The Captain: Yo! Thank you MerlRaven for the pleasent review! And for everyone reading this, I'm about as happy as I can be right now, even though I know I have to go to work. Anyways, I finally got my comic (Teen Titans Go, issue 4) titled My Crummy Valentine. Now, if you know anything about me and read any previous author notes, you'll know I'm not a Robin and Stafire kinda guy. Well, the comic went better than I thought (Robin and Starfire go on a Valentines day date). Well, go read it and find out what happens. None the less, I was very pleased with the outcome, and thus, it shall be basically the basis for some of the relationshiping in this story (however, Sarah shall not be making it into this fic...)

Anyways, getting the issue, with how well I liked it, and getting a couple of good reviews on this and one of my other stories gives me great joy. I am now happy!

Legal Tander: I don't own the Teen Titans. If I have to explain that any more...then I shall have to have Mad Mod reducate you. Mad Mod is watching you...

Shadow Requiem: Football Friday Fight, Part 2

Cyborg drove as fast as he could through the streets in order to get back to the stadium. He picked up on police channels that were talking about the fight inside. Cyborg had sweat running up and down his face as he drove. He was very worried about the others. He activated his communicator in his arm. He was contacting Robin.

Robin: " What is it Cyborg?"

Cyborg: " Man, something bad's goin' down at the stadium. I'm headin there and you should too!"

Robin: " They'll be fine. It's that shadow guy. The 4 of them should be able to handle it."

Cyborg: " Well, that wasn't the shadow guy I saw. I don't know what that was I saw. Raven seemed worried and it didn't look real nice man."

Robin: " Look...I'm following Slade as we speak. He's just ahead of me. I have to go..."

Cyborg: " Robin! Don't you hang up on me! ROBIN! ROBIN!"

Robin had hung up on him. Cyborg grumbled a bit, then stepped on it. Cyborgs car rounded corners on streets with ease, but still, he was quite the distance away from the stadium. In the meantime, the Titans there were having a serious problem with the new threat. The beast stood up to it's full height, towering over all the Titans. Infront of it stood Beastboy and Terra. Behind it stood Starfire and Raven.

Terra: " What is that?"

Beastboy: " More like what do we do!"

Raven: " Just calm down! Don't provoke it."

Starfire: " What is going on here Raven?"

Raven: " I don't know."

The creature turned around and looked at Starfire and Raven. It took a step towards the pair, setting it's heavy, clawed foot on the ground infront of them. Leaning over, it stared at both the girls. It looked at Starfire for a moment, taking a moment to take in the awe in her eyes. It then turned towards Raven, which it also took a few moments to look into her eyes. She didn't show any kind of fear or anger, but something felt strange to her. The creature's eye then narrowed down, becoming much like daggers as it looked at Raven. It brought up it's large clawed hand and pointed directly to her, almost touching her nose. Terra fliched, thinking it was about to strike her.

The creature somehow noticed this, and turned around quickly, almost like a defensive mechanism. It leaned over and took a couple of steps towards the other couple. They both held still, even under the cold gaze from the creature. It leaned down into Terra's face, looking her over. It then turned to Beastboy, who bit his lip trying not to do anything brash. It straightened itself and looked at the 2 of them. Finally, it turned back to Raven and reached out for her. It grabbed her by the cloak and pulled her close to it. This sparked Terra to try and defend her fellow titan.

Terra: " Leave her alone!"

Terra raised her arms and a large rock ripped itself out of the ground and was flung at the beast. The rock collided with the back of it's head, causing the monster to lurch forwards a bit. It turned around and threw Raven back at Terra, knocking the two of them down and out of the way. Beastboy transformed himself into a Tyrannosaurus and charged the creature, headbutting it with it's large head, knocking the beast back further. Starfire took to the air and kicked it in the chest, knocking it futher, until it hit one of the rails.

It pulled itself back to it's full stance, and just in time. Another large rock flew through the air, aimed right for it's head. It grabbed the large rock and threw it to the ground infront of Terra, knocking her back down to the ground. Raven made one of the goal posts rip out of the ground and fly at their adversary, smashing it over the head until the poles broke. In turn, it reached fourth with it's hand made a grab for Raven. She flew out of the way, but it's arm seemed to grow, and it kept trying until Raven had no more room to run. It grabbed her by her waist and pulled her back to it. However, thanks to a well placed starbolt by Starfire, the creature dropped Raven.

It grabbed the large smoking burn on it's body where it hit, and Starfire tossed a couple more it's way, smashing and exploding them all along it's body. Finally, the creature made an attack against Starfire, by slapping around for her. Finally, it was able to catch one of her legs, and tossed her to the ground. Afterwards, it jumped high into the air with a mighty roar, then landed on Beastboy's back. He grabbed his head and forced his mouth shut, then brought the large Tyrannosaurus to the ground. Beastboy changed back into his normal form to try and escape, but the creatures strength was too much for Beastboy to get away. Terra threw a third boulder at the monster, but it grabbed the boulder out of the air and retured with Beastboy, knocking the pair together. The force was so great that it infact knocked the pair out of the battle, laying them both across the ground. Another barrage of starbolts came at the creatures back, and so it used the boulder it held in order to absorb the damage.

