I apologize for the delay in updating. School started about two weeks ago, and I had to find time to dedicate to writing. My updates might still be a little delayed, but I'll try to keep up. Hope you enjoy!
"Please, friend Rude, would you perhaps like to try my meal?" Starfire asked, holding out a bowl of squirming alien food for the emotion to taste. Rude took one look at the meal, and, with a roll of her eyes, snorted.
"Yah, 'cause I wanna vomit and/or die. No," the emotion stressed after seeing Starfire's confused expression. "I don't have any desire to even touch that garbage." Rude sniffed the air above the food and then leaned far away. "Gah, you wantin' to poison me or what?! No way am I tryin' that slop of yours. You'd have better luck gettin' me to swallow a dirty sock."
Despite the emotions disheartening response, Starfire wasn't too disappointed; she knew that she was speaking with Raven's rude side, so it was only natural for the emotion to act impolite as that was the only way she knew how to behave. The alien girl just wished Happy had been around long enough for her to eat the bizarre meal like she'd promised to do. Starfire placed her dish in the refrigerator for later, and then glided over to Robin and Cyborg who were both sitting at the kitchen table with deflated expressions.
All of the Titans had been trying to deal with Rude for the past fifteen or so minutes and were not doing a very good job with it. None of the team would deny that they were desperately hoping another emotion would take the place of Rude, and soon. So far, the girl had beaten every one of Cyborg and Beast Boy's video games, drank all the soda in the Titan's possession –which hadn't helped with her burping problem- and insulted the other teenagers the entire time. At the moment she was flicking aimlessly through television channels, making irritating comments about each of the advertisements. Cyborg had considered another confrontation, but Robin reminded him that it couldn't be long until Rude left and another emotion took her place. The robotic teenager had been counting the seconds since then.
Starfire lowered herself to the seat beside her friends, sighing. "Please friends, do you think that friend Beast Boy has yet located Raven in her mind mirror?"
"I want to say yes, Star; I really do," Robin responded, fiddling with his gloves in a bored manner. "I'm actually praying that he has, but it seems unlikely. We've probably got a while before he gets back."
"So that means we've got to be stuck with little Miss 'WishYouWereMeDon'tcha' for a while," Cyborg muttered. He glanced at the clock. "Seven minutes and twenty-two seconds. Twenty-three…twenty-four…"
Starfire was confused. "What is it that you are counting, friend Cyborg?"
Cyborg grunted. "Twenty-six… The amount of time that has passed since Robin told me it wouldn't be 'too long until another emotion takes Rude's place'. Once I reach ten minutes, I'm considering knocking Rude out with one of Robin's little gas gadgets." Subconsciously, Robin's hand went to his belt, and Cyborg grinned. "Just kiddin'. But then again, it might make me feel better in the long run."
Rude suddenly whipped around from her spot on the couch, having heard his last comment. "Oh yah, wise guy?! I'd like to see you try it!"
Cyborg jumped to his feet, ready to take his irritation out on her. "Bring it on!"
Rude stood, pulling up her imaginary sleeves. "I say that it'll take me less than two minutes to take you down and kick your-." She cut off, her arms dropping limply to her sides and a familiar vacant look in her eye. Cyborg threw his hands to the air.
"YES! FINALLY!" he exclaimed. His teammates lifted their eyebrows at him, and the robotic teenager caught their expressions. "What? It's about time she switched! Honestly, even if Rage showed up right now I wouldn't care as long as I never have to deal with Rude again!" Cyborg paused, thinking about what he just said. "Well… okay, I would care if it was Rage, but you know what I mean." His friends were saved from having to respond by a shift from Raven's body. The girl shook her head, her mouth already moving before she seemed aware of her surroundings.
"Come on now, Timid, it's not that hard! You just take a breath, walk forward, and-!" The emotion blinked, and then she lit up. "It's my turn already?! Awesome!" she exclaimed, pumping a fist in the air excitedly. Her eyes landed on Cyborg first, and the emotion flew over to him. "Yo, whatzzup Cy?! Run into any more statues that you need saving from lately?" she asked, smirking as she elbowed him meaningfully.
Cyborg studied her, a smile crossing his face. "Let me guess: Brave?"
