Chapter 12: The Dream and The Cocoon

Geo-Force opens his eyes to find that he stands alone in a sea of dark water that comes up to his ankles. There's nothing in sight for as far as he can see but water. But as he continues to look, he sees a figure, standing a few hundred feet away from him. The figure belongs to a girl, with her back facing him. She wears a long, flowing blue robe that is very elegant in style. But as he gets closer, he notices that the robe has many burns on it and many tears in it as well. It's when he's gotten about twenty feet away when she speaks.

"Bryon. Bryon, wake up," the raspy, dry voice calls to the young prince. "Bryon, please come save me. I can't last much longer Bryon help!" The voice becomes more and more frantic. "Bryon! Bryon you have to save me! Don't you love me anymore!? Then why won't you come find me!? Why do you keep stalling!? I love you Bryon!!! SAVE ME!!!!" At this the figure turns around to reveal Raven. Her face is gaunt and sunken in, her cheek bones are visible through her extremely pallid skin and her eyes seem to bulge from the sockets. From under the robe, a bony gray hand reaches out to take his.

"Raven!!" Bryon's eyes flash open from his horrifying dream. But was it really just a dream?

Fade into song

When there's trouble you know who to call

TEEN TITANS

From their tower they can see it all

TEEN TITANS

When there's evil on the attack

You can rest knowing they've got your back

'Cuz when the world needs heroes on patrol

TEEN TITANS...GO!!!

With they're super-powers they unite

TEEN TITANS

Never met a villain that they liked

TEEN TITANS

They got the bad guys on the run

They'll never stop 'til the job gets done

And when the world is losing all control

TEEN TITANS...GO!!!

1...2...3...4...GO TEEN TITANS!!!

Fade out of song

Bryon looks around, and for a moment is surprised to see where he is. But slowly he remembers how he ended up in what looks like a rendition of Hell itself and realizes that nothing has changed since before he fell asleep. He's still in the pits of Aziomoth tied to a stake with Mood Swing on his left in the same position.

He sighs and says to himself. "We're never going to get out of here. It all ends here I suppose."

Just as Bryon is about to give up all hope of ever finding Raven, his angel of darkness, a brilliant white light shines right in front of him. The light shines so bright that it wakes Mood Swing from his sleep with a jolt. The two boys stare into the light for a few minutes, before a rider on a white horse steps out of the rift. The rider is strangely not who they'd expected, but is a cowboy like out of an old Western movie. He wears a plain white button up shirt with a golden eye embroidered on the back. White leather gloves cover his hands, and a white hat rests on his head. He also wears a pair of normal riding jeans that cover a pair of glistening white boots with golden spurs. Aside from the clothes he's wearing, he wears a white bandana around his mouth so that you can't see who he is.

Without making a sound, he rides over to the two teens tied to their stakes and whips out a knife. A look of slight panic crosses both the boys' faces as he dismounts and walks slowly over to them with his knife drawn. However, he walks behind them and cuts the ropes that bind them, as well as picks the locks on the shackles around their ankles. He then walks up to Mood Swing and hands him a rolled up piece of paper. It's once he's handed this paper to Mood Swing that he speaks very quietly.

"Do not fear brother, for this is the final clue you have been searching for, though I am not truly your brother."

"Then, who are you?" Mood Swing asks cautiously.

"I am an apparition of your brother, a memory given life, and hope for you that you can make it."

Tears fill Mood Swing's eyes. "How do you know that I can make it? I don't even know I can make it."

"Look at me Joel. You wanna know how I know you can do it? I know you can do it because you're stronger than you give yourself credit for, because you're an amazing hero, and because you're my brother. That's how I know you can do it."

Mood Swing cries openly as he reaches out to embrace his brother.

"No don't. Joel, I'm not really here. The second you touch me I vanish and I cannot help you anymore."

"But what else can you do for us? You said it yourself, you're not really here," Bryon says.

"I can keep the guards away for a short time. But you have to start moving; I can only keep them off for so long."

As soon as he stops talking, the sound of the guards discovering the boys' escape finds its way to their ears. The three look at the advancing guards with their flaming scythes and axes, and burning Scathe marks on their chests.

"Go…NOW!" Psy shouts as he uses a small psychic push on them in the direction they should go. "I'll hold them off as long as I can! Don't give up, you will find him Joel. Have faith."

"What about–," Bryon begins but Psy cuts him off.

"GO! Before there's nothing I can do!"

The two boys take one final look at Psy, dressed as a cowboy hero of the old West, as he turns to face the guards. They turn themselves, and run headlong away from the scene, angry tears filling Bryon's eyes as he thinks of what is to come. Behind them, a flash of blinding white light explodes, and the sound of many Trigonic guards screaming as they dissipate into black smoke that soon fills the air. But the two don't look back; they keep heading forward, just as the map directs them, deeper into the pits of Aziomoth, deeper into the very depths of Hades.

