[Wow, thanks for the reviews on part 9 – I thought id lost the train of
thought when I sat back down to the keyboard after so long ^^ Anywho, onto
part 10! Hopefully this will conclude reasonably quickly – I already have
plans for the sequel that I really wanna get started on :P]
"Get ready Titans, here it comes..." whispered Robin, as the shape broke through the mist. The Titans readied themselves, Cyborg activating his Ion Cannon and Beastboy morphing into a lion. Starfire rose higher into the cold air, charging up her starbolts.
The black shape burst through the fog. It plopped to the ground. It was about the size of a small cat, although in reality it looked more like a strange cross between a furry toad and a chicken. It croaked uncertainly.
The Titans were immediately washed with a sense of confusion. They started to laugh about the event immediately. All except Starfire that is, who screamed.
"We must run!" she wailed, "This is a foe we cannot defeat!"
The other Titans looked at her in a puzzled way. Then Cyborg grinned.
"Ooooh, Star's afraid of the big nasty bird-frog" he brayed, going closer to the strange beast. "Yeah Star," agreed Beastboy, "It's so small... and so cute! How could it possibly be danger-"he was cut off by a yelp of surprise from Cyborg.
"H-hey!" he shouted, "It's got my arm!"
Sure enough, the creature had taken a big bite into Cyborg's right arm and even now was starting to grow and swell. The large pink eyes on its head suddenly split into two sets, which glowed deep red. The assembled emotions gasped.
"It's a Nightmare!" cried Timid.
"Whose Nightmare is it though?" asked Reason.
Starfire slowly raised her hand. "It's a Glorbian Blortax" she ventured, as Cyborg struggled with the beast, which was growing ever larger by the second. They trick things into coming close, and then eat them. They eat anything. They even eat my home made Glorg..."
Robin and Beastboy recoiled. They knew all about Starfire's home-made Glorg...
"Um... a little help here? IM ABOUT TO BECOME GLORG!" shouted Cyborg, struggling with the creature, which was now about twice the size of the android and still growing. The others snapped their attention back to him.
"Titans, go!" shouted Robin.
Bounding towards the Blortax, Beastboy roared as he leapt into the air, his teeth bared. No sooner had he latched onto the creature than a long black tentacle oozed out of the skin of the beast and threw Beastboy to the floor heavily. Returning to his human shape, he said "How weird is this thing?" Robin ran to the side of the creature, dodging its now many tentacles, and threw exploding disks at the creature, though it didn't affect it in the slightest. Starfire was rooted to the spot in terror. As both Robin and Beastboy tried in vain to stop the now monstrous creature, Reason had an idea.
"I think I know what's wrong!" she yelled to the Titans. Then she hit Starfire very hard on the back of the head.
Raven and Valour walked side by side through the nightmare world. The air seemed to be condensing into very fine rain, and every so often a far off screech or howl could be heard drifting through the mist. Valour turned to Raven.
"The Nightmares have sensed the presence of you and your friends." He said. "Do not worry – as long as I am here, they will not attack you. All I can hope is that one of the others will find them first..."
Raven looked at the emotion thoughtfully. "What are the others? What emotions are left?"
Valour considered this for a moment, then said, "To be honest, even I haven't seen some of them. To my knowledge, the emotions left are me, Retribution, Fear, Mischievousness and Curiosity. To be honest, I don't know if Trigon has managed to find any of them either. Only Rook himself knows that."
They continued walking in silence. Suddenly, a huge tremor threw Raven to her knees.
"We are close." said the emotion.
Starfire opened her eyes slowly, and looked up into the faces of her friends and the assorted collection of Ravens.
"What happened?" she groaned slowly.
"Reason knocked you out" said Robin, holding out his hand to help her up. "When she did, the Blortax disappeared."
"That is correct." confirmed the emotion. "The Nightmare was using your thoughts to create the image of the beast. When I knocked you out, it could no longer draw upon that image and so it vanished. Nightmares are fast learners though, and no doubt it will not be so easy next time."
"So... what exactly are Nightmares?" asked Robin.
The assembled Ravens shuffled uneasily. Eventually, Timid was the one who spoke up.
