The Beast's Trap
"Friend Beastboy? Or I guess Friend Hunter," Starfire shakily said as she poked her head into the infirmary.
"Yes, Star, can you see me?" Spirit Hunter said as he got up and waved his hand in front of her face to get her attention.
"Friend Robin said we should all do the talking to you. Even though you're not awake, he says it will help if you..." she continued on the verge of tears, oblivious to the spirit standing right in front of her. Walking right through Spirit Hunter she walked over to Hunter's bed and sat down in a nearby chair. Empty cans of Pepsi and random carry-out boxes littered the floor around the chair as Cyborg had all but moved into the infirmary to take care of Hunter's physical injuries. Yelping as she kicked day old Chinese takeout, Starfire composed herself and spoke, "Y...You were or are or hopefully will remain to be one of my best friends. I...do not know what will become of this team if you do not get better. I am unsure of what more to say. You were the most funny of this team and I liked your jokes even if Friend Raven and Friend Robin found them to be the annoying. Please do not d...die Friend Beast Boy," she finished as she burst into tears and ran out of the room for the second time that day.
"Awww man, why can't I just get better already, this is tearing me apart. I just can't wait till this is over with and I can get back to doing nothing. Anything beats seeing them hurting like that." Hunter said to no one in particular.
"I know little one, I have been through this process too many times." Prime chimed in.
"I can't even imagine having to do this more than once. When, well, if I get better, I'm definitely not getting hurt again." Hunter replied solemnly.
"I do not think that's possible in this 'line of operation' little one" Prime attempted.
"Man, please stop with the slang." Hunter half-smiled as he tried to contain his laughter. "For the record, the saying is 'in this line of work'."
As Prime and Hunter laughed at his idea of slang, Cyborg walked in red-eyed and slouching.
"Hey B. Uhh, Rob said we should...ya know, say our good byes. I disagree, I know you're gonna get better, but just incase, lets get on with this." He mumbled mostly to himself. "Beast Boy, or Hunter, I remember when we first met and created the team. When we lost you the first time it was rough, really rough, especially for Rave. But if we were to lose ya again? I can't bear to think of it man. Just get better ya hear?" Cyborg spoke as he starred at Hunter's broken body and left the room shortly after.
"Damn, Cyborg has definitely changed. I didn't notice it earlier, but he's gotten so much older and more serious now. I can't believe he didn't crack a single joke. Not even one?" Hunter's spirit said, thinking hard. "We're gonna have to fix that when I get up."
As he finished his thoughts, Raven came in and didn't move for a long time. She just stood there and analyzed him. Finally, after about ten minutes of juststanding there she spoke, "Beast Boy, I...I just want you to know that I'm sorry we weren't there for you when you disappeared and I really wish you get well soon so we can make up for lost time. I'll even let you bother me while I'm reading, just get better. Please?" She begged as she looked at him and started shaking slightly.
"She misses me? What?" Hunter's spirit thought as his entire world crashed around him. "I can't believe what I'm hearing. All these years I've been walking around thinking she absolutely despises me yet she just went through an entire sentence without insulting me once."
"Little one, help, some force is attempting to take control of you. It's strong. Much stronger than I've ever encountered. Stronger than Mother Nature herself even." Prime boomed in his mind. In an instant Hunter knew exactly what force Prime was talking about. The beast had returned. "Merge with your body and help me fight this off or both of our consciousnesses will be destroyed by this, thing." Prime boomed again, more urgently. Immediately, Hunter's spirit jumped into his body and he was transported deep inside his mind. There he saw Prime and The Beast fighting. Prime was strong, tall, and radiated light, but the Beast was a foot taller, much stronger and was a dark green nearly black color with red eyes and razor sharp teeth and claws. This wasn't the actual beast, Hunter soon realized, this was what the Beast at full power would look like. He was frozen with fear, unable to move or act.
All of a sudden, the view changed, he was suddenly all alone in a beautiful, open field. Tall grass was all that could be seen for miles and there were numerous animals milling about. Hunter started to cry, only it wasn't Hunter anymore, it was Beast Boy as a little child. Hunter looked up to see the Beast. Only this time, it was coming for him, it would kill him, he was going to die. He burst into an even more violent bout of tears.
Back in the world of the living, Raven had turned to leave the room, wiping a tear in the process when she heard a sort of whooshing sound. She turned around to see a faint presence entering Hunter's broken form. Curious and concerned, she walked over to him and tried to figure out what had happened. Everything seemed normal, he hadn't moved, but for some reason, she could sense that something had changed in the last few moments. Growing ever curious, she began to meditate and attempted to read Hunter's mind. Once she made contact she gasped in shock and withdrew almost immediately. It was chaos, screaming and terror was all she felt while in his mind. She realized she had to help him. Concentrating again, she entered his mind and forced herself to stay and tried to battle the flood of emotions radiating from him. She targeted the strongest one, fear. She assumed fear of death but when she attempted to go further, she felt a deep presence surround her.
"Raven I presume?" Prime boomed to her, weakly.
"Who are you, and how do you know my name?" Raven asked, fear slightly creeping into her voice.
