HOUKOUNIN SAGAS

by Shinigami-Virus

Ravens a vamp, Robs her servant. Not your typical vamp fic, something for everyone. Lemons and violence abound. R&R

44. Chapter 44

Chapter 44 Thugs gods 'n hunters

(STORY HAS HIT ABOUT 500 PAGES, this chap for DamianH) :Grumbles: if anyone could motivate me to keep writting its this person. Reviewed like a dozen times or something, freakin insane. Damian showed me his/her view on the story, really showed me what they thought. It motivated me to get this chap done, so everyone thank DamianH for this chapter ever getting done.

Authors note: I had this chap done, complete, and was happy with it but the file was corrupted. It turned into those DAMNED LITTLE BOXES ALL THE WAY ACROSS THE SCREEN! Same hing happened with parts of the last chap. I had three differant versions of it, one as long as 30000 words but i ended up cut copying and pasting the chap you all read together from what was left of all three... wasnt quite what i had wanted it to be, kali was supposed to take a much larger beating before she died (heart stomped out) Raven was supposed to have a nice scene in a mechanics shop with slade, in which every last hammer, screwdriver, drill bit and buzz saw came to life and inflicted much pain on slade, (This being the original thing that drove him to the hospital) and what happened to Blackfire was supposed to be slightly more graphic, nothing really detailed, but the things that went through her mind as it happened. The scene where Raven dies was supposed to be more detailed, more... frantic in those last moments but i couldnt get these things fixed, couldnt rewrite them good that way again. too bad.

some questions I was asked

If Raven could time travel, why not go back and stop slade from resurrecting?

A: Too easy. As the timeline catches up with itself we'll figure it out.

Q: If Jinx is Kali, does that mean one of the two will have to die?

A: No. Neither can really be killed, but them both dying at the same time will be quite the appocolyptic bit. When they figure out who Kali's avatar is it will be more of a struggle to stop both from dying at the same time- and if one DOES die for the love of god keep the other on the opposite side of the world.

Q: Whats with the Jinx and Robin stuff?

A: Not sure myself. Seeing alot of it here though, see alot more of it this chap.

Q: Will there be any changes with Raven and Kali having died and come back?

A: Charecter changes, yes. Like Slade they will have brought back a few traits from the afterlife.

On with the chapter

Sunset in Jump city. Brilliant. Just the right mix of oranges, pinks, purples and reds, and still, the most amazing color for some reason was still blue. Robin watched it alone from the roof. It was one of those evenings where the line between night and day was sharp as a blade. On one side it was still blue, and just a hair over it was black, and you could see the stars coming out, and oh, the beauty of it was nearly enough to stop his heart. It soothed the anger in him, for a little while. He had been muddling up here for so long, so angry, feeling contempt and love for Raven at the same time and it threatened to tear him in two.

And why shouldnt he be angry with her? She lied, hid things from him, he couldnt trust her. She had violated his trust, and still he slept next to her every night. It was killing him more and more every night since the night of the attack. He hung his head. That was the least of his problems. He could feel it, even now, crawling about under his skin like some kind of animal. Shiva. Shiva, the hindu god of destruction had chosen to manifest himself, in him. Was he everyones puppet? He wondered. His life was being fucked with by everyone, even the gods.

Robin spit over the edge of the tower as more anger flooded through him. Shiva. Contemptible. Had he always been fated to be with Raven like this? Or had Shiva seen him in Ravens arms that night, in that instant when teeth touched flesh, and saw a means to an end? Was that what it was? Instead of falling into a swoon as she drank should he have been struck with pain? Should he have been clawing at her to stop, fearfull for his life and trying to escape? Robin imagined it. She would have left him, sprawled out on his bed, with his sanity in shreds. She would have backed out of the room slowly, whispered an appology, and none of them would ever have seen her again. Or would that have been how it had happened? He had been suspecting something of this nature from her for some time. All the clues had been there. After every battle, how she would turn her head away from the sight of a teamates blood, how she seemed hyptnotised by it sometimes. The way she would dissapear in the night, for twenty or thirty minutes at a time and be back, looking slightly less pale, and be damned, just the way she always seemed to be hiding something. No, he had suspected what she was. He would have recovered from the incident, and guarded her secret. But still, alternative scenario's asside, was Robin a houkounin from birth, or that night? "Damn it all." He whispered bitterly.

Robin turned his head when Jinx came up onto the roof. This made him happy. Jinx was his best friend more and more of late. She had become his confidant. He was sure that if he had secrets to keep that she would know them all. Now Jinx was in a somewhat more simple situation than he, he thought to himself. She, they knew, had been a houkounin since creation, since her genetic structure had been put together piece by piece and made into something alive. Life for her had been simpler since she came here. As Robin had been told, she had found love in Starfire some time before she had been bitten, and then she became what she was most likely always meant to be.

It was differant from him. Whatever he had felt for Raven before his change, he knew it extended beyond nothing but maybe a silly crush, and now whatever bound them forced him to love her! Or did it force him? He growled as Jinx sat down next to him, still thinking. Which was it? Was he forced to love her by some strange magic, or was it what he truly felt? Robin stopped thinking about it. He had had enough. The entire line of though was too frustrating to sustain for very long. He turned his attention to Jinx. "Hey." He mumbled. She sat down next to him and watched over the edge. "Whats going on inside?"

"Usual." Jinx said. It was a bold lie. Everyone was gone, taking care of what needed to be done. Raven, cleaning the last of Slades mess up tending to his other victims, Beast Boy and Cyborg, well, no one knew, Blackfire and Kali were also gone. Starfire was the only one not behaving oddly, but she had left as well. HP was here, somewhere. Standing guard watching the computers, making sure the city was safe. The immortal had moved in, taken up a room, and joined them of his own will. One day he was just a guest, next day he was there for good, taking up duties, guards, behaving as a member even though he had never officially been welcomed in. Oh well, Jinx thought, she had done similiarly- granted when she first came here she had been unconcious in a hospital bed. She sat waiting for some time for Robin to say anything. He didnt, but she knew if he wanted her to leave he would have said so. Instead after a little while of silence he got up and headed for the door. Jinx watched him go. When he reached the door and opened it he turned back to her.

"Wanna go for a ride?"

Jinx nodded her head and followed. It meaned he more than likely had something he would talk about. He never really talked with her around the tower, he liked to drive, get away from any prying ears. He did love to drive, and Jinx loved to ride. She couldnt drive herself, didnt want to too badly because it looked tedious, but something about just watching the world go by was enjoyable to her. The engine started with a furious sound, and Jinx was sure the sound was compareable to Robins state of mind. Then the bridge, the submersable structure made of stainless steel. Robin hit it fast, and Jinx turned around to watch it slip below the waves again, waiting until it would again be needed. "Where are we going?" Jinx asked. Robin pointed eastward. The desert.

Robin stopped at the red light to the onramp. Traffic was light this time of night. The ramp was right in front of his car. The light turned green and he stomped on his gas. The car reared up on its hind wheels and did two gears before settling again. Jinx next to him was bracing herself, her knuckles white(er) than usual. This kind of stuff still scared her, imagine. Robin stepped heavier on the pedal and the car was doing ninety by the time he merged with the sparse traffic. Jinx continued to make noises of fear as Robin ducked and weaved through traffic, the speed climbing all the while.

"I hate you." She growled. He KNEW this freaked her out.

"Lie of the century." Robin droned.

"You really want to drive like this with a human bad luck charm sitting next to you?" Jinx growled sarcastically.

Robin rubbed his chin and pondered on it for a moment. He shrugged. "Sure." And went faster. Jinx looked behind them to see several crown victoria police cruisers trying to keep up with them.

"We have company."

"Like hell we do." Robin mashed the gas pedal harder still. The cruisers behind him continued to gain, slowly. Jinx could hear the engine humming, whilst the engines of the cars behind them were deafiningly loud. He was playing with them. "If they can catch me they can have me, and look at me. I'm a teen titan. Could just say I'm on urgent business."

Jinx watched as one by one the cars behind them fell out of the chase as their radiators exploded from heat and pressure. "Whoa." Robin saw it too.

"Was that you?"

"Nope."

"Ford makes such shit nowadays." Robin drove on a few miles and slowed it down to seventy. "You know I'll probably live forever and never get a speeding ticket?"

"Is that so bad?"

"Yes. I planned on retiring someday. Owning a home. Having a familly. Being normal."

This was it, she knew, he was starting to vent. "You still can."

"Like hell!" How's a fifteen year old supposed to own a home? I'm kind of stuck like this forever. And even if I could, how do I explain how I dont age after two or three years? Cant have kids either. I cant do shit."

Jinx felt pitty for him there. He was stuck 15 forever. She was seventeen herself, and could pass for 18 when she was 'stop clocked' as she put it. "Come on, you could adopt." Robin snorted at this.

"What, to watch them grow old and die? And how would I explain to them how 'daddy doesnt age'? Yeah kids, you get to grow old, weak, and die but mommy and daddy will always be the same." He snorted.

"So, then you think your stuck with the Robin roll forever?"

"Not quite. I can always just stop, but what am I really supposed to do other than this? Go to highschool for a few hundred years? Climb some hymilaian mountain and be some kind of hermit martial arts trainer? What?"

"Its on you."

"NO!" Robin grunted. "Its on her. I wanted to get old someday. I wanted children, to get old and grey at the temples. I wanted these things!"

"And the instant she bit you, they were taken away." Jinx finished for him. "But you gave her permission to bite you, you said she needed your help. Neither of you could have helped what happened next."

"I know." Robin said. The car had been keeping pace with the traffic around it. It slowly began to pick up the pace again. Jinx's hand went to the arm rest subconciously as she eyed the meter go up to seventy-five. "But I'll still never have all those normal things. A girlfriend, wife, kids. I'll never have them." The transmission bumped into the next gear and Robins emotions seemed to change tone with it.

"I know." Jinx looked out the window, what he said was right about both of them. She had once imagined what it would be like to have children. What would they look like? would they have her power? Would they love her? Well, the closest she would ever get to knowing was Robix- and she had knifed her in the chest. No, guess she would never have kids that loved her. "Did you love Raven, before you changed?" She asked, trying to get off the subject of Robix in her mind.

"I cant quite remember." Robin said. "Perhaps a little, whatever binds us forbids me from having a true understanding of what it was before. But if I had to guess, I dont think it was beyond anything but a crush." It was true, he thought. All he knew was that he was madly in love with her after she bit him, the magic in his blood forcing him to love her. Need her.

"Do you love her now? Is it you that love her, or that magic?"

"I dont know. I hope its me, I really do. You loved Starfire didnt you? I mean, before you changed, so you know its not some ancient magic but that its you that love her, right?"

"Yes." Jinx blushed, despite theire being best friends of late they rarely talked of the nature of her relationship with Starfire. "I know what it is." And she did. "And if I wasnt what I am, I would have wanted to become one like her." She said.

Robin remembered some moments he had shared with Raven before his change, and moments he had shared with Starfire. He could remember the events perfectly well, but never what he had felt. Everything before the bite as far as who he may have loved was a blur. "I just dont know what to do with Raven, Jinx." He sighed. "I'm angry at her, but I love her at the same time and I spend every night with her. She's the most important thing in the world to me and I dont know how to actually be angry at her."

"Revenge?" Jinx asked, raising an eyebrow. Robin was silent. "She violated your trust, you going to violate hers?"

"What do you mean?"

"Like sleep with somebody else."

