Chapter 9: Worlds Apart

Get ready for more battles, confusion, and wigging out over different realities! Also I'm taking many a creative liberty with the Titans universe, so just roll with it, folks!

"It's him again," Cyborg confirmed as he looked up from the computer.

"We can handle him," Beast Boy said confidently, reading the unspoken question on Robin's face as he glanced at the mirror. "We've done it before and we can do it again."

"Right," Robin nodded. "Try and contain damage and if you chase him off, do not pursue except to gather information on where his hideout is. Play smart."

"We have the numbers, friend," Starfire said. "And I do believe all of us are most looking forward to kicking his butt."

"Damn straight," Cyborg said from the doorway. "Good luck, Robin."

"You, too," Robin said quietly as the three left the room. The mirror felt heavy in his hand, but the metal handle was warm, not cold like he would expect. While he admired his team's bravado, he remembered the last time it had just been three of them against Tempest. He would have to hurry.

"Alright, Raven, here I come," he mumbled. Robin took another look at Raven's still form on the hospital bed. What if he got stuck in Nevermore? Or trapped in the same place Raven was? Then what? Robin steeled his nerves. He would at least be with her if the latter happened. Quickly leaning down, Robin brushed his lips against Raven's forehead, his promise to her in the gentle kiss. Then, before he could over think the what-ifs, Robin held the mirror out in front of him and surrendered to the pull.

The feeling was not dissimilar to the time they had gotten sucked down into Mumbo's hat, Robin decided. He stood up and brushed the dust off his back, observing the rocky landscape. This was Nevermore, all right. It matched Beast Boy and Cyborg's descriptions as well as Raven's. Robin looked around for the red-eyed birds, remembering they would lead him to one of the Ravens. A cawing noise sounded from his right, and he set off at a jog across the asteroid-like platforms until he reached more solid terrain. The floating strawberries Cyborg had told him about were missing, as well as the yellow sky and pink grass. Perhaps one did not always land at Happy's doorstep? Robin slowed as he looked around, wondering where everyone was. The ground rumbled lightly.

"Robin!" He heard a familiar voice call to him. He faced the noise and resisted the urge to smile as Raven walked towards him. Well, not his Raven, but it was still such a relief to see some form of her. Intelligence's yellow cloak billowed behind her as she quickly approached him. Her hood was down and her glasses were slightly askew and smudged. Robin cocked his head, confused. As Intelligence came to a stop in front of him, he noticed the muddy streaks on her cloak and bruising on her legs.

"Are you okay?" he asked quickly, holding two hands out to steady her. It seemed even Raven's emotional selves were being physically affected by whatever was going on. Intelligence allowed Robin to hold on to her elbow as she took a quick breath.

"Thank Azar you're finally here," she said, adjusting her glasses. Robin heard someone clumsily land behind him, and he turned to find a green-cloaked Raven standing there, favoring her left leg. She was in even worse shape than Intelligence.

"Took you long enough," Bravery frowned. Her cheek was bleeding like his Raven's was back in the tower. Robin noticed a few other similar injuries on her, including the rip in her leotard on the shoulder where Raven had sported a sizeable burn earlier that day. Guilt once again rose up in Robin at Bravery's words, but Intelligence waved the green-cloaked girl off.

"There's no time for that now," she said before turning her attention back to Robin. "We need help, fast."

…

"When I am through with this clorbag valblernelk, there will be nothing left but ash," Starfire muttered to herself as she flew towards the city's outskirts.

"Save that strength for him, Star," Cyborg said as her grip unconsciously tightened on him. She quickly relaxed her hands, wincing as she saw Cyborg breathe a sigh of relief.

"Apologies, friend."

"We're good, Star. I think we all feel like that right now," Cyborg responded. He charged his sonic cannon to add to his point. Next to them, a green eagle screeched its agreement.

"Might we do another sneaky attack with the frontal assault?" Starfire said. "It seems he does not do terribly well when surprised."

Beast Boy responded with another screech, knowing exactly what she meant. With that, he dove down towards the ground and disappeared. Minutes later, Starfire and Cyborg were within range of Tempest. This time, he did not wait for them to attack first.

