We open to Raven sitting on the couch reading one of her books peacefully, trying to have a quiet evening. But that quietness ended when Cyborg jumped on the couch.
"Boo-Yah! Scary movie marathon." The bionic teen shouted while picking up a remote.
"Hooray. Pointless jump scares and unnecessarily violent scenes." Raven commented sarcastically.
"What's wrong with that Raven?"
"It's just Horror movies aren't as good as they used to be. They just rely on pointless scares to make the audience pay attention."
"What do you think would make a good horror movie?"
"Use violence when necessary and no jump scares. Let the tension be the fear." Raven replied.
"Then why are you sitting on the couch watching The Demon of Gotham with me?" Cyborg asked.
"I just want to make fun of it."
Robin and Starfire enter the common room dressed as vampires. "How do I look as one of those suckers of the blood, Robin?"
"Terrifying." Robin replied.
Starfire dropped her head down. "Oh. Do you want me to-"
"No!" Robin insisted. "I meant terrifying in a good way." Starfire smiled at Robin's words. "In fact, if you were a vampire I'd let you suck my blood."
Starfire smirked. "You are such a brat sometimes Robin." Robin replied with a cheeky smile and gave his girlfriend a quick kiss on the lips.
"Get a room you two." Cyborg shouted from across the couch.
Starfire flew to the front of her friends who were trying to watch the movie. "Friends, do I look terrifying?"
"Spooky." Cyborg replied.
"You are terrifying, to five year olds." Raven replied in her monotone.
"Are you sure you two do not wish to partake in the carnival of Halloween?" Starfire aasked her friends.
"Na, I believe in tradition." Cyborg replied.
"Halloween is too commercial for me. It's no longer scary." Raven replied. "And they just broadcast stupid Horror movies that aren't even that scary."
"Are you usually such a buzzkill during this time of year?" The Titans turn to trace the voice and see Jinx dressed as Starfire. "Well, are you?" Jinx asked again.
Cyborg Robin stared at Jinx in disbelief, Raven just didn't care, while Starfire gave Jinx a glare.
"Why are you dressed like me?" Starfire asked angrily. "And are those my clothes? Did you go into my wardrobe?!"
"Relax Star, Kid Flash designed it for me." Jinx assured her. "We're entering the couples costume contest as you and Robin."
"I do not understand, I am not scary and neither is Robin when he isn't angry." Starfire stated, confused by the costume choice. She then turned to her boyfriend. "Apologies, I did not intend to offend you."
"It's ok Star." Robin assured his girlfriend. "I can be terrifying sometimes so if Kid-Wait, Kid Flash is dressing up as..."
And right on cue, Kid Flash ran into the room dressed as Robin. "...you." Kid Flash said, finishing his best friend's sentence.
Robin glared at his best friend angrily and said, "You better not have been in my wardrobe."
"Relax, I wasn't in your wardrobe." Kid Flash assured his best friend. "Although I did go there so I could get every detail to the costume right."
Robin crossed his arms and asked, "Is this to get me back for that time I dressed up as you for Halloween?"
"Bet you didn't think it would come back to bite you in the butt."
"Honestly, I knew this day would come."
Beast Boy entered the common room and stood in disbelief at the sight of Kid Flash and Robin standing together. "Am I hallucinating, or are there two Robins?"
"Where's your costume Beast Boy?" Asked Jinx. "Weren't you going as a gorilla?"
"Oh, how silly of me." Beast Boy then turned into a green gorilla and growled.
"Don't that qualify as cheating?" Asked Cyborg.
"Cheating shmeating, costumes a costume." Beast Boy said, trying to defend himself.
"When did you learn how to talk during animal form?" Cyborg asked.
"Taught myself." Beast Boy replied. "So, we ready to go? I'm ready to defeat the power couple at the costume contest."
"You're on grass stain!" Kid Flash said.
"We'll be back before midnight you two." Robin informed Raven and Cyborg. "Try and not mess things up while we're gone."
"Don't worry Rob. Ya'll can trust me not to mess things up." Cyborg assured his team.
"See you in a few hours."
"Yes. And enjoy your marathon of movies Cyborg." Said Starfire.
Robin, Starfire, Jinx, Kid Flash and Beast Boy leave the common room to go to the carnival.
"Well, it's just the two of us Raven." Cyborg stated.
"Uh Huh." Raven responded.
Cyborg stared at Raven with a grin. "Let me know if you get scared."
"That won't happen." Raven assured him.
"Yeah right. That's what you said the last time and you turned this whole tower into a haunted house."
"Trust me, that won't happen again."
"It better not." Cyborg said as he got comfortable and decided to continue to watch the movie.
Raven then out her book down and decided to watch the movie with her bionic friend. "Is there a reason why you didn't want to go to the Halloween carnival Cyborg?" Raven asked.
"I just love tradition." Cyborg replied while turning up the volume.
Raven turned to her bionic friend and pulled a face that said, "Are you sure?"
"Cyborg, you sure there isn't a bigger reason?" Raven asked.
"Raven relax. Just because I don't want to go to the carnival, doesn't mean I hate it."
Raven gave her friend a suspicious look before going back to reading her book, still having a nagging feeling of finding out what Cyborg was hiding something he didn't want to talk about.
An hour went by and Cyborg was hiding behind the couch because of a scary movie, while Raven was continuing to read her book, un-phased by the movie. As soon as the killer killed the final girl, the credits began to role.
Cyborg poked his head out from behind the couch and asked, "Is it over? I'm too scared to look."
"No, that's why there's silence and the words on screen say "Produced by Hollis Korvacs." Raven replied sarcastically.
Cyborg jumped back on the couch and grabbed the remote. "Ok, what else is on?"
