Hey ya'll !

Okay, it seems that neither Skychild101 nor myself have enough time on their plate to update this regularly, eh ? But eh, that's just how busy life can be, y'know ! You cannot always do things the way you want – and often far from it – so you're left making the best of a bad job.

Again, sorry.

Does anyone of ya know about Passion Pit ? No ? Yes ? Maybe ? It's an electropop/indietronica/synthpop band from Cambridge… but the American Cambridge, in Massachussets, not the English one ! (Beats me how many European city names the Yankees copied…) It used to be a 6-piece band, now the only official member is the lead singer Michael Angelakos, a guy famous for NEVER taking care of his hair and willingly leaving it tousled ! Well, these guys… hum, THIS guy… or this band if ya prefer, released three pretty cool albums and is likely to release a fourth one this very year, since no less than eight different titles have been uploaded on YouTube, with this reference : #seaoflove. Go give it a listen and tell me whatcha think ! And why not give the three previous albums a listen as well… and also tell me watcha think !

So much for music in early March on FanFiction.

May God bless the sunny AND warm days in February (coldest month of the year), and may he also bless the calm days in the heart of the ski season ! Oh, and the guy who published that recipe book about Nutella desserts : he deserves to live 111 years old !

And yeah, I guess I may as well keep it shut for a bit now… so how 'bout I stop being that chatterbox I apparently cannot help myself from being – waow, pretty complex way to put it, uh ? – and let ya read in peace ?

Ok, so, like they say among the French-speaking : PLACE AU SPECTACLE !

N'JOY !

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(SEVENTEEN) _TRIP TO THE TORTURE_

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Isn't it terrible ?

So awfully terrible indeed.

To stand only a short distance from your goal, which you distinctly see in front of you… and could actually almost touch, if you reached out far enough… and yet, be unable to do it ! Unable to reach that goal you've been longing for, that objective for which you've granted all those efforts… which suddenly come down to nothing, because you cannot get to your goal and transform your will into a victory.

Dream doesn't become a reality. It merely remains a possibility, a hypothesis, given that anything you've done wasn't sufficient to overcome the final obstacle and succeed at long last.

And that's exactly how it looked like for our two superheroes teams, with eight out of ten unconscious and the last two struggling to remain awake, just when they had finally found what they were looking for and could really progress in their quest.

It was terrible for Raven and Cyborg to see that mysterious entrance a few yards away, ready to… hum, "welcome" them in… and yet, being unable to proceed !

Almost there… and that's precisely when most of their forces got taken down !

Some impossible victory despite being so close… nothing more frustrating.

But no. There was no way for Raven to accept defeat. Neither now… nor ever later !

NO ! We haven't come that far to fail right when we are getting closer to our goal. I won't let this happen ! NEVER ! We're here for a reason… and we WILL make it to the end, ALL TOGETHER !

That's why she closed her eyes and recited the words of a different magic formula – "Azarath Uhllom Peritis !" – remaining motionless as her whole body shone white.

Cyborg observed her, wondering what she was doing and what would come out of it.

A minute later, the blazing light vanished away and the sorceress reopened her eyes.

She took seconds to probe her body and smiled, feeling that all her physical strength had returned, to its maximal level.

"What was that for a spell ?" asked the half-machine man.

The cloaked figure turned to him.

"It is an energy spell. Using it enables to recover all of the energy a body normally holds, therefore it puts the lost energy back into the body, which is in top condition again."

"Right. And, uh… do you think you could- "

But he didn't need to add anything, as she raised her hands and, reciting the same formula as before, she also restored his maximal energy level.

"It's really practical to have a friend who can read your thoughts !" he told her.

"I didn't read your thoughts. I was about to use the same spell on you anyway, even without reading your mind… and besides, I had somehow guessed that you would ask me that favour, in order to regain your strength. I guessed it without my powers." she retorted.

He awkwardly smiled, muttering "Seems one really cannot hide anything from you…" and she smirked knowingly.

Raven first enclosed all of her friends in a black shield, then stretched out her arms in their direction and recited the same three words as before.

