A.N.: I know, four months. Time goes by too quickly on my end! For those who also read my Fullmetal Alchemist story, I will continue it, but I have to put it on temporary hiatus until I finish this story. It's just too difficult to write two stories at once. In switching gears, I keep losing my momentum.

Arin grunted as he hit the ground, his midsection greatly protesting as he was tossed harshly and carelessly to the forest floor by a large Ophythian soldier—at least a head taller than the rest of them who already stood between seven to eight feet tall. The action jarred the combat specialist's healing injuries more than a little in their mostly non-padded state as he landed roughly on his chest. He would have wrapped his arms around his middle as a reflex to the pain had both appendages not been bound behind his back before he'd returned to consciousness—his movements were further restricted by the bindings on his ankles. On either side of him, two others were dropped to the dirt in a similar fashion: Kate on his left and an unconscious Raven on his right. Each of them was also bound, hands behind their backs as well as ankles bound to keep them from walking or lashing out with their feet with any degree of success.

It seemed these people had known of he and Kate's abilities, Arin noted, because he couldn't break the devices they'd used to subdue him. The advanced technological look of the wrist and ankle bracers brought him to the conclusion they were some sort of prototype, perhaps capable of counteracting any change in energy that would normally come with the use of any kind of superhuman ability. If they got out of this, they should have the League look into Lex Luthor, see if he'd been working on anything of the sort lately.

Grimacing past the pain in his ribcage as he brought his strained breathing under control, Arin glanced around the clearing he and his compadres had been brought to. Around the bound trio, men and women in hooded robes—quite archaically designed robes, at that—bustled around their small camp, gathering supplies and tearing down tents that had been used during their few weeks in the forest while hunting the fleeing supers. A dozen yards from the campsite stood a battalion of Ophythian soldiers, or at least what remained of them. They were no doubt the ones who had been traipsing through the forest in search of Raven and thus the ones the trackers had been fighting this whole time. Behind him, Arin could hear the much heavier breathing of the behemoth of an Ophythian who'd discarded him like a sack of potatoes. Judging by the sound and stability of it, he was probably standing still, no doubt keeping watch to make sure neither Arin, Kate, or the as of yet conscious Raven tried some futile escape attempt.

With their powers restricted as they were, neither Arin nor Kate would be attempting such heroics soon. All they could do was wait and hope these people would slip up, granting a timely opportunity at escaping with Raven, a mage who seemed so integral to their plans.

"When did your people get to us?" Came an angered question from Kate. She didn't give a thought to the large reptilian man standing behind them. Arin turned to see she was addressing a man not far from them who spoke with a hooded woman. By the much more elaborate and detailed designs of the man's robes and the collected fashion in which he gave out orders, the combat specialist could only infer the man was the leader of this group.

As if Kate hadn't spoken at all, the man refused to turn, giving some order to the hooded female figure—she must have been slightly higher in the ranks of this organization than most given her robes were slightly more decorated than most of the others'. Kate did not take kindly to being ignored.

"Hey!" She barked with a vicious snarl—Arin could almost swear her canines were a little sharper than normal, her other teeth sure to follow if she didn't settle down. She amplified the word with a burst of energy that was quickly absorbed into the bracers that bound her rather than taking the form of the forceful gust of wind it would have otherwise.

Even so, every Ophythian soldier in the clearing raised their weapons and turned on her. The much larger Ophythian who stood guard a few paces behind them removed an enormous ax from its sheath on his back and stepped forward, leveling it over the center of Kate's back. Though the fighters were bound and weary, it seemed these soldiers were still anticipating a threat from them. It certainly wasn't stupid of them to assume as much after how many of their people the two had killed over the past few months. On the contrary, Arin would have considered them quite dim if they hadn't expected trouble, but he knew Kate was too exhausted to exert herself any further than she just had. It was a bluff, and a risky one at that.

Her only intention had been to get the man's attention. In this, at least, she had succeeded. Slowly, the man in ornate robes turned from his underling to face Kate. His expression was hidden by the hood that cast a shadow low over his face, but the man's body language spoke of no signs of aggression or anger at her outburst. Arin growled under his breath.

The calm ones always proved to be much more trouble.

"Answer me!" Kate had always had a stubborn persistence, Arin noted to himself. Even when failure was assured, she would struggle and fight, and it seemed now was no different. He'd always admired the trait, even if it could be foolish at times.

"In Asia." the man spoke with a degree of utter calm only one who saw their victory as assured could muster. "Just before you and your companion so foolishly came out here in search of our dear Raven. You led us right to her."

