Shattered Dreams [Archive] - toonzone forums

ShadowOfAGhost

01-12-2005, 06:03 PM

Shattered Dreams

ShadowOfAGhost

“My shadow’s the only one who walks beside me.

My shallow hearts the only thing that’s beating.

Sometimes I wish someone out there will find me,

‘Till then I’ll walk alone.”

-Greenday, Boulevard of Broken Dreams

Chapter 2

Robin awoke slowly, gripping his head and groaning. His head throbbed and he couldn’t remember anything from the day’s events.

He looked around and took in his surroundings. As his eyes came in to focus he began to remember. The red brick walls around him, the ground littered with trash of all shapes, colors and sizes. The dumpster at the end of the alley, the brick and mortar wall behind it. He looked around and saw the other Titans laying on the ground, each slowly coming out of their own daze, some quicker than others.

Beast Boy, naturally, was the last to awaken.Each was disheveled in his appearance and all had some manner of trash sticking to their uniforms or in their hair.

He could vaguely remember the battle, and was beginning to remember confronting the mysterious man in the alley. He had been dressed in a dark purple robe and his face, he recalled, was heavily scarred.

The Titans had originally been called to the scene to investigate a building collapse in the inner city. But when they arrived, they found that there had notbeen a building on the lot in 25 years. The only thing they found was a wide open expanse of dead grass and a few small shrubs. And their new friend waiting for them.

Robin still couldn’t remember the mysterious attackers name, only the swirling blackness that had enveloped them as the spell began to take a hold on them.

“Whoever he was, he must have escaped after he knocked us out.” Robin mumbled.

“‘Ya know,” Cyborg said with a subtle edge to his voice, “Robin doesn’t seem to be a name that suits you to well. How about we change your name to Captain Obvious?”

Robin spun to face him, visibly angered by this insult. “Cool it Cyborg, he may have escaped for now, but we will find him.”

“No thanks to the boy blunder here.” Raven muttered.

Robin is one of those people who can be easily angered, but rarely ever did he blow up in their faces as he was now.

“I get it!” He practically screamed at them, “I messed up! I’m just going to have to fix it by finding this guy and taking him down.” Robin turned and began to walk out of the alley and towards where he had left the R-Cycle before.

“None of this would have happened if you hadn’t let this guy get the best of you.” Beast Boy’s voice drifted toward him.

Robin chose to ignore him as he continued on to the R-Cycle and mounted it. He felt the need to just speed around the city. It was one of his favorite ways for clearing his mind when something went wrong. The speed limit didn’t matter to him, as he accelerated away. He knew that the cops always left the Titans alone.

Robin didn’t even flinch as he ran the red light. He didn’t even care when in doing so he almost hit an old woman in an equally old tan Cadillac. He wanted to fly, and nothing was going to stop him.

***

Robin returned to the tower three hours and a tank of gas latter. He knew he would need to research this new threat. The name had come back to him, along with the last of the events of the battle as he rode around the country side on the R-Cycle.

He went to the common area and began to clack away on the terminal keyboard in the corner. He pulled up police records and photos of Brother Evirie.

“What are you doing now? More pointless research?” Beast Boy asked him.

“It’s not worthless, BB. If we can learn about him we can use it against him in the next battle”

“What, are we gonna’ give him a paper cut?” Cyborg mocked him from across the room.

Robin shut down the computer and went to his room without another word. Hopefully this whole thing would blow over by the next morning. Robin tossed and turned for several hours, the day’s events reeling through his head, before he fell asleep. That night in his fitful slumber he had no dream.

***

Robin was the last to awaken that morning. By the time he got himself moving and ready for the day, it was almost noon.

Robin walked out to the common area to get a late breakfast, but was startled to see the other Titans all waiting for him on the couch. Each stared unspeaking at him. Robin took a cautious step forward, and then another.

“What’s going on?” he already had suspicions, but he hoped he was wrong.

Cyborg spoke for the group, “We took a vote,” he said, “You’re an incompetent leader and a danger to this team. We voted on it. The vote was unanimous. Robin, we are relieving you of your leadership duties and we are removing you from the Teen Titans.”

Robin stared in silence and disbelief. “After everything I’ve done for the team! You all are just going to cast me out!”

Beast Boy hung his head, “You’re not right for the team. We’ll be better off without you.”

“But the Titans will fall apart without a good leader or a fifth member.”

“We contacted Speedy, he will be here in a few hours to take your place on the team and he will become our new leader as well.”

“Starfire, you too?”

“Robin, I am sorry to say that I agree with the decision. You are a terrible leader and I think it’s time you left the team and I behind.”

Robin was too stunned to say anything. He was too caught up about suddenly being cut from the team and being dumped by Starfire to notice her use of seemingly perfect English.

Raven spoke up, “You have three hours to gather your things and leave.”

***

Robin had moved into an abandoned row home in the downtown area. He traded in his cape and mask for a pair of jeans and a red hoodie sweater.

He looked around him at the abysmal conditions. Rats and roaches skittered back and forth across the room. It would take him a long time to get used to the setting he now lived in. He thought he had it bad when he had to do the dishes back at the tower. How wrong he had been. At least now he wouldn’t have to do any dishes. Without any food, he would never have to do dishes again.

Robin sighed as he heard a knock on the door. He looked up and could see red and blue lights flashing through the cracks in the boards covering the windows. He got up and slowly trudged to the door, opening it with a loud creak.

“Sir,” the officer said, “you can’t live here sir. You have to leave.”

“Officer, I don’t think you know who I am…”

“I don’t care who you are, either leave now or I will have to arrest you for trespassing.”

Robin saw it was worthless to try and convince the officer to let him stay, so with a heavy sigh, he turned gathered his few possessions and left the premises.

With nowhere else to go, he decided that he would roam around the city in search of an alley he could crash in.

***

After an hour or so he found a suitable alley and sat down on a sagging cardboard box.

“What’s the matter Robin? Did the Titans kick you out?”

Robin looked up to see Slade standing over him. He stood up with a jolt and prepared to fight.

“I don’t know how you survived, or what you’re planning, but whatever it is, it ends now.”

“You don’t even know my plan, and you already seem to think you can stop me. I assure you that you can’t,” Slade chuckled as he stood tall. “And I must say, I like your new outfit. It suits you well.”

“You seem to have changed some yourself.” Robin noted, “Same colors, you just switched the sides they are on. I thought you would have been more creative than that.”

Slade took no note of what he had said. Instead he replied in his cold, sinister voice, “The Titans betrayed you. They left you to die. They abandoned you. I can help you get revenge on them. I can help you make them pay for what they did. Join me Robin, be my apprentice once more.”

“They may have abandoned me and left me to die,” he snarled, “but at least I know they aren’t evil like you are. I will never join you Slade.”

In a blink of an eye, Slade had advanced on Robin and now held him suspended in the air. “A shame,” he muttered as he threw him aside and against the wall, “You and I could have ruled this country.”

Robin struggled to his feet and resumed his battle stance, ready to defend himself. Once again though, Slade moved faster than Robin could react and landed a solid punch strait in the gut. Robin doubled over on the ground.

“That’s it Robin, bow before me.”

Robin looked up at him in disgust, “I will never yield to kiss the ground before your feet!” He groaned.

Slade moved like lightning as he struck again, kicking Robin square in the jaw.

“How do you move so fast?” Robin asked him.

“In a few moments, that won’t matter, because in a few moments, you’ll be dead.”

Slade attacked again with a kick to the face. No matter what he tried to do, Robin could not land even the slightest blow on Slade. He was being pummeled without mercy. It was all to much like the time Slade infected him with that neural altering powder that made him believe Slade had really existed in the darkness. Just then, an idea struck him.

“You’re not real!” he shouted.

“How could I not be real?” Slade questioned in his cool voice between blows, “Can’t you feel the beating I’m giving you?”

“It’s the spell! It’s all in my head! The spell is imperfect!” He shouted.

“What are you talking about, Robin?” Slade asked in a mockingly cold voice, “Did I kick you too hard in the head?”

“Your suit is wrong! Starfire can’t speak perfect English! The Titans would never leave me to die! Starfire would never break up with me! It’s all in my head!”

Slade began to rush at Robin once again.

“It’s all in my head!”

Slade leaped into the air, his right leg extended and ready to strike.

“It’s all in my head!”

The gap between them closed as Slade soared toward Robin.

“IT’S ALL IN MY HEAD!!”

The world around him slowed to a halt. Slade hung motionless in the air, his right foot extended a mere six inches from Robin’s face. Birds were frozen in the air, where they had been moments before. Only Robin could freely move.

A loud crash could be heard behind Robin. He whipped around to see what it was and saw what appeared to be a large crack in reality. From it shone a brilliant white light like none he had ever seen. More large fissures branched out from the original, like splintering glass. Within seconds the cracks were everywhere, in front of him, behind him, above him, and below him. When they ceased to spread, Robin turned in a slow circle, taking in this new scene.

“It’s all in my head.”

With a deafening crash, slivers of reality shattered, leaving him surrounded by the brilliant white light. Light so bright he was afraid to open his eyes for fear of going blind. Light emanating from everywhere, yet from nowhere at all.

Robin slunk to his knees, his eyes still closed.

“It’s all…”

Robin fell forward to his hands and knees. It was as if some immense force was forcing him down on to the nonexistent ground.

“…In my…”

Robin fell face down on the “ground”, and everything went black.

“…head.”

The pressure that had been forcing him down released. Robin could feel that he was saturated with rain water. He picked up his head and tried to stand up. He was in pain from his “battle” with Slade. It would seem that whatever happened to a person in their dreams occurred to them for real.

Robin struggled to a standing position and saw each of his friends lying facedown in the cold, dark alley. This is the same alley where he had dreamt his fight with Slade. He knew he had to help his friends, but he knew nothing of the spell or of any form of magic. All he could do would be to take them all home and place them in their rooms.

Despite his injuries, Robin found the strength to load each of his friends into the T-Car and drove them all home.

***

Once home he had Aqualad meet him to help carry the Titans into the tower. He saw to it that each Titan was tucked carefully into their own beds with extra blankets to keep them warm, as he was not about to change all of the Titans into fresh sets of clothes.

Aqualad volunteered to keep watch over the tower and the other Titans. Robin, after a brief rest, decided to head out to try and find the man who had done this to all of them.

He would see to it that Brother Evirie got what was coming to him - a plateful of justice with a side order of vengeance.

Kregor, thank you for agreeing to look this over before I posted it.

Can anyone spot the Shakespeare refrence?

Shadow

Aquagirl15

01-12-2005, 06:17 PM

well i can't see the Shakespeare reference but i really liked it. the dream Robin had almost made me jump out of my skin. the Titans? dumping Robin? never, and it appeares to be right. that was really well written and very intersting. makes you wonder if the dream means anything. post more soon!!!! :D

Sproxie

01-12-2005, 06:18 PM

Dude.... When I read that the Titans kicked Robin off the Team, I thought, I dont even know what I thought.... But it was cool, I enjoyed it lots.

ShadowOfAGhost

01-12-2005, 06:29 PM

Be prepared for the nightmares of the other Titans! None of the other Titans will be able to break out of their nightmares and back into the real world the first time around.

The chapters will cycle through the list with robin continuing his search for a way to break the spell from the other Titans (yes, robin is in the real world, not his nightmare). Next chapter will be Raven (I'm not giving anything away, it will be evident from the writing style.) After that...:evil:

If it hasn't hit you yet, because I will be cycling through the Titans, that means massive cliff hangers and several chapters in between!:evil: :evil: :evil:

(I hope I didn't kill my fan base with that last one:( )

And no, the dreams don't have any special foreshadowing. They only put each Titan through their own personal hell.:evil:

Shadow

Matt A

01-12-2005, 06:49 PM

That was a cool chapter. Very well written, and even though the use of Robin's worst fears was a little obvious it was still nicely constructed. However, it may just have been me watching too many sci-fi and political thrillers - the clasic David Cronenberg movie "eXistenZ" in particular - but I'm not entirely certain that Robin actually is in the real world...

Either way, it'll be interesting to see what the other Titans are most worried about. Broken friendships will most likely play a part in all of them, but then again they couldn't really not: it'll be the extras that you add that will make this fic special. And it will be special, won't it?:evil:

ShadowOfAGhost

01-12-2005, 08:35 PM

Oh, it will be special! I thought out what I could about what each of the Titans would fear the most. The only ones I had trouble comeing up with Ideas for were Starfire and Cyborg, but I think I have something good lined up for them both now...:evil:

and who's to say...Robin may not really be in the real world after all...:evil: I could be misleading you...:evil: Though it's not written into my orriginal story, who said I couldn't weasel it in somehow?:evil:

I'm starting to get too lazy to post the word Shadow anymore...:yawn: :cool:

Kregor8

01-12-2005, 10:54 PM

Kregor, thank you for agreeing to look this over before I posted it. Anytime. I'd name the quote, but I already know (cause you gave me a hint. Eheheh). So, I'll hold off. I think you did a good job from when it left me. Things were clear that weren't before. Can't wait to see the other nightmares!

7<regor

Matt A

01-13-2005, 07:01 PM

Robin may not really be in the real world after all...:evil: I could be misleading you...:evil: Though it's not written into my orriginal story, who said I couldn't weasel it in somehow?:evil:Cool...:D

Pookey

01-14-2005, 06:11 AM

Awesome! Thats all i can say!

Crowgirl

01-15-2005, 11:02 AM

*Starts laughing like Woody the Woodpecker* Hah hah hah heh heh!!

That was pure genius. Mind masher all the way! I can see why that would be Robin's nightmare, and I think I know what Cyborg's will be.

I think it'll have something to do with reliving the accident he was in, to me thateems the most logical.

But I have no critisms at all. Pure genius.

Hah hah hah heh heh!! Mind Masher! Hah hah hah heh heh!! Hah hah hah heh heh!!

ShadowOfAGhost

01-15-2005, 04:42 PM

Each of the nightmares will have something to do with as they currently are. Each nightmare will be set right after they "Wake up".

Each nightmare will also have something to do with their primary enemy or whatever would bring the greatest terror\sorrow to each Titan. Example: Robin's primary enemy was Slade. Because it is all in their heads, it gives me room to play with it and bend the rules so to speak. Now, who does Cyborg hate the most?

also, just so I can start playing it up, I came up with another idea for a new fic. I won't do the new fic until this one is finished (a long time from now!). The new one will ultimatly be called Spy Robin and will likely have a heavy influence from Tom Clancey's Splinter Cell. It should be fun to write! because I never do two stories at once, it will mean that if I want to write it, I'll just have to write this one faster. Good news for you all!:D

Matt A

01-15-2005, 06:29 PM

The new one will ultimatly be called Spy Robin and will likely have a heavy influence from Tom Clancey's Splinter Cell.Sweet! I'll look forward to reading that!

Aquagirl15

01-15-2005, 06:48 PM

sounds good to me! yes write quicker!! and a word of warning: if you do 2 fics at once do not neglet one of them! it is oh so sad to watch a good fic be lost. POST MORE SOON!!! :D

ShadowOfAGhost

01-15-2005, 08:32 PM

sounds good to me! yes write quicker!! and a word of warning: if you do 2 fics at once do not neglet one of them! it is oh so sad to watch a good fic be lost. POST MORE SOON!!! :D
Like I said, I don't work on more than one story at a time so I can avoid just that. I have a three day weekend this weekend and next weekend. so expect plenty of work to get done (assuming I don't get immense amounts of homework inbetween then) I plan on working on the next chapter tonight.:)

rrarbecy

01-15-2005, 08:53 PM

I'll assume that BB's nightmare would have something to do with Terra. just a hunch...

“Dreams always fade, but nightmares never cease to haunt you.”
That might just have been the best quote ever.

ShadowOfAGhost

01-17-2005, 11:46 AM

There seems to be no reply from Kregor, and being as I have no patience, I just went over it myself. So without further ado (sp?) ...

Shattered Dreams
ShadowOfAGhost

“Hey yeah! I’m the one that you wanted!

Hey yeah! I’m the super beast!

Hey yeah! I’m the one that you wanted!

Hey yeah! I’m the super beast!

-Rob Zombie, Super Beast

Chapter 3

Raven’s Nightmare…Part I

The heavy rain poured down upon the Titans. Raven was the first to awaken. She sat leaning against a brick wall as she waited patiently for her friends to wake up.

She easily remembered the events from a few hours ago. They were clear in her head and flowed simply from one frame to the other…until the memories of the spell.

She remembered chasing brother Evirie to the alley with the other Titans beside her. She remembered cornering Brother Evirie in the alley. She remembered that he had said something to the effect of nightmares lasting forever. After that all she could remember was the swirling blackness and her panic, but everything else was fuzzy in her mind.

Once the other Titans had awoken they surveyed themselves and found nothing to be wrong. The rain poured down hard in this dirty bleak alley. Each of the Titans walked back to the remnants of the battle ground and from there returned to the T-car, with the exception of Robin who took the R-cycle. Raven knew she would need to meditate as soon as she got home. It had been almost three days since she had last meditated.

Raven and the others arrived home late that night. After her shower, Raven retreated to her room to meditate. She would have gone to her usual spot on the roof, but for the rain.

Raven entered her room and she began to float in the air above her bed. She closed her eyes and began her chant.

“Azarath…Metrion…Zynthos…Azarath…Metrion…Zynthos”

Raven tried to concentrate her mind on those three words and nothing else, but there was a nagging sense that something long forgotten was nearby. No matter how hard she tried to shut it out, the feeling was still there. She opened her eyes and looked around her room, trying to see if she could identify the source. The masks of comedy and drama stared at her from her nearby bookshelf. Darkness enveloped the room, but the narrow strips of moonlight which seeped through the cracks between the blinds were sufficient to see that there was no one there.

Raven tried to return to her meditation, but the nagging feeling of a familiar presence remained with her all the same. She decided that the only way she would be able to meditate would be to investigate this feeling. She knew it would be dangerous for her to skimp on her meditation any longer, but she would have to take that chance.

Raven shifted her focus to this feeling and soon traced it to be coming from about three and a half miles south west of the tower. Consulting the map of the city on her wall, Raven found that the approximate area was right near an old industrial sector of the town. There would be no need to involve the other Titans in this, she would simply leave and be back in a few minutes.

She walked to her window, opened it and flew out. The cool, gentle, breeze was refreshing and the full moon set a gloomy haunting aura as she set out for wherever this new feeling seemed to be guiding her.

***

Raven flew relatively high over the mostly abandoned buildings, searching for one that might stand out from the others. She spotted it and went lower. It appeared to be an old ore refinery, its smoke stacks had long since fallen over. Sections of the walls had crumbled and vines and weeds encircled the building. What truly made it stand out, however, was the fact that every factory that had been around it had been utterly destroyed, leaving it to stand alone in the middle.

Raven landed outside and walked along the path next to it, looking for a hole in the mortar large enough for her to climb through. She found one on the western wall about three feet across and she climbed carefully through.

Inside she found large piles of rocks scattered about in seemingly random patterns. All of the machinery had been stripped away and probably sold when the refinery went bankrupt. The only remnant of the former factory was a broken and twisted catwalk that circled the perimeter. Large holes in the roof filled most of the empty space with moonlight.

Out in the middle of the area was a tall, dark figure who constantly reeled around, back and forth, as if paranoid or spooked by something. Raven stuck closely to the shadows cast by the mangled catwalk as she tried to get a better angle on whoever this was. She did not notice the raven perched nearby as she backed into it. The raven let out a loud squawk and flew off.

“Who’s there?!” A woman’s voice called out. She sounded very tense, and very afraid, “Show your self!”

Raven remembered that voice from somewhere, but it had been so long ago that she could not be certain. The last time she had heard that voice she had only been a little girl.

Raven stepped forward into the moonlight, exposing herself. She was close enough now to make out who this woman was.

“Raven! Is that really you?” the woman asked.

“Yes, it’s me…mother.”

Arella ran forward to embrace her daughter, but was stopped in her tracks by Raven’s cold, angry stare.

Raven was not nearly as happy to see her mother as her mother was to see her. Arella smiled warmly at her daughter, but Raven refused to return the gesture.

“What’s wrong, Raven? You act like you’re not even happy to see your own mother after eight years!”

“Ten years.” Raven corrected, “It’s been ten years since you sent me here. After all these years with meditation and my books as my only companions you have the audacity to show up and act like nothing is wrong, like nothing ever happened.”

“Raven, it’s what was best for you at the time.”

“Best for me? Sending me off to a strange place I’ve never heard of all by myself with nothing but the clothes on my back! You call that best for me?”

“I had to hide you from your father! He despised you! He wanted to kill you! If I had gone with you he would have followed me and killed us both!”

“Then why are you here now?”

“To warn you,” the fear which had previously existed in Arella’s voice was back again, “Trigun knows you’re here! He’s coming to kill you and anyone who will get in his way!”

Raven reached for her communicator and realized she had left it in the tower. “Stay here, I have to go get the other Titans. I will be back shortly.”

Arella protested, but she knew that once Raven had her mind set she would never change it. Raven climbed out through the whole and flew as fast as she could for the tower.

***

Raven and the other Titans returned half an hour later. The sight they found was grim. The old refinery was in flames and shadows danced all around them. Raven feared the worst as she ran forward. Her mother laid splayed out facedown on the ground. She was dead, and there was no denying it. Trigun had gotten to her first, of course that meant that he must be somewhere nearby.

Her fears were confirmed as she looked up to the rooftops to observe Trigun’s tall menacing figure bearing down over them. He was here and he was going to kill them all.

By the way, I am emploring all of your help on two subjects.
1. who do you want next, Beast Boy or Cyborg? first to reply will get choice.
2. can anyone think of a good nightmare for Starfire? I had one lined up, but now that I wrote the outline for it, the Idea kind of sucks. Starfire's chapter will still have two more chapters before it, so I don't have to worry about writers block yet, but if I can tackle the obstacle long before I get to it, all the better for all of us. I can post what my origional idea was if anyone want's to hear it, but frankly I think it sucks.

Aquagirl15

01-17-2005, 11:59 AM

I really liked this chapter it was very descripive and mysterious. It makes me want to know more and wonder. Although I'm not usually good at predicting what happens next in a story, I can still try. I think that it would be intersting to see what you do with BB's dream, so I'd pick him. (I'm guessing something with Terra) And I think Star's nightmare would have something to do with loosing her friends... :shrug: So just my thoughts cause you asked for them. :D

ShadowOfAGhost

01-17-2005, 12:27 PM

rrarbecy

01-17-2005, 03:25 PM

I guess I didn't have to post first. BB's nightmare...:evil:

Sproxie

01-17-2005, 05:56 PM

oooooooo interesting... I like it alot, very dark and mysterious. Are you gonna post BB's dream next, or are you gonna finish Raven's dream, and then post BB's?
An idea for Star's nightmare? hmmm.... how about you 'creatively' kill all the Titans in her dream, like make Blackfire come back and kill them or something... :shrug:

ShadowOfAGhost

01-17-2005, 06:26 PM

i'm going to cycle through each Titan, though it will not nescesarily stay in order. that way I can leave all of you with a big 'ol cliff hanger for each chapter and prevent you from knowing when each chapter will come!:evil:

Crowgirl

01-17-2005, 06:50 PM

That was a great chapter. I enjoyed Raven's bitterness towards her mother for 'sending her away'. What Arella said: "It was best for you at the time" is one of those classic lines that all parents tell you at least once in your life.

Also, you chose something for Raven I didn't expect. I would have thought that her worst fear would be... well, herself.

And for Starfire, I think you should do something about the death of her friends or something. Or something about Blackfire. You choose though, your story.

Great chap, can't wait for more.

CG

Matt A

01-17-2005, 08:19 PM

That chapter was cool. Like Crowgirl, I was expecting Raven's worst fear to be her emotions, but in retrospect using Trigon instead makes a lot more sense. After all, having a demon for a father figure has got to do a lot of damage to your psyche...As for Starfire's nightmare, I would have thought that losing Robin would take centre stage.

rrarbecy

01-17-2005, 08:55 PM

ShadowOfAGhost

01-17-2005, 09:08 PM

Thanks everyone! those give me a new idea for Starfire's nightmare.

My old idea was to have starfire deported from earth because the government was afraid of alien diseases. she would then have gone to tamaran to find that Blackfire had somehow regained the throne on tamaran. Blackfire would then have forced her to go into a slave mining colony on one of tamaran's moons. a bit too far fetched. and there was also the fact that BB is an alien and he would have to escape the "secret police" as well. Like I said, my old idea was a bit too far fetched for me.

Pookey

01-17-2005, 10:45 PM

awsome Ch.!! Really cool, i never expected to see Ravens mother..cool touch!!
Star's nighmare...losing Robin like Welshie's Mate said, but your fic. not mine!:anime:

ShadowOfAGhost

01-18-2005, 06:18 PM

I have the outlines written for the next 3 chapters and I will get to writting them A.S.A.P. :D

rrarbecy

01-18-2005, 07:10 PM

Thank you. THANK YOU!

Kregor8

01-19-2005, 09:57 AM

ShadowOfAGhost

01-19-2005, 05:44 PM

As you now know, I couldn't review that because I was sick. Course, now that I'm better, I read this. Didn't read the original, didn't think I needed to. So I don't know what you changed. But you did a good job. There's only one thing I would have mentioned. Raven's father is Trigon. Trigun is an anime show.
Other than that, this chapter is very nice. It's looking like a good nightmare indeed.

7<regor1. oops! thanks for bringing that to my attention!
2. a good nightmare? isn't that an oxymoron?

P.S. start saving up all your hatred. you will have a chance to get it out when I release chapter 6, though now I am still only working on ch-4. You will hate me for ch-6, even rrarbecy will hate me for it...:evil:

rrarbecy

01-19-2005, 06:34 PM

1. oops! thanks for bringing that to my attention!
2. a good nightmare? isn't that an oxymoron?

P.S. start saving up all your hatred. you will have a chance to get it out when I release chapter 6, though now I am still only working on ch-4. You will hate me for ch-6, even rrarbecy will hate me for it...:evil:
Don't get your hopes up Ghost. It takes a lot to make me hate someone. Especially if I already like the person. But try me.

ShadowOfAGhost

01-19-2005, 06:48 PM

Oh, I will. I'm thinking that I might need to give chapter 6 a PG-13 rating as a precaution. It would be the only rated post to date (that I write, that is.) other than that, I will say no more. keep in mind, I am working on chapter 4 now and this is upset will be in chapter 6, so deepending on how much free time I get, It could be a while. I am going to see if I can finish the next chapter this weekend and maybe get chapter 5 done as well! (3 day weekend and I feel like writing :)!)

Aquagirl15

01-19-2005, 06:52 PM

Awesome! I really like this fic. and I do hope that you will get a lot of free time. Go three-day weekends!:D Although I don't get one... :sad: Oh well. :shrug:

ShadowOfAGhost

01-21-2005, 08:49 AM

Quick update: assuming that I don't get too distracted looking around on the forum, I should have the next chapter ready in a few hours!

ShadowOfAGhost

01-21-2005, 11:15 AM

You called for it, so here it is...

Shattered Dreams

ShadowOfAGhost

“Maybe then I’ll fade away, and not have to face the facts,

It’s not easy basing love when your whole world is black.

No more will my green sea go turn a deeper blue,

I could not foresee this thing happening to you.

