Note: This chapter is dedicated in memory of Dimebag Darrell of Pantera and Damageplan, my personal guitar hero, who was senselessly murdered on December 8th . You're in green heaven now, jamming with Hendrix, Randy Rhoads, John Bonham, Cliff Burton, Kurt Cobain, and Bon Scott. RIP.
About two weeks later…
"Okay, how many hours you guys want?" the guy at the Omega Recording Studio asked in a thick Italian accent. Ben glanced at Dave and then replied, "How about you give us a flat per-hour rate and then we can have as much time as we want, Mike?"
The attendant, who evidently was Mike, said, "I'll charge you twenty bucks an hour for it."
"Jeez, Mike, you're breaking my balls here, Mike," Ben replied, "I'll pay fifteen for an hour."
"Seventeen."
"Sixteen."
"Fine."
Beast Boy looked at Dave and said, "Damn, dude, Ben's good."
Dave nodded. "He's like an old Jewish grandma."
Rob punched Dave in the shoulder. "Shut up, I'm Jewish."
Dave grinned and joked, "Jesus killer."
"What would you know? You and your girlfriend are fucking pagans," Rob retorted. Dave grinned and said, "Yeah, but you know what's part of our religion?"
Rob scratched his head and said, "What?"
Dave leaned over and whispered in his ear. Rob's eyes opened wide, and he said, "That's hot."
Beast Boy grinned and said, "Go agnosticism!"
Ben jumped in, saying, "My religion owns you all. I'm fucking Buddhist! Hell yeah!"
Mike leaned over and said, "Hey, you guys gonna get in the booth or what?"
Dave looked over and said, "Hold on, my girlfriend's coming, and I want to wait until she gets here. She's never seen me play before."
Ben rolled his eyes and said, "She can watch you play another time, when we're not getting charged fifteen dollars an hour."
"Come on, just five more minutes," Dave said. But almost on cue, the doors swung open, and a medium-sized, skinny, pink-haired girl wearing all black walked in. Beast Boy's eyes widened when he saw whom it was.
The sounds of laughter and childish playing echoed throughout the city park. As Raven quietly strolled through the park, a group of young kids in front of her tossed a football back and forth, one almost running into Raven.
"Sowwy, Mrs. Lady!" the child said in that adorably cute/undeveloped accent that kids always have., Raven merely stepped to the side and continued walking.
"I hate kids," she mumbled to herself.
Lately, she had started to become depressed, as Beast Boy had begun to spend more and more of his time on the bands and less time on her. And when she had confronted him about this, they had begun to fight over it. In retrospect, most couples usually did this at least once, except for Robin and Starfire (Raven could never figure this out; when she asked Starfire, she innocently replied "Why would I fight with Robin? I only fight the bad guys."). But still, it was depressing nonetheless.
She sighed and sat down on a nearby bench, observing her surroundings. A normal Saturday afternoon, at first glance. As her eyes wandered, she caught notice of a small stone ruins over in the nearby forest, something that hadn't been there before. She shrugged it off and began walking back away. Her mind began wandering again, and before long, she found herself drawn to the forest. It was strange; she could see nothing unusual, yet it was like there was a mental magnet that she couldn't resist. She stared at the Stonehenge-like monument, wondering both where it had come from and why she was drawn to it.
She shook it off and told herself it was nothing. Picking herself up, she flew back to the Tower, although periodically looking back at the testament as she flew.
Beast Boy found himself at a loss for words as he began to fully realize who had entered the door. As Dave walked over and kissed the girl on the cheek, Beast Boy managed to squeeze out a single word.
"Jinx!"
The witch looked over at him and smiled, as if they had first met.
Dave turned around and said, "Everyone, this is my girlfriend Jinx."
The band members exchanged greetings, while Beast Boy could only manage to gape, mouth open. Jinx smiled again and said, "What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?"
"Dave! What are you doing?" Beast Boy yelled. "She's an evil succubus from hell!"
Jinx frowned and said, "Are you still mad about me trying to kill you all those times?"
"Yes!"
Dave frowned and said, "Jinx, what's going on?"
Jinx sighed and replied, "My group and his group had a couple spats a while back."