The low growl that came from Arin, a warning that the man should watch his tone, was not silent that time in the face of the condescension in which the man addressed Kate. The combat specialist was bound, yes. He was surrounded by enemy troops who would quickly and easily end him at the first sign of physical threat from him. He probably wouldn't last long at all if he decided to attack.

But, even bound and wounded, Arin could easily kill this man before any of his followers got the chance to stop him. He'd killed plenty just like him before.

As if sensing this dark train of thought from him, Kate nudged his foot with her own to get his attention. After a pause in which Arin matched their enemy's gaze—eyes just barely noticeable beneath the ornate hood—with a defiant and threatening glare, he turned. Noticing the muffled concern in her eyes, he could only assume his own had had begun to change, a precursor to an almost complete loss of control. Understanding he could not allow himself to give in to his anger when the situation was so dire, Arin quickly shut his eyes and bowed his head to touch his brow to the dirt, trying to regain that control through disciplined breathing.

It worked, if only a little, and Kate turned her attention back to their captor.

"How many?" was her next question, and the possibilities of that question's answer terrified her.

They had not been alone in Asia. Along with Ronnie Raymond, Todd Rice, and Oliver Queen—more widely known as Firestorm, Obsidian, and Green Arrow respectively—Arin and Kate had helped train a knew recruit named Cynthia Reynolds, now known under the pseudonym of Gypsy. Their training session had been cut short when word of one of Darkseid's operations in the region had reached the far reaching ears of the Justice League. During the following investigation, Darkseid had done something to the supers, something involving some sort of electric floor, but the group had been cleared medically upon the conclusion of the mission. Shortly afterward, however, Arin and Kate had received the message from Robin requesting the tracker team's aid in searching for his wayward teammate, and no other contact with enemy parties had taken place save for the skirmishes with the lizard men.

Was it possible Darkseid was in league with these people? Had he done something to them beyond simply shocking them with that floor of his or during their subsequent blackout? And, if he had done something, what about Ronnie, Todd, Oliver, and Cynthia? Were they unknowing sleeper agents as well?

Kate's fears were confirmed when the only answer to her question was a twisted smile the hooded man gave, known only by the gleaming of moonlight off his teeth.

"Where are you taking us?" This question had come from Arin, as Kate seemed to distraught in the face of this revelation to continue their questioning. They had to know what these people were planning. The hooded man's eyes returned to him, and Arin, never one to submit, only glared up at him.

After a short pause in which he simply observed the bound super, the man responded with a simple, "Why, we are bringing her home, of course. Well," he laughed as if at his own joke, "her Earthly home, that is."

Admittedly surprised by this turn, Arin could think of nothing else to say.

Was there a word for it? Was there a word for a time in someone's life when everything was going horribly, tragically wrong? A time when you were flipped on your head and spun until you no longer knew which way was up? If there wasn't, Beast Boy thought there ought to be. There should be a name for the way all sense of feeling had fled his body as though sucked right out of him like air escaping out the hull breach of a spaceship. It left him as nothing but an empty husk as he, shoulders slumped in defeat, simply stared out to the tower in the distance. Rage had taken them there, Raven's fallen incarnations of personality, after they had been unceremoniously and almost laughably beat down.

The most pressing problem, to him at least, was that not all of them had been taken.

And, just as quickly, the emptiness inside the changeling was filled with a sense of anxiety and a dark paranoia only utter defeat could conjure. He turned slowly to observe Brave as she made to sit up from where she'd been tossed to the ground like a rag doll, silently asking himself a simple question: 'why?'.

Why had Brave been left behind when all of the others had been taken?

If he was in his right mind, Beast Boy would have tried to sort through that thought on a deeper level, but his brain felt like a battery that had burst after a power surge. He couldn't form any truly coherent thoughts aside from the seeming correlation between Rage's departing to her leaving Brave, and only Brave, with them. Brave herself had been with them for weeks now, had helped them combat the demon's control and had been severely injured a number of times alongside Beast Boy, Starfire, and Zippy. She'd been a trusted part of the team.

But, Zippy was dead, had turned to ash in Starfire's hands when Raven had been defeated by her own embodiment of rage. The little lizard had been a friend. Beast Boy had become attached to him just as he had the Titans he'd learned to call family over the past few hears. There had been some connection between he and Zippy, though, one the changeling been unable to define. It was strange given how short a time he'd been in their lives, but he'd felt they could actually understand one another, even if Beast Boy couldn't shape-shift again yet.