If I look hard enough into the setting sun,

My love will laugh with me before the morning comes.”

-Rolling Stones, Paint it, Black

Chapter 4

Beast Boy’s Nightmare…Part I

Beast Boy woke up slowly holding his head. He let out a low groan and waited as his eyes slowly focused on the other Titans. His mind quickly realized where he was and he sat forward, only to be jolted to a stop by the seatbelt. He was in the back seat of the T-Car.

Raven turned around from her position in the front seat to face him. “Oh, good, you’re awake. We were beginning to think you were comatose.”

‘Awake?’ he asked himself, ‘when was I asleep?’ Images flashed through his head like the flash of a camera, each image lingering for a fraction of a second and then disappearing again, yet floating in his mind long enough for him to recall.

“No, I’m definitely awake.” He said. He noticed what Raven was holding on her lap. It was a large flat white box with steam emerging from the sides. “Is that what I think it is?” he asked, giddy as a little boy.

“Pizza.” Raven commented in her monotone voice, “Cyborg chose the toppings. Six different kinds of meat.”

“Beast Boy slunk down in his seat and grumbled, “This is a nightmare.”

***

The Titans returned to the tower shortly after and all gathered in the common area to eat the piping hot greasy goodness. Beast Boy spent most of the time picking at his pizza, sitting the pepperonis and sausage and other bits of meat aside. Ultimate he was left with little more than tomato sauce and bread, but this didn’t bother him as much as the meat would have. He ate his pizza in an abnormally quiet and clean manor. He found his thoughts drifting to Terra, his beloved.

Without a word, Beast Boy finished his slice, got up and got another. He would not eat this one though, as he was going to place it at the memorial later that night. He was consciously aware of the fact that the other Titans were staring at him, and frankly, he wasn’t surprised that they were. It wasn’t often that he would go for more than a minute without saying a word or at the very least snickering or laughing.

Beast Boy excused himself quietly and headed to his room, still carrying the paper plate with the slice of pizza on it.

Arriving at his door, he entered the code slowly, almost hesitantly. He stepped into his room and locked the door. Wading through the mess of trash and dirty laundry, he sat the paper plate on his bed and removed one of the posters from the wall. Behind it was the entrance to a tunnel he had dug out. Most times he would have gone down the normal path to visit Terra, but when his friends started labeling him as obsessed, he created this alternate entrance.

He was not obsessed, he was in love. He picked up the paper plate, climbed through the hole, and slowly started to descend the narrow gap between the walls.

It was a tight fit, but luckily he didn’t have far to go before his narrow tunnel converged with the main path into the deep dank cave. He continued somberly down the main path with his head hung and the plate in his hand. He had made many voyages down to this cave and he knew full well which turns to make, and how far he still had to go.

***

About three miles and one hour later he found himself standing before the memorial to Terra, which, besides her, contained a hodgepodge of trinkets that Beast Boy had brought down on prior visits. Among them was the glittery jewel box he had made for her before their first date. He now kneeled before her on the ground.

“We will find a way to resurrect you Terra…someday we will.” Beast Boy sobbed. His eyes began to water, but he willed himself not to cry. Long ago he had vowed to remain strong for her. There had been many times when he had been down here, and each time he renewed that vow, barely holding back tears.

One lone tear found its way out and rolled down his cheek. For a moment it hovered in space, then floated down through the air and landed gently on Terra’s foot. Beast Boy sat quietly remembering the few wonderful memories he had from their time together. He only looked up when he noticed the pinprick of brilliant yellow light that emerged from the epicenter of where the teardrop had landed.

Slowly the yellow light spread outward, eating away at the stone like acid eats away at metal in science fiction movies. Beast Boy watched in awe as the light spread, revealing her boot, her leg, her body, her arms, and finally her head. The process took only a few seconds, but to Beast Boy it seemed like hours. Once all the stone had eaten away, Terra fell forward. Beast Boy quickly stood up and caught her in his arms as she fell. For a few seconds he thought she was dead, but slowly she stirred.

“Beast…Boy…? Is that…you?” she struggled to say.

“I’m here for you Terra.” He whispered in her ear as he allowed the tears of joy to flow free. They held each other in a lovers embrace for what seemed to be an eternity of silence.

“I can’t believe it,” Terra whimpered, near crying, “After betraying the Titans, how could you still love me?”

“I will always love you. You gave your life to save us, for that we are all thankful, Terra. Even Raven.”

“Oh, Beast Boy, you’re exactly how I remember you…a gullible moron!” She grabbed his arm and before he could react, threw him over her shoulder toward the ravine.

Beast Boy morphed into a crow, flew back to where he once stood and returned to his natural form.

“What did you do that for Terra?!” he shouted, “It’s like you were trying to kill me!”

“That’s the idea. I serve Slade, remember? I could have broken from that stone form anytime I wanted. I just wanted to wait for the opportune moment to destroy you.” A maniacal grin spread across her face as her hands and eyes began to glow yellow.

Stalactites hurled from the ceiling of the cave down toward where Beast Boy was. He narrowly dodged each of them.

“I have always served Slade. It was all part of our plan.”

“But I thought you loved me?” Beast Boy whimpered.

“Love? Ha! Do’t be so naive! Who could love a green skinned, pointy eared freak like you? Love has two vowels, two consonants, and two fools. I am no fool, though apparently you are.”

Terra hurled more rocks at Beast Boy and he dodged most of them, but the few that did hit gave him a bloody lip and tore his uniform in a few places.

“I don’t have time to destroy you now. I must go meet up with my master Slade.”

“Slade is dead, Terra.”

A look of shook briefly came over her face but soon reverted to aggression. “That’s a lie. You could never defeat Slade.”

“If you must go, than please, tell me at least this. If you never loved me than why did you go out with me on that first date?”

Terra donned a broad smile, “Four Titans versus 200 sentinels is much better odds for defeating all of you. Also seeing as you are the weakest of the Titans, Slade was planning to kill you without much trouble, but he decided I should interfere and make it look like fractured loyalty.”

Beast Boy sunk to his knees in disbelief as Terra slowly rose up through a hole she opened in the cave ceiling. “I’ll kill you later, Beast Boy.”

A lone rock flew from behind him, striking Beast Boy on the head. Everything went black.

:cool:
Next up will be Cyborg's nightmare. I plan to work on it today, so you might even have it by the end of the weekend.:)

Sproxie

01-21-2005, 06:15 PM

Wow.
..See, now it's stories like these that make me hate Terra.

Anyway, I liked this chapter, The idea of BB building a passage to Terra's grave seems sorta... impossible.... :shrug:
And Terra betraying him like that,well.... KILL TERRA!!!! :evil:

Great chapter, can't wait for Cyborg's nightmare!

rrarbecy

01-21-2005, 06:16 PM

ghuurgh. You know, I do hate you now. ghuurgh. No matter what you authors say about Terra, I still like her. But not you.

"This is a nightmare"
That was funny.

ShadowOfAGhost

01-21-2005, 06:20 PM

Hey! I said save the hate for chapter 6! Starfire's nightmare! The one where Robin will...

(hehehehehe :evil: )

Besides...remember that it was a nightmare. Just because she hated and wanted to kill him in his nightmare doesn't mean I nescesarily hate her. I actually support Beast Boy and Terra relationship. I just try to make each of the titans experience the worst possible nightmare for them.:cool:

rrarbecy

01-21-2005, 06:22 PM

Hey! I said save the hate for chapter 6! Starfire's nightmare! The one where Robin will...

(hehehehehe :evil: )
:eek::eek::eek::eek: YOU WOULDN'T DARE! YOU WOULDN'T!

ShadowOfAGhost

01-21-2005, 06:26 PM

Don't get your hopes up Ghost. It takes a lot to make me hate someone. Especially if I already like the person. But try me.
that was easy.:p

Sproxie

01-21-2005, 06:34 PM

Hey! I said save the hate for chapter 6! Starfire's nightmare! The one where Robin will...

This oughta be interesting.... :evil:

*rrarbecy starts glaring at me*

:D :sweat:

I actually support Beast Boy and Terra relationship.
So do I.
...But when people make Terra go all evil, it just makes me hope someone kills her. If she turns out to be good in the story, then I like her. :shrug:

Aquagirl15

01-21-2005, 06:50 PM

Well I like Terra I just don't like her relationship with BB. That was a good nightmare for BB, although I am also unsure if BB would be able to make a tunnel to that cave. Oh well, it was still a great chapter and I look forward to Cyborg's as well.

BB and Raven go so much better... and I think I know someone who would kill me for that but luckily he isn't reading the story... yet! :sweat: *gulp*

ShadowOfAGhost

01-21-2005, 06:59 PM

well then get him to read it! It's not like he can kill you or anything...:evil:

I realize that the whole tunnel through the wall thing was a bit farfetched, but the purpose of it was to show just how dedicated he is to Terra. in hindsight I probably could have done that differently. oh well.

Matt A

01-21-2005, 07:17 PM

Don't worry about that. Nightmares and plausibility don't necessarily ever meet up. Besides, when the rest of the chapter rocks (no pun intended) so hard, who really cares about that sort of stuff?

Love has two vowels, two consonants, and two fools.

I like that line in particular.

rrarbecy

01-21-2005, 07:38 PM

1. BB/Raven Forever!

2.*continues glaring at Sprox.*

Matt A

01-21-2005, 08:05 PM

No. It's from a movie that I really like. Welshie will probably know what I'm talking about.

Crowgirl

01-21-2005, 08:48 PM

Wow.

Anyway, I liked this chapter, The idea of BB building a passage to Terra's grave seems sorta... impossible.... :shrug:
And Terra betraying him like that,well.... KILL TERRA!!!! :evil:

Great chapter, can't wait for Cyborg's nightmare!
I totally agree with all of that. But the kill Terra thing, well, I like Terra as a character, so, don't kill her. Or at least, not yet.

And Terra explaining everything was brilliant, she put two and two together for Beast Boy, right after she tried to kill him. Only you could do something brilliant like that...

Since Cy's my favorite character, I want to see his nightmare most of all. I'm guessing it'll have to be something about being normal, but that's just me. I know that's what he wants most of all, or at least he does in the TV show. Kinda, sorta, at all....'

Unfortunatly I've never seen Lord Welshie comment on or read either this fic or my first one, so I doubt he would comment on the bumper sticker\movie...

I thought I was the only one. He hasn't replied on the Color Wheel in awhile, so I'm guessing he's busy or I'm losing grip.

Can't wait for more!

CG

Kregor8

01-21-2005, 11:56 PM

I like the anti-BB chapter. I wondered if it would be about Terra (and I think that fits), but I really loved how you started it with the meat pizza. That was one of the best things you've thought of.
No, not ready for the hate yet. This is a typical Terra/BB thing. Sad for him, but normal for us. You did a good job - nothing to complain of - but it's old hat. I'm sure you'll be bringing in some new crazy ideas soon. Can't wait.
On Cyborg...I have no idea. I would never attempt to write something like this. I can't write all of the characters as well as you can. I might be able to do one of them better than you (I'm not saying can, I'm saying might) but you have a more ballanced style. So, that impresses me.
Oh yeah...I too have BB leave Terra food. Nice idea.
I love the bumper stickers. It's a brand of humor I simply love, but could never write myself.
Ok, that's it. I'm still avalible to edit if you need me.
7<regor

Pookey

01-22-2005, 02:42 PM

DIE TERRA!!! okay, im fine....sweet ch. I like how you added the meat pizza part.

Stars dream........*faints* i havent even read it yet and i already fainted...you good....

ShadowOfAGhost

01-23-2005, 09:30 AM

Quick update: chapter 5 is half done! I only have a little bit of homework to do today, so as long as there are no major chores to be done, I should have the chapter by the end of today!:)

ShadowOfAGhost

01-23-2005, 03:52 PM

Enjoy!:)

Shattered Dreams
ShadowOfAGhost

“The lunatic is in my head

The lunatic is in my head

You raise the blade, you make the change

You re-arrange me ‘till I’m sane

You lock the door

And throw away the key

There’s someone in my head but it’s not me”

-Pink Floyd, Brain Damage

Chapter 5

Cyborg’s Nightmare…Part I

A blue and gray steak raced down the highway. Off in the distance one could see a giant tower in the shape of a letter “T”. This was the target of the blue and grey comet. Driving this disaster waiting to happen was Cyborg. He isn’t normally reckless, but when you lose to a guy who calls your nemesis an amateur, you tend to get a little edgy. Such was the case, as Cyborg seemed intent to take out his anger by crushing the accelerator against the floor. He just wanted to get home and forget the day.

“Cyborg, why are you trying to get us killed, man?” came the whimpering voice of Beast Boy from the back seat.

Cyborg turned around to face Beast Boy and yelled “Because I can! You got a better reason?!” Beast Boy only sank lower into his seat as though trying to disappear.

Cyborg never seemed to notice when he crossed to the wrong side of the road. Nor did he seem to notice the other drivers who swerved to avoid him, honked their horns, crashed into telephone poles, or took a few seconds out of their busy driving schedule to tell him he was “number 1”.

Today there were no screams of “Who wants pizza!”, only screams of fear from the other Titans with each near accident. When Cyborg finally did turn around, he quickly swerved to the right side of the road and continued on at a steady 90 mph. When the Titans finally did reach the tower, each was happy to be alive, with the exception of Robin who, having taken the R-Cycle and having obeyed the speed limit, would most likely be caught in the middle of the 50 car pile-up Cyborg had caused.

Cyborg slowly trudged up to his room without a word to the other Titans. He needed to be alone and to blow off some steam.

Desperate to find a way to distract his mind from that days defeat, he turned to his computer. Upon boot-up it registered that he had a new e-mail.

‘Probably some company trying to sell me more worthless crap’ he thought to himself. He had installed a spam filter a few weeks ago, so now instead of his flood of junk mail, he got a flood of junk mail mixed with promotions from the company. He unenthusiastically opened the mail folder and found a message from an old friend, and an old nemesis. It was a message from Jinx.

Cyborg read it carefully over to himself, and then re-read it to make sure it was no mistake.

Dear Cyborg,

It has been so long since I have last seen you. Once you betrayed Brother Blood and the H.I.V.E. I thought that would be the end of us. Ever since then it has seemed like there was something missing in my life. I used to think that the H.I.V.E. would fill that gap, so I took more classes and poured all my time into studying for them. But that was of no use. No matter how much studying I do, the emptiness in my heart only grows. Mammoth and Gizmo and I don’t get along very well anymore. I think I still have feelings for you Cyborg; I want to meet up with you again. I would do anything to see you again. I would even leave the H.I.V.E. if you said we could have another chance.

Love,

Jinx

P.S. I have a hologram file attached if you want to see how I’ve changed.

Cyborg sat stunned trying to take all this information in. As he sat there he realized that he, too, still had feelings for Jinx. He wanted to see her again. He needed to see the hologram she had given him.

Cyborg began to root around his room when he realized that among all of the high-tech toys he had, there was no hologram projector other than the ring that he had made when he went under cover.

It took about an hour of work, but finally he had a solution to his problem. He had found a way that by wiring the ring to his sonic cannon and lowering the frequency he could turn his arm into a crude hologram projector. Cyborg hastily jacked into the computer and began to download the file onto his personal system.

Once the download was complete, he disconnected from the computer terminal and aimed his sonic cannon at an empty place on the floor. Cyborg fired and watched as the image flickered to life. Before him stood not Jinx, but Brother Blood.

“Hello Cyborg,” the hologram wore an eerily warm smile, “I’m glad you still have an interest in Jinx, because that means my plan has already succeeded. As you may have guessed, this is not a hologram of Jinx professing her love. It is, in fact a virus which I had Gizmo make up. By the time this message ends, I will have gained full control over the cybernetic parts of your system. Ta Ta.”

Cyborg tried to turn for the door so as to warn the other Titans, but found that he could not. His left leg was rooted firmly to the floor and it refused to budge. Soon he lost control over his right leg and his right arm.

“Titans! Help!” he shouted at the top of his lungs. Moments later the other Titans appeared at his door and took a battle stance.

“Cyborg, what’s…” Robin started, but he was cut off.

“Shut me down, shut me down, SHUT ME DOWN!!”

“How? How do we do that?”

“Forget it! ... Just…RUN!”

Cyborg could no longer speak. Though his mouth was still human, it was fused into his cybernetic systems. Moments ago he had been struggling to fight the virus, but now he stood before them completely composed and calm. Slowly he raised the sonic cannon to be level with Robin’s face. The Titans stood in shock.

“All right, Cyborg,” Robin grumbled, “you got us! Good joke.” But Cyborg refused to flinch. Robin could see the fear and desperation in Cyborg’s eye, and immediately knew that this was no joke.

Robin tried to dodge to the side, but Cyborg reacted before he could get completely out of the way. The sonic wave clipped him in the shoulder and threw him against the far wall.

‘No!’ Cyborg tried to scream but no words came out of his paralyzed mouth. He shoved the remaining titans out of the way a strutted out the door of his room heading for the garage. He could hear behind him the voices of his friends yelling and screaming about what had gotten into him, but none dared to follow or confront him.

***

Cyborg slowly trudged into the garage and stood before the T-Car, his arm raised and changed into the sonic cannon.

‘Oh no! Not my baby!’ he tried to scream, but once again, no words came out.

The sonic cannon fired blast after blast after blast, gradually turning the car into the smoldering pile of rubble which now lay before him. Cyborg cried out inside, only interrupted by Raven’s voice in his head.

“Cyborg?” she asked “Can you hear me?”

‘I can hear you Rae.’ He thought, not quite sure whether he was delusional or not.

“What’s happening with you?”

‘Brother Blood tricked me into downloading some sort of virus! I can’t control my body!’

“You mean you’re…”

‘A prisoner in my own mind.’

With that, the connection was lost and Cyborg set out for the city, most certainly to destroy it.

I don't think this is the best work I've done, but I doubt any of you could have predicted it.

Crowgirl

01-23-2005, 04:13 PM

That was great!!!! I loved the letter from Jinx, that was a nice touch. I also loved the 'prisoner in his own mind' thing, brilliant. I also like how Cyborg responded to the message from Jinx, it was exactly what he would have done in the show.

Also, I didn't know what the chapter contained when I recommended that song, but now it makes perfect sense.

The fact that Cy's about to destroy the city reminds me of 'Crash', in which he didn't have any control over either.

I can't wait for more!!

CG

Matt A

01-23-2005, 06:56 PM

That was genius! Totally not what I expexcted! I like how him destroying his "baby" fittted into all this as well: it seems somehow...appropriate.

Good work!:D

Aquagirl15

01-23-2005, 06:56 PM

Awesome! It was so much like how things would be in the episodes. Brother Blood tricking Cyborg, How Cyborg reacted to the E-mail, all right and excelent! The song at the begining was awesome, good job Crow and Ghost! :D

rrarbecy

01-23-2005, 07:56 PM

I hate you even less now.

ShadowOfAGhost

01-23-2005, 10:18 PM

There was one thing that I wanted to put in, but my better judgment said otherwise, so I present it to you now. The following is how it is in the chapter:

Today there were no screams of “Who wants pizza!”, only screams of fear from the other Titans with each near accident.this is how I was thinking about having it:
Today there were no screams of “Who wants pizza!”, or "Old Lady! 10 points!",only screams of fear from the other Titans with each near accident.but like I said, I didn't put it in because it was something that the Titans would never have done, no matter how funny. I just thought I would post it seperatly so you could all still enjoy it.:D

I hope I don't give away too much by saying this, but...

if you haven't seen it recently, go see Star Wars, Return of the Jedi. I will be includeing a RANCOR in an upcoming chapter.

Crowgirl

01-24-2005, 10:44 AM

I hate you even less now.
Well, that's good to know....

Kregor8

01-24-2005, 10:29 PM

Star Wars fettish? Huh?
Ok, this chapter was excellent. I wasn't sure what you'd do for Cy - I was able to predict every other person, but not him. So good job. I liked how you had him destroy the car. That's the one thing Cyborg would never ever do. So, I could go on with praises, but I won't.
7<regor
Ps. I'm preparing to hate you
Pps. Nice choice of song. I like Pink Floyd...

ShadowOfAGhost

01-28-2005, 06:44 PM

Gotcha!!!!:D I just couldn't resist doing that! watching all of you throw your dignity to the dogs and beg! oh well...

Two things before I start. First of all, I’m going to give this chapter a PG-13 rating as a precaution. I don’t know if it necessarily will meet the requirements yet, but just to be safe… Second, I’m reaching deep into my bag of tricks to make this chapter the best, so I’ll be lying the foreshadowing on pretty heavily. Whether you decide to look for and interpret it is your choice.

Shattered Dreams

ShadowOfAGhost

“Good friends we have,

Oh, good friends we have lost

Along the way.

In this great future,

You can’t forget your past

So dry your tears, I say”

-Bob Marley, No Woman No Cry

Chapter 6

Starfire’s Nightmare…Part I

Patience is a virtue that can greatly reduce the stress in one’s life. Many of the people in today’s day and age could benefit from knowing and practicing it. At this time however, it is Starfire who could benefit from it more than anyone else.

She, Cyborg and Raven had all woken up and now they waited on Robin and Beast Boy. Starfire was deeply worried for Robin and had taken to floating back and forth in the alleyway, while subconsciously trading off between other secondary nervous habits.

“But what if Robin does not wake up?” She asked Raven, for what seemed like the hundredth time. “I do not know if I could stand it if he were to die!”

Raven sighed, rolled her eyes and slowly stood up. She walked directly into Starfire’s path and grabbed her by the shoulders on her next pass. She probably was holding her a little too tightly, but Raven was likely too irritated to notice. Raven gave Starfire a gentle shake and made her stare deep into her eyes as she answered Starfire’s question. “Star, I’ve told you. I was able to go into his mind and check. He is still alive, just in a deep trance right now. He will wake up in his own time.”

“Perhaps could you check again? What if he…”

“Starfire! Get a grip! He is going to be fine!”

“Friend Raven, I believe it is you who has the ‘grip’ right now. Perhaps if you were to let go I could get a grip, but I can not when you are pinning my arms to my sides.”

“That’s not what I mean! To get a grip means, oh never mind, look!”

Raven let go of Starfire’s left shoulder and pointed to where Robin was on the ground, slowly beginning to sit up.

Starfire was overjoyed to see he was still alive, but strangely enough she was far too nervous to embrace him. She only kept her distance while jumping for joy. This was, oddly enough, a sharp contrast to what one might have expected from her after all the worrying.

Robin got slowly to his feet. He looked strait ahead at team, and then dipped his head slightly, realizing the defeat they had encountered earlier. Robin started to take an uneasy step forward, teetered, and put one arm against the brick wall to steady himself. Starfire rushed forward and grabbed him as he lurched forward and held him in her arms.

No one noticed Beast Boy beginning to stir, and frankly no one cared, so it was a jolt when they heard him speak, “Aww! Why does Robin always get the pretty ones to help him out?” he glared distinctly at Raven as he said this, she in turn pretended to ignore him.

It was at this point that Starfire realized just how closely she was holding Robin. This was not a simple ‘here let me help you’ kind of hold; it was a textbook lovers’ embrace. Embarrassed, she quickly took a step back and blushed. She rotated around so Robin could lean against her shoulder.

With each step they took, he seemed to regain some of his strength. By the time they were all back at the T-Car, Robin was insisting that he could stand and even tried to get the other Titans to allow him to ride the R-Cycle home, but Starfire blatantly refused both ideas, as she was relishing this closeness that they had and feared for Robin’s safety.

Robin was forced to ride with the others and it wasn’t that bad, considering he was wedged into the back seat next to Starfire. What made the trip unbearable was that he was sandwiched in the middle, which meant Beast Boy was on his other side, and when you’re able to turn into animals, you tend to start to smell like them as well. All the more reason for him to press farther to Starfire’s side of the car, which deep down, she didn’t mind a bit.

***

The Titans finally returned home half an hour later and immediately ambled up to the common area to relax and regain their strength. Once there however, they were greeted by a most unwelcome sight.

Starfire gasped, “Blackfire? How did you get out of prison?!”

Blackfire merely chuckled in lieu of an answer. “Good to see you too, sister.”

“What do you want?” ordered Robin, as Cyborg merely rolled his eyes.

“I only came to drop off one of my dearest pets. I hope you like it, I’m sure it will simply love all of you.” With a laugh Blackfire shot a blackbolt at the nearest window, jumped through the hole and flew away.

The Titans stood in stunned silence, trying to comprehend what they had just seen when they were interrupted by a loud growl that shook the tower.

“Beast Boy, don’t tell me you’re hungry at a time like this.”

“That wasn’t me Cyborg.”

There was another loud growl as the tower shook once again. The sound was coming from the basement.

***

The Titans slowly made their way down the metal stairs into the basement, their feet clacking loudly against the metal stairs. The lights were off and the air was thick and heavy. The smell was putrid to say the least. A low rumbling could be heard through out the tower. The closest thing Starfire could think of to describe that dreadful sound was that off the engine idling on the T-Car. Cyborg could be heard cursing himself under his breath for not having installed a light switch at the top of the stairs.

When the Titans finally did reach the bottom they had only Cyborg’s shoulder mounted beam of light to help guide them to the switch. Robin reached out for the switch and moved it to the “on” position. They quickly learned that they would have been much happier never having turned on the light. In fact they would have been much happier leaving the tower, never to return. Before them stood an 18 foot tall monster.

The great beast roared and brandished its razor sharp teeth. It was a dark brown and seemed to be covered in some sort of goo, most likely its own drool. Broken chains hung from its wrists and boney plates seemed to cover several parts of its upper body.

“Um, Starfire,” there was fear in Robin’s trembling voice, “what exactly is that thing?”

The question didn’t register at first, but after a few seconds she uttered only one word, “Rancor.”

The great beast leaned forward and emitted a deafening roar, spittle flying everywhere like a rainstorm.

“We will have to kill this thing somehow,” Came the frightened voice of Beast Boy.

Cyborg raised his sonic cannon to aim at the mighty beast’s enormous face.

Starfire noticed this bold move and quickly put her hand on his arm. “Don’t shoot it Cyborg, you’ll only make it angrier”

“Then how do we kill it?”

“We have to hit it with everything we have all at once if we wish to stand a chance.”

“Teen Titans…” Robin began, “GO!”

The Titans all spread apart and prepared to hurl attacks at it from every direction. Cyborg fired his sonic cannon while Robin launched three exploding disks at the beast. The sonic blast merely deflected off its shoulder plating and it swatted Robin’s exploding disks out of the air. The Titans could see clearly the far from graceful movements that it made as it slowly lumbered forward.

Starfire sent a volley of starbolts at the beast and followed up with an eyebeam blast. All of these impacted, but none of them seemed to have any effect. Beast Boy morphed into a replica of the rancor and locked arms with it. Cyborg, Robin, and Starfire all repeated their attacks while Raven threw a large pile of metal barrels. Again, all of the attacks hit, but none seemed to leave so much as a scratch.

The irritated monster shoved Beast Boy forward and took a massive swipe at Raven, knocking her to the ground. It then turned to face Starfire and began to reach for her.

“Starfire! Look out!” Robin quickly jumped in the way and started beating it with his staff. The rancor shoved him down on the ground and then clenched him in its mighty fist. It brought Robin to its mouth, bit down hard with a loud crunch, and tossed him aside like a rag doll. Robin impacted against a steel girder and sunk to the floor.

