Chap. 3
Talking Pictures
A few hours later, Raven and the Knights returned from the city. The bookshop had had just enough copies of the Jerle Shannara book for the two of them. Sara had an easier time finding a good Bradbury book, but she still left the store feeling unhappy. This was mainly due to her companions. As they always did, Brett and Raven had flipped to the middle of the book to see if there were any big revelations. There had been at least one they'd found, so they had spent most of the trip back to the Tower discussing how the story was going to unfold from there. Sara, meanwhile, had kept looking to the sky and begging for something to come down and end her suffering, since she didn't care a bit about Terry Brooks. But that hadn't happened; so Sara had been forced to listen to the two of them discuss the book across most of the city, the bay, and the steps leading into the Tower. But now, the group was finally back in the Tower, which meant that Sara could finally escape.
"Is it just me, or does she seem a little too happy to get away from us?" Brett asked, as Sara practically back-flipped in the air as she headed for the stairs that led to her room. "No, I think it's you." Raven said with some light sarcasm. "Well, I suppose listening to you babble on about Allannon like that is annoying." Brett quipped back. "I find him interesting." "Big dude in black robes, mysterious, very little personality…. Gee I can't imagine why you'd like him." "Oh shut up. At least I don't talk about the elf-queen and how she's going to go for the demon king." Raven said, as they moved to the elevator. As she pushed the button for the main room, Raven looked back at her father and said, "But then again, a pretty woman going after a big, black, winged, ugly monster…." "OK, do not make me start about the red-skinned guy with three eyes." Brett said as the doors opened. The two of them continued their talk as they stepped into the elevator and sped up towards the main room of the Tower.
"Um Star, I don't think that's how you do it." Robin suggested, as Starfire dumped three eggs and four whole carrots into a large mixing bowl. "But it is called carrot cake." The young alien insisted, as she grabbed an electric mixer and shoved it into the bowl. "Yes, but you don't use real carrots and you….." But Robin didn't get to finish, as Star turned the mixer on, and a wave of carrot juice, carrot chunks and egg yolk sprayed out of the bowl and onto Robin's face and most of the floor. "Maybe we should try the recipe instead of improvising." Robin said, as he wiped the mess off of his mask and tried to pick the eggshells out of his hair. "But Robin, I have baked cakes before. I know how to make them and besides, this is more fun!"
"I think we'd better get behind something soon." Milhouse said as he watched the two lovebirds from the safety of the couch. "Well at least she's not making a turkey or something." Bart said. "Then we'd have guts sprayed all over." "Uhhh. DUDE!" Beast Boy muttered, as he shuddered at the very thought of animal guts. "Sorry." Bart said. "Well, at least they're enjoying themselves." Milhouse said, as he watched Star wipe some of the mess off Robin's face and gave him a quick kiss. That cheered Robin up quite a bit, as he moved over to help her with the flour. "You know, this sort of thing normally grosses me out, but now…." Milhouse said. "Well that's because we're not watching out parents do it." Bart said. "Besides, my mom usually has to get the drool off my dad's face and then he just shudders and calls for doughnuts." "That happened a lot in your house?" Beast Boy asked. "Just when Dad would get laid off or fail in something…. Yeah I guess it did happen a lot." "Hmm…well at least that won't be a problem for me." Beast Boy said. "I won't have someone spray me with food and then try to baby talk it away. "Oh, not this again." Bart muttered.
Just then, the elevator doors opened and Brett and Raven stepped out. "I still say that Elfstones was better." Raven said as they got out. "It was good, but Talismans was better." Brett argued back. "The characters were better and seeing Cogline die was unbelievable." "You've been to the bookstore haven't you?" Bart asked. "How could you tell?" Milhouse asked. "Oh wait, because they only talk like this after they've gotten a new book?" Both father and daughter just shrugged. "Hey have you guys seen Cyborg?" Raven asked. "I think he's in his room." Robin answered. "He went there after training and I haven't seen him since." "What do you want to see him for?" Beast Boy asked. "We got him a new copy of that video game magazine he likes." Raven replied coolly, as she held up a paper bag. "Cool! I've- I mean he's been waiting for that issue for two months! I'll bring it to him." Beast Boy said, all but leaping across the room.
But before he came within even a foot of the magazine, Raven pulled the bag back. "I said it was for Cyborg." She said, looking at Beast Boy with a very dark glance. "But we always read it together." Beast Boy said. "Then he can share it with you himself." Raven said. "But I'll let him do that if he wants to." With that, she turned and walked out the doors to Cyborg's room. As the doors shut behind her, Beast Boy said, "I guess she's still mad at me?" "Whatever gave you that idea?" Brett asked. "Look, I didn't mean to say that. I just got mad when she talked about Terra." The green one explained. "True, but I'm not the one you need to say that to." Brett said. "You do remember what happened the last time I apologized to Raven?" Beast Boy asked. "Then don't go into her room this time." Brett replied. "Go catch her on the way back from Cy's room. Or wait outside her room, I don't care. Just do it." "Shouldn't I.." Beast By began, but Brett looked at him so sternly, that he quickly forgot the question. "All right, all right." Beast Boy muttered, as he began to walk towards the doors.
