I do not own anything relating to the Teen Titans.
Opening the Closet Door a Crack – Chapter 25
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The next few days were extremely uncomfortable, to say the least. The enmity that had arisen between Robin and Beast Boy affected everyone. They had both stopped speaking to one another and did everything possible to avoid each other. Beast Boy continued to spend much of his time on the T-Jet, as that continued to be the warmest spot on the Antarctic continent. He left only to talk to Raven and see how Cyborg was progressing.
Robin, as was his wont during times of stress, threw himself into his work. To that end, he began an investigation into that strange creature that had set off Beast Boy. Initially, he wanted to bring the carcass into the camp. However, both Raven and Starfire protested this. The protests were based on a suspicion that Robin was doing this deliberately so that Beast Boy would be confined to the ship as well as both of them not wanting whatever it was to set off Cyborg again.
For Cyborg had changed mightily. After Raven's ministrations, the robotic teen had slept for most of the day. Upon awakening, he left the T-Jet, muttering that it was too exposed, too many eyes watching him. When Raven asked him what he meant, he just shook his head and walked away.
After that, he took to wandering the camp, staring vacant-eyed at everything. At times, he would stand still for an hour, then look around the room, twitching. Again, he was muttering under his breath, "Wrong, everything's wrong."
Finally, Robin came up with a suggestion, something that would distract him and, hopefully, relax his mind. He set him to work expanding the camp's zone of comfort. If he could tinker with the heaters, set up a few more around the area, and work to expand beyond the original three rooms, it would give them more breathing room. He also knew that Cyborg was happiest when he was tinkering with machinery. The hope was that these familiar actions would distract him from the forces that were pressing down on his psyche.
Rather than attempt to work on the oversized star chamber with their dozens of frozen creatures, for fear that simply viewing them again would cause another panic attack, Raven suggested that he expand his way down the corridor, as that might open up more avenues of exploration. This seemed to help the troubled teen considerably. Almost as soon as he left the smaller star chamber, with its odd configuration, and moved into the corridor, Cyborg seemed to relax, slightly.
As he made his way down the corridor, setting up cables and junction boxes for the expansion of operations, Raven and Starfire watched him carefully. The warrior turned to her friend.
"Raven, do you know why Cyborg is so uncomfortable around us? Have we done something to offend him?"
The mistress of magic turned to Starfire, "I'm not sure. It could just be the association of that winged creature with this room, but that doesn't feel right. His emotional stability doesn't seem to be focused on that creature. It almost seems….." She stopped, pondering.
"Seems what?"
"It almost seems as if he's having difficulties in handling the room itself." She continued to think. "But why would this room cause problems?"
"Indeed, it seems most ordinary. A basic five dimensional pentagonical structure. There's not even a space-time tesseract in the room. Very simple."
Raven looked at the orange girl. "Simple?" she commented in her signature monotone. "Perhaps that's the problem." The Tamaranean looked confused. "What you call simple may be too complex for his human mind. With the added factor of his electronic circuits, Cyborg is constantly being bombarded by the multi-dimensional configuration. It's far different than what regular humans are used to dealing with."
At that, Starfire looked at Raven. "But Raven, you seem to be able to handle it."
"I'm part demon. I'm used to reality warping configurations. I grew up in Azerath, we made use of advanced geometrical forms all the time."
"But these are not advanced forms."
With a little sharpness in her tone, Raven replied, "Advanced for humans."
"So," began Starfire in a hesitant voice, "Cyborg is having difficulties dealing with this room? In addition to the influences of the Outer Gods?"
"That would be my guess." The two girls paused in their conversation for several minutes. The silence grew, then Starfire could bear it no longer.
"Then, how do we help friend Victor? We MUST locate R'yleh, but it is obvious that this place is bad for us. Is there not some magic that you can use to help him?"
Without speaking, Raven shook her head. After a moment, she continued, "Starfire, are you SURE R'yleh is on earth? This could all be an unnecessary waste of time."
