Teen Titans Fan Fiction ❯ Only Half ❯ Hybrid or Mutt? ( Chapter 3 )

Only Half

 

By HeavenSentTenshi

 

Chapter 3: Hybrid or Mutt?

 

“Hybrid DNA?” Robin asked, looking thoroughly confused as to what Cyborg was attempting to explain to them. The group of five was standing in a room separated by a pane of bullet-proof glass from the one the creature they had caught was being held in.

 

“Well, basically, yeah,” Cyborg answered, glancing up at the screen behind him which showed the data he had collected from the blood sample. “I found that the DNA strands in the blood we found showed signs of being human, but… there was evidence of something that resembled fox DNA wound into it.”

 

“Well, that explains the ears and tail,” Beast Boy muttered. He had his back against the window and was looking into the room. The girl was lying on a steel table, a multitude of leather bindings keeping her from moving. Her chest was heaving at a rapid rate as she struggled futilely against her fastenings. She had given up on screeching when she finally learned that the room must be soundproof. She was frightened now; she had been since they took her away from her home.

 

“We don't even know if the blood is hers,” Cyborg argued, now studying the screen as Raven and Robin did the same. Starfire was also watching the creature as she attempted to gain her freedom, all the while looking distraught and frustrated.

 

“Have you thought of cross referencing her blood with the sample?” Robin asked, looking over at the creature as well, who was still covered from head to toe in blood. Cyborg nodded.

 

“I was planning on that,” he informed as he picked up a small package containing a sterilized needle inside it. At that moment, the creature had stopped moving. Her eyes reopened, as she had closed them in her futile attempt to escape, and she looked over just as Cyborg had retrieved the sharp object from the table near the computer. Her eyes suddenly widened as she thrashed and screamed, deaf to them, and they deaf to her, though Starfire and Beast Boy were watching her closely.

 

“She seems quite upset,” Starfire remarked.

 

“Think she's afraid of needles?” Beast Boy joked, a small smirk upon his face.

 

“Whatever the case,” Raven began, her arms crossed beneath her cloak as she leaned against the opposite wall, “we need the blood sample. Go and do it, Cyborg.”

 

“Yeah, yeah, yeah…” he muttered in response, moving to the steel door beside the window. He typed a code into a small keypad beside the door and it slid to the right as he stepped through. When the door had opened, a deafening wail echoed around the room. Everyone slapped their hands over their ears as their ear drums screamed in pain, just as the creature was. Cyborg retrieved a clean towel and approached her, grimacing from the horrible pain in his ears. When he was within three feet from her, she stopped moving, the screeching stopped, and silence engulfed the air. Her eyes were fixed on the sharp object in Cyborg's hand, her breathing ragged. She was sure he was going to kill her; she'd heard of humans using needles full of poison to kill other humans, and now, though she couldn't see whether there was anything in it or not, she was sure she would die.

 

Everyone watched her; she wasn't moving and they weren't sure why. Cyborg slowly reached for a jug of water, which was sitting on a table beside him; originally the water was meant for her to be able to drink, though he was going to use it for something more practical. He dribbled the water over the towel and positioned himself so that he was just above her head, and behind the table. Carefully, as not to startle or frighten her, Cyborg began to wipe the blood from her face. When he finished she looked up at him with the most puzzled expression. Cyborg, seeing that this creature wasn't going to act in such a savage way at the moment, then moved down to her bloodiest arm, her right one. He then ran the towel over her skin; but not without a reaction, this one a bit more hostile than the last. She howled in sheer pain as Cyborg attempted to clean up her arm. Confused as to this corollary, he pulled the towel away and tried his best to calm her as the others watched, equally bewildered. Soon, the creature stopped her shrieking and lay upon the table, taking in deep gulps of air. By this time, Robin, Beast Boy, and Starfire had entered the room; Raven was standing somewhere near the doorway.

 

“What was that for?” Beast Boy whimpered, rubbing at his pulsating ears.

 

“Her arm must be wounded…” Cyborg wondered aloud.

 

“That would explain the drops of blood near the scene,” Robin added.

 

“As well as why that arm is covered most in it,” Starfire pointed out.

 

“And why she was easy to capture,” Raven reasoned, “Loss of blood will weaken anything, including something that doesn't seem to be completely human.”

 

“Guess so,” Cyborg muttered as he pulled the vile off of the end of the needle. “Makes the job easier, too; I won't have to stick it in her arm, just capture some of the fresh stuff.” He wiped at her arm again, causing her to shriek, but this time held the container near where he guessed the wound was. Red liquid seeped over the lip and down to the bottom, pooling there. “That should be enough,” Cyborg guessed after a moment. He then returned to the other room to run a few tests on the newly acquired blood.

 

“So, what all do you have to do?” Beast Boy inquired; now having crawled up on his shoulder, he was able to watch.

 

“If you get of me, maybe I'll tell you,” Cyborg stated as he turned away from the computer for a moment before turning back when Beast Boy had leapt off. “Basically, I just have to add the blood sample to the computer's database, extract the DNA from it, then…. Where'd I lose you this time?” Beast Boy had begun to stare at him blankly.

 

“Uh… I think it was after the word `basically'.”

 

Cyborg sighed in exasperation. “Never mind….” He then went back to his work as Beast Boy returned to the window.

 

Starfire had taken up where Cyborg had left off in cleaning the creature up. It seemed that she had been able to convince her that she didn't mean to harm her and had begun cleaning up her right arm while she winced and gritted her teeth. Now that most of the dried blood had been cleaned away, it was apparent that something had scratched her; it was also noticeable that the scratch had become infected. The skin around the wound was turning an off white color, easily distinguishable from the dark tan of her normal skin. Robin had left the room and soon returned with a fist aid kit, which Starfire had asked for. Together, the two began to clean and wrap the wound while the creature lay completely still from shock. She had never expected them to help her.

 

“Alright,” Cyborg then muttered, turning back to the group, “I think we have hard evidence enough.”

 

“What do you mean, Cyborg?” Robin asked, returning to the room opposite the creature, while towel drying his hands on another towel after washing the blood from them.

 

“It's a match,” he informed, “Her DNA and the DNA we collected from the blood droplets are exactly the same. According to this, she's gotta be the murderer.”

 

“Did you find out what she is?” Beast Boy asked.

 

“Well, not exactly…” Cyborg muttered, “But I've got a guess.”

 

“Well?” Raven pressed as Starfire reentered the room as well and stood beside Robin.

 

Cyborg turned around and pressed a key on the large keyboard. A light tan background engulfed the screen. Ancient Japanese charactures and lists of information accompanied it, as well as a bold title; Japanese Legends, Kitsune and Youko.

 

“I believe she is what the Japanese refer to as Kitsune, a fox spirit or demon of some type.”

 

“Nice deduction… though you're wrong.” The group of five turned their heads suddenly to face behind them. The creature was holding herself up as high as she could, a serious look on her face. That was the most they had heard from her since she had shouted something about food.

 

“Wrong?” Cyborg asked carefully, pausing for a moment, “Then, what are you?”

 

“I'm half.”