Meanwhile, lest we forget about the hated rivals…
Jin had recovered from the force of the kick and quickly uppercutted Kid and then flung him onto the asphalt. Kid growled and blurred away, and then his knee connected into the small of Jin's back. Jin spun around and decked Kid as hard as he could for a counter. Kid roared in pain as he felt his jaw break (well, as much as one COULD roar with a broken jaw).
Kid's reaction to this injury was not one Jin expected, as Jin reared back for another punch, expecting a throw or general defensive move…
Kid brought up his sword and promptly cut off Jin's right arm.
Jin screamed as he saw his limb detach. And fall to the ground. He had sliced and diced many a soul but he never had the "pleasure" of experiencing it himself.
Until now. To his credit, Jin didn't pass out from the pain or the shock, but he did hyperventilate as he removed the belt at his waistline and used as a truncate, tightening it around his stump.
"So Jin, shall we call it game? Or would you rather bid a farewell to ARMS?" Kid said, wanting to grin at his long time rival but unable to due to his jaw injury. Jin glared at his opponent.
"Mark my word Kid! I WILL kill you and your little group. You may have won this battle, but the war is far from over!"
And with that Jin, using his remaining hand, pulled a fragmentation grenade out of his pocket, pulled the pin with his teeth, and tossed at Kid.
"Here. Catch."
The grenade exploded in mid-air. Kid was lucky: he wasn't killed, but the shockwave tossed him to the ground before shrapnel left a decent amount of holes in his leg. Kid growled and looked up.
The parking lot was empty. Jin was gone.
Savior coughed up a little clotted blood as he entered the Tower with Will, who was propping the vigilante from Edge City up. Raven gasped and dropped the cup of tea she was drinking into Beast Boy's lap.
"Ahhh! FUCK! HOT, HOT! Scalding of the genitals! General unpleasantness! OW OW OW!" Beast Boy yelled as he ran off the couch to get a dish towel and some ice. The rest of the Titans just sat or stood where they had been, watching.
"Noel! What the hell happened to you?" Raven exclaimed as she helped Will carry Savior over to the couch. Savior seemed more interested in the clot of gunk he had coughed up. It rather looked like a giant piece of snot. With a snort he tossed it aside.
"Let's see." Savior said as he counted off his fingers. "Got my ass handed to me by a psychotic sadist. Then I got killed by some shadow lord called Shaddox, then Will's little friend invaded my head in the process of reviving me. All in all, a normal day's work." Noel said, his tone dripping with sarcasm. There was the running joke that all superheroes died at least once, but the reality of this joke was far from pleasant.
"Shaddox? Then he's back?" Raven asked, glancing at Will as she cured everything that Will had missed, wincing as the pain transferred to her. Noel had definitely had a bad night.
Will nodded, and he was about to say something when the door slammed. The Titans in the room turned in slight surprise as they saw a bleeding Kid stagger into the lounge. He glared at his team mates, especially Savior, almost daring him to ask him what happened. Savior noted this, pondered the options, and decided to keep his mouth shut. After Kid walked past and was out of audio range, Noel spoke.
"Well, he's alive, so either Jin won or Kid is just on the rag."
"No. Kid's always on edge after a fight with Jin. He'll be ok. Just don't do anything to piss him off. Especially you B." Will said, pointing at the shapeshifter.
"Why would I piss off Kid?" Beast Boy said defensively.
"No offence, Gar." Cyborg interjected "But you can get really irritating at times."
"What? I am not irritating!" Beast Boy exclaimed. The rest of the group rolled their eyes.
Suddenly Kid entered the room again, this time with a fresh change of clothes. His usual outfit of red hoodie and jeans was replaced by a snug (but not TOO snug) black long sleeve T-shirt and pyjama bottoms, and some slippers on his feet. His hair was damp, suggesting he had just finished a shower. He also seemed to be in a much better mood.
"You seem a hell of a lot more cheerful. Also quieter. Is this going to be permanent or is there a certain time frame?" noted Savior. Kid didn't say anything, he just pointed to his jaw and made a breaking gesture with his hands.
"You took a shower with a BROKEN JAW?" Noel exclaimed, genuinely stupefied. Raven smirked, and then braced herself as she started to heal Kids jaw and rib cage. After a few moments of that, Kid spoke,
"Yes Savior, I am in a better mood and you'll be in one to once I weave you the tale of my spectacular victory over the one known as Gekido Jin."
"Oh I've got to hear this." Cyborg chuckled.
"If Jin called for help and the number of aides keeps multiplying I'm out of here." Robin added.
Kid told the team how he had battled Jin, in the process separating him from his right arm. But the reaction of his team-mates wasn't the one he hoped.
"Kid. Let me get this straight. You defeated him in battle AND lopped off one of his arms, and then YOU LET HIM GET AWAY?"
"Oh sorry my lord and master Noel Collins, but I wasn't really in the shape to go after him, what with a broken jaw, four broken ribs and numerous knife wounds." Kid countered, then flipped Noel the finger. Noel was about to respond when Raven got in between them.
"Okay you two enough of this. Kid, you kicked his ass, good. You made him eligible for the Special Olympics, bad. Noel, lighten up."
With that the two heroes sighed and walked off. Kid wandered into the kitchen.
"Did you save the arm? I'd like to beat him over the head with it next time I see him!" Noel called. Raven gave him a horrified glance. "What? You said lighten up! Is gallows humour excluded from that?"
