Alright! I posted that one-shot last Thursday. And it has received excellent attention thus far in my opinion! To those who didn't read the Author's Note at the bottom last time, it is called Dark Side. So I suggest you give it a read :).
Also, just watched Suicide Squad today! I can't really decide who my favorite character was. Deadshot was awesome, Harley was hilarious, yet El Diablo just had to go and act heroic at the end. Although I still found his fire shaman form to be rather cool.
So not exactly a record breaker last chapter, but I'm not complaining! It was a lot of feedback despite the fact that neither Raven or Beast Boy were present. Don't worry, you're getting your fill of them this chapter!
So here's to hoping for more people to respond to in my annual Mailbox Time!
Mailbox Time!
JP-Ryder: Yep, pretty much summed up her actions right there. Could explain a few things really. As to your question, there could be, it's just that it takes a while for the voice of reason to ever be heard. Especially since there's a mind manipulator at play here. And I know this seems off topic, but I really like your profile picture! Lucario is actually my favorite pokemon! Hope you enjoy this chapter here!
RPGPersona: Maybe, who knows with Silkie. Was Beast Boy really as careful as you say? The scarab is Reach technology after all, and it is highly more advanced than that of Earth's. I think that next question was answered by the later actions. Yep, those two fell for the trap. I just couldn't think of something that would be disgusting enough to try and capture my imagination along with yours. So, just to give you some knowledge, Zatanna casts spells by speaking in a backwards tongue. So in a way, she is a sorceress. Obliviate was spelled backwards, and that was to give Robin a clean slate. So yeah, it wasn't Kaldur. It was a glamour casted by Zatanna. Cyborg should have Silkie test more of his stuff. No, his memory hadn't been modified yet, rather Zatanna had been controlling him. And then when she knew she had all three together, she worked on modifying their memories. As to Silkie, we shall see what becomes of him. What is the Justice League thinking? Hope you like the chapter man!
Foamsatmouth: Well, if you loathe her now, just wait until you see what's in the future! Hope you like this chapter! And here's the catfight I promised in the PM I sent you!
Hairul The NightRage Beast: Hey, she does have the ability to wipe people's memories and modify them. So I thought, why not use it? Hopefully Raven can undo the damage in the future. We'll have to wait and see though. There will be a large clash between those two. And the JL wasn't exactly doing nothing, as I wrote before, they were stopping the path of chaos across the universe. Anyways, hope you like the chapter man!
Bluedog197: So far, only four people have been affected... that I've let on that is. BWUHAHAHAHA! Anyways, that is how Zatanna casts her spells. By speaking in a backwards tongue. She was asked by Rocket once if she was fluent in it. As to the hate on Spitfire, it's okay. If you haven't watched the show, then I suggest you should. Because seriously, it was awesome to watch to me. Hope you like this chapter as well man (Here's some popcorn for you, just don't eat it till after you've read it).
.Stranger.13: Woohoo! Another person who likes this story above all others! Celebrating on my laptop back here! I'm glad you like my writing style, and how I'm potraying the characters! I hope that you continue to love this story man! So here's the next chapter for you to read! ^_^
J-Rob95: Yes, it could indeed cause issues. The only way they can come to light though is if she is caught. Which doesn't appear to be happening anytime soon.
Lilfitz04: Thanks Wyatt! I hope you'll like this chapter as well!
Guest: Well, here's the more you wanted anonymous person! And it's okay if you don't read the Author's Notes. They're just there to show how crazy we are!
HornedGoddess: Heh, sorry about that. I thought what Zatanna was going to replace their memories with was the BBxRae you would have needed in the chapter. Anyways, definitely piling it on this chapter. As Raven finally finds she has a crush on someone. And yes! Suicide Squad was amazing! Just watched it today before I posted this!
Since last time: 7 more favorites, 10 more followers (total: 57 favs, 68 follows)
Updated: August 10, 2016 11:30 P.M.
Disclaimer: Why are oranges orange? And I don't own anything.
