Chapter 11: Gym Curse
Morpheus led the Titans out a side door into what appeared to be a high school gym complete with pale yellow walls and well varnished floor. The doors slammed behind them echoing slightly before the hum of the florescent lights took over. Overhead the dim gray sky of the underworld gave them all a feeling they were in some forbidden pit.
Raven surveyed her surroundings and was overwhelmed with a strange sense of dread that she hadn't had since her last gym class. "All I need is my gym uniform and the nightmare will be complete," she mumbled to herself.
"Splendid idea," Morpheus walked by her and raised his hand.
In an instant the Titans costumes had changed. Raven wore black shorts with a pink T-shirt embroidered with "Azerak Girl's Academy" in black letters. Robin wore blue shorts with a white shirt with "Gotham High" stenciled across it. Cyborg wore gray sweat pants and an oversized hooded sweater with "State" printed across it. Beast Boy had purple shorts and a yellow T-shirt with "Zoo Cleanup Crew" on it. Morpheus wore a white shirt with Dream Academy nicely stenciled across it with oversized shorts.
"This gym class must be horrible!" Starfire cried. Her uniform consisted of dingy gray shorts and a long-sleeve shirt that were both too large for her.
Beast Boy looked down inspecting his uniform and shrieked. "Hey, that's not funny!"
Raven looked down then glared at Morpheus. "Can you take any more dignity away from me?"
Morpheus smiled slyly at her. "Hey, at least you're fully clothed in this nightmare." Raven quickly blushed and looked away.
"We'll need a referee," Morpheus announced to the group. "I'll be fair on this point. I choose Aeacus." An elderly man in a white toga appeared. In his right hand he held a small sapling.
The other Titans turned to Raven. "He's one of the judges of the dead; he's fair," she explained.
"Please, what is the purpose of this game?" Starfire inquired.
"The objective is to hit your opponents with the ball to get them out. The team that eliminates all their opponents first wins," Robin explained.
"That sounds simple," Starfire replied.
"It's also a lot of fun," Beast Boy added then turned to Morpheus who had taken his place on the other side of the gym. "Hey dream boy we've got you slightly outnumbered!" he taunted the immortal.
Morpheus walked towards the Titans. "Yes, it does seem you have a slight numerical advantage. All right, I'll add a few players to my side to make it even."
Morpheus raised his hand and two shades quickly appeared. One was a rather tall, thick fellow with dark hair in a pinstripe baseball uniform. The other wore tight leotard pants and a white muscle shirt covering a small but well built frame.
Cyborg and Robin gawked as they recognized their long-dead heroes from the past.
"It can't be," Cyborg stammered. "You're the sultan of swat! But you've been dead for decades!"
Beast Boy looked at the pair in curiosity, "Who are these guys?" he asked in frustration as he again failed to see the significance of the situation.
"What do you mean you don't know this guy? He was one of the best baseball players to ever wear the pinstripes! His home run record stood for almost 50 years." Beast Boy looked again then shrugged his shoulders. "Oh man, you don't know anything!" Cyborg said in frustration.
"Hey don't forget I was a pretty good pitcher with the socks," the shade said in a thick Brooklyn accent.
"I can't believe it," Robin stammered recognizing the other shade as the greatest escape artist of the 20th century.
"Ok, who's the other guy," Beast Boy glumly said expecting another lecture.
"Ah come on!" Robin mocked the others who didn't recognize him either. "This guy is one of the greatest escape artists of all time. Every magician pays homage to him. There wasn't a jail cell, box or straightjacket this guy couldn't get out of."
The shade laughed nervously and waved his hands as if pleading with Robin to stop, "Oh please do go on. It's been a long time since anyone sang my praises."
"I hate to breakup this love fest but I do have a stereo to win," Morpheus walked between the parties to gain their attention. "Let's get started." Morpheus held up his hand and a red ball instantly appeared in it. "My court, we go first." Morpheus causally tossed the ball to the man in the pinstripes. "James, can you hold on to this for safe keeping?" Morpheus held up the jar that held Raven's powers and shouted up towards James who was sitting at a table along one of the court's outer edges.
James looked up from his newspaper, "Oh I suppose, if I have to." The jar containing Raven's powers appeared on the table.
"I can't believe I'm playing dodge ball for my soul," Raven groaned in disgust.
"Don't worry Raven, the boys will come through for you," Cyborg confidently said.
"I have no powers and I hate this game," Raven added sourly.
"I don't care who dream boy conjured up, we're so gonna wipe the floors with these guys!" Beast Boy began mock dodging. The red ball suddely smashed into his face knocking him down. Robin and Cyborg hunched over their friend who lay sprawled out on the floor.
"Hey Aeacus, no head hunting!" Cyborg protested. Aeacus waved his finer in disapproval.
Robin and Cyborg pulled their woozy friend to his feet. "Did anyone get the number of that truck?" Beast Boy said as he struggled to stand up. Shortly afterwards the red ball smacked him in the groin. Beast Boy whimpered softly then collapsed in a heap as Robin and Cyborg grimaced in mutual pain.
Aeacus walked over and touched Beast Boy who was curled in the fetal position on the floor making him disappeared.
"Ok, where did he go?" Cyborg asked slightly concerned. Aeacus pointed behind them towards the ceiling. The remaining Titans looked up and saw Beast Boy meekly waving to them hunched over the top of the back wall.
