Once we caught up with the others and everybody had calmed down, we picked up from where we left off, with me leading the others back to where we last saw the Crimson Strings. As I led, Raven and Robin stayed towards the front of the group with me, most likely due to Raven also being able to sense the spirit's presence as well. As for the others, Cyborg stayed towards the middle, while Starfire and Beast Boy hesitantly followed behind us. After walking in silence for a few minutes, our little green friend decided to break it.
" It's close to midnight, and something evil's lurking from the dark. Under the moonlight, you see a sight that almost stops your heart "
"Does this seem like the appropriate time for that", asked Raven sarcastically. Beast Boy then goes quiet for a moment, but then begins another song, though this time he decided to sing it a bit quieter.
" Casper, the Friendly Ghost. He's the friendliest ghost you know "
"Dude, seriously, knock it off", said Cyborg. Initially ignoring his comment, Beast Boy falls silent again, only to begin whispering another song moments later.
" There's something strange, in the neighborhood. Who you gonna call? Teen Titans " Having become irritated as well, I was the next one to comment.
"Beast Boy, I swear I will bite you again, and this time I will eat you", I threatened him. Once again, in response he fell quiet. I even looked back at him a few times to see if he would try singing again. Just when I thought he finally took the hint, he then begins humming the "Scooby-Doo" theme song to himself. "Ugh", I said with a growl as I could hear Raven and Cyborg suck their teeth.
"Can't you grow up for like five minutes please", asked Raven to Beast Boy as the group came to a stop.
"Okay, I admit it! I'm scared, okay", said Beast Boy.
"You don't say", responded Raven sarcastically.
"I'm trying to calm my nerves. Am I the only one here who remembers what happened the last time we took on a gang of ghosts?"
"He's kinda got a point there", said Cyborg as he scratched the back of his head.
"None of that matters right now", began Robin. "We have to keep going."
"That's easy for you to say. We can't all be as fearless as you and Wolfman."
"Who says I'm fearless", I asked him.
"You are fearful as well", asked Starfire.
"We're currently in one out of several dark tunnels deep underground, tunnels that probably honeycomb throughout the entire city, on our way to go take on a ghost and its league of brainwashed minions. We don't know what it wants, what it's capable of, or how many followers are waiting for us, and that's assuming there isn't another ghost or something far worse in store for us. I'm not scared, I'm terrified, and you'd have to be a fool not to be. But I can't think about that right now. Why? It's because I'm a Titan, not to mention the Elemental of Darkness. The safety of those innocent people hangs in the balance. Nobody is blaming you for being afraid, because at the end of the day, fear is natural. Courage on the other hand, is a choice. So tell me, what do you choose?" Beast Boy hesitates for a moment and takes a deep breath. After that, he morphs into a gorilla and puffs out his chest. Starfire then steps forward and positions herself next to Robin.
"We'd better get a move on", said Robin as he grinned at Starfire. Upon seeing his grin, Starfire gets a bit of a confidence boost and smiles back.
"No need to worry", I began as we continued walking. "We're almost there." A few moments later, we found ourselves standing in front of the tunnel path that was lit with torches. "Here we are", I said as I Pointed down the tunnel again.
"Doesn't seem so bad", said Robin as if trying to lighten everybody's mood.
"Hold that thought", said Raven in response to sensing something up ahead. I was also able to sense it, as was Beast Boy as he let out a low groan in response. It was then that a random gust of wind blasted at us through the tunnel, blowing out all of the torches in the process.
"Is this uncomfortable feeling shared with anyone else", asked a concerned Starfire.
"If you mean the sudden drop in temperature and that creepy, evil vibe in the air, then yes, it is", said Cyborg.
"Stay strong, Team", began Robin. "We'll be fine as long as we stand together."
"Then let's go", I added as I began stalking forward with my teammates following behind me. The six of us walked in the dark for another three minutes or so before we noticed another light at the end, which seemed to once again consist of mostly lit torches. As we got closer to the light, we noticed that the tunnel opened up to another room on the right. "Wait here", I whispered to the others as I began stalking towards the room's entrance.
"Hold it, Fido", said Cyborg as he pulled me back by my tail. I responded to this with an instinctive growl.
"Hands off the tail, Roboto."
"You must be a special kind of upid-stay to think you can take these guys on by yourself."
"I'm simply scouting ahead, Metal Mouth. And who are you calling "upid-stay"", I asked him with a growl as I turned and got in his face.
"You if the collar fits", replied Cyborg.
"Wanna run that by me again", I asked as I began snarling at him.
"Sure, the fact that you want to march in there without any backup makes you stupid", replied Cyborg as he now got in my face.
"I'm scouting ahead alone."
"We're all going together."
"Alone."
"Together."
"Alone!"
"Together!"
"ALONE!"
"TOGETHER!"
"ALONE!"
