Author's Note: Hello everyone, and welcome to my first Teen Titans fan story! Well, perhaps "first" isn't totally accurate. This is more along the lines of a rewrite. My previous attempt at this story proved to be unsatisfactory. I have been out of the writing loop ever since I started college, so my skills have predictably grown rusty. Also, you could say that I've put so much thought into this story, I've become intimidated by it. I can only hope that my talent will do this story justice. But after some practice and settling on a fitting format, I can hardly wait to reveal all of the twists and turns that this story has to offer. The plot of this story revolves around the concept of an interesting encounter buried deep beneath the more prominant occurences within the crime-fighting careers of the Teen Titans. This is the (fictional) tale of a misguided young soul consumed by a thirst for vengeance. Nothing has ever stood in the way of his ultimate goal... that is, until the Teen Titans entered his world. Is he a friend, or is he an enemy? Should he be stopped, or helped?
Legal Matters: The Teen Titans and all officially endorsed items related to the Teen Titans are the property of DC Comics and Warner Brothers Studios. The Teen Titans and all related items do not belong to this or any other writer unless otherwise stated by DC Comics and Warner Brothers Studios, and should not be used without the consent of said companies. This is a fictional story of the author's creation and is not to be copied or used without the consent of the author, nor is it to be interpeted as an attempt to infringe on the copyrights set by DC Comics and Warner Brothers Studios. The character "NightBlade" is copyrighted by NaitoTheShinobi and cannot be used without the author's consent.
Teen Titans, The Lost Files: "Shadows of Ourselves"
A full moon hangs ominously over Jump City, glowing white in an otherwise dark and cloudy night sky. At 4:35 in the morning not many people are up and about. However, three young thieves dressed in camo pants, black sweaters, and ski masks can be seen running down a dark alley at full speed. The young man running in front has a pink purse clutched tightly in his fist. Their panting suggests that they have been running for a long time. A figure behind the other two, a young man of small stature with identical clothing as the others, begins to slow down. He eventually stops and bends over to place his hands on his knees while he breathes in large gulps of air. The second figure looks over his shoulder and stops suddenly, turning around to call to his comrade.
"What are you doing! We can't stop now! Run man, run!", he hollors.
The tired young man replies almost breathlessly. "I...can't. Gotta' stop... gotta' get my breath... I --".
Without warning, the exhausted young man falls through the shadow covered ground as if it were water. His friend can only stare in disbelief. Several feet away, the purse-carrying figure stops and turns to see what is happening behind him.
"What are you guys doing!", he calls out. "Wait. Where'd Steve go?". A male scream is heard from above. The two masked men look up and are horrified and what is happening before their eyes.
"HELP!" ... "SOMEONE!" ... "AAAAGH!"
High above their heads, the two young men are shocked to see their accomplice being hurled back and forth from shadow to shadow along the sides of the buildings, passing through them like a ghost and vanishing out of sight. His disjointed shouts and cries for help echo throughout the alley as he dissapears and reappears, his clothes becoming more tattered and torn each time he emerges. Eventually, he vanishes completely.
"What? Wha-What just happened?", stammers the purse-carrying thief. Moments later, the young man emerges from the dimly lit ground in the same fashion he had fallen through before. His attire is shredded in several places. Countless bruises and scrapes cover nearly every inch of his exposed skin. Aside from his feeble moans, the young man is completely motionless. At this point, his partners have seen all that they can handle. They turn and run as fast as their legs can carry them.
"Wait! What about Steve!", yells the second figure.
"Forget him! It's him or us!", the young man in front replies with impatience in his voice.
Meanwhile, another form rises from the ground near the unconscious young man. Engulfed entirely in darkness, its only visible feature is a pair of dark blue eyes. The unknown figure steps over the injured youth without consideration, walking in the direction of the other two at a brisk pace. Several feet ahead, the two figures come to a stop when they discover a tall chainlink fence blocking their path. The purse-carrying figure throws the handbag aside and pounces on the fence, desperately attempting to climb it. "No way man... no way! You gotta' be kidding me!", cries the second figure.
"Shut up and climb! It's our only chance!", yells the climbing thief.
"Wrong. You've got no chance at all.", a voice from behind says chillingly.
Before the two can even turn their heads to face the owner of the voice, a pair of hands grab hold of the back of their sweaters and yanks them backwards with force. The two are sent sprawling to the ground hard, the impact knocking the wind out of both of them. The second figure is knocked out while the first lays on his back, whimpering in fear. A massive black blade stabs the ground next to his head with lightning speed. Terrified, the masked young man reluctantly looks up at his assailant.