"Does anyone want me to make anything while I'm in here?" Kid called. "And Beast Boy, if you say tofu I'm going to throw you out the window." The rest of the Titans almost drooled enough to slip on their own saliva thinking of what meal Kid would make. He was an excellent cook. Even Savior admitted it, though he didn't drool. He had a tad more refinement.
"Pizza!" Cyborg yelled.
"Almond boneless duck!" Will added.
"Tomato chicken soup." said Raven.
"Don't really care, as long as it doesn't poison me!" Savior said, lounging back on the couch.
"Poached chicken embryos with sauce and pork sides." Starfire said when she entered the lounge.
"Care for a translation?" Savior called.
"You mean Eggs Benedict?" Kid said, as he got some pots and pans from the cabinets. Starfire nodded. Kid shook his head and turned on the stove
"How about some salmon?" Kid said and prepared the food. After he was done, the group sat down and ate.
"So what are we going to do about Keyser Soze? And Jin and Shaddox, for that matter?" Savior said, breaking the silence.
"I honestly don't know." Kid responded "I heard Jin mention something about a war."
"I heard the same." Savior said "A war of the Shadows."
"Which Shaddox will no doubt be leading." Will interjected "He is the only one with one hundred percent control of the Shadow Men. They serve only him."
"You know what…" Savior said, "For all his power and killing of self, Shaddox reminds me of Saruman from the Lord of the Rings. Nothing more than a servant. If we can get Keyser Soze…"
"Then the Teen Titans will have captured the most feared crime lord in all of history." Raven finished.
"Or we find out that he himself is just a shadow, a fiction derived from another fiction. But all the same, cut off the head of the snake…" Savior said.
The warehouse was dark when Gekido Jin returned. Shaddox had shut every window and had proceeded in healing himself.
"Well, well. It's about time you got back Jin." A voice from the darkness spoke. Jin's eyes narrowed at the voice
"Spare me your oh so clever quips and insults, Blackfire of Tamaran."
Laughter erupted from the darkness.
"I'm sure your scuffle with 'Kid Samurai' probably only injured your pride." Blackfire said, and at this point the sister of Starfire revealed herself from the dark.
"More than that." Jin growled, not exactly keen on showing his stump, his arm cut from a bit above the elbow down. Blackfire saw it anyway, and laughed again.
"And all this talk of how Kid is inferior to you! Yet you're the one with the missing arm."
Wrong thing to say, for as she finished her sentence a fire blazed in Jin's eyes, and in a flash Blackfire found herself on the floor, a foot against her chest and Jin's sword pointed at her neck.
"Let me tell you something Blackfire. I am not above killing my peers, and I am about to show you that right now." Jin snarled, and raised his sword. He was about to cut off her head when a voice boomed from the shadows.
"ENOUGH OF THIS POINTLESS QUARRELLING!" Keyser Soze roared as he also appeared out of the darkness. His eyes flashed with anger. "You work for me now! You fight if I SAY you fight, and not at any other time! Shaddox!" He called to the rafters. "The ceremony for the eclipse has been prepared! Are your Shadow Men ready?"
"I only need a few more hours." Was the response. A flutter of cloth was the only sound as Shaddox returned to his quarters. Keyser Soze returned his attention to the two figures in front of him.
"Blackfire, get ready. Jin, come with me"
Utterly unperturbed (or so it seemed) that a few seconds ago she had been a second away from decapitation, Blackfire sauntered off to her quarters while Jin followed Keyser Soze.
The tower was quiet, the only noise from the male titans, who were all in the middle of a poker game. Random bills were littered about Kid's felt covered card table, and cans of soda were littered on the floor. Some music was blaring, and on the TV the NFC championship game was on.
"Give it up Kid." Savior said "You don't have any money left to bet, and I don't want your clothes."
"Huh, I didn't know that was an option." Kid muttered as he stared at his hand.
"Kid, are you going to bet anything? You know, I've had an eye on that guitar of yours." Cyborg said
"I'd bet my soul before I bet that work of art." Kid said,
"Well bet that then. I'm tired of waiting" Will stirred in his seat. Kid shot Will a look before he spoke up.
"Fine I bet Starfire." Kid declared, and at the sound of her name being said from the next room, the alien got up from the couch and entered the room that was occupied by the boys. And walked right into this argument.
"NO KID I'M NOT GOING TO LET YOU BET MY GIRLFRIEND!" yelled Will.
"I hereby forbid using Raven as any kind of wagering material in this game or any others." Savior said dryly.
"Hey shut up, it's not like you guys are exactly getting along. How do you know she's still your girlfriend?"
"He's got a point." Beast Boy said. Will shot him a dirty look and returned to Kid
"It's the principle of the thing Kid. I mean, we fought a war so that people couldn't bet or own other people."
"Well then you just might win. So quit your bitching." Will growled and returned to his hand.
"All right everyone call your hand." Savior said,
"I'm out." said Beast Boy
"Me too." Sighed Cyborg
"Well boys it's just us three." Savior said, as his eyes bored into Kid. "What do you have Will?"
Will did not speak for a couple of seconds.
"You first Noel."
Savior calmly laid out his hand
"Full house," he said with a smug grin on his face.
"Oh that's impressive Noel. It's going to be hard to beat that…Royal Flush!" Will yelled as he slapped his cards on the table. Noel sighed and looked at Kid, whose face revealed nothing,
"What do you have Kid?"