Starfire ran to his side, now ignorant of the rest of the battle. There was a large gapping wound in Robin’s side where the monster had bit him. A chunk of flesh was missing from his side and a large pool of blood spread beneath where he lay. His eyes were propped open only slightly as Starfire scooped him up in her arms.

“Star…Starfire?” Robin struggled to speak.

“Robin it will all be of the okay!” she struggled to hold back tears, knowing the truth but refusing to accept it.

“Star…I…I…I love…” Robin exhaled softly as his eyes rolled up into his head and his body went limp in her arms. Minutes seemed like hours as she kneeled weeping over Robin. Starfire was oblivious to the raging battle behind her, as she could focus on nothing besides the memories she would never experience.

Tears streamed down Starfire’s face as the other Titans congregated around her, the rancor defeated. They stood in reverent silence with their heads bowed as they strained to hold back their own tears for their fallen leader.

Thanks again to Kregor for the edit job!:)

Raven37

01-28-2005, 06:51 PM

I implore you to post sooner!!! :crying: You must, I am desperate to see what happens next!!! Remember I'm the one who got Raven37 to read this! Is my work going to waste? :crying: Please!

see I am a good begger! :DI am still in the process of reading this. (Which actually means I have yet to obtain time to read this and I really need to...) So, technically, your work is going to waste!:D Ha!:p

-Raven37

P.S. Sorry, this is like posting fluff.... I just wanted to point out that I will read this whenever I get freetime.;)

Vivace

01-28-2005, 06:58 PM

Awesome chapter. Always thought that would be Star's nightmare or somehting atleast like it and...

THE JOKES ON YOU BECAUSE I HAVE NO DIGINITY! HA! :D

Matt A

01-28-2005, 07:00 PM

I am still in the process of reading this. (Which actually means I have yet to obtain time to read this and I really need to...) So, technically, your work is going to waste!:D Ha!:p

-Raven37

P.S. Sorry, this is like posting fluff.... I just wanted to point out that I will read this whenever I get freetime.;)Well, hurry up, damn you!:p

Just so's you know, that last chapter rocked! Action-packed and emtionally devastating: my two favourite things to see in a story, and this delivered both in spades! Well done!:D

Now that we've seen at least the starts of all the Titans' nightmares, where wil, the story go from here? That's a hint, by the way...;)

ShadowOfAGhost

01-28-2005, 07:04 PM

Well, hurry up, damn you!:p

Just so's you know, that last chapter rocked! Action-packed and emtionally devastating: my two favourite things to see in a story, and this delivered both in spades! Well done!:D

Now that we've seen at least the starts of all the Titans' nightmares, where wil, the story go from here? That's a hint, by the way...;)
I missed the hint... the next chapter I was going to return to the real world a follow robin in his search for a way to break the spell from the others.

Matt A

01-28-2005, 07:07 PM

Sounds cool!:D

Aquagirl15

01-28-2005, 08:38 PM

Ah look what you did Ghost! :mad: Jk... that chapter rocked so much. It was so, so I don't know it was just so good!!! Poor Robin... Hey why does he always end up the one being critically injured or killed? Oh well I can see why you did it here but sometimes I can't see why things like this happen. Well 'scuse my useless rambling and be proud of this chapter! :D It was the best so far, I agree.

Adrastea

01-28-2005, 08:40 PM

yeah, the chapter did rock, i was thinking it'd have something to do with BF.

rrarbecy

01-28-2005, 09:28 PM

I...i...love You!!!!!!!! You Rock!!!!!!! Amazing!!!!!!!!!!! Rock On, Ghost! Rock On!!!

Kregor8

01-29-2005, 12:37 AM

Well, Crowgirl. The joke's on you. Were you wearing a cape? Maybe that was what dragged you down...:D
As you alread know, I completely approve of this chapter. It rocks right off the charts, and is by far the best one yet. I can't believe it. I never, ever saw it coming. I didn't even remember the whole rancor thing till Starfire named it.

“Star…Starfire?” Robin struggled to speak.

“Robin it will all be of the okay!” she struggled to hold back tears, knowing the truth but refusing to accept it.

“Star…I…I…I love…” Robin exhaled softly as his eyes rolled up into his head and his body went limp in her arms.
Man! I love that so much. It's one of the most awesome things ever written in a TT fic. True, Rrarbecy was the first to kill off a Titan. But silver is nice. :D
Thanks again to Kregor for the edit job!I just got off of Welshi's Mate's thread. Nice to be appreciated somewhere in the world.

7<regor

ShadowOfAGhost

02-06-2005, 04:19 PM

No time to chit chat! I just finished the new chapter and have just enough time to post it! I hope you enjoy!

Shattered Dreams

ShadowOfAGhost

“It's criminal
There ought to be a law
Criminal
There ought to be a whole lot more
You get nothing for nothing
Tell me who can you trust
We got what you want”

- AC\DC, If You Want Blood (You’ve Got It!)

Chapter 7

Back in the real world

The sunlight from the day began to fade as the sun set on the skyline of Jump city. A whole day of work tracking down possible leads had all been for bust. All the possible breaks he had chassed all day long had been in vain. A whole day wasted and nothing to show for it.

Robin now sat on the front stairs of the local police precinct cradling his face in his hands. He couldn’t imagine what kind of hell the other Titans were experiencing. A light drizzle of rain started to fall. Robin decided that there was nothing else he could do that day, he would have to go back to the tower and research what little he had from there.

Robin walked slowly down the street toward the R-Cycle with his head hung low. The only option left, it would seem, would be to try to remember everything that had happened that fateful day. This would be his twenty eighth time going over those details.

He remembered as they chased Brother Evirie into the alley. He remembered how he seemed so smug as he made that speech. He remembered how he waved his arms about like a raving lunatic trying to fly. But most of all, he remembered the fear, not just his own, but the fear that enveloped each and every one of them.

The actions of the day proved no help to Robin. However, thinking back on the speech gave him a new idea. Normally, Robin would have dismissed it as nonsense and out of the question, but now he was desperate, and a desperate man can and will do anything. Robin clearly recalled how Brother Evirie stated his purpose, “to succeed where Brother Blood has failed”. Robin hated the idea, and would most certainly despise ever having thought of it in the future. Robin mounted the R-Cycle and sped off toward Steel City. He needed help. He needed Brother Blood.

***

The prison was dark and musty, even more so then the Bat Cave had ever been. A single light bulb hung from the ceiling on Robin’s side. There was a lone security camera in the corner, and four guards standing at the ready, two at each of the doors. Robin now sat in a folding chair, separated from Brother Blood by only a few inches of heavily reinforced Plexiglas.

“So Robin, why have you decided to come pay a visit?” Even in prison, Brother Blood retained his cool and almost mocking tone.

“I…need your help.”

Blood chuckled, “You, the mighty and fearsome leader of the Teen Titans need my help?” Blood chuckled again, “Tell me, why should I help you?”

Robin was irritated at this display of arrogance, “You don’t even know what I want yet and you’re already trying to toy with me.”

“Then quickly Robin, tell me what you want before I change my mind and decide to return to my cell.”

“Do you know anyone by the name of Brother Evirie?” Robin watched as an angry scowl spread over Blood’s face, “He said he came to jump city to succeed where you had failed.”

“That self-righteous PRICK!!” Robin observed the guards tensing up, out of the corner of his eye, “I will help you Robin, but you have to promise to do something for me.”

“I can’t have you released, you know that.”

“Think now Robin, what is it that I want.”

“The most I could offer is a few years off your sentence.”

“That won’t satisfy me here and now. Think Robin!”

“Well, if it wasn’t something that you really wanted then you would have left by now…”

“Good!”

“You seem angered at hearing Brother Evirie’s name…”

“Yes!”

“You want revenge, don’t you?”

A wide grin spread over Blood’s face, “Promise me that when he is captured, you will have him placed in this prison with me, and I will help you.”

“I’ll see to it that you get your wish, now what can you tell me about Brother Evirie?”

Brother Blood leaned closer to the glass and stared Robin dead in the eyes, “Downtown you will find an old abandoned High School, but don’t be fooled. That building is the original H.I.V.E. academy. You will find him in there.”

“What about that spell of his? What if he tries to use it again?”

“That spell has a weakness; it can not affect those who are not consciously aware of it being cast.”

“So I have to strike before he can cast it?” Robin slumped down in his chair.

Brother Blood brandished a grin comparable only to the Cheshire cat, “Not at all Robin, not at all. Remember I have talents of my own. I can control your mind while you fight him.”

Robin sat bolt upright in his chair, “What makes you think that I would let you do that? How do I know that if you do, you will release your hold on me when this is all over?”

“What makes you think you have any other choice? He always acts cool and in control but a few well placed hits and he will snap like a twig.”

“I hate to admit it, but you’re right, I have no other alternatives.”

“I don’t have any H.I.V.E. communicators to give you, seeing as I am incarcerated at the present moment, but I can use my power over a long range to communicate with you. Think the words and I will hear it.” Blood raised his hand to the glass and pressed it flat. Moments later it began to glow red as a pool of energy slowly eked its way through. Once on the other side of the barrier, it shot forward in form of a bolt and struck Robin in the head, forcing it back in a whiplash. Once Robin recovered, there was a slight Red hue to his eyes.

“Let me know when you find him and I will take over.”

Robin slowly got to his feet and exited the room, not saying another word. Though he was still in complete control, it could have easily been mistaken otherwise.

***

Robin arrived at the old condemned school with no problems. He had no idea why anyone would want to take shelter in this stereotypical wasteland of a building, but remembering back on his nightmare, he quickly recanted it.

‘Brother Blood, I have reached the academy.’ Robin half expected that it wouldn’t work, but when Blood’s voice came floating back to him, he cast all doubts aside.

‘Good Robin, contact me once you find Evirie.’

The building is immense, several floors with hundreds of rooms total. Robin decided that he would simply have to start at the bottom and go one room at a time searching each and every room systematically. By the time Robin reached the offices on the top floor, he was exhausted. He had spent the past two and a half hours kicking in doors, one at a time, and they had all turned up empty. Now he came to the last door in the last hallway. On the door was a large sign that read “Headmaster”. Robin could see through the small window in the door that there was light inside coming from a candle on the desk. He could see that there was someone in feet up on the desk, but the shadows hid his face.

‘Brother Blood, I think I found him.’

‘Good Robin, now prepare yourself.’

Robin’s eyes went from a dim faint shade of red to glowing bright. Robin was aware that Blood had now taken over his body, and he could see his actions like a movie inside his head.

“Robin” Kicked in the door with enough force to splinter parts of it. Brother Evirie jumped up from the desk and nearly knocked over the candle.

“Well,” Brother Evirie said, “congratulations on escaping your nightmare. There are few who can, though this time you will not be so lucky!”

Robin stood solid as a stone wall.

“Prick your finger it is done…”

Robin took a slow step forward, and then another.

“The moon has now eclipsed the sun…”

Robin was just out of reach of Brother Evirie as he took another slow step forward.

“The Angel has spread its wings…”

Robin stood, as if waiting for him to finish the spell.

“The time has come for…” Robin grabbed his collar and shoved him up against the near wall, and followed up with a strong punch to the gut.

“Stop! Stop! What do you want!” it was at that moment that Robin regained control, and he was honestly stunned by how easy it had been to bend him to his will.

‘I told you it would be easy, now, I’ll stay on standby in the back of your mind.’

“Tell me how to wake them up!” Robin shouted at him.

Brother Evirie whimpered in fear, “You…You can’t! They have to wake up on their own!”

“Can you break them from the spell?”

“No.”

“How can I help them?”

You would have to get inside their heads; even then, you would be putting them at risk of confusing their subconscious. If that were to happen, it might kill them!”

Robin threw him across the room and into the wall where Brother Evirie lost consciousness. He pulled out the Titans communicator and signaled for the police. They would soon hone in on that signal and find Evirie. Robin turned to leave the room, but before he did, brother Blood spoke up once more.

‘Robin, I will terminate the link now, but remember our bargain.’

Robin abruptly felt Brother Blood leave his mind, like a wisp of smoke disappearing in to thin air. He would have to remember later to talk to the police and make sure he got sent to the right prison, but right now he had more important things to attend to. He had to save his friends.

***

Robin had hurried home as best as he could. When he returned, Aqualad was pacing the floor, looking quite traumatized.

“How are they?” Robin asked him.

Aqualad merely shook his head, “Not so good, most of them just moan, but Starfire has been crying for the last hour.”

Robin desperately wanted to help her first, but he knew that he would need Raven’s help. He ran into her room with out knocking, knowing that she would still be out cold. Furiously pushing things aside, he started searching for anything that could help him wake her.

He searched for what seemed like an hour before he finally came upon a dusty mirror with points protruding along it in all directions. Looking deep inside it he could see a battle raging in what looked like downtown Jump City. Before he had a chance to try and focus on what was there, the image faded, and in its place came an image of what appeared to be black space with blood red stars. Large rocks hung in the air. Robin watched as a girl ran up to the image. He was astounded to see that it looked just like Raven, except for the pink cloak.

“Hurry! We need you!” the figure shouted at him.

“Did you just speak? And who is ‘we’?” Robin replied with a quizzical look.

“No time for questions! We need you now!” and with that, the girl that looked like Raven reached out of the mirror, grabbed Robin and pulled him in.

The mirror clattered to the floor.

Rae

02-06-2005, 04:32 PM

Aquagirl15

02-06-2005, 04:47 PM

Oh I liked that chapter a lot. It was well waited for. Wonder why 'Raven' wanted Robin in her mind though. :shrug: You're ideas are awesome and intersting. As always post more soon!

Adrastea

02-06-2005, 07:17 PM

OOOHHH!! WOW!! amazing.

That was really cool.

I forsee: In Raven's nightmare, there will suddenly be two Robins, The original one from her dream and the real robin. Then there will be the whole thing over which one to believe, and all that.

YAHOO!!!!

Matt A

02-06-2005, 07:53 PM

Yep, all is now cool. Hero/villain team-ups are always good, and as Adrastea predicted there should be some proper mind-messing coming shortly. Sweet!:D :D :D :D :D

Sproxie

02-06-2005, 08:59 PM

That was great!

I loved the bit when Pink Raven pulled Robin into the mirror

The bit with brother blood was a bit creepy, what with him actually helping Robin, but he seemed pretty ready to help Robin in return for revenge on Evirie so that makes it seem better

Good luck with the next chapter!

Rae
Yep, all is now cool. Hero/villain team-ups are always good, and as Adrastea predicted there should be some proper mind-messing coming shortly. Sweet!:D :D :D :D :D
^ My thoughts exactly. ^

Crowgirl

02-07-2005, 04:42 PM

Quoth the Crow, Enough is said. :sweat:

Brilliant chapter, I see how the song fits the chapter now, it makes perfect sense. I can't wait for more, seeing as I have no critisms. :D Brilliant.

CG

ShadowOfAGhost

02-07-2005, 10:27 PM

Who said I was going back to raven's nightmare next? I could do them in any order I want...:evil:

Kregor8

02-08-2005, 04:08 PM

Up to this point, I've never been disappointed by one of your chapters. After reading this one...I've still never been disappointed. Brother Blood working with Robin was quite a cool idea - I didn't expect it would work.
He searched for what seemed like an hour before he finally came upon a dusty mirror with points protruding along it in all directions. Looking deep inside it he could see a battle raging in what looked like downtown Jump City. Before he had a chance to try and focus on what was there, the image faded, and in its place came an image of what appeared to be black space with blood red stars. Large rocks hung in the air. Robin watched as a girl ran up to the image. He was astounded to see that it looked just like Raven, except for the pink cloak.

“Hurry! We need you!” the figure shouted at him.

“Did you just speak? And who is ‘we’?” Robin replied with a quizzical look.

“No time for questions! We need you now!” and with that, the girl that looked like Raven reached out of the mirror, grabbed Robin and pulled him in.

The mirror clattered to the floor. That part was pretty cool. I always like "inside Raven's mind stuff," as you know. I take it that it was Raven's dream that Robin saw first?

I (as well as everyone else who beat me to it, it seems) can't wait to see what mind bending things you pull next.

Who said I was going back to raven's nightmare next? I could do them in any order I want...:evil: Are you going to give us any hint on who comes next? Huh? Huh?

7<regor

ShadowOfAGhost

02-15-2005, 11:05 PM

We havn't gotten much snow this year, but I have got something else...A NEW CHAPTER!!!:D I personally don't believe it's the best one to date, but it's a new chapter none the less. feel free to post questions if it confuses you!

Shattered Dreams

ShadowOfAGhost

“I'm swimming in a circle
I feel I'm going down
There has to be a fool to play my part
Well someone thought of healing, but all I really want to know...
Oh won't you show me the way (everyday)
I want you ...show me the way”

-Peter Frampton, Show me the way

Chapter 8

This might get confusing, so I will try to use color to help keep it clear.

The world swam around him. Nothing was in focus and he could not distinguish one blur from another. Robin sat up slowly clutching his forehead in one hand and used his other arm to support himself. As the world came into focus he saw a large pink blob standing in front of him who he believed was Raven, but that presumption shattered when he heard it giggle. Raven never giggled, much less smiled. But now as his vision finally focused robin could tell that this was without a doubt Raven, except she was wearing a pink cloak. Behind her he could see a black sky with billions of red pinprick stars dotting along it. Large boulders hung suspended in the air.

“Follow Me!”she laughed out loud as she went skipping from one rock to the next.

Robin quickly got to his feet to chase after her.

“Raven!” he shouted, “Wait up!” But all he got as a response was a fit of giggles floating back to his ears. Robin leapt to the first boulder to give chase and quickly found himself in the most strenuous workout he had ever experienced, and frankly he would have enjoyed it but for the anger welling up at being mocked.

It felt like a good 20 minutes of playing chase had passed before Robin caught up and made her stop on one of the rocks. Unlike the others, this one had a large gnarled tree stemming up from the center.

“Enough games! Why did you pull me in here for if the situation isn’t as urgent as you made it seem!” Robin was genuinely mad, he knew how much Starfire was suffering, so God help anyone who stood in his way.

“You’re no fun!” the pink version of Raven responded.

“Answer me! If you can’t tell me what’s going on here then who can?”

“That would be me.” Robin spun around to come face to face with another version of Raven, this one in a yellow cloak with reading glasses on her nose.

Robin was truly perplexed, and couldn’t think of anything to say without first taking two or three double takes.

“Who are you?” he asked the Raven in yellow.

“I am Raven, of course.”

“But if you’re Raven, then who is this one?” he said, indicating the Raven in Pink who was now dusting her self off.

“I’m Raven, you silly goose!”

“But…she’s Raven.”

“Of course she is!”

“How can you both be Raven?” Robin hadn’t been this confused since Beast Boy woofed down that entire breakfast of real ham and real eggs after the fight with Adonis.

“We are all Raven.”

“So, you’re Raven,” he pointed to the one in pink.

“Yup”

“And you are Raven.”

“Correct.”

“So you two are the same person.”

“Exactly.”

“I … don’t follow.”

“First of all, you shouldn’t follow, you should understand. Second, what don’t you understand?”

“Fine! I don’t understand! I was told by this one here…” Robin pointed at the Raven at the pink cloak, “… that Raven needed my help and then I was sucked into a mirror!”

“Sounds like you understand pretty well”

“But I don’t! How do I wake the real Raven from her nightmare?”

“You have to go through the forbidden gate of course!”

Robin sat down in the dust and cradled his head in his arms, “Can anyone take me there?”

“Umm…I could get you close.”

Robin picked up his head to see a new version of Raven standing before him, this one was wearing a dull gray colored cloak. “I assume that you are also Raven.”

“Err, yes. Is that a problem?”

Robin threw his hands up in the air in exasperation “I’ve had it with this game!”

“I’m sorry!”

“You should be! I’m tired of going around in circles trying to get some answers!” the gray Raven quickly hid behind the pink one with a whimper of fear.

“Lighten up would you! She can’t help but to be Timid, it’s who she is!” The pink one exclaimed.

“Just like you can’t help being happy, and she can’t help being insightful? What are you, her individual parts?”

“Precisely, we represent Raven’s individual emotions.”

A look of shock came over Robin’s face. Why hadn’t he figured this out before? “Thank you, this all makes a whole lot more sense now. I assume I am in Raven’s mind?” The yellow Raven nodded. “And the forbidden door is the only way into her nightmare?” the yellow Raven nodded again. “Will you take me to the forbidden door?”

“I…I can only get you so far. After that, courage will have to take you the rest of the way. She wears green.”

“Then lead the way.” Robin stepped to the side as the Raven in gray took the lead.

Their progress was slow and steady down the line of rocks, it seemed like a snails pace compared to the speed at which he had chased the Raven in Pink. He could see that there were other trees rooted in floating rocks under one he saw another form of Raven cloaked in orange and sleeping in its “shade”. Rather than compound the situation and speak with another emotion, he decided to keep moving.

Soon he came to the largest of all the rocks, one which seemed as if it could stretch for miles. He took a step forward and was halted as walls of solid Rock shot up from the ground around him.

“What is this?” Robin spun back in forth taking in the new surroundings.

“It is a labyrinth. We must go through. Follow me.” The Raven in gray sighed, “It is always the same.”

If it weren’t for “Raven” Robin would never have been able to find his way out. They spent a total time of what seemed like an hour or so in that maze before they came to another dead end. The gray Raven held her hand up to the wall and the path opened before them.

“This is as far as I can go. I’m sorry I can’t take you farther.”

“So where is ‘courage’ to take me the rest of the way there?” after not receiving an answer he turned to see that gray Raven had disappeared. When he faced front again, A Raven cloaked in green stood before him.

“You’re Courageous one, right?”

“Hoo-Ahh! You bet I am!” Courage pumped her fist in the air.

“Can you take me to forbidden door?”

“You bet I can! Le’s go!” She turned and dashed along a narrow path. Robin was quick to follow and remained close on her heels.

They ran quickly along, up ahead Robin could see a great stone arch with an image greatly contrasting with the world around them. They approached the gate and stood in front of it.

The green Raven extended her arm toward the portal, “By walking through here, you will enter into Raven’s nightmare. Good luck!”

Robin was about to step through when he heard a new voice, also Raven’s, call out to him.

“Wait! You need to know something before you go!” This new Raven wore a lavender cloak.

Robin hung his head and sighed, “Which form of Raven are you and what is it that I need to know?”

“That one is compassion. She never stops rambling about Raven’s deepest secrets, even though we all know them.”

Compassion ran up to where they stood, “She might ask which Robin is the real one! He needs to know a secret or two to prove he was in her head!”

Courage rolled her eyes and took a step back. “One thing is that even though she hates Terra for betraying the Titans, she really wishes she could have been friends!”

Robin was beginning to grow impatient. “Anything else?” he asked.

A smirk came over her face, “Well, there is that crush she has on Beast Boy…”

Robin smiled, “That should do nicely.” That having been said, he stepped in to the portal and into Raven’s nightmare. Robin would have to tell Beast Boy about that when all this was over, it would certainly liven things up at the tower.

DKH

02-15-2005, 11:21 PM

Well, I'll have to say the color coded text was easy to follow.

But damn man. What the hell? Peter Frampton?

Don't get me wrong, I always try to imitate the whole "Do you feel" voice thing everytime I get a chance but did it seem neccessary?

"Show me the way" seems a little too light-hearted to describe a journey through Ravens mind for my tastes. Then again, I'm using Heavy Metal for my stories so we probably have conflicting ideas when it comes to music.

Despite this (And it really shouldn't be an issue since I am somewhat a Peter Frampton fan) The story is wonderful and theres no reason you should stop writing. Keep it up, this is great.

ShadowOfAGhost

02-16-2005, 11:08 AM

Glad to see you finally posted here! :D I typicly don't think about how the song sounds, but what the lyrics say. in this case, it's saying that he is going in circles and trying to get someone to "show me the way". If I were to stick to heavy metal for the whole thing, then I would have a lot of trouble finding songs with just the right message.

Rae

02-16-2005, 01:35 PM

Glad to see you updated!

Loved the last bit with compassion! :p

Looking forward to the next chapter!

Rae

Kregor8

02-16-2005, 02:13 PM

I've read, and I'll review when I'm done with school...

I like it, though.

7<regor

Sproxie

02-16-2005, 05:48 PM

OOO I loved that chapter!!! :anime:

A smirk came over her face, “Well, there is that crush she has on Beast Boy…”

Robin smiled, “That should do nicely.” That having been said, he stepped in to the portal and into Raven’s nightmare. Robin would have to tell Beast Boy about that when all this was over, it would certainly liven things up at the tower.
THAT was hilarius! Raven would kill him if he told!

Matt A

02-16-2005, 06:40 PM

Yup. My thoughts exactly.:anime: :anime: :anime: :anime: :anime:

Pookey

02-16-2005, 08:13 PM

That was very good, the colors helped alot. If Raven would kill Robin for telling BB her secret then do it. I would love to see that fight. It would be halarious...

Aquagirl15

02-16-2005, 08:18 PM

Yeah the colors made it a lot clearer. I was like 'what?' when I saw all the colors casue I forgot to read the before chapter paragraph but then I got it. Very cool chapter. And funny, the fight that would follow Robin's news would probably end up as Robin the the Med Room.

Crowgirl

02-16-2005, 08:20 PM

Honestly, I have no critisms and think that was so totally rockin'! :D :anime:

I agree with all comments above.

Ciao,
CG

Kregor8

02-16-2005, 09:20 PM

I have to agree...the colo(u)rs were a nice touch. It made things easy to understand.
I think I've put more time into Raven's emotions than any other person, and you've managed to bring in things I never thought of. Nice! Well, for one...I wasn't trying to make it similar to the show. :D

Sister Compassion is pretty cool. Nice idea.

And I like the Peter Frampton song. I don't think I have much more to say...except that you'd better scramble the order for the next chapter. :p

7<regor

ShadowOfAGhost

02-17-2005, 07:37 AM

next chapter coming up! I have a 4 day weekend this weekend (god bless private schools!) and am sick at home with a mild flu. The sore throat is irritating beyond belief, but at least I'm not nauseous.:D I'll get to work on the outline now!:D

ShadowOfAGhost

02-18-2005, 10:41 AM

Here’s to all o’ yall!

Shattered Dreams

ShadowOfAGhost
“Looks like you just can't win
In this do or die situation.
And it's harder than it seems
To survive, keep alive and make your dreams,
Make your dreams all come true.”
-Tesla, Hang Tough
Chapter 9

Raven’s Nightmare…Part II

The sky lit up with a brilliant flash of light. Robin appeared floating three feet above the ground. In an instant he dropped and collapsed to his hands and knees. This version of jump city was dismal and lay in ruin.

As far as the eye could see, rubble lined the streets and buildings lie in ruin. Several sky scrapers which had once dotted the skyline were now gone. In their place were now towers of flame. Explosions rumbled in the distance and flashes could be seen on the horizon. Robin knew that if he wanted to save Raven, he would have to move fast.

Robin set off at a jog to join the fray, but seeing further explosions of power in the distance, he decided he needed to double time it. Time was against him, and he knew this. He knew this all too well. Around him people ran in fear for their lives from the intense battle that ravaged the city.

Robin was close enough now that he could hear each of the “Titans’” battle cries as they lunged at the enormous red monster. The great beast had a humanoid form with long white hair reaching just past its shoulders. Its eyes glowed a yellow brighter than a thousand suns. This monster must be what Raven feared the most of all, whatever this… this thing is.

