Thanks for reviewing!
S.S.T.A.G: I can't kill off a character that I didn't invent, so don't worry. But thanks for reading!
Ch5: Blackside: Mansion Cellar
Ion struggled to grasp why a shooting pain was coursing through his body. He sat up from the part of the floor that he had landed, and saw Heron wrestling with Terra.
"I-AM-NOT-AN-ENEMY!" Terra struggled through the fight. Heron glared, and then stood up. He must have been embarrassed to attack the newest member. He uttered an apology, and then looked over to Ion.
"Do you have any idea what happened here?" Heron asked.
"I...have an idea," Ion said flatly. "But I'm not sure,"
"Well? What is it?" demanded Heron.
"Maybe, if who I think is doing this is doing this, then, maybe his room would have a clue?" he offered.
"I don't know, but we better think of something fast. This place gives me the creeps!" Terra explained.
"Okay then. We're going in his room," Ion said.
"Where is it?" asked Heron.
"We were about to go in it until you attacked us!" snarled Terra. Heron looked at her evilly, and then decided against giving her a little burn with his powers. This place was a disaster area, and the guy who had him pinned was probably just waiting for a chance to strike.
Ion interrupted his thoughts by pushing open the door to the suspect's room. It creaked open softly, and Terra immediately felt like they shouldn't be there.
* * *
"EEEEK!" Starfire screamed. It was a sound that could easily pierce the eardrum. Immediately after the screech came the blinding green light of one of her Starbolts. The shattering of stone wrapped up the display.
"What is it?" asked Beast Boy.
"T-that s-st-statue j-just blinked at me!" she cried. Beast boy just stared at her. He walked over to the pieces of smoking stone that were the remnants of the statue.
"What are you talkin' about Star" asked Beast Boy, noticing that nothing was strange about the pieces.
"Yeah! Why are you making all that noise?" demanded Cyborg.
"Why wouldn't you let everyone know that we're here?" asked Raven sarcastically.
"Better check out what made you scream," Robin sighed.
Starfire felt her face go red with embarrassment. None of her friends believed her. She hung her head in disappointment. The titan flew over to where her friends stood. They were all looking at the piece of stone that had the eye on it.
It blinked at them. They all screamed, and then screamed harder when the statue reassembled itself, only with a dangerous bow and arrow in hand. It had a sinister grin on, and a snout instead of a nose.
"I can see why you screamed!" choked Beast Boy as he and the others ran into the mansion, trying to get as far away from the statue as possible.
* * *
The room was a city. Terra immediately knew that Ion thought Drake was the enemy. She could see why. It was the only room that hadn't changed.
Now that Terra thought about it, the voice of the enemy that had cornered her in the hall was a male voice. But, wasn't she with two of the only three guys in the mansion?
The thought made her uneasy. She backed away from them a few steps. Either Ion or Heron could be her enemy. She didn't want to think about that.
Terra took another step, and felt a cold hand grab her arm. She turned around to see the shadow that she'd seen in the hall. The outline of her terror. She wanted to scream, but another hand had positioned itself over her mouth. She couldn't make a sound.
"Terra? What do you think about the enemy?" Ion asked, and the slamming of a door was his response. He did a quick one-eighty, and darkness met his eyes. They were in the complete dark.
He felt the support to his feet slide away, and he was falling. Falling into the dark hole that seemed eternally empty. Wherever he was going, he could guarantee he wasn't going to like it.
* * *
They stopped running only when they had locked the mansion doors behind them. The front hall looked normal enough. Brilliantly lit, and smelling faintly off a half eaten dinner.
Raven took a step forward. It looked safe enough too her. What happened? There was a short staircase leading up to a second floor standing ground. There were seven doors in all.
Raven took a step towards the first door. She reached a hand forward to open the door, and a mild shock was sent threw her body.
"What happened?" asked Starfire, and then she saw it. As soon as Raven went to touch one of the doors, an electrical cage had encased each door. Even the entrance to the mansion. They were trapped.
"We are trapped!" called Starfire.
"Maybe not," Robin thought out loud. "The middle door on the second floor isn't encased in electricity. It might be safe," he said, squinting to look up on the just visible second floor.
"Well, I'm not touching it to find out," Raven growled, rubbing her sore hand.
