Author's note: I hope you like this chapter; I won't be able to update 'Nightmares of Titan's Tower' again until the 15th of this month :(
-
The Sun had set over jump city. Past Starfire's window Jump City was a sea of burning lights.
"What are we doing?" Beast Boy sat with his back to Starfire's bed. The other two Titans faced the dented door as they reattached it to the doorway. Raven held the door in place with her powers while Cyborg welded the door to the metal doorframe with his finger torch. The room was lit sporadically as Cyborg worked.
"We're sealing this door," Cyborg reminded the green boy. "...and making sure he doesn't get in." Raven added. She hadn't said much about Robin, but since the attack none of them had said much of anything.
"No," Beast Boy stood up, "I mean what are doing after that? We can't stay in Starfire's room forever."
"I can take us in and out," Raven said, still holding up the door, "this is just to keep Starfire safe wile we get Robin and try to figure out what's wrong." She could no longer deny something strange was going on.
"Does it look like we can stop him to you?"
Raven turned to Beast Boy, her eyes blazing white under her hood. "We have to try."
"And end up like him? Or Star?" Beast Boy was getting frantic, "No way, I say take Starfire and get as far away from the tower as possible."
"Beast Boy, stop it." Cyborg said, not turning from his work.
"Or worse, maybe just falling asleep here will do it! Maybe all we need to do is-"
"I said SHUT UP!" Cyborg stopped welding, the door was as sturdy was it was going to get. Beast Boy shut up and sat down. "Like it or not BB, we need your help on this. We can't just run away and we don't have time to sit in a corner worrying ourselves to death. Not if we want to save them."
The glow in Raven's eyes faded. She pulled back her hood and sat down by Beast Boy. Raven had healed her cuts but dried blood still lingered at the side of her face and stained the dark cloth around her neck. "Falling asleep wouldn't do it. We were all sleeping when it happened to Star."
"Then what's causing it?" Beast Boy asked softly.
Raven looked from the crying Starfire to Cyborg. "Maybe something... in the basement."
-
Raven, Cyborg and Beast Boy entered the main room of Titan's Tower. Like she said, Raven was able to get the other Titan's past the sealed door. A half moon in the sky did little to light the main room, despite the large bay windows.
"We didn't see anything in the basement before," Cyborg said, heading for a computer terminal at the head of the room, "but there might be something down there that we can't see."
A side panel opened in Cyborg's side and he pulled out a small power cell. "This should be able to power the computer," he said while placing the cell in a side port of the terminal.
The cell was able to power the workstation and the wide screen television. It turned on displaying what Cyborg had on the terminal. It was a rendering of all the rooms of Titan's Tower and a few of the adjoining underground facilities. "The scanners are definitely picking up something in the basement." Cyborg said while typing in more commands, "I think it is in infrared, I can shift the display so that-"
"Whoa." Raven saw it on the view screen now. A round sphere of energy shimmered and pulsed, taking up most of the basement.
"'Nothing different', huh?" ask Beast Boy "Maybe when this is over we should get you some glasses."
The other Titans ignored Beast Boy and continued to look at the monitor. Two long tendrils extended form the sphere in the basement to other places in the tower.
"Wait a minute," Beast Boy said, happy to find something important to add, "that one's going to Starfire's room... what ever this thing is, it's formed some kind of link with her."
Raven walked up to the terminal to get a closer look at the display. "If that one's going to Starfire..." she traced the path of the second tendril with her finger, all the way up to the main room.
"YAAH!" Robin kicked Beast Boy in the back sending the green changeling across the room, only stopping as he hit a large window. Instinctively Beast Boy turned into a tiger. An instant later something shot from a blaster on Robin's arm and hit the big cat, sending him through the window and off the tower.
"What the-" Cyborg had barely gotten out of his chair before Robin shot him too. The metal Titan was also knocked out of the room and into the open air.
"Azarath Methrion Zinthos!" The titan's mini fridge slammed against Robin's arm, smashing his blaster and knocking him over. The troubled Titan struggled to his feet and Raven was able to get a better look at him. He wore a black and gold with metal shoulder pads and wrist bands. Since their last fight Robin must have raided the evidence room, he wore the suit Slade and built for him.
"Robin," she said while hovering slightly over the ground, "you aren't going to wake up that easily, are you?"
He charged at Raven and leapt into the air, attempting to deliver a devastating jump kick. Raven shielded herself but the dark wall of energy shattered from the force of the blow. She hovered backwards, dodging Robin's following strikes, but dodging wasn't going to stop him. She tried to hit back, but Robin quickly moved out of the way and grabbed her arm. He threw her across the room.
"Nuugh" grunted Raven as her back collided with the bolted down kitchen table. Robin slowly walked to her, not saying a word. It hurt too much for Raven to stand. She used her powers to throw what ever she could at her advancing leader, the gamestation, some dinner plates. Robin smashed them aside and continued to get closer, a sickening smile creeping across his face. Soon he grabbed her by the throat and lifted her off her feet. She looked past Robin at the broken windows. 'Where is Beast Boy?' she thought, 'Where is Cyborg?' Robin balled his hand into a fist and quickly slammed it into her temple. Raven fell from his grip and sprawled on the table. Robin looked down at her for a moment before toppling backwards and lying still.
