An Author's note: Thanks to you three who are still with me: TDG3RD, Vegeta247, and my newest reviewer Agent of the Divine One (I read some of your profile, and I just have to say I play the card game too! I favor a dragon type deck! Gotta love those dragons!) Take a bow, Agent, but not where anyone can see. That would look a bit weird bowing in front a computer. You think my writing is exquisite? Wow. Thanks a lot!

Now, once again

On. With. The. Show!

Chapter Seven

She's Dead!

Beast Boy tried not to overtake Jinx as he ran in tiger form. He really wanted to simply speed past the sorceress altogether, but he did not. He could smell something, something terrible. Every instinct inside of him was screaming in anger. It was like all of the animal forms he had were trying to tell him something, but he was too busy worrying about Raven to listen to them. But the smell was driving him nuts! It was wrong, somehow, very wrong. It was like nothing he had ever smelled before. It smelled unnatural and horrible. He suddenly realized that he wanted to kill whatever owned that smell. That was odd, even in his Beast form he had never really wanted to kill anything (other than the wizard). Not even the smell of the Adonis-Beast had made him feel like this. Like he wanted to find the owner of the smell and rip its throat out.

Follow Jinx he thought to himself follow her to Raven. The smell does not matter, not at all. Finding Raven is all that matters. Suddenly Jinx stopped and ducked behind some rocks. Knowing that stealth was now needed, Beast Boy lowered his body and slunk toward Jinx. He could sense the others right behind him, especially Cyborg. The metal man couldn't sneak to save his life! He probably tripped over every loose rock in his path and maybe even a few that were not! Thankfully they were not discovered, despite Cyborg's crashing around.

Together they looked over the rock pile and gave a collective horrified gasp. There was a…thing there, standing in front of Mr. Big Bad Wizard Who Goes around Kidnapping Innocent Girls (at least that's how Beast Boy thought of him as). There was also a rather large collection of rock-things scattered around as if waiting for something. They looked like they were guards or something like that. Behind the wizard and the monster was that darned book that had caused this mess. A beam of light was coming from it connecting to an open portal. It looked like a portal into hell, or at least Ooze-World. Beast Boy dismissed almost all of this to look at the monster. This thing was the monster with the odd smell, Beast Boy just knew it.

It was pretty darn ugly. Its face was kind of human and that was really the only normal thing about it. Its torso and back looked rough and scaly, like some sort of lizard. Below that it was covered in ugly black fur, and it had tentacles protruding from its stomach. Beast Boy could see with his enhanced tiger vision that they had red mouth like things on them as well instead of suckers. He could also see some sort of pinkish eye thing on each hip. At first Beast Boy thought it had a tail, but upon closer inspection he saw that it was really…some sort of mouth thing. Its hind feet where some sort of weird combo of a hoof and a talon, in fact it almost looked like a dinosaur foot. It had Raven gripped in its tentacles and it looked like it was talking to the wizard.

An author's interruption: Just to make sure I don't get sued, this ugly little creature IS NOT MINE. Can you guess where it came from? Give up? Okay here it is. This creature is related to Wilbur Whateley from H.P. Lovecraft's story The Dunwich Horror. Read it for a much more colorful description of the creature (and a really freaky short story). Actually this creature is not Whateley himself, but a kind of relative. (Oh and I'm not sure that I've described it right, Lovecraft is hard to read. Any problems or inconstancies between my description and Lovecraft's that you spot are most likely mine). It's a kind of hybrid of human and Yog-Sothoth. (PLEASE don't ask me how that works! I have no idea. Just sit back and enjoy the story). Oh, and the whole deal thing, you know the life for service idea, that was all my idea. In Lovecraft the monsters would just either drive you nuts or eat your heads off.

"You know the deal, her for service, do you accept?" Sumal was saying.

"Had to catch the girl myself, I'll give you only half a lifetime of service. You are supposed to bring her to me, not have me chase her around."

While the two of them dickered over Raven's life, Beast Boy could feel his blood starting to boil. How dare they fight over Raven like she was a…a…Christmas turkey! How dare they! And that smell! It was even worse now! But there was something else as well. A feeling, like an aura. The creature radiated wrongness. It was unnatural, it was wrong. It did not belong here on Earth.

Beast Boy looked over at his friends. They each held an expression of horror and disbelief on their faces. Beast Boy knew it was not just the creature's looks. It was the aura it radiated. Humans are not the most sensitive of beings, but even they could sense that this monster did not belong, and they were reacting with fear. In fact it looked like they were seriously thinking about running away. Beast Boy snarled at them in order to get their attention. He locked eyes with Robin.