Chapter Eight: Just A Penny
Raven slowly opened her eyes as she came out of her sleepy state. Everything was a blur around her as she tried to remember where she was at. She could still feel the pouch she was carrying on her back when she had packed up her room. There wasn't a breeze, so she felt she was in an enclosed space. The ground felt hard, bumpy, and rough beneath her. That didn't make sense to her… didn't containment cells have smooth floors? And what was with the bright red specks standing out in her still somewhat blurry vision.
Finally, something in her brain clicked. She recognized what the red specks were.
Her vision finally cleared up and helped confirm that she wasn't in a containment cell. She saw the rocky ground she was still laying on. The bright red specks were glowing out in the dark abyss around her. Just to make sure, Raven shakily got herself up from off the rocky ground to look around her. There was no land out beyond ten feet in each direction. The rock was floating on thin air.
Raven was in Nevermore.
Judging by how well rested she felt, she guessed that she had been asleep in here for about six hours. Maybe a little less. No one, not even her emoticlones, had tried to bother her.
It could have meant that Beast Boy's idea had worked... Or that the members of the Young Justice team were somewhere in her mindscape now. Hunting her down in the maze that was her mind while she had slept. Though the odds of them even knowing that her mirror was a portal into her mind were zero to zill. Add the fact that her mindscape could be about the size of the moon and you end up with the smallest needle in the world's largest haystack.
'Still, just to make sure.' Raven thought to herself as she floated up into the air and got into the lotus position. If the Young Justice were parading around in her mind, then she would have to resort to desperate measures on their expulsion or her escape.
When she floated up to a certain height, her eyes glowed white with power as she let her mind's influence wander out over her mindscape in all directions. Carefully probing for anything suspicious along the way.
It was mostly empty space with a few rocks here and there. Raven was especially careful as her mind went over her individual emoticlone's realms. Since there was plenty of stuff in these that she would have to search through to find a foreign signature. From objects, to the emotions her individual emoticlones projected. And with how loud a couple of her emotions were, there was an easy chance of her missing someone if she didn't check throughly enough.
Wisdom and Knowledge's realms didn't require any close looking at all. Since one was a quiet library, and the other was a small house on the top of a mountain overlooking a replica of a gleaming white city. Both were always so peaceful and quiet, that they required almost no effort to search through. Raven was able to move on through these in a mere few seconds before spreading farther outward into the abyss that was her mind.
After Knowledge and Wisdom's realms were Timid and Brave's. They were almost side by side with each other just like Knowledge and Wisdom's had been. Timid's realm was almost as quiet as the first two. Even the littlest of sounds could frighten her off. Her realm was also easy to search through. Although Raven did have to check the fears and insecurities her emoticlone projected to see if any were foreign.
'Do I really think of myself as fat and ugly?' Raven thought after checking a certainly long chain that almost stretched across the whole realm of Timid's fear.
As Raven finished up, she took note of the small green forest growing where some of the walls used to be. It gave her more of a feeling of confidence and worth. Maybe her insecurities were starting to come down a little bit.
Overall, Timid's realm was a piece of cake.
Brave's realm, however, was a whole other matter entirely.
Her emoticlone had still been at her task. The huge red doll was now in multiple pieces on the ground, and Brave was still actively expressing her controlled anger on it. The amount of emotion in the realm was so thick, that Raven had to check more closely inside it. It took her what she thought to be two minutes to make sure there was nothing suspicious in her realm. Before she finally let her awareness spread outward again.
Next came Happy, Rude/Sloth, and Rage's realms in that order. These three were the toughest by far for Raven to mentally search through. Mainly since one, Happy's realm was nothing but pink forest and joy and almost all things Starfire. Two, Rude/Sloth's realm looked a lot like a garbage dump, leaving a lot of stuff to look through that almost made Raven mentally sick. And three, in Rage's realm, since she was demonic by nature, Rage was capable of expressing a wider range of emotions than her fellow sister emoticlones. In there, Raven had to sort through a wide variety of emotions, and see if any of them were foreign or not. They ranged from happiness, sadness, brave, even affection for some reason, to anger, malice, hate, and above all, rage. Hence the name. In all, it took about fifteen minutes to look through all three realms separately.
Finally, the last one that was farthest away from her central mind. Ever since a certain dragon had crossed her path.
