Teen Titans: Half-Life
Chapter 13: Nevermore, Once Again. (part 4)
"Feels good to be out of there." Knives stretched his arms, "It was like being pressed in a vice." Behind him was the beginning of the winding labyrinth, which looked innocent enough from the outside, but the inside was a nightmare of twisting corridors and countless dead ends. Knives, and Robin, were both lucky that they had help getting out in the form of a Green colored Raven. Or rather Raven's Courageous, Tomboyish, and Gun-ho side of her personality.
"You boys are useless without me helping out." Raven said through a pride filled smile on her face. Robin and Knives look at Raven as if she were mad, but didn't say anything in response.
"So where do we go from here?" Knives quietly asked Robin, ignoring Green Raven.
"Right now we only have this one path." Robin pointed down the single road.
"At least there's something in this gloom." Knives said, referring back to the time they had spent inside Raven when she had gone beserk. "Can't say I find the sun an improvement though," He looked up at the red halo.
"Are you guys listening?" Green Raven said jumping in front of them to get attention. "Don't you know it's rude to ignore a girl?" she was clearly agitated.
"Your too much a tomboy to be saying that." Knives said trying to sound serious, but he couldn't hide a smirk. Robin smiled too, but Green Raven wasn't as amused, in fact she grew more frustrated.
"At least I'm more man than you!" Green Raven struck back.
"That's probably true since your more butch than most weightlifters." Knives didn't get angry; he got even. Robin looked uneasy, and was actually backing away from Knives.
Without warning Green Raven kamikaze charged at the source of her anger while bringing her fist in an upward arc. Robin closed his eyes, but heard a loud crunch. When he opened his eyes again, he saw Knives flying up and over Green Raven's head. To finally land with a heavy thump on the ground.
"Hall-Right! Whoo ho!" Green Raven cheered her victory.
"He was asking for that one." Robin was shocked.
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"Owww, that really hurt you know." Knives protested for the second time. But not about the fact that she had punched him very hard, but that she had dragged him by his feet, rather than wait for him to wake up.
"We needed to get up and get gone, but you were holding us up," was Raven's reply, with a dismissing wave of her hand.
"There is nothing important enough to warrant dragging me across the pavement." He said as he massaged his jaw.
"So it's not important that we find the others as soon as we can, and defeat the enemy," Robin gave Knives a choose-your-words-carefully expression.
"No That's what's important to you. I never wanted to be here, I thought I had made that quite clear."
Robin shook his head, "I know you did, but why do you not want to help? Don't be heartless."
"Yeah, don't wimp out on us now!" Green Raven scolded, her hands on her hips.
"I have my reasons for not wanting to get involved."
"Then why did you?" Robin was near shouting.
"What do you mean?"
Robin held up four of his fingers and started to count down, "First you saved Raven, whom you didn't know, from being kidnapped, second, you helped us fight Money, third, you healed Beast Boy's injuries, and finally, you aided Raven with her wounds. You've never asked for anything in return and were usually the first to volunteer your aid." Robin and Green Raven both stared at Knives, waiting for a reply. Knives' mouth opened and closed, searching for a reply.
"Alright," he sighed and turned to Green Raven, "show me the way Raven." Then he turned to Robin, "But after this, I'm gone, understand."
Robin couldn't understand. Since the battle with Money, Robin was starting to believe more stongly that the Teen Titans needed to increase their ranks. To bring in more skills and varieties of power and expertise beyond what the current 5 members had. Knives medical skills would have made a fine addition and to be honest, new recruits were few and far in between. Terra being the only noteworthy candidate in past months. Both Beast Boy and Starfire seemed to have taken a liking to this newcomer, and he to them, but even so Knives was still set upon leaving as soon as possible.
He seemed to be running from something. Robin hadn't noticed it before, but Knives seemed to always be in a nervous and slightly paranoid state. Occasionally Robin had caught sight of Knives turning to look behind his back, as if someone was stalking him.
"Ok, I understand." Robin agreed. "But I'll want you to answer a few questions before you go."
"Ok" Knives very nearly rolled his eyes. "Not if I can help it," he thought.
"I have a question before we kick some bad-guy butt." Green Raven chimed in. "Your pretty good with medicine and stuff, have you ever heard of a guy named Dr. Intou?"
