Sitting at his desk with a bucket fall of popcorn, Arny watched the hanging TV in front of him in excitement.
"Come on, come on, get to the wreck!" The TV picture suddenly went static before changing to a paused channel. "H-hey! what gives?! I'm tryin' to watch CHiPs!" Arny then realizes that he had company. "Oh... it's just you awesome people... sorry... I kinda didn't expect to see you back so soon." He rubbed his arm awkwardly "Oh well, that just means we can get right back to the show." He smiled and with the remote in his palm, he unpaused the TV.
THE DISPATCH
Part 5: The Subway
The trio of Titans had been walking around the complex for a few minutes. They hadn't found anything out of the ordinary, but they couldn't shake the feeling that something was off. They backtracked all the way to the large security gate that had separated them earlier, Robin stole a glance at the entrance to the darkened room where had last seen his other teammates, a sense of guilt and uncertainty washed over him. They continued to navigate through the facility until the reached the hallway that lead to the way they came in. Turning the corner, they were all amazed at what the saw up ahead.
The emergency seal door had been opened.
"OH JOY! we have found the way out!" Starfire expressed happily and started sprinting down the hall. "Starfire wait!" Robin called out as he and Raven ran to catch up. She ran through the small hut building and exited out the narrow doorway. She then came to a juddering stop as her eyes meet the outside world. "Starfire! hold up!" Robin huffed as he and Raven arrived next to her, only to be stunned at the sight that greeted them.
It was broad daylight.
(MSP) Ambient Background Music - Cicada 3301
"What the..." Robin gazed up at the clear blue sky that surrounded the city. "We couldn't of been in there for no more than thirty minutes, how can it be daytime?" He questioned aloud. "We must have been knocked unconscious for a good few hours." Raven theorized. They Looked around in all directions and instantly spotted the T-Car. It was parked a few feet away from the entrance, it's front facing towards them. Just the way Cyborg had left it.
Discovering that neither Cyborg nor Beast Boy were present, Robin tried once more to contact them with his tracker. "Cyborg, Beast Boy, if you can hear me? please answer now." The screen remained blank... that was, until a muffled voice answered. "This is an urgent message for any surviving Teen Titan." The three Titans stared wide eyed at the device in their leaders hand. "The instructions that are about to be announced are important to your safety." The voice was different to the ones before, it was a lot more... gruff. "You must return to you headquarters immediately. Do not stop for anything. Activate lock-down mode. Keep all lights on. Stay away from the windows. Do not answer your phone. If you hear a noise from outside, do not search for it. If you see a light outside, do not go after it. If you hear a door or window opening from inside your home, find a place to hide and stay silent. If you see someone or something inside you home, do not look behind you or interact with them. If there is more than one of you, do not separate. If one of your teammates goes missing, do not search for them. This message will not be repeated." The strange transition ended, leaving a group of baffled Titans.
"Um... that was... most peculiar... was it that of an honorary Titan?" The redheaded girl asked. "I don't think so Star, they way it was presented, it sounded alot more like a computerized broadcast rather than someone actually trying to contact us." He put his tracker away and looked around. "Things just aren't adding up. We lost the intruder, we can't contact the others and now we're getting strange messages from unknown sources."
"Maybe... we should follow it's instructions." Raven's voice caught the others attention. "Someone has gone to great lengths in order to send us a message that may help us with... whatever has happened, even if it's telling us that we have to hide in our own home. We can't just ignore it." Although her masked leader didn't like the idea of hiding from a threat, he had to agree that she was right. "Alright... we'll head back to the tower and see if we can locate them on the main computer, their tracking devices should still be active." The other two nodded, and it was so. They climbed into the T-Car with Robin taking the drivers seat, luckily Cyborg had in-trusted him with a spare set of keys in case there was an emergency. They took one last look at the abandoned complex before Robin started the car. Even in the daytime, it somehow gave off an unearthly vibe.
