The Beast Returns Ch. 5
"Alright, Titans! We've got a jewelry theft in progress at Finer Jewelers in downtown. We need to get in there and cut off the thieves before they get outside and escape," Robin shouted into his microphone as he drove down the streets of Jump City on his R-cycle. Cyborg drove as quickly as he can in his T-car, while both Starfire and Raven flew in the air towards the scene of the crime. Beast Boy was still left at the Tower; Robin didn't believe that he would come, especially after everything that has happened. Robin just did not want to think about him at this moment, especially when there are lives at stake.
"Starfire, you and I will use the element of surprise on the robbers and separate themselves from any weapons that they might have," Robin commanded.
"Agreed, Robin," Starfire didn't sound as perky as she usually did. She was lucky that she was still flying with her emotional turmoil about her boyfriend and Beast Boy. Or else she would be useless to the team.
"Raven, you will block the door in any way you can to make sure that no criminals leave that building," Robin commanded again. Raven just nodded her head in response. She was relieved that Robin was looking in her general direction.
"Cyborg, you calm down the hostages and see to it that they get out safely, but if there's trouble with the thieves don't hesitate to attack," Robin commanded once again. Cyborg wasn't very determined as Robin was on this mission today. His thoughts were still on the even that happened back at the Tower only a few moments ago.
"Got it," Cyborg still gave an affirmative.
"Everything's clear, let's go," Robin sped off towards the intersection where the jewelry store was located. The others soon followed suit. Robin hit his brakes sooner than he had planned out. He saw that these thieves were already outside preparing for their get away. The gang of thieves all jumped into the black van that was parked on the side of the road next to the jewelry. From a distance, Robin counted eight men holding at least two bags full of valuable jewels that were in the van.
"Freeze!" Robin shouted at the criminals. He started his cycle again and cut off the black van that was pulling out and threw a bird-a-rang at the tires. The bird-a-rang popped two of the tires on the driver's side and made the van tilt and unable to move. Cyborg arrived in the T-car not long after, and the girls moved quickly around the van as Cyborg got out and did the same.
"You are surrounded, come out and surrender the jewels!" Robin shouted again. The van stood still, nothing happened when Robin shouted. The others were ready for anything. Cyborg had both his cannons out, Raven stood in stance ready to attack, Starfire had star bolts prepared and on standby, and Robin had two bird-a-rangs in his hands. For the longest time, it was silence. The van did nothing, and no one came out, but the Titans waited. And they kept waiting.
"Don't move until I say so," Robin said softly to everyone.
Suddenly, the van started to shake and rattle. Something was happening on the inside. The back doors to the van shot open with a loud thud and flames of fire burst from the inside. Cyborg and Raven were in range of the flames, but quickly dodged the mysterious attack coming from the van.
"Whoa!" shouted Cyborg as he landed on his feet while Raven floated gently in the air. When the flames died down eight men dressed in all black with black masks and black gloves were standing inside and outside the van. Fire rotated around their arms and legs when all of them attacked.
"Titans, GO!" Robin shouted and attacked two of the fire starters heading in his direction. Robin jumped in the air and did a summersault, and then he slammed his foot against the face of the mysterious man. However the thief grabbed Robin's leg with his fiery hand and threw Robin against the cement as Robin yelled in pain.
Starfire had two of the eight men fighting against her, but the power behind her star bolts made it easy for her to keep the crooks down. She heard Robin's cry in pain and quickly shot down the two men that were gaining on him. Starfire called out his name, flew down to him, and checked to see if he was alright. However, before Starfire had a chance to check his burns a sudden blast of flames headed towards their direction. Then a black aurora blocked the fiery flames' path to the two vulnerable Titans.
Raven regained her focus quickly after saving her two friends and went back to fighting her own couple of criminals. She flew up in the air to gain quicker access to dodging those fire blasts. The two thieves circled around her on the ground to find any weak spot in her flying. One believed that he had her on the edge and fired his hot arms. Raven was quick to respond.
"Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" She shouted. Raven's eye glowed white when her magic gathered the hot flames and wisped them around in a circle then fired them straight back to the crooks. The two men were on their toes and countered-attacked with the same flames. Raven wasn't as clever as the last attack, for she had to dip down to get rid of the fire. Her luck was cut short when the two men grabbed her. A large bright blue blast was fired from behind, and knocked away both criminals from her. Raven turned around and saw Cyborg with smoke coming from his sonic cannon.
"Cyborg, behind you!" Raven shouted. Cyborg was suddenly attacked by two villains jumping on his hard metal physique. Their arms increased in heat and Cyborg's circuits began to melt and twist underneath those hot arms. Cyborg shouted in fear of his circuits being permanently damaged, so with all the might he had, he grab hold of the two men and thrust them off of him. He bent forward and checked out his arms and legs. He saw a few severely damaged circuits. Cyborg was furious.
"You're are SO gonna pay for that, you hot heads!" he shouted and transformed both of his arms into sonic cannons.
He was about to fire when he heard a giant roar behind him. It was a green jaguar running towards Cyborg. The jaguar roared again as he jumped over Cyborg and landed in front of the two crooks. Beast Boy pounced on one of them and attacked the face of the thief. Cyborg could hear the cry from the man as the other man tried to pry Beast Boy off of him. However, Beast Boy quickly transformed again into a gorilla and punched the other masked man in the face sending him into one of the windows of the jewelry store.
The other six criminals quickly abandoned the other Titans to help their fellow thieves. They fired at the green changeling at the same time, but Beast Boy aware of his surroundings and transformed again. The smoke from the fire blast disappeared into the air…along with Beast Boy. One of them heard a roar from above as they looked up. A huge rhinoceros fell from the sky and landed inside the circle of crooks. Once the giant green rhino landed it upset a balance of gravity that sent all six men flying in opposite directions. They all fell in different places on the street while one of them went crashing through a second window on the jewelry store.
Beast Boy looked around at the men to double check that all of them were indeed knocked out, and then he transformed back into a human. His friends finally got back up on their feet. Starfire had to help Robin stand correctly on his bad leg. Raven got up. And poor Cyborg still had his cannons ready to fire as he stood there baffled at what he just witnessed. Beast Boy just stood still with the wind blowing in his hair. The others were silent; they all stared at what was left of the crime scene. All eight black masked criminals were knocked out all over the place while Beast Boy stood in the middle of it.
