Back for more!

Sorry about the longer wait time. Took more time than I thought it would.

Shoutout first to my brilliant beta labreck01, fighting through surgery recovery at the moment.

And also to EmeraldsAndDaggers, whose excellent story 'Titans Together' was and is a direct inspiration for me. Go check out her stuff! Shan't be dissapointed!

Review Responses:
Sperance - Haha, I'm glad you got a laugh out of it! Glad you understood the dialogue sections. Seems some struggled with it.

ExNativo - I do feel sorry for Plasmus, poor disgusting mess. Yeah man, that about sums it up :)

The Flying Frog - Excellent! Exactly man, he's trying to walk a line when it's not even there anymore. That's true about the alter ego thing. I might incorporate that somewhere. I would tend to agree with you there. Haha, Alfred FTW.

Jimmy1201 - Thank for that man. I read the dialogue pieces over and over trying to get them right. Nice to know it paid off.

Spirit Of The Black Wolf - Hey man! I'm glad you liked Batman, seems I did something right with him :)

Newboy - It would seem your assumption may be correct!

Read on!

Chapter 25: Evolution

'Goddammit! How the hell is skipping this damn tough?!'

Beastboy sucked as much air as he could between his teeth. Forcing his lungs to expand with the air he forced into them. Sweat dripped freely from the ends of his fringe, sliding down his face in a salty trail before dripping off the curve of his chin to splash onto his bare chest.

It had been a long time since he had felt the painful ache in his arms and shoulders. Now they felt like they were made of lead. But still his wrists flipped the weighted rope over his head over and over again; fists tense as they clenched the heavy handles through the sweat.

'...Don't look at the clock, don't look at the clock...Just focus...Right, left, right, left...Damn, my legs hurt...'

He glanced up from the ground to the floor length mirror in front of him, desperately trying to distract himself from the burning of his abused muscles.

He tiredly studied his reflection through the spinning the rope. Took in the skinny arms, the thin chest, the loose gym shorts that itched so terribly badly and finally the short legs. He glared at the image and looked down again. Forcing energy through his arms and legs, he sped up his tempo, getting lost in the repetitive tapping of the rope against the stone.

'I'm here to change. I can change. I will change!'

When the alarm finally cut through the air, Beastboy lost no time in collapsing to ground. He greeted the cold rock with a gasp of satisfaction. 'Uhh, that was really, really crap.'

"How long?"

Beastboy was too tired to be surprised at the sudden voice above him. "Thr-huh-three hours."

The Batman gave no reaction.

"Kitchen. Ten minutes."

"Ughhhh..."

8 minutes later Beastboy limped into the batcave kitchen, fresh from the shower.

He had already learned to never keep the Batman waiting.

He had just sat down to the table with a tall glass of orange juice when the boss himself swept into the cave, fully dressed as always.

Beastboy wondered if the tingle that shivered up his spine every time he saw the Caped Crusader would ever stop. 'He looks like a lioness eyeing up a limping zebra.' He couldn't help but lean back as Batman swiftly took his usual seat opposite. He began without preamble.

"I have finished the majority of the primary tests I wanted to conduct. I believe I have a basic understanding of how your powers work on a physical level."

Beastboy couldn't help interrupt. "Really? Even Mento couldn't figure how I..." He trailed off at the glare he was receiving.

"...ticked." He finished lamely.

'When will I freakin' learn?!'

"Yes. Really." Batman said flatly before continuing.

"You have cancer."

Beastboy stared, mind going blanker than the mission reports he used to hand in to Robin.

"That's what Sakutia is – the most extreme form of cancer ever recorded that affects every cell in in the infected's body. Primary symptons include turning the skin green and accelerated development of incisors, ears and nails. You, of course, still exhibit these symptoms."

"Yeah I know all that, but I didn't know it was a cancer. Go back to tha..." He trailed off again. "...sorry..." He said in a very small voice.

Batman continued as if there had been no pause.

"The reason you are not dead, as we know, is because of your parents. They realized that 99 percent of animals besides Homo Sapiens were immune to the Sakutia virus, though they didn't understand why. As far as I know, it still remains a mystery today. They theorized that by integrating the very basest of animal cells, the unique properties it contained would stop the spread of the Sakutia and save your life. They were right of course.

