Another Alternate Universe

Chapter 20: Purgatory

Raven and Starfire wandered the empty hallways searching for an escape.
Each door lead them to a different place in time. Some they recognized as events of the past, others were strange and psychedelic.
" Someone once said you have nothing to fear except fear itself." The Riddlers voice echoed through the building. " but what happens when your fears become reality?!" The building began to shake. Walls shot out of the floor trapping and separating the two hero's from each other.
"Starfire can you hear me!" Raven yelled through the wall.
" I can Raven." Starfire replied.
"Don't let the evil get to you. Fight it for as long as you can" Raven said.
"I will try." Starfire gulped.
" quit the chitter chatter and open the door. Be ready for what ever meets you inside." The jokers voice cackled. "If you can take it! HAHHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Raven rolled her eyes. His voice was the most annoying sound she had ever heard. The riddler was deeper and quieter, the joker was just plain annoying. Raven put her hand on the door knob and slowly turned it.
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"Robin." Cyborg asked. "Is that who I think it is?"
Robin turned towards the screen. A black helicopter was preparing to land on top of the tower.
BeastBoy gasped in awe. "It's the greatest detective of all time. THE BATMAN." BeastBoy began to fan girl over the dark knights arrival. Robin slapped him behind the head. BeastBoy grunted and rubbed the back of his head, "Just because you might like him doesn't mean other people don't."
These words rang through Robins ears, he flipped around. "I never said I didn't like him. I just don't want to disappoint him." He flipped back around and continued walking towards the roof entrance.
Two figures stood in the shadows of the helicopter.
"Good evening Master Dick." A poised gentleman dressed as a butler came out of the shadows.
"Dick?! YOURE NAME IS DICK!??!?" Cyborg and BeastBoy began laughing so hard they dropped to the ground and started rolling around.
The man turned to them.
"Victor, it is great to meet you. I can't wait to hear all about the time you had a fling with Jinx." He said. Bee had joined them just in time to hear that statement. "YOU WHAT?!" She snapped at him. The old man smirked and turned to BeastBoy.
"And you must be Garfield. The one who doesn't wear the pants in the relationship. that's okay my dear boy, you  might grow a pair some day." BeastBoys face turned real red. They all knew that Raven ran the roost, no matter how hard Garfield tried to somedays it would always be her call. Robin smirked and walked over to the man, he put his hand on his shoulder.
"Team this is Alfred. He's family to me, and I expect you too treat him as family too." Robin smiles and glared.
"No problem, he's already show us he's got game." Cyborg stated trying to reel back from Bee's attack.
"Yea he went right for the jugular." BeastBoy added.
Robin turned back to the shadows.
A big muscular figure emerged from the shadows.
Robin looked down and sighed. "Don't ever let them see you down." Alfred said. Robin and Batman weren't on the best terms. Up until the incident with redx and Catwoman he hadn't spoken to Batman in over a year.
"The joker and riddler have teamed up. They kidnapped two of our team mates. We have a location but with these two I have no idea what we are up against." Robin said keeping his eyes fixed on the bat.
"You did a good thing calling me. I've been doing some research. Villains from
Jump city and Gotham have been partnering up. Some from metropolis could be cashing in on it soon too." Batman said. "Where is your computer." Cyborg lead the way back down to the common room and the dark knight followed. Then bee and then BeastBoy. All that left was Robin and Alfred on the roof.
"He loves you, don't let the big bad bat front scare you Dick." Alfred said.
Robins lip began to quiver. There's only one person he's ever shown weakness in front of and it was Alfred. He grabbed ahold of Alfreds waist and began to sob quietly. "I thought I could handle this on my own. Batman was right. I'm just a kid and now my girlfriend and one of my best friends are in trouble."
Alfred gave him a solid hug back. "You have a done a great job and even though he doesn't say it, he is proud of you."

