I was rather dissappointed by the lack of reviews from the last chapter considering how much thought I put into it. But I'm sure that will change with this chapter. Again I encourage everyone to review.

(I got the idea for this chapter after watching an episode of News Radio. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed finishing it.)

Chapter 11

Logan 5000

Several Days Later…

Here, and gone again. Tiny limps propelling its master forward with great speed, and agility along the rafters. Soon it began to squirm through tangles of wires, being careful not to leave any evidence of its existence, and hoped down into an open air duct. It navigated along the maze of punctured metal until it came upon one brimming with light. It crept forward, sniffing the air for danger, and took a peek.

"Any progress with her condition?"

"Her brainwaves are starting to go back to normal, but no she's still hasn't pulled out of it."

Below, a blonde hair geomancer was talking with her twin brother. They were living replicas of one another except for a few unique traits that came with their genders. The brother wasn't even in the room, instead he hundreds of miles away, talking to his sister on the large screen that encompassed the entire window of the living room through his communicator. The sister was nestled comfortable on the couch, sipping a soda, and busily chatting with her brother whom she missed dearly.

"And Speedy," said the sister, taking another sip of her drink.

"He's doing fine, sis," the brother replied. "Aqualad letting him walk around every day for about an hour. I on the other hand have to stay in bed for another two days."

"That's good."

Her brother lifted an eyebrow and said in a moody tone. "Gee thanks. It's so nice to see my twin sister being sooo worried about me."

The sister gave her twin a sarcastic smile. "Your welcome dearest brother," she joked.

He laughed. "'Dearest brother'? Geez I thought you could come up with something better than that, sis."

"Well you're not that innocent sounding either, bro," she countered.

The twins traded a few more insults, knowing the other was merely joking, until they couldn't drag it on any longer. The two sat there in silence, occasionally smiling at one another, unable to think of anything else to talk about. If they couldn't find another topic to talk about, she'd have to wrap it up soon. Obviously neither of them was really fond of that option.

"So uhhh…anything new in Jump City, Terra," the brother asked, shrugging.

Terra bit her lip as she thought. But no matter how hard she thought, nothing really interesting popped out. "Nope. I got nothin', Terran."

Terran hung his head back, staring at the ceiling out of the view of the screen. Suddenly he swung back forward and said: "Oh right I almost forgot. Tomorrow the guys were going to-"

Terran suddenly halted mid-sentence, his mouth hanging open stupidly. He closed it and stared at the ceiling on Terra's end. "You hear that?"

Terra looked up at the spot where her twin's gaze was transfixed. She listened intently, waiting for any sign of what had caught her brother's attention when…

Squeak

Robin's Room…

Robin undid his uniforms buttons and tossed it in the clothes' hamper. He collapsed against his bed and buried his head into his pillow. The whole day he had been training Terra techniques in martial arts, and would be continuing tomorrow. She wanted to badly because she felt that she was already far behind her brother's capabilities when it came to hand-to-hand combat and needed a way to defend herself when there was no way to use her earth-powers.

Even with her lack in experience, she wasn't a terrible fighter. In fact she had surprised Robin with a few tricks of her own. She knew the basics and already knew a few fighting styles, some of which Robin had never encountered. When he asked where she learned them, Terra told him Slade had taught her during her short time as his apprentice. Slade was truly a formidable opponent and always fought at close range, so whatever Terra learned from him would be invaluable. But even so she was no expert, but she was a fast learner and picked up on her mistakes with ease. This was either because she really was a good student, or she had some personal competition with her brother.

Robin closed his eyes, hugging his pillow as hard as he could. He yawned several times before pulling his white blankets over his body and began to snore. Whatever her reasons for immediate training, it would have to be put on hold till tomorrow. Right now he wanted to sleep in his nice, warm, cozy…

Squeak

Robin's eyes snapped open, bloodshot from the rude awakening, at the sudden, unwelcome sound. He sat up and scanned the room, but nothing was in sight.

Squeak

Robin's eyes darted to the ventilation shaft on the far side of the room. The noise echoed even after the source had stopped, giving Robin undeniable proof of its location.

