Chapter 6
After the excitement of the morning, the afternoon passed slowly for Beast Boy. Not accustomed to rising before ten, he found himself with an abundance of time and not much to do in it. After finishing the last episode of Family Guy on the DVR, Beast Boy was once again looking for something to do.
Cyborg, his usual cure for boredom, was busy cleaning the tower.
"If we're giving tours, this place needs some work," Cyborg had said yesterday, to which Beast Boy wholeheartedly agreed. No one needed to see the clutter of five twenty-something-year-old roommates. However, when it came to actually dealing with the mess, Beast Boy drew the line.
"Yeah dude, the tower is a mess. Good luck cleaning it," Beast Boy replied from the couch.
"Whoa, now! Excuse me? Why do you think you get a pass on cleaning? Most of the mess in here is yours!" Cyborg said, narrowing his eyes at his teammate.
"That just proves that I'm not going to be any help when it comes to cleaning all that crap."
Cyborg stared at him, slightly incredulous. "So you're sayin' you expect me to turn into 'Cyborg's Maid Service?'"
Beast Boy sighed, turning his full attention to his friend. "Look, if you make the tower presentable for whatever tours we're supposed to be giving, I'll take care of all the food. I'll even let you order some meat dishes," he conceded in response to Cyborg's look of protest. "Sound fair?"
"No," he said flatly. "But you're right about one thing: I don't trust you to clean anything. So I guess that means your plan's gonna have to work." He gave Beast Boy a dubious look. "But I am not going in your room."
Beast Boy assumed he was working on the training room today. He had seen him headed that way earlier after he had finished removing the mold from the refrigerator. He's a brave soul, Beast Boy thought, making a sacrifice for the greater good.
Meanwhile, Starfire had bounced around from store to store all afternoon, coming home with more shopping bags than Beast Boy had thought possible for one person to carry. She was currently at the kitchen table, flipping through décor catalogs while humming to herself.
The doors swished open and Robin walked in, glancing around the room until his eyes landed on Beast Boy.
"There you are," he began. "Can I see you in the evidence room for a minute?" His face looked... passively unhappy, Beast Boy determined. It wasn't a bad sign, but it definitely wasn't good.
"Sure," he replied without confidence. He followed Robin silently down the hall towards Robin's favorite room. Beast Boy had always thought the evidence room was kind of creepy with its dim lighting and cool atmosphere, and now that only added to Beast Boy's apprehension. "So, uh, what do you need?"
Robin looked at him cooly for a moment, then sighed. "I've been on the phone all morning with the mayor's office. And do you know what they've been doing all day?" He paused, signaling to Beast Boy that the question wasn't entirely rhetorical. Beast Boy shook his head meekly. "They've been trying to convince the news stations to pull this from their evening broadcast tonight." He held out his communicator, which played a short video of he and Raven's joyride over the construction zone this morning. Beast Boy bit his lip.
"Now, when I first saw this, I thought 'what was Beast Boy thinking!?' I knew the answer was, 'he wasn't.' Then I saw Raven on the back of the moped and didn't even know what to think," he said, giving Beast Boy a displeased frown. "Please tell me this is some twisted way of 'checking up' on Raven like you promised you would."
"It was," Beast Boy said quickly, jumping to his own defense. "I know it doesn't look like it, but I've got this all planned out in my head."
"And how does an illegal and dangerous trip across a construction zone fit into that plan?" Robin asked.
"Uh, well... okay, here's the thing. I was trying to find a way to spend more time around Raven to get her out of whatever mood she's in right now and suddenly I had this blackmail over her—don't ask," he said when Robin raised a brow, "but anyway I told her she had to help me with all of my party planning stuff and this morning we were going to a bakery to order the dessert when... that happened." He twiddled his thumbs nervously. "I was just trying to get her to loosen up a little and have fun. I didn't mean to cause a scene, I promise!"
Robin sighed again. "That's what I figured. Contrary to what Raven says, I know you're not that stupid."
