Mind and Body

by Rusty Thebanite

In a world where comic books chronicle real events, but are marketed as fiction, no one can tell if such things as aliens, superheroes, mutants or monsters truly exist. However, enough eyes and minds have been opened to the possibility that strange and surprising consequences begin to take hold. Can Rachel Roth survive on her own in a world defined by the unknown? Will she have to?

12. Chapter 12

Mind and Body Chapter 12: Encounter on the Roadside

Cyborg sat limply in the leather chair with his arms on the outside of the armrests, his legs straight out, heels digging into the floor and chin resting on his chest.

"Are you saying you couldn't stop her?" Oracle said incredulously as she stared at all of the gloomy faces around her wheelchair, "You had the special shield I designed for the purpose, you had a strategy worked out before hand…you even had the unexpected assistance of these three jocks," she gestured to Bumblebee, Hotspot and the pouting Argent, "yet you still failed to capture her and bring her back here?"

"Look," Robin said with his arms crossed, "she was untouched by most of our attacks—only our most powerful attacks did anything against her, which we definitely didn't expect."

"What about something that was designed only to restrain?" Oracle said severely, "You must have thought of that?"

"Err…."

"You did, but you didn't use it? Or you let her go? It has to be one of those for you to act like that." She said. In reaction, Hotspot stood up and left the building.

Oracle watched him go and sighed. "Seriously, I don't know how Bats survived with you around."

"Hey!" Robin said angrily, "that was uncalled for!"

"Right, right," Oracle replied, "Sorry."

Argent was staring hotly at Oracle the entire time, and when Oracle turned to her, she looked away. "We weren't there to begin with, so don't blame us." She said.

"I wasn't," Oracle rebutted, "I was going to ask why you helped."

Argent blinked and replied, "I…well…," she flicked a glance in Robin's direction, "it was needed." She completed quickly, "without our help, their failure woulda been miserable."

"Mmm," Oracle said from her wheelchair, "a crush. Great, another fangirl—this one with superpowers."

Argent leapt up at that and left the room with a growl.

Oracle glanced around and asked, "So Bumblebee, does this mean you would agree to join?"

Bumblebee shook her head with a small smile, "No such luck. The unfortunate thing about animal-based abilities is that my instincts are extremely heightened. It's good in the midst of a battle, but 'fight or flight' is a particularly annoying one. I would inevitably betray you. Especially if the enemies are strong enough to capture what we faced today."

"What do you mean?" Oracle asked curiously.

"Oh, we managed to talk to the E.T." she said.

Oracle turned to Robin and Cyborg in disbelief, "And you didn't tell me this why?"

"I think Cyborg is just depressed at his failure," Bumblebee said, and then a wicked grin grew across her face, "But Robin is probably trying to keep the kiss a secret."

Robin was stricken by the casual dropping of that bomb, and Oracle was surprised into silence.

"…Care to explain?" she asked quietly.

"The alien was a girl," Robin said, "And apparently that species learns languages by kissing someone that already understands it."

Oracle nodded slowly, "I see…I'll leave it at that for the moment."

Argent coughed from the doorway, apparently hiding a noise that sounded suspiciously like a snort.

"Is something the matter?" Oracle prompted.

"Nothing," Argent said flatly.

"I guess I can leave that alone as well," she said, "…for now."

That morning, Raven and Beast Boy were both ready when Cael peeled open his eyes. His first view was the walls of the Raven-made valley and a bright blue sky with hardly any clouds. Then he noticed that there was a giant blue blanket wrapped around him, only leaving his eyes and mouth clear.

"I don't want you getting sun stroke in your sleep," Raven said as she sat cross-legged about five feet to his right.

Cael blinked. Come to think of it, other than those first moments they had met, all those years ago, he had never seen Raven without that cloak. Whenever she had gotten new clothes to match her growth she understandably sought privacy. He was completely unprepared for how beautiful she really was.

Granted she was a little short, but she had perfect proportions and carried herself with dignity. Life on the edge hadn't touched her body to the extent it had touched his own, thanks to her powers, but even so there was a hint of steel in her slender limbs. Her hair was cropped at the chin, but quite even, and the purple color shone with the reflected sunlight.

However, that didn't mean any more of her body was exposed to the sunlight. Her black turtleneck, long pants and boots still covered almost her entire body, and the skin of her face and hands was pale.

He shook himself loose of his bemused observations to carefully unwrap her cloak from his body and stand up. "Hmmm…," he said, "You read my mind, right?"