Suddenly, Beast Boy was attacked from behind. He was knocked on the side with such force that he was sent flying across the street out of the way to reveal more black masked men with fire arms. The Titans prepared themselves as all the villains threw black cylinders of fire bombs all over the street sending giant blasts of fire in the air. The smoke that was left was able to blind the Titans from any form of movement. They still fought anyway even if they couldn't see.
Beast Boy got up from where he landed. He saw the Titans still battling out with the other villains that must have smacked him down. There had to be about twenty more men. He guessed this number because five of them went straight for him. Beast Boy started to run too, but was cut off by a blast of fire that sent him down the end of a dark alley way. Beast Boy's vision blurred from the sudden force he endured from the hit. From what he could remember all five of those black mysterious men blinded him and ultimately knocked him out cold.
Beast Boy slowly awoke from his blackout. His vision was still blurred when he looked around to try to figure out where he was. He felt more awake when he realized that he was tied down. He tried to pull against the restraints that held so tightly against his wrists and ankles. However, his fatigue got the best of him and couldn't pull free.
"Damn it! Why won't it fuse?!" he heard someone shout at something in the background.
"Who's there?" Beast Boy shouted back. He saw someone freeze and slowly turn around to greet him.
"Ah, Garfield, I'm glad you are awake," Beast Boy recognized the voice. He immediately reacted.
"You!" Beast Boy said in surprise.
"I'm surprised you recognize me," the mysterious changeling still kept the same black mask on his face, but he wore a white laboratory coat. He either wanted to be professional or prevent dangerous hazards Beast Boy couldn't decide which. He walked over to the table that Beast Boy was strapped to.
"I may recognize you, but I still don't know who you are," Beast Boy said lowly. The man laughed softly.
"I'm sorry to disappoint you, Garfield, but that information is irrelevant and you have no need of it. I'm sure in do time you will figure it out," he said turning back to his testing table a few feet away. When the man walked away, Beast Boy realized that the top of his uniform was missing. Instead of a uniform shirt he had wires protruding from all over his body. He had six wires attached to his abdomen while two more were attach to his forehead. He guessed that the wires monitored his brain waves and heart rate. He wanted to rip them off and get out of here, but he felt so tired and his body was numb all over. This man must have given him something. After this realization, Beast Boy took the chance to look around and check his surroundings.
There was a table on his right where the man was working. It had several machines stacked on top of each other or sat beside them. All of them made soft buzzing noises that was extremely annoying Beast Boy. A simple light shined over the table while another light shined over the table Beast Boy was unwillingly attached to. This light over him was slightly brighter and allowed Beast Boy to view a little more clearly.
He saw wooden crates everywhere stacked up against the walls, and stained windows high above him letting in the evening light. The room he appeared to be in was all one room, and the darkness that coated the edge of the room made it seem endless. Beast Boy took a wild guess and thought that he was in some kind of warehouse. He heard a rumble of thunder from above and looked up and saw the roof. There were rafters and pointless rope hanging off of them. Beast Boy concluded that it is a warehouse, and it was about to rain. He heard the man walk back to him he saw the man holding a syringe.
"Now, just hold still," he said gently. Beast Boy resisted and pulled his body away from the syringe.
"You're not allowed to stick anything inside my body until I get some answers," Beast Boy commanded. The man pulled the syringe back and cocked a brow through his mask.
"Very well, ask your questions, and then we'll carry on," he said. The man turned around and started to gather a few things at his work table. Beast Boy became angered at his soft tone.
"I want to know who you are, why I am here, and where are my friends," Beast Boy commanded again. He tried to keep his voice raised to make sure that he sounded like he had control in this situation; even though he was strapped to a table. The man laughed again.
"Well, I don't know about those two first questions, but the third I can answer easily," he looked down at Beast Boy, his head was eclipsing the lamp above them, "your friends are still battling it out at the jewelry store with those fiends," he said. Beast Boy gave the man a strange look of suspicion.
"Why do I get the funny feeling that you know who those 'fiends' were?" Beast Boy asked him with a sneer. The man chuckled again.
"You're not as dumb as you lead on, Garfield," he said. Beast Boy growled at him.
"Well, since you're so curious, they are a gang of thieves that prize themselves with the art of fire power. They call themselves the Fire Shadows, simply because of their attire and their ability of controlling the element of fire. I hired them from across the country. I heard that they are real popular in the east. I used them to distract your friends, so I could have access to you," He turned around to see Beast Boy's reaction. His face was contorted with anger as his teeth grinded. The man smiled, "don't be so upset, Garfield. You should be proud. You're about to help me accomplish the most daring technological advancement in science that mankind has ever known,"
"You've killed over thousands of people to get to me, you stab me with syringes, and you distract my friends to pull me away from them; what makes you think I will help you with your goals?" Beast Boy said. He furrowed his eyebrows, "you won't even tell me your name. You're either cowardly or stupid," The man laughed louder this time.
"Call it what you want, Garfield, but I'll call it genius," The man mixed a few chemicals together in a small beaker. With his rubber gloved hands he took a syringe and pulled some the chemical liquids into the tube. The man turned around and walked back towards Beast Boy.
"Now, if you are done asking your questions, we can begin. I'm going to need you to be still," Beast Boy moved away from the man again and growled at him.
"I can rip through these straps and attack you faster than you can stick that needle inside me," Beast Boy threatened the man. The man simply smiled.
"That is why I injected a very mild sedative that would immobilize your transformations. I would have injected more, but I need you awake for this. Now, are you going to cooperate and hold still or do I have to force you?" he said. He lowered the syringe to his hip area. Beast Boy struggled to keep the needle away from his skin.
"You're going to have to force me to stay still," Beast Boy said with aggression towards the man.
"Now, Garfield, are you really willing to risk yourself for something so insignificant such as asking me questions?" the man asked.
"If it stops you doing whatever it is you are planning," he said with determination, "bring it on," The man started to get annoyed with Beast Boy's stubbornness.
"I suppose I can answer the rest of your questions, if it makes you cooperate," the man started to treat Beast Boy like a child as he crossed his arms in front of him like a disappointed parent. However, if it was going to answer Beast Boy's questions, he didn't care.
