Hi guys. I know it's been a while since I updated, my bad. I was kinda slammed with school last semester and the break was very short for me so I didn't have much time to write. Between finals, Christmas, New years, my friend visiting before moving and school again, I didn't have much to go on, not to mention writer's block. I wrote this a while back, but I never got around to revising, proofreading and editing and posting. As for the title of the chapter...I don't even know. I'm not even trying with titles anymore.

Some of you might be angry about what I did with Robin's character at the end but again I want to show different sides of a character. I wanna show their vulnerability, strength, pain, and happiness. That's what I'm shooting for. I wanna show how they can get back up on their feet or if they get back on their feet.

Also, if you guys haven't seen it yet, I highly recommend watching Star Wars. It was...AWESOME! I saw it 3 times. I am a Star Wars fan, I will not deny it. I however find the lack of Rey toys disturbing, (like Black Widow and Gamora ones). I'll let you guys in a few secrets: Toy makers DELIBERATELY did not make many Rey toys because they didn't think she'd sell well. Like dude, really? She's...kinda the main character.

Oh which gets me to another point: why Teen Titans was canceled. Funny thing: writers and producers actually had another arc planned out, for season 6 that would've covered what happened to Terra and stuff. Why did they plug it? GIRLS LIKED IT. Yep. I'm not even kidding you. According to an interview, Bruce Timm said that DC's animation department decided that girls shouldn't like superheroes. Even if a show is popular like Young Justice, or Legend of Korra, they'll end it. That goes to the action figures as well. I laugh because that means a HUGE financial loss. (The same goes for several video games as well) because...40-60% of gamers are indeed...female. I could go on for hours about this. And I knew the REAL reason why it was canceled for a while and I didn't know how many of you did, so I thought it was time to bring it into the light after this show has been off the air for nearly a DECADE. I also thought that if enough of us complain about getting the god-awful Teen Titans Go! we might get the real Teen Titans back.

Also an announcement on Facebook showed JUSTICE LEAGUE VS. TEEN TITANS. So I'm kinda stoked about that

If all else...I will goddamn make my own! Or even turn this into a webcomic series, after I finish writing all of it. I'm already familiar with photoshop, Paint tool Sai, Illustrator (albeit the actually doing animation). What do you say guys?

On that note, happy belated Christmas and New Year guys. Let the story commence.

Chapter 28: A Crushing Defeat

Her hair swayed behind her as her black boots skimmed across the asphalt's surface. She took cover behind a building as a winged creature soared overhead. The blue clad woman growled impatiently as she waited for them to pass. Raven inhaled and exhaled through her nose slowly as her body melted into the building's shadow. Nary a strand of hair or her scent lingered, her body one with the shadows and darkness.

She needed just a moment to gather her thoughts. If the demoness just teleported to her destination, she undoubtedly would have the element of surprise, but she didn't know how many creatures guarded the rift; it was too risky. Hopefully, Beast Boy could distract them long enough for her to reach the breach and seal it. On the other hand, he was slightly limping when she saw him run.

'Great...if he dies-No. I don't have the luxury to be thinking about that right now...'

Raven sighed as her enemy scanned the area. She couldn't quite make it out but as soon as she saw it drift west, she popped out from her spot and quickly made a run for it.

Meanwhile Beast Boy, on the other hand, was not fairing as well. He pulled the cloak tightly as he sprinted for his life. As tempted as he was to transform into a cheetah, he couldn't. The green man needed to distract these guys long enough for Raven to get to the rift. Transforming now would just defeat the purpose; the enemy would realize this and go after Raven. He turned a corner sharply, as four creatures flew moved past while the remaining three tailed him.

The shapeshifter yelped loudly as one came within three feet of him; all he saw were razor sharp black talons nearly decapitate him He jumped back a few feet before sprinting again. Before he had a second's reprieve, a bolt of lighting shot out from one his hunter's ax.

"Holy shit!"

The lightning had a direct hit on him and he hugged his body to protect himself from the attack. He peeled one eye open, surprised at the lack of pain. Instead he felt a tingling sensation. It was then he recalled Raven mentioning her cloak being resistant to lightning not too long ago. Of course, he forgot this detail running for his life and all. The nine creatures let out infuriated hisses before the changeling zipped away.

