It was a sober thing, bringing Beast Boy into the infirmary. Even though Cyborg was perfectly capable of supporting the lithe teen with one arm and opening doors with the other, Raven went first. She couldn't stand looking at his limp head, lulling on Cyborg's back, or his arms swinging. His lips were parted and he was breathing deeply, but she now knew what kind of storm was raging just behind those closed lids. How hard he'd been fighting. Her own stomach was twisted into knots as she tried to contain the million and one emotions the situation had provoked. Happiness at having been kissed, confusion about that happiness, guilt about that happiness, all hammering in her chest to the backdrop of deep, dark, terror for Beast Boy's safety. Whatever this was, it had a tight hold over the changeling. Had infested his mind, changed his biochemistry, and now it was distorting his flesh. She hadn't told Cyborg about the enlarged vertebra down his spine or the bone horns growing in his skull. She hadn't needed to; it was almost certain that Cyborg could feel them as he carried Beast Boy's body down the hall.

"What happened," demanded Robin as soon as the infirmary doors slid open.

He and Starfire had been waiting for them. Robin looked to be about mid-pace and Starfire had her hands clasped tightly around her middle. It had been a courtesy that they'd remained here and not gone with Cyborg in the first place, a respectful nod to how vulnerable being subjected to Raven's telepathic powers made someone. Robin had not liked sharing his mind, necessary as it had been, and he was just glad it had been Raven and not one of the others. For Beast Boy, well, they'd brought him back soon enough and there had been no need to get too many cooks in the kitchen. Too many witnesses to whatever had been so bad Raven had called for help. He'd wanted to go, Starfire had wanted to go, but they had restrained themselves. Prepped the straps on the medical bed instead…

"Please," added Starfire, taking a step forward as Cyborg ducked through the door after Raven. "Will you enlighten us?"

Cyborg did not speak, just went straight to the medical bed and set Beast Boy down gently. Arranged his limbs, then did the straps. Raven pinched the bridge of her nose and closed her eyes, sighing.

"There's something," she started, tentatively, unsure of exactly how to describe what she'd seen and keep Beast Boy's secrets secret. "Inside Beast Boy's mind. Growing there. It's making him more aggressive and animalistic. His body is… adapting. He didn't attack me, but if I had tried to manhandle him he was going to."

"Are you sure it's just telepathic," asked Cyborg.

Having finished his task, he'd moved to the computer and was working the keyboard. A bright light passed over Beast Boy's unconscious form, first from head to toe, then from toe to head. An image came up on Cyborg's screen and he scrutinized it, frowning.

"What do you mean "just?" I know there's something in his mind and I know it fought me off with a telepathic force."

"But it's not just in his mind, you know, metaphorically," Cyborg said, pointing at the scan results. "It's in there literally. Look at this; there's something growing here, inside his nervous system. See these masses?"

"It's been six days since he went out," said Robin, coming up behind Cyborg and leaning towards the screen. A frown creased his brow and he pressed his hands to the desk, fingers splayed with tension. "How could it have grown so quickly?"

"My guess," offered Cyborg, minimizing one scan and pulling up another focused on Beast Boy's spine. "It's like a cancer, it's been diverting his blood flow- look, you can see the new capillary beds. No wonder the little man's been so cold lately! And look here," he moved to an image of Beast Boy's abdomen. "His cecum is completely gone."

"Friend Beast Boy is missing an organ," Starfire exclaimed, moving over to stand next to Robin so she too could look at the screen.

"Part of one. The cecum is a part of the small intestine where plant matter can be digested by bacteria. Beast Boy usually has a pretty big one, helps with the vegetarian diet, but now there's just… nothing. His bones are bigger though, thicker. This thing's changing him."

"We have to get it out of him," Robin stated the obvious, looking intently at the scans and trying to decipher their secrets.

"It's gonna take some doing," said Cyborg, leaning back and grabbing his chin.

"I don't think what's inside Beast Boy is all of it," interjected Raven, folding her arms. "What attacked me was powerful and, in Beast Boy's mind, there were… whispers. It sounded like a thousand voices. This thing has parasitized Beast Boy, but it has a form elsewhere."

