Mind Reader
Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans. And this chapter contains some of the graphic imagery that makes this story M-rated. Read with caution. Horror-movie fans enjoy the gore.
Chapter 2,
That night Beast Boy went to his room and fell asleep the same time Raven did (per Cyborg's instructions) and immediately, a nightmare started to form all. The world around him was dark, almost black and white as he saw a hooded figure approaching him.
The hooded figure was Raven and Beast Boy smiled as he ran up to her. "Hey, Raven, how's it going?" He asked stopping in front of her. She didn't respond and kept walking towards him. Beast Boy held his hands up for protection as he waited for her to punch or kick him. Instead he felt a cold rush of air that made his stomach do summersaults. He lowered his hands and saw that Raven was no longer in front of him.
She was standing behind Beast Boy and was staring at him… no not at him… around him. Suddenly he realized that Raven could not see or hear him, but she did feel him when she walked through him.
After Raven looked around for another moment, she sighed and continued her original course. Beast Boy was truly in Raven's dream but he couldn't interfere with what her mind had planned. He followed the purple-haired beauty, who had slowed her pace to look around. Beast Boy noticed that this was indeed Jump City, as he saw several of the Titans favorite places, but they were all run down.
The top-half of the pizza parlor was laying on its side next to its bottom-half; the movie theater and the video store had its windows broken from multiple thieves; and there was a pile of rubble with a Neon sign that said 'The Dark Side of the Moon'. Raven stopped when she saw this. "Oh, no, not my café." Raven moaned to herself. Beast Boy knew that the café was one of the few places that Raven truly enjoyed to spend time in. Beast Boy felt a wave of sadness that was so strong that he felt like crying. He looked up and saw that Raven's eyes were swelling up until a tear fell down her right cheek. At this moment Beast Boy felt a tear run down his right cheek and lifted his hand to wipe the tear away but it stayed on his face. It stayed on his face until Raven wiped her solitary tear off her face and then Beast Boy understood. He was going to feel everything Raven felt when she dreamed.
An ear-piercing scream caused both of them to jump and start running towards the sound. Raven stopped when she saw Slade towering over her. "Hello Raven. It sure is good to see you. I was beginning to think that you were going to miss out on the fun your friends have been having." Slade said making both of the Titans eye the size of saucers. "What do you mean?" Raven asked nervously. "Well Raven, being the daughter of a demon, and therefore being half-demon, I think that you will appreciate what I have been doing." Slade said with a wicked laugh. Beast Boy felt as if sharp needles exploded with him as Slade said this.
"Well Raven, I'll show you how excited your friends are. Heck, I'll even give you a choice on who you see first." Slade said and without hesitation Raven shouted "Beast Boy! Show me that Beast Boy is still alive!" The green changeling took a step at her outburst. He never would have thought that Raven could have possibly picked him over anyone else. "Sorry, little demon, I'm saving Beast Boy for last, but I will tell you that none of your friends are dead even if they probably want to die right now. Pick someone other than Beast Boy and I will show you them." Slade said casually. A name popped into Beast Boy's head as Raven said "Robin." Slade place a hand on Raven's chin. "I'm so glad that you chose him first." Slade practically purred as a light above, turned on.
The light revealed a wheezing figure in hidden in a wheelchair, and Slade held Raven's shoulder's as an invisible force pushed the wheelchair towards them. "I had the pleasure of doing this by myself. Yes, it is much more gruesome then I would normally be, but hey, anything for Trigon's daughter." Slade said as Beast Boy stood next to the two of them. The Titans both gasped as the mutilated image came into view. Robin's wheezing was the first thing that they had heard but that was not the worst thing that had happened. Robin's legs were cut at the knee, all ten of his fingers were gone, his hair had been shaved and the top of his head was cut off – exposing his brain which had pieces missing, his ears were gone and his mask was off – revealing two holes where his eyes should be.
"ROBIN! How Could You Do This Slade?!" Raven asked with obvious anger. "I did it with much joy in my heart, Raven. Let's move on to Starfire shall we." Slade said pulling her away from the mangled boy. "Oh, by the way, we satirized his wounds so you can't heal him." Slade added making both Titans eyes swell up with even more tears. Another skylight appeared out of nowhere and revealed a bubble prison and with hesitation both Titans looked in. Starfire was laying on her back in a pool of her own blood, her eyes were bright green as her hands twitched in small green orbs. "Star! What's wrong with her?" Raven cried out. "Ah, well, young Starfire has nine stomachs so we filled eight of them with hot lead. They cooled and she tried to fly away but her stomachs practically ripped out of her. This bubble is providing her with enough nutrients for her to get her strength back and try again. I think she will try three more times before her stomachs fall out of her." Slade said as Raven gazed at her tortured friend. Beast Boy looked at Raven and wanted to shake her out of the dream but he couldn't actually touch her here.
"Moving on to Cyborg." Slade said forcing Raven to turn around as another light turned on. Cyborg's human parts where gone and his metal body was slowly being ripped apart by two large magnets. She stared at the glitching man as random words were electronically stated and sparks flew off his body. Raven wiped her eyes before the tears fell and turned to Slade.
"Where is Beast Boy?" She asked bravely, despite her fear. "Ah, yes, Beast Boy. The same Beast Boy who cares for you and always tries to make you smile or laugh? That Beast Boy?" Slade said with a menacing tone, and Raven nodded her head. "Well, I am sorry to tell you this, but THAT Beast Boy is dead. Don't fret though, because THIS Beast Boy is still alive." Slade said snapping his fingers to turn on the last light. Beast Boy was chained to the wall and his Doom Patrol uniform had been nearly shredded off his body. He had several cuts that were still bleeding and he had throw up covering the front of his body, which was infecting his deep wounds.
