Chapter Two: Definitely not in Kansas
"Turn! Turn!" Raven yelled to Robin. The two Titans were running at full blast away from the edge of the time conduit. In fact, they had been running from it for hours on end, not that that would seem to matter in a time portal. The portal was closing behind them and looking ready to… what? Erase them from time?
"I'm turning, I'm turning!" he shouted back.
Unfortunately, Robin turned upwards. Raven felt like she was in one of Mad Mod's arenas. How could Robin turn up, especially in time?
Still, she followed him, hoping that he knew something she didn't. The two Titans were approaching what looked like an exit, anyway. Raven was racking up a long list of people to revenge herself on, starting with Beast Boy for having a tofu obsession, Cyborg for being too weak to handle a mild case of starvation, Robin for obeying gravity and landing on her, Warp…
As she contemplated what terrible tortures she would wreak, Robin pulled her through the exit. Surprisingly, no complication arose from leaving the portal; they popped out and the time tunnel sealed itself away. It was nighttime. They were outside Titans Tower, but the building was darkened. Across the bay, Jump City glimmered, its tall buildings lit up sporadically. A crescent moon hung in the sky. The water trickled. All seemed normal. Raven didn't like it.
"It seems too normal," Robin whispered.
"Yeah. Titans Tower being this dark is way too normal," Raven said, rolling her eyes. Robin looked at her.
"No smart comments. Titans!"
"Look. I'm the only one here. You don't have to say that."
Robin sighed. "Fine. Let's look in the tower."
"It is a fact, friend Cyborg."
Cyborg wasn't listening. "I can't… believe… I had tofu." His expression was a mix between disbelief and terrible fear.
"I didn't have tofu. You're joking," he said.
"Can't you, like, run a molecunalar test on your vomit and check, if you're so paranoid?"
"Well, maybe I will!"
The three remaining Titans sat in the operations room having a council of war. Starfire lounged on the sofa while Beast Boy and Cyborg sat by the viewscreen. Cyborg got up and spooned some vomit onto a slide, then walked out. A few minutes later, they heard an anguished cry from a couple rooms down. Starfire gasped.
"Cyborg!"
"No way," Cyborg said, hitting open the door. "This is all a bad dream. I'm about to wake up."
"You are?" Starfire asked. There was a beat of silence as Cyborg pinched himself.
"No, I guess not," he sighed. "Well, it's not like it can get any worse."
The alarm rang.
Inside, the Tower was also dark and still. Robin turned on his Bat-light. Raven saw the light and her lip curled.
"Why do you call that thing a Bat-light? Why not just call it a flashlight like a normal person?"
Robin scowled. "What exactly do you know about normal people?"
Another deep silence fell. Robin looked around, fidgeting. The place seemed well-kept despite the eerie emptiness. Everything was as orderly as he could hope for.
"Uh… maybe they're on another floor," he said. Raven glared at him and walked to the elevator. They searched up through the ninth floor without saying another word. On the tenth, Robin spoke up.
"Raven?"
Icy glare.
"I, uh… I'm sorry I said that. It's my knee-jerk corny villain one-liner reaction. You know how it is."
"No, I don't," she said.
"You've done it before, I'm sure of it."
"I'm usually more the muttered sarcastic comment type."
"Irregardless…"
"The word is regardless. There's no such word as 'irregardless,'" Raven said. "And regardless, I accept your apology. Can we go now?"
Robin nodded and smiled at her. That was a mistake. She looked coldly at him and went into the elevator. He followed her in. Some acceptance.
"To the roof, then," he said.
They emerged into the cool night, and—
"Surprise!" came from above, along with a loud roar. Raven and Robin whirled.
A green dragon with the silhouette of a rider on it came sweeping towards them, and a blast of green energy erupted from it.
The alarm was still ringing. The three Titans were frozen in heroic positions. Starfire raised one arm and hovered. Beast Boy scowled and gave what he felt was a roguish grin. Cyborg raised his sonic cannon and filled his lungs for a "Booyah!"
And they stayed there.
The alarm continued to give an awkward wail.
Still, no "Titans, go!" was forthcoming.
"Aw, hell," Cyborg said. "Let's go!"
But it just wasn't the same.
Raven formed a protective shield to deflect the massive energy bolt, but it wasn't aimed at them. Instead, it hit a point off to their right, setting off a display of fireworks. At the same time, the dragon transformed into Beast Boy, Starfire jumped out from under him, the glow around her hands fading from the bolt she'd just thrown, and Cyborg jumped off, grinning.
Raven looked at them. They were all the Titans she knew—her friends—yet there was something different about them—Beast Boy looked taller, Cyborg looked somehow more advanced, and Starfire, well, she mostly looked the same. Beast Boy ran up to her, holding a purple box. He gave it to her and hugged her tightly. She pushed him off, and he looked confused, but carried on.
"Happy birthday, Rae!" he said. "Hey, I thought you stopped wearing that cloak."
"What?" she said. Rae? I am not Rae.
Starfire was looking intently at Robin, confused.
"Robin? How did you get over there?" she asked. "Weren't you near the fireworks station?"
Raven started. Did she just use a contraction? Something really is wrong.
Robin looked bewildered. "I've been standing here with Raven the whole time, Star."
Then, another Robin bounded up onto the roof. His hair was swept backwards similarly, but he was wearing a darker and sleeker costume. Also he was a bit taller and rather handsomer—if that was what you were into, anyway, Raven thought. Sorry," he said. "Oh, did I miss it? Happy birthday, Rae."
Then his glance fell upon the other Robin, and his bo staff came whirling out. "What is that?" he shouted.
Robin looked at himself. There was a sudden, uncomfortable silence. Then, a white-cloaked Raven emerged onto the roof, calling, "Guys?" She saw them all and her eyes widened. "Uh…"
The past Raven looked at the white-cloaked one and sighed. "As if this wasn't complicated enough before."
Beast Boy still looked confused. The white-cloaked Raven clarified.
"They're from an alternate dimension."
