Three Months Later

…She viewed the world through another's eyes. She entered a room, turned the corner, and looked down. A red liquid coated the bottom of her shoes. She subconsciously crouched to the ground, dipping three fingers into the liquid, and holding them before the light as she examined it. Blood. She wiped her hand on the wall, leaving three lines of still warm blood.

She rose to her feet once again, turning around the corner. A child, no older than fourteen years old lay on the ground, clutching his chest as he breathed deeply. He looked up at her, and pulled his hands away from his chest for a moment, revealing a deep stab wound. She slowly walked over to him, yet no worry crossed her mind. She bent down over the child, who eyed her with pleading eyes. She looked into his eyes once, and then, raising an arm, she drove a spike through his chest.

He let out a scream of pain, howling and rolling back and forth. His body stopped convulsing as it went still, eyes rolling back in his head.
She rose to her feet, what thoughts entered her mind scared her more than anything she had ever experienced. There had been no remorse, just an acceptance, as she had plunged the spike through the dying child's chest. She was in the cold mind of a murderer.
She walked past a broken window, and for just a second, she caught the reflection. Deep, cold eyes stared back at her, and the person in the mirror sent chills through every essence of her being. For in the mirror, the dead eyes of Chrone stared back at her…

Raven shot upwards with a start. She whipped back the sheets as she got out of her bed, pacing back and forth as she wiped a hand over her sweaty brow. That dream had plagued her since the first night Chrone had spent in the tower, and she now experienced it regularly.

At first she tried to dismiss it. No way could Chrone be that cold of a killer. But as the days and weeks trickled by, she realized the truth. The dream had been too real, to detailed to be a figment of her imagination.

Chrone was a killer. A cold-blooded killer. Plain and simple. Chills racked her body as she rose into the air, settling into her meditative position. She slowly calmed herself down to the point where she was breathing at a normal rate.

She had tried to confront Robin, she was rarely wrong about things like these. And yet, he hadn't believed her. He had said he couldn't base kicking Chrone out of the teen titans on one lousy dream. She knew he would see things differently if he had experienced the dream for himself. It was so real, so scary that someone could kill that quickly with no regret.

The rest of the group had agreed with Robin, they all loved him. Of course, they had never seen anything of his other side, a darker side of him that he kept hidden from them. She hugged herself with her arms as she tried to rid her mind of that god-awful dream.

She was interrupted as she heard a crashing noise behind her. She whipped her head around, balling energy around her fist, ready to face the intruder. She looked at the broken window before her, only to see nothing there. She spun around in a circle. But she was a second too late.
A black clad figure charged in at her, a hood drawn over his head shielded his face. He drove a fist into her fist as she fell to the ground. At a distance, no one could beat Raven, but her one on one combat wasn't so great. He drove a foot into her gut as the darkness rimmed the edge of her vision.
She was vaguely aware of being hoisted over the intruder's shoulder as he turned around, and leapt through the window, her in tow.

I sat in my room, whittling away when something caught my attention out of the corner of my eye. Something black dove past my window. I entered hyper-mode, racing over to the window as I looked beyond.

I saw a black form falling, with Raven thrown over his shoulder.

I didn't take the time to think, I crashed through the window, and dove after the figure below. I literally dove; I thinned my body as much as possible as my fall increased in speed. I eyed the black figure below me. The next thing I knew, I had collided on him head on. I grabbed him by the shoulders, making sure that Raven wouldn't fall off in the process. If necessary, I was prepared to use his body as a cushion.

Much to my surprise, about twenty feet from the ground, black wings sprouted out from the figure, and we glided across the waters and towards the mainland. I felt the wings; they were some sort of energy, the same as Raven's. He looked back at me a few times, but made no attempt to shake me off. I was pretty sure he was worried about losing his precious cargo, Raven.

He turned back towards me one last time, and then pulled the wings against his body as we plunged towards the water. This guy really must have had a death wish. The black energy making the wings crawled over Raven until she was firmly planted to the hooded figure's form. Me on the other hand, I had reason for worry. He dove into the water, I managed to close my eyes, and grasp onto the figure with all of my strength. We shot out of the water; I could feel my arms practically being ripped from their sockets as he began darting in random directions, left and right, up and down.