"Through a process that I cannot begin to fathom, they managed to replace half of your DNA structure with that of a single cell animal amoeba. This means that the DNA that is currently inside you is composed of that of the most evolved and the least evolved animals on the planet – Human and amoeba.

"In his reports on you, Cyborg theorized that your DNA structure was continually changing and he was right. Where the two strands of DNA meet is an every changing and fluctuating third DNA."

"I have three types of DNA?" The thought of cancer disappeared.

"The human and animal strands need to find some common ground to meet on and this is where you come you mentally start the transformation process you are actually controlling the third type of DNA, shifting it up to more evolved animals or down towards lesser evolved ones. You possess both the most advanced and the most basic DNA there is, meaning that anything in between is accessible.

"Now, when the third type twists into the DNA you want, your body reacts to it in a way I'm not certain of yet. However, I can tell you that when I analysed the blood samples I took from various animal forms of yours, I found a small percent of entirely human DNA in each one of them. I'm reasonably sure this is why you retain your intelligence, emotion and the ability to think, while in an animal form.

"What about the amoeba DNA?" Beastboy asked. He had entirely concentrated on the conversation, knowing that understanding his powers would inevitably help him understanding his problem. The amoeba DNA intrigued him. It would make sense that it would be one of the defining causes behind his Beast form. The where the very definition of animalistic, the most basic, primal animals there was. He wished Batman would get back to the cancer though. That was worrying.

"Interestingly, I only found trace amounts of the amoeba DNA in the blood of the animal forms. I'll look into it."

"Okay, that's great! I never know any of this! But...cancer?!"

"That was next." Beastboy cringed, cursing his big mouth again. "Cancer is uncontrolled replication of body cells. Your Sakutia cancer however, is kept in check by the amoeba DNA your parents administrated. Except when you shift. As your selected third DNA spreads through your cells, they replicate accordingly almost instantaneously. This is how you are able to grow to larger sizes and gain weight. Every single cell replicates itself. The process reverses when you change back to your human form. The cells fold back into themselves. This happens when you shift into something smaller than yourself as well. Your cells collapse into each other and then replicate when you change back. I theorize that this is the reason you struggle with exceptionally small animal forms such as fleas. The energy needed to replicate such a small amount of cells to reach human size is extraordinary. Because of this, I theorize your metabolism would compare to the Flash's. This, I believe, is the fundamental physical science of your powers. I see no reason to investigate further.

One look at Beastboy's face was all Batman needed to answer the forthcoming question.

"I'll ask Alfred to explain it in simpler terms for you later. How did you learn to shapeshift?"

Thrown out of his slack-jawed stupor by the quick turn of conversation, Beastboy answered. "Ahh...The first time I morphed was by accident. I was protecting- I had to kill a snake and I suddenly found myself as a mongoose tearing it apart. Scared the hell out of me." Beastboy finished with a forced smile, trying to bury the memory beneath humor.

Batman stared at him, musing. 'Psychological state isn't good. Obvious he has repressed issues in regards to his past and parents. It's medical fact that emotional repression has physical ramifications in humans. What sort of effect could it have on a metahuman? Must explore further, perhaps Alfred can be of assistance.' He mused to himself.

Beastboy felt himself grow uncomfortable under Batman's scrutiny. 'Dammit, should have just have just told him the whole story. Now he's going to get suspicious and probably punish me! God, his eyes are terrifying! He probably thinks I'm lying and is going to kick me out and then I'll have blown my only chance at ever getting better and-'

"And how did you train yourself after the initial discovery?"

Beastboy let out a ragged breath and felt his paranoia drain out of him. Dammit, he shouldn't be falling apart like this! 'Get it together, Beastboy! Stop freaking out for no reason! Faith, remember? Faith!' He inhaled slowly and answered.

"It was mostly experimentation. I would just sort of feel out what I wanted to turn into. It was really difficult at first. I would try to turn into a cat and morph into a dog instead. But I used to practice all day, every day. Especially after…" He shook his head and forced his mind off of that particular event, "Slowly it became easier, but then I would have trouble morphing into wolves instead of dogs. Then it eventually came down to species, which I still have sometimes have trouble with.

"Such as?"

"I still have trouble choosing between a Siberian Husky and an Alaskan Husky, I've never seemed to be able to get that. And that applies to other animals as well, like different kinds of horses or eagles."

"Interesting."

'It would make sense that broad movement up and down the spectrum of evolution would come first. And that precise species morphs would be difficult. Fascinating.'

