Chapter 8: The Boogeyman
"Ok, let me see if have this straight…" Cyborg said. "You had a dream about a normal man who just walked into the tower, killed us all in less then a minute, without us being able to put hardly a scratch on him?"
"Yes." Raven said, irritated. She hadn't wanted to tell her teammates. She had expected this. But she had done it anyway. For a moment, she wished Noel were here, and then wondered why she wished that.
"Did this man have super speed? Was he resistant to damage?" Beast Boy was asking.
"No…he just…knew what he was doing…Robin's staff…it hurt him…but he just seemed to…HANDLE the pain…better then…someone normally would…"
"And this man killed us all in less then a minute, and this is actually something that is going to happen?" Cyborg said.
"Yes."
Beast Boy and Cyborg looked at each other, and then they started to laugh their heads off. Raven sighed in exasperation.
"Look guys…"
"Raven, if you are suffering from bad nightmares, my Tamaran Tyhot Sooth Salve could…" Starfire offered.
"IT WAS NOT A NIGHTMARE! FINE! If you idiots want to die, FINE! SEE IF I CARE!" Raven snapped, and she got up in a huff and started to leave.
"Look Raven…guys, shut up. Don't forget the talents Raven possesses. She might have something here…" Robin said.
"But Robin, sheesh, one guy? How could…I mean…I mean, his whole opening was that he shot Gar in the back, and then he used our shock against us. But if we know he's coming…" Cyborg said.
"It does sound rather unlikely, Robin." Starfire said.
"Well, what did you say about him Raven?"
"I can sense emotions guys. But this man…there was NOTHING. No anger, no joy, no fear, NOTHING. There wasn't even any determination or concentration. It was just…a blank! A complete blank slate! Nothing at all! You have no idea what it's like to look into a human mind, an organ so controlled by those things, and find NOTHING."
"Like a sociopath?"
"No, a sociopath just lacks a conscience. He or she can still do things and feel stuff about them. But this…Killjoy…nothing. Nothing at all. When I say blank, I mean BLANK." Raven said.
"Is that possible Robin?" Starfire asked.
"Well I…the human mind is immensely complex Starfire. One of the downsides of that is that it can screw up in so many ways. But a man without any type of emotion? Geez, what are the odds of a brain deformity like that that also allows a human to function at such a peak level…" Robin asked. "Tell you what, I'll ask Batman. If this Killjoy exists, he surely knows. But as far as I know, he's just a modern fairy tale, something told to scare people."
"Maybe you saw something on a TV show Raven?" Beast Boy asked.
"For the last time, IT WAS NOT A DREAM. That's it, I've had it." Raven said, and vanished in the shadows around her feet.
"Guys you shouldn't make fun. If she actually thinks this is more then a dream, we should give her the benefit of the doubt." Robin said.
"Well, normally I would Tim, if this was a metahuman or something, but…a normal man? I mean, really…what could…oh yeah." Cyborg said as Robin glared at him.
"I'm giving an order guys. Stay on alert, and if you want to leave the tower, try to stay in a group. Just in case."
"Ohhhhh, ohhhh! Should we not get naked too? Oh god, Robin, hope you weren't planning anything with Star because hanky panky will get you killed…too…" Beast Boy trailed off as Robin glared fiercely at him.
"If you want me I'll be on the computer. Victor, put the security systems on too. And BE CAREFUL." Robin said, and left.
"Man, he's getting as good as his mentor at those looks." Beast Boy said, having turned into a mouse.
"I think I will perform the Gynmai Pfekuy Ritual of Hightening…just to be sure…" Starfire said, and left.
"Man, Raven's got everyone on edge with that damn dream of hers. Maybe we should go get some stuff now, Gar, before she gets in Robin's ear some more and we aren't allowed to leave the tower at all." Cyborg said.
"Agreed." Beast Boy said.
Some time later, Starfire had finished the ritual, but she didn't feel any better. She'd tried talking to Raven, but Raven had still been angry at her disbelief and had asked her to leave. Then she had thought about going up to the JLA Tower to see Noel, but the only way to get up there quickly was Raven's teleportation, and that was out of the question. Feeling nervous and apprehensive, she decided to go speak to Robin. Maybe he would know what to say (and maybe she could kiss him again…?)
Robin was back at his e-mails in his room. He'd sent a message to Batman and was waiting for a reply, and getting rid of all the junk was as good a time-waster as any.
"Ok, what's next…"Dear Robyn…what are some cool ways to spell different words? For example, fat=phat. Signed, Matt." Oh, you mean like Robin=Robyn? You seem to like that one. How about this one: Matt=DELETED!" Robin yelled. "Ok now what…"Hi Robin! I be she your girlfriend!"……..oh boy, you know, I'm actually going to answer this one! 'Hi girlie, I be he your boyfriend!'" Robin said as he typed that. He was about to follow up with a blistering line about grammar when the phone rang. "Damn, guess this will have to wait…"
Robin got up and headed out of the room towards the phone.
