I do not own anything relating to the Teen Titans.
Opening the Closet Door a Crack – Chapter 9
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Night had fallen. And with it, more's the pity, so had all of the darkness that inhabits the souls of man. Five adventurers were in the process of reuniting after a day filled with both dread and portends. The five were more aware than before of the challenges facing them. However, what had not been considered was that challenges come not just from without, but also from within. The three hags have a plan, and seldom to the benefit of the subjects; their motives are their own. Consequently, events are beginning to take shape that will determine not just the fate of the five adventurers, but the fate of the world, nay, the fate of the universe and all reality. What is to become of these five, the human, the alien, the machine, the witch and the changeling? Am that cruel? Or honest? Is there a difference? Alliances have been made and will be the focus of the coming events. Will the alliances hold? Will the five stay united?
Somewhere, one old hag continues to carefully examine five threads. And measures. And smiles.
Beast Boy and Raven made their way to the Titan's camp. It was late and it was dark. Although both had slept, it had not been a restful sleep. Instead, both had had the sleep of troubled exhaustion. The grey sorceress had been affected more than she had expected by the confluence of evil influences. The shapeshifter had been affected by his concern for his teammate (at least, that's what he told himself she was). Even though both could have arrived far quicker than they did, they walked, slowly, deliberately, together into the presence of their three friends.
Robin immediately moved over to Raven's side. "Are you ok? What happened?"
"Robin, I'm fine. It's just the overload of the eldritch influences in the library were more than I could take. Beast Boy got me out of the sphere of influence quickly enough so there was no long term effects."
"Well, that's a relief. At least there's ONE member of the team I don't have to cover for. Beast Boy, what happened?"
"What do you mean 'What happened?' Rae just told you."
"Yes, but you broke through a door and smashed a window."
"Dude, I had to get her out of there as fast as possible. If there had been a skylight, I would have gone through that."
Robin looked down at the ground, shaking his head. "Beast Boy, do you have any idea of what damage you caused?"
At that remark, the green teen exploded. "I DON'T BELIEVE YOU. I just saved Raven and you're worried about the damage to the door and window? If I heard right, Star destroyed a piece of the book as well as most of the library! I notice that you seem to be ok with that. That DOES IT. I AM SIC K OF BEING YOUR FALL GUY! Hell, you come after me for anything you feel like. Just because Star gives you a hard on, she can do no wrong."
The look of absolute hatred that came on Robin's face was startling. Moving in on Beast Boy, he took a swing at the shapeshifter's jaw. Beast Boy, however, was more than equal to the attack. At the speed of thought, he changed to a hummingbird and ducked the attack. Morphing back to human form, he retaliated by swinging his right fist at the Boy Wonder.
Robin had been trained by the Batman. A mere swing of a fist was nothing to him. He ducked with apparent ease and counterattacked with a leg sweep. Beast Boy, while not trained by the Batman, HAD been trained by the Doom Patrol. He changed into a sparrow and easily avoided the blow. In a series of rapid attacks and counterattacks, Robin and Beast Boy continued to go after one another. Strangely enough, neither one went for the kill. Each seemed determined just to land a punch on the other. However, Robin continued to avoid each of Beast Boy's attempts to hit him and Beast Boy morphed each time Robin attempted to attack him.
Remarkably, it seemed as if there was a stalemate. Neither titan seemed willing to take it to the next level. Robin only used his martial arts expertise against BB, instead of his tools and weapons, and Beast Boy never changed into an animal for an attack, only for defense.
The rapidity with which the confrontation had escalated into blows between the two stunned the other titans. Watching the two friends, none of the others had the notion to stop the fight. It almost became an exercise in observation to see the two heroes try to outmaneuver each other. After a moment, Raven came to her senses.
