Chapter Seven: Travelling Via Handbasket
"What did you want to talk about, Dawn?" Blackfire asked. The two of them were standing on the landing pad on the roof of the Titan Tower, outside Dawn's ship.
"What do you think?" Dawn asked in a casual tone, her back turned to Blackfire. "Or rather, who do you think?"
Not this again, Blackfire thought. "I told you," Blackfire began. "There's nothing between me-"
"I've never lied to you!" Dawn suddenly shouted, her back still turned to Blackfire. Then, her voice becoming a great deal more plaintive, she added, "Why are you lying to me?"
Blackfire didn't need to see Dawn's face to see the tears; she heard each one in Dawn's voice. "I'm not lying to you, Dawn," she said, trying to keep her voice as firm as possible.
Dawn was silent for a moment. "I spent years looking for you, Blackfire, years. I risked everything to find you; my job, my money, my life-"
Dawn, are you trying to guilt trip me? It's not working, Blackfire wanted to say, but didn't, knowing that she wouldn't have fooled anyone.
"-and then, when I finally find you, you're virtually in the arms of some- some human!" Dawn spat out as she turned to Blackfire, eyes glowing pale blue.
At first, Blackfire was speechless, and then her eyes narrowed. "Did you think it was easy for me too? I thought you were dead! If you had so many underworld contacts, why didn't you ask someone to pass along a message? Was that so hard? Or did you only love me enough to play amateur Green Lantern?"
As soon as she said it, Blackfire knew it was a mistake. The look Dawn gave her said all that needed to be said. "Dawn, I didn't mean-"
"There is a saying among the Centauri: 'Anger shows the soul'. I think I've just seen yours, all I need to, anyway," Dawn said, turning to go into her ship.
"Wait-"
"Good night, Blackfire. I wish the two of you the best. Thanks for the good times." Then the ship's doors closed, and Blackfire was left alone with tears welling up in her eyes.
(scene change)
"First of all," Robin began, "it's not a physical problem. Apparently the state of Raven's brain has nothing to do with what is happening now."
"Is that not a good thing? At least we do not have to worry that our friend is physically hurt," Starfire replied.
Robin looked up at Starfire in surprise, then smiled inwardly. Starfire's eternal optimism was something he had to be thankful for, no matter what. It was just one of the many things he lo- liked her for.
"No, we don't," he replied, interrupting his musing. "But the thing about a physical injury is that it is easy to treat. It's Raven's mind that is posing the problem right now." He looked up at Starfire. "Do you remember what happened the night we defeated Control Freak, and Beast Boy rented the horror movie?"
Starfire nodded.
"Well, this time it's pretty much the same, except a different emotion may be involved."
"What emotion could this be? Quick! We must go to Raven and ask her to face whatever it is that bothers her!" Starfire said, getting up from her chair.
"It's not that simple this time, Star."
"What do you mean?" Starfire asked.
"Well, according to the people I talked to, certain demons have their version of 'transformation' too," Robin said, referring to Starfire's experience with Tameranian puberty. "It may be possible that Trigon is one of those demons, according to them."
"Do they not know? Dr. Hook told us they were experts!"
"Well, if Trigon's as bad as people say he is, then it's a wonder anyone survived to talk about him at all. Besides, unlike most demon lords, Trigon prefers to use agents instead doing things himself."
He continued. "Anyway, when a demon undergoes this 'transformation', it starts to gain its true power. According to Professor Giles, the powers a demon has before the transformation are nothing compared to what it would have after that. Raven's human side may help slow down the process, but otherwise…" his voice trailed off.
"Does that mean there is no way to help our friend?"
Robin shook his head. "I'm sorry, Starfire."
They sat there, in despaired silence, until Starfire asked, "What are you going to do?"
Robin was silent, considering his options, when he said, "I don't know. I'll try again, call everyone who may be able to help us; the Justice League, the Illuminati, the Priory of Sion, maybe even the American Ministry Of Magic." Then he looked up, and the look in his eyes frightened Starfire. "But that's only half the problem."
Starfire feared she knew what the other half was, and when Robin confirmed it, her heart froze with shock.
"The other half is Raven herself. If she can keep her powers under control, fine, but if she can't, then we would have no choice but to- to stop her."