He considered rushing in to battle to help fight off the great beast, but remembering the warning given to him, he held back and watched the battle from a distance, waiting for the opportune moment to pull Raven aside and open her eyes to the truth. Maybe then her nightmare would shatter. Maybe then things would start going his way. But not until then.

Robin watched carefully as the battle raged. He watched as “Cyborg” charged at the red monster and fired his sonic canon aimed high. He watched as “Starfire” flew above the beast and rained a hailstorm of starbolts down upon the villain. He continued to watch as Beast Boy bit its leg with the fearsome jaw of a tyrannosaurus.

He merely looked on as “Cyborg” was kicked out of the way like a child’s play toy. He observed as “Starfire” was slammed down hard into the ground. He sat in careful watch as Beast Boy was spun in circles and tossed to some incomprehensible distance.

His time was close at hand and he could sense it. “Robin” charged at the great beast and started attacking with all is might. Raven soon joined his effort by launching chunks of broken buildings at him. The not-so-jolly red giant hurled “Robin” as far in the opposite direction as to narrowly avoid orbit. The rocks that Raven had thrown at him merely bounced of as if made of rubber. The monster scooped her up and clenched her tight in its grip. Robin could see her attempting to wriggle free of its iron grip.

Though he was far away, he could still hear the thunderous boom of the monsters deep voice. “My daughter,” it said to her, “join me. Serve your father like a good little girl and we will rule this planet!”

Robin was in shock. This thing is her father? He was so consumed in thought that he missed her response, but he didn’t miss when she came sailing through the air, tumbling head over heals, and landing on the pavement behind him. As she ground to a slow halt Robin hurried over to help her up. She took his hand and he slowly lifted Raven to her feet. In a moment she realized that there was something wrong with what she was seeing. “Robin” had been hurled in the opposite direction.

“Why aren’t you in their fighting? And how did you get all the way over here?” she asked him with a confused look.

“Because there’s nothing to fight. It’s all an illusion.”

“What?! It sure feels real!”

“Do you remember the spell? Verbannte Traume?”

Raven looked down as she tried to remember, “Yes! No. I…I’m not sure. How do I know that you’re not part of the illusion?”

Robin smiled, “I was inside your head with the mirror. I spoke with your emotions.”

Raven tried and failed to hide her surprise. “Well, they must have told you something.” She reasoned, “What did they tell you?”

Far off they could hear the other “Titans” calling for Ravens help with the fight.

“Compassion told me that deep down you really wanted to be friends with Tera.”

Raven frowned, “You’ll have to do better than that.”

Robin grinned again, “What about that crush of yours? You know, the crush you have on Beast Boy?”

That did it.

“You are aware that I know far worse curses than Verbannte Traume right? If you tell him I will not hesitate to use them on you.”

“So you understand now?”

“There were a few other things that seemed odd to me. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a personal matter to take care of.”

Raven took off at a run for the fray. She took to the air and moments before impacting, she extended her leg into a perfect flying jump kick, landing it directly on her father’s face. It was at that point that the world froze and began to fracture. Cracks spread throughout the world like a spider web and finally shattered leaving them flooded in a world of white. Raven was forced to the ground like Robin had been when his dream had shattered. Robin, however felt a strong pull from behind him, and before he knew it he was spiraling through blackness.

***

When Robin awoke he lay on the floor of Raven’s room. Beside him was the mirror he had entered. Robin heard a noise from behind him and he stood up to what it was. He could see that where Raven lie on her bed she was straining against some invisible force which held her down.

With a jolt she sat bolt upright. She leaned forward breathing heavily, almost to the point of hyperventilating when she looked up to see Robin standing there.

“I need to be alone for a while if you don’t mind.”

Robin understood completely and would agree to let her have some time to reminisce on her harrowing experience. “Rest up though,” he said, “I’ll need your help to wake the others.” Robin turned and started to leave the room. He was almost there when he heard Raven speak again.

“Robin,” she said, “Thank you.”

yeah, a little anti-climatic, oh well. I was straining for ideas on how to end this dream as it was...

Sproxie

02-18-2005, 04:30 PM

“You are aware that I know far worse curses than Verbannte Traume right? If you tell him I will not hesitate to use them on you.”The not-so-jolly red giant :anime: :anime: :anime:

Cool battle, but if Robin had not come, and Raven died in her dream, would she have died in real life?
Anyway, I enjoyed the chapter a lot, but I have one small gripe,
“Well, they must have told you something.” She reasoned, “What did they tell you?”

Far off they could hear the other “Titans” calling for Ravens help with the fight.

“Compassion told me that deep down you really wanted to be friends with Tera.”

Raven frowned, “You’ll have to do better than that.”

Robin grinned again, “What about that crush of yours? You know, the crush you have on Beast Boy?” It just seemed too.... planned... (I can't find the right word at the moment) Great chapter though.

rrarbecy

02-18-2005, 05:27 PM

Anti-climactic? Maybe. Bad? No. Most definately not.

ShadowOfAGhost

02-18-2005, 06:16 PM

yes, anything that happens to them in the dreams happens to them in real life! :evil:

Matt A

02-18-2005, 06:42 PM

Why do I get the funny feeling that what you've just said is fatally important...;)

Such matters aside, that was a cool chapter. It was a bit (but only a bit) simplistic, to be sure, but right now I don't care. It was all good anyways.:D :D :D

Kregor8

02-18-2005, 11:52 PM

Anti-climactic! Ouch. But I don't mind that much, because it wasn't bad. Just not quite what I hoped for. I know what you mean about endings though. Whenever I think of an ending (to a story or a conflict or anything) I write it down because they are hard to come by. I've gone through 5 or 6 so far on the George/Samantha line, and I already have 2 endings for the 3rd Perfect Vision (oops, did I just say that? I never drop hints, you know).

It's like the Matrix. Whatever happens to you there happens to you for real. Obviously, though, whatever happens to the illusions isn't real, or Robin would be dead.

“You are aware that I know far worse curses than Verbannte Traume right? If you tell him I will not hesitate to use them on you.”Great line. My only gripe that I've thought of is that Raven wouldn't be the kind of person to have "a crush" on somebody. Raven would be quietly obsessive. Or maybe I just think that way...

7<regor
Ps. I'll join the support group! :p
Double p ess. Uh...kidding.

Pookey

02-19-2005, 07:40 PM

ShadowOfAGhost yes, anything that happens to them in the dreams happens to them in real life!

I sense some forshadowing in the near future...
I really cant describe the ch. it was awesome, and yet 'somewhat' preditable, but I liked it!!

ShadowOfAGhost

02-21-2005, 12:47 PM

next chapter is half done. :)

in the mean time, tell me what you think of the story. Tell me what you don't like. I always post what my own thoughts about a chapter and you all comment on those. give me predictions. give me your pet peeves. give me all your lovin', all your hugs and kisses too. (oops! how did ZZ Top get in there?) tell me what elements need work. one thing that I found is that there doesn't seem to be that much of an element of danger and that the only motivation for waking the others up is to help them out. I'm trying to work on that. give me ideas like that. just strive for orrigionality in the posts and tell me any thoughts you have. I can only improve with origional input.

ShadowOfAGhost

02-23-2005, 07:49 PM

well, maybe this will help you get some new ideas...

THE NEXT CHAPTER!!!! :D

Shattered Dreams

ShadowOfAGhost

“Do you have a heart of stone?

Without you I can’t stop the hurt inside.

When love and hate collide.

I don’t want to fight no more,

I don’t know what we’re fighting for.”

-Def Leppard, When Love and Hate Collide

Chapter 10

This deep trance is traumatizing to everyone, not just the one under the influence of the spell. Cyborg lay cold and quiet on the slab in his room. So far he had shown neutral signs, never screaming, never bleeding, never crying. Beast boy was nearly the same, save for a lump on the back of his head. Starfire was in the worst condition of all. For the past six hours she had cried. The first hour had been near constant, but as time went by it would slowly taper off and then shortly after she would weep once more. Thus her cycle had continued, crying, quieting down, and then bawling once again.

It broke Robin’s heart to have to listen to her cry, but that was why he was here, kneeling by her bedside. He held her hand tenderly and gently, not knowing if it was any comfort to her, but knowing full well that if nothing else, it made him feel all that much closer to her. He could not imagine what horror she must be facing, but it made no difference. She was still catatonic and there was nothing he could do but sit here and comfort himself.

Robin heard the door slide open. He need not turn to know that it was Raven. She had gone out earlier to find the necessary materials for an incantation. She hoped that it would get Robin and herself into the other Titans nightmares. It had been easy to get into Raven’s mind, due to her mirror. She had been safe to confront within her nightmare because her mind was so much stronger than that of an ordinary human. Starfire’s mind however is frail and untrained. Her delicate mind like a glass rose, if touched by even one simple irregularity, would shatter.

Now with the ingredients gathered, Raven hoped to create a portal through which both she and Robin could travel. She had never performed this highly advanced spell before, so failure rate was high. Raven began to form two circles of solid black candles. The first circle was large and surrounded the bed upon which Starfire lie. The second was smaller, about a foot in diameter, and about six inches outside the circle containing Starfire. Inside this smaller circle Raven placed the mirror to her mind, and upon its surface, criss-crossed strands of Starfire’s hair. She lit the candles surrounding Starfire, but left the ones surrounding the mirror untouched.

Raven sat cross legged on the floor in front of the mirror. Raven slowly began to chant the incantation. As she did, the candles surrounding the mirror lit themselves, one by one.

Raven was halfway through the incantation when the door whooshed open to reveal Aqualad. He was out of breath and there was blood on his uniform.

“Starfire is going to have to wait! Beast Boy is taking a heavy beating from something!”

Robin felt desperate to have Raven finish the incantation so they could rescue Starfire, but so far as he knew, Beast Boy was in far greater danger. If they didn’t help him next, his nightmare would likely kill him. Aqualad dashed out of the room with Robin and Raven close behind.

***

The trio arrived in the infirmary to the sight of Beast Boy’s blood soaked sheets. Aqualad immediately put a new bandage on Beast Boy’s fractured skull while Robin started to sort out what needed to be done.

“Raven,” he said, “start getting everything ready for the incantation. If we’re going to save Beast Boy’s life, we have to get in their now.”

“Robin, if we go into Beast Boy’s mind and he dies while we’re in their, we will die as well.”

Robin was full aware of the danger, and frankly, the idea scared him. Once they got into Beast Boy’s dream, they would have to find him. The whole time they were in there it would be a race against the clock.

“I understand,” he said, “but we can’t simply leave him to die. It’s a risk we’ll have to take.”

Raven left the room without a word, and when she returned she carried with her the supplies she needed for the spell. She laid them out on the floor in identical fashion to how they were in Starfire’s room. The only change was the use of Beast Boy’s hair instead.

Raven slowly chanted the incantation and the 20 candles in the small circle lit themselves one by one. Once the last candle was lit, a small forest green colored vortex started to swirl above the mirror. As Raven continued to chant, the vortex continued to churn until it filled the circle and shot up to the ceiling like a green bonfire.

Raven stood up and turned to Robin, “Each of those candles will stay lit for two minuets before it goes out. Once the final candle extinguishes itself, the portal will close and we will be trapped in his mind. We have twenty candles and two minuets for each. That gives us forty minutes.” As she spoke the first candle went out. She stepped into the portal, followed immediately by Robin. Unbeknownst to her, she was wrong about the timing. The candles didn’t last two minutes each, they lasted one, and as they stepped through the portal with a flash, a second candle extinguished.

***

The portal on the other end opened up on a rooftop high above the city. Looking down they could see that something was wrong below them, though no matter how hard they looked, they couldn’t put their finger on it. Finally, Robin was able to understand what was out of place. People! It was mid day so citizens and tourists alike should have been flooding the city streets. Alas below them, they saw only two small specks in the middle of the street. Robin didn’t even need to say anything before Raven picked him up and carried him down to the ground.

The two figures who had stood out in the street were the ones they had expected to find, Beast Boy and Terra.

Robin starts to walk toward Beast Boy, but before he got too close, Beast Boy somehow noticed him without even looking in his direction.

“So, now do you believe me Robin? I told you she was alive and you merely laughed at the idea. Well, do you BELIEVE ME NOW?!”

“I never doubted you Beast Boy.”

“Don’t lie to me Robin! You laughed right in my face!!”

Robin took another cautious step forward, “Beast Boy,” another step, “It’s not true, none of this is.”

“Can’t you see her standing right there? Terra is right in front of me!”

This time Raven stepped up next to Robin. “That’s an illusion Beast Boy, it’s part of the spell which was cast on all of us.”

“Don’t tell me what’s real and what’s not!” He finally turned to face them, revealing that his face and entire upper torso had been made to ruin. His left eye was black and swollen shut, his lower lip was puffed and bleeding, small jagged cuts lined his arms, but most horrendous of all was a huge laceration on his chest which oozed blood in a slow yet steady fashion. Raven gasped and put her hand to her mouth as though she were going to be ill. Robin did his best to hold his composure, but no matter how rock hard his image in the minds of the other titans may be, he could not help but grimace at the ghastly image of a battered Beast Boy.

“Now if you don’t mind, I need to finish what I started.” He turned back to face Terra, who had not moved since the two other Titans had arrived on the scene. Beast Boy gave a sudden yell and charged at Terra, switching to a Rhino in mid charge. Terra side stepped and allowed Beast Boy to Ram into a concrete building.

Terra mocked him as he struggled to his feet, “You never were that bright Beast Boy. You should have known I would have seen that coming.” She formed several daggers out of small chunks of rubble. Once Beast Boy got to his feet, she hurled them through the air at him. He narrowly dodged most of them, while the others tore at his clothing.

“Teen Titans!” Robin began…

“No!” Beast Boy shouted, “This is MY battle, I will finish it!” Beast Boy switched to a hawk and soared in the air. Gaining enough height, he positioned himself for a dive bomb and hurtled toward Terra. Moments before impact, Terra lifted a large slab of asphalt from the roadway and positioned it as a shield. Beast Boy slammed into it at full speed and fell to the ground, human, at Terra’s feet. She delivered a swift kick to the ribs as he lay writhing in pain on the ground.

Robin was not about to sit and watch as Terra pummeled Beast Boy, and nor would Raven. Robin began a charge, Bo staff extended, while Raven started lifting chunks of damaged buildings to use as projectiles. Both attacks were right on target, yet neither of the two struck. Robin’s staff passed through Terra like she was water. Raven’s attack did likewise. Both were perplexed, but soon realized that they were like ghosts in Beast Boy’s mind, existent only in spiritual being, not in physical form. They could do nothing to effect the events in this place.

Beast Boy was helpless as he struggled to his feet one final time. He could barley stand as Terra sailed in on a boulder for another run.

She struck.

Beast Boy fell.

It had been a hard blow to the skull, and Beast Boy lay on the street face down in a pool of spreading blood, barley clinging to life. Terra lined up to deliver the final blow.

Aquagirl15

02-23-2005, 08:04 PM

Beast Boy. :eek: Wow... that was amazing... Ah man what a cliffhanger! Darn we had to guess that you would do this. Dish us a great chapter but leave a major cliffie. It eneded too quick or maybe it's just cause I read fast. :shrug: Well you get the picture, that was a great chapter. Shocking but great.

Matt A

02-23-2005, 08:06 PM

:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

That's all I can say for now.

rrarbecy

02-23-2005, 09:26 PM

*promptly keels over and dies*... .... ... ... ... ... .... *mom resuscitates me* WOAH!!!!!! Evil Terra, evil Terra, evil TERRA!! I could definately picture how battered BB looked. Great. Wonderful. SUPERB!!!!! THAT'S why I voted for this story in the HOF!

By the way. "Starfire’s mind however is frail and untrained. Her delicate mind like a glass rose, if touched by even one simple irregularity, would shatter."

That was AMAZING. How did you come up with that?

Pookey

02-23-2005, 11:53 PM

that was...AMAZING...

BB will live right? Terras so EVIL!! DIE DIE DIE!!!! im ok...

The description of Stars mind was pure genious!! you are an amazing writer

ShadowOfAGhost

02-24-2005, 02:33 PM

***takes a bow***

Thank you! Thank you all!

as for the description of her mind, I just tried to think first of something frail and easily broken, and then something to describe Starfire herself. seeing as she is universaly described as beautiful, thus a rose. put them together and ou have a glass rose. brief and dramatic descriptions are key.

Alpha Man

02-24-2005, 04:06 PM

just thought you might be interested in knowing that you have yourself another fan. I am thouroly (sp) impressed with what I read. Good job and keep up the good work!:)

the whole fic reminds me of 'Only A Dream' from the JL.

i really enjoyed the Raven's mind ordeal. it was pretty much like the episode 'Nevermore'. cool. i was half-expecting a little more encounters with different emotions, though. perhaps Hatred, the red one.

i actually thought for a long time while reading that Brother Blood was going to betray Robin, take over his mind, whatever. anyway, you have shown me that that is not the path.:sad:

your little rhymes at the beginning of each chapter are just a work of art. since i'm not too keen on music, i'm not sure if they're all songs. i'm assuming they are.:D

keep it up, Shadow!

ShadowOfAGhost

02-28-2005, 04:56 PM

is it me or has this thread been relativly abandoned?

I'm in the works of writing the outline for the second half of the Battle in Beast Boy's mind (chapter 11) and I want your input!

Should Terra die?
Should the other Titans make a run for the portal before Beast Boy dies or stay and watch him die? :evil:
stuff like that! give me opinnions! I like oppinions! They often give me good ideas, though I do know for the most part what will happen in the second half of the chapter. You won't want to miss it! :D

Crowgirl

02-28-2005, 05:09 PM

Honestly, I think numbah two would be more interesting, but numbah one would be... er, nicer. But you mentioned how Raven has a crush on BB, what if you used that to bring him to the portal? :p

And don't worry, my thread was abandoned too, but then I posted. :p Speaking of which, why don't you post too. :D

rrarbecy

02-28-2005, 07:03 PM

No comment.

Sproxie

02-28-2005, 08:04 PM

Kill Terra!!!!
You can't kill BB! rrabecy already killed enough Titans!

No comment. ???

rrarbecy

02-28-2005, 08:10 PM

I can't think of what my answer is.

ShadowOfAGhost

03-01-2005, 07:23 AM

All I will say is that the next chapter will contain a heavy violence warning. Don't worry, Beast Boy isn't going down without a bigger fight than that! ;)

the outline for the chapter is done!

Rae

03-01-2005, 03:36 PM

the outline for the chapter is done!
The outline is done? Oh well, patience is a virtue! (whatever that means!)

I have no idea what you should do in your fic, afterall it's your fic so you decide what happens!

Rae

Alpha Man

03-01-2005, 03:49 PM

i'd say make BB realize that Terra is a figment of his imgination. or, have Raven kick her ass.:evil:

rrarbecy

03-01-2005, 04:11 PM

i'd say make BB realize that Terra is a figment of his imgination. or, have Raven kick her ass.:evil:
Raven CAN'T kick her ass. She's not even solid in BB's mind.

Crowgirl

03-01-2005, 05:41 PM

Oh well, patience is a virtue! (whatever that means!)
Patience is a game. Kudos to the person who can tell me where that's from! :p

Non-Spam: The outline is done, which means the chapter's soon to come! :anime:

Ciao,
CG

Kregor8

03-01-2005, 05:52 PM

Finally, I'm back on track here. This chapter has been sitting here for ages waiting for me. Or at least, that's what it seems like.

That was quite a scene. I can just picture Terra slowly tearing (heeheehee) BB apart. Each attack he takes, he gets worse and worse. Let's see - I can't tell you what should happen. I want to be surprised. But I think that it should be more emotional than physical. Also, keep in mind that you have the 20 minute candel tension, and you should use it - I'm not sure how. You'll think of something good. Be careful not to write yourself into the wall, though. It would be extremelly painful.

7<regor

ShadowOfAGhost

03-01-2005, 07:50 PM

Also, keep in mind that you have the 20 minute candel tension, and you should use it - I'm not sure how.you think I would put it in and then not use it? :evil:

Rae: as a refrence point for myself, what is the most recent episode to aired in Britain?

Alpha Man

03-01-2005, 08:04 PM

Patience is a game. Kudos to the person who can tell me where that's from! well, I don't know where "Patience is a game" comes from, but "Patience is a virtue" was said in the Bible, I think by Job. perty sure. yaw. may b. hmmm.

anyway, most definitely in the Bible.

anyway anyway, I still think you should have Raven kick Terra's arse to possibly show BB that Raven has yadda yadda for him, or whatnot if you can see the light, BB. I don't like Terra, she was cool looking in her first appearance, but basically after that, with da hair, and da eyes... yuck!

i'm not really a BB/Rae supporter, mainly because I have not seen it in da show. no BB/Rae! BB/Terra i guess!

ShadowOfAGhost

03-02-2005, 10:51 PM

give it to this coming Fall and you can add Eagle scout to the list. :D

<edit>

for some reason when I first read that I thought you said "soup kitchens, torturing..."
eh he he he....

ShadowOfAGhost

03-03-2005, 08:22 PM

speaking of the song for chapter 11...

If you hate Terra, this chapter is for you! [Insert violence warning here]

Shattered Dreams

ShadowOfAGhost

“So you think you can stone me and spit in my eye?

So you think you can love me and leave me to die?”

-Queen, Bohemian Rhapsody

Chapter 11

The end is near for this brave warrior of peace and justice. Dust blew gently through the wind along the abandoned streets. Only the two fighters occupied the decimated and once busy roads. The only support for the weary fighter came from two of his closest friends, whom he had thought abandoned him. Unable to interfere, they only stood nearby to offer encouragement and support. But now these words of courage fell on deaf ears.

Beast Boy lay face down in the street, beaten to a bloody pulp. He could not hear the desperate pleas of Robin and Raven to get up and fight on. He was unconscious, near death. Terra aligned herself for one final attack run to finish the job.

No one noticed as the pebbles on the road surface began to dance to and fro. Gradually, pulsations became clear out of the once random bouncing of the pebbles.

In typical fashion, the villain always gives a final speech before the hero’s ultimate fall from glory. Whether conscious of her decision or not, Terra decided to exemplify this in epic proportions.

Thus began her final monologue. “Did you actually expect to win Beast Boy? I once fought to protect you, and though the fights were staged, I must admit there were times when I actually thought you might have made a good pet. But once I finally offered myself to you, you turned your back on me.”

Terra took no notice as the pulsations increased in strength and started to form a steady pattern. Thump-thump thump-thump thump-thump like a steady heart’s beating.

Terra took a slow step forward, “I offered you power,” another step, “and you declined it.”

The pulsations continued to increase in strength, and an epicenter was realized.

“I offered you wealth,” Terra strode once more toward Beast Boy, “and you refused it.”

The pulsations were coming from Beast Boy.

Terra was now within arms length and kneeled down in front of him, “I offered you myself,” she picked up his chin so his glazed, blood shot eyes looked strait into hers, “and you turned your back on me!”

The strongest pulse yet raced through the air and threw Terra back. Pulsation after pulsation continued to emanate from Beast Boy, each stronger than the one before it, until they could no longer be considered pulsations, but shockwaves instead. Terra tried her best to fight these back and withstand their amassing force.

All at once, Beast Boy rolled onto his back, his eyes open wide. He opened his mouth and let out a terrible shriek of pain, though both of the other titans would latter recall it not as a shriek, but as a howl. Beast Boy seemed to stretch in all directions at once, and then assumed the fetal position, writhing in pain all the while. As this happened, the shockwaves continued in their thump-thump pattern as Terra tried to hold her ground against the raw energy spilling out in waves. A whirling white cloud surrounded Beast Boy as a violent and tortured howl rang out.

The pulsations stopped all at once and the swirling mass cleared to reveal Beast Boy. But he was no longer a boy, only a beast. A savage beast with only one objective on its mind, ripping Terra limb from limb.

The hideous beast let loose a deep menacing growl, as slobber dripped from its chin. It was truly a hideous sight to behold, though one you would never wish to see. Many of the wounds from the previous battle still existed, but in this form, Beast Boy seemed oblivious to them.

Terra, having regained her footing, looked up in horror. If ever there was a time to be afraid, it was now. Unlike normal Beast Boy, this monster felt no fear, felt no compassion, and most certainly felt no mercy. The beast glared deep into Terra’s eyes, and sensing her fear it lunged with startling speed. Before Terra could react, her feet were dangling four feet off the ground. The beast held her by her long yellow hair. Slowly it lowered her to within inches of its face and roared with the ferocity of a lion. Terra took no notice of the spit that covered her face, as she was too preoccupied trying to find a way out. Behind Beast Boy a large rock rose in the air, hovered for a second, and then started hurtling toward the beast.

Instinct took over as the beast spun and threw Terra directly at the boulder. The two contacted in the air and the boulder shattered into rubble. Terra lay motionless on the ground. How she could survive an impact of that magnitude was beyond comprehension, but somehow she found her feet and struggled to stand again. Blood tricked from her nose, which had been bent at an awkward angle. Her right arm hung limp at her side.

On the sidelines Robin and Raven watched in shock as this shift in the tide of battle occurred.

“Makes you kind of wonder what he puts into that tofu of his.” Raven said idly.

Terra sent a medium sized rock screaming toward the beast. Beast Boy merely caught it and crushed it into dust in his palm with a snarl.

“Never again will I underestimate Beast Boy when he’s angry.” Robin stammered. They merely continued to watch as the battle continued to rage between the two, partially because they were physically unable to interfere, but mostly due to the fact that they were afraid to see what would happen to them if they did.

Beast Boy flew at her tucked into a tight cannonball shape. Terra was struck and landed several feet away. He jumped high into the air and, before she could even consider getting up again, stomped her into oblivion. There was a pool of blood where she remained lifeless on the ground. Beast Boy picked her up again, this time by the arm and sniffed her. Sensing that by some miracle she was still clinging to life, he grabbed her other arm in his hand and with a roar, ripped them out of their sockets. Blood stained the streets in rapidly expanding pools. Terra screamed in pain as her now useless arms landed next to her with a sickening thunk. The beast reached down and grabbed her by the windpipe, cutting off the screams.

A crunch was heard as Terra’s neck caved in and her spine snapped in half, killing her. The beast threw her on the ground and roared once more. It now turned to face the two other Titans. It took one slow lumbering step forward, paused, and fell face down.

The beast returned to normal Beast Boy. Apparently, the beast form must have some form of accelerated healing ability, as most of the minor injuries and a few of the major ones had disappeared.

Beast Boy began to stir. Raven scooped him up in her arms and with a nod to Robin they started to run to the portal.

“Robin, how long have we been in here?”

Robin pulled out his communicator and looked at the screen. “31 minutes! We have nine minutes left before the portal closes!”

***

Exhausted and out of breath, they made it to the roof top with five minutes to spare. Something was wrong though. The portal was gone. They were stuck in Beast Boy’s mind.

rrarbecy

03-03-2005, 08:37 PM

"Unlike normal Beast Boy, this monster felt no fear, felt no compassion, and most certainly felt no mercy."

"Sensing that by some miracle she was still clinging to life, he grabbed her other arm in his hand and with a roar, ripped them out of their sockets."

"A crunch was heard as Terra’s neck caved in and her spine snapped in half, killing her."