Kid sighed and looked at Will
"Well it's going to be hard to beat that Royal Flush, but I do think I have some chance at winning."
And with that he laid his cards down. Beast Boy stifled a laugh, and Savior sighed again.
"Five aces. Sorry Will, I guess he owns Starfire." Noel said.
"Son of a bitch." was all Will could muster. Kid chuckled before he spoke again.
"Nah I only bet her to mess with you guys, but I will take all your money." He said, and grabbed all the money on the table.
"Wait a minute, I had a Royal Flush! I had an ace! How could you have five aces, we don't have any wild cards!" Will suddenly yelled.
Kid's eyes widened, and he tried to look innocent.
"Kid, mind if we look up your sleeves?" Cyborg asked.
"Guys, I hate to take away from all the fun and frolic, but we do have the matter of preparing for the onslaught of impending doom coming from an army of Shadow Men." Savior spoke up.
"Psh and AW!" muttered Kid "A real southern gentleman knows never to interrupt a card game,"
"Well Kid that is a good point, but I do have to point out two things: one, we are not in the south and two, Shadow Men are not gentlemen." Will said.
"Even southern ones." Noel added.
"Well I'm going to train after that whooping Shaddox gave me. I need to refine my fighting techniques and powers. Savior, do you want to come with?"
"Hmm? Well thanks for the offer but no. I figured I'd rather train my mind for strategy, since we're going to be out numbered 1000:1."
"That's a good point! Now for music." Kid said, and with that Kid picked up his fender electric guitar, plugged it into his amp and started to play an electric version of Dueling Banjo's
"Wow Kid, I feel like an extra straight out of Deliverance." Savior said. "Can you play anything that I'd, y'know, like?"
"Fuck you, you listen to Limp Bizkit. I would never let my precious get lowered to the standards of those fuck nuggets. But I will play some Hendrix" and then he proceeded to play Purple Haze flawlessly.
"I don't LISTEN to Bizket, I like some of their songs. And for all the crud people spew about them, might I point out they made more money doing their job then we ever did risking our lives day in and day out."
"Anyway! Savior, I really think you should come with me and train. Remember that ball of energy Nikoro gave you?"
"Yeah, but what's special about that anyway?"
"Well its an abilit-" And that was as far as Will got when Raven came in.
"You guys might want to see this."
The Titans were gathered by the observation windows watching the scene unfold before them.
"My god." Kid said as he stared out the window. What was a partly sunny day was now being swept away by overwhelming darkness. And as the sun was blotted out by a freak eclipse, great amounts of clouds came and covered the sky, just to really drive the point home.
"Oh this is just fucking perfect." Will muttered, as he came to realize what this forbade.
Then they heard it. Faint at first, but even through all the traffic noises, car crashes and horns, the sound broke through, a rhythmic tum, tum, tum. And it was getting louder.
"That sounds like drums." noted Beast Boy,
"A gold star for Captain Obvious yippee!" Kid said, his tone dripping with sarcasm.
"They are coming. Drums in the deep. They are coming." Savior said, quoting the Lord of the Rings.
With that, a flash of light erupted in the room and Nikoro now stood, his two short swords drawn.
" I'd get ready friends, because we just slipped off the map. Here there be monsters. "
"Cui si sono dei mostri…" Noel said, quoting the original Italian phrase of what Nikoro had just said.
Kid also drew his blade and stared down at the streets. Beast Boy cracked his knuckles, wondering if he was looking at his impending doom. Cyborg charged his sonic cannon.
And then the armies appeared, marching for the Tower.
"Well boys, I hope we all ate a good breakfast, because we'll be having dinner in hell." Savior muttered. (200 points if you can tell me who says that and where)
"Titans GO!" Raven yelled as the window shattered. In a flash the teenage heroes were on the streets, slashing and firing and whipping and transforming at everything that moved.
Savior was surprised at what little resistance the Shadow Men were showing.
"This is too easy. I at least suspected a trap." Savior yelled to Nikoro, but the Spirit Warrior didn't hear him as he stabbed his blades into the head of a charging Shadow Man.
Suddenly Savior felt a presence. Six of them, as he slowly turned and found he was face to face with Shaddox.
"Hello Savior. I see the Spirit Warrior did a good job of bringing you back. So tell me, did you see anything of interest?"
"Yeah. The pit I'm gonna bury you in!" Noel yelled in anger, as the Shimmer picked up a piece of steel on the streets and stabbed it at Shaddox. It buried itself in Shaddox's hand. Not the target he was aiming for, and he knew he would pay for it, as he braced himself for a blow…
But none came. Shaddox just laughed as he pulled the steel out of his hand and watched the gaping hole close up.
"Ah child, you should know not to attack your elders. I could vaporize you where you stand, but I tire of wasting my time with you pitiful whelps. Your time is up, because I now have other friends to do my bidding."
And with that five figures emerged from the darkness. They were all black, but unlike the Shadow Men they were not covered in cloth. They had slanted green eyes, no mouths and a long black tail. And if Savior did his math right, there was one for each of the titans save for Kid and Nikoro.
"What are these things?" he asked.
"Say hello to the Shadow Warriors. Stronger, faster, more powerful, and immortal. Nothing can kill them save for sunlight and Spirit Energy, but I'm afraid Nikoro will be too, oh, preoccupied with me to deal with saving your sorry hides."