(MSP)
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(MSP) Audionautix - Deep Space
Beast Boy wandered slowly down the cold tiled steps, reaching the bottom he followed a short path that lead to an open area. He climbed over the ticket gates and stood at the top of a pair of escalators heading down. The place was completely dark, as if the power wasn't even on. Staying on edge he advanced down an escalator, the metal echoing off the walls with each step. The lack of any other noise creeped him out. To one with animal instincts, there was always sound. But not here. Here it was... dead. His breathing and walking sounds didn't comfort him much either. Reaching the bottom he briefly morphed into a bat, equipped with night vision Beast Boy was greeted to the main lobby which had four other routes to take. Two square shaped passages were to his right along with two cylinder shaped tunnels in front of him, the left one being blocked off by a security fence barrier. Changing back to human he decided to try his luck with one of the passages to his right. Looking around as though something would jump out at him, he moved towards the fist square passage.
He made only a few yards down the path before his highly sensitive ears alerted him. He stopped and listened. Something was approaching, but it was coming from somewhere beneath him. Was it the sound of train arriving? he quickly turned back, making a sharp left into the second passage. He followed it to a stairwell and proceeded down them, rushing as quickly as he could. The sound of machinery slowing to a halt filled his ears as he neared the bottom. Hurrying down the final set of stairs, he turned a corner.
A train sat stationary at the platform ahead.
He rushed towards it, only to come to a sliding halt. The train stood empty and silent, not even it's engines were running. "Um... hello?" He called out. "Is anybody there?" All of it's electric doors were slid open, but there was no sign of life. Cautiously he stepped into the awaiting carriage, glancing around Beast Boy's shoe scuffed something, and he looked down. Squatting, he found of all things, a lighter. He identified it's shape. Clicking it once, twice, three times-! A spark ignited and a small flame was born. It lit the carriage just enough for him to see. "That's better... whats over there?" He walked towards the end of the carriage at the back of the train. He suddenly went pale.
(MSP)
A red substance was spewed all over the door to the rear cockpit.
(MSP) Soundscape for scary stories - Haunting
"What the hell! is this... blood?! for crying out loud! is somebody having a laugh?!" Deeply disturbed at what he'd found, he quickly backtracked and exited the train, reaching the stairs he noticed a set of brown colored double doors that had not been visible in the darkness. The green teen tried one of the handles, but it wouldn't budge. "Locked... figures." He mumbled before making his way back up to the main lobby. Arriving at the top, he noticed something was different about the room. "The round tunnel." He whispered. The fence barriers had been lifted up. Thoroughly confused, he edged towards the newly open passage. It was just as dark and unsettling as everything else. "HELLLLLOOOO-OO!" He shouted, holding the lighter up trying to see further into the darkened tunnel. There was nothing, his voice had been swallowed into the shadows.
There wasn't even an echo.
Feeling more disturbed by the events, he prepared himself for any danger and proceeded into the tunnel. Beast Boy could hear nothing but his own footsteps echoing off the concrete walls, he'd been in several of the city's many subway stations, but not this particular one. It's layout was different, having these seemingly endless tunnels that seem to be taking him further into the unknown. After a few more minutes of walking, he came to a stop. A barrier was blocking a set of stairs that was ascending upwards while a passage on the left had another set heading down. "Just how deep do these tunnels go?" Whispering aloud he hesitantly trooped down the stairs. Reaching the bottom he followed a short path that came to a 'T' junction, coming to another stop he looked down each passage.
His lighter showed that both ways were blocked off by a security barrier. Letting out a groan, he made to turn back. He suddenly paused... there was something on the floor by the left passage barrier. He edged a few steps, letting the small flame light up the strange mass. When it came into view he cried out in horror.
(MSP)
A pair of severed arms lay on the ground, fresh blood trailing from beyond the metal fence.
(MSP) Kevin MacLeod - Redletter
Beast Boy's cry echoed around the tunnel, drooping the lighter and plunging the tunnel into darkness. He had not been expecting something like this. Whats more, they weren't just anyone's arms... they were Starfire's. Cut form just above the elbows, the familiar Tamaranean gauntlets that covered her orange coated skin gave it away. Quickly retrieving the small device from the floor, he lit another flame and stood trembling at the sight. Beast Boy was lost for words. "T-this... this... c-c-can't b-be happening!" He stared at the severed appendages, not believing them to be real.
They began to move!