Robin looked Jinx over and shuddered. A chorus of villanous thoughts ran through his mind, none of them could be considered 'safe' with how much he shared in commong with the witch. "No." He said. Jinx seemed to understand what he was thinking and shrank back into her seat, feeling foolish for having suggested such a thing.

"My bad, alright. So what can you do then? Robin what can you do but just go on with it like its always been? Just put it behind you." The transmission came to a peak, sounding like a large hydro-electric dam and then bumped up again.

"I wish I could." Robin said. "I wish I could. But now, with this Shiva thing, what does this do? Does that give her license to take me away somewhere safe, make me quit the titans even? All to avoid the chance he is unleashed?"

"I dont know."

"Exactly. Neither do I." Robin took the next off ramp. Right off the highway a few miles was a gas station. He pulled in there, it was a big place. A truckstop, seedy motorcycle hangout. Fun for all of the familly.

Jinx looked the place over as they pulled in. Oh hell, he wanted to buy gas. If that didnt cause a scene she didnt know what would with a crowd like this around. Jinx sighed, feeling like she was the only one who could see the problem this could create as Robin got out. Jinx rolled down her window and watched the crowd gather. The pump was broken it seemed, pumping only a few gallons a minute. Jinx waited patiently, but started catching bits of conversation she didnt like. Off in the shadows three large men were talking. They kept gesturing nervously at Robin. Jinx narrowed her eyes at them and they dissapeared around the building side. She looked to Robin. He was oblivious. She got out and stood next to him.

"I heard." Robin said when she drew near. He shook the gas pump in his hand and Jinx saw he was only pretending it was broken. He had only squeezed the handle partway, and then feigned annoyance at the slow machine.

"So you want to stick around to see who 'boss-man' is right?"

"Might be interesting." Robin said thoughtfully. As he said this over a dozen motorcycles with their lights off revved up around back and rolled out to the parking lot exit. They all parked in the darkness, where they could not be seen. Jinx watched with interest, then her eyes went wide.

"We might have trouble." She said. The group was waving weapons at her, alot of them. Several tasers lit up too.

"What are we dealing with?"

"Thirteen bikes." Jinx paused, trying to get an accurate count in the dark. "Eighteen guys on them. Lotta handguns, few shotguns."

"No problem." Robin said, unworried.

"What are you talking about? Not all of us come back from the dead you know." Jinx said, peeved.

"If your scared you can go sit inside, I think they serve ice-cream." Robin teased. He dropped one of his disks on the ground. "Kick that over there, towards them." He said. Jinx did as she was told. "What was that?" She said when it didnt explode.

"EMP. Disables all electrical current. Their bikes won't work until after they find that thing and destroy it." He was right. The sound of all the motorcycle engines had stopped. Robin finished pumping and paid with a card. "Come on." He got in, and drove away, ignoring the 'wrong way' and 'do not enter' signs on the way out to avoid passing the bikers.

"Clever." Jinx said as the station dissapeared behind them. No sooner had she said this than the motorcycles took to the road. She saw the light in the distance. They began to gain on them fast. "We have a problem." She said. Robin looked.

"Damnit!" He cursed and the back windshield exploded. "Keep your head down!"

Jinx hunkered down in her seat. "Got another one of them things?" She hissed, pulling glass shards out of her hair.

"Nope." Robin pounded the gas and put his highbeams on. The bikes were getting dangerously close. "You see good in the dark, right?" He asked.

"Yeah, why?" Jinx yellped as she was hallfway pulled into Robins lap. He forced her hands onto the wheel and cut off the lights.

"Drive."

Jinx cursed and did her best to guide the car on the dark road. Robin didnt slow down any for her, instead picking up speed trying to lose the bikers. "Shit!" She cried. It was maddening trying to keep the car on the road, let alone in her lane and Jinx swerved all over the road. It worked. Behind them several of the bikes veered off to check sidestreets.

"What do you see?" Robin asked hotly.

"Not much!" Jinx focused so hard her eyes hurt. She was glad the lights inside were off. She didnt want to know how fast they were going. "Theres an old farmhouse up ahead." Jinx said. It was an old structure, half collapsed.

"Take it." Robin ordered. He slowed the car enough for her to skid onto the old gravel drive and rudely pushed her back into her seat. Robin threw the car in reverse and backed out into the street before cutting the ignition, making a four thousand pound roadblock out of his car, in the dark, with a biker gang closing in at high speed. Yeah, good. That would screw their day up. Robin took Jinx's hand and ran for the house. He was at the door when the first bike hit his car. The sound of screams and crunching metal followed him up the twisted wooden stairs, and then all was quiet as they hid in an upstairs bedroom.

Outside the biker gang put themselves back together, or almost all of them did. Various cries of 'im alright' sounded out in the area, and then someone noticed one person was missing.

"Meat-pie? Wheres Meat-pie?" One of them asked. He was answered by a comrade off in front of him in the woodline to his left.

"He's over here."

Another biker twenty feet away kicked at something in the grass. "He's over here too." He was looking at the lower half of his friend. Just as this was going on one bike bigger than the rest of them pulled up to the car. It was the leader. No one said a thing as he got off his bike and went to the police interceptor.

"Boss Meat-pie is dead." Said one underling. The boss man growled angrilly and slammed a fist down on the hood of the car. He hit it so hard it jostled open. "Find them. Find the leader, and the pink bitch." He growled. He opened the hood to confirm his suspicion. "And bring them to me alive!" He barked as he slammed it again. His henchmen spread out to search the area and the leader stood at the car, fuming. "First they kill my buddie, then I find out they took my engine! No one steals from Johnny Rancid! NO ONE!"

"What now?" Jinx asked. She and Robin were hiding in an old bedroom on the third floor. Robin went to a window and looked outside. He couldnt see anything. It was so damned dark out! He briefly thought of tossing himself out the window and letting Shiva clean up the mess, but that wouldnt do. Shiva was not a 'toy' or a weapon. Shiva was bad, something to be kept locked away inside of him for as long as possible. No, he could handle this. This was cake to him. He just had to be fast.

"Theres how many?" He asked Jinx.

"Alot. I think about twenty now." She had been listening as more and more motorcycles pulled up outside. It was only a matter of time until they decided the house was a good place to search for them. Robin growled.

"I got this. You stay here."

Jinx nodded her head, and in a flutter of black he was gone, not even leaving a noise behind as his feet gently touched the old wooden floorboards. Jinx went to the window. "You might have it." She said wisely. "But you could probably use a little help." She counted the motorcycles outside and picked out a group of them furthest from the car. She leveled her hand at them. "Gas tanks, my favorite!" She whispered. Pink energy lit up the room, and several arcs of it flew down into the crowd of bikes. At least one of them found a gas tank or fuel line, because instantly five bikes were consumed in a large fireball. Jinx watched as several gang members danced around on fire. Robin might have a problem with killing his enemies. Jinx smiled. "But I wasnt always a good guy."

Robin heard the explosion outside and alot of men heading for the house. He found a hole in the second floors floor and waited for some unlucky thug to walk under it. He extended his staff and held it at the ready. A group of three men walked under him. Robin laid his staff across the hole and dipped down between the men, holding on like a monkey bar. He brought his feet out and kicked one man in the face as he turned around. It was a good hit. It would require reconstructive surgury if he didnt choke on his own blood first. Robin let go of the staff and dropped to the floor. The other two were still fumbling about, trying to figure out what had happened. Robin tripped one with a low scissor sweep, and launched himself at the other. He booted him in the back of the head. He landed and hit the other man still getting up with an open fisted punch in the chest. He was launched backwards through the deteriorated walls out into the lawn. The comotion sent several other thugs running in his direction. Robin heard several guns click at the same time and jumped upwards, grabbed his staff and swung back onto the second floor just as Gang Rancid exterminated its own two members on the floor. He collected his weapon and took one step. His leg faltered. He went down with a thud; he had been shot and not even felt it! Robin rolled away from that spot on the floor just as the gang began firing into the ceiling.

"Damnit!" He swore quietly. It wasnt too bad of an injury, it had only grazed him. Robin turned his attention to the front stairway. He heard boots, lots of them coming up after him. He got to his feet quickly and stood to the side of the narrow passage. As the first man came out he hit him in the throat with his staff. He went down. A second was right behind him. He brought his pistol up to Robins head but Robin grabbed the hand and redirected the shot into the mans own gut. Two more came out and Robin kicked them back into the stairwell. He tossed an explosive disk in after them. It went off, they screamed. The stairs gave way and the men fell all the way to the basement. The screams ended with sickening crunching noises and the sound of lawn tools falling over.

"Takes care of that." Robin was distracted. He was looking down the hole when another thug at the bottom of the stairs saw him and got several shots off. His legs were hit again. Robin collapsed to the side, cursing his luck. He tried to get up but this time couldnt. "Damnit." He heard them coming up the destroyed stairs carefully, jumping over the holes. He couldnt move. He couldnt fight. In the dark something silvery gleamed next to him and he reached out for it. It was heavy, it had a handle. It was a gun. He held it in front of him, looking at it as if he had never seen one before. A man popped out of the stairway, and out of instinct Robin leveled the gun at him and fired two shots. He hit him in the kneecaps. He had been trained with guns, he knew how to use them, wasnt supposed to, but if ever he had to he knew how to shoot non-lethaly. The man made a gasping noise as his kneecaps skidded across the room like air hockey pucks, and he fell backwards into the hole in the stairs. He made no noise once he hit bottom. Robin sat back, breathing heavilly. "Damnit!" He slammed the gun down, leaving it on the floor and looked his wounds over. Superficial. With the rate he replaced his blood, he could go like this a few hours before it became a serious threat to his health. Using his staff Robin managed to get to his feet. It took a few painfull attempts. "How many more could there be?" He asked himself. Robin fell backwards, his legs giving out. "I'm having a bad day." He said to himself. The man who had shot himself in the gut moaned nearby. "You did it to yourself." Robin taunted. "You dont have complaining rights." He realised it had been a death moan, and his mood sombered. He had done that. He had killed, possibly several of them. He heard noises above him; footsteps and lots of them. With grim determination Robin managed to get to his feet and take off for the stairway again. He had to protect Jinx! Jinx didnt come back from the dead like him, it was his fault she was here.

Jinx heard them coming down the hallway and crouched in a low fighting position. She had the advantage, she reassured herself. She could see in the dark. They would come charging in here without a damned clue, and she would hit them so fast that they wouldnt know what happened. She re-played several scenarios out in her mind as the steps drew nearer. Jinx crossed her arms acrossed her neck, ready to lash out with her powers. Two men charged into the room and she took them down with a flying roundhouse kick that caught them both in the head. A third man entered while she was still in mid-air with her back turned and struck her hard across the back with a baseball bat. Jinx was sent flying across the room and crashed down on the bed. She was just getting up as her attacker caught up with her and slammed her again in the arm. She yelled and jumped back. Now there were men with guns in the room near the door, this had gone terribly wrong. She lashed out with her powers and parts of the ceiling came crashing in on them all. Bullets began to fly and Jinx hit the floor and rolled under the bed, intending to come out the other side but just as she did so she saw a bright green flash of light in the hallway and heard screams. Robin entered the room, his scythe burning hot and bright. His cape had come askew, settling more on his shoulders. It billowed in the heat his scythe made, and in the odd lighting his face looked skeletal. She thought he looked like the grim reaper himself.

