Let's bring back some of that initial shock, shall we? Needs something besides emotions, don't you think? Shall I kill someone else off? Or should I bring someone back? Take your pick, or just read the chapter. It gets kinda chessy near the end, sorry about that.

Disclaimer: same old same old

Chapter 4

It was just another mission, something to take his mind off of everything else, something to keep himself fit. It shouldn't be too hard, and there shouldn't have been any challenges. That's what he'd thought.

And yet here he was, staring at the dark-clad figure before him with unbelieving eyes. He knew that outfit; he'd constructed it himself, but how could there possibly be anyone in there when he had...?

The figure laughed. "Don't act so surprised, kid. Just because I was in hiding to gain back my health doesn't mean I was gone," it said.

"Red X," he finally growled, having found his voice. "What are you doing here? Leave me alone!" he practically shouted, taking a fighting stance.

But X merely laughed. "Kid, didn't I tell you that your emotions would push you off the edge? I guess you didn't take my advice," he pointed out.

He bared his teeth, charging forward with all his might, detemined to hit this annoying teen in front of him. "Leave. Me. Alone!" he shouted as he did so. Was that so much to ask?

Red X nimbly dodged his attack, swerving to throw a punch of his own, but he saw it coming and dodged it. The two of them proceeded to tumble wordlessly for some time before X finally spoke up again. "We're trying to find Cyborg and put him back together," he said quietly as he rolled on the ground to avoid and aerial attack.

"Trying. Bringing the others back won't change what happened," he replied tersely.

Red X shook his head. "That's just it, kid. If we can get Cyborg, we can get into Raven's mind and help her out as well. We'd have almost everybody back, and you could come back to us as well," he suggested gently.

He shook his head stubbornly. "I'm sure Raven hates me, and besides, being around everybody would only remind me that..." He paused for a moment, emotion overwhelming his heart as he thought about the girl that would be missing. He composed himself quickly, though, in order to dodge another attack.

"That she's gone?" Red X finished quietly.

With a cry, he lunged forward, trying to eliminate this person in front of him. But he kept dodging smartly. There was no escaping it; the two of them were evenly matched. His opponent was silent, and the screaming in his own soul rang in his ears. "You're going to have to face the truth, kid. You can't keep hiding from yourself," X said.

He sighed as both opponents leaned against the wall to catch their breath. Finally, he said something. "I can try," he said simply, his pain etched into his tired voice. The fight had drained him emotionally, simply because seeing this guy brought back painful memories.

The opponent shrugged. "Well, don't."

He sighed in exasperation. "Don't you know how to leave me alone?" he asked.

X laughed. "If I did, would I still be here?" he replied.

He growled. "Take a hint. Hit the road," he replied angrily, throwing several pellets his way to blind him. Forget fighting; he just wanted to get out of there so he didn't have to talk anymore...

He reported back to the lair, device in hand and evident smirk. "Have fun?" asked the voice that normally would have caused him to flinch. Now, he found solice in that voice, as it kept him from thinking of other things.

"Absolutely," he replied sardonically, smirk still present. With nothing to stand in his way, he was fast becoming like Slade, something he would before have dreaded.

The hand reached out to take the device, and a similar smirk was present in the eye. It was strange, how fast he had taken a liking to this life, but he supposed it was simply because he was so sad. It was no surprise to him that Slade immediately afterwards said, "Well, then, I think you'll enjoy your next mission."

He grinned back. "Which is?"

A VERY familiar face appeared behind Slade. "I need a very destructive weapon if we're going to conquer the city," the man said.

He grinned broadly; he was going to have fun with this. "When do I leave?" he asked.

TTTTTTTT

The plan was simple: using Beast Boy as a decoy, they would distract Anger long enough for Intelligence to provide a sneak attack advantage to the eyes. After that, Little Love and Love would both attack forcefully with everything they had. Raven and the other emotions would immediately follow up, and with a combined attack they might be able to gain an advantage. All Beast Boy had to do was keep Anger occupied.