And as if she had been the only thing giving him life, Zippy had died when Raven fell, and Raven's other embodiments had been rendered unconscious—possibly worse, but he hoped for the best given he'd been unable to check any of them for a lack of pulse before they'd been whisked off. Raven's defeat had been like the tipping of the first domino, taking down each of her interior defenses one by one until even the stars in the sky had blinked out.

So, why was Brave still around and conscious?

Beast Boy didn't realize he was just in shock, perceiving the situation with a less than rational point of view while ignoring the simple fact that deceiving them would have been pointless now. After having helped them for so long, Brave would have been in the perfect position to pull the wool over their eyes but. . .

Hadn't they just lost? What would be the point?

Still, Beast Boy turned and approached Brave on slow, unsteady feet as the injured mage prepared to push herself to her feet. He almost seemed to be a zombie in one of the horror films he so enjoyed for how autonomous and blank his movements and expression were. He reached her before she stood and grabbed the collar of the mage's armor, hauling her up the rest of the way to her feet as he turned her to look at him.

"Why did they take the others but not you?" Beast Boy's voice shook as he spoke, and Brave nearly tried to retreat back a step at the look in his eyes that very nearly resembled that of a crazed animal feigning control.

"I-I don't-" her voice wasn't any steadier than his, but the changeling didn't give Brave enough time to speak before he continued, his words rising in volume.

"Why did they leave you?!" Panic peaked through in his expression that time as he gave her a shake, almost like he hoped doing so would dislodge an actual response from her.

"I don't know!" Brave matched his volume with an earnest defiance, standing her ground but not making a move to push him away either. She knew what emotional shock looked like, and the changeling was displaying classic signs of it—she herself was currently experiencing the same condition, a sense of disbelief and dread filling her as it felt as though she'd been disconnected from everything. One simple thought ran rampant in her mind, hopping around and doing a celebratory tango as if taunting her.

What were they going to do now?

With the combined might of Starfire, Beast Boy, Zippy, and six specialized mages, they had been unable to defeat Rage. With only three of them left, they couldn't possibly hope for a victory. Brave quickly came to the conclusion that there was only one option for what their next step should be. She would have to get Starfire and Beast Boy out of there before they too fell to this demon. She would never forgive herself if either of them died fighting her battle.

"Beast Boy." Starfire's emotionally wavering voice brought both the changeling and Brave from their individual thoughts, and said green Titan turned when the Tamaranean placed a hand on his shoulder. At the sight of her grief for their fallen friend, Beast Boy seemed to return to himself, seeming surprised at his own actions when he returned his gaze to Brave. He took a quick step back, releasing his hold on her armor.

"I-I'm sorry." He gave the breathless apology, but the hoodless mage shook her head.

"No, it's-"

She had been about to verbally dismiss his actions as being those of someone in shock, but she came up short when deep vibrations in the ground beneath their feet drew the trio's attention. Her eyes widened. Alarmed when the rumbling grew steadily louder and more violent, Starfire and Beast Boy readied their weapons, eyes scanning the darkened landscape around them even as Brave stood in a motionless stupor.

Beast Boy was the first to notice it and turn, the subtle shifting in the stone path they'd crossed over that almost made the ground seem alive with movement and the sound that seemed to be a thousand shouts in one as they reached his attuned ears. Starfire turned next and followed his gaze, but Brave, her instincts telling her what the danger was before she'd laid eyes on it, turned slowly. When her fears were confirmed, she felt the unfathomable and blasphemous desire to sink to her knees in defeat. Because what could they do?

But, she was never one to be paralyzed by fear, so she instead turned to action.

"Run. . ." she ordered her friends as she began to step back, moving towards the castle in the distance. It would be the one place they could be even potentially safe. When neither Starfire nor Beast Boy moved to follow, though, transfixed by the shifting landscape before them that seemed to shimmer in its constant form of subtle change, she barked the order louder and with more authority. Turning in surprise, the wide-eyed Titans saw her intent and quickly moved to follow as Brave took off at a sprint for their far-flung shelter.

Washing over the land behind them, thundering across the narrow rocky path, was a wave of endless Ophythian soldiers. It was almost as if the torrent had been previously held at bay by the dam that was Raven's hold over her mind.

And when that dam broke, they came crashing through with a terrible fury.

Ryuku sat lotus style in the otherwise unoccupied gym of the Titans Tower just off Jump City's coast. It had been a fairly quiet day in the city thus far. Actually, there had been a lot of quiet days since he'd arrived. Ever since the Brotherhood of Evil had been defeated and frozen, there hadn't been many villains running around who warranted the help of the Teen Titans. The larger threats were always handled by the Justice League. There was talk among Robin and Cyborg, though, about a newly surfaced villainess and weapon-for-hire who supposedly had a connection to one of the Titans' greatest enemies, but little else was known.

