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It seems Beast Boy isn't much of a newspaper reader if he hasn't heard about the silver minion yet. But then he's been busy fighting crime, and having lots of fun with a certain redhead.
With the shapes he's getting I think enabling him to change into a swarm of insects might be too much. Still it's something I've actually been thinking about using if I write another story about him.
Just a green Joker. Him and Killer Croc were the first two main villains I saw browsing websites. Not familiar with any of the others other than the Gentleman Ghost, and his abilities are too much.
I plan for Beast Boy and Raven to see each other again in chapter nine. First the whole story of what happened needs to come out.
This chapter reveals the source of the silver minion.
I didn't come across the villain Man Bat when I looked for ideas for shapes. Wish I had. Beast Boy spent quite a few million and only got two new forms, however useful they might be.
That would be a good explanation: That Beast Boy feels more natural in animal shapes. But still, what a lot of abilities he's giving up. The speed of the flash, the strength of a Tamaranian, the ability to change into a dragon,... Someone needs to knock some sense into him.
Time: Two weeks later.
Day of Surrender,... The Villains Revealed,... Beast Boy Babysits,...
The violet-eyed girl traced the newspaper clippings on the wall, wishing she could drop everything to go and find him. That wasn't going to happen. For one thing there was a city of millions that needed her. The damage done by the silver minions had reach over a billion dollars, and was still rapidly climbing. Leaving would mean its collapse; something she doubted the shape shifter would want. And then there was the fear of what might happen should she find him. She closed her eyes for a second, letting them rest.
Batman had searched for him, and had found the place where he'd been staying just three days after he'd left. He'd paid for the room with cash, and had seemed to have plenty to eat. Obviously he wasn't lacking for much, though where he'd gotten the money remained a mystery. For a little over two weeks there'd been a girl who'd visited him each evening, and who'd stayed for the night. Slim and athletic, with red hair and blue eyes, was how the hotel manager had described her.
Jealousy fluttered in her heart, and she carefully analyzed the emotion, placing it in its proper place. For a short while she silently meditated, and when her eyes opened she was only glad that he wasn't alone. To have him so hurt by the betrayal that he would refuse all companionship would've been unbearable. She knew all about loneliness and would never wish that on anyone. Him least of all.
Her communicator beeped and she picked it up. "Yes." She intoned.
"We're heading to the city in five." Cyborg told her.
"Okay." She replied, and turned the device off. Raven closed her eyes once more, and considered the silver minions.
There'd been seven during the last two weeks, following the usual pattern of one every second day. For a while they'd managed to hold their own. They couldn't spray enough acid on one to dissolve it, but they'd used a truck to carry a tank filled with Fluoroantimonic acid. It'd been a risky move, but it'd worked; at least it had the first time. Raven had simply lifted the cybernetic foe and dropped it in the corrosive liquid. For fifteen minutes she'd only to gently nudge it to keep it in the center of the tank, at which point it'd begun to beep, preparing to self-destruct. hen she'd lifted it away from the super acid, and watched it die. That one had only left two miles of debris behind it, doing four million in damage. Which was something they considered a success. Unfortunately, the next one had been designed to counter that trick. It'd altered its sound waves to destroy the tank, creating an environmental nightmare. The city wasn't too happy about that.
The violet-eyed girl peered at a clock, needing several seconds to be sure of the time. If all went according to schedule, the next one would appear in the city in ten minutes. Like finding a quick method of destroying them, all attempts to trace where they came from had failed. She nearly laughed at that. It would've been the perfect job for Beast Boy. With his eyesight as an eagle, he could've flown over the city and might have managed to see one when it arrived; maybe he could've even tracked it back to its place of origin. Oh well. She silently mused. We made our bed, and we've got to lie in it. Too bad the rest of city does too. She pushed herself up and headed to the T-car.
"Raven." Cyborg greeted her, looking like he could barely stand.
"Cy." She intoned. "What's the plan to deal with this one?" She didn't like the way he looked.
He glanced down. "The damage they've done is greater than we previously thought." He told her, not meeting her eyes. "City inspectors found that the infrastructure of some of the buildings was cracked, making them unsafe."
"Oh." Was all she could think to say. "How bad?" She asked, closing her eyes for a second and sighing.
He shrugged and his frown deepened. "Some of those buildings cost tens of millions to build. Replacing them would be..." He took a deep breath. "Between them the machines have covered hundred of miles, and passed over ten thousand buildings. The city estimates the cost of the damage to be over fifteen billion."
"Oh." She said again.