Brave rolled her eyes. "No, I'm Rage." She held her hands out in a mocking "scary" manner similar to a look that people used when pretending they were zombies. "Rarr, I'm Rage. I hate everything. Rarr." This made everyone laugh a little, even though her comment wasn't terribly funny. Brave was a nice relief from Rude.
"I'm so glad you're not Rude anymore," Cyborg grinned, placing a hand on her shoulder.
"You guys had to deal with Rude already?" Brave asked, pulling back her hood. She wasn't one who liked to stay concealed behind the shadow the cloth created; she didn't have it in her personality to hide. "Yikes, that one is more trouble than she's worth in my opinion. But forget her!" Brave dismissed brightly. "Let's go do something fun! I totally want to have a video game match with you Cy, and Robin, let's have a sparring match later. Star can be on your team since you'll need the help to beat me," she added daringly. Robin lifted an eyebrow, curious despite himself. It was rare the team saw Raven so bold, and he wondered how it might affect her while sparring.
"Sounds like a plan," the leader smiled.
Brave smirked like Robin had no idea what he'd just agreed to. "Great! Let's get a move on then-." She was suddenly drowned out by the blaring of an alarm, and all the Titans glanced at each other. Robin quickly approached the computer, and, tapping on it, read the reason for the distress signal.
"There's a break-in at the bank," he stated. "It's Control Freak." The teenager looked at Brave who was hovering over his shoulder with noticeable interest. "I don't think it would be a good idea for you to go out into the city, Brave. We don't know what would happen if-."
"Are you kidding?!" Brave exclaimed, her eyes alight with excitement. "This is even better than fighting you guys! I don't have to worry about accidentally hurting the team and I get to put a bad guy in jail! I'm coming with," she added sternly at Robin's skepticism. "You can't stop me; you know that, right?"
Cyborg, remembering just how good Brave was at kicking butt, placed a large hand on his leader's shoulder. "Let her come with, man. This is an 'once-in-a-lifetime chance' remember? Besides," he lowered his voice, "Brave doesn't care if you want her to join us; she would come with anyway. It's better to bring her with so she doesn't run off on her own, and this way we can keep an eye on her."
Nodding, Robin sighed. "Alright, Brave can come."
"Sweet!" Brave grinned, rubbing her hands. "I can't wait! Race you to the T-car!" In a flash, she flew out the doors, her purple cape a streak of speed. Her team members were quick to follow the girl, and within minutes they all sat in the T-car, driving to the scene of the crime.
The team pulled up quickly to the entrance of the bank, each jumping out quickly, especially Brave who was more than excited to fight while in charge of Raven's body. She usually had influence during battles against enemies and criminals when Raven brawled, but Brave's abilities were always suppressed out of fear that Raven's powers could go wild. Now though, Brave didn't have to worry about any of that. Her powers couldn't get out of hand because she couldn't feel anything other than courage.
The Titans were just about to burst in through the doors of the bank when they were stopped by Control Freak himself strolling out of the front with bags of money slung over his shoulder, his black and red remote control shoved into his right pocket. He stopped short in front of the teenage heroes, quickly hiding the surprise on his face with a grin. "Well, if it isn't the Teenage Titans."
"What kind of a bad guy walks out the front doors of a bank right after robbing it? That's just bad planning." Brave snorted before anyone else could speak, crossing her arms from where she floated a few feet in the air beside Starfire. "What do you plan to do with all that money anyway? Buy useless stuff that you've already blown all your money on?" Control Freak seemed taken aback by her forwardness, as asking such a question was uncharacteristic of Raven. Little did he know, but he was not technically dealing with the dark sorceress.
"Err… well… yes," the villain admitted under his breath, "but that's not the point! This money is certain to bring me many riches!"
"Isn't that rhetorical?" Brave smirked, lifting an eyebrow.
"Uh-! I… Ye-…? Uh, that is-?"
"Put the money back and give yourself up, Control Freak," Robin interrupted the criminal, positioning his staff in a defensive position. "You know we've always beaten you in the past; that's not going to change."
Control Freak's expression cleared from the confused look he wore to one of confidence. "I wouldn't count on that, Boy Blunder. You see, I-."