"I already lost one dad and now I feel like I lost the other." Robin sighed wiping his tears from his eyes.
"You never lost him." Alfred said.  Robin nodded. What Robin didn't notice was the tiny red mechanical bug planted in Alfreds sleeve cuff. All this time Batman had been listening to every word that had been said through an ear piece behind his mask. He was proud nonetheless, but at the same time he was beginning to understand how much his son had been hurt.
"This is it. This is everything we have gathered so far. We do believe that the building is where the girls are at but, before we could find anything else robin called you." Cyborg said.
"The riddler is an evil genius. He is gifted in technology and has used it for horrible things through out the years. He no doubt has that place rigged and wired. The joker on the other hand is a maniac clown, he won't stop at getting a laugh from others. Even if that means forcing it out of them. Both are mad men yes, but together they are beyond dangerous." Batman said. Everyone stopped in their tracks, including Alfred and the boy wonder who had just entered the room. "What do we do now?" BeastBoy asked.
Batman turned around and looked at the teens. "We go there."
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Raven turned the door knob slowly and entered the room. The room didn't look like a room. It looked more like a door that entered another time period. She was outside a diner in the dead of night. Neon lights buzzed around and lit up the sky above her, not many stars out . "So this is my fear? An old fashioned eatery." She mocked. She entered the diner and sat down. It was only a matter of five minutes before a group of teens walked in. Two girls and three guys. There was something familiar about them. Each other looked at her as if they knew her before. She took a closer look it was her team. Robin, Starfire, Cyborg, BeastBoy and TERRA?!
Terra had her hand slowly tracing up BeastBoys thigh under the table, he had his arm around her shoulder. He was quiet, giving her this look that sent chills down her spine. She felt the world spin faster and faster  before running out of there. She looked in the direction of the door. It was gone.
"This isn't real." She kept telling herself.
"On the contrary my dear. It is very real." She whipped around. The riddler. "what do you want!" She screamed, lighting up her hand in black energy. "It is not what I want but what you want. Facing your fear is only half of riddle, finding yourself where memories lie is another." She shot her black energy out his way but by the time it reached him he had disappeared.
"Not everything is as what it seems." His voice echoed through the sky line.
She closed her eyes and began grounding herself. She began to allow herself to become part of this reality. She heard a roar and opened her eyes. A shining black and purple motorcycle with a raven painted on the back sides was revving up for her. She walked over to it and got on it. She looked back into the window and saw her self still sitting where she was before, BeastBoy still watching her. Terra began biting at his ear and sucking on his neck. The phantom Raven got up and walked out the door to the motorcycle. She looked at Raven. She put her hand on the real Raven's shoulder. Raven began to feel a cold sense go down her body. The phantom Raven was taking over. Showing her where to go and what to do. Raven followed, as if she had a choice anyways, stars began forming in the sky. They took the shape of constellations, a Raven, a heart, a T, and a beast. Raven read the stars. It was a skill she picked up last summer while spending so much time out on the roof she decided to make something of it. He was still on her mind. The motorcycle revved down this empty road in the middle of the desert before coming upon what looked like the Titans Tower.  She walked up to it. She felt a pressure rise from her, she blinked. The phantom Raven had opened the tower door and began walking inside. Raven followed.
"Can you please explain this to me?" Raven asked her counterpart. "Are you another side of me." The spirit form looked back into Raven. Raven was over come with a sudden finger of fear.
"The riddler said this was my biggest fear come to life. You must be the opposite of me." Raven was right. This worlds Raven was quiet and broken. Something Raven had not been for a very long time. Now she was very bold and outspoken. She was not broken anymore. The other Raven opened her mouth.
"He fixed you. He put you back together. He can break you." She chanted. "Who is he." Raven asked.
"BeastBoy." The other Raven said while floating up the stairs. "Come." Raven followed.
"Everyone here is the opposite of what they truly are. BeastBoy is an asshole, terra is his girl. She isn't evil here but she sure isn't a peach either. Starfire and Robin ignore you. And Cyborg makes fun of you. Here, in this world, you are nothing. You mean nothing to them and you are broken here. Just like me." Raven quieted down at her phantoms revelation. "You must let go." They entered into Raven's room. The phantom looked in the mirror. She grabbed a necklace hanging off the corner of the vanity next to her. "Irrational fears keep us from doing what we want to our full potential. They hold us down. Don't let it hold you down. You must let go." The necklace floated over to Raven and landed in her hands. She looked down at it. It was the exact same as the one BeastBoy had given to her except the color scheme was backwards. Everything that was silver on hers was black on this one. And everything that black on hers was silver on this one. "Thank you but, how do I..." Raven looked up and the spirit was gone.
She walked over to the vanity and looked into the mirror. Her eyes flashed over blue. She stepped back, caught off guard by what was happening now. There were picture frames lined up on the desk. Each one was of her and BeastBoy. They looked so happy.
*what happened...* she thought to herself. She looked down at the necklace in her hand. She began to think. If this was the opposite of her than the phantom would've never been able to what she needed to in order to break the cycle and be released from this place. She placed it in her belt compartment as she ran out the door, down the stairs and back outside. She grabbed the helmet next to door before closing it. She jumped on the motor cycle and sped off into the dark, leaving the haunting tower behind her.  She sped up to the diner and slammed her bike on the ground. When she walked in the team was gone. Instead there were other people there. People she hadn't noticed before. A kid, some old people, the workers and a few other people that were all on the floor scared for their lives. The diner was a mess. Broken plates, food on the walls, it was all a horrible sight. It was as if the whole world was starting to collapse in front of her. She walked over to the table where BeastBoy and the team once sat. On top of it was the mirror similar to the one she had used for meditation. She picked it up. She took the necklace out of her belt and placed it down in its place. The light from above narrowed in on the necklace as it shimmered in the spotlight. It began to vibrate and disappear. She looked at the mirror it began to shine and shake before sucking her in. She flew through the mirrors different realms before falling out of a portal back onto the floor of the hotel. She wasn't on the same level anymore though. She rubbed her head and grabbed the mirror laying next to her. She watched as the phantom Raven and phantom BeastBoy kissed under the spotlight at the table. They smiled at each other. The diner had been set back to its normal self. Nothing was The team was together again and the Phantom Terra was gone. She had faced her fears and let it go. The riddlers plan was to
force her into a realm where their fears were alive. He had hoped that the fears they could not let go of would keep them trapped in a cycle forever. Once she let the fear go, she faced it and broke the cycle, thus releasing her from the realm. Her biggest fear was indeed to loose BeastBoy. She was afraid of him taking Terra back and turning on her. She was scared of the team flipping on her, she was terrified of being the opposite of who she really was. She grabbed the necklace dangling from her neck and held on to it. She let out a small tear as she muttered softly under her breathe.
"Please don't ever leave me, because you're the only thing that can break me."