The three most prevailent things in the chapter are right there. Amazing imagery. I loved it. I also liked the little dialogue Raven and Robin were having when BB was the beast. "'Never again will I underestimate Beast Boy when he’s angry.' Robin stammered."

You're amazing. Now we'll have to wait and see how Robin and Raven will get out of BB's mind.

Sproxie

03-03-2005, 08:37 PM

wow.
Well.... um, I'm sorta speechless now... i'll post a better review later. (or quote somone else's :p )

Exhausted and out of breath, they made it to the roof top with five minutes to spare. Something was wrong though. The portal was gone. They were stuck in Beast Boy’s mind.
Stupid cliffhangers........

<EDIT> *looks up at rrarbecy's post* I'll quote him... :D

"Unlike normal Beast Boy, this monster felt no fear, felt no compassion, and most certainly felt no mercy."

"Sensing that by some miracle she was still clinging to life, he grabbed her other arm in his hand and with a roar, ripped them out of their sockets."

"A crunch was heard as Terra’s neck caved in and her spine snapped in half, killing her."

The three most prevailent things in the chapter are right there. Amazing imagery. I loved it. I also liked the little dialogue Raven and Robin were having when BB was the beast. "'Never again will I underestimate Beast Boy when he’s angry.' Robin stammered."

You're amazing. Now we'll have to wait and see how Robin and Raven will get out of BB's mind.
I agree with everything he said!!

Starfire5

03-03-2005, 09:17 PM

*tear* TERRA!!!! *re-reads chapter* BEAST BOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:eek:

overall tears lead to brilliant chapter

Vivace

03-03-2005, 09:24 PM

Okay let me say that that personally I was in too much shock to consider either of Robin and Raven's comments funny. I genunily thought that you captured the primal fury of "the beast." It was done really well.

Alpha Man

03-03-2005, 09:47 PM

i agree with Vivace. although, I did not find anything funny about Raven and Robin's comments, they could have been a tad bit better, like "Remind me never to piss off Beast Boy," or (a Flash quote) "Remind me never to get on your badside." (as he said to Jonn.)

Terra's death was a little quick, but sweet. Definitely not Naturalist literature.

anyway, I loved the cliffhanger.:D They were stuck!:eek: Did I see that coming?

Vivace

03-03-2005, 09:53 PM

I kinda think those Quotes should have been left for later. At the time they were done I kinda think it was a little out of context what with Beast Boy literally ripping a human being apart.

Rae

03-04-2005, 02:46 PM

Great update Ghost, i have no idea why everyone's complaining!

“Makes you kind of wonder what he puts into that tofu of his.” Raven said idly.
That was funny!:p

Rae

rrarbecy

03-04-2005, 03:12 PM

HA, I say to you, HA! SOMEONE agrees with me. Score one for the Jersey Guy!!!

Matt A

03-04-2005, 07:01 PM

Well, that was cool. Sick, but cool. Plus there's that monumental cliffhanger to resolve...:eek:

Oh, and I suggest reading that chapter whilst listening to Basement Jaxx's "Where's Your Head At?". I did, and I'm now busy giggling like the proverbial village idiot.:D :D :D :D :D

ShadowOfAGhost

03-04-2005, 07:07 PM

The good news is that I already planned out how I will have them escape so I don't have to worry about writers block! :D The bad news is that I likely won't get to work on the next chapter over the weekend because I have a 5 page paper I have to write.

Kregor8

03-05-2005, 01:25 AM

Smash, crunch, smoosh. Rip, tear, shred. Wow. That was pretty cool. So much death and destruction. When you said:
But he was no longer a boy, only a beast. A savage beast with only one objective on its mind, ripping Terra limb from limb.
you weren't fricken kidding. That was an amazing chapter, because I didn't know what you'd do. And now they are trapped! Wow.

Other highlights:
1) Tofu additive
2) Epic last word speech
3) pulsing wave thing. One of the ideas that I had had before reading this was that the real Terra would appear to BB (Obi-wan style) and it would defeat the evil Terra. So I wondered if that would be what would happen. But no, you surprised me. But I try not to guess on what will happen, so everybody surprises me. I'm fun that way. :D

Ok, glad you have the next chapter planned out. Cause I want to get back to Starfire!

7<regor

Pookey

03-12-2005, 12:23 AM

YA!! that ch was awesome b/c..TERRA DIED!! yesh -dances-

the next ch will be awesome, and you are probally gonna save Star for later and go to Cyborg arent ya? i hope not, i wanna see Star...

Crowgirl

03-13-2005, 11:41 AM

Oh my god, that was one of the best things you have ever written (But it was definitely the most violent :p ). I've got no complaints, and I don't really see why others are complaining. What was wrong with it?

Oh yeah, did I mention how funny Raven's comments were? That made me laugh. I liked how you had humor in the middle of the dramatic action scene. Nice touch.

Overall, good job. And nice cliffhanger, by the way.

Ciao,
CG

ShadowOfAGhost

03-17-2005, 07:09 PM

Once again, this isn't my best work, but I will see to it that once I get to Starfire's dream, it will rival if not beat the quality of its predesesor. :)

Shattered Dreams

ShadowOfAGhost

“Been dazed and confused for so long it’s not true,

When did a woman ever bargain for you?

Lots of people talkin’, few of them know,

Soul of a woman was created below.”

-Led Zeppelin, Dazed and Confused

Chapter 12

Raven’s words continued to ring in Robin’s ears. She had warned them that if they were too long in this nightmare, there could be no escape. Now with the portal gone, these two had to come to terms with the fact that they would spend the rest of their miserable lives in here. Raven hovered just off the ground in the corner of the roof as she tried to meditate. In here it would make no difference to her powers, but she figured that she had to pass the time some how. Silently she searched the recesses of her own mind in angst as she attempted to devise another way out of Beast Boy’s head.

After the battle, Beast Boy had passed out due to the pain from his extensive injuries, and had yet to wake up. Slowly now though, he began to stir. Robin had taken off his cape to help prop up Beast Boy’s head.

Beast Boy began to open his eyes.

“Wh…what happened?” He muttered, “Why are you two here? Where am I? Where’s Terra?!” He asked the last question with the greatest urgency. Robin did his best to answer each of the questions.

“You almost died, but your beast form took over and killed Terra. We are here to try and wake you up from this nightmare spell that was cast over all of us.”

Beast Boy had a perplexed look on his face. “Nightmare? This is a dream? Dude, it all seems so real!”

“Well as of now we’re stuck here inside your mind. Raven’s portal seems to have closed up prematurely.”

Beast Boy showed surprisingly little remorse at learning that he had killed Terra.

“So let me get this straight,” he began, “There is some sort of spell on me that makes me think that I am living in a nightmare. Raven opened a portal into my mind and you two came in to try and wake me up, but now that the portal is closed you two are stuck in here with me? All this is making my brain hurt.”

Raven couldn’t help herself “Try not to let your mind wander, Beast Boy. It’s just too small to be out on its own.”

Beast Boy scowled, but refused to make a rebuttal statement. Instead he asked the question the others had been trying to solve for the last half an hour. “Is there any other way that you two can get out?”

Neither of the other two could come up with any ideas, so naturally they were astonished when Beast Boy pointed out the obvious fact that had been looming in front of them this whole time.

“How did you two get out of your nightmares?”

“Simple,” Robin chimed in, “I found something that was out of place in the nightmare. I concentrated on that and the nightmare shattered.”

“If I can find something like that in my own nightmare, so you think it would shatter?”

Raven gave her response in her usual grave tone, “It’s possible, but if your dream were to shatter, we might go with it.”

There was a somber tone about as Robin tried to decide what to do. He was faced with a hard reality.

“We have to give it a try.” He said, “There’s no other option.”

Now the problem was figuring out how to convince Beast Boy that this was, beyond any shadow of a doubt, not the real world. Robin had one idea that he knew would work, the problem was, only two of the Titans would be able to leave this nightmare alive. Raven would see to it.

***

A half an hour passed and none of them could think of any decent ideas. Most of the ideas they had so far, Beast Boy had confessed that he could believe if he saw, no matter how obscure they sounded in real life.

Robin had no other choice, they were getting nowhere and could easily be here for a long time before they found another way to shatter Beast Boy’s dream. He decided to speak up.

“Raven, what if you were to tell Beast Boy…”

THUNK!

He was cut off as a discarded soda can smacked into the back of his head. While Beast Boy looked around in confusion to see what it had been, Robin turned and locked eyes with Raven. She was giving him an “I will kill you if you tell” face, one with which Robin dared not to argue.

Beast Boy, however, had his curiosity sparked and unwittingly pressed the matter.

“Tell me what Rae?”

She gave Beast Boy the same insidious look, but being too stupid to understand, Beast Boy continued.

“Seriously Rae, what are you supposed to tell me?”

Raven snarled, “Never mind, Beast Boy…”

“Just tell me!”

“I said FORGET IT!” Her eyes began to glow red. Beast Boy finally understood that he had gone too far. Instead he changed the topic.

“What if Robin could fly?” He asked, “That might work!”

Robin looked to Raven, and she gave him a subtle nod. He stepped over to the edge of the building, and then stepped off.

For the first few seconds, Robin plummeted straight downward. It was only once he started to panic about the quickly rising ground that he realized he was slowing down. Raven was using her power to lift him by the back of his shirt, though underneath his cape, to make it at least a little less obvious what was happening.

Slowly Robin began to rise through the air. Eventually he was high enough in the air that he hovered right at eye level. He bobs gently in the air as Raven tries her best to support him without making it too obvious.

Neither of them realized just how observant Beast Boy really was. “Dude, Raven is making you do that. I may be stupid, but I’m not blind! Wait…”

Disheartened, Robin Touched down again on the roof, and sunk to his knees.

“Beast Boy,” Raven said, “tell me a joke.”

With no hesitation at all, Beast Boy went to work. “Why does a chicken coop have only two doors? If it had four, it would be a chicken sedan!”

Before he could try another one, Raven burst out laughing and rolling on the ground. It wasn’t funny, but she thought it might be worth a try. It was to no avail, as Beast Boy relished his pride, rather than wallow in disbelief.

They were still lacking new ideas, but there was nothing any of them could come up with. Robin knew his idea would work, but he didn’t want the slow and painful death Raven had promised him. On the other hand, being in here was just as torturous, and soon he would likely loose his mind. He decided to give it one more shot.

“Just tell him Raven!”

“No!” she retorted with an angry scowl.

Beast Boy was beginning to get irritated by this arguing. “Raven, if it involves me, then I have a right to know! Whatever this secret is, just tell me and be done with it!”

Raven knew she couldn’t argue with that. How could she? He was right and there was no way she could dodge this bullet forever.

She tried to look him in the eyes, but found that she could not. Overcome by embarrassment, she turned her head and began to mumble something…

“I can’t hear you Raven, speak up!”

Raven sighed and began again. This time she managed to at least make eye contact with her own feet. She blushed as she began, “Well, I… erm… I…”

Beast Boy was already beginning to pull it together. ‘No way!’ he thought, ‘could it be?’

They were all jolted from their thoughts by a loud crack. Looking up in the sky, they could all see what appeared to be the sky splintering like glass. Soon they found themselves experiencing the feeling of the heavy weight upon their backs. The light flashed around them and all they had once seen and felt fell into oblivion.

***

When the three awoke, Raven and Robin were in a heap on the floor. Beast Boy was laying up on his bed, dazed and confused.

“So what was that you were going to tell me Rae?” he asked.

Raven stood up and began to exit the room. She paused in the doorway. “I’ll tell you later Beast Boy.”

Alpha Man

03-17-2005, 07:46 PM

I am so dull I didn't get the joke:sad: :sweat:

Great chapter anyway. Though it seems to drag on just a tad... the anticipation of waiting for Raven to tell BB she... y'know... totally made up for it!:D

Other than that, not really much else... though I saw my english teacher in my mind's eye when you said "they were getting nowhere" and I heard him repeating over and over "they were not getting anywhere!!!!" ugh! I am cursed!

Please hurry and submit the next chapter, I want to know what will happen!:anime:

Anime

03-17-2005, 07:50 PM

I didn't get it either... :(

ShadowOfAGhost

03-17-2005, 07:54 PM

a coup is a small car (usualy with 2 doors). a sedan is a larger car (usualy with four doors).

Anime

03-17-2005, 07:56 PM

i know but chicken?

rrarbecy

03-17-2005, 08:20 PM

I think a chicken coup is the building in which they keep chickens on a farm.

That was good. "“Dude, Raven is making you do that. "I may be stupid, but I’m not blind! Wait…” That line KILLED me. That's exactly what Beast Boy would have said. And the way that Raven avoided telling him. That was great.

Matt A

03-18-2005, 06:59 PM

All my points have already been nicked, so I'll just say that the chapter was well worth the wait and leave it at that.:anime: :anime: :anime: :anime: :anime:

Ta,
Matt A

Pookey

03-18-2005, 11:56 PM

that was really cool...that it, im at al loss for words

starfire0639

03-18-2005, 11:58 PM

-applause-hehehe and i got the joke...kinda a need to know thing if your dads a mechanic-smile-other than that im stunned for words....-gawks at chapter again-

Kregor8

03-19-2005, 12:20 AM

Man, that was a nice chapter. I though of something that was not normal, and you didn't use it, but your ideas were so funny. I got the car/chicken joke, but it wasn't funny. Sorry.

Oh yay! Star's nightmare comes up next (I do so hope).

Best joke: Raven couldn’t help herself “Try not to let your mind wander, Beast Boy. It’s just too small to be out on its own.”

7<regor

rrarbecy

03-19-2005, 08:16 AM

Of course it wasn't funny. Beast Boy told it.

ShadowOfAGhost

03-27-2005, 09:06 PM

Waiting any longer would serve absolutly no purpose whatsoever, so you know what, HAPPY EASTER!!!! :D And there is a quote in here from the matrix, so see if you can find it!

Shattered Dreams

ShadowOfAGhost

"Don’t take it so hard now,

And please don’t take it so bad

I’ll still be thinking of you

And the times we had…baby!

And don’t you cry tonight

Don’t you cry tonight

Don’t you cry tonight

There’s a heaven above you baby

And don’t you cry tonight"

-Guns n’ Roses, Don’t Cry

Chapter 13

The time that Robin had been anticipating for the last God knows how long, was finally at hand. Raven had completed the incantation for the portal into Starfire’s mind. Robin stood poised, ready to enter. No matter how much he had insisted, Raven refused to join him. She needed to stay behind to make sure the portal would stay open. Beast Boy was still recovering from his injuries in the infirmary, and Cyborg was still in his nightmare. This all meant one thing, Robin would be on his own for this one.

He could feel the orange wind churning in front of him as the breeze gently blew against his face. With a deep breath, he stepped forward into the haze.

***

A bright light flashed. For a moment, Robin thought he had gone blind, but soon came to realize that it was not the case. Rather, as his eyes slowly adjusted to the dark, he realized he was in the basement of the tower. He was overcome by a putrid stench that filled his nostrils. In one of his few moments of weakness, Robin puked all over the floor in front of him.

‘Nice,’ he thought, ‘real nice. Great going, Boy Wonder.’

Struggling to find his way over to the light switch, he tripped over something. It was something large, and wet. It seemed to be covered in a large cloth. He stumbled on, trying to find the light switch.

Once he did, he wished he hadn’t. A mere two feet away from where he stood was what he tripped over. It was surrounded by a pool of blood and was covered in a white sheet. Only the sheet was no longer white, rather it was a deep crimson. Going against his better judgment, Robin walked over to it and prepared to pull off the sheet.
‘The more I know about Starfire’s nightmare, the better a chance I will have of waking her.’ He thought.

Robin lifted the sheet and came face to half-face with his own mangled corpse. Now he knew why Starfire had cried constantly, but the question was, how could he face her without risking her subconscious collapsing in on its self?

Robin backed away slowly from the body, then turned and sprinted toward the stairs. Out of the corner of his eye he saw another large mass of dead flesh, but chose to ignore it for the time being.

Reaching the top of the stairs, Robin decided to try the most logical place to find Starfire -- her room.

***

Walking slowly through the winding passages he began to think of what he should say to her. The mere sight of him could very well send her over the edge into insanity. Should he be honest? Should he pretend to be ignorant of the events? Should he pretend to be a ghost? He didn’t know what to do.

Reaching the door with her name plate on it, he stopped outside. He raised his hand to knock, but paused when he heard sobs coming from the inside. It hurt him to have to listen to her crying. He wanted to end her pain in any way he could. He knocked gently on the door.

For a moment the sobbing stopped, and a soft voice floated out of the door.

"Go away, please. I wish to be alone."

Starfire went back to her crying. Robin knocked again, this time more forcefully.

Once again the sobbing stopped, and in its place was Starfire’s voice. "I wish to be alone please!"

Even at the lowest point in her life, her voice was still hauntingly beautiful to Robin.

He rapped on the door hard this time. Once again the sobbing stopped, only this time she did not reply, but the sobs were replaced with the shuffling of her feet as she shuffled to the door. With a soft whoosh, the door opened, and Robin could see Starfire standing there. Here eyes, now wide as if in fear, were puffy and swollen from her near constant weeping. Her lips trembled and uttered one word.

"No…"

Robin smiled warmly. "I’ve come for you Starfire. It’s time to go."

She trembled, finally finding the power to speak. "No!" she shouted. Starfire took an uncertain step back as Robin took a step forward.

"Stay away please!" She ran to the other side of the room, consumed by fear. Her face was pale, as if she had seen a ghost.

"Star…"

"No! I do not wish to go! I do not wish to die!"

Robin hesitated, ’Die?’ Robin pondered, ’why would she think that I want to kill her’

As if in response to his thoughts, she blurted out "You are a rektnas! I do not wish to die! I do not wish to go on to the afterlife with you!"

Apparently, Robin had stumbled upon some kind of Tameranian belief. From what he could gather, when a loved one died, the rektnas, which he assumed to mean ghost, came for the other loved one.

"Star…" he began.

"No! She shouted, "Stay away! I will not go with you! I can not go with you! Rektnas of Robin please understand I am needed here by my friends!"

"Do not be afraid Starfire, you won’t die."

"Do not lie to me, rektnas of Robin," she yelled at Robin, "I will not fall for your tricks!"

Robin sighed, "Starfire, I am not a rektnas."

"No" she interrupted, slowly moving farther away from him, "You are a story they tell to young children. You are not real!"

This approach was getting him nowhere. Robin decided he had to try something new.

"Starfire," he said, "Do you remember after we defeated Killer Moth, how we danced together in the moonlight?"

Starfire began to cry again, her tears slowly trickled down her face. It pained Robin to have to take this approach, but it was a necessary evil.

"Starfire," he said, "Do you remember when we sat together and watched the sunset? Or how about when we watched the fire works from the Ferris wheel?"

Starfire crouched over into the fetal position in the corner and moaned.

"Starfire," he said, "Do you remember when I went away to train with the True Master, how happy you were when I came back?

She wailed with memories of happier times. Robin could barley retain his own tears, for having to see Starfire like this.

"We can have all of that back. Just come with me."

"Robin-"

"Please, Starfire. Take my hand. Walk with me. Come back with me."

To his surprise, she did just this. Starfire stood up, still sniffling, and walked toward him. A grim smile spread across her face. She took his hand.

"Maybe, this is the best. Take me with you, rektnas of Robin."

Together they started to walk hand in hand through the harrowed halls of the tower, their footfalls echoing behind them. They reached the top of the stairs, looked each other lovingly in the eyes and continued down.

They reached the bottom of the stairs and continued on to the swirling orange vortex, now brimmed with black. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Starfire glance over at the dead Robin, but she did not hesitate. Nor did she hesitate as she stepped through the portal.

***

Starfire awoke with a jolt and immediately recognized her surroundings as that of her own room. She sat bolt upright in her bed, and noticed Robin standing by her bed side.

"Am I… dead?" she asked.

Robin smiled and caressed her cheek, "Far from it,"

The two embraced in a strong hug, Starfire began to cry one final time, only this time, it was tears of sheer joy.

From the back of the room, Raven witnessed this and shed her own tear. As it slowly trickled down her face, she realized this was exactly what she hoped to have…someday.

starfire0639

03-27-2005, 09:35 PM

That was the awsomest chapter of awsome chapters....Can't really say its the awsomest cus all of them are-I'm a sweety-:anime: It was worth the wait is the only comment I got.No critiscm at all!And why the heck would I This was cool and I can't wait to wait for another millinia for the next chapter!:p

Anime

03-27-2005, 10:07 PM

From the back of the room, Raven witnessed this and shed her own tear. As it slowly trickled down her face, she realized this was exactly what she hoped to have…someday.If that's not an allusion to Jeff... then I don't know what is.:p :D

anyway, graet chappy! although not as... continuous... as BB's dream. that won was like three chappys i think? wayany, cool chap, my ducky.

couldn't find the matriz line:sad: :sweat:

ShadowOfAGhost

03-28-2005, 07:26 AM

In all honesty, I hadn't planned it as such. but if you want to take it that way...

Alpha Man

03-28-2005, 01:01 PM

Excellent, well written chapter. What do you say to this? What do you say to a work that you've already said in PM and now he's perfected it?:evil: :p

Kregor8

03-28-2005, 03:44 PM

Hmm, let me think. That was short and sweet, but it didn't quite pack the punch I had expected. Still, there was nothing in it to complain about, so I won't.

I liked the whole ghost/rektnas speech there. Did you make up "rektnas" or have I heard it before? Anyway...I think it's an interesting thing that Star chose to go with the ghost. I shows that even though she might be afraid of death in whatever form, she still loves and trusts Robin enough to go with him. Either that or she can't imagine life without him and didn't mind the thought of death.

Either way, very nice chapter. Though it was only 2 chapters long, Star's nightmare was my favorite.

As the resident Matrix fan, I'll find the quote:
"Am I… dead?" she asked. Robin smiled and caressed her cheek, "Far from it."

In the Matrix, when Neo wakes up in the Nebuchadnezzer (sp), he asks Morpheous if he's dead, and he says "far from it."

ShadowOfAGhost

03-28-2005, 04:52 PM

It was my idea

the second one, (though for literary sake, we'll go with the first ;) )

and yes, you got it.

Pookey

03-28-2005, 05:18 PM

omg..that is my favorite nightmare of them all!! it was so good i shed a tear....you are an awesome writer!!

ive never seen the matrix so im lost on that

ShadowOfAGhost

04-11-2005, 06:29 PM

FINALLY DONE!!!!!!!!!! :D :D :D And please note that I did not take the time to edit this after I finished writing it.

Shattered Dreams

ShadowOfAGhost

“Oh, what a pair, me and you
Put here to feel joy
Not be blue
Sad times
And bad times
See them through
Soon we will know if it’s for real
What we
Both feel”

-Silent Hill 3 soundtrack, Letter – From the Lost Days

Love. Love is the greatest force to have ever existed on this planet. Wars have been fought over love. It has no bounds, no limits to what it will cause. It has the power to create, and the power to destroy. Mark twain once said, “True love is the only heart disease that is best left to "run on"--the only affection of the heart for which there is no help, and none desired.”

This is most certainly true with Robin and Starfire at this point in time. Together they sit, saying nothing, only enjoying the comfort and nearness of the other upon the couch. Both were oblivious to the task at hand. They still needed to rescue Cyborg, and Raven could not do it alone. Seeing those two together and so happy just to be alive made her wish she could have the same. Deep down she knew she could, and she knew she wanted it, and she knew how to get it.

Thus now she stood, silent, outside of the door to the infirmary. She could hear Beast Boy on the inside, slowly shifting in his hospital bed. She had fought a giant ooze monster, half robot psychopaths, and a tremendous stone golem, but alas, she could not bring herself to knock on a door. To say hello. To invite destiny into her life. To start the first day of her new, happier life. No matter how much, she desperately wanted to be happy, she couldn’t do it. Quietly she lowered her fist, and retreated to the sanctuary of her room.

She passed the door to Cyborg’s room and heard on the inside there was a quiet groaning, moaning coming from Cyborg. She burst inside, and to her surprise, saw Cyborg tossing and turning on his cold metal slate. Knowing they wouldn’t have much time she ran for the common area, she had to get Starfire and Robin. Cyborg needed them…before it was too late.

Raven burst into the room, startling the couple, but they knew it was important, seeing as she was out of breath.

“It’s Cyborg!” she shouted, “He’s going downhill fast!”

With that she Ran out of the room, Robin and Starfire in tow. Raven Stopped in her room and retrieved a book off of her shelf, along with the other materials needed for the spell.

When she arrived back in Cyborg’s room, Robin and Starfire stood on either side of him. He was tossing and turning far more than he was before. Raven hastily placed the candles around him, and then created the circle of candles around the mirror. She opened the book to a marked page and sat it on the floor before her.

She looked at Robin and said, “I found a new spell, but it has both good points and bad.”

“Well, tell us about it then!” he responded.

Raven drew a heavy sigh, “The good news is that you will be able to interact with the dream. You can interact with anything in the nightmare at all.”

“And the bad news?”

“You are in the same state as you were in your original dream. You cannot leave unless the dream shatters. Not to mention that anything that happens in the dream will happen to you in real life, you will no longer be invincible.”

There was a brief silence, and then Robin answered. “It is a risk that we will have to take, if that’s okay with you Starfire…”

Starfire said nothing, she only nodded her head in approval. A new, pained voice joined the conversation from the doorway, making all of them whip around in surprise.

“I…I wanna help” It was Beast Boy, one of his eyes was still swollen shut, and cuts and abrasions still littered his body. He leaned against the door frame for support. “I wanna help.” He repeated. Beast Boy took one teetering step forward, and then Starfire rushed over to help him.

“Friend Beast Boy, you must stay here. You could be hurt!”

Beast Boy shook his head, “No,” he said, “I wanna help, I need to help! He is my best friend! I need to help him!”

Robin tried to intervene, but to no avail. Beast Boy was resilient to let go of the idea of helping his friend. The group argued for several moments more, there was no clear end in sight.

Raven decided she had to step in. She walked over to beast Boy and put a hand on his cheek. Slowly it began to glow a faint blue. She waved her hand, all up and down his body. The other Titans watched as many of his wounds closed up and he regained his energy, right before their eyes. Beast Boy could now stand under his own power, but had somewhat of a limp.

“Why didn’t you do that before?” he asked her.

Raven dipped her head, “Because…” she whispered, “some of your wounds still needed to mend on their own.” Lucky for her, Beast Boy believed her, and Starfire was too naive to decipher the truth. Only Robin could see through her little lie. He knew her powers were emotion driven, and her feelings for Beast Boy had only increased since their return to the real world. Another week of wallowing in her emotions and she would have been able to heal him completely.

Raven took three step back, and then directed the other titans to stand around the circle containing the mirror. She began a new chant, and one by one the candles surrounding Cyborg, and then the mirror began to light themselves. When the final candle surrounding the mirror was light, three bright blue trails of flame shot outward from the smaller circle. Each of these flames headed towards a different Titan, and then surrounded them. At once, pillars of blue flame shot up and around the other Titans. As quickly as they had erupted, they fell down again, revealing the other Titans as missing.

***

Light faded in from darkness, and each of the three titans found themselves standing exactly where they had just been. Looking out the window in Cyborg’s room, they could see a good portion of the city lay in ruin. Almost instantaneously, they realized the truth. Cyborg’s room had no windows. Instead there was a gapping hole where a wall used to be.

