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Change For The Better

Chapter Three: Chemo

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May 17, 2014

Meanwhile at the tower, things were relatively peaceful. Robin had just finished his morning training, and was preparing to deal with the aftermath of the M'yri'ah situation. Although things still didn't add up, he knew Beast Boy wouldn't take no for an answer. Besides, he knew that if the Martian was telling the truth, his refusal to help her find her family would haunt him for the rest of his life. While he wished he would've been able to contact J'onn the previous night, as much as asking for help from the Justice League wounded his pride, he still felt confident enough to tell Beast Boy to go ahead.

When he walked into the common room, he was greeted by the usual sights of Titans Tower in the mid-morning. Raven was curled up on the couch, reading a book and drinking a cup of herbal tea. Starfire sat next to her, excitedly describing the various dogs she had encountered on her walk with Silkie. Raven didn't seem engrossed enough in her book to be annoyed, luckily, as she continued reading with only the occasional, one-word response to Starfire's questions. Silkie purred, weaving between Robin's feet as Cyborg emerged from the room's other entrance.

"M'yri'ah's gone from the med bay. I think she's probably off somewhere with Beast Boy," Cyborg yawned.

Raven nodded, only barely glancing up from her book. "I saw them when I went to the roof to meditate."

"Oh, I do hope she has recovered," Starfire sighed, concern glistening in her eyes.

Robin frowned. "With her Martian biology, it shouldn't take her long to heal. Has anyone seen Beast Boy since then? I need to talk to him."

Cyborg shook his head. "I haven't seen him today."

"Nor have I," Starfire added.

Robin didn't want to immediately jump to conclusions, yet he had a sinking feeling he knew where the youngest Titan was. He felt like an idiot for not looking for him sooner, or at least ending the previous night on a better note.

"Cyborg, try calling Beast Boy. I'll see if I can track his location."

Robin turned on the computer, entering his password as quickly as he could type. Cyborg frowned, staring at his computer in confusion.

"He's not picking up."

"Maybe Starfire should try," Raven suggested.

As Starfire too was rejected, the computer beeped, signaling the end of the search.

Tracker disabled. Last known location: Jump City, California. Device disabled: three hours ago.

"I'm calling the Watchtower."

Cyborg and Raven exchanged a confused glance. "But I thought we decided-"

"It doesn't matter. Something odd's going on here, and we need to get to the bottom of it," Robin said, already setting up the video call.

As necessary as it had been, Robin was hesitant to reveal that this wouldn't be the first time he contacted the League in the past 24 hours. A desire for independence was one of the main reasons Robin left Gotham City. While he wasn't on bad terms with Batman, per say, they weren't exactly in regular contact either. When the Titans were founded, they had come to the mutual agreement that their problems were their own, and to leave the Justice League's problems to the Justice League. Even throughout Slade's threats and Trigon's reign, the Titans had managed to solve their problems on their own. However, this wasn't just their problem. Martian Manhunter deserved to know that another Martian had survived their planet's destruction, and her disappearance would concern him greatly. Even though he wasn't able to be contacted at the moment, it was still the Justice League's concern.

The call was answered, and Kid Flash appeared on the screen. He sat reclining in a swivel chair, feet on the desk in front of him as he tapped his fingers impatiently.

"What's up guys?"

Raven raised an eyebrow. "Why are you answering the Justice League's calls?"

Kid Flash shrugged. "The Watchtower's kinda understaffed right now since like, half the League is in space. They left Black Canary, Hawkgirl, and my uncle here, but other than that it's mostly sidekicks and newer recruits. But that's-"

"KF? Do you still have my phone?"

"Just a minute Firestorm, I'm kind of in the minute of something," Kid Flash yelled.

Not listening, Firestorm flew into the room. "I need it now! I was supposed to be home 10 minutes ago! Oh man, my dad's going to freak…"

Kid Flash rolled his eyes, handing him the cell phone. "As I was saying, understaffed."

Firestorm glanced at the screen. "Wait, you're just now calling the Titans?"

Robin raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

Kid Flash picked at the hem of his glove, sinking into his seat nervously.

"I may or may not have forgot to call you about that villain you fought yesterday. Superboy said you'd never seen them before, but from what we saw on the news it looked like Chemo."

