Back inside the studio, a tired looking Arny was sat in his chair, resting his head in his right palm and staring down at his desk.
"...somethin' crawling on the table..." He muttered to no-one in particular. Just then, a feminine voice spoke from the overhead PA system.
'We know join Arny-the-Entity already in progress.'
"Who was that?!" Arny looked up and around in surprise. "I don't remember hiring a voiceover." Turning back, he searched for the TV remote. "Now where's... were did I leave... ah here it is!" Grabbing the device, he aims at the screen. "Welp, after what feels like an eternity, we can now finally return to... um... whatever..." With the push of a button, the video resumes.
THE DISPATCH
Part 18: Deep In The Depths
Amidst the darkened corridor, a green stallion emerged carrying an unconscious Cyborg. He had been roaming cautiously through the empty halls for a short period of time. He thought back to what the cloaked stranger had told him about the magic words. 'Recite them in correct order for when the right time comes to use them.' It sounded simple enough, but what exactly did it mean by 'The right time?' Turning a corner into another hall, his mind debated whether or not the unknown stranger could even be trusted.
Then he saw something moving in the dark hallway.
(MSP) Kevin MacLeod - Anxiety
He instantly halted in his tracks, his eyes now completely fixated on the dark shape, which seem to be staring straight back at him through the shadows.
It looked like a small animal, no bigger than a rabbit.
Beast Boy held his breath, with Cyborg on his back, he was unable to prepare for any sort of attack. But none didn't come, instead the shape scooted back down the hallway, disappearing into the shadows. He didn't move for a full minute, unable to tell whether he actually saw something. Swallowing loudly to wet his dry throat, Beast Boy heard his stomach growl at him. He groaned, when had he eaten last? he didn't know. Soon all his bodily needs will start getting to him and he wasn't thinking of the toilet.
Groaning softly, his focus returned on trying to find his next destination, wherever that might be. The figure had abruptly left before he could get any more answers. His mind began tracing back all the clues he'd found in the tower. Then, he suddenly remembered the pictures on Starfire's camera. They appeared to show some kind of trail that lead down to the basement. Beast Boy couldn't imagine what Starfire would have found down there. But... if there was even the slightest chance of him finding a way out, he wasn't going to let it pass.
All he had to do now was lug his injured friend down over a dozen flights of stairs, in near total darkness, to the basement and avoid any more apportions from the supernatural world that may have just become even more hostile.
Yeah, no pressure at all. He huffed.
(MSP)
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(MSP) Kevin MacLeod - Echoes of Time v2
Robin raced down, down, down the stairwell, to the bottom floor. The basement was at the other end of the hall, behind just one door… he was hit with a wave of considerable dread. The door to the basement was partially open, and a cold draft seemed to emanate from there. With nerves of steel he reached the door and threw it all the way open, prepared to do battle, but nothing lunged at him. Raven rushed down the hall trying keep up with Robin, not wanting to be separated more than they were.
"Starfire!" he cried her name into the dark room, receiving no reply, he bolted forward, pounding down the metallic stairs in twos and threes, reaching the concrete floor at last. "Starfire! Where are you?" he screamed again. Of course, he glanced around constantly, and expected to be blindsided by an unseen attack at any moment.
It never came.
Raven appeared at the top of the stair "She's alive Robin!" She quickly assured him before descending the stairs. "I can sense her, but she's distant." Reaching the bottom and joining her distressed leader. They were both startled to hear a scratching sound at the far end of the basement, around a large crate where they couldn't see. Robin deployed his bo-staff and cautiously edged towards the crate, while Raven summoned all the energy she could, and a weak black aura formed around her hands. Reaching the edge of the crate, Robin took a stance and poked his head around the corner.
The sound they had heard was the sound of a heavy metal panel scraping against the floor as someone... something... moved it a little. The area with the open panel looked empty, but of course, they couldn't see all of it. The panel now stood quietly, propped up against the wall. But what concerned him was the gaping opening in the wall where it had been forcibly removed. It was pitch black inside. That was where anything could come out from. Holding his bo-staff like a club, Robin eased his way right up to the opening and looked in. Nothing attacked him… yet. Raven stood to his right, watching him for what felt like an hour, but still nothing appeared. He then pulled back and faced her. "Do you sense anything coming from within the vents?" Robin asked her.
