Thresholding by CidGregor
Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans.
This fic is dedicated to Post, for all he has contributed to its existence. (It's still my anniversary!)
Chapter 19
59:30…29…28…27…
The first room immediately presented Robin with a choice; one that only a three-dimensional maze could offer.
Left…right…or down?
Robin pondered the doorways on either side of him as well as the hole in the floor. Which was the best course of action? Did it even matter? Was there more than one route to the end?
"Well, I suppose I could always try Beast Boy's tactic…" Robin muttered to himself. He squeezed his eyes shut and began randomly pointing. "Eeny…meeny…miney…moe."
His finger landed on the hole in the floor.
"As good a choice as any, I suppose," he said to no one. He walked to the edge of the hole – or floated, at least, in the zero gravity – and prepared to push off from the ceiling down through the opening…
A split second after he pushed off, however, all three openings suddenly slammed shut. Robin's feet landed only on hard metal, no closer to his goal at all.
"What the…?"
But that wasn't all. Looking through the bars, he saw several other open paths suddenly closing off, and others that had previously been closed were sliding open.
Robin stared at the newly sealed doors in front of him, wondering how this was happening. Did this cage, this…Dakataan…have a mind of its own? Were Galfore and Tromand'r sitting in a control room, opening and closing doors as they saw fit? Or was the maze controlled by the whim of random chance?
Slow down, Robin, he told himself. One step at a time. Deep breaths…you can figure this out…
He took a breath, steadying his mind…
I need to get through this…it's the only way to see Starfire again…
Abruptly, the door on his left slid open without a sound. Robin glanced at it warily; he was still leaning toward heading down, but he didn't know how long it would be before that door would open again, assuming it ever did, and he couldn't afford to waste time. Hastily he floated through the new opening, which again slammed shut moments after he passed through.
Robin stared blankly at the next room before him. It was much the same as before; a door before him, a door to his right, and a door in the floor, all of which were again closed.
I need to go down at some point, Robin thought. If both the entrance and the exit are at the top, chances are I'm going to need to go down for a while to get through...
…God I wish Starfire was here…
Fortunately he didn't dwell on her long, for a moment later, the door to his right and the one in the floor slid open. He pushed off from the ceiling and down through the hole, hoping he was making the right move.
57:05…04…03…
"Thank you for seeing us off, Captain."
Tromand'r nodded, shaking the robotic Titan's hand firmly. "Of course. I wish you good fortune in your task. And my apologies for borrowing your emergency spacesuit."
"No big," Cyborg shrugged it off. "Anything to help make sure Robin's Trials go smoothly. How's he doing, anyway?"
"He has just entered the Dakataan. Hopefully he will be wise enough to realize its secret."
"Robin's a smart one, don't worry," Beast Boy piped up from beside his friend.
"How is Starfire?" Raven added.
"She is well," Tromand'r assured them. "Her own preparations for the ceremony are nearly complete."
"I don't suppose…there's any chance of us seeing her before we go?" Terra asked hesitantly, even though she was fairly certain what the answer would be.
Tromand'r confirmed her suspicion with a sad shake of the head. "I am afraid not. Tradition mandates that the princess must not have any contact with the betrothed…not even peripheral contact through mutual friends…until the Trials are complete. I am sorry."
"We understand," Raven said. Then, to Cyborg, "We should get moving."
Cyborg nodded his agreement. "Thanks again, Tromand'r. I might not get another chance to say this before this whole mess hits the fan, so…good luck, and Godspeed."
"Yourself as well," the Captain responded. He pounded his chest with one fist. "X'Hal!"
The Titans and Tromand'r parted ways there. Tromand'r returned to the interior of the Echo'r, while the Titans loaded themselves into the T-Ship, newly repaired and ready to fly. They hoped.
"Everything looks good," Cyborg said. "Y'all ready?"
"As ready as I'll ever be in this thing," Terra muttered.
"Good to go!" Beast Boy announced.
"Just get on with it," Raven deadpanned.
"All right then," Cyborg grunted. "LAUNCH!"
He pulled the appropriate lever, and the engines flared to life with bright yellow flames. The ship rocketed forward and out the hangar bay, daintily swooping around the huge cage that was the Dakataan. And deep inside, Cyborg could just make out a speck of orange moving through the bars…
"Good luck in there, Rob," he murmured.
35:09…08…07…
"Urgh…"
Robin stared in annoyance at the door just in front of him. He was positive this was the way he needed to go…but a split second before he could float through it, it had slammed closed in his face.
