Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans.
"Star?" Robin calls cautiously to the raging clone as he steps out from behind the mound. "What are you doing?"
The brown-haired girl, who was about to grab yet another chair from her left, pauses in surprise at the Boy Wonder's appearance. Her hand leaves the chair and she lunges towards the hero, catching him off guard.
Robin fails to dodge the clone's quick grab and finds himself hoisted in the air above her head as she holds him with two hands.
"You will have to do." The girl grunts. She starts her exercise again, much to Robin's disbelief, but halts after only half a dozen repetitions. "No, no, no!" She snarls. The clone switches her grip so that Robin is being held in one hand at his collar. He is lowered down to eye level with the annoyed girl. "You are too light!" She says accusingly.
"Of course I am." Robin says calmly. His apprehension is betrayed by the tight grip he keeps on the girl's arm, hopefully to keep her from throwing him like furniture. "I wouldn't be doing half as much as I do if I were two hundred pounds."
The brown-haired girl snorts in annoyance as she scans the room. "Is Cyborg with you? Perhaps he would be of adequate weight."
"No, he's indisposed as the moment." Robin responds. Tentatively, he asks: "Could you put me down now? Preferably without throwing me across the room."
"Would you rather I throw you elsewhere?" The girl asks, cocking her head while giving him an inquisitive look. "Why do you desire to be thrown at all?"
Robin can't help but note how fast her angry disposition faded into naive curiosity. "I don't want to be thrown!" He says, waving his hands in denial. "But after seeing how you trashed all the chairs and tables, I was worried you would do the same to me!"
"Oh Robin." She giggles. "Do not be ridiculous. You are far too frail to throw! I would not wish to break you!"
"Uhh... Thanks; I think?" Robin says weakly as the girl places him gently on the silk-covered floor. "Do I really seem that fragile?"
"You are most welcome." She beams. "Now, what brings you to Starfire's mind?"
Robin blinks in slight surprise. He didn't expect the clone to know she was in someone's mind. "Well, Raven says that Starfire's emoticlones are behaving unusually. So we need to fix them. You were the first we found."
"Were are the others?" She floats into the air, looking around for her friends.
"Here." Raven says in monotone as she and the others emerge from the doorway. They quickly navigate the silken floor and around the giant pile of stuff into the clone's line of sight.
"Welcome friends!" Starfire's clone chirps. Raven can't help but notice the lack of her usual death hug. "It is good to be meeting you all in person!"
"You too." Beast Boy says with a grin. "Wish it weren't because we're saving Star; but hey! Better now than never."
"Every telepath ever would probably disagree." Raven mutters under her breath.
"Please," the clone says hesitantly, turning to Robin. "You said there was something wrong with me? I am unusual?"
"Well... Which emotion are you?" Robin asks.
"I am Sloth."
"Wouldn't you say lifting weights is unusual for a clone that's supposed to be lazy?" The martial artist inquires.
"I-Well-Umm..." Sloth frowns as she thinks this over. "You are correct. That does not seem like an activity that one who enjoy laziness would partake in."
"Exactly." Raven says firmly, taking over. "Mod's attack messed with Starfire's mind, making you and your brethren act out of character."
"Oh." Sloth mutters. "So I can return to my usual state of inactivity?"
"Yes." The empath says bluntly.
"Many thanks." The brown-haired girl sighs in relief. She doesn't bother to find a suitable spot before letting herself fall into the silk sheets strewn about the floor. "Trying to find something heavy enough to be worth my time was impossible. Now I do not need to be worrying." She pauses. "I am not aware why I started to lift objects in the first place."
"Unsurprising." Shadow says in a flat tone. "It was probably just an impulse driven by Mod's attack. Nothing that would have struck you as strange. It didn't occur to at least half, if not all of Robin's clones."
"I do not care, for I am tired now." Sloth yawns. "But thank you for explaining."
"I guess we'll move on then." Robin says, eyeing the sleepy girl as she tugs one of the many silk sheets over her lanky form. "Bye Sloth."
"Bye bye Robin." She murmurs, closing her eyes.
"Hey! What am I? Chopped liver?" Beast Boy exclaims indignantly. Raven directs a disapproving look in his direction and walks out of the room. She reaches back and pulls the shapeshifter along when he doesn't follow; he was instead trying to complain more.
Shaking his head and chuckling, Robin follows. He distinctly hears Raven muttering something about Beast Boy being an "attention hog" followed by loud protests by the shapeshifter in question.
Shadow silently brings up the rear of the group. His cloak throws his entire face in darkness as he listens to the three other Titans arguing and chatting.
"I expected that to take longer." Robin says loudly, interrupting Raven and Beast Boy's argument. "Convincing her was surprisingly easy."
"Of course it was easy ." Raven sighs. "It was the lazy clone, and it's not like she had a reason to be pumping weights in the first place. Not all Star's clones will be that easy."
"Way to be a downer Rae." Beast Boy says while shaking his head in mock disappointment.
"So." Shadow says quietly, grabbing everyone's attention. "We just keep to the right; therefore, that door is next."
The group looks up upon hearing the pale boy's question, only just realizing they had entered the throne room once more. They turn their heads and follow Shadow's pointed finger to the closest of the three doors opposite of where they had originally entered the room.
"Right." Robin mutters as he takes the lead, his team trailing behind. "Another clone, a whole new brand of crazy. Oh joy."
"Cheer up." Beast Boy chirps, grinning. "Maybe it'll be Affection. Then you two can spend some 'quality time' trying to get her back to normal."
Robin gives the green boy a dangerous look before stalking through the doorway. This hallway is just like the last one: gold and burgundy color scheme and filled with tapestries.