"Get out." He growled at the bikers. Several guns came up to level at him and he attacked as several shots went off. All the men perished under his scythe, but not before he caught another bullet in the arm. Robin hit the floor before the ashes of the dead men settled even. He dropped the scythe, which burned through the floor and dropped all the way to the basement. Jinx went to him.

"We have to get you out of here." She whispered. He was hit so many times she didnt know what to do. She was just trying to scoop him up to lean on her when she heard a voice downstairs. "Bad news." She said. "I think boss man is here."

Rancid walked around the first floor slowly, trying to figure out where his gang had gone to. There were a few guys knocked out on the floor here and there, a few dead. He held a large pistol out in front of him in one hand and a flashlight in the other. "Who's here?" He asked. Maybe the rest of his gang had chased them all into the woods? He wasnt sure.

Rancid turned around a few more times. He shined his light on the stairs. He heard something behind him and turned around. It was nothing. He swept back towards the stairs and jumped back when he found Jinx sitting on the bottom step, an angry look on her face.

"You idiot." She said. "You fucking moron. Your going to ruin everything." This caught Rancid off guard.

"What are you talking about? What are you even doing here? Word is you switched sides." He leveled his gun at her face; she didnt seem scared.

"Yeah, 'word is'." Jinx sneered. "Do you have any idea how much time and planning has gone into this? Do you? I've been working them for months. Months Rancid. And now you almost ruin everything."

"What are you talking about."

"What do you think? Why would I ever be in with the titans? Its a double-cross!" Rancid didnt seem convinced. He re-leveled his gun at her. "I HAVE to get out of here with him ALIVE because if I come back with him dead my whole plan goes to shit. Johnny you make sure my plans don't get ruined and I could make things good for you."

"What do you mean?" Rancid knew a good deal when he heard one. He lowered his gun and made a show of re-aiming it at her, but only as a show of force for negotiations.

"I get out of here with a Robin that has a pulse, and I can cut you in on the kill phase of my plan." Jinx made an ugly sneering face, as if she didnt like giving up what was hers.

"Keep talkin."

"Listen, I've got the leader eating out of my hand, and most of the others too. My plans almost done, but if I come back with him dead they won't trust me. You see that we get out of here in one piece, make it look flashy, whatever, and I can make sure you get in on it when its time to wipe them out." Jinx watched his body language. She had him thinking. He waved the gun about, as if it were a negotiating tool now. She had him, but then a lightbulb seemed to go off in his head.

"You've been fuckin him, haventcha?" Rancid leered at her. "Oh boy, I never thought I'd see the day. What were you doing out here anyway?"

"He likes his head while he drives, Johnny." Jinx blushed furiously for thinking such a thing, but played along.

"Two hundred miles from jump?"

"My voice didnt get this raspy on its own now."

Rancid turned pale. "Alright alright. Whatever. I wanted to kill the leader, but you've earned that one. You wanna fuck him, he's all yours. He stole my engine, but SHIT! He could steal my whole fucking junkyard and that one would still be yours! But theres something else I want."

"And whats that?"

"The redhead." Rancid didnt notice Jinxs eyes narrowing at him or the dangerous look on her face. "I want a little 'quality time' with her for an hour or two before we get rid of them all."

"I dont think you can handle that one Johnny." Jinx said through gritted teeth.

"Whatsamatter? You fuckin that one too? Little muff-diver? Team slut? I'm sure I've got something that could strap her down, hold her still." A sick smile spread acrossed his face.

"Whatever you want Johnny. Just dont blame me if you get your back broken." Jinx was nearly ill at the thought of this disgusting monster laying a finger on Starfire. Starfire was hers. Starfire was special. No matter what they did together; the love-making, the blood- oh so much blood. No matter what they did Starfire just seemed so pure. She wouldnt stand to let this animal think he could change that, that he could soil her. Wasnt going to happen. She was going to kill this man, she knew, in cold blood. She was going to murder him. For the love of god she wanted to tear his living heart out with her teeth, and crush his genitals with pliers. "We have a deal then?" She asked with barely concealed rage.

"Yeah, whatever. Just so long as I get my play time." Johnny put his gun away in the front of his pants. Negotiations were over, he didnt need it anymore. He stepped foward towards Jinx with his hand outstetched towards her, to shake on the deal. Jinx smiled sickeningly sweet as she took his hand.

"Oh, one thing Johnny."

"What?" Jinx reached for his gun, a big McKlusky 50 cal piece. Her tiny hands looked comical on the grip. Before Rancid could react she removed it from his pants and stuck it back in down the hem. She forced the barrel down until she felt it hit something soft, and then fired. The fifty callibre round made short work of 'little Johnny'. Blood and pieces of male genitalia splattered against the floor between his feet and on his boots. His mouth opened in a silent scream. Jinx extracted the bloody gun from his pants.

"Play time is over Johnny." Jinx growled. Rancid turned around, his jeans already stained red from crotch to cuff, and tried to hobble out of the house. His mouth open in a perfect 'o' the entire time and in too much pain even to breath. "Just so you know." Jinx aimed the gun at the back of his head. "No one lays a hand on Starfire except me!" She growled. She fired again, destroying another equally small and equally useless one of Rancids organs. The top of his head flew off as the large round imploded his skull and stuck to the ceiling. Jinx was most satisfied when his body hit the ground. She dropped the weapon.

"Fuck. Robin!" She said to herself when she smelled smoke. His scythe was really starting to burn the place up and she had been so busy she hadnt noticed. She turned back towards the stairs and ran smack into Robin. He was leaning on his backup staff heavilly. He tried to regain his balance and fell foward. Jinx caught him in her arms. "I've got you." She said reassuringly. Jinx put one of his arms over his shoulder and together they made their way back to the car. It had large dents where the bikes hit it, but it was relatively unharmed. Jinx loaded Robin into the back seat and climbed in and started the car.

"What do we do?" She asked Robin, who was barely concious.

"Just drive." He croaked. "Get us further away from here."

Jinx did just that. She drove the car several miles down the road and looked back at Robin. He was soaking the seat in blood. She had to do something for him fast. Jinx backed the car up into a grassy field just as emergency vehicles were coming down the road. "Shit!" She cursed. They were still far away. She ran to the trunk and hexed it open and found what she needed. Some police supplies. She found some chalk, meant for outlining bodies. She scribed 'FOR SALE CALL: 534 367 8655' onto the windshield. If it looked like it had been there a while no one would stop to inspect the innocent looking old heap. Jinx grabbed a large med kit backpack out of the trunk and ducked into the back seat with Robin just as a convoy of police and fire trucks went past. She grabbed Robin and held him above her. They were as low in the back as she could get them. She couldnt let them be connected with the slaughterhouse inferno down the road.

"My cars not for sale." Robin joked weakly. He understood why she had done that. Diversion. It was a textbook ploy for avoiding authorities. He had learned the same thing, just opposite. He had learned to watch out for stuff like that. Jinx sh'd him, as if she were afraid they might hear them over the sirens as they drove by. She shifted his weight and sat up against the door, with his head against her chest. He could hear her heart beating; steady, rhythmic. He closed his eyes and used it as a pace counter to steady his breathing.

He felt Jinx move and opened his eyes. The sirens and lights were gone. Had he fallen asleep? He tried to move, but Jinx held him down. "Dont move." She hissed. Pain ran up his spine. Oh yeah, he had been shot a few times. Jinx was in the process of tearing his pants away to get at the injury. He arched his back to make it that much easier. The spandex had been putting some slight pressure on the wounds, slowing the bleeding but now with them gone they began to bleed faster. "Shit!" She cursed. She dove into the med kit and her hands came out holding several large packets of white powder.

"No." Robin said weakly. He knew what those were. "Dont use those, please." They were a chemical agent that on contact with blood made it boil and harden, scabbing a wound over in seconds. The only problem with them was that they often hurt even worse than being shot. Jinx seemed to know what they were too.

"I have to." She said gently. She pulled Robin back up into her lap. He moaned as she tore open the first packet. Some of it got on her fingers, and burned slightly even though there was no wound there. She put her free hand over his other shoulder and held one of his. "Its alright." She said reasuringly. "It'll only hurt a minute." She hoped that was true anyway. She held it out over the wound and Robin tensed. "On three." She said. Robin nodded his head and braced himself. "One.. Two." She dumped it out as soon as the word was out of her mouth. It hit the bloody wound and began to smoke. Robin screamed and arched his back. He tried to grab his leg and brush the stuff off but Jinx stopped him.

"It hurts!" He wailed. "Shit dont do that again. Please dont." He collapsed back against Jinx again, even weaker than before. The pain subsided. Jinx had several packs left and knew she would need them all. There were alot of injuries, most of them deep grazing wounds.

"Its this or letting Raven do it." Robin stiffened at the mention of her name.

"Do it."

Jinx tore open several of the cauterising packages at once. The next wound was a big one, a four inch gash where a bullet grazed him. Robin gripped her hand tighter. "Ready?" Jinx asked and before he could respond dumped the white powder on his leg. He screamed and bucked against her wildly. Jinx had to restrain him again as he tried to reach his legs. "If you do that I'll have to do it again." Jinx warned him. It hurt her to cause him this much pain, it truly did. She went over the next few injuries in the same manner. Treat the injury, restrain Robin, reassure him. She knew he'd do the same for her. Finally she was done, and had put dressings on them all and they sat together in the back, covered in his blood and exhausted.

Robin reached out for the medical kit. It was army surplus. It had everything you would need on a battlefield inside of it. He was looking for morphine. He didnt think he would find any, but really hoped he would. He needed it badly. He dug through, finding several items he would be needing. Stitches kits: needles and threads, IVs, bandages and gauze, medical tape. This bag had everything. He was fairly impressed. Morphine. He found it. There were several syringes of pre-messured doses, ten milligrams each. He took one and tried to break it out of its thick plastic safety seal but he was too weak. He grunted and his hands rested in his lap, tired and useless.

"I got it." Jinx said. Her hands came around him once again and took the syringe. She cracked it open with ease and gently put it in his thigh. Robin relaxed and shivered against her. She injected the clear fluid. She wished she had known it was there before; it would have saved him so much pain. "I'm sorry." She whispered. Robin shook his head.

"I didnt know either." Robin handed her a second syringe. Over his career he had built up a slight tolerance for this stuff. Jinx cracked it open and injected it in the area of the most wounds. It began taking effect immediately.

Jinx felt him turn into a puddle against her. He noticed something, as did she. It as a smell, familiar, pleasant, strong. Blood. Even with the car windows open or shot out it was an overpowering scent here. That was a bad thing. They both associated the scent of blood with something far more pleasureable than this, and their bodies had been conditioned to react to it. It was so heavy, she loved it. Jinx slowed her breathing, trying to control herself. His head tilted slightly, soft warm breath hit her ear and a warm shudder went down her spine. A few curious but dangerous thoughts ran through her mind. No, this had to stop. Jinx shoved Robin off her, a little more hard than she had intended, and jumped into the front seat. "Where are we going?" She asked in a shaky voice.

"Motel. Not going back tonight." Jinx nodded her head at this and began her search for a place to stay.

Starfire was growing tired of this. She was nearing tears as she bat Raven about the gym. At the older girls request she had begun to beat her, to help her. Ravens resoning was that she could only achieve the power of the white sorceress when she had nothing else to lose, when it was her last hope. So, she had recruited Starfires help in aquiring a savage beating. It was a grim task, and Starfire did not like it onebit. Friends did not do this, but at Ravens insistance she had 'kept it coming'. Starfire kicked Raven in the lower back, propelling the smaller girl into a pile of weights and other workout equiptment. "Raven may we stop this now?" Starfire pleaded. "Please?" She stressed. Raven slowly came out from under the pile of workout equiptment shaking her head. Her cape had long ago been torn away, and to Starfire she seemed almost naked without it. A thin line of blood trickled from her forhead, down past the corner of her eye. The stream trickled down further, running down just over the corner of her lips. Starfire watched it with some intensity. Carefull, getting hungry. Watch it.

