Chapter 4: Trigon's Return
Raven was still sleeping in the Medical Room. She had been in there all night. Everyone else had been exhausted, too. They went to bed as soon as they could and didn't even bother getting into their pajamas. Starfire had stayed with Raven in case she needed anything, but now, she and the other Titans were all outside the door talking quietly about what had happened.
"But I do not understand something," Starfire whispered. "What portal did Raven open. And what was that voice speaking to us?" Robin leaned against the wall.
"I think that was Trigon," he admitted. Cyborg's eyes widened.
"Who's Trigon?" demanded Beast Boy.
"Now, wait a minute!" Cyborg began. "He called Raven his daughter. I knew I recognized that voice! Hey B, didn't he sound like that red dude in Raven's head?" Beast Boy's mouth dropped open.
"Hey, yeah! So, what, did he escape or something?" he wondered. Starfire and Robin exchanged confused glances. Some time ago, Beast Boy and Cyborg had stumbled across a mirror that transported them into Raven's mind. That was the first time they had met Trigon – sort of. Technically, the Trigon they had met was just Raven's anger in another form. They didn't know much about him. All they knew at the time was that a big, red monster was Raven's dad and that he was very powerful. Beast Boy and Cyborg explained everything to their confused teammates. Then, Raven opened the door and walked out of the Medical Room.
"I could hear you guys the whole time. You should not become ninjas when you get older, especially Beast Boy."
"How are you feeling Raven?" asked Starfire.
"Fine."
"Really?" urged Beast Boy. "It was kinda scary back there." Raven stood there speechless. It was because of her that the portal had been opened. It was because of her that her father could cross over to their dimension. She had a sick feeling in her stomach and there was fear in her eyes. All of her friends could see it.
"Yeah, I'm fine," she lied. None of them were convinced. She left the hallway and went up to her room. She had to think quickly. Now that the portal was open, Trigon would come for her soon. She didn't know how much time she would have to plan.
Everyone promised silently to themselves that they would talk to Raven individually. Raven was scared because of her father and she wouldn't talk about it. The last time she did that, the tower was turned into a horror movie. They needed to understand more. Robin went first. He knocked on her door. She opened it just enough so that she could see him. Her hood was up.
"Raven, we all know that you're not okay. Why won't you talk to us?" he asked. "And what was the whole thing about the portal? You didn't tell me about that."
She hesitated before speaking. "My father can come into our dimension now that the portal is open. We have to stop him Robin."
"How? How can we stop him?" he inquired.
"I don't know, but I'll figure it out," she promised. "Could you do me a favor?" Robin nodded his head.
"Sure, anything."
"Can you tell everyone to stay away from my room? I know they all want to see how I'm doing, but I'll think better if I'm alone."
"I…guess, but we're all worried about you. What should I tell them?"
"The truth. Thanks Robin." She started to shut the door.
"Wait Raven!" Robin called out. Raven opened her door again. "Uh," he stammered. He wanted to ask her a question about something she'd told him on her birthday, but he was afraid of how she would react.
"What?" she asked impatiently.
Robin took a deep breath. "Remember when we hid from Slade in that church on your birthday?" Raven nodded and he continued. "Well, you told me that someone looked into your future and that was how you knew that something bad would happen."
"And…?"
"Were they able to tell you anything else about what's going on? Is there more that you're not telling me?" he inquired.
"We don't have anything else to discuss," she said sharply and shut the door before Robin could say another word. He knew it would be pointless to try again, so he went to talk with the rest of the team.
Even though everyone had been told to steer clear of Raven, Beast Boy and Starfire ignored the order. Starfire always wanted to help her friends. She made the first attempt to sneak to Raven's room. Unfortunately for her, Robin caught her before she reached her destination. While Robin was escorting her away, Beast Boy snuck past them both in the form of a housefly. He had to talk to her himself. 'She won't want to talk to me. She might not even open the door, but I don't care! Now I know why she's so moody all the time. I will talk to her even if it kills me!' He reached the 6th floor and paused just long enough to gather up his courage. He walked over to her door and knocked. She didn't answer. "Raven! I know you're in there!" he called. "C'mon! Open up!"
"I thought Robin told you to leave me alone!" she snapped from inside her room.
"Well yeah, but I really need to talk to you!" He waited to see if she had anything to say. He didn't hear her speak, so he continued. "I have an idea on how to beat your dad!"
"I'm listening."
"Aw, come on Raven!" he threw his head back in annoyance. "I don't want to talk to a door!"
"Too bad. What's your idea?" she urged. Beast Boy stamped his foot.
"That's it, Raven! I'm coming in!" He morphed into a bug.
"What are you doing?" she demanded. Beast Boy crawled under the door and resumed human form as soon as he was on the other side. Raven had started for the door. "Beast Boy!"
"Why are you so mean to me?"
Raven rolled her eyes. She should have known he would do something stupid. "Not this again." She rested her chin in her hand.
"No, Raven! I'm serious! I try really hard to be nice, but you keep pushing me away! Why don't you like me?" She looked at him for a short while before answering his question.
"I do like you," she stated. She was telling the truth. He was kind of irritating when it came to his priorities, but she didn't dislike him because of them. Sometimes, Starfire was annoyingly cheerful, but Beast Boy seemed to have a good balance.
"You do? Really?" He rubbed the back of his neck. "But I thought-"
"What's your idea?" Raven interrupted him.
"Oh, yeah. Okay, you know when Cyborg and I went inside your head and we first met your dad?" She nodded. "Well, you defeated him by teaming up with…those…other yous. Couldn't you just do the same thing this time? Even if they can't help you, other people can, right?" He was trying so hard.
"We were only fighting my anger then. Now, we're fighting my father."
"Oh, sorry." He looked down at his feet.
"It's okay." She kept thinking about what he had said. Then, she sensed something bad again. Her eyes darted to the left and the right. "Beast Boy, you need to get out of here!" He raised an eyebrow.
"What? Why?"
"You just do!" She started pushing him towards the door when a dark purple cloud of smoke appeared inside her room.
"Dude! What is that?" he exclaimed. Raven kept pushing him.
"Go! Now!" she pleaded. She turned her head to look at the cloud behind her. It started to clear away. First, she saw her father's face. He had four yellow eyes, white hair and two horns on his head. Trigon was huge. The top of his horns reached the ceiling. Beast Boy's mouth dropped open.
"That's your dad!" he stated.
"I didn't notice," said Raven sarcastically.
"Well, what do we do?" asked Beast Boy.
"Surrender!" demanded Trigon.
"For now, run," said Raven. She threw her cape over Beast Boy and teleported them both to the top floor.
Author's Note: Now, I know that in 'Nevermore' and 'Birthmark' Trigon is shown as this huge 100ft tall monster, but I didn't want to deal with that kind of height in my story. And in the comics, he's not that tall.