Another pause, then Starfire began to speak, "I feel it. I feel it in my heart. I feel it in my spirit. I cannot give you the proof you need. The book, the Esoteric Order of Dagon, this lost city, all of it shouts at me that Great Cthulhu is HERE! Perhaps, perhaps there is the proof that you and Robin need located somewhere in this city." Silence descended again over the two.
After a few minutes, Starfire said, "I believe I shall go assist Robin in examining that strange creature. Since the body is outside our camp, I may be able to operate the tools that he cannot due to his need for gloves."
"How's he holding up?"
"I…I am not certain," the princess responded. "I know that in the past when Robin has failed at something, he has dedicated himself to work to deal with it. But even for him this silence is….worrisome. It almost seems…."
"Yes?"
Starfire continued, "It almost seems that he wishes to discover something, to prove to himself and to Beast Boy that he is still the one in control. Does that make sense?"
"I don't know. As much as anything ever makes sense when Robin's involved. For someone so intelligent and capable, he's just as likely to go off half-cocked as anyone else."
"Half-cocked? I do not know this expression."
Giving an inward sigh, Raven explained. "Being impulsive, doing something before you have everything ready. It comes from attempting to fire a gun before it is fully ready."
"Oh, well then. I shall go to him and tell him not to be half a cock and wait until he is a complete cock."
"DON'T SAY THAT TO HIM! NEVER SAY THAT TO A HUMAN MALE! EVER!" Raven's eyes opened wide in concern. When would she learn to not use slang expressions around Starfire?
The Tamaranean princess looked confused again. "I shall NEVER understand earth language." And she flew off to find Robin.
Shaking her head, hoping that Starfire listened to her, Raven went off to meditate.
It was the following day when certain revelations occurred regarding the titans' situation.
After several hours of attempting to dissect the already torn carcass of the winged creature, Robin gave up the attempt to handle it solely. His need for heavy gloves in the subzero temperature hindered his ability to maneuver a scalpel. After completely destroying the first specimen without actually doing anything useful, Robin asked Starfire to act as his hands. Operating in the larger of the two star chambers, he took a second creature and the two were able to carefully unfold it from its compressed shape.
Like the first, the most prominent features were its wings, roughly seven to eight feet in span. At the end of each were some type of orifices. It was only after the wings had been unwrapped from around the body that the titans were able to see the main body of the creature. It had a barrel shaped torso, with five ridges, each ridge consisting of a series of tentacles, with each stalk compressed into the body. Upon expanding, a stalk separated into further stalks, at six inch intervals, so that, ultimately, each stalk unfolded into 25 different tentacles.
At what they presumed was the head, at least on the specimen that Beast Boy destroyed it was, was a bulbous neck with the remains of gills, topped with a five pointed starfish shaped head. From point to point was approximately two feet, with three inch tubes projecting from each point. At the end of each tube was a membrane covered globe, reminiscent of an eye. At the juncture of the point and the tube, a second tube protruded, at the end of this one was a two inch opening, lined with sharp white projections, presumably teeth.
On the other end of the barrel shaped torso, the star pattern continued and mimicked that above, only longer, more solid, without the eyes. Instead, fins or paddles were evident. Presumably these were the means of locomotion for the creature. The being's skin was a thick leather that was difficult to penetrate. It appeared to have characteristics reminiscent of both plants and animals and resembled nothing on earth, either in the present or the past.
It was hideous. Whether it was still alive was a matter of conjecture. Without actually carving into the creature, there was no way to be certain if the thing was hibernating or dormant due to the cold, or whether it was actually dead.
His voice choked with revulsion, Robin turned to Starfire, "Star, have you EVER seen or heard of anything like this?"
The Tamaranean warrior had a peculiar look on her face, as if trying to place a long forgotten memory. "Nooo, I don't think I've ever seen this before. It reminds me of something. Some lesson from long ago. I wish I could remember. Perhaps it will come to me in time."
"Starfire, gather the team together at camp, NOT CYBORG! They need to be aware of this. I don't know what it is, I don't know if it's dangerous, but let's not take any chances."
"So, perhaps Beast Boy was correct in attacking it?"