Cyborg flicked through the channel and saw a movie on the Scary Channel called "The Boy who Drowned. "The Boy Who Drowned. Sounds serious, but will probably be cheesy."
Cyborg relaxed and continued to watch the movie, which had two young boys running across a boardwalk. Cyborg's stupid grin turned upside-down while watching the movie, cause he started flashing to when he was a young boy, before he became a cyborg, running along the boardwalk of Atlantic City with a boy with white skin and brown hair. "Come on Eli! Ya almost got me." Young Cyborg, shouted.
Cyborg sat motionless on the couch, not even moving an inch.
"Wait for me Victor!"
The bionic teen quickly picked up the remote and changed the channel to a news report.
"What's wrong Cyborg? Nothing happening scares you?" Raven asked, sarcastically. She then noticed Cyborg looking horrified and like he was about to have a panic attack. Raven's expression soon softened and decided to talk to him more softly. "Cyborg, is something wrong?"
Cyborg quickly snapped out of his weird episode and turned to face his friend. "Nothing Rae, just a bad movie."
Raven could tell Cyborg was lying with her being an empath, but she decided to let it slide and let him talk about what he's dealing with when he felt like it. "How bad is the movie? Nothing happened."
"Look Rae, I know you're trying to look out for me. It's nothing." Cyborg assured her as he stood up and walked towards the window. "Besides, it's Halloween. What's the worse that could happen?" And just as Cyborg said those words, he saw an orange cloud explode in the centre and soon clouding over the city.
"You just had to say it, didn't you?" Raven asked sarcastically.
From a satellite, the orange gas cloud had covered the whole of Jump City in less than 45 seconds and it showed signs of stopping there.
Back in the tower, Cyborg grabbed his Titan communicator from the table and contacted Robin. "Rob, what the heck is going on?"
"Slade!" A terrified Robin replied.
"Slade?" Cyborg repeated.
"Slade is in Jump City and he's somehow cloned himself. Because he's everywhere! He's everywhere!" Robin screamed.
Cyborg and Raven stared at Robin, confused and concerned. "Rob-"
"Get here right now!" Robin demanded as he threw away his Titan communicator and started to fight whatever threat was near, since he was making grunting sounds.
"Slade clones?" Raven asked.
"Slade clones." Cyborg confirmed. "I don't know, that seems kind of improbable. I'm gonna try and contact the other Titans." Cyborg pushed a button on his communicator and Beast Boy appeared on screen, looking petrified.
"Cy! Something happened!"
"Did you have too much pumpkin pie?" Raven queried.
"I couldn't get a bite and now...I'm seeing Terra, leading Trigon's army!" Beast Boy replied.
Raven's eyes widened by the statement. "Impossible, I destroyed him."
"I know but..." Before Beast Boy could say anything else, he was cut off by static and the sounds of his terrified scream, which horrified both Cyborg and Raven.
"Beast Boy! Beast Boy! Beast Boy!" Cyborg shouted. "Nothing. Can you get a link with all the Titans?"
"I just did and...They're scared." Raven replied.
"Scared?"
"Yes." Raven took a glance at the cloud and came to a realisation. "The cloud, Titans having terrifying reactions, doesn't that sound like..."
Just as Raven was about to ask her question, the sound of the TV making static sounds is heard.
"Do not adjust your televisions screens or try and change your channel, because I have taken over every station. You're probably querying why did this, because I have something important I must inform all of you." Said a sinister voice.
Cyborg and Raven ran to the TV to see who was talking. The person sat on a chair, wearing a long brown trench coat, black gloves, brown pants, a brown hat and a mask that sported a sinister grin.
"What you saw outside your homes was phase one of my little experiment."
"Scarecrow." Cyborg hissed.
"Phase one is covering Jump City in my new strain of fear toxin..." Scarecrow began. "...phase two commences if phase one turned out to be successful. And it was, surprising me a lot. The toxin may not affect you when you are inside, safe and sound watching the news and your precious TV shows, but wearing a gas mask will do nothing for you. One breath is all it takes for you to see what you never wanted to see. You can argue the fact you can stay at home, but after a few weeks. You'll beg for fresh air. This new strain of fear toxin has taken over Jump City. In 25 hours, it will take over Metropolis, Central City and Gotham. In 39 hours, the toxin will cover the entire continent. To whoever's out there, you cannot stop me this time. You will soon know fear and the face of it. The face...*chuckle*...well, you're looking at him."
The TV cut to static, ending Scarecrow's transmission. Cyborg and Raven stared at the screen with their fists clenched.
"Well, Halloween has finally gotten scary." Raven quipped, feelings at unease with Scarecrow's little speech.
Cyborg ran to the computer to try and trace the transmission. "I can't even trace the transmission. Scarecrow got us good this time. Even if we would've traced the transmission, we would've gotten infected with the fear toxin."
"Are there any ideas?" Raven asked.
"We have to find a way to get rid of the toxin before it spreads statewide." Cyborg replied.
"I'll do some studying. There could be something in one of my books that can help." Raven said.
"Get to it girl." Cyborg requested. "I'll try and find a way to scan the gas."
Raven left the common room, after quickly glancing at her bionic teammate one last time.
Cyborg starts typing on to the computer. "I better try and hack into the security cameras to see how bad the fear toxin could possibly be."
Cyborg starts hacking into the public cameras via the computer. In a few seconds, he did and saw people screaming and panicking in the streets. The sight horrified the bionic teen since this was like something out of a horror movie about a psychiatric ward. Just as the live footage resumed, he sees Kid Flash running around the carnival, screaming his head off. He moved to the next camera feed and he saw Starfire flying around, blasting the stalls and fighting Beast Boy.
Cyborg turned off the footage, not wanting to watch anymore.
