That's why I'm here. See-More reminded himself as he continued his search. To bring them back, all of the HIVE members.

See-More then began thinking to himself about HIVE as he flipped through the nearly endless series of useless visions. Had they started recruiting again? Probably, he decided. He wondered who replaced Brother Blood. See-More couldn't remember seeing his old headmaster with the rest of them when they worked for the Brotherhood of Evil, which meant that he was probably still locked away in high security. That was probably for the best too. See-More couldn't particularly remember anything they accomplished while under his tutelage. From the moment he was headmaster until the moment he was stopped by the Titans everything was just a long red blur.

Granny is probably in charge again. The teen thought with some hope. He always liked the old woman despite her overall strict and stern attitude. He knew she cared about them, maybe so much in fact that she could be looking into the entire class's disappearance right now! See-More smiled to himself at that thought, taking comfort that all might not be lost if they failed now.

Not that we will, but still.

"S-See-More?" a soft, mechanical voice called out, breaking See-More's train of thought.

"Oh, man!" See-More quickly switched to his normal gaze to look over to Fixit, his heart losing some of its extra weight to see that he was looking back. "No way! You're alive!"

Fixit gave him a quizzical look before raising a hand, attempting to touch one of the gaping holes on the side of his head. See-More was quick to stop him.

"I wouldn't do that if I was you," See-More suggested with a helpful smile, slowly placing Fixit's arm back to his side.

"I can't hear you, or anything else," the mechanic said, his red eyes staring squarely into See-More's single eye. "What happened?"

In response, the thief merely shrugged, smiling helplessly. Fixit's eyes leered.

"Sorry, man, I don't know what to te-"

"You did this," Fixit said before laying his head back down to the ground.

See-More looked down at him with a mixture of surprise and guilt. "What? How? Did you just read my mind?"

Fixit didn't respond and it took a moment for See-More to realize that he was still deaf.

Hey, uh, can you hear me? See-More thought in his head, his eye trained on Fixit's face.

Eyes closed, the mechanic slowly nodded.

Well, if it means anything, I'm real sorry, man.

Fixit didn't say anything back for a moment and, just when See-More was about to think something further, his eyes slowly opened, fixating back on the thief. "Why did you have to attack me?"

You attacked me first! See-More thought quickly. Raven got into your head somehow and made you her puppet.

Fixit nodded, somewhat sullenly. "And where is the cave? And Red-X?"

Oh, er, the cave is... See-More looked around them, expecting it to be just over the horizon, but to his dismay it was nowhere in sight. Fixit must have chased him farther than he anticipated. That's a good question, man.

"And Red-X? Is he alright?"

See-More felt his throat tighten at that question. He was grateful now that he didn't have to actually speak to Fixit.

That's...another good question.

Fixit let out a mechanical sigh before standing up in one fluid motion. See-More quickly stood up as well, looking at his comrade with some apprehension. "Hey, man, you sure you should be up and walking around so soon?"

"I'm fine," Fixit replied curtly. He then made a move to feel his holes again but thought twice about and lowered his arm back.

Well, I guess we should try to find that cave. See-More suggested with a small smile before beginning to switch to a proper scanning vision.

"See-More," Fixit said with such a sense of urgency that the teen quickly stopped what he was doing and faced the mechanic, face full of worry. "I'm sorry, for endangering the mission."

"Don't sweat it," See-More replied, worry replaced with a smile as he switched to his scanning eye. The lens now reflected a grid pattern where his eye used to be. They would find the cave in no time.

Fixit felt a strange clarity quickly arise in the air around them. He had believed that feelings like guilt were all but behind him. T hat they no longer held an impact on him. How strange that joining with a band of degenerates would prove him so wrong. He once again fought the urge to feel what happened to his ears.

"How how exactly did you manage to damage me this way?" Fixit asked out loud, not concerned at all that his voice would change despite him being unable to hear it. He was genuinely curious, however. When he first met See-More, he believed the young boy to be little threat.

See-More smiled sheepishly in return. I didn't mean to hurt you so bad. It was just a little blast of sonic energy.

All at once, Fixit's cold body grew colder. "You used a sonic pulse?"

Yeah, man. It was just something I chose at random. I was lucky you didn't end up killin' me!

"See-More, we need to leave, now."

"Wait, why?" Fixit read on See-More's lips, as the teen turned to face him.

Fixit was about to reply, but the young thief's face changed. What once was an expression of simple curiosity suddenly gave way to pure surprise and horror as his single eye looked at something behind the mechanic.

See-More then grabbed Fixit's arm and tried to pull him, screaming something Fixit no longer bothered to try and figure out. He slowly allowed his eyes to close. It all did not matter anymore.

