TEEN TITANS: SHADOW OF THE PHANTASM

Note: The properties used came from Warner Brothers and DC Comics. The idea is purely mine, however. Any thing that is of a similar nature is purely coincidental.

2.

Another night falls upon Jump City. A man looks out from his window of his hotel room, and shakes his head. Walking over to the night desk next to his bed, he grabs a glass filled with scotch and downs it with a single gulp. He hears the telephone ring. With shaky hands, he places down his glass and picks up the phone.

"Yes. Yes, I'm here. Now, before anything else, you need to know it isn't safe..." He takes a few deep breaths. "No, no, you don't understand. One's been dropped permanently. It makes me wonder who else is gonna get it?" A pause, followed by a sigh. "Alright, fine. It's over by Murakami High School. Check the nearby terminal and put in code 56537 on box 39. You'll find it inside." He pauses for a little longer. "Look, I can't. I swore I was done with this. The stuff with the box is my last bit. I mean it, I am done." The phone line goes dead.

==TT==

"Another one." Sergeant Reynolds shakes his head as he looks at another crime scene. "Jeez-us." He kneels down next to the body, laying spread-eagle on the concrete, a pool of blood congealing beneath. "COD?"

"I'd guess the impact with the concrete." The Crime Lab Tech turns the body slightly. "Note the pattern of lacerations on the back? A sign that he was put through a window. My guess is that he was caught off guard inside his hotel room." The body is put back in its prone position. "A cut across the forehead, enough to draw blood. It would have obscured his vision, made it difficult to track whoever did this."

"I swear, this city's going to hell." Reynolds stands back up as he sees the arrival of the T-Car. "And here comes more trouble." He shakes his head as the Titans exit the vehicle. "Enjoy your little tussle with Killer Moth?"

"Enjoy isn't exactly the word I'd use." Raven tugs at the right side of her cloak, trying to get rid of a little pink goo from one of Killer Moth's pets.

"Another one?" Robin shakes his head. He thought he was past the murderous psychopaths at this point.

"Tt." Reynolds just shakes his head with disdain.

"What's his name?"

The Lab Tech looks up. "The room he was in was registered under Thomas Arthur Crown, but it was an obvious feint. There was no ID on him on in his room, so I can't give an actual name at this point. I'll see if we can match prints once we get him back to the lab. I'll forward you any results."

"Thanks." Robin nods at the Lab Tech before looking over to Reynolds. "Look..."

"Save it and just get the hell out of here." Reynolds looks at the teens before they do as they are asked. He bites the tip of his thumb, closing his eyes. "Damn capes."

==TT==

Back within Titan's Tower, Robin is sitting at the computer, reading through a few files.

"What'cha got, Rob?" Cyborg steps in, one hand clamped over the other wrist, rotating it slightly. He performed a little tune-up on his sonic cannon and put it through its appropriate tests.

"The coroner's office sent in the info from the John Doe." Robin types a little bit, bringing up a set of files. "Turns out the victim was named Manny Eddlestein. Very early 20's." He shakes his head slowly. "His prints were in the system due to a string of incidents when he was a teen."

"Any idea what the incidents were?"

"No. The records are sealed. I could call in and ask for them to be unsealed, but..." Robin shakes his head again. "They'd have to go through official hands first."

"Meaning Sergeant Hard-Butt'll want to keep us out of the loop." Cyborg sits down. "Any idea why he's so anti-cape?"

"Not a clue." Robin shuts down the computer, and turns around. "All I know is that there are people out there like him, people who don't believe in the work we do."

"I don't see why people do that, though. We risk our necks to make sure they stay safe." Cyborg gets to his feet as a small alarm blinks on his right arm.

"We can't know how people will react, Cy. All we can do is our best and hope."

"Yea, well things got just a bit tougher." Cyborg raises his right arm. "We've got another two."

==TT==

"Two this time..." Reynolds palms his forehead. "Just what in the hell's going on?" He pauses for a moment when he hears the T-Car's arrival, and grits his teeth. "Aren't you supposed to be in bed?"

No one replies. Instead, they merely look at the scene before them. It's another alleyway, but there's a bit more than just the police, the Lab Techs and the Titans. A small car is forcefully impacted with the brick wall at the alley's end, a body put through a windshield and into the brick wall, and another lay slumped over the steering wheel. Robin merely shakes his head. People shouldn't die like this...

"You got something to say, 'heroes'? Gonna take command again?" Reynolds walks towards them, but a few of the rookie officers stand up and bar the path.

"Sir, with all due respect, ease up." McCreedy stands there in front of Reynolds. "You know they want to help..."

"Help? HELP! Their 'help' has brought nothing but pain and misery here. Before the Titans, we had no super-powered baddies, no world-domination types. We had the occasional bank robbery and vandalism, and that was about it. Now? This place is beginning to go the way of Gotham or Metropolis or Central City!" Reynolds gets ready to rant again, but pauses as he catches his breath. The pause continues as he slowly brings his right hand up to a point above his heart. He presses lightly against the muscle, before turning around and re-entering his squad car, starting it up. He drives off, leaving the others alone.

Robin looks off as he sees the squad car drive off. He takes a deep breath.

"Well, there goes the senior officer." McCreedy shakes his head. "Now what the hell are we gonna do?"

"Is there any other officer with seniority status here?" Robin asks. All he gets are a series of heads shaking in a negative manner. "It should probably be called in, get another senior officer down here."

"Right."

"So..." Beast Boy begins to speak, but Robin immediately cuts him off.

"We need to stand back on this." Seeing his other teammates give him inquisitive looks, he explains. "It's just the right thing to do." However, before anything can be done, a plume of smoke is seen off in the distance. "Besides, we've got something else to deal with." The team of five get back in the T-Car and ride off.

==TT==

After such a ridiculously long time, I've finally completed Chapter 2. Hopefully, those who are still interested will find this to be worthwhile. Enjoy, and critique as you see fit.

ZATRION