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Change For The Better

Chapter Five: Revelations

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May 18, 2014

The shrieks of civilians masked the blaring of the alarm as Chemo pushed through the crowd. Slowly, it inched its way towards the edge of the pier. It was drawn to the water, beckoning it like the call of a siren. Citizens tried their best to scatter, doing whatever they could to avoid the machine towering over them.

Suddenly, a birdarang hit it in the shoulder. A small blast of electricity sizzled out of it, sending Chemo's body into convulsions. It sank to the ground but reformed itself in the blink of an eye.

Robin scowled, but retained his composure. If only it were that easy.

"Titans, Go!" he announced, tossing another birdarang at Chemo.

This time, the weapon missed its mark and sank into the ocean. Robin swore under his breath, watching as Raven and Cyborg did their best to move the remaining civilians out of harm's reach. Starfire soared above Chemo's head, throwing starbolts at her target rapidly. Pulling his bo staff out of his utility belt, Robin raced forward and whacked it in the leg.

Chemo froze in place, its body turning to steel. Cyborg quickly zapped it with his cannon, but it bounced off its body and nearly hit Cyborg in return. Robin clenched his teeth and waited for Chemo to morph into a different material, then jumped forward to hit it with his staff again. As he jumped back to dodge a blow, a war-like scream pierced the air. Robin turned his head to look for the source, only to be knocked back by a massive wave of water.

Robin winced, forcing himself back to his feet. The mask mostly kept the salt water out of his eyes, but what little did manage to invade stung.

"Take that, you fiend!" a distant voice shrieked.

Robin looked up as the owner of the voice came closer. Riding on the waves themselves stood a young girl who appeared to be no older than 15. Her choppy brunette hair was tossed by the wind, and a scowl was etched onto her face. Despite being surrounded by water, her pastel yellow uniform remained completely dry. Although the rest of the Titans were confused by her sudden appearance, Robin was not. He merely sighed, brushing the sand off his arm.

"Go home, Aquagirl!" he yelled, readying his bo staff. "We have this under control!"

"Not without my brother!" she shrieked.

Another tsunami crashed into Chemo, but it remained unfazed. Robin watched as the other Titans raced towards Chemo, readying their attacks. But Chemo was no longer focused on the ragtag group of teens. Instead, it turned to Aquagirl. Looking her directly in the eyes, it shot a blast of chemicals in her direction.

With a screech of pain, Aquagirl hit the ground.

…

Beast Boy sighed, leaning against the smudged window next to him. The diner they stopped at for lunch had a rather peaceful atmosphere, and it was starting to lull him to sleep. The events of the past few days (heck, the past few months, even) were beginning to catch up to him, and he was utterly exhausted. He was definitely going to take a nap when they got back on the bus.

Convincing M'yri'ah to take public transportation was a difficult affair. Although she wanted to be seen by as few people as possible, it was the fastest way to get to Gotham City. She understood that time wasn't on their side, and she eventually sided with the young shapeshifter, but she made it very clear that she wasn't happy about it. At least no one seemed to care that a Titan was on the bus with them. So few people had asked for autographs that Beast Boy was certain it was a new record.

He sat up straight when he noticed M'yri'ah staring at him quizzically.

"I'm okay," he yawned. "Just a little tired. That's all."

M'yri'ah smiled as she responded telepathically. "I'm glad to hear it. Although I must admit I am curious as to how an Earthling as young as yourself has met a White Martian."

"Oh, that," Beast Boy responded nervously. "It's kind of a long story."

"We have time. The next bus doesn't leave for another hour."

Beast Boy sighed, glancing around at the nearly abandoned diner. Although there was barely anyone there, he didn't quite feel comfortable sharing this story with just anyone. Reluctantly, he switched to using the mind link.

"My childhood wasn't exactly what you'd call normal. Before they met, Mom was an actress and Dad was a biologist who worked for the Justice Society. They both retired after they got married, and eventually they started up a wildlife reserve in Africa. That's where I grew up."

"That must have been exciting," M'yri'ah mused.

Beast Boy nodded. "Yeah. I guess I didn't realize it, though. I mean, that was just how my life was. It was normal for me. Martian Manhunter was one of Dad's best friends, so he stopped by a lot. After his niece stowed away on his ship, she ended up staying at the reserve a lot when J'onn went on missions."

"Ah, yes. The White Martian."

Beast Boy cringed, trying to ignore the disdain in M'yri'ah's tone.