"We will begin the next phase of your training now that I more fully understand what I am working with. Your physical conditioning will be stepped up as well."

"What? Why? You just said my cells replicate when I shift, what's the point?" He was too relieved at the lack of deadly cancer and happy at the idea of finally starting his training to wilt under Batman's glare. Much.

"Because the cells replicate based on this form you are in now; your human form. Fat cells, muscles cells, red blood cells. If you are out of shape, the gorilla you shift into will be out shape. Overweight human; overweight horse. Get the idea?"

"I think I do! Thanks Bats, that's..." the words died in his throat at the slight narrowing of Batman's eyes. "...that's great..." he whispered, eyes wide and ears down.

'And I thought Raven's glare was terrifying! He's in a whole new league... Whole new Justice league I should say! Haha! Damn, I'm hilarious! No! Crap, don't smile!"

Batman experienced an unfamiliar feeling of discontent at Beastboy's fleeting twitch of the lips.

"Sorry," Beastboy apologized contritely, "So what will we be doing?"

"We will be bringing out more amoeba DNA in your forms and more importantly, in your human form."

Beastboy furrowed his brow as he picked up his orange juice. "I'm sorry, what exactly does that mean?"

Batman met the teen's eye.

"It means I'm going to turn you into a real hero. Gym, one hour."

Beastboy pirouetted on one foot, driving his leg around before snapping it into the punching bag as he spun. It was a standard taekwondo hook kick, executed almost perfectly. Using the momentum from the spin he turned and delivered a straight jab into the bag following it up with a hook, then a side kick.

During his time with the Doom Patrol he had been taught taekwondo and karate rigorously, as Mento had required everyone on his team to be proficient in hand to hand combat. Beastboy remembered with a wince the countless times he had been slammed to the training mat or soundly beaten during a sparring session.

The religious training had paid off however. He was a very capable martial artist. However, as he drove another fist into the worn punching bag, he reflected on how much he disliked it. It had been the one part of his training in the Doom Patrol that he had hated. Beastboy had often wondered why he loathed the fighting styles he had been trained in so much. It was something to do the rigidness of it. How it was so unyielding and stiff. Your feet had to be positioned like this, fist had to connect like that, shoulders turned just so. It was so controlled and systematic. So boringly unnatural.

But still, Batman had told him that hand to hand combat was to be included in his training and he was determined to remember all he had learned and progress quickly. He attacked the bag with renewed vigor, again feeling discomfort at the stiff, unbending movements.

"Your training will begin now."

"Dahh!" Beastboy completely missed a roundhouse kick as he tried to twist to see the man behind him. He just recovered and turned to face Batman.

"Awareness needs work." Batman noted dryly. Beastboy scratched the back of his neck sheepishly.

"So are we continuing karate or taekwondo or starting something new?" He asked, hoping against hope it would be the latter.

Batman regarded him silently for a few moments before speaking. "Something new." With that he withdrew a computer tablet from his cloak, clicked it on and passed it to Beastboy.

Accepting it excitedly, he glanced down at the display and read the title, "A Beginners Guide to Break Dancing.' Beastboy did an almost comical double take and read the title again before turning to the Bat incredulously, "Breakdancing? You're going to teach me breakdancing?!"

Batman grunted, "Don't be absurd."

Beastboy let out a laugh. He must have made a mistake on the tablet. "Haha, I thought for a minute ther-"

"You're going to teach yourself. One hour a day."

Beastboys mouth dropped open; he stared at the Dark Knight disbelievingly. "You're serious?"

Batman glared.

Thoroughly taken back and still partially believing this entire thing was a joke, Beastboy asked the logical question, "Why?"

Batman started speaking immediately, anticipating the query. "You try to fight like a human. Poorly. Most likely because you are not human. My main goal at the moment is to get you in touch with your animal side. I believe that that is the only way you are going to reach your maximum potential, as a fighter and hero. This particular activity is all about using all your body parts equally, being inventive and unorthodox, following instincts, moving in a decidedly inhuman manner and letting your body speak for you. I theorize that this combination of stimuli will aide in breaking down any and all movement handicaps that have been placed on you."

Beastboy just stared. He had felt his heart twist in his chest at the accusation of being inhuman. Well, less of an accusation and more of a statement of fact. This very real pain was conflicting terribly with the surreality of the situation. 'Batman wants me to learn how to breakdance.'

