(the common room is dark as someone moves around and giggling insanely. Robin, Katy and Raven enter and flick on the lights revealing Beastboy.)
Robin: Um what are you doing, Beastboy?
Beastboy: uh… NOTHING! Absolutely nothing! (he tries to hide some sort of contraption.)
Katy: Just stop! I really don't want to know…
(Beastboy hastily cleans up his contraption and runs away. Almost like Speedy Gonzales)
Robin: What the heck?
Raven and Katy: (shrugs)
Starfire: Friend Katy! You will continue your story today?
Katy: Possibly…
Starfire: Please?
Katy: How can I say no to you, Star! Of course I'll start chapter 17!
Starfire: O glorious day! (jumps up and down clapping)
Katy: As soon as Cyborg, Dusty and Beastboy get here I will.
Starfire: Oh! Yes, they must be here to hear the rest of your story as well! I will go fetch them.
Dusty: (zooms around a corner) Somebody say something about Katy's story?
Katy: I'm finally ready to start another chapter.
Dusty: Yay.
Raven: I can't believe I associate with you people…
Disclaimer: I do not own the TT or Batman Beyond. Get off my case already!
A Robin's Story
Chapter 17:
Catastrophe Strikes!
"Richard?"
"Yeah."
'Who else would this kid be other than Robin! I'm in his mind! Duh!' Raven thought.
"What's your name?" Richard asked her.
"My name is Raven. Do you know me?"
"I don't think so."
'Wait, that doesn't make any sense. How could Robin not know who I am? But then, this is his younger self, hidden within his older self. So this kid, Richard, does not know me because the kid Robin never met me.'
"Do you know someone named Little J, Richard?"
"I think so."
"Can you show me where he lives?"
"I don't think I should."
"Why not? I'm here to help you."
"Huh?"
"Yes. I need you to take me to where Little J lives, right now, Richard."
"Okay, but you have to say---
Knowing what Richard was going to say next, Raven rolled her eyes and forced her self to say, "Please?"
"But that's not what I was going to ask."
"I don't have time for this, Richard. I need you to take me to where Little J lives."
"Follow me." Richard then took Raven by the hand and began to lead her out of Robin's memory hall, deftly avoiding the floating screens.
"Where are we going?"
"To where Little J lives, remember, Raven. That's where you want to go, right?"
Frustrated, Raven said, "Yeah, but that's not what I meant."
"What did you mean?"
"Where exactly are we going in your mind, Richard?"
"Oh, you'll see!"
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In the real world… Gotham… The warehouse…
In the years that had passed, Starfire realized that she had forgotten how good Robin was. To her, even Batman seemed to be having some difficulty in capturing him. Ever since Raven had told her to help Batman, they had been chasing Robin up and down, back and forth across the warehouse. Things around them were exploding and such in Robin's attempts to keep them away. They had been able to corner Robin about a dozen times, but every time Robin had pulled off some kind of stunt in order to escape.
Right now, they had lost sight of him. And Starfire was sort of lost inside the warehouse by herself. Starfire crept down a hallway, looking into various rooms, anywhere to find Robin. When all of a sudden someone grabbed Starfire and pulled her into another room. As the door closed behind her, Starfire let out a small, "EEP!"
A hand over her mouth silenced her in mid reaction, and a familiar voice said, "Don't scream. It's just me." Starfire was just able to make out the form of Batman in the darkness of the room, "And we're going to need a plan if we want to catch Robin."
Starfire nodded and said, "Perhaps you are right. What do you propose that we do?"
"I'll chase him back down to the basement, and you wait for us there. Let's go."
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In Robin's mind…
"Here it is, Raven. This is where Little J lives." Richard had brought Raven to what appeared to be the epicenter of Little J's power over Robin. It was just one room with a computer screen and another screen, which looked out into what Robin was seeing right now, set up on the other side of the room.
"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go destroy Little J!" Raven started forward but she didn't take three steps before walls shot up around her and Richard, "What the heck is going on here?"
"I knew this was going to happen…
"What are you talking about Richard? What's going on?"
"It's a maze… you have to go through."
"Of course, Little J would pull some kind of stunt like this! He's playing hard-to-get…and its really beginning to tick me off!" While Raven was ranting, Richard backed up a step or two. Raven was pretty scary when she was angry.
"I think I should stay here, Raven."
"No. You're staying with me Richard. You might be able to help me once we get out of this stupid maze. And I have a feeling it might be more than just a maze…" Raven took Richard's hand again and they started to walk through the maze. 'Raven has no idea how right she is,' Richard thought.
