Part 7- Friends Reunited
(Everyone does their best to sleep through the night. Upon sunrise, Robin and Echo immediately resume their trek. They learn that the waterfall they found was issuing from a mountain and they decide to explore its' perimeter.)
Robin: I hope we find them soon… If only my communicator wasn't missing! Without it, I have no way of contacting the others to know if they're even alive… (Punches a nearby section of stone) Why didn't I prepare for this!?
Echo: Oh, come on, mate, ye couldn't've thought to… Hey!
(Echo turns to a less steep section of the mountain and begins climbing.)
Robin: Where are you going!?
Echo: Ye gave me an idea; just follow me!
(Echo leads Robin up to a rocky ledge some fifteen feet from the ground.)
Robin: Now what?
Echo: Heh heh… I never actually thought I'd use this…
(Echo reaches to his patch. For a moment, Robin thinks he is going to use his fatal final Reality spell, but Echo simply reaches into what seems to be a hidden pocket on the back of the patch and retrieves a small, thin whistle.)
Echo: Now we'll see…
(Echo puts the whistle to his lips and blows sharply as if calling to a ship. There is a pause, then five other whistles respond.)
Echo: Ha ha! They made it, those scurvy dogs, they're alive!
Robin: And my friends?
Echo: I couldn't tell ye mate. With any luck, they survived too.
Robin: So what now?
Echo: Now… (slides to a sitting position against the mountain wall) …we wait. I hope they reach us soon. Miss Gemini wasn't looking so well even before she was attacked…
Robin: Why? What's wrong with her?
Echo: Not sure exactly. Seems like she's always goin red in the face and havin trouble talkin normally.
Robin: Huh? Wait a second… Is she only like this at certain times?
Echo: Actually, now that ye mention it… It seems to get worse whenever I talk with her.
Robin: (chuckles) Don't worry. If I'm right, she's not sick.
Echo: Then ye know what's ailin her!?
Robin: I think… she's just like that because she likes you.
Echo: 'Course she does; we been on the same crew fer years!
Robin: No, I mean… likes you.
Echo: What? (laughs) Oh, come off it now mate! Miss Gemini doesn't feel that way about me! We're shipmates; nothin more, nothin less.
Robin: Well, maybe…
(The scene is now near the stream in the woods, minutes before. Gemini gives a huge yawn and rises from a make-shift bed of palm leaves. She turns to Starfire's bed and her mouth drops open as she sees Déjà Vu leaning over her new friend, trying to kiss her. She turns to the stream and seizes a large frog then walks towards the Frenchman. The scene shows the treetops for a second as a high-pitched scream slices the air, then shifts back to Starfire, who is now blinking awake.)
Starfire: Um… why is the Déjà hugging the top of that tree?
Gemini: (chuckles evilly, holds up the amphibian) Because of this.
Déjà: Get it away, curse you!
Starfire: He dislikes the small green animal of the overlarge cheeks? Why? It is so cute!
Gemini: (snickers) He worked as an assistant cook in his parent's restaurant when he was five years old. Then, business went bad and they sold him to a circus. While he was working as a cook, however, he got an order for four-hundred pairs of frog legs. He didn't have enough, so he tried finding some raw material. It… didn't go so well.
Déjà: (now wide eyed and twitching) So… many…frogs… They were coming out of the woodwork, I tell you!
Gemini: Sure they were. Now pay attention, you shifty little freak. I'm gonna put the frog back and you can come down. But if you try any more funny stuff, I'll tie it to your face!
Déjà: Mademoiselle, you are cruel! Why do you deny an innocent boy a few simple pleasures in his life?
Gemini: You and innocence are like oil and water, you sicko!
(Déjà responds with a loud, wet raspberry. Gemini is about to respond, when a loud whistle fills the air. Gemini looks up at the sound, delighted.)
Gemini: Captain!!
Déjà: Mon Capitan! He calls to us!