"TOGETHER!" This continued for a bit until Cyborg and I got into each other's faces so much to a point where we were touching foreheads as we glared at each other.
"That's enough, you two", said Robin as he physically got in the middle of us and pushed us away from each other.
"Perhaps a compromise", asked Starfire.
"I agree", added Robin. "Just like before, we'll split up again. Since you two are so eager, you both can be on the scouting team", he continued to me and Cyborg. The two of us sort of huffed in response. "Any volunteers for the third spot?"
"Well, if Starfire goes, that'll give each team one of the two head Titans, one psychic Titan, and one girl Titan", suggested Beast Boy as he returned to his human form. The rest of us all grew silent as we stopped and stared at him. "What?"
"That's actually not a bad idea", I admitted.
"It'll keep both teams relatively balanced", added Cyborg.
"Alright, but be alert", said Robin. "And at the first sign of trouble, we'll provide backup."
"Sounds good", said Cyborg as a flashlight popped out of his left shoulder and kicked on as he began walking towards the room's entrance. Before joining him and Starfire, I turned back to Raven, who nodded in response. In a last minute attempt to be cute, I whined a canine whine for a brief moment and then trotted up to catch up with the others.
Once the three of us turned around the corner into the other room, we immediately noticed the room was sort of like a cave-like clearing, sort of like what you saw in mines. Towards the center of the large room, were the Crimson Strings, all standing in a circle, with the exception of five individuals, all of whom they were facing. They all had the hoods to their red cloaks pulled onto their heads. On the ground, painted around the circle of people with what looked like blood, was a large circle with a star-like symbol in it that made the whole thing look kinda like the Seal of Orichalcos. Upon seeing them, the three of us took cover behind an abandoned steam shovel that was nearby.
"So what is the plan", whispered Starfire. As he was second in command to Robin, she and I looked to Cyborg for instruction.
"Right now we wait. Wolfman, see if you can give us a closer set of eyes. We'll move in on your signal." I nodded to him in response before Changing into my spider form. I then began making my way over to the crowd, climbing onto a nearby rock wall in the process. It was around this time that four of the five singled-out members pulled down their hoods and revealed themselves. The humans underneath the hoods didn't surprise me at all. From left to right, stood Shade, Nix, Morgue, and Stanley, with the fifth mystery member in the middle of Morgue and Nix. I also couldn't help but notice that the mystery member who kept his hood up was considerably larger than everyone else, as he had a very overweight build.
"Fellow Strings", began Stanley, "we welcome you to our Master's domain. Your sacrifice is much appreciated."
Sacrifice, I asked myself in astonishment. It was then that Stanley and the others began chanting.
"Lord of Darkness in this twilight hour, accept these souls and grant us power", the four of them repeated over and over again. As that was going on, the crowd of hooded followers began chiming in with their own chant, kinda like a Satanic chorus.
"Peta, neru, mairen seshian. Peta, neru, mairen seshian", chanted the crowd. In response to this, the larger member stepped forward and extended one hand towards the crowd. It was then that the red circle underneath them began to glow, forming a barrier around them in the process. Once that happened, the crowd's chanting suddenly turned into painful screaming, though this didn't at all faze Shade and the other three.
"Enough", I roared as I launched myself off of the wall at the barrier, Changing into my wolf form and cloaking myself in my aura as I did so. My intent was to destroy the barrier. Unfortunately, it was too powerful for me to destroy, as its power repelled me backwards upon making contact with it. The cave wall cracked a little upon me smashing into it. As I fell to the ground and looked back up at the barrier, a feeling of guilt washed over me. I had waited to long to act, and now there was nothing I could do to save them from the ritualistic fate.
After a few moments more, the screaming comes to a halt as the barrier disappears. It was at this point I noticed that the sacrifices had all gone silent, as their eyes all glowed blue and iris-less, kinda like reverse demon eyes.
"I'm sure you're wondering what happened to them", said the larger member to me as he stepped forward and looked towards my direction. I couldn't put my finger on it, but something about his voice was familiar, like I had met him before. "I'm sure your friends can tell you all about my powers", he continued as he snapped his fingers. In response, a bunch of red lights appeared all around the room surrounding the silent crowd of followers. Each light materialized into a person, revealing more silent Crimson String followers, each with blue demon eyes. The only three exceptions were Robin, Raven, and Beast Boy, all three of which were surrounded, as they had apparently been ambushed after splitting up with us.
"Sorry, Bro", said Beast Boy as he shrugged at me.
"Let them go, Whatever-Your-Name-Is", I growled at the hooded man.
"Oh, Titans", began the man, "perhaps you'd like to introduce me to your ignorant friend."
"It'd help if you took the cloak off", retorted Raven sarcastically.
"Then perhaps a hint then", suggested the man as he began going into an ego-stroking monologue. "I am the Master of Monsters. I am your darkest nightmares come to life. I control the horizontal and the vertical."