"Uh, thanks, I think," Beast Boy said, giving him a small smile. There was a twinge of guilt pulling at his chest from the little lie he had just told Robin. He hadn't set out to cause a scene, but he knew what he was doing when he pulled onto that sidewalk.
"Just, please don't do anything that reckless again. I spent the whole morning placating Celeste."
"So you're, uh, not mad?"
Robin looked at him intently. "I value my team's well-being above anything else. If that conflicts with what the mayor wants, then so be it."
"Uh, cool." Beast Boy shifted uncomfortably in the silence that followed. "So, nice talking to you," he said, moving towards the door.
"Did it work?" Robin asked from his place at the table.
"Uhh..."
"Did your stunt make Raven any more... receptive?"
Beast Boy considered the question. "Yeah," he replied. "I think so." He remembered Raven's furious expression as they got off the moped. Well, it worked out in the end. "I've still got a lot of work to do though," he added, and he couldn't help but smile. "She'll come around. I know she will."
Robin seemed reassured. "Good. I'm glad to hear it. I'll see you tomorrow for training Beast Boy," he said, turning back towards the spray of papers on the table.
"See ya," Beast Boy called back, moving out the door.
Beast Boy considered the conversation as he returned to the common room. Did it help? he asked himself as he walked. This was his chance to get Raven to open up a little. The thought of her smiling, of her laughing—it made him smile. I sure hope it did, he thought. And I've got plenty of time to keep trying.
Training came the next morning at 8:00 sharp. Robin, who had just set up a new training course, waited eagerly in the control booth for his team to arrive.
The new course consisted of lasers, exploding projectiles, pounding machinery and precarious terrain to fight on. It wasn't some of Robin's best work, but he had been a little busy lately.
Each Titan took their turn. Beast Boy was the first to go, shifting through various animal forms to adapt to the changing attacks. Cyborg followed, beating his time by almost thirty seconds. Starfire, Raven and Robin himself all went through the course, Starfire emerging with the best time.
"One minute and twenty four seconds. Good work Star!" Robin commended her, causing her to blush. Just the sight of her blush caused him to blush, then they both stood there awkwardly, neither knowing what to say next. Cyborg saved them.
"Yeah, yeah. This course gave a serious advantage to those who can fly," he complained.
"Robin still beat you. Are you telling me he can fly?" Raven asked wryly.
He frowned at her with narrowed eyes.
"Sore loser!" Beast Boy coughed.
Starfire giggled at that, floating up to mirror her bubbly attitude. "Friends, let us venture to the palace of pizza to celebrate the successful completion of another course!"
"Now I'm up for that," Cyborg replied heartily as the others voiced their consent.
Gathered around the table at their favorite pizza place, they all put in arguments as to what kind of pizza they should get. It was pointless—they always ended up getting cheese, which would satisfy everyone.
Robin looked affectionately at his team. They bickered, bantered, teased, and embarrassed each other, but they were the best friends anyone could hope for. More than that, they were family. They had met by chance five years ago as five awkward, lonely, yet eager teens, but that fateful encounter brought them together as one of the strongest superhero teams in the world.
Watching them as they finally ordered their extra large cheese pizza, he was filled with pride. He smiled contently as they carried on their conversation.
"You look awfully happy," Raven observed from beside him. She too had a slight smile on her face.
"So do you," he replied. Well, Beast Boy, he mused, though I can't say I approve of your methods, Raven does look calmer than she did yesterday. Raven had really grown emotionally over the years, though the past few days made Robin think she was reverting back to her old, reclusive ways.
They both turned their attention back to the group. Robin couldn't help but instantly be drawn to Starfire. She was laughing at something Beast Boy had said, her face alight and her eyes sparkling.
He and Starfire had always been close. For three years they had flirted back and fourth before they finally found the courage to act on their feelings. After returning from Tokyo, they had dated for months. That was, until reality set in.
Dating a teammate was something Robin never thought he could do, and for good reason: it wasn't easy. They had learned that pretty early on in their relationship. They spent almost every waking hour with each other anyway and after a while they started to need some space. Dating Starfire always felt volatile, like it was precariously close to causing a major issue. Like when they were stranded on that foreign planet and Starfire's power's wouldn't work because of her emotional uncertainty. If they got into a fight, it would change the entire group dynamic, and throw them off balance as a crime-fighting team.
