Opening the Closet Door a Crack

by still too old for this

Requested to find a missing professor of anthropology, the Titans begin a descent into the darkness where dwell madness and evil. Mystery and horror await our intrepid heroes. As for survival, that remains to be seen.

18. Chapter 18

I do not own anything relating to the Teen Titans.

Opening the Closet Door a Crack – Chapter 18

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Over the protestations of Starfire, who wanted to leave immediately, the titans decided to camp there for the night. It had been a long, extremely stressful day and most everyone was worn out. At dawn tomorrow, they would depart for the most inhospitable of continents. An atmosphere of solemnity had descended over the group as the prospect that Starfire presented infused the teens with a combination of fear and uncertainty. Compounding this was the revelation that their friend was falling once again under the influence of malign forces, only this time, without the ability to reverse the process.

Raven, as was her wont, was meditating in her tent. While she had not been directly involved in the confrontation with the Order, the emotional signatures that infused the town from its history were a strain on her. The very stones of the town gave off auras of evil that had demanded a constant attention and the maintenance of a protective barrier in her mind. After a little more than an hour, her psyche had been drained of the emotional overload of Innsmouth and she was able to focus more on both the prospects of the coming excursion and the immediate problems of her compatriots. Her eyes snapped open and one thought came to the fore.

Cyborg.

Unfolding herself from the lotus position, Raven left her tent and made her way to the tent of the robotic titan. Stopping outside the tent flap, Raven said softly, "Cyborg, may I come in?"

The voice responding to her didn't come from inside. Instead, off to the side of the tent, in the clearing, Cyborg said, "Raven, I'm over here."

He had been looking up at the stars, staring at them in contemplation. Raven moved over to his side and looked at him. "This doesn't seem quite in character. You're usually in the garage tinkering when you need to think."

"Well, there's no garage here. My baby's back at the tower. And there's nothing else to do." He lapsed into silence. After a few moments, Raven responded.

"Victor, are you sure about this? I could still have you back at the tower in a few moments and hooked up for rebooting. We could rejoin the Titans later."

Cyborg didn't answer for a few moments, then, with a sigh, he began to speak. "Thought about that Raven. Couple of problems though." Raven lifted her eyebrows. "First off, it'll take at least ten hours, closer to twelve this time, to do a full reboot. Do you know what will happen during that time?"

The question startled her. How was she to know the future? Without waiting for an answer, Cyborg continued.

"Well, first off, the other three will get some sleep, say six hours. Then they'll eat, say an hour. Then they'll load up the T-Jet and head south. That should take about three to four hours, depending on wind currents and how fast they can get to a suborbital level. That puts it ten to eleven hours from now. Assuming that everything goes right, we could rejoin them at that time. Can you use your portal to rejoin the T-Jet in flight?"

Stunned at the prospect, Raven responded. "No, not without knowing exactly where they are. A moving target would be difficult if I didn't know the exact trajectory, and had a little luck."

Nodding, Cyborg continued, "Yeah, that's what I thought. OK, in the most likely scenario, the Titans land at their destination in eleven hours and I'm still out for another 30-60 minutes. That gives them about an hour before there's any chance that we could rejoin them, assuming you can find them right off at a location you've never been and haven't seen. Do you really see either Robin or Star waiting for us, given the circumstances?"

Raven's stomach sunk at the prospect. Cyborg continued, "Starfire has been chomping at the bit to go after these people. And you know Robin, he'd either give in to her or, most likely, lead the pack in his obsession to solve this case."

She let out a long breath. That sounded exactly like her teammates.

"Finally," Cyborg said. "Have you noticed in this case that things happen fast? At the Tower, everything happened within minutes. At Arkham, we had the episode at the library within twenty minutes. Then, in Innsmouth, within an hour we were at the Order's headquarters."

"What makes you think this will be any different? If everything goes the way it has, those three will be up to their necks in trouble within thirty minutes. We've had all these problems with the five of us. Down to three, they could be in serious trouble."

"I'm not going to take that chance. Even if it puts me at some risk. Hell, BB couldn't change from what you said, but he wasn't going to desert us. You think I'm going to let that little grass stain get one up on me?"

"Victor, this isn't some contest between you and Beast Boy! This is your mind, your very sanity!"

"The point is," interrupted Cyborg, "I'm not going to desert you guys any more than he was. I'm just going to have to risk it. Who knows, maybe after this is all over the boys at StarLabs will have a solution and be able to wipe my memory. I just dabble in computers. They're the experts."

