Chapter 8: Green Behemoths and Hysterical Robots
Robin swung his staff down onto the head of the Beast, only for a huge paw to swat his weapon aside, another crashing to meet Robin as he continued to fall. Robin tumbled across the mat, a swift one hand spring regaining his balance. He eyed his opponent, and swiftly threw one of his customised pellets. Immediately, the Beast clutched his pointed ears and let out a pained call, evidently distressed by the ultrasonic frequencies. Robin made full use of this distraction, and hurled several explosive discs at the behemoth. As the smoke cleared, Robin made the mistake of stopping to inspect the damage he had inflicted. Ruffled fur. Ah crap.
The Beast snorted his derision towards the challenger. This Pack-Runner would lead? He was barely better than Prey-That-Fights. The Beast grinned. He would show this pretender what it meant to be Alpha. Feinting with his left, he led the challenger on, while shifting his weight to his right side. When the traitor deflected his weak blow, he swung with his right paw, knocking the usurper into a wall. So much for him. The Beast was about to announce his victory, when he saw his opponent rise from the ground and prepare to fight again. Maybe he wouldn't be so easy to defeat after all.
The Pack-Runner curled his right arm back, and the Beast could see that he was about to throw another of his Fire-Rocks. The Beast slowly backed up against the wall until his hind legs pressed up against the vertical surface. Bunching his muscles, the Beast pushes off from the wall, his powerful muscles sending him flying towards his foe.
Robin cursed as he saw the mass of green hurtling towards him, and quickly changed his stance to deal with this threat. As the monster sped towards him, Robin rolled to his left, pulling out his staff as he did so. However, he had underestimated the reaction times of the Beast, who twisted in midair and left three deep gashes in Robin's side, his claws ripping through the Titanium weave of his suit like it was paper. Stifling a cry, he pulled out another sonic pellet and threw it directly at the creature's head.
The Beast smelled the copper tang in the air, and felt the warm liquid on his paw, but before he could press the advantage, the Pack-Runner-That-Would-Be-Alpha let out his high, screeching call that burned his ears. Distracted, the Beast had no time to react as his enemy brought a long grey branch down on his head again and again and again, knocking one of his incisors loose and sending the Beast tumbling to the ground.
Robin leant heavily on his staff, gasping in great lungfuls of air as he watched the great mound of fur that was his berserk teammate. He stifled a groan of disappointment as the Beast rose once again. However, this time something had changed. Instead of leaping in to press the advantage, the Beast looked wary, unsure of itself. Taking this as a good sign, he knew what had to be done. Slowly, he removed his mask and stared the Beast in the eyes. After what seemed like an eternity of ignoring the watering in his eyes, the unyielding urge to blink, and the growing dread that he had made a mistake and was about to be shredded, the Beast flinched and bowed its head, averting his gaze. That moment was all that was needed, and Beast Boy took control of his body once more.
"Dude…you did it…" Beast Boy grinned at his leader, both wavering slightly as they tried to stay on their feet. It was Beast Boy that collapsed first, unconscious before he hit the ground. Immediately Raven was by his side, checking him for injury.
"Is he okay?" Robin asked, concerned that he might have inflicted some permanent damage.
"Yeah, he's just exhausted. I'll help him to his room; he'll probably be asleep for a while."
"Sounds good to me." Robin winced as he stretched, exposing the slashes in his side. "I'd better stop by the Med Bay and then sleep for a week." Starfire immediately flew to his side, supporting him as he walked slowly out of the room.
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Knock. Knock. Knock.
"Can I come in?"
To Cyborg's surprise, it was Raven that opened the door. "What?"
Shaking his head slightly, Cyborg gathered his thoughts. "Can I speak to BB?"
"He's sleeping."
"It's kinda important-"
"I said, he's sleeping." Raven enunciated as clearly as she could through gritted teeth. "Whatever it is, it can wait."
"Well, when he wakes up, can you tell him I want to speak to him?"
"Alright."
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Starfire wandered listlessly through the Tower, unsure what to do with herself. Robin was asleep in the Med Bay after bandaging himself up. Beat Boy was asleep. Raven was tending to Beast Boy. And Cyborg…
As Starfire passed the mechanical teen's room, she heard him mutter indistinctly to himself. Intrigued, she opened his door to find him poring over an A3 sheet of paper, tacked to his wall.
"Friend, that is a map of Earth, is it not? You are…planning a holiday?" Starfire gazed, bemused, at the map, with several thumbtacks sticking into it, seemingly at random.
Cyborg started at the sudden derailing of his train of thought, but grabbed Starfire's hand and pulled her into the room. On the desk below the map there was a sheet of paper, on which a timeline had been drawn in Cyborg's neat, controlled handwriting.
"Look at this Star." Cyborg pointed at the first tack, stuck in what looked like Washington D.C. "BB was born here. At two years old, his parents take him here." His index finger moved to a second tack, in Africa. "Here, they study animals. At age four, he's bitten by a green monkey, and infected with a rare disease known as Sakutia. To save his life, his parents give him an experimental treatment that saves his life, but gives him his powers and…unique…complexion." Starfire nodded, to show that she followed. "At age seven, his parents are killed, in undisclosed circumstances. Six months later, his guardian from the village they were staying in is killed by two thieves, who kidnap Beast Boy and use him as an accomplice in their crimes. They take him back here." Cyborg's index finger jabbed a third thumbtack, this time on New York City. Somehow, he escapes after a year, and is found by the Social Services. They place him in the care of one Nicholas Galtry, an accountant. He tries to kill Beast Boy, under the guise of the supervillain Arsenal. However, BB is rescued by the Doom Patrol, who adopt him and take him in. They are based here." Here Cyborg pointed to a tack on Prague. "Soon after BBs thirteenth birthday, he quits the Doom Patrol, for reasons unknown, and somehow makes his way here." At this, Cyborg pointed at Jump City, California.
"Yes, but I am afraid I do not see your point."
"My point? My point? How the hell can someone like Beast Boy have a past like this? I mean, his character just doesn't fit at all!" Cyborg seemed almost hysterical as he ended his tirade.
Starfire was about to answer when Cyborg's door slid open, to reveal the object of their discussion.
"Hey Cy, Rae said you wanted to see me…" Beast Boy's voice trailed off as he noticed the map on the wall, as well as the positions of the various pins,and his eyes narrowed. "what the hell is this?"