"No. Keep going." Raven demanded. Starfire phased out, moving too quick to see. Raven closed her eyes and tried to relax for the coming blows. Did they ever come. Her head was hit so hard she lost a few seconds of time. She startled awake in Starfires arms.

"Are you alright?" To Raven Starfires voice sounded far away, garbled. Starfire did something she had seen on tv. She held up several fingers. "How many digits am I holding up?" She asked. Raven groaned.

"Saturday." Raven blinked a few times. Blood rolled down over her left eye and she couldnt see anymore.

"We are stopping this now!" She heard Starfire boom. What was that noise? It sounded like a hundred glass bottles rolling down the hallway, except just in her head. Damn her head hurt, alot. It was alright though. Starfire had her. She'd put her to bed and tomorrow she'd feel better.

"We're done. Sleep." Raven said. She had tried so hard to find that power again. She had let a teammate and sister beat the stuffing out of her, trying to find that special thing inside her that had made her do it. Now all she had done was get a concussion for nothing. Concussions stank, she decided, even for vampires. The basic physiology between humans and vampires was quite similar. Most differances being magical. These similarities are what allowed her revival after death. These similarities also meant she got the same unpleasant sick feeling with concussions humans did. Meant she got nausea, upset stomach. Pounding head. She didnt think about that right now. She thought about how her head hurt. She saw stars like humans did, well, through the eye not covered in blood. She blinked. Starfire looked... scared, interested, amused? She could swear. Emotions on that girls face were hard to read. What was this one. Shock? suprise? Raven blinked out again. When she opened them she could see clearly through both eyes, unencumbered by blood in the one. Her mind reeled, trying to figure something out. What was that one Starfires face? What was that emotion now? What was that faint ribbon of crimson, flowing from the corner of her mouth? "Starfire?" Raven asked weakly. Well, it was one way to get blood out of ones eye. Raven fell back, limp. Not fully unconcious but her sore mind hurt badly enough to prevent any thought for the while. She noticed -a little- that Starfire was not taking her to her room. They were in the wrong hallway. Something in Starfires step was off, she seemed differant. Like she was sneaking something.

"Starfire?" Raven asked. Starfire stopped, and pet her hair out of her eyes. "Where are we..." Raven trailed off. Though hazy, her mind was slowly coming to the conclusion that she was what the girl was sneaking, and that Starfires room was the destination. It seemed no trouble to her. In her hazy condition there seemed no trouble, but as they approached Starfires room Ravens heart began to beat faster. Faster. What was Starfire doing? Why was she taking her here?

Blackout. That underwater feeling. Rolling through waves that were not there. Waves of thought in a tide of conciousness and unconciousness. How had she been so weakened? She had not been defending herself. No guard. She had stupidly let every blow land. With eyes half open Raven felt herself laid down on a bed, face down. She spread out, and it hurt. Her limbs were sore, her head pounding. All over there were various cuts and lacerations. Bruises and hairline fractures. She concentrated on taking deep, steady breaths. She stretched her arms out farther. The sheets, they were torn. She found they were full of fingerholes. She imagined that in the throes of passion that the flimsy fabric offered little or no resistance to a clenching tamaranian hand. If her head didnt hurt so much she may have blushed from thinking about it. Red and pink hairs. She found a hair with her fingers and rolled it between forfinger and thumb. She sighed, or tried to but it turned into a moan. Blood covered her eye again. She ignored it. She felt Starfire lift her from the bed and turn her over, placing her in her lap. She smiled drunkenly at her friend.

"You are hurt badly?" Starfire asked. Raven was acting odd, and she knew she was too.

"Do you covet, Starfire?" A confused expression crossed her face. What was she doing here in Starfires room, at this hour, why was Starfire behaving so strangely? Nothing made sense except the possibility that Starfire perhaps had some less than honnorable motive. Was Starfire even capable of that? "Is there something you want, something you have to steal at night?" Raven groaned and closed her eyes. Something warm traveled up the trail of blood on her face, and lingered at her hairline. It also washed the blood from her eye. She could see clearly again through both when she re-opened them. That little ribbon of crimson was back on the corner of her mouth, so sloppy. "Something you take when no one is looking?" Raven whispered. Even to Raven it was no mystery where that blood had gone.

"Raven... I do not know what is coming over me. I hunger, but not for..." Starfire trailed off. She was stricken with inner turmoil and confusion. "I hunger, but it is not for living blood."

Through the concussion Raven thought. She knew what Starfire meant. "When you were shot you had my blood."

Starfire nodded. "Yes."

"You like vampire blood?" Raven tilted her head back, exposing her throat. "Why?"

"It is the first blood I ever had." Starfire said quietly. "Raven, on that roof. The night I was changed, the rush, the passion I felt for it. The- the way it made me feel. It was the first blood I ever took."

"You have Jinx. Thats better blood that what I could give you. It makes you re-live that rush, doesnt it? It reminds you what it felt like to be that craven animal, choking it down by the mouthfull feeling like a god."

"And when I was shot. I remember when I woke. All I knew was the blood, and that animal." Starfire fidgeted, watching her throat. "It was you I was drinking from and despite my injuries it did remind me of how I felt on the roof. Powerfull and horrific, as if I were damned but loved every second of it."

It was normal. First blood was always a fond memory. Even for her. Starfire wanted to re-capture it, re-live it. She could understand why. Raven tilted her head back further. "Would you take it if I were not awake? Would you come for it in the night like I was one of the mortals?"

"Never!" Starfire swore.

"I'm glad. Starfire I cant do this. I'm hurt, I have nothing to give." Raven closed her eyes again. She felt warm skin against her lips. She knew it was Starfires wrist.

"I have more than I need." Raven bit into the tender flesh gently as she could. A warm trickle of blood slid down her throat, giving her new energy. Starfires free hand ran through her short hair as she drank. She feebly reached up with one arm and held the wrist tighter against her mouth. She bit harder and the trickle became a torrent. She had never had another vampires blood except for Kali's. It did her good. After only a few minutes most of her injuries had washed away. Like Slade she had brought back some traits of the afterlife. She could almost heal as fast as she drank, not quite like Slade could, not even all that close but leaps and bounds above what nomral vampires could heal at even while drinking. Dying, does a body good; she thought bitterly. Raven became more aware. She could smell the lingering scent of the previous nights passion in the bed. It was... very personal. This was the same reason she wouldnt wish to let anyone with a keen sense of smell into her room, and why she bathed so vigorously after every time she and Robin made love.

Raven released the blood source. She had nearly healed, and from so little blood, too. She looked up at Stafire, who looked back at her with hungry eyes. Raven got up off the bed. The scent was making her uncomfortable. She felt like a wolf in anothers den. She turned to Starfire. "Alright."

Jinx was in the shower when it hit her. She felt loopy quite suddenly, drunk. She turned off the water and slipped on a bathrobe. Her clothes were drying on the shower curtain rail, having been washed clean of blood. Robins were next to them, littered with bullet holes much like him. She felt the need to check on him. She stumbled back out into the dark motel room. The only light in the room was from the open bathroom door. She felt so lightheaded... She sat down on the floor and leaned against the wall. She watched the steady rise and fall of Robins chest as he slept on the bed.

They had come here after the incident at the farmhouse. Jinx had managed to get a room without anyone seeing the blood and gore on her. Sure, she had had to hex a light, or two, three flashlights, and four candles but she had not been seen. She had gotten him up here with some trouble and hooked him up to an IV. Oh yeah, had to check on that. See if the bag was empty. Jinx crawled on the floor over to the bed. She kneeled and took Robins arm, following the medical tube back to its source. She found the IV bag on the ground. It was far from empty. Somehow it had fallen off the bed post and to the floor, this made his heart elevated higher than it. It had filled with his blood. Jinx disconnected the bag and hooked up a new one, making sure it was hung well on the bed. The efforts left her feeling tired. She sat down again leaning back against the bed. "What the hell?" She asked herself. She eyed the bag of blood next to her. In her confused state she didnt think of reconnecting it and putting the blood back into him. She watched it with blank eyes for several minutes before reaching out for it. It was warm. She held it to her closely, as if it were something precious. Robin stirred above her. Had she woken him? She wasnt sure, but she went back into the bathroom and set the blood bag down on the sink. She needed to get ahold of herself. She splashed cold water on her face, trying to bring herself out of it. She eyed the blood bag again. She felt tempted to do something with it. At first she didnt know what but soon came to understand she wanted to drink it. She backed away from the sink slowly, chastising herself for such sick thoughts. She felt like her skin was crawling. The world got more hazy, and she reached into the sink for the bag. She couldnt stop herself, she wanted it, needed it for some reason. She didnt even know why she was being driven to this. The bag jiggled in her hands, and a few drops of blood came out the narrow tube attatched to it. She licked them away. Not even enough for a taste. She growled, and applied suction to it like a straw. She bit down on the rubber tip and was rewarded when her mouth filled with the blood. She swooned and went to her knees with the taste of it. She let it go and blood ran out the corners of her mouth. She panted heavilly and resumed drinking, growling more and more as she couldnt get it fast enough. She was spilling alot of it. She managed to crawl into the tub, to avoid getting it on the floor. Her robe came open and she watched some of the blood trickly down over her body. She continued to drink greedily until it was gone. When it was she regained her senses and pitched foward on her hands and knees, breathing heavilly. She saw out of the corner of her eyes that the bathroom door wasnt shut. She tilted her head just slightly and to her horror Robin was standing in the doorway, the expression on his face blank. She felt ashamed and embarassed. He must have seen the whole thing with all the noise she was making. She stood up and faced him, completely unaware just how exposed her body was.

"Robin, I..." She began, but didnt have anything else to say. She sighed. "I'm sorry. I couldnt help it." He didnt say anything, but took a few steps foward. What was he doing? Jinx turned her head away. He kept getting closer. She took a step further back into the tub and slipped on the mixture of blood, water and soap that covered the bottom. He caught her and held her against him. Jinx made no protest as he picked her up and carried her to one of the beds. She noticed her robe had come undone and wrapped it around herself again. Robin laid her down and climbed on the bed. Jinx was getting scared, but didnt want to push him away. He laid down next to her. Jinx inhaled sharply as one of his hands touched the small of her back and pulled her closer to him. She could feel his arrousal pushing against her leg through the boxers and her robe. "Robin we cant do this." She whispered. "Its not right." No sooner had she said this that the drunken feeling that had driven her to drink his blood was back. Her head spun. She could sense it now, something was wrong with Starfire. Not something bad but, something... something Starfire enjoyed, something she thought was good. "Whats happening to us?" She asked. She shivered as he repositioned himself, and the stiff, heated flesh against her leg moved.

"I dont know." He breathed in her ear. He felt the same thing she did. Was this Shivas doing? No, this was differant. This felt like something to do with Raven. He put his hands on her hips, wanting to push her away, really wanting to but all he could do was pull her closer. He could smell her now. She was quickly becoming as aroused as he was.

Jinx put her hands on his chest and pushed herself away from him. She was starting to feel like someone else, like she wasnt really doing this. Jinx felt her skin crawl again, like something inside of her really wanted to get out.

