Chapter 10: Unbreakable Bonds

(Inside Raven's Mind…)

Raven finally reached her destination. She just had to go through this last Forbidden Door and she would be inside of the prison she had created. She outstretched her hands in front of her.

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!" A blast of black energy was shot at the door, hitting an electrical field, which soon faded away. Raven walked through the entrance and noticed something that hadn't been there before; a large, blood red tree was floating above her. She assumed that Trigon had put it there. It had something to do with Anne's strength and she figured that she'd have to destroy it. The tree was several yards wide and very tall. It wasn't something that could just be killed and done away with.

"I guess I'll have to start on the outside and work my way in," she told herself. She flew up to level herself with the tree and using her powers, began to peel away the bark and rip out the branches.


(Trigon's Planet…)

Raven emerged from her hiding place, allowing Starfire and Beast Boy to see her. "I'm right here," she informed them. "And I've taken care of everyone else." Starfire felt a great amount of concern and anger growing inside of her. Quickly, she flew at Raven and pinned her to the ground.

"What have you done to our friends?" she demanded. Somehow, she felt responsible for all of this. It was her idea to come to Trigon's planet in the first place. If she had kept her mouth shut, none of this would've happened. Then again, what happened to Raven wasn't her fault.

"Starfire, no! That's not going to work!" hollered Beast Boy. He remembered what Arella had said about Raven. She said that Raven's hateful side had taken over. Surely, showing more hate towards her wouldn't help. They had to think of a way to bring Raven back to her old self. He ran over to Starfire just as Raven disappeared into the ground. When she reappeared, she was standing beside them. Beast Boy got an idea. He was a little afraid of the result, but he was willing to try anything at this point. He turned to Raven and put his arms around her shoulders, giving her a warm embrace.

"What are you doing?" she demanded. She tried to push him away, but he only held her closer.

"Raven, you have to listen," he told her. "I don't know why you're fighting us, but there's no point! We're all really sorry about what happened back at the Tower."

"Let go of me!"

"We're all sorry and we're still your friends," he continued. "C'mon Raven, snap out of it!" Starfire caught on to what he was doing. If Raven became evil because of her hatred, maybe love could bring her back.

"He is telling the truth Raven," added Starfire. "We came here to get you away from Trigon, not to fight." Then, she hugged Raven as well and held her arms in place so that it would be harder for her to escape.

"Get off!" Raven demanded. She tried to teleport, but nothing happened. 'What's wrong with me?' she asked herself. Then, she tried to push Beast Boy and Starfire away, using her powers. "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!" Again, nothing happened. For some reason, her powers weren't working. She couldn't figure it out.

If Trigon had seen what was going on, he would've gone to help his daughter. But he wasn't watching anymore. He had enjoyed watching Raven take down her former friends, but he had other matters to attend to.

"Why is nothing happening?" asked Starfire. Raven kicked Beast Boy as hard as she could in the shin, but he didn't loosen his grip.

"I don't know," Beast Boy grunted. Raven kept struggling, but she couldn't get out of their grasp.

"Let go!" Raven stood up on her toes and thrust her head back to hit Starfire in the chin. From surprise and pain, Starfire loosened her grip. Raven ducked out of Beast Boy's hold on her and swung her leg under his feet, knocking him to the ground. She tried to run away, but he got up quickly and grabbed her wrist.

"Dude! C'mon! Cyborg and I went inside your head and we helped you defeat your dad!" Beast Boy reminded her. "We helped you because we were your friends. And we still are!" She tried to punch him, but Starfire caught her other arm.

Arella was only a few yards away, sitting on the ground, muttering a spell. She was the reason that Raven's powers weren't working. She had learned many things while she studied witchcraft and while she was on Azarath.

"Your mother loves you too Raven!" Starfire told her. "She helped us get here. We would not have made it if it weren't for her." Raven stopped struggling for a second. She felt strange, but she didn't know what was going on. She had many different personalities – happy, sad, brave, evil and so on. At the moment, her evil personality had the most control, but slowly, her good side was gaining more power.