"Robin, what are you saying? Raven is our friend!"
"We are the Teen Titans, Star!" he told her. "We don't have a choice."
Starfire stared at Robin in despair. She didn't know which made her feel worse: the fact that he was right, or the fact that she could not do anything about it.
(scene change)
Raven's first thought when she entered her mirror was: This isn't Azerath.
She found herself in a small alcove in a cliff face of red rock. At least, the rock looked red, as red as the fiery orange-red of the sky above. She had just enough space to stand and sit, maybe move around a little, but from where she stood, she could see no way she could escape.
And she dearly wanted to escape.
Below her an army marched, an endless army. In its ranks, Raven could see soldiers from every plane of every Hell: cobra-headed minions of Seth mingling with infernal hellhounds, harpies flying alongside bat-winged demons. SS uniforms could be seen on the souls of Nazi soldiers marching alongside other souls with Israeli markings on them, who were in turn following the step of the turbaned souls in front of them. In the distance, mercifully hidden by shadow, were the outlines of much larger creatures…
But none of what Raven saw was as terrifying as what she saw leading the army. Towering above even the largest of the creatures was a muscular, bare-chested humanoid figure with white hair, red skin and two pairs of eyes.
Her father, Trigon.
Raven pressed herself against the rock. This wasn't a figment of her subconscious, she knew. The smell of sulphur, of burning flesh, the rough, hot feel of the wind, was too real to be ignored.
Suddenly, the army stopped. Trying to see why, Raven saw her father holding up his hand, and turning his head this way and that, as if he sensed-
His head turned towards her, and Raven felt an enormous pressure pressing down as Trigon's gaze bore down on her.
"Raven, my daughter. I'll see you soon."
And then everything went black.
Raven realized her eyes were still open, and she realized she was floating in a pitch black void-
"Boo," Legion said, his upside down head suddenly coming into view from above her.
Raven let out a short scream, but her fear only lasted a short while before she decided to start fighting back. "Azerath Metrion-"
"Oh please, my dear Corbin, let's be civil, shall we?" Legion said, as he floated into view, his body moving right side up.
"Civil? You're in my mind!" Raven spat at him.
"No, I'm not. Well, actually, Legion's not; I am," Legion said, before he literally melted into a shapeless red mass that turned into the red-cloaked Fear/Anger.
"I thought you'd be more comfortable seeing a familiar face," she said in Raven's own voice, without a trace of irony. "Oh come on, Raven, stop looking at me as if I too don't belong! In fact," she said, her face taking on a thoughtful look, "don't look at me at all."
Raven suddenly found herself facing the other way, Fear/Anger's mocking laughter behind her. "Surprised, Raven? Don't be! It was only a matter of time before I took control anyway!"
"You're behind this," Raven said angrily.
"Like, DUH! Listen, Raven, you can lock up the other emotions, and swallow the key, but not me. You try to put me under your thumb, I'll bite it! And trust me, there will be blood! But let's not talk about that, okay? Let's talk about more… pleasant matters."
She came up behind Raven and ran her hand up Raven's arm. "I betcha like this, don't you? Or at least, you'd like it if Blackfire did this, wouldn't you?" Whispering into Raven's ear, she said, "Well, here's the sad, sad truth, girl: she doesn't like you. In fact, you can say she haaaaates you."
"That's a lie," Raven said, not caring about the tears she felt run down her cheeks.
"No, that's a lie," Fear/Anger said flippantly. "But what does it really matter anyway? You don't need her, you don't need anybody except me! Don't you see? You're more powerful than any one of those fools when I'm with you! In fact, soon you'll be powerful enough to rule the world! Forget Slade, or the Thanagarians, or the Imperium or whoever happens to be Earth's Enemy Of The Week! This whole world can be yours! Just add me!"
Raven paused. "And then?"
"Huh?"
"After I take over the world, then what?"
"Uh, I dunno, you rule, I guess. We rule," Fear/Anger said smugly.
Raven paused, before saying, "No. No, we don't, do we?" Her eyes narrowed. "After we take over, Trigon will use me as a way for him and the armies of Hell to enter the mortal world, won't he?" Raven said, turning to Fear/Anger.
