Well... that was a shock, wasn't it? The following chapter takes place the next morning. And for those who are in denial, yes the "unmentionable" did happen. Now let's see the aftermath.
Chapter XIII - A Journey into the Mind
"Dearest Lady Raven,
I fear a great danger is beginning to unfold. Her Holiness Azar had awakened quite frightfully last night and informed to me she experienced what she believed to be a vision of great chaos. I am writing to you now to ask for a favor. I am sure Master Lieutenant Raphael has already notified you of the recent attempt by the masked human named Rift to gain access to the Seven Weapons of Azarath. This, I have heard, is the second attempt at these Weapons, the first being three years ago. I feel it is best we do not risk a third attempt. With the greatest of swiftness I implore you to return to New Azarath as soon as possible in order to secure the Seven Weapons. I need for you to come meet with me in order to create a magical seal to protect the Weapons from falling into the wrong hands. I apologize for the inconvenience, but you are one of very few whose souls contain the mark necessary to pass into the gated room that contains the Weapons. Her Holiness Azar cannot be bothered for obvious reasons and for some reason I cannot make contact with your mother. Please come soon.
- Seraph Yordan"
Raven sighed as she read this message, left to her through her communication book—a new one to replace the one digested thoroughly by Silkie years ago. Grabbing a quill pen, she wrote back that she was currently in someone else's body and therefore could not perform the necessary spells herself but she can go there to teach Seraph Yordan how to do it.
Closing her book and standing up, she walked towards the door, her eyes resting on the crystal bell that hung before it. She sighed and wondered where Changeling was. He had been away from the Tower all night and did not answer any of her calls. The other Titans shrugged it off and said he probably needed some space, but Raven was still concerned. If she were in her own body, she would've searched for his aura and looked for him, herself. But no, she was in a useless body that could only shift into animals.
She had so much to tell him, so much to apologize for. She realized that it truly was her fault and that she had handled their fight very poorly. "Come back soon, Gar," she said. "I'm sorry." She lifted her hand and gave the bell a little push, letting it ring sweetly.
…
"A deal is a deal!" Ra's al Ghul cried, spitting into Slade's mask as he did so. "And the deal was that you give me information on Batman if I give you my assassins!" His voice echoed around the meeting room situated in his underground base in Gotham City.
"No," the former Deathstroke replied coolly. "The deal was you kill the Azaratheans. And you have failed to quite horribly."
"Grr… do you think you're getting out alive?" al Ghul threatened. "I have guards situated at every exit. You may have come in easily but I assure you you will not get out."
"I figured as much," Slade shrugged as he lifted up a briefcase. "Consider this… compensation for your lost assassins and my assured exit."
He gestured towards the briefcase in his hand, which al Ghul greedily snatched up. Motioning one of his assassins to come over and hold the briefcase for him, he quickly opened the lid, revealing dozens of files of Batman within. Picking up the top file, he flipped through its contents, stopping at two photographs, one of the notorious Dark Knight and one of the billionaire Bruce Wayne.
"Intriguing…" the leader of the League of Shadows hissed as he beckoned the guards to allow Slade to leave. The men left, leaving al Ghul to flip through the contents of other files—revealing the identities of Nightwing, Batgirl, and Alfred Pennyworth, the location of the Batcave, Batman's past, and schematics of all his weapons and equipment amongst much more.
He giggled maniacally as he wondered what he could do with this information. He could make copies of all these papers—tweaking it to have mostly false information of course—and sell it to all of Batman's greatest enemies at a very handsome price. He could exploit all the information on Batman's equipment and use it for his own weapons. The possibilities were endless!
Outside the base, Slade pressed on a device in his ear as he walked out the dark alley. "Rift. Rift, can you read me?" Hearing nothing, he grumbled as he entered a black limousine. "Back to the private jet, Wintergreen," he said. "Our business here is done."
When the limousine had reached some distance from the League of Shadows' base, Slade took out a small remote with a single button from his pocket and pressed it. An explosion and the sound of screams reassured him that the deed was done.
