In no way do I own the rights to the Teen Titans or the game series MYST.
A/N: My apologies if there are any spoilers from the game MYST.
CHAPTER 4
ASKING FOR HELP
The man was looking down at a book, writing. Momentarily he was aware of someone's presence and looked up. "Hello," he greeted and placed his pen in an inkwell. "My name is Atrus."
"Hello Atrus," replied Raven. "My name is Raven."
"And who is your little friend?" he asked noticing the parrot on her left shoulder.
"This is Beast Boy."
"That's an uncommon name for such a bird," Atrus observed.
"Well, he's no ordinary bird."
"I see. Well listen, before you come here to D'ni, I need you to find something for me. It is a page hidden in a compartment on MYST Island."
Raven produced the page. "I believe this is the page you're referring to?"
Appearing to lean closer within the image, Atrus studied the page. "Yes that is it. How did you know where it was?"
"Little birdie told her, little birdie," squawked Beast Boy.
Atrus lightly chuckled at the ironic response from the parrot. Raven rolled her eyes noting it was typical Beast Boy humor.
"Wonderful.You may come here to D'ni."
"How do I do that?"
"Touch the image, touch the image. Squawk!"
"Your little friend really is no ordinary bird," Atrus noted.
Raven placed her right hand on the D'ni image. The present world she was in warped away as she and Beast Boy vanished.
--
Early the next morning, Robin was at the communication screen, calling up the Titans East. Cyborg and Starfire were nearby.
"This is Bumblebee" greeted the Titans East leader. Her team listened from the background. "Go ahead, Robin."
"Hey, Bumblebee," said Robin, then to the rest, "Hey guys. We could use your help here. The city's being evacuated…"
"Because of that tremor incident and the imminent quake," cut in Bumblebee. "We heard about it."
"Riiight," replied Robin. "Well the tremor was a set up. There isn't going to be an earthquake. You see, Raven can't do anything to stop her father, Trigon, from coming to Earth. We needed to ensure the city is cleared of people when he does come so we can fight him without risking citizens' lives,and stop him from ending the world."
"Whoa," added Aqualad. "You actually intend to fight him. How do you intend to beat him?"
"Raven and Beast Boy have gone in search of a possible solution. We may not be able to destroy Trigon, but according to Beast Boy we might be able to imprison him."
"So you're asking for our help to fight him?" asked Bumblebee.
"Now that you mention it," Robin realized, "we could use the extra help in that matter. Will you also be able to help in patrolling the city to ensure it's clear and there won't be any hindrance of criminal activity?"
"Hang on a sec," said Bumblebee who, then turned to face her team. "Are you guys in?"
"No objections here," replied Aqualad.
"I'm there," added Speedy.
"Sí," answered Mas y Menos simultaneously.
Bumblebee turned back to Robin. "We got your back. We'll leave right away and call you when we get there."
"Thanks, to all of you," said Robin. "We'll already be out on patrol, but will join you at our tower when we hear from you."
"Alright then. Titans East out. And later, Sparky," Bumblebee concluded but switched her communication screen off before Cyborg could say anything.
Before Robin could switch off, Batman appeared on the screen.
Starfire was in awe. "Hey, it is the Batman."
"Greetings, Titans," he said.
"Oh, hey Batman," said Robin. "Nice touch on the tremor."
"I'm sure your city will buy it."
"So how did you do it?"
"I contacted the federal government and cleared it with them to fire a sonic wave at the city from a seismographic satellite. We agreed it would work as a disaster preparedness drill for your city; even if quakes are slim to none there."
"So that's what my sensors picked up," said Cyborg. "I knew I detected something."
"The reason I called, Robin," Batman continued, "was to inquire about this enemy of yours. With the short notice you spoke of, I'm a bit concerned."
"It's Raven's father," Robin replied. "I just finished speaking with the Titans East and they offered to help with clearing the city and fight Trigon. We'll be expecting them soon."
"I see. Well, the Justice League would be more than happy to lend a hand."
"We'll handle it. We have to. I don't want to be saying this, but if we fail there wouldn't be anything the league could do anyway."
"Alright, then," added Batman. "I believe in you, and the league will be counting on you. Take care."
"Until next time," said Robin, then he switched off the communicator. Turning to Cyborg and Starfire, he ordered, "Titans, go!"
They exited the tower.
--
Raven materialized with Beast Boy the parrot still on her left shoulder. The room is large, made of dark stone. This is the writing chamber of Atrus in D'ni. Oil lamps were mounted above the several doors in the room. Between each doorway, stone columns from the floor to the ceiling were carved into the wall. A variety of patterns were engraved into the stone.
To the right of Raven and Beast Boy sat Atrus at his desk. He gazed at them as they appeared. "Welcome to D'ni." He stood up and approached them. "A pleasure to meet you," he said, extending his hand to shake Raven's.
"Thank you," returned Raven. Beast Boy squawked lightly. Raven looked over at him. "You can get down from my shoulder now," she mildly ordered.
Beast Boy flapped his wings and landed on the floor. He morphed back into human form. This stunned Atrus, especially the sight of Beast Boy's skin.
"Uh…" said Beast Boy as he looked downward with an innocent smile. He scratched the back of his head. "Right, you're not familiar with this. There's no need for you to be afraid," he continued, looking back up to Atrus. "I'm a shape-shifter. I can morph into animals."