Robin felt it too. He knew it was Shiva, playing with him now. The hindu god was upset, or wanted something and was trying to break free. What could Shiva want with Jinx? "Who is this?" Robin asked. Jinx's eyes were clenched tightly shut. She groaned. Robin grabbed her face and shook her head, trying to bring her out of it. "Who?" He asked more roughly. She opened her eyes, burning bright pink, almost red. She smiled.

"Kali." She hissed. Kali reached out for him with her hands, cupping his face. Robin closed his eyes.

"No." He said. "This can't be."

"It is." She hissed. It was Jinxs voice, Jinx's body, but Kali was playing with them both through it.

"She's not dead. Your not supposed to be able to take control unless she dies!" Robin tried to escape her, but found himself pinned. Her robe fell open above him and he took the chance to check for any extra arms. There were none. She leaned down, face to face with him. "Come out Shiva." She said in a sweet voice. Robin had a large siezure.

"Please dont!" He begged. "Dont say that. Jinx fight it! Dont say his name!"

"Shiiiiva." She called again. Robin screamed. Jinx made a pouting face. "You must be very strong to keep him at bay like that." She said, sounding almost like a compliment.

"You cant control her like this!" Robin barked. "How can she be your avatar? She's died before! I don't understand." Jinx brushed his face gently.

"You dont need to. I dont work like my husband does." She smiled. "Shiiiiva." Robin had another attack, and felt like her was about to be torn in half.

"I will not let you out!" He growled. "I dont believe in fate or destiny! I believe I have a choice so stop fucking around with my life!" Robin roared at the top of his lungs. Kali grabbed him by the throat and squeezed. He choked, he couldnt breath.

"I could kill you now and let him out. You are what you were meant to be mortal, as is she. You are ours, our avatars, do you understand? With you we will dance the shakti and this foul world will be born anew, clean once more!"

"Fight it Jinx!" Robin managed to choke out. "If you dont fight it, everyone we know dies!" The grip on his throat lessened. "Fight it!"

Jinx awoke from the nightmare screaming. She flipped around in the bed, to see if Robin were there. No. He was in the bed next to her, sitting upright, holding his neck. He looked at her with bewildered eyes. Had it all realy been a nightmare? She wondered. She got up quickly and ran to the bathroom. There was no empty blood bag, just clothes drying on the shower bar. She turned back to go back to the room and collided with Robin. He was wanting to check the same thing. They both fell over and scrambled away from each other; Jinx against the tub and Robin against the far wall. They sat there for several minutes panting, eyes locked and scared.

"Thats not the first time we've shared a nightmare." Robin said in a dull voice. He was still gripping his heart. Jinx shook her head. "Do you remember? The night Slade attacked." Robin drifted off. He held his head in his hands.

"I remember it now." Jinx said. "Kali was there." Robin looked up at her strangely.

"It doesnt hurt you to say her name? Kali?" Robin asked. It seemed to have no effect on Jinx. "Your differant."

"If its anything." Jinx said, trying not to believe. Her eyes went to Robins arm. A small amount of blood was oozing from it from where he had torn his iv out in the excitement. Robin followed her gaze and put a hand over the tiny wound. She hungered for it. Something stirred in her, wanting it. She had never wanted blood before, not even Starfires but now this. As she watched a tiny bead of it well up and roll between Robins fingers it became too much for her and she turned her head away. She got up shakilly and went for the door. She needed to think, clear her head for a moment. On her way out she spied an IV bag on the floor by Robins bed. It was full of blood, having been knocked over. "Oh hell." She whispered. She never made it to the door. She stood there in shock, watching the bag leak slowly onto the old carpet.

"What is it?" Robin asked.

"That dream trick they do, its scary how dead on it is." Jinx whispered. Robin saw what was causing her alarm. Jinx went to it and picked it up. It sloshed blood about wildy, getting them both a bit before she managed to hold it upright and handed it to Robin. He looked at her, puzzled. "I dont want it. Take it." She said. Something in her was driving her to take it, to drink it. She didnt want that dream to come true though so she handed it off to him. He headed for the bathroom. She looked down at her hand, which was covered in rivulets of the glistening red substance. "Just one taste." She whispered. She told herself she shouldnt as she brought her hand to her mouth. She looked like a girl halfway between crying and smiling. She gently took the blood off her hands, sucking it into her mouth and rolling it about on her tongue. She smiled, everything she had thought it would be. Jinx looked to the bathroom. He had not seen her. He was just coming out. Jinx felt driven to go in there, grab the bag and see if there were any lingering blood. She wanted to so badly. Robin looked at her, the expression on his face eerie.

"We're the end of the world." He said sadly. As long as they were together the world was not safe. Who knew? A plane could crash on the building, a fire could get them, they could get in a car accident. If they died at the same time it was all over. The weight rested heavilly on Robins shoulders. He was the vessel of destruction to the very world he wanted to save.

"So what do we do?"

"I dont want to answer that." Robin said. It was selfish. He knew what should be done. They should be kept on opposite sides of the world, as far apart as could be for all time, but he couldnt bear the thought of it. He couldnt bear the thought of being without her, even if she was just a friend. He looked at the clock. It was well past eleven. He had contacted the titans earlier, before going to sleep. He had explained that there had been a gang war that threatened to spread to jump, and ordered all titans to stay on guard. Robin took a step foward, aiming for the bed. Pain raced up his legs, crippling him. It was the first time he remembered having been shot up since waking up. "Damnit." He cursed. It was really hurting now. He reached out for Jinx's help, and was reminded of just how important she was to him. His confidant and best friend, and something more. He couldnt put his finger on it, but she was something more. Jinx helped him up onto the bed to lay down. He winced as he stretched out. Jinx reached for the medical bag and pulled out a vial of morphine.

"Due for another dose." She said. This wasnt the pre-messured. She inserted a needle into the tip and drew out a large dosage. Thirty milligrams, seeing as twenty had worn off so quick. She stuck it in him and injected the medicine. They sat together for a few minutes in silence. Jinx didnt move when his hand found hers. It traveled up her arm, pulling the sleeve with it. He revealed several large ugly bruises from her earlier fight.

"I was really scared earlier." He said. "I couldnt stand the thought of losing you." Robin drifted off for a few moments, trying to forget what he had done. "It drove me to kill several men Jinx." Jinx put a hand on his forehead and swept his hair back. She understood what this meant to him. "Your my friend. I'd do it again. But Jinx?"

"What is it?" She swept his hair back once more.

"Why are we so close?" Jinx looked away when he said it. She knew just what he meant. Those dark thoughts in the corner of their minds, those lingering images of them doing something more 'interesting' that never seemed to go away. She knew just what he meant but dared not speak it aloud as he did. "What is it Jinx? Is that us, or is it Shiva and Kali, messing with our lives?"

"I dont know." She answered. She didnt know whethere she wanted it to be the gods or not. Which was worse? She couldnt decide. "We should sleep." She said and stepped away from the bed. She laid down in hers and wrapped the covers tightly about herself. She laid down facing Robin. The bathroom light was in her eyes, she couldnt see his face in the shadow of it but she could see two pin-pricks of white. He was watching her. She returned the gaze. There was nothing, just silence between them for the longest time. She couldnt sleep, not without Starfire there. She had grown so used to not sleeping alone, it was strange now. It was almost like she had never spent a night of her life alone. She wondered if Robin felt the same way.

He did. Robin stirred, and tried to find a comfortable position. Aside from the fact that Raven was missing he now had the knowledge that his closest friend was a catalyst for world destruction. It weighed heavy on him. He didnt want to believe it. Finally he spoke. "Jinx, in the dream, what was it like after Kali took over?" Kali had been in controll. Robin wondered what that had been like for Jinx, if she had watched from a third person view, or been locked away somewhere in her own mind.

Jinx was silent for a moment, trying to remember. "It felt good. It was strange. I was looking down at you choking but." Jinx didnt want to continue. The truth was a little shamefull. "I wasnt in control, but I felt what she felt, saw what she saw. It felt good, being that close to you like that, and the better it felt the more control she gained. I was just along for the ride. Whats it like when he takes control of you, or when someone says his name?"

Robin closed his eyes. Several feet away Jinx saw that little twinkle of light dissapear and wondered if she had asked a question he didnt want to answer. "You mean those little 'fits' I have? Yeah, no fun. Its like something is tearing its way through every inch of your skin." His voice grew distant and quiet. "Its so painfull. I just shake, and shake. I cant even feel what hurts its so bad. There is no leg pain, arm pain. Just pain."

Robin was silent for some time, and Jinx assumed he was trying to sleep. He shut his eyes, the twin pinpricks of light dissapeared. Jinx rolled over. She'd never get to sleep like this. She thought of Starfire. In the dead on night her body grew so cold, dormant. Still though, she felt warmer with her. She closed her eyes, knowing she wouldnt be able to sleep. Too much had happened. Learning you were an ingrediant for world destruction was a bit of a shock.

Raven collapsed back down onto the bed in Starfires arms. Starfire had her captive. Arms and legs hooked tightly behind her back. She couldnt move. A low rumble issued from Starfires chest. She was growling. Raven allowed her to continue drinking. It seemed that Starfire was more than capable of re-capturing that sensation of first blood. Let her enjoy it. Raven thought back to her first bite. She only wished she had been able to lose control and revel in the sensation as Starfire could. Raven tilted her head back further. She enjoyed this to an extent. The harshness, the sheer abandon Starfire drank with. She caused that. She didnt feel pleasure in this, but something like it. Starfire rose up on her, pinning her to the bed. Raven let her. Raven went limp. Vampires had a 'thing' for helplessness, weakness. Vampires were predatory creatures, and in the act of dominating they took great pleasure.

But, Raven wondered as she licked her lips, what if the prey bit back? She blew a few loose strands of red hair from her face. A telekeneticly controlled comb flew from across the room and brushed Starfires hair away, exposing her neck. She didnt seem to notice. Raven let her teeth graze her skin. Still, she seemed to take no notice. Raven brushed her hairline against the spot she intended to bite, as if grooming it. She touched her teeth to it again. Starfire only shivered slightly when she sealed her lips over her neck. Last warning, last chance to pull away. Starfire did no such thing. Raven sank her teeth and as the first drop hit her tongue she realised just what ill she had done. She had made a blood circuit. The circuit was what many covens did. Members would gather in a circle, each extending the right hand. They would drink like this untill they could taste theire own blood coming back. It was a way to show loyalty, share memories and experiences, but most of all it was an act of group intimacy when five vampires did it, let alone just two. Not quite on the level of making love, but very close. It was dangerous as well for pre-centenials; letting go at the wrong time could have grave consequences. Just the right ammount of blood had to mix, of in the process of sharing memories and experiences one could lose parts of herself. Raven feared for herself and Starfire as she drank. She didnt know how to do this. She shook with fear. She didnt want her or Starfire to forget things, to lose memories they held dear.

"I've done something horrible, hold on Starfire. Don't let go of me!" She pleaded in her mind. Starfire shook above her.

"Raven, I feel it! What have you done?" Starfire cried back as her mind was bombarded with images of Ravens past, her childhood, coming to earth, her time with Kali. All the way up to now, her love for Robin. The images scared her. She shouldnt be seeing these. Starfires eyes bolted open, and began to turn red. Her emerald eyes turned red slowly, until only the pupils remained black.

