XVI

Preparation

For the past few days, the mood around the Tower had been bleak. With the destruction of Azarath, the reality of what it was they were facing was etched in every window and carved on every wall. There wasn't a moment when the Titans weren't thinking about what was to come. Beast Boy was no exception. He walked out of his room towards the lounge thinking about what plans they would all make today.

The past's effects had been the worst for Zerrich and Raven, and understandably so. Zerrich's entire demeanor had changed since returning from his destroyed homeland. At first, it appeared on his entire person—the look of weights tied at every point of his body. The Titans Team knew that it was the despair of having lost not just his home, but his mission as well. He had come to Earth to prevent the very thing that had now happened. Azarath was gone. The valleys he had described before were destroyed, and the floating city had plummeted to its death in a fiery crater. There was nothing for him.

Then, a matter of days later, his determination came back. He started more research, worked on his spells, and even trained in basic hand-to-hand techniques with Robin. The Boy Wonder had commented on how little the man from Azarath had known, but had made a note that he was grasping the basics. Yet, with all this new energy, there was a very grave look and feel about him. He spoke very little, his dry humor gone. Everything had been about defeating Trigon, nothing less.

Raven was a different chapter. Beyond what Beast Boy had been told about her initial reaction, she was just as stone cold as usual. Beast Boy shook his head as he walked. No…she was even more shut off than before. Raven wouldn't admit to it, but in the past couple of years, she had learned to govern her emotions to a point where she could experience…something. Even if it was all of one moment, it was something. Now, that tiny bit of progress in her was gone. She showed no hurt or pain. She showed no emotion whatsoever.

While Raven and Zerrich were the ones more closely torn by it, Beast Boy was in no way ignorant or unaffected by the past events. Sure, the team might have thought otherwise on occasion, and Beast Boy knew he should be more sensitive. However, that was the problem. Everyone else had his or her little specialties. It wasn't about fighting abilities either. Robin was the leader, the one everyone turned to. Raven was the level-headed one that made her best attempts at keeping everyone else as centered as possible. Starfire was the one who always seemed to be full of positive energy. Even in depressing moments, she knew how to console the others. It was usually very subtle, but it often seemed that while Robin was the detective of the Titans, Starfire's knack for solving problems with some basic common sense could be uncanny. Sometimes the innocent mind could see what the hardened one was blind to.

Then, there was Cyborg. While the two could relate on that off-work level, at least Cyborg had the responsibility and know-how of all things technical in the Tower. Beast Boy had none of those traits. It wasn't about his honed abilities on the battlefield. He was the goof on the team. And that's what Beast Boy often used. Sometimes, all the team needed was a good laugh or some lightening up. He wasn't doing it because he wasn't aware it was inappropriate, it was the best he could do to try and break the solemn mood.

He was aware of the quiet in the lounge as he walked in. Robin sat with a control pad of some kind in hand. Starfire sat next to him, assisting where she could. Cyborg was playing on the Gamestation, something that immediately caught Beast Boy's attention. Finally, someone's trying lighten up around here! The thought of going at it one-on-one became inviting, and Beast Boy made his way to the other end of the sofa. There, a distant Raven sat reading some old book. As Beast Boy made it to the other side of the sofa, he suddenly noticed Zerrich taking up the last space. He, too, sat with a book in hand. Both the sorceress and the mage were deep in the pages of their material.

The green Titan had to shake his head quickly a moment. Beast Boy would sometimes get uncomfortable watching Raven just sit and read like that. All that peace and quiet—all that stillness. How could she stand it? And, suddenly, there was another one just like it taking up the last space of the sofa.

"Duuuude!" Beast Boy finally said. "We got two of 'em now?"

The next moment caught Beast Boy off guard. Zerrich's right eye continued to read the tome in his hands. The left one, however, arched up and glared at Beast Boy. The two eyes looking different directions might have normally looked slightly comical, but the way the left eye gazed at the green Titan made his spine shudder all on its own. He smiled weakly as he put up a hand. "That's okay. Floor in front is just fine. Eheh!"

Turning around and flopping to the floor, Beast Boy sighed. The second Gamestation controller was no longer as inviting as before, and the changeling placed his elbows in his lap and rested his head in his hands. "Hey, Robin," Beast Boy said without looking up. "I was thinking. Do we have, like, any other plans besides that super gun thing we're still working on?"