"Who are you?" Beast Boy asked. The man sighed. It appeared that the man didn't have a choice anymore. If he was going to get what he wanted, then he was going to have to abide by Beast Boy's requests. The man put the syringe down on a small tool table next to Beast Boy. Then he took off his rubber gloves and sat them aside. Beast Boy saw his hands and he became very nervous; his hands had scaly skin and were dark bold violet. The man lifted up one of his hands and took the bottom of his black mask. The hand lifted the black mask revealing the face of the mad scientist. Beast Boy gasped in shock and devastation. His face revealed the same tone as his hands.
"My name is Dr. Samuel T. Register, Head of the Department of Supernatural Diseases at STAR Laboratories, Former Head of the Department of Medicine and Cures, former science assistant for the geneticists Dr. Mark and Dr. Marie Logan…and soon to be discoverer of the cure for sakutia," said the now known Dr. Register. He lifted up his arms proudly in front of Beast Boy.
Beast Boy suddenly knew everything. He knew how he knew his name, why he kept coming after him, and why he was injecting him with chemicals.
"Uncle…Samuel?" Beast Boy remembered him. He remembered everything.
"Very good, Garfield. Now, suddenly everything makes sense, doesn't it?" he said with his violet lips. Beast Boy was still in shock.
"Wh-what have you…done to yourself?" he hesitated to ask, but was too traumatized to stop himself.
"Oh, this?" Register referred to his unique color of skin, "A few mishaps, a few failed cures and an illegal human testing, but nothing to be worried about," Register smiled again at Beast Boy's still unmoved and shocked eyes, "it's the same skin as yours, only mine's a bit more…no, I shouldn't horrific, let's just call it unique,"
"Well, since you know who I am, shall we continue on?" he asked grabbing the syringe again. This question snapped Beast Boy out of his gaze with a shake of his head.
"What do you want, Samuel?" Beast Boy asked sincerely. This man was the man who took him in after his parents died, but after an accidental explosion in Africa Beast Boy was sent to the U. S. to live with foster parents while Samuel was left behind.
"Isn't it obvious, Garfield? I'm going to find the cure for sakutia and you're going to help me!" he said, but not with determination. Beast Boy sense that there was something more to this ambition.
"But what do you need me for?" Beast Boy asked another question.
"Why, Garfield, you are going to be my test subject," Register leaned in close to Beast Boy's face, "I'm going to cure you of this curse people call a disease. You're going to be free," Beast Boy was baffled.
"But…Samuel…I don't want to be cured…I help people," Beast Boy felt like a child again saying this to him. Beast Boy looked up to him, and treated him like his own father when his was gone. He didn't know how to act, but that didn't mean that Beast Boy was going to let him have his way.
"Now's not the time to be stubborn, Garfield. Alright then…let's begin," he said getting his gloves back on. Beast Boy stopped him.
"No! There's something else that you want, I can sense it! You're not going to inject me with anything until I get a reason why," Beast Boy said with determination. Register let go a frustrated sigh. He would sedate the green changeling, but in order for the formula to go into effect Beast Boy needed to be awake.
"I am going to find a cure for the virus sakutia, and then share it to public so people can be rid of this horrible disease," the man saw Beast Boy's expression of suspicion and he smiled wickedly, "and then…when the world is free of sakutia, I will spread the disease again, but this time worldwide," Beast Boy lowered his jaw, "everyone will be begging me for the cure, everyone will be calling me a hero, and I will receive the proper amount of glory I deserve," He saw Beast Boy's eyes widened, and he continued, "But even that kind of achievement is not enough for old Samuel Register, no. While working on this cure for over five years, I've come to a realization that this disease holds a very unique kind of power. Along with finding a cure, I've been finding a way to harness this…power, and I'll be able to use this power for my own personal gain. I'll harness it and give it back to the world. I can give it countries to strengthen their troops for war; they could have the advantage of biological warfare and destroy their enemies with one fire. Just think of it, no more guns or nuclear weapons. It'll be brilliant. Countries everywhere will want me on their side," Register looks up to the ceiling with his eyes closed, as if he was visualizing his dream had come to a reality, "what a beautiful sight it will be,"
"You're insane!" Beast Boy shouted at him, "You are a crazy physco! I am NOT helping you at all! And you can't make me!" Beast Boy struggled against his straps. Register lowered his arms and opened his arms.
"Oh, yes, I can Garfield, I've discovered that I can be quite persuasive," Registered smiled. He tightened his rubber gloves and grabbed up the syringe. Beast Boy struggled again.
"What's so important about me? I'm already infected with the disease!" Beast Boy shouted at him.
"Yes, that is true, Garfield. However, you are different from everyone else. There's something that lies within you, some kind of secret. It's the secret that I've been searching for years. And it's the same secret that your father accidentally stumbled upon when you were first infected. This secret is more a key if you will, and this key is the answer to universal immunity…the link between man and animal…and the cure for sakutia," Register explained softly.
"Your father treated you with something long ago that I have been unable to recreate. However, I will find a way, and after so many years of searching, I may have found my way," Register placed his left hand on top of the lower part of Beast Boy's abdomen, and he pressed down. Register lifted the syringe higher into the light so Beast Boy could see it. Beast Boy was breathing hard from all the struggling, but he glued his eyes to the syringe he saw.
"What is that?" he asked. Register expected him to ask.
"Another cure I've created. It's just like the first injection I gave you on the ship, but hopefully this one will be a little bit more…effective," Register replied. He lowered the syringe closer to Beast Boy's hip. Beast Boy started to struggle again.
"No! Wait! Please! Don't do it!" Beast Boy pleaded with him. He didn't want another cure, especially if it was like the last time. Register kept his left hand pressed down on Beast Boy's abs to hold him down.
"It's alright, Garfield, this time you don't have to hold still!" Register stabbed Beast Boy with the syringe. Beast Boy screamed in pain. He could feel the rush of chemicals running through his veins and shooting straight through his heart. It felt like a thousand knives stabbing all over his body. Beast Boy felt himself transforming without thinking about anything. He transformed just like he did with the first cure, but this time…it is more violent and painful. Beast Boy screamed and shouted in different animal noises, his skin changed into various textures from scales with fur to skin with slimy mucous and feathers. His arms were gorilla form with hooves as hands. His nose turned into a wolf's snout with a snake tongue and hippo's teeth. His neck was the length of a giraffe with stripes and covered in wool like sheep, and his hair was a lion's mane. His legs were hind-legs made of duck rubber while his feet were fins. His back grew spikes and an alligator's tail with feathers.