Remembering that these are Starfire's thoughts and memories, most of the group doesn't bother to look at them. Shadow is the only exception. He spares a glance at several of the elaborate cloth art pieces, scanning for commonalities and whispering apologies to Starfire for searching her mind.
He isn't disappointed. A cursory look at the tapestries reveals scenes of merry-making and celebration. It doesn't take a genius to make the connection. The last hallway had scenes of relaxation, and Sloth was the clone encountered. Therefore, presuming Starfire's mind works the same way for each emoticlone, this hallway would probably lead them to Happy.
"Affection might fit I suppose." The pale boy muses. "But Happy is the most likely."
"Well." Beast Boy says softly, glancing back at Raven and Shadow. "At least there don't seem to be any traps or anything. Just a bunch of hallways."
"It's unusual." Raven mutters softly in response. "My mind has so many traps I've lost count, your mind had lots of rough terrain, and Robin's was incredibly dark with many twisting pathways, but Starfire's is so... Open. Almost like it welcomes our presence."
"Dude, why would she want us in her mind?" Beast Boy questions.
"Not so much "want" as "not activity opposed"." Raven says dryly. "The rest of us subconsciously value privacy too much to let an invader, regardless of intent, get away without consequence."
"So the only reason we will run into trouble is because someone has privacy issues?" Robin asks with a sigh.
"And sadly, that seems to be almost everyone." Shadow murmurs. "Except Star of course. She has little to hide, that is most likely why her memories are displayed so openly."
"You've only spoken to her a handful of times, yet you claim to understand her mind?" Raven scoffs.
"I simply guess. An educated guess perhaps, but a guess." The pale boy replies calmly.
"So that means we should be able to get through Star's mind pretty quick, huh?" Beast Boy chirps.
"Provided nothing changes." Raven mutters.
"Don't jinx us!" The shapeshifter cries out.
"Never took you to be superstitious Big Brother." Shadow chuckles.
"Hey, why take a chance?" The green boy shrugs.
"As riveting as your conversation is," Robin cuts in dryly, "I should point out we've arrived."
And so they have. Another large door presents itself to them, this one decorated with streamers, stickers and paint. Mostly of the pink variety.
"Dudes, party time?" Beast Boy laughs, twirling a streamer around his finger. "I can guess who we'll be seeing next."
"So that space between your ears isn't empty. Good to know." Raven mutters sarcastically.
"So, am I the one going in again?" Robin asks quietly.
"Don't see why not dude." Beast Boy says with a shrug. He seems to have caught on to Robin's wish to remain undetected until entering, as the green boy had whispered his response.
"You make the most sense, being her best friend." Raven informs, muttering her response at the appropriate volume.
"I thought that was you." Robin says curiously.
"Close second." The empath says, eyes flicking towards the door for a moment. "So get going, we don't have all day."
"I know." Robin sighs. He motions for the group to take a step back as he opens the decorated door. "Here goes nothing."
"Don't worry." Shadow says dryly. "We'll come help if you fail spectacularly."
"Thanks for the vote of confidence." The martial artist mutters as he steps through the doorway.
###
"You shouldn't be here."
"Why not?"
"What if something happens to you? Raven will be mad."
"What she doesn't know won't hurt her."
"Yes it will, you're part of her!"
"Yeah, but I don't think I'm gonna get hurt by playing Chinese checkers."
"You never know..."
"Besides, I have you here to look out for me!"
"Well..."
"Well what? You already let me stay, why the change of heart?"
"I thought Raven gave you permission."
"Nah. Rae's always been totally strict and boorish. She never let's me do anything at all!"
"That sounds bad."
"It is! Do you know how much candy I've missed out on because Rae says it's 'pointless'?"
"I don't know."
"Lots! Like, seven truck loads!"
"That sounds unhealthy."
"You mean tasty! Caramilks look soooo good!"
"Caramilk?"
"It's from Canada. Kinda like Caramello, but Canadian."
"Umm..."
"It's caramel with a chocolate exterior."
"Oh."
...
...
...
"What were we talking about before this?"
"Chinese checkers."
"Are you sure? I thought there was something else..."
"C'mon Timid, don't you trust me?"
"Well...Yes."
"Then don't worry. It wasn't important."
"If you say so."
"I do."
...
...
"Your move Joy."
"Aww, no fair! Stupid thinking games! How did you get all your pieces over there?"
"Well I-"
"No! Shush! I can figure it out!"
"Umm..."
"I won a smartness contest! So I can discover your strategy!"
"It's nothing special..."
"Shhh! I'm thinking!"
"Whatever you say Joy. Whatever you say."
Chapter 21 complete!
Too many ideas... I have so many ideas that pertain to my GB Titans, a large one for Smash bros, a few for League of legends, several original stories, but none, I repeat, none for Mindscapes.
Quite a strange position this puts me in. I didn't plan much of this story, so it leaves me floundering for how to make it interesting.
The moral of this story: Always have a plan! Or just a boatload of patience.
Or give up, but that sucks. I don't want to abandon this like Gotham Tonight. (Even though I still love the idea of that story...)
I also realized several things from reading old stories and my new ideas:
A) My characterization is inconsistent at the best of times
B) I do not understand comedy, and cannot write it
C) I rarely make things vague or add mystery. I prefer telling the readers exactly what is going on, even if it becomes detrimental to the reading experience
D) I make characters flat and boring
E) I have no sense of pace
F) Stereotypes. I use way to many of these.
There are a few more points, but I can't remember them right now.
Basically, I need to practice and write constantly.
Will I be able to manage that? Dunno. Guess we'll see.