You can all stop being confused now, because there's a lot of explaining in this chapter. It's really not that long a chapter though. hope no one minds. And, I've really got nothing else to say. So, here are review responses:

Serasvictoria666 – I am thrilled you're enjoying the story. I hope you survived all that suspense I put you through. Never fear, answers are here! There will still be a lot of mystery surrounding this woman though – hope you can bear it.

RaeRobFan – You can only control him sometimes? Hmmm, I'd better watch what I say then. And to be honest, I suck at writing humour. I'd like to be good at it, but it just never works for me. So to hear you laughed at some stuff makes me quite happy indeed.

Z Star the Hidden Dragon – Wisdom indeed. I can tell you're full of it. Feel free to keep offering me that good stuff. Ooh, and you're on to something with the fears. See what I mean about wisdom? You're on the ball. But what is happening exactly? I won't tell just yet.

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Raven was at Robin's side in a flash, but he had already lowered his arm and stopped backing away, looking around in utter confusion.

"Raven…what happened?"

"Robin, it wasn't real. Whatever you saw wasn't really there."

"No," Robin replied, using the wall behind him to climb to his feet. "I fought Madame Rouge. I know I did. She just vanished from in front of me though."

Raven shook her head. "Trust me on this, it didn't happen."

"But how…?"

Catching a bright glint of sunlight out of the corner of her eye, Raven turned and saw Cyborg lying still on the sidewalk, partly obscured by a station wagon. She flew across the road, barely avoiding skimming the concrete, and touched down at his side. Gently putting her hand on his shoulder, she called his name.

Red glowed to life on one side of his face as he came back online, his real eye snapping open. Cyborg sat himself up and rubbed his head, looking as perplexed as Robin. "Raven, what the…?"

"Cyborg, how do you feel?"

"I've felt better, that's for sure." He rubbed his eye and then finally looked up at Raven. "Where'd you go?" he asked.

"I didn't go anywhere. I was here all along."

"You disappeared. Everyone did."

"Cyborg, are you alright?" Robin asked as he approached, staring down at him and offering his hand to help Cyborg get back onto his feet.

"I don't see Starfire anywhere," Raven said. She touched her fingertips to her forehead, closing her eyes for a couple of seconds. "I can still sense her…barely. She's in a lot of pain, but I can't be certain."

"You don't know?" Robin asked, looking surprised. "Is everything alright?"

"I'm having trouble focusing, that's all. I just feel kind of strange."

"Someone mind telling me what happened?" Cyborg asked, shifting his stare between Robin and Raven.

"We were all under an illusion," Raven said.

"An illusion?"

"An illusion," Raven replied, nodding her head.

"But I could've sworn I was fighting Brother Blood."

"And I fought Madame Rouge," Robin added. "It was just so real."

"I thought Trigon came back. But none of it actually happened."

Robin seemed sceptical. "Then how did all this happen to us?"

"I could feel someone inside my head. A woman was projecting a false reality."

"You mean someone was creating images," Cyborg remarked.

"Exactly. Whoever it was, she has powerful mental abilities. She manipulated our minds."

"But why were we all under separate illusions? And why did each of us see who we did?"

"Because they're our fears," Robin declared firmly. "Brother Blood, Madame Rouge, Trigon—each of them frighten us on a different level than anything else, as much as we don't want to admit it."

"That's what I began to think," Raven said. "She entered the deepest parts of our subconscious and came out with something that truly terrified us. She made us live out our fears."

Robin cocked his head to one side, staring at Raven. "Did you snap us out of it somehow?"

"I think so," Raven replied. "When I sensed she was inside my mind, I tore her out. I guess it was so jarring for her that she was forced to release her hold on you two as well."

"So, do we have any control over this?" Cyborg began, pausing to rub his forehead. "I mean Brother Blood nearly destroyed me. I was totally outmatched."

Robin nodded his head in agreement. "I was too. Madame Rouge bested me in every way, regardless of what I tried."

"That's because it's her reality," Raven remarked. "She can twist and bend it to produce whatever outcome she wants. Remember, since these are our fears, we don't confront them well."

"You mean we fight poorly against our fears," Cyborg added.

Raven barely lowered her head in a nod.

"But the fight seemed so close, almost as if I could win," Robin said.

"She has to keep it as real as possible, in order to maintain the façade. These are all enemies we've beaten before, but just barely. The closer it stays, the more believable it is and the more we begin to believe we might win."

The top corner of Robin's mask lifted slightly upwards as Robin raised one of his eyebrows. "What would have happened if you hadn't knocked her out of our heads?"

"I don't know. There's no way we can really know. She might just be playing around with our minds. If that's the case we'd probably be fine regardless of what illusions each of us are put through. More likely, though, is that she's a dangerous lunatic. Robin, when Slade's mask released that chemical agent your mind was put through intense stress. And your body suffered from the stress your mind was under."

"I remember," Robin replied. "I came so close to the breaking point."

"Well, I think this woman's power might be greater than that. The illusions she created were pretty short. And yet, just look at the damage you two did."

"I think you're right," Robin replied, pointing to a stone building across the street. "I watched Madame Rouge send razor sharp fingers into that stone, leaving large holes."

Cyborg shook his head. "I don't see anything."

"Exactly. But look at the middle of the road there. Small holes from the explosives I threw at Madame Rouge."

