Behind The Scenes 7 - Hidden Extra
Sorry for the delay, I'm still struggling with this one. I have the broad strokes in my head but fleshing it out is the challenge. D'oh!
Scott Free looked pained as his Mother Box pinged at Control Freak's computer, the conversation only he could hear clearly troubling him. He had glanced at Control Freak with distaste on a few occasions, all of which made the villain more nervous. After several more minutes, he stepped back and faced the waiting TItans.
"Good news and bad," he said. "Good news: my Mother Box has managed to establish communication with yours. Bad news: this home-made Mother Box is badly traumatised and struggling to understand what we want it to do."
"Traumatised?" Robin asked, eyes wide. Scott nodded solemnly.
"The Mother Box is a living entity. Imagine having your mind locked up in a cage and having nothing to occupy yourself with but basic arithmetic. The calculations it's been doing are incredibly basic by Mother Box reckoning and its had nothing else to do. Your earth materials make it unable to transfigure or use a boomtube or communicate off-world or even see the world around it. It's like sensory deprivation and that's all it has ever known! We need to help it release your friends and then find a way to get it out of here - Mother Boxes are not meant to be rooted in one place."
"Can you and your Mother Box guide it?" Starfire asked. Scott shook his head.
"No. They can communicate but not truly interface. We would need an adaptive, autonomous, thinking computer made from similar components and materials," he explained. Robin growled.
"An adaptive, autonomous computer... Cyborg? Do you know of anything like that?" he asked. Cyborg looked at his leader and nodded with reluctance.
"Only one," he said, tapping his head. "Me."
THE CAMPER RESIDENCE
To say the silence in the room was heavy would have been a massive understatement. The two teenagers stared at the floor and contnued to do so for another ten minutes. Finally, with eyes clamped shut, Raven murmured something, too quiet to understand.
"Um... what was that, Rae?" Beast Boy asked, only glancing at her for a moment.
"I won't blame you. When it happens, I won't blame you." Silence again.
"You're damn right you won't blame me, cos it's not gonna happen in the first place!" he cried, angrily. Raven looked up at him with a start.
"Beast Boy... you know we can't control ourselves-"
"Maybe we just aren't trying hard enough. I don't care how much it hurts, it isn't happening!" he yelled, standing up and clenching his fists. Raven was genuinely surprised at how angry he was. "I will not kiss you." Raven hadn't expected him to be happy at the idea but was a little miffed he was so upset at even the notion of sharing a kiss with her.
"Gee, don't spare my feelings or anything," she drawled, folding her arms. He turned to face her with confusion in his eyes.
"What?" he asked.
"I know you don't want to kiss me but you don't have to make it sound so disastrous," she said, curtly. He shook his head and sat near her, even as she turned away from him.
"No, Rae... that's not it. I won't kiss you because you don't want to," he explained, more quietly now. Raven slowly faced him, seeing the conflict in his eyes.
"I will not kiss you against your will, mind control or not. I won't do it. I won't let it happen."
"Beast Boy, it isn't such a big deal. It isn't worth all that pain," Raven countered. Beast Boy's eyes grew hard and he stared her down.
"It is a big deal. It is worth that pain and any pain they can dish out. I... I promised!" he said. Raven shook her head, needing to understand.
"Promised? Promised what?" she asked, impatiently.
"You've always had people deciding for you, Rae. Manipulating you. The prophecy, Malchior, even the monks who trained you, who decided you weren't allowed to feel or even know your mom. I know it's dumb but after the portal thing I promised that, if I could help it, I wouldn't let anyone do that again. That includes me," he explained, his anger exhausted. Raven looked at him with pity and no small amount of gratitude.
"I don't recall you making this promise to me," she prodded. Her green friend finally smiled a sheepish, sad smile.
"I guess I kept it to myself," he murmured. Raven laid her hand on his.
"I'm grateful, Beast Boy... and I understand, I really do. But this will hurt me too. If we can't resist, if we can't deviate from our script, I need you to know I won't blame you and I hope you won't blame me." Beast Boy locked eyes with her, his hand turning to clasp hers.
"Of course I won't. Never!" he said, firmly. Raven smiled and nodded. "I wonder if the Campers have any breath mints..." he wondered out loud. Raven choked and stared at him with wide eyes, though a tiny smile betrayed her entertainment, eliciting a shrug from the changeling. "Might as well make the best of it," he joked.
CONTROL FREAK'S LAIR
A bundle of cables, quickly constructed by Scott Free's Mother Box from Control Freak's spare parts, ran from the impaired Mother Box to the back of Cyborg's skull. He sat on a stool, hands resting on his knees and clearly nervous about what he was about to attempt.
"You sure about this, Cyborg?" Robin asked. Cyborg nodded without hesitation.
"Gotta do it, man. I gotta get them out," he stated with conviction. Robin set his jaw and rested his hand on Cyborg's shoulder. Starfire alighted on his other side, her smile dimmed but still radiant.
"You shall prevail, Cyborg. You shall rescue our friends and we shall go home," she said with a smile. Scott Free stepped toward them.
"Mother Box says we're as ready as we'll ever be. Cyborg: you'll still be aware of your surroundings and of us, it'll be like monitoring a camera or watching a movie from the corner of your eye. Tell us what you experience and I'll try to guide you... also, this Mother Box has no interface experience and might beam its thoughts a little "loud". We can try and dampen that if it happens. Ready to go?" he asked. Cyborg took a deep breath... and nodded. Scott flipped the switch.
THE CAMPER RESIDENCE
"So why was this episode cancelled? I can't believe one kiss would be so troublesome, even for a show as clean-cut as this one," Raven asked.
