"Well?" Rita asked as she watched Mento hold the yellow circular device to his ear.
"Hmmm, I'm not sure how this works. I don't hear anything but I know this red button is the call signal. I saw Beast Boy use it to ask for help from the Titans when we were searching for the Brain in the mountains. Too bad I destroyed his communicator." Rita gave Mento a disapproving look. She knew how he got when it came to his authority. Mento let out a slight cough of embarrassment. "Maybe Beast Boy could of instructed me how to use one of these…" The mind reader flipped open the top to reveal a black lifeless screen.
'I hope Robin and the others got the signal..' Rita sighed.
Switch over to Starfire, Cyborg and Robin…
'Oh Azar, what have I done?' Memory Raven thought as she was dragged around happily by Memory Beast Boy.
"Whoo, we're gonna have so much fun, we're gonna beat up bad guys, we're gonna get a gamestation…" Beast Boy sang and danced around like an excited little boy, since that's what he basically was at that moment.
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"Wow, Beast Boy hasn't changed much." Robin pointed out towards the young green boy going berserk with happiness.
"Yeah, even back then he annoyed the heck outta Rae." Cyborg smiled at the look or discontent on Raven's face. Apparently she was not accustomed to being dragged around in such a fashion. Just then a familiar nine toned tune started to ring.
"Huh? What the-?" Robin looked around on his utility belt and plucked off his communicator.
"Someone is calling you? I was not aware our communicators worked in Raven's mind."
"Neither was I Star." Robin replied. "Then again I don't really know anything about this place." The boy wonder flipped open the top. The screen was black save for white letters flashing that said 'Unidentified'. Whenever one Titan called another through the communicators, there was a new setting that could be set on the device that would allow the receiver to know who was calling them before having to pick up. Sort of like a Titan caller id. It worked by taking DNA samples from whoever was holding the communicator, from their fingertips. This was a safety setting just to insure that a Titan was on the other end of the communicator, instead of an enemy. Robin had specifically designed this system after the whole Brotherhood of Evil/Madame Rouge incident. He was overly cautious with the communicators now.
"Unidentified? Who could that be?" Cyborg wondered as he looked over Robin's shoulder at the white flashing message. Robin shrugged.
"It's got to be Mento or Elasti-Girl." Robin concluded. He pressed the 'accept' button to take the call. The screen then flashed and gave a visual of……the medical bay slightly lopsided? Robin, Starfire, and Cyborg were confused as they peered at what seemed to be the floor and walls of the medical bay slightly tilted to the right.
"Huh? Why's the picture messed up?" Cyborg asked until he heard a voice in the background of the communicator. The Titans listened.
"Steve, I think the communicator is on." Rita's muffled voice was heard.
"Huh?" Came the mind reader's voice. The Titans then watched as the visual on the screen started to move away from the floor. It finally stopped on Mento.
"Guys, I'm glad I got a hold of you." Mento's voice stated as it was transmitted through the communicator.
"Why? Is there anything wrong?" Starfire inquired. Rita appeared behind Mento's shoulder.
"Yes, it seems Raven's fever is getting higher, and we're not sure what else to do. We've put her on ice, but it's just not helping. It only slowed the rate at which the fever was increasing, but it's still going up." Rita updated.
"What's her temperature?" Cyborg asked her.
"Last I checked it was at 106.2 degrees."
"Damn.." The cybernetic teen mumbled under his breath.
"Should we get a doctor over here?"
"Not yet Mento. One time when Raven was really sick she told me that her body can withstand extreme heat, and even though a high fever such as that may be deadly to a full human, it isn't to her." Cyborg recalled. "As of right now, just try to keep the fever stabilized. Is it still rising?"
"I'll go check." Rita disappeared from the view of the communicator to check on Raven.
"If I may ask, what's the highest Raven can withstand before, well.." Cyborg understood what Mento was implying.
"The highest she told me was around 200 degrees." Mento's eyes widened at what Cyborg said, as well as Starfire and Robin's. Apparently the two Titans hadn't known this little tidbit about Raven.
"Two hundred degrees? That's impossible! No one can survive that!" Mento exclaimed.
"I know it sounds pretty crazy but it's the truth. You already know how Raven is half demon, and her father was well….a hot head if you will. Even though her body can withstand up to 200 degrees, Raven told me that it shouldn't go above 150."
"Why?" Mento asked. Robin and Starfire also waited for the explanation because they were curious too.
"Because that's when her human side perishes. You see, at such a high temperature, her blood will go crazy, and the only type that can withstand that level of temperature is her father's side. If Raven's temperature goes above 150 degrees, we could loose her human side forever. Her feelings, memories, every part of her that we know will be gone. We'll be left with only her demonic being. And believe me, that won't be a good thing."
'What have we gotten ourselves into..' Mento thought to himself as Rita returned into the communicator's view, holding a thermometer up to read the results.