The cybernetic teen continued. "There's cracks in the sewage system as well. Minor, which is why it wasn't spotted earlier, but if left alone it will get worse. The same with the water system." He took another deep breath. "That's going to cost at least ten billion."
"The city?" She asked, looking down. It seemed she'd failed to protect the place for when he returned.
"They can't afford much more damage." The defeated teen informed her. "Twenty-five billion is serious, but not critical to a place like Jump City. We have one more chance to find a way to stop the machines before they decided to try to surrender."
"Any ideas?" She intoned apathetically, yet crying.
"No." There were tears in his one human eye as well.
"They've already appeared." Robin said, entering the room. The look on his face was one of abject defeat. "We're going to try to surrender, and just hope that's what the machines have been waiting for."
"They?" Cyborg asked.
"There's ten of them this time." Boy Wonder replied, clenching his fists. "By the time we handle one the rest of them would've caused ..." His voiced trailed off, and he gave a small tired shrug. "We've lost." He admitted, looking at the floor, unable to meet their gaze with his spirit broken.
"We should see if the machines will accept a surrender before we assume anything." Raven pointed out.
"Truth." Stafire said, staring into space as if lost in thought. "The Gordanians didn't accept our surrender. Instead they destroyed our world. Not just the cities but everything. The oceans and even the atmosphere was changed forever." The tears in her eyes flowed without any attempt at control, pouring freely down her cheeks.
Robin's communicator beeped and he looked at the message on it. "There're ten of the machines in Steel City too." he informed them. "The Titans East are surrendering as well."
"Is Jinx okay?" Cyborg asked, his tone one of pure misery.
"Yeah. No one has any major injuries." Robin told him.
Ten minutes later they stood in front of one of silver minions, and Boy Wonder stepped forward.
"Jump City is nearing collapse." He informed the machine. "We surrender."
The silver minion slowed its forward march, and everyone gave a sigh of relief. It seemed the machines could understand them after all. Previous attempts to negotiate had been met with silence. Then it froze, suddenly emitting a loud beeping. They stepped back.
"I think it's lost its signal with whoever was controlling them." Cyborg said five minutes later. "It's sending the same message over and over."
"What do we do?" Raven asked. "Do we destroy them?"
"No." Robin replied, though he was obviously tempted to say yes. "We gave our surrender, and if we break it who knows what they'll do. But we do continue looking for a weakness, and if we find one ..."
They all nodded. The safety of the city came first. Even before the honor of the Titans.
The wings of the White-throated Needletail grabbed the air, thrusting him forward at a little over eighty miles per hour. Free of having to lug around four hundred pounds of gold, Beast Boy had decided this was the only way to travel. If he really pushed himself, he could cross the thousand mile distance between Gotham and Spark City in a single day. Given the unsatisfiable desire he had to see clear skies once again, and to peer across the limitless miles as a bird was supposed to, the method of travel had been an easy choice to make. That he was tiring a bit easy he blamed on Jenny. She'd showed up despite her classes, and decided to give him one last farewell present. It was a miracle he could even lift his wings after that, let alone fly.
As for his decision to return to Spark City, it was simply a place he liked. Despite its industry the air was clean, and the forest and water were both close by; it was a nice place. Jump City wasn't too far away, and he might even return there for a bit. He'd been unjustly kicked from the team, but there was still points about the place he liked.
He circled, using a thermal to gain some altitude, and resumed the trip. A faint blur of red drew his attention, causing him to tilt his wings to circle around it. It was the heat signature of something, but other than the heat it was invisible. Hot air from a thermal? The shape shifter pondered, and decided it wasn't. The shape wasn't changing. Circling even closer, he let a wing reach out and caress it; it was solid.
Beast Boy followed it to the ground and observed as a silver machine of some sort stepped out. The shape shifter touched the area where it'd appeared, and his hand passed through it. Despite his intelligence, he was still at times reckless, so he poke his head through to take a look. It was the inside of a craft of some sort. He stepped in just as the door slammed forcefully down behind him. Yikes! He thought with a start. If I'd just been poking my neck through like I was a few seconds ago ... He gulped and rubbed his throat.
He stopped as a faint sensation of motion drew his attention; the instincts of prey being hunted caused him to shift his form to that of an amoeba. Looking around, he noticed cameras scanning what he figured was the cargo area of the craft. Until he knew who it was, he thought it best to play it safe. When the atmosphere started draining out of the vessel he panicked and shifted into a tiny Tardigrade, commonly called waterbears. The tiny animal, just a single millimeter in length would, for a time, be able to handle exposure to vacuum. Unable to do much else, he waited.