Robin was scared, more scared than had ever been. It was as if every single monster that had dwelled under the bed and in the closet when he was a child had returned. All the usually fearless young man wanted to do right then was run home and hide in his room. Like Beast Boy he was being affected by the creature's aura, but his instincts were not screaming at him to kill, they were telling him to run. Then Beast Boy looked at him strait in the eyes, and Robin knew he could not run. He could not abandon Raven again. It took all his effort to swallow his fear, but he succeeded.

"Guys," he said, and everyone looked at him "don't worry, it is just another monster. We beat Trigon, Slade, Brother Blood and The Brain. We can take this thing!" They looked at him like he had lost his mind, but Robin just jumped upon the rocks and bellowed "Titan's Go!" with all the spirit he could. For a brief moment he was afraid that they were not going to follow him, but he was soon joined by a furious looking green tiger that went straight for the child of Yog-Sothoth with an ear-splitting roar.

This seemed to hearten the others. Starfire took to the sky and flew straight for the monster as well, blasting any golem foolish enough to get in her way. Cyborg powered up his sonic cannon, planted his feet, and started blasting away. Robin threw every explosive thing he owned. Jinx tried her best to plow through the golems to get to Sumal, hoping that defeating him would stop all of this. Kid Flash tried to zoom through the golems to get to Raven, but they easily blocked his path. The night was soon filled with bright orange explosions, blue streams of sound, bubble-gum pink hexes, one red and yellow streak, and bright green starbolts. Unfortunately every golem they destroyed resulted in more golems. The pebbles would grow into more rock-monsters, and soon the Titans were not dealing with a few golems, they were dealing with hundreds. The Titans fought harder than they ever had before, but they were outnumbered.

They were losing.

And what did Sumal do when all of this erupted? He simply summoned a chair from nowhere, sat down and preceded to watch the show. He didn't go so far as order popcorn and a Coke, but you could tell he saw this as nothing but entertainment.

Beast Boy however, did not even pause to fight golems. He was getting Raven out of there and right NOW. Bounding from golem head to golem head he leaped toward the monster that held his best friend in its clutches. The golems did their best to swat him out of the air, but he was too fast for them. With a savage roar he flung himself at the monster, teeth and claws bared for the kill. It never even occurred to him to be merciful. This thing was an unnatural monster. This thing had Raven. It was hurting her! It NEEDED to die! Beast Boy was going for the throat. He could practically hear the thing's disgusting blood pumping thru its veins. His tiger instincts were screaming at him to sink his sharp fangs into the things neck and tear. He did not even try to fight this urge, he went with it.

Never before had Beast Boy felt so bloodthirsty.

However, his leap was interrupted when the creature literally snagged him out of thin air with its tentacles. He struggled, but the thing had a good grip, a grip like iron. Now the monster had both Raven and Beast Boy entwined in its tentacles. Beast Boy snarled and snapped with his tiger jaws, but it was useless. The creature gave an inhuman chuckle and looked from Beast Boy to Raven and then back to Beast Boy.

"What's the matter, green one? This your woman?" the monster laughed again. It held Raven around the ankles and wrists (and the ankle was already sore from the branch) and started pulling her. Then it brought that odd tail/mouth thing around and plunged it into Raven's side. Raven could not take it anymore, for the first time since she had been captured she started screaming. But she did not scream for long. The monster wrapped more tentacles around her neck and chest and started squeezing the life out of her.

Perhaps it was the scream that did it, or the sight and smell of Raven's blood or the sight of her face turning from grey to blue as she started to lose air, or a combination of the three. Whatever the reason Beast Boy literally went nuts: he roared and clawed and bit and struggled. In his shear fury he forgot that he could change into different animals. Now he simply yearned to exterminate this thing that was killing one of his closest friends right before his eyes. He longed to feel this things skin tear under his claws, to taste its blood as he ripped into its body. But the thing had such a grip on him that he could do none of these things.

Suddenly Starfire broke thru the masses of golem defenders. Her normally cheerful, naive face was fixed in a mask of fury and hatred. This went beyond her usual righteous fury; this was fury on a whole new level. It was the kind of anger that could literally move mountains and dry up entire oceans. Her eyes were blazing green fire much brighter than they had ever before. This thing dared to attack her dear friend Raven. Raven who was closer to Starfire than her own sister (but frankly anyone could do better than Blackfire). Starfire was more than ready to throw the cardinal rule of the Titans: Don't kill your enemies, completely out the window. She, like Beast Boy, was ready to see this thing as nothing but a small greasy smear on the ground.