Register backed away and watched this horrible scene unfold. He was horrified and outraged.
"Damn it! It still won't fuse!" He shouted to the air and he threw the empty syringe down on the floor in frustration. Register continued to watch Beast Boy suffer and transform so quickly it look like his skin was breaking into wounds. Blood started to bleed from indentions of different animal parts of Beast Boy's body. He wanted all to stop, and he cried out to anyone who would help him. Finally, his body gave away, and the transformations suddenly stopped. Beast Boy laid there on the table motionless.
Register counted the silence. He let Beast Boy lay there motionless to make sure it was safe. He needed to get more of his blood. At this point he didn't care about Beast Boy, as long as he got enough blood to test for awhile, he could care less about Beast Boy. Register walked slowly up to Beast Boy. He checked to see if he was still breathing, and he was very faintly. His hand moved cautiously to the small tool table to take an empty syringe for blood. Register placed the syringe between his fingers and thumb, and then he lowered it slowly to the hip area of Beast Boy again.
He was only a centimeter from piercing the skin again until he found himself being choked by a giant gorilla arm. He yelped in surprised and saw Beast Boy's eyes were wide open. But they weren't the same green eyes he saw earlier. They were yellow, narrow, and they glowed. Beast Boy roared and threw Register across the room against his heavy testing machinery, and made them short circuit. Beast Boy knocked him out. Once Register was out of the way, Beast Boy pulled against the restraints and roared as he finally broke free from them. He sat up with the same yellow eyes, growling feverously. He transformed into a giant gorilla and tore an open way through the wall.
Rain started to fall as the Titans drove down the streets towards Titans Tower. Cyborg drove his T-car; Robin sat in the front seat while the girls sat in the back. The Titans fought those mysterious fire starters for what seemed like hours. The villains got away with the jewels. The Titans fought the best they could, but there was just too many thieves to take on with only four Titans. After they had gotten away, Robin was furious and wanted everyone to search for Beast Boy because no one saw him after he was knocked off to the side. So, everyone searched for the green changeling for at least three hours, and came back with no results. Robin finally ordered everyone in the T-car to go home. It started to rain when it got too dark to search anymore. Now, the Titans were on their way home, bruised, bloody, and wet. That was their physical stand point because emotionally they feel abandoned, angered, and not very victorious.
Cyborg pulled into the garage at the Tower and everyone got out quietly. Starfire shook her hair out and splattered rain water all over the place. Robin ringed out his cape. Raven pulled her hood down, and Cyborg simply just walked off into the elevator. The others soon followed. After everyone was in, Cyborg pushed the button and the doors closed.
Raven was standing next to Robin in the elevator shaft. She could feel the heat of his anger coming from him, but she got a little nervous when she suddenly received a giant wave of hatred. Raven saw Starfire going to comfort her love, but Raven stuck out an arm and shook her head no to stop her. Robin started to hyperventilate and growl under his breath. He definitely wasn't very happy. The elevator finally stopped and opened the doors again. Robin immediately walked out to go straight to the Operations Room. The other Titans gave him a head start and waited by the elevator. Starfire went after him first, then Cyborg and Raven. The opened the door to the Ops. to find Robin leaning up against the counter top again. Starfire was already a few feet behind him. She called out to him when she saw that he was still trying to catch his breath.
"Robin, please, none of us expected this to--," she was cut off by Robin's abrupt fists hitting the counter top.
"I've had enough of this! Why is he doing this?" Robin shouted at all of them. Cyborg walked up to him.
"Robin, calm down! This doesn't help--,"
"I don't care what it does! I want him found NOW!" he shouted again, "Raven, check the computer!" Raven hestitated to do what she was told. She was trying to get her thoughts organized and stop the waves of anger coming from Robin, "That's an order!"
Raven finally went over to the computer. She typed in a few things and brought up a map of the city on the big screen. A small red B symbolized Beast Boy. The true location could never be told by the big screen, but the exact descriptions of his whereabouts were on the screen Raven looked at. However, the screen had to load and send signals to his communicator. Robin got a little curious though; he saw Raven stop the downloading process and stand up to move away from the computer. Raven closed her eyes in expectation.
"Well, where is he?" Robin demanded.
"Behind you," he said. Robin turned around and saw him. He felt his fury running through his veins again, and he furrowed his brows in anger.
Beast Boy stood at the bottom of the stairs soaked in rain. The top part of his uniform was still missing. Everyone could see his well earned and toned abs moving along with his lungs with every breath that Beast Boy took.
"You have a lot of explaining to do, Beast Boy!" Robin demanded. Beast Boy didn't move from his spot, nor did he look up to acknowledge Robin.
"What is wrong with you? I expected you to just stay at the Tower, but when you DO show up; you take out a few crooks and then you walk away again?! You can't walk out when innocent lives are at stake! This isn't some kind of joke, Beast Boy! This is our job! This is our life! And I'm SICK of you ruining it!" Robin walked around in circles, and tried to ease his mind by rubbing his forehead. Beast Boy just stood there and closed his eyes, ready to endure Robin's tirade.
"Do you even care about this team anymore? Heck, do you even care about anything anymore?!" Robin asked him hotly. Beast Boy didn't reply, "Answer me!" he still refused when Robin got into his face. Robin sighed in frustration and growled as he walked away, but he came back to Beast Boy to say one more thing.
"This kind of act only proves how much of a coward you are," he said. Suddenly, Robin saw him open his eyes. They were the same yellow eyes that Dr. Register saw only moments before. Robin jumped back in fear when Beast Boy roared fiercely at him. Then, Beast Boy attacked Robin. He quickly changed his form into a tiger, and used his powerful claws to paw underneath Robin's skin at his sides, chest, and legs. Robin screeched in pain to try to get the massive creature off of him. He had to dodge several times as the tiger went for his neck. The tiger missed and instead ripped off Robin's cape with ease.
"Robin!" Starfire called.
The others were quick on their feet, and tried to get the beast off of Robin. Cyborg jumped on the tiger's back to pry him off shouting out his name and telling him to leg go. The tiger roared at Cyborg and changed on of his arms into a gorilla arm and knocked Cyborg off of him.
"Starfire try star bolts!"
"But…it's Beast--!"