"We've got some worldwide," Robin responded. "I've already sent word to the Justice League. They're devising different ways to either combat or remove Trigon."

There was something strange about Robin mentioning the Justice League. Beast Boy knew that the Titan Leader hated having to go to them for anything, and up to this point he never had. It wasn't about some dislike for the League, he just felt that this was his team and his city. His responsibility. Robin was putting his personal feelings aside for what he knew was the smart thing to do, and wasn't that Robin's ideology; fight smarter, not harder.

Of course, extra training never really hurt either.

"They gonna end up out here?" Cyborg commented, the action on the screen in front not pausing.

"They'll be staying as they are. Best guess is that Trigon won't be arriving here any time soon. He's used up his strength going to Azarath. Raven seems to think it'll be some time before he's able to try another jailbreak."

Beast Boy looked over his left shoulder at Raven. She continued to read, not even acknowledging her name being spoken. Maybe she hadn't heard. Beast Boy doubted that. Her reaction bothered him a lot. How long would it be before Raven would open up again? Sure, it hadn't been much, but what little change she'd shown had taken so long. How long would it take this time?

"Titans East will be heading home in a day," Robin continued. This afternoon's patrol will be the last one here. They'll rest up and head out tomorrow."

"Sure good of 'em to come out on short notice," Cyborg said. "Then to stick around and help us out and give us a breather? Really went out of their way for us. I'm positive they…"

About that time, Cyborg's game cut off and was interrupted by the Titans' own insignia on the screen. Everyone looked up as the image switched to a shot of Bumblebee.

"S'up, team? Copy me?" came her voice.

Robin leaned forward. "Go ahead, Bumblebee. What is it?"

"Thought you might be interested to hear what we got. Found one of these runnin' around by its lonesome on Fourth Street and Clayton." Bumblebee angled her communicator to her other hand. In it, she carried the busted mask of a modified Slade drone. "I kinda hoped it might lead us to somethin' bigger, but it musta realized we were tailin' it. Just gave up runnin' and attacked us. Couldn't do much else but kill it."

"Just one?" Robin asked, to which Bumblebee nodded. "Never seen one on its own before. I'm guessing you don't think it's a malfunction."

"No more than you do," Bumblebee quipped. "Got some weird vibes from this one, Robin. I got the team scopin' the area out, but you guys know the city better'n we do."

Robin nodded. "On it." The screen went back to Cyborg's game, his battlebot having been KO'd during the transmission. Robin stood up. "Beast Boy and Cyborg, we're going to check things out. Starfire, while we're gone, check in with the restoration crew at the observatory. Let's go, team."

That was all that needed to be said. Beast Boy was right behind the other two Titans as they left for the garage. Beast Boy gave one last look behind him to the two still sitting on the couch. Then, he and his team were off.

-

-

His concentration could not be broken.

He made sure every aspect was in proper working order, every machine, every conduit, every candle and every rune or glyph surrounding him. It simply would not work if there were even the slightest flaw. This spell was not the primary incantation. It was simply the doorway. Not the final door that would unleash Trigon under his control, but there would have to be a start. Trigon would need to regain his strength. He would need his sanctuary for when he arrived. Only Trigon could create that protection, but not with most of his energy depleted.

There was always some way around everything. Years of computer hacking taught him as much. He repeated what he had been chanting for near twenty minutes, and slowly the response came. The runes on the floor began to glow, the hum of his operating system behind him grew louder and the bright light from the candles and energy spires that he'd built became even brighter. The room was alive with activity. Soon, a spark of energy flared in front of him, like miniature blue lightning. Two more sparks flared off before a portal began to take shape, dissolving and returning with each new flash. The energy from the portal created a blast of heat against his face as he continued to chant.

Then, the portal lanced out, striking his face with a bolt of lightning. Only the electric arch maintained itself between him and the portal. His eyes began to glow a bright blue, interrupting his chant. His computers began sparking and firing behind him, the energy load too much. The entire room began to glow a bright white, feeding enough energy to make the one needed spell possible.

Then, the bright blue portal turned a menacing red. The room soon followed.

-

-

"I don't get it," Robin shook his head, holding the drone's faceplate in his hand. "Why in broad daylight? If this isn't a malfunction, what was it doing?"