Starfire helped Robin across the channel and onto the beach at the far end, Beast Boy chose the form of a sea hawk, and flew beside them. When they landed on the beach, awe washed over all of them. Many of the city’s large or important buildings lay in ruin, where the Mayor’s office once stood there was only a pile of rocks. Nothing remained of the downtown police station.

Silently the three wandered the streets of Jump City, each fearing, yet hoping to come across their friend. Turning a corner, they saw what they had come for. Cyborg stood outside of a bank, blowing it apart with his sonic cannon. Beside him stood Brother Blood; Jinx, Mammoth, and Gizmo nearby. Brother Blood seemed to be wearing some strange form of collar around his neck. There were others on his wrists and his ankles. Brother Blood seemed to be imitating Cyborg’s movements, but it was Robin who first realized what was truly going on.

“He’s being controlled…” His voice trailed off at the end of his sentence. Brother Blood must have heard him, because he turned to face the other three titans.

“Well, well, if it isn’t the other Titans? Sorry to see that all of you couldn’t make it, but we will take care of the gothic witch later.”

Brother Blood paused to smirk, “Cyborg,” he said, “Destroy them.”

ShadowOfAGhost

04-11-2005, 06:42 PM

okay, so it was kind of short, but I had two options....

Make it twice as long, delay it a week, and finish Cyborg's nightmare ooooor......
Post a somewhat short chapter just a little bit late, include a nice cliff hanger, and save myself from these two raving lunatics.
regardless, you can see which I picked...

Mageman

04-11-2005, 06:51 PM

Exellent Chapter Shadow! Not your best but definelty up there, I hate the cliffies tho.
(5 more posts to 500)

starfire0639

04-11-2005, 07:36 PM

now ahem. Starfire im really sorry if i hurt your fellings, i was just joking and i shan't make jokes like that again, you have my word. please accept my apologies...........Tis ok.I accept the aoligy.And Im not a lunatic Shadow....just a gbit edgy is all.And even tho the chapter was short......It still was awsome:anime: The spamming as you have now figured out is an enemy at best I suppose........Why do I wanna be all fancy right now?-shrugs-Write a longer chapter nexct time and make it as awsome as this one and ill be happy.;)

ash-meister,fellow renegade master

Matt A

04-11-2005, 07:49 PM

Okay, so you just recieved about eighty posts in only one day...well, f- a duck!:p :p :p

Anyway, that was a cool chapter. Short, but with good descriptions of the Titans' states of mind and the state of Cyborg's nightmare...and a bugger of a cliffhanger. Nice job!:anime: :anime: :anime: :anime: :anime:

Ta,
Matt A

PS: Sorry about the swearing.:sweat:

ShadowOfAGhost

04-11-2005, 09:23 PM

well, I'll make this a good one then! http://www.forums.toonzone.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

Exellent Chapter Shadow! Thank You! :D

And even tho the chapter was shortyeah, it did seem to come out kinda short, but in reality, it was 2 1/2 pages TNR 12 point. what makes it long is when I integrate a lot of dialogue because it is constantly going on to new lines.

Write a longer chapter nexct time and make it as awsome as this one and ill be happy.;) I'll try to ;)

Okay, so you just recieved about eighty posts in only one day...well, f- a duck!:p :p :p
I'd prefer not to, thank you very much. :p

PS: Sorry about the swearing.http://www.forums.toonzone.net/images/smilies/sweat.gifwell, apologize to them, not to me... how should I put this....
I don't give a S*** about swearing, so go ahead and swear up a F***ing storm! Most times, I just cuss like a F***ing sailor (no offense Rae) so it don't bother me none. :D

That was short for you to be honest. :mad:

Yet I like this story, so that's okay! http://www.forums.toonzone.net/images/smilies/anime.giflike I said, it was still 12 pt TNR, 2 1/2 pages. And I'm glad you like the story!

The post after this will be this forums big 500 so i think evry one should cool it and let shadow have the honors of posting it(it being the 500th)Thank you for stepping up for me. I appreciate it. You all make me feel so happy and good about my self **pulls out a bottle of fake tears** And I just wanna say -sniff- -sniff- I LOVE YOU GUYS!!! http://www.forums.toonzone.net/images/smilies/smile.gif **puts away bottle of fake tears**

seriously though... Thanks to all of you!

I will see to it that the next chapter is out soon(er) and that it will kick ass.

Kregor8

04-12-2005, 06:25 PM

Post a somewhat short chapter just a little bit late, include a nice cliff hanger, and save myself from these two raving lunatics.
Seems like a good choice. They really are lunatics, aren't they? We do love our lunatics, though. :D

The cliff hanger at the end was a very good choice. I liked the fact that for BroB to control Cy, he has to move him like a puppet. That way to be evil he has to look stupid. Good idea.

So...Raven isn't with them on this one. That should be interesting. I also like how you've played the edge of the BB/Rae relationship there. Not too subtle, and not big and bold. Ah...

For those of you who don't know, I am the very most anti-spam person on the forum. Just ask Shadow...;)

7<regor

ShadowOfAGhost

04-12-2005, 09:08 PM

it would seem I need a new spam policy... so here it is

as long as it is a legitimate conversation it is fine with me. something like before where you went....

just checkin in, if anybody is here say IMAHELAPHELIAC

http://www.forums.toonzone.net/images/smilies/evil3.gif spammy spammy spam spamhttp://www.forums.toonzone.net/images/smilies/evil3.gif Im sorry i couldn't resist

is frowned upon. If you stick to a legit conversation like what was just preceeding this post about Raven/Robin, that is fine. in fact I encourage that because many times it will give me ideas. but legit conversations only! and if I ask you to stop at some point. please do so.

Rae

04-13-2005, 05:08 AM

okay here goes

1) great chapter, i liked the bit with BB and Rae even if it was more of a Rae not doing anything but wanting too and BB not noticing

2) no offense taken at the sailor comment as i can honestly say that sailors swear alot, especially when everything goes wrong....

3) Everyone is allowed their own opinions about the TT relationships, for example in my stories i have Robin/Star BB/Terra and Rae/Cy but the only other person i've seen (so far) have a Rae/Cy one is his Lordship. And i don't care what the relationship is coz i read it anyway if it's a good story

Anyway, i look forward to reading more!

Rae

ShadowOfAGhost

04-19-2005, 07:34 PM

okay, it would seem that the mods are begining to stiffen the rules here due to the massive influx of traffic. Personally, I believe that we all need to do our part to help out. I'm going to ask you guys (and gals) to cut back on the spam. lets try and make things at least a little easier on them. again, spam doesn't bother me, but we need to cut back, or else they might begin to crack down on it as well. we dont want that. it could mean bad things for all of us.

Thank you for your time. :)

<edit>

and the next chapter is almost halfway done. Here's something to help y'all get back on track with yer posts.

“And as you look all around you at the world in dismay

What do you see, do you think we have learned

Not if you’re taking a look at the war torn affray

Out in the streets where the babies are burned”

-Iron Maiden, Blood Brothers

Pookey

04-20-2005, 06:14 AM

Intresting quote Shadow...keep wrintg b/c...b/c...umm, crap there goes mty idea, anyway just keep it up! please...oh and your pic. You look very familier...probally just a coincidence but ya do to me...anyway

cut back o nspam, you got it -salutes- this isnt spam ok..i swear to you its not...

ShadowOfAGhost

04-20-2005, 04:14 PM

don't worry, since that has to do with the story, I count it as legitimate. Like I said, spam doesn't bother me, I'm only asking y'all to cut back out of curtesy for the mods.

Alpha Man

04-20-2005, 04:42 PM

I can't believe I haven't read the chapter yet! Shame on me! Well, I finally did now. I thought your sig said Chapter 13, but I thought that was the other chapter (The Starfire one). Anyway, I guess I could do you the honor of giving a review:

I'm not too keen on the BB/Rae relationship, in fact, I flat out don't like it. I always thought BB was meant for Terra... I enjoy the fact that the relationship is possible, but you seem to tell us that it's definitely going to happen. How come no one remembers "Forces of Nature"? Wasn't there a possibility of a BB/Starfire relationship?

The ending was pretty cool. The cliffhanger... eh... um... was... a little confusing. If it's Cyborg's Nightmare, then how could Cyborg be controlled (I'm assuming, because when the Titans showed up he like gave NO response) ? I look forward to find out in the next chap. It'd be more a nightmare if he could see it, but couldn't do anything.

Too short? Remember Raven: The Nest? Those chapters were short. I had no problem with your chapter. It just seems to irriate people when they wait five weeks and only get a twenty line chapter. They do this because they assume that you're taking a long time to do it, when really, no one remembers that you have a life outside of this forum (unlike some of us *points to mirror*) So keep it up!

Don't ever think of these chapters as short when my story is there in the dust.;)

ShadowOfAGhost

04-20-2005, 05:13 PM

well, if you remember a while back, in the first part of cyborg's dream, that is exactly what happens. He is being controlled, and is able to watch and percieve what is going on, but can not react. He is like a prisoner in his own mind, watching a movie. You can shout at the screen all you want, but it wont change what is happening.

did you ever read any of the books in the Animorphs series? Remember how the Yerks (the slug like things) would crawl inside somone's head, and then they would have complete controll? the "host" sould see what was going on and consciously percieve what was happening, but could do nothing to change it. Kinda like that.

Matt A

04-20-2005, 06:29 PM

Which I'm guessing is why you saved Cy's nighmare to last: the basis for this one - literally being unable to control your own actions - is the most unpleasant of the lot, even above the rejection/death of your closest friends.

Ta,
Matt A

ShadowOfAGhost

04-20-2005, 06:55 PM

no, it just took me the longest to come up with the idea. ;)

Matt A

04-20-2005, 07:12 PM

And I thought you were being clever...:crying: :crying: :crying: :p

Ta,
Matt A

JAG

04-22-2005, 04:24 AM

Well, after sitting here since somewhere between 12:30 and 1:00, I have read this whole story(including most of the spam), and have several things to say:

1. This. Story. Kicks. Ass.

2. I support the Rob/Star, BB/Terra, and BB/Rae relationships, but just can't see Rae/Rob or Rae/Cy.

3. Why didn't I read this sooner?

4. Post the next chapter A.S.A.P!

5. I liked Terra's violent death! I like seeing that happen to her in stories where she's evil.:evil:

6. You now have another new reader!:D

7. I have read and greatly enjoyed the whole Animorphs series.

8. I think this is my longest non-chapter post ever!

ShadowOfAGhost

04-24-2005, 09:22 PM

Guess what? I got a fever! and the only prescription.... is another chapter! :D

(name the show, double points for the actor, note that the quote is slightly modified)

Well, the begining isn't all that great, but it gets better as it goes on....

Shattered Dreams

ShadowOfAGhost

“And as you look all around you at the world in dismay

What do you see, do you think we have learned

Not if you’re taking a look at the war torn affray

Out in the streets where the babies are burned”

-Iron Maiden, Blood Brothers

Chapter 15

The Titans faced a major dilemma. One of their own had been forced to turn on them. Staring on, they came to the reality of confronting a choice none of them ever wanted to make. Could they bring themselves to harm one of their closest friends, one they had fought beside in countless battles? They never before realized the true menacing power housed within Cyborg’s right arm, not to mention the rest of his cybernetic upgrades.

And now, the battle for Cyborg’s freedom raged. Blue blazes raced through the air in all directions. Under Robin’s command, the other two titans were ordered to hold back; they needed to disable Cyborg, not destroy him. On account of this, the majority of the battle had been waged on the defensive, while Cyborg blasted away and Brother Blood retained his grip upon him.

Beast Boy flew through the air, in the form of a falcon, dodging shot after shot. On occasion he would swoop down from above to try and distract the attacker while another Titan would make a strike. This he did now, and as he dived, Starfire unleashed a hailstorm of starbolts upon all targets below her.

Cyborg hastily swatted Beast Boy to the ground on his next dive. Raising his sonic cannon to the sky, he began to fire at the incoming starbolts. Each of his shots hit its mark, reflecting the starbolts back. Starfire had to dodge in mid air to avoid the incoming attack.

Robin, meanwhile, rushed at Cyborg from behind, his bo staff extended. He reared his arms back to strike, but as if in possession of some sixth sense, Cyborg turned to face the new threat.

Raising his hands above his face, he caught the staff between his palms as it swung in its downward arc. Wrapping his fingers around it, he began to swing it above his head; Robin still attached to the other end. He slammed it full strength into the nearest wall. Several yards behind him, Brother Blood continued to dictate every one of Cyborg’s movements through his own motions.

“Robin!” Starfire shouted to him, “This plan is not good!”

Regrouping, Cyborg began to stride toward them.

“Yeah dude, any more great ideas?”

“I’m thinking, Beast Boy…”

“Well think faster!”

Noticing brother Blood in the distance, his mind latched onto a new plan of attack. “Titans!” He shouted, “Attack Brother Blood!”

But there was a problem. Cyborg still stood between them and their intended target, and his sonic cannon was leveled straight at them.

Before he could dodge out of the way, Cyborg hit him full force in the chest with a sonic pulse.

The other two titans swerved to either side of him and raced toward Brother Blood.

He smiled as the two titans rushed at him, and chuckled “Insolent Titans, do you think that would work?” He pressed a switch on one of the collars around his wrist. “Cyborg, attack Robin. Show no mercy!”

He had apparently engaged an “auto-pilot” of some sort, because now he moved independently of Cyborg. Brother Blood stood in a waiting position, ready for the attack.

All at once, it did. Beast Boy attacked as a charging bull, and Starfire threw a volley of star bolts and eyebeams. Crossing his arms in front of his face, he blocked the barrage of starbolts, but then as Beast Boy closed in, He grabbed him by the horns and wrestled him to the ground.

“Why are you just standing there, you insolent fools! Attack!” The H.I.V.E. members took to the order quickly and divided themselves to their new enemies.

***

Jinx and Cyborg chased after Robin, as he leapt from rooftop to rooftop. It was tough to dodge each of the attacks while running. He had to get back to the main fray, only then could he have a chance.

***

Mammoth took on Beast Boy. This would be an unfair match, but Beast Boy some how held his own through it all. He constantly shifted his shape to things stronger than the previous; first ape, then rhino, then triceratops, and finally now elephant. So far it was mostly a standoff with both fighters locked together, but anything could change in an instant.

***

Gizmo gave chase to Starfire, and every so often she would turn in the air to try and hit him with a starbolt. Each attempt ended in vain, however, as he would simply glide to the left or to the right of the shot. She tried all the aerial maneuvers she knew, but she couldn’t shake him. He was always right on her tail.

***

Robin found himself cornered. He retreated as far as he could, but now he stood on the roof of an isolated building, and the only way to go was back from where he came. He didn’t want to fight Cyborg, but he would if he had to. A blue beam shot past his head, followed closely by purple waves. Cyborg and Jinx had caught up. He extended his bo staff and prepared himself for the impending attack.

But he had a new idea, grasping his staff firmly in his hands, he charged at the two. At the very last moment, he used it to vault over their heads. Once he landed, he started to make his way back toward brother blood.

***

Beast Boy finally managed to gain the upper hand. At one point he switched into a rhino form, and was able to flip mammoth onto his back. He then proceeded with relentless attacks until Mammoth was out cold. Satisfied with his work, he charged toward Brother Blood.

***

Starfire had gotten lucky; one of Cyborg’s stray blasts had hit Gizmo’s back pack. Now as he spiraled to the ground in a trail of smoke, she set her eyes on Brother Blood. She soared toward him.

***

Robin came racing toward Brother Blood, Cyborg and Jinx were right behind him, attacking feverishly. Beast Boy rushed at him in the form of a triceratops from the behind. Starfire sailed in from overhead, hurling her starbolts one after the other. The attacks were converging on Brother Blood from all sides; he could not run, he could not hide. All he could do was brace himself.

The attacks hit him.

Robin’s exploding disks, Starfire’s starbolts, Cyborg’s sonic cannon, Beast Boy’s charge, and Jinx’s waves of bad luck. All of them impacted at once, and, in an instant, there was a bright flash of light, followed by a deafening boom.

When the dust settled, Brother Blood lay face down in the street. Cash from the nearby bank fluttered through the air as if confetti. The control collars which Brother blood used to take over Cyborg were destroyed. Broken metal fragments was all that remained of them in the somewhat empty street. It was unclear whether or not Brother Blood had survived the explosion, but at this point, none of them cared.

Cyborg began to move his arms about in random circles. “All right! I can control my body again! BOO-YA!” Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Jinx.

She was standing off from the pack, facing away from the rest of them, her head down. Slowly, Cyborg walked over and eventually, he stood next to her.

“Hey, don’t worry about him. You couldn’t control it. He had complete power over you, just like he did me.”

Silence, was all she replied.

“So, uh, don’t blame yourself. I know you’re good deep down.”

She still chose to give him no response.

“And if you’re ever in the neighborhood, drop by. We might be able to use someone like you.”

Jinx still did not move. She still did not look up. She still did not answer him.

He understood her plight, and respected her decision to stay silent. Instead, he gently placed his hand on her shoulder.

CRACK!

He recoiled his hand quickly, only to notice a large crack appeared where his hand had been. Out of it seeped pure white light. The cracks spread slowly at first, but gained speed. The cracks in reality spread through out the landscape,

“Wha…” was all he had time to say, before it all fell away, and the four Titans found themselves bathed in the pure white light. The weight each Titan had previously experienced at one time or another now took it’s hold upon them and forced them to their knees, as darkness overtook them.

***

When they awoke, the Titans found themselves crumpled on the floor where they had been previously standing. Raven stood near the back of the room with her hood up. Cyborg opened his eyes, glad to see that he was back in reality. Despite all the good cheer, it was Starfire who asked the critical question which none of them knew the answer to.

“Friends,” she said, “Where do we go from here?”

As if in response to her question, the room was immersed in flashing red light as a siren shrieked in their ears.

“Titans!” Robin shouted, “Trouble!”

Pookey

04-24-2005, 09:37 PM

YAA!!!! Cys back!!!! oh ya oh ya that ch ROCKED!!! but the question now is....what are you up to now???

ShadowOfAGhost

04-24-2005, 09:40 PM

what are you up to now???-grins mischeviously- :evil: :evil: :evil:

hmmmm.... some cryptic hint should do nicely here....

Look to the past to decipher the future

:evil: :evil: :evil:

Pookey

04-24-2005, 10:14 PM

grr u sux..JK

oh i HAVE to comment on the BB/Star stuff...-coughs- NO NO NO NO NO!!!!!!!
read my sig and you will no why....NO THATS JUST WRONG!!!

starfire0639

04-25-2005, 12:18 PM

Look to the past to decipher the future

:evil: :evil: :evil:Heh...I'v heard that before.But from where I ask you...Where!?....And what wrong with the BB Starfire thing Pookster?...You got something against the cute,green,goober dude?:pAnd duh I already told ya what I thought bout your chapter...well I only read half of it...But it rocks!...Please say you'll be writing more soon:crying:

ash

JAG

04-25-2005, 12:20 PM

Brilliance. Sheer Brilliance.

Blood got his sorry butt kicked! YES! Even if that wasn't the real Blood, is was still alot of fun to read. He's just one of those villains that needs to be tied to the back of a truck and dragged down the highway for a while, locked in a small cage with a rabid pitbull, and then nuked.:evil:

Post more soon!

rrarbecy

04-25-2005, 01:33 PM

Br. Blood seems to enjoy using the word "insolent."

The entire fight, I was thinking "Attack Br. Blood!!" Finally Robin realized this, and I said "Finally." That was great.

What BB/Starfire stuff Pookster?

starfire0639

04-25-2005, 01:35 PM

What BB/Starfire stuff Pookster?She's being a totaly sjipper for Robin/Star and at the second notice of someone saying BB/Starfire she screamed and vowed to make the Star and Robin thing true to the galaxy with her sigy which it states......Personally I don't got a big deal against the green dude.Hes a cutie.:p

Rae

04-25-2005, 03:08 PM

yey! Sorry i took so long but i spent the weekend in something that only vaguely resembles a tent.

That was great!

Rae

Matt A

04-25-2005, 06:18 PM

Blood got his sorry butt kicked! YES! Even if that wasn't the real Blood, is was still alot of fun to read. He's just one of those villains that needs to be tied to the back of a truck and dragged down the highway for a while, locked in a small cage with a rabid pitbull, and then nuked.:evil:
I wouldn't go quite that far (perhaps an ICBM rather than a full-blown nuke...), but I still agree with the general gist of his point. That chapter rocked!:anime: :anime: :anime: :anime: :anime:

Look to the past to decipher the future
I have an idea about this, but I won't say what it is in case I happen to be right...

Ta,
Matt A

Aquagirl15

04-25-2005, 08:33 PM

Well, I can't really say much, cause everything I wanted to say has been said. Doesn't do you much good to hear the same things over and over again. Awesome chapter, as usual. Brother Blood is just one of those villians that gets anoying after a while.

Pookey

04-25-2005, 09:02 PM

She's being a totaly sjipper for Robin/Star and at the second notice of someone saying BB/Starfire she screamed and vowed to make the Star and Robin thing true to the galaxy with her sigy which it states......Personally I don't got a big deal against the green dude.Hes a cutie.:p..........i am not -nose grows- ok maybe i am..BUT im loyal to my couples! and i didnt scream...i just kinda fell on the floor and twitched:sweat: but the vow was true -sweatdrop major- I never said anything was wrong w/ BB its just hes suppose to be w/ Raven in my opinion -geats hit w/ shoes from Terra shippers- ow what!?!?!

again awsome ch!!! and i cant wait for the next one...what are you hinding from us -shakes you at your shoulders- please tell!!

Kregor8

04-30-2005, 12:37 AM

Ok, I am now caught up. I had mixed feelings about this chapter. On the one hand, you captured BroB's snotty "I-wish-I-was-a-badass" self excellently. Also, the action was good, and I especially liked the way the dream broke. The mix comes in that I felt that the flow of the scene (the way it shifted around so much) was too confusing. I was basically able to keep track of where people were, but you've done better in the past. Still, don't be discouraged, because the majority of the chapter was great.

7<regor

Ps. The best version of "Cat Scratch Fever" is Pantera's version.

ShadowOfAGhost

05-09-2005, 05:55 PM

Put that finger away Ash, here's the first part of my promise being fulfilled. (note: sorry it's so short, its just the only way I could get the cliffhanger to work out....http://www.forums.toonzone.net/images/smilies/evil3.gif )

Shattered Dreams

ShadowOfAGhost

“You know there's nothin' like the real world to get me down
There's nothin' like the world outside that turns me upside down
It makes me feel like I'm headin' down a one-way, dead-end street
There's no way out, no way out of this living hell
No way out, no way out, unless you walk heaven's trail
No way out, no way out of this living hell, livin' hell”

-Tesla, Heaven’s Trail (No Way Out)

Chapter 16

The titans arrived on call to the down town area of Jump city. Though what they found confused all of them.

“Dude? Where are all the bad guys?” Beast boy muttered.

Looking around, there were no bank robbers, nor where there any signs of a fight. Everything seemed as it should, nothing was damaged and no one was screaming. But that was strange too. The reason no one was screaming, was because no one was around. It was as if Jump city had turned into a ghost town.

Checking the time in his communicator, Robin noted that it was 2:30 in the afternoon. Everyone should be out and about, joining in the rat race of the traditional Jump city commute. But there was no one; the Titans were alone in the city streets.

Cyborg was the first to question the group, “Maybe this was a false alarm?”

Robin shook his head, “No, there is definitely something wrong here. Where is everyone?”

“Perhaps we should search the city for clues?” Raven asked in her quiet, monotone manner. Robin only nodded as a response.

Gradually, the Titans separated and began to go their own ways, but none had gotten far before an explosion rumbled through the ground and rattled the shop windows.

The Titans quickly regrouped and ran for the sight of the explosion, just a few blocks away. But like before, everything seemed to be as if untouched. There was no one around, and no sign of what had caused the explosion. All that they could find out of the ordinary was a jewelry store that had been utterly smashed. Nothing appeared to be taken, which was also strange. All of the jewelry just lay there and glittered in the sun light.

The Titans began to inspect the scene a little more closely, and as they did, they were interrupted once more, this time by a car alarm on the next street over. Normally the Titans would not bother with something so trivial, but given the already curious circumstances, they rushed toward the sound.

It would seem that whoever the Titans were after today was a vandal, because the car, what had once been a shiny new BMW, was now smashed in. But what confused the titans was that the sides weren’t what was damaged, rather it was the top. It would seem as if some large object swung down from the sky and smashed it flat, or if a giant foot had come down and stepped on it.

Underneath the car was a pool of clear fluid. None of them quite knew what it was. Robin called Cyborg over to take a look at it.

“Hey Cy, come take a look at this!”

Cyborg walked over to it, and bending down to the ground, he dipped his finger into the pool and brought it up to eyelevel. He examined it closely, felling it between his fingers, looking at it, examining it from every possible angle.

“This isn’t anything from a car Robin,” he said, “in fact, if my guess is right…” A small metal needle ejected from his left index finger. He dipped it into the pool and looked toward the group. “…It’s saliva, and nothing human either, much less from this planet.”

All eyes turned toward Starfire.

“Why do you all stare at me like this? It is not mine.” She said, while cocking her head slightly to the left.

Before they could interrogate her any more, they were once again interrupted. This time what they heard was a devious howl of an infuriated monster.

The Titans ran a few more blocks and around the corner. Waiting to greet them when they arrived were 6 life sized statues of what appeared to be innocent people. Raven took a slow, uneasy step backward, raising her hands in front of her.

“No…it…it can’t be! Not him! Not now!”

The Titans stared at her, perplexed. The silence was broken by a blue beam shooting between them. Beast Boy, Robin, Starfire, and Raven all looked toward Cyborg.

“It wasn’t me!” Cyborg indicated, pointing to his right arm, which still remained a cybernetic hand.

Robin was beginning to get irritated with the wild goose chase. “Then who was it?” he asked.

“Cyborg is the only one who can shoot the ‘beams of sonic’. If it was not him…”

Robin finished Starfire’s sentence for her. “…Then who?”

As if in response to their confusion, a cool, calm voice answered them. “Hello Titans…”

Each of the Titans turned to face right. Before them stood Slade in all his infamous glory. To his right, Terra hovered on a chunk of unearthed asphalt. To his left was what appeared to be Cyborg, only he was several shades darker blue. Behind the three of them loomed Trigon and the Rancor.

“…Time to play.”

Crowgirl

05-09-2005, 06:24 PM

They're all in one big dream I bet.

Ah well. That was a great comeback chapter. Yay!! :anime: Buh, buh, buh....

Matt A

05-09-2005, 07:09 PM

Oh, please tell me my guess was right! It'll be soo cool if it is!:anime: :anime: :anime: :anime: :anime:

Did that make any sense, by the way?:sweat:

Matt A,
The Sultan Of Shock

starfire0639

05-09-2005, 08:03 PM

-folds her finger down and hides her hand behind her pouting-Oh common not like I was actually gonna use it!....maybe..probably...And anyhow....Awsome chapter Shadow you finally wrote it!!!Now were on the same chapter once again.ME on chapter 16 on Tears and you chapter 16 on SD......Chawsome!...but you better write the next chapter soon and not keep us waiting as long as last time-poke-K?

