10/27/06

Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans. I only have power of the story idea.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

1. Prologue

"Late..." A woman said looking at her watch. She was tall, slender woman with bright red hair tied back in a bun. Her bright blue eyes were wide awake, this was odd since the time was 2:35 AM. She was in a broken down warehouse in Jump City. There were crates all over the place and a few broken windows. Not her choice of a meeting spot, but abandoned enough.

"Morning, Channer." A voice sounded. The figure was wearing a hooded, black cloak, hood up. You couldn't see the face. Underneath the cloak was a tight, black jumpsuit and a striped, black and white, scarf wrapped around the neck twice with the second loop hanging down and the two ends uneven. The person was short as well. They looked the height of an average teenager, no older than fourteen.

"Shadow, what took you so long? I've been waiting here an hour." The woman replied. Her foot was tapping in annoyance.

"Didn't want to get caught." Shadow brought a large amount of cash from underneath the cloak. Channer's eye's widened in greed as she stared at the money.

"Is that my cut?" She asked, nodding her head at the green. The hooded figure's head looked to the money as if pondering something.

"It causes me to wonder..." They said, "If I did all the work, why do you get a cut?"

"It was my plan." Channer voice hinted annoyance.

"Anyone could think of 'Three-card Monte' and I still don't see your work in the matter." The money disappeared inside the cloak.

"Bad move." She replied strictly, "You don't really think I came alone do you?" She gestured towards the rest of the warehouse. Shadow's head glanced from side to side. Behind crates and hidden all over the ware house were hidden men wielding pistols or a gun of some sort. Channer and Shadow, both con artist, both playing the trust-scheme, planning to backstab each other from the beginning. Channer just came prepared for the worst. Channer's right hand raised. If needed, she would give a signal to shoot, "Hand over the money, and I mean all of it, not just my share." She smirked.

"You want to know why they call me Shadow?" The voice emerged from the hood.

"Your shadowy appearance, I guess." She was losing her patience, and eyeing her "partner in crime" with hatred. Shadow moved in a way that showed she was fiddling with a pocket in the back of her suit. Channer's eyes showed a hint of curiosity. Was she getting the rest, or storing what she already had?

"You have until the count of five. One..." Shadow didn't budge.

"... Two..." Still, nothing.

"... Three... Four..." Channer pause, giving Shadow a bit of time to react. No sign of movement. She smirked again.

"Five!" She shouted throwing her hand down. Bullets flew at Shadow for about 30 seconds before it became silent. Channer laughed, stepping forward, but stopped. There was no sign of a body. No blood. She frowned.

"The real reason they call me Shadow, if you must know..." Shadow's voice was heard, "Is for a special ability I have." Channer's blue eyes darted all over the warehouse looking for wear the voice was coming from. She saw something out of the corner in her eye when looking at one of the crates beside her. A thing was rising from the ground in front of her. It soon was standing at a normal height, Shadow.

"What are you?" Channer shouted stepping back in fear.

"Shadow of the Soul!" Shadow shouted ignoring the question. Channer stopped. There was a connection holding her to Shadow. She could see a dark patch there. She was captured by a shadow. A dark figure in the shape of a hand crawled up her front and pause were the heart was. The shadowy hand suddenly jerked back. Channer's body fell onto the floor, lifelessly.

Shadow looked to one of the men behind the crates. He fell back, dropping his gun and ran for the closest exit. So did the other gunman. There were five men total.

Satisfied, Shadow headed for the main entrance to the warehouse. A small smile appeared under the hood as Shadow counted the money that was gained. Bang! Shadow fell to the ground, as a man watched the dark person turn the corner.

"Take that you damn con artist! Didn't think you could take my money did you. I may have been drunk during the betting, but I'm mean now." He stepped forward and found the money in Shadows hand. He pried it from the cold dead fingers and left, counting it.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

AN: The Titans were not in it. This chapter took place before them. This is only a prologue as described in the chapter title. The main story starts in the next chapter. I'm a bit of a novice about how crimes work, since I have no experience (thank goodness) in that section. I did go to wikipedia to get all the info I could though.

Next Time: The Titans had come back from fight the Brotherhood of Evil. They first had to deal with that one monster and Terra. They finally get a chance to look into the police reports. They are surprised to discover a chain of murders going on. All comitted by one person... See you next time!