Hello to all!
Before we begin, I'd like to give you guys some background info. This story is based on the Teen Titans television series; that is the reason why it is called "Season Six" and the chapters referred to as episodes. Surfacing Shadows also includes events from issues of the comic Teen Titans Go!―indeed, a lot of material (mainly settings/locations) will be included in this fan fiction. And, of course, material from the original DC Comics shall be utilized as well.
I will always specify at the beginning of each episode how much time has passed since the last one. Per my own calculations―which eerily match up with how long the show ran―the Teen Titans have been a team for nearly three years, from the year 2003 to the year 2006. This sixth season will, like the five before it, have a major plot line and several unrelated episodes.
As to ships, there will be a ton. Here are some major ones from the show and comics: RobStar, BBRae, CySarah, Flinx, and JeriKole to name a few. And this is just the first season of many to come! Since they don't give you nearly enough space for a proper description, here's the brief summary:
The Teen Titans: Cyborg, Beast Boy, Raven, Starfire, and Robin. They've been a team for nearly three years. In that time, they have defeated super-villains, saved the world at least twice, and begun to create a network for young teenage heroes across the globe. But the five have also become a family as they've each shared and come to terms with their own pasts.
Well, each except Robin.
As the Boy Wonder works to build new Towers and new teams nationwide, Slade returns to Jump City and to his role as Deathstroke. But when the villain reveals his new league of cohorts, Robin is forced to call home for help, which means enlisting Batman and the entire JL's assistance. And he's not the only ex-sidekick Titan with a bone to pick.
Meanwhile, Beast Boy and Raven could finally get around to admitting how they really feel towards one another if the empath can keep her powers under control, Cyborg is spending time with his new lady friend who may or may not be the reincarnation of his warrior love from the distant past, and Starfire's family dilemmas are escalating into an interstellar war.
Outside the founding five: Speedy continues his cat and mouse game with Cheshire (unsure of who's who), Jinx misses being on a team, Pantha looks to recruit more honoraries for the south branch, Jericho hides a secret about his origins, Red X decides to start playing the hero again with the Bat Family for his own unknown reasons...
And Deathstroke works on perfecting his conscious converting concoction that will change civilization completely.
Try saying that one five times fast, and then watch―
Teen Titans: Surfacing Shadows
Enjoy!
- Nikkisha16
Disclaimer: The Teen Titans featured in Teen Titans: Surfacing Shadows (Season Six) are owned by DC Comics, and this is a fan-made extension of the TV series produced by Warner Bros. Animation and created by Glen Murakami.
It's late June (some weeks after Beast Boy's sixteenth birthday) and only a month since the Titans saved Brushogun in Japan. Happy and relaxed is where our story begins, but that doesn't mean it will be where it ends…
Episode One: "Shattered"
When Raven's mirror—and mind—shatters, who will be the one to help her pick up the pieces?
A storm was brewing in Jump City, keeping villains and heroes inside. On the island just off the city docks, there stood a large T-shaped tower. It was owned by a team of five skilled and powerful teens that were charged with keeping Jump City's citizens safe. Called the "Teen Titans", they did their job, and they did it well. The city—and, at times, the world—had been saved on numerous occasions by the Titans, but as of late the dangers were not as widespread. Their most recent large-scale mission had taken place several weeks ago, when the five Titans had traveled to Japan and taken down a secret criminal organization that had been posing as the police force. Since then, life had been moving at a slower pace—or at least, as slow as life could move when you were a teenage superhero.
Today, most of the team was gathered in the Main Ops Room, as usual. Beast Boy was engaged in fierce combat with his fellow Titan and best friend, Cyborg. Their battleground was the television; their weapons were controllers; their fates were imminent.
"Booyah!" Cyborg cheered as his opponent's avatar was defeated. "And the grass stain gets wiped by me yet again!"
Beast Boy sulked, glaring at the screen which continually flashed the "GAME OVER" sign. "There's no way you could always win—you have to be cheating!"
"Nope," crowed Cy, his grin stretched wide. "It's all natural skill when it comes to dominating Super Ninja Fury 4!"
"Your 'natural skill' is half-computer, dude!" the other Titan complained, his face set in a square frown of extreme discontent.
Cyborg was now frowning as well. "What, you trying to call me unnatural or something?"
"No, I'm trying to call you a cheater!"
"Oh, yeah? Well you're just a sore loser!"
The argument grew as the two butted heads, and though their other friends were accustomed to their frequent fights, one felt it was getting out of hand. "Please, friends, let us all do the calming down," Starfire pleaded, her green eyes wide. "Arguing is not healthy for a strong friendship."
"Sure it is, Star," Robin replied, who was sitting at the kitchenette's counter to keep a close eye on the Tamaranean princess's latest culinary masterpiece. "All friends argue, some more than others. It doesn't mean they like each other any less."
The redhead sighed as the green shapeshifter and cybernetic human continued insulting one another in the background. "You are right, Robin. The Rekmas will not occur because of one 'chicken-like' fight, yes?"
"Uh, I think the word you're looking for is paltry," her masked boyfriend corrected, flinching as Starfire's "meal" let out what sounded suspiciously like a burp.
She turned to face Robin before smacking the yellow-green mixture into submission. "I do not understand. Please, do both words not have the same meaning?"
The Boy Wonder's explanation was cut short as Beast Boy literally weaseled out of Cy's chokehold to shout, "Hey, where's Raven, anyways?"