(Déjà Vu slides down from the tree and reaches a hand to the chameleon on his jacket. Gemini's hand goes to her infinity symbol. Both pull out thin whistles from concealed pockets and blow a response. To their surprise, they hear three others join them.)
Gemini: The others! They're all alive!
Déjà: Oui, oui! Our shipmates, they are here!
Starfire: What is happening?
Gemini: Echo told us that if we were ever separated, he would blow on his whistle, we would respond if we heard it, then we would go to him! Come on, it came from over there!
(Also a few minutes before, the peace under a small mango tree was shattered by Photon's livid yell upon his awakening.)
Photon: WHADDAYA THINK YOU'RE DOING!? GET AWAY FROM ME!!
(Raven has just enough time to open her eyes and blink them once before she is given a hard shove that sends her flying five feet from where she was. She gets to her feet and spins around, now every bit as angry as Photon.)
Raven: What did you do that for!?
Photon: What were you doing leaning on my shoulder!? I told you to stay away from me, shadow-witch!
Raven: What are you talking about!?
Photon: I wake up, and I find you sleeping on my shoulder, all pressed up close! You think I want you within ten feet of me, let alone as close as that!?
(What actually happened is that Photon's earlier prediction that nighttime would be cold on the island came true. He had slept sitting against the tree while Raven slept a few feet away. At a particularly chilly moment during the night, Raven started sleep-walking as her body began to seek the closest available heat. Since a guy with glowing skin puts out a lot of heat, he was chosen as the designated warm spot. When he woke up… he didn't take it well.)
Raven: Look, bright-eyes, I don't know what you're dreaming about, but leave me out of it!
Photon: Fine!
(Photon gets to his feet, and stalks into the forest, fuming.)
Photon: If I've said it once, I've said it a million times before; Women are bad news! Give em just one inch, and they start trying to get their hooks into you. Well, not this man! Not in this life! I've a mind to take all of em and- What the-!
(As he has been talking, Photon has been walking around aimlessly and has just carelessly walked right into the jaws of a monster-sized Venus flytrap. Raven is sitting back under the tree, trying to remember exactly what she had been doing prior to her rude awakening, when Photon's shout reaches her. She follows the sound of his frustrated yells and finds him trying, without success, to push the jaws of the man-eating plant apart.)
Photon: Let me go, you poor excuse for a house plant! Darn it, I am not about to be plant food!
(Raven runs up beside the toothy flower and delivers a sweeping kick to its stem with enough speed to sever it. The plant topples over, and Photon pulls free, tearing his hat and jacket to shreds in the process.)
Photon: Curse it all! Well, these have no purpose now…
(Photon tosses his gloves into some bushes, the turns his shaded gaze to Raven.)
Photon: So, you have a reason behind this one? Hoping I'll warm up to you? Keep dreaming.
Raven: Don't be stupid. You saved my life, I saved yours; we're even.
Photon: Yeah, well, if I'd had my staff, I'd have… Wait a minute. Why don't I have my staff!? I had it last night!
(At that moment, Echo's whistle pierces the air.)
Photon: No way…
(He runs over to the dead flytrap and grabs the six-pointed starburst patch, all that remains of his jacket.)
Photon: Gimme that! (Pulls out the whistle and blows sharply. He hears the other four responses) So Gemini survived too… Ah well, not everything ends perfectly… Come on, shadow-witch, let's make tracks!
Raven: Any chance you want to tell me what's going on?
Photon: No. Just come on. Huh… can't believe the rest of the crew is gonna see the real me…
Raven: You know, I was thinking about that. If you control light, why not bend it around your body to give yourself a normal appearance?
(Photon stands shock-still for a full minute. He then marches off into the forest. Raven hears a loud pounding noise several times, then Photon returns, sporting a few lumps on his forehead and his sunglasses hanging from one ear.)
Photon: Anyway, let's get going… Oh, and another thing.
Raven: What?
Photon: You tell any of my crewmates that you saved me, I'll pulverize you.
