Hello again! Your old friend, AMZ-C-Raven here with another exciting Teen Titans fanfic! This one is going to be a lot darker in tone than my previous two stories, but will still definitely be fun. I'm also hoping to make it longer than the last two, but we'll see... I've got two other chapters already planned for this one. I'll update as often as possible, again depending totally on my work load.

The Usual Disclaimer: I don't own the Teen Titans.

And now... enjoy!

REVENGE

Chapter 1: The Power of Nightmares

The morning sun rose slowly on the horizon, illuminating Jump City and ushering in a brand new day. The unknown terrors that plagued the night were washed away with the light as ordinary citizens began to wake up and go about their regular lives. Early birds grabbed their drive-thru breakfasts. Mothers fought tooth and nail to drag their children out of their beds for school. Businessmen practiced speeches in front of their mirrors. And on top of Titans Tower, a lone figure looked out over the bay with a worried expression.

Raven's sleeping patterns were never what you would call regular, but the past week had been hell. She couldn't even chalk it up to any sort of clairvoyance. It was simply a nameless sense of worry that plagued her and kept her from enjoying her rest. She stood atop the building, watching the sun rise and contemplating what, if anything, all of this meant. Unable to make a pattern from the chaos, she settled into just enjoying the peace and quiet. Her thoughts were disrupted with the sound of a door closing and footsteps plodding slowly towards her. She could tell just from the noises who it was coming up behind her.

"Hey." Mumbled Beast Boy, rubbing his eyes as he approached the cloaked teen on the roof.

"You're up early. What're you doing up here?"

"I couldn't sleep. I had a horrible dream."

"Mmm. I know what you mean."

"I figured I'd go see if anybody else was up, and I knew you liked to meditate up here." He paused for a second before continuing. "Did you have a nightmare, too?"

"No. Never. I just... I've got a feeling. And it's making me restless."

"A feeling? What kind of a feeling?"

"I can't quite explain it. Something doesn't feel right. I hate to sound cliche, but I've got a bad feeling about this. About today." She finally turned to look at him. Beast Boy raised an eyebrow as he recognized the alien appearance on Raven's face: a look of apprehension.

"Did you have a vision or something?"

Her eyes shot towards the ground. "No." She sighed. "What did you dream about?" She added quickly, clearly uncomfortable.

Beast Boy looked out over the bay, avoiding her eyes. "Uhh... A giant piece of tofu ate me. Something stupid like that." He slurred.

Raven eyed him carefully, but he continued to stare out over the water. She turned her head to follow his gaze, deciding not to pry. They stood there in silence, taking in the morning one chilled breath at a time. Finally, the ashen figure turned to her green counterpart.

"Breakfast?" was all she asked.

"Sounds good." he mumbled, and they made their way back into the tower.

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As Raven poured the cup of herbal tea, she felt that nagging feeling in the back of her mind slowly fade away. She was still worried, of course. But she made a conscious decision to not let anything as silly as a... feeling... ruin her day.

If it was something more concrete, like a real premonition, then there would be cause for alarm. But this is just something in my gut. I've got to be careful, yes, but I can't keep running myself ragged like this. I need to relax. God help me, I might ever find myself playing some Stankball today. She looked over towards her green companion, hunched over his meal of waffles, eating at an incredibly leisurely pace. Whatever kind of nightmare Beast Boy had, it's certainly affected him as deeply as this has gotten to me. She noted with concern. She sipped her cup thoughtfully as she watched him.

A few minutes later, Cyborg entered, a huge smile on his face.

"Goooooood mornin' everyone!" he bellowed, taking a seat next to the changeling. "Ahhh... nothin' like a fine breakfast of waffles to make a man's morning, eh grass stain?" He nudged his friend with a rough jab from his elbow.

"Uh, yeah." Beast Boy mumbled with a mouthful of chewed waffle.

The cybernetic hybrid stuck out his tongue. "Ewww, man, don't talk with your mouth full. Geez, you sound tired this morning. Up too late playing Zombie Monkey Ninjas again?"

"No." came the monosyllabic reply. Cyborg tilted his head, examining Beast Boy carefully.

"Say, BB... you feeling okay? I thought maybe you were just burnin' the midnight oil, but you really sound out of it today."

"I'm fine, Cyborg. It's nothing."

The metallic teen raised his hands in defeat. "Okay, man. Okay. Lemme know if there's annnnything I can do, though."

Beast Boy managed a smile. Raven felt something odd about it, though. It didn't seem real. Regardless, the Changeling gave Cyborg doe eyes. "You can let me beat the tar out of you at video games today!" he pleaded.