At the mention of the shapeshifter's name, Robin's face had resumed its stony countenance. He pointedly changed the subject. "We need to make sure none of these are near any heat source. If they still are alive, I don't want to have to deal with them if they thaw out. I'll meet you back at the camp. Regardless, it would be nice to get warm again."
The team meeting, excluding Cyborg, was tense. Initially, the two boys pointedly glared at each other, but refused to actually speak directly. It was as if each one was waiting for the other to reopen hostilities, but was determined not to do so themselves. Robin then turned to the two girls and began to inform Raven of his find. If she asked a question, he replied. Beast Boy did not speak.
As the discussion lengthened, Robin and Raven began to grow slightly uncomfortable. The temperature was finally rising to something closing in on room temperature. Both were sweating under their winter gear. Neither Beast Boy nor Starfire were wearing winter gear, but they both appreciated the change. Apparently, during his work on the machinery, Cyborg had decided to raise the heat output and make the enclave somewhat livable.
It was then, the second discovery was made. Beast Boy, never one to sit still in the best of circumstances, was particularly loathe to listen to one of his rival's long winded speeches. He began to wander around the room. Glad of the warmth, he moved directly over to one of the large heaters the titans were using. The blankets of heat being given off were comfortable and he stood there for a moment looking around the room. Unfortunately, while there was plenty of room, there was not much to look at. The walls were a uniform grayish white from the accumulated snow and ice of years of slow condensation. In fact, as a result of the rise in temperature, the icy coating on the walls was melting, rivulets of water seeping down to the floor.
"Sheesh, if this keeps up, we're going to be swimming here," the green teen thought. "I'll bet this ice has been here forever. Hmmm, wonder what's underneath it?" With that, Beast Boy took his fist and pounded on the wall, breaking some of the ice. Bored, the hyperactive hero began to chip away at the ice, looking for the true wall beneath it. After several minutes of concerted effort, he had created a large enough crack in one area that enabled him to tear the ice off. Working his fingers underneath the ice shell, he pulled hard and lifted the ice off of the wall.
Underneath it was a five headed monster. Beast Boy let out a cry. "Gaaahhh" and fell backward.
The others turned to him, Starfire and Raven with concern, Robin with a dirty look that held daggers in it. When the others saw what he had uncovered, they rushed over. Raven helped Beast Boy up off the floor while Starfire and Robin examined the picture underneath the ice.
It seemed to be a tiled mosaic, the condensation of millions of years had preserved it from fading as the colors were still bright. It seemed to resemble the creature Robin had just been examining. Curious, the titans attempted to remove more of the ice. While they were only able to clear a small area, four by four feet, it was sufficient to get an idea of the subject.
It seemed to be a battle, opposing armies on one side that resembled the frozen creature. On the other side, some odd humanoid fish creatures with large eyes and flippers. The uncovered area was only a small portion of a much larger work. It almost seemed to cover the entire wall. Still, you couldn't be sure because of the thick covering of ice.
The four titans looked at the wall in some puzzlement. Beast Boy spoke up, "If this is their idea of artwork, I don't think much of it. Pretty ugly if you ask me."
"No one asked you," retorted Robin.
"You say something bird brain?"
Before the fight could ignite, Raven stepped between them and erected a shield. "Both of you, knock it off. Otherwise, I'll send you each to separate dimensions to keep you off of my nerves." The two male titans settled into an uneasy silence.
Meanwhile, Starfire continued to stare at the wall in fascination. The image was awakening long buried memories and lessons from when she was far younger, before the Gordanian slavers. All at once, she remembered and let out a gasp.
"Oh Mighty X'hal no, please, no." The trembling in her voice conveyed her fear to the others.
"Starfire," asked Robin, "What is it? What's the matter?"
In a near whisper, Starfire began to speak. "You asked me for proof of R'yleh. I have something here that is as near proof as you could wish. That creature outside is an Elder One. They were…are…servants of the Old Ones, the beings who banished the Outer Gods to the realms outside space and time. It was their duty to track down the servants of the Outer Gods, including Great Cthulhu. Here, in this picture, they are battling the Deep Ones, the undersea followers of Great Cthulhu."