"Mice…"

Titans Tower

The Next Morning…

All night…

Those were the first and only words to come out of the six teenaged superheroes mouths. Each one dragging their sleep deprived bodies out of bed and trudging upstairs for the morning's breakfast.

That thing would not shut up…ALL-NIGHT…

Raven was the first to make it to the living room simple because she got the most rest out of any of the Titans. During the night she had become so aggravated by the noise that she created a gelatin-like substance to put in her ears to block out the sound. It had worked with marvelous results, but the gelatin was so uncomfortable that Raven could barley stay asleep for five minutes before it would begin seeping into her eardrums. But it sure beat the hell out of having to listen to a mouse squeak.

Beast Boy had gone to the extent to transforming into a cobra and snaking through the vents on a search-and-destroy mission. He came up empty handed, and slightly bruised, and finally retreated back to his room, only to find it was morning.

Cyborg though he had solved his sleeping problem since he could simply shut himself down and recharge. Well he did, only to commence an emergency wake-up when the mouse got into his recharger, and ate right through three sets of wires.

Terra simply tried burying herself beneath any and everything she owned to block out the noise. The only thing she gained was a very sore back.

Starfire tired a different approach to putting herself to sleep. She began singing old folk songs from her home planet that had put her to sleep when she was a child. Unfortunately for the other occupants of Titans Tower, the folk songs were loud and obnoxious. Instead of normal children songs with their calming melodies the Titans grew up with, these sounded more like a dying elephant or a vacuum cleaner with its hose clogged. Though these songs did put Starfire to sleep, she was woken up when each of the Titans personally went into her room to chew her out about the noise.

Robin was in the best mood out of all the Titans simply because he could suppress his emotions better than anyone else, though he himself was in no better condition than the others. Aside from the ruckus the other Titans were making, he was the main victim of mouse's squeaking. It would constantly run up to his vent and begin scratching at it with its tiny paws, then squeak in protest when it could not get through. Robin many times opened up the vent to catch it, but it always ran away at the last second.

They were all tired, achy, and irritated, the compounds for disaster.

Robin was the last to enter the living room, yawning and scratching his hair. Everyone else was scattered around the room, dark circles under every one of their eyes. Cyborg was twitching on the couch, he could barely hold onto the remote from his erratic movement. Raven was sitting against the kitchen counter, reading one of her many books while taking suspicious glances at everyone around her. Starfire and Beast Boy were in the kitchen, arguing over who got to use the sauce pan first. And Terra was sitting at the table off to the left, talking into her communicator rather rudely.

"YEAH, WELL HOW DO YOU LIKE THIS," she shouted to her brother on the other end. Terra then chucked her communicator at the wall and jumped to her seat and knocked over the chair. The yellow device fell to the floor with a loud clang! but Terra didn't bother to pick it back up. She then stormed into the kitchen, took everything out of the fridge and headed back to the table.

Robin waved as she stormed past him, but she gave him a death stare in return. Robin back down and retrieved her communicator. It had shut off when it hit the wall and a small piece of it had chipped off the edge. The boy wonder then set it on the table Terra occupied and quickly withdrew.

Starfire suddenly started shouting something in Tamaran, and Beast Boy quickly turned on her. "Oh yeah, well blagyayayappaddada to you to!"

Starfire then shot Beast Boy with a star bolt in the rear and he yelped in pain. "So that's how it's going down eh!" He grabbed a large cube of tofu and launched himself at the female alien. "EAT IT HAHAHAHA!" He began smearing the tofu all over Starfire's face, cackling all the while.

The tofu suddenly began to bubble, turning a sickly shade of green. It suddenly exploded, sending Beast Boy flying back. Starfire wiped away the remains of the tofu from her face and let out a war cry. She grabbed a fistful of her own vile concoction and lunged at Beast Boy.

Suddenly Cyborg leapt up from his seat on the coach, writhing in anger. "ALL RIGHT," he shouted at the top of his lungs. "YA START YELLIN' IN MY EAR, WELL I'M JUST GONNA YELL RIGHT BACK!" And with that he lunged into the fray, turning a quarter of the living room in one giant dust cloud of fists and screaming.

Robin groaned at the sight, and leaned against the counter top. He rubbed his face with his hand and moaned. "What a morning…"

"What's so good about it," Terra snapped.

"I didn't say 'Good Morning'!"

