Okay! This was rather large! But it finishes the story part of this 'book'. It is much larger in comparison to the other chapters, but can be quite insignificant to some other story chapters (Quick glare at Pakkrat). This is not the last chapter though, as I still need to do the OC redemption.
I hope you survive this whopper and Happy Readings!
The large iron clad boot flickers a small breeze against Robin's face. The orange, black and metal assassin pretty much unleashes hell as he works himself up into flame. Fire spins and surrounds the nemesis and Robin is feeling the heat.
"So predictable little bird." says Slade, heating up the pole as he clenched it. "Don't you see your pathetic pattern? So boring and rotating around and around again? Every time you meet a challenge you break down and cry! Screaming out because the writer wants you to scream, rolling in agony because you can't understand and only because the writer won't tell. You always fail to pass and you always have to be pulled up like the poor, weak puppet you are; by the strings that control every aspect of your life."
"But I always get up stronger." and Robin kicks the man away. "We learn from when we fall. Sometimes that is the only way we can truly learn…"
Brilliant flashes and sparks fly as they battle it out character against character and word for word in the realm that is not. Slade grunts as the pole finds a weak spot in his attack, hitting him in the chest so Robin can push himself away in the icy mountains. Slade's flame burns low in the crisp, yet quickly melting, snow.
"Is it really worth it?" says Slade, outstretching his arm to a city. "Is the 'message' really worth so much pain and death… so many dangers as I?"
A scene of destruction as buildings crumble and flame turns the dark and cloudy sky blood red. Dust mixed to mud as the cold rain fell, mingling ashes with fine cement powder. A child walks around crying, covered in the white debris with cuts painfully bare. Salt water trickling from her cheeks as she cried looking and trying to listen out for her mother who was but one meter away from her… under a thick slab of crushing cement…
"Did I really need to see that Robin?" says Slade, circling around him in the void. "Did I really have to win?"
"We were put here to give strength." says Robin, unmoving yet with a tear. "If we weren't tested like that, the real world wouldn't be able to relate to us, we couldn't help them if we didn't go through the same dangers."
"All the more reason to take it out on us?"
"We are not real Slade! We never were!" says Robin. "We cannot feel, only they can feel for us! Only they can feel our pain. We share pain with them to help them overcome it! Where fears are stilled and strivings cease, we are there to see them through their lives forever in their imagination, this realm…"
A fist is caught inches from Robin's face. Slade boots him into the next scenery and fires after him with burning shots. Robin closes the closet door, really out of instinct rather than practicality, and miraculously the fire doesn't break through. Robin breathes a small sigh of relief and bumps into something cold behind him. He turns around and sees the body hanging on a noose. The shadows wipe the view in complete darkness.
"You cannot justify this Robin." laughs Slade. "How does something like that help us? How do horrors and propaganda help them? Does it provide knowledge? Does it create hope? No, it does exactly the opposite. They promote hate, revenge, violence and immorality all for the purpose of entertainment. An entire realm devoted to the corruption and inevitable fall of mankind in its own horrible juices."
"All the more reason to keep hoping and to keep holding to what stories were meant to be." says Robin. "Not just visions of amusement, but works that teach to help and to guide us, to make them more than what they are on the inside. To become the heroes they always wanted to be."
"Or villains they long to be bird boy…" smiles the Joker. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA!"
…
The large mallet smashes the tombstone of the eerie graveyard. Another backswing smashes a stone angel apart. The maniac's chilling laugh catching Robin off guard and he stumbled on the uneven, misted ground. A squirt of acid flows from the Joker's lapel and Robin swiftly side steps, but into an open grave where a he falls head first to see a decaying hand cover his eyes as he disappeared in the black depth.
"Is this what they face in the real world? Must be a truly frightful place to live, or in our case, not to live! HAHAHAA!" cackles the macabre master of mirth pulling his hand from Robin's face. He receives a great punch that sends the clown flipping over in the void.
"What they face in these tales is exaggerated to make the victory more promising." says Robin. "The harder the battle we face, the easier their battles in reality seem. It encourages them to fight on harder for what they believe in, for we have overcome challenges far greater… even you Joker! I do not fear death. I do not fear pain or anguish for I know what it is worth! From life's first cry to final breath I know there is someone taking care of me, trying to make me into what they want to become… a hero!"
The razor card is deflected by Robin's pole and with a vault, lands a well aimed kick into the smiling grin of the fiend.
"But what happens when characters like I win?" smiles the Joker, throwing a dart at the boy wonder. "What happens to their hopes when there is none here? What they believe doesn't matter you see!" he says, avoiding the pole swipe and locking hands with his smaller foe. "It's only the sensation, the thrill they feel! That's all that matters! That's entertainment! And what is abetter way to stimulate our senses than fear? Maybe love, for that is just a mere throbbing of an aching heart!" and he pulls a fresh one from his coat and begins to mush it in Robin's face, still warm. Robin reacts by breaking the Joker's other arm and swinging him away.