Starfire gasped as Cyborg managed to grab hold of the green Titan again. "Oh my, she is not present? I must retrieve her so that she may try my blaach tails! Boyfriend Robin, would you stir them so that I may go, please?"
"...sure thing, Starfire..." Reluctantly taking the slightly smoking wooden spoon she handed him, Robin shuddered as Star flew towards the main door. Before she arrived, a splitting scream vibrated through the Tower as a surge of black energy coated the entire Ops Room before they were all plunged into darkness. Dropping the spoon, Robin bent in two and yelped, "Raven!"
"Robin, are you alright?" asked Starfire's worry-filled voice.
Cyborg cut in. "Yo, Star, mind giving us some light?"
The green glow of two starbolts began to light up the room at his words, and Cy quickly walked over to a Tower control unit—a rectangular box beside the door which had a large green handprint to the right below its screen—and pressed his hand to it. His left eye glowed faintly before he turned around to address the rest of the team. "Main power's down, but the backup generators should be kicking in at any minute. Storm's heading off, too."
Robin put a lid on Starfire's food before approaching the others. "Raven caused this, somehow. I felt it in—in my mind."
"Wasn't an electrical surge, that's for sure," Cyborg replied. "And you and Rae do share a bond after she went inside your head that time." [1]
"So, what're we waiting for? We have to go find her," Beast Boy spoke up, vaulting over the couch and climbing the steps to stand beside his friends.
As soon as he stopped speaking, a hum filled the air as the lights turned back on. The sensors at the door recognized a presence, and opened accordingly to show a cloaked figure on the other side. Everyone stared as Star cautiously approached, a worried smile on her face. "Friend! It is wonderful to see you safe; please, what has—"
Suddenly, a light gray hand shot up from the depths the crimson cloak, and a bolt of dark energy surged forward to strike Starfire in the chest, launching her backwards into the couch. The others barely had time to react before black tentacles writhed out, slithering along the floor to grab the remaining Titans and have them follow Starfire's path. The girl had recovered enough to catch Robin, who she quickly set down beside her as Beast Boy and Cyborg scrambled to their feet.
"Dude!" Beast Boy complained, rubbing his messy dark green hair. "That was so not cool!"
"Please, Friend Raven, tell us what ails you," Star begged as the red figure levitated closer, hovering over the steps.
"Uh, guys?" Cyborg said. "I don't think that's Raven."
"Then who is it?" Robin asked, whipping out his bo-staff and crouching into a defensive position.
A sinister laugh sounded as the hood was pushed back to show a face that was exactly like Raven's with one terrifying deformity: four narrow red eyes. The red-cloaked Raven grew taller, a malicious grin spreading across her face as her cloak parted to reveal a shifting darkness in the place of a body. Beast Boy's emerald eyes went wide in recognition as he answered Robin with, "It's Raven's Rage."
At those words, the swirling tentacles emerged from the Red Raven's cloak, created a breeze that made the hem ripple. Robin shouted, "Titans, go!" and the four sprang into action as the tentacles struck. Robin whacked away one as he asked, "So is this Raven or not?"
"Yes, please do tell!" Starfire called from above as she weaved in between tentacles, struggling to stay uncaught. "I wish to know if we may use force!"
"This is a part of Rae, so we can't attack her with all we've got!" Cyborg told them as he punched and pounded the tentacles trying to encircle him. "When me and B.B. went inside her head that time, we met all these different parts of her personality." [2]
"And this one is her mean side!" Beast Boy added, shifting into a mouse with a squeak as he darted around the tentacles that stabbed at him.
Robin twirled his staff to keep the tentacles at bay, walking backwards to arrive next to Cy, who had a reprieve. "But how'd this...'emoticlone' get loose?"
"I don't know man, but I'm worried what it means for Raven," replied Cyborg as Beast Boy shifted back to human form to stand between them.
The green boy laughed and said, "Emoticlone's an awesome name for them!"
Starfire landed beside Robin, throwing a few starbolts at the tentacles to make them retreat before pointing at Rage. "I am sorry, Beast Boy, but I do not believe that she likes the name!"
The others' gazes followed Star's finger as the Red Raven's smile turned into a snarl, the tentacles merging together to form four long, thick chains of darkness that quickly surged around the Titans, wrapping around their bodies before raising them off the ground to eye-level. They struggled to get free as Starfire asked, "Please, Raven, why do you do this?"
"It's not really Raven, Starfire!" Robin called as he tried to pry free of his tentacle's grip with his bo-staff.
Beast Boy suddenly stopped shifting into increasingly larger animals, returning to his human form as he stared at the emoticlone. "That's it!" he shouted. "This might just be a piece of Raven, but this is Raven! And even if this is Raven's dark side, she doesn't hate us!"
The Red Raven's snarl disappeared at the changeling's words, and she slowly shrank, the tentacles releasing the Titans as they retracted back into the red cloak. Robin landed neatly on his feet as Starfire gently set Cyborg on his, and Beast Boy fell to the ground with a loud "Oomph!" They all stared as the glow faded from the emoticlone's four eyes, which became two violet ones that glared at them.
"So, uh, Raven—is everything...okay?" Robin asked hesitantly.
"No," came the reply, short and cold, in a deeper version of Raven's voice. "And don't call me Raven; I'm her Rage."
"Well, Rage, what was that all about?" Beast Boy grumbled, climbing to his feet with a frown. "You didn't have to drop us from so high up."
"Be lucky that I dropped you at all," Rage snarled, her eyes briefly glowing red. Closing them, she said in a tightly controlled voice, "Trigon's influence may have waned, but it will never disappear."