"The Elder Ones disappeared millions of years ago, shortly after the Old Ones vanished. No trace of them has ever been found, until now."
"If the Elder Ones are here, so is R'yleh, so is Great Cthulhu."
This last pronouncement put a chill into the titans' hearts. It is easy to brush off some vague warning that a monstrous being from beyond the edge of time and space is on earth. It is far different to have something similar right in front of you, where you could touch it.
"Starfire," queried Robin, "if these creatures are Cthulhu's enemies, could we thaw them out and have them help us in our search?"
"Wha? BIRD BOY, ARE YOU NUTS?" sputtered Beast Boy. Robin turned to face the green titan. Before he could say anything, Starfire spoke up.
"Beast Boy is correct. These beings are just as evil, as warped as Great Cthulhu himself. To free them would be a catastrophe second only to resurrecting Great Cthulhu."
"Hold on, Starfire, I thought they were Cthulhu's enemies." Raven replied.
Starfire looked at the three earthlings. "Why do you not understand? The universe is a dangerous place, full of evil beings who live to destroy. Even in the civilized galaxy, the races are not what you would call, pleasant. Why do you think I was so surprised when I arrived on earth and was helped by you and treated so kindly? Kindness does not exist much beyond this planet. While it makes you very nice people and I am thrilled to live here, you do not seem to understand the peril that exists beyond your world."
"If I could destroy these Elder Things, I would. It would safeguard the inhabitants of the earth against the possibility they might not all be dead."
The finality of Starfire's words precluded argument. The realization that they were surrounding by fundamentally unknown danger silenced dissent.
"In that case," Robin said after a few moments. "We need to see the rest of this picture. There may be additional clues to R'yleh in it." Starfire raised her hands to blast the walls to remove the ice. "STARFIRE, NO! If you do that, you'll destroy the work underneath. We'll have to do this the slow way, letting the heaters soften up the ice enough to remove. We don't dare miss anything. We don't even dare turn the heaters directly on the ice in case it causes the tiles to warp. We've no idea what we're working with, so caution is the rule."
Although none of them felt particularly patient about this arrangement, they all agreed (even Beast Boy) that it was for the best.
"Robin," the purple-haired titan spoke up, "We can't let Cyborg in here at all then. If he were to see any of these pictures, he might completely lose whatever hold he still has on his sanity. At a minimum, I would suggest that we at least put some kind of tarp over the existing wall, just in case he comes in."
Robin nodded, "Good idea."
Raven turned to Beast Boy. "Why don't you and Starfire get a tarp and hang it over the wall. I'll go check on Cyborg and see how my shields are holding up in his mind." The two nodded and began to work. Raven made her way to the fifth doorway, the one leading to the corridor that Cyborg was taking refuge in.
For refuge was what it was turning into. He had moved a cot into the corridor and had set up living quarters there. He had also moved several of the generators in there and laid a considerable amount of cable. He no longer even came out to eat with the others, as being in the multi-dimensional room unnerved him greatly. The dark also seemed to be affecting him. Cyborg had taken some of the high powered halogen lights and made an unusually bright area to work in. When Raven came upon him, he had pushed the airlock some hundred yards down the corridor, and seemed ready to push it further out. Shining the light down the corridor, it seemed to make a turn roughly fifty feet away, but nowhere did there seem to be any branching passages.
He was working quietly, with none of the humming or whistling that usually characterized his personality. As she moved closer to her friend, she read the emotional composition of his mind. While her calming influences seemed to be holding, the chaotic turmoil underneath continued. Privately, she decided that keeping him out of the main chamber until they were ready to leave was a good idea. She looked at him closely. He looked exhausted. There were dark circles under his human eye and his face was drawn.
"Victor," she said carefully, in order not to startle him. It didn't work, he practically jumped, even though he seemed to recognize her voice. He was practically twitching. "Victor, we're doing some additional work on the main chamber. It would probably be best if you stayed out of the chamber." Cyborg nodded his head, but didn't say anything.