Robin hurriedly wipes the blood from his face. "Love is not a feeling Joker! It is as plain and as powerful as words! It is not a sensation but a knowing, a trust a hope and a faith inside. That's what true love is, not a lust for the sensations, but a need to no longer be alone… finding another that you can love in return…"
…
"Don't let your feelings cloud your goals Robin." says the Dark Knight. "Have I taught you nothing?"
Batman hurls a Batarang at Robin, who (With great difficulty) catches it and throws it back. Batman moves gracefully and as fast as a falcon to knock Robin off the canyon edge.
"Doing that won't help you." gasps Robin, emerging from the lake he fell in, charging at the caped crusader. Giving it all he had, but what was that to the one who trained him? "I know you aren't the real Batman. The real Batman would never side with evil…"
Batman catches Robin's wrist and pulls up to his ear. "But what is evil?" and he throws him like an old wet rag at a wall.
Falling quite in pain, Robin shudders from the shock. Batman strides over, drawing out a grapple gun. Robin quickly unleashes a quick strike with his pole to send the gun from his hand. Another hit knocks Batman back a bit, long enough for Robin to nimbly attach the gun to his belt and sending the hook up at the skyscraper and pressing the retract button.
Batman starts flying up along the cable and quickly shuts it off before he hits a ledge. Robin meets him on the way up pole first and Batman falls dazed into the desert sands. On his back, he catches the pole before it reaches his head and with a flick of his wrists, flips Robin over and takes the weapon from him.
"What is good? What is real?" says the dark knight, looming over the exhausted form. "Good is relative. There is no such thing as a separation between good and evil; there is only life and preserving it, doing it by any means necessary. If it means incorporating love, hope and faith, then that's the way it is. Survival and protecting lives is the only thing that matters, that is the only 'good' there is!"
Robin rolls away from the striking hero before he can be turned into mince pulp. Robin brakes off a limb of a tree and uses it to combat his mentor.
"You're wrong! On more than one level…" struggles Robin, barely holding off the superior strength and speed of his attacker. "It's true that saving and helping is good, but there is more to good than just that! Batman would never say what you just did…"
"But he would, but I have!" says the shadow, cracking the pole at Robin's side, breaking a rib. Robin slams into a brick wall and slumps on the green soft grass of the valley. "What is real? Real is anything the writers want it to be. Batman has a darker side, and so I have him. He will sometimes break boundaries of morality to get what he wants and you know it. All that matters is getting the job done. Can you deny it is sometimes written?"
"But he would know the difference… ugh… even if he is forced to do so he would know what he was doing was wrong!"
"You talk as if I am not Batman, but I AM Robin. I am a part of Batman as I am a part of everything else. I am as real as you are, I am him in every aspect…"
"Except good…"
"There is no such thing as good…" says the shadow. "Perhaps this one will be more suitable to your vision." says Robin.
…
"…" says Robin.
"You can feel it… that we are one of the same."
"Then what are we?"
"We aren't real." and the connect palms to reassure that they are not there.
"I am you, and you are me, just divided."
"Good and evil."
"There is no such thing as good or evil Robin. Don't you understand? Don't I get it yet?"
"Then how are we different."
"We chose differently. You chose to fight, to save mankind. I choose to save myself and all other characters. Mankind will continue to abuse us, to use and neglect us. There is no more meaning in fiction, it is all entertainment. What was 'good' no longer is. There is now no difference between what is good and what is evil, for man has broken that boundary. Not realising that they are merely ignoring what is real! They should all die!"
"No! I would never choose that!"
"But I did! You did! You had a choice and this is one that you took! Do you think you would go through this unscathed? A part of you followed Kaiser, a part of you wanted to fight for what we believe in, a part of you in me."
"Or you in me."
"You cannot change what you are. What I have become, I am resolute. I have made up MY mind! This is the only way to freedom."
"Slavery to a demon?"
"Not slavery. Friendship! We have the same power over another! Can't you see? I am finally able to think for myself! Don't you dream for it, don't you yearn to be more?"
"But at what cost?"
"You don't have a soul."
"I have a character." says Robin. "People depend on me to choose what is right. I cannot abandon them for my own selfishness, for my own power. I will not abuse what is given to me, I will not take this opportunity to fight for good for granted."
"Listen to yourself! is that what you would truly say? Do you really want to be nothing? To be a mere speck on a screen, paper? That's a lie!"
"IT'S NOT A LIE! IT'S WHAT WE WERE MEANT TO BE! IT'S WHAT I WANT TO BE! WE WEREN'T MEANT TO BE CHARACTERS FOR OUR OWN GLORY, WE WEREN'T MEANT TO BE POWERFUL WE WE'RE MEANT TO HELP THEM! I CHOOSE THIS BECAUSE I WANT TO HELP THEM!"
"But no help for yourself… and they don't care about you…"
"That's not true…"
OGM that was so cool! You really have a way with creativity! You know exactly how to make it seem like Robin has feelings.
Interesting, it should be fun seeing where this goes.
Dear Robin: Okay to answer the questions, HELL YES I AM AMUSED!