"Don't worry. I will," Robin said. He slowly walked up the steps. The door that wasn't in an electric cage was black, and a strange eye was just above it. He took a deep breath in, and grabbed the handle.
* * *
Terra groaned. Where was she? The last thing she remembered, she was in Drake's room. What had happened? Was it the shadow that had grabbed her?
Terra sat up and looked around. As far as she could see, she was in a cave. Terra sat on top of a soft bed. Although it was a cave, the torchlight gave it a soft, welcoming look. In one corner was a small, obviously homemade desk. Terra couldn't help but smile in her surroundings.
The girl stood up, and walked over to the desk. There was a small diary, a pen that was almost out of ink, and a small lamp. Terra liked the set-up. Although she wanted to, she couldn't manage to pry off the lock on the diary. She eventually gave up, and walked out of the "room".
In the next room was a small wooden table. Laid out on the table were two cheeseburgers from Terra's favorite fast-food place. She walked over to one, and smelt the fresh, cheesy smell as it filled her nostrils.
Her first thought was poison. She opened one burger, and poked it. She removed all of the contents, and spread then out on the table. As hard as she tried, she couldn't find a trace of poison. The cheese was just as always, melted of course, there were no pricks in the burger from a needle, and not even spit on it like she sometimes got from that immature little jerk that worked the stove. The bun wasn't even wet with a trace of poison. The lettuce and tomato looked fine.
By this point, she was ravenous. The girl could stand it no longer. She reassembled the delicious meal, and took a huge bite.
Terra was surprised at how fast she had eaten the burger. She looked at the second one hungrily. She wasn't shocked at how hungry she was though. She had skipped dinner in despair. She quickly choked down the second one.
This time she didn't even look for poison. When she was finished, she felt a little ashamed at her carelessness. What if one burger had been poisoned? Well, it was too late for 'what ifs' now.
Terra looked over to her left, and saw what she could guess to be a staircase leading up. Hoping it was an exit, Terra ran towards it.
"Leaving without saying thanks?" a voice said behind her. Terra froze.
* * *
Starfire lead the way. Her green eyes and glowing hand as if preparing for a Starbolt light the path. It was so freaky. The hallway seemed almost, alive.
The door had opened easily. There wasn't any question that that was where they were supposed to go. It made the others uneasy, so Starfire lead the way, desperate to get her friend back.
A figure stepped out of a separate hallway. Starfire didn't expect that, and collided with whoever was blocking her path. Starfire hastily sat up, and the figure managed to find what they were looking for. A light switch.
The figure flipped it, and he black hair was illuminated. Her green outfit sparkled in the light, and Starfire knew who it was from the Tower.
"You are one of the friend stealing squad!" accused Starfire.
"What?" asked a confused girl. "Oh! You're that alien girl with the titans! Nice ta meet cha!" she said with a smile. But it soon faded. "Sorry we couldn't meet under better circumstances...."
"I DO NOT CARE FOR YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES!" roared Starfire. "I WILL FIGHT YOU IF YOU DO NOT TELL ME WHAT HAPPENED TO TERRA!"
"What?" asked the girl. "Oh, you mean the newbie. I don't know, but maybe my friends will-!" Starfire cut her off. Her rage was growing.
"HOW DARE YOU LIE!" she cried, shortly before throwing a Starbolt at the girl.
"Whoa!" she cried as she nimble dodged the bolt. "Watch where you throw those things! They could hurt someone!"
"I am sorry," Starfire said before raising her hand again. "This one will not miss!"
"Hold up!" the girl said.
"What?" Starfire asked herself, confused.
"Better yet, stay up!" The girl raised her hands, and large plant roots emerged from the ground. They wrapped around Starfire's body, pinning her hands as they lifted her towards the ceiling.
The other titans watched in awe. They put up a good fight. Robin was the first to snap out of the surprise of Starfire throwing the first "punch".
"Shouldn't we stop this?" he asked the others, snapping them out of their own trances.
"I'm on it," Beast Boy said.
A thorn whip had formed in the teen's hands. Starfire was attacking her with her eye beams. Starfire soon broke free, and they were about to give each other their full blast when Beast Boy stood in between them.
"STOP!" he hollered. Both of them stopped in mid-attack. "Starfire, you don't even know for sure that she did anything!"