"They are kind of like guardians..." she ventured. "Like when someone comes into a mind, it's the Nightmares who stop them from getting any further. They don't know good from evil, they just exist to get external presences out from our minds. And to do that, they look into your mind and copy your deepest, darkest fears..."
Another screech sounded in the distance.
"We'd better go." said Robin, taking charge as he always did in these situations. "Which way is it to Raven?"
The emotions pointed. In different directions.
"We're gonna be here a loooong time..." sighed Cyborg.
The tremors were getting more and more violent. Both Valour and Raven were floating to save time.
"What is causing these tremors?" asked the psychic.
"It is Rook," explained Valour, "He is fighting Trigon as we speak. But he knows he can't beat him with direct force, he would need to unite with his emotions to do that. He is trying to reshape his mind too quickly for Trigon to keep up with."
"But that could be dangerous!" Raven exclaimed. "You know what might happen if he reshapes his mind too quickly. All of his emotions could-"
She paused.
"Exactly. He has nothing to lose..."
They pair headed deeper into the mist, following the ripples in the shaking ground, passing now floating trees and rocks.
The Titans wandered through the mist, with absolutely no idea where they were going. In the end, they had to follow the directions of Jealousy, mainly because she was pointing away from where the screeching was coming from. Now the screeching seemed to be coming from every direction.
"By the sound of it, we're surrounded." said Beastboy, changing back to human form from hare form. "There's no way out. We're doomed! DOOMED!"
"Calm down." said Robin. "As long as we have the Ravens with us, there shouldn't be much problem. They don't seem to attract the Nightmares."
"Um..." said Cyborg uncertainly, "weren't there nine of them before?"
The Titans looked around and counted.
"Where is the red-cloaked Raven?" asked Starfire. "I am sure she was around a while ago..."
"Oh no..."
"Anger must have escaped while we were fighting the Nightmare." said Bravery.
The screeching grew louder.
"That's the least of our troubles." said Robin. "More Nightmares!"
The Titans and emotions formed a protective circle, and awaited the arrival of the Nightmares.
Deep in the mist, Anger ran. She had to find Trigon... then she would get her revenge on all the others... everyone...
"Get ready Titans, here it comes..." whispered Robin, as the shape broke through the mist. The Titans readied themselves, Cyborg activating his Ion Cannon and Beastboy morphing into a lion. Starfire rose higher into the cold air, charging up her starbolts.
The black shape burst through the fog. It plopped to the ground. It was about the size of a small cat, although in reality it looked more like a strange cross between a furry toad and a chicken. It croaked uncertainly.
The Titans were immediately washed with a sense of confusion. They started to laugh about the event immediately. All except Starfire that is, who screamed.
"We must run!" she wailed, "This is a foe we cannot defeat!"
The other Titans looked at her in a puzzled way. Then Cyborg grinned.
"Ooooh, Star's afraid of the big nasty bird-frog" he brayed, going closer to the strange beast. "Yeah Star," agreed Beastboy, "It's so small... and so cute! How could it possibly be danger-"he was cut off by a yelp of surprise from Cyborg.
"H-hey!" he shouted, "It's got my arm!"
Sure enough, the creature had taken a big bite into Cyborg's right arm and even now was starting to grow and swell. The large pink eyes on its head suddenly split into two sets, which glowed deep red. The assembled emotions gasped.
"It's a Nightmare!" cried Timid.
"Whose Nightmare is it though?" asked Reason.
Starfire slowly raised her hand. "It's a Glorbian Blortax" she ventured, as Cyborg struggled with the beast, which was growing ever larger by the second. They trick things into coming close, and then eat them. They eat anything. They even eat my home made Glorg..."
Robin and Beastboy recoiled. They knew all about Starfire's home-made Glorg...
"Um... a little help here? IM ABOUT TO BECOME GLORG!" shouted Cyborg, struggling with the creature, which was now about twice the size of the android and still growing. The others snapped their attention back to him.
"Titans, go!" shouted Robin.