Affection's realm.
Raven let her mind enter this realm slowly, prepared to fly back the second things got disgusting. The vision of a certain doll was still in her mind. But when her mind entered the realm, she was surprised at the sense of peace she felt. There was no lust this time.
She quickly found her emoticlone lying on her back in the sand on the sunset beach that signified her realm. She was completely at ease, some might even say she was content. Unlike a little while before, when she had been… doing stuff. There was almost no emotion to sift through in her realm. The little she did find indicated that her emoticlone was acting as if she were in a dream. There was no lust, or any heart break from her emoticlone. Rather, she seemed to be on the verge of wanting to express herself again.
Raven had a crush on someone. Raven almost couldn't believe it. She thought her emoticlone would be too afraid to try and have herself feel feelings for someone again. Yet here she was, lost in dreamland, thinking about some random guy in her mind. Raven pondered who it could be for a moment, then she remembered the task she had been at. So she finished her search of the realm.
Her mind wandered out a little farther beyond the realms. She made sure that there was no one in the space around her mind. She went out a little farther than was necessary, but she wanted to be certain. Azar knows what would happen if someone got lost in her mind. Especially when that someone was hunting her down.
Finally, seeing there was absolutely no threat whatsoever inside Nevermore, Raven let her mind flow back from all across the abyss around her. It took a full minute before all of Raven's awareness was back in her own body. And it took another minute before her eyes stopped glowing, and she settled back onto the ground.
No one else was inside her mind. Raven almost couldn't believe it. Of course, there was almost no chance they didn't know what her mirror could do. But still, Raven almost smiled to herself from relief. 'I don't believe it. Beast Boy actually had an idea that could have worked… although there is one last thing to check.'
Raven started floating again, but this time she flew off the rock she had been resting on. She only had to go a short distance through the air before she came to the central part of her mind. Where The Forbidden Door out of Nevermore was. If his plan had worked, as he promised it would, then he would drop a surprise item inside the mirror to let her know. Said item would appear in front of the Forbidden Door, now that Rage wasn't tinkering with it anymore.
When Raven had asked him back then how she would know if the item was from him or not, he had grinned that mischievous grin of his. "Trust me Raven, you'll know it the moment you see it." Raven had no idea what the item could possibly be. The only thing she thought he had on hand that she would recognize was her mirror, and it was kind of hard to throw a portal through itself.
Still, as she landed on the ground, Raven was looking closely at the foot of The Forbidden Door to see if there was anything. On the off chance that there would be something she could see and recognize.
At first, her sight was catching nothing.
'Maybe the plan didn't work, or maybe he is still busy with his part… or maybe he forgot.' The last part seemed the most likely. It was Beast Boy. He forgot stuff almost all the time.
After another minute, Raven almost felt ready to scream in frustration at not knowing what was going on outside her mind. When her eyes caught sight of a glint shining from behind a small rock about three feet in front of The Forbidden Door. Raven immediately picked the rock up with her powers and moved it out of the way to see what it was.
It was a penny. A shining, copper covered penny. Made in the year 2005.
She also recognized it as the same one he had given her just a couple days before for 'Good luck.' as he'd said.
Raven stared awestruck at it, as so many emotions went through her body with just the one look. Nothing blew up around her, since she was in her mind. Had she been out in the real world, she might have leveled a couple skyscrapers. Might have. She still didn't know how freely she could express herself outside her mind yet. Nor did she want to find out herself in the near future. Yet for now, a surge of different emotions was freely coursing through Raven. And nothing was being destroyed. There was too many for her to tell what she was feeling. This small surprise item shocked something deep inside herself.
After about a few seconds of this, Raven finally became aware of herself. Her shock turned to slight irritation as she clamped down on her own emotions once more. She reset her face back to its usual stoic nature in the process. She just stood where she was for a few seconds, having an inner battle with herself.
When she was about finished, she had a thought. 'I guess he did have something on hand that I would recognize.'
Raven couldn't help it. She had to let out a small chuckle at the thought. It was an understatement to what had just happened. It was also far more hilarious than any joke he had ever told her.
