Okay, Chapter 5. I left a cliffhanger in place, last time and for that, I am a morally reprehensible being. But, here is the next chapter and it's a doozy (lengthwise anyway, I edited this chapter for errors at last). I'll shut up and leave you with the disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans in any way, shape, or form. That honor belongs to someone at Cartoon Network (Who is it? I would like to know…) and I have no intent of challenging that person. I don't seek a profit from this and just hope this doesn't get me sued… Please enjoy!

A Matter of Self-Control

By Wordbearer

Robin breathed heavily as he looked at the spot where Raven had vanished in a flash of black light. Terra put paid to the last robot with a hard driven shard of rock. It stood a moment before toppling and then silence fell.

"Everyone ok?" Robin asked and the group nodded agreement.

Starfire asked worriedly, "What happened to Raven? Her departure has left me quite worried. Was she injured by Slade's mechanical compatriots?"

Robin replied, "I don't think so, Star. She was fine one second and gone another. Beastboy, you were closest to her at the time. Did you see what happened?"

The green youth shock his head emphatically, "No way. I was under a dog pile of Slade's rockem-sockem robots at the time. A little distracted, you might say."

Terra looked from Titan to Titan and inquired, "Where would Raven go? I never saw her do that disappearing trick the whole week I was with her in the canyon. Is she okay?"

Robin turned toward the blond and said, "We don't know, Raven usually doesn't teleport around unless it's urgent. That's why we're worried. If she felt she had to leave the battlefield NOW, it must have been moderately serious."

In a tone that was a mix of fear and admiration, Starfire added, "Yes, friend Raven doesn't leave before a fight is done! She must be hurt or injured."

Beastboy, looking mildly put, out by all this talk interjected, "Let's go home. If she's not there, we can look up her communicator frequency. All this fighting is making me hungry…"

Robin sighed and spoke, "Very well. Terra, since Raven left you will provide me with transport back to the tower. Titans move out!" The skinny blond tore a chunk of concrete large enough for the two of them from the street and mounted it. Robin leapt on behind her while the remaining Titans took up formation behind them and they took to the air.

As they passed over the ruined city leaving the warehouse with its new addition of smashed robots behind, Robin shouted over the low whistle of wind, "Nice job today! You were a big help."

Keeping her eyes carefully on her target, Terra responded, "Thanks, you did have to bail me out there a second though…"

Robin replied, "No big deal. That's what teammates do for one another."

Her eyes widened involuntarily and she stammered back, "Really, thanks for pointing that out. I wasn't expecting an invitation though on my first day, just planning to visit…"

Robin grinned to himself as he spoke, "No need to be humble. It was an honestly good effort there. Touch sloppy, but overall impressive." Terra was about to respond when she cleared a building and Titans' island came into view. Something was wrong. A black mist engulfed its rocky shores despite the comparative heat of the day. The tower seemed distorted somehow as well, its dimensions warped slightly out of true alignment. The group did a double take at the strange spectacle. Robin clutched his mount as Terra's control momentarily faltered.

She muttered in disbelief, "If that's normal around here, I really don't want to hang around."

Her eyes blazing with apprehension, Starfire exclaimed, "I may be new to this world, but this is not a normal event! We must hurry there and discover the reason for this occurrence."

Robin clutched his perch precariously as he spoke, "Let's check it out. Be on your guard and let's make this quick. We still have to find Raven after all." Terra nodded and set her stone mount in motion once more, Starfire quickly following. Beastboy launched from a flag pole where he had rested briefly and hurried after, his feelings masked by his black avian eyes. As they passed into the air above the island, they felt a brief chill and nausea rippled through their stomachs. The sky seemed to darken as they landed and headed up to the tower. A voice halted them in their tracks.
"Welcome home, Titans. I trust that you find this all very disturbing." They spun around, Robin reflexively readying a birdarang. What they saw stopped them in their tracks. The voice emanated from a tall, thin figure with a glass enclosed brain. The boy wonder demanded of the red-skinned stranger.

"Who are you and what do know of this?"

