Chapter Ten: Back in the Real World
"Cyborg?"
The android turned to see Raven in the doorway, looking as collected as ever.
"Yeah?"
"Would it bother you unduly if I sat here?"
"…I guess not. Why?"
"Thank you." Raven quickly crossed the floor and sat in the chair next to Beast Boy's bed, grasped his hand, and closed her eyes.
"Raven, what is going on?"
He got no response. Slowly, Raven's breathing slowed. Her pulse dropped, and her heartrate fell until all were in sync with Beast Boy's.
"Why doesn't anyone ever tell me what's going on?"
"Negative Man?" Robin sounded worried.
"Hmm?" He looked up from the book he had been reading.
"Would you mind telling us about the nature of Mento's mind control powers? It seems as if we'll need to know."
Negative Man nodded. "Well, it's not really mind control. What he does is twofold. Firstly, he shuts down their higher brain functions, which basically renders them unconscious. He then plants in their subconscious a pressing desire to complete a certain function."
Robin nodded. "So, if Beast Boy was attacked by one of these-"
"Which he probably was."
"Then you think his attacker will come still be after Beast Boy?"
Negative Man nodded.
Robin stood up. "Alright, we need to take action. Somewhere out there is another hypnotised enemy, and they're after Beast Boy. Now, what we've got to do is comb the city until we find them. Split into groups of two, and stay in radio contact."
"No." Arrowette stood up. "We lock down."
Robin shook his head. "We can't give them the initiative. Now, everyone get wired up-"
"You are not in command here!" Arrowette shouted. "With Logan's…absence…I am in charge, and I say we lock down. Now, if you want to take the Titans out on some wild goose chase, that's fine with me, but we're staying here. Rich, activate lockdown."
Gear complied, after a moment's hesitation. "Lockdown sequence initiated."
Immediately, metal plates slid to cover all the windows, and the power briefly deactivated, only to be reactivated by the on-site generator. Several side monitors activated on the main computer console, and Starfire could see that they were displaying the feedback from several extra cameras.
"What is different about these cameras?"
Gear explained, happy for a distraction from the tension. "They're linked to stun guns. Any motion, and they'll blast. We can order them not to, but that means someone has to be on hand all the time. So we made them part of the lockdown systems."
As if on cue, the guns decided to give the Tameranean a demonstration. Negative Man, distracted from the faintly amusing sight of Robin and Arrowette giving each other evil glares, Arrowette having the best of the deal, since her eyes were actually visible, and stepped over to the screens. When he saw who the cannons were trained on, his brow darkened, as far as anyone was able to tell, by the subtle way his bandages moved.
"Open the doors."
Arrowette heard this. "What?!"
"Open the doors. They can't hold him, and you might just save on replacing them."
Arrowette took a deep breath. "Are you certifiable?!"
Negative Man looked at her. "I know better than most what he's capable of. The doors won't hold for long. I can deal with him, but not from in here if he's out there."
They were spared further argument when the doors were smashed inwards. All inside heard the sounds of a heavy figure thundering his way up the stairs, and everyone but Negative Man jumped when the doors of the main room were smashed inwards to reveal a seven foot slab of bronze.
"Hello, Cliff."
Raven took a deep breath, and composed herself. Mary's little speech had driven home the one thought that she had been avoiding since she had decided on this plan: there was a very good chance that she was about to die. However, she had rationalised her decision like so: if she didn't try, and Beast Boy never woke up, she would regret it for the rest of her life. Breathe in, breathe out. She stepped through the door. The choice was made.
"Cyborg?"
"Yeah?"
"Would it bother you unduly if I sat here?"
"…I guess not. Why?"
"Thank you." Raven quickly crossed the floor and sat in the chair next to Beast Boy's bed, grasped his hand, and closed her eyes.
"Raven, what is going on?"
He got no response. Slowly, Raven's breathing slowed. Her pulse dropped, and her heartrate fell until all were in sync with Beast Boy's. She heard Cyborg say something, but couldn't make out what. Slowly, her soulself awoke, and stepped from her body.
In the eyes of her soul, she saw Cyborg, who was glowing brightly with life. She turned her ethereal gaze to the bed, and saw exactly what had been described in her book.
Beast Boy was lying flat on his back. Unlike Cyborg, there was no glow about him, but instead there was a magical phenomenon that ranked as one of the most disturbing things Raven had ever seen.
Instead of Beast Boy's chest, there was a whirlpool of black energy, indented in his torso, which seemed to twist and distort his body. Raven loomed over it, fighting the urge to vomit. She couldn't actually vomit, being composed of black power, but she wasn't about to take chances. Right at the bottom of the swirling maelstrom, Raven thought she could see a hint of orange light. She moved a hand over it, and her arm was instantly pulled in, seemingly stretched by the power. It wasn't painful, just strange.
Okay. No backing out now. Try not to think that you could well be about to be stranded in an alternate dimension for all eternity, and just…jump.
She did. After a few seconds, in which time ceased to have any conventional meaning, and Newton stopped, stared, tore his notes in half and became a hangman, Raven found herself surrounded by orange clouds.