Beast Boy jumped into a shambled building, trying to come up with a plan. He couldn't outrun these things forever, not to mention his sides were in sore and he felt gulped lungfuls of air as sweat poured from his face.

'I just need a minute to catch my breath!'

That's when he heard a familiar screech outside his hideout. He grimaced as he pushed the hood closer to his face. These things were worse than what attacked that Starfire and Cyborg earlier. Their riders wore black cloaks, but underneath it was far from human. It had a jaw that could split in half that was riddled with rows of sharp teeth. It had long bony, limbs with a scythe-shaped scorpion-like tail.. It only had three fingers on each hand, that were angular and clawed.

Their mounts were no less terrifying; they were large streamlined gray creatures built for aerial combat; large bat-like wings to lift them off the ground, muscular limbs for ripping and shredding into prey. A smooth but tough leathery hide to reduce drag, a short sharp snout with matching short blunt teeth made for crushing. It also had a rudder-like tail that could easily strangle a human.

Beast Boy gulped, maybe hiding out in an abandoned building on the verge of collapsing was not such good idea after all. He heard several of the riders dismount and approach the building.

"Well, that's my cue to leave" he told himself as he ran to the opposite side of the building.

Little did he know there was surprise was waiting for him on the other side.

+On the other side of Jump City+

"Haah haah..."

'It feels like I've been running forever...'

Raven looked up at the sky cautiously before she ducked underneath a car. Her eyes widened when she saw a horde of wights. The empath cursed under her breath, irritated at her own stupidity for failure to see this. Obviously, the main threat blocking her foresight was responsible.

She sighed in an attempt to calm down. If she played her cards right, she could blend in with the horde which was easier said than done. But first, she needed a breather. The hellspawn lay her head down against the asphalt as sweat dripped down her forehead, watching wight after wight pass by. Unfortunately, she let her guard down for one second. A second was all that was needed; a legless wight had grabbed her foot! The Azarthian had tried to keep quiet and attempted to kick him away but it was causing too much noise, soon dozens were surrounding the car. Raven kicked him away but she felt herself get grabbed by another zombie. In a moment of panic, she blew the car up into the air with psychic energy, the automobile crashing down on several unfortunate wights. Her hand reached for her weapon, taking a split-second to reconsider. Taking them all down one-by-one would waste time and the bulk of the horde would arrive any second. Not to mention the ruckus she just made most likely alerted the cloaked riders and they were on their way.

Raven balled her fist as she felt a surge of anger an panic..

'Get away.! Get away! GET AWAY!'

Before she knew it, every zombie within the area suddenly combusted. Hundreds of zombies, which were marching to her, were aflame To escape their clutches, Raven took to the air, one hand clutching her temples with the other shielding her nose and mouth from the smoke. In between coughs, she watched torpidly as the bodies burned, as smoke rose into the air. Despite being skilled in elemental magic, pyromancy was her least favorite. Raven rose higher into the sky and wondered how many people were killed during the attacks. Those dead people were someone's, brother, sister, mother, father, friend, lover, wife and husband. Their families and friends outside must have been looking for them frantically, and she just took their world away from them. They didn't even have a body to bury..

No matter how much she tried to fight these feelings of trying to help, she felt she was nothing more than a curse, a plague made to bring destruction.

Raven saw stars as a pain exploded from her cheek and she was sent hurtling through the air at 60 mph. She stopped just short of a building before soaring high into the air, spitting out blood. The umbrakinetic shook off the dizziness, angry at herself for dropping her guard. She turned to the two hooded riders, one wielding a halberd while the other wielded a double ended spear.

Raven bit back the exhaustion that threatened to overcome her. She swallowed dryly, as one wraith kicked the side of his mount and zipped at her. The enchantress dodged to the left only for the creature to slam its' tail into her side. She let out a yelp of pain as the other assailant closed the gap between them. Raven barely had enough to raise a shield to protect her from the spear that would've ran her through. In less than a second, she pushed off said shield which stunned the second attacker. Raven sent a wave of energy, only for it to be blocked by a strike of lightning from the other rider. They circled her like vultures.. How was she doing so badly? Could it have been exhaustion? Could it have been that she had somehow become reliant on foresight for predicting an enemy's movement? Could it be fear?

