Vertigo
Wow, this one took me forever, so you'd better enjoy it! (Kidding!)
As the door shut behind her, Raven was greeted by the chorus of angry voices echoing inside her head.
"WHAT ON EARTH WAS THAT!"
I don't know! It wasn't my fault! she replied angrily. I wanted to tell him as much as you guys want me to.
"Raven, if you keep carrying on like this, we will get absolutely nowhere!" said Knowledge.
It's not me!
"Well, it's some part of you, and…"
"Knowledge, if you would, could you please not lay all blame on Raven? You know what has been happening lately, so don't you start denying anything." soothed Wisdom.
"Listen to me!" Raven exclaimed angrily out loud. "It was not me, I am just as confused as any of you, and what has been happening in there 'lately'?"
"Well, many of your emotions have been acting irregularly." explained Knowledge.
"As in?"
"Timid has been frequenting my archives a lot. I have never seen her actually take anything, but several volumes detailing trivial moments in your life have gone missing, and various groups have been congregating and having whispered conversations."
"Can I please deal with this tomorrow? It's already past 10. I've got to get some sleep if I want to be awake tomorrow."
Wisdom hummed approvingly.
"Fine." said Knowledge, sounding put out, "But before you do, I want you to perceive that your, well, little moments are becoming longer which each one. This can only mean that the emotion being denied is becoming impatient, and that is not something that we want."
"Duly noted. Goodnight." Raven replied with a finality that could have slapped someone in the face.
That night, Raven's dream had no color, only the shades of brown worn by the first motion pictures.
She was laying on the roof that pointy tower-y building so prominently featured in Birthmark and The End(s). You know the one (If it's been anywhere else, please don't bite my head off, that's the only place I've noticed it). She was watching a swirling vortex above her in the dark sienna sky slowly swallowing the city, and yet she was doing nothing. People were clinging to random objects to try and be saved from the gigantic pull, which wasn't working as the random objects were then sucked away. Fast piano music from a silent film she had seen once played, though she could hear the screaming clearly. She watched with an unnatural calm as she saw also being ripped from the ground, people she knew. The Titans, Titans East, the Hive Five, the Brotherhood of Evil, Slade, Brother Blood, every villain she ever fought, as well as everyone Robin had ever given a communicator to.
Suddenly, the hooded face of one of her emotions blocked her view.
"Well?" the emotion asked, with a teasing smirk on her face and a chilling glint in her eyes.
Suddenly, the two eyes turned into four, the entire world turned upside down, and now Raven was dangling by her feet off the tower's edge like a bat, about to tumble into the vortex. Then, gravity won, and she was being catapulted into its depths, when she woke up in a cold sweat, safe in her own bed, the sunrise's early rays shining in through the wall of windows.
"Meditation." she muttered, grabbed her cloak, and headed for the stairs.
Later, when the others are actually awake…
In the Common Room, the room was filled with its usual buzz (or lack thereof) of activities. Video games, eating, alien cooking and feverish researching abound. The door opened with a whoosh, and the Titans looked up, waiting to see Raven float through with her usual morning indifference, but it was not to be.
Instead, a whirling blue figure back flipped into the room, and over the couch, landing gracefully on the coffee table like a gymnast. Now, they saw that the figure was Raven (who else?), wearing a smile so huge that it was threatening to break her entire face in two. Even her levitation seemed happier as she floated off the coffee table, and onto the kitchen counter, right in front of Beast Boy, who was eating soy-buttermilk pancakes.
"Hi BB!" she squealed.
Beast Boy looked at her, too shocked for words.
"What's up?" she laughed.
"Um…sky?"
This sent Raven into peals of laughter, rolling around on the counter.
"That's funny!"
Her only response was a wide eyed stare.
"Well, bye!" she said, ruffled his hair, and with a pert giggle, she leaped over to the stove, where Starfire was working on another pudding.
"Hey, Star, you wanna paint toenails later?"
Starfire's eyes widened with delight.
"Oh, yes, friend Raven! I would be most delighted to! It shall be wondrous, and…"
"Okay, bye!" Raven waved cheerily, and leaped out the door, into the hall.
Once the door hissed closed behind, she stopped in mid step, her eyes widened in horror.
What did I just do?
"Well, I am under the impression that the inbalance has prompted your more, shall we say, Giddier side to come out."
Yes, I know, Knowledge, but, wait. Didn't I already do Giddy?
"Well, it seems apparent that there may be repeats."
Fine, fine, fine.
"Now," Raven could practically see the smirk spreading on Knowledge's face, "back to?"
Raven's face contorted into a look of pure revulsion.
"I ruffled Beast Boy's hair, and…"
Revulsion turned into pure terror.
"I promised Starfire I would paint toenails with her later." she said with a shudder.
"Have fun!"
Around noon…
Raven watched cynically as Starfire carefully painted each of her toenails in every single bright, neon color that she had (which was all of them), while mentally cursing things from her emotions, the inbalance, whatever emotion was responsible for all of her pain, Beast Boy, Beast Boy's jokes, her heritage, etc, and also wondering where Starfire had learned how to do nails. It certainly wasn't anyone on the team (Amusing images of Robin explaining nail polish remover)…
She had been trying to hide from her on the roof, but she had still found her, and dragged her down to her room. Raven had refused to paint Starfire's nails, but had let Starfire paint hers, so as to keep at least a bit of her promise.