Bounding towards the Blortax, Beastboy roared as he leapt into the air, his teeth bared. No sooner had he latched onto the creature than a long black tentacle oozed out of the skin of the beast and threw Beastboy to the floor heavily. Returning to his human shape, he said "How weird is this thing?" Robin ran to the side of the creature, dodging its now many tentacles, and threw exploding disks at the creature, though it didn't affect it in the slightest. Starfire was rooted to the spot in terror. As both Robin and Beastboy tried in vain to stop the now monstrous creature, Reason had an idea.
"I think I know what's wrong!" she yelled to the Titans. Then she hit Starfire very hard on the back of the head.
Raven and Valour walked side by side through the nightmare world. The air seemed to be condensing into very fine rain, and every so often a far off screech or howl could be heard drifting through the mist. Valour turned to Raven.
"The Nightmares have sensed the presence of you and your friends." He said. "Do not worry – as long as I am here, they will not attack you. All I can hope is that one of the others will find them first..."
Raven looked at the emotion thoughtfully. "What are the others? What emotions are left?"
Valour considered this for a moment, then said, "To be honest, even I haven't seen some of them. To my knowledge, the emotions left are me, Retribution, Fear, Mischievousness and Curiosity. To be honest, I don't know if Trigon has managed to find any of them either. Only Rook himself knows that."
They continued walking in silence. Suddenly, a huge tremor threw Raven to her knees.
"We are close." said the emotion.
Starfire opened her eyes slowly, and looked up into the faces of her friends and the assorted collection of Ravens.
"What happened?" she groaned slowly.
"Reason knocked you out" said Robin, holding out his hand to help her up. "When she did, the Blortax disappeared."
"That is correct." confirmed the emotion. "The Nightmare was using your thoughts to create the image of the beast. When I knocked you out, it could no longer draw upon that image and so it vanished. Nightmares are fast learners though, and no doubt it will not be so easy next time."
"So... what exactly are Nightmares?" asked Robin.
The assembled Ravens shuffled uneasily. Eventually, Timid was the one who spoke up.
"They are kind of like guardians..." she ventured. "Like when someone comes into a mind, it's the Nightmares who stop them from getting any further. They don't know good from evil, they just exist to get external presences out from our minds. And to do that, they look into your mind and copy your deepest, darkest fears..."
Another screech sounded in the distance.
"We'd better go." said Robin, taking charge as he always did in these situations. "Which way is it to Raven?"
The emotions pointed. In different directions.
"We're gonna be here a loooong time..." sighed Cyborg.
The tremors were getting more and more violent. Both Valour and Raven were floating to save time.
"What is causing these tremors?" asked the psychic.
"It is Rook," explained Valour, "He is fighting Trigon as we speak. But he knows he can't beat him with direct force, he would need to unite with his emotions to do that. He is trying to reshape his mind too quickly for Trigon to keep up with."
"But that could be dangerous!" Raven exclaimed. "You know what might happen if he reshapes his mind too quickly. All of his emotions could-"
She paused.
"Exactly. He has nothing to lose..."
They pair headed deeper into the mist, following the ripples in the shaking ground, passing now floating trees and rocks.
The Titans wandered through the mist, with absolutely no idea where they were going. In the end, they had to follow the directions of Jealousy, mainly because she was pointing away from where the screeching was coming from. Now the screeching seemed to be coming from every direction.
"By the sound of it, we're surrounded." said Beastboy, changing back to human form from hare form. "There's no way out. We're doomed! DOOMED!"
"Calm down." said Robin. "As long as we have the Ravens with us, there shouldn't be much problem. They don't seem to attract the Nightmares."
"Um..." said Cyborg uncertainly, "weren't there nine of them before?"
The Titans looked around and counted.
"Where is the red-cloaked Raven?" asked Starfire. "I am sure she was around a while ago..."
"Oh no..."
"Anger must have escaped while we were fighting the Nightmare." said Bravery.
The screeching grew louder.
"That's the least of our troubles." said Robin. "More Nightmares!"
The Titans and emotions formed a protective circle, and awaited the arrival of the Nightmares.
Deep in the mist, Anger ran. She had to find Trigon... then she would get her revenge on all the others... everyone...