"It doesn't matter, do it!" Cyborg shouted at her. Starfire powered up her star bolts and sent them flying to Beast Boy. Beast Boy roared again, but this time in pain. However, he changed his tiger tongue to a giant snake tongue to whip Starfire out of the air. She landed next to Cyborg.
"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!" Raven shouted. Beast Boy looked up and made contact with Raven's glowing eyes. Her arm was outstretched and her fingers were spread apart. Raven focused all her energy into the angered tiger that was Beast Boy. The tiger stopped and relaxed himself, and then he tumbled over and changed back into human form unwillingly, and he was unconscious. Raven put her arm down and glided herself over to Beast Boy to get him off of Robin.
"We need to get these two to the infirmary now," she said quickly. Cyborg and Starfire got up. Starfire went to take Robin into her arms. He was groaning in pain, and semi-unconscious.
"Raven, what did ya--,"
"I sent a mind pulse, and knocked him out," she said cutting him off, "come on, we need to go before Beast Boy wakes up, and before Robin bleeds to death,"
They all went to the infirmary. Robin was in a bed with Starfire right beside him comforting his ungloved hand. Robin was pretty banged up. He endured several scratches, bites, and bruises all over his body. Not to mention the burn he received earlier that day from the jewelry theft. Starfire and Raven nursed him with bandages and some antibiotics to prevent infection. He was shirtless with bandages around his chest and bruises underneath the collar bone. His other injuries weren't as serious, but the most life threatening one was the one at his neck. They had to wrap bandages loosely to prevent blood loss and to not restrict Robin's breathing.
"How's Beast Boy doing?" Raven asked Cyborg. He was sitting next to Beast Boy's monitors. Cyborg pressed a few buttons.
"Well, pulse rate is normal, and brain waves are out of control, nothing new," he said.
The others knew that Beast Boy was now a threat to the team, so Cyborg put him in confinement, which meant he was chained to a wall and placed in a very secure place. The "safety room" Starfire called it was where they put Raven in last year when her father was on the rise. Cyborg considered it an extra room for anything that needed to be confined. However, Cyborg believed that anything that would be confined in that room again would be either a criminal that couldn't be released to jail or Silkie with rabies. He never expected to put Beast Boy in there.
"So, what do we do now?" Cyborg asked the girls. Neither of them knew what to do.
"Well, there's obviously no getting through to Beast Boy," Raven remarked. Cyborg agreed fully with that.
"Yeah…Robin is enough proof of that," he said.
"I just wish he would wake up," Starfire said silently. Cyborg reassured her.
"He will Star, he will. He's just a little shocked, like all of us. At least that's my guest on how he passed out," Starfire nodded in response.
She suddenly felt Robin's hand move under hers. Starfire snapped to it and called out to him.
"Robin?" she said leaning towards him. The others jumped up from their seats to see if he was coming around. Robin started to shift his body weight in his bed. Then he opened his eyes…behind his mask.
"Robin, you are alright?" Starfire asked him, stroking his hair back. Robin looked up at her.
"Yeah, Star, I'm alright I just…feel like I got hit by a truck," he tried to get up, but Starfire pushed him back down. Robin rolled his eyes at her, he liked her being all worried like that.
"Where's Beast Boy?" Robin asked to anyone.
"He's in confinement," Raven said giving Starfire a cool towel to put on Robin's head, "I would've expected something a little bit better, Robin," this reminded Robin of a disappointed mother.
"Yeah, man, you really should not have blown up on B like that. He's unstable enough as it is," Cyborg said. Robin bowed his head a little.
"I know that, but…," Robin paused and sighed in frustration, "…I hate it when we lose,"
"Well, it happens," Raven stated simply.
"I know! It's just…when we do fail, not only do we lose, but we lose the trust of the people…and Beast Boy is tampering with that trust, not only from us, but from the people as well," Robin said worriedly. Cyborg got confused.
"What does that matter?" he asked. Robin sighed again.
"Discrimination, we will be rejected, people won't want us to help them anymore, mother's won't want us to save their children, banks won't want us to investigate anymore and the city won't need superheroes anymore," Robin spoke softly. The others went silent at the sound of these words. Well, discrimination and rejection never sounds good. That was the last thing any superhero would want from the people they protect, and hopefully it will never happen to the Teen Titans.
"Something else is playing with Beast Boy's system," Robin said thinking to himself, "Did anyone else see his eyes?" They all shook their heads no.
"They were just normal green eyes when I was cuffin' him up," Cyborg said. Robin sighed again.
"I guess I was the only one who saw them then. When he attacked me, he opened his eyes before he transformed, and I saw these horrible yellow eyes. I was too taken aback to notice that he was about to pounce me," he said. Raven raised her eyebrow.
"Those must have been some powerful eyes," she said curiously.
"Raven?" Robin called. Raven looked down at Robin's bruised and banged up face. Robin had this sort of worry and determination illuminating off of him, and she became curious about what was going to come out of his mouth.
"You said you could enter Beast Boy's thoughts by touching his forehead, correct?" he asked. Raven understood where he was going, and she nodded her head yes.
"I think it's time," he replied. Raven's heart started to pick up speed slightly.
"Is it…safe in there?" she asked.
"If you don't want to do it--,"
"No, I want to do this, I want to help him. If I do this I'll be able to find out why he's acting this way. I just don't want to put anyone in danger, him included," she replied. Cyborg looked in her direction and nodded his head.
"Yeah, it's safe. I haven't changed the light bulbs in while, but the emergency lights should kick on," Cyborg said.
"Wait, he's in there in the dark?" Raven asked him astounded at him. Cyborg sighed in guilt.
"Yeah, I know. I just didn't want to go back in there," he said fearfully.
"He should be alright, and you'll be fine," He got up and picked something up from the desk where the monitors were, "He's cuffed and strained to the wall, he's not going anywhere," he came back and gave Raven a small key, "here's the key to open the air pressured door. Be careful in there," Raven nodded slowly.
"We'll be watching you from in here, okay?" Cyborg said. He held onto her hand, and Raven looked up at him, "Go get'em, girl. Go get our Beast Boy back," this made Raven smile slightly.
"I'll do my best," and with that she left the room.
