Hey everyone! Here's Chapter 9! I hope you enjoy it! Now that I have stable wi-fi, I should be able to update more regularly (or, at least, I hope so)! :)
Bbrae-4ever fanfics: Thank you! I'm glad you like it! :)
RPGPersona: Haha yeah! I, of course, had to utilize the waterfall in the fanfic! And some more BBRae moments, which I absolutely love to write. I find it difficult to avoid clichés, even though I know they should generally be avoided. I was originally really against writing this chapter like this simply because of how cliché it was, but in the end decided to go with it regardless because I felt like it fit in best with what's about to happen in this chapter. I will, hopefully, learn to avoid clichés better though as I continue to write. I really hope you find the next chapter interesting! It was, by far, one of my favorite chapters to write in this story. :)
Please keep reading and reviewing! I really appreciate it!
The Titans got in their fight stance, ready to take on the malicious scientist. Register, however, did not take a fight stance, or even a defensive stance for that matter. Rather, he just stood there, almost seemingly amused by their presence.
"I supposed I should have assumed you children would have made your way here at one point or another," Register stated, his voice dry and bored. He moved his attention to Beast Boy. "Ah, I see all of you are here as well. Garfield, it's been quite some time. You've grown since I last saw you."
Beast Boy tensed at the mention of his real name; it felt foul coming from the older man's mouth, as if it was poison on his family name.
"We know you're behind the outbreak of Sakutia, Register. This is coming to an end now," Robin said sternly. Like his teammates, he always hated it when the villains tried to make small talk at the beginning of each encounter.
"Oh, is it now? Because, you see, I don't have plans for it ending any time soon. In fact, I plan on this going on for a long, long time," Register sneered.
"It's over, Register. The sooner you accept that, the better," Beast Boy retorted.
"You can't even call me by my name? I thought we were closer than that. Just call me Sam, Garfield. Just like old ti-," Register was interrupted by Beast Boy's yells.
"Shut up! Don't try to act like everything is okay! It's not!" he yelled, anger and irritation painted on his face.
The teens' aggravation continued to increase as the pitiful conversation continued, and they were growing extremely tired of it quickly. It was time for the words to turn into actions.
"Titans, GO!" Robin shouted, and his team sprang into action.
Starfire flew above, raining down starbolts on the evil man. He shielded himself from the attacks, only to be hit by Cyborg and slammed into the wall of medical equipment behind him. The glass vials shattered and rained down, cutting the skin of anyone close enough to the impact. When Register tried to stand, he was countered by Robin, who started attacking with his staff.
"Now I know you 'heroes' can do better than this. And here I thought that you were supposed to be tough," Register scoffed as he dodged Robin's attacks.
"You're just a normal human. Won't take much to take you down," Robin bit back. Despite being just a normal human himself, Robin knew and understood how they often were weaker, and therefore easier to battle, compared to a meta-human or a monster of some sort. Just then, Robin's staff made contact with Register's face, scraping his skin. Register's face turned away from the teens as he held the spot of impact with his hand.
"Just a normal human? Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you," Register slowly turned his face back to the teens, removing his hand from the wound to reveal scaly, purple skin underneath a latex layer of skin, "But I am no normal human."
The teens stood shocked by the development, not knowing what to make of it.
"I can tell you're confused. Such a shame that I have to explain myself. You see, I couldn't just start infecting people without understanding the disease itself first. That could lead to failure, and failure is unacceptable. Rather, I had to understand it firsthand, so I injected myself with the virus and contracted Sakutia. And with the lovely help of the Garfield's medical records that his father documented so very well, as well as his own body samples and testings, I was able to recreate the cure and make myself immune. Of course, as you know, that cure comes with a price, a price that Garfield here knows all too well," Register continued. Suddenly, with a ferocious roar, the purple man transformed into a tiger and pounced at the teens.
He attacked Robin first, with him being the closest. He easily pinned him to the ground, but was soon encased in black energy and lifted off the Boy Wonder. Another fierce roar let out from the other side of the room, and a green tiger tackled the purple one to the ground. They scuffled there, clawing and biting at one another. Soon, Register transformed into a snake, biting Beast Boy. Beast Boy yelped, transforming back into his human form before transforming into a fox and biting the snake back.
