I do not own anything relating to the Teen Titans.

Opening the Closet Door a Crack – Chapter 5

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Rather than have Raven try to help Cyborg alone, Robin left his workroom with her. Between the two of them, he reasoned, they should be able to wipe a portion of his computer memory. While Robin could be focused, obsessive, driven and self-absorbed, he was also kind and considerate. Fundamentally, he was a just person. No one could do what he did without a deep desire to help people, even if it didn't always work out.

Returning to Raven's room, Robin looked at his friend. Now, without the distraction of the caseload, he could see the strain in Cyborg's face. The haunted look on the cybernetic teen's face, the way he twitched, looking around at the air, filled him with a great unease. Moving over to his teammate's side, he said, "Come on Cy, let's get you fixed up." Although he was concerned, he didn't show it. He knew that once he did, his friend would get truly upset, figuring that if Robin was concerned, something was REALLY wrong.

Making their way to Cyborg's room, the three titans managed to hook up the various electronic components of Cyborg to his recharging station. Once in recharge mode, Robin and Raven examined the various programs that their friend had set up, programs for learning, entertainment, rebooting. However, there did not appear to be anything related to erasing or deleting memories.

"I wonder…" mused Robin. "Raven, do you think we could use the reboot program?"

The grey sorceress pondered this. Cyborg was the computer expert of the team. Robin was good, having spent much of his earlier years learning just about everything from his mentor. She had a bit of a knack, having helped Cyborg on a number of occasions. "Well, we've got to do SOMETHING. We can't leave him like this." Together the two carefully examined the reboot program.

"Bad news, Robin, it looks like we can only reboot him to the last time he recharged. Last night. That means he'll still have some memories of the first day of translating."

"Do you want to give a try at modifying it to include one more day? How dangerous would it be to leave him with a partial exposure?"

"I don't know. Maybe if we try it, it'll clear his mind enough so that he can tell us how to go back an extra day."

"Worth a shot. Let's go for it." And the two set up the rebooting program. It appeared that the program would run concurrently with the recharging, so they wouldn't know the final results until the next morning.

"In that case, I'm going back to work," stated Robin. "Why don't you see how Beast Boy is holding up? He's had a great deal of exposure as well. After all, he's the one who translated most of it, so he actually KNOWS what it said."

"So do you."

"Yeah, but I'm ok," replied Robin with a grin. The grin faded. "Please check on BB." The titan leader set off for his workroom again. Raven looked at him carefully for a moment, watching him depart. She continued to stand there for a few minutes, considering her options. Then she went to look for Starfire, Beast Boy could probably wait a few more minutes. She hoped.

She found Starfire in the kitchen.

Each Titan had habits, rituals that they would resort to in times of disquiet or unease. Robin to his workroom, Cyborg to the garage, Beast Boy to his gamestation, Raven to her meditation. Starfire would go to the kitchen and cook. She found some measure of peace in trying to recreate the cuisine of her home world using terran food. It wasn't easy. Sometimes it was actually dangerous. Once she set fire to kitchen.

Since the revelation that Cthulhu might be on the planet, Starfire had been in the kitchen almost round the clock, awaiting the order to finally begin tracking Dr. Carter. While she understood that they needed to gather information to know where he was going and what he was looking for, the waiting was becoming unbearable. She was a warrior, this was an enemy, the greatest of enemies, she wanted action.

So she cooked.

Raven went over to the Tamaranean princess. "Starfire, I need to speak with you."

"I am sorry friend Raven, I am much too upset to engage in the 'girl talk'." Starfire answered.

"No, Starfire, this is not girl talk, this is about the mission."

Dropping the pan she was holding, Starfire whirled around and grabbed her friend by the shoulders. "Has Robin determined where Great Cthulhu is? I am ready now to depart. We can leave within minutes, I have the T-Jet fueled up and on standby." The look on her face was a study in contrast, eagerness for action and great fear over the magnitude of their foe.

"No Starfire, we've run into a few problems," Raven replied. "Uhhh, could you loosen your grip on me just a little. I'm starting to bruise." Starfire looked down at her arms. She let go of Raven. "Thank you."

