TEEN TITANS: SHADOW OF THE PHANTASM

Note: The properties used came from Warner Brothers and DC Comics. The idea is purely mine, however.

1.

It is nighttime in Jump City. The weather is warm and raining. In the alleys, a man tries to flee from an oncoming threat.

"No! No! Get Away!" The man throws over trashcans trying to block the path of the threat. With each step, he feels closer to escape. He nears the end of an alleyway, only to slip in a puddle of rainwater. He turns around, the fear evident in his eyes. He gets back to his feet and grabs the edge of a nearby building. He screams out, "Help!" He loses his grip on the building and is pulled back into the dark recesses of the alleyway, screaming.

If one were to listen, you would hear a voice, a very deep voice, speaking. "Your angel of death awaits." Soon, the man's screams are silenced, and the sound of a cape billowing in the wind is heard through the rain.

TT

Outside of the alleyway, there are multiple police cars. One of the police officers, Sergeant Reynolds, looks into the alleyway. "What the blazes happened here?"

"No idea, sir. There's no fingerprints, shoeprints… nothing." One of the Crime Lab techs calls out from the alleyway. "Whoever did this here was thorough. There's essentially no evidence to collect." The tech sighed. "This weather didn't exactly help, either."

"Sir?" Sgt. Reynolds turns around to see one of the rookie cops standing in front of him.

"What is it, McCreedy?" Reynolds pinches the bridge of his nose. He knew what McCreedy was going to say, but he waits for the confirmation.

"The team is on their way." McCreedy looks into the alleyway. "What happened?"

"Probably a heist that went wrong. Anyway, shouldn't they be dealing with something else? I hear that Light got free again." Reynolds pulls the hot cup of coffee to his lips

"Nah, we sent him packing already." Reynolds looks over and sees the vehicle. The occupants step out, or in some cases, float out. The final person steps out, and walks straight over to Sgt. Reynolds.

"Titans." Reynolds gives a short reply to the team. "This is a police investigation, not a meta-human incident. It doesn't concern you." He turns to see the team enter the alleyway. "You'll contaminate the crime scene!"

"We won't touch anything without CSI's consent." Robin calls back. "Raven, you getting anything from here?"

Raven's head is tilted up, and her eyes are closed. "A lot of fear, but the time that passed has made it very weak."

"Any thing that might be a reason for this?" Robin kneels down next to the sheet covering the man's body.

"It's been too long. The fear is the only thing left." Raven looks over at Robin.

The CSI tech points to four other people. Within a few moments, a tent covers the area. With the tent up, the tech pulls back the sheet covering the man's body. The man has multiple cuts all over his body along with bruises. Yet, the biggest wound is his slit throat. The wound is so severe; it almost cuts through the entire neck, almost making it a decapitation. There is no blood, due to the rain washing it away.

"Dude, that's SICK!" Beast Boy looks away from the body, trying to hold back the contents of his stomach.

"AWWW! That's nasty!" Cyborg sees the body, and is shocked by what he sees, and flinches as a result. Starfire sees the same thing, but doesn't say a thing. She steps back from the scene.

"I know, it's not a pretty sight." Reynolds walks into the tented area, finally getting a good glimpse at the body. "You got an ID on him?"

"ID registers him as Andrew Kester, age 30." The tech takes Kester's wallet and put it into an evidence baggie. "From the looks of it, the wounds were caused by something very sharp. I am guessing a bladed weapon with an edge cut by laser. All major arteries and veins in the neck were severed with one smooth motion. No sawing action and no stabbing. Just one motion." He pulls a finger over his throat to demonstrate. The tech calls over to nearby EMTs, "We need this body shipped to the Crime Lab." With a few moments, the body is placed within a body bag and placed inside a waiting ambulance.

"We'll need a copy of any information that you might get from the autopsy." Robin looks over to the tech. The tech begins to nod, but Reynolds steps in.

"This is an official police investigation, not one of your property-damaging fights. Leave it to the pros. This doesn't concern you."

"A blade cut by a laser isn't exactly commonplace. We'll take care of it." Robin gestures, and the team leaves the crime scene. Reynolds follows them.

"You don't get it. This is official police business, and what you're asking for is breaking protocol. Hell, you five being here is bad enough!"

The Titans barely hear him, as they enter Cyborg's car and leaves. Once they are far enough away, Starfire asks, "Why is that man so angry at us? What did we do wrong?"

"Some people just don't like us for whatever reasons they have. I know it from experience." Robin's voice shows his attitude. The rest of the ride back to Titan's Tower is silent.

Back at the crime scene, Reynolds enters his squad car, and starts the ignition. Those little twerps think they can just swoop in and make the rest of people like me obsolete. He tightly grips the steering wheel, squeezing it hard. There's no chance of that happening. He drives off.

TT

Well, how was it? Good, bad? Too short, not enough detail? Give some feedback so I can improve on it.

ZATRION