Chapter Six: The Grand Return

Beast Boy used to hate these silences. It wasn't really silent, not when the cars and noises of the city buzzed in his ears. But Star was quiet, she wasn't humming or tapping the cement they sat on. Her legs were still against the building. When Star got quiet like this, it meant they were going to have a meaningful talk. Beast Boy used to be scared to talk to Star, used to think she would hate him or he would mess something up. But after a few conversations with the alien princess, he began to realize that maybe these silences weren't so bad.

"Friend Beast Boy?" Starfire asked.

"What's up?" He answered.

"Are you the well?" She asked.

"Huh?" Beast Boy asked, startled. Starfire didn't respond for a minute, staring into the street, watching normal people live their normal lives. Her legs were still against the building's edge.

"I have watched a television program about human mental health. Apparently, severe stress or trauma could have adverse effects on human minds. We battle crime on a daily basis. It may be probably that you and all our friends are experiencing these adverse effects," Star explained.

"Nah, I'm good. I've been dancing to this tune my whole life, I know how to tango. But wait, Tamaraneans don't have that? I guess that makes sense, that you're a warrior race. It'd be disadvantageous for you guys to be struggling with PTSD when war is part of your culture. Then again, it's the same for humans. Guess you guys must have gone through more evolution than us. That's kinda wild. You think humans will end up like Tamaraneans in a few thousand years?" Beast Boy wondered.

"Perhaps. But this program also said that young minds were most at risk for the damage to be imparted upon," Starfire said, looking at him. "I am concerned that you are suffering from the brain damage."

"Raven would definitely say I am," Beast Boy chuckled. "I'm pretty sure she said something similar this morning. I was making my tofu, and Cyborg was all like, 'I don't know how you stand that stuff'. So I told him I couldn't stand his murder buffet, and we got into an argument, and Raven, she said that I have an enzyme deficiency, whatever that means. Can you believe that she took Cy's side? I mean–"

"Beast Boy," Starfire interrupted. "You are doing the deflection. You are not truthful."

"Whaaaat? Noooo. That's crazy. I'm not lying. What reason would I have to lie? I'm not lying, I never lie." Beast Boy laughed forcedly, grabbing the edge of the building.

"Beast Boy, you are a dear friend," Starfire said, putting a hand on his shoulder, feeling his flinch. "I only ask because I am the concerned for you."

"Don't worry about me Star, I'm Beast Boy! I can handle anything," Beast Boy assured her.

"I know you can Friend," Starfire smiled sadly. "But you should not have to handle it alone. You have aided me and all of our friends with our issues in the past. But I do not think we have supported you as we should. When I needed consolement about my sister's betrayal, you came and comforted me. When Robin was in his 'funks' as you say, you would help me drag him from the evidence lab and play the games of video with him. Whenever Cyborg was frustrated by something, you would cheer him up. And you were always there for Raven, especially after Malchior. And yet, when you were captured by Soto, who consoled you? When the Brotherhood of Evil got you in a funk, who dragged you out of it? Beast Boy, I fear we have failed you. You have always put the team's needs before your own, but we have been so selfish and ignored your plights."

Starfire was crying now, wet tears rolling down her face. Beast Boy leaned over and hugged her. "Hey, no, you've been so good to me. I know you guys love me."

Starfire chuckled, but hugged him back. "Even now you console me."

Just then there was a beeping from their communicators. It was the crime alert.


At first the cavern seemed empty. The faint, flickering lights betrayed no enemies. It was just an abandoned mineshaft, still littered with random carts and various mining supplies that had been discarded in a hurry. No explosives, thank goodness.

Beast Boy couldn't smell anything either. If there really was a disturbance here, his nose didn't pick it up. All he smelled was metal and oil and earth.

The five Titans advanced slowly. The descriptions given by the terrified miners weren't all that helpful. Some said the shadows had attacked them, while others claimed it was some kind of monster. That ruled out Cinderblock, Plasmus and Overload, since they were hard to miss. Whoever the attacker(s?) were, they were stealthy. In a room with this kind of lighting, they had a distinct advantage. Hopefully it wasn't Red X, that dude was so annoying.

As the Titans crossed the center of the room, all the lights flared suddenly. Beast Boy covered his eyes to block out the light. When his vision recovered, Beast Boy groaned. They were surrounded by Slade bots.

"Slade!" Robin called.

"Yes my boy. It's been a while, hasn't it?" The masked criminal spoke. He stood atop a large longwall shearer, its orange metal matching the left side of the villain's mask. "I was hoping to announce or reunion a little more publically, but it seems you found my present."

"So it was you who set the bombs!" Robin declared.