Raven gasped and didn't even try to cover the heavy tears that finally fell down her face. "He was trying to escape by turning into an animal, so every time he did we cut him with a machete, which was fun. Then once he was weak enough we decided to lengthen the mental torture of your green friend. Have you noticed Raven that all of your other friends have one thing in common?" Slade asked and Raven looked back at the tortured souls, then shook her head. "I had a feeling as though I would have to explain it to your insignificant mind. But I will give you a hint since this is not obvious on Starfire and Beast Boy" Slade said as he held up a green tail. Raven gasped and took a step back in disgusted realization. Beast Boy knew that the green tail had been cut off from one of his animal forms but he still could not figure out what they all had in common. "Ah, you seem to understand, demon girl. But just to make sure that your silly mind is catching up, I will spell it out for you." Slade said, making Raven growl at having it explained to her, despite the fact that she understood.
"Robin is missing his legs, fingers, eyes, ears, the top of his head and part of his brain; Starfire has lead in eight of her stomachs and the ninth stomach has been removed; then there is Cyborg who is no longer a Cyborg because his human parts are gone; and then there is Beast Boy, who doesn't have much to wag about anymore." Slade paused to wiggle the disgustingly limp tail in her face. "Now that you see the common thread, you can possibly imagine what your vegetarian friend's torture was." Slade said as he walked over to the dream Beast Boy and Raven turned away.
The real Beast Boy stared in horror, and even though he couldn't see everything that was happening, he could hear a lot. After Beast Boy heard himself scream and get gagged, Slade resumed his spot next to Raven, without the green tail. The dream Beast Boy had tears running down his face and he began to heave heavily. "Always with this. You would think that after eating so much of his friends that eating his own tail, that was roughly three inches long, wouldn't cause him to freak out and throw up." Slade said in a bored tone and sure enough the dream Beast Boy threw up all over himself then whimpered at the pain he felt. The real Beast Boy shuddered in disgust as he noticed that his cheeks were cold so he looked at Raven and saw how much she had been crying. All of a sudden, all four of the tortured souls were in front of Raven, all staring angrily at her.
"This…" Robin wheezed.
"…Is…" Starfire whispered.
"Your, your, your." Cyborg said as he glitched.
"Fault" the dream Beast Boy said weakly. Raven took a step back hearing these words.
"Your fault." The four dream Titans said in unison.
The real Beast Boy had enough of this, Raven walked through him and felt him and maybe that is enough to wake her from this awful dream. He lunged at Raven, but she took a step back causing him to miss her and fall hard on the ground. The dream Titans had started to chant 'your fault' over and over again with the dream Beast Boy glaring daggers at her. Raven hugged herself hard and didn't even notice that she was digging her short nails into her arms.
"Oh, little demon princess, are you not happy?" Fine, then I will make the noise stop." Slade said and without hesitation, pulled a gun out and shot Robin's head. "NO!" Raven screamed as she rushed over to the dead boy wonder. Slade quickly walked over to Starfire and turned off her air bubble and turned Cyborg's magnets on high. Starfire choked for only a moment before closing her eyes forever and Cyborg instantly got ripped to shreds. Raven fell to her knees from the emotional pain that she was feeling. Slade started to make his way over to dream Beast Boy who was still chanting and glaring.
"Wait, Slade, don't hurt him." Raven begged as Slade took out a hunting knife. "Dear, sweet, demon girl, why on earth should I spare his life when he either hates you or fears you?" Slade said as he placed the hunting knife on Beast Boy's throat. Raven blinked heavy tears out of her eyes and unto her face. "He doesn't hate me. Raven whimpered and at that moment the real Beast Boy had recovered from his fall and started running towards Raven. "That's where your wrong. I do hate you, Raven." Dream Beast Boy said, before Slade started to slice his throat open.
The real Beast Boy, however, turned into a ram and successfully hit Raven, causing both Titans to wake up with a start. "Beast Boy" he heard Raven say loudly and then he heard rushed footstep approaching and entering his room. Raven ran straight over to Beast Boy's bed and started examining his chest, arms, and neck. "Whoa, whoa, what are you doing?" Beast Boy asked surprised at her actions but not the reason for them.
After a moment she signed and looked up at the confused boy. "I apologize, I had a bad dream." Raven stated as she noticed how fast her breathing was and began calming down. "What was your nightmare about?" Beast Boy said nervously, wondering how much detail she would recall just for him. Beast Boy waited for an answer as he studied Raven's face which couldn't be covered since she was in PJ's and Beast Boy could see in the dark.
"What do we tell him?" he heard Raven say without moving her lips.
"Why don't we tell him about another nightmare we had. We searched his body so let's tell him about the volcano dream" he heard Raven say, again her lips not moving, this time Beast Boy's eyes widened as he told every fiber of his being to stay quiet. Raven sat on his bed and sighed. "Basically, my father came back and we were fighting him, but eventually he grabbed us all one by one and threw us into a volcano. I came in here to see that you were ok. I wanted to see that you weren't hurt." Raven said with moving lips.
"Will he know that we are lying?"
"It's not a complete lie"
"But there are lies in there"
"Shut up, Timid, your giving me a headache!"
"(crying)"
"Way to go Rage, make this whole situation worse."
Hearing this conversation made Beast Boy very, very nervous because he realized what was happening. Cyborg's medicine did help him see Raven's terrible dream, but the side effect was that Beast Boy could now read Raven's mind.