"This time, no," she said with a smile that started a sparkle in her deep purple eyes, "now that I can stop reading minds whenever I want, I've decided to only use it when it's absolutely necessary." Cael shook himself again and gave her the cloak back.

"Thank you," she said as she settled her feet on the ground and swung the cloak over her shoulders in one clean movement. Cael took in a breath and closed his eyes for a moment. By the time he reopened them, the cloak was back on, masking the body Raven had developed without his realizing it.

It might get a little dangerous for her to be around me, he thought, being completely honest about his body's wants, but I bet I'm old enough to control it…I think. He sighed, This is going to be difficult: I've never thought of her as anything but someone that needed help—at first—and later as the daughter I never had, but now my body is in complete opposition to that view. His mouth twitched ironically, looks like I need to start meditating again.

"Is something wrong?" Raven asked while Beast Boy groaned and covered his wolfish snout with a paw.

"No! No," Cael said with a laugh, "nothing's wrong at all." He was just forced to revise his views.

"Okay," Raven said suspiciously, "What about you, Beast Boy?"

"Let's just say I wish I could turn off instincts as easily."

Cael blushed at that and turned away quickly. Firing up his feet, he levitated from the ground and said, "Shouldn't we be going?"

Raven nodded—and Beast Boy turned into a falcon—before lifting off and setting off to the southwest, in the direction of Jump City.

They had been flying for about 45 minutes or so before Raven noticed the black speck on the horizon. Curious about the speck's erratic flight path, Raven stretched her mind towards it.

The shock she received was incredible. "Whoa," she said as she let out her breath.

"What is it?" Cael said as Beast Boy picked up her urgency and translated it into ruffled feathers, "Is something wrong?"

"It's that black patch in the distance," Raven said, a little out of breath, "it's sapient, and not human."

"Not human?" Cael asked, baffled, "how can it be sapient and not human?"

"As in its thoughts aren't structured the same way as ours?" Beast Boy suggested heavily, "In the same way that animals and humans have different core priorities, this mind is completely unconcerned with subjects any of the three of us might think of as paramount."

"And how do you know this?" he asked in irritation.

"Well if you would hold off on popping a vein for a moment," Beast Boy said with equal sarcasm, "you might remember that we mentioned our connection was closer than ever."

"Oh."

"Yeah, I sometimes get flashes of what she sees," Beast Boy said.

"It's coming our way," Raven warned.

A flustered Koriander zipped by them only to stop, swoop up, look around, groan and go back to searching for something inexplicable. All three stared at her with wide eyes.

"Ooh," Koriand'r said in exasperation, and then she spotted the three of them. "Excuse me," she said, "do any of you know where I can find some…in your language it is Neon, yes?"

"You're an alien, aren't you?" Raven asked.

"Are you not alien to these people as well?" Koriand'r asked in reply.

"Well that's one way to put it," Raven said heavily, "Beast Boy, what's the matter?"

"Duuuuude," he said slowly, "That's a real alien. COOL!"

"Excuse me," Koriand'r said in response, "But did that Earth Animal call me a 'dude'?"

"What," Cael said, "You're not surprised that he can talk? Or that he's green?"

"Are not all of the native species capable of this mode of speech?" Koriand'r replied, "and I have seen some much stranger colors on other individuals here."

Cael shook his head as Beast Boy piped up, "I like her!"

"I thank you, Little Green One," Koriand'r said with a smile, "But how are you not 'the frightened' when it comes to my presence? And where did you say that neon was, again?"

Beast Boy was in the form of a Pronghorn Antelope and had one of the "Budweiser" signs strapped to his back when he returned to find both Cael and Raven absorbed in Koriand'r's descriptions of life in outer-space.

"And so one of the tenants of the Tunite race decrees that any slaves that escape are to be slain on sight: they are quite an evil race of-."

"Ahem," Beast Boy said to Koriand'r's surprise, "I brought that neon you were looking for."

"Oh thank you, Little Green One!" she shouted in relief.

"You're welcome," he said awkwardly, "you can repay me by recapping what I missed. And just what are you going to do with that—oh, gross." He shuddered when Koriand'r snapped off the "R" and downed the contents after doing something to liquefy it.

Koriand'r took one look at his limp tongue and seized it. "You look sick," she said, "have some of this." And she dabbed some neon on his tongue before he could pull away.

"ACK!" Beast Boy shouted as Raven sprung up, her power flaring, "Pthooi, pthooi…ugh." he spat urgently to get it out.

"What is wrong?" Koriand'r asked innocently.

"Neon is poisonous, you ET!" Raven snarled, "You almost killed him!"