Fortunately, all of this free time had given Ryuku time for training and meditation, and he spent every day honing his skills and senses. In the quiet of the gym, he emptied his mind and focused on his own breathing and life force as it cycled through him. In his mind, he corrected subtle flaws in his forms and in the execution of his attacks from the katas he'd just run through and made mental notes for corrections.

The samurai's meditation broke swiftly, however, when a sound breached his consciousness, a subtle yet familiar and telltale series of beeps coming from the edge of the practice mat where he'd discarded his shirt and shoes before his workout. For the briefest of moments, he amused the thought that he was simply hearing things. It had been almost three months since they'd gone after the Titan, and he'd heard nothing from the Tracker Team's combat specialist since their departing. But, of course, that silence was bound to be broken at some point.

Eyes snapping open as he quickly unfolded his limbs, Ryuku quickly threw the thought aside and jumped to his feet, running over to the small bundle of his personal effects. It took only a moment of rifling through his pockets to find the item he sought, a small receiver that could fit in the palm of his hand. The light on its face flashed to accompany the beeps it gave off, and Ryuku paid strict attention to the series of letters it rattled off in coded patterns.

Long short short. Short, short short short long, short long... Already, the samurai could tell this wasn't the beginning of the message, so he waited, knowing it would be repeated soon. After a moment of sitting in expectation, he was proven correct when the pause between letters was much longer. When it started again, he focused, translating the code in his mind as each letter came in.

The complete message was not one he had been hoping for.

Translated, the complete encryption meant "Mission failed. Evac Jump City." Bushido simply sat for a moment, stunned and dumbstruck. Had he understood the message correctly? There was only one person this coded message could be from; only one person had the frequency. Was it really possible they had not succeeded.

Snapping himself out of his daze, Bushido jumped back up to his feet and ran out the door without giving his state of partial undress a second thought. As quickly as he could, he ran through the tower's winding halls and staircases until he finally came to the main room. Bursting through the doors with little tact, the three other Titans who made up this temporary team turned from their card game, a card game Jynx appeared to be winning if Robin's and Cyborg's looks of irritation were any indication.

At the silent samurai's grim expression and hasty demeanor, Robin stood, his own features turning to the serious countenance he wore when taking up his station as their leader.

"Trouble?" He was ready to spring into action at a single word from the warrior.

"We must evacuate the city," the swordsman explained shortly, and each Titan balked. Really, he shouldn't have been surprised by their confusion. He probably would have gotten the same reaction if he burst through the doors saying he had seen Cinderblock, but the villain had been turned bright pink (which would first require he be thawed out).

"We gotta' what?" Now Cyborg had stood as well, followed swiftly by Jynx, and it was now three titans giving their normally silent companion a look that said 'explain now'.

"Evacuate," Ryuku reiterated simply. When they opened their mouths to verbally ask for more information, he continued before they could get the words out. "Raven has failed to contain the beast. We must evacuate before it returns."

Their expressions drew grim, particularly those of the mage's two present crime fighting companions. Cyborg seemed to have lost all ability to stand because he collapsed back into his chair, his expression dazed in disbelief. Robin, however, seemed to take the news on a rather confrontational note because he approached Ryuku quickly, using his slightly greater height as an intimidation tactic as he glared down at the honorary Titan.

This news about their dear friend had not been what they had hoped for.

"How do you know this?" Robin gritted out, fists clenching at his sides, no doubt planning to floor Ryuku if he did not answer well enough.

"I am in contact with the Justice League's tracker team. Just a moment ago, I received a message from the operative, Raptor, via a code transmitted through a wireless receiver." Despite the clear threat of physical harm should he fail to explain himself as well as his temporary leader desired, Ryuku's voice and body posture remained calm, a facet to his personality that had come from years studying the discipline of martial arts. "We must evacuate the civilians and prepare a counter attack before the demon arrives."

"Is it possible you may have decoded it wrong?" was Robin's next growled out question. The calm stare he received was the only answer he needed to understand he was simply grasping at straws. If the Boy-Wonder had not been wearing a mask, Ryuku was sure he may have seen panic flash through his eyes before he turned, running his hands through his gelled hair as he proceeded to pace about. Cyborg had not moved from his chair, wide eyes staring forward in his shell-shock.

It was another moment before Robin had collected his thoughts enough to give his orders.

"Alright, let's move. Cyborg, I need you to contact the Justice League. Explain the situation and ask for immediate assistance. I'll talk to the Mayor and the police, get as much assistance from them we can. Jynx and Bushido, head into the city to prepare to assist in the evacuation. If this is true, we could be in for the fight of our lives here. Move out!"

