Author's Notes: "At first, this chapter and the next one were going to be all one part. But after looking at the first chapter and after realizing how long this one was going to be, I decided to cut this particular chapter in half to make it easier on your eyes. Just glancing through the first chapter made my eyes sore! But anyway, I hope you all enjoy this chapter and the next one. I guaranteee you'll be in for an action-packed read!"
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 Naito the Shinobi and cannot be used without the author's consent.
Teen Titans, The Lost Files: "Shadows of Ourselves"
"Azarath Metrion Zinthos!", Raven cries.
With her arms outstretched to each side, Raven creates a barrier of black energy around herself and her friends as quickly as she can. NightBlade's surprise attack is stopped mere inches from the heads of the Titans as black electricity erupts from the point of impact on Raven's shield. A deafening roar shakes the alley as the two opposing forces collide violently. However, Raven's actions were not fast enough to keep the tip of the black blade from becoming trapped and imbedded within the protective field of dark energy.
A part of his weapon stuck inside the barrier, NightBlade struggles with all of his might to force the blade further within and break the dome-shaped obstruction. Waves of black sparks pour all around the massive edged weapon and its owner. Inside the barrier, Raven grits her teeth and struggles to hold her creation together. Robin, Starfire, and Cyborg can only watch on helplessly.
Despite his best efforts, NightBlade cannot budge his sword-like weapon a single inch. He suddenly lets go of the weapon's handle and in an instant, the sword explodes into a cloud of black mist and evaporates. The sudden lack of resistance catches Raven off-guard, destroying her concentration along with her barrier in an overwhelming flash of black energy. The destruction of Raven's barrier also catches NightBlade off-guard, sending him backwards to the ground with a heavy thud. He uses the momentum of the fall to roll backwards to his feet in a low crouch.
At the entrance of the alley, Beast Boy appears around the corner with an eyebrow raised. "Um, did I miss anything?", he asks.
Robin grits his teeth. "Not at all. Teen Titans, attack!"
Robin leads the retaliation with a head-on charge and his staff tucked under his right arm. NightBlade stands his ground by bending his knees and flexing his hands, even as Robin grips his staff and prepares for the first move. With a battle cry, Robin finally strikes with a massive swing from the right side. NightBlade deflects the blow with his forearm, but is quickly met with a jarring hit to the face as Robin quickly spins to his left and catches his mysterious opponent with a smack across the cheek by the metallic pole. Reeling from the hit, NightBlade recovers just in time to catch Robin's staff as the Boy Wonder attempts an overheard strike. The two of them struggle briefly before NightBlade loosens his grip on the staff and allows it to slam into the ground beside him. Before Robin can react, a vicious elbow strike to the stomach from NightBlade steals his breath away, followed by a right palm-heel strike to the jaw that sends him spinning backwards on his feet. Gritting his teeth in frustration, Robin sprints toward his opponent and leaps through the air with a flying spinning kick. However, the only thing that Robin's kick makes contact with is the cool night air. After landing, he sees that NightBlade is nowhere in sight until he glances over his shoulder and discovers that the dark-clad teenager is headed right for the other Titans. Turning in the direction of his teammates, Robin chases his enemy and rubs his jaw angrily.
"How is he doing that?", he grumbles to himself.
Meanwhile the other four Titans prepare themselves for whatever action NightBlade may make. Cyborg takes aim with his sonic cannon and fires wave after wave of energized sound, but misses each time as NightBlade dives and rolls to avoid each blast. Dirt erupts all around NightBlade in thick plumes from every missed sonic beam. With NightBlade now a foot away, Cyborg resorts to hand to hand combat and throws a hard right hook with his massive metal fist. At the last moment NightBlade makes one last dive, which carries him through Cyborg's legs like a professional baseball player sliding for home plate. NightBlade quickly spins around on his back after passing beneath a confused Cyborg, then stops and kicks hard at the back of Cyborg's knees, causing him to cry out in surprise and fall to the ground kneeling. Before he can get back up, Cyborg feels a pair of hands grip his metal shoulders and then finds himself being slammed forcefully backwards to the ground.
NightBlade quickly turns away from the dazed Cyborg and sprints towards the alley's exit. However, he doesn't get far when a green tiger suddenly blocks his way out. The tiger lets out a powerful roar before pouncing. NightBlade barely manages to avoid a swipe from one of the tiger's claws, but cannot move fast enough to dodge the green animal's pounce. The cat's growls ring in NightBlade's ears as he fights to stay on his feet, but a well-placed starbolt to the legs from Starfire causes NightBlade to fall to the ground hard. Sliding a foot onto the tiger's stomach and pushing outward, NightBlade struggles to keep the large green beast from coming any closer. In a heartbeat, the tiger suddenly morphs into a powerful green grizzly bear, snarling and swiping at NightBlade's face. The sudden change of weight causes NightBlade to squeeze his eyes shut and groan in pain as he strains to keep the large green animal from crushing him. With a cry of determination, NightBlade suddenly grabs hold of the massive bear's paws and rolls backwards in one fluid motion that sends the roaring green grizzly hurtling through the air. A stunned Starfire gets hit by the flying green bear and both are sent crashing into the side of one of the surrounding buildings before falling to the ground. Beast Boy lays dizzily on his back on top of Starfire, who is sprawled out and nearly crushed by Beast Boy's previous form.