Hovering high enough to avoid the waving tentacles, Starfire performed a feat that she had never attempted before. So great was her anger and rage that Starfire not only unleashed a solid beam of green from her hands, but her eye beams activated as well. She had never tried this before; she had not even known it was possible before now. The attack was the most powerful she had ever performed, but it was draining and terribly tiring. A normal creature would have been instantly blown to pieces from her attack, but this thing only staggered back a few steps.

Coming to his senses, Beast Boy noticed an opening that he could exploit. Swiftly shifting to the form of a hummingbird he slipped from the monster's tentacles and flitted over to Raven, who was looking more and more blue by the minute. Once he was above the tentacles covering Raven he shifted to a hyena form. The powerful jaws of the hyena bite into the tentacles. He felt the tail/mouth crunch and break as his jaws connected. Twisting his head back and forth Beast Boy ripped the tentacles apart, freeing Raven. She dropped to the ground, but she did not, or perhaps could not, move. Revolting greenish yellow gunk coved Beast Boy's head and shoulders. It tasted foul and disgusting in his mouth, and he supposed that this must be the creature's blood. Some of it even splashed onto the near unconscious Raven, who was already covered in her own red blood. Shifting to a pterodactyl Beast Boy gently, but swiftly, grabbed Raven in his claws and flapped away as fast and as far as he could. He heard the monster screaming behind him in pain and rage, but Beast Boy did not care about it anymore. All that mattered to him was the beautiful, but terribly injured girl in his claws. All that mattered was getting her to safety. That was all that Beast Boy was thinking at the moment. He could still feel his animal instincts screaming at him to go back and finish the job, but he ignored them. Making sure Raven was safe was far more important. Now he was starting to realize that he could not live without her.

The monster, angered to see its meal being taken away, tried to follow, but Starfire's assault was still going on, and not even the monster could just walk through all that energy. But Starfire was starting to tire, and soon her attack slowed and then stopped altogether. Exhausted from basically unleashing all her energy at once she started falling out the sky fainting. She saw the thing below her and thought that she was to be its meal instead, when she felt a pair of hands grab her under the arms and lift her back into the sky. She looked up to discover that Bumblebee had snagged her, saving her from certain death. Looking around Starfire saw the Titans East's version of the T-Ship hovering over the battlefield. Finally the Calvary had arrived.

Bumblebee gave Starfire a concerned look "You okay? I've never seen anything like what you just did! How did you do it?"

"I am uncertain." Starfire said woozily "But I do not believe I can repeat it."

"I wouldn't think so, hold on!" Bumblebee buzzed over to her team's ship and deposited Starfire there, to recover. It was obvious that Star was out of the fight.

Soon Bumblebee, Mas y Menos and Speedy had joined the fight with the golems down on the ground. However, since there was no water about this cliff Aqualad choose not to fight hand to hand. But that did not mean he was simply sitting in the ship twiddling his thumbs. In fact, it could be said that he contributed the best maneuver in that fight. Instead of trying to blow up the golems he simply used the ship to push as many as he could over the cliff. They might have been able to regenerate themselves, but they could not climb for beans and it was a long way down. Finally catching on to this strategy, the other Titans stopped trying to destroy the golems and settled for pushing them over cliffs. Soon the sky was filled with dropping golems. It was a good thing that no campers were around this particular cliff. The maneuver worked like a charm. Soon the golem ranks were noticeably thinned. The tide had turned in favor of the Titans.

Beast Boy ignored all of this. He flew over behind the rock pile. He simply could not carry her anymore, and he was concerned that his claws might be hurting her even more. Gently as he could he dropped her to the ground and then shifted back to human form. Somehow bits and pieces of those horrible ugly tentacles were still gripping her skin, and a bit of that tail/mouth was embedded into her side. She was covered in blood, both her own and the revolting greenish-yellow muck that had come from the monster. She did not really have any big wounds, but the tiny little teeth form the tiny little mouths on the tentacles were practically rooted in her skin. Trying his best not to hurt her any more than she had already been hurt, Beast Boy starting pulling tentacles off of Raven, but he did not know what to do about the mouth thing. Should he pull it out? But what if her side started bleeding even worse than it was now? She might bleed to death. But what if it was poison or something like that?

Raven groaned and her eyes fluttered open. She looked up at Beast Boy and tried to talk, but she was so weak she could barely speak. Shaking she lifted her hand and pulled Beast Boy's face down toward hers. Beast Boy's hormone friend screamed at him to kiss her, but he forced the urge down with all his might. He may act like a goof sometimes, but he knew when it was time to make out, and this was not the time. He had a feeling that kissing was not what Raven had in mind at all. He was certain she wanted to tell him something important.