Robin awakes from his sleep with a start. His breathing remains heavy as he remembers what he was dreaming. It was horrible, like something out of the worst horror movie. He sits and tries to remember the dream, trying to decipher anything from it.

He can't remember every detail, but what he does remember is darkness. Nothing but complete and utter darkness, yet the darkness seemed to be closing in on him. It became more and more constricting, cutting off his breathing. Then, white cracks began appearing in the darkness.

Why does that seem so familiar? He asks himself, interrupting his own thoughts. He then goes back to thinking about his dream.

The darkness shatters around him, and he looked at his new surroundings. Dead, everything around him was dead. He looked into the shadows of a nearby cave, and suddenly four gleaming red eyes stare back at him. Fearing it was Trigon, he had moved away, but a familiar voice had come from those four eyes.

"Robin, I didn't mean it. I didn't do this on purpose. It wasn't my choice. I didn't want to be like him, I didn't want to do the things he's done. But it happened anyway."

Sounds of sobbing emitted from the shadows.

"And as much as I don't wanna do it, I have to get rid of you now too."

"Why!?" Robin had asked with panic in his voice. "If you don't want to do all of this, then why are you doing it?"

"Because I have no choice, because he lives inside of me and I can't stop it."

"Everyone has a choice, it's not up to him; it's up to you Psy."

"No, not this time Robin. This time is different than all the others. Nothing can change this I'm afraid."

"I'm not going to believe that Psy! I'm not giving up!"

"Look at me Robin!!" Psy stepped out of the shadows. He was covered from head to toe in a pure white cloak covered in blood. Slowly he brought his hands up to remove the hood on his cloak only to reveal that his hands had changed, they now had something like a deep red fur covering them. He removed his hood and his face had also become red. Small, vampiric fangs protruded from his top lip, devilish horns from his head, and four red eyes glowed on his face.

Without realizing it, Robin recoiled slightly, and Psy looked away ashamed.

"Psy, what happened?"

"I'm his son Robin, whether I like it or not. And now that you've seen what I've become…I have to…to...," Psy choked up and begins to weep.

Robin stood with his feet seemingly rooted to the ground staring at the crying demon in front of him before moving towards his friend and placing his hand on the other's shoulder.

"Don't touch me! Robin…"

"Psy, no matter what happens, no matter what you do, I'll always be your friend."

Fresh tears welled in Psy's eyes, and he hugged his friend tightly. "Robin, you know that I don't want to do this, right?"

Robin began to cry as well. "Yes Psy, I know."

"I love you Robin, you've been like family to me. All of the Titans have."

"I know that I don't show how I feel very much, but I've always loved you and everyone else too. You are my family."

Psy then pulled out of the hug, and backed away. He looked down at his feet, and raised his hand towards Robin. "I promise I'll make this as fast as possible Robin. I'm…I'm so sorry…"

Psy's hand had begun to glow, and Robin took in a deep breath. There was a blinding flash, and Robin had woken up.

He shivers from the memory of this horrifying dream. As much as he hated to admit it, the fear of dying was a huge thing for him, and the mere thought that he had died in his dream because of his best friend becoming a demon sent shivers down his spine. What could it mean? He asks himself as he tries to shake off the memory of this nightmare.

"Robin?" A voice calls from the other side of the cave that the three have taken refuge in.

Robin doesn't answer for a moment, still trying to escape the images from his dream. "Yeah Starfire?"

"Terra has not awoken yet. But she is beginning to make signs of returning soon."

Another pause, "Thanks Star."

"Robin, something is troubling you, for you do not seem yourself. Do you wish to do the talking about it?"

"It's nothing Star; I just had…a nightmare is all."

"I too had the bad dreams while I slept. Such horrifying things I have not seen in reality."

"What where your dreams about?"

"I do not wish to speak of them, for the memory haunts me still. But I will tell you that there was much destruction and pain all around, and a young demon who spoke to me with words of apology for the things he had done."

"Star, was…was Psy the demon?"

Now it's Starfire's turn to pause momentarily as an inquisitive look crosses her face. "Yes. Please Robin, how do you know this?"

"Because Star, I had exactly the same dream." Starfire sits down next to Robin before she speaks again.

"Robin, what can this mean?"

"I don't know Star, but I have a very bad feeling about this."

At this, a dazed Terra walks into the light of the fire that Robin and Starfire are sitting near and sits down too. The other two take a moment to gaze at her to make sure she's alright before staring back into the glowing fire. The silence continues for a few minutes before Terra speaks.