The numerous bodies were wrapped in a white light for less than a minute, then the glare gradually faded away, and the empath eventually lowered her arms by her side.

Seconds later, more or less at the same time, the various members of the two superheroes teams began moving, rather slowly, as if they found it hard to do so.

They cautiously rose from the ground and looked around, at the black surface surrounding them.

Raven made a motion and the two magical shields, the one she and Cyborg were in and the one the rest of the teams were in, merged to form one huge black dome protecting them from the soporific gas.

"What happened ? I remember feeling woozy, and I'm pretty sure I passed out… but what caused that ?" wondered Robin.

"Some soporific gas was emitted from somewhere." explained the Azarathian. "I didn't try to locate the source, but for all I know, it could come from within that place."

She turned her head as she finished and all followed the same direction.

There, a few yards away from them, was that gigantic entrance that led into what looked like some temple.

"But how come you didn't pass out yourself ?" asked Cathy.

"I saw you start to collapse to the ground, and then felt giddy myself, but I had just enough consciousness and energy left to raise a protective shield around me and Cyborg, who also had remained standing. I then used an energy spell to repower myself and Cyborg, then all of you. How do you all feel ?"

"In top form and ready to kick butt !" yelled Danny.

"Just like him !" added Beast Boy, high-fiving the spike-haired alien buster.

Jinx rolled her eyes with an exaggerated sigh and concluded by a few headshakes giving away her vague disapproval of typical male behaviours.

"You did a great job ! I feel in a way better shape than before ! That spell is incredible !" remarked Chris.

"Thank you, Rae ! We definitely owe you a lot !" said Sam with a grin, always happy to express her gratitude to her best Titan friend.

"No problem. Just doing my job." modestly replied Raven in her deadpan tone, but a brief smile lit up her features.

"That's my girl, always there to save the day ! You're the best, Rae !" exclaimed Jinx with a thumb up.

The addressee of that flattering compliment didn't reply, but her smile grew slightly bigger.

"Alright, how about we get inside that temple or whatever it is, and try to find a way to the headquarters of the bad guy ?" proposed Cy.

"Yes, time we resume our journey. We'll get inside and see what we find. I have an inkling that our enemy isn't that far away from us…" said Boy Wonder, his eyes meeting Sam's.

"Quite my feeling !" agreed the MBC leader. "My sixth sense tells me that we are getting closer to him… noticeably closer !"

They approached the entrance and noticed that there was a light yellow fog all the way, which seemed to hang in the air everywhere around them.

And when they peered inside the stone structure, they noticed that it was also "invaded" by the nefarious gas.

"Maybe that gaseous substance originates from within and came out by that opening…" suggested Chris. "It would seem strange that the gas came from outside and got right into that place instead of merely hanging in the air round here or floating upward. While if it came from inside, it would be logical that it comes out at some point…"

"Pertinent observation, Chris !" admitted Sam. "We will have to get inside and see if the whole place is contaminated. If it is... then we will certainly be forced to progress under that shield".

Her golden eyes met Raven's purple ones, and the sorceress nodded, showing there wouldn't be any problem to keep the shield up as long as necessary.

They entered the "temple" and, as they explored the large room they now were in, they finally found a passageway cunningly hidden behind a pillar, impossible to spot from a distance.

Getting inside, they found themselves in a narrow tunnel.

The walk lasted for a long moment, in complete silence, everyone wondering what was ahead… and ready for any attack !

Or anything else that might occur…

"We should check if the gas is still present !" proposed Sam. "If it isn't, then we can remove the shield."

"I don't know if you have mindreading abilities, Sam, but that's exactly what I was going to say !" remarked the Titan Leader.

"Not that I know…" answered Sam with a smile, which gained her a smile back from her leading alter ego.

Raven made a quick gesture and the dark surface disappeared.

They were all pleased to notice that their environment was now devoid of any hazardous substance, and that they could continue their progression in a normal way, breathing fresh air… well, as fresh as it can be in some underground place.