"No way", exclaimed a shocked Beast Boy.
"Whoa, didn't see that coming", added Raven.
"There's only one person I know who talks like that", said Robin. "Show yourself, Control Freak!" The mystery man then reveals himself as he pulls down his hood. He had a distinctive age line on his forehead, despite him being the same age as me, naturally dark rings around his blue eyes, which kinda made him look like a raccoon in that regard, and his orange sideburns and long hair, when you take into account his large weight, made him look like a human orangutan. My jaw dropped upon recognizing the bizarre-looking human, though I knew him by a different name than the others did.
"Nice try, Titans, but I am not the pathetic human you know as Control Freak", he began before changing his voice. "I merely speak through him", said Control Freak in a voice that sounded like a creepier, pedophilic version of Mumbo's voice.
"Now the name "Crimson Strings" make sense", said Raven upon recognizing the new voice.
"That's correct. You are correct to fear me. For I have returned to get my revenge for what you did to my body. I've been wandering in the shadows for what feels like an eternity, patiently waiting for my chance to return to your world. And thanks to your little friend, Shade, you now face me, The Puppet King."
"Wait, so that creepy ritual thing you just did….", began Beast Boy. "These people are….".
"Are all my puppets", began the Puppet King, "just as you'll soon be once I strip you all of your souls", he continued as a pyramid-shaped relic materialized on his sternum. More specifically, it was the Daemon Ritus from the live-action Scooby-Doo movie, which didn't at all surprise me given the Puppet King's host's obsession with movies.
"Not today, Pinocchio", shouted Cyborg as he fired his cannon at the ceiling. Starfire added to this by storming the ground with star bolts. Between the falling rocks, and the flying debris, Robin and the others were given the opening they needed as they all fought back and escaped while everybody scattered. It was around this time I noticed a particularly large rock falling to the ground. I took advantage of the situation by teleporting up to the falling rock and punching it towards Control Freak as if it were a volleyball. In response, Control Freak does a backflip and dodges, sticking the landing as he whipped out a weapon that looked like a cross between a light saber and a futuristic keyblade.
"What the", I asked in a shocked tone upon me landing on all fours. I was shocked by Control Freak's dodge, as the chubby nerd I knew was never that agile.
"Come, my puppets", said Control Freak as he pointed his weapon at me. His several dozen followers, all of which were soul-less shells at this point, all stepped forward and glared at me. I growled at them in response as Robin and the others stepped forward to join me.
"Cyborg, Starfire, hand-to-hand only", began Robin. "They're gonna want their bodies back in one piece when this is all over."
"So what's the plan", asked Cyborg.
"If we're taking on a madman possessed by an evil spirit, there's only two of us that have any kind of chance of exorcising him, so make an opening for them."
"Attack", shouted Control Freak. His minions responded by charging at us.
"Titans, go", shouted Robin as he led us into battle. Beast Boy immediately strikes first as he rushes ahead as a musk ox, barreling through the crowd as he cleared the way for us. Once we were deeper into the crowd, the six of us all broke away and began fighting. It was no challenge defending myself from Control Freak's drones, as they were all still everyday humans. If anything they were merely a nuisance as they outnumbered us approximately 10 to 1.
"Batter up, Beast Boy", I shouted over to the green kangaroo upon remembering that I was supposed to be focusing on Control Freak. Beast Boy, understanding what I wanted from him, then morphs into a t-rex and swats me with his tail, launching me at my opponent. Using the force of his launch, I Change into my bear form at the last second in an attempt to use my weight against him. Just as before, Control Freak responds with an agile dodge. He then swings his weapon at me as I block it with my claws. His weapon even made little "Star Wars" sound effects as I clashed with it.
"Azarath Metrion Zinthos", shouted Raven, now joining our battle, as she focused her aura on the ceiling again. Upon doing so, she cuts three large circles into the rock. After that, the three circle-shaped stone pillars drop from the ceiling towards us. Control Freak responds by leaping high into the air, again despite the unlikeliness, and slashing at the three pillars with lightning speed, reducing each of them to rubble in the process.
"Shadow Pulse", I shouted as I clapped my paws together towards the rubble as it prepared to rain down on me. The resulting shockwave sent the rubble flying back up towards the still airborne Control Freak, blinding him as dust and dirt got into his eyes. Raven took advantage of this by delivering a flying kick to his back. Despite this however, Control Freak's rocket shoes (he was apparently wearing rocket shoes) kick on as he flips in midair and rushes back at Raven.
Raven then creates an aura shield to defend herself as Control Freaks slashes at it with his weapon. I assist her by Changing into my armored form and flying after them. Once I reached them, I clamped my jaws onto Control Freak's left foot, destroying its respective rocket shoe in the process as it shorted out. He responds, temporarily ignoring Raven, by balling his free hand into a fist and pounding on the top of my head. With his attention now focused on me, Raven delivers another kick to Control Freak's other arm, causing him to drop his weapon.