"Ok Harry, who should we get next?' the man in the pinstripes asked squeezing the red ball between his hands deforming it.
The man in tights surveyed the remaining players on the Titan's side. "Well, the big guy looks like a good target."
"Sounds good to me," the man in pinstripes took aim and cocked his hand behind his head. "You ready for this big guy?"
Cyborg crouched in preparation. "Ok, the most famous player in baseball history is about to throw you a fastball. You can take him," Cyborg said attempting to psych himself up. In an instant the red ball was hurtling towards him. His eyes narrowed as he realized, "No I can't." The ball hit him solidly in the midsection knocking him to the floor. Aeacus strode over to the fallen Titan and touched Cyborg with his sapling sending him to the penalty box with Beast Boy.
"Not so easy is it?" Beast Boy mocked his friend. Cyborg looked down, grabbed a water bottle, took aim and squeezed its contents in Beast Boy's face. "Have some water and shut up," he dryly replied.
Starfire walked over and picked up the ball unsure what to do with it.
"Hey Babe, look at the funny bird," the man in leotards said.
"Come on you dame, get a wiggle on will ya. I may be dead but we ain't got all night!" the man in pinstripes said impatiently.
Starfire looked down at her clothes. "I don't believe I'm wearing a wiggle," she said unsure what to make of the two shades' comments.
Morpheus groaned hearing his shades' outdated insults. He walked over to them. "You guys have really been out of it for awhile; try wallflower."
Both of the shades shook their heads in confusion then shrugged. "Come on wallflower; show us what you've got," the man in pinstripes said in a thick Brooklyn accent.
Starfire's jaw dropped and her eyes grew green in anger. "I am not a wallflower!" she shouted then hurled the ball with great speed crushing the man in pinstripes. The ball quickly bounced back to towards Starfire who scooped it up and took aim at the second offender.
"Oh dear," was all the man in leotards could say before he was struck down. Aeacus walked over to the fallen shades, touched them with his sapling and the shades disappeared with a wail of agony.
Morpheus walked over and picked up the ball. "Ok, this has become quite tedious." Two sets of additional arms sprouted from his torso. Each hand held a red ball. Morpheus first took aim at Robin and hurled a shower of balls at him. Robin attempted to avoid the cloud of balls that descended on him but was struck several times. Morpheus quickly reloaded his hands and hurled another wave at Starfire who suffered the same fate as Robin. Aeacus quickly touched both players sending them to the box with Beast Boy and Cyborg.
Robin leaned over the wall and shouted in protest. "Come on Aeacus, how about some help here?"
Aeacus looked up then turned to Morpheus and waved his finger in disapproval. Morpheus smiled and his extra appendages disappeared.
Raven picked up one of the balls and looked at Morpheus. The immortal placed his hands on his hips and shot her a confident look. "Well it looks like it's between you and me now. Come on, throw the ball, all I need is one." Raven hesitated in frustration.
"Man, she's sunk." Beast Boy commented. "You know, those are some nasty looking uniforms," he continued.
Cyborg slapped the back of his head. "Come on, think positive," he countered then looked down at the situation. "Black and pink, what were they thinking."
"Come on Raven!" Robin shouted down in encouragement.
James looked up from his paper taking note of the scene. He propped his feet up on the table jostling the jar causing it to roll off the table and smash onto the floor releasing Raven's powers. "Oh dear," he said to himself feigning concern before turning his attention back to his paper.
"Maybe I should have taken fewer passes to the library during gym," Raven said to herself dreading her situation. She looked back to her friends and noticed a dark form slithering towards her. "What's this?" she said as she quickly realized what was approaching her. The form slithered to her foot and Raven could feel the tendrils of her powers work their way back into her body.
She smiled in anticipation. "Hey Morpheus, catch this!" All of the balls rose up under Raven's restored powers and hurtled towards the stunned immortal.
"Oh no," was all Morpheus had time to say before a hail of balls consumed him knocking him to the floor.
Aeacus walked over to Raven and raised her hand in victory then disappeared. The other Titans shouted their approval. Raven walked over to the fallen immortal who was still seated on the floor hugging his knees to his chest. She offered her hands and helped him to his feet. Morpheus looked up then gladly took her hands. Raven pulled him to his feet then flew them to the ledge where her friends met her with a boisterous welcome.
"Way to go Raven, you totally wrecked him!" Beast Boy cried as he slapped her back in congratulations. Raven briefly shot an annoyed look at her friend, but then quickly relented.
"Thanks guys. Now can we get out of these cloths, I'm having bad flashbacks," she directed her attention to her former captor.
"Oh come on, you look cute in pink," Morpheus replied with a half smile. Raven scowled and the immortal reluctantly agreed to her demand. "Very well then, but I rather liked them." In an instant the Titans reverted back to their original costumes.
"Well, how did it go?" Persephone suddenly came forward.
"I'm afraid we won't be staying," Raven replied with a slight tinge of triumph.
"See, mortals are more than capable opponents," Persephone lightly lectured her son.
"Yes, and I'll keep my word, though I'm bound to be grounded for decades," Morpheus replied.
"It's a shame I won't be around to see the look on your dad's face," Raven chided.
"I'll draw a picture for you," Morpheus quickly replied.
"James, get the chariot out. We need to take our guests home," Persephone announced.
James nodded and headed towards the stables.
"Hey mom, can I drive?" Morpheus asked with a slight glint of hope.
"Oh, don't even think about it," Persephone quickly countered.