"Whatever the case," Cyborg said, relaxing his shoulders as he began to develop a plan. "I'll need a sample. Raven, help me get his shirt off."

Raven assumed this particular request had to do with the fact that she'd been standing by Beast Boy's bed rather than any knowledge of their… romantic entanglement. She kept her mind there, away from the memory of his lips against hers, and did as instructed. Undid the straps and hoisted his upper body forward onto her chest. Cyborg came around behind him and pulled off his jacket. Then he took hold of his shirt and pulled it over his head, delicately stuffing his arms through the armholes. His head lulled on her shoulder and for a second she thought she heard him sniff her. Then he did it again and she knew she hadn't imagined it.

"Raven," Beast Boy asked, unable to lift his head from her shoulder. By his sides his hands tried and failed to make fists and the name came out slurred. "Why is it… so bright?"

"Cyborg," she said urgently, gripping Beast Boy's shoulders tightly.

"He needs another dose of tranquilizer," snapped Robin. "Where is it? I can give it to him."

"No way," Cyborg shot back, carrying Beast Boy's cloths and putting himself between Robin and the changeling. "It's too soon- we could overdose him."

"Is that Cyborg? And Robin? Why are they fighting?"

Raven did the only thing she could think to do in this situation. She leaned Beast Boy back onto the table, then grabbed his head so her palms pressed over his temples. Her hands glowed blue and she willed the voices inside his head to stay silent.

"It's okay," she soothed, shooting the boys a sharp look. "It's okay now."

"I was dreaming about you," he sighed, smiling and closing his eyes to block out the sterile light. "It was nice."

"Beast Boy, can you help us? Do you know what's happened?"

Raven brought her head down close to Beast Boy's face and asked quietly. Trying not to sound as panicked as she felt. He cracked amber eyes to look at her, then winced and closed them again.

"Happened," he repeated, shaking his head a little. "Has something happened? Should I know?"

"You don't remember," she said in disbelief. "Any of it?"

"I've been having… really bad dreams… Ever since Letha-"

"Letha," Robin repeated, keeping his distance and letting Raven do her thing. His voice was soft, the way you might speak to a scared child. "Who's Letha?"

"She said they're the Children of Herne, that they worship a Horned God. Dude, these people are weird; they think I'm the Horned God. Isn't that crazy?"

"Did they do something to you," Robin pressed, folding his arms.

Beast Boy stiffened, his fingers curling now into limp fists as the tranquilizer wore off. Raven noticed and felt tension build in her chest.

"Don't try to move," she chastised. "And don't worry, we just want to help."

"It's embarrassing," he confessed after a long moment. "I should've been smarter; I shouldn't have let it happen. But I…"

"Please friend Beast Boy," said Starfire in a small voice. "If someone has harmed you we wish to know about it. We're your friends, remember?"

"I think they put something in my drink. I remember getting really hot and dizzy, then a… squishy room, all white and… alive. Then it's just the nightmares. The whispers… they're getting loud again."

"Bro, I need my sample," interjected Cyborg.

He looked very expectant with his prepped syringe. Both Raven and Robin looked at him, then down to Beast Boy. His face was creasing in a frown and he was twisting his head in discomfort. Raven could hear them too, the whispers, building in his mind. The tranquilizer had quieted them for a moment, but they were back now and with a vengeance. She didn't know for how long she would last. His lips parted and he inhaled a shaking breath.

"Roll on your side," Raven commanded.

"It's so loud! Why does it have to be so loud?"

"Listen to me Beast Boy," she insisted, bringing her face closer to his. "We are going to help you, but to do that we need a sample of this thing. There's some in your spine. Roll onto your side so Cyborg can get a sample."