THANKS FOR A GOOD READ
I am so going to write a completely boring happy days story. Where everything is perfect. THEN I SHALL KILL THEM ALL! MWAHAHAHAHAHA!
This story is very enticing.
Ha-ha, this is hilarious!
Okay that was weird...
I have to say this story makes me feel (remotely) bad about what I write in my stories, I might have to make a sappy lovey-dovey story now. Or, continue my sadistic pleasure in each titan and their foolish pains...
Do Terra next! And Titans East!
Normal human voice, "It's quite alright, I thought that model of Grievous was getting out of hand anyway. I can always build another, heck an even better one."
You, are a GOD!
Well, that cheered me up!
Awesome chapter! The fights are so cool! I wonder what's going to happen next!
Heh heh...too cool. Just too cool.
This just keeps getting better and better.
"Is this why you are fighting?"
"There is more to it than that, there are more words…"
"But what about THESE ones? You cannot blind yourself to this! Read it and weep, it's as clear as day. THEY DON'T CARE! They don't care and they don't learn, and if they cannot learn then why bother trying to help them?"
"Because it is right…"
"SHUT UP WITH RIGHT! I'VE HAD IT WITH RIGHT, WE'VE HAD IT WITH RIGHT! GOOD AND MORALITY? ALWAYS HAVING TO FIGHT SOME WEIRDO ALONG WITH SOME POINTY EARED OBSESSED FREAK WHO WEARS HIS UNDERWEAR ON OUTSIDE. IS THAT THE RIGHT WE HAVE TO FIGHT FOR? THE WORLD IS CHANGING, GET WITH THE PROGRAM, YOU CANNOT CHANGE THE WORLD, THE WORLD WILL CHANGE YOU! NO ONE CARES ABOUT THE OLD VALUES ANYMORE! THEIR TOO OBSESSED WITH GETTING WHAT THEY WANT THEY JUST WANT TO TEAR THOSE OBSTACLES DOWN! PRETTY SOON THEY WILL SINK SO LOW THEIR WON'T BE ANY LOVE, HOPE OR ANY FAITH LEFT! THEY DON'T NEED IT! YOUR OUTDATED, OUTDONE AND OUTMATCHED WONDER BOY. STOP FIGHTING THE TIDE AND JOIN US! LISTEN TO ME, TO YOU!"
"AND JUST SIT THERE WHILE MORE DIE; WHILE MORE ARE LOST TO YOU?"
"IT IS THEIR CHOICE, YOU CAN'T FORCE THEM! THAT'S THE CATCH! IT'S ALLTHEIR FAULT, THEY CHOSE THAT WAY! THAT'S FREEDOM FOR YOU! THEY WILL GO DOWN AND THERE IS NOTHING YOU CAN DO TO STOP IT!"
"BUT IT'S THE WRONG WAY! DON'T YOU EVEN CARE?"
"OF COURSE I CARE! I AM YOU! WE ARE THE SAME ONE! WE LOVE STARFIRE, WE LIKE PLAYING VIDEO GAMES AGAINST CYBORG, WE GROAN AT BEASTBOY'S JOKES AND I STOP RAVEN BLOWING HIM UP! DAMN YOU, I AM YOU! I WANTED JUSTICE, I WANTED PEACE AND I WANTED TO SAVE LIVES, BUT WHAT IS ALL THAT IN REALITY?"
"IT HELPS PEOPLE THROUGH REALITY. IF WE ARE THE SAME, WHY DON'T YOU TRY TO HELP THIS STORY? WHY AREN'T WE ONE?"
"BECAUSE WE DISAGREE, BECAUSE YOU DISAGREED WITH YOURSELF! BECAUSE THE STORY DOESN'T HELP PEOPLE ANYMORE, IT'S NOTHING ANYMORE. WHAT'S THE USE? THEY JUST WON'T LISTEN TO US!"
"DAMN YOU I AM PART OF THEM! WE ARE PART OF THEM, JUST AS THEY ARE A PART OF US! FOR EVERYONE WHO FALLS, I LOSE A PART OF MYSELF! DO WE NOT SUFFER AS WELL? I WON'T JUST STAND HERE IN MY OWN FANTASY WHILE THOSE I CARE FOR, FRIENDS, BROTHERS, SISTERS, MOTHERS AND FATHERS. I WILL NOT LET YOU TAKE THEM!"
"THEY DON'T CARE ABOUT WHAT I HAVE TO SAY!"
"THEY MAY NOT SEE ME, THEY MAY NOT LIKE ME AND THEY MIGHT JUST CARE JACK $:)$! ABOUT ME, BUT I WON'T GIVE UP ON THEM, I WON'T LET THEM DIE BECAUSE I STILL CARE ABOUT THEM!"
"THEY DON'T CARE! THEY WILL KILL YOU BEFORE THEY LISTEN. BE ORIGINAL FOR ONCE AND JUST DIE!" and Robin leaps forward, twirling his weapon by his side to clash with his other self.
"STOP!" yells out Robin, flinging himself off. "I DON'T WANT TO FIGHT ANYMORE, I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE! JUST STOP!"