Brave interrupted again with a groan. "Seriously, I never knew we wasted so much time talking to villains! He's not going to give himself up, so let's just do this!" Brave lifted a glowing hand in Control Freak's direction, and a streak of black power zipped towards the squat man. With a jolt of surprise, the villain fell to the ground and Brave's magic only barely missed him.
"Whoa!" Control Freak cried in alarm, falling onto the remote that was sticking out of his pocket. A red beam shot forward and was absorbed by a pair of lampposts nearby. The objects came to life, shaking their lights as if they were heads and opening yellow two eyes that looked like bulbs which all set on Brave. An eager grin lit up the girl's face as the streetlights detached from the ground, growing metal arms as they did so, and lumbered toward her.
"That's more like it!" Brave exclaimed, clenching her fists. The first streetlamp swung its strange arm -which was really just a metal pole- at Brave and the team. The Titans split apart, and the arm crashed down, cracking the cement.
Robin slid over the ground, stopping in a crouched position. "Teen Titans-!" he began, but before the leader could finish his signature phrase, Brave flew past him and collided into one of the lampposts with glowing arms.
"Go!" she exclaimed, grinning. The magic about her fists connected with the place the stomach would be, and the streetlight hurtled backwards. The other lamppost moved forward, swinging at Brave from behind, but the girl easily ducked, sweeping her leg in an arc as she stooped down. The lamppost, while not knocked over, was unbalanced, and Brave took advantage of the situation and leapt in the air. With a spinning kick, she cracked her foot against the head-light, breaking the glass. The monster fell to the ground defeated and inanimate once more.
The rest of the team was currently engaged in battle with a trashcan and tree that Control Freak had zapped with his remote control while the teenagers were distracted by the lampposts. A few feet from the mêlée, the villain was tapping his chin. "Hm… I just realized you're minus one in number. Where's the green one at?"
"Hah!"
Control Freak looked over at Brave who was now standing on the top of another defeated lamppost, dusting herself off. "He's busy," she smirked, and then clenched her fists eagerly. "Kind of like you're about to be." She floated into the air, slowly making her way toward the villain. It was a reckless move, but she wanted to savor defeating her first real villain all by herself.
Control Freak chuckled with obvious uncertainty, nervously fingering his remote. "Oh really?"
Brave nodded. "Yep." She suddenly flew at Control Freak, her eyes shimmering with power. However, the villain's tense expression relaxed into confidence, and, with a smirk, he aimed at Brave and pressed a button on his remote. A bolt of electricity jumped from the device, catching the girl in the blast. With a shout, Brave collapsed to the ground.
"Friend!" Starfire exclaimed, swooping into the air. After a quick, accurate eye blast into the trash can she was fighting, the alien girl dropped beside Brave. "Are you alright?" she asked, reaching a hand out to the emotion. Brave's head jerked up, and she threw her arms up, palms out, and conjured a black shield in front of them just in time to deflect another shot from Control Freak's remote. Starfire looked to Brave. "Please friend Brave, are you feeling alright?"
To her astonishment, Brave was smiling. "Never better." She rose to her feet. "It'll take more than that to bring me down."
"But-!" Starfire protested. "You should not fight if you are injured! Are you not hurt?"
Again, a knowing grin showed on Brave's face. "Not for long. The other emotions are taking care of it." While Starfire was busy being confused, Brave ricocheted another attack from Control Freak. The man, seeing how the tree he'd zapped was almost defeated by Robin and Cyborg, and that the uncharacteristic Raven seemed unaffected, whipped his head around, searching for something that could be a dangerous –or at least distracting– object to bring to life that would buy enough time for him to escape. Out of the corner of his eye, Control Freak noticed Brave approaching, and the squat man panicked, shooting the first thing he laid eyes on, which happened to be the sign above the bank.
Four, large, plastic letters jumped down from above the Titans, all wearing menacing scowls. Robin and Cyborg had just defeated the tree, and turning around, were greeted with the sight of the white A and N bearing down on them. As the two recovered from their surprise and began fighting, Brave looked to Starfire, who was facing the letters B and K. "You've got this, right?" Starfire nodded, her hands lighting up with starbolts. "Awesome," Brave grinned, cracking her knuckles. "Control Freak's mine." She melted into the ground, pulling up her hood as she did.
