Teen Titans Fan Fiction ❯ Evermore ❯ Twinkle, Twinkle Little Bird ( Chapter 5 )

Chapter 5: Twinkle, Twinkle Little Bird

"Greetings, Raven, I apologize for taking so long in getting here, but I was having a difficult time deciding what to bring back with me" It was a strange thing that morning as Starfire returned to Raven's room after leaving to get herself some food, as well as other supplies that would be required for Raven's care. Strange because the Tamaranian girl spoke, conversationally even, but was obviously still aware of the situation, as she was unsurprised when Raven failed to say anything in response. Instead of doing anything that would have been expected, considering her behavior of the last few days, Starfire simply moved to Raven's bedside, seating herself in the chair there. "I hope that you are feeling better than you were last night, friend, as you seemed very frustrated then, and I know how unenjoyable that can be."

Her hand, after waving in the air for a few moments to equalize the temperature, slipped over Raven's forehead to feel for feverishness or other signs of discomfort, but found none. Another quick inspection beneath the blankets revealed that Raven had thankfully not accumulated any more wounds and that the previous injury to her stomach was healing well. Deftly, she slipped the bandages from Raven's body, throwing them into a nearby wastebasket without breaking stride, and then worked on slipping fresh ones around the ashen-skinned girl's mid-section. Lastly, she checked the IV bag beside Raven's bed, replaced it with a fresh one, and then checked the actual needle. Once all of this was done, Starfire's "chores" were essentially completely, and she was free to do with her comatose friend as she would.

"I am glad you are not more injured than you were when I left you before, Raven." She said, setting her hands comfortably in her lap as she did so. "I was very worried that something might happen to you while I was away, and that you might become injured even further because I was not here to take care of you." Star looked downwards just a little, a faint smile playing across her lips. "But I then remembered that you are Raven, you would not allow yourself to be defeated by something like this." She gestured expansively, and then brought the same hand she'd used for that movement in close, against her chest and over her heart. "I also remembered that blaming myself . . . my pessimistic attitude . . . they were not helping you to get better, which is why I am here now." She reached that same hand out to gently touch Raven's hand, and squeezed it reassuringly. "I am sure that you can pull through this, Raven."

Unsurprisingly, there was no visible response to what Starfire had said from the dark magus, but that had no effect at all on the warm smile of the Tamaranian girl. Instead, the crimson-haired Starfire only moved onto a new subject, deciding that even if it seemed ineffective, talking to Raven as she was simply felt like the right thing to do. "I do not think I told you of my immediate past when we were learning of each other to combat the Puppet King, did I?" She asked, leaning her head back slightly and setting her gaze skyward as she sifted her memories. "I was very confused and frightened when I first arrived on this planet. Everything was so strange, with everyone rushing about like Kaerian hornets in their hive, all speaking this utterly incomprehensible language called, `English.' I truly had no idea at all concerning what to do next, it was all just so much to take in."

Starfire's smile returned in full at that point, having waned slightly due to the unhappy emotions of her previous memories. "But, as luck would have it, I walked past a building later in the day which exploded while I was doing so. I know that does not sound like the usual event that someone would call fortunate, and the explosion itself was not, really. What was important was the people that came to investigate the explosion, the Teen Titans. I found my home on your unusual planet that day, and they . . ." She paused for just a moment, and took Raven's hand in hers again. "You became my family, you and all of the others became my friends and family that day." Starfire squeezed Raven's hand once more and smiled, even though she only half felt like it as the other girl's hand lay cold and unresponsive in her grasp.

* * *

It had taken a certain amount of time for Raven to realize, but the reason she had not been able to get anywhere in her mind before was because that other her had been keeping her from moving. In a mind, physical existence is only a memory as are its laws, movement is not accomplished by physical propulsion as much as by subtle manipulations of subconscious projections. In other words, movement by purely physical means was impossible, and that Raven would have been able to "teleport" if she had wanted to, if it weren't for the demon's omni-present will blocking the mental response to those manipulations. If she focused hard enough, she could pierce the control and allow herself the ability to travel, though.

And thus she was walking along the end of the walkway which led to one of the largest solid pieces of rock within her mind, upon which sat the portal out of it. Truthfully, her appearance of "walking" was simply out of habit and exercise to focus her concentration, but that was a relatively moot point as she came onto the actual island in the sea of entropy. Even if the portal's physical exit lay with the mirror, it could still be used to escape from her mind, albeit with some difficulty, and was therefore Raven's best hope for waking herself up from the demon nightmare she currently existed in.