Starfire's starbolts showered down onto Register, trying to stop his attacks. Cyborg tried to aim his sonic cannon, but didn't fire at the risk of hitting Beast Boy as well. Instead, he engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the purple shape-shifter.
Soon, Register transformed into a hummingbird and quickly flew to the other side of the room. Before the team could react, Register transformed back into his human form and pressed a large, red button on the wall. A clear shield quickly started to drop from the ceiling, separating the teens from Register and from the only exit.
Beast Boy, being closest to the dropping shield, rolled underneath it at the last second before it made contact with the ground. He turned to the shield, seeing that his friends were still contained. They immediately began to attack the shield to break through, but with no such luck.
"That shield is designed to keep meta-humans contained. You cannot phase through it, nor use any other means to remove yourselves. You're trapped," Register explained from the other side of the room, not even seeming to care that not all of the teens were contained.
Beast Boy looked back at the team, specifically to Robin.
"Go. Stop him. We'll get out as soon as possible to help, but in the meantime, you'll have to fight him," Robin ordered sympathetically, knowing that the boy didn't like to engage in battle alone. Beast Boy nodded before turning his attention back to Register.
"This should be easy," Register mocked, staring at the green boy, "You're weak prey. I remember how you used to cower in my presence," Register transformed into a lion and roared at him. Beast Boy, in response, transformed into a velociraptor and charged at the lion, teeth bared. He bit into Register's side, but he was quickly removed by the bulky paws that pushed him away. This brawl continued, shattering the equipment around them, until Register made a sharp turn away from Beast Boy, removing himself from his reach. Before Beast Boy could respond, he was faced with an elongated knife.
The room felt still at that point. An audible gasp could be heard from Starfire, with worried mutters coming from the other teens. The knife was pointed at Beast Boy, the deadly tip just an inch from his face. He transformed back into a human, staying in place and deep in thought.
Swiftly, Beast Boy transformed into a gnat and flew behind Register before transforming back into his human form, latching onto the man's neck. He latched on tightly, resulting in a wrestling match. Register managed to grab onto Beast Boy's forearms and slam him down back first onto the table before them. He lunged the knife down at his face, but Beast Boy shielded his face with his arms just in time. The knife tore at his suit and skin, and blood immediately began to pour. Beast Boy winced intensely, but took no time before his next attack. Register, who had been poised above Beast Boy, was soon rendered momentarily useless by a kick to the stomach and groin. Beast Boy took the opportunity to try to take the knife, but Register wouldn't let up.
Beast Boy perched himself above Register, his knees digging into the man's sides painfully. He grabbed at the man's forearms and hands in an attempt to remove the knife, but struggled greatly. Beast Boy, desperate to remove the sharpened horror from the fight, bit Register's arms, his sharpened fangs easily puncturing the skin. Register yelled at the pain as blood began to seep from his wound. Register momentarily lost his grip on the knife, and suddenly, Beast Boy was able to grip onto it.
Beast Boy tried to get off of the man to remove the knife from the fight, but Register fought to take the knife back. The knife, since it was being wrestled, kept jabbing at the two, slicing both of their arms numerous times, bloodying the blade. Beast Boy, finally getting a good grip on the knife, lunged it backwards to get rid of it, but Register caught onto his arm awkwardly before he could release it. Instead of the knife being thrown backwards as intended, it plunged into Register's chest as he tried to pull it closer to himself. The long blade embedded itself completely into his chest, and all became still.
As the realization came to Beast Boy, his face showed nothing but pure horror. He hadn't, of course, meant to do it, but it had happened nonetheless. Register, who was beginning to go into shock, fell to the ground, gripping at his chest. Beast Boy got down to the ground with him, and pulled out the knife as safely as he could; he didn't want to further injure the man. Once removed, he threw it backwards towards a cabinet, where it clanked loudly.
"Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God," Beast Boy panicked, trying to figure out how to stop the bleeding that was starting to pool. He placed his hands over the wound and applied as much pressure as he could. The blood, of course, seeped through his fingers almost immediately.
Register began to cough up blood, his purple skin turning paler and paler. All outside noise and commotion became further and further from Beast Boy's consciousness as he poured all his focus into saving the man. Soon, the screams and shuffles of his friends became nonexistent to him. Beast Boy pulled down a lab coat from the table next to him and applied it to the wound in an attempt to stop the bleeding. The white garment soon turned to red as the blood soaked through.
