Chapter 32 Need of a Plan

Once he turned off the communicator, Robin felt as though the weight of the world was on his shoulders. He put the device back in his pocket before hanging his head and sighing. He couldn't remember the last time everything seemed to pile up against the Titans to this degree. Their encounter with Trigon was close, but even then, Robin could at the very least say that he was still in his home dimension. This time? Forget it. They were separated from their team, had two deadly, wicked demons coming after them, and worst of all, were scattered across two completely different dimensions. How could he come back from that? Just one of those circumstances was pretty bad. But now that he was so far away from absolutely everything that he held dear…

Robin swallowed a lump. He tried to get his emotions back down to a calmer level, tried telling himself that this wasn't and wouldn't be the end of the world. He could come up with a way to conquer this. He could defeat the Trigons, find the Ravens, and make everything as right as rain once again. He was a Teen Titan; he knew for a fact that he and his friends would succeed in the end. He… he was… certain… of it…

"Robin, you are sweating," said Starfire.

Robin internally flinched and wiped the sweat off his brow. He looked into the caring green eyes of his beloved alien princess. She came up to him and took his hand in hers.

"I…" he tried to say something. After all, he was the leader. It was his job to reassure the Titans, his job to boost and keep up team morale. Unfortunately, no words came to him. The only things that did were stuttery half words. "I uh… um, uh…"

Before he could object, Starfire put her finger on his lips. "It's okay," she whispered. "I understand that you are doing the freaking out." She pulled him into a hug, thankfully not using so much strength that she crunched his bones into powder. "Just breathe. Do the taking of the deep breaths. Try to remain calm."

Robin found that wasn't as hard to do as he imagined it to be, and that was thanks to his close proximity to Starfire. Seriously, she always knew how to bring him up. She was always there for both him and his other team members, ready to fill the role of supportive friend when he himself was unable to. He hugged her back, all while a smile grew on his face.

"Thanks Star." His smile only grew bigger as he hugged her even tighter. "I appreciate it."

"Daww!" Cyborg said. To Robin's complete surprise, he wiped a tear from his non-cybernetic eye. "I always love to see stuff like this!"

Robin didn't have that reaction at all. Instead of dealing with happy tears, he turned toward his Starfire with a look of bewilderment and jealousy. "How come you never do stuff like this for me?"

Starfire laughed before shrugging. "You never seemed to do the needing of it."

Robin blinked before smiling. "Yeah, I see what you mean." He laughed. "I can be the cool, stoic guy when I need to be."

Robin snorted right as Starfire released him from her embrace. He cleared his throat, getting every single eye to turn toward him. He did his best to appear strong and dependable, hiding his fear as he addressed this very unique, near impossible situation that they found themselves in.

"Okay everyone," he said, his voice carrying through the air. "This is probably the biggest threat that either of our teams have ever faced. If we don't take care of this soon, then it is very possible that the whole multiverse could be at stake." He saw quite a few people clench up and tremble when he said this. He didn't blame them. "So, now more than ever, we need a solid plan. We need to find a way to get back to our home dimension, join the Ravens, and put a stop to the Trigons and their schemes once and for all." His heart pumped. "Absolutely no pressure or anything of the sort."

Cyborg took a step forward. "But Robin, how in the world can we do that? We're literally dimensions apart?"

"Yeah," Beast Boy chimed in. "And call my old fashioned, but I think interdimensional travel is… kinda impossible?"

Robin shook his head. "If it is possible for people like Raven and her father, then there could be a way where it is feasible for us." He frowned. "And we can find that way. I know we can."

"I know you can too!" Beast Boy exclaimed. He took a step forward. "And I really hope you can too! I don't wants to leave Mama Rae rae all by her lonesome! I wants to help her! I needs to help her!"

Beast Boy chuckled. "Man, you are really attached to your Raven, Beast Boy." His chuckling intensified. "Maybe we could use the red string of fate connecting the two of you to cross the dimensions and get back to her."

Robin shook his head. "Funny, but ultimately not helpful." He turned away, looking down from the roof to the brightly colored ground all the way at the base of Titan's Tower. "I'll come up with a plan though. I promise all of you that I will."

Starfire stepped closer to him, practically radiating uncertainty. "Are you sure, Robin?"

Robin almost cringed. No. He most definitely wasn't. He felt like he was way over his head for possibly the first time in his entire life. Sure, more often than not, he was brave enough to go toe to toe with enemies like Trigon and Slade. But now, he felt like he was just one step away from crying and cowering in the corner like a frightened child. This feeling was almost comparable to how he felt after losing his parents; alone, with no way to work around the very obvious problem and pick himself back up.

However, he needed to appear strong. That's what everyone expected of him, and (most importantly), it was what everyone needed. They were looking to him for guidance. Even though he himself felt like there was little guidance he could offer, or any hope that could illuminate the very dark tunnel, he was going to appear strong. He was going to be strong.

"Of course, Star." He smiled. "Just give me a few hours to think, and I promise you that I'll find a way out of this mess."