Robin was undeniably attracted to Starfire. He doubted that would ever change. But after a few months of dating, they both decided it was best to remain just friends while they lived like they did. People say there's no such thing as an easy break-up, and Robin wouldn't entirely disagree. The weeks following the end of their relationship were very awkward. But they harbored no bad feelings, and were able to move past it.
Now they were back to square one, trying to ignore the romantic tension between them.
Finally, the pizzas came and each Titan took a slice, the boys devouring theirs, Starfire slathering hers with mustard, and Raven nibbling contently on hers. The boys had gone through three slices each when their communicators started to beep simultaneously.
"Aww, man!" Beast Boy grumbled, slumping in his seat. Cyborg shoveled the last few slices of pizza into his mouth as the girls hovered in the air, ready for Robin's command. He flipped open his communicator.
"Well, bad news is that it's everyone's favorite, Plasmus." They all groaned. "Good news is that he just woke up. He hasn't even left the prison yet." He rose from his seat. "Let's take care of this quickly."
With Cyborg behind the wheel of the T-car, they arrived in no time. Jumping out of the car, Robin could hear Plasmus' screeching.
"Alright, here's the plan!" Robin called to his teammates as they raced towards the gate. "Attack him one at a time—a string of constant attacks should leave him exhausted but give us time to recover between hits. Then, on my cue, we hit him with everything we've got to knock him out for good."
They were now through the prison gates, flying down the halls towards the maximum security wing. After five years as heroes, they knew their way around the prison pretty well.
When they reached the large, reenforced steel doors, the guards quickly and eagerly let them in. They could hear the battle before they could see it. Plasmus screeching, guards yelling, prisoners cheering; evidently the guards weren't faring so well on their own.
Robin rounded the corner, watching as Plasmus wiped out guards who were desperately trying to shoot some kind of laser at him.
"Really, Plasmus? Trying to break out again?" Robin shouted tauntingly to engage him. "You know, that'll really ruin your chances for parole." Robin smirked as the monster turned towards him, sizing up his opponents.
"Titans, GO!" The battle cry launched all five of them into action.
Though they all advanced on Plasmus, Robin could tell Starfire would reach him first. Her eyes glowed green with fury and she threw a shower of starbolts at the towering purple menace. Beast Boy grew into some type of raptor, quick and clever and distracting to Plasmus so Cyborg could get close enough to pummel him with a blast from his sonic cannon. He saw Raven melt into the floor, reappearing behind Plasmus with glowing black hands.
Robin had reached his optimal range and threw a handful of explosive disks at the monster, ducking when they detonated. He stepped back against the wall for a moment to survey the battle and assess the effectiveness of his strategy.
Raven currently launched a series of metal sheets she had detached from the walls at him. Plasmus easily absorbed them and threw them back at her, though now they were covered in goo. Raven vanished into the floor once again, just dodging them before they came clattering to the ground. Starfire followed with another flurry of starbolts, while Cyborg alternated with a few cannon shots.
Robin jumped in surprise as Raven reappeared right in front of him. She looked frustrated.
"We need a better plan. This could go on for hours—it always does with Plasmus."
Robin nodded. "He's one of my least favorite villains to fight. All we can do is fight him long enough to tire him back to sleep." His brain worked through past battles, trying to find a solution. His eyes grew wide as he found one.
"Raven! Can you knock him out like you did the day that Trigon came? Sorry," he added curtly, catching her grimace. "But can you?"
She hesitated. "It's not the easiest of my abilities, but yes, I can." She turned and took flight, moving closer to Plasmus and assuming the lotus position. Robin moved close to her to protect her while she was in this vulnerable state. He heard her loud chant:
"Azarath, Metrion, Zin—agh!" Raven gasped, hands clutching her throat as if she were choking. Robin's stomach clenched.
