*Hooray for another chapter! I am working on making these chapters longer, so expect there to be delays in updating in the future. I had fun writing this chapter. You'll understand why! Enjoy!*

*For Joel*

A Shot in the Dark

His arms continued to sting and his legs were sore. He sat cross legged on the ground, eating more of the MRE's he had in his bag. His food and water supply were running low. He knew he had to act fast if he even wanted a chance at survival. It had been some time since he last heard Raven's voice.

Something started drifting in around him. It appeared to be fog. His eyes narrowed. "Weird," he muttered through a half-eaten peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

Charles stood up, putting the rest of his food back in his bag. The white fog continued to roll in. He wasn't afraid, but more curious as to what was going on.

His hands moved to his face, rubbing his eyes. He thought, perhaps, that he was seeing things. He had been wandering by himself for a while. Maybe he was finally losing his mind.

A sudden thought crossed his mind. Maybe none of this was real. Maybe he was just imagining hearing Raven's voice. Maybe the fog wasn't real. Maybe…he had finally snapped and was just prolonging his time left.

"Hello…?"

His head snapped up, that feminine voice snatching him away from his own irrational thoughts. It was distant, but it was enough to send him into a sprint through the fog in an effort to find the girl who owned the voice.

"Raven?" he asked through the thickening fog. As much as his legs were hurting from the sudden sprint, he refused to stop. This was the moment he was waiting for. "Raven!?" he called out again.

He stopped running for a moment to listen for a response. He heard the sound of something scraping against the ground. He jerked his head to the right, his eyes narrowing into the fog. "Raven…?" He peered into the thick veil. Slowly, cautiously, he tried waving away it with his arms.

That was when he felt a hard pressure on his back. His face met the ground. It took him a split second to realize someone had pushed him.

He whirled around and was horrified at what he saw. A dark black creature stood hunched over him. Its pale yellow eyes were unblinking and glowing. Its breathing was ragged and a long grey tongue hung out of the side. Charles' eyes darted to its feet and was shocked to see black hooves. His eyes moved toward the creature's long steel-like claws before he rolled over to the side, dodging its attempt at impaling him through the stomach.

The young hero stood up, his heart pounding. He had not expected to run into anything like this. The creature growled, sending chills down Charles' spine. It lashed out at him with its long claws. That was when he noticed a long spiked tail whipping back and forth.

"You want to dance? Let's dance," he said through his teeth as he powered up, his body taking on an electric blue color. His eyes were pure white as he sent a lethal glare toward the creature. His body had lit up the dark world he was in, and it reflected against the fog. It became much more difficult to see, so he took to the sky.

To his horror, the creature sprouted bat-like wings on its back. It screeched shrilly before charging at him.

He gritted his teeth and fired a series of electric bolts toward it. The creature howled in pain. It looked for him, but because of the bright lights reflecting the fog, it was only confusing itself.

Charles smiled to himself as he circled the creature at lightning speed. He watched with satisfaction as it tried to lock down on him. Its head whipped back and forth; crying out at the same time. He realized the light was causing it pain.

He charged up even more and made his body brighter. With a final yelp, the creature started pummeling to the ground. Charles chased after it, wanting to make sure it would not be coming back to fight.

It landed with a loud thud, causing the fog to clear slightly. He floated down and watched the rise and fall of its chest. Without a moment's hesitation, he electrocuted the creature until it stopped breathing. He smiled to himself, smug that he was able to take it down so easily.

He planted his feet on the ground and dusted himself off. "Not a scratch on me," he said with a satisfied grin.

He heard the sound of chattering behind him. He immediately turned around, conjuring a ball of electricity in his hand and faced whatever it was, ready to attack. His eyes were pure white and his teeth were bared.

His eyes widened and he immediately put his hand down, letting the ball of electricity disappear. Guilt and sorrow flooded through him as the figure continued to shake uncontrollably in front him.

He couldn't believe what, or better yet, who he was seeing. The white cloaked girl was trembling, and her amethyst eyes were wide with fear. She was on the ground, her hands on either side of her. There were tears in her eyes, threatening to make watery trails on her cheeks.

Charles' mouth gaped open, unable to think of anything to say. What could he say? She had just witnessed him try to attack her. He put his hands up, like a suspect approaching a cop. "Raven…?"

A single tear fell out of her left eye. Her lower lip trembled as she opened her mouth slowly. "Who…who are you…?"

He felt his heart drop for a brief moment, for she had not remembered who he was. He cleared his throat. "It's me, your friend, Kilowatt," he said gently.

She immediately started shaking her head. "No…no…there isn't such a thing…"

He grimaced. He still had not powered down, for he feared that it would frighten her if he attempted to do anything. "What do you mean…?"

She squeezed her eyes shut. "You're just a figment…you'll disappear…just like the others…you have to…"

He took in a deep breath. "Raven, you have to listen to me."

She covered her ears and shook her head. "No…just go away…please…"

"Raven please," he said desperately.

That was when Raven turned around and stumbled to her feet. She was running away, not even glancing behind her.

"Wait!" he called out to her. He flew after her and caught up with her easily. He noticed she was still covering her ears and closing her eyes.

"Get away!" she yelled. "Leave me alone!"

His hope started to fade. "Raven please, I'm not just a figment! Open your eyes!"

Raven tripped over her cloak, she threw her arms over her face in an effort to protect herself from the landing.

Charles acted quickly and caught her just before she hit the ground.

She uncovered her face, her eyes red rimmed. "Y-you're not…you can't be…"

He smiled warmly. "I'm here for you…you said you needed help remember?"

She shook her head as she hid her face from him. She stopped trembling.

He held her; comforting her. "Let me help you," he whispered softly.