With his other arm now weaponless, Control Freak attacks me with both fists, both of which punching each of my eyes. With my grip now loosened, he uses his single rocket shoe to spin around in circles until I eventually lost my grip, causing me to crash into Raven behind me.
"My bad", I said to her upon moving away from her. We then turned our attention back to Control Freak, who was making a dash for his weapon. Raven then uses her powers to summon the giant aura raven. The large bird lets out a deafening squawk as it reaches for Control Freak with its talons, making it a race to see who would get to the weapon first. Before he could grab it, I teleported down to the weapon and snatched it up with my teeth as I flew away with it. This causes Control Freak to hesitate, allowing the raven to capture him as he became engulfed in Raven's aura.
To his credit, Control Freak does escape with a creative method. From inside the aura raven's talons, he boosted the power of his single rocket shoe, to a point where it was like he was wearing a flamethrower on his foot. He then uses the mighty flame to pierce through Raven's aura, freeing himself as he did so. I responded by throwing his own weapon at his foot, destroying his other rocket boot as it sliced the side of it. He then plummeted to the ground as his weapon continued its path until it stuck itself into the wall.
As Control Freak struggled to rise to his feet, he was greeted by Cyborg, who had his cannon aimed right in his face. Starfire and Robin towered behind Control Freak while Tyranno Beast Boy towered behind Cyborg (they apparently had defeated all of the mindless minions). Raven and I continued to hover overhead.
"Flip him onto his back", said Robin as he reached down to grab Control Freak. Cyborg then assisted Robin as they rolled the large villain onto his back, exposing the Daemon Ritus. "Do it", he continued as he looked up at me and Raven. Without hesitation, the two of us fired streams of darkness at the artifact with the intention of destroying it. At the last second, the Daemon Ritus opens up just before our energies collided with it. We then noticed that instead of being hit by our darkness, it began absorbing it. "Raven, Wolfman, stop", commanded Robin upon realizing that our efforts weren't working. The two of us ceased firing, which resulted in the Daemon Ritus closing again. We all then began to worry upon the artifact beginning to glow.
"Ooops", I said with a hint of worry as it seemed Raven and I simply made things worse. The artifact then opens once more, though this time was far worse than before. Up from within the Daemon Ritus came six energy tentacles. Three of them were purple, and the other three were pitch black. It was using our auras against us.
"Titans, move", shouts Robin as we all did our best to try and escape. The three purple tentacles captured Robin, Raven, and Beast Boy (who was forced back into his human form), while two of the three black ones caught Starfire and Cyborg. I had just finished opening up a shadow portal in an attempt to out-maneuver the attack, but the tentacle caught me anyway, forcing me back into my human form as well as I crash-landed to the ground. Once we were all caught, Control Freak rose to his feet, cackling at us as he did so. The Puppet King then took over once again as his voice escaped his host's mouth.
"Come, my puppets. We've so much to do", he said creepily as the tentacles began sucking our energy from our bodies. Out the corner of my eye, I noticed Raven attempting to cast a spell.
"Azarath Metrion Zin—", she began with a struggle before the tentacle blocked her mouth.
"I am afraid that will not work twice", gloated the Puppet King. It was then that the tentacles' power over us kicked up a notch. I began to panic a little as I felt like I was losing all feeling in my body. I discovered why upon looking at the others. As I looked at the other Titans, I could see them resisting as ghostly white embodiments of themselves were in the process of being ripped from their bodies. The Puppet King was trying to steal our souls.
"Let us go", I roared at him. The Puppet King then makes his way over to me. He then leans down into my face, holding my face in one of his hands as he forced me to look up at him.
"Sorry, but you're not in charge here. You don't command me. I command you", chuckled the creep. "Don't worry, I'll take good care of your body, and theirs", he continued as he turned my head towards the boys. I watched in horror as their souls were merely moments away from being taken. The Puppet King then turns me to face Starfire and Raven. Upon seeing Raven's soul being ripped from her body, I got all kinds of angry as I couldn't help but growl. "Do not waste your breath. Without her magic, you have no hope of escape. And soon, all of your psychic powers will belong to me."
"I've got news for you, Puppet King. I'm something of a magician myself."
"What?"
"Atlantis Auroros Motom", I roared as my aura began to radiate from my body.
"No", screamed the Puppet King. Despite this however, my soul did wind up leaving my body, as I could see my body glowing purple as the tentacle ripped me away from it. My aura then begins to burn brighter and brighter as it slowly started to turn white.
"What did you do", asked Raven, whose soul was being dragged away with mine.
"I don't know. I just hope it works." It was then that my aura finally exploded, as the entire room became surrounded in the blinding light. I passed out yet again (big shock).