"Raven!" he called out, running towards her. She fell out of the air and landed on her knees, hunched and shaking. He put his hand on her shoulder, frantic to help, but she turned swiftly to face him, four slitted eyes glowing red.
Robin's eyes grew wide with shock and confusion. This hasn't happened in so long, he thought with brows drawn together. He didn't know what to do; he just stood there awestruck.
Raven blinked and her eyes returned to their normal state. But they looked far from normal. They were wide, frantic, and terrified.
"Please," she gasped, "you have to leave. This isn't...I can't..." she closed her eyes again and clutched her head in pain, the four demonic eyes returning.
"Raven?" he asked with fear, but backed off like she had instructed. The other Titans had heard his yell and it diverted their attention from Plasmus. They stared, confused and concerned, until they saw Raven's eyes. Robin heard Starfire gasp. He turned towards his teammates for a moment, long enough to notice Plasmus racing down the hall, intent on an escape.
Robin had two crises to choose from. His mind raced as he looked at Raven, who was now fully collapsed onto the ground, then after Plasmus. He called to his teammates:
"I don't know what's wrong with her, but Plasmus is getting away. Cyborg, Star, we're going after him. Beast Boy, help Raven. Let's go!"
He ran as fast as he could towards the hall Plasmus had run down, Cyborg at his side and Starfire overhead. He was worried about Raven, but Beast Boy would have to take care of it. Plasmus can't get away again.
Beast Boy stared after Robin for a second, then turned to the collapsed girl. He knelt down beside her, shaking her shoulders slightly.
"Uh, Raven? You in there? Are you okay?" His heart hammered in his chest. He was afraid for Raven, but afraid of her too. That was until he heard a soft moan come from her curled up form, and everything but her safety was forgotten.
"Raven? Rae? Hey, are you alright?" he asked softly but intensely, picking up her head and shoulders and holding her up as she came to.
Her eyes flitted open and she drew her brows together in pain.
"Beast Boy?" she asked hoarsely, staring up into his eyes.
"Yes?" he replied softly, looking down at her expectantly.
She paused for a moment. "Why are you touching me?"
She sat up on her own (though it appeared to cause her some difficulty) as Beast Boy drew his hands back close to his body. She held a hand to her head. Beast Boy calmed considerably seeing that, other than having what appeared to be a nasty headache, she was alright.
"Raven," he asked hesitantly, "what happened?"
She didn't reply immediately, instead stumbling up onto her feet. "My emotions got out of control," she replied cooly. "It's happened before, you know."
Uh, no it hasn't, he thought, narrowing his eyes at her. Not like that. Aloud he said, "Huh. That's weird. I thought you said your emotions were a lot easier to control now that you-know-who was sent back you-know-where."
"They are," she said, voice growing defensive. "However, it's not everyday that I'm trying to astrally project my soul self while my emotions are taxed."
That explanation didn't make much sense to Beast Boy, but it sounded reasonable enough. "Oh. Well um, okay then." She seemed to have regained her balance, and now turned to look around the room.
"Where's Plasmus? Where are our friends?"
"The others went after him when he tried to run. They'll be fine," he added when she opened her mouth to protest. "I'm under strict orders from Robin to get you home."
So it was a little white lie. Though she was up and walking around, Raven still looked weak. Beast Boy thought it would be best to get her back to the tower, though she would never go if she had the choice.
She sighed in response to his order, then turned towards the entrance. "Well then, let's go."
Beast Boy shook his head at her volatile spirit. It's never a slow day with Raven, is it? He mused as he jogged after her.
Back at the tower, Beast Boy had left Raven alone in her room for a few hours to rest. She needed it: the episode at the prison had frightened her terribly.
Her powers were under control, contrary to what she had told Beast Boy. Her mind was stable. Raven had let her soul self pull away from her body as usual, but then... something pulled me back, she thought with worry. Clawed her back was a more accurate description. She fought the force that was trying to pull her under, bringing her rage to the surface where it hadn't been in years. She slipped into and out of control, struggling against her darker side.