"Spats!" Beast Boy yelled. "We were at fucking war with each other!"
Ben jumped and said, "Can't you two fight later? We're in the middle of a session."
Beast Boy scowled at Jinx, who merely grinned innocently. The green shape-shifter and his bandmates entered the recording booth, picking up their respective instruments.
"'Lack of Comprehension' on three, guys," Ben yelled out. "Mike, you ready to start?"
The red "Recording" light flickered on, followed by Ben's quick three-count. As the instruments kicked in, Ben growled a deep, George Fisher-like scream, sustaining it for a few second before the instrumentals switched over to the verse riff. Dave banged away a high-tempo double-bass beat as Ben and Beast Boy built up a distorted, low-pitched guitar part. As for Rob, he just kind of stood there and played bass. But he had a really awesome bass guitar, so I guess it evened out. Ben raised his head up to the mic and began to sing in his normal cookie monster-like vocals.
"Condemning fear strikes down,
Things they cannot understand
An excuse to cover up weaknesses that lie within
Lies
Laying your guilt and pain
On people that had no part in the molding of a life
That creates its destruction
Lies
Right before your very eyes
A reflection of the mistakes
To the end you will deny
Your part in the demise of a life
Lack of comprehension
Thriving on your cliché
Compelled by self-resentment"
As the vocals came to a pause, Beast Boy went right into a screaming, harmonic guitar solo, using and abusing his wah-pedal that bore the note "To Beast Boy, with love from Raven" in white marker. A drum bridge followed, and Ben dived straight back into the vocals.
"Reaching into the minds of those that created
The depression in which they
In which they drowned their flesh and blood
Lies
So easy to blame the
Everlasting fear on a pathetic attempt
To justify the ending of life
Lies
Right before your very eyes
A reflection of the mistakes
To the end you will deny
Your part in the demise of a life
Lack of comprehension
Thriving on your cliché
Compelled by self-resentment"
Ben ended the song with one final scream as the instrumentals stopped and died out. The "Recording" light flicked off, and Mike's voice came through the intercom, saying "Nice job guys. Come back here, and I'll fix the song up however you want it."
About three hours later…
Mike pressed a button on the soundboard, and out popped a cassette tape, the final version of "Lack of Comprehension" completed. Ben sighed and said, "Three hours for one fucking song?"
Mike nodded and said, "Yeah, that's about how long the average song takes to finish and wrap up in a neat little package. Thank God you guys haven't hit the big time."
"Why?" Dave asked. Mike shook his head and said, "I got the guys from Poison in here once. Let me tell you, fame has gone to their heads so much that if the smallest thing goes wrong, they argue with each other for hours and nothing gets done."
Rob wrinkled his nose. A curious look came over Mike's face and he said, "You know, my brother Zakk is a band manager, and he's gonna meet up with the head honchos at Metal Blade Records this week. If you want, I can send this to him and have the guys at the Blade check it out. If you're lucky, you might even get a deal."
An astonished silence filled the room. After maybe half a minute, Beast Boy broke the silence and said, "You would do that?"
Mike nodded. "Why not? It's the least I can do after you guys…uhh…actually, you've never done anything for me. Well, I'll do it out of kindness then."
Ben smiled and shook Mike's hand. "Thanks a bunch, Mike."
As the four began to leave the studio, Mike yelled out, "I wouldn't get my hopes up!"
They paid no heed to him, however. As they began to load the equipment into Ben's truck, Beast Boy looked around and said, "Where's Jinx?"
Dave looked at him and said, "Why? What do…"
"…You have against me?" Jinx butted in, appearing out of nowhere from behind Beast Boy. The green shape shifter jumped out of surprise.
Jinx stood behind him with her hands on her hips and continued, "Seriously Beast Boy, I don't work for the H.I.V.E anymore, Gizmo and Mammoth have disappeared, Brother Blood has gone into hiding, and the Academy shut down. Why don't you trust me?"
Beast Boy could find no response. Jinx impatiently tapped her foot. "Well?"
"…I don't know."
Jinx bent over so her face was level with Beast Boy's. "Well then, why don't we just put our past behind us and be friends?"