A clanging noise drew his attention, and the craft started to fill with air again. Deciding to be caution, he waited, hoping to see whose vessel he'd boarded. After an hour the door opened and a giant blue reptile peered in. Beast Boy cringed as he realized he was on a Gordanian ship. Not good. He told himself, wondering what to do. He didn't even know if they were hostile or not. He only knew they'd devastated Starfire's home world, and had taken her as a slave. Then they'd tried to destroy Jump City.
Perhaps staying in Gotham another day wouldn't have been so bad after all. The shape shifter sighed, at a loss as to what to do. If they were hostile then he might be able to handle a couple of them, but he would just be sport to a ship full of the blue creatures.
A few seconds later a couple of the aliens entered, along with another silver humanoid figure. When it nearly walked on him, he reverted back to being human to jump to one side. Immediately they turned towards him, and there was no doubt in his mind they were hostile. They reached for him, and he fled as a cheetah, out-racing them. A hundred feet later, just around a corner, he reverted back to be an amoeba, attempting to hide.
"Shape shifter. We know you have boarded our vessel. Surrender and your death will be less painful." A voice boomed out along the corridor. A minute later it repeated.
Less painful than what? Beast Boy gulped. The message left no doubt they were hostile, which meant only one thing; he would have to fight back. He nearly laughed at the idea. There were at least a hundred of the aliens running through the corridors looking for him, and that were just the ones he'd spotted. It was hopeless. A thought of Raven and her destiny crossed his mind. Hopeless, but doesn't mean I can't try. He settled down to think as more aliens rushed past him, and the voice boomed out several times.
The Joker's blood came to mind. If he were to fill the air with that it would be deadly. The toxin would be carried around the ship by the gentle breeze he felt, and would poison, if not kill, a lot of them. Repeat it a few times, and they might just decide to surrender to him. But that would mean killing. He resumed thinking.
I need to find water. He suddenly thought, amused. What he was about to try might not get them off the ship, but the results would be interesting to watch. Getting to water is going to be a problem. He noted as several of the creatures ran past, with one nearly stepping on him. Thinking on it, he decided that might not be such a bad idea. The aliens would have to drink sometime, and it would likely be water. At least he hoped that was the case. The next time one ran past he attached himself to the leg, and waited.
It was three hours later when the alien stopped in what seemed to be its private quarters, drank and ate, and then dropped off to sleep. Beast Boy became a humming bird and flew over to the faucet. Shifting to a worm, he traced the pipe until he came to a large reservoir of water. There, he reverted to an amoeba and gave the form one command: multiply.
He became two, which became four, which became eight,... which became a trillion, which became,... The reservoir eventually ran dry, and yet he still struggled to reproduce, estimating there were now ten million trillion of him spread out across the ship, lodged in pipes and crawlways, and even blocking whole corridors. The breeze that blew through the ship stopped as the ventilation system was clogged in dozens, and then hundreds of places.
Vaguely the shape shifter was aware of some of the amoeba being destroyed, but he could divide in thirty seconds and the lost ones were quickly replaced. The air became stale, and then deadly, as the oxygen in it vanished. For all their immense physical strength, Gordanians needed to breathe, and they could no longer do that. Even the breathing masks they might've used were now contaminated with the amoeba. Given a choice of death or fleeing, they chose to abandon the ship.
The multitude of amoeba became a dying mass as even they could no longer breathe the toxic air. He waited as a loriciferans, not needing oxygen, as the ship struggled to put itself in order again. The slight vibration he felt had him worried. Still he waited, and soon the air became breathable once more as the ventilation system was cleared.
He walked through the empty ship, watching as an army of small machines cleaned away the mess, still not sure what to do. Sure he'd just sent several hundred Gordanians fleeing, but he was still stuck on the vessel; a vessel which he was almost certain wasn't even close to the earth anymore. Where it was going he didn't even want to guess.
Wandering the halls, trying to find the control center, he came across the brig. I wonder if there are any prisoners. Beast Boy thought, suddenly feeling weak. What if there were, and my attack killed them. Trembling, he walked around, peering into the cells. One was occupied by a small unmoving form.
Pushing the button to open the door, Beast Boy stepped into the cell. The small female figure turned to look at him, eyes wide and scared, but still alive. He breathed a sigh of relief, yet was puzzled. He'd seen a hint of recognition in her eyes, yet he was definitely sure he'd never seen her before. So where would she have seen him? The shape shifter pushed the thought to one side, deciding it might be a mistake due her being an alien.