"What is the problem?"

Considering her words carefully, so that the alien princess would not get confused by earth's idiom, Raven started with a question that had been bothering her, "Have you ever heard of Yog-Sothoth or Hastur?" Starfire spat out a word in Tamaranean that did not sound pleasant. "I take it that's a yes."

"Those are two of the Outer Gods that Great Cthulhu wishes to bring back to our reality. How do you know of them?"

"Cyborg mentioned them."

Now Starfire looked confused. "But, I thought that humans did not know anything about Cthulhu and the Outer Gods. How do you know of them?"

"Apparently, this monstrous book," Raven had a look of pure hatred on her face, "not only contains great evil, but it also opens the human mind to influences from beyond time and space. Cyborg was hearing voices in the ancient galactic tongue, as well as leathery wings getting closer."

If Starfire had looked alarmed before, now she was truly frightened. "This is most distressing! Great Cthulhu has many servants in the galaxy, if they wish to focus on us, there is little we can do to stop them."

"Actually, my concern is more the purpose of this 'haunting'. Can the Outer Gods use people to free themselves and reenter our reality?"

Starfire pondered for a moment. "If I understand aright, no. Only Great Cthulhu and Nyarlathotep, the crawling chaos, can release the Outer Gods. In all likelihood, their intent is to 'play' with Cyborg and then kill him. The Outer Gods seek only to torture and kill all who are not their acolytes. And some who ARE their acolytes. They seek only death and destruction."

"Starfire," Raven inquired, "why do you always call him 'Great Cthulhu', not just Cthulhu?"

The alien princess looked at Raven incredulously, "Because he IS great. Evil, twisted and repulsive, a danger to all of existence though he may be, he is still great and mighty. One always gives the proper description to both a friend and a foe."

Raven shook her head, she would NEVER understand the deeper meanings of honor that meant everything to a Tamaranean. Rather than delve into this matter further, she continued to focus on her concerns. "Starfire, Robin and I are trying to erase part of Cyborg's memory to break the connection between him and the Outer Gods. But I'm concerned with Robin. He's also been exposed to this book and its contents. Cyborg didn't even understand what he was reading and it affected him. Robin DOES. While he claims he has not been affected by the book, he's lied to us before." Starfire bristled at the insinuation. Nonetheless, she kept quiet. "SomeONE needs to keep watch on him so that he really is free from the Outer Gods' influences. "

"But Raven, did not the Doctor Phillips say that only strong minded men are allowed to read the book? Would you not characterize Robin as 'strong-minded'?"

The mistress of magic examined the question posed by her friend; despite everything, in fact, BECAUSE of everything, she had to admit that Robin's mind was unusually strong. "You're right. Nonetheless, I would like you to keep a careful watch over him, something you're uniquely suited to do," she gave a small smirk at this.

"I would be extremely happy to watch over Robin." Starfire practically bubbled over with glee.

"I thought you might." After a moment's pause, Raven continued, "Before you do that, I would appreciate it if you would return that book to the university. You can get it out of the tower the fastest and return it without incident. I can't go near it and no one else can get it there quickly. Please warn Dr. Phillips that it should be kept under lock and key, like the other copies." Under her breath, she continued, "Personally, I STILL think the book should be burned."

Starfire turned to go to Robin's workroom and retrieve the Necronomicon. Before she left, she stopped and turned to Raven. "Raven, a thought just occurred to me. You said that Dr. Phillips said only strong-minded men could examine the book. Correct?"

"Yes."

"But, friend Beast Boy has been looking at the book far more than either Robin or Cyborg. Do you not remember our episode with the Mad Mod? He was very susceptible to having his mind taken over. Would not this mean that he would be MORE susceptible to having the book take him over?"

Raven stiffened. "Azar! You're right! Starfire, forget the book for the moment. Help me find Beast Boy; it's definitely a matter of life and death!" And with that, Raven raced from the kitchen, heading for the green teen's bedroom, Starfire on her heels.

Reaching the changling's door, Raven quickly punched in the override code. Starfire looked at her curiously, "Friend Raven, how did you know Beast Boy's door's override code?"