Things began to click, though Robin wasn't sure why. While the name Chemo sounded familiar, he wasn't sure where he had heard it before. Over the years, he had fought many villains, and his colleagues fought even more. To keep track of them all would take too much effort- effort that a vigilantee didn't have to spare.

"Who is this Chemo you speak of?" Starfire asked, taking her place by Robin's side. Raven and Cyborg joined her, eager to discover the solution to at least one of their problems. "Is he a Martian as well?"

Kid Flash shook his head. "Not Martian- machine."

"Classic case of lab accident gone horribly wrong," Firestorm added.

"It was the last villain Aquaman fought before he disappeared. Aquagirl's convinced it's involved somehow. It would be nice to get it behind bars before she tries anything stupid," Kid Flash explained.

Robin frowned. Aquaman was missing too? When did that happen? Were any of the other members of the League missing?

"Do we know how to beat him?" Cyborg asked. "Because we haven't had any luck with that so far."

"I don't think anyone has. He's escaped every time we've fought him, and no one knows what his weakness is yet."

Perfect. Just perfect.

"Is that Robin? I need to talk to him."

Kid Flash nearly jumped out of his seat.

"I thought we put a bell on you!" Kid Flash gasped.

Superboy frowned, walking towards the screen. "Are you done talking? It's kind of important."

Kid Flash nodded. "Yeah, just finishing up. If you could take over monitor duty for me that would be great. Come on Firestorm, I'm leaving too."

"Oh, that's right! You have to get ready for your date," Firestorm sang.

Kid Flash glared. "Don't make me hurt you."

With a quick goodbye, Robin watched as the honorary Titan left the room. Although he wished they could keep talking, as it had been far too long since their last real conversation, there were more important matters at hand. He couldn't help but feel nervous as Superboy sat down in the seat where his friend was previously sitting. Even though they now knew the name of the villain who had so elusively escaped from their grasp thus far, they were no closer to beating it. He couldn't help but feel as though whatever Superboy had to say would only make their situation worse.

"I called Beast Boy," Superboy revealed, fidgeting in his seat. "Something's definitely wrong."

Robin bit his lip. "Do you where he is?"

Superboy furrowed his brow. "I don't think so. Do you know where he is?"

Robin didn't answer.

"He probably won't pick up if someone tries to call again," Cyborg guessed, shoulders slouched. "Do you remember anything he told you?"

"Just that he trusts her blindly. What did you say her name was?"

"M'yri'ah, I think," Raven said.

Superboy's look of concern switched to one of confusion.

"I have to go. We'll be in touch," he said, hanging up before anyone could respond.

Robin frowned, staring at the blank screen. They still didn't have any answers, and they weren't any closer to finding them either.

Or maybe…

"Cyborg, Firestorm said Chemo was a lab accident. Do you think there's any way you could find out more information?"

"I can try," Cyborg said, beginning the task immediately.

"Oh, how ever will we find Beast Boy? He must be found," Starfire insisted, pacing back and forth. Even Raven had pushed her book to the side, where it would stay.

Robin sighed, sitting down on the couch. He pinched the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes.

"I don't know, Star. If Aquaman went missing after fighting Chemo, there might be a connection. If we catch Chemo, we might figure out what happened."

He tried to sound confident, but the truth was that he couldn't even convince himself. As logical as it all sounded, there was still a voice in his head, screaming that he wasn't on the right path. Something just didn't seem right, and Robin was going to get to the bottom of it.

…..

Hi again! I'm really sorry it took a month to update. I hit writer's block pretty hard for this chapter, which sucked because I'm really looking forward to writing the next few. I hope you enjoyed the cameos of my trash sons, as Kid Flash and Firestorm are actually going to be in the next chapter quite a bit.

As far as when the next update will be, I hate to say that I'm not sure yet. Right now my goal is to update at least 3 times during the month of May, since that seems more feasible than once a week, but we'll see.

Again, thanks for understanding. Thank you everyone who has followed, reviewed, added the story to their favorites, or even just enjoyed the story! Like I said, it means a lot to me and I hope to do better about updating in the future.

Quote of the day!

"I knew I had repressed memories of my birthday party!" -my sister

May the odds be ever in your favor,

Spectrobes Princess