A few seconds later, Starfire walked in.
"Robin? Are you in here? Have you…" Starfire said as she walked over and saw Robin's computer. "Oh, this TV has words on it!" she said, and sat down, looking at the screen. "Hi Robin, I be she your girlfriend! WHAT? Hi girlie, I be he your boyfriend WHAT? Oh no you don't!" Starfire said, and began to type. "Actually, blow it out your ear, SKANK! Your friend, Robin." Starfire said, smiling contently. She sent the reply and the computer automatically called up the next one.
"Oh, another one! "Dear Robin, is Batman screwing you? I know he is!" Oh even I know what to do with this one! BALEETED! Huh, it didn't go away? Is that not it? Well then, uh… DELTEATED! Uh no…Del Taco?"
"Look I really don't care about adding to my subscription to the Daily Star…" Robin was saying on the phone, trying to politely get rid of the woman on the other end. Meanwhile, Starfire typed word after word into Robin's computer as she tried to remember the exact word.
"Meathead? No…deedleated? Freaky D'td? Diddly dee? Dltd? Duh lee ted? Repeated? D333l3d? 3-D movie? Del monte? Dddddddd? Diggity? Beefeated? 3Dtled? Belititet? Seabed? Receded? What is that STUPID WORD…" Starfire said, and accidentally typed in "stupid word" and entered it.
BUZZ! Went the computer, and the e-mail program went away to be replaced with a blue screen with words on it.
FLAGRANT SYSTEM ERROR. I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU DID, MORON, BUT YOU SURE SCREWED EVERYTHING UP.
"Uh oh. This does not look good for me." Starfire said, sweatdropping.
"Look, I have to go! Yes thank you!" Robin was saying. Starfire's eyes went wide, and she looked around frantically before spying a piece of paper and a pen.
"Ok ok, finally done. Now back to the e-mails." Robin said as he walked back into his room. Starfire was gone.
"Ok…hey, what's this. "Everything is fine. Nothing is ruined." Oh well that's good to…HEY WAIT A MINUTE!" Robin said when he realized the message was written on a piece of paper taped to his computer monitor. He tore it off to reveal the blue screen.
"Flagrant system error? What happened to my e-mails! What the heck…!" Robin yelled.
Whistling, Starfire walked away. Maybe she would wait a while to talk to Robin.
Fortunately, Batman didn't contact Robin on his personal computer. He contacted him on the Titan's main computer. Cyborg and Beast Boy were off somewhere (Robin didn't like that, but what could he do, chain them in their rooms?), Raven was mediating and Starfire was…somewhere, he wasn't sure. In any case, he felt free to talk to his mentor. Who looked stern and cross as per usual.
"I have some data about Noel for you."
"What? How?"
"Just checking. Noel claims to be from New York, right?"
"Yes."
"I had to do some digging, but I found something. There was an accident that happened in a part of the city. A truck driver for the Pretty Place Paint Corp crashed his truck at an intersection. He was drunk, the crash was pretty bad, made a giant mess. What the public doesn't know is that another truck crashed into THAT truck. Which would make sense, since officially, that truck didn't exist."
"What?"
"It contained an experimental nerve toxin called SXZ-12. The data I was able to gather from it is that it was designed as both a lethal weapon and a demoralizer. The toxin caused uncontrollable mutations in whoever was exposed to it, causing madness among many other unpleasant things. The government wanted to test some, but they didn't want to fly it by plane. If terrorists somehow got on that plane, it would be horrendous. So they decided to put it in a truck and drive it to the lab."
"Through New York."
"Which couldn't be told. After 9/11, who could blame them? But that truck crashed into the paint truck. Fortunately, the toxin evaporates quickly, otherwise it would have been such a disaster we would have heard of it. The government had backup safeguards in place, and they quickly swooped in and got ahold of all the ones affected by the toxin Fortunately they had an antidote, or I would be putting them on my list." Batman said grimly. "They assumingly paid them off to shut them up as well. But I think they may have missed a couple people."
"Noel."
"Noel claimed to be getting off a subway when the paint truck crashed. If he were telling the truth, he would have been right in the splatter pattern of how the truck's tank ruptured. He would have been completely coated in the paint. Then the toxin got sprayed on him…"
"And something in the paint caused a beneficial mutation instead of a harmful one. What are the odds of that?"
"According to my calculations, 6,086,426 to 1."
"Always were a bit too detailed there Bruce."
"Don't use my name." Batman said crossly.