"Oh, friend, it is joyous that you are no longer angry with us!" Starfire exclaimed, rushing to give Rage a hug. However, the emoticlone raised her hand this time to stop the flying girl in her tracks.
"Don't. Hug me," she ground out, pulling up her hood. "Raven may not hate you five, but I am her hate, and that's all I feel. So don't get confused about who I really am."
The silence rained heavily upon the group, until Beast Boy gave a nervous laugh and joked, "Jeez, Rae—moody much?"
Baring her teeth, Rage started to grow as she growled, "What did you say?"
Cyborg, Starfire, and Robin—eyes wide—stepped back and left Beast Boy alone to deal with "Raven's anger" as they always did. The green teen gulped, pulled at the purple neck of his jumpsuit as he babbled, "Well, uh, you said you only had one emotion, but you didn't have it for us, but now you're acting like you do, and it was only a joke!"
Rage's eyes narrowed, but they didn't turn red, and she returned to her normal height. Glaring hard at Beast Boy, who was cowering on his knees, she circled around him, mumbling to herself, "Why can't I hate you? It should be so easy."
"Phew, thank—hey!"
Ignoring Beast Boy, Rage withdrew and faced the other Titans. "Raven is approaching, and it is up to her to tell you what happened. I must return."
She turned away and began drifting to the central door, but stopped when it abruptly opened to show a blue-cloaked figure, which stumbled into the room, bent over and gasping. Lifting back her hood, Raven revealed herself as her eyes met Rage's, which were now a set of four bright red slits once more. "Hello, me," the emoticlone whispered before launching herself at Raven, who opened her cloak to reveal a black energy gate into which Rage flew. As soon as her red boots disappeared within, Raven shut her cloak and fainted to the ground.
"Raven!" yelled Beast Boy as the four Titans ran towards their fallen friend. He arrived first and gently lifted Raven off the ground as she regained consciousness. "Are you alright?"
"Not really," she groaned as he helped her to her feet. "I was in Nevermore, meditating, when something...disturbed me."
"Nevermore?" Robin asked.
"My mindscape. I tried to leave, but problems...occurred. My mirror shattered, and with it—"
"Your mind," Starfire gasped, gently resting a hand on Raven's shoulder. "What must we do to fix you?"
"My emotions are out of control, all except for Rage." She shuddered for a moment, leaning heavily on Beast Boy as her eyes squeezed shut. "And even she is not fully reined in. I need to reabsorb all of my emotions."
Just then, the alarm sounded, and on the window-monitor flashed the alert for Sector 13, where a yellow "H" inside of a black hexagon flashed. "It's the H.I.V.E. Five," Robin muttered. "Raven, can you—"
A flash of black lightning jetted out and broke one of the computer monitors. "Sorry," Raven apologized. "I can't control my powers with no control over my emotions."
"And you obviously can't manage on your own," Cyborg said, eyeing how Beast Boy held Raven up. "B, you should stay with Rae while the rest of us take care of the H.I.V.E."
"You're going to leave me alone with Beast Boy?" groaned the cloaked sorceress, frowning at Cy.
"He's dealt with these emoticlones before, Raven. Plus, we'll be fighting understaffed, so we'll need all the manpower that we got."
"Yeah, that makes—hey!" Beast Boy fumed as Cyborg grinned before taking off with Robin and Starfire, who paused to wish Raven luck. The rain had lessened to a gentle pitter-patter as he shifting slightly to look at the girl beside him and ask, "So, what do we do now?"
Raven sighed, breaking another monitor before she stepped out of Beast Boy's grip. "The best way to go about this would be to reclaim the emotions in pairs, so that the opposites will balance each other."
"Then I guess we're outta luck, huh?" An elbow nudged her in the side as he continued in a sly voice, "Since the opposite to hatred is looooove."
Gritting her teeth, the other Titan managed to spit out in a reasonably calm tone, "Beast Boy, the lid on my temper is really loose right now, so it's not a good idea to push my buttons."
"Oh, right," came the chastised reply as the green boy slowly slid away, only to quickly pop back to her side when she stumbled. "Hey, if you can't walk I'll—"
Surging ahead, Raven said, "I'm fine; let's just split up and find Love."
Beast Boy walked down the corridor, calling aloud quietly. "Uh, Love? Love, are you around? Gah, I sound so stupid—and British! Almost like when Mad Mod hypnotized me for the bajillionth time." (A/N: What episode is being referenced? Hint: Beast Boy is referring to the time that Mad Mod temporarily altered him so that he spoke like a Brit.)
He passed Raven's room and then stopped, leaning backwards to eye the door with a mischievous grin. "Raven told me to search everywhere, so that must include her room. After all, where's a better place to find a Raven than in her nest?"
Still laughing at his indisputably [3] awesome joke, Beast Boy pressed the panel to open Raven's door and wandered in, wiping tears from his eyes with one gloved hand. When he had finally regained his sight, his jaw dropped at the sight before him as the door whooshed shut behind. The room was lit by wickers of candles, the light flickering off the mystical artifacts and stacks of books, illuminating the usually dim quarters and a pile of debris swept to one side of the doorway. And on the rounded bed's indigo sheets lay another Raven, her purple cloak spread out to reveal the black leotard clad figure that was sinuously stretched out, one arm propping up her head. The hood was thrown back to reveal heavy-lidded eyes and a wicked smile on pursed lips which parted and whispered in a smooth tone, "Why hello there, Beast Boy."