"Score one for Elani!" the girl cried, jumping up and down.
"But," said Beast Boy noticing Starfire's look. "We can't prove that she didn't do it either!"
"Score one for Starfire!" Starfire said, mimicking the girl's words.
"Game tied," said Raven to Cyborg and Robin.
"Why don't we just work together and try to get out of here?" suggested Beast Boy.
"I know someone who can help!" said Elani in a way that made Starfire grow angry.
"Well, now Elani's got the lead," added Raven.
The other titans followed Elani, and without any other option, Starfire resentfully followed.
* * *
Terra cautiously turned around, and saw the shadow standing only a few feet away from her.
Maybe I can make it if I run, thought Terra.
"Go ahead," said the Shadow.
"What?" asked Terra.
"Sorry, I can read minds too. But, if you want to leave, then I'm not going to stop you," the shadow said.
"Then...why did you bring me down here?" asked Terra.
"I just thought I could explain why the mansion's like that to someone who wouldn't turn around in two seconds and attack me," he explained. "But if you want to leave...." He held out a hand as if motioning towards the door.
"I..." Terra thought. He could be an enemy, but could be a friend. Why would he want to explain things if he was going to kill her? "I guess I'll listen."
"Alright, since you ate my dinner," Terra rubbed the back of her head and her face grew red. "I guess we'll have to talk over water, or something."
"Alright," she said.
He sat down, and the shadow encasing the man faded away. Terra saw someone who looked vaguely like Drake, but more mature. She sat down across from him, and he began his tale.
"A year ago, I was down here, in this cellar. The other members of the Elemental Squad asked me to get some food for lunch. It was down here, so here I came. While I was down here, a man named Slade talked to me,"
"Slade?" asked Terra.
"Yeah. You know him?" asked the man.
"He's only Robin's mortal enemy!" explained Terra. Then she thought. But wasn't one year ago the day I ran away from the Titans?
"Well, he asked me to help him pull out some plan of his. Before I continue, you should know something," he paused.
"What?" asked Terra.
"The warped mansion, isn't the real mansion,"
"WHAT?!" exclaimed Terra.
"This mansion is a shadow version of the real mansion. This orb that we're in...is a gate to my world. The shadow world. Blackside." he explained. "Wherever I choose to place an orb, that part in the real world in un- accessible. The orb is even hard to get through. In truth, your still passed out in the hallway of where the other me knocked you out."
"Wait a second. I'm still passed out? The other you?" asked Terra.
"I guess I'm getting ahead of myself. When a normal person, namely someone not in my bloodline, is warped into Blackside, it is only a copy of themselves."
"So, I'm only a copy?" she asked.
"Don't use that term so lightly. Whatever you do to yourself, or whatever happens to you here, will happen to the real you there," the man explained.
"So," Terra started, "if I die here, I'll-."
"You'll die in the real world," the man finished.
"Freaky!" Terra said.
"Well, anyways. I was talked to by Slade. He asked me to join with his forces, and be part of his plan. When I refused, he strapped me to a table, and pointed a laser at me. The next thing I knew, there was another me right next to me."
"Then, you must be,"
"The real Drake," the man said.
"I escaped his clutches, and ran to the cellar. I sent it to Blackside, and so there was no staircase you see in the corner over there." Drake said.
"So why was there a staircase now?" Terra asked.
"Because the mansion's in Blackside thanks to my other self. That created the staircase." Drake said.
"I think I get it. But why didn't you just explain this to Ion and Heron?"
"Because Ion is too stubborn to admit when his ideas are wrong, and Heron is such a hot head that he'd toast me on sight," Drake said.
"Then?" started Terra.
"Then what?" asked Drake.
"Then what are we doing here?"
"It's way too hard to walk around Blackside normally. I need to invent a device that will let you warp freely between the two worlds like only I can. Just hold on a sec."
"Why don't you just stop Blackside on the mansion?" asked Terra.
"Because I need to be in the exact spot where the other me warped us in. That's where you come in."
"Me?" asked Terra.
"You were the only one who saw the hallway where you were warped. I'll finish explaining later, just wait a little," He stood up, and walked over to a room that Terra didn't go in.
All Terra could do was wait. Wait for Drake to finish. Wait, and hope that nothing would go wrong.
There's Chapter five! Please review!
