A/N: I swore to myself that I wouldn't let this story die and I meant it! Now on with the ridiculously delayed update!

The Beast Within Us

Chapter Thirteen: Reunion

There were few occasions in which Mumbo could display his talents out in the open. Being a performer at heart, the chance to be the center of attention was not a chance he could pass up. Neither was a good robbery, so with no Titans to stop him, he was free to indulge in both. His magic hat was already stuffed with hundreds of thousands of dollars and the street was filled with various magic props brought to life. "Why run away form a free show, folks?" With a wave of his wand, a pair of giant gloves appeared and picked up two hapless citizens. "Please, let us go!" one of them screamed as the props brought them towards their tormentor.

"Now, now there's not need to be afraid. Just relax and enjoy the show."

Mumbo gave his knuckles a quick crack before pulling back his sleeves. "For my next trick, I'll make your money disappear. Mumbo Jumbo!" A simple flick of the wrist was all it took for a stream of dollar bills and credit cards to pour out of the victims' pockets and into his waiting hat. From the shadows, Robin and Beast Boy watched the two struggle for freedom, even as their finances bled away. "Okay, so what's the plan?" Beast Boy whispered. Robin rested one hand against a brick wall as he crouched forward, his eyes narrowing in scrutiny the while. "We need to get that wand away from him."

"So? Just throw your birdarang at him and be down with it."

Robin rose from his crouched and turned to face Beast Boy with an arched brow. "I don't have my utility belt, remember?"

"Oh, right. They took it. Well, I could just transform into a . . . "

"No." Robin cut in with a hand held up for emphasis. "We need to take him by surprise. Besides," a small grin crept onto his face as he eyed the various objects discarded in the alley. "- birdarangs aren't the only things I can throw, you know."

A grouping of giant gloves applauded wildly as Mumbo finished draining the resources from another trapped victim. "Thank you! Thank you! You've been a terrific audience!" With both arms stretched over his head, the blue magician bowed at his inanimate stage crew and those he robbed and restrained. After a series of bobs and a thunderous roar from the gloves, he rose with his hands once again waving and taking in the praise. "I'm afraid my next, and final, trick will be a disappearing act, but I hope to see at the next venue - ah!"

The surprised gasp came at the courtesy of a well aimed trash can lid, which struck his right hand and sent his wand flying. Just as he turned to see who had thrown it, a green cheetah ran by and grabbed the wand. Mumbo only caught the cat out of the corner of his eye as his attention was mainly on Robin, who was soaring towards him with a flying kick. Mumbo gaped before waving a hand and a giant glove grabbed the youth's cape. Robin grasped his collar to prevent choking as two gloves assaulted Beast Boy. "Aren't you two supposed to be in jail?" he asked, perplexed.

"We got out on good behavior." Robin grunted as he unfastened his cape. He sprung forward from his landing and tackled one of the gloves that had pinned Beast Boy down. The other met a rather nasty end as the green feline tore it mercilessly with his formidable claws. The wand dropped from Best Boy's jaws and Mumbo reached for it. Seeing this, Robin kicked the wand away as he was too busy wrestling with the glove to grab it himself.

The wand skidded across the street and Mumbo rushed after it. Beast Boy, having destroyed his enemy, pinned Robin's to the ground so that he could pursue the villain. Robin grabbed Mumbo's cape as Beast Boy bounded off the other glove and past them both. "Well, Robin, if you wanted a show, you should have just asked." Mumbo waved his arms in the air. "Here. Pick a card."

A deck of cards came flying from Mumbo's palms and pelted Robin in the face. He kept hold of Mumbo's cape through it, though oddly enough, he felt the material morph from that of cloth to fur. As the card storm diminished, Robin found himself holding onto a flap of skin from a bear. An angry bear. "Uh oh . . ."

Meanwhile, Beast Boy was just about on the wand when a King of Spades appeared before him. The character in the large card grinned malevolently before striking down with his axe. Beast Boy let out a screech and retreated with the card hot on his tail. Robin was likewise being chased, dodging claws and teeth every now and then. Unable to outrun the raging animal, he kicked off a light post and flipped over the bear, landing on the arch of the bear's back. Though stronger and faster, he had not the versatility of the acrobatic teenager.

Robin saw Beast Boy and his chaser running right for him. He locked his eyes with his friend, whose feline head nodded in acknowledgement. As the two closed in with their enemies not far behind, they both ducked, causing the magical items to strike one another. The bear exploded into a flock of white pigeons and the card was sliced in two.

"Mumbo Jumbo!" More magical minions appeared with the call of the incantation. "They outnumber us, but they're not very bright." Robin mumbled to Beast Boy as the two found themselves quickly surrounded. "Let's use that to our advantage." Robin made a break through the crowd as a stream of enemies followed behind. Beast Boy remained in the thick of the other half of enemies, morphing into a squirrel and leading them about. Robin led his trailing enemies towards Mumbo. "You don't honestly think you can get my own creatures to attack me, do you?"