Atrus remained stunned. Beast Boy went on. "About my skin color - this is the result of a treatment given to me as a child from a tropical disease. Please relax, I'm no threat."
Atrus did calm down momentarily. "Oh, the page. May I have it?" Raven handed it to him. "Thank you," he said as he took it. "I must return to MYST to do something but I shall be back shortly. Please wait here."
Atrus returned to his desk and picked up a book. Turning over several pages he stopped and, taking the page given to him, placed it in the book. The page somehow attached itself to the book. After placing the book back on his desk, he flipped back a few pages and placed a hand in the book and vanished.
"Why did he leave?" asked Raven as she looked over at Beast Boy.
"He's going to deal with the red and blue books," replied Beast Boy.
There was a brief pause between the two. Suddenly Raven jerked. Eyes widened as she stumbled backward and fell over. More horrible visions appeared as another scenario of the world's fate.
"Raven!" shouted Beast Boy as he rushed over to her. He knelt down, but hesitated to touch her as her body convulsed. 'This is beginning to affect her physically now,' Beast Boy noted. Even though she continued shaking he decided to take hold of Raven with his right hand down at her side and his left hand cradling her head. Trying to remain calm, he spoke to her. "Raven. Raven, it's Beast Boy. It's just another vision. You're really in D'ni. You're with me. I'm here, please come back to me."
Momentarily Raven's convulsions stopped. She began to relax and her breathing calmed down, but her eyes were still spaced. Finally she blinked and noticed Beast Boy was there. She abruptly shifted out of his hold and grabbed his waist in a hug. Beast Boy could hear her muffled sobs and feel them on his skin. He gently stroked her head. "It's over now. You're safe."
Raven shortly stopped sobbing, released Beast Boy, and sat up. Beast Boy began to stand up, picking her up as he did. "Thank you," said Raven softly as she looked at him.
"No problem," he said with a small smile.
Atrus returned, appearing at his desk. "Thank you for your assistance. Now what can I do for you?"
"We need your help," Beast Boy answered. "We know that the red and blue books are prisons, and we hope you can write one for us. In about three days we're expecting a very powerful enemy. I believe a prison book is our only hope of stopping him. Will you write one for us?"
"I can, in exchange for one thing," replied Atrus as he sat down.
"Name it," said Beast Boy.
"There are four ages that have been damaged. I need them repaired. Access to them is on MYST Island. Will you do this for me?"
"Yes."
"Very well, I shall write your prison book. I'll need details of your enemy so I can apply the proper writings to the book."
"Raven can give you those details. She knows him. I'll deal with the repairs to the ages."
"You may, then, return to MYST." Atrus opened the MYST linking book. "Here."
Beast Boy walked over to Atrus' desk, placed a hand on the image of the MYST Island library and vanished.
Atrus picked up a thin hard-cover book. He opened it, exposing blank pages, and took his pen from the inkwell. "Now come and sit and tell me about your enemy."
Raven took a seat next to Atrus' desk.
--
Beast Boy emerged in the library of MYST Island. Something he never thought about occurred to him and he looked back at the stove, thinking it was still facing the hidden chamber. It had somehow reset itself and was in normal position again. So he wouldn't have to keep going inside the stove every time, he went back inside only once more and rotated the stove back to the hidden room. Taking the green book he then turned the stove back to the library. He looked to his left and right where the red and blue books had been, and as expected were not there anymore. Beast Boy went to the mount that formerly held the red book and placed the green book there. Then he left the library.
Beast Boy returned to the clock tower. He went inside and tugged at two levers until three numeric gears were properly arranged. The Mechanical Age was now open.
Beast Boy went to a stone shack and descended a staircase. Upon opening a door at the bottom, lights came on to expose an enormous generator room. He set the proper current, left the stone shack and went towards a nearby rocket ship. He descended a bank to a brick tower with a ladder attached to one side. Beast Boy climbed the ladder until he reached a switch. He closed the circuit to allowelectricity to power up the rocket and now the Selenitic Age was open. But remembering that he needed certain sounds to get access to the linking book, he would need to review the Selenitic Age journal in the library.
Next he went to the center of the island where there was an inactive fountain with a sunken ship in its water. Around the fountainwere eight pillars, each with bronze plates mounted on stands in front of them. All plates contained an individually unique symbol. Beast Boy pressed the three he knew would raise the sunken ship in the fountain. Doing this would simultaneously raise a sunken ship near the pier. With the ship finally surfaced in the sea, the Stoneship Age was now accessible.
To access the last age, the Channelwood Age, it would be a matter of timing. So this would be the age he would repair first. He went to a small wooden cabin where there was a boiler tank. To his left, near the entrance there was a safe. Recalling the combination to the safe, he entered the numbers and opened the door. There was a pack of matches. He lit a match and ignited the pilot light under the tank. Beast Boy cranked a valve until it was fully open. Outside he could hear a thunderous pounding. The elevator was moving. Because he knew the linking book was underground he waited until the elevator was high enough so when he decreased the boiler pressure, Beast Boy would make it to the elevator before it went back down. He decreased the pressure and ran outside to an enormous tree that was descending beneath the ground. Beast Boy entered the elevator in the treeand shortly he was underground. The linking book to Channelwood was in front of him. After he opened the book he placed a hand on the image of a forest island and vanished.