" Starfire! Now!"
Starfire soared closer to the giant robot currently smashing Minor Street and released Cyborg from her hold. Cyborg, the half human, half robot landed unnoticed onto the robot's shoulder. A green pterodactyl flew circles around it's head, as a cloaked girl threw dark energy at it, effectively distracting the robot from its passenger. Starfire screamed as the robot backhanded her and she fell toward the ground. A red motorcycle lept into the air and the driver caught the orange girl before the ground did. "Robin!" Starfire cheered, only to be cut short by the robot kicking them away. At the same time slapping the cloaked girl out of the air and punching the green pterodactyl to the ground. Dazed out of his form the green shapeshifter fell to the ground.
"GOT IT!" Cyborg yelled, leaping from the robot as it powered down and began to fall toward the spot where the green kid lay, slightly stunned.
"Beastboy!" Robin shouted in warning.
"Wha-?" muttered the green kid, unaware of the danger.
A black figure came racing across the street, it grabbed Beastboy and threw the two of them out of the way just as the robot crashed into the street.
I looked up from where I was picking myself up off the pavement.
"Ugh," a voice groaned. Slowly pushing himself into a sitting position was a kid. He seemed about my age, he wore a black hoodie and had black, shaggy hair.
"Dude!" I shouted. The kid's head snapped up, and his striking blue eyes were filled with alarm. He leaned away from me, cringing. "You saved me! That was awesome!"
"N-n-no, I just ran into y-you. S-s-sorry about that."
I blinked, was this guy afraid? He looked like he was shaking. I got to my feet and leaned over him, offering my hand. "Hey, are you okay?" When he noticed my hand he jerked away violently.
"Woah, Woah," I said putting up my hands and slowly crouching so that our eyes were level.
"I'm not going to hurt you, are you okay?" Remembering his earlier reaction I didn't try to get closer. I then noticed the blood on his lips. "You're hurt!" I cried out.
His wide eyes locked onto mine and I could see that he wasn't just afraid, he was terrified. Like a cornered animal, he looked away, staring at the pavement instead.
"I-I-I'll be f-fine," he stuttered wiping blood the blood from his mouth, "Y-your f-friends are looking for you." With that he suddenly jumped to his feet and dashed away.
"Hey wait!" I called out racing a few steps after him, only to be caught up in a bone crushing hug.
"Beastboy! You are unharmed!"
"Starfire, that's not going to last much longer if you keep squeezing him like that," Raven pointed out.
"Opps," Starfire giggled as she dropped me.
"Glad to see you're alright Beastboy. You had us worried." Robin said helping me up.
"Where did he go?! Did you guys see him?!" I transformed myself into a mongoose and scurried up Cyborg's head to look around.
"Hey!" Cyborg shouted, swatting at me.
I changed into a hawk and shot up into the sky. I couldn't see my rescuer. I dove back down to earth, switching into a bloodhound and began sniffing around.
"Where did who go BB?" Cyborg asked.
Found it! His scent! He went that way! Still a bloodhound, I took off in that direction.
"Beastboy!?" my friends called after me, but I didn't stop. Whoever that guy was, he needed help, and he didn't seem like the type of guy to who would try to find it himself.
After about three blocks, I ran around a corner and stopped dead in my tracks in the middle of an intersection. Huh? the trail just... vanished. Frantically I sniffed around some more. Nothing! it was gone! Like he had just disappeared.
"Beastboy! What is it?" Robin asked as my friends caught up to me. I changed out of the dog form and looked around frantically.
"There was this dude!" I told them breathlessly as I picked a random direction and started walking quickly, looking in windows as I passed.
"What do you mean?" Starfire asked.
"He dragged me out of the way when the robot fell! He seemed like he was afraid of me! And he was hurt!"
"Afraid of Beastboy?" Raven asked confused.
"Maybe it was his smell," Cyborg joked.
"This is serious! He was coughing up blood! and he was terrified! No one should be that afraid! It wasn't even the robot he was afraid of! I think it was me!"
"Okay, we'll look for him, what did he look like?" Robin asked getting serious.
"He had a black hoodie, black hair, blue eyes, he was kinda dirty, and he might still have some blood on his face!"
"Alright. Titans go!" Robin commanded.
I leaned my head back and squeezed my eyes shut, trying to hold back the panic. My side felt like it was on fire. It had been a long while since I had received the injury, but it still hadn't healed yet. Though tearing it open several times probably had something to do with that. On the bright side the pain in my side almost made me forget the hunger pains clawing in my stomach, almost.
I was currently spending the night in a condemned apartment building on the far side of town. It was a nice place, a little drafty and dingy, but the best part was that there were no visitors. The stairwell on the eighth floor had mostly given out so even if people did come it would be difficult to get to the top floor where I was. It didn't have any furniture and the walls were filled with faded graffiti, not very homey, but for now it was my sanctuary.
Gingerly, I pulled my shirt up to examine my side. The long gash stretched from a few inches above the base of my rib cage on my left side and then curved slightly down to a few inches above my hip. It was still red and puffy but finally the bleeding had stopped. I sat up carefully, dug into my backpack and pulled out my small first aid kit. I opened it up and pulled out the bandages. It takes a lot of practice to be able to bandage your torso yourself. Even with all the experience I have, it still turns out sloppy. After I finished I laid my head back on my hoodie.
Today had been crazy. I had caught more than just a glimpse of the Teen Titans. I had saved one of them. He even said something to me. I might have even said something back, I couldn't really remember.
I still had a really hard time around humans- I mean, people. Okay, a hard time was a bit of an understatement. I could barely keep a shred of my sanity when I was near a human- I mean a person. Maybe one day I will be able to carry on a normal conversation with someone again.
That strange green kids seemed… nice. Maybe even concerned. I really shouldn't have run away like that. He probably deserved better. I closed my eyes as a wave of regret washed over me. I hoped I hadn't- I dunno, freaked him out in any way.
"I'm sure he's fine Beastboy," Robin reassured me as we gathered in the living room of the Titan's Tower after a long night of searching.
"Yes! I am certain the stranger is in good health!" Starfire said cheerfully.
"I don't know guys. I have the weirdest feeling that he needs our help. He reminded me of an abused animal."
"I don't think we should just let this go," Raven spoke up. "Beastboy said he seemed afraid of his own shadow. Yet he charged into a dangerous situation willingly. Something seems off."
"We've searched the city dozens of times. What else could we do?" Cyborg asked with a shrug.
"We'll just have to keep an eye out for him. If he's still in the city he'll show up eventually," Robin said uncertainly.