"Who else?" Slade asked. "Please, do you really think that Psimon or Mumbo had the tact to pull this off? I'm almost disappointed."

"I don't why you came back, but this time you're going away for good. Titans go!" Robin shouted.

The five teenagers charged, engaging the androids. They were faster and stronger than the last time the Titans had encountered them, but so were they. Robin plowed through them, stabbing holes through the metal men with his staff as he tried to make his way towards Slade. Cyborg was at his side, blasting away at any robot in his sights. The duo smashed and bashed away, but they were swarmed, and the sheer number of robots were quickly putting them on the defensive. Starfire flew through the robots, tearing through them like cardboard. When they got smart and started dodging out of her way, she took to the air and rained starbolts down on the iron army. The instant she did so, red lasers blasted at her, knocking her from the sky. Instantly several androids pounced on her. Raven came to her rescue, telekinetically ripping the robots off her and throwing them at the spots the lasers came from. More red bolts fired at her, but instantly she was wrapped in a black bubble. The lasers bombarded it for several seconds before spears of darkness erupted from the bubble, piercing the robots with their laser guns. No more laser bolts came.

Beast Boy was not having the same success as his teammates. Every time he tried to fight a robot, it'd just backflip out of the way and run at Robin or Starfire or whoever. He tried morphing into bigger animals, but they just ran around him. Not cool! Was Slade mocking him or something? Was he not a big enough threat to warrant his robots? These thoughts made Beast Boy turn to snarl at the masked villain, but of course, Slade had his back to him.

Wait a second. Slade had his back to him. The battle was occurring in front of Slade, and none of the robots were attacking him. Robin and the rest of the team were being overrun by the robots. He could take on Slade.

Just as the thought crossed his mind, Slade announced, "Well, as much as I enjoyed catching up with you, I'm afraid I must depart. The machinery and materials I've taken from this facility are safely away. Don't worry, we'll be meeting again very soon."

With those ominous words, Slade hopped off the machine and ran towards one of the tunnels. Beast Boy looked over at his friends. They were struggling, but the amount of androids was rapidly decreasing. None of them were seriously hurt, and Robin had that crazed look in his eye that gave him more energy than four shots of espresso. Either he could go help his team, who didn't really need him, or he could get the big bad. Beast Boy turned away from his friends and morphed into a weasel and gave chase, shifting into a spider and scuttling up the wall, keeping pace with the one eyed criminal.

Slade ran for a long time, faster than any normal person should be able to. They had nearly run two miles before Slade suddenly came to a stop.

"I know you're there," Slade called out. "I was hoping to have a little chat with you, my dear green friend."

Beast Boy remained silent and unmoving.

"I know what you must think of me. I've injected you with nanobots. Stole your girlfriend. Nearly drove your leader mad. Helped start the apocalypse. But let us let bygones be bygones, no?" Slade said, opening his arm.

A faint wind blew in, knocking dust off the walls. Beast Boy dropped, allowing the wind to push his small frame out of Slade's view.

"I must say, when I heard it was you who discovered my carefully hidden bomb, I was surprised to say the least. I had gone to great lengths to keep that project a secret, and yet it was thwarted. Naturally, I was curious as to how you were able to accomplish this. You've always been the weak link. The goofy one. The child. Out of all the Titans, you were the only one who never posed a threat to my plans," Slade taunted.

"Man, you really know how to compliment a guy," Beast Boy said.

Slade whirled around, facing the green teen. He stood ten feet away, hands on his waist.

"There you are," Slade purred.

"Yup, here I am. So, is this the part where you try and convince me to join you and fail badly or where you try and kick my ass only to fail stupidly bad?" Beast Boy wondered.

"Do you truly think my goals are so narrow?" Slade asked.

"Well, what else have you done? You say world domination's your goal but you seem kinda obsessed with us for some reason," Beast Boy said.

"When did I ever say my goal was global domination?" Slade inquired.

"It isn't? Huh. Guess Robin's gotta cross off a few things on his board," Beast Boy said.

"Robin's not right about everything," Slade said, taking a small step closer to the changeling. "He has never understood me, nor has he truly understood his team. Raven, a powerful sorceress, cursed by her heritage. How long did it take him to understand that the greatest thing she feared was herself? How long did it take him to know that Cyborg's greatest challenge was not overcoming his body's limits, but acknowledging the strengths it bestowed him?"

"What are you, a psychologist?"

"How long will it take Robin to realize you are more than a boy? You have such fantastic potential, and yet he has failed to bring it out in you. He does not understand you like I do. I know what you are, Beast Boy. I know you can be more-"

"Dude."