Ryuku nodded and turned, joined by Jynx in exiting the room. Before Robin left, however, he approached Cyborg, still paralyzed by his shock over the news and his fear for their friends, and placed a hand on the big man's metal shoulder. It was another moment before he turned, an understandable and shared fear in his eyes.

"What about B and Star?"

Robin had not wanted to think about that, though he had subconsciously wrapped his finders around a ring in his pocket nonetheless. His answer was far from adequate in either Titan's minds.

". . . I don't know."

Warehouse District of Gotham City:

"I understand. We will finish here and return with as little delay as possible." With that short response, J'onn ended the transmission, casting a cursory glance up to the storm clouds that continued to drench the city in water. It was unfortunate that his search would have to be put on hold for some indeterminate span of time, but the matter to which Gotham's Dark Knight had referred to sounded serious. Whatever troubled the League was no doubt more troublesome than the wayward actions of the escaped Human Flame. J'onn turned to his comrade, Ronnie Raymond, who had been the one to discover the Flame's recent actions in this area of Gotham City. At hearing the exchanged words, however, Firestorm had turned to the green martian with an expression of great intrigue, not having heard the other half of the conversation.

"The League has called an emergency council. We must end our task here and return to the Watchtower." J'onn continued on without pause upon saying this, turning his back on his ally as he intended to complete their search for any information on the Michael Miller, who had been causing trouble in the area.

The martian didn't know turning his back would bring his end. Comrades, for all their benefits when it came to combating the worst criminals the world had to offer, were also a great potential weakness, a vulnerability, and it was this vulnerability that would cost J'onn everything.

He detected the potent change in the smell of the rain quickly, and he heard the click of a lighter, but he hadn't pieced together what those two things meant in correlation until it was too late.

As J'onn spun around to face this foe, he was met only by the image of Firestorm, one hand holding the energy of his matter manipulation as the other was outstretched. From that outstretched hand, flew the lighter, already lit. And when that lighter reached the air within two feet of the Martian, the flame appeared to ignite the very rain that would normally smother it, rain in which the Hydrogen and Oxygen that formed its molecules had been changed and shifted into a concoction of Hydrogen, Oxygen, and Carbon that had now drenched the extraterrestrial superhero.

Ethanol.

The fire spread rapidly, and within a few seconds was feeding on the superhero's flesh with a ravenous hunger as though he had personally wronged it at one point in his life. J'onn gave an alarmed and panicked cry as he stumbled back, telling his body to fly out of the reach of the danger yet knowing it couldn't as the flames sapped his powers. Not only could he not get away for the excruciating pain that was crippling him, the rain above him was continuously transmuted into ethanol, fueling the fir to burn even hotter. There was no escape for him, and so he turned to his assailant.

"Why?" he implored desperately, but Ronnie Raymond only stared, giving not the grim or pained frown of someone betraying one of their own or the sinister grin of one who was glad to do so. He simply stared, slack-faced as he made to murder one of his own teammates, and J'onn knew he would not speak, give answer as to why he had done this. Something was not right with him.

J'onn's question was answered with a laugh, however. Not from Firestorm, but from another. It was familiar, all too familiar to the martian who had made his home on Earth after the destruction of his own people. He did not have to turn, for the owner of that laugh was soon standing above the hero, another figure a few paces behind him. A blue mask. A yellow cowl. A golden staff.

"Libra." J'onn grimaced, knowing the end of his life was near. He was weakened, rendered powerless by the flames that still burned, fueled by the powers of his own ally. Behind the villain stood another. Michael Miller, the Human Flame. It couldn't be a coincidence that the man J'onn and Firestorm had come to search for was now standing there. It would seem this was to be a 'show and tell' of sorts.

"Indeed, my Malacandran friend." Even through the mask, J'onn could see the man's grin. He raised the staff, an elemental weapon of fire, and readied it. "Do you have any last words?"

J'onn coughed, wheezing on what little air would come to him as he looked up at his foe from the flat of his back, skin cracked and bubbling as fire continued to consume him.

"Whatever you are planning, Libra, you an yours will fail." And so, he gave his parting words. "Your kind has always failed, and you will continue to fail. There can be no other outcome."

Libra only grinned the sinister grin that had been missing from Ronnie Raymond's face upon the hero's unexplainable betrayal. The criminal mastermind raised the golden staff further, light from the dim street lights of the factory district glinting off of it, a vicious glint that was reflected in the eyes of its wielder. And so, Libra brought the weapon down, impaling the Martian Manhunter through the chest, and the flames eating away at the martian's skin were met by a fire that ate away at him from the inside.