Then Raven stopped chuckling as her face twisted with confusion. 'How is one penny making me feel all this emotion? It's just an object. And a worthless one. From Beast Boy!' She had to empathize the last part.
Still, Raven bent to pick the penny from off the ground. It was showing heads at the moment, but when she turned it over in her hand, she saw instead of the normal design, there was a small BB scratched into the imprint of the White House.
"Yep, definitely Beast Boy's." Raven said out loud. She went to put it in her pouch. She'd give it back to him when she got out. "Well, I guess this means it's safe to come out-" Raven started to say.
"What was from Beast Boy?" "Ohhh, did BB bring us something!?" "Is Beast Boy here, because I'm raring for a good fight!" "Oh Beastie Bear, where are you?" "Where's the damn green snot rag now?"
A chorus of voices spoke behind Raven, and she almost jumped in surprise.
Raven slowly turned around, hoping she had been hearing things. She then sighed from annoyance when she saw all her emoticlones standing behind her. 'I could have sworn they were all in their realms just a few minutes ago.' She thought irritably
"It's just a penny Knowledge, no he didn't bring you anything Happy, no he isn't here Brave, don't you ever call him that again Affection, and he is still in the real world Rude." Raven replied in a deadpan monotone to all the questions she had heard. Their was also Wisdom, Rage, Sloth, and Timid. But hey hadn't said anything.
"Hmmm, I find it strange that a penny made you call all of us here." Knowledge said.
Raven stared at her emoticlone strangely. "Wait, what?" Raven asked in a confused voice.
"Yeah, it was strange! I was in my meadow playing hide and seek by myself again, when I felt you calling for me really strongly! It was so weird! But in such a cool way!" Happy said excitedly.
"Was there any good reason you interrupted me from a good nap, or was this use of energy to teleport me here a waste?" Sloth asked in a drowsy voice.
"Yeah bitch! You better have a good answer for us! I was busy doing something important before your ****ing emotional call brought us here!" Rude said.
Raven was still staring at them blankly. "But I didn't call for you girls…" She trailed off at the end. Not really sure what she should say.
"I believe you might have called for us when you saw the penny there in your hand." Wisdom spoke up from beside Knowledge. Raven looked at her hand again.
'But it's just a damn penny!'
"I'm not sure if that might have been-" Raven started to say.
"Oh, was that penny from Beastie Poo!" Affection spoke loudly. As she leaned in closer to get a good look at the penny.
"Um, Affection. Personal space." Raven said as she pushed her emoticlone back with her powers. Raven was also slightly creeped out by how obsessed Affection had looked when she saw the penny.
"What? All I wanted to do was see what made you call me to you." Affection said in a somewhat sad voice.
"But I didn't call for any of you. It's just a freaking worthless one cent penny. That's all it is. And that's all it ever will be. Why would you attribute it to the reason why I would call for any of you? Especially you Affection." Raven said in slight anger. Still, it was enough to make her emoticlones shrink back.
Raven felt slightly good about it. Until Affection sniffled. "I'm sorry… I just wanted to see the reason why you called upon me inside your mind for the first time since… since…" Affection broke down then. All Raven could do was stare in shock at her own emoticlone. Surprisingly, Rage was the one to walk up and comfort her fellow sister. All the other emoticlones looked to Raven expectantly, waiting to see if she would do something.
Only, Raven didn't know what to do. Sure, it had been a few months since the incident, and she thought she had recovered from it. Heck, she was already supposed to be crushing on someone else, she didn't know who yet, but that wasn't a problem yet. Yet the sight of the emoticlone in front of her bawling her eyes out seemed to speak otherwise. Raven wondered what she should do… until she looked down at the penny.
"Fine." She decided to give in. You can look at it, but-" The penny was out of her hand before she could even finish speaking.
Raven looked at her empty hand in shock, before she looked back in front of her again to see Affection looking over it with wide eyes. There was no trace of anything suggesting she had been heartbroken moments ago. Rage stood off at a distance again, a wide smirk on her face.
Raven's left eyebrow rose at her emoticlone's bipolar change in demeanor. "Okay…" She trailed off, not sure what to say.