"What?" Koriand'r asked in fear, "No it is not! On the contrary, Neon is what flows through Tamaranean veins—we need it to access our inner energy and keep our immune system running smoothly. We can't live without it."

"I think you should tell us your name," Cael said severely, and Koriand'r bent her head in shame.

"My name is Koriand'r; or in your tongue, Starfire. But I did not know Neon was so deadly to the natives of this planet. Can you explain what your bodies replace it with?"

Cael looked at her with a raised eyebrow, then turned to his two companions. "It's your call," he said, "do we trust her?"

Raven shook her head shortly, but Beast Boy shrugged. "Honestly, First Contact could've gone far worse. At least my immune system would've eventually fought it off. But what if it had happened to you, Old Timer?"

"Good point," Cael said before turning back to Starfire, "I guess you're off the hook: if the one you poisoned is still willing to trust you, then I don't see why I can't. In any case, our bloodstream is composed mostly of iron. That's why it's red."

"Oh my," Starfire gasped, "how is it that your species survives?"

"Life finds a way," Raven said, "but I think the way to my forgiving you is closed."

"Come on, Rae," Beast Boy said with shining eyes, "She's an ALIEN! Oh, and she probably doesn't know Earth Anatomy."

"We'll see," Raven said slowly.

Robin was standing at the window staring into the harbor when Oracle wheeled her way up to his side. "You've been staring at the water for hours, Robin," she said, "please tell me why you are so worried."

Robin didn't react in the slightest, so Oracle continued, "Seriously, I think you haven't blinked since you were defeated so humiliatingly by a girl."

"Shut up!"

"Finally, a reaction. Now tell me what has you so tense, Robin."

Robin sighed, "Well, that Koriand'r mentioned she was running from some sort of interstellar slave trader or something. I'm worried they'll come here in search for her."

"Oh come on," Oracle replied, "The universe has had you humiliated enough for one day: you deserve a rest." Robin smiled at her before realizing what she said. Moments later, a sub-sonic wave washed over the town as the clouds slowly bellied out and broke to reveal the hull of a ship so large that it covered the entire city.

"God damn it," Oracle said.

"Oracle!" Robin said in shock.

"What?"

"You said 'God damn it'!"

"So, I'm Christian right now. Christians are allowed to say 'God damn it'. Especially when they have the 4th highest IQ ever measured and somehow forgot Murphy's Law."

Robin rolled his eyes at that, said "You're Agnostic!", and dashed downstairs to be joined by Bumblebee and Cyborg. "Where're your running buddies?" Cyborg asked Bumblebee, "Something tells me we'll need 'em."

"They'll be on their way immediately after they notice the giant floating metal thing," Bumblebee said. Then there was a noise as the door burst open, "In other words, " Bumblebee continued, "that's them now."

We have no idea what we're up against," Robin said as Argent and Hotspot stood there panting, "So let's get loaded for bear."

"We all have powers, remember?" Bumblebee said with a grin, "You get your toys and we'll be waiting outside."

Oracle called Robin from the balcony, "Robin, come help me into the Gyro Chair!"

"Whoa, waitaminnit," Robin said in surprise, "You're getting in on the action?"

"Of course," she replied as Robin climbed the stairs, "We'll need all the firepower we can get, right?"

"Right," Robin finished, and he picked her up before climbing a smaller set of stairs in the left corner. Opening it, he squeezed into the relatively small room and settled her into the chair in the center. It looked like an ordinary chair from a fighter plane, but it was attached to five different circular steel beams. Hanging in front of the chair was a viewing screen that lit up immediately after she settled in.

"Now go," Oracle said quietly, "You're always best on the front lines."

Robin nodded and grabbed five communicators before leaving the building. Gathering his current companions, he immediately began driving his motorcycle to the bay as what looked like a giant spike landed on the little island in the middle. As they approached, the upper half of the spike split into four and hinged outwards, deploying a hologram field that showed a giant, green-skinned, finned face. Said face initially garbled something that seemed utter nonsense.

Then it turned away from the audience and said "What? These primitive life forms speak a language as cumbersome as English? God, can't anyone come up with something original? Oh whatever: hear me, citizens of Earth, our sensors indicate you are harboring an alien fugitive. It is only five feet tall, has orange skin, red hair and green eyes. It has four limbs and stands on the hind two, not like the Orgoliths of Rigel, that stand on the front two. You shall have 3 hours to deliver said fugitive to this bucolic locale or your planet will be obliterated. "

"Oh good," Cyborg said, "He's giving us three hours."

"You know what," the giant Tunite head said, "screw this. I hate waiting: death to you all! I'll just sift my target out of the remains."