A green bird flew in through one of the open windows and turned back into a boy. "Not again!" he said, noticing the fight was over before he could help "Wha..?" he added, noticing that both Robin and Raven seemed to be out cold.
A metal hand that had been gripping to the carpet just past the other broken window supported Cyborg as his grapple arm reeled him higher. Once he got inside he had a similar reaction, though it was a lot more colorful.
"Don't you get it Raven?"said Beast Boy "I love you."
Cyborg shot him a puzzled sideways glance. Beast Boy was even more confused. "Dude! It wasn't me!"
-
'That fool' thought Raven, looking up from her book, Teenage Angst and You. 'What the hell is he talking about?'
"Come on Raven," Beast Boy said, tears seemingly instants away from his eyes, "I know part of you finds me funny, part of you thinks I'm cool, part of you cares about me and deep down part of you loves me, too."
Raven couldn't deny it. She had feelings for the silly green boy, feelings that she didn't have with the other members of the Titans. As long as she was unsure of his position she was able to suppress them, able to control them, but now they tore through her in a flood of emotion.
Raven sat there in stunned silence, Beast Boy got closer to her on the couch and wrapped a caring arm around her. He smiled, surprised this had been so easy, then was blasted off the couch by a bolt of dark energy. Raven had not meant to do it, but her powers were driven by emotion. The more she felt the more damage she would cause.
"NO!" cried Raven, trying to get control of her feelings, but she couldn't stop them. The rolled and flowed out of her all at once. Love for Beast Boy, hate for Beast Boy, fear for his safety and deep sorrow for the damage she was doing. Raven was forced to watch as her powers pummel Beast Boy again and again, feeling everything at once, her powers completely out of control... just like she had the night before...
'The night before...' thought Raven, the terrible nightmare still playing out around her, 'this is just like the night before. This isn't real...' but it hurt as if it were real. Everything that wasn't bolted down was swirling throughout the room. Beast Boy was being choked by a dark tentacle and a kitchen knife was working its way up his body. "This isn't real! THIS ISN'T REAL!"
"Raven!" Someone called out. It was Robin. This was different from the other dream.
She fell to the ground, her powers and emotions were slowly put under control.
"What sort of horrible dream is this?" Starfire asked at Robin's side.
"Robin, Starfire..." Raven said as she walked away from Beast Boy's mangled corpse, "we have to talk."
-
The Sun had set over jump city. Past Starfire's window Jump City was a sea of burning lights.
"What are we doing?" Beast Boy sat with his back to Starfire's bed. The other two Titans faced the dented door as they reattached it to the doorway. Raven held the door in place with her powers while Cyborg welded the door to the metal doorframe with his finger torch. The room was lit sporadically as Cyborg worked.
"We're sealing this door," Cyborg reminded the green boy. "...and making sure he doesn't get in." Raven added. She hadn't said much about Robin, but since the attack none of them had said much of anything.
"No," Beast Boy stood up, "I mean what are doing after that? We can't stay in Starfire's room forever."
"I can take us in and out," Raven said, still holding up the door, "this is just to keep Starfire safe wile we get Robin and try to figure out what's wrong." She could no longer deny something strange was going on.
"Does it look like we can stop him to you?"
Raven turned to Beast Boy, her eyes blazing white under her hood. "We have to try."
"And end up like him? Or Star?" Beast Boy was getting frantic, "No way, I say take Starfire and get as far away from the tower as possible."
"Beast Boy, stop it." Cyborg said, not turning from his work.
"Or worse, maybe just falling asleep here will do it! Maybe all we need to do is-"
"I said SHUT UP!" Cyborg stopped welding, the door was as sturdy was it was going to get. Beast Boy shut up and sat down. "Like it or not BB, we need your help on this. We can't just run away and we don't have time to sit in a corner worrying ourselves to death. Not if we want to save them."
The glow in Raven's eyes faded. She pulled back her hood and sat down by Beast Boy. Raven had healed her cuts but dried blood still lingered at the side of her face and stained the dark cloth around her neck. "Falling asleep wouldn't do it. We were all sleeping when it happened to Star."
"Then what's causing it?" Beast Boy asked softly.
Raven looked from the crying Starfire to Cyborg. "Maybe something... in the basement."
-
Raven, Cyborg and Beast Boy entered the main room of Titan's Tower. Like she said, Raven was able to get the other Titan's past the sealed door. A half moon in the sky did little to light the main room, despite the large bay windows.
"We didn't see anything in the basement before," Cyborg said, heading for a computer terminal at the head of the room, "but there might be something down there that we can't see."
A side panel opened in Cyborg's side and he pulled out a small power cell. "This should be able to power the computer," he said while placing the cell in a side port of the terminal.