'Did I just get duped by my own emoticlone?'
"Oh, can I see what BB brought us Affection!" Happy shouted in a joyous voice as she appeared next to Affection. Who was still awing over the treasure.
"No, I want to see what made leader bitch here interrupt me from my favorite pasttime! Thinking up new cuss words!" Rude shouted as she pushed Happy out of the way.
"Oh no you don't! I deserve to know what he sent here for us!" Brave shouted as she shoved Rude out of the way. Raven wasn't sure what to think anymore.
"Why do I even bother with this? Sleeping is much more interesting than this." Sloth said to herself, yet she was on the other side of Affection. Looking over the penny in her hand. Hypocrite.
"That was mean you meanie!" Happy shouted at Rude. As she playfully shoved her away.
"Oh, why don't you grow up for once miss always full of joy!" Rude shouted back at the emoticlone. As she moved to push Brave out of the way.
"Hey, what about you stop being so rude for once in your life!" Brave shouted as she pushed Rude back.
"Can't stop what I am bitch! Now give me that worthless piece of trash!" Rude shouted as she used her powers this time to push Brave out of the way. And to snatch the penny from Affection's hands.
Before it could land in Rude's hands though, she was suddenly tackled by Affection. The penny flew off somewhere in the distance. "Oh no you don't! Beastie Poo's coin is all mine!"
Happy giggled to herself as Affection started to punch Rude repeatedly. "Yay! Play fight! I want to join too!" She said before diving onto the pile.
"Hey! I've wanted to kick Rude's *** for far longer than anyone else here!" Brave shouted as she did a front flip onto the pile. With her foot pointing down towards where Rude's head was. The front flip kick was super effective.
"Meh, too much energy to be worth it." Sloth said as a hammock appeared out of nowhere. She climbed up into it and fell asleep.
Raven just stood to the side. Her eyes unblinking at the shocking display going on in front of her. 'All this, over a stupid penny…'
Knowledge and Wisdom were now standing on either side of her. With Rage floating above the brawl cheering the fighters on. Yet, Timid didn't seem to be anywhere in sight.
'Well I doubt things could get any crazier.' Raven thought.
Oh how wrong she was.
"Hey, where did the ****ing penny go!" Rude suddenly shouted out. It stopped a round of punches from Brave, Happy, and Affection.
All four of the emoticlones looked around, trying to find it. Raven herself started to look as well, wondering where it had gone. She did have to give it back to Beast Boy, at least that was what her line of reasoning was. Only she didn't see the coin, instead, she caught sight of a grey cloaked emoticlone disappearing off into the distance. In the same direction where the penny had been. But why was she beyond the area where it could have landed...
Her eyes bulged. 'No way, is Timid…'
Unfortunately, Rude also found out at the same time. So there was nothing Raven could do about it. "There it is! Timid stole it while we were fighting!" She said in a somewhat shocked voice.
A loud "Eep!" was heard in the distance, as Timid figured out she was caught. Instead of turning herself in though and apologizing repeatedly, she ran off towards her realm. The other three were quite as shocked as Rude as to the identity of the thief for a moment.
"C'mon girls! Let's get BB's penny back!" Brave shouted as she flew through the air after her counterpart. Happy, Affection, and Rude followed along behind her.
Raven stared after her departing emoticlones, still in a state of shock. "All this, over one, worthless, penny?" She voiced aloud. Maybe she was still in dreamland, or maybe she was starting to lose her mind. Raven couldn't really tell.
Raven turned to Knowledge. "Am I going mentally insane here? Or is this all a dream going on in my mind?" She asked.
"Oh no, you weren't in Zatanna's spell long enough for you to go insane. And since you're in your mind, it's impossible for you to dream of anything in here. All that happened in front of you, did happen." Knowledge said in a matter of fact voice.
Raven rubbed her temple, she was starting to get a headache from all this craziness. "I'm not going to see that penny again. Aren't I?" Raven asked.
"Though that may be an exaggeration on your part, that is a very high possibility knowing all of them personally." Wisdom spoke up.
