"You do realize this could be a trap, right?" Raven asked, dull voice. "Yeah, but it's the only lead we have" The leader answered. The team walked down the town, making their way to an old warehouse. There had been a distress call from an unknown identity. "Friends, I have yet to figure out why we do not just wait and see if another call comes. Instead of investigating." Starfire said, flying above her team mates.
"We have to make sure that the distress signal wasn't sent from a civilian." Robin answered, as they approached the building. "What if it is a trap?" Beast Boy asked. "We'll just have to risk it." Robin said, determined. He swung open the doors with little force and walked in, his team close behind him. The room was cold, almost like a life size freezer. It was empty, only a couple crates here and there. The doors closed behind the group and lights suddenly flashed on.
"Everyone stand your ground." Robin said, pulling out one of his exploding weapons from his utility belt. The lights started to flicker and in between the dark and the light, Robin could swear he'd seen someone. Someone familiar, but he didn't see their face. For a while nothing happened, only silence and suspense.
"Ahh!" Beast Boy yelled. Something had grabbed his foot, and was pulling him away from the safety of his team. "Guys! Help!" He yelled, holding his arms out. Cyborg grabbed his friends arms and playing tug-of-war with the mysterious force. A few seconds later, the thing let go and Beast Boy toppled onto Cyborg. "Heh, even ghosts don't want you." Cyborg teased, helping Beast Boy up and loaded his arm canon.
"Are all spirits this mean on your planet?" Starfire asked. "Let's find out" Raven said, lifting her glowing hand and closing her eyes. In a split second, the entire room was filled with black magic. It covered every inch of the place. "Over there" Raven whispered, pointing to a corner behind a couple of boxes. Robin slowly and quietly stepped to the area where Raven had pointed to. He got in a defensive position and jumped.
Expecting to see a person, he threw the weapon he had been clutching onto. Only nobody was there. Just a little box. When his weapon hit the box, a hissing sound filled the room. A pinkish gas started to seep through the holes the weapon had made. "Was is this?" Cyborg asked out loud. "Don't breath it!" Robin yelled.
Robin and Raven used their capes to cover their faces, the rest of the team used their hands.
All was well for a few seconds, but nobody can hold their breath for forever.
Beast Boy couldn't hold his breath any longer. He filled his lungs with the much needed air. But things only got worse from there. Beast Boy felt dizzy, he couldn't see straight, and everything was numb. He feel to the floor, asleep. Next to fall was Robin, then Raven. Cyborg and Starfire were the only titans left.
Cyborg finally gave and fell to the floor. Starfire didn't know what to do. Did humans not have five lungs? Even if she could hold her breath for longer, her lungs were starting to burn. She took in the fresh air and sat on the ground. Maybe it was because she was from a different planet, but this strange gas did not have the same immediate affect on her than it did with her team.
It had only made her drowsy. Starfire slowly started to close her eyes, but before she fell completely asleep, she had seen something or someone that looked familiar. She stared at it until the room got dark, and she finally closed her eyes.
"Agh, what happened?" Beast Boy asked himself. He was laying down on his back in what appeared to be an empty room. It had nothing in it, except one spotlight, which was on him. "Anybody there? Cyborg? Starfire? Robin?" Beast Boy paused "Raven?" "They're not here" A voice said from the distance. "Who's there...Show yourself!" Beast Boy yelled, getting ready to fight.
"Actually, what you should be saying is 'Show myself'" The voice said, walking into another spotlight. It was himself. Beast Boy. "What the?" Beast Boy said, walking up to his twin. "Dude! I didn't know I had a twin brother!" Beast Boy said, excited. "That's because you don't. I'm a clone, pinhead." The clone said, rolling it's eyes.
"You and your team have been chosen by my master to play a game in physical and mental strength" The Beast-clone said. "We never signed up for this!" Beast Boy said, pointing an offending finger at his clone. "Yeah, well, that's the beauty of it. You and your team are going to play. You have to" Beast-clone started. "You and your team all have clones that look and act exactly like them" Beast-clone explained.
"Four of those five clones will self-destruct after we give you this message, but the last one will beat up whoever is in the room with them. Once the doors open, you and your team will have one week to figure out who is real and who is the clone." Beast-clone stated.
"So we just punch everyone and whoever doesn't bleed is the clone?" Beast Boy said, starting to feel smart. The Beast-clone's hand suddenly turned into a tiger's claw and he scratched his own arm, blood rising up.
"We are all designed to match human biology, so you can't tell the difference." Beast-clone said, walking backwards. "Could you at least give me a hint?" Beast Boy asked, a sliver of hope showing on his face. "Hmm-" Beast-clone thought. "-You're not the clone, good luck!" Beast-clone said, before exploding into a million tiny pieces.
Three more explosions were heard, a few seconds later, the doors opened, letting Beast Boy out of the empty room. When he walked past the doors, he looked around, seeing a little light switch, along with a little, green circle shaped pin on his door. Beast Boy walked straight for a while before seeing a figure in the distance.