Starfire easily dodged the electric attacks Tempest shot at her and Cyborg. They were in the lot of an old power plant, and while the concrete ground did not lend itself to aiding their sneak attack, all the two Titans had to do was distract Tempest. The villain fired off another volley and Starfire twisted in the air, pulling Cyborg out of harm's way while both of them shot towards the ground with their own attacks. Tempest leapt backwards gracefully and landed on an old concrete cylinder. Flying low, Starfire released Cyborg into a full-on sprint and the two charged at their target, eyes and hands glowing with bolts and cannon blasts.

"Where are your little friends?" Tempest mocked as he rolled under a starbolt and vaulted a sonic cannon attack. "Too scared to come out and play?"

"We only need two of us to whoop your sorry ass!" Cyborg shouted in response, catching Tempest's heel as he tried to evade both of them again. He flipped backwards in a tumble of trench coat and silver hair, but managed to come up in a crouch with another blast of electricity at the ready.

"Is that so?" he said, grinning. Tempest brought the sword crashing down onto the slick ground and loops of electricity flew towards Cyborg. The Titan leapt into the air and Starfire swiftly grabbed hold of his hand as she fired another starbolt at Tempest. Their lack of sleep had made them twitchy, but it was working to their advantage at the moment. The righteous fury helped, too.

"Hyah!" Starfire cried out as she combined an eyebeam and a starbolt. Tempest tried to retaliate with another electric ball, but Starfire's attack was so powerful that it ripped right through Tempest's own. He scrambled for a nearby abandoned car, choosing the obstacles available to him in case the little green boy was around or if he needed to shield himself from the onslaught. Cyborg dropped back to the ground and shot at Tempest again, sorely wishing the man was rid of those damn swords so Cyborg could land a few punches on him.

Starfire noticed a flash of muted green under the car. If they could only get him back on the ground… She landed next to Cyborg and they nodded at each other, both charging their powers for a combined shot at Tempest. Just as they suspected, the villain chose to leap behind the car for cover. Now for the distraction.

"I know who you really are, Tempest!" Starfire called out as she and Cyborg took a step closer. She waited for him to poke his head over and look at them instead of anywhere near Beast Boy's field mouse form beneath the disintegrating metal.

"I am a legend! Of course you know who I am!" he called back, all bravado and no conviction. Starfire smirked.

"You cannot hide forever, Caliban," she said to him. Quick as lightning, he whipped his head up and locked eyes with Starfire. Before he could respond, Beast Boy roared and a great tyrannosaurus exploded beneath Tempest's feet, sending the villain high into the air. Only then did Starfire and Cyborg let their combination blow fly, the beams on target as they slammed into Tempest's chest and sent him crashing into the concrete side of the plant with a sickening crack. He slid to the ground, eerily still.

…

"What do you mean she's missing?" Robin said again, incredulous as he stared at Intelligence. The emotion removed her glasses and pressed her forefinger and thumb to the bridge of her nose and released a controlled breath through her mouth.

"As I've said before, Robin, I do. Not. Know," Intelligence said slowly.

"But, missing?" Robin exclaimed. If Raven wasn't in Nevermore, would they ever get her back? Panic clawed at his throat.

"I will explain. Again," Intelligence said. She began pacing back and forth in front of Robin and Bravery. Robin tried to ignore the intense worry nipping at him as Bravery shakily sank to the ground, knees in the dirt as she settled her weight on her heels.

"Thank you," Robin said, quieter this time. He could practically feel the frazzled energy coming off Intelligence in waves as she rubbed at her smudged glasses with a clean spot on her cloak.

"As you know, when Raven meditates, part of that it to find what she calls her 'center,'" Intelligence began. Robin nodded, having heard Raven use this exact phrase before. "Her 'center' is her, essentially. It is the Raven you know, the Raven you see and talk to everyday. It is that Raven's presence in her own mind here in Nevermore." Intelligence stopped pacing and snorted in frustration, her own words confusing even to her.

"It's okay," Robin said. "I think know what you mean. For Raven, finding her center means realigning with her core self in her mind. Or something like that. Right?" Intelligence nodded gratefully.

"Yes, something very similar to that. It is difficult to explain and much easier to see, but as I've said, she's missing. Her center, the core intersection of her physical and emotional being, is gone."

"When did that happen?"

"Time here works in parallel to your world, and while we are not all completely aware of each and every event Raven experiences, I did gather from Bravery that our landscape became unstable the moment Raven fell unconscious in the water during the battle with Tempest," Intelligence explained, trying not to look at Bravery who was now on all fours and breathing heavily.

