanks for taking care of us. Do not miss-use it." The Beast roared in response. Raven noted the considerable advancement in The Beast's vocabulary compared to Beast Boy. She also noted an overall increased level of intelligence shown by The Beast that was only rarely displayed by Beast Boy, himself. She briefly wondered if he was this always this intelligent despite acting like a clown.
"We can't do that. If you truly care about Beast Boy and yourself you have to bring him back and not get yourselves both killed by taking on a whole city." Robin replied, hopeful.
"Sorry Boy-Wonder. Your negotiation tactics aren't going to cut it. Now you've overstayed your welcome. Leave!" The Beast bellowed as it grabbed a nearby car and threw it at Robin. Cyborg jumped in front of him and stopped it with his plasma cannons.
"Titans Go!" Robin yelled. Starfire jumped to action, shooting weaker than normal Star-bolts at The Beast. Raven enveloped a telephone pole in her dark energy and threw it at The Beast. Robin threw explosive boomerangs at a nearby car, hoping to distract The Beast while Cyborg worked to safely clear the immediate area of civilians.
The Beast held a large hand open in the direction of the Star-bolts. They were harmlessly absorbed into The Beast's body. With the other hand, The Beast grabbed the telephone pole and used it to knock the incoming car out of the air. Robin and Raven raised an eyebrow at The Beast's fighting ability meanwhile the rest of the team displayed a little more shock.
"Yes. My fighting capabilities are far above Beast Boy's. As is everything else." The Beast chuckled. He then threw the telephone pole at a news helicopter at the end of the bridge behind the Titans. The telephone pole impaled the helicopter, sending it straight into the bay. Without a moment of hesitation, The Beast then leapt at Robin with surprising speed. He landed on the Boy-Wonder and unsheathed his claws as he prepared to kill. Turning his head at the last second, The Beast barely reacted fast enough to block a volley of Star-Bolts fired directly at his head. This gave Robin enough time to wiggle out from beneath The Beast and get to safety.
Cyborg clapped him on the back and looked him over once before nodding and aiming his cannon to help Starfire. The Beast had since turned his attention to the alien and leapt high into the air in her direction. She barely dodged in time, flying back to the rest of the team while The Beast landed on another car, crushing it.
With the entire team recovered, they all fired projectiles at the same time, hoping to overwhelm The Beast. As the dust cleared, however, they saw The Beast simply standing there, a faint green glow outlining his form. Confused, the Titans looked at each other before Robin spoke.
"This is your last warning, it's still possible to come quietly, Beast Boy." He spoke, not wanting to treat his former teammate like a criminal, regardless of circumstance.
"No, Robin. I will be contained no more." The Beast growled in reply. He then smiled menacingly before leaping at the Titans once again. This time Starfire flew to meet him halfway in an effort to catch him off guard. Realizing this, The Beast outstretched his arms moments before they collided and grabbed onto Starfire shoulders. He then pulled down and sent her flying into the ground beneath him, flying towards the Titans at an even faster speed.
Cyborg stood in front of Robin and Raven with his cannon raised in preparation while Raven put a shield around the trio. The second The Beast landed on the shield, Raven let the shield down and Cyborg put all the power he could muster into a plasma blast aimed at The Beast's chest. The Beast's eyes widened for a moment before he held his hand in front of the blast and braced for impact.
The blast sent him clear across the bridge and careening into a police barricade set-up on the opposite end of the bridge. The Titans all followed, not wanting to let him recover but also worried.
The Beast, fully engulfed in green energy, slowly got up but stopped in his tracks as he heard Cyborg's plasma cannon powering up. He looked up to see the four remaining Titans aiming their various abilities at him, slight confusion on their faces at the energy surrounding him.
With a dark smirk, The Beast roared loudly and released all of the stored energy he had absorbed from the various attacks made against him. The shockwave caused by the energy decimated nearly everything in it's path. It knocked all the remaining vehicles from the bridge and destroyed the barricade along with sending all the officers and Titans flying far away from The Beast.
Cybrog landed 100 feet from The Beast on his back and instantly entered emergency power mode as his battery was smashed. Starfire, who was floating, had been roughly slammed against a bridge-post and landed on the bridge, unconscious, a few feet away from Cyborg. Robin had managed to lessen his fall but broke both his feet in the process and slowly crawled towards Cyborg and Starfire. Raven had managed to make a small shield and stood weakly behind the rest of the group, barely able to keep herself up.
The Beast smiled as he smelled blood and observed the carnage around him. He slowly covered the distance between himself and the Titans, not bothering to say anything.
The Titans prepared for putting up however much of a fight as they could but they all knew it wouldn't be much. Starfire was unconscious, Robin only had his arms, Cyborg didn't have enough energy to walk back to the tower, let alone fight, and Raven was about to pass out. It wasn't until The Beast was within 10 feet of the remaining Titans that he spoke.
"Titans. It seems like you have all failed. Know it gives me no special pleasure to take you out. I simply need you gone to achieve my goals. I hope you understand. Slade might have been personal, but this definitely isn't." He spoke, trying to be sincere. He then approached Starfire and grabbed her unconscious form by the neck. "Shall I start with Starfire?" He asked, eyes dancing contradicting his previous statement.
"No! Stop it Beast Boy!" Robin yelled, throwing an explosive birdarang at The Beast. The Beast simply used his free hand to grab it and hastily toss it behind him, moments before it exploded.
"Robin, you've lost. Stop trying. This has to happen. Unless you all promise to leave this city, indefinitely." The Beast spoke, pausing for a response.
"Do you promise to spare Starfire?" Robin asked while Cyborg and Raven looked at him in as much surprise as they could muster.
"Of course." The Beast said.
"Okay. Fine. We'll leave. Just...let us patch ourselves up and I promise we'll be-" Robin was interrupted as The Beast threw Starfire in his direction, turned, and walked towards the city. She landed next to Robin with a loud thud but looked otherwise unharmed as Robin and the team sighed in relief.