'Why couldn't I have just stayed calm when I first saw it! Now Beast Boy's going to throw a childish tantrum at me for losing his precious penny! And then I'm going to have to deal with it for... oh great, I'm going to be stuck with only Beast Boy after I leave my mind… fetch.'
"Why are they so interested in a penny in the first place?" Raven decided to ask.
"There are many reasons why they could be interested in it. Like the fact that it is probably one of the few items from the outside world that they could personally feel with their own hands. Or it could be because they are simply interested in what the coin is used for." Knowledge stated.
Raven scoffed. "A penny's only good use in the world is to waste copper and be used for target practice. And I'm sure as the nine hells existence that last time I checked there wasn't anything like here. Besides, I doubt those two reasons would be what made them fight each other over it."
Knowledge nodded. "Indeed, it actually couldn't. Those are just the reasons you would think of first." She stated again. Making Raven frustrated.
"Okay, so if those weren't the reasons, then why fight over it?" She asked.
Knowledge shrugged. "I can't tell you." She said.
Raven was fighting back her anger. "And just why can't you tell me?" She said, in a tone that verged on the edge of monotonous.
Knowledge shrugged again. "I don't know." She said.
Raven's eyes narrowed. "You don't know what it is, or you don't know why you can't tell me?" She asked threateningly.
Wisdom spoke up. "What I think she means Raven is that she does know, but for some reason, you don't."
'Okay, I just lost my only home yesterday to the girl who chased me away from the JL in the first place. Three of my friends are now trapped with her. Having Azar knows what done to them. I'm going to be stuck with the most annoying and immature green person on the planet whenever I decide to leave my mind. And now my own emoticlones are speaking to me in riddles!' Raven's eyes were glowing white with anger by the last part. She looked ready to take her anger out on something.
"Raven, I believe Wisdom may be right." Knowledge said, no fear showing in her demeanor at all.
"And what in the name of the nine hells is that supposed to mean!?' Raven shouted in a voice bordering on demonic.
"What it means is that I know the answer. The thing is, I can't tell you because you have to figure it out yourself. Mostly because if I interfered you would either A. Outright deny it. B. Lose control of yourself processing it. C. Take your anger out on whoever you blame for it. Or D. Accept and go along with it." Knowledge listed in a brisk tone.
Raven looked about ready to lose it. It was times like this where she just wanted to throttle her emoticlones. And she looked to be on the verge of doing so. When by some monumental force of will, she managed to rein in all her anger. 'All this emotion, over a single penny? I think I need to meditate.'
Knowledge and Wisdom let out sighs of relief. Seeing Raven calm down from her almost explosion. While Rage looked to be slightly disappointed. "If it may help, I'd suggest finding your answer at the source of the problem. Instead of trying to ask us." Wisdom said.
Those were actually pretty wise words. But…
"As much as I'd like to solve this problem now, that penny was here for a reason. And I think it's about time I left my mind and meditated." Raven said, while turning to face the Forbidden Door out of her mind.
"Okay then Raven. Just don't forget about the way your emoticlones reacted to it. It may prove important in the future." Knowledge said to the back of her head.
"Don't worry, that was something I doubt I could forget." Raven said monotonously, before she activated the Forbidden Door and stepped into it. Disappearing from her mind scape.
The remaining three emoticlones stayed in place for a minute. The only sound being the snores coming from Sloth.
"Do you think she'll connect the dots all by herself?" Rage suddenly asked in a somewhat nervous tone that seemed odd on her.
Knowledge shrugged. "She has to sister. If we eventually want to be one, and be with him, she'll have to."
"But why couldn't I have told her? I know full well what's going on in this mind of hers. And I wouldn't have minded being the one to spill the beans." Rage said.
Knowledge and Wisdom look to her. "You might know, but she still doesn't have a clue. If she were to be told now, she'd outright deny it. Or lose control. Or even worse, she could hurt him. And those are the last things we want from her if we ever want to be expressed in the real world again." Wisdom said.
"But what if we made her understand? What if I took control of her mind, and made her look through my-" Rage started to say.
"Sister, if you were to ever try and do that, Raven would just put you under lock and key again. And then we would have no chance at being expressed again. Since we know what being chained does to you." Wisdom said.