Beast Boy was thankful when the figure walked out of the shadows and Raven's face was visible. He kept walking and soon he was met with all the familiar faces of his team mates.
"Friends, please know that I am not the twin of me" Starfire said, breaking the silence. "I'm not the clone either!" Cyborg said, raising his hands in a surrender stance. "I think we all say we're not the clone." Robin said, "We're getting nowhere" Raven added.
"Maybe we use our powers?" Beast Boy suggested. Almost immediately, Raven took her glowing hand and lifted a crate and threw it against the wall. Starfire followed by shooting a crate with her star bolts and Cyborg used his arm canons and blew up another crate. Beast Boy transformed into a Bull and rammed one of the boxes. Robin used one of his exploding boomerangs and hit another crate.
"That worked" Cyborg commented, sarcasm dripping from his voice. "Wait, what's that?" Raven asked, pointing to a little box on the ground. "Careful" Robin said, not wanting to repeat another accidental knockout.
The team moved slowly towards the strange little device, and finally, Starfire pressed the green button on the front.
"Good evening, Titans" A voice said from inside the box. "Is everyone have fun?" It asked, mockingly. "Who are you? Where are we? What's going on?" Robin yelled, getting angry almost instantly. "Didn't my clones tell you anything?" The voice asked itself. "You are here to play a game" It said. "Why do you do this?" Starfire asked.
"I want to see your skills. Your abilities, and your limits." The mysterious man said. "How do you know we won't just wait until the week is over?" Cyborg asked. "Because if you fail to pick out the clone by the end of the week, it will kill you all." The voice said simply.
"Okay...hints?" Raven asked. "My clones told you that the one clone acts and looks exactly like the real person. Think" The voice said, before going silent. "That doesn't help. We already tried powers. Everyone is still the same..." Beast Boy said, feeling defeated. "Relax, we have a full week." Cyborg said, comforting his friend awkwardly.
Everything was awkward. Cyborg didn't know if he was comforting his real friend or the clone. And Beast Boy didn't know if the real Cyborg was comforting him, or the clone.
"Friends, why can't we be honest with each other like the real friends are?" Starfire asked. "Because Star, whoever the clone is, isn't going to say it, or they'll just lie about it." Robin said, sternly.
"Don't worry, the clone is completely harmless until the end of the week." Raven answered Starfire. "Yes, but what if we do not discover the clone by the end?" Starfire asked, worriedly. "We will" Robin said, punching his hands together.
"Day two and we haven't come close to figuring anything out" Cyborg announced. "Perhaps the man in the box will tell us a hint?" Starfire said, looking towards the little box that still lay in the same place from the first night. "Maybe..." Raven said, sounding bored almost.
"Good morning, Titans" The voice said. "Let us out!" Beast Boy yelled. "Why, you have not figured out who the clone is, so therefore, I cannot let you out" He said. "I intend to keep you here until you eliminate the clone, or, until the clone eliminates you" The voice said. "Robin!" The voice yelled. "Go to the very back right corner of the building." He ordered. "Why?" Robin asked.
"Just. Do. It" He said, sounding fed up. Robin did as he was asked, still skeptical. "Cyborg! Go to the back left" The voice shouted. Cyborg said, nothing, only backed up to the corner. A little piece of the floor started to fall, and when it came back up, it was holding a little ball, no bigger than a marble.
"This is a bomb, it can eliminate anything. I want Robin and Cyborg to race to it, whoever gets it first gets to keep it until you've found the clone." The voice said. "Go"
Robin was the first to move, then Cyborg shortly after. Cyborg was getting close, and reached out to grab it, but Robin swiped it when Cyborgs hand was mere inches away.
"Listen closely. That bomb will eliminate the clone once you all have found it. But you can only use it once, and if you use it on someone who is not a clone...let's just say there will only be four Titans left." The voice said, before releasing a small chuckle.
"The third day." Robin said, staring at the little ball he had won the day before. "The man in the box will surely give us a clue" Starfire said, trying to lift her leaders spirits. "Maybe..." Beast Boy said, walking towards the little device. "Yo! Box dude! Come on out!" Beast Boy yelled, kicking the box. Nothing. "Maybe not." Cyborg said, sitting on one of the crates. "Why can't we just break down all of the doors and find the real Titan, then destroy their clone?" Raven asked in her dull voice.
"Because, dear Raven, cheating is against the rules" The voice said, before a little laser came out of the ground and shot Raven in the arm. "Ahh!" Raven yelled, grabbing her arm. "Rest a sure I will be keeping a very close eye on all of you" He said, before disappearing again.
Luckily, the laser had just barely missed her and grazed her shoulder. Raven lifted her hand to see a red liquid dripping from her arm, but that didn't matter. Raven lifter her other arm and closed her eyes, healing her self. Once she was done, she opened her eyes to see her team staring at her. The whole laser incident happened almost too fast for them to process it.