The cell was able to power the workstation and the wide screen television. It turned on displaying what Cyborg had on the terminal. It was a rendering of all the rooms of Titan's Tower and a few of the adjoining underground facilities. "The scanners are definitely picking up something in the basement." Cyborg said while typing in more commands, "I think it is in infrared, I can shift the display so that-"
"Whoa." Raven saw it on the view screen now. A round sphere of energy shimmered and pulsed, taking up most of the basement.
"'Nothing different', huh?" ask Beast Boy "Maybe when this is over we should get you some glasses."
The other Titans ignored Beast Boy and continued to look at the monitor. Two long tendrils extended form the sphere in the basement to other places in the tower.
"Wait a minute," Beast Boy said, happy to find something important to add, "that one's going to Starfire's room... what ever this thing is, it's formed some kind of link with her."
Raven walked up to the terminal to get a closer look at the display. "If that one's going to Starfire..." she traced the path of the second tendril with her finger, all the way up to the main room.
"YAAH!" Robin kicked Beast Boy in the back sending the green changeling across the room, only stopping as he hit a large window. Instinctively Beast Boy turned into a tiger. An instant later something shot from a blaster on Robin's arm and hit the big cat, sending him through the window and off the tower.
"What the-" Cyborg had barely gotten out of his chair before Robin shot him too. The metal Titan was also knocked out of the room and into the open air.
"Azarath Methrion Zinthos!" The titan's mini fridge slammed against Robin's arm, smashing his blaster and knocking him over. The troubled Titan struggled to his feet and Raven was able to get a better look at him. He wore a black and gold with metal shoulder pads and wrist bands. Since their last fight Robin must have raided the evidence room, he wore the suit Slade and built for him.
"Robin," she said while hovering slightly over the ground, "you aren't going to wake up that easily, are you?"
He charged at Raven and leapt into the air, attempting to deliver a devastating jump kick. Raven shielded herself but the dark wall of energy shattered from the force of the blow. She hovered backwards, dodging Robin's following strikes, but dodging wasn't going to stop him. She tried to hit back, but Robin quickly moved out of the way and grabbed her arm. He threw her across the room.
"Nuugh" grunted Raven as her back collided with the bolted down kitchen table. Robin slowly walked to her, not saying a word. It hurt too much for Raven to stand. She used her powers to throw what ever she could at her advancing leader, the gamestation, some dinner plates. Robin smashed them aside and continued to get closer, a sickening smile creeping across his face. Soon he grabbed her by the throat and lifted her off her feet. She looked past Robin at the broken windows. 'Where is Beast Boy?' she thought, 'Where is Cyborg?' Robin balled his hand into a fist and quickly slammed it into her temple. Raven fell from his grip and sprawled on the table. Robin looked down at her for a moment before toppling backwards and lying still.
A green bird flew in through one of the open windows and turned back into a boy. "Not again!" he said, noticing the fight was over before he could help "Wha..?" he added, noticing that both Robin and Raven seemed to be out cold.
A metal hand that had been gripping to the carpet just past the other broken window supported Cyborg as his grapple arm reeled him higher. Once he got inside he had a similar reaction, though it was a lot more colorful.
"Don't you get it Raven?"said Beast Boy "I love you."
Cyborg shot him a puzzled sideways glance. Beast Boy was even more confused. "Dude! It wasn't me!"
-
'That fool' thought Raven, looking up from her book, Teenage Angst and You. 'What the hell is he talking about?'
"Come on Raven," Beast Boy said, tears seemingly instants away from his eyes, "I know part of you finds me funny, part of you thinks I'm cool, part of you cares about me and deep down part of you loves me, too."
Raven couldn't deny it. She had feelings for the silly green boy, feelings that she didn't have with the other members of the Titans. As long as she was unsure of his position she was able to suppress them, able to control them, but now they tore through her in a flood of emotion.
Raven sat there in stunned silence, Beast Boy got closer to her on the couch and wrapped a caring arm around her. He smiled, surprised this had been so easy, then was blasted off the couch by a bolt of dark energy. Raven had not meant to do it, but her powers were driven by emotion. The more she felt the more damage she would cause.
"NO!" cried Raven, trying to get control of her feelings, but she couldn't stop them. The rolled and flowed out of her all at once. Love for Beast Boy, hate for Beast Boy, fear for his safety and deep sorrow for the damage she was doing. Raven was forced to watch as her powers pummel Beast Boy again and again, feeling everything at once, her powers completely out of control... just like she had the night before...
'The night before...' thought Raven, the terrible nightmare still playing out around her, 'this is just like the night before. This isn't real...' but it hurt as if it were real. Everything that wasn't bolted down was swirling throughout the room. Beast Boy was being choked by a dark tentacle and a kitchen knife was working its way up his body. "This isn't real! THIS ISN'T REAL!"
"Raven!" Someone called out. It was Robin. This was different from the other dream.
She fell to the ground, her powers and emotions were slowly put under control.
"What sort of horrible dream is this?" Starfire asked at Robin's side.
"Robin, Starfire..." Raven said as she walked away from Beast Boy's mangled corpse, "we have to talk."