But Raven wasn't sure she was ready to let him put himself in jeopardy. He'd already been injured once trying to help her, and to ask him to do it a second time would be a horrific crime. But it was neccessary in order for them both to escape, and he had already made it perfectly clear that he was not leaving without her. There was no escaping this option.

Of course, Love wasn't devastated at all by this suggestion. In fact, she was the one who had mentioned it to him. The girl wasted no time in getting rid of her enemies, and she was good at it too. If Love wasn't such a strong emotion and so vital to the plan, Raven would have throttled her. It would at least have simplified the problem of confusion between lovers.

So now she watched as Beast Boy waved crazily at her before transforming into a falcon and taking off. Her eyes never left that green bird, and she saw each and every movement of its wings. She wouldn't let anything happen to him if it killed her. He had risked so much for her, that she would be ungrateful to let him suffer for her sake.

He dived at her emotion, pecking at her head and neck before transforming into a T-Rex and latching on to her ear, refusing to let go even as the emotion screamed in pain and shook her head wildly in an attempt to knock him off. He held fast until a small ray of black energy that penetrated Anger's eye signified Intelligence's attack.

Immediately, Love and Little Love jumped forward. "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!" they both shouted in unison, combining their energies together to attack Anger.

"ARGH!" the red-clad emotion roared, rearing back in pain at the sudden attack.

"Now's our chance. Ravens, attack!" Bravery shouted, striking a very Beast Boy-like pose.

Raven stifled a pleased giggle at Bravery's attempt at light-heartedness despite the circumstances. "Just attack already!" she shouted back, her own eyes glowing to match the other emotions around her.

She came up next to Love, who was straining with the power needed to maintain such a steady stream of energy. "When I give the word, break off, and I'll take your place. I need you to go around to the back where she's most vulnerable," she whispered tersely as she narrowly avoided a stream of red energy...red?

Beast Boy came running up beside her, holding a fallen Intelligence. "Raven, I think Anger found the xinothium," he said simply, holding up the shivering emotion.

"Th-th-that st-st-st-stuff p-p-p-packs a-a-a-a w-w-w-wall-l-l-l-lop," Intelligence said, shaking from the shock her body was going through.

"Little Love, get over here and heal Intelligence! Rude, take her place!" Raven barked, beads of sweat beginning to form on her brow.

"How are we going to get out of this one?" Beast Boy asked as another blast of xinothium burnt a hole in the already wilting ground.

"I don't know. Right now I'm focusing on just weakening her," Raven replied through clenched teeth.

Suddenly, Beast Boy gave a small yelp, then fell silent as he too felt the sting of xinothium in himself. "Hey!" he shouted in surprise, then fell silent as his head stuck the ground. He didn't get back up.

"Xinothium didn't just make me grow!" Anger laughed as she charged up for another attack.

As she watched him fall to the ground, her heart was overcome with fury- not anger, but a completely new emotion that she hadn't felt since she and...and Starfire...had switched bodies- it was righteous fury, and she was teeming with it.

"You do NOT just do what I think you just did!" she shouted, doubling the intensity of her attack until the edges of her sight were blurred. Still, she pressed onward, no doubt striking fear into the other emotions at this sudden surge of energy.

"Careful," Timid warned quietly.

"It's okay," Raven heard Love whisper. "This is righteous fury. We haven't seen this surface for some time. Just sit back and watch."

She grinned with exhiliration as power surged around her. "Get out of my mind!" she screamed, attacking once more. This time, Anger shrank down a bit more, emitting a wailing screech that filled the air with its horrid sound.

"That's right! Who's in control now?" Bravery cheered.

"I've tried not to use brute force, I've tried to keep myself from losing control, but when you mess with either of my boys, you're going to get it!" she continued angrily, intensifying her attack until her eyesight was completely blurred. All she could see was her own black energy, and yet she pressed on.

"And another thing, stop making me try to hurt my friends!" she wailed, and Anger was in complete agony at this point.

Love snapped out of her stupor. "Come on, we've got to help her! She's finally ahead!" she shouted, waving the other emotions forwards.

With energy blasts from all directions, it was only a matter of time before Anger was reduced to her normal size. The red-clad emotion fell over with a weak groan, and immediately Love and Little Love rushed over to escort her to her normal cage.

