I think this chapter could have been longer, but I didn't want it to become too wordy or superflous in content. It sets itself up for the chapter after next, and presents yet another challenge for the Titans. I will post again as soon as I am able, but for now, I hope this little nugget will be enough to quench your thirst. (It's far from perfect, but I hope it is satisfactory.) I promise, after the next three chapters, the actual conflict will start to take shape. Until then, Read, Review, and Enjoy!
Disclaimer: The Teen Titans belong to Warner Bros and DC comics. If you're like me, you hope that they will pick the series back up and give it a fitting send-off. Miracles can happen, right?
Chap. 9: Cliff
"It is a LONG way up." Starfire said.
"Yea," Robin agreed. "A REALLY long way up."
The two Titans stood before the sheer cliffs of a glacier face. It stretched endlessly to their right and left, and slanted upwards at what seemed liketwenty degree angle. The ice felt glossy, and seemed to have no indentations in it whatsoever. As it slanted upwards, it disappeared into the cacophony of fallingsnow above.
"I become dizzy just trying to locate the top." Starfire said, her chin pointed to the sky.
"Regardless, it's in our way." Robin said, returning to the idling T.I.M. behind him. "And besides, this shouldn't take long."
Starfire returned to the snow mobile, and climbed back inside just as a light snow began to fall. Robin took his seat in front of her, closed the protective cocoon cover, and put the T.I.M. in drive.
"This might get a little hairy…err…uh…complicated." Robin said as he slowly pulled the machine up to the sleek cliff face. "Just hold on, alright?"
"Holding on!" Starfire reassured, hugging Robin close.
Robin pushed the skies of the T.I.M. up the side of the cliff with the powerful treads. They dug into the loose ice on the side of the glacier, and pushed the machine until it was literally sitting on the surface of the cliff face, pointing towards the snowing sky.
"Here goes nothing." Robin said. His pushed a button, and pulled a trigger on his control handle.
A loud POOOSH sound could be heard from the front of the snow mobile. Out of the corner of her eye, Starfire could see a blue flash of light and a long rope propel itself from the front of their transport, and twirl away into the night sky. After about thirty seconds, the rope became taut, and Star could feel the tension beneath her body.
/GRAPPLING WINCH SECURED/ said the monotone computer voice.
"Up, up, and away." Robin said softly.
The retracting spool began to reel the winch back in, pulling the T.I.M. as it went. Robin throttled up slightly, matching the speed of the spool. It pulled the small contraption up the side of the intimidating ice shelf, pieces of frost falling from the grinding treads as Robin drove.
"This is slower. But we should make it to the top with the fuel we have left." Robin said over the growing wind.
"And once we have reached the precipice?" Starfire asked.
"I'm…well…not sure. Keep moving. Figure out a plan." Robin said.
The only thing could see in the darkness of the capsule was the green and blue heads-up display before Robin's helmet. The angle at which the snow mobile was traveling gave Robin the impression of traveling through space at faster-than-light velocity…with the small exception that the 'stars' actually collided with the ship from time to time. Everything else, including the snowfall that was NOT before the halogen lights of the T.I.M., was lost to the thick arctic darkness, and the pounding wind.
Starfire did not need to see Robin's face. She could feel his uncertainty and worry.
It was not a vibe she enjoyed.
/THREE-HUNDRED FEET REMAINING/
"Robin?"
"Yes, Starfire?"
"How do you overcome…it?"
"It?" Robin asked.
"You run across buildings, and fall great distances at dangerous speeds when you chase criminals. Since you cannot fly, how do you overcome the dread of falling, without the certainty of your grappling hook catching you?" Starfire asked, her voice somewhat shaky at the thought.
Robin considered the question for a moment, gazing at the winch and falling snow outside his windshield. The thought had never occurred to him, though it seemed very poignant at the moment.
He turned his head to Star, his eyes hidden. "I trust my skills and my equipment. The fear of falling is really an afterthought."
"But what if your equipment fails you, how do you recover?" she asked.
To her surprise and delight, Robin placed a gloved hand upon her hands around his stomach, and gave her a gentle squeeze. "If it does, I can always rely on my friends to catch me. They have never let me down."
"Oh." Star said, her face suddenly the same color as her hair.
/ONE-HUNDRED FIFTY FEET REMAINING/
"We have to be getting close," Robin said, the snow a swirling mess before the T.I.M. "This thing can't be that tall."