She laid on her bed, staring up at he ceiling as she ruminated. The force was Trigon. She felt his presence in her mind. It had been there for eighteen years before she had defeated him and she was quite familiar with it. She was his daughter—he would always have access to her mind, though he hadn't stuck around in there after she had sent him back to his hell. What does he think he can do with me now? she thought.
Raven was confident he was no threat, but his returning presence to her conscious unsettled her. What interest could he have in her? There was no way for him to come back to earth, or any other planet in this dimension.
Raven was confused, unnerved, and getting sleepier by the second. She knew one fact, and repeated the thought over and over again in her mind like a mantra as she fell asleep.
Trigon is gone. He can't hurt me.
In the back of her mind, she wondered if it was really true.
It was dark when the other Titans returned to the tower, beat-up, weary, and covered in goo.
Raven, feeling much better after getting some sleep, was reading at the kitchen table as Beast Boy played a video game from the couch. Both looked up from their respective activities as their three teammates entered the common room.
Raven's eyes widened as she took them all in. They were covered in scrapes and bruises, costumes torn and, in Cyborg's case, circuitry sparking. But what instantly caught her attention was the purple goo. She held up a glowing black hand in their direction.
"Stop," she said firmly. "Don't take another step."
They looked confused and bewildered as Raven held their feet in place with her black energy. She sighed.
"If I have to clean Plasmus out of the carpet one more time..." She glared at them, her unfinished threat sinking in.
"Uh, I'll be in the bathroom," Cyborg said, turning and moving his now free feet out the door.
"We could both use a shower," Robin said, turning towards Starfire. Raven wasn't in a patient mood. Her eyes glowed as she held up a hand once again, encasing their entire bodies in black energy. Raven pulled all of the goo from their hair and clothes, then sent the whole glowing pile down the drain of the kitchen sink.
"Let me see your injuries," she said calmly, moving her hands towards them as the energy shifted from black to blue.
Robin looked at her closely, appraising her condition. "I take it you're feeling better," he asked slowly.
She met his gaze evenly. "Yes. I'm more concerned about your injuries." Even as she said it, she knew it was futile. The questions began.
"What happened back there in the prison?"
"I lost control of my powers. I was unstable and tried to use to much power."
"This hasn't happened for a long time. Why now?"
"In case you haven't noticed, I've been under a fair amount of stress lately," she said, countering each of his questions with an explanation just as quickly as he asked them.
"And the glowing red eyes?"
"That's a sign of rage, not just Trigon. Rage emerges when I lose control."
He stared at her, but seemed placated with her responses. "Fine. Just promise me you'll let us know if something's wrong," he said, concern in his eyes.
She nodded, and moved closer to Starfire, assessing the damage and preparing to heal her.
"So is Plasmus sleeping tight?" Beast Boy asked casually, hopping over the back of the couch to join them.
Starfire's shoulders slumped and Robin stiffened. "He got away," he ground out.
"How?" Beast Boy asked, brow raised. "We've put Plasmus away, like, a hundred times before. He's your garden variety villain." Robin shot Beast Boy a look.
"It was most strange. The villain Plasmus did not act at all like himself," Starfire said unhappily.
Beast Boy and Raven both looked to Robin.
"You know how Plasmus is always looking for acidic chemicals for sustenance?" he asked them. "Today he just...fled. We chased him almost two hours outside of Jump City before we lost him."
Raven frowned as she finished healing the cut along Starfire's cheek. That is strange, she thought, turning her attention towards Robin. He wore a certain look that she recognized. If I know him...
"Titans, pack your bags tonight, we're going after him first thing in the morning." Robin's declaration was met with a groan from Raven. She wasn't in the mood for an expedition to chase down a criminal with all that was happening right now.
"Any idea how long we'll be gone for?" Beast Boy asked.
"Let's see, Plasmus has a few hours head start," Robin replied with a frown. "I'd say at least two days."
"Super," Raven said flatly as she finished healing her second teammate. The metal doors of the common room swished open, revealing a clean, mostly repaired Cyborg. He made his way down the stairs, looking at the group's faces. He raised a brow.
"What'd I miss?"
"Dude." Beast Boy grinned. "We're going on a road trip."