Afterwards, it reached out and grabbed Starfire out of the air again, but with it's attention held by her, a large piece of the stage was ripped off and used to hit the creature again. It turned it's attention to Raven, but again, got blasted with starbolts. It growled loudly, jumping away from the two titans. When it landed, it spun around, making it's long tail grow even longer and slap Raven in her side, knocking her into a nearby wall. Starfire's eye began to glow very brightly, and she started throwing bolt after bolt at the creature. It used every ounce of it's amazing agility to avoid the blasts. Pulling back a bit, it cracked it's tail at Starfire, missing her slightly. When it began to reel it back, Starfire grabbed a hold of it and pulled against the creature, bringing it towards her a bit.

It pulled back, bringing them to a stalemate, until Starfire zapped it with the beams she could fire from her eyes. They shot right through the beasts body, entering and exiting through the chest of it. It fell down and grabbed it's chest, feeling a terrible burning sensation throughout it's body. Starfire held onto it's tail, then spun it around and smashed it into the ground. Raven finally got back up off the wall and walked over to it. She knelt down by it to look it over, but it sprang up quickly. Grabbing her, it turned around and evaded another star bolt, and finally did something about that problem. It dropped Raven, then ran for Starfire, intent on getting rid of it's biggest problem. She hit it directly to the face and chest with more starbolts, but it seemed to just shrug them off and use the pain to fuel it's temper. Finally, when it was close enough, it grabbed her and raised her into the air. Finishing, the creature tossed Starfire into it's own shadow, which became almost like a pool of quicksand, sucking and pulling Starfire into it. She traveled back through the world she was previously dragged through originally by Clive, and ended up re-emerging back at the Pizzeria they were very well aquainted with.

Starfire: " What? Where am I?"

Waitress: " Hey Starfire...what are you doing here? I thought you were on the TV fighting that thing?"

Starfire: " I was...what happened?"

Waitress: " I don't know. I just saw you disappear..."

Starfire: " Oh...darn it!"

Back at the stadium, it was now down to just Raven and the creature. It had her backed up against the broken down stage. It's long, pointy dreadlocks hung loosly and shook with each step it made. Raven made a shield around herself but was pretty sure it wouldn't hold that well.

Raven: " What are you?"

???: "..."

Raven: " Can you not speak?"

???: "..."

Raven: " This is pointless..."

The creature leaned into Raven. It penetrated right through her shield and brushed it's face close to hers. She closed her eyes, turning away.

Raven: " What...what are you doing?"

???: "...Yes...I see now..."

Raven: " You can speak!"

???: " Indeed girl...I'm very capable of speech."

It's voice was very low and quite frightening to Raven. Though it wasn't that of some ethereal demon or whatnot, it did match it fairly well. It started to laugh quietly.

Raven: " What's so funny?"

???: " You are."

Raven: " What does that mean?"

???: " I would never forget that smell...you have it. I can smell it."

Raven: " You...recognize my smell?"

???: " It's not only that...you have his aura. You feel just like him."

Raven: " Who are you talking about."

???: " It's been 18 years child. You would not understand. Perhaps one day, I shall tell you."

Raven: " Who are you?"

Black: " You may call me Black..."

Raven: " Your name is Black?"

Black: " That is suitable enough..."

Raven: " What are you then...Black?"

Black: " Perhaps your greatest enemy...perhaps your best friend. Nothing is finite at the moment."

Raven: " I don't understand..."

Black: " In time. Now then...I must fulfill my purpose for the moment..."

It latched it's large hands around Ravens body, then pulled her back, ready to throw her into the ground. Thankfully for Raven, a bright blue blast shot forth from up in the stands, and knocked her free from it's grip.

Cyborg: " Booyah!"

Black turned around to see Cyborg in the stands. He fired more shots, repelling the creature, but not really doing much else. Black thrashed around a bit, then fell to it's knees. Cyborg helped Raven up, and the pair approached the creature. It stood up, but then fell once again to it's knees. The large hole in it's chest made by Starfire began to glow brightly with a dark light. The light began flowing out of it, much like blood. It was thick and goopy, sticking to the ground and everything in it's way. Black got up slowly, wrapping it's tail around it's waist.

Black: " My time is up in this world for now."

Black faded afterwards, leaving only Raven and Cyborg on the field.

Cyborg: " You alright?"

Raven: " I'm always alright."

Cyborg: " I mean physically."

Raven: " Just bruised."

Cyborg: " Well, let's get everyone gathered up and get out of here. This whole thing has been a big bust."

Raven: " I agree. Let's go. We can talk about this when we're all together."

