Disclaimer: I own nothing.

I know it's sad, but how can I write a sequel if I don't leave you guys hanging?

Chapter 19

His mind was completely numb as he revved up the engine to the R-cycle. He knew that he couldn't let anything get in the way of his saving Starfire, and he jammed on his biking helmet as he sped off. He was nothing but a blur to any who might have seen as he raced along the streets. No doubt the citizens were surprised to see him up and about after the fiasco earlier.

"Must be a real emergency if he's racing out like that," said one woman as she saw him speed by.

"Must be a real emergency if he's out at all," her companion replied.

He ignored them as best he could as he sped along, determined to reach his destination. Nothing would deter him, nothing. His eyes narrowed as he pulled to a stop in front of a dark building somewhere in the middle of Jump City. He jumped off of his R-cycle and rushed inside. His wounds were starting to slow him down, but he continued to run full-force.

"Surprising speed, Robin," remarked Chang on the face of his communicator.

He didn't respond, but kept running towards the dot. He was getting closer and closer, but then the dot disappeared. As a disappointed cry escaped his throat, he looked up and immediately understood why. There before him was a maze, composed completely of cement. He knew Starfire was at the end, but he couldn't just blast his way through; he recognized the same shield Red X had used on him.

"This is cruel, even for you, Chang," he said as he hit another dead end. An hour left.

"We debated about what to do with the fearless leader for some time. That is, until we watched the news," Chang said smugly.

"What are you talking about?" he growled.

"It's all over the news, Robin, all about how you and the empath broke up so you and this lovely girl could be together," Chang grinned.

"Stop talking," he muttered tersely, about to lose it.

"Getting angry, now, are we?" Chang taunted.

"That's it!" he shouted, flipping the communicator over. With a few movements, he was able to disable the speaker system. No sound from the communicator would bother him now. Now all that he saw was Chang's face trying to talk and the countdown on the screen.

He was getting aggravated now; the walls were getting closer and closer together and there were more and more dead ends, but at least that signified that he was getting near the end. His body couldn't take much more stress, and he leaned against a wall to catch his breath, for his lungs were on fire.

Anger and resentment coursed through his veins as he slammed his fist into the wall, resulting in absolutely nothing except to bring searing pain up his arm. He gasped in pain, but continued onward.

Half an hour left. He was nearing the end of the maze, he knew. At this point, he was on his hands and knees, crawling along and feelings his way around. He was trying not to move too slowly, but if he was not careful and accidentally brushed a wall, a sharp electric jab would be sent to his nervous system and only impede his progress more. As he neared the end of this tunnel, he saw that there was no longer the shadow of cement. He had finally reached the end of this maze!

He sped up as he approached the ending, only to be sent hurtling backwards the moment he stepped out. Of course, he should have known that Doctor Light would be waiting for him. As hatred coursed through his very soul, he assumed a fighting stance, his scowl deeper than he had ever managed, except perhaps with Slade.

"You cannot hope to win!" Doctor Light laughed as he prepared a ball of energy.

He almost laughed maniacally, but that would only scare himself. He needed to keep his head before he lost everything, and he needed to get back quickly before he lost Beast Boy as well. "That's what you think," he muttered darkly, drawing back his cape and reaching into a pocket on his belt. He drew out a small device only about the size of a marble, but when it hit the ground, it exploded on contact, and it actually had an effect on Light's xinothium shield!

"How did you-"

"Like it?" he grinned evily. "What do you think I was doing when I was stuck in the hospital? It was only a small ordeal, really, trying to get a smaller device that packs a bigger punch. All it required was time," he said before throwing another such device.

"AH!" Doctor Light screamed as he was thrown backwards. Each time he tried to fire up an attack, though, he was blasted once more by the small pellets. Finally, all that was left of Doctor Light was a man lying in the remains of a metal suit, unconscious.

"I'll have the authorities drop by," he grinned, then rushed to Starfire's side.

"Ro..Robin!" was all she could manage. He grimaced at the weakness in her voice. He glanced at the communicator screen. Thirty five seconds left. He drew a needle from one of his pockets. Its silver tip glistened with the shine of new equipment and the clear liquid swirled around. The antidote would only postpone the effects, not erase them completely, but it would give him enough time to get her back to the Tower.

As he prepared to make the injection, a red weapon slashed through the air, pinning his arm to the wall as the grinning Chang held the other end. Robin moaned in pain as the xinothium shot up his only good arm and, when the weapon was removed, he fell to the ground, clutching his arm in agony.

"You really thought we'd let you win, didn't you?" Chang sneered.