"Since then, we've gone missing," Bravery said quietly from the ground.

"Raven is our center, obviously, and her absence sends Nevermore into turmoil. Emotions have gone missing here because they are hiding. We're all a little on edge," Intelligence explained. Robin looked around, thinking 'a little' was quite the understatement.

"Has this happened before?"

"Raven's disappearance into Mumbo's hat was a little dicey, but she had the rest of you around her to provide some balance."

"Gave us some sanity," Bravery said. She was now seated, head between her knees. "But now, she's off the grid and none of us know what's going on. We keep getting hit with whatever is going on with her, but there's no explanation to it and we can't fight back."

"But that doesn't make sense," Robin said. "How can you not know? You're her emotions! You're in her head!"

"Robin," Intelligence began, but he cut her off.

"Okay, so she's the center and Nevermore is where the center is, but if that's the same Raven as the Raven I know and talk to, then how come my Raven is back in the tower, possibly dying, on a hospital bed and she's not here and nobody knows where the fuck she is?" Robin's voice was a shout by the end of his tirade, his footsteps retracing Intelligence's earlier pacing.

He felt like pulling his hair out, punching the nearby rock formations, screaming until he could scream no more. This was supposed to be a helpful reconnaissance mission, or even a rescue mission. He was supposed to find her. Find his Raven. Sure, his first glimpse of Intelligence and hearing Raven's comforting voice call his name was a piece of hope. That was what he had selfishly wanted when he came to Nevermore: confirmation she was okay and seeing at least a version of her up and going. Yet here he was with just two of her emotions. The only two, it seemed, who were still capable of standing, but even Bravery was having trouble with that. They looked like they had been in a battle, but as Bravery said, they were at war with a faceless foe they couldn't fight back against.

"Robin," Intelligence said again, this time with more force. He looked at her, still pacing. "Yes or no: Raven knows every detail about her powers, emotions, and how they function."

"Um, no?" Robin responded, suddenly ashamed of his outburst. He stopped pacing.

"Yes or no: you know how Tempest's spell works and what is going on at Raven's location and the details of how she got there."

"No."

"Then stop asking me these stupid questions," Intelligence snapped, sounding very much like the Raven he knew and loved. That was a bit of comfort. "Now, please, be calm for Raven's sake. You are in her mind right now, after all."

"Sorry," Robin mumbled, appropriately remorseful. He thought he heard Bravery chuckle from the ground.

"Now, I have concluded Raven is in Tempest's mind, which is why she is so conspicuously absent from her own. It's a weird bit of magic, but very powerful. We, well, I, have been working on how to retrieve her from there, but it is near impossible from my position here. We require access to Tempest."

"Well, the others are fighting him right now," Robin said. Worry replaced his remorse. "If something happens to him, will something happen to her?" Intelligence mulled this over, her eyes widening as she realized the gravity of what Robin had asked. The Titans were strong, and they were angry. There would be no punches pulled when it came to beating Tempest into the ground.

"I do not know," she said slowly.

"Well," Bravery rasped from the ground, finally lifting her head to reveal new bruises on her face. "If that's true, feels like they're giving him a good ass whooping." She gave Robin and Intelligence a loopy half-smile. Robin looked closely at her: she was definitely concussed. The rumbling in the ground increased and the sky flickered green.

"If something happens while you're in here, I could never forgive myself." A new voice floated across the charged air, and Robin turned slowly to see a Raven in a light purple cloak. She was not bruised like Bravery, nor muddied like Intelligence, but Robin could see exhaustion etched in every curve of her body.

"And if something happens to Raven, I will never forgive myself," Robin replied, resolve in his stance. The new emotion regarded him with soft eyes.

"Love is right, Robin," Intelligence said. "If you get hurt here…" She trailed off with a sigh, but Robin was paying more attention to the identity of this new emotion. Love?

"Something is happening," Bravery said through clenched teeth. Robin tore his gaze from Love and knelt down next to Bravery along with the other two. He felt the ground quake beneath his fingers and the air hummed with anticipation.

…

Raven was on all fours, eyes darting around as the ground shook and the air crackled. She heard trees snapping around her and the water swelled, spilling over the riverbank and spluttering towards her spot in the dirt. The temperature plummeted as a wind whipped across her, sending chills across her skin. Raven tried to stand, but another tremor sent her flying to the ground again and the cold air turned boiling. The ground heaved once, twice, the earth rising and falling as more wind whipped through the air and the clear sky rang with thunder and the distinct crackle of lightning.

