Chapter 8: The Mind of a Raptor
Returning to the tower by around nightfall, Recon advised the Titans and other Raptors to relax till morning. Night patrols were already out keeping the city under control for now and they could resume operations in the morning, it had already been a tiring day for all of them. Robin however wished to stay up with Recon to search for leads on Karvisko's whereabouts. He and his insectoid bodyguard had managed to flee the building unseen. They must have worked out an escape plan in case things in the Mall went FUBAR. The rest of the Titans however prepared for bed. Starfire insisted that the Turaguts move their sleeping bags into her room. Roger apparently was in the mood for a sleepover and between the Tamaranian's and their youngest brother's pleas, the other Turaguts agreed. Reige however was unhappy about the fact he was sleeping in a girly room. Robin and Recon had decided to work in Robin's room for the remainder of the night so they would not disturb anyone. Ryan had elected to sleep on the couch and Beastboy was sound asleep on his top bunk trying to go over the events of the day in his mind. Which led to him dreaming about it. Now most of Beastboy's dreams are wild exagerations of the preceding day's events. By wild I mean that they feature him as a more muscular superhero and turning into several extremely strong animal versions of himself. For this dream, it included him destroying the mutant soldiers that popped out of the sky at the pizza place while everyone else watched with total awe. At some point he even destroyed several paratrooper planes as a giant pteradactly. This strange and unlikely scenario played out to the stereotypical superhero theme. (Think the Superman movies but with more gutso) After he pretty much defeated the mutants on his own and recieved praise from Robin, Starfire, Cyborg and all of the Raptors. Raven came up to him. Now when Raven showed up to Beastboy in a dream she was the complete opposite of what she was suppose to be, namely friendly, very friendly. This dream Raven in particular wanted to ask something of Beastboy and she did it in a seductive tone, however the next words that came out of her mouth surprised. She wanted him to 'Get up'. Beastboy was shocked by this but as Raven began to shake him he went out of his daze. Whatever delight Beastboy was about to recieve in his dream evaporated when he woke up in a dimly lit room with the real Raven standing over him.
"Rae!" Beastboy said with a surprise "What the heck are you doing in my room?"
"I need your help." She explained
"Can't it wait till morning?" Beastboy asked "I was having a real awesome dream you know."
"I'm sorry Beastboy but this can't wait." Said Raven shaking her head. "Just follow me to the Couch in the Ops room okay."
"Why?"
"It has to do with our insane friend."
Beastboy was now standing in front of a sleeping Ryan, with EARL the chainsaw tucked in its own sleeping bag on the floor. Raven was also here with one of her book set upon the table behind them.
"Rae what exactly is going on?" Beastboy asked
"Its getting worse." Raven told him "I talked it over with Recon a little before we came back and he said Ryan's being accepting a hell of a lot of volunteer assignment in far flung countries."
"Hell of a lot?" Beastboy said confused at Raven's choice of words
"Recon's words not mine." She answered "He's been to seven war torn countries in the last two months. Basically it been non-stop fighting, he has barely had a day off. I'm not even sure he wants one."
"So he's doing what he loves." Beastboy said "What's the problem?"
"At least Robin never enjoyed his obssessions," Raven explained "Ryan seems to revel in them. And its making his mental state worsen every minute."
"What do you mean?" Beastboy asked, knowing the answer wouldn't be good
"You saw what he did to that last mutant at the video store. He gutted him, from behind! He wasn't even a threat. Not only that but I got a strange shock of information while we were coming back."
"More screaming dead guys?" Beastboy asked
"No a voice, it said 'I'm the Devil.' And it came from Ryan's head."
Beastboy looked down at the sleeping commando with a feeling of foreboding
"So what you're saying is that whatever evil you sensed coming from him is going to..." Beastboy gulped before he continued "break out."
"The voice didn't sound at all human or Raptor for that matter. Ryan's exhaustive combat tours are drawing him ever closer to letting that thing out. If we don't fix it soon it could take over."
"So what do we do?" Beastboy asked, turning back towards her
"I need to go inside his mind." She told him
"But Raven, you heard Robin." Beastboy reminded "He forbid you from doing it."
"You suggested studying him further before doing it." Raven told him
"Yeah but only so you'd eventually drop it." Beastboy explained "If Robin finds out you disobeyed his orders he'll go ballistic!"
