First, a note or two:

Sorry the last chapter was so short. I'll make this one longer...

This is the second of my stories, and once again, I beg those of you who know everything about the included series not to complain. I am not trying to be as faithful to the comics or TV series as possible, so if you want accuracy, I suggest you look somewhere else.

KEY:

'Blah' thought

"Blah" speech

I don't own the Teen Titans or any of the undermentioned items. Teen Titans is a trademark of some large comic company and Cartoon Network. Warning: switch must be in full up position during take-off and landing. Do not exceed 8 'g's wing loading. Do not insert tongue into wall socket. Cats do not make suitable footballs.

Please review if you've read this story. I will not continue to update unless I get reviews.

I'm currently reading Shadow of the Hegemon, by Orson Scott Card, who I am convinced is one of the most brilliant science fiction writers ever. Read his books if you want something to make you think. Some of his ideas may slip into this story a bit (or not), so I'll just mention that now and not get sued later.

If anyone is keeping track of time, let me warn you that I'm not. I have no idea over how many days this is supposed to take place.

And now, on with the show.

"Who's there?" asked Raven in shock. She had been minding her own business, meditating and just generally relaxing, when a voice had rudely interrupted her. She turned around, still floating cross-legged in the air, one eye grudgingly open like a disquieted frog, and peered around her room. Anything that was unusual should have stood out to her, as she had lived in this room for four years, and there weren't exactly any other regular occupants. To the young sorceress' surprise however, she saw nothing out of the ordinary. Or, at least, nothing that wasn't ordinarily out of the ordinary in her room. As she looked around, she actually saw a number of things that would make your average conservative reel in disgust. But nothing out of the out of the ordinary. Raven frowned and turned back to her meditation. She was almost certain she had heard something.

And then she heard the voice again. "Hey, Raven," called the voice, which Raven now recognized as Cyborg's. "Thought I'd find you in here. I've been meaning to ask you why –"

But suddenly Cyborg's voice was – Raven couldn't think of a better word for it – replaced by that of Robin. It wasn't even like Robin was finishing Cyborg's sentence. It was like the same person had merely decided to switch voices in the middle of a thought.

"– you had left us. Why, when we could have –"

Again the voice switched. It was now Starfire's voice – though, Raven began to think nervously, probably not Starfire – that spoke through the shattered silence. The voice of the young Tamaranian girl finished the two boys' thought.

"– been so much together?"

Raven turned around, feeling a shiver run down her spine despite the warm autumn weather. She didn't think he could cross over. That's what the priests had told her so long ago. "Ethereal," they had said, "not corporeal." But if he could...

'How?' thought Raven, postponing the revealing of who was behind her until the last possible moment. Finally she could wait no longer, and she turned around. She saw the eyes again. Two pairs of red, venomous, gleaming eye stared at her from behind the shadows. 'Well at least I was right,' she thought stupidly.

The creature spoke once more. This time, however, its voice was its own. It was a deep, burnt voice that flowed like blood and entranced like poisoned honey. It was the kind of voice that could steal the hearts of women or blind with rage those of men.

"Hello, my darling daughter," said the creature silkily. "And yes, I'm afraid that I am quite corporeal. It's really quite"– he stepped out from the shadows, revealing a vaguely humanoid body with scaly red skin and vicious claws– "refreshing.."

Trigon grinned, and laughed. It was a horrible, wheezing sound, like a thousand ideas destroyed, or the cry of a dying child. Raven shuddered when she heard it. She knew that despite her powers, she was helpless against something as powerful as Trigon. He could destroy her and barely break a sweat.

"And now the tables will turn, my dear," continued Trigon. "This time, you'll be trapped, and I'll be free to do whatever I please. Just as soon as you fall asleep tonight the fun will really start. But first, I'd like to go – ah – exploring."

And with that, Trigon smashed a hole in Raven's wall. Bright sunlight filtered in through the hole, blinding both Raven and Trigon for a minute. Raven knew she had to do something, so she launched herself forward and stood in front of the hole, blocking her father's exit. He roughly pushed her, sending her flying out the hole. Raven plummeted towards the ground, fighting to regain control. She tried to envision herself flying, sailing high above the tower, but to no avail. She continued to plummet, panicking now. The ground rushed up towards her with infinite speed and slowness, and it seemed to the young sorceress as if she was frozen solid. Each passing window flew up by her like a glacier.

Finally, with a grunt, Raven impacted, and a little cloud of dust rose up startled over her body. Then it settled, blanketing her from the world.

High in the Titans Tower, the demon named Trigon laughed evilly. "Excuse me," he said sarcastically. Then he turned, stepped to the hole, and launched himself out.

"What the hell was that?" said Robin suddenly. He had just been about to ask Starfire to the dance (again) when he had heard a whumph coming from outside. Robin was beginning to get annoyed. Every time he was about to pop the question, something (or someone) got hit by something (or someone) else. He stood up angrily and walked over to the large panoramic window of the Titan's lounge. Robin glanced around the window wearily, squinting angrily at the sun. He didn't see anything.

Then Robin looked down. He frowned as he saw a dark shape lying about fifty feet away from the base of the tower. He squinted at it – the shadows of the tower and surrounding island distorted the prostrate shape – before he saw the glint of gold on purple and realized who it was.

"My god!" he cried. "Star! Get Cyborg and Beast Boy! We need to get out of the Tower now!"

"Why?" asked Star calmly, clearly thinking that a little common sense and clear thinking would alleviate the need for such irrational and rushed behavior. "Is the crust of the earth in flux? Or perhaps our home is infested by Crassian Stoneworms?"

Robin looked at her, a desperate look in his eyes. "Please, Star," he said by way of reply, "Just believe me!"

Starfire looked at her friend, smiled slightly, and nodded her head. She then ran off towards Cyborg's room.

Robin ran down the stairs of the tower at breakneck speed. He burst through the door, skidded to a stop in front of Raven's motionless body, and bent down to check her pulse. At first he didn't feel anything, and he was beginning to suspect the very worse. He took a breath in to breathe a sigh of defeat when he felt a minute pulse. Robin waited a little while longer and felt another pulse. He realized that her heart was still beating steadily, but at the rate of only about two to four beats per second. Robin realized the Raven must be in a very deep coma

Just then, the door to the Tower flew open once more and the remaining three occupants flew out. Cyborg and Starfire had looks of the highest concern on their faces, and immediately bent over to inspect Raven's fallen form. Robin looked at Beast Boy. The small changeling did not have a look of mere concern on his face. Instead, he had a look of pure terror. He stared at the fallen sorceress, his eyes nearly popping out of his head. He was shaking visibly, and seemed to be stuck between running away and attempting to help.

Finally help got the better of Beast Boy, and he stepped forward.