The long tunnel turned left, and once they were in the new segment…

"Jinkies ! What is this ?!" exclaimed Cathy, goggling.

And that pretty much summed up everybody's mix of surprise and shock.

The walls of the tunnel, black up to now, had a completely different aspect in this new portion : there was a pattern of greenish colour with white moving shapes that resembled plumes of smokes twisting in various directions. And, at irregular intervals, those white shapes suddenly assumed the forms of screaming faces… the kind of faces corresponding to tortured victims !

"Damn ! What the hell is that shit ?!" muttered Danny.

"I do not like this place…" added a visibly anxious Starfire, who now didn't look like her usual, happy self anymore.

Chris closed in to observe the moving pattern, amazed by the slow, almost hypnotic movement of the white shapes… so hypnotic actually that he felt strangely attracted to it… and felt like touching that marvelous thing…

"NO, CHRIS ! DON'T TOUCH IT !"

The boy's fingers stopped less than an inch from the surface of the tunnel and his blue irises turned to meet the golden ones in the wide-opened eyes.

It was visible that Sam was alarmed and pretty worried.

"We… we don't know what this thing is. It's better not to touch it ! One never knows what might happen."

He nodded and put his hand back down. After all, she was right : better safe than sorry, and this places certainly harboured quite a few traps… this tunnel might be one of them.

"I wanna check something…" said Jinx as she took a step forward.

She took out a tiny shiny pebble she had found earlier… and threw it at the tunnel's wall.

The effect was immediate : as soon as the tiny stone had hit the surface, there was what looked like a short circuit, that held the pebble still – as if it was now glued to the tunnel -, and two tentacles emerged from the greenish colour to seize the small stone that had hit the wall, and they drew it into the tunnel, making it vanish from sight !

"Wow ! Impressive ! Better not touch it indeed !" commented Jinx, feeling that she had indeed been right about testing that tunnel.

All closed in to take a closer look. And they saw the pebble, now part of the tunnel, an oval shiny spot in the greenish surface.

"Did… did you see how it was sucked in ?!" asked an almost horrified Cathy.

"Yes we did, and if Chris had put his hand on the wall… he now would be inside of it, like a painting ! Sam was right indeed : better not touch anything, as far as possible. There certainly are many pitfalls in here, and the less we interact with this hostile environment, the safer for us !" analyzed Robin.

"The less we interact with this hostile environment… Waow, not even Sam speaks that complicated !" remarked Danny.

"And neither does Raven !" added Beast Boy.

All turned to stare at the two boys – Sam, Robin and Raven with one eyebrow raised, although it couldn't be seen for the last two of them – and there was an awkward silence. One could almost hear the wind blows past them.

Then the two speakers sweat-dropped, Beast Boy laughed nervously, Danny rubbed the back of his neck… and that was the end of it.

"Riiiiight…" muttered Sam, before uttering the next bit louder again : "We should focus back on our mission and resume our search."

That's exactly what they did… but this time, they were all walking in the exact middle of the tunnel and never strayed away from it. And they threw cautious glances at the wall holding such a fatal trap.

The tunnel turned right again…

… and, once again, eyes widened as they arrived in the new section !

The tunnel wall, pitch black, was pierced by a multitude of tiny light red holes, from which a dark red liquid slowly flowed, in ominous long red trickles which poured in the vast red ocean that had replaced the ground.

And all that red naturally caused discomfort among the two superheroes teams, as if it was the dark herald of some greater threat, waiting for them somewhere in the mastermind's lair.

"Is... is that… blood ?" asked a visibly anxious Cathy.

"Mmmmh… let me check…" asked Cyborg as he put his "computer-arm" before his eyes and quickly pushed a few keys on the small keypad.

They waited, ready to hang onto his every word, but obviously hoping that he would reply it wasn't blood.

"No, it's not. But I don't know what it is. My analyzer cannot define what that stuff is. It's an unknown substance. An alien substance…" He raised his eyes and gave Cathy a small smile before finishing his sentence : "…but definitely not blood !"