"Fixit we have to go!" See-More shouted, tugging at his un-moving comrade. The teen looked back to where he saw the two orange figures, only to find that they had gotten much, much closer.

The first orange figure rammed into See-More. To the thief, it was like being hit by an armored truck and, in an instant, he was on the ground. An orange skinned and armored man pinning him there and shouting things at him in a strange language.

"Hey, man, lay off! I-!" See-More tried to shout, but the orange man placed a firm hand over his mouth, the other holding down both See-More's hand's by his wrists with little to no effort.

See-More struggled helplessly against the alien, but it was like being stuck in concrete. The thief's single eye darted over to where Fixit was, only to see the mechanic had been knocked down by another orange alien, the creature keeping one foot on Fixit's back while he held both arms in the air. The thief desperately wished he could see his comrade's face. The orange alien holding Fixit shouted something that sounded like a question, tightening his grip on the mechanic's arms.

"We were both sent by Blackfire, to rescue her," Fixit said in the midst of the alien's shouting. See-More's eye bore into the top of his head.

What're you trying to do man, kill us? See-More thought, though Fixit did not respond.

Both the aliens froze at the mention of the word Blackfire. From the corner of his eye, See-More watched as they both shared a secret, knowing glance.

A second later, the sound of static and splitting wires filled the empty air as Fixit's captor ripped both of the mechanic's arms clear off their sockets. Fixit made not a noise, but See-More was screaming now as electricity surged from the newly opened wounds. The next moment, See-More's captor released his hand from the thief's mouth.

"What the hell are y'all doing?! What-!" But that was all the young boy got out before a large orange fist made contact with his face. All See-More heard was a sharp, loud cracking noise before blacking out into unconsciousness.

...

The room was dark. Very dark. It was so dark in fact that even Beastboy's night piercing vision couldn't see through it. What he could see, however, was enough to make the hairs on his neck stand on end.

There were only two light sources, one pointed over him and the other pointed over a wide, glass-looking tube that held Raven. Though, as Beastboy watched as his friend repeatedly beat herself against the prison, he surmised that it was definitely built of something stronger.

There were two guards that stood directly outside of Raven's tube. The young sorceress stared down hatefully at them and shouted silent curses and threats through the 'glass'. The guards wore shiny, purple armor that reminded Beastboy of a lot of the stuff people wore in those fantasy games he used to play. The parts of their bodies that weren't clad in armor shone with a bright orange intensity. The pieces began to fall into place in Beastboy's head as he stared into their glowing green eyes.

"Hey!" Beastboy called out. His restraints consisted of the same device that Fixit had used to hold him earlier, only now there were heavy chains that clung to his body which ended wedged into the ground, effectively keeping him on his knees. Still, he wasn't trapped in the tube. He knew they could hear him. "Why are you guys doing this?! We're Titans! You know, the good guys?"

The two guards did not even acknowledge him. Beastboy wasn't even sure that they blinked.

"Helloooooo? Dudes?"

Still nothing.

"You guys are Tameranians, right?"

The two guards exchanged looks then, and a flicker of hope ignited in Beastboy's chest. "I've been here before! Raven has too! We're friends of Star! Er, I mean, Starfire. You guys know who Starfire is, right?"

The two guards then turned back to him, their cold green eyes never changing, still glowing bright. Beastboy recognized that as a sign of hostility from fighting alongside Starfire. He also couldn't help but notice the rather large, elaborate spears they were now carrying.

Slowly, they began to make their way towards him, disappearing into the darkness between his and Raven's cells.

"Er, Starfire's dad—uh, I mean, her Gnorfic or something, he's, like, the king or something, isn't he?" Beastboy hurriedly remarked, grasping at any information as the guards undoubtedly approached.

"We came here not that long ago cause Starfire was going to get married, but her sister was gonna make her marry this gross green thing and Robin didn't like it and we found out that it was all a set-up so we helped overthrow Black—"

But it was as far as Beastboy got as the guards suddenly thrust their spears at his neck through the darkness. The blades stopped less than an inch away and the words died on the Titan's lips. They looked much sharper this close up. His wide green eyes staried helplessly at the angry green eyes of the guards.

"Senpar udnek," one of the guards hissed.

Beastboy subconsciously gulped. He recognized that phrase from when he actually annoyed Starfire to the point of anger and she shouted it at him. She quickly apologized and explained in length that it basically meant 'shut-up'. These guards didn't look like they were in the mood to apologize anytime soon.

"G-Got it." Beastboy muttered.