"Who are you?" He asked, and then almost kicked himself, knowing there was no way she could understand English.
"Aeopie." The scared figure replied in a timid voice.
Startled he studied her. She looked like your ordinary nine or ten year old girl except for her orange eyes and hair. Like a Tamaranian there was an orange tint to her skin. A strange contraption was on her head, and there were shackles around her wrists. "How do you know English?" He asked, trying to keep his voice gentle so as not to scare her more than she already was. There was a long pause, as the question seemed to terrify her despite his tone.
"The ship's translator is still working." She finally explained.
He knew she was lying. Her already intense fear had spiked as she'd said the words. "Are you Tamaranian?" He asked.
Aeopie shook her head. "No."
Beast Boy studied her some more. "I'm going to take the shackles off, okay?"
The girl cringed from him, drawing even further back into the corner where he'd found her.
"Don't you want them took off?" He asked, trying not to sound threatening.
She looked at her wrists, and finally nodded, holding them out.
He approached her, nose wrinkling as he realized just how terrified she was. His heart broke seeing the marks on her cheeks where she'd cried. Her frail form trembled as he worked on the shackles. He wasn't as good at picking locks as Robin, and it took him five minutes before they fell away. Immediately she tried to pushed herself back into the corner further.
"Why did the Gordanians take you prisoner?" Beast Boy asked, and nearly sighed as the question seemed to only cause her more fear. The front of her pant became wet and he turned away, embarrassed and not knowing what to do. "I'm not going to hurt you." He told her. "If I knew how this ship worked I would even take you back home." He didn't know why that made her tremble even more. Didn't she want to go back home to her own people? He backed off and sat in the far corner. "I'm not going to hurt you." He repeated, watching as she shivered uncontrollably while fiddling with the contraption on her head. "You want that took off?" He asked.
She gave him a surprised looked, and then a faint nod. Still she tried to push herself through the wall as he approached. For some reason the device had four locks, and was very secure.
"What does this do anyway?" The shape shifter asked, still working on it. Shaking violently, she didn't give a reply. Soon it came off, and for a second there was a strange sensation in his head. Moving back to the far corner once again he sat down.
"I don't suppose you know how to pilot this ship?" He mused with a sigh.
The girl rapidly shook her head, staring down at the floor.
The shape shifter blinked at the reaction. It was far more energetic than anything she'd done so far other than the nonstop trembling. "You do." He said, almost as an experiment, only to see her suddenly stand and flee.
Not knowing what else to do, he stood and gave chase. She was slower than an earth girl of the same age would be, and his altered genes made him fast. He caught her before she could even reach the door to the cell. "It's okay." He insisted. Not knowing what else to do, he held her as tears poured down her cheeks with her frail form pulling against his grip.
Ye gods, I almost wish it'd been Slade or the Joker in that cell. Beast Boy cried inside. What do I do? "Look." He told her. "If you know how to run the ship then lets just go to the control room, and you'll be back home however fast it can get us there."
Something inside the poor girl seemed to break, and she just nodded, looking like she was about to die. "Okay." She intoned, as if no longer able to feel. She led the way to what he guessed was the bridge of the ship. It certainly seemed to have a lot of consoles and stuff.
Not a good place for a person like me. He mused. According to Cyborg I can break a device just by looking at it. I'm sure he was exaggerating though. He gave it some more thought. Pretty sure anyway.
"Ship. Coordinates for Talyn Beta Prime." The girl stated in a voice choked with tears. A mechanical voice read off a large stream of numbers which the girl punched into a console. It was so simple Beast Boy thought even he might be able to do it.
"Ship. Please give me coordinates to Earth." He tried.
"Invalid query. Term 'Please' not understood." Came the reply.
"Guess the Gordanians don't have a word for please." He mused aloud and gave it another try. "Ship. Coordinates for Earth." He clearly stated.
"Invalid query. Location Earth too unspecific." The ship replied.
"Ship. Coordinates for Sol Gamma Prime." The girl intoned, and the ship read off another long stream of numbers.
"Oh. I get it. Sol is the name of the star, so the name of your home star would be Talyn." Beast Boy said.
The girl nodded with her eyes seemingly vacant. It looked like fear had burned all emotion from her.
"Beta. So your planet is the second planet around Talyn. Gamma for three since Earth is the third planet." He queried further.
The girl called Aeopie nodded again, and trembled. Then tears started to run down her face again. Beast Boy nearly cried himself in frustration. It's almost like dealing with Timid, only worse. He sighed to himself, once again feeling a strange sensation in his head.