"Never mind that. Look for Beast Boy." And the two heroines entered the room. "Robin said he was sleeping, I hope that means on his bed, otherwise we may never find him in this dump." The bed was empty, both top and bottom bunks. Looking around the room as best they could, they saw no sign of Beast Boy.

"This is not good, is it?" inquired Starfire. Raven shook her head no. She opened her communicator to see if she could track down the shapeshifter. There was no signal from Beast Boy.

"Damn! That means either he's turned it off, or he's changed forms. Neither is good at this point." She began to wonder how you could find someone who could change shape with a thought, becoming practically invisible at a moment's notice. She sighed, well, there was no helping it. Seating herself in her meditative posture, she began to chant her mantra, "Azerath Metrion Zinthos". Starfire watched her carefully. Raven utilized her empathic abilities, trying to read as many of the emotional signatures that were on the island as possible. She quickly found Robin and Cyborg, right where they were supposed to be. Starfire next to her, Beast Boy, Beast Boy….there was a strange echo outside, like him, but not exactly.

Overlaying it all was the malign influence of that damned book. The oozing, oily evil permeated the entire complex, corrupting, influencing all that were there. The taint was almost more than she could bear. Yet, there was something seductive, enticing about it. What mysteries did it hold? She could feel the power, the knowledge, the greatness of the entities behind the tome. Perhaps…

NO! NOT THAT! NEVER THAT! She had resisted her father, she would resist this. Even so, for everyone's sake (especially her own), that book MUST leave the tower as soon as possible.

Opening her eyes, she turned to her friend, "Outside. He's outside." Encasing the two of them in her black energy, Raven transported them to the western side of the island, intending to reach him as soon as possible.

As it was August, the sun set late in the day, so it was still roughly an hour before sunset. It had also been a warm, cloudless day as well. The western side of the island had a small field going down to the shore, there were small bushes and a few trees around. On occasion, the titans would have picnics in the area.

Raven and Starfire appeared instantly in the field, the sight that met their eyes stunned them into immobility. They stared at it, then they looked at each other, bafflement on each face. After a moment or two, Raven spoke.

"He's…he's asleep."

"Did you not say that Robin said he was sleeping."

"Yes, but …."

"I am curious though, why is he not sleeping as he normally would?"

Beast Boy had changed form, adopting that of a wolf. He was laying on the grass, sleeping in the sun and, although his hind legs twitched occasionally, he appeared peaceful.

Raven replied, "I don't know," shaking her head.

"And why is he in the form of that rather strange looking dog?"

"I don't think that's a dog. I think that's a wolf."

"Friend Raven, I am not aware of all of the life forms on this planet. What is a wolf?"

"It's a more primitive, wild form of a dog. Thousands of years ago, some wolves were adopted by men and domesticated. Others continued in the wild. Still doesn't explain why he's here in this form." Raven moved over to the green wolf and, gently, shook his shoulder.

The wolf woke suddenly and changed back to the familiar form of their teammate. "Rae, Star, what's up? Is anything wrong?" Although he sounded a bit groggy, he seemed his normal self.

Raven was stunned. There seemed no ill effects, no visible influences from his exposure. "Ah, there's been a problem with Cyborg. The book seems to be affecting him. We're rebooting him to try to erase as much of his memory of the past two days as we can. Hopefully, this will break the book's influences. Or at least lessen them so we can get some idea from Cyborg how to fully wipe the memories."

"Oh, so he's hearing the voices and the wings too?" Beast Boy responded, rather nonchalantly.

Raven looked like she had been hit in the head with a two by four. "You've….you've…been hearing them?"

Beast Boy lifted and cocked his head, as if listening for sounds in the distance. "Not as much now. I was hearing them more earlier. That's why I've been sleeping outside as a wolf, reconnecting to nature. Nature knows what these are and is not fooled. She knows her enemy and takes countermeasures. It's been healing the effects."

Raven remained silent. Starfire took up the conversation. "Why did you not sleep as a dog as you usually do? Why this wolf form?"

