Chapter Two: Beasts And Bugaboos Of All Shapes And Sizes
"So, how are they?" Robin asked as Cyborg came down from the roof. In his hands was some of the Tower's ruined communications equipment that he was trying to fix, with some minor success.
"Getting along just fine, Rob, don't worry."
Robin nodded. "You think Raven's had anything to do with it?" he asked, turning some of his attention back to the wrecked comm relay, without which they were cut off from the outside world. Even their regular communicators failed to work.
"They really seem to like her, don't they?" Cyborg agreed. Seeing the look on Robin's face, he clarified, "Yes, Robin, me and Star noticed it too, it's not something you need Batman's training for," he said. "Speaking of which, where's Star? I thought you two'd be, well, you know what I mean," he said, giving Robin a 'nudge, nudge, wink, wink' look if there ever was one.
"Ha, ha, Cy, very funny," Robin replied good-naturedly. "Actually, I asked her to go get some components I need. Don't worry, I gave her a list, and it's nothing complicated."
"If you say so, Rob. I better get back to work anyway. Some of those power couplings are pretty banged up; those two caused more damage than Slade's robots did. Not to mention the fact the entire entrance hall's toast."
"Ouch, that joke hurt. You got that from Beast Boy, didn't you?"
"How can you tell?"
Robin laughed, then turned back as Starfire entered the room. "Robin! I have the components you asked for," she said, handing him over a paper bag.
"Thanks Star, with these, I should be able to have the comms up and running again," he said, placing a few of the components into the relay system. "See, Cyborg, Starfire can handle herself."
"What are you talking about?" Starfire asked.
"I was just worrying that it might have ended up like the last time you went to get Rob's components," Cyborg replied.
"Oh, don't worry, Cyborg, I have learned from my mistake. The next time Robin asks for a vibra-"
"Yes, yes, we know," Robin said hurriedly. That had been an interesting day, to say the least; thank God Blackfire wasn't with them then, it was hard enough with Cyborg and Beast Boy never letting him live it down. "Here we go," he said, routing the last circuit. "There, that should-"
" static -an attack in progress at the Jump City docks static "
Starfire looked at Robin. "Is it Titans go time?"
Robin nodded. "Titans go time."
(scene change)
"A dinosaur, yeesh," Cyborg said, shaking his head. It had been less than five minutes before Robin anaged to get a clearer report, and Cyborg was still in a state of disbelief.
"So, where did it come from?" Beast Boy asked him.
"According to Robin, a ship from someplace called Isla Sorna, but apart from that, nothing."
"That's it?"
"That's it. BB?" Cyborg asked delicately.
"Yeah?"
"We've come up against some pretty bad people before, but…"
"But what?"
"Well, these guys aren't people, it's an animal, doing what animals do, you know?"
"Of course I know! Hello, Beast Boy here!"
"I just want to know if you'd be able to, well…"
Beast Boy sighed. "Look, Cy, I'll try not to hurt it, but I will try to stop it. I can-"
"-handle it," Raven said, deflecting another of Blackfire's worried questions as they flew to the 'crime scene', as the press was calling it.
The Azerath had insisted on coming with them, and although Blackfire would have had otherwise, she did not refuse. Now she was wondering about the wisdom of that decision.
Never mind, she thought. I'm here.
I'll protect her.
Raven herself was unsure if she was fit for duty, but she knew she had to be there at the Titans' sides; not to prove something, either to herself or to her friends, or even to society, but to protect her adopted family, even those she knew would try harder than normal to protect her: Beast Boy and Blackfire.
Concentrate, Raven, concentrate! she told herself, yet images from what she saw in her mirror kept on intruding in her mind. Images both disturbing, yet…
…distracting.
Raven cleared her mind. This was no time to be sidetracked, as she plainly saw and heard when the Tyrannosaurus Rex roared as it charged through the city. Robin and Starfire were already there, but it was clear that
"They're holding back?" Blackfire asked, bewildered, and it was true; Starfire was shooting no starbolts, Robin wasn't using any of his deadlier gadgets. "Why are you holding back!" she shouted at her sister and Robin.
"We have to take them alive! No time to explain! Just wait for Beast Boy and Cy- Aargh!" he shouted as the T-Rex's tail caught him a glancing blow, throwing him into a lamppost as it turned to snap at Starfire.
"Robin!" she shouted. But try as she might, she could not get past the beast's snapping jaws.
At least, until Blackfire came into the picture. Ripping another lamppost out of the concrete, she swung it like a baseball bat at the beast's leg, causing it to roar in pain and anger as it turned to face its new assailant, now gripping a very bent, and quite useless lamppost. Roaring again, it lunged towards Blackfire.
Forget about no harm, she thought, seeing the huge jaws bear down on her, it's going to kill me! And with that thought, her eyes began to glow-
"Azerath Metrion Xinthos!"