…
"Stop!" a cry was heard. Rift's arm stopped in midair as he looked up with bloodthirsty eyes that widened in shock. Before him stood Raven, her hand encased in a dark orb that was aimed directly at him. He lowered his arm.
"Put that down," Rift instructed her. She did not relent. "Would you please put that down?" he repeated with much more force.
"Leave. Him. Alone," she shot back.
Rift looked at her, then back at Beast Boy, then back at her. "This is not the end, Raven," he roared. Raven suddenly felt time stop as all movement was frozen. Everything felt a blur as she heard a single voice in the air: "I will take two revenges on you for your two sins against me. One for today… and one for the first sin."
Beast Boy woke up with a start. He felt a great pain in his head, though he didn't know whether it was from the nightmare or from the events of the previous night. Speaking of which… what did happen? Opening his eyes, he suddenly looked around.
Where was he?
He was sleeping on a strange bed in a large bedroom. There was a sound like a shower running. The sound stopped. Five minutes later, a man wearing nothing but a towel around his waist came from the bathroom door.
"Raven," said he.
The next thing he knew, Changeling was running across the lawn of the Crowe's house as fast as he could. Flashes of memories and images from the night before slowly leaked back into his mind. "No…" he mumbled. "No…"
By the time he made it to Titans' Tower, he was breathless, his feet aching and his chest on fire. Bursting into the Main Lobby, he immediately began calling Raven's name. Finding no one there, he began searching the living room and kitchen for any sign of her. In dismay, he did find a sign—a note written by Raven that said simply, "Titans, I have some small business to take care of in New Azarath. I'll be back shortly. – Raven"
Cursing his bad timing, he dropped the note in dismay and began trailing lifelessly towards the elevator. Changeling slowly made his way up the tower, his feet shuffling against the floor. His mind was blank except for a single thought: "What did I do? What have I done?" Before he knew it, he found his way towards the doorway of Raven's room. Dropping down and sitting against the wall of the hallway, he covered his face with his hands.
"What have I done?" he said to himself in distress. Raising his voice as loud as he could, he cried, "Garfield, you stupid idiot!"
The wall he was leaning against suddenly seemed to disappear as he fell right through it and into Raven's room. Looking back, he saw a portal he had inadvertently created by his outburst of anger. Scratching his head, he waved the portal closed and crawled up into a little ball, hugging himself as if he were hugging Raven.
"I'm so—so sorry, Raven," he whimpered. "I'm sorry I did—this—to you. No… No, I can't tell her. I can't tell her what happened. She'll—she'll kill me. She'll kill herself—she'll… I can't tell her. She can't know!"
He beat himself with his hands. "Garfield, you idiot! How could you have done that? How could you?" He lay on the ground, contemplating what to do when Raven returns from New Azarath. How would she react? If only he had a way of knowing if Raven would want to know and forgive him or not know and forget everything.
He lifted his head as an idea presented itself. Glancing over to Raven's vanity at the corner of the room, he picked himself up and walked over towards it. Gulping nervously, he reached his hand towards the hand mirror that rested delicately on the table.
…
Changeling awoke on a rocky terrain floating in a black void. Sitting up, he felt a cool breeze brush against his skin. Looking down, he found that he was back in his original green body. "Alright," he said to himself. "I have to find the other Ravens and see what they think." Cupping his hands and bringing them to his mouth, he cried out, "Hello? Ravens! Where are you?"
Walking aimlessly, he continued calling out to the emoticlones but to no avail; none of them approached him. Not looking where he was going, the changeling suddenly reached the border of the small island he was standing on and lost his balance, falling into the endless space underneath. Screaming with all his might, his fall was suddenly broken by tree branches. Crying in pain, he fell from branch to branch before making a sharp landing on a grassy field.
Looking around, he found that he was in the middle of what seemed like a forest. "What the?" he said aloud. "Where am I?" He suddenly gasped as a hand appeared over his mouth and roughly shoved him aside. Wrestling with his captor, Changeling was eventually shoved onto the side of a tree. "Lemme go!" he cried with his eyes closed as he struggled to break free from the person who had suddenly attacked him.
"Shut up! What are you doing here?" he heard his own voice say.