"One way or another," continued Cyborg, "I'm going. And now to put an end to this, I'm going inside and shutting down for the night. No matter what happens after that, there's no going back. Good night Raven." He turned and made his way back to his tent.

Before he entered, Raven said, "You've thought this all out haven't you?"

With a bit of a rueful smile to her, Cyborg replied, "Well, I had a bit of help. BB was here half an hour ago trying to talk me out of it just like you have. I had a chance to practice against him. I'm going in before either Star comes by and starts crying or Robin tries to order me back. Night."

"Oh, and you might want to check on BB, he wasn't at all happy with me." With that, Cyborg entered his tent and began the preparations for his shutdown and recharging.

For a moment or so after her friend entered his tent, Raven stood there, watching, considering. In her mind she weighed the alternatives, simply kidnapping Cyborg and bringing him to the tower whether he wanted to or not, versus the scenario he presented.

"Oh Azar, he's right. Damn. This mission has been far more difficult than any of us expected. Almost wish I was tackling Mallah again. At least I knew what he was capable of." She sighed. Turning back towards the other tents, she began walking towards her tent. Before she got there, she found another titan staring up at the stars. "What is this, astronomy night?" she thought.

Starfire.

Over the last week, the bubbly, eternally happy princess had changed considerably. Now she was brooding, somber. Obviously, the weight of their mission had played its part on her as well. While not affected by the malignancy of what they had encountered, she was also the only one who knew the full ramifications of their mission.

Only she really knew about Cthulhu. From the time she was aware, she had been raised, trained as a warrior. The warnings that were drummed into every child stayed with her as with all galactic children.

Cthulhu fhtagn.

Cthulhu waits.

So, she was staring up at the stars, looking for her home planet of Tamaran, trying to gain some small measure of comfort from knowing that she was protecting her people, all people. It was a weighty responsibility, one made difficult by the ignorance of the humans who surrounded her. Still, she was with her dearest friends, fellow warriors who would also stop at nothing to prevent Cthulhu's rise, even if they did not know in all of its full horror what that would mean.

"Starfire, are you going to speak to Cyborg about his decision?" Raven asked.

The princess of Tamaran did not stop gazing upward. "No. I respect his decision. Friend Cyborg is doing what is necessary to stop these evil people. I will not tell him not to do his duty as he sees fit."

"And if he loses his sanity as a result?" Raven was a bit surprised at how callous the girl was.

"Raven, we are all pledged, throughout the civilized galaxy, to sacrifice our lives, our families, our worlds, to prevent the rise of Cthulhu. Any of us, all of us, are expendable to stop that ultimate horror."

Seeing that she would get nowhere with Starfire on this topic, Raven asked about another matter troubling her. "How is Robin? Have you seen any signs of possession in him?"

The orange girl lowered her gaze and sighed. "I do not know. He has withdrawn into his tent again. I tried to speak with him, but he is shutting me out. I know that he has taken Dr. Carter's journal and all of his notes with him. I suspect that he is examining these works for additional clues as to what will happen and what to expect when we leave tomorrow."

"Did you ask him about voices? Has he been affected by the statue like Cyborg was?"

Starfire paused for a moment before answering. "I have asked him. But, he insists that he is unaffected by the influences of the books and objects that are causing so much distress to "Cyborg and Beast Boy."

"Do you believe him?"

At first, Raven did not think Starfire would answer. Then quietly, almost too quiet to hear, Starfire replied, "I do not know. I would like to think Robin is telling the truth. But, he has hidden things from us before. And his interest in Dr. Carter and the Order is starting to resemble his obsession with Slade."

"I will continue to hold an eyeball against him."

Raven looked at her friend for a moment, processing that last statement. Then it clicked. "Keep an eye on him, you'll keep an eye on him."

"That is what I said." Raven gave one of her faint smiles to her friend. Earth idioms were still a mystery to her, and a constant delight to her friends.

"In that case, I'm going to check on Beast Boy and make sure he's ok." The grey girl turned to go.

"Raven." There was some urgency in Starfire's voice. "Please be careful."

The purple haired girl turned back to her friend. The note of caution regarding their teammate was highly unusual. "Why?"

