Part 10: Lords and Masters
"The king is dead, long live the king!
Or so it was said in the past days of yore.
They say those who do not learn from the past are doomed to repeat it. Quite frankly, those who say so are full of shit. I have yet to encounter anyone who has learned anything.
But I have learned plenty. And believe me, things will be different now.
For all those who reviled and abhorred me, they never really understood why I did what I did. I wasn't on any great mission, or running on a sense of accomplishment. No. Much like them, I did what I did because I enjoyed it. That's why they tracked me down. That's why they did what THEY did. For all my supposed sins, I am not a hypocrite, unlike they, who tried to explain and justify away their crime.
Perhaps that is why I was fated to return.
And return, and return, and return, for all their efforts to stop me. But I was no longer a great but frail creature of flesh and blood, oh no. Now I was something else! Something powerful! Something terrible! I WAS A GOD!
And no matter how they tried, I always found my way back. And even though there were those who interrupted my fun, the bitches and sluts and whores, I always got my own back, even if it was just to come back.
So they tried a new tactic. But it failed as well. I am not some mere killer who can be erased! That place is mine! My mark is scratched on it, scratched by my own hand, and no amount of blanking out and forgetting will ever get rid of me!
And in that…lies my greatest pain. I tried to make them remember…and what happened is something I'd like to forget.
And now…
There is more to the world then anyone can ever realize. Even me, as I find myself here.
I am not alone. I can smell him, out there, walking around. Does he even know what has happened? Does he even know what opportunities we have been granted? Of course not. He will walk until he finds one and he will try to slaughter them like the big, dumb animal he is.
How did that mama's boy ever beat me? FUCKER!
But that was then. That was the past.
This is now.
I will deal with him, eventually. But before I do, I have to have some fun.
And what a fun place this looks like. Like any dream I ever entered. But unlike those places, these young slices of meat seem to have some idea of what they're doing.
But they're still afraid. I can taste their fear. And who they are makes it ever sweeter.
But among the fruits, there is a particularly fresh cherry.
The others have fallen, the wanna-bes and the never-weres. Now it's my turn.
I'll find her. I'll sample her. I'll rip her open and show her her own beating heart. And I'll see if I can take a few of the others with me. And then, I'm putting the big dog down, once and for all!
This time, I'll be the king of the mountain!
And oh, will it be a blast.
HA HA HA HA HA HA HAAAAAAAA!"
Poor Robin. He still hasn't learned whose house he's in.
Poor, logical, rational Tim Drake, trying to figure out a realm that doesn't live by these rules. A realm where no one ever thinks it's a bad idea to take a shower after you've found a few bodies that used to be your friends. A realm where every small town had a dark secret and a hardware store. A realm where the dead don't stay dead, the living aren't alive for long, and the finality is never settled until the grosses come in.
(Writer's Note: To a certain someone, you know who you are, you may think I'm mocking you. But I'm not. Really. Really. Oh come on, do I strike you as that shallow? Oh right, the horror story.)
And a realm where people never stick together. They always find a reason to split up. Maybe they're ignorant. Maybe they're confused. Maybe they're just plain stupid. But the fact is, with rare exceptions, killers never attack large groups. They always pick people off, one by one by one. And this ALWAYS happens, because people ALWAYS split up.
And if they don't want to…then they start mishearing things, and thinking that what they misheard is a good idea.
And if they are absolutely, positively determined to not do it…well, it's gotta happen. One way or the other.
And hence Robin found himself alone again, standing stock still for a few seconds, before he jerked back in surprise.
"Ohhhhhhhhhh shit." Robin said. Perhaps NOW he is finally starting to learn.
His bo is the only weapon he has left, and he unsnaps it as he slowly looks around, wishing he hadn't lost his mask, wishing he had his night vision lenses, wishes he wasn't alone…
The floor erupted, and Robin leapt back with a scream…to find a green brontosaurus head looking at him.
"Robin! Thank god you're still here!" Beast Boy said, as his long dinosaur neck converted into his human body and he gracefully hopped forward, running a few steps in case the area around the floor proved fragile. "What the hell happened, and…"
"DON'T! EVER! DO THAT AGAIN!" Robin gasped, his face gray.
"Well sorry Robin, I mean, the lights go out, and suddenly I'm in a whole new place! Alone! I freaked! So I turned into a rabbit and listened, and I heard someone above me, and I vaguely remembered that where I was was right below the lounge, and I wasn't going to take a chance with zombie infested stairways or for the Blob to come out of the elevator…"
"Was The Blob in that pile of films?"
"Uh…I don't think so."
"Good. That snowman was bad enough, I don't want to have to deal with a blob."
"Why not?"
"…It's a blob!"
"So?"
"What's so scary about a blob?"
"Maybe if you watched the movie, you'd see!"
"It's a BLOB!"
