Chapter 17: Victory or Breakdown?

As much as he had tried to deny Slade's words that night in the funhouse, his other self's words – his own words - seemed to confirm that statement.

"And with those words you have not only broken the trust of Terra but also the trust of your team. You could have stopped her from turning to Slade's side – even if it was by fighting her but all you did was sulk like a little baby as she just walked away with one of your biggest enemies," the grey changeling continued and the other loosened the fist from the emotional pressure he was put under.

"But…she changed. She turned good again…she turned to a titan again," he murmured, not able to hide the emotional pain that was visible in his expression.

"Since when was she a titan? You know better that she was only a titan because she had to spy on you. She was Slade's apprentice even while living with you."

"She changed! She broke away from Slade!" Beast Boy cried, not letting more of his words get into his head.

"I think Slade made it clear to you that she didn't exactly break away from him…but I have to admit that she did change – a lot even. I mean who would want to see the only person that had broken their trust?"

The green changeling growled angrily. "She did this to protect us."

"Protect you? That would be what you think but I have another, much more logical reason as to why she would purposefully avoid you."

He stared into the other's eyes to make sure his message would reach the other. "She simply doesn't see you the same way anymore. Ever since you said those words to her she knew you would always bear a little suspicion and anger towards her."

The grey changeling was pleased to witness how the sadness in his eyes completely vanished in almost an instant to be replaced by a look of pure rage.

"Shut up!" the green changeling shouted, pulling his fist back to punch him but all that was needed was a tilt of the head to evade.

"Face it! Terra doesn't like you anymore!"

An animal like growl escaped the hero before knocking the other back with a head-butt and lunging himself at the fallen boy. He pinned the boy down onto the floor and he was too blinded by rage to see that he was in the process of taking 'his own' life as his hands wrapped around his throat, each moment getting tighter.

But that didn't faze his other self much – the green changeling was already too weak. He let his hand slip into the other's belt before taking out a yellow device.

Yet, Beast Boy didn't care – he was too focused on his hands until he heard his voice.

"Forget about the meeting, Rita! I'm glad I left you guys," the dark changeling muttered and Beast Boy immediately let go of the throat to grab the device – a mistake that caused him to end up on the floor as a fist smashed into his face.

The green changeling wiped his mouth with the back of his hand before lashing out once again.

"Too slow," his other self muttered before he simply crushed the communicator in his hand and he chuckled, seeing the shocked expression of his other half. "Hey, at least Robin isn't there to get mad at you."

The green changeling aimed for the sneer on his face only for a palm to block it.

"Is that the best you can do?" Trigon's spawn asked amused and it took less than a second for the fist in his palm to give out a painful cracking sound followed by a scream of the owner of the now broken wrist. "And I thought you learned from our last fight. I guess you're even weaker than I thought," the grey changeling said as he leaned down to the other.

"Think…again," Beast Boy said with closed eyes and it took less than a few seconds for the Beast to take charge and send the grey changeling crashing into the wall.

This was the first time he got seriously hurt…and in a way, he almost enjoyed it – at least now things won't be so boring and slowly, the dark boy got back onto his feet.

"The fact that you need to get emotionally riled up to become the Beast doesn't make you any stronger – unlike me," he smirked and evaded the Beast's next attack and managed a hit onto the green monster's back after his own transformation.

The green beast turned around, letting the large hands swing with his turn but the grey animal ducked out of the way before leaping at the other, knocking him to the floor. The grey monster swung his hands downwards but the other avoided collision as he let his jaws close on the large hand, causing an angered and pained growl to escape from the other.

Before letting the jaws close any tighter, the grey beast let his other fist collide with the face, the force sending the beast against the control box of the warehouse, causing sparks to fly from it. The blue sparks impaled the animal as pained howling filled the hall for a moment before the animal dropped to the floor.

Seeing the green creature unmoving, the grey monster leaped at it, preparing to tear it apart. Sensing his enemy close by, suddenly the unmoving creature sprung to life and managed a hit that was strong enough to send the grey creature flying backwards. Letting out a pained cry, the green monster slowly retreated into the boy once it was sure the beast wouldn't attack anymore.

Beast Boy narrowed his eyes, trying to ignore the pain of his injured back that had received a pretty nasty gash before he slowly made his way over to the other side of the hall where his other half lied. The green changeling slowly leaned over to his other self and saw with relief that he was either unconscious or dead by the way his eyes were closed.

He turned away reluctantly with a smile, deciding to restrain the menace until some of the honorary titans would arrive with a way to remove him from existence.