Plunging into the water again, I almost lost my grip with my already wet form. He shot upwards again. I grabbed the hood, and pulled it back. I almost fell off out of shock. The guy had gray skin, not pale, but gray. He had pointed ears, and when he looked back at me, his eyes sent chills down my spiked spine. He had no pupils, his eyes were solid white. He looked forward again as we neared the shoreline. I grabbed his white hair, yanking his head back as a growl emerged from the figures throat.

He was thrown off balance as we plummeted into the ground. I held onto his head with one arm, his shoulder with the other to prevent myself from falling off.

I could feel his body tense as we headed right towards the sandy beach.
We crashed, slid in the sand for about twenty yards, and then we finally stopped. I felt the wings disintegrate as a black ball of energy shot off of his figure. It felt as if I had been throw against a brick wall as the energy drove me backwards, and into the sand.
The figure slid Raven off of his back as he laid her unconscious form on the ground, and turned to face me.

"Who dares transgress against me?"

"Uh, I do. I guess."

"You shall pay mere mortal. You shall pay dearly for your misgivings."

He walked towards me, flames dancing off of what was left of his tattered cloak. Friction against the sand had lit him on fire. I would have laughed had he not been staring at me with those white opal eyes, contempt burning in those deep pools of hatred.

He completely ignored the flames as he slowly floated towards me, levitating about a foot off of the ground.

With no prior warning, he shot forwards at me. He lowered his shoulder, I cried out as he impacted my body, driving me against the earth. He raised both fists into the air as he gathered energy into his now joined fists as he brought them down towards me. I managed to roll over, and was very glad that I had. Sand went flying in every direction as I hopped to my feet as the sand cleared. A three-foot crater remained from where he had driven his fist into the ground.

He turned around towards me, eyes dancing with black sparks as he raised his hands into the air. I felt a rumble beneath me, as a wave of sand came plowing towards me. A wave of sand. I guess I hadn't seen it all.

The ten-foot sand tsunami came plowing towards me, and I knew I was done for. It was easily twenty feet across, and ten feet away, closing the gap quickly. Not even hyper-mode could get me out of the way quick enough.

I did the only thing I could. I dropped to the ground, rolling into a ball, facing away from the wave.

It hit, rolling over my body like it was no more than a stone on a road. I dare not scream, sand would find its way into my mouth. I could feel myself blacking out, god no, not now. I needed to save Raven from whatever that thing was. Darkness overcame me…

I woke up, in darkness. Somehow, that didn't surprise me. I was most likely buried under tons of sand. I could hardly move. I managed to bring my arm around to face me. My spikes had come out. I started driving it upwards, time and time again. About two minutes later, it broke through.

Ok, so maybe I had been buried under more like a foot of sand, not tons. I quickly managed to get myself unlodged from the sand. I immediately looked around for Raven and whatever that thing was.

My eyes bulged. In front of me, a ring of pillars made of sand surrounded a raised platform. On top of each pillar, a small black ball of energy sat, dully illuminating the platform. That thing was hovering over Raven, a dagger in hand. Raven lay on the ground motionless.

I didn't care about stealth, that thing was about to kill Raven. I raced towards it in hyper-mode, to see the knife come down towards her. I plowed into him, but a moment to late. Though diverted, the knife still went into Raven's form.

Good news, instead of impaling her heart, it was buried in her arm. That thing recoiled beneath me. I didn't give it time to react. I buried a spike in its shoulder. Blood flowed from the wound, onto my uniform. I pulled the spike out, now red, and drove it into him again.

This time, he raised an arm, and it went through that instead. He flung me backwards, against the sand as he hovered over me.

"Foolish, foolish mortal. Evil must be vanquished, the earth must run red with this demon's blood."

"What the hell are you talking about? Raven is a hero, a teen titan, not a demon."

"A demon by any other name, in any other form, is still a demon. The earth will drink from her blood tonight!"

Ok, this guy definitely fell into the crazed lunatic category. I kicked upwards against his chest, sending him flying backwards. He landed in the crater that he, Raven, and I had made upon crashing on the beach. I raced over until I was standing above him. I jumped down into the crater, and immediately jumped upon his form as he tried to struggle to his feet. I drove my clean spike through his shoulder, pulling it out covered in his red blood.