Cyborg took a deep breath and ran to his room to see if there's anything he can use to try and scan the gas. He dug around his drawer and eventually found a small drone he made in order to scan gasses.
"That's an impressive piece of tech." Said a cybernetic voice. Cyborg quickly turned around and aimed his plasma cannon for a teenaged looking boy wearing dark armour that with a helmet that resembled a bat. "I assume that's used to scan the gas in order to reverse the effects?"
"You assumed correctly." Cyborg replied.
"I would chat, but I've got a task I need to complete." And like that, the armoured teenage pulled a gun out and fired a laser gun at the drone, causing it to blow up.
Cyborg dropped to his knees and fired his plasma cannon at the armoured teen, but he quickly dropped to his stomach and fired his laser blaster at Cyborg, but the bionic teen quickly dodged the blast; causing it to hit the T-Car and blow up.
"Dude, that's my car!" Cyborg shouted.
"Consider us even." The armoured teen commented before firing another round that managed to hit Cyborg, sending him flying back.
Cyborg stood up and aimed his plasma cannon to where the armoured teen was, but he wasn't there. Cyborg stood up, confused by how he did that. He analysed his surroundings to find the armoured teen was nowhere to be seen. Just as Cyborg was about to move around his room to see if he can see this intruder, the armoured teen jumped on top of Cyborg.
"Gotcha again." The armoured teen said while manhandling Cyborg's neck. Cyborg threw the armoured character off of himself and on to the floor. Cyborg tried to punch the intruder, but he quickly sprayed some gas in the bionic teen's face and kicked him in his leg.
The intruder stood up and got a punch to the face from Cyborg, sending him 5 inches away from the bionic teen, who was shocked by how he didn't even move a metre away from him.
The armoured intruder tilted his neck, says, "My turn" and kicked him across the room and crashing into his worktop.
Cyborg stood up and charged at the intruder, who just retaliated with a kick to the knee, punched him in the chest, continued with an uppercut to the face, grabbing his arm and tearing it off and finally; hitting him in the face with his arm.
Cyborg fell to the floor after the awful beating he just received, feeling beaten and intimidated by him.
The armoured intruder bent pressed one knee on the floor and pressed the other knee on Cyborg's chest. "Wow, never thought I'd beat you. But I did, didn't I?" Cyborg groaned in response to his question. "Groan? Is that it? You know, for too long I've been wanting to beat you. My whole life wasted to beat you, worth it! It's a funny thing what years can do to one person, Cyborg, or as an old friend would say: Victor Stone."
Cyborg's eyes widened when he said his birth name. "Who are you?"
"The Knight is my new legal name, Vic. I'm about to end your career as a superhero..." The Knight cocks his laser pistol. "...consider us-"
Just as the Knight was about to finish, he got hit on the back of the head with a lead pipe from Raven. "So it's been 'lead' to this." Raven quipped in her usual monotone.
Cyborg got up and gave his friend a disapproving look. "You had to, didn't you?"
"Well, Beast Boy isn't here so...Anyway, I doubt he would've made that pun funny."
"BB can't make any pun funny."
Cyborg stood up and placed his arm back to its proper position. "There we go."
Raven took notice of the unconscious intruder and asked, "Who was that?"
"I have no idea." Cyborg replied while tempted to rip the helmet off of him to see who he is. "Did you find anything?"
"Yes. There were ancient trees that grew in Jump City over 5000 years ago." Raven explained. "It was said their pheromones were so powerful it cleared the skies of toxic gas."
"Why are you telling me of trees that are probably extinct?" Cyborg asked.
"Because there's one that's been dormant for many centuries." Raven replied.
"And you-"
"It's just a rumour. But it's a rumour we have to see is true in order to save everyone." Raven explained.
"Where about did they say it's buried?" Cyborg asked.
"Underneath the park."
"Anything else?"
"The rumour also suggests that in order for the tree to grow, it needs to be awakened."
"Perhaps my sonar blast could give the tree a little kick." Cyborg suggested.
"That might do actually. Good suggestion Victor."
"Thanks Rae-How did you know my name?"
Raven then stared at Cyborg with guilt.
"I'm sorry, I...He said your name was Victor."
Cyborg sighed. "Victor Stone. Nobody's ever called me that ever since I became Cyborg. I haven't even told anyone."
"But this guy knows, do you know him?"
"Know him?!" Exclaimed Cyborg. "I don't. But he somehow knows my name!"
"Take him to the cell, I'll get my books to see if there's any information about the plant." Said Raven.
"While I'll try and get a digital map of Jump City. Cause we ain't going to the park that way, we're going underground. Plus, my T-Car is destroyed."
Raven gave Cyborg a nod before leaving his room to get some books about the tree.
Cyborg approached the unconscious body of the armoured intruder, trying to resist the temptation of removing his mask. Cyborg picked up the unconscious body and started carrying him to the lockup. He walked out of his room and turned to the common room. When he got to the couch, he saw that the TV was showing The Boy Who Drowned, again.
This caused Cyborg to freeze and glue his eyes to the screen in front of him. He saw a Caucasian boy chasing an African-American boy across a boardwalk. He then flash backed to when he was a little boy, being chased by a Caucasian boy with black hair; supposedly his friend. They were laughing while running along the pier.
"I'm gonna catch you Vic!" Said the Young Caucasian boy.
"I don't think so Eli!" The young African-American shouted while laughing.
The two young boys turned and started running down a pier.
"Hey, don't run! It's not safe!" A cop warned the young boys in an effort to try and stop them.
Cyborg snaps out of his vision and gets a kick to the chin from the armoured intruder. The armoured intruder freed himself from Cyborg and lands on the floor. The intruder performed a leg sweep, causing Cyborg to crash on the floor. Cyborg managed to kick the armoured intruder in the chest, while he had his back against the floor.