"Ziwa !" uttered Cathy with a sigh – which in her language was an expression of relief - and the others also felt better knowing that it wasn't blood that was leaking from the walls.

"But still, we don't know what that liquid is. For all we know, it could be a poison or some corrosive substance. It may not be safe to step into it…" warned Robin, and as he once again eyed Sam, his co-leader, he gained the nod of approval he expected.

"I could create a walkway out of my dark energy." suggested Raven.

Robin was about to adopt that proposal when somebody else made another one.

"Friends, I do have another solution to take all the red liquid away from this place."

And they all watched Starfire's chest swell as she inhaled as much air as she could, and goggled as they saw the unbelievable intensity of the rush of air exhaled, with a force they hadn't suspected !

The result wasn't long in coming : the blood-like substance flooding the tunnel was blown away like it would have been by an extremely powerful gust of wind, and none of it was left on the now visible black ground.

Most of the others felt like jaw-dropping (yet didn't), the only exceptions being Raven and Robin, the ones least impressible, usually collected and stoic.

"How did you… ?" started Danny, but was unable to complete it.

"Aliens rule !" joyfully exclaimed Cathy as she high-fived Starfire.

There were some chuckles at Danny's blank stare, which lightened the mood, and after the frightening sight of the red liquid resembling blood, that was most welcome.

But a distant noise immediately interrupted the fun moment and made them all alert again.

Their heads jerked in the direction of the tunnel's end, where the noise had come from, and they all listened in silence.

Nothing.

A few seconds went by, but there was no more sound.

Just the thickness of silence…

"Did you hear that ?" asked Jinx, her vertical pupils slowly opening, dilating under the effect of her intense focus.

"Wasn't it… a scream ?" wondered Chris.

Sam frowned.

"Not sure it was… but I also had the impression that it was a distant scream… Let's go check !"

They resumed walking, but faster than before, as they were impatient and curious to know the origin of that noise… or that scream, since it seemed to be one !

The large group finally left the dark depths of the tunnel and emerged in an immense room that made them open their eyes and mouth wide, in awe.

The place had only one noticeable element : doors. Or at least high black holes the size of doors. And there were an infinity of them, covering the entirety of all four walls of the huge room, as if it was in fact some kind of tapestry. But all those holes were real, as they could feel fresh airflows blowing different ways and wrapping them in their chilly embrace.

"What a strange place…" muttered Jinx.

"I wonder if all those all those… doors or holes actually lead to various places or if they are just decorative…" remarked Chris.

"Where do we go now ? Which door must we take ?" asked Starfire, to no one in particular.

Robin caught Raven's eye and she instantly knew what he meant. She therefore closed her eyes and focused…

A frown formed on her face.

They all observed her as seconds passed, somewhat unsettled by the duration of her concentration and by that frown. Because Raven usually didn't need that much time to use her powers.

"Raven ?" gently asked Sam, sensing that something was wrong.

The empath reopened her violet eyes, which met the brunette's golden ones.

"I'm sorry… but I can't !" she said in her monotone, not showing any sign of upset.

"You can't ?!" exclaimed Boy Wonder, clearly not used to that situation.

"I can't…" merely repeated the cloaked female, before adding : "And I'm sorry about that."

"But… what's the matter, Rae ?!" asked the Bad Luck charm, bothered by her friend's outstanding failure, her who had the greatest powers of them all and seldom failed.

"I cannot locate the origin of that noise because it's impossible for me to feel anyone around. And I can only think of one valid reason for my magic to be inefficient : some power is blocking mine. Preventing me to use my magical focus. There have never been in the past other causes for my powers not to be working, which actually seldom happened."

"But who is doing that ?" wondered Beast Boy.

The violet stare turned to her green friend.

"That's impossible to know. I tried to find the source of that unknown power, but could not. Only a very powerful being can counter my powers. That hints to the difficulty we'll have to defeat the hidden mastermind of this lair…"

Chris opened the small backpack he had taken with him and pulled out a strange device.

"Cathy, can you lift me up, high enough for me to be in the middle of that room ?" he requested from his alien teammate.