"It wasn't the kiss, it was the whole episode. They knew they were getting cancelled and took a shot at writing something a little more relevant - in this case, Tom losing his job and how they react. Needless to say, it didn't make it past the censors," he explained. Suddenly, the pair of them felt the weight and moved to the kitchen, pouring and sipping cups of coffee. The conversation was forced and awkward, until Beast Boy's character broke down and started railing against his former employers, doubting his value as a man if he couldn't provide for his wife, that sort of thing. Raven let herself say the words without really thinking about it: Beast Boy had explained the dreaded kiss wouldn't come until the very end of the episode. The dialogue was hammy and melodramatic, so Raven supposed it was no great loss it didn't get aired, even if she felt for the writers frustrated desire to express themselves a little. Suddenly, the weight vanished and Beast Boy, who had been crouched on the floor, leapt to his feet with an expression of pain.
"Beast Boy?! What is it?"
"BLLEEUUUGHH! I hate coffee and I'm sick of this stupid show forcing it down my neck!" he cried, pouting and growling as he poured himself a glass of water and chugged it. Raven smirked and shook her head at him, recalling a time when his behaviour gave rise to anger in her... now it just seemed to bring her amusement. She stepped closer and patted him on the head.
"There there, once we get out you can punch Control Freak in the face an extra time," she said. He turned, his eyes large and sad and his pout exaggerated.
"You promise?" he sniffled. Raven nodded. "Okay..." he muttered.
CONTROL FREAK'S LAIR
"Okay, this is weird," Cyborg said, uncertainly.
"Weird how. Be precise," Scott instructed.
"It's like knowing there's a video on but it's blank. There's nothing to see," Cyborg tried.
"Well, it can't see. Still, it must be receiving visual data from the simulation... try asking it about your friends."
"How?"
"Picture them in your own mind. Try and find out how they got in there," Scott said. There was a long pause as the others waited for Cyborg.
"Whoa... okay. Okay, I think I got it. There was a remote hard-wired to the Mother Box... it's not connected right now," he said. Immediately, Starfire marched to Control Freak and hauled him up by his collar, lifting him from the floor and menacing him with glowing, green eyes.
"Where?" was all she said. Wisely, he pointed to a lockbox in the corner. Starfire dropped Control Freak carelessly and followed as Robin moved to the box. In ahort order, he had defeated the lock and held the remote in his hands. With a little more instruction from the Mother Box, Scott was able to reconnect it. Cyborg smiled.
"That's it, that's the one! Now I'll see if we can get it yo reverse the process... oh no."
"What?" Robin asked.
"It won't let them go... it says the simulation is the only thing it has and won't give it up. It won't spit 'em out even when the show ends," he said with rising panic.
THE CAMPER RESIDENCE
This was it. The pair of them knew it. They stood in the center of the living room, facing each other and going by the script. Their expressions were sad and, slowly, they stepped into each other's arms. They held each other tightly for a long time and then drew back slightly, looking into each other's eyes. Then they froze. Beast Boy and Raven grimaced as they resisted the weight, the script in their minds. The dull ache appeared and prodded them. They ignored it. The weight grew heavier and the dull ache turned into a sharper, hotter pain in the back of their heads and still they ignored it. Beast Boy had his eyes squeezed shut, slowly and stiffly shaking his head. Raven's eyes were closed tightly, tears of strain and effort falling. Beast Boy lost his control for a moment, jerking closer before catching himself again, shortly followed by Raven doing the same. She jerked forward again, aware now that she had lost her fight and was merely waiting for Beast Boy. The pain vanished and she opened her eyes to see him still struggling. Her heart sank as she saw him shed tears of his own, his breathing sharp and short, hissing through his clenched teeth. She couldn't let him suffer like that, not for her.
"It's okay, Beast Boy," she whispered.
"Nnn... nno," he whispered back, harshly.
"Beast Boy..."
"Nnno. N-nev... never." She stared at him as he fought, as he struggled for her, filled with pity and more than a little admiration. His face, already twisted in pain and anger, shifted as the pain grew worse... he began to whimper.
"Nnngg... Aaannngghhh... Hsssssss! Nggh! NNG! NnnnNNNGGHHRAAAAAAAAA-"
"Beast Boy!" Raven cried. With a last sob, his resolve finally crumbled and he moved closer...
CONTROL FREAK'S LAIR
"Raven! Beast Boy!" Starfire cried, joyfully. The pair of young and disoriented heroes sat sprawled on the floor, staring up at their ecstatic friend.
"Star?" Beast Boy said, uncertainly. "Robin? Cy? CY?!" he exclaimed, finally absorbing the sight of his friend connected up to Control Freak's freaky looking computer.
"It's a long story, B," he said with a broad smile. Robin stepped closer.
"How did you get it to give them up?" he asked quietly, watching as Starfire helped her friends to their feet.
"I let it see through my eyes, promised it we'd get it out of here, just like Scott's Mother Box. I'm letting it see a couple of memories as well just to keep it sweet before Scott starts to disconnect and remove it." The pair continued to talk quietly as Raven eyed Control Freak with anger and disappointment: he was already subdued, so Robin would likely frown on she or Beast Boy punching him in the face. Then, with a sudden cry of victory, Control Freak leapt to his feet and made a run for the exit.
"Oh, thank Azar," Raven muttered, Beast Boy grinning beside her. Control Freak skidded to a halt as a green swift darted in front of him and became a green teenager, who immediately socked him in the jaw, spinning him around to face Raven, who gave him an impressive right cross. As he spun again, Beast Boy knocked him down with a straight shot to the nose.
"That was for the coffee, ya stupid asshead!"
And that's it for this long overdue instalment - many apologies. There is more to come and I'm hoping to have an easier time now that the writing-in-two-separate-locations bit is over. Enjoy!
-Jack