As the vessel of Firestorm lowered his hand and ceased his matter manipulation, ensuring Libra would not also be caught by the flames, Ronnie Raymond watched from within himself, a caged prisoner inside his own body, as he was instrumental in the downfall of one of the Justice League's founding and most powerful members.

And all he could do was scream the name of his friend in his mind, for his body would not respond to his commands to attack the villain who had just ended the Martian Manhunter.

They had soon enough reached the chasm that surrounded the sky-reaching structure that was seemingly formed of the gray rock beneath their feet, and had thus reached the bridge of light that gave safe passage over the empty, bottomless moot below. Brave took the lead, her companions crossing over the bridge with only a moment's hesitation after they saw it would take her weight: she hadn't even slowed before running full speed onto something that looked like it shouldn't even have a physical presence. And yet, the light seemed to act like some form of glass, an undoubtedly sturdy glass, as it supported the force of their combined weight without creak, groan, or complaint.

Naturally reaching the end first, Raven's embodied courage approached a large glowing barrier that had risen unfathomably high into the air and surrounded the tower. Rather than approach the barrier directly, she made her way towards a pedestal near the corner of the bridge, muttering something to herself along the way about hoping something would still work, but her companions were still too shell-shocked by previous events to really take notice. Stepping up to it, Brave placed her hand atop a glowing orb faceted into the pedestal's surface. The orb reacted to her touch as though she had poured life into it, and it glowed brighter at the contact from its master—or at least a piece of its master.

The orb's light flared blindingly before traversing down the pedestal, across the bridge to the barrier, and spreading up the wall like water expanding out over a beach, expanding until it rose two dozen feet into the air and matched the width of the bridge. The wall shimmered for a moment before breaking at the top, seemingly disintegrating. Slowly, the portion of the barrier that had glowed with the orb's light followed suit, an unseen substance eating away at it until the space before the Titans was empty. Taking that as their cue, Beast Boy and Starfire, both slightly stunned by the display, ran ahead as Brave removed her hand from the pedestal to join them.

Or at least, that was what they thought she would do.

Only when he heard the wall begin to form again yet only heard two sets of footsteps including his own did Beast Boy realize too late what the mage was planning to do. His feet stopped in their tracks as he brought himself to a swift halt, and he whirled around, eyes wide, to find Brave had not removed her hand from the pedestal as he thought and was instead restoring the wall to its former solid state.

With herself still on the other side.

In the distance behind her, the ground shimmered and squirmed like some grotesque sephilopod as the army of Ophythian soldiers thundered closer and closer to the bridge, a wave of claws and teeth and steel weapons rolling across the gray land to eviscerate anything in its path.

"Brave!" the changeling called out to her in protest as he retraced his steps to her. But, the wall had reformed before him by the time he reached it, and for his speed he was instead forced to brace himself on its surface to keep from running headlong into it. Desperately, his hands flew across the barrier of light that seemed almost liquid to the touch, searching desperately for any weakness he could exploit to open even a small breach in the shield and pull her through.

He had seen too many of them fall, these pieces of Raven, and it hurt him each and every time. He had even, though he still tried to keep it from his mind, killed one of them himself, though she had come back to life shortly afterward. Brave was now the only active part of Raven's mind, the others captured and incapacitated after Rage had split Raven on the battlefield following her victory. Brave was the only piece of Raven to still be allowed to wonder freely and still capable of fighting back.

If Brave didn't make it. . . What would happen to Raven?

Despondent, as the aqueous light would not give in to his demands, Beast Boy could only turn his gaze to Brave, the task of searching trading from his hands to his eyes as he silently asked why she had done this. She said nothing, just stood there with a look that seemed to apologize without words, so the changeling figured he should vocalize his question if he wanted to understand.

"What are you doing?" Beast Boy asked, pleading with her to lower the shield again, to come to her senses. What could she possibly be planning by staying out there? Brave only shook her head to answer the question he had not asked, her penitential gaze not straying from his as she removed her hand from the pedestal that would reopen the gate. The unwavering determination in her eyes, despite the apology they were giving, caused a painful tightening in the changeling's chest, and he felt a stinging grow behind his eyes—in hindsight, his instincts had understood what he'd refused to believe.

Only when Starfire came up beside Beast Boy did Brave tear her eyes away.

"I'm not coming," Brave had never really been one for words.

"But why?" the Tamaranean princess implored their friend, already emotional herself after Zippy's death as her eyes strayed to the wave of enemy soldiers that surely spelled death to any who faced them.