He complied, rolling towards her and exposing his bare back. His hands were awake enough to find hers and he pressed over them, holding them to his skull. Again he tried to open amber eyes and again, he winced and closed them. He was overwhelmed, she could feel it like an electricity coming off him. Cyborg worked quickly, counting bulging vertebra with his fingers and slipping the needle between them. Beast Boy hissed but didn't flinch. Something thick and slimy filled the syringe, not cerebrospinal fluid at all. A string of it connected the needle tip to Beast Boy's green back when Cyborg withdrew the needle. Cyborg pursed his lips, Robin scowled, and Starfire gasped. Raven didn't see what they saw, but she knew it was bad.

Cyborg took the sample to the computer and Robin came up beside her, taking some of Beast Boy's weight at the shoulders and leaning him back onto the medical table. His flesh was cold and when his bare back touched the metal table he arched his spine away in discomfort. Raven kept her hands pressed too his skull and Beast Boy tried to keep his hands over hers, but Robin wanted to redo the straps. It was a prudent move, but perhaps a little indelicate.

"What are you doing," Beast Boy asked, finally opening his eyes and looking around. "Why can't I move my legs?"

He looked first to Raven for answers then, identifying that it wasn't her hands on his wrists, moved his gaze to Robin. It was a startling gaze, amber like a tiger's eye stone, with pupils that pulled sideways like a goat's. And in it there was a building anger, an awareness he was being restrained. His lips parted to reveal his elongated fangs and Raven could feel his heart begin to throb in his temples.

"You haven't been yourself; this thing has been making you… different," answered Robin, boldly holding Beast Boy's gaze as he finished his work. "It's not your fault, but you could hurt someone. Or yourself."

"You're locking me up?"

His words were innocent and his voice was high and afraid. Their Beast Boy didn't understand what was happening; he had no solid memories of being a jerk or going after Raven or any of it. Raven felt the whispers in his mind take advantage of that innocence, twist it into rage. The louder they got the stronger they got, pumping testosterone into his blood, engorging his muscles. A low breath passed over his lips and he lifted his head to look at Robin more directly, pulling his lips away from his fangs and flattening his ears back against his skull.

"This was your plan from the beginning," he accused, dangerously. "You've just been looking for an excuse to put me in a cage."

"Friend Beast Boy," exclaimed Starfire, taking a step towards him and shaking her head. "You know that isn't true! We're only trying to protect you-"

"Protect me," he snapped, straining against the restraints. "From what?! From people who think I'm a god? You just can't stand how strong I've become! You just-"

"Garfield," Raven grunted, panting with the effort of holding back the whispers. She felt like a rock and they a river pushing around her, flooding by even as she tried to stop them. "You don't mean any of this. There's something inside you and it's making you this way; this isn't what you want. Fight it."

"I…" he trailed off, looking up at her. For a moment he pleaded with her, pushing through the storm. "I can't… these voices, they're so loud. And I'm… so hungry. I can't stay here."

The whispers broke into a gale inside his head and Raven was pushed back. Literally, as if something had grabbed her and thrown her. She stumbled away into the wall, bracing against it with one hand and gripping her splitting head with the other. Beast Boy arched his spine and howled. Antlers tore through the flesh on his forehead. Bones cracked and his fingers lengthened, his already claw-like nails elongating and thickening, almost into talons. His jaw pushed outwards into a snout and beneath his skin his muscles rippled as they grew. As he thrashed and contorted the strap around his left wrist broke free. Robin made a move to restrain the limb but Beast Boy was noncompliant; he reached out and closed his fingers around Robin's neck, tightly. So tightly, in fact, that all of Robin's attention was diverted to prying away that iron grip. Starfire's eyes and hands lit up as she aimed a low-power starbolt at him, just enough to cause him to pass out again. Beast Boy tanked the blow, but it got his attention. Throwing Robin back, he undid the remainder of the straps with his free hand and rolled from the bed.

Beast Boy got down on all fours, but not on his hands and knees like a person. It was more like… a frog, his knees folded up to his shoulders. His back hunched and all down his exposed spine the vertebra pressed against the skin. When he moved his joints cracked and his claws clattered on the hard floor. He was roughly x1.5 his original size both in length and bulk and, as the Titans recovered, he moved to the door. Cyborg finished injecting the sample from Beast Boy's spine into his instruments and came around to face him. Grimly, he aimed his sonic cannon at his best friend. Beast Boy's ears twitched at the sound of it charging and he looked over. Fangs poked over his lips, long and conical, and he stood with a cat-like elegance. The antlers on his head glinted in the white light, like a crown.