The thrumming of the engine was a pleasant contrast to the daunting combination of wind, snow, and precarious height. But Robin was still perplexed as to why the slanted machine had not reached the top of the wall yet.
"We are at a significant height, yes?" Starfire asked.
"Much higher than I thought we would be." Robin said, checking his instrumentation. "Nearly one-thousand feet above sea level as is, and rising."
"Wind speed is at sixty of your miles per hour." Star informed, checking a gauge on the side of the capsule.
/FIFTY FEET REMAINING/
"I see it!" Robin said, startling Starfire. She peaked over Robin's caped shoulder.
Ahead, buried in the snow and gouged into the ice of the cliff, sat a large titanium hook. It had a vague 'T' shape to it, and it looked to be blue in color, making it difficult to determine where the hook ended and the snow began.
Problem was, the T.I.M. was still almost twenty feet from the cliff ledge. Robin could see the snow billow off of the top of the overhang, the snow acting like little tornadoes in his head lights.
/GRAPPLING HOOK RETRIEVED/
Robin stopped the engine, sat back slightly, and began tapping his index fingers in thought.
"I think if I floor it, and detach the hook at the right time, we should be able to climb the last couple of yards without any problem." Robin speculated to his green-eyed partner about ten minutes later.
"I could fly us the rest of the way to the top." Starfire offered. "I'm sure it would not be too difficult..."
"Thanks," Robin said, gazing back over his shoulder, "But we can make it this way. Plus, you need to save your energy. That cut on your cheek has me worried."
"Very well." Starfire said, somewhat disappointed.
"This is going to take some finesse…" Robin said, cracking his fingers and bracing his feet.
TING!
"What was that?" Starfire asked, gripping Robins shoulders.
TINGTING!
SPA-ROINING!
SNAP!
Little shards of ice smashed against the windshield. The T.I.M. began to shudder and sway.
"Oh dear…" Starfire said, afraid to breathe.
"The hook is shaking loose!" Robin gasped, turning the ignition.
CHA-CHA-CHA-chink. CHA-CHA-CHA-chink. COUGH.
TING!
/ WARNING! WARNING! ENGINE MALFUNCTION! FUEL FEED INTERUPTION/
"The fuel lines froze!" Robin yelled, thethrottle not responding.
TING!
SCRRR-APE!
"Bail out!" Robin said, using a Birdarang to shatter the left side of the capsule.
Starfire didn't argue.
"EEE-YAH!" she cried, splintering the Plexiglas with her fist, rolling out onto the wind-swept ice.
Robin tumbled out on the other side of the T.I.M., just as the final hook gave way.
He took two Birdarangs in his hands, and dug the sharp steel of each into the ice before him. He saw Starfire to his right, her super-strong fingers digging into the frozen wall, creating little handholds for herself.
All of this happened in the blink of an eye, as both heroes watched the four-hundred pound T.I.M. fall backwards off of the ice face, the halogen lights spinning off into the Arctic night, and into the nothingness below.
"Robin! Hang on!" Starfire yelled, the snow stinging her skin.
But before Star could even lift into the air, a flash of light twinkled from far below the perched teenagers. A BOOM fallowed soon after, the last of the fuel in the T.I.M. erupting upon impact with the ground some five hundred feet below.
Robin snapped back to attention, and began climbing. "Star, I'm fine! Get to the top! Hurry!"
Robin sliced into the ice wall with his razor-sharp weaponry, and pulled himself up with his lean acrobatic build. But he heard no response from Starfire.
"Starfire! Did you hear me? Where are you!" Robin yelled, snow collecting on his face.
"I am here, Robin!" came a shout from above.
Robin craned his snow covered face upwards, was able to make out a glowing green light above him. Star sat atop the cliff, illuminating the dreary cold night.
"Do you require assistance?" She called down.
"I'm fine! Just wait for-"
CRACK!
Robin's arms were suddenly further apart as he held himself upon the ice.
'You've gotta be KIDDING me…' he thought, his skin already numb from the unrelenting wind.
CRACK! CRACKCRACKCRACKcrackcrackcrack...
The sound was spreading behind him now, down the ice, and it was growing fainter as it went.
"Robin? What is that noise?" Starfire yelled, her voice echoing off of distant peaks, betraying her anxiety.
CRACK! SLICE!
"Starfire!" Robin yelled.
Her eyes held every bit of the sadness within him.
He held the vision of her face. Etched it into his mind.
"FLY!" he ordered her.
The ice shattered with a deafening roar beneath him.
Then Robin, and the vision of everything important to him, fell away.