Especially to any who faced them alone.

"I do not understand?" Starfire returned her eyes to their friend, a friend who had essentially caged herself in with the approaching army.

"Someone has to buy you time. . . And now I'm all that's left," Brave explained with a grim frown, and Beast Boy's mind again turned back to the others, taken by Rage, and to Zippy who had slowly turned to ash before their eyes. She was all that was left, all that remained of Raven's internal defenses.

And it seemed she would first defend Beast Boy and Starfire before herself despite this fact.

"This barrier is strong, but it is by no means impregnable. Given enough time, they would break through and storm the tower, and then all of this would have been for nothing." Brave continued. "I can hold them off here, slow them down. This bridge works as a nice funnel and should keep them from overwhelming me." She added a 'too quickly' in her head, though they were not words she would ever voice here.

"But there's too many." Beast Boy pleaded with her to see reason. If they all remained together, they could get through this quicker, before the enemy broke through the shield. The Titans had always come through for each other when they fought together, and this was no different. Together, they could win!

But, Brave did not submit.

"They can't activate or deactivate the barrier, so they'll be forced to attack it to break through." It was as if she hadn't heard him as she continued to voice her plan and her reasoning. "I can hold them off, keep them from doing so for as long as I can. Then I'll destroy the bridge and catch up to you. Less time for them to find a different method of getting here this way." When Beast Boy opened his mouth to speak again, she cut him off in a hasty tone of voice, ever aware of the danger fast approaching from behind.

"I can buy you time enough to reach the third floor. There, you will find the portal that will take you out of here. You've seen it before, Beast Boy, so you know what to look for. And if you find Rage, just run. There is no hope for a victory now, so you must do as I say."

"No!" Beast Boy blurted, having grown frustrated with her insistence on keeping him from getting a word in. Brave's jaw clenched as her mouth drew into a tight line and her brow crinkled, though whether in concern or her own frustration, the changeling didn't know.

"We won't leave you here! Not with that!" Beast boy thrust a finger out to the army of lizard-men approaching from behind, maybe half a mile away now. Already, his enhanced vision could pick out the forms of larger, monstrous creatures the group had yet to encounter. "You're coming with us. The Titans have always fought better together, and you know that. If we split up now, we'll weaken ourselves."

"Beast Boy." Brave spoke his name to interrupt him, but he would hear none of it. She had said her piece, and now it was his turn.

"I know you think Star and I have to come before you, that this is all somehow your fault and that you dragged us into all this, but we came here willingly!" He indicated Starfire and himself to aplify what he was saying, the Tamaranean retaining a silence born of understanding in this argument. Beast Boy stepped closer to the barrier, placing a hand on it to remind himself where it was.

"Beast Boy." Brave tried again, visibly resisting the urge to look beside herself to the advancing force of enemy troops, but the changeling refused to hear it again.

"We've done all of this for you, so why do you think we would leave now, abandon you here to fight that alone?" It was clear the question was a rhetorical one, giving an answer in its undertone that said they would not. "We won't-"

"Garfield." To further get his attention, Brave placed her hand on the wall of light in such a way that their hands would have been touching if it weren't for the barrier between them, and Beast Boy drew silent at the sound of his real name, a name he scarcely heard anymore. "There's no time to argue." Her eyes begged him to do as she asked, even as his begged her to come with them, to give up this suicidal plan.

She still wouldn't give in, though, and he knew he had failed.

"Go." With a look that said this was for them, Brave removed her hand from where Beast Boy's rested on the opposite side of the barrier that separated them and backed up—towards the growing thunder that approached her from behind, the changeling couldn't help but notice.

Beast Boy pretended not to hear her, defiantly leaving his feet planted to the ground like a toddler disobeying a rule they knew they should follow. It was childish, he knew, but some part of him hoped that, if he was stubborn enough, she would change her mind.

She did not.

"Go!" Brave reiterated, her harsh undertone making him flinch, for it told him she would not reconsider. Defeated, he hung his head, his shoulders trembling as he fought every urge inside of him that told him to tear the barrier between them to shreds, no matter how long it took, and fight beside her. He fought every instinct in his body that told him not to leave her there, and it was then that a simple thought entered his mind, one that cause a more painful tightening in his chest.

Without the forest green hood, she looked just like Raven.

Beast Boy's hand curled into a tight fist, claws digging into the palm of his hand, and his right fang finally tore through his lip with how hard he was clenching his jaw and teeth, leaving the disgusting metallic taste of blood in his mouth as a small trail of blood made its way down his chin.

He lowered his hand from the wall.