"What are we going to do?" Raven asked, trying to avert the attention back on the bigger picture. "I could do a thermal scan..." Cyborg suggested. "That might work" Robin said, stepping closer to his team. "Or not..." A voice said, before a shocking event happened. Literally. Cyborg fell to his knees after getting a short shock to jam all his equipment.
"YO! What was that for?!" Cyborg yelled, standing up. "I don't tolerate cheaters." The voice said through the little box. "And making sure no one else gets any bright ideas..." He started before a rope grabbed Starfire out of the air and hit her to the ground with a sickening crack. Then a flash came up in front of Robin, blinding him and giving him a temporary headache.
A big crate came falling from the ceiling and almost fell on Beast Boy, but Beast Boy had seen it coming and turned into a bat and flew away, out of the danger. "Very quick Beast Boy...very quick indeed..." The voice said, not saying a word after.
"Yeah, that was kinda quick." Cyborg continued. "Almost too quick" Raven added. "Beast Boy..." Starfire started, looking at Beast Boy almost sympathetically. "I believe we are suspecting you are the clone..." Starfire finished, moving closer to Beast Boy.
Day four, and the chase was still going on...
Everyone suspected Beast Boy to be the clone, so now they were trying to get close, not wanting to waist the bomb.
At one point, Raven had caught Beast Boy in her black magic, but he morphed into a snake and slithered into a crack in the wall. When Cyborg had finally found him, Beast Boy believed it was over.
"I know I love attention, but not like this!" Beast Boy yelled, closing his eyes, preparing for the bomb to hit him. "Man...! This is just like when I couldn't control the Beast! Man, nobody would leave me alone! I hate this!" Beast Boy yelled, struggling to get out of his friends hold. Waiting for the bomb to hit his skin, Beast Boy waited, but it never came. He opened his eyes to see that Robin had put the bomb down.
"Why aren't you throwing the bomb?" Raven asked. "Because. The clone can only mimic powers and personalities, right?" Robin asked. "That is what they specified" Starfire said. "Then whoever is the clone shouldn't have memory..." Robin thought for a second. "Quick, everyone tell me where Mad Mod sent them" Robin ordered.
"He sent me to a computer lab to mess with my equipment." Cyborg answered. "I believe you call it a Library is where I was sent" Starfire said. "Math Class" Raven said dully. "He sent me to a regular classroom" Robin said. "He sent me to a Science Lab...it was terrifying" Beast Boy said, shivering.
"I know who it is." Robin said, getting the bomb ready. "Who?" Raven asked. "You!" Robin yelled, throwing the bomb on Raven. When the bomb hit Raven, she screamed in complete agony, Robin was starting to worry that his suspicions were wrong, but when the smoke cleared, the little voice box was where Raven had been.
"Congratulations, Titans. You have found the clone, now you have the remaining 3 days to find the real Raven and escape." The voice said, before disappearing.
"Okay, so we have three days." Cyborg said, checking his GPS. "No chance anyone knows where Raven is?" Beast Boy asked. "We all started in the rooms, right?" Robin asked. "Yes, and the clone of Raven most likely disabled the true Raven in the rooms as well." Starfire observed. "Then all we have to do is find the room Raven started in..." Cyborg said.
"Wait, I think I know where that is..." Beast Boy said, remembering seeing "Raven" walking out near her room when they were all released. Beast Boy started to where his room had been and started searching. Beast Boy found the little, green pin on his door, along with the light switch next to it. While following Beast Boy, Cyborg thought of a question. "Hey, Robin. How did you know Raven was the clone?" He asked. "Because, Raven said that Mad Mod sent her to a math class, but the real Raven was sent to gym class" Robin answered.
It took a few hours, but they finally found a door that had a little, dark purple circle on it.
Robin was the first to move, lifting his hand up to the door nob. Not like he didn't expect the door to be locked. Cyborg and Starfire both fired at the door, but did minimal damage. Beast Boy watched as his team went full force on the door. The changeling looked at the door, wondering. He moved his hand up and touched the little, purple pin. It moved.
Beast Boy then pressed the circle into the door, and a light formed all around the edges of the door. Robin then hesitated in turning the nob. It was unlocked.
Robin opened the door all the way, and walked in.
The room was empty.
All white, except for a dark purple pillar in the center of the room. Starfire flew around the pillar, hoping her friend was behind it, but she wasn't.
Robin was at a loss.
Even if Raven was in the room, where would she be. The room was completely empty. Starfire landing softly on the ground and walked closer to Robin. Beast Boy shape-shifted into a bloodhound and walked around the perimeter of the room. Nothing.
In a fit of anger, Cyborg punched the wall he had been standing next to. And that gave him an idea.
Cyborg walked up to the pillar and rubbed his hand on it, feeling it. He knocked on it, an echo emitting. Hollow. Cyborg smiled as he punched the structure. The rest of the team quickly caught on and helped Cyborg in destroying the pillar. After a few hard punches and raw knuckles, the pillar started to crumble.
The team stepped back, giving the structure room to fall. Once the dust cleared, a form was visible.
"RAVEN!"