Spider-Man: Nobody Home (18+)

Chapter 44: Break On Through To The Other Side

Raven floated down the hall toward the living room where she was sure the other Titans would be lounging about. If anyone was going to know anything, it would be Dick.

Sure enough, when she entered the room, she saw most of the Titans except Peter and Cyborg. Dick and Starfire sat next to each other in embrace as they watched a movie with the others.

"Okay." Raven announced as she floated down the steps and stopped between the couch and the screen. The others seemed surprised and confused to see her there. "I give in... What happened to Peter?" She asked, looking right at Dick.

Nightwings eyes widened and he and Starfire shared a look, before looking back at Raven. "Nice to see you too." He joked.

"Did Peter not tell you what happened?" Starfire replied.

"No!" Raven huffed. "He hasn't told me anything for WEEKS!" She replied in frustration. "Now he's hobbling around with a heart monitor and acting COMPLETELY different."

"I see." Dick said as he stood up and started toward the door. "I think it's better if I just show you."

Raven gave a frustrated sigh and reluctantly followed their leader out of the living room and up to the crime lab. After that, he pulled up a recent snap shot of a monsterous creature with pointed teeth and a long tongue made of black goo.

"What IS that?" She asked.

"THAT." Dick pointed at the screen. "Is what happened to Peter." He explained. "It's an alien symbiote that found Peter the last time he fell into the Backrooms."

Raven furrowed her brows in confusion. "A symbiote?"

"Kinda like a parasite."

"I KNOW what a symbiote is!" She snapped. "What do you MEAN that's what happened to Peter?"

Dick sat down after that and ran his hands through his hair. "Well, long story short, that thing bonded to Peter. The only reason he let it happen was because it said it could HELP him."

"Help him with what?!" She replied in confusion.

"I don't know." Dick shrugged. "He didn't say, but whatever it was it must've been pretty important to him."

After that, she knew exactly what it was.

Trigon.

"So THAT'S why he's been such a-"

"Dick?" Nightwing replied, then nodded. "Yeah, it certainly seems that way."

Raven shook her head and rubbed her eyes with a stressful sigh. She wasn't sure what to do with the information, but based on what little she heard in his mind, it did make sense. That thing wasn't just manipulating him, it was controlling him. Dissipating his sense of reason and logic, leaving him only with rage, fear, and frustration.

Raven couldn't help but let out a defeated sigh and shook her head. Before that moment she wanted nothing more than to keep her distance, maybe even run away. However, now she felt a creeping urge to go to him.

"Where is he?" She asked flatly.

Dick lead her across the tower to the infirmary, expecting to find Peter and Cyborg there, but much to their surprise, the room was empty.

"O...Kay." Dick said in confusion as he scanned the room. "Where'd they go?"

Meanwhile, Cyborg stood in the observation room at Batman's dockside lab, Peter stood in front of Bruce's machine in the lab below, tinkering with the electromagnets on the archway.

"I can't believe we overlooked this." Cyborg said over the intercom. "So embarrassing."

"WelL to be fair we're trying to unravel a LITERAL glitch in reality." Peter shrugged. "So I'd say we get a pass."