Raven raised her hand and knocked on the door twice. "Cyborg, you in there?" she asked. "Huh? Oh, uh, yeah Raven, what's up?" came the stilted reply. Weird. What's with him? Raven thought. He sounds all flustered. "I got you something from the bookstore." "Oh, that's great. But, uh, I'm…. recharging and I can't get up. You mind coming in here and giving it to me?" "Sure." Raven said, as the door opened. Raven stepped into the room, and saw Cyborg lying on the control table, hooked up to his recharger. "Hey Rae, how was the shop?" Cyborg asked, now calm and collected. "Pretty cool. We got the new Terry Brooks." Raven said. "And we got you that new video game mag you like." She finished, holding up the bag. "All right!" Cy said, as he unplugged the recharger and got off the table. Raven handed him the bag and he pulled the magazine out eagerly. "Cool, they're talking about the new Zelda game. Thanks Raven!" "No problem." The empath said as she watched Cyborg read the magazine with pleasure. "You must've really pushed yourself during training to need a recharge so soon." Raven said, as she moved over to the recharger. "Huh? Oh yeah, really worked hard." Cy said as he kept reading. Right. Raven said as she looked over the dial. "Hey Cy, did you upgrade this thing?" "No." "Well you must've done something to it, if it can get you a full charge in ten seconds." Raven finished, pointing to the time gauge on the device.
"When did you learn how to read that thing?" Cy asked. "You showed me a lot when we rebuilt the T-Car. Besides, you don't have to be an expert to read a clock." Raven said. "What were you doing that you needed to keep secret?" "Nothing." Cy said defiantly. "OK, you should really know not to try to keep secrets. And I'm defiantly not the person to hide them from." Raven said, as she took a quick glance around the room. It was then she noticed something sticking out from under Cy's laptop. "What's that?" she asked, pointing to it. "Uh, nothing." Cyborg said, as he made a grab for the object. But Ravens powers grabbed it first, levitating it over to her waiting hand. As it floated over, Raven saw that it was a picture frame. He has a crush. How cute. Raven thought. As she took it in her hands, Raven wondered whose picture was contained inside.
But when Raven flipped it over, she saw a face that she would not have expected in a million years. "Jinx?" she breathed in amazement. "Why on earth do you have a picture of her?" Cyborg's only answer was to look down at the floor. "OK, you like her. I guess I can understand that. Sorta. But…. I mean… how did it happen?" Raven asked. "Do you remember when I infiltrated the HIVE?" Cy asked. "Yeah." "Well, I ended up being friends with those guys, and then there was his school dance. I couldn't get a date, so I asked Jinx if she'd come with me. I'd noticed she had a crush on me for a while, so I thought I be nice. But when we got there….. I don't know, something just happened." "What do you mean?" Raven asked. "We just spent the whole night talking. We danced, enjoyed ourselves, and well, I guess I started to like her too. We even kissed at the end of the dance." "Really?" "Really. And after I broke out, well, it was over." "But not for you." Raven said.
"I thought it was. But lately, I keep thinking about her. I keep wondering if she feels the same way." Cy said. "Cyborg, she's evil." "I know. But what if I could get her to change? I mean, we really cared about each other." "People don't change that easily. And Jinx must feel betrayed by you. She may not love you anymore." "But what if, Rae? What if?" Raven sighed; she almost wished that she hadn't found the picture. This was definitely an area she knew little about, and one she didn't want to talk about. But Cyborg was her friend; she had to say something. Choosing her words carefully, Raven gave it her best shot: "I guess that if you really do love her, then you have to try. Even if you do fail, at least you'll both know. And maybe if she sees how much you regret it, then maybe that could do it." "You really think so?" Cyborg asked. "Yeah." He was quiet a moment, then gave a small smile and said "Thanks Raven." The empath nodded, really hoping that Cy would be ok. As she moved to leave the room, she heard him ask, "You won't tell the others?" "Cross my heart." Raven promised.
A few minutes later, Raven was headed on the way to her room. Her mind was awash with the things Cyborg had told her. But Raven tried not to think about it. She just didn't know about love to really help Cyborg; he needed to figure it for himself. All Raven wanted was to get to her room and begin her book. But it seemed that even that was denied her, as when she got to her door, Beast Boy was standing in front of it. Great. She thought angrily. Of all the people she felt like dealing with right now, Beast Boy was on the bottom of the list. "What do you want?" she asked, her voice completely emotionless. "Um, to say I'm sorry?" Beast Boy answered, as he dragged his foot on the ground. "Really?" Raven asked, not changing the tone of her voice. "Why?" "Because Brett said he'd kill me if I didn't?" the green one replied. "Great. You came here after Dad forced you. Now do me a favor. Come back when you really mean it." Raven as she reached for her door. "No Raven, I really want to apologize." Beast Boy pleaded. "I shouldn't have said that thing about Malichor. He really hurt you, and I should've known better then to bring it up. I mean, the same thing happened to me; making you hurt to just makes me even more of a jackass." "Well, you're right about that." Raven said. "But I guess I shouldn't have mentioned Terra to you either. We both crossed the line." "So, are we both apologizing here?" Beast Boy asked. "Close enough." Raven said. "Friends?" he asked. "Close enough."
Perhaps they would have said more, but suddenly there was a crash from behind the door. "What was that?" Raven asked. "Hey it wasn't me." Beast Boy said. "Duh." Raven muttered as she flung open the door. The two Titans looked inside, but what they saw was something neither had expected. The chest which had contained Malichor's book, had been snapped in two halves, lying on either side of Raven's bed. As for the book itself, it floated above the bed glowing with a strange light. "Oh no, it's isn't him again, is it?" Beast Boy asked, as they stepped inside the room. "I don't want to wait to find out." Raven said, as she got ready to turn her powers on the book.
Stop, I mean you no harm
"Who said that?" Raven asked, as she looked around the room. "You heard that too?" Beast Boy said.
I need your help. Please, release me from this prison.
"That doesn't sound like him." Beast Boy said. "Then he's learned a new trick." Raven said. "I'm not that stupid Malichor." She said to the book. "It takes more then a new voice to fool me."
The dragon does not speak, maiden. I am not one you should fear, for I am the dragon's jailer. I am Rorek, war-wizard of Alkakez.