'Let me out...'

Raven was in mid-dodge and had no time to have an inner argument with her emotion, unfortunately she got a face full of a plasma blast.

'No!'

'You let me out once!'

Raven reared back, the halberd slicing through the air, and retaliated with a slash of her own. Unfortunately, her attack was off by a few feet, so she missed. The cloaked creature let out a triumphant screech as it butted her in the sternum with the end of his halberd. She reeled back, surprised from the force of the attack.

'That was different!

'What do you have left to loose?'

One of the wraith's ducked under a black half-moon blast from the enchantress, before the mount swatted it away with its' wing. The Azarthian beyond exhausted and the only thing that was fueling her was sheer willpower and anger. Without that, she would probably be lying down face first in the dirt. WHAM! Raven was tailspinning through the air, her vision black and blurry. She was lying down face first in the dirt. Fortunately, she wasn't injured as much as she thought she would be. The only thing wounded was her pride.

'Big deal. Listen, if you die, I DIE! Let me join the fray!'

Raven levitated in the air. The two wraiths charged at her from both sides.

'I...alright.!'

There was a blinding flash of light and the crack of thunder. Both wraiths covered their faces with their arms from the harsh light, when they lowered them, something akin to a gasp escaped from their hooded faces.

There were two Ravens, one wearing a red cloak with a matching dress and eyes while the still wore a blue dress and had amethyst eyes. They floated there for a few seconds and exchanged a glance at each other.

"Don't make me regret this decision."

"Heh. Just don't fuck it up."

A split second later, the two Ravens split off. Raven took on the spear-wielder while Rage took on the halberd user.

Rage grinned as she fired multiple red energy blasts at her opponent. The hooded figure spun through the minefield before whipping his halberd around, creating a small whirlwind. She was unfortunately caught in the middle of said whirlwind, temporarily locked. Grunting in irritation, the Raven-doppelganger stored up energy before releasing it in a small explosion, expelling the whirlwind. Rage rocketed at the mount's weak underbelly. However, she was blocked by an overhead strike from the rider which nearly split her head in half. She dodged out of the way and aimed a kick at the rider's head. Rage was batted away from the mount's wing, after that the rider sent a plasma blast from his halberd. Rage laughed as she flew directly through it, the energy wrapping around her. The emotioclone grinned viciously as she zipped through and amputated the mount's foreleg. It howled in pain, threatening to throw off its' rider. The wraith held on dearly in a desperate attempt to calm his ride. As she was going to claw the creature again, Rage was slammed in the side by it's tail and she was sent reeling back. After a few seconds, the rider managed to calm the mount and the duo turned their attention back on the emoticlone.

Rage scoffed, glancing back at Raven's progress. The Raven look-alike let loose an aggravated growl. Raven should have finished off her opponent a while ago.

'That idiot. The hell is she doing? Bah! I'll deal with them as soon as I take out these guys.'

She cracked her neck, circumducted her arms and cracked her knuckles. She assumed a fighting position, her crimson eyes flashed as a malicious grin stretched across her face.

"This is gonna be fun."

"Oof!"

Raven was hit in the face by the creature's wing. The demoness now had a new bruise to her collection. She shook her heard to fight off exhaustion, it a wonder she was able to still fight. If not for her demon physiology, she would have been dead on her first day of crime fighting. Raven wiped the fresh blood from her lips, and charged a basketball-sized energy blast before shooting it at her opponent. Her enemy swatted it away, where it flew several dozen feet above Rage. The blast detonated with enough force to demolish a building.

Rage glanced up at the blast, then back at Raven. An annoyed expression crossed her face. It wasn't the fact that the blast could have injured her; she was annoyed that Raven was taking so long to dispatch her foe. If that's how they were gonna play, then so be it. Rage charged a baseball-sized fireball and lobbed it at her enemy. The rider swiftly dodging out of the way.