"L-love?" he asked with a large gulp.
"In all her bloom," the emoticlone purred, crooking one slim finger to beckon him closer. Blushing bright red, Beast Boy reluctantly inched closer, his gaze shifting from the strange masks on the walls to the potions on the shelves to the purple rug that ran along the length of the room, and quickly darting over Love whenever it landed on her. She gave a soft laugh as he reached the foot of the bed. "No need to be so shy, cutie. I don't bite...much."
Before he could respond, Beast Boy felt the familiar tingle of Raven's magic as Love's eyes glowed white. A hand of dark energy pushed him onto the bed, making the emoticlone laugh again and lean against the ornate headboard. He popped up and immediately scooted backwards, almost falling off the bed as he blurted out, "Uh, I'm not—but you are—I thought you couldn't use magic for anything but levitation."
Rolling her eyes, the Purple Raven unfastened her cloak and folded it beside her on the pillows next to a pile of glass shards, scooting closer to Beast Boy until they were only a few inches away. Crossing her legs, she went into the familiar meditation stance. "Raven may not be able to use magic, but I can. After all, I have no emotions to keep in check, since I am one myself."
Beast Boy looked at her a bit suspiciously. "Are you sure?"
Love rolled her eyes again but was still smiling as she said, "You should know that love never lies. And don't worry, the other me should be on her way any second now—she definitely knows where I am since I used our magic. But still, we have a few moments of quality alone time."
She blushed slightly, and the other Titan gaped at her before saying, "Wow—you sure you're a part of Raven?"
"Why wouldn't I be?" Love asked, twirling a lock of short purple hair as she continued to gaze at him, enraptured.
Beast Boy shrugged, more than a bit uncomfortable with her bewildering behavior. "Well, I know that you emoticlones all represent what Raven really feels, but you're acting as if you actually like me."
"Why wouldn't I?"
He gaped at her. "Uh, dude, have you seen the way Raven treats me? While I know that she doesn't hate my guts since Rage didn't kill me, it's not like she's particularly fond of me, either."
Frowning, Love muttered, "And I guess in some cases it's true that love really is blind."
"Wait, you're blind?"
"No, you idiot," she scoffed affectionately, lightly hitting his shoulder. Clutching the black fabric, she dragged him closer as she whispered, "But there's a lot that you're blind to, cutie. Maybe this will help you open you eyes to the truth once and for all; I'm getting tired of being suppressed all the time."
"Um, Ra-Love, what are you doing...?" Beast Boy's voice squeaked as Love's face drew closer to his, the candlelight glinting off the diamond-shaped gem that lay on her forehead. Suddenly those big violet eyes were drifting shut, and he found his closing as well, his heart pounding so hard he was sure that he was going to collapse from a heart attack at any moment.
Their noses had just touched when she rapidly drew back, cursing softly as Beast Boy heard the door open behind him. He opened his eyes in time to see Love lean forward to quickly peck him on the cheek, murmuring a quiet, "See you later, Beastie Boo," into his ear before she jumped off the bed, grabbed her cloak, and strolled over to Raven, who quickly absorbed the emoticlone. They stared at each other for a few moments, both turning red at the realization of what has almost transpired. The shattering of a decorated bowl quickly snapped them out of their trance, and Raven quickly pulled up her hood and exited the room. Beast Boy hurried to follow her lead.
Once he arrived in the corridor, he had to jog to catch up to Raven, who was quickly floating away. Deciding to avoid the awkward topic of "love" for the time being, the changeling instead asked, "So which Raven is next on the list?"
"Now that I've regained a somewhat stable emotional balance, I can sense that Sloth and Knowledge are nearest," answered the girl, coming to an abrupt stop outside of Beast Boy's room. "And they're in here."
"Really?" he said in shock. "How come?"
Raven snorted softly as she pressed a hand to the panel. "For Sloth, it's because your room is a junkyard."
Beast Boy raised his chin as the door slid open. "I take that as a compliment."
"You shouldn't," came the dry reply as the indigo hood was pulled back. Remembering the Purple Raven's words, he stopped for a moment to actually look at the sorceress.
Her hair was as straight as a pin and very fine, like a woven layer of dark violet silk cut in an angled bob. Her eyes were the exact same shade, shaped like wide upside-down trapezoids and outlined with a thick layer of lashes which altogether gave them an otherworldly appearance. In between two perfectly arched brows rested the red-and-black bindi on her ajna chakra. Her skin was a light ashy gray, but the odd color didn't detract from its clarity and smoothness. Her lips were slightly darker, small (like her nose) but still full, the lower one only marginally bigger than the upper. She used to be a few inches taller than Beast Boy, but now that he'd reached a growth spurt, he had managed to catch up to her height. Though she was usually obscured by her cloak, he knew from his sight of Love that the tight black leotard clung to a petite hourglass figure and showed off long legs while covering slim arms.
Shaking his head as she walked further into the room, Beast Boy mentally scorned the direction of his thoughts. There had to be some reasonable explanation for how Love had acted towards him that didn't involve Raven being secretly in love with him. Just thinking that sounded ridiculous. She had made it clear from the day they'd formed the Teen Titans that she was not the least bit interested in him. And while he might have had a crush on her the moment they had met and she'd found his joke funny, that had been nearly three years ago, and he'd long since moved on.
"Ugh, how can you live like this?" Her question shocked him out of his musings, and Beast Boy finally turned his focus back to the present situation to see Raven eyeing the large piles of dirty purple-and-black jumpsuits with a look of disgust.