"Now what…?" he muttered to no one. He glanced at his air supply meter: a little over half-an-hour left, it read. He turned to his surroundings. He was currently at the bottom of the Dakataan, and if his estimation was correct, he was more or less halfway through. The problem was, with the door before him closed and no hole in the ceiling of this room, the only open path left to him was back the way he'd come.
I could wait for this door to open again, Robin reasoned. It might be quicker than backtracking to find a way around…
For a couple of minutes, Robin did just that. He stood before the door, tapping his foot impatiently.
C'mon…open, dammit!
The door remained resolutely shut.
Robin growled and looked at his display. He'd already wasted more than three minutes. This wasn't getting him anywhere. For all he knew this door was going to stay shut the whole time. He couldn't afford that. Which left him only one option.
"Backtracking…" he murmured. "Great…"
He stepped back through the door he'd just come through, wondering which path would get him back where he needed to go, when suddenly the door slammed closed behind him, and as he gazed in horror through the bars, the door he'd been waiting for slid open.
"Oh, COME ON!" Robin snapped in annoyance, pounding on the door. The door, unsurprisingly, didn't budge.
Robin ground his teeth together, and stormed through a side door.
Dammit…this place HAS to have an end…
…It HAS to…
He ran.
30:51…50…49…
"Sooo…is it time to call Batman yet?.!" Beast Boy asked.
"Might as well," Cyborg said. He brought up the frequency code in his wrist display and punched it in on the communications panel. "Raven, while I'm doing this, see if you can establish that mental link with the Martian Manhunter. Get an information exchange going while I get a plan of action from Bats."
"On it," Raven muttered.
Cyborg turned back to his displays and turned on the com-link. "This is Cyborg of the Teen Titans, calling Batman. I was given this frequency by Robin. Please respond."
To his surprise, an answer came almost immediately.
"I was expecting this call sooner," A gruff, low voice said. "This is regarding the coming Gordanian invasion, correct?"
"Yeah, that's right," Cyborg said. "You heard?"
"General Lambert brought us up to speed a couple of hours ago. Has the engagement process finished yet?"
"No, not yet."
"What's taking so long? We need that peace agreement set in stone as soon as possible."
"The Tamaranians are kinda tradition-bound. Getting through the whole betrothal process takes a while."
"In the face of an impending planetary war?"
Cyborg shrugged. "Hey, man, don't ask me, I ain't the one makin' the rules up there."
"Fine. You have the rest of your team with you?"
"Yeah, we're all here."
"Good. Meet us at Area 51. Lambert, the Cabinet, and the League are beginning the process of unifying the globe's armed forces and preparing our defenses. Any additional information you could provide will be helpful."
"I've already got Raven taking to J'honn. Everything we know, he'll know in a minute."
"Even better. Batman out."
Cyborg punched off the com-link and took a deep breath. "Everyone get all that?"
"Loud and clear," Raven murmured. "J'honn sends his thanks for the update. He and the League will be expecting us at Area 51 shortly."
"Batman sure lives up to that whole 'cold and calculated' reputation," Terra observed, sounding vaguely unwell. "He didn't even seem to care that it's his old partner going through all that engagement stuff."
"Ah, don't worry about it," Beast Boy said. "If WE know Rob can handle himself, then Bats sure as heck does."
"Aight, y'all, cut the chatter," Cyborg interrupted. "We got a mission now. Area 51, here we come!"
"Woo-hoo! Maybe this time I'll have a chance to check out the alien autopsy rooms! I'll bet they're just like the ones in 'Mega Horror Theater' episode thirty, all oozing with alien slime and guts and severed tentacles flying everywhere and…"
"…urk…oh God…"
The distinct sound of Terra vomiting filled the com-link a second later.
"Aww, dammit…" Cyborg groaned. "That's gonna take forever to get clean again…"
07:44…43…42…
"LET ME THROUGH!"
Robin pounded long and hard and repeatedly against the sealed doorway before him. Beyond it he could see the exit, a scant three rooms ahead and one room up. But every door between him and the exit was closed.
"I SAID LET ME THROUGH, DAMMIT! THIS ISN'T FAIR! THIS MAZE IS IMPOSSIBLE!"
The doors stayed closed, as it had for several minutes now.
Robin's breath quickened, fogging the front of his helmet with its constant heat. Panic was setting in, and his air supply dwindled faster than ever as his breathing grew more and more rapid. The timer accelerated to reflect this; it seemed to be moving at double-speed now, and that did nothing to calm Robin's nerves. His heart pounded in his chest, thumping with such volume that he was astounded it wasn't bursting from his body.