(Writer's Note: NOW I'm mocking you. Neener neener.)
"It's still a pretty nasty creature!"
"IT'S. A BLOB."
(Writer's Note: Or maybe I'm mocking myself…er, ok, enough strange notes that are probably confusing the rest of my readers, onward!)
"Who cares! We have to find the others! Again!" Robin said.
"Rob…even if we get back together, won't this just happen again?"
"We won't know until we're together. Come on! We have to move! There's some things on that list I don't want the others facing alone!"
"Robin! Robin! Where are you? Robin!!!!!!!!!" Starfire said as she flew through the garage. The sickness that she had been trying to keep at bay during this entire event was overwhelming her. The last time she had felt anything like this had been when Robin had vanished during the Apprentice incident. Starfire was not sure what was worse: not knowing what had been going on then, or knowing what was going on now.
She felt great: her wounds were fixed and her powers were almost at full charge. But that didn't matter, because Robin was out there, possibly alone, and he no longer had any weapons except his staff. And that would be no match if he ran into some of the people/things that had been on that list. She had to find him, and protect him, at least until he could rearm himself. Was she near the elevator where they had left the crate of weapons an eternity ago? Maybe she could swing by and grab something.
So she flew, keeping close to the ceiling as she disappeared into the hallway.
Never aware that she hadn't been alone, as he slowly stepped from the shadows and resumed his walk, his slight puzzlement already fading as he resumed his eternal mission. He knew they were here. They always were. So he would do what he did.
Ch Ch Ch Ah Ah Ah…
Raven was greatly surprised to find herself in her room.
She had a better idea about what had happened then most. When the storm had triggered this, it had not only involved the Eye of Archetypal, but Control Freak's remote. Mixing the two together was the recipe for some seriously bad mojo, and Raven knew about bad mojo. For a long time, most of her powers had stemmed from it. Hell, it had been enough to allow (temporary) damage to Robert's Gauntlet, which was pretty goddamn freaky considering how powerful its magic was.
For a lack of anything better to do, she sat on her bed and thought, also allowing herself to rest. Her powers were returning at a steady clip: she'd now shrugged off both her healing jobs. She wondered if she had enough to teleport…
Getting up, she headed for her closet.
Then she stopped.
Then she slowly raised her hands, ready and able, as she willed the door to open.
Nothing was in there. Nothing but cloaks.
Just to be cautious, Raven floated one out to her. And examined it closely before she put it on. And she left the closet door open, watching it.
Nothing came out. She sighed.
"All right girl, what now?" She asked herself. She pondered what Robin would do. Probably do a floor-to-floor search. She probably had enough juice to do one warp. She'd go up to the top floor and work her way down, and stick to the shadows if she ran into another slasher.
And hope there wasn't something worse hiding in the shadows.
Wrapping her cloak around her, Raven called on her power, and once again the darkness consumed her, this time at her wish.
Terra had no idea why she was doing this: sitting on a toilet, her knees drawn up, trying to keep her breath quiet, though she was sure that her heartbeat was as loud as a bomb and she would be found just by that. ESPECIALLY considering that her powers were back and she, in theory, could bury anything that found her under a few hundred tons of dirt.
But when the lights had gone out and Terra had suddenly found herself in one of the Titan's bathrooms…well, it hadn't exactly done her already jangled nerves any favors. She had lucked out too much already. Ghostface could have gutted her, the zombies could have eaten her, the Leprechaun could have shattered her skull rather then just giving her a concussion and a scalp wound that had turned her blonde hair red (Raven had fixed the cut but she couldn't do anything about Terra's hair, and in the moment Terra hadn't thought to rinse it). And the laws of horror films dictated that by this time most of the cast was already dead. The only possible body so far was Noel's. You couldn't help but wonder if SOMEONE would be making up for lost time.
Would she be one of the victims? She'd been a good girl in her life. Even during her time on the road, she'd never done drugs, never drank, never turned tricks. As she grew older she hadn't tried to make up for lost time. She'd had a few sexual partners…but she'd never done anything really kinky. She only drank occasionally, and she'd been drunk once and the hangover made her promise herself she'd never do it again. She wasn't pure as the virgin snow, but she was good! She deserved to survive!
Which is why when she tried to leave the bathroom and heard the footsteps she'd scrambled back in, gone into one of the stalls, closed the door, locked it, and was now sitting on the toilet, knees drawn up, hoping that whatever it was would just go away.
Silly Rabbit…
The door opened. Terra made a tiny, almost soundless gasp, but to her it sounded as loud as a scream.
Footsteps across the ground. Terra didn't dare look. She was worried if she moved at all he'd see her, find her, and then she'd die, because every horror film has to have a body count and this one's had sucked so far so there better be GENOCIDE in the last act…
"Nobody knows, the trouble I've seen…"
Terra almost had her seventh heart attack of the evening at the sudden…singing.