The sorceress extended her hand. Beast Boy eyed the hand suspiciously. Slowly and cautiously, he inched his hand towards hers. He paused for a moment, but Jinx grabbed his hand and shook it anyway. Jinx stood back up and smiled. "See? Was that so hard?"
Beast Boy sheepishly shook his head.
Jinx patted Beast Boy's head. "Good boy."
Dave waved goodbye to his friends as he and Jinx hopped into his car, which was clad with multiple obscene bumper stickers. Beast Boy stared at his hand, confused.
Ben gave him a weird look. "What the hell just happened?" he asked.
Beast Boy continued to stare at his hand. "I have no idea."
Night fell quickly. Winter had begun to approach Jump City, and the daylight slowly shortened with each passing day. When Beast Boy returned back to the Tower, the Tower was silent, save for Cyborg's snoring. Exhausted after the tedious work in the recording studio, he fell onto the couch and dozed off. Everyone was slumbering, except for Raven.
She found herself unable to fall asleep, for the revelation she had see earlier could not escape her mind. Eventually, she became fed up with it, threw on her cloak, and walked out of her room. As she passed through the living room, she caught sight of Beast Boy knocked out on the couch. Smiling slightly, she walked over to him and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Beast Boy stirred in his sleep, a dormant grin beginning to spread across his face.
Raven continued out of the Tower, taking flight as she exited. The monument was still at the same position it was before, yet it exuded an eerie red glow this time. Raven landed in the center of the monument, in front of a large center pillar. The middle of the pillar bore a small Greek Sigma letter, from which the glow seemed to be centered. Raven reached out her hands to touch, when a voice from behind her spoke up.
"Are you ready for it, Raven?" a deep voice asked from behind her. Raven turned around, and to her surprise, an enigmatic figure stood behind her. He/She/It was clothed in a long black hooded cloak, concealing his/hers/its entire identity. Raven stumbled for a moment, and then said, "Ready for what?"
The figure did not move. After a beat, it spoke up again.
"Do not be afraid."
With that, the figure disappeared. Raven raised an eyebrow, bewildered. In the blink of an eye, the figure disappeared. Before she could think or react, the glow from the sigma letter brightened tenfold, and the symbol began shifting and distorting, until it resembled nothing like a sigma. In its place, a circle surrounding a pentacle with vertical lines going through it stood. Under it, a phrase that bore the words "Pseudomonarchia daemonum" appeared in red cursive print. The glow continued to brighten and become larger, until Raven was surrounded by it. She closed her eyes, hoping she would wake up, that this was all a dream.
She felt a sharp gust around her, whipping her hair all around. Gradually, she began to open her eyes, but as soon as she did, she regretted it. The world around her had dissipated, replaced by a swirling black and blue vortex. Pictures of both demonic figures and angelic beings zoomed past her. She closed her eyes and covered her ears, still in disbelief. Suddenly, the gust subsided, and her hair and cloak fell back to her sides. Reluctantly, she opened her eyes, only to find a sight that shocked her to no end.
"Impossible…I'm in Azarath!"
Morning began to approach the Tower. As the sunshine leaked through the Tower's windows and onto Beast Boy's face, he squinted and turned over. Deciding he wasn't going to get anymore sleep, he wiped his face and got up. Starfire and Robin had already gotten up and were beginning to eat their respective breakfasts. Cyborg was still asleep.
Beast Boy yawned and walked over to the table, setting up the coffee maker for a cup. Robin looked over and said, "Morning."
"Morning," Beast Boy replied. "Hey, have you guys seen Raven?"
Starfire shook her head. "I thought she went with you."
Beast Boy frowned and shook his head. "No, there was only me and the guys at the studio. Us and Jinx, that is."
Robin snapped around. "Jinx was there! Why didn't you tell me!"
Beast Boy held up his hands. "Slow down Robin, she wasn't there to rob the place or anything. She was with Dave."
Robin raised an eyebrow. "You might want to elaborate."
Beast Boy sighed and answered, "As Dave tells me, he met Jinx at this Six Feet Under concert over in Gotham, and they hooked up together."
