Titan Tamer of The Swordsman
Chapter Twenty Three
Fear Itself
A/N
Karsap: Time for the next chapter.
Yuki: Fear Itself? Is this horror theme?
Karsap: Why yes it is Yuki.
Kotemon: Um what's horror?
Karsap: Later Kotemon. But now Yuki do the disclaimer.
Yuki: Okay! Karsap doesn't own Digimon or Teen Titans, but he owns Me Yuki Hata.
Video Store-Night
It was a dark and stormy night; lightning flashed across the sky as it was followed by the crash of thunder. With just how powerful the oncoming storm was, what with the rumbling thunder and the flashing lightning, one would suspect that Thunder and Lightning were having a field day with their merriment. And on such an ominous night, what else would go with it than a crowd of panicking customers bursting out of a video store and breaking for cover?
Inside the store, a female clerk with brown hair done up in a ponytail, and wearing a yellow polo shirt and jeans, screamed and backed across the floor. A large television set whose static-filled screen framed an evilly grinning face with narrowed red eyes reared up before her while brandishing a few sparking coaxial cables, causing her to stumble to the ground.
As it approached the imperiled young woman, the television brought two of the cable ends together, striking an arc; she cried out and shielded her face. But before it could descend upon her, it stopped dead in its' tracks, wiping out the static, and leaving just a blank expression on the face. The cause for the change was the press of a button on a remote control, with its front end fashioned into a menacing creature's head. The one who pressed the button was a fat, long straggly orange haired teen dressed in some sort of desert robe with two pouch belts crossing his chest underneath a dark gray overcoat with metal shoulder pads. He was standing atop the shelves of the video store near a wall of video screens and looking down at the distressed damsel.
From his perch, he spoke in a bit of a geeky voice, "Okay. Either you admit that Warp Trek Five, which reunited the entire original cast of the classic TV series," when he spoke, he pointed his remote at the screens and brought up an image of a green-skinned starship crewman to make his point, "deserves to be on your 'Favorite Rentals' list, or..." he pointed his demonic remote back at the television monster and pressed a button, bringing it back to life.
The clerk quickly scuttled back towards the candy counter in an attempt to escape the dreaded machine, "Please!" She pleaded as she cowered in fear, "I don't even know what Warp Trek is!"
"And that, my little tribble, is why you must be destroyed!" He smirked evilly as he pressed another button. As a result, the monster roared, struck sparks from two cables, and reached for the girl. She screamed and dove over the counter to just barely get out of striking range.
As she hid behind the counter, the demonic television floated steadily toward her hiding place. Before it could get too close, though, a sonic cannon blast drove it off, carrying it to the far end of the store where it crashed against the wall. The fat teen covered his face as dust flew back from the area of collision. Looking in the direction where the sonic blast came from, he gasped when he saw none other than the Teen Titans standing at the entrance with Cyborg holding his cannon out before disarming.
"You know I think that Warp Trek is a great series." Yuki said as all the Titans including Kotemon looked at the Tamer, "What?" Yuki asked "I thought that you only like anime Yuki?" the Digimon asked, "Well that's true but a lot of people like other things Kotemon." Yuki said,
"Well, well, well." as the new villain smile and hoped across the shelves with surprising ease. The overweight movie nut taunted as he hopped from one shelf to the next, slowly approaching the team, "If it isn't my old arch-nemesis...ses..." He embarrassingly corrected himself, "The Teen Titans!"
"Um, yeah." Beast Boy stated sternly before quickly turned to Cyborg, "Who is this guy?" He asked the African-American teen whom shrugged, equally puzzled at the orange-haired geeks' claim.
As if hearing his question, the fat teen pointed his remote to a wall of screens and pressed a button, resulting in his image showing up on every screen and speaking in unison. "I am the master of monster!" The images on the screens explained, "I am your darkest nightmares come to life! I am...Control Freak!" The images introduced as the genuine article stood up in front of wall, looking triumphant while his images clapped at the push of a button.
"A couch potato with a souped-up remote." Raven deadpanned, she wasn't amused in the slightest at the display, "I'm petrified." She droned as she rested her elbow on a nearby shelf.
"You will be." The geek, now known as Control Freak, threatened as he approached the team, "You will be." Bringing his remote up, he laughed as he pointed his demonic controller at the mage. Near her, a video drop box grew considerably as it growled in a very rusty manner. Gasping and staring wide-eyed at the now gigantic box, the blue-clad girl back away as it approached.
Before it could come down on the young Titan, however, the cybernetic teen leapt in and struck the monster broadside with a flying shoulder to knock it away. However, the metal box quickly recovered and tussled with the bionic.
"Don't worry, Raven!" Cyborg reassured his teammate as he picked up the object, "I can drop the drop box!" He then tossed it across the store, fetching it up against several sets of shelves before it landed flat on the ground, and then leapt on it with a yell and proceeded to strike it with a little old-school beatdown.
As he continued to beat the box senseless, the other Titans charged the overweight geek. "Get his remote!" Robin yelled as he dashed towards the self-proclaimed villain. Starfire, and Beast Boy followed as they made a mad dash in the same direction.
"Show's not over, Titans." Control Freak stated as he backed away cautiously, "And if you thought Part One was scary, just wait for the sequels!" He aimed his remote at the two cash registers; as the cowering clerk cried out in fear, evil faces appeared on the price displays and the handheld scanners floated up of their own accord. The Titans, save Cyborg, looked from the counter to the fat teen, who dropped to the floor and, with the push of another button, brought a set of shelves to life. The video boxes on the top level were red while those below were white, and most of them fell away to leave the unit with two eyes and a snarling mouth. He then did a somersault on the ground and pointed his remote at a bunch of VHS readers that came to life; their flaps giving way to sharp teeth as whips of film shot out of them.
Before Control Freak could move Yuki and Kotemon stood in his way with the latter drew out his bamboo sword, holding it like a beginning of a Kendo match while the former took out his D-Arc, and pulled out the Datamon card. "Yeah the show is over." Yuki said, "For you." Kotemon finished, "Oh I'm so scrared. NOT!" Control Freak said as he brings his remote up and he pointed his demonic controller at the Digimon and with the push of another button, it surround Kotemon with electric energy, "Hey what do you do to Kotemon?!" the Tamer asked, "I think he'll be in a fight he couldn't win." The couch potato said as he laugh as said Digimon's arms start to move on their own as his bamboo sword hits him on his kendo helmet in a game of 'why are you hitting yourself?', "OW! OUCH! Is this what it feels like?!" Kotemon exclaims as he starts to back off from the fight, "Kotemon come back here!" Yuki shouted as he chased his partner as Control Freak, who merely waved derisively at the other three.
Before Robin, Starfire, and Beast Boy could continue their charge on the villain, though, the two-dimensional swordsman stood in front of the group. Eyeing the monster down, Robin brought his fighting staff out, extended it, and leapt toward the monster. Coming down behind it, he sent it flying with a well-placed swing; in an instant, though, it stretched its body and struck at him like a snake, sending the Boy Wonder flying across the room in retaliation.