All he sees is a pair of dark blue eyes inches away from his own, staring with an unblinking gaze. A voice speaks to him, filled with ice-cold venom.
"I want you to tell me everything you know."
One Hour Later
Police cars and ambulances are parked at both ends of the alleyway, their flashing lights bathing the streets in a red glow. Medics carry two of the unconscious masked men on stretchers into the ambulances while the third is led on his feet with a blanket wrapped tightly around his shoulders. Without the ski mask on, the man's face reveals an expression of pure horror, his unblinking eyes as big as dinner plates and his entire body shaking violently. Meanwhile, police officers and investigators carefully and methodically comb the alley for evidence. Accompanying them are the protectors of Jump City, the Teen Titans.
"No footprints, no fingerprints... not one clue. Whoever we're dealing with here definately knows what they're doing. Cyborg, are you getting anything on your scanners?", says Robin.
Cyborg peers over a digital read-out on his left arm. "I think so. My scanners are picking up some kind of metallic residue that's covering most of the alley, but my databanks don't have anything that even comes close to its molecular structure. It's weird... like it doesn't even exist! Now what about Fido over there? He find anything yet?"
A green bloodhound in the distance growls, then transforms into Beast Boy. "Hardy har har. Listen to the stand-up tin man. Anyway, I must've scoped this place like twenty times already and I can't get anything other than those three robber guys. Man... I don't think my nose'll work the same way again!", he groans while rubbing his red and throbbing nose.
Starfire slowly drifts down to the ground with a dissapointed look in her eyes. "I'm afraid I could not find anything of use while I searched from the sky. Were any of you successful in finding clues?", she asks. The silence and expressions of the three male Titans is enough to convince the disheartened alien girl otherwise. At the entrance of the alley, Raven walks away from the ambulance as it drives off along with the police. She lifts her hood over her facial features as the others make their way to her.
"I couldn't get anything from the first two. Their subconcsiousness was too panicked to respond to anything I tried. The other one wasn't injured as badly but his state of mind was even worse. All I know is that something attacked them and scared them, almost to the point of mental collapse.", she says in her usual melancholy tone.
"How horrible! They may have been criminals, but those thieves did not deserve what happened to them! Who could have done this?", Starfire says shocked and outraged. Cyborgdeactivates the digital read-out on his arm.
"This city's got alot of bad guys running around Star. For all we know, it could've been anyone.", he replies.
"The only thing we have to go on is that residue Cyborg's scanners found. We'd better head back to the Tower and take a closer look at it. I've got a feeling that once we find out what that metal is made of, we'll be one step closer to finding whoever did this.", Robin states as he looks back down the now desered alley.
Beast Boy yawns and scratches his back. "Yeah, that's great. Now I don't know about you guys, but I could really go back to catching some major Z's. I'm fried! Besides, I totally doubt anybody else is up. What could possibly happen at this hour?"
The scream of a young male suddenly pierces the otherwise quiet night air.
"Aww man! Come on." Complains Beast Boy as he rubs the side of his weary head while drool dribbles down his open mouth.
"It seems like our friend isn't done for the night.", Raven says.
Robin point in the direction of the scream. "It came from the next block over! Teen Titans, move!"
A Few Minutes Later
The Titans arrive at the entrance of yet another dark alley. A nearby street lamp illuminates the alley for several feet, but beyond is total darkness. Another scream rings out, closer now. Footsteps can be heard growing louder and echoing against the sides of the alley. Then, from the darkness, a blond and wavy-haired adolescent boy in grey and red skateboard attire emerges, running and panting exhaustedly. In his haste, the boy nearly runs straight into the Titans. The boy's eyes are wide with fear and amazement as he comes to a stop. "You gotta' help me! There's something after me! Please help me. You gotta' get me out of here!", the boy pleads.
"Hold up little man! Try to calm down and tell us everything that's going on." Cyborg says. The boy, with tears welling up in the corners of his eyes, does his best to explain.
"Ok, ok... I started to go for this guy's wallet, but before I could get to it I felt something grab me! I got away and I started running as fast as I could but no matter where I went, I felt something following me! I look behind me and there's this black shadow-thing on the ground chasing me, trying to swallow me up or something! I think it's still after me!"