"I…I don't exactly know how to say this, but I have a feeling that things aren't gonna go exactly the way we want them to."

"Why do you say that?" Robin asks.

"Because of the dream I had…"

Mood Swing and Bryon continue at a semi-hurried pace deeper into the abyss following a map on a piece of parchment. They've overcome all the obstacles so far, including horrific monsters, a fire troll, and a legion of magma slugs. After what seems like days of this venture they've finally made it to a fork in the road. Mood Swing looks down at the map, it ends at the fork, what lies at either end is an uncharted mystery. Now the only thing left for him to rely on is the necklace of his psychic brother. He slowly pulls it out.

"What's the map say?" Bryon asks.

"It doesn't, that's the problem. Everything beyond this fork is unknown territory. I'm guessing either no one's ever been further than this point, or they didn't live once they got to the end."

Bryon swallows hard, "Well what do we do now!? Are you saying you've lead us to a place where we don't know what's going to happen!? I have to save Raven!"

Suddenly Mood Swing's eyes burn red, and his stripes quickly fade to red as well.

"Listen, Bryon! I know you want to save Raven ok?! I got it! But this whole trip has been a team effort and all you've been doing is complaining that you want to save Raven! In case you hadn't noticed I've lost someone close to me too, but you don't see me being all selfish and throwing tantrums every time something bad happens. So why don't you just shut it!?"

Bryon opens his mouth to speak, but then closes it again and lowers his gaze to the ground. Mood Swing looks at him carefully for a few seconds before bringing his attention back to the necklace in his hand. It's glowing brighter than it has on their whole journey. He points it first to the left fork, then to the right, but there's no difference in the brightness. He then tries again, only this time taking a few steps down each side. Still, nothing happens. He stands back at the center of the fork for a while when all of a sudden an idea hits him.

"Geo, I think I've got an idea for how to make this work. I need your help…will you?"

Bryon remains silent for a moment, "Of course, and Joel?"

"Hmm?"

"…I'm sorry…"

Mood Swing walks over and places a hand on Bryon's shoulder.

"It's fine. Here, give me a hand. Draw an arrow pointing down the left side of the fork, and I'll draw one down the right side ok?"

The boys quickly draw two lines ending in an arrow about five feet down each path with the ends opposite the points meeting in the center of the fork. Mood Swing stands at the junction of the two arrows and holds the necklace in his open palms and starts to chant.

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos. Azarath Metrion Zinthos. Azarath Metrion Zinthos."

Bryon walks up to Mood Swing's left side and puts his hand on the other's shoulder and begins to chant as well, both focusing on the memory of their loved one.

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos. Azarath Metrion Zinthos. Azarath Metrion Zinthos."

The eye begins to glow so brightly that even though the boys' eyes are closed they have to squint. The necklace rises up out of Mood Swing's hands and hovers directly at the point where the two arrows meet. An even brighter flash of blue light erupts from the necklace and the arrow to the right glows blue, while the one to the left glows purple. Then, at the end of the blue arrow a psychic eye is drawn into the ground, simultaneously at the end of the purple arrow a raven is drawn. The necklace ceases to glow and floats back into Mood Swing's outstretched hand.

The boys look at each other wordlessly and begin down the two ends of the fork, Bryon down the purple path, and Mood Swing down the blue.

Joel continues down his path for what seems like hours. He hasn't encountered anything, and he's starting to become nervous when he realizes that his feet are wet. He looks down at his feet to find that he's ankle deep in water, he quickly looks back up and stares out into the darkness. His stripes glow red, and he fires a bright plasma shot out into the blackness only to find, much to his horror, that the water continues on to the horizon.

"Now what am I supposed to do?" He asks himself rhetorically. He walks out of the water and sits on the dark beach to think of what comes next. He finds a rock next to him and lobs it into the never ending sea in front of him to test the depth. It makes a large splash, showing that there is a considerable depth.

"Well this sucks. I can't fly, so how am I supposed to keep going." He remains silent for a moment before muttering, "My shields…"

Quickly he rises to his feet and the stripes on his uniform glow green. He then conjures up a green, bubble-like shield, and slowly makes his way into the water. The water continues to get deeper as it begins to slowly climb up the sides of his shield.

The water is way over his head now, but the bubble allows him to continue to breathe, so he continues walking, taking short breaths so as to not use up all his air before he reaches his destination…wherever that is.

I wonder if I'm ever going to find Sam. Joel begins to think. But then, as if an answer to his thoughts, a large structure looms in front of him.

He makes his way over to this thing as quickly as he can while underwater. When he finally reaches it, he instantly recognizes what this giant sculpture is. It resembles a stone tree about twenty feet tall, and protruding from one of the branches on the left side of the tree hangs a stone cocoon about five and a half feet from tip to tip. As he examines this cocoon closer he sees a slight crack in the side with a bright blue light escaping its depths.