"Of course not." Robin replied with a grin.

Mumbo created a glove to serve as a body guard, which Robin simply ducked and rolled under. Springing up, he grabbed Mumbo's wrists and forced them into the air. "Now!" A green cat leapt from the carnage and grabbed the wand with his teeth. He rebounded off of Robin's back and landed on the sidewalk, morphing into a gorilla and breaking the wand in two.

"Nooo!" Mumbo screamed as his props and costume vanished. His stolen money came streaming from his normal pant pockets and his freed victims hit the ground painfully, but relieved. The two were quick to restrain the man before he could make a skittish escape, deciding to take their leave as sirens swelled the air. "Let's move."

With that, Beast Boy morphed to a pterodactyl and carried Robin away.

-----

Johnny Rancid and Mad Mod proved to be easier targets, as neither had the opportunity to set up a mechanical menace or elaborate mind control devices. Between taking out them, the small time muggers that decided to take up on the opportunity and dodging patrol cars, rumor had spread that the Titans were still on the loose. Thankfully, the criminal activity had gone down but some of the hard hitters were still at large. One such criminal was the recently escaped Control Freak and currently, Robin and Beast Boy were being chased by the couch potato's monsters brought to life.

"Dude! I don't know how much more I can take!" Beast Boy panted as he and Robin turned a corner. Robin remained silent, though echoed his friend's thoughts as he heard a large crash of his pursuers behind him. Weaponless, injured, and hungry, the two were quickly running out of steam. "We're going to have to try and loose them!" Robin panted back. "Can you fly?"

Without a word, Beast Boy morphed into a pterodactyl and carried Robin to the sky. He maneuvered through the low rooftops as the lizard like creature chasing them increased its speed. Robin cringed as he looked over his shoulder, watching buildings take damage in their wake. "It's no good! We're going to have to make a full retreat." Beast Boy nodded and took to the skyline. He took a sharp turn behind an upcoming pair of buildings and virtually disappeared before the creature's eyes, forcing it to stop and wait for its next command.

Taking shelter on a local rooftop, the two collapsed against a tool shed. "So, what's the plan?" Beast Boy gasped. Robin sighed in between heavy breathes as he propped his arms on his knees. "We can't do anything until we regain our strength. I'd say we return to the tower, but if the police catch us out and about, we'll have a lot to answer for. More specifically, if they see me out and about and . . . well . . . not in cardiac arrest."

"So what do we do?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing?!"

"Nothing." he repeated. "We've done all we can so far. The immediate threat has been taken care of. We'll just have to rest and hope no one spots us."

"Not likely!"

The startled Titans looked up to see Control Freak standing upon a mutant manta ray that floated in a stilled hover. "Hey! The manta rays from Mutant Sea Creatures part six aren't supposed to fly!"

"Beast Boy, I don't think they're supposed to be able to survive outside of water either. . . "

"Foolish Titans! Your defeat is imminent! Surrender and I might let you live!"

"What do we do, dude? We can't fight him like this!"

Robin sighed, gritting his teeth. "Either way, we're at his mercy, but surrender is the last thing we'll do!"

"Then prepare to be destroyed!" Control Freak hollered. "Onward, by loyal beast!" The two Titans held their ground, tensing up and sneering as the manta ray flew towards them. "Get ready . . ." Robin hissed. Sweat pooled down both of their foreheads as the distance between their enemies drew smaller, but their grimaces turned to shock when black energy engulfed the sea creature. Control Freak toppled back and forth as the ray was thrown about before he lost his footing. The same black energy overtook a set of clothing lines and sent them wrapping around the criminal. He sputtered in miffed surprise as he found himself suspended upside down and watched his remote fall into Robin's hands and a quick push of a button vanquished the monster.

"I heard you guys were stirring up trouble, but I didn't know it was this bad."

The boys turned towards the source of the voice, their faces breaking into relieved smiles.

"Raven!"

-----

A/N: So uh, Crazy Girl Person? How you, uh, how you comin' along on that fanfic? You know, the one you've been working on for three years? Gotta, gotta MS Word document open there? Gotta story you workin' on? Got a dialog; beginning, middle and end? Workin' on that for some time, huh? Talkin' about that three years ago. Been working on that the whole time? Gotta story brewin' there? Hmmm?

At this point, I know a lot of people have given up on this story. I don't blame them. But, I will finish this if it kills me! You hear that?! I'm hoping it won't because I've got a lot of other stories in the works, but eh.

So if anyone's still reading this, uh, review and tell me I'm a big goobery slacker.