"Hell no! I can't just let you win! Where's the fun in that?"

"I'd have fun."

"Glorious morning, friends! Once again, the large star in the centre of your system will be visible to our hemisphere! Is not this occurance exciting?" came a sweet voice from behind the trio. Everybody turned as Starfire flew into the room.

Raven raised an eyebrow. "Thrilling. I'll do my best to contain myself. It's almost as exciting as that period of time when the sun isn't visible to us. I think it's called 'night.' Something like that, anyway."

Starfire laughed at Raven's comment, and the arcane teen allowed herself a smile, too. Robin strolled in shortly after Starfire, a grin on his face.

"What's so funny?" Their leader asked, curiosity in his voice.

"I was telling our group how amazing the idea of the 'day' was, and Raven echoed such sentiments, only in regards to the night"

Robin's brow furrowed. "I... see..." was all he said, and he quickly took a seat to enjoy his breakfast.

They ate in silence for the remainder of the meal. Robin and Starfire had also noticed Beast Boy's troubled demeanor, but had kept their thoughts on the subject to themselves. His grim face, however, was very much the reason why the group wasn't as comfortable joking around this morning. Finally, Robin tried to break through his ally's shell.

"Beast Boy, I'm sorry to pry, but what's up?"

The green lad slapped on a grin and pointed skyward. "The ceiling, duh!"

Robin shook his head. "I'm serious. You look really down. What's the matter?"

Beast Boy looked at his plate before returning to meet Robin's eyes. "Oh, it's nothing. I woke up early this morning because I had a nightmare. It was pretty intense. I guess I still haven't gotten over it." He turned his head for a second to look at Raven, who was leaning on the kitchen counter sipping her tea. She caught his glance, but said nothing. He turned back to Robin without saying anything.

Robin nodded. "Well, if you do want to talk about it, don't be afraid. You're among friends."

Beast Boy looked down at his plate and grimaced. "Thanks, man. And thanks everybody. But I'm okay. Really." Just as he started to raise his head to look back at his comrades, the room began to glow an eerie red as the alarm sounded.

"Awwwww! COME ON! It's seven o'clock in the morning!" groaned Cyborg, polishing off the rest of his meal in a hurry.

"Titans! Go!" shouted Robin, and the team raced towards the T-Car.

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They arrived downtown minutes later, and were astonished to find a massive crater in the middle of the road. Getting out of the vehicle, the Titans surveyed the damaged.

"Well, whoever did this certainly had some heavy-duty firepower on his hands." Muttered Cyborg with a low whistle.

"Enough admiration. Whoever did this is a criminal just like any other. It's a miracle nobody was injured. Thank God it's so early." Added Robin. The rest of the group nodded at his sentiment.

"Oh, please! I do not mind admiration. Flattery will get you... everywhere..." came a strange voice from above them. The group looked straight up and found a figure perched atop a nearby building. Just as Starfire and Raven flew up to meet him, he disappeared. The duo looked at each other with puzzled expressions. With a flicker, the same figure materialized in the centre of the crater. Regrouping, the Titans examined their alleged foe.

The man wasn't very tall, but he was remarkably well built. Every muscle on his body seemed to have an impeccable tone. His lithe form almost rippled with his movements beneath his dark uniform. His face was covered by a black balaclava mask, his eyes protected by a pair of silver goggles. Around his waist he held a large red belt.

"Okay, nutjob. Who are you? Houdini's ghost?" demanded the metallic hybrid, sonic cannon aimed at the man.

The figure's voice was hollow and had a distinct echo to it. It definitely didn't sound human. "Please allow me to introduce myself... I am a man of wealth and taste..." He chuckled as the Titans gave him a peculiar look. "Pardon me. A little humour, perhaps from before your time. I have a true name, of course. But you shall never know it. You may call me the Gemini."

"What are you doing here?" It was Robin's turn to issue a demand now.

"Why, isn't it obvious? I wished to check the stability of the city's roads, of course." He laughed again, which sounded ethereal with the echo on his voice. "Not the answer you sought, I realize. Allow me to explain further, then. You see, I am a true terrorist. To the very core of the word. I hold no real ideology, except to disrupt the very fabric of our society. I wish to counterbalance any sense of order with chaos and replace any sense of safety with fear. We must never grow complacent. We must always be afraid."

The Titans looked at each other, completely perplexed.

"Why on earth would you subscribe to such ideas?" asked Starfire, her voice shaking. The very idea bothered her immensely.

The Gemini cleared his throat. "Terrorism is a terrible weapon, but the oppressed poor have no choice."

"Great. Now he's quoting Sartre." quipped Raven dryly.