"Oh, dogs are too close to man. They've lost many of their natural instincts. A wolf remains attached to the wild. Also, they're pack animals, connected to each other. By taking that form, I can reconnect easier to the feel of the earth and to the other wolves. It seems to be working. I'll probably sleep out here all night. Wolves tend to be nocturnal as well, so I'll connect even better tonight. Hopefully by morning all trace of those sounds will be gone. By the way, that reminds me, if you hear any howling tonight, don't be alarmed, that's only me."

Raven found her voice at last, "YOU OAF! You idiotic, inconsiderate, infuriating….I ought to see if you can 'bond' with the fishes in the bay! How DARE you not tell me about this! Why didn't you come to me for help?" The rage that was becoming evident on her face was almost frightening. As there was nothing nearby that would respond to the black energy overload, nothing broke, but the plants and grass began to take on an ominous dark shading.

Beast Boy looked genuinely contrite. "I didn't want to worry you, Rae. I know that book has upset you being in the tower and you need to mediate to keep its vibes from getting to you. I wanted you to focus on that. I figured I could handle this myself."

She continued to stare at the green teen for a moment, veins popping furiously on her temple. Teeth clenched, she said, "Don't call me Rae. First thing tomorrow morning, I want to see you. AND YOU ARE GOING TO TELL ME THE TRUTH THIS TIME!" She turned away and began stomping towards the door to the tower.

Chasing after her, Starfire called over her shoulder, "Good Night Beast Boy."

"Night Star, GOOD NIGHT RAE" In the distance, he could hear her mutter something. A small smile appeared on his face. He changed back into a wolf and curled down in the fading sunlight. Letting out a small sigh, he went back to sleep.

Catching up to her friend, Starfire could hear her muttering incomprehensibly. "Raven, are you all right?"

"That aggravating, infuriating…" Raven continued to mutter. Then she seemed to regain some measure of control over herself. "Well, since you're going to watch Robin, I guess I'd better keep my eye on Beast Boy and see what residual influences are affecting him."

"I thought you might," replied Starfire with a sly smile, echoing Raven's words to her earlier. Raven gave Starfire a dirty look. Starfire laughed for the first time in several days. While the air of oppression that had infected the tower had not lifted, the resumption of the normal bickering between her two friends was a welcome sight.

The grey sorceress looked disgusted. "Anyway, now that we've tracked Beast Boy down, would you please take that accursed book back to Dr. Phillips? I don't want it in the tower another hour, its malign influences are more far reaching than I thought."

"Certainly, friend Raven. I will attend to it right away." With that Starfire flew off in the direction of Robin's workroom. It did not take her long to maneuver her way to door to his workroom. Landing, she knocked and asked, "Robin, may I come in?"

There was no answer. This in and of itself was not particularly cause for alarm. Robin often became so engrossed in his work that he would not hear anyone knocking. She tried again louder, "Robin, may I come in?"

Again, there was no answer. This time Starfire did not wait for a response, she entered the room. As was Robin's wont, the room was dark, with only a few lights to focus attention on the papers on his worktable. There were papers scattered everywhere across it, notes, maps, a few pictures. And an exhausted teenager slumped over the table, snoring softly. Starfire watched the team leader for a few moments. He looked tired, but that was normal, especially when he was in the middle of a major case. He didn't seem to be affected by the Necronomicon. Still, Raven was correct, there was no point in taking chances. The book was on the corner of the table. Starfire picked it up and left the room. This would not take long.

It didn't.

The next morning, Starfire was the second to awaken. She woke up because the first one to wake up was Robin. While he was used to waking up slumped over his worktable, looking around he immediately noticed that the Necronomicon was missing. He sent out the alarm. "Starfire, Raven, Beast Boy, get in here, we've been robbed!" Needless to say, he was still half asleep.

Starfire was the only one to respond, as Beast Boy was still outside and Raven was not a morning person under the best of circumstances. Flying into the workroom, she called out, "Good Morning, Robin. It appears you have become aware of the absence of the old book."

Robin stopped for a moment. "How did you know what was missing?"