The sound of a sink being turned on followed.
"Nobody knows…my sorrow…"
"ROB!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Terra yelped in joy, as she hopped off the toilet and started unlatching the door…
And then a Gauntlet energy fist suddenly knocked the door off the hinges. Terra made a small shriek, even as her training kicked in and she ducked under it the flying door, rolling out into the main room and seeing a very freaked Gauntlet.
"Terra! What in the name of Mr. Christie-ACK!" Gauntlet said as Terra suddenly ran forward and leapt into his arms, showering his face with kisses. This went on for a few seconds before Gauntlet pushed her away.
"Look Tara, I'm glad to see you too, but unless you're trying to make this story take a left turn into a PWP lemon, please unlatch your legs from my waist."
"What? Oh, sorry…" Terra said, blushing deeply as she did so. Gauntlet ran his hand through his hair, and then examined said hand, checking for gray hairs.
"Tip Terra. When one is being stalked from monsters come to life out of horror films, it is NOT a good idea to suddenly yell one's name aloud when said one is not aware of your presence."
"Right. Sorry. Can we find the others now?"
"Unless you want to…"
LEAVE THE FORTH WALL ALONE! CAN WE GO ONE BLOODY STORY WHERE THAT WALL ISN'T ATTACKED!
"Sheesh, fine, let's go Terra. Someone's PMSing." Gauntlet said, as the two left the bathroom.
"Ok Beast Boy, here's the plan. My gear's been compromised pretty badly. I don't want you to have to do all the fighting if we run into someone or something. Therefore, I suggest we go down to my room. I can get fresh stuff, and be better prepared for a fight. Plus, who knows, we might run into…someone…" Robin said to Beast Boy. There were standing in a hallway, and Robin had trailed off because Beast Boy had suddenly gone pale. "What?"
"Can you hear that?"
"No, but I'll bet you can. Come on." Robin said, whirling as he got his staff ready. Beast Boy turned into a rabbit again and listened.
"What do you hear?" Robin whispered.
"Can't really tell…kind of toneless…could be tapping…or clicking…"
"Right…" Robin said, looking around him, trying to catch as much in his peripheral vision as he could.
"It's getting louder!"
"Where is it?" Robin cursed, spinning around and seeing nothing.
"Wait…tap tap, tap, tap tap tap…" Beast Boy said.
"Gar this is not a good time for games!" Robin said.
"Games? Robin…I think there's a message in the taps."
"What?" Robin said, turning around. "You mean like Morse code?"
"No…more like…'Shave…and a Haircut…Two Bits'?"
And then Scalpel dropped down from the ceiling.
The yelps weren't that loud.
"Sorry. After we…separated, I decided it would be best if I went low key and went by the ceiling. I heard you from afar and headed over…but when I arrived I realized that if I just dropped down I could give both of you heart attacks, not to mention risk an assault under mistaken identity. So I started tapping so that you'd hear me. The lack of true success can be attributed to you, you dunderheads." Scalpel said, as he pulled his glaive from behind his tattered cloak.
"Well, all things considered, at least we're finding each other." Beast Boy said.
"Oh, and I have good news! I think I may know where Cyborg is!" Scalpel said, as he turned and dashed forward.
"SCALPEL! WAIT! KEEP EACH OTHER IN SIGHT!" Robin yelled. Unlike the last time, Scalpel heard him, and stopped at the edge of the hallway. "Thanks. Now what do you mean you know where Cyborg is?"
"I heard you, but I also heard something else. Very heavy tread. Somewhere in this general area. Cyborg's the only guy who weighs enough to make that tread."
"How do you know it's Cyborg?"
"I saw some oil on the floor. That, along with the tread, allows me a safe conclusion that…"
The blade exploded from Scalpel's mid section, his words cut off in a gasp of agony. Robin and Beast Boy reared back as Scalpel was lifted off, blood pouring from his torso, as the blade sawed up, ripping up through his midsection and to his chest as the flow of blood became a shower that poured onto the carpeting with a loud hissing noise.
"Nigel…!" Beast Boy said.
"Ohhhhhhhhh shit." Robin said as he recognized the blade.
A machete.
Scalpel only knew the agony…and the slight sensation of a massive hand seizing his shoulder and shoving him off the blade, and he collapsed to the ground, giving Robin and Beast Boy a full view of him.
CH CH CH AH AH AH…"Oh no." Beast Boy said.
"Ohhhhhhhh shit indeed." Robin replied.
As Jason Voorhees stepped over Scalpel's body and headed for the two remaining Titans.
Raven opened her eyes with some confusion.
This wasn't the top floor of the Tower. This was the Tower roof. She pulled down her hood to take a look around.
"Fuck." She cursed. She had overestimated herself. Her teleportation had been off. And it could have been a lot worse: she could have warped right into a solid object, which would have given her a very unpleasant and messy death. No slasher needed (rimshot).