The other was unfazed by his interrogator's aggressive tone and merely raised an eyebrow in response, "Come now. Is that a way to treat someone who wants to help you with a problem? Come on; let us all be courteous here…" Amusement seemed to dance in his lightless eyes a moment.

Visibly calming himself, Robin asked again, "What do you know of this?" "That's more like it. This lovely change of scene is the work of someone very near and dear to all your hearts." He spoke and gestured at the now surreal island which was taking on strange sullen hues and burbling like an infant in its sleep.

Confusion gathered in the group's eyes and the stranger continued, "She is in some distress right now. I think she is having a little trouble dealing with the world in light of her recent injuries."

The first to speak was Beastboy, who muttered in a low tone, "Raven."

More loudly he asked, "Where is she and what did you do her? I want answers! Who are you?" Anger crackled in his tone, but the stranger ignored it.

"She's in the Tower, in her room and what is happening to her is merely a consequence of her mixed heritage. As to my name, you may call me Psimon but you will call me your god before this affair is finished." A shock wave engulfed the group and threw them back as a storm ignited around the eerie being. Robin hurled a birdarang at Psimon, but he halted it inches from his face with a gesture and it fell to the ground. The Titans hit the ground and it turned an ugly purple-blue like an old bruise. The island trembled and a hail of small rocks turned black and flung themselves away from the Tower seemingly of their own accord.

Psimon spoke again, "I would get moving, Titans. You don't have all day. The longer this goes on the worse the disruptions will get. I'll depart now to reduce the number of distractions you must face in this ordeal. A pleasure to meet you all."

Psimon began to fade as he spoke, his braincase glinting in an errant sunbeam, "Oh, Terra. Do watch your control. This island is unstable enough as is…" Terra's eyes glowed gold and she flung a rock at the vanishing figure, but the rock merely passed through him and he laughed cruelly. When he was gone, the three veteran Titans' looked at one another and ran to the tower. Terra stood still a moment.

She thought, "Am I the only one freaked out beyond belief by this situation?" A crazed cackle issuing from an unseen mouth seemed to answer her. She fled toward the tower, catching up with the others as the double doors opened. The interior of the entry hall seemed normal enough, but the foursome remained close together as they made their way to the elevator which opened normally.

Terra asked uncertainly, "Where do we go? Where would Raven go if something was wrong?"

"Her room," the other three responded. Robin punched in the basement button.

Terra spoke, "Raven's room is in the basement. Why would I expect anything else?"

Immediately she regretted saying it, but Beastboy picked up the answer, trying to lighten the mood, "That's her all right. A regular doom and gloom lover. Basement isn't her normal place to crash, but she took up residence when the tower turned into an upside down 'L'." Somehow the clearly inappropriate comment broke the dark mood that and Starfire grinned.

Robin muttered, "Almost there, come on. Can't this thing go any faster…" Just then the lights went out and the tower groaned as it was subjected to the wrenching effects of non-Newtonian physics. The walls twisted and the elevator screeched to a halt.

Robin looked at the emergency position indicator light and shouted, "Starfire! We're close enough. Blast us an exit in that corner and we'll be in the basement." The others crowded into the opposite corner as the alien female's eyes glowed green in the dark to indicate her position. An orb of light glowed briefly and a hum rose before a thunderous boom echoed in the cramped elevator. A molten hole glowed sullenly in the gloom. Starfire was the first to drop into the corridor, a glowing palm held aloft like a torch. Robin and Beastboy quickly followed and took up positions on either side. Terra came last, grunting as she pulled herself through the breach. She looked around in alarm at the stygian darkness of the corridor, her blue eyes opened wide.

Beastboy spoke up, "Okay, where do we go from here? I haven't been here in the dark before…"

Robin spoke authoritatively, ignoring the groans of the tower's warping superstructure, "All these corridors eventually run into the main chamber. When we get there we should be able to find where Raven is holing up. I can't find a more direct route at the present time, without access to the tower's computers. Starfire. You have the light. You lead." She nodded and moved forward.