"Go to hell Robin," Raven announced before slamming her book shut and getting up.

"Ditto," agreed Terra, stuffing even more food into her ever expanding cheeks.

Robin growled in frustration. There was no getting through to everyone in this condition, and now he was starting to loose his grip on his emotions.

"WOULD YOU GUYS KEEP IT DOWN," shouted Terra, trying to be heard over the intense brawl taking place in the kitchen.

"SHUT UP WOMAN," Cyborg shouted back from within the cloud.

Terra slammed everything she had in her arms and threw back the table. "WOMAN!? THAT IS IT 'TIN MAN' YOU'RE GOING DOWN!"

Terra summoned two balls of stone and slipped her fists into them like gloves. She took an enormous gulp to get her food down, and then leapt into the cloud. The carnage intensified until the noise was almost deafening.

Raven snapped her book shut and got to her feet and turned towards the cloud. It was almost completely opaque but the Titans within were still slightly visible. Raven set the book on the floor delicately and called: "If you idiots don't stop this at once than I'll stop it myself." Without warning four hands reached out of the cloud and grabbed onto Raven's cloak. "Well this can't be good."

Raven was quickly dragged into the fight and soon waves of her magic could be seen firing wildly within.

Robin, who had been standing off to the side the whole time, began to tighten his fists until blood began to slow its circulation in his hands. He wanted nothing more right now to block out the noise so he could get some sleep. But that likely wasn't to happen from all the fighting, and the yelling, and the squeaking. Squeaking?

"EVERYONE JUST SHUT UP FOR A MOMENT," Robin shouted at the top of his lungs.

Everyone did, but keeping their foes still within striking distance. Robin held a hand to an ear as he strained to hear the ever faint sound.

"You hear that," he asked, finally picking up the sound.

The other Titans tried hard to hear what he was hearing. They finally let each other out of a strangle hold and wandered around to separate corners of the room trying to see if they could hear better in a different location. Finally, one by one, they heard it.

Squeak

A swell of anger washed over the Titans as they directed the rage that had once been directed towards each other at the ceiling. The mouse was back, and this time the Titans knew exactly what to do with it.

"Let's kill it," cried Beast Boy.

"Yeah," cheered the others.

"We will burn it alive," Terra cackled maniacally.

"Yeah!"

"Then what are we standing around here for? Grab your torch and pitchforks; we're going on a mouse hunt," Cyborg announced.

The other Titans cheered, storming off to all corners of the Tower to grab anything and everything to help them in their hunt. That mouse was no longer an occupant of this house, nor was it a moocher off of their food storages. No, that mouse was a dead mouse. The Titans swore that day onward that they would not sleep, eat, or enjoy themselves until that mouse's head was thrust upon a spike. And so the hunt began…

That Night…

"Titans, regroup, regroup!"

The Teen Titans, the protectors of Jump City, hurriedly retreated back to the living room. Robin was the first in and he took a position by the door to watch the others' backs. Starfire, Raven, Terra, and Cyborg came in minutes later and dived behind the couch, keeping their heads down.

Robin was about to hit the switch when Terra called: "Wait! Beast Boy is still out there!"

"Why?!"

"He said he was grabbing some things!"

"Well he better hurry up or-" Robin was cut off by the sound of hurried footsteps and he took another peek. Beast Boy was charging down the hall, full sprint, while carrying what looked like a heap of garbage.

"COMING THROUGH," he screamed as he leapt through the door face first.

Once all were inside, Robin locked the doors, keeping anything from going in or out. Once that was done, Raven then sealed the vents with her magic and placed a force field around the windows to keep anything from breaking through. The lights dimmed, and everyone took a breather.

"Man," Cyborg proclaimed. "Who knew that thing could put up such a fight?"

"Yes," Starfire agreed, rubbing her arm. "Its mark of bites is rather itchy."

"Well its scratches are even worse," Terra stated while pointing to the long etches on her arms. "This will take weeks to go away."

"That's not as bad as when it snuck up behind me," said Cyborg. "That rodent clawed its way into my circuits." He shivered, recalling the incident. "I can still feel that thing crawling through my back."

Robin nodded. "Its formidable I admit, but what I don't get is how we could never detect it coming. Surely Cyborg's radar and Raven's telekinesis could have picked it up."