With that he turned to what Noel made out to be the leader of the Warriors
"Kill them."
"Peachy." Noel muttered.
And despite his effort, Noel couldn't block in time as the Shadow Warrior backhanded him, sending him into a street light.
Starfire, who had turned, watched Savior get hit. She yelled in anger at the Warrior and fired a Starbolt at its chest, blowing a basketball sized hole through it. Starfire thought that she had given him too much…until the hole closed up. The Warrior seemed unscathed.
Nikoro, who also saw Savior's unpleasant experience with flight, as well as Starfire's shot, was now concerned for the girl whom he was fond of.
" Don't Worry Star. They're going down. " He said, but as he charged up a blast he heard something
"I wouldn't worry about the Tamaranian."
Nikoro turned, only to feel his head connect with a fist. He groaned and looked up to see Shaddox staring at him. His cape was now restored, and it lashed out at him. But Nikoro was ready, as he spun his swords and sliced at the strands of cape rushing at him.
" You better learn some new tricks Shaddox. I've seen that one already. "
"Oh ho, so you say, but tell me, are you prepared for THIS?" Shaddox said, and at that his right hand transformed into a blade as he jammed it through Nikoro's shoulder. Nikoro yelled in pain as the blade cut deep.
"Fool! You have no chance."
And then from Shaddox's other hand, his fingers also becoming blades, as he slashed out in a series of rapid stabs, sticking Nikoro here and there. Nikoro yelled. Starfire screamed.
"Ah love. Time for a lesson boy. Love is a human folly. In fact, why don't we get rid of that little problem right now?" Shaddox laughed, as he shot beams out of his eyes, striking Starfire in the back and making her fall to the ground for the Shadow Men.
" No! STARFIRE! " Nikoro yelled, but his shouts were muffled by the laughter of Shaddox.
"You see? All that work to save her from the Night World for nothing. She's as good as dead."
Wrong thing to say as Nikoro did not like hearing it. Fire blazed in his eyes, energy crackled around him, and suddenly his hat disappeared and his inky black hair was changing colors, rising up and down, before a burst of energy and white light knocked Shaddox back. Nikoro stood there, buffer, his hair silver white and standing up Super Saiyan style.
" No. YOU ARE, SHADDOX! " Was all Nikoro yelled before he rushed the King of the Shadow Men, moving so fast that Shaddox had no time to see it. Nikoro punched, kicked and attacked again and again, and Shaddox could only recoil from the rapid blows.
Kid was getting annoyed. These damn Shadow Men weren't letting up, and by the looks of it there was no one coming to aid him. No one he could see in his current visual range anyway. Kid growled again and sliced five attacking Shadow Men in half with one fluid motion.
"WHERE THE HELL IS EVERYBODY!" he yelled, which actually succeeded in attracting the attention of a nearby ally. Raven, in this case.
"No need to yell Kid." she said as she appeared behind him. Kid only responded with a grunt.
"Thanks for showing up…now where's everyone else?"
"Well, Nikoro is pummeling Shaddox, Noel is fighting some type of Shadow Man, I'm talking to you, Starfire fell over there, and I lost track of Cyborg and Beast Boy, for the moment anyway. They're still alive, I'd know if they were…gone…"
"Starfire…" Kid said as he pondered the situation. He didn't have much time and hence came to a conclusion quickly.
"Here Raven, hold this." He said as he handed his katana to Raven. Raven took it like it was something unpleasant.
"What am I supposed to do with this?" she asked,
"See the pointy end? Stick it into anything that moves!" Kid shouted to her as he blurred away to the general area where Starfire fell.
Noel landed on his feet, barely. He had been rebounding from a blow from a Shadow Warrior, and it was only luck that he wasn't still tumbling ass over elbows down the street. Blood began running in a fresh stream from his nose. His aggravation multiplied tenfold, and he responded by lashing out with at the creature with a large amount of Shimmer strands, wrapping it up and throwing it into a building. That made him feel a bit better.
"Ok now. All I have to do is keep these things at bay until Nikoro kills Shaddox. He goes, they go. Though I wish I could make THEM go…"
Unfortunately, Noel's out loud thinking was interrupted by a large amount of purple energy slamming itself into his back. Noel's face was suddenly getting acquainted with the street
"OW." was all Savior could mumble, as he pushed himself up and saw Blackfire appear over him.
"Hello! Lemme guess, Savior right? A little pretentious don'tcha think?" Blackfire said, smirking.
"Well, Blackfire, at least I show an iota of originality!" Noel yelled as Shimmer strands erupted from the ground and whipped Blackfire across the face.
We'd like Noel's glimpse at having the upper hand to last a while, but unfortunately it didn't as he felt something wrapping around his torso. Noel looked down to see what looked like…a black Shimmer. Hs eyes traced it back to its source, finding that it was coming from the arms of a Shadow Warrior.
"Imitation is the most sincere form of flattery my ass." he muttered before he was flung into a wall. And that wasn't even the worst of it as the Shadow Warrior leapt over, picked up Savior by the hair, and started to repeatedly punch him in the gut. Noel's brain was trying to recover from its sudden lack of clarity when he was flung to the ground.
He would have gotten up, except the Shadow Warrior slammed its foot on his chest, robbing Noel of his precious air again. The Warrior's hand then transformed into a blade.
