Chapter 10 Big Stadium, Scary Figures

Raven couldn't help but sense an air of unease as she and Beast Boy followed Robin down the hallway. More than likely it was coming from Beast Boy, as he wore a frown on his face while trembling. Maybe it was because of the conversation they had? She gently took his hand, tenderly squeezing it. A warmth spread from the tips of BB's fingers up her own arm. She cast him a smile, which he returned. Raven felt good; she honestly and truly did. She couldn't remember the last time she…

You must GIVE IN!

Raven gasped. Removing herself from Beast Boy's grip, she stopped and put her hand to her temples. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos," she uttered. Her breathing sped up, as did the speed at which she said her mantra. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos, AZARATH METRION…."

"Rae," Beast Boy said as he put his hand on her back. "It's okay. You need to be calming down."

Raven's breathing slowed down. She berated herself; that mantra WAS supposed to calm her down. She didn't want to say it too fast, otherwise it would grow obsolete as a coping mechanism.

"What's your deal?" Robin asked. He gave the sorceress a raised eyebrow.

"Nothing," said Beast Boy. "Absolutely nothings."

Robin squinted at them, an eyebrow raised as high as the ceiling. Raven considered giving him a snarky comment, one that would pull double duty by condescending him and shaking up his overly arrogant stance on himself. She ultimately decided against doing such, but MAN would doing it feel good!

Anyway, they soon arrived in the living room. Cyborg and Starfire were already there. They stared out the window, neither one of them moving a muscle. The sense of unease in the air increased by tenfold. It only took one look out the window for Raven to understand why.

The sky was scarlet, first off. It was the same color as Trigon's skin, which only made the sight of it all the more frightening. There was a stillness in the sky too; Raven saw very few clouds, and those that she did see stayed at a standstill. These two details alone were more than enough to cause shivers to run up and down her spine.

But that wasn't the only detail present, oh no. Floating in the sky was a very big, very black object. While none of the Titans could see the inside, from the outside it resembled a floating football stadium. The only difference was that there was a big dome on the top, and there was also a big, eye-like red light on the bottom. This behemoth dominated the sky, accentuating the crimson and casting a shadow over the normally cheerful and welcoming Titans Tower.

Raven gulped and looked over at her friends. "Do we know what that is?"

Robin shook his head. "No idea."

Cyborg used his robotic eye as a scanner. "It looks…with the frequencies its letting off and the amount of radiation attached to it…it almost appears to be from another dimension."

Raven's eyes grew wide. She exchanged a look with Beast Boy. While the changeling originally looked worried, hearing what Cyborg said almost made him look excited.

"Another dimension?" he asked, his goblin-like ears perking up.

"That is the cool," said Starfire, her frightened stance and expression being replaced with giddiness.

Robin put his hand to his chin in thought. "Oh man," he muttered at a volume just loud enough for Raven to hear. "Imagine what stuff could wait for us in that other dimension." He cackled. "I bet I could take it over and become its king if I really wanted to!"

Raven cringed. Robin was supposed to be the good guy, right?

"Well, we should probably air on the side of caution," she said, using a serious tone.

"Yeahs," Beast Boy agreed. "We don't know what this other dimension is like. In fact, if it has such a huge and scary stadium thingy, it probs isn't a good place to be's."

Robin sniffed. "Just goes to show what you clowns know about other dimensions."

CRASH!

Frightened out of their skulls, the Titans turned toward the source of the noise. Coming through their broken ceiling were four very tall figures in gray suits. Their faces weren't visible due to gray and red masks they had on. However their builds were there for all to see. One had a particularly large and muscular figure, like they had spent all day everyday of their life working out. One had a sort of hourglass figure; their curves only made all the more apparent by their height. Another was scrawny, short. The last one was tall. While they weren't nearly as muscular as the first figure, they still looked like they could stand a lot of weight.

Starfire screamed."WHAT THE HOOLAHUCKEY IS GOING ON HERE?"

"Yeahs!" said Beast Boy, trying to look strong even while taking his shaking legs into account. "Who be yous guys?"

The figures stood still. While Raven couldn't see their faces, she could sense their emotions. They seemed to be in awe. Surprised, flabbergasted even. These emotions confused the cambion. These guys didn't seem to be villains, as these emotions weren't symptomatic of villainy. Of course, she couldn't be one hundred percent certain who they were, but she had a feeling that they weren't necessarily out to do them harm.

"Guys," she said. "I think…"

Before she could say anymore, the figures bounced forward. Raven shrieked and leapt out of the way just in the nick of time. One figure grabbed Starfire, one Beast Boy, one Cyborg, and the other Robin. The captured Titans shrieked and struggled, but these masked figures were strong. They kept their grip, holding onto the Titans so tightly that it almost looked like they were suffocating them. Without another word, they zipped up into the sky on ropes that Raven just now realized were attached to their waists.

"GUYS!" Raven called out to them. She considered flying after them, or using telekinesis, or opening a portal, or…something! They were being kidnapped before her very eyes; she couldn't just stand there! So what if her demon was still being held at bay; these were her friends, and they needed to be rescued. Taking in a deep breath, she prepared herself to fly until…

CRASH!

Raven screeched. One last figure came flying down through the ceiling. This figure also had an hourglass figure. While their muscle definition was a little on the weak side, they looked like they could run for days on those legs of theirs. They stared at Raven. She sensed a hint of awe emanating from them, but mostly this…figure had an air of stoic ambivalence.

This actually drew concern out of Raven. While she had been confident that the other four figures didn't wish the Titans harm, she wasn't as confident about this one. She was unsure, and it terrified her.

So, she broke out into a run. She ran toward the kitchen, doing her best to avoid the furniture as much as she could. Her feet ached a little, like they were just seconds away from developing blisters. She held back a groan. Man, I need to get back into the routine of doing leg day workouts again.

Despite the pain, she kept going. Once she was in the kitchen, she turned to see if the figure had followed her. She held back a shriek upon seeing them. Without thinking, she opened up the fridge and pelted whatever objects she could find at them. Jelly, fish, apples, leftover meatloaf; it all came flying out at incredible speeds. Despite that, the figure avoided all of it. They didn't even have any close calls; they avoided the projectiles so well that it made Raven wonder if they were capable of avoiding raindrops.

Raven's breathing rate sped up. This figure, whoever they were, was a menace. In fright, she grabbed the meat thermometer off of the oven and brandished it like a sword. Saying her mantra in her head to avoid her demon leaking out, she tried her best to appear as threatening as possible. "STAY BACK!"

The figure stood still for a moment. Raven could almost hear them considering their options, running through what they needed to do in their head. Then, they did something that shocked the sorceress to her very core.

Holding out their hand, they pointed at the meat thermometer. It was surrounded by a black aura, and snapped in half like it was no more than a stick that had been found in the backyard.

Raven's eyes grew wide. "How did you…?" The only people who could use telekinesis were her and her father. And the only person whose telekinesis had a black aura was…her.

Did this creature have power absorption abilities? Was that it?

Now so scared that she wasn't worrying about her inner demon anymore, Raven opened a portal and jumped in. She found her self in the control room, which was located in the Tower's basement. She let out a breath of relief. Unfortunately, her relief was short lived when she saw that the figure had dived in after her.

She held up her hands. "St…stay back!"

Not bothering to respond, the figure held out their hand. The black aura surrounded Raven, and she was pulled toward her chaser. She struggled against their grip, but like the other figures, they proved to be strong. Raven hyperventilated as she looked at them.

"Seriously," she uttered. "Who are you?"

The figure didn't respond. Grabbing hold of their rope, they hoisted both Raven and themself up.