"Murphy's Law, Cyborg," Robin said angrily, "Murphy's Law."

"Speaking of which," Cyborg said as a pod dropped in front of them, cracking the tarmac, "was what Oracle said about her IQ true?"

"Are you doubting me?" her voice came out of their communicators.

"Oh no, no," Cyborg said nervously as a platform extended from the portal, "I was just hoping you were #3, seeing as we need all the brains we can get."

"Sorry," she said with a distinct pout to her voice, "But some back-water hick named Lucas stole that title from me. On the other hand, I'm the one with the cool toys."

"Where are you, anyway?" Cyborg asked as the portal started to glow blue.

"Back at the mansion," Oracle said, "but the radio-controlled fighter plane is right above you. Don't look up here! They're coming out of the pod!"

"Come to think of it," Robin said as he threw some grenades at the first dozen to approach, "Why did only one pod land? And how are so many fitting in there?"

"It must be a short range teleportation device," Oracle said, "Let's take it out."

They charged over the heads of the already present warriors, but those warriors quickly latched themselves onto the team's legs and dragged them down. They were able to shake the aliens off, but no one was wiling to risk that again so Bumblebee tried flying to it.

An energy blast knocked her out of the sky, and half a dozen enemies drew in around the teleporter, so they had to take them all down by hand. Fortunately, it was relatively easy at first but the sheer number of them began to push the heroes back.

"So why are you following us?" Raven asked Starfire, "You don't even know where we're going."

"But I do not know how to navigate this world's continents," Starfire replied, "It is much better to follow the lead of a native in such matters."

Raven shrugged, "I guess that's logical."

Looks like you're starting to like her, Beast Boy thought.

Well you were right, when you ignore the fact that she has all of zero knowledge about our races, she's quite logical.

Cael shook his head again.

"That is the 31st time he has turned his head from shoulder to shoulder in the past 25 minutes," Starfire mentioned in curiosity, "Is this normal for him?"

Raven shook her head and Beast Boy stifled a laugh.

"Is something 'the funny' about this situation?" Starfire asked.

"Sure," Beast Boy replied, "Cael's shaking of his head was what you were asking about, and she just did the same thing. It isn't normal for him, but it was still funny."

Raven sighed, and fell silent.

"Umm, Raven?" Starfire asked.

"Yes?" Raven said in a tired voice.

"I was wondering…do you contain—err, I mean do you have—any abilities beyond this method of flight?"

"Yes." She said shortly.

"Well, does that include some method of confirming the condition of those you're concerned about?"

Raven blinked at her and said, "Well I suppose a combination of my 'Soul-self' and Telepathy could do something like it, why?"

"When I arrived on this planet," Starfire explained, "I met a group of natives that had mistaken me for an invader. They tried to protect their town by fending me off, and I'm afraid that my pursuers will land in the same place. Knowing their tendency to get into any situation that they can affect, no matter the danger, I am afraid they may try to fight the Tunite commander."

Raven nodded slowly, "Alright, let's land and we'll try this."

They glided silently to land just out of sight of the road. Raven crossed her legs and gestured to Starfire to do the same in front of her.

Cael shook his head.

"32," Beast Boy said with a grin, and Cael responded with a sharp look and a flush of the cheeks. He shook his head again to empty the angry thoughts from his mind.

"Don't even think about saying '33'," he muttered.

"Could I have some quiet please?" Raven asked.

"Yes, of course," Cael said, "don't mind us."

Placing her hands on Starfire's temples, Raven took a deep breath and entered gently. It was surprisingly easy the second time, probably as a result of the human nature of her worries. It seemed as if hundreds of suspended screens rushed past her at incredible speed, each one encapsulating an entirely different moment in her alien life.

It was simple to move on to Starfire's memories of Earth, as very little existed, but it was more difficult to find specifics. Eventually, she had to let Starfire's own memories guide her to what was concerning her the most. She alighted upon a group of kids about her own age, led by someone dressed entirely in primary colors.

I guess those people are the ones? She asked mentally, don't you think the real worry is his fashion sense? She bit her mental lip when Starfire's nervousness came through. Sorry about that, She said.

As she had never activated one of her powers while in someone else's mind, she had no idea what might happen to her. To make sure she wasn't trapped, she let a piece of her soul self remain inside her own body as she separated. In her mind's eye, she remained connected by a shining, black thread.

In front of her, a yellow-gold thread appeared, trailing from the image to the golden glow surrounding all the images that represented Starfire's consciousness.