Beast Boy cross his arms in disgust. "Wait a sec. You tried to steal someone's wallet and now you want us to help you get away? Dude, who do you think we are?". The young thief falls on his knees, begging and groveling.
"No! You got it all wrong! I don't care if you turn me over to the cops! I'll even go to juvi! Just, please! Get me out of here!"
"Everybody, quiet!", Robin yells suddenly.
The whole group looks at Robin in surprised silence. A low rumbling sound can be heard in the distance. "Does anyone else hear that? Cyborg, can you see what's ahead?", Robin says quietly.
"Yeah, I hear it to. Hold on. I got it...", Cyborg says as he walks ahead of the group and activates a hidden searchlight mounted on his left shoulder. Although Cyborg's light further illuminates the once dimly lit alley, it does little to reveal the source of the noise. Starfire looks down at her feet and discovers that the pebbles beneath her are trembling. Puzzled, she turns to Robin.
"Perhaps this is one of your 'earthquakes'? On my homeworld we experienced similar occurences at least once every Flebnar.", she suggests.
"HIT THE DIRT! NOW!", shouts Cyborg as he dives to the ground.
Without question the Teen Titans follow suit and pull the confused pickpocket with them. In the distance an enormous black spinning object roars through the air horizontally, slicing through the sides of the surrounding buildings with ease and spraying pieces of masonry in every direction. Like a helicopter rotor, the object careens over the heads of the Titans and slices its way out of the alley. The object eventually smashes and imbeds itself into the side of a red car parked across the street, flipping the automobile onto its side with tremendous force. The glow of streetlights reveal the object as a massive dual-ended blade, completely black and non-reflective. Cautiously, the Titans rise to their feet. The young thief stands up and looks back towards the wreckage of the red car. He swoons and faints, sprawling himself out on the ground like a rag doll.
"Dude! What was that all about!", cries Beast Boy.
"I don't know. Is everyone alright?", Robin ask as he looks around. Ravenbrushes dirt off of her sleeves while looking down at the unconscious thief.
"Other than nearly being beheaded... I would say fine.", she says flatly. Cyborggrumbles as he pulls a piece of masonry out of the shattered lens of his searchlight.
"You call this fine? Man, I just refitted this thing!", he complains.
"Whatever that was, it had to have had an owner.", says Robin as he walks to the head of the group and calls out. "Whoever's down there, show yourself!"
The voice of a young man responds from the darkness. Its tone is calm, but cold and serious. "I don't have any problems with you. I'm just after that punk.", it sais. Starfire hovers alongside Robin and Cyborg, then speaks in a louder and somewhat angry tone in the direction of the voice.
"If you were only purseuing that young thief, then why did you endanger us? It is not nice to attack random people with such large and sharp weapons!", she cries.
"I'm sorry. I didn't know you were there. That was only supposed to slow him down.", the voice replies.
Cyborg shakes his metal fist as a vein appears over his forehead."Slow him down! Oh, it would've slowed him down alright! Are you out of your mind!", he shouts outraged.
"Hold on Cyborg. I think we just have a misunderstanding here." Robin says before calling out to the shadows once again. "Whoever you are, we're not going to hurt you. All we want to know is who you are and why you're chasing this kid."
Several moments of silence pass, until footsteps can be heard moving closer to the Titans. A dark silhouette begins to emerge from the shadows of the alley. The figure's features can be seen more clearly as it steps into the light of the nearby street lamp illuminating the Titans.
Out from the darkness walks a young man only a few inches taller than Robin. His stride is slow and methodical while giving a sense of hidden caution. A zipped up, hooded black jacket conceals his thin yet muscular frame. The hood's lengthy adjusting strings hang loosely from each side of the jacket's collar. The young man's hands are tucked into the pockets of his jacket as he stops a few feet away from the Titans. Gazing upon the five superteens are the boy's dark blue eyes, the outer corners of them partially hidden by his long, spiked, and uneven bangs. His medium-length jet-black hair shines dimly in the white light of the street lamp. From the bridge of his nose and down over a third of his neck, the young man's pale face is concealed by a tightly fitted black mask. However, the mask is not enough to conceal the thin black scar running vertically down from the inner corner of his right eye and down beyond the material of the mask. His pants, a loose pair of navy-blue khakis with several pockets on the upper thighs, cover his long legs. A pair of ash-gray velcro fastened sneakers are partially hidden by the ends of the boy's khakis.