"That won't work, you know?" Raven's own voice called out to her, though without any discernable representation of substance.

"Of course it will, the mirror is a two-way portal, and I can still use it to escape, even if I didn't use it to get here in the first place." The dark magus retorted, looking about warily for any sign of the other, or one of her dangerous pets. The disembodied voice laughed mockingly in response.

"Of course, I know that to be true, but what I actually meant is that your plan won't work because you will never reach the portal." As the voice that was hers and yet not spoke, the stone beneath her very feet began to shake and rumble. "Your very own emotional demons will finish you off first!" With a sound like thunder, the rock just before Raven bucked up and split clean apart, and out from the gaping hole the event created slithered an absolutely hideous creature. Easily ten feet tall, the beast's legs were replaced by a huge, writhing mass of tentacles, and from there up only got worse, with a body covered in open mouths with viciously-sharp teeth, and huge, powerful looking arms with razor-sharp claws tipping each elongated finger of its hands. Atop its broad and muscular shoulders sat a rounded head similarly covered in gaping maws, as well as haphazardly placed, glowing red eyes, and lastly a head of thin, greasy black hair that hung down to the monster's neck.

"Great, just great." Raven muttered quietly, turning her body sideways to present a smaller target, while at the same time setting her legs wider apart and bending them at the knees just a little to lower her center of gravity. With a tremendous screeching roar from all of its mouths, the creature lunged at Raven, burying its claw in the stone where she had been standing just a moment before. Raven landed only three feet back from where she had been and immediately let her telekinetic energies take hold of the rocks displaced by the monster's attack, and sent them all rocketing up to smash into its head. The beast was unfazed by the strike, and simply swung for Raven with its free left claw, scratching three bloody gashes into her right arm even as she hopped back to evade it, and then followed it by throwing the large hunk of stone its right hand had ripped out of the ground with the movement of its body during the first strike.

The dark magus barely had enough time to form a barrier in the air before her to block the rock, and when the creature came charging in just behind it, she had little choice but to flee. She leapt with power buoying her rise, only to have the demon's hand catch around her ankle, an instant later sending her slamming to the ground. Before she could even form the coherent thought to escape, the monster was upon her, tentacles sliding over her ankles and taking hold to keep her from running, while its arms scythed in to rip her prone form to shreds. With what little mobility she still possessed, Raven managed to roll to the sides just ahead of each swipe, avoiding the brunt of the attacks, but still receiving a number of wounds in the process. Notably, though, she was also quietly chanting as she did so.

"Azarath, metrion, zinthos!" Dark energy surged into the ground beneath the monstrosity, worming its way into every crack and crevice in the granite-like rock until it had a firm hold.Then two huge slabs of rock came ripping up from the ground around and beneath the beast, trapping it between their twin, crushing force as its arms came up to brace against them just in time. While the hideous creature was otherwise occupied, Raven slipped herself out of its grasp, and with a bit of a stumbling clumsy gait, managed to put some distance between herself and the beast. By the time she had turned around to face the monster it had already triumphed over her telekinetic control of the rocks, giving a great push which soundly broke both slabs from the ground. And, before her mind could even begin to form some sort of plan of attack, the horror had already wrenched one of the huge slabs over its head and thrown it at Raven.

"Azarath metrion zinthos!" The words came pouring from her lips, calling forth all the concentration she could muster in the few instants she had before the rock would crush her. In a tremendous outpouring of power, she just barely managed to halt the slab, only inches in front of her position. There was literally no time to celebrate, though, as the whole of the massive chunk of stone ripped apart before her, revealing the green-skinned fist of the monster, just one moment before it smashed into Raven's stomach with the force of a freight train. The crushing blow blasted the air and a considerable amount of blood right out of the girl's lungs, before sending her flying through the dark atmosphere of the mind realm, only to come down quite a distance away.

Raven shakily climbed up onto her hands and knees after impact, struggling to force breathe back into her empty lungs, despite her unresponsive diaphragm, and succeeded only just in time to fire off a bolt of telekinetic energy to slow the follow-up charge of the monster. The bolt had almost no effect on the demon's considerable momentum as it tore over the ground between them on its slithering, tentacle legs, though it did cause the creature's whole appearance to become fuzzy and indistinct for a moment. Raven blinked, trying to figure out whether her eyes were playing tricks on her and sending her false perceptions. Then she smiled, and shakily got back to her feet, standing tall and resolute in the face of the rush that the monster was making, cloak blowing out behind her in the curious wind of her mindscape.