"What was wrong Vic? Did that movie scare you, or did it give you a bad flashback?" The armoured intruder asked.
The bionic teen stood up and aimed his plasma cannon at the intruder, but he threw a smoke grenade at Cyborg's face causing his vision to be temporarily clouded. As soon as the smoke cleared, the bionic teen could see the Knight at the window.
"It's rather hot in here, is it ok if I open a window?" The intruder politely asked before smashing the window with his hand. Cyborg charged at the intruder and engaged in a fistfight with him, the two deflecting every punch. The two soon clashed with each other, Cyborg glaring while the intruder grinned underneath his mask.
"Do you smell that?" The Knight asked. "That's fear. Take a sniff or a breath. You know you need to."
Cyborg glared at his armoured rival, who was laughing. While laughing, the armoured nemesis kept flickering into Scarecrow.
Cyborg stopped clashing with his rival and held his hands on his head, all while the intruder laughed his head off.
Cyborg then fell to the floor, feeling terrified of what he was seeing. He looked to his right and saw the young Caucasian boy he saw in his visions, only he was wet and having water drip from his mouth. "Why didn't you save me Victor?" The terrified boy asked. "Why?"
Cyborg stared at the boy with fear and sadness, all while the intruder watched the bionic teen getting terrified. "A sight to behold." The intruder commented while cocking his laser pistol. "I have waited too long for this moment." The intruder intended to shoot Cyborg while he was trapped in his fear induced vision. Until...
"Knight." Scarecrow interjected. "Lay down your weapon."
The Knight reluctantly lowered his weapon and placed it back in his satchel. The Knight pushed a finger on his ear, since that was where Scarecrow's voice came from. "What?" He asked.
"Get back to the base, I need you. Leave the Titan." Scarecrow demanded.
"I have him right here!"
"And you will have your revenge soon. That is a promise I will never break. Get back to the base or I will make sure you will never have your revenge."
The Knight sighed and then kicked the bionic Teen. "You're lucky you know that?" He grabbed Cyborg by his cheek and forced the bionic teen to look at him through his mask. "Don't think this is the end, because I will kill you." The armoured teen jumped from the window and landed beside a motorcycle outside the tower. The reason to why he was unaffected by the fear toxin was due to the highly advanced mask he was wearing.
Back in the tower. Cyborg stared at the Caucasian boy, scared for his life as he approached him. "Why didn't you save me Victor? Why?"
Cyborg screamed, ran towards a computer panel on the wall and pushed a few buttons.
"Voice acceptance required."
"Cyborg!"
"Initiating tower lockdown and decompression."
The tower gets covered in metal barges and the doors from the outside, lock themselves. The fans in the common room activate, cleaning the room of all toxic gas polluting the air.
Raven ran into the common room, seeing if Cyborg is ok. "Are you ok Cyborg?" Raven asked concerned.
Cyborg took heavy breaths and turned to his empathic teammate. "I'm fine Rae, my lungs just got filled with some of Scarecrow's fear gas."
"What about the Knight?"
"He got away." Cyborg walked towards the computer and pulled up a digital map of the tower. "Ok, so the tower is here and the park is around 40-60 metres away from us. We're gonna have to get the park by going below."
"How will we?" Raven inquired.
Cyborg smirked and said, "I know a way."
Later in the garage.
Cyborg is moving a drawer aside to reveal a hole in the wall. "This is how we will get to the park."
Raven raised an eyebrow and asked, "When did you discover this?"
"A while ago. Beast Boy used this when he was hiding Silkie, just to take him out on his daily walks." Cyborg replied.
Cyborg and Raven jumped into the hole and fell into a cave. It was dark, gloomy and the sound of water dripping on rocks is heard every five seconds.
"We're probably very deep underneath the Earth." Raven said. "How does Beast Boy get back up?" Cyborg pointed to something that was behind Raven's back. She turned around and saw a large wooden ladder that was standing up straight. "Oh. That's probably how Beast Boy gets his exercise."
Raven and Cyborg both chuckled at Raven's little quip.
"Alright, lets go." Cyborg said while a light popped out from his shoulder so the two could see where they were going.
"How do you think the others are doing?" Raven asked.
"I hope that fear toxin ain't causing them to destroy themselves." Cyborg replied, worried for what could happen to his team.
We cut to what appeared to be a lair. It had metal flooring, a metal ceiling and metal walls with rows of platforms attached. In the centre stood, the fear inducing madman known as Scarecrow, typing on his computer, possibly making a strand of fear toxin.
There was a whooshing sound that made Scarecrow grin sinisterly. "You're just in time." The madman said as he turned around to face the armoured teen, sitting on the edge of a banister.
"You ruined my moment." The Knight angrily shouted. "Why did you ruin my one chance, killing him?"
"You are so impatient." Scarecrow commented.
"You don't understand! My whole life was wasted, getting revenge on that Titan who ruined everything I had in my life."
"You need to wait, Sebastian. You'll get your chance."
The sound of horrified screaming is heard around the room. Startling the Knight while Scarecrow didn't move an inch.
"What was that?" The Knight asked.
"After I released the Cloudburst I went out for a little wander." Scarecrow said while walking towards a corridor, with the Knight following. "During my little wander I picked up five new lab rats..." The corridor that Scarecrow lead the Knight down had rows of metal doors. "...these rats you'd probably find interesting." Scarecrow pulled down a hatch to one of the metal doors to reveal Kid Flash running around in his cell, screaming his head off.
"You captured the Titans?" The Knight inquired.
"Yes. I am aware the fast one can vibrate his molecules in order to walk through walls, but I equipped him with a power cancelling collar as precaution."
"What's his worst fear?"
"According to his screams, failing his Uncle and Jinx."