"Since when has the Boy wonder's orders stopped you from doing anything?" Raven asked
Beastboy simply rubbed the back of his head and tried to open his mouth to speak. But nothing came out. She had him.
"Okay fine," He omitted but quickly returned to his previous serious face and came up with something else to point out haw bad the idea was "but what if something goes wrong?" He asked "You could get stuck in there or get hurt or worse! I can't just let you go in there and get mauled by who knows what is in that Raptor's mind. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I did."
Beastboy lowered his head and hoped he hadn't said something she was embarrassed. But instead of the 'I can handle it' speech or the 'I can do it myself' speech, Raven said something else
"That why you're here Beastboy," she said "you're going to be my anchor."
"Huh?" Beastboy said lifting his head "I can't turn into those things Rae."
"Not that kind of anchor Beastboy." She explained shaking her head "My anchor to the physical world."
"What does that mean?"
"It means that if I get into trouble I can focus on you and find my way back here and fast." Raven explained
So she woke him up so she could use him as a fail safe. Why?
"Why me?" He asked "Couldn't you use someone else? I mean I'm flattered and all but..."
Before Beastboy could finish Raven interrupted him
"Robin isn't going to help me since he ordered me to drop the idea all together, Starfire will probably tell Robin, Cyborg will get all protective and refuse to help and I don't really think any of the other Raptors want me poking around in one of their own species heads."
"So really I'm just your only choice?" Beastboy said rather frustrated
"No its not that." She explained "I was going to pick you either way. In truth both of us and Ryan have something in common. We all have a beast of some kind inside. Mine my demon side, yours your primal side and-"
Beastboy finished her sentence
"Ryan has his super evil 'I'm the Devil' thing."
"Exactly." Raven said "I also wanted to do something else before the procedure."
"Huh?" Beastboy said raising his eyebrow
"Well," Raven began "In the months you were recovering from the whole 'Terra Came Back' you were pretty much secluded."
"It was only a few weeks." Beastboy reminded her "I thought you'd enjoy sometime alone."
Raven looked over to the window and crossed her arms. She sighed, how else did she expect Beastboy to think of what she enjoy. She pretty much didn't really do much except berate him before and after his minature depression. She did lighten up a slight bit however cause she didn't want him to start going all depressed on her again. She even laughed at his first joke in months. It was a crack about himself so thats what made it funny. But for the majority of their friendshp, she hadn't really done anything explicty nice for him. So really what Beastboy thought she would enjoy the most was him being away from everyone and her was really what she expected him to feel.
"I thought I would enjoy it too." Raven admited, this was true at first, till she realized how she was lying to herself about it. As she explained further to Beastboy "I thought that maybe I'd get some meditation sessions done faster. Maybe get through a book or two. Then I realized something. It was dull. Boring even. All I did all day was sit and read and then meditate. It got, repetative after awhile."
"Oh great, so even when I'm not around you're misarable." Beastboy said sadly
"No, it wasn't you. It was me. I soon found out that my life was a constant boring routine. I'd get up, meditate at specific hours of the day, read a book or two when I had time, drunk some tea, worked on some spells and then I went to bed. Only to do it all over again the next morning. There was never any fun, nothing spontaneous, nothing interesting going on, I tried to get out of the routine but I just couldn't. It felt like I had no reason, nothing to help me break it. Except you." She turned to Beastboy "You always wanted me to get out. Do things with the group, have fun as it were. You were really the first person who wanted that from me. You didn't care about me being creepy or secluded or my loner personality. You wanted me to open up to the others. You wanted me to have fun once in awhile. Most people just wanted me to keep everything inside. They wanted me to keep following that same old routine. And I did, even after my Father's death. It had been so natural for me that to change it now would be so...well strange. I guess those few weeks where you acted more like a loner then I ever did it kinda made me see why you were so important to the team. You're the guy who keeps things fun around here. You keep them interesting. The team and the entire tower is just dull without you. It made me feel like I shouldn't have been so mean all those times."
"Wow," Beastboy said taking all the information in "I never knew. Why didn't you say something before?"
"I wanted to, but I didn't know how I could." Raven told him
This was all interesting but Beastboy was still didn't understand the relevance of it all at the moment. I mean she was thinking about diving into Ryan's mind in a few moments and she was telling him that she needed his silly antics.
"So what does this have to do with me being your anchor then?" Beastboy asked
"When I realized that I had spent more time berating you when I should have been thanking you for trying to be a good friend I decided I wanted to make up for it all."
