Arny finished his bucket of popcorn as the credits to CHiPs appeared on the TV screen.

"Ah, the good old Bravo channel. Moltar sure had great taste." In the corner of his eye he spotted the audience was present. "Hey, welcome back, I hope you all are enjoyin' the show, cuz the scare factor has just been raised to a whole nother level." He chuckles slyly. "Heh, ooh I haven't had this much fun since the time I did the commentary broadcast at the Jump City Stadium."

FLASHBACK

Arny sat in a commentators booth wearing a headset. "Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen and welcome to our live coverage of this years anal spring classic, the one hundred and second: Running of the athletes." He looked through a large window that overlooked a running track. "And what a beautiful day for this sport of kings of which I am a huge fan... no seriously I'm just a fan." He shrugs sheepishly. "I was on the way to my seat, the door was open..."

"Hey! what are you doing in there?!" An angry voice yelled from outside the booth. "Whoops! gotta run folks!" Arny quickly ditched the headset and fled the booth, disappearing into the crowd.

END OF FLASHBACK

"Yep, great days." Arny smiled fondly at the memory. "Anyhow, lets go see what the Titans will find when they return to the Tower." He changed the channel to the paused video and hit the 'play' button.


THE DISPATCH

Part 6: Underground Activity

(MSP) Sinister Dark Ambient Background Music - Dark Rage

The long drive back to the tower was anything but routine. It was the middle of the day, yet the roads were completely devoid of traffic. The city itself seemed eerily quiet, which put the small group of heroes on edge. Arriving back at the tower they made their way up to the common room. Robin wasted no time in booting up the Titans computer, the large window that doubled for the viewing screen came to life. He quickly started typing at the control panel. A large scaled map of the city appeared on the screen. The young detective then activated the communicator tracking grid, after a few seconds three individually colored circles flashed on the screen, each representing a Titans respective color: Red for Robin, Orange for Starfire and Blue for Raven.

The young detective narrowed his eyes, the map confirmed that they were all present in the tower, but there was no trace of their missing friends. Determined not to let this go unanswered he typed in the coordinates for the abandoned research facility. The map zoomed on it's location. "Nothing..." he muttered. "This doesn't make any sense at all..." Starfire stood by his side. "Where have our friends gone to? they did not do the leaving of that morbid place... where could they be?" She whispered.

"If they really are still inside the facility, then they must be in an area where all signals are impenetrable." Raven stated a possible outcome. Robin stared at the screen in deep thought. "Mmm... you know... that just might be a possibility." He turned to face both girls. "That place was built by the military. It's sole purpose was to keep prying eyes away from uncovering the Gemini project... whatever IT was..." Robin couldn't explain it but he felt rather unease at wondering just what was going on within the confines of that base. "By the way, how are your powers?" Changing the subject the two girls instantly realized that they'd neglected to test their powers when they left the complex. Raven closed her eyes and focused. Black aura formed on her hands, after a few seconds she let out a gasp of exhaustion, her aura fizzling out. "My powers are returning, but they feel so weak." Starfire tried to light up a star-bolt again. Her hand projected a dimly lit green light, she then felt tiredness and was forced to withdraw. "My powers are also returning, but my energy for star-bolts is low." She sighed with fatigue.

In their current state, Robin made a decision. "I think you two should get some rest, just in case anything else happens. We'll be going into lock-down mode shortly." Raven seemed to agree. "I'm going to my room to meditate, call me if you find anything." She turned and abruptly left the room.

"Friend Robin, do you think it is the wise to follow the message of unknown source?" The purple-skirted girl questioned.

Robin sighed. "Honestly... I'm not sure Star, but for whatever reason someone warned us to stay inside the tower for are own safety... even though this goes against my better judgment, its the only lead we've got." Understanding the circumstances she turned to leave. "I hope you are the right friend." She uttered as she made her own exit.

(MSP)

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

(MSP) Audionautix - Deep Space

Beast Boy hurriedly made his way down the tunnel, clutching the map in his right hand. Eventually, he arrived back at the main lobby. This time nothing had change, which came as a small relief. Unraveling the map again, he scanned the maps layout before re-reading the caption written underneath. "The service doors at the bottom of the stairs?" He repeated to himself. Had he seen some doors that were...? oh my god! he had seen a set of doors! but they had been locked when he tried it earlier. "Oh what the heck, I'll just haft'a break them down." He declared. "Not like I'm gonna get busted for damaging the place." He made a stab at a joke, but got no laughs from himself.