"Can't say that I have." Knives replied a little too quickly. "Why?"
"I don't know, his name has been going around and around in my head all day, like I know it from somewhere."
"Well that's not important right now," stepping in Robin, "We can't delay any longer in our mission."
"Yes, we must gather all the others together. The other Ravens should be leading our friends to where we need to go."
"You mean there are more of you?" Knives and Robin asked simultaneously.
"No Duhh! Weren't you listening to Beast Boy when he explained the whole multiple personality sides, thing."
"Hearing about it is one thing..." Robin reasoned, "Seeing it is another."
"So on the outside you're an emotional retard, but inside you're a schizoid. Oh what have I gotten myself into, literally?"
A flash of violent movement and Knives found himself flat on the ground again.
"Care to repeat that rusty?" Green Raven stood over Knives.
Feeling his jaw, to make sure nothing broke this time, "No sir." He grumbled sarcastically.
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Starfire unsteadily regained her ground, her eyes red from tears. Still unsure as to what happened, she surveyed the area. All signs of the orphanage had disappeared, so had the surrounding playground and fence. But Starfire understood that what she had seen was one of Raven's memories. There was just so much that didn't make sense, so much missing information. Starfire didn't know much about Earthly ways, but even she could recognize a paradox when she saw one.
Weary and confused, she started walking down the single path for her to follow. As she walked, the wounded and confused state of her mind slowly started to reassemble and clear. It was like trying to get up and out of bed after only 2 hours of sleep, that was the closest she could describe the feeling. More than anything she just wanted to get this over with and to sleep for a day. But after the initial fatigue, she was walking with more certainty and with greater confidence in herself and the mission.
Sometime later, as she continued down the lonely path, she could hear a scratchy hissing sound coming from somewhere down the road. The sound grew louder as she walked. Every few steps she could swear she heard voices amongst the grating noise. It sounded like a radio receiving a poor connection, broadcasting static.
Further still down, she noticed a small yellow speck on the horizon that seemed to also be where the static was coming from. As the speck grew in size, with each passing step, Starfire notice that it was a person kneeling besides the road, silently but desperately trying to tune an old radio. Or to be more specific, it was Raven, garbed in a bright yellow cape, with a pair of bifocals resting upon her nose. The glasses gave Raven a more intelligent and calm look, and not a nerdy or unpleasing appearance. It was almost as if she were made for glasses but they still felt, to Starfire, a bit out of place at the same time, maybe because she simply was not used to seeing Raven in glasses.
Yellow Raven continued to tune the radio, her eyes slowly panned to look at Starfire. She gave Starfire a knowing nod of the head and went back to her activity.
"She is one of the other Ravens." Starfire thought, remembering Beast Boy and Cyborgs account of their first adventure here. Starfire reasoned, correctly, that this yellow Raven was the smart, composed, and logical parts of the real Raven.
"Nothing is what it seems to be." Suddenly, and devoid of emotion, Yellow Raven spoke. "Time is not progressive to a linear experience. It bends on itself to repeat the mistakes of a lives lost and forgotten." She continued in her monotone voice.
"Friend Raven, what do you speak of?"
"Dark hands manipulate from the shadows and friend becomes enemy. The future is what I see. Possibilities and tragedies are open for me to hear." As she spoke the static curtain on the radio finally cleared and a woman's voice was heard.
"And now the News," the announcer started, "yesterday in an abandoned water plant just outside the Jump City limits, the bodies of 5 apparent murder victims and a sixth severely wounded man were discovered. The man was immediately rushed to St. Gerome's Hospital, but died a short time later from his injuries. He has been identified as..." then the radio gave a final burst of static, and died.
Yellow Raven rose to her feet, she spoke to a fearful Starfire, "and you must follow me to Metrion's gate. The one who seeks dominion will be waiting for all of us there. You must destroy her to stop the past from repeating."
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The scene was of utter chaos, Robin, Knives, and Cyborg were there, as well as Gray Raven, and Green Raven, but for added effect, Pink Raven, the happy and humorous one, decided to make an appearance as well. Apparently it started when Gray Raven made a comment on how Knives didn't like her, followed up by Green Raven giving Knives a noogie and calling him a jerk and ended in a shouting competition between Gray, Green, and Pink over where to go next to arrive at Metrion's gate, since the intersection they had arrived at had 2 possible routes to travel.