"How?" Beastboy asked "You could just say thank you and that would be enough."
"Not good enough." Raven explained "Beastboy has it ever bothered you that we both live in the same tower, with rooms down the hall from each other, with the same group of friends and the same occupation as crime fighters, but we hardly know anything about each other?"
Beastboy thought it over slightly, rubbing his chin and trying to look like he was thinking.
"Um, yeah, it has." He responded
"Same with me. It like I'm trying to force a wedge between us all this time. All you ever did was try to open me up and all I ever did was push you away. Not vedry good for a friendship."
"Hey, don't blame yourself." Beastboy told her "I was the annoying immature one remember."
Raven nodded
"True, but I didn't help much with my constant wall of ice I never let you break open."
"Is that a metaphor?" Beastboy asked
Raven just rolled her eyes
"The point is, I've made pretty good strides with everyone in terms of friendship. Star, Cy, even Robin. But with you, well, all we've done is argue with each other."
"Hey we had some bonding moments." Beastboy reminded her "Remember?"
"Not the way I've had with the others." Raven explained "I know them all pretty well. But between us, we just can't open up. I mean, how are we suppose to be friends if we barely know about one another."
"Well we could swap life stories." Beastboy suggested
"I came up with a better idea." Raven began "What I'm about to do is very special. I've never done it with anyone else. I'm going to bridge our minds together."
"You're gonna what my what?" Beastboy asked
"Basically we'll be able to be more open to each other. In more ways then one. When ever one of us is in trouble we can contact each other with a simple thought. At any moment and at any time you'll be able to see and hear whatever I do. Basically what I did with Robin during the whole 'Fake Smoke Slade' thing only more permanent."
"So you and I will share brainwaves or something?" Beastboy asked
"Pretty much," she now began to speak more softly "and if you ever want to share anything personal and talk about it we'll be able to do so. You and I will be able to view each other's memories. It will make us," she hesitated for a moment "get closer to one another. Understand each other better. Maybe even help me break the routine a bit."
"Sounds cool." Beastboy said, but now he was wondering something else "but why go through all that trouble?" He asked "It not like we can't ever just talk."
"I don't know why." Raven said, she didn't really know how to fully understand the reasoning behind her extreme decision. It would certainly strengthen their bond as friends but why go through it all when Beastboy was more then willing to just talk with her about anything she wanted to. She once or twice came upon the possibility that she may have liked Beastboy in some way. Possibly even admired him. Maybe even...but she pushed those thoughts back into her mind. It was silly, he was a friend, nothing more. It was stupid to even think of the possibility. But still why bother going to the extreme. "Maybe I just need to make up for the lost time." She said "I wouldn't feel like doing this if I had been a better friend."
"Okay," said Beastboy seeming slightly dissapointed. He was kinda hoping it would be like one of his fantasies where Raven was maybe sorta into him. He knew it wasn't really true, but it was nice to fantasize about. Oh well, at least they'd both get to know each other better now. But he still didn't have his answer about what this had to do with him being an anchor. "So hows this anchor bussiness tied in with this little mind meld thing?" He finally asked
"Well," Raven began to explain "It will allow us both to witness the same things inside Ryan's mind. Once inside we'll be able to communicate with each other. You'll be able to see and hear what I hear and we'll both be able to form and idea of what the problem is. Perhaps you can even offer advice."
"I'm not good with that last one." Beastboy told her
"Well you never really know." said Raven. She now looked him straight in the eye and spoke more serious to him "Now do you want to help me or not?"
Beastboy didn't need much time to think about it. Raven sounded like she knew what she was doing and if he didn't help her out with this Ryan thing she might jsut go ahead and do it herself.
"Fine," Beastboy shrugged "I'll help. But if anything bad happens you must promise me you'll get out of there fast. If you got hurt in there I don't know if I could stand it."
"With you on the other end what do I have to worry about." Raven told him causing Beastboy to blush slightly. "Now are you ready?"
"I guess so." Beastboy threw out his arms into a cross "Hit me baby."
Raven shook her head and grabbed Beastboy's head by its temples. She looked deeply into Beastboy's eyes and him into hers. She then muttered her mantra.
"Azarath...Metrion...Zinthos."