So, the pair grabbed both Terra and Beastboy, then piled into the T-car. Cyborg went to get a sample of the blood or whatever came out of Black, but it disappeared before he could get a chance to sample it, so he left back for the car. Cyborg drove them back to the tower, where Starfire was waiting, since she didn't know what else to do. When they finally got back to the garage, Cyborg grabbed Terra and Beastboy, then carried them in, alongside Raven. Starfire greeted them upon their arrival.

Starfire: " You are alright!"

Raven: " Yes, we're fine."

Starfire: " But what of Terra and Beastboy?"

Cyborg: " They're ok. They just need some rest."

Starfire: " Wonderful. And you are undamaged as well Cyborg?"

Cyborg: " Yeah, I'm fine. Just my pride is a little hurt."

Starfire: " What do you mean?"

Cyborg: " Well...we got lucky in that fight. I must have got there just in time really. I mean, when I did get there, I just saw Raven standing up. These 2 were laid out on the ground, and you weren't anywhere to be seen."

Starfire: " I am sorry...I was taken back through that dark place again. I ended up at the place of the pizza."

Cyborg: " I see. What happened to these two?"

Raven: " They were thrown into each other."

Cyborg: " So, we got lucky."

Raven: " Had Starfire not wounded it before, we may not have gotten so lucky."

Cyborg: " I know. I was just knocking it away with my blaster. Didn't seem like it was doing much else."

The 3 set Terra and Beastboy down the the couch, then walked over to the table and took their seats.

Cyborg: " Ok...here's my first real question...what was that?"

Starfire: " I do not know. It came from that guy."

Raven: " It calls itself Black."

Cyborg: " Ok...so it's got a name. And it came from that guy who's workin for Slade?"

Starfire: " So it would seem. We were able to defeat the guy with all of our teamwork. He fell over and I thought he was beaten...but then he became that monster."

Cyborg: " Great. So now we have to beat him AND that thing."

Raven: " By the way...where is Robin?"

Cyborg: " Don't get me started Raven..."

Starfire: " Why? Is Robin ok?"

Cyborg: " Oh, he's fine! Just fine. So fine infact that he didn't even have to help us. He said he was chasing Slade."

Raven: " And so, he couldn't spare a moment to help us?"

Starfire: " I'm sure he must have been really close to Slade..."

Cyborg: " Maybe Star...but is it worth it?"

Starfire: "...."

Cyborg: " I think we need to talk with him again. Because I would have given up chasing Slade for that situation."

Raven: " Well, let us not dwell on it anymore. We need to focus on the problems at hand. Namely, what are we to do now?"

Raven still had her hood pulled up. That wasn't too much like her, since she usually only brought it up when she was scared, embarassed, or in battle. The main reason though, was because she was feeling quite a bit scared and nervous. She decided not to mention anything about what Black had said to her, and would meditate on it later.

Cyborg: " Well, I think maybe we should just take some time and chill. That's what I want to do. Just forget about today and try again tomorrow."

Starfire: " Perhaps you are right."

Raven: " Then I'll be in my room if you need me."

Cyborg: " Alright..."

Starfire: " May I join you Raven?"

Raven: " Sure...why not."

Starfire left her seat with Raven heading for Raven's room, hoping to do some meditating with her. Cyborg got up and sat on the couch, playing on of his standard racing games. Eventually, Beastboy and Terra started to stir about, and eventually woke up, mere moments from each other. The groggy green titan looked around, realizing where he was.

Beastboy: " Awww man! I got beat again?"

Cyborg: " Good to see you're up. How you feeling?"

Beastboy: " I'm alright. Just a little sore."

Terra: " Hey! What's going on? How'd I get here?"

Cyborg: " I brought you guys back here."

Terra: " Did we win?"

Cyborg: " Yes and no."

Beastboy: " What's that mean?"

Cyborg: " Well...we got our butts kicked. We made that thing retreat, but we just got lucky."

Terra: " That's not good. And what about Robin? Where's he been?"

Cyborg: " Chasing Slade. I haven't heard from him in a while. I've put out a couple of calls, but he isn't answering. His communicator's still active though, so he's probably still after him."

Beastboy: " Shouldn't someone go after him?"

Cyborg: " Why? He didn't come and help us! Maybe if he was there, you two wouldn't have been knocked out! And maybe Starfire wouldn't have been transported out of there! AND MAYBE RAVEN WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN BEATEN AROUND LIKE SHE WAS! YOU KNOW?"

Terra: " Calm down Cyborg...everyone's fine...so let's not worry about it."

Cyborg: " I am calm! I'm about as calm as anyone should be in this situation!"

Beastboy: " Hey...don't be that way Cy..."

Cyborg took a deep breath and sighed.

Cyborg: " Sorry you guys...I guess I'm just a little upset with this whole thing."

Terra: " It's alright Cyborg..."

Cyborg got up and stretched.

Cyborg: " I'm gonna go let off some steam in the practice room. I'll see you guys later."

Cyborg walked off, leaving Terra and Beastboy on the couch alone. The two titans just flipped on the television and let that entertain their brains for the moment. Hours later, Robin finally came back, walking into the tower quietly, and went into his room without waking anyone.