Starfire paused again. "Today, Beast Boy badly frightened me. You do not remember, but when he was the Beast last year, he was mighty enough to defeat all of us together. Regardless of your opinion of him, he may be the strongest of all of us. He moves and changes at the speed of thought. Only Robin can operate that quickly and Beast Boy can be far stronger and is far more versatile. Today, when he came out of your portal, the look in his eyes, the tensing of his body for attack, all of it made me remember his time as the Beast. I do not think that he is becoming that creature again, but I would be remiss not to remind you that if he is possessed, or if the Outer Gods are gaining control over him, he could be most formidable."

The seriousness that characterized Starfire was startling to Raven, the subject more so. She considered her next words carefully. "That's partly why I want to check up on him Starfire. If the malign influences of these Outer Gods are affecting him, we'll need to know what we're up against." Starfire seemed relieved at the thought.

"In that case, I will go to sleep now. I wish to be ready for tomorrow. This unknown city in your southern continent worries me and I wish to be ready for battle. Good night Raven."

"Night Starfire." Raven watched her girlfriend go to her tent. "Wow, that was disturbing. Never thought I'd be nostalgic for the eternally happy Starfire. Azar, these people are so depressing they're making ME look cheerful. I'd never tell him, but at this point, I'd almost be willing to hear one of Beast Boy's terrible jokes, ANYTHING to change the mood."

With that thought, Raven remembered that she wanted to check up on her verdant teammate. Beast Boy's tent was somewhat more distant than the others, segregated by choice. When they were out in the field on a mission, BB liked to be closer to nature. While he enjoyed living in the tower with his friends, there were times his instincts yearned for the outdoors. Especially when he was troubled.

As Raven glided over to Beast Boy's tent, she heard the teen's voice say to her, "I'm over here, Raven"

Looking around, Raven didn't see anyone. "Where are you?"

"Down here." There, about twenty feet from his tent, Beast Boy was lying on his back looking up at the stars.

"Seems like the night for everyone to be star gazing. I found Cyborg and Starfire doing the same thing." Raven drifted over to Beast Boy. "I've been wanting to ask you, are you all right after today? You were near that statue just like Cyborg and when you got out of the Order's headquarters you looked terrible."

"Awww, Rae, you care." Beast Boy tried to joke. She could hear in his voice that his heart wasn't really in it and he lapsed into silence once more. After a moment, he rose to a sitting position and she seated herself next to him.

"Raven, I wanted to kill them. I didn't just want to defend myself, I wanted to attack them, tear them to pieces. Their sheer existence was an abomination to my animal senses. It took everything I had to keep focus."

"But you didn't."

"RAVEN, I DON'T KILL. I'm a pacifist, a vegetarian. The only reason for violence is to protect those who are helpless." The changeling took a breath, "It seems the more exposure my animal instincts get to these creatures, the more violent they get. And animals do NOT understanding the finer points of ethics. They only understand fight or flight. And it seems that fight is winning more and more. And by fight, I mean kill."

This entire conversation was stunning to the Azerathean, Beast Boy talking ethics? She always thought him rather superficial. That his vegetarianism stemmed solely from his ability to morph into the animals that most humans used for food, the idea that there was a deeper ethics behind his behavior was revelatory to the girl.

"Still, you didn't kill. Did you even attack them?"

"No, well, not really. I had to hit a couple of them to get to your portal. But it was just to make a path, not to hurt them."

"Then you were still in control."

"For the moment."

There seemed no response to that. So Raven changed the subject. "Have you been hearing the voices again?"

At that, Beast Boy issued a rather bitter, mocking laugh. "No, they're gone completely. Seems that the more my animal instincts kick in, the less those influences have over me. They really don't seem to have any real influence over the animal world. That statue meant nothing to me. Other than it is one REALLY ugly statue."

"Have you thought that, maybe, the reason your animal instincts are becoming more powerful is because they are trying to protect you?"

Beast Boy thought about that for a moment. "Good possibility. Hadn't thought of it like that. Still, that doesn't help when the impulse to kill comes through." He lapsed into silence again.

"Rae, would you do me a favor?"

"Only if you stop calling me Rae."

"I'm serious. If you see me lose control and try to kill someone or something, please stop me. Any way you can. Even if it means killing me. I couldn't live with the thought that I'd killed someone. There's been too much death in my life."

That last pronouncement stunned Raven. Beast Boy NEVER talked about his past. She still knew very little about him. "What do you mean?"

"I don't want to talk about it right now. Just promise me you'll stop me."