"Wha—?" Changeling gasped. Slowly opening his eyes, he nearly fell back in shock upon seeing who his captor was—a young man who looked exactly like him with one exception: his skin was completely blue from head to toe.
"Who—who are you?" he stammered.
"I'm you, idiot," the man replied.
"Wh—what? I'm supposed to be in Raven's mind! How are you in Raven's mind? And let me go!"
The blue Changeling released his grip on the green one. "The mirror is designed to enter the mind of Raven's body. Normally it's her mind but if—let's say a body-switch happened—then it would be the mind of whoever's in her body at the time. Meaning you."
"So… this is my mind?"
"Bingo."
"But that's no help!" he shouted. "I have to be in Raven's mind. I have to ask her emoticlones what to do!"
"Well that's just too bad, isn't it?" the blue Changeling snapped. "You got us in this mess because of your stupid actions. Now you're the one who has to pay for those actions."
"Alright, alright, calm down. Why so serious?"
"Because that's my name. And I have every right to be mad at you because you always listen to Foolish, Brave, and Happiness and never me or Wisdom. Don't even talk to Wisdom; he's got a bone to pick with you."
"Alright, alright already. So what do I do now?"
"You'll have to talk to yourself about what to do," Serious replied. "Unfortunately like I said before, Foolish, Brave, and Happiness pretty much have all the power here. The ones you should be listening to won't have enough power to persuade your decision."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
The emoticlone sighed. "In your mind, you have to come to the emoticlone; we don't come to you. And in your mind especially, the Big Three I mentioned before are the easiest to find because you always go to them for help. Ones like Wisdom will be very hard to find because you almost never consult him. It was only by pure luck you ran to me first. Otherwise, Foolish would probably won't even tell you Wisdom or I even exist."
"So what, I just keep on walking and talk to whoever I can for help?"
Serious shrugged. "It's your choice what to do. But just remember, this is the most serious thing you've done and you need to think this through." He turned away as if to leave, but then glanced back and gave Changeling one final piece of advice: "And whatever you do, do not talk to Rage."
The blue Changeling then dashed off, disappearing into the thick jungle. Changeling's shoulders drooped as he wondered what to do next. He then picked a random direction and began walking aimlessly. He noted the strange atmosphere—everything felt dream-like but real at the same time. He wondered how often Raven would go into her mind. Raven… now just the thought of her made him sad.
It wasn't long until the ground of the forest changed from hard soil to soft and squishy mud. Grimacing at the mud, he looked around to see that forest now replaced with what seemed like a murky swamp. A foul odor burned his nose. "He—hello?" he cried aloud. "Who's… uh… which of me lives here?"
"Welcome, Hot-Shot," he heard a voice call out. Changeling turned around to see a brown version of himself sitting on what appeared to be a throne crafted from tree roots. "I thought I'd see you soon enough."
"Who are you?" Changeling asked as he approached the emoticlone warily.
"I'm your best friend," the brown one winked. "They call me Foolish."
He scoffed. "Well I've been told not talk to you anymore." He proceeded to turn around and walk the other way before a brown leopard suddenly leapt above him and landed right in front of him before morphing back into human form.
"And who told you that? The wise guy Serious?"
"You bet. Now move."
"Look, that idiot has no idea what he's saying. You know he and Wisdom were against you dating Raven? If I remember right, he said somethin' like, 'A relationship like that is bound to have something bad happen eventually.'"
"Well, he wasn't half wrong, was he?" Changeling grumbled.
"Hey, hey, hey! Ignore that little minor detail, alright? Point is, I was one of the emoticlones that really pushed for you and Raven. It was kind of a one-man army. Well, I mean Love was there, too. And so was Happiness and Brave. But it was basically a one-man army. And I won! Thanks to me you got the girl of your dreams. Won't you listen to me again to help you through this little misstep?"
"No." Changeling pushed the brown copy aside as he made his way across the mud. "If you could point me to wherever anyone else is, that'd be great. Otherwise, I'm not listening to a word you say."