"M'gann was my best friend," he explained defensively. "She saved my life."

M'yri'ah studied his expression carefully. "And that's how you got your powers?"

Beast Boy nodded.

"I suppose they weren't all bad," M'yri'ah mused, poking around at her lunch with her fork. "Forgive me for my outburst. I am still quite shocked from being attacked yesterday."

Beast Boy bit his lip, refusing to react to the apology. He knew it could be twisted as an acceptance of her behavior if he wasn't careful. As much as he wanted to hold on to this last link to M'gann, he was beginning to discover that M'yri'ah wasn't all she originally appeared to be.

When he didn't respond, M'yri'ah changed the subject.

"Are you and J'onn close?"

Beast Boy shook his head. Sure, he and Martian Manhunter had conversed before, but he wouldn't say they were close. He knew that logically they should be, but they never really made an emotional connection. They were remnants of each other's pasts and they cared for each other deeply, but it wasn't like they met up for a monthly brunch or anything.

"He's kind of like extended family to me," Beast Boy explained. "We're there for each other when we need to be, but we don't really know each other that well."

"I see," M'yri'ah replied.

There was an awkward pause until Beast Boy blurted out the question lingering at the back of his mind.

"When I said I knew J'onn's niece, you knew she was a White Martian. Did you know her?"

M'yri'ah stared out the window, watching the crowds on the street intently. "We were on the same escape pod. I remember her rather vividly. She makes quite the impression."

Beast Boy felt a pang of disappointment. All his hopes that M'gann was still alive had been crushed. If she had somehow managed to survive, M'yri'ah would've mentioned it by now. He swallowed the lump in his throat, blinking back the tears that threatened to emerge.

"Did she mention me? Or maybe a boy named Conner?"

M'yri'ah hesitated.

"I don't remember."

Beast Boy squeezed his eyes shut, clenching his fist tightly. No, she wouldn't have cared enough to talk about them. Not after the way they treated her. Besides, her life was on the line. M'gann would've had more important things to worry about than the "friends" who broke her heart.

Just keep going, Gar, he told himself. If you can help M'yri'ah, maybe it will make up for what happened.

He wasn't entirely convinced.

Starfire stood back and watched as Raven assessed Aquagirl's wounds. Chemical burns trailed up the young Atlantian's freckled arms, burning through her pastel yellow uniform in places. Her shoulders were slouched in defeat, and she was clearly holding back tears. It took every ounce of self-restraint Starfire had to refrain from tackling the pitiful figure before her in a bear hug. She knew it would only make things worse, judging by the way her face twisted in pain every time Raven's hands brushed against the burns.

"I'm such an idiot," Aquagirl whispered, clenching her teeth.

Robin shook his head, taking a seat across from their guest. He gestured for Starfire to sit in the chair next to him, which she did hesitantly. She hated feeling this useless. There was nothing she could do to stop Chemo, nothing she could do to help Aquagirl, and most pressingly there was nothing she could do to find Beast Boy. Too much had happened in such a short span of time. Was it too much to ask for her life back?

"You're not an idiot, Tula," Robin said. "You weren't thinking clearly."

Aquagirl frowned, biting her lip as she considered this. Starfire reached out and squeezed her hand carefully. Their eyes met briefly before Aquagirl jerked her hand away and hissed in pain.

"Owwwww," she whined, turning to Raven. "What was that for?"

Raven almost seemed amused. "Your burns will heal faster now. You're welcome."

Her attention immediately snapped to her forearm, which was slowly beginning to return to its natural color.

"Woah," she whispered, eyes as big as saucers. She looked back up at Raven, grinning gleefully. "That's totally wicked!"

Cyborg laughed at her reaction, clapping Raven on the shoulder. Raven seemed a bit annoyed, but said nothing of it.

Aquagirl rubbed the back of her neck nervously. "I know Robin, but I don't think I've met the rest of you. Princess Tula of Atlantis, at your service."

She extended her hand to Starfire, who shook it carefully. She wasn't sure how the brunette managed to rebound from the verge of tears so quickly, but it didn't seem polite to bring it up again.

"Princess?" Raven asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Mmhm," Aquagirl hummed. "Aquaman's my half-brother. You… haven't seen him around, have you?"

Cyborg frowned. "Sorry, haven't seen him."

"I believe Kid Flash said he was missing," Starfire said.