"Give 'em hell," was all the changeling could bring himself to say before he turned and ran without another look back, heading into the tower that held both their foe and their escape.

He wished he'd been able to leave his heart behind as he did so, as the thing pounded painfully away in his chest. In leaving Brave there, was he abandoning Raven? He couldn't stop himself from wondering, and the thought tore at his insides that threatened to rebel against him with every step he took that brought him farther away from her. He ignored the small part of him that knew Brave was lying when she said she would meet up with them later, shoved that part of him into the pit of his stomach to drown it in his nausea.

Behind him, Starfire lingered, her eyes locked on Brave who stood on the wrong side of the protective shield that surrounded the tower, and the mage stared right back, meeting her gaze with certainty and determination. The Tamaranean understood why she had to do it. But, everything in her wanted nothing more than to be on the other side of that barrier, with her friend, ready to face down the danger that was growing frighteningly close. Another few minutes, and they would be upon her.

Starfire couldn't, she knew. Brave was doing this to give them time, time they needed to get out alive while they could. But a frightening thought gave Starfire pause.

These embodiments of Raven had been able to recover after death, reappearing inside their own realms after they had been defeated in combat. But. . . Something terrible had happened to Raven just a short while ago, and the Tamaranean simply didn't know if that was possible anymore. The fact that Brave had not mentioned this ability to restore herself to ease either hers or Beast Boy's concerns only added to the terrifying thought that, were the mage to die here, she just might die for good. What would happen to Raven if a piece of her was to die?

Brave's strategy to destroy the light bridge before the enemy overtook her and then rejoin the group. . . Starfire saw through it as an attempt to give them false hope—it was a ploy to get them to follow along with her plan, to get them to safety at any cost . Battle was too unpredictable to hope for such a contingency. The odds that Brave would be given a chance to break away from combat to both destroy the bridge and lower the barrier were slim to none.

And she knew Brave understood this fact. The grim line her mouth had drawn into as the mage returned her gaze was all the proof Starfire needed to be sure of that. She was asking Starfire to ignore this, asking her to look over the fact that she was leaving a friend behind to die and make sure Beast Boy continued with their plans after it happened. Starfire wanted nothing more than to break down, to cry for their friend as she said a silent goodbye.

But, there was no time.

"Starfire. . ." Brave's words were quiet, a quiver to them she had not allowed to show while Beast Boy was present. The Tamaranean did not respond, but the mage could no doubt tell she had her full attention, knew that her mind was locked in the present rather than leafing through the past.

"Make him leave." Her eyes did not waver, even as her voice did. "They will finish this, and you can't be here when that happens." A single tear fell from each of Brave's eyes even as she remained strong-faced when staring down her own demise. Starfire fought against her own tears as she took this in. This was a personal request, something Raven rarely made, and it was not something she ever did lightly. "So you make him leave."

Starfire gave a grim nod to inform her friend that she would do as she had been asked. The relief that washed over Brave's face, the relief that washed over Raven's face, made her want to scream in anger and frustration and anguish. But she kept it inside, feeling her tears on the brim of falling. She did not let them, kept them at bay to appear strong for her friend. She would not strengthen her ideal that there was no way out of this because battle truly was unpredictable. There was a possibility, if painstakingly slim, that she would make it out.

Only when she had turned away did Starfire allow her tears to fall, and she ran after Beast Boy.

Watching her go, Brave let out a shaky breath of relief before turning to face the oncoming storm, her fists clenching to activate her wrist blades with a 'shwk'. She only said one thing as the first Ophythian thundered onto the bridge to join her, snarling and weapons held aloft to draw blood. She spoke three words before charging into a battle that would, in all likelihood, be her last.

"Give 'em hell."

A.N.:

To Guest: Thanks! I hope you continue to enjoy!

To Shadowmeld13: It's actually quite amusing to me to look back and see how terrible my writing was in the beginning. It is, however, why I started writing fanfictions: to improve my writing. I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

To: crazedduke: About 150,000 words, this story is, and it's not quite done yet.

To Mia222: There is so much more danger to behold, you have no idea. Mwahahahaa!

To NeverEndingWriters: Unfortunately, this is not the biggest falling action. And killing Zippy was sooo hard for me to do. I loved that little guy!

To BartWLewis: Thanks! Hopefully the ending I have planned will be worthy.

To Black Labyrinth07: Oh, don't worry, friend. I have this pathological need to complete any publication I begin, so this will be completed. The sequel will tie in directly to this, as will be evident once I post the final chapter of Snake Hunt. There will be three more chapters here, with the final being the lengthiest of them all.

Thank you to everyone who has read this story and supported me.