As the leader of the team was sent flying, Starfire weaved through the air dodging a fusillade of coins that came from the evil cash registers, using dollar bills as wings to give chase. On the other side of the store, Yuki was was struggling against trying catch his partner who keeps hitting his bamboo sword on his kendo helmet. On another part of the store, Beast Boy backed away from the mutated set of shelves that was bearing down on him. In no time flat, he transformed into a roaring tyrannosaurus rex, causing the unit to release a shrilly scream, with all its "teeth" and "eyes" falling out, before tearing into it.
Elsewhere in the store, Raven skidded across the ground before coming to a stop and holding herself up with her right arm. Looking up, she saw Control Freak approaching at a leisurely pace. "You like bad movies, right?" She asked icily as she levitated several scattered videos and propelled them toward him.
His first response was to work the remote, bringing them to a stop in midair. "Yeah, but they like you!" He quipped as he sent the projectiles right back at her; lining them up into an unbroken string, like a group of dominoes laid end to end, and wrapping her up from shoulders to waist.
Cyborg, meanwhile, was busy giving a smack down to another set of possessed shelves, similar to the one Beast Boy tore into, and slammed it onto the floor. He wiped his hands smugly, but his mood quickly changed to one of surprise.
"Huh?" He looked over and saw the orange-haired teen, once again spinning across the floor, hit a button on his remote. Behind the bionic bruiser, the candy counter flashed to life and all the goodies leapt off the shelves and came snarling after him.
"Eat him!" Some of the tiny sweet treats shouted as they approached the much larger teen.
"Who's delicious now, big man?" They sugary horde leapt at him and attached itself all over his body.
"Bad candy, bad candy!" The titanium Titan cried as he tried shaking them off, "Get off! Hey, hey! Stop that! Stop! That's not yours!"
In the air, the cash registers rocketed through, spilling bills everywhere they flew, with the Tamaranian now chasing them and firing starbolts. She was able to shoot one down with ease, but the other took evasive action and slowed down to fall in behind her. It then started to fire off coins, throwing the orange alien briefly off balance. She quickly recovered, though, and bounced off a wall straight back at the evil machine. One well-placed, point blank shot in retaliation put the crazed piece of retail hardware out of action for good.
The register exploded, releasing a flurry of coins and bills falling to the ground. Starfire touched down amid the clinking change and fluttering currency and picked up a coin and looked at it with a curious smile. But this small victory was short lived as one of the big-screen monster's cables whipped around her, wrapping her up, and gave her a shock that forced a loud squeal out of her. She was then quickly hauled toward the face of the television, flying past the spiky-haired teen as he continued trading hits with the cardboard cutout.
The two-dimensional samurai went into a new charge just as Robin got a birdarang ready. In a split second, faster than anyone could see, the masked Titan struck the piece of promotional material and coming down from a leap. He then ran off to help his captured teammate as the enemy fell apart behind him, having been split down the middle by his attack.
Elsewhere in the store, another set of deranged shelves ran across the floor with a terrified look on its' face. The reason for the look was because a green bull was chasing it and soon met its' mark in the possessed objects' back, ramming it into more shelves, throwing up a curtain of dust as a result. From the cloud, Beast Boy stumbled about in a bad daze from the collision. Staggering a bit, he soon stopped when he bumped into another cardboard cutout, thus regaining his senses. He stared silently for a second and then flailed his arms with a high-pitched scream.
He soon realized that the cutout he bumped into was that of a hooded figure in a long, tattered robe with no facial features and several tentacles issuing from under the them.
"Dude!" The green Titan cheered as he realized what the cutout was of, "Wicked Scary is out on video?" He asked as stars appeared in his eyes.
"I know!" Control Freak slid up next to him, stars in his eyes as well, "Director's cut, digitally remastered, alternate ending." He explained as only a true fanboy could. "It's great."
"Cool!" Beast Boy awed as he shared this happy moment with the villain. However, that moment was soon broken when he realized that he was sharing a happy moment with the villain. "Not cool!"
Before the shape-shifting Titan could attack, the portly teen grinned nastily and fired up his remote. As a result, the hooded character came to life, and its' tentacles flashed toward the green-skinned teen, who let off a terrified scream as he quickly ran away.
"You don't scare me," Raven said breaking free of the cassette tape that had once bound her with a burst of power. "Kotemon stop hitting yourself!" The mage heard Yuki as she saw The Tamer still struggling against trying catch his partner who keeps hitting his bamboo sword on his kendo helmet, she was confused about that but forget about it when her green-skinned comrade ran past her, distracting her.
"Look out, he'll eat your brains!" He cried as he fled from whatever was chasing him. The mage looked after him, but were then greeted by the monster from the Wicked Scary movie cutting in front of her also, in hot pursuit of the young Titan. Before she could fully process what just happened, her attention was returned to the cassette tapes coming toward her and she ran away as whips of film lashed at her.
On the floor, Cyborg wasn't exactly fairing any better against the mad candies that chewed incessantly on him. "Ow, ow, ow, ow, OW!" He yelped as he crawled along the ground. "ALL RIGHT!" He screamed as he stood up and tore several pieces of sweats off, "If y'all are biting Cyborg, Cyborg's biting back!" He shoveled the manic candies into his mouth by the handfuls, chewing happily before swallowing. "Mmm-mmm! Never knew evil tasted so good." He mused as he continued chopping on the sweats. The others screamed in fear, detached themselves from his body, and beat a hasty retreat, hoping to escape a similar fate at the hands of the bionic. As he stood there grinning, a loud rumble made itself heard from within, signifying that the evil candies may have tasted good, but they disagreed with him violently. His face went slack, then green and sweaty. "Oh, boy." He then beat feet out of the video store, and rushed to the first trash can he could find. Quickly gripping the sides, he then bent over the opening and vomited all the contents of his stomach into the receptacle.
Back inside, Starfire was still held fast in one of the television monster's snaking cables, but Robin's birdarang flashed across the air and cut her loose before sticking in the ceiling. He rushed up, staff at the ready to swing, and landed a thundering blow that would shatter the screen of any normal television set. Since this one was possessed, it just got knocked backwards and crashed into the wall. The leader of the team then leapt and caught the still-bound Tamaranian bridal style, while her cables fell off when they touched down softly.
Once they were safely on the ground, he looked across the store and saw Raven, and Beast Boy back towards each other from the cassettes and the cardboard cutout. Behind the the Boy Wonder, the evil genius fanboy laughed tauntingly as he held up his remote. Another button pressed, and the insane television moved back to its' feet, or equivalent to feet. A swinging cable forced Robin and Starfire to dive in opposite directions; when he landed, he looked up at the ceiling, where he noticed the fire sprinklers. Thinking quickly, he brought out two handfuls of his trademark projectiles and leapt into the air, just as the big-screen enemy came over him. In his leap, he let the projectiles fly; they weaved all over the place, slicing through all the sprinkler heads.
Water gushed down from the broken pipes, showering the entire store and drenching everything as a result. The attacking cassettes yielded under the deluge and tumbled to the floor while the cardboard display softened and crumpled. Beast Boy laughed, and Raven smiled as the threats were handily defeated. The clerk also peeked up over the counter to look at the final result of the fight.
