Raven couldn't sleep. It was useless to try. She tossed and turned for long hours before giving up. Rising, she slipped on her dark cape and eased herself out onto a window ledge and leaping silently to the ground. There was no one in her room, so no one knew she was gone.
She began to silently wander the grounds. Memories flooded her mind again, memories long buried deep down inside. She'd been to the school before. Long before it was ever a school, in fact. Professor Xavier had just purchased the place and brought her with him to look at it. It was there they had parted. She had gone to live with the Titans at the age of seven and she had never seen him again. But she had not left before Xavier had taught her how to control her powers and how she could use them to help humanity against evil.
At last, she found it, and old abandoned area surrounded by a fence. The fence however, was in shambles and weeds were everywhere. When Scott was showing them around, Robin had asked about it and all that Scott said was that no one went over there because no one knew what was behind that fence, and they didn't care either. But Raven knew what was behind that fence, something that only she and Professor Xavier knew about. It was the Maze.
The Maze had been her greatest challenge. It tested her skills to her very limits and when she was young, she had been afraid of it. He had taught her to conquer her fear, but still she had not conquered the Maze. Seeing it again made here realize that there were some things still left unconquered in her life, but this time she was up to the challenge.
She walked over to the old gate and found the old security lock. Quietly she punched in the numbers she had burned into her memory all those years ago. She had come here often in the middle of the night, trying to get through the Maze to its other side, and all those times she had not succeeded. Now it would be different, she'd finish now. The gate opened and she slipped in silently like a shadow, closing the door behind her.
She found the control panel and punched in the codes. Standing on a large X, she used her powers to enter in the final combination. Suddenly the room lit up and before her was the Maze. It was made of metal and it was too high to see over. So she would begin as she had done a thousand times. Only this time she would finish.
She walked forward and turned right, remembering where to go. Out came the laser guns and they aimed and fired. Ducking and rolling, she easily dodged them. Then came the high wall, which she scaled with some difficulty. Somersaulting onto the other side, she turned to the right, now the paths split four different ways, she'd have to pick one. She went straight ahead. After a few turns she discovered it was a dead end and went back. Raven, frowned, she tried very hard to remember where to go. Giving up she turned to the right. She felt that it was the right direction. She was right, she soon came to the platforms and leaping and somersaulting over them, she made it to across. Now she remembered, this was the hardest part, the part she had never been able to get through. The Robots and their laser guns, they were extremely intelligent and could not easily be beaten, if she remembered correctly. They were there for her to use her powers but she had to hit them in the right spot to disable them. Unfortunately, for her, she'd never found that spot.
"Azerath Metrion Zinthos!" Raven shouted and launched her attack, which bounced harmlessly off. Dodging and ducking, she avoided laser blasts while continually looking for that weak spot. She grunted in frustration. This was not going on well at all. Suddenly, she saw it, the weakness was in the back of their neck. Leaping and somersaulting over one, she launched her power at one and it fell, crashing to the ground, soon she had dispatched the other and she was breathing heavily.
She walked straight ahead, she had never been here before, but she followed her instincts and easily made her way to the other side. She could see the exit when suddenly, a figure rose up before her, Another Robot, great, she thought. Now that she knew where the weakness was she kicked it fell but rose again, she punched it and it reversed slightly, damage was evident. The time had come and she launched all her power at it. She barely managed to dodge a great blow from the robot's fist when she felt pain in her shoulder; it'd managed to hit her with its lasers. Rising in the air with a shout of "Azerath Metrion Zinthos!" she launched her powers straight at its neck and it fell at her feet. Raven was exhausted, but she had finished the Maze. She felt a sense of pride and accomplishment. After all this time, she'd finally conquered both her fear; her fears at least for tonight, and the Maze. Hopefully, she thought, things would get better from here.
She quietly closed the door behind her once on the other side of the Maze. "I see you've finally completed the Maze. I'm very impress and proud Raven, I see your skills have improved." Raven turned. The voice belonged to Xavier.
"You knew I was here?" she asked.
"Yes, "he replied. "I thought I would find you here, you used to come here all the time."
"I did, so I could conquer my fears."
"That you did, and now you have passed your test." Xavier smiled, "come, there is something I have to show you." He lead her out the door and into a small, dimly lit room. He flicked on a light. Raven gasped. It was a display case of sorts with many different things in it, but one thing caught her attention. A dark, bird shaped kite with the name Raven inscribed on it.
"You kept it?" she asked, stunned.
"Yes," Xavier replied, "you gave that to me as a farewell gift. I knew how much it meant to you to give it up, so I kept it for you. Do you remember how happy you were, child? And how you could be so again?"
"Yes," Raven whispered, "but happiness is too far away for me. I have forgotten how to find it."
Professor Xavier smiled, "here," he said, handing her the kite, "take it, and maybe you'll remember the happiness you lost all those years ago."
Raven took it from him in a reverent fashion, remembering it's weight and feel. "Thank you," she said and then left him staring at her as she walked outside. The wind was blowing at a medium speed when she let the kite fly. Running swiftly across the empty school grounds Raven's mind went back to those happier times when she had flown kites with Professor Xavier when she wasn't training. A feeling she had not known in a long time came back to her: joy, and with it happiness, that it seemed had always eluded her all her life. She let go for once, and got lost in the moment of simple bliss as the moonlight shown on her face, which for once, was lit with a smile that made her eyes shine.
Professor Xavier watched her from afar. He smiled at her happiness and hoped that she had found a measure of some peace during her troubled dreams. He hoped at least that things would get better from here.
He left her and went back inside the building. Going into his office he sat quietly, thinking. Suddenly, his large video screen lit up and a stranger's face filled the view. "Are you Professor Xavier?" the man asked.
"Yes, what do you want?"
"All I want is for you to tell a boy named Garfield Logan that he can't escape me, I'll find him and see that he is destroyed!"
"Who are you?" Xavier demanded, "And what do you want with this boy?"
"It's none of your business, Xavier," the man said, "Just tell him that Nicholas Galtry is coming for him. That is all. And if you come after me, I have my connections with the Brotherhood, so don't try anything funny."
The transmission ended and the screen was blank and he was alone again. Professor Xavier immediately went over to his computer and entered a search for Garfield Logan, the results shocked him, for up came a profile on Beast Boy! The profile read: Alias: Beast Boy
Name: Garfield "Gar" Mark Logan Marital Status: Single Known relatives:
Marie Logan (mother - deceased)
Mark Logan (father - deceased)
Unnamed paternal uncle and aunt; status unknown
Matt Logan (cousin)
Rita Farr Dayton (adoptive mother - deceased)
Steve Dayton (adoptive father - status unknown)
Hair Color: Green
Eyes: Green Xavier shook his head. Beside the stat of Legal Guardian was the name Nicholas Galtry.