Looking closer, she could see that the thread actually connected to the kid that led the group, rather than the image itself. She thrust her mind forward onto the thread, and suddenly found herself outside of Starfire. Hovering above everyone, she saw that she was still above her friends. Looking around, she found the same golden thread—now a golden cord—attached to Starfire. It was headed in their original direction, so she immediately started to follow it.

As she began, she couldn't help but notice that everything seemed to be frozen in time. Even the birds were caught in mid-flight, causing her to think that she was doing everything within the space between seconds. She found herself following the cord to Jump City, where she saw hordes of strange fish-people caught in the moment of pushing back a pitifully small group of people. Even though nothing was moving, it was clear that the humans were on the verge of being overwhelmed.

In an instant Raven snapped her soul-self back into her body and left Starfire's mind.

"What did you find?" Starfire asked urgently.

"Nothing good," Raven said, "All your worries are coming true."

"Then I must return to that city!" Starfire said, "I cannot let anyone else lose their lives for my sake!"

Ignoring the hint of a dark past, Raven nodded. "Go in that direction," she said, pointing the way they had already been traveling, "The city will be there, and you can help your friends."

Starfire leapt up with a sense of extreme urgency, and began flying at an astonishing speed in that direction.

Robin and his group had gathered around the wreck of their remote plane in order to prevent attacks from behind. Hotspot was standing on top of it in order to shoot flames in all directions, and was accompanied by Argent, who was grabbing dozens of enemies at a time with silver energy and slamming them into more of their comrades.

On one side, Robin was using his devices to handle those slipping through the radar while Cyborg was on the other blasting away with his sonic cannon. Above them all, Bumblebee was flying around to back them up whenever an enemy got too close.

The commander of the Tunite force was watching the transmission with an expressionless face, but his three nail-less, scaled fingers—tapping away rapidly at the hard chair—belied his impatience.

"Yazenag drezna za'ag?" (How long is this going to take?) he asked.

"Doraza mazaag, Zamad." (Not much longer, commander,) his yellow-green aide replied, "Mezaanag yaraad." (They can hardly stand…even their great power shall soon crumble.)

"Gazera daz roaz." (You said the same thing ten minutes ago.)

"Zamen, Zamad! Zadzua dezare?" (I'm sorry, Commander! Perhaps you wish to take care of them yourself?)

The Zamad grinned a shark's grin at the thought and stood up, his rows of razor-sharp teeth gleaming in the dim light. Most of the ship couldn't be seen, but the square of light that appeared behind them lit up a cluttered yellow interior as he laughed, "Mazua, Huazar! Dzaraa kudzage, gayanar gyoza." (Excellent idea, Huazar! Inform the soldiers that they shall feed my power on this day, but only once my appetite is whetted by their performance.)

"Dzegar, Zamad." (Immediately, Commander.)

The group tensed as a guttural voice rang out in the alien language. In response, a sigh that seemed ecstatic rang out through the enemies' ranks and the pressure instantly intensified. Rank upon rank threw itself upon them with wild abandon, not caring how many lives were snatched away by the opponents.

"This is insane!" Cyborg said, "You knock one down and a dozen fill the space!" Indeed, it seemed that the enemy force was multiplying exponentially before their very eyes.

"They must…put life…so low on the list…of priorities." Robin said with a grunt, "that it simply doesn't matter,"

Suddenly a green flash appeared above them all, and dozens of spherical blasts exploded in a ring all around them. Starfire hovered above them all, eyes blazing and trailing energy. Placing her hands together, she collected a ball of green energy that spanned at least ten feet in diameter before throwing it into the midst of the enemy ranks. Fried bodies flew everywhere as she landed in front of the plane.

"I'm here to help!" she shouted in response to Robin's dropped jaw.

A feral roar rang out in the distance, sending shivers up everyone's spines. "She's here!" the savage voice of the Commander howled from the transmitter, "I must thank you, Earthlings, as the effort of finding my little slave would have been great without her return! Soldiers, fall into rank: Zedeth (The Shark's Tooth) approaches!"

And his laugh felt as if it held all of the cruelty of the ocean in its' depths as a form far taller than the rest appeared in the doorway of the pod.

Next Time on Mind and Body: The Tunite Commander with the title of "Sharktooth" has descended on Jump City, and things may still turn out to be hopeless…. However, does cruelty really equate to strength?

A/N: If you caught the Eureka reference the second time around, Kudos to you. If you caught it the first time, double Kudos. Oh, and I know Neon isn't toxic, it was just an opportunity to go into the side of Raven's personality that has NOTHING to do with science. And please, please, PLEASE tell me what you think!