"You need to calm down buddy," Cyborg said in a stern voice, as if addressing a rebellious child. "Don't make me do this."

Beast Boy lifted his chin, staring at Cyborg cryptically. There was a wildness to that stare, but also a recognition. Swallowing, he looked over at Starfire, who was helping Robin up, and then to Raven. Their eyes locked and he visibly shuddered. Closed his eyes and twisted his head, as if listening. When he opened them again the recognition was gone. He reached those long fingers for something on his belt and pulled out his communicator. Staring at it instead of any of his friends, he crushed it in his fist. Cyborg let loose a stream of cyan energy which was meant to stun Beast Boy. Instead it impacted his chest and sent him skidding a few feet. His flesh smoked and he looked at Cyborg with animalistic rage. But still something held him back. He clawed at the door's control panel and it sparked, causing the door to open, and he took off down the hall, running on all fours.

It only took a second for the team to regroup and follow him, but in that second he was already down the hall and at one of the windows. He was scratching at it, violently, stabbing his talons into the glass and raking them across the surface. A crack formed and he rammed his entire body against it.

"Beast Boy stop," called Raven, holding out a hand and telekinetically reinforcing the glass.

He did stop, but only for a moment, only for long enough to look at her rabidly over his shoulder. The voices inside him struck out at her again and she winced, feeling a trickle of blood build in her nose. Her barrier dropped for a moment and Beast Boy rammed himself into the glass again. This time it shattered. Without a backwards glance at his friends, he flung himself through the opening and shifted into something small. By the time they got to the breach to look for him, he was already long gone.

They'd turned off the lights in the club and cleared the tables and chairs. There was no music playing, no bodies dancing, no movement of any kind. They'd dropped all pretenses because the trap had already been sprung. Their prey had been ensnared. He hadn't known it there for a while, had struggled against their hold, but in the end all that struggling was in vain. In the end he'd given in, just as they all had. Just as they all would. They could feel it inside their skulls like the passing of a headache. The relief of tension. Harmony, oneness, a single-minded purpose. Soon, very soon now, they would start the Wild Hunt.

"I knew you'd be back," Letha breathed, closing her eyes and sensing him like a magnetic field.

She was standing alone in the center of the dance floor, her brown hair loose about her shoulders and accentuating the length of her oval face. All around her, in an oblong circle, the Children of Herne had gathered in a crowd. They were silent and statuesque, but they too could sense him and many of them smiled. Cast their eyes upward. Letha turned her torso and looked up too, into the rafters of the club. Beast Boy was up there, just a hunched form with antlers and glowing eyes in the darkness. A growl reverberated in his chest as she spoke and he climbed across the lights, careful not to make any additional noise. She smiled and turned fully, hauling with her a limp goat in one hand and a long knife in the other.

"I know you're hungry," she offered.

He let out a high-pitched whimper and her smile broadened. She pulled the knife across the goat's throat and let loose a flood of crimson blood. It flowed over her hands and onto the ground. Beast Boy whined again and swung down from the rafters, landing in a crouch. Letha cast the dead goat towards him.

"Go on," she said. "Eat. We both know you need to. You can't hold out any longer. Stop fighting and become what you were always meant to be. Become the Horned God."

She was right; he couldn't hold out any longer. It was like trying not to vomit, eventually the body wins out over the mind. Beast Boy crawled towards the carcass, breathing heavily through his nose. Each breath trembled, as did his hands as he reached forward and curled them in cold fur. The flesh beneath was still warm though, and the blood still flowed like a liquid, making a pool where he stood. And the smell… the smell alone was enough to drive him crazy. Tears burned in his eyes and the last vestiges of self he had cried out, but they couldn't stop what was happening. His lips pulled away from his teeth and his teeth sank past the fur into flesh. It was at that moment that the battle was truly lost. From that moment on all Beast Boy felt was a predator's bliss.