"Just hold on Starfire." Raven blocked out what she could, but felt everything leaving her. Every memory she sent to Starfire through the blood circuit. All of it, the good, the bad, and the horrible. Raven felt her eyes change, the whites turning red. "Forgive me Starfire!" She cried. She had to catch up, she had to take as much blood as Starfire had taken from her. She let instinct guide her, and instinct told her to bite very hard, and very deep. Starfire bucked from the pain, and Raven clamed down harder. She drew the blood out in great draughts and swallowed it. Damn her, she thought. Damn her forever. She should have known better, should have remembered. No balance could be restored. She was low on blood, Starfire had given her some, and begun to take it back. Then, then she had made the blood curcuit.

"Raven, whats going on?" Starfire asked.

It settled heavilly on Raven that no balance could be restored, she could not 'catch up'. Without a perfect balance of blood between the two one of them would come away incomplete, forgetting things. Blood tears flowed down Ravens cheek. It was her responsibility, she couldnt let Starfire suffer for this. Raven stopped drawing out so much blood, and bid Starfire to take more. She was going to forget, or worse, lose her mind. In a blood circuit, when it was initiated all vampires participating had to have a full blood supply. Oh what had she done? She wondered. What would she forget? What memories would she lose? She prayed that she wouldnt forget Robin. If she could keep any one thing, that would be it. Damnit. It was almost time, only a few more seconds. Raven trembled. "Starfire let go when I do." She waited. Almost, almost... "NOW!" She cried, letting go of Starfire. She felt the girl do likewise, and the world went white, blinding white. Her head exploded in pain so intense that she could not see the world around her past the little eyesparks.

Starfire was stricken with no such ailments. She quickly recovered, unharmed and went to Ravens side. Raven was shaking in pain, clutching her temples with her hands. Blood was running from her ears, eyes, and nose. Starfire climbed atop her and held her still. "Raven!" She yelled. A loud groan was her only response. "Raven, whats wrong? Tell me what to do!" Starfire shook her shoulders and regretted it instantly as it seemed to cause Ravens pain to double. Starfire had no understanding of what a blood circuit was, or what could happen if it went wrong. She simply applied what she knew: when your hurt, feed. She grabbed Raven up, panking and flew with her out into the night sky, not even pausing to open the window.

Starfire flew quickly over the city into suburbia. She was not a good hunter, and had never even learned from her mother. She had not needed to. She was looking for someone alone, someone weak. She saw none such induviduals. It was past midnight! Starfire flew over a graveyard and spotted her prey from high in the air. There was a young group of teenagers in the far corner of the graveyard, practicing some kind of dark ritual. Perfect, just the kind of thing Raven would love! Starfire flew towards them, trying to figure out how to seperate one from the group for Raven. She set down on the ground and leaned Raven up against a grave. She seemed to have fallen asleep. Starfire left her behind and crept from grave to grave, closer towards the group of teenagers. They stood around a large fire in an empty part of the graveyard. What was it they wished to do, she wondered. She listened for some time and learned they wished to call forth a deamon. They heaped praise upon the 'dark gods' as they called them and begged theire favor.

"We wish." Said the leader, a female. "To call forth the demon, to grant us the power of the undead!" The ones around them cheered and Starfire was suddenly quite sure this was ridiculous. It was confirmed when the teenagers began to dance around the fire in an unorganized fashion. They danced for a few minutes, and Starfire briefly wondered if Raven would even see these people as fit to feed off of.

"Bring forth the sacrificial chicken!" Screeched the leader. One of her underlings walked away from the fire and came back several moments later holding a grocery bag. "Why is the sacrificial chicken in a grocery bag?" Demanded the leader. The underling shrugged.

"I couldnt find a live one." He said. He produced several pounds of wrapped chicken breast from the bag. "Figured this was the next best thing."

"FOOL!" Bellowed the leader, a tad too dramatic. "Do you wish to insult the dark gods?"

"Hey I brought three!" He protested. "I figured that would make up for it."

"Oh wait." Said a third person. "They actually have to be alive?"

"Yes!" Said the leader. The third person, a female slightly younger than the rest made a face.

"You didnt tell me you were going to kill live animals!" Protested the third.

"Its okay, we're not." Said the chicken bearer. "There already dead." The leader groaned.

"Alright, three dead should be good as one live. Throw them on the fire." She grumbled. He did as he was told and tossed the chickens into the flames, wrappers and all. The stink of burning plastic, chicken, and styrofoam flooded the cemetary and nearly made Starfire ill.

Starfire was startled when Raven joined her. She hadnt seen or heard her approach, and was shocked to see she looked well again. "Raven?" She asked. "You are alright?" She shook her head 'yes'.

Raven crouched beside her friend behind the grave. She had recovered quickly after Starfire left her. Her mind felt a little odd, a little confused, but she knew she had not forgotten anything important. She was greatfull to have not suffered the consequences of a blood circuit gone bad. She raised an eyebrow as the ridiculous dance resumed. "Whats this?" She asked.

"They wish to become undead, like us." Starfire whispered. Raven smirked.

"Up for a little fun?" Raven croaked. Starfire nodded her head. "Then this is what we'll do."

Five minutes later Starfire was tunneling her way underneath the fire. With her strength and bolts it was easy to tunnel. She smiled in anticipation of what she was about to do. She cursed however as she hit an underground water pipe that fed an in ground sprinkler system. The cavern quickly turned to mud and she was covered in it. She tunneled on, still giggling to herself as she approached the campfire. Her keen hearing could pick up on the sound of the wood crackling. Oh this would be fun.

Raven watched with a smile on her face. She felt good, like she had narrowly avoided death. Fate had been kind to her tonight. She listened to Starfire tunneling beneath the feet of the teenagers. She was getting close. Raven began her part. She encased the flames in dark energy. The flames continued to burn and flicker and give off light but looked perfectly black. The teens stopped, slightly disturbed and watched.

"What the hell?" Asked one. A moment later the ground began to shake, and Starfire came tearing up through the dirt, covered in mud and looking every bit like some kind of monster. The teenagers began to scream. She growled at them all.

"Grrrr." Starfire said. "Arg. Aoooga!" She tried every last cartoony noise she knew, and each seemed to be terribly frightening! What fun! "Why have you aweakened me?" She growled, trying not to laugh.

"Oh shit it worked!" Yelled the leader. "Run away!"

"None with survive my wrath! I will grind your bones to make my bread!" The teenagers scattered from her. She saw Raven take off after one of them, leaving her the rest to have fun with. She spun towards the nearest one. "DOOMY DOOM DOOM!" She bellowed at the top of her lungs. The pants of the person in front of her developed a large wet spot. Starfire marched in place with her arms out like frankenstein. "I vant so suck yar vlood!" She dashed away after another teenager. She appeared in front of him in all her muddy glory. "It was a monster mash!" She ranted. Another dry pair of pants got wet. She moved on. She caught up with the leader. The girl ran into an open crypt and Starfire followed closely behind, finding her trapped in the corner not four feet away. "I must have brains!" Starfire screeched. She began to do the zombie walk in place again and the girl screamed.

"Leave us alone!" She said.

"You wanted the powers of the undead?" Starfire said in a deep scary voice. "You may have them! You may never again walk under the sun, you must now feast on the blood of the living! Look out for stakes in the heart and garlic, and the crucifixes. Have a nice night." And Starfire was gone, laughing to herself at how much fun this was. So many people left to scare, too. She flew up high into the cemetary to find her next victim. Instead of finding someone to scare, she found someone to be frightened of. This one had fled the scene when she had burst up out of the ground, but had come back to investigate. Foolery or bravery, either way it suprised Starfire that he had done it. Starfire set down on the ground and began to walk up behind him. At this time the automated sprinkler systems came on. Cold water showered her, washing away much mud and debris. She spun in place, letting the high g-force throw the last of the dirt from her. When she stopped spinning she was clean, and her victim completely unaware of her presence still. He was knealing in front of the hole she had made, looking down it, completely ignoring the fact he was wet. Starfire came up behind him and he finally noticed she was there.

"I cant believe I let myself get scared like that." He laughed at her. Starfire was shocked. "I mean, I knew the assignment was lame, the order sends me out to chase after these little phony teen cults all the time, but I really doubted I'd run into one of you."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, I got so relaxed that it actually scared me into running when you popped up." He turned around and looked at her, he was wearing green sunglasses that starfire could see had information displayed on them, computerised. She wondered what else they could do. "Even bigger suprise now that you got the mud off, because believe me, I never in a million years would have figured any of the titans to be vampires."

"Who are you?" Starfire demanded. He knew way too much!

"I'm a knight of the obsidian order. You'll get to learn to fear us. I suppose you want the regular introduction speech?"

"We would love it." Said Raven, coming out of the darkness at Starfires left. He seemed puzzled over her, and shrugged it off. "Who are you?" Raven demanded.

"I-" He took a deep, dramatic bow "-Am Joana, son of John. We've dedicated our lives, all of us, to hunting down your ilk. You though, Raven, your something entirely differant." He tapped his glasses a few times. "Completely differant, like your more dead than the others or something." The way he talked, more like a scientist studdying something under a microscope. It made Raven growl. "I was sent here on a routine mission to check up on the occult, turned out it was just a bunch of poser kids, but boy, finding you two like this."

"You know a little too much then." Raven growled.

"So does everyone else back at headquarters by now." He tapped his glasses. "Its pretty safe to say 'your fucked'. As I were, you interrupted the introduction speech." His blaze attitude was beginning to chafe even Starfire now. "We are the knights. Covered that already. We hunt you down and destroy you like the dogs you are, covered that too. Hmmm. Oh yeah, we arent like the normal hunters that the vatican sends out."

"No?" Said Raven, beginning to build up power.

"No. Not at all. We tossed out all the stakes n garlic long, long ago. We know that to beat the darkness where it lives, you gotta step into the shadows a little yourself!" He began to laugh and rose his hands in the air. Great bolts of blue energy lightening reached out for Starfire and Raven. Raven threw up her arms and made a shield of black energy that protected them. The spell rebounded, sending the blue energy back towards its summoner, knocking him flat on his back. "What the hell?" He shrieked, and flipped back onto his feet. "How could you do that? My reading tells me neither of you have been undead for more than a decade!" His mouth hung slightly open at how powerfull these vampires were.

"We were pretty scary before we turned." Raven said darkly. Starfire went into a fighting stance next to her, she dismissed the girl. This wasnt going to be a battle of physical blows. "And your not the only witch here tonight." Joana only laughed.

"Why do you laugh?" Starfire demanded.

"Because. I'm the most powerfull witch of my bloodline, that little bolt wasnt a twentieth of my power!" He charged up two more and sent them at Raven directly. She put up a shield, but they punctured it and hit her in the chest. The lightning continued to surge into her, and Starfire leapt foward.

"LEAVE HER ALONE!" Starfire swung at him but he moved his lightening arc to encompas her as well. Pain filled her and Starfire collapsed to the ground. Suddenly the lightening was gone. Raven and Starfire got slowly to theire knees, to find him working on a new spell.

"TAKE THIS!" He hollared. A red mist grew from his hands, enveloping them quickly. It parylized them, they were unable to move. He sustained the mist spell with one hand, and with his other he used magic to shatter nearby gravestones into thousands of razor sharp bits of shrapenal. They all hovered in the air around Starfire and Raven, who were unable even to speak.

Starfire saw her first. Kali was there. Kali came up behind him with speed only an immortal could see and had him in her arms. "You will not harm my children!" She growled. She embraced him, her cape falling around them both. She leaned him back over one knee, and with her free hand pulled his head back to expose his neck.