Trying to shift back into his usual bantering mode, Beast Boy smirked and said, "Hey, I'm allowed to be a guy, aren't I?"
"You're more like an animal," she snarked back, trying and failing to levitate the piles of clothing in search of Sloth. "Robin and Cyborg's rooms are always clean."
"That's because Robin's a neat freak and Cyborg doesn't need clothing!" he tried to argue, but she shushed him as she leaned over the piles, scrunching her nose at the smell. "What is—"
"RAWR!" yelled a brown-cloaked figure as it burst out of the clothes, making a pair of boxer's land on Raven's head. Laughing lazily, the Brown Raven laid back onto the pile, tilting her head back to grin at Beast Boy. "Hey there, partner. Wanna join me?"
"Uh, nothankyou."
She shrugged, scratching at her armpits as she replied, "Suit yourself. Hey, Rae, how 'bout you hop on in?"
Currently, Raven was slowly peeling the underwear off of her, glaring hard at her emoticlone. "No, Sloth," she said through gritted teeth, flinging the boxers so that they landed on the Brown Raven's face.
Sloth just chuckled and flicked them upwards so that her grin could be seen once more. "If I weren't so apathetic, I'd probably challenge you to an underwear fight."
"Thank Azar for the small things," Raven said as Beast Boy meandered to her side. "Where's Knowledge?"
"How should I know where that busy bee is?" replied the brown-cloaked girl as she began moving her arms and legs to make a sock-angel. "It takes work to keep track of all these emotions, Ms. Calm Calamity."
Turning to the Titan beside him, the green boy asked, "What did she just call you?"
"It would take too long to explain. Look, can you please just get up and let me reabsorb you, grossness, memories, and all?"
"Sure thing," Sloth said with a shrug, rocking to her feet as she strolled into Raven's cloak. "It was getting to be too much of an effort being out here, anyways."
As the Brown Raven disappeared, the blue one wandered around the room, passing the bunk bed with its rumpled green sheets as she concentrated. Before Beast Boy could interrupt her, she raised one hand and called, "What are you doing in the closest, Knowledge?"
The door in front of her swung open, and some trash and other junk toppled out of it as the Yellow Raven floated there, legs crossed as she examined the wall in front of her through large round lenses. "Hello, Raven. I was just studying the contents of Beast Boy's personal room in order to glean more information about the boy who we are so curious about. There are several interesting photos on this wall that I'm sure—being a part of your personality—you would love to take a look at."
"Ever heard of personal space?" Beast Boy griped, quickly shooing the emoticlone out of his closet before shoving the spilled crap back inside it and shutting the door.
Knowledge blinked owlishly. "As intellectually advanced as I am, I must admit to ignoring morals at times in the search for answers. My decision was not very wise, which is most uncommon for me, and I hope that you can come to forgive me. It's sufficient to say that I would be devastated if you did not."
Beast Boy scratched his head. "Dude, I don't know half of what you just said, but it sounded like an apology, so I'll take it."
Beneath the hood of her yellow cloak, he could see a small "Raven-smile" form before she turned to Raven and said, "For all of your knowledge, I will never be able to figure out why you're so undeniably inveigled by this Beast Boy."
"You use too many big words!"
Ignoring her fellow Titan's grumbles, the blue sorceress responded, "Needless to say, neither will I," before opening her cloak and absorbing Knowledge back into the depths of her mind. Raising one hand, she pointed to the lamp besides Beast Boy's small bookcase and repeated her familiar three-word mantra. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos!"
A surge of black energy coated the lamp before it slowly rose, wobbling for a moment before falling back onto the table as Raven's hand fell. "So, looks like your powers are back," Beast Boy said, his voice still slightly irked from being unable to understand the conversation between her and Knowledge.
"For the most part," Raven agreed, drifting towards the exit. "The balance has shifted to my favor."
"How?" he asked as they started walking down the main corridor. "I thought there were eight parts of you."
"If that was true, I wouldn't be here in my 'original' form, since that in itself has splintered."
Coming to a sudden halt, Beast Boy said in a low voice, "So you're telling me you're not really Raven?"
Sighing, the girl turned to face him head on, her voice's usual monotone and somewhat off—but how, he couldn't tell. "The Raven you see and interact with on a daily basis is essentially me. I am Calm, an emotion as well, but unlike the others I am more than just an emotion—I am the one Raven uses the most and thus am the best representation of her. However, in truth I am not, for though Raven's main emotion is me, she has the others as well. But being for the large part Raven herself, I can reabsorb the emotions to become Raven fully."
"So you're an emoticlone, but you're also Raven, which should mean Raven is an emoticlone, but she's actually made up of emoticlones, including yourself as an emoticlone, which means…gah, I can't process this!" The green Titan promptly collapsed, clutching his throbbing head as his brain short-circuited from total and complete confusion.
"That's why I didn't try to explain it," Raven said, offering Beast Boy a hand. "Since I'm now five-ninths of Raven, I think it's safe to address me as such, just like the other emotions do."
He accepted her assistance, climbing back to his feet. "So that's why Sloth called you 'Ms. Calm Calamity.'"
"Partially," she replied, continuing down the hallway. "Of course, since I exist on the surface with my full personality and not in our mindscape, Sloth calls the complete Raven by the same nickname."
"What about when Rae's—I mean yours—I mean...the blue cloak turned white all those times?" Beast Boy asked, moving his hands about as he spoke.