"Alright ! Here we go !" she exclaimed.

And as fast as a flash of lightning, her arms stretched towards Chris, her hands grabbed him and he was brought higher and higher, the alien limbs getting always longer and longer.

The MBC members were kinda jaded by that phenomenon, having seen Cathy do it every now and then, but it was a whole different story with the Teen Titans, who stared in awe at the incredible event, several mouths opening and Beast Boy even uttering an admiring : "Dude !"

Once he was approximately at the spot he wanted, the freckled genius pointed his device straight in front of him and waited.

The loud sound echoed again in the immense room, and this time there was no longer any doubt : it was a scream !

Chris was fully focused, looking at the screen of his device and frowning.

Then he raised his eyes and fixed his gaze on one of the doors opposite.

And then, silence fell back on the teams.

"Man, I can even imagine what that victim is enduring…" muttered Cyborg, who wasn't exactly the easily-impressed type.

"Oh, I also cannot imagine !" agreed a visibly unnerved Starfire.

"I've got it ! I know where it comes from ! Cathy, can you please bring me next to this wall ?" said the MBC tech, pointing right in front of him.

The stretched limbs slowly moved to the side and, after Chris had indicated a certain door, they left him in the dark entryway and regained their normal length, shortening back in no time.

"It's okay, I'll wait for you here !" he told them from his spot, looking down to them.

"But how do we get up there ?" asked Danny. "Do we all have to be lifted by Cath, one by one ?"

The way he asked it clearly indicated that he had a hard time accepting that idea, as it dure would be lengthy a process.

"Nah, I'm sure Rae will find something with her powers or find a spell to take us all up. Isn't it, Rae ?" said Jinx in a conniving tone, a wink concluding it all.

"You know me all too well, Jinki…" replied the Goth in her deadpan tone, but not without a brief smile to her fellow sorceress, who in returned bowed low, earning a few chuckles.

Raven raised her arms and her eyes glowed white.

A few seconds later, both teams were standing on a field of dark energy, which had covered all of the floor, and that black layer now rose slowly, like a large elevator.

They saw Chris's face grow closer and closer above them, as he was watching, mesmerized, and thought to himself that Raven truly had amazing powers that enabled her to do so much.

The dark surface stopped as it came at the entryway's level, where Chris was waiting, and all stepped out of it, before it vanished from sight.

"Thank you, Rae !" said Sam, with a nod and smile to her dark friend.

The empath returned both.

"And thank you Cathy !" completed Starfire. "You have very nice alien powers !"

"Same about you !" admitted the Rhapsodian. "Aliens rule !"

Both high-fived again, while sighs came from Danny and Beast Boy.

Sam quickly cleared her throat to announce it was time to focus on the mission again.

"So how about we find out about -"

But the brunette's sentence was cut short by the same loud distant noise.

"I guess you guys were right : it really sounds like a scream !" confirmed Cy.

"My ears tell me it IS a scream !" insisted Jinx.

"But… but why would someone scream so often ?" naively asked Cathy.

"Trust me, you don't wanna know…" slowly said Raven, and her deadpan tone seemed even darker than usual.

Beast Boy gulped, not feeling as (self-)confident as he generally was.

"Whoever it is, if we can save him, we will !" uttered the MBC leader on a dauntless tone.

"Yes, definitely ! Let's go !" concluded the Titans leader in a no less determined voice.

It was not only very dark, but also very hot. And they also noticed that there were drops falling from countless spots above them as they slowly progressed in the narrow pathway, and that the floor was all wet. All in all, it was anything but a comfortable place to walk through.

They walked slowly, cautiously, almost one after the other because of the narrowness of the passageway, the four alien hunters tightening their grasp on their blasters, Cyborg keeping his sonic cannon ready and Robin his batarangs, the two sorceresses gathering their magic and energy, the two aliens determined to use every bit of their formidable strength and supernatural powers, and the shapeshifter ready to take any animal shape that would be useful to the teams.

But it was getting hotter and hotter, making them sweat terribly. That mission was taking a most unpleasant turn, for sure.