Aquagirl's mood dropped again, her shoulders slumping in disappointment. "Figures. Everyone in Atlantis thinks Xebel took him, but I just know it was Chemo. I've been following his trail for the past week, but I've still got nothing. Being on my own hasn't helped."

"What about Aqualad?" Robin asked.

Aquagirl's cheeks turned bright pink, and she ducked her head in embarrassment. "Oh. Um… I was on my way to Steel City to find him when I heard Chemo was in Jump. I was hoping that Titans East might be able to help, but they've probably been busy cleaning up the Brotherhood's mess. Ga- Aqualad doesn't have time for me, anyways. He's pretty busy, you know? I don't want to be a bother."

"Perhaps we could be of assistance," Starfire suggested. "Our friend Beast Boy has gone missing as well. Surely if we find one of them, the other may be near."

"Are you sure?" Aquagirl asked shyly. "If he's not with my brother, I don't want to distract you from finding him."

Robin frowned. "We have a suspect, and I have reason to believe she has connections to Chemo. Starfire's right. Our best bet is to stick together. We'll wait until your burns are healed, then we'll set out. Raven, can you stay with Aquagirl for a minute? I need to talk to Cyborg and Starfire."

Raven nodded, and Starfire had a sinking suspicion that she and Robin had already discussed whatever it was she was about to hear. With a quick wave to Aquagirl, she followed her two remaining teammates out of the med bay.

"Not to start a fight or anything, but why are we trusting Aquagirl but not M'yri'ah? She might be leading us into a trap too," Cyborg pointed out.

"You have a point," Robin sighed. "I've known Aquagirl for as long as I've been Robin, but with everything going on right now I'm still hesitant to trust her."

Starfire frowned. "Was it the wrong choice to offer our alliance?"

Robin shook his head. "No, you were right. Beast Boy was too. We can't refuse to help people just because we don't know their intentions. I've realized that now. I just wish Beast Boy would've talked to us about leaving first."

"Is that what this is about?"

"Yeah, actually," Robin admitted. "Part of the reason why I wanted to wait before agreeing to help M'yri'ah is because I don't have all the details. Mars was destroyed around the time I became Batman's sidekick, so I wasn't around to deal with the aftermath. But what I do know is that there were very few Martians on the escape pods whose bodies weren't found."

"If they were on the escape pods, why did they still perish?" Starfire asked.

Robin frowned. "Their civilization collapsed because of a telepathically spread virus. The Martians who managed to make it to the pods didn't realize that some of them were already infected."

"Do you know the names of the Martians who weren't found?" Cyborg asked.

"Details are kept under a pretty tight lockdown. All I know is that one of them was Martian Manhunter's niece. The name M'yri'ah sounds familiar, though. The GCPD has a file that contains details about the Martian escape pods, but until Kid Flash can get back to me on that there's no way of knowing who she is for sure."

Starfire sighed. "Whoever she truly is, she has already lied about Chemo being a White Martian. I fear that she may have lied about other things as well."

Cyborg frowned, glancing back at the door to the med bay. "Whatever's going on, I just hope Beast Boy's okay."

….

Hi again! I'm sorry it's been such a long wait. I started my senior year of high school and since then I haven't had much free time. This year I'm really going to try to manage my time better in preparation for college though, so hopefully I'll be updating more. Just… maybe after I clean out my emails. I have chapter notifications from as early as July that I still need to read *hides in the corner of shame*.

I think it's pretty ironic that the chapter I chose to introduce Aquagirl ended up getting published so soon after the Aquaman movie was released. I've had this fic outlined for months and I haven't even watched the movie yet, so I can definitely say this wasn't planned. I'm having a good laugh over it, though. Tula's always been one of my favorite minor/background DC characters, so I hope I did her justice. I know that in the comics where she's related to Arthur they're step siblings rather than half siblings, but when I was doing world building for this story I forgot about that. It made more sense with the backstory I created to leave them as half siblings though, so half siblings they shall remain.

Thank you everyone who followed, reviewed, and added this story to your favorites! We're starting to get to the good stuff, and I can't wait for you guys to read the next few chapters! I have a new system for updates that I'm going to try, and if it works I should have an update (or two!) ready by early February. It's not exactly ideal, but with everything going on right now I don't want to push myself beyond my limits.

Quote of the day!

"I meant a silencer for the tags on pet collars! Why would PetCo sell the other kind of silencer?"

"To be fair, the Denny's parking lot sells silencers too if you know where to look."

-an actual conversation that happened at Bible study tonight

Stay whelmed,

Spectrobes Princess