"Ah sweet fuck…!" Noel yelled in anger and some fear as the blade slashed down…
And then a sonic blast blew the Shadow Warrior's head clean off. No head meant no eyes, which mean bad aim, which meant the blade stabbed into the ground instead of into Noel's head. The Warrior stumbled,, allowing Noel to scramble to his feet. He looked around to see if he was going to get ambushed again, but Blackfire was long gone.
"Good thing we spotted you when we did, huh?" Cyborg said, but the joy was short lived as the Shadow Warrior's head grew back.
"That's some party trick." Beast Boy commented before he transformed himself into a tiger and lunged at the Warrior.
Unfortunately, the Warrior sidestepped the rushing Titan, making him slam into a wall. Now it was Cyborg's turn as he fired a fair amount of chest missiles that exploded against the creature. Again, no effect. Cyborg growled and tried to arm a new weapon, but the creature zipped over with insane speed and backhanded him into the asphalt. Savior realized it was about time for him to do something and launched about a dozen or so Shimmer strands into the Shadow Warrior's face. All it did was get his attention.
"Bloody Hell." was all Savior could mumble before he was decked again.
When I get to the bottom I go back to the top of the slide
Where I stop and I turn and I go for a ride
Till I get to the bottom and I see you again.
Kid growled as he fought his way through the group of Shadow Men as he tried to get to Starfire.
"Curse my good Samaritanism! Is that even a word?" Kid muttered while he kicked a Shadow Man in the head before he pulled out a knife and cut its throat. He finally saw Starfire lying in a heap nearby. She was unconscious, and the Shadow Men were not about to let him get near enough to change that.
To hell with THEM.
"Move you sons of bitches!" Kid yelled as he launched himself at the creatures, slashing and slicing with his knife, carving his way through about fifteen of them before he got to Starfire.
"Star! Star! Kory! Wake up!" he said, shaking her. It took him about two more shakes before she opened her eyes.
"Hello Kid. Where am I? Did we win?" she asked as she pulled her self up.
"In the gutter, and no. Can you give me a lift? I need to get to Raven, she has my sword." Kid said. Starfire nodded with a smile.
"Certainly!" she said as she grasped him under the arms and lifted him into the air.
Unfortunately their reached distance was only about four feet when a purple energy blast knocked Starfire to the ground again. Kid fell and rolled when he hit the ground, getting out of the way. He got to his feet and stared down Starfire's older sister.
Do you, don't you want me to love you
I'm coming down fast but I'm miles above you
Tell me tell me tell me come on tell me the answer
You may be a lover but you ain't no dancer.
"Well, well, the bad one. But I must say, you look so cute when you're homicidal" Kid smirked.
"Gee, thanks! Too bad I'll have to kill you, since we're enemies and all, but hey it might have worked out in another life." Blackfire responded. Kid laughed at that
"It's going to be a lot harder to defeat me than the other Titans."
"Oh? And why's that?" Blackfire said.
And that was the last word she got out as Kid blurred away. Then she felt an incredible amount of pain as Kid reappeared, his fist in her gut.
"Because I fight dirty." Kid responded, as he then proceeded to kick her in the face. Blackfire growled as she got up and fired a fair amount of energy at Kid, who easily dodged them,
"Try harder Blackfire!" Kid yelled as he blurred away and punched Blackfire in the back of the head.
Wrong thing to yell, as she did, and succeeded, as she grabbed Kid's wrist and hurled him into a car.
Helter Skelter, Helter Skelter,
Helter Skelter.
Nikoro laughed as he hurled Shaddox to the ground. Called from whim, what looked like an extremely long energy sword erupted from Nikoro's hand into Shaddox's gut. The King of the Shadow Men screamed in pain, and with that Super Nikoro laughed again.
" What's the matter? Realize you're losing? Or maybe you're just not trying hard enough? " Nikoro scoffed. And with that Nikoro used the energy sword to lift Shaddox up, flinging Shaddox into the air. The spirit warrior sighed.
" This is getting dull. " He said, and with that he extended his hand. A shock wave of invisible energy slammed into the beaten Shaddox hurling him into a building. Shaddox hit the ground, but he didn't stay there as he growled, pulling himself up.
"Foolish Mortal! I am not defeated so easily!" Shaddox bellowed as he rushed Nikoro and punched him in the gut.
Which had absolutely no effect whatsoever.
" Pity. " Nikoro laughed as he did an open palm strike to Shaddox's face. He followed that with by firing a blast at him, flinging him back even further.
Kid lunged at Blackfire again, only to have his punch blocked.
"Damn it, I didn't mean for you to listen!" he muttered as he lunged again. This time he connected with her face, making her stumble back. But Blackfire wasn't done yet, as she fired beams from her eyes, striking Kid in the chest.
"Ow! Hey, you burned my sweater! I don't like that kind of thing!" Kid groaned as he pulled himself up. But Blackfire wouldn't like the response Kid would give her, as she raised her hand as she powered up an energy blast….
Which Kid responded to by calmly tossing a throwing knife into her left palm. Blackfire screamed, grabbing her hand, her eyes going wide as she saw the blood run from her hand in thick streams.
"Oh sorry Blackfire! I was aiming for the vein in your wrist!" Kid laughed as he blurred away, zipping up next to her as he uppercutted her. He then followed that up with a sidekick to the chest.
By now Starfire had regained consciousness (yet again. She wondered what her species' rate was for getting concussions) and had noticed her older sister getting pummeled by her friend (was he her friend?) and ally Kid.