Raven turned the corner that led to Starfire and Robin's rooms. "That state represents balance and unity of all emotions, of reaching inner peace with myself and being able to express my feelings without losing control of my powers. Of course, the white form can only exist in one of two ways."
"Which are...?"
"No time to explain," the girl replied, holding up a slim gray finger to silence her companion. "I'm pretty sure that Happy and Rude are in Starfire's room. I wonder why the emotions keep seeming to end up in with their opposing emotion."
Beast Boy shrugged before he leaned forward to press the panel at the same time that Raven did, causing his gloved hand to overlap hers as they both paused. Slowly, he pressed so that Raven's palm touched the panel, feeling the ridge of the red-and-black gemstone on the back of her hand dig into his. She shot a glance behind her at him, the slight annoyance fading as she saw the fanged grin and heard him finally reply, "Maybe opposites attract."
Raven didn't say a word as his fingers drifted down the back of her partially-covered hand to fiddle with her dark blue cuff. Those large emerald eyes held her captive, deep and probing and beautiful. She felt her heart begin to race, just like the first time he'd ever held her gaze, and just as all the other times after that. But she buried her newly reclaimed purple emotion, grateful when the gray T-shaded door opened so that she could turn around and say with all her usual sarcasm, "Somehow that's hard for me to imagine."
She felt the shift in his emotions, and was relieved that, for the moment, Timid was not in her mind to make her feel regretful. Raven knew how dangerous her emotions were, whether inside her corporeal form or not, and she couldn't let any consume her, be it Rage or Brave or even Happy: the Puppet King had reminded her of that fact when Starfire's overjoyed spirit had reigned in her own body. [4] She knew firsthand that she couldn't let any emotions get out of control—and that it didn't matter who or how many were hurt in the process.
Trying to regain herself, her Calm, Raven led Beast Boy into the garishly colored room where Happy was currently jumping up and down on the bed. Her pink cloak matched the setting as she squealed, "Hey, Beast Boy, nice to see you again. You've got to join me, it's sooo much fun!"
"Er, no thanks, Happy," he answered with a small but genuine smile. "I'd rather get nauseous the old-fashioned way: riding a roller coaster."
Her giggles made Beast Boy's smile widen. "Good one, B.B.! How about you, Rae?"
"I'd rather not embrace happiness right now except to absorb her," Raven replied, opening her cloak in an obvious hint. Sighing in disappoint, the Pink Raven climbed off the bed, pulling back up her hood—but not before sneaking a wink at the green teen—before skipping into the swirling black gate that led back to Nevermore. "Alright, let's tackle Rude."
"Uh, I'm right here." Both Titans jumped and turned to see the Orange Raven standing behind them with her hand cocked on her hip, crossing her arms as she eyed them up and down with distaste. "And you two think I'm the rude one."
Beast Boy scratched his head in confusion. "But you are, aren't you?"
"And the prize goes to Beast Boy for his astounding observational skills," Rude replied, her voice heavy with sarcasm. "Who could've ever guessed?"
Trying to hold back a smile, Raven said, "Stop teasing him and just get back inside." As her emoticlone complied, the other Titan turned to gape at her. She shrugged, closing her cloak. "It's more enjoyable for me to insult you than to watch it."
"Totally feeling the love, Rae!" She merely ignored him and floated out the door, making Beast Boy grumble about goths and their attitudes as he followed her down the corridor to the stairwell. As they reached the first landing, he finally became aware of his surroundings and asked, "Where are we going, anyways?"
In the fluorescent lighting Raven's face took on an even more haunting appearance. "Brave will obviously be in the gym training, while Timid—"
"Is right here," finished a soft voice, and around the curve of the landing below them appeared a gray-hooded face that chewed her lip nervously. "I didn't think anyone would find me here except...me."
"And me," Beast Boy tacked on.
Raven snorted. "You didn't even know where we were going." The green Titan frowned, but she didn't see or care as she faced her fearful emotion and said in a gentler tone, "It's time to come back to Nevermore, Timid."
The Gray Raven let out a sigh of relief and drifted up to meet them. "Thank Azar, it's awful out here. So many other scary emotions, and people, and feelings, and rooms..."
Timid was still muttering her list as Raven reabsorbed her. Snickering, Beast Boy commented, "Seems like your scared of a lot of things, Raven. Who would've guessed?"
"Not you," came the dry reply, making him scrunch his nose in return. "Now, there's only one emotion left, so please let's just finish this so that I'll finally be able to have some peace and quiet."
"You know you enjoy having me around."
"I know you're annoying me right now."
"Aw, come on, Rae," Beast Boy whined as they reached the gym floor, where down the hallway the sounds of thumping and grunting could be heard. "I thought we were friends."
"I thought I said you're annoying me." He quickly stopped talking as he recognized the growing anger in Raven's voice. He didn't know the cause; however, the sorceress did, and the stress of a fractured mind (added to the reason for that fracture wheedling her every ten seconds) was making her start to crack. Quietly chanting her mantra to calm herself, Raven strode into the brightly lit gym to see another emoticlone with green cuffs and boots viciously attacking the punching bag as if she were determined to knock it off the chain.
Noticing the two figures standing in the entryway, Brave stilled the bag with one hand as she flashed them a wide, reckless grin. "Hey, guys, why aren't you at the battle?"
"Now that I think about it, why didn't you go rushing into the field when you heard the alarm?" asked Raven as she walked into the room with Beast Boy at her side.