"Don't you want to go home?" He asked quietly.
She shook her head violently once again.
"Why not."
"They will kill me." She simply stated.
He blinked, surprised at the words. "But you're just a kid. I'm sure they won't."
"They will." Came a trembling response that booked no argument.
"I'll bet the Gordanians just told you that to scare you." He answered.
"I broke the primary law of my people." She stated, tears still streaming down her face. "It doesn't matter if I'm nine. They will kill me for it."
He looked at her doubtful. "You sure?" He asked, carefully studying her reaction.
She nodded. "It's the one absolute law of my people. The only punishment is death. No exception."
"How long has this law been in place, and has there ever been any exception?" The shape shifter asked, swallowing, still closely watching her.
"Nineteen thousand, six hundred, and forty-two years." Aeopie stated without hesitation. "There are no exceptions. Nine hundred and seventeen people have been executed for it. Forty-one of them were my age or younger and broke it accidentally."
"Accidentally and they were still executed? Children?" He gulped, pretty sure she was telling the truth as she knew it.
The girl nodded.
"Stop the ship." He told her gently. "I don't see much point in rescuing you from the brig of a Gordanian ship only to send you to your death."
"Ship! Stop!" The girl immediately stated, her voice still filled with fear.
"Stopped." The mechanical voice of the ship stated.
"What's the law you broke?" Beast Boy asked, keeping his voice gentle. The girl kept quiet, while once again he felt a strange sensation in head. With a sigh he rubbed his temples, wondering if he was getting a headache.
"I wonder what sort of food they have aboard here." He mused, almost for just for a change of subject. "I'm betting if Tamaranian food is bad then Gordanian food must be the worse in the universe."
The girl swallowed a few times. "They got my type of food aboard." She quietly replied, still glancing at him nervously. "Are you going to kill me?" She asked, obviously expecting him to say yes.
"No. Why would I?" The shape shifter asked, still confused.
"You don't kn..." Aeopie started to say, and then went quiet. "Food might be nice." She added, looking at the console. "And it's okay for earth people too."
Gordanian food turned out to be snakes and small rodents that were frozen. Aeopie's type of food turned out to be a sort of cake. The girl, who obviously knew where everything was, grabbed several pieces and ate fast, clearly hungry.
Beast Boy tried a piece and found it good. Nervous that it might not be compatible with humans he still ate. If it was poisonous he could counter it with a shape change. There were a variety of flavors and he tried three. "Is this food healthy for your people, or is it more like junk food?" He asked.
"Normal." Came the reply. The girl was looking down at herself, turning a bright orange.
She was so nervous she's only just realized she peed herself. Beast Boy realized with surprise. But her nervousness is starting to fade. He noted with relief, and made no mention he'd noticed her state. There was no need to embarrass her further. "Can you set the coordinates to earth?" He asked, only to see her fear flare up again. He closed his eyes and bite the inside of his mouth to keep from crying.
"Why're you afraid of earth?" He asked, once again focusing on keeping his voice calm.
She shrugged. "It's where I broke the law." Her voice was filled with heart wrenching terror.
"What's the law you broke?" There was no response. He could set the coordinates himself since she'd shown him how, but he didn't want to kill her with a fear-induced heart attack.
"Any place around here known for strong animals?" He asked, wondering.
Eagerly she nodded. "There are plenty of places no ones goes to because the wildlife is dangerous." She replied.
"How about we spend some time at one?" Beast Boy asked.
Without hesitation Aeopie nodded. Her own people it seemed might terrify her. The thought of earth might cause her to cringe. But a planet full of animals that people like the Gordanains avoided was perfectly okay. Strange. Beast Boy mused with frustration, just glad she wasn't crying. "Why did the ship leave earth?" He asked.
Still trembling, if not as much, the girl replied. "When all the Gordanians left the ship would've detected it, and would've automatically tried to return home."
"Oh. I guess that makes sense." He replied. "I doubt it's a place I would've liked." He swallowed nervously at the thought.
"Me either." Aeopie answered. "They would've destroyed the ship before it could land."
"Why?" He wondered aloud.
The girl froze for a second as if realizing she'd said something wrong, and grabbed another piece of cake nervously. There was still fear in her eyes as she glanced at him.
This is going to be a long day. Beast Boy decided.
End of Chapter.
In the show Raven ends up babysitting. So lets see how Beast Boy does. Poor Beast Boy.
Many thanks to those who read and review.