Meanwhile, Raven dodged several strikes from the spear-wielder. As she dodged a strike, the mount clamped onto the hem of her dress before thrashing her around like a rag-doll. The enchantress cocked her knee and delivered a powerful blow to the side of the creature's head. Instinctively, it let go and Raven grabbed the creature's jaws. The rider aimed a strike at her but Raven rolled to the side, still gripping the creature's head. The beast also swiped at her as it tried to rid itself of Raven's grasp. Then a fireball hit the rider in the back of the head. The rider's hood fell off, revealing a skeleton-like face. Its' jaws swung open as it snarled vexingly and its' bloodshot pupils bore into Raven.

The rider snapped its' head back at the owner of that fireball, who was currently locked in combat and let out a screech.

Raven seized this moment of opportunity, grasped the jaws of the beast hard while it struggled. The struggling and teeth from the beast cut into her palms but she ignored it as she pulled its' jaws wider apart. She used all her strength to rip its jaws apart and tore the beast's head in half. The rider snapped it's socket-less eyes back on the demoness as its' mount began to succumb to gravity. It leaped off the mount, which dropped down to the earth with a loud THUD. After it sent a downward strike, in hopes of splitting the demoness' head in two, which Raven blocked with a shield a second before. The two entities pushed each other off, landing several feet across from each other.

All four combatants were caught off guard when they heard a hiss escaping from the rift. Raven's eyes widened as a pair of eyes appeared on the other side of it.

"HEY! STOP WASTING TIME AND GET RID OF HIM!" Raven heard Rage as she locked arms with the halberd user.

Raven kind of hated to admit it but Rage was right. She was wasting time and she could have defeated these two a long time ago.

The enchantress quietly charged at her opponent and slammed her fist into the monsters cheek.. It reared its' head back at her before thrusting the spear into Raven's abdomen.

Rage's body froze as she felt a electric current go down her spine. Her crimson eyes widened as her head slowly turned at her master's impaled body. Then she felt a pain going from in her abdomen and she dropped to one knee. The emoticlone glowered at her opponent. The beast was all bloody and missing a wing. As for it's rider, it was missing an arm, who was now rushing at her readying the finishing blow.

"Well...shit..."

+Beast Boy+

The green being jumped as one of the beasts snapped its' jaws under him. His cloak billowed around him as he ran into one of the narrow streets, his pursuers hot on his trail.. In their pursuit, they crashed into the building and became clustered and stuck He looked back at the cluster of mounts and riders fighting with each other as they break free. Beast Boy smirked as he turned a corner and ran. As he took a step forward, an explosion of pain erupted within his abdomen and doubled over. A trickle of blood escaped from his mouth, his breath ragged and his vision swam.

'W-what...the hell?'

His green eyes scanned the skies, pondering what happened.

'My legs won't move...C'mon! Move! MOVE!'

The pain was only worsened and he could hear his hunters unraveling behind him. Being out in the open did not help either. He never felt so vulnerable in his entire life.

'Did something happen to Raven?'

His scream echoed into the air as he crawled to the nearest building.

+Outside the Walls+

"Did y'all just feel that?" Cyborg asked.

"Indeed. It was an odd sensation" Starfire added.

"Raven's in trouble. Dammit!" Robin groaned as his fist hit the dome.

Despite sharing a mental connection, he didn't know what was going on. Even when their bond grew stronger and Raven's power with the fall of Trigon those five years ago, it didn't help them now. If he could connect with Raven somehow...

"Guys!"

"What is it?"

"Remember when we shared Raven's powers and we got a feel of her powers?"

"Yeah?"

"Maybe we can just tap into it again! Maybe I can even get in contact with Raven since we share a mental connection!"

Cyborg shrugged his shoulders and Starfire jumped up and down as she clapped her hands at Robin's idea.

"Worth a shot!"

"Oh yes!"

The three Titans formed a circle and linked hands. For a while, they just stood there until Cyborg spoke up.

"Are you guys feelin' anything?"

"I am afraid not."

"No. We gotta concentrate."

"Alright, let's give it another go."

They all took a deep breath before trying again.

"I still don't hear or feel anything."

"What about you, Robin?"

"No" he admitted. "We have to focus on one thing: Raven. If we can get a hold of her, who knows maybe she can find Beast Boy too."