Raven's eyes glowed pure white and a black bird emerged out of her chakra and straight into Beastboy's head. Everything went by so fast that by the time things were over Beastboy wa reeling from the expierence. He felt like someone had hit him a baseball bat.
"The pain will pass" Raven explained
"How do you know?" Beastboy asked
"Because I can feel it too. It part of the mind bridge."
"Oh great, we can pretty much feel eacth other's pain." Beastboy said sarcastically "Just great."
"Did you just use sarcasm?" Raven asked
"Whoa, I did! Is that another side-effect?"
"Relax, Beastboy it will pass in time. Your personality isn't going to change." Raven explained "Thank god because two sarcastic people in this tower is enough and that not counting Snipe and his snide comments." Raven now went over to Ryan head and kneeled down. She outstrecthed her hand to Beastboy's. "Hold on and don't let go okay."
Beastboy grabbed her hand.
"Sure thing. So is this going to hurt or something?"
"No, its perfectly normal." She explained "Your physical form, or body, will stay out here as my anchor, but your mind will enter with me into Ryan's. It will be like my mirror but slightly different. I'll be the only one in any danger."
"Just be careful okay." Beastbot reminded her
Raven put her other hand to Ryan's forehead "Here we go."
Ryan's eyes suddenly opened and he spoke in a rather strange voice, not unlike him but he apparently didn't notice them at all. He was in some kind of trance. Obviously some part of the whole going inside some one's mind thing.
"Welcome to Ryan's brain," Ryan said in his strange echoly voice "step right up and enjoy the insanity!"
Ryan's eyes rolled to the back of his head and with a flash of light Raven was sucked inside.
Raven picked herself off the ground. She quickly heard Beastboy as she sturggled to get her vision straight.
"Rae!" Beastboy's voice cried "You okay? I can't see anything."
"I'm fine Beastboy. Just a little dazzed." Raven shook her head a little more and eventually the landscape came into view. It was lush, green, and humid. Trees and ferns were everywhere and Raven soon realized she was standing in the middle of a jungle. "Well this isn't what I expected."
"What did you expect?" Asked Beastboy's voice
"Well," Raven said "I didn't really know at first. But cetainly not a rainforest."
"Well he is a Raptor," Beastboy reminded her "and he lives on a tropical island. Maybe he just likes his home."
"It not that I just didn't think things would be so peaceful." Raven explained
In truth things were peaceful, no screams of torment, no pain, no sign of danger. The entire Jungle felt friendly, even inviting.
"Now that you mention it," Beastboy voiced into Raven's head "It does look like a nice place to vacation to."
Raven was thinking that as well. But she and Beastboy needed to focus.
"So where do we go from here?" Raven asked to no one in particular
Suddenly a path opened up through the jungle as ferns and trees were pushed to the side.
"Follow the dirt laden road." Beastboy suggested
"Might as well." Raven replied
Walking down the path Raven eventually came to a small clearing with a rock cave. Nearby were two Raptors along with a smaller one apparently playing around. One Raptor appeared to be male and the other was Female. Raven could tell by the way their feathers on their heads were styled as well as their physhiques. The smaller Raptor looked rather familar. Way too familar.
"Beastboy," Raven began "are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
Beastboy was pretty much on the same page
"Those two are Ryan's parents!"
"Seems like it." Raven responded
The Female Raptor began to lick the young Raptor's face and small downy head feather while the male brought over food for the family. It looked rather charming.
"Now this I wasn't expecting at all." Raven said "It looks like Ryan's homelife was pretty good."
"I wonder what made him grow up the way he did?" Beastboy asked
"Perhaps," Raven began "something happened."
"What could that possibly..." Beastboy stopped "Oh no."
"What?" Raven asked
"Its just like..." Beastboy was studerring now "The boat...Waterfall..."
"Beastboy what's going on?" Raven asked with concern
"Ryan's parents are dead!"
"Beastboy that ridiculous." Raven told him "Who or what could have possibly killed them?"
It was at this precise moment that the warm air of the jungle suddenly changed. It no longer felt inviting, instead it grew cold and dark. The sun from overhead turned from yellow to red and a sound from overhead cut through the serenity of before. Appearing from over the horizon was a helicopter. A small one that had the characteristic teeth painted marks on its nose. But these ones moved and smiled wickedly at the three Raptors before it. The female Raptor placed the young Ryan in the cave quickly and blocked it with a rock. The young Raptor peered out the crack of the makeshift door while the chopper began to sprout two machine guns out of its side.