"Star, grab Robin and keep him away from Beast Boy. I'll take care of him." Enclosing the green teen in a black energy sphere, Raven was able to keep the changeling contained so that he couldn't morph his way out. This was difficult as the resources BB had were far more varied than most foes she had to face. Meanwhile, Starfire chose the course of expediency. She simply grabbed hold of his right ankle and lifted him into the air.
"Starfire, let me GO! I'm going to teach that lazy son of a bitch a lesson once and for all."
"Like you could you stuck up asshole. Raven, let me out so I can pound his pretty face into jelly."
The three remaining titans looked hopelessly at one another, at a loss for how to defuse the situation between the two combatants.
"Cyborg," Raven said, "Do you still have any more of that gas you used last week?"
"Yeah, let me hit BirdBoy first." With that, the cybernetic teen went over to his leader and sprayed some gas in his face. The titan leader almost instantly collapsed. From inside the energy sphere, Beast Boy laughed.
"All RIGHT Tin Man. Rae, let me out now so I can pound him. That prissy know-it-all won't know what hit him. "
Rather than accede to the shapeshifter's wishes, Raven opened a small hole in the energy sphere, just large enough for Cyborg to shoot gas into the energy sphere. Before Beast Boy was aware of what was going on, he was unconscious.
"Hmmm," remarked Raven. "The gas seems to have worked better this time."
"Well," started Cyborg, rubbing his hand over his shaved head, "I, uh, made a couple of adjustments to the formula after last week. Looks like it worked. Both should be out until morning, I hope."
"Friends, what has happened here? Why have our two friends tried to kill each other?" Starfire's face showed a considerable amount of confusion. Much of which was reflected by the other two titans.
"Star," started Cyborg, "I don't think they meant to kill each other. In fact," he paused for a moment, "they seemed determined NOT to seriously hurt each other. Rob could have done a number of moves to really hurt BB and BB could have morphed into a lion or T-rex if he really wanted to kill Rob." He paused for a moment, "In fact, it almost seemed like they were getting their frustrations with each other out."
Now Starfire looked even more confused. "What frustrations are you referring to?"
Thinking carefully, Cyborg continued, "Did you hear how each referred to the other, minus the curses, Robin thinks BB is lazy, and BB thinks he's a stuck up pretty boy."
At this point, Raven interjected, "Earlier tonight, Beast Boy referred to Robin as 'Mr. Perfect'. It struck me that he must have a great deal of resentment towards Robin."
"Small wonder, Robin gets all the attention, he's the only 'normal' one among us. He's the leader. BB has been a hero just as long as he has between the titans and the Doom Patrol. The grass stain is green and worked undercover all those years. Maybe he's tired of it."
"But friends, Robin has told me how much he regrets that he's the 'normal' one. He even said the reason he never takes off his mask is because he can, while none of us can. He does not believe it would be fair to do so."
"Still," said Raven, "it doesn't explain why Robin always has it in for Beast Boy. It almost seems as if he goes out of his way to blame him for the smallest infraction."
"Yeah, remember, each of us has either broken the law or destroyed the city at one time or another and he NEVER blamed us. Yet, when BB became the beast, Rob threatened to lock him up. That must have rankled." Cyborg paused again at this. "I wonder….."
Both girls looked at the half-robot. "Yes, friend Victor?" It was a sign of her concern as well that she used Cyborg's real name.
"Hmmm? Oh, I'm just wondering if the underlying issue isn't a leadership issue. If Rob doesn't see BB as a competitor for leader of the titans and is subconsciously undermining him?" Both girls looked stunned at this.
"Vic, why towards Beast Boy? Why not you? Wouldn't you be the next most logical choice?" Raven asked.
Cyborg looked amused, "Me? No way. I'm still learning constantly. Our feuds have always involved tactics, not strategy. No, Beast Boy is the one with experience equal to Rob. AND, to stick it further in Rob's craw, it was BB who pulled all our fat out of the fire during the Brotherhood adventure."
"I am sorry Cyborg, what do you mean regarding fire fat?" asked Starfire.