Just as she was wrapping up by cursing her life in general, Starfire announced that she had finished, applying the last stroke of top coat with a flourish.
"Finally. Oh, yeah, thanks." Raven said, floating out of the room quickly, holding her boots in her hand.
Raven floated into the Common Room to fetch a book she had been reading, and found it on the couch, lying spine-up, marking where she had left off. On the couch, she also found a mop of green hair, and what resembled green gloop in a purple jumpsuit. She quickly realized that it was Beast Boy. A quick look around the room told her what had happened.
She picked up the book, dropping her boots, and settling down on the couch. Suddenly, the same curious feeling crept over her. She put down her book and slid over closer to the green lump, yelling at herself to move away, but it was like she was no longer in control.
She looked at the blob, and started to open her mouth. Raven tried as hard as possible to clench her jaw shut, but still, it opened, and she heard her own voice form words.
"Soooo, what's up?"
No, no, no, no, no…
"Bored…TV…Infomercial…" Beast Boy mumbled, gesturing to the extremely large screen half-heartedly.
"Cool."
Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up…wait. 'Cool'? What on earth am I saying? Why do I care what I'm saying? I shouldn't even be talking!
"Wait." Beast Boy sat up with alarming speed. "Did…you just…like…talk…to me, voluntarily?" he asked with increasing confusion in each word, turning his head slowly to look at her.
"Yeah."
They sat there for a while, just looking at each other.
"Okaaaaay…"
The door hissed open, and Cyborg burst in, muttering to him self. "Where did I put that wax, I know I had it, AH HAH!" he cried triumphantly, pulling a can out of the fridge, and running back out.
The room was filled with awkwardness.
"So, before, um…"
Raven once again heard her voice form words. "Yeah, gotta go." The floor under her feet turned black with energy, and she disappeared through it. You could say that the floor literally swallowed her up.
Later in the afternoon…
Now, here's a little bit of math for all you readers… ahem…
Out of the team of five, 80 are in the Common Room, while the remaining percent is in her room, pouring over her many, many, many books, looking for answers.
a) What is the remaining percent?
b) Who is the remaining percent?
and
c) Express both percents as fractions.
Just kidding.
Anyways, the remaining Titan had emerged from her room in search of herbal tea. She had finished the pouring, and was waiting for the steeping, when she wandered over to the couch and glanced at the screen, just in time to see a green-haired cartoon midget with wings and a crown pick his nose. (Guess who.)
"The resemblance is striking." she deadpanned.
Starfire's eyes widened in confusion as she tried to see what had Cyborg rolling on the floor with laughter until Robin paused in his chuckling to whisper something in her ear. She clamped a hand over her own mouth, but not before a small giggle escaped.
"With who?" Beast Boy's TV rotted brain was taking a while to process information.
"Guess."
"Oh." Then, in an oddly mature response, he merely gave her a weird look and returned his attention back to the TV, which was now depicting a cartoon boy dressed in pink with buck teeth that could pass for a shovel.
She raised an eyebrow, the returned to her room.
About half an hour later…
Fire crackled happily as a squid, a starfish, and a sponge roasted coral over it.
"I do not understand. This show is set underwater, yes?"
"Yeah?" Everyone looked at Starfire, wondering what was going to come out of her mouth.
"Then, why is there a fire? Would it not be extinguished?"
"It's a cartoon, Star. Let it go."
"Hmmm…"
Late at night, Beast Boy was up. Reading a book, surprising enough. That poem he had started in Raven's room was so intriguing, that he has snuck back in and taken it. Now, he poured over it by the light if a green lamp shaped like a banana.
He glanced at the digital clock across the room. 11:24. Only being used to comic books, he was still barely halfway done the poem. Reading, reading…reading……reading………more reading…………zzzzzzzzzzz…
He awoke with a snort, barely saving Raven's precious book from a saliva attack. 2:57. He wanted to talk, and to a particular someone. Glancing at the book beneath his head, he got an idea. Not a bright one, but, still, an idea.
At first, the rapping was so light, she wasn't even sure it was even there. Still, being a light sleeper, she woke up anyways. It was not a good combination, being a light sleeper and one who needs a certain amount of sleep to function properly. Whenever she had a rough night, she found herself falling asleep during meditation the next day.
Growling slightly, she put her head back down on her pillow, but then the tapping was there again, louder than ever. She groaned, and got out of bed, bleary eyed. Opening the door, she looked straight ahead, and found nothing. She was about to close the door, when she looked down and saw, in her eyes, the ultimate beast of burden.
Even in the dim light, she could still make out the odd tint in the dark feathers.
"What do you want, Beast Boy?"
The bird morphed into a short boy with green hair. "Nevermore?"
Raven glared. In the dim lighting of the hallway casting shadows across her face, the dark circles forming underneath her eyes gave her face a terrifying darkness.
"What?"
"Go away." she grumbled, turning around.