"Beast Boy," she whispered "that thing…"

"I know, Jinx called it child of Yog…er Something or other." Beast Boy said.

"Yog-Sothoth….The Lurker at the Threshold… The Key and the Gate… The All-in-On…Co-ruler to Azathoth the Daemon Sultan." Raven gasped out with obvious effort.

"Rae, I don't understand." Beast Boy said "What are you talking about?"

Pulling herself up slightly so she could reach Beast Boy's pointed ear she rasped "Yog-Sothoth is an Outer God. If you do not get rid of his child it could bring Yog-Sothoth here. It will open the gate to where the Outer Gods are"

"The gate?"

"Yog-Sothoth is the gate." Raven said and she fell back, to tired and weak to try to explain anymore. She closed her eyes once more.

"Raven? Hey are you okay?" Beast Boy asked, even though he knew it was a dumb question. "Raven! Wake up! Please wake up!" He shook her, hoping to rouse her, but she did not wake. Beast Boy became frightened. Raven did not look good at all. She was not moving. It did not look as if she was even breathing. He was worried out of his mind. He noticed that the chakra on her forehead was no longer red, it had gone a dull grey. He was afraid of what that might mean. He was afraid she was dead, and the chakra was reflecting that.

"Come on Rae, you have to wake up! You can't die now! Who's going to tell me that I am idiot? Who's going to tease me about my real name? Who will I tell dumb jokes to? Please Raven, please get up!" tears were starting to form in his eyes, but Beast Boy did not care "We need you! We need your intelligence and you courage and your loyalty and… and…Please don't leave us, Raven! Please don't leave me! Raven I…I…"

Beast Boy's ears caught the sound of loud footsteps lumbering towards him. Heavy footsteps that could have only come from one source: the monster. Beast Boy knew that it was coming for him, but he could not seem to care, because he thought Raven was gone.

The Black Fox watched proceeding with a broad grin. Everything was going exactly according to plan! How easy it was to manipulate mortals! You did not need huge natural disasters like meteors or floods to get what you wanted! All you had to do was play with some circumstances and everything would go smoothly! All of these mortals were reacting exactly how she had known they would.

Except the green one. She had expected Beast Boy to lose control and unleash the Beast inside of him on the child of Yog-Sothoth, but that had not happened yet. What was he waiting for?

"What is wrong with you?" the Fox growled as she glared at Beast Boy "Why haven't you gone into a rage yet? Come on! Turn all big and hairy already and kill that thing! Stop blubbering and get with the program!"

The Fox watched as the creature approached Beast Boy with obvious intent to kill. She ground her sharp teeth. The boy should not die! That would ruin her plans! She swooped down close to Beast Boy (no one could see her; she did not want to be seen, not yet).

"Does the poor little green bean need a bit of motivation?" The Black Fox asked, mainly to herself "Let's try this!" She pointed a black claw at Beast Boy's head and filled it with a flashback.

Beast Boy felt pain shoot through him as his body began to change. Never before had it hurt to shift, but this one was different. He howled and snarled and snapped as the change finally completed. He felt rage and anger like he had never felt before. All of his senses were alive and tingling. Smell, sight, hearing, even taste were all enhanced greater than ever before.

For the first time he had become the Beast.

Still needing to let out the aggression he howled some more and ran in a circle, smashing his own room to pieces. Suddenly he heard a voice coming from the other side of the door.

"Beast Boy?"

The voice, so familiar. He was angry at the owner, he remembered that. He broke the door down in a fury. Snarling he glared into the eyes of the female, who he could not quite remember, but was for some reason angry at. She stared at him in horror. He could smell her fear. He leaned down and snarled at her.

"Beast Boy…" she said, and then the frightened look faded to one of…understanding. He recognized the face and the voice, but he was having trouble making sense of the words.

"I understand, Beast Boy. I know what it is like. I have to fight a creature of rage like this every day. But you can beat it, Beast Boy. I know you won't let it control you."

He was beginning to understand now; this female shared something with him. They were so different, but somehow the same.

"Don't let it control you. You must control it. I know you can do it."

Control…

"I believe in you, Beast Boy."

She…believed in him? Him? Who was he? He was…he was…

Beast Boy.

Beast Boy snapped to his senses. He suddenly realized how close he had come to hurting Raven. But he was in control now. He tried to explain this to Raven, but she did not understand the language of animals.

