"Wow, looks like only a couple to go!" Beast Boy exclaimed, peering intently into the small, handheld mirror. He was standing once more on the roof of Titans Tower, along with Starfire, Cyborg, the yellow Raven, the green Raven and the original Raven, still comatose in mid-air.
The yellow Raven pulled it away from him and stroked the glass; each shard merging once more into a full pane of glass. "Actually," she said, frowning. "There are still three more pieces missing."
"Where are they, then?"
"Don't ask stupid questions. If I knew where they were, I'd tell you."
"Hey, no need to get touchy again. I was only-"
"Friends, please!" Starfire stood between the changeling and Raven. "Do not argue. This will not help us find the remaining pieces."
"I've searched everywhere!" Cyborg sighed angrily. "We've been doing this for hours, and we still have three pieces to go."
"And we've looked through all the places Raven likes to go," added Beast Boy. "Where else can we look?"
"I suggest scouring the city again," Raven commented drily. "Thoroughly."
"Are you insitchuating that we didn't look hard enough?" Beast Boy was adamant.
He was met with a frustrated sigh. Raven scowled at him and said, "The word is pronounced 'insinuating,' and I am only saying that if you haven't found all of the pieces, there must be places you haven't looked."
"Why you-"
"Beast Boy! Raven! No more mean-talking!" Starfire put a hand upon both of her friends' shoulders. "We will go and search again. We must! Robin is confident that once all of the pieces are found, this wrong can be righted."
"Speaking of Robin," said Cyborg. "Where is he?"
At that very moment, everyone's communicator beeped. Starfire, Beast Boy and Cyborg picked turned on their little gadgets to see Robin on the other end.
"Speak of the devil," breathed Cyborg, smiling.
"What's up, dude? Please tell me you found three pieces."
"I have one," Robin replied. "And I have a lead on where another could be. Are you all at the Tower?"
"Yes," everyone answered in unison.
"Stay there," he ordered. "And make sure Raven is safe."
"Robin? Is there something wrong?" Starfire whispered, noticing the hardness in his voice.
"Everything's fine, Star. How many pieces have been restored?"
"Only six, man. We've got a few more Ravens roosting here too."
"How many?"
"Aside from the real Raven, there's three up here, and two below in the living room, playing video games."
"Playing video...? Er, right." Robin composed himself. "Well, make sure they're all near. Wait, where's the last one?"
Beast Boy piped up. "She's at the library. I could bring her here, I guess. She was really nice..."
"Do that, Beast Boy. Look, I'm going to find another piece, but make sure you all stay there, okay Titans? I'll keep you updated. Robin out."
After a long pause, Beast Boy pocketed his communicator. "Is there something he's not telling us?"
"Whatever it is, Beast Boy, we must trust him." Starfire twiddled her thumbs nervously, also worried.
xxxx
Robin stowed his communicator away, hoping they would have enough time. "Come on; let's see if you're right," he said to the grey Raven hovering beside him.
Robin hugged the wall as he stepped lightly along a buttress. He was outside one of the highest floors of the ancient gothic church in the northeast district. It had been built only a century ago, but the architects had wanted to preserve the culture of the gothic buildings in northern Europe. Now that he thought about it, this church was definitely a place he could imagine Raven visiting. He'd never seen her come here, but it wasn't like he kept tabs on her 24/7.
The shy Raven in the grey cloak had told him that another 'personality' was hiding here, which meant another precious piece for the shattered mirror. Now that she had begun to trust him fully, she clung to him like a little lost girl, hovering right next to him, even as he climbed up the precarious wall of the church. He hadn't been able to enter through the door as most of the bottom floors had collapsed years ago.
Robin leapt from the buttress and grabbed onto a jutting gargoyle. He swung back and forth from it until he gathered enough momentum to fly from the gargoyle to the main balcony of the church, which faced south. He climbed from the edge and stepped silently onto the stone floor. Raven stood behind him, as if scared of what lay beyond the door to the balcony. She whispered so quietly he could barely hear, "In there. I'm...she's...I mean, Raven is in there..."
Robin walked bravely into the darkness of the church, and Raven shyly grabbed a handful of his cape and followed. To her shock, he suddenly bellowed, "Raven? Raven! If you're there, then come out!"
"Shh!" Raven gasped, putting a hand over his mouth. "She might here you!"
"That's the general idea," he replied, gently pulling her hand away. "If you want, you can go wait out there." He pointed to the barely-lit balcony behind them, surrounded by ugly, stone gargoyles with long claws and evil eyes.
"No, I'll stay," she croaked, grasping his cape even tighter.
"Well, then..." Robin took a deep breath. "Raven! Raven! Come out, I need to talk, now!"
"I don't like this place," the grey Raven whined. "I can smell someone else...someone bad..."
"Raven, I told you already...if you don't want to be here, then go outside."
"It's just so dark. Do you have a flashlight?"
Before he could even answer, Raven began pulling gadgets off of his belt, looking desperately for something that might emit light. "Hey, Raven, stop!" He pulled her hands away. "Those are dangerous, you know that!"
"Okay..." she whispered, looking admonished. "Sor-I mean, it's just so dark." She opened her hands and dropped what she had been holding. It hit the floor with a metallic ping and began rolling away.
"Oh, no!" Robin grabbed Raven and leapt back towards the balcony. "Take cover!"
BOOM! The floor exploded. The rubble from the floor ricocheted across the room and into the walls, causing the even the thicker stone to crack. The mortar couldn't hold, and the walls began to crumble. Robin scrambled to his feet and picked up a dazed Raven, before taking a fantastic leap right off of the balcony, which fell to pieces as his feet left its surface.
As they fell, Robin looked frantically for something to anchor them, but there was nothing. The church was the only tall building on the block, and there was nowhere to hurl his birdarang to save them from a sudden death.
"Sorry, Raven!" he cried as the ground rushed to meet him. However, just before he was sure every bone in his body would break, the ground moved. In fact, it rushed back the way it had come. Robin found himself and Raven tumbling through the air – the momentum now horizontal, rather than vertical – before rolling to a stop on the lawn of the church grounds.
He got to his feet and brushed himself off, before reaching to help Raven up. "Are you okay?" he asked, concerned.
She didn't answer, but pointed wordlessly back at the crumbling church. A red comet shot out of the heart of the falling bricks and rocketed away from them. BOOM! Seemingly out of nowhere, the church exploded again, the bricks flying even further than before. Flagstones smashed into the lawn, nearly crushing him and Raven. They were coming so fast; there was no way to avoid them. Robin stared, shocked, as one such flagstone plummeted straight towards them.
Suddenly, Raven – another one – stepped in front of him and held up her hands. A dome of darkness spread over them, shielding them from the falling rocks. Robin stared, along with the grey Raven, as the double protected them from the projectiles. She was wearing a brown cloak this time.
When the explosion had subsided, and the church began to tumble less dramatically, the new Raven dropped her hands, and the black dome disintegrated. She turned to face them, hands on hips, and cried,
"Do you realise what you've just done?"