Chapter 18: Intent of the Shadow
"Hmm…I expected the girl…You may want to return to where you came from, for your own sake," Shadow said, her voice echoing through the chamber.
After getting the coordinates from Robin, Batman had made his way to Jump City, and found the tomb that housed Shadow. Cautiously entering the structure, Batman took care to not alert Wraih, but it seemed that Wraih had been expecting Raven. He could hear Wraih, but he did not see her anywhere.
"I'm not leaving without answers," Batman said.
"Pity, I've no extra room, nor the desire for you to live here," Shadow said.
"Then tell me why you've made the Titans lose their minds," Batman said.
"The answers are not for YOU. It doesn't affect YOU. And their minds are not lost. Their grasp of reality has been…altered, but not irreparably. In fact, they do not need my cooperation to assist them, but what they may need...is not for you to know. They have to figure it out for themselves," Shadow said.
"You won't twist my mind, Wraih, so don't try to confuse me," he said.
"Ah, now there it is…Wriah…I have not been called that in some time. Then, you told the girl, as well as the boy. At least future events will not need to be as complex, this way," Shadow said.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"Again, it is not for your ears, but it is for someone's," Wraih said.
"Tell me," he said.
"Or?" Wraih asked, beginning to laugh.
"Trigon has been defeated, so I know you can fall as well – I'll end you," he said.
"Defeated? Yes. Ended? No… If you care about your world at all, you will cease your antagonism, or I will leave you all to perish without my help," she said.
"Perish?" he asked.
"Yes… The girl is still here and without my help she will be under her father's control once more," she said.
"How does your help involve driving her friends insane?" he said.
"As I said, the answers are for her alone," she said.
"Why do you care about her at all?" he asked.
"I tire of these questions…Either leave, or I will…And I will not be so easy to discover," she said.
"I'm not leaving," he said.
"How unfortunate. I will say this, her mind was never broken and...if she had stayed with her "friends" any longer, what she was suffering from would have gotten far worse. That was the intention of her father's influence, which has sewed itself into the others quite nicely. The only thing you have to do...the only thing you are able to do...is to tell Robin and Raven what I have told you. Now, leave me, and get back to your real investigation...ask Raven what she remembers of the cultists, what she recalls shall lead you to the actual enemy," she said.
"But you do admit that you did something to the other Titans," he said.
"Yes. Only the Titans can save themselves, that is a well-tested theory, especially as of late... I interfered to prevent a greater cruelty with a much smaller one, if I did nothing - they would have died. The girl has seen this before, she will endure it as she did before, protected by the mind of another...all that's left is to test that mind," she said.
"What does that mean?" Batman asked.
"Return to them. The longer you distract me, the more dangerous the situation becomes. Let me dismantle Trigon's power, and you...talk to Raven," Wraih said.
As Wraih finished speaking, a flash of violet smoke emitted from the center of the room and seemed to wrap around Batman. The smoke swiftly carried him out of the tomb and onto the grass, dropping him, and then returning inside - a large slab of stone sliding rapidly behind it.
Analyzing what he had heard, Batman couldn't tell if Wraih was being completely dishonest. What she had said was more cryptic than anything else, which meant she was hiding plenty, could be helpful - but wanted to protect herself from something. That something had to be Trigon. To somehow protect herself, she aided Raven - which either meant that Raven was in danger of being possessed or Wraih needed Raven for something. Neither was good news. There was still the matter of the other Titans, who apparently needed to save themselves. That could mean that thinking in a particular way or maybe about a certain thing, would repair their minds. Or a reaction to some severe physical event like pain. There is no test, no way to get them to believe anyone who told them to do one, apparently, and... no answer.
He wasn't sure whether to go back to Gotham or just go to Titans Tower to help the others and contact Robin and Raven from there. It was probably the best course of action. If what Wraih said was true, it would be a waste of time, but he didn't want to take any chances. He contacted the tower, Cyborg answered.
"This is a secure channel, whoever you are, you had better have a reason fo-," Cyborg started.
"I'm Robin and Raven's partner. I have some information that could help the other Titans stop being insane," Batman said.
"Ok... what is that information?" Cyborg asked.
"Not over the comm., I'll be over in a few minutes, I need to contact Robin and Raven when I get there as well, I assume you still have the ability to connect to them from the tower," Batman said.
"We do, but...how can you prove you are who you say you are to me?" Cyborg asked.
"Robin and Raven both left with a couple of bags, Robin left some of his things behind because he has duplicates here, and I had most of Raven's things brought to Gotham some time before they left the tower. If what I told you that I know isn't proof enough, you can call Robin," Batman said.
"No, I believe you... Even if I didn't, I'd let you in at this point. I'm running out of ideas to help them - if you blew up half the city and you said you had an answer, I'd still let you in..." Cyborg said.
"I will be there," Batman said, ending the communication.
Arriving at the tower, Batman met Cyborg in the living room. Batman was surprised that he was the only one there to meet. Robin had said that Cyborg and Starfire were watching Terra and Cyborg. Where was Starfire? Maybe she was now as crazy as the others, as well.
"You make Robin look...normal," Cyborg said.
"We don't have time for jokes. Where's Starfire?" Batman asked.
"She said she was going to the mall. She's been a little obsessed about Robin leaving, she needs some time to herself," Cyborg said.
"As long as she isn't acting like the others. I learned from a suspect that your team has to save themselves...and I think that means that if they think in a specific way, or about a certain thing, then their minds will return to normal," Batman said.
"How do we know what that is, though?" Cyborg asked.
"We don't. We'll just have to try to get them to whatever point they need to reach," Batman said.
"So, you're going to help us with this? Shouldn't you be going after whoever did this?" Cyborg asked.
"No, not until I learn more about them. Get Robin and Raven on the comm.," Batman said.
"Alright," Cyborg said.
(I realize this is a very short chapter, my classes decided to synchronize their annoyance with multiple large assignments. I'm dealing, :). The next two chapters are planned to be quite a bit larger. Thanks for the patience. Next chapter in 2 weeks or so. ~RavensMind~)