The Sixth Titan | Teen Titans

Chapter Seventy-One - Trouble in Tokyo, Part Five

    Anxiously, I nod. "Yeah?"

    "Well, a part of my subconscious stayed there." Raven stops walking; this time it's both of her hands that find my shoulders and whirl my body around to meet her. My eyes lock onto hers as I listen intently for what she's about to say. "Don't freak out, but you and I have this... telepathic connection."

    Hold on.

    Telepathic connection?

    No.

    That can't be.

    That's not possible.

    "It is," Raven says, reading my thoughts, "and it's true. Unless you prefer to think that you're going crazy."

    My jaw drops to the floor. My eyes bug out of my head. Questions run through my brain in a hurry and I can't grasp on to even one of them, my voice resigned to a choked gasp of shock. Eventually, I gather enough of my body to be able to shake my head.

    "I can teach you how to use it, but I can't promise you it'll be easy," Raven explains. "I'm still learning, too."

    "Hold on." I clear my throat before raising my voice: "You don't know what you're doing?! "

    Raven shakes her head. "This hasn't happened before."

    "Holy—" I step away from Raven and clutch my head, walking in a straight line forwards. She moves towards me, but I shake my head firmly and hold out my hand. "No. I need some time."

   Raven nods numbly. "Okay."

    "I, uh... I guess you'll know when I'm ready."

    The cloaked girl shakes her head at this. "Let me know when. I won't feed the connection unless you decide it's something you want."

    I grin wryly in appreciation of this. I look around, finding Starfire flying by herself and choose to fly with her for the rest of the trip to the comic book factory. Hopefully I can find something to talk to her about that will distract me from this telepathic connection Raven just dropped on me.

~~~

    Starfire and I move in front of the pack, under Robin's orders, and both hold out our hands to blast open the wall. The debris falls with a deafening thud as the hole is opened, and we step inside with a readiness to attack. Throughout the entirety of our Tokyo trip, I've not felt this sense of unity. This may not be it, but it's sure a step closer.

    Baby steps, I think to myself. I can't look at Robin without being swallowed by my guilt yet, and I'm not sure how long it will take, but I'm determined to get there. I don't want to think about what I'll do if I can't. Baby steps.

    "No guards," Cyborg states, grounding me in reality once more.

    Robin looks around before pointing ahead of us, and we move into the next room as one unit; one team. Lightning rocks through the building, illuminating the room briefly and causing me to jump in place. The Boy Wonder turns to me with a wry grin but I turn away as he looks to the next room.

    "This way."

    Robin wastes no time before launching himself through the doorway, and I follow with the same urgency as him and the rest of the team. I'm beginning to wonder exactly how long they were planning on keeping the comic book factory closed—it doesn't look like opening again anytime soon.

    The Boy Wonder barrels into an abandoned room and shouts, "Freeze!"

    I squint as I pull up beside Robin, but can't see anything. In response to my lack of sight, I hold a red flame in front of my face and begin to walk around gingerly; Cyborg follows my lead with a flashlight on his shoulders and the Titans follow us both. The mechanic's light shines on an empty leather chair, sitting atop a raised platform.