Remaining on edge from his early brush with death, Beast Boy advanced to the second square passage and wondered down the the stairwell. He reached the bottom and prepared to shift into a grizzly bear so he could break through the ageing doors. The jade teen's brow furrowed when he reached the brown coated doors. They had been forced open from the inside, as though someone had pride them open with a crowbar. But who? And why? Swallowing, Beast Boy reached forward and pulled one of the damaged doors open with one hand. A barley visible path greeted him. He held the lighter in front of him for guidance as he entered the passage. The path lasted only a few yards before he was led to the top of another staircase that descended further into the underground. Letting out an audible groan he pressed on, staying alert at all times.

Clip. Clop. Breath. Clip. Clop. Breath. Clip. Clop. Breath... was the pattern of sounds that echoed around the narrow stairway. After making several right turns he reached the bottom, and found himself standing on the platform of a disused station, just like the map had said. It was a lot older than the stations above, it's walls and floor being made entirely of bricks. It was possibly even older that the city itself and most likely had been abandoned long before everything else. With his lighter in hand he proceeded along the silent platform, staying alert at all time.

After several tense paces he reached the far end of the platform. In front of him was a set of rusted railings that surrounded an open maintenance hole with a ladder leading straight down into the sewers below. "Aw crud... I'm getting further and further away from the surface." Beast Boy groaned and looked over towards the disused tracks, trying to see if there was any alternative route, but the tracks ended at a set of old iron buffers. With a defeated sigh he climbed over the railings onto the ladder. Hand over hand, he slowly went down... down... down... the cylinder tube felt like it was getting tighter around him.

Taking another step, he almost lost his footing at the sudden lack of steps. Letting out a yelp as he scrambled to regain his grip, he re-lit the lighter and looked below to discover that the ladder had abruptly ended. The ground bellow was submerged in darkness, there was no way of telling how high up he was. He couldn't risk dropping down in his human form, so he thought for an alternative solution, then an idea hit him. "Cats always land on their feet!" Smiling at his own problem solving, he morphed into a four-legged feline and braced himself as he plummeted towards the ground.

SPLASH!

A pool of murky water broke his fall. Beast Boy thrashed about in his cat form before reverting back to human. Not being prepared for a free bath, he emerged to the surface with a gasp. "Uggh! ewww... this place reeks!" Groaning in disgust, he swam forward a few meters until his hands made contact with a stone structure. He fished around in his pocket and withdrew drew his lighter. Flicking it alight he discovered a set of stairs ascending out of the water. Relived that they were leading upwards he climbed them until he was out of the water.

Reaching the top, he looked down at himself. He was completely drenched. Sighing, he took the brief time to change into a dog and shook himself dry of the water. After a few shacks he changed back, now looking a lot less waterlogged, he looked ahead to be faced with a narrow, cylinder shaped passage. It looked condemned, just like everything else. To his surprise, it was lit up by a row of overhead ceiling lights. "Huh... must be an emergency power supply somewhere." He guested and stepped through the threshold, looking around carefully.

The passage lead to a boiler room. Three large, metallic pod-shaped machines were alined on the right hand side of the room, the center one catching his attention. Steam was discharging fiercely from it's pipes, despite being old and rusted, it was functioning. "These things sure look dated, but at least they're keepin' the place brighter." He mumbled and turned to enter the second passage.

It lead to a small stair set, climbing up it he found a small service area on a raised platform, surrounded by a barrier. It was littered with items that weren't all that useful. Metal buckets, cardboard boxes, a cabinet mounted on the wall that seem to be rusted shut. Below it was a wooden table where he noticed a discarded fax letter. Curious, he went over to it. Taking a closer look, he was confused by what he'd found.

It was an old objectives report.

American Red Cross
06 OCT 2006

ABC PERSONAL: VICTOR, OLIVER R

1. SITUATION
Missing personal following partial meltdown of ENRICO FERMI 1

2. MISSION
a. Investigate whereabouts of missing workers

b. Locate survivors, treat casualties, coordinate extraction

c. Mitigate further damaged to reactor

3. EXECUTION
A. Gain entry to plant grounds

b. Conduct investigation

c. Use spray paint to mark casualty locations / danger areas

d. Report findings

4. SERVICE SUPPORT
a. None

5. COMMANDERS NOTE

Oliver,

The cause of these events are unknown, so exercise extra caution in the facility. Any insight you can provide as to the case of this incident would be appreciative, its time to put that education to use! The towns folk are scared, disclosing anything per S.O.P.

