Chapter 4

Beastboy felt the now-familiar sensation of falling into a void. The portal to Raven's mind dumped him on his back at the same place that he and Cyborg had entered.(The asteroids.) As he picked himself up, he noticed two different scents. One was faint, but had a salt to it; the shifter couldn't place it. The other was fear. Beastboy had encountered the sharp, dizzying smell enough to recognize it. He shook his head and started walking towards the nearest gate.
Glancing around, he saw the ravens that had plauged him and Cyborg the last time he had been here. He took one final look at the birds. "Stupid freaky metaphorical constructs," he muttered as he walked into the gate-

-And into Happy Raven's dwelling place. But it felt different; didn't have the same continuity as it did the last time. Like someone had made it in a great hurry and didn't care much for structural integrity. "Happy Raven? Are you there?" As if by an answer, a wind blew through the trees in a disconsolate manner, and a note towards him. The green one snatched it out of the air and read:

Gone.

"Well that can't be a good sign..." He flipped it over, to see if there was any more. There was:

Follow the signs.

"...What?" Small pink arrow posts popped out of the ground and pointed down the path he had traveled by last time. Shrugging, he followed them. And as he did, he noticed an unpleasant odor. Blood. Beastboy didn't like the implications. By the gate, he noticed a small red triangle. "Odd," he said as he walked through it-

-And into the maze. "I wonder what the odds of my traveling the exact same path I followed last time are..." he mused to himself. This place didn't feel any different from the last time. "Timid Raven? Are you here?" Garfield shouted.
"Here," answered a suicidally-depressed voice.
Beastboy whirled. "Where are you? I can't seem to see you."
"I'm sorry."
"Will you guide me through the maze?"
"Yes. I'll take you to Raven."
"Thank you." He started walking. Then stopped. "Wait, how will I follow you?"
Timid Raven chuckled, an event so rare Beastboy fell over in shock. " You're an animal, aren't you? Track by sound and scent." Her voice floated off into the corridors, and the shifter hurried after it.

"So, Timid, what's going on here?" the changeling asked, in a desperate attempt to allay the apologizing.
She paused. "What do you mean?"
"Well, I was just in Happy's room... dimension...thingy and she wasn't there. And just before I entered the gate I caught the scent of blood. What's the deal?"
Timid didn't respond to him. Instead, she muttered to herself, "So she beat me to it. Figures. She was always the most delicate."
"What exactly do you mean by that?" Beastboy asked, more than a little confused. This Raven was suddenly a lot more assertive. He wasn't used to emotions up and switching like this.
"What I mean is, Happy committed suicide." Garfield stared in shock; he didn't know that that was possible. "And to answer your other question, I'm not always Timid anymore. Raven is losing emotional capacity. It seems she has to cannibalize existing constructs in order to maintain even this."
"Wow. So who are you now?"
"Analysis. Here's your stop," she said stopping at the gate.
"Wait, there's one more thing I want to ask you. There was a small red triangle near the last gate. What could that mean?"
"You'll have to find the answer to that one on your own. But I can give you a hint," she said, removing something from her cloak and pressing it into his hand. Beastboy, able to see none of this, was slightly unnerved at having something shoved in his hand without being able to witness it. " Now go, and find your own answers," Analysis said, shoving him through the gate-

-And back into the asteroids. He opened his hand and looked at she had given him. "A newt? What am I supposed to do with a newt?" Beastboy paused. "Wait, no, it's a salamander. Okay, how does that make a difference? It's still a bloody amphibian."
"Bloody or not, it still has significance."
Beastboy whirled. Again. "Brave Raven?"
"Yup. I'm back! Glad to see that you are too."
"What was that you were saying about it having significance?"
"Let's walk and talk. I'm going to lead you to the next gate anyway, so we may as well save time. C'mon."
"Okay. Now, what about the salamander?"
"What do you know about salamanders?"
The shifter paused for a second, then said, "I can classify twenty different species off of the top of my head right now if you like. Along with characteristics, diet, habits, and environment. Natural predators, mortality rates, and their physiology. Where would you like me to start?"
"I'm very impressed, but I meant as in mythologically. You know what they represent?"
"No, I don't... Hey, could you slow down a little?" Beastboy asked, struggling with her pace. He looked over at her. Brave's cloak had changed; the green had become an edgy white. "Lemme guess. You're not always Brave, either."
"Nope. Guess who I am!"
The changeling opened his mouth to speak, but the new Raven cut him off with a "Bored!" and increased her pace.
"Impatience. That's your name."
"Yup! Well! Here we are!" They had reached the gate. "Goodbye!" she said, pushing him towards the gate.
"Wait! What about the salamanders?!"
"Stopped caring! Bye now!" Impatience said, kicking him into the gate-

Sorry about the long wait! My internet connection was destroyed(boo hoo). So now it'll take even longer for me to update. Sorry... Some of you may have noticed slight differences in this chapter. That's because I revised it a little. I like it better this way, myself. Oh, some people have been confused by the way I refer to my characters. In truth, I run out of pronouns, but I'll explain just the same.

Beastboy: Garfield, Logan

Stafire: Kory

Cyborg: Victor, Vic, V-Man, etc. etc...

That's pretty much it. I'm sure you can puzzle out the rest, but if not, just mention it in your review. Bye!