"Dunno," Bumblebee shrugged. "But it was on the move fast before we caught its attention. It sure acted like it had some place to go."

"And you didn't see any others?" Cyborg asked over his shoulder. He held his arm out slightly as he took a reading of the area. Robin could see that the panel on his arm plate came up negative.

"Nope," Speedy answered. "At least, none out in the open like this. Mas and Menos are checking out the sewers in case there was something underground, but so far they've simply complained about the stench."

"This makes no sense," Beast Boy chimed in. He poked at the remains of the drone's body, and Robin half expected the thing to explode simply because it was Beast Boy poking it. An instant after the changeling's finger made contact with the drone's armor, the inner workings within the head clicked on. Lights and servomotors buzzed loudly and startled the young Titan. Beast Boy quickly looked at Robin.

"I didn't do it."

Robin took a breath to respond, but Cyborg cursed suddenly. "Big problem, guys. That drone's producing a signal."

Robin narrowed his eyes. "What kind of signal?"

"No idea," Cyborg answered, "but I'm picking it up from multiple spots all around the city."

"What?" Robin walked over to Cyborg. "So there are other drones within the city."

"Dude," Cyborg looked up. "When I say around the city, I really mean around the city! They're surroundin' us!"

Robin looked at Cyborg's display map. Sure enough, on the zoom-out view, there were dozens of blips around Jump City's perimeter.

"What is this guy planning?"

-

-

"Hrrnngh!" Raven grabbed at her chest, eyes wide, and bent over from her seat on the couch. The tome in her hand flumped to the floor.

"What?" Zerrich asked. He put his tome down and was at her side. His healing energies were at the ready, but he couldn't tell what was wrong.

"Something's happening," she grunted. "I…I can feel...it's starting…"

She grunted quickly, squeezing her eyes shut. "Fight him," Zerrich said. "Try the ritual we found…"

"N..n-no," Raven shook her head, "that's not it. I can…feel his power. He's doing…doing something. It's everywhere…hurts…"

Zerrich placed a hand on Raven's shoulder. His fingers took on a light blue glow as he searched for the pain. It was hard to pinpoint a cause for her suffering, and he quickly realized there was nothing he could do.

"I'm sorry. I can't find anything."

"I didn't think you were going to," Raven huffed, looking up at Zerrich. Through the hurt, she had the slightest smirk. "I suppose I appreciate the eff-hrrrnnnngh!"

She squeezed her eyes shut yet again as both hands grabbed at her chest. She came off the couch and fell to her knees on the floor. Zerrich felt helpless and frustrated. He could do nothing, and he didn't know exactly what was happening. Sure, guessing the source wasn't too hard, but if Trigon wasn't coming, then what could it have been?

Then, Raven's eyes opened. Brilliant white light flared out of them, countering the lamps in the ceiling. Quickly, the girl put her hands over her eyes, and Zerrich's own eyes grew wide in a strange combination of confusion and fear. Then, Zerrich looked out the window, and his eyes grew a little wider.

-

-

"Woah!" Cyborg exclaimed. "Picking up new energy signals. Off the charts! Whatever's happening, it's scrambling my readings." He put his arm down and looked at Robin. "I can't tell what's goin' on."

"Then I'd look to the sky, Sparky," Bumblebee said. Robin turned to look at Bumblebee, then to the skyline that had caught her attention. A bright red glow could be seen in the distance. Suddenly, Robin noticed, the glow began to climb into the sky.

"It's over there, too!" Beast Boy shouted. Robin turned to see that the red glow was everywhere, climbing for the air in a menacingly slow manner. Robin could tell that the red glow was bending slightly. Quickly, Robin understood.

"It's surrounding the city."

He had been correct. The red energy didn't continue straight up. It bent inward all around them until finally it met at the top. The entire city was bathed in a red glow, surrounded completely by this energy field. Every Titan, Robin knew, understood exactly what had happened. They were all trapped. Nothing was getting in or out. Jump City was now cut off from the rest of the world.

And Trigon would be soon on his way.

-

-

Raven was trembling.

It wasn't from fear or shock, or even anger. Her nerves were simply shot by whatever it was that had happened. Her energy was completely zapped. She continued to stare out at the ocean from the couch, watching Zerrich with his hand at the window doing the same thing. The water took on a red glow, reflecting the field of energy now trapping them all. While it was further away she could see the lapping of the ocean waves from outside the wall, trying to fight their way in. It was also easy to see for another reason—the bay water on the inside of the field was now completely still.