Raven: Grr…
(Back in another part of the forest, a few minutes before, Beast Boy opened his eyes to find Medic already awake.)
Medic: Ah, you made it through the night.
Beast Boy: Wha-? Have you been up all night!?
Medic: No, not all night. Just the past three hours or so. You are my patient after all, so it is my job to ensure you a safe recovery.
Beast Boy: Uh… Thanks.
Medic: Think nothing of it… Eh?
(A whining buzz has just filled the air. Medic turns and spots a cloud of some type heading right for them. Upon closer inspection, it can be seen that the cloud is composed of very large bees, about six times the size of the average bee.)
Beast Boy: Ahhhh! What are those things!?
Medic: What-? (glances at the many remains of fruits nearby) Uh-oh… It appears that our feast last night has attracted some company. Well… (rises to his feet) …be that as it may, I simply cannot allow any patient of mine to be endangered. Excuse me, Beast Boy.
(Medic leaps into a nearby tree that is covered in thorns. He breaks several handfuls of these off and throws them into the cloud. One by one, the oversized insects drop to the ground, impaled by the thorns. After Medic has killed off about half of them, he jumps to the ground, pushes his glasses up his nose, and stands in front of the swarm.)
Medic: I will now ask you to leave. If you remain, then you are a threat to my friend and I will be forced to deal with you. So if you care at all for your lives, be gone!
(The insects hover in the air for a few seconds, then buzz away in the opposite direction. Medic heaves a sigh of relief.)
Medic: I am glad for that. To kill all of them would truly have been cruel.
Beast Boy: Dude! You totally kicked butt! Wait… you called me your friend…
Medic: We have gotten to know each other so well over the past day; would anything less have done?
Beast Boy: But you're a pirate.
Medic: I pledged my allegiance to Echo, not my soul. Who I count as my friends is my own decision to make.
(Echo's whistle cuts into the conversation.)
Medic: What? I do not believe it…
(Medic reaches into the pocket behind his red cross symbol and blows out his response call. The four other responses fill his ears.)
Medic: Photon! Déjà, Shotman! Even Gemini has made it! My friends are alive!
Beast Boy: So now what?
Medic: Now we go to find my Captain! Come, Beast Boy, I shall assist you.
(With one arm draped over Beast Boy to help him walk, Medic sets out for the source of the whistle.)
(Back in the rocky area, Cyborg opened his organic eye and stood up. He then heard a growl and opened his bionic eye. The infrared scan showed a number of creatures heading straight for him. As Shotman woke up, a pack of wild dogs ran into the camp.)
Shotman: Good morning, my shiny friend. What is that sound?
Cyborg: You remember me sayin I got our dinner from some wild dog? It had friends.
(The dogs leap at Cyborg but cannot bite his metal body. Realizing this, they head for the Blind Shotman. Shotman sits perfectly still, then, just as one leaps at him, he punches the creature and sends it flying straight back into the forest. The pack thinks that over and decides to take their hunt elsewhere.)
Cyborg: How'd you do that!? I thought you were blind!
Shotman: (chuckles) Being without sight enhances my other senses. Even without my Inner Eye, I could easily pinpoint the creature through sound.
(A loud whistle is suddenly heard close by.)
Shotman: That whistle! Echo is here!
(Shotman plunges a hand into his secret pocket and hastens to make his response. The other four whistles are heard, though not as close as the first one.)
Shotman: Those others belong to my friends! They are safe! Cyborg, quickly! Pinpoint that first whistle and bring me to it!
Cyborg: (Looking at his arm panel; the red dots reappear) Just a little more and… got it! That first one came from over there. By the look of things, they're right on the other side of this mountain. And the other ones are closing in fast. My friends could be there too! Let's go!
(Cyborg leads Shotman by the hand to the other side of the mountain. Echo spots them from the outcropping where he and Robin are perched and slides down the mountain wall on his feet.)
Shotman: My Captain!
Echo: Mister Shotman! Me trusted gunner, it's good to have ye back!