Suddenly he felt something shoving him backwards. He felt his head hit the side of the wall. A smell, similar to his own but different assaulted his nostrils. He looked up and faced a Beast similar to himself, but red. He realized he knew this one.

Adonis.

Beast Boy snarled, but Adonis paid no attention. The red beast growled. Raven did not understand, but Beast Boy did.

"Ah! The feisty one! Come with me, honey." Before either Raven or Beast Boy could react Adonis sank his teeth into the girl's shoulder and yanked her off her feet. She tried to use her powers, but Adonis slung her around a few times and her head smacked into a wall just like Beast Boy's had. She was knocked out cold. Quick as a flash Adonis leaped out of Beast Boy's window and was gone.

Reeling from his own head wound, Beast Boy snarled and followed Adonis out the window.

He had to help her.

He had to find her.

She was his friend. And if that other had hurt her than he would pay.

The flashback ended, but Beast Boys rage did not. He felt the child of Yog-Sothoth behind him, and heard its cruel, mocking voice a moment later.

"What is the matter? Is your woman dead?"

"DON'T YOU DARE TALK ABOUT RAVEN LIKE THAT! YOU…YOU ARROOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!" Beast Boy felt his usually weak limbs growing to epic proportions. His teeth lengthened and sharpened. Huge claws erupted from his feet and hands. His eyes went from forest green to glaring white. Once again he was the Beast.

And he was angry.

For thousands of years the child of Yog-Sothoth had lived. It had eaten countless mortals and driven even more to madness and fear with its very presence. Never before had it ever felt fear itself. But looking into the eyes of the Beast, so filled with rage and hatred the monster felt something it had never felt before: fear. This thing was neither animal nor human. It was intelligent like a man, but did not have the weaknesses. The insecurities. It was primal and it was savage. And it was ready to fight. And it would show no mercy.

With another roar the Beast lunged at the monster with its sharp claws bared. It slashed and slashed without any sign of slowing. The monster found itself being pushed back. It whipped Beast Boy with its remaining tentacles, drawing thin streams of blood with every blow. But it was like the Beast did not feel it. It kept up its relentless attack. All the while Beast Boy was bellowing, but only nearby animals understood him.

"How dare you! How dare you!" he roared. "You hurt her! You killed her! YOU KILLED HER AND I LOVED HER!"

The monster was stunned. It was losing! It could feel its life draining from its body! This had never happened before. It was unbelievable. It was impossible, but it was true. The monster was losing the fight.

Soon they had crossed the battlefield. All eyes, both Titan and wizard where upon them (the last of the golems had been knocked off the cliff wile all of this was going on). Soon they were at the edge of the open portal from were the monster had originally come. Beast Boy lowered his head and charged. With a mighty shove he pushed the creature back into the portal, back to where it had come from. It howled in protest, but Beast Boy's strength was just too great. It flew backward about five miles and landed in a big stinky pile of its home ooze.

With the monster gone back to its home, Beast Boy's eyes fell to the book that was keeping the portal open. Rage filled him once again. That book! If it were not for that thing Raven would not have been captured! She would not have been hurt! She would not be…

"FOR YOU RAVEN!" Beast Boy roared to the sky. He linked his hands together to make one great fist. With a mighty swing he crushed the evil book beneath his hands. It crumbled like a week old cookie under his hairy fists. It was gone. It was destroyed.

It would hurt no one else ever again.

The Black Fox smiled her trademark evil grin. Phase one was complete. She would wait awhile before starting Phase two. The kids needed a break. She sat back and watched the show.

Sumal stood up. Still he gave no expression. His face was an emotionless mask as he looked at Beast Boy. He said nothing, but it looked as if Sumal was declaring doom upon the green Beast in front of him. With a flick of his cloak Sumal had vanished, leaving a tired, but somewhat victorious, group of heroes behind. Instinctively they all gathered around the spot where Sumal once stood, all except one.

Beast Boy had shifted back to human and was once again at Raven's side. Gently as he could he cradled the limp form of his fallen love. Yes, now he could admit it, at least to himself. Somehow, despite her attitude and her creepiness and her downright gloominess Beast Boy had fallen in love with Raven. He did not understand it, but there it was. He loved her, but now…

"Robin! Cyborg! Someone, anyone help!" He screamed, his voice filled with sorrow. "Oh Raven! She's dead! SHE'S DEAD!"

An Author's note: Now don't get angry and stop reading, those of you who are. I'm not even close to being done yet! Wait for the next chapter, because…well…

Nope, can't say it. It would spoil it for you! Hope you liked my interpretation of what happened during the commercial break of The Beast Within!

Stay tuned!