"Holy gosh, are we getting to hell or what ?!" exclaimed Cyborg.

"Damn spot on ! It's becoming unbearable !" complained Beast Boy.

"We're gonna die before we ever get there !" whinged Danny.

Jinx's jaw contracted.

"Will you males stop bitching for a sec' ? Okay, it's more difficult, but we HAVE to make it, and being forced to listen to your whining doesn't help. I prefer to suffer in silence, and I bet everyone else here seconds that. Whoever disagrees can speak up right now !"

And the pink-haired female shut her mouth to allow anyone to express his or her dissent on the matter.

Yet, since no one took the floor, it was easy to deduce that all did prefer to suffer in silence.

"Yeah, thought so…" was the brief comment the daring witch made as a conclusion.

But that's when another scream surged from much closer now, and this time, there was no room for doubt anymore : it was a scream, and not a loud noise sounding similar. And our heroes would certainly have been relieved if they had been able to turn a deaf ear, and thus ignore that terrible scream, but no, that was impossible : their brains had already registered it and the team members felt more worried about what was happening to the owner of that voice expressing so much pain, terrible pain.

"Are they torturing someone or what ?!" half-screamed Beast Boy.

"That's a possibility…" admitted Raven with her usual emotionless composure, making it seem that the screams didn't affect her. "But we'll have to find out by ourselves."

"Who knows what horrible things could be taking place in this lair, without anyone else aware of that horror, and nobody to save the victims…" commented Sam, and both the contents of her sentence and the tone on which she uttered it made the others feel uneasy about it.

The stifling heat was oppressing them mercilessly, their faces now covered with a layer of sweat, falling in droplets on the completely wet floor of that nightmarish narrow path. Every now and then, they had to wipe their foreheads, temples and noses, and breathing had once been way easier…

Another scream, more horrible than all the previous ones, filled the air… and this time, it definitely sounded pretty near from them !

Goosebumps caught most of them by surprise… but all knew there was no turning back now !

"Look, Friends !" Starfire said in an alert voice.

But they had all seen : in front of them was a grate, blocking their progression. And they had inspected the long pathway carefully enough to be sure there were no side ways, so if they meant to pursue their walk… they would be forced to find a way to destroy the obstacle.

They approached the grate, whose bars left enough spaces to peer inside, and…

It was a small, badly lit room, built in large cinder blocks, in the center of which was a rectangular mass of stone covered with several objects that the group couldn't properly distinguish.

At first sight, the room seemed deserted… but the panting on the right side of the room gave away a presence.

Their eyes widened as they spotted a dark green creature, apparently humanoid, held prisoner against a cross-shaped structure – like a gigantic X - set against the wall, all limbs tied to some metal parts at all ends of the cross's arms. And by the look of that creature, it appeared obvious that he or she had had a rough time : the strange being looked exhausted, head hanging limply, face turned towards the floor, breathing laborious, and there also were beige smears all over the body, as well as a beige puddle on the floor, in the middle of the feet.

A moan occasionally rose from his or her throat, the head remaining droopy, as if the creature was too weak to raise it.

"Oh my God !" whispered Jinx, who was after all more sensitive than her cheeky nature would have suggested.

"It looks like a torture room…" commented Cathy.

"We must save him !" ordered Robin, although he had no way to determine the victim's gender, and thus didn't know if it really was a male.

"Leave it to us !" said Sam on her determined tone, before raising her voice for her teammates to hear her : "Guys, switch to the Alien Flashers !"

"All of us ?" asked Chris, not sure whether he had understood it right.

"All." was her reply.

A few seconds later, four high-powered weapons were aiming at the grate.

"On my command… and… shoot !" ordered the black leader.

The four powerful rays simultaneously struck the grate… and the latter immediately got swept away, freeing the space for our heroes to get out of the suffocating place they were so eager to leave and enter the "torture room".

Because the grate, and therefore the passageway they had been following, was locating at the top of the room, therefore a high place, Raven had to use her powers again to get everybody down safely, unhurt.

