Chapter One: Visions
Starfire sat in silence on the couch after Raven's tale.
"So… perhaps they have gone for a walk?" she said hopefully. Raven shrugged.
"Maybe Beast Boy needed to get outside and lift his leg on a few fire hydrants," said Raven.
"I do not understand…" Starfire said. "Why would Beast Boy do such an odd thing?"
"Forget it," Rave said, rolling her eyes. "They should be back soon, and then we can warn them of what will happen."
More silence passed between us.
"It has occurred to me that I am not close to you," said Starfire after a moment. Raven looked up at the Tamaranian, startled.
"What reason is there for closeness?" she asked. "You know what you need to, and that's more than enough." Raven looked away from Starfire, almost as if she were ashamed or hiding something.
"I know you," the young alien nodded slowly, "and your personality and even part of your past… and yet, I know you not. Please, Raven, there is always a need to confide in someone."
"I confide in myself," Raven snapped.
The room suddenly became colder.
"Tell me again what you saw," Starfire requested. "Never before have you had a vision so vivid. It must be a true warning."
"True," said Raven. "I have not had such a long and detailed premonition before…" She was pensive. But what did it mean? How had Robin and the others… And what did she have to do with it.
"I feel this matter needs to be looked at more thoroughly," Starfire went on. "For the sake of our friends, in case anything—"
"I get the point, Star, I'll tell you again," Raven said rather hastily. Sometimes she wondered if there would ever be a time the thickheaded Starfire would understand something the first time you told her.
"All of us are on the beach of all places…"
"Except me," Starfire said quickly, as if Raven would forget this fact.
"Except you," Raven said, humoring her. "And it's twilight..."
It started innocently enough. Cyborg and Robin trying to play a small game of beach volleyball with Beast Boy flying in as a seagull trying to pop their ball. Raven had retreated to her meditations, but their laughter broke through her thoughts like a brick through a window. Irritated, she broke out of her meditation midway through opening her mind to clear it of thought and clutter.
"Would you guys shut up!" she shouted, but as she turned to see them, they were frozen in motion.
"Cyborg, your battery OK?" Raven asked tentatively as she approached her motionless friends.
"There was… horrifying flashes of scenes after that," Raven said, breathless, remembering the frightful images and sounds that had passed through her mind. Starfire was hanging on every word, like a child listening to a favorite bedtime story she'd heard so many times before. "It was terrible. Robin calling out to me, angry and scared… I'd never heard him sound so strange… Cyborg letting out a roar of fury… Something… Something striking Robin across the head and the blood… Beast Boy growling… Cyborg trying to pull him away, but… a green wolf jumping towards me, fangs bared and a moment later, the same wolf is slumped against a bloody stone with a small whimper…"
"It's all so terrible," Starfire uttered, enthralled. Raven was the one trembling now.
"I don't know what it means," she said, her voice shaking. "I wish I could just figure it out before it happens."
"We will!" Starfire resolved. "We will save them. We just need to warn them to stay away from the beach. And you as well, you will not go to the beach until we understand this vision of yours."
"Believe me, you won't find me anywhere near that beach!" Raven said, finally looking up at her companion. But what she saw confused her. Starfire seemed to be in deep thought.
"You're thinking?" Raven said, slightly impressed. "This is new."
"Raven… in your vision… where do you think I could have been? Why would I not be on the beach with you and the others, having fun?"
"I don't think you can play volleyball," said Raven doubtfully.
"I do not know what that is, but whether I can play with it or not, it does not explain why I would not be with my friends," said Starfire with a pensive frown. "Perhaps we should analyze why I am not there—"
"I knew you'd find a way to make this about you."
Starfire jumped. "Excuse me?"
"Eventually this will all just be about you and Robin," said Raven. "Isn't that how it always works?"
"I am concerned for my friends, Raven, as I know you are, that is all," Starfire tried to explain.
"I'm sorry," Raven said after a moment. "But I really don't think that the fact that you weren't there is a big problem…"
Something occurred to Raven. "Star… What were we doing last night?"
Starfire blinked her wide green eyes at Raven in ignorance. "I do not remember."
Raven's brow furrowed. "Neither do I… Don't you find it strange that neither one of us has any recollection of last night and three of our friends are gone this morning?"
"I did not even realize the memory from last night was missing until you asked," Starfire said.
"I didn't really realize it either until I was trying to think of the last time I saw any of them. When is the last time you remember seeing them?" Raven asked.
"Around noon yesterday… that's the latest I remember!" Starfire sounded terrified that half of her day was lost in the void of forgetfulness.
"Who did you see?"
"Beast Boy making a sandwich that looked too big to fit in his mouth," said Starfire. "I asked him what was in it and he put some of the most abominable things in between those two pieces of bread… can you really put fish on a sandwich?"
"Tuna again, eh?" Raven chuckled.
"And pickles and salsa and spaghetti sauce…"
"This does sound like a disgusting sandwich," Raven admitted, making a face.
The two girls shivered at the thought of it.
"I saw Robin and Cyborg duking it out one on one on that video game of theirs…" Raven said. "I told them they were immature and went to my room and…"
"The alarm!" Starfire cried triumphantly. "We were called into battle!"
"Yeah…" Raven said, slowly remembering. "Robin said something about some of the Hives kids…"
"…ganging up on a child outside a jewelry store!" Starfire finished Raven's sentence. Raven frowned.
"I was infuriated… but why? It was just one kid, and they were probably after the money inside…"
"You're quite frightening when you are angry," said Starfire, looking a little scared. Raven tried to give her a reassuring smile, but the expression felt strange on her lips and she abandoned it for a more comfortable sneer.
"Why would they gang up on one little kid anyway?" Raven asked herself.
"As you have stated, they were probably planning on taking money from the store," said Starfire.
"Damn," said Raven after a while. "I can't think of anything past that."
"Somehow we both got home and into our beds," said Starfire. "But what about Robin, Cyborg and Beast Boy?"
"I'm thinking too much," said Raven finally. "I'm going to my room to meditate."
As Raven was about to leave the room, a horrifying thought struck Starfire.
"Raven…" she said, tentatively. "Perhaps… your vision… it is not a vision of the future."
Raven turned. "What? Of course it is, what else could it be?"
Starfire rose from the couch and looked down to gather the words— and the courage to voice the most petrifying possibility. Finally, she looked Raven straight in the eye.
"Perhaps it is not a vision of the future," she repeated, "but a lost memory of the past."
The same surge of weakness that had overcome Raven in the morning now overwhelmed her and she fell to her knees.
"Raven?" Starfire said, her innocent voice full of concern. Raven was breathing heavily.
"Oh God..." Raven said. "Oh God, no…" In a flash, Starfire was at her side, one arm on Raven's back, the other offering to help her up.
Suddenly, there was a crash and Starfire looked up in time to see Cyborg, drenched in water, his circuits sparking, and his eyes full of intense fury.
He spotted Raven and the rage heightened in his eyes.
"Cyborg!" Starfire cried from her spot next to Raven. "You are alright! Where are my other friends?"
Cyborg was breathing heavily.
"Get away from her, Starfire," he said, his voice cold and shaking. "She's dangerous."