Rage winced at that as she rubbed her wrists. For some reason, just being trapped and chained, really brought out her father's dark side. "Fine, but at the rate she's going, it could take months! Years even! If she manages to live that long of course!" Rage shouted as she flailed her arms for emphasis on the last two words.
Knowledge grimaced. "Yes, there is a new factor to consider."
Rage only scoffed. "I still don't understand how the JL is even mad with us. It was our damn father who did all that destruction and chaos stuff. Not us. And certainly not my mate."
Wisdom frowned. "It is confusing. They normally don't pin the blame on family. Nor do they blame it on an innocent connected to said family." Wisdom said, as if she was contemplating something.
"So, why would they be after us?" Rage asked.
Wisdom could only shrug. "Who knows. It could be as they say… or it could be something we don't know about…" She trailed off. Not able to explain.
"Well, I guess we can only wait for now." Knowledge said.
"I guess." Wisdom said.
Rage scoffed. "Fine, but it better not be too long. I'm not the patient type."
You could have sworn that Knowledge smirked. "Trust me when I say this, we all know that. Including Raven."
Outside Raven's mind
A portal opened up from Raven's mirror. From it, Raven stepped out into the world onto rough ground.
At first, all she could see was darkness. She thought it was because it was night out, but when she looked up, there was no stars visible. That meant it could either be an enclosed space, or there was a lot of clouds out. Raven also took note of a pitter patter sound she was hearing. Possibly rain. But still, she couldn't tell why there was no light?
After a minute, her vision finally adjusted. And she found the reason for it being so dark was a little bit of both.
She was standing inside a cave, near the entrance where no light was coming in. Outside, rain was hitting the ground in big fat droplets. The clouds were thick high up in the sky, but there was no sun trying to peek out from behind them. It was night. Not that it would have helped, since the heavy rain made visibility almost a dream.
Raven looked away from the entrance. There was to much rain falling outside to tell where she was at anyways. Even her vision with its demonic perks couldn't penetrate that blackness. So she decided to see where she was staying at for now instead.
The cave wasn't much. It did look to go in quite a ways, but it narrowed more and more the deeper you went, giving it a kind of jagged cone shape. It looked to be about 100 yards in the farthest she would be able to go without using her soul self. With only fifty yards being a comfortable fit. And only the first twenty yards looked to be good enough to move around in. With the first ten yards closest to the entrance being about as wide as a small room.
The ground and walls were rocky and rough. As would be expected in a cave. There was a smoothish alcove that looked to have been dug out recently. By human or animal hands, Raven couldn't tell at first. It looked to be a good spot where a person could easily sit, or rest in if they wanted. But no one was currently in it.
For some reason, Raven couldn't find Beast Boy at first. The alcove looked to be a spot he would be, but no one was in it. So where was he?
Raven finally looked behind her, where her mirror was. She had to put it in her pouch anyways. Only, she was barely able to clamp down on her surprise in time at what she saw.
There was a green bear. Sleeping away on the ground beside her mirror. It looked to have been asleep for quite some time. Raven let out a small sigh as she realized that she was looking at Beast Boy. And not a wild bear.
She looked down at his feet (bottom paws, whatever). The claws on them were short and dull. Some even looked to be bleeding, as if they had almost been torn from the skin attached to it. She then looked back at the alcove behind her, and saw small specks of red on the ground in front of it.
Raven felt something rising up in her as she realized that he had dug out the alcove for when they arrived. Why else would he be sleeping here as a bear, and not in the place he so painfully made. She knew how painful it was to use his claws like that, since she had had to heal the claws on his hands many times before. Be it when he ripped one off, or when he shattered it against a villain. They were as much as bone to his body as his femur, or his skull.
She had also felt the memory of his pain for each claw when healing him. And for him to go through that for a while, just to make a spot for her to be comfortable… that was...
Raven clamped down on her emotions again. She bent over and picked up her mirror and put it in the pouch. 'Okay, no need to get emotional over that. I'll thank Beast Boy later. For now, I just need to meditate.'