He scowled in response, bringing himself up to his feet once more. He didn't have time for this. Retrieving the needle, he only hesitated a second before plunging it into her arm. He saw her tense up at this, but then her entire body relaxed...a bit too much. He glanced at the communicator. It was flashing 0:00. No, that wasn't possible! With a cry of anger, he threw six birdarangs at once at Chang, pinning him to a wall.

He was frantic now. Pressing his ear close to her heart, he could hear nothing. No breath escaped her lips, but he couldn't accept that! "Starfire!" he shouted, shaking her.

"She's gone now. I told you it was fatal. It was foolish of you to try and save her," Chang grinned.

"I don't believe you! It's not true!" he sobbed, though miraculously, tears had not fallen yet. He was nearing the edges of insanity; his heart was broken a thousand times over.

"She's gone. Believe me," Chang replied, as if he were just giving Robin the time of day.

"Argh!" He charged at Chang, who broke lose at the last second. The punch missed and hit the wall. He was in really bad shape now; his breathing was irregular and his lungs were on fire, but his eyes and soul were burning with hatred and every particle of his being wanted to destroy the man in front of him.

"You're not going to kill me, Robin," Chang chuckled. "You're far too worried about her."

The tensed muscles in his face relaxed as it dawned on him. Starfire still had a chance to make it, if even the slighest. Though he hated to admit that Chang was right, he had to save her! "Starfire!" He rushed to her side and lifted her into his arms.

The next few minutes were a blur to him as he ran down to his R-cycle. He didn't take in his surroundings, didn't notice the fact that he was bleeding profusely or that his mask was soaked with the tears he had let fall. All that he knew was the same question that was running through his mind: why, why,why? He mounted the R-cycle, hoping against hope that he wasn't too late. He sped off, once more becoming a blur as he raced back to the Tower.

He stumbled inside, finally realizing why his side was hurting so badly. He carried the Tamaranean up to the hospital room and lay her on the bed before binding his own wounds quickly. He ran quick diagnostics, then double checked the information. Then triple checked...again and again, he checked the information, but there was no change. Chang had been right. She really was gone.

He sat down on the bed in disbelief, his head cradled in his hands. "That's not right. How could this happen?"

"Didn't Red X tell you that this would happen?"

"Can it." He hated it when his conscience decided to show up. Normally he could ignore the darn thing...

"You rushed into things. That's what keeps getting you into these messes. First trying to save Raven from Doctor Light and ending up in the xinothium mess..."

"Not my fault. It would've happened anyway," he grumbled.

"And then rushing into things with Starfire. Tell the truth; would you be this depressed a few days ago after the episode with Raven?"

"You don't know that," he growled.

"I'm just saying, you and your way of jumping right into things. Sooner or later, it's going to get the best of you, and then where will I be?"

That's what he hated about his conscience: it had a saracastic sense of humor. "Actually, I wouldn't mind if you were gone," he replied inwardly.

The machines beeped, bringing him out of his thoughts. He angrily stormed over to them, throwing a birdarang into one of the screens heavily with his good arm, which wasn't saying much, considering they were both pretty useless at this point.

He sat down on the bed, taking off his mask as he stared into her lifeless eyes. "How could you have left me so soon? We were so happy, and everything was going so well!"

He left the mask there, entering the gym. He needed to vent his anger before he exploded. First, he toyed with the punching bag. As he did so, he imagined that he was landing satisfying blows to Doctor Light and Chang. Like these eyes? he thought. Because they're devoid of emotion because of you! He growled, knocking the equipment off of the wall. It feel to the ground with a satisfying thud, breaking apart.

He felt a bit better, but he still needed to compose himself. Unfortunately, the news media has a habit of showing up at the most inoppurtune times. A knock at the Tower door alerted Robin to a presence, and he rushed to recover his mask and enter the door, thinking that if it was a villain, they'd be in for a nasty greeting.

"Robin, what happened?"

The press? Who let them...? Oh yeah, Cyborg wasn't here anymore to keep them out. He sighed, trying to close the door back in their faces, but it wasn't working. One reporter stuck his foor in the door.

"Care to tell us why you were speeding down the street only a short time after several eye witnesses attest to having seen you in bad condition?" asked one.

"Leave me alone!" he growled.

"What had you in such a hurry?" asked another.

"None of your business!" he shouted, trying to close the door again. No use, the reporters were practically inside now.

"What about the other day? When eye witnesses-"

"Get out of here!" he shouted, his temper flaring.

"How were we able to get inside now, when all other times we haven't been able to get past Cyborg's system?"

"Where are the others?"

"What happened to everyone?"

"Why is your uniform torn?"

"LEAVE. ME. ALONE!" he shouted, throwing a birdarang into one of the cameras.

The reporters backed off a bit, but they continued to press him, one question at a time. "What had you speeding down the street?"