Kotemon finally stop hitting himself as Yuki went up to him, "Kotemon are you okay?" the Tamer asked Kotemon now dazed looks at his Tamer. "Yes sir, I'll have two cheeseburgers and a large order of fries." he said as the Digimon fainted into his Tamer's arms.
Finally, the giant television went down, the static winking out, and the face becoming very uneasy. Sparks crackled from the shorting circuits as it toppled over and crashed to the floor at Control Freak's feet.
"My remote!" The now powerless nerd cried as he punched buttons uselessly. "I can't live without my remote!"
Without a second thought, the spiky-haired Titan marched over to him, yanked the remote from his hand, and grabbed a fistful of shirt, "Ever think maybe you watch too much TV?" He growled as he held the defeated foe in front of him.
"This isn't over! You hear me? This isn't over!" The orange-haired teen threatened. However, he was too distracted in his anger to notice the Tamer with an unconscious Kotemon come up behind him and pinched him between his neck and shoulder with his right hand, promptly making him unconscious, his head hanging limply to the left.
"Yeah He was done." Yuki stated with a smirk.
The changeling waved his arms excitedly as their cybernetic friend staggered back into the store moaning as he clutched his gut. "Guys!" Beast Boy called out as he rummaged through a pile of movies on the ground. Behind him, Cyborg's stomach rumbled anew, and he soon found himself running back outside to vomit again. "Check it out!" The green teen continued as he held up a copy of Wicked Scary, the box art showed the hooded creature along with a couple of terrified people. "Movie night!"
He quickly ran over to the counter where the clerk had not yet gotten to her feet. He set the video down and started fishing around in the pouches of his belt. Behind him, the other Titans gathered as they headed towards the door, with Yuki caring the unconscious Kotemon, and Robin dragging the unconscious body of Control Freak behind him.
"Um, I-I know I've got my rental card somewhere." The eager shape-shifting greenling said as he continued searching his body, even removing his right boot and shaking it to see if the card is stuck in it.
But to his surprise, the clerk took the video and held it in front of him, "Just take it!" She quickly offered as she shoved the video in his face, probably wanting all the weirdness that just transpired in front of her to leave. This action left the changeling blinking bemusedly at the offering before finally accepting and leaving the store.
Later, at the Tower
The battle wasn't anything too serious, but the teens were glad the night was over. After dropping the fat wannabe villain off at the police department, the Titans made it back to their home just before it started pouring outside.
Once the team made it back to the Tower, while Robin made his way to a room whose walls displayed a wealth of objects from many of the Titans' previous encounters to deposit Control Freak's demonic remote. Yuki headed to his and Kotemon's room to put the unconscious Digimon to bed, the Tamer thought to himself, 'Man this Control Freak will be a problem for both of us Kotemon.' Yuki then turned to the closed The Big Book of Classification of Demons, "Speaking of which. I wonder what prince of hell I'll should look at next." he said. As the Tamer was about to pick up the book, he heard a burst of feedback over the intercom speaker, startling Yuki.
"Robin! Yuki! Kotemon! Emergency! Get up here, now!" He heard Beast Boy yell over the intercom. He sprinted for the door and not a moment later ran through the Ops Center door at the same time the Boy Wonder enter on the side of the room.
"Report!" The masked Titan called out as he entered the room. Looking in, he saw the green teen standing on the far side of the coffee table, while the other three Titans were on the couch. "What's the problem?"
"The problem is, it's showtime!" Beast Boy cried as he held up the Wicked Scary movie case, "And you two aren't in your seat." As he looked around the changeling saw a certain Digimon not around. "Hey where's Kotemon?" he asked.
"He's still unconscious, luckily he's a sound sleeper like me." Yuki said as he and Robin who've steamed at having been called up for something as trivial as this, and a vein throbbed in his forehead. On the couch, Raven was reading a book with her hood down and seated on the far end of the couch next to Starfire was holding a large bowl of candy.
"Cyborg?" The auburn-haired Titan turned to her titanium friend, "You are sure you do not desire unhealthy sugar candies?" She asked as she offered the bowl to him.
This simple gesture was enough to make the mighty teen recoil, "Make it go away..." He moaned weakly, having bad memories of the pain he felt in his stomach resurface.
Robin then vaulted over the couch as the resident movie nut spoke and found himself seated next to Starfire while Yuki seated between her and Raven. "Ladies and gentlemen, get ready for the scariest night of your lives." Beast Boy explained excitedly as he popped up around the others, "Maybe Control Freak's monsters didn't scare you, but this movie is going to freak, you, out." On the end of his little speech, he found himself next to the unfazed mage, who had not looked up from her reading.
"Whatever." She droned, completely unamused by the green teens attempts to scare them, resulting in his mouth falling off his face entirely and shattering on the floor.
"Can't be any creepier than the documentary on hot dogs Starfire made us watch." The spiky-haired leader reasoned, pointing to the girl in question with his thumb.
"It was fascinating!" The energetic girl cheered, "I had no idea that Earth people ate so many pigs-and insects." She mused happily. Her words set off a new wave of indigestion in Cyborg's gut, making his face turn green before hanging over the back of the couch to vomit once more.
This shocked the Tamer as he quickly looked over the couch, "Cyborg, not on the carpet..." He groaned as he hung his head.
"Yeah, yeah, bugs and hot dogs, big deal." The shape-shifting Titan shrugged off as he picked up the video again, "This movie is supposed to be cursed." He let the case go, leaving it suspended in midair through paranormal powers. "When people watch it, strange things happen-evil things." He tried sounding menacing as his face went red and his voice took on a creepy tone. His complexion returned to normal as he laughed maniacally, lightning cracking out through the windows behind him to help add to the scary nature of the film.
However, none of the young Titans' showmanship changed any of the others' demeanor, especially Ravens', who just sat there still reading her book. "Just start the movie." She sighed, finally looking up from her book.
This comment caused the changeling's face to drop and a vein to throb in his temple as he pulled out the television remote. Soon after he took his seat, the words Wicked Scary appeared on the screen and the movie started.
As the movie progressed, each of the Titans stared wide-eyed with mouths agape straight towards the screen. The lights had been shut off, so that the only illumination was from the screen and the night sky outside. The sound of low, unearthly chuckling from the speakers filled the air and soon, Starfire grabbed the end of Robin's cape and huddled behind it.
Even later into the night, the raging thunderstorm ceased to let up as it added to the entire atmosphere of the movie. On the screen, a woman backed up in the approaching shadow of the tentacled creature seen on the box and screamed in pure terror. Snap to black, against which the word "END" faded into view in big red letters.
On the couch, Cyborg, Starfire, Robin, and Yuki were still frozen from the sheer horror of what they just witnessed; the Tamaranian's eyes were shut tight while Beast Boy carefully peeked up from behind the couch, where he had been hiding the entire time.
"Is it over?" He asked cautiously, fear oozing from his tone of voice.
"I dare not open my eyes to find out." The orange alien stated fearfully.