"NO! YOU EVIL BITCH!" Joana screamed. He struggled against her but she was too strong. Kali sank her teeth into him and he went limp, unable to cast spells, unable to move much. Raven watched. She knew what Kali was doing now, it was too horrible to watch. She turned her eyes. "No..." Moaned Joana. His weakened hands pushed against her to no avail. He gurgled in the back of his throat. "No." He repeated. "I cant die, not like this." One of his arms slipped up out of the cape and rested on Kalis back. It slapped against her a few times. His eyes closed.

"Kali you must not take too much!" Starfire warned. She didnt understand.

"Not like this." He whispered again. "My blood, not my blood."

Kali dropped him after she had drained the last drop and kicked the body. Starfire went running to her. "What have you done?" She asked. Kali put up a hand.

"Its alright, I know. He was a vampire hunter, the rules dont apply to them if they are a witch." Starfire seemed confused. "He was going to kill you child, I would have killed him either way, by hand or teeth, but hunters have a nasty habbit of coming back for revenge. Starfire the job of being a hunter is passed down in a familly, when we kill the father we must then worry for the son."

"But."

"Starfire its alright." Raven said. She kept her eyes off the dead witch. Raven was perhaps the most unlucky of all vampires, being that she was a witch, a demon, and a vampire. She did not savor seeing this witch die, but understood that it had to be done.

"Starfire by drinking them to death we become immune to the magic of anyone related to them. If you drink a hunters blood, when his son comes after you you will be immune. It means that the entire familly is useless against you, to any one vampire." She pointed at Joanas corpse. "Starfire no one in his familly will ever be able to cast magic against me, ever again. When you find a hunter, drink it. Drink as many of them as you can find, twenty years from now when theire children have grown your life could depend on it."

Starfire felt dizzy from having watched her mother kill. She remembered, this was one of the first times she had seen Kali since Slade had attacked. She looked around for her sister. She spotted her, some distance away leaning against a tree, staring at she and Raven. "Kali, what of my sister? What is going on with her? Why does she not wish to see us?"

"She's sick Starfire." Kali looked to her youngest daughter, who had become so withdrawn even from her. "Shes hurting right now. She cant bear what happened to her, what he did." Starfire began to cry. What Kali knew was that it had been no ordinary rape. Blackfire had been made to do things, to spare her sister the same fate. Kali knew it tore her apart night and day, and it only made it worse that in moments of weakness Blackfire would wish that it had not happened to her, that it had happened to someone else instead. Kali had been in the girls mind when she thought this to herself. She had witnessed it, Blackfire wishing such a horrible thing on her younger sister because it braught her such pain, and then that tidal wave of guilt and self loathing, as she realises what a terrible, cruel thing to wish it was. It tore her apart mroe and more every day. She could see it on her face every time she went through this line of thought, that sudden spike in terror and self-loathing, and guilt. She couldnt be blamed for it, to wish such a thing was human, to feel bad for it was human, and what she had suffered through had been a very, very human crime.

"Will she not speak to us?" Starfire asked, her voice full of hurt like the bleating of a dying lamb. Kali closed her eyes and shook her head.

"We cannot stay here." Kali said, changing the subject. "That was a very powerfull witch; more will be on the way." She looked behind her, as if to be sure of Blackfires safety. "Come Blackfire." She called. Blackfire came slowly, her movements and expression lethargic. "They will hesitate to attack you in your home, but if they do, drink." She paused as Blackfire joined them. "If you encounter one of these hunter witches, drink all you can, to the last drop. Dont hesitate for so much as a second, do you hear me?" Her three daughters nodded heads. "There are many hunter famillies and clans, but its very usefull to gain immunities to some of them."

Later in the night Starfire was still awake. Jinx was still gone, picking up after a gang war she was told. She couldnt sleep without her. She doubted she would have been able to sleep anyway, seeing her sister had been nothing short of heart-wrenching. She had been the one to go to her sisters aid after the attack, the bruises, and the look of complete devastation on her face after the violation had nearly killed her. The bruises had healed, but that look of devastation had not changed at all. Starfire paced the tower for some time, and bumped into Cyborg just as he was going to his room. "Hello." She said quietly. Cyborg sent her an empty stare.

"Hey Star." He sighed heavilly. He hated this. He hated it so much. Nothing was right anymore, the team was coming apart. No one was ever happy, there was no living like this. Cyborgs shoulders sank further. There was just no life left here anymore. "Hows it going?" He wanted to hear her say that everything was good, joyous and wonderfull. Hell, not even that. She could say it was awfull and tradgic, all he really wanted was to see that exuberance in her again. He could say the same about Beast Boy, too. Even after coming back from space, being blind and deaf he had still had so much life in him, so exciteable. But then Slade had gotten ahold of him. He had made him watch as he violated Blackfire, what specifically Slade did Cyborg didnt want to know, but it nearly killed Beast Boy just to see it. Beast Boy was slightly better now, still blind and mostly deaf. He was stable again, but quiet. It unnerved Cyborg.

"Not so well." Starfire saw it. It nearly killed Cyborg to hear that. He looked ready to cry. She felt ready to cry as well. She couldnt let him see her do that, not now. She sighed. "But, things will get better." She said. Cyborg seemed to believe her, and she only hoped she was right. "How are the twins?" She had been so busy lately she had not realised she hadnt seen them in days until she found herself searching for something to talk about.

"Took off three days ago with Lance. Seems they knew there was nothing good around here." Starfire seemed sad to hear they had left. "They left not wanting to be trouble while we're getting better around here. Figure there probably gonna wander the wilderness with Lance for a while and come back." He found himself smilling at the thought of the three of them out there, looking for adventure and being happy. At least those three had gone unscathed after the Slade ordeal. Starfire smiled too.

"Cyborg?"

"Yeah?" Cyborg was shocked when Starfire put her arms around him and hugged him. She floated away again soon enough though.

"You looked like you needed that." She said innocently. Cyborg smiled and shook his head.

"Yeah. Guess I did. Thanks Star, and goodnight." He walked into his room, still smilling and went to bed feeling much less dreadfull. "Just when you need her." He said as he powered down and went to sleep.

Starfire continued on through the tower. She wanted so badly to see her sister, but she could sense that Blackfire was not here, nor was Kali. Blackfire nearly ran into Beast Boy, fumbling his way through the kitchen. She had been so distracted she nearly flew into him in the dark. She jumped back with a yelp and he did likewise. "Beast Boy!" She said. "Why are you walking around with no lights on?" She had been so distracted she had forgotten.

It was the funniest thing he had ever heard. After so long being miserable and down. Starfires little blunder and 'stupid question of the day' sent him over the edge. He laughed long and hard, and had to put a hand on the counter to support himself. He laughed untill he thought his lungs would burst. "Star that was actually really great." He said. His mood sombered a bit. "Whered you come from anyway? I havent heard you all day."

"Tamaran."

This produced another fit of uncontrolable laughter in him. "Starfire!" Beast Boy fumbled some for the fridge, and quickly got frustrated at not being able to find what he wanted inside of it. "Can you help me?" He asked. "I just want something to eat but I cant even see what there is." He said. He stood aside for her.

"There is mu-"

"No mustard."

"Very well". Starfire rooted around trying to find something he would like. It wasnt easy. "There is cold pizza." She said. He nodded his head and she handed it to him. He ate silently, and she watched.

"Hows Blackfire?" He asked when he was done. Starfire didnt reply right away and he wondered if she had left.

"I do not know." Starfire said. "I miss her. She doesnt talk to anyone anymore. I know though that she is gratefull to you, because if not for you it could have been hours before we found her, if we ever did. She knows you understand what she's going through Beast Boy. She will need us again soon, her friends, and when she does she knows you will be there for her. Beast Boy ate his pizza quietly, obviously thinking.

"I'm here for her now though, but she hasnt said a word to me Star. I cant help but feel that maybe she's afraid to see me because I saw what had happened."

Starfire didnt want to think about it. Whatever he had seen, it had driven him to try and claw his own eyes out. In fact he was sitting right next to where they found him, shaking, bleeding. She doubted Blackfire knew about that though, she hoped she didnt. "I do not think so." She assured her friend.

"Thanks." Beast Boys head whipped towards the hallway. Whoever was coming, he sensed her before Starfire even did, but Starfire knew who it was before him. She bid him goodnigth and left him in the kitchen alone. Beast Boy heard someone come into the room, and pace about a bit. "Hello?" He asked. There was no answer. "Cyborg? Raven? Robin? Jinx? Come on, who is it?" He asked the silent newcomer. He crossed his arms in front of his chest and huffed. "HP you cant sneak up on me anymore. I know your coming long before you even think of trying to scare me. Who is it?"

"Its me." It was Blackfires voice!

It had been so long since he had heard her voice that it sounded strange and foriegn to him. He almost didnt believe it. "Blackfire?"

"What are you doing up?" She asked. "Its the middle of the night." Beast Boy only shrugged.

"Night and day dont make much differance to me anymore, but what about you?" He came down from his place sitting on the counter and stumbled into the living room, forgetting his cane. "Blackfire we're all worried about you." It almost sounded silly to say it, on account that she lived there, but he didnt care. "I miss you." He heard her sob, and the ruffling of fabric as she moved away from him. He had not known she was that close until he felt the air shifting right next to him.

"I know." She said. "I know, but I cant do this yet. I'm not ready to come back. I'm not ready to see everyone, not even you. I didnt know you were in here." He looked crestfallen at hearing this. "I'm sorry Beast Boy." She whispered. "I am, but I'm not ready to come back and be with everyone."

After this all Beast Boy heard was the fabric of her cape snap as she quickly moved from the room. He sat on the counter for some time alone. He wished so badly that he could see her. He did not miss his sight so much anymore, but if he could look upon any one thing for a few moments before losing his sight again forever, it would be her. He wished she knew that. Oh well, things were going to be okay, he told himself. She would get better, they all would. Beast Boy felt better now for having talked to her at all. He turned himself into a bat, a creature that did well without sight, and flew from the room.

The form of a bat suited him. His mind had never been able to really use the sonar instincts before, too busy using his eyes, but now, without his sight he could see the world through his ears using sonar. For a human it was similar to having your eyes sucked out through your ears, and then being able to see and hear with the same fused organ.

Ravens fingers flew over the keyboard to the titans mainframe. Security needed a little tweaking, to try and compensate whatever magic might be used to confuse the system. Unfortunately, hunters seemed to like using the same method of teleportation as she did. She was struggling to set the computer to tell the differance between friendly and enemies teleporting. She thought back to Joana, and how he had died and she shivered. It was unfortunate, that she was part witch. It hurt her to see someone die like that too. Death by bloodsucking. What a vial notion. Forbidden among the vampire world, its only exception for witches. Witches, suck'em dry. If a vampire slew enough witches in this manner they would eventually become immune to nearly all the hunter bloodlines, save maybe for the weak ones. Kali was now immune to any magic Joana's familly might use.

His familly. She knew how hunter famillies worked. The death of the young hunter would often bring the old one out of retirement (provided he was still living). If John, Joana's father still lived, Kali would most likely end up killing him as well. If Joana had any children, or perhaps nephews, they would also eventually take up the familly cause, and come to seek revenge. Raven had heard about as many as eight generations of a hunter familly falling at the feet of one vampire. The saddest thing of all was that this immunity by blood was a closely guarded secret.