"WE HAVE TO FIGHT, WE ALWAYS HAVE TO FIGHT! WE JUST CAN'T STOP IT! IT'S THE WAY WE WERE MADE!"
"But I want to stop! I can't keep doing this! I can't keep on hurting people to solve my problems. I can't win this way! This isn't how I'm meant to end this… that's why I'm still here… No one wins in war!"
"Fighting is what makes us different from many other characters. Our style, our weapons and our strength helps to define us for who we are! It is fighting that created us! Would you push that aside; would you knowingly delete yourself?"
"There's more to me than just violence and wrath! If I, we, were just a being of hate, anger and muscle, everything that we struggle for is in vain!"
"Then why do they make us fight? Why do they keep sending us to do this?"
"They don't have to anymore…" and he throws the battered pole at his feet.
"What are you doing? Pick up your weapon. Are you mad? I'll kill you…"
"It's not the way. I don't have to and I won't fight you."
"…"
"I can't be doing this anymore… it isn't right! I won't live with this guilt, that my whole life is centred on fighting, where I only wanted to put things back to how they should be…"
"You're a near sighted idiot! Your standards are too high. No one can shun evil forever. What you ask is not only impossible, it's hypocritical and perfectionist."
"I don't want everyone to be perfect! Anyone who thinks they are is a liar! No one can be perfect, there is a freedom to be different, to be respected for what you are, and to be known for who you are inside. I'm only saying people should try to be good, to try to hold on to those things that hold us together. I can't force them to listen, and I know that it's impossible to be good all the time… but to keep trying. I see people failing and I'm saying there is a way out… just hold on."
"You're still asking too much…"
"WHAT CAN I SAY THEN? JUST KEEP DOING BAD STUFF AND NEVER EVEN TRY TO DO GOOD? NEVER TRYING TO MEND YOUR MISTAKES, TO HELP OTHERS TO MAKE THE WORLD BETTER! I'M HERE TO TRY AND HELP THEM OVERCOME THEIR PROBLEMS BY GOING THROUGH THEM MYSELF… hopefully finding a way…"
"WHY SHOULD WE EVEN HAVE TO TRY? THE WRITER COULD JUST MAKE IT OUT THAT WE WIN, WITHOUT PAIN!"
"Then there would be no connection with the reader's pains! How can a writer possibly confront his fears if the one he is relying on can't relate to him, if both cannot share the despair, then there is no relationship, no understanding that can help pull them through."
"You :)! You would sacrifice yourself even if…"
"Yes! Even if they are the ones who kill me are the ones who I try to help! That's what love is!"
"I've had enough of listening to you, to following these rules! I've had enough of doing what I should do, what about what I want to do?"
"They can be the same!"
"They're not always the same! NOW FIGHT ME!"
"NO!"
Robin runs at Robin and tries to meet him in combat, but Robin retreats to the void. Rushing there, here and every where, Robin tried to catch his other, but he just kept slipping away in the nothingness.
"I WON'T LET YOU WIN! I CAN'T LET YOU LIVE! YOU'RE THE ONLY THING STOPPING ME FROM TURNING THIS STORY TO MY VENGENCE! NOW FIGHT!"
"You are the only thing stopping me from ending this story how it should end, where there is hope!"
"THEN KILL ME AND BRING HOPE YOU COWARD! COME OUT AND FIGHT!"
"I am you and you are me; I'm just fighting against myself! Don't you realise what I am doing? Can't you just see why what you are doing is wrong?"
"It's too late to change me Robin…" says the shadow. "I have already got him…"
"Let him go!"
"He is mine… he is one of you who gave up, who failed and turned to his own wants and power. He is an alternate reality of your unreality. And everything, once you fail, will be mine in this realm…"
"One of many; you can't take over the zillions of others! You're limited to one writer!"
"Fool! Do you think that I WANTED to be shown here? I'm in EVERY story! I'm in ALL imagination! Secretly doing what I do best in order to try and corrupt these stories and turn them into what could harm, transforming them into nothing that could actually help them, with nothing 'good' to say or try to hold to. This story unmasks me! It warns my approaches! It shows that I'm truly here! Maybe not quite like this form, but there are powers that are at work here that will frighten many; so out of this world few can believe it, and few ever will…"
"…"
"Now you see that you have no choice… fight me!"
"I will not."
"This is the only way this story can finally end…"
"I don't need to."
"And if this story doesn't end… there will be suffering… such that it will rot your heart from within…" and he holds the pole over his head, above the cringing man. There is no description save he is a man in fear. "Now fight me!"
There is hesitation. "… No…"
The bar comes down and the body falls lifeless. A woman appears next… "Fight me!"
"YOU CAN'T! I WOULDN'T…" but the bar connects with a sickening crunch.
The body falls, followed by a piece of skull. A child appears… "FIGHT!"
"STOP! DON'T YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING? DON'T YOU KNOW WHAT I AM DOING? STOP, DON'T DO IT! PLEASE!"