"Knowledge held me back," the Green Raven grumbled in her rough cadence, walking over to the rec center to grab a bottle of water from the small fridge kept there. She took a few gulps before continuing. "By the time I managed to get around her, the other three Titans had already split, and since I had no idea where they were heading I decided to come here."
"Woah, dude," the boy exclaimed as he came across the soaked cloak of Brave. "You really worked up a sweat."
"Only way to train, am I right?" she replied, holding up a hand for a high-five as the two Titans approached. Beast Boy indulged her, and Brave sent her cloak flying back to her with a careless flick of the wrist. "Anyways, guess it's time for me to head on back home. Maybe next time Raven lets us out to play, we can do a little one-on-one sparring."
He was saved from having to formulate a reply as the blue cloak was swept open and the Green Raven disappeared inside with a little wave and a big grin. As soon as Brave had be reabsorbed, Raven told Beast Boy, "I need to meditate now," before shifting into her soul-self, the black silhouette-ish form a raven, and flying upwards to her room. The changeling was left staring at the ceiling where she'd disappeared, and thinking off all the different parts of Raven, and how even though she needed all her emotions in order to be whole, it seemed she didn't need them in order to live.
Raven took the now unsplintered pane of glass beside her pillow and set it back into the mirror. Folding her legs, she cleared her mind as the mirror levitated into position in front of her. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos."
With those three words, a black hand surrounded by red energy burst forth from the glass, enveloping her in a tight grip before pulling her soul-self into the mirror and into her mind. Her body stayed behind, levitating above the bed as her soul spun round the red and black vortex until she gently landed on the stone ground, now appearing as her ordinary self. Raven swiftly traveled to the rocky plains surrounding the Forbidden Door, coming to the gathering spot where she quickly summoned her emoticlones. One by one they appeared, still wired from their trip to the outside, and she spoke above the din to Love. "Why did you grab me when I was leaving, Love?"
"Because sometimes you have to face your feelings, Raven," the purple-cloaked girl replied as the others quieted down. "You can't keep us buried so deeply; we've all been to Knowledge's library and know how that played out with Timid." [5]
"Tell the other Titans I'm sorry about that again," the gray emoticlone piped up shyly.
"But you are all dangerous," the sorceress argued, ignoring the vicious grin Rage sent her way at those words. "And you've proven the danger in your strength, Love, when you managed to leave with me through the Forbidden Door and disrupt my mental state so that it splintered."
"I beg to differ." The Yellow Raven straightened her glasses before continuing her explanation. "Keeping us repressed in not the same as keeping us under control, and your denial of Love's existence—or, at the least, a large part of her—is what led to the fracturing of your mind. You know that, Raven, just as I know that."
"Why are you trying to deny me, anyway?" Love huffed, crossing her arms as she glared at her blue counterpart. "Are you that scared?"
"Yes," Timid said meekly, and Brave shook her head and muttered to herself underneath her cloak.
Raven gritted her teeth and managed to speak through them. "Feeling too much is dangerous, no matter what the emotion is. Just because Trigon has been banished from this realm doesn't mean his influence is gone. My powers are and will always be bound to you...emoticlones, and that is why I must constantly keep them in check. So I can't go falling in love with people!"
Outside of Nevermore, in Raven's room, another pottery mask broke. Inside both mirror and mind, the Purple Raven was still arguing. "But you can't help who you fall in love with, and in this case it's been a long time coming. You always found him attractive, and that's exactly why you always tried to keep him at a distance by snarking on his jokes and actions all the time."
"They really aren't that funny," Rude interrupted with a loud snort.
"My point," Love stressed. "Is that you can't deny it, and to deny is more dangerous than to accept. After all, with love comes emotional harmony, which is the goal you want to achieve. A perfectly balanced state that would allow you to feel more 'freely', like with Malchior." [6]
Rage hissed, her eyes burning red, and Knowledge said, "Not the wisest example to use, Love."
"It doesn't matter what examples you use." Raven sighed, closing her eyes for a moment before opening them one more. "I may be in love—and I'm not saying I am—but that doesn't mean I have to act on it."
"Ah, don't give us that sorry excuse!" the Green Raven said as she wrenched back her hood, violet eyes fierce. "You're just afraid of rejection, aren't ya, Timid?"
"Maybe," came the slightly scared reply.
Brave threw her arms into the air. "See?! Why can't you just woman up, be more me, and tell him how you feel?"
"Plus, I'm not so sure—meaning you're not so sure—that he doesn't like you, after that almost kiss between us." A purple hood was pushed back to reveal eyes that were darker in shade and whose plea was obvious. "Why don't you at least try?"
"Too hard," Sloth said, burping in tandem with Rude. Fixing a wedgie, the brown-cloaked girl continued with, "Isn't the guy supposed to make the first move?"
"I'm sure he did when he first met us!" Love yelled, pulling her hair in frustration. "But the boy's bound to give up if we not only show no interest but show disinterest as well!"
Speaking for the first time, Rage grumbled, "Terra."
"That's right! She came in and scooped him up because we weren't trying to land him; plus, you didn't feel as strongly about him as you have ever since the incident with the unnameable dragon."
"I do concede that Love has a point," Knowledge agreed, making the Purple Raven jump up and down in happiness—or, in this case, with Happy. "I think that the smartest thing to do would be to try and open up more to all of our friends like we have been, find more ways to express ourselves without losing control. With Trigon gone, it should be much easier."