"This links to your combat training. There is no point in continuing your education in martial arts. Your discomfort with the styles you have already started highlights how unnatural that form of fighting is to you. I believe you will reject any codified system of combat that exists. Instead, we will work on developing your own hand to hand fighting style using the animal style techniques of traditional kung-fu and Brazilian capoeira as a loose guide. Focus will be on innovation, instinctual awareness, equal use of all four limbs and unorthodox movement; thus your dancing education."

"Awesome," breathed Beastboy, mind finally giving up on trying to understand the situation and just accepting it. Then a thought occurred to him. "How do you invent a fighting style?"

"Simple."

Beastboy was thrown backwards by the force of the punch he never saw coming. Landing painfully on his back, he gasped for breath clutching his chest. Batman continued talking like nothing had happened.

"We will fight."

'I knew he was going to say that.' Beastboy thought as he stared at the stone ceiling with a sense of impending doom.

"You must be aware."

Batman was suddenly above him, one knee spearing downwards.

Not even having time to curse, Beastboy rolled sideways, Batman slamming into the ground behind him, and sprang to his feet.

"Strike with the speed of a snake."

He was suddenly directly in front of Beastboy, raining light, but painful blows on his head and torso.

"And the strength of a tiger."

A black fist planted square on Beastboy's raised forearms and drove straight through, striking him soundly on the forehead. He backpedaled and swung a foot out wildly, aiming for the midsection.

"Be agile, like a monkey."

The deep calm voice spoke as Batman leapt over the hook kick, landing in a hand stand. Beastboy, seizing the opportunity, he crouched and swept a leg down low, hoping to take his arms out from under him with the heel of his foot.

"Unpredictable as a house fly."

Batman dropped from his hands towards Beastboy, landing on his forearms and fists. Instead of contacting Batman's wrists with his heel, the back of Beastboy's knee struck Batman's solid hand, having no effect whatsoever.

"Powerful as an elephant."

Beastboy suddenly found a boot on each side of his head, squeezing tightly.

'Uh oh.'

In a mighty contraction, Batman straightened his legs and released his student, tossing Beastboy bodily through the air to land tumbling on the mat.

He stood up, wobbling as Batman approached. It felt like his neck had lengthened a few inches. In preparation of more to come, he fell into a combat stance.

"But I don't need to tell you any of this."

Batman stopped short, glaring intently.

"This is why you cannot fight back." He cast his eyes down Beastboy's body.

'Crap, what have I done now?'

Beastboy looked down at himself in confusion.

'What? I don't get it. This is a perfect pos...ohh.'

A perfect karate stance.

"This is why you are learning to dance. Because you have forgotten how to."

Oddly enough, Beastboy found himself getting annoyed, even angry.

'Since when was dancing such a big deal to the freakin' Batman?! I thought I was meant to be learning how to fight, what's he talking about?'

He opened his mouth to say words he would probably regret when a thought occurred to him that sounded suspiciously like something Raven would say. "Don't be an idiot Beastboy. Think about it. Maybe he's not talking about dancing. It's got something to do with the karate stance and what he meant when he said he shouldn't need to tell you anything. What could that mean?'

Batman watched the cogs turn in the titan's head, satisfied.'Good. He is learning to think.'

Realization dawned on Beastboy's face.

"You're saying that I have to...unlearn the martial arts before I can create one myself?" Beastboy half asked.

'Not quite.'

"Yes, that is one step."

"Ohhh, so that's why I'm learning breakdancing!" Beastboy said excitedly, bouncing on his feet."To got rid of the martial arts movements Mento drilled into me!"

Something clicked in Batman's head. 'Research further.'

"Yes, and to set you up for learning and developing your own style."

Beastboy's entire face lit up in a bright, genuine smile and he seemed to glow with happiness.

Batman narrowed his eyes.

'Abnormally strong reaction. Lack of confidence? Believes himself to be unintelligent? Further evidence of poor mental state. Must pursue.'

A quiet beep sounded inside Batman's cowl. An alarm from the Batcomputer.

"Batgirl."

Beastboy stopped his celebratory victory dance at the name.

A shadow dropped directly in front of him. "Dahh!"

"Yes?"

"Light sparring, punish any traditional movement."

With that he swept off.

A uniformed Batgirl turned to find a wide eyed Beastboy lying on the ground.