Raven walked down the hallway silently. Her feet were quiet as she mentally prepared herself for what she had to do to Beast Boy. Raven never did like using this power to read someone's thoughts with their emotions. Basically, it was breaking someone else's personal privacy, and the mind couldn't be anymore personal. Raven didn't like snooping around in other people's business, just like she didn't like Beast Boy snooping around her business. This situation is ironic, she thought to herself. This power of hers will not only reveal to what he's truly feeling, but allow her to see everything he felt and thought in the past. Raven will know everything about Beast Boy within the two minute time period she will have. She will know everything about his childhood, all his fears, and all his dark secrets, which definitely scared her. Knowing anyone's dark secrets is a pretty scary thing, but the thing that frightened her most was that she was about to read the mind of one of her friends, whom she trusts. And if she knows all of Beast Boy's secrets that he may not want her to know, then that trust would be gone…forever. Losing one of her friends was the worst thing that could ever happen to her, and she didn't want to start now.
Raven stopped at the heavy secured locked door. She remembered Cyborg telling her how it was made with solid titanium lined with diamond molecules to keep it extremely firm and inescapable. The door took up most of the wall at the end of the hallway, and there binding it together was a huge jagged lock, that Raven assumed opened for her when she opened it. However, Raven never did break to Cyborg that no amount of metal was going to stop magical beings from getting inside.
Raven pressed a small pad on the wall, and from the wall expelled a small keypad and a key hole. Raven slowly and nervously placed the small key into the keyhole, then turned it clockwise until it stopped. A small screen grew brighter and asked for a Titan access code. Cyborg didn't tell any specific code, so she assumed it was her own access code. Raven typed in her code and pressed enter. The keypad loaded and greeted her with a bright "Accessing, Raven." The door released highly pressurized air from both sides of the door. The lock slowly began to unlock itself for her to enter inside. One piece went down while the top piece moved upwards. The giant door took a long time to open, Raven concluded that it was moving so slow because it was made of titanium and diamond. So, she took this time to take a quiet moment of peace to prepare herself for what she was about to do.
"Azar, guide me forward to the right path," she whispered.
The door finally opened, and Raven opened her eyes then began to walk inside.
The room was dark, and Raven could hear Beast Boy's ragged breath in the air. She fearfully panicked to try and find a light switch; the dark and Beast Boy's breath were starting to get to her. Raven found one and clicked it on. Only one light shined above Beast Boy. Raven gasped silently in fear of his present condition.
With only light working in the room, it made Beast Boy look like a dead zombie. He was chained and cuffed to the wall just like Cyborg said. His arms were outstretched and around his wrists were computerized metal cuffs that attached themselves to the wall to send signals to the monitors in the infirmary. He was still shirtless, and he had his head bent down. Raven could tell that his body was trying to cope with the position he was strained to. His back curled over, and sweat poured and dripped off his body which shined brightly in the spotlight; his hair was matted because of it too. Raven could see defined lines of his toned muscles moving in sync with his desperate lungs. She could tell he was in so much pain, and she knew she needed to take that away from him before it destroyed him.
Raven was still in the dark several feet away from the light and where Beast Boy stood. She began to walk forward. As she moved closer to the green changeling she felt those familiar waves of anger again, and they grew louder with every step. She rubbed her temples again. He was struggling with these emotions and she couldn't help but be curious as to what's causing them. Raven was still behind the darkness, but Beast Boy could sense her movement and fear. Beast Boy opened his eyes; they were still green, but helpless eyes. Then, Beast Boy spoke.
"I know you're there Raven," that was Raven's cue to step into the light. She called to him.
"Beast Boy,"
"Why are you here?" he said aggressively.
"I'm here to help you,"
"I don't need help," Beast Boy spat, "I'm in perfect shape,"
"No," she shook her head in front of him, "you're not," she walked closer until she was about four feet away from him, "you are struggling,"
"There is nothing wrong with me," he said in a deep malice voice, "I have never felt more alive," Raven stepped back in fear, that did not sound like the Beast Boy she was use to. She never believed that she would ever see the day that Beast Boy would be serious, or in any manner of blinded hate.
"Beast Boy, you must listen to me, your physical levels are out of control, and you need to let me help you,"
"Why should I? I've never liked you in the first place. Why should I trust someone like you with my own well-being, when I know perfectly well that I am never better," Raven furrowed, biting back the emotion from escaping from her tongue.
"None of you care about me, so why should I believe that any of you are willing to risk your lives to save me?" Beast Boy sounded defeated, but determined. Raven had her head low, how could he believe that they did not care about him, especially after everything they went through together? Something was severely wrong with this situation, and she would put an end to this.
"All of you, ridicule me, insult me, beat me down, make fun of me, deny me and ideas, embarrass me, and worst of all…completely ignore me," Beast Boy counted off. A few tears leaked through his eyelids and rolled down his face. Beast Boy turned away from her since he felt embarrassed that he was crying in front of her. He attempted to hold back a sob, "What is wrong with me, Raven? What did I do wrong to end up being unaccepted?"
Beast Boy got what he could of himself back together, and he silenced his sobs.
"I think about it all the time. Day in and day out, and even in my sleep I go over what I've done in my life. I think about it, and I try to correct the mistakes I've made…and I try to figure out how to make myself be…oh, jeez…I don't even know what I'm aiming for anymore. I've tried to everything I could all at once, but look where I end up…I'm…chained to a wall,"
"Beast Boy, I--,"
"I looked up to you," Raven stopped, and she couldn't help but feel sympathetic for the green changeling, he continued, "I looked up to all of you, and…not because I am the youngest out of all of us. It's because all of you have such a history of great things in your pasts. All of you have done something that makes you famous and appreciated,"
"Beast Boy, you have done things that you should be proud of," she replied softly. She wanted to reassure him. Beast Boy shook his head no.
"That's not, true. I…have never been proud of myself," he replied with hurt in his voice.
"Robin is famous for being the Boy Wonder of Gotham because of bringing down the deadliest villains at the aid of Batman. Starfire seems to fit in so well, and she's an alien from outer space! It could be her looks because she is beautiful, but…people love her personality. She only focuses on the best, Starfire does. I've never truly seen her angry at anyone before. I often wish I could do what she does sometimes…Cyborg can do anything. With an IQ of 170 and a cannon in his arm he can do anything," he sighed as he thought about each of his friends. He felt so lucky to have friends like them.
"Aren't our friends the greatest, Raven?" he asked. This question seemed unconvinced by Raven, she noticed that he was being slightly sarcastic.
