A/N: Well…hi? I know it's been yet another while but now it's time for me to write ! But I do hope that everyone had a wonderful belated Thanksgiving (Canadians) and on Thursday (last week), my college just turned 100 ! And of course, I went to the 100th party yesterday, with the fireworks and all ! ^^ Anyways, let's get going !
(Fourteen) Endless Darkness
Chris groaned.
He pushed himself up, rubbing the side of his head and stared blankly, before rubbing his eyes.
Well, this is just odd…
The boy genius looked around him, only to see… nothing but the concrete of the path and the darkness of the unusual sky.
Chris indeed knew where he was and what his current purpose was and he knew about the demise of his teammate…but…
Something felt off.
"Guys ?" he called out. "Danny ? Sam ?"
No answer.
"Robin ?"
He frowned.
He was sure they were together. The last thing he remembered was continuing on with the group after losing Raven from that tentacle-lake monster. And now, suddenly, they were missing. That being said, a big question remained…
Where are they ?
Sighing, the boy started to push himself up but something struck his head, like a wave of pain, and he was forced to sit back down.
He cringed, placing his hand on his head.
Head rush.
That is NEVER fun, and Chris felt dizzy. He let out a few deep breaths before the rush was gone and he was able to move.
When he was up, he stared for a moment at the endless path ahead, before binging up his V-com.
"Come in, Sam."
Static.
"Cathy ?"
Chris sighed : still nothing…
He shut off his device then took out his A-scan. Maybe he would find something…
But alas… no better luck. It was either that or this puzzle piece is rather good at hiding…
Narrowing his eyes, Chris put away the object and began walking ahead. If he wanted answers, he might as well start walking.
:(/\):
Sam sighed, closing the lid of her V-com.
She got nothing but static — no answer, no calls, nothing. It worried her.
Sam had woken up in this strange land, but how she had got there… no clue about that ! All she remembered was experiencing a painful headache…
…and Raven ! She remembered about Raven, what happened to her !
There was a still that acute pain in her heart — the kind that doesn't get away.
Raven, you better be alive when all of this is over. I know for a fact that you're not the type of person to give up.
"…Sam ?" a voice slurred, catching Sam's attention.
The golden-eyed girl whipped her head to the side and stared at the spot where the voice came from.
She furrowed her eyebrows.
"Cathy ? Is that you ?"
A groan came by way of confirmation.
"Jinkies…what happened ? I feel like I got run over by a bus !"
"Trust me: I'm pretty sure we all feel that way…" the brunette paused to take a look around them and thus realize they were alone. "Hum… wherever the rest of them are."
Cathy raised an eyebrow and looked around as well, to find nothing more than the dark sky and an endless path.
"You know… I remember being together, Raven's end, and then…nothing !" Cathy replied, scratching her head. Her thoughts were confused as she tried to recall what happened.
Sam shrugged.
"Well, Cathy, I feel the same : lost and out of place."
She then narrowed her eyes, staring ahead.
"And if we want answers, something tells me we gotta start walking."
Cathy reluctantly glanced at the unwelcoming path.
"But…but, it's so gloomy…so…so…isolated…"
The leader of the MBC gave a knowing look.
"And when have that ever stopped us, before?"
She got up and started walking, briefly interrupting her movement to look at Cathy : "Come on !"
The Rhapsodian groaned, getting up.
"For the sake of our teams, I hope you're right Sam…" she muttered under her breath.
:(/\):
"Okay, I'm lost." Jinx muttered.
"You mean : we're lost." Beast Boy pointed out, frowning.
Sometimes, he got the feeling that Jinx disliked him…
Beeps suddenly rang out, which caught both Titans' attention.
"You're telling me ! I can't find anything about this place. Zilch. My scanner isn't picking up anything. No traces of other species. No-thing." Cyborg announced as he clicked away on his scanner.
"Now what?" the changeling quizzed.
Jinx, who usually wasn't afraid of anything and showed determination in everything, for once didn't feel so reassured, and she therefore gave an apprehensive look ahead.
As though Cyborg had read her mind, he piped her to the post and decided that they should go there… no matter how disquieting it looked.
"Guess we start walking…" the half-machine answered the changeling.
The latter gave an irritated look.
"Dude, come on ! I'm being serious here !"
"And he is being serious too. You're just too thick-headed to notice it." Jinx stated, smirking as she crossed her arms, her worry temporarily forgotten as she upset her favourite "target".
Said "target" scowled… but decided not to reply, since he always lost against Jinx, when arguing with her.
"Alright guys," Cyborg said as he got between the two. "We're not going to get any answers if we continue to fight. So why don't we, for the sake of the teams, put our differences aside and actually work as a small team to find the answers ?"
Jinx and Beast Boy stared at the half-robot before reluctantly nodded their heads.
"Fine. But only for the teams and to get the heck out of here !," Jinx muttered.
"Agreed," the changeling accepted.
:(/\):
"Have you found anything yet ?" an annoyed Danny asked.
"If I had, I would tell you. But since I haven't…no." Robin stated, firmly. He, too, was aggravated with Danny as the latter kept on asking the same question.
The red MBC member let out an irritated groan, but then paused to reflect about Robin, as he studied him.
Every time he looked at him, the Teen Titans leader would always look so serious. Sure, every once in a while, he would slip up an emotion, but would always return to the same serious look.
And Danny wondered why.
"By the way," Danny started again. "I'm just curious… How come you're always so serious ? Sure, you do show some emotion once a while, but it's always the same strict expression. Why ?" he asked, curiously.
Robin stopped what he was doing, letting his arms drop to his side, his cape now covering him fully again.
The boy wonder slightly narrowed his eyes as he studied his carefree companion.
He then crossed his arms over his chest.
"I can ask you the same question except in reverse mode : how are you so carefree all the time ?"