"Now I'm really sick to my stomach." The titanium Titan groaned as he hunched over.
"I've fought psychotic villains, robot commandos, and giant oozing monsters," The masked teen explained, "but that is the scariest thing I have ever seen."
"Yeah and it's more scary then Myotismon or his Digivolved forms." The Tamer added, still not fully over the fear of the movie.
As the five Titans traded wide-eyed stares, the only Titan who didn't speak quickly composed herself, put her hood up, and turned away from the group. After trading their stares for a long, tense moment, they all broke out in exuberant laughter and chatter.
"Did I tell you or did I tell you?" The shape-shifting greenling asked confidently as he stood up.
"Thrilling, Beast Boy! It was wonderfully horrible!" Starfire cheered.
"Yeah, when she went into the basement-" Cyborg started.
"-and it cut off the power, leaving her in the dark-" Yuki continued.
"-then it was right behind her and she turned and-" Robin added.
"I was freaking out!" The titanium Titan shouted with a huge grin plastered across his face. "I wanted to turn it off." He coyly admitted as he twiddled his fingers.
Raven turned to face the rest of the group and pulled her hood down as Beast Boy leaned over to her. "So... come on, Raven, admit it. You were totally scared." He tried getting a rise out of the Goth, but to no avail.
"I don't do fear." She returned with a straight face.
"Aw, come on, Rae." Cyborg teased, "You had to be scared, just a little."
"We all were, it's okay to be afraid." Yuki comforted, trying to see if she would admit to her fear as well.
She just shot the Tamer a dirty look. Instead of responding, the gray-skinned mage stood up, picked up her book, and headed for the door. "I am not afraid." She stated evenly as her teammates watched her with confused stares as she left the room.
With the movie over, and after cleaning up the Ops Center, the rest of the team decided to head to bed. Outside, more rain and thunder streamed from the heavens with no sign of letting up anytime soon. Inside the Tower, only darkness occupied the halls with only the sounds of rain hitting the windows and thunder rumbling through the sky to accompany the shadows.
Inside Raven's room, said mage was sound asleep in bed, with her cloak removed and hanging on a rack to the side. As another flash of lighting cracked across the sky outside her window, she sat up in her bed with a sharp gasp. Breathing heavily, she looked out the window, then across her room, looking at her four-eyed drama masks.
After having taken in her entire room, and realizing just how unsettling it could be, a thought popped into her mind, "Maybe I should consider redecorating." She voiced as she continued gazing at the bookshelf.
She looked out uneasily for a moment more, and then settled back down to sleep. All was quiet and she would have reentered the land of dreams, but a piercing scream ripped through the air and snapped her upright again. The scream sounded just like the one in the final scene of the horror movie she watched only a few hours ago. Quickly jumping out of bed, Raven grabbed her cloak, tied it around her neck and bolted out her door.
"What the?" Yuki shouted to himself. He'd heard the scream and tore through the Tower. Him shouting apparently woke Kotemon up, "What the? Yuki you're up? Man it like 4 in the morning what's going on?" the Digimon asked, "Kotemon I think someone left the tv on, a scream sounded like the movie the others and I where watching, come on." Yuki said as he grab his half asleep partner as they went to the Ops Center, right as Raven came down the steps joining the rest of the team, with the lights back on. "Who screamed?" The blue-clad mage asked as she approached the group.
"Sounded like something from the movie." Robin stated. "Did we leave the TV on?" The others shook their heads.
"We did not." Starfire answered as she bent over to pick up the movie off the coffee table, "And the movie is right here." She added with a hint of fear in her voice.
A moment later, the lights shut off, blanketing the entire room in darkness.
"That's not good." Yuki said as he looked around the room while Kotemon still half asleep.
"No. That's creepy." Cyborg corrected as he extended a small flashlight from his shoulder and turned it on. Swiveling slowly in place, he let the beam play over the kitchen, from the counter to the tables as the spiky-haired leader stepped into the circle of light.
"The storm. Probably just tripped a circuit breaker." Robin reasoned as a tentacle reached over his shoulder. Giving a raised eyebrow, he said nothing else as the other Titans except for Kotemon gave a fearful gasp. "Okay, Beast Boy, you got us." He smiled as he pushed the tentacle off him, "Good one."
"Uh… Dude?" BB said from the other side of the room, Robin turning around as Cyborg cast his light on the tentacle's source. A moment later, the one-eyed terror came into view, tearing his garment away a moment later. The thing had greenish skin, fanged mouths all over its body, long tangled hair, two somewhat normal clawed arms in the addition to the tentacles that made up the lower part of its body, and a large red eye. –KREEEEEEEEEEEEE!- The next moment the thing let off a primal roar, the Titans' except for the Digimon feet glued to the floor in fear with faces full of terror.
"*Yawn* I don't see anything what spooked everyone out." Kotemon said as he completely bypassed Wicked Scary making his way to the kitchen and fetch a water bottle. After drinking the water bottle the Digimon's eyes scanned the Wicked Scary, "Wow Beast Boy nicely done, I didn't know you can do that."
"Dude," Beast Boy yelled out waving his hands around.
Kotemon look over to the changeling, then to the monster, than back to Beast Boy, he did this twice more, "Ah, I see," Kotemon said as the wheels turn in his head as his eyes to widen, "What in the Dark Area is that?!"
"Oh, NOW you notice it Kotemon?" the others Yuki included growled with shark-like teeth and angry eyes while making slapping motions with their right hands.
A moment later, Wicked Scary grabbed the couch and tossed it aside with ease, the others scattering when a plethora of tentacles lashed out at them. Robin tried delivering a flying kick, but was knocked back before he could drive it home. Beast Boy turned into a T-Rex and tried to scare it away with a sonic roar, only for the monster to screech back at him, the changeling screaming before turning into a cat, running off with a startle little yowl.
The creature smiled broadly with all of its' mouths at its work, but its mood quickly went sour when Kotemon use his Thunder Kote attack. Looking after the Digimon who was in front of his Tamer, the monster quickly lashed two tentacles that wrapped around their legs. Both of them gave a small yelp as the tentacles began swinging them around the room. During its fun, though, it was then distracted when a starbolt blasted into its back. It turned and found Starfire floating in midair. She threw more shots at it in an attempt to free her friends, but the monster deflected each blast with one arm and snaked another tentacle at her, wrapping her entire body up. She was reeled toward the monster with a scream, at which point Cyborg jumped in to wrestle with the monster.
As the four Titans struggled against the invader, Raven stepped up, ready to attack. "Azarath Metrion Zinth-" She sharply cut her chanting off, realizing something was wrong; normally when she chanted her incantation, her black magic would surround her hands, but in this instance her hands were completely normal in appearance. She regarded them with considerable surprise, "My powers!"
