Beginning A New Chapter

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Chapter 3: What a Trip!

The Pit's Infirmary

A few hours later Bard and Lifeline were ready to go. Lifeline and Bard were standing over Raven, who was still out in her trance.

"Is there anything that I should know about her mind?" Lifeline asked. "Exploring the human mind can be very treacherous if you don't know what you're doing."

"Yeah." Bard nodded. "I've been in her head. Different aspects of her personality, like her courage, anger, and happiness, are represented by basically different versions of Raven dressed in different-colored costumes. Her brave side, which is represented by herself wearing a green version of her costume, has a bit of an attitude problem, but she is harmless." Bard then remembered something extremely important. "I have to warn you, Lifeline. You must watch out for, and be very careful around, a version of Raven dressed in red. She represents Raven's anger and her darker side. She either will have four red eyes or look like our father Trigon."

"Trigon?" Lifeline blinked.

"A demon." Bard shrugged. "It's a long story."

"I…see."

"You ready?" Bard asked. Lifeline nodded. With that, Lifeline used his powers to enter Raven's mind along with Bard. Raven's mind looked like the surface of the Moon: gray, dark, and full of craters. The sky was black like the depths of space, dotted with stars of varying size, brilliance, and color.

"Wow…" Lifeline's jaw gaped as he looked around. "It's so…serene. So quiet. So peaceful."

"It has to be." Bard explained. "Her powers work differently from mine. She can't let her emotions run too rampant or else her powers could go out of whack." Lifeline nodded in understanding.

"Now where do we go?" Lifeline wondered. Bard only shrugged.

"Just wander around till we see someone, I guess." He smiled when he saw a familiar figure. The figure appeared to be Raven, only her cloak and hood was bright pink, and her long-sleeved leotard costume was a darker shade of pink.

"Let me guess, she represents Raven's girly side?" Lifeline guessed. Bard shook his head.

"Close." He answered. "This is one of the facets of Raven's personality. Speaking of which, hi Happy." He waved. The pink-wearing Raven squeaked delightedly. With a big smile on her face, she ran up to Bard and gave him a big hug.

"Hi, bro! What are you doing in here?"

"Looking for regular Raven." Bard explained. "I know she comes in here to meditate on occasion. Have you seen her?"

"Sure! Follow me." Happy giggled, taking off into a run. "Voom voom!" A giggling Happy spread out her arms and made noises like an airplane.

"Oh-kay…" A very confused Lifeline blinked. Bard chuckled.

"Don't worry, it's not that complex. Obviously, the pink-wearing Raven is her happy side."

"Happy, why did you bring them?" One personality that had the same colors as Raven, but reversed yelped in fright.

"Relax, Paranoia." Happy reassured. "The cowboy is Raven's brother Bard, remember? He knows not to bring strangers in here without good reason."

"Can we kill him? Please?" A red-cloaked version of Raven inquired with an evil smirk.

"No, Anger. Go find some way to occupy yourself." Happy told the red-cloaked Raven.

"Well, what about the doctor?"

"Anger!"

"Alright, alright! I'm leaving! Geez!" A huffing Anger disappeared in a flash of red light. A gray-cloaked Raven carefully and nervously walked up to Bard.

"Raven is up ahead. Please help her." The gray-cloaked Raven whimpered.

"Don't worry, Timid. We will." Bard reassured. He and Lifeline continued onward until they met up with the true Raven, in her dark blue costume.

"Hello, Jonny." Raven greeted, facing away from Bard and Lifeline, sitting in a meditative manner. "I was wondering what kept you."

"I had to regain consciousness." Bard answered.

"Who is that there with you?"

"This is Lifeline." Bard introduced the Joe medic. "He helped rescue us, the people that rescued us beside him wanted to know how we ended up unconscious, but you were the only person that saw it." Raven nodded as she turned to face her half-brother and the medic.

"Very well, but I would appreciate it if you don't look at my other memories." Raven approved. Lifeline nodded.

"I understand. All I want is to know what happened to you anyway." Lifeline put his hands to the sides of Raven's head, and his hands began to glow pink…

Begin Flashback

Titans Tower

"So what do we do now? I'm bored." Beast Boy complained, slumping on the couch.

"What else is new?" Raven grumbled from a chair, her nose in a book.

"Well, we put Cinderblock away, so that's out." Robin remembered as he was playing video games with Cyborg. Suddenly, there was an explosion. "What's going on?" Cyborg immediately ran towards a nearby control panel.

"There's a bunch of intruders! They trashed the security system!" Cyborg shouted. The door exploded, revealing several masked men, dressed in white uniforms with some armored pieces, pouches on the belt, and carrying large rifles.

"There they are! Get the muties!" One of the uniformed men yelled before he smacked an attacking Beast Boy with a pipe. Two others joined in, almost like sharks sensing bloodied prey.

"No!" Cyborg exclaimed in horror as he tried to fight several men off.

"We have to stop them." Raven grunted as she put up a shield. Terra and bard were blasted backward, knocked cold.

Why are these guys here? Robin thought. None of us are mutants. "Titans! Fall back!" Robin ordered sharply. "Raven, take Terra and Bard and teleport out of here!"

"But, Robin…" Terra started to object as a wincing Bard helped her up.

"Now! That is an order!" He snapped.

"Very well." Raven nodded as she grabbed onto the other two

"Not so fast, mutie!" screamed one guy as he aimed a shotgun at Raven and fired.

"AGGGGHHH!" Raven screamed in pain as the shotgun pellets lodged in her shoulder as she teleported away.

End Flashback

"That's it. That's all I remember." Raven nodded as she broke the link. "You may leave my mind now."

"Thank you." Lifeline nodded. He and Bard started to leave.

"Wait…" Raven stopped them. "What about the others? I know Beast Boy may not have made it…but who is left?"

"I…" Lifeline sighed. "I think it would be best to explain it to you when you wake up." Raven nodded in agreement.

"Hold on." With that said, Bard and Lifeline exited Raven's mind.

"Poor kid" muttered Lifeline "She really saw that?" Bard confirmed it with a sad nod.

"I'm afraid so."

"Does she have any relatives I can contact?" Lifeline wondered. Bard scrunched his face in thought. "I don't know, to be honest. She hates Trigon's guts, and I don't think she has any idea where her mother is since Azarath was destroyed."

"What about you?"

"Other than Raven? I don't have any family. I don't count Trigon as a family member. Actually other than the incident last year, I haven't heard much out of the bastard. I myself have no clue what happened. I was away visiting my girlfriend." (1) Bard replied as the two walked into a waiting room where Terra was sitting. Suddenly, an alarm klaxon blared. "What is that?"

"The alarm!" Lifeline remembered. "Cobra's here. Get downstairs! You too, Terra."

"What about Raven?" The blonde earthmover inquired. "She's safe to move. Grab her and go downstairs. There is a shelter we put guests in in case of Cobra attack. Follow Bree, she'll show you where it is."

"This way." Bree motioned. Bard grabbed Raven as he and Terra followed her.

"Is it much farther?" Bard asked as he carried Raven.

"We're here! Quick, get in!" Bree ordered.

"What is this place?" Terra blinked, looking around.

"This is a shelter we have here for visiting guests or civilians in case Cobra attacks." Bree explained.

"What's going to happen?"

"To be honest…" Bree admitted. "I don't have a clue."

"Damn…" Terra grumbled. "We gotta do something here."

(1) - This happened in the three-part episode entitled "The End". I've seen all three parts now.

Next chapter: Let the fight begin!