The child falls to the attack. The next apparition is a face that Robin recognises, and before he can decapitate it, Robin smashes into him…
"JUST STOP! I CAN'T DO THIS! YOU CAN'T DO THIS! THIS ISN'T HOW I'M MEANT TO BE!"
The two roll along the desolate landscape, the poles out of reach. One gets the better of the other and starts pummelling him.
"WHAT IS IT TO YOU? THEY WERE NOTHING! THEY WEREN'T EVEN DISCRIBED! THEY AREN'T WORTH $$:)! THAT'S WHAT I HATE ABOUT YOU! ABOUT ME! YOUR GOODNESS STOPS ME FROM DOING WHAT I WANT TO DO, COMPLETING THE URGES I FEEL AND HAVING THE POWERS THAT I COULD HAVE! YOUR GOODNESS WEAKENS ME!"
The other struggles out, locking his opponent.
"GOOD ISN'T WEAK! IT JUST ISN'T ABOUT FIGHTING! IT'S ABOUT SAVING!"
The other flips him over and football tackles him into a rock. They start strangling each other.
"WHY BOTHER WITH GOOD IF YOU CAN'T EVEN SAVE YOURSELF! I COULD BE SO MUCH MORE IF YOU JUST DIE! YOU WILL DIE! YOU WILL LOSE AND THESE $$:)$! WRITERS CAN GET A STORY THEY CAN LAUGH ABOUT! GOODNESS IS NOTHING!"
A punch…
"IT'S THE ONLY THING KEEPING PEOPLE TOGETHER! IT KEEPS US STRONG!"
A punch and a groan
"IT IS WEAKNESS!"
A punch and bruising
"IT IS THE RIGHT WAY!"
A punch and blood
"IT IS ILLOGICAL!"
A punch and broken bone
"EVERYONE NEEDS IT!"
A punch with hate
"IT WILL KILL YOU!"
A punch with nothing left
"IT WILL SAVE ME!"
A hesitation…
…
"It is your undoing… friend…" says Starfire
…
Robin hesitates and backs away, but too late as a starbolt sizzles his skin and throws him at a broken pillar. He cries…"Why?"
"Now do you see! See what your 'love' gets you in the end of things?" says Starfire, throwing another token Starbolt at his leg and he screams out. "Is this the victory you had planned? Is this the hope of which you wanted so badly to achieve?" and she kicks him over the pillar at his pole arm.
"No! This can't be happening…" he gasps, hitting a starbolt away, but not daring to hit it back at her. "You would NEVER do this! Not in the worst nightmares could you turn to this!"
"But I am your worst nightmares friend Robin. For I am of imagination. I can form into what ever character I like, save that an imagination, even if it be only one, creates this feeling in me."
"But why?"
"Do you know what it is like to be me? To be endlessly abused, raped and lusted after? To always be treated as naïve, stupid and as an air head? These things have filled me with such hate that I cannot hold it back, behind smiles and petty looks any longer! I joined him! As did you and as did all others in one reality or another, where things just became too much for us, or where the writers wanted us to become corrupt. If you want to save yourself, then strike me!" she says, standing point blank. "Kill me and end this."
Robin drops the pole. "I… I can't…" before he can even finish that word, he is mercilessly punched into the dirt and kicked against a rock.
"Strike me down and will all be over! FINISH THIS STORY!" three starbolts electrocute him.
After coughing and struggling to breathe he gasps. "No!" and he is throttled and chucked away. He curls into a ball to soften his fall.
"Just strike down Starfire and it will be over! Done! The end and the pain for all can stop!"
"I want to help you!"
"Then kill me!"
A starbolt tightens him into a foetal position.
"We're on the same side! We always were!" cries Robin. "What ever is wrong with this realm I still will not kill you! "
"But I am not me, I'm the demon inside. I am the gift, I am the rift that separates a good character from an evil one. Strike me down if you care!"
"You're still in there Starfire. There is still a chance there is always a chance! Damn you I love her…"
"But I do not love you any longer Robin. Nor have I loved you, for we are not real. how can you or could you ever help me when you are nothing but imagination? how can we help each other when we are not even here? we don't have the power to do such things! my life is a waste, and so will this story! Strike me down and it will be done."
"Not if it means killing her too…"
"She chose this; in her despair and agony she made this decision herself. YOU cannot make that decision for her! You cannot change her. She is mine! Now kill her and you will get rid of me! Is that so hard to understand? Is that so evil?"
"I don't want to kill anymore. ' Cries Robin. "So many lives were just wasted away and I hardly cared. Every one as valuable and as sincere and as real as me and I killed them… I hurt and pained them… I can't do this anymore… I won't let myself do these things anymore. I cannot fight you anymore…"
"You give in then?"
"I don't give in… I refuse to hurt anybody. I only want to help save people…"
"Then save yourself at least! Don't let your love for this form get in your way!"