Soon after, the Boy Wonder rushed in to give the bionic, and orange-skinned Titans some backup, but was also seized. To follow up, a green hawked swooped along and dodged a swipe. It then morphed into a green octopus just before reaching the three-eyed freak and warped all eight of its own tentacles around it. Robin, and Cyborg all redoubled their assaults on the limbs that held them while the gray-skinned mage charged into the fray. Unfortunately, this proved useless when a tentacle slammed into her, driving her back next to the stairs that lead up to the side door. As the other six continued their struggle, without warning, the monster vanished, leaving the Titans tumbling to the floor in a heap, with the green octopus on top of everyone.
"Someone's claws are on my grebnaks!" Starfire cried.
Beast Boy quickly stood up, back in human form, and backed away from the pile, "Heh... my bad." He sheepishly apologized.
The other five straightened up as well, thoroughly bewildered by the events that just happened.
"There was a monster here, right?" The African teen asked as he scratched the back of his head.
"Yeah, it was right here." The Tamer replied as he and Kotemon looked around the room.
"But where did it go?" The spiky-haired leader asked.
"And from where did if come?" The final Titan asked as she scratched her left arm.
Realization dawned on the changelings' face, "Hel-lo?! Isn't it obvious?" Beast Boy cried as he held up the movie box, "The movie's curse! Watching it opened a portal to another dimension. The monster came through the portal, now it's going to hunt us down and eat us!" He described the situation as the events occurred behind him, "And I'm probably delicious!" He finished, completely freaked out at his apparent fate.
After he finished, Cyborg, Yuki, Robin, and Starfire just stared at him with different levels of bemusement, all having big trouble swallowing even one word of his theory.
"Or..." The cybernetic Titan deadpanned.
"Control Freak must have escaped and come to the Tower to get his remote-and take his revenge." The masked teen finished, offering a much more plausible theory and having the Tamaranian cry out as a result.
Raven finally stood up and approached the rest of the group, "But that doesn't explain why my powers aren't working." She countered.
"Nor does it explain how he got into the Tower without tripping any of the alarms." The Tamer added.
"The guy created a device that can turn candy evil. If he could do that, who knows what else he can do." Cyborg offered as an explanation.
"It wouldn't be possible for him to do this unless he brought a new remote with him," The Digimon said adding his piece.
"Whatever's going on, we need to get to the bottom of it." Robin stated. "Split up and search the Tower!" With a nod from the others, sans Beast Boy and Yuki, they scattered.
The changeling grabbing the others while the Tamer took his partner by the hand and pulled the Digimon back to him.
"Split up? Split up? Did you not see the movie?" he asked leaning in everyone's faces. "When you split up, the monster hunts you down one at a time, starting with the good-looking comic-relief guy. ME!" he said gripping Robin's tunic. Yuki then come up, "Well, you will be the first if you keep freaking out like that, Beast Boy." he said as the changeling tuned to the Tamer, "I'm not freaking out! I'm trying to to point out that splitting up is a bad idea!" he responded. "You are freaking out. But who knows, maybe Wicked Scary will go after Cyborg instead." Yuki putted in as he pointed to said Titan, Beast Boy gasped at that thought, "Not Cyborg! Anyone but him!" he cried. "Sorry Beast Boy but in horror movies the *ahem* black guy always dies first." The Tamer corrected, Beast Boy got angry, "Yuki did you not see the movie?! The monster starts with the good-looking comic-relief guy!" he said as the two stared eye to eye.
The other Titans watched as the two started to argue "No, it's the black guy."
"Nuh-uh, the comic-relief guy."
"I'm telling you it's the black guy, Beast Boy."
"No it's not, it's always the comic-relief guy."
"Black guy!"
"Comic-relief guy!"
"Black guy!"
"Comic-relief guy!"
"BLACK guy!"
"COMIC-RELIEF guy!"
"BLACK GUY!"
"COMIC-RELIEF GUY!"
Robin had enough as stepped between the two arguing Titans "Get a grip, you two!" The Boy Wonder growled as he pushed the two arguing teens away from each other. "The monster's not going to eat anybody."
"He's right. There's nothing to be afraid of." The Goth reassured with a nod. However, it appeared as though the heavens, or Thunder and Lightning, had a different idea and threw a violent lightning bolt across the sky, making each of the Titans recoil in surprise as they faced the windows for the next few flashes of light.
Inside the hallways, Cyborg turned a corner as he lead the team since he had the flashlight in his shoulder. Each of the other Titans followed in step as Beast Boy brought up the rear, constantly looking back the way they came, paranoia filled in him. As they passed a staircase, a small voice floated up to them.
"Help! Help me!" The small voice pleaded as it echoed throughout the passageway.
Robin looked in the direction of the voice, "This way!" He beckoned for the others to follow as he headed off to find the source.
After following the voice to a door, the team peeked in to find that the voice was coming from Beast Boy's room. Another flash from the lightning outside roved across the pigsty that was the green goofball's living space allowing the teens to see everything.
"Help me!" The voice called out again, this time louder than in the hallway.
The Boy Wonder was the first to step into the room and move toward a door on the side of the room. The others followed as he wrapped his fingers around the handle. Robin braced himself as the other Titans huddled behind him as best they could. A sudden heave slid the portal open on its track; behind it, something very large started to move. As all six non-Digimon screamed, panic-stricken, the mass tumbled over them; it was only dirty laundry in what appeared to be the green teens' closet, and a lot of it at that. When the pile settled, the last thing out of the closet to land on the clothes was a small toy monkey banging a pair of cymbals together.
"Help me, help me, help me count!" The toy said in a cheery voice as it banged its cymbals together, "One... two... three... four... five... six... seven... eight..."
"It's just a toy monkey you scarryGatomons." Kotemon said as it counted, and each of the teens popped their heads up from the pile. Beast Boy grinned sheepishly as a big drop of sweat rolled down his temple while the rest of the Titans shot him annoyed looks. "Um... I really oughta get rid of that thing." He chuckled shyly as they got out of the pile.
Back in the hallway, Cyborg lead the team out of the room and made exaggerated horror-movie moans, clearly poking fun at the encounter. "OOOooooooOOOOOOhhhh, look out, y'all, big scary monkey!" He laughed as the rest of the team stepped out of the room.
"Yeah, Raven." The green shape-shifting Titan laughed as he turned toward the mage, who was standing next to the brunette, "You shoulda seen the look on your face."
Yuki merely shook his head as he rolled his eyes as Kotemon gave a confused look while Raven shot the changeling a death glare, "You mean this look?!" She growled as her face went bright red, still shooting that same glare.
"No, that's more angry than scared." Beast Boy muttered as he backed away from the enraged teen.
"I already told you, I don't get scared." The blue-clad sorceress hissed icily as fire erupted from her eyes.
A loud growl from an unlit area down the hall caught the team's attention. As they looked to the source, the creature that disappeared from the Ops Center emerged from the shadows, all its teeth bared and ready to strike.
"Titans! Move!" Robin called out. Without hesitation, the six of them made tracks down the hall. Now, Raven was at the rear of the group, and the look on her face when she glanced back toward the pursuer blatantly betrayed her repeated denial of fear.