"He used me," Raven said, quietly.

Zerrich turned his head. "He tapped your powers?" The way he asked the question seemed more like he was confirming the obvious. Not for the here and now, but for the future. Zerrich was wondering the same thing she was. Could her father do this again? Was she even more powerless than she first realized?

"Even across dimensions, he can do whatever he wants with me."

"He is imperfect," Zerrich answered, "or they wouldn't have trapped him the first time. He has his weaknesses. What of that spell you mentioned, the one that centralizes your mind. Something Malchior taught you to fight hypnosis?"

"This wasn't hypnosis. I was aware of everything happening. I just couldn't stop it."

"It's worth an extra look."

"He can tap into my power without going through my mind. How can we stop that?"

"We can try the Astral Curtain spell…"

"Even if that could act as a damper, we would have to perform the spell during his arrival. We don't know exactly when that will be."

"I'm not about to give up on this. He has destroyed far too much to be allowed to continue. To break from his prison and start over again." He pointed a finger a little too sharply at Raven for her liking. "And you're not giving up either."

Raven glared at Zerrich. "Face it. The two of us are not about to conjure up some magic spell that will send my father packing. He's a demon. He's immortal. A god."

"Feh," Zerrich growled, looking back to the window. "There's nothing godlike about him. He's a twisted evolution. We've just allowed him to go on for this long. Because of our beliefs in pacifism." Zerrich sighed. "There must be something we missed. Perhaps a spell to push Trigon back through when he tries to arrive. If we can force him to use all of his power each time…"

"Wait a minute. Back up just a little. Evolution? What's this all about?" Raven was confused. Zerrich had never mentioned anything like this before. When he didn't answer right away it was all she needed. "No more secrets. What did he evolve from?"

Zerrich paused. "We…weren't entirely sure."

"But you believe it, whatever it is you think you know. Now, tell me."

Raven eased herself off the couch, walking on weakened legs towards Zerrich. His head turned slightly in her direction, looking over his shoulder to the floor.

"I had figured they hadn't told you. Up until recently, I debated bringing it up…but I didn't think it was crucial. Telling you would have been more than useless, but possibly a damaging detail as well."

"I've had my…we've lost our home. I'm about to lose another one. How much damage could it cause now? This must have been some secret if I didn't know about it."

"Then they kept it a pretty good secret from all of us."

"What?" Raven was growing slightly impatient.

This time Zerrich turned to face Raven completely. "He broke away thousands of generations ago. Either because he chose to leave or because he was cast out. Regardless, he was at one time no different than us."

Zerrich took a breath. "Trigon is from Azarath.

-

-

The dirt puffed up a bit before finally collapsing in. A pair of tiny green claws came out, and attached to them was a small gopher. The green animal pulled itself from the dirt and morphed back into Beast Boy. He stood up and looked directly at Robin.

"No good," he said. "No matter how deep I dig, I end up hitting the field. I couldn't even tell you how far down it goes…"

Practically interrupting Beast Boy was Robin's communicator. He pulled it out and switched it on. Aqualad's face appeared on the screen as the ocean-fairing Titan treaded water.

"No such luck out here. This thing goes all the way to the ocean floor. We tried digging under, but the field is there too. I can't think of anything else we could try."

Robin kept a grim expression. "All right. Meet up with us when you can." He clicked it off and looked at his team. "There's more here than just Trigon at work. If what Raven said is correct, his powers should be too zapped to do anything like this. She also said being in his prison dimension would keep him from reenergizing very quickly."

Cyborg spoke first. "Well, we know what helped to create this energy dome. Each one of those signals I caught before the overload? One of Slade's modified drones. They were taking up spots all along the outskirts of the city. Probably had some underwater too." Cyborg pointed to a smoldering melted pile not ten feet from where the team stood. "And, it probably ended up taking whatever this new guy had left in his arsenal, but it sure did the trick."

"He's somehow creating substitutes for Trigon's power. I don't know how, but if he's the one that unleashed that Firnusium and the one that helped to create this dome…"

"Then, Trigon might not need to use any of his power whatsoever to come knockin' if he wants," Bumblebee finished.