"And you, Raven, the things that you have done…they still baffle me sometimes. I often wonder most about you, and I worry the most about you at the same time. I…just can't understand how you can live your life knowing that you were going to end the world one day," Raven looked up to listen, "and you still lived on…without showing any form of emotions. I look back at these things and I kept thinking about…how that must've been torture for you. You couldn't love anyone, hate anyone, or put any sort of life together before your time was up. You still had us, but…even that…didn't change anything,"
"What?" she was surprised at what he said.
"You told us about your fate, and we did what we do, we saved the world from annihilation, and you returned free from your father's rule. And I couldn't have been happier for you because you could feel. Now it's over, and…you're free…you're free to feel. You can feel now, Raven, but you still choose to hide it all away. Now nothing has changed…it's all the same," Beast Boy finished, and inhaled quickly to stop the oncoming tears. Raven took a moment of silence to think about what he said, and she realized that he doesn't know the whole truth. Beast Boy used that moment of silence to cry, to cry for her, his team, and himself, and then he cried for everything in between.
"None of that means anything to me now. I realized…that I need to start my own history of great things. I have to be better, and I have to be stronger," he started to lose his breath, "I have to be…enough…for this team, but…even this…I realize…that I'm not…and I'm never going to be," he started to breath heavily, and sweat poured out from his skin as he looked up with his desperate eyes to Raven, "isn't that right, Raven? Don't you agree with me?"
Beast Boy began to shake when he furrowed his eyebrows at her speechless face. He growled at her.
"AM I NOT ENOUGH?" Raven stepped back in surprise when Beast Boy yelled at her. Raven still held her tongue. Her focus was to help him, and not to answer. Beast Boy still shook with anger and hatred.
"No, I'm not. Your silence is proof of it," he said. Raven walked forward again, she needed him to calm down.
"Beast Boy…please…you are not well at all, and you must let me--,"
"You don't even care!" he interrupted, "none of you…care!" he growled.
"I do so care because I'm in here right--,"
"You were ordered…by Robin, and he doesn't care either. He just cares about his precious city," he stared her down, and she feared, "I see it in your eyes,"
"I cannot show emotion," Raven said softly yet monotone, "it isn't possible,"
Beast Boy laughs at her. "That's…just…what's so great about you Raven," his words affected her deeply. What game was he playing at? His state of being threw her off her thoughts. Beast Boy was shaking now. This allowed more moisture to fall from his brow, slur his words and speed up his breathing. However, even after this he still laughs at her, "you give stupid excuses for something that everyone knows is completely false. You may think you hide your emotions by meditating, reading, and being quiet natured…but you're not.
"You're more opened then any of us in this tower. I can read you like a children's book, and I can guess what you feel at anytime. You know it…you just like to deny it. I know it because I can sense it. Fear lingers around you like a bad moldy odor…and you may not know this, but your eyes give away most of your emotion. You try to hide yourself beneath the darkness of your cloak, but you don't realize…that your eyes still reveal themselves inside that darkness and show everything you try to keep locked inside. I study you, when you think you're alone, and I know you keep a lot of emotion down, and I mean a lot. Anger, depression, happiness…love, you keep everything down so quickly that no one can see you…but everyone has their breaking points.
"You may be half demon, but you are still half human and you're going to have to let go sometime," he saw that he was getting to her in some way, her face retorted in a small way to show fear. He smiled wickedly at her, and kept on heckling her.
"You are going to fall just like everyone else, and you know it…and that scares you…it scares you so much that you still can't sleep at night. You wake up so early in the morning just to get away from the nightmares you get. You deny everything because of these fears, and you're scared because you don't want to break your little reputation. Because everyone knows that Raven the dark witch is the emotionless brick wall that won't ever crumble. And everyone will forever know that Raven has so much strength and so much selflessness that she keeps her emotions locked away so she can be different!
"Now, everyone can feel sorry for poor pathetic Raven when she does fall, since her father is the source of all damnation, let's all feel sorry for her and make her feel comfortable while she goes out and screws the world and her friends over!"
"Shut up!" Raven clenched his throat with her aurora, "you know nothing about me!"
Beast Boy felt the pressure tighten around his neck, and then he gave her a dirty smile. He roared like a furious beast at her, which in turn made her jump away from her and release her grip from his neck. Then he laughed at her again.
"You see Raven? You think you are brave and a good person, but deep…deep inside your soul, you are nothing…but a scared little girl with some daddy issues," Raven let a few tears linger in the bottom of her eye lids as she endured the horrible sound of him laughing at her. However, a realization struck her. Finally, she understood the game that he was trying to play, he was trying to get under her skin and get her angry so he would be dominant in this situation, so he wouldn't have to let go of anything. Raven wasn't about to let him have that. She realized that she had to get past the anger barrier in order to really know what he was feeling. And only way she knew how to do this, is to fight fire with fire.
"At least…I had…somewhat of a father," Raven said extremely slowly. Beast Boy immediately stopped laughing.
"What?" he growled deeply.
"…and…a mother," Raven continued. Beast Boy kept growling.
"What're you saying, Raven?"
"I'm saying had parents, they may not have loved me, but at least I had some," Raven grew some courage and stepped closer to him, "I never hear you speak about your parents or where you're from, Beast Boy. All we know was that you came from another team, the Doom Patrol," Beast Boy growled louder, "So, what happened Beast Boy? Did they drop a genetic seed in the ground and you grew from a sprout? Or did Mento and Elastic girl get lonely and grew you from a tube?"
"Shut up! You can't talk about them!"
"I bet it hurt back when you were a kid. You being made fun of, called a freak of nature, grass stain, or pea brain!" Beast Boy growled louder as she continued, "But you know what, I bet you weren't even around kids at your age. I bet that Mento decided that you were mature enough to risk your life and become a superhero. Well, I'm sure he was disappointed! He probably put you through tough agonizing training courses just to be let down because you refused and decided to act like the comic genius that you think you are,"
"No," he whispered. His face was so wrinkled with anger that blood vessels started to show. Raven got closer to his face.
"I bet they never loved you," Raven backed up when Beast Boy let out another piercing roar and fought against his cuffs. He wanted to hurt her; he wanted to punish her so badly she would beg for mercy. Raven kept her stare firm.
"YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING!" Beast Boy shouted.
"Then let me know, let me know everything, let me help you!" Raven shouted back.
"NO! NO! I DON'T NEED HELP!" he shouted again.
