Author's Note: I know this story is nice and new and shows up real nice on the front pages, but please, please, PLEASE, go read Duality, the prequel to this. This story won't make much sense unless you do. That being said, on with the story.

It was dark… so very dark.

Then the world started to appear… slowly at first, blurry, but gradually sharpening to reveal a scene she had wished she would never relive.

Slade stood across the abandoned warehouse from her. He was pointing a black-and-white amulet at her, and he said, "Time to finish this."

A black-and-white beam of magic erupted from the amulet, but before the thought even registered in her mind, a man clad in black armor seemed to materialize in front of her. He cried out, his hands glowing a bright blue, brighter even than the sun, and then he released the pent-up energy in the form of a river of power, aimed at the orange-and-black-clad villain.

Slade was frozen in place just like Raven. The blue stream of energy engulfed him in an explosion the likes of which neither he, the black-armored man, or Raven had ever seen. It was the closest Slade had been to dying since Terra trapped him in a lava pit.

A moment after the brightness of the attack faded, the black-and-white magic, from the amulet Slade had held, struck the man in armor in the chest, causing a bright flash of light. He slumped to the ground, and Raven fell to her knees next to him.

"Don't…mourn…me…" he whispered to her. Raven was unaware of anything else around her, looking deep into those azure eyes that had so captivated her with their light, a light that was now leaving them forever.

Raven woke up weeping.