"Worry not young one, I'm a part of Hunter's consciousness." Prime replied soothingly.
"His consciousness? Are you doing this?" She gestured to Hunter's fear surrounding her.
"No, quite the opposite, I'm attempting to stop it." He replied.
"Stop what? What happened?" Raven asked, worried.
"Some type of dark presence is trying to take over Hunter's consciousness. I heard him mutter 'Beast' before he vanished." Prime replied, clearly getting weaker by the moment.
"The Beast? It can't be. Cybrog's serum got rid of the Beast the last time it broke out. Wait...vanished? Where did he go?" Raven replied, shocked.
"Something about the damage sustained must have triggered this abomination." Prime pondered, "He vanished, along with the Beast. I was fighting it, Hunter appeared, 'The Beast' turned to look at him. He froze up and then the two vanished. I imagine he's fighting it somewhere in his mind but I'm too injured from the fight to even try to help him at this point. If I face that thing again, I will surely die and with me, all of Hunter's enhanced abilities. I'm afraid its up to you now, Raven. Save Hunter or we're both lost." Prime finished as his presence left her mind and he retreated to the back of Hunter's mind to heal. Raven took a second to process what she'd just heard as she got her bearings and attempted to find and save her friend.
Venturing through his mind Raven witnessed all the memories he had from the time he was with the Titans. She was walking through what looked to be a long hallway with doors leading to some of his strongest memories. She opened a door and was immediately blasted with a feeling of intense happiness as she witnessed the time Beast Boy defeated his first villain by himself with the Doom Squad. She smiled as she closed the door and refocused.
As she continued walking down the hallway, the memories got younger and younger. Before he started fighting crime. She saw one where he was sitting alone at the corner of a bed examining his green arm with disgust. She felt a pang of pity as she continued to walk, unsure if she was getting lost or going the right way. As she kept walking, however, the memories began to get darker. She saw a glimpse of the time he accidentally bit a bully's finger off and was sent to a juvenile detention center at the age of 10.
All of a sudden, the memories stopped and the hallway was devoid of doors. Raven stopped for a moment, contemplating whether or not she missed it when she heard someone crying. Concerned she continued on once again. She soon saw a door at the end of the hall where the crying was coming from. Hesitant she approached and opened the door. She was suddenly transported to a sunny, tranquil clearing in the middle of nowhere. Confused she looked around for the source of the crying. She looked further down the clearing and saw a small child curled up in the fetal position. She approached him only to see that it was a young, non-green, Beast Boy.
"Beast Boy?" Raven gently asked as she crouched down near the kid. He stopped crying and looked up at her with sheer terror in his eyes.
"Are you one of the people sent to get me?" He asked trembling.
"Sent to get you? Whose trying to get you?" Raven asked.
"The scientists. They stole me because I have powers and thought they could have them too if they have me." He explained still trembling.
"No. I am definitely not with the scientists." Raven replied, shocked.
"I DON'T BELIEVE YOU" she heard a deep, threatening voice call out from behind her. She turned to see the Beast standing behind her ready to attack.
"No. No. NOOOO!" Beast Boy screamed as he curled up once more and began crying. "Don't let them take me back. Stop it. I don't wanna go back."
"Hey, hey, hey. Listen, Beast Boy, I won't let him hurt you okay?" Raven replied soothingly.
"No one can stop him. He's too strong. He always wins." Beast Boy wailed.
"I promise you he won't beat me, okay? I just need you to be strong and try to fight the fear you're feeling. I know its hard but the harder you fight it, the easier it'll be for me to beat him. Can you do that?" Raven replied.
"I'll try." Beast Boy said, sniffling as he closed his eyes.
"Good, we can fight it together." Raven smiled as she turned to face the Beast.
"Bah. Defeat me? You know how long this pathetic thing has been trying to beat me? Since he massacred all those scientists when he was a child." The Beast retorted as it smirked.
"What...No, I...I ran away. I would never hurt anyone." Beast Boy replied confused as the realization of what he'd actually done while in captivity dawned on him. "I...I killed all of those scientists. No. I...I'm the monster."
"Yes, that's what I've been trying to tell you weakling, allow me to take control and embrace your very nature. Let the boy die and allow the Beast to take control. It's the natural order of things. After all, killing came so natural to you all those years ago." The Beast persuaded.
"NO. Beast Boy, look at me." Raven demanded as she grabbed his head in her hands and forced him to look at her. "You are NOT a monster. Those scientists experimented on you mercilessly and deserved what came to them. You are a Titan. You have saved countless lives over the years and will continue doing so as soon as we send this beast back to where it came from."
"Y...you're right. It's messing with me." Beast Boy half-agreed as the thought of his childhood actions still lingered in his mind. With that statement, the Beast smirked and said.
"Farewell for now, I'm not about to let some weak sorceress best me in combat because you don't have the courage to let me take control." It said as it vanished into the deep recesses of Hunters mind to come back another day.
Raven felt her soul return to her body as she opened her eyes and gazed around the medical wing of the Titan tower. She hoped she had healed her friend's mind as she sat in a nearby chair and waited for him to wake up.