Looking back over her shoulder, Raven's eyes grew wide as a wall of water came gushing over the distant waterfall. It grew closer as the ground continued to lurch, but Raven rose up on shaky legs and stumbled forward, trying to run from the approaching tidal wave. The air was thick and hot and the wind dry like pine needles. Even as the ground pitched her forward again and again, Raven stood back up and tried to run. The wave came closer and closer, consuming everything in its path. An explosion suddenly rang out across the land and Raven was thrown into the air as the invisible shockwave snapped tree branches.

She hit the ground hard and tumbled forward, final coming to a stop on her back. Raven gasped, her lungs searching for air, and another explosion ripped through the air. Flipping onto her stomach, Raven continued to gasp, but she couldn't find oxygen. Her head hit the soft dirt, and her eyelids fluttered shut.

…

"We need to get to the center, now!" Intelligence shouted. "It's the most stable place here." The world continued to shake slightly, and the group looked up to the sky as the sounds of explosions and fighting echoed overhead. The sounds were so very far away, but the shaking ground and rolling thunder were all too near.

Robin leapt to his feet and pulled Bravery up with him. She tried to push him away, but quickly stumbled again and was only saved from the ground by Love. The purple-cloaked girl caught Bravery's shoulders, but Robin could see Love was just as close to collapsing as Bravery. Long fissures appeared in the ground as more explosions sounded in the sky, closer this time.

"Quickly!" Intelligence called. Robin scooped the injured Bravery up into his arms and he and Love raced forwards, Intelligence leading them the short distance to the center. They reached a circle of rocks and Robin gently set Bravery down on one of them. She mumbled a gruff thanks.

Various Ravens in different colored cloaks were already gathered. On the left, there was a short rock-face, and Robin caught a glimpse of a subdued Anger skulking around in the shadows. As he looked around, he saw all of Raven's emotions were in various states of injury. Most noticeably were Happy and Timid. Robin felt his heart pulled in so many directions at once, his instinct to run to Raven hampered by the fact that there were so many of them, and all in such bad shape, around him. Happy's normally vibrant pink cloak was dull beneath a coat of dust, her face smudged and sad. Timid looked like she had been crying and she had a black eye. They were both huddled close to each other on a stone ledge ten yards to Robin's left.

"Remember, we are only manifestations of Raven's emotions, not her," a soft voice said. Robin watched as Love sank gracefully to a rock on his right, and he sat down next to her. The sky flashed blue.

"It's still hard to watch," Robin murmured. Intelligence had posted up across the circle at another ledge, her bespectacled eyes watching the raised platform in the middle of the gathered crowd.

"You have a good heart," Love said as she patted Robin's hand. "Raven will be back soon."

"How can you know that?"

"I can't," Love shrugged, flinching as the sky crackled again. "But someone special once told her that she was the most hopeful person he knew (1), and I think all of us here took that to heart."

"Special?" Robin looked at her. She merely winked.

The biggest explosion yet shattered the air and the ground heaved once, twice. On the raised platform, a familiar midnight blue cloak began to flicker. Robin leapt to his feet, inching closer as the shadow glimmering image began to solidify. Intelligence locked eyes with Robin from across the platform, and as one final rumble sounded out, Raven's unconscious form settled between them. Robin leapt up and slid to his knees next to her.

"Raven?" he said urgently, lifting her head into his lap as Intelligence and all the rest looked on, each desperate for salvation. Raven opened her eyes slowly, and Robin watched as her eyes faded in and out of focus. She blinked, and her eyes turned silver. She blinked again, and they were purple. Robin watched with baited breath as this happened twice more, and finally her purple eyes locked onto his face. Around him, he felt the atmosphere relax and take a collective sigh of relief. The mud on Intelligence's cloak began to fade.

"Raven?" he said again, brushing the hair from her face. One of her hands came up to catch his and his heart skipped a beat as warmth flooded through his body.

"Robin," she breathed.

(1) reference to The End (part 3, I believe) when Robin tells Raven she's the most hopeful person he's ever met. Such a squeee moment in the series.

OKAY, so we have Raven back (kinda), but what is this Caliban Starfire speaks of? Will our two birds be able to escape Nevermore? Will I ever find a job? All of this and more in chapter 10, coming soon to a computer screen near you!