The Anti-Villain | Robin Love Story

The End Part 3

     My heart clenches and I tighten my grip on the blue cloak in my hand. The little gray skinned girl stares up at me with a fearful gaze that makes me feel like I should be arrested. How can this frightened little child be Raven?

     "Who-who are you?" the half-demon asks.

     "It's me. Hypno, remember?" I reach my free hand out to the little girl, hoping she'd calm down. Unfortunately, Raven barely spares me a glare before jumping onto her feet and taking off. I follow her lead, but she rushes out of reach and into a hole in the cathedral wall.

     I jump over the broken stone just as the little half-demon slides down the rubble outside. "Raven! Wait!" I run down the stairs, dropping down two at a time to try and catch up. The little girl runs into a cave and I follow as I reach the end of the steps.

     The cave leads to a short tunnel which opens into a large ravine. Tall pillars of rock scatter along the open area. My eyes scan the ravine, spotting no sign of movement. I clench my fists—bunching up the cloak still in my hand—and continue forward. A flash of white catches my eye and I turn to see a little body tucked in a crevice in the ravine wall.

     I cautiously make my way over with my hands up. "Raven, please. I'm not here to hurt you. I'm—" The gray skinned girl kicks out and hits me in the stomach. As I stumble back, Raven jumps forward and rips her cloak out of my hands before running off again.

     I look up and see the half-demon jumping up the rock pillars and let out a sigh, knowing that I'll have to chase her up those. As she goes to leap onto the next pillar, she slips. My body reacts before I can even process that I've jumped forward and caught her. I curl around the wriggling body to keep her from escaping. "Wait, Raven.

"Hold on. I'm here to help you, I promise. I'm just here to take you back to our friends." She suddenly stops fighting and I pull back.

     "I'm lost," the little girl says as she meets my eyes.

     "A little, yeah. But I'm here to help you." I lift her onto her feet and stand up. I hesitantly stretch out my hand, hopping she won't run again. She curls her little fingers over my palm and I feel a sense of triumph. "Now we just need to get out of here."

     I lead the silent child back to the cathedral and up the path I came from. As we make it back to where Slade and I parted ways, I can't help but look for the masked man. For all I know him getting his 'flesh and blood back' might just permanently kill him.

~~~

     The stone boat slides out of the lava and up to the black shore. I step out of the vessel and cautiously lift the half-demon onto my back.

     "So, do you remember anything at all before all this?" I ask as I glance over my shoulder. My feet carry the both of us over to the cliff I have to climb so we can get back to the spiral staircase. It looks a lot taller from down here. Raven shakes her head in response to my question and grips my shoulders a little tighter. I hold back the urge to sigh and start climbing the rock face.

     I glance over my shoulder again as I reach up for another hand hold.

     "You know, you were one of the first people to hear about when I got my powers. Only two other people know besides you. Do you remember when I told you?" Raven shakes her head again. "I told you when you, Starfire and I all switched bodies.

"I got your powers and you had to teach me how to fly." I halt my climbing and hold one hand up, letting weak black flames climb over my fingers. "Right before you... became Trigon's portal, you gave all of us your powers. Or at least what was left of them. We tried to use them against your father and I had to give them all a crash course, just like you did for me."