Without the real Raven to rein control over her various personalities, none of them could agree on anything. The scene was too much for the 3 boys to handle, watching Raven having a very heated, and colorful, squabble with herself. They were joined later by Starfire and Yellow Raven, which only added to the confusion. As Yellow Raven tried to end the argument using scientific thinking and logic, but when emotions are running high, logic can only fall on deaf ears.
The three boys and Starfire, knew that getting into an argument with Raven was a risky prospect indeed, but to interrupt and argument between 4 Ravens, was sheer psychosis. While they waited for the blaze to die down, they discussed, amongst themselves, their various experiences from each of their respective corners of Raven's mind.
Eventually their anger wore them down, finally allowing Yellow Raven to step in and suggest a levelheaded solution to the problem, they held a vote. It seemed like a good idea, but reached a dead end when Yellow and Gray Raven voted to go left, while Pink and Green Raven voted right.
And so the fight continued, unabated.
Starfire was the first to notice that Beast Boy had yet to arrive. But she had spoken too soon.
As if cued by Starfires' notice of his absence, Beast Boy arrived coming down the left path, carrying Orange Raven in his arms. Orange Raven, was the lazy and rude personality.
"Hey guys, what's up?" Orange Raven yawned and waved her arm before letting out a loud belch.
"Hoowa!," Green Raven let out a cheer, "I told ya'll it was right, in your faces." And Pink Raven giggled happily.
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"Dude! She said she'd show me the way was too tired to walk." Beast Boy protested when Cyborg inquired about carrying Orange Raven.
"She's just a lazy good for nothing." Green barked at Orange, who just gave Green a lazy roll of her eyes and belched before falling asleep in BB's arms.
"Hhhhhhhhhhhnnnnnnnnnnnnrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgggggggggghhhhhhhhhhh," Orange snored like a car being minced through a grinder, that was rusted and in bad need of oil, and she drooled. Everyone gave BB and orange a WIDE berth. Not wanting to get drool on them when Orange finished a snore. The bad part was when she stopped snoring; finally they though that she was finished. 8 seconds...9 seconds...10
"Hhhhhhhhhhhnnnnnnnnnnnnrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgggggggggghhhhhhhhhhh," Beast Boy cursed his luck for getting stuck with the freaks of Raven's nature.
"Could somebody please make her stop?" Beast Boy begged like his life depended on it.
"I'm not touching that with a 39 and a half foot pole." Cyborg couldn't help but stare at the trail of drool spilling onto BBs clothes. BB pleaded with the others, but all refused, while Pink continued her maniac giggled, finding nothing but humor in BBs suffering.
This continued on until the moderately sized group of 5 Ravens, 4 Titans, and Knives finally reached what the Ravens said was Metrion's Gate.
Strange that the path they had followed has only lead in a single, straight, line, yet seemed to lead into the sky, cause the gate, more like a portal, was in fact the black hole sun surrounded by the red halo. The path they had traveled ended with a straight plunge down ward into the mouth of the red-rimmed black hole.
"So that freaky red sun was the gate all along." Cyborg stated the obvious.
"So where does it lead to?" Robin asked as he looked over the edge of the path. Now that they were all close enough to peer down the center of the black hole, it was in fact swirling like a whirlpool.
Without answering Robin's question, each Raven, apart from Orange who continued to snore loudly, wrapped their arms around a Titan and lifted them off the ground. Starfire was the only one who didn't require flying assistance. Robin, Cyborg, Beast Boy, still carrying Orange, and Knives protested the sudden air lift; feeling they knew what was going to happen next.
They did guess correctly, since all 10 of them plunged directly into the center of Metrion's Gate, Starfire following their lead.
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My apologies to everyone, for taking so long to get this chapter out. I had real bad case of plot management. Since they've been playing all new episodes of Teen Titans I've been contemplating whether or not to include them in the plot, since the story I had penned down might contradict some of those episodes. But then this is my story so I can do what I want, right?
In other news, expect the final episode of "Nevermore, Once Again" next update. From there things will get even more exciting. Oh and one other thing, to continue with the whole music inspiration, I decided on a cool theme song. "So Far Away" by Stabbing Westward. I'm not too sure on an ending theme, so I'd appreciate some suggestions.