The three Titans together linked hands again Their focused their thoughts on her. At first, nothing happened but then they could hear each other's heartbeat. They felt each others' blood coursing through their veins, felt the inhale and exhale to the chill of the wind. It felt strange for Starfire despite having had a feel for Raven's powers once before. This felt like the first time in years that they felt connected.

They just needed a little more. The trio began to float a few inches off the ground and they felt a warm glow coming from their hands.

Robin furrowed his brow as his mind warped through a swirling darkness. A bead of sweat dripped down his forehead, it felt like he was being yanked by an invisible force. He didn't know when he finally exhaled but it felt like a great weight had finally been removed from him. The leader decelerated, then came to stop.

He could finally hear something but sounded as they were very far away. The Titan leader tried to open his eyes to find that he couldn't. The sounds were incoherent. If only he could open his eyes. If only he could see. If only he could talk. But the darkness was so deep, it almost felt as though if he opened them, it wouldn't matter. He reached out a hand but all he grasped was air. His body was somewhat floating there, in this empty space. Somehow, he managed to suck in some air and he felt somewhat lighter. Finally, he opened his eyes and parted his lips to speak.

"Raven?"

Robin heard a distant whimpering sound, but from where? Te leader turned his head around, unable to pinpoint direction of the sound. It was odd, he wasn't blind but the infernal darkness sure as hell made it seem like it.

"Raven! What's wrong? Are you hurt? Where are you?"

The whimpering only grew more distant.

"Raven! Is Beast Boy with you?"

More whimpering.

"Raven! Can you hear me!"

His blood went cold as he suddenly felt like he wasn't alone. Robin's gut dropped; a sickening shroud of dread enveloping him He was unable to move, unable to speak, unable to do anything For a good few seconds, he was paralyzed then the sensation switched to heat. At first it was just a prickling feeling, then it grew warmer and warmer until his body felt hot, very hot. The feeling grew until it burned, a heat so intense it felt like he would die from it. He tried to scream out in pain, but he couldn't. That was when he seen the flames, red hot flames stretching to him. He watched as it engulfed his foot, charring his flesh. The blackened skin boiled until it cracked away, the flesh melting right off his bones. Robin watched horrified in excruciating agony at his scorched tibia and femur as the flames made their way up his leg, knee and thigh. The Boy Wonder's eyes snapped open he dropped to the ground.

"Robin!"

"Robin!:

He leaned over a rock and emptied the contents of his stomach. His body shook as he tried to comprehend what he just saw. It was terrifying.. Starfire approached him slowly, her voice low and gentle.

"Robin...?"

Batman's prodigy looked at her with wild eyes. At first, he didn't recognize her. To be in the absolute darkness, with no sight, hearing, taste, touch but the cold embrace and pain of a intense inferno and be thrown back into mortality was more than he or anyone could comprehend.

"Robin...it is me, Starfire. I...I am your friend.. We are teammates together, remember?" Starfire smiled.

Inside, she was panicking. She had already her dear friend raven, now Beast Boy's fate was unknown, and now Robin could have had his mind shattered. It was breaking her heart. She couldn't loose him now. Robin looked at her for a while, his breathing slowly returning to normal. Finally he blinked, aware of himself. The clamminess and terror ebbing away, and substituted for realization. He wiped the vomit off his chin, feeling ashamed of himself.

What Starfire saw in front of her was not her leader, or a Titan, not a hero, but a person. A person terrified for his team, disappointment in himself, someone who had a chip on their shoulder. The Tameranean looked at Cyborg for a moment before he slowly walked over to his friend.

"Robin...it's okay. You're okay, whatever you saw, whatever you felt wasn't real."

Robin looked down at himself, feeling so stupid for believing in that bullshit that he saw in there. His friends were here right now, talking to him right now, and that was real. But a small part of him believed of what he saw. Cyborg held out a hand, which the Boy Wonder took slowly and got to his feet.

Unfortunately, standing felt like jelly and he had to lean on the tin man for support.

"What did you see in there?"

"Nothing good. But I do think Raven and Beast Boy are in trouble."

The Titans looked at the dome after exchanging worrisome looks. Whatever was happening within was beyond their power.

End Chapter.