Enveloped in dark energy, a car dropped in front of its head, its underside facing the dinosaur, its jaws snapping shut around the vehicle. Seeing the creature try to spit out the mangled remains, Blackfire grew jubilant.
"Why Raven, I didn't know you- Raven? Raven!" Blackfire shouted when she saw Raven kneeling on the ground, holding herself as if she was freezing. "Raven, what's wrong?"
"Used up…too much power…" Raven whispered, as Blackfire gathered her in her arms.
"I told you, you weren't…ready," Blackfire chastisement trailed into silence, as a dark shadow fell over them, and they looked up into the two yellow, catlike eyes of the Tyrant Lizard King.
"Where's…Starfire?" Blackfire croaked, feeling the heat of the creature's breath on them.
"She…flew off…with Robin," Raven whispered back. Some time ago, in a prideful attempt to prove to her friends that she suffered no fear, Raven's fear had manifested itself in a variety of terrifying ways, and ever since that incident, she had taken care to show it, or at least admit it when she was afraid. Now, however, terrifying manifestations would have been most welcome.
Or maybe not, if what she saw in her mirror was one of those manifestations…
The beast began to tense, in preparation for what Blackfire knew was to be (for the two of them anyway) its final strike. She closed her eyes, and held Raven close to her, and maybe she imagined Raven place her own arm around her-
-when another deafening roar shattered the silence. Breaking off their embrace, Blackfire and Raven watched as the T-Rex turn its attention to another one of its kind, except nowhere (or nowhen, for that matter) before had a T-rex ever been such a bright shade of green.
Beast Boy impacted into the other dinosaur, sending it crashing into the stretch of road behind it, while Raven and Blackfire turned to see Starfire landing beside them.
"Where were you?" Blackfire shouted.
"It was Robin, I had to-"
"Do you realize we could have been killed? I saved your life, and your boyfriend's! The least you could have done was return the favour, you-" Blackfire screamed, when she felt a hand on her shoulder.
"Don't," Raven whispered from behind her, "She did the right thing."
"What do you mean, she did the right thing?" Blackfire asked incredulously. "Raven, y- we could have been killed!"
"She was trying to protect Robin's life," Raven countered, her breathing still ragged. "Like you were trying to protect mine."
"For a moment, Blackfire was struck with panic. She knew Raven was an empath, able to feel other's emotions. Had she- Suddenly, Raven collapsed again, to be gathered up in Blackfire's arms, and Blackfire was struck at how delicate Raven was, how for all her emotional strength, Raven was still just only human; a little girl. She should not have been here, fighting giant beasts; she should have been at home, wherever that could have been, with-
-parents who love her-
Blackfire tried to halt the errant thought-
-someone who loves her-
With an effort, Blackfire cut off her misbehaving thoughts in mid-lecture. There was no time for that now.
The T-car pulled itself up behind her, and Cyborg stepped out. "Titans, g- what? Blackfire, what's with Raven?"
"Tried to do too much, too soon. Where's Robin?"
"At the hospital. You better take Raven there too," Cyborg said. In the background, another pair of titanic roars echoed through the city as Beast Boy and the T-Rex continued their melee.
"I'm…fine," Raven said. "I just need…some rest…Tower." And with that, she fell out cold again.
"I better do what she says," Blackfire said.
"Is that wise, sister?" Starfire asked.
"One, Dr. Hook may know the supernatural, but I don't think he knows enough," Blackfire snapped back, not in the mood to argue, "Two, if you can find anyone who knows Raven better than Raven, please, bring them here! And three, Beast Boy's all alone out there, and he needs your help! Now go!" she commanded, before she flew off to the direction of the Tower, Raven in her arms.
"Should we follow her?" Starfire asked.
"No, she's got a point," Cyborg conceded. "Beast Boy's all alone out there, and Raven…she's Raven. Come on, let's go."
And with that, the two of them rushed off to assist their green friend.
(scene change)
Raven found herself floating…
Dreaming…
Flying…
Dreaming…
Soaring…
To the, in the, Dr-
She was a raven. Not Raven, but a raven. A bird. Of the species Corbin. Where had she heard that before? Corbin. It seemed so far away, it did.
"rRrawK! In a way, it is. rRaawk!"
Raven suddenly became aware of her surroundings. No longer a bird (but was she ever a bird? or did she just feel like it? I wonder), she found herself in a garden, sitting on a branch that seemed too thin to be comfortable, or for that matter, able to support her weight.
Yet there she was, perfectly comfortable, on the branch of a withered old tree, in the middle of a modest garden beneath a grey sky. "Where am I?" she asked. Then she realized who she had asked.
"You tell me. This is your dream, isn't it? rrRawk!" the crow asked her back. "Sorry about that, got a little something in my throat. Woulda tried getting it out somewhere a little less, well, pretty, but my friend Barnabas, he gets annoyed when I do that."