"Retsnag!" a new voice called out. At first, Beastboy assumed it was one of the guards again, but that idea quickly left him as the two that held the spears at his neck suddenly backed away, disappearing once again into the blackness.

A few moments later, a new Tamaranian took his place. He was tall and slender, his finely shaped body not hidden by armor but instead by a rather revealing set of cloth wrapped around his chest and waist. Beastboy knew he recognized the long flowing red hair and the calm, abnormally attractive face from when he was last here, but for the life of him he couldn't think of where.

From behind the newcomer, the two purple armored guards stepped back into the light of Raven's tube. The young empath still beat against her prison and shouted silent curses.

"Why are you guys keeping us locked up like this?" Beastboy asked as he stared up into the Tameranian's eyes. His were a lot calmer looking and less glowy than the guards, perhaps it meant that he was more reasonable as well. "Aren't we all good guys here?"

Instead of answering, the alien man simply looked back down at Beastboy, a gentle smile creeping up on his lips. After another moment or two, Beastboy's brow furrowed as his anger began to swell.

"Okay, dude, what exactly is going on he-?" But the Titan was once again cut off as the man suddenly grabbed Beastboy by the chin and, in one fluid motion, brought their lips together.

Beastboy's eyes grew wide with surprise and horror. "DUDE!" he shouted as the Tamaranian finished the kiss and backed away slightly. The Titan spit at the ground, wishing desperately he had a free hand to wipe his mouth and then hit his assaulter. "What the hell did you do that for?!"

"You are Beastboy, yes? Of the Titans?" the Tamaranian asked in perfect English, his voice calm and sultry.

"What? Yes!" Beastboy exclaimed, the gross moment momentarily forgotten as hope once again sprung in his chest. Yet, it was quickly dashed as a knife was suddenly pressed against his neck, the tip already breaking the skin.

The Tamaranian looked down on the surprised Titan, the small smirk still on his lips. "You will reveal to me where the Titan's Tower is. If you do not, I will kill you. Simple, yes?"

As Beastboy looked wide eyed into the alien's beautiful face, a mixture of realization and dread finally sunk down deep into his body.

"Or, if you prefer to be the heroic type and still refuse..." the Tamaranian continued, turning slightly so that Beastboy could clearly see Raven's cell as well as the guard who had his finger over a particularly menacing looking red button, "...we shall kill your little friend as well."

Another subconscious gulp.

Not good.

Very not good.

...

His entire body ached in pain as the thief slowly returned from his forced dive into unconsciousness. He was vaguely aware that one of his shoulders had popped out of place, again. The pain there was particularly intense; even more so when he popped it back. He managed to only let out a low hiss as the throbbing lessened, slightly.

The haze of pain and weariness that plagued his eyes slowly began to clear.
It didn't take long for the teen to realize that he was in some sort of large, purple-colored beam of light, and that he was not the only one there. With slow and careful steps, he made his way across the circle of light towards the closest circle to him.

"Fixit?" the teen questioned the figure that lay face down in his own circle. The thief reached the end of his own and found that he could go no further. The purple light was more than just light, it was also a prison. As the teen's eyes cleared further, he happened to notice that the mechanic was missing both his arms.

"Fixit!" the thief called, smashing his fists into the walls of light. His comrade remained silent and unmoving. "Fixit, hey, can you hear me?!"

"I'm afraid Fixit is a bit indisposed at the moment," a sickeningly familiar voice spoke from behind him. The same confidence. The same manipulative tone, just minus the mechanical echo.

"All according to plan, Blackfire?" Red-X asked, the weight of the world dropping into his gut when he turned and saw the black-haired Tamaranian standing in the center of the three cells of her former comrades, standing tall and assured as guards flanked at her sides and a rather large man stood somewhat distantly behind her.

Blackfire's cold, purple eyes looked from the smash-eyed form of See-More, to the ripped apart Fixit, to the badly beaten body of the master thief, and her smile faltered. "All according to plan..." Blackfire agreed, fists clenching at her sides, "...except for one.

...

Close. I was so close.

My body was strangely un-harmed despite being severely beaten by a half-demon for what felt like an eternity. Though, my mind still carried the scars and it refused to move my body at more than a snail's pace.

It didn't matter. I was still close. The large palace that appeared to have been carved into the side of a mountain loomed over the horizon.

This was where Blackfire was being held prisoner. I lightly gripped the cloak that fell over me like a dark shroud. I would get in there and find her, find See-More, Red-X, and Fixit. I would find them all and free the rest of my teammates.

And then I will proceed to strangle them all to death for putting me through all this crap.

I smiled at the thought as I pulled my cape around me and disappeared into the darkness. It was always nice to dream.