"Oh, sorry, a colloquialism. I mean that BB rescued us when all hope was gone and it upset Robin that he failed. To make matters worse, BB is the WORST kind of team player." The girls again looked confused.
"Look, my old football coach always used to focus on everyone working together and listening to his orders. The ones he HATED were the ones who pulled stunts, pranks and didn't show the proper respect. He was always looking to tag them. The worst ones were the stars who he couldn't get rid of because they were too good, but didn't take being ordered around. It really burned him. I suspect that's the same deal between Robin and Beast Boy. Robin is a major dictator, but BB does not take well to being ordered around. He showed that with the Doom Patrol. Two opposites, both of equal, if different, ability, both with different ideas of how to run things. Maybe BB just finally got tired of it."
"But, I do not understand. Are not leaders there by right? Is it not proper for Beast Boy to accept Robin as the leader?" Starfire inquired.
"How are leaders chosen on Tamaran?" asked Raven.
"Chosen? The royal family are the leaders. We are the leaders. The aristocracy are the next in command. We are raised from birth to be the leaders of our people. What other way is there? This is how it always has been."
Cyborg and Raven looked at each other. "Then," asked Cyborg, "why did you follow Robin? Why DO you follow Robin?"
"Is he not one of the rulers of the people? Everyone has always listened to him. If I understand aright, Robin's mentor, Batman, is obeyed automatically by almost all of the heroes and people of this planet. Obviously, he is one of the rulers. Therefore, Robin, as his heir, is of the ruling family."
Cyborg looked at Starfire incredulously. Obviously, leadership customs were different on other planets. "Uhh, in this country, leadership is determined by merit," replied Cyborg.
"Yes, and the rulers have the merit. They are trained from birth for leadership."
"No Star, in this country, supposedly, merit is determined by ability. No one is trained from birth for leadership. Although, usually, the rich have a leg up on everyone else. Most people are trying just to survive. The well to do have the ability to focus on other abilities, other talents." There was a trace of bitterness in his voice.
"Cy, I take it you have a problem with that." Raven said.
Cyborg sighed, "Look, even though my folks were scientists, I had enough friends and time in the ghetto so I knew how 'real' people lived. It wasn't pretty. The idea that there are 'better' people who deserve their status just by existing does NOT sit well."
"But friend Cyborg, it has nothing to do with deserve. It is an obligation, a duty, a responsibility. We are to give our lives in sacrifice to our people."
"If only all the rich and powerful felt that way." Silence fell among the three.
"Could the Necronomicon have influenced the fight between Robin and Beast Boy?" asked Raven. She was finding this exploration of the team dynamics fascinating, but still needed to get down to the truth.
"I don't think so," responded Cyborg. He thought for a moment, "Maybe. That book is influencing all of us."
"Excuse me, Cyborg, I do not understand how you mean it influences us. It is evil, it must be destroyed. What is the problem? How could it be influencing us?"
Both Raven and Cyborg looked at the princess. "You mean you've had no problems with the book?" asked Cyborg.
"No, of course not. All of you keep mentioning voices and wings. When I first heard the voices I knew the source of that evil. Of course I denied them. They have not bothered me since. I cannot understand why you do not do the same."
"I guess humans, even partial humans, have a…problem…with these influences." Starfire looked stunned.
"But, how can that be? Do you not understand the consequences of listening to the Outer Gods, how demented and evil they are?"
"Getting back to our two fighters here," interrupted Cyborg, "thinking on it, there may be an influence of the Necronomicon. Both have been studying it and affected by it. Raven, you said that BB had been spending time as a wolf to counteract the book?" She nodded. "If I remember right, wolves are pack animals that determine alpha status through fighting. In fact, most pack animals determine their pecking order through combat, some sociologists believe guys and gangs operate the same way, a throwback to our animal heritage."
"Soooo," responded Raven, "Beast Boy because he's been channeling his animal instincts may be getting ready to fight Robin for leadership of the titans?"