"Well… yeah, I left out that teensy weensy part. You're too smart for me, but-hey, you're looking at me! Who said you could look at me! I didn't say you could look… at… me…" Suddenly realizing what she had just said, Fear/Anger's two pairs of eyes widened. "Aw fuck."
"You let your guard down," was all Raven said.
Fear/Anger suddenly found herself in the middle of an empty white box, from where there seemed to be no exit. From the outside, Raven could hear her emotion's enraged pounding, along with her outraged screaming.
"You can't keep me in here forever, Raven! I will get out! It's only a matter of time! Raven! RAVEN!"
But Raven was gone.
(scene change)
Raven opened her eyes, and saw she was witting right where she was before she entered her mirror. Picking it up, Raven thought at first that she was hallucinating, that Fear/Anger had won, and that she had finally gone mad.
But she hadn't, and for the first time since Dawn came, Raven felt a glimmer of hope.
The mirror had 'healed' itself; the crack was gone. Raven knew better than to celebrate, though. Fear/Anger was right; it was only a matter of time.
Raven got up; she had to do something.
Now if she only knew what.
(scene change)
"Mr. Wolfe, we have finished the implanting procedures, and we are ready to begin accelerating the aging process on your command," the white suited scientist told Cassius Wolfe.
"Good work, doctor. You may proceed."
In the test chamber, Cassius watched a small group of technicians make the final adjustments in the aging beam mounted in the wall behind the creature nicknamed 'Gojira' by everyone involved. It had been a long road, full of risk, but seeing the creature laying on the ground below him, imagining the chaos, both physical and political that it would cause, and the power such chaos would undoubtedly give him made it all worthwhile.
"Beam's charged and ready to go, Mr. Wolfe," one of the assistants said over his intercom, while giving Cassius the thumbs up sign before he and his colleagues exited the room through the doors behind the beam.
A group of technicians in the control room high above on the other side of the test chamber began their work. "We will begin with an acceleration of ten percent of the target age," the white suited scientist said.
A blue stream of light issued from the beam into the lizard, waking it up. It screeched, "Perfectly normal, considering its age," the lead scientist said, before saying, "Very well, now that its woken up, increase the beam to full strength."
Then before the eyes of everyone watching, the creature visibly grew, its youthful screech changing into a deeper roar as it changed. Its eyes radiated intelligence, an intelligence that recognized that it was trapped, an intelligence that felt fear.
An intelligence that felt anger.
"Activate the implants," Cassius said over his own intercom. Despite his calm exterior, he was extremely anxious. There was a chance that the mind-control implants would not work. Cassius had done everything to maximise his chances for success. If only the beast would do the same…
It roared again. For one despairing, heart-stopping second, Cassius thought the implants did not work, that all his work so far had been for nothing.
And then, the beast settled down into a docile crouch, before straightening up again, its reptilian hands clenching and unclenching gently. One hand bunched itself up into a fist, and punched the palm of the other.
"I apologise for that, Mr. Wolfe," the head scientist said. "It appears your friend has a humourous streak."
Wearing a special helmet transmitting to the implants in the creature's brain, relaying not only the wearer's desires directly to the creature, but also allowing the wearer to see what the creature saw, Karl Mannheim smiled. "I couldn't resist, sir," he offered by way of sheepish explanation.
"Don't worry, Karl. If anything, this has been more than useful in showing me the power of the implants. Did you detect any of the problems you were worried about, Doctor?"
"No, Mr. Wolfe. It appears that the implants work perfectly, no matter the subject's size and age. Of course, we'll need more tests at different ages and sizes, but from what I've seen, it looks like we've got ourselves a winner, sir," the head scientist replied, his elation a tad more retrained than Karl's had been, but still present.
Cassius looked down at the creature in the chamber below, admiring its terrible symmetry, its fearsome majesty. He felt that familiar thrill of power course through his veins, that sense of superiority. No matter how many times he felt it, no matter how many times he felt his blood turn to fire, it never lost its lustre.
"Good work, gentlemen," he said, reluctantly returning to earth, "Good work. Doctor, how much longer before all your tests are done?"
"Well, considering how easily this one went, tomorrow night, maybe?"
"Very well then. Karl, command that beast to sleep, and prepare my men. Tomorrow night, Jump City becomes the world's largest test site."