Joel doesn't skip a beat; his stripes fade to a greenish yellow color so that he can keep up his shield, and grow at the same time. He begins to grow up toward the chrysalis until his shield slowly envelops it. He then reaches out and grasps it and pulls it gently off the stone tree, and then begins to walk back toward the shore that is now miles away, and he's starting to run out of air more quickly.

Joel continues making his way slowly and painstakingly back toward the shore of the black ocean. He keeps pressing on all the while he's losing more and more oxygen, and struggling more and more to breathe. And on top of all this, he has to carry a massive stone cocoon.

It's a…good thing…that I know…this is Sam, he grumbles to himself.

The cocoon begins to grow even heavier and the air thinner, and just when Joel thinks he might not make it, he breaks through the water and he is finally in the wide open cavern with plenty of air to spare. He lowers his shield and drags the cocoon the last few yards to the shore and collapses to catch his fleeting breath. He sits up quickly when the cocoon makes a slight cracking noise.

"Whoa! Maybe it's me, but I think he wants out of there." Joel's stripes blaze red once again and he fires a concentrated plasma blast out of his finger and starts at the bottom of the cocoon but quickly figures out that it's not working. He thinks a moment and the stripes glow a brilliant orange as a bright beam of light fires from his finger. Once again he starts at the bottom and once again it doesn't work.

"How am I supposed to crack this thing!? It's like I can't open without using some sort of dark magic or something…" He trails off as he thinks back about the journey here. He suddenly remembers what happens when his stripes glow blue. "They've only done that once, and that was on the way here. I remember just how dark I felt. Maybe that's the key. Now, I've just gotta get sad."

Joel concentrates and conjures up the saddest memory he can think of, and his stripes slowly fade to a deep blue. He then focuses on the small crack in the cocoon's shell.

"Azarath…Metrion…Zinthos."

Joel's hands suddenly glow black and he reaches down and pulls the shell apart. It doesn't come easy, and seems to put up a fight so he gives a loud groan and pulls as hard as he can and the chrysalis cracks wide open.

"Oh my God…"

"Terra, Starfire," Robin says. "This isn't going to be easy, and the dreams we've had don't bode well. But we have to keep trying. We can't just give up and wait here like cowards. We have to fight. We've beaten Trigon before, we can do it again. We're the Teen Titans, we're the last hope, and we can and will do this."

"We shall be victorious!" Starfire shouts in return. "We will not be rufka if I have to say about anything. We shall fight with a righteous fury to avenge our friends, and we will stop at nothing until we have defeated the Trigon."

"That demon's toast, I'm gonna personally rub some dirt in his face…literally. He won't know what hit him when we're done. Besides, I'll bet he doesn't even expect us to give it another shot."

"I'll bet he isn't counting on us being there this time either."

The three Titans spin around and Starfire gasps and lets out a gleeful shriek. Robin's mouth slightly drops and Terra says under her breath, "Thank God." For standing in front of them are two most welcome figures.

"Psy! Mood Swing! You have returned! We did not think you would ever…" Her voice trails off with a slight gasp. "Psy…you are…"

"Older?" I laugh slightly. "Yeah, this is the way Joel found me. Who knew this is how things would turn out. I remember you told me that Raven got younger, but somehow I aged about five or six years."

"Speaking of Raven, where are Raven and Bryon?" Terra asks.

I look quickly to my brother, and he looks back at me and shrugs his shoulders. All of a sudden we hear a loud roar outside, no doubt Trigon.

"We don't have time to wait and find out. We need to bring this fight to Trigon now!" Robin says. "Psy, are you ready?"

I look at him with a half grin. "When am I not ready?"

"Alright," Robin looks around at the other teammates. "This is it, Titans GO!"

Bryon crosses a vast wasteland, a desert in the depths of Hell. He's been walking for hours, maybe days. Time has lost all meaning for him. Just as he's about to give up, something rises up out of the sand on the horizon. Even from his distance he can see that it's a giant tree with no leaves on it, completely dead and empty. As he comes closer he can make out that the tree is some sort of statue and is made of stone. Then he sees a form lying on the ground. Fearing the worst he runs full speed to help whoever it is. But when he gets to the figure he only finds part of the statue, a stone cocoon of sorts lying cracked wide open on the ground. A feeling of dread hits him deep in his stomach as he peeks into the depths of the chrysalis.

"Raven?" He whispers softly.

As he looks in he sees something glisten at the bottom. He reaches down and pulls up a flat, round amulet. He slowly turns it over and sees the familiar symbol of a raven on a red background.

Bryon throws his head back and screams at the top of his lungs, "RAVEN!!!!!!!"