Nightmare

Part I

Power never comes without sacrifice. I should know. For my powers, I have made one of the greatest sacrifices of all. To control my powers, I must forsake my emotions… and live as though I'm heartless.

Raven stood in the steamy sanctuary of the shower. After a long day of training, she was finally able to relax and loosen up. Her body bruised and her muscles tense. She thought about her condition and came to the conclusion that a massage would be quite nice about now, but there was no way she was going to ask one of the guys.

"Perhaps I could get Starfire to do it." She thought, standing in the warmth, letting the water run from the top of her head to the drain below. Suddenly there came a loud knocking on the bathroom door.

"Helloooo! Earth to Raven! Come in Raven!" Said a voice belonging to a certain short, furry titan. She turned off the water.

"What is it Beast Boy?" She inquired.

"Dude! You've been in there for the past two hours! We were beginning to think you drowned yourself!" He hollered back.

Raven exited the shower stall and dried off. She put on her black bathrobe and ran her fingers through her hair, letting the strands fall where they may. Upon opening the bathroom door, a wave steam flooded forth. Raven emerged to find the green changeling standing in front of her, towel in hand.

"Dude, what took you so long?" He asked.

"Nothing. Just got lost in thought, that's all." She replied as she headed back to her room.

"Hey Raven? Everything alright?" Beast Boy asked. She didn't answer.

As the purple-haired titan made her way down the hall, she ran into Starfire.

"Ah… Raven! Do you think that perhaps, after you are dressed, that we might indulge in movie night this evening?" The blissfully unaware Tamarainian questioned.

"Uh… not tonight Star… but, could I ask you a favor?" Raven responded.

"Indeed! What is it?" Starfire said curiously.

"Just follow me back to my room." She finished, leading the way. Passing through the seemingly endless corridors of Titan's Tower, they finally reached the door with Raven's name engraved in it.

"Wait here for a second." The freshly bathed girl spoke. Starfire did as she was told.

Raven walked into her room and closed the door behind her. She removed her robe, folded it and put it away before dressing in her usual garments, without the cloak. She then opened the door and asked that Starfire enter. Raven moved over to her bed and lied on her stomach. Star followed her and stood at the bedside.

"Hey Star?" The girl from Azarath asked the green-eyed Tamarainian.

"Yes Raven?"

"Where you're from… Tamaran… would it be unusual if I asked you for a massage? I'm kinda sore from training earlier. So?" She questioned.

"It is not unusual at all Raven. In fact, it's very common among good friends and loved ones." She spoke in her usual up-beat tone.

Raven raised an eyebrow. "Well… just think of us as good friends."

"Indeed I shall."

Raven closed her eyes and tried to meditate on something. Starfire's touch was quite gentle. The purple-haired titan was quite surprised by this, taking into account all of the bone-crushing hugs, and Star's alien strength. The Tamarainian carefully kneaded and rubbed Raven's back. A relaxing sensation spread throughout every inch of her body as she, unknowingly, fell into a deep trance.

It wasn't long until Starfire noticed her friend's reaction to the massage. She continued for only a few minutes more before stopping to see if Raven was okay.

"Raven?" She whispered.

She lazily rolled over on to her back. "Yeah?"

"I saw that you had fallen asleep, I was just curious if you were feeling okay."

Raven got up and stretched. "Never better Star… never better. Now, should we go see what those boys are up to? Did you mention that it was movie night earlier?"

"Indeed I did. Shall we 'potato' the couch with them?" Star questioned with eager eyes.

"Sure." Came the reply. Raven grabbed her cloak and the two headed out together. By the time they had reached the living room, all they could hear was the usual arguing.

"Deathbotz 5!!!" Cyborg shouted.

"Terror 3!!!" Beast Boy threw back.

"Art of the Ancient Fist!!!" Robin yelled.

Raven glanced at Starfire. "Have you ever seen them all together in one place and not arguing?" She spoke sarcastically.

Star giggled. "Your sarcastic humor amuses me."

Raven smiled and then proposed an idea.

"How about you just 'rock, paper, scissors' for it?"

So they did. Cyborg threw out rock, Beast Boy paper, and Robin scissors.

"Awe man! This is going nowhere!" said Cyborg as they returned to their argument.

Raven, more than fed up with their childish decision-making skills, passed through the triangle of yelling, grabbing a video tape from each.

"Here's how it works. I'll shuffle these, and have Starfire pick from a distance so she can't read the title."

They all agreed on the method of selection. Raven shuffled the tapes, and Starfire picked one at random. They flipped the tape over and read the title.

"Underlord?!?!" Beast Boy, Robin, and Cyborg were shocked. Robin decided to speak up.

"Raven, isn't that one of your movies?" He asked.

"Well… whaddaya know? It is. Well, Star picked it, so it looks like we're watching it." She replied, trying not to sound surprised. Cyborg and Beast Boy took a look at the other two tapes Starfire could've randomly selected.

"Gothic 2 and Fallen Angel!? All three of the tapes were Raven's movies!" They called out in unison.

The blue-hooded one smirked. "It didn't matter what she picked, two of you were going to be unhappy, and so I decided we'd watch something I like." She said while slipping the tape in.

Just as the movie was about to start, the alarm went off in Titan's Tower.

"Trouble!" Robin shouted as he rushed to the computer, bringing a display up on the big screen.

"Awe man! Why do villains always have the worst timing?" Beast boy complained.