Robin narrowed his eyes. "I don't like the sound of that."
Beast Boy shrugged and said, "To be honest, I really think she's turned over a new leaf."
"What makes you say that," Robin suspiciously asked. Beast Boy frowned uneasily and replied, "I don't know. I just have a gut feeling."
Robin seemed to process this new information for a moment, scratching his chin in an almost inquisitive manner. After a few seconds, he sighed and said, "Keep a close eye on her. If she does anything suspicious, don't hesitate to tell me."
Beast Boy nodded, beginning to feel like he was being interrogated. At any moment, he was expecting Robin to ask him to recite the alphabet backwards.
Starfire interrupted just as things began to get awkward, saying, "Does any of this have to do with the whereabouts of our friend?"
Robin shook his head and retuned to his paper. Beast Boy sighed. He had a feeling this was going to be a long day.
All of a sudden, the Tower alarm began to go off, something that hadn't happened in ages. Cyborg walked in, visibly confused.
"What's going on?" he yelled. Robin jumped up from his chair and said, "Finally, some action."
Robin ran over to the apparatus by the TV and switched it on. The picture of the head police sergeant of Jump City appeared, noticeably concerned.
"Long time no see, sergeant," Robin said. The officer nodded and said, "Ditto, Robin."
"What's the problem?" the leader asked. The sergeant scratched his head and said, "We got a bunch of reports about strange things occurring all over Jump City. Evidently, strange portals have started appearing all over, and some weird stuff has been coming out of it. We called the Titans East in from Steele City to help you guys out. Bumblebee said she wants to meet with you guys at one of the sites to try and work out a plan. The site is located at Burton Avenue, number 232. The house belongs to a loner by the name of Vincent Damon Furnier."
(A/N: Cookies to anyone who knows who Vincent Damon Furnier is!)"
Beast Boy lit up and said, "That's right by where Ben lives."
Robin nodded curtly. "We'll be right on it."
The sergeant nodded back, and his picture promptly disappeared from the screen.
Starfire interrupted, saying, "But what about Raven?"
Robin thought for a second, and then said, "We'll have to wait on that one. Besides, she's probably just at her usual café."
Cyborg raised his eyebrows, saying, "Well, this should really be interesting."
Raven continued to look around, now absolutely certain she was in Azarath. But why? Why was she there?
Raven stared blankly ahead and fell to her knees, unable to process everything all at once. She grabbed her head and closed her eyes, hoping it would all end and she would wake up. But nothing happened.
"That won't do you any good, Raven," a voice said from behind her. She turned around, and behind her stood the same inscrutable figure she had seen before. Raven began to get angry.
"Who the hell are you! Where the hell am I? What the hell is going on!" she yelled at the figure. He/She/It merely stood there. Raven stared, her temper rising. After a few seconds, the figure seemed to dissipate into the air, little by little, until he had completely dematerialized. Raven yelled into the air, unimaginably frustrated.
She began walking, trying to find the figure by any means. After what seemed like ages, although in reality was only a few minutes, she stumbled upon a small village. Her village.
Raven gasped slightly as she saw her four-year old self, playing like the child she was with a juvenile Izevm. It was almost amusing how innocent he seemed.
"Yes…almost amusing…" that familiar voice said. Raven whipped around, and sure enough, the figure stood behind her. Evidently, he could read minds. Raven growled and yelled, "Tell me! Where am I?"
The figure seemed to chuckle for a moment, and then said, "You be the judge, Raven."
He/She/It dematerialized again, and rematerialized directly to her right, levitating a few yards above the ground.
"Did that portal lead you to Azarath, in your past, in your home?" The figure said with a presumptuous tone. He dematerialized again, rematerializing this time in front of her, his hooded face only inches away from hers.
"Or was that merely a portal into your own mind?" the creature said, his hot breath blowing onto her face. Raven made a face.
The enigma chuckled again and leaned in closer. "Or are you just losing your mind?"
The figure dematerialized again, this time not rematerializing. Before he disappeared completely, he/she/it quietly whispered into her ear, "You be the judge…"
With that, the figure completely disappeared from sight. Raven became fed up with it, and yelled, "What does that mean?"
