The trail of blood seemed to go round in a circle, as if whoever who was bleeding was basically lumbering around aimlessly. Then Robin noticed that the blood trail pooled at a certain area, and was in fact, quite fresh. It didn't take a lot of detective work t know that whatever the blood was dripping from stopped here, for some reason, and then pretty much vanished into thin air.

Cyborg gave a low whistle. This whole thing about living puppets and Mary Shaw was really creeping him out. And having two missing team mates didn't seem encouraging.

"So, great leader. What next?"

"We find Raven. Somehow. Then we pick up Beast Boy and we go home."

"Somehow?"

"Somehow."

Raven was not sure how long she'd been out, but she did know she felt as thirsty as hell. And hot too. Funny, seeing that the mansion was full of draughts and all that creepy, sudden changes of wind. Come to think of it, the place was pretty bright. Raven could have sworn that the place needed new lightings. So why was it…?

She jumped. The whole place seemed to glow with a hot, orange flame. The whole place was on fire, and she was in the middle of it. Raven glanced around, and for the first time in her life, felt completely and utterly helpless. The fire was all around her, closing in quickly. All of a sudden the word "barbecue" seemed exceptionally deadly.

Robin began feeling uncomfortable. It was unusually warm, and even Cyborg was beginning to notice something amiss. Strangely, nothing, apart from their aimless wandering, seemed unusual.

Robin paused. "Cyborg, are you hungry?"

"Hardly. And this is no time for cravings, really."

"You sure? I can swear you're stomach's growling."

"Well dude, I tellin' you I ain't hungry." Cyborg snapped, slightly offended.

Robin stopped. "We'll if that's not you, then what is it?"

He got his answer when part of the roof just metres away collapsed, ablaze.

"Jump!" Robin cried, leaping out of the nearest window, closely followed by Cyborg. He landed into the swampy lake, and vaguely heard two more splashes. Two? He could have sworn it was only him and Cyborg. So who was…?

But he had no time to think. While jumping out, Cyborg, who was mere centimetres away from him, accidentally swung his arm in mid-air. The heavy metal limb hit Robin square in the head as he fell, and knocked him out within seconds of landing.

Cyborg sputtered and kicked wildly. Robin seemed to bob along, strangely immobile. He himself wasn't much better off, seeing that metal and water doesn't exactly go. Moreover, his sheer weight was like an anvil, pulling him down into the murky darkness below…

Another short chappy... well it's my writer's block... heehee. So many evil cliffies in one short chappy... don't kill me. If I'm dead who will write this fic? Haha. R&R