It was time to finish this. I didn't care what the hell this guy was. He wasn't human, and he had tried to kill Raven. That was more than enough grounds to kill him on. I raised my spike into the air, and drove it through his neck. A final howl bellowed from his throat as blood spurted from the wound, and onto me. The sand beneath his form turned red.

And then, just like that, it was over. His body went still, and strangely, it turned solid black, and then disintegrated into dust, blowing away into the wind. I rose from the ground, racing over to where Raven still lay. The sand platform and pillars had fallen to the ground, becoming part of the beach once again. Whatever enchantment that thing had had over this beach disappeared. I eyed her wound. The knife was gone as well, the guy really hadn't left anything behind. The wound was drenched in blood. Raven was still unconscious.

I sat there for a minute, considering what to do.

I was startled as the coast was lit up by a blue blast of energy. It hit me square in the chest as I was hurtled backwards against the beach. I held my arm against my ribs as I climbed to my feet, preparing myself for whatever had attacked me.

The teen titans came over the ridge, Cyborg had his smoking cannon aimed at me. Starfire had prepared a star bolt.
"Get the hell away from her Chrone!"

"What the hell are you doing?"

"I said get away from her! Titans, Go!"

I looked at him amazed. Why were my teammates suddenly attacking me? Starfire and Beast boy knelt next to Raven. I subconsciously looked down at my bloody spike, and then at the wound in her arm. They thought that I had stabbed her.

I didn't have time to defend myself as Robin's steel plated boot landed a blow on my already sore chest. I was knocked backwards. "I didn't do it! Robin!"
He didn't pay me any attention. Instead pulling his staff on me as he began pummeling me. I raised my spikes in defense, and hopped to my feet as I drove him backwards one step at a time, parrying his attacks with my spikes. A few of the blows got by, I couldn't take this abuse much more. I drove the blunt side of my bloody spike against his chest as he went sprawling backwards against the sand.

I was rewarded with another cannon blast from Cyborg. I turned to face him. Entering hyper-mode, I raced behind him, kicking him in the back as he landed in the sand. He rolled over, positioned his feet up at me, and kicked with all of his might.

I was driven into the air as I felt something catch my shoulder. I screamed out in pain as I looked to my arm, a birdorang was lodged an inch into my upper right arm.

I landed hard in the sand, and before I knew what was going on, Cyborg and Robin were both standing over me, contempt blazing in their eyes. Cyborg had his plasma cannon charged and aimed at me, Robin had his metal staff pointed towards my chest. It didn't look like I was going to get out of this one.

"What have you done Chrone? What the hell have you done? Look at me Chrone."

He stuck his staff beneath my chin, forcing me to look towards him with my orange reptilian eyes.

I looked at him, stunned, hurt, and confused at the same time. How did they actually think that I was capable of this sort of act? Sure, occasionally Raven and I butted heads, she despised me, but I would never intentionally hurt her. I had just saved her.

I looked deep into the titans' eyes, and all I saw was a burning rage and lust for vengeance. I knew that regardless of what I said, they would not believe me, and that hurt me the most of all. For that reason, I didn't even attempt to defend myself.

I looked at them one last time, and then, kicking against the ground, I rolled over, and scrambled over the nearest mound of sand. I could hear Robin and Cyborg coming after me, and so I did the only thing that I could. I took my communicator out of my pocket, looked at it one last time, and left it there in the sand before racing off in hyper-mode.

I had made my way up to a rocky ledge above the beach, and had managed the guts to peak my head over, and look down at the titans below. Robin had my communicator in his hand, Cyborg and the rest of the titans were gathered around Raven's still form, Cyborg crouched down next to her as he ran his scanner over her body.

Robin looked down at my communicator in his hands, eyes narrowed as he turned around, and threw it against the rocky cliff that I was perched on. It shattered. The rest of the titans looked over at him for a moment, faces frowning.

I felt a tear slide down my face. This was just like losing Arc. Only worse, they were alive, and I had been driven off. I looked at them one last time, and stood up. Some rocks slid downwards from where I stood on the top of the cliff, shadow dancing in the moonlight. My eyes opened wide with horror as the rocks bounced off the cliff, the sound echoing over the beach as the titans looked up towards my direction.

I stood there for a moment, Cyborg aimed another cannon stream in my direction as I backed up, looked at them one last time, and then entering hyper-mode, I raced off like a wounded animal in the night.

I made my way to the bridge, where I climbed up some of the support beams, and perched on the rail, looking at the titan tower beyond.
I could make out faint green light, Starfire's green energy. The titans flew back across the water, and landed on the island as they hurried Raven's still form into the infirmary. I knew that she wasn't badly wounded, I had dealt a lot with stab wounds. It wasn't too bad, and besides, she could heal herself.
I sat there on the ledge, hugging myself as I let the tears flow freely. Hot tears stung my cheeks as they fell off of my face and into the waters below. Once again, the ones that I had come to love had been taken away. This time it was even worse, for they had driven me away purposefully. I stared longingly at the tower beyond, and it was then that I knew it was time to leave, my time here had passed long ago, and it was time to wander on, alone as always. It had taken months for me to climb out of the shell I had sealed myself inside of, and just like that, I was back where I had started, rebuilding the wall of my prison as I steeled myself against the world.

I knew it was time to leave the city. I knew without a doubt that the titans would eventually come after me. There would be no second chances. I knew all about Terra, beast boy had told me about her. All in the course of one night, those wounds had been ripped open, bleeding once again.

I needed my pack though, it had everything I needed in it. Clothes, supplies, everything. I was going to have to go back to the Tower. It would be quite an adventure trying to get past the defenses, but that was a chance I was going to have to take. I couldn't leave without my stuff.

I entered hyper-mode, making my way down to the docks, I was going to have to borrow a boat. More like stealing, but hey, that line always had been a little fuzzy for me. Hopefully, I would get the boat back in one piece. I snuck past the security officer, and began scouring the docks for a boat that would fit my needs.

"How is she doing Cyborg?"

"Fine for now. She's healing herself. She should be ok by morning." Robin walked over to Raven's still form, levitating a foot above the medical bed as he placed a hand on her bed. He turned around, and drove a fist into the nearest wall, leaving a dent in the metal.

"I can't believe we ever trusted Chrone! He betrayed us. I should have listened to Raven. She's always right about this kinda stuff. And now look!" He motioned down to her figure. "She suffered because of our ignorance!"

"Robin, don't beat yourself up over this. Chrone betrayed all of us, the whole team."

"I should have seen this coming, after Terra…I honestly didn't think it could happen again. Well at least we learned something today. The titans started off with five members, and perhaps it was only ever meant to have five members."

"It's ok Robin. We'll find him. He will pay for what he has done."

Robin took one more look at the still figure of Raven before leaving the infirmary, and heading down to the gym to work out his frustration.

I pulled the speedboat up near the rocky coast to the Titan's island. I hopped into the water, pulling the boat towards the shore. I pulled it close enough to the shore, and then, driving a spike through the closest rock until it was buried halfway in, I tied the boat to the boulder, and hopped onto the island, slowly creeping towards the tower.

I made it to within twenty yards of the tower when I stopped. This is where the first and primary defense system for the tower lay. Placed in strategic locations around the tower's base were motion sensors, equip with heat seeking lasers. I went about finding them first, lodged into various places around the base of the tower, I found the first one, and drove a spike through the lens. I went on to do that to two more until I was confident that I could pass through undetected.

I entered hyper-mode, racing to the base of the tower as I slunk up against the wall, and into the entryway to the tower. I stood there for a minute, deciding how to go about doing this. I didn't have many options. I knew there was no way that I could go long without being detected. Getting in and out without being noticed was going to be impossible. I could try to take my time, and get through for as long as I could undetected, or I could barge in, go under immediate detection, and hope to avoid being caught.

Having the speed, I decided to go for the second method. I raised my still bloody spike into the air, and drove it through the control panel for the door. Sirens didn't go off until I manually pried the doors opened, and headed for the stairs. Alarms blared in my sensitive ears, and bright lights flashed.
I darted into the stairwell, and began climbing. I made it about half way before I ran into the first titan. It was Beastboy. He looked stunned for a moment, and then, angry as his eyes narrowed and he turned into a wolf, snarling at me from the top of the next flight of stairs. I knew that I had to move quickly. I entered hyper-mode, and instead of facing him, I vaulted over his back and ran up the next flights of stairs.

I was actually fortunate for the duration of my remaining climb. I could hear Beastboy howl behind me, claws skidding against the metal stairs as he tried to keep up with me to no avail. I charged through the door, to meet the icy glares of Robin and Starfire.

sht. I was going to have to take them both on at the same time. I felt the ridges break through my back as I charged towards Robin, deflecting two birdorangs and three blows from his staff as I hit him with the blunt side of my spikes. They may have lost faith in me, but I wouldn't hurt him.
Starfire fired three star bolts at me. I dodged the first and second, but the third caught me in the shoulder. I was sent sprawling backwards against the wall. Robin was on his feet by now, Beastboy had joined the group, and all of them were circling around me.

Robin came at me. He charged, jumping into the air as he came down upon me with his staff. It hit my spike, severing it in half. I looked down at it, and a blow from his fist caught me in the jaw.

He pinned me to the ground, bending down over me. "I won't let you hurt my friends you despicable coward. We trusted you, and you betrayed us!" He got off of me, forcing me to my feet as he drove a solid punch into my gut. I winced, but didn't cry out. I wouldn't. He let me collapse to the ground again.
I rolled over, entered hyper-mode, and drove a foot into his chest, as he went sprawling backwards, impacting with Beastboy as he flew away from me.
He let out a cry. I charged him, spike raised into the air, as I was about to hit him. I almost hit him with the sharp end; reflex had almost driven me to kill. I had to be careful, I didn't have my sheaths.

I stopped at the last moment, and instead hit him in the chest with the blunt side of my spikes, hard enough to knock him out for at least a few minutes. That was hopefully all that I would need.

Beastboy knocked me to the floor, still in wolf form. He pinned me to the ground, snarling as his teeth snapped next to me ear. I could hear his heavy breathing, saliva dripped from his mouth.

I pushed off against the ground as hard as I could, managing to get him off of me as I turned around to face him, and charged, delivering a striking blow to his head. His body fell to the floor as he slowly morphed back into his green elf-like form. He looked up at me once more, hurt in his eyes. "I hate you…" He drifted off as darkness overtook him.

Starfire was all that remained. I had no idea as to where Cyborg had gone. She charged up two star bolts. I didn't give her time to fire them off as I entered hyper-mode, racing towards her. Of all of the titans, I had the most trouble fighting Starfire, she was just so…innocent.

I charged towards her, keeping in mind that she was easily eight times as strong as me. I barreled towards her, vaulting into the air as I prepared a kick. She caught my leg, spun me around, and threw me back against the wall, I slid to the ground.

She flew over until she was hovering directly over me. "Why did you betray us Chrone? Did we not provide you adequate friendship?" She looked like she was about to cry. I didn't want to hurt her, I really didn't. But some times, you just don't have a choice in the matter.

I entered hyper-mode one last time, pushing off of the wall as I drove a fist into her face, catching her in the eye. She looked up at me as she slid towards the ground.

"Why Chrone?" Her eyes closed, full of hurt and pain. Betrayal. I caught her in my arms, and gently lay her out on the couch. I brushed my hand against her cheek, clearing her fiery hair out of her eyes. I paused for a second, pulling my hand away wet. A solitary tear had escaped her eyes.
I blocked thoughts of remorse out of my mind as I jogged off towards my room. The panel opened, I slid into my room, and began stuffing all of my belongings into my pack. Within five minutes, I was ready to go. I left most of the stuff that I had bought since coming here, taking only what I had come with, only what I would need.

I closed the bag, slung it over my shoulder, buckled it across my chest, and prepared to leave the tower. I looked both ways in the hallway, and then took off at a sprint towards the stairs. It wasn't long before I heard bursts from behind me.

I looked behind, to find Cyborg chasing after me in the stairwell. I turned around, and began running upwards, towards the top of the Tower. I could just as easily leave from the roof. I could here his pounding strides from behind me. Every few seconds he fired a cannon shot off at me, but didn't manage to hit me; I was a good two flights ahead of him.

I broke through onto the roof, heading towards the side of the building. Cyborg was soon on the roof as well. There wasn't much room for error here; there wasn't even anywhere to take cover. He charged his cannons; I took a defensive stance. I didn't want to hurt him; I hadn't wanted to hurt anyone.
I turned to face him.