Raven yelled again, kicking a nearby boulder out of frustration. Big mistake.
As Raven massaged her pain-stricken foot, she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around, and saw a young, naive Izevm standing behind her. She was speechless.
"All you alright?" the child asked. Raven saw her younger self walk up next to Izevm, trying to see what was going on.
Raven sighed and said, "Yeah, I'm fine. Why do you care?"
"I wanted to make sure you were okay. I don't like to see people get hurt," Izevm said. The sheer irony of this statement made Raven chuckle.
"What's so funny?" the young Raven asked her older counterpart. She smiled for a moment and said, "Nothing.
The younger Raven motioned towards her house. "You wanna come inside? My mom's making tea."
Raven thought for a moment, and then decided to hell with it. She nodded and replied, "Sure, why not."
She followed her younger counterpart and Izevm into the house. Sure enough, Arella was there, making tea.
"Mommy, look who me and Izevm found!" the juvenile Raven said. Arella turned around and smiled.
"Hello, I haven't seen you around here."
Raven smiled uneasily and said, "Yeah, I'm, uh, new."
Arella looked curious for a moment, and then said, "That's funny…you have the same chakra as Raven."
The younger Raven pointed to the chakra on her forehead, not saying anything. Arella looked into Raven's eyes, and said, "You look really familiar, too…"
Raven cleared her throat and said, "You know, I really should get going…"
Arella smiled politely. "Goodbye then!"
Raven nodded. "Thanks."
With that, she left the house and began walking.
"Take a left," Beast Boy said as the team cruised along in the T-Car. Beast Boy was the only one present who know the way to Burton Avenue, so he was giving the directions. The numbers on the houses increased little by little, until they came to number 232. Robin and the others could already see Bumblebee and the two twins in the backyard. As they exited the car and headed out to the backyard, they could make out a huge statue standing in the backyard, with all the Titans East standing around it. Más and Menos turned around, and both grinned at the sight of Cyborg. "Hola¡Señor Cyborg!" They cried out in unison, "¡El tiempo largo ningún considera!"
Cyborg paused for a moment, his Spanish skills less than adequate. Beast Boy whispered into his ear, "Say, 'Gracias, yo ni unos ni otros'."
Cyborg paused and, in a terrible Hispanic accent, said, "Gracias, yo ni unona otro!"
Beast Boy shook his head as Más and Menos gave him a funny look.
Aqualad walked over to Beast Boy and looked at his shirt. "What's 'Children of Bodom', Beast Boy?"
Beast Boy sighed and said, "It's a band, stupid."
Aqualad frowned. "Glad to see you too."
Titans East hadn't changed much since its inception. Más and Menos had grown a few inches,yet Menos's tooth had notgrown back. They were still relatively the same, overall. Bumblebee had…ahem…developed, as well as grown a few inches. Aqualad had cut his hair, and had put on some muscle. Speedy was still the same. A surprise overall, considering how much the Titans had changed.
Robin walked over to Bumblebee. "What's the problem?"
Bumblebee gestured over to the statue. "Not much to explain. This guy, Vinnie Furnier, says he was minding his own business, watching TV, when all of a sudden this blue glow came from out of nowhere. He said he went out to the backyard to check it out, and then this black and blue portal appeared from where the glow had been. He then said that this statue came out of the portal, and that was it."
Starfire walked over to study the statue for a moment. The two twins caught sight of her and fell into a love-stricken stupor immediately. Grabbing a flower from the ground, Menos gave Starfire a toothy grin and handed her the flower. Starfire smiled somewhat uneasily. Más pushed him out of the way and handed her a box of chocolates from out of nowhere.
Robin scratched his chin curiously, oblivious to the rivalry behind him. "Did he have any other details?"
Bumblebee pondered for a moment, and then said, Now that you mention it, he said that before the portal appeared, there was an illumination of a Sigma letter. He also said that right before the portal appeared, the Sigma started changing. He can't remember what it changed into, though."
Beast Boy studied the statue. Something about it looked familiar…
Whew! That sure took me a long time to write…
Man, I tell you guys, Dime's murder just blew me away. I mean, he was my John Lennon, my personal Jesus (figuratively). Well, I'm just glad his killer is rotting in hell right now.