NightBlade looks back towards the exit of the alley. As he turns to run, he suddenly finds himself unable to move. A giant claw of black energy grips NightBlade's upper body tightly, pinning his arms to his sides so that only his hands can move around freely. Glancing over his shoulder, NightBlade follows the stream of black energy to Raven. Her right hand, clenched tightly into a fist, is the source of the dark youth's immobilization. "Stop this. We don't want to hurt you.", she says. NightBlade struggles and manages to turn himself around to face Raven while in her clutches.
"Then let me go. We both have the same goals, so what do you care if one punk gets his?", he snaps.
"This isn't about one thief. This is about what you're doing and how you're going too far.", Raven replies with concern in her voice.
Robin runs to her side. "She's right. What if you end up seriously hurting someone? If you keep going the way you are, then you're no better than any of the criminals you're hunting down. You'll be one of them!", he says angrily. NightBlade stares coldly at the two Titans.
"So you think this is all about me? Please. You don't know anything about me and what I've been through, so don't even try to push your moral bologna on me." As he speaks, a thick black mist begins to form around NightBlade's right hand. The dark vapor swirls and twists as though it had a mind of its own. "I've gone too far to stop now. I've come so close to finding the scum that took everything away from me and I won't let anything stand in my way! Not you, not anyone else!"
The black mist surrounding NightBlade's right hand suddenly takes form and solidifies within its creator's grasp, accompanied by a sound similar to the hiss of an angered serpent. Its shape resembles a dual-ended sickle with one blade on each end, each one facing the opposite direction of the other. Like all of the other weapons witnessed by the Titans, NightBlade's creation is completely black with no markings on its non-reflective service aside from strange and sinister-looking curved protrusions along the bladed portions of the weapon.
"Raven! Look out!", cries Robin.
His warning alerts Raven to the sudden danger. However, the warning does little to stop NightBlade from flinging his creation in Raven's direction. Surprised, Raven releases her hold on NightBlade just in time to avoid the potentially deadly object as it shoots through the air while spinning rapidly. The weapon cleanly slices off a large portion of Raven's flowing cloak before it imbeds itself into the side of one of the nearby buildings, then inexplicably explodes into its previous and harmless mist-like state.
NightBlade stumbles as he is released from Raven's telekinetic grip. However, Starfire wastes little time in depriving her mysterious enemy of his short break. With a cry she fires a powerful beam of green energy from her eyes that hits NightBlade in his left shoulder, causing him wince with pain and recoil. Another eyebeam from Starfire nearly misses its target and causes NightBlade to instinctively lunge to his left. Unfortunately for NightBlade, the brick and cement side of the closest building prevents him from going any further. To make matters worse, Robin launches a grappling hook that tightly wraps itself around NightBlade's legs. The dark blue eyes of the masked youth stare chillingly at the Titans as a famliar black mist begins to form again. This time, around both of NightBlade's arms. Robin's masked eyes narrow as he instantly recognizes what may happen next.
"Cyborg, now!", he shouts. Robin, Starfire, Raven, and Beast Boy quickly step aside. A smirking Cyborg appears from behind his teammates, his sonic cannon poised and ready to fire. NightBlade can only look on as a beam of sonic energy from Cyborg's cannon collides with his mid-section. The force of the blast smashes NightBlade through the hard surface of the building behind him, punching a massive hole into the building with a deafening crash and flooding the alley with a thick cloud of dust. Afterwards, nothing can be heard except the occasional piece of masonry falling onto a pile of masonry at the mouth of the hole. The hole itself is dark and nothing can be seen inside. The Titans cautiously move towards it.
"I believe we are victorious!", Starfire cries happily.
Cyborg grins and reverts his sonic cannon back to his metal hand. "Heh heh! Boo-yah, baby!", he shouts.
"I wouldn't celebrate just yet. He could be hiding in there.", Robin says skeptically.
Beast Boy laughs. "Are you serious? The dude got blown through the side of a building! I don't think he'll be going after us again for awhile.", he says with a smile. Robin remains optimistic.
"I'm not so sure.We fought criminals that wouldn't give up, no matter what we hit them with. He's no Cinderblock but we better make sure, just in case."
Robin produces a small flashlight from his utility belt and shines it inside the gaping hole. Inside the building, the Titans can make out shelves of various food items and other goods. Robin's flashlight reveals the interior as a small convenience store. Its lights are automatically turned on a moment later as a security alarm activates, flooding the small store with the sound of an alarm bell in the process.
"Everyone stay alert. I'll go in first.", Robin says. Carefully, the Boy Wonder steps into the convenience store. Footprints can seen on the polished blue floor. Everything else within the store appears perfectly normal. Cyborg's voice suddenly calls out from Robin's communicator.
"Find anything yet?", he asks.
Robin glances around. "Other than a 20 sale on Nachitos, nothing yet. Can you still sense him Raven?"
"He's inside alright. But I still can't tell where he is exactly.", her voice replies over the communicator.
Robin exhales frustratedly. "Alright. I'll keep you updated on what's--"
A gloved hand from around the corner of the aisle suddenly grabs hold of Robin's vest and violently throws him against shelves stocked with soft drinks. Not sure of what just happened, Robin groggily looks around. It doesn't take long for him to see NightBlade standing directly ahead. In NightBlade's right hand is an enormous black scythe, poised to strike and slice anything in its path into pieces. Robin knows he must act quickly before he becomes superhero cold cuts.
TO BE CONTINUED...