"Oh come on…Batman. My friends can be trusted, and even if they couldn't, none of them are here!"
"Look again."
Robin turned around to see Raven standing there.
"Er…did you hear anything?"
"Something about how we can be trusted." Raven said. Robin turned back to Batman and grinned sheepishly. He continued to glare.
"Ask him."
"Oh yes Batman. I…"
"You sent me a message enquiring that your ally Raven there may have had a precognitive dream in which a hitman known as Killjoy caused your deaths. You have heard of this Killjoy, but you assumed him to be an urban myth. You wanted to know if I knew differently." Batman said.
"Yes."
"Robin, as far as I can tell, you were correct. Killjoy is, as far as my records, and Oracle's show, just an urban legend."
"Are you SURE? What about the Senator Azzarello incident…?"
"That happened, yes, but…"
"What Senator Azzarello incident?" Raven asked.
"Several years ago a prominent senator was murdered. It was his daughter's birthday, and the killer seemingly just walked in and shot everyone with a heavy machine gun. Whoever this was then shot everyone in the head to make sure they were dead. There wee no survivors. The attack was attributed to the figure known as Killjoy."
"So then…"
"Reports and facts often differ greatly, Raven. There was no Killjoy. Three drug-addled gangsters who needed the money for their addictions did the attack. Bullets found at the scene had their fingerprints on them, and the three had no alibi. One of them was named Hellroy. But some details leaked, they got garbled, and out of that came "Killjoy". And from there every unsolved homicide for several years has been blamed on this mystical assassin Killjoy. But we have never found any hard evidence of his existence. Even myself."
"Raven says the man she saw in the dream felt no emotions at all. Nothing."
"Perhaps the dream meant you will be attacked by a robot then. Dreams are confusing things."
"No matter who you are, don't you dare patronize me!" Raven snapped, and then she was gone back into the shadows.
"Charming girl. That's what I say, Tim. There is no Killjoy. But you may still be in danger. Be alert."
"Thank you Br…Batman."
"Oh yes. One more thing. Tim, your new friend Noel…I believe he is the son of Maxwell Collins."
Robin's eyes arched.
"THE Maxwell Collins?"
"Yes. That may be important later Tim. Just so you know." Batman said, and then the screen turned off.
Evening was coming on when the Titans met in the lounge.
"So it was all just a dream." Cyborg said. Raven didn't look up from her book.
"Could still mean something. Stay alert guys." Robin said.
"What movie did you get Gar?" Starfire asked.
"A true horror film, as in one that is good scary, rather then bad scary, Halloween!" Beast Boy said. "And since a thunderstorm is brewing, it's the perfect atmosphere!"
"I'll pass." Raven said.
"This won't be like the dog eating one, will it Robin?" Starfire asked.
"No no Star, but if you get scared I'll be right here…"
"Man, this is a weird storm. Where's the rain?" Cyborg said as he looked out the window. "Just some lightning and a little thunder."
"Who can tell…" Beast Boy said, engrossed in the tale of Micheal Myers.
A "jump" moment happened, though the only one who jumped was Starfire, right back into Robin's arms.
"Why won't he die? Can't he feel pain?" Starfire asked. Robin just kept an arm around her shoulder and didn't answer.
The film ended shortly, and no sooner was the final line "It WAS the boogeyman" uttered then Cyborg turned the VCR off.
"Nothing else! Scoot over Robin, it's time for me to kick Gar's butt again." Cyborg said.
"…the head of CollinsCorp was…" the TV said before Cyborg turned the gamestation on.
"You know, maybe it won't matter if someone comes to kill us or not. Those games have killed both of your brains already." Raven said curtly as she go up.
"Ok, THAT'S IT." Cyborg said as he muted the TV. "I've had enough of your insults just because we don't believe in your little dream."
"Victor, if it was just a dream, I would have kept my mouth shut. But it WAS NOT. I tried, as your teammate, and as I believed, your friend, to warn you of danger, and all I have received is mockery. This angers me, and I will not sit here and not let you know it!"
"You heard Robin's boss, Raven! There is no evidence of Killjoy!" Beast Boy said.
"Just because there is no proof doesn't mean there isn't something there." Raven replied.
"Ok, enough! I've had it! I don't care what that poetry-spewing, the world is pointless, let's cut our wrists goth stuff has done to your brain, but I know one thing: this guy had gone from being a man to something that hides in the closet of a child. Time for you to realize, Raven, THE BOOGEYMAN DOESN'T EXIST."
And with that came a giant flash of lightning, followed almost immediately by a booming crack of thunder.
And then the lights went out. Darkness closed over the Titans' lounge.
For a moment there was silence, and then Raven spoke from the shadows.
"He's HEEEEEERRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEE."