WARNING: THIS FANFICTION CONTAINS BLOOD AND STUFF SO BEWARE!

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The minute she heard clucking, Raven immediately sprung out of her room and down the stairs. Chickens, in the tower. Surely, she was imagining things. But to her dismay, she wasn't.

Starfire lay out on the sofa, arms stretching to the sides, each serving as a perch to a big, fat, lazy chicken. Her head perked up as Raven came through the doors.

"Raven! I knew your arrival would be shortly made."

Raven blinked, staring at the birds. "What are those," she pointed a quivering in rage finger at the chickens; then flipped it towards the ground, "doing in here?"

"Upon the joyous coming of your star day tomorrow, I have retrieved the cute animals of which we both intimately enjoy! See, Raven, I know that you and I cannot resist their adorable black eyes, or their little beaks, the whimsical noises which protrude from them, or their absolute snow-white wings and feathers of radiance! Our love is boundless!"

"Get them OUT."

She was ignored and Starfire continued blissfully, "Since I am so well aware of this special relationship, I knew that my dear friend Raven would take one of these glorious chickens as her beloved pet!"

Raven slammed the door shut.

She stormed back up to her room, taking a seat on her bed. No way would she ever keep a chicken as a pet. The way Starfire was announcing it; you'd think they were getting married. Real "two birds of a feather". Whatever. She folded her legs and lifted her arms, taking a deep breath, closing her eyes.

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos. Azarath, Metrion, Zin—"

She opened her left eye to discover that her foot had nudged a bag of balloons. She picked it up, now finding streamers and other decorations littering her covers. Raven had almost forgotten that the next day was her birthday. The party bags were enclosed in blackness and shredded it to pieces. She dropped the fragments of rubber left in her hands and pulled her knees in against her chest, chewing nervously at a fingernail. She hated her birthday.

Last year had been awful, why shouldn't this year? Though there was a good chance the end of the world wouldn't repeat itself, she was sure something just as dreadful could—and would—happen. She looked up and gasped as she saw the mark of scath, glowing bright and ominous in red flames, lighting up the room in a deathly blaze. Though the heat was searing up all the way to her face, chills slashed down Raven's spine.

And then it was all gone.

Raven inhaled a few shuddering breaths, trying to steady herself, and got to her feet. She scanned the room suspiciously, but couldn't find anything out of place. That was, until she turned back to where she'd spotted the scath. A mirror was hanging on the wall, one that she didn't remember ever seeing before. It was rectangular, taller than her even if placed on the ground, and five gems lay in the crest at the frame's top.

Green, purple, blue, orange, and red.

Why did they seem so familiar when put together? The crystals were all dull at the moment, all but the green one, which was shimmering brightly with a light that seemed to be moving, almost like a pulse. But of course, the jewel and the mirror weren't going anywhere. Raven looked into the mirror, only to find a reflection of herself staring back at her. She put her hands against the cold glass, knowing the mirror couldn't mean anything good, but having absolutely no idea as to what it exactly did. She thought her image had blonde hair and blue eyes for a minute, but as she blinked it was just herself again.

Either this mirror was up to its tricks, or she was just going crazy. With the life Raven lived, she wouldn't have been surprised if the second option were true. The mirror was seriously starting to freak her out, and she decided maybe that she didn't want to know what it did. She started to invoke her telekinesis when Beast Boy flashed across the glass. Mouth agape, she put her hand down and continued to stare but his face had vanished.

Raven began to put two and two together. A green-skinned boy and a green gem? She realized someone had to have come in her room to start decorating it behind her back, and where were they now? The other jewels were dark, so no one else had fallen prey to its trap yet. It was creepy how Raven was able to relate their colors to her teammates.

The green changeling and a green gem.

The purple-haired sorceress and a purple gem.

A bright blue electronic cyborg and a matching blue gem.

An orange-skinned Tamaranean and an orange gem.

And a boy with a red shirt and a red gem.

Raven felt a trickle of icy fear flood her limbs from the back of her neck as the purple amethyst began to flicker.

"No!"

Without a second thought she thrust her hand forward, black magic surrounding the mirror, and it crashed to the ground. Though the shining glass shards had definitely been broken, the two jewels were still lit up. Shaking and scared, Raven could feel her heart beating faster, frantically. Before she could fling the scattered pieces out the window, they came to life and flew at her. She almost screamed and turned away, shielding her face with her arms and putting up a barricade around herself. The sharp fragments shot right through her telekinetic defense and began grazing her body, like a million paper cuts underneath her skin all at once. Raven cried out and sunk to her knees, clutching herself in an effort to nullify the agonizing pain, or maybe painful agony.

She gasped when she touched not her velvet black sleeves, but bare skin. It was even more shocking when she discovered the countless glowing red marks of scath engraved into every spot of her visible. Just like last year.

She touched her forehead, unable to see the symbol there, but traced with her finger where she knew it was. Her fingers fell to her hair, which ended at her chin, in the crude jags she'd cut it in. Instead of the long, flowing violet locks she'd expected, it was just her same old hair. Raven would never admit that she liked the way long hair felt; the way it tickled your neck and shoulders when it swayed. But it was so hard to tame, and she could never figure out how, regardless of the fact that it was her own hair. More importantly, it reminded her of her father and the prophecy. So she chopped it off. She had, at least, but it kept growing back.

The prophecy couldn't be repeated after what had happened last time.

Could it?

Raven didn't dare to think about it. She hoped that if her hair remained at its normal height, it just couldn't happen. It sounded stupid, but it kept her confidence—and not to mention her sanity—from breaking.

Only until Slade appeared out of nowhere.

He leaped at her and they both smashed into the wall of the room and through it. Flying through the air, Raven struggled to slide her arms away, but his grip stayed unbreakable. Her belt had ripped off from the impact.

Shoot, Raven thought. My belt and my cloak are the only articles of clothing I have with tracking devices. Not that I have many clothes on, if any at all that count. She shuddered. But now my friends won't be able to find me; to SAVE me!

"You want to see your friends?" Slade hissed.

He also had Trigon's insignia printed on his mask.

What am I thinking!? Of course the titans aren't here because this all has something to do with that stupid mirror! I thought I broke it.

"You haven't broken anything," Slade replied.

It is the mirror, Raven confirmed, only mildly surprised he knew what she was thinking.

"Guess I'll have to go back and break it again."

Her eyes flashed white as she morphed into a giant force of energy in the shape of a black bird and headed for the tower through the empty sky.

Problem: the sky was empty. She couldn't find her home anywhere.

Hopeless, Raven reverted to human and wrapped her arms around herself, clenching her eyes shut tight. It must've been some sort of illusion, some crazy messed up dream. She let out a shout as her hair was suddenly yanked upwards.

The last time someone had done this to her it had been Terra. It absolutely ticked her off, worse than pranks or an uninvited guest in her room. But mostly it had hurt. Not her head all that much compared to pain inside her. Terra had been their friend and Raven knew it. How that girl could've possibly thrown it all away—for what? For Slade? That really hurt.

This was different. Slade had never at once been her companion. He always freaked her out, especially during the end of the world, and he was probably doing more so now.

Having her within reach, he released her hair and securely snaked his arms around her torso instead. When her hair fell back, Raven noticed it drifting against her shoulders. It was long again. How dare he!

"Let go of me!" Raven shouted. She thrashed and kicked about wildly.

"All in good time, child." They began to descend, but Raven still couldn't see anything in the nothingness. He repeated, "All in good time."

The sky filled up with blood red clouds, drowning out any blues there might have been. She thought she saw buildings standing tall for a moment, but the next they had all collapsed in massive piles of debris. Why was everything repeating itself?

Slade uncoiled from her and she hit the ground.

"Get up, birthday girl."

"It's not my birthday." Raven didn't move. "This can't be happening. I won't let it!" she whispered.

She pressed her hands to her ears.

"You can't escape your destiny," Slade reminded her casually.

"Raven?"

She finally looked up. Slade had disappeared, but Cyborg roamed among the ruins instead.

"Please go away, Cyborg." She moaned as a splitting headache came on and turned away, clutching at her temples. "I don't want to hurt you."

He acted as if he hadn't heard her. Considering the way she was mumbling, maybe he hadn't. He laid a hand on her shoulder. "Come on, girl, let's get you home."

"Don't touch me, tin man!"

Her lips had moved, and her voice had come through, but she certainly hadn't said it! She wouldn't. Cyborg was her friend and she would never say such a cruel thing to him, or any of her friends.

This time though he had heard the alien shout, and startled, he took one step back.

Before she knew it she had pointed a finger at him. Cyborg shot up in the air, coated in the ethereal blackness. His body trembled violently until he was torn apart. Blood, bones, body parts, and bionic equipment rained across the wasteland.

"No, Cyborg, I didn't do it. No, no, no," Raven murmured hysterically. "It wasn't me! It wasn't me!"

Unable to bear the stress, Raven fled through the battered city, running as fast as she could. What was happening to her?

"Raven!"

It was Robin's voice.

"Leave me alone!" she shrieked and sprinted faster.

But Robin easily caught up and grabbed her arm. She tried to keep going and pulled and tugged but his grip was almost as strong and steely as Slade's.

"What's wrong? Are you hurt? Let me help you, please."

Tears held back at Cyborg's murder fell down her cheeks. "I don't want to hurt you," she repeated in anguish. "I don't want to kill you."

Again, her friend seemed oblivious the words spilling out of her mouth. He placed a hand on her shoulder, and at the touch feeling so similar to Cyborg's, Raven let out a strangled cry and shoved Robin away. She began to run again. He quickly recovered, leaping to his feet, and stopped Raven again.

"It's okay. I'm your friend, Raven."

Her mouth trembled as she tried to restrain the urge to speak. It didn't work. "Not anymore."

His face lit up with surprise—how could he hear her sometimes and not at others?—but he didn't have time for anything else. Raven lunged forward and her hand went through his chest.

"No!" she hollered, but she couldn't control herself.

Robin moaned hollowly like a ghost as her fingers searched for what it sought for a moment. Once it did, it clutched Robin's heart tightly. His groan turned into tortured yell, but when Raven squeezed tighter, there was only a faint pop before Robin limply fell to the ground. She yanked her hand out immediately, but it was too late.

"NO!" Raven screamed again. "I didn't do it! This isn't happen? Why, why?"

She knelt down at Robin's side but felt too ashamed and scared to touch him, and it wasn't long before she feared to even look at him. A fist-sized hole was bleeding nonstop, the blood soaking his already red shirt. The same red that dripped from Raven's hand. She sobbed and frantically tried to wipe the blood away from it, but the more she rubbed, the more it seemed to sink into her skin. Her tears had dried by the time she stood up, but only because her eyes had no more to give. When she was crushed in a humongous embrace, she was sure Slade had captured her again. But it was much, much worse.

"Oh, Raven, adored friend! I have found you!"

"Starfire! Not you too," Raven whispered, gradually rising to a shout. "I can't do this, no, I won't do this!"

"Whatever troubles you, dear friend?" She let go for a minute, blankly watching Raven break down into tears, and gasped when she saw Robin. Then she noticed the blood, sticky and still wet, staining Raven's right hand. "Raven…" she stuttered, her lower lip quivering and eyes straining to hold back tears. "Did you…? How could you…?"

"I didn't!" Raven protested, her face split in fear and disbelief at everything, but she found herself slowly nodding, irresistibly, as if to the beat of music. "I would never…"

Starfire's eyes ignited a fiery green. "I trusted you! We trusted you! Why have you betrayed us: your companions!"

It was as if the tables had turned on Raven. She had used so many words similar to what Starfire had just said when she had battled with Terra. Terra however had seemed unfazed at the words. Raven felt worse than she would've if she had suffered the same fates as Robin and Cyborg. If the two boys were still alive, would they resent her as much as Starfire did? It was too awful to think about what the answer could be.

Starfire sprang into the air, but after a moment drifted back down. Her hands were aglow with the same emerald light as her eyes.

"Kill me, Starfire, kill me!" Raven cried desperately, despite the fact that she knew no one but Slade could hear her. She didn't dare to add, Before I kill you.

Starfire put her hands together and began to create an enormous star bolt. But as she reared back to push it off, her eyes softened, and the bright, once fierce green faded to a weak, dim light until it had all together disappeared. The Tamaranean looked sadly at Raven, her face stretched between decisions and emotions.

"Forgive me Robin," she called to the corpse hoarsely, "but I cannot force myself to harm someone who became, was, and perhaps still is, so precious to me. I cannot hurt one who is so close a friend."

Raven felt her heart shaking. After she had slaughtered Robin—not to mention Cyborg, but Star didn't know about that—Starfire was still willing to forgive her, to still be friends. After all that Raven had done, she was giving her another chance. She didn't know what to say, but the awful, most wrong wrongs that could've been said, tumbled out.

"Too bad I can't say the same for you."

She made a fluid sweeping motion which would've looked more regal and dominating if she had been wearing a cloak, but it didn't matter. A flock of midnight black birds soared out, their eyes glowing red and sharp teeth flashing menacingly as they shrieked inhumanly. They were birds with teeth, which was strange, but who knew what Trigon could do to birds if he could grow antlers for no apparent reason?

Starfire screamed as they flew towards her, the same scream she had been dragged into a pitch black hell by rats similar to these creatures on that one night the team had watched Wicked Scary. Raven tried to block out the scream, knowing it would echo in her ears, endlessly haunting her for the rest of her miserable life. The birds, so close together they created a dark cloud, swarmed over Starfire until she was completely enveloped, and the squirming mass all simply vanished.

Raven couldn't utter a single sound and hung her head hopelessly, her long hair creating a purple veil around her face. How could she betray her friends like this? She didn't deserve Starfire's act of kindness to her, the one she had so treacherously thrown away.

"But it's not my fault!" Raven wailed. "I didn't want to, I didn't! I didn't want to kill them!"

She could no longer stand seeing Robin's body and once again started running. Three of her teammates gone, and that meant there was one more to go.

Oh, no.

"Raven, thank goodness I've found you! I can't seem to find Star, Cy, or Robin anywhere."

So he didn't know yet. Was that good or bad?

Beast Boy waved about an electronic arm, the metal fingers flopping and the cut wires protruding from where an elbow should've been jiggled. "He must've dropped it. Heh, it's funny, but last time Cy lost his arm, it kind of acted all on its own. Now, it's just sort of dead."

Raven clasped her hands over her mouth and started backing away, for fear her lips would speak something she didn't want them to say. She darted behind a building, blinking back tears still fresh from her encounter with Starfire. Sure he would come around the corner and die before ever coming out again, she waited, knowing there was no way for her to avoid it. But when she peeked after what seemed like hours, she saw Slade standing in her place, with Beast Boy still rambling on about being stranded on an unknown planet. Slade was staring right at her, but for a second, Raven saw herself wickedly grinning back at her. Then Slade again.

And I'll make you watch.

The words definitely came from Slade—now that he was officially capable of getting to her mind—but Raven couldn't figure out why the phrase sounded familiar. She was pretty sure she hadn't heard Slade say it before. Déjà vu. But she didn't have time to think about it because Slade had transformed back into her: Raven. He—well, she—turned to face Beast Boy and swept him up in a long, passionate kiss.

Raven's skin prickled, with fear for Beast Boy and even jealousy. But the other Raven didn't stop right there. In fact, her gestures and facial expression suggested things Raven didn't want to think about. Fortunately, Beast Boy was feeling overwhelmed and shrank away from the girl.

The lust in her eyes was quickly replaced with rage and her hand fit itself into a sheet of black and she made as swift, straight horizontal line in the air.

Raven gasped and covered her eyes. She did NOT, at all costs, want to see the thin streak of red against Beast Boy's throat, the blood begin to seep out faster, his head separate from the neck, and drop into the dirt with a soft plop followed by the loud thump of the headless body. But she accidentally opened her eyes too early and witnessed both fall, the blood squirting out in all its gory glory.

"No!" What else would she have screamed?

She leaped on top of her other self and wrestled on the ground, trying to strangle her. It was like looking into a mirror, which reminded Raven of something very vital.

None of this is real! It's just that stupid mirror!

As if worried that Raven knew its secret, the person dissolved back to Slade. He kicked Raven off himself and prepared large fireballs in his fists. The scath mark burned brightly on his forehead and that's when Raven knew what she had to do.

"What Robin wouldn't do to be me."

She reached up and flung off Slade's mask. A brilliant force of light exploded from whatever lay behind. The blinding whiteness encased her in a soft, secure blanket, and Raven closed her eyes, letting all her tenseness melt away, muscles relaxing.

Raven had felt so messed up, she had forgotten how bliss and good peace was.

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"Raven?" All is not lost! You have not hurt anyone."

Raven's eyes fluttered open. She groaned and sat up, all of a sudden curious about who Slade really was behind his mask. She brushed the thought away, or rather it was pushed away when Starfire squeezed her in a rib-cracking embrace. Remembering the touching words from the mirror's nightmare that Starfire had said, Raven returned the hug.

"What-what happened?" Raven asked, though as the fog over her mind began to clear, she was generating a pretty god idea.

"I will tell you everything I have learned."

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"We've got to help the boys!" Raven declared firmly. She wouldn't lose them again.

Starfire nodded. "Agreed."

Raven walked up the mirror, wincing as images churned behind the glass, and worried that she would fall to its trap again. But at the top of its frame where the gems resided, though a green, red, and blue jewel were shining brightly, the purple and orange ones had cracked, the light gone. They were safe. She watched the mirror more confidently and kept gazing until she glimpsed Robin. She and Starfire focused harder until the picture became clearer.

Two titans down, three to go.

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Two.

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One.

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As soon as everyone was safely out of the mirror, Raven was eager for them to quickly leave. Though it seemed pretty safe, she was still itching with apprehension. But somehow, everyone had started swapping stories and no one budged.

"I guess I didn't really need rescuing, at least, compared to your adventures," Cyborg admitted as Beast Boy finished his story.

"Can we please get out of my room? Make waffles or something?" Raven demanded, because she didn't beg.

"Of course! Let us engorge the midnight snack!"

"Whatever you do, do NOT look back," Raven warned, holding up a "caution" finger.

They all nodded, eager to attack some grub. Starfire took Robin's hand and led them out the door, followed by Cyborg.

Though it was her own room, Raven decided that she could do without it for a bit and turned to also leave. But she saw Beast Boy lingering behind and hastily ushered him out. If only he knew how much he meant to her.

Raven was dying to get the mirror out of her room, but she wondered if she should leave it up. After all, she was in need of a non-magical mirror.

The minute she and Beast Boy walked into the kitchen area, Raven heard clucking. She was about to yell at Starfire to get them out, but came up with a better idea.

'Do you guys want fried chicken tonight?"

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Yes, I'm sorry for the blood and things like that. I did warn you. This chapter was…really weird, needless to say, so flame me if you must, but I'm like that. I for one enjoyed writing it, and I hoped you liked it too! Hopefully you understand a little more about the mirror and stuff and more will be explained way later on. Thanks for reading!