Quality Time

CHAPTER 13: Head Trip

BeastBoy fell deeper and deeper into the swirling vortex, drawing farther towards the mental realm of Raven's mind. It was like being on a roller coaster, where despite how fast you knew you were probably going, everything else around you felt as if it were going in slow motion. For BeastBoy, that was precisely the feeling. Holding Raven close, doing his best to keep her from slipping out from under his grip, he continued to fall.

Moments later, reaching the end of the line, the exit portal opened a short distance above the ground, ejecting BeastBoy into Raven's mind. BeastBoy spilled onto the ground, landing flat on his back almost in cartoon fashion, similar to the coyote hitting the canyon floor, kicking up a thin cloud of dust upon impact..

WHAP!

In spite of how convincing a hard landing BeastBoy made, and the velocity it felt he was falling at, the impact didn't hurt anywhere near as bad as he would've thought. Apparently the laws of physics of Raven's mind had some leeway, at least for the falling part. Gravity on the other hand was as unforgiving as ever as he rose to his feet, hunched over to rub his sore backside.

"Agh," he groaned, gingerly rubbing his lower back before straightening up, cracking his vertebrae, "THAT is exactly why I don't fly coach." BeastBoy brought his other hand to his head, shaking off the fall.

One hand straightening his back, the other steadying his bearings, it was then that he realized something of crucial importance was missing.

BeastBoy snapped open both eyes, looking from one empty hand to another. "Raven?" he said, looking around, scanning where he'd landed. "Raven!" he called out a bit louder.

She was nowhere to be seen. He had been holding her during their decent, but just before BeastBoy had fallen through the other side of the portal, she must've slipped out of his arms in bracing for re-entry.

"Raven?" he called again, turning over a rock, "Hey, where'd ya go?" BeastBoy scratched his head.

BeastBoy had been in Raven's mind once before, recalling that he and Cyborg weren't separated when they'd fallen through upon entering together. So there was no reason to think too great a distance had separated her. Then again, one prior visit did not make for a reliable blueprint or understanding of Raven's mind and how it worked. And he was about to discover just how true that was.

As he looked up, hoping to broaden his search, it was then that he began to take closer notice of just where he had landed in more detail. Caught off guard would be an understatement.

The surroundings were different. Drastically different from how he last recalled. Everything had changed considerably from the last venture he'd taken into Raven's magic mirror. As memory served, Raven's mind was a void of jagged rocks, floating endlessly in space, the sky a dense void of nothingness. A harsh wasteland like out of one of his sci-fi movies. But now? The ground was not barren, but rather replaced by rich soil bearing healthy patches of green grass. A few scattered trees and shrubbery dotted a few rolling hills in the distance that lead to much denser foliage, along with the sounds of what he could only guess was a babbling brook as he traced a small stream. It was like a small exotic paradise teaming with life below an abundant blue sky, not a cloud in sight.

BeastBoy did his best to wipe the puzzled look from his face. Had he not jumped into the mirror himself, he would be certain he had to be in the wrong place.

"It's so… green," he observed, skeptically complimenting the dose of color not present from his last visit. "So bright. So… anti-gloom," he counted off as he continued to marvel at the lush environment. "This CAN'T be Raven's mind," he shook his head, "Maybe we made a wrong turn."

But then BeastBoy looked again. Raven had shown change over time, both in her casual mood and routine around the tower, and even her mood towards him in general. Maybe this was the inner change that went along with it.