He closed the hatch, walked to the next door and pulled the hatch down to show the Knight, Robin.
"Why isn't he screaming?" The Knight inquired.
"Hmm, the Toxin has worn off, I should give him a little extra dosage." Scarecrow entered the cell where the unconscious Robin laid.
He was about to insert the toxin into him, but something stopped him and has the urge to rip his mask off to see who he was.
"Should we remove his mask?" The Knight asked.
Scarecrow moved his hand away and replied, "What's the point? We might not know him anyway." Scarecrow then jammed his syringe fingers in Robin's arms, causing the boy wonder to flinch and then scream in fear.
"So, what are we doing to them?" The Knight asked.
"They're your army." Scarecrow replied while smiling sinisterly.
"Aww sweet an...army? How can the Titans be my army?"
"How else can you stop Cyborg and Raven from releasing the tree? Trust me, I know they're intending to release it from its slumber."
"But how will the Titans be members of my army?" The Knight queried.
Scarecrow did one of his signature grins and replied, "You'll see."
Meanwhile.
Cyborg and Raven are walking down the cave, intending to reach this ancient tree.
Their objective wasn't on Raven's mind, but whatever was going on in Cyborg's head since he probably unintentionally breathed in the toxin gas.
After a few more seconds of uncomfortable silence, Raven finally decided to speak up. "Do you want to tell me why you're so quiet?"
"What? Do you always expect me to make a little quip?" Cyborg asked.
"I just usually expect this kind of stuff, or perhaps some audio commentary."
Cyborg gave his friend a glare before Maybe I don't wanna do it at the moment. Maybe I'm afraid for our friend's safety! Maybe I can't be making any quips because of this guy who's trying to kill me! Is that a good enough reason?!"
Raven gave a nervous nod at her longtime friend/teammate before he continued walking.
The sudden outburst made the empath feel a little uncomfortable, since she saw Cyborg as the hyperactive big brother who would try and comfort his team. "What's wrong?" Raven whispered to herself.
Cyborg continued walking with Raven falling behind, feeling nothing for his angry outburst. He continued walking until a familiar silhouette of a familiar Scarecrow started to walk out of the shadows.
Cyborg did nothing and just stopped walking, an act that made Scarecrow tilt his head; curious about the bionic teen stopped.
"Why did you stop? I could attack you at any moment."
"I'm detecting no life signs from you." Cyborg replied. "You're just an illusion."
Scarecrow grinned and said, "Very clever. And I always thought you were a goofy one."
Cyborg took one look from behind and saw that Raven was no longer following him or anywhere close to him. "Where is Raven?"
"Does it matter where she's gone?" Scarecrow asked as he suddenly appeared on Cyborg's left. "What is it do you fear?"
"You don't scare me." Cyborg interjected.
"Than why are you hallucinating me? Are you scared of little old me? You should be." Scarecrow stared at Cyborg, curious to his strange reaction. "Why aren't you afraid? Is this your way of fighting the toxin? Standing motionless?"
"No." Cyborg replied. "I'm scared for what might come."
Scarecrow grinned and moved his syringe fingers across Cyborg's back. "You know what's about to come. Always prepare for the inevitable I always say."
"Don't make me see it." Cyborg pleaded.
"See what?" Scarecrow asked as he suddenly evaporated in front of Cyborg. "All I'm seeing is just a Boardwalk, somewhere in Atlantic city I believe."
Cyborg looked around the area and saw that he was standing on a boardwalk, during what appeared to be sunset. The location made Cyborg freeze in fear as this was the same boardwalk that his young self was running along being chased by that boy.
"Seems kind of empty doesn't it?" The Scarecrow asked and then he snapped his fingers and there was a huge crowd of people standing at Halloween stalls. Cyborg stared at the location in horror and panic all while Scarecrow chuckled. "Oh be careful of the children." Scarecrow advised.
Cyborg turned around and saw himself around 10 years old being chased by his friend.
"I'm going to catch you Victor!" Shouted the black haired boy.
"Keep trying Eli." Young Victor shouted. Laughing as he did.
"Eli, stop chasing me!" Cyborg begged.
"Are you begging to the illusion?" Scarecrow inquired.
Cyborg stood in place doing nothing all to try and stop his friend, since he knew it was an illusion and if he followed, he'll only see the horror he knew what was in store.
"You aren't following them?"
"Don't make me!" Cyborg snarled at the hallucination.
"Why should I? You're already at the pier."
Cyborg realised he was no longer standing on the boardwalk, he was standing on the pier where the incident will take place. He looked forward and sees his young self being chased by his friend.
"Hey, don't run! It's not safe!"
Cyborg watched as the two young boys ignored the friendly police officer's warnings and continued running. Cyborg turned around to not see the sight, but when he did he just saw the boys still running along the pier.
"No matter how hard you try and look away, up, down, left, right, you'll always see this one moment." Scarecrow said whole Cyborg closed his eyes. "Don't even try to close your eyes, it will only make things worse."
"Wait for me Victor!" Eli shouted.
"No!" Cyborg shouted as Eli stood on a weak part of the pier, causing it to collapse under his feet and for him to fall down the hole.
The young Victor Stone turned around to see if his friend was still chasing him, but he wasn't. The young Cyborg ran to the hole with the more older bionic teen following. The two looked down and only saw water bubbling, hinting that the young boy named Eli drowned after falling through the unstable pier.
"Could it be that the council should have invested in some barricade tape? Could it be that the cop was too slow and close to retirement? Or could it be you ignored his warnings because you'd rather be chased than save your friend. Now, that one mistake you have failed..." Cyborg looked up and saw that Scarecrow was now the Knight, holding a gun to his head. "...has come back to haunt you." The Knight pulled the trigger on the gun, causing Cyborg to snap out of his hallucination and realise he was still in the cave him and Raven were walking down.