The monster met Raven with a wail, so utterly discordant and inhuman that it caused the ashen-skinned girl physical pain, but she managed to make her attack regardless of the pain, unexpectedly leaping straight in at her foe. The move caused the double claw swipe the creature had been going for to miss entirely, and its glowing red eyes became quite large with fear when she landed smoothly on its chest and set her energy-charged hand on its forehead. With simply the willing of it, the creature's essence began to waver and shift, being drawn upwards into the palm of Raven's hand, being absorbed back into her being, just as it had been when she had first "fought" it. In the usual troublesome manner, though, the beast didn't plan to go without a fight, scrambling it's arms up to viciously slash at Raven's back with both claws, opening up a number of wounds there before its arms were finally drawn into Raven. The rest of the horrid demon followed in short order, and the battle was over, with Raven standing as the victor.

Without a word, she turned to head off in the direction of the portal, leaving the site of the battle behind her. But, only shortly after she did so, it quickly became apparent that the fight had taken quite a toll on her body, as her control of her limbs quickly slowed and then ceased almost altogether. With a resounding "thud," Raven collapsed face first into the ground, too weak to force her body to move in even the slightest way. She was done, she had fought as hard as she possibly could, more than she had ever believed she could, but now she had nothing left to give, no more will left to fight on with. It was time to just die.

Unexpectedly, her right hand grew quite warm, and she could somehow feel a heart beat against its warming skin, a fluttering, quick beat that suggested a dire, upset emotional state. And then she felt a drop of liquid on her cheek, seemingly impossible due to the fact that said cheek lay right against the cold turf of the rock island. And then she understood.

"That's right . . . if I died now . . . it would make Starfire cry, wouldn't it?" Raven murmured quietly into the dirt, before very slowly and very painfully forcing her arms and knees back underneath her, raising her form up from the ground. "I won't make her cry." One leg came solidly beneath, still bent to accommodate her position. "Not now . . ." The other foot came to be flat on the ground, supporting her weight as easily as ever. "Not ever." And she stood, tall and proud, staring out into the dark distance of the realm. "I will never make Starfire cry, and that means that I will not lose to you, you monster."

* * *

" . . . and that is how I came to learn that the `washing' and `drying' machines were only meant to clean clothes and not actual people." Starfire completed her tale of alien naiveté and misadventures with a smile and a little giggle, just the retelling of the amusing and embarrassing incident bringing a blush to her cheeks and more joy to her heart than she thought possible at that point in time. Sadly, though, her joy was fated to live only so long before . . . "Oh no!" The crimson-haired girl cried as she caught the sudden shift of color in the sheet over Raven's right arm. In a flash, Starfire had the comforter ripped off of the other girl's bed and thrown halfway across the room, revealing three ragged gashes in the skin of Raven's arm. Bandages and anti-septic came to hand, but only in time for Starfire to witness the ashen-skinned girl's body shaking terribly, like it had just been thrown against something with great force. Worse, it was only a moment after that even that multiple wounds began ripping themselves open all over Raven's upper body, sending little splashes of blood everywhere.

In an instant, Star had collected Raven in her arms and was flying her toward the medical bay in the Tower with all the speed she could manage, desperately trying to ignore the copious amounts of blood running down her stomach from all the phantom wounds on Raven, and from those still appearing. They reached the hospital's white-washed room in record time, Starfire gently placing her bleeding burden on the raised platform at one side of the room. Before she could activate the auto-care system, though, everything suddenly became very still, and the wounds stopped opening on the dark magus' body. Starfire leaned over Raven's head, looking down on her with a curious mix of hope and dread. Hope, that perhaps the onslaught had ceased because Raven had awakened, and dread that it had stopped because she had died.

The answer turned out to be neither Star's hope or fear, as Raven's body burst into a convulsion like movement, and then emptied its lungs with an explosive gasp, also "spitting" a large glob of blood onto the Tamaranian's face. With no time to lose, Starfire rushed to the computer console in the room and used the code Cyborg had shown her to activate the auto-care systems, which instantly released a whirlwind dance of automated machinery working to stabilize Raven's injured form while caring for all of her multiple wounds. It seemed to do so quite well, even taking care of the slashes over the dark magus' back as they appeared, but to Starfire's utter horror, it could not keep Raven's heart rate from slowly dropping off, even after stemming the blood flow and bringing in a transfusion of new blood. It was as if she had simply given up trying to survive, and was just waiting to die.

