In moments like these, you wish that time really did stop. You wish that you could stare at the catastrophic tableau, so you could scream and cry enough so that somehow...you wouldn't have to fully realise the tragedy, or accept it. Losing someone you spend every day with, someone you trust and care for – someone you love – is beyond any feeling you've ever felt. Somewhere inside, a thread just snaps, and you're left feeling empty; a gaping hole in your heart.

Every single side of Raven stared speechless at their fallen friend. Cyborg was lying in two pieces on the concrete, not a single light glowing, not a muscle twitching. Beast Boy, Starfire and Robin stared also, trying to understand what had just happened. As much as they all wanted time to stop, it didn't.

Starfire shattered the tableau by rushing to Cyborg's side and kneeling, shouting "Cyborg! Cyborg! Can you hear me?" Her sweet voice pulled everyone out of their shock and roughly threw them back into reality.

"How could you?" The Raven in the green cloak cast a spinning kick into the red Raven's face, sending the rogue flying. "He was my friend! He was your friend!" she screamed hollowly.

The red Raven hissed angrily, and lunged for the green Raven, but was intercepted by the brown one, who sent another kick into its face. She was quickly followed up by the pink Raven who, uncharacteristically frowning, head-butted the red Raven in the stomach. The renegade fell back to the concrete, hissing in pain.

"Please," a small voice called. "No fighting. Please stop fighting..." Beast Boy squeezed the purple Raven's hand tighter, and motioned for her to lie still. They were both too injured to even stand. Starfire ignored the commotion and draped her arms over Cyborg's metallic torso, sobbing.

"Cyborg...Cyborg...wake up...please wake up..." she begged through her tears. "You mustn't..."

Robin was torn. He was trained to leave emotion for later and to focus on the action at hand, but his brain almost refused to let him. Trying to ignore it, he went to the one person who would know what to do. He slunk past both parties and sidled up to the yellow Raven, who was still standing over the original Raven's body protectively.

She looked sadly at him. "Time," was all she said, and then she pointed with her eyes at the skyline. He looked.

Barely three hundred metres away, a giant spiral of black was forming in the scarlet sky. As it grew larger by the second, he could see things being sucked into it. Satellite dishes were pulled off roofs; leaves were being plucked by the thousand out of their trees. It was beginning; the city was as good as lost.

He turned back to the yellow Raven, eyes searching for answers. She pulled her glasses of her nose and looked down as she wiped them slowly on her cloak, avoiding his eyes, and spoke quietly, "The last piece. Raven...I mean, I...we...we need the last piece. Or else..." she then looked to the comatose Raven. Robin looked too, and could see his friend's black eyes beginning to close. Her skin was even paler now, and he could see what was happening.

Robin squeezed his fists and gritted his teeth. He might have lost Cyborg, and he couldn't possibly lose another team mate. And they weren't just team mates – they were best friends. He wouldn't let this happen. "Titans!" he yelled. "Get that shard!"

The group of Raven's had become all but a blur of colours. Red, pink, brown, orange...every one of them had joined in the brawl, leaving only the yellow one behind, and the purple one lying hurt on the ground. Robin dived into the fray, desperate to grab the shard while the red Raven was distracted. Starfire's eyes lit up and she screamed furiously, before following Robin into the crowd of fighting Ravens.

Beast Boy was still trying to realign his mind. Cyborg...was he gone? And Raven...and now the city too...everything was disappearing. Everything he loved was vanishing into the horrid darkness of the surreal night. He touched the tender spot on his arm and winced, then attempted to sit up properly. The world spun – he must be concussed or something. He couldn't do it. He'd never be able to help. He was too weak, too hurt...

"Beast Boy..." There it was again, the sweet voice that he knew he'd probably never hear again. He squinted his eyes to avoid getting too dizzy and turned back to the half-conscious Raven beside him. She whispered again, "Beast Boy..."

"Don't talk," he said nervously. "Just rest."

"Beast Boy, please..." she continued. "There must be no fighting. I cannot fight myself, Beast Boy. If one of us is hurt, it is going to affect us all, eventually. You have to stop it."

"How? There's so many of you...I mean, them."

"The shard. The last shard. Get it and return it to the mirror. Please, Beast Boy. Hurry..." Then the purple Raven closed her eyes, leaving Beast Boy alone with her last words.

Beast Boy knew he had to. He wanted to. But how? He could barely move, let alone slip through the melee of fighting Ravens and Titans. He'd probably get knocked out before he got anywhere near the red Raven, who must be holding the very last piece to the mirror.

It was so simple he could have almost laughed at himself. Of course! He was Beast Boy; he could transform into anything. Even something that could squeeze past the fighting individuals and steal the precious shard.

In seconds, Beast Boy was a bright green dormouse. He crept – or more, hobbled – past Cyborg's lightless body and took a deep breath before entering the brawl. The fight was bad enough, but to an injured dormouse, everything is a thousand times bigger and a million times more dangerous. Beast Boy struggled to avoid the many stomping boots and falling bodies. Everyone was aiming to attack the red-cloaked Raven, but everyone else was in the way. There were black discs and green spheres flying in all directions. Through his dormouse ears, he could hear Robin grunting with each blow he took and made, and decided to head towards the sounds. Robin was usually at the centre of a brawl, always trying to break it up. However, against several super-powered psychics, he was in a little over his head.

He found Robin's shoe and clambered onto it, wincing as his foreleg burned in pain. Trying to ignore it, he scrambled up Robin's leg and onto his shoulder, digging in his claws as Robin flailed around, trying to get past the fighting Ravens to the red one, each one blinded in anger at the loss of their friend.

Robin's mind worked extremely fast, so when he saw the little green mouse on his shoulder he knew exactly what to do – even if Beast Boy wouldn't like it. He picked up the little ball of fur and, with perfect aim, tossed Beast Boy right into the folds of the red Raven's cloak.

Initially terrified, Beast Boy curled into a ball between two folds and breathed extremely fast. It was only the memory of Raven's weak voice that kept him going.

You have to stop it. Please, Beast Boy.

Right. Find the shard. Find the shard. He kept repeating it in his mind as he crept over the folds and into the darkness of the cloak, hoping that one of the four glowing eyes wouldn't catch sight of him. It wasn't long until he found it; it was tucked right into the back of her hood.

However, as soon as he grabbed the shard (which was just as large as him) the red Raven had had enough. She hissed so loud that his ears rang, and went down on one knee, before punching the concrete with exaggerated force.

Not only the concrete exploded. A shockwave of dark energy shot out from her body, sending the entire crowd around her to the ground. Black flames erupted from nowhere, and the only reason Beast Boy remained alive in his tiny form was because he was inside the attacker's own hood. He took a peek outside.

And he couldn't believe what he saw.