"Where did you come from?" He demanded.

"Watching from roof,"

Beastboy smirked and got to his feet. "Where you now? Are you stalking me madam?"

Then he was on his back again, this time with a Batgirl on his chest, featureless mask uncomfortably close to his face.

"No need for stalk. Hunt still too easy."

Oh, he wasn't going to take that lying down.

You know, once she let him up.

The insides of the evil cathedral was lit up momentarily by a brilliant flash of fork lightening.

The sudden light threw the three men into sharp contrast. One, naked, lay locked onto a pristine operating table, eyes shut, tubes inserted into his forearms, liquids flowing freely within them. Another, squatting forward in a steel chair next to him, eyes examining behind ancient goggles, hand manipulating a syringe that drew dark blood. And a third that stood proud at the head of the table, hands clasped behind back, feet shoulder width apart, mind appreciating the dramatic weather.

'Perfectly Franksteinian.'

His gaze alighted upon a row of large test tubes, standing neatly in a row; the contents of the first half a purplish yellow, the second a stark white.

"An update professor, if you please."

Professor Chang fell heavily back into his chair. He had been working day and night over James T. Roberts for the past four days with only a few drops of alcohol a day to keep him going. He held out a sagging hand towards his boss.

"Report, then reward."

Chang's piggy eyes narrowed under his googles. God, he hated that man or whatever the hell he was. He clapped the now full syringe down on the table and slowly pulled his goggles up onto his forehead. The man, infuriatingly, showed no signs of impatience or annoyance. Deciding the quickest way to a drink was to talk, he started.

"I was right. The plasma this bastard excretes reacts completely differently to poisonous materials than ours does. Somehow, instead of degrading when exposed to harmful substances, the plasma takes energy from them, like a fuel source." He wiped his dripping nose with the sleeve of his coat as he stood and shuffled over to the row of test tubes.

The professor withdrew a small vial from inside his coat. "This is diazomethane, a particularly harsh chemical used in sewage treatment. Observe." He enjoyed lecturing his employer when he had the chance. He popped the top off one of the test tube filled with white matter.

"This is the compound he have developed." With that he poured into it a single drop from his vial.

The figure watched as the drop sizzled atop the substance before cutting its way down through it. The semi-solid compound was soon reduced to a watery liquid in the bottom of the tube.

"As you can see, our compound breaks down upon contact. Now compare that to this."

He poured another drop into a test tube filled with the murky plasma taken from Plasmus. The poison sank immediately into the liquid, turning the color noticeably darker. A few seconds before the plasma started to expand up the test tube until it was overflowing. Chang cursed and dropped the container down onto the desk where sat a moment before cracking under the strain of the growing substance within.

The figure mused silently. That was probably why the creature sought out industrial plants or other places where chemicals were used when it appeared. It was hungry.

"The white matter was developed based on the plasma. Why did it not inherit this trait?"

Chang reached out a hand in reply, a sickening grin on his face.

Crushing the urge to crush the man's windpipe, the figure pulled out a bottle and tossed it at the man. He watched with disgust as Chang fumbled it from the air like a mother her child, broke the seal with his gray teeth and drank greedily.

Half a minute later, Chang collapsed into his chair, uncaring of the sweat from his greasy hair that splattered onto the man on the table. He could feel the shaking in his arms slow as the drink took its effect.

"Continue." The voice spoke with a trace of threat.

Heaving a wear sigh and taking another slug from the bottle, Chang continued.

"When I reverse engineered the plasma, I was focusing on replicating the consistency of the material and how it bonded together. It's power source had been decided from the beginning. I didn't take it into account."

"Can you now?"

"Of course I can! I'm the greatest scientific mind in existence! I just don't know how long it will take. 6 months maybe?"

"I am prepared to double your compensation if you half that time."

The professor paled. Double?!

He turned to the man on the table and slapped his head in a rare fit of glee.

"Looks like a rough few months for you, my friend."

Alright!

May not have been the most exciting reading, but hopefully you found Batman's findings an interesting take on Beastboy's powers. This is as deep as I'm going to go with Beastboy's powers. I don't want to make the mistake of over complicating everything. I think I'll leave it at that.

Also managed to sneak a bit of Batgirl in :)

First time skip of any real importance next chapter!

To the guest that left a review talking about Beastboy and Deathstroke's history - please message me as I has questions for you!

All the best,

CJB