The bionic teen dropped to his knees, horrified by watching the mistake he had made years ago. If he had a time machine he could go back in time and stop himself from running down that pier. Even though he was only 10 and didn't know better, Cyborg wished he could've just stopped for a minute and think.
"I'm sorry Eli." Cyborg said as he dropped to his knees.
The bionic teen suddenly felt a warm hand on his shoulder which made him drop his head in shame. "I'm sorry."
Cyborg looked up to face his empathic teammate and saw sympathy in her face. She might've not seen Cyborg's illusions, but she did know it was too traumatising for him.
"There's no need to apologise Rae, it was fear toxin." Cyborg assured her as he stood up and removed her hand from his shoulder. "It was inevitable I would see my worst fear, but I didn't expect my fear to be my biggest mistake."
"What was it?" Raven asked.
"Somebody closer to him then he thought." Raven and Cyborg turned around and saw the Knight walking out of the shadows, looking intimidating. "Although, I can't wait to hear your theory to see how wrong you are."
Raven glared at the Knight while Cyborg only stared at the Knight, fear and regret plastered all over his face. "Eli Sebastian, that's who you are. My childhood-"
"Save the theories for later!" The Knight interjected. "You will never reach that tree and we're going to make sure of it."
"Ok, I have questions." Said Raven.
"Don't bother asking." The Knight interjected. "Scarecrow had a hunch you'd go after this legendary tree and got me to try and stop you. Oh, and about how I managed to reach you...well, you can thank my dog and my ride."
After the Knight mentioned his dog and his ride, Beast Boy and Kid Flash walked out of the shadows, wearing goggles over their eyes.
"Grass Stain?" Cyborg reacted shocked and worried for his green friend and fast friend, while Raven felt the same.
"Where are the others?" Raven asked threateningly.
"Funny you should say that." The Knight answered his question and the rest of the Titans walk out of the shadows, wearing the same goggles. "I'm sorry, is this too theatric?"
Cyborg and Raven glared at the Knight angrily, wanting to know what they did to their friends. "What did you do to them?!" Raven asked angrily.
"Simple mind control goggles but with a twist. Right now the Titans are dreaming and the dreams they are having aren't really pleasant to them." The Knight explained.
"So, they're sleeping zombies?" Cyborg asked while he clenched his fists.
"Precisely." The Knight replied and turned to his mindless army. "Handle your friends, I'll kill that tree."
The Knight then started running down the cave, intent on destroying the tree. Cyborg tried to follow him, but the brainwashed Kid Flash ran in front of him and punched him in the chest, causing the speedster to shake his wrist in pain.
The bionic teen tried to punch the speedster, but he got hit by a barrage of star bolts from Starfire.
Raven tried to use her magic to remove the goggles, but she got hit with a gas birdarang from Robin and a kick to the face from Jinx. Raven tried to use her magic again, but Beast Boy jumped at her face as a cat, scratching her face. "Get off me!" The empath shouted as she pulled her green friend off of her and threw him at Robin, who only used his bo-staff to hit his green comrade.
Meanwhile, Cyborg was stuck in a fistfight with Starfire. Cyborg tried to blast her with his plasma cannon, but the Tamaranean used her super strength to crush his arm. "Snap out of it Star!" Cybrog demanded.
Starfire kicked Cyborg in his chest and then got hit in the face by Kid Flash, who ran up to him at top speed. Kid Flash was about to do it again, but Cyborg blasted him with his plasma cannon, sending him flying back.
"Rae!" Cyborg shouted.
"Not now!" Raven shouted, while tripping Robin by lifting his cape. She suddenly got jumped on the back by Beast Boy, who was now a bear. Cyborg took noticed and blasted Beast Boy, before blasting Starfire. Just as the bionic teen was about to assist the empath, he got jumped on the back by Kid Flash.
"Come on KF, snap out of it!" Cyborg demanded as he struggled to get the speedster of his back. During the struggle, he managed to punch Kid Flash in the face, causing the goggles to shatter. Cyborg threw the speedster off his back and his unconscious body hit Robin, whom was attempting to throw a birdarang at Raven.
Starfire tried to lunge at the empath, but she quickly fired off a dark bolt that made Starfire fly back a bit. Beast Boy, in puma form, then pounced at Raven, who then kicked the green Titan off of her.
Cyborg then got into a fight with Robin, who was using his bo-staff to hit his bionic friend. Cyborg managed to punch his leader across the cavern, causing him to crash into one of the rocks.
Jinx used her hex powers to make a few sharp rocks fall from the cavern, in an attempt to crush the the bionic teen and the empath, but they managed to dodge the falling rocks. Just as Jinx was about to do it again, there was a blur and Jinx's goggles were no longer attached to her face.
"What the?" The pink haired sorceress reacted.
Then, the blur ran past Robin and removed the goggles from him.
Cyborg stared at the sight amazed until the yellow blur stopped in front of him to reveal Kid Flash. "I'm assuming the goggles are mind control?"
"You've guessed correctly." Cyborg replied.
"Point to me."
"Quit showing off and help out!" Raven demanded while blasting Starfire away from her.
"Oh yeah, sorry." The speedster apologised before he ran to Starfire and removed her goggles.
The mind controlled Beast Boy woke up and saw that his team's goggles have been removed. Before he could react, Raven removed the goggles from his face.
Once the goggles were removed, Beast Boy had a look of panic and fear plastered all over his face.
"W-w-w-what happened?" The fear stricken Beast Boy asked. "Terra?"
"Boo!" The sudden appearance of the Terra hallucination made Beats Boy scream. While Raven started at her green teammate with a monotone glare.
"Are you screaming at the air?" Raven asked sarcastically.