"Then let me take it, let me take your pain away!" Raven shouted again as she moved closer and reached out her hand to touch his forehead.
"NO! NO! NO! GET AWAY FROM ME!" Beast Boy roared. Raven moved her right hand closer to his face when suddenly he attacked her and bit down on the inside of her thumb. Raven screamed out in pain. Beast Boy dug deeper into the skin making sure that her hand would never be able to leave his mouth unless she tore it off.
Raven was at first completely shocked that Beast Boy would ever do such a thing to her, but he's changed now, he's not Beast Boy anymore. The room began to get silent, and only the sound of Beast Boy's growling and Raven's heavy breaths echoed. Raven absorbed the pain into her, and let it soak all over her body as she felt him press harder against her soft skin. The shock faded away and determination grew inside of her.
"That's right, Beast Boy," she whispered softly. She had her head held high when she absorbed the pain in, but she leaned her head down slightly to be level with Beast Boy's. She spoke louder, "I bet that felt good, didn't it? All that aggression that needs to be released, and you release it on me,"
Raven moved her left hand and placed it on his soaked forehead and she tried to concentrate while he chewed on her hand like a dog. Raven wasn't getting anything but those loud waves of hatred and anger. The only thing different was the difference in volume when she was far away. She began to form beads of sweat from the loudness ringing in her ears. There had to be something more. She felt like he was holding back, so she decided to encourage.
"Give it to me," she commanded. Beast Boy shook his head no and bit down harder.
"Give it to me now, Beast Boy," she said again while her breath was going ragged. Beast Boy growled and bit down again. Her hand began to bleed and drip into his mouth and down her wrist.
"Beast Boy!" she yelled. Withstanding the pain she tightened her grip around his jaw making her blood flow more down her arm. Beast Boy still refused with loud growls of anger. Raven pushed his head back towards the wall hard and fast with her left hand against his forehead.
"Give me your pain!" Raven shouted again. Beast Boy roared and released her hand. Raven quickly pressed both her hands against her forehead and received a shock of emotion rush all over her body. Her head was pulled back when she was blown away by the flood of emotion and memories from Beast Boy's simple mind. Raven yelled out from the pain, Beast Boy's pain. Beast Boy yelled along with Raven because he could feel the same amount that she felt as it crossed over to her. Something was happening inside both of their minds.
"He loves attention. My Gar is going to be an actor, the best actor on Broadway. I apologize if he disturbed you, Samuel,"
"Rooarr! I'm gonna be king of the jungle! Oh, monkey…aaah!"
"Look at his veins, Mark! It's sakutia."
"Green fever…a disease almost as rare as the cercocebus viridis. Humans can't survive it. Within forty-eight hours your son is going to die,"
"If we can find the missing link between animal to man then we can save Gar's life,"
"Gar! Toss us the rope!"
"Mom! Dad! No!"
"It's okay, Garfield. Uncle Samuel will take care of you,"
"You know you're pretty funny,"
"When there's trouble you know who to call,"
"You're gonna pay for that ya little grass stain!"
"To beat up the idiot telling jokes about him,"
"…because in my opinion you don't deserve it,"
"…on second thought, I'm not sorry and you're a jerk,"
"…you're a coward!"
"When are you going to start taking reality like a man?"
"Instead of a prized changeling, they see a comical screw-up!"
"You were going to tell her everything weren't you?"
"You're such immature pinheads,"
"Leave me alone!"
"Go away!"
Raven fell weak at her knees and unto the floor in front of him. Her mind rang with thoughts of rage, thoughts of sadness, and thoughts of anger. It was so loud she backed away and covered her ears to try and silence the noise, but nothing would work because she had to stop the bleeding coming from her hand. Raven shook as she looked up to Beast Boy. Her blood dripped from his fangs when he would breathe in. His breath was soft, his head was lowered, and more sweat poured from his skin. Slowly, extremely agonizingly slow Beast Boy lifted up his head to her, he was still breathing softly, and then he opened his eyes.
Raven saw them, she saw the sick yellow eyes that Robin described when he was being attacked. They were like cat eyes, except they glowed with a mysterious animal instinct never seen from Beast Boy. It looked like the animal inside got the best of him. He couldn't hold out much longer. He had to let go. Beast Boy looked blind behind those eyes as he stared right into her violet ones but looked sincere. At that moment, Raven could feel Beast Boy. She could feel the pure emotions that powered his soul. It was so soothing to her, but the way those yellow eyes stared at her. Raven never felt more afraid for Beast Boy at that moment. His body shook like his head was too heavy to support, and he spoke softly to her.
"Raven…," he said sincerely. Something wasn't right, and it was then that Raven knew she was in danger, "…run,"
Beast Boy was gone. He roared up to the high heavens above him, and blood spilled out from his mouth and stained his teeth. He started to grow fur, his hands expanded into claws, his muscles morphed and grew in size, his legs transformed into hind legs, he grew a snout, his teeth were larger, his feet were padded and covered in hair. The unbreakable cuff links started to cut into the skin, but the titanium bolts that bounded the cuffs to the wall finally snapped and broke off leaving Beast Boy broken free.
He stopped roaring when he fully transformed into the Beast.
Its eyes were closed again, and it was standing still in front of the broken cuffs and a traumatized Raven. She was afraid but she stood her ground. Then the beast opened his eyes, it was the same yellow eyes and it opened its ugly jaw to screech at her as she coward in fear and turned away.
Cyborg and Starfire busted the door down and was ready to fire sonic blasts and star bolts at the creature. When suddenly the creature roared at them too, and then made himself an exit through the wall after punching both Cyborg and Starfire in the face and onto their backs. Before they could get back up the Beast disappeared.
"Raven you are bleeding!" Starfire shouted.
"C'mon, girl, say somethin'!" Cyborg saw that she was just staring off into space and tried snapping her out of it.
"I'm sorry…," Raven whispered. Cyborg couldn't understand what she was saying, but it was enough to confirm that she was alive, "…I'm sorry….so sorry,"
"Cyborg, help me get her to the infirmary," Starfire said picking up the side of Raven. Cyborg grabbed the other side of her.
"We got to go track down Beast Boy," Cyborg said to Starfire, "before he hurts any innocent people,"
"How are we going to accomplish that, Cyborg?" she asked as they rushed down the hallway.
"I don't know, Star, I don't know,"