"Yes. But it is not close... for the moment." She admitted. Robin looked back towards the opening, staring into the darkness. "There's all kinds of ventilation shafts that run below the basement... and if this is where Starfire went..." Robin then began to enter the vent, ignoring the vast darkness before him. "We better get down there! fast!" Raven lunged forward, grabbing his arm. "Robin wait!" He looked back at her in protest. "Let me just try something out... please." Her look of anxiety caused Robin to back down and allowed her to continue. Releasing his arm she took out the camera she'd found in Starfire's room. Holding it up to her eyes then stuck her whole head into the opening. A brief flash lit up the vent and she pulled back. A moment went by before the picture appeared on the viewing screen. Satisfied, Raven turned to the Boy Wonder. "We have no flashlight, so it's best we use the flash from the camera as a source of guidance." Robin looked at the picture that fully lit the first few yards inside the vent.
Nothing but pipes and insulation. It was clear.
Realizing her logical sense, Robin nodded in agreement. "Alright, but we gotta hurry." He stated before preceding once more into the vent. "There's no telling just what we'll find down there."
(MSP)
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(MSP) Kevin MacLeod - Anxiety
Something was waiting for him.
Waiting, somewhere down there in the darkness. And deep inside, he knew it.
Beast Boy stood in horse form on the landing at the top the stairwell. Cautiously he peered down over the railing. In the dimness of the emergency lighting, he could see everything was clear for several floors at least. He began his nervous trek down the stairs.
After several floors, sweat was dripping into his eyes and his breathing was heavy. He had to rest a moment. He no longer had the glowstick, and didn't even have the spray can which had miraculously saved his life more than once. The stranger had somehow managed to evade all the dangers… but how? Was it something to do with the book it carried?
He stopped midway on the flight of stairs, while carrying Cyborg, and listened. He listened for a long time. There was still only silence coming from the floor below him. He didn't hear the myriad of whispering voices as before – a good sign or a bad one? He crept down two steps. Once he got to the ground floor landing, he'd have a clear view.
And so would it.
He took another step. Last chance to come up with a good idea. He reached the ground floor landing and rested for a moment, panting as silently as he could. Piece of cake, he was going to be able to get them to the bottom. He let himself feel a little optimism. In front of them was the hall with the door to the basement at the far end. The large metal door, against a cement wall, towered over the two. With his back aching, Beast Boy set the unconscious body of Cyborg on the ground, he changed back to human and pushed it open.
There was a nice creak to give away any possible element of surprise. The cavernous basement was empty. He peeked in, and of course, he couldn't see the whole basement. He couldn't even see the back wall. Couldn't see the row of unlit lamps that hung in the center above two tall piles of junk. The young teen stepped out into the basement and looked around. At least the back wall looked clear, although there were a million things to hide behind. He shuddered. The basement was cold... of course, it got that way from the chilly night air off the bay. But no, Beast Boy wasn't that stupid.
Turning around, he morphed into a gorilla and stood behind Cyborg, slipping his huge arms under the robotic mans armpits and lifted his upper torso. He then dragged him down the flight of stairs, his lower torso bumped and scraped against every step. Reaching the bottom, he set Cyborg down and reverted back to human. He looked back and fourth quickly. The basement had always given off an eerie vibe... and it never ceased to freak him out. He presumed it was due to all the Slade artifacts that were stored down here. Beast Boy remembered the time when Robin got infected with that hallucinogenic reagent, just by inhaling some dust from Slade's mask.
"We never did find out whoever triggered it..." Beast Boy murmured, surveying his surroundings with careful eyes. It was then his entire body froze and was covered in goosebumps.
(MSP)
A familiar distant whistling was coming from somewhere within the basement.