Raven was walking over to the alcove to do just that, when she turned around one last time as she remembered the state of his claws. She then also noticed the pained grimace on the bear's face. He seemed to be in pain after what he had done. Raven sighed as she floated towards Beast Boy. 'He really didn't need to do that. Idiot.'
She set down next to him, and then went to work on healing his claws up. It took only a minute, during which she went through the memory of his pain once more. Her line of thinking had been correct, he had done it for her. If Raven hadn't been trying so hard to be unemotional, she might have blushed at the thought.
Then, as if nothing had ever happened, Beast Boy's claws were all healed up. They were long and sharp again, and shone a gleaming black in the darkness of the cave. The grimace was also gone from the bear's face. Raven almost chuckled at the silly grin that had replaced it. She barely caught herself in time.
'Alright, I really need to meditate.'
Raven floated to her alcove. And for the second and last time today, she got in the lotus position. She floated up in the air and took one last glance at the sleeping green bear. Thinking carefully about what he had done for her, even though it was likely they wouldn't stay in this one spot long.
'I'll thank him later. Yeah, later sounds good.'
"Azarath… Metrion… Zinthos… Azarath… Metrion… Zinthos…"
Thunder sounded in the distance. Yet Raven didn't take note of it.
She was already at her center.
Back in Jump City
"And you're certain of this." A deep computerized voice asked the hero standing in front of the large screen.
"According to Blue Beetle's scarab, only the changeling could be seen flying off in a direction that indicated he was heading towards the Northwestern Rockies. There was no sign of the demoness with him. Or anyone else for that matter." A young commanding voice spoke back to the large figure on the newly fixed screen.
The figure put his hand to his chin, as if he was thinking. "Is there any way for the changeling to carry the demoness with him through the traps that Zatanna set?" The figure asked.
The young hero shook his head. "I'm as stumped as to how the demoness managed to get away as the rest of us here." He replied to the question.
The dark man shook his head. In frustration, or disappointment, the young hero didn't know. "Do you at least have his exact position yet? The demoness is very likely to be wherever her protector is." The figure said in the same voice.
The young man shook his head. "The changeling flew up into a large storm several miles out from the city. It is covering the whole western side of the United States as we speak. So there has been no further sitings of him in the general public. For now, we only know what his original direction was. And I've sent fliers to certain general areas to try and find where he might have sheltered himself and the demoness from this storm."
The figure on the screen nodded his head. "Report to me if you manage to find something." The voice commanded on the screen.
"You got it Bruce." The young man replied.
The screen went blank. And the figure turned around to walk out of the Titan's Common Room. Just before he did though, he took one last look at the screen again.
'I might have failed you once Bats, but rest assured, I'm not going to be blind to the truth again. Not after Zatanna helped remind me, Star, and Cy their true colors.' Robin thought. Before he made a face.
'I can't believe I used to think of them as family… and then she had to bring his father here and destroy the world, along with most of the universe.'
Robin walked out of the room.
'I hope Starfire is okay out there in that storm. Hopefully my love for her will help her stay safe through the night.' Was his last thought before he retired for the night.
Author's Notes:
Well, that went downhill pretty quick. Good thing there's this huge freak storm going on over the Western U.S. Covering up Beast Boy's tracks real good in my opinion.
Anyways, hope you guys liked the chapter. I certainly did, especially when I was imagining the catfight there between the emoticlones. Although I've finally set up in here that Raven is indeed crushing on someone. But, being her, she doesn't know who it is. She does have to learn it for herself. Otherwise, one of those three actions would indeed happen. Yeah, Robin and the others have turned now thanks to Zatanna. But I kept the RobStar in for you guys. Zatanna wasn't cruel enough to change that.
So hope this answered some questions. Yes, Raven hid in her mirror. And yes, RPGPersona got it right. Any item that is in Beast Boy's uniform technically becomes a part of it. And when he transforms, his clothes transform with him. Making the item transform with it. Kind of like a walking safe, except to get to the contents, you have to knock out a very angry green bear. (Yeah, love to see someone attempt that idiocy.)
Keep the reviews coming! (Favorites and follows are also nice and appreciated)
Till Next Time
Allen