"Because it was I who returned it to Dr. Phillips. Raven believed that its influences were becoming a problem for everyone and felt it was safer away from the tower."

"Wait a minute, I know it was causing Cyborg a lot of trouble." Putting two and two together, "So, it is affecting Beast Boy." Starfire nodded agreement. "Well, you and Raven were right. We were done with it anyway and the quicker it was out of here, the better. Sorry about hitting the panic button."

Starfire looked around the room. "I do not see a button of panic anywhere in the area. What does it look like?"

Robin chuckled. Someday he would remember not to use common earth sayings without explaining it first to Starfire. "A panic button is an expression meaning to send out an alarm before you know what's going on, thereby starting a panic for no reason." Getting serious once again, he continued, "What happened to Beast Boy?"

"Apparently, he has also been hearing strange voices speaking ancient languages and hearing wings. Robin, are you certain you have not been hearing these things as well?"

Robin paused, as if listening. After a moment, he responded, "No, I don't hear anything along those lines. Everything seems normal." Another pause, "In any case, I was done with the book for the time being. The missing page appears to be key and we'll have to go elsewhere to find it."

"Therefore," he continued, "first I'm going to check in on Cyborg and Beast Boy, then take a shower. After that, we can get ready to leave." Looking at his watch, he calculated. "Would you tell the others that I want to leave by no later than 9:30."

"Why don't you tell us yourself?" interrupted Raven, who now appeared in the doorway. "I've already spoken with Beast Boy. There are still a few traces of influence, but he's pretty much back to normal. I expect that for the next couple of nights, he's going to be sleeping in the form of a wolf." Robin looked puzzled.

"Uhhh, back up a moment, what's that about a wolf?"

"It seems that he's able to counteract the effects of that book by spending time as an animal. Animals know their enemies and are more resilient to their influences. So, by sleeping as a wolf, he's 'reconnecting' with nature and reducing any influence that cursed book has on him. He's asleep again. Just let me know when you're ready to leave and I'll have him ready as well."

Both Robin and Starfire raised eyebrows at this. "Raven, since when have you become Beast Boy's keeper?" There was just the hint of a smirk behind Robin's question. Raven gave him a cold look.

"Because NO ONE ELSE seems to take my warnings seriously except Starfire. Therefore, I'm watching Beast Boy and Starfire's watching YOU!"

"What about friend Cyborg?"

"We'll all have to watch for him especially. He doesn't seem to have any of the protections that Robin and Beast Boy have."

"Speaking of which," interjected Robin, who was somewhat insulted by being issued a keeper as well, "Has anyone checked in on Cyborg?" He said that looking at Raven.

"I thought all of us should see him when he wakes up. If he's lost part of his memory, he may be disoriented."

Robin looked at her approvingly. "Good thinking. Before we do anything else, we should see how Cyborg is doing." The three of them left Robin's workroom and made their way to Cyborg's room. Reaching his room, Robin punched in the access code. Entering the room, Robin saw that the rebooting program had completed as had the recharging. All that was left was to reactivate their friend. Raven hit the activation switch associated with the reboot program.

Cyborg opened his eye, the light coming on fully in his electronic eye. "What's going on? Why is everyone here?" Pausing for a moment, he continued, "I've been rebooted, I've lost a day. My internal clock doesn't match the tower's clock. WHAT HAPPENED?"

"You started being affected by that damn book," Raven answered. "You were hearing things and it was getting stronger. Do you hear anything now?"

Looking ashamed of himself, the cybernetic teen answered quietly, "Yes, I can hear voices."

Robin responded, "How loud?"

"It's a quiet whisper, if I concentrate, I can almost make out the individual words."

"Do you hear any wings?" questioned Raven. Cyborg looked confused.

"Wings, what are you talking about?"

Raven let out a breath of relief. "Well, we know it partially worked. Cyborg, is there any way to remove one more day. For your own safety, we need to wipe everything related to that malign book from your mind."

"No way! Do you think I'd leave any way to erase my memory? Can you imagine the danger if my memory could be wiped? Do understand how VIOLATED I'd feel?"