Beast Boy realised the embarrassing predicament he was in and replied, "Possibly."
Robin carefully woke up from his unconscious state and screamed, "Slade!"
"Relax Rob, Slade ain't there." Cyborg assured his leader.
Starfire screeched, causing Cyborg and Robin to flinch due to how unexpected it was. "What about the Gorarf'akhan beetle?!"
"I'm sure that weren't there, either Star."
"What happened?" Asked the boy wonder.
"Yeah, one minute we were waiting for Beast Boy, who was getting pumpkin pie, the next minute I was seeing...traumatising things." Jinx said with a little bit of trauma in her voice.
"Scarecrow happened." Raven replied.
"Probably shouldn't have asked."
"So, what do we do?" Asked Beast Boy.
"Ya'll need to get back to the tower, that fear toxin possibly messed you up real bad." Cyborg replied. "Raven will accompany you."
"I will Cyborg."
"And what of you?" Starfire asked.
"I've got to awaken a tree." Cyborg replied as he started running down the cavern.
"Did he say he had to wake up a tree?" Asked Kid Flash.
"Sure did." Raven confirmed.
Meanwhile, the Knight was walking along the cavern trying to catch a glimpse of the tree. "It's got to be here somewhere." The Knight continued walking down the cavern, while cocking his gun.
While continuing to walk, he then noticed a faint glow in the distance. The Knight, filled with some wonderment ran to the glow and saw a tree. It was all white and had a hint of orange glows on the branches. The Knight stared at the tree, amazed by its beauty.
"Oh, that's beautiful. It'd be a shame to burn it down." The Knight then pressed his finger to his helmet, intending to communicate with Scarecrow. "Knight to Scarecrow, do you copy?" The only reply he got was just static. "Knight to Scarecrow."
"You ain't gonna be getting anything down here."
The Knight turned around to face the voice, who turned out to be Cyborg who has managed to catch up with him.
"I knew you were following me..." The Knight started. "...I just wanted you to think you was sneaking up on me."
"Hmm. Guess the roles have reversed, huh?"
"Care to clarify."
"Last time, you was chasing me, now I'm chasing you."
The Knight tilted his head in confusion. "Care to specifically clarify what that means?"
"It means I know who you are." Cyborg replied.
"Oh, do you?" The Knight asked. "I guess I got time to confirm your theory."
"Sebastian." Cyborg said. The Knight froze upon hearing the name, since he's shocked that Cyborg somehow figured it out. "You're Eli Sebastian. You were my best friend during childhood. I know why you're mad, I lead you to drown. But I didn't know you were alive, why didn't you tell me?" The Knight stood on the spot, not replying to the question. "I mourned for you, I cried myself to sleep every night because of your death, heck, I visit your grave once a year! I know, it's my fault I stupidly lead you to your near death and I'm very sorry. But I won't let you burn down that tree."
The Knight stared at Cyborg, looking like he feels some sympathy for the bionic teen. That is until he started chuckling and clapping. "Oh my gosh, do you think I'm just your dead best friend?!" The Knight asked, while trying to surpass a laugh. "I cannot believe this."
"That is what I thought. You called me by my real name." Cyborg said, feeling some shocked feelings for the Knight's reaction.
"So?! Isn't that what an enemy meant to do?! Find out more about his rival." The Knight laughed again. "Ya know what, I'll just try and make my clues a little better. You made mine and my father's life a misery, well mine was more miserable than his. Since, his obsession with you turned him into a freak." The Knight removed his helmet to reveal to Cyborg a teenaged boy with black devil horned hair and a face that bared a resemblance to a certain arch nemesis of Cyborg.
"You better not be who I think you are." Cyborg said while analysing his nemesis' face.
"I think I am. Sebastian Blood, son of Brother Blood." The young teen said while pointing a gun at the bionic teen.
"Hmm, I see some family resemblance. You've got the ridiculous hair and that creepy obsession with me." Cyborg quipped.
Sebastian gave a small chuckle and cocked his gun. "You're a funny guy Cyborg, I actually like you. Shame I have to kill you first."
Cyborg quickly blasted the gun out of Blood's hand and charged at him. The young teen punched Cyborg in the face before the bionic teen could tackle him.
"Still maintain those football skills haven't you." The Knight quipped.
Cyborg stood up and engaged in a fistfight with his enemy, deflecting each oth their punches. The Knight then kicked Cyborg across the cavern causing him to crash into a rock.
"You may have skills in football, but your skills in football could use a lot of work."
The Knight started charging at the Cyborg, but the bionic teen thought quick and kicked him in the chest.
Cyborg quickly stood up and intended to punch the Knight in the face, but the son of Brother Blood quickly ducked and punched Cyborg in his knee and then gave him an uppercut to the face.
Cyborg tried to punch the Knight again, but the son of Brother Blood punched him a ton of times in the face and performed a 360 crescent kick making Cyborg fall to the floor.
Cyborg was about to stand up but the Knight kicked Cyborg in the face. The Knight got into a position that met Cyborg's eyes and started punching the bionic teen in the face repeatedly until Cyborg was badly beaten.
The Knight stared at the sight, exhausted yet relived he had beaten his arch nemesis. "Why Stone? Why?" The Knight queried. "You betrayed my father even though he could've given you so much and locked him up, like a freak in a circus." Cyborg said nothing, just taking exhausted breaths. "Say something!" Cyborg ignored the Knight's demand and continues to breath heavily. "Answer!"
Cyborg sat up, looking away from the son of Brother Blood. "Sure, I'll say something. Will two words do?"
"Two words is enough."
After the Knight answered Cyborg's question, Cyborg grinned and fired off a sonar blast at the Knight, causing him to fly towards a rock.