"Kid, don't hurt her! She's my sister!" Star shouted.
"What! Are you NUTS? She just tried to kill you!" Kid yelled back. He would have continued his argument, except his train of thought was interrupted as Shaddox crashed into the pavement nearby, making a sizeable crater.
" Sorry about that Kid! " Nikoro yelled down to his companion. Then, on noticing Starfire, gave her a wave. She responded by blowing him a kiss, having remarkably forgotten the outrage she had been feeling a moment towards Kid's treatment of her sister.
"Well, guess they're done fighting." Kid muttered "Oh, by the way, I'm fine Will!" the young samurai yelled up to his companion in arms. Nikoro sweatdropped at that.
Three more of the Titans came into view: Savior, Beast Boy and Cyborg. And from the looks of it, they were as General McArthur might have said, "advancing in another direction."
"Hey Nikoro. Since you seem to have souped yourself up so much, would it be too much trouble for you to blow these friggin Shadow Warriors to hell?" Savior yelled at his ally.
" I don't see why n-" Nikoro began to reply…
When a street sign burst from the center of his chest.
"HOLY…!" Savior gasped.
"WILL!" Kid screamed.
As Nikoro's world started to turn black, he took some of his blood on his fingers and examined it.
" That's…curious… " he muttered before he collapsed to the ground. Before all of his senses went dead he heard Starfire scream.
Then nothing.
Helter Skelter, Helter Skelter,
Helter Skelter.
Kid was in shock, He just watched his best friend die. One moment he had been replying to a request and then suddenly…he was…gone…
Suddenly, he felt it rising, erupting from the pits of his soul. The rage. The vehemence. And even as it exploded through him, Kid's head turned to see a laughing Blackfire.
"Not so high and mighty now are you, Nikoro!" she laughed. Kid blinked, and then in the space of the motion of the eyelid he had made, he was at Blackfire's side.
"Hello bitch!" Kid hissed, as his foot connected with Blackfire's head. She hit the ground hard, but Kid wasn't keen on letting her get up just yet, or at all, as his foot then connected with her rib cage. He heard one crack. That made him grin a bit, any thing that'll make her feel pain. But he wanted more cracks, and set about getting them
Savior couldn't believe what he had just seen: one of, if not the most powerful of the Titans…felled like a sapling. That wasn't good…
And then he saw Shaddox pull himself up.
"Ok, this is about as far away as good as one can get." Savior muttered to himself. With a nasty chuckle, Shaddox looked at Savior, smirking.
Savior snorted and struck a combat pose.
"This time, you'll stay dead." Shaddox said.
"Maybe so, maybe not, but whatever happens, I will not run away." Savior replied.
"My power is far greater then yours. You'll die."
"Then…today is a good day to die."
"As you wish."
Shaddox zipped forward and smacked Savior with a backhand swipe that was almost…lazy. Despite the appearance of the blow, Savior flew back like he was hit by a wrecking ball, bouncing along the street. But he managed to finish well, as he bounced, flipped, and landed on his feet, even though he nearly fell over in the process.
"Today…" he whispered, as Shaddox approached again.
Suddenly he felt a surge. But it wasn't adrenaline…it was something else…
Feeling a strange pressure on the right side of his chest, he brought his hand up to it, and for a moment he could have sworn he saw his hand holding a glowing white sphere.
"Hey…I think that little ball is finally starting to do some…" Noel began, and then the pressure within him suddenly exploded, and Noel's head flew up as white energy erupted around him in a sphere. Shaddox stopped dead.
The light was gone almost as soon as it appeared, as Savior re-appeared.
Noel blinked. He felt better. In fact, he felt much stronger physically, and sharper mentally. Then he looked down at himself. His usual, short, waist length leather jacket was gone, replaced by a long white leather trench coat. And his hair, which was usually standing up, was now hanging in his eyes, like dread locks.
"Well, well." He said.
"Well, well indeed. I like the new look Savior." Shaddox laughed, but Noel wasn't listening: he was too busy examining himself. Shaddox didn't much like being ignored, as he growled and threw a punch aimed for Savior's head…
…Until, nonchalantly, Noel's hand snapped up and caught the punch.
"Savior? No that was before this…I do like this…something old and something new…so I think that for this…I like Seraph!" He yelled and flung Shaddox into the air.
And fired a blast at him. Which was pretty impressive considering Noel did not have energy projection powers. Shaddox didn't have time to avoid the blast as part of his shoulder was blown apart.
The other Titans looked stunned at Savior's transformation.
"Wow Noel, I like your new look." Beast Boy commented.
"Yeah, its pretty snazzy!" exclaimed Cyborg. But the admiration of Savior's new look didn't last long as a Shadow Warrior appeared, not so ironically, from the shadows, picked up a surprised Beast Boy by the throat, and started to squeeze.
"Noel! A little help!?!" Beast Boy gurgled.
Seraph responded to the request with alarming speed, slamming into the Shadow Warrior at high velocity, making it lose its grip on Beast Boy. As the Shadow Warrior reeled back, Seraph fired a blast at its head. And instead of the head regrowing, the creature disintegrated into nothing.
Another Shadow Warrior appeared (again) out of the shadows and threw a punch at Noel, but he ducked and planted his own fist into the creature's gut, making it jerk over, then fired a blast at point blank range, destroying it.
Seraph stood up, and looked over as his eyes fell on his fallen comrade.
"Will." He said, and rushed over to the fallen Titan. Starfire was already at his side.