The odd noises being made by the building got on their nerves and stoked their fear. Beastboy continually shapeshifted as they went, going from mouse to owl to gorilla as he reacted to each noise and sought to be in the optimum form to deal with whatever came out of the omnipresent shadows. Nothing came, but that didn't keep them from imagining a host of threats. The first hazard caught them by surprise. Terra was hugging a wall when she fell into a glistening hole in the floor. She sunk up to her chest before she caught herself with her arms and frantically struggled against the suction of the black pool. Robin was there in a second, planting his feet and trying to pull her out. The dark pool began to spin and shrink, adding urgency to his efforts. He grabbed her by the arms and heaved her out just as the pool vanished.

They both were breathing heavyily, Starfire looked on with concern and Beastboy warned, "Watch your step. Floor is less solid than it appears." Robin and Terra looked at him strangely, but nodded agreement. Starfire, looked out into the darkness and suddenly spotted the next threat.

She exclaimed with disbelief in her voice, "A flock of birds coming down the corridor at us despite the fact that we are indoors…"

Terra argued, "No way. How could birds get in here? We're underground for…" She shut up as the gleaming red eyes appeared at the end of the corridor. An airborne mass of beasts jinked its way toward them. The crow-like avians slashed and pecked at the Titans who dropped to the ground to protect their eyes. The attack was over as quickly as it had begun, the flock flying further down the corridor and disappearing around the corner.

Robin spoke encouragingly, "Everyone ok?"

A chorus of voices answered his question in the positive and he continued, "In that case, we keep moving. Everyone keep alert and keep your eyes open. We're almost at the main room and there's no way that we can know what we will face."

Starfire spoke softly as she held her glowing hand aloft like a torch again, "I did not realize that friend Raven had such a darkly creative… imagination?" Her statement trailed off into a question as she caught sight of the basement's main chamber. It crawled with motion, the pale green glow from Starfire's hand staining the ebony forms of the horrors inside. Four-eyed birds glared from atop stacked crates and deformed infantile shapes dragged themselves painfully across the floor, a multitude of eyes rolling blindly from every surface of their bodies. A scintillating tide of insects clustered in one corner, heaving with peristaltic life as they flowed over one another. Discharges of black energy flashed from wall to wall, sending objects spiraling slowly through the air. Starfire's light flickered suddenly in reflection of her shock as the scene hit home.

Robin looked wide eyed, "Well, this unexpected." They could still see the glow of red eyes as the apparitions continued to ignore the Titans.

Starfire had recovered by now and asked, "Is that the room we have to cross? Please do not tell me that it is."

Robin took charge, "We're going to have to cross this chamber and find Raven to stop this chaos if we take Psimon by his word. Keep on your toes, these creatures haven't noticed us yet but that doesn't mean they won't."

Terra thought to herself, "Great, room full of horrors but this island is so unstable, that I can't use my powers without fear that I'll bring the tunnel down on us." The tunnel trembled in response to another surge of energy as the tower shook above them, underscoring her concern. The Titans broke from the passage they were sheltering in and rushed for the other side. Beastboy trod on one of the twisted infant-forms and it released a harsh wail before fading into a thick black mist which sank into the floor. The room instantly galvanized and descended on the foursome. A chittering, screeching cacophony filled the room as the black horrors flowed into one another and surrounded the group as a dark coruscating blob. The Titans continued for the opposite hallway only for a wall of black energy to cut them off. Light bloomed as Starfire hurled starbolts at the energy shield to no effect. Robin concentrated his attacks on the blob which threatened to consume them, explosive disks illuminating its menacing bulk in brief flares. Beastboy charged the shadow in rhino-form only to disappear into it like a penny in a pool of molten lead. His cries could be faintly heard as if he were light-years away. Terra felt afraid and helpless and huddled near Starfire. The blob was terrible in its silent presence, only detectable in brief flashes of light.
The scene was grim when the chaos paused, an indrawn breath stilling the world. The blob melted and scattered to the far corners of the room like a pack of chastened dogs as something arose from the floor and brought the light of a star with it. A pillar of light passed from floor to ceiling, blinding to their sensitized eyes. As the Titans calmed and warily glanced at the phenomenon, it shrank and stabilized, taking on a familiar visage.

