5-The Other Side
Robin hung suspended amid waves of black energy. White lightning streaked past him, raising every hair on his body on end as it brushed his skin. It was all so confusing, black and white light and faint, ghostly shapes that came in and out of focus, that he didn't know quite what to think. For a split second he thought he saw Raven's face in front of him, but it quickly faded away.
Without warning, the black and white world disappeared. Disoriented by the sudden change, it took Robin a moment to realize that he was falling through the air. Before he could ready himself for the impact, he hit the stone floor with one leg twisted awkwardly beneath him. He heard a sickening crunch, and a moment later pain shot up his leg.
Laros floated lightly down beside him. "Ooh, should have warned you about the drop, Birdman."
Robin glared at the other boy without speaking. Laros sighed and rolled his eyes. "Come on, let me get you untangled and we can see if that leg's broken."
"No thanks; I can straighten myself out."
"Sure you can. Azerath, Kuruk Tel-" Laros fell silent abruptly, his mouth still hanging open, his eyes wide and unfocused.
"What's wrong with you?" asked Robin scornfully.
The Azerathi's legs crumpled under him and he collapsed to the floor, pinning Robin's legs under him. Robin stared at the blue-grey curls tumbling over his lap, and could only think, what? He looked up to see something small, black, and trailed by a ribbon of red fire flying right toward him. Instinctively, he tried to roll out of its way, but Laros' body weighed him down, and he only succeeded in further damaging his hurt leg.
Something hit his shoulder. It hurt very little, like a prick from a doctor's needle, or a static shock, but he could feel himself going numb, all of him at once. His vision went red.
Red? Wasn't it supposed to be black?
Robin knew no more.
Raven emerged from the portal and descended ten feet to the floor. It was just as she remembered it. A narrow corridor, long unused since it led nowhere important, stretched on indefinitely in either direction. Sunlight shone through windows placed high along the wall behind her, dimmed by the thick coating of dust over the glass. It fell on the opposite wall, illuminating rough, stone blocks bare except for the occasional, age-blackened oil painting.
Yes, everything seemed in order. She began to withdraw the power that kept the portal stable. But a sudden thought stopped her. Where was Robin? Something, the shock of seeing her old home again, perhaps, had kept her from noticing that he and Laros were gone.
Maybe they were hidden behind her, keeping silent as some sort of stupid joke. Though that seemed more like Beast Boy than Robin. She turned, and saw something flying at her face. Her eyes flew open as she threw up her hands and with them a protective shield of white-laced black power. Suspended in the shield was a dart, small and black, with a red spark glowing from its tail. Raven let it fall to the ground.
She heard a soft curse. Concentrating on where it seemed to come from, she noticed that the air was moving, ever so slightly, like heat rising from hot pavement.
Invisibility, that was a new trick. She wondered whether Laros hadn't known about it or whether he simply forgot to tell her.
Through the black of her shield, Raven watched as, with a flush of red light, the invisibility dropped away and a Sentinel was revealed standing before her. He was shorter than Raven, a plump body filling out his black and red robes. Beneath the shadow of his hood she could see round, pink cheeks, fat, moist lips, and four small, watery eyes.
For a moment they stood in silence, staring at each other. Then, with a yell that was half grunt, the Sentinel thrust his hands forward. A bolt of black and red lanced from his palms, striking Raven's shield with a burst of white sparks. It burnt into nothing, taking some of her power with it. For a moment the Sentinel seemed surprised that the shield had held. Then he seemed to recover from his surprise and yelled again, throwing another bolt of power at her. And another, and another. Raven's view filled with explosions of white, flashes of red, a wavering wall of black. And with each hit, she felt a portion of her power drain away, while even more was being fed to the portal above her head, keeping it steady. But now she couldn't drop it; it had to remain open. She couldn't get through it herself, no, she couldn't keep up her shield and levitate at the same time, and it would mean abandoning Robin.
But there was one thing she could do.
"Starfire!" she screamed loud enough to hurt her throat; and as the scream escaped her lips, she added a touch of power behind it, to push her voice through the portal. This done, she planted her feet on the stone floor, squared her shoulders in a fighting stance, and fixed the Sentinel's beady eyes with her own. No more sitting still and pouring all of her power into the shield-if she was going to die, she would go out fighting like a Titan.