Control Freak was trying to slowly sneak away from the battle scenes with his bags of money as silent as possible, and was now regretting his decision to have grabbed a bag filled with coins that jingled with every step he took. However, his distraction seemed to have worked, and the man was about to start running when Brave emerged from the sidewalk right in front of him, her eyes glowing white. "Hello, Control Freak. Trying to go somewhere, I see."
Control Freak swallowed.
Smirking, Brave outstretched her hand, and the remote in the villain's hand was encased in black. It flew in the air, and then as the girl clenched her hand into a fist, the device broke apart into bits and pieces of electronic wires and plastic. Control Freak lifted his hands in the air, sweating. "I-I surrender."
"I thought it would have been more difficult than that." Sighing, Brave encased the man's hands in a thin line of magic that looked similar to handcuffs, and led Control Freak back to the other Titans who were still fighting the animate letters. Brave narrowed her eyes at Control Freak. "I thought your effects from the remote would have died when I broke your device?"
Control Freak shook his head a little. "That was a glitch I fixed so Boy Blunder over there wouldn't be able to pull that water trick like he did our first battle when he short-circuited my remote. You've got to defeat the things I've brought to life now."
"Sounds like fun," Brave stated, leaving Control Freak beside a fallen lamppost with her magic still keeping him captive. She dropped down beside Robin, blocking an attack from the A letter that swung at him. "Miss me?"
"Where have you been?" Robin demanded as he cracked his staff against the A.
"Just picking up the garbage," Brave smirked, gesturing toward Control Freak. "Hah!" She smacked her fists several times into the A, the last hit throwing it backwards. She grinned at Robin, placing her hands on her hips. "But don't worry about me, Robin; I can handle myself." She'd scarcely finished her sentence, however, when her arms suddenly went limp and fell to her sides. Her eyes dulled, turning vacant.
"Brave?" Robin inquired. He caught sight of the look on her face. "Great," he sighed. "Great timing. I knew we should have left her in the tower." He caught sight of the K letter moving toward Brave and jumped in front of her, blocking an incoming attack. "Cyborg!" the leader called. "Watch over Brave!" The robotic man glanced over his shoulder from where he held the N at bay, seeing Robin and Brave's unresponsive stance, and nodded. Throwing the N off to the side where it crashed into the fallen A and lay still, he approached Robin to assist. The Titan just arrived when Raven's body shifted, and the girl took on a look of fright.
"Beast Bo-!" She cut herself off, catching sight of the scowling giant K towering over her, only separated from the girl by Robin and Cyborg's efforts, and shrieked, kneeling on the ground. The emotion covered her head, closing her eyes, and a streak of black zipped out to connect with the plastic letter. The K was flung into the air because of the magical attack, and it sailed over the buildings to land in the ocean a mile or so away with an enormous splash. The letter sank to the bottom, never to rise again. Cyborg and Robin exchanged glances, and then stooped down beside the scared emotion who was crouching on the ground. Close by, Starfire finished defeating the A letter with her starbolts and extraordinary strength, and approached her friends.
"What has happened?" the alien girl asked. "Is friend Brave alright?"
"I don't think Brave is in control anymore," Robin told her. He tried placing a hand on the emotion's shoulder, but the girl trembled and flinched away. "I'm not going to hurt you," he guaranteed his teammate. "The enemies are gone now. Are you okay?"
The emotion took a few quick breaths, wiping at her eyes. "I-I'm sorry," she whispered. "I-I didn't m-mean to d-do that. I-I just got s-so sc-scared that I-I-." The girl sniffed, hiding her face in her hands.
Cyborg quietly pulled her hands down to look at her straight, giving her a brotherly smile. "Am I talking to Timid right now?" he asked the frightened emotion. Timid stared at him for a minute as if only now recognizing him, and then nodded in response. Cyborg helped her up, Robin and Starfire moving away so not to crowd Timid. Both recognized how scared this emotion seemed, and they wanted to give her time to adjust to the change of control. "How about we go back to the tower?" Cyborg suggested. "We can get situated there."