"Fine then!" Foolish said. "But heed my warning: If you tell Raven, what would she think of you? You'd just be the immature and childish boy she always accused you of. How would she react if she thinks during the entire fight you dealt with it like an adult? Just tell her that the entire night you thought of different ways to say sorry to her? Then, you'd prove her wrong and she'd see that you are even more mature than her. But if you tell her the truth, she'll never forgive you and never see you as a childish little boy."
"I'm a childish little boy because of you!" Changeling screamed. Reaching down, he scooped up some mud, forming a ball before turning around and flinging it at the emoticlone. To his surprise, there was no one there. From the distance, he could see a little brown parrot flying away.
After a while of walking through the mud and eventually reaching land, he came across a emoticlone that strangely looked almost exactly like him. He walked up towards the man, who was skipping stones at a small lake.
"Ex—excuse me?" he said to the emoticlone.
"You're excused," the other Changeling replied. "Actually, you're not excused. Not after what you did to Raven." Upon closer inspection, Changeling realized that this emoticlone's green skin was slightly darker than his own.
"Br—Brave?"
"You got it."
Changeling sighed. "What happened last night?"
"Rage had way too much power," Brave explained. "And Foolish was just egging him on. Love and Sadness were too weak at the time to do anything. Serious sent me to find Wisdom, hoping that with their combined forces they could control Rage. Unfortunately, because of all the alcohol you drank, Wisdom's realm was completely filled with fog and mist and I couldn't see anything. By the time I got back, things were too late."
"So if Rage was getting out of hand, did—it—almost come out?"
"The Beast? What makes you say that?"
"I mean… when Raven's Rage got outta hand, Trigon came out. Isn't that the same here?"
"No, it doesn't exactly work like that. The Beast isn't like Trigon. It's like White Raven."
"What do you mean? I thought the Beast was a bad thing."
"Not necessarily. When the Beast first came out years ago, it was originally Rage's pet. After that, though, Wisdom and Serious kind of took over its reins and slowly got closer to it. It started listening less and less to Rage and more and more to the others. When it was under control, Wisdom made a cage for it with seven locks. It takes all seven of us—me, Rage, Wisdom, Serious, Foolish, Love, and Sadness to unlock the Beast. You see, the Beast is not a bad thing as long as you know when to use it."
"But still… I'm such an idiot."
"Yeah, you are," Brave remarked as he skipped another stone.
"What do you think I should do?"
"I dunno. Things like these, I don't have much jurisdiction on," he admitted. "If I had to, I'd say apologize to her. Don't tell her exactly what happened last night. That would kill her. But do apologize for her. That way, she'll feel better. Sometimes, it's better to keep the ones you love from the truth because you know it'll hurt them."
"Is it?"
"Look, I'm not the love expert here. Love is. But he's hiding from you. But he and I did talk sometimes and I remember him saying: 'Love is wanting what's best for the other person. Love is when their needs suddenly become more important than your own.' It all sounds really cheesy to me, but you get the point. If Raven finds out, she'll be devastated. The best thing for her is to not know. That's what she needs."
"I—I guess you're right." Changeling reached down, picked up a stone, and tossed it into the lake as well. "By the way," he said. "Is it true what Foolish said? That Serious and Wisdom were against me dating Raven?"
Brave nodded reluctantly. "When you first kissed Raven, you were listening to me and Love. Serious and Wisdom were against you."
"Why is that?"
He shrugged. "That's just in their nature. But look, Gar. What you have to understand is that they're not always right. I mean look at Nightwing and Raven. They listen to their Serious and Wisdom all the time. And are they always right? 'Course not. They were against you kissing Raven and wouldn't you say that kissing her was the better option? Yeah, it was. Sometimes in life, the wise choice isn't always the right choice. In the end, that's what you want to do: the right thing. And I'm not just talking about now, I'm talking about everything, past, present, and future."
"Future?"
"You'll know what I mean later," Brave nodded. "It's time you go back now and make your decision."
"Okay," Changeling nodded. "Thanks for your help," he said before walking away.
As soon as he was far away enough, Brave gave a small smile as another emoticlone with the exact same shade of green emerged from a bush. "Is he gone?" the newcomer asked.
"Yeah, Brave. Thanks for letting me borrow your appearance," Brave said as he shifted back into his original form—a Changeling with yellow skin.