Robin glanced backward; the door behind him that he'd come through was still open. Did he have time to backtrack, and try to get to the exit another way? Or would those exits be blocked as well?
Robin spun around and kicked off from the closed door. It was the only option he had right now other than stand there and wait for death, and he had to take it…
But even that route was denied him; moments before he would've passed through, even this last door slammed shut, and he bounced off of it, flailing madly.
No…NO! I can't…I can't be trapped!
But he was. Every door in the room was sealed. He couldn't go anywhere.
04:00…03:59…58…
Robin wrapped his arms around himself, shaking. How could he possibly beat this? There was no way…it just wasn't possible…
Yes it is, a part of him reasoned. The Tamaranians want you to succeed just as much as you yourself do. They wouldn't design an impossible task!
It was true enough, Robin knew. This peace was riding on him, and Tamaran needed it to go through. It wouldn't be in their interests to make the task impossible. There had to be something…something he was missing…
The secret… he realized. Galfore said something about the Dakataan holding a secret…that I have to discover it to get through…
But no…there was no way he could figure it out in time. He had less than five minutes of air left…he should've been thinking about this the whole time, he berated himself; not here and now at the last second. And now because of his foolishness, the peace would never be established…Tamaran and Earth wouldn't unify to fight the Gordanians…and Starfire…she…
Starfire…
The alien girl's face drifted into his mind once more. Smiling that damned perfect smile. Flashing those gorgeous eyes. Soothing him with her soft, melodic voice…
No…I won't let her down…I can't let her down.
02:32…31…30…
Robin took a breath, long and slow, closing his eyes and focusing on Starfire. He had to remember why he was even doing this: it was all for her. His heart rate slowed, as did his breaths.
Calm…rational…easy does it. You can find a way out, Robin, he told himself. You WILL find a way out. You WILL make it through this alive, and you WILL see Starfire again, and that is the end of it!
His eyes drifted open…and then widened in amazement.
The doors were open.
What on Earth…? How…?
Slowly he pushed upward through the newly open ceiling panel, but stopped himself after he passed through, and at last took a close look at the mechanisms controlling the door. The device was rather simple – an automated sort of rope-and-pulley system – but tiny antennae stuck out from the device, softly vibrating…
Abruptly his suit beeped, and the display flashed a bright red one-minute warning. A note of panic returned, and he hastened to kick off through the straight line of open doors to the exit, but the moment he was upright the nearest one slammed closed again.
"Not again!" he burst out savagely. "What the hell is going on! Why is…"
And then it clicked.
That's it…that's what triggers it! It has to be!
He closed his eyes once more to double-check his hypothesis. He took a deep breath again, pushed away the panic…and thought of Starfire…of seeing her smiling face again…and once more the door opened back up.
That was it…that was the secret, Robin realized. The maze was somehow attuned to his state of mind, through those little antennae. The more he got annoyed and panicked, the more it started to work against him…but at the beginning, and again just now, the path had opened up for him the moment he calmed down, and thought of Starfire…
"The breath of my beloved," Robin repeated the clue again, smiling to himself. "Galfore…you clever bastard…"
He glanced one last time at his display.
00:03…02…1…00:00.
Robin took in the last breath of air the suit had to offer, and held it. He had to not think about it…not the end of the air supply, not about the war, or the rest of the Titans, or the Justice League, or anything at all except her…Starfire…
He breathed out the last of the air, kicked off the wall as hard as he could, and shot forward down the last stretch…just a few short feet and he would be home free…just another few moments of holding this last breath…just a few more seconds of holding on to his slowly fading consciousness…
He was hardly aware of passing through the open airlock hatch, or of the sudden reappearance of gravity as the outer doors closed and the airlock pressurized, or the enormous Tamaranian Emperor who opened the inner doors to greet him, or even the horrible stench as he tore off his helmet and violently threw up with the first breath he took. All he knew was he'd done it.
He gazed up at Galfore through clouded vision, the stench of vomit stinging his nostrils. He wiped his mouth with the back of one gloved hand. Galfore's arms were crossed, his posture as rigid and unyielding as tradition, but an expression of subtle satisfaction was plainly visible on his face.
Robin opened his mouth and gagged. Fighting back the urge to vomit again he managed, "Where is she?"
Galfore did not reply, and Robin passed into blessed unconsciousness as the last of his withered strength fled from him.
Author's Notes: I hope you enjoyed this double update in honor of my anniversary. There is a third piece to my celebration, unrelated to Thresholding, but due to its graphic nature it will not be posted here at FFN. If anyone is interested in it, PM or email me for further details.
Till next time,
-Cid