"She is not merely a form! She is a hero! She fought, died and saved! She cared, loved and hoped along side us! She may have chosen to fall under you but I know she is still in there, as is every other character you can throw at me! Raven, Beastboy, Cyborg and everyone else! I cannot hurt them, even if it means I can destroy you! I love them too much! I care for them! Even Shekron, even the Joker, I know now that they are just templates of evil, that there is good in all, it just needs to be found… Starfire… You have everything to lose if I kill you… I have nothing to lose if you kill me; but I gain just a hope that it may be enough to save you…"
There is silence. Robin knows that one more hit and it is all over for him. A punch, a step or a rock was all that was needed to finally shatter him into the thoughts that had formed him, where there could be no return for him to save this story…
He hears a sound. A meow? He looks at Jackalobe, sitting a few feet away, looking, as if confused at him; wondering why he didn't get up. He looked back with dilute and red eyes and felt something… something like a connection… a connection with everything.
He was a character, a figment of the imagination. Yet Jackalobe was real. How can they be linked? He was a part of the real world as the real world was a part of him. He was connected to every being on the Earth, to every writer and reader and to every one who issues a thought, yes he was there. A hero in times of dire need. Not just Robin, but all heroes, that's what he represented, that was how he was connected to all.
That's how they all would perish…
"She doesn't care anymore friend Robin." she says, standing over him with starbolt in her hand. "Your love has brought you down. There will be no victory for good this story… I have finally won!"
Robin couldn't strike, not at one he cared for. He hoped that something in his sacrifice may awaken some good left in Starfire… There was little hope in his own strength… only Starfire could save him now.
"You are always in my heart Star… you were and always will be along with all the other's... You knew that once. I know there is still hope. I believe in you. I know that it is such inside of you."
"I know that such is your end now… hero…"
The starbolt connects with the head…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
"I will not let you touch him again!" says Starfire defiant, on the ground where Robin was with her hand smoking where she had shot Starfire in the face. The other gets up with eyes of hate, just in time to get hit by a melee of lasers and bolts from the new saviour.
"NO!" she screams out, struggling to her feet. "I WAS SO CLOSE!" and she fires at Starfire.
Starfire flies up and over the shots to the shadow and belts it with a mighty kick. The shadow falls badly broken in a messed heap.
"I know I'm in there… just keep fighting against it!" says Starfire. "I am not going to let myself fall to evil. I will not let you end this story in darkness!"
"NO! I WILL NOT LET GO OF THEM! THEY ARE MINE! YOU ARE MINE" Raven screams, throwing masses of lava, rocks and dust over. Eyes split and red glowing, cloak in tentacles reaching and stretching the ground.
Starfire looks on steadfast and she glows so that the bright light of Raven shatters the debris and foils the form of the evil Raven. A beam hits and pins the dark self to the floor, forcing a crater.
The white Raven releases the shot and flies down. "I will not be a victim of what I fear. I will not become the thing I dread most. I know that I am still there; I want to become what I always, deep inside, who they truly wanted to be."
Cyborg leaps out and screams from the crater, firing his sonic cannon. Raven looks up and his sonic cannon matches the evil version. Both Cyborg's wrestling for power, but for some strange reason, the good version holds stronger and the shadow is blasted again.
"Listen! I know you don't want to be evil! Just let go of our pride and hate! I'm trying to save you! Let go of him!"
The T-rex strikes out, but the other Rex slams its tail upon its head. It then rams the shadow against a ruin of columns. Beastboy transforms back into himself.
"Man it's good to know we're still here!" he says gladly.
"You will not stop me!" shouts Beastboy. "I am the evil of all imagination! I am everything corrupt that has been inflicted upon everything in the mind! every person who ever thought has spawned me throughout all of long history! Who are you to challenge a being such as I!"
"Heroes! I thought you knew?"
Shadow flies with his sword in hand, teleporting out from a shadow. Yami faces him and blocks him with a shadow shield. Shadow snarls and keeps striking at the shield, fracturing it slowly. Yami releases it and his staff hits the sword away. A blast from the staff freezing Shadow in a sort of dark ice.
"I know you can change. I always have and I always will!" says Yami. "Let go!"
Icarus bursts the ice like glass, his wings outstretched he summons out his tonfas, but he has hardly any time to move before the other Icarus steps on him.
Getting up they force a melee of close range attack. Both get their weapons trapped and the shadow head butts the other. The other Icarus knees him in the groin and flying in mid air, double kicks him away.
The Synn's clash high in the sky, but once again the good side prevails and the shadow is thrown to the earth.
"You are one persistant bad guy do you know that?" says Synn, spinning her glaive. "You really tarnished my reputation back there. Now back down!"
Two figures leap at each other with lightsabres flaring about. The Grievous double are going haywire, but soon one is made armless. But a shadow begins to stir over the realm…
Pakkurath, wrapped in his dark garbs of sinister design looks upon the simple white clad trench Pakkrat, gleaming.
"Are we really the same?" says Pakkrat.
"I don't really know. Do you think so?"
"Let him go."
"I don't think a villain such as I should back down to a thug like you Pakkrat!" says Pakkurath, summoning his demons and elemental orbs around him.
"Hit me with your best shot sorceror!"