Again, Timid nodded at him, feeling better now she was with someone she'd met before in Raven's mind. Of course, if she was still with Beast Boy she would have felt even more secure, but Cyborg was good enough at the moment. From where he was sitting next to the lamppost, Control Freak cleared his throat.
"Hey, since you all seem to be having a difficult time and need to attend to some stuff, how about you let me off this one time," he proposed. "No one'll have to know about it! I'll just leave the money here and it'll be like this all never happened!"
Robin and Starfire looked at each other.
Noting the expressions on their faces, Control Freak's heart sank. "Do I still have to go to jail?"
Robin pulled a real pair of handcuffs from his belt. Even though Brave's/Timid's powers continued to keep the criminal captive, the leader didn't want to take the chance that Control Freak could escape. "What do you think?" he asked the squat villain.
A green teenager made his way over the rocky floor of a valley surrounded by gray craggy mountains at a slow pace. Beast Boy didn't enjoy walking through this death trap which almost promised certain doom, but he could think of no other way to find Raven; Timid's leading him here had been the only hint the shape-shifter had gotten to his friend's location. Beast Boy was a determined guy, although it did help that he was a little more than anxious to get away from the place Timid had abruptly disappeared. He suspected that she'd vanished because it was her turn out in the real world and that she was fine, but that didn't mean Beast Boy had no reason to be concerned for both himself and the emotion. There always was a good chance that he was wrong; it happened more than him being right anyway, so no one could blame Beast Boy for his rattled nerves.
Beast Boy cautioned against calling out to Raven –for who knew what monsters crept around in this valley of potential death? - but his worry for her outweighed his concern for his own wellbeing. Still though, his voice was soft as he called her name.
"Raven?" he whispered quietly, feeling like a scared mouse that poked his nose out of a hole in the wall to see if he could exit his hiding place safely without a cat pouncing on him. When there was no answer, Beast Boy swallowed and called again, a little louder this time. "H-Hey Raven? You here? I-If you are, I'd like it i-if you said something because I'm kinda getting weirded out by this p-place…" Great, he was stammering now. Who was he: Timid? Not that Timid was to be blamed for her frightened demeanor; she was an emotion, and this place was really freaky. Beast Boy shook his head. Those excuses were fine for Timid, but the shape-shifter wasn't an emotion; he was human –however green he may be- and he had to help Raven. Taking a deep breath, Beast Boy shouted at the top of his lungs, "RAVEN?! YOU THERE?!"
His voice echoed back to him, bouncing off of the mountains that surrounded the rock valley. It reached a flock of four-eyed ravens, and the altered animals squawked, taking flight in a flurry of black feathers. Somewhere in the distance, a loud noise resembling thunder rumbled, and a drop of sweat slid down Beast Boy's neck.
"Oops," he grinned, scratching his ear nervously.
Although the rabbit in him wanted to turn fluffy tail and hide, Beast Boy grit his teeth and continued onwards, although he did make sure to avoid standing in the very center of the path out of fear that whatever had thundered up ahead would appear and decide it was hungry. Beast Boy was against being eaten for two reasons: he was a vegetarian and he was quite fond of his life. Not to mention being eaten would probably hurt a whole lot.
Eventually Beast Boy reached a section in the valley where large clumps of rocks began to cluster into bigger groups, making it more difficult to see what could be around every corner. The shape-shifter was worried that he was going to get lost again, and now that he thought about it, the way the rocks were beginning to press closer together reminded him of the maze he'd gone through when first meeting Timid several years ago. Beast Boy was remembering the encounter when something caught his eye. He backtracked and peered around a large boulder.
Dressed in a sharp crimson cloak, a Raven look-a-like stood in a small circular section that was surrounded by a few rock pillars like the one Beast Boy hid behind. The counterpart was sitting cross-legged on the ground, her eyes closed and hood pulled far over her face. She seemed to be meditating, but did emotions need to meditate? Beast Boy didn't know, and he wasn't really thinking about it, because what had caught his eye was not the scarlet emotion sitting on the rocky ground; it was who was behind her.