Be careful!

Jim.

Beast Boy stood there, trying to contemplate the information it was giving. Meltdown? missing workers? casualty's?! had the city been contaminated or something? rereading the fax again his eyes zeroed in on the date of the letter. "Huh...?" Staring at the small detail for a moment, it very suddenly dawned on him.

It was dated five days later.

"What the... how can that be possible?" He knew for a fact that it had been the first of the month, as he remembered Cyborg tearing off the old calendar sheet for the new month only this morning. "Maybe its just a typo?" He assumed, but with all the strange phenomenons that was happening, he wasn't sure. Placing it back on the table he spotted something that had been mentioned in the fax's description. A spray paint can. He picked it up and shock it a few times. It was half full, meaning this 'Oliver' guy had already used it to mark the spots of casualtys. He shivered at the thought. "I better keep this, could use it to mark a route in case I get lost." Feeling satisfied he looked around some more.

(MSP)

BLEEEEP! BLEEEEP! BLEEEEP! BLEEEEP!

The loud sound of an alarm blared through the area. The young changeling was quick to cover his pointed ears.

"GAH! IT'S TOO LOUD!" He yelled and took off down the corridor." The noise was ear deafening, he didn't dare morph into something that had a high sense of hearing. "I GOTTA FIND A WAY TO STOP THIS SOMEHOW! Sprinting fast down the narrow hall he was grateful that it was well lit as he could see the various objects that littered the path. Being able to avoid them with ease, he kept his sensitive ears covered as he reached the end of the hall. A pair of open double doors revealed a spacious room. At the far end up another small stair set was a control panel taking up most of the wall. In desperation he ran over to it, his sights instantly setting on a small flashing red light that was next to a pull-back lever, bordered by hazard tape.

Without hesitating he grabbed the lever with one hand and pulled it down. The noise instantly stopped and the red light faded. 'Alarms Disabled' was now displayed on a nearby monitor. Letting out a breath of relief Beast Boy stood back to get a better look at the panel. It was fully functional with flashing buttons and screens displaying radars. An audible whirling sound kept the place from being silent, which gave the green teen some comfort. On the wall to the right was a row of TV monitors, which were either transmitting static or a small text stating the words... 'OFF LINE'.

Beast boy's eyebrows tilted upwards. "This is no ordinary sewer complex." He frowned. For one, the technology was pretty old, possibly dating back to the 1960's... at least compared to Cyborg's tech. Secondly, why would a sewer need an alarm system? unless it was to do with all the bad guys that seek refuges within the undergrounds of the city, but he doubted it. The Titans would of received an alert each time the alarm was triggered, so it had to be some kind of secret organization that was kept under wraps from the outside world... just like Project Gemini. Shacking his head, trying not to be reminded of that place. He turned to head back and jolted to a stop.

A familiar red substance was spewed across the floor, trailing out of the room.

(MSP) Sinister Dark Ambient Background Music - 3 AM

How had he not noticed that earlier? Beast Boy felt another shiver rising within him. Forcing it down he edge towards it, his strong sense of smell soon confirmed that it was exactly what he feared. It was blood, and it was fresh. He cautiously followed it through a doorway on the right side of the room. The trail was like a line of paint, as if something or someone had been dragged along here. It continued into the next room, which turned out to be a locker room and was unlit. Taking his lighter out he reignited the small flame.

The trail came to an end about half way into the room. Beast Boy paused when he saw the trail end, a series of blooded footprints were shown walking off towards the back of the room that was obscured by the darkness. Thoroughly creeped out in a way he hadn't felt in a long time, he looked towards the locker that the blood trail had stopped outside. A worn out number '13' was stamped into the ageing metal, along with patches of blood that were still dripping. A silver key was sticking out of the lock, waiting to be turned. Clutching his lighter tightly to use as a defense weapon, he worked with shaky fingers and slowly turned the key. Holding his breath, he pulled the door open with a creak... he was stumped at what he found.

It was Robin's utility belt.

The distinctive color of bright yellow was the giveaway. "How did this get here?" He reached forward with his free hand and pulled it out to examine it.

(MSP)

A loud bang, followed by bricks crumbling came from the darkness.

Beast Boy spun around, startled by the noise. He looked towards the back of the room, but could see nothing. Just then, the sound of slow footsteps made themselves known.