His smile turned to a cry of surprise as something suddenly pulled him roughly from behind and sending him onto the floor. His hands immediately shot up to his throat – to the long, cold object wrapping tightly around it like a snake. The green changeling snapped his eyes open to see what it was that held him captive and his eyes widened when he saw that it was indeed a grey snake.

"H-How-"

The reptile cut him off as it coiled further, covering his arms that were still clinging to the part of the animal that slung over his throat, increasing the pressure of his grip. The green changeling loosened his grip by relaxing his fingers and trying to push or wriggle his hands out of the vice-grip but to no avail.

Seeing that his arms were useless (and not to mention that it was too painful since one of his wrists was broken), Beast Boy tried to gain help from his legs but his movement was restricted as well as more scales covered now his feet, slowly moving further upwards covering legs and stomach as well.

His legs soon lost their ability to move along with pretty much every other part of his body, leaving him at the complete mercy of his other half. The snake's head came into his field of vision, admiring its work all the while coiling a bit further.

How he would enjoy watching him suffer!

The titan made sure to stare at the snake with all the hatred he could muster before the lack of air blurred his vision.

If only looks could kill…

He squeezed his eyes shut; trying to think of a way out of this deadly situation…but even thinking was not easy anymore as he gradually felt himself dozing off. And as his mind wandered off into distant memories of when his team and Terra were still around, his voice once again reached his ears, faint but still audible.

"…sometimes it's best to be a slow, tiny turtle…"

Tiny!

That word sent a sudden surge of energy through him and before his body went completely limp, Beast Boy managed to morph into one of the smaller animals and with his remaining strength curled himself into a ball.

The snake immediately let out a painful hiss before retreating and turning back into the dark titan. Raising a curious eyebrow, the grey changeling looked over to the animal on the floor that uncurled and saw with surprise that what had prevented him from squeezing the titan like a lemon was a small, spiky hedgehog!

The hedgehog vanished to become a panting changeling, sprawled on the floor and savoring the few moments air finally managed to fill his lungs again.

"Not bad for someone who fills his brain with video games, comics and TV shows," Beast Boy heard his own voice echo through the hall and the green changeling slowly tried to get up.

Suddenly he felt a hand grab him by the arm and pull him roughly up and the green changeling let his fist lash out and a smirk formed on his face, seeing it connect with the other's jaw.

"But not good enough," the voice spoke, the dark titan having already recovered from the weak hit and countering to the other's stomach, causing him to trip forward with a pained groan.

Dizziness spread into the hero's head and once again he shut his eyes before swinging his fist again, only to hit air. His eyes snapped open when he felt claws tearing at him, causing him to topple backwards.

How could he defeat him – how could he defeat someone who is so much stronger than him and even knows how to counter his moves?

How could he have thought he stood any chance against himself?

How…could he do this all alone?

His thoughts drifted back to his friends but all he felt now was…regret and sadness but he refused to cry – crying wouldn't bring them back.

With a strained grunt, the changeling managed to get back on shaky legs but landed onto his knees shortly after. That fight had gotten more out of him than he thought.

His eyes wandered across the hall as the lights kept flickering on and off before his eyes rested on an object not far from him. Unfortunately, before he could form a thought on what to do with it, heavy footsteps approached him and he turned his head to see a grey version of the Beast leaping with outstretched claws at him – claws aimed to rip him to shreds.

In an act of pure desperation, Beast Boy managed to grab the object and held it in front of him before a scream of pain and ripping sounds filled the hall and he felt himself being catapulted against the wall.

The force was so strong that for a moment, he felt his insides rocking from the sheer impact and the air leaving his body before he dropped to the floor.

The pain cruising through him caused the youngest member of the titans to twist to the side and then twist some more to somehow relieve himself of the pain. His eyes slowly opened and for a moment, he literally saw dark before the blurred image of light entered his eyes. And then it was dark again before light appeared again, this time in sharper focus until he realized that he was staring at the ceiling of the warehouse.

Beast Boy slowly rolled to the side, the pain from his wounds forcing him to shut his eyes for a bit longer. After being sure he could get up, he attempted to do so slowly, gaining help mainly from his healthy hand until he stood on shaky legs. He let his eyes wander around the warehouse, getting ready in case his other self might still be around somewhere but all that greeted him was silence…and the notebook lying face down further in the front. Curiosity spread in him and he approached the object and he was surprised to see the cover of the book was covered with large slash marks. He picked up the book and let his eyes wander once more around the warehouse and a smirk spread across his face, seeing no sign of his other self.

He had finally beaten him!

With that wonderful thought spinning in his mind, he suddenly broke out in laughter as he slowly limped out of the warehouse.

And the only witness to his victory…was a security camera silently having recorded the events from a corner of the warehouse.