"Oh my..." Was all Raven could say before the machine guns opened up and the two adult Raptors were gunned down before them. The young Ryan rushed outside and clawed at the bodies on the ground. Ryan looked to the Chopper. Raven closed her eyes.
"Oh Azar no!" She couldn't watch, she thought she knew what was going to happen. But instead something else happened. There were no gun shots, no more screams of pain.
"Raven," Beastboy said "Open your eyes and let me see."
She did as she was told and instead of what she expected she saw something much worse. The helicopter just sat there grinning its evil smile at Ryan. And then it began to laugh. It began to laugh wildly with sick pleasurable joy at the young Raptor. The laughter was so high that it made Raven clutched her ears in disgust. Beastboy shouted out at the demonic aerial vehicle instead.
"What the hell is so funny?" Beastboy screamed
Raven couldn't stand the laughter
"Make him stop!" Raven screamed "Make him stop!"
The laugh of the chopper was more deadly then the bullets it used. Raven felt like its sting, it made her want to claw out her eardrums, her brain even if only to shut the chopper up. Ryan himself was crying in vain over his dead parent's bodies. It was a horrible gut wrenching scene. But it soon was interuppted when the small Raptor boy stopped crying and stood up in front of the chopper. The young child grew within seconds to a full fledged adult and pulled a RPG out from behind his back and fired it into the chopper. The vehicle began to spin out of control.
"Raven! Look out!" Beastboy shouted
Raven saw as the chopper head for them and quickly ducked out of the way. The chopper exploded into the ground shortly after. The dust settled and Raven got to her feet.
"Is that thing gone?" She asked
"Yeah, I think so." Beastboy answered "Then again there is the slim chance that it exploded and is somehow still alive."
"Good point." Raven admited. She should have known that thing was gone after seeing what just happened but she wanted to be sure. She decided to take a good look at her surrounding. Everything was dark except for the light overhead.
"So where are we now?" Beastboy asked
"I'm not sure." Raven told him
"Maybe we should take a look around?"
"Good idea." Raven said
She began to walk in one direction out of the spotlight that was on her but suddenly a cage surrounded her.
"Oh great!" Said Beastboy "Now what?"
Almost immediately a large slab appeared out of the darkness and manuvuered itself over to the cage. Standing in a upright position, the slab sprouted several mechanical arms, each armed with a different drill, saw or electrical probe.
"Well we know what the cage is for now." Raven said as the slab aprroached closer
"Yeah," Said Beastboy "So we can't move when it chops our heads off!"
The Slab flung a saw blade at Raven's head. She ducked out of the way quickly as the blade hit the cage instead. Another saw blade went for her but she avoided it as well. The two saw blades now through the bar. Raven took her chance and bended the bars outwards with her powers allowing her to escape. She ducked past the saw blades as the slab made its way to attack her with the electrical probes.
"Smash it! Kill it! Do something!" Beastboy pleaded
"I can't." Raven explained "Whatever it is it not the evil we came to stop. I sense it is simply a bad memory, like Ryan's parents' deaths."
"Does it have to take the phrase bad memory so literal?" Beastboy asked
The slab began to close in and just before it caught up with Raven trhe ground opened up and she fell downwards.
"Oh man I'm getting sick of this." Cried Beastboy as the came to a sudden stop. He called for Raven hoping she was okay "Rae are you alright? Say something!"
"I'm fine." Raven said getting up and rubbing her head "Just a little surprised by all the twist and turns around here."
"You're telling me." Beastboy chuckled
"So where are we now in Ryan psyche?" Raven asked looking around at the dark and dusty desert before her.
When I say Desert I mean a cloudly no sunlight desert with nothing around for miles. Except what looked to be lights further away. It seemed to be the outline of a city of somesorts.
"Why is everything so dark?" Beastboy asked
"This is the darker side of Ryan's psyche." Raven explained "It where I sensed the evil was coming from so I got us as close as I could. When we saw Ryan's memory of his Parents' demise we must of crossed over into the part of his mind he doesn't like to show."
"How come we couldn't get in before?" Beastboy questioned
"I couldn't." Raven answered "There was a flash of bright light, a force that pushed me inside and then I just...stopped. Perhaps Ryan has somesort of defence against this kid of thing. you know keep him from being brainwashed."
"I don't think this brain is washable." Beastboy said "I mean look at all the dust."