The Ash-miester,fellow renegade master:p

ShadowOfAGhost

05-09-2005, 09:15 PM

Okay, I have said this before, but this time I will make it official. After SD, I will be writing a one shot and then another long story, I will post a short description of the four possible long stories here (momentarily) and then post a poll. Make sure to read the descriptions before voting.

Power Struggle - Raven Based Fic - Raven is slowly loosing controll of her powers, and must find a new way to contain them....
Heat Sink - Robin Based Fic - Robin, Being the only one on the team with out powers, begins to feel that he is holding the team back, but all that changes after a life altering fight with plasmus....
Who Are You? - Robin Based Fic - Robin and Starfire are finally growing closer, and Robin relishes every moment of it, until the accident....
The Lonely Beast - Beast Boy Based Fic - No matter what Beast Boy tries, he can't get Raven to lighten up, surely there must be some one out there that he can relate to... someone just like him....
Author's Pick - Screw conformity! Let the author pick for himself!
If it ocomes down to a tie, I will choose between the two tied ideas.

JAG

05-09-2005, 09:38 PM

Yes, it probably is another dream, but that don't mean that this isn't gonna get real bad real fast.:evil:

Aquagirl15

05-09-2005, 09:43 PM

Well it was hard just to choose one (which I didn't), cause they're all good ideas. You know, this may be the first time anyone has mentioned doing a Robin based fic. Which ever you decide to do in the long run will be great, knowing you, so I'm cool no matter what.

<EDIT>

Didn't see the chapter... :sweat: It was good, I never would have guessed that Slade would come into the picture with everything else that was going on. Cliffhangers are something I've learned to live with so everything else has been said...

Pookey

05-09-2005, 10:58 PM

U SO TOTALLY ROCK SHADOW!!! now gimmie some fin..nogin duuude....oh srry reciting Finding Nemo..oopps...BUT that ch did Rock! awesome-ness!!!! u knwo what...cliffys are very bad...ype they r....thats why i love them so much! the suspense...the tension..the..Oh out with it....EVIL CLIFFY!! hehe

Alpha Man

05-10-2005, 08:29 PM

On the chapter...

It was great! And I have to agree with Matt when I say "Darn it! Another idea blagged!" :eek: Oh well, I'll still do it anyway, but you guys will totally notice when it comes up. Other than that, great chapter... though I must grumble and mumble with discontent and grudge :mad: *raznfraznstraznmazn*:mad: (That's the begrudge sound, made from that one dog that laughs weird *hshshshshsh!*)

O yeeeeaw. Huh. I have absolutely no idea who that person is. Maybe if you told me the episode?:confused:

Happy Beerday!:sweat:

Kregor8

05-19-2005, 12:13 PM

Finally, I have read chapter 16. Wow! I've been rather upset that I haven't been able to get on and read this stuff (you may have noticed I haven't been around). Now that I'm back-ish, I need to read all that I can in as short of time as possible. This chapter was absolutely worth my time. And yes, I'd hazard that they are all in the same dream. But anyway, you're keeping things interesting. Like I said, I don't have too much time for reviewing or anything...so that's it for now.

7<regor

PS. I haven't seen an episode of TT in 2 months, and it's really starting to bug me.

ShadowOfAGhost

06-04-2005, 01:03 AM

Well, here it is! I hope you all like it!

Shattered Dreams
ShadowOfAGhost

“Someone finds salvation in everyone
Another only pain
Someone tries to hide himself
Down inside himself he prays
Someone swears his true love until the end of time
Another runs away
Separate or united
Healthy or insane
And to be yourself is all that you can do”
-Audioslave, Be Yourself

Chapter 2 (Extended Edition)

Robin awoke slowly, gripping his head and groaning. His head throbbed and he couldn’t remember anything from the day’s events.

He looked around and took in his surroundings. As his eyes came in to focus he began to remember. The red brick walls around him, the ground littered with trash of all shapes, colors and sizes. The dumpster at the end of the alley, the brick and mortar wall behind it. He looked around and saw the other Titans laying on the ground, each slowly coming out of their own daze, some quicker than others.

Beast Boy, naturally, was the last to awaken. Each was disheveled in his appearance and all had some manner of trash sticking to their uniforms or in their hair.

He could vaguely remember the battle, and was beginning to remember confronting the mysterious man in the alley. He had been dressed in a dark purple robe and his face, he recalled, was heavily scarred.

The Titans had originally been called to the scene to investigate a building collapse in the inner city. But when they arrived, they found that there hadn’t been construction on the lot in 25 years. The only thing they found was a wide open expanse of dead grass and a few small shrubs… and their new friend, waiting for them.

Robin still couldn’t remember the mysterious attackers name, only the swirling blackness that had enveloped them as the spell began to take a hold.

“Whoever he was, he must have escaped after he knocked us out.” Robin mumbled.

“‘Ya know,” Cyborg said with a subtle edge to his voice, “Robin doesn’t seem to be a name that suits you to well. How about we change your name to Captain Obvious?”

Robin spun to face him, visibly angered by this insult. “Cool it Cyborg, he may have escaped for now, but we will find him.”

Raven scoffed “No thanks to the Boy Blunder here.”

Robin, though easily angered, rarely blows up in the faces of his friends as he was now.

“I get it!” He practically screamed at them, “I messed up! I’m just going to have to fix it by finding this guy and taking him down.” Robin turned and began to walk out of the alley and towards where he had left the R-Cycle before.

“None of this would have happened if you hadn’t let this guy get the best of you.”

Robin chose to ignore Beast Boy as he continued on to the R-Cycle and mounted it. He felt the need to just speed around the city. It was one of his favorite ways for clearing his mind when something went wrong. The speed limit didn’t matter to him, as he accelerated away. He knew that the cops always left the Titans alone.

Robin didn’t even flinch as he ran the red light. He didn’t even care when in doing so he almost hit an old woman in an equally old tan Cadillac. He wanted to fly, and nothing was going to stop him.

***

Robin returned to the tower three hours and a tank of gas latter. He knew he would need to research this new threat. The name had come back to him, along with the last of the events of the battle as he rode around the country side on the R-Cycle.

He went to the common area and began to clack away on the terminal keyboard in the corner. He pulled up police records and photos of Brother Evirie.

“What are you doing now? More pointless research?” Beast Boy asked him.

“It’s not worthless, BB. If we can learn about him we can use it against him in the next battle”

“What, are we gonna’ give him a paper cut?”

Robin shut down the computer and went to his room without another word. Hopefully this whole thing would blow over by the next morning. Robin tossed and turned for several hours, the day’s events reeling through his head, before he fell asleep. That night in his fitful slumber he had no dream.

***

Robin was the last to awaken that morning. By the time he got himself moving and ready for the day, it was almost noon.

Robin walked out to the common area for a late breakfast, but was startled to see the other Titans all waiting for him on the couch. Each stared unspeaking at him, their gazes fixed. Robin took a cautious step forward, and then another.

“What’s going on?” suspicions reeled in his head, but he hoped all of them would be false.

Cyborg spoke for the group, “We took a vote,” he said, “It is our decision that you’re an incompetent leader and a danger to this team. Robin, the vote was unanimous.”

As surprised as he was, he certainly didn’t show it. Rather, puzzlement was what he portrayed. “What are you saying?”

Raven stood and faced him, “Robin, we are relieving you of your leadership duties and we are removing you from the Teen Titans.”

He stared in silence and disbelief. “After everything I’ve done for the team? You all are just going to cast me out!”

Beast Boy hung his head, “You’re not right for the team. We’ll be better off without you.”

“But the Titans will fall apart without a good leader or a fifth member.”

It was Raven’s turn to speak again, “We contacted Speedy, he will be here in a few hours to take your place as the new leader.”

“Starfire, you too?”

“Robin, I am sorry to say that I agree with the decision. You are a terrible leader and I think it’s time you left the team and I behind.”

Robin was too stunned to say anything more. He was too caught up about suddenly being cut from the team and being dumped by Starfire. It seemed as if the world were reeling around him, spinning out of control. His trance was broken when Cyborg spoke up.

“You have three hours to gather your things and leave.”

***

Robin had moved into an abandoned row home in the downtown area. He traded in his cape and mask for a pair of jeans and a red hoodie sweater.

He looked around him at the abysmal conditions. Rats and roaches skittered back and forth across the darkened room. There was no furniture in the room, much less the whole building. Warped floorboards stuck up from the ground and a layer of dust lay so thick over everything it seemed as if it had snowed. It would take him a long time to get used to the setting he now lived in. He thought he had it bad when he had to do the dishes back at the tower. How wrong he had been. At least now he wouldn’t have to do any dishes. Without any food, he would never have to do dishes again.

Robin sighed as he heard a knock on the door. He looked up and could see red and blue lights flashing through the cracks in the plywood covering the windows. He got up and slowly trudged to the door, his feet creaking beneath him.

Reaching out, he grabbed the handle and swung it open wide. Standing before him was, as he had guessed, a police officer in full uniform.

“Can I help you officer?”

“Sir,” the policeman said, “you can’t live here sir. You have to leave.”

“Officer, I don’t think you know who I am…” he was cut off

“I don’t care who you are,” the policeman said with a sharp retort, “either leave now or I will arrest you for trespassing.”

Robin saw it was worthless to try and convince the officer to let him stay, so with a heavy sigh, he turned gathered his few possessions and left the premises.

With nowhere else to go, he decided to roam around the city in search of an alley he could crash in.

***

After an hour or so he found a suitable alley and sat down on a sagging cardboard box.

“What’s the matter Robin? Did the Titans kick you out?”

Robin looked up to see Slade standing over him. How he had gotten there, he had no idea, nor any intention of finding out. Robin stood up with a jolt and prepared to fight.

“I don’t know how you survived, or what you’re planning, but whatever it is, it ends now.”

“You don’t even know my plan, and you already seem to think you can stop me. I assure you that you can’t,” Slade chuckled as he stood tall. “And I must say, I like your new outfit. It suits you well.”

“You seem to have changed some yourself.” Robin noted, “Same colors, you just switched the sides they are on. I thought you would have been more creative than that.”

Slade took no note of what he had said. Instead he replied in his cold, sinister voice, “The Titans betrayed you. They left you to die. They abandoned you. I can help you get revenge on them. I can help you make them pay for what they did. Join me Robin, be my apprentice once more.”

“They may have abandoned me and left me to die,” he snarled, “but at least I know they aren’t evil like you are. I will never join you Slade.”

“Evil, Robin? How do you define evil?”

Robin gave no response.

Slade began to pace and wave his hand about as he lectured Robin, “No doubt, you consider me evil. Someone who is evil will hurt people, especially those whom they are closest too. They destroy the lives of the incompetent. They turn their backs on anyone they believe to be unworthy of their ranks. Does that remind you of anyone Robin?”

Robin growled at him and sneered.

Slade stopped in front of him and turned so they were face to face. “Tell me Robin, who do you define as a good person? Obviously, yourself. One who stops these kinds of people. One who stands up against those who turn a cold shoulder to those in need. A hero, Robin, is one fights injustice, and fuels the fire of righteousness.”

“I’ve had enough of your talking! You’re trying to convince me that I should be fighting my friends!”

“And I am the one to help you do it. But are they really your friends?”

A downpour of rain started, soaking both of them.

“Enough!”

In a blink of an eye, Slade had advanced on Robin and now held him suspended in the air by his throat. Robin’s eyes were wide with shock, guarded only by his messy, matted down hair.

“A shame,” he muttered as he threw him against the wall, “You and I could have ruled this country.”

Robin struggled to his feet and resumed his battle stance, ready to defend himself. Once again though, Slade moved faster than Robin could react and landed a solid punch strait in the gut. Robin doubled over on the ground.

“That’s it Robin, bow before me.”

Robin looked up at him in disgust, “Never!”

Slade moved like lightning as he struck again, kicking Robin square in the jaw.

“How do you move so fast?” Robin asked him.

“In a few moments, that won’t matter, because in a few moments, you’ll be dead.”

Slade attacked again with a kick to the face. No matter what he tried to do, Robin could not land even the slightest blow on Slade. He was being pummeled without mercy.

Robin lay on his stomach in the rain, coughing up blood.

“I’m going to let you live Robin. Whether you choose to join me or not, you will still serve a further purpose in my plan.”

“And what plan would that be?” He scoffed.

“It’s simple really, I plan to demolish every last one of the tallest buildings in this city. The resulting wreckage will destroy the buildings around it, in a sort of domino effect. Within an hour, the chain reaction will have demolished the whole town.”

“You’re sick!”

Slade chuckled, “Am I sick? Or am I a genius waiting to be discovered?”

Thunder crashed and lightning flashed. Just as mysteriously as Slade had appeared in front of Robin, he was gone once more.

Slowly, Robin got to his feet. He had to warn the other Titans at any cost.

Hobbling out of the alleyway, he cursed under his breath. His motorcycle was gone, along with all of his remaining possessions. With no other choice remaining, he set out on foot for Titans Tower.

***

“Robin, we told you to leave! What is it now?” Cyborg was the only one to come to the door when robin knocked. He had been in the middle of a close match on the game station against Speedy when he was interrupted, so Robin already had one strike against him.

“I thought you might want to know that Slade is going to destroy the city tonight. He plans to demolish all of the tall buildings. The resulting chain reaction will knock down all of the other surrounding structures.” Surely with this information the others would have to let him back in. His worth to the team was as obvious as the smug look on his face.

“Robin….”

“Yes?”

“Go away. Stay away. Slade is dead, we saw him fall into a lake of lava. No one can survive that.”

The door slammed shut in his face and once again, Robin found himself out in the pouring rain with nowhere to go, and no one to turn to. Bruce Wayne would only tell him the same thing.

With his head hung and his shoulders slouched, Robin headed back into the city.

***

The sun had long since set on the city. Looking up at the moon, Robin estimated that it was around 3:00 in the morning. He had no way of telling for sure, as his old Titans Communicator had been swiped along with the rest of his things loaded on the back of his bike.

Robin was now in the industrial section of the city, slowly he walked from street corner to street corner, avoiding any and all source of light. He had already had one run in with the police today, and he certainly didn’t want to make it two. Right now he wanted nothing more than to be alone with his thoughts and memories. His feet sloshed through the puddles as he walked.

Lifting his head toward the stars, he noticed the silhouette of a tall strongly built man standing on the roof of the factory down the street. It was too late for him to hide. The moon was full, so the man would have had no problem seeing him.

As Robin concentrated on the figure, he noticed it raise its arm and beckon him to come towards him.

Robin knew he shouldn’t, it could easily be a trap. He knew how many thieves, murderers and perverts called Jump City their home, but he felt he had nothing more to lose. Should he be murdered now, it would be a welcome relief from his loneliness and grief. Robin didn’t think twice as he continued steadily forward toward the saw mill.

***

He peered around inside. Sawdust lay everywhere like sand dunes or snow drifts. He knew something wasn’t right with the situation. Perhaps his first tip-off had been that the machinery was running with no one in the plant to oversee and operate it.

The building he was in greatly resembled a warehouse, with it’s high ceiling, steel girder framework, and corresponding sodium lights overhead. As he continued deeper into the plant, he observed all of the catwalks and the ladders leading to them.

The solitude of the night was broken by an old, all too familiar voice.

“Don’t you know better than to trust a mysterious stranger in the night?”

Robin didn’t even have to turn to know with whom he spoke.

“Slade…”

“Yes Robin, it’s me. Have you reconsidered my offer?”

“You can ask me a thousand times, Slade, and the answer will always be no.” He still did not turn to face him.

“Even after all the blatant disrespect Cyborg gave you?”

“I said no!”

“But you really want to say yes…..”

The rage had been building in Robin, but now it spilt over the edge. He spun, and lunged at Slade, who easily sidestepped the attack.

“Please Robin, did you really think that would work?” Robin continued to strike, as Slade continued to dodge.

Finally, Slade grabbed one of Robin’s outstretched arms and slammed him into the ground. “You’ve lost your touch, Robin. I can help you get it back. I can help you get it all back, and more…..”

Robin chose to respond by flipping onto his feet and lunging again toward Slade. A quick step to the left and a gentle shove sent robin to the ground. Slade kicked him in the ribs, then used his foot to roll him over onto his back.

“You can’t beat me Robin, you never could.”

Robin needed a weapon, but he did not have his Bo staff.

He got to his feet and ran toward one of the ladders. Slade didn’t even bother to run after him. He merely walked slowly through the drifts of saw dust.

Robin scampered up the ladder, desperately looking for anything that could aid him. He saw nothing, but continued along the catwalk to the small office built into the wall. Racing inside, he shut the door, but there was no lock. Franticly he looked for something to use.

He saw nothing. A control panel, a wood table, nothing he could use. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed something on the floor, wedged between the desk and the wall. reaching down he picked it up. It was a small circular saw blade. It wasn’t much, but it was better than nothing.

He looked out the window and saw Slade making his way along the catwalk toward where he was. Robin quickly threw the door open and left the room. With Slade in front of him, and a dead end behind him, Robin reached for his grappling hook, but it wasn’t there. He had lost it with his other items. Instead he jumped over the banister and fell 10 feet to the ground.

Slade did the same, and landed nimbly like a cat. He continued in his steady, walking pace toward Robin. There were not many places he could go. He threw the disk at Slade as hard as he could. As it arched through the air, Slade merely blocked it with the metal band on his wrist, sending a shower of sparks into one of the nearby piles of saw dust. The saw dust caught fire, and Robin knew he had to hurry and get out while he could.

Robin climbed one of the other ladders and shimmied out the window at the top.

***

Once outside, at a safe distance from the fire, Robin stopped to catch his breath, but when he stood up again, there stood Slade, completely unscathed, walking closer and closer to Robin.

It was all too much like the time Slade infected him with that neural altering powder. It had made him believe that Slade really existed in the darkness. Just then, an idea struck him.

“You’re not real!” he shouted.

“How could I not be real?” Slade questioned in his cool voice

“It’s the spell! It’s all in my head! The spell is imperfect!” He shouted.

“What are you talking about, Robin?” Slade asked in a mockingly cold voice, “Did I kick you too hard in the head?”

“Your suit is wrong! Starfire can’t speak perfect English! The Titans would never leave me to die! Starfire would never break up with me! It’s all in my head!”

Slade began to rush at Robin once again.

“It’s all in my head!”

Slade leaped into the air, his right leg extended and ready to strike.

“It’s all in my head!”

The gap between them closed as Slade soared toward Robin.

“IT’S ALL IN MY HEAD!!”

The world around him slowed to a halt. Slade hung motionless in the air, his right foot extended a mere six inches from Robin’s face. Birds were frozen in the air, where they had been moments before. Only Robin could freely move.

A loud crash could be heard behind Robin. He whipped around to see what it was and saw what appeared to be a large crack in reality. From it shone a brilliant white light like none he had ever seen. More large fissures branched out from the original, like splintering glass. Within seconds the cracks were everywhere, in front of him, behind him, above him, and below him. When they ceased to spread, Robin turned in a slow circle, taking in this new scene.

“It’s all in my head.”

With a deafening crash, slivers of reality shattered, leaving him surrounded by the brilliant white light. Light so bright he was afraid to open his eyes for fear of going blind. Light emanating from everywhere, yet from nowhere at all.

Robin slunk to his knees, his eyes still closed.

“It’s all…”

Robin fell forward to his hands and knees. It was as if some immense force was forcing him down on to the nonexistent ground.

“…In my…”

Robin fell face down on the “ground”, and everything went black.

“…head.”

The pressure that had been forcing him down released. Robin could feel that he was saturated with rain water. He picked up his head and tried to stand up. He was in pain from his “battle” with Slade. It would seem that whatever happened to a person in their dreams occurred to them for real.

Robin struggled to a standing position and saw each of his friends lying facedown in the cold, dark alley. This is the same alley where he had dreamt his fight with Slade. He knew he had to help his friends, but he knew nothing of the spell or of any form of magic. All he could do would be to take them all home and place them in their rooms.

Despite his injuries, Robin found the strength to load each of his friends into the T-Car and drove them all home.

***

Once home he had Aqualad meet him to help carry the Titans into the tower. He saw to it that each Titan was tucked carefully into their own beds with extra blankets to keep them warm, as he was not about to change all of the Titans into fresh sets of clothes.

Aqualad volunteered to keep watch over the tower and the other Titans. Robin, after a brief rest, decided to head out to try and find the man who had done this to all of them.

He would see to it that Brother Evirie got what was coming to him - a plateful of justice with a side order of vengeance.

*phew! Damn that was long!

JAG

06-04-2005, 01:48 AM

That was way better than the first version!

Robin: "You're sick!"
Slade:" Am I sick? Or am I a genius waiting to be discovered?"

One of my favorite parts.:)

Aquagirl15

06-04-2005, 01:55 PM

Wow that was long, but I agree that the extended version was a little bit better. Even though we kinda knew what was going to happen. :shrug:

Faethie

06-04-2005, 05:28 PM

that was long, but but soooo much better than the shorter version! Dude that was awesome!!

He would see to it that Brother Evirie got what was coming to him - a plateful of justice with a side order of vengeance.
I can't wait to see that man!!!

Matt A

06-04-2005, 06:41 PM

I agree: the extra depths to which Robin's "life" sunk, whilst not adding more to the story, certainly added more drama to his nightmare. Plus it gave Slade more times to go off on one, which is always good.:anime: :anime: :anime: :anime: :anime:

-Matt A-

Alpha Man

06-05-2005, 10:40 PM

Much more improved, but also much longer.:sweat: Are we going to see any new extended chapters? Such as 3, 4, or the like?

If not, then a new chapter itself wouldn't be too bad.;)

ShadowOfAGhost

06-08-2005, 09:04 AM

Okay, I prommised that chapter 2 extended edition would be out on May 10, but as we all know, it was.....a little late....okay, so it was a month late. http://www.forums.toonzone.net/images/smilies/sweat.gif But I found way to make it up to you all!! :D

Shattered Dreams

ShadowOfAGhost

“Boom over here
Boom over there
Boom everywhere
Makes you wanna break things
Boom over here
Boom over there
Boom everywhere
Do it till you gotta give it up”

-Motley Crue, Planet Boom

Chapter 17

The Titans could do nothing but stand and stare in awe at the sight that each of them beheld. Not too long ago, they had thought themselves to have been awake, but now, nothing was for certain. Before them stood their own worst nightmares that they had all faced just recently.

“Magnificent, aren’t they?” Said a voice from behind them, “The sheer terror that you must be feeling now, not to mention the raw, unadulterated hatred for me, it’s…invigorating.” The man strode between the Titans, who had not dared to move. The man was one they had only recently come to know and hate.

Robin clenched his fists and gritted through his teeth. “Why are you doing this Evirie?”

“BROTHER Evirie! You will show me the respect I deserve!”

Cyborg raised his arm and pointed coldly toward Brother Evirie. “What did you ever do to deserve respect?”

“Foolish boy!” He shouted, “I am the one who destroyed the Teen Titans.”

Robin pulled out his staff and spun it in his hand, bringing it into a ready position. “You haven’t destroyed us yet! Titans, Go!”

The five warriors all charged headlong at Brother Evirie, each ready to attack in their own unique way. Their feet pounded on the asphalt beneath them. Evirie only stood there, as if waiting for them to attack. None of them made it to their target though.

Dark-Cyborg blasted at his counterpart, sending him skidding on his back several yards down the road. Terra threw a barrage of rocks and boulders off all sizes at Beast Boy, leaving craters where the rocks were torn up and where they impacted in the road surface with a thundering crash. Slade charged at Robin, locking staves and locking eyes with him. Trigon wrestled his daughter to the ground, forcing her into submission. The rancor lumbered toward Starfire, swiping at her and roaring each time it missed.

But through it all, Brother Evirie remained untouched. He stood in the middle of the action, laughing at the titan’s plight. “You see! You can not even hope to break from the hold I have over all of you! I control your will!”

Robin was forced back by Slade, and then struck in the ribs with his staff.

“I control your pain!”

Cyborg regained his feet only to be greeted immediately by the fist of his darker half.

“I control your past!”

Terra hurled a firestorm of small rocks, sending Beast Boy onto his guard, then followed up with one much larger.

“I control your future!”

Trigon slammed Raven to the ground with all his might.

“I control your lives!”

The reincor held Starfire tightly in its grip, high above the ground, chocking the life out of her. Starfire felt herself beginning to slip away, but used all of her might to hang on. She needed to act quickly. With her arms pinned at her sides, she opened her eyes as wide as she could, and fired a blast at the beast. It did little to let her free, but she could feel its grip loosening, if only a little bit. She continued to fire one beam after the next, and slowly, the rancor’s grip loosened, and Starfire was able to slip free. She had but a moment to catch her breath before she once again had to start dodging the mighty beast’s attacks.

Each of the other titans had recovered in some similar fashion and now stood poised together, waiting for Evirie’s next move.

Cyborg and Robin stood back to back, facing away from each other as they prepared to fight off whom ever might attack them next.

“Robin, this doesn’t seem to be working!”

“I know Cyborg, they’re stronger than before, and so fast that we can barley keep up.”

“What do you suggest we do then?”

“Fight anyway.”

Robin charged toward the nearest enemy and began to flail left and right with his staff. Each of the Titans did the same. For what seemed like nearly half an hour they fought ceaselessly with the nightmares, and though the Titans were quickly tiring out, the nightmare creatures appeared as if they had never fought at all. They had no injuries, they had no tatters to their uniform, and they were not tired in the least.

“Give it up, Titans, you know you can’t win. Why do you try to fight it?” During the course of the fight, Evirie had remained rooted to his spot.

“Titans, new plan! Attack Evirie! He’s the one controlling all of this!” Again the Titans took to a valiant charge toward Brother Evirie, but like the nightmares, there was nothing that any of them could do to hurt him. Robin struck continuously with his staff, Beast Boy rammed him, Starfire and Cyborg blasted him, and raven hurled countless amounts of debris, but none of it had an effect.

“Foolish titans, you can not simply destroy something in your mind. The harder you try to get rid of it, the more deeply rooted in your brain it becomes. The only way to get rid of it is to let it fade away on its own.” Brother Evirie scowled at them, “And I will never fade away.”

Robin grumbled under his breath, hating the idea of powerlessness to change his fate. He would sooner make the city crumble by the power of his own hands, than submit to a lunatic like him. But this gave him an idea.

“Raven!” he shouted, “Remember how you warned me about the possible consequences of a crumbling mind?”

She knew precisely what he meant, and precisely what he was planning to do. “Everyone! Provoke your nightmare into attacking then follow my lead!”

Each of them rushed at their nightmare, ready to attack. Each Titan traded a few blows, then by Raven’s example, they ran back to where they had been and formed an outward circle around Brother Evirie. “On my mark!”

The nightmares all charged toward them, preparing to assail them.

“Now!” Raven and the others bolted out of the way as all of the nightmares converged on Brother Evirie in the middle of the street.

The sky turned white in an instant and all other noises where silenced, then replaced by a dull ringing noise. An explosion of pure white light rocketed outward from the epicenter of the attack. Soon the ringing subsided as was replaced by a boom louder than that of a thousand cannons firing.

When the dust settled on the lonely empty street, nothing was left, save for a crater two hundred feet in diameter. One by one the Titans crawled out from behind any shelter they had been able to find. A trashcan overturned as Cyborg leapt to his feet.