S.S.T.A.G: I can't kill off a character that I didn't invent, so don't worry. But thanks for reading!
Ch5: Blackside: Mansion Cellar
Ion struggled to grasp why a shooting pain was coursing through his body. He sat up from the part of the floor that he had landed, and saw Heron wrestling with Terra.
"I-AM-NOT-AN-ENEMY!" Terra struggled through the fight. Heron glared, and then stood up. He must have been embarrassed to attack the newest member. He uttered an apology, and then looked over to Ion.
"Do you have any idea what happened here?" Heron asked.
"I...have an idea," Ion said flatly. "But I'm not sure,"
"Well? What is it?" demanded Heron.
"Maybe, if who I think is doing this is doing this, then, maybe his room would have a clue?" he offered.
"I don't know, but we better think of something fast. This place gives me the creeps!" Terra explained.
"Okay then. We're going in his room," Ion said.
"Where is it?" asked Heron.
"We were about to go in it until you attacked us!" snarled Terra. Heron looked at her evilly, and then decided against giving her a little burn with his powers. This place was a disaster area, and the guy who had him pinned was probably just waiting for a chance to strike.
Ion interrupted his thoughts by pushing open the door to the suspect's room. It creaked open softly, and Terra immediately felt like they shouldn't be there.
* * *
"EEEEK!" Starfire screamed. It was a sound that could easily pierce the eardrum. Immediately after the screech came the blinding green light of one of her Starbolts. The shattering of stone wrapped up the display.
"What is it?" asked Beast Boy.
"T-that s-st-statue j-just blinked at me!" she cried. Beast boy just stared at her. He walked over to the pieces of smoking stone that were the remnants of the statue.
"What are you talkin' about Star" asked Beast Boy, noticing that nothing was strange about the pieces.
"Yeah! Why are you making all that noise?" demanded Cyborg.
"Why wouldn't you let everyone know that we're here?" asked Raven sarcastically.
"Better check out what made you scream," Robin sighed.
Starfire felt her face go red with embarrassment. None of her friends believed her. She hung her head in disappointment. The titan flew over to where her friends stood. They were all looking at the piece of stone that had the eye on it.
It blinked at them. They all screamed, and then screamed harder when the statue reassembled itself, only with a dangerous bow and arrow in hand. It had a sinister grin on, and a snout instead of a nose.
"I can see why you screamed!" choked Beast Boy as he and the others ran into the mansion, trying to get as far away from the statue as possible.
* * *
The room was a city. Terra immediately knew that Ion thought Drake was the enemy. She could see why. It was the only room that hadn't changed.
Now that Terra thought about it, the voice of the enemy that had cornered her in the hall was a male voice. But, wasn't she with two of the only three guys in the mansion?
The thought made her uneasy. She backed away from them a few steps. Either Ion or Heron could be her enemy. She didn't want to think about that.
Terra took another step, and felt a cold hand grab her arm. She turned around to see the shadow that she'd seen in the hall. The outline of her terror. She wanted to scream, but another hand had positioned itself over her mouth. She couldn't make a sound.
"Terra? What do you think about the enemy?" Ion asked, and the slamming of a door was his response. He did a quick one-eighty, and darkness met his eyes. They were in the complete dark.
He felt the support to his feet slide away, and he was falling. Falling into the dark hole that seemed eternally empty. Wherever he was going, he could guarantee he wasn't going to like it.
* * *
They stopped running only when they had locked the mansion doors behind them. The front hall looked normal enough. Brilliantly lit, and smelling faintly off a half eaten dinner.
Raven took a step forward. It looked safe enough too her. What happened? There was a short staircase leading up to a second floor standing ground. There were seven doors in all.
Raven took a step towards the first door. She reached a hand forward to open the door, and a mild shock was sent threw her body.
"What happened?" asked Starfire, and then she saw it. As soon as Raven went to touch one of the doors, an electrical cage had encased each door. Even the entrance to the mansion. They were trapped.
"We are trapped!" called Starfire.
"Maybe not," Robin thought out loud. "The middle door on the second floor isn't encased in electricity. It might be safe," he said, squinting to look up on the just visible second floor.
"Well, I'm not touching it to find out," Raven growled, rubbing her sore hand.