Once they all gathered on the floor of the new room, they quickly inspected the surroundings, finding only one door as exit/entrance, which was closed.

They started walking towards the creature, whose head was now raised, eyes observing the newcomers while wondering who they were, but all stopped for a moment by the mass of stone covered with previously unidentified objects.

It turned out the latter remained unidentifiable for the teams, since they had never seen such strange things, but their shape, the spikes on several of them, and the fact that they were covered with the same beige substance as the one on the body of the victim, all this made them at least uneasy, if not anxious.

"What are these ?" asked the Tamaranian.

"Hum… to me, they look like torture instruments…" commented the pink-haired witch.

"That's exactly what I was about to say…" observed the Azarathian.

"Same impression for me…" confirmed the female African-American.

"Dude ! In which crazy place did we land ?!" half-shouted the shapeshifter.

"In one in which we must re-establish order and punish the torturers."

They all watched the young acrobat after he had finished speaking.

Yes, he had expressed it very clearly, in an unwavering manner that left no place for hesitation : they had to "clean the place", and they wouldn't fail to do so.

The group turned their attention back to the poor victim upon hearing some violent cough… right on time to see the green creature spit out the same beige liquid that was on his or her body, on the floor – the puddle between the feet – and on the disturbing instruments set on the stone rectangle beside them.

They tacitly approached the mysterious being and observed him/her.

The upper half of the creature was humanoid, while the lower half reminded of an animal, and namely a jerboa, because of similar legs, curved and muscular, and that probably, like the jerboa's, enabled to jump. There were large claws at the tip of the paws.

The hands, also bearing claws at their ends, resembled those of humans, and same could be said about the flat chest, while the head, although globally resembling humans' as well, was different as per the absence of hair, the completely dark eyes – that looked like black diamonds – and the long and relatively narrow nose, which actually looked more like a muzzle than a nose.

To complete the description of that half-familiar half-peculiar anatomy, there was a long tail that for the time being lay limply on the floor.

The body's colour was green, save for a large purple spot in the middle of the torso, basically spreading between chest and abdomen.

The alien blinked slowly, trying to gather strength in order to talk.

It came with some effort : "Wh… Who… are… you ?"

The voice indubitably belonged to some female being, although it was raspy and thus didn't sound as feminine as it probably normally did.

"We are two teams of heroes who came here to rescue our fellow humans." replied the Caped Titan.

"And who are you ?" asked the Green Titan.

"We should free her from her restraints first… we will ask her once she's more comfortable." advised the Demonic Titan.

"I can do it !" said the Mechanical Titan, getting his right arm ready for laser use.

"Oh, I can do it as well ! Please !" immediately pleaded the alien Titan.

"Woopsy !" said the pink-haired Titan. "I… I'm sorry… you wanted to do it, Star ?!"

Her tone was clearly apologetic, and when they turned to her, they saw that her arms were stretched in the direction of the poor tortured creature.

"Yeah, she didn't even wait : she decided for herself and cast her powers at the restraints…" Danny said with a smirk, arms crossed, happy to play the telltale part here and make Jinx uncomfortable.

"Sorry, I didn't know… I couldn't guess…" the Bad Luck Charm defended herself.

"Yeah right…" he insisted, earning a glare from the irritated witch.

"Danny ! Stop !" cut Sam on a sharp tone.

Her daring teammate opened his mouth to reply…

…when a metallic sound behind them made them look that way.

The metal restraints, hit by the pink hexes, had yielded and, once broken, allowed the martyred green body to finally collapse.

But Chris, who was nearby, had the reflexive gesture of stretching both arms in front of him to catch the poor creature.

Forgetting about the recent starting bickering, they all circled around the victim, whom the geek had gently laid on the cold hard floor, and Raven kneeled down by her side to lay her grey hands on the purple spot of the torso.

The empath's eyes shone white for about four minutes, during which nobody uttered a single word, too focused on the healing to actually think of anything to say.

The Azarathian's eyes recovered their usual violet and all anxiously stared at the apparently unconscious creature they had just met.