Cyborg stood up and said, "Boo-Yah."
Cyborg then placed his sonar cannon to the ground and started to charge it up, intending to awaken the ancient tree. "Wakey, wakey, it's time." Cyborg then fired the sonar blast which caused the ground to shake and the tree to extend its size in 55 seconds.
On the surface, we see the tree bursting out of the park ground after a small tremor and releasing its pheromones into the air. The pheromones cleared the air of the orange gas in a matter of seconds, while the citizens slowly but surely snapped out of their fear induced hallucinations.
Meanwhile, Scarecrow was watching the sight from his tower feeling angry. "What?!" Scarecrow groaned. "The Knight failed me." The mad doctor said to himself.
The Knight suddenly heard some radio static, ran to the walkie talkie that rested on his desk and picked it up. "Sebastian, is that you?"
"I'm afraid Sebastian can't come to answer this call right now." Said the voice of Cyborg. The voice of Cyborg made Scarecrow groan and he sat on his office chair.
"Where is Sebastian Blood?"
"As we speak, he is being taken into police custody and probably needs to be taught some sign language."
"What did you do to him?"
"I didn't just awaken the tree with my sonar blast, I might have made him deaf. Sorry about that."
Instead of being disappointed, Scarecrow just smirked and gave a small chuckle. "You think you've won haven't you?" Scarecrow asked. "No. You and your Titans have not defeated me, I will return to Jump City my dear boy and trust me, I won't be as merciful like I was tonight. Consider this your warning." Scarecrow then laughed at the threat he just made.
"And I want to say, thanks."
The sudden thanks from Cyborg made Scarecrow stop laughing and glared at his walkie talkie, confused. "What do you mean thanks?" But the mad doctor did not get a reply, all he got was radio static. "What do you mean thanks?!"
The mad doctor suddenly heard the sound of gas being released in the air. He looked to his right and saw gas from his canisters filled with fear toxin being released. Scarecrow stared at the sight trying to look brave, but was actually quite scared since he thought he was in the room on his own. The mad doctor quickly got out of his seat and quickly turned the knobs on the canisters, to stop anymore toxin from being released.
"I'm glad you answered Cyborg's call." The sudden monotone voice of Raven, made Scarecrow turn from the toxin and look around the room to try and catch a glimpse of Raven. "If you didn't answer than he wouldn't have been able to trace the call and I wouldn't be here right now."
"Do you think you scare me?!" Scarecrow asked. "No, I'm not scared of you! You're just a foolish child, hiding in the dark."
"By the tone of your voice, that isn't the case." Raven pointed out.
Scarecrow heard a whooshing sound, turned to where the sound came from and saw papers on the floor.
"Are you scared Crane?" Raven asked. "Have you ever tested the fear toxin on yourself?" Raven's disembodied voice made Scarecrow frantically look around the room to see where the empath was, but he couldn't catch a glimpse. "Don't you like the taste of your own medicine?" Scarecrow looked up and saw a demonic version of Raven descending down upon him. The sight of the demonic Titan made Scarecrow fall to the floor, terrified of the sight in front of him. "Well doctor, what's your diagnoses?"
Scarecrow screamed in terror, feeling genuine fear towards the Titan and attempted to run away. But Raven grabbed him by the shoulder, making Scarecrow get a good look at her demonic face and making him scream louder in terror. "Happy Halloween, Crane." Said Raven, while grinning at Scarecrow screaming in fear.
Back at the tower, Cyborg was sitting on his worktop looking at a picture of his ten year old self, having a photo with his best friend, Eli Sebastian.
"Friend of yours?"
Cyborg turned around and saw Raven, who appeared to have been standing next to him for some time.
"How's Scarecrow?" Cyborg asked.
"He's going to need a whole lot of therapy." Raven replied as she sat next to the bionic teen.
"You scared him good?"
"Heck yeah." Raven took notice of the boys in the picture, wanting to ask a question but she decided it was best she didn't ask.
"Eli Sebastian." Said Cyborg.
Raven looked at Cyborg and asked, "What?"
"That's my friend's name. He and I were inseparable. Shame it's not the case anymore."
"What happened?"
"I lead him to his death on Halloween. He was chasing me, in a fun kind of way, on a boardwalk. But when we got to the pier, he fell through it and drowned in the water below. I blame myself for his death every day, I wish I could've listen to that cop who tried stop me."
"So, Eli's death is what you saw in all those hallucinations?"
"You got that right." Cyborg confirmed. "And ever since I became a Cyborg, I promised Eli I won't let anybody end up like him. But, I wish that memory would just go away, I don't want to be reminded everyday that my best friend died because of me."
Raven placed a comforting hand on her bionic friend's shoulder, intending to comfort him. "Cy, you shouldn't get rid of that memory. Because mistakes like that are reminders of who you are. Without it, we won't have a motivation to helping people. Think about it Cy, what would things be like if your friend didn't die?"
Cyborg sat on his worktop thinking for a moment until he replied, "Then I wouldn't have been me."
"Exactly Cy, you wouldn't have become the big brother everyone wished they had." Cyborg gave a small smile at Raven's words and placed a gentle hand on her back.
"How about we watch a scary movie, or whatever?" Raven suggested.
"Naw, I think I've had enough of scary movies for one night. I'm going to get some sleep." Said Cyborg.
"You sure you won't be having any nightmares?" Asked Raven.
"I'm a Cyborg, I don't exactly dream." Cyborg replied.
"And what shall we do about Sebastian?" Asked Raven.
"He's probably going to be in the cell for a long time."
In Jump City penitentiary, Sebastian is in his cell, meditating while a robotic hand strokes his hair.
"We will get our revenge someday son, I promise..." and yes, the voice belonged to none other than Brother Blood, still a Cyborg. "...I promise."