[Right. After a couple of system errors with the college's network, I
decided to retrieve all my writing and bring it home for a change. Sorry
for the delay]
Surrounded, the Titans feared the worst. Starfire wailed.
"Oh, what could possibly be worse than the Blortax?" she sobbed, pathetically.
"It won't be a Blortax," said Reason, laying her hand on Starfire's shoulder. "They have already seen that your Nightmare didn't work. It will be the others' if there are any at all..."
The other Titans gulped, as the screeching grew louder. A shape moved around them at blinding speed, its dark form barely visible in the dense fog. It had two pairs of glowing, red eyes.
"What is that?!" screeched Beastboy, pointing at where the shape was. The others turned to look.
"Where's what?" asked Cyborg, after a moment of staring at nothing but fog.
It's here
The rasping, low sound drifted out of the fog, chilling all the Titans to the bone. The screeching and chittering sounds of the Nightmares seemed to stop for a moment, and then could be heard to be getting further away.
"They're afraid of us?" asked Robin to the world in general. The entire group formed a tight protective circle; something was wrong.
No. They are afraid of me...
Wraith descended from the mist onto the Titans, his red eyes blaring with bright light.
They were getting close now. Raven could sense her brother nearby. Sure enough, Valour looked down at her.
"We are here." He said. The fog parted, revealing a direct pathway to a large rocky outcrop. Raven started to head down the ghostly tunnel, but stopped as she realised Valour was not by her side like he had been for the journey – time did not work in the right way here. The journey could have taken five minutes, or 5 months, she was not sure.
"Aren't you coming?" she asked the emotion, turning around.
He was gone.
Shrugging, she turned and headed down the pathway that had formed in the mist.
"Titans, move!" shouted Robin, flipping out of the way of the shadowy figure. He was not quite fast enough however, and a blow from an arm that looked like nothing more than shadow propelled him full force into a gnarled tree. The other Titans did not fare much better – Cyborg was enveloped in the darkness, only to appear moments later unconscious on the ground. Starfire fired starbolt after starbolt at the creature, but the energy pulses merely sank into the shadowy skin, to be returned moments later as dark balls of flame. Wraith regarded the fallen Titans, and turned to Beastboy.
"That leaves you..." rasped the figure. He reached down to grab the changeling, but was stopped by a sudden blast of energy, which seemed to be coming from several directions at once. Beastboy looked up with a strange mix of fear and curiosity in his eyes.
The emotions of Raven had formed a large circle around Wraith and were each firing a beam of white energy into the apparition. Wraith bellowed with rage and pain.
"Get... them... off... me" gasped Wraith, sinking to whatever could be called his knees. Bravery lowered herself to the ground and stepped forwards, extending her hand towards Wraith.
"You don't scare us." she said. "We know you aren't really what you say you are, are you? You are just like us. An emotion..."
Wraith hung his head, and the fires in his eyes seemed to die down.
"Yes." He said. "I am Rook's desire for revenge. Once Trigon entered his mind, I was manifested whenever Rook had to fight his father. Wraith was the name I took, although it is not my real title."
As the Titans recovered, Reason also descended towards Rook.
"What is your real name?" she asked.
"Retribution." said the emotion. "Rook sent me to find you all once he knew you were in here. I tried to find you, but Trigon has almost taken over. He can control all of Rook's emotions easily now. It is only a matter of time until he can control all of you, too."
The group were silent for long seconds, maybe minutes. Retribution turned away from them.
"Come." he said. "I must take you to Rook. It is not far."
He slid away into the mist. The Titans looked at each other, and duly followed.
Raven reached the end of the tunnel, and the mist completely opened up.
The outcrop was huge, a single massive spire of rock which rose from the ground. There was no mist around it at all – the mist almost refused to come near. There was a giant oval of clear ground which gave the place an ethereal, unreal feel. Of course it was unreal, thought Raven. This was her brother's mind! At the top of the rock formation, a figure was sat, cross- legged and floating in mid air, his cloak draped to the ground behind him.
Rook.
Raven floated forwards and up, to reach the top of the mountain. As she did so, she felt a surge of energy coming from her brother. As she reached him, he opened his eyes.
"Hello, sister." he said quietly. It was possibly the single most out of place thing he could have said, given the situation.
Raven remained focused on her reason for being in Rook's mind. "You said you needed my help." she replied.
Rook lowered his feet to the ground. "I trust you were told of the situation by Retribution?" Raven shook her head. "Valour found us first."
Rook's eyes widened. "Valour?" he said quickly, "But I don't have Valour any more... he was killed a few weeks ago..."