"Red-headed cartoon teenager? Lives in Riverdale?" asked Beast Boy.

"Dead philosopher. Lived in France."

"Oh."

"You hardly seem poor. That teleportation device you're wearing for a belt couldn't have been cheap." scoffed Cyborg.

The figure tilted his head. "Ahh. You recognized it. Good for you. It was stolen, of course. I have my motives, but there is no point in telling you. You're one of many groups that stand in the way of achieving my goals. You are the epitome of safety and stability. And so, I'm going to destroy you." His voice grew very cold.

"I've had enough... Titans! Go!" Robin declared, tossing an explosive disk at his foe, who simply teleported several feet back, dodging the blast.

Cyborg charged the masked figure, leaping into the air to catch up to him. The Gemini disappeared in a flash, reappearing directly above Cyborg, landing on his back and driving him into the ground, teleporting away before he could also be injured.

Beast Boy changed into a velociraptor, lunging at the figure and grabbing him in his claws. Gemini brought both of his fists to the dinosaur's throat, causing Beast Boy to cry out and revert back to human form in intense pain. Clutching his neck, he released his grip on his opponent.

"Azarath metrion..." began Raven, attempting to levitate some debris from the crater.

"Ah ah ah! No magic, please!" chastised Gemini, flicking a green square that landed directly over Raven's mouth. Eyes wide, the empath attempted to remove the square, and found it was tightly attached to her face. She continued to struggle as Starfire launched a flurry of starbolts at the villain. Glancing casually behind himself, the Gemini teleported away, dodging an attempted tackle from Cyborg and causing the half-machine to run into the path of the emerald blasts. Sustaining the brunt of several of the bolts, Cyborg was sent flying through the window of a nearby building.

"OH! DEAR FRIEND! I AM SO--" began Starfire, hands covering her mouth in horror. She was cut off when a black disk collided with the pit of her stomach, causing her to float to the ground in pain.

Checking on the shapeshifter, Gemini saw him beginning to rise once again. "I almost forgot!" he blurted, tossing a pink collar in Beast Boy's direction, clicking into place neatly around his neck.

"I... I can't change!" shouted the green lad in horror after a failed attempt. He began tugging desperately at the foreign device.

"If you remove it, it will explode!" His foe yelled, turning just as Robin swung at him with his bostaff. "You're the leader, right? Allow me to give you some constructive criticism. Simply put, your team needs a lot of work. I thought it would be harder than this. I'd heard so many great things about your little gang."

Robin let out a cry of exasperation as every attempt to hit Gemini was met with amazing feints. It was like trying to hurt a ghost.

"Do my maneuvers seem familiar, Robin? I ran into a one-eyed friend of yours once. That's also how I know your names, of course."

Robin screamed and jabbed forward with his weapon blindly. Gemini proceeded to grab the staff, wrenching it from the Boy Wonder's hands, swinging it quickly around and clipping both of the hero's knees. Robin fell to the ground in pain as Gemini spun his new-found toy around, bringing it back down on the wounded teen's neck, knocking him unconscious. Posing, Gemini did a mental checklist of the last few minutes.

"Well, that was--" he began.

"ZINTHOS!" came a cry, and Gemini fell to the ground as a rock collided with his skull. He looked up, surprised to find an incredibly angry sorceress approaching him, her hood raised, her eyes glowing blood red.

"Impressive..." he whispered. "It's been fun." He shouted, tossing a grey sphere in Raven's direction. She shielded her face as it exploded and thick black smoke poured over the area. When it dissipated, their enemy was gone.

Robin slowly raised his head, attempting to stand. "What... what just happened?" He grunted.

"We got humiliated. That's what happened." strained Raven, attempting to hide the rage in her voice.

"We got royally whupped! I can't believe that!" screamed Cyborg, limping over to his teammates.

"Is everybody okay?" asked Robin hoarsely.

"I had the wind removed from my lungs suddenly, but I believe I am okay now." offered Starfire, landing beside the wounded Robin and helping him stand.

"I'm okay, man. Mostly hurt my pride."

"I am terribly, terribly sorry about that, friend Cyborg. The vile fiend tricked me..." apologised Starfire.

"It's okay, Starfire, really. Just don't make me eat some apologetic pudding or something." mumbled her robotic teammate, rubbing his neck.

"I'd say he mostly hurt my pride, too. Although his own pride certainly didn't help him. That... thing he put over my mouth came off easier than he had obviously thought it would." added Raven, rubbing her face. A thought hit her suddenly, shaking her out of her depressed stupor. "Beast Boy! Where is he?" The Titans' eyes all went wide.

