Chapter 4: Police Captain
(Later that day...)
"I don't understand. What has happened to friend Beast Boy?" Starfire asked, having since woken up nearly fully healed due to her Tamaranian DNA.
"I...don't quite know, Star." Robin grunted as he lifted his limp foot and placed it into the sling Cyborg had positioned at the end of his bed in the medical ward.
"That wasn't Beast Boy." Raven said, leaning against the doorway of the medical ward. "It was The Beast but it's much more evolved than we've ever seen it." She added.
"I agree. He's definitely much different than The Beast. Much stronger, faster, smarter. I just can't figure out how it took over, or even where these abilities are coming from." Cyborg spoke, checking Robin's vitals.
"The biggest question is how do we beat him? We can't kill him because Beast Boy's probably in there somewhere, but so far we haven't even been able to hurt him." Robin said, thinking. "I'm out of commission for at least a few days until Raven rests up and is able to heal me so for now it's just Cy and Star." He added.
"Well, I reach out to Titans East. I feel like we'll need them. I don't think we can beat him even if we're at 100%." Cyborg said.
"I think that's a good idea Cy." Raven said. "I should rest up so I can fix Robin as soon as possible." She added before leaving the room.
"I can do the reconnaissance while we wait for your recovery friend, Robin." Starfire offered.
"Sure Star. Just make sure to stay far enough away from him so he doesn't see you. The last thing we need is for him to fight us here before we're ready." Robin said. Starfire nodded and left the room. Cyborg went to leave before catching Robin's eye and staying.
"We need to be prepared for if there's no more Beast Boy left to save, Cyborg." Robin said, bluntly.
"I was afraid you'd say that. I refuse to believe it's true, man." Cyborg replied.
"We may not want to believe it. But it's not impossible." Robin said, sighing.
"Yea. That's true I guess. But if we catch him, there's a chance I can find a way to revert whatever change The Beast forced to happen inside B's head." Cyborg replied.
"I hope you're right. But if this all goes south, I don't know if you'll have a chance." Robin said, yawning.
"I know. Get some sleep. You'll need it." Cyborg said before turning and leaving the room.
(The next day...)
Starfire was flying high above Jump City in an all black suit trying to avoid detection. She knew The Beast probably had even better eyesight than Beast Boy did, but she figured a wardrobe change would at least make her a little harder to spot. As she flew she scanned the street far below her in an effort to spot the large dark green thing Beast Boy had become.
Still having trouble believing what had happened to her friend, Starfire shook her head to clear it. Reminiscing wouldn't bring him back, she knew that. Despite this, however, she still blamed herself. She could have at least tried to stop him from killing Slade, or even chased after him when he flew off.
She thought back to that day and all she could remember was feeling weak and powerless. Similar, but opposite, to Raven, Starfire's powers were dependent on emotion. Seeing her friend kill Slade had caused Starfire's powers to drain nearly instantly. So much so that she was unable to even fly in the following days. She remembered the atmosphere in the tower and immediately felt herself falter for a moment mid-flight. Resolving to stop reminiscing, Starfire got closer to the city and landed on a nearby building for a moment. Almost immediately, she got a call on her communicator.
"Starfire, come in." Robin's voice emanated from the device.
"Yes, Robin?" She replied.
"Come back to the tower as soon as you can, or at the very least watch the nearest television screen." Robin said, urgently. Starfire nodded and raced back to the tower, deciding not to risk detection.
(Back at the tower...)
The supercomputer monitor lit up with a breaking news alert. Cyborg rushed into the room after getting a notification on his system. He called Raven and Robin into the room via intercom. Breaking news not related to the Titans was rare in the city so this had to be concerning The Beast.
Raven came into the room moments later, levitating Robin's hospital bed a few feet in front of her. The trio gathered at the supercomputer as the distinct sound of Starfire's boots on the roof rang out. Cyborg turned up the volume and projected the image on the TV as Starfire walked in.
"This just in. The mayor of Jump City is making an announcement regarding a change in the police force here in the city. This is unprecedented." A news anchor spoke. The camera then panned and zoomed in to a podium in front of the police station behind the news anchor. The mayor's voice then rang out.
"Good evening, Jump City. It's my pleasure to announce our new police captain here in Jump City. As you know, crime has risen in the past few weeks as trust in the Titans has fallen as their presence has greatly reduced. Not to mention their rogue member Beast Boy still being at large for the murder of Slade Wilson, known criminal mastermind with an outstanding warrant for his arrest at the time of his death. It's because of these things that my administration plans to strengthen our police force. Starting with our police captain. Who better to captain our police force than a former member of the Justice League. Without further ado, it's my pleasure to welcome Captain Beast into our ranks." He finished, clapping his hands along with the rest of the police force lining the front of the precinct as The Beast walked out of the doors, in full police captain uniform with golden fur and mane, no spikes, and bright green eyes instead of a menacing form with spikes, dark green fur, and piercing red eyes. The Titan's jaws all dropped as he approached the reporters and cleared his throat before speaking in a deep, calming voice.
"Thank you, Mayor. First off, I'd like to thank the mayor and the police force for being so open minded in this appointment. Appointing someone who is as...different as me is a considerable leap of faith and one which I plan to fully repay. I'd also like to thank the accepting nature of the precinct in accepting me to their highest ranks. I assure you I will fully utilize my many years in the fight for the forces of good to protect our city from whatever dangers can be thrown at us. Secondly I'd like to thank the people of Jump City who have been upstanding citizens in this time of turmoil. The idea of a titan going rogue and crime rising is disappointing but I promise he will not be a problem and crime will fall. It's my duty as police captain to make this city safer and I intend to do just that. Thank you." The beast finished, smiling, revealing large, lion-like, teeth but ones much smaller and less threatening than the massive fangs belonging to his previous form. The crowd loudly applauded as the mayor and The Beast walked back into the precinct with the other officers, everyone smiling all the while.
The screen went black as the news flash concluded and the Titans all simply looked at the monitor for a minute, dumbfounded. Robin was the first to speak.
"I can't believe he did that." He said, mind racing.
"He's much smarter than we've been giving him credit for." Raven said, returning to her stoic monotone after her momentary surprise.
"That's not B. Not the B I know. He's waaaay smarter than B ever was or would be. If B's still in there, he's buried deep. Deeper than I thought." Cyborg said, sullenly.
"The Beast is the untouchable now, yes?" Starfire said, looking at Robin.
"Yea. He's as good as immune now that he's the police captain. That also means we can say goodbye to any help from the police. They probably won't be used against us because of our history of collaborating with them but they won't be able to help, either. It's just us and Titans East. Speaking of which, what's their status, Cy?" Robin said, brainstorming.
"They should be here tonight. I told them to come when it's dark so they're harder to spot." Cyborg said, absentmindedly, still thinking about what they'd just witnessed.
"But even when they get here, what's the plan. It's not like we can just attack the police captain." Raven said.
"True. We will have to find another way to get to him. Afterall, if we do what Cyborg suggests, we don't need to attack him, we just need to capture him and figure out what's wrong with him." Robin pointed out.
"That's true. For now I think we should just wait and brainstorm until Titan's East gets here and figure it out from there." Cyborg said. The team nodded, the shock from what they witnessed starting to leave their minds.