Something green shot out from above her head, almost hitting the wall but freezing just in time. It was Starfire, in her brightest, greenest, battle-mode. "Raven, what is the-" she looked down. "Oh."
The pudgy Sentinel was gazing up at the strange girl who had just burst through from another world, a look of complete surprise on his face. He was so surprised, in fact, that he had forgotten, for a moment, about bombarding Raven. In one mental stroke she let go of the portal and lowered the shield. With these drains on her power gone, she could feel it surging up within her, longing to be directed at something. And she knew exactly what that would be.
"Azerath, Metrion, Zinthos!"
It had never been like this before.
It was fueled by anger, it was fueled by fear, it was fueled by a fair amount of hate. It came from having all her nightmares come true, of being home. It was as if every drop of power in her entire being converged in one spot within her, drawn from every muscle in her body, every corner of her mind, every dark place in her soul. And then she released it, and it burst from her, not just from her hands but from her entire body. It wrenched her, threw her back, discarded her on the floor.
Lying in a heap, Raven struggled to remain conscious. Through half-opened eyes she saw the power she released surging forward like a black storm cloud, bursting every window it passed and catching up the broken glass. She saw Starfire try to fly out of its path, but it was too fast and too large. The edge of the power barely brushed the alien girl's body, but it was enough to hurl her down the corridor in Raven's direction. Her halo of green flickered and flared, but for all her flying ability she was only able to slow herself down before plowing into the floor. She tumbled and skidded and came to rest just in front of Raven.
The Sentinel, too, tried to escape, but it was no use; he was no quicker than Starfire, and he was in its direct path. It hit him full on and caught him up into its heart and carried him, twisting wildly, arms and legs flailing, down the corridor.
Raven was too tired to keep her eyes open anymore. Much too tired, so tired. Raven fell asleep.
Starfire's head pounded like the Diamond Ocean of Mentearaas Minor. She opened her eyes and saw rough, grey stone. She was lying on her side, her face turned to the floor. She attempted to push herself up into a sitting position, but when she moved, so did the floor. Huh? No, the floor couldn't move; it must be Starfire herself, too woozy to keep the world straight. She closed her eyes once more and very, very slowly pushed herself onto her hands and knees. Finally, she dared to open her eyes, and blessedly, the walls and floor stayed in their proper places.
She looked around and couldn't seem to find Raven, until she thought of looking behind her. Her friend was lying in a crumpled heap in the floor. "Oh Raven! Are you hurt?" But Raven could not hear her. Starfire crawled over to Raven's form and sat looking at her and biting her lip. Deciding that she needed to check Raven for injuries, she reached beneath the other girl's chin and unclasped her friend's cloak. As she very carefully removed the cloak, several pieces of broken glass fell from the cloth. A quick search revealed a mirror stuck into Raven's belt. Starfire pulled it out and looked at it, wondering why Raven had bothered to take such a thing when traveling between worlds. It was a beautiful mirror, its frame twisted bronze set with purple stones, but still not very practical, and Raven was always practical. After a moment's wondering, Starfire decided that since the glass had smashed in the fall, it really didn't matter any more. She tossed cloak and mirror into a pile near the wall and leaned down to examine her friend.
Starfire carefully felt Raven's sides and up and down her legs and arms. Nothing seemed to be broken, though she had developed several large and nasty-looking bruises. Starfire decided that, if neither of them was seriously injured, their most urgent priority was to get out of that corridor before more Sentinel's came to check on the pudgy one. She bent down and slid one arm under Raven's shoulders, the other under her knees, and, lifting, climbed to her feet.
For a moment, looking down a long hallway in an alien world, knowing that Robin was somewhere, probably in deep trouble, carrying an unconscious friend who she now knew was capable of creating a force as powerful as what Starfire had seen, her confidence flagged and she felt Raven become many times heavier. Her knees began to buckle. Then Starfire reminded herself that she had been surviving in an alien world for quite a while now, that she was a Teen Titan. All of her pride returned and Raven became a feather-weight again. Starfire set out down the corridor-deciding it was safer to walk than to fly as long as she was holding an injured teammate- with her head held high and Raven cradled in her arms.
Behind them, a purple cloak, an empty mirror frame, and a few small, scattered fragments of glass lay forgotten on the cold stone floor.