Beast Boy suddenly jumped out from behind the couch and stood proudly upon one of its head rests. "Well they didn't my amigos, which is why I, Beast Boy the Magnificent, have a plan!"

Everyone simultaneously turned in Beast Boy's direction. They all wore faces of either extreme amusement or extreme annoyance.

"Beast Boy…" Raven scoffed. "The Magnificent?"

"I'm still working on the name…but I do have a plan!"

Beast Boy leapt off the couch and quickly pushed it off to the side to reveal a large, tan box behind it. It had two spools where a ring of magnetic tape was strung between them and had a small radar gun connected to it by a cord.

"Oooh, junk. How amazing," Raven taunted.

Beast Boy gave her an annoyed glare. "It's not done yet. I just need to add one more piece."

"And what would that be?"

Beast Boy was about to respond when he stopped himself. He forgot which piece he was missing. He gave Raven another glare before turning his back. He looked over his contraption with great focus, trying to recall which piece he needed. The changeling pulled one of the sides off his invention and took a look inside.

"AHA!" he proclaimed. Beast Boy dashed away from his machine and ran towards Cyborg. He leapt onto his back and held Cyborg with one arm, while poking at his ear with the other.

"Hey! What are you doing," Cyborg demanded as he attempted to pull his green friend off.

"Just wait a sec," Beast Boy protested.

"GET OFF!"

Beast Boy squirmed around on his back as he attempted to hang on. He struggled to keep his hand steady and reached for Cyborg's ear. He finally gripped the lob and gave it a slight tug. A small amount of steam vented from Cyborg's ear and it extended outwards, revealing several very delicate computer disks.

"Hey who told you how to do that," Cyborg demanded.

Beast Boy didn't respond. He snatched one of the disks from Cyborg's head and closed the compartment. He then hopped off Cyborg's back and trotted back to his machine. "Just need to borrow this for awhile ok."

Cyborg was about to shout in protest but stopped as soon as the first syllable came out. The cybernetic teenager grabbed his throat and coughed a few times before trying to speak again. But again he could not hear his voice.

"Beast Boy," Robin said, noticing Cyborg was acting strange. "What did you take out of him?"

Beast Boy sat down and rummaged through the mess inside his machine, looking for a compatible slot with his newly acquired computer chip. He shouted: "Aha," finding a perfect fit and slid it home. He replaced the side on his machine and turned back to his friends. "Oh just the chip that allows Cyborg to hear, that's all." The changeling suddenly found himself pulled forward by his collar and straight into Cyborg's face.

"That's all," Robin shouted. "Beast Boy, how is he supposed to hear what's going on!"

"He's not," Beast Boy replied. "My invention is!"

"Your invention," Raven said sarcastically, finding it hard to believe Beast Boy could invent anything besides a new level of stupidity. "And what exactly is your invention?"

It took a great deal of effort, but Beast Boy finally released himself from Cyborg's grip. He then dashed over to Raven and tore her cloak from her body. "Need this for a second," he said before she could stop him. Raven was about to protest but didn't get a word in before Beast Boy draped her dark blue cloak over his invention.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Beast Boy announced proudly, grabbing the hood of the cloak. "I give you the Logan 5000!"

He tore the cloak off the invention to reveal the same machine that the Titans had seen seconds earlier. The Titans were less than unimpressed.

"Wow," Raven said before grabbing her cloak from him. "It looks even less impressive with the introduction."

Beast Boy scowled and handed Raven the radar gun while he put on a set of headphones. "Ha, ha Raven. But I'm serious. This machine can pick up even the tiniest of sounds." He began fiddling with a dial and holding the headphone closer to his ear. "Go ahead, move it around."

Raven did so, not amused at having to be the one using this ridiculous device. She swung it around the room several times while Beast Boy listened intently. "Wait stop," he suddenly shouted. Raven instantly stopped, looking back at Beast Boy. "Move it back a little."

Raven retraced her path until Beast Boy halted her again. "I got it," he shouted happily, "I hear it!"

"What?"

"Really?"

"Let me hear!"

