Disclaimer: We do not own Teen Titans, though if we did, we'd write for it more often…

Authors' Note: Sorry to have been gone so long, for those of you that care, life gets in the way sometimes. Hope you enjoy.


In order to understand the world, one has to turn away from it on occasion.
-Albert Camus-


Cyborg Stared at Raven for a good long moment. He blinked once, then shook his head.

"You need what?"

"I need you to put me under, just like I was before. Once I'm out, I can try to reconnect with Beast Boy and help him out of his nightmare."

"No way, Raven. You saw what just happened to him, if it happens again, I can't help him without you; not to mention you could easily end up in the same situation." He shook his head as he spoke and walked slowly towards the resolute empath.

"We didn't save him. We've got no idea why he came back, and I am not going to sit and wait for him to crash again when I can do something about it."

"But how do you know you won't get trapped just like before." Cyborg was just fishing for excuses now and he knew it. He was well aware how this argument would end, but he couldn't just give up when his friends and patient were concerned, it wasn't in him.

"I know what's happening to him now, I'll know what situation we're in, and that gives me an advantage. You know damn well I can keep my wits about me, and then I can help Beast Boy." She sighed, turned away from the metal Titan and continued "I don't like it, but there's no other way. We can't afford to wait any longer because we aren't going to get another shot at this." She was standing directly next to Beast Boy now, holding his right hand in hers, looking down at his placid features. "Cyborg, I have to do this."

"I know…I just—" He put his large hand gently on her shoulder and sighed deeply, sadly. "Get on the bed, I'll get the drugs." She was almost happy at his acquiescence, but tears still streamed slowly from the corners of her eyes. She steeled herself with new resolve and quickly lay down on the bed next to the changeling.

Cyborg moved to the other end of the medical room and opened a few drawers. He extracted a needle, and several different bottles of drugs. After a minute of careful measuring, Raven began to get impatient.

"Cyborg, we have to hurry!" She called to him exasperatedly.

"Raven, I'm the doctor here, remember? If I give you too much of this cocktail it could stop your heart, or paralyze your lungs, or fry your brain. So just hold tight, I'm almost done." He extracted another small portion of liquid from a tiny, brown glass bottle and walked over to his friend who had actually managed to wake up from the seemingly 'irreversible' coma. His training and all his reasoning told him this was going to kill her, or just about. But he had to trust that she could keep control of her mind and save BB. He knew that if anyone could do it, it'd be Raven.

"Alright, as soon as this hits you, the room's going to start spinning at a hundred miles an hour, you're going to feel the most horrible you've ever felt, and even worse when you wake up." He stuck the needle in her forearm and injected its contents.

"That's fine, we'll cross that bridge when we come to—oh." Her world swam around her at mach three. She kept trying to talk but her mind couldn't focus her thoughts coherently, she mumbled random words. The fluorescent lights burned into her eyes as Cyborg melted into an indistinguishable whirl. The colors and the light and even her own features seemed to liquefy and shift around with great speed. She felt compelled to sit up but only managed to throw her head to the side with a jerk. Suddenly, her vision and thoughts were crystal clear. She was staring straight at him. She whispered "Beast Boy" and immediately fell into total blackness.

--

Beast Boy cracked his eyes open but closed them tight an instant later. He was still here. Oh why wouldn't it end?

He staggered a few more steps, clutching at his chest. His breathing was tight and labored. The air around him was cold, and stale on his tongue. Mirrors, mirrors everywhere; all about him his own face looked back.

'Beast Boy,' a voice carried over the still air, passing through him, chilling him more than the frigid air ever could.

He spun around, looking for the source of the voice, "Who—'s, who's there." He stammered through chattering teeth. The mirrors seemed to move and shift around him as he stumbled forward another half-dozen steps. He fell forward, leaning against the ice-cold glass, his tired expression now evident in his reflection.

'Beast Boy,' the whisper was barely audible, even as it pierced into his ears and echoed across the desolate room.

"Too cold…have to," he was panting heavily, but couldn't seem to catch his breath "have to keep moving." He managed to move into a narrower hallway, and lurched forward into the next room, only to be greeted by the same scene. The walls seemed almost liquid, moving, swimming around him, then stopping. "Please, please God, a merciful end." He stammered as he moved.