"Just don't move man. I don't want to hurt you. We can talk this over."

I looked at him, and in his eyes, and saw sincerity. He honestly at least had some faith still in me. But then I thought back to the looks I had received from the titans. Anger, betrayal, there was no way that they would believe anything I had to say. I would end up in prison.

I looked back at him, not saying anything.
"What happened out there?"

I had chosen long ago to not defend myself. My cries would fall upon deaf ears. There was no point. I looked at him, and made a dart for the edge of the building.

He looked at me, closed his eyes, and fired. The blow hit me in the side, sending me reeling backwards, and over the edge of the building.

"Chrone!"

My eyes opened wide with horror as I looked at the looming ground below. I plummeted downwards. Unprepared for the fall, I wasn't able to maneuver myself into the correct position to run down the side of the building.

I felt something catch my foot, and stop my descent, as I swung back and forth mid-air. I looked up to see Cyborg's grappling hook wrapped around my leg. I saw the strain in his eyes as he worked to pull me upwards. Somehow, I knew that if I reached the roof again, I wouldn't have my freedom anymore.
I took my knife out of its sheath on my thigh, and in one quick swipe, severed the rope as I resumed my fall.

I scrambled to maneuver myself into the correct position to no avail. I closed my eyes, expecting the worse. I was suddenly pulled to a halt once again as I looked up to see Raven, eyes white as she hauled me upwards in a ball of energy. Somehow, this was all very familiar, almost a replica of what had happened back on the warehouse roof at the meta-human brawl. It was then that I knew there would be no escape on that night.

I was hauled upwards, I didn't try to struggle. I knew that there was no chance of me getting away, at least not at that moment. My head dropped to my chest in despair as I was turned around to face the wounded gaze of Cyborg, and the icy glare of Raven. Apparently, she had recovered from her adventure.
Neither of them said a word as Cyborg clamped a cold pair of handcuffs around my wrists, not willing to meet my gaze as I was forcibly escorted down, into the depths of the tower to a level I had never seen before. I didn't struggle, there was no point.

I was stripped of my knife, and of my pack as I was thrown forward into the room, the door slammed shut behind me. I heard the hiss and click of at least four electronic locks sealing the door shut.

I was still in handcuffs, unable to move my arms much at all. Fortunately, I knew what to do in a situation like this. I managed to get to my knees, and then to my feet as I looked around at my surroundings. It looked like any generic cell, steel walls, and a mirrored panel on the far wall. A small sink, a toilet, and a bed. Nothing I could use to aid my escape. The first thing I needed to do was to get out of the cuffs.

Cyborg and Raven stood on the other side of the mirrored panel, watching Chrone.

"So, how are ya feeling?"

"Fine. Just fine."

"So what are we going to do with him?"

"I suggest that we just keep him in there until the rest of the titans come around. He knocked all of them out. I checked them out as soon as I woke up. They're ok, some bruises, a few cuts. They'll survive."

"What is he doing?"

I walked to the center of the room, closed my eyes for a moment, and began working my arms upwards until they were straining from the pressure. I gave one final jerk, screaming out in pain as I dislocated both of my shoulders, and brought my arms so that they were now in front of me.

Both Cyborg and Raven winced as Chrone wretched his arms out of his sockets and brought them around so that they faced forwards.

"Ow. That has got to hurt."

"You want to re-cuff him?"

"No, he'd just do it again. It's not like he can get them off anyways. I'm gonna go check on the rest of the guys. Always better to be safe. Chrone can really pack a punch. We've learned that from experience."

"I'm going to head up to my room I guess. I don't really remember any of what happened. All I remember is a cloaked intruder, and then darkness. I'm gonna see if I can't dredge up any other facts. If they're in my mind, I'll find them."

I rotated my arms until they were back in their sockets, and then went to work on the next task, getting them off. I walked over to the bed, hooking the handcuff chain around the bedpost. Entering hyper-mode, I jerked backwards with all of my strength. The chain didn't break.

On the third try, the chain finally gave way as I went sprawling backwards, now with two separately cuffed wrists, at least I could use them now.
The next task was going to be getting out of the cell. That was going to be the hard part. I broke off the pair of spikes I had, they had been weakened, cracked, chipped. I needed a fresh pair for what I had in mind.