"Raven," breathed Terra softly. The pillar of light had turned into a petite, cloaked form. A pair of alert eyes glanced from the shadows of the hood in a state of inscrutable calm. It had Raven's features, but they were drawn in like hurried pencil sketches, vague and drawn in shades of black, gray and white.

Robin said, "Raven. I'm confused. What's going on here?" Raven ignored Robin's demand as she bent over the injured Beastboy, and healed the many slight cuts which left his uniform looking he had been chewed by rats.

She turned to Robin without seeming to move, she spoke in a voice that echoed slightly, "All these problems afflicting the island are an accident. This… disturbance is a reflection of my mind and powers as they leak into the world around me without my control." Beastboy stirred and rose, jolting slightly as he caught the apparition's visage.

He mumbled slightly, "Wha? Raven… What's going on?"

Starfire asked with concern bleeding through her tone, "Raven, please tell us why the island is making strange noises, spawning monstrous infants, and you look like a character from a 'Charlie Chaplin' movie? The apparition blurred and refocused in a kneeling position a few meters away.

It cried out suddenly in a high voice, "I'm sorry! I won't do it again. I just let go for a second. Please I'll fix…" The Titans, blinked in confusion. The image reformed in a standing position, answering Starfire's question as if nothing had happened.

"This is just an aspect of my mind, blurring into the world at random. This is not me. Its just part of my spirit set adrift from my body."

Robin asked insistently, "What situation? How can we help to fix this? Now is not the time for your secrets…" Raven's form looked about ready to answer, but her lips moved silently and her white glowing form dissolved into a nest of randomly moving pillars of light. The walls began to take on an aspect of flensed meat in patches as the sickly odor of incense filled the air. Red eyes glared from the darkness and drew closer as Raven's image reformed. She silently muttered her mantra with her eyes tightly closed.

After a few seconds, she opened her eyes and spoke, "We don't have time for your game of twenty questions. The longer my abilities are out of control the more likely I'll start tearing rifts open. Then the daemons will come back."

Starfire exclaimed worriedly, "But friend Raven, we do not know why this is happening or how we can fix it. You must tell us!"

Raven's features mustered a look of irritation and she said tersely, "My chakra is broken and without it I can't control my senses properly. The result is the chaos you see around you." Raven's light dimmed and the dark apparitions which had been huddling fearfully in the corner now stalked forward aggressively.

Raven's apparition asserted, "The only way to stop this chaos is to kill me or repair my chakra, which is impossible." Looks of dismay bloomed on everyone's faces and a chorus of denial filled the air, competing with the moan of the encroaching tide of black horrors.

"Raven…"

"But there must…"

"Surely it is not that bad!"

Only Terra didn't speak, a reflective look on her face. Raven cut off their complaints and grew angry for the first time, "Don't be stupid. For once listen to what I say and do it. I'll clear a way so that you can do what needs to be done."

Terra opened her mouth to speak but Raven interupted, "Not you too. Just go." A blurry sketch of a glowing arm emerged from the cloak and the ebony creatures shifted, the energy field ahead blinking out and a barrier forming between Raven's apparition and the Titans. She seemed visibly drained, only her eyes retaining a bright glow as a tide of chittering horrors surrounded her in hungry anticipation, waiting for the last of her light to die. The others reluctantly moved on, but Beastboy pounded on the barrier in frustration. Raven took her steady gaze away from the dark horrors which surrounded her and looked at him mutely.

Words echoed in his mind as she was surrounded, "Just go Beastboy. This is nothing that I haven't endured before a thousand times. I don't need you now and I don't need you ever to handle my darkness. Don't hang around and force me to heal you again…" Beastboy tried to read an emotional undertone from the speech and failed. He finally turned and followed the green glare of Starfire's light. The white glow flickered and died as Raven's ghosts engulfed her illusionary form.
The rest of the group clustered around Raven's door, Beastboy laughed nervously and said, "So. Are we going to go in? This is getting kind of awkward."