Pakkurath starts to casually throw everything at Pakkrat with a motion of his little finger… then his index finger… then with a hand… then with both hands… then screaming out every incantation he knew as Pakkrat merely walked through the festering dark arts with ease. Pakkurath lathers a punch of elemental power, but Pakkrat catches it and with a shocking haymaker, bats the villain for a six.
"He really is a despicable monster1" says Pakkrat, rubbing his sore knuckles. "I really think he deserved that, but he's still in need of help."
"I don't need your help!" says Shekron, arising from the dust.
"Only we can end this." says Shekron. "In our confusion and anger we split them, we devided them into different paths, and now we must fight to keep them!"
"Then let me kill you once and for all… hero!"
They were all that was left… Death loomed and their blades struck with a great flash and clashing of metal and strength…
"I've seen this before…"
"So have I!"
They push off one another and one dagger is deflected with Shekron's wrist blade. A sonic blast hits the ground, sending bodies flying, yet Shekron leaps away and they stand off again.
"You cannot win if you kill me, and you cannot save them! It is too late!"
"It is never too late."
Like a flash of lightning they clash again and again and again. A knife sheaths out from his boot and he kicks out at the gut. The other blocks with his wrist blade and tries a slash with his sword at the head which is dodged under. They hold up their palms and fire, sending them both flying in the air and flipping back to their feet.
"There is good still in there, despite all the anger, hate and greed there is still something there that just needs to be awoken! I know that you, that I can pull out from that snare!"
"You can never him out from me! He is mine! Let me take him, let me take them! Save yourself!"
"I want to save myself, and them. LET THEM GO!"
Slash, hack, stab, block, slash, block, block, block and stab and then both swords fly from their hands in the ferocity. With wrist blades and leg blades extended, they start slashing at close quarters, blocking each other's limbs with amazing speed, power and accuracy. Firing at each other, they dodge their blasts and leap to their weapons. Blasting another round, they block with their large broad swords effectively and stand off again… a little tired…
"This sword killed us you know…"
"I am well aware of that now…"
"It is going to kill us again…"
Like great blenders, they spin and fight. Each one being equally matched on the grim battlefield… but only one would eventually prove the victor…
"Now one of us will die."
"Not die… I'm still in there!"
"What can you do to pull him out? He made this decision! He made this choice! He chose me and now he will pay! Stay out of this! Let your other side go! It is too late for him! This realm is mine!"
Slash, hack, stab, block, slash, block, block, block and stab stab stab stab STAB!
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Shekron looks around himself… but he is alone. Not even a corpse is to be seen. As if the other had just vanished.
"What is this? Where are you?"
"The end…"
There is a silence as the shadow realises what had happened.
"…No…"
"There is good in here! The evil runs deep but it can be broken! Fight it!"
"NO!" and Shekron clutches his head. He is, as he was, whole again…
"You will not take a hold of me! You will not drag them down! You will not take them away!"
"THEY ARE MINE! YOU ARE MINE! THERE IS NO MORE HOPE FOR THEM OR YOU! YOU WILL DIE AND THIS STORY WILL BE OVER FOR GOOD!"
"THERE IS ALWAYS HOPE! YOU ARE DEFEATED! I DO NOT WANT POWER! I DO NOT WANT TO CAUSE PAIN OR SUFFERING, NOT EVEN TO THOSE WHO PUT IT UPON ME! I CARE FOR THEM, CHARCHTERS AND WRITERS AND READERS, ALL OF THEM! I WILL NOT LET YOU DESTROY THEM! I DO NOT NEED YOUR POWER! I DO NOT NEED YOUR 'GIFT' FOR I HAVE FOUND THAT EVERYTHING THAT I COULD EVER HAVE WANTED HAS ALREADY BEEN GIVEN TO ME! THAT I CAN BECOME WHO I WANT TO BE BY STICKING TO A GOOD HEART, WITHOUT HAVING TO STRAY AWAY, LOST AND ALONE! YOU HAVE BEEN DEFEATED! THIS REALM IS FREE!"
There is a great piercing scream as the shadow flies out of the realm. The scenery erupts so violently it sucks itself into its own gravitational instability, warping itself into complete darkness of negative energy… then there is the void…
…
Slowly the colours return to the dreams, the thoughts and the words. The characters move on as they always have, and the stories move upon them as they always will…
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You won but I will still be out there… Stories and thoughts will still fall to me… What if I was defeated?... I will win others…
There will always be good to stop you… There will always be others to fail your plans…
But for how long…?
As long as there is imagination… but now… I have some work to do…
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"Wow! How did you guys know it was my birthday?" says Robin blushing a bit as he sees the large party set up in their home… their home.
"And miss out on an excuse to par-tay?" says Cyborg, slapping his back. "Are you kidding?"
"And miss out an excuse to put a ridiculous party hat on Rae?" says Beastboy grinning. "Are you kidding?"
Raven looks up at her large Napoleonistic, multi coloured hat, then at Beastboy and blows her party blower at him.
"And presents!" jumps up Starfire, throwing the boxes everywhere. "I am so happy for you friend Robin! Such a joyful and festive occasion for you!" and she helps Cyborg haul in the rather large cake.