Cyborg turned his head, looking over his shoulder at the disfigured road. "I tore through the pavement fighting Brother Blood."

Robin ran a gloved hand through his stiffly gelled hair. "The illusions don't leave a trace. What we see isn't real, but what we do is."

"Oh man," Cyborg said. "So if we can do damage, these illusions could cause us to actually hurt someone."

"Or ourselves," Raven replied. "This woman could get any of us killed without having to come near us. And the whole time we'd think what we were seeing was real. It's just like what happened to you, Robin. The stress on our minds could destroy our bodies."

"We have to find her," Robin ordered. "As well as Starfire. Something hit her hard and we need to make sure she's okay. You sure you can't feel anything, Raven?"

"I really can't feel much. She's in pain, but I don't know if it's emotional or if she's seriously hurt. I'm not used to anyone being inside my head. It's…unnerving."

Cyborg raised his right arm and tapped the small screen, bringing it to life. "My scanners are working just fine." The display flashed and beeped twice. "There, I've got a lock on her."

"Good," Robin said. "Cyborg, go find her and make sure she's fine. Raven, you and I are going to track down this woman. We'll need your mental abilities to beat her."

"And BB? We could use the support."

Robin flipped open his communicator, firmly pressing the side with his thumb. He stared at the screen for nearly a minute as it remained a fuzzy grey, but there was no response. "It's just as well," he finally said, closing the small device. "Considering the state he's in, it would be far too much for him to handle."

"How're you two going to go about finding this woman?" Cyborg asked.

"I have no idea," Robin answered. "You think you can locate her, Raven?"

Raven shrugged, looking doubtful. "I wouldn't count on it. My head is pounding, like I've got a migraine almost, so I really don't know how much use I'll be."

"Then we'll just have to hope we can come up with something. In the meantime, Cyborg, get Starfire. Explain everything to her and then conduct your own search for this woman with her. If either of you see anything, and I mean anything, contact us. There'll be no way of knowing whether what we see or hear is real, so be suspicious of everything."

"You got it, Robin."

"Take care of yourself."

A wide grin spread across Cyborg's face. "Always do." Looking at his forearm, Cyborg turned away from Robin and Raven and jogged off down the street, kicking up small puffs of dirt with the first few steps.

Robin waited until Cyborg disappeared over the horizon before speaking. "Raven, is everything okay with you? I've never known you to be so unfocused."

"I just feel weird having someone in my mind, that's all."

"I get the feeling it's more than that." Despite the mask, Raven could feel his eyes staring into hers, trying to glean some information from her. "You seemed really out of it even back when the alarm went off inside the Tower, like your mind was somewhere else."

"I told you, it's nothing." Raven pulled the hood on her cloak up, letting it settle atop her head and casting her face in shadow. Taking several steps backwards, she turned around, saying, "Let's just start looking for this woman."

"Yeah, you're right," Robin replied, catching up with her as they walked down the sidewalk. "We've got work to do." With Raven, there was no point in pushing the issue. Robin knew the conversation was done; he'd get nothing more out of her.

Robin cared deeply for all the Titans, but it was with Raven that he shared a special mental connection. For a brief moment she had seen into his mind, leaving a tiny portion of herself behind. While Robin had certainly not been given the opportunity to see Raven's mind, there was still a strange link between them. He doubted it was Raven's intention to create such a link, but it did exist…barely. It seemed to be little more than a window, through which Robin gained a heightened perception. Since the moment that bridge was forged, he had possessed somewhat of an intuition regarding Raven's feelings and emotions.

This was a valuable tool for Robin. The other Titans had no difficulty displaying their emotions, even when they wished for nothing more than privacy. The last day had proved all too clearly how one member of the team could react when strong feelings were involved. Normally the most outgoing of the team, Beast Boy had barricaded himself in his room. His actions were easy to predict and interpret.

Raven, however, was always slightly distant anyways, so her reticence was not an indicator in itself. Because of this, Robin was glad he had some sense as to how Raven felt. At the moment, Robin could feel something was different about her. Their bond was too weak for Robin to realize exactly what was troubling her, but he knew something was.

Over time Raven always came around, and time was exactly what Robin was going to give her. Eventually Raven would confide in Robin, as she usually did. He could tell it was difficult for Raven to share her emotions, for she had grown so used to bottling them up all her life. If their conversation, which had ended so abruptly minutes ago, was any indication, Raven still sought solitude when she was troubled.

For the time being, Robin would give Raven breathing room. With a dangerous and frighteningly powerful enemy targeting them, Robin had a greater priority anyways.

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So, for those of you who haven't realized it yet (hopefully most of you have so that the shock won't be so much), Beast Boy's role in the story is done. Finito. Now, before anyone starts spitting venom at me, let me just explain myself. I love Beast Boy, I really do. He's great. But he just didn't fit into this story. He's depressed about "Terra" and would be so totally and completely vulnerable against powerful emotional illusions. So he would suffer…extremely. And I thought it better that he just sit at the Tower than be subjected to that. So, I'm really doing a nice thing by not putting him in. Besides, he's so gloomy right now that he wouldn't be cracking jokes or anything.

Never fear though, he's going to play a huge role in my next story (which I have great ideas for already). If you're a big BB fan and can't stand any stories without him, then feel free to ignore me until I've started uploading my second story. I won't be upset.