Chapter 37 Azarath Metrion Zinthos

A dark gloom settled in on Beast Boy, one that felt like it was taking big bites out of his soul. He and the other boys had just got finished eating the cake waffles. Once the delectable flavor had vanished, this just meant that everyone was left to stew in their emotions regarding the whole debacle they now found themselves in. While he couldn't speak for everyone else, Beast Boy couldn't help but think of Raven. One could argue that he had grown obsessed with the shadowy witch, as he thought about her constantly. But really, who could blame him?

Right as he was taking a seat back down on the couch in the living room, his double and both of the Cyborgs entered the room. Now, Beast Boy wasn't the brightest bulb on the chandelier; far from it. However, he did pick up on the tells on their faces and in their body language that gave away their true feelings. It ignited concern in him, especially as he considered that Beast Boy and Cyborg were stranded in a completely different universe. Sure, the two of them seemed to have been holding up rather well under scrutiny, but the fact that they looked sick to their stomachs now gave away of how they really felt about this whole situation.

As such, Beast Boy kept his eyes on them as he adjusted his position on the couch. "You dudes okay?"

Beast Boy didn't even hesitate before he shook his head. "No."

Cyborg blinked at him, looking at the green changeling like he had just turned into an alien animal he had never seen before. "No? What do you mean no?"

Cyborg stepped forward, looking at his double with a serious expression. "There's a lot on all of our plates right now." He frowned. "And the longer we go without Robin giving us a concrete plan, the harder it gets."

Beast Boy felt a pang. He realized in that moment that he wanted to do everything in his power to cheer these guys up. Not only would it help him stop thinking about Raven for a brief period, but… well, it would also be the right thing to do. It would lift their spirits, let them know that the Goofy Titans (or at least one fifth of the Goofy Titans) saw that they were struggling and wanted to help.

"It's gonna be okay, guys." The tone he used was somewhat soft, at least in comparison to some of the other tones he had used in the past. "Trust me. Your Robin is really a good leader." Both Serious Titans raised eyebrows when he said that, which prompted him to chuckle. "Sure, I don't knows him very well, but I could see it. I could see it in the way he carried himself, in the way that he is doing his best to come up with a plan. He'll think of something." He smiled. "I know he will."

Even with that assurance, the Serious Titans still didn't look too convinced. "I don't have any doubt in my mind that Robin will be able to think of something." He paused. "What I do doubt is that we will be able to execute the plan thoroughly."

"Yeah," Beast Boy added. "I mean, there's so much that could go wrong! There's so much that we could completely fail at doing!" He sighed. "There's too much at stake here…"

"Hey," Cyborg said, speaking up for the first time. "Don't be like that." He extended his extendable neck toward Beast Boy and Cyborg, a sight that confused the latter and amused the former. "We're Teen Titans. We are some of the best superheroes ever!" Beast Boy snickered at that, prompting Cyborg to frown. "Well, okay, you guys are some of the best superheroes ever. And if the genius of the cake waffles was any indication, you guys will do amazing at executing your Robin's plan."

Cyborg blinked before snickering. "Making cake waffles requires a completely different skill set than hopping dimensions and beating two very powerful demons."

"See, that's where your wrong!" Cyborg smiled. "In both circumstances, you put your all into doing your best and making others happy! You did your very best with the cake waffles, and it yielded absolutely amazing results!" He grinned, the expression as bright and as goofy as he was. "If you can do that with little things, I don't doubt for a second that you'll be able to do it with big things. You'll deliver!" He retracted his neck, securing his head back onto his shoulders. "You got this, bros!"

Both Serious Titans chuckled. "Thanks," Beast Boy said.

"Yeah, thanks, that's really helpful," Cyborg said. He scratched the back of his head. "Although… I still can't help but worry about this whole thing…"

Beast Boy sighed, but not due to frustration. No, if anything, the sigh conveyed empathy. He could relate to these two guys perfectly. He could put himself into their shoes in a way that he never could before with anyone else. So, he realized that he needed to do something to cheer them (and himself) up.

He stood up. "Well, why don'ts we does something to take you guys' minds off of it?"

Beast Boy blinked. "Like what?"

"Ooh ooh, I know!" Cyborg exclaimed. "We could have a dance party right here in the living room! OOH, or we could have a meat party!" He slapped his belly, his mouth watering. "Man, I can't even remember the last time I had a meat party…"

Beast Boy made a face. "Uh, I don't think we should do anything involving meat. I'm a vegetarian."

"Yeah." Cyborg hesitated. "And, to tell you the truth, I really don't feel like dancing right now…"

"Makes sense," Beast Boy said. He dedicated sometime to thinking about this before a lightbulb went off in his head. "Oh, I know what we can do?"

"What's that?" the other three Titans asked in unison.

"Just follow my lead," Beast Boy said with a smile. He sat down on the floor, crossing his legs as he did. The others followed suit, and once they were in position, Beast Boy closed his eyes and held out his arms. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos… Azarath Metrion Zinthos…"

"Oh." Beast Boy opened his eyes to see Cyborg smiling. "That is a good idea. It always seems to work for Raven."