"Could be."
"And Robin?" At that, the three fell into silence.
"Damn," said Cyborg. "Birdboy always keeps things so close. I don't know if or how he's being affected, can you?"
Both Raven and Starfire shook their heads. "I have been watching diligently for any signs of possession, but so far, nothing seems out of the ordinary." Replied Starfire.
"That doesn't mean he's not being affected," answered Raven. "That damn book is far more evil than I originally thought. And I originally thought it was worse than my father."
"Yet, he seems normal, at least as normal as Rob ever seems." Replied Cyborg.
"So what do we do?" asked Raven.
"We wait and see. And try to keep them from killing each other. And watch to see if that book has had more influences on them than we suspect." Answered Cyborg.
"How about you?" Asked Raven, "How are you holding up against the voices."
Cyborg let out a long breath. "I still hear them, it's a little fainter now that I'm trying to ignore them. Guess their effects are more pronounced if you give them attention." Rather than answer any more questions, he changed the subject, "Since, with luck, these two are out until morning, it may be a good idea to turn in." The girls nodded, as they turned away, Starfire stopped.
"One more question, friend Cyborg. Before Beast Boy and Robin began their battle, Beast Boy said something about Robin being 'hard on' for me. What does that mean?"
Cyborg blushed furiously. "I'll leave that to you Raven, you'd be better at answering it." With that he practically ran from the room. Starfire turned towards the empath.
Blushing furiously herself, Raven pulled her hood over her head, "Do you mind if I tell you later?" With that, Raven left the room herself to go to bed, leaving the princess from the stars in a state of utter confusion.
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Once more, I'm delaying the departure to Innsmouth. I couldn't resist, the necessity of conflict (yes, I said necessity, wait a few more chapters) between BB and Robin is important and I thought this would reinforce it. I also wanted to add more tension between the participants. Remember, they still have the morning after.
Meanwhile, I'm thrilled that, at last, I'm over 500 hits. Hey, maybe the great writers get that per chapter (I'm looking at you, Force), but we toilers in the muck have to make due. All joking aside, I am extremely grateful to anyone currently reading my not so little tale. This is beginning to get out of hand, but I can't seem to get it back under control. I know where the key moments in the story will be, but the incidental scenes seem to be taking over.
As always, my thanks to my reviewers. I know I said it would take longer than normal to update, but I was inspired and I have a VERY forgiving wife.
TheForceIsStrongWithThisOne – Thank you, you picked up completely on the overriding theme of the story, the infancy of man and his self-centeredness. As I mentioned in my last notes, and referenced here in this chapter, the older races do not suffer the same immaturity. By the by, you and the other reviewers all made the same error. I checked my notes for Chapter 8. Not once did I call the president of Miskatonic University as Dr. Carter, but by his name Dr. Warren. Yet, all three of you are referring to Dr. Carter. Carter is the one who's missing. I find it curious that all three of you made the same error. I'm pretty sure I didn't goof (although there are no certainties.)
Novus Ordo Seclorum – I always wondered myself why no one threatened (honestly) the titans when they caused mayhem. Here, we have the real destruction of a literary artifact. OF COURSE someone in the 'real' world would complain. The 'tensions' between Raven and BB will continue throughout the story. And get deeper, and more passionate (hope I can keep this at 'T', I'm afraid I may have overstepped the rating scale with some of the references in this chapter. I couldn't resist, that's how 'real' teens would probably react.) 17,000 words? Now I really can't wait.
Thingone – As you can see in this chapter, there are many factors that have gone into the cause of this friction. And, not giving anything away, it will only get worse. As you can see, there are legitimate reasons, all, ah, encouraged, by the malign influence of the Necronomicon. And there will be other outside factors influencing the titans besides the book. And I'm NOT referring to the three hags, who will continue to make periodic appearances.
Until next time my friends, sleep well.