Robin quickly checked his communicator. A sly smile came over the leader. "Heh, you're right, Raven. He's not as clever as he thinks. He forgot about Beast Boy's communicator. I'm getting a signal just over a block away. I think I'm okay to go. Everybody?"

The Titans all nodded, looks of anger and determination clouding their faces.

"That arrogant bastard is gonna get what's coming to him." spat Cyborg, punching his fist.

"Then let's go!" shouted Robin, grinning. The Titans made their way north, following their leader.

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Kicking the door in, the Titans walked inside the building. On the outside, it had seemed like any other skyscraper in the Downtown. But as they entered, they were amazed at how dark it was. It was a weekday like any other, and there was nobody to be found. It appeared almost as if it was a fairly upscale old hotel, and the lack of staff made things that much more mysterious.

"You sure this is the place?" asked the hulking half-robot, walking over and examining the tiny silver bell on the reception desk.

"It's where the signal is coming from." replied the spiky-haired leader.

"Good enough for me."

"Okay, Titans... stay together. Try to work together and flank him next time. We've got to save Beast Boy... the way he was talking about us, it seems very likely he could kill him."

Starfire breathed in suddenly at those words. She stood straighter, looking at Robin. "I will do everything in my power to save our friend from this demon who appears as a man."

"Well said, Starfire!" congratulated Robin as they approached the elevator.

The large steel doors opened suddenly, startling the group. Looking inside the metal box as best they could with the dim lighting, they saw a blinking device on the ground. Cyborg picked it up.

"It's Beast Boy's communicator." stated Raven, shaking her head. "We underestimated him again."

"You certainly did!" came a familiar booming voice behind them. They spun around quickly in combat poses, only to be hit by four red beams before they could react. The remaining Titans disappeared instantly as Gemini watched them, a strange oval device in his hands.

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Raven blinked and found herself in a small room, surrounded by three concrete walls and a large metal door.

How on earth did I get here? I remember a red flash... she thought, whipping her head around, confused. She sighed and tried the door. Of course, it was locked.

"No matter..." she whispered, and phased through the blocked portal. She found herself in a dark corridor, and at the very end was what appeared to be the boiler room for the building.

"Well, follow the yellow brick road, I guess. Or in this case... the mud-brown concrete floor" She sighed, making her way down the long hallway into the room ahead. The heat inside was intense, and she found it very hard to concentrate. Within moments she suddenly realized that she could sense a presence... Beast Boy's. Her eyes grew wide with comprehension as she began to poke around the massive boilers and furnaces that crowded the dingy room. Bare lightbulbs cast a harsh yellow light as she searched.

"Beast Boy." she whispered, her eyes darting around.

"Mmmmmmph..." came a muffled reply. Raven rushed towards the sound, turning a corner and finding her friend and ally chained to a furnace, his mouth gagged.

"Oh, thank God." she whispered. The changeling looked up at her through swollen eyes, and began grunting once he recognized the empath before him.

"Calm down, calm down! It's going to be alright. I'll just remove these chains." She started to concentrate. "Azarath..." she began, and was knocked to the ground before she could finish, a blunt object colliding with the left temple of her skull.

The cloaked teen rolled on the floor in agony, clutching her head. Gemini walked over to her and delivered a second blow to the right temple of her skull, and she cried out in pain. Beast Boy groaned, his eyes squinting as he recognized the instrument in his enemy's hands: Robin's bostaff. Not speaking, the Gemini kicked his prone prey in the stomach. Pressing down with his boot, he held her still, preventing her from writhing further as he struck her a third time, knocking her unconscious. The tormentor turned to his hostage, who was screaming into the gag at this point, his eyes wide in terror. He shook against the chains with all of his might, rattling the metal behind him.

"Isn't this terrible? Beast Boy, right? Yes, that's it. Isn't this terrible, Beast Boy? She's laying here, helpless. I bet you wish you could break those chains right now and remove my head from my neck. Actually, I bet you'd want me to beg first. To beg for my life, to beg for mercy from the all-powerful Beast Boy. Pathetic." As Gemini raised the bostaff once more, Beast Boy let out another muffled shout as the black-clad monster brought the metal rod back down on Raven's skull.

He turned back to his captive, shaking his head. "I wish I could read your mind right now. I think that'd be an absolute hoot." He chuckled to himself before clearing his throat.

Gemini's surreal voice took on a menacing tone. "I want you to know this, Beast Boy: I will break all of you. In due course, I will break every one of the Teen Titans. Physically, mentally... it's going to happen." He struck the prone girl in the head once more out of spite.