Danny blinked, his eyes widening a little, and he opened and closed his mouth several of times, unsure exactly how to answer the question he had been asked.
"To be honest… I actually don't know." Danny answered, rubbing the back of his neck. "I guess I don't let things bother me. Sometimes, I can be serious but…" he shrugged. "I just let them go. Let my emotions go."
Robin was left in thought, pondering on Danny's choice of words.
But the Teen Titans leader then remembered about Danny's previous question and decided he should answer it, just like Danny had answered his own question.
"I guess I was raised this way. I have been repeatedly told that emotions were always a hassle… always getting in the way, and that showing them might lead you to let your guard down. So I just bury my emotions down…"
The red MBC member stared at the young acrobat for a brief moment before speaking again, but more gently this time : "You know…sometimes it's okay to let everything go."
:(/\):
"Sam…" Cathy called out, but there was no answer. "Sam !" she shouted.
This seemed to bring Sam back from the realm of thoughts.
"What ?" the leader asked.
"Can we stop ? I'm kind of tired. We need to rest or otherwise we will lose our energy and won't be able to fight enemies… hum, if they ever appear."
Sam studied her friend. Cathy's eyes clearly showed that she was tired and her body posture was slumped.
The MBC leader sighed. She didn't want to stop. Every second they wasted, their teammates could be in danger.
Yet again, the blonde was right and maybe Sam could try communicating with them again.
"Alright," Sam announced. "But not for too long."
Cathy nodded and gladly plopped herself on the ground, all sprawled out.
The brunette joined her and took out her V-com.
"Sam to MBC ! Come in, MBC." Sam said.
No answer.
"Sam to Teen Titans !," she tried again. "Anyone ?"
She gave up and closed the lid. Once again, it proved to be futile.
The yellow fighter wondered if they were ever going to find their friends.
During their walk, she had started to develop theories of where they could possibly be.
One of them was that all of them were actually here but scattered into different paths. It didn't seemed possible for the teams to be thrown in another dimension… so they most certainly were still in one and the same dimension, but in different places of it.
Nevertheless, this was a hostile planet… anything could happen !
After a few minutes passed, Cathy got up and stretched, and she looked like she was full of energy again… in only a few minutes !
"Okay, I'm ready !" Cathy announced, getting up. "Shall we continue our endless search ?"
Sam smirked.
"Of course."
It wasn't until thenthat the Rhapsodian suddenly heard a noise and swiftly turned around, glancing with disquiet at the cold darkness.
Nothing was there.
Maybe she was just hallucinating ?
Uneasiness quickly filled her and, thinking that she didn't want to stay here, Cathy began to pick up the pace. However, the more they walked, the more the strange noise kept on growing and growing.
For a brief moment, Cathy felt something was touching her shoulders and with a shriek, she turned around, lifting the one hand that held the blaster.
Her heart rate had briskly increased.
When she turned back to the front, she met with Sam's gaze, eyes wide, filled with confusion.
"Cathy ? What's wrong ?" the leader asked, concerned.
"I felt something touching me ! I don't know what it was, but…" Cathy nervously answered.
The two remained motionless for a brief minute… but then, all of a sudden, that same noise came again !
"Who…who's there ?" Cathy whimpered.
After scrutinizing their surroundings for a few minutes, the two friends finally resumed walking, but not without continuously turning their heads this way and that way, trying to spot anything unusual.
And then, without a warning, the noise reappeared…
…and a shadow loomed over Cathy, who swiftly turned around, only to give an ear-piercing scream !
"CATHY !" Sam shouted.
:(/\):
"Friends ? Hello? Are you there ?" Starfire called out.
She had floated around aimlessly only to come up with no result. Needless to say, the alien felt lost and even scared… and she almost never was !
But this time, it was for real though. The infinite darkness and the endless path honestly frightened her. Maybe it wouldn't be too bad if she was with her friends… but being alone in this evil blackness was pretty… scary.
And also, that obscurity didn't bond well with her powers, since those were based on emotions : the happy she felt, the stronger she was. And so, if she didn't feel happy, like in the present moment… then, she was weak !
She felt lost, confused, afraid and overwhelmed, because she couldn't communicate via her device, as static was all she got each time she tried.
The only way she had found to comfort herself was wrapping her arms around her.
Scared, Starfire fell down on her knees, slumped with defeat and so tired…
But she got up nonetheless and forced herself to walk further.
As the Tamaranean princess continued, she shivered : she had the impression that something was lurking in the shadows. It unnerved the inhuman being and she occasionally glanced back… but found nothing.
What could that be, she didn't know.
They don't like you…
A sudden whisper, that made Starfire stop dead in her tracks.
She pricked up her ears.
They only pretend… they do it out of sympathy !
They talk about you behind your back…
They were never really your friends…
The nasty shadow seemed to be mocking the frightened fighter, who now could do nothing else but stare at the ground : she had suddenly lost her ability to move !
"That's not true…" Starfire whispered.
It seemed to her that the mysterious being hidden in the shadows laughed.
Oh, but it is. You have fooled yourself, thinking you could befriend them. Thinking they could trust you. But they're monsters…
"N…no." Starfire replied, gasping as she fell to her knees. She covered her ears with her hands as an attempt to block out the horrid voices.
Why do you still bother to try ? We both know that it is the truth.
But you don't have to face this on your own…
We're here for you.
Join us…
And during a long minute, shadows slowly wrapped around Starfire…
…and her once green eyes turned black as the night !
A/N: Whoo ! We (possibly) might see an evil Starfire ! Tadaaaaa ! And so, more mishaps took place during the teams' journey… What happens next ? I don't know but what I DO know is that it's now Dixxy's turn. So take it away, my good man ! Your keyboard is at your hands.
Skychild101