(MSP) Haunting Atmospheric Soundscape - Nothing in here is quite how it seems
As soon as he heard it, a chill went down his spine. It was the exact same whistle he'd herd when he'd almost gotten lost in the sewers. He quickly shifted into a bat, using it's night vision to stare through the darkness at something he couldn't see. Taking flight, the little green bat flew above the large room to scope out the area, searching for any sigh of a recent disturbance. Landing on the edge of a large crate, he came upon, perhaps, what he'd been searching for.
An opening in the metal wall that was hidden from view. A perfect square hole of perhaps five feet in every direction. He floated down and eased his way right up to the opening and looked in. From inside the vent, the whistling was distant but a lot more clear... and it gave Beast Boy the willies. Each whistle was different enough where the lack of consistency made it human-like. The whistle sounded higher, then lower. He couldn't really describe it.
Taking flight, he hurried back to the stairs and changed into a gorilla again, hoisted Cyborg with no effort and started dragging him across the concrete floor and up to the opening. Heaving a sigh and praying for greater courage, he decided to do the only thing he could. The green gorilla hoisted the Tin Man's torso up against the wall, it then changed into horse for the second time, letting him lie across it's back. With it's cargo in place the horse turned towards the opening. It was just as dark and scary down there as everywhere else... but he couldn't let that stop him.
Chewing his lower lip and trying to remember his mission, he took the first step inside.
(MSP)
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(MSP) Kevin MacLeod - Echoes of Time v2
The narrow passage was lit up by a flash from Starfire's camera. Robin walked beside her, taking a stealth approach, as he couldn't even see his tightly gripped bo-staff in front of him. They were now quite a far distance into the underground, the pipe system having ended over a mile ago. Cyborg's familiar metallic walls were no longer present, instead, the surrounding walls were now a drab greyish-brown color, riddled with cracks and scratches. Every few seconds Raven would take a photo, the camera provided them with a split second of light, then a clear picture of what lay just ahead. It was a slow procedure... but effective.
Raven snapped another photo for what felt like the millionth time, however, when the next picture developed, she was immediately confronted with something. "Robin... there's something written on the left side wall up ahead." She informed. Robin held his breath and approached the section of the wall. Standing in front of it, Raven snapped a picture at it to have a better look. What they found was equally disturbing.
BEWARE OF HEADLIGHTS
It was scrawled onto the wall in black marker pen. "Beware of headlights?" Robin whispered. Someone had recently written it there. But who? And why? Was it from whoever wrote the the haunting message he'd found in Starfire's room? Raven fared no better, staring through the dark at the haunting handwriting. Neither of them had no earthly idea of what it meant. Robin looked ahead and swallowed loudly. Just how far did this ventilation go? and God knew where it let out. Sensing his anxiety, Raven placed a hand on her leaders shoulder. "Don't worry, Robin. Like I said earlier, I can sense her. She's still alive."
The young detective steadied himself, not wanting to lose all hope at a time like this. Taking a breath, he started walking again, down the seemingly endless black void, all with nothing but the sound of their own footsteps echoing towards the foreboding darkness. About twenty steps later, Robin though he heard a noise coming from up ahead.
"Wait..." He whispered. "I though I heard something..." He stopped and listened. Raven listened out as well, but could only hear the sounds of their own breathing.
"Raaaaaaanaaaaakaaaaa..." Raven's heart stopped. Not quite literally, perhaps, but it felt like it.
She heard an all too familiar sound, one that she'd herd once before... a whisper of indescribable nonsense.
Raven went pale and quickly held up the camera, triggering a flash and illuminating the passage for a few seconds. When the image appeared, it showed the trail lead to a door no less than ten paces away. Robin stared straight ahead. "C'mon, lets keep moving." Without missing a beat he marched towards the far end. Raven quickly followed suit. As their distance to the end of the trail shortened, what they herd next wasn't anywhere near what they expected.
"In here..."
"We're inside..."
"Get us out..."
"Get us outta here..."
"Hello...?"
"Is anyone there...?"
"OPEN THE DOOR..."
The passage went completely silent after that. The two titans stood motionless, Robin's mask widened to the size of two dishes while Raven's face had become ashen. The voices they'd just herd were coming from right behind the door. They all seemed to be talking all at once, and were unable to make much sense out of them. God, it was like they were right in front of them, separated from the world... by one single door.