Raven tried again. "Victor, you look terrible. Why don't you try to get some sleep?" With a panicked look in his eye, he shook his head. "Why not?"
In a whisper, he said, "Dreams"
"Dreams?"
"The shadow out of time, the haunter of the dark, the whisperer in darkness, the colour out of space."
"Victor?"
"Great cities filled with Cyclopean towers that reach beyond space. Majestic landscapes with colours no man has seen. Gigantic beings that fill the nothingness between time…."
"VICTOR!" Raven grabbed hold of him to shake him from his reverie. With a start he focused again on the mistress of magic, his eyes clearing.
"Dreams," he intoned. He turned away from her and resumed his work.
Raven stared at the cybernetic teen with fear. The possession, the madness that these eldritch forces had infected Cyborg with was far worse than she suspected. Leaving him, for there was nothing else that could be done at the moment, she returned to the other titans to alert them to the condition of the troubled teen, warning them all to be on guard in case the madness deepened.
It did not take long.
It was the following day. Raven and Beast Boy were back on the T-Jet, he taking a nap, she meditating. Robin was working on the icy walls in the smaller star chamber, carefully unveiling as much of the mosaic as possible. Starfire was flying through the unexplored portion of the building, trying to determine how many of the Elder Things were populating the edifice. Because of this, the titans were all wearing their headsets, just in case Starfire had something to report.
A scream pierced the headsets.
Robin let out a cry, "TITANS REPORT!"
"Here Robin," said Starfire.
Before anyone else could report in, Cyborg's voice came in over the headset. "What are you? Hastur, protect me." The sound of Cyborg's sonic blaster was heard.
"CYBORG," shouted Robin. "Report, what's there?" Robin put down his tools and began to race towards the corridor where Cyborg was holed up. It was on the far side of the smaller star chamber.
Raven's voice now came over the headsets, "Victor, what do you see?"
"NO, NO, got to get away. Can't let them get me. N'gai n'gha'ghaa, bugg-shoggog. YOG-SOTHOTH!" More blasting was heard. Then a whistling noise was heard over the headsets.
"Vic, buddy, what's up, clue us in," said Beast Boy over the headset.
Both Raven and Beast Boy were racing through the portal and out into the star chamber to meet up with Robin. The boy wonder had stopped.
"Well, what are you waiting FOR?" shouted Beast Boy.
"That whistling sound. He's blown a hole through the wall. That's the wind from outside."
"VICTOR, come back!" shouted Raven over the headset.
"ROBIN! His thermal gear is in the T-Jet! He's unprotected from the temperature. It'll kill him if he's out there." Beast Boy exclaimed. In their panic over Cyborg, both had forgotten their enmity towards each other. They ran over to the entrance to the corridor, as they raced down it, a frigid air mass met them as they traveled. They made it roughly half-way down the corridor before they had to stop. None of them were wearing anything that would protect them from the bone-freezing cold.
The sounds of a sonic blaster continued to be heard, as well as the sounds being made by Cyborg, "Ia; Ia; Tekeli-li, Tekeli-li! The black goat of the forest with a thousand young! The horrible abyss of radiance."
"STARFIRE, GET OUTSIDE AS QUICK AS POSSIBLE! CYBORG'S IN TROUBLE AND WE CAN'T GET TO HIM. YOU'RE THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN GET TO HIM IN TIME!" shouted Beast Boy.
"Azoathoth have mercy. I remember Yuggoth and more distant Shaggai, and the ultimate void of the black planets. NO, I'm Victor Stone. I'm Victor Stone."
"I see the tower in the dark. The thing is stirring and fumbling in the tower. Must unify the forces. I can see everything with a monstrous sense that is not sight."
Starfire was hearing this and racing through the building at top speed. "Robin, I am flying as fast as I can, but I am deep within this complex and it will take me a few minutes."