"Not funny." Raven told him
"So? Whats new?" Beastboy asked jokingly
"Good point." Raven acknowledged
"Say," Beastboy said as something clicked in his mind "If Ryan's mind defences stopped you from getting to this part of his brain, then where are they now? And why haven't they tried to kick us out?"
"Maybe they think we're dead." Raven suggested
"THINK AGAIN!" A voice boomed
Raven turned around to see a tall dark figure encased in a black shadow.
"You have tresspassed!" The black shadow told them "You have violated this mind's inner sanctum! By my orders you must leave or perish!"
"Wait you don't understand-" Raven said tryiong to explain
"You are a foreign thought!" The Shadow shouted "A vile scum, a germ, a manifestation that wishes to harm the boss!"
"The Boss?" Raven wondered, not knowing what it meant
"I serve to keep this mind's owner from evil influences that wish to decieve him! I am the last defence against the plague of sadism and the threat of this mind becoming a souless killing machine without a concious and without reasoning! You are one of those foreign thoughts! If you will not leave then you shall be destroyed!"
The Shadow lunged at Raven as she flew away.
"Where do we go?" Beastboy asked frantically "There's nothing around for miles!"
Raven looked straight ahead and saw the flickering light of the strange city up ahead.
"There!" She pointed "Its our only chance."
"Disease!" The shadow screamed after them throwing explosive shadow balls as it flew after them "Malcontempt evil! Wisher of harm to the innocents! I shall not let you turn the boss into a killer! Its my duty! My job! My purpose! You shall pay the ultimate price for your interferance!"
Raven dodged the incoming projectiles
"Listen to me! I'm not here to harm Ryan!" She shouted back
"Do not waste my time with your lies!" The shadow thing threw more of its dark bombs at Raven's speeding form. But she easily dodged them. The City wasn't too far away now.
"You don't understand, something is going to break loose!" Raven tried to explain "Please! You have to trust me! Its going to destroy everything in here! You have to-"
"SHUT UP!"
A tentacle of dark energy lashed out at Raven and struck her in the back. Raven could not maintain her flight pattern and she fell towards the city. she skidded across the ground until came to stop against the wall. Her head smacked right into the pavement and she seemed to black out for a few seconds. But a voice kept her concious and aware, Beastboy's.
"Raven!" He screamed frantically "Oh no! Please don't be dead! Please don't be dead! Come on wake up please! Don't die on me! Not in there! We have so much to talk about now! So much to share! You gave me this mind bridge thing! Please don't demolish it now! Not after so long! I finally got you to open up after all these years! We finally share something special no one else has! No one has ever done something like this for me!" He spoke slower now"Please... don't leave me." He sounded like he was crying "Don't leave me again."
Raven slowly opened her eyes now shaking her head.
"Beast...Beastboy." She said dreaily "Don't worry, I'm still here."
"Oh thank god!" Beastboy cried "Raven, don't you dare do that again you scared me half to death! I would have never forgiven myself if I just let you die in there. Do you know how much I was worried just now!"
"You were practically shouting in my ear." Raven reminded him "How could I not hear?"
"Oh..." Beastboy realized he said quite a few things back there. Rather embarrassing things "Um how much did you hear exactly?"
"We'll talk about that later." Raven told him "Right now lets figure out where we are now."
"Okay" Beastboy said rather sadly. Almost like he was hoping to get something off his chest.
Raven stepped out into the streets of the city and realized that the lights she and Beastboy saw were not lights, but fires. Fires growing from every facet of the city. Everything was burning. Shops, towers, office buildings, cars, everything was in flames. And scattered around the city were dozens of dead and mangled bodies.
"Sweet Azar." Raven said trying to hide her horror.
"Were we too late?" Beastboy asked
"No," Raven said feeling her head "I still got a lock on whatever is causing Ryan's deterioation." She kept focus on whatever it was, the evil was strong and getting stronger. She then located it. A few meters down the street. When she came to the point she sensed she saw a building that instantly told her what city this was. The building was Mahn's Chinese Theatre.
"We're in LA!" Beastboy shouted
"Apparently." Raven replied
"I knew the city had crime problems," Beastboy commented"but this is ridiculous!"
"What happened here?" Raven asked
"We'll ask Ryan when we get out of here." Said Beastboy "Let's just go in there and stop the big evil thing in here."