"And every single time, you're going to be just as helpless as you are right now. Enjoy what peace you once had, Beast Boy. Enjoy getting to sleep at night. Relish the last time you smiled or laughed. Because from now on, your memories will be nothing but pitiful moments like this one. Tell the others. This isn't over."

Bringing the bostaff down on Raven's head one last time elicited a high-pitched squeak from the changeling, tears pouring from his eyes at this point. The eyes themselves had been transformed into narrow slits of absolute hatred. He had pulled his chains to their very limit, every muscle in his body straining against the iron restraints. Gemini looked on as nothing happened, tilting his head as he watched. He dropped the metal weapon to his side, missing Raven's body by centimeters.

Gemini laughed again. "So long, Beast Boy. I'll be seeing you." With those words, he disappeared.

Beast Boy stood there chained to the hot machine behind him. In a state of complete shock, his eyes absorbed the scene before him. He watched his fallen comrade on the ground, her blood trickling out onto the grimy floor. The sickening redness oozing from her head wound tainted her violet locks. The shapeshifter hoped beyond anything in the universe that she was still alive. With only his eyes available to him, he examined her body for signs of breathing. His heart skipped a beat for a second before he realized her lungs were still functioning. Her breathing was incredibly shallow, but there were signs of life. His vision disappeared into the mist as tears began to flow. Tears of sorrow, but tears of happiness at her survival.

He wept for several minutes before he heard a loud click, and a door to his left opened, and the rest of the Teen Titans entered.

"Beast Boy! You are in good health!" shouted Starfire, running over quickly and ripping off his chains. "Why are you leaking?" she asked, perplexed.

Although he was gagged, the green lad couldn't even muster a moan. Dazed, Beast Boy pointed behind them into the shadows, and the trio turned to view the horrifying tableau.

"Oh... my God..." whispered Cyborg, running over quickly to examine Raven's body.

"What happened here? Where's Gemini?" shouted Robin, the colour draining from his face as he watched his metallic friend attempt to resuscitate their injured comrade. He removed the ballgag from Beast Boy's mouth, patting him in the shoulder.

"The bastard! The... the... the fucking bastard!" exploded Beast Boy. "He... he chained me here... and then Raven came in... and he started beating her and beating her and beating her... and he kept talking to me as he did it. He was taunting me! He was fucking taunting me!" the manic Beast Boy wailed. Starfire embraced her friend as they both began to weep.

"It's... it's my bostaff. He beat her with my bostaff." spat Robin, anger rising in his shaking voice as he noticed the weapon on the ground.

"He told me he was going to break us. He said that this was just the beginning." coughed Beast Boy, his voice cracking. The other Titans exchanged worried glances.

"We're not going to let him do anything. Let's not panic. He's not going to get away with this. We're going to find this son of a bitch and we're going to bring him to justice." hissed the Titans' leader, tossing his bloodied staff across the room.

"Justice." whispered Beast Boy, sniffing. Starfire squeezed him one last time and let him go, rubbing his arm.

"How is our friend?" the Tamaranian meekly added, wiping her eyes.

"We gotta get her back home to the Tower. I can't do anything down here." Cyborg said quietly.

Robin nodded. "Let's go get the car. We can get the stretcher out of it."

"Sounds good." The metallic teen stood up and turned to the two Titans stifling sobs. "We'll be right back, okay? You guys watch Raven. Don't worry. Everything's going to be all right." Cyborg and Robin made their way out the door carefully.

Cyborg gave one last look behind them as they made their exit, a single tear making its way down his cheek.

The duo stood in silence for a minute watching their friend's breathing. Her chest rose and fell, slowly, steadily, almost cautiously. In... then out... then in again. Although they were far apart, her breaths were still steady.

"I can't stand it..." whispered Beast Boy, punching a boiler.

"Do not destroy yourself over this, friend. I know that is hard. But there was nothing you could do."

"That's the problem, Star. I... I watched as my friend was beaten almost to death before my eyes! I was so helpless! I was so pathetic."

"It was not your fault. We will bring justice to this evil creature. It will be served. I want to see this man defeated as much as you do."

Beast Boy looked at Raven, trying not cry again. "This... this is exactly what happened in my nightmare." he choked. "It was just like it. Raven lying there, being tortured. This warped figure standing there, taunting me as he does it. And there's nothing I can do. This is exactly like my dream." He turned back to his alien friend, who was staring at him, her face pale.

"A horrible coincidence. You don't sound like yourself, friend... You can't let this bother--"

He interrupted her, a sharp edge to his voice. "Well, no more coincidences. This isn't going to repeat itself. Justice will be served."

Taking a deep breath, he continued. "We will have vengeance."

TO BE CONTINUED...