"Right now it says 106.4 degrees. That's .2 higher than last time."
"Alright, right now the only thing you can do is try to slow down the fever." Cyborg put a hand to his chin.
"Do you have any idea of what we should do?" Mento asked.
"Just keep doing what you're doing. Keep Raven in plenty of ice and make sure the medical bay's temperature is cool. When we get out of here I'll see what I can do."
"When are you going to leave?"
"Uh we're not quite sure Mento, you see we're kind of stuck here." Robin explained.
"Yes, we are traveling through friend Raven's memories to find an exit. It is very complicated." Starfire added.
"Oh, I'm really sorry but I'd pull you guys out of there if I could. I just don't have enough strength after transferring Beast Boy."
"No need to apologize Mento. I believe it's best for us to try and find the exit ourselves anyway. Maybe there's a clue in here that will help us with Raven's condition." Robin reassured him. Just then the surroundings started to turn white and disappear.
"What's going on?" Mento asked, noticing the change in scenery behind the Titans on his communicator screen.
"Dang it! We have to go. The memory is switching over. Contact us if there are any drastic changes with Raven. And don't turn the communicator off. It's the only connection we have with you."
"Ok Robin, will do." And with that, Mento watched as the screen blipped off, returning to it's lifeless black color. He shut the top and set the small device on the table next to the bed Raven and Beast Boy where on.
"I'll go get more ice." Mento offered and walked out of the medical bay, leaving Rita to attend the two unconscious teens.
Pan over to Beast Boy and Raven who are still in the memory of Azarath…
"Thanks." Raven stated after Beast Boy helped her off the ground.
"No problem." He returned with a smile. "Uh so.. now what?"
"We wait." Beast Boy sighed. He expected that answer from Raven. She glanced at him.
'Beast Boy has been really holding up well considering, well, considering he's Beast Boy...' Raven thought as she looked around her old room. Almost as if on cue Beast Boy started to complain.
"No offense but I'm really tired of doing nothing. Do you have any toys in here or something? Board games? So we could pass the time?"
"Beast Boy, do I look like someone who would have board games and toys in my room?" Raven gave him a look that clearly told him he was an idiot.
"I guess not.." Beast Boy replied sadly as he slid against the wall and sat down on the floor in a defeated lump. Raven rolled her eyes, not at Beast Boy's actions, but because of her own unintended harshness towards the boy.
"You could read a book if you want." Raven offered as a sort of indirect apology.
"Your reading level is kind of different from mine heh heh.." Beast Boy scratched the back of his head with a sheepish smile.
"That may be true about your reading skills but these are my childhood books. They're probably on your level of reading skill." Raven walked over to a bookcase in the corner of the room. It was much smaller than her one at Titan's Tower. She put a finger against the binding of one book and ran it across a couple until she found a green one. Raven pulled it out and started flipping through it. It was a book that had animals as characters.
'This could be something Beast Boy could relate to..' Raven thought as she ran her hand across the cover. This was one of the few children's books she had actually owned. It was requested by her mother that she should have some books like these. Raven was thankful for that. Even though she never really got to see Arella much, her mother did take care of her in a sense. Raven walked over and kneeled down in front of Beast Boy handing him the small book.
"Hey thanks I….What do you mean my level of reading skill?!" Beast Boy exclaimed. "You're comparing my intellect to children's books?"
"Yup."
"Hmph, well that's not fair. I happen to be a very smart guy. Smarterer than the average dude if you ask me." Beast Boy slightly turned away from Raven and directed a snort to her as he started to look through the pages of the book she selected for him. Of course he was only kidding in fake insult and Raven couldn't help but smile slightly.
"Hey! Where are the pictures?!" Beast Boy exclaimed as he held the book sideways and upside down looking for any hint of drawings.
"Oh yes, you're on such a mature reading level. Maybe that book is out of your league after all." Raven extended her hand to take the book back but Beast Boy recoiled from her.
"No it's not! I can read it!" Beast Boy then focused himself intently on the book and Raven watched as his green eyes sparkled with determination as he read from line to line. After a short period of silence Beast Boy finally looked up at her. "How do you pronounce this?" He pushed the book closer to her and had his finger on a word. Raven leaned over and looked at the word and sweat dropped.
"Cat." She stated flatly once again giving him the 'are you serious?' look. Beast Boy quickly looked at where he was pointing and blushed.
"Cat? I don't see the word cat…" Beast Boy mumbled as he moved the book closer to his face. Raven then noticed the cover.
"You know the book is upside down…right?"
"Really?" Beast Boy turned it around. "Hey that's much better!"
'At least this will keep him quiet for a while…' Raven thought as she laid her back against the wall. She jinxed it.
"What's this word here?"
"Chased."
"And this word?"
"The."
"This one?