"-than what you are. You are stuck as being seen as the joke teammate, the funny one, the useless one. But you don't have to be. I can-"

"Bro."

"-teach you how to properly utilize your powers, and be stronger than any of your teammates. You contain the entire animal kingdom in-"

"Yo."

"-your genetics. What is a boy with parlor tricks or a half-machine to the power of the wild? I can show you-"

"Muchacho."

"-your true potential. It's waiting there, begging to be unlocked. Only I am capable of helping you achieve it. And I want to help you. You are an-"

"My guy."

"-average crime fighter now, but under my tutelage, you can be among the best, with Batman and Superman. Together-"

"Hey."

"-we can achieve so much more than you ever did on your own. Your teammates will respect you. They will honor you. You can make them proud, be a better-"

"Scusi."

"-hero than they could ever dream of being. No longer will they belittle and torment you, they will finally see you-"

"YO!" Beast Boy shouted, causing Slade to stop his rant. "Thank you. Just saying you should hurry this up."

"I'm offering you a deal, to be better than your team, be more-" Slade paused. "Why?"

"Hm?" Beast Boy asked.

"Why do I need to hurry up?"

"Funny thing about focus. You're trying so hard to find something, you don't even realize when it's right under your clothes."

Slade scoffed. "My armor is impenetrable."

"For most dudes? Yeah. But you'd be surprised by how crafty ticks can be. Nasty little things, they can carry so many icky diseases."

"Heroes don't kill."

"Oh it won't kill you. But I hear paralysis can be really terrible. Might have to start calling yourself 'The Cripple'."

"You wouldn't dare."

Beast Boy just grinned. "See, the thing is, it's treatable. But only if you get treatment fast. It's your choice, you can stay here and talk my ear off about how oh so bad Robin is. Which is kind of weird since you're kinda like obsessed with being his equal or something. Or, you can go, maybe get yourself onto a helicopter that'll bring you to the nearest hospital with the right treatment, and–Oof!"

Lightning fast, Slade threw a flashbang, blinding Beast Boy. Before he could blink, a heavy blow slammed into his head, knocking him against the wall, his skull smashing into a jagged rock. He fell to the ground, dazed. He just barely heard the sound of running feet through the ringing in his ears. Despite the pain, Beast Boy managed a smirk. Served the jerk right.

Beast Boy tried to get up, but failed. His arms felt like jelly. Besides, he felt so nauseous, if he was able to manage it he'd probably either throw up or fall right back over, or maybe both. Hard to look badass covered in your own vomit.

After several minutes, he heard more running feet. He blinked, trying to focus on the figures in front of him. Looked like there were twelve of them, but he couldn't tell who they were. Were they slade bots? Crap, he was in no condition to fight.

"Beast Boy? Beast Boy can you hear me?" Someone asked. Was that Robin?

"Yeah, stop shouting," Beast Boy mumbled.

"Where'd Slade go?" Definitely Robin.

"Ummm that way," Beast Boy said, trying to point, but his arm kinda just flopped there.

"Where the hell were you? You know you can't take Slade on alone. You should've called for backup-"

"Robin! He's hurt, we gotta get him back to the medbay," Cyborg(?) said.

"We have to find Slade!"

"He's gone," a low, monotonous voice said. Probably Raven. "We'll get him another day."

There was a low growl, before Robin's voice said, "You and Cy take him back, Star, you and I will continue on."

A large hand lifted him up. ``'M fine, i cans walk," Beast Boy said.

"Don't worry bout it grass stain, I got ya," Cyborg said.

"I know Cy."

"You kick that ugly bastard's ass before he did this to ya or did you take it like a wimp?"

Beast Boy smirked. "Wish I could see his face ry now."


Slade ran to his desk, frantically stabbing a device into his arm before typing frantically into his computer. What diseases carried by ticks could paralyze a person? Not Lyme Disease, or Anaplasmosis, or Ehrlichiosis. Some ticks contained a natural neurotoxin too. Could it be one of those? As he scrolled through various venoms and their antivenoms, the device in his arm beeped. He tore it out and stared at the letters.

No toxins detected.

Slade stared for several seconds before turning and hurling the device against the wall, shattering it into a hundred pieces. He turned back to his computer and swiped his hand across the desk, tearing the keyboard from the monitor and sending it clattering across the floor. He slammed his fists onto the table, denting the metal.

"That little shit bluffed me!" Slade roared. Slade inhaled suddenly, straightening before exhaling slowly. Beneath his mask, a smile began to form. "That little shit bluffed…me."

Slade laughed. An action he had not done in ages. "How utterly fascinating. You may have competition after all."

The silent figure behind Slade merely narrowed their eyes.