Robin spoke bluntly, "What are going to do once we go in there though? That's the problem. Are we really going to kill Raven?"

"We must not. It would be wrong and her chakra must be replaceable somehow…" Starfire insisted.

Robin spoke, "Raven's never told us where she got her chakra before or why. All I know is that she wasn't local before she contacted me. No telling where a replacement chakra could be found in time if the consequences are as grave as she says they'll be…"

Gathering her nerve, Terra spoke loudly and quickly to cover her nervousness, "If her chakra is that stone thing glued to her forehead, I should be able to fix it. It's just a rock after all. Isn't it?" The others looked at her curiously, hope blazing in Beastboy's and Starfire's eyes.

Robin spoke slowly in response, "It is that stone in her forehead though I don't know if it's just a rock. But you should know your own powers. If this fails though, we bring Raven down in preparation for complying with her request. I honestly don't want to meet those daemon things again…" Everyone nodded emphatically. Beastboy shifted into tiger form and light glowed from the other's signature weapons and abilities.

Robin swallowed lightly, a slight concession to his nervousness and said one last thing before opening the door, "Be ready for anything. Titans go!" The interior of Raven's basement room was surprisingly calm. Crates and barrels lay scattered over the floor, their contents making the footing treacherous. Sparks danced through the air from broken lights and equipment. It was only when they saw Raven that they saw what was truly wrong. Unlike the white apparition that bore her likeness earlier, this Raven was entirely solid. Raven hovered over the cracked floor, random bursts of ebony energy spurting from her body.

Her face was tensed with pain and she chanted insistently under her breath, "Azarath. Medrion. Zinthos. Azarath. Medrion. Zinthos. Azarath…" She trembled suddenly, red glaring from her eyes. A pillar of darkness geysered out of her body, causing her blue cloak to lift up with the surge. The pillar of power expanded and dissipated, making the Titans nauseous as it passed through them. Raven resumed her chant mindlessly.

Robin turned green a moment and asked behind his gloved hand, "Terra, whatever you are going to do, do it now please."

Terra nodded a touch nervously, sick herself and spoke, "Right… I can do this easy."

As her hands took on a golden glow, Starfire helpfully chimed in, "You must succeed, friend Terra. Raven is depending on you!" Terra froze, feet planted and hands outstretched toward Raven.

She muttered as her eyes glowed gold, "Right. No pressure here. Just focus on the rock…" Raven's chant faltered as the chakra in the center of her forehead took on the same glow as Terra's eyes. Terra focused, clinching her fists and Raven dropped to the ground. The cracked stone began to heal slowly, the smallest faults on its surface flowing together. The room began to groan as if great forces were coming to bear on its walls. Terra found the task harder now as something pushed against her control, some cracks widening as others closed. Beastboy looked at Raven's slumped form worriedly when it moved suddenly. Raven lifted into the air, back arched and the golden glowing chakra rent with red cracks. Terra tried to ignore the spectacle and focused on the chakra, sweat dampening her hair. The smaller cracks were all closed now and only the largest presenting crimson rifts on its surface. Raven's wildly fluttering cloak dropped and lengthened slightly, shielding her body from view. A quiet wail bled past her lips and unnerved the watching trio of Titans. Terra was oblivious; her will consumed with the task of collapsing the last crack.

A mocking voice spoke in her head, "How sweet. The little human is trying to help out my daughter by healing her crutch. How typical of you mortals."

Terra prayed to herself that the last crack was closing as the voice spoke again, "You'll never succeed. Raven herself could not do this task."

Terra grunted to herself as the crack narrowed towards nothingness and answered the mocking voice, "I don't know what you are or what your point is, but I'm going to try. So… just…. shut… up." The Titans looked at Terra strangely as she apparently spoke to herself.