The raven looked down, replying, "Touchy son of a bitch, ha-ha, but I like him." It looked up, back at Raven. "Name's Matthew, 'case you're interested. rrrRAWk!" And with that, Matthew coughed up a large bone (large for him, anyway).
"Where-where am I?" Raven asked. For some reason, the fact that she was sitting on a tree branch, talking to a raven who talked back, didn't really seem all that strange.
After all, this was a dream, wasn't it?
And strange things happen in dreams.
And Raven was no stranger to strange things or dreams.
"Hello, Raven. You're in my garden."
Raven looked behind her, and saw a very pale young man in white robes standing below and behind her. "Your garden?" she asked hesitantly.
"You could say that. I own it, but the two people to whom it really belongs live up in the house on top of that hill," he said, pointing to the hill behind him. "But you did not come here to admire gardens, didn't you?"
"What do you mean? Didn't you bring me here?"
"Just ask yourselves," the young man said, pointing in front of him.
Raven looked at where he was pointing, and gasped as she saw herselves, or rather, the aspects of her personality standing before her.
"Umm…yeah, we brought you here, sorry," Regret said, her grey cloak drooping as low as her eyes.
"What's there to apologise for?" Bravery retorted. "If she had listened to me, we wouldn't have to do this!"
"Come on guys, chill out! It's not all her fault!" Joy told them both. "I mean, sure, maybe she could listen to me a bit more, but she has some very good reason not to. Isn't that right, Raven?"
"Yet one must admit the veracity of Bravery's statement: that had Raven actively pursued her happiness, we would not have had to do this; indeed, I daresay we'd all be in a better position," yellow-cloaked Wisdom said.
"Better position, schmetter smosition. What was wrong with what we had before?"
"Hellooo, Sloth, remember what happened the last time Raven did not want to listen to her emotions? Her friends got eaten! Who knows what'd happen now?"
"I don't mind finding out," the red robed Fear/Anger sneered. Although weaker after the intrusion by Beast Boy and Cyborg, she still had considerable power, and wasn't afraid to use it.
"Stop it!" Raven shouted. "What do you want?"
"What we have always wanted," said another voice, this time to her side, and Raven turned to see a white robed version of herself.
"Who the heck are you? Chastity? I wouldn't mind seeing your sister!" Matthew leered.
"No, Matthew," the pale boy said. "That is Raven's essence, who Raven truly is. All the others are just aspects; decorations, isn't that right, Truth?" he asked, receiving a nod in reply.
"You- you brought me here." It was a statement, not a question.
"Yes, Raven, I did," Truth replied. "And I think you know why. Of all the beings in the universe, I am one of the few whom you may never hide your mind from. You know what I'm talking about," she finished, anticipating Raven's every reply.
Raven immediately felt herself falling, even though she was still on the branch. The faces of her aspect, Matthew's, Daniel's, Truth's, all spun around her, blurring…
Falling…
Falling…
She stood up on a rocky plateau floating in a familiar dark void. This was Azerath, the home she had never known but always remembered. There was something in the air, an almost oppressive sense of déjà vu.
She knew where she was.
She knew when she was.
Her mind, a week ago.
She found herself taking the same steps she did before, not because she wanted to, but because she had to. Step…step…step… until she found herself in the garden of her mind, seeking peace.
Just as before.
Thoughts she believed to have buried, or at least suppressed rose again. Thoughts about thy she had found it increasingly hard to keep her mind around Blackfire. About how hard it was to keep control around her friend's sister, about how it seemed that Blackfire knew all the right buttons to push.
Disturbing thoughts that maybe Raven was allowing her to push those buttons.
Just like before.
Soon, the pressure of those thoughts began to suffocate her, even here, the place Beast Boy had remarked as the place 'where air fresheners come from'. Raven began to run through portal after portal, trying to escape herself. Mazes, halls of mirrors, libraries, all passed by her in a blur.
Just like before.
But soon, Raven began to grow tired, and the whispers were growing too loud, too close.
Just like before.
She dropped to her knees, and begged, pleaded to the voices for silence, and she wept.
Just like before.
Suddenly, she felt two hands take hers, and she opened her eyes to find herself in a white space, empty save for her, and the other occupant- Blackfire.
They sat there, in silence, Raven having a thousand questions, knowing Blackfire had all thousand answers, and knowing that not one of them was the right question, or the right answer.
"Raven," Blackfire asked, "you don't honestly expect me to say it, do you?'
Raven shook her head, and sighed contentedly, eyes closed, as she felt Blackfire's hand caress her cheek. She felt Blackfire's hand behind her head, felt it pull her closer to Blackfire.
Just like before.
Raven opened her eyes as their foreheads touched softly, saw Blackfire's gaze hold her own.
Just like before.
"Raven…" Blackfire whispered.
Just like before.
"Raven…" she whispered again, closing her eyes.
Just like before.
Raven closed her own eyes in response, as her lips parted, and she felt Blackfire's lips touch her own as she whispered, one last time, just like before,
"Raven-"