Moving on, some of you guys will notice that the chapter title has changed. This is because I abandoned my original idea for the first arc in favor for a less depressing one. You guys don't want to know what I was going to write beforehand.
Also, I'm sorry it took so long to write this, but I joined the high school wrestling team right after Thanksgiving break, and let me tell you, it has taken up every single aspect of my life. Not to mention my utter inability to eat anything that weighs more than five ounces. No, I am not exaggerating. But, the good news is, I'm by far the best guy on Junior Varsity. And the season ends two weeks from this Saturday, unless I qualify for the State Tournament, in which case it's another week. But what really stinks about being on the wrestling team is that, even though we're the only school team that's undefeated, and we're the only ones who beat our rival, Bethel, we still get last priority when it comes to where we wrestle. I mean, we have to practice in freaking Cafeteria, for Buddha's sake! And even for our matches, we only get the Middle School gym. It sucks.
But on a lighter note, yesterday was both Poor Twisted Me's 8th month anniversary and the day that it broke 300 reviews (I think)! Come on, give it a present
Before I answer reviews, I have one last note. I was really surprised at the number of people (2) who don't trust Lisa Crowley. I only reveal my future intentions for writing to my closest friends, but I'm telling everyone right now: Lisa is not evil, she is not a reincarnation of Izevm, there is no incarnation of Izevm, and Lisa is an innocent, despite who she's named after…just kidding, Lisa (I mean my friend ScarletAngel68. I don't talk to my characters).
Okay, time to answer reviews.
Soraoathkeeper- Look, as I said before, Lisa's just another semi-meaningless OC, like Noah and James, although that remains to be seen. Anyway, thanks for reviewing!
Kestrel- Thanks; I will keep up the great work.
PrincessCat- Hey, don't take the Latina comment too seriously. You must have forgotten, I myself am 80 Hispanic. I have reserve brownie points…hella awesome…
Warprince2000- Hola! Thanks for reviewing!
LivingImpaired- Thanks! Yeah, I guess it is a lot of chapters, but then again, I write a lot I like your name, by the way.
Daeren Ryft- don't die laughing! 'Cause that would make me responsible, and then would come the guilt, then the lawsuits, then the mobs of lawyers…
Actually, the name "Her Ghost in the Fog" only fitted my original idea, so when I changed the plot arcs, I changed the title. Originally, the name "Her Ghost in the Fog" was figurative, although I don't want the explanation to be out for everyone to see.
Lordoftherats- "I read your story totally kick"…Totally kick what? Oh well, I guess a review wins out over bad grammar every time. Thanks for reviewing!
ScarletAngel68- Papers suck. I sympathize, my friend. You know, I really think you shouldn't declare your love for Cyborg, considering I gave you Ben to play with. As for the names, all of the names in my story have at least some meaning, and Silenoz is no different. Bet you fifty (imaginary) dollars you'll never figure who Silenoz is/what it means. Cats do rule. I had this cat once, but it tried to kill me. Like, literally. Oh, and the chapters aren't going to get any darker than this one.
Bold Achilles- Thanks, comrade. Actually, I didn't write either of those lyrics, and I didn't for the song this chapter either. Each of the songs mentions, except for "The Silence", was by another band. "Lack Of Comprehension" was by Death, "Decades of Despair was by Carnal Forge, and "Absolution of the Soul" was by Into Eternity. I loved that South Park with Paris Hilton…she got engulfed by Mr. Slave's ass. The single funniest thing ever. Thanks for reviewing!
Chaos Elemental- Hey, you're the only one who saw the connection. Good job! I won't tell you the connection, though. You'll have to figure it out yourself.
Twin-Lupus- As I said to Daeren Ryft about the chapter, it was only temporary. Thanks for reviewing!
Ms. Myxztipik- Thanks! I appreciate the compliments.
ApERFECtcircle- Thanks, although I'm not 13 anymore. I'm 14 now!
GothAngel101- Thanks! I will continue.
Dancingirl3- Thanks you! Will do.
That's all, folks! This is Ozzy signing out.