"No prob, Wisdom," the real Brave said, approaching from his hiding place. "But couldn't you have talked to him, yourself? Why'd you have to trick him into thinking you were me?"
Wisdom smiled. "He was looking for me. For the first time he was. That was how he found me. When you're looking for help, all you have to do is call out and help will come. Sometimes, even when you don't know it."
…
Closing his eyes, Changeling meditated, "Azarath Metrion Zinthos." Opening them once more, he was back in Raven's room and back in Raven's body.
Standing up, he walked over to Raven's shelves and began searching. Eventually he found it—a small box that contained several small vials of dark red liquid. Replacing the box to where it belonged, Changeling held up the vial and unscrewed the top. Glancing towards the crystal bell that hung from the doorway. Giving it a little ring, he whispered, "I'll make this right, Raven. I promise you I will," and drank the potion.
…
Raven emerged from the Chamber of the Weapons with Seraph Yordan next to her. "Thank you, Lady Raven," the seraph bowed her head in thanks. "I am assured now that the Weapons will remain safe from harm thanks to your seal."
"The pleasure is mine," the sorceress replied. "It relieves me as well that we will not have to worry about the Weapons any longer."
The two walked together down the hall until they reached the transport sphere. "Very well," said the seraph. "I shall go first and into my chambers. I suppose it is time for you to return to Earth?"
"I'm afraid it is," Raven nodded. The seraph bade her goodbye as she adjusted the rings of the transport sphere, which glowed a bright yellow. Placing her hands on the sphere, the seraph was bathed in yellow light before disappearing.
"Alright," Raven said. "Time to go home and find Gar." Adjusting the rings on the transport sphere until it glowed blue, signaling the main hall where the entrance was, Raven placed her hands on the sphere and let it teleport her across the castle.
She opened her eyes and saw her body floating in a bright blue abyss. It was a very relaxing feeling and she decided to take her time. It was then that she began to notice a strange warmth in her chest. Rubbing it with her hand, she felt it grow stronger and stronger. Immediately, Raven doubled back as a bright blue orb flew from her chest and flew away. In seconds, a green orb of light pierced into the body.
Changeling awoke with a start. "Alright," he said as he rubbed his head. "It's time to do this. I have to talk to Raven. Where am I?" He looked around and saw that he was floating in what was like a sea of blue light.
"That's funny," he remarked. "I thought she'd be in a hallway or something. Azarath sure is weird. What is this place again?" Scratching his head, he tried to recall when was the last time he was in a place like this. The sea suddenly erupted into a blood-red color.
He suddenly remembered Raphael's words from three years ago, telling them that New Azarath had many objects called teleport spheres which could transfer a person's body to different places in Azarath instantaneously. He deduced that Raven was in the middle of teleportation when he had switched their bodies back. Then as soon as the teleportation was complete, he would simply ask someone to create a portal back to Earth for him.
As soon as he realized this, however, he felt an intense ringing in his ears as his forehead became increasingly sweaty. He heard a loud beating like drums, rhythmically beating as if driving its sound into his ears.
"Some rooms in the palace are gated. It's basically a defense mechanism built into the palace to prevent intruders from reaching certain rooms. Officers and government officials like Raven, Captain Etzel, and I have a mark on our souls, a mark that acts basically as a key to "unlock" the gates. It's a defense mechanism to keep out intruders. For instance, if anyone were to disguise themselves as an official or switch bodies with them, they wouldn't be allowed in because their soul doesn't contain the mark."
The realization of what was happening slowly dawned upon Changeling as he remembered what Raphael said. If Raven was teleporting from a room in the palace, the green boy realized, then surely it would have been gated. Raven would have been able to teleport without problems because her soul contained the mark. But now that they switched back… his soul doesn't have the mark.
"J—just out of curiosity, what does happen if someone without a mark try to go into a gated room?"
Changeling felt an penetrating force begin to wrap itself around his body. He felt his body and his mind being slowly compressed. Something clogged his throat and he had difficulty breathing.
"If a regular person like you or Starfire or Cyborg were to accidentally use it, then it would magically—how do I say this?—torture you… mentally. Spiritually, rather."