Robin: Cyborg! You're all right!
Cyborg: Robin! How ya been, my man!?
Photon: Captain! Finally, I was going nuts without anyone with an actual mind to talk to!
Raven: Did you already forget who saved your worthless neck back there!? Oh, hi Robin, Cyborg.
Echo: Mister Photon! Yer okay! An'… yer uncovered. What gives, me lad?
Photon: It's kind of a long story…
Shotman: What? Photon is uncovered at last, and I cannot see it! Fate works in cruel ways…
Robin: Raven, are you all right? This guy didn't hurt you, did he?
Raven: No, we reached… an understanding…
Cyborg: That's two of us so far. And by the look of it, there's two more comin from over there…
Beast Boy: Robin! Cyborg, Raven! I found you! Ouch…
Medic: Careful! You are not well enough to run. Captain! Shotman! And… who are you?
Photon: It's me, you idiot!
Medic: Photon!? You… um… you look… different.
Photon: Huh. Don't rub it in…
Medic: Actually, the sunglasses look better on you now…
Cyborg: B.B.! What's happenin? You all right, little buddy?
Beast Boy: Better then I could be. This guy helped me out a lot.
Robin: Really? In that case, let me give you my thanks on behalf of the Teen Titans.
Medic: Please, no thanks are necessary; I was simply fulfilling my duty as a healer.
Déjà: Mon Capitan!!
Echo: Déjà Vu, ye skirt-chasin' little lunatic! I was wonderin' when ye'd get here!
Starfire: Robin!
Robin: Starfire! You're alive! Gak!
(Robin is now having his throat crushed in a very tight hug. Since Starfire is currently without her Tameranean strength, Robin is not killed by the hug. Echo laughs, finding the whole thing extremely funny, until he gets to try it himself.)
Gemini: Captain! I finally found you! I was so scared; I thought you'd been killed! Huh?
(Gemini has just realized what she is doing and pulls back, every inch of her visible skin bright red.)
Echo: Uh… Right, Miss Gemini, good to have ye back as well… (thinking) Well! That's a far cry from her usual greetin, that's fer sure! I wonder if maybe…? No. As I said, we're shipmates. She doesn't think anything more of it, an neither do I.
Photon: (thinking) Hmph! I knew it! Women are all the same! Let down your guard and they latch right on like the parasites they are!
Déjà: Huh? Mon Capitan, who is this crazy-looking person? He looks like a firefly or something!
Photon: (vein popping in forehead) You find how I look funny, do you?
Déjà: Non, I find it hilarious!
(Echo and Medic seize Photon by the arms and hold him as he struggles to get at the snickering Frenchman, who is blissfully unaware of his possible impending demise.)
Photon: Lemme at him! Come on, one good hit is all I want! He's had it coming for years!
(Raven actually found Déjà's comment halfway amusing and gave it half a smile. Déjà glances at her and another thought pops into his head.)
Déjà: A-ha! I see it now! Photon, you have finally come around! All those years of criticizing my romantic attempts and now you have finally found someone for yourself! Excellent job, mon frere, excellent- Ouch!
(Déjà Vu has just been kicked very forcefully into the mountainside, headfirst, and driven into the stone up to his waist. Raven is breathing heavily and staring at the new crater with a look of pure venom. In the next second, cheers go up from Shotman and Medic, who both hold up signs reading "10", and Gemini actually shakes Raven's hand.)
Gemini: I think you and I are going to become good friends.
Echo: I hate to see one of me crewmates hurt but… he had that comin'.
Robin: Wait… did you hear that?
Raven: (growling) It isn't true!
Robin: No… (walks up to the mountainside and kicks it hard; a hollow sound is heard) …that.
Shotman: There is something inside…
Echo: But what?
Robin: One way to know.
Cyborg: Stand back.
(Cyborg brings up his Sonic Cannon, which he has managed to repair. He blasts the mountain and a doorway is revealed.)
Photon: Well, well… that doesn't look too suspicious.