“BOOYAH!”

Gradually other Titans came out into the open to inspect the scene.

Starfire’s laugh could be heard as she approached the group. “Glorious! We were very successful in kicking of the butt!”

“Dude, how do we get home now though?” If there had been any optimism in the crowd, it had been crushed with Beast Boy’s last comment.

Raven spoke up from the dead silence, “Destroying the nightmares may have gotten us out of trouble, But in the process we destroyed Brother Evirie. He was the only link we had to the world outside our minds.”

Starfire gasped.

Cyborg looked shocked, “So… you mean we’re…”

Raven nodded, “Trapped, with no way out.”

starfire0639

06-08-2005, 11:08 AM

-jaw hits floor-.....*silence*.....-roaring applause- Enough said;)

Rae

06-08-2005, 01:08 PM

-jaw hits floor-.....*silence*.....-roaring applause- Enough said;)
Quite!

I so was not expecting that ending!

Rae

JAG

06-08-2005, 01:15 PM

-jaw hits floor-.....*silence*.....-roaring applause- Enough said;)
That sums it up pretty well.:) I kinda doubt that Evirie is dead, though.

Alpha Man

06-08-2005, 02:05 PM

A chapter in a long time from Shadow! Quite a treat! A little something for everyone. The only thing I couldn't understand was "The Rancor." What was that? I don't I've ever seen that in any of the TT eps. If it has been, please tell me, as I would like to find out. (Hmm. I always thought Blackfire would be the one fighting Star...)“Glorious! We were very successful in kicking of the butt!”And you have to admit, that was pretty funny. I thought it captured Star pretty well.

Great chapter. Although you could have done a little bit more with the action.Trigon wrestled his daughter to the ground, forcing her into submission. was not too detailed. Oh! I might just be dull here, but if he forced her into submission... wouldn't that me that she's out-cold? Anyway, I just thought that was weird. However, you did have a very nice little sequence with Starfire vs. The reincor, and the chokings. But again, I didn't know who that was. I hope you're not mad at my ignorance.:sweat:

I think I can see why you didn't have that much action. Perhaps, you were trying to move the story along? That's what I think. Oh, and that ending was nice, but knowing you... I'm willing to bet that the Teen Titans will figure a way out of this. Didn't you have a similar cliffhanger in one of the earlier chapters?the portal will close and we will be trapped in his mind.They were stuck in Beast Boy’s mind.Raven nodded, “Trapped, with no way out.”The whole trapped here trapped there thing really reminded me of that. But since you're such a good writer, I think you'll do very well with that. So keep it up!:D

<edit> Doh! I completely forgot! Hehe.:p The Rancor is from STAR WARS, not TT. Silly me. You even posted it here! I'm such a goof!:anime:

Crowgirl

06-08-2005, 02:12 PM

That sums it up pretty well.:) I kinda doubt that Evirie is dead, though.
Likewise. :)

Matt A

06-08-2005, 07:01 PM

Even though that was about halfway to what I was originally thinking, I was still deeply surprised by that chapter: how they managed to take out Evirie, and that bi-hatch of a cliffhanger, were both entirely unexpected. I praise your skill yet again!:anime: :anime: :anime: :anime: :anime:

-Matt A-

Pookey

06-08-2005, 08:15 PM

-jaw hits floor-.....*silence*.....-roaring applause- Enough said;)
-does same and falls over-.....duuuuude....

Kregor8

06-09-2005, 10:55 PM

I read the extended chapter 2, and it was amazing. That should have been the original chapter two, but it's so good it was worth waiting for. Like the extended Lord of the Rings, this is the copy I'll always reach for. Can you do that with a few more chapters? Please?

Ok, now I'll go read chapter 17.

7<regor

ShadowOfAGhost

06-21-2005, 01:29 AM

Okay, here it is..... the final chapter of Shattered Dreams:

Shattered Dreams

ShadowOfAGhost

“I want you to want me

I need you to need me

I’d love you to love me

I’m beggin’ you to beg me”

-Cheap Trick, I Want You to Want Me

Chapter 18

It seemed as if all hope had disappeared from the Titans, as if it had simply evaporated out of them like steam. Each sat around trying to pass the time in their own unique way. They had done their best to attempt prior methods of escape, but this time seemed hopeless. No matter what idea Beast Boy came up with, no matter how incredibly stupid it was, they tried it. They tried every option, and every option had failed.

Robin, being obsessive as he was, refused to give up hope that an answer may still exist somewhere in the depths of their minds. “Titans, we need to scour the area again. We have to have missed something.”

Cyborg idly played with the circuitry in his arm, “Man, can’t you accept it like the rest of us? It’s hopeless. We’ve tried everything.”

“…And we’ve looked everywhere a million times!” Beast Boy sat on the side walk, his chin in his hands, kicking a rock.

Robin let out a heavy sigh as he set himself to the ground, his legs hanging over the edge of the crater. He wasn’t about to accept defeat, but of all the predicaments and puzzles he had faced before, this one seemed the most hopeless of all. In the past, he had a clue, a pattern, a suspect, something to obsess over, something to devote countless hours too, if only for fruitless studying…but here he had nothing!

He watched as a pebble rolled down the craggy slope of the crater. It came to a rest at the bottom. Picking up a few more pebbles in his hand, robin gently rolled them between his fingers before letting them quickly bounce into the hole after the others. Nothing better to do, he lowered himself into the hole to explore it once more. One step at a time, he circled it, slowly working his way downward toward the epicenter, the gravel scraping under his feet as he descended. He could hear the hollow whine of the breeze overhead as it rippled over the pit. If nothing else, the time in the dream had sharpened his senses, though it didn’t seem to do him any good now.

At the very base of the pit, Robin stooped over a tiny black spot on the ground. He didn’t know what it was, but for some reason, it seemed to fascinate him, captivate him. He stared at it, as if it gold.

“Robin?” Starfire called from nearby, “Come sit with me! Robin?”

Robin snapped out of his trance. “Why don’t you come down here?” He called back, “We can lay against the side walls of the crater!”

As Starfire got to her feet and shuffled slowly toward the hole, Robin’s attention was once again won over by the small black spot on the ground. Captivated, yet puzzled by it, Robin reached out for it. A few more loose stones tumbled down the slope as Starfire slid down beside him. “What is it that you are looking at Robin?”

Robin’s gloved hand reached down.

“Robin?”

He touched the spot, then picked it up in his hand. It was just another chunk of asphalt that had broken loose in the explosion. He picked it up in his hand, reared back, and threw the stone as far as he could.

“Robin? Why do you not answer me?”

“Huh?” He turned his head to look at Starfire, “I’m sorry Star, I thought I found something, but it turned out to be nothing at all, just like everything else today.”

She smiled, then stepped forward, so she was next to him. It will all be of the okay, Robin. I promise.” Gently she took his hand. At that same moment, a gentle tremor shook the earth.

“Starfire, did you feel that?” She nodded.

Apparently bored with the rock he had been kicking around earlier, Beast Boy slid down into the pit along side the two. Unfortunately for him, a piece of a water pipe stuck out, right in his path. Beast Boy tripped and fell head over heels into the hole. Robin extended his hand to help him up. Gratefully, Beast Boy took it and began to rise. He was knocked down again by another tremor that ran through the ground, this one stronger than the rest. Oddly enough, it subsided the moment Beast Boy let go, and increased in strength once Robin helped him up again.

Intrigued with a new idea, Robin called the other two titans down into the hole. With the tremors that now ran in the earth, Raven opted to float, though Cyborg struggled to maintain his balance.

Raven’s dull voice was the same as always. “What is so important that you disrupted my meditation?”

“Hold Beast Boy’s hand.” Raven shrugged her shoulders as she complied with the instruction. Once the two connected, the tremors increased in strength, just as Robin had predicted.

Now Cyborg, you take Raven and Starfire’s hand. He did, and in doing such, they completed a circle at the bottom of the pit. Earthquakes raced through the ground, making it near impossible to balance. Yet through it all Robin held himself tall as a statue.

Beast Boy shouted over the commotion “What now? Click out heels and wish we were home?”

“It’s worth a try!” he shouted back. They tried it, but all it succeeded in was making them look like even bigger idiots.

The earthquake raced through the ground. Gradually, its effects began to show upon the city. Towers and sky scrapers began to crumble one by one, plummeting to the ground, kicking up massive dust storms. Somehow, though, the debris all seemed to miss the Titans, though the dust got so thick, none of them could see the other.

Starfire felt her right arm drop a bit, as she heard a scream of agony coming from Robin beside her. He was on his knees from sheer pain. Nothing had hit him, rather it felt like his head was near ready to explode. All his muscles clenched and cramped as tightly as they could. Starfire could do nothing but gape until the same fate befell Cyborg. Soon after was Raven, Then Beast Boy, then finally, Starfire herself. All of them held each others hands for dear life as they succumb to the searing pain, as the winds blew the dust into a whirlwind surrounding them. Raven felt it beginning to lift them off the ground. The twisting vortex was pulling them apart, and it was the last thing Raven would ever recall before she blacked out.

***

Robin slowly opened his eyes to the sound of pounding footsteps. As he looked up, he noticed the tail end of Brother Evirie’s cloak as it rounded the corner, heading for the street. Robin quickly got to his feet to give chase, oblivious to the banana peel in his hair. Robin quickly gained some ground on Evirie, lunged at him, and took him down on the street. Whether coincidence or not, the police pulled up at that moment to take Evirie away to prison.

Robin stood up and began to brush himself off. He felt something tug at his hair, and he turned to see Starfire holding the banana peel and giggling. Of course, she looked just as dirty and messed up as Robin, but so did the other Titans, who then filed in behind Starfire.

“Soooo….. how long have we been out for?” Beast Boy asked.

Cyborg held up his arm and began to read the panel. “It says...no way…” There was silence as the others waited for Cyborg to respond. It says we have been out for all of about six minutes.”

The Titans stared in astonishment at this, it had seemed like days to them, perhaps even weeks. But to have been under the spell for only six minutes was obscene.

“Robin,” Starfire piped up “how do we know that we are back in the real world this time?”

Beast Boy took a step forward, “I have an idea…”

“Does it involve bananas playing trombone, or shoe that can talk?”

“Actually Cyborg…it’s neither.” In one swift, fluid motion, he swept Raven off her feet and kissed her deep. When they finally broke, he smiled as Raven stammered out a question.

“How…how did you know…that…that I…?”

He placed a finger to her lips, silencing her. “I may be dumb, but I’m not blind.” Again, he dipped his head and kissed her deep.

Cyborg cleared his throat. The pair looked up, and as if in unison, answered, “What?”

“We’ll be in the T-Car when you two love bird’s are ready to go home. Cyborg turned his back and began to leave, the other two beside him, as the new couple only chuckled and smiled at each other.

END

And so here marks the end of the story, Shatered Dreams :crying: :cool: :)

Now remember to stick around for a bit, there is still an epilogue! :D

Aquagirl15

06-21-2005, 02:07 AM

Wow, I didn't think it'd be over so soon. The ending made a lot of sense and was quite funny as well. (BB and Rae) I'm glad there's gonna be an epilogue, I'll be waiting for it. :anime:

JAG

06-21-2005, 10:47 AM

Beast Boy shouted over the commotion “What now? Click out heels and wish we were home?”

“It’s worth a try!” he shouted back. They tried it, but all it succeeded in was making them look like even bigger idiots.

That part was funny.:D

That was a good ending, but I had one small problem with it:

Robin slowly opened his eyes to the sound of pounding footsteps. As he looked up, he noticed the tail end of Brother Evirie’s cloak as it rounded the corner, heading for the street. Robin quickly got to his feet to give chase, oblivious to the banana peel in his hair. Robin quickly gained some ground on Evirie, lunged at him, and took him down on the street. Whether coincidence or not, the police pulled up at that moment to take Evirie away to prison.

That part just seemed too short, I think. Maybe Evirie could have seen Robin, and tried to run, or something. After all Evirie's done to them, it just didn't seem like enough. Oh well, it's your story.:shrug:

Overall, great fic, and I can't wait for the epilogue, or the next story!:D :D

Rae

06-21-2005, 02:11 PM

That was a great ending, though i'm sad it's over

Loved the Oz line, hilarious!:D

Look forward to the Epilogue

Rae

Crowgirl

06-21-2005, 04:23 PM

That was a very nice ending to a great story.

I liked how, at first, there was no way out. You portrayed Robin's frustration extremely well, and I liked how you had the Titans try everything. Literally everything.

Also, I liked the part with BB and Rae at the end, but it did seem a bit rushed. Like maybe the kiss shouldn't have been as deep as it was, or it should have been only once or something, I don't know. But either way, I enjoyed that part a lot.

I don't entirely get how they got out, but it was a great idea. Maybe being in the dream had to do with their emotions or something, and it fed off of that. I dunno.

Oh well, I can't wait for the epilogue!!

Ciao,
CG

Pookey

06-21-2005, 06:04 PM

-stands smiling wide-...........-wait for it-.............-wait for it-.........WOOOOHOOOO!!! Humor! A Kiss! The Villian Gone!! What Else To Say!? AH that was awesome Shadow!! -hugs Shadow- yaa i cant wait for the epilogue!!

Matt A

06-21-2005, 06:40 PM

Everyone else has already blagged my comments, so I'll just say this: quality ending, dude!:anime: :anime: :anime: :anime: :anime:

I wonder what the epilogue will bring to the table...

-Matt A-

Alpha Man

06-21-2005, 09:02 PM

Well, all good things must come to an end, unfortunately. In matters of quality, the final chapter fit you as a writer very well. I only wish that you'd have fixed all the punctuation issues before you posted it. But, the story's ending was your style... and that's all I can really say.

I just knew that over these 18 chapters you'd have it all be like six minutes. Something in the back of my mind told me that, and imagine my joy when I found out it was the truth!

I loved Robin/Starfire's little conjunction -- it really added to the ending quality. The only problem is that I wish Evierie had not gone down so easily, but the mindsplit from the dream was what you'd expect from ShadowOfAGhost!

There are no single words or ways to express how that chapter was. Like I said, it was your style... and that's all there is to it.

This is Alpha Man. Signing off.

Anime

06-21-2005, 09:11 PM

Holy crap! What happened Shadow?! WTF! I mean, seriously!

Now Cyborg, you take Raven and Starfire’s hand. He did, and in doing such, they completed a circle at the bottom of the pit.Did you like forget to put in quotes... at all!?!?!?:eek:

brother evirie gets defeated just like that

don't even get me started on the ending. to make a long story short, i absolutely hated it! that one moment seriously ruined the entire fic and i'm glad its a fic cuz if it wasnt my head wuda exploded!

well nuff with the bad stuff. how bout some good stuff? i thought bb was absolutely hilarious! you are so frickin funny!:anime: the ideas n jokes were okay but bb is really a goof when it comes to how humorous you wrote that chappie!

despite the exploding heads, i look foe-wad to da next chap, chap. why cawn't i speek like duh brittish!?

ShadowOfAGhost

06-21-2005, 09:39 PM

in all honewsty, I wrote this chapter at 1:30 in the morning. I couldn't sleep, despite being really tired, so I just wrote it and posted it without thinking twice.

starfire0639

06-21-2005, 10:03 PM

Holy crap! What happened Shadow?! WTF! I mean, seriously!

Did you like forget to put in quotes... at all!?!?!?:eek:

brother evirie gets defeated just like that

don't even get me started on the ending. to make a long story short, i absolutely hated it! that one moment seriously ruined the entire fic and i'm glad its a fic cuz if it wasnt my head wuda exploded!
.....I shalt go on by saying I don't agree with any of that. Shadow has to be the most awsome writer I'v ever met and had the pleasur of being friends with.His work:I look up to. And in no way shape or form do you have to apolgize for it Shadow. Wityh all the amazing work you'v done...With a couple mistakes you don't need an excuse.You've forked so many awsome chapters that you could make up a truly horrible chapter and your work could easily be forgivable. The ending chapter was awsome. Adn the way you figured out how to get them out of the dream was well thought out.All in all it was a great ending for a great fan fic. As I said...I will end this by saying I agree with nothing of what you say Anime.I would never take the wake of replying to somebodies thread in such a manner.Never would and never will.I await your epolouge bud.I can't wait to see what you come up with.-huggles-Good job.:)

ash-meister,fellow renegade master

Pookey

06-21-2005, 10:19 PM

.....I shalt go on by saying I don't agree with any of that. Shadow has to be the most awsome writer I'v ever met and had the pleasur of being friends with.His work:I look up to. And in no way shape or form do you have to apolgize for it Shadow. Wityh all the amazing work you'v done...With a couple mistakes you don't need an excuse.You've forked so many awsome chapters that you could make up a truly horrible chapter and your work could easily be forgivable. The ending chapter was awsome. Adn the way you figured out how to get them out of the dream was well thought out.All in all it was a great ending for a great fan fic. As I said...I will end this by saying I agree with nothing of what you say Anime.I would never take the wake of replying to somebodies thread in such a manner.Never would and never will.I await your epolouge bud.I can't wait to see what you come up with.-huggles-Good job.:)

ash-meister,fellow renegade master
i have to agrre w/ ash here 100% i mean i cant add or anything...Shadow u rock out loud! -hugs- cant wait and its all good buddy

Anime

06-21-2005, 11:00 PM

.....I shalt go on by saying I don't agree with any of that. Shadow has to be the most awsome writer I'v ever met and had the pleasur of being friends with.His work:I look up to. And in no way shape or form do you have to apolgize for it Shadow. Wityh all the amazing work you'v done...With a couple mistakes you don't need an excuse.You've forked so many awsome chapters that you could make up a truly horrible chapter and your work could easily be forgivable. The ending chapter was awsome. Adn the way you figured out how to get them out of the dream was well thought out.All in all it was a great ending for a great fan fic. As I said...I will end this by saying I agree with nothing of what you say Anime.I would never take the wake of replying to somebodies thread in such a manner.Never would and never will.I await your epolouge bud.I can't wait to see what you come up with.-huggles-Good job.:)

ash-meister,fellow renegade mastercareful.... don't start something you'll regret.

I just told Shadow what I thought of the chapter. nothing more, nothing less. I had to be honest.

ShadowOfAGhost

06-22-2005, 12:23 AM

Look, I don't want anything started here. just be nice to each other. Anime, you did have valid points, but your wording was a little bit rude. Ash, just please calm down. I don't want any trouble here. Please?

End of discussion. Don't apologize, don't reply to this, don't try to justify what you said, just drop it.

Thank you,

The Managment

Starfire5

06-24-2005, 11:32 PM

*pops out of dark corner* Yes....i have been reading this.

liked the ending, but i have to admit Brother Evirie went down a bit to easily. IT all-in-all was a good chapter and i respect SOAG writing. He's on my favorites and i scold myself for not posting sooner.

I thought it was interesting and funny how the titans tried everything. You know your desperate when: you try BB's ideas. BB as Anime said was extremely FUNNY, and the kiss at the end was just the icing on the Cake.

And dudes calm down we all have opinions and we can say what they are.

Mya

Crowgirl

06-25-2005, 09:27 AM

I was just reading what I've missed, and I only have one thing to say (I'm sorry if it starts a whole arguement, but I think it needs to be said):

Anime, there are lots of times you harshly criticize us for little mistakes we make. I, like others, hold your opinion in high regard and all because of your honesty, but I don't see you writing a fic around here. It's not as easy as it looks.

There, had to say it. I'm sorry. I"m done now. Ciao.

starfire0639

06-25-2005, 10:53 AM

And dudes calm down we all have opinions and we can say what they are.

Ya but not when said opinions are crushing to the human sprit despite being rude and obnoxious.Now I thought Shadow said the case was closed.Let that be the final judgement over this case please.Oh ya and Crow.....Right on!

Anime

06-27-2005, 09:30 PM

well i still think an epilogue would be sweet right about now!

I thought Crowgirl was the only one with a Jinx avatar!:confused: Starfire6 has totally got all up in my fashizzle groove!:p oh wait, it was starfire5! lol

rrarbecy

07-06-2005, 09:56 AM

Yes, there were a few mistakes with the quotes, but frankly, I don't care. Very beautifully written chapters, the last few were. I also quite enjoyed the re-vamped chapter 2. I may venture to say that the last chapter was perfect, if you ignore that one quote mistake. Great job.

ShadowOfAGhost

07-10-2005, 12:26 PM

It has come...

Ladies and gentlemen of Toonzone, today I present to you something that is unprecedented in my career as a writer here. During the course of time, each chapter has included one song, with the exception of the epilogue to Spurned Past, Tentative Future. During each story I have been careful not to use more than one song by any artist. Like in the epilogue of Spurned Past, Tentative Future, I will include a second song lyric in this coming chapter, but both song lyrics will be -gasp- from the same artist. Not only that, the first song lyric will be an entire song, because I couldn’t pick which verse was the best, as they were all good. Oh well, I doubt that it makes any difference to you, in fact this is probably annoying because you were expecting something important, and here I am, wasting your time before you get to the actual chapter. I assume I should get to the chapter now, but this is kind of fun, wasting your time. If you are still reading this, you could have stopped long ago. No really, you can stop reading this and get to the chapter! This is just me rambling and wasting your time, so go ahead and read. Are you still reading? Why!? I told you to stop a while ago! Ugh! Raise your hand if you are still reading. Now all of you with your hands raised, START READING!

Shattered Dreams
ShadowOfAGhost

“I woke the other day
And saw my world has changed
The past is over but tomorrow’s wishful thinking
I can’t hold onto what’s been done
I can’t grab on to what’s to come
And I’m just wishing I could stop, but
Life goes on
Come of age
Can’t hold on
Turn the page
Time rolls on
Wipe these eyes
Yesterday laughs
Tomorrow cries
Memories are bittersweet
The good times we can’t repeat
These days are gone and we can never get them back
Now we must move ahead
Despite our fear and dread
We’re all just wishing we could stop, but
Life goes on
Come of age
Can’t hold on
Turn the page
Time rolls on
Wipe your eyes
Yesterday laughs
Tomorrow cries
With all of our joys and fears
Wrapped in forgotten years
The past is laughing as today just slips away
Time tears down what we’ve made
And sets another stage
And I’m just wishing we could stop
Life goes on
Come of age
Can’t hold on
Turn the page
Time rolls on
Wipe these eyes
Yesterday laughs
Tomorrow cries
Time rolls on”
-The Offspring, Can’t Repeat
Chapter 19 – Epilogue

It was finally over. After all they had been through it was over at last. There was no denying that it had changed each and every one of them in some way or another, some more than others.

That is why Raven and Beast Boy now stood side by side. The cave was familiar to both of them, but even more so to Beast Boy. The only light in the cave came from the fissure in the ceiling, shining down on the centerpiece of the chasm.

“Are you sure this is what you want to do?”

“No, it’s not, but I have to get on with my life Raven.” Beast Boy took slow steps forward until he positioned himself directly in front of the monument to Terra. He knew that what he had said was true and that he did in fact need to move on, but something in his heart made him want to hesitate, and not do what he had been planning since he had gotten home.

Gradually he raised his hand and put it up to Terra’s face. In a flash he morphed into a gorilla and smashed the statue. He continued to pummel it, knocking off chunks one at a time. His fists flew faster and faster as a primal rage over came him.

When all that remained of the statue was a small pile of rocks, he let out a roar, stretching his arms as high in the air as he could. Beast Boy returned to his normal state and immediately sank to his knees, his job finished. As hard as it had been for him, it was the only way that he would ever be able to let go and get on with his life.

Raven placed her hand on his shoulder, making him look up. She gazed into his eyes, and smiled. She then helped him to his feet and wrapped him in a tight hug.

“I’m proud of you Beast Boy.”

He only sighed. “It was the only way. I never could live a full life if I continued to dwell on her.”

They stayed locked that way for a few more seconds, before they left the cave, hand in hand, leaving the past behind them. As they walked, Beast Boy began to mutter under something under his breath.

“It’s something unpredictable, but in the end is right…”

“What was that Beast Boy?”

“Huh? Oh, nothing.”

Raven giggled, “Come on Garr, let’s go.”

“Raven, did you just laugh? Wait…did you just call me Garr?” Raven gave no answer, but only pulled him along behind her, as she led him back to the tower.

***

Robin sat alone in the one room he loved to visit when he needed to think. There was a soft knock at the door, causing Robin to look up from his papers.

“Robin? It is I, Starfire. I wish to speak with you.” Quickly Robin shuffled his papers onto a pile and pushed them aside. She had made him promise to ease up on the workload, since they were officially together.

“Robin? Are you in there?”

Realizing that he had not answered, he gave a hasty “Uh, yeah. I’m in here Star, come on in!”

The door slid open with a whoosh, and Starfire stepped into the room. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed the stack of papers, and of course there might as well have been a neon sign over Robin’s head, flashing the word “GUILTY”, because there was no way that she could overlook that fake smile of innocence that was plastered all over Robin’s face. Nothing would ever cause him to grin that wide, not even seeing Slade finally put away in jail would make him smile that wide.

“Do not even bother trying to hide it Robin, I know what you are up to.” She said, raising an eyebrow.

“Hide what?” he asked through gritted teeth.

Starfire rolled her eyes and sighed. This is not what she had come to discuss, so she decided to just get to the point. “Robin, I am feeling the need to not be together anymore.” Robin’s false smile melted into a dumb glare. Since he gave no response, Starfire continued. “In my nightmare, when you died, I felt like it was the end. I could not take it, and I can not stand the thought of loosing you again.”

“Starfire, that was only a dream…”

“It makes no difference, Robin. If I were to lose you again, I would not know what to do.” A tear rolled down her face as she sobbed and continued. “I do not want to have to live through that again. That’s why I am doing the ‘breaking up’ with you.”

“Starfire…”

“No, Robin. Don’t try to convince me of the otherwise.” She got up from the table where she sat and headed toward the door. “It is better this way. If you truly loved me, you would not want me to suffer, so just let me have my way.”

“But…Starfire…you are suffering now.”

“Robin, don’t please…”

“All right, I just want you to take one thing into account, a saying that we have here on earth.” Starfire did nothing, she only stood with her back turned to him. “The saying goes, ‘It is better to have loved and to have lost then never to have loved at all.’”

She sniffled, and wiped her tears. “Robin…” her voice was unsteady and warbling. Starfire sniffed one last time, as she stood there, lost in thought, Robin turned back to his stack of papers. As he pushed the pile back in front of him, he heard Starfire shuffling her feet, and then felt her arms wrap around him from behind. Shifting gently, he turned around and embraced her as well.

***

The sun was setting over Jump city, and the way that the clouds were scattered just right made for a beautiful end to the day. The only thing that could have made it better is if someone were standing beside Cyborg, to enjoy it with him. He hated to admit it, but he had been excited at the idea that he and Jinx could have been together. Now he doubted it could ever happen. Perhaps later he would give Bumblebee a call, until then, he would simply enjoy the sunset. He tried to concentrate on Bumblebee’s face, but there was no way he could keep his concentration on anything but the past events. As much as he didn’t want to admit it, Brother Evirie was right. Their dreams and ambitions had faded, only to be replaced by nightmares which would never cease to haunt them.

And there was no escaping it.

THE END

“Chances thrown
Nothing’s free
Longing for what used to be
Still it’s hard
Hard to see
Fragile lives, shattered dreams”
-The Offspring, The Kids Aren’t Alright