I stumbled upon this while looking through some of my old writing, and I am posting it here in case someone can get some shred of enjoyment from this story. It's a Teen Titans fanfic, based on The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Please comment! And I'm not D.C. or Robert Louis Stevenson, so they get credit for the material this is based on.

1/4. Two Birds in a Remarkably Similar Cage

At first, Robin thought it was another attack on the Titans, but this was not from the outside. These afflictions were personal; this had nothing to do with the others. He alone tore at his hair at night, barraged by the same nightmares. So effortlessly they unraveled him, and it was beginning to show.

He did not join Beast Boy and Cyborg when they offered to play video games—in fact, he rarely left his room. Everyone had the same guess as to why he was again a recluse; they were all half correct. This, however, went beyond simple justice, simple madness, his simple hunt for Slade. This was a more complex matter.

Robin did not respond to Starfire. If Raven had ventured to knock upon his door, he would have paid her no attention, either, but she seemed to understand. She could best relate to that war in his mind. A battle for control, his personal Trigon. It was wholly internal, wholly a battle of his will.

He spent some time cutting apart and otherwise destroying what was left of his Red X stash, as a precaution. His eyes clashed with the other costumes—none of them fit him. He was not quite himself, yet not quite another. A scale had to be tipped, but he knew not how.

Robin turned to the one who could.

Raven must have been quite startled when she heard him asking to come in. Before he rarely ventured into her quarters, and this an especially peculiar time for a visit, given how he rejected the others. Raven had to admit it to herself; even she was curious about what was going on in the bird boy's head this time.

"I'll make this quick," he began rapidly, lingering by the door, "Raven, I need your help. This is something only your magic could solve; I have tried everything else. Beast Boy can't joke this away. Cyborg can't fix me. Starfire… All her best wishes in the world mean nothing. Slade is everywhere. I keep hearing his voice, again and again. Right now he is reminding me that we are so alike, that we are the same."

Raven stoically returned Robin's words at first with a glare. She analyzed him; she watched his hands tremble with genuine fear. This was something she was almost startled to see in Robin before; he was dependent. He was desperate.

With no other route to take, or at least any beneficial route, she slid past Robin and closed the door. Candles had already been lit upon the floor, but even her meditating could be interrupted for this. From a nearby book shelf, complete with countless volumes ranging from a tattered Rorek's Spellbook to books of opposite tones, she spied one that was relevant.

"Practicing the dark arts is dangerous for those not properly trained," Raven said, her hand hesitating over the shelf, "Even if you are serious about this, I question whether you are in the right state of mind to even be making such decisions. You haven't exactly been making sound judgments on missions lately."
He rubbed his brow furiously; it was all too true. Cinderblock nearly wrecked an entire hospital full of patients, because he failed to predict the movements Cyborg would later consider to be, "so obvious that we should've seen that ton of bricks' plans a mile away."

Still, Robin persisted, "I know, Raven. Don't tell me I don't know!" His entire demeanor was revealed through that fiery tone. Sighing, he explained, "But if I don't do something fast, I am afraid of what I'll do. I might just prove Slade right… Raven, I might do something to hurt you guys, and I can't let that happen."

Raven gave an all-too-understanding nod and plucked the book from the shelf. Bringing it to her face, which was concealed by her hood, she softly blew the dust off the cover. For a moment her eyes remained on the title—Harnessing and Repressing One's Inner Darkness. It was a rather light volume by an obscure author, and she had actually forgotten about her possession of it until now. This was common for her; it was not until a particular text was in order that she knew she had it filed somewhere.
Cracking the book open, flipped through the pages and advised, "Sit, Robin. This is going to take a while, especially for a beginner like you…"

According to the author's notes, one was able to sever the evil within one's very soul and control it completely. Robin wanted to take it a step further; he wanted to destroy it. Raven understood his interest in doing so, but she was wary. She knew from her own experiences how impossible that was; the closer one got to such light, the greater the shadows became.

Robin, however, was still Robin even now. His stubbornness had evolved into an impatient determination to oppose anything that even hinted at being against his wishes. Raven had to comply.

They both sat cross-legged, across from each other, and after a bit of explaining on Raven's part, they were ready to begin. "Darkness shown and darkness hidden," Raven began in a chant Robin quickly echoed, each making the appropriate hand motions, "That which is from the heart, from the mind, from the soul—barren of joy and desolate to hope, may that be pinpointed, cast out, and made to stand apart!" Raven lifted her right hand, and the pair began to glow a violent violet.

"Azarath," she concluded loudly in her regular fashion, "Metrion!"

Robin's eyes, just before closed, now exploded and opened widely, and he shouted painfully, "Zinthos!"