'What is a hero, exactly, Garfield?' The voice seemed right behind him; he turned sharply, but found he was staring only into his own reflection. "What's going on?" He cried in exasperation. Anguish began a slow creep up his spine and into his heart. He lost his footing and fell to his right, hitting the wall hard, but the massive mirror remained undamaged. The light was low, but he could clearly make out his paling green skin and blue lips in the wall.

'It can't be you, can it?'

"Shut up!" He yelled, throwing his hands over his ears and pressing hard.

'No, how can you be a hero with all that you've done, with all that you've destroyed; with all those you've hurt.'

"No, no don't…" 'No, Garfield, not you at all' "I said Shut up!" He sank to his knees, and leaned heavily against the wall of glass. Fear suddenly sprang up as he lost what little control he was maintain over it and filled his heart. It was wrapped all around him, through him, encasing his entire body. He shook violently with it.

'Beast Boy, you've caused so much pain and hardship for those you hold dear…' He held his hands tightly over his ears as he slid his back into a corner, holding his knees tight to his chest. He could still hear the voice; its cold, taunting tone slicing through him with every word, with every syllable—with every thought.

'No, no. I am a good person. I help people.' He pleaded with himself.

'…the suffering you've caused.'

'I can't. It can't. What—why?' He couldn't get his head straight, no matter what he thought of to respond, the voice was ready to destroy his argument before it even escaped his lips.

'You're only fooling yourself, and you can't even manage to do that well.' Beast Boy tightened himself up, but the assault continued unabated. He forced his eyes open into the bitterly cold air, they swam for a moment, but he realized the walls had stopped moving; but his reflection had disappeared from the room.

'And what of those you've killed?'

'I never killed anyone—" he stammered to himself. He felt listless, almost unable to move other than to curl up in fear and despair. As hard as he clenched his eyes shut, he could not cease the flow of tears from them. As the voice cut through him, he felt another murmuring agreement. He searched for it, but again, the source was unseen.

'You think your actions haven't caused death? Dozens of the men you have fought have died at your hands, you're not so naive and innocent, you just don't want to admit what you know in your heart to be true. You're not a hero; you're just another killer who lusts for the taste of blood, the thrill of a successful hunt, the crunch of bone.' Beast Boy sobbed and curled up even tighter. The glacial walls sucked still more heat from his already overstrained body. He wept. The voice was right, he had only ever caused pain, and destruction, and death. He hated himself for it, for every last thing he had ever done. How could he have failed so miserably? 'And of course, let's not forget about Terra…'

--

Raven awoke with a start, sprawled out on a wooden bench. It took her a moment to realize the noise and movement around her meant she was in Jump City. She sat up with a start "Beast Boy!" The purple-haired Titan got up quickly from the bench and looked around.

What she saw was Jump City on a seemingly normal winter day, it was so real, and she was amazed by knowing that it wasn't. People were bundled up for what was a rare cold snap, but otherwise, nothing was different. She needed to find Beast Boy, and needed to do it fast. She attempted to levitate a few inches off the ground, and found, much to her relief, that her powers had returned to her. She took off, darting straight up into the sky above the bustling city. The sun was pale, and already setting far off out to the sea at her back, casting its feeble light down across the imaginary city far below. The strong wind blew across her and she suddenly realized how cold she was. She drew her cloak about her and turned her attention to more pressing matters.

After shaking it off, Raven set her mind to finding Beast Boy. She began a mental scan of the city, trying to locate him. She immediately covered the whole of downtown and found nothing, so she pressed more of her power into her effort. She searched all of the surrounding area, feeling every emotion, hearing every thought of countless people; but one leapt out at her. It seemed in utter agony, it was brimming with sorrow…and cold, so cold.

She focused on it harder, and realized it was due North. She kept some semblance of a mental lock-on, and rocketed towards the area. As she drew closer, the feelings intensified and deepened. She dropped her link, but the emotion was so powerful that it washed over her anyway. Then as she advanced, it hit her all at once like a Mac Truck, as if she had flown straight into a wall; her speed dropped off, then she stopped altogether—her amethyst eyes closed and she began to plummet to the Earth.