While Raven avoided using her empathic abilities on her teammates, unless it was inadvertent, this last revelation was more than her curiosity could handle. Extending her empathic senses towards her friend, she tried to focus on him, on what he was feeling, on why he made that strange statement about death.

There was no response. With an internal start, Raven realized that Beast Boy, remarkably, controlled his emotions as much as she did. And was just as secretive as Robin.

What was in his past that caused him to be so private? This last statement regardTing death in his past was said in a serious, somber tone that precluded questioning. Raven said the only thing she could.

"Yes, if that's what you want, I'll stop you any way I can. But I won't kill you. There has to be another answer."

The emptiness that was Beast Boy's emotions lessened at that. He let out a long breath. "Well, I'll take that for a promise. Hopefully, neither of us will regret this." He paused. "Rae, Raven, how are you? You've been taking on so much over the past week, worrying about all of us. Are you ok?"

Once again, the question brought a shock to the young magician. Was it only a week since Dr. Phillips visited the Tower? In that time, the titans had been exposed to horror beyond measure and were now attempting to stop the complete destruction of the universe. How was she supposed to feel?

"I'm….I'm….." she stopped. "I don't know how I am."

Beast Boy put his hand on her shoulder. "Raven, if there's anything, anything at all I can do, I will. Please take care of yourself." While Raven couldn't see his face, the earnestness in his voice conveyed his sincerity.

"Thanks. I will. I think, however, I'm going to need to meditate some more. The emotional unrest that all of you are showing is starting to affect me. A couple of hours meditation, then some sleep should help. Good night Beast Boy." At that Raven rose from her seated position and began to drift away towards her tent.

"Night, Rae." Beast Boy replied. He lay back down on the grass and continued to watch the stars, wondering at his life, his future and his fate. Finally, exhausted by the day, he fell into a dreamless sleep.

The following morning, quietly, with little fanfare, the Titans packed up and got aboard the T-Jet, setting a course for the southernmost continent. And a rendezvous with destiny.

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Admittedly, I was a bit slow in getting this chapter up. First off, I got busy (housework, Granddaughter's birthday). Then, the SAME DAME VIRUS that knocked out my computer three weeks ago hit me again. Fortunately, I was able to partially stop it and a good friend of mine who's a programmer was able to finish cleaning it out after only four days, instead of two weeks. So, I'm back in business.

HOORAY, I broke 2000 hits for the story (no, not in one month, for the entire four months I've been writing it). This is, almost, my most successful tale. Admittedly, it's two and a half times longer than my last story, but that's beside the point. My most humble thanks to everyone who continues to read this lengthy tribute to HP Lovecraft.

On to the reviews.

ForceIsStrongWithThisOne – The hits, obviously, seem to be returning. As you say, on to Antarctica. It was delayed one chapter because I felt it necessary to reassess the status of the individual titans. If you've noticed, I did this sort of chapter after each of the last two arcs (Introduction/Necronomicon, Arkham. I believe it important to continue to show the influences that this mission is having on our heroes. By the by, REALLY enjoying Mirror (hey, that's a heads up to anyone who may be reading mine but not, unbelievably, Force's story).

Kenzie-Cat – Glad you're enjoying this. As I said earlier, Lovecraft had a plot device at times to utilize letters and journals to move the story along. He wrote in the 20's and 30's, so no internet. Still, it IS effective, isn't it?

ThingOne – Yep, we're heading to one of BB's favorite spots. As for what will happen to Cyborg, well, what will happen to all of the Titans? Hopefully, I'll keep you guessing until the last minute.

Emotionalpoemgirl – You raise some good points. I've incorporated part of an answer in this chapter (my dedication to you). Because you ARE correct. Raven could have brought him back to the tower. I had to think fast on why that wouldn't work. As for Antarctica wildlife, there are no large animals that can survive there, only three penguins (although I DID find one bird that flies in the region, a Snow Petrel, goes to show you how various terran life is) and some seals. Underwater creatures (whales) will NOT be of much use in the next arc. You'll see why. THANK YOU for your comments (and making me do my homework).

Novus Ordo Seclorum – You know, I'm really happy to see you enjoy my chapters. Hopefully, I can keep the streak going. Sorry to correct you though, the titans are heading to Antarctica to actually FIND the island the Esoteric Order of Dagon is heading for. My apologies for any confusion. Yes, I just said that the Order is NOT in Antarctica, don't worry there are other factors in that forbidding land.

As always my friends, I appreciate your comments and kindness, until next time, sleep well.