"Don't worry. I will," Robin said. He slowly walked up the steps. The door that wasn't in an electric cage was black, and a strange eye was just above it. He took a deep breath in, and grabbed the handle.
* * *
Terra groaned. Where was she? The last thing she remembered, she was in Drake's room. What had happened? Was it the shadow that had grabbed her?
Terra sat up and looked around. As far as she could see, she was in a cave. Terra sat on top of a soft bed. Although it was a cave, the torchlight gave it a soft, welcoming look. In one corner was a small, obviously homemade desk. Terra couldn't help but smile in her surroundings.
The girl stood up, and walked over to the desk. There was a small diary, a pen that was almost out of ink, and a small lamp. Terra liked the set-up. Although she wanted to, she couldn't manage to pry off the lock on the diary. She eventually gave up, and walked out of the "room".
In the next room was a small wooden table. Laid out on the table were two cheeseburgers from Terra's favorite fast-food place. She walked over to one, and smelt the fresh, cheesy smell as it filled her nostrils.
Her first thought was poison. She opened one burger, and poked it. She removed all of the contents, and spread then out on the table. As hard as she tried, she couldn't find a trace of poison. The cheese was just as always, melted of course, there were no pricks in the burger from a needle, and not even spit on it like she sometimes got from that immature little jerk that worked the stove. The bun wasn't even wet with a trace of poison. The lettuce and tomato looked fine.
By this point, she was ravenous. The girl could stand it no longer. She reassembled the delicious meal, and took a huge bite.
Terra was surprised at how fast she had eaten the burger. She looked at the second one hungrily. She wasn't shocked at how hungry she was though. She had skipped dinner in despair. She quickly choked down the second one.
This time she didn't even look for poison. When she was finished, she felt a little ashamed at her carelessness. What if one burger had been poisoned? Well, it was too late for 'what ifs' now.
Terra looked over to her left, and saw what she could guess to be a staircase leading up. Hoping it was an exit, Terra ran towards it.
"Leaving without saying thanks?" a voice said behind her. Terra froze.
* * *
Starfire lead the way. Her green eyes and glowing hand as if preparing for a Starbolt light the path. It was so freaky. The hallway seemed almost, alive.
The door had opened easily. There wasn't any question that that was where they were supposed to go. It made the others uneasy, so Starfire lead the way, desperate to get her friend back.
A figure stepped out of a separate hallway. Starfire didn't expect that, and collided with whoever was blocking her path. Starfire hastily sat up, and the figure managed to find what they were looking for. A light switch.
The figure flipped it, and he black hair was illuminated. Her green outfit sparkled in the light, and Starfire knew who it was from the Tower.
"You are one of the friend stealing squad!" accused Starfire.
"What?" asked a confused girl. "Oh! You're that alien girl with the titans! Nice ta meet cha!" she said with a smile. But it soon faded. "Sorry we couldn't meet under better circumstances...."
"I DO NOT CARE FOR YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES!" roared Starfire. "I WILL FIGHT YOU IF YOU DO NOT TELL ME WHAT HAPPENED TO TERRA!"
"What?" asked the girl. "Oh, you mean the newbie. I don't know, but maybe my friends will-!" Starfire cut her off. Her rage was growing.
"HOW DARE YOU LIE!" she cried, shortly before throwing a Starbolt at the girl.
"Whoa!" she cried as she nimble dodged the bolt. "Watch where you throw those things! They could hurt someone!"
"I am sorry," Starfire said before raising her hand again. "This one will not miss!"
"Hold up!" the girl said.
"What?" Starfire asked herself, confused.
"Better yet, stay up!" The girl raised her hands, and large plant roots emerged from the ground. They wrapped around Starfire's body, pinning her hands as they lifted her towards the ceiling.
The other titans watched in awe. They put up a good fight. Robin was the first to snap out of the surprise of Starfire throwing the first "punch".
"Shouldn't we stop this?" he asked the others, snapping them out of their own trances.
"I'm on it," Beast Boy said.
A thorn whip had formed in the teen's hands. Starfire was attacking her with her eye beams. Starfire soon broke free, and they were about to give each other their full blast when Beast Boy stood in between them.
"STOP!" he hollered. Both of them stopped in mid-attack. "Starfire, you don't even know for sure that she did anything!"