(Inside Raven's Mind…)

The branches on the tree were slowly shriveling up and it was easier for Raven to pull them off. She could hear everything that Beast Boy and Starfire were saying. It seemed that the more they assured her that they were her friends, the weaker the tree got – because she believed them. She'd finished removing the bark and the branches on the outside – it's armor. Raven continued ripping and tearing at the trunk. Finally, she reached the middle. Inside the hollow trunk, was a glowing yellow ball. It was hovering slightly up and down.

"Do I have to get rid of that?" she asked herself. She outstretched her hand."Please work.Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!" A bolt of black lightning was shot at the sphere, but her magic didn't have any affect on it. Cautiously, Raven reached out with both of her hands to grab the floating object. Once she touched it, it turned bright red and burned her hand. "Ow!" What should she do?


(Trigon's Planet…)

Raven winced. She felt the pain that the "White Raven" had felt when she touched the core.

"Raven, what is wrong?" asked Starfire. Raven didn't answer.

"Hey, did you hear what she said?" asked Beast Boy.

Raven resumed her struggling. "Let go of me!" She couldn't move her arms and trying to kick Starfire didn't do any good.

"We will not give up!" Starfire persisted.

"You're both idiots!" she said through clenched teeth.

"Raven, please. We would not be here if we did not like you," Starfire told her.

"Whatever!"

"That's it! I've had it!" exclaimed Beast Boy. He walked over and stood in front of Raven, looking her in the eye. "We've been through a lot together. I won't ever give up on you." Raven stared back at him, not saying anything. "Let go Starfire."

"Are you certain?" asked Starfire. Beast Boy nodded his head. Even though she didn't understand, she let go. Beast Boy pulled Raven towards him. He put his free hand on her face, leaned in and pressed his lips against hers. Raven's heart skipped a beat. Time stood still and everything else around her seemed to disappear. Then, Beast Boy stepped back.


(Inside Raven's Mind…)

Raven was in shock. She couldn't believe what had just happened. "Beast Boy…kissed me?" She wasn't sure what to think. She decided to put it all aside until later. The glowing ball was probably the thing that kept the tree alive. She would have to destroy the core if she wanted to conceal Anne back within her prison. And it was her only hope of releasing her good side.

She closed her hand into a fist and tried to break the ball by hitting it. It merely bounced around the hollow of the tree. Raven outstretched her hands once more toward the bright, glowing ball. This time, she grabbed it and didn't let go. It glowed bright red and burned her hands, but she held on. Raven pulled the sphere towards her and pushed her hands together, in attempt to crush it. This didn't work either and the pain became so great, that she was forced to released it. It went back to its place within the tree.

Raven considered everything for a moment and then removed the brooch that held her cloak together. The whole thing slid down her shoulders and fell down. With one hand, she pushed the ball down to the bottom of the hollow of the tree. In her other hand, she held her brooch and hammered it against the red, glowing sphere. She hit it again and again. Cracks were beginning to appear on the surface until finally, it burst open.


(Trigon's Planet…)

Raven closed all four of her eyes tightly and shuddered. The red magic that Trigon had put around her soul-self had lost its grip. It suddenly shot out of her body towards the sky. Raven opened her eyes and there were only two of them on her face. She stumbled forward a little, but Beast Boy helped her find her balance and then let go. She put her hood down so that her eyes could be seen better. She turned to him and folded her arms.

"You idiot!" Beast Boy could tell that she was not too angry, so he smiled.

"Hey, it worked, didn't it?"

"Yeah, you can believe that."


Author's Note: Okay, I know I said that there wouldn't be anything romantic, but I just couldn't resist! I hope you understood this chapter. If not, you can ask me questions in your reviews and I'll answer them when I post ch11. Sorry that this took so long to post, but it was worth it wasn't it?