"You don't know how right you are Raven dearest." Richard and Raven spun around at the sound of Little J's voice.
"What's going on here, Little J? What's with the maze?" Raven demanded.
"Raven… Raven… I thought you knew by now that anything is possible inside of Robby's mind." Little J took a few steps toward Raven.
"What have you done with Robin?"
"Never mind him, now, Raven. He can't interfere any more."
Richard broke free of Raven's gripping hand and ran angrily, with tears brimming in his eyes, to Little J, "Where is he? What did you do to him? I hate you! I wish you were dead!" As he was saying this, Richard began to hit Little J with his small fists.
Little J, on the other hand, didn't seem at all bothered by this. He picked Richard up by the collar of his shirt and held him up at about arms length away from his face, "You, on the other hand, Richard… I must find a way to get rid of you." Richard took another swing at Little J's face, but Little J grabbed his wrist at just the right time. He chuckled, "Such a temper! Just like Robin…" Little J then must have done something because Richard disappeared for a few seconds, but reappeared within a small cage next to Little J. Little J then turned back to Raven, "Let's make a deal, Raven. Whoever makes it through the maze first gets to keep Robin. If I win, you leave and never come back. If you win, you can destroy me."
Raven thought for a few minutes before answering. She knew it wasn't a good idea to make a deal with the villain. How could she know that he would actually let her destroy him willingly should she win?
Richard grabbed the bars of his cage and shouted at Raven, "Don't do it, Raven! You can't trust him! He's evil!" Raven looked over at Richard and she thought she saw two people in the cage, one that looked like the young Richard and the other was the Robin she knew.
"Richard--Robin, I have no choice. If I let him win there's no telling what he'll do to you."
"You try my patience, Raven. Make your choice!"
"Alright. I'll play your little game."
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In the real world…Gotham… The basement of the warehouse… On the catwalk…
The door to the basement suddenly exploded off of its hinges and Starfire blasted the door before it could hit her head on. Before the dust even had a chance to clear, Robin sprinted through the cloud of dust only to skid to a sudden stop on the catwalk in front of a floating Starfire.
"Robin, stop! I do not wish to fight you…" Starfire raised her left hand and it glowed with a ready starbolt. Robin backed up a few steps.
"Give it up, Robin. You can't win." Robin spun around to see Batman emerging from the clearing dust behind him.
Robin surprised both Starfire and Batman with a slowly widening smile, "That's what you think…" He then pulled out the gun hidden within his coat and fired a few times at Batman, who was just barely able to dodge the bullets.
Starfire and Batman jumped on top of Robin, trying to wrestle the gun from his grip. Robin fired random shots at them. In the melee, a stray bullet found its way into Raven's chest: she had been meditating over in the corner of the room.
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(The room is silent.)
Katy: Guys? Guys! Why are you all so quiet? O my gosh, i killed the Teen Titans with a simple chapter!
Dusty: (jaw hits the floor)
Robin: (calms Katy down) Okay… that's pretty heavy stuff… I mean the part about Raven getting shot…
Starfire: (still covering her eyes) Is the bad part over?
Raven: I hope my death isn't permanent…
Katy: Do you really want to know? Cuz to find out, you'll have to listen to chapter 18.
Dusty: Where's Beastboy?
(A scream from outside the room.)
Robin: That sounds like Cyborg!
(Beastboy walks in, snickering.)
Raven: Here comes trouble…
Robin: Beastboy, what did you do now?
Beastboy: Nothing! (tries to hold in laughter but he can't) ahahahahahahah!
Robin: Beastboy! Where's Cyborg!
(Cyborg walks in with a bag over his head)
Cyborg: I'm right here, man…
Robin: What happened to you?
Dusty: Yeah what was with the girlish-screaming?
Cyborg: You don't wanna know…
Dusty: I'm curious now. You have to tell me!
Cyborg: (Tries to keep Dusty from pulling the bag off) No! Get off me! (Runs away from Dusty but she successfully gets the bag off. Cyborg has a black mustache and thick-rimmed eyeglasses drawn on his face with permanent marker.)
Titans, Katy, and Dusty (except Cyborg): HAHAHAHAHAHAH! (point and laugh at Cyborg)
Beastboy: (While everyone is laughing, pulls Dusty aside and whispers to her) That's nothing compared to what I'll do to you…
Dusty: Bring it on grass stain!