Beast Boy looked up to Register's eyes. His eyes, which had at one point been scanning the room nervously, had become still and empty.
"No! No, no, no, n-nono," Beast Boy's words began slurring together. He pushed the fabric down further onto the wound, not believing the man was actually dead. His hands and arms were shaking as panic ran through his veins. He was soon startled out of his terrified stance as a pair of robotic hands grabbed him from behind and picked him up.
"No! Stop! I have to help him! Stop!" Beast Boy screamed as he tried to get away from Cyborg's grip, but he couldn't. Instead, the metal man took the petrified Beast Boy over to the corner of the room and sat down, holding the boy down in his embrace. Beast Boy's body was shaking severely, and he was crying hysterically. Too horrified to transform, he had no choice but to remain where he was.
Robin, Starfire, and Raven remained at Register's side. Robin searched for a pulse and breathing, but couldn't find it, confirming his death. He turned to Raven.
"Raven, you and Cyborg take Beast Boy outside and try to calm him down. Starfire and I will stay here and handle this, as well as finish our search of the room. We'll be back out as soon as possible," Robin said to her, concern flooding his voice. He wasn't mad at Beast Boy for the death; he knew it wasn't his fault. But a death was not to be taken lightly, and they had to handle the situation properly.
Raven nodded and walked over to Cyborg, informing him of the orders. Cyborg picked up Beast Boy, who was violently shaking with terror and disbelief at this point. Incoherent screams came from his mouth as he left the room, but he no longer struggled to get free.
They soon got outside and reached the grassy area next to the waterfall. Cyborg located a tree and sat against it, still holding the panicked Beast Boy in his arms. Beast Boy's hands were tightly clenched, and his whole body was stiff and shaky. Raven sat in front of him and took his arms to examine the knife wounds that he had received. He had two deep gashes on each arm, as well as a few smaller wounds. They were still bleeding, but nowhere near life threatening. His uniform was soaked with both his and Register's blood, though. She used her powers to heal the wounds, stopping their blood flow.
Cyborg leaned the boy against him, trying to calm him down. Raven assisted in trying to calm him down by sitting in front and holding his hands. She removed the blood soaked gloves and placed them to the side. She ran her thumb in a circle over his hand to try to soothe him. They sat there like that silently for a few minutes, the only sounds being Beast Boy's sobs and incoherent mumbles.
"I didn't mean to do it…," Beast Boy eventually muttered, barely audible, his voice strained from the screams and cries.
"We know," Raven said to him calmly.
"It's okay," Cyborg calmly added. They all knew that the situation was far from okay, but the reassurance was mildly helpful nonetheless.
Beast Boy was far from relaxed or calm, but he was the most stable that he had been since the incident. His crying had nearly ended, but his body was still tense and shook slightly. They had only seen their friend so panicked at one other point, and that was when he had attempted to kill himself just a few months earlier as Garfield. It scared them to see him like that, and it brought back those memories full force for them.
Soon, Robin and Starfire emerged from the waterfall and walked over to join the solemn teens. The two of them silently knelt down next to them. Starfire's eyes were red and puffy from crying, and Robin's expression could only be described as one filled with grief. Robin was carrying a stack of paper with him.
"We were able to gather some information from the lab. They're records and documentations regarding the infections. We also covered the body for it to be properly handled at a later time," Robin informed, his voice quiet and monotone. "We'll need to inform Abioye about what happened and share with him what information we gathered, but that can wait until morning." He noted the blackened night sky overhead. "We should head back to the campsite now, for the rest of the night."
Robin and Starfire stood up, soon followed by Raven, who picked up Beast Boy's bloodied gloves. She would try to wash them out later, but doubted that they would ever be clean again. Cyborg stood up with Beast Boy. When the green boy tried to stand up, his shaky legs gave out underneath him. Cyborg barely caught him before he hit the ground. Not willing to let the boy walk all the way back to the campsite in the condition he was in, he picked him up and rested him over his shoulder and carried him that way. Beast Boy, too weak and too emotionally drained to care, reluctantly allowed it.