She tumbled downwards with increasing velocity, he cloak fluttering madly in the blistering wind.

'Wake up. Wake up. Wake up!" She snapped her eyes open just in time to stop ten feet short of the ground.

'Focus damnit!' she yelled at herself for being distracted, even momentarily. She regained her senses and once again took off towards the powerful emotions, now shielding herself from another onslaught. "I have to get to him…before it's too late."

--

Robin glared sourly at the scene arrayed before him. There were dozens of wrecked buildings and cars, rubble lined the streets, and countless fire-hydrants had been broken from their concrete anchors, sending powerful jets of water high into the air to rain lightly on the innumerable fires that had broken out, as well as all concerned.

The Boy Wonder turned back to the blue-faced villain that he had pinned against a brick wall with the end of his staff. "Do you surrender now, Mumbo?" He asked tiredly, not even trying to conceal his anger at the white-haired old man. Even with all his training, his stamina was beginning to wane; the criminal magician had sent his waves of bewitched mannequins and mailboxes after the all the Titans, East and West, after they had gathered to stop him.

The fact that mannequins and mailboxes have no weak spots to exploit in a fight, and that Robin even had to have such a train of thought was really starting to annoy the Titans' leader. It had taken them quite a bit of effort, but just as they seemed about to win, Mumbo cast a single spell that repaired all his damaged pawns and threw them back into the fight with renewed vigor. Now that Robin had finally gotten his hands on the tuxedo-clad criminal, he was ready to do very, very illegal things to him.

"Yes—yes, I give up." Mumbo managed to stammer out, despite the metal pole pinning him at the neck to the wall, as his toes scratched lightly on the ground inches below his feet. Robin released him, and then snapped Mumbo's magic wand in his face, and threw the pieces away. Mumbo transformed back into a regular-looking old man and slinked away in the direction opposite of Robin's.

"Aren't you going to arrest him?" Speedy asked, looking at his spiritual twin quizzically as he rejoined the archer in the center of the havoc-wrought road.

"No, his wand's gone, he won't be a threat for a few more days at least; we'll just get him then." Robin cracked his neck and gingerly rotated his left arm, holding his shoulder. Starfire was sitting on the curb, trying to remove a piece of plastic that had melted into her hair as she burned her way through legions of clothing mannequins, while Bumble Bee and Herald sat together, holding hands, but both out of breath and looking a little worse for the ware. Mas Y Menos were sitting back to back amongst the scattered remains of their inanimate enemies, their heads down. Aqualad was standing where one of the fire-hydrants used to be, the jet of water enveloping him as he stood, an air of stoicism about him, but also as obviously tired as the rest of the super-powered teens.

The Titans were just trying to regain their strength, but it was not to be. Only a few minutes after Mumbo disappeared, a police cruiser came tearing into the scene arrived—late as always—Robin thought. A fat sergeant climbed out and ran, or what could only approximate running for him, up to the Boy Wonder.

"Robin, the—" he panted, already out of breath for only a five yard jog "the villains, all the villains in the city…they've grouped up. They..they took city hall, and now their marching down Central Avenue. There's so many of them."

Robin sighed, "Alright, we'll head right over." He turned to the other Titans, who had gathered behind him; grim faces abounded, but no one spoke a word. "Looks like we're not done yet, Titans, let's move out."

--

Cyborg glanced worriedly at his two friends, both again unconscious. Raven's vital signs suddenly dropped dramatically, and he sprang forward, but before he had even reached her, they recovered and were again normal.

"What are you guys doing in there?" He asked himself quietly. Just then his communicator beeped. He brought up his right arm, its small screen coming to life with the haggard face of his leader.

"Cyborg, looks like we're facing pretty much every villain we've already managed to beat tonight, and then some. We're going to need a whole lot of help, and soon. Have they woken up yet?"

"Um, about that…" Cyborg almost prayed, hoping Raven would hear him as he looked at the two beds 'whatever it is you're doing, I hope you can make it quick, or there might not be anywhere left to wake up in.'


A/N: Again, sorry for the long absence, the final chapter will come much quicker than our last one, I swear.