"We have to find him," Robin started walking away from the dome wall. "We have to find him and stop him before he succeeds. He might be crazy, but he can bring hell on Earth if we don't stop him in time."

"Dude, we already searched the city," Beast Boy said. "I mean, how do we even know he's in here? He wouldn't be dumb enough to trap himself, right?"

"No. He's here. He thinks he can control Trigon. If he were going to, it wouldn't be from outside this dome. It's more than just keeping us in—it's to keep everything else out."

"Giving Trigon the time he needs to gain back his powers," Cyborg said. "Looks like the Justice League ain't helpin' us on this one."

Robin pulled his communicator back out. "Starfire, how are things at the observatory?"

"They are slightly ahead of schedule," she responded, "although I fear that even our increased efforts may come too late."

"Keep them at it. We're going to try and find this old apprentice. If we can't find him in time, you might be the only thing that can stop him."

"Let us keep our spirits high. I wish you the best of luck. And please, let no harm come to you."

Before Robin could react, Cyborg towered over his left shoulder and looked down at the small monitor in the Boy Wonder's hand. "Yeah, we'll all be just fine too, thanks for asking about us."

On the other end, Starfire blushed a shade that was dark even for her orange skin. "Er…my apologies. Of course I wish the safest return of all my friends!"

Cyborg grinned. "I know ye' do, Star. Just joshin'."

"Uh…Robin out," the Titan Leader spit out quickly as he closed the communicator. Then he looked over at Cyborg. The other was still grinning.

"Hear that? If I bring you home with all sorts of scratches, she'll probably kick my butt."

"Let's just go," Robin muttered.

"Yeah, about that whole, 'going' thing," Beast Boy said. "Where do we start? We've checked this city top to bottom."

"We start by doing a better look at what signals might have been broadcasting while this event was being orchestrated. There has to be a source. We didn't have that before."

Cyborg's wrist panel popped open. "I have a recording of those signals against a map of the city. Let's see if we can't find something this time that I missed…"

-

-

Raven had her eyes closed. She was chanting in her mind, trying to calm herself down. She'd had to do that quite a lot in the past weeks. Now, for some odd reason, she felt embarrassed chanting out loud. She took a slow breath and began to speak.

"You should have told me before," she said, her eyes still closed.

Zerrich said nothing. He wasn't ignoring her; there was simply nothing more for him to add.

"Why didn't anyone tell me? If it was to hide the truth from the people, why wasn't I told?"

"There's a good chance that they didn't know either--those closest to you. I can't say for sure how many people do...did. Even what I know isn't the entire story. What allowed him to become what he is? Why? And why did we let him go?" Zerrich walked over to Raven. "But what he is now is no different. And that we must stop him has not changed."

Raven thought hard for something to respond with. But, the truth kept screaming within her mind. Finally, she let it be spoken. "I don't know what to do. I don't know how to stop him. I can't stop him."

She waited for Zerrich's rebuttal. He only stared back at her. For a long time they said nothing, until Zerrich looked to the reddened sky out the window. "Then perhaps it is about finding those who worship him. This villain Robin is hunting for."

"An old apprentice of an arch enemy of ours," Raven said. "Stopping him will only delay my father."

"Any delays are welcome. Anything to give us more time to find the thing that can stop Trigon." Zerrich turned to look at Raven. "Have you really given up? Do you honestly believe your father will win?"

Raven couldn't look at Zerrich anymore. She wasn't very comfortable looking out the window either. She turned instead towards the couch, her cloak wrapped around her, trying to remove her from her surroundings. Such a thing was never successful, even on a normal day.

"I'm sorry," Raven finally said. "I know you came here looking for something in me that could stop him. I think you overestimated what I could do. If I felt I could have stopped my father, I probably never would have left Azarath. I must've really disappointed you."

There was a hand on Raven's shoulder. It didn't make to force her around; it just stayed there. "We aren't done yet. And the only way you'll disappoint me is if you give up."

Raven finally worked up the courage to turn around and look at the Man from Azarath. "What else can we do?"

"There is another spell I never taught you. The one that wards my person from the mind, whether to query my own or to search through my energies or spirit. I don't know how effective it would be against a demon—imortal or otherwise—but it's a simple enough spell to try."

Raven nodded once. "Show me what you do."