"What are we going to do Noel?" Starfire asked, barely getting the question out through her tears.
"I have no idea Kory. Maybe he's only mostly dead." Seraph partially joked. And as seemed to be the wont for this battle, his train of thought was then interrupted as Kid slammed into the asphalt next to them.
"You okay Kid?" Seraph asked. Kid stood up, spat out a blob of blood-laced spittle, and pulled off his now mostly destroyed sweatshirt, revealing a T-shirt that said, "My name is Indigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die."
"Fitting." Seraph thought, as Kid spoke up.
"I'm fine. I just keep forgetting she can still fire blasts." Kid said as he zipped away. Toward his opponent, Seraph chuckled before he returned to Starfire,
"Star, I need your help to take out Shaddox. I'll have Beast Boy take Will back to the tower. Maybe, just maybe, we can save him. But if we don't take care of the general, NONE of us might make it."
Star nodded and flew off with Seraph toward Shaddox. But as they took off, something crossed Noel Collins's mind
"Where's Raven?"
Kid lunged at Blackfire, his foot connecting to her forearm as she blocked it. Kid chuckled.
"I hate to tell this Blackfire. You may have taught Robin a thing or two when you sparred him. But he was trained in the art of non-lethal combat. I was, on the other hand, not."
And with that Kid's hand thrust forward like a spear, striking her in the chest, not hard enough to break anything but hard enough that she felt plenty of pain as she reeled back with a cry.
"YOU BASTARD!" Blackfire screamed and fired Blackbolts at Kid. Kid ducked one but couldn't avoid the other as it knocked him into a car.
"Ow." Kid muttered as he pulled himself up. Dammit, if he only had some projectiles! But he had depleted his supply of throwing knives. Well, no sense dwelling on what he didn't have, he would focus on what he DID have: the skill he had used so well, speed.
In a blur he appeared next to Blackfire and delivered a spin kick into the side of her head. Staggering back, she growled and fired a blast at him. Kid knocked it away by focusing his speed into his arm and swiping it out so it bounced off harmlessly. Then he blasted at Blackfire, ramming his shoulder into her as they both flew backwards, crashing through some trashcans.
The two warriors soon found themselves in a dark secluded alley. This situation made Kid chuckle.
"If we were dating, we'd probably sneak back here to make out." He snickered.
But Blackfire wasn't listening to his banter, she was too engrossed in the battle, as her eyes glowed bright purple, and energy exploded on her hands as the ground began to shake.
"Prepare to say hello to your friend!" She yelled, and began to…
Suddenly her movements halted, and she jerked forward. Kid looked down at her stomach to see the tip of a sword protruding from it. His eyes widened in shock. His expression was mirrored in Blackfire's.
"Hey…this isn't curious! This sucks!" Blackfire said, and then she slumped forward.
"I know that blade." Kid said, and as if on cue he emerged from the darkness.
Gekido Jin. With a chuckle he pulled the dead Blackfire from his blade and flung her to the side. Another figure was slumped over his shoulder.
"Raven…Jin…" He growled. His long time rival laughed.
"Oh, don't worry she's not dead…yet! But I wouldn't be worrying about her at the moment. You still owe me one arm." He said, laughing again. But there was a nasty growling undertone to the second laugh, as he laid Raven down. Kid noticed it then: his arm, the one Kid had removed, was back, now glimmering silver. It had to be robotic.
"I like the arm Jin. Does it come with a lifetime warranty?" Kid chuckled.
"You laugh now Kid, but I wouldn't laugh if I were you!" Jin snarled, and with that Jin snapped out his new arm, it's hand turning into a chain gun, firing round after round at Kid who just missed getting blown away by the hot lead zipping by him. If not for his speed power, he would have swiftly resembled Swiss cheese.
"Aww Shit." Kid muttered as he tried to dodge the bullets zipping by him. If he only had his sword this would be a hell of a whole lot easier. But he didn't and so as he heard Jin curse due to the fact that his ammunition had run out. It was a good thing…but Kid didn't know what weapons Jin had in that arm and he really didn't want to find out. But he had little choice. For love makes humans do odd and disturbing things…and at this point Kid's concern for Raven well being had overridden the concern for his own. Kid sighed and prepared him self for combat. Unfortunately Kid didn't make the first move this time. As a tremendous amount of pain blossomed through his body, as Jin reappeared his fist in Kid's gut. Jin followed up with a blow to Kid's face then, on a whim his arm transformed into a whirring buzz saw. And his target was Kid.
"FUCK!" Kid hissed as he leapt out of the way from the advancing death.
"Leave it Jin to take all the fun out of a fair fight" he thought to himself as he dodged his rival and plotted away to disable that arm…
Seraph and Starfire were having a tough time against Shaddox, even with Noel's new powers and strength his was still significantly weaker than the King of the Shadow men. And Starfire never fought the being before had no idea what tricks he had up his sleeve, which he soon demonstrated by having his cloak whip out, grab Starfire by the arms and throw her into a building. Then followed that up by firing a blast at her.
"Back off! Shadow Boy!" Seraph yelled kicking Shaddox in the head, and planting a fist in his gut. He wished he could use the Shimmer but it seemed that the 'Seraph' ability disabled it. Shaddox growled in anger.
"You may have caught me off guard earlier but now I shall make you pay!"