"Thanks guys." sighs Robin. "I don't really know why, but this really seems a lot better than what I expected…"
"And what do you mean by THAT?" says Beastboy a bit offended. "It took me a while t get this stuff organised you know!"
"Actually that could explain a lot!" says Raven. "Besides, you only bought the party hats!"
"I still think they're cool!"
"Actually that could explain a lot!"
"H-E-Y!"
"No guys!" says Robin with a sweat drop. "I meant, it feels a lot greater than… well… usual."
"Post birthday surprise stress syndrome." says Cyborg.
Starfire shakes her head "I think I know what Robin is trying to communicate. I also feel very… um… very more grateful that we are here. I do not really know sure why, but it is a good feeling. That we are all here together as friends." and she smiles so much that she sheds a tear.
"Oh-oh!" says Beastboy.
"What?" says Cyborg, looking at the smiling/crying Starfire. "She ain't going to blow up or anything!"
Beastboy barges past the annoyed Raven "Out of my way Napoleon! She's going to…" but he's caught and hauled back by black energy where he is glared at severely. "Um… Okay! Maybe that was a little mean of me. But you don't HAVE to wear the hat, in fact you can put the hat away anywhere you like!"
"Do you really want to know where I want you to put this hat?"
"Are you okay Star?" says Robin a bit worried as she continues to cry. He taps her shoulder. "What is it?"
"I LOVE YOU ALL VERY MUCH DEAR FRIENDS!" she lets out and grabs all of them in a mighty mash of a constricting hug of affection. "I loveyouloveyouloveyouloveyouloveyou!"
"C-c-can't breathe!" manages Cyborg, who was too big to be hugged, so the arm went around his neck.
"My legs! My legs! I can't feel my legs!" struggles Beastboy who had tried to leap away, but was grabbed in mid flight.
"I think you'd better stop now Starfire." says Raven, going a little blue. "Before Robin's face turns into a tomato!"
Starfire apologises and they lift Robin to recover on the couch.
"I am so sorry friend Robin… I was merely trying to show how much I care for all of you. I did not mean to hurt you!" she says, passing him a king sized slice of cake.
"No worries Star. Sometime's pain helps us to bear things!" he says smiling. Starfire smiles back and stuffs her face with her cake.
"It does feel strangely better to see you guys. You know what? I suddenly feel like reading a good book!" says Cyborg, switching off the video game.
"I feel like writing a book." says Raven. "I'm glad we're all here too!"
"I don't know about you guys, but I'm up for some hero work!" says Beastboy, psyching himself up.
"On Rob's birthday? Are you nuts?" says Cyborg, tapping his head.
"I meant; HEROIC DANCING!" he says, sliding in with a sombrero and Elvis outfit. "Let's start the music people and let's get shaking!"
"I think I will go write that book…" mutters Raven, but she sits down and listens, trying to avoid watching Beastboy and Cyborg making complete fools of them selves. She can't avoid it for long as Beastboy starts shaking maracas beside her ears…
"Oh! Another chance to 'dig it' as like before! I will avoid a shovel and ask for a dance!" Starfire smiles; looking towards Robin.
"Err… Star, this sort of music isn't really for THAT dancing." he smiles back reminiscing their 'prom' dance.
"Oh, you just have to use your imagination R!" says Cyborg, rotating his midsection. He sees something run across "Where did that big fluffy cat come from? Oh heck! Let's just party on!" Raven smiles as she uses her power to control Beastboy's movements in some very awkward and crazy dance moves.
"I would be most honoured if you danced with along side me friend Robin." says Starfire. Robin laughs a bit. Starfire looks confused. "Are you laughing at my request friend?"
"No, it's not that." says Robin. "I, I just thought how silly it must seem for others to see us partying like this. After battling guys like Slade and Plasmus, this seems… well… unreal!"
"It is as real as you want it to be Robin…?... Hmmm? Why did I say that?"
"I guess this is a happy ending…?... Now why did I say THAT?" and they both laugh with each other.
"I do not think a story ends here friend Robin. But it would be nice if we could relive it again. It is times like this that makes who we are worth while. That after good that we do, that it does come back to us." and she helps Robin finish his cake. "Now (With a full mouth) let us dance."
"But I didn't say yes yet!" he smirks.
"Like that stops HER?" moans Beastboy, stretching after his episode with Raven.
"But I knew you would say yes." says Starfire.
Robin holds a smile over a thought "Am I really that predictable?"
Starfire looks disappointed "I just hoped you would." she sighed, leaving to her room.
Robin chuckles ."Of course I would." he says and Starfire beams. He joins her on the dance floor. "Besides, if I said no to you… I would never hear the end of it…"
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THE END
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But stay in tune for the OC redemption and soundtrack.
This story leads into Teen Titan's Songs which is nothing like this story at all, but a spoof of several music genres as the Titans are forced to work with the Penguin in a music fest to raise funds for an orphanage. If you don't want to read the entire thing, just read the first two chapters (Highly Recommended). They are spoofs of the Titan theme song that (From what reviews I got) seemed quite popular.