"Wait." Beast Boy stuck his boot into the doorframe, crushing his entire foot into what felt like a million pieces, but effectively forcing the door to stay open and squeezing through the crack.
"Beast Boy, it is tree o'clock in the morning. If you do not leave now, I will blast you to Rome."
"Cool, then I could get a Vespa!"
"You can get one here. There's a dealer on the same street as the used bookstore."
"Then I can really get one!"
"You can, as in you have the ability to get one, but you may not, as in, you're not allowed to."
"Tch. Grammar."
"Is there a point to this?" she asked wearily, sitting down on her bed.
"Well, um, about…"
Suddenly, Raven was overcome by that strange feeling again, and before he knew it, Beast Boy found himself phased through the door and standing alone in the hallway, blinking in confusion and suddenly tired.
The following morning…
Early morning, Raven drifted groggily into the kitchen. Thanks to her late-night chat, she felt like the entire world had morphed into a spinning, blurry dreamworld. Swaying slightly, she reached for her tea leaves.
In the time it took for her to actually finish making the tea, the entire team had arrived.
"Mornin' Rae!"
Her back stiffened at the voice. Slowly, she turned around, glaring with every muscle she had in her face.
Unfortunately, it seemed like green-haired beings needed full nights of sleep less than ones with purple hair.
"Whoa! Fine, if you're that upset…" he trailed off and walked away. If you were close enough, you would have heard: "creepy, paranoid, schizophrenic, insane grouch…", and other things of that sort.
Anyways, Raven returned her attention to her cup of tea. She was about to take a sip, when her cloak flashed a light grey, and she dropped her cup, which shattered.
Suddenly, her posture became ramrod-straight. Her eyes became sharp and focused, and she knew that the situation had run away again.
"All of you, get to work! We need information, and we're not gonna get any just sitting around!"
Everyone turned in surprise to hear Robin's line spoken by a female.
"Um, on what?" You could almost see the question mark floating over Cyborg's head.
"Ugh! Storme! Slade! Was anyone paying any attention! Go! You, look in the Steel City public records. You, search the Jump City immigration records. You, look for her name in super villain chat sites, and you, look through these!" Raven barked, pointing respectively to Starfire, Cyborg, Robin, and then plonking loaded files in front of Beast Boy with black energy.
They all just stared.
"Well? GO!"
They all scattered, mildly scared.
Later…
Cyborg had just printed out a transcript of immigration records and was headed back to his computer when he happened to glance over Raven's shoulder and nearly fell over in shock.
He blinked just to see if he was seeing correctly. What he did see was Raven using complicated hacks that even he had never seen before, some of it in binary code.
Out of nowhere, Raven said, without taking her eyes off of the screen, "Aren't you supposed to be doing something?"
"Um, yeah…" he replied, hurrying off.
Meanwhile, in the cage of her own mind, the only thought Raven could focus on was: So tired, want to sleep, so tired…
Even later…
The four normal members of the Teen Titans gathered together in the hall outside the Common Room.
"Those spaz thingies are getting annoying! She's even acting weird normally!" Beast Boy grumbled.
"How is Raven's behaviour odd when it is normal? Is it another one of Earth's 'expressions'?" asked Starfire.
"No, BB just contradicted himself." Cyborg cleared.
"Oh."
"Anyways, team, Raven's…" Robin started to whisper.
Suddenly, Raven's voice shouted "Stone, Logan, Koriand'r, Grayson! Get back to work!"
The use of named they had not heard in a while paralysed them, until…
"NOW!"
The alarm rang, gathering everyone on the couch in the Common Room.
"Right," Raven said with authority. "Cyborg, what did you find?"
"Um, well, there's no records of her in…"
"Well, I guessed that Slade got her in illegally." She said, cutting him off. "Starfire?"
"There is nothing except that she appeared only several months ago, but I do not see…"
"Very well. Robin?"
"The fans have a lot of theories, but they spend most of their time talking about relationsh…"
"Well, that might teach you about a thing or two, but, never mind. I, however, have found some information." She started reading off of the sheet of paper she held in her hand.
"Her real name is Leslie Tempra. Her birthday is July 18, 1993. She comes from a long line of natives from the North Mountains, who were famous for their advanced ways of harnessing weather for their needs. Her parents died in a car crash when she was very young, and she spent most of her life in an orphanage before running away and living on the streets when she was nine. Since then, she has met Slade, and he brought her here under the alias of Heather Jones, and…" she said this all very fast, but suddenly, her eyes lost their focus and became tired and exhausted again.
She swayed, her eyes shut, and she collapsed onto the couch, fast asleep on top of a very squashed Beast Boy.
"Wow!" Robin had grabbed the sheet of paper that had fallen from Raven's hands when she collapsed. The entire two side were covered with information in very small writing. "This is more information than we've ever had on anyone!"
"Um, what do I do with her?" Beast Boy said in a muffled voice, gesturing to Raven with the only hand he had free.
Wow, long chapter! Just a warning, don't expect any more like this. At least, don't look forward to them. This one was a fluke. There may occasionally be ones this long but they weren't meant to be.
Anyways, pip pip, cheerio, and please review!
