[Changeling the Prototype] (Teen Titans X [Prototype])

Infection

"Breaking news!" A male anchor on Jump City News appeared, not seeing the surprised looks on the faces of the Teen Titans watching in the comfort of their OPS room. It was definitely strange, especially since they hadn't received a crime alert, and Starfire hadn't blown up anything recently. "STAR Labs was recently bought out by Gentek, an organization that is shrouded in mystery. We will say more as the story progresses, but for now, things should remain the same."

"Cy? You okay dude?" Beast Boy, a short, green, elf-like shapeshifter asked his cybernetic friend Cyborg. He knew that the technical expert was saved by STAR labs, and the fact that the place was bought out may affect him.

"Its cool B, though I would like to know more about this Gentek..." The tech Titan activated the console's "Computer mode", which he used to search for Gentek. He didn't find much, though he did discover that they were part of what happened in Manhattan a few months ago. No one knew for certain what happened, all they were aware of was that Gentek had something to do with it.

"I have a bad feeling about this..." Robin, the leader of the Titans who often dressed as a traffic light, commented, just as the alarm went off. "Titans, Go!" With that, the heroic teenagers ran off in order to figure out what had happened and how to stop it.

The alarm had just gone off, so there shouldn't have been nearly as much damage as there was. It was as if a bomb had gone in the middle of downtown Jump City. There were fires everywhere, including on buildings, which looked gouged out by what seemed to be large claws. There were huge craters in the ground, which looked like Starfire had punched the earth multiple times.

"Dude... What happened?" The changeling wondered aloud, beginning to look around for survivors. What he didn't see was a mass of black and red tendrils shift into a tall young adult with gleaming red eyes hidden behind a hood.

The Titans had all spread out in the area to make sure that they could help as many people as possible, so no one noticed when Beast Boy was grabbed and pulled away from them by an unknown force. After a short struggle, the shapeshifter faced his captor. The man was wearing slacks and a white button up shirt beneath a black hooded jacket, his red eyes gleaming in curiosity, making Beast Boy shiver a bit under the gaze, feeling like a lab experiment under a knife.

"I didn't know humans came in green... a disease of some sort?" He asked, more to himself than the changeling.

"Who're you? Are you behind this chaos?" Beast Boy asked, his stance tensing when he heard this stranger refer to Sakutia, not that the new person seemed aware of the exact details.

"Chaos?" The man laughed crazily. "This isn't chaos, this is the next beautiful step in human evolution! Superior strength and adaptability! We are the new norm! Those who resist will be... assimilated." What he said was immensely disconcerting, especially considering the way he said it, emotion and pride in himself notwithstanding, was almost exactly what the Androids had said in Galaxy Quest. Fearing that everything he knew was in danger, his body moved on its own, lunging at the man with a clenched fist. To his surprise, his punch was caught easily, and he could feel the sheer strength in this man's body. He could crush the lith changeling with ease if he weren't toying with him. "Tut tut green one. We haven't even been introduced. My name is Alex Mercer. And yours?"

"I'm Beast Boy!" With that, he shifted into a sasquatch and used the superior strength and leverage to launch Mercer into a building. The young adult's blood-red eyes were wide as he jumped out of the crater he had formed in the wall.

"Interesting. A shapeshifter, but not like me... No, definitely not Blacklight..." Now he smirked in an arrogant manner. "You're an interesting specimen Beast Boy. Would you join me? With your powers together and mine, we could rule the world as gods." Several of the creatures in Beast Boy liked the sound of ruling as an all-powerful alpha, but they all knew Mercer couldn't be trusted.