"STARFIRE, HE DOESN'T HAVE LONG! HE'S COMPLETELY UNPROTECTED AGAINST THE COLD AND THE SNOW! HE'LL FREEZE WITHIN MINUTES!" shouted Robin over the headset. "NONE OF US CAN GO AFTER HIM!"
Over the headset, again came the voice of Cyborg, "Ia, ngai. I see it – coming here – hell-wind-black wings." The sound of a sonic blaster was heard again, firing in all directions.
"Raven," exclaimed Beast Boy. "Can you focus on him? What's going on?"
Concentrating for a moment, Raven focused on their panicking friend. "He's consumed with fear. His mind is almost completely chaotic and shattered."
"Is there anything there that he's fighting?" asked Robin.
"I….can't tell. His mind is seeing all sorts of things. I can't tell what's real and what's not."
Over the headset again, "The long, winging flight through the void….light is dark and dark is light. Yaddith grant it will keep up! AAAAAGGGGGHHHHHHHH! Yog-Sothoth save me! The three-lobed burning eye."
"NO, I'M VICTOR STONE! I'm Victor Stone, I'm Vict…."
Somewhere, three hags sit. One has been working on her spinning for a considerable time. The thread was quite intricate, interacting most often with four other threads, and weaving in and out of numerous others. The hags were no longer laughing, but concentrating on their work.
The second one reached out her hand and placed it on the arm of the spinner. The spinner raised a withered eyebrow. The second one stared carefully at the thread. Almost imperceptibly, she nodded. With a sigh, the third and eldest of the hags took out a small pair of silver scissors.
And cut the thread.
And somewhere, a sonic blaster fell silent for the final time.
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Just a note or two, the severity of the chapter precludes banter. The description of the Elder Thing and the mosaic comes from the story "At the Mountains of Madness". In the dream talk, the various subjects are all titles of Lovecraft stories. The final madness, these are 'traditional' ravings that the various protagonists in Lovecraft's stories shout before succumbing to the final madness. Most of it comes from his story, 'The Haunter of the Dark'.
My thanks as always to my faithful readers. I hope that the ending of this chapter does not discourage you from reading further. I'd like to think I warned everyone in my initial summary to the story. But one is never really ready.
My thanks to my reviewers, for they help with my inspiration.
Bluesummers2012 – Welcome to the world of HP Lovecraft. I appreciate your kind opinions of my work. You were very complementary regarding 'Too Young' and, as far as I can tell, you've come partway through 'Opening'. I hope it continues to meet with your approval.
Hawkgirl90 – The extreme nature of the fight shows the progression of the enmity between the two. In the beginning, they were simply shouting. Then, they were actually fighting, but not really trying to hurt each other. Now, it's no holds barred. There's a reason for this which you will see later. Elementary Education, cool. An admirable goal.
ForceIsStrongWithThisOne – My friend, the spiraling out of control has only begun. And you are correct, they haven't even made it to R'yleh yet. There is still plenty more darkness to be withstood before the end.
Ijpowers92 – Oh, I realize that I've made Robin a major $&% in this story. I was commenting more on the overall impulse that many readers have to seeing Robin get beat up. Considering how I'm playing into it (for a good reason), I probably shouldn't say anything. Robin's story is by no means complete.
Novus Ordo Seclorum – Ah my friend, I'm blushing. That may be the most complementary review I've ever had. Now I have to maintain the caliber of work. I do warn you, I always have one more twist to the story.
LuxFord BanKitty – Welcome. Although from your review, you've been a faithful reader, this is the first review you've done for me. And ANOTHER exceedingly complementary review. I am most appreciative. Whether I feel it is deserved is another matter. But I do appreciate the kindness. Thank you. Addressing your question, if you asked before the story started, I would say they would just contain BB. Even now, Starfire & Raven would probably just contain him. Robin, well, that's another matter.
Soulseekerthe13th – And the first pillar falls in the Titan's edifice. Whether more fall, well, I'll just leave you hanging on that one. As for your question. I would assume the instantaneous change would enable him to handle most elements. I'm not even getting into the conservation of mass and energy. This IS the comics after all.
Until next time my friends, sleep well.