Everyone crowded around Beast Boy, curious as to what he said was true, except for Cyborg who couldn't hear. Beast Boy had a hard time keeping the other Titans' hands off his machine, but finally he gained order. Raven, admittedly, wanted to hear, but Beast Boy refused to let her leave her position. So she was forced to go back to her position in the center of the room, holding the radar gun exactly where it was before.

"Now," Beast Boy began, snatching his headphones back from Starfire's greedy grips, "I'll let everyone hear, I just have to make sure it hasn't moved." He placed the headphones back over his ears and listened intently. He smiled at first, catching the mouse's echo, but his face soon twisted in confusion.

"What is it," Robin asked.

"I'm getting some background noise," Beast Boy replied, trying his best to identify what it was. "It's like a…clicking sound."

"A clicking sound," Robin asked.

"Yeah," Beast Boy said, listening again to verify what he said. "Like a click-clicky…click."

"So where is it coming from," The blonde haired geomancer asked.

Beast Boy gave her a sarcastic look, something he wouldn't have done if he had been fully rested. "If I knew that then I'd stop it."

Robin heaved a heavy sigh. "So I guess we need to find whatever it is that's making that sound."

"Right," agreed Beast Boy. "Whatever it is it's in this room." Beast Boy tore off the headphones and dashed into the kitchen. He began rifling through every drawer, tossing whatever wasn't needed aside. Finally he emerged from the mess and was holding a roll of duck tape. "Start wrapping everyone!"

It took two hours and a dozen roles of duck tape before the room's entire had been secured. Yet the clicking still persisted. Beast Boy, in a rage that his prized machine wasn't working properly, was about to resort to wrapping everyone, including himself, in duct tape. The team disagreed with this action, and it took a few smacks to the head to get the point across.

Instead, the team searched themselves to see if whatever it was making the sound was on their persons. But to no avail. The team gave up trying and decided to get some sleep while it was quiet while Beast Boy kept searching.

"Come on, where is it," he pleaded, swinging his radar gun around like a madman.

"Oh sure, begging will stop it," Raven taunted. She was leaning against the counter right next to him, eyeing him from the corner of her eyes. The changeling ignored her and returned to his search. "Fine, don't take my advice," Raven snapped, turning her gaze from him. But something caught her eye.

She looked back to the changeling, but that wasn't what caught her attention. She tried to remember what it was exactly that she saw, when she saw it again. This time she immediately tracked it down, and it lead to the Logan 5000.

"Beast Boy," she began, keeping her tone calm. "What exactly does this clicking sound, sound like?"

"I already told you, it was a click-clicky sound."

"Like…oh I don't know…plastic?"

Beast Boy paused. "Yeah…kind of like plastic."

"Like the plastic label that reads: Logan 5000…"

All the Titans awoke from their sleep, and turned to Beast Boy with hateful glares.Beast Boy looked at her in shock, then looked to his beloved machine, and found her to be telling the truth. The label tapped onto the machine right between the spools was vibrating.

"Huh," was all he said. "The Logans 1000 through 4000 had the exact same defect."

"Then I suppose you don't mind me doing this," Raven snapped.

Raven then ripped the label off the machine, ending the problem once and for all. But Beast Boy wasn't at all relieved. In fact he was screaming his head off. Raven was about to ask why when suddenly the Logan 5000 began sparking furiously, sending bolts of lightning across the room.

"Ok we have got to get out of here NOW," Beast Boy shouted, tearing the headphones from his head and charging for the door.

The other Titans began to panic as the machine began shaking violently, sending even more bolts into the air. They clawed at all the exits trying to get out, but the tape that had applied to every inch of the room impaired their progress. Beast Boy and Raven desperately tried to open the main entrance but quickly spun back around as the machine began glowing brightly, emitting an ear piercing whistle as it did.

"Beast Boy…"

"What?"

"I hate you."

The machine exploding in a brilliant light that blinded anyone who was staring into it temporarily. The Titans were blasted back, imbedding themselves into the duck tape. Everything was blotted out by the light and everyone in the room was engulfed by the blast. All, but one.

Above the Titans, staring down at them from above, was the mouse. It scanned the room, seeing the chaos that unfolded below, and walked away. And just as it passed out of view anyone who happened to looking up at that moment would have seen emblazed upon its hind leg a slender, black 'S'.