But Raven wasn't paying any attention to that. Immediately, she rushed over to where Beast Boy lay, shivering, on the ground. "Beast Boy!" she shouted despite herself as she rushed to his side. He was shivering uncontrollably and his eyes seemed to stare right past her. He could not see.

"R-R-R-Raaaaven?" Beast Boy replied through chattering teeth as his hands groped around for what he could not see.

Her heart nearly burst. She leaned forward so that he could feel her face. "It's me, Beast Boy! I'm here. You're going to be okay," she sobbed. She wished she could see his face, but all she could see was a blurry outline.

"R-r-r-r-rav-v-v-v-v-ven, I'm s-s-s-so c-c-c-cold!" he stammered.

Tears poured down her cheeks; she felt so helpless! "You're going to be alright. Hang on, Beast Boy," she sobbed. She was trying to convince herself more than anything.

A broad grin spread over his face. "Y-y-y-you'r-r-r-re w-w-w-w-orr-rr-rr-rried ab-b-b-bout m-m-me, aren't y-y-y-ou?" he teased.

She put his fingers to her lips so that he knew she was smiling. "Why shouldn't I be?" she asked softly as Little Love arrived on the scene.

"Beast Boy!" the shorter emotion sobbed, flinging herself around his shivering figure.

"L-l-l-l-little L-l-l-l-love?" he stammered laughingly, though his voice was growing weaker. Raven had to surpress a laugh at the look on his face, but this laughter quickly faded at the gasp of pain that immediately followed.

"Beast Boy, don't leave me!' the little girl sobbed.

"Yes, don't leave me," Raven echoed even as her own eyesight began to fade.

"Rae..." he sighed, and his chest rose and fell, then was still.

"No..." she whispered, pressing her ear to his chest. "NO!" she shouted, her soul self erupting into the air.

"Is he...?" Little Love whispered, tears falling down her own cheeks.

She tried to calm down. She checked for a pulse, but there was nothing. "I can't find a pulse!" she shouted despairingly.

Bravery and Love rushed to her side. Both attempted to charge up their healing powers and help out, but the fight had exhausted them. Rude, Timid, and even Confusion joined in, and finally the green lids lifted slightly, then fell again. "It's not working!" Little Love sobbed.

"Try harder!" Raven shouted desperately. Come on, Beast Boy...come on...

Finally, Love pulled away, shaking her head sadly. Surprisingly, there were tears in this emotion's eyes. "We can't do anything more," she sighed, exhausted.

"Yes, you can!" Little Love shouted, trying herself.

Love crawled around beside Raven. "I didn't like him, but I wouldn't wish this on him," she muttered sadly.

Raven hugged her knees tightly, her own consciousness slipping. "Can't we do something?"

Love shook her head sadly. "There's not enough energy. Even if we were fully powered, I doubt that we could have done much for him. We would have needed something to slow down the process five minutes ago, and then he might have lived for a few more days," she replied, hanging her head.

Raven shook her head wildly, tears destroying whatever might have remained of her sight. "He's not dead! He's not dead!" she shouted, throwing herself over him.

Suddenly, she felt his chest rise and fall once more, and joy swept over her heart. "Beast Boy?" she asked hopefully.

Those green eyes fluttered open for a moment. "Angel..." he muttered deliriously. Then, his head drooped to one side and his eyes closed again. He had stopped breathing again.

"No..." she sobbed. "Don't do this to me!" she shouted, shaking his limp form. "We just won! You can't leave now!"

She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up to see Timid staring down at her. The grey-clad emotion's eyes were also filled with tears. "Raven, there's nothing you can do," she said softly, offering her a hand to help her up.

She refused the gesture. "I don't believe it. We were so close..." she whimpered. She hugged his body close to her own heart, sobbing unconctrollably until blackness had crept in around her mind. With one last, feeble sob, she slumped over the boy's lifeless form. The two were perfectly still, lying on the cold ground together in a puddle of blood, xinothium, and tears.

Author's Note: Yes, I DID have fun with the keyboard.