The voice was angry now and rich with arrogance, "No human tells Trigon what to do. I could flay the soul from your…" The voice was silenced and the last crack healed. Raven fell to her knees, the wail fading into silence.

Robin darted over to Raven and grabbed her pulse, "She's alive, but our problem is apparently not solved." The walls still groaned and the scratch of shadowy claws could be heard from the door. When Raven came to slowly, her eyes tightly shut as if they pained her. Robin backed off as she sent an uncertain look his way, not seeming to recognize him.

Her voice was thick with confusion as she spoke, "Everything isn't singing anymore… Why has the world stopped singing?"

Beastboy looked at her blankly and said nothing as she continued, "Something was wrong and I decided to meditate and then…"

Her eyes narrowed as she realized something, "What are you doing down here? I was alone when started. Do you think you can come in here just because I'm not conscious? I need to be alone to control my powers and prevent them from causing havoc."

Terra looked hurt and Beastboy added heatedly, "Yeah, about that, Raven. Your magic 'chakra' thing apparently got broken last battle and your powers leaked all over the island causing havoc despite your oh so helpful meditation. You told us this yourself. Then, Terra here fixed the thing, bringing you around, though perhaps you would have been better company asleep."

Raven glared at Beastboy in scornful disbelief, "That's utter nonsense. The exact thing I'd expect when you open your mouth. You're just not worth the time it takes to…" Raven trailed off as she took in the disheveled state of the room and gestured experimentally at a crate. Much to her concealed surprise, the box failed to be moved by her will.

Robin added, "Beastboy is telling the truth, Raven. Things are really going oddly on the island and it seems to be connected with you. You must not remember it." Raven blinked and spoke more evenly as she regained control over her emotions. She conceded the point.

"Okay. I can accept that. Everyone get down as I try something. If you're right you should avoid the worst of the side effects."

Starfire asked, "What are you going to, Raven?"

Raven said, "Recall my power. It must be in use elsewhere if I can't call it up. Besides I'm not getting a good feeling from the rest of the island…" Raven pulled herself to her feet and stepped back, slipping her hood over her head in a reflexive gesture. She hadn't quite told the truth in that last comment; the feeling about the island was not so much bad as horribly familiar and comforting to her daemonic leanings. This was not a feeling the dark mystic wished to indulge in and she muttered her mantra with closed eyes.

"Azarath. Medrion." The power saturating the island stirred in response to her petition. It began to flow toward her, sluggishly at first and then more quickly. She tensed subtly, previous experience telling her this would not be fun on any level she knew about.

"Zinthos." Everything snapped at once, torrents of dark energy rushing towards her body from all directions. Most of it streamed from the ceiling above her and she barely kept her feet as shock passed through system at the raw influx of power. A few streamers of dark power passed up from below, causing nausea in the Titans whenever they bisected one of these beams. She was blind, deaf, and dumb as she absorbed the entire torrent, but still remained conscious. The tower ceased groaning and the cry of unseen horrors faded away as her power was reclaimed by the dark mystic. The Titan's clamored to their feet while Raven absorbed the implications of the almost overwhelming energy recall.

Softly she whispered, "Wow. Beastboy was right for once. Let's call the reality police."

Beastboy's indignant cry was slightly lessened by his visible nausea, "Of course, I was right! I'm always right even if I exaggerate a little."

Raven turned to Terra, "If he was right about your helping me, than we should talk later." Terra's face held a thousand questions, but she held her tongue with a patience that the half-daemon hadn't seen before.

Robin helped Starfire to her feet and added, "We should go upstairs. It may be just me, but I don't want to be here antoher second if I can avoid it." He walked out and everyone simply followed Raven content to bring the rear.

Robin turned to Terra, "I think we may just have a place for you for you on the team, Terra. You interested?" Terra's enthusiastic response was lost as the group passed around the corner. Starfire's receding light left the now normal hall in darkness.

Okay so you made it down here. Kudos to you brave people! What did you think? Good? Bad? Don't care? Leave a review if you see fit and tell me what you think. Thank you for your time and I hope that this chapter could amuse… One more chapter to go.