"Since when did you take charge like this?" Raven asked
"Hey I can take point when I need to." Beastboy told her
Raven knew that, he always seemed to prove himself when the chips were down. But now was not the time to think about it
"Let's just end this." Raven replied back
Raven opened the doors to the theatre and entered the main lobby. She looked around for whatever it was that was causing Ryan's deterioation problems. She soon found it. A large gash in the middle of the room, it appeared to be some kind of slowly opening portal.
"There's our problem." Raven said pointing
"So how do we fix it?" asked Beastboy
"YOU DON'T." a voice boomed from the portal
"What was that?" Beastboy asked
"That what we're here for." Raven explained turning her attention to the portal "Who are you?" She shouted at it "What are you doing here?"
"I? I?" Whatever it was asked back rethorically "I AM THE LAST PHASE OF RYAN'S EVOLUTION. THE CULMINATION OF ALL YOUR RACES SINS AGAINST HIM."
Whatever it was asked back rethorically"Sins?" Raven asked
"THEY NEVER TOLD YOU DID THEY?" The thing responded with glib surprise "YOU HAVE PLAGUED RYAN ALL HIS LIFE. YOU KILLED HIS PARENTS, TORTURED HIM FOR 15 MONTHS, TWO WEEKS OF WHICH HE CANNOT RECALL. HE CAME TO YOUR WORLD SEEKING PEACE AND A NEW LIFE AND YOUR RACE ONCE AGAIN TRIED TO DESTROY HIM. SO HE KILLED THEM, HE KILLED THEM ALL. HE WAS AVENGED AGAINST THOSE WHO WRONGED HIM. HE KILLED THE MOST VILE SCUM OF LOS ANGELES AND HE SENT THEIR SOULS TO ME. JUST LIKE HE SENT ALL OF THOSE CORRUPT AND ANGUISHED SOULS TO ME."
The thing responded with glib surprise"Why are you doing this?" Raven demanded "What is your purpose? What are you?"
"ME AND RYAN ARE GOING TO BE GODS IN THIS WORLD, THATS REJECTED AND FEARED HIM FOR SO LONG. WE'RE GOING TO TEAR IT INTO A BILLION PIECES. I AM THE INEVITABLE CONCLUSION OF RYAN'S INSANITY. I AM THE ULTIMATE SIN. THE FINAL CURTAIN CALL FOR MANKIND AND EVERYTHING ON EARTH. I AM RYAN'S DESTINY. I'M THE DEVIL!"
Raven stepped back a few feet as she took it all in. This thing was the culmination of Ryan's pain, of all of his horrible memories she had witnessed. It was feeding off his pain and anguish and his hate. And it was growing. And all of this hate, was directed towards humans. She had to think of something to close the portal before it got out. She repeated her mantra over and over again until a large claw like hand grabbed the portal and tried to close it. But she was pushed back by a sudden bolt from the portal's mouth and thrown to the side. It was then that the Shadow that had chased her burst into the theatre and lashed out at the portal with his tentacles and shadow bombs.
"Back Deciever!" The shadow shouted into the protal "Ryan shall never fall prey to your empty promises! Not as long as I am here!"
The monster inside was defiant.
"YOU CANNOT WIN! NOT WHEN I'M SO CLOSE!"
The monster from the portal let out a final scream of defiance and the portal closed completely, everything was silent again.
"Another day creature of oblivion." The shadow said "Another day." He turned towards Raven
Raven was surprised, the shadow knew exactly what to do, where to go and how to solve the problem. She ahd tried and failed because she was unaware of what she was up against. But this shadow seemed to have expierence. That's when it hit her.
"You knew?" Raven asked in astonishment
Shadow nodded
"That thing appears here every couple of days," The shadow explained "I am charged to close it from time to time. To make sure the boss is not influenced by his lies."
"But why did you attack me?" She asked "I was trying to help."
"I have been tricked before by outside thoughts posing as saviours. I no longer trust anyone. Your attempts to close the portal prove you intentions to be more just." The Shadow bowed towards Raven. "And now you must leave."
Raven prepared to focus on Beastboy's position back in the physical world, but she stopped before she completed and turned to the shadow again.
"So who are you any way?" she asked
"I am Ryan's concious," The Shadow said "His sense of right and wrong. His last shread of guilt and mercy left in this dark place. I am a protector of the mind and of free thought. And in your world I would probably be called a superhero."
