Oof. Heya, everyone. ^_^ Birthday present of Seraephina because hey! She rocks, and I fail for missing her birthday. -_- I blame school, but that is really no excuse. So, happy birthday, Phina! Have some angst! =D

Disclaimer: Ahahaha. No.

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33. End

No, no, no, no, no…

"I can't see!" She shrieked, smashing her fists into her eyes as though that would make them open. "There's nothing, nothing!" Tendrils of black lashed out from underneath her cloak, through windows and mirrors, letting the glass fragments whip around the room, tearing pages out of books, overturning furniture and pounding dents into the metal walls of the building. It snaked through the room, leaving nothing untouched.

"Raven!" His voice was hoarse—because he's been through this before—and his arms were tired—too many nights of carrying her to safety—and he can't find the strength to shield himself. Ripped raw and run ragged, he struggles through the wind that her powers created, hoping against hope that somehow she will recognize him, somehow she will be able to calm down enough for him to figure something out.

It had just been getting better, too.

"My dad has insurance against me getting rid of him," Raven explained to him one evening as they sat on top of the tower, watching the sun go down in a flurry of polluted skies and bright colors. "When I was a baby, he anchored himself into my being. There was nothing that the monks could do to stop him other than helping me try to control my emotions and prevent him from taking over my body while I was on Azarath."

"I don't think I quite understand what you mean."

"What I mean is that if I get rid of my father, I get rid of my anger, because he is my anger. Getting rid of one of your emotions isn't normal or healthy or natural. If he leaves my body, he takes my anger with him, and if that happens, I'm not sure what the consequences will be. It could be any type of black magic that could affect me, or the others, or even the whole of Jump City." He amethyst eyes stared up into his mask, and he sucked in a breath; she looked almost terrified. "I don't want anyone to get hurt."

"No one will get hurt, Raven." He put a gloved hand on her shoulder in firm assurance. "Whatever it is, we can protect you from it. I promise."

At the sound of his voice, her eyes snapped open, and instead of their usual brilliant purple, they were a murky, swirling black. He could see tears sparkling down her cheeks as she looked in the direction of the sound, almost as though she was crying without even realizing it. Her mouth moved without sound, lips stretched in a scream that his ears couldn't hear.

All of a sudden, her magic was sucked back into her body, leaving the room feeling distinctly empty and quiet. It wasn't finished, though. The black power began creeping over her body twining its way down her arms and around her legs, scraping delicately, in a sickeningly loving sort of way, against her tender wrists and her neck. Wherever it touched, he could see a faint smoke rising, like it was… burning…

Sound now choked its way out of her throat, and Raven screamed once more, keeling over and writhing on the floor, her eyes still, still covered in the black substance. He took this opportunity to sprint towards her, leaping over the broken remnants of the mirror that had been standing in the corner, and just barely managing to avoid slipping on the pages of a spell book that had been shredded by the wrath of her uncontrollable magic.

"Raven!" he called once more, dropping to his knees in front of her and putting a hand on her arm. There was nothing—he couldn't see anything—why was it hurting Raven, and not him? His hand passed through, again and again and again. "No, no, no, no, no!" He whispered, trying to grab the magic somehow. "No!"

"I'm feeling better, really, I am." Raven told him tiredly, leaning against the arm of the couch. "I just need to make up some sleep."

Robin frowned, looking at her. The bags under her eyes were going away; instead of looking like huge black and blue bruises, they were shrinking back in on themselves. Her face looked more relaxed than he had seen it in days, and she wasn't constantly tense anymore. He also hadn't had to run to her room any time recently. "If you say so…" Still he was hesitant. These things, these night terrors, had been persistent thus far.

She smiled at him from behind only half-open eyes. "See? I haven't had an episode in five days. I think I'm going to be alright."

Once more, at the sound of his voice, it changed. The magic then disappeared completely; Robin couldn't see it anywhere. He sat there on his heels, bewildered, until Raven's limp form tightened up again, and she began clawing at her own skin, skin that now had burns curling around on it. "They're all over…" she whispered, and Robin actually leaned closer to hear what she was saying. "Please, please get them off…"

Her nails ripped through the layers of skin, and blood squeezed out, coating her hands and running down her limbs, and still she tore and tore at her own skin, the tears pouring out of her eyes faster now, overflowing. "Help!" She cried, her hands moving up to her neck. "Help me!"

"No, Raven!" Robin lunged for her hands. If she tried to scratch there, she could accidentally hit a major artery in her throat. He forced her down and lay on top of her, pinning her arms up above her head. This was not an easy task, as she was convulsing and sobbing, terrified at the thought of a heavy weight lying on top of her and constricting her movement.

"Stop touching me!" The empath shouted in his ear, thrashing about. "You don't control me anymore!"

Before Robin knew what was happening, he was tossed into the air as if he were a rag doll and smashed again the ceiling. "No more!" cried Raven, still lying on the ground and allowing her powers to whip her team leader around her demolished room. He was thrown against the wall, then hurdled across the room and pounded into the parallel wall. Up, down and sideways he was thrown, to the rhythmic sounds of Raven's broken cries and the bones in his body crunching.

It hurt, it hurt so much, and Raven didn't even know that she was doing it. "Stop…" he tried to gasp out, but instead a red, sticky liquid burbled out and he coughed, feeling a searing pain on the right side of his chest. She flung him this way and that, and eventually Robin felt his vision blurring, and his senses dulling.

I'm not… I can't be…

What's going on…?

I don't feel anything…

Why—

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Author's Notes:

Because we all know that the end isn't ever really the end.

Read and review, please.