Chapter 38 A Great Escape

Waking up turned into a very slow process for Raven, as it so often was. When she finally fluttered her eyes open, at around ten thirty in the morning (if the nightstand clock was anything to go by), she sat up and stretched. Surprisingly, she felt well rested. She felt like every last ounce of energy that had been sapped away when the girls were being hunted by Trigon had been restored to her. She slung her feet over the side of the bed, yawning and stretching some more. She noticed Raven, who was also in the process of waking up.

"Good morning," Raven said to her double.

"Good morning," Raven responded, her voice sounding somewhat groggy. She rubbed her eyes, smoothed out her violet hair, and rubbed her arms. Based on what Raven could see, she wagered a guess that her double had some trouble sleeping the night before. Her theory was proven right when Raven turned toward her, with dark circles underneath her eyes and a look that screamed that this superhero was exhausted.

This ignited concern in Raven. "Rough night, huh?"

Raven nodded. "I stayed up to keep watch, to make sure that Trigon didn't come across us."

Raven frowned. "Oh." Now that she thought about it, the two of them really should have taken shifts keeping watch. That would have been much more practical than Raven getting all of the sleep while Raven struggled to keep her eyes open. It didn't even occur to her to do that last night. But now that it had been mentioned, the dark sorceress actually felt a little guilty.

"Sorry," she said out loud. "I should've helped with that."

"It's alright," Raven said as she rubbed her eyes again. "I'm used to sleepless nights." The tone of her voice contained a mysterious edge, one that made shudders run up and down Raven's arms as she considered what her double could possibly mean by that. She was about to ask Raven when the taller, more serious hero stood up and looked toward the door. "Why don't you and I go get some breakfast?"

That made Raven perk up pretty much immediately. Oh man, breakfast! That was perfect; she hadn't eaten anything at all since… since… oh wow, since she had stumbled across this parallel dimension. To say that she was hungry because of that would be a massive understatement.

"That sounds perfect," she said, giving Raven a smile that she mirrored in the most subtle of ways. So, with Raven still fluffing out her hair, the two of them made their way toward the door.

It didn't even take too terribly long for Raven to smell the delicious aromas coming from the hotel's kitchen. They did make her stomach growl, but they also ignited some sort of happiness within her. She loved food. That was probably the one single thing she had in common with the rest of her team. She would do anything to get some great food into her hands and later into her mouth. There was no better, more easier way to make her happy than by giving her the opportunity to eat until she could eat no more.

Thus, when the Ravens got to the dining room, and Raven spotted the buffet resting near the back wall, her heart welled with the most positive emotions. And sure, she still had to suppress them to ensure that she didn't reawaken her inner demon, but even still, she felt immensely happy and excited. She zipped over to the buffet, with Raven following closely behind.

"Oh man," Raven said. She licked her lips as she looked at the scrambled eggs; fluffy, golden, and smelling better than pretty much anything that she could find in her home dimension. She turned to Raven. "Are you sure we're not in Heaven?"

Raven snickered, although it wasn't as… joyful as Raven would've expected the sound to be. "I highly doubt anyone like us would be allowed in Heaven."

Raven felt a pang. "Dang, that's depressing." She paused. "I mean, it is true, but still depressing."

Thankfully for her, she didn't need to dwell on that for long. She immediately started putting stuff on her plate, practically drooling a river as she looked at all the scrumptious breakfast food. Pancakes, waffles, bacon, biscuits and gravy, oatmeal… Raven didn't care if she wouldn't be allowed in Heaven; this display was more than enough to make up for that. By the time she had finished piling food on her plate, she practically had a mountain. And sure, it was difficult to carry it over to a table without dropping anything, but that was a small price to pay.

When she seated down at the table, Raven joined her within no time at all. Unlike the goofy sorceress, she had only two waffles covered in syrup on her plate. She also eyed Raven's plate with a sort of… incredulity, a sort of judgment that Raven had never really seen from anyone. Oh well. She wasn't about to let it bother her.

"Well," Raven said. She lifted her fork and knife and started to cut into her first waffle. "Let's…"

CHOMP!

Raven actually dropped her fork. She did double take after double take as she stared at Raven and her now empty plate. "H… how… how did you…?"

Raven chuckled. "Oh, I've always been able to do that. My mouth opens extra wide depending on how much I want to eat." She chuckled before letting out a burp. "That's one of my favorite powers."

Raven, while still stunned, simply shook her head and looked back down at her waffles. "Well, now I've seen everything…"

As she began eating her breakfast, Raven decided to go get seconds. She went back up to the buffet, piling as much food onto her plate as the first time. Raven was only halfway done with her first waffle when Raven got back, opened her mouth as wide as she could, and stuffed her face full with a second, more tasty round of food.