"Poor fools." Raven whispered. Sure, the hunting community heard rumors about this, that once a familly member dies by the hands of a vampire no one else in that familly could hunt this vampire, but they thought it was just rumors. The secret never got out because the relatives who dared try for vengeance never, never lived long enough to tell anyone else about it. "The hell with this." Raven said to herself when she was done. She put the computer into hibernation mode, waiting for an attack, and teleported to the roof. The lazer blasters aimed at her, but did not fire. It must have worked. Raven eyed the distant shore. She felt a pull, as if being drawn back to the cemetary. She wanted badly to see if the body were still there, of if maybe the place was crawling with hunters. Why not go check it out? She wouldnt be caught off guard this time, not like before. She could always teleport out the instant things got hairy. It wasnt as though there were any way she could expose herself to them. From what Joana said the entire hunter organisation knew who she and Starfire were now. Raven was just about to teleport back when she spied a small boat out in the bay. Not a big deal, but this boat was differant. This boat was painted black, and had not lights on. Sure, everyone could be asleep on board, if not for the fact that it was moving towards the island.

"Go back." Raven whispered to herself. It was fairly obvious that this was the organisations first direct attack on them, so soon. It told her that they must have a headquarters close by. It was possibly even in this city. The boat crept towards the island still, slowly, making no noise. Raven could sense four people onboard, three were genuine witches, the other three were meta humans. She was going to fly out to warn them, give them a chance but Kali was at her side. So was Starfire, and her older sister. "You sensed it?" Raven asked. Kali nodded her head. "Whats our plan?"

"Drink to kill." Kali said. Starfire and Blackfire both seemed distressed by this. Blackfire turned for the door, and left them alone. She wanted no part of this, and that was alright. Kali would let it pass.

"We dont have to do that." Raven said. "I could crush the boat up, kill them instantly." Anything but that. She did not wish to do this.

"I might allow that, if not for one thing Raven."

"What?" Raven and Starfire asked.

"On that boat are three meta humans and three witches. I can sense them, they are of the El Quaro familly. The twins. They are powerfull, if they are anything like theire father."

"So?" Raven asked. All the better to run, or sink them, drown them or crush them but she did not wish to watch them die.

"Those two would be a very good familly to have an immunity of." Kali let it sink in that she wished her daughters to kill them. "The other, I dont know of him or his familly. He is masking his power, but I suspect it isnt too great." Starfire and Raven felt ill. They could not kill, not like that. "Do it." Kali said. Attack before they ever reach the shore!" And She was gone. Kali flew high into the air, and then dove at the boat like a mortar. Raven and Starfire had not had the chance to blink even before Kali crashed into the boat with such speed she tore it in two.

They flew over the wreckage together, no sign of Kali anywhere. They could sense her though, she was fifty feet below them, drowning the metahumans, the 'useless' enemies. The other three bobbed about in the waves, struggling in the frigid watter. Starfire whined. It was difficult to even think of doing this to them. Hell, it was hard to just sit back and watch them begin to drown when what you normally did was save people. One of the twins went down after a few minutes, and did not rise again. Raven dove in after him. She grabbed his unconcious form under the water and hauled him to the surface. Starfire was still watching hers drown. "Do it!" Raven yelled. Starfire shook her head, but went to aid her. The third had dissapeared, Raven assumed he drown because she could not sense him. Starfire grabbed the sister just as she was going under. Raven turned away. She brought her victim to the shore and laid him out. He was unconcious. She knew she should act fast, it was the most mercifull thing she could do.

"Do not let them sing!" Kali bid from high above. She knew the twins magic worked with song, singing the summoning chants of theire ancient peoples to call forth powerfull spirits to do theire bidding.

"I'm sorry." Raven whispered. She began to drink. It was terrible. She felt her heart go into sync with his, both steady, but then her heart began to beat stronger, and his weaker. Raven had killed before, but not like this. She could not allow herself to do it like this. She could not let herself kill an unconcious, helpless man, barely any older than herself. Raven let go of him. She allowed him to drop. It was over though, she had taken too much for him to survive. He began to moan weakly, and she knew she could not let him wake up. With grim determination Raven bit again and finished the job.

The other twin shrank away from Starfire in terror once they reached the shore. Kali was at her side instantly. She shivered in the cold air. Her jaw was broken, one side hanging at an odd angle. Starfire backed away from the girl, until she was knee deep in the water again. She couldnt take that look, that horrible look of fear in the girls eyes. She knew she was going to die a horrible death and that there was no avoiding it. She tried to sing but could not form words. She was shaking.

"I will not kill her!" Starfire growled.

"You must." Kali told her. "She wouldnt hesitate to kill you and Jinx both. The girls eyes darted from one vampire to another in the knight as they argued about her fate. "Do it Starfire!" Kali boomed. Starfire shrank away from Kali.

"I cannot!" Starfire said. "She is helpless, and hurt! Just look at her!" She couldnt stand that she was the object of this girls fears. The hero in her wanted nothing more than to give her comfort, tend to her. Make things better. She gave into this and rushed at the girl. She grabbed her up, intending to flee with her and let her live but the girl fought against her, kicking and punching.

"Her father was much braver." Kali said darkly. The girls eyes darted to Kali and burned with hatred at the mention of her father. She nearly forgot all about Starfire, who was still trying to grab her and rush her to safety. "Yes, you know who I am now." Kali said. Kali was glad that Joana never got the chance to report that 'Mother Kali' was around. She'd dealt with the knights before. They would have sent much more powerfull witches, and more of them, if they knew she was there. Instead there was this small squad, set aside for newbie vampire extermination which gave her an excellent chance to train her children. The witch growled at her.

"Please, be calm." Starfire said to the witch. "I will not harm you." Instead the witch lashed out at her and nearly punched her in the jaw. Starfire caught the fist and placed it back at her side. "Stop it!" She growled. "I do not wish to kill you!"

"Your father was a good hunter." Kali said. "Came looking for me five years back. Unfortunately for him, he thought I was only three hundred years old." The witch was becomming more and more furious. "If I had been I wouldnt be here anymore." She hated to play on even a hunters feelings like this, but she had to show Starfire what vengefull creatures they could be, just how dangerous they could be. "I never in a million years thought his children would come after mine though." The hunter turned her attention on Starfire, who was closer. At the realisation that this was Kali's child, murderer of her father, she withdrew a dagger from her boot and attempted to stab at Starfire. Starfire barely dodged. Kali stayed rooted in place. Starfire slapped the dagger out of her hand. It went flying out into the bay and landed with a quiet splash. She grabbed the witch's hand and pulled her close.

"I am trying to spare you!" Starfire growled. "Why do you not accept that?" She was rewarded with another attack that she easilly deflected. Starfire let her go to the rage built inside of her. "This is your last chance! Leave now or I will be forced to- "She choked on the word." -kill you! I do not wish to fight you!" The hunter only stared at her with burning hatred. She shifted her gaze to Kali. In the brief moment Starfire was looking away the hunter leapt foward and tacked her into the sand. Kali made no move to interfere as they rolled about. Starfire was nearly overwhelmed by the girl. She lacked strength, but made up for it with a high proficiency in grappling and hand to hand combat. As the girl beat her Starfire began to understand what she had to do. They were raised like this. Hatred. There could be no peace, no mercy.

Kali watched them fight. It wasnt five minutes before the witch grew tired, and Starfire had her pinned. Starfire straddled her stomach, holding her hands above her head. She hadnt even the strength to struggle anymore. They simply stared at each other, eyes locked. "Why would you not surrender and leave?" Starfire asked. There was of course no answer from the girl with the broken jaw. "I gave you a chance." She continued. "I didnt want to kill you." She looked into the girls eyes, still waiting for a moan, a grunt, anything. There came nothing. Just a look of acceptance. Starfire began to cry. "I did not want to do this!" She hissed at her. She let go of her hands and dove for her neck. The girl made no attempt at resistance. Starfire put her teeth to her flesh and waited. Still there was nothing. She felt her victim nod her head.

"She's accepted her fate." Kali said. "She's fought and trained for this her whole life, just like her father did." A slight whimper came from the girl. Kali felt guilty now. The girl would have run if she had not brought her father into this. She had egged her on, and now Starfire had to kill because of it. She wished she could tell her her father would be proud. She wished she could show some shred of respect or kindness to her enemies. Rutheless was not a word she wanted easilly used to describe her. Perhaps she would have said something, but Starfire did.

"I'd off you this one last chance. Would you take it?" There was no response. The girl tilted her head, and saw her dead brother in the sand some distance away. She looked back to Starfire and closed her eyes. "Very well."

"Love your enemy." Kali said. This girls father had said it before she killed him. She had let go of him, stopped drinking, and asked him what it meant. As he lay dying in her lap after a long battle he explained to her that a true warrior respects his enemy, never causes unecissary suffering. A true warrior would always give his enemy as mercifull a death as possible. Never prolonging it more than it had to be, never flaunting your victory in the eyes of a dying being. Always be gentle in distributing death. Kali had wondered particularly what this meant to her, to a vampire. The girl nodded her head at her in understanding and Kali looked to Starfire, who still could not do this. She made up her mind not to force it this time. "Come away Starfire." She said. Kali scooped her up out of the sand and Starfire watched. Kali picked the girl up and held her against her. She pet the girls hair. She went limp against her. Starfire watched. "Your end is near." Kali whispered. "You are my enemy, and I will not let you live past the dawn. Know that well." Kali felt the girl shiver slightly with fear. "There could be no other way. I can only promise you that you wont feel a thing. Love your enemy." And with this Kali snapped her neck. The girl died instantly. Kali laid her down on the sand and turned to Starfire.

"Dont listen to a word of the garbage I just said." She told her. "This was differant. We had her completely helpless and cornered, in a situation we could not let her walk out of. Do you understand?" Starfire nodded her head. That was the whole reason why she hesitated. "Good. Next time you better not hesitate, next time it will be for real."

"I understand." Starfire said quietly. She looked to Raven, who seemed disturbed.

"I know that was hard on both of you." Kali said. But I wanted you both to know and understand just what you must do when you encounter a magic hunter. They wouldnt hesitate to kill you two, or your loved ones. Think of that, and you'll understand that you have to do it."

On the far shore the missing witch crawled out of the water. He was lucky to be alive, lucky he could mask his power and life force from detection. As the others were rounded up he masked himself completely and swam away. He staggered to a payphone and threw some loose change in it. He punched in a series of numbers from memory and waited for the voice on the other line. "Yeah, its me." He said. "Team A is down." He looked out towards the island. "You wouldnt guess who we found here." He waited a moment. "Well you know that other week when a vampire and her fledgling attacked me? Yeah, masked my signal as soon as I felt them in the area, never knew who I was. Well turns out its Mother Kali. Didnt expect to see her again so soon, but I didnt see her daughter, the one who got... rambunctious with me." He laughed into the phone. His contact lectured him on how lucky he was to be alive. "Whatever, I'm still just pissed that one of them took my wallet. I'm coming back in to regroup. Got to put a new team together for this one."

Authors note: Hard to write. For all its errors n such this is the best I could do. More to come in the next chap. Sorry it takes so long people, just a bitch trying to find time for this in the army. We've been in the field mostly for the last two months and I get almost no 'me time'. Its a pain in the ass but someones gotta do it (why its me when theres so many other mechanics I have no clue, its probly because they all outrank me and can all say 'let him do it'). Oh well. More to come, I promise. This isnt getting abandoned. Any questions or mistakes, lemme know n I'll fix it.