(MSP)
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(MSP) Haunting Atmospheric Soundscape - Nothing in here is quite how it seems
Walking slowly through the underground tunnel, the green stallion carefully navigated it's way through the shadows. The rather narrow passage made some things echo, including his footsteps on the concrete floor. But… why did it seem like he was walking along a path? Had someone been there earlier…? Following the tunnel, he eventually came upon, perhaps, what he'd been searching for. The trail ended at a small door. 'That's weird.' He thought to himself. He'd never know about a door being down here. But then again, he'd never had a reason to go down here in the first place.
The door was smaller than a normal door — maybe five feet tall, painted in the same non-color grey-brown of the walls, and was made of metal, just like the other doors in the tower. Morphing back to human he placed Cyborg gently on the ground, he then went over to the door, and touched the handle. The doorknob turned, he hauled open the door and stepped through, onto a stairway. "What the hell?" He gasped. Nobody had ever mentioned a sub-basement for the tower.
There it was again... that incessant whistling. The hairs on the back of his neck began to raise again. He quickly shook it off and turned back to retrieve Cyborg, turning into a gorilla and carrying him over to the stairwell. He gulped once, puffing his chest out and starting down the stairs.
How far did it go?
The stairwell was unlit, and appeared to be much older, and in much worse condition than the others. It was also longer. Much longer. After a few minutes of walking down the steps, he began to count them. At every twelve steps, there was a small landing, a turn, and another set of steps. How freaking long was this stairway? Not knowing if he truly wanted to reach the end… After ten landings, he reached another door. He placed Cyborg down for a moment and returned to human once more, only to find the door was unlocked. He pushed it open easily. The hinges squealed, and the echoes died like lost things in the dark. He looked straight into the darkness, unable to see anything beyond the doorway. Digging his hand into his pocket, he took out his trusty lighter and lit up a flame. And what greeted him next was a sight that would haunt him forever.
(MSP)
Beast Boy shrank back to the doorway for a moment.
'This room can't be here.' He thought to himself. The architecture firmly implanted into his mind.
(MSP) Horror Ambience Underworld - Myuu
It was a semi-circle shaped room and there was four columns holding the roof up. Unmistakable pillars were set in pairs, but looked equally disturbing. Each had a large Gargoyle, stone statue placed on top of them, and they all seemed to be glaring at him. In the center of the room, blazed into the floor was the same gun-sight symbol from the torn-out page. It was the biggest symbol he'd ever seen, and dozens of smaller ones were all around it, varying in size and intensity. The entire floor had been covered with them. All of them in crayon. All of them black.
Beast Boy shuddered, tacking a step forward, then another, until he was walking steadily into the room. Casting the lighter around, something else came into view.
The walls were painted in black, midnight blue, and blood red, swirling together in the darkness. The wall had a large carving on it. It showed a dead tree surrounded by mutilated bodies. Each face shouted horror and pain; the roots coming out of the ground and impaling many of them. A cat hung from the tree, dead as a doornail. Underneath this gruesome image was a faded line...
He who desires much, will gain nothing...
Then it faded off as to be illegible.
The ancient stones that made up the walls and columns seemed to pulse at his presence. Without really thinking about it, he cautiously rubbed his hand along the wall, felling a strange sense of fondness for it. Somehow or another, he couldn't quite figure out how, it reminded him of Raven.
"Like my work?"
Beast Boy yelped and jumped back, as a disembodied voice spoke.
"I was starting to wonder how long it would be until you got here." From behind one of the many tall columns, the cloaked stranger emerged. "I have to admit, you were a lot sooner I than predicted.
(MSP)
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(MSP) Dark Ambient Music - There is nowhere left to hide
"We have to find Starfire. Now." Robin said. Undeterred by the voices, he charged the door, throwing it open. Right before their very eyes, a new path was shown to them. Before Raven had a chance to snap another photo, he ran into the unlit stairwell.
"Robin wait! we don't know if it's safe!" Raven shouted after him.