Her arms were chained to a rock with glowing red shackles and her head was drooped to her chest, but Beast Boy had no trouble recognizing that it was Raven who was bound to the stone. He bit his lip. The dark girl seemed unconscious but otherwise unhurt. The crimson emotion's presence, who Beast Boy knew could only be Rage, seemed to make sense now; she was guarding Raven. How to get his friend away from her guard was the question. Beast Boy scanned the ground around him, landing on a smooth stone near his foot. He stooped down, picking it up, and examined the rock. It was large enough that maybe if he threw it into something far off, it would cause a racket and distract Rage for long enough for Beast Boy to figure out how to free Raven. Nodding to himself, the shape-shifter drew back his arm and chucked it into the distance.
Beast Boy's stone sailed over the first few pillars of rock before hitting a particularly tall one with a loud crack and bouncing back to land heavily on the green teenager's foot. He jumped back, yelling in surprise and pain and grabbing at his toes before remembering he was trying to be quiet. Beast Boy slapped his hand over his mouth, glaring at the rock, impressed with how bad of a throw it had been and also fascinated with just how stupid he was.
The swishing of air was barely audible from where Rage knelt, and Beast Boy quickly hopped away–still clutching his foot- to hid behind another rock a moment before the crimson emotion appeared where he'd been seconds ago. Rage swiveled her head around, searching for the origin of the shout she'd heard. Her eyes, though two instead of four, were bright red as she investigated the area. Realizing she wasn't about to find whoever had been behind the rock by looking in one place, Rage slowly started floating in and out of the maze of rocks like a lion stalking prey, glancing over her shoulder at Raven's still form every few seconds.
Beast Boy held his breath as the emotion steadily drew nearer to where he stood, the slight throbbing in his foot drown out by his heart beating loudly in his ears. He had no idea what would happen to him if he died inside of Raven's mind, but he was certain it would be bad. His body might never be found, or perhaps he'd limply be taken out of the mirror by the giant claw-like hand that brought him here in the first place. And what would happen to Raven if he died? How would she get free? What would happen to her body?
Rage was just one rock away from finding the shape-shifter, and as Beast Boy closed his eyes awaiting the end, a booming crash came from somewhere in the distance. Rage whipped her head around, staring at the location of the noise, and then she was gone in an instant. Beast Boy, hardly able to believe he'd gone from such bad luck to good within only a few minutes, exhaled with relief. Not wanting his change of fortune to disappear quite yet, he quickly ran out from his hiding place to where Raven was bound.
"Raven," he whispered, glancing over his shoulder in case Rage decided to show up at that moment, but there was no sign of the angry emotion yet. "Raven, wake up, please!" The girl gave no response. Swallowing, Beast Boy shook her shoulders. When again she didn't awaken, the shape-shifter gently patted her cheek with his hand as he'd heard was supposed to work when waking up people. If she was conscious, Beast Boy knew Raven would have sent him to another dimension, or in the very least have slapped him for that, but Raven remained still. Knowing he had very little time until Rage came back, Beast Boy decided to worry about waking Raven up after he had the dark girl free from her glowing red chains. The shape-shifter frowned, examining the crimson shackles that kept his friend fastened to the rock. By the look of them, it seemed that some spell had been cast upon the metal. Beast Boy gave the nearest chain an experimental tug and was shocked when it glowed white at his touch, proceeding to fall apart an instant later in his hands. Beast Boy pulled at the other shackle, and it too broke into pieces as easily as tearing paper, causing the green teenager to wonder if he had somehow gained super strength within the past five seconds.
The shape-shifter was suddenly struck with the thought that he was forgetting something, and his reminder came a moment later when Raven collapsed heavily on the ground, her chains no longer there to keep her upright. Beast Boy winced. "Oops," he mumbled, kneeling down beside her and throwing her arm over his shoulder. "Sorry, Rae." He knew that he had to get Raven out of there quickly, so he adjusted her into a position so that she was leaning against his back, and then shifted into a horse. Raven lay across his back with closed eyes, and once he saw that she wasn't going to fall, Beast Boy galloped off in the direction opposite he'd seen Rage go.