Robin and Raven looked abashed. "Cy," answered Robin, taking the heat, "we couldn't leave you in the condition you were in. You were losing your mind, you looked terrible. I'd do it again in a heartbeat to save your sanity. So, I'm STILL going to ask, is there any way to remove one more day's memory."

While Cyborg looked insulted, he answered honestly, "No, there's no way to erase my electronic memory. I'm sure you could hypnotize me, but that would only superficially cover up my memory, not remove it. I'm just going to have to live with it."

The other three titans looked at one another. This was not the news they had hoped to hear. But it seemed there was no alternative.

"Very well. Since there's nothing we can do at the moment, we'll have to wait and see if there is something we can do later." Stated Robin. "To bring you up to speed, we're going to be going to Arkham to Miskatonic University to look at another copy of the Necronomicon to find the missing page. After that, we're going to Innsmouth Massachusetts to begin the search for Randolph Carter. Everyone, get packed for a few days, we leave at 9:30."

Raven and Starfire left to get ready. In Starfire's case, this was not much as she had been ready for days. So she offered to help Raven with Beast Boy. Robin lingered behind. "Cy….Vic, are you going to be all right?"

"Rob, I can't promise anything. If I was as bad as you say, I'm not that bad now. Still, there's no way to tell what the future holds."

Shortly afterwards, a small jet flew away from the edifice of glass and steel, as five adventurers left to see what that future might be. They left a city of glass and steel, a mythological place where man ruled his realm, where there was nothing mightier than himself. They left a new place, heading for an old place, Arkham. Arkham, center of the Miskatonic Valley, neighbor to shadowed Innsmouth, Dunwich, and other, haunted towns. A region that had never forgotten that there are older and mightier beings in the cosmos which view the challenge of mankind as inconsequential.

And somewhere, three hags were laughing.

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Sorry for the extended delay in updating. This chapter took forever (as you can see by its length, my longest chapter ever). However, I was determined to get them heading for Arkham as I promised. Five chapters completed and they hadn't even left the TOWER. I've still got a few places for them to travel to before the conclusion.

My thanks, as always, to my readers and especially my reviewers. In order,

The Force is Strong with This One – My eternal thanks for the shout out. It was extremely kind of you to do so. As you say, the references to Lovecraft might be above the head of those unfamiliar to with the writer. Maybe if I'm lucky, my homage to the master will garner some new readers.

Nico – Glad you're enjoying this, I'll update as soon as I can.

Raven's Favorite Emotion – Throughout this story, everyone will be affected by the events. And as you can see, even if Robin does not appear to be affected (key word, appear), it doesn't mean the others believe it.

Anonymity is Best – Actually, I'm in keeping with the series. Or trying to anyway. The series seems to portray Robin as the ultimate Type A person, always focused on the job and not always aware of the impact of some of his responses (see the entire Red X fiasco). Beast Boy, on the other hand, in the series has the most complex of personalities. Mostly used for comedy relief, when things get serious (Doom Patrol, Brotherhood of Evil, Terra) he becomes extremely competent, caring and reveals that there is far more to him than the prankster. I find him fascinating, to say the least. Probably why he (and Raven) are such a focus of my stories.

Crimson Black – My thanks for branching out to read my story. Glad you are enjoying it. Not giving away anything here but, yes, there will be interludes between Starfire and Robin. As I mentioned above, BB and Raven are my favorites, but there is a reason I set Starfire to watch Robin.

Hawkgirl90 – I have this classified as horror due to the homage to Lovecraft. Also because the horror will be in the form of mood and suspense (and the ending, boy, am I looking forward to that!). What today is considered horror is not to my taste, so there will be no guts and gore or torture. The greatest horror is the horror of the mind. So, I hope you continue to enjoy.

Novus Ordo Seclorum – I was starting to wonder what happened to you, my friend, you usually review much quicker. Innsmouth will be revelatory and send them on the next phase of their journey. But first we WILL need to find that missing page. In doing so, we'll learn a little more about the Necronomicon and its influences. If I can keep Arkham down to 'only' two chapters, I'll consider myself lucky. As always with Lovecraft, there always seems to be one more twist.

Until next time my friends.