Clomp. Scraaap. Clomp. Scraaap. Clomp. Scraaap. Beast Boy felt the hairs on his neck prickle. Something was moving in the dark. The nervous teen slowly backed out of the room. He stared at the darkened entrance, keeping a tight grip of his lighter and prepared to shape-shifte. Then a familiar green colored glove grabbed the door frame. Immediately realizing it was his missing leader the green teen let out a breath of relief.

"Ruh-Robin? Oh Dude! you dunno how happy I am to-!"

He came into view... and Beast Boy suddenly recoiled in fear.

Robin had been decapitated, yet he was somehow still alive.

(MSP) Kevin McLeod - Unseen Horrors

"H-his-his head! w-wheres his Head!" Beast Boy screamed, not wanting to believe what he was seeing. But, it was true. The Boy Wonder was walking towards him, his head had been completely ripped off his shoulders, almost as if it was bitten off. His uniform drenched in fresh blood, his cape was torn in half and he dragged his trademark bo-staff behind him from his left hand.

Despite not having any eyes he seemed to be looking straight at the trembling changeling. Beast Boy noticed the staff's end had been snapped off, revealing a sharp, pointed end tip. He advanced slowly towards him, taking aim with the staff like it was a jousting spear. Beast Boy stumbled backwards, trying to put some distance between them.

Robin then lunged towards him, at the speed of an athlete. Beast Boy barley had time to think as dove out of the way from the charging Titan. Robin slid towards a wall, only to recoil by doing a back-flip and landed back on his feet. Taking aim at the green teenager he charge towards him again. Beast Boy stumbled back as Robin rushed him, narrowly missing the staff, he was then pined against the control panel. Robin raised his staff and tried to impale him. Thinking fast he rolled to his right, the staff just catching the side of his shoulder. He winced at the slight pain and tried frantically to fend him of.

Raising his staff again he aimed for Beast Boy's chest, with another fast thinking decision he shielded his throat with his right arm, the staff struck the metal gauntlet on his arm and was deflected. He took that moment to grab the end of the staff and redirect it into a computer monitor behind them. A small explosion of sparks and static was enough to distracted Robin.

Beast Boy's mind race for a solution, as the undead Robin struggled to dislodge his staff from the monitor. He quickly though back to how he defeated Starfire's possessed arms. Diving a hand into his pocket he pulled out the lighter and quickly lit up a flame. He raised it up, making contact with Robin's right arm. Robin jumped back, making a grunting noise and freeing Beast Boy. Standing back up with lighter in hand, he watch the headless Robin clutch it's right am as it slowly began to burn. Now realizing it's weakness he needed something that would make a lot more fire. Something like a gas canister or blow torch or... his eyes widened as he realized he had just the very item to use. Digging into his pocket he took out the spray paint can and shook it a few times.

Holding the can up to the lighter, he pressed the top down and ignited the flame. Robin spun around and was met with a blaze of fire. He let out an inhuman scream as the flames spread across his body. Beast Boy stood back in shock as the headless titan collapsed to the floor, laying sprawled out and slowly incinerated.

(MSP)

The smell of smoke and ash filled the room, Beast Boy quivered with fear and distress. "Why is this happening?" He whispered, tears began to flow from his eyes. A theory he'd come up with from earlier crossed his mind. "Did... did they even... survive the white blast?" With no one around to answer he sighed, thinking it was best just to move on. Looking back where the blood trail was he noticed Robin's utility belt lying motionless on ground, having dropped it when the headless Robin attacked. Going over to it and picking it up, he took a closer look. He'd once tried it on before when Robin went away on a quest, though he hadn't really tried any of it's gizmos. "Wonder if any of them still work." Beast Boy gently put it around his waist, clicking it closed just above is own belt.

He felt rather silly wearing two belts, but it felt the honorable thing to do. Glancing at Stafire's gauntlets on his arms, it was like he'd reunited his two friends with a part of their respective clothings. Feeling satisfied he looked back at the bo-staff still lodged into the monitor. Deciding it to was to damaged to use, he made towards the next room behind a pair of closed double doors.


Going in to 'pause' mode, Arny sheepishly faces the audience. "I just gotta say, sorry for the long delay. My creators going through a phase of whatchin' old 80s horror movies." Arny shrugs. "Hey, the guys got good taste... so all I can say is... be the first to read and review in the first hour and you get a free packet of Lard!" Arny holds up a lard packet in his sleeved hand and smiles widely. "And with that, I'm gonna take my own brake, see ya soon, or maybe in the new year. buh-bye!"