"That doesn't answer my question." Raven said tapping her foot
The Shadow simply narrowed his gaze and looked at her in the face
"Read Freud once in awhile."
Beastboy contacted Raven once more.
"Rae! Can we go now?"
"Yes Beastboy, I'm coming back. Hold on a second."
With a quick concentration on Beastboy she quickly stepped away from Ryan's mind and was bolted back into the real world.
Raven was blasted back from Ryan's head and straight into Beastboy's arms. They collapsed on the floor in a heap. Raven managed to shake her eyes open an noticed she was now lying in Beastboy's lap on the floor. She quickly got out of the position before he could see her.
"Beastboy are you okay?" She asked to the changeling on the floor.
"I'm fine," He said "just a bump on the head is all."
"Good to know." Raven told him "Let me help you up."
Raven lifted beastboy to his feet and dusted him off.
"So, you know who that shadow dude was?" Beastboy asked
"I have an idea." She told him "I'll need to look at Freud to be sure of course." but her train of thought was interupted by a scary, raspy, rather familar voice.
"What did you do?" It asked
Raven and Beastboy slowly turned towards the couch. Standing tall upon it was a rather angry Raptor called Ryan.
"What the fuck did you do?" He screamed reaching for his knife.
Beastboy jumped in front of Raven.
"We were trying to help you-" Beastboy was cut off as Ryan pushed him aside and grabbed Raven by the throat
"What the fuck did you do you little bitch?" He demanded "What the fuck did you do to my HEAD!"
"Your mindscape was deterioating." She gasped "You needed help."
"So you went inside my head!" Ryan screamed "What did you see?"
Raven didn't answer and Ryan put the knife to her throat
"WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU SEE?"
Beastboy tackled the Raptor across the room with his bull form and Raven was released from his grasped. Raven fell to the ground but was caught in Beastboy's arms bridal style as soon as she fell.
"Thanks." She said
"Anytime." He told her
Ryan got to his feet and looked a the two.
"You stay the hell away from my mind!" He demanded
Raven got down out of Beastboy's arms and looked over to Ryan.
"Ryan, we just wanted to help."
"I don't need you help!" He yelled "I'm Lieutenant Ryan the Raptor, the Insano Commando! I've killed people with my bare hands, lit them on fire, chopped of their heads! I've defeated more bad guys in a week then you have in a month! And what's more they're all no longer a problem! And the last place I need help is from a bunch of godamn teenage brats!"
"Dude," Beastboy said "don't you get it! Thats your problem! You're mind is messed up. You have a lot of mental baggage and you need to unload it."
"How do I do that you green freak?" Ryan asked
"Ryan," Raven began "tell us about your life before you became a commando."
Ryan calmed down a little and looked off to the side.
"No." Ryan said flatly "You'd never understand it all."
"I don't think so." Said Beastboy "I think we have more in common then you think."
"No we don't." Ryan said sternly
"You can't keep it bottled up inside forever Ryan." Raven told the Raptor "It will destroy you. Please tell us about what happened to you..." Raven paused thinking about her next words "...after your parents died."
Ryan's eyes suddenly widened he looked over at Raven with an angry look.
"Don't. You. Dare. Speak. About. My. Parents." He said
"But..." Raven didn't finish
"Shut up! Stay out of my life! Stay out of my memories! Stay away from me period!" Ryan ordered "I don't need your pity! I don't need anyone!"
Ryan stomped away out of the main hall and out of sight. Beastboy and Raven looked on in awe.
"Do you think he'll be okay?" Beastboy asked
"He just needs sometime." Raven told him
"What about the scary monster thing?" Beastboy asked once more
"Its subsided for now." Raven answered "But at the moment we have a lot of questions left over from our little journey. But most of them can be answered in the morining."
"Yeah, I guess." Beastboy said rubbing his head
"Goodnight." Raven said waving goodbye to Beastboy as she began to leave.
"Yeah, night." Beastboy said as he turned his face downward
"Oh and one more thing." Raven said causing Beastboy's eyes to rise to her "I don't want to leave you either, ever."
"Thanks." Raven left the room shortly after and Beastboy flopped down on the couch. "That was way better then anything my dream Raven's would have said."
If you really want to know who that shadow was I suggest you look up Freud on wikipedia or something. The clues I gave should be more then enough to help. I hope this chapter was worth the read and I will update soon. Please review for now.