Upon sight of the young man, Raven's mind is wracked with a sudden stabbing pain. She recoils and holds her head in agony as strange images assault her at maddening speeds. Images of a towering silhouette, a shadowy boy kneeling beside a fallen figure concealed in darkness, and countless terrified faces; they all invade Raven's mind in machine gun succession. A groan of pain escapes between Raven's now-clenched teeth, even after the images begin to fade. At first, everything around her is inaudible due to a loud ringing in her ears. She strains to regain her composure, just in time to see Cyborg and Beast Boy giving her a concerned look.
"Yo, Rae. Raven. You ok?", asks Cyborg .
"Something's not right about him. Be careful.", Raven responds.
"Heh. You could've fooled us.", replies Beast Boy smartly. In the distance, the dark-clad boy slides his hands out of the pockets of his jacket. His hands are partially covered by black fingerless gloves with rectangular openings in the back, exposing the pale skin of his hands. His fingers curl inwards and crack before they relax by his side. "My name's not important. But if you have to know, I call myself NightBlade. As for why I'm chasing that kid, I think he may have information I need to take down an even bigger scumbag than him... and I'm going to get that information, one way or another." he says, his tone becoming more menacing. "He's in no condition to help anyone." Robin says as he points to the young thief, who is now beginning to regain consciousness. "Besides, threats aren't going to make this situation any better!" "If you don't get out of my way, you'll force me to do more than just make threats.", replies NightBlade.
During his vast experiences in dealing with dangerous individuals, the Boy Wonder had honed his instincts to a fine edge. They came to easily recognize the signs of an imminent attack and seldom were those instincts ever wrong. In this case, Robin's instincts were telling him that the person standing several feet away from him is not the kind of person that will easily back down. A familiar tightness develops in Robin's stomach. "This is going to be a long night." he thinks to himself as he draws his staff and extends it to its full length. Behind the Titans, the blonde thief sits up and looks around in confusion. "Hey... what's going on?", he says wearily.
"Beast Boy, get this kid out of here and get back as soon as possible. It's not safe for him here.", Robin orders. Beast Boy nods and walk over to the thief.
"Got it. Alright dude, I'm taking you down to the police so they can watch you, ok?". A green cheetah appears where Beast Boy once stood. Scooping the puzzled pick-pocket up with its teeth and lifting him onto its back, the cheetah gives a growl and sprints out of the alley and down the quiet deserted street.
Upon seeing this, NightBlade's eyes narrow. He begins to run in the direction that Beast Boy went, but the other Titans quickly block his path to the exit of the alley. NightBlade stops with his arms loosely at his sides and takes several slow steps backwards. Without taking his eyes off of the Titans, NightBlade undoes the zipper of his jacket and pulls it off, wrapping it around his waist with a simple knot. The rest of his attire can be easily seen despite its complete lack of light colors. A navy blue t-shirt hangs over his slim body while also covering a skin-tight long sleeved shirt composed of a black material resembling spandex, yet somehow different in its non-reflective appearance. The black string of a necklace can be seen hanging around the exposed part of NightBlade's neck, but what it is attached to is tucked and hidden beneath the collar of the navy blue shirt.
"So this is how it's going to be, huh? You're not giving me much of a choice.", NightBlade says. A black mist suddenly forms around NightBlade's right arm. He then begins to sink into the shadow-covered ground. NightBlade's eyes stay locked on the Titans even as his body dissapears into the darkness. Within moments he vanishes completely.
"Eek! He melted!", gasps Starfire.
"Uhh... you think maybe he pulled a Mumbo on us?", Cyborg asks as he raises his eyebrow.
"No. He's still here somewhere.", Raven replies as she looks around.
"You can sense him Raven? Where is he?", Robin asks.
"I don't know. I can feel that he's here, but something's different. It's like he's all around us; not just hiding somewhere."
"Can you get anything else?"
Raven sighs."When he first appeared, something happened. I saw parts of his memories. They came too fast to make any sense, but the emotions that they carried were some of the most intense I've ever sensed from anyone. Anger, grief, confusion, and a desperate need for revenge. Those were the only emotions I could feel from him. He's -- above us!"
Out of surprise, the Titans look towards the sky. Surrounded by the white glow of the full moon, NightBlade descends from the rooftops. A massive sword-like black blade is held tightly in his hands and pointed directly downwards at the Titans as he falls at an alarming speed. With little time for the Titans to react, NightBlade strikes with quickness and force.
TO BE CONTINUED...