An icy chill shot down his spine, they were alive! the hands started to twitch and spasm, like a lizard's severed tail. But how was this even possible?! Starfire never mentioned anything about her people having this kind of ability. The arms then raised up, the hands and fingers supporting them like legs. They turned around and appeared to be staring right back at him. "Eh..." He was unable to form a sentence, for the next thing he knew, they were scurrying towards him like a pair of oversize arachnids.
With a terrified yelp he turned to run, but one arm latched itself to his right ankle! He squirmed. "Get off'a me!" He shook and kicked his leg, but the hand had a vice grip on him. He then felt the other arm crawling up his other leg, he tried to fend it off but Starfire's hands moved like rats. The other arm began to mirror it's companion, they crawled up to his stomach, then his chest, then... Oh God. Beast Boy gave a short-lived scream as hardened fingers clutched at his throat. "Ack! Guh...! He grunted as he was pushed up against the wall, his vision staring to cloud over. His legs thrashed about as he thought fiercely, trying to pry the iron gripped limbs off of his windpipe. His green face was starting to turn blue.
The hands tighten their grip every time he tried to exhale. With a last rational thought and a few seconds of air left in his lungs, he lifted his right arm, burning lighter in hand. He aimed for the exposed orange skin protruding out the top of the gauntlet, and shoved the small device into it with force! The left arm instantly went up in flames, making an unearthly noise as it let go and fell to the floor. Feeling his lungs regain air, he re-lit another flame and stuck into the other possessed limb. It let out a loud squeal as it was engulfed in flames, dropping to the ground the two appendages spasmed out for several seconds before succumbing to the flames.
(MSP)
Beast Boy slid down to the floor, coughing and hacking and trying to regain his lungs. "What... the heck... is going on...?! He gasped softly between breaths. A small tear escaped his eye. He was so scared and confused at what had happened... nothing made sense anymore. He sat against the wall for a long time, breathing and hopping his windpipe hadn't been bruised. The green teen re-lit another flame to find the two limbs had now turn to ash, the pair of gauntlets were all that remained. He looked at the small lighter he was clutching. The small device had saved his life, considering he'd been in too much shock to shape-shift. Whimpering softly he made to stand up.
A crumpled ball of paper landed at his feet. Beast Boy yelped in surprise, gripping the lighter tightly as if it was his life-preserver. This was followed by fleeing footsteps echoing from his right. He quickly looked towards the opposite passage, but only saw darkness beyond the metal fence. Shivering, he placed the lighter on the ground and reached over to retrieve the discarded paper. Unfolding it and holding it up to the lighter, it showed something he never expected.
It was a map of the subway.
His eyes widening, he studied the whole thing over. Just who had thrown a map to him of all things, and why did they run? he wondered to himself. He picked up the lighter again and hovered it over the map. It looked kinda like the type of map that maintenance workers use. His emerald eyes scanned the map until he noticed a small caption written at the bottom. 'The service doors at the bottom of the stairs leads to an abandoned platform, and then into the sewers. "Haven't been into the sewers yet?"' He stared at that last sentence. Was somebody trying to communicate with him? he couldn't tell.
He slowly stood back up and looked to where Starfire's gauntlets lay motionless. Swallowing, he shifted one of the feminine article with his foot. When they didn't jump up and bite him he took a closer look. They were slightly singed from the fire but still looked fine, the heat resistant material had kept them form burning to a crisp. Picking them up he sniffed for any kind of sent. His elfish ears wilted. Yep. They were definitely Starfire's. His eyes shined with tears. "Star... what happened to you...?" Stroking them gingerly, feeling oddly attached to his friends trinkets. Then... he slipped one of his arms into them. It took a few moments but eventually his gloved hand reached the exit. He did the same with his other arm and looked at them over. They were clearly made for someone with Starfire's slender structure in mind, since the armored platting was a little tight against his spandex covered skin, but it was bearable. "They're not much... but there all I have for now." He smiled weakly. Turing around he picked up the map and lighter, taking one last look at the blocked off passage before making his way back.
The TV picture freezes, Arny lowers the remote. "That's part five! cool huh? I think this is where the true horror is startin' to emerge... and it's just gettin' started." He grins darkly. "So anyhow, if ya have time, please follow along and review. In the meantime I'm gonna watch another episode of CHiPs." Arny changes the channel to show an over the top car wreck in progress. "Oh, this is beautiful!"