"Don't forget to chain me up, too." Rage stepped forward, and all the other emoticlones immediately backed off. "What happens when you actually 'land the guy', Raven? What happens if he gets hurt and you let me loose? What happens then?"
Timid stuttered, "T-that doesn't s-sound very good a-at all."
"It doesn't matter now—all that I care about is returning you back to your domains." And with that, Raven flew out of the forbidden door and back into her body. Setting her mirror away on her occult pyramid with her powers, she finally began to concentrate on some real meditation, shifting her emotions into their proper nooks as she muttered slowly, "Azarath Metrion Zinthos. Azarath Metrion Zinthos. Azarath Metrion—"
A knock on the door disrupted her, and she ground her teeth before walking over and inching it open just enough so that she could see who stood outside. It was none other than Beast Boy. "What."
"Hey, Raven," he began nervously. "So, the other Titans are still out dealing with the H.I.V.E. Five, and I know I get lonely, and even though you probably don't get lonely I was still thinking that maybe you'd like to hang out since there's no one else and you've been meditating for, like, half an hour and—"
"Wait," she interrupted, frowning slightly. "It's been half an hour?"
Beast Boy blushed slightly and scratched his head. "Well, more like five minutes, but it's felt like forever."
"You know I spend hours doing this, Beast Boy."
"Yeah, but you do it around people sometimes, right? So maybe you could just keep me company."
Raven's eyes widened. "You really want some creepy girl lurking around while you do...whatever it is you do?"
"I don't want 'some creepy girl', Rae," he protested gently. "I want you."
Her heart thumped, but she kept her face impassive as she replied, "Not much of a difference, but I guess I'll join you since you probably wouldn't stop pestering me if I don't."
"We don't have to hang out if you don't want to."
She finally opened the door completely as she unthinkingly stretched out one hand to touch his forehead. "Are you feeling alright? Because you're talking crazy."
Beast Boy's skin felt warm, but not unusually so. He coughed nervously, and she quickly removed her hand. Rubbing the back of his neck with a sheepish grin, he told her, "I never wanted you to feel like you didn't have a choice in hanging out with me and the rest of us. I...just always wanted you to actually choose me. Us! I meant us."
"Oh," was all she could say in surprise. "That was surprisingly understanding of you, Beast Boy."
That fang she knew too well poked out as his face lit up. "Yeah, well, I think I get why you hide your emotions better now, how you have to keep them under control because of your powers. But you told be there were two ways that you could become the White Raven, right?"
Raven's lips thinned slightly as Timid whispered, Uh oh. "It's only when I can briefly harness all my emotions for a more ultimate power."
"What about with Malchior?"
Her eyes narrowed. "He was teaching me stronger spells."
Beast Boy's eyes narrowed a tiny bit as well. "That's only one way, Raven. You said there were two."
"I must have misspoken."
"I have heightened animal senses, and you're not doing a good job of lying. What are you so afraid of?"
"I'm not afraid!" she lied fiercely, shirking back as she tried not to panic. "I just need to meditate now."
"But Raven—!"
"Alone."
The door between them closed. Beast Boy hung his head in disappointment, not realizing that on the other side, Raven stood with her hand pressed against the door while a whirlwind of papers spun around her as in Nevermore Love howled. She waited until she could no longer feel the changeling's emotional turmoil before finally turning away to begin meditating once more.
Down the hall within his room, the green teen was trying to figure out why he felt so frustrated by how the sorceress had avoided answering his questions. Was Malchior still that much of a sore subject for her? And why did that thought make him so angry? Glancing at his closet, he changed into a fly, zipping underneath the door frame to make it inside without having its contents spill out. Morphing back to his human shape, he stared at the wall Knowledge had been examining—or more specifically, at one of the photos taped to it.
He touched the young woman's image, tracing the outline of her blue eyes. "I wish you were here right now," Beast Boy said aloud even though he knew he was only talking to ghosts. "I could really use some help figuring stuff out."
There was no reply, not from her. But maybe someone who knew him just as well could help.
Reaching behind another picture, he removed the glove from his right hand and pressed it against the panel embedded into the plaster, lowering his arm at the sound of a click and allowing it to swing open. A circular purple-gray device lay inside the tiny compartment, which he picked up after putting his glove back on.
Opening the closet door, Beast Boy groaned as the pile he had gone through such lengths to keep inside spilled out. Ignoring the mess for now, he sat on the lower bunk and flipped open the Doom Comm to call that someone.
It rang for several moments before a gentle feminine voice answered, "Garfield?"
"Hey, Mom."
Thousands of miles away in Midway City, Rita Farr Dayton—aka the Doom Patroller Elasti-Girl—smiled at how he'd addressed her. "Been a while since you last called. What's bugging you, kiddo?"
"Well," Beast Boy sighed and looked down at her image on the screen with a shy smile, "it's about this girl…"
Alright, it's the end of episode one! Tell me what you guys think, and don't be afraid to be honest; just be helpful if you're being negative. Here's the short summary for the next episode:
Episode Two: "A Titan's Daughter" - It's up to the Teen Titans to help a heroine named Nightstar get back to the future before she messes up the past.
Those of you who've heard of Nightstar from the original DC comics can probably infer what's going to happen. I bid you adieu until then! :)
[1] Reference to the episode "Haunted"
[2] Reference to the episode "Nevermore"
[3] It was only undisputed because no one else was around at the time.
[4] Reference to the episode "Switched"
[5] Reference to the episode "Fear Itself"
[6] Reference to the episode "Spellbound"