Starfire rushed to Raven's side, taking the girl's hand in both of hers and squeezing it as tightly as she possibly could.

"No, you must not die, Raven, I do not want to lose a friend, I do not want to lose you!" She clenched the captured hand close against her chest and over her heart. "Please, do not die, Raven, do not leave me." A single tear slipped from the Tamaranian's closed eyes, ran down her soft-skinned cheek, and then dropped from the edge of her curved jaw and onto Raven's pale cheek. As the sound of the beeps from the hear monitor slowly grew more frequent, Starfire opened her eyes, and though she could not manage a smile at that moment, she did whisper, "Thank you, friend."

* * *

It wasn't long before Raven found herself with yet another obstacle in her path, another illusion, but this time it was one of Beast Boy and Cyborg. Not at all in the mood for her other side's games and tricks, Raven simply moved straight on through, ignoring the illusions completely. Just as with the Robin illusion, though, the fake Beast Boy and Cyborg were quite persistent, and easily kept pace with her.

"You know, you really should just give up." The fake Cyborg said, gesturing helplessly.

"Seriously, do you actually think you can beat something that has the power of all your negative emotions?" The illusionary Beast Boy added, crossing his arms and shaking his head. "I don't think so!"

"Especially when it's you."

"Yeah, `cause you're like . . . the queen of negativity!" The two acted much too much like the real Cyborg and Beast Boy for Raven's tastes, even having their annoying habit of working off one another when they tried to antagonize her.

"Besides, even if you somehow manage to beat Anbu, which totally isn't ever going to happen, it's not like you'd ever be able to get with Starfire."

"Nope, no chance of either happenin'." Almost imperceptibly, Raven clenched her hands beneath her cloak, but just as Raven could see things without actually laying eyes on them while within her mindscape, the illusions knew everything that she did without ever needing to lay eyes on it.

"I mean, c'mon, just look at you!" The fake Beast Boy said, jumping in front of her and gesturing right on with both arms. "You look like you walked out of a black and white movie, for Pete's sake!"

"And just look at your legs, they're so scrawny they look like they belong on a chicken!" The illusionary Cyborg pointed out, while leaning down to point at Raven's exposed legs, causing her to give a little growl and attempt to kick at him, which naturally failed due to him not being real.

"And dude, seriously, just look at your face." The green-skinned annoyance held up a mirror, showing Raven her face, though the illusion within the mirror removed its somewhat haggard appearance from her previous trials. "Who could ever like anything that plain?"

"And you're not fooling anybody by sticking on that little `chakra' thing of yours, it doesn't look exotic, it just looks stupid." Right down to the fact that Cyborg would probably use the wrong name for the gem itself her other side had those two numb-skulls represented perfectly, and it was seriously starting to get on Raven's nerves.

"It's not like you treat any of us well either, not even Starfire."

"You treat all of us like we're just so beneath you."

"And in case you haven't noticed." For the barest moment, the illusion of Beast Boy became real, slipping up behind her to pull her cloak back and away to make her breasts more apparent. "You're kind of a girl, y'know?" With a growl of pure rage, Raven spun about and smashed the still barely real fake Beast Boy in the head with a vicious backhand, sending him tumbling away.

"That doesn't matter, Starfire would understand!" The illusionary Beast Boy looked at her with utter shock plastered over his features, the skin on the side of his face still quite red from the backhand. Cyborg took up the mantle in his place, though.

"She might understand, but there's no way she'd go against what's natural for her body, and especially not her love for Robin." Raven fairly burned with impotent rage, glaring at the two false images before her. The rage dissolved when she felt the twin touch of two hands, one on each of her shoulders, and a soft breath on the side of her head.

"I believe that this game is mine as well, so sorry for your loss." The emotion came roaring back into Raven the moment the hands left her shoulders, and she tried again to pull the same move she'd used against Beast Boy, but Anbu was already gone by the time her fist passed behind her, and by the time she turned back to her original facing, the illusions were gone as well.

"Dammit!" She shouted angrily, kicking at the ground beneath her several times, before finally calming herself and simply walking on. "I will get out of here, and I will be with Starfire." She whispered, her head lowering slightly. "I have to . . ."