"Score one for Elani!" the girl cried, jumping up and down.
"But," said Beast Boy noticing Starfire's look. "We can't prove that she didn't do it either!"
"Score one for Starfire!" Starfire said, mimicking the girl's words.
"Game tied," said Raven to Cyborg and Robin.
"Why don't we just work together and try to get out of here?" suggested Beast Boy.
"I know someone who can help!" said Elani in a way that made Starfire grow angry.
"Well, now Elani's got the lead," added Raven.
The other titans followed Elani, and without any other option, Starfire resentfully followed.
* * *
Terra cautiously turned around, and saw the shadow standing only a few feet away from her.
Maybe I can make it if I run, thought Terra.
"Go ahead," said the Shadow.
"What?" asked Terra.
"Sorry, I can read minds too. But, if you want to leave, then I'm not going to stop you," the shadow said.
"Then...why did you bring me down here?" asked Terra.
"I just thought I could explain why the mansion's like that to someone who wouldn't turn around in two seconds and attack me," he explained. "But if you want to leave...." He held out a hand as if motioning towards the door.
"I..." Terra thought. He could be an enemy, but could be a friend. Why would he want to explain things if he was going to kill her? "I guess I'll listen."
"Alright, since you ate my dinner," Terra rubbed the back of her head and her face grew red. "I guess we'll have to talk over water, or something."
"Alright," she said.
He sat down, and the shadow encasing the man faded away. Terra saw someone who looked vaguely like Drake, but more mature. She sat down across from him, and he began his tale.
"A year ago, I was down here, in this cellar. The other members of the Elemental Squad asked me to get some food for lunch. It was down here, so here I came. While I was down here, a man named Slade talked to me,"
"Slade?" asked Terra.
"Yeah. You know him?" asked the man.
"He's only Robin's mortal enemy!" explained Terra. Then she thought. But wasn't one year ago the day I ran away from the Titans?
"Well, he asked me to help him pull out some plan of his. Before I continue, you should know something," he paused.
"What?" asked Terra.
"The warped mansion, isn't the real mansion,"
"WHAT?!" exclaimed Terra.
"This mansion is a shadow version of the real mansion. This orb that we're in...is a gate to my world. The shadow world. Blackside." he explained. "Wherever I choose to place an orb, that part in the real world in un- accessible. The orb is even hard to get through. In truth, your still passed out in the hallway of where the other me knocked you out."
"Wait a second. I'm still passed out? The other you?" asked Terra.
"I guess I'm getting ahead of myself. When a normal person, namely someone not in my bloodline, is warped into Blackside, it is only a copy of themselves."
"So, I'm only a copy?" she asked.
"Don't use that term so lightly. Whatever you do to yourself, or whatever happens to you here, will happen to the real you there," the man explained.
"So," Terra started, "if I die here, I'll-."
"You'll die in the real world," the man finished.
"Freaky!" Terra said.
"Well, anyways. I was talked to by Slade. He asked me to join with his forces, and be part of his plan. When I refused, he strapped me to a table, and pointed a laser at me. The next thing I knew, there was another me right next to me."
"Then, you must be,"
"The real Drake," the man said.
"I escaped his clutches, and ran to the cellar. I sent it to Blackside, and so there was no staircase you see in the corner over there." Drake said.
"So why was there a staircase now?" Terra asked.
"Because the mansion's in Blackside thanks to my other self. That created the staircase." Drake said.
"I think I get it. But why didn't you just explain this to Ion and Heron?"
"Because Ion is too stubborn to admit when his ideas are wrong, and Heron is such a hot head that he'd toast me on sight," Drake said.
"Then?" started Terra.
"Then what?" asked Drake.
"Then what are we doing here?"
"It's way too hard to walk around Blackside normally. I need to invent a device that will let you warp freely between the two worlds like only I can. Just hold on a sec."
"Why don't you just stop Blackside on the mansion?" asked Terra.
"Because I need to be in the exact spot where the other me warped us in. That's where you come in."
"Me?" asked Terra.
"You were the only one who saw the hallway where you were warped. I'll finish explaining later, just wait a little," He stood up, and walked over to a room that Terra didn't go in.
All Terra could do was wait. Wait for Drake to finish. Wait, and hope that nothing would go wrong.
There's Chapter five! Please review!