Well, that ruled out teleporting. It would be best if she saved her energy anyway. God knows what was still out there…
A noise to her side. Raven whirled, her power at the ready.
White lines sprang up, grabbing the Tower and yanking a very torn up and generally unhappy looking Savior up onto the roof. Raven gasped a bit, though it was in surprised happiness. Her expression was mirrored on Savior's face.
"Noel! You're alive!" Raven said delightedly.
"You expected differently?" Savior said, as he landed, stumbling a bit. Raven dashed forward to meet him.
"Are you ok?"
"No. There's a bunch of would be master murderers running around this joint trying to turn us into fillet of sole. Damn no good rassn frassnnnn…" Savior muttered. "What did I miss?"
"I helped take care of the Candyman."
"The who?"
"Right…well Noel, come on, we should…" Raven said as she took Savior's arm and tried to pull him to the rooftop door.
"No wait babe, I had an idea while you and I were apart." Savior said, pulling Raven back to him.
"Offf! Noel! This is not a good time!"
"Wait wait, hear me out. You know how this shit works. Certain things lead to certain results. Wandering around isn't exactly working, you know? I think we should bring the battle to us. To do that we need a lure. And you know what lures killers better then anything else…" Savior said, wagging his eyebrows.
"What? You want to do something like that, NOW? Did whatever that happened to you scramble your brains?"
"….Actually, it may have." Savior said, his lecherous look fading as he rubbed his head. "It was a pretty bad knock. But…I still think the plan could hold water. We should at least try it."
"Well…maybe…but Noel, I'm not really in the mood…" Raven said, even as she felt the Shimmer drawing her closer.
"Hey, relax baby. I'll work twice as hard." Savior said, as he gently took the back of her head and brought her lips to his.
For a moment, there was silence, the two couples in a clinch, as Raven closed her eyes and tried to relax…
And then her eyes snapped wide open.
A few seconds later she had flown back across the roof, her hands out and her eyes fixed on Savior, who was getting up from the force blast she had fired at him…except this Savior was wearing a look Raven had never seen Noel wear and knew he never could.
"What's the matter, pretty bird?" Savior said wickedly. "Too much tongue?"
And then Savior's tongue emerged, impossibly long, and black as pitch, sticking out and lapping up and around his entire face as he started to laugh, and Raven felt her gorge rise as well as her fear as the bright white colors of Savior's outfit transmuted into dark slacks, work boots, a natty green and red sweater, and a fedora. And an impossibly hideous face.
"Krueger." Raven hissed.
"Hello, bitch." Freddy Krueger cackled, raising his taloned glove. "Tell me, you usually taste so sweet, or have you been using breath mints?"
Raven spat on the ground, trying to get that horrible sensation of Freddy's tongue rolling around in her mouth after he had tricked her into thinking he was Savior.
"Bastard." She hissed again.
"Well, yeah, pretty much. Thank you." Krueger said, giving a slight flourish. "You know, I thought you'd be different. I've met a lot of whores and sluts in my life. But I've never met anyone quite like you…you see my dear, we're alike. Both human…and demon…in one perfect package. Though I must say, you wear your perfection much better then I do."
"Human? HUMAN?" Raven said. "You weren't human when you were a mortal, and now…you're the farthest thing from humanity outside of the Lord!"
"Who?" Freddy asked. "You must forgive me, I'd a bit new in this neighborhood. Need a refresher course on what's what. Mind if I pick your brain?" Freddy said, bringing his glove up to enhance the point with his index talon.
Raven slipped her hood up as she floated off the ground, her eyes glowing in the shadows cast by the garment.
"Ohhhh, really fancy-schmacy bitch." Freddy said.
"You ain't seen nothing yet." Raven said, and she flew forward, her power crackling…
And the bars suddenly appeared. Raven recoiled as a loud clanging noise filled her ears, and then she blinked, and her eyes went as wide as saucers.
She was trapped…in a…
Birdcage.
"On second thought, I wear my perfection much better. But I'll definitely enjoy sampling yours." Freddy said, and licked his face with that disgusting tongue again.
"Wha…no, no…this can't be…I'm awake, you can't…"
"Yeah, I'm surprised too, but hey, Confucius say, better to gut little bitch now, rather then wonder why powers work in first place!"
Even though Raven was realizing it on her own. The Tower, infected by the taint of horror films, forced to follow their atmosphere and rules. Though Freddy Krueger had been shown to leave the world of dreams and enter the real world, it greatly reduced his power. But this time…he hadn't left his world. His world had been imposed on Raven's…and that meant…
"Are you going to sing for me, or should I just throw you in the oven now? Hey, great idea! I know just what kind of stuffing to put in as well!" Freddy laughed as he approached the cage. "HA HA HA HAAAAAA!!!!!!"