Robin didn't listen, and raced down the first flight of stairs. "Starfire! we're coming!" He shouted desperately. Gathering herself Raven leapt into the air, choosing to fly down the stairs, doing her best not to loose sight of the fearless leader.
Robin was now practically leaping down the stairs as far as they could go. He soon arrived at the very, very, very bottom of the stairwell, the Boy Wonder skidded to a halt when he came faced with another door. A distant moaning could be heard from just beyond it. The fear rose in Robin's eyes. "Starfire!" He shouted again and tried to kick it down. It held strong, though. "Star!" He tried to pry it open with his bo-staff. It wouldn't budge.
After what felt like an eternity of flying blindly into the darkness, Raven finally caught up to Robin, who had now resorted to banging against the door with both fists. "Starfire!" He beat helplessly on the door. Landing next to him, she could sense the other presence. It was close. Not sure how close. "Robin!" She shouted over his repeated banging. "Stand to one side!" She then enveloped the door with her black aura. Robin instantly jumped back as the door was violently thrown open, loudly slamming against the wall with an echoing sound of crashing metal.
The two Titans boiled into the awaiting room, only to be greeted by more darkness. They stopped and listened, breathing hard and being on defense for every second. A shape was lying on the floor, a large shape. Seeing this, Raven quickly took a snapshot with the camera, the flash illuminating the room for a brief second. The picture emerged to show Starfire lying on the floor just a few feet away from them. No sign of anything else. Raven ran and knelt by her. "Robin! she's over here!"
She was still breathing. She touched her forehead briefly in an attempt to strengthen her, the tanned girl started moaning and was beginning to wake up. "Starfire!" Robin cried in relief as her ran over to them, it was obvious she was in some pain, but nothing could be done at the moment. Raven laid hands upon her and poured in all the energy she could, weakening herself. Starfire opened her eyes, but she was still in a kind of delirium. "Robin…" she murmured. "Starfire, stay with us!" Robin cried and pulled her up into his lap, letting her bury her face in his chest.
(MSP)
Giving them a private moment, Raven got to her feet, as she did, she felt a little of her old strength slowly returning and the energy flowing through her. But there was no time to rest. Right now they had to get out of... just where exactly were they? there's now way this could be part of the basement. She held up the camera again to take another photo of their surroundings, but she never got the chance... as a sudden burst of white light filled the room. The gothic Titan jumped back, quickly averting her eyes away from the intense light. Robin kept a tight hold onto Starfire, who was now shaking convulsively. Was this it?! Had they been lead into a trap?! Were about to be consumed by the ghostly lights!
No sooner did they have any time to react, the bright light unexpectedly dimmed. It took them nearly a minute to realize there was no immediate threat. The interior of the underground room was now fully lit, as well as the new structure that lay before them. Raven rubbed her eyes until her vision returned. When she saw what was in front them, she gasped at the rather shocking discovery.
It was huge and circular. A large spoked wheel lock and keyhole were in the middle. There was even writing on it, carved into a black metal surface.
Taking up the entire wall, was a massive vault door.
The transition cuts out once again as Arny is shown reading through a handbook. "Oh-kay um... lets see turn to page seven." He flipped ahead until he found the page. "Ok 'The Joy Of Escape'... as Machiavellian once said the joy of escape is primary joy of... err-blah-blah-blah-blaaah."He flipped ahead a few more pages. "Ah here we go... to win your freedom, you must only pull the inverse phase lever... well duh... ok." Casting the book aside, Arny tuns to a lever he'd previously used to lower the TV.
"It must be this gizmo here... whatever that does." Grabbing hold of the lever, the words 'SELECTION ACCESS' appear on the TV screen. Arny shifts it forward. The screen changes to a list of text. He waits until the word 'ESCAPE' is highlighted, then he pulls the lever back. The text flashes, accompanied by a triumphant sound effect. "Alright..." He then turns to face the the views. "Welp, this is it! only one more part of this story left you guys, It's almost over!" Arny then heads over to the studio exit. "I'm just gonna head outside for a bit... next time we see the Titans it should be under lighter circumstances..." He smirks with a knowing sensation. "So get ready! adios peeps!