"Bring it on." Seraph grinned. And bring it he did, Shaddox rushed at Noel so fast he didn't have time to blink, the King of the Shadow Men punched Seraph in the gut and grabbed him by the throat and began to squeeze.
"You fool! Just because you have spirit energy doesn't mean you can play with the big boys, I've killed other Spirit Warriors a hundred times stronger with less effort." But his speech was cut short as Starbolts slammed into Shaddox. The monster seemed unharmed as he flung Seraph to the ground and faced Starfire.
"What's the matter Tamaranian? Mad because your fuck buddy's dead?" wrong thing to say to Starfire, true she may not know exactly what a 'fuck buddy' was but she had a pretty good idea, and it made her mad…very mad. She screamed and rushed Shaddox who sidestepped her and elbowed her in the back of the head. Starfire felt the copper taste in her mouth but ignored it and spun around and fired Starbolts at him, they hit him dead on. Shaddox growled, those Starbolts have solar energy in them. He thought as he examined the ugly burns on his body. His response was about to take place until Seraph appeared behind him and kicked him in the back and fired a blast at him.
"Kory are you okay?" he asked as he flew to her side,
"I'm fine Noel…though I wish there was an easier way" she said rubbing the back of her head.
"I know an easier way…" a voice spoke from behind, the two heroes turned to see Shaddox staring them down.
"What…" Starfire asked fear trembling in her voice
"DEATH!" he yelled and grabbed Seraph's head. Noel screamed, as something was horribly wrong. Red energy crackled around the two figures, soon the energy field dissipated, leaving only one figure floating there. It looked like Noel though something was off his appearance was different. His coat was now black and red with spike coated shoulder pads. Like his hair, which was now, standing straight up again, the colour was black with red streaks in it. But it was his face that had the most change. It still looked like Noel though now it had an ugly undertone of pure malevolence. His usual icy blue eyes where now blood red. The newer Noel turned to look at Starfire. He grinned a wicked grin and started to chuckle.
"…Noel?" Starfire asked her voice shaking in fear.
Kid yelled in pain as Jin's knee found its self into Kids nose. Kid was not doing so well as Jin had succeeded in beating the living crap out of him…he was stronger but Kid couldn't figure out why. But that was the least of his worries. For that buzz saw was getting far to close to comfort. Kid having no weapons looked around for anything he could use. And found it in brick. With a roar Kid quickly jammed the brick into the buzz saw. The spinning blade came to a halt as Jin hissed.
"You idiot…you may have disabled that weapon but a have plenty more…in fact why use them when I can rely on this" and with that Jin pressed a small button on the top of his robotic wrist. A small his of air was released and Kid saw some green liquid flowing from a tube into Jin's back.
"Venom… I knew you were a cheater Jin… but to copy Bane? I mean come on!" Kid stated. Jin's grin faded for a brief moment. But it soon returned as he planted a foot into Kid's chest. Kid yelled in extreme pain as Jin followed up with a punch to Kid's jaw. The Titan stumbled back, as he pondered what do to.
"Okay…this definitely sucks." Kid said aloud. But Jin wasn't listening as he kneed Kid in the gut. Picked him up and slammed him against a wall…onto a strategically placed piece of rebar…the metal went through Kid's shoulder, the Titan screamed in pain as he saw the blood run down his body in thick streams. This made Jin laugh,
"Don't worry Kid the screams will come back in a moment." The sadist grinned as he picked up his sword. Jin examined it for a brief moment before speaking again.
"You know I could just slit your throat like a pig at slaughter…but I'd rather brand you like a cow." Kid's eyes widened in fear as Jin spoke those words,
"You…wouldn't!" He yelled in protest
"Oh…but I would…you see Kid, it's very easy to kill someone and get away with it…look at John Wayne Gacy, had he not kept the bodies in his house, he would of gotten away Scot free. If Albert Fish didn't mail his sick letter to Grace Bud's mother the police would have never caught him. Missoula Montana's (My current place of residence…YES!) own serial killer Wayne Nance was never even a suspect in any of the murders he perpetrated, but he got sloppy and didn't kill his next victim entirely. Allowing him to escape and shoot him. But torture…that's a different art form altogether, true I enjoy killing…it is a wild ride, but torture. Well Kid let me tell you there's nothing like cutting off some ones digits and watching the look on their face while they do it."
Kid struggled some more as he came to realize that even if he lived through this he would have horrendous scars on him for the rest of his life. Jin laughed at Kid's struggle for freedom, then as if bored pulled a railroad spike out of his belt and jabbed Kid in the other shoulder with it. Kid's scream echoed through out down town Jump City. As he hung to the wall bleeding.
"Please God…let me pass out!" the Titan prayed as he saw Jin's arm transform into a blow torch and heat up the tip of his sword until it was glowing red. Jin's eyes met Kid's and a wicked grin spoke up.
"Lets start with the torso first shall we?" Jin grinned as he slowly reached toward Kid. Until a black energy encased rock slammed into the side of Jin's head
"Leave him alone Jin" Raven growled her eyes glowing red, her own rage taking over, a black cape tentacle lashed out and grabbed the disorientated Jin, and started to drag him toward the abyss under her cloak.
"Lets see if this will make you scared JIN!" she roared, but all Jin did was smirk
"You know…when you look like that you remind of something from Evil Dead…so let me show you my BOOM STICK!" with that Jin's arm transformed into an energy cannon. Ravens eyes widened in fear. Jin smiled, then fired.
