Crossroads is the prologue to Teen Titans Quest.
Opening[]
"That day...that dreaded, awful day...It approaches fast. As foretold, The Mind of Darkness and his armies have been vanquished. And, as the prophecy also foretold, they were led by a group of five.
Five brave youths destroyed the evil. A witch of great power. A man of metal and flesh. A hero of the night. A damsel from another world. And finally, a warrior who is one with the animals. While they each made their mark in history, a sixth did not. She remained in darkness, becoming a plague in a once healthier world, but not without redemption. The Coming of the Emissary, a being created outside of reality that assimilates matter, has forced a new chain of events to unfold.
The Corpse God is dead. They have returned...
Crossroads[]
- Schoolgirl: (The Schoolgirl gets up, as if awaking from a nightmare. She looks around and sees three branching pathways ahead of her, and before that, a large transparent gate. The place she was in was a cosmic hallway, seemingly leading to somewhere unknown ot her.) Where am I? WHAT IS THIS PLACE??
- ?????: Relax, young one. For now, thou art safe. I see that thine art confused. I go by many names, but I dare not say any of them to you. The way out is through one of the three paths ahead of you. Think hard now, as things will change when you make your choice.
- Schoolgirl: Woah, woah, woah. What's going on here? Is this a dream? And you didn't answer my question. You know, about the whole "where am I?" bit?
- ?????: I was getting to that. You are outside reality. It would make sense if you thought that this was a dream. Sadly, thou art wrong. Thou art as real as all other things in this world you came from. That is all I can say for now. Go forth, Terra. Go and make your choice at the Hall of Martyrdom. (The gate opens.)
- Schoolgirl: Wait! I'm not... (The schoolgirl pouts.) Beastboy, if you had anything to do with this... Well, I guess that teaches me not to watch too many horror movies. (The Schoolgirl begins thinking about her choices and looks behind her. She is both shocked and speechless by the fact that the path she took has vanished in front of her. She quickly turned around and saw that the paths were blocked by three paintings. The schoolgirl is surprised once the realization that she is in each of these paintings.) The paintings! I'm in them! But how!? Wait a minute. (she inspects the paintings from her left to her right. The painting to her left is green tinted and has her in what looks like hiking gear. In it, she is in tears as a whirlwind of rocks and dust spin around her. A strange, eel-like silhouette is visible in the background. The middle painting was red tinted and showed the schoolgirl in battle armor with a letter "S" on it. She looked stern, like a cruel tyrant coldly terrorizing her people. The silhouette of a lobster-like being could be seen in the background of the painting. The final painting was blue tinted and showed her in class studying. The image of a jellyfish drawn in chalk is on the blackboard.)
Event a.[]
- Schoolgirl: (The schoolgirl continues looking at the painting to her left. Despite the anxiety she feels looking at it, something compelled her to move the painting, allowing her to run though the hallway.) I don't care where I go! This place is freaking me out! (As she is running, an eel with its left side colored orange is swimming after her. Seeing the eel made the schoolgirl hallucinate, but she ran anyway, not trusting anything but moving forward and fighting desperately to remain focused as she ran.) Don't lose control! DON'T LOSE CONTROL!!! (The schoolgirl could see a green glow in the distance. Thinking it was the way out, she ran toward it as the eel vanished. She sobbed as she ran toward the light, happy that her nightmare would soon be over.)
Event b.[]
- Schoolgirl: (The schoolgirl looked at the middle painting, slowly shedding a tear as she observed it. Her hatred toward the painting eventually reached a point where she kicked it down, and she ran down the hall, reaching a circular, arena-like room, where a large crustaean with its left side colored orange was waiting.) That thing is huge! Do I really have to fight this thing?! I need to think of something, and fast. (The schoolgirl could feel power flowing through her body. The crustacean tried to kill her, but she, in an act of desperation, somehow managed to open the floor underneath of the beast, making it fall to its death.) How did I do that?? That was incredible! When I get home, I'm going to see what else I can do. (A red glow shined underneath of her feer, and could herself coming home.)
Event c.[]
- Schoolgirl: (The schoolgirl approaches the third painting and shoves it aside.) This is has to be the way home. (The schoolgirl rushed through the hall. Crowds of people were in her way, each one wearing school uniforms. A vaguely human shape ran toward a blue glow at the end of the hall, and the schoolgirl followed him. The crowd soon began chanting in a language unfamiliar to her as black and orange jellyfish attempted to group around her.) No! I have to get out of here! (The schoolgirl eventually fights her way out of the crowd as she follows the boy-like shape through the blue light.)
Fixed Event[]
- Schoolgirl: (The school reaches the end of whichever hallway she chose to traverse. If she chose option one, then she begins calming down. What she found at the end of the hall was a large mirror.) Woah. I'd love having that in my room. I wonder if I can--
- ?????: Don't touch the mirror!
- Schoolgirl: (The schoolgirl turned around and saw a silhouette, recognizing his voice.) You. You told me about that hallway I went through.
- ?????: Indeed, child. (The silhouette comes out of the darkness. It is revealed to be a skeletal centurion with a bone staff in his hands.)
- Schoolgirl: WHAT THE-- (the skeletal centurion shushed the schoolgirl.)
- ?????: Cease your yelling. The Ancients will hear us.
- Schoolgirl: Who are you?
- Pious: My name is Pious Augustus. I was once a centurion who led many battles, but now.........now I am but bones, bones once under the control of evil. And now, evil is fast approaching. The Ancients have returned. Look closely at the mirror. You will find a welcome change has come over our reflections. (The schoolgirl looked at her reflection, and was amazed that its clothes were different. It now wore a black shirt with a "T" on it along with yellow pants. The schoolgirl looked at the centurion's reflection, seeing a noble looking man with a gladius in his hands.) We each must suffer for our mistakes, child. Hiding from them does nothing. We can only look back, and wonder why it all went wrong. And now, Princess Tara Markov, "Terra", "The World's Soul", you must accept your past. The mirror shows who you are. Accept what you see, and cease living in a sham.
- Terra: (Terra starts to breathe heavily. She slowly backs away.) S-stay away! I don't want to go back! I can't! I CAN'T!!
- Pious: You have no choice!! This is war, Terra! You need to understand! You need to wake up!! Wake up!!
- Terra: (Terra wakes up on a chair in her home. A chemistry book was on the desk in front of her. She looked out the window as she wiped the sweat off her face and breathed heavily.) Good. It was a dream, and it's morning. What was that place? I can't even remember most of it. There was a hallway and a skeleton and...and...and something else. (Terra looks down. She notices a book that she never had before. Upon feeling it, it seemed to be made of leather. When she opened it, her eyes widened and her body shook. There was a small piece of paper inside the book that said "Wake up!!", which was written in what looked like blood!! This definitely was not here before.) AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!! (Terra heard a crash and a car alarm going off. She looked out the window and saw that parts of the sidewalk had flown off the ground and utterly destroyed an empty tow truck) There's only one group of heroes that can help me, but I.........Yes. I need to ask for their help. Terra, you can do this. (Terra takes a deep breath, breathes out and runs out her front door.)
(cue English Teen Titans opening theme)
Continued in Chapter 1: Reunion