Changeling's arms and legs felt like they were about to spasm but the force that surrounded him kept them constricted. As the beating sound grew louder and faster, he realized he was hearing the beating of his own heart.
"It's not much. Just enough to subdue you. But if it senses a magical presence… perhaps if a magical spell being used during the transportation… its effects are much more—lethal."
He couldn't breathe at all and felt like he was losing consciousness. He felt his eyes bulging out as if being gouged from his sockets. His legs and arms felt like they were being ripped apart. With every attempt of a breath he took, a thousand needles were being thrust into his body with a powerful force.
"Very slow and painful. But effective. If one is exposed to that kind of mental and spiritual strain for long enough… it'll be an inevitable death."
Beast Boy gazed at the sphere in horror.
He could almost imagine himself screaming in pain inside that thing.
He screamed in pain with all his might and felt the invisible needles pierce his throat.
Back on Earth, Raven was sitting in her room examining her body once more. "That's strange," she thought to herself. "How did I get back in my own body? Did Gar switch us back?" Reaching into her pocket and taking out her T-Communicator, she was just about to dial Changeling's number before suddenly realizing where he was. "Azar," she gasped as she dropped the communicator. "I was still in the middle of teleporting. It wasn't complete yet! And it was gated, too!"
Her eyes widened as she hurriedly snatched up the communicator and called Changeling. "Pick up," she whispered. "Pick up."
"R—Raven?" she eventually heard a weak voice say.
"Gar! It's me. Are you okay?"
"Where… am… I?" he wheezed.
"Just—just stay right there, you hear?" she panicked. "I'll—I'll be there as soon as I can. Just stay there! Don't focus on the torture, it'll only make things worse."
"Raven…" she heard faintly.
"Just hang in there, Gar. I'm coming!" she cried.
"Raven… I'm sorry." She could almost hear him whimpering in tears but did not understand why. "I'm sorry… I love you."
Thrusting the communicator down, Raven shouted, "Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" and constructed a portal to Azarath. "Oh my Azar," she cursed.
But just before she could enter the portal, a voice stopped her. "Raven!"
She turned around to see a man standing at the door to her room. The man had taken a cab to the tower and had been banging on the door until he was finally let in by Cyborg. The man now stood panting at the doorway.
"Raven, can we talk please?" Malcolm Crowe asked.
~Difficult Words to Say~
fusiontech45 - YES YES YES! Thank you! You understood EXACTLY what I was going for! The exact morality of both Beast Boy's actions and Raven's handling of the fight. Thank you for that! I wanted the fight (and the aftermath) to be roughly equally Beast Boy and Raven's fault. Though it could be argued that Beast Boy's actions were far worse than Raven's, I am taking into account all the bullying that Raven did on him before they were dating as well, because all of that did factor into Beast Boy's drunken decision to violate Raven's body. However, Beast Boy did commit a great atrocity and he will certainly deserve all that will happen to him in the future. The question is can he be redeemed?
Kaarlinaa - I hope my PMs cleared up anything. NO he's not gay, he was just doing it to hurt Raven (and he was really drunk).
BartWLewis - Aw, looks like it did happen... How will this affect their relationship? Read on to find out!
JasonVUK - Well, let's hope Beast Boy was too drunk to really... feel anything, y'know what I mean? But that's not the point. The point is how will Raven react when she does find out?
Thebookthief18 - Weird? Yeah, I thought so too. But trust me when I say it had to happen. You'll find out what I mean in the next few chapters.
CleoArrow - Nightwing will take Batman's word and wait a few more years until he does propose to Starfire but at least we know it'll happen! As for Beast Boy and Raven... yeah their relationship looks like it's taking a turn for the worst. Read on to find out what happens next!
Bluedog197 - Hahaha wasn't it shocking? Even more shocking plot twists are bound to follow. Keep on reading! :)
TheLurkingShadowWillow - Thanks! I hope this chapter was just as exciting? Eh, probably not but there's still so much of the story left to cover. Keep on reading! :)
Guest - I, uh... don't really know what you mean by that. But I'll take it as a compliment?