I knew how these one-way window things worked. Most of the time, there was a room on the other side for observation. The plan: break into it and make a mad dash.

I walked over to the wall, and began driving my spikes against the mirrored panel. It took three hits just to make a dent, and from there, cracks slowly spider webbed outwards until the first pieces fell away. Shards flew upwards as my face, drawing tiny flecks of blood. They lodged into my bare hands. I continued, ignoring the pain, as the hole was soon large enough to get a hand through. I began breaking off shards of glass with my hands, enlarging the hole bit by bit. Pretty soon, the hole was large enough to climb through. I quickly scrambled through it, and came out in another room. Cyborg and Raven had obviously been there; my pack and knife were lying on the ground up against the wall.

I grabbed both, resheathing my knife, and swinging the pack over my back once again as I exited the room, and took off down the hallway. Blaring sirens pierced the air as I headed down the hallway. I knew it wouldn't be long before someone came to investigate.

I raced off towards the stairwell, and went downwards. I heard Cyborg call down from above. I had no idea how many flights I had on him, and frankly, I didn't care. The further he was, the better for me. I raced down the stairs, skidding around the corners as I took two, even three stairs at a time.
I entered hyper-mode, racing downwards as I hit ground level, racing towards the door. A light above the door flashed, and it began to close. I knew there was no way I was going to make it in time. I broke off one of my spikes, and threw it towards the door. It was caught between the two doors, and prevented them from closing all the way. I raced up to the doors, pulling to a halt as I squeezed both of my hands between the gap in the doors, and began prying them apart.

I looked back; Cyborg had reached the main level. I eyed him, eyed the door, and decided to take care of him. He fired a cannon burst at me as I turned around. I broke off my other spike, and threw it at his cannon. It flew true, and lodged into the firing mechanism on his weapon.
He groaned as he tried to dislodge my spike. I charged towards him in hyper-mode, and barreled him against the wall. He raised an electronic hand to protest, and try to fight me off. I took a rematerialized spike, and drove it through his hand, and halfway into the wall beneath his hand. He was thoroughly stuck.

Confident that I at least had a few seconds. Hopefully, that was all that I would need. A sound erupted from his throat. It sounded more like a growl than anything else.

I looked back at him, the rage burning in his eyes. "You won't get away with this Chrone! No matter where you go, no matter where you run, we will find you. And you will pay. You can be certain of that. Even if it means killing you Chrone, you won't get away with what you have done!"
I looked at him one last time, looked back at the door, and finally got the door pried open as I squeezed through the gap, as the doors slammed behind me. I raced off towards the shore, where I cut the rope tethering my stolen boat to the rocks, hopping into the boat as I drove off under the cover of darkness in the crisp fall night.

Tears blinded my vision as I returned the borrowed speedboat back to the docks where I had found it. I staggered onto the docks, and headed towards the city. I knew there was no going back. I had hurt each and every one of them, and for that, they could never forgive me. It had finally become too much to bear. I didn't wipe the tears away from my eyes. I deserved to suffer for what I had done. I had hurt the ones that I had come to love the most.
I made my way into the city in hyper-mode, racing into the nearest alley as I slumped to the ground, letting my emotions over take me. I would leave in the morning. I didn't have the strength to do it right then. I held my knees against my chest, the tears falling freely from my eyes.
I don't know how long I sat there, crying, hugging myself, despising everything I had become as I finally slipped into sweet, sweet oblivion.

My eyes fluttered open. Blinding light stabbed at my eyes, I immediately closed them again. Rubbing my tired eyes, I slowly opened them, to find myself slumped up against the same wall I had fallen asleep against the previous night.

I looked down at my watch. It was past noon. Wow, I really must have been beat. I stretched my sore limbs. I had escaped remarkably intact. I had bruises everywhere, cuts, scrapes, and burns. But I hadn't obtained any major injuries, at least not where they could be seen. The emotional blow had been ten fold the physical pain I was suffering. I slowly stood up, balancing against the wall as my muscles protested with every movement.

I slowly walked to the end of the alley, and back onto the street. I walked at a leisurely pace; I didn't want to stick out. Already, I knew I was a mess. My suit was in tatters, my face bruised, exposed skin, blood stained uniform. I really must have been a sight.