After several minutes passed and he suspected that he'd gotten far enough away from the rocky bolder Raven had been bound to, Beast Boy shifted back into human behind a particularly large rock, once more supporting Raven with her arm over his shoulder and his hand at her waist. "Raven?" he asked anxiously, kneeling on the ground with her. "Rae, come on, wake up." The boy scanned his surroundings, praying for some friendly emotion to show up and help them. If Raven stayed unconscious, he had no idea how he would be able to bring her all the way to the portal, let alone get them both out of her mind. It also worried the shape-shifter that his friend could be injured or in pain, and he knew nothing about it. He looked back at Raven. "Raven, it would be really great if you could wake up right now," he almost pleading her. Beast Boy was surprised when a soft groan escaped Raven's pale lips and she blinked her violet eyes open with a quick intake of breath. Beast Boy's face lit up. "Raven!"
Before either of them could say any more, a furious howl erupted from somewhere the distance, sounding very similar to that of Rage's, and cracks of thunder were heard. Sweat dripped down Beast Boy's spine and he swallowed. Had he not gotten far enough away from the angry girl?
Raven shook her head, confused. "W-what's going on?" she asked, the sound of actual emotion in her voice for once. Then the dark girl noticed Beast Boy supporting her and her expression fell into a blank slate. "What do you think you're doing?" she questioned, impassive once again.
Beast Boy blushed. "S-sorry. It's just, you were unconscious, and I had no other way of getting you out of-." He cut off at Raven's glare, grinning nervously. "Right, sorry." He released her and moved away. Looking around, Raven lowered her hood.
"Are we… in my mind?" she inquired quietly after a few seconds. Beast Boy nodded, and Raven narrowed her violet eyes at him. "And why are you in here?"
"Uh- Well, you see, it started this morning when you came in after dumping my tofu on my head, and you were acting all weird, like smiling, laughing, telling jokes, hugging-."
"What?" Raven hissed.
Beast Boy was quick to explain. "But we found out that it was Happy and not you! And she said that you'd gotten stuck inside the mirror and only one person could come in after you to get you out, so…"
"You went in my mirror," Raven finished plainly. "And the others were okay with this because…?"
Beast Boy rubbed the back of his head. "Well… They weren't really, but Happy told me that I should go anyway. She thought the other emotions would have more fun with me here than if Cyborg or Robin or Star went, so I came in." Raven massaged her temples. That sounded like something Happy would have said.
"Some future advice," Raven grumbled. "Never listen to Happy." Beast Boy nodded, and both he and Raven jumped as another roar of fury reached their ears, closer this time. Raven looked at the green teenager in front of her. "Dare I ask why Rage is so mad?"
"Because Beast Boy rescued you from her."
Raven and Beast Boy whipped around to settle their sights on a soft purple-clad emotion who was crouching down in front of them. Beast Boy blinked in surprise, wondering when she'd gotten there and how come he hadn't noticed, but Raven just glared at her. "And who are you?" she demanded. Seeing Beast Boy's puzzlement, she rolled her eyes. "I don't know all of my emotions, Beast Boy. I don't talk to them very much if I can help it. They tend to speak with me more than the other way around."
The emotion who was stooped near the two peered around the rock. "I will explain later, but first we have to get Raven somewhere safer than this," she said as she got to her feet. "Follow me."
Raven and Beast Boy exchanged glances, and Raven sighed. "It doesn't seem like we have much of a choice." Beast Boy nodded, standing, and Raven did the same, but when she got to her feet, however, she misjudged how strong her legs were and slumped back to the ground. Beast Boy quickly dropped beside her, catching Raven before she landed.
"You okay?" he asked.
"Fine," Raven replied shortly, not meeting his eyes and focusing on a rock nearby instead. Nearby, the purple-clad emotion smiled slightly at them, but Beast Boy didn't notice. He was busy feeling like had just redeemed himself for before when he'd accidentally made Raven fall from the rock and hadn't caught her. Even though Raven had been unconscious, that didn't mean he didn't feel guilty about it.
Raven brushed Beast Boy off, standing this time without a problem. "Let's go," she commanded. "Rage is getting closer." The purple-cloaked emotion nodded, levitating, and flew over the earth away from where Rage was being furious. Raven floated into the air and Beast Boy transformed into a hawk, and the two followed the nameless emotion across the unfamiliar territory.