Robin hung suspended amid waves of black energy. White lightning streaked past him, raising every hair on his body on end as it brushed his skin. It was all so confusing, black and white light and faint, ghostly shapes that came in and out of focus, that he didn't know quite what to think. For a split second he thought he saw Raven's face in front of him, but it quickly faded away.
Without warning, the black and white world disappeared. Disoriented by the sudden change, it took Robin a moment to realize that he was falling through the air. Before he could ready himself for the impact, he hit the stone floor with one leg twisted awkwardly beneath him. He heard a sickening crunch, and a moment later pain shot up his leg.
Laros floated lightly down beside him. "Ooh, should have warned you about the drop, Birdman."
Robin glared at the other boy without speaking. Laros sighed and rolled his eyes. "Come on, let me get you untangled and we can see if that leg's broken."
"No thanks; I can straighten myself out."
"Sure you can. Azerath, Kuruk Tel-" Laros fell silent abruptly, his mouth still hanging open, his eyes wide and unfocused.
"What's wrong with you?" asked Robin scornfully.
The Azerathi's legs crumpled under him and he collapsed to the floor, pinning Robin's legs under him. Robin stared at the blue-grey curls tumbling over his lap, and could only think, what? He looked up to see something small, black, and trailed by a ribbon of red fire flying right toward him. Instinctively, he tried to roll out of its way, but Laros' body weighed him down, and he only succeeded in further damaging his hurt leg.
Something hit his shoulder. It hurt very little, like a prick from a doctor's needle, or a static shock, but he could feel himself going numb, all of him at once. His vision went red.
Red? Wasn't it supposed to be black?
Robin knew no more.
Raven emerged from the portal and descended ten feet to the floor. It was just as she remembered it. A narrow corridor, long unused since it led nowhere important, stretched on indefinitely in either direction. Sunlight shone through windows placed high along the wall behind her, dimmed by the thick coating of dust over the glass. It fell on the opposite wall, illuminating rough, stone blocks bare except for the occasional, age-blackened oil painting.
Yes, everything seemed in order. She began to withdraw the power that kept the portal stable. But a sudden thought stopped her. Where was Robin? Something, the shock of seeing her old home again, perhaps, had kept her from noticing that he and Laros were gone.
Maybe they were hidden behind her, keeping silent as some sort of stupid joke. Though that seemed more like Beast Boy than Robin. She turned, and saw something flying at her face. Her eyes flew open as she threw up her hands and with them a protective shield of white-laced black power. Suspended in the shield was a dart, small and black, with a red spark glowing from its tail. Raven let it fall to the ground.
She heard a soft curse. Concentrating on where it seemed to come from, she noticed that the air was moving, ever so slightly, like heat rising from hot pavement.
Invisibility, that was a new trick. She wondered whether Laros hadn't known about it or whether he simply forgot to tell her.
Through the black of her shield, Raven watched as, with a flush of red light, the invisibility dropped away and a Sentinel was revealed standing before her. He was shorter than Raven, a plump body filling out his black and red robes. Beneath the shadow of his hood she could see round, pink cheeks, fat, moist lips, and four small, watery eyes.
For a moment they stood in silence, staring at each other. Then, with a yell that was half grunt, the Sentinel thrust his hands forward. A bolt of black and red lanced from his palms, striking Raven's shield with a burst of white sparks. It burnt into nothing, taking some of her power with it. For a moment the Sentinel seemed surprised that the shield had held. Then he seemed to recover from his surprise and yelled again, throwing another bolt of power at her. And another, and another. Raven's view filled with explosions of white, flashes of red, a wavering wall of black. And with each hit, she felt a portion of her power drain away, while even more was being fed to the portal above her head, keeping it steady. But now she couldn't drop it; it had to remain open. She couldn't get through it herself, no, she couldn't keep up her shield and levitate at the same time, and it would mean abandoning Robin.
But there was one thing she could do.
"Starfire!" she screamed loud enough to hurt her throat; and as the scream escaped her lips, she added a touch of power behind it, to push her voice through the portal. This done, she planted her feet on the stone floor, squared her shoulders in a fighting stance, and fixed the Sentinel's beady eyes with her own. No more sitting still and pouring all of her power into the shield-if she was going to die, she would go out fighting like a Titan.