"Mmm mmm mmm," Raven said as she wiped her mouth with a napkin. She grinned and looked back at the the buffet. "I think I want to get…"

Just as she was about to get up again, Raven stopped her by grabbing hold of her arm. "No," she said, using a stern tone that Raven had only ever heard from her mother. "Leave some for the other guests."

Raven sighed. "Alright, alright…"

With that, she just sat still while Raven ate away at her breakfast. And, unfortunately for Raven, the stillness and silence meant that she had more time to think without any distractions. And the worst part about that was that all she could really think about was their situation and their problems. She thought about Trigon, still searching for them. Sure, they managed to escape from him via the help of the outfits they stole, but… oh, if he did find them… if he came across them and actually found a way to drain the rest of Raven's power supply…

She sighed. Why did all the odds have to stack up against her? She wasn't even referring to just this incident; this happened with her all the time. Things always seemed impossible, always seemed extremely dangerous. Was this just something that came packaged with being a Raven? Probably. Based on what her double had told her, she seemed to have gone through a lot of strife as well. Oh, why could a Raven from any dimension ever catch a break? Maybe it had something to do with their demon half…

And with that thought, a floodgate of other thoughts opened. Once again, Raven had the desire to get rid of her demon half. Trigon had offered her a normal life, which honestly looked more and more appealing the more time she spent thinking about it. A life, free from her father's influence. A life, free from carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders. A life where she was… normal. Where she wasn't a monster, where she was just… human.

Was it so bad to wish for that? Was it so bad to long for that? It would be such a pleasant reality. Sure, humans still had their own struggles and trials, but they would be nothing in comparison to the struggles she had to go through. If only she could work something out with Trigon. Her getting rid of her powers would be…

BANG!

Both Ravens shrieked and bolted out of their chairs. Screams filled their ears and the scent of smoke filled their noses. Said smoke flew into the room, causing both girls to cough. Right as Raven wondered what could cause this fire was when Trigon's voice filled the room.

"RACHEL! ANGELA! I KNOW WHO YOU REALLY ARE! COME OUT AND COME WITH ME!"

Raven's eyes grew wide. What? Trigon had figured it out? Oh… oh man. This wasn't good; this was so very not good.

"I'M NOT KIDDING! COME OUT RIGHT NOW, YOU DISOBEDIENT LITTLE DEVILS!"

Without much thought, Raven bolted out of her chair and ran to the other side of the room. Raven followed her, all while the shrieks of the people staying in the hotel grew more… bloodcurdling. The smoke filling the room also grew more and more thick, which was actually kind of a small mercy as it meant that Trigon wouldn't be able to see them as easily. Sure, it was still mercilessly hard to breathe, but Raven was still thankful nonetheless.

Unfortunately, moving over to the other side of the room was a bad idea, as there were no windows or doors there that could help the girls escape. She started to hyperventilate, which was something nobody should ever do in a room full of smoke.

"What are we going to do?" Raven struggled to say. "Trigon… he's here! He's gonna, he's gonna… oh man, what do we do?" She pulled her stolen hoodie over her head, hoping that the end would be quick and painless.

"Hey, try to stay calm," Raven said. Just as a crash occurred near the entrance was when Raven wrapped her arms around her double. "Hold on!"

With that, a coldness and a darkness overtook Raven. She gasped, at first not knowing what was going on. It was only once the two started to move that Raven realized that her double was using her soul self. This was a handy power, one that Raven in all her wisdom had decided to avoid using while she was still in her home dimension.

The two flew for what felt like forever. Raven couldn't see a single thing as they moved away from Trigon, nor could she properly see and take in her surroundings. Despite that, she wasn't afraid (at least not as afraid as she had been previously). She trusted her double. She trusted Raven to keep her safe, to take them far away from the danger that they both knew they had been in.

After a little bit, the girls came to a stop. Raven dropped Raven down on the ground before exiting her soul self form. Raven tried to get her breathing back under control. As she did, she noticed that she and her double were back in their regular outfits, with their black leotards and shadowy blue cloaks. Sighing in relief, Raven pulled her hood over her head. Somehow, having her face concealed in shadow made her feel more safe.

"That was close," Raven said.

"Yes," Raven agreed. The sound of wailing sirens filled the air, causing the heroes to turn. Smoke rose up into the air in the area where the hotel had been.

Raven swallowed a lump. "We could've died…"

"Yeah." Raven pulled her own hood back up. "Which means we need to change our plan." She began walking away, much to Raven's confusion.

"Where are we going?" she asked as she followed after her.

Raven bit her lip. "I know that it's risky… but now that Trigon has found us and made a scene like this, we need to get as much protection as possible." She narrowed her gaze. "And the best place to get that is at Titans Tower."