"Exactly." Beast Boy closed his eyes again. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos…"

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos," said Cyborg.

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos," said the other Cyborg.

"Tofu, game station, Terra."

Everyone opened their eyes and gave Beast Boy a look. When he saw their gazes, he chuckled and squirmed a little.

"Sorry. I just… I find that mantra works better for me."

After a second, Beast Boy smiled. "Well, as long as it works, I ain't complaining." With that, he closed his eyes, and all four boys continued on with their meditation.

…

As Trigon floated back to the layer, he felt afraid. Of course, he would never admit that fact out loud because he was Trigon! He was the Soul Devourer, the Lord of Madness. He didn't get scared! Emotions like fear were things that mortal men possessed and felt. He didn't get afraid, no siree.

As such, when he went to Big Triggy, sitting on his throne like he was the King of the Multiverse, Trigon decided to push his fear to the side. There was nothing that his double could do to him. They were on equal footing; heck, Trigon probably had an advantage over him because he was at full power! He could definitely hold his own against Trigon. No matter how big and how… scary he appeared…

Trigon shook his head. There he went again with the fear. Again, he pushed it to the side, telling himself that he shouldn't get caught up in all these pitiful emotions.

With that, he floated up with Trigon's line of side. "Hello, Big Triggy. What might you be desiring this time?"

Trigon narrowed his gaze, causing his four evil eyes to shine red. "First off, don't call me that." He paused. "EVER!"

Trigon felt tremors run up and down his arms. "Right, right, of course." It took all of his self control to not say 'well excuse me for deciding on a cool nickname' out loud.

"Second," Trigon said, his voice booming louder than a storm right on top of them. "You failed me. You failed me in the most pathetic, most inexcusable, most… stupid way one could possibly imagine!" He growled. "If I had all my power, I would blast you into smithereens, you pathetic excuse for a demon!"

Trigon blinked. "Oh. Ouch." Yeah, those words actually did hurt. But, again, he wasn't one who should be feeling emotions so trite, so he just pushed those feelings to the side. "Uh… how, might I ask, have I failed you?"

Trigon's growling grew louder, filling the whole cavern and causing it to shake. "You have failed in your search for the Ravens."

"I have?" Trigon blinked. "I mean, I know it's been taking me a long time to find them…"

"The time and speed at which you search doesn't matter!" Trigon sniffed. "Especially when we consider that the Ravens fooled you."

Trigon blinked again. "Uh… fooled me?" Now he felt deathly confused. "H…how so?"

Trigon looked so angry that it appeared like he was about to blow a gasket, a fact that actually made Trigon back away from him a little. "You really are that stupid, are you?" He shook his head "And to think, for a second, I expected more from you…"

Trigon's confusion only grew more pronounced. "W… what are you talking about? How did the Ravens fool me? I haven't even come across them yet."

"Except that you have," Trigon snarled.

Silence. There was no sound in the cavern save for the lava bubbles below bursting as they boiled over. Trigon's jaw dropped a little as he stared at his double, questioning if he had heard him right.

"Uh… what?"

Trigon did a facepalm with one hand and snapped his fingers on the other. A projection of an image appeared before Trigon, one that showed two girls sleeping away in two separate hotel beds. He squinted at them; they looked kinda familiar…

"Uh…" he looked back at Trigon. "Why are you showing me Rachel and Angela? What have they got to do with any of this?"

Trigon groaned, the sound containing more layers of frustration than were possible to peel back. "THOSE ARE THE RAVENS, YOU TWIT!" He glared at him. "They donned disguises while in the clothing store you were in before and completely went under your nose."

Trigon's jaw dropped. "What? No, no! That can't be true! They're just two normal…" he stopped. He squinted at the projection, studying Rachel's face for any similarities that it shared with that of his daughter. He was shocked to find that they were identical.

"You… you're right…" he grit his teeth and growled. "Oh my word! How could they do this!" He grew angrier and angrier with each passing second, an emotion that he decided he didn't want to push to the side. "Those girls think they can hide from me? Fools! They are fools!"

"No, you are the fool!" Trigon waved his hand, causing the projection to disappear. "You were a disgrace to the name of Trigon! You couldn't even use your head for one single, solitary second!" He looked ready to breathe fire. "And because of that, you have wasted a boatload of precious time! YOU FOOL! YOU'RE A FOOL!"

Trigon cringed, telling himself that he shouldn't take those words personally. Sure, his ego was in tatters, but that wasn't what was important right now. He needed to prove his double wrong. And he was going to do that by retrieving the Ravens.

"Where are they?" Trigon demanded, his breath coming out in the nastiest, most evil way possible. "I'm going to find them! I'm going to find them and bring them in!"

"You'd better." Trigon leaned forward. "They're in a hotel called Outward Inn, just near the edge of Jump City. And if you fail to bring them to me, like you did before…" he growled, barring his teeth. "Just be aware that there are gonna be some dire, and I do mean dire consequences."

Shudders and chills ran through Trigon again. "Of… of course…" With that, he floated towards the cavern's exit, ready to capture those two pesky black birds once and for all.