Something green shot out from above her head, almost hitting the wall but freezing just in time. It was Starfire, in her brightest, greenest, battle-mode. "Raven, what is the-" she looked down. "Oh."
The pudgy Sentinel was gazing up at the strange girl who had just burst through from another world, a look of complete surprise on his face. He was so surprised, in fact, that he had forgotten, for a moment, about bombarding Raven. In one mental stroke she let go of the portal and lowered the shield. With these drains on her power gone, she could feel it surging up within her, longing to be directed at something. And she knew exactly what that would be.
"Azerath, Metrion, Zinthos!"
It had never been like this before.
It was fueled by anger, it was fueled by fear, it was fueled by a fair amount of hate. It came from having all her nightmares come true, of being home. It was as if every drop of power in her entire being converged in one spot within her, drawn from every muscle in her body, every corner of her mind, every dark place in her soul. And then she released it, and it burst from her, not just from her hands but from her entire body. It wrenched her, threw her back, discarded her on the floor.
Lying in a heap, Raven struggled to remain conscious. Through half-opened eyes she saw the power she released surging forward like a black storm cloud, bursting every window it passed and catching up the broken glass. She saw Starfire try to fly out of its path, but it was too fast and too large. The edge of the power barely brushed the alien girl's body, but it was enough to hurl her down the corridor in Raven's direction. Her halo of green flickered and flared, but for all her flying ability she was only able to slow herself down before plowing into the floor. She tumbled and skidded and came to rest just in front of Raven.
The Sentinel, too, tried to escape, but it was no use; he was no quicker than Starfire, and he was in its direct path. It hit him full on and caught him up into its heart and carried him, twisting wildly, arms and legs flailing, down the corridor.
Raven was too tired to keep her eyes open anymore. Much too tired, so tired. Raven fell asleep.
Starfire's head pounded like the Diamond Ocean of Mentearaas Minor. She opened her eyes and saw rough, grey stone. She was lying on her side, her face turned to the floor. She attempted to push herself up into a sitting position, but when she moved, so did the floor. Huh? No, the floor couldn't move; it must be Starfire herself, too woozy to keep the world straight. She closed her eyes once more and very, very slowly pushed herself onto her hands and knees. Finally, she dared to open her eyes, and blessedly, the walls and floor stayed in their proper places.
She looked around and couldn't seem to find Raven, until she thought of looking behind her. Her friend was lying in a crumpled heap in the floor. "Oh Raven! Are you hurt?" But Raven could not hear her. Starfire crawled over to Raven's form and sat looking at her and biting her lip. Deciding that she needed to check Raven for injuries, she reached beneath the other girl's chin and unclasped her friend's cloak. As she very carefully removed the cloak, several pieces of broken glass fell from the cloth. A quick search revealed a mirror stuck into Raven's belt. Starfire pulled it out and looked at it, wondering why Raven had bothered to take such a thing when traveling between worlds. It was a beautiful mirror, its frame twisted bronze set with purple stones, but still not very practical, and Raven was always practical. After a moment's wondering, Starfire decided that since the glass had smashed in the fall, it really didn't matter any more. She tossed cloak and mirror into a pile near the wall and leaned down to examine her friend.
Starfire carefully felt Raven's sides and up and down her legs and arms. Nothing seemed to be broken, though she had developed several large and nasty-looking bruises. Starfire decided that, if neither of them was seriously injured, their most urgent priority was to get out of that corridor before more Sentinel's came to check on the pudgy one. She bent down and slid one arm under Raven's shoulders, the other under her knees, and, lifting, climbed to her feet.
For a moment, looking down a long hallway in an alien world, knowing that Robin was somewhere, probably in deep trouble, carrying an unconscious friend who she now knew was capable of creating a force as powerful as what Starfire had seen, her confidence flagged and she felt Raven become many times heavier. Her knees began to buckle. Then Starfire reminded herself that she had been surviving in an alien world for quite a while now, that she was a Teen Titan. All of her pride returned and Raven became a feather-weight again. Starfire set out down the corridor-deciding it was safer to walk than to fly as long as she was holding an injured teammate- with her head held high and Raven cradled in her arms.
Behind them, a purple cloak, an empty mirror frame, and a few small, scattered fragments of glass lay forgotten on the cold stone floor.