Seconds passed.

And the green alien finally opened her eyes and slowly turned her black gaze at each of the ten people surrounding her.

"Are you feeling better ?" asked Sam, fully focused on the victim they had just saved.

The mysterious being nodded, as if feeling still too weak to reply.

"What happened to you ?" tried Cyborg, hoping she would reply, this time.

The green female took a deep breath in.

"My name is Orattir. I'm the princess of planet Baryttee. The Dark Lord of Dreams abducted me a few days ago to force me to reveal the secret of my people's power. That is, the origin of our power. They tortured me since then but I can't reveal it. I never will."

There was a brief pause, during which all this sunk into our heroes' brains, and the alien princess – A/N : rivalry for you, Starfire ! ;) – seized the opportunity to add one more thing.

"Thank you all for saving me ! I owe you my life ! Thank you very much !"

She gave a weak smile, and most of her vis-à-vis returned it.

"As for us, we're humans and came here to save some of our fellow humans who cannot dream anymore and, because of this, their life is in jeopardy. The only way to save them is to find the one responsible for that and force him to reveal how we can heal the victims. And we must do that quickly, since the absence of dreams triggers demise on a short time scale…" explained the Titan leader.

Orattir was about to open her mouth to reply when she suddenly got still, her head jerking towards the right side of the room.

Where the door was.

"I heard a noise ! I'm almost sure I heard a noise ! Oh gosh, they're coming back ! They're coming back !"

Her tone was one of frenzy, of panic.

All pricked up their ears, head instantly turning to the door.

It seemed all silent outside.

"We can fight them and kick their asses !" half-screamed the MBC hothead, always ready to pick-up whichever battle would come his way.

"NO ! No, you don't understand ! You're not up to defeating them ! They're too powerful ! Please, let's escape !" pleaded Orattir, looking at Robin, whom she considered the chief since he had been the one giving explanations earlier.

Boy Wonder hesitated and eyed Sam, who glanced back at him.

The green alien princess noticed this and turned her gaze to the MBC leader, assuming she probably also had some important role in the teams.

Sam quickly swallowed her saliva, thinking at lightspeed.

"Probably Orattir is right and they're really powerful…" she whispered "…but I think we might be able to -"

Yet she never got to finish her sentence : the sound of the opening door, although not particularly loud, scared most of them out of their wits !

Too late…..

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Oh Lord ! Over 6'000 words, really ? That much ? O.O

J.C. , what's wrong wz me ? Russian writer syndrome again ?

Hum… guess I'll never know, eh… but after all, as long as YOU guys like what ya find, I could as well pile up 20'000 words ! Writing is such an awesome activity anyway ! :D

Alright, so here it was. Entering the lair, dealing with a dangerous tunnel, saving a tortured alien… and getting ready for the first of their battles in the mastermind's fortress ! Things are taking a more interesting turn, a decisive one, since they finally arrived at the place from which the trouble originates. Yet it'll still be a while before our heroes can face the Dark Lord of Dreams, as Orattir called him…

I hope ya enjoyed this bit here, and I'll let my friend and co-author Ana continue this with something she likes : action/battle scenes. And I'll let her imagine what the enemies will look like (just like I imagined what Orattir looks like).

I'll conclude this with the yearly greeting to my fav' season : SPRING ! I love it the most, coz of flowers everywhere and tender light green leaves growing. And the weather can be so amazingly mild… relatively warm, with a welcome light breeze every now and then… May may be ;) my favourite month, or so I think ! So WELCOME BACK, SPRING !

Alright guys, time to hand over the mike… uh, sorry, the KEYBOARD to my dear Ana ! Go, Sky Child, let yourself go in the upcoming fight scene ! ;P

OH, one last thing : this chapter's title, TRIP TO THE TORTURE (chosen for the 'T' alliteration : TTTTT) refers to the teams' progression in the lair until they reach the torture room, in which they save Orattir.

May you all be happy, healthy, and remain sane as long as one could hope so ! :P

Peace, Love, Ecstasy !

(Dixxy)