The apparition raced after them, scraping sparks from both walls with its clawed fingers, and they turned into another hall to give it the slip. When they opened a door to escape through, nothing but a black abyss awaited them when they dropped, screaming into the empty space as soon as each of their feet crossed the threshold. Beast Boy transformed into a hawk to stay aloft, Starfire caught Cyborg by the shoulders and brought him up, Robin to fire a grappling hook that embedded itself in the ceiling of the room and caught Yuki, Kotemon, and a powerless Raven bridal style to keep her from falling any further, along with the other Titans stopping their falling. They land on another floor and recovered from the attack.
After a few minutes of hiding, Starfire peered gingerly out from the doorway, seeing if the coast was clear. Much to her relief, nothing was in the hallway.
"The creature is gone." The redhead said as she lead her friends from the room, "We are safe, for the moment."
Once the rest of the team was in the hall, Beast Boy turned toward the mage, "Okay. Don't even try to tell me that didn't scare y-WOAAH" He was caught by surprise as more tentacles snaked up behind him and firmly wrapped him up by his arms and torso. The tentacles started pulling the helpless Titan toward a darkened room while Starfire's gasped in horror at the sight that befell them.
"Beast Boy!" Yuki cried as he dove after his friend, grabbing him by the legs as he tried pulling his shorter comrade free from the tentacles. "I got you!"
"Please don't let go! Please don't let go!" The terrified teen pleaded. It looked as though he was going to be alright as the aura manipulator was able to pull him back from the shadows, but another tentacle lashed out of the darkness and struck the Tamer, forcing him to let go and land on his back. "NOO!" Beast Boy cried.
As Yuki fell to the ground, Robin ran past him in an attempt to help out, "Beast Boy!" The Boy Wonder called out to his friend.
"What did I tell you Yuki!" The Titan yelled out as he continued getting dragged away, "Funny guy goes fiiiiiirrrssssssttt!" Just as he disappeared through the open door and into the shadows, the door slammed shut before Robin could reach him. He struggled to force it open and slowly but surely got it to give way under his efforts.
When he finally pried the door open, he noticed that the door Beast Boy was dragged through lead to the same room that the masked Titan placed the remote earlier that night. Except for him and the other five Titans, no living thing could be seen.
"Beast Boy!" The horrified Tamaranian gasped, "He is-"
"-gone." The gloomy mage finished, a hint of worry in her voice.
"Give me some light." Robin said, Cyborg obliging with his shoulder flashlight putting out a high-intensity beam.
As the light panned through the room, they noticed the room to be suspiciously empty. "The Evidence Room." The titanium teen stated, "What are we looking for?"
"Something that shouldn't be here." The spiky-haired teen replied.
The group made their way through the room, careful of their surroundings so as to not get caught off guard again and have another member disappear into the shadows. As they passed by more and more objects from the villains they've fought in the past, they finally stopped at the far wall, where a single pedestal stood. And on it was none other than-
"Control Freak's remote." Raven commented as the Boy Wonder reached over and picked the object in question up.
"Right where I left it." He stated as he eyed the device cautiously.
"But how could he conjure these monsters without his technology?" The confused alien asked.
"Maybe he built an extra remote." Yuki suggested.
"Yeah, I mean, we got, like, nine." The cybernetic teen said, supporting the Tamer's claim Robin's forehead creased as he carefully set the remote back down.
"Robin?" Kotemon asked stepping forward.
"I'm starting to think Control Freak doesn't have anything to do with what's been happening." Robin stated, his mind going a mile a minute trying to piece together all the evidence in front of him.
"Then that means someone else created this monster?" Yuki asked, a bit surprised at the revelation.
"Well, whoever is doing it, they're not gonna scare us." The resident mage reassured. At her words, the team leader's face lit up, as though something had dawned in his mind.
"Fear! That's it!" He exclaimed as he turned to face the rest of the team, "The movie, the monsters, Raven's powers." He counted off on his fingers as he spoke, "The answer's right in front of us! If Control Freak isn't behind this, it has to be-"
Before Robin could reveal who the culprit was, a couple of tentacles emerged from the wall behind him and wrapped up his head securely and yanked him toward the wall; the tentacles having passed through it from the other side. His body slammed up against it, stuck for a moment, and Raven and Starfire attempted to pull him free, but they were stopped when more tentacles emerged and swatted them away. Just as he started to disappear into the wall, Cyborg and Yuki moved in and each grabbed one of his hands while Kotemon grabbed a foot, beginning a tug-of-war with their friend as the rope. All three Titans strained against the strength of the monster as they tried rescuing their friend, but their enemy's strength proved greater and tore the young leader's hands free. The bionic, the Tamer, and the Digimon tumbled to the floor as the wall sealed itself again, with Robins' hands disappearing from sight.
"ROBIN!" The cybernetic bruiser shouted as he dashed to the wall. He let off a frustrated groan, then cocked his right fist back and punched out the wall. Dust and debris filled the room from the destruction as the other three Titans stood up. When the dust cleared, they saw Cyborg standing in front of a new whole in the architecture with no one on the other side. "I don't suppose any of you know what he was about to say." The depressed teen said as he turned to face the quartet. The only response he got was a shaking head from his friends', they had no idea what Robin was thinking.
Moral of the team seemed to be falling quickly as not only did the teams 'plucky comic relief' disappear, but the team leader as well. Leaving the Evidence Room, the remaining Titans made their way back to the Ops Center, where the monster first appeared. Inside the living area, Starfire leaned over the kitchen counter and checked behind it, using a spot of light from her hand to help the view, while Cyborg Yuki and Kotemon inspected couch area.
"Robin? Beast Boy?" The scared auburn-haired teen called out as she searched the room.
"They aren't here." Raven said as she walked into the room, "We've already looked here."
"Then where could they be?" The Tamer inquired as he stood up from the ground.
"It's like they vanished." The Digimon added as he also got up.
"We've already looked everywhere." The bionic Titan added as he looked at the mage.
"Almost everywhere." The sorceress stated.
Starfire gave a shuddering moan and her eyes popped from her skull as Cyborg and Yuki shot each other an uneasy look; they all knew exactly what area their friend was referring to while Kotemon rolled his eyes.
The remain five made their way to a door in the far corner of the Tower. Once the door opened, they found themselves looking down a long set of stairs that led into a dark abyss. The titanium teen flashed his light down the staircase, but it didn't help much to illuminate the area.
"I'll go first." Kotemon offered as he started down the long metal stairway, followed by Yuki, next is Raven, then Cyborg, and finally Starfire, who was cowering behind the bulking African.
Once they reached the bottom, they passed a large electric generator on the ground, one of the many that helped power the entire Tower. It was currently shut off due to whatever force that caused the blackout.
Huddled behind Cyborg, Starfire peeked out, looked around, and gasped sharply. "Oh, well." She said hastily with a nervous smile. "Our friends are not present." She added as she quickly made her way back to the stairs, "Let us quickly go back up and see if they-Eeep!"
One over-sized hand from the massive bionic planted itself on top of the scared Tamaranian's head and yanked her back to the rest of the group. "Not yet." Cyborg said to the terrified girl, "We have to get to the bottom of this."