…

Raven didn't want to complain. She really, truly didn't want to complain. The situation was already bad enough, so any complaints that she made would just make everything a thousand times worse. But… oh man, her feet! They burned, making the already egregious task of walking even more excruciating. Right before almost falling flat on her face, she grit her teeth and berated herself in her head. To think; a superhero who donned the name of Lady Legasus in the past was having more trouble walking than a newborn baby. How shameful and pathetic was that? Man, was she glad her teammates weren't here to see her in such a state.

Unfortunately, there was someone there. Raven stood at the end of the path, looking at her with a raised eyebrow. Raven could practically feel her judgment even without the use of her empathic powers. She stopped, took a breath, and continued after her. It felt like her feet were going to burst open when she finally did catch up with her double.

"You okay?" Raven asked.

"I'm… fine." No way in the vast vast multiverse was Raven going to show herself being weak. After all, weakness was the exact opposite of what both girls needed in this increasingly dire situation. "I just… I just need time to catch my breath." She leaned against Raven's leg like it was light post. While she managed to catch her breath, her feet still screamed at her to put them out of their misery. Man, she had never wished she could use her flying power so much before.

Once she got herself all set, she looked back up at her double. "Let's…" she winced as she moved her foot, almost falling to the floor and crying. "Let's keep going. We want to stay ahead of the Trigons as much as possible."

Raven had a raised eyebrow, but nodded regardless. The two girls continued walking, sticking to the shadows that such a night as this one was capable of creating. Raven winced at pretty much every step though. She recalled when Starfire made her read the original Little Mermaid, and how it was said that each step the mermaid took while in human form felt like she was walking on extremely sharp knives. Man, what Raven wouldn't give to trade that pain for hers. It sounded like Heaven as opposed to the hell she was going through now.

After a while, Raven stopped again. "Okay seriously, you need to stop." Despite her incredulous exterior, Raven detected the slightest hints of empathy coming from her. "Clearly, you aren't used t walking like this."

Raven snickered. "Are you kidding? I love walking…" Right before she finished her sentence, she collapsed down onto the ground face first. The exact thing she had been trying to avoid throughout this whole experience. The pain all over her body was… well, let's just say that she was really wishing that she stayed to be tortured by Trigon.

Raven leaned down toward her. Now, instead of the annoyed, stoic mask, she wore a concerned look. "Look, why don't we take a break." She looked to the right before pointing. "Let's go down this alleyway. Your Dad is less likely to look this way."

Knowing that she couldn't walk another step, Raven nodded. She tried to stand up, but thanks to Raven picking her up, she thankfully didn't have to. Sure, under normal circumstances, she wouldn't let anyone touch her in such a fashion. But these weren't exactly normal circumstances, now were they?

Once they ducked into the alley, Raven set her down on the ground. Raven sighed and held onto her feet. Maybe… maybe this was for the best. Sure, the alley stunk to high heavens (more than likely due to the dumpster that she had her back up against), but this rest was much appreciated. She would be put up against a thousand dumpsters if it meant she didn't have to walk another centimeter.

Raven took a seat alongside her, despite the fact that she wrinkled her nose at the atrocious odor. She watched as Raven took deep breaths, rubbing the bottoms of her her feet in order to help herself cope with and maybe even alleviate the pain. Raven honestly didn't expect her to say much of anything, which she was okay with.

After a little bit though, Raven did speak up. "Not used to walking, huh?"

Raven hesitated. Oh man, should she even talk about this? What would her counterpart think of her if she admitted to this admittedly pitiful weakness of hers? She wanted to stay silent about it, which she had done for pretty much all of her teammates. However…

"I hate it," she said, trying to push aside the embarrassment. "I usually fly everywhere, as I always feel like that's so much easier and far less… painful." She winced as she grabbed ahold of her other foot. "And let me tell you Raven; if we find a way to fix this and help me get my powers back from the Trigons, I am never going to walk again." Raven chuckled at that, which prompted Raven to glare at her. "You think this is funny?"

Raven shook her head. "No, not funny. If anything, I find it relatable." She smiled down at her double. "I'm not the biggest fan of walking either. I mean, I'm not opposed to it. But I do like to use my flying power more often than not. I think… well, since I was blessed with said power, I figure why not use it every once in a while?"

Raven smiled. "Yes! Yes, exactly!" She hesitated, looking down at her feet. "But… but you know what? Even though I hate walking, I'll gladly do it this time." She paused. "I don't want our Dads to emerge victorious."

At least, that's what she out loud. Honestly… she wanted to get rid of her powers. After all, she was down by seventy five percent. Would it… would it really hurt to be down one hundred percent? Would it really hurt to be free of the burden she had carried since the day she was born?

Oh man, she couldn't believe she was actually thinking this! Why was she having second thoughts? Why was she thinking with her selfish head as opposed to her heart, which she knew cared about the fate of her friends as well as the world. She grit her teeth; curse her! She shouldn't be thinking like this! She didn't want the Trigons to get her powers! She would die before she did!

Raven must've noticed the conflict going on within her head, because she leaned down. "Hey. Are you…?"

"Rae rae?"

Both Ravens gasped. They looked down the alley to see Trigon floating just a few feet away. Without any conversation, Raven picked Raven up and ran with her down the alley, away from her father. Even with Trigon getting farther and farther away, Raven still felt scared.

More so by her own thought process than anything else.