He sighed. "If I answer your questions for ten minutes- and that's ten minutes ONLY- will you leave me alone?"

Ooh, wrong thing to say. The reporters crowded closer to him. "So, tell us, Robin. What really happened?"

He growled ferally, getting them to back off at least a little bit. "I got hurt when we were fighting a villain, and that's all there was to the episode yesterday, alright?"

"But what about-"

"I'm getting there! If you ask any more questions, I'll send you back out. I still don't know why you're even in here. Let's just say I had to leave in a hurry to go get the others, and Cyborg is still out there, alright?"

"Can we speak to anyone else?"

"NO!" he shouted. He took in some calming breaths to calm himself down. "They're not...in a condition to come right now."

"When?"

"Never," he said flatly, causing several reporters to gasp.

"What happened to them?"

He had to struggle to keep his emotions down. "We had...a run-in with a villain of interest."

"Slade?"

A shadow crossed his face as he struggled with his anger. "No, but it might as well have been. The point is, he got away and we got the worst of it."

"When will you have him in jail?"

"I don't know!" he cried, exasperated. "I just know that he's going to pay," he added darkly.

The reporters were shocked as his personality change. "You certainly seem upset," one remarked.

"Yeah, well." He shrugged, hoping they'd leave soon, because his mask was starting to get damp again.

"So, what about you and Raven? Anything to say there?"

"Don't you have anything better to do than butt into my personal life?" he shouted.

"So, you broke up? How are you taking that?"

He sighed in frustration. "We were never together, so we can't break up. Second, leave me alone about my own personal feelings, okay?"

"Does that mean you and Starfire-"

The reporter never got to finish the question, because he was frozen to the spot. As they looked at the Boy Wonder in terror, he gave a heavy sigh. "Interview's over. Leave me alone." Needless to say, they cleared out of there fairly quickly.

As soon as the last one was gone, he trudged back up to the hospital room to talk to Starfire again. He was aware that she couldn't hear him, but it still felt good to talk. He approached her bed, taking his mask off again so that he could talk to her freely as himself as he sat down beside the bed.

"Star, I know you can't hear me, but I wanted to talk to you," he started, choking on the unfamiliar emotion in his voice. "I'm...I'm sorry that I couldn't save you. I tried, I really did! I just couldn't stop Light or Chang, and I'm sorry!"

The mask stayed off for a while, needless to say, as tears poured down his cheeks. Nothing seemed to be enough to comfort him now. Everyone was gone. Everyone.

Finally, after at least an hour, he decided that he needed to compose himself, to try and figure out what to do next. It was hard for him to think clearly now, and he sat down on a nearby table, his chin in his hand. As he rose to pace, a paper fell to the ground beside him. Curious, he bent down to pick it up.

"Robin; I went into Raven's mind like you suggested. I wouldn't have if I could have, but I couldn't find any other way. I did find your antidote thingy that slows it down, so I should be safe long enough to find Raven. I hope you and Starfire made it. -Beast Boy," he read aloud.

He stared at that last line. "I hope you and Starfire made it." Angrily, he wadded the paper up and threw it against the wall. He rushed into the living room in a fit of rage, trying to contain his emotions, but failing. He came to a stop in front of the cake.

The diligent letters, S and R, grinned up at him, unchanged by the recent events. He snarled at them, angry at the memories that the letters brought up. Angrily, he pushed the cake off of the edge of the table, sending it splattering up against the wall. The letters were reduced to red and white smears on the wall.

Groaning, he sank to the floor, his head in his hands as he cried. He didn't understand why he couldn't control himself. It was as if nothing he did was of his own accord! He sighed in frustration, gripping his hair and rocking slowly back and forth, moaning. Why couldn't he get a hold of himself?

He stayed in that position for some time, crying until his throat was sore and the tears were no longer coming. But his heart still felt empty. He crawled uneasily to the refridgerator, hoping that something could fill this void in his heart, if only temporarily. Three sandwhiches, an entire pie, and a few peices of candy disappeared, but he still felt empty.

"How could this happen?" he shouted to no one in particular. The entire Tower was empty, and it wasn't like anyone could hear him. He sank down to the floor again, feeling very hopeless in this matter. He wanted nothing more than to bring his Starfire back, but he couldn't. He wasn't superhuman. Raven could have saved her, but he had driven her away. "It's all my fault!" he moaned as he realized this. "I drove Raven away, I pushed her over the edge. I got myself into the situation with Chang. I pushed Raven, and she broke my arm. It's all my fault, it's all my fault, it's all my faul!" he groaned, returning to his seat on the floor. Eventually, his head began to nod, and he ended up falling asleep with his head in his hands, his knees pulled up beneath his chin, and the fresh trails of tears leaving permanent marks on his cheeks.