"This unpleasant room is not the bottom?" She asked the quartet. The other three non-Digimon shot her an uneasy look while the Digimon gave a 'you'r serious' look before continuing their search in the basement.
"Come on." Raven said as she led the group. As they walked, the only source of light came from the flashlight a light from the redhead's glowing hand.
As they walked, a dark shape, resembling a giant rat with glowing red eyes, ran across the ground, causing the high-strung orange-skinned alien to shriek and throw a starbolt toward it.
"What was that?" Cyborg asked as he flashed his light in the direction of the starbolt.
"The floor!" Starfire shrieked, "I saw something!"
"I didn't." The mage said.
"Me too." Kotemon said.
"Neither did I." The Tamer added.
In an attempt to ease his friend's fear, the bionic adjusted his eye implant a bit. "Night vision scanners aren't picking up anything either." He said after looking around the room, "Let's keep moving."
He, Yuki, Kotemon, and Raven continued across the basement, leaving their teammate too scared to pick up her feet. After a moment, she gathered her nerve and ran to catch up. Before she got to close to her friends, more small critters zipped behind her, causing her to cry and fire another starbolt after them. This blast caused the other four Titans to flinch.
"Please stop doing that." The fearless mage groaned, "There's nothing to be afraid of, all right? It's probably just a few rats."
The frightened Tamaranian turned towards the trio and gasped, "Those are not rats!" She shuddered as she pointed upwards behind them.
The quartet pivoted to look where she had indicated and looked up at the overhead girders. To their shock, many pairs of small red eyes opened in the shadows.
"Run!" Cyborg shouted as he beat feet out of there. As the others quickly followed, the rats began chasing after them, seemingly numbering in the thousands.
As they continued to run, more and more of the bizarre vermin seemed to emerge from the shadows from the sides. The "fearless" Titan was the first to reach the stairs, followed by Yuki and Kotemon and Cyborg not far behind, but Starfire stopped and floated up from the floor to unload on the rodents.
Just as she turned to follow her retreating teammates, more of the furry creatures leapt at her from above, buffeting her back and forth as she released a startled cry.
"Hurry! We're almost-" Cyborg was cut off when they heard a terrified scream come from behind. "Starfire!"
When they looked back, they saw that the creatures had swarmed up her waist with the girl firing a few point-blank shots into them to no avail. As the mount of rats climbed higher and higher, Starfire released one final scream before the pile overtook her, dragging her away to who-knows-where.
In a last ditch attempt to save the damsel, Cyborg hurled himself toward the group, but was an instant to late as the horde evaporated under him, leaving him to crash down on the empty patch of floor where Starfire had stood.
"Star?" The cybernetic teen asked sadly as he rubbed the area. Yuki, Kotemon, and Raven ran up behind him and stared in disbelief.
"No!" The Goth sighed at the loss of yet another friend. The Tamer and Digimon couldn't bring themselves to say anything; they could only turn their heads in shame as they shut their eyes closed.
"We should go back! Maybe there's still a way to save her!" Raven struggled to break free from Yuki's grip as he dragged her out of the basement. "We won't save anybody if whatever this is gets to us too. We have to get outta here and come back with help," Cyborg said as he primed a sonic cannon, his light sweeping across the hallway before he turned back to the three. "We'll get through this, all right? Don't be scared."
"For the last time, I am not scared," Raven huffed angrily.
"He's right." Kotemon nodded as Yuki released his grip on the girl, "The only way to get help is if we get out of here." The Tamer finished as he and the Digimon look towards Cyborg, he saw the bionic break out his sonic cannon and train both it and his flashlight on some stairs.
Leading his shorter teammates up, Cyborg was the first to emerge through a doorway and peek around the corner to see if the monster was there. "Alright, coast is clear." He said before walking out while Yuki, Kotemon and Raven followed close behind. As they walked, the only source of light was that from the cybernetic Titans' shoulder.
The Digimon was between his Tamer and Raven and while he walked he noticed the mage in front of him looking uneasily from side to side. "Hey, Rae." He reached out and put a hand on her sider to get her attention, feeling her flinch at the touch.
"What?" She stopped walking and turned around to face the Digimon and Yuki. When the three stopped, the light from the leader of the quartet dimmed in the distance.
"Everything will be okay." He said in a comforting tone, "Don't be scared."
Once he said that, he immediately regretted it because the girl he was trying to comfort stared daggers at him. "For the last time, I am not afraid." She hissed as she turned back around and the trio kept, walking Yuki noticed Cyborg's light go out.
"Cyborg, what's with the...light?" Yuki asked as he, Kotemon and Raven looked back. However, to the surprise of the trio, Cyborg was no where to be seen. "Cyborg?" The mage called out into the abyss, only to receive no answer.
Before Yuki, Kotemon and Raven could call out again for their missing friend, a horrendous screeching echoed throughout the passageway from behind. They quickly turned to face the source of the noise and they were greeted by an enormous, four red eyed, black winged creature with a long tail flapping around the corner towards them. The three remaining Titans backed up a bit before they sprinted in the opposite direction, away from the beast.
The thing chased the three of them around corner after corner, not showing any signs of slowing down. At a quick glance Yuki noticed the Wicked Scary changed into a humanoid creature that looks like the modern interception of a vampire that the Tamer recognized, 'Wait that's... It couldn't be.' he thought as finally figure out who Robin thought who the culprit is.
After turning another corner, the trio found themselves at the end off the corridor with a closed elevator door. Yuki punched the call button furiously and a moment later, the doors opened. Still screeching, the monster flapped inexorably along, coming up quickly on the final three. The frightened mage and Digimon quickly entered the elevator, but the Tamer stayed put.
"Yuki, what are you doing?" Kotemon asked in a panic-stricken tone, "Kotemon's right let's go!" Raven said.
"I'll hold this thing off." Yuki replied, more screeching from the beast was heard as it steadily approached.
The blue-cloaked sorceress and Digimon stared at him with wide-eyed shock at his suggestion, "No! We can get out of here. Just come on!" the former pleaded as she grabbed him by the arm.
The Tamer just smiled warmly and placed his other hand on her head, stopping her struggles. He then slid it down her face as it gently caressed her cheek, lifting her head so her eyes met his, "It's okay." He gently reassured, "Everything'll be fine."
Raven only stared at him, not being able to say anything as his green eyes looked at her. Yuki then turned to his partner "You take care of her Kotemon." He said as he pushed her back into the elevator as the doors closed. She stumbled backwards and fell to the ground next to the Digimon. Looking up, the last thing they saw was Yuki looking down at them, smiling all the while as the beast approached from behind.
They couldn't see it, but just as the doors closed, the impact of the monster's beak slammed into the doors of the elevator, leaving a major dent in the panels. "NO!" The helpless mage cried as she ran back toward the doors. She slammed her fists against them just as the elevator started rising. "You idiot." She uttered sadly while Kotemon was shocked at what Yuki had done.
The final two didn't have much time to more, however, as a thick, glutinous liquid began filling the lift at an alarming speed. Both of them gasped in horror as they tried to keep their heads above to breath, but it proved useless as the liquid overtook them, submerging the two completely.
