Mark stopped his ruthless attack and looked at his palms, amazed at what he had just done.

"Starfire…"

Mark rushed to her still body, forgetting what he had just accomplished, and crouched over her limp form.

"Oh Starfire… I'm so sorry… I should've been there for you!" Mark started weeping again, his tears falling on the asphalt below him before evaporating into the humid atmosphere. The only sound heard was ungodly moans caused by the blowing wind

and Mark's quiet sobbing

"Mark, she will be okay, I promise…"

"Who are YOU!" Mark screamed into the desolated city, his voice shaking.

"I made promises too! Look where that GOT ME! EVERYONE'S DEAD!" He screamed again, every emotion, every angst that he suffered was finally being poured out, confessed to a world that didn't even exist anymore.

"You must find Raven. Only she can help you in your mission to defeat Trigon."

Mark didn't bother trying to reply. He rose to his feet and lifted off into the air, the death of Starfire weighing him down.

"Follow your heart, Mark. I believe in you…"

"Who are you?" Mark asked again, this time relatively calmer. "What kind of bullshit is that? 'follow your Heart'?" He asked angrily. No reply came. With a shake of his head he flew off, searching for any sign of Raven.

"You are connected. Close your eyes and look for her with your heart. You know where she is, you just haven't realized it yet."

Mark gritted his teeth and lowered himself back to the ground. There was something about the voice, something familiar that compelled him to obey. With one final glance at the decimated environment, he crossed his legs and closed his eyes, bringing back subconscious memories that stung him deeply, memories about Raven.

"Now you must relax. Open your mind to all thoughts, so that I may help you…"

Mark once again obeyed. He opened his mind and freed himself of any walls and doors that he had built up through the years. It was amazing, Mark thought, that such work regarding the mental dams he built in his mind, was coming undone in a matter of seconds. He didn't mind though, as he felt reassured by the gentle voice.

"There!"

Mark's eyes opened once more, revealing two magnificently white pupils, shining an awesome radiance. He shot towards the crimson sky, and turned towards his target in mid-air.

"M-M-ar-k. He-l-p m-m-e…" Raven?

Mark's feet lightly landed upon the cracked asphalt. The flames flickered over his whole body, now emitting a brilliant light, casting obscure and grotesquely-shaped shadows over abandoned cars and ruined buildings. He was standing in what once was a magnificent church, its towering spires and proud frosted windows depicting saints of old now a mere memory, the only recognizable piece lay beside Mark's black school shoes. It was a steel crucifix, narrating the final moments of anguish and torture Jesus Christ endured for us.

Mark bent down and scooped it up. It seemed so small, so insignificant in this world gone berserk. Where once it used to be a symbol of hope, of freedom, it was now a small piece of twisted metal, nothing more then litter, and a symbol of nothing in Mark's eyes.

He gripped the Crucifix tightly, his knuckles whitening.

"Why has God forsaken us? Where is he now?"

The crucifix started to heat up, reddening slowly as the temperature rose in Mark's hand. Within moments, fire had engulfed the religious symbol, and it grew brighter. Mark's eyes flashed white, electricity sparking from his pupils in fury.

"If He's not going to help us-."

"What 'us'?" Mark asked to himself.

"If he's not going reclaim what was his and simply let it rot in the hands of Hell, then I'll do it myself."

There was no 'us'. Everyone was gone. He turned his palm over and dropped the molten and twisted Crucifix, still glowing a bright white, and it landed with a quiet 'clunk' on the cracked pavement below.

"He has done more then you know…"