The first thing I needed to do was get ready to leave the city. I went about first going to the bank, now rebuilt, as I strode through the doors. I went up to the counter, and withdrew everything I had left in my account, roughly forty thousand. The bank teller looked at me a little funny when I told him I wanted it in cash, but he willingly complied. As he headed back to the vault, I silently pondered how ironic it was. It was here that I had begun my adventures with the teen titans, and here it would end.

The bank teller came back, with a large black bag filled with money. I snatched it out of his hands, and walked briskly out of the bank. I was very surprised that the titans hadn't frozen my account yet, or put an alert out for me.

My head turned to the North as my sensitive ears picked up shrieks and cries of distress. I tried to shake it off, but three months as a hero had really changed the way I looked at things. I convinced myself that I would just go to get a glimpse of what was going on, and then I would high tail it out of town.
I entered hyper-mode, and raced off towards the North, following the screams. Nothing prepared me for the scene ahead of me. One minute I was walking through the city, and the next, it looked like I had entered a war zone. Rubble was strewn everywhere. At least three buildings were completely destroyed. My eyes were drawn to the center of the square. Beyond the police barriers, beyond the corpses and the blood, a brightly lit circle stood. I slipped past the barriers, and made my way towards the lighted circle, pausing about fifty yards away as something caught my attention to the right.

All five titans were in action, fighting what looked like a ghost. No joke. It was large and grotesque. It was transparent, light rippled over its figure, illuminating its form. It walked upright, and was about thirty feet tall. It had long taloned feet and hands, and grasped a sword in its hands, that it swung at whatever happened to get too close. It had three horns, two on its forehead, and one on its chin. Its clear eyes glared back and forth as it swung blindly at the titans. Their attacks had little effect on anything that was going on.

Three of the titans, Raven, Robin, and Cyborg walked in front of the white light. Tendrils danced outwards, and began wrapping themselves around the three helpless titans. I watched with horror filled eyes as they were dragged backwards, towards the white light. Beast boy and Starfire forgot about their new adversary, and flew down to assist their comrades.

I stood there, watching, my presence still unnoticed. Robin threw a birdorang at each of them, as they pulled to a halt.
"Go back! Don't follow. Take care of the city! That thing..." The rest of his sentence was gone as they were pulled through the gate, disappearing in a flash of white light. Starfire and Beast boy, stood there, jaws open. Starfire looked near tears. I noticed that she had a black eye, a painful reminder of the previous night's encounters.

I turned to leave, and then paused. Who was I kidding? There was no way I was going to leave them. They may have driven me away, burnt me, hit me, hurt me in more ways than I would have thought possible, but deep down, they were still my family in my own mind. I loved each and every one of them like a sibling, and there was no way that I was going to leave them. I turned back towards the shimmering gate, as something came through. It was also made of light, like the invading figure that was at the moment attacking Starfire and Beastboy.

It was transparent, and like the other figure, light danced along his skin. It was male, and looked almost human. It had long hair, and stood about six feet tall. It pulled a sword off of its back, as well as a rope, and began walking forward. I entered hyper-mode, and raced towards the gate.

It must have sensed my presence some how, because he stuck out the hilt of his weapon, catching me in the chest as I fell to the ground. I quickly climbed to my feet, prepared to face this new adversary, spikes held out defensively as my ridges came out.

"You do not wish to enter that realm stranger. Your place is here."

"My friends were just sucked into wherever you just came from. I won't leave them."

"I cannot stop you, I was sent here to retrieve the Belrag." He motioned to the thing that was attacking the two remaining titans. "I cannot meddle in the affairs of other realms. But I can tell you this, what lay beyond that gate, is full of peril and pain. You will most likely die if you enter into the Baskire. Your friends are most likely already dead. I urge you to turn back."

I looked at him, and saw only pain in his transparent eyes, and the naked truth. I met his gaze, our eyes locking for a moment, before I took a step forward. He lowered his sword, and bowed. "You are truly an honorable being, but a foolish one, for you will die in the Baskire."

I looked at him once more, before I walked past him, entered hyper-mode, and raced towards the gate. The white light enveloped me, and instead of darkness, all I saw was white.