"Mouse! Beast Boy can't you read at all?" By now Raven was fuming while the changeling was rolling on the floor laughing.
"Haha, yeah I can Rae, I just wanted to see that look on your face. Priceless."
"Alright, reading time is over." Raven picked the book up and shut it with a thud.
"Hey!" Beast Boy whined as Raven got up to put the book away. As she was putting the book back on the shelf , Beast Boy got up and walked over to the little bed. He noticed that little Memory Raven's eyes were completely white with no pupils and were just about to close. As soon as they slid shut, the whole room turned dark.
"HUH? WHA-? WHAT HAPPENED? RAVEN?" The green boy panicked and started to feel around in the dark frantically. The light source had been taken away from him so suddenly that his nocturnal vision didn't set in yet. He felt along the walls for a split second until he smacked into something warm and toppled over it.
"Ah!" Raven let out a small cry as she felt Beast Boy's bumbling body unexpectedly crashed into her and sent them both falling down.
"Oof." Beast Boy exclaimed as he sat up. "Raven is that you?"
"No, I'm the Easter Bunny. Get off." Raven hissed. Beast Boy quickly got up on his feet. He looked around as his surroundings started to become more clear. His animal senses were finally kicking in.
"Hey, we're still in your old room. It's just….dark now." Beast Boy observed. He then looked towards the window and saw moonlight pouring in. "So what? It's nighttime now?" Beast Boy pointed to the window as Raven got up and dusted herself off. She then walked over and leaned out of the window slightly to get a better view. Azarath, just like Earth, had a light source during night. It looked just like the moon.
"Yeah, it's night now. The memory must of skipped over since my memory self fell asleep."
"Oh I get it. Since your memory self fell asleep during the daytime, we automatically ended up in the nighttime…" Beast Boy was cut off as he heard rustling from the covers on the bed. " We ended up in the nighttime because that's when you woke up." Raven nodded her head. "This whole time jumping thing is weird."
"Yeah." Raven agreed. Even she was getting confused by all of this incomplete memory nonsense. Raven pinched the bridge of her nose as she felt her headache worsen just by thinking about it. Just then the door to the room opened.
"Whoa!" Beast Boy squeaked as he jumped away from the door, not expecting anything to happen. He turned around and noticed that in the doorway there was a dark cloaked figure with a hood up, holding a torch. The room had an eerie glow as the light from the fire made shadows from various objects dance off the cold brown walls.
"…." Raven was speechless as she saw the all too familiar phantom like intruder in the doorway. Once again she felt sick to her stomach. The two teammates watched in silence as the figure quietly crept up to the small waking girl.
"Who's there?" A sleepy Memory Raven asked as she rubbed her eyes with a tiny fist. And just as Memory Raven's eyes widened in horror at the sight of a mysterious stranger in her room, the dark figure quickly grabbed the little girl by the throat. Beast Boy gasped in horror at this action. He watched helplessly as Memory Raven thrashed and choked as the mysterious person would not loosen their grip.
"Shut up spawn. You're coming with me." The horrible voice of this evil man sent shivers down Beast Boy's spine. Raven just shut her eyes tight as she listened. Everything was coming back to her and she couldn't stand to watch it.
"R-Raven, what's g-going on?" Beast Boy worriedly asked but noticed that Raven wasn't watching the scene. It looked as though she didn't even hear him. He slowly turned his head back to see what would happen.
"You scream once and I'll kill your mother." The man's threat made Memory Raven hush up as he took his hand away from her throat. He then lifted her up with one arm and walked over to the window, carrying the torch in his other hand. Beast Boy, who was currently standing in front of the window, stepped to the side as the man glided past him. The dark figure took a good look around the room and then started to get up on the edge of the window. He blew the torch out and placed the handle quietly on the floor. With one last look around, he took a big leap forward and jumped clear out of the window.
"HEY!" Beast Boy screamed. By now he knew he couldn't do anything to stop what had already happened but he couldn't help from screaming and getting his anger out. Raven opened her eyes upon hearing her friend's rage. She saw Beast Boy jump out of the window.
"Beast Boy!" Raven yelled after him, but all she saw was a green bird, getting smaller and smaller as it tracked the assailant. Raven turned away from the window and slumped down against the wall until she reached the bottom. Her hands were gripping her head. Raven was trying to think of what she could do. She did not want Beast Boy to see what would happen soon. With one big breathe to try and calm her nerves, Raven rose back up and turned towards the window. She hopped onto the edge and looked down at Azarath. It was a clear night out and the buildings of Azarath were lit up with the light of the 'moon'. Some windows had candles in them adding to this serene scene. Such a beautiful night for something so horrible to happen. And with that last thought, Raven leapt off the edge and out of the tower to follow Beast Boy.
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I told you guys I would update quicker this time : ) I would of even had the chapter up by Friday night but the site gave me errors when I tried to upload this.