Luckily, or unluckily, the elevator reached the top floor of the Tower, and once the doors opened, the foul tide spilled across the floor, dragging the screaming girl and Digimon with it as it entered the Ops Center.
Finally coming to a stop in the middle of the room, the two stood up and shook off some of the muck. Their attention was then drawn back towards the entrance of the room as a loud thump caught the both of them by surprise. Backing up toward one side door, they was again brought up short by growling from its shadows and the appearance of two red eyes.
The owner of said red eyes advanced out of the passageway and stood up to its formidable full height. The leotard-clad magebacked up fearfully toward the couch while the Digimon took a stance as he drew out his bamboo sword, holding it like a beginning of a Kendo match to defend her as lightning raged outside, then whirled into a run for the other side door. While the huge creature came up fast behind, they stopped with a gasp; to they dismay, in the gloom, hundreds of doubled pairs of eyes winked from the shadows and the rat-like critters from the basement swarmed out.
One reached for Raven's feet, then another and another, as she and Kotemon retreated onto the coffee table. But their temporary refuge ended when the giant monster roared and pounded both hands against the piece of furniture, throwing the defenseless girl and protecting Digimon to the ground.
As the black rodents moved in a body towards them, they got to their feet and jumped onto the ledge that ran in front of the windows. With them closing in from the sides and in front, and the glass at their back, they was now completely hemmed in. Behind the mass, the huge terror loomed over them, and the windows turned black while two pairs of red eyes appeared on them.
Raven and Kotemon quickly turned around and faced the apparition in the window, "Stay back!" the girl commanded as she and the Digimon stepped back from the new creature. From the flat black expanse, a colossal animal shape began emerging and reaching for them. "You don't scare me!" She shouted, trying her best to hide her fears. The new apparition came out far enough to show itself as a wolf-like thing with a bird's head. The mage merely stared at the being in frozen fear before turning her face away and closing her eyes. "I'm not afraid... I'm not afraid..." She repeated to herself as the beast roared at her, dropping her to her knees as she put her hands to her head, "I'm not afraid!"
As she cowered between the three entities that were coming down on her, eyes shut tight, and teeth clenched so hard they could break at any moment, then Kotemon turned around and finally know what's going on "Raven you are afraid, it's a strange way to show it." the Digimon said.
This seemed to relax her as she opened her eyes wide as if she had finally accepted an inevitable and immutable truth. "I-I am afraid." She finally admitted openly. Her eyes turned pure black, with no sign of irises or whites, "I am afraid." She repeated as she stood up to face the demons, "But that doesn't mean I can't fight back!"
The rat-things back up uncertainly at the girls' new found courage while the leviathan watched her rise from the floor, her powers having returned.
"Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" Raven chanted with restored determination. A huge wave of black energy radiated from her and instantly evaporated the hordes of vermin as Kotemon covered his eyes. The tentacle giant was engulfed, then the wolf-thing that came from the window. Each monster was absorbed by the power and began swirling around the mage in a large circle, from which the head and wings of the four-eyed bird emerged and flew toward the ceiling.
The remains of the magic seeped through the ceiling where it emerged from the roof, spreading a wingspan at least ten times the width of the Tower. The creature let off one long, tortured screech as lightning ripped the heavens, then disintegrated into random pieces that were sucked back in through the roof. Inside the Ops Center, Raven dropped to the floor and collapsed from the sudden over use of her powers.
Titans Tower-Morning
Who knows how long she was out, but when the gray sorceress finally fame around from the fainting spell, she saw her six friends looking down at her. None were any worse for wear.
"Raven." Robin was the first to speak, making sure she was aware of her surroundings.
Said mage looked at each of them, puzzled at the sight that greeted her. "You're all okay?" She asked as Yuki extended a hand to help her up.
"We were never in any danger." The Boy Wonder answered.
"Say what?" Cyborg voiced his opposition to that claim.
"Did you not see the monsters?" Beast Boy asked, motioning to the entire Ops Center as a sign of where the tentacle creature first appeared.
"We saw them, but they were never really there." The leader continued explaining, "Raven was afraid, but when she wouldn't talk about it the fear found another way out." He finished. As he spoke, the truth struck Raven like a train and her eyes went wide at the revelation.
"Her powers!" Starfire gasped as she finally pieced together the information.
"Once you accepted your fear, you regained control over it." Robin said.
"You mean Raven made all those creepy-crawlies by accident?" The confused changeling asked as he rubbed his head.
"I knew it when that Wicked Scary changed into a Myotismon." Yuki said as he scratched his cheek.
"And I knew it when she was cowering." Kotemon added.
The culprit of the monsters was blushing as she smiled nervously, "Uh... sorry?" She apologized.
As the team was trying to wrap their heads around the events of the night, light began stealing over the room. Each of the teens looked toward the source and saw the sun coming up over the shore of Jump City Bay, signifying that the raging storm had finally passed. With the morning sun coming out, and exhaustion finally kicking in, Robin and Starfire headed for the side door, ready to get reacquainted with their beds.
"Sunrise." The bionic Titan yawned as he stretched his arms above his head. "Time for bed." He added before taking his leave, leaving Yuki, Kotemon, Raven, and Beast Boy in the Ops Center.
"You know," The green shape-shifter began as they continued watching the sunrise, "Your haunted house was way creepier than that stupid movie. Any chance you'd want to do all this again for Halloween?" He beamed at having come up with such an idea. The other three Titans, however, didn't share the same enthusiasm as their expressions didn't alter in the slightest.
"I'm afraid not." The Goth replied evenly.
The green-skinned teen chuckled a bit before turning to leave, "Eh, it was worth a shot." He shrugged as he left through the door.
With Beast Boy gone, only the Tamer, the Digimon, and the blue-cloaked sorceress remained in the room. They stood in silence for a bit as they stared at the sun. Raven glanced over at Kotemon as he and Yuki saw a small smile on her lips.
"Thank you Kotemon." She said as she turned back to look out the window.
This confused both of them a bit as the two looked at her, "For what?" the Digimon asked, "Yeah Raven what did Kotemon do?" the Tamer also asked
"For telling me it's okay to be scared. I wouldn't have been able to realize it otherwise." The mage explained. As she did so, she looked in the opposite direction of them as she rubbed her left arm with her right hand.
Kotemon blinked a bit as he registered what his teammate said before what he be smiling. He walked over to the girl, whose back was to him, and placed his right hand on her back. This caught her by surprise as she turned around and looked down at the Digimon, feeling the happiness. "You're welcome." He said, "And if you have anything you want to talk about, you can always come to ether of us." Yuki offered as the Tamer stepped up.
This made the sorceress blush a bit as she looked down towards the ground. "Y-yeah." She muttered as a smile of her own appeared on her face.
With everything that happened the night before, it was no wonder that the rest of the team had went to bed. And perhaps it was better that none of the others were around to embarrass the three Titans who were sharing a moment in front of the sunrise.
A/N: Wow that's another loong time to write and thanks once again to Unknown entity328 for helping with this. What happens next? Find out next time on Titan Tamer of The Swordsman. R&R