They thought for a moment. "Father!" they said simultaneously. Rook turned to face his sister for the first time. "This is bad. How many of your emotions did you bring with you?"
"All of them."
"Even Anger?"
She nodded. Rook sighed. This was not going to plan. "Where are they now?" he asked. Raven looked at the ground.
"I left them behind when I followed Valour. But they are safe." she added hurriedly when she saw the look on her brother's face. "The Titans are with them."
"Yes, I felt them enter my mind a while ago." He paused. "Why did you let them come with you? Surely, you know it is too dangerous in my mind for untrained people..."
"They insisted," she said. "Besides, they're my friends, and whatever you think they are very good at what they do."
Rook raised an eyebrow.
"And what, exactly, 'do they do'?" he asked.
"They save people." she said, simply. The ground underneath them rumbled.
"Regardless, we need to get them out of this place." said Rook. "It is becoming extremely unstable. I do not want them to have to face our father – they have no chance against him as it is."
He noted Raven's expression.
"Ok, so we don't have a chance either, but at least we know what to expect."
Raven snapped back to the task at hand. "So, what could I possibly do to help?"
Rook's features seemed to become darker inside his hood.
"Well, as you probably know, I am somewhat... deficient of emotions at the moment, so I cannot unite with them to force father out of my mind directly. However, with enough support, I could perform the Rite of Sealing, which would banish him. For this though, I'd need a lot of people working together. That is why I needed you and your emotions – all of you together would probably just be able to accumulate the power I would need for the rite. However, only just enough and it still may not be enough. It is, however, my last chance I believe. I shall call my remaining emotions to me, and maybe if your friends have been lucky enough to find one of them they will be led here where it is safe. Other than that, I cannot promise anything."
Raven looked out into the fog, wondering what would become of her emotions and friends.
Valour stalked through the mist. All was going to plan. Soon, the threat of the girl would be duly vanquished, by her own hand no less. For that was what would happen. The list of Rook's enemies in his own mind was steadily growing. The emotion's eyes glowed red.
What fools they all were...
Valour looked out into the fog, and extended his psychic influence. He could sense everything from this spot; the Nightmare herds galloping through the barren wastelands, Retribution doing his 'duty' and escorting those fools to Rook, and... yes... her. That was who he was looking for. She was heading this way.
He could here the heavy breathing of Anger as she ran through the mist and almost straight into his armoured form. She pulled up just short, and they looked each other in the eye.
"Our father is waiting for you." said Valour.
Surrounded, the Titans feared the worst. Starfire wailed.
"Oh, what could possibly be worse than the Blortax?" she sobbed, pathetically.
"It won't be a Blortax," said Reason, laying her hand on Starfire's shoulder. "They have already seen that your Nightmare didn't work. It will be the others' if there are any at all..."
The other Titans gulped, as the screeching grew louder. A shape moved around them at blinding speed, its dark form barely visible in the dense fog. It had two pairs of glowing, red eyes.
"What is that?!" screeched Beastboy, pointing at where the shape was. The others turned to look.
"Where's what?" asked Cyborg, after a moment of staring at nothing but fog.
It's here
The rasping, low sound drifted out of the fog, chilling all the Titans to the bone. The screeching and chittering sounds of the Nightmares seemed to stop for a moment, and then could be heard to be getting further away.
"They're afraid of us?" asked Robin to the world in general. The entire group formed a tight protective circle; something was wrong.
No. They are afraid of me...
Wraith descended from the mist onto the Titans, his red eyes blaring with bright light.
They were getting close now. Raven could sense her brother nearby. Sure enough, Valour looked down at her.
"We are here." He said. The fog parted, revealing a direct pathway to a large rocky outcrop. Raven started to head down the ghostly tunnel, but stopped as she realised Valour was not by her side like he had been for the journey – time did not work in the right way here. The journey could have taken five minutes, or 5 months, she was not sure.
"Aren't you coming?" she asked the emotion, turning around.
He was gone.
Shrugging, she turned and headed down the pathway that had formed in the mist.
"Titans, move!" shouted Robin, flipping out of the way of the shadowy figure. He was not quite fast enough however, and a blow from an arm that looked like nothing more than shadow propelled him full force into a gnarled tree. The other Titans did not fare much better – Cyborg was enveloped in the darkness, only to appear moments later unconscious on the ground. Starfire fired starbolt after starbolt at the creature, but the energy pulses merely sank into the shadowy skin, to be returned moments later as dark balls of flame. Wraith regarded the fallen Titans, and turned to Beastboy.
"That leaves you..." rasped the figure. He reached down to grab the changeling, but was stopped by a sudden blast of energy, which seemed to be coming from several directions at once. Beastboy looked up with a strange mix of fear and curiosity in his eyes.
The emotions of Raven had formed a large circle around Wraith and were each firing a beam of white energy into the apparition. Wraith bellowed with rage and pain.
"Get... them... off... me" gasped Wraith, sinking to whatever could be called his knees. Bravery lowered herself to the ground and stepped forwards, extending her hand towards Wraith.
"You don't scare us." she said. "We know you aren't really what you say you are, are you? You are just like us. An emotion..."
Wraith hung his head, and the fires in his eyes seemed to die down.
"Yes." He said. "I am Rook's desire for revenge. Once Trigon entered his mind, I was manifested whenever Rook had to fight his father. Wraith was the name I took, although it is not my real title."
As the Titans recovered, Reason also descended towards Rook.
"What is your real name?" she asked.
"Retribution." said the emotion. "Rook sent me to find you all once he knew you were in here. I tried to find you, but Trigon has almost taken over. He can control all of Rook's emotions easily now. It is only a matter of time until he can control all of you, too."
The group were silent for long seconds, maybe minutes. Retribution turned away from them.
"Come." he said. "I must take you to Rook. It is not far."
He slid away into the mist. The Titans looked at each other, and duly followed.
Raven reached the end of the tunnel, and the mist completely opened up.
The outcrop was huge, a single massive spire of rock which rose from the ground. There was no mist around it at all – the mist almost refused to come near. There was a giant oval of clear ground which gave the place an ethereal, unreal feel. Of course it was unreal, thought Raven. This was her brother's mind! At the top of the rock formation, a figure was sat, cross- legged and floating in mid air, his cloak draped to the ground behind him.
Rook.
Raven floated forwards and up, to reach the top of the mountain. As she did so, she felt a surge of energy coming from her brother. As she reached him, he opened his eyes.
"Hello, sister." he said quietly. It was possibly the single most out of place thing he could have said, given the situation.
Raven remained focused on her reason for being in Rook's mind. "You said you needed my help." she replied.
Rook lowered his feet to the ground. "I trust you were told of the situation by Retribution?" Raven shook her head. "Valour found us first."
Rook's eyes widened. "Valour?" he said quickly, "But I don't have Valour any more... he was killed a few weeks ago..."
They thought for a moment. "Father!" they said simultaneously. Rook turned to face his sister for the first time. "This is bad. How many of your emotions did you bring with you?"
"All of them."
"Even Anger?"
She nodded. Rook sighed. This was not going to plan. "Where are they now?" he asked. Raven looked at the ground.
"I left them behind when I followed Valour. But they are safe." she added hurriedly when she saw the look on her brother's face. "The Titans are with them."
"Yes, I felt them enter my mind a while ago." He paused. "Why did you let them come with you? Surely, you know it is too dangerous in my mind for untrained people..."
"They insisted," she said. "Besides, they're my friends, and whatever you think they are very good at what they do."
Rook raised an eyebrow.
"And what, exactly, 'do they do'?" he asked.
"They save people." she said, simply. The ground underneath them rumbled.
"Regardless, we need to get them out of this place." said Rook. "It is becoming extremely unstable. I do not want them to have to face our father – they have no chance against him as it is."
He noted Raven's expression.
"Ok, so we don't have a chance either, but at least we know what to expect."
Raven snapped back to the task at hand. "So, what could I possibly do to help?"
Rook's features seemed to become darker inside his hood.
"Well, as you probably know, I am somewhat... deficient of emotions at the moment, so I cannot unite with them to force father out of my mind directly. However, with enough support, I could perform the Rite of Sealing, which would banish him. For this though, I'd need a lot of people working together. That is why I needed you and your emotions – all of you together would probably just be able to accumulate the power I would need for the rite. However, only just enough and it still may not be enough. It is, however, my last chance I believe. I shall call my remaining emotions to me, and maybe if your friends have been lucky enough to find one of them they will be led here where it is safe. Other than that, I cannot promise anything."
Raven looked out into the fog, wondering what would become of her emotions and friends.
Valour stalked through the mist. All was going to plan. Soon, the threat of the girl would be duly vanquished, by her own hand no less. For that was what would happen. The list of Rook's enemies in his own mind was steadily growing. The emotion's eyes glowed red.
What fools they all were...
Valour looked out into the fog, and extended his psychic influence. He could sense everything from this spot; the Nightmare herds galloping through the barren wastelands, Retribution doing his 'duty' and escorting those fools to Rook, and... yes... her. That was who